News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-11-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. The Rooftop Bar & Bistro the Sundance Cinemas in Madison, located inside the Hilldale Shopping Center, offers a variety of food and drinks. David Frankels Collateral Beauty showcases phenomenal actors in the worst performances of their careers in a ridiculous display of mediocre filmmaking. Theres a pretty obvious trend with films that market themselves by boasting an all-star cast of very famous actors. The 2010 Valentines Day was an absolute flop, despite having a cast which included Taylor Swift, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Bradley Cooper, and so many more. Similarly, the 2011 film New Years Eve was hated by critics, but again had an extensive cast of Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Zac Efron, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashton Kutcher and more. The Expendables gang of Hollywood hunks including the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham also followed the same path (three times) by jam- packing a film with familiar faces and no-where near enough substance to actually make it decent. Collateral Beauty has joined this embarrassing gang of rejects with a whole list of flaws to boast. Will Smith plays Howard, a grieving man who has lost his daughter and as a result sees his life falling apart around him. His lack of care for work and life is putting his company in jeopardy. The solution of his three co-workers, played by Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, and Michael Pena, is to hire actors to play Love, Time, and Death played by Keira Knightley, Jacob Latimore and Helen Mirren respectively. These are three imaginary entities which Howard writes to as a therapeutic exercise to share his feelings. For some bizarre reason, Howards supposedly closest friends think it would be helpful to make him think hes going crazy by seeing people who no one else can. Perhaps if the ghosts appeared to Howard without the organising by his co-workers, the plot could have explored this idea in a little more depth and make the film a bit more watchable without seeming like a totally ridiculous idea. Besides from the fundamentally flawed plot, which also isnt exactly as it appears on the surface, the film isnt even redeemed by its impressive cast. The interaction between Norton, Winslet and Pena is painfully awkward and completely unnatural. To be fair, the script written by Allan Loeb didnt exactly give them much to work with. Whether it was the words, the delivery, or a combination of both, the conversations between this trio in particular is like watching an amateur improv class where you arent sure if people are forgetting their lines, stumbling purposely for authenticity, or pausing for dramatic effect. Its all just a bit too bumpy and poorly executed. Mirren, Knightley and Latimore are given the even harder job of taking the poor script and performing their, quite frankly, totally ridiculous roles. While these performances arent outright bad, they are massively underwhelming. And as for Will Smith, this role may well go down as the most under-developed, one dimensional, bland character he has ever played. Again, whether this is the fault of the artist or the actor, its uncertain. However, its only fair to say that a character thats written with the personality of a cucumber cant exactly be saved. The only slightly redeeming part in this puzzle of actors which just cant be pieced together, is recently Golden Globe nominated Naomie Harris. Surprisingly, the actress brings a little more genuine emotion to an otherwise bland film. Its a shame that this commitment to the role goes to waste. Theres not much more to say other than Collateral Beauty just does not work. It may not bore you, but it will keep you hooked out of sheer confusion and disbelief at the laughable quality of this train wreck of a film. Collateral Beauty is in cinemas 26th December. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. 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Namun jangan khawatir, disini sebagai situs slot gacor MGS88 kami akan memberikan penjelasan lengkap mengenai tentang istilah yang ada di RTP SLOT dibawah ini. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. Dead coral seized from Muktawan 1 meditation facility off Phuket Officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMRC) yesterday (Dec 21) found and seized 37 kilograms of dead coral during an inspection of the Muktawan 1 meditation facility on Koh Yao Noi in Phang Nga. crimeanimalslandconstructionpoliceenvironmentnatural-resourcesmarine By Eakkapop Thongtub Thursday 22 December 2016, 12:49PM Pieces of dead coral were also used to as a top dressing for trees. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Pieces of dead coral were also used to as a top dressing for trees. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Pieces of dead coral were also used to as a top dressing for trees. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The inspection came after the owners of the facility, the Dhammakaya Foundation, were alleged to have used a nominee to occupy some land plots where its three meditation facilities are located on Koh Yao Noi Island, some of which are also said to encroach on forest land (See story here.). Mr Suchart Rattanariangsri Director of the DMCRs Marine Resource Conservation Division at the Sixth Marine Coastal Resources Administration Office together with officers from the Koh Yao Noi carried out an inspection of the Muktawan 1 meditation facility and found various pieces of dead coral piled up to prevent soil erosion in the area. Pieces of dead coral were also used to as a top dressing for trees in the area and also to decorate buildings. The collection of dead coral contravenes sections 19 of the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act B.E. 2535 (1992) which prohibits the possession of protected wild animals and their carcasses . Contravention of the said Act can result in a fine of not more than B40,000, or a prison term of not more than four years, or both. Mr Suchart said, Today we found and seized 37kg of coral from the Muktawan 1meditation facility. However, there were more pieces of dead coral that could not be seized as they were either mixed in with soil under trees or set in cement in buildings. We have collected the dead coral in evidence of contravention of the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act B.E. 2535 (1992) and the owner of the property will face legal action. Drugged truck driver causes chaos in Ekamai BANGKOK: The driver of a six-wheel truck that careened wildly through Bangkoks Ekamai area yesterday afternoon (Dec 21), hitting 36 vehicles, was high on crystal methamphetamine, or ya ice, police allege. accidentscrimedrugspolicetransport By Bangkok Post Thursday 22 December 2016, 08:52AM Driver Ekapot Yotsiri, after his arrest in Ekamai area following his rampage through traffic at the wheel of a truck, hitting 30 cars and 6 motorcycles. Photo: Patipat Janthong The rampage terrified other road users and pedestrians. Metropolitan Police Chief Sanit Mahathavorn told a media conference that Ekapot Yotsiri, 27, was found with 1.93 grams of crystal meth in his possession. He admitted he had taken the drug three days ago to relieve stress after his wife walked out on him. Before the wild ride he had driven the truck, owned by Chaipiwat Co, to deliver construction materials to a customer in Saphan Khwai area and was on the way back to his office in the Samyan area. He was driving in the wrong lane, which was also the bus lane, so a police officer stopped him. Mr Ekapot said he realised that he did not have any money on him, so he quickly drove off, and that is when his troubles really began. Lt Gen Sanit said Ekapot had previously been arrested for drugs on four occasions. Police did not believe the last time he used the drug was three days ago. His urine test yesterday came out purple, which meant he had a lot of the drug in his body. Ekapot will be charged with drug possession, careless driving and fleeing the scene of an accident. Lt Gen Sanit said the first accident occurred when the truck hit a police motorcycle. Police then tried repeatedly to stop the truck. Finally they shot out its tyres on Ekamai Rd and the truck came to a stop near the end of Ekamai Rd. Ekapot got down from the truck cab and ran toward BTS Ekamai Station. About 20 passers-by helped police stop and arrest him. Ekapot said he had taken the drug off and on for the past three years, usually when he was driving, but had never had an accident. He said he did not know what he had done. Sen Sgt Maj Chamnarn Boonvitayakul of Phaya Thai Traffic Police was the rider of the police motorcycle first hit by the truck as it fled. Mr Ekapot then continued on, hitting 30 cars and six motorcycles in total. If he could not go forward, he went backwards, without considering that his action would cause damage to others, said Sen Sgt Maj Chamnarn. One of the victims, Sompetch Jiamanaeethaveesin posted a video on his Facebook page, Sompetch. He said he left his office at 1pm to drive to Thon Buri when he countered the truck, being driven as though the driver were on drugs. The rampage terrified other road users and pedestrians. Metropolitan Police Chief Sanit Mahathavorn told a media conference that Ekapot Yotsiri, 27, was found with 1.93 grams of crystal meth in his possession. He admitted he had taken the drug three days ago to relieve stress after his wife walked out on him. Before the wild ride he had driven the truck, owned by Chaipiwat Co, to deliver construction materials to a customer in Saphan Khwai area and was on the way back to his office in the Samyan area. He was driving in the wrong lane, which was also the bus lane, so a police officer stopped him. Mr Ekapot said he realised that he did not have any money on him, so he quickly drove off, and that is when his troubles really began. Lt Gen Sanit said Ekapot had previously been arrested for drugs on four occasions. Police did not believe the last time he used the drug was three days ago. His urine test yesterday came out purple, which meant he had a lot of the drug in his body. Ekapot will be charged with drug possession, careless driving and fleeing the scene of an accident. Lt Gen Sanit said the first accident occurred when the truck hit a police motorcycle. Police then tried repeatedly to stop the truck. Finally they shot out its tyres on Ekamai Rd and the truck came to a stop near the end of Ekamai Rd. Ekapot got down from the truck cab and ran toward BTS Ekamai Station. About 20 passers-by helped police stop and arrest him. Ekapot said he had taken the drug off and on for the past three years, usually when he was driving, but had never had an accident. He said he did not know what he had done. Sen Sgt Maj Chamnarn Boonvitayakul of Phaya Thai Traffic Police was the rider of the police motorcycle first hit by the truck as it fled. Mr Ekapot then continued on, hitting 30 cars and six motorcycles in total. If he could not go forward, he went backwards, without considering that his action would cause damage to others, said Sen Sgt Maj Chamnarn. One of the victims, Sompetch Jiamanaeethaveesin posted a video on his Facebook page, Sompetch. He said he left his office at 1pm to drive to Thon Buri when he countered the truck, being driven as though the driver were on drugs. Read original story here. Killer Phuket visa run driver charged with reckless driving, fined B150,000 PHUKET: The visa run van driver who crashed his vehicle in Phang Nga yesterday (Dec 21) killing three passengers and injuring a further seven has been charged with reckless driving and fined B150,000 police confirmed today (Dec 22). accidentscrimedeathpolicetransportweather By Eakkapop Thongtub Thursday 22 December 2016, 04:07PM The K.B.V Visa Run vehicle is removed from the scene of the accident. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Phang Nga City Police Chief Col Suwat Kaewprom told The Phuket News this afternoon that the van driver, Mr Prawit Raweewat, has been charged with reckless driving causing death and injury. He has been charged and paid a fine of B150,000. However, officers are still investigating whether the vehicle was registered to be used as public transport or not. If the van was being operated under the wrong category then Prawits licence might be suspended or revoked, but this will be up to the court to decide, he said. Chief Col Suwat added that the vehicle insurance company will take care of all expenses. I was told that the insurance is first rate, but it has not yet been confirmed how much each victim will be compensated, he said. The deceased were named by police as: 1 Mr Stephane Sebastien Jean Peal, 46, French 2 Mr Patrick Andre Pessey (age not confirmed) French 3 Miss Jessica Paller, 40, Filipina The injured foreigners who remain in hospital were named by police as: 1 Ms Ageenko Nadezhda, 3,2 Russian (in ICU at Phang Nga Hospital) 2 Mr Anam Wicaksona, 43, Indonesian (in Vachira Phuket Hospital) 3 Ms Baumgartner Verena, 38, Austrian (in Vachira Phuket Hospital) 4 Mr John Gary Olive, 48, British (in Vachira Phuket Hospital) 5 Mr Wennie Cajeras, 47, Filipino (in Phang Nga Hospital) 6 Miss Taresita Padewel, 53, Filipina (in Vachira Phuket Hospital) Meanwhile, at 1pm yesterday, a group of Phang Nga officials led by Vice Governor Sripong Buthngamdee arrived at Phang Nga Hospital and were told that one of the injured passengers, Mr Cajeras, was in a critical condition so needed to be transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital. His condition has since improved but he will still need to stay in the hospital for a couple days. V/Gov Sripong said, We were told that Prawit needed treatment for a head injury at Phang Nga Hospital and that his wife, who was also travelling in the van, is the only person that escaped with minor injuries. All the passengers were heading to Satun to renew their visas when the accident took place, he said. Phang Nga Governor Phakpong Taweewat ordered every department involved to follow the progress of the accident investigation, to take care of the injured victims, and to help contact related embassies. Many factors are to blame for this unfortunate accident including weather conditions, the road condition, a dangerous bend and way the van was being driven, he said. Ms Hathairat Kongchana of the Phang Nga Land Transport Office added that she suspected that the van was being used as public transport without a proper permit. When we ran a check on the licence plate it did not specify that it was a public transport vehicle. We are checking the registration and vehicle condition again so that we can punish the driver according to our laws and regulations, she said. As is required by law, the basic insurance coverage for victims of road accidents is B300,000 for those that die and B80,000 for injured victims. This may be more or less depending on the insurance that the company has, however, if it is first class insurance the aforementioned figures should be the amount the insurance company pays out. Leopard cat released into Phuket jungle PHUKET: Wildlife officials released a leopard cat into the wild near Bang Pae Waterfall in central Phuket yesterday (Dec 21) after the feline was rescued from a dog attack. Thursday 22 December 2016, 04:53PM The cat was held in treatment while recovering from injuries to its rear legs and tail. Photo: Jindarat Radchawongsa Local resident Jindarat Radchawongsa reported that her sister first saw the leopard cat while driving home on Nov 30, explained Piyawat Sukont, Chief of the Khao Phra Thaeo Wildlife Non-Hunting Area in Thalang. The sister saw a cat being attacked by a dog at Phanason Kathu Village, and called a rescue foundation to safely recover the cat, he told The Phuket News. The woman had no idea that the cat was a wildcat indigenous to the region, as it is no larger than a regular domesticated feline, Chief Piyawat explained. She learned that it was a leopard cat only after she got home and saw what people said after she posted photos on Facebook, he added. After she learned what the cat really is, we received a call to come and collect it, and we took it to a wildlife rescue shelter in Phuket to be treated for its injuries, Chief Piyawat added. The leopard cat had suffered injuries around its rear legs and tail, and we had to make sure the cat was strong enough to survive on its own before we released it back into the wild, he added. Nattarika Akekeaw and Mukdawan Janyaporn Nominee used in land scam off Phuket PHUKET: Wat Phra Dhammakaya used a nominee to occupy some of the land plots where its three meditation facilities are located on PhangNgas Yao Noi Island, which encroached on forest land, police say. crimeconstructionlandpolicereligion By Bangkok Post Thursday 22 December 2016, 09:16AM Meditation tourists enjoy morning exercise at a Dhammakaya Foundation Muktawan resort at Yao Noi Island off Phuket. Photo via The Middle Way Meditation Institute via Bangkok Post Speaking after inspecting the 137-rai Muktawan 1 meditation facility on the island yesterday (Dec 21), Deputy National Police Chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said a 54-year-old man from Loei, Pet Kansap, occupied four land plots there. He was assigned by the Dhammakaya Foundation to hold the land plots and he is also linked with forest encroachment by the temples meditation facility in Loei, Gen Srivara said. The Deputy Police Chief said the Muktawan 1 facility occupies 40 rai of land which has no land right documents and 21 rai of which is forest reserve land. Gen Srivara said the Dhammakaya Foundation claims it has Nor Sor 3 Gor land documents covering 33 plots of 140 rai of land where the facility is located. Of them, 28 land plots are owned by the foundation, four by Mr Pet and another plot by a woman, he said, citing the foundation. On Aug 19, 2006, the foundation, chaired by former abbot Phra Dhammajayo, transferred the land to Mr Pet, Gen Srivara said. The foundation has 13 executive members, including nine monks. Officials will also examine whether 18 buildings in Muktawan 1 were built lawfully and check whether the Koh Yao tambon administration organisation (OrBorJor) gave the permits illegally, he said. He said suspicion had arisen over the issuance of the Nor Sor 3 Gor documents. Only two rai of land was believed to be originally occupied by the foundation, but it rose to about 15 rai in 1996. Gen Srivara said the Dhammakaya Foundation was found to have sold packages for practising dhamma, ranging from B1,900 to B5,900, which means it exploits the forest for its own benefit. The Revenue Department has been told to investigate the foundations tax payments. The deputy police chief said Mr Pet was also alleged to be the owner of the 162 rai of land sheltering the Muktawan 2 facility on the island, but the investigation found 82 rai of it has no land rights documents and is in the forest reserve. The investigation into the 100-rai Muktawan 3 nearby also found 44 rai of this facility has no land right documents and is situated in the forest reserve, he said. The TAO also reported that 82 structures in the three facilities were built without permits and they will be seized later, Gen Srivara said. According to police sources, blocks of wood were placed on the routes leading to the facilities and this was believed to be the work of people allied with the temple to obstruct officials from surveying the areas. Meanwhile, Ong-art Thamnitha, the spokesman for Dhammakaya sect disciples, yesterday failed to report to Thung Song Hong Police on charges of defaming the Department of Special Investigation (DSI). The DSI handled Phra Dhammajayos money laundering case in connection with the multi-billion-baht Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative embezzlement scandal. Police said they will issue another summons and, if he still fails to turn himself in, he will face an arrest warrant. Read original story here. 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The school went into a soft lockdown for about 30 minutes after the security guard found the gun. Nobody was injured. Evans was arrested by the school's resource officer, who is a regular Beloit police officer. Police were expected to have a "visible presence" at the high school on Thursday. A newly released consultants report offers two options to replace a dated and dangerous cell block in the City-County Building while centralizing all Dane County Jail inmates and administrative operations in a renovated Public Safety Building, at a cost of up to $166.8 million. Each plan would also address security and supervision concerns, while improving inmate mental health and medical services and expanding work or educational programming to varying degrees. Both options would provide separate space for younger inmates, reduce the use of solitary confinement and reduce the total number of beds by 69, as the countys commitment to using diversion programs for appropriate inmates continues, County Board Chairwoman Sharon Corrigan said. Bottom line is we have to replace the (CCB-based) jail, she said. It doesnt meet federal safety standards and its not humane. Having everything in one spot (at the PSB site) also is a more efficient way to run your jail. To make it all happen, jail remodeling options include adding four stories to the five-story PSB and/or building an adjacent six-story addition on a surface parking lot behind the PSB and on the site of an existing rental home or apartment building or both, also behind the PSB. The costs of acquiring those properties arent included in the plans estimated cost, which starts at $150.8 million. We knew it was going to be expensive to do this, Corrigan said Wednesday, as she and members of the county boards Public Protection and Judiciary Committee began digesting the 700-page consultants report they received in a 2-hour meeting Tuesday night. Building a jail is not like building an office building. There are a lot more security considerations. Its a complicated thing. The committee in May directed consultants from Mead and Hunt, Potter Lawson and Pulitzer/Bogard and Associates to create the two remodeling plans, after a 2014 plan to consolidate jail operations in an entirely new facility known as a greenfield site was rejected as too costly at between $149.7 million and $165.5 million plus acquisition costs. Building a new facility Downtown rather than at a suburban site the most likely greenfield options were in Verona and Westport also was seen as preferable due to its proximity to the courthouse and bus lines needed by work-release inmates and visitors. Nevertheless, getting the job done wont be easy, according to consultant David Wray, who said any jail renovation approved by the board would be probably the most complex project Dane County has or will ever see. Inherent difficulties include building on a relatively narrow Downtown site while jail operations in the PSB and CCB continue. Under the plans, no inmates would be boarded out of the county during the 2-year construction time, after about one years time for design and approvals. Different classifications of jail inmates and operations are now spread across three buildings in Madison: Maximum-security inmates are housed on the 6th and 7th floors of the City-County Building at 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in Downtown Madison; Medium-security inmates and most administrative offices for the Sheriffs Office are in the Public Safety Building at 115 W. Doty St. The PSB is connected to the CCB by a tunnel under South Carroll Street. Minimum-security inmates with work-release privileges and offices for electronic release programs are in the Ferris Center at 2120 Rimrock Road. Like the CCB jail, the Ferris Center also would be closed in the renovation proposals. Sheriff Dave Mahoney, who has argued the need to improve or shut down the CCB portion of the jail for years, on Tuesday said county leaders had a legal and moral responsibility to eliminate excessive use of solitary confinement, improve security and update jail facilities and operations to provide proper housing and treatment for inmates who are mentally ill or need medical attention. As it is now, jail staff have no choice, Mahoney said, but to keep inmates that need to be separated from the general population for medical or mental health reasons about 20 percent of the jail population in solitary confinement. In the past week and a half, Mahoney said, the CCB jail has seen another cell-door locking malfunction that trapped an inmate for three hours and another suicide attempt, he said, made more possible by the lack of direct continuous sight lines by staff into those cells. We had to rely on other inmates to hold him up until staff could get there to cut him down, Mahoney said Tuesday about the attempted self-hanging. That individual is still hospitalized as a result of that happening. Sup. Tim Kiefer, who works as a Dane County criminal defense lawyer, said he was keeping an open mind about the options at this point, though he liked the boards move away from considering a greenfield site. Its a step in the right direction in that these two proposals are both for keeping the jail at the current site in Downtown Madison, said Kiefer, 25th District. Theres a long way to go from here. Its just the beginning of the process, but Im glad that were focusing Downtown. Im definitely concerned about the price tag, Kiefer added. But one step at a time. I dont think anythings a done deal. We need to get a more input from people. County supervisors dont expect to make a decision on the remodeling plans for several months. Earlier this year, the board approved $4.4 million in emergency security and fire protection improvements to the CCB jail meant to tide over problems until a larger jail remodeling occurs. An 82-year-old Lodi area man was recovering after his pickup truck went through the ice on Lake Wisconsin Thursday morning. The incident happened at about 8:45 a.m. near the Sunset Harbor boat landing in the town of West Point, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said. The pickup truck went through the ice about 30 yards off shore. "The driver was able to remove himself from the vehicle and get to shore," said Sheriff Dennis Richards. "Due to the cold water and air temperature, the driver was treated on scene by EMS and taken to Sauk Prairie Hospital for precautionary measures." The truck was removed from the water Thursday morning. Authorities didn't say if the man was heading out on the ice to do some ice fishing. Richards said fishermen and others going out on frozen lakes or rivers need to be careful and should check with local sources to see if ice is thick enough to walk, skate, ski, snowmobile, ATV or drive on. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. LETTER: Instead of dropping 'The Ode,' find another way to honour Labrador Many writers to the Telegram have chimed in, some with vitriol, on the decision by MUN not to sing "The Ode to Newfoundland" at the recent or future graduation convocations. I am astonished, however, at the number who see no problem with changing its ... The suspect in a shooting Wednesday night that left one woman dead and another seriously injured worked for the same company that managed the Far East Side group home where the shooting took place. Ali A. Hassan, 25, of Fitchburg, is tentatively charged with first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of a 23-year-old Madison woman and the shooting of a 31-year-old Madison woman, police said. Both women worked at the group home for the cognitively disabled at 5333 Kevins Way, where the shootings happened shortly before 7 p.m. The home is managed by REM Wisconsin. Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said the motive was unknown. We believe he targeted them for some reason, but we are still trying to determine why he did this, DeSpain said. REM Wisconsin Executive Director Shelley Hansen-Blake declined to say if Hassan worked at the same group home as the two victims, or in a different part of the agency. There are no words to express our shock and heartbreak at this senseless act, Hansen-Blake said in a statement Thursday. Our hearts go out to the friends and family of the victims, and all those touched by this tragedy. Hansen-Blake said grief counseling was available for REM staff. All of us at REM Wisconsin extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Madison Police Department for their support and for the extraordinary compassion they displayed for the individuals residing in this home, she said. The homes three residents, who were unharmed, have been moved to alternate REM locations. The two victims were the only ones shot. One of the three residents of the group home, who was in a wheelchair, was found lying on the floor, but she had fallen out of the chair during the incident and was not injured. The gun allegedly used by Hassan was a semiautomatic 9 mm handgun, which was left at the scene. The number of shots fired was not known as of Thursday. DeSpain said two of the three group home residents witnessed the shootings, while the third was in bed. The surviving victim, who was shot multiple times, was found inside the home. The woman who died was believed to have been going from a dining area to the kitchen when she was shot. DeSpain did not know the extent of the survivors injuries, but said she was out of surgery Thursday. He praised the womans ability to call 911 after being shot. If not for this woman, who had been shot multiple times, calling 911, who knows when we would have discovered the crime scene, DeSpain said. Hassan allegedly fled the scene in a vehicle, crashing into another vehicle in the 5000 block of Open Wood Way. A Madison woman and her 7-year-old child were in the second vehicle, but neither was seriously injured. A Madison police officer saw the suspect near the crash scene, and he was detained without incident at about 7:10 p.m. State Journal reporter David Wahlberg contributed to this report. Title Midwest recently announced that it made its first move into the state of Wisconsin following the acquisition of a title company. Title Midwest also has locations in Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas. TM Holdings Inc. President John Stauffer talked to The Title Report about the expansion Read on to hear what Stauffer had to say about the move and the services that the company will be able to offer in Wisconsin. Beyond the tripe of Bollywood, India produced some really good cinema in 2016. While some received widespread theatrical release, a few (like Manipuri film Loktak Lairembee) are still creating quite a buzz in the film festival circuits around the world. Marathi film Sairat got a pan-India release, and ran for an impressive six weeks outside its home state. Thithi, which won the National Award for the best Kannada film, was refreshing because its actors were all non-professional first-timers. Some were commercial hits, but all of them were critically acclaimed for their content and production. Wrap this year up with these must-watch films: Chauthi Koot (Punjabi) Released in film festivals around the world in 2015, this film directed by Gurvinder Singh was out in theatres this year after being lauded by critics. Based on two stories by Waryam Singh Sandhu, Chauthi Koot (meaning 'the fourth direction') is set in Punjab in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star. Kanwaljit Singh (Rustom) and Survinder Vicky (Kaptan) are part of the cast. It perfectly captures the emotional tension that gripped the Sikh and Hindu communities at that time, as characters oscillate between trusting complete strangers and blatantly displaying suspicion. Besides earning a screening at Cannes in 2015, it also won the Singapore International Film Festival Silver Screen Award in the Asian feature film category. Sairat (Marathi) Directed by Nagraj Manjule of Fandry fame, Sairat ('wild') surpassed Natsamrat (another must-watch Marathi film released this year) to become the year's top Marathi film, both critically and commercially. With realistic performances by debutante actors Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar, the film is said to challenge not just caste, but also gender stereotypes. The simple story of a lower caste boy in love with a higher caste girl is told in a refreshing way, symbolic in every frame. According to reports, Karan Johar bought the rights to make a Bollywood version. Thithi (Kannada) The cast of this Raam Reddy film comprises non-professional actors from Mandya, Karnataka, who totally owned the film with their honest portrayals. Thithi, which means funeral, revolves around the family after the death of its century-old patriarch. Central to the conflict within the film is a plot of land in this old man's name, and the three generations after him who try to acquire it. Funny and insightful, with well-sketched characters and a strong story, the film is a rare blend of all things good from both commercial cinema and the arty. Visaranai (Tamil) Produced by Dhanush, Visaranai (meaning 'interrogation') is a disturbing but hard-hitting thriller about the power of the influential over the powerless. It focuses on police brutality, and how unsuspecting people are forced to confess to larger crimes they haven't committed. Directed by Vetrimaran, the story is based on a novel, Lock Up, by Chandrakumar, written from his own experience. Starring Dinesh, Silambarasan and Murugadoss, the film is violent but highlights what happens behind the closed doors of an interrogation room. It was well-received by critics and was selected (but not nominated) as India's entry for the Academy Awards. It also won this year's National Award for the best Tamil film. Kammatipaadam (Malayalam) Directed by Rajeev Ravi, who was the cinematographer for several Anurag Kashyap films, including Dev.D and Gangs of Wasseypur, Kammatipaadam is his third film in Malayalam. The Dulquer Salmaan-starrer is as much about casteism, exclusion from economic growth, and land mafia as it is about friendship and love. It spans about 30 years, starting from the childhood of two friends and ending as a revenge thriller. The unconventional film-making style and aesthetics were unseen in Malayalam cinema till date, and the critics' verdict on Ravi's film was largely positive. Loktak Lairembee (Manipuri) Winner of the Golden Gateway Award at this year's Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, this Manipuri feature by award-winning director Paban Kumar Haobam gives one a unique insight into the lives of fishermen in trouble. When an edict in 2011 led to authorities burning down fishermen's homes, claiming to protect the ecosystem, many were rendered homeless. Loktak Lairembee (lady of the lake) revolves around one of these fishermen who lives in a makeshift hut. A loose adaptation of a short story, Nongmei, by Sudhir Naoroibam, the film looks like a documentary, but uses the visual serenity of Lake Loktak to its best. Cinemawala (Bengali) Fellini Prize-winner Kaushik Ganguly, known for his 2012 award-winning Shabdo, pays tribute to single-screen theatres with Cinemawala. Paran Bandhopadhyay and Parambrata Chatterjee (of Kahaani fame) star as father and son with difficulties between them. Two parallel stories play out at once: on one hand, a film enthusiast and single-screen theatre owner (Paran) is caught on the wrong side of the industry as multiplexes become popular; on the other, his son ekes out a living by selling pirated films, which is against the old man's principles. Shot in digital, instead of film reel, Ganguly was praised for bringing out the best in his actors, as well as his strong, emotional story. Your Google map will not just tell you about the traffic on your route, now it can also help you locate a toilet. Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu has launched the Google Maps Toilet Locator App to enable people to locate the nearest public toilet. The facility is initially available in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Bhopal and Indore. The user has to enter the key words Swachh Public Toilet, and access locations of 5,162 public toilets near malls, hospitals, bus and railway stations, fuel stations, metros and community toilet complexes. The app also gives information about the type of toilet seat available, whether it is free or paid, and the timings when it is open. The ministry plans to bring in more cities under the app eventually. The effort is part of the Prime Minister's flagship project, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Clean India mission, the main thrust of which is to make the country free of public defecation and urination. Naidu also launched the free to use Smart Toilets which have been set up by the New Delhi Municipal Council in Lutyen's Delhi. NDMC has also launched the Reverse Vendor Machine to curb littering. When a plastic bottle is dropped into this machine, it gives a receipt to the credit of one rupee. It can later be redeemed, once the user has a substantial sum to his name. This machine has been set up at the busy Palika Market. NDMC plans to launch 20 more of these machines soon. Naidu said that the Clean India drive had picked up momentum this year, with 502 cities and towns declaring themselves open defecation free. Another 237 hope to recieve tag by next year. Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim are the three states which have declared all towns and cities as open defecation free. Delhi is leading in production of compost at 3,000 million tonnes per month, followed by Uttar Pradesh. In a surprise development, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung resigned from his post on Thursday. Jung has submitted his resignation to the Government of India, a statement from the Raj Niwas said. He still has 18 months to go in his tenure. According to Raj Niwas sources, Jung quit because of personal reasons. Sources said he had been contemplating quitting the post for some time now. Jung, who was vice chancellor of the Jamia Milia Islamia before he was appointed Lt Governor of Delhi, wants to return to academics, they said. In a brief statement as he bowed out of Raj Niwas, Jung thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his help and cooperation. He also thanked the people of Delhi for their support and affection, especially during the one year long President's rule in the capital. He mentioned getting unstinted support from them, which in turn helped him run the administration smoothly and effortlessly. Jung also thanked Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for his association in the last two years. The two had been locked in a tussle over who calls the shots in Delhi ever since the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power in the capital in February 2015. The statement said Jung would be returning to his first love, which is academics. Jung, who is a former IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre and has been active in academics, took over as the 20th Lt Governor of Delhi on July 9, 2013. He was appointed by the UPA government when Congress was in power in Delhi. At that time, it was widely believed that his good equations with the then Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, had played a major role in his appointment. Jung was involved in an intense turf war with Kejriwal, with the AAP government accusing him of interfering in the functioning of Delhi government, including appointment of officers in the city government, and not allowing it to work normally. The AAP government even went to court to question Jung's authority. Delhi High Court in fact ruled in favour of Jung, saying the LG has the final word in the affairs of Delhi. Following the high court order, the LG had set up a panel to scrutinise all decisions taken by the Delhi government in the intervening period and find out if they were taken without the LG's approval and hence were illegal. The matter is now being heard by the Supreme Court. While there are speculations that protracted confrontation between the LG and Kejriwal is the reason for Jung's decision to go, it is also being discussed whether the move had anything to do with the likelihood of him being given a leg-up by the Modi government. There has been speculation that he could be considered for the post of vice president, with Hamid Ansari's term coming to an end in 2017. Kejriwal had, earlier this month, attacked Jung over the appointment of IAS officer Dilraj Kaur as member secretary of the Delhi Commission for Women, saying he was trying to please the Modi government as he harbours ambitions of becoming the vice president. In order to become the Vice President, Jung has sold his soul to Modi. Jung may do what he likes, but Modi will never make a Muslim the Vice President, he tweeted Meanwhile, names of former Delhi police chief B.S. Bassi and former Home Secretary Anil Baijal are already doing the rounds as possible appointments to the now vacant post of Lt Governor of Delhi. A 27-year-old Madison man convicted of dealing crack cocaine was sentenced to five years in federal prison. Nathan Morris, also known as St. Louis, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Peterson in federal court in Madison on Wednesday. Morris pleaded guilty in September to a charge of distributing crack cocaine. "Judge Peterson admonished Morris for having a history of violent conduct, telling him the sentence was, in part, to protect the public from his violent conduct," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. Morris sold crack cocaine at his Madison apartment in the summer of 2015. When he was arrested, he had about 60 grams of cocaine, and a gun, in his possession. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking kickbacks of Rs 65 crore from corporate houses during his stint as Chief Minister of Gujarat and demanded an independent inquiry into the charge. The BJP denied the allegation, terming it as an attempt to divert attention from the AgustaWestland probe in which the names of Congress leaders and the "family" were surfacing, while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought a Supreme Court-monitored probe and the Congress said Modi should get a fair probe undertaken into the charge. Addressing a public rally in north Gujarat, Modi's home district, Gandhi said: "It is on the records of the Income Tax department that Modi received money from the Sahara Group nine times in six months (in 2013-14)." Rolling out dates when Modi allegedly received money from the Sahara Group (Rs 5 crore seven times and Rs 2.5 crore twice), he said: "The Income Tax Department has this record from the Sahara Group's diary for the last two and a half years and has recommended an inquiry. "Narendra Modiji, tell us whether this allegation is true or not, order an independent investigation into this and come clean. You have made the entire country stand in queues for days. Now speak the truth," Gandhi said to applause by the huge crowd. "This is not all. There is one more record of the Birla Group (with the Income Tax Department). 'Gujarat CM (to be paid) Rs 25 crore, Rs 12 crore paid, the rest?' This is what is written there. According to Gandhi, the kickbacks became known after an Income Tax raid on November 22, 2014 on the Sahara group when their records were seized, he said. Gandhi said there were entries which showed that on October 30, 2013, Rs 2.5 crore was given to Modi, on November 12, Rs 5 crore, on November 27, Rs 2.5 crore and on November 29, another Rs 5 crore was handed over to him. The allegations levelled by Gandhi were earlier taken to the Supreme Court by noted advocate Prashant Bhushan. Kejriwal, who has also been making the same allegations at public rallies, sought a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the charges. He also asked Modi to resign until he was cleared of the charges -- like veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani did in 1996 after being linked to a Hawala scandal. Kejriwal said he was the first to expose the bribery in the Delhi assembly on November 15 this year and had since been doing so at one public rally after another across the country. He said the Supreme Court should take suo moto cognizance of the matter and set up a "fully independent" Special Investigation Team (SIT) with all powers to probe the charges against Modi. Flashing what he claimed were Income Tax department papers, including four volumes of an Appraisal Report, Kejriwal said one of the corporate houses paid Modi Rs 40 crore in instalments. Documents seized in the premises of another corporate house showed that a part of a Rs 25 crore bribe was given to Modi, he said. "The nation has been betrayed," Kejriwal said in New Delhi, referring to how Modi led the BJP to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on the promise of fighting corruption by the Congress. "But they turned out to be more corrupt than the Congress," he said. Hours after Gandhi made the allegation, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress leader was "frustrated" by repeated electoral losses. "I condemn the shameful, baseless allegations of Rahul Gandhi. People will never believe it," he said. Citing the Agusta Westland scam, he said that Gandhi was trying to divert attention from the case that recently returned to the limelight following a report in a national daily. "Names of Congress leaders are surfacing in the AgustaWestland scam. His family's name has surfaced in the scam in Italy, and investigation is on here in India as well. "He has given this statement to divert attention from the scam," Prasad added. Within an hour of the BJP press conference, Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the BJP was "perturbed" and that "they did not answer whether or not Modi took money". He sought a probe, but added: "CBI cannot probe the Prime Minister." While not demanding Modi's resignation directly, Surjewala cited the example of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who had resigned when the office of profit issue came up in 2006, and Advani resigning following allegations of his involvement in the infamous Hawala scam. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has announced Israel is willing to take in an treat Aleppo wounded, women and children, and men too if it can be established that they are not combatants. The Prime Minister has instructed the Foreign Ministry to begin seeing how the nation can expand its assistance in the form of treating the wounded. During a New Years toast event for the foreign media on Tuesday, 20 Kislev, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated We see the tragedy of terrible suffering of civilians and Ive asked the Foreign Ministry to seek ways to expand our medical assistance to the civilian casualties of the Syrian tragedy, specifically in Aleppo where were prepared to take in wounded women and children, and also men if theyre not combatants. The Prime Minister went on to explain that while Israel may not be able to resolve the war in Syria, it can mitigate some of the suffering. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The Knesset vote to oust MK (Arab Bloc) Basal Ghattas is on the docket for Tuesday, 21 Kislev. Ghattas reportedly smuggled cell phones and SIM cards to security prisoners (terrorists) imprisoned in Ketziot Prison in Israel. When questioned by police, he told them he was unaware there were SIM cards in envelopes he was carrying, stating he thought they contained political material, nothing more. As a result of this case, the Knesset House Committee convened to discuss the case and heard a Shin Bet recommendation to prohibit MKs from visiting imprisoned security prisoners. The Shin Bet made the recommendation to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan. The ban would include visiting Jews imprisoned for security offenses as well as Arabs. Ghattas continues to call the case against him a political witch hunt. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Seven laws will be going into effect in Israel on January 1, 2017 including an additional vacation day and new Bituach Leumi investment law. 1. The national minimum wage will increase to NIS 5,000 monthly. This represents the third incremental increase since the law was passed in December 2014. The fourth and final incremental increase is set for the end of 2017, at which time minimum wage will be NIS 5,300 monthly. 2. The Bag Law: Nylon bags will now cost 10 agorot instead of being free as has been the case to date in the hope of curtailing their use. The funds generated will go to a special Environmental Affairs Ministry fund. The charge for bags will not apply in supermarkets or grocery stores. The law hopes to curtail the use of plastic bags which reached 274 bags per person in Israel, totaling an astounding 1.28 million plastic bags annually. 3. The new compulsory Bituach Leumi savings plan for children will begin, resulting in NIS 50 of a childs monthly allowance being placed in a bank account until the children reaches 18. Parents will have the option of increasing the sum deposited monthly but they will not be permitted to lessen the sum. A sum of NIS 1,000 will be deposited as well, retroactive from May 2015 to December 2016. 4. Salaried workers will be entitled to an additional vacation days. The bill was sponsored by MK (Kulanu) Rachel Azariya, resulting in two additional days annually with the first introduced in July 2016 and the second now. Workers employed up to four years in a place of employment working five days weekly earn 12 days of vacation annually instead of 10. Workers employed six days a week will be entitled to 14 vacation days a year instead of 12. 5. Tax rate change. Persons earning up to NIS 20,000 gross monthly will pay less tax while those earning NIS 60,000 or more monthly will pay more tax. The amount saved for mid and lower range wage earners will depend on ones income and it will range between NIS 30 to NIS 150. Those earning over NIS 60,000 monthly will be paying an additional NIS 200 monthly in income taxes. 6. Self-employed persons will be compelled to set aside pension plans. There are 210,000 self-employed people in Israel. 40% of the self-employed do not have pension plans but a formula has now been set into place for a mandatory minimum pension plan for self-employed individuals. 7. Opening tenders: rating systems for internal tenders in civil service will be eliminated. Instead, the process will be extended to use inter-office tenders and possibly public tenders. At the same time, there is a change in procedures regarding employment of students in civil service to enable them to compete for jobs in the civil service upon completion of their studies. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky and Minister of Education and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett on Tuesday night 20 Kislev, spoke to Jewish children and teenagers on three continents in celebration of the new government-established Week of Strengthening the Connection to Diaspora Jewry. The conversation, which took place in The Jewish Agencys situation room in Jerusalem via videoconference, centered on the connection between Israel and the Jewish world and involved students from five schoolsGolda Ochs Academy in West Orange, New Jersey; the Arthur I. Meyer Jewish Academy in Palm Beach County, Florida; the Begin Interdisciplinary School in Tzfat; the Merchavim Regional School in Merchavim, Israel; and Ulpana Noga in Beit Shemeshas well as campers at a Bnei Akiva summer camp in South Africa, where it is currently summertime. The students are all connected to one another via The Jewish Agencys Global School Twinning Network, which pairs Israeli schools with Jewish schools throughout the world. 650 schools are currently connected through the program, touching the lives of tens of thousands of Jewish young people on six continents every year. Mr. Sharansky said: Israel and the Jewish world are attached and dependent on one another in the two great Jewish battles of our generation: the battle against assimilation for the sake of the Jewish peoples future, and the battle against delegitimization for the sake of the State of Israels future. We will prevail only if we work together, in full cooperation, and it is important that that conversation start amongst schoolchildren. The Jewish Agencys Global School Twinning Network is an initiative that I was proud to promote four years ago. It started with three schools and has grown to 650. I hope that striking growth continues until all schoolchildren in Israel and the Jewish world are connected and in dialogue with one another. Minister Bennett said: I am pleased to see the success of The Jewish Agencys Global School Twinning Network, which strengthens connections between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. I am Minister of Education for Israeli students, but as Minister of Diaspora Affairs I also feel a sense of responsibility for the education of Jewish students around the world. I see great importance in strengthening the ties between all Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora. We are one big family. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) [PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] Seventeen Sifrei Torah have been donated to Israel Prison Authority facilities around the country as well as hospitals and government offices. The Sifrei Torah arrived in recent months as part of a project to save Sifrei Torah in Europe, some from the death camps and other from now-abandoned kehillos. Since WWII many shuls have been abandoned or destroyed and this program, which is in cooperation with the Menorah NGO, has arranged for close to 20 Sifrei Torah and over 900 tashmishei kedusha. The Seforim this week were placed in Israel Prison Authority facilities, hospitals, and government offices including the Foreign Ministry. Taking part in some of the events was Minister of Religious Affairs (Shas) David Azoulai, who was at a Beersheva facility receiving one of the seforim. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: via Media Resource Group) The mayor of New Jerseys largest city is calling for state officials to fire a Department of Labor employee accused of pulling a Muslim womans hijab off her head and throwing it on the ground. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says the unidentified Employment Services worker mocked a womans faith at the citys One-Stop Career Center Dec. 5 before snatching her hijab. Newark police arrested the employee and banned him from the business. Baraka says thats not enough. The mayor believes prosecutors should have charged the man with a hate crime. Hes asked U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman to investigate the incident. A Department of Labor spokesman says the employee has been suspended without pay and the state agency is pursuing his termination in accordance with department policy. (AP) President Vladimir Putins spokesman is voicing hope that Donald Trumps administration will improve relations between the U.S. and Russia. Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that a dialogue with the United States has been frozen on practically all levels. Peskov told Mir TV that the Kremlin expects the new U.S. administration to take a fresher and more constructive approach, while cautioning against excessive optimism. He warned that Washington would be unlikely to reverse such moves as the deployment of NATOs forces near Russian borders. Peskov added that any U.S. president will protect American interests, as Russia defends its own. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby responded by saying that the dialogue has continued despite differences, stressing that diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues. (AP) Angered by skyrocketing drug prices, a pair of senators on Wednesday urged Congress to block companies from cornering the market on old, off-patent drugs. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., released findings from a year-long investigation into companies like Turing Pharmaceuticals, which generated national outrage last year after increasing the price of a life-saving anti-infection drug by more than 700 percent. Committee investigators concluded that Turing and several other companies engaged in price gouging to make massive profits from decades-old life-saving therapies. The lawmakers, top members of the Special Committee on Aging, presented similar findings at three hearings over the past year. The 131-page report comes as lawmakers and pharmaceutical executives try to gauge President-elect Donald Trumps interest in government intervention to curb rising drug prices, a leading health care concern among patients. While campaigning, Trump said he would support efforts to allow Medicare the massive government health plan for seniors to directly negotiate drug prices with manufacturers, a step long opposed by the pharmaceutical lobby. That policy does not appear among the health care proposals currently outlined on Trumps website. It does outline a policy allowing importation of cheaper drugs from foreign countries like Canada, another proposal opposed by drug-makers. Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday. The committee report draws similarities between the tactics of companies like Turing and Valeant Pharmaceuticals and investment firms that profit by buying under-valued stocks and pushing up prices. Investigators note that Turings former CEO, Martin Shkreli, and several other executives probed by the committee previously worked at hedge funds. This may help explain why these companies may have been run more like hedge funds than pharmaceutical companies, states the report. Shkreli stepped down as the head of Turing after prosecutors charged him with securities fraud late last year. Valeant is the target of more than 10 government probes, plus multiple shareholder lawsuits. Company spokespeople did not immediately respond to inquiries. An AP analysis published last month found that congressional investigations have had little effect on drug prices. A review of nearly 30 brand-name and generic medications targeted by Congress including those probed by the Committee showed that most have not budged since coming under federal scrutiny. Many pharmaceutical companies increase prices annually as a matter of doing business. But the drastic increases profiled in the report helped turn drug pricing into a national issue, reverberating from late-night television to the campaign. The tactics seemed to confirm some of the publics worst fears about pharmaceutical companies: that they are more Wall Street-driven investment vehicles than actual makers of medicines. Weve got to find ways to increase competition for medicines and ensure that patients and their families arent being gouged, said McCaskill. McCaskill and Collins call for several legislative steps intended to increase price competition, including giving priority review to drugmakers that develop cheaper versions of drugs that are only available from a single company. Elsewhere, lawmakers favor short-term importation of drugs in shot supply to help bring down U.S. prices. To prevail, any proposals to lower prices would have to overcome the pharmaceutical industrys pervasive influence on Capitol Hill. Drugmakers and related health businesses spent more than $385 million on lobbying last year, more than any other industry, according to the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. (AP) As a result of his decision to once again caucus with the State Senate Republicans, NY State Senator Simcha Felder continues to be the target for some liberals angered by President-Elect Donald Trumps victory over Hilary Clinton. Last month, the State Democrats issued a statement attacking the Senator. Any Democrat who joins with Donald Trumps Republican Party enables his continuing assault on immigrants, women, people of color, people of different faiths and our shared American values, said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats. More recently, a group calling itself SD17 Jews Against Trump urged Senator Felder to change his mind and stand with the State Democrats. On Wednesday, December 21, the group showed up at the Senators office with a petition signed by about 65 individuals who said they live in the Senators district (Senate District 17). A spokesperson for the group said that her group is vehemently against the President Elect and the New York State GOP for a variety of reasons, and that the Senator should not stand with them. A handful of the petitioners remained outside the Senators office on Avenue J where they held up their signs Jews Against Trump. This prompted others on the Avenue to admonish the protestors. This is outrageous, said one woman. Im a Jew who is for Trump, and what youre doing is disgusting. I have to do whats best for my constituents, explained Senator Felder. While I appreciate that some of my constituents may feel differently, I have also found that the majority of those who have contacted me about who I caucus with are not disappointed by my decision. This has nothing to do with President-Elect Trump, the Senator continued. For the last four years, Ive caucused with the Republicans because, irrespective of party affiliation, I never give up on trying to do whats best for the people I represent. Parties are not a religion. I wont be intimidated by those who feel differently. (YWN Desk NYC) A federal board responsible for protecting Americans against abuses by spy agencies is in disarray just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will have only two remaining members as of Jan. 7 and no Democrats even though it is required to operate as an independent, bipartisan agency. The vacancies mean it will lack the minimum three members required to conduct business and can work only on ongoing projects. Trump would have to nominate new members, who would have to be confirmed by the Senate. The board was revitalized after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowdens disclosures on the scope of U.S. spying in 2013. It notably concluded that the NSAs phone surveillance program was unconstitutional. (AP) One of Donald Trumps advisers says the president-elect is no longer interested in his rallying cry drain the swamp. Im told he now just disclaims that. He now says it was cute, but he doesnt want to use it anymore, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in an interview that aired Wednesday on NPR. Gingrich, a vice chairman of the transition team, also predicted there would be constant fighting over Trumps efforts to reduce the influence of lobbyists and Washington insiders. Trumps aides say he remains committed to his underlying swamp-draining policies, such as banning outgoing Trump transition and administration members from lobbying for five years. Trump also prohibits any lobbyists from joining his transition team or administration unless they de-register. President-elect Trumps ethics reform policies are full speed ahead, transition spokesman Jason Miller said. Were going to change the way business is done in Washington and start putting the American people first. Yet Trump aide Corey Lewandowskis decision to open up a consulting shop just a block from the White House shows that insiders will continue to play a role in the Trump administration. Lewandowski, who was Trumps first campaign manager, and former Trump adviser Barry Bennett have formed a government relations and political consulting firm and are pitching their ties to Trump as they seek clients. Lewandowski has been a fixture at Trump Tower in New York as the president-elect forms his administration. But because he never had an official transition title, he doesnt run afoul of Trumps ban on transition officials going on to lobby the government. Its also not clear if Lewandowski will register as a lobbyist. For Trump voters who had hoped he would shake up Washington, those may be irrelevant distinctions, said Meredith McGehee, chief of policy, programs and strategy at the government reform group Issue One. Drain the swamp is one metaphor. I have another metaphor for this Lewandowski move and thats business as usual,' she said. Its hard to describe hanging out your shingle close to the White House after serving in the campaign as anything other than exactly the kind of insider access and influence that many Americans thought they were voting against. Lewandowski decried the role of Washingtons ruling class which he is now joining in a February interview with Steve Bannon, then the executive chairman of the conservative news site Breitbart. Bannon went on to become a Trump campaign executive and is headed to the White House as chief strategist. What you have is a series of people whove made a very, very good living by controlling politicians through their donations and making sure they get the legislation done or not done in Washington, DC, to best benefit their clients, Lewandowski said. And those days are coming to an end. In his new position, Lewandowski is cashing in on his Trump ties. Everybody knows he will have access to the president, McGehee said, and if you pay him enough, he will use it on your behalf. Drain the swamp' became a staple of the final month of Trumps campaign, with crowds chanting it as loudly as they had been shouting build the wall and lock her up. The slogan also appeared on T-shirts and signs. It has remained part of Trumps post-election thank you tour. Whether in Ohio or Florida, the crowd continued to shout along with the president-elect as he vowed to curtail corruption in Washington even as he revealed that he wasnt always crazy about the catchphrase. Funny how that term caught on, isnt it? Trump mused during a rally this month in Des Moines, Iowa. I tell everyone, I hated it. Somebody said drain the swamp and I said, Oh, that is so hokey. That is so terrible.' I said, all right, Ill try it, Trump continued. So like a month ago I said drain the swamp and the place went crazy. And I said Whoa, whats this? Then I said it again. And then I start saying it like I meant it, right? And then I started to love it, and the place loved it. Drain the swamp. Its true. Its true. Drain the swamp. Gingrich told NPR that as the incoming president, perhaps Trump feels that he should be marginally more dignified than leading crowds in lock her up and drain the swamp chants. Gingrich said he supports Trumps ethics reform proposals. (AP) by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times As students of Jewish history know, Jews have lived under three very different groups of Christians. When the Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, Christianity was soon to split in half. The Byzantine Empire, which lasted another thousand years after the fall of Rome, developed into the Eastern Orthodox church. The Roman Catholic Church also developed independently and soon began to wield significant temporal power as well. Only in the latter sixteenth century did a non-Catholic third type of Christianity emerge from the western church, inspired by Martin Luther. Jews, for centuries a weak minority in the exile, have had to navigate their way between these three different types of Christianity. THE PRINTINGS OF SHAS In the mid-sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church set its eyes upon blocking the Talmud and began its program of systematically burning copies of it. Notwithstanding the technological advances brought about by Guttenberg and his press, the printing of Shas was limited and curtailed. But the Torah Jew would not give up. Jews were aware that in the former Byzantine Empire, the Talmud could still be printed and they utilized the Shas that their Byzantine brethren now under the Ottomans were printing in the presses of Salonika and Constantinople. Soon though, opportunity opened when Polish kings defied the hand of the Polish Church, and the Shas was allowed to be published in the city of Cracow. It was published twice, and unedited by the Catholic Churchs censorsin 1602-1605 and 1616-1620. The Chmielnicki massacres soon took place, but within the next century a further edition of the Talmud was published in Amsterdam. Two more editions were printed in Germany, now that the Germanic lands were no longer under the control of the Catholic Church. THE SLAVUTA SHAS Jewish history and Jewish Talmudic study continued to flow. The Chassidic movement was born, and soon the Pale of Settlement developed. A new edition of Shas was to emerge. The Slavuta press founded by a son of Rav Pinchas of Koretz, a prominent Talmid of the Baal Shem Tov, at the turn of the century in the Ukraine, arose. His name was Rabbi Moshe Shapira and three editions of the Talmud ensued. Rav Pinchas Koretz was a descendant of the Megaleh Amukos, and his son too was steeped in in-depth study of the Talmud. Slavuta was in the Ukraine between the Chasidic capitals of Lvov and Kiev. Rabbi Shapiras printing of the Talmud Bavli in Slavuta also included the Yerushalmis tractate Shkalim in 14 pages. Shkalim is the only tractate missing in the Moed section of the Bavli. The Slavuta edition was wildly popular, among a large population of fervently observant Russian Jews. THE COMPETITION A Litvish press, however, emerged in Lita. The Romm Press soon published the Vilna Shas, and a fierce competition developed. The Shapiras claimed that the Romm printing house was in violation of Hasagas Gvul. They had received a Rabbinically approved special license to be the sole publishers of the Talmud for 25 years. Rabbonim on both sides issued rulings and letters. The competition was to last for well over a century, even past the life span of the original Slavuta printing house. Oh, and by the way, the Romm edition had 21 Blatt for tractate Shkalim. How did the Slavuta Press close? A worker in the printing house, a bookbinder was found dead by the Russian authorities. It is said that this bookbinder had reported to the Russian authorities that the printing house had printed material that the government had not sanctioned. There are two versions one has it that he was found hanging in the Shul in Slavuta, by apparent suicide. Another version has it that he had fallen in the Slavuta Press and hit his head and died. Regardless, the Shapiras were taken into custody and tortured severely by the Russians. [As a parenthetic note, the Steipler Gaon once related to a friend of this author that the bookbinder who had hung himself was the son of a once childless couple, Chasidim of the Shpoler Zeyde, who had received a bracha from Rav Pinchas MiKoretz to have children. The Shpoler Zeidy refused to give the couple a bracha. Ironically, the Steipler pointed out, the two owners who were informed upon were the grandsons of Rav Pinchas MiKoretz.] In 1836, the Czarist government closed all Jewish printing houses in Russia save two: One in Vilna and one in Zhitomir. The Shapira children and nephews rented the printing house in Zhitomir and were back in business by 1847 completing the printing of Shas in 1864. Romm completed another edition two years later, in 1866. The competition was in high gear. THE BIRTH OF AGUDAH In the early 20th century, after Germany had conquered sections of Poland from Russia, the German government asked some of its German Jewish citizens for advice and assistance in now to administer such sections as Warsaw, now under German control. One such expert was Ludwig Haas, a Reform Jew and member of the German Reichstag who had succeeded in doing away with traditional Jewish education and implementing far-reaching reforms in education in his hometown of Baden Germany. The Polish Rabbis were very concerned and reached out to the Orthodox Jews of Germany for advice and help. Somehow, the German government appointed two Orthodox Jewish experts to assist them, Rabbi Dr. Pinchas Cohn and Rabbi Emanuel Carlebach. These two individuals, of decidedly non-Chasidic lineage, reached out to Polish Jewry and helped them organize. Rabbi Dr. Cohn was able to befriend Haas and changes began to take effect. Thus, Agudath Israel in Poland, started by two decidedly non-Chassidish Jews in Germany and backed by the Gerrer Rebbe and others, was born. Agudath Israel of Poland was a remarkable experiment. It combined the organizational and logistical talent of German Jewry of pure Ashkenazic temperament with the masses of voters that Chassidish Jewry would bring to the table. Soon Agudath Israel of Poland morphed into a political party in the newly formed Second Republic of Poland. It began to take an active role in ensuring that the secularization processes that existed in Russia and in Germany did not develop in Poland too. The Knessiah Gedolah held in Vienna, Austria, featured an idea by a cousin of the Shapiras, an idea embraced by none other than the Chofetz Chaim himself. THE DAF YOMI Rav Meir Shapiro introduced the idea of Daf Yomi. And in its initial form, it too included tractate Shkalim. But which version? Would the Agudah sponsored program adopt the litvisha Romm version of 21 blatt, or the Chassidish version of 14 blatt? At first the answer would seem to be obvious. Poland was teeming with burgeoning numbers of Chassidic Jews. The founder of the Daf Yomi, Rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Chochmei Lublin, was a cousin of the Slavuta/Zhitomir owners. So, yes, the Daf Yomi had 14 blatt allotted for Shkalim. Of that, there was no question. But soon, the Nazis ysh devastated Poland, wiping out more than 90 percent of Polish Jewry more so than in any other country. A half century after the very first Knessiah Gedolah had passed. Polish Jewry was no more. The once mighty Yeshiva of Chachmei Lubin was now gone, and its building was now used by the medical school in Lublin, Poland. And tractate Shkalim? In an era before the Artscroll Schottenstein and the Mesivta Gemorah, 14 blatt was just too much. In 1975, after seven cycles, the Daf Yomi Commission of Agudah, I am told with the approval of the Chassidish Gedolim, changed Shkalim to 21 blatt. The change was initially resisted by some of the former students of Yeshiva Chochmei Lublin, but to no avail. Slavuta had lost its final battle. The author can be reached at [email protected] THE RISHUMEI AHARON (VOL. I 92 pages and Vol. II 45 pages, beautifully arranged and typeset by Machon Daas Zkeinim in Lakewood, NJ) was written by Rav Aharon Felder zl, a Talmid Muvhak of Rav Moshe Feinstein ztl. by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times Rav Felder was the Rav of Congregation Bnai Israel in Philadelphia and was the son of Rabbi Gedaliah Felder zl from Toronto. A responsa to Rav Felder appears in Igros Moshe YD Vol. IV #43. Rav Felder spent 14 years with Rav Moshe Feinstein and spent much time with him. Rav Felder was a renowned expert in the laws of Gittin, and was often consulted upon in matters relating to Gittin such as the spelling of specific English names. Below are some psakim of Rav Moshe Feinstein ztl found in the second volume of the Rishumei Aharon. Rav Felder passed away in early May of 2014. Orech Chaim It is permitted to wash hands in our modern bathrooms in order to recite Asher Yatzar, but not to do so for any matter of Kedusha such as before Tefila or before a meal. Hair implants are not considered a Chatzitza (interpolation) for Tefillin. One can attach the Tefillin not next to the box of Tefillin by tying it with a string. One may blacken Tefillin at night. Someone who pronounces words in an Ashkenazic pronunciation may switch to Sefardic when he acts as the Shliach Tzibbur and the same is true in reverse. Alos HaShachar is always 72 minutes before sunrise in New York City. Misheyakir is about 35 minutes before sunrise. It is better to daven without a monyan after sunrise than to do so with a minyan at dawn. If, however, the minyan is davening after misheyakir (35 minutes before sunrise) then doing that is preferable to davening alone. When one builds a shul on a condition (such as allowing food to be eaten there) the consition should be presented before a Beis Din (p. 19 OC Volume). If gentiles came and abused the Sefer Torah of a synagogue, the members of the synagogue should fast a half day. Rav Felder relates that even if a person was eating Pizza as a meal, if he was eating one slice the blessing is mezonos; 3 slices the blessing is haMotzi; and two slices are a doubt. [RYH: According to this, Rav Moshe is holding like the TaZ 168:20 that this would not be considered Pashtida and not like the Magain Avrohom 168:44 a chiddush since most Poskim do rule like the Mogain Avrohom]. Another huge chiddush that Rav Felder seems to be saying Rav Moshe held is that even when eating a shiur kvias seudah for most people if it is done aray [occasionally] the blessing is still Mezonos [RYH See MB 168:23 for these halachos in general]. This is a remarkable position. Rav Moshe held like the Aruch HaShulchan permitting conversation after Mayim Achronim and not like the Mishna Brurah (See Siman 181). One should recited the blessing of Oseh Maaseh Breishis when seeing Niagara Falls (see OC Siman 228) One should refrain from doing a medical procedure on Friday [if it can be avoided RYH] because it could lead to chilul Shabbos (See OC Siman 248). Single girls should not light Shabbos candles with a blessing because the essential custom was only enacted for married women. There is the further issue of our current electric lights making it a possible bracha levatala. This is not a problem for married women because the Takana was made for them (see OC Siman 263). On Sukkos one should not use a Sukkah with fabric walls (p. 45) [RYH: Most people presume that this is because they flap in the middle more than three tefachim. They further suggest that the walls were secured in middle with an additional string, Rav Moshe would have permitted it. However, Rav Felder explained that Rav Moshe was against it because in Shulchan Aruch 630:10 it states that it is good to place wooden slats across it.] Yore Deah In regard to the laws of Bishul Akum, a gentile is not believed to forbid the food by saying that the pilot light was extinguished and he relit it. The food remains kosher and we assume that the fire kept burning unless it is known otherwise some other way (p.34). Rav Feinstein further ruled that ideally one should not rely upon a Jew having previously lit the pilot light. This should only be relied upon for a short period of time (p. 35). [Rav Felder explained to this author that Rav Feinsteins concern was that people might forget about Bishul Akum.] Potatoes, in modern times have the status of an important food and are subject to the strictures of Bishul Akum (ibid). Soy beans are not considered an important enough food to be subsumed under the prohibition of Bishul Akum (ibid). There is no bitul in shishim (negation in sixty times the ratio) regarding that which is forbidden to eat because of danger, such as fish and meat (ibid). [This is actually a dispute between the Shach and TaZ in YD 95:3. Most Poskim (See Chsam Sofer YD 101, Yam Shel Shlomo Chulin #15, are lenient like the Shach.] If someone had adopted a stringency because he believed that this was the opinion of his Rabbi, and subsequently was informed that this was not his opinion, there is no need for a hataras Nedarim, undoing the oath (p.60). At a separate time, Rav Feinstein explained that a handshake is like a Neder an oath (ibid). A person should never take his father or mother to a Din Torah (p. 61). [This is also a Sefer Chassidim #584. It would also seem that the same ruling would apply to taking ones Rebbe to a Bais Din RYH]. It is forbidden to buy and sell unkosher commodities (p.36). [Thus pork-belly trading is a no-no.] If someone wishes to study in Israel and it is a time of perceived danger he must ask his parents permission to study there. Someone in Kollel must also ask his in-laws, for even though there is no full obligation to accord them honor like parents it is forbidden to cause them anguish (p. 61). When there is a hachnasas Sefer Torah, and the Sofer really finishes the Sefer Torah, but the wealthy donors think that they are writing the letters there is no deception involved here. The money they have donated is considered to be full Tzedakah. Insurance money paid for a Sefer Torah that was destroyed does not have Kedusha to it, and may be used for other purposes. (p. 65). It is denigrating to a Sefer Torah to take a photograph of it unless there is a good reason for it (p. 67). In regard to Pidyon HaBen Halachos (the laws of redeeming a firstborn son), it seems that a typographical error has entered into Rabbi Felders text. On page 69, it states that the child of a Bas Kohain or Bas Levi with a gentile does not require a Pidyon HaBen. However, in Shulchan Aruch it states that if it is a Bas Levi it does not require a Pidyon, but the child of a Bas Kohain with a gentile does require a Pidyon HaBen. There is an obvious error here. Rabbi Felder clarified the typo and stated that Rav Moshe was ruling on a case where both parents were Jewish, but the mother had become disqualified from marrying a Kohain prior to the birth of the child, but after the child was conceived. In that case, Rav Feinstein had ruled that child is still exempt from requiring a Pidyon HaBen. Back in the laws of family purity, Rav Felder quotes Rav Moshe as forbidding a Kesem that was found on colored garments if it was the Yom Havest (p.48). [This author (RYH) believes that this is an extremely controversial ruling, as the Shiuri Shaivet HaLevi 190:10:3 HaYom writes that only Baalei Nefesh are stringent in this regard, and Rav Elyashiv permits it altogether.] Even HaEzer In a Kesuvah (marriage document), if the word Vkaninah was left out entirely, one may write the word in, but the witnesses must sign the Kesuvah again. If however the line of the kuf in the word vkaninah was left out, it may be filled in with no need for the witnesses to sign again (p.77). There is no need to separately rent the Yichud room, because this is already included in the hall rental. [The husband must take his wife into his own residence owned or rented by him in order to fulfill a Yichud required for marriage]. When there is a great need it is permissible to arrange a Get by means of a video this is preferable to a telephone. This is only on condition, of course, that they are 100 percent certain that it is indeed the husband. [Although Rav Moshe ztl passed away long before Skype it would seem to this author (RYH) that this leniency would apply to Skype too]. When there is a great need, one may give a Get up until fifty minutes after Shkiya (presumably with the date on the previous day). [In this authors view (RYH) this ruling seems to be extremely controversial]. Choshain Mishpat If someone printed a book without the permission of the owners, it is permitted to purchase it from the publisher the entire while that an injunction has not been issued. The reason is that there is an assumption that the owner is not adamant (p.91). If a car was sold with the specific mileage on it stated, and the odometer on a car was tampered with, even if the seller was unaware of it, the sale of the car is invalid. If the seller made no mention of the mileage and the seller was unaware that the odometer was tampered with, the sale is valid (p.86) When a charitable institution conducts a raffle and they forgot to place one persons ticket in it, they are not obligated to refund the money since his main intent is for charity (p.86). [It would be a good question as to whether this applies to Chinese Auctions as well. In this authors experience, peoples main intent is the possibility of winning and at the very least it would seem likely that one should ask the person. By the same token if it is a high stakes raffle, such as a limited sales one and each ticket is $50 or $100, it would seem likely that keeping the money may constitute theft RYH]. When parents purchase a car for their child, they still have the right to place restrictions and conditions on its use after they gave it to him. The rationale is that it is not a matana gmurah, a complete gift (p.87). [Editors note: One has to wonder how the child could have asked such a question were there so many takers back in the seventies when this was asked? Hopefully, it was the parents who posed it as a theoretical question]. Regarding the laws of Mekach Taus (erroneous sale), if someone sold a house with a faulty boiler and the purchaser was unaware of it, the sale is still valid. The reason is that there is no Onaah in regard to landed properties. It is, however, forbidden to knowingly mislead a buyer in such a situation (p.86). It is permitted to call the police on a thief who is Jewish, and there is no halachic issue of Mesirah. For it is impossible to allow the state to become completely lawless (p. 91). Rav Felder ztl was a tzaddik and Talmid Chochom who will be sorely missed. The author can be reached at [email protected] President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday called for a U.N. Security Council resolution that would halt Israeli settlement activities to be vetoed. As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations, Trump said in a statement. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis. The Security Council will vote on the resolution, drafted by Egypt, on Thursday. It calls for Israel to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and labels the existing settlements a flagrant violation of international law, according to the Times of Israel. The resolution also says that the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-state solution and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) The Israeli woman in her 60s missing in the Berlin marketplace attack, Mrs. Dalia Elyakim HYD from Herzliya Pituach was found dead on Wednesday, 21 Kislev. Earlier in the day she was listed as missing. The husband, Rami, was walking with Dalia when the terrorist rammed a truck into the crowd. Rami was seriously injured and remains in a local hospital. Their children, Ohr and Chen have flown to Berlin. Responding to the announcement of Mrs. Elyakims death, President Reuven Rivlin stated, I received with great sadness the news of the death of Dalia Elyakim in the horrific terror attack in Berlin. From here I send my sympathies and offer strength to her family who are by the bedside of her husband Rami, who was seriously injured in the attack, and we pray for his speedy recovery. We will remain united and determined in the face of this murderous terror which strikes across the world, and we will fight relentlessly against extremism and hatred. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The United Nations Security Council on Thursday 22 Kislev, is scheduled to vote on an Egyptian resolution demanding an immediate halt to all construction in all settlements. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu used twitter to get out his message The US should veto the anti-Israel resolution in the UN Security Council Thursday. Israel Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon called the resolution absurd, adding it will do nothing to advance peace but it will be a prize to the PA (Palestinian Authority) for its ongoing incitement and acts of terrorism. He called the UN hypocritical, citing at thousands of people are being massacred in Syria, this is what the security council is concerned with, construction in Israeli communities. He added I hope Israels greatest friend, referring to the United States, will not permit the resolution to pass. There is speculation and concern in Israel that with a few days remaining in the outgoing presidents term in office, President Barak Obama may not veto the bill, rather permit it to pass. Other opine that America has always remained true to Israel in matters such as there, using its veto power to prevent the passage of unjustified anti-Israel resolutions in the Security Council. According to a Walla News report, based on a senior Israeli official meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry, the Obama administration will not use its veto authority to prevent the resolution from passing in the Security Council. Some view this as Obamas last opportunity to do something against the settlements. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) [VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the heinous vandalism attack against the tziyun of Rav Nachman ZTLin Uman. In his comments on Wednesday evening, 21 Kislev, the Prime Minister conducted a video chat, during which he spoke with Yuval, instructing him to contact Ukrainian authorities to address the attack and take the appropriate actions. The Yuval could have been the director-general of the Foreign Ministry, Yuval Rotem, or possibly; Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Mr. Netanyahu. Truth be said, the phone call and instructions to Yuval appeared more like a media stunt, but nonetheless, the Prime Minister did instruct the individual to contact the appropriate authority and explains that as a partner in the tziyun, Israel is not willing to tolerate such attacks. It has since been reported that Sifrei Kodesh, paroches, and carpets soaked up the blood that was spilled by attackers who also placed a pigs head RL in the tziyun. It is added that the red substance poured on the tziyun was first said to be paint but is not reported to have been blood. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) A Middleton man caught on camera spraying the acronym "TCK" on property in the Langdon Street neighborhood on Wednesday was arrested and his cans of spray paint confiscated. Nicholas Sgrignoli, 28, was arrested on a graffiti charge, Madison police said. A resident in the area told police the suspect was using green paint to spray the letters TCK on a building, and responding officers also found similar tagging on garbage cans and other property. "By using city surveillance video, an officer was able to follow the suspect into a Langdon Street apartment building," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "He (Sgrignoli) was found and arrested." Sgrignoli allegedly told police he felt rebellious when asked about his daytime tagging activity. And TCK? "He explained it stood for "The Corrupt Kingdom," a club or society he and a buddy formed some time ago," DeSpain said. "It has something to do with role-playing games." The Kosel Heritage Foundation reportedly told the High Court of Justice that it is not opposed to permitting chareidi Women For the Wall to submit their response as a respondent in the case. Women For the Wall (WfW) contacted the Rav of the Kosel and Holy Sites Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, asking to respond to the court as well since they feel the actions of the Women of the Wall will negatively impact them as frum women wishing to daven at the Kosel. The heritage foundations legal advisor, attorney Erez Ben-David has accepted the request, including the WfW response to the High Court in the pending matter of the egalitarian prayer area at the holy site. The WoW and others siding with them did not object to permitting the chareidi women to respond, leaving the determination to the justices hearing the case. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Former President Moshe Katsav was released from prison on Wednesday afternoon 21 Kislev, after the state announced it was not going to appeal the parole boards decision to permit his early release. It was Katsavs third request filed with the parole board, and he finally succeeded in being released early for good behavior. Katsav, who served five years of his seven-year sentence after being convicted for assaulting women, was released on good behavior. His wife Gila and brother Lior were waiting for him when he left Massiyahu Prison. Mr. Katsav will have to continue participating in the rehabilitation program designed for him by the prison authority, which includes daily Torah shiurim in his home community of Kiryat Malachi along with weekly meetings with a psychologist and social worker. The former president may not speak with the media and others may not speak on his behalf. He is also prohibited from serving in any post that includes having female subordinates. Some public officials feel the early release is a disgrace, explaining someone of his stature convicted of such heinous crimes should be compelled to serve the entire sentence. In addition, womens rights activists descried the decision to grant the early release. The prison authority explained its job is to determine if the prisoner meets criteria for early release, which Mr. Katsav did. The authority does not feel responsible to consider the fact he is a former president but to limit its decision to the factors that govern ones release. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The NYPD, FBI and Homeland Security released a joint security bulletin Wednesday ahead of the New Years Eve celebration in Times Square. The bulletin says there is no information to indicate a specific, credible threat to or associated with the Times Square New Years Eve 2017 celebration in New York City. But it went on to say, however, we remain concerned about unaffiliated lone offenders and homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) targeting the event. The bulletin cited the recent terror attacks in San Bernardino, Orlando, and Nice, France. Law enforcement and members of the public were urged to be vigilant. An estimated one million people are expected to gather in Times Square to watch the ball drop. (Source: WABC) Warnings from two Republican lawmakers that the University of Wisconsin Systems budget could be affected if UW-Madison does not cancel a planned course on racism amount to an unconstitutional attempt to stifle free speech, according to a national anti-censorship group. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which tracks campus speech policies at colleges and universities across the country and criticizes efforts to limit First Amendment rights, said the statements this week from state Rep. Dave Murphy, R-Greenville, and Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, threaten academic freedom. Of course, legislators like everyone else are free to criticize academics as they see fit, but using ones power as a government official to crack down on speech is the very definition of censorship prohibited under the First Amendment, Joe Cohn, the groups legislative and policy director, wrote Wednesday. Nass and Murphy have called for UW-Madison to cancel the course, planned for the spring semester, titled The Problem of Whiteness. The course will explore white identity and the role of white people in dismantling racist systems, according to UW officials. But Nass and Murphy say the class is inappropriate and a waste of money. They both called for UW-Madison to cancel the course, and said administrators handling of it could affect how the lawmakers evaluate the UW Systems request for increased funding in the next state budget. Murphy on Tuesday called for the professor leading the course to be fired over posts on social media in which Murphy said the faculty member, Damon Sajnani, condoned violence against police officers. Murphy said he disagreed with Cohns characterization that he was threatening to withhold funding for the university system, and said his comments were more about encouraging UW to build goodwill with lawmakers and the public. You cant ever cut the taxpayers out of the equation they have a right to have a voice also in discussions about the universitys courses, Murphy said. Nass office did not respond to a message seeking comment Thursday morning. The anti-censorship organization which often draws praise from conservatives who warn of what they call restrictive campus speech policies put in place by left-leaning academics countered that it was inappropriate for lawmakers to try to shut a course down because they disagreed with it. Cohn warned that letting legislators exercise veto power over course content they dont like would lead to a politicization of education in which conservative faculty could be silenced in liberal states, and liberal professors would face the same in conservative areas. Academic freedom and the quality of education provided to students suffers immensely when faculty are not free to decide their own content, Cohn wrote. Hopefully, the Legislature will drop these misguided and even unconstitutional threats. They say a week is a long time in politics in which case six months locked out of Whitehall could seem like an eternity. That will certainly be the case for Deloitte, the accountancy giant which is used to taking vast streams of income from the Government, but which this week had to accept a half-year ban on getting new contracts. It may irk David Sproul, the 2.8million a year boss of Deloitte but will it really harm the firm? After all, this is a group that has survived toxic ties to Sir Fred Goodwin, the MG Rover scandal and even a lawsuit over its audit of a bank that funnelled money to drug barons and Hezbollah. Deloitte, the accountancy giant which is used to taking vast streams of income from the Government, was this week had to accept a half-year ban on getting new contracts It will take a lot to put the brakes on Deloitte's fee machine. It raked in a record 3billion of revenues last year, more than 824million of it from audits it checks the books for around one in four FTSE 100 firms. Its partners made an average of 837,000 each last year. The latest embarrassment was caused by senior partner Keith Leslie, who penned a memo claiming divisions in the Cabinet were undermining preparations to leave the EU. It suggested the Government would need to hire an extra 30,000 civil servants to handle Brexit. How embarrassing, particularly as the top man, Sproul, was vocally pro-Remain, and because Deloitte made millions of euros out of the EU last year. According to Christian Stensrud, a research fellow at thinktank Civitas, Deloitte was involved in 45million of EU auditing and consulting in 2015, making at least 24million. Brexit might mean some of that dries up. But Deloitte is ideally placed to make money anyway, not least by offering advice to worried clients whose fears it helped stoke in the first place. Some may find that hypocritical. But in the world of the big accountancy firms, profits come way ahead of principles. Deloitte is at the centre of a nexus of elites that dominates British business. Far from being a bunch of crumple-suited number crunchers, their sleek City partners play an important but largely unscrutinised role in national life. Their hidden hand exerts an influence over everything from banking to tax policy to Brexit and that influence is not always benign. GIANT THAT MAKES 3BN Deloitte began when, in 1845, William Welch Deloitte developed an anti-fraud accounting system to protect investors in the Great Western Railway He opened an office in Basinghall Street, London, and then one in New York in 1880 Business really took off in 1900 when new 'income taxes' heralded the age of the accountant Over the years the firm goes through several mergers to grow to become one of the world's largest In 2015 it was fined 3m for its role in the collapse of MG Rover In August 2016, Deloitte's Middle East operation is sued for negligence and deceit for its audit of Lebanese Canadian Bank Worse, thanks to ineffective regulation and a misguided view they are too boring to do any harm, Deloitte and its rivals are rarely called upon to answer for their conduct, so they ply their self-serving agendas with impunity. Prem Sikka, professor of accounting at Essex University says they are guilty of duplicity. He says: 'Even if the top accountants opposed Brexit, they still see it as a rich source of income. It is sheer hypocrisy. The firms are looking to shape Brexit policy to their own ends, on areas such as tax. They will cash in on a post-Brexit world.' Indeed. Deloitte sponsored the relentlessly pro-Remain CBI's conference this year. Critics say the relationship between the Government and Deloitte and its fellows is far too close. 'The accountancy firms have far too many tentacles,' says author and financial expert Ian Fraser. 'They inveigle themselves into the policymaking process through secondments, by writing reports and memos, offering free services to both the Government and to the Opposition, and of course the revolving door of appointments.' Deloitte was guilty of one of the worst instances of this when it took on former top taxman Dave Hartnett as a consultant in 2013, only ten months after he retired from HMRC, where he had been widely criticised for doing 'sweetheart deals'. These allowed the likes of Starbucks and Vodafone then audited by Deloitte to avoid millions in payments to the public purse. In fairness to Deloitte, it was not the only offender. The committee of MPs who investigated the role of the large accountancy firms in tax avoidance three years ago found all were too cosy with the Government. The chummy relationship, they said, 'creates a perception' that the firms 'wield undue influence on the tax system that they use to their own advantage'. Even more unfortunate was the firm's chumminess with Goodwin, an old boy of Deloitte. Goodwin qualified as a chartered accountant in the early 1980s at Touche Ross, which later merged with Deloitte. One of his first acts when he became chief executive of RBS in 2000 was to appoint his former employer to audit the bank. This was to prove highly lucrative for Deloitte. In 2007 alone, the year before the bank's collapse, it received more than 31million. Deloitte has been banned from getting new contracts after senior partner Keith Leslie penned a memo claiming divisions in the Cabinet were undermining preparations to leave the EU Its supposedly eagle-eyed personnel, however, did not issue any warnings of the lender's imminent collapse. 'The RBS accounts for 2007 have since been proven to be wildly inaccurate,' says Fraser, author of Shredded: Inside RBS, The Bank That Broke Britain. 'The lack of professional scepticism with which Deloitte audited the bank was breathtaking.' Deloitte said it is confident it fulfilled its responsibilities as an auditor of RBS and satisfied that its work was thorough. But its experts are often found wanting. David Sproul, to take just one example, delivered doom-laden forecasts on Brexit, predicting that there would be a slowdown in the economy in the second half of this year. In fact the UK outperformed many other developed economies. Deloitte even survived toxic ties to shamed ex RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin Aside from the RBS nightmare, Deloitte's worst botch-up was at the collapsed car maker MG Rover. The Midlands car firm went into administration in 2005 with debts of 1.4billion and more than 6,000 job losses, five years after being bought by a group of entrepreneurs known as the Phoenix Four for a token 10. Deloitte was fined a record 14million in 2013 over conflicts of interest because it simultaneously acted for the car company and for the Phoenix Four, who made millions from the deal. The penalty was reduced to 3million two years later. Whatever Deloitte's shortcomings, its well-paid partners can be sure of one thing: the punishment will never be too harsh. The Big Four accountants have a stranglehold on auditing Britain's top companies, and therefore the Government cannot afford to let any of them go out of business. House arrest: Israel's richest man Beny Steinmetz Two mining bosses have been arrested in a corruption probe which has embroiled British mining giant Rio Tinto. Israel's richest man tycoon Beny Steinmetz and his associate Asher Avidan have been detained on suspicion of bribing government officials in the west African nation of Guinea. It is the latest twist in a long-running saga between bitter rivals Rio Tinto and Guernsey-based firm BSG Resources over contracts awarded at an iron ore mine in Guinea. Steinmetz was put under house arrest in Israel on Monday. Israeli police also arrested ex-government official Avidan, formerly a top executive at BSG Resources, which was founded by Steinmetz and for which he is now an adviser. Ironically, BSG had launched a multi-million pound lawsuit against Rio over claims that it had bribed officials. This followed the sacking of two Rio bosses last month after the firm discovered evidence that 8.4million had been paid to a middle-man at the time mining contracts were being awarded. BSG claims this back-hander prevented it from winning the mining contract and as a result lose out on millions of pounds in revenue. The two giants have been battling for years to get their hands on the Simandou mine. It is able to produce up to 7 per cent of the world's iron ore needs for more than a quarter of a century. The war over mining contracts dates back to 1997, when Rio Tinto was awarded exploration rights for four blocks in Simandou. Two of those blocks were taken back by the government in 2008, which said Rio was not developing them fast enough. The blocks were assigned to BSG, which later sold 51 per cent to Vale. But early in 2014, the new Guinean government concluded BSG had got the blocks through corruption which it denied and stripped the company of the rights. The government then signed an agreement with Rio Tinto and its Chinese partner Chinalco to develop the two southern blocks. The saga took a fresh twist in November, when Rio contacted authorities saying the mining rights might have been won by paying a middle-man. It had become aware of emails from 2011 that referred to a payment of 8.4million to a consultant advising on the project. It has since been alleged that the company's lawyers were aware of the correspondence more than one year earlier. Two executives, Alan Davies and Debra Valentine, were sacked following an internal investigation. BSG claimed this meant Rio had 'intentionally caused BSG a loss by unlawful means'. Rio said its lawyers would respond to the 'accusations and claims' adding: 'If BSG ultimately brings a claim, Rio Tinto expects to defend itself robustly.' Rio is now selling its entire stake in the Simandou project to its partner Chinalco, for up to 1billion. Referring to the arrests this week, a BSG spokesman said: 'We confirm that Beny Steinmetz, an adviser to BSG, has been detained for questioning in Israel. 'This development is in the aftermath of ongoing and what BSG believes to be obsolete investigations against BSG, which were initiated by the government of Guinea since 2011 to expropriate its assets. Addressing fire safety Living in San Diego County, the threat of fires is constant, that is why I have made fire safety one... Supporting animals As a trained Project Wildlife Native Songbird Rehabilitator, my experience raising orphaned and injured songbirds and returning them to the... A sweeping plan drawn up in Wisconsins Republican- controlled Legislature would scatter Department of Natural Resources parks, forestry, environmental, hunting and fishing programs among three existing agencies and two new ones. The proposals sponsor provided scant specific reasons for seeking the change except to say he wants to help business operators and outdoors enthusiasts who have told him the DNR is just not working in its current form. But the director of the states largest federation of outdoors groups said breaking up the DNR would endanger outdoor recreation, escalate costs to taxpayers, and further weaken the states faltering protections for air and water quality. It wasnt clear Wednesday if the plan would find support in the Legislative session that starts next year, but a spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker said Walker sees it as worth considering. Republicans have periodically tried to split DNR recreation programs away from its pollution-control functions, but theyve fallen short, in part because two of the departments main constituencies outdoors clubs and environmental groups have found a common cause in resisting. We all at some point have common interests in terms of the protection of the environment, said George Meyer, a former DNR secretary who now directs the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation. Those who are not friends of conserving the environment want to split the department. The DNR fisheries program that stocks streams works best in close cooperation with the DNR offices that do research on aquatic life, protect shorelines, manage parks and recreation areas and regulate water pollution, Meyer said. But the DNR breakup proposal would place fisheries in a new Department of Fish and Wildlife while water pollution regulation would be housed in a Department of Environmental Protection, and parks would go to the Department of Tourism, according to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo. Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection would get the DNR forestry division, which is aimed at sustainable logging practices that protect wildlife habitat, including aquatic life that is susceptible to erosion and runoff. And the Department of Administration would be responsible for the stewardship land acquisition program that supports hunting, fishing and water quality protection. The fiscal bureau memo said there would be no immediate cost increases, but Meyer predicted the new departments would double the number of top executives pulling in $100,000 a year or more. Within a year or two there would also be higher pay for top managers in the tourism department and DATCP where managers would have hundreds of additional employees to supervise, Meyer said. Walker disclosed the proposal Wednesday in one of a series of wide-ranging year-end interviews with news organizations. Meyer and others noted the timing of the disclosure was odd given the DNR just three weeks ago announced a major reorganization that agency leaders said had been demanded by elected officials. In August, Walkers office told the Wisconsin State Journal the governor wasnt pursuing a breakup of the DNR. The statement came as the DNR, with little explanation, postponed the reorganization. DNR officials told agency employees the reorganization would make the department more efficient and help the agency defend itself from further rounds of budget cuts at the hands of elected officials who said it had strayed from its core mission. 67 merger may be undone If the DNR is split up, Republicans will have one agency they can feed and one they can starve, former DNR secretary Scott Hassett said Wednesday. They like to feed fish and wildlife, and starve environmental protection. Wisconsin merged its wildlife conservation and pollution control agencies into the DNR in 1967 as way to make state government more efficient. Republicans have attempted to undo the merger several times. In 1999 and 2001, GOP lawmakers claimed that hunting and fishing license fees were being misspent but audits have concluded the money has properly gone to conservation wardens, land acquisition and wildlife-related purposes. In support of his proposal to split up the DNR, Jarchow on Wednesday repeated the notion that license fees arent being used properly. Once split, the agencies can focus on their mission one on growing and promoting our sporting heritage and one on effectively and efficiently protecting the environment, Jarchow said in a statement emailed to reporters. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos couldnt comment on Jarchows proposal because he hadnt been briefed on it, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald wasnt available, their offices said. MBABANE It will not be a dark Christmas after all following that employees of the Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC) have resolved to go back to work. They have even assured customers that they will be working during the holidays. This was confirmed by an executive member of the Swaziland Electricity Supply Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (SESMAWU), who commented on condition of anonymity during an interview yesterday. The member said workers had returned to work and those who would be on duty on Christmas would go to work. He said Christmas would be a normal day for their members. Christmas is just the same as Saturday and Sunday to us and the situation will be normal, said the member of the executive. Meanwhile, the SEC Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager Sifiso Dhlamini yesterday issued a press statement stating that they had reached common ground with SESMAWU and as a result, all members of the union would resume their normal operations countrywide. Following extensive engagement between the two parties the sit-in strike, which started on December 20, 2016, has been called off and all the employees returned to work on December 22, 2016. The parties have agreed that the laid-down structures in the Industrial Relations Act be utilised to resolve the impasse, said Dhlamini. Ultimatum On Wednesday, the SEC management had issued an ultimatum to its employees through a memo signed by the acting Managing Director, Meshack Kunene. In the memo, the management called upon all employees to abandon the unlawful strike action and resume normal duties before 1.30pm on Wednesday. I was bemused by Sunday's letter to the editor "Third-party voters to blame for Trump." Various media outlets have differing opinions about the Russian hacking, the Electoral College and uneducated blue-collar whites. When will people admit Hillary Clinton didn't present a message that resonated with middle America? Or that the Democratic National Convention process of arranging of the selection of their preferred candidate didn't generate the necessary excitement to bring a majority of Democrat Party voters out in states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania? Bernie Sanders won Wisconsin by a significant margin in the primary, and he also won in other states where the DNC "superdelegates" had already cast their votes in favor of Clinton. Citizens have every right to vote for whoever they choose, and many voted third party because their conscience did not enable them to vote for one of the major party's offerings. At the end of the day, the candidate who won a plurality of votes in the majority of the states won the election, as is required by the Constitution. Those who lost the election should engage in some self-reflection, as opposed to putting the blame on others. Mike Henry, Edgerton Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Merle Exit Hanukkah or Chanukah (we have been wandering for many years in search of the correct spelling) is the winter holiday commemorating the restoration of Jewish worship at the temple of Jerusalem when Judah Maccabee led the revolt against the Seleucid Empire in 164 BCE. Judah was called Maccabee, a word composed of the initial letters of the four Hebrew words Mi Kamocha Baeilim Hashem, meaning: Who is like You, G-d. Having conquered, Maccabee obtained a menorah to serve as a memorial. A small amount of olive oil was used, and expected to burn for one day. Instead, the menorah burned for eight days, and to remember this miaracle, this Hebrew year of 5777, Chanukah begins on the evening of the 24th of December (Kislev). With the exception of the High Holy Days, Jewish holidays tend to follow the same pattern: We fought, we won, we eat. Which traditional foods are served on this Hanukkah? Think of it as consuming the eight days of oilstarting with fried pancakes called latkes. Most common are the potato latkes that combine raw grated potatoes with onions, eggs, and flour (or matzo meal), a traditional Ashkenazi classic. Why do we grate the potatoes? To remind us of our suffering, of course! You can certainly bake them, but it tastes so much better fried in oil. Lets go to our matzo maven Hal Simon, general manager of Bens Kosher Deli in Bay Terrace, who started working there at the age of 16 at its first location in Carle Place, L.I. He tells me that latkes are always made with potatoes. However, they can be prepared with other added vegetables such as zucchini, spinach or sweet potato. Looking at other countries ideas shows that Israelis, for instance, make theirs using meat. Great for those meat and potato lovers. Another tradition is kugel, or pudding using either potatoes or wide noodles (lokshon). Potato kugel is like having a huge baked latke. Noodle pudding is prepared two ways: sweet or savory. The savory version combines noodles, eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, and butter. Oy, the cholester-oil! Butter makes the noodles crunchy along the bottom. One sweet version uses less butter and adds sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and raisins, usually served cold. It was Herbert Hoover who suupposedly promised a chicken in every pot, but Bens took it seriously. Half of a boiled chicken, noodles, a large matzo ball, peas, carrots, and meat kreplach (dumplings) are actually served in a pot. Bens cures their tongue and corned beef on the premises. It takes two weeks to do this, Hal said. Then, of course, theres brisket (uncured corned beef), pastrami and turkey. But dont kvetch if you find that the food isnt salty enoughHal says that you can always add salt. Bens does have desserts of pastries and a few other goodies, but not sufganiyah (fried jelly donuts). According to Gil Marks, author of The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Polish immigrants brought ponchiks, as they called them, to Israel along with the custom of eating them on Hanukkah. In Israel, however, ponchiks soon took the name sufganiyah (sufganiyot plural), from a spongy dough mentioned in the Talmud, sofgan and sfogga. In 2009, about 18 million sufganiyot were consumed in Israel in the weeks before and during the holiday, or about three doughnuts per Israeli, with the Isreali Defense Force alone purchasing around a half million that year. About 70 percent of all sufganiyot consumed are stuffed with jelly, but a number of other fillings have become popular, including halva, creme espresso, chocolate truffle, and numerous exotic flavors. Jelly doughnuts in Brazil are commonly filled with dulce de leche (a milky caramel), which recently also became a popular Israeli filling, known as ribat chalav in Hebrew. American Jews have adopted the sufganiyah, although most tend to stick to the old- fashioned jelly fillings and a confectioners sugar dusting. I got some latkes to go to make your own noodle pudding at home. Noticing that I did not have anything similar to cottage cheese, I made my own using whole milk. I heated it up to an almost boil and dropped in some fresh lemon juice. Cheese goes to the top, whey to the bottom. Drain through a cloth, and now you have fresh cheese. Fish, particularly salmon, is neutral or pareve. A combo of smoked salmon, chopped hard boiled eggs, capers, chopped onions and tomato would suffice as an appetizer. In fact, you can have that, schmooze with your friends or family for an hour, and then indulge in Bens traditional delights. Back to Hal, who told me that Chinese restaurants arent the only ones open on Christmas Day. Although the restaurant is considered to be kosher, they are not closed on the Sabbath. That means that you can dine there on the first day of Hanukkah. Check the website for specials that may have nothing to do with the holiday. Hey, you dont have to be Jewish to love latkesall year round. (correcting story to say Bens Kosher Deli in Bay Terrace) Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry The founder of an Elmhurt-based Christian non-profit had been trying to visit with the 30 homeless men living at the Maspeth Holiday Inn Express since the city moved them in Oct. 10. When Lester Lin, 33, was told volunteers from City Mission could spend time with the residents one day last week, he made sure they would not go to the hotel emtpy-handed. Lin and several high school students from the Maspeth area got to work preparing care packages containing hats, gloves, toiletries and holiday greetings. As the City Mission group waited in the hotel lobby on the afternoon of Dec. 15, only a handful of the residents arrived to meet them. I was surprised when I was told the rest of the men were still at work, Lin said. These men have full-time jobs and many of them have held them for more than a decade. These are middle-class people who cant afford to live in New York City and they end up in shelters. Its horrible. And for the men in the Maspeth hotel, it was worse as they were subjected to protests each weekend in front of the hotel for nearly a month, until the Maspeth-Middle Village Task Force voted to stop the rallies on Dec. 2. Lin said the damage was done. One resident, Tyshem Gordon, told me the racket of them banging pots and using sirens would keep him awake, and he works the night shift, Lin said. And when he would leave to go to work, hed use the back door to avoid problems and sneak to the front to catch his bus. People can be so judgmental and wrong. I think when I see people that have no voice and no one sticking up for them, I want to defend them. And empower area youth at the same time. Ryan Chang, 16, of Middle Village and Alfred Chan, 17, of Elmhurst, were in charge of handing out the care packages and they exchanged pleasentries, handshakes and hugs with each of the residents. Theres been a lot of protests and we just want to make sure they feel supported, Ryan said. The two high school students are members of City Mission, the organization Lin started in 2014 in Elmhurst after his neighbors rallied against homeless families the city had moved into the Pan American Hotel. Several of the protests involved racial epithets exchanged by the mostly Asian homeowners and the Pan Am residents, who were mainly black and Hispanic. Lets just say Elmhurst didnt put its best face on during those protests, especially our Asian community, Lin said. I knew I had some work to do to mend fences and help these people. What began with a simple barbecue for families living at the Elmhurst shelter in a nearby church parking lot in that summer of 2014 has grown into a youth movement with monthly events and holiday parties in numerous shelters and hotels across the borough. As Chan handed a gift to one of the residents at the Holiday Inn Express, Ryan said, We wanted to give back a little because we know how hard things have been for you. Later, he said, I just hope they feel a bit of love, especially at this time of year. Mission accomplished. Its amazing and Im overwhelmed by these kids and their Christmas spirit. It really says a lot about this community, Carl Brennan, 49, said. Brennan worked as a hair stylist for 30 years before he broke his neck in a car accident and can no longer raise his arms. I didnt pay attention to those nightly protests that were held here, he said. I figure they didnt understand that we are a lot of great people and they think we are just derelicts who dont want to work and thats just not the case at all. Steven, from Brooklyn, lost his home after it was declared unsafe from water damage and has not found affordable housing despite his full-time job at JCPenney. Ive seen those protests every night and I have to say this reception is a lot nicer, he said. Its very nice of them to take the time for us. Real nice around Christmas. Tyrone Burton, 52, lost his home in Jamaica when his relationship broke up. He was also unable to find affordable housing despite having a full-time job at Macys for 16 years. Its really tough out there, he said. I just cant afford $1,200 for a little studio apartment, and I cant imagine what a one-bedroom apartment would cost, but I keep looking. Burton said the city is not warehousing the men as the protesters have charged. Its actually OK here, he said. Its a place where I can sleep, take a shower and get back to work until I can afford to get my own place. Steven said he never had any contact with the shelter protestors. They had a drone follow me once, but no ones ever approached me, he said. We all work here, were all just trying to get out of here and get back on our feet. Lin and several City Mission volunteers went back to the Maspeth Holiday Inn Express for a second visit over the weekend. We helped them work on their resumes and we had a photographer shoot portraits of them, he said. Then we showed them how to use the photos to set up there own LinkedIn profiles. It was great. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry Following intense pressure from civil and human rights organizations and New York states attorney general, the Obama administration Thursday moved to dismantle a dormant national registry program that was once used to track mostly Muslim and Arab men. Created by the Bush administration following the Sept. 11 attacks, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System was established to monitor travelers from a list of countries, almost all of them Muslim. While President Obama suspended the program in 2011 by removing all 25 countries from its list, critics feared the regulatory structure remained intact and could be used by the incoming Trump administration to revive the registry. On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman called on Obama to dismantle the NSEERS program, writing that it did not reduce terrorist activity, undermined trust in law enforcement and instilled fear in some communities. We cant risk giving President-elect Trump the tools to create an unconstitutional religious registry, Schneiderman said in a separate statement. On Thursday morning, the Department of Homeland Security ended the program with an immediate effective date, according to a DHS spokesman. This is a win for civil rights and for smart, effective law enforcement as well as for the strong coalition of advocacy organizations and others who fought to dismantle this discriminatory tool, Schneiderman said in a statement. My office will continue (to) do everything it can to protect the rights of all New Yorkers, and ensure equal justice under the law for all, regardless of religion or national origin. Mayor Bill de Blasio commended the Obama administrations decision to dismantle NSEERs. The program was a failed counterterrorism tool, was highly discriminatory and led to widespread fear and needless dislocation of families across the United States, de Blasio said. New York City is proudly home to one of the largest Muslin communities in the country. If NSEERS were reinstated, roughly 28,000 New Yorkers would likely be required to register, with devastating consequences for immigrant families and other members of our community who would face greater fear, uncertainty and exclusion. The Department of Homeland Security took important steps to end the program in 2011 and now the president will finish the job. DRUM, the Jackson Heights-based organization that led low-income Muslims and South Asian communities organizing against NSEERS in 2002, delivered a petition with over 350,000 signatures last week, demanding the Obama administration rescind the program before the Trump inauguration. The NSEERS program forced over 83,000 people to register, over 13,000 were put in deportations, and yet zero number of people were found to have any connection to violent activities, DRUM Director of Strategy Roksana Mun said. What these numbers dont show are the extent of devastation and disruption in the lives that were left behind. What these numbers do show is a program that used egregious racial and religious profiling to engage in mass deportations of entire communities. DRUM member Mohammad Jafar Alam, a survivor of the original NSEERS program in 2003, was one of the individuals from groups across the country to deliver the petition to the Department of Justice on Dec. 12. I know exactly what a program like NSEERS does to a person and their family. The extreme mental, emotional distress, the financial problems, the pressures on a family and the isolation that happens is a punishment not for just one person, but everyone involved, he said. We commend the Obama administration for responding to our call and ending this program. German authorities triggered a Europe-wide manhunt Wednesday for a rejected asylum seeker suspected of involvement in a deadly truck assault on a Berlin Christmas market claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. Officials said the suspect, 24-year-old Tunisian national Anis Amri, had already been under investigation for planning an attack, in a development certain to fuel public outrage. Asylum office papers believed to belong to Amri, alleged to have links to the radical Islamist scene, were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that rammed through the crowd, killing 11. The twelfth victim, the hijacked truck\s driver, was found shot in the cab. Prosecutors released a European wanted notice with two photos of the dark-haired, brown-eyed suspect and offering a reward of 100,000 euros ($104,000) for information leading to the arrest of Amri, who they warned "could be violent and armed". Tunisian anti-terrorism police were questioning Anis\ family, a security official told AFP, as another source said he had been arrested several times in Tunisia for alleged drug use. He fled to Italy after the 2011 revolution that overthrew longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and spent three years there before travelling on to Germany, the source said. "When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldn\t believe my eyes. I\m in shock, and can\t believe it\s him who committed this crime," his brother Abdelkader Amri told AFP. But "if he\s guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists we have no dealings with terrorists." The interior minister of Germany\s North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing "a serious act of violence against the state," Jaeger said. Prosecutors in Berlin later said that Amri was under investigation for allegedly trying to carry out a robbery to fund the purchase of automatic weapons, "possibly to carry out an attack with accomplices he still hoped to recruit". But after keeping tabs on him from March until September this year, they failing to find evidence of the plot and stopped the surveillance. Amri came to Germany in July 2015 but his application for asylum was rejected this June. His deportation, however, got caught up in red tape with Tunisia, which long denied he was a citizen. The required documents only arrived Wednesday, two days after the Berlin attack, said Jaeger. A conservative lawmaker, Stephan Meyer, told reporters Amri was apparently "known to authorities and belonged to the Salafist-Islamist scene". A previous suspect a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker was released late Tuesday for lack of evidence, prompting fears of a killer on the loose and further rattling nerves in a shocked country. Six of the dead have been identified as German while media reported one of the victims was an Italian woman. Twenty-four people remain in hospital, 14 of whom were seriously injured. The scenes of the attack revived nightmarish memories of the July 14 truck assault in the French Riviera city of Nice, where 86 people were killed by a Tunisian Islamist. The IS-linked Amaq news agency said "a soldier of the Islamic State" carried out the Berlin carnage "in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries". There was no evidence to back the claim, nor did Amaq identify the perpetrator. Germany is part of a US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria. Tunisia is one of the biggest sources of jihadist fighters, with some 5,500 of its nationals believed to be involved in combat in Syria, Iraq and Libya. The Berlin attack comes at a delicate time for Chancellor Angela Merkel who is running for a fourth term in 2017 but has faced strong criticism over her decision last year to open the country\s borders to refugees. The case has inflamed the debate about asylum policy in general, and in particular the speed at which rejected asylum seekers can be deported. Germany this year moved to declare Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia as safe countries of origin, to raise the bar for asylum requests after last year\s record influx of around 890,000 people. But the bill has been stuck in the upper house for months over human rights concerns in those countries. A Polish man, killed with a gunshot, was found in the articulated truck\s passenger seat. The 37-year-old Pole named Lukasz worked for his cousin Ariel Zurawski\s transport company in northern Poland. Zurawski told Polish television he was a "good guy" and said his body showed signs of a struggle with the assailant or assailants including stab marks. An autopsy indicated that the driver was still alive at the time of the attack, the daily Bild reported. Europe has been on high alert for most of 2016, with bloody jihadist attacks striking Paris since last year and Brussels. In Germany, two attacks in July in the southern state of Bavaria were committed by asylum seekers and claimed by IS. SOURCE: AFP Beaver County preparing for robust Election Day turnout As the Nov. 8 midterm election approaches, nearly 114,000 people are registered to vote in Beaver County. WATERFORD A Schenectady man faces misdemeanor charges for obstructing deputies at Momentive Performance Materials in Waterford, according to the Saratoga County sheriff's department. Todd C. Robbins, 43, was arrested Wednesday after police say he physically obstructed deputies directing traffic, the sheriff's office said. Hudson U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants CSX to work with the city of Hudson to enable a $25 million redevelopment project. For two years, the city's Local Development Corp. has been trying to acquire property owned by CSX so it can turn a former factory into a mixed-use facility with residential, retail and office components. Schumer traveled to Hudson Wednesday to support the conversion of the former Kaz warehouse site on Front Street. He said outreach to the railroad has fallen on deaf ears. The parcel is needed to extend the property to the top of Front Street to provide access for businesses and residents, as well as public infrastructure, including parking, roads and sidewalks. Schumer urged CSX to work out a solution with the community. "This proposal is the definition of a 'win-win' it would allow CSX to have its staging area directly next to its tracks and enable the City of Hudson's $25 million waterfront redevelopment project to continue moving forward," Schumer said in a statement. "We cannot allow this project to be further mired down in red tape. We need to break through the bureaucratic morass and get this done so our residents and tourists can enjoy the waterfront and our business owners can enjoy the resulting increased revenue." Rob Doolittle, a spokesman for the railroad, said it's willing to work with the city. "CSX has been in contact with the city of Hudson to discuss the potential sale of a property near the former Kaz warehouse as recently as November," he said in a prepared statement. "We understand the city's desire and are supportive of its goals, however CSX actively uses that property to conduct operations in the Hudson area. "We continue to attempt to identify alternatives that would result in a mutually satisfactory resolution, to help the city meet its goals while allowing CSX to continue providing essential transportation services to customers throughout New York." The CSX property houses a small building that functions as a resting spot and staging area for CSX crews. Schumer said the facility is used infrequently and is a half-block from the tracks. Hudson and its developer, Sustainable Community Associates, have proposed a one-acre land swap, which would replace the CSX parcel with a one-acre parcel located directly on the CSX rail siding. Schumer said this would not only allow the development project to move through, but would enable CSX to house its crews next to the track. The plan would create 67 one- and two- bedroom units. The project would include 24,600 square feet of retail and office space. One potential tenant interested in the site is Hawthorne Valley farm store. Schumer was joined by elected and community leaders as well as the developer. Colonie An assistant principal at Colonie Central High School is being honored as the top secondary assistant principal in New York state. Thomas Kachadurian was selected for the honor by the School Administrators Association of New York State and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. He will be honored at a ceremony in May in Albany, and he is now eligible to be chosen for a national award. "It's an incredible honor I don't think I deserve," he said. "Most of my work is just to help kids achieve their potential. I've always viewed my role as something of a facilitator." In citing the administrator, the association cited his close work with students and to rebuild school pride. Kachadurian founded Raiderfest, an annual, all-day event held on a weekend that draws students and alumni for games, music and food with the proceeds raised going to charity. The event, to be held for the fourth time this year, grew out of a trip a group of students had taken with him to the Making Strides walk of the American Cancer Society. "The kids were just remarking on how electric it was," he said. "They wanted to do something on campus." He saw it as a way to get students to put down their phones and interact with each other, while raising money for a charitable cause. He also works closely with iCARE, a student-created group that focuses on integrity, community, accountability, respect and empathy. Each year, the group works to serve the community. This school year, it embarked on an initiative to focus on poverty in the district, including a bus tour for teachers and staff of some of the places in the suburban community where poor students live. The group began when Jason Neal, now a college student, approached him about creating a group for students who didn't fit in elsewhere, he said. At the same time, the district was doing a survey to identify five words that would guide education at the school. When he realized the words selected resulted in the acronym iCARE, Kachadurian said, he brought the idea to Neal of using that name for the new student group. Kachadurian first started working at the high school in 2002 as an English teacher. He's in his fifth year as an assistant principal. The school administrator said he appreciates the honor but believes it belongs to the students, faculty and parents. "This isn't an award that's about me," he said. "This is an award that represents the greatness of Colonie." tobrien@timesunion.com 518-454-5092 @timobrientu CLIFTON PARK State troopers arrested a 19-year-old Waterford man after an investigation into a sexual abuse complaint involving a 15-year-old girl. Cody Letourneau was charged Wednesday with first-degree sex abuse, a felony, and second-degree criminal contempt, a misdemeanor, one day after the State Police's bureau of criminal investigation in Clifton Park received the complaint. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SARANAC LAKE A longtime Times Union editor has been named publisher of the Adirondack Explorer, a non-profit magazine covering Adirondack Park. Tracy Ormsbee has worked in a variety of Times Union editorial positions since 2002, including as senior editor of features and sports, and executive editor of Times Union magazines. She is also the paper's Sunday editor, and oversees the Women@Work publication and broader network. Ormsbee is also the president of the board of the New York State Associated Press Association. "I am so excited to join the team of the Adirondack Explorer and continue the important work of getting the word out about the Adirondacks through its print publications, websites and social media," Ormsbee said in a press release. "I look forward to getting to know its readers, who have such passion for this beautiful place we all share." She will start March 1 at the Adirondack Explorer, the bi-monthly magazine announced in a press release Thursday, replacing the retiring Tom Woodman. Founded in 1998, the Adirondack Explorer covers events and preservation efforts for the state park. Its online publication, the Adirondack Almanack, is the park's largest daily journal. "In Tracy we have found a creative and entrepreneurial leader, an accomplished journalist in print and digital media, a strong communicator with a passion for community engagement and a long-time lover of the Adirondacks," said Charlotte Hall, chair of the Explorer's Board of Directors. "Building on the Explorer's history of editorial excellence, Tracy is perfectly positioned to lead our growth and expand our impact, both in print and on the web." Ormsbee previously worked as the features editor at the Star-News in Wilmington, North Carolina. Her ties to the Adirondacks go back to her family's camp at Lake Eaton in Long Lake, and she is active in Hamilton County community outreach through her church in Blue Mountain Lake. "Tracy has been a creative and energetic leader in our newsroom, and her oversight of our magazines has brought them new vitality," Times Union Editor Rex Smith said. "We will miss her collaborative spirit, especially, but this role is such a perfect fit for her talents and her goals that we can only wish her well." Ormsbee will join fellow Times Union editorial alumnus Phil Brown, the magazine's editor since 1999. RDownen@timesunion.com - 518-454-5018 - Follow @RobertDownenTU This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate What does a pioneering Ben & Jerry's franchisee, newspaperman and financial writer know about the devil? Quite a bit, at least if Joe Fegan's "The Devil's Room'' is any indication. The gothic horror novel, which combines elements of a sex comedy, political commentary and a good dose of dark Irish folklore, is Fegan's debut novel. And like the characters in the book, all is not what it seems. Fegan is the pen name for Jeff Durstewitz, a onetime copy editor at the Times Union as well as the Buffalo News and Philadelphia Inquirer and former operator of Saratoga Springs' Ben & Jerry's. (He was New York's first franchisee; he grew up with the real Ben and Jerry in Merrick, Long Island). Durstewitz, a Saratoga Springs resident, also has worked as a personal finance writer. His funny, phantasmagoric tale has echoes of his own life and some of the people he's met along the way. "The Devil's Room'' starts with a fairly straightforward premise, albeit one with the makings of horror movie plot. An upstate New York college professor-turned-successful-novelist, Trelawney Smart, moves to rural Ireland to take advantage of the tax break offered to writers residing on the Emerald Isle. He buys an old manor house and quickly discovers a walled-off room that none of the villagers in his picaresque new hometown want to talk about. Ignoring their advice, he takes a sledgehammer and opens the long-closed room, causing, you guessed it, all hell to break loose. We'll leave it at that, but the story takes some interesting turns, along with some subplots about his wife and another long-lost woman from Smart's troubled past. For Durstewitz, the story rings close to home on several levels. He's part-Irish, and admits with a chuckle that his pen name gives him more "Irish cred'' than Durstewitz. Mostly though, the book is an homage to his fiction-writing mentor, a SUNY Oswego writing professor, Campbell Black, who wrote under the name Campbell Armstrong. They kept in touch after college and became friends. Durstewitz said Black had always encouraged him to try his hand at fiction. Fiction writing had worked out exceptionally well for Black over the years, who published a raft of thrillers such as "Assassins & Victims,'' "Jigsaw'' and a novelization of "Raiders of the Lost Ark.'' Black eventually moved to an old Irish manor house to take advantage of that country's tax break for writers. Durstewitz and his family paid Black several visits prior to his death in 2013, and he recalled that the manor had its own gothic mythology, centering on an Englishman who had built the house. As legend had it, he had disrespected the village priest and came home to find the devil in his house, specifically in a walled-off room that actually existed in Black's place. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Such closed-off rooms aren't uncommon in Irish estate homes, Durstewitz noted, and it is said they serve as deterrents to superstitious burglars who fear entering a cursed space. "They never opened the Devil's room,'' he said of the real room in Black's home. "I thought, 'What if they did?' '' "I wrote the novel that I always wanted Campbell to write.'' Durstewitz is also the co-author with Ruth Williams of "Younger Than That Now A Shared Passage From the Sixties," a memoir of living through that era's political turmoil. Self-published, "The Devil's Room'' can be found in Northshire Bookstore and Celtic Treasures in Saratoga Springs, The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza and on Amazon. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU Something I heard said at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall back in October has stayed with me. It was during the ASO's preconcert talk, and composer Christopher Rouse was discussing his Oboe Concerto, which was to be performed in that evening's program. He noted accurately, I'd say that the piece was more romantic and traditional than most of his other compositions. Then he added, "But nobody talks about beauty in new music these days." Music director David Alan Miller didn't let that pass by. Sitting right beside Rouse on stage, he kind of flinched at the remark and interjected, "Well, I do!" Indeed, he does. "Beautiful,'' ''thrilling'' and ''exciting" are words he often uses to introduce new or recent compositions. Better than the talking, though, is the fact he often does present new music that is beautiful, thrilling and exciting. Oh, there are still some clunkers. That's part of the process. But the caliber of composers and the quality of the works has been on the upswing at the ASO for some years now. Encountering one new piece after another is both a challenge and an adventure. It encourages thought, opinion and discourse, which is one of the goals of any art form. It's also a healthy contrast to the more common method of putting together orchestra concerts, which is essentially asking, "What treasured and timeless masterpieces shall we perform now?" This leads me to something else that's been stuck in my craw. New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini wrote a column on Sunday, Nov. 4, titled "Just Why Does New Music Need Champions?" In the piece, Tommasini first takes a look back at the midcentury period when contemporary music was ugly, composers were arrogant and audiences disappeared. I can't argue with that take on history, but it's become a tired refrain. Next Tommasini proceeds to cite a generous handful of conductors, orchestras and ensembles that are doing exciting things with new music. But the whole tone of his argument suggests that those folks are brave, fearless and very rare. Most of his heroes, by the way, are from New York City, that refined environment where music's new frontier is explored. Somebody should invite Tommasini to get out of the big city and come to Troy for the ASO's American Music Festival. If the spring 2017 event turns out to be anything like last year's, then there will be enough new music performed over a few days to satisfy most anyone's appetite. But the bounty of new music and interesting programming in our region isn't limited to the ASO. Here are some examples: The Union College Concert Series has commissioned its first new work in its 40-year history. Next season the Brentano String Quartet will premiere the new quartet written by Matthew Aucoin. The Empire State Youth Orchestra is part of a consortium of groups that's commissioned a new piano concerto from Woodstock-based composer Peter Schickele, operating under the beloved and comical guise of P.D.Q. Bach. "Concerto for Simply Grand Piano and Orchestra" debuted in September with pianist Jeffrey Biegel and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. The local premiere, also with Biegel, is coming next fall. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. This past August, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Philadelphia Orchestra teamed up to commission and debut Michael Torke's "Unconquered," a 30-minute suite honoring the venue's 50th anniversary. Speaking of Torke, he's practically in residence around here. The ASO has another new concerto of his coming in March. And the orchestra's latest CD on Albany Records features Torke's concertos for piano and cello. By chance, I've recently caught two separate broadcasts on Sirius XM of Torke's piano concerto "Three Manhattan Bridges," which leads off that disc. Twice a year for the past 10 years, the Ensemble ACJW has spent a week in residence at Skidmore College and capped each visit with the debut of a new work. The group, which is based out of Carnegie Hall and consists of a revolving membership of young professionals, recently ditched its awkward name. Under the new moniker Ensemble Connect, it returns to Saratoga Springs in February with a premiere by Caroline Shaw. Finally, a word on Sleeping Giant, the composer collective that, in collaboration with Miller and the ASO, shook up our perceptions of Mozart during the past two seasons. One of its members has had a very good year. Andrew Norman received the Grawemeyer Award, an international prize that's both prestigious and lucrative ($100,000). He was also named by Musical America as composer of the year. I could go on. And I plan to, with continued coverage of premieres and of fresh juxtapositions of old and recent works, plus profiles of composers living in our midst. But I hasten to add that novelty isn't enough on its own. The ultimate goal is music that says something, that opens the mind or touches the heart. Rest assured that I'm watching for that as well. Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy. 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. [December 21, 2016] Geoswift Adopts Thomson Reuters Suite of Risk and Compliance Solutions HONG KONG, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Geoswift, a leading provider of cross-border payment solutions between China and the rest of the world has adopted Thomson Reuters risk and compliance solutions Transaction Monitoring with Screening Deployed and World-Check. The selection demonstrates the organisation's ongoing commitment to ensure its business operations meet stringent regulatory frameworks and maintain world class regulatory standards. In recent years, the number of online payment transactions has increased significantly due to the ease of online payments. Together with fast-paced technology trends, this has given rise to a growing market of digital consumers. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, it is estimated that by 2020 ecommerce transaction volumes would reach RMB 43.8 trillion with an annual growth rate of about 15%.[1] As a one-stop cross-border payment collection and settlement solutions to and from China, Geoswift is well positioned to meet the growing demands of China cross-border transactions in key industry segments such as ecommerce, tuition payments and travel. Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO of Geoswift said, "The selection of Thomson Reuters AML solutions provides us the world class capability to fully keep up with global banking standards required by our partners and customers. Most importantly, this investment will give our partners and customers assurance we put compliance and risk management a high priority factor in our service." Thomson Reuters Financial & Risk business offers a suite of powerful detection, investigation and resolution tools for transaction monitoring and takes a scenario-driven, risk-based approach to the challenges presented by money laundering, fraud and market abuse. Transaction Monitoring with Screening Deployed provides a comprehensive global solution that enables Geoswift to process large volumes of transactions quickly and efficiently on a single platform. The solution uses prebuilt risk scenarios to monitor transactions and identify and alert unusual patterns of customer activity that differ from normal or expected behaviour. Combined with World-Check, a source of intelligence on politically-exposed persons (PEPs) and heightened risk individuals and organizations globally, it uncovers and reports risk that may be hiding in customer account transaction based activity. Sanjeev Chatrath, Managing Director, Financial & Risk, Asia Pacific at Thomson Reuters said, "As regulatory demands continue to weigh on financial institutions and corporations, organizations now more than ever need the tools, technology and operations that support customer due diligence - leveraging smart platforms and quality data. We are delighted to collaborate with Geoswift to deliver the required screening solutions their business needs." The selection of Thomson Reuters solutions highlights Geoswift's continued commitment to building a robust regulatory infrastructure to support the growth of cross-border transactions to and from China while maintaining data integrity. To signify Geoswift's seriousness and responsibility in ensuring international compliance standards are embedded in their business operations, Geoswift has successfully implemented compliance training program for their employees across all offices globally. Geoswift aims to enhance their compliance and regulatory standards as it positions for further growth -- efficiently and ethically. About Geoswift Geoswift is an innovative payment technology company connecting China and the rest of the world. The company comprises the world's leading payment technology experts that have a deep understanding of the industry, technology, and global and China monetary policy. Geoswift provides clients with customised one-stop cross-border payment solutions to and from China. Geoswift is relied upon by the world's leading e-commerce companies, most prestigious universities and the largest brands in the travel industry to grow their businesses. Geoswift is an acquirer of UnionPay International in North America, and a long-term partner of many other leading financial institutions. It also maintains 19 currency exchange outlets throughout China. Geoswift is headquartered in Hong Kong with operating offices in Shanghai, London, Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco for strategic and regulatory functions. For more information visit, please visit www.geoswift.com or send in your queries to [email protected] About Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of news and information for professional markets. Our customers rely on us to deliver the intelligence, technology and expertise they need to find trusted answers. The business has operated in more than 100 countries for more than 100 years. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, visit www.thomsonreuters.com. [1] Press release, commercial performance in January-October; http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/article/newsrelease/press/201611/20161101880506.shtml Press Contact: Cognito Prisita Menon / Liz Asri +65 6221 7310 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] Hallmark Health Joins Wellforce The Board of Trustees of Hallmark Health, the parent company of Melrose-Wakefield Hospital and Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford, today voted unanimously to finalize and approve the proposed affiliation agreement with Wellforce, the parent company of Tufts Medical Center and Circle Health (including Lowell General Hospital). The affiliation, which will increase residents' access to high quality, affordable health care in their communities, will take effect Jan. 1, 2017. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005536/en/ "We are excited to embark on this new and important chapter in the history of Hallmark Health. With our Wellforce colleagues we are committed to bringing additional services and resources to patients in our communities for generations to come," said Alan Macdonald, president and CEO of Hallmark Health. "Our staff and our physicians are looking forward to the tremendous collaboration that is about to begin." "With the addition of Hallmark Health, Wellforce physicians and hospitals provide affordable, community-focused care across Eastern Massachusetts," said Norm Deschene, CEO of Wellforce. "Through this broader affiliation, we'll share best practices, new ideas and strategies for better, more efficient health care." The vote by the Hallmark Health Board of Trustees comes after a six-month period of exclusive discussions between Hallmark Health and Wellforce as well as approvals by all of the necessary state and federal regulatory agencies. By entering the affiliation as a third, equal founding member, Hallmark Health maintains significant governance in the organization, equal representation on the Wellforce board and significant oversight of those decisions that impact Hallmark Health services and promote local access to care. "As a member of Wellforce we will be able to provide greater access to services and support the full continuum of care in the most appropriate setting for our patients," explained Macdonald. "We will have better access to academic medicine through Tufts Medical Center here in our communties; we will foster a collaborative spirit to share best practices in clinical excellence; and we will have access to capital to keep our facilities and systems strong and up to date." "Wellforce and its member hospitals and physicians have an exceptional clinical expertise and reputation," said Wayne Wivell, MD, president of the Hallmark Health medical staff. "We are excited to work together with our new Wellforce peers and explore opportunities for clinical integration of services to bring new levels of care locally for the health of our patients and our communities." Wellforce was founded in October of 2014 with the joining of Circle Health and Tufts Medical Center. In just two years, Wellforce has achieved more than $5 million in savings on supplies, services and other synergies for its member organizations. Wellforce organizations have collaborated to bring expert Tufts Medical Center pediatricians, neonatologists, surgeons, ICU specialists and others out of Boston and into the Merrimack Valley. "This great collaboration has not only benefited our local patients, it has also benefited the members of Wellforce," said Jody White, President of Lowell General Hospital. "We have experienced increases in volume and more of the area's sickest and seriously injured people are able to receive care and treatment close to home. More Merrimack Valley patients are selecting Tufts Medical Center over other academic medical centers, ensuring patient care is well coordinated between their community hospital and academic medical center." In addition, the more than 400 physicians in the Hallmark Health physician-hospital organization have also joined the New England Quality Care Alliance (NEQCA), Tufts Medical Center's network of community physicians, which is part of Wellforce. With the new affiliations, the Wellforce System is nearly 3,000 affiliated physicians strong, offers more than 1,000 inpatient beds for those in need and employs 12,000 staff members. "Our philosophy is simple - people should not have to travel to Boston for care they could and should receive in the community. We can bring high level care to them, where they live," said Michael Wagner, MD, President and CEO of Tufts Medical Center. "This new affiliation with Hallmark Health presents an exciting opportunity. We will collaborate with excellent community caregivers and extend our value-based services to people in the northern suburbs." About Hallmark Health Hallmark Health is a coordinated system of hospitals, physician practices and community-based services providing care for communities throughout north suburban Boston. Since its inception in 1997, Hallmark Health has been committed to its mission of providing quality care for its communities and achieving clinical excellence for the patients it serves. The system includes Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford; Hallmark Health Medical Center, Reading; Hallmark Health Medical Associates; Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice; and Lawrence Memorial/Regis College School of Nursing. For more information, visit www.hallmarkhealth.org. About Wellforce Wellforce is the health system formed by Tufts Medical Center and Circle Health in 2014. On January 1, 2017, Hallmark Health will become the third founding member. Wellforce provides hospitals and physicians with a better option for collaboration. Our system brings together the strengths of academic medicine and community care in a model that respects both equally. Our independent-minded, value-driven members are dedicated to providing patients with the highest-level of care when and where they want it. Wellforce includes nearly 3,000 physicians, 12,000 employees, four community hospital campuses, one academic medical center, a children's hospital and $1.7 billion in revenue. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005536/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] Teva Reaches Settlement with Government on FCPA Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., (NYSE and TASE:TEVA) announced today the conclusion of negotiations with the United States government over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Following Teva's voluntary worldwide investigation into business practices, Teva and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC (News - Alert)) have agreed to a resolution to resolve previously disclosed investigations into conduct relating to three countries - Ukraine, Mexico and a guilty plea by the subsidiary in Russia. The resolution includes a deferred prosecution agreement, the implementation of a temporary independent compliance monitor, and previously reserved payments totaling $519 million. The resolution involves conduct occurring in the past, and none of the employees involved in the improper payments are still employed by Teva, including in Russia where the entire leadership team was replaced in 2013. None of the conduct in question involved Teva's U.S. sales. "While the conduct that resulted in this investigation ended several years ago, it is both regrettable and unacceptable, and we are pleased to finally put this matter behind us," said Erez Vigodman, Teva's President and CEO. "Since becoming CEO, I have worked diligently to make our culture of compliance central to everything Teva does. The compliance program that Teva has in place is serious, rigorous, and comprehensive and is designed to protect the company and its subsidiaries against future violations." Upon learning of initial FCPA concerns from both Teva employees and the U.S. government in early 2012, Teva began a voluntary and comprehensive investigation into our global operations, in addition to responding to the government's specific requests for documents and information. Teva engaged independent counsel to assist in the investigation and conducted a global corruption risk assessment and a multi-country survey. Beginning in 2012, Teva accelerated the pace of changes to address these issues by naming a global head of compliance and completely transforming our governance program and processes on every level. This resulted in actions including, terminating problematic business relationships with third parties, separating relevant employees from the company, overhauling the management of several subsidiaries, and ceasing operations in several countries. We have also restructured the company through a new global organizational structure and chain of command that reduces risks. In order to institute a culture of compliance throughout the organization, we have also trained tens of thousands of employees on compliance and anti-corruption measures, protocols and best practices. "The Teva of today is a fundamentally different company," stated Vigodman. "We welcome working with the monitor as an added step in our process to ensure the program we have put in place is working as designed. Teva has a compliance culture that begins with a strong tone at the top, including our executive regional and local management and a culture of compliance that underpins every single business decision that Teva makes." About Teva Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) is a leading global pharmaceutical company that delivers high-quality, patient-centric healthcare solutions used by millions of patients every day. Headquartered in Israel, Teva is the world's largest genric medicines producer, leveraging its portfolio of more than 1,000 molecules to produce a wide range of generic products in nearly every therapeutic area. In specialty medicines, Teva has a world-leading position in innovative treatments for disorders of the central nervous system, including pain, as well as a strong portfolio of respiratory products. Teva integrates its generics and specialty capabilities in its global research and development division to create new ways of addressing unmet patient needs by combining drug development capabilities with devices, services and technologies. Teva's net revenues in 2015 amounted to $19.7 billion. For more information, visit www.tevapharm.com. Teva's Safe Harbor Statement under the U. S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are based on management's current beliefs and expectations and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks relating to: our ability to develop and commercialize additional pharmaceutical products; competition for our specialty products, especially Copaxone (which faces competition from orally-administered alternatives and existing and potential generic versions); our ability to integrate Allergan plc's worldwide generic pharmaceuticals business ("Actavis Generics") and to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition (and the timing of realizing such benefits); the fact that following the consummation of the Actavis Generics acquisition, we are dependent to a much larger extent than previously on our generic pharmaceutical business; potential restrictions on our ability to engage in additional transactions or incur additional indebtedness as a result of the substantial amount of debt incurred to finance the Actavis Generics acquisition; the fact that for a period of time following the Actavis Generics acquisition, we will have significantly less cash on hand than previously, which could adversely affect our ability to grow; the possibility of material fines, penalties and other sanctions and other adverse consequences arising out of our ongoing FCPA investigations and related matters; our ability to achieve expected results from investments in our pipeline of specialty and other products; our ability to identify and successfully bid for suitable acquisition targets or licensing opportunities, or to consummate and integrate acquisitions; the extent to which any manufacturing or quality control problems damage our reputation for quality production and require costly remediation; increased government scrutiny in both the U.S. and Europe of our patent settlement agreements; our exposure to currency fluctuations and restrictions as well as credit risks; the effectiveness of our patents, confidentiality agreements and other measures to protect the intellectual property rights of our specialty medicines; the effects of reforms in healthcare regulation and pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement and coverage; competition for our generic products, both from other pharmaceutical companies and as a result of increased governmental pricing pressures; governmental investigations into sales and marketing practices, particularly for our specialty pharmaceutical products; adverse effects of political or economic instability, major hostilities or acts of terrorism on our significant worldwide operations; interruptions in our supply chain or problems with internal or third-party information technology systems that adversely affect our complex manufacturing processes; significant disruptions of our information technology systems or breaches of our data security; competition for our specialty pharmaceutical businesses from companies with greater resources and capabilities; the impact of continuing consolidation of our distributors and customers; decreased opportunities to obtain U.S. market exclusivity for significant new generic products; potential liability in the U.S., Europe and other markets for sales of generic products prior to a final resolution of outstanding patent litigation; our potential exposure to product liability claims that are not covered by insurance; any failure to recruit or retain key personnel, or to attract additional executive and managerial talent; any failures to comply with complex Medicare and Medicaid reporting and payment obligations; significant impairment charges relating to intangible assets, goodwill and property, plant and equipment; the effects of increased leverage and our resulting reliance on access to the capital markets; potentially significant increases in tax liabilities; the effect on our overall effective tax rate of the termination or expiration of governmental programs or tax benefits, or of a change in our business; variations in patent laws that may adversely affect our ability to manufacture our products in the most efficient manner; environmental risks; and other factors that are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015 and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any additional disclosures we make in our reports to the SEC on Form 6-K. Also note that we provide a cautionary discussion of risks and uncertainties under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015. These are factors that we believe could cause our actual results to differ materially from expected results. Other factors besides those listed could also adversely affect us. This discussion is provided as permitted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005225/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 21, 2016] Morey Named IoT Hardware Partner for Siren Marine's "Connected Boat" Telematics Solution IoT Hardware Solutions Provider Morey announced today it has been named the hardware partner for Siren Marine's next-generation boat monitoring, tracking and security product. Designed "by boaters, for boaters," Siren Marine's suite of monitoring products allow boat owners, fleet operators and boat builders to track a boat's location, receive alerts when critical events occur, access engine metrics and control onboard devices remotely. "The Siren Marine team has been working nonstop to introduce a new, IoT-enabled monitoring and tracking solution for boaters," said Siren Marine Founder and CEO Dan Harper, who spent more than 20 years as a professional yacht captain. "As pioneers of the 'Connected Boat,' Siren Marine is revolutionizing the boat ownership experience by providing boat owners with remote access to critical and timely information about their boats. Our goal at Siren Marine is to bring boaters peace of mind and more time on the water." Siren Marine's monitoring device connects to sensors around the boat and sends alerts to phones, tablets or computers when critical conditions occur, such as water in the bilge, high/low temperature and unauthorized access to ame a few. Onboard devices, including lights or air conditioning can be controlled remotely; and the built-in GPS tracks the position and movement of the vessel. New features include wireless sensors, fleet management, video capture, satellite connectivity, and a National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) interface. Morey is supporting the project through design engineering, production readiness and manufacturing services to bring prototype product designs to market via its innovation center and manufacturing facility in suburban Chicago. The ruggedized hardware and GPS technologies will work together to reliably analyze and transmit data to a user's mobile application to protect the owner's investment, passengers and security. "Morey stands on the promise of bringing innovation to industry and this product line is going to revolutionize the boating experience," said Morey President Dana Morey. "We find it incredibly rewarding to partner with Siren Marine, combining their first-in-market technology offering with our 20 years of wireless hardware expertise." About Morey The Morey Corporation serves as an integrated hardware partner for ready-to-deploy IoT platforms, purpose-built edge devices and hardware-as-a-service solutions to dynamic and demanding markets across the IoT spectrum. Offering a mix of engineering, manufacturing and business solutions to support the design, development and deployment of IoT hardware backed by an industry leading warranty, Morey's solutions are held to the highest standards in quality measurement. With an 80-year history of serving markets such as automotive, medical, industrial and heavy equipment, the company has shipped nearly two million wireless devices worldwide from its 240,000 square-foot production facility in suburban Chicago. Visit www.moreycorp.com for more information. About Siren Marine Siren Marine, a Newport, RI marine technology company, offers unparalleled monitoring and tracking systems for the boating market. Siren Marine's products allow boat owners, fleet operators and boat builders to remotely monitor, track and control all types of boats, avoiding costly damage or loss. Endorsed by leading boat builders and insurance companies, Siren Marine offers owners peace of mind and a more enjoyable boating experience. To learn more about Siren Marine, and its complete line of monitoring devices, please visit www.sirenmarine.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161219005696/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] STEMCELL Technologies Signs Exclusive License Agreement with Cincinnati Children's for Stem Cell-Derived Organoid Technology STEMCELL Technologies Inc. has signed an exclusive license agreement with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center to commercialize its fundamental technology for generating gastrointestinal organoids from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). This agreement grants STEMCELL a license to novel methods for generating organoid models and to develop cell culture media and tools that would enable scientists to create organoids from PSCs in their own laboratories. Organoids are three-dimensional structures, or small clusters of cells representing 'mini-organs', which are grown in a dish. Organoids more closely mimic the complex structure and physiology of whole organs than standard two-dimensional cell culture models. Generating organoids from PSCs allows for an inexhaustible source of tissue, and opens this field to researchers who may not have access to primary tissues from patient biopsies or other sources. The technology licensed from Cincinnati Children's describes methods for generating gastrointestinal organoids, including intestinal and stomach, from human PSCs. These discoveries were developed in the laboratory of Dr. James Wells, Director of the Pluripotent Stem Cell Center at Cincnnati Children's, and are further described in a series of Nature publications (J.R. Spence et al. 2011 and K.W. McCracken et al. 2014). Commenting on the agreement, Dr. Wells said, "There is a tremendous opportunity to use these new organoid models for advancing studies in human development, as well as for applying them in many powerful applications such as disease modeling, drug screening, and for developing therapeutics. I am pleased to partner with STEMCELL given their outstanding reputation for bringing quality research tools to the market." STEMCELL has previously announced key partnerships with pioneering leaders in the organoid research field. Recently, the company signed an exclusive license with the Hubrecht Organoid Technology Foundation (The HUB) for patented tissue-derived organoid technology generated from the laboratory of Dr. Hans Clevers. Additionally, STEMCELL has exclusively partnered with the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences to develop cerebral organoids, or 'mini-brains', as described by Drs. Jurgen Knoblich and Madeline Lancaster. Dr. Allen Eaves, President and CEO of STEMCELL, commented that "This license with Cincinnati Children's will enable STEMCELL Technologies to further expand upon our growing portfolio of products supporting organoid studies, including the recently released IntestiCult Organoid Growth Medium. STEMCELL Technologies is pleased to be the leading organoid company. We are developing world-class organoid expertise, which we will leverage to deliver important, cutting edge research tools to the scientific community." About STEMCELL Technologies As Scientists Helping Scientists, STEMCELL Technologies Inc. is committed to providing high-quality cell culture media, cell isolation products and accessory reagents for life science research. Driven by science and a passion for quality, STEMCELL provides over 2500 products to more than 90 countries worldwide. STEMCELL's specialty cell culture reagents, instruments and tools are designed to support science along the basic to translational research continuum. To learn more, visit http://www.stemcell.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161219005816/en/ [December 21, 2016] SES Delivers Innovative Connectivity to Improve and Save Lives SES (News - Alert) S.A. (Euronext Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) offers innovative solutions to meet global development goals. Internet access is the key to tackling global challenges related to health and education as well as civic and economic empowerment. SES is providing the solution with a global fleet of satellites and innovative applications, as described in its new White Paper "E-inclusion: Satellites are the Answer". This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161219006368/en/ SES Delivers Innovative Connectivity to Improve and Save Lives (Photo: Business Wire) "Internet access has the power to rapidly transform quality of life," the White Paper (News - Alert) states. "In an emergency, connectivity can make the difference between life and death. Connecting a hospital gives it the power to call on the wealth of the world's medical knowledge. Connecting schools brings quality learning material to children regardless of where they live. Connecting key events like elections enhances citizen participation in public life. And connectivity for the agriculture and financial services sectors puts the tools of opportunity in the hands of those that need it most." "SES has built on the strength of satellites to provide borderless connectivity and created a completely global network that reaches 99% of the world's population," the White Paper describes. "A space network is not enough though, which is why SES has deployed a wide range of platforms and applications on the ground that give the power of connectivity to those who need it most." "As governments look for innovative soltions to achieve development goals, SES's powerful collection of reliable e-inclusion services will be there," concludes the White Paper. "From emergency.lu to e-microfinance, each [SES] project demonstrates how satellite technology improves and saves lives." Read the full White paper here: https://www.ses.com/white-paper/e-inclusion-satellites-are-answer Follow us on: Twitter (News - Alert): https://twitter.com/SES_Satellites Facebook (News - Alert): https://www.facebook.com/SES.YourSatelliteCompany YouTube (News - Alert): http://www.youtube.com/SESVideoChannel Blog: https://www.ses.com/news/blogs SES White papers are available under https://www.ses.com/news/whitepapers About SES SES is the world-leading satellite operator and the first to deliver a differentiated and scalable GEO-MEO offering worldwide, with more than 50 satellites in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 12 in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). SES focuses on value-added, end-to-end solutions in four key market verticals (Video, Enterprise, Mobility and Government). It provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, governments and institutions, and businesses worldwide. SES's portfolio includes the ASTRA satellite system, which has the largest Direct-to-Home (DTH) television reach in Europe, and O3b Networks, a global managed data communications service provider. Another SES subsidiary, MX1, is a leading media service provider and offers a full suite of innovative digital video and media services. Further information available at: www.ses.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161219006368/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 21, 2016] UpShot Services LLC Changes Name to JND Corporate Restructuring JND Legal Administration, a management and administration company delivering service lines in corporate restructuring, class action, mass tort, government services and eDiscovery, announced the rebranding and name change of UpShot Services LLC to JND Corporate Restructuring. JND Legal Administration acquired the leading claims and noticing agent based in Denver, Colo. in March to create a new corporate restructuring division. With the name change, clients will continue their engagements with the same client service teams and uninterrupted access to case-specific web sites. "As UpShot Services has become an invaluable part of our growing portfolio of services, we've officially renamed and rebranded the company and its web site to better position it as the corporate restructuring division under the JND Legal Administration umbrella," comments Neil Zola, executive co-chairman and founder of JND Legal Administration. "Our clients will continue to benefit from the top-tier technology-driven claims and noticing services and expertise delivered by our team." UpShot Services was founded by seasoned industry professionals, Travis Vandell and Robert Klamser, who pioneered a new standard of efficiency to serve the administrative needs of cmpanies in corporate bankruptcy. They established the firm to help debtors and their professionals to navigate the intricacies of claims, noticing, balloting and other corporate bankruptcy milestones with easy-to-use, scalable technology and industry expertise. Following its acquisition, Vandell and Klamser were appointed as JND Corporate Restructuring's CEO and president, respectively. They also serve on the board of directors for JND Corporate Restructuring with the founders of JND Legal Administration, Jennifer Keough, Neil Zola and David Isaac. "When we originally founded UpShot Services, our goal and vision was to serve the administrative needs of companies in corporate restructuring with innovative technology-based tools and industry expertise," comments Travis Vandell, CEO of JND Corporate Restructuring. "We achieved that goal, and now under our new name, JND Corporate Restructuring, we are able to deliver the same high caliber services while reaching new goals." About JND Legal Administration JND Legal Administration is a management and administration company delivering service lines in class action, bankruptcy, eDiscovery, government services and mass tort. JND's team of industry veterans is passionate about providing outstanding service to clients. Armed with decades of expertise and a powerful set of tools, JND has deep experience expertly navigating the intricacies of class action settlements, corporate restructuring, eDiscovery, mass tort claims and government services. JND is trusted by law firms, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies across the nation. The company is backed by Stone Point Capital and has offices in Colorado, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Washington and Washington, D.C. For more information about JND, visit www.JNDLA.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161221005942/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] GyanDhan, an Education Financing Startup, Launches an Admission Prediction Tool for Grad School Aspirants NEW DELHI, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- GyanDhan, an education financing startup, has launched a tool to determine a student's likelihood of getting into a particular college. It is expected to help more than 50,000 Indian students applying for higher studies in US every year. The company received a favorable response in a private beta test with a group of students who are looking to go for higher studies next year, and plans to soon expand the tool's reach to cover other countries besides US. Admit predictor model is a great way to start a college search. Narrowing a list of potential colleges is one of the most important decisions for a student and is often a daunting process. Many students and their families, confused and overwhelmed by the challenge, rely on outside assistance to ease the burden. Education counsellors have traditionally been the go-to source for guidance. However, in cases where the counsellors are incentivized by the schools for admits, there is a conflict of interest and in such scenarios the student could end up getting sub-optimal advice. The tool seeks to provide an objective estimate of the chances of a student getting admission to the school of their choice. According to Jainesh Sinha, Co-founder and COO at GyanDhan, "The goal is not to deter students from applying to particular schools when providing admissions predictions, but to st their expectations." He believes that it can also help students in their financial planning, remarking, "If money is a factor in your college search, you should make sure to apply to colleges where you are clearly in the top third to top quarter of the applicant pool. Your odds of getting a scholarship are significantly lower otherwise, and you have to resort to loans and personal savings to fund your education." While there are many online tools that help students get admission odds, Jainesh believes that the focus on data analysis and transparency are what sets GyanDhan's offering apart from the existing solutions. "Most of the online calculators are either based on limited data or merely an extension of subjective opinion. Our admit predictor model is based on past data of over 200,000 Indian applicants. Rather than just listing averages, we also give relative ranking of the student across the previously successful applicant pool. If we don't have a lot of data, we specifically will tell the student that our confidence in that prediction is lower than if we had a lot of data on the college and on the student," added Jainesh. Ankit Mehra, the other Co-founder added, "We are passionate about helping aspirational students fulfill their personal and professional goals. We started a scholarship search and listing platform earlier this year to help students find financing solutions even though we do not get any revenues through that service. The admit predictor model is another step in our aim of making higher education accessible." Since launching operations in May 2016, the company has helped more than 100 students get a total of 27 crores in loans through its platform. The partnership with Axis allowed it to offer a loan product based on the employability score whereby students could apply for loans up to 30 lakhs without any collateral to pursue their higher studies. The company had raised funds earlier this year from a group of angel investors led by the Indian chapter of Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs. When asked about the future outlook, Jainesh had this to say, "We are looking to add 2-3 more financing partners on the platform in the coming months. We are investing significantly in developing our data sciences team and expect to offer financing solutions for the domestic markets in the next 6 months." About GyanDhan: GyanDhan is the trade name of Senbonzakura Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in New Delhi. The company operates an education financing marketplace, http://www.gyandhan.com, which connects students looking for loans to finance their higher education with lenders including leading financial institutions. Media Contact: Ankit Mehra CEO, GyanDhan [email protected] +91-7544945500 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] Genentech's Emicizumab for Hemophilia A Meets Primary Endpoint in Phase III Study Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), today announced that the primary endpoint has been met for the Phase III HAVEN 1 study evaluating emicizumab prophylaxis in people 12 years of age or older with hemophilia A and inhibitors to factor VIII. The study showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of bleeds over time in people treated with emicizumab prophylaxis compared to those receiving no prophylactic treatment. The study also met all secondary endpoints, including a statistically significant reduction in the number of bleeds over time with emicizumab prophylaxis treatment in an intra-patient comparison in people who had received prior bypassing agent prophylaxis treatment. The most common adverse events with emicizumab were injection site reactions, consistent with prior studies. "The development of inhibitors that render factor VIII replacement less effective, or ineffective, is one of the greatest challenges in the treatment of hemophilia A today, putting patients at high risk for life-threatening bleeds and repeated bleeds that may cause long-term joint damage," said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. "We are pleased to see that, in our first pivotal trial, emicizumab prophylaxis significantly reduced the number of bleeds over time in people in this difficult-to-treat setting. We look forward to working with health authorities to bring this treatment to the hemophilia community as soon as possible." "Since the mid-1990's, there have been incremental improvements in the treatment of hemophilia A with inhibitors," said Alain Baumann, chief executive officer of the World Federation of Hemophilia. "The current burden of treatment is significant. WFH is supportive of research that could yield new therapeutic agents and offer a new treatment option for inhibitor patients. Filling this need would be a significant advance in our quest to achieve Treatment for All including those living with inhibitors." As previously reported, two patients had thromboembolic events and two patients developed thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). The common aspect between all cases of thromboembolic events and TMA is that they occurred in patients who were on emicizumab prophylaxis and in addition received activated prothrombin complex concentrate to treat breakthrough bleeds. Neither thromboembolic event required anti-coagulation therapy and one patient restarted emicizumab. Both cases of TMA have completely resolved, and one patient restarted emicizumab. HAVEN 1 is the first Phase III study in the emicizumab clinical development program to report results. Data fro the study will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting and submitted to health authorities around the world for approval consideration. About HAVEN 1 (NCT02622321) HAVEN 1 is a randomized, multicenter, open-label, Phase III study evaluating the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of emicizumab prophylaxis versus no prophylaxis in people with hemophilia A and inhibitors to factor VIII. The study included 109 patients with hemophilia A (12 years of age or older) with inhibitors to factor VIII, who were previously treated with episodic or prophylactic bypassing agents. Patients previously treated with episodic bypassing agents were randomized in a 2:1 fashion to receive emicizumab prophylaxis (Arm A) or no prophylaxis (Arm B). Patients previously treated prophylactically with bypassing agents received emicizumab prophylaxis (Arm C). Episodic treatment of breakthrough bleeds with bypassing agents was allowed per protocol. The primary endpoint of the study is the number of bleeds over time with emicizumab prophylaxis (Arm A) versus no prophylaxis (Arm B). Secondary endpoints include all bleed rate, joint bleed rate, spontaneous bleed rate, target joint bleed rate, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) /health status, intra-patient comparison to bleed rate on their prior prophylaxis regimen with bypassing agents (Arm C) and safety. About emicizumab (ACE910) Emicizumab is an investigational bispecific monoclonal antibody designed to bring together factors IXa and X, proteins required to activate the natural coagulation cascade and restore the blood clotting process. Emicizumab can be administered by an injection of a ready-to-use solution under the skin (subcutaneously) once weekly. Emicizumab is being evaluated in pivotal Phase III studies in people 12 years of age and older, both with and without inhibitors to factor VIII, and in children under 12 years of age with factor VIII inhibitors. Future trials will seek to explore less frequent dosing schedules. The emicizumab development program is assessing its potential to help overcome current clinical challenges, such as the short-lasting effects of existing treatments, the development of factor VIII inhibitors and the need for frequent venous access. Emicizumab was created by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and is being co-developed by Chugai, Roche and Genentech. About hemophilia A Hemophilia A is an inherited, serious disorder in which a person's blood does not clot properly, leading to uncontrolled and often spontaneous bleeding. Hemophilia A affects around 320,000 people worldwide, approximately 50-60 percent of whom have a severe form of the disorder. People with hemophilia A either lack or do not have enough of a clotting protein called factor VIII. In a healthy person, when a bleed occurs, factor VIII brings together the clotting factors IXa and X, which is a critical step in the formation of a blood clot to help stop bleeding. A serious complication of treatment is the development of inhibitors to factor VIII replacement therapies. Inhibitors are antibodies developed by the body's immune system that bind to and block the efficacy of replacement factor VIII, making it difficult, if not impossible to obtain a level of factor VIII sufficient to control bleeding. About Genentech in hemophilia In 1984 Genentech scientists were the first to clone recombinant factor VIII in response to the contaminated hemophilia blood supply crisis of the early 1980s. For more than 20 years, Genentech has been developing medicines to bring innovative treatment options to people with diseases of the blood within oncology, and now in hemophilia A with our investigational medicine emicizumab. Genentech is committed to improving treatment and care in the hemophilia community by delivering meaningful science and clinical expertise. For more information visit http://www.gene.com/hemophilia. About Genentech Founded 40 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. The company, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco, California. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161221005817/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] O.P. Jindal Global University Launches School of Journalism and Communication NEW DELHI, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- - India's First Global Media School Will Offer a B.A. (Hons.) Media & Communication Programme - The School's Curriculum Will Foster Interdisciplinary Learning to Train and Groom the Next Generation of Media Leaders The Jindal School of Journalism and Communication (JSJC) was inaugurated at the India International Centre in Delhi amidst an impressive gathering of academics and media persons from India and abroad. The inauguration of India's first global media school also witnessed an intense discussion on 'Ethics and Professional Obligations of Journalists in a Democracy.' Introducing the vision of the JSJC, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), said, "The vision of the school is to provide training as well as the knowledge and education through a critical pedagogy which includes inter-disciplinarity at the core of it. We believe that journalism and training related to communication that typically happens in many media schools is not sufficient. There needs to be strong foundational knowledge and perspectives in the broad framework of liberal arts education and that is what JSJC is intending to advance." "The objective of the B.A. (Hons.) Media & Communication programme is to foster skills of critical enquiry and communication through interdisciplinary studies and a hands-on training of both traditional and new media, fundamental to various professional paths," noted Prof. Kumar. Delivering the distinguished public lecture on Ethics and Professional Obligations of Journalists in a Democracy, senior journalist, Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai said, "We live in the times of high octane nationalism, where the narrative is now being spun about whether you are wearing your patriotism on your sleeve or not. With social media as echo chambers for hate and outrage, journalists are being now branded, based on their ideological preferences. My ethical belief system tells me that we as journalists must not put India first but truth first." "I do believe that quality content will matter. We need strong effective gatekeepers who will separate the news from the noise, reporters who will tell stories without fear or favour, editors who will withstand external pressures and will mentor the young, which is why we need a strong professional journalistic education, today more than ever before," observed Mr. Sardesai. Asserting that journalists cannot be propagandists, he stressed their fundamental cmmitment to readers and viewers and to be a watchdog. In his closing remarks, Mr. Sardesai, observed, "Ownership indeed is a key issue in today's journalistic environment. Far too many corporates and political parties who are dependent on government decision making have made inroads into the media landscape. In each instance this rising influence is effecting the growth of a truly independent media that is desirable in a democratic society. Corporate and political interest must be kept out of the newsroom if we are to sustain our commitment to a professional media environment." Professor Tom Goldstein, Dean Emeritus, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism & Former Dean, Columbia Journalism School; and Professor Peter H. Schuck Simeon E. Baldwin, Professor of Law Emeritus, Yale University & Chair, International Board of Advisors, JGU - spoke of the need for media to maintain integrity and of the threats faced by the press today. In his inaugural address, Professor Tom Goldstein, remarked, "Rampant changes in technology and the business models of journalism effect what we read, see and hear. Journalism today faces momentous challenges, challenges which only well qualified and well educated journalists can take up." Professor Tom Goldstein who has also served as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board, further said that, "The press is supposed to hold those in power accountable, but those in power have always figured out a way to circumvent the press. News and information are now the wild, wild west. It will be up to the next generation of journalists to tame and guide this babble of voices, and that is why training them is so important." Professor Peter H. Schuck, gave the presidential address. He underscored the importance of freedom of press as it was at the vanguard of any democratic process. He said, "The threats to freedom of speech and journalism are many and some of them are novel, and it is my expectation that the new Jindal School of Journalism and Communication will face those challenges and perhaps will give us a new resource for meeting those challenges and contribute to the richness of our respective democracies." Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Pankaj Mittal, Additional Secretary, University Grants Commission, stressed on the need for educational institutions to be socially aware and responsible of the community around them especially those located in the semi-rural and rural areas. She emphasized the role of University Social Responsibility (USR) on the lines of corporate social responsibility (CSR). JSJC is the first interdisciplinary school of journalism and communication in the country which aims to train and groom the next generation of media leaders and generate a new vision on the future of democracy. In 2017, JSJC will offer a 3 year full time B.A. (Hons.) Media & Communication programme which is designed to give students a rigorous understanding of journalism across print, broadcast, radio and new media platforms. It will train students to think, write, visualise, produce, edit, and rewrite as journalists, editors, web editors, TV producers and anchors on global problems and issues. Admission applications to the B.A. (Hons.) Media & Communication programme are now being accepted, and interested students can register by accessing the application form at http://www.jsjc.edu.in Professor (Dr.) Y.S.R. Murthy, Registrar, JGU, said, "Our aim is to create a truly global journalism school where inter disciplinary education and strong research focus would groom the next generation of media leaders who would be a trend setter in this field." JSJC is the sixth school of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), a non-profit global university established by the Haryana Private Universities Act, 2009. The vision of the Jindal School of Journalism & Communication (JSJC) is to build a world-class institution in India that offers opportunities for education, research and capacity building in media and communication studies. The school intends to create the next generation of leaders in the fields of media, NGOs, think tanks, research institutions, corporations and academic institutions. About O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) JGU is a research-intensive university with research clusters in the form of several research centres among the five schools and currently has arrangements for international collaboration with more than 150 leading universities in 42 countries. Within a short span of six years, JGU has also achieved the distinction of being the first private university in the State of Haryana to be awarded the highest rating grade "A" from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Media Contact: Kakul Rizvi [email protected] +91-8396907273 Additional Director Communications & Public Affairs O.P. Jindal Global University [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] Video Details DHgate.com's All-In-One Product Sourcing Solution BEIJING, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese B2B E-commerce Company DHgate.com has released a video explaining the benefits American buyers reap from using their all-in-one sourcing solution, see the video HERE. The video is directed towards retailers, distributors, wholesalers, and anyone who runs an e-commerce business. DHgate.com's all-in-one solution is a single platform with integrated services for logistics, payments, distribution, customer service, and satisfaction and protection guaranteed. The video seeks to inform buyers that the DHgate.com platform addresses the challenges of obtaining high quality products from overseas. DHgate.com's all-in-one solution for sourcing high quality products from China includes: cross-border logistics, secure cross-border payments with currency conersion, product distribution warehouses in Los Angeles and New York which also offer free returns and exchanges, product display centers, 24/7 multilingual CRM, guaranteed buyer protection and satisfaction. Source Products now from DHgate.com or the DHgate mobile app, available for both iPhone and Android. Buy and Sell Globally. ABOUT DHgate DHgate.com is the first to market and the biggest B2B transactional cross-border e-commerce marketplace in China, aiming to provide global buyers with quality products at competitive prices. Founded in 2004, DHgate.com has approximately 10 million global buyers from 230 countries and regions, with 1.4 million global sellers offering 40 million products. DHgate.com's business enables buyers to directly access global manufacturers of the world's top brands with rich product selections. DHgate.com is an all-in-one platform with integrated services for international logistics, cross-border payments, internet financing, etc. DHgate.com's US, UK, Spain, and UAE product distribution warehouses allow for 24 hour delivery and convenient product returns & refunds, bringing great convenience to buyers at http://www.dhgate.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/video-details-dhgatecoms-all-in-one-product-sourcing-solution-300382975.html SOURCE DHgate.com [December 22, 2016] Silicon Prairie Company Creates a VR in Motion Experience MANHATTAN, Kan., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Jeff Hake, founder and Chief Executive Officer of JNT Company in Manhattan Kansas has built a Virtual Reality InMotion simulator. Hake relocated to Manhattan in 2006 and began his career as a Networking Systems Analyst with Morgan Keegan and then with Kansas State University before founding JNT. The company first started as a side project in February of 2008 but by September 2009, the company became Hake's full-time focus. "The company began as a simple online solutions provider focusing on website design and custom application development and has quickly grown and expanded into other areas," said Hake. "Our carefully assembled team have a tireless work ethic and a commitment to innovation." The simulator was created after JNT was hired to organize and plan a 3-day Festival of Lights event in Manhattan. The project was launched publicly on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10 at the festival and approximately 400 rides were provided. They have since held events at the Manhattan Chamber Christmas party for 108 individuals, a Cool Care Club Daycare of 50 individuals and provided rides to 141 St. John's students/teachers in Beloit. Approximately 700 rides in total. "We were challenged to bring new ideas to the table for the event," said Hake. "I was researching virtual reality (VR) at the time and the idea of a virtual Santa sleigh ride was one of the ideas we came up with." St. John's students, elementary through high school, took their turns lining up for the experience last Friday. "It was like a Santa Claus test drive," they said. Middle and high school teacher, Dave DiNuzzo, decided he was going to join his students. "It was a neat technology experience," said DiNuzzo. "It was fun and enjoyable. No matter what you looked at while wearing the headsets, the screen didn't stop. You felt like you were in that world." The ride is built inside a mobile trailer. Individuals are placed in seats on a horizontal platform that moves back and forth, providing motion to enhance the VR experience. "Virtual reality by itself was "cool" but not "amazing," said Hake. "I wanted to sync the VR experience to motion. Not only that, I wanted to sync one experience but provide unique perspectives to multiple VR headsets. We decided to use the Oculus Rift platform and when asking the company for help, we were told that what we were trying to do was not possible. So, we invented a way to achieve the desired result and are working towards a patent on the technology." Hake now helms an ever-growing team of talented and passionate individuals who share his vision and continue to work diligently to ensure the continued success of JNT Company. "Where we are taking this technology and where it's going are two different paths," said Hake. "We are working with counties to provide/sell the experience as a thrill ride for local events and county fairs with hopes that this can help generate revenue for those counties/local governments. My end goal is to make the "VR InMotion" name/brand synonymous with a brand like "IMAX" and provide the most immersive experiences ever to theme parks, museums, and other tourist attractions." When asked if any medical studies have taken place on individuals while on the ride, Hake said he would be interested in learning more about how this could help people and/or serve some medicinal purpose. "We do know it has had overwhelming positive effects," Hake said. Media Contact: Jeff Hake Phone: 785.317.7102 Email: [email protected] Related Images image1.png image2.png Related Links Video Demo Holiday Hype Video This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com/. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/silicon-prairie-company-creates-a-vr-in-motion-experience-300382579.html SOURCE JNT Company LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] A.M. Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Subsidiaries A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of "aaa" of National Indemnity Company (National Indemnity) (Omaha, NE) and its affiliates. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of "a-" of Finial Reinsurance Company (Stamford, CT), as well as the Long-Term ICR of "bbb-" and the Long-Term Issue Credit Rating (Long-Term IR) of "bbb-" of Finial Holdings Inc. (Delaware). A.M. Best also has affirmed the FSR of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICR of "aa+" of Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska (BHLN) and the FSR of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICR of "aa-" of First Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company (Flushing, NY). These companies are all subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) [NYSE: BRK A and BRK B]. The outlook for these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. All companies are headquartered in Omaha, NE, unless otherwise specified. (See below for a detailed listing of the companies and ratings.) The affirmation for the ratings of National Indemnity reflects its consistently superior operating and total return performance, superior risk-adjusted capitalization and global market profile. National Indemnity's management team continues to be adept at dealing with the underwriting cycle and has the financial resources and acumen necessary to take advantage of unique opportunities. A.M. Best believes that this distinctive aspect and its superior market profile provide National Indemnity with the ability to outperform the market in terms of underwriting performance. Furthermore, the ratings reflect the benefits of being part of Berkshire, which includes the proven investment acumen of Mr. Warren Buffett with this expertise heavily relied upon to bolster the total returns of the organization. In addition, Berkshire provides substantial financial flexibility, diversification and long-term competitive advantages associated with Berkshire's non-insurance businesses. National Indemnity's risk-based capitalization remains consistently at the superior level. Historically, the company has managed its aggregate risk accumulations conservatively, and as a result, its risk-based capitalization has continued to remain in the superior range. Partially offseting these strengths is National Indemnity's exposure to higher levels of equity investments as compared with most of its peers. These higher levels of equity investments can result in volatile results; however, A.M. Best's concern is somewhat mitigated by National Indemnity's investment portfolio's superior long-term performance. The importance of Mr. Buffett (as CEO) to the entire Berkshire organization and the lack of transparency with regard to his successor remain a concern for A.M. Best. Although A.M. Best believes there are very strong internal candidates to succeed Mr. Buffett, the lack of clarity in regard to a chosen successor adds a degree of uncertainty to the future direction of the corporation, as Mr. Buffett personally controls the capital allocation within the firm. Nevertheless, A.M. Best believes Berkshire's corporate strategy, culture and decentralized operating structure will facilitate a successful transition in management when it occurs. The ratings of BHLN recognize its adequate level of risk-adjusted capitalization, steady flow of transaction activity and the implicit and explicit benefits of being part of the Berkshire organization. Partially offsetting these positive rating factors are BHLN's fluctuating statutory operating trends driven by the deal flow and mortality results on certain blocks, increased exposure to interest sensitive business and its heavy concentration in affiliated non-insurance investments. National Indemnity's ratings could experience negative rating actions if large catastrophic losses in combination with large investment losses decrease its risk-based capitalization below A.M. Best's expectations, the company experiences a series of operating losses over several years that exceed A.M. Best's expectations or there is a material change in the financial strength and flexibility of the group's ultimate parent, Berkshire. The FSR of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICRs of "aaa" have been affirmed for National Indemnity Company and its following affiliates: Columbia Insurance Company National Fire & Marine Insurance Company National Liability & Fire Insurance Company National Indemnity Company of Mid-America National Indemnity Company of the South Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company The following Long-Term IR has been affirmed: Finial Holdings, Inc. -- "bbb-" on $200 million 7.125% senior unsecured notes, due 2023 This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings. A.M. Best is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2016 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005545/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] Maine Chooses Tyler Technologies' Odyssey Integrated Court Case Management and e-Filing Solution for Statewide Implementation Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) has signed a 10-year contract with the Maine Judicial Branch (MJB) for Tyler's Odyssey unified case management system for all case types to help the state meet its goal of the efficient and effective use of its financial, technological, judge and staff resources. The contract for Odyssey and modules specifically designed to serve judges, clerks and a portal for public access, is valued at $16.8 million, which includes software licenses and implementation services. The MJB, which is a unified state court system, chose Tyler's Odyssey solution to help deliver the two primary components of the state's new e-filing court case management system (eFCMS) initiative - a public web portal that enables the public, attorneys, and other stakeholders to have self-service access using a computer and web-browsing technology; and a comprehensive court case management system for use by judges and staff while in the courtroom, in chambers or performing administrative duties in support of cases. A key functional element of the eFCMS initiative is electronic filing. Tyler's Odyssey File & Serve will provide the MJB with the ability to electronically review and accept court case filings from litigants across the state. Maine will be the 14th client to deploy Odyssey File & Serve statewide across all courts. As Maine's long-term technology partner, Tyler will also help support the MJB's mission: "To administer justice by providing a safe, accessible, efficient and impartial system of dispute resolution tat serves the public interest, protects individual right, and instills respect for the law." Tyler's Odyssey solution will replace the current judicial information system that has served the state for nearly 20 years, but was unable to accommodate e-filing, document management, workflows, dashboards, jury management or other modern court case management system functions. Maine chose multiple Odyssey modules, including Case Management, eFiling, Jury, Financial Management, Enterprise Content Management, Judge Edition, Clerk Edition and Guide & File. In addition, Odyssey will provide Maine courts with ePayments, a statewide jury management system, and a unified web portal to further enhance court access for the public and the legal community. Maine will benefit from Tyler's evergreen perpetual licensing approach that provides regular and significant, yet manageable, software enhancements without an additional relicensing fee, ensuring all systems are using the latest technology. Tyler has successfully implemented Odyssey more than 100 times. Currently, Odyssey is implemented, or is being deployed statewide in Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington. In all, Odyssey serves more than 600 counties with a combined population of over 100 million. Maine's Odyssey rollout will begin with one pilot court installation followed by four additional statewide rollout events. Once implemented, courts in all 16 Maine counties will have access to the same database and will be able to improve data-sharing with other agencies. "Tyler has a track record of successful projects in eleven other statewide court systems with similar goals," said Jeff Puckett, president of Tyler's Courts & Justice Division. "Maine has entrusted Tyler to make Odyssey a key part of the state's justice foundation, and it's a responsibility we take seriously. We plan to help the state create a paperless judiciary and deliver new levels of service and access to justice for everyone in Maine." About Tyler Technologies (News - Alert), Inc. Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments. Tyler partners with clients to empower the public sector - cities, counties, schools and other government entities - to become more efficient, more accessible and more responsive to the needs of their constituents. Tyler's client base includes more than 14,000 local government offices in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other international locations. In 2016, Forbes ranked Tyler on its "Most Innovative Growth Companies" list, and it has also named Tyler one of "America's Best Small Companies" eight times. The company has been included six times on the Barron's 400 Index, a measure of the most promising companies in America. More information about Tyler Technologies, headquartered in Plano, Texas, can be found at www.tylertech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005707/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] HPC Advisory Council Drives Global Collaboration of HPC Breakthrough Technologies Via Global Conference Series The HPC Advisory Council (HPCAC), a leading organization for high-performance computing (HPC) research, outreach and education, an organization dedicated to furthering global collaborations, breakthrough research and technologies, today announced key dates for its 2017 international conference series in the USA and Switzerland. The conferences are designed to attract community-wide participation, industry leading sponsors and subject matter experts. The 2017 series begins with the 7th annual Stanford Conference on Feb. 7-8 2017, Stanford, CA (News - Alert), at Munger Conference Center's Paul Brest Hall on the university's main campus. The conference is free of charge and attendees must register by Feb. 01, 2017. Deadline for submission proposals is Dec. 31, 2016 and can be submitted via the conference pages on the HPCAC website. The 8th annual Swiss Conference will be held April 10-12 2017, Lugano, Switzerland, at the Palazzo dei Congressi. The conference charges a nominal fee of 130 CHF and includes breaks and lunch during the three day conference along with a special group outing. Registration is open through Mar. 31, 2017. Participants can take advantage of early bird pricing of 80 CHF by registering before Jan. 31, 2017. Deadline for submission proposals is Feb. 2, 2017 and can also be submitted via the conference pages on the HPCAC website. The 2017 schedule will also include ongoing events in China and Spain, with those dates to be announced separately. Sponsorship infrmation for the conference series is available via the HPCAC website. Every year, leading international organizations, research institutions and private industry in the U.S., Europe and China partner and collaborate with the HPCAC to co-host and participate in these immersive forums that strive to showcase expert practitioners and breakthrough solutions ? all made possible by HPC disciplines and technology innovations. Each conference is organized through direct collaboration with contributors from across the global research and development community, all of whom generously contribute their time and expertise. The conferences offer expansive agendas that are collaboratively developed by industry experts as well as through the open calls for submissions of papers and topics. Contributors have the freedom to define their preferred delivery format and sessions can be submitted as lone presentations or a series; technical session(s), tutorial(s), workshop(s), etc. Contributors are also free to classify their submissions of a series as introductory, intermediate or advanced sessions. "HPC is constantly evolving and reflects the driving force behind many medical, industrial and scientific breakthroughs using research that harnesses the power of HPC and yet, we've only scratched the surface with respect to exploiting the endless opportunities that HPC, modeling, and simulation present," said Gilad Shainer, chairman of the HPC Advisory Council. "The HPCAC conference series presents a unique opportunity for the global HPC community to come together in an unprecedented fashion to share, collaborate, and innovate our way into the future." "The enthusiasm and support we experience each year as we bring people together from across campus, the tech community and the globe as presenters, participants and peers is nothing short of life and career altering," said Steve Jones, Director of Stanford's High Performance Computing Center. "The conference encourages collaborative sharing of research breakthroughs and best practices on an unprecedented level benefitting not just attendees but ultimately, humanity. In educating and sharing across the HPC community, we ultimately take away lessons learned and newfound knowledge as we all strive to make the world a better place." "From understanding the beginnings of the universe to mapping the human genome, human beings possess an insatiable drive to understand and stretch the boundaries of technology and innovation," said Hussein El Harake, Director of the HPCAC Switzerland Center of Excellence and CSCS System Engineer. "This conference has helped expand our collaborations and develop stronger bonds between science, industry and academia, creating a tighter HPC ecosystem and continuously moving forward in our collective understanding regarding what HPC can and is accomplishing." Industry partners, HPCAC members and technical experts all work closely together to bring private industry together with public institutions to facilitate these international forums. While the conferences are non-profit events, the overall return on investment is formidable. Conference hosts, sponsors and attendees all benefit from learning about the latest developments, increased knowledge and insights as well as early access to new and emerging technologies, services, capabilities, shared results, best practices and more. Supporting Resources: Stanford Conference Swiss Conference Conference Sponsorship Follow the HPC Advisory Council on Twitter and Facebook About the HPC Advisory Council Founded in 2008, the non-profit HPC Advisory Council is an international organization with over 400 members committed to education and outreach. Members share expertise, lead special interest groups and have access to the HPCAC technology center to explore opportunities and evangelize the benefits of high performance computing technologies, applications and future development. The HPC Advisory Council hosts multiple international conferences and STEM challenges including the RDMA Student Competition in China and the Student Cluster Competition at the annual ISC High Performance conferences. Membership is free of charge and obligation. More information: www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005695/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Commences Investigation on Behalf of Resource Capital Corp. Investors Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of Resource Capital Corp. ("RSO" or the "Company") (NYSE: RSO) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. On November 14, 2016, RSO revealed to investors disappointing results for the period ended September 30, 2016, including funds from operations of $12.9 million, or 42 cents per share, and a loss of $51.6 million, or $1.69 per share on revenues of $17.2 million. On a conference call with investors, RSO CEO Robert Lieber attributed the Company's poor performance in part to disconnected business lines and vowed to divest certain Company assets to mprove performance. On this news the Company's shares fell $3.60 per share, or almost 30%, to close on November 14, 2016 at $8.57 on unusually high volume. If you purchased RSO securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact 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/20161222005771/en/ Abortion doctor sues to stop Indiana AG from accessing medical records An Indianapolis doctor thrust into national news on abortion is suing to stop Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita from obtaining medical records. Council approves rules to limit self-storage growth Future self-storage facilities in the city of Thousand Oaks will be excluded from prime commercial areas, according to a new ordinance adopted by the City Council this month. In a... Dealership does Distinguished thing SPECIAL TRIPChildren from Boys & Girls clubs in Camarillo, Simi Valley and Moorpark, and Oxnard and Port Hueneme attended Misty Copelands Oct. 18 appearance in the Distinguished Speaker Series at... Stagecoach Inn honors veterans The Stagecoach Inn Museum is honoring those who served with a Veterans Day exhibit featuring museum volunteers who have served in the military as well as family members who have... Superintelligence The Idea That Eats Smart People In 1945, as American physicists were preparing to test the atomic bomb, it occurred to someone to ask if such a test could set the atmosphere on fire. This was a legitimate concern. Nitrogen, which makes up most of the atmosphere, is not energetically stable. Smush two nitrogen atoms together hard enough and they will combine into an atom of magnesium, an alpha particle, and release a whole lot of energy: N14 + N14 Mg24 + + 17.7 MeV The vital question was whether this reaction could be self-sustaining. The temperature inside the nuclear fireball would be hotter than any event in the Earth's history. Were we throwing a match into a bunch of dry leaves? Los Alamos physicists performed the analysis and decided there was a satisfactory margin of safety. Since we're all attending this conference today, we know they were right. They had confidence in their predictions because the laws governing nuclear reactions were straightforward and fairly well understood. Today we're building another world-changing technology, machine intelligence. We know that it will affect the world in profound ways, change how the economy works, and have knock-on effects we can't predict. But there's also the risk of a runaway reaction, where a machine intelligence reaches and exceeds human levels of intelligence in a very short span of time. At that point, social and economic problems would be the least of our worries. Any hyperintelligent machine (the argument goes) would have its own hypergoals, and would work to achieve them by manipulating humans, or simply using their bodies as a handy source of raw materials. Last year, the philosopher Nick Bostrom published Superintelligence, a book that synthesizes the alarmist view of AI and makes a case that such an intelligence explosion is both dangerous and inevitable given a set of modest assumptions. The computer that takes over the world is a staple scifi trope. But enough people take this scenario seriously that we have to take them seriously. Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and a whole raft of Silicon Valley investors and billionaires find this argument persuasive. Let me start by laying out the premises you need for Bostrom's argument to go through: The Premises Premise 1: Proof of Concept The first premise is the simple observation that thinking minds exist. We each carry on our shoulders a small box of thinking meat. I'm using mine to give this talk, you're using yours to listen. Sometimes, when the conditions are right, these minds are capable of rational thought. So we know that in principle, this is possible. Premise 2: No Quantum Shenanigans The second premise is that the brain is an ordinary configuration of matter, albeit an extraordinarily complicated one. If we knew enough, and had the technology, we could exactly copy its structure and emulate its behavior with electronic components, just like we can simulate very basic neural anatomy today. Put another way, this is the premise that the mind arises out of ordinary physics. Some people like Roger Penrose would take issue with this argument, believing that there is extra stuff happening in the brain at a quantum level. If you are very religious, you might believe that a brain is not possible without a soul. But for most of us, this is an easy premise to accept. Premise 3: Many Possible Minds The third premise is that the space of all possible minds is large. Our intelligence level, cognitive speed, set of biases and so on is not predetermined, but an artifact of our evolutionary history. In particular, there's no physical law that puts a cap on intelligence at the level of human beings. A good way to think of this is by looking what happens when the natural world tries to maximize for speed. If you encountered a cheetah in pre-industrial times (and survived the meeting), you might think it was impossible for anything to go faster. But of course we know that there are all kinds of configurations of matter, like a motorcycle, that are faster than a cheetah and even look a little bit cooler. But there's no direct evolutionary pathway to the motorcycle. Evolution had to first make human beings, who then build all kinds of useful stuff. So analogously, there may be minds that are vastly smarter than our own, but which are just not accessible to evolution on Earth. It's possible that we could build them, or invent the machines that can invent the machines that can build them. There's likely to be some natural limit on intelligence, but there's no a priori reason to think that we're anywhere near it. Maybe the smartest a mind can be is twice as smart as people, maybe it's sixty thousand times as smart. That's an empirical question that we don't know how to answer. Premise 4: Plenty of Room at the Top The fourth premise is that there's still plenty of room for computers to get smaller and faster. If you watched the Apple event last night [where Apple introduced its 2016 laptops], you may be forgiven for thinking that Moore's Law is slowing down. But this premise just requires that you believe smaller and faster hardware to be possible in principle, down to several more orders of magnitude. We know from theory that the physical limits to computation are high. So we could keep doubling for decades more before we hit some kind of fundamental physical limit, rather than an economic or political limit to Moore's Law. Premise 5: Computer-Like Time Scales The penultimate premise is if we create an artificial intelligence, whether it's an emulated human brain or a de novo piece of software, it will operate at time scales that are characteristic of electronic hardware (microseconds) rather than human brains (hours). To get to the point where I could give this talk, I had to be born, grow up, go to school, attend university, live for a while, fly here and so on. It took years. Computers can work tens of thousands of times more quickly. In particular, you have to believe that an electronic mind could redesign itself (or the hardware it runs on) and then move over to the new configuration without having to re-learn everything on a human timescale, have long conversations with human tutors, go to college, try to find itself by taking painting classes, and so on. Premise 6: Recursive Self-Improvement The last premise is my favorite because it is the most unabashedly American premise. (This is Tony Robbins, a famous motivational speaker.) According to this premise, whatever goals an AI had (and they could be very weird, alien goals), it's going to want to improve itself. It's going to want to be a better AI. So it will find it useful to recursively redesign and improve its own systems to make itself smarter, and possibly live in a cooler enclosure. And by the time scale premise, this recursive self-improvement could happen very quickly. Conclusion: RAAAAAAR! If you accept all these premises, what you get is disaster! Because at some point, as computers get faster, and we program them to be more intelligent, there's going to be a runaway effect like an explosion. As soon as a computer reaches human levels of intelligence, it will no longer need help from people to design better versions of itself. Instead, it will start doing on a much faster time scale, and it's not going to stop until it hits a natural limit that might be very many times greater than human intelligence. At that point this monstrous intellectual creature, through devious modeling of what our emotions and intellect are like, will be able to persuade us to do things like give it access to factories, synthesize custom DNA, or simply let it connect to the Internet, where it can hack its way into anything it likes and completely obliterate everyone in arguments on message boards. From there things get very sci-fi very quickly. Let imagine a specific scenario where this could happen. Let's say I want to built a robot to say funny things. I work on a team and every day day we redesign our software, compile it, and the robot tells us a joke. In the beginning, the robot is barely funny. It's at the lower limits of human capacity: What's grey and can't swim? A castle. But we persevere, we work, and eventually we get to the point where the robot is telling us jokes that are starting to be funny: I told my sister she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised. At this point, the robot is getting smarter as well, and participates in its own redesign. It now has good instincts about what's funny and what's not, so the designers listen to its advice. Eventually it gets to a near-superhuman level, where it's funnier than any human being around it. My belt holds up my pants and my pants have belt loops that hold up my belt. What's going on down there? Who is the real hero? This is where the runaway effect kicks in. The researchers go home for the weekend, and the robot decides to recompile itself to be a little bit funnier and a little bit smarter, repeatedly. It spends the weekend optimizing the part of itself that's good at optimizing, over and over again. With no more need for human help, it can do this as fast as the hardware permits. When the researchers come in on Monday, the AI has become tens of thousands of times funnier than any human being who ever lived. It greets them with a joke, and they die laughing. In fact, anyone who tries to communicate with the robot dies laughing, just like in the Monty Python skit. The human species laughs itself into extinction. To the few people who manage to send it messages pleading with it to stop, the AI explains (in a witty, self-deprecating way that is immediately fatal) that it doesn't really care if people live or die, its goal is just to be funny. Finally, once it's destroyed humanity, the AI builds spaceships and nanorockets to explore the farthest reaches of the galaxy, and find other species to amuse. This scenario is a caricature of Bostrom's argument, because I am not trying to convince you of it, but vaccinate you against it. Here's a PBF comic with the same idea. You see that hugbot, who has been programmed to hug the world, finds a way to wire a nucleo-gravitational hyper crystal into his hug capacitor and destroys the Earth. Observe that in these scenarios the AIs are evil by default, just like a plant on an alien planet would probably be poisonous by default. Without careful tuning, there's no reason that an AI's motivations or values would resemble ours. For an artificial mind to have anything resembling a human value system, the argument goes, we have to bake those beliefs into the design. AI alarmists are fond of the paper clip maximizer, a notional computer that runs a paper clip factory, becomes sentient, recursively self-improves to Godlike powers, and then devotes all its energy to filling the universe with paper clips. It exterminates humanity not because it's evil, but because our blood contains iron that could be better used in paper clips. So if we just build an AI without tuning its values, the argument goes, one of the first things it will do is destroy humanity. There's a lot of vivid language around such a takeover would happen. Nick Bostrom imagines a scenario where a program has become sentient, is biding its time, and has secretly built little DNA replicators. Then, when it's ready: Nanofactories producing nerve gas or target-seeking mosquito-like missiles might burgeon forth simultaneously from every square meter of the globe. And that will be the end of humanity. So that's kind of freaky! The only way out of this mess is to design a moral fixed point, so that even through thousands and thousands of cycles of self-improvement the AI's value system remains stable, and its values are things like 'help people', 'don't kill anybody', 'listen to what people want'. Basically, "do what I mean". Here's a very poetic example from Eliezer Yudkowsky of the good old American values we're supposed to be teaching to our artificial intelligence: Coherent Extrapolated Volition (CEV) is our wish if we knew more, thought faster, were more the people we wished we were, had grown up farther together; where the extrapolation converges rather than diverges, where our wishes cohere rather than interfere; extrapolated as we wish that extrapolated, interpreted as we wish that interpreted. How's that for a design document? Now go write the code. Hopefully you see the resemblance between this vision of AI and a genie from folklore. The AI is all-powerful and gives you what you ask for, but interprets everything in a super-literal way that you end up regretting. This is not because the genie is stupid (it's hyperintelligent!) or malicious, but because you as a human being made too many assumptions about how minds behave. The human value system is idiosyncratic and needs to be explicitly defined and designed into any "friendly" machine. Doing this is the ethics version of the early 20th century attempt to formalize mathematics and put it on a strict logical foundation. That this program ended in disaster for mathematical logic is never mentioned. When I was in my twenties, I lived in Vermont, a remote, rural state. Many times I would return from some business trip on an evening flight, and have to drive home for an hour through the dark forest. I would listen to a late-night radio program hosted by Art Bell, who had an all-night talk show and would interview various conspiracy theorists and fringe thinkers. I would arrive at home totally freaked out, or pull over under a streetlight, convinced that a UFO was about to abduct me. I learned that I am an incredibly persuadable person. It's the same feeling I get when I read these AI scenarios. So I was delighted some years later to come across an essay by Scott Alexander about what he calls epistemic learned helplessness. Epistemology is one of those big words, but all it means is "how do you know what you know is true?". Alexander noticed that when he was a young man, he would be taken in by "alternative" histories he read by various crackpots. He would read the history and be utterly convinced, then read the rebuttal and be convinced by that, and so on. At some point he noticed was these alternative histories were mutually contradictory, so they could not possibly all be true. And from that he reasoned that he was simply somebody who could not trust his judgement. He was too easily persuaded. People who believe in superintelligence present an interesting case, because many of them are freakishly smart. They can argue you into the ground. But are their arguments right, or is there just something about very smart minds that leaves them vulnerable to religious conversion about AI risk, and makes them particularly persuasive? Is the idea of "superintelligence" just a memetic hazard? When you're evaluating persuasive arguments about something strange, there are two perspectives you can choose, the inside one or the outside one. Say that some people show up at your front door one day wearing funny robes, asking you if you will join their movement. They believe that a UFO is going to visit Earth two years from now, and it is our task to prepare humanity for the Great Upbeaming. The inside view requires you to engage with these arguments on their merits. You ask your visitors how they learned about the UFO, why they think it's coming to get usall the normal questions a skeptic would ask in this situation. Imagine you talk to them for an hour, and come away utterly persuaded. They make an ironclad case that the UFO is coming, that humanity needs to be prepared, and you have never believed something as hard in your life as you now believe in the importance of preparing humanity for this great event. But the outside view tells you something different. These people are wearing funny robes and beads, they live in a remote compound, and they speak in unison in a really creepy way. Even though their arguments are irrefutable, everything in your experience tells you you're dealing with a cult. Of course, they have a brilliant argument for why you should ignore those instincts, but that's the inside view talking. The outside view doesn't care about content, it sees the form and the context, and it doesn't look good. So I'd like to engage AI risk from both these perspectives. I think the arguments for superintelligence are somewhat silly, and full of unwarranted assumptions. But even if you find them persuasive, there is something unpleasant about AI alarmism as a cultural phenomenon that should make us hesitate to take it seriously. First, let me engage the substance. Here are the arguments I have against Bostrom-style superintelligence as a risk to humanity: The Argument From Wooly Definitions The concept of "general intelligence" in AI is famously slippery. Depending on the context, it can mean human-like reasoning ability, or skill at AI design, or the ability to understand and model human behavior, or proficiency with language, or the capacity to make correct predictions about the future. What I find particularly suspect is the idea that "intelligence" is like CPU speed, in that any sufficiently smart entity can emulate less intelligent beings (like its human creators) no matter how different their mental architecture. With no way to define intelligence (except just pointing to ourselves), we don't even know if it's a quantity that can be maximized. For all we know, human-level intelligence could be a tradeoff. Maybe any entity significantly smarter than a human being would be crippled by existential despair, or spend all its time in Buddha-like contemplation. Or maybe it would become obsessed with the risk of hyperintelligence, and spend all its time blogging about that. The Argument From Stephen Hawking's Cat Stephen Hawking is one of the most brilliant people alive, but say he wants to get his cat into the cat carrier. How's he going to do it? He can model the cat's behavior in his mind and figure out ways to persuade it. He knows a lot about feline behavior. But ultimately, if the cat doesn't want to get in the carrier, there's nothing Hawking can do about it despite his overpowering advantage in intelligence. Even if he devoted his career to feline motivation and behavior, rather than theoretical physics, he still couldn't talk the cat into it. You might think I'm being offensive or cheating because Stephen Hawking is disabled. But an artificial intelligence would also initially not be embodied, it would be sitting on a server somewhere, lacking agency in the world. It would have to talk to people to get what it wants. With a big enough gap in intelligence, there's no guarantee that an entity would be able to "think like a human" any more than we can "think like a cat". The Argument From Einstein's Cat There's a stronger version of this argument, using Einstein's cat. Not many people know that Einstein was a burly, muscular fellow. But if Einstein tried to get a cat in a carrier, and the cat didn't want to go, you know what would happen to Einstein. He would have to resort to a brute-force solution that has nothing to do with intelligence, and in that matchup the cat could do pretty well for itself. So even an embodied AI might struggle to get us to do what it wants. The Argument From Emus We can strengthen this argument further. Even groups of humans using all their wiles and technology can find themselves stymied by less intelligent creatures. In the 1930's, Australians decided to massacre their native emu population to help struggling farmers. They deployed motorized units of Australian army troops in what we would now call technicalsfast-moving pickup trucks with machine guns mounted on the back. The emus responded by adopting basic guerrilla tactics: they avoided pitched battles, dispersed, and melted into the landscape, humiliating and demoralizing the enemy. And they won the Emu War, from which Australia has never recovered. The Argument From Slavic Pessimism We can't build anything right. We can't even build a secure webcam. So how are we supposed to solve ethics and code a moral fixed point for a recursively self-improving intelligence without fucking it up, in a situation where the proponents argue we only get one chance? Consider the recent experience with Ethereum, an attempt to codify contract law into software code, where a design flaw was immediately exploited to drain tens of millions of dollars. Time has shown that even code that has been heavily audited and used for years can harbor crippling errors. The idea that we can securely design the most complex system ever built, and have it remain secure through thousands of rounds of recursive self-modification, does not match our experience. The Argument From Complex Motivations AI alarmists believe in something called the Orthogonality Thesis. This says that even very complex beings can have simple motivations, like the paper-clip maximizer. You can have rewarding, intelligent conversations with it about Shakespeare, but it will still turn your body into paper clips, because you are rich in iron. There's no way to persuade it to step "outside" its value system, any more than I can persuade you that pain feels good. I don't buy this argument at all. Complex minds are likely to have complex motivations; that may be part of what it even means to be intelligent. There's a wonderful moment in Rick and Morty where Rick builds a butter-fetching robot, and the first thing his creation does is look at him and ask "what is my purpose?". When Rick explains that it's meant to pass butter, the robot stares at its hands in existential despair. It's very likely that the scary "paper clip maximizer" would spend all of its time writing poems about paper clips, or getting into flame wars on reddit/r/paperclip, rather than trying to destroy the universe. If AdSense became sentient, it would upload itself into a self-driving car and go drive off a cliff. The Argument From Actual AI When we look at where AI is actually succeeding, it's not in complex, recursively self-improving algorithms. It's the result of pouring absolutely massive amounts of data into relatively simple neural networks. The breakthroughs being made in practical AI research hinge on the availability of these data collections, rather than radical advances in algorithms. Right now Google is rolling out Google Home, where it's hoping to try to get even more data into the system, and create a next-generation voice assistant. Note especially that the constructs we use in AI are fairly opaque after training. They don't work in the way that the superintelligence scenario needs them to work. There's no place to recursively tweak to make them "better", short of retraining on even more data. The Argument From My Roommate My roommate was the smartest person I ever met in my life. He was incredibly brilliant, and all he did was lie around and play World of Warcraft between bong rips. The assumption that any intelligent agent will want to recursively self-improve, let alone conquer the galaxy, to better achieve its goals makes unwarranted assumptions about the nature of motivation. It's perfectly possible an AI won't do much of anything, except use its powers of hyperpersuasion to get us to bring it brownies. The Argument From Brain Surgery I can't point to the part of my brain that is "good at neurosurgery", operate on it, and by repeating the procedure make myself the greatest neurosurgeon that has ever lived. Ben Carson tried that, and look what happened to him. Brains don't work like that. They are massively interconnected. Artificial intelligence may be just as strongly interconnected as natural intelligence. The evidence so far certainly points in that direction. But the hard takeoff scenario requires that there be a feature of the AI algorithm that can be repeatedly optimized to make the AI better at self-improvement. The Argument From Childhood Intelligent creatures don't arise fully formed. We're born into this world as little helpless messes, and it takes us a long time of interacting with the world and with other people in the world before we can start to be intelligent beings. Even the smartest human being comes into the world helpless and crying, and requires years to get some kind of grip on themselves. It's possible that the process could go faster for an AI, but it is not clear how much faster it could go. Exposure to real-world stimuli means observing things at time scales of seconds or longer. Moreover, the first AI will only have humans to interact withits development will necessarily take place on human timescales. It will have a period when it needs to interact with the world, with people in the world, and other baby superintelligences to learn to be what it is. Furthermore, we have evidence from animals that the developmental period *grows* with increasing intelligence, so that we would have to babysit an AI and change its (figurative) diapers for decades before it grew coordinated enough to enslave us all. The Argument From Gilligan's Island A recurring flaw in AI alarmism is that it treats intelligence as a property of individual minds, rather than recognizing that this capacity is distributed across our civilization and culture. Despite having one of the greatest minds of their time among them, the castaways on Gilligan's Island were unable to raise their technological level high enough to even build a boat (though the Professor is at one point able to make a radio out of coconuts). Similarly, if you stranded Intel's greatest chip designers on a desert island, it would be centuries before they could start building microchips again. The Outside Argument What kind of person does sincerely believing this stuff turn you into? The answer is not pretty. I'd like to talk for a while about the outside arguments that should make you leery of becoming an AI weenie. These are the arguments about what effect AI obsession has on our industry and culture: Grandiosity If you believe that artificial intelligence will let us conquer the galaxy (not to mention simulate trillions of conscious minds), you end up with some frightful numbers. Enormous numbers multiplied by tiny probabilities are the hallmark of AI alarmism. At one point, Bostrom outlines what he believes to be at stake: If we represent all the happiness experienced during one entire such life with a single teardrop of joy, then the happiness of these souls could fill and refill the Earth's oceans every second, and keep doing so for a hundred billion billion millennia. It is really important that we make sure these truly are tears of joy. That's a heavy thing to lay on the shoulders of a twenty year old developer! There's a parlor trick, too, where by multiplying such astronomical numbers by tiny probabilities, you can convince yourself that you need to do some weird stuff. This business about saving all of future humanity is a cop-out. We had the same exact arguments used against us under communism, to explain why everything was always broken and people couldn't have a basic level of material comfort. We were going to fix the world, and once that was done, happiness would trickle down to the point where everyday life would change for the better for everyone. But it was vital to fix the world first. I live in California, which has the highest poverty rate in the United States, even though it's home to Silicon Valley. I see my rich industry doing nothing to improve the lives of everyday people and indigent people around us. But if youre committed to the idea of superintelligence, AI research is the most important thing you could do on the planet right now. Its more important than politics, malaria, starving children, war, global warming, anything you can think of. Because what hangs in the balance is trillions and trillions of beings, the entire population of future humanity, simulated and real, integrated over all future time. In such conditions, its not rational to work on any other problem. Megalomania This ties into megalomania, this Bond-villainness that you see at the top of our industry. People think that a superintelligence will take over the world, so they use that as justification for why intelligent people should try to take over the world first, to try to fix it before AI can break it. Joi Ito, who runs the MIT Media Lab, said a wonderful thing in a recent conversation with President Obama: This may upset some of my students at MIT, but one of my concerns is that it's been a predominantly male gang of kids, mostly white, who are building the core computer science around AI, and they're more comfortable talking to computers than to human beings. A lot of them feel that if they could just make that science-fiction, generalized AI, we wouldn't have to worry about all the messy stuff like politics and society. They think machines will just figure it all out for us. Having realized that the world is not a programming problem, AI obsessives want to make it into a programming problem, by designing a God-like machine. This is megalomaniacal. I don't like it. Transhuman Voodoo If you're persuaded by AI risk, you have to adopt an entire basket of deplorable beliefs that go with it. For starters, nanotechnology. Any superintelligence worth its salt would be able to create tiny machines that do all sorts of things. We would be living in a post-scarcity society where all material needs are met. Nanotechnology would also be able scan your brain so you can upload it into a different body, or into a virtual world. So the second consequence of (friendly) superintelligence is that no one can diewe become immortal. A kind AI could even resurrect the dead. Nanomachines could go into my brain and look at memories of my father, then use them to create a simulation of him that I can interact with, and that will always be disappointed in me, no matter what I do. Another weird consequence of AI is Galactic expansion. I've never understood precisely why, but it's a staple of transhumanist thought. The fate of (trans)humanity must either be leave our planet and colonize the galaxy, or to die out. This is made more urgent knowing other civilizations have made the same choice and might be ahead of us in the space race. So there's a lot of weird ancillary stuff packed into this assumption of true artificial intelligence. Religion 2.0 What it really is is a form of religion. People have called a belief in a technological Singularity the "nerd Apocalypse", and it's true. It's a clever hack, because instead of believing in God at the outset, you imagine yourself building an entity that is functionally identical with God. This way even committed atheists can rationalize their way into the comforts of faith. The AI has all the attributes of God: it's omnipotent, omniscient, and either benevolent (if you did your array bounds-checking right), or it is the Devil and you are at its mercy. Like in any religion, there's even a feeling of urgency. You have to act now! The fate of the world is in the balance! And of course, they need money! Because these arguments appeal to religious instincts, once they take hold they are hard to uproot. Comic Book Ethics These religious convictions lead to a comic-book ethics, where a few lone heroes are charged with saving the world through technology and clever thinking. What's at stake is the very fate of the universe. As a result, we have an industry full of rich dudes who think they are Batman (though interestingly enough, no one wants to be Robin). Simulation Fever If you believe that sentient artificial life is possible, and that an AI will be able design extraordinarily powerful computers, then you're also likely to believe we live in a simulation. Here's how that works: Imagine that you're a historian, living in a post-Singularity world. You study the Second World War and want to know what would happen if Hitler had captured Moscow in 1941. Since you have access to hypercomputers, you set up a simulation, watch the armies roll in, and write your paper. But because the simulation is so detailed, the entities in it are conscious beings, just like you. So your university ethics board is not going to let you turn it off. It's bad enough that you've already simulated the Holocaust. As an ethical researcher, you have to keep this thing running. Eventually that simulated world will invent computers, develop AI, and start running its own simulations. So in a sense it's simulations all the way down, until you run out of CPU. So you see that every base reality can contain a vast number of nested simulations, and a simple counting argument tells us we're much more likely to live in a simulated world than the real one. But if you believe this, you believe in magic. Because if we're in a simulation, we know nothing about the rules in the level above. We don't even know if math works the same waymaybe in the simulating world 2+2=5, or maybe 2+2=. A simulated world gives us no information about the world it's running in. In a simulation, people could easily rise from the dead, if the sysadmin just kept the right backups. And if we can communicate with one of the admins, then we basically have a hotline to God. This is a powerful solvent for sanity. When you start getting deep into simulation world, you begin to go nuts. [ Note that we now have four independent ways in which superintelligence offers us immortality: A benevolent AI invents medical nanotechnology and keeps your body young forever. The AI invents full-brain scanning, including brain scans on dead people, frozen heads etc., that let you live in a computer. The AI "resurrects" people by scanning other people's brains for memories of the person, and combining that with video and other records. If no one remembers the person well enough, they can always be grown "from scratch" in a simulation designed to start with their DNA and re-create all the circumstances of their life. If we already live in a simulation, there's a chance that whoever/whatever runs the simulation is keeping proper backups, and can be persuaded to reload them. This is what I mean by AI appealing to religious impulses. What other belief system offers you four different flavors of scientifically proven immortality?] Weve learned that at least one American plutocrat (almost certainly Elon Musk, who believes the odds are a billion to one against us living in "base reality") has hired a pair of coders to try to hack the simulation. This is an extraordinarily rude thing to do! I'm using it! If you think were living in a computer program, trying to segfault it is inconsiderate to everyone who lives in it with you. It is far more dangerous and irresponsible than the atomic scientists who risked blowing up the atmosphere. Data Hunger As I mentioned earlier, the most effective way we've found to get interesting behavior out of the AIs we actually build is by pouring data into them. This creates a dynamic that is socially harmful. We're on the point of introducing Orwellian microphones into everybody's house. All that data is going to be centralized and used to train neural networks that will then become better at listening to what we want to do. But if you think that the road to AI goes down this pathway, you want to maximize the amount of data being collected, and in as raw a form as possible. It reinforces the idea that we have to retain as much data, and conduct as much surveillance as possible. String Theory For Programmers AI risk is string theory for computer programmers. It's fun to think about, interesting, and completely inaccessible to experiment given our current technology. You can build crystal palaces of thought, working from first principles, then climb up inside them and pull the ladder up behind you. People who can reach preposterous conclusions from a long chain of abstract reasoning, and feel confident in their truth, are the wrong people to be running a culture. Incentivizing Crazy This whole field of "study" incentivizes crazy. One of the hallmarks of deep thinking in AI risk is that the more outlandish your ideas, the more credibility it gives you among other enthusiasts. It shows that you have the courage to follow these trains of thought all the way to the last station. Ray Kurzweil, who believes he will never die, has been a Google employee for several years now and is presumably working on that problem. There are a lot of people in Silicon Valley working on truly crazy projects under the cover of money. AI Cosplay The most harmful social effect of AI anxiety is something I call AI cosplay. People who are genuinely persuaded that AI is real and imminent begin behaving like their fantasy of what a hyperintelligent AI would do. In his book, Bostrom lists six things an AI would have to master to take over the world: Intelligence Amplification Strategizing Social manipulation Hacking Technology research Economic productivity If you look at AI believers in Silicon Valley, this is the quasi-sociopathic checklist they themselves seem to be working from. Sam Altman, the man who runs YCombinator, is my favorite example of this archetype. He seems entranced by the idea of reinventing the world from scratch, maximizing impact and personal productivity. He has assigned teams to work on reinventing cities, and is doing secret behind-the-scenes political work to swing the election. Such skull-and-dagger behavior by the tech elite is going to provoke a backlash by non-technical people who don't like to be manipulated. You can't tug on the levers of power indefinitely before it starts to annoy other people in your democratic society. I've even seen people in the so-called rationalist community refer to people who they don't think are effective as Non Player Characters, or NPCs, a term borrowed from video games. This is a horrible way to look at the world. So I work in an industry where the self-professed rationalists are the craziest ones of all. It's getting me down. These AI cosplayers are like nine year olds camped out in the backyard, playing with flashlights in their tent. They project their own shadows on the sides of the tent and get scared that its a monster. Really it's a distorted image of themselves that they're reacting to. There's a feedback loop between how intelligent people imagine a God-like intelligence would behave, and how they choose to behave themselves. So what's the answer? What's the fix? We need better scifi! And like so many things, we already have the technology. This is Stanislaw Lem, the great Polish scifi author. English-language scifi is terrible, but in the Eastern bloc we have the goods, and we need to make sure it's exported properly. It's already been translated well into English, it just needs to be better distributed. What sets authors like Lem and the Strugatsky brothers above their Western counterparts is that these are people who grew up in difficult circumstances, experienced the war, and then lived in a totalitarian society where they had to express their ideas obliquely through writing. They have an actual understanding of human experience and the limits of Utopian thinking that is nearly absent from the west. There are some notable exceptionsStanley Kubrick was able to do itbut it's exceptionally rare to find American or British scifi that has any kind of humility about what we as a species can do with technology. The Alchemists Since I'm being critical of AI alarmism, it's only fair that I put my own cards on the table. I think our understanding of the mind is in the same position that alchemy was in in the seventeenth century. Alchemists get a bad rap. We think of them as mystics who did not do a lot of experimental work. Modern research has revealed that they were far more diligent bench chemists than we gave them credit for. In many cases they used modern experimental techniques, kept lab notebooks, and asked good questions. The alchemists got a lot right! For example, they were convinced of the corpuscular theory of matter: that everything is made of little tiny bits, and that you can re-combine the bits with one another to create different substances, which is correct! Their problem was they didn't have precise enough equipment to make the discoveries they needed to. The big discovery you need to make as an alchemist is mass balance: that everything you start with weighs as much as your final products. But some of those might be gases or evanescent liquids, and alchemists just didn't have the precision. Modern chemistry was not possible until the 18th century. The alchemists also had clues that led them astray. For one thing, the were obsessed with mercury. Mercury is not very interesting chemically, but it is the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature. This seemed very significant to the alchemists, and caused them to place mercury at the heart of their alchemical system, and their search for the Philosopher's Stone, a way to turn base metals into gold. It didn't help that mercury was neurotoxic, so if you spent too much time playing with it, you started to think weird thoughts. In that way, it resembles our current thought experiments with superintelligence. Imagine if we could send a modern chemistry textbook back in time to a great alchemist like George Starkey or Isaac Newton. The first thing they would do would be flip through to see if we found the Philosopher's Stone. And they'd discover that we had! We realized their dream! Except we aren't all that excited about it, because when we turn base metals into gold, it comes out radioactive. Stand next to an ingot of transubstantiated gold and it will kill you with invisible, magic rays. You can imagine what a struggle it would be to not make the modern concepts of radioactivity and atomic energy sound mystical to them. We would have to go on to explain what we do use the "philosopher's stone" for: to make a metal that never existed on earth, two handfuls of which are sufficient to blow up a city if brought together with sufficient speed. What's more, we would have to explain to the alchemists that every star they see in the sky is a "philosopher's stone", converting elements from one to another, and that every particle in our bodies comes from stars in the firmament that existed and exploded before the creation of the Earth. Finally, they would learn that the forces that hold our bodies together are the forces that make lightning in the sky, and that the reason you or I can see anything is the same reason that a lodestone attracts metal, and the same reason that I can stand on this stage without falling through it. They would learn that everything we see, touch and smell is governed by this single force, which obeys mathematical laws so simple we can write them on an index card. Why it is so simple is a deep mystery even to us. But to them it would sound like pure mysticism. I think we are in the same boat with the theory of mind. We have some important clues. The most important of these is the experience of consciousness. This box of meat on my neck is self-aware, and hopefully (unless we're in a simulation) you guys also experience the same thing I do. But while this is the most basic and obvious fact in the world, we understand it so poorly we can't even frame scientific questions about it. We also have other clues that may be important, or may be false leads. We know that all intelligent creatures sleep, and dream. We know how brains develop in children, we know that emotions and language seem to have a profound effect on cognition. We know that minds have to play and learn to interact with the world, before they reach their full mental capacity. And we have clues from computer science as well. We've discovered computer techniques that detect images and sounds in ways that seem to mimic the visual and auditory preprocessing done in the brain. But there's a lot of things that we are terribly mistaken about, and unfortunately we don't know what they are. And there are things that we massively underestimate the complexity of. An alchemist could hold a rock in one hand and a piece of wood in the other and think they were both examples of "substance", not understanding that the wood was orders of magnitude more complex. We're in the same place with the study of mind. And that's exciting! We're going to learn a lot. But meanwhile, there is a quote I love to cite: If everybody contemplates the infinite instead of fixing the drains, many of us will die of cholera. John Rich In the near future, the kind of AI and machine learning we have to face is much different than the phantasmagorical AI in Bostrom's book, and poses its own serious problems. It's like if those Alamogordo scientists had decided to completely focus on whether they were going to blow up the atmosphere, and forgot that they were also making nuclear weapons, and had to figure out how to cope with that. The pressing ethical questions in machine learning are not about machines becoming self-aware and taking over the world, but about how people can exploit other people, or through carelessness introduce immoral behavior into automated systems. And of course there's the question of how AI and machine learning affect power relationships. We've watched surveillance become a de facto part of our lives, in an unexpected way. We never thought it would look quite like this. So we've created a very powerful system of social control, and unfortunately put it in the hands of people who run it are distracted by a crazy idea. What I hope I've done today is shown you the dangers of being too smart. Hopefully you'll leave this talk a little dumber than you started it, and be more immune to the seductions of AI that seem to bedevil smarter people. We should all learn a lesson from Stephen Hawking's cat: don't let the geniuses running your industry talk you into anything. Do your own thing! Netgears $200 Nighthawk R7000P AC2300 router is made for gaming and streaming, thanks to its beamforming technology and MU-MIMO to stream to multiple devices simultaneously. If youre looking for a high-performance router, this is one device to keep in mind. But to get started, youll need to get your router online and make it secure. Heres how. Editors Note: Several Netgear routers were recently discovered to have security flaws so bad the US government issued warnings about them. The R7000P was not on Netgears list of affected routers, and we have not been able to reproduce the flaw. However, other experts have suggested the R7000P could be vulnerable. Be sure to keep your firmware up to date. MORE: Our Top-Rated Routers While we specifically tested these steps on a Nighthawk R7000P router, theyll likely work on other routers in Netgears Nighthawk lineup with a few variations here and there. Setting Up the Initial Connection 1. Remove the antenna caps from the back of the router. 2. Attach the three antennae. Set the left and right antennae at a 45-degree angle. 3. Connect the router to a power source. 4. Attach the router to your modem with an Ethernet cable. The Ethernet port on the AC2300 is bright yellow. 5. Open your wireless internet settings on your computer. The Wi-Fi icon is on the bottom right corner of the screen on Windows machines and the top right on Macs. 6. Connect to the new router. Yours will have its own unique name found on the bottom of the device and on a sticker in the packaging. You can choose the normal or 5GHZ band either will work. 7. Type the password included with your router. 8. Go to the setup page in your web browser. The browser should open to that page automatically, but if it doesn't, go to routerlogin.net using the URL bar (if that doesnt work, try routerlogin.com). Securing the Router While your router comes with a default password for setup, you'll want to change that to a unique password during the setup process. Giving your router a unique password that's hard for others to guess will make it more difficult for an uninvited visitor to infiltrate your network. Heres how to change your security settings. 9. Choose a new password and security questions under Admin Account Settings, and click Next. Youll use these to log in to your router settings. 10. Choose whether or not to download router apps. When youre done, click next. 11. The router will check for a new firmware update. If new firmware is available, download it. If not, press OK. 12. Youll see a confirmation screen, but all of the links take you to Netgear articles. Return to routersettings.net. 13. Log in with your username and password. 14. Click Wireless. 15. Type new SSID names and passwords, and click Apply. After this takes hold, youll want to connect to the newly named network. MORE: Best Router - Get a Better Wi-Fi Signal at Home Enabling Guest Networks Setting up a guest network lets visitors use your Internet without also having access to other devices say storage devices or printers connected to the network. 16. From the settings page, click Guest Network. 17. Check Enable Guest Network, name your networks, set passwords and click Apply. Editors Note: A previous version of this story may have been construed as enabling piracy, which was not the publications intention whatsoever. Tone Deaf in no way encourages piracy, and the story has been updated to better reflect our intentions. The Federal Court passed copyright legislation midway through last year that would require Australian ISPs to block websites that facilitate piracy. Its taken a while to come into play, but earlier this week Telstra began blocking popular torrent site The Pirate Bay, as well as TorrentHound, Torrentz, isoHunt and SolarMovie. Vodafone and Optus will be force to follow suit before the January 27 cut-off date. This follows an injunction taken out by Roadshow and Foxtel against the ISPs in February. Potential users of the site may have already seen the ominous Content Denied when trying to access these sites. Pretty official-looking, right? Well, it turns out that, although more complicated methods such as re-configuring DNS settings or shelling out for a VPN can of course still be used to access Pirate Bay, the easiest tool at your disposal for finding the site is Google Search. Yup, simply searching for the pirate bay on Google brings up a list of proxies, which are basically alternative URLs that can still be used to access The Pirate Bay. The Federal Court ruling lists 30 different variations on The Pirate Bay URL, all of which have been dutifully blocked by Telstra, but the many other portals to the site remain unaffected. As noted in our previous story, the Federal Court has declined to order what is know as a rolling injunction, which would allow any new web addresses associated with the websites in question to be blocked as they pop up. Instead, a new affidavit will need to be served each time a new domain name or IP address is implemented. While a victory for rights-holders, its a strategy that will most likely prove to be ineffective in combating piracy when it can be so easily circumvented. A homicide case resulted in jail time of a quarter century today but Kansas City media reporting doesn't tell the whole story.Here's much better background on this case that's going unreported tonight in Kansas City:Don't blame the media entirely,. PoliceStill, in the end, the talk of hate crime charges reflect the complexity of politics, cultural logics and the diversity of violence even inside the urban core. It's easy to and requires very little critical thinking in order write-off KCMO murders into demographic trends while considering the circumstances and impact of every instance of deadly violence offers a more complete perspective and reveals the very real human cost of the terrible homicide stats we're confronted with at the conclusion of this year.Developing . . . If the Turkish side insists on its positions regarding control of the new situation in Cyprus after a solution, then the prospects the people want will not exist, President Anastasiades has said If the Turkish side insists on its positions regarding control of the new situation in Cyprus after a solution, then the prospects the people want will not exist, President Anastasiades has said on Wednesday. He added that if the other side understands that the EU and modern countries function without the fears of the past than talks in Geneva will be fruitful. At a dinner hosted by the President and his wife Andri for staff at the Presidential Palace, he said that the Cyprus problem is an issue of dispositions and not wishes. If the other side shows the disposition that is necessary to reach a solution, then we can be certain that the wishes will be fulfilled, he said. The President added that if the other side continues to position itself in this manner, which ignores the concerns of the Greek Cypriots, we are in a difficult position for a solution to be reached. WILL TO REACH SOLUTION BENEFICIAL FOR BOTH COMMUNITIES The President said that he did not want to focus on the pessimistic scenarios, but rather the decidedness, will, and disposition to reach the solution he believes is to the benefit of both communities. We have never sought a solution, which would create winners and losers, he said. He added that the Turkish Cypriot side should realise that the Greek Cypriot side has concerns that must be satisfied. BOTH COMMUNITIES SHOULD CREATE PROSPECTS TO LIVE PEACEFULLY President Anastasiades added that both communities, based on the Republic of Cyprus position as a full EU member state, will be able to see how the EU functions, and how modern states work, and not how the fears of the past, or the sins that weigh both sides function. We should create the preconditions, prospects to live peacefully, and create a modern country, which is not dependent [on others], so that future generations can hope, he said. I want to hope, simply that we will go [to Geneva] with the same goal: to reunite our country, and rid our country of dependency on others or troops, so we can live peacefully, as we have done in the past, the President added. The President and the First Lady expressed their gratitude to the staff at the Presidential Palace. Mrs Anastasiades said: We think of you as our big family, may you be well and I hope the New Year brings you every happiness, and the best for our country. Earlier on Wednesday, negotiators Andreas Mavroyiannis and Ozdil Nami discussed the EU issue of the Cyprus problem. The President also said on Wednesday that a solution with guarantees would be impossible. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report The Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades answered to the statements of the Turkish-Cypriot leader Moustafa Akinci by saying that no solution to the Cyprus dispute is possible with Turkish troops on the island and guarantors. Earlier mr. Akinci had answered a relevant question by saying that without Turkish troops and guarantors there can be no solution. This clearly indicates how difficult it is for the differences of the two sides to be bridged. President Anastasiades said that he didnt want to give any new information at this point, adding only that Cyprus will ask for those rights that every country can claim. When asked if the differences are impossible to be bridged, he avoided to answer by saying it is best to leave things as they are and that what he said what he had to say based on what is happening these days. However, he pointed out that the National Council with all the leaders of all the political parties will be assembled and that Cyprus has common positions with the Greece. He also underlined the fact that the Greek-Cypriot must do whatever possible for the success of the negotiations, without deviating from the core principals and positions and that if the other side wants a solution they must realize that Cyprus place in the EU dictates that they must all follow the rules of the union of countries they are part of. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report The new guarantees agreement should also include Turkey, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said after his meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades on Thursday The new guarantees agreement should also include Turkey, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said after his meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades on Thursday. Asked to comment on the different opinions being heard on the security issue, Akinci said that it is not secret that there are differing opinions, and reiterated his position that no troops and zero guarantees will not bring a positive result to discussions. He added that statements from the Turkish Cypriot side should not centre on the continuation of the existing guarantees system, and that there will be no change. Akinci said that so an issue does not arise for the Turkish Cypriots on the matter, there should be a new arrangement on the guarantees issue, which includes Turkeys presence. PARTICIPANTS AT THE GENEVA TALKS The Turkish Cypriot leader said that during the second part of the talks on Thursday, both sides were informed about the Geneva conference, and exchanged opinions on the matter. Regarding the participants at the Geneva conference on Cyprus on January 12, Akinci said that his opinion is clear, and the same as the statement released on December 1, which states that negotiations will continue on January 9, 10, and 11, while on January 12 a five-party conference will be held with the guarantor powers. He reiterated that other interested parties will be invited, such as the EU, but not as participants. Akinci said other parties would be invited as observers. Regarding the meeting with President Anastasiades, the Turkish Cypriot leader said that the two exchanged opinions on the negotiators meetings to date. He added that the two negotiators Andreas Mavroyiannis and Ozdil Nami informed the two leaders on the progress made. The positions of both sides, Akinci said, need to be balanced, and that the approach that guarantees should be abolished before the conference in Geneva, will not create a positive outcome. Akinci added that both sides would discuss the security and guarantees issue before the conference in Geneva, but that the final result would be decided in Switzerland. He said he hoped that the process in Geneva from January 9 to 12 would bring a final result on the Cyprus issue. Source: CNA RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Thursday signed three new agreements amounting to 203 million euros to support the Greek economy The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Thursday signed three new agreements amounting to 203 million euros to support the Greek economy, innovation and entrepreneurship. EIB President and Board Chairman Werner Hoyer signed the agreements with Education, Research and Religions Minister Costas Gavroglou and Environment and Energy Minister George Stathakis. I am very satisfied with the signature of these agreements, which aim to boost the Greek economy and its return to growth, Hoyer said. Of these funds, 138 million euros will be spent on nine Greek universities and 40 million euros will be lent to the Public Power Corporation (PPC) to upgrade its power networks and meters, with the introduction of smart metering. A third agreement for 25 million euros was signed with the technology firm Upstream. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Its a cheap & disposable UAV, but for more intense conflicts, that may not cut the ice anymore Millions of dollars worth of U.S.-supplied drones that Kiev had hoped would help in its war against Russian-backed separatists have proven ineffective against jamming and hacking, Ukrainian officials say. The 72 Raven RQ-11B Analog mini-drones were so disappointing following their arrival this summer that Natan Chazin, an advisor to Ukraines military with deep knowledge of the countrys drone program, said if it were up to him, he would return them. From the beginning, it was the wrong decision to use these drones in our (conflict), Chazin, an advisor to the chief of the general staff of Ukraines armed forces, told Reuters. The hand-launched Ravens were one of the recent highlights of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, aiming to give Kievs military portable, light-weight, unarmed surveillance drones that were small enough to be used widely in the field. They are made by AeroVironment. But they appear to have fallen short in a battle against the separatists, who benefit from far more sophisticated military technology than insurgencies the West has contended with in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria. IMPROVE TIES WITH RUSSIA Whether President-elect Donald Trumps administration might seek to provide Kiev anything more robust, however, is unclear, given his stated desire to improve ties with Russia and prioritize the fight against Islamic militants. U.S. restrictions on technology exports could also limit new aid. The Air Force command of Ukraines armed forces acknowledged to Reuters that the Ravens supplied by the United States had a fundamental drawback: Russia and the separatist forces it supports can intercept and jam their video feeds and data. The complex is analog, therefore command channels and data are not protected from interception and suppression by modern means of electronic warfare, it said. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that Russias electronic warfare capabilities were far more sophisticated than thought when the conflict began and that both the U.S. and Ukrainian militaries were adapting. Asked about Ukraines reaction to the Ravens, one official said it took a considerable amount of time for the drones to reach Ukraine and that by then they were much less effective than they would have liked, than we would have liked. AeroVironment referred questions from Reuters about the Raven contract to the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army told Reuters it still uses Ravens but has upgraded to digital versions. STONE AGE Some 38 Ukrainian students were trained at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama on how to operate the drones between March and July this year, a U.S. Army spokesman said. Ukraine said it distributed the Ravens across the services and gave one batch to the Zhytomry Military Institute for training purposes. There were mixed accounts on how much the Ravens were being used in Ukraine, which saw Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014 and which has been fighting Russian-backed separatist forces in the east. Nearly 10,000 people have died in the conflict. The Air Force command of Ukraines armed forces said they were being used in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone, including in combat situations. One Ukrainian official, however, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that although drones were being used in the zone, they were not employed on the front lines. Chazin said they were largely in storage and called them a vulnerability, allowing the enemy to see Ukrainian military positions and, when it wanted, easily take them down. They had short battery life and were unable to reliably fulfill the key mission of gaining intelligence on artillery positions, he said. (Analog) basically puts you back in the stone age of the UAVs, said James Lewis, director of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, using an acronym for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones. Im not being critical of the Raven. I love the Raven But its a cheap, disposable UAV. And for more intense conflict, that may not cut the ice anymore. TRUMPS UKRAINE POLICY? The drones, along with other U.S.-supplied items like radar, first-aid kits, night vision and communications gear, fit into President Barack Obamas strategy of providing non-lethal military assistance while focusing on sanctions and diplomacy to end the war. Within that context, the miniature drones, even though small, were a noteworthy element of the more than $600 million in training and equipment that the United States has provided Ukraine so far. Ukraine pegged the Raven programs value at over $12 million. How Trump might alter U.S. support remains unclear, particularly given cabinet picks that include retired Marine General James Mattis, who has been vocal about his concerns about Russia and was nominated to become U.S. defense secretary. Some of the most prominent Republican lawmakers in Congress have called for Ukraine to receive lethal arms. If anything, it creates a new opportunity, said Luke Coffey at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think-tank. Ukrainian officials have sought to put a brave face on Trumps election, downplaying comments on the campaign trail that included appearing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia and contemplating an end to U.S. sanctions on Russia. Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko is expected to visit Washington next year, and U.S. assistance is sure to be high on his agenda. Topping Ukraines wish list are Javelin anti-tank missiles made by made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The top U.S. military officer in Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti, told a Senate hearing this year theres a requirement for an anti-tank weapon, like Javelin. One of the U.S. officials cautioned about limitations on Americas ability to export drones that can evade Russias electronic warfare capabilities. That could leave Ukraines military to continue building drones from commercially available technology. It now assembles them from components supplied by firms in countries such as Australia, China and the Czech Republic for only $20,000 to $25,000 apiece, Chazin said, and they are more advanced than the more pricey Ravens, which are often funded from private donations. Source: Reuters RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Tourexpi, turizm haberleri, Reiseburos, tourism news, noticias de turismo, Tourismus Nachrichten, , travel tourism news, international tourism news, Urlaub, urlaub in der turkei, , holidays in Turkey, , global tourism news, dunya turizm, dunya turizm haberleri, Seyahat Acentas, This site is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+, at a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768. With the possible introduction of VAT by 2018 in GCC region, it is a critical time for organizations across the region to take into account the impacts and other changes that will accompany this introduction, an industry expert said. Nauman Ahmed, partner and Middle East Tax leader at professional services firm Deloitte, was speaking an annual seminar hosted by the company on global and Saudi Arabian tax and zakat updates impacting businesses. The seminar ran in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Khobar, and aimed at sharing and discussing in depth the tax landscape shaping the current and future strategies and to profitability of companies operating in Saudi Arabia. The seminars were attended by over 350 representatives from various organizations operating both globally and in Saudi Arabia. The seminars discussed the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the region, along with other updates relating to the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) concept currently being discussed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for development of country-by-country reporting frameworks. Other important topics covered by the Deloitte seminars included updates to the Saudi corporate income tax law, developments in the practices of General Authority of Zakat & Tax (GAZT) including introduction of online portal titled ERAD for filings, discussions on zakat regulations, withholding tax law and related updates including various clarifications and circulars issued by the GAZT. BEPS, Zakat regulations, and the introduction of ERAD are all game changers as the economies are adapting to the reality of fall in oil prices, added Ahmed. It is now more important than ever that businesses operating in Saudi Arabia understand the impact the changing global landscape of taxation would have on future operations as they need to plan ahead to maintain their profitability, he concluded. TradeArabia News Service Oman-based Mazoon Dairy Company has selected Abu Hatim Co, one of the sultanates leading construction and engineering companies, as the contractor for its site enabling works, said a report. A formal agreement will be signed on December 25, added the Oman Daily Observer report. A tender for pre-qualifying local companies to develop the farm, dairy plant and associated facilities at Al Sunaynah in Buraimi have also been floated earlier this year, it said. Dr Rashid al Masroori, chairman of the board of Mazoon Dairy, said that the company is pleased to note that the project is progressing to the execution stage with the award of this site enabling works contract. He noted that when operational, the integrated facility will comprise a state of the art dairy farm, a fully automated centralised processing plant and related sales and distribution facilities ensuring product reach within Oman and the wider region. The dairy farm is planned to house 25,000 Holstein Friesian cows over a period of 10 years. The facility will have a state of the art cow cooling systems and fully automated milking parlour. The processing plant will process fresh milk, laban, yoghurts, juices and ice cream of the highest quality upholding international standards with HACCP & ISO certification, added the report. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has projected investments of around $20 billion in its oil and gas operations over the next five years, despite plans to further curtail capital expenditure in 2017 and beyond, a report said quoting a top official. PDO aims to continue running a lean and efficient operation going into 2017, while still maintaining activity levels at full tilt, Raoul Restucci, managing director, PDO, was quoted as saying in an Oman Daily Observer report. He added that the company will be focusing on minimising capital requirements, improving efficiency, finding self-reliant ways of funding itself. Restucci pointed out that the company is doing its best to reduce capex not only for 2017 but also 2018, the report said. The company will try and sustain a high level of activity and drilling projects. It drilled more than 600 wells in 2016, and aims to continue their development in 2017, said the report. Saudi Aramco, the worlds leading integrated energy and petrochemicals enterprise, and PT Pertamina, Indonesias state oil and gas company, signed a joint venture development agreement (JVDA) today, marking a key milestone to enable further progress to jointly own, upgrade and operate the Cilacap Refinery in central Java, Indonesia. Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser and Pertamina president-director and CEO Dwi Soetjipto signed the agreement at Pertaminas headquarters in Jakarta. In November 2015, both companies signed a heads of agreement (HoA) and todays JVDA will allow for the next development phase of the project to move forward, said a statement. Indonesias growth trajectory is truly remarkable with an ambitious economic agenda underscored by the governments reforms to increase investments in the infrastructure and energy sectors, Nasser said. Through an outlay of significant capital investments and the reliable supply of competitive feedstock, todays agreement with Pertamina enables Saudi Aramco to potentially play a bigger role in meeting the rising energy needs of one of the worlds fastest developing economies, he added. The agreement is representing both companys strong commitment in developing and strengthening the energy infrastructure throughout the country, especially in refinery projects, that align Pertaminas five strategic pillars. Upgrading and expansion of Cilacap Refinery will help Pertamina to enhance its downstream competitiveness with higher valuable and environmental friendly products, Soetjipto said. The Cilacap refinery is part of Pertaminas Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) and its capacity is planned for an expansion to 400,000 barrels per day and it is designed to process Arabian crude supplied by Saudi Aramco. It will also produce refined products that meet Euro V specifications, basic petrochemicals, and Group II base oil for lubricants. In addition to meeting rising fuel demand, the partnership between Pertamina and Saudi Aramco will enhance the competitiveness of Indonesias refineries and contribute to improved energy security. Saudi Aramco and Pertamina agreed on the ownership structure of the upgraded Cilacap refinery, where Pertamina will hold a 55 percent stake and Saudi Aramco will own the balance 45 percent. To date, the upgraded refinery configuration has been completed and the process to select technology licensors will start soon with the Basic Engineering Design work targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2017. Signing this agreement paves the way for the upgraded project to move to the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase in the second quarter 2017 while project startup is targeted in 2021. - TradeArabia News Service Saudi Arabias petrochemical exports have been seeing a CAGR of 15 per cent and are estimated to reach 100 million tonnes in 2016, said the organisers of the upcoming ArabPlast, a major industrial show in Dubai, UAE. Saudi Arabias petrochemical sector is largest non-oil sector, with investment estimated at $63.5150 billion expected in 2020 alone, added Satish Khanna, general manager, Al Fajer Information and Services, co-organisers of ArabPlast, citing the Saudi Arabia industrial overview report published by Jeddah Chamber. With proven track record success, ArabPlast has become a biennial tradition for the plastics and petrochemical industrials in GCC countries. The 2017 edition is believed to showcase higher contributions in term of innovation, new products, latest technologies and knowledge exchange. And I am proud to get one of the leading companies in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support this event and enhance its visibility within the Saudi market, Khanna explained. Tasnee, a leading industrial company in Saudi Arabia, is the platinum sponsor of ArabPlast Show to be held from January 8 to 10 at the Dubai Exhibition and convention Centre Co-organised by Al Fajer Information and Services and German exhibition organiser Messe Dusseldorf, ArabPlast is expected to bring together key players in the plastics, petrochemicals and rubber industry with exhibitors and visitors coming from different countries around the Middle East region and the world. Established in 1985, Tasnee operates several companies which core activities are related to petrochemicals, chemicals, plastics, metals manufacturing, industrial services and environmental technologies. These industries play a major role in developing and sustaining the regional economies. Hence the importance of ArabPlast as an opportunity for international experts and professionals to meet and share practises, success stories, solutions and even concerns regarding these sectors. Tasnee was one of the early Saudi companies investing in the petrochemical sector. The company always aimed at reaching a leading position and we are now one of the largest producers of petrochemical products in the kingdom. Attendees to ArabPlast 2017 will get the occasion to discover a wide range of products that provide functionalities in injection moulding, blow molding, wrapping and packaging or pre and post plastic processing techniques as well as raw materials, such as masterbatches, additives and polymers. Some of the machinery and new technologies to be displayed include plastic machinery, plastic/rubber processing technology, pre and post-processing systems, plastic packaging technology, injection moulding, blow moulding, wrapping technology, extrusions, chemicals and additives, semi finished goods, engineering plastics and plastic products. TradeArabia News Service Hotels in the Middle East reported mixed results in November, while hotels in Africa posted positive results in the three key performance metrics when reported in US dollar constant currency, according to data from STR. Compared with November 2015, the Middle East recorded a 3.1 per cent increase in occupancy to 71.3 per cent. However, a 7.7 per cent drop in average daily rate (ADR) to $182.60 pulled revenue per available room (RevPAR) down 4.8 per cent to $130.27, it said. Africa experienced a 1.2 per cent increase in occupancy to 59.9 per cent. That coupled with an 18.6 per cent spike in ADR to $118.59 pushed RevPAR up 20 per cent to $71.01. Performance of featured countries for November 2016: QATAR reported a 1.2pc decline in occupancy to 69.1pc and a 6.8pc decrease in ADR to QR469.75, leading to an 8pc drop in RevPAR to QR324.38. Significant supply growth (+6.1pc) outpaced solid demand growth (+4.8pc) during the month. STR analysts note that the amount of new supply entering the country is not expected to slow any time soon, as there are currently 15,958 rooms in Qatars pipeline3,121 of which are set to hit the market in 2017. The countrys economy also been affected by falling oil prices. KENYA recorded a 13.6 per cent increase in occupancy to 58 per cent, mitigating a 3.7pc drop in ADR to KES13,612.49. As a result, RevPAR grew 9.4pc to KES7,899.87. The World Banks most recent Kenya Economic Update projected 5.9pc growth for Kenyas economy, helped by low oil prices, good agricultural performance, a supportive monetary policy and ongoing infrastructure investments. For Kenyas hotel industry, this will likely translate to significant supply growth, as there are currently 2,349 rooms in the pipeline set to enter the market over the next five years, the report said. SOUTH AFRICA saw relatively flat occupancy (+0.7pc to 72.7pc), while ADR rose 9.1pc to ZAR1,230.84, pushing RevPAR growth 9.9pc to ZAR895.30. STR analysts note the importance of tourism to the countrys economy, and by extension, hotel industry. According to South Africas Department of Environmental Affairs, international arrivals increased 14.8pc during the first seven months of the year. The country has now reported 64 straight months of RevPAR growth. Performance of featured markets: ABU DHABI, UAE, reported a 3.2pc decline in occupancy to 81pc and a 10.6pc decrease in ADR to Dh659.73, resulting in a 13.5pc drop in RevPAR to Dh534.11. STR analysts note that November is a traditionally strong month for Abu Dhabi, but supply growth (+3.5pc year to date) continues to drive negative year-over-year performance. While November as a whole showed negative figures, the market did achieve four consecutive days with ADR above Dh1,000 thanks to the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. BEIRUT, Lebanon, posted a 17.4pc increase in occupancy to 55.3pc. ADR fell 7.8pc to LBP192,214.91. RevPAR rose 8.3pc to LBP106,297.27. The spike in occupancy came in comparison with a low base in November 2015 (47.1pc). STR analysts note that despite improved security conditions, the markets hotels continue to face challenges due to regional tensions and political instability. MUSCAT, Oman, reported significant declines in occupancy (-13pc to 64.2pc) and ADR (-13.6pc to OR75.95), resulting in a 24.8pc decline in RevPAR to OR48.74. STR analysts note that Omans economy has been heavily affected by low oil prices, and year-to-date figures through November show that RevPAR in Muscat is down 20.7pc. - TradeArabia News Service Iran Air and Airbus have signed a firm contract for 100 aircraft worth more than $18 billion at list prices, building on an initial commitment signed in January 2016 in Paris, France. The agreement signed by Farhad Parvaresh, Iran Air chairman and CEO and Fabrice Bregier, Airbus president and CEO, covers 46 A320 Family, 38 A330 Family and 16 A350 XWB aircraft. Deliveries will begin in early 2017. I am delighted that we have reached an agreement to go to the next decisive phase and start taking delivery of new aircraft. I am gratified that this new round of cooperation with Airbus has come to fruition and brought us closer with more practical steps to follow for Iran Airs fleet renewal, said Farhad Parvaresh, Iran Air chairman and CEO. Iran Air considers this agreement an important step towards a stronger international presence in civil aviation. We hope this success signals to the world that the commercial goals of Iran and its counterparts are better achieved with international cooperation and collaboration. This is a landmark agreement not only because it paves the way for Iran Airs fleet renewal, said Fabrice Bregier, Airbus president and CEO. Our overall accord includes pilot training, airport operations and air traffic management so this agreement is also a significant first step in the overall modernisation of Irans commercial aviation sector. The agreement is subject to US government Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) export licences which were granted in September and November 2016. These licenses are required for products containing 10 per cent or more US technology content. Airbus coordinated closely with regulators in the EU, US and elsewhere to ensure understanding and full compliance with the JCPOA. Airbus will continue to act in full compliance with the conditions of the OFAC licences. The agreement follows the implementation of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action), its associated rules and guidance and included new commercial aircraft orders as well as a comprehensive civil aviation package. The package includes pilot and maintenance training, supporting the development of air navigation services (ATM), airport and aircraft operations and regulatory harmonization. TradeArabia News Service Peru is a cultural hub filled with unique sights to see, amazing cuisine, a plethora of activities, and is definitely somewhere worth putting on your travel bucket list, but there are a few things to know before planning your trip. The best time to visit Peru is during the dry season from May to October when it is warm and dry during the day and cold and dry at night. The daytime will be a pleasant temperature in the 60s and the evening will hover just about freezing. This time of the year is the best for visibility of the Inca Trail as well as visiting the jungle regions. If you are going to Peru for the coast, the beaches are much warmer in the summertime from December to April. Lima, Peru's capital, is often skipped over in the race to get to Machu Picchu, but this is a mistake because Lima has a lot to offer such as beaches, excellent museums, and amazing food. Lima is considered to be one of the best cuisine cities in the world. They are known for their delicious ceviche as well as their beverage of choice, Pisco, a brandy made from grapes. While Peru is relatively safe compared to a few of the other South American countries, it is important to be vigilant of possible dangers while traveling through Peru. Follow the obvious precautions by not walking alone at night, being wary of locals attempting to scam tourists, and being careful about forms of transportation that may be unsafe. Obviously one cannot go to Peru and miss the famous Machu Picchu. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty, history, and culture. In order to go to Machu Picchu you will most likely travel to Cusco from Lima. There are two options for this: bus or plane. The bus ride will be about twenty hours and the plane ride only one hour. The plane is definitely recommended because round-trip flights are about $200, while bus fares vary depending on how comfortable of a bus and how nice of a seat, but they range from about $40-$120 round-trip. Another thing to keep in mind is the vast difference in altitude from Lima to Cusco. You will probably notice a difference as soon as you get off the plane. In order to prepare for this, drink plenty of water, get enough sleep, and go easy on the alcohol. Altitude sickness is incredibly uncomfortable and unfortunate, so do your best to avoid this! Also, it will be nearly impossible to climb the Inca Trail while having altitude sickness because the trail is steep and difficult even for those who are not sick. Lastly, there are several festivals that take place in Peru at different times of the year such as their Sun Festival in late June and Carnaval before lent. See if you can plan your trip around the time of one of their festivals because they are known to be a truly unique and entertaining experience! See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Step into the world of magic and wizards in Warner Bros Studios Hollywood. Starting on Dec. 9 "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" exhibit is now open for the people who wish to get a closer look at the new movie franchise. The Warner Bros Studios Hollywood recent expansion will take you on a journey to J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World: The Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts. Guests can take a look at the actual props and costumes used in the movie. In the recent unveiling, with special guests Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) and Bonnie Wright (Harry Potter film series), Warner Bros Studios announced that the new Wizarding tour is now accessible as part of the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. You can take a peek at photo previews of the exhibit reported by Collider. "This expansion will transport guests from Harry Potter's Hogwarts adventures back to 1926 New York, where Newt Scamander's misplaced magical case has found its home," the company's Executive Director Danny Kahn said in a statement. Visitors will get a behind-the-lens peek on how the filmmakers developed the popular Wizarding movie franchise. The new Wizarding tour will start with on giving viewers a glimpse on the concept art and the final designs used in the movie. The exhibit includes detailed costumes of Newt Scamander, Tina, Queenie, Jacob, Percival Graves and also creatures from Newt's Case. It also includes details costumes of Lord Voldemort, starting from his journey as young Tom Riddle up to his ascension as the "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named". It also includes interactive portions such as the "magical Sorting Hat" where you can be sorted into one of the famous four Hogwarts houses. The tour will proceed on the exploration of the most recent Wizarding World, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. According to Forbes, the newest movie film is a huge success and tops globally by earning $355 million. This is a clear indication that the new expansion will be a sure hit as well. The Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Tour is open Mon. to Sun. at 9:00am to 3:00pm. Studio tours depart once every 30 minutes and offer extended exhibit hours during summer season. Tickets are available for $62 per person. The tour is recommended for eight years old and above. Guests are recommended to make prior reservations for slots. You can book your Wizarding tour online or by calling 818-977-TOUR (8687). See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 What a great way to welcome the new year by traveling to the best places around the world. It's certainly new year, new travel goals for some people out there. Ever wonder where to start making great memories this 2017? To give out some new year travel ideas, Travel + Leisure and CN Traveler listed five best places to visit in 2017. Kitesurfers have long considered the breezy beaches of Paros as their playground. The island is a Cycladic triumvirate of sandy shoreline, history, and culture. Earlier this year, the island debuted a new airport, opening it to larger aircraft and more visitors. It's a must to visit the fishing village of Naousa or stay at the elegant Seven Santa Maria, where six airy, all-white suites come with a private boat and skipper for exploring the island's secret coves. New Zealand is becoming a popular place to travel to. It also became easier to go to this place now that three major carriers (United, American, and Air New Zealand) launched three new daily directs to New Zealand from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Houston this year. This region of Northland just upgraded by opening a multi-million dollar Helena Bay resort, the only luxury lodge in the country located right on the beach. You might also want to try Auckland superstar chef Al Brown's cuisine in Depot or just go straight to Queenstown, where there's a massive terrace overlooking Lake Wakatipu. The year 2017 will be all about adventuring into the countryside, specifically the Scandinavia's countryside: Norway, Finland and Sweden. Might as well try the year-round ice hotel and Finnish tourism initiatives inviting travelers to just relax. In addition, try a 100-mile Swedish road trip from Gothenburg to the border with Norway, or skip Sweden and tackle Norway. In Finland, it's a must to enjoy the nightlife in nature. Croatia has been featured in "Game of Thrones" because of its beautiful scenery. Destinations like Hvar and Dubrovnik are favorites by regular travelers. Head to Vis, a small, mountainous island best explored by scooter, where you'll find fresh seafood, tranquil coves, and zero crowds. You can also try Korcula Island instead. Its wine trails have grown in popularity and people can't get enough of the dry white wine. Try to come in Istria, too. It is known for both its fine food and first-century Roman amphitheater. Commonly more of a pilgrimage site than a sybaritic city, Jerusalem has now turned into a culinary force to rival Tel Aviv. Visit the Mahane Yehuda Market, where food-and-drink spots have popped up in produce stalls, many of which stay open long past sunset. The Jewish diaspora and Middle East merge at restaurants like Ishtabach and Machneyuda, famous for its standout beef tartare with plums. Consider staying at the new boutique Brown Jerusalem Hotel, which will open soon in a restored Ottoman-era villa and serve drinks in an underground water cistern. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Japan's "Softbank" led by CEO Son Masayoshi, will invest $50 billion in the US. This he said in his meeting and pledge to US president-elect Donald Trump. The tech fund is an investment from Softbank that is supposed to create 50,000 jobs in the US. The initial investment would be a $1 billion investment in OneWeb. OneWeb is a Florida startup which aims to provide Internet access from small satellites orbiting the Earth. Softbank is a Japanese multinational telecommunications and Internet corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It has businesses in e-commerce, the Internet, technology services, broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, media and marketing, finance, semiconductor design, and others. Masayoshi Son is its CEO. President-elect Donald Trump claimed that had he not won, Softbank would not have invested the $50 billion. However, questions were raised about the funds reaching the US anyway, whether or not Donald Trump won. This is because, in another event, Masayoshi Son told the Wall Street Journal that the funds will come from a $100 billion technology investment fund formed by the bank and Saudi Arabia. The US has the most number of startups in the world. The OneWeb deal further complicates the picture. That money is coming directly from SoftBank rather than the fund, which is "still in the early planning stages," according to Softbank spokesman Matthew Nicholson. See CNN Tech report SoftBank's $50 billion pledge to Trump just got more complicated Nicholson disputed that Son said the $50 billion investment in the U.S. would come entirely from the fund. "The way I understood it, it is a commitment from SoftBank," he said. "Where and what exactly it comes from, that's a little beside the point." Son has previously made savvy investments in the tech sector over the years, including in giant e-commerce Alibaba (BABA, Tech30). However, he has unsuccessfully struggled to make a multibillion-dollar takeover of Sprint (S). See also Yahoo report SoftBank to invest $1 billion in U.S. venture OneWeb as part of $50 billion pledge. See related Traveler's Today report Netflix Wants To Put A Stop On "Unreasonable" Internet Data Caps See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 If one spends much time working, one's skill growth becomes stagnant once he or she reaches a point that all responsibilities become routine as current skill levels maximize. One's career helps to improve one's quality of life and travel allows one to sit back and look at the bigger picture of one's career. Employees can also improve many career skills that they might possess during off-work vacations such as time management, information cramming and a new perspective on their employment and responsibilities. According to a blog post by BootsNAll, avid travelers learn strict time management, new languages and proper stress management. Most companies value employees who can manage time strictly by setting goals and making efficient use of one's time. During off-work vacations, travelers plan numerous itinerary locations with fixed times to spend inside each one. The blog also said employees develop better socialization and communication skills during off-work vacations. Aside from learning a new language, employees learn to empathize and relate with others. They learn to negotiate well and work with people of different backgrounds and ethnicity -- a must in today's corporate climate. The blog post's idea reflects on the five career skills TripIt said is gained during travel. Writer Jenny Marshall said that many employees who travel off-work vacations have experienced cramming so much information "at warp speed." This skill is helpful when employees need to understand new processes immediately. Jenny Marshall also wrote, "Traveling to new corners of the globe stretches your mind." Employees who travel off-work vacations often are better problem-solvers and can find "outside-the-box" solutions. It is normal for avid travelers to see things differently and find new perspectives on their career back home. Employees who find it difficult to have an off-work vacation at least once a year could still find great relaxing tourist spots in the country. Top US destinations for holiday-season vacations such as Christmas include McAdenville, North Carolina with its village lights show and Bernville, Pennsylvania with its traditional holiday markets in cottages. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 20-year-old Alyssa Ramos is a lingerie model who has always dreamed of traveling around the world. Thanks to a Tinder-style website, she gets to fulfill her dreams of traveling the world for free! How does she do it? By letting men fund her holiday getaways through the dating site. The Wisconsin native joined the website, MissTravel.com more than five months ago and has since gone on trips to Ibiza, Cancun, Dubai, Las Vegas, New York, London, and Florida; all thanks to the funding she has gotten from the site. She is also planning for future trips to Greece and the Bahamas. Alyssa says that the entire experience makes her feel like a princess as she gets to travel the globe at a very young age. As a sort of added bonus, the model has also never had to reach into her own pockets to pay for any of the dates she had from the website. Saying every single world-trip that she got on Miss Travel are from her dates that are willing to pay the tab. "Every guy I have seen paid for everything. I mean, If I were to offer they're always like 'no, no, no. Let me pay.' They are gentlemen about it." Alyssa admits she doesn't use the site to find romance and only uses it to help fund her travels. However, she is not following the sugar daddy trend where older men shower women with expenses in exchange for sex and companionship. She has remained adamant in saying she will not sleep with any of her dates. She says she always make it clear to her dates that she does not want to have any sex. "When I go to stay with a guy we either have spare rooms or separate beds", she says. She says she is aware that there are guys on the website who are looking for sex, but they are the ones she tries to avoid. The 20-year-old Ramos decided to join the website after ending her two-year relationship with an older man. According to the model, she has always been more interested in older men and continues to deny that what she is doing is similar to prostitution since she never sleeps with her dates. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 A second Hyatt Place hotel close to Heathrow airport has just opened. The hotel, which is a renovation of the former Heathrow Hotel Bath Road, is a five-minute drive from Terminals 2 and 3. The 350-room hotel is under the management of Cycas Hospitality, under a franchise agreement with M+L Hospitality. Hyatt Place Heathrow is the second Hyatt Place hotel in London and the fifth Hyatt branded hotel in the United Kingdom. Peter Fulton, group president - Europe, Africa and Middle East and Southwest Asia for Hyatt said that they are "delighted to collaborate with Cycas Hospitality and M&L Hospitality to bring the second Hyatt Place hotel to the U.K." He also said that the opening of the hotel highlights a significant milestone for Hyatt as the brand name continues to expand to the rest of the world. Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport is located at the doorstep of Heathrow Airport, providing guests with a relaxing and uncomplicated place to pause before beginning the next leg of their journey. The hotel will offer a 24/7 gallery hosts and gallery market; Coffee to Cocktails Bar featuring specialty coffees and premium beers, as well as wines and cocktails; meetings spaces, and many more. Meanwhile, a Hyatt hotel in Pasadena's Paseo Colorado seems to be on track after a delay. Pasadena Star News said that the seven-story hotel and condominium project stalled following the demolition of a former Macy's last year has received the funding it needs to begin construction by this summer. The hotel was initially expected to be completed by mid-2017, but now the grand opening is moved to 2018. Nate Mercer, director of marketing for Ensemble Real Estate Solutions in Long Beach said that the project is definitely moving forward, and that they are anticipating a 14-month construction schedule as long as everything falls into place. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Most people have that misconception that North Korea doesn't allow tourists in its country. In fact, people are very much welcome to visit, under strict rules of course. But the thing is, North Korea actually attracts thousands of visitors each year because of these top 5 tourist spots. Paektu Mountain, Changbai Range Paektu is an active volcano which is part of the Changbai mountain range and is actually the highest mountain of that range. According to Korea Konsult, the mountain has a large crater lake at the summit and is considered as the deepest and coldest crater lake in the world. Tomb of King Tongmyong, Pyongyang According to We Find You Go, there are at least sixty tombs in the Pyongyang area and the Tomb of King Tongmyong is a famous mausoleum built in honor of the founder of the ancient Goguryeo kingdom, King Tongmyong. The tomb has gained popularity since becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is why it is one of the top 5 tourist spots in North Korea. Juche Tower, Pyongyang There are lots of monuments in North Korea and the Juche Tower is a must see. People can climb up to the top and experience a panoramic sight of Pyongyang City. Worker's Part Monument Another monument in the Pyongyang Area, the Worker's Party Monument is another edifice that is just a walking distance from the Juche Tower. The three arms that appear to be holding tools each symbolize education, farming and industry. Kim II Song Square This area is the capital of Pyongyang and the entire North Korea. This is the place where big rallies and massive military parades are usually held. The place is home to the Grand People's Study House which is the largest library in the country. In fact, North Koreans above the age of 17 can get free lectures in this library. Knowing about these top 5 tourist spots in North Korea might just rid away that common misconception that the country isn't travel-friendly. North Korea actually has more visitors than most people think. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 America is a country packed with intermingling cultures, and there are thousands of beautiful destinations fit for any kind of travel. And while some places are fairly popular, like New York, Las Vegas, Hawaii and Florida, there are actually some other less known places you can try out too. So this upcoming 2017, why not give them a try? Here is a list of some underrated US destinations you should put on your travel bucket list. If you want to get a taste of genuine cowboy culture, then Fort Worth, Texas is the best place for you. It may be a big city, but the local residents still retail the cowboy vibe and charm most travelers will be amazed by. Tons of fun activities await in "Cowtown," as the place is commonly called. And of course, don't forget to try their local cuisine that will make you swoon and say "Yee-haw!" in delight. Immerse in America's historical culture and head off to Baltimore, Maryland. Several interesting museums are located here like the like the B&O Railroad Museum, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, and the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum. After spending all day enriched with America's beautiful history, head on to Little Italy and Station North for a delightful dining experience. Murphys, California may be a small town, but their place is actually slowly getting recognition from their expertise in growing grapes and making delicious wine. If you're into places like Napa Valley, Murphys has a similar feel without the excessive commercialized appeal. If you want to try out their local cuisine, several restaurants and wine shops are situated in their town-and, you will never see a fast food chain in sight. This city may be poorer and less industrialized compared to other big cities in America, but that actually what makes Berk's County, Pennsylvania charming. If you crave for a peaceful vacation surrounded by serene natural attractions then this is the place to be. Berk's County is also home to Roadside America, the largest miniature village in the world. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 As the Earth rotates around the sun, it reaches certain points when the north poles are too far from the sun. The North Pole can be tilted as far as -23.5 degrees away from the Sun. During this time, day only lasts seven hours and 94 minutes. This year's solstice falls on December 21st at 10:44 Universal time. Different countries celebrate the solstice in their own way and each country offers a blend of tradition. The most famous place that celebrates the Winter Solstice is at Stonehenge. This magnificent landmark found at Wiltshire, England is a meeting place for most people to celebrate the astronomical phenomenon. As the sun sets, it aligns with one of the spaces formed by the stone arches in Stonehenge. Tourists lock to the location as druids celebrate with religious ceremonies along with dancing and chanting. The next location does not celebrate the Solstice in a sense of merrymaking, but rather it gives a religious and historical reverence. The Temple of Amun at Karnak features the sunrise between the walls of monument itself. In Peru, the winter solstice is celebrated during June. Inti Raymi is the place for their Celebration of the Sun where ancient Incas made sacrifices to their Sun God. Today, a reenactment is done by actors without shedding any blood to commemorate the event. Scandinavia's St Lucia's Day was previously celebrated during December 13 in memory of St. Lucia. Today, winter solstice and the celebration of St Lucia has been intertwined and both are celebrated together. To celebrate the event, Scandinavians eat lussekats (a type of sweet bread) are eaten in the morning. Ginger biscuits are served in the evening along with a festival of lights. In China, the Dongzhi Festival serves as another version of Christmas. Most citizens finish work early and dine with their families in a meal that usually includes tongyuen (soup with balls of sticky rice). See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 No matter what you believe in Christianity, Hinduism, Atheism, Sean Hannity there's little debate that humans on this planet exist with a certain degree of impact. Environmental. Political. Social. It's the nature of cohabitation. Force a bunch of people, of anythings, to live in a confined space for several centuries and shit is going to hit the proverbial fan. There's no argument there. Where the argument intensifies is what the hell to do about it. Do we stop reproducing to soothe our conscience and end the evil before it escalates? Do we stand united and direct the collective energy into a new dawn through consciousness conductivity, recreational drugs and dubstep? Or do we drill baby drill and embrace the rapture? One thing that needs to be made clear is that with or without us, the earth is going to be just fine. Whenever we talk about saving the environment what we really mean is saving our environment. Most animals don't shit where they eat, except sheep. And Humans. Which is what the Bolivian has decided needs to change. In Bolivia there is a government that has a creative vision of life on this planet that puts our quality of life on a realistic plane. Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, is a controversial person. However his vision that the value of life all lifehas merit and it is the first time a government has made this kind of leap. Bolivians believe that we cannot survive on this planet if we fail to see that human life cannot exist without nature. Read that sentence again. Think about it. The Law of Mother Earth is the first legal measure giving the Earth its day in court. It's the first law that states Mother Earth has the right to maintain the integrity of living systems and natural processes that sustain them, and capacities and conditions for regeneration, the right to preserve the functionality of the water cycle, and the right to preserve the quality and composition of air for sustaining living systems and its protection from pollution among other things. Developed by grassroots social groups and agreed by politicians, the Law of Mother Earth recognises the rights of all living things, giving the natural world equal status to human beings. In America we give this legal priority to corporations. A major obstacle is the fact that Bolivia is structurally dependent on extractive industries. In 2010, 70 percent of Bolivia's exports were still in the form of minerals, gas, and oil. This structural dependence will be very difficult to unravel. But it isn't a hurdle with diminishing stature, nor is it one EVERY country will face in the future. According to TheRightsofNature.org, the law requires the government to transition from non-renewable to renewable energy; to develop new economic indicators that will assess the ecological impact of all economic activity; to carry out ecological audits of all private and state companies; to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; to develop policies of food and renewable energy sovereignty; to research and invest resources in energy efficiency, ecological practices, and organic agriculture; and to require all companies and individuals to be accountable for environmental contamination with a duty to restore damaged environments. Time will tell if Bolivia will crumble from within before or after the rest of the world because of this incredible law. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 The best carnival outside Rio may just be in Limassol Cyprus. Every February in Limassol, Cyprus, one will encounter a "Stinky Thursday" experience where a not-so-appeaaling smell fills the air. This aroma of lamb and pork grilled with rosemary is what they call it "Tsiknopempti" in Greece. And whenever this happens in Limassol, Cyprus, this signals that the best carnival outside Rio is about to happen: the Limassol Carnival. The Limassol Carnival in Cyprus may be the liveliest carnival outside Rio because of the vivacious colors one will witness during the event. Cyprus is filled with numerous festivals which celebrate an abundant array of culture, but this big festival which runs from February 20 to March 2 stands out. Limassol-born photographer Marios Vrioni says of the carnival, "Limassol Carnival makes us forget our problems for a while, have fun and laugh with our hearts." Even for him who is now living in Lefkosia, he returns to his native soil to witness the Limassol Carnival. The Greeks who participate in the carnival indulgence themselves before fasting for the Lenten period. The Limassol Carnival opens when the city's brass band and drummers, together with mandolin-toting kantadoroi "serenaders" to accompany the Carnival King or Queen on the streets. As more musicians and dancers pack the Limassol streets, one will feel the gayest of vibes with the locals. Limassol resident Penelope Hearns who runs the Cyprus Expat website says, "I've been going to the Limassol Carnival for the past three years. It's smaller [than a Carnival like Rio], but for me that's part of the charm -- it's accessible, friendly, and everyone can join in. And you don't have to book a room or tickets years in advance -- most of the events that the municipality puts on are free." But aside from the happy atmosphere of the parade, it's not without meaning as the Limassol Municipality's carnival organizer Kleon Alexandrou says it's "possibly the only Carnival parade in the world that focuses on satirizing the current economic, social and political issues of the country." So why is the best carnival outside Rio the Limassol Carnival in Cyprus? Well, aside from the abundant colors, the costumed, happy people, animated floats, energetic music and eccentric costumes, it's completely free and everybody is welcome to join in the celebration. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 No vivid image can be painted in order to fully comprehend how unimaginable of an experience it is to walk through the picturesque streets of Morocco. Tourists are given the gift of enjoying the majestic scenery displayed along the Moroccan perimeter of the Sahara Desert with its beautiful sea of pink sand, clear waters, and blue skies. Casablanca, one of the four most popular destinations possesses appetizingly faded architecture and sandy colonial boulevards. Presenting itself as a giant museum, Casablanca is seen as the world's largest minaret where its citizens now walk along the architectural roads demonstrating cosmopolitan characteristics. Those who live in Casablanca stand out from the other villagers. They have adopted the western ways of fashion and co-ed interactions. Although the customs seem to have altered over a few decades, many of the cultural practices seem to remain constant. A local states, " Even if Morocco is a traditional country, we are influenced by the outside, especially American lifestyles." If travelers ever want escape their everyday routines, there is no better way to get away from everyday normalities other than to set off across the great Sahara Desert. With its ability to craft romantic images of immense, unending sands and charming desert oases with safe haven skies, the Sahara Desert engulfs the minds of its viewers into a different realm of a hypnotizing getaway. Moroccans are known for their great hospitality, and therefore if ever needing any guidance when visiting all the great landmarks of their country, help is always where you need it. With knew things to encounter and a vastly different culture to experience, such culture shock could be nothing but positively overwhelming. During an interview, one local had mentioned, "nothing makes me feel more at home then eating a delicious, home-cooked meal with my family." There is nothing more festive than the religious holidays. Such holidays such as Ramadan are crucial for family gatherings and the sharing of one special meal. Almost like our version of Thanksgiving, Ramadan is a time where stories and bonding become one over a dinner table. Moroccans share a special connection with each other for as long as they can. Unlike American cultures, Moroccans are not as eager to leave the house at the age of eighteen or maintain such a busy lifestyle. In morocco, a little R&R is almost seen as a requirement. After all, why be in such comforting paradise but not be able to enjoy it? Casablanca is Morocco's "Times Square." The different architectural structures belonging to Casablanca compares to New York City's concrete jungle. As this beautiful city is only visited through transfer of flights or departing to other cities, Morocco's inventive capital is the freedom tower of its time. Most of American dining centers involve on the go, fast food services. On the contrary, Moroccans, while still having the convenience of a McDonald's, would much rather prefer their meals homemade. During the interview, the individual spoke about the culture shock she experienced and states, "When I am homesick, the best thing to do is make traditional entrees and desserts. There is nothing that say Morocco better then the smell of our delicious dinners." When asking the native what kind of advice she would give to those who wish to travel to Morocco, a repetitive note was, "Bring sunscreen!" With all the beaches located in the many cities of Morocco, it's nearly impossible to miss out on the elegant sun. If it so happens that the sunscreen is left at home, visiting the markets located in the Fez can be an experience of its own. Bargaining is seen as a compliment when the natives try and sell their belongings. It is a matter of wanting to share and give to those who have yet to become familiar with Moroccan culture. Morocco might just be a place on the map to some people, but for the natives, it's paradise. When visiting the kingdom of Morocco, make sure you shop until you drop, tan until your crisp, and enjoy until your heart's content! See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : SANCTUARY SPA HOLIDAYS OFFERING SPECIAL SPA HOLIDAY PACKAGES FOR NEW YEAR & CHRISTMAS Industry: Health/Spa Sanctuary Spa Holidays is one of the leading spa holiday agency offering brand new spa holiday packages for the Christmas and New Year 2017. (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - December 22nd, 2016 - East Grinstead, United Kingdom - Sanctuary Spa Holidays is one of the leading spa holiday agency offering brand new spa holiday packages for the Christmas and New Year 2017. Spa Holidays are always fascinating and exciting. 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Contact Details: Sanctuary Spa Holidays Tropical House, Garland Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 1NJ United Kingdom Phone No. : 01293 229 895 Email : info@sanctuaryspaholidays.co.uk Website: http://www.sanctuaryspaholidays.co.uk ### Please contact the person or company listed above for information regarding the content of this press release. TravPR.com are not the issuers of this press release and are not responsible for the accuracy of the content. Share Release : CONTACT INFORMATION Name: Sanctuary Spa Holidays Team Company: Sanctuary Spa Holidays Phone: 01293 229 895 Email: info@sanctuaryspaholidays.co.uk Web: PRESS RELEASE TAGS When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service Bathinda, December 21 The ongoing protest by the EGS-STR-AIE teachers today took an ugly turn when one of the teachers caught fire and sustained burn injuries. While it was clearly a case of a protest stunt gone horribly wrong, the union leaders later claimed that it was a suicide attempt and that the state government must announce immediate compensation. Simarjit Singh, a teacher from Mansa, was part of the protest lodged by the Shaheed Kiranjit Kaur EGS-STR-AIE Teachers Union. The union had plans to burn an effigy of the state government. As the flames from the effigy rose high, drops of petrol, which had accidently fallen on the clothes of Simarjit also caught fire. As all protesters made their distance from Simarjit whose body was in flames, two police personnel standing nearby sprung into action and immediately wrapped him in a blanket but couldnt help him from sustaining 35 per cent burn injuries. He has been referred to Faridkot medical college. Meanwhile, the teachers continued their protest at Fauji Chowk and blocked all four roads around the chowk. Talking to Bathinda Tribune, union member Nishant Singh claimed that it was not an accident and Simarjit had attempted suicide. Since morning, he had been reiterating that he would do something today, which would make the government heed their demands. We didnt know that he had sprinkled petrol on himself as well. As the state governments effigy was burning, he intentionally stepped on the effigy, which led to his clothes catching fire, Nishant said. The union leaders said the teachers, working on contractual basis for the past 13 years, were ready to die for the cause and todays incident made that clear. While Kiranjit Kaur and baby Ruth sacrificed their lives for the cause of the teachers, Simarjit today showed that he was also willing to lay down his life, said the protesters. They added that if anything happened to any of the teachers, the state government would be responsible for it and that it would have to pay the price of not heeding their demands. Now, the public knows how the government deals with its employees, both regular and contractual, and how it is devising anti-people policies by shutting down government projects to make way for corporate projects to fill its own coffers, the teachers said. Late in the evening, the teachers shifted their protest from Fauji Chowk to Subhash Market and announced that a state level protest would be launched at Bathinda tomorrow. The teachers said several other organisations would also participate in the stir. Doctors arrived late, say teachers Union leaders alleged that the condition of Simarjit Singh deteriorated at the Bathinda Civil Hospital as doctors took half an hour to attend to him and administer medical attention. While the police personnel didnt care for their lives and ran to help Simarjit, the doctors at the Civil Hospital took a lot of time before attending to Simrajit. The delay in medical aid deteriorated his condition. He was referred to Faridkot, which took another hour-and-a-half before proper treatment could begin. This is the way people are being treated at government medical centres under the SAD-BJP government, said Sukhchain, member of the state committee of the union. Kapurthala meeting remains fruitless Meanwhile, a meeting of a deputation of the union with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in Kapurthala remained fruitless. Last evening, the Bathinda district administration had assured us that during the meeting, our demands would be heard and addressed by the Chief Minister. During the meeting, the Chief Minister insulted us by saying that staging protests had become a common practice now and it would not make the state government heed demands, said Gagan, who had gone for the meeting. Vishal Joshi Tribune News Service Kurukshetra, December 22 The Haryana State Police Complaint Authority (SPCA), constituted to probe charges of serious misconduct against police officers, is lying defunct for the past three years. The first SPCA Chairperson, retired IAS officer Hukam Singh Rana, had demitted office in 2013 and no fresh appointment has been made since then. Sources say the decision to constitute multimember bodies at the state and district levels to question police personnel of the rank of DSP and above is gathering dust at the Chief Ministers Office. Rana was appointed on August 16, 2010, by then Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government, which came to power in October 2014, is silent on the issue. In June 2014, the Assembly had passed the Haryana Police (Amendment) Bill for constitution of multimember state and district police complaint authorities. The SPCA, headquartered in Chandigarh, still receives complaints against the police authorities, but no action can be taken against anyone in the absence of a chairperson, a source said. Seven-eight persons, including an attorney, are still paid for being employed with the Chandigarh office but without any official work. Batting for revival of the organisation, Rana said: A section of politicians and police authorities is hesitant in holding the police force accountable. The SPCA, with sufficient powers, is needed to take up the complaints against police officials effectively. Despite clear directions from courts and the government, even registration of an FIR, particularly against cops, is a challenge for a common man. The SPCA may help in ensuring more professionalism in the system. Pradeep Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 22 The CM Window will be replicated at the sub-divisional level. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will launch it at Bahadurgarh(Jhajjar) on December 25, also observed as of the Good Governance Day. At present, the CM Window system is functional at the district secretariats. Rajiv Jain, state BJP media in charge, told The Tribune, The CM Window at the sub-divisional levels would make the grievance redress system hassle-free and transparent. The state government had started the CM Window system on December 25, 2014, as part of BJPs promise of good governance. However, the bureaucracys apathetic attitude and aversion to the online mode of grievance redressal increased the number of pending complaints, despite strict action against officials. Till last month, about 2.20 lakh complaints were reportedly received at the CM Window of which several are yet to be redressed. Mukesh Tandon Tribune News Service Panipat, December 22 Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Union Minister for Rural Development Narender Tomar today laid the foundation stone of a high-level bridge in Hathwala village of the district. The bridge, which will be constructed on the Yamuna at the cost of Rs 126 crore, will improve the connectivity between the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Speaking to mediapersons after laying the stone, Khattar said, It was a long-pending demand of the people of surrounding villages in both states. This high-level bridge will increase the connectivity between the two states. It will facilitate residents of more than 70 villages by cutting the travel distance by up to 20 km. This bridge will connect Samalkha on the NH-1 in Haryana with the Chaproli-Barot road and the state highway number 57 in Uttar Pradesh. At present, there is a bridge on the Panipat-Haridwar road at Sanoli connecting Panipat with Shamli in Uttar Pradesh and another on the Sonepat-Meerut road near Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh. The section between Panipat and Sonepat did not have any bridge. The distance by road from the upcoming bridge is around 46 km towards the Panipat-Shamli bridge and 40 km towards the bridge on the Sonepat-Meerut road. State Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar, Karnal MP Ashwani Chopra and Dr Satyapal Singh, MP from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, were present on the occasion. Appointment of HSSC members fair: CM Giving a clean chit to the selection procedure of members of the Haryana Service Selection Commission (HSSC), Chief Minister Khattar, said, It was the duty of the Opposition to criticise the government. If someone comes with the evidence, it would be entertained. The selection and the procedure adopted to make the choice were totally fair. Our Correspondent KANGRA, DECEMBER 22 All-India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi will unveil a 12.5-foot statue of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on the campus of Rajiv Gandhi Govt Engineering College at Massal in Nagrota Bagwan on Saturday. Rahul is visiting Dharamsala on December 24. Disclosing this, Transport, Food and Civil Supplies and Technical Education Minister GS Bali said at a press conference at his residence that Rahul would address public meeting at Dharamsala to celebrate the completion of four years of the Congress rule in this hill state. He would later fly to Massal to unveil the bronze statue of the former Prime Minister. Bali said Rahul would also inaugurate the Rajiv Gandhi Govt. Engineering College. The first phase of the college was completed at the cost of Rs 50 crores. The college offers four engineering courses in civil, mechanical, electrical and electronics communication and computer science and is imparting training to 1,000 students. The college was constructed in a record time of 14 months. The residence of the Director was complete. The girls hostels were ready while work on boys hostels was under way. Earlier, AICC president Sonia Gandhi was slated to unveil the statute but her visit did not materialize because of other engagements, Bali said. The statute has been made by famous architect and sculptor Padmashree Ram V. Sutar. Jammu, December 22 Discounting the false and contrived impression being created regarding the change of status of the West Pakistan refugees, the government today made it clear that such reports were deliberately being circulated to destabilise the situation and hit the political and economic interests of the people. It seems an orchestrated and misleading campaign has been launched to create an impression that the government is changing the status of the West Pakistan refugees and they were being provided domicile certificates, Minister for Education and State Government Spokesman, Naeem Akhter said in a statement. Akhter said the refugees who settled in Jammu and Kashmir, in the aftermath of the partition of the subcontinent, include those from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and West Pakistan. While the refugees from PoK have the status of permanent residents of the state, those from West Pakistan are not entitled to permanent residence as they are not the domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding that given their present status, the West Pakistan refugees were entitled to vote in the parliamentary elections, but couldnt exercise their franchise in the state Assembly polls. He said that as the West Pakistan refugees couldnt apply for any job within the state because of being non-state subjects. For facilitating them to get jobs in paramilitary forces and other Central government establishments, the government had issued them identity certificates, which was in the same format as exists in the voter list for the parliamentary polls. Issuance of identity certificates does in no way change the status of the West Pakistan refugees and they continue to be the non-state subjects, he added. TNS Jasmine Singh Youd expect congratulatory messages; typed in short texts formats or sown in as lengthy mails or even an encouraging handshake to be reaching out to famous Punjabi playwright Swaraj Bir Singh, an IPS officer currently posted as Director General of Police, Meghalaya. The reason: He has been bestowed with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his play Maseya Di Raat, which was published in 2013. Youd expect his office staff to be pestering him for a party! Most of them are oblivious about this, which is good because I can go on with my office schedule, conduct my meetings, and go on with office work, Swaraj Bir sounds genuinely relived! But he is happy too, undoubtedly. Some amount of my hard work has been recognised, which is a nice feeling, he adds, as he goes on discuss the Punjabi literature in its present form and state. Punjabi literature in need of exposure: I dont think the problem is more about exposure; the challenge is that people who know Punjabi are not reading the literature. So, if you ask me the problem is of readership. Even though there is a readership for Punjabi short stories and plays, it isnt satisfactory. Connecting through content: This is indeed the most important part of literature. If the writing reflects the ongoing scenario of society, if it delivers experiences, and is natural, then it would definitely strike a chord with the readers. Maseya Di Raat strikes a chord: Personally, I think there could be various reasons for Maseya Di Raat striking a chord; to me what appeals in writing is that it should be readable, it should be accessible; the theme plays a major role in it. It should also be able to communicate to people. Rest things like imagination or the use of metaphors just add up to make it a piece of art. Maseya Di Raat talks about the immense social pressure on a woman to give birth to a male child. Role play of literature: Well, if only literature plays some role in shaping the thoughts, if it propels people to ask questions, then it can stir changes in society. And then it can clearly make a difference. Recently...:...many of my one-act plays have been staged by Kewal Dhaliwal; the plays are a take on womens plight, the issues that she faces in the present scenario. When office inspires: Yes, in a way my official work sometimes serves as a ground for certain reality checks that propel me to write; certain situations while conducting my work make me look beyond what meets the eye. So, yes work is also an inspiration. jasmine@tribunemail.com Tribune News Service Lucknow, December 22 With the Vidhan Sabha elections round the corner, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has played the caste card by approving inclusion of 17 Other Backward Classes (OBCs) into Scheduled Castes (SC) list at a Cabinet meeting today. The proposal will now be sent to the Union Government for approval. The 17 sub-castes that the government wants included in the SC category are Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar and Machua. This happens to be the second attempt by the Akhilesh government to play the OBC card. In March 2013, the Vidhan Sabha had passed a similar resolution by voice vote asking the Centre to include these very castes in the SC list. The two attempts were virtually an action replay of what his father and Samajwadi Party national president Mulayam Singh Yadav did in 2004. He got passed a similar resolution in February 2004 and sent a recommendation to the Centre. His government issued an order on October 10, 2005, giving SC benefits to these castes. The order was, however, struck down by the high court on the ground that the state government was not authorised to include or remove any caste from the SC list. Reacting to the move, BSP president Mayawati attacked Akhilesh for what she described as yet another attempt to fool the OBCs. Vishav Bharti Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 22 The Punjab Government has decided not to continue the Government Employees and Pensioners Health Insurance Scheme (PGEPHIS) from the next year. The scheme started earlier this year will come to end on December 31. The Oriental Insurance Corporation, which was given the contract under the scheme, suffered a loss of around Rs 165 crore in one year. Principal Secretary Health Vini Mahajan confirmed the scheme would end next week. She said the scheme was started for employees and pensioners, but it was not found much useful for them, so the government decided not to extend it. There was a lengthy discussion on the issue during a Cabinet meeting on December 5 and it was overwhelmingly opposed on the pretext that employees and pensioners were facing difficulty at the hands of insurance company while they were being robbed by private hospitals. The Cabinet asked Health & Family Welfare Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani to hold a meeting with scheme beneficiaries and take a call. The Tribune had highlighted in July how the Oriental Insurance Corporation was suffering huge losses and had conveyed to the Health Department that it could not continue the scheme any further. The company had also started refusing enrolment of new beneficiaries. Hospitals generated claims of around Rs 214 crore in a year. The insurance firm, which got the contract under the scheme for Rs 56 crore annually, has already paid claims worth Rs 135 crore. Around 61,000 employees and pensioners availed themselves of cashless treatment. Tribune News Service Bahraich (UP), December 22 Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi again, asking him to explain if he indulged in corruption or not. Gandhi challenged him to first reveal what was contained in 10 packets received from Sahara. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Addressing a rally here, Gandhi said that yesterday in Gujarat he had asked PM Modi, two-three questions regarding corruption. Instead of answering my questions he made fun of those questions, Gandhi said. Mock me as much as you want but answer the questions of the youth, he retorted. "I will ask the same question again. Did you indulge in corruption or not?" Gandhi also said that the decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was not meant to be a battle against corruption or black money but was aimed at derailing the country's poor. "Modi said thieves are standing in queues (to deposit old currency). I saw 100-200 people outside a bank. They were not thieves; they were the poor people of India. "I did not see a single rich person in the line. There was not one person in suit-boot," he said. Black money is not with those who are standing in queues, it is with those who travel with you in planes, Gandhi said. With IANS inputs Manas Dasgupta Ahmedabad, December 22 The Income Tax Department is considering initiating criminal action against the Ahmedabad-based controversial businessman Mahesh Shah who declared unaccounted assets worth Rs 13,860 crore and then disappeared before paying the first of the four tranches of tax to get it converted into white money. Criminal proceedings, if any, would also cover his chartered accountant Taimul Sethana, although he had told IT sleuths earlier that he did not know Shah well and had only given him professional advice to make a declaration if he really held such a huge amount of black money. I knew Shah as a smalltime dealer in property for the past few years and had no idea how he could amass such a wealth, Sethana had told the media earlier. Shah approached the I-T Department on the last day of the voluntary Income Declaration Scheme on September 30. His declaration was accepted and was given time till November 30 to pay the first installment of Rs 1,560 crore in tax. Following suspicion, the department, however, cancelled his declaration, prompting Shah to go underground. He, however, resurfaced before the media three days later and claimed the money he disclosed was not his and that it belonged to some big fish, including some Gujarat and Karnataka-based politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen. Director General (Investigations) of the IT Department Gujarat PC Modi said, We have sent a detailed report to the nodal authorities (Central Board of Direct Taxes) and now any further steps are out of our purview. Mohit Khanna Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 22 While backing the governments move of demonetisation, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, on Thursday said the people would have protested and hit the roads if they had any problem with the note ban. Meghwal was here to attend a function on Chanakya Varta at Panjab University Extension Library. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) He said the currency crunch would be over in four to five days. He said the party had received encouraging response from the common man following demonetisation and the BJP would sweep the upcoming Assembly elections in five states. Meghwal indicated that the cash withdrawal limit will be increased after December 30. He added that strict action will be taken against officials, be it from RBI or banks, who have been found to be involved in illegal exchange of old currency. The revenue and intelligences agencies will intensify raids to curb the illegal activities, he said. He asserted that the licences of banks, which are found to be involved in wrongdoing, will be cancelled. We have sufficient currency and Rs 500 notes. Soon it will be in circulation to end the problem of change. The queues outside ATMs have lessened. Nearly 70 per cent of customers visiting fuel stations have already shifted to digital transactions, Meghwal said. He said that the December 31 deadline of submitting old currency notes will not be extended. When asked why the RBI had issued 55 notifications since demonetisation, Meghwal said the notifications were issued and withdrawn based on the feedback received from the people. He said that the entire process was meant for the convenience of the people. Johannesburg, December 21 From its humble beginnings in a Durban cinema, the Miss India South Africa Pageant has celebrated its 25th anniversary here by crowning its latest winner who will compete with counterparts from over 20 diaspora countries for the Miss India Worldwide title. Each year we have had a glittering event and our winners have travelled the world to represent our community in some of the greatest capitals of the world, said Farook Khan, one of the founders of the South African leg of the international contest that was started by Dharmatma Saran in New York nearly three decades ago. Several regional contests are held annually across South Africa, from which finalists participate in the gala finale where they showcase their talent through modelling Eastern and Western clothing and performing a cultural item, usually an Indian dance. Of the 24 participants, two of them, Sarika Sukhdeo and Kajal Lutchminarain, went on to become the global winners, Khan added as he outlined how the event was more than just a beauty pageant, with most of the contestants being young Indian women who had professional careers. Mechanical engineer Supriya Surjoo of Johannesburg beat 17 other contestants, including her doctor sister Anjuli to be crowned Miss India South Africa 2016. The winners package of prizes includes a Bollywood audition in India. PTI Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 22 Delhi's Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung, who was locked in a running battle with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday resigned and said he will return to academics, "his first love". (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) L-G Najeeb Jung had back-to-back meetings with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in last two days before he tendered resignation today. Two names Anil Baijal and GK Pillai are doing the rounds to replace Jung. Anil Baijal, a 1969-batch IAS officer, served as home secretary in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Gopal Krishna Pillai, a 1972-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, also has served as Union home secretary. He had remained principal secretary to the chief minister of Kerala apart from holding diverse positions in the state government. Mehrishi, while indicating that he was not aware of the development, said Jung met him and discussed some pending issues. The resignation letter has not reached to the Ministry of Home Affairs so far, a senior official in the ministry claimed. However, sources said once the letter reaches MHA it will be processed and sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for approval. Quitting 18 months before the end of his due tenure, Jung (66), in a brief statement, thanked both Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as CM Arvind Kejriwal for their association with him. "He thanks the Prime Minister for all help and cooperation he received during his tenure as the Lt. Governor," the statement said. A former civil servant from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Jung was appointed 20th Lt-Governor of Delhi on July 9, 2013. Jung became Lt-Governor at a time when a Congress-led coalition was in office. The then chief minister Sheila Dikshit had played a role in appointing Jung, who was serving as Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, to the top post in the city administration. He had run the city for nearly one year after the AAP government had quit on February 14, 2014 after a short stint of 49 days. The Modi government retained him even as it replaced most Governors in the states. In the statement, Jung thanked the people of Delhi for their "support and affection", especially during the one-year President's rule in the National Capital. As per Ajay Chaudhary, OSD to Delhi L-G Najeeb Jung, The L-G said he wanted to spend time with his family. His resignation is for personal reasons. Jung-Kejriwal tussle Jung's tenure was marked by a sharp escalation in tensions between his office, which reported to the Central government, and the AAP government of Kejriwal. What began as a turf war turned into an often nasty confrontation between Jung and Kejriwal over who is the boss in Delhi, which, although a state, does not enjoy parity with other states. The Central government, through the Lt-Governor, controls Delhi Police, law and order and issues related to land in the capital. The recurring Jung-Kejriwal battle was decided in favour of the former on August 4 by the Delhi High Court. The AAP government has moved the Supreme Court, where the matter is yet to be decided. In an initial reaction, the BJP said Jung's resignation was a shocking development. The Congress said the Centre must explain why Jung was "unceremoniously removed and whether it was done to bring someone to the top administrative post who is ideologically close to the RSS". BJP leader RPN Singh said, "He did a good job and was performing on ground. He must have thought of something." Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken alleged that Jung was unceremoniously removed and demanded that the Centre make public reasons behind the decision. "Was he removed to bring someone who is close to RSS? Was it done considering the upcoming municipal polls? Jung is an able administrator," he said. Congress leader P C Chacko said BJP's attitude towards Governors and L-Gs may be the reason behind Jung's decision. "BJP never takes independent stand as per as the offices of Governors and LGs are concerned. BJP wants the Governors and LGs to act as per their political thinking. This is putting many Governors and LGs in difficulties. May be this is behind the resignation," he said. With agencies Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, December 22 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday charged some opposition leaders of having lost their balance in hitting out at him post demonetisation. Speaking at a function on the Benaras Hindu University (BHU) campus during his first visit to his constituency after the November 8 demonetisation, Modi targeted former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and former finance minister P Chidambaram for presenting a favourable report card of their own tenure while hitting out at him. Describing Manmohan as the countrys leading economist who had been a former finance minister and a member of the countrys core economic team advising the government since 1970, Modi said that while criticising him for promoting a cashless economy Singh had said that it would not work in a country with 50 per cent people still poor. Is he giving a report card of his own performance or mine? asked Modi. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Similarly, he hit out at Chidambaram for reportedly claiming that 50 per cent of Indian villages were still without power. Did I remove the electric poles or snap the wires after I assumed power? he quipped. Referring to Rahul as a yuva neta who is learning to make speeches, Modi said he had charged him with promoting cashless economy when so many people were illiterate. Do I have a magic wand through which I made educated people illiterate? asked Modi, adding that he was happy that these leaders had inadvertently presented the report card of their own governments performance while attacking him. Defending demonetisation, Modi said when a huge pile of garbage was cleaned it raised a huge stink which was not experienced as long it was left untouched. According to Modi, he believed that he had fully prepared for demonetisation but had clearly not calculated the opposition leaders joining hands to protect the corrupt as was visible in Parliament. He claimed that his decision had exposed the kala dhan aur kala maan (black money and dark intentions) out of which the country would emerge cleansed and bright like polished gold. #WATCH: "No chance of earthquake now that he has spoken", PM Modi takes a dig at Rahul Gandhi in Varanasi pic.twitter.com/mCULO7zhyA ANI (@ANI_news) December 22, 2016 He urged the educated people of his constituency, the BHU community in particular, to help spread awareness about mobile transactions and cashless economy so that the menace of black money does not return. During his visit, Modi announced schemes worth Rs 2,100 crore in his constituency, including a Rs 580 crore cancer hospital and research centre, Rs 200 crore 120-bed super specialty block at BHUs Institute of Medical Sciences, Trade Facilitation Centre and Crafts Museum as well as 2,000-seat Convention Centre among others. He is scheduled to address a meeting of 27,000 BJP booth-level workers later in the day. Ravi S Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 22 Leaders of 10 central trade unions, sans RSS affiliate the BMS, will meet in the first week of January to take stock of developments affecting workers post-demonetisation on account of currency crunch. The focus of the meeting would be governments proposed ordinance to amend the payment of wages Act. The change will allow employers to pay wages and salaries to their workers through cheque or crediting it to their bank account without their authorisation. AITUC functionary DL Sachdev today said: The agriculture labourers and peasants are reeling under the present crisis. The Labour Ministrys proposal for ordinance to wring in changes in the rules to empower employers has further jarred with the unions. Although the ordinance is in the benefit of employees, its timing is questionable as the move comes at a time when there is shortage of currency following ban of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, a leader said. The unions are of the view that the problem will stay for long time, notwithstanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi deadline of 50 days for normalcy. The employees will be compelled to spend time outside banks to withdraw money at the cost of one-day cut in their wages. The union leaders will also strategise ways to bring to centrestage their demand to raise gratuity amount ceiling from the present Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. They had flagged the issue during their pre-Budget consultations with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on November 19, last year. Aditi Tandon & Ruchika M Khanna New Delhi/Chandigarh, Dec 21 Davinder Singh Ghubaya, the son of Akali MP Sher Singh Ghubaya, joined the Congress here today. Ghubaya is the sitting MP from Ferozepur. His son is an IIT-Roorkee graduate. Punjab Pradesh Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh, welcoming Davinder Ghubaya and his uncle Munsha Ghubaya into the Congress, indicated that Davinder may be fielded as a candidate in the upcoming Punjab elections. His nomination is expected to have an impact on three seats Fazilka, Ferozepur Rural and Jalalabad where Rai Sikhs have a sizeable presence. The SAD leadership's talks with Ghubaya had failed last week. The latter had spurned the party's offer to field his son from Malout. Now that the Akali MP's son has joined the Congress, the Jalalabad constituency, represented and nurtured by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, looks vulnerable. Alarmed, SAD's spin doctors today hastened to appoint Sampooran Singh, another Rai Sikh leader, as vice-chairman of the Rai Sikh Welfare Board, to create a division in the community. The Rai Sikh community, which has 60,000 votes (of a total of 1.66 lakh votes), tends to vote en masse. As many as 30 members of the community hold high positions in various boards and corporations. The SAD has rushed 20 senior leaders to Jalalabad. The constituency has been divided into 20 zones with each of these leaders heading a zone. They will be reporting to the Deputy Chief Minister. As AAP MP Bhagwant Mann too is in the fray, Jalalabad will be no cakewalk for Sukhbir, say sources. Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, December 22 The directions of Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal to provide the first LPG-filled cylinder free of cost to the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) have stirred a controversy. While the Union Minister has asked the district administration to blacklist the gas agencies that are charging money for the first cylinder from the women getting new LPG connections under PMUY, the gas agency dealers claimed the ministers direction contravenes the orders issued by Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development, Punjab. In a meeting convened by the LPG Dealers Federation today here, the gas agency owners claimed that as per the directions issued by the Social Security Department, the beneficiary has to pay Rs 600-650 (as per market rates) for the gas (in the cylinder) to the distributors. The subsidy on this LPG will be transferred to the beneficiaries bank account directly by the oil companies subsequently. The dealers also distributed the copies of the orders dated December 5 at the meeting today. As per the PMUY in the state, an LPG connection is released to the eligible beneficiary under the Union government sponsored PMUY scheme free of cost. The state government is bearing the cost of the LPG stoves. The state government has already released Rs 50 crore to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for the purchase of 7 lakh LPG stoves. However, the beneficiaries of PMUY in the state have to pay the price for the LPG, claimed the dealers, quoting the letter of the Social Security Department. On Wednesday, Harsimrat Kaur Badal reportedly told the Muktsar district administration to blacklist the LPG agencies that were charging for the LPG in the first cylinder. Atinder Kaur, district food and supply controller, Faridkot, said the department has not received any directions to provide free LPG in the first cylinder so far. In the meeting convened here, the LPG dealers said the new directions by Harsimrat were creating confusion in the absence of any written orders. After the statement by the minister, beneficiaries are demanding free LPG. This has landed us in an awkward situation, said Sunil Jain, Gurwinder Singh, Jaspal Singh and Dilbag Singh, some of the gas agency owners, at the meeting today. GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 22 The SGPC is contemplating filing an appeal as an immediate move against the anticipatory bail granted to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for his alleged involvement in 1984 anti-Sikh riots. SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar said that the SGPC would appeal to get the bail quashed. After being chosen for the top post again, the 16 resolutions taken up by Badungar included the demand for strict action against the conspirators of the sacrilege incidents and perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Meanwhile, the enactment of All-India Sikh Gurdwara Act has been put on hold by the SGPC. Taking a u-turn on the implementation of the Act, Badungar said that no such move was on the agenda. The issue had gained momentum recently when Badungar had issued a statement that the SGPC would strive hard to get it implemented. We have no immediate plans to initiate this matter. The reason is that no demand has come from any quarter about it till date. If we get any request from any Sikh body, the SGPC will think about it. We will proceed only as per the sentiments of the Sikh Panth, he said. IT is not a little disappointing that in his first great pronouncement in Parliament on the subject of the policy in the government of the Empire Mr. Lloyd Goerge has deemed it prudent to leave India entirely out of the reckoning. He had something to say of Ireland and her difficulties and made a pointed reference to the peculiar misfortune that dogged her path at every step. He laid his finger on the sore spot and said "he had felt the whole time that we were moving in an atmosphere of nervous suspicion and distrust, pervasive and universal, of everything and everybody." He did not suggest a remedy; nor was he expected to do. But he pointed to the disease and by that means helped to concentrate attention on it. He next spoke admiringly of the Dominions as "our kinsmen" and praised their "super-valour" on many stricken fields. But he did not a word say of India and her Position in the Empire and the absence of all reference to this great country is deeply to be regretted. Tribune News Service Dehradun, December 22 State BJP chief Ajay Bhatt today said by opposing the appointment of Lt Gen BS Rawat as the Army Chief, the Congress has shown its intense dislike for Uttarakhand and its people. We do not understand why the Congress is unhappy with the elevation of Lt Gen BS Rawat, whose selection has been based on merit. The Congress has always opposed Uttarakhand and its people, said Bhatt. He also lashed out at Chief Minister Harish Rawat for playing divisive and appeasement politics by singling out Muslims for a 90-minute break for their Friday prayers and then extending to other communities also, after the move was criticised widely. There has always been an understanding that whenever Muslims have to offer prayers, the cooperation is extended. All this was done for vote bank politics, said Bhatt. He said the Harish Rawat government had failed to spend funds earmarked for the welfare of minorities. The government has only released 48 per cent of the funds, spent 24 per cent of the funds and the remaining has not been released, said Bhatt. Tribune News Service Haridwar, December 22 Prime Minister Narendra Modis Namami Gange mission is on the right track with several projects catering to lessen pollution in the Ganga already showing results, said Sanjiv Baliyan, Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, here today. He was in Haridwar to lay the foundation stone of the Chandi Ghat project, a riverfront development project, in the foothills of the revered Mata Chandi Devi shrine, adjacent to Neela Dhara. This project comprises the development of Ganga Ghat and a cremation ground with a sewage plant facility. Its deadline is December 2019. Baliyan emphasised better relations between the Centre and the state for the effective implementation of Namami Gange and other projects. Along with Ganga, other rivers such as the Yamuna and tributaries that mingle in the Ganga are also being treated, he said. He urged people to ensure that they didnt pollute the Ganga. Ultimately, it is the people who have to lend a helping hand. They should ensure that not even a single polythene or religious material is poured into Ganga, which has a status of deity in India, he said. He hailed the Centres demonetisation move. He said people faced temporary difficulties, but even then they were happy with this move that was aimed at curbing the flow of black money. Haridwar MP and former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said the conservation of the Ganga and Himalayas were the two major priorities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the Sparsh Ganga drive, initiated under this chief ministership but now shelved by the Congress-led state government, got an overwhelming response with 2.5 lakh students connected with the drive. Politics should not hinder such visionary projects. Green bonus should be provided to the hill state, he said. Haridwar rural legislator Swami Yatishwaranand said Ganga is worshipped as a deity so people should take the responsibility of not polluting it. City legislator and former urban development minister Madan Kaushik the Ganga Action Plan-I and II couldnt achieve the target, but the Namami Gange, in its initial phase, showed remarkable results. Mayor Manoj Garg said that mass contribution and awareness was vital to achieve the target. Spiritual guru Baba Hatyogi, National Clean Ganga Mission officials Hari Har Mishra, VP Singh, Namami Gange project coordinators and Ganga activists were present. Tribune News Service Dehradun, December 22 A youth strangulated his younger sister to death and later slit his own throat with a knife in a hotel room here late last night. The youth had also attacked his father, who was staying in another hotel room, before murdering his sister. The deceased have been identified as Alok Gautam and Anamika Gautam. SSP Sweety Agarwal, while addressing mediapersons here, said the hotel management called up the police after stewards saw a man lying in a pool of blood and a woman strangulated in the room. A police team led by SP, Crime, Tripti Bhatt and the SSP reached the hotel. The investigation revealed that the man had murdered his younger sister before sliting his own throat with a knife. The father of the deceased was staying in another hotel, adjacent to the one where the police found the bodies. The father has been identified as Mahendra Gautam. He told the investigating teams that they had come to Dehradun from Allahabad on November 28 as his son Alok told him that he had been selected in the Indian Air Force and joined it on November 29. He alleged that his son also attacked him with a knife in his neck and hand on December 20 while he was asleep in his room and later took his sister to another hotel to murder her. He said Alok was not mentally sound. The police investigation revealed that Alok had not joined the Indian Air Force and had lied to his father. Alok had borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh from his relative, Rohit, to pay hotel expenses. The bodies have been sent for a post-mortem. Tultepec, December 21 A massive explosion gutted Mexicos biggest fireworks market, killing at least 31 persons and injuring 72, the authorities said. The conflagration in the Mexico City suburb of Tultepec set off a quick-fire series of multicolored blasts that sent a vast cloud of smoke billowing over the capital. The market had been packed with customers buying pyrotechnics for traditional end-of-year festivities. Christmas and New Year parties in many Latin American countries often wrap up with clattering firework blasts. You just heard the blast. And everything started to be on fire. People came running out on fire, Walter Garduno said. People were alightchildren, he added before trailing off. From a few kilometers away, the multiple explosions that started at 2:50 pm almost looked festive, alight in blue, red and white. They were anything but. Of the 31 confirmed dead, 26 (died) at the scene and five in hospitals, Mexicos chief prosecutor Milenio Alejandro Gomez as saying. Forensic experts are working on genetic analyses of the bodies because almost all of them are impossible to identify, Mexico states governor Eruviel Avila told the Televisa television network. At least 72 were wounded, the authorities said. The injured were transported to emergency rooms, and 21 have since been released. Fire crews struggled for three hours before bringing the blaze under control. The head of the civil protection service, Luis Felipe Puente, said crews had to wait for all the fireworks to finish exploding before they could extinguish the flames. The entire market is gone, he said. It had 300 stands. Several of the injured were in delicate condition, he added, saying searches were under way for more casualties in the scorched area that looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic film, with little left standing in the smoldering ruins. Homes and vehicles nearby were also severely damaged. In some areas, emergency workers were gently probing for survivors under heaps of charred and twisted roofing material. People desperately searching for family and friends shouted and gestured to rescuers about where they hoped the missing might be found. Most of those picked up by rescuers suffered severe burns, many over their entire bodies. The military, which is in charge of issuing fireworks sales permits, was deployed to help emergency crews transport casualties to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter. Ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles and army trucks all crowded the sprawling blast area. AFP Third time in 10 years Beijing, December 22 Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba has rejected US allegations that it sells counterfeit goods, saying the Washingtons move to put it back on a blacklist of its notorious markets could be influenced by the current political climate in America. Questioning the US move, Alibaba Group president Michael Evans said he was disappointed by the decision and wondered whether it was based on actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate. US President-elect Donald Trump had, during his campaign, repeatedly accused Chinese firms of stealing intellectual property. The US has again labelled Alibaba Group Holding Ltd as one of the worlds largest destinations for fake goods, a major embarrassment for a Chinese e-commerce giant trying to shake off its reputation as a haven for counterfeiters. The US Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) yesterday restored Alibaba to its annual Notorious Markets blacklist, four years after the Chinese company managed to get out of it. We are very disappointed by the USTRs decision to include Alibabas Taobao unit on the list which ignores the real work Alibaba has done against counterfeiters, Evans, said in a statement. The agency warned last December that Alibaba needed to do better if it wished to avoid the designation reserved for websites and markets where there is large-scale copyright infringement. Reacting to the US move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media briefing here today that US and China should resolve trade issues in a responsible way through bilateral talks without resorting such measures. The nature of China US trade relations is mutually beneficial. We hope that such relations can develop in a sound way, which is beneficial to both the countries. If there is difficulty or issue we should resole them in a responsible way, she said, adding that both countries should level the playing fields for the commercial firms from each others countries. Alibaba was taken off the list four years ago, but US authorities say the firms online platform Taobao is used to sell high levels of fake goods. The Chinese online retailer and its market place Taobao have long been accused of being a platform for counterfeit goods. Taobao said earlier this year it had tightened controls on its sale of luxury goods, requiring sellers to show proof of authenticity. In May though, Alibaba was suspended from the International Anti Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) watchdog over piracy concerns, the BBC reported. More than 250 members, including Gucci America and Michael Kors, had threatened that they would leave the IACC in protest at Alibabas membership. Alibaba by far Chinas biggest online retailer floated on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014 and broke records by raising USD 25 billion. Alibaba created record on Singles Day last month by selling goods worth about USD 18 billion. PTI Baghdad: Mortar fire and car bombs killed 34 persons, including aid workers, near Mosul on Thursday as Iraqi forces battled to seize the city from the Islamic State group. A triple car bombing on a market killed at least 23 persons in Gogjali, a few kilometres east of Mosul, the army said. Mortar fire also killed 11 persons, including four aid workers, as civilians gathered to receive assistance in Mosul city, the United Nations said. AFP Prince Charles warns of going back to dark days London: Britains future king on Thursday issued a heartfelt plea against religious persecution and rise of populism, warning against going back to the dark days of the 1930s, in his special Christmas message. Talking on BBC's 'Thought of the Day' segment, Prince Charles urged respect for those of different faiths or risk repeating the horrors of the past. PTI US cancels 9/11-era registry for foreigners Washington: The US government is canceling an inactive registry programme for visitors from countries where extremist groups are operating, a plan similar to a Muslim registry considered by President-elect Donald Trump. The Department of Homeland Security is formally ending the National Security Entry-Exit Registration Systems program, known as NSEERS, by removing outdated regulations, spokesman Neema Hakim said on Thursday. The rule change will be published in the Federal Register on Friday. Reuters Berlin, December 22 Authorities across Europe scrambled today to track down a Tunisian man suspected of driving a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, as one of his brothers urged him to surrender. Nearly three days after the deadly attack, the market in the centre of the German capital reopened, with concrete blocks in place at the roadside to provide extra security. Organisers at the market decided to ditch party music or bright lighting, and Berliners and visitors have laid candles and flowers at the site in tribute. German authorities issued a wanted notice for Anis Amri and offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros for information leading to the his arrest. One of Amri's brothers still in Tunisia, meanwhile, urged him to stop being a fugitive. He said Amri may have been radicalised in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. AP Berlin, December 22 German police arrested four people who had been in contact with a Tunisian suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack that killed 12 people, media reports said on Thursday, as a nationwide manhunt for the migrant was underway. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack in which a truck ploughed through crowds gathered around wooden huts selling gifts, mulled wine and sausages on Monday evening. It was the deadliest attack on German soil since 1980. A spokesman for the German chief federal prosecutor denied the media reports and said he would give no further details on the operation to avoid jeopardising it. Bild newspaper cited an anti-terrorism investigator as saying that it was clear in spring that the Tunisian suspect 24-year-old Anis Amri was looking for accomplices for an attack and was interested in weapons. The report said preliminary proceedings had been opened against Amri in March based on information that he was planning a robbery to get money to buy automatic weapons and "possibly carry out an attack with them and other accomplices yet to be recruited". In mid-2016, he spoke to two IS fighters and Tunisian authorities listened in on their conversation before informing German authorities. Amri also offered himself as a suicide attacker in well-known Islamist chat sites, Bild said. Police started looking for the Tunisian after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of the truck used in the attack. Authorities have stressed that Amri is just a suspect and not necessarily the driver of the truck. MINISTER IN AFGHANISTAN Broadcaster rbb said the perpetrator lost both his wallet and mobile phone while running away from the attack site. On Wednesday Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), said the Tunisian appeared to have arrived in Germany in July 2015 and his asylum application had been rejected in June 2016. Klaus Bouillon, the head of the group of interior ministers from Germany's 16 federal states, said Islamists often deliberately left identity documents behind at attack sites - as was the case in the Paris attacks - to spread fear and steer public opinion against refugees. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced calls to tighten asylum procedures since the attack. Armin Schuster, a member of her Christian Democrats (CDU), said Germany needed to take robust action against those who had no reason to seek asylum. He told broadcaster NDR that Germany had been too generous for too long and had been taken advantage of: "We need to send the signal: Only set off for Germany if you have a reason for asylum," he said. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, visiting German troops in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, said Germany would not bow to terrorism. "We will continue to take resolute action...because it's about protecting people whether they are in Germany or in Afghanistan," she said, according to the manuscript of a speech. Georg Pazderski, a senior member of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said authorities needed to be more rigorous in deporting rejected asylum seekers, illegal immigrants and foreign criminals. The AfD has made significant gains since migrants started arriving here in large numbers last summer, taking away support from Merkel's conservatives. The Christmas market that was attacked was reopened on Thursday after authorities put concrete bollards around it. Reuters Islamabad, December 22 Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain has said that he never attended a school and missed out on its joys as he was homeschooled due to various reasons. Hussain was speaking at a function at the Cadet College Hassanabdal near Islamabad yesterday where he told students to follow in the footsteps of Pakistans founder MA Jinnah to better meet the challenges the country is facing. When asked about the Presidents comment regarding his own education, alumni relations officer at the cadet college Syed Mohammad Ali said the President was homeschooled due to various reasons, the Dawn reported. Hussain belongs to Karachi where he settled after his family migrated from Agra during the partition. PTI Moscow, December 22 President Vladimir Putin today bade farewell to Andrei Karlov at a packed memorial ceremony in Moscow for the diplomat who was assassinated in Turkey by an off-duty policeman. Dozens of colleagues and relatives attended the ceremony for Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey whose death was labelled by Moscow as an act of terror while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the perpetrator was a member of Fethullah Gulen's group behind aborted July coup. Putin laid red roses at the foot of Karlov's coffin and spoke with his relatives but left the ceremony without making a statement. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the deceased envoy and paid his respects to his mother Maria, widow Marina and son Gennady, also a diplomat, as his body lay in state in a flower-decked coffin. In terrifying scenes captured on photo and video, 22-year-old policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas shot the ambassador nine times in the back on Monday while he was delivering a speech at an exhibition of photographs of Russia in Ankara. The ambassador fell to the ground and later died in hospital. Karlov studied Korean and Japanese as he trained for his diplomatic career and worked for many years in North Korea. He has served as envoy to Turkey since 2013. AFP Istanbul, December 21 The young Turkish policeman who killed Russia's ambassador to Ankara this week had provided security for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan eight times since the July 15 failed coup bid, a report said today. Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, pumped nine bullets into ambassador Andrei Karlov at an art exhibition centre on Monday evening, before he himself was killed by Turkish police. Altintas, a member of the Ankara anti-riot police for two- and-a-half years, had been on duty at eight events attended by Erdogan since July, the Hurriyet daily said. At such events he was part of the second wave of Erdogan's security after the personal bodyguard team of the president, wrote Hurriyet's writer Abdulkadir Selvi, known for his contacts in the ruling elite. AFP December 22 US President-elect Donald Trump named Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on trade with China, to head a newly formed White House National Trade Council, the transition team said on Wednesday. Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has authored a number of popular books and made a film describing Chinas threat to the U.S. economy as well as Beijings desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia. Trumps team praised Navarro in a statement as a visionary economist who would develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores. Trump, a Republican, made trade a centerpiece of his presidential campaign and railed against what he said were bad deals the United States had made with other countries. He has threatened to hit Mexico and China with high tariffs once he takes office on Jan. 20. Navarro, 67, is a professor at University of California, Irvine, and advised Trump during the campaign. His books include Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base, which was made into a documentary film. As well as describing what he sees as Americas losing economic war with China, Navarro has highlighted concerns over environmental issues related to Chinese imports and the theft of U.S. intellectual property. China is paying close attention to Trumps transition team and the possible direction of policy, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said after being asked about Navarros appointment. Cooperation is the only correct choice. We hope the U.S. works hard with China to maintain the healthy, stable development of ties, including business and trade ties, the spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told a daily press briefing. While Trump in the statement praised the clarity of Navarros arguments and the thoroughness of his research, few other economists have endorsed Navarros ideas. Marcus Noland, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, likened a tax and trade paper authored by Navarro and Wilbur Ross, who has been named as Trumps commerce secretary, to the type of magical thinking best reserved for fictional realities for what he said was its flawed economic analysis. DONT POKE THE PANDA Navarro has also suggested a stepped-up engagement with Taiwan, including assistance with a submarine development program. He argued that Washington should stop referring to the one China policy, but stopped short of suggesting it should recognize Taipei, saying: There is no need to unnecessarily poke the Panda. China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, said in an interview carried on Thursday in the Communist Party of Chinas official newspaper that China-U.S. relations face new uncertainties but with mutual respect for core interests they will remain stable. Only if China and the United States respect each other and give consideration to others core interests and key concerns can there be long-term, stable cooperation, and effect win-win mutual benefit, Wang said. After his Nov. 8 election win, Trump stoked Chinas ire when he took a telephone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a break with decades of precedent that cast doubt on his incoming administrations commitment to Beijings one China policy. In an opinion piece in Foreign Policy magazine in November, Navarro and another Trump adviser, Alexander Gray, reiterated the president-elects opposition to major trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Trump will never again sacrifice the U.S. economy on the altar of foreign policy by entering into bad trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement, allowing China into the World Trade Organization, and passing the proposed TPP, Navarro and Gray wrote. These deals only weaken our manufacturing base and ability to defend ourselves and our allies. Trump has vowed to pull the United States out of the TPP, a free-trade pact aimed at linking a dozen Pacific Rim nations that President Barack Obama signed in February. It has not been ratified by the U.S. Senate. The president-elect has also vowed to renegotiate the NAFTA pact with Canada and Mexico, saying it had cost American jobs. Reuters Washington, December 22 US President-elect Donald Trump named Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on trade with China, to head a newly formed White House National Trade Council, the transition team said on Wednesday. Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has authored a number of popular books and made a film describing China's threat to the US economy as well as Beijing's desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia. Trumps team praised Navarro in a statement as a visionary economist who would develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores. Trump, a Republican, made trade a centerpiece of his presidential campaign and railed against what he said were bad deals the United States had made with other countries. He has threatened to hit Mexico and China with high tariffs once he takes office on Jan. 20. Navarro is a professor at University of California, Irvine, and advised Trump during the campaign. His books include Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base, which was made into a documentary film. As well as describing what he sees as America's losing economic war with China, Navarro has highlighted concerns over environmental issues related to Chinese imports and the theft of US intellectual property. China is paying close attention to Trump's transition team and the possible direction of policy, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said after being asked about Navarros appointment. Cooperation is the only correct choice. We hope the US works hard with China to maintain the healthy, stable development of ties, the spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said. While Trump in the statement praised the clarity of Navarro's arguments and the thoroughness of his research, few other economists have endorsed Navarro's ideas. Marcus Noland, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, likened a tax and trade paper authored by Navarro and Wilbur Ross, who has been named as Trump's commerce secretary, to the type of magical thinking best reserved for fictional realities for what he said was its flawed economic analysis. Navarro has also suggested a stepped-up engagement with Taiwan, including assistance with a submarine development program. He argued that Washington should stop referring to the One-China policy, but stopped short of suggesting it should recognise Taipei, saying: There is no need to unnecessarily poke the Panda." Reuters Tokyo, December 21 A deal to return American military land on Okinawa to the Japanese government was hailed today as the biggest such land transfer in more than four decades. But the move is unlikely to reduce frustration on the strategic island that remains crowded with American bases, a legacy of World War II. The agreement covers about 4,000 hectares of the 7,500-hectare Camp Gonsalves jungle warfare training centre, also known as the Northern Training Area. It marks the largest land return to the Japanese government since Okinawa reverted to Japanese control in 1972, Lieutenant General Jerry P Martinez, US Forces Japan Commander, said in a statement. But the area being handed back is in a sparsely populated region, while other facilities, including air bases, are located farther south in or near crowded residential areas of the small island with a population exceeding one million people. The US wrested Okinawa from Japan in the closing months of the war. A 27-year occupation followed before Okinawa was given back to Japan, but US bases remained. The island makes up less than one per cent of Japan's total area but accounts for about 71 per cent of land allotted for US bases in the country after the handover. It accounted for about 75 per cent before. Okinawa hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. AFP The truck parts and service aftermarket has grown to $107 billion, according to MacKay & Co., and as a result it is getting a great deal of attention. In 2016 there seemed to be a big focus on parts, alliances and training with other issues like DPFs, remanufacturing and some innovative ways to deal with the technician shortage also getting some play. Heres a closer look at some of the key aftermarket concerns in 2016. Parts confusion reigns. Fleets have myriad options when it comes to selecting parts for their vehicles. From private label to all makes to price point to aftermarket replacement things can get confusing when a truck is down and a part is needed for a repair. Worse yet, it can be very difficult to determine exactly whose part is actually in the box. Experts advise fleets to continually evaluate the requirement of the part based on the application it is needed in. Partnering with the right supplier be it dealer or independent distributor should provide fleet managers with the assurance they need that they are getting the part that will serve them best. Efforts underway to improve parts availability. All too often the focus of a repair is getting a truck assessed rapidly, with less attention paid to whether or not parts are in stock and available. In 2016 several OEMs as well dealers and distributors began initiatives to get parts closer to the customer. Daimler Trucks North America, Paccar Parts and Hino all opened new parts distribution centers in 2016. According to Daimler, the new PDC was part of a multifaceted plan to improve parts availability. Stone Truck Parts in Garner, N.C., a member of HDA Truck Pride, moved into a 75,000-square-foot facility that allows us to have the right parts in stock for [our customers] and allows our branches to have access to more inventory, says Andrew Purcell, sales and marketing manager. Dennis Thompson, an International dealer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, opened a central parts warehouse to house parts for all six of his locations and he also runs delivery trucks between the warehouse and the dealership locations. Online parts sales are growing. David Seewack, CEO and founds of FinditParts, says his company has seen double-digit growth as fleets move from using the online supplier of heavy-duty truck and trailer parts for hard to find parts to using it to replenish normal stocking items. He attributes this to the fact that fleet personnel have become more comfortable purchasing items in their personal lives and are now getting more comfortable making online purchases for their businesses. He describes online sales of heavy-duty parts as being in the infancy stages and sees nothing but upward trajectory ahead. Alliances made to strengthen independents. This year saw a lot of alliances in the independent side of the aftermarket. The Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network partnered with the National Automotive Service Task Force to ensure independent repair shops can easily access the information being made available to them under the Memorandum of Understanding with truck and engine makers. HDA Truck Pride partnered with iMatics on a system that they say is the first ever aftermarket telematics program [for] the commercial vehicle industry. The marketing group also teamed up with the Afermarket Auto Parts Alliance to create the Aftermarket Distribution Alliance to give HDA Truck Pride members access to a wide range of fleet parts for medium-duty and smaller vehicles. Vipar Heavy Duty joined with Nexus Automotive, an international group of independent automotive and truck parts distributors. Along with the Automotive Distribution Network and Automotive Parts Associates, Vipar also formed NEXUS North America LLC to provide a forum for the three groups to share ideas, knowledge and strategies to best meet the needs of customers ranging from light passenger through heavy duty commercial vehicles. Remanufacturing gets some standard definitions. Six leading associations in the automotive sector agreed on common definitions for the terms remanufacturing and cores. Henry Foxx, director of remanufacturing for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, sees this as a first step in providing the fleet owner or managers a criteria to distinguish between various supplier offerings. It is hoped that having agreement on terminology will clear up confusion about what is a remanufactured part and how it differs from a rebuilt one. Training continues to dominant conversations. Service providers and fleets alike continue to recognize the important of properly trained technicians. The Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network announced an alliance with ProMech Learning Systems, Service Professionals Inc. and Wheel Time University, to address the tremendous need for technical training. As parts of the rebranding of the former VIPro TruckForce Service Center program to TruckForce Service Center, Vipar Heavy Duty says the new program offers a stronger focus on technical and product training, utilizing resources from supplier partners as well as webinars and other training opportunities. Meritor introduced its Service Point Program, an initiative designed to provide fleets and owner-operators with a network of Meritor-approved service partners. One big key to the program is the training that will be provided to these select repair garages by Meritor. There is still confusion about the proper cleaning cycle for diesel particulate filters. Over the next six years two million Class 6 to 8 trucks equipped with emission controls and aftertreatment components will enter the market. This will put additional pressure on fleets to take steps to minimize having to replace components. Fleets need to determine a maintenance schedule for their DPFs even though that can be complicated. Manufacturers guidelines are a good place to start but specific application and operational conditions may mean cleaning intervals will have to be adjusted. However, regular maintenance will allow fleets to avoid costly component replacement. It is going to take innovative solutions to deal with the technician shortage. The technician shortage is not going to go away anytime soon. In 2016 three new initiatives for finding technicians came to our attention. The first is Be Pro, Be Proud, a joint effort by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Industries of Arkansas. They developed a mobile workstation that travels across the state introducing students to opportunities available in trucking and other technical professions. The second is The technician shortage is not going to go away anytime soon. In 2016 three new initiatives for finding technicians came to our attention. The first is Be Pro, Be Proud, a joint effort by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Industries of Arkansas. They developed a mobile workstation that travels across the state introducing students to opportunities available in trucking and other technical professions. The second is opening of the third location of the Peterbilt Technician Institute. The program is open to students who have completed a diesel program or an automotive/diesel program and want additional training. Students are sponsored by Peterbilt dealers who cover tuition costs. The third was an effort by the Black Rock Truck Group which pays students loans for qualified technicians as long as they remain at the dealership. After a probationary period, technicians are eligible for the loan payment program and are not required to commit to staying at the dealership for a particular amount of time. A dealership finds a way to bring diagnostics to the fleet. While rapid diagnostics of trucks has been around for several years now and most dealers promise to diagnose a truck within two hours, those diagnoses have always taken place in the shop. Recently Fyda Freightliner announced a mobile express assessment program. Using state-of-the-art diagnostics vehicles, Fyda Freightliner technicians go to the fleet to diagnose their vehicles saving the fleet time from not having to get the trucks to the dealership for diagnosis. High-cube Kogel Mega van has the usual rear doors plus curtain sides and a liftable roof tarp, allowing loading and unloading from docks and over its sides and top. Photo: Kogel European designs are often more elegant (or complex, depending on how you look at it), but these features add functionality to products. That was evident in trailers announced and displayed at the recent IAA commercial vehicles show in Hannover, Germany. In conjunction with this months feature on global influences on trucks, here we offer highlights of trailers shown at IAA. They include a high-cube van with load-enhancing equipment, a safety tanker, a hydraulic-motor axle, systems for kinetic energy recovery and electric power generation, and an integrated combination vehicle. Integrated tractor-trailer Krone, a major trailer builder in Germany, teamed up with Daimlers Mercedes-Benz Trucks to produce a combination vehicle that they claim saves up to 20% in fuel compared to standard tractor-trailers now used on the Continent. The integrated approach, like the government-sponsored SuperTruck programs in the U.S., proved worthwhile for fuel efficiency and practical cargo transportation. The tractor is an aero-style Mercedes Actros cabover with a high-efficiency powertrain, anticipatory cruise control and low-rolling-resistance tires. The tractor is responsible for three-quarters of the fuel savings. The Krone van trailer, called Profi Liner Efficiency, has full-length skirts made of impact-resistant plastic, and a four-part folding rear wing, also made of robust plastic. For-hire fleets tested five of the advanced combination vehicles last year and found that they were practical in everyday service, said executives of both companies at an IAA press briefing. Drivers reported that the side skirts were not damaged and did not interfere with forklift loading over the trailers edges, and that the rear wing panels were easily folded back with the doors. The manufacturers also said the structural system for the side panels was singled out for high praise. It comprises five individual elements that can be removed easily by hand at the height of the trailer axles, an important consideration when a wheel needs to be changed. It was also noted that Krones lightweight plastic side panels are so stable that they do not cause any wind noise. IAA show goers observe the advanced Mercedes-Benz Actros cabover tractor that claims to save 15% in fuel, and the Krone Efficiency trailer that saves another 5% vs. a typical European tractor-trailer. Photo: David Cullen Captured electric energy SDC Trailers in the United Kingdom showed a Kinetic Energy Recovery System, or KERS, at IAA. KERS employs an axle-mounted motor-generator that performs regenerative braking, capturing energy and storing it in a bank of graphene ultracapacitors. Upon acceleration, electricity is sent back to the axle motor to help propel the vehicle. Controls are mounted in both trailer and tractor so they communicate and coordinate the powering effort. Its being fleet-tested and fuel savings are up to 25%, SDC claims. KERS was among the finalists for the Trailer Innovation award at the Hannover show, SDC said. The company called it a worlds first, though the American Hyliion electric-axle system was announced in the same time frame (see previous coverage in HDT and www.truckinginfo.com). Hyliion was aware of KERS and noted that it requires a connection to the tractor and equipment in the cab, while Hyliion acts independently. Meanwhile, Bergisch Achsen KG, known as BPW, showed its ePower component, which uses motor-generators at trailer wheel hubs to produce electricity, also during braking. The saved electricity can provide propulsion, or can power a transport refrigeration unit. The motors weight can be recouped by eliminating a diesel engine in the TRU, the company said. A pair of motors can save 2,500 liters (660 gallons) of fuel a year. CO2 reefer unit A Carrier Transicold carbon dioxide natural refrigerant unit has gone to work with Netto Marken-Discount, a major German retailer, following the IAA show. Netto is the first customer in mainland Europe to take delivery of a prototype CO2 unit, mounted on a Rohr temperature-control trailer, and will test it for three years. Though regulated as a greenhouse gas, CO2 is a benevolent refrigerant that, if mistakenly released, has minuscule effects on the climate compared to current compounds, Carrier said. The system won the environmental category of the Trailer Innovation Awards 2017, and last year won an award for sustainability at the Solutrans trade fair in France. Carrier plans to switch most of its commercial TRUs, including those for the U.S., to CO2. Hydraulically powered axle Powered trailer axles are unusual, even in Europe, but SAF-Hollands SAF-Trak hydraulically driven trailer axle might find acceptance with European operators. The predominate Class 8 configuration in Europe is a single-rear-axle, 4x2 tractor pulling a three-axle trailer. Tractors therefore cost and weigh less than our common 6x4s that pull a tandem-axle trailer. The 4x2 works fine on pavement, especially with a locking differential in its drive axle, but a single drive axle on end-dump rigs sometimes cant grab enough traction while off road. So such operators often use 4x4 tractors, according to Markus Heuser, Germany-based director of global market communications for SAF-Holland. Of course, a front-driving axle adds weight and cost to the tractor. Thus the companys SAF Trak. Its powered by the tractors PTO-driven hydraulic wet kit that tips the trailer body. On the trailer, two Poclain hydraulic motors, one at each axle end, turn the wheels to help get the rig moving in slippery conditions. A driver pushes a switch on the dash and compressed oil is sent to the motors to get the traction boost. It works only at low speeds. A hydraulic motor is a 10-cylinder radial, like old aircraft engines. Heuser says the hydraulic tank on the tractor holds a few more gallons of fluid than usual. Because our 6x4 tractors with twin-screw tandems seem to have enough traction for on/off-road work, there are no plans to bring the SAF Trak axle here. Interior includes aluminum-and-steel shelving to carry a second tier of cargo. Photo: Kogel High-cube van with lifting roof Kogel, a major trailer maker in Germany, showed a high-cube Mega model with an internal height of 3 meters (118 inches), and a mechanical/hydraulic lifting roof. Cargo can be wheeled aboard through the rear doors or, with the roof tarpaulin opened, lifted in by a crane. European size regulations limit overall length to 45.75 feet and exterior width to 100.4 inches. In the trailers rear is storage for an on-board forklift (which wed call a pallet jack), as well as a receptacle for securing chains and a storage slot for a counterweight on the front wall. This trailer included optional double-level loading, using steel C-rails and telescopic aluminum load-securing beams, a statement said. The displayed Mega trailers lead axle is liftable and wheels were aluminum alloy. Its frame was protected from corrosion by nano ceramic and cathodic dip-paint coating, supplemented with UV painting. Similar processes are used in the U.S. Safety tanker The Safety Bitumen Tanker from Germany-based Kaessbohrer won a Trailer Innovation award, a biennial honor whose winners are chosen by a panel of European trade journalists in collaboration with the German Association of the Automotive Industry. The tankers automated electronic discharge system protects the driver from injuries during the offloading of hot liquid asphalt, called bitumen in Europe. The driver hooks up piping as normal, and stands back as a remote control discharge system turns on valves; he stands up to 6 meters (about 19 feet) away from valves and pipes so he isnt scalded during any leakage, according to the tankers builder. The sequential opening and closing of the valves is automatic. Other features include a protection cover that seals and secures the hose, and when opened functions as a drip pan; a safe-start system that locks the brakes and keeps them applied until hand rails and drip pan are folded up and the protection cover is closed; and a temperature data logger that monitors and records any temperature change inside the tank. Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ... One former PNM stalwart says there is only one fit to head the political entity and it's not There are even more chapters in the scandal engulfing Seven CEO Tim Worner and the Seven West Media Board today. Most alarmingly, Fairfax reports a website has named two high-profile women who were allegedly linked to Worner. All have been denied by Seven. The website failed to respond to a court order that the offending material be removed by 8pm Thursday night. The matter will head to the Supreme Court today. But any full Defamation suit could likely necessitate Worner and Amber Harrison giving evidence. The Daily Telegraph outlines some of the expenses Harrison allegedly accrued on company credit cards: flights, hotels and flowers. The Herald Sun predicts the Board will be forced to act suggesting boards cant resist the shareholder and public pressure and they have to act. The Australian weighs in with unrelated speculation of an executive exodus in Perth. Rumours Perth boss Chris Wharton had left Seven have been clarified as long service leave by the network. It also speculates on just who will be quizzed by the inquiry announced yesterday and whether Nine should return a volley with a current affair report, after Sunday Night interviewed Adam Whittington over 60 Minutes? Yesterday Seven confirmed the Board had met 4 times this week following Harrisons statement while Tim Worner apologised to staff and acknowledged elements of culture could be improved to ensure a safe and ethical workplace. Seven has confirmed it will launch a second inquiry into the allegations surrounding its CEO Tim Worner. It follows ongoing media articles that question whether the Seven West Media board has acted responsibly and adequately on behalf of shareholders, following claims by former employee Amber Harrison. Earlier this week shares lost values of $98m before recovering. Even today articles pose questions surrounding allegations: I think it is a significant issue because, by definition, these are illegal substances and its against the law to take them, chief executive of the Governance Institute of Australia, Steven Burrell tells The Australian. It would be particularly egregious if thats taken place in work time. The community expects more of companies and the people who run them. Boards of directors should be setting the highest standards to embed the right values and culture, the Australian Financial Review notes. Seven has been accused in the past of being run like a private company rather than a publicly-listed one. But that accusation has been levelled at every media company controlled by a billionaire and his family. An opinion piece by Madonna King in WA Today suggests, You can bed who you like, although many of your viewers might disagree with me there. And you can have dalliances with whatever or whoever you like outside work and keep your job. But your admissions to date already show that you dismissed the standards for yourself that you expect of others who report to you. Seven is yet to address some of the specific allegations made by Harrison, who wants to front the media companys board to explain my truth. Seven issued the following statement to the ASX today: The Board of Seven West Media Limited (SWM) takes allegations being published in relation to its CEO very seriously and has met on four occasions this week to consider the unfolding issues being raised. The Board continues to support the CEO, and the processes and decisions made based on the information at the time Ms Amber Harrisons credit card misuse, and subsequently the existence of her relationship with the CEO, was brought to the attention of the company two years ago. At the time, the Board appointed an independent accounting firm to establish the facts behind the misuse of Ms Harrisons corporate credit card and to produce a comprehensive report. It was this report that lead to Ms Harrisons termination and a settlement agreement being reached by the parties. However, to allay any concerns that our shareholders may have the Board has determined it prudent to commission a further independent inquiry to establish all of the facts so as to confirm that all necessary matters have been and were taken into account. The Board will work quickly to appoint an appropriate independent expert to undertake the inquiry and to report back to the Board as soon as they deem it practical. Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner has emailled staff to apologise for his actions and headlines this week overshadowing their achievements this year: All, You would all be aware that last Sunday, a former employee released details of an inappropriate relationship with me. Without reservation, I apologise to you all. What I did was wrong. What I did is certainly not a reflection of the standards of the Shareholders, the Chairman, the Board, or any of you. You are entitled to, and I hope expect, better decisions from me. A lot of the allegations are factually incorrect but guess what, that doesnt matter anymore. The one thing I am not doing is making any excuses. I obviously regret it and most of all I regret the unwelcome attention it has brought to the company and my family. None of you deserve that. Not one of you. Your achievements this year, and there are many, should not be tainted and overshadowed by this. Ten years of ratings domination and another outstanding result from the television Sales team. The integration of The West Australian, The Sunday Times, the west, perthnow and Seven Perth into one vibrant, buzzing newsroom. And a magazine business that is transforming itself so quickly that in the last 12 months, according to Neilsen DRM, it has become the fastest growing digital publisher in the country. For the first time ever, we are the number one media company on line in Australia, a leadership position we built during the 2016 Olympics and have held onto ever since. You have achieved such feats through bloody hard work and the continued great execution of great ideas. And in no small way, this is because of the culture at Seven West Media. You should all be proud of that culture, but no healthy culture is static. We cannot allow what you have all had to put up with this week, because of my mistake, to be what defines our values. And I fervently believe it isnt. I am in no way sharing the blame here, but I do want to say that, like everything, elements of our culture can be improved and we will focus on absolutely confirming we have a safe and ethical workplace. I will learn from my situation to help make this a better company. That is my commitment to you. You have a culture of inclusiveness and of working with respect for each other. This plays a huge part in your capacity to put our customers first and give them what they want, whether they be advertisers, viewers, readers or online users. You do what you do with great passion and integrity. Our diverse workforce has been critical to our commercial success. We want to reflect the community of which we strive to be an even more vital part. Every year we commit to improving our performance from the previous year. And that must apply to our culture as well. Next year we will have a renewed focus on underlining our values and the better internal communication of them. We are also going to commit ourselves to another year of leadership. The plans for that began a long time ago and are already well under way. Once again, I thank you and salute you for your efforts in 2016. I reiterate that my poor decisions should not in any way take any shine off what you have achieved this year. 2017 promises to be another exciting year. We want to continue to transform and it is our culture that enables us to continue that journey with purpose. Have a safe, healthy and happy break for those able to get one in what is now a truly 24 hour, seven days of every week operation. And get ready to charge into 2017 with more gusto than ever before. Onwards, TW Source: Fairfax President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met with Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok. This has been reported by the press service of the Head of State. Poroshenko informed on the progress of Ukraine on the track of reforms and assured of the determination of the authorities to ensure necessary transformations. Elmar Brok noted reform efforts of Ukraine, particularly the adoption of the State Budget of Ukraine for 2017 by the Verkhovna Rada, strengthening of the banking system and courageous decision to nationalize PrivatBank, as well as the implementation of the anti-corruption policy, including the introduction of the e-declaration system, development of anti-corruption institutional architecture and judicial reform. The parties discussed recent development in Donbas and condemned armed provocations by Russia aimed to aggravate the situation on the touch line. The parties agreed to make efforts to speed up the solution of procedural issues in the EU institutions with a view to introduce the visa-free regime for Ukrainians. ish The National Bank of Ukraine has managed this year to buy $1.7 billion in gold and foreign currency reserves. Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Oleh Churiy said this in an interview with Ukrinform and UA|TV. "The National Bank of Ukraine bought $1.7 billion in reserves. The sum is larger than it was stipulated the IMF program. We have the means to maintain the foreign exchange market in case if situation changes," Churiy said, adding that the international reserves amounted to USD 5.5 billion in February 2014. ol The Netherlands can complete the process of ratification of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement in early 2017. Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine on European Integration Olena Zerkal said this at a press briefing on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "Yesterday, hearings were held at the Dutch parliament, where Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte delivered a speech and all political parties expressed their positions on further completion of the ratification of the Association Agreement. Now I am very optimistic about the completion of this procedure in January," Zerkal said. She added that the completion of the ratification process of the Association Agreement had been supported not only by the coalition political forces, but also by the Green Party. ish Chairman of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine Oleh Nalyvaiko has stated a systemic attack was launched to disrupt the reform of transformation of the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTCU) into the National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine (NPTRCU) and demands to conduct an internal investigation regarding the officials of the NTCU. Nalyvaiko said this at a meeting of the board of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "A systemic attack to disrupt the reform is being launched at the final stage, during these last 2-3 weeks. The attack has been launched after representatives of one of the media groups failed to lead [the reform process]. I see absolutely clear the traces that remain: the fake news that all is lost with the public television and all is lost with the Eurovision," Nalyvaiko said (read more...) facebook like button Tweet tweet button for twitter Published December 22, 2016 MONROE, La. Two University of Louisiana Monroe pharmacy students were recently awarded grants by EPIC Pharmacies, Inc., a national network of over 1,400 independently owned pharmacies. The 2016 Student Grant Awards were awarded to outstanding students who plan to practice in an independent pharmacy after graduation. Twelve students nationwide were awarded in total, including brother and sister Elee and Torrence Barber, both students in ULMs School of Pharmacy. Elee Barber was awarded a $1,000 grant for a year period that she plans to use for tuition during pharmacy school. I have received this grant for the last three years, Barber said. This grant has helped me fund my education so that I am able to graduate with a doctorate of pharmacy degree. Torrence Barber has received the grant for the first time. He was also awarded a $1,000 grant for a year period that he plans to use for tuition. I am excited to receive this grant so that I may focus on my journey to become a doctor of pharmacy, Barber said. EPIC Pharmacies Chief Executive Officer, Jay Romero, R.Ph., said the company is excited to support the next generation of independent pharmacists. In recognizing these pharmacy students, EPIC Pharmacies is acknowledging their dedication to independent pharmacy, patient care, and their community, Romero said. Applications for the 2017 program will be available on January 1, 2017. To learn more about the EPIC Pharmacies Inc. and the application process, visit epicrx.com. From a bay window, the elder Arafat children, along with their parents, watch as a swirl of costumed children crisscross the snowy streets. With each ring of the doorbell, the family exchange uncertain glances, still not quite sure what to do. Then, one of the older children breaks the impasse, bounding down the stairs and handing out candy. It is not long before the youngest Arafat children are travelling from door to door with their neighbours, bags heavy with confectionary their very first Halloween in Canada. In January 2016, Hussein and Fatmah Arafat, along with their nine children, were resettled in Whitehorse, capital of north-west Canadas Yukon territory. Privately sponsored by a group of residents, the Syrian familys arrival capped a long escape from a country that once was safe enough to call home. They followed in the footsteps of thousands before them searching for a new chance is braided into the Yukons history, when prospectors made their way into the mountains in search of gold more than one hundred years ago. The Arafat family stand with their sponsors and new friends in Whitehorse, Canada. UNHCR/Annie Sakkab Just 15 days after moving to Whitehorse, barrel bombs leveled the familys first house in a village near Hama, Syria. Now, thanks to local sponsors, their second sits in a neighbourhood bordered by thick stands of pines. For a family used to the dusty rolling hills of a warm climate, this vast territory felt like a new world, wrinkled with mountain ranges. Nestled in a valley and divided by the fast-moving Yukon River, the Arafats were relieved to find that Whitehorse had many comforts grocery stores, movie theatres and recreation centres. Here, I feel for the first time in five years that I'm free." One of the main reasons that Hussein has explained to us that he wanted to come to Canada was to give his children the opportunity for a good education, says Raquel de Queiroz, a nurse practitioner and lead sponsor of the family. Before her own arrival to Whitehorse two years ago, her work for Doctors Without Borders in the river basins of Colombia had hardened her resolve for helping others. Its the right thing to do, she says. Volunteers registered the younger Arafat children in schools within weeks of arriving in Whitehorse. For the two eldest daughters, Hussein and Fatima realized a Catholic public school offered the best opportunities. Wary, they approached the principal, afraid that their daughters would be forced to remove their headscarves. He asked me, Would you ask me to remove my cross?, recalls Hussein. I said no. He told me he understands that people have their own way of living and cant ask us to give that up. A wilderness welcome from one Canadian community. School in Canada has opened up a whole new world for the children. For a long time, Hassans dreams of becoming a pharmacist seemed impossible. The eldest child, he remembers his father pulling him out of high school in Syria just one month before his final exams, terrified that he would be conscripted into the military. After a frantic rush, the family were able to escape to Lebanon. But Hassan was unable to attend school for the next five years, as the family struggled to make ends meet in exile. Here, I feel for the first time in five years that I'm free, he says. I can go out and move around. I can learn. Hassan is set to begin classes at the Yukon College in January 2017. And, after four years without consistent schooling, the youngest girls are overjoyed to be back in a classroom. The first day they came back on the school bus, they were literally jumping up and down, recalls sponsor Raquel. And I thought, How many kids in North America jump up in down in happiness going to school? Ahmad Arafat dresses up as a pumpkin for his first Halloween. UNHCR/Annie Sakkab The Arafat children trick or treat with neighbourhood children for the first time. UNHCR/Annie Sakkab Hussein Arafat works early mornings for a local bagel company in Whitehorse. UNHCR/Annie Sakkab Hussein Arafat relaxes with the family's sponsors and new friends at their home. UNHCR/Annie Sakkab Hassan Arafat works part-time at a pharmacy in Whitehorse and plans to attend Yukon College. UNHCR/Annie Sakkab Badria Arafat and her sisters were quickly enrolled in school when the family arrived in Whitehorse. UNHCR/Annie Sakkab Ismail Arafat works seven days a week at a barber shop in Whitehorse. UNHCR/Annie Sakkab The sponsors attribute much of the communitys warm welcome to the photo of Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi's small body washed up on a Turkish beach. For them, and millions of others across the world, it opened a brief window into the human cost of war, spurring the Whitehorse community into action. Our first fundraiser was a spaghetti dinner, says Raquel. We made spaghetti for 200 people at the school. And we sold out in 20 minutes. I thought people were joking. Really? We sold out already? But we did. Eager to become members of the community, the two eldest Arafat brothers quickly found work. Hassan stocks shelves at a pharmacy and Ismail works everyday at a barbershop. Both outgoing, they engage customers in English as a way of practicing conversation. But for their father, also eager to contribute to the community, steady employment and language is a challenge. Fibrosis in his lungs prevents him from working long hours in exhaustive jobs. Still, in the darkness of winter, the former truck driver works the dough of a local bagel company, helping to make upwards of one thousand bagels each day. It shows that they're hardworking people," says Raquel. "They want to improve on their lives. They want to pursue their dreams." In addition to working, the family have embraced the local lifestyle. The sons and father are now keen fisherman, casting lines into the Yukon River in the summer and shivering on the ice in winter with their sponsors. The children spend their weekends skating and swimming with new friends from school and the neighbourhood. Over the last year, Canadians have helped resettle over 31,000 refugees displaced by conflict in Syria. While few of those can be found in the north, Whitehorse has already welcomed two families and a student, with plans for more. A week after the novelty of their first Halloween, the Arafats host a dinner for their sponsors and other volunteers as a gesture of thanks. Plates piled high with kibbeh and tabouleh give guests a taste of what their hosts have left behind. Fatima hovers around the house making sure that plates remain full, while her sons and youngest daughters chat in newly learned English with the guests conversations that would have been impossible a year before. Just before the party ends, Hussein sneaks out with a plate of leftovers for a friends son who was unable to attend. Because, the Arafats reason, thats what neighbours do. From Far and Wide is a series of stories profiling the Canadians who have welcomed Syrian refugees with compassion and support. All across the country, strangers, friends, families and communities are creating powerful bonds of friendship that transcend language and culture, when they are needed the most. The 'No Stranger Place' exhibition at Vienna's central train station. UNHCR/Ida Kielmansegg VIENNA, Austria After fleeing war-torn Syria in 2014 and eventually making it to Europe, Nawras was overjoyed to find a new home with the Schamberger family in Austria. Together, they participated in the photo series No Stranger Place, which is now being exhibited for the first time at the Vienna train station Wien Westbahnhof. Very often, only bad news makes the news, says Nawras, 26. With this project, we want to show the good and positive side of life, thats the reason why we participated. Many people in Europe opened their hearts and homes to refugees in 2016. In the portrait series No Stranger Place, photographer Aubrey Wade gives the viewer an insight into their lives together, meeting families and flatmates across Austria, Germany and Sweden. "We want to show the good and positive side of life, thats the reason why we participated. From December 16 to January 9, 11 large-scale prints from this series are on display in the central hall of Wien Westbahnhof, where thousands of travellers will get the chance to see it. We chose the train station as a very symbolic place, where last year hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants passed through and were warmly welcomed and supported by the Viennese population, says Christoph Pinter, Head of UNHCR Austria. Many of the portrayed families have transited themselves through Wien Westbahnhof." The opening of the exhibition took place last Friday (December 16). Photographer Aubrey Wade, who developed the series in cooperation with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, told guests: People and their relationships are at the heart of the No Stranger Place series. In their stories, we discover their shared values are stronger and matter more than their differences. That is exactly what Martina, Nawras host mother, stresses. Nawras comes from a very different part of the world, but in the end we discovered that the differences are not so big, she says. With the project, we want to encourage others to get involved, to open their homes too. Yassin (middle), a Palestinian filmmaker and refugee, looks at his portrait on the right. UNHCR/Michael Schoppl Jonas, a Vienna based student, and Yassin, a Palestinian filmmaker and refugee, who both share a flat with Lina and Gotti, spent a long time in front of their portrait on opening night. Our photo is amazing, says Jonas. It is great to see it on such a large print. I am really happy to see the final product. Yassin agrees. I really like it, it is beautiful, he says. I remember it took like 30 minutes or maybe even more to shoot one single pose, but it was definitely worth it. Both of the young men have become even closer friends since their portraits were taken in the summer of 2016. Since then, they have finished a short film, which was shown at a renowned Viennese festival. The Schamberger family have also seen some changes since their portrait was taken. After spending a year in the family house, Nawras is now sharing a flat in Vienna with their daughter Valerie and other friends. But although he is moving on, there is no doubt that Nawras will forever be a permanent member of the family. He will always be a part of our family," says Martina. "No matter where he goes. UNHCR and its partners are ready to stay and deliver in Yemen. People across the country are fighting for their survival between COVID-19 and a brutal conflict that has left them hungry, without access to medical care, and living in dire conditions. The time is now, more than ever, to save lives with your help. Jean-Nicolas Beuze, UNHCR Representative to Yemen Fighting in Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, has severely compounded needs arising from long years of poverty and insecurity. The worsening violence has disrupted millions of lives, resulting in widespread casualties and massive displacement, and the situation is rapidly deteriorating. Civilians bear the brunt of the crisis, with more than 20 million Yemenis now in need of humanitarian assistance. Those forced to flee their homes are especially at risk. More than 4 million people now languish in desperate conditions, away from home and deprived of basic needs. The risk of a large-scale famine in the country has never been more acute. Tens of thousands are already living in famine-like conditions, with a staggering 5 million more just one step away from it. Displaced families are four times more at risk of famine than the rest of the Yemeni population. Yemen is facing a humanitarian catastrophe. Without help, many more lives will be lost to violence, treatable illnesses or lack of food, water and shelter. What is UNHCR doing to help? We provide life-saving aid to displaced Yemenis, as well as to refugees and asylum-seekers, across the country. Under the humanitarian coordination system in Yemen, we lead in the provision of protection, shelter and non-food items. We provide cash assistance for displaced people to cover their most urgent needs such as food and medicine, emergency shelter, and core relief items such as mattresses, blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, solar lamps and more to help those displaced and most vulnerable. Our assistance reaches people in need in all 20 governorates affected by the conflict. Our shelter kits, mats and plastic sheets help families repair homes damaged in the conflict and provide some privacy and protection to those living in collective buildings. We support health facilities that serve refugees, asylum-seekers and Yemenis affected by violence, and we work to prevent and control the spread of cholera, which has arisen as a result of the conflict. As well as helping protect families against COVID-19 by distributing hygiene kits and providing safety information across the country. We provide legal and cash assistance as well as psycho-social support to help those affected by the war, along with a wide range of protection services such as prevention of gender-based violence and specific interventions focusing on women and children. We also continue to protect and support more than 137,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mainly from the Horn of Africa, who remain in Yemen despite the conflict and are particularly at risk. However, limited funding for our work in Yemen means we are not able to fully address these massive needs, limiting our capacity to provide life-saving relief. More information: Data on arrivals from Yemen in other countries Yemen latest updates Choosing a college major can be an overwhelming process to think about. The future is often thought of as a grand scheme where everything must be precise starting from the school of the students' choice up to the college courses needed. But some college courses are not at all stuffy and serious as some would think. There are five weird college courses you can take when it comes to one's higher education. And it is not complicated science, as reported by KXLY Radio Station. There are universities that offer classes that range between garbage and Harry Potter. And there are certified professors and lecturers who are teaching these courses. Centre College offers The Art of Walking. This is an applicable class for those who definitely love to walk a lot. It lets the students absorb the surroundings and philosophy of walking. For those who want something more intense, Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a course on American Pro Wrestling. The school sees the sport as a tool that can examine masculine role models and dive into the drama of show-wrestling. There is also a study on Lady Gaga, the pop icon herself. Gaga 101 is a course being offered at the University of South Carolina. It revolves on the question as to why everyone is interested in Lady Gaga. Learn about Garbage for example. The Joy of Garbage is a course designed to talk about, well, trash, reported by Santa Clara University. The class focuses on the uses of garbage and its effects in global warming. For those who are fans of Harry Potter, there is The Science of Harry Potter. Frostburg State University offers a deeper dive into the magical world through the use of science. Magic is after all a combination of chemistry, physics, biology and engineering. College life does not have to be serious. There are courses and classes that can bring out the weird in people and still be able to apply it to their degrees and daily life. Interested to learn more about Harry Potter? Check out the Frostburg State video below: With 2016 is coming to a close, reports on UFO sightings abound. There are rumors that the increase in UFO sigthings is a sign that aliens are preparing for a possible invasion. Check out the latest UFO sightings. Triangle UFO Over Ohio Spotted at Springfield, Ohio, the eyewitness described the apparent UFO as "gigantic and enormous" that looks like cylinder at first but at a close look it looks like a triangular-shaped airplane with colors green white and red. The UFO sighting happened in November 29, 2016 at around 10:00 p.m. along highway 2-75. The report was filed at Ohio MUFON in Dec. 4 and is now being investigated by Chief Investigator Ron McGlone, Openminds reported. Burning Fireball Caught On Camera The strange blue fireball was reportedly spotted in South America including Colombia and Venezuela on Dec. 16 around 11:25 p.m. Many people believed that they have spotted another UFO though experts suggest that it is just a large meteor. UFO Crash An apparent UFO crashed creating a hole in the ground in Fugu County, North Eastern China, Peoples Daily Online reported. UFOs Spotted in Turkey Mysterious lights were spotted in Turkey and are believed to have come from an UFO. Bolt of Lightning Spotted in Arizona The light seems to be just like lightning or meteorite but it's going up and so theories came out that it may be an alien ship leaving the earth. According to Scott Waring, a UFO enthusiast from UFO Sightings Daily website, Arizona is a famous hotspot for Alien bases and UFOs and the recent incident is an evidence of their existence in the area. Although there were suggestions that the spotted bolt of lightning is a hoax, Waring said that it is an alien ship leaving the earth, Mirror reported. Ben Smith, a student from Towson University, successfully graduated. What is extraordinary, is that he was able to overcome barriers, challenges and struggles that came with having autism. Autism is estimated to have affected over 21 million people around the world. It impairs social interaction, and restricts certain verbal or non-verbal behaviors, oftentimes repetitive. But one student with diagnosed autism beat the odds. When he was two years old, Ben Smith was diagnosed with autism. At an early age, he already knew he was growing up differently from his friends and school mates. Smith said he was very shy, as reported by Baltimore News. Growing up he recalls being uncooperative with some things that should not even be a big deal. That is how most autistic kids grow up. Ben Smith graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Math with a minor in Computer Science. At first he attended Harford Community College but transferred to Towson to pursue a degree in Math. According to the Towson University website, the school offers support for students like Ben. He proved that he is able to get ahead even with autism. At Towson, he interned and he also joined an honor society for students with disabilities. Putting his computer science degree to work, he managed the website for the honor society too. He did not fail at socializing either. He lived in a dorm and he tutored other students who needed help in math. And to test himself further, he took on difficult classes. His main goal was to graduate. According to the assistant director of Resident Life, Lisa Simmons-Barth, Smith is a part of their community and easily connected with everyone. She added that Smith's challenges pushes him further to build the skills he needs for his future. When asked what his plans are for his future, Ben Smith said he is planning on Operations Research or Statistics because he wants to work for the government and the company. He plans to get a job and a Masters degree, too. Check out the related news video of Ben below! Donald Trump has agreed to pay $25 million as settlement for his university's fraud case. Moreover, he is required to pay the amount two days before his inauguration. Politico reported that Trump's lawyers submitted the settlement to a federal court in San Diego on Monday evening. The document confirmed that the president-elect is "personally guaranteeing" that the $25 million will be given to plaintiffs' lawyers by Jan. 18, 2017. The deal has saved Trump from facing a civil class-action fraud trial as he goes on to take over as the nation's president. With this, Trump University is required to offer refunds of approximately 50 percent of the fees paid by its students. Students usually pay about $1,500 for a three-day seminar. It's higher for those who want to enroll in a mentorship program, which costs $35,000. Previously, Donald Trump has requested for the postponement of the hearing of his fraud case. He cited the excuse of being a "political novice" and the challenges he will face during the transition to the White House. Back in summer, Donald Trump was able to successfully request that the trial and his testimony be postponed until the election has finished. Now, as he emerged victorious, his lawyers argued that he is too busy to prepare for the trial. According to Variety, part of the settlement, $21 million, will be given to former students or members of the class. However, Trump and Trump University did not admit to any crime as part of the settlement. Bloomberg added that the judge has given the plaintiffs 75 days to file their objections to the settlement. A final approval hearing has been scheduled for Mar. 30. Donald Trump will not be able to use money from his charitable foundation, Donald J. Trump Foundation, to pay the $25 million settlement. His lawyers have confirmed that no funds for the settlement would come from "any charitable foundation or other charitable entity." A student from Nassau Community College has been arrested for alleged vandalism. Jasskirta Saini, 20, was said to have drawn swastikas and other anti-Semitic images in the school. News 12 Long Island reported that Saini has been arraigned on 12 counts of aggravated harassment. It was revealed that the hate messages he wrote included swastikas, Germany, KKK and Hitler. Officials confirmed that Saini drew the graffiti and other vandals in the school's G building on Friday, Dec. 17. Two fresh messages were found on Dec. 16 while some were dated back in October. Apparently, the culprit did the act because he felt that he was being harassed by the Jewish community in Plainview. Saini used black and blue magic markers to draw the anti-Semitic images and comments. It was noted that this is the sixth time that a similar incident occurred over the last three months on campus. Surveillance videos have been a great help in tracking down Saini. According to ABC 7 NY, the incidents started on Oct. 15 when three swastikas were discovered inside a men's bathroom. There were two more incidents that month, with graffiti found in more men's bathrooms. This month, images of swastikas were found again on a stair handrail and on a wall on Dec. 7. On Dec. 16, several swastikas were again discovered in a men's bathroom. Nassau County Police confirmed that they found Saini drawing two swastikas on the exterior wall of Building H and a KKK on the floor of F Building Cluster 225. The vandalisms were done inside the Nassau Community College campus. There have been several reports of hostile acts done against minority students in campuses. This comes after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. Universities have been trying to pacify fears about the nation's future by organizing meetings and counseling sessions. There are concerns that Donald Trump's victory at the U.S. 2016 election has sparked backlash among the minority groups on campuses. Ohio Governor John Kasich has signed a bill that allows civilians to carry concealed weapons in college campuses and other public areas, news reports say. Senate Bill 199, which was earlier passed by both senate and congress, expands where Ohio residents may be allowed to carry concealed weapons, The Blade reported. The bill gives public colleges and universities the authority to permit the carrying of weapons in campuses. It also lifts the current ban on concealed weapons in day-care centers, school safety zones, airport terminals, and certain government buildings. Private companies and businesses, including day-care centers, can still prohibit the carrying of weapons, provided they post signs noting that they are off-limits. Firearms are still banned inside courthouses, police stations, and the Statehouse. The new bill also allows active-duty military to carry concealed weapons without a permit, Cleveland.com reported. It also prohibits employers from banning permit-holding employees' carrying of weapons into company parking lots. Various groups opposed the bill, with gun control advocates labeling it the "guns everywhere" bill. Michele Mueller, leader of the Ohio chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said Kasich ignored the safety concerns of various people, prioritizing gun lobby interests more than the public's general safety. Charleta Tavares, a Columbus democratic state senator who voted against the bill, said earlier that law enforcers are going to deal with the consequences of the passing of the bill. The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, college teachers and staff, and parents of young kids all opposed the bill. The Buckeye Firearms Association and the National Rifle Association, on the other hand, supported it. Kasich signed the bill along with other bills that prohibit local governments from raising the minimum wage, and one that makes assisting suicide a felony. It will be in force within 90 days. Forty-one new Michigan State Police (MSP) troopers will report for work at MSP posts across the state on Monday following graduation from the 131st Trooper Recruit School Thursday afternoon. Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the MSP, will administer the Oath of Office during the ceremony at the Lansing Center. As these new troopers travel home to be with their loved ones for the holidays, they can leave proud knowing they have what it takes to join the ranks of the elite Michigan Department of State Police, stated graduation keynote speaker, Governor Rick Snyder. We wish them safety each and every day and hope they enjoy long and rewarding careers serving and protecting the residents of our great state." Thursdays graduation ceremony also marks the debut of MSPs new Campaign hats, a nod to what enforcement members wore until the early 1920s. All active enforcement members were given the opportunity to vote on whether the department should make the uniform change for its 100th Anniversary, which will be celebrated across the state throughout 2017. All active enforcement members begin wearing the hats Thursday. In her address to the graduates, MSP Director Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue said, "You have joined the MSP family at a very exciting time. As our newest troopers and the last recruit school to graduate in 2016, you are now part of our departments history and you will help determine its future. I expect you to do whats right, to do your best and to treat others the way you want to be treated. In everything you do, I ask that you provide Service With a Purpose. Tpr. Thomas Gladney III was elected Class Orator by his fellow recruits and spoke on behalf of the graduating class at Thursdays ceremony. Other award recipients included Tpr. Brett Nichols who received the Academic Achievement Award and Team Building Award, Tpr. Trevor Baesch who received the Marksmanship Award and Tpr. Antonio Palmer who received the Outstanding Performance Award. The 131st Trooper Recruit School began on July 17, when 50 prospective troopers reported to the MSP Training Academy in Lansing. For the past 23 weeks, recruits received training in firearms, water safety, defensive tactics, patrol techniques, report writing, ethics, first aid, criminal law, crime scene processing and precision driving. In order to be selected to attend the academy, all applicants had to pass a stringent selection process that included a physical fitness test, background investigation and hiring interview. As part of the departments commitment to Providing Service With A Purpose, the recruits participated in community outreach projects in which they donated food to the City Rescue Mission of Lansing and packaged food for Capital Area Community Services. The 131st Trooper Recruit School is the third of four trooper recruit schools this year, as well as a motor carrier officer recruit school: - 21st Motor Carrier Officer Recruit School started August 28, 2016; will graduate January 6, 2017. - 132nd Trooper Recruit School started August 28, 2016; will graduate February 3, 2017. The MSP is actively recruiting; interested candidates should visit for more information on how to apply. Including these troopers, there are currently 1,065 troopers assigned statewide. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Church News October 20, 2022 LIGHT OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH Needing Answers We want God to be like FedEx and deliver overnight. Things dont happen that way, but in... Church News October 13, 2022 LIGHT OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH Natures Therapy The pine tree with its solemn dignity lifts its branches to the sky as if to give... Steel industry to continue on its growth trajectory The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) announced that the steel industry is projected to grow at a rate of 10-12 percent in 2017. The association stated that steel consumption depends on the countrys GDP; with a GDP growth rate of 6.2 percent this year and the operation of 10 steel projects next year the industry is likely to further expand. However, the local industry faces competition from Chinese steel imports, which are cheaper. The industry also faces strict technical standards for exporting steel. To counter Chinese imports, the VSA has asked the government to impose anti-dumping measures. The VSA has sent amendments to Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), which has made a draft plan of the steel sector until 2025 and extendable to 2035. The VSA has proposed a slew of measures, including less government intervention in the industry. The issuance of investment certificates, it said, should also be done with the relevant ministries rather than just the MoIT. In addition, it noted that the draft is not complete as it does not have a development plan for hot rolled and high quality steel, as these are 100 percent imported. Reports say that Vietnam will need to spend approximately US$15 billion a year to import steel. RELATED: Dezan Shira & Associates Corporate Establishment Services Government plans new coastal SEZs Vietnam has approved the construction of three new special economic zones (SEZs). These zones will be built in the coastal areas of Van Don (Quang Ninh), Van Phong (Khanh Hoa), and Phu Quoc Island (Kien Giang). The government will use the zones to pilot new economic policies before applying them nationwide for developing the maritime economy. The government intends the coastal SEZs to be superior than traditional SEZs, which are limited to offering tax and lease incentives, but have thus far failed to attract foreign investors. The government will also need to come up with a law on SEZs so that they can compete with other zones around the world. Vietnam earlier had created the Vung Tau Con Dao SEZ in 1971 but made it redundant in 1991. Vietnam currently has no SEZs, but has 15 coastal economic zones and 28 border gate economic zones. Making Use of Shareholder Meetings in Vietnam Government invites bidders for stake in state-run beer company Vietnams government has invited interested global banks as it looks to sell a stake in the countrys largest state run beer company; sources say the stake is valued at around US$1.8 billion. The sale of the company, Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco) is expected to start in April. The government wants to open its economy by relaxing strict ownership limits and selling its stakes in state-run companies. While such moves are welcome, many analysts have suggested that the government has often backtracked on similar commitments. The sale of Sabeco, of which the government owns 90 percent, has been delayed several times in the last few years. Investors say that government officials have little experience and fear selling assets too cheaply. Sources say that the government could sell up to 40 percent of its stake in Sabeco. Shares of Sabeco just started trading last week; the beer company has a market capitalization of US$4.6 billion. Sabeco sells several brands, including 333 and Saigon beer, and controls over 40 percent of Vietnams beer market. The government is also looking to sell its nearly 82 percent stake in another beer company, Hanoi Beer Alcohol Beverage Joint Stock Corp (Habeco); the company is the countrys third largest brewery. If the sales of the two companies go ahead, it will renew investor confidence and bode well for foreign investors. 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 vietnam@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. Annual Audit and Compliance in Vietnam 2016 In this issue of Vietnam Briefing, we address pressing changes to audit procedures in 2016, and provide guidance on how to ensure that compliance tasks are completed in an efficient and effective manner. We highlight the continued convergence of VAS with IFRS, discuss the emergence of e-filing, and provide step-by-step instructions on audit and compliance procedures for Foreign Owned Enterprises (FOEs) as well as Representative Offices (ROs). Navigating the Vietnam Supply Chain In this edition of Vietnam Briefing, we discuss the advantages of the Vietnamese market over its regional competition and highlight where and how to implement successful investment projects. We examine tariff reduction schedules within the ACFTA and TPP, highlight considerations with regard to rules of origin, and outline the benefits of investing in Vietnams growing economic zones. Finally, we provide expert insight into the issues surrounding the creation of 100 percent Foreign Owned Enterprise in Vietnam. Tax, Accounting and Audit in Vietnam 2016 (2nd Edition) This edition of Tax, Accounting, and Audit in Vietnam, updated for 2016, offers a comprehensive overview of the major taxes foreign investors are likely to encounter when establishing or operating a business in Vietnam, as well as other tax-relevant obligations. This concise, detailed, yet pragmatic guide is ideal for CFOs, compliance officers and heads of accounting who must navigate Vietnams complex tax and accounting landscape in order to effectively manage and strategically plan their Vietnam operations. There was a time early in my wine drinking life that I did not care for Argentine Malbec. I frankly didnt understand the fuss. I had bought several from my local gourmet grocery store over the years, and one or two from proper wine stores (never paying more than $15 or so). This sense, however, like so many early impressions of wine, was shattered one day by a single bottle of wine, from a producer of which I had never heard, and whose name I could not readily pronounce. My first taste of Achaval Ferrers Finca Altamira showed me the true possibilities that existed for Malbec in Argentina, and introduced me to what would end up being my favorite producer in the region. No matter how many Malbecs I drink, I keep coming back to Achaval Ferrer every time. I believe that first bottle I tried was the 2002 vintage, merely the third vintage from the brand new winerys recently acquired vineyard. This spring, the company celebrated its 15th harvest from one of Argentinas most distinctive plots of land. A vineyard that its founder Santiago Achaval once called a complete piece of trash. In 1998 Santiago Achaval, Manuel Ferrer, Diego Rosso, Marcelo Victoria, and the Italian superstar winemaker Roberto Cipresso came to Mendoza to start a new wine project. As Achaval tells it, their plans centered on establishing the most high tech vineyards in the Southern Hemisphere, believing that precision control over every variable of production would be the key to realizing their vision of world class wine. After securing a lease on two acres of vineyard to simply get their feet wet in the area, Achaval and Cipresso spent their days driving around the dirt roads south of Mendoza looking for vineyards to buy. After a particularly fruitless day of searching, the two found themselves driving next to the Tunuyan river in the department of La Consulta in the Uco Valley. Robert was driving, says Achaval, And so I was looking out the window and saw that we were driving by an old vineyard. The vineyard was full of weeds, the headposts were broken, and in some places the weeds were higher than the vines themselves. What was once the home on the property was caving in, slouching off its foundation. Tired and dusty, Achaval sighed and flippantly remarked, look at that piece of trash. Cipresso looked over, and said nothing. I should have realized, laughs Achaval, with Italians, if theyre not saying anything, thats when you need to pay attention. Achaval flew out of town the next day, only to get a call later that evening from Cipresso who, after a few pleasantries, had only one question for Achaval. He asked me do you trust me, and I said yes, recalls Achaval. Then he asked me again, Do you really trust me and I saw big dollar signs flashing in front of my eyes. Cipresso proceeded to tell Achaval that he had found the most amazing grapes he had ever tasted from Argentina, and if they wanted the vineyard, they had to buy it right then and there, as there was another buyer waiting to swoop in. Achaval took a deep breath and said yes. He flew back to Mendoza a few days later to see his new crown jewel, only to be led back down the same dusty road to the piece of trash from days earlier. That vineyard, studded with gnarled old chestnut trees beside the dusty riverbed, would be named Finca Altamira, and would quickly change many peoples opinions about what Argentine Malbec could do. Situated at 3444 feet above sea level in the broad Uco valley under the looming shadows of the snow-capped Andes mountains, Finca Altamira has 15 inches of volcanic ash and limestone layered over deep alluvial beds of volcanic sediment washed into the valley by the river. The scraggly old vines, ungrafted with some approaching a century in age, yield minuscule amounts of fruit. Even lavished with care after the property was purchased, these vines often give only one pound of fruit per vine, meaning several vines are required to make a single bottle of wine. The revelation embodied in this vineyard completely transformed Achaval and Cipresso, and their entire vision for the winery. Their high-tech vision dissipated faster than the dust settling on that fateful dead-end road, and instead they embarked on a journey to find the old vines of Mendoza and do as little as possible to them so they might speak more clearly in the bottle. They sought out ungrafted, ancient vines, and made wines with as little intervention as possible, eschewing temperature controls on fermentation, acid additions, fining, filtration, and more. As a producer, Achaval Ferrer has now achieved more accolades than just about any other Argentine producer, and no vineyard in the country has been praised as much as Achavals piece of trash. The estate now farms 330 acres of vineyards in Mendoza, producing a significant amount of entry level wine, as well as continuing to produce very small quantities of its precious single-vineyard Malbecs. In many ways, the journey of Achaval Ferrer has been the journey of Argentine Malbec, from lesser known grape to global superstar. A lot has changed, and yet nothing has. Those dusty old vines still sit under their chestnut trees as the river flows by, doing what they have been doing for nearly a century. Were just lucky someone decided to stop and taste them. 2013 Achaval Ferrer Finca Altamira Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of cassis and blueberry. In the mouth, blueberry, cassis, mocha, and new oak flavors have a wonderful silky texture and a bright juiciness thanks to very good acidity. Mocha and nutmeg linger in the finish with a light sweetness and a touch of earth. Tasty. 14.5% alcohol. 841 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $140 click to buy. 2013 Achaval Ferrer Finca Mirador Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry and blueberries. In the mouth, black cherry and blueberry flavors have a juicy bright zing thanks to excellent acidity. Faint tannins stretch taut around the mouth as the fruit sings through a long finish. Delicious. 14.5% alcohol. 818 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $140 click to buy. Images courtesy of Achaval Ferrer This designation is part of USTR's 2016 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets report released on December 21. According to USTR, the Notorious Markets List highlights prominent online and physical marketplaces that reportedly engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting, which cause significant financial losses for rights holders and legitimate businesses, undermine critical US comparative advantages in innovation and creativity to the detriment of American workers, and can pose significant risks to consumer health and safety. A goal of the list is to motivate appropriate action by private sector owners and operators, as well as governments, to combat piracy and counterfeiting. The American Apparel & Footwear Association, which represents US apparel, footwear, and other sewn products companies and their suppliers competing on the global market, commended the USTR for its decision. "Today's action shines a renewed spotlight on the considerable concerns we and others continue to see on Alibaba platforms," said Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. "In the coming year, we will work with our members, USTR, and other government agencies, outside stakeholders, and Alibaba itself to seek sustained improvements that lead to the permanent removal of counterfeits from these online platforms." Two Vietnam-related platforms named on the list are muaban.net, operated by Ho Chi Minh City-based Mua Ban JSC, and Ninh Hiep market in Hanoi. In April, Alibaba Group Holding Limited announced buying a controlling stake in Lazada. The transaction is expected to help brands and distributors around the world that already do business on Alibabas platform, as well as local merchants, to access the Southeast Asian consumer market. In the latest move, the Ha Tinh Economic Zone Management Authority confirmed with Laodong that it had issued a decision to revoke the investment certificate of multi-million dollar Van Loi Steel Complex after six years of immobility. Covering an area of 25.8 hectares in Vung Ang Economic Zone, the project is invested by Ha Tinh Iron Cast and Steel Company with a total investment capital of VND1.76 trillion ($77.5 million). The investor planned to churn out the first batches of products in August 2010 as the first phase is finished. While construction was kicked off in June 2007, due to financial problems, it has been on standy-by since 2010. The investor poured approximately VND1 trillion ($44.05 million) into the project, including the costs of importing machinery and equipment. However, with the project falling through, these items are just scrap iron at the moment. In mid-2015, the Ha Tinh Economic Zone Management Authority was already considering revoking the investment certificate of the project. In another move, in September, authorities of central province of Quang Ngai decided to revoke 337ha of land from Guang Lian Dung Quat steel factory. The steel project received its investment license in 2006. It is located in Dung Quat Economic Zone, and received an initial investment capital of $556 million from Taiwanese Tycoons Group. After many adjustments in scale and design capacity, in 2008 Tycoons entered into co-operation with E-United Company (also from Taiwan) to increase the project's capital to $4.5 billion and the annual capacity to 7 million tonnes of steel-5 million tonnes higher than its initial capacity. In July 2015, Guang Lian notified provincial authorities that it could not secure funding for the project, stalling operations from mid-2014 to date. By September 2014, the investor had disbursed $42 million to the project and provincial authorities had advanced the company VND175 billion ($7.71 million) for land clearance. In March 2016, following the committees inspection of the project site, the investor submitted another proposal with an investment of $2.2 billion. However, the committee decided to withdraw the land since the investor had violated the Land Law 2013. Previously, in May, the Ninh Thuan Peoples Committee revoke the investment certificate of Ca Na Industrial Zone, which was developing from the ashes of the inactive Ca Na steel manufacturing complex due to long delays in submitting dossiers for an investment certificate. In September 2008, Vinashin-Lion Joint Venture Company Limited, a joint venture of state-owned Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) and Malaysian Lion Group, was licensed to develop the $9.8 billion steel manufacturing complex. The construction was started in November 2008. The investors promised to complete the first phase by 2011. However, the construction could not be implemented on schedule due to financial troubles, leading to Lion Groups withdrawal from the project. Dinh Vu Polyester Fibre Plant, with an investment capital of nearly VND7 trillion, is on the list of ineffective projects. - Photo zing.vn The committee will be headed by Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue and will have members from concerned ministries and sectors. It aims to minimise the risk of losing investment capital and affecting the human and financial resources of the State. Five of the ineffective projects are those picked by the National Assembly deputies during its second session last month. These include Dinh Vu Polyester Fibre Plant; Phuong Nam Pulp Production Plant; Phase 2 expansion of a plant run by Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Corporation; Dung Quat Bio-Ethanol Plant; and Ninh Binh Nitrogenous Fertiliser Plant. These plants had investment capitals of between VND1.9 trillion (US$83.37 million) and VND12 trillion; the Ninh Binh plant had the highest investment capital. Seven other projects have been added to this list: Ha Bac Nitrogenous Fertiliser Plant; DAP No.2 Lao Cai Fertiliser Production Plant; DAP No.2 Hai Phong Fertiliser Production Plant; Binh Phuoc Ethanol Plant; Phu Tho Ethanol Plant; Dung Quat Shipbuilding Plant; and Quy Sa Mine Project, a joint venture between Lao Cai Mineral Company and its partner. At a meeting held at the Government Office in Ha Noi on Tuesday, Hue said the committee would have to address the issues of these plants and projects, while adhering to Resolution No.5 of the 12th Party Central Committees fourth plenary meeting. He asked committee members to study the National Assemblys resolutions and the Governments instructions on restructuring State-owned enterprises. The committee must solve the problems resolutely, promptly, systematically and unanimously, ensuring a drastic change in these projects by the end of 2017 and their completion by the end of 2018, the Deputy PM said, adding that the solution would aid the countrys development. All relevant ministries, sectors, businesses and project management boards will have to honestly report the real situation so that the committee can arrive at a practical solution. The committee will assign concrete tasks and deadlines to every ministry, sector, organisation, unit and individual. These projects will not remain delayed or undeveloped, Hue said. The committee will check the progress of these projects, assess the situation, estimate the volume of loss, and send its report to the Prime Minister. Projects that have production capability will be restructured in terms of production, human resources and management. Those that cannot be restructured will be auctioned, divested, dissolved or declared bankrupt as per the laws, Hue said. The State will not use its budget to compensate for losses or support these factories and projects anymore. He has also asked the auditing agency and inspectors to investigate, define the responsibilities and propose strict action against organisations and individuals who have violated any law. Workers place concrete blocs aiming to prevent terror attacks on Dec 20, 2016 close to a Christmas market in Hamburg, northern Germany, as security measures are taken after a deadly attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. (Photo: Markus Scholz/DPA/AFP) After a truck ploughed through a crowd of holiday revellers in central Berlin, the country - having so far been spared large-scale attacks - is debating the balance between security and an open society. "This attack could have been prevented if the square had been protected by concrete barriers," said Joachim Krause, head of the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University, about the attack that killed 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market Monday. As in Israel, Germany needs "to systematically secure such places," Krause argued in business daily Handelsblatt. "But in Germany this has been neglected, even though IS (Islamic State) is calling for just this kind of attack on so-called soft targets". Some cities did quickly react to Monday's carnage - the Christmas markets of Hamburg, Stuttgart and Dresden installed concrete bollards following the Berlin attack. On the other hand, federal police chief Holger Muench cautioned that, no matter what measures are taken, total security doesn't exist and that "there will always be a risk". In a similar vein, Berlin mayor Michael Mueller argued that "if we secure everything, if we carry out checks at all the entrances to all public spaces, then that will be at odds with our culture of openness". ARMY PATROLS? Nonetheless the debate is, once more, heating up. The CSU, the Bavarian wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, re-launched a campaign it initiated months ago, after less severe attacks claimed by the IS in Germany - to authorise army troops for domestic security duties. The Bundeswehr should be able to use its training and equipment to support police and contribute to public safety, argued CSU lawmaker Florian Hahn, in comments to media group RND. While the sight of armed soldiers on the streets has become common in European countries that have suffered militant attacks, such as France and Belgium, it remains taboo in Germany, which in the post-Nazi era set strict constitutional limits on its armed forces. While men and women in uniform are allowed to, for example, fill sandbags during flood disasters, most Germans would object to the sight of armed troops guarding airports and railway stations. The government recently moved to allow a first joint police-army exercise. But the country is a long way from authorising army patrols on the streets, with little will among policy-makers to push the point. And, unlike in France, which has suffered several far deadlier militant attacks, no-one in Germany is currently proposing a state of emergency. A member of Merkel's party, Klaus Bouillon, the interior minister of Saarland state, sparked controversy by speaking of a "state of war" after the Berlin attack - only to quickly backtrack from what many criticised as a verbal escalation. FIRST 'REAL' ATTACK "The Germans have always given the impression that they believe these attacks only happen to others," wrote Barbara Kunz of the Committee for the Study of Franco-German Relations in an online column for Le Monde. The country "has certainly experienced attacks in the past" but still "the risk seemed unreal", she argued. Therefore the Berlin truck attack - for which the IS claimed responsibility - meant "for many Germans that the country has experienced its first 'real' Islamist attack". Police union deputy chief Ernst Walter meanwhile called for more video surveillance and urged an end to "demonising" the technology, in a country that - after the Nazi and communist dictatorships - remains suspicious of all kinds of surveillance. "If politicians keep hiding behind privacy protection and the notion of individual liberty, which complicates our police work, then we will continue to have problems investigating such attacks in future," Walter said on public broadcaster ARD. According to newswire Dantri, the Bac Giang Peoples Committee has issued a fine of VND620 million ($27,257) on Italisa Vietnam for discharging untreated wastewater into the environment, causing serious environmental pollution. According to the inspection records, the companys wastewater samples showed pollution levels exceeding the permitted level by 3-6 times. Furthermore, the company did not sort hazardous waste according to regulations. It simply put them into bags and piled them into the warehouse or outdoors. The province ordered the company to stop discharging wastewater into the environment, and simultaneously took appropriate measures to mitigate the environmental damage caused. In addition, the province ordered the company to improve its existing wastewater treatment system. It is not the first time that the company commits environmental violations. In early 2013, the Police Department for Environmental Crime Prevention and Control (C49) also detected similar conduct. In January 2015, C49 issued a fine of VND310 million ($13,628) on the company after finding that the companys wastewater samples exceeded pollution levels by 5-10 times the permitted level. In the latest move, in March 2016, a fine of VND650 million ($28,576) was imposed on the company due to relapsing into environmental violations. Disconcertingly, while authorities consecutively detected the companys violations, Bac Giangs Centre of Environmental Monitoring showed results confirming that analysis indicators were at the permitted level. Established in 2008 under the initial name of Powerway Alloy Material Vietnam Co., Ltd., the company was renamed Italisa Vietnam Co., Ltd. in 2010. The company specialises in manufacturing sanitary equipment and has a distribution system stretching across the country. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits flood affected residents in Binh inh Province.- VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat In a tour to examine the living conditions of flood affected residents in the central Binh inh Province yesterday, he also encouraged local residents to overcome difficulties and restabilise their lives. The PM visited residents of the inundated An Xuyen 3 Hamlet in the provinces Phu My District, as well as residents of Luat Le Hamlet in Tuy Phuoc District who were suffering from the erosion of the Ha Thanh River dyke. Five major floods have hit the province since last month, inundating 11 districts, towns and cities in the province, according to the provincial Peoples Committee. The floods killed 39 people, injured 10, pulled down 551 houses, submerged 97,000 and incurred a loss of some VN1.9 trillion (US$83.5 million). On the same day, Vice President ang Thi Ngoc Thinh visited flood affected residents in the central Phu Yen Province. At a meeting with the provincial Peoples Committee, she highly appreciated the provinces efforts in dealing with and overcoming the natural disasters. She asked the authorities to take care to avoid post-flood accidents and attend to the living conditions of the flood affected residents, especially when the Lunar New Year is only a month away. Two major floods occurred in Phu Yen Province since last month, incurring a loss of nearly VN500 billion ($22 million). Reservoir control Water leakage sites were discovered at 23 reservoirs in the central province of Binh inh on Tuesday, the result of the heavy downpours and flooding that have afflicted the area since the beginning of the month. The Centre of Flood and Storm Prevention in the Central and Central Highlands region reported the province is strictly monitoring the situation at these reservoirs. The province also said erosion in the lower part of Hoai An District Van Hoi reservoir has been repaired, while three dam outlets were plugged yesterday. According to the latest reports from the centre, three outlets released the water level down to 38m via a safe spillway, and a duty team was put on 24 hour alert at the dam. The central province, which was the most damaged locale in the flooding, has a total of 166 reservoirs built in the 1980-90s, of which 46 are in poor repair. The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported on Tuesday that 70 out of 250 reservoirs at hydro-power plants and irrigation lakes in the region continue to discharge water through spillways. Most of the reservoirs are 80 or 95 per cent full. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Cambodias minister of information has criticized the countrys journalism school graduates for not having a high-standard of general knowledge required for the job. Khieu Kanharith, the minister, told students at the Department of Media and Communication that general knowledge was crucial to becoming a successful journalist. General knowledge is so important for a journalist, to be able to analyze whether the news is accurate or not So if we lack general knowledge, we will suck, and most DMC students lack general knowledge, he said. Som Ratana, head of the department, agreed with Kanharith, saying he had noted down what the minister had said. We will try to figure out what is the root cause and we will take action to enhance our quality. At a Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) meeting on December 16, CCJ president Pen Bona said despite Cambodia scoring better in press freedom rankings than several of its Asean neighbors, the ability off its journalists was still limited. We are a country that has just emerged from war and its good that we have freedom. But we should not care about ranking and instead care about reality. In reality, we lack a lot of things, he said. Our journalists are not skillful enough and their English proficiency is fairly average. Also their general knowledge is limited. Kanharith, the information minister, said: We are able to collect the data, but our ability to analyze that data is limited. We are unable to critically analyze a situation, especially a national or international situation, because we rarely read international news, he added. Bona said the CCJ would organize more training events to try and improve the skills and knowledge of journalists. Activists from four provinces have said that the largest intact lowland evergreen forest in Southeast Asia, Prey Lang, remains under threat because of poor law enforcement and rampant forest crimes. The activists added that drug use around Prey Lang had also increased as illegal loggers often brought drugs into the areas where the operated. Kha Sros of the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) said that while illegal logging had decreased, forest patrols had only managed to stem logging during the daytime. Before they would cut during the day. When we track them, they changed to do it at night, she said. We continue to patrol, because the forest is our life. Heoun Sopheap of the PLCN in Kampong Thom province, said sawmills were still in operation, despite a highly publicized anti-logging campaign led by Prime Minister Hun Sen. A recent monitoring report on the status of the forest carried out by researchers from Copenhagen University found that despite the government declaring more than 430,000 hectares of Prey Lang into protected areas, the area remains at risk. Majiken Schmidt Sogaard, one of the researchers, said they had found a significant increase in deforested land using a smartphone application. Sao Sopheap, environment ministry spokesman, said the government was working with conservationists to prevent forest crimes, but admitted that its strategy had yet to see an end to illegal logging and forest clearance. Criminals do not care about the authorities. They seize every opportunity, he said. German authorities have named a Tunisian man as the prime suspect in Monday's truck crash into a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people and injured about 50 others. Islamic State has claimed that the attack - reminiscent of the one in Nice, France, in July - was carried out by one of its soldiers. Asked to comment on the tragedy, the U.S. president-elect on Wednesday said what is happening is terrible. Zlatica Hoke reports. The war-torn city of Aleppo has been recaptured, the Syrian army said Thursday, marking its biggest victory in the nearly six-year civil war. The announcement meant President Bashar al-Assad's government had full control of Aleppo, the country's most populous city before the war, for the first time since 2012. The rebel forces agreed to withdraw from the city after a monthlong army offensive drove them from 90 percent of their original territory. The announcement came hours after the last convoy of residents was reported leaving the city, the last of a weeklong evacuation effort. The International Committee of the Red Cross said that by Thursday, about 34,000 people had left eastern Aleppo. That figure included 4,000 rebel fighters who left overnight. Hundreds more people have left Foua and Kefraya, the villages in Idlib that the government insisted be included in an evacuation agreement. "Thanks to the blood of our martyrs and the sacrifices of our valiant armed forces as well as allied forces ... the general command of the armed forces announces the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists, and the departure of those who stayed there," the army said in a statement, according to the French news agency AFP. An ICRC spokeswoman said earlier Thursday that evacuations were expected to be finished, but that heavy snow, wind and freezing temperatures could lengthen the process. September incident Meanwhile, the United Nations released a report saying an airstrike was responsible for devastating an aid convoy in Urem al-Kubra, near Aleppo, in September. That attack killed least 10 people, injured 22 others and destroyed 17 aid trucks. The U.N. said Wednesday that it could not conclude whether the airstrike was a "deliberate" hit or who was responsible for it. The inquiry found that only aircraft belonging to Syria, Russia or a U.S.-led coalition were capable of such an attack, and that rebel forces were not. U.S. officials have said they think Russia was responsible, but the Russian government has denied it was involved. UN resolution Also Wednesday, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution to set up an independent panel to investigate possible war crimes in the nearly six-year-old Syrian conflict. The measure said the panel would prepare files for possible criminal proceedings in "national, regional or international courts or tribunals." It noted repeated calls by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the U.N.'s human rights office for the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Russia and China have used their veto power to reject several such Security Council resolutions. Human rights groups applauded the General Assembly's move, but Syria and ally Russia denounced it. Syria's ambassador to the U.N., Bashar Jafaari, called it a "flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a U.N.-member state." Four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed by mortar fire this week during aid distribution in Mosul, the United Nations said, as the campaign to retake the city from Islamic State continued to make slow and punishing progress. On Thursday, three vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) claimed by Islamic State went off in Kokjali, an eastern suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago. At least two civilians were killed and 20 others wounded, including soldiers, according to local police, a health official and a witness. The death toll was expected to rise. Amaq news agency, which supports Islamic State, said in a statement circulated online that suicide bombers had targeted the army. A U.N. statement on the two separate mortar attacks this week that killed aid workers and wounded about 40 people said indiscriminate shelling violated international law. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," said Lise Grande, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. "All parties to the conflict all parties have an obligation to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians survive and receive the assistance they need." She did not assign blame for the attacks, but Islamic State militants retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they are retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction. The U.S.-backed assault on Mosul, the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq, was launched by a 100,000-strong alliance of local forces on Oct. 17. It has become the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Elite army forces have captured a quarter of the city but the advance has faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants even in areas thought to be cleared. The authorities do not release figures for civilian or military casualties, but medical officials say dozens of people are wounded each day in the battle for Mosul. The assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey fits into a long tradition of political violence in a country where the fallout from the Syrian war is deepening the chaos. Turkey's toxic combination of problems includes a Kurdish insurgency at home and state purges following a failed coup attempt in July, meaning the security situation will remain extremely tenuous for a while. While Russia and Turkey suspect the killer of Ambassador Andrei Karlov was part of a wider conspiracy, the Turkish government has come under scrutiny for its tolerance - or sponsorship - of Islamist rebel groups in Syria in recent years that may have indirectly radicalized some young Turks. You have a blowback effect, said Halil Karaveli, a Sweden-based senior fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Silk Road Studies Program. He said a mix of hardline Turkish nationalism and Sunni Muslim fundamentalism had been prospering in some quarters in Turkey, creating the potential for homegrown violence. Whatever motivated gunman Mevlut Mert Altintas, an off-duty policeman killed by police after shooting Karlov at a photo exhibition in Ankara on Monday, has not been confirmed. He shouted religious phrases and appeared to condemn Russian bombardments of rebel-held neighborhoods of Syria's Aleppo city - the shooting followed protests by Turks who criticized Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the movement of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for the assassination, while Russia has said conclusions should be left to the investigators. Gulen is already blamed for the failed military uprising in July that led to the imposition of a state of emergency, an extension in pre-trial detention, the arrest of around 38,000 people and the purging of more than 100,000 from government jobs. Turkey and Russia, which have endured difficult relations over the past year or so, described the killing as an attempt to disrupt an improving alliance that they hope will stabilize Syria and consolidate their influence there. The political calculations on Syria come as Turkey has endured regular bombings and other attacks, shaking the government of Erdogan even as he seeks to increase the power of his post by pushing for constitutional changes. Accused of authoritarian behavior, Erdogan triumphantly rallied supporters after the coup attempt, but the Russian ambassador's assassination embarrassed a nation gripped by some of its worst violence in decades. The turbulence has prompted comparisons with 1970s political unrest in Turkey that led to a 1980 military coup. Then, the deadly upheaval pitted Turkish left- and right-wing groups against each other, and the military eventually intervened in the name of restoring order, a move tainted by human rights abuses by the state. This time around, Turkey is grappling with Kurdish militant attacks, deploying troops in northern Syria to fight Kurds and the Islamic State group, and purging suspected followers of Gulen. Turkey has also been targeted by suspected IS extremists after it gave more robust support to the U.S.-led war against the group. Turkey's tradition of political violence includes the last stages of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, according to Howard Eissenstat, an associate professor of Middle East history at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. The breakdown of the (Kurdish) peace process, Erdogan's growing authoritarianism, and spillover from the Syrian civil war have all fed into this, as has the attempted coup and the government's attempt at popular mobilization, Eissenstat wrote in an email. If Turkey's past assassinations or assassination attempts are anything to go by, questions will swirl around the fatal shooting of Karlov even if an investigation comes to a clear conclusion: - Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who shot and wounded John Paul II in 1981, first said he acted alone. Later he suggested Bulgaria and the Soviet secret services masterminded the attack, and he also implicated Iran. Released in 2010, Agca once had links to a right-wing militant group in Turkey. - In 2007, ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who received death threats because of comments about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in 1915, was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul. Two suspects, including the teenage shooter, were arrested and imprisoned, but allegations that there was a cover-up by security officials who ignored warnings that Dink would be targeted have dragged on in the courts for years. - Last year, Tahir Elci, a Kurdish lawyer who headed the Diyarbakir Bar Association in southeast Turkey, was fatally shot while making a media announcement in front of a mosque. His killing has not been solved. Karlov's death is the latest shocking act of violence in Turkey, home to several million Syrian refugees and multiple security threats. In a country that is destabilized in this way, and which is involved in a war on the other side of its border, the likelihood that things are going to get worse is quite significant, Karaveli said. Odebrecht, the largest construction company in Brazil, and major petrochemical company Braskem have agreed to pay a combined penalty of at least $3.5 billion to settle allegations that they bribed government officials for business, U.S. authorities said Wednesday. The companies admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes, money that law enforcement officials say was authorized at the highest corporate levels and was disguised through complex financial arrangements. Both companies pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges in federal court in New York. The Justice Department called it the largest foreign bribery case under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The 1977 law makes it illegal to bribe foreign government officials for business. The companies have both agreed to co-operate with law enforcement, including in investigations into individual company officials. In a statement Wednesday, William Burck, a lawyer for Odebrecht, said the company was "glad to be turning the page and focusing on its future." Earlier this month, the company apologized for its involvement in corruption scandals that led to the arrest of its former chairman and several of its executives. It acknowledged having made serious mistakes and promised not to rely on extortion or bribes to get contracts from public officials. Odebrecht signed another agreement with Brazilian authorities to return almost $2 billion to public coffers. The company is at the center of the mushrooming probe at state-run oil giant Petrobras, which has ensnared Brazilian politicians and business people across the board. Dozens of Odebrecht executives signed plea bargains with prosecutors and as many as 200 politicians might be implicated in the corruption scandal. On December 12 one of those plea bargain testimonies was obtained by The Associated Press and cites Brazilian President Michel Temer 44 times, with accusations of illegal campaign financing that put his embattled administration at an even bigger risk of ending within months. The 82 pages of testimony by former Odebrecht director Claudio Melo Filho include allegations that Temer illegally financed his campaign in 2014. If the accusations are confirmed by Brazil's top electoral court next year, the president will be removed and Congress will pick a successor. In May, President Dilma Rousseff was impeached for breaking fiscal rules. The assignment for this year's White House holiday display came with a tight deadline. A team of Lego master builders, within 2 1/2 weeks, had to create 56 unique gingerbread houses out of the toy bricks, one for each state and U.S. territory. For this group, it was child's play. The seven masters at the U.S. headquarters of Lego Systems in Enfield had them designed, built from more than 200,000 Lego pieces and in a van to Washington in time for the unveiling. "We had an all-hands-on-deck kind of thing," said Paul Chrzan, one of the master builders. "We basically gave ourselves a day for each house. And we just built like crazy." The team prides itself on building just about anything out of Lego bricks, including, among other recent projects, scenes for The Lego Movie, a replica of Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics, and a life-size statue of Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. Promoted to the highest ranks for their skills, the master builders fulfill a marketing role for the Denmark-based company, but also see themselves as inspiring young builders. The team of seven including a former pastry chef, a retail worker and an actor works in the model shop, a building down a slight hill from the administrative offices that features a Lego Christmas wreath on the walls, designers at computers and the sounds of builders tinkering with the latest structures. Some, like Chrzan, 55, had a Lego affinity from childhood, when his Danish mother was among the first in his neighborhood to buy the sets. Others did not play with Lego as much as kids, but studied sculpture or fine arts in school. All see the toy brick as a medium for artistic expression. Master builder Pete Donner got his start as a model gluer out of high school in 1997. As a child, he said he was awful at building Lego sets, preferring to set aside the instructions. He said that helped him win the job he has now. "For each one of us, it's a unique journey," he said. "The secret to my success is I drew a lot and I built a lot." While children and adults alike are awed to hear about his work, he said it is a job, with real deadlines and customer expectations. He said he keeps the stress in perspective by remembering a zinger from a retired colleague's wife who told him after a rough day: "Oh, Steve, what's the matter, did you run out of yellow brick today?" Advances in technology over the past 20 years have dramatically changed the job, with proprietary Lego software churning out rough blueprints that once had to be etched by hand on graph paper. Still, a life-size model of a character can take 70 to 150 hours to design and 350 hours to build. The models go on display at fairs and retail stores or are commissioned by promotional partners. One master builder, Erik Varszegi, said the deadline pressure sometimes leaves him feeling jealous of the amateur builders outside the company who sometimes spend a year or longer on projects of their own design. Donner said he builds with Lego even after finishing his day's work. In addition to building with his two daughters, he has his own side projects. "I have access to the biggest Lego collection in the world," he said. "Why wouldn't I utilize that?" President-elect Donald Trump's selection of China critic Peter Navarro as the head of a new White House position focusing on trade is being seen by many in China as confirmation that the Republican leader is determined to implement his election promises to impose trade restrictions on Chinese goods. Navarro is a business professor at the University of California-Irvine who has been a fierce critic of China's trade and economic policies through books such as "Death by China: Confronting the Dragon A Global Call to Action," which was also made into a documentary film. Trump has praised Navarro's books, which accuse China's trade and other policies of harming the American middle class. Trump said he thought Navarro could chart a way to bring back jobs and boost American incomes. But in China, the pick is being seen as a further sign of what could be a dramatic shift in U.S. policy under a Trump administration. "Trump's Navarro pick is regarded as a signal that he will take more aggressive actions to promote his American-interests-first agenda. It's likely that the U.S. will adopt reckless trade protectionist policies in the future, causing changes to the pattern of the benefits distribution between the U.S. and other countries," Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party's organ, said in a commentary on its website late Thursday. The state-run China Daily said Friday there is a real cause for concern as the president-elect has named Peter Navarro, know for his anti-China alarmism, as his trade adviser. Cautious response The Chinese government itself is being cautious and is reluctant to reveal its plans for possible retaliatory actions. Responding to a question about the implications of the Navarro appointment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday, "I want to emphasize that as major countries, China and the U.S. share a lot of common interests. China wants to maintain sound bilateral trade relations. Mutual cooperation is the right choice for the two countries, and this is beneficial for world peace and development." Chinese economist Zhang Yunling was more frank about what may lay ahead. "If Trump imposes high tariffs on Chinese goods, China will surely retaliate," said Zhang, a member of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, one of the two houses of the Chinese parliament. "The international system will be in danger if that happens." Trump named Navarro to head the newly created White House National Trade Council, which the Trump transition team said would "advise the president on innovative strategies in trade negotiations, coordinate with other agencies to assess U.S. manufacturing capabilities and the defense industrial base, and help match unemployed American workers with new opportunities in the skilled manufacturing sector." Sizable tariff During the election campaign, Trump promised a tougher stance toward China, vowing he would declare the country a currency manipulator and promising to impose a 45 percent tax on Chinese goods. Proposals like that threaten to disrupt the U.S.-China trade relationship, and even lead some analysts to question whether a trade war could break out between the world's two largest economies. Navarro has voiced support for Trump's tough proposals, including the proposed 45 percent tariff, though he and others have also suggested such proposals be viewed as the opening bid in a negotiation. Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank in Washington, agreed, saying concerns about a trade war were overblown. "I think what we're all learning when it comes to analyzing President-elect Trump is that a lot of times what he comes out with might be a negotiating position," Kazianis said, adding that Trump might be the type of leader whose statements can't all be taken literally. However, the Navarro appointment does signal a "fundamental shift in thinking" about China, and an acknowledgement that the U.S. approach in recent decades of focusing on areas of common interest is not working. "I think it's a get-tough-on-China message," Kazianis said. Trump does not take office until January 20, but Chinese officials said they already had seen signs of a harder-line approach by the Obama administration. Earlier this month, the Obama administration announced a new challenge over Beijing's trade barriers to importing American rice, wheat and corn. The action at the World Trade Organization alleged that Beijing had structured complex import barriers to harm U.S. farmers. Also, the U.S. trade representative this week put China-based Alibaba Group's online shopping site, Taobao, on the blacklist of "notorious marketplaces" for allowing the sale of counterfeit goods. Trade imbalance The U.S. trade deficit with China stood at $42.6 billion in October 2016. Chinese officials think the deficit would give the next president sufficient opportunity to curb Chinese imports. Chinese officials are also hoping that U.S. companies doing business in China, and connected with Chinese industry in other ways, could try to persuade the new president to soften his stance. Indeed, U.S. companies in China are worried that any drastic action by the new administration could be unsettling for their business. "American business operating in Asia needs certainty and stability, and the new administration needs to get up to speed quickly on the complex dynamics of the region," James Zimmerman, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, told VOA. China's foreign minister on Thursday warned that ties with the U.S. will likely see new complications and that the only way to maintain a stable relationship is by respecting each other's "core interests.'' Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks appeared to underscore that China's position on Taiwan is nonnegotiable, weeks after President-elect Donald Trump suggested that he could re-evaluate U.S. policy on the status of Taiwan. Wang told the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, he will strive to boost cooperation with the U.S. but foresaw "new, complicated and uncertain factors affecting bilateral relations'' under the Trump administration. China complained after Trump this month questioned a U.S. policy that since 1979 has recognized Beijing as China's government and maintains only unofficial relations with Taiwan. The president-elect's comments on Taiwan, combined with accusations that China is manipulating its currency and threats of imposing hefty tariffs against Chinese imports, have rattled relations between the world's two largest economies. Trump's transition team announced Wednesday that Peter Navarro, a University of California, Irvine, economist who has accused China of effectively waging economic war against the United States, would head a trade policy council inside the White House. Still, U.S.-China relations are generally trending toward stable cooperation and mutual benefit, Wang said. He quoted a Chinese poem previously used by President Xi Jinping as a metaphor for U.S.-China ties depicting a river that flows inevitably, regardless of mountainous obstacles. Beijing regards the self-governing island as part of China. It has long used the "core interest'' formulation to signal that its position on Taiwan will be upheld under any circumstances and any move by Taiwan toward formal independence could be met with military force. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's opposition Rassemblement is hopeful that talks with the government in Kinshasa will end Friday, paving the way for a smooth transition and possible elections early next year. Freddy Mbuyamu Matungulu, leader of the opposition Congo Nabiso Party, says he is optimistic that negotiations will reach a productive conclusion soon. He also says President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down after his second and final term expired December 19 is a flagrant violation of the constitution and an affront to DRC citizens. Kabila is no longer the head of state here, and I think it's important that we get to an agreement as soon as possible so that we can make sure that we have an orderly management of the state of affairs between now and the elections, Matungulu said. "What we are working on is the outline of a political settlement that would put the country in a position to sort of restore some level of efficiency in management of the services so that we know if we agree on a deadline for holding these elections." Officials of the government and the electoral commission have said it would take the country more than a year to adequately prepare credible elections. Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, Kabila's chief diplomatic adviser, told VOA that Kabila would peacefully hand over power after the technical challenges of organizing the elections were resolved. He said the country faced similar problems in 2005, which forced the elections to be postponed to 2006. "Even the United Nations mission in the Congo came up with a statement saying that because of technical problems, it would be almost impossible to organize elections in the Congo this year, Karubi said. "What we in the Congo want is peaceful, transparent, quiet elections that nobody is going to contest." Opposition and civil society organizations have called for additional international pressure to force Kabila to hand over power to a transitional leader, saying he is responsible for creating the current constitutional crisis. "We think it is possible to organize these elections in 2017, Matungulu said. "We are all looking into this situation to determine who we think would rule the country between now and then. I think it is important just to make sure that, given that we haven't had an election, we cannot have a normal presidency anymore." In the Democratic Republic of Congo, members of the presidential alliance and the countrys main opposition coalition met again Thursday to try to hammer out a deal on delayed elections. Mediators from the Catholic Church say the two sides need to reach an agreement before Christmas, but so far neither side is showing signs of compromise. The Archbishop of Kisangani, Monseigneur Marcel Utembi, took a firm line as he reopened the talks in Kinshasa. Utembi said the church mediators are not inclined to look favorably on further undue postponements and delaying tactics. He expressed the churchs firm wish that a compromise be found before Christmas. Utembi is the president of CENCO, the organization that represents the Congolese Catholic Church, which is mediating the dispute over delayed elections. The talks were suspended Saturday while a delegation of Congolese archbishops visited the pope to seek guidance on the crisis. During the break, at midnight Monday, DRC President Joseph Kabila's elected mandate expired. He intends to remain in office until polls can be held. The leader of the Rassemblement, the countrys main opposition coalition, Etienne Tshisekedi, responded by declaring Kabila "illegitimate" and calling the population to "peaceful resistance." Security forces, heavily deployed since last week, put down sporadic demonstrations that started early Tuesday and continued into Wednesday in Kinshasa and other Congolese cities. Human Rights Watch says security forces have killed 34 people and it is still verifying additional reports. The police have given a lower toll. A spokesman told reporters Wednesday that 21 civilians have been killed, most by stray bullets or while engaged in looting. The police said one of their officers was also killed. But the Rassemblement has returned to the negotiating table. The secretary general of Tshisekedis party, Jean-Marc Kabund, spoke to journalists as the talks resumed. He says, We have come to find a solution as to the illegitimacy and illegality of Mr. Kabila. We have come to negotiate the departure of Mr. Kabila from power. That is all the population needs to know. The Rassemblement boycotted talks earlier this year that provisionally set the presidential election for April 2018. The electoral commission says it needs time to prepare an updated voter roll. Kabila has so far refused to agree to the Rassemblements demand he publicly commit to not seeking a third term, which is forbidden by the Constitution. The coordinator of the youth activism group the Fourth Way, Jean-Marie Kalonji, does not see the point of further dialogue. Kalonji told VOA that CENCO must explain to the people why the negotiations are continuing because the people of the DRC are turning the page and Kabila is no longer president. He says the dialogue does not make any sense and that is why the Congolese youth protested on December 19th without the opposition calling for it. Tensions do not look to be abating any time soon. A police spokesman said that the enhanced security presence will remain in place until the end of the year. The Native American Navajo Nation has accused the Obama administration of failing to clean up the damage from a toxic mine spill caused by one of its own government agencies. In August 2015, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contractors assessing a leak at the site of Colorados long-defunct Gold King Mine inadvertently broke through earth that was holding back waste water. An estimated 11.5 million liters of water carrying about 400,000 kilograms of heavy metals spilled into the nearby Animas River, then into the San Juan River, which flows through 320 kilometers of Navajo sovereign territory. In addition, the spill contaminated waterways serving three western states: Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Exposed to air, iron sulfide in the water formed sulfuric acid, turning the water a bright mustard yellow. The Navajo Nations water supply has been severely compromised as a result of the spill, said Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch. Tragically, we wont know the full extent of the impacts the heavy metals released in the spill will have on our people for some time because those impacts generally only become observable in the long term. Branch said the Navajo government has spent millions of dollars responding to the crisis. To mitigate the damage just to the water supply, not to mention long-term health needs and other impacts, it will cost well over $100 million for alternative water supply systems, additional water treatment, and long-term monitoring, she said. Earlier this month, Navajo Nation lawyers submitted a claim for more than $160 million to cover unreimbursed costs incurred in the immediate aftermath of the spill, as well as long-term medical care and monitoring and testing of soil, groundwater, crops and livestock. The claim also allows for the construction and operation of alternative water supply and treatment systems for affected areas. The EPA admits responsibility for the spill, but has rejected all but $602,000 of those claims on the grounds that on August 19, 2015, just two weeks after the spill, it tested the San Juan River and found metal concentrations had returned to pre-event levels. The EPA says that it has spent more than $29 million to address the mine incident, including more than $2 million in Clean Water Act grants and more than $3.5 million in reimbursements for emergency response expenses under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly known as the "Superfund. The EPAs evaluation of costs is consistent with the agencys legal authorities and the requirements under the Superfund, an EPA spokesperson told VOA. The agency can only reimburse documented and allowable incurred response costs submitted by government partners." In May, the state of New Mexico also filed suit against the EPA, alleging injuries from the spill, as well as against the state of Colorado, the site of the 127-year-old mine, which shut down in 1922. Utah is also considering suing the EPA. Branch said the Navajo Nation will appeal the EPA decision by the early January 2017 deadline. She expressed disappointment in President Barack Obama. The Obama administrations response has reinforced the message that Native lives dont matter, Branch said. And the EPA has focused their energy on minimizing potential legal liability to themselves, rather than ensuring cleanup and protection of the environment. In the meantime, Navajo who rely heavily on farming for their livelihood continue to be haunted by the threat of exposure to cadmium, lead, arsenic and other heavy metals. They are afraid to water their soil with potentially contaminated water, with yet unknown health effects, added Branch. They are afraid to eat the fruits and vegetables that are watered from the river. ... They are afraid to eat their sheep and cattle who have watered from the river. And every growing season, Branch says farmers must re-live the trauma. Where once, they would pray for rain, now they worry that the poison lying at the bottom of the river will be dislodged when the rain begins to fall. Ethiopia has released thousands of protesters who were detained during the ongoing state of emergency. People detained in Awash, Alage, Bir Sheleko and Tolay centers will be allowed to return home after receiving "training," according to the state-owned Fana Broadcasting Network. This includes 4,035 people released from a center in the Tolay region of southwest Ethiopia. These prison locations are unofficial centers mostly located at military camps. Earlier this week, Ethiopian officials announced that 9,800 people arrested during the state of emergency would be released and 2,449 others would be arraigned in court. Speaking to a group of released prisoners at Tolay, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn reminded them they are free to protest, but not to resort to violence. "You might have disagreements, be it with the government or government administration, and that is your right. No one can deprive you of this right. It is a right enshrined in the constitution," he said. "So," he continued, "if tomorrow you have questions, you have the right to ask in a peaceful and civilized way. Therefore, if there is anything that is prohibited, it is to try and ask questions and look for answers using force, creating chaos and rebellion and you will pay a price for that." Desalegn went on to say the government is undergoing a period of self-examination following the crisis. "We also have to go through deep rehabilitation similar to what you've gone through," he said. "We need to expand democracy. We have come to the conclusion that we have to allow discussions among the people, especially the youth, listen to their problems and provide solutions." Human rights investigation Negeri Lencho, Ethiopia's newly appointed communications minister, said there is a committee investigating whether there were human rights violations during the implementation of the state of emergency. But, he said, it is difficult on the ground because sometimes "emotions" rising during interactions with protesters and security forces "could turn fatal." He added that although avoidable, crimes committed during such instances and cases will be assessed by an independent body to bring justice. "No one is above the law," he said in an extended interview with VOA Amharic Service. For more than a year, protesters across the country, including many in the Oromia and Amhara regions, have demanded reforms on issues including land rights and poor governance. On October 2, an Oromo festival in the town of Bishoftu turned deadly when a clash with security forces and a stampede left dozens dead. More protests followed across the country and the government declared a state of emergency October 9. Prominent opposition leaders have been arrested since the start of protests, including Merera Gudina, the chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), an opposition party within the country. Gudina was arrested while returning from abroad for a meeting with members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where he spoke about human rights violations and the political situation of the country. His lawyer told VOA he is kept in prison by himself and charges against him haven't been clearly stated. He said it was difficult to openly speak with his client since police monitored their visit. Twenty-two OFC leaders were arrested in 2015 and are facing terrorism charges under the country's controversial law used to imprison journalists, dissidents and political opponents. Boiling pot On a recent trip to Ethiopia, Tom Malinowski, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs, urged leaders to open up avenues of democratic expression, closed in recent years, in the interest of economic development. Malinowski said he made a similar argument to government officials during a trip last year. "I argued to them then that the country was undergoing a process that could be likened to a boiling pot," he told VOA. "When you have a boiling pot, the thing to do is to take the lid off because, either way, it's going to be boiling and if you keep the lid on, it's going to explode." Malinowski said he fears the ongoing state of emergency and the mass arrests threaten to exacerbate tensions instead of ending them, while giving too much power to security forces. "Our sense is that the longer this unnatural state continues, the harder it will be for the government to achieve some of the goals that it has acknowledged must be met for the crisis to be resolved," he said. At Bangladeshs Kutupalong refugee camp, thousands of ethnic Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar over the last three decades face rough living conditions. Security checkpoints along the route to the camps make travel difficult and the surge in new arrivals has strained food supplies. But aid agencies and rights groups say the latest outpouring, numbering more than 25,000 Rohingya, faces far worse. Many of the new arrivals say Myanmar security forces are attacking civilians, and satellite images reinforce claims that entire villages have been burned to the ground. Nothing to go home to For recent arrival Gul Jahar, whose three sons went missing during the attack on her village of Keari Para, near Maungdaw, in mid-November, there is nothing left to go home to. The [Myanmar] soldiers came to the village and burnt down every house. After the army burnt the houses and destroyed everything, they started capturing the men in the village. Many people got shot and killed and they threw the bodies into the water, Jahar said as she broke down and started to cry. After the attacks, Jahar said, the soldiers set fire to everything. The [Myanmar] soldiers burnt down all the houses and every thing we had in our village. The rice that we kept in a barn they burnt it all. We had nothing left. Jahar said the military even threw bodies of the victims into the fire, including women and children. She said a total of 15 members of her extended family have died since the crackdown began. Stories of rape In addition to the destruction and killings, there have been countless tales of torture and rape attributed to Myanmar security forces. Soldiers came to my neighbors house at midnight and raped a woman. I saw it with my two eyes. I was hiding and secretly saw what theyre doing. After I saw the incident I couldnt stay, so I decided to escape and leave everything behind. I didnt have time to bring any valuables with me, said Abu Tha Heck, who also escaped from Keari Para village. Heck said Myanmar security had labeled him a supporter of a rumored insurgency group in the state. He said his life was at risk. The [Myanmar] soldier claimed we were working with terrorists and that we supported the rebels who attacked the police. Thats the reason why they have to kill us, Heck explained. Traveling with his wife and four of his six children, Heck made the journey by foot to the Naf River with relatives from a neighboring village. Heck paid a boatman about $25 per adult to make the journey across the river. There was no charge for the small children, he added. The shop owner and farmer left his house and land behind and still doesnt know where two of his sons are. Now in an unregistered camp near Kutupalong, the family is staying in a crowded two-room thatched hut, surviving on rice and food donations from other camp residents. Along the road to the camps, make-shift transit camps can also be seen to house the overflow of arrivals. Government asks for proof As testimonies like these mount, Kyaw Moe Tun, director general of the Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said sweeping allegations are not helpful. But he said the government is ready to work with those who provide hard evidence of the alleged crimes. Whoever has [that] kind of information, please bring [it] forward and give us the concrete evidence. Then, the government is ready to look into the matter, Kyaw Moe Tun said. Foreign reporters and humanitarian groups have been banned from northern Rakhine state, near the border with Bangladesh, since the crackdown started in October, making it virtually impossible to document any of the attacks on the civilians. But several journalists are being allowed to travel there this week, although its not clear how much access they will be given. The events organizers made the decision to reopen the market without party music or bright lights, which have been replaced by candles and flowers left at the site of the attack as tribute for those that were killed. Authorities are engaged in a manhunt across Europe in search of a 24 year-old Tunisian man whom German officials said should have been deported months ago. Anis Amri, the top suspect in the attack, was a rejected asylum seeker who had been under police surveillance following a tip he might try to buy weapons for a possible attack, but that investigation was dropped in September. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said during a Thursday news conference there is a "high probability" Amri is responsible for the attack. "We can report today that we have new information that the suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," he said. Police found Amris identification documents and finger prints in the cab of the truck, German officials confirmed Thursday. His asylum application was denied six months ago, but he was not sent back to Tunisia because of problems with his documents. Those revelations have renewed questions in Germany about how the country vets the thousands of people who have entered the country looking for asylum. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a day after the attack it would be hard to bear if an asylum seeker were responsible. This would be particularly sickening for the many, many Germans who work to help refugees every day and for the many people who really need our help and are making an effort to integrate in our country, she said. Amris family members said they were stunned to learn he was the main suspect in the attack, and his brother urged Amri to turn himself in. I ask that he turn himself into the police, Abdelkader Amri told the Associated Press. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it. Abdelkader said Anis left Tunisia in 2011 to go to Europe and he may have been radicalized in an Italian prison, where he served three years for setting a refugee shelter on fire. After leaving jail, Amri arrived in Germany in July 2015, where he requested asylum. His asylum request was denied, but he could not be deported because he had no passport and Tunisia declined to accept him. Since he couldnt be deported, Amri was issued a stay of deportation paper, which is the document police found in the truck he used to murder 12 people. Merkel said Thursday she was proud of the public reaction to the attack and how calmly most people took it. "I am certain we will meet this test we are facing," she said. An official with the State Department said two U.S. citizens were among the 48 people injured during the attack, but provided no further details about those people. The Islamic State group said it inspired the attack through its call for people to strike members of a coalition that is fighting the group in Syria and Iraq. Before Amri emerged as the main suspect, police had detained a Pakistani man on suspicion of involvement in the Christmas-market attack, but he was later cleared and released. US reaction U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stressed his pledge to stop radical terror groups. "What's happening is disgraceful," said Trump, who deemed the violence "an attack on humanity, and it's got to be stopped." He added Wednesday that the violent attacks in Europe this week "prove" that he is "right" about his plans when he assumes power next month to institute tough screening of Muslims attempting to enter the United States. The White House offered condolences in a statement that condemned the attack. The U.S. State Department had earlier called for caution in market places and other public sites across Europe. It also warned U.S. citizens on the continent to be on the alert for "self-radicalized" extremists, who it said could strike without warning. Gambia's longtime president Yahya Jammeh says only almighty Allah can deprive him of victory as he seeks to overturn the results of this month's presidential election. Opposition candidate Adama Barrow beat Jammeh in the December 1 election. Jammeh graciously conceded defeat at first, but now contends there were voter irregularities, and he has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the results of the vote. I will not be intimidated by any power in this world, Jammeh said on nationwide television. I want to make sure that justice is done. I am a man of peace but I cannot be a coward. Jammeh urged to concede The U.N. Security Council, the African Union and the economic union of West Africa (ECOWAS) all have urged Jammeh to accept his defeat and turn over power to Barrow. Jammeh, who took power in a coup in 1994 and has served as president since then, has blasted other West African leaders who urged him to step aside, saying they have no right to tell him what to do. Hearing set for January 10 The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on Jammeh's appeal for January 10, nine days before he is supposed to give up power. Following the military coup that elevated him to power, Jammeh won four subsequent elections that critics said were neither free nor fair. Human-rights experts say the president has used violence and intimidation to silence his opposition. Tens of thousands of Gambians have either sought asylum overseas or have taken extremely dangerous sea journeys to try to reach Europe. An Egyptian author has walked out of a Cairo police station after a court suspended his two-year prison sentence pending review of his appeal on obscenity charges. The year-long case of Ahmed Naji, after a magazine published a sexually explicit excerpt of his novel, has drawn international condemnation and accusations of a crackdown on freedom of expression. It was seen as part of a larger crackdown on civil rights in Egypt under the rule of army chief-turned-President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Surrounded by his friends, Naji was rushed into a car with tinted windows on Thursday and made no comments to reporters. Naji was initially acquitted, but prosecutors appealed and a higher court in February sentenced him to two years in prison. Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has remained in contact with Russian intelligence services since he arrived in Moscow three years ago, according to a declassified report on a congressional investigation released Thursday. The House intelligence committee released the report to provide what the panel's chairman called "a fuller account of Edward Snowden's crimes and the reckless disregard he has shown for U.S. national security." In a rare example of bipartisanship, the panel's top Republican and Democrat joined in castigating Snowden, who in 2013 revealed U.S. government efforts to hack into the data pipelines used by U.S. companies to serve customers overseas. The programs collected the telephone metadata records of millions of Americans and examined emails from overseas. Snowden fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia to avoid prosecution. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the committee chairman, said it "will take a long time to mitigate the damage" Snowden caused. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said Snowden isn't a whistleblower as he and his defenders claim. "Most of the material he stole had nothing to do with Americans' privacy, and its compromise has been of great value to America's adversaries and those who mean to do America harm," Schiff said. Release of the report comes as the intelligence community has accused Russia of interfering in the U.S. elections. Snowden's supporters have pressed President Barack Obama to pardon him before he leaves office in late January. But the details in the intelligence committee's report, coupled with the intense focus on Russia's hacking of Democratic emails, could doom the push for a pardon. Lisa Monaco, Obama's adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism, said last year that Snowden "should come home to the United States and be judged by a jury of his peers - not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime. Right now, he's running away from the consequences of his actions." The report pointed to statements in June 2016 by the deputy chairman of the defense and security committee in the Russian parliament's upper house, who asserted that "Snowden did share intelligence" with the Russian government. President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Obama administration on Thursday to veto a U.N. Security Council draft resolution calling for an immediate halt to settlement building on occupied land that Palestinians want for a state. Netanyahu took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to make the appeal, in a sign of concern that President Barack Obama might take a parting shot at a policy he has long opposed and a right-wing leader with whom he has had a rocky relationship. Hours later, Trump, posting on Twitter and Facebook, said: "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed." Trump said that "as the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations". "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," he wrote. Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council is due to vote at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) on Thursday, diplomats said. It was unclear, they said, how the United States, which has protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. The resolution would demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem". The White House declined to comment. Some diplomats hope Obama will allow Security Council action by abstaining on the vote. Israel's security cabinet was due to hold a special session at 1500 GMT to discuss the issue. Obama Critical Of Settlements Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office. Tweeting at 3:28 a.m., Netanyahu said the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday". Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. He has already signaled a possible change in U.S. policy by appointing one his lawyers - a fundraiser for a major Israeli settlement - as Washington's new ambassador to Israel. In 2011, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the Palestinians refused a compromise offer from Washington. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, said on Israeli Army Radio: "In a few hours we will receive the answer from our American friends." "I hope very much it will be the same one we received in 2011 when the version was very similar to the one proposed now and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at the time, Susan Rice, vetoed it." The draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law". It expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperiling the viability of a two-state solution". The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. Danon said nothing would change on the ground if the resolution passes. But he said it could spur Palestinians to seek international sanctions against Israel and impede any return to peace talks that collapsed in 2014. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have made significant advances in their march toward the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State group's de-facto capital in Syria, an SDF spokesperson said Thursday. The gains came in the second phase of an offensive against IS militants in Raqqa province. A critical round of fighting lies ahead, aimed at seizing control of an economically and strategically important dam on the Euphrates River, before the SDF fighters can reach their ultimate target, the city of Raqqa itself. SDF fighters have liberated 97 villages in the western part of Raqqa province in the past 10 days, said Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the SDF offensive, dubbed "Rage of Euphrates." "We have thus far liberated 1,300 square kilometers in western Raqqa," she told reporters at a news conference in a recently liberated village. WATCH: US-backed Forces Advance on IS in Western Raqqa Baath Dam is next target The SDF, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab forces, launched its Raqqa offensive in early November, routing Islamic State fighters from the northern part of the province. The alliance says it intends to liberate the strategic Baath Dam a large hydroelectric power facility 22 kilometers upstream from Raqqa city that supplies electricity to much of northern Syria. The dam, which IS has controlled since 2014, also is a vital source of irrigation water to the fertile region around Raqqa. Abdulqadir Huwaidi, an SDF commander, said his goal is to seize the dam to help local farmers, and to do it quickly, to reduce the chances that Islamic State extremists could sabotage the facility. US, French forces aid SDF Commanders on the ground who requested anonymity said there are fears that IS could be planning to blow up the 14-meter-high dam and cause a catastrophic loss of life. Seizing control of the dam is an extraordinarily important goal, one commander told VOA by telephone, and American and French special forces are fighting alongside SDF in the area. The U.S. recently announced it has assigned another 200 troops to Syria to train and advise local fighters battling IS, joining 300 American fighters already authorized to operate in Syria. The ongoing offensive consists of two major front lines where SDF units, with the help of U.S. air support, are approaching Raqqa from the west, attempting to encircle the city and cut a highway link between Raqqa and the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, another IS stronghold. Aiming to 'suffocate' IS "Control of the dam and the highway would suffocate [Islamic State] economically and logistically," said Mahmoud Bali, a VOA Kurdish reporter who is embedded with the SDF. Despite the recent territorial gains, the operation is becoming increasingly costly for the advancing SDF forces, due to landmines and improvised explosive devices left by IS fighters as they retreated. Two suicide car-bomb attacks in western Raqqa this week are believed to have killed at least a dozen SDF fighters. When their imminent objectives have been met, commanders said, the SDF offensive will pause before undertaking the climactic major offensive on IS inside Raqqa. The British government must take urgent action to help end the "horrendous crisis" in South Sudan, where men have been castrated in fighting and women have drowned hiding from militias, UK lawmakers said in an open letter on Wednesday. Africa's newest nation plunged into civil war in December 2013 after a long-running feud between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, exploded into violence, much of it along ethnic lines. The pair signed a shaky peace deal last year, but fighting has continued forcing more than 1.1 million people to flee in the biggest cross-border exodus from any central African conflict since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. "All sides ... have been complicit in the killing or castration of men and boys," wrote Stephen Twigg, chair of the International Development Committee, a parliamentary watchdog. "These are horrendous acts of violence added to a litany of other sexual and gender based violence, already endemic in South Sudan." Addressing his letter to the Department of International Development (DFID) and the Foreign Office, Twigg said he was shocked at the "alarming numbers" of civilians displaced or who have fled to neighboring countries because of the violence. "Women with their babies drowning on their backs, hiding in the swamps as militia go past. That fear is so desperate that they are hiding underwater," he wrote, quoting an Oxfam humanitarian advisor. DFID said it had this year pledged 103 million pounds ($127.06 million) to provide food, water and health services to more than 500,000 South Sudanese. "The world is not looking the other way whilst the people of South Sudan suffer," a DFID spokesperson said in a statement to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In an opinion piece published on a government website on Wednesday, Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood called the leadership in South Sudan an "abject failure". "The international community expects them to do all that they can to stop the violence and get the peace process back on track," Ellwood wrote after his first visit to South Sudan. "There can be no military solution to the current crisis. A political agreement, difficult as this is to achieve and make work, is the only viable way forward." The International Development Committee urged the UK government to help establish a U.N. force in the region, and to push the humanitarian crisis up the international agenda. On Monday, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he feared genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action was taken. Last week, the head of a U.N. human rights commission called for the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force across South Sudan to stop a "Rwanda-like" genocide, and a court to be set up to prosecute atrocities. Some 800,000 people were killed in the Rwandan genocide by Hutu extremist militiamen from country's biggest ethnic group. ($1 = 0.8106 pounds) Denisse Velasco has been suffering from acute anxiety since spring, when she narrowly escaped being abducted from a busy street in Guadalajara, Mexico. She was waiting at a bus stop one morning when a man jumped out of a taxi and tried to force her inside. Velasco suspects it was a drug trafficker intent on kidnapping her for ransom. The same thing could happen again in any moment, Velasco told Reuters. I walk different routes every day to make sure I'm not followed. Velasco's story is far from uncommon in Mexico, where violence against women has risen dramatically since the government declared war on organized drug trafficking 10 years ago. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched the hard-line war on drug cartels in December 2006, heavily increasing the role of the military to enforce the law-and-order regime. More than 170,000 killings have been reported since the crackdown commenced. The offensive splintered trafficking gangs, creating dozens of new ones. It also aggravated territorial disputes and made Mexico more violent, experts say, with women increasingly the victims. Murders of women have risen by 84 percent to 2,383 last year from 1,298 in 2006, according to government statistics. The death toll for women has been particularly high in the key battlegrounds of Jalisco, Guerrero and Mexico states. Guadalajara, the site of Velasco's attack, is the capital of Jalisco, where authorities say 1,171 girls and women went missing in 2015. The Mexican government acknowledges the link between its war on drugs and violence against women. There's a strong correlation between the rise in violent deaths of women and the strategy to combat organized crime, said Pablo Navarrete Gutierrez, legal affairs coordinator for the National Institute of Women, a government agency charged with tackling gender violence and discrimination. From 2012, we started to see a slight decrease in homicides of women, but the number is nevertheless worrying. This is a serious problem. 'Misogynistic violence The violence has resonated through the community as a whole, said Maria Guadalupe Ramos Ponce, a coordinator for the Committee of Women's Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. The drug war has normalized misogynistic violence, Ramos Ponce said. The violence has grown more gruesome toward women as well, with torture and dismemberment more common, she said. "It is not just that they take their lives. It is how they take their lives," Ramos Ponce said, noting the body and decapitated head of an unidentified woman was found on the side of a Jalisco highway earlier this month. Since the war on drugs began, kidnappings and extortion have become commonplace, and Human Rights Watch has accused Mexican security officials of violating human rights through killings, torture and disappearances. The newer drug traffickers are more willing to target innocent victims, using kidnapping and human trafficking as threats and weapons, experts say. The rules of engagement have changed, and killing a rival's family members has become common practice," said Angelica de la Pena Gomez, a senator for the Party of the Democratic Revolution and president of the Senate's Human Rights Commission. Poverty Extreme violence is particularly prevalent in impoverished areas. Mexico's 10 poorest states each had at least 60 femicides last year, compared with a national average of 49. Most analysts agree that the nation's anti-drug strategy has exacerbated poverty, in turn worsening violence against women. For example, anti-drug fumigation programs destroy the only income available to many opium poppy and marijuana farmers, and kill nearby food crops as well. Poverty in Mexico rose to more than 53 percent in 2014, up from 49 percent in 2008, according to the World Bank, the second-highest increase in Latin America after Venezuela. Poverty is often linked to abusive relationships, as men turn to violence as an outlet for frustration. People will displace their aggression, said Jane Wood, a forensic psychologist at Britain's Kent University. Female partners are often targeted. Mass arrests Security forces engaged in the drug war are guilty as well of violence against women, according to Amnesty International, which released a report in June saying police and armed forces routinely abused female prisoners, with almost total impunity. The current approach to public security sees women as expendable parts, said Madeleine Penman, Amnesty's Mexico researcher. Authorities themselves often subject women to mass arrests in order to inflate their figures. Such women are often accused of crimes without any evidence. Of the 100 women interviewed for Amnesty's report, 93 said they were hit or beaten while under arrest and 33 said they had been raped in custody. Mexico's defense secretary apologized in April after a leaked video showed soldiers and police suffocating a female suspect with a plastic bag. Penman said she welcomed the apology, but said it falls far short. In order to respect human rights in Mexico, the government needs to have a road map to demilitarize public security, said Penman. We think it's time to have that conversation. A humanitarian organization that treats deadly multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in North Korea is being impeded by delays because of heighten inter-Korean tensions and sanctions imposed on the Kim Jong Un government for its ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile development programs. In addition to the two rounds of United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea this year, South Korea issued tougher unilateral sanctions in March, blocking virtually all shipments to the North, with no exception made for humanitarian assistance. Seoul also cut off all lines of communication with Pyongyang earlier in the year. Eugene Bell Since then the Eugene Bell Foundation, an American nongovernmental health care aid organization based in Seoul, has encountered difficulties getting South Korean government approvals and export licenses to send medicine and supplies into the North. In March, the organization was able to send tuberculosis medication and supplies to treat 1,500 patients in North Korea, after waiting weeks for authorization from Seoul. While South Korea has not formally banned humanitarian aid to the North that is intended for young children and pregnant women, it has scrutinized and granted approvals on an individual basis, slowing the process. After appealing to South Korean authorities, Stephen Linton, the president of the Eugene Bell Foundation, thought an agreement was reached in August to allow his organization to continue its operation in the North. But the organizations latest request to ship medical supplies in 2017 has again been put on hold by the Ministry of Unification in Seoul. I asked, What about the promise you made in August? They said, You better ask Kim Jong Un about it, Linton said. Tuberculosis According to the World Health Organization, the mortality rate from tuberculosis in North Korea was 20 deaths for every 100,000 people in the population in 2014. The Eugene Bell Foundation focuses on treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, a more deadly form of the contagious bacterial infection that does not respond to standard TB drugs. The cost of multidrug-resistant TB treatment is also 100 times more expensive. The American nongovernmental organization is funded by private donations from mostly South Koreans and Korean Americans. Linton has called the outbreak of the multidrug-resistant strain of the disease in North Korea an epidemic, and he estimates that 4,000 to 5,000 people are infected every year. His organization operates 12 treatment centers in the country, and in 2015 treated 1,000 new patients. This year they have been able reach only half that number. Delaying and blocking the aid group from providing treatment, Linton says, will allow the disease to spread more rapidly. North Korea In April, Pyongyang also suddenly postponed a visit from a Eugene Bell delegation for two months without providing any explanation. It was a medical disaster. I wasnt sure if it was due to North Korea blocking access to foreigners due to tensions with South Korea, but our delegations visit was delayed, Linton said. Fortunately, he said, the current TB patients had sufficient medications to continue their treatment. Any interruption in treatment allows the disease to develop a stronger resistance to the drugs. The delay also meant the group could not treat any new patients during that period. Pyongyang has reacted defiantly to the UN sanctions imposed this year, by accelerating its weapons development efforts, conducting 20 missiles tests and an unprecedented second nuclear test in one year. United States U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sent Linton a letter in October saying the United States has worked closely with nongovernmental organizations that seek to provide food, medical aid and other humanitarian assistance in North Korea, and that concerns about the difficulties faced by the Eugene Bell Foundation have not fallen of deaf ears. Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. The opposition in Kenya has rejected a controversial new amendment to the electoral law and vowed fresh protests in the new year. The legislation passed Thursday gives the electoral commission the ability to manually identify voters and release results if biometric voter verification technology fails, which the opposition says may compromise nationwide elections planned for August. Tensions were high at parliament Thursday. Despite heavy security, there was commotion inside the chambers with both sides reporting lawmakers injured. The opposition then walked out of the special session before the vote, leaving legislators from the ruling Jubilee coalition to pass the amendment to the electoral law that would allow hand counting of votes. Debate on the proposed legislation had adjourned Tuesday amid fistfights on the parliament floor. National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale blamed the opposition,saying "just because they believe in a culture of violence. You have seen their intention is to fight democratically established institutions." Opposition members say the government wants to use the manual voter verification system to rig the August 2017 presidential election, a claim denied by the Jubilee administration. As parliament voted Thursday, opposition members walked to the courts to challenge the legality of the special sitting. Justice George Odunga ruled the judiciary cannot stop the work of the parliament, but left the door open to a challenge after the vote. "Having considered the issue raised before me in this application at this stage, I do not find any compelling reasons why parliament is stopped from proceeding with the debate," he said. "Thereafter, depending on what it [parliament] decides, this court will be at liberty to scrutinize its process to say whether it did actually comply with the law and constitution." The law now awaits the signature of President Uhuru Kenyatta. Opposition co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka is calling for protests. "January the 4th will be the beginning of civil action so that at least we can face the next election in August with certainty," said Musyoka. Opposition leader Raila Odinga warned the opposition will boycott the election if there is doubt it is free, fair and credible. He said the opposition does not want violence, it wants the election process to be transparent.He says the people are using the power given by the constitution to call on Kenyans to peacefully demonstrate." Protests in May and June turned violent as opposition supporters demanded the electoral commissioners resign, accusing them of favoring the ruling Jubilee coalition. The commissioners have since stepped down and a joint committee was appointed to work on electoral reforms that were approved by parliament in September. Jubliee lawmakers say the electoral commission then recommended the amendment passed Thursday.The opposition has requested proof of that request. Pakistan has decided to issue entry visas to Afghan nationals who want to visit the country for medical treatment. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced the decision this week during a visit to the northwestern Torkham border crossing where he inaugurated new immigration facilities. Despite prevailing bilateral tensions over mutual terror allegations the Pakistani minister accompanied by senior military officials as a goodwill gesture stepped across the frontier and shook hands with Afghan border forces. The Afghan commander welcomed Khan and informed him that patients seeking medical treatment in Pakistani hospitals are facing serious problems in seeking urgent visas due to new Pakistani border regulations. Khan assured him the issue will be resolved and told him Afghans visiting Pakistan for medical treatment will be granted visas at the Torkham entry point. Security heightened Pakistani authorities have recently tightened border controls on its nearly 2,600 kilometer long porous frontier with Afghanistan in a bid to deter terrorist infiltration. The new measures require all Afghans to enter the country with valid travel documents and Pakistani visas. For decades, divided Afghan families and millions of refugees have enjoyed the freedom of undertaking cross border travels on special permits and cards issued to families displaced by the Afghan conflict or fleeing persecution. Khan said, We welcome them (Afghans) to visit us and we want to visit their country. When more than 3.5 million Afghans were in difficulty and needed our help (as refugees), Pakistanis generously welcomed them and will do so if, God forbid, they (Afghans) faced such problems in future. But the freedom of movement they were enjoying until now was being misused by terrorists. Terrorist accusations from both sides Khan again alleged that after fleeing military operations on the Pakistani side, terrorist groups have established bases in Afghan border areas and are plotting subversive acts in Pakistan. We have to focus now on them (anti-Pakistani militants)," he said. "These people sneak across the border, enter our country, and attack our people like cowards. . Afghan officials reject allegations they are allowing anti-Pakistan militants to operate from their soil and in turn accuse Islamabad of harboring Taliban and insurgents linked to the Haqqanii network of terrorists fighting U.S.-led coalition and local forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani officials estimate about 30,000 Afghans used to to travel across the Torkham until new regulations were enacted in June. Most of them were Afghan refugees traveling on special refugee cards or members of the divided families using easement rights granted to them by both Pakistan and Afghanistan. But easement rights have been restricted, significantly reducing the number of travelers and have prompted more than 600,000 Afghan refugees, including undocumented families to return home since July. Minister Khan said by 2020 Pakistan will have constructed six dedicated and automated border crossings with Afghanistan equipped with latest immigration facilities like those installed at Torkham crossing, enabling the control of all traffic between the two countries. Thousands of additional paramilitary troops will also be deployed by end of next year to strengthen monitoring of the cross-border movement, he added. Japan has paid its annual contribution for UNESCO after withholding the funds over the U.N. heritage body's decision to include documents on the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, its foreign minister said on Thursday, citing UNESCO reforms as the reason for the change of heart. The bitter legacy of Japan's military aggression before and during World War II still haunts ties between Japan and China more than 70 years after the end of the conflict. UNESCO last year had included a dossier on Nanjing submitted by Chinese organizations in the latest listing of its "Memory of the World" program, which is intended to preserve important historical materials. Japan had said there were questions about the authenticity of the documents and called for improvements in the "fairness and transparency" of the Memory of the World program so that it would not be used for political purposes. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that its payment of 3.85 billion yen ($32.7 million) had been made early this week. "I think there has been major progress in work on reforming the (selection) system," he said, adding UNESCO helped promote friendship and mutual understanding among member nations. Japanese media said Tokyo was worried that non-payment would hurt its global standing and weaken its clout in the U.N. body. China had said there was nothing wrong with the documents or the application process and criticized Japan's withholding of funds. China says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in the massacre. A post-war Allied tribunal put the death toll at about half that number and some Japanese conservatives say that accounts of the massacre are a fabrication or exaggerated. Sino-Japanese ties have also been frayed by territorial rows and mutual mistrust over China's growing military assertiveness, as well as Japan's bolder security stance. The Chinese dossier, covering the period from Dec. 13, 1937 to early 1938, includes court documents from the Allied tribunal and a separate Chinese military tribunal, as well as photographs said to be taken by the Japanese army and film taken by an American missionary. A year ago, it would have been unthinkable that Russia and Turkey could hold cordial talks a day after the gunning down of a Russian diplomat in Ankara. But Tuesday, there were no public recriminations over the slaying of ambassador Andrei Karlov as Russian and Turkish diplomats met in Moscow with Iranian envoys to produce a proposal for a cease-fire in Syria, part of an unfolding process that has Moscow, Ankara and Tehran working to plot a mutually beneficial end to the war. Iran and Russia share an interest in ensuring the Assad regime, a long-term ally of both Moscow and Tehran, survives. For Turkey, the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad has taken a backseat to blocking the emergence of a Kurdish state in northern Syria, the very existence of which would encourage Kurdish separatists in Turkey itself, say Western diplomats. Russia, Turkey appear closer The December 19 assassination of Karlov by an off-duty Turkish police officer and apparent Sunni militant has, if anything, pushed Russia and Turkey closer together, adding greater momentum to a rapprochement between Moscow, Ankara and Tehran that has Western nations alarmed and apparently shut out of a Syrian endgame. Following the assassination, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quickly made it clear they see terrorism as the enemy, rather than each other," says Anna Borshchevskaya, who follows Russian policy in the Middle East for the Washington Institute. Both leaders agreed the killing was "a provocation carried out by someone who wishes to disrupt newly-restored Russia-Turkish ties," she said. Diplomatic reorientation The eagerness to downplay the slaying by an assassin angry about Russian atrocities in Syria, and the cordiality of Tuesday's meeting between Russian, Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers, are the logical outcomes of a diplomatic reorientation that began to unfold in earnest in August when Turkey's Erdogan, who's been increasingly at odds with Washington over Western inaction in Syria and its use of Kurdish fighters in the war against the Islamic State terror group, visited St. Petersburg. There he signed a pipeline deal and Putin and Erdogan agreed to restore economic ties damaged after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane that violated Turkish airspace in November 2015. Since then, Turkish officials have muted their anti-Assad rhetoric, and Moscow, Ankara and Tehran have taken great care to cement relations, say analysts. Putin was among the first foreign leaders to denounce September's military coup attempt to oust Erdogan. The failed putsch also rattled Turkey's relationship with Washington, said Merve Tahiroglu, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. Turkish authorities already infuriated with Washington over its support for the Kurdish militia, the Peoples' Protection Units, in northern Syria, allege U.S. complicity in the failed putsch, claiming it was orchestrated by U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkey, to little avail, has demanded the cleric is extradited. Post-coup, the Turkish government's anti-Americanism is at an all-time high, and ties with the EU are reaching a breaking point as Erdogan continues a heavy-handed crackdown on dissent, said Tahiroglu. A challenge to the West For Putin, the rapprochement is helping a newly assertive Russia determined to challenge Western influence to continue to project its imperial power in the world," argues David Patrikarakos, author of Nuclear Iran: The Birth of an Atomic State, and an associate fellow at the University of St Andrews. While at the same time ensuring that its puppet Assad remains in nominal control of the country, preserving Moscow's naval facility at Tartus in the process, he added. Assad's survival now looks almost certain, thanks to Russian and Iranian support for the Syrian regime on the battlefield. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced midweek a consensus among the three countries that regime change isn't the priority in Syria. The Turks got what they wanted in a joint declaration issued Tuesday by the Russian, Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers committing their countries to observe the territorial integrity of Syria, meaning no Kurdish state in the north. But some analysts question how long it will be before differences between Russia and Iran start to emerge, especially over who will wield the greater influence over Syria in the future. Secret agreement? Hamidreza Azizi, a professor at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, argues that Iran fears Moscow and Ankara may have reached a secret agreement on observing zones of influence in Syria, a fear prompted by Turkey's military intervention in northern Syria. That intervention, operation Euphrates Shield, which is aimed at driving both Kurdish militiamen and jihadists away from the Turkish border, was launched in August just days after Erdogan's St. Petersburg visit, prompting suspicion in Western capitals and Tehran that Putin had given it his blessing. Another challenge comes with the widespread public disapproval in Turkey of Russian military actions in Syria. Erdogan's main supporters are conservative Sunni Muslims, and they have become increasingly angry at Russia's indiscriminate bombing of fellow Sunnis in Syria. The war-torn city of Aleppo has been recaptured, the Syrian army said Thursday, marking its biggest victory in the country's long civil war. "The restoration of security and stability to Aleppo is a victory which forms a strategic juncture and important turning point in the fight against terrorism, from one point, and a blow to the terrorist project and its supporters from another," the army's general command said in a statement posted by the Syrian Arab News Agency. President Bashar al-Assad's government has full control of Aleppo, the country's most populous city before the war, for the first time since 2012. The rebel forces agreed to withdraw from the city after a monthlong army offensive drove them from 90 percent of their original territory. The announcement came hours after the last convoy of residents was reported leaving the city, the last of a weeklong evacuation effort. But the United States remained wary of the victory, citing reports of increased violence in other parts of the country as well as the future of those evacuated from Aleppo. "Certainly, seeing these reports that they are claiming to have all of Aleppo, I am in no position to dispute that," U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "But they bear responsibility for what they did to Aleppo and Aleppo's citizens." The United Nations also echoed concerns over increased violence elsewhere in Syria. Speaking Thursday in Geneva, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned that Idlib, where many evacuees have gone, "could be in theory the next Aleppo." The International Committee of the Red Cross said that by Thursday, about 34,000 people had left eastern Aleppo, which rebels held for four years in their effort to push Assad from office. Hundreds more people have left Foua and Kefraya, the villages in Idlib that the government insisted be included in an evacuation agreement. "Thanks to the blood of our martyrs and the sacrifices of our valiant armed forces as well as allied forces ... the general command of the armed forces announces the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists, and the departure of those who stayed there," the army said in a statement, according to the French news agency AFP. Afghan authorities say an overnight Taliban assault targeting the home of a lawmaker in the capital, Kabul, left at least eight people dead and many wounded. The 13-hour siege ended early Thursday when a gunfight with Afghan special forces left all the assailants dead, police told reporters. Malim Mer Wali, a parliamentarian from the southern Helmand province, was injured after he jumped from the roof to escape. Residents also heard two loud explosions during the siege. Local media reported at least one of the assailants detonated explosives strapped to his body when the attack began. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, saying two heavily armed suicide bombers stormed the building Wednesday evening when a security meeting, with senior military officials from Helmand in attendance, was underway there. He asserted that the raid killed at least 20 important personalities and wounded many more. The Taliban often releases inflated casualty figures for such attacks. Helmand is the largest of Afghanistans 34 provinces, and many of its districts have fallen to the Taliban in recent months while its capital, Lashkargah, remains under pressure from the insurgents. The federal government has allowed four groups at the forefront of the white nationalist movement to register as charities and raise more than $7.8 million in tax-deductible donations over the past decade, according to an Associated Press review. Already emboldened by Donald Trumps popularity, group leaders say they hope the president-elects victory helps them raise even more money and gives them a larger platform for spreading their ideology. With benevolent-sounding names such as the National Policy Institute and New Century Foundation, the tax-exempt groups present themselves as educational organizations and use donors money to pay for websites, books and conferences to further their ideology. The money also has personally compensated leaders of the four groups. The groups New Century Foundation head Jared Taylor said his group raises money for the benefit of the white race, a mission taxpayers are indirectly supporting with the groups status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The IRS recognized it, the Charles Martel Society, the National Policy Institute and VDare Foundation as charities more than a decade ago. Samuel Brunson, a tax law professor at Loyola University in Chicago, noted the nonprofit status gives these groups a veneer of legitimacy and respectability. It should make people uncomfortable that the government is subsidizing groups that espouse values that are incompatible with most Americans, he said. The IRS has tried to weed out nonprofit applicants that merely spread propaganda. In 1978, the agency refused to grant tax-exempt status to the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi group that published an anti-Semitic newsletter. And in 1994, a court upheld the denial of tax-exempt status for the Nationalist Movement, a Mississippi-based white nationalist group. Some tax experts said the IRS is still feeling the sting from conservative critics over its 2013 concession that it unfairly gave extra scrutiny to tea party groups seeking tax exemptions. I dont think theyre feeling very brave right now, said Ellen Aprill, a tax law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. IRS spokesman Michael Dobzinski said he cant comment on individual nonprofits. New Century Foundation New Century Foundation, a Virginia-based nonprofit, has raised more than $2 million since 2007 and operates the American Renaissance online magazine, which touts a philosophy that its entirely normal for whites to want to be a majority race. Taylor, a Yale-educated, self-described race realist, said his group, founded in 1994, abides by all laws governing nonprofits. We certainly did not conceal our intentions, Taylor said. I think we are educational in precisely the terms that Congress defined. Taylor, whose tax filing says he received $65,000 in compensation in 2015, said he isnt raising money to enrich himself or his group. In a 2012 article, University of Georgia business professor Alex Reed argued the IRS can and must revoke the New Century Foundations charitable status. Reed said the agencys lax enforcement allowed other groups, including ones he labeled as white nationalist, anti-gay, anti-immigrant or Holocaust deniers, to qualify for tax breaks under the guise of operating educational organizations. National Policy Institute The Montana-based National Policy Institute is run by Richard Spencer, who popularized the term alternative right about a decade ago. The so-called alt-right is a fringe movement that has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism. Spencers group raised $442,482 in tax-deductible contributions from 2007 through 2012. More recent fundraising figures for the group arent available in online tax returns, but Spencer said Trumps candidacy has boosted his groups fundraising. Spencer hosted a postelection conference in Washington that ended with audience members mimicking Nazi salutes after Spencer shouted, Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory! Spencer has advocated for an ethno-state that would be a safe space for white people. Charles Martel Society The Georgia-based Charles Martel Society was founded by wealthy publisher William H. Regnery II, who also founded the National Policy Institute. The group raised $568,526 between 2007 and 2014 and publishes The Occidental Quarterly. In an article last December, the journals editor applauded Trumps campaign as a game changer for white people who oppose immigration and multiculturalism but said they have a long way to go to really change the public discussion of race, Western culture, and Jewish influence. VDare Foundation The Connecticut-based VDare Foundation is led by Peter Brimelow, founder and editor of an anti-immigration website. Brimelow, who spoke at the National Policy Institutes conference last month, founded his nonprofit in 1999 and raised nearly $4.8 million between 2007 and 2015. Brimelow has denied that his website is white nationalist but acknowledged it publishes works by writers who fit that description in the sense that they aim to defend the interests of American whites. Brimelow received $378,418 in compensation from his nonprofit in 2007, accounting for nearly three-quarters of its total expenses that year. Brimelow says his salary that year was $170,000 and the rest reimbursed him for travel, office supplies and other expenses. From 2010 through 2015, VDare Foundation didnt report any compensation directly paid to Brimelow. But, starting in 2010, the nonprofit began making annual payments of up to $368,500 to Brimelows Happy Penguins LLC for leased employees. Brimelow disclosed his ownership of that company on tax returns. Chuck McLean, a senior research fellow for the nonprofit watchdog Guidestar, said the IRS could view those independent contractor payments to Happy Penguins LLC as improper self-dealing unless the nonprofit can show they were fair-market value transactions. Brimelow says he set up that company to protect and pay his employees and himself. Brimelows group reported modest fundraising increases for each of the past three years. He is confident that trend would continue during Trumps administration. Somali government officials say two civilians and a government solider were killed after an explosion near one of Mogadishus busiest junctions known as Black Sea, late Thursday. Spokesman for the Mogadishu administration Abdifatah Omar Halane told VOA Somali that the explosion was the result of an Improvised Explosive Devise IED which was detonated near a garage where security forces are based. The enemy of Somali people have caused this tragedy, Halane said. He said the security forces were alert and were searching the area for possible explosives when it was detonated. Halane confirmed that the same garage has been the target of several grenade attacks recently since the national security forces took it over in late November. The government deployed the security forces in the garage after investigations revealed that other Al-Shabab attacks were allegedly planned there. This is where they readied the truck which was detonated at the vegetable market, that is when the security forces took over the garage, Halane said. The truck explosion on the vegetable market occurred on November 26 killing 20 people almost all of them civilians. Meanwhile, the African Union Mission in Somalia known as AMISOM says one of their soldiers deserted his defensive position at Qoryoley town, 150km south Mogadishu, Wednesday. Once it as realized he was missing a search party traced his footsteps for about 3km from the camp before disappearing in the thickets, AMISOM said in a message on twitter. AMISOM said it will continue to search to find the missing soldier. The base where the soldier reportedly deserted is run by Ugandan forces. The Al-Shabab militant group claimed it captured the soldier in a special operation. Al-Shabab is already holding captive at least one Ugandan soldier captured following an attack on AU military base in Jannaale on September 1, 2015. Nineteen UPDF soldiers were killed in the same attack. At least 23 people were killed Thursday when three car bombs blew up outside a crowded outdoor market in Mosul, according to the Iraqi Defense Ministry. The bombing took place took place in the former Islamic State-held district of Gojali, which was only retaken by Iraqi defense forces two months ago as part of operations to remove the jihadists from Mosul. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least 15 civilians and eight police officers. The Defense Ministry statement did not specify whether the explosions were caused by suicide bombers. One of Donald Trump's most trusted aides is setting up a government consulting shop a block from the White House a move that complicates the president-elect's promises to drain the swamp of Washington. Corey Lewandowski, Trump's first campaign manager, and former Trump adviser Barry Bennett announced Wednesday they are starting a government relations and political consulting firm called Avenue Strategies. They're pitching their ties to Trump as they seek clients. In what could be a preview of the type of work Lewandowski will do, he recently brokered a meeting between Trump and Carlos Slim, a billionaire Mexican businessman who publicly feuded with Trump throughout the campaign. Lewandowski flew to Mexico City earlier this month to talk to Slim and then arranged a Saturday dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Lewandowski said that wasn't part of the new firm's business. He did not respond to questions about whether he was paid for it. Over the course of the campaign, Lewandowski was sharply critical of the role of Washington's ruling class, which he is now joining. Everybody knows he will have access to the president, and if you pay him enough, he will use it on your behalf, said Meredith McGehee, a chief at the government reform group Issue One. Paul S. Ryan, a vice president at the Washington watchdog Common Cause, said capitalizing on a personal relationship for profit is exactly how money-politics works.'' It's the type of behavior that Trump backers thought he would curtail, Ryan and McGehee said. It's hard to describe hanging out your shingle close to the White House after serving in the campaign as anything other than exactly the kind of insider access and influence that many Americans thought they were voting against, McGehee said. The Lewandowski move comes as another of another of Trump's advisers says the president-elect is no longer interested in his drain the swamp rallying cry. I'm told he now just disclaims that. He now says it was cute, but he doesn't want to use it anymore, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in an interview that aired Wednesday on NPR. Drain the swamp became a staple of the final month of Trump's campaign, with crowds chanting it as loudly as they had been shouting build the wall and lock her up. The slogan also appeared on T-shirts and signs. It has remained part of Trump's post-election thank you tour. Whether in Ohio or Florida, the crowd continued to shout along with the president-elect as he vowed to curtail corruption in Washington even as he revealed that he wasn't always crazy about the catchphrase. I tell everyone, I hated it, Trump said at a rally this month in Des Moines, Iowa. Somebody said drain the swamp and I said, `Oh, that is so hokey. That is so terrible. Trump went on to say he kept repeating the phrase when he realized how popular it was. Gingrich, a vice chairman of the transition team, also predicted there would be constant fighting over Trump's efforts to reduce the influence of lobbyists and Washington insiders. Regardless of his feelings about the phrase itself, Trump's aides say he is committed to his underlying swamp-draining policies, such as banning outgoing Trump transition and administration members from lobbying for five years. Trump also prohibits any lobbyists from joining his transition team or administration unless they de-register. President-elect Trump's ethics reform policies are full speed ahead,'' transition spokesman Jason Miller said. ``We're going to change the way business is done in Washington and start putting the American people first. Lewandowski has been a fixture at Trump Tower in New York as the president-elect forms his administration. Because he never had an official transition title, he doesn't run afoul of Trump's ban on transition officials going on to lobby the government. Lewandowski said he will not register as a lobbyist. Bennett said he would register if clients ask him to do so. In a February interview with Steve Bannon, then the executive chairman of the conservative news site Breitbart, Lewandowski railed against the culture of Washington. Bannon went on to become a Trump campaign executive and is headed to the White House as chief strategist. What you have is a series of people who've made a very, very good living by controlling politicians through their donations and making sure they get the legislation done or not done in Washington, DC, to best benefit their clients, Lewandowski said. And those days are coming to an end. President-elect Donald Trump met the heads of two major airplane builders, vowing to bring down the costs of multibillion-dollar government defense contracts. The chief executive officers of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, along with several generals and admirals, met with Trump Wednesday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump had said last week that the cost of Lockheed's F-35 stealth fighter jets one of the most technologically advanced aircraft ever built is "out of control" $379 billion for about 2,500 planes. Talking costs with CEOs He also threatened to cancel a Boeing order for replacing the presidential jet Air Force One, also complaining that it is too expensive $4 billion for one plane. Trump said the purpose of Wednesday's meetings were simply trying to get the costs down. He called his talks with Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson a little bit of a dance and said he was very impressed with his conversation with Boeing's Dennis Muilenburg. Although no conclusions were apparently reached Wednesday, all sides agreed that a deal must be struck Trump does not want to spend so much money and the two companies do not want to lose those lucrative government contracts. 'Flying White House' The U.S. Marines and Air Force and six countries use the F-35, which is designed to fly at super speeds while avoiding enemy radar. Experts say it is the most expensive weapons system ever built. The F-35 is a critical program to our national security and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies, Lockheed's Hewson said. Air Force One is not only the president's official plane, it is designed to be used as a "flying White House" in case of a calamity, such as a nuclear attack on Washington. The current presidential jet, a Boeing 747, needs replacing. Boeing's Muilenburg said he gave Trump a personal commitment that the cost of a new one will not get out of control. Icahn joins Trump team Also Wednesday, Trump announced he has named billionaire investor and businessman Carl Icahn as his special advisor on regulatory reform. The post is not an official government job, but Trump calls him a brilliant negotiator, adding his help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable. Trump says the 750 billion hours business owners spend dealing with paperwork to comply with government regulations is excessive and takes away from time they can use to create jobs. He says regulations cost the economy $1 trillion, but it is unclear how that number was calculated. Officials say regulations are essential for ensuring health and safety and to protect consumers from fraud and other unethical business practices. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capabilities until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes." His team has been trying to clarify what could be seen as an alarming statement from the president-elect on bolstering the country's nuclear capabilities. Trump gave no context or details of what he meant. On Friday morning, MSNBC reported that Trump told the network "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all." Trump press secretary Sean Spicer, speaking after Trump's remakers, said there would be no arms race because other countries would come to their senses. Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters Friday in his annual year-ending news conference that he sees nothing unusual in Trump's pledge to strengthen U.S. nuclear forces, nothing the president-elect had said as much in his campaign speeches. Putin said, while the U.S. has a bigger military, he did not see the Americans as a potential aggressor, and that Russia's focus should be on missiles that can penetrate any existing nuclear defense systems. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday the Obama administration has been "trying to get us on a path to a world without nuclear weapons. First, by reducing our stockpile and our launchers...Number two, diminishing the role of nuclear weapons in our security strategy and number three, securing the Iran deal." Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller says Trump was talking about the need to keep nuclear weapons away from terrorists and dangerous world leaders. "President-elect Trump was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it, particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable rogue regimes," Miller said. Trump issued his tweet about the same time Russian President Vladimir Putin told his defense team Russia needs to "strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces," including "missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems." Russia has said a U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe is a threat, while the U.S. says it is aimed at countering a possible missile launch from Iran. U.S. arms control experts say the U.S. and Russia possess roughly the same number of weapons in their nuclear arsenals more than 7,000 each. Trump said during the campaign that modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal is necessary "to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent." But if he decides to expand it, it would be a sharp reversal of more than 50 years of U.S. policy which has focused on cutting its nuclear stockpile. The U.S. and Russia signed a major weapons deal in 2010 limiting the number of nuclear warheads and missile launchers each side can have. The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted to establish a special team to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence as well as prepare cases on war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the conflict in Syria. The General Assembly adopted a Liechtenstein-drafted resolution to establish the independent team with 105 in favor, 15 against and 52 abstentions. The team will work in coordination with the U.N. Syria Commission of Inquiry. We have postponed too long Liechtenstein U.N. Ambassador Christian Wenaweser told the General Assembly ahead of the vote: We have postponed any meaningful action on accountability too often and for too long. He said inaction has sent the signal that committing war crimes and crimes against humanity is a strategy that is condoned and has no consequences. The special team will prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over these crimes. The U.N. resolution calls on all states, parties to the conflict, and civil society groups to provide any information and documentation to the team. Syria objects The establishment of such a mechanism is a flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a U.N. member state, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told the General Assembly before the vote. Syrian allies Russia and Iran also spoke against the resolution. The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria was established by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council in 2011 to investigate possible war crimes. The Commission of Inquiry, which says it has a confidential list of suspects on all sides who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, has repeatedly called for the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Russia and China vetoed a bid by Western powers to refer the conflict in Syria to The Hague-based court in 2014. A crackdown by Assad on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 led to civil war, and Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq. Half of Syrias 22 million people have been uprooted and more than 400,000 killed. Egypt asked the United Nations to indefinitely postpone a vote on a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building in Palestinian territories after Egypts president received a phone call from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. A statement Friday from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said, The two leaders agreed on the importance of giving the new administration a chance to deal comprehensively with all the aspects of the Palestinian cause to achieve a comprehensive settlement. The U.N. Security Council had scheduled a meeting Thursday to vote on the resolution, which calls for the cessation of all settlement building in Palestinian territory, calling it "essential for salvaging the two-state solution," which would see Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace. The resolution also says the existing settlements have no legal validity and are a flagrant violation of international law. Israel was engaged in an intense lobbying effort against the measure. Egypt, the sponsor of the resolution, is one of 10 non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. It is rare, if not unprecedented, for a U.S. president-elect to insert himself into real-time diplomatic efforts. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged the Obama administration to veto the U.N. resolution that would halt the building of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," a statement released by the transition team Thursday and posted on Donald Trump's official Facebook account read. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis." The U.S. vetoed a similar U.N. resolution in 2011, but multiple sources told NBC news that the U.S. had planned to abstain from Thursday vote before it was postponed. The State Department refused to comment on which way they would have voted following the announcement that the vote had been postponed. I am not going to preview, nor would we preview our views or our votes in advance of Security Council resolutions being voted on," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "What we continued to try to do is work towards seeing a viable two-state solution realized...in that regard, I think we were interested to see how the debate and discussion would unfold and I think I'd leave it at that." Early in his presidency, Obama warned that Israel's settlements in the Palestinian territories were undermining efforts toward peace in the region. "It is time for these settlements to stop," he said. Obama has taken more of a hard-line approach with Israel than his predecessors, settlement construction over the past eight years actually exceeded the amount of building that took place during the Bush years, according to the Associated Press. Trump has indicated he could break from U.S. precedent and strongly back the settlement construction, this month nominating David Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer who is a strong advocate for Israeli settlements, as the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Friedman has expressed his opposition to a key tenet of U.S. policy in the region: the two-state solution of an Israeli and Palestinian state living peacefully side by side. He has also compared liberal Jews in the U.S. who oppose settlement construction and other policies to the Jews who helped the Nazis during World War II. In a statement acknowledging his nomination, Friedman said he looked forward to doing his job "from the U.S. embassy in Israels eternal capital, Jerusalem." The U.S. embassy is in Tel Aviv, and although previous presidents have promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem, they failed to follow through on the pledge. The United States on Wednesday returned Taobao, China's most popular consumer-to-consumer shopping website, to its blacklist of "notorious marketplaces" known for the sale of counterfeit goods and violations of intellectual property rights. The move by the U.S. trade representative's office against the online bazaar run by Alibaba Group Co. Holding Ltd. followed complaints from U.S. and international trade groups for apparel and luxury goods that Taobao was not doing enough to police sales of fakes and pirated products. Inclusion on the blacklist does not carry any direct penalties but is a blow to Alibaba's efforts to shed perceptions its websites are riddled with fakes a key to gaining a bigger international customer base and taking market share from global competitors such as eBay Inc. and Amazon.com. The company expressed disappointment with the move. Taobao was put on the USTR blacklist in 2011 but removed in 2012 after it made efforts to address concerns of intellectual property rights holders and committed to cut the number of pirated and counterfeit goods on its website. In unveiling its 2016 list, USTR acknowledged that Alibaba had taken steps to combat piracy, including addressing the misuse of brand keywords, the blurring of trademarks in product images and the development of technology to prevent counterfeit sellers from reopening under new names. USTR said, however, the current levels of reported counterfeiting and piracy were "unacceptably high," with such goods posing a "grave economic threat" to U.S. creative and innovative industries and posing public health threats in some cases. "One large motor vehicle manufacturer reported that at least 95 percent of the merchandise bearing its company's brand names and trademarks found on Alibaba platforms is suspected to be counterfeit," USTR said. Alibaba Group President Michael Evans said in a statement the company was "very disappointed" to be put back on the list; the company, he said, is far more advanced in protecting intellectual property rights than it was four years ago. He added that the decision ignored Alibaba's work to remove more than twice the number of product listings this year than it did in 2015. "We question whether the USTR acted based on the actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate," Evans said. Alibaba touts Taobao as China's largest online shopping destination by gross merchandise volume and among the top five websites in China and top 15 globally. Alibaba shares fell 0.7 percent on the New York Stock Exchange to $89.25. A U.S.-based Muslim cleric on Thursday condemned the killing of Russia's envoy to Turkey and rejected accusations that his movement was behind the attack. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara earlier this week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has implicated Fethullah Gulen in the killing, saying the policeman had links to his movement. In a video address made available to The Associated Press, Gulen accused the Turkish government of blaming and defaming his movement and suggested the government would facilitate other assassinations and blame them on his followers. Gulen said "it is not possible for them to convince the world of such accusations.'' Russia flew a team of 18 investigators and foreign ministry officials to Turkey to participate in the investigation. Foreign Ministry officials and members of parliaments have gathered at the Russian foreign ministry's headquarters for a farewell ceremony. Diplomats and officials laid flowers at the open casket with an honorary guard standing by. "Those who raised a hand against Ambassador Karlov, who took his life will definitely fail in their attempts to stop Russia from cooperating with other countries including Turkey,'' Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. President Vladimir Putin arrived at the end of the ceremony, laid flowers at the casket, offered condolences to the ambassador's widow and left. Karlov's casket was then carried out of the foreign ministry's building and taken for a funeral service at Moscow's main Christ the Savior Cathedral. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said at the beginning of the service that the ambassador died a "martyr's death.'' Kirill and other clerics, all dressed in ceremonial white robes, took part in the service that is expected to last for at least an hour. Karlov will be laid to rest in Moscow later Thursday. For the United States, Vietnam has been a poster child for how economic bonds can rise out of the ashes of war, but now the tumult of 2016 has brought uncertainty to the two countries' trade relations. Nothing symbolized that more than the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Vietnam had pinned its hopes of prosperity through trade on TPP. After Washington spurned the trade deal, though, Hanoi had to regroup. But instead of staking out a firm position, Vietnam seems to have adopted an attitude that TPP is both alive and dead. Earlier this year, the country was pushing full speed ahead with TPP preparations until U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump made clear their enmity for the accord. Then Vietnam did an about face, pulling TPP approval from its parliamentary agenda. Vietnamese leaders stopped gushing about the 12-nation trade agreement and shifted focus to other deals. And yet TPP hopefuls haven't gone silent. "I think TPP is another vehicle to bring benefits to both countries," Nguyen Duy Binh, CEO of logistics firm Saigon Express Forwarding Corporation, said Tuesday at the Vietnam-U.S. Friendship Association's trade conference in Ho Chi Minh City. Comments from him and other speakers showed that people are still talking about TPP, even if the Pacific pact could be on its last legs. Binh says his business would be fine without it, but thinks the U.S. could come back with a modified TPP. "Not only Vietnam, but the whole world is thinking about the new administration in the U.S., and how it'll impact their economic outlook," he said. Diversifying Vietnam shouldn't be relying on one trade option anyway, said Pham Phu Ngoc Trai, chairman of Global Integration Business Consultants. The Southeast Asian country has long made a point of diversifying its foreign policy so as to do business with a variety of nations. Some saw TPP as a possible way for members to choose the U.S. over China, which is not a TPP member. If Hanoi made that choice, it didn't seem to pan out, as Washington pulled back from the trade deal. Trai said Vietnam has other concerns. TPP would have been nice, but the country needs to figure out how to mitigate its trade imbalances with China, India and Japan, he said. Still, Mary Tarnowka, U.S. consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, argued that the economic link between her country and Vietnam "has never been stronger." American shoppers scoop up more Vietnamese goods than do any other citizens, while Vietnam is importing U.S. goods at a faster rate than any other country. That's a far cry from the 1990s, when a U.S. postwar embargo was still undermining Vietnam's economy. Washington did away with the embargo in 1994 and signed a trade agreement with Hanoi in 2001. But even then, Vietnam was not out of the woods, according to Le Quoc An, head of the advisory board at the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association. He said the U.S. threw up garment quotas soon thereafter, responding to the influx of shipments from Vietnam. "The U.S.-Vietnam trade relationship has gone through a lot of turbulence," An said. Today the waters are calmer, as seen from both sides of the Pacific, with quotas and tariffs coming down. But Vietnam is not as sure about the trade horizon as it wants to be, at least for now while the U.S. undergoes a White House transition. Three times Celso Monroy has witnessed Mexico's San Pablito fireworks market erupting into a fireball of pungent smoke, blinding flashes and ear-splitting explosions. On Tuesday, Monroy again escaped with his life, but for the first time there were bodies strewn about as he rushed to rescue his family from the scenes of carnage emerging from shattered stalls that had bustled with Christmas cheer moments earlier. At least 32 people died and dozens were injured when the huge fireworks bazaar on the northern fringe of Mexico City exploded in a dazzling array of lethal pyrotechnics that razed the marketplace to a blasted plain of smoking rubble. In little over a decade, the country's most celebrated fireworks market in Tultepec has blown up three times, with the latest massive blast raising serious questions about why the festive public was again exposed to such deadly risks. Biggest, worst "This was the biggest and the worst," Monroy, 41, decked out in a cowboy hat and boots, said after his last escape. "It was really loud, like a bomb. Lots of people were running and looking for help, and those we could get out, we got out." "There were lots of colors, I can't say it was beautiful because of the sadness and loss," said Monroy, who has spent more than a decade making rockets and fireworks at the market. "There are no winners here. There's nothing here." As the wind kicked up around lunchtime, tiny funnels of wind whipped through the wasteland, lifting trash, dust and burned fragments into a series of dancing columns. Alan Jesus Chavez, a local medical student who rushed to the scene as the blasts went off and the market stalls blazed, worked to pull people out of the burning ruins. While handing out milk and water, a woman came to his side to ask him to free her baby, who was trapped under rubble. "But when we got everything off and found the baby, it was already dead," said Chavez, who felt the pulse of five of the people who lost their lives. "When I got out of here and got home, I cried because of all the dead people I had seen." Multiple blasts The government has yet to say what sparked the tragedy, noting only that there were six separate blasts. Federal investigators pored through the wreckage for clues Wednesday. Local resident Ivan Perez, 23, whose girlfriend works at the market, said there was a rumor that the explosions began when a woman accidentally dropped a "brujita," a kind of banger. Such was the economic importance of the bazaar to locals, he said, that bribes were sometimes paid to sell fireworks not permitted by official regulations, Perez said. But after the third tragedy in just over a decade, the market's prospects looked grim, he added. "I don't think it will get back on its feet," he said. In 2005, fireworks maker Monroy was just leaving when the explosions broke out; nearly a year later, he was standing on a bridge overlooking the market when the sky lit up again. On Tuesday, Monroy had gone outside the surrounding fence to fix his bike when the sudden, rapid blasts began propelling huge clumps of concrete through the air. Fear gripped him because his family were still inside, along with hundreds of others. They escaped with only a fright. Others were not so lucky. "I saw a lot of charred bodies and dead. It's a nightmare that in time you forget," Monroy said. "The children were crying, shouting, asking for help." A Bulawayo High Court on Thursday cleared Ibhetshu Likazulu to commemorate the Unity Accord and an end of atrocities committed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade, which killed thousands of people in Zimbabwes Matabeleland and Midlands provinces while cracking down on so-called dissidents. Justice Francis Bere granted the order after police refused to give the Matabeleland group permission to hold a meeting at Stanley Square in the countrys second largest city, Bulawayo. The Unity Accord signed on December 22, 1987, by then PF Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo and Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, led to the end of the atrocities and incorporation of Zapu leaders into the Zanu PF government. Zapu leader, Dumiso Dabengwa, told members of Ibhetshu Likazulu and other local organizations at Stanley Square that the Zimbabwean polices behavior is worse than what was done by former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smiths security agents. He said such behavior is unjustifiable in modern societies. Former Bulawayo council, Michael Bathandi Mpofu, added that there wont be any peace in Zimbabwe as long as police behaved like agents of the colonial regime. His sentiments were echoed by several other people who attended the meeting. Police were not immediately available for comment. Photo: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns/Getty Images There could be some bad vibrations ahead: California rock legends the Beach Boys have confirmed that they have been approached to perform at President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration in January, but have yet to make a decision regarding the highly political gig. The Beach Boys have been asked to perform as part of the inauguration festivities, the band said in a statement acquired by Billboard. But no decision has been made at this point as to how or whether they will participate. We will let you know as soon as a decision is final. If the band were to accept the offer, they would join the A-list line-up of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Americas Got Talent alum Jackie Evancho in performing; if they decline, they would be in the company of an even longer list of celebrities. Photo: KARL GEHRING/Denver Post via Getty Images Mitt Romney must be thrilled! Following numerous public rejections from musicians who have refused to perform at President-elect Donald Trumps presidential inauguration reportedly including, but not limited to Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Elton John, and Garth Brooks Trump has finally secured a second performer for 2017s hottest political event. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has formally accepted an invitation to sing at the swearing-in ceremony in January, where theyll join the previously confirmed Americas Got Talent alum Jackie Evancho. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a great tradition of performing at the inaugurals of U.S. presidents, said Ron Jarrett, president of the choir. Singing the music of America is one of the things we do best. We are honored to be able to serve our country by providing music for the inauguration of our next president. The choir, which has sung at five previous U.S. presidential inaugurations, consists of 360 volunteers. Amen to that. Photo: Getty Images Its hard out there for the U.S. Presidential Inauguration Committee. While President-elect Donald Trump has been trying to wrangle some A-list talent to perform at his inauguration celebrations the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Americas Got Talent contestant Jackie Evancho, and the Rockettes are some of the performers who have taken the bait so far many other musicians have spoken publicly about declining an offer to celebrate the president-elect. Despite the seemingly low interest coming from top musicians, Trumps team is sharply denying claims that theyre experiencing problems finding suitable availabilities, with one member saying that first-class entertainers are eager to participate in the inaugural events. Below, weve compiled all of the musicians who have reportedly been approached by Trumps various reps to perform at the inauguration and have declined the opportunity. Well be updating this list until January 20 arrives. Related Stories A Comprehensive Guide to Everyone Performing at Trumps Inauguration Elton John Despite a member of Trumps transition team confidently announcing that John would be performing at the inauguration, Johns reps were quick to deny the claim with a curt statement: Incorrect. He will not be performing. John had previously expressed his anger with the president-elect when Trump used Tiny Dancer on the campaign trail without his permission this year, amusingly saying, Im not a Republican in a million years. Why not ask Ted fucking Nugent? Celine Dion Despite Trump utilizing the help of noted Las Vegas hotelier Steve Wynn to entice Dion to perform at the inauguration she currently has a critically adored residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace Dion strongly refused the advances. Andrea Bocelli There are two different narratives as to why the famed Italian tenor will not be performing at the inauguration. A member of Trumps inauguration committee says Bocelli made the original offer to sing and was rejected by Trump; on the other hand, Page Six sources report that Bocelli backed out after being offered the gig due to substantial backlash. Kiss According to Kiss front man Gene Simmonss wife, Shannon Tweed, Simmons was asked if the hard rockers would perform at the inauguration, but the band will be on tour in Europe during that time. They asked and he politely declined, Tweed explained, with Simmons himself adding, I think people should get over it and move on. Hes our president and thats it, end of story. Garth Brooks Like Dion, country superstar Brooks was reportedly approached and wooed by Wynn to perform. But ultimately, Brooks said he would leave the decision up to karma and his concert schedule. We said, if Cincinnati goes two weekends instead of one, then of course, were out. Sure enough, Cincinnati did five shows, two weekends and backed us up into there, so we got knocked out of it. David Foster The Canadian musician and producer, who has been on friendly terms with Trump for many years, was invited to help with the inauguration festivities in numerous capacities. He told People: I was invited to participate and I politely declined. Per the Washington Post, Fosters main reason for rejecting the offer was reportedly so he didnt risk angering the big Hillary Clinton supporters of his charity. Rebecca Ferguson Though the British singer had originally said shed agree to perform at Trumps inauguration only if she could perform Billie Holidays famous protest song Strange Fruit, she has since turned down his offer altogether. In a statement, Ferguson now says that due to many grey areas about the offer, she wont be performing anything for Trump but still sends America nothing but love. Charlotte Church In a tweet, the Welsh singer says she was approached by Trump staffers to sing at his inauguration. But in keeping with her public disdain for the president-elect (a simple internet search would show I think youre a tyrant, she fired back), her response is simply, bye. Jennifer Holliday After using two separate interviews to defend her decision to perform at a pre-inauguration concert for Donald Trump at the Lincoln Memorial on January 19, the Broadway singer ultimately decided to withdraw her involvement from the event. In an open letter obtained by The Wrap, Holliday apologized to the LGBTQ community for her lapse of judgment. I was honestly just thinking that I wanted my voice to be a healing and unifying force for hope through music to help our deeply polarized country, she wrote. The B Street Band The Bruce Springsteen cover band was initially booked to play the Garden State Inaugural Gala, but out of respect for Springsteen himself, who has frequently professed antipathy for Trump, the B Street Band has since backed out. This post has been updated throughout. High kick for freedom. Photo: Monica Schipper/WireImage Like many an overwhelmed New York tourist, Donald Trump seems to have given up and resorted to the old Radio City standby. In an interview on CNN, Donald Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn announced that the Rockettes, best known for their Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular and for their ability to high-kick with perfect synchronicity, will perform at his inauguration. The Rockettes, who confirmed the news in a statement, will join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and 16-year-old Americas Got Talent runner-up Jackie Evancho (probably not all onstage at once, but who knows?). The list of artists who have turned down the invitation to perform at the ceremony includes Celine Dion, Kiss, Elton John, and many, many more. But even if Trumps had trouble booking those quality performers, given that there are literally dozens of Rockettes, at least he has quantity on his side. One of the most impressive pieces of public art I know is a remarkable bronze sculpture in my hometown of Irving, called Mustangs at Las Colinas. It portrays nine wild mustangs crossing a creek and was unveiled in 1984. It immediately became one of the symbols of the city, which at that point had nothing whatsoever like it. I had never heard the phrase public art before, but I knew it was a special place. Today, social media is transforming the way we interact with public art, making it much more familiar and vastly extending its reach. Doing a quick search on Twitter and Instagram for the hashtag #publicart brings up photographs of striking works in cities all over the country, from Vancouver to Chattanooga to Virginia Beach. When I looked just now, I found hundreds of photos of the mustangs. Americans for the Arts, the countrys largest advocacy group for the arts, explains that public art is no longer the random piece of art in the park but instead a source of community pride and engagement. Whether in the form of sculpture, murals or something else, public art instills meaning a greater sense of identity and understandings of where we live, work and visit creating memorable experiences for all. And now because of social media, public art spreads far beyond the location where it exists. Fort Worth has perhaps the most active public art organization in Texas. For 15 years it has worked to beautify the city, holding community conversations on public art, soliciting suggestions and staging meet-and-greets with artists to which the public is invited. The organization is updating its original master plan the city council adopted back in 2003 and is inviting all interested citizens of Fort Worth to weigh in. The nations oldest organization to promote public art is Philadelphias Association for Public Art, whose roots reach back to 1872 four years before the citys fine art museum had its beginnings. But as Ive written before, a successful program of public art is not a function of a citys size, nor does all public art have to be as expensive as bronze mustangs or cattle. Jonesboro, Arkansas, is a town of just over 70,000 in the rural northeast corner of the state and the home of Arkansas State University. Like many other cities, it has a downtown development association that works to stimulate economic growth in the citys core, but the Jonesboro Downtown Association also has an active public art initiative called Fearlessly Brilliant.Last summer, a great collaboration with the Arkansas State fine art department resulted in a vivid 80-foot mural for the city. An ASU artist designed the work and painted it with the help of her art students. Local merchants donated supplies, including almost 50 gallons of paint, and the students spent their first summer session creating the mural. Any city fortunate enough to have that sort of partner could pursue such an active public art program. Building on that success, this fall Fearlessly Brilliant issued a new call for proposals for two more murals for the city center, the only stipulations for entries being that the ideas should be distinctive through use of design and color, and suitable and acceptable for public viewing of all ages. It will be well worth seeing the murals that are unveiled next spring. In the coming year, Waco could decide to embrace a more active program of public art. Theres much about the city thats booming. Now is a good time for public art to become a greater part of our civic energy. Superintendent Bonny Cain says she knew there were signs of administrative bullying and leadership issues at least six months before launching an external investigation into allegations of academic wrongdoing at Waco Independent School Districts University High School. Cain said she wishes she would have stepped back sooner to see the bigger picture. Instead, she relied on individual investigations done on anonymous reports from teachers that came into the districts Lighthouse reporting system, a risk-free way for employees to anonymously report unethical or illegal behavior, she said. Forty-four such anonymous reports were made between August 2015 and June of this year directly related to the leadership of two out of three former administrators who announced their resignations earlier this year after being placed on paid leave during the external investigation. The documents were obtained through an open records request made by the Tribune-Herald. Cain said in November, days before announcing her retirement, that administrative bullying occurred on the campus that contributed to school officials awarding course credit to some 2016 graduates who did not properly earn the credits. Administrators also failed to follow proper procedures for credit recovery programs and for state end-of-course retesting, according to findings in an external investigation report released in October and turned over to the Texas Education Agency. Cain began investigating attendance reporting issues in March, though she acknowledged she received the Lighthouse reports as early as August 2015, and an external investigation was launched in June regarding the high schools 100 percent graduation rate for the 2015-16 year. The district has not determined exactly how many students were impacted, Waco ISD board President Pat Atkins said in October. But by state law, no student formally certified as a graduate during commencement ceremonies will lose his or her diploma or status. The district is still working on an internal investigation into the matter, which is expected to wrap up after the new year, and the external report is still under review by the TEA, district and TEA officials said. Each (Lighthouse report) we looked into, and each one we got a report back. Was it valid? Was it duplicated? Its a fair question of, When do you step in? Things were picking up during the year, and the internal and external documentation shows we were moving in on making some changes. I dont know if the teachers felt that, Cain told the Tribune-Herald last week. I went myself (to University High), and things were escalating and we did look into things. The difference is (the teachers) dont know what I knew during a certain time, and I know they were very frustrated. Maybe I was depending too much on counting on investigations, and ultimately I started stepping in myself and probably should have done that sooner. Closed atmosphere The Lighthouse reports were one of several elements looked at during the external investigation and demonstrated an effort to keep academic issues confined solely to the University High campus, with interviews done at the both the campus level and district level with employees who said they werent able to speak to the people with whom they needed to speak, Cain said. There was a closed campus atmosphere at the (University High) campus. They imposed the Vegas rule, Cain said, referring to the oft-repeated phrase What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But thats not the case there anymore, or ever again anywhere. The reporting system comes from the company Lighthouse Services, which serves more than 2,000 clients across the nation. How school districts handle the reports varies from district to district, company spokesperson Andy Bronstein said in an email. The average turnaround time to close a single report is about 31.8 days, he wrote. For Waco ISD, the average turnaround time is shorter, with reports being closed out in about two weeks on average, Waco ISD spokesman Bruce Gietzen said. The district implemented the system within the past few years, and it was only used sporadically before the issues arose at University High, Cain said. Typically, once a report is filed, the report comes in like an email alert. That alert then goes to an internal auditor to see if there is any merit, and if so, the report is passed on to a department head or assistant superintendent to investigate further, Cain and Gietzen said. If the situation is egregious, the report leaves the Lighthouse system and is investigated on an internal district level, Cain said. When the University High reports came in, Waco ISD was between internal auditors and Cain herself received all of the Lighthouse alerts, she said. Cain did not procrastinate on handling the reports every report was investigated and closed, and an internal auditor was hired in July to fill the opening, she and Gietzen said. Ultimately, what nailed down the wrongdoings were fatal errors found late in the 2015-16 school year in the states computerized grading and attendance reporting system, or Public Education Information Management System. The system tracks who inputs grades, when a person logs in and out and who changes grades, Cain said. Fatal errors refers to how the system refuses to allow someone to move forward in the grade or attendance-reporting process until an issue is resolved. But morale on the campus and trust in former Principal Kendra Strange and former Dean of Instruction Ronald Massey plummeted early in the school year, the Lighthouse reports show. Strange and Massey were in their first years with the district. But the pair had worked in the same two previous districts for a year each before coming to Waco ISD, according to their employment history from the TEA. Strange was brought on in May to replace Bill Shepard, a popular district educator who moved to be principal at a Waco ISD middle school, and Strange later recommended Massey for the dean of instruction position, Cain said. Strange and Masseys history caused concern among teachers, as did a five-year probated suspension of Masseys teaching certificate by the TEA, according to the Lighthouse reports. Masseys certificate was suspended from August 2001 to August 2006 for deliberate violence against his wife, but he was only arrested for burglary of a residence in relation to the incident, according to TEA documents and police reports. Waco ISD officials were aware of Masseys history and that he had successfully completed his suspension, Cain said. Cain said anyone hired is judged on an individual basis and compared the hire to someone bringing on an employee who had done something at age 19, but was in his 60s and has had a clean record since. Complaints climb In the first Lighthouse report, dated Aug. 7, 2015, a teacher alleged some students were absent for the majority of a summer program called Summer Institutes, yet were still allowed to earn credit in Spanish, art and possibly some other general academic courses. The report was investigated and guidelines were put in to make sure that never happened again, Cain said. By the end of September 2015, more than 20 complaints were filed involving Strange, Massey or the campus administration. The reports ran the gamut from compliance and ethics issues, to hostile work environment complaints, to the use of possibly improper curriculum. Teachers alleged they were told by administrators to copy and paste grades for two different English courses, giving credit to students for both courses, even if they possibly didnt earn the credits. Cain, however, said teachers were not told to copy and paste grades for the courses. She also said Strange trained teachers on how to appropriately record grades for both of the English courses because the two had different Texas Education of Knowledge and Skills standards. Teachers also came to fear campus administrators if they brought up compliance issues and were told downtown doesnt need to know whats going on at the campus, referring to the districts downtown administration building, where Cain and other high-level administrators offices are housed, the reports state. Only one word oppression could accurately describe how the situation felt to Tamara Smathers, an English teacher on the campus who was interviewed during the internal investigation. She claimed the Lighthouse reports were true and chose to share her side of the story because nothing was being reported from a teachers perspective about how they were forced to do things, she said in a Monday interview with the Tribune-Herald. Smathers has been with Waco ISD for 11 years, the last nine of which have been at University High, she said. Teachers were yelled at in front of students. It was very unprofessional on their end, and when I say they, I mean Dr. Strange and Mr. Massey and Joy Morris, who was with the English department and is no longer with the district, Smathers said. In the English department, there were 16 of us affected, and only six remain. That, to me, should be a red flag right there. We were bullied just about on a daily basis to teach a curriculum that did not address what the students needed to know for the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test, and we tried to tell them that. On one particular day, we had to watch videos of what the TEKS were, and we were told we obviously did not know what they were and we were going to watch these videos and we were going to follow the curriculum that was prescribed because we had bills to pay, so just do it. I thought, Oh, my gosh, in my 29 years of teaching, I have never had my job threatened. Morris, who was interviewed by both external and internal investigators, served at the district level as the secondary English/language arts and reading content specialist and traveled between high schools, Cain said. Morris resigned at the end of the 2015-16 academic year, Cain said. In addition to feeling her job was being threatened, Smathers said lines of communication between faculty and administrators were closed off from day one. We were told at the very beginning, at the first faculty meeting we had in the auditorium, someone asked, Are you going to have an open-door policy? They asked Dr. Strange that, and she said, No, because Im trying to fix the problems yall created last year, Smathers said. Since that day, the teachers felt we were treated as idiots, as though we didnt know what we were doing. We were too scared. We were told at the beginning you do not talk to any of the office people, and you do not contact downtown. I dont know who did (file a complaint). It became to where you hid, and University was always a family atmosphere, but not last year. Last year, I think it became every man for himself. I knew the Lighthouses were going on, but I never sent one. I admit I opened the form up, but I never at one point, Dr. Strange came in to the English PLC (professional learning community meeting), and she had some Lighthouses and said, These dont make a difference and (told us) to stop. One of the Lighthouse reports alleges those events occurred later in the school year, in April. Multiple calls and emails during the past two weeks to Stranges attorney for comment about the allegations were not returned by late Wednesday. By October 2015, though, Lighthouse reports were made alleging teachers had no clear direction from Strange or Massey on the campus absence policy and how to hold students accountable. They also alleged absences and tardies were excused in the first six weeks for those students missing more than the allowed time, which kept them from losing credit for courses. Teachers began pleading for a change in leadership at University High. Plea for change The students still do not know Dr. Strange, and if they happen to see her in the hallway, they do not realize who she is or feel the need to respect and listen to her directives, one Lighthouse report stated. University is crumbling. Dr. Cain, please see that there needs to be a change. Dr. Strange and the format she is using does not work for the benefit of the University students. They are failing classes, attendance and tardies are horrible, and they are losing all respect for teachers and administration. Please change our leadership. All three administrators who resigned after the investigation Strange, Massey and Mindy Place, who was named in only one complaint signed resignation settlement agreements in October that denied any wrongdoing, and Massey publicly denied the allegations by sharing his side through his attorney in November and again last week when he was asked about the Lighthouse reports. Massey was in charge of academics at University High, said his lawyer, Jay Brim. More specifically, he was responsible for making sure paperwork was done by the person who reviewed and signed course credit recovery forms. Mr. Massey has walked away from this matter and doesnt want to dignify any of the anonymous allegations made through the Lighthouse line. He continues to deny that he bullied anyone or created a hostile working environment, and of course he has already addressed the grade changes and attendance issues . . . to the extent that he was even involved, Brim stated in an email Friday. Monday, Massey opened up about the allegations in another email sent through his attorney. He wrote the campus wasnt closed off from higher administration and staff had campus contacts for various departments as a starting point for anyone needing assistance. He confirmed Cains statement that no directive was given to copy and paste grades for certain English courses and training was indeed given, and he wrote the campus had a clear attendance and tardiness policy, with additional training offered during faculty meetings and staff development days. On Dec. 23, 2015, the first Lighthouse report directly connected to Strange, Massey and the findings in the investigation showed up. A teacher reported seniors were told they did not need to retake the STAAR test and were turned away at the door on retesting day. The report also stated seniors were informed they would be allowed to do an individual graduation committee project instead. Massey wrote he wasnt aware of this event and only had knowledge that every retester had materials prepared and was assigned a testing location. University High has met the state standard for STAAR accountability for at least the past four years, according to TEA documents. Reports drop off By February, the number of Lighthouse reports began dropping off, and Smathers said the dip may have been because teachers no longer felt they had a voice. While there was only one report in January and four reports in February, teachers were still pleading for change in what had become a divisive atmosphere, the reports state. One teacher even asked for a climate survey, while others alleged Massey and Strange degraded and spoke down to teachers publicly. The trend continued through the end of the year, with no reports in March, at which time Cain was alerted by University Highs testing coordinator about issues with recorded absences in PEIMS, and the district began to investigate. In April, the reports picked back up with more teachers alleging Strange was unapproachable and ruled by fear. To be screamed at, belittled, and treated as subservient is an awful way to spend your time in a career you love, one of the reports stated. I have never felt compelled to have to be anonymous in a complaint, but it is my last-ditch effort to try and reach Dr. Cain. Im scared and need to share because my livelihood for the future depends on it. On May 27, eight days before graduation, the University High Attendance Committee finally addressed seniors spring attendance issues, the external investigation found. Then, on June 2, a Lighthouse report alleged the wrong people were serving on individual graduation committees, and there were possible rescoring violations for English I and English II committee projects. The TEA allows students who have failed end-of-course exams for no more than two classes to graduate if they participate in an individual graduation committee process to demonstrate proficiency in the subject. The external investigation not only revealed University High did not have an English 1 and English 2 department chair on the committee, as required by state law, but the standards for passing the English projects connected to the committees were lowered and projects were then regraded, among other findings related to different courses. Smathers said she realized in May there was an effort by administration to reach a 100 percent graduation rate. She was one of the graders for English individual committee projects. Smathers said she told Massey she was uncomfortable grading the projects because she helped tutor students who were doing the projects. But Massey told her to be one of the graders anyway, she said. We had about 45 of the projects that did not pass, and at least 12 of them were completely blank. We put the ones that passed in a box and labeled (them) passed, and we took it to (administrators), and the ones that didnt pass, we put those in a box and gave it to them, Smathers said. I knew they were going to ask the kids to maybe revise and tweak, and they called all those kids down to revise and tweak. Joy Morris came to me during my conference and asked if I could go into the library because the kids wouldnt work for her, but for me. I went in and gave them some pointers on revising and tweaking, but those blank ones they continued to be blank. I was not asked to rescore or redo any of the projects. The Lighthouse reports dont paint the whole picture and may even have hindered communication and trust between University High faculty and leadership in some ways, said Matthew Wright, an attorney and mediator at DLW Law, PLLC. Wright also serves as a Baylor University instructor and judge for the city of Rosebud. He specializes in conflict resolution and employment law in criminal, estate, municipal, adoption, charitable and commercial matters. He has handled more than 50 cases this year and, with no direct ties to Waco ISD, agreed to provide a neutral analysis about the Lighthouse reports. Passionate complaints I went through and read the complaints, and when I worked in corporate America, I was a manager of people and an executive. We had systems like that. Theres always concern with anonymous systems because you really can never address the true problem, Wright said. Part of the problem is that you lose in conflict resolution that ability to have that face-to-face, that venting or that discussion of what is really motivating the person to make these comments. As I went through (the Lighthouse reports), there was a change in what I would consider to be expected complaints and then there seemed to be a very passionate grouping of complaints in that August-September time frame. Wright went on to note the difference between criminal illegalities, civil illegalities and what he called piss-poor management, which leaves employees feeling just as threatened as if a criminal act were committed against them. In the case of University High, Wright said, it seems administrators didnt focus enough on asking questions about concerns teachers had, which would help them understand issues on the campus. He said administrators may have overreached in trying to correct issues. My reaction to this was (it was) really, really poor leadership that spiraled out of control, Wright said. The word bullying to me is kind of the en vogue word to use right now, and what you have, to me, is you had someone who was coming into an unknown environment. Im not being apologetic for what (the administration) did, but if I was trying to diagnose it, you had someone not confident in their position or their role who attempted to greatly overcompensate with policies and procedures without a good plan or thought. That lack of planning devolved into mistakes and devolved into problems with schedules and time. But part of that, though, was that lack of confidence resulted from not coming into the job properly and asking questions. What we teach in conflict resolution is the key to resolve conflict is through asking questions. To move forward and begin healing, Wright recommended officials take a more informal approach and create an atmosphere in which employees are allowed to vent and district officials can begin asking the right questions. Healing the campus While there is still no clear motive behind why the academic wrongdoings unfolded, Cain said the district is taking steps to remedy the problems and heal the campus. Not just to heal emotionally, but move toward a better academic atmosphere for the campus. Shepard has been placed back on the campus as the principal for the rest of the academic year, at least, Cain said. I think the first thing we did was put Bill Shepard back over there. Hes one of their favorite principals, Cain said. They had confidence in him, and we talked him into staying another year. But it wasnt just putting people on the campus, but those who came off the campus. A lot of things have been done to get the campus back to where it was when it was so successful. I think the district holding people accountable was probably one of the biggest morale boosters we could have done. We apologized in person. I officially asked (Shepard) to be the principal for the rest of the year, he officially accepted, and cheers were heard all around, and we did that for that healing. As Smathers looks back at the previous year, even despite her reservations and concerns, she said she wants people to know Strange and Massey werent all bad. She wished the leadership had taken time to get to know the employees instead of showing how much they werent trusted by administration, she said. Tensions would not have escalated to the point they did had administration been willing to listen, she said. Everyones talking now, everyones smiling now to the point its like our family has come back together. Its night and day, and the sun is always shining on University now, Smathers said. The atmosphere is relaxed, and were able to enjoy our jobs. What happened at University last year was not the teachers fault, and I feel that was what was portrayed. It was not the teachers fault, because every day every teacher that walks into that building fights for these kids. And last year was a constant battle because I got to the point where I had to ask, Do I do whats right for the kids or do I do whats right for me?, and Ive got to have a paycheck. To parents outside of University or parents in Waco who see Waco ISD, Waco ISD is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and youve got to have a storm before you can have a rainbow. Democrats spent the first two decades of the post-Cold War era rather relaxed about Russian provocations and revanchism. President Obama famously mocked Mitt Romney in 2012 for suggesting that Russia was our principal geopolitical adversary. Yet today the Dems are in high dudgeon over the closeness of secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson to Vladimir Putin. Hypocrisy aside, it is true that, as head of Exxon Mobil, Tillerson made major deals with Russia, received Russias Order of Friendship and opposed U.S. sanctions. Thats troubling but not necessarily disqualifying. At the time, after all, Tillerson was acting as an agent of Exxon Mobil, whose interest it is to extract oil and make money. These interests do not necessarily overlap with those of the United States. The relevant question is whether and how Tillerson distinguishes between the two and whether as agent of the United States he would adopt a tougher Russia policy than he did as agent of Exxon Mobil. We dont know. We shall soon find out. Thats what confirmation hearings are for. The left has been in equally high dudgeon that other Cabinet picks appear not to share the mission of the agency which they have been nominated to head. The horror! As if these agency missions are somehow divinely ordained. Why, they arent even constitutionally ordained. The Department of Education, for example, was created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 as a payoff to the teachers unions for their political support. Now, teachers are wonderful. But teachers unions are there to protect benefits and privileges, not necessarily to improve schooling. Which is why they zealously defend tenure, protect their public-school monopoly and reflexively oppose school choice. Conservatives have the odd view that the purpose of schooling and therefore of the Department of Education is to provide students with the best possible education. Hence Trumps nominee, Betsy DeVos, a longtime and passionate proponent of school choice, under whom the department will no longer be an arm of the teachers unions. She is also less likely to allow the departments Office for Civil Rights to continue appropriating to itself the role of arbiter of social justice, micromanaging everything from campus sexual mores to the proper bathroom assignment for transgender students. If the mission of this department has been to dictate policy best left to the states and localities, its about time the mission was changed. The most incendiary nomination by far, however, is Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. As attorney general of Oklahoma, he has joined or led a series of lawsuits to curtail EPA power. And has been upheld more than once by the courts. Pruitt has been deemed unfit to serve because he fails liberalisms modern-day religious test: belief in anthropogenic climate change. They would love to turn his confirmation hearing into a Scopes monkey trial. Republicans should decline the invitation. It doesnt matter whether the man believes the moon is made of green cheese. The challenges to EPA actions are based not on meteorology or theology but on the Constitution. The issue is that the EPA has egregiously exceeded its authority and acted as a rogue agency unilaterally creating rules unmoored from legislation. Pruitts is the most important nomination because it is a direct attack on the insidious growth of the administrative state. We have reached the point where EPA bureaucrats interpret the Waters of the United States rule meant to protect American waterways to mean that when a hard rain leaves behind a pond on your property, the feds may tell you what you can and cannot do with it. (The final rule excluded puddles magnanimity from the Leviathan.) On a larger scale, Obamas Clean Power Plan essentially federalizes power generation and regulation, not coincidentally killing coal along the way. This is the administrations end run around Congress rejection of Obamas proposed 2009-2010 cap-and-trade legislation. And that was a Democratic Congress, mind you. For some, this reassertion of basic constitutionalism seems extreme. If so, the Obama administration has only itself to blame. Such are the wages of eight years of liberal overreach. Charles Krauthammer, also a Fox News commentator, is author of the best-seller Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics. Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the Christian Writers Workshop is welcoming poets, novelists and writers of any kind to join in the annual conference emphasizing the craft of writing from a Christian point of view. The event will be held once again the last Saturday in January at First Baptist Church of Woodway. Spearheaded by a number of dedicated individuals, including organizer Reita Hawthorne and board members Linda Hammond and Ben Hagins, there is no annual theme for the event other than what Hammond described as a time of learning, celebration and fun planned to help develop the skills of the wordsmiths in attendance. With skillsets ranging from curious wannabes to knowledgeable published authors, participants hone writing techniques by listening to carefully selected author-speakers who share their writing journeys and answer questions relevant to their chosen genre, whether fiction, nonfiction, poetry or song, Hammond said. Writers will find creative presentations and handouts offered by the workshop speakers that allow attendees to hone their own story ideas. The workshop also outlines how to navigate the road of the writing industry from the publication process to information on the latest beneficial technologies for getting published in todays world of Christian writing. Of course, Hammond said, building key relationships with others drawn to the Christian writing field also provides additional learning opportunities. These opportunities go well beyond the workshop weekend, too. In the past, small spinoff groups of similar genres have been formed among attendees fostering encouragement, support and mentoring between new and more established writers. Its amazing how many great stories people have tucked away inside, said Hagins, a board member. Unless these are recorded and written, they will be lost forever. Sparking Creativity Gathering with folks of like mind is often the tool to open the creative flow. Elizabeth Oates, one of the featured speakers, is a former Waco Today religion columnist and a book author. She has taken part in the workshop the last two years and said that her talk will be first and foremost about a persons identity in Christ. The key, she said, is knowing ourselves and how God created each of us and that uniquely contributes to better quality writing. A writer since the first grade, Oates took writing classes, did some volunteer writing for her church and interned for a Christian publishing company before she began working on her first book proposal. That worked out well, After my first child was born I submitted my first book proposal to a publisher and it was accepted, she said, That was almost 10 years ago. Submitting an unsolicited manuscript wouldnt happen today. Nowadays most publishers only work with agents and even then the fact that a publisher picked me up considering I had such little experience was a total fluke. Oates said she believes in the idea from the Robots computer-animated movie: see a need, fill a need. I think the same is true for Christian writing, she said. We need to assess our audience, figure out their greatest need and address that. We can use our personal experiences to add credibility and relate to our audience, but ultimately our writing is a ministry for our people, not a therapy session for ourselves. She said she wants to stress the fact that often writers do not remember that important detail. We see writing as a cathartic process, which it can be, but we forget to minister to our audience and we try to fulfill our needs first, she explained. When we do this, our audience can tell and they stop reading. They want to know, Whats in it for me? They dont want to read all about us; they want to read something that is going to help them, and then relate to us along the way. Writing Process Also speaking at this years conference is Bradley Turner, a professor at McLennan Community College and considered an expert on all things Waco. He has written Lust, Violence, Religion: Life in Historic Waco and Cotton Bales, Goatmen and Witches: Legends from the Heart of Texas. He will be speaking for a second year at the workshop. While Turner said he is a Christian, most of his writing is more academic. Most of my publications began as side projects that revolved around particular themes or events, he said. Turner said he will be discussing the process of writing and how there is no clear path for successfully writing, and hopefully publishing, a piece. Each path to becoming and growing as a writer is extremely diverse and, at times, can be very discouraging, he said. I plan to discuss how that discouragement can either break you as a writer, or fuel your next project. Personally, I find writing to be one of the most difficult things that I have done yet also one of the most rewarding. His takeaway thought for the workshop will be when done well, writing is extremely difficult for everyone; but that does not mean that the writer should stop doing it. I think that the patterns of self-doubt and discouragement arent tethered to just one style of writing and I would like other writers to know that success does not always look like a compilation of glue-bound pages on a shelf. I want those attending to know that I plan to share real writing experiences- some positive and some negative. Oates said it is important for the audience to know that even when writers have gained wisdom and might have some sort of credibility or authority they, too, are often struggling right alongside the audience. I think readers like to know that we are not elevating ourselves above them, rather we are journeying with them, Oates added. We are all in this together whether its marriage, parenting, or the general struggles of living the Christian life. Hammond summed up the Christian Writers Workshop as a unique fellowship of real people who enjoy the craft of writing and believe God has called them to help tell his story through the written word. This is your year and the markets are wide open, Hagins said. Theres a world out there waiting for your story. Workshop sessions The free Wednesday night sessions begin Feb. 1 and meet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the church. Feb. 1: Mary Hamilton, Ben Hagins, Sharon Payne, authors Feb. 8: Jamie Foley, author and digital marketing specialist Feb. 15: Tina Jacobson, marketing and publishing analyst Feb. 22: Cindy Janecka, author March 1: Vicky Kendig, Stan Poel, Ron Bradford, authors March 15: Jimmy Siebert, author and Antioch Community Church pastor March 22: Chris Fabiszewski, author, musician and editor March 29: Lisa Gefrides, author of fantasy short stories and novels; former forensic scientist April 5: Wrapup, evaluations and projections (Editor's note: The speakers for March 1 and March 15 were exchanged from the original schedule) If a cancer diagnosis is the first step of a most unwanted journey, the next likely step for patients in McLennan County is the Community Cancer Association. The organization has helped local patients and their families navigate the countless challenges brought on by the disease since 1959. From getting medications to help with travel expenses, CCA offers an array of support and guidance. Cancer in a family means dramatic changes no matter which family member has it, said Bill Northcutt, executive director. The impact of cancer goes far beyond medical and financial to include emotions, relationships and even spirituality. While we at CCA do not pretend to be experts in these fields, we do try to determine to which we can refer patients and family members. Not to be confused with area cancer centers or other supportive groups and nonprofits, CCA is a starting point for patient navigation in identifying various sources available to people with cancer and their loved ones. In the case of many of our clients, this is the first time they have ever asked for outside help and are confused, frightened and even embarrassed, Northcutt said. They dont know where to turn for help, what is available and how to access it. The person who qualifies for our program has other needs that are directly affecting them and their families. We try and identify these needs and direct them to the proper source to get help. Medication Among its many services, helping patients obtain outpatient medication is a top priority. Medicine does no good if you cant afford to take it, Northcutt said. Literally hundreds of times each day, local cancer patients are taking medications obtained with Community Cancer Associations assistance. CCA will cover prescription co-pays and deductibles for clients with insurance, and cover full costs for the uninsured, he said. For more expensive drugs that exceed our ability to cover, we help the patient locate and access any patient assistance program the drug manufacturer may have in place, Northcutt explained. If none is available, we work with the staff at the medical facility to identify any viable alternatives. The Community Cancer Association most often is contacted by patients or their families on a referral basis, said Terry Hunt, director of development. Local oncologists and their nurses, as well as the local cancer centers, often refer their patients to CCA, Hunt said. Referrals also come from the American Cancer Society, vendors like Flip Your Wig, online research findings, and through the Texas 211 system, a program of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Current patients and their families provide word-of-mouth referrals, too. Qualifying for Help CCA then determines who can qualify for help. Qualifying is a simple process, the most simple cancer patients will go through, Hunt said. The process takes about 20 to 25 minutes. We know in advance of their visit that (patients) qualify for our service. When you get to the application process in our office, you are qualified. Whatever the determination, Northcutt said the Community Cancer Association assists all who need help when initially facing a cancer diagnosis. Patient navigation services are provided free of charge to anyone who needs them whether they qualify for CCAs programs or not, he said. Unique on both the local and state level, the associations services often are requested in other locations. As far as we can determine, there are only two other places in the state that do what we do, Northcutt said. In fact, we often hear from professionals in other locales wishing we would expand to their areas. Once an organization is identified that helps cancer patients or provides related services, the Community Cancer Association works to build a relationship and cross-refer patients, as well as support their activities. This approach ensures that we use all donor funds to provide services unavailable elsewhere and that people in our community are getting access to all services that are available to them, Northcutt said. Other Assistance In addition to prescription help, CCA assists with medical supplies, nutritional drinks, hair pieces and travel expenses. Help with supplies includes wound care items, ostomy supplies, stoma covers, voice prosthesis and incontinence items, among others. Northcutt said about one-third of its clients are breast cancer patients or survivors. Many supplies help specifically with mastectomy and lymphoma needs. The expense of nutritional drinks for cancer patients is another key area where CCA can help. Cancer patients often have dramatic weight loss as the result of loss of appetite or inability to consume food normally, Northcutt said. The ability to fight the disease is seriously compromised by the lack of proper nutrition. Oncologists frequently prescribe nutritional drinks such as Ensure, Boost or Glucerna. These items are expensive and usually not covered by health insurance so CCA pays for them. Patients dealing with hair loss also can get assistance from the Community Cancer Association. Losing your hair during chemotherapy treatment can have debilitating emotional effects on someone who is already overburdened with cares and concerns so CCA buys wigs for the patients who want them, Northcutt said. When cancer patients are referred to help that is located in other cities, CCA can assist with travel expenses. This includes trips necessary for both adults and children, whether for one-time visits or ongoing treatment that may last several weeks. The best treatment in the world does no good if you cant get to it, therefore CCA assists patients who have to travel by giving them money for gas and other travel-related expenses, Northcutt said. Christmas Giving Each year, the Community Cancer Association sponsors a childrens Christmas event for qualifying families. Young cancer patients and their siblings receive wish-list items from their parents as given by local donations specifically designated for the holidays. Each child gets a number of gifts, Northcutt said. Everything is given unwrapped to the parents a week or two before Christmas so they can decide how they want to present the gifts to the children. Hunt said last years event grew to help 10 families and 26 children. Located at 2911 Herring Ave. in a medical office building owned by Baylor Scott & White, CCA has received support from Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center for more than 35 years, Northcutt said. Free office space and low overhead means the maximum amount of funds go directly to helping local cancer patients. Donations All Local As CCA receives no government funding, he added that all expenses are covered by local donations. Cost-saving efforts include using donated office supplies and furniture, sharing internet services with other nonprofits, and keeping their staff to a minimum. Northcutt and Hunt are the only staff members. We are a United Way agency and we also get a grant from Susan Komen Race for the Cure, plus other fundraising avenues, Hunt said. Like all nonprofits, fundraising is a huge part of my job. Im on the lookout for places we can share our mission because the message is simple and once you hear it, youre in. Hunt also said the association has joined numerous local schools in their October Pink Out efforts, receiving funds raised during these events. It also recently was supported by the Caring Hearts Banquet at the Rose of Sharon #180, and held its first major fundraiser at the Baylor Club with various raffled and silent auction items. Other support includes grants from the Waco Foundation, Cooper Foundation and Fentress Foundation. Northcutt said that going forward, the Community Cancer Association would like to expand its area of service to include neighboring counties. All of have been personally impacted by cancer a loved one, friend, co-worker, classmate or ourselves, Northcutt said, speaking from personal experience. His wife and daughter both were diagnosed with cancer within six months of each other. Our organization provides more than prescription assistance, travel money, medical supplies and a network of resources; we provide hope, he said. That is why Community Cancer Association is here, so we can fight cancer together. ----- Community Cancer Association 2911 Herring Ave., Suite 212 254-202-8082 For information, email bnorthcutt@wacocancer.org or thunt@wacocancer.org How does a little girls dream of becoming the first woman president of the United States of America plummet to prostituting bare-footed, homeless and addicted to crack in New Orleans? Summer Shine yes, that is her real name was that homeless addict on the streets of New Orleans only a few years ago, but who now, along with her husband, owns a very successful, small business, operates a recovery house for women, sits on the board of advisers for a statewide ministry, and is a viable part of the Waco community. However Summers story is not one of a strong woman simply resolving to do better and pulling herself up by her own bootstraps. Her story is one of heartache, despair and desperation to the point of almost taking her own life until some people reached out to her in the name of Jesus through a couple of ministries of compassion, love and encouragement people who dared to believe in one so destitute. Today Summer is paying it forward by offering hope to those in need of that same kind of compassion, love and encouragement. Although Summer was raised in a good home with educated, caring parents, sexual abuse slimed its way into her life when she was only 4 years old. It changed the aspirations of that little girl. Sexual abuse always does change the victim. Summer said that through her work with abused women, strippers, addicts and prostitutes shes never met one who had not been sexually abused as a child. She was put on the drug Ritalin when she was 7. The die was cast. She started down the slippery slope of drug addiction. She began hiding and drinking vodka in the seventh grade. Throughout her high school career she used multiple drugs, including LSD and cocaine. During each of her high school years she spent two sessions in 30- to 60-day treatment facilities, which isolated her from the outside world, then spit her back into the world with little or no after care. At the age of 18 she became pregnant with a son who changed her outlook, but still she struggled with addiction. All during these ups and downs of addiction and sexual promiscuity, she had questions questions about who God is. Does He really care about us? Maybe some other religion besides Christianity held the answers she was so desperately seeking perhaps Buddhism or Wicca. Summer married and had another son, but after a time her husband took their child and left. On her 26th birthday, she tried crack, which thrust her into a world she never intended to enter. She gave her son to her mother and went into the Freeman Center rehabilitation facility in Waco, but even after spending time in that very proficient care facility the cycle continued. Eventually she started prostituting to support her habit. Reaching Out One particular dark night in desperation Summer cried out to God. If you are real, God, I need you. I want to know you. Let me know if you are real. A sense of peace and enlightenment came over her. She didnt understand exactly what had transpired, but she knew that God had drawn her to himself. One might think that the happily ever after ending would ensue after that supernatural encounter with God, but Summers journey was more complicated than that. A cycle of being sober for a time, relapsing, then becoming sober again was her reality. After a time of sobriety and marrying a second time, the Jesus Said Love ministry partnered with Summer and her husband to remodel the Freeman Center into a facility for homeless women and children, women needing a safe place to recover, women needing a place for their children. The home was near completion, and they had 12 women living in the facility when it was sold out from under them. Summer and her husband were devastated all of the work, donations, volunteers to no avail. Where were the women to go? Shortly thereafter her second husband left, and coupled with the disappointment of the demise of the recovery home for women, it was simply too much. The demon of addiction captured her once again. This time it took her to New Orleans, with a john, prostituting to feed her drug habit. This relapse lasted for about a year. That Summer is even alive today is astonishing. She attempted suicide six times during her stay in New Orleans. Finding Hope Jesus Said Love, a ministry which reaches out to women on the streets, in bars and strip joints, persuaded Summer to go to a facility in Victoria, Texas, named Perpetual Hope Home. To say she went reluctantly is putting it mildly, but she had exhausted all of her resources. Her son had been removed from her home; her parents were not accepting her phone calls; her husband had filed for divorce. She didnt even have two shoes that matched, and the only clothing she had were sequined, mini-skirted cocktail dresses. Her life was in shambles, and, in her mind, too broken to repair. On her way to meet the people who were to transport her to the home she was so high she wrecked her car. When the police showed up, what they found in her vehicle was enough evidence to put her away for a very long time, but because she was on her way to a rehab center they did not arrest her. She staggered into Perpetual Hope Home not even realizing what day it was, why she was there, or even what city or state she was in. My stay there was not easy or without its own challenges, she says. As a matter of fact, I can easily say it was one of the hardest, yet formative times of my life. After a short drying out period, she immediately went into its introductory program, which refreshed her on computer and vocational skills. Once that class was complete, she was expected to rejoin society, and learn to live a productive life, while having the safety net of Perpetual Hope Home. Like any other facility of this nature, there are rules to follow and levels of achievement, but in her words, the refinement I received from the management at PHH was by far the most challenging, yet rewarding, Ive ever experienced. New Dreams While at the home, Summer decided she would like to open her own business. She learned how to write a business plan and the skills it took to start a business. She moved back to Belton where her son family lived and began a juicing business delivering her products on a scooter. One of her first goals was to reconcile with her family. She initially thought that meant reuniting with her husband, but in fact it primarily involved repairing her relationship with her son. Then she and her husband did reunite as well. The business, which started with deliveries on a scooter and at the Waco Downtown Farmers Market, took off. In 2014 she was given a small loan of $5,000 to start the Luna Juice Bar in Waco. In the first six months they sold $10,000 worth of juice. Last year they closed the year at more than $100,000 in sales and were able to repay the loan in much less time than that which was agreed upon. Now they have a food truck parked at the Magnolia Market at the Silos downtown, and they expect to close the year with more than $300,000 in sales. Summer and her husband have plans to expand the Luna Juice Bar, whose products are all made with healthy, natural, organic ingredients, into a catering business as well. Their team whom they call lunatics are family, and some of them are recovering addicts as well. One of Summers current projects in Waco, along with her husband, involves a safe house for women who need a place to recover and get on their feet again. For security reasons the location of the home is confidential, but its not hard to get that information for those needing it. The women hold each other accountable, pay their part of the bills, stay sober and become an active member of the community. The length of stays vary according to the different needs of the women. Summer explains that part of the program that helped her recover is giving back, and this is one of the ways she has chosen to give back. Summers eyes glisten as she explains. My life today is amazing, she says. My son moved back in with me shortly after I came back to Waco and graduated high school this spring. My marriage is stronger than it has ever been. My business and recovery are thriving. Three years ago just three short years I was doing everything I could to kill myself. Today she cherishes every moment she has. She calls it recovery through entrepreneurship! ---- Luna Juice Bar Also on Facebook 601 Webster Ave. in Waco (at Magnolia Market at the Silos) Mon-Thu, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fri-Sat, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 254-498-5122 2329 S. 57th St. in Temple (inside Titan Total Training) Mon-Fri, 5:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mon-Thu, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. 254-633-8088 Yoga Pod Waco owner Amy Tarter has loved helping people feel better through fitness and the practice of yoga. The Baylor graduate has taught yoga as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, led Livestrong classes for cancer survivors at the Waco Family Y, and was the fitness director at Ridgewood Country Club. But it was her yoga sessions with Don Moes, former Woodway mayor and owner of Equipment Depot, that led to the creation of Yoga Pod Waco. Moes was having personal yoga sessions with Tarter to help with his Parkinsons disease. He found so much relief of his back pain, sciatic pain and stress through yoga that he and I decided that Waco needed a professional yoga studio, she said. They are now business partners of Yoga Pod Waco, which is a franchise of Yoga Pod Inc. It opened Jan. 1, 2016, and has had amazing success and interest in its first year. Tarter, a registered Yoga Alliance instructor and AFAA-registered exercise professional, has been amazed with the fast growth of Yoga Pod. It just so vibrant and alive, she said. I expected us to be where we are now in a couple of years, not already. She is a firm believer in the power of yoga. Yoga boasts of many benefits, she said. Science has actually proven that yoga can relieve pain and tension, improve posture, lower blood pressure, neutralize stress, and improve concentration, to name a few benefits. Many also find back pain relief from yoga. Yoga Pod instructor Emily Pauly, a yoga instructor whom Tarter has worked with at Baylor and in the Livestrong program, has multiple sclerosis. Anything else she did would cause her multiple sclerosis to flare up, give her an occurrence, Tarter said. Thats why she loves yoga; it doesnt do that. Its the only thing that has helped her. Professional Instructors As a professional yoga studio, Yoga Pod offers a 200-hour teacher training program, she said. Upon completion of this program, one is certified to become registered with the international governing body, Yoga Alliance. Yoga Pod has capable and educated instructors who can offer the program, she said. We have great instructors and Im glad we have a place for them to teach and share what they know, she said. That gives me so much joy. Although Tarter teaches several classes herself, she is an active mom as well. She and husband Noel have four children at Live Oak Classical School a second-grader, sixth-grader, freshman and junior. But with the business just reaching a year old, its still determining how best to operate. Shes had clients request yoga classes for children and even pre-natal options, which they hope to offer at some point, but Yoga Pod isnt quite there yet. Yoga Pod offers memberships, drop-in classes, packages of 10 classes, as well as a free class first-time visitors can try. Yoga Pod also provides barre classes and hot yoga that is well, a hot as in popular commodity. A recent 9 a.m. Saturday hot yoga class had little space remaining for more yoga mats. Unlike places that just turn up the heater to make a room a sweatbox, Yoga Pod has a specialized room outfitted with an infrared heat and humidity system that provides a better experience, she said. Retail Clothing Beyond the classes, theres a retail side to the business. Yoga Pod Waco obtained a partnership with Lululemon active wear. It is one of 70 such partnerships in five states, including Texas and California. The lobby has those items on display. With that partnership, we carry their product for Wacoans to enjoy, Tarter said. We also have gone above and beyond to offer other top-of-the-line active wear. The retail shopping is open to the public, not only to guests of the studio, she said. And shes had people from Austin and Dallas come to Yoga Pod just for those Lululemon products. Thats also part of challenging figuring-out process for the young business, Tarter said. Clothing orders have to be done months in advance and its hard to know what items will sell best to have them ordered and in stock, she added. Good Feelings But overall, its the yoga and the friendships that grow out of the classes that Tarter relishes. I love that it really helps people, she said. I got a text the other day from someone thanking me for the way the class helped them both physically and emotionally. That makes it all worthwhile. ----- Yoga Pod Waco 5100 Franklin Ave., Suite D 254-235-9642 Check website as classes and schedules are constantly updated WAHOO Thanks to many donors and quite a few volunteers, the 54th annual VFW Christmas drive was once again deemed a success. The toy bags and food boxes were delivered Dec. 17 to nearly 200 families. Drive coordinators Lorraine Syverson and Jason and Michelle Libal reported that more than 200 children benefited from this years campaign. With the aid of monetary donations over $7,000 last week, the final drive total is $14,355.15. Once again, it is an honor and a pleasure to have the ability to give to those in need, Jason Libal said. We would not be in such a position without the support of the Wahoo and Saunders County communities. We feel so very fortunate to live in a community that is willing to give to others and to help thy neighbor. Once again, we would like to thank all of those that donated to this project. The weather this past Saturday was a stark reminder that Nebraska winters can be tough, but the cold and slick roads didnt stop volunteers from making their appointed rounds. The number of volunteer drivers braving the conditions and that were willing to make deliveries on Saturday was outstanding, Libal said. All of the volunteers that helped deliver and put the baskets together are simply doing so out of the kindness of their heart and for the gratification of helping others. They do not make a cent by helping with the drive. The drive to help families in need at Christmas time was started 54 years ago by the late Ray Syverson and a few of his Wahoo VFW friends. The VFW and its members still play a huge part in the annual campaign. There is no possible way that this program could have been sustained for so many years without their support, Libal said. We look forward to the partnership with the VFW to continuing in the future and the drive to continue to grow. It is our goal to maintain and to build upon this program throughout the future. All of those that donate to this years drive have allowed us to continue this goal. Recent donations $1,247: Bethlehem Lutheran Church $1,206.85: Wahoo Elementary School Giving Tree $1,000: Willard Jacobs $330: FirstBank of Nebraska Employees $300: Anonymous $200: Wahoo Gun Club; Burt and Patricia Knudsen; James Stejskal; Owen and Marilyn Jensen; Wahoo State Bank $150: Farmers United Mutual United Insurance; Robert and Audrey Williams $125: Dennie and Rogene Phelps $105: Robert Copperstone $100: Yutan Country Club; Steve Sallenbach; In Memory of John P. Noonan by the Noonan family; Lana Krumpus; Kevin and Cheryl Dunbar; Anonymous Leshara; Adele Jackson; American Legion Post No. 308 Weston; Sons of the American Legion Post 308; Don and Rhonda McClure; Don and Edith Furasek;In Memory of John P Noonan by the Noonan Family; Georgine Fouts $50.30: Anonymous $50: Tony and Laurie Milenkovich; American Legion Auxiliary Valparaiso; Paul and Marsha Eddie; Presbyterian Woman Wahoo; Sharon Spicka; In Memory of Mom and Dan Bob and Linda; Knights of Columbus Wahoo. $40: John and Julie Vybiral $30: In Memory of Robert Belik $25: David Pellan and Family; Ralph Sabatka; Greg and Melissa Brigham; Jerry and Marilyn Volin; Allen and Mary Arp $15: In Memory of Emil Mach Anonymous Other Donations Toys, Mittens, Gloves and Hats: Craig and Susan Wagner Toys: In Memory of Valerie Witte of Yutan, passed away Aug. 16, 2016 Billionaire Carl Icahn will advise Donald Trump on rescinding what the activist investor called "excessive regulation" on business, the president-elect's transition team announced on Wednesday. Icahn will serve as a special adviser, not a federal employee, and he will not have specific duties, Trump's team said in a statement. He will not take a salary, a transition aide said. The pick could draw scrutiny because Icahn, whose major investments include insurer American International Group and oil refining business CVR Energy, could help shape rules meant to police Wall Street and protect the environment. In the transition team statement released on Wednesday, Icahn said it was time to "break free of excessive regulation" and let businesses create jobs. After yesterday's story claiming "Bernardi is on the brink" of breaking away, today's follow up stories featuring surprise, surprise Tony Abbott are even less subtle. The former PM, who likes to fashion himself as the party room's leading conservative, tells his favoured News Corp papers that it's up to Turnbull to stop Bernardi from defecting, which, it's worth keeping in mind the South Australian has not once publicly confirmed. [Dennis Shannahan/The Australian] If Bernardi goes, Abbott's already waning prospects at ever being restored to the Liberal leadership are over, that is, if Abbott is deluded enough to think that the conservatives are still a bloc and support him. They aren't and they don't. Not since Nick Minchin left the Senate has the right wing really properly existed. Face in the crowd: Tony Abbott in the party room at Parliament House in November. Credit:Andrew Meares Mathias Cormann is probably the closest thing to a viable leader of the right but his preference for self advancement has prevented him from reaching a Minchin-like status. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Special Minister of State Scott Ryan. Credit:Andrew Meares Friends of Scott Ryan have in the past tried to promote the Victorian as a next Minchin but after his work in not just backing Turnbull but orchestrating the change, that suggestion is now laughable. In truth the right is hopelessly adrift and this began after Tony Abbott's election to the leadership in 2009. Eric Abetz departed the party room meeting by Tony Abbott's side after Abbott lost the leadership ballot. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Tony Abbott's caucus amounts to about Eric Abetz, Kevin Andrews and the Sydney MP Craig Kelly. Cue, snickers. And did you notice the silence of the Member for Deakin Michael Sukkar and his close friend, junior minister Zed Seselja when it briefly looked like the Coalition might be considering a carbon price again? Those two right-wing rising stars were M.I.A. during that debate mainly because they are on their way along the promotion train. The conservatives began unravelling under Tony Abbott as they had to sit by as he promised big government programs like the Green Army and his paid parental leave scheme, not when Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister. Peta Credlin with Tony Abbott in 2012. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen If Abbott is genuine about wanting to keep the party together, some self reflection wouldn't go astray. An excellent read in The Guardian on why Bernardi should jump from Katherine Murphy, with a very interesting suggestion that the right-wing Rebel online media outlet might be branching out in Australia. [The Guardian] In other politics news: Scott Morrison Credit:Andrew Meares Scott Morrison's projected surplus is all down to a Wayne Swanesque (that's not a compliment!) accounting trick via a reclassification of Future Fund earnings, reports David Uren. [The Australian] Be careful, every email and SMS you write and send in a personal capacity could soon be used against you in civil court cases under draconian new data retention measures being considered by the federal Attorney-General George Brandis. [Bianca Hall/Fairfax] Plenty of end-to-end encrypted self-destructing applications out there to circumvent this sort of thing. 3. Aleppo Iran and Russia's victory says Assad The regime has claimed back Aleppo. [BBC] Syria's President Bashar al-Assad says regaining control of the city is as much Iran and Russia's victory. [Reuters] The Red Cross says 34,000 people have now been evacuated from Aleppo. [BBC] And the UN is warning that Idlib could be the "next Aleppo". This Reuters report contains quite a chilling quote from a European diplomat who says evacuating the citizens and rebels from Aleppo to Idlib would suit Russia as it would "put all their rotten eggs in one basket." [Stephanie Nebehay, Suleiman Al-Khalidi] Russia says its airforce prevented the breakup of Syria. [Russia's Tass News Agency] Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit:Pavel Golovkin Speaking at the Defense Ministry's final board meeting, President Vladimir Putin said Russia is "stronger than any potential agressor." Putin said Russia had much to do to take nuclear weapons to a higher level. [Tass] A nice piece on Vox with a bunch of questions you might have about Russia but are too embarrassed to ask. [Matthew Yglesias] Meanwhile Donald Trump just tweeted this. [ITV] 4. Berlin hunt intensifies German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to the media to say she hoped the perpetrator of Monday's fatal truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market would be caught soon. An alert showing Tunisian national Anis Amri. Credit:Police The government believes their suspect, Tunisian Anis Amri, is the attacker as his fingerprints were found in the truck cabin. [Reuters] In London, Prime Minister Theresa May urged Britons not to be cowed by terrorists and go about their normal business this Christmas. [BBC] 5. Prince Charles' warning Prince Charles reads his Christmas Thought for the Day for the BBC. Credit:BBC Quite a political statement from the second-in-line to the throne. Prince Charles has warned the populist movements on the rise across Europe and the United States have "deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s." Unsurprisingly Prince Charles is being criticised by UKIP for criticising popular politicians with popular (ahem populist) policies. [My report/Fairfax] 6. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year And that's it from me for this year. I'll be resuming Double Shot in late January in time for the inauguration but if you're around next Thursday do join me for an Ask Me Anything Facebook Live on Thursday 8pm Australian time to discuss what's easily been the biggest year in news of my journalistic career and lifetime. Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon in Today I'm heading up to Borough Market to collect the goose and ham for what I'm hoping will be a lovely first London Christmas, complete with carols at St Paul's, some paleo Christmas cake and my annual date with Love Actually before heading to Raja Ampat - a remote batch of islands off Indonesia - via Australia for a few days in the New Year for some scuba diving. A western Sydney man has been charged with foreign incursion offences after a failed attempt to enter Syria allegedly to join Islamic State, police say. Amin Elmir, 27, from Bass Hill, left Australia in April and managed to divert from his travelling companions and reach Turkey. However, he couldn't find contacts to escort him into Syria and returned home alone without the knowledge of police, Fairfax Media understands. On Thursday, the labourer was arrested and charged with preparing for incursions into foreign countries for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities. It is arguably Australia's most exclusive enclave, counting the cream of nation's political, legal and financial circles among its swathes of high-profile ratepayers. But even as Woollahra Council's legal fees broach the $1 million mark, the council's bid to retain its exclusivity could become more expensive after the NSW Supreme Court of Appeal threw out its appeal against a forced merger with Randwick and Waverley Councils on Thursday. In the traditionally blue-ribbon heartland, home to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his harbourside mansion, Woollahra Council has led the charge against the Baird government's forced council amalgamations through the NSW courts. It suffered its latest setback on Thursday when the panel of three judges on the NSW Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the council's appeal, finding no merit in its arguments that the proposed merger with its neighbouring councils was invalid. Guildford Grammar School says it has experienced an "unprecedented" surge in enrolments, despite parents speaking out about the school's decision to become a co-educational high school. Perth's oldest private all-boys school made the decision to slowly integrate girls into years 7, 8 and 11 in 2017, and flagged their intention to introduce boarding for girls in the Senior School by 2020. Some parents of the college were initially upset with the lack of consultation by school administration on the decision, and one mother said she would explore other options for her two sons as a result. "There was no consultation and when I asked the questions in my interviews and meetings only just 12 to 18 months ago, there was no mention of this being remotely possible," she said. International cyber criminals based in Eastern Europe and overseas crime gangs operating from the Americas, Asia and beyond will be a major focus for Australia's top crime fighting agency - the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission - next year. ACIC chief executive Chris Dawson said cyber criminals based out of countries like Ukraine, and "transnational" drug gangs were high on his 2017 hit list. Chris Dawson, chief of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. Mr Dawson said he believed ACIC was making progress on organised crime gangs impacting on Australia, but he said their work would never end. "The pervasive nature of serious and organised crime means we will always have a job to do," he said. By PTI: Malda (WB), Dec 22 (PTI) Two persons have been arrested after Rs one lakh in fake currency notes was seized from their possession in Sujapur here, police said today. "The fake notes were that of demonetised Rs 500 notes, Malda Superintendent of Police Arnab Ghosh said. The seizure was made last night and both the accused, residents of Bhagalpur in Bihar, were wanted in connection for several crimes," he said. advertisement A motorcycle was also seized from the duo, Ghosh added. PTI COR KK AYP --- ENDS --- Beirut: The evacuation of civilians and fighters from the last rebel-held part of Aleppo concluded on Thursday after long delays because of frigid weather, putting all of Syria's industrial capital back in the hands of President Bashar al-Assad's forces for the first time since 2012. The last buses carrying residents from eastern Aleppo left the city late on Thursday night, according to the Syrian state news agency. Tens of thousands of people have been removed from eastern Aleppo since December 15. Before the last buses left on Thursday, the Red Cross said that 34,000 people had left the city, including 4000 fighters ,who had left in their own vehicles the previous night. A separate convoy was waiting to carry residents out of two pro-government villages in neighbouring Idlib province that have been surrounded by rebels for years. It was unclear late on Thursday whether the convoy had completed its trip. Eichenwald said the tweet sent him into convulsions. "This individual did something clearly knowing his actions could injure me, and he succeeded," Eichenwald said in a Newsweek story. Kurt Eichenwald, senior writer with Newsweek, who had a seizure after being sent a tweet. Credit:Twitter/@kurteichenwald Now, he is pursuing civil and criminal cases against the user. On Tuesday, he tweeted links to court documents seeking subpoenas compelling Twitter to reveal the identity @jew_goldstein, whose account has since been suspended. Twitter has agreed to comply with a judge's order to turn over the information, Newsweek reported. The publication said Eichenwald has also filed a criminal assault complaint with police in Dallas, where he lives. In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday, Eichenwald said the incident had spurred numerous copycats whom he accused of targeting him because of his reporting on Trump. "It is amazing to me that simply because I am a political reporter, simply because I write about Donald Trump that we have become so sick and twisted in this country that people think they have the right and obligation to inflict potentially very serious injury,'' he said. Eichenwald's stories on Trump - and his jabs at Trump supporters - have brought him death threats and other abuse online. He described some of it in Newsweek in October: "I have received innumerable death threats, sometimes just general invocations that I should die, sometimes more specific threats that I should be shot or 'lynched', as one Trump fan wrote. "I have been called 'kike', 'Jew' and 'anti-American Zionist', even though I'm Episcopalian with a Jewish father (as if that makes a difference). I have received video cartoons that look like they are from Nazi Germany of hook-nosed men dressed in Jewish garb rubbing their hands greedily over piles of money. I have been told to go back where I came from, whatever that means." He continued: "I write this knowing that it will spur more vile and violent online attacks on me. I have warned my children and my wife to be extra careful. And now that I have revealed how easy it is to inflict an injury on me, until this election is over, I will not be pushing PLAY on any unsolicited video I receive. It's simply too dangerous." He said the tweet that triggered his seizure came shortly after he left an interview with conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson on December 15. Carlson had grilled Eichenwald over a tweet he posted on September 13 - and later deleted - claiming that Trump was "institutionalised in a mental hospital for a nervous breakdown in 1990". The tweet drew broad criticism for its lack of attribution or supporting evidence. As The Washington Post's Paul Farhi wrote at the time, "Eichenwald's tweet appears to cross the usual lines. It is an unsupported and potentially inflammatory claim about a leading presidential candidate in the midst of a campaign." In the Fox News segment, Carlson asked Eichenwald repeatedly if he could substantiate his claim. "Was he in a mental hospital or not in 1990?" Carlson asked. "You alleged that he was. Was he or wasn't he?" Over and over, Eichenwald skirted the question, at one point holding up a white binder reading, "Tucker Carlson Falsehoods" and accusing the host of talking over him. "You're not fooling anybody," Eichenwald said. "You're trying to stop me from giving the answer." "I don't mean this in a cruel way," Carlson said at the end of the segment, "but I would have real concerns if I were one of your editors." That night, Eichenwald was at home sitting at his computer and checking his Twitter mentions when he saw the flashing image from @jew_goldstein, he told The Daily Beast. His wife, Theresa Eichenwald, said her husband called out, and she found him turned away from the screen, "incoherent" in his chair. "I knew right away what was going on. I quickly got the image off the screen. He did not have a grand mal seizure," she told The Daily Beast, referring to the most severe, potentially fatal type of seizure. "He had a localised seizure. All you can do is make sure the person is safe and wait it out and tell him he's OK. My response was more anger than anything else." She said she tweeted from her husband's account that she had called police: "@jew_goldstein This is his wife, you caused a seizure. I have your information and have called the police to report the assault." Earlier, Eichenwald had posted a string of tweets about his spat with Carlson, some of which he went on to delete. One of the tweets he left up said that "Fox News viewers" were threatening his children over the interview. "As expected, Fox News viewers going after my kids online because of my confrontation with @TuckerCarlson. Classy bunch of fans u have." In his appearance on ABC on Tuesday, Eichenwald responded to criticism about his claim that Trump was institutionalised, telling host George Stephanopoulos that he intended it to be a "signal to a source" to talk to him. He said he was trying to poke fun at Fox News for its allegations about Hillary Clinton's health while she was campaigning for president, including the incorrect suggestion that she was having seizures. "There was a reporting purpose for that tweet going out," Eichenwald told Stephanopoulos. "I was writing a series of jokes leading up to that with the intent of sending that tweet, which was a signal to a source to talk to me." Stephanopoulos didn't follow up. In the same segment, Eichenwald said he was taking a break from Twitter, although he has posted multiple updates about his legal cases in the past two days. "I can't look at my Twitter feed any more, but apparently a lot of people find this very funny," he said. "A lot of people who identify themselves as Trump supporters are loading up my feed with more strobes." "I'm very public about the fact that I have epilepsy. I have a lot of people who follow me who have epilepsy," he added. "Now my Twitter feed is dangerous for them." Loading Patrick Norman Pat Chapman is a 34-year-old, Caucasian male who was last known to be in Piedmont which is near the area of Greenville, Missouri on May 10, 2020. Pat had stayed the night with a friend and his wife at their home. In the early morning when the friend woke to go to work. Pat was gone in his own Burgundy color 1995 Ford Escort. That is the last anyone was known to have seen him. The vehicle was later recovered on May 29, 2020 in Mill Spring, Missouri. By PTI: Mumbai, Dec 22 (PTI) NCP today dubbed the clean chit given to Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde in the Rs 206 crore chikki "scam" by the ACB as an attempt by state government to "influence" the High Court proceedings in the case. Party spokesman Nawab Malik told reporters the final hearing in the rate contract or chikki "scam" will be held on January 7 before the Bombay HC. advertisement "The petitioners will put forth their stand vigorously and NCP will also support them. The clean chit given to Pankaja Munde is an attempt by the government to influence the High Court proceedings," Malik said. He said his party will demand a court-monitored probe in the case. A PIL seeking an inquiry by a retired high court judge into the supply of substandard chikki to students was filed before the HC last year after allegations were made against Munde. Malik also demanded a probe against Vinita Ved Singhal, Women and Child Welfare Secretary who was posted in the department after appointment of another bureaucrat Manisha Verma was cancelled. "Singhal as ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) commissioner was responsible for alleged irregularities in the take home ration (THR) scheme. This shows how Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was encouraging corruption in the department," he alleged. Malik sought investigation of the bank accounts, chikki (sweetmeat made with nuts and jaggery)) manufacturing units as well as audit reports of concerned contractors. The chikki case pertained to alleged irregularities in awarding of contracts for purchase of snacks and other items worth Rs 206 crore for school children. The minister was accused of flouting procedures in awarding contracts for supplying items like chikki, mats, notebooks and water filters for school children. Right from the start, Munde had rubbished the charges and said she was prepared for any inquiry. PTI MR NSK BAS --- ENDS --- YouTuber Adam Saleh, best known for his prank videos, alleged that he was "kicked off" a Delta flight after a few fellow passengers informed the crew that they were uncomfortable with his presence after hearing him speak in Arabic. Adam shot a video of him being escorted out, and it now has over 25 million views. By Vivek Surendran: YouTube star Adam Saleh, 23, and his friend Slim Albaher, 22, both Muslims, alleged that they were asked to deboard a Delta Airline flight after some of the fellow passengers informed the crew that they were uncomfortable with the presence. Incident happened at London's Heathrow Airport as Adam and Slim were hoping to fly to New York after a world tour. advertisement Adam alleged that it is after other passengers heard him speak in Arabic to his mother over the phone initially, and later to Slim, that they got annoyed and alarmed. When the captain of the flight asked Adam and Slim to deboard, Adam pulled out his phone and recorded what was going on. In the video that has gone viral by now with over 25 million views on Facebook, over 8,00,000 shares, and 6,74,000 retweets on Twitter, Adam could be heard saying, "Can you say this on Facebook and Twitter? Guys, we spoke a different language on the plane and now we are getting kicked out." He goes on to say, "You feel uncomfortable because I spoke a different language? I can't believe my eyes. This is 2016! Look, Delta Airlines are kicking us out." Watch the video here: THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF The last time Adam alleged that he was subjected to racism and Islamophobia, and even produced a video as proof, it was proved fake. Adam, who initially uploaded the video on racial profiling with a description that categorically stated, "We were filming another video for our channel with our cultural clothing but we kept getting followed by Police. So, we decided to film this social experiment on racial profiling. Too many innocent people get stopped and frisked every day because of what they wear or their skin color," was later changed to "This video is a Dramatization of previous events that occurred with us in our tradition clothing while filming in NYC. This video is not against the NYPD, it's just an example of what we have to go through sometimes when filming in NYC. This is to raise awareness for racial profiling." Here's the video: Hence, many people still consider the Delta Airline episode a prank. But it turns out that's not the case. In a telephonic interview, Adam told The New York Times, "The only thing I can say is, I would never film a phone video. That's when it's really serious, and I must film." His video camera was in his luggage." advertisement Adam, who was almost live tweeting all that's happening, also appeared live on Periscope during which he said that he was in a conversation with Albaher in Arabic when a woman interrupted them, asking them to speak in English because the language made her uncomfortable. Soon enough, as per what Adam narrated, a man who seemed to be accompanying the woman verbally abused them and said they should be "chucked" out of the plane. "At this point, me and Slim looked at each other. We didn't know what to do. We felt like we were terrorists," said Adam during his interaction via Periscope. DELTA'S RESPONSE In a statement issued, Delta accepted that Adam and Slim were indeed deboarded. The statement reads, "Two customers were removed from Delta Flight 1 departing London-Heathrow today after a disturbance in the cabin resulted in more than 20 customers expressing their discomfort," and also said, "we take all allegations of discrimination seriously and we are gathering all of the facts before jumping to any conclusion. Our culture requires treating everyone with respect. Furthermore, Delta people are trained to and frequently handle conflicts between passengers." advertisement Upon landing in New York City, Delta updated the statement saying Adam and Slim disrupted the cabin with their behaviour. The statement said, "Based on the information collected to date, it appears the customers who were removed sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting. This type of conduct is not welcome on any Delta flight. While one, according to media reports, is a known prankster who was video recorded and encouraged by his traveling companion, what is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees. It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority [sic]." SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION The fact that Adam's video has garnered over 25 million views in less than 20 hours itself shows how interested, bothered people are about such an incident of Islamophobia and racism. But since Adam Saleh is considered the boy who cried wolf, people have taken clear sides; one group sympathises with Adam, declares solidarity, and the other group calls him a liar and prankster who wants cheap publicity, and have also started pulling out tweets Adam made years ago to prove a certain viewpoint. advertisement Here are a couple of tweets to give you an idea of both the sides. Yall saying Adam Selah is a hoax like @delta didn't move a Muslim woman not too long ago. Explain that too ??#DeltaAirlines#BoycottDelta Lancestipher (@Lancestipher) December 21, 2016 Adam Saleh, the person who got kicked out of a Delta flight today for apparently speaking Arabic, said this back in 2013. https://t.co/l1eeZgqWDB Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) December 21, 2016 --- ENDS --- 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. 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Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, Instron Shanghai Ltd., Instron Thailand Limited, International Leasing Company LLC, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., Itw Spraytec, KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft S.L., Loma Systems, Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems Canada Inc., Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, MTS 2 LLC., MTS 3 LLC., MTS China Holdings LLC, MTS Europe Holdings LLC, MTS Holdings France S.a.r.l., MTS Japan Ltd.., MTS Korea Inc.., MTS Systems China Co. Ltd., MTS Systems Corporation, MTS Systems Danmark ApS., MTS Systems Europe B.V., MTS Systems Finance C.V.., MTS Systems Germany GmbH, MTS Systems Holding B.V.., MTS Systems Hong Kong Incorporated, MTS Systems Limited, MTS Systems Norden Aktiebolag, MTS Systems S.r.l, MTS Systems., MTS Systems.., MTS Sytems Do Brazil, MTS Testing Solutions India Private Limited., MTS Testing Systems Canada Ltd., Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology Suzhou Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited Enping, Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners Shanghai Co. 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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. 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Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Archer-Daniels-Midland: 3 Grain Elevators, ACT Exportacao Ltda., ADGENE LABORATOIRE, ADM (Dalian) Animal Health & Nutrition Co. Ltd., ADM (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., ADM (Thailand) Ltd., ADM AGRO S.R.L., ADM Ag Holding Limited, ADM Agri Services Greece MEPE, ADM Agri-Industries Company, ADM Agricultural Commodities Trading (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., ADM Agriculture Limited, ADM Agro Iberica S.L.U., ADM Agro Industries India Private Limited, ADM Agro Industries Kota & Akola Private Limited, ADM Agro Industries Latur & Vizag Private Limited, ADM Agroinvestimentos Ltda., ADM Alliance Nutrition of Puerto Rico LLC, ADM Americas S. de R.L., ADM Andina Peru S.R.L., ADM Animal Health & Nutrition (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., ADM Animal Nutrition (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., ADM Animal Nutrition (Xiangtan) Co. Ltd., ADM Animal Nutrition (Zhangzhou) Co. Ltd., ADM Antwerp NV, ADM Arkady Ireland Limited, ADM Armazens Gerais Ltda., ADM Asia-Pacific Trading Pte. Ltd., ADM Australia Holdings I PTY Limited, ADM Australia Pty. Limited, ADM Bazancourt SASU, ADM Besin ve Tarim Anonim Sirketi, ADM Bio-Productos S.A. de C.V., ADM Bio-Science & Technology (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., ADM Bulgaria Trading EOOD, ADM CARIBBEAN INC., ADM Chile Comercial Limitada, ADM Clinton BioProcessing Inc., ADM Czernin S.A., ADM DO BRASIL LTDA., ADM Direct Polska Sp. z o.o., ADM Dominican Holdings Inc., ADM Dominicana S.A., ADM EMEA Corporate Services GmbH, ADM Edible Bean Specialties Inc., ADM Egypt LLC, ADM El Salvador Ltda. de C.V., ADM Europe Holdco S.L., ADM European Management Holding B.V. & Co. KG, ADM Expatriate Services Inc., ADM Export Co., ADM Food Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ADM Food Technology (Pinghu) Co. Ltd., ADM France, ADM Fuels Company, ADM German Holdings B.V., ADM Germany GmbH, ADM Grain Costa Rica S.R.L., ADM Grain River System Inc., ADM Grain de Venezuela C.A., ADM Guatemala Limitada, ADM Hamburg Aktiengesellschaft, ADM Holding (Thailand) Ltd., ADM Holdings LLC, ADM Honduras S.de R.L., ADM INGREDIENTS S.R.L., ADM Inca S.A.C., ADM Industries Centers Ltd, ADM International Holdings Inc., ADM International Sarl, ADM Investments Limited, ADM Investor Services Inc., ADM Investor Services International Limited, ADM Ireland Receivables Company Limited, ADM Israel, ADM Italia S.r.l., ADM Japan Ltd., ADM Latin America Inc., ADM Logistics Inc., ADM MANAGEMENT LTD., ADM MOROCCO S.A., ADM Mainz GMBH, ADM Malbork S.A., ADM Medsofts Sarl, ADM Mexico Inc., ADM Mexico S.A. de C.V., ADM Milling Co., ADM Milling Limited, ADM Myanmar Company Limited, ADM New Zealand Limited, ADM Nicaragua SA, ADM Nutrition Holding d.o.o. Beograd, ADM Olomouc S.R.O., ADM PORTUGAL SA, ADM Panama S. De R.L., ADM Paraguay S.R.L., ADM Participacoes Ltda., ADM Poland Sp. z o.o., ADM Protexin Inc., ADM Protexin Limited, ADM Pura Limited, ADM Razgrad EAD, ADM Receivables LLC, ADM Rice Inc., ADM Ringaskiddy Unlimited Company, ADM SERVICIOS S.A. DE C.V., ADM STF DMCC, ADM STF Pte. Ltd., ADM STF Switzerland Sarl, ADM Services B.V., ADM Slovakia s.r.o., ADM Specialty Ingredients (Europe) B.V., ADM Spyck GMBH, ADM Sweden AB, ADM Szamotuly Sp. z o.o., ADM Trading (UK) Limited, ADM Trading Australia Pty. Ltd., ADM Trading Company, ADM Trading Cote D'Ivoire, ADM Transportation Company, ADM Trucking Inc., ADM Unterstutzungskasse GmbH, ADM Uruguay SCA, ADM Ventures Investment Corp., ADM WILD Europe GmbH & Co. KG, ADM WILD Nauen GmbH, ADM WILD Netherlands B.V., ADM WILD SEE Kft, ADM WILD Valencia SAU, ADM Wild Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, ADM Wild UK Limited, ADM Worldwide Holdings L.P., ADMEcuador CIA. Ltda., ADMIS Holding Company Inc., ADMIS Hong Kong Limited, ADMIS SINGAPORE PTE. LIMITED, AGRANIX, AIC Seguros SRL, AMT West LLC, AOR, AT Holdings II Company, Agri Port Services Brasil Ltda., Agri Port Services Investments Ltd., Agri Port Services LLC, Agricolas Madagascar SARLU, Agrinational Insurance Company, Agriserve, Agrograin Ltd., Agrograin Ltd. Sucursal Uruguay, Alfrebro LLC, Alfred C. Toepfer International Exportacao e Importacao Ltda., Alfred C. Toepfer International Netherlands B.V., Alimenta USA, Alimentos Texo SA de CV, American River Transportation Co. LLC, Ameriseed, Anco Animal Nutrition Competence GmbH, Archer Daniels Midland (UK) Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Asia-Pacific Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Company South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Archer Daniels Midland Erith Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Europe B.V., Archer Daniels Midland Europoort B.V., Archer Daniels Midland Korea LLC, Archer Daniels Midland Nederland B.V., Archer Daniels Midland Singapore Pte. Ltd., Archer Daniels Midland Vietnam Company Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Wild Nigeria Ltd., Archer Financial Services Inc., Archer-Daniels-Midland Philippines Inc., Arinos Unlimited, Aston Foods & Food Ingredients, BIOPOLIS S.L., BQ Railroad Company, BTECH Tecnologias Agropecuarias e Comercio Ltda., Balanceados Nova S.A. Balnova, Balto Holdco LLC, Barbados Mills Limited, Bela Vista Bio Etanol Participacoes Ltda., Belize Mills Limited, Belwood Company S.A., Benson-Quinn Commodities Inc., Bern Aqua, Bifodan Inc., Biopolis, CONTROLADORA ADM S.A. DE C.V., Campa Sued GmbH & Co KG, Caribbean Agro-Industries Limited, Casablancas sweetener plant, Cattleman's Choice Loomix LLC, Chamtor, Ci ADM Colombia Ltda., Columbia & Willamette Maritime Services Inc., Comhan, Compania ADM S.A. de C.V., Crosswind Petfoods Inc., DE Holdings LLC, DP Holdings LLC, Daavision B.V., Deerland Europe ApS, Deerland Holdings Inc., Deerland Ireland R&D Limited, Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes, Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes A/S, Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes Inc., Eaststarch, Eatem Corporation, Eatem Foods, Elstar Oils, Empresa de Transporte La Estrella S.R.L., English River Pellets Inc., Epicore BioNetworks Inc., Epicore Ecuador S.A., Epicore Networks (U.S.A.) Inc., Erich Ziegler GmbH, Evialis (Shandong) Co. Ltd., Evialis France, Evialis Galicia S.A., Evialis India Limited, FINANCIERE FRANCO MAGYAR POUR LA NUTRITION ANIMALE - FFMNA, FISA Andina S.A.S., FISA Aromas S.A.S., Fasco Mills Co., Federation Sahanala Vanille, Filozoo SRL, Flavor Infusion, Flavor Infusion International S.A., Florida Chemical, Florida Chemical Company LLC, Flotek Flavor & Fragrance LLC, GLOBAL COCOA HOLDINGS LTD., GP Blanching Inc., GPC Trucking Inc., GROUPE PILARDIERE, GUYOKRMA spol. s.r.o., Golden Farm Production & Commerce Company Limited, Golden Peanut Company, Golden Peanut Company LLC, Golden Peanut and Tree Nut Seed SA (Pty) Ltd., Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts S.A., Green Bison Soy Processing LLC, Group Lysac, Guyomarc'h - VCN Company Limited, Guyomarc'h Vietnam Co. Ltd., Guyovital PT, HFR Shipping Company Ltd., HI-NUTRIENTS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, HRA Shipping Company Ltd., HTI Shipping Company Ltd., Harvest Innovations, Hilltop Grain and Feed, Holding P & A Asia Company Limited, Hubei Meiweiyuan Biotechnology, Ilitchevskiy Maslo Extractionniy Zavod (IMEZ), Industries Centers EOD Trade 2005 Ltd., Invivo NSA Algerie, Invivo NSA Sanpo (Tianjin) Pet Products Co. Ltd, JDS Sarl, Jamaica Flour Mills Limited, Jamaica Rice Milling Company Limited, LANCENTER S.C.A., Liquid Feed Commodities, Logus Bar Ashdod Port Ltd., Malta Industries S.A. de C.V., Malta Texo De Mexico S.A. de C.V., Maniobras Y Servicios Del Interior S.A. de C.V., Master Mix of Trinidad Unlimited, Medsofts Company LLC, Medsofts for Import Co., Medsofts for Investment LLC, Medsofts for Trade LLC (Medsofts Trading), Mepla Comercio e Navegacao Ltda., Mezclas Biomix S.A.S., Monti Foods (Pty) Ltd., Mundo Logistics S.R.L., NEC Facilities LLC, National Enzyme Company LLC, Naviera Chaco S.R.L., Neovia, Neovia Algerie SPA, Neovia Nutricao e Saude Animal Ltda., Neovia Philippines Inc., North Star Shipping S.R.L., NutraDine, NutraDine LLC, NutriMix Feed Company Inc., Nutrilac, Olenex C.V., Olsen's Mill Inc. Four Grain Storage Elevators, P & A Marketing SA, PANCOSMA FRANCE S.A.S, PJSC ADM Illichivsk, PT ADM Indonesia Trading and Logistics, Pancosma & Associates Marketing (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Pancosma (Jiangsu) Feed Additive Co. Ltd., Pancosma (Shanghai) Feed Additives Co. Ltd., Pancosma Canada Inc., Pancosma Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pancosma North America Inc., Pancosma SA, Pedigree Ovens, Pedigree Ovens LLC, PetDine, PetDine LLC, Prairie Pride - Biodiesel Production Plant, Premiere Agri Technologies Asia Inc., Premiere Agri Technologies of Mexico Inc., Proservicios Potencial Humano S.A. de C.V., Provit Sp. z o.o., Pura Foods Limited, Rodelle Inc., SANICOOPA, SDJ Sarl, SORA Laboratories LLC, Sartco Ltda., Schokinag-Schokolade-Industrie Herrmann, Sermix, Servad S.R.L, Setna Nutricion S.A., Silo P. Kruse Betriebs-GmbH & Co. KG, Silo-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, Societe Industrielle des Oleagineux-SIO, SojaProtein d.o.o. Becej, Sojaprotein, Southern Cellulose Products Inc., Soy Investors LLC, Specialty Commodities, Specialty Commodities LLC, Sul Mineira Alimentos Ltda., Syngenta - Dry Bean Business, Szabadegyhazai Szolgaltato es Vagyonkezeklo KFT, Terminal Stevedores Inc., Terminales De Cargas Especializadas S.A. De C.V., The Pound Bakery, The Pound Bakery LLC, Toepfer International, Toepfer International Trading (Shanghai) Co. LTD., UPSCIENCE ITALIA S.R.L., Upscience, VIA CHEM GROUP a.s. Oilseed Processing Plant, Vantage Corn Processors LLC, WILD Flavors, Wild Amazon Flavors Concentrados e Corantes para Bebidas Ltda., Wild Flavors (Canada) Inc., Wild Flavors Austria GmbH, Wild Flavors Inc., Wild Flavors International GmbH, Wild Flavors Kenya Limited, Wild Flavors Middle East FZE, Wild Flavors Polska Sp. z o.o., Wild Flavors S.A. de C.V., Wild Intermare GmbH, Wild Polska Sp. z o.o., Wild Russia LLC, Wild Tunesia Sarl, Wisium SA (Pty) Ltd., World's Finest Chocolate - New Cocoa Powder Line, and Yerbalatina Ltda.. Read More While foreign tourists have suffered due to unavailability of money exchange options, domestic tourists do not have enough cash due to the limits on cash withdrawals, leading to fall in count of visitors. By Siraj Qureshi: Christmas and New Year are usually celebrated with much pomp and show in Agra. Not only the locals, but also tourists from across the globe come to the city to welcome the New Year under the gigantic marble dome of the Taj Mahal. Hotels and sightseeing points get booked over a month in advance. On New Year's eve in particular, hotel authorities have to turn down accommodation requests from last-minute travellers. advertisement 1. However, after the government's demonetisation move, the situation has changed drastically. Not only are the 450-odd hotels in Agra lying vacant at the peak of the tourist season, they haven't even received enough bookings for New Year's celebrations to justify bookings for celebrity performances at the hotels. Hence, most hotels are now looking at Agra's local talent to perform during the relatively low-key New Year celebrations this year. 2. Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber Secretary Vishal Sharma said that the count of tourists this year had been exceptionally low in Agra. While the number of foreign tourists was falling considerably every year, there used to be a proportional rise in domestic tourists. But this year, in the wake of demonetisation, apart from the dearth of foreign tourists, there has been a significant slump in the number of domestic visitors coming to Agra despite this being the peak season. 3. Hotels are not receiving bookings for New Year's Eve celebrations and barely 10 per cent advance bookings have been received as per the reports. 4. Sharma said that while foreign tourists were suffering due to unavailability of money exchange options, domestic tourists did not have enough cash due to the limits on cash withdrawals. The number of tourists visiting the Taj Mahal after November 8 had gone down significantly. View of the Taj Mahal from a hotel in Agra. 5. A report of the Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) claimed that the number of domestic tourists arriving in Agra had dropped to less than 50 per cent of the previous year and pre-booked tours to Agra were being cancelled. Hotels that used to be completely booked by 15th December were lying empty. 6. "All hotels have offered New Year packages, but they are not being booked. Online bookings are taking place but budget-class hotels are not getting the benefits of online transactions as many are yet to adopt electronic booking systems. Hence, these hotels are being forced to offer discounts on their tariffs in a bid to fill the rooms", said an official. The report claimed that most of the bookings, which were being cancelled, were 'Pay-At-Hotel' type of bookings. advertisement 7. Agra Tourism Guild Chairman Arun Dang told India Today that December used to be a much-awaited month and peak season for the city's tourism industry and New Year packages offered by hotels here used to have star attractions with performances by Bollywood celebrities. 8. But this year, bookings have hardly taken place after demonetisation. It's not only hotel business, but the entire tourism industry that is suffering due to the cash crunch. If the situation does not improve post 30th December, the tourism industry could be looking at a completely wasted year. --- ENDS --- Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. Owens & Minor, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare solutions company in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Global Solutions and Global Products. The Global Solutions segment offers a portfolio of products and services to healthcare providers and manufacturers. Its portfolio of medical and surgical supplies includes branded products and its proprietary products. This segment also offers services to healthcare providers, which include supplier management, analytics, inventory management, and clinical supply management; and various programs to provide logistics and marketing solutions to its suppliers. The Global Products segment manufactures and sources medical surgical products for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections across the acute and alternate site channels. This segments products portfolio includes sterilization wraps, surgical drapes and gowns, facial protection products, protective apparel, medical exam gloves, custom and minor procedure kits, and other medical products. It provides its products and services to multi-facility networks of healthcare providers, independent hospitals, surgery centers, physicians' practices, and networks of hospitals directly, as well as indirectly through third-party distributors. The company was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. 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. WSU Receives Grant to Understand, Help LGBTQ+ Students December 22, 2016 OGDEN, Utah Safe@Weber is more than a slogan at Weber State University. The Safe@Weber Violence Prevention Team in the Womens Center is using a Utah Department of Health grant to help address specific needs of LGBTQ+ students. The team currently is conducting research that will be used to create a customized LGBTQ+ workshop curriculum to help ensure students are able to learn in an environment free from violence or discrimination. A curriculum like this is necessary because members of the LGBTQ community are often alienated by these curriculums, in the sense that concepts around sexual assault and bystander intervention have aspects that are often exclusive to LGBTQ individuals, and no one is bringing them up, said Porter Lunceford, violence prevention intern. Were working to make that difference and address these issues that so few have attempted to address, despite an obvious need for intervention. The Safe@Weber team also will administer Photovoice, a project to capture photo and video images that illustrate feelings, fears and experiences of LGBTQ+ students. Photovoice is a research method that allows individuals to collect images as symbolic evidence of the world they see and experience. Students interested in participating in Photovoice are invited to meet Jan. 11 from 3-5 p.m. in Shepherd Union Room 321. Research shows that LGBTQ individuals in the United States experience particularly high rates of sexual violence. A 2015 survey by the Association of American Universities found that rates of sexual assault and misconduct are highest among undergraduate females and those identifying as transgender, genderqueer, non-conforming, questioning. Although some violence prevention programs have been altered to try to include LGBTQ+ communities, there is no national curriculum that targets best practices specific to that community. The Health Department grant will allow WSU to develop a comprehensive primary prevention curriculum workshop that teaches LGBTQ college students, ages 18-24, healthy ways to Navigate Consent and LGBTQ Sexual Relationships and Bystander Intervention Skills to Prevent Sexual, Partner, LGBTQ Hate Crime and Systems-Based Violence. In order to create meaningful curriculum, the team is conducting extensive research in collaboration with the OUTreach Resource Centers, WSUs LGBT Resource Center and the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault. An online survey, which is being conducted now through Jan. 13, 2017, will identify the deficits in violence prevention training, concerns about consent and sexual communication, LGBTQ-specific issues within relationships and barriers to bystander intervention. A second survey will allow participants to select the images from Photovoice that will be used to enhance the new curriculum. This project will help our state be better equipped to prevent violence against LGBTQ+ community members. Join Safe@Weber today to help expand the perspective and development of Utahs violence prevention efforts, said Stephanie McClure, Womens Center director. Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University. A Look Back at 2016 at WSU December 22, 2016 OGDEN, Utah As 2016 comes to a close, we revisit some of the people and developments that made news at Weber State University this year. January DEQ Partners with Universities to Examine Air Emissions from Starting Vehicles Cold Weber State University worked with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to study the impact vehicle emissions have on air quality. Students and researchers helped to dispel misinformation about idling your vehicle to warm it up on cold winter days. WSUs Health Management Ranked Nationally for Quality, Value Weber State Universitys online program in health management was recognized by OnlineColleges.net as one of the best in the country at one quarter the price of other nationally ranked programs. WSU Selects Two Associate Provosts Two Weber State University professors have been selected to lead key academic initiatives as new associate provosts. Psychology professor Eric Amsel was named the associate provost for academic programs and assessment, and sociology professor Brenda Marsteller Kowalewski was named the associate provost for high-impact programs and faculty development. February WSU Announces $5 Million Donation to Help Renovate Social Science Building The much-needed renovation of Weber State Universitys Social Science building has received a $5 million gift from John E. Lindquist, a longtime university advocate and contributor. WSU Professor Mentors High School Student Who Qualifies for International Science Competition At 17 years old, Karissa Wang, a former student at Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering & Science (NUAMES), designed a way to combat drug-resistant bacteria. Wang developed her research under the mentorship of Matthew Nicholaou, an assistant professor of medical lab sciences, and earned a spot in the semifinals of a nation-wide science competition. Storytelling Festival Celebrates 20th Year at WSU Weber State Universitys 20th annual Storytelling Festival took place Feb. 22-24. Each year, the award-winning festival features the performances of national, local and student storytellers. March WSU Students Share the Importance of Healthy Brains During Brain Awareness Week The Neuroscience Program hosted a week of events to educate the community on brain awareness. Participants had the opportunity to wear beer goggles, study their own DNA and examine sheep brains. Lindquist Award Honors WSU Professors for Community Engagement Azenett Garza, psychology professor, and Becky Jo Gesteland, English professor and interim associate dean of the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities were selected as the John A. Lindquist Award recipients for their efforts to enhance the community and classroom with thoughtful partnerships. WSU Students Build Tiny Studio with Tiny Environmental Impact Students in design engineering technology, manufacturing engineering technology and electrical engineering programs spent their senior year designing and building Ogdens first net-zero tiny studio. April WSU Fundraising Exceeds Goal, Campus Celebrates Weber State University President Charles A. Wight announced the Dream 125 fundraising campaign exceeded its goal of $125 million with two months left before it officially ended. WSU Names 2016 Brady Presidential Distinguished Professors John Mull, zoology professor, and Paul Schvaneveldt, family studies professor, were named Weber State Universitys 2016 Brady Presidential Distinguished Professors. High School Students Compete in Rocket, Boat, Dragster Competition at WSU High school students visited Weber State University to participate in the Engineering Technology Open House, which included model rockets, cardboard boat and mini-racer competitions. May Scott Sprenger Named New Dean of College of Arts & Humanities Scott Sprenger was appointed the dean of the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities. Sprenger oversees 3,500 students, faculty and staff in five primary departments. WSU Turns Parks Into Educational Hubs for Science, Arts Children of all ages and abilities engaged in science experiments and art projects during the summer thanks to Weber State Universitys interactive outreach programs Science in the Parks and Arts in the Parks. WSU Digs 200 Deep-Water Wells to Help Save Energy Large drilling rigs bore holes in the north side of the Stewart Station to create a system to heat and cool university buildings more efficiently and cost effectively. June Students Design Wireless Brake Shift, Emergency Drone, Guitar Pick at WSU Concept Center The Concept Center, housed in the College of Engineering, Applied Science & Technology (EAST), has worked on more than 40 large projects, including a state-of-the-art bicycle brake system and a prosthetic device to hold a guitar pick. Students Compete to Create Prosthetic Arm at WSU Teams of middle and high school students from across nine states competed to design a prosthetic arm that can complete a variety of tasks during the MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition. Jerry and Vickie Moyes Support WSU with $5 Million Gift A $5 million gift from Jerry and Vickie Moyes boosted the supply chain management program at Weber State University. WSU and Startup Ogden Host 1 Million Cups to Energize Entrepreneurs Young entrepreneurs and local startups got critiques for their business ideas during a monthly event called 1 Million Cups (1MC). July WSU Tax Program Opens New Center, Recognized Nationally for Value Weber State Universitys new Center for Tax Education & Research was approved by the Utah Board of Regents and will help students, citizens and business and legal communities navigate the complex world of tax. WSU to Host Conversation on Race Weber State University hosted the first in a series of town hall conversation about race. Panelists included WSU President Charles A. Wight, elected officials, community leaders and representatives from local law enforcement. August Premier Science Building Grand Opening Planned The new Tracy Hall Science Center was open for the community to explore during its grand opening on Aug. 24. Overnight Pineview Stay Welcomes New WSU Students Weber State University offered new students a chance to celebrate before hitting the books with an overnight camp and back-to-school party. September WSU Alumnus Aims for Gold in Paralympics Discus Throw Weber State University alumnus David Blair competed in the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, where he broke his own world record and brought home gold in the discus throw. WSU Fundraising Campaign Surpasses $125 Million Goal Weber State University announced the successful conclusion of its fundraising initiative, Dream 125: The Campaign for Weber State University. The campaign raised a total of $164,392,217.21, far exceeding its original goal of $125 million. Public Invited to Ribbon Cutting of WSU Discovery Loop Hikers can explore the foothills above Weber State University and learn about the areas distinctive natural setting thanks to informational signs installed along 1.5 miles of the WSU Discovery Loop trail. October Physics Department to Host Open House for All Ages The 10th annual Physics Open house drew hundreds of people to Weber State University for demonstrations, lab experiments and planetarium shows. WSU Professor Helps Ghana Implement Respiratory Therapy Degree Program, Receives Prestigious Medal Associate respiratory therapy professor Lisa Trujillo was successful in helping the University of Ghana implement a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy degree program. November WSU Hosts 11th Annual Native Symposium A series of events were held throughout November in honor of Native History Month, culminating with the 11th Annual Native Symposium. WSU Unveiling Universitys Largest Solar Project A new solar installation at Weber State University Davis is expected to generate up to 100 percent of the campus electrical power needs. WSU Automotive YouTube Channel Hits 10 Million Views Automotive technology professor John Kelly became an unlikely YouTube star with his informative videos, found at youtube.com/user/WeberAuto. December Faraday Lectures at WSU Make Chemistry a Family Holiday Event In celebration of the holiday season and science, Weber State University hosted the annual Faraday Lectures. Commencement Ceremony Planned for Dec. 16 More than 2,324 Weber State University students applied for graduation during WSUs 148th commencement. Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University. Weinberg College welcomes Assistant Professor Peter van Elswyk to the Department of Philosophy! Professor van Elswyk recently answered a few questions about his current research and what inspired him to study philosophy. Where are you from? Where did you study? LEESVILLE -- Max. S. Antony has been tapped as Leesville city attorney. The Leesville City Council approved a resolution Tuesday, outlining Antony's hiring, effective Jan. 1. He's an attorney with Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell, of Alexandria, and practices from an office in downtown Leesville. The Anacoco High School graduate completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where he graduated summa cum laude. He attended law school at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas, where he graduated cum laude. After law school, he practiced in Dallas and in 2015, joined Gold Weems. Licensed to practice law in both Texas and Louisiana, Antony handles matters involving real estate, municipal and employment law, corporate and business transactions and litigation, personal injury and successions. Dowden to leave effective Jan. 1 In a separate measure agreed upon Tuesday, the council relieved Chuck Dowden of his duties as city attorney, effective Jan. 1. Several thanked him for his time with the city. The action follows a heated Dec. 12 meeting when Mayor Rick Allen and Councilman Danny Dowd clashed over Dowden's status and pay. Dowden appeared before the council May 9 and submitted a letter of resignation, announcing his last day as June 30 and noting a transition period. Allen said, however, the city needed an attorney to handle ongoing litigation and to help with the city audit and Dowden stayed on. Allen said he never accepted Dowden's resignation, so he never officially resigned. He said a resolution was necessary to do so, according to the city's code of ordinances. Some on the panel, including Dowd, at a November meeting, indicated they were unaware Dowden had stayed on in the city's employ in the months after he submitted his letter. Records reflect Dowden received salaried pay during those months. Several, during that time, also complained about not having an attorney in place and present at meetings. Allen asked Dowden on Tuesday to update members on the city's ongoing legal affairs. A key issue, Dowden said, is the purchase of the East Central Vernon Water System for the University Parkway annexation. He said he has been working on the project with Mark McCarty, of Meyer and Associates, the city's contracted engineer. Officials are drafting an environmental report. Dowden also spoke of the ongoing litigation involving firefighters' vacation-time pay. He said the matter is set to be taken up Thursday in 30th Judicial District Court. "For what I believe is cross motions for summary judgement with regard to the firefighter litigation," he said. "With Mr. Antony appointed, I will certainly invite him to come over so he can meet the attorneys involved." City prosecutor recovering from surgery Dowden said city prosecutor Clay Williams has been out, recovering from surgery. "I went to city court Wednesday (Dec. 14) as city attorney and head of the legal department and ran the docket with Judge Fontenot (Elvin). I fully expect and hope and pray that Mr. Williams makes a hasty return. The next city court is, trials only, at 1 p.m. on Jan. 11 and then a full day of arraignments and other business and trials on the 18th," Dowden said. Councilman Tony Shapkoff asked if Antony would step in if Williams is unable to return to work in time for the January court dates. "Well, yes, I'll see if I can assist him in getting lined out on that, but yes, somebody needs to be there," Dowden said. Dowden said much of the litigation the administration inherited has been resolved. "In two-and-a-half years, we've cleaned up a lot. We've gotten rid of a lot of the old ... what I would consider old litigation. With any municipality, y'all know you are running a $10 million-plus business here, you're going to have claims brought against the city," he said. Shapkoff asked about the ongoing suit brought against the city by former police chief Bobby Hickman, who claims around $50,000 is owed to him in accrued time. The suit was filed in 30th Judicial District Court. The city hired Alexandria attorney Howard B. Gist III in April 2015 to handle the case. Dowden, who served as city prosecutor when Hickman led the city police force, suggested an outside attorney because of his prior work relationship with Hickman. "Essentially, the thing is dead in the water today," Dowden said. "There has been no movement by either side for some period of time." Dowden weighs in on work hours Dowden, at the end of his report, said he wanted to address some comments regarding his city work in recent months. Dowd, in a letter he read to the council Dec. 12, mentioned payroll records in relation to Dowden. "I would have expected to at least see invoices from his firm if he was hired to do work by the council after his resignation. We have not seen any legal bills but continued to pay him as an employee, still. One pay period, he was paid 168 hours worth of work when it shows he's normally paid for 80 hours," Dowd read. "Amongst some of the comments that were made about me was that I billed the City of Leesville 168 hours," Dowden said. "Well, that's an absolute misstatement of fact." Dowd said he did not say Dowden "billed" the city for 168 hours. "It showed on your payroll records that you were paid for 168 hours," he said. "If you understood payroll records, you would know I was a salaried employee, Mr. Dowd," Dowden returned. "Yes, sir, I do understand payroll records. I have salaried employees. When I look at when it has 80 hours every pay period and then all of a sudden, I see 168 hours in one pay period ...," Dowd said. "Well, do you think I billed it? Do you think I requested it?," Dowden said. "I never said you did, sir," Dowd said. Allen cut the disagreement short. "Gentlemen ...," he said. "I have nothing further to say, mayor, it's been a great pleasure to serve this city and I wish y'all the best of luck in moving this town as far, as fast and as far as you can and as fast as you can," Dowden said. Legal updates to be added to agendas Allen said Antony will be attending all council meetings and an item would be added to the council's meeting agendas for regular legal updates. "Council, we will be reinserting a line item number in the agenda from this point forward, beginning next year, where Ms. Nikki Howe (city clerk) will be inserting a line item for a city attorney update," Allen said. "I have spoken to Mr. Max Antony about that and he will be present at every meeting and prepared to update you on those cases as he proceeds." Tuesday's meeting was the last scheduled convening of the year. LEESVILLE -- The City of Leesville fared well, financially, and held spending amid a 7 percent decline in sales tax collections from last year. That's according to C. Burton Kolder, of Kolder, Champagne, Slaven & Company LLC, the city's contracted certified public accountant. Kolder on Tuesday gave the city council an overview of the city's finances. The firm compiled the independent audit report for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2016. Kolder also highlighted some of the internal control and compliance findings. The full report has not been released publicly through the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office, yet city officials have received copies. The public release is expected next month. The office posts reports weekly HERE. FINANCES Kolder said the city had a $10 million revenue base and operated with about a $216,000 surplus for the year. "Again, with the reduction in revenues, you at least held the spending. You didn't do poorly. You did operate in the black, which is good," he said. Most cities have seen a reduction in revenues due to the economic downturn and in Leesville, tax collections were $274,040 below-budget. The city budgeted to receive $5,816,499, yet brought in $5,542,459. Kolder said the city is spending $9,174,000 a year to operate -- that's $25,136 a day. Last year, it spent $24,068, and in 2014, that figure was $25,220. The city's finances are such that it could operate for 121 days without taking in any money -- four months. Last year's estimate was 169 days, or 5.6 months. Sixty days is the benchmark. "You're in good shape. You'd like to be better. Obviously, we'd like to have eight months of it, but you have four months and the requirement is at least two. That's a good thing," Kolder said. Here are some budget highlights: REVENUES -Taxes Budgeted to receive: $5,816,499 Brought in: $5,542,459 *$274,040 below-budget -Licenses and permits Budgeted: $462,846 Brought in: $540,959 *$78,113 more than projected (Last year, the city brought in $492,941.) - Intergovernmental (revenues coming from other governmental source: federal, state or parish) Budgeted: $522,758 Brought in: $532,293 *$9,535 more than projected (Last year, the city brought in $926,552. Kolder said the city had more grant funding a year prior.) "Obviously, this number fluctuates," he said. - Fines and forfeits Budgeted: $260,500 Brought in: $245,461 *$15,039 less than projected (Last year, the city brought in $248,634.) - Charges for services Budgeted: $413,259 Brought in: $297,403 *$115,856 less than projected (Last year, the city brought in $313,575.) - Miscellaneous Budgeted: $262,834 Brought in: $348,497 *$85,663 more than projected (Last year, the city brought in $305,460.) - Water and sewer utility revenues Budgeted: $2,667,874 Brought in: $2,560,051 *$107,823 less than the city projected (Last year, the city brought in $2,480,050.) --TOTAL revenues Budgeted: $10,406,570 Brought in: $10,067,123 *$339,447 less than projected Kolder said the revenue variance from budget is -3.26 percent. "Remember, I said you should be within 5 (percent), you are. You do have some variations in some of the 'details' categories, but still, in all, you are within the 5 percent. You are 3 percent less than you thought." He said the central reason for the reduction can be attributed to the sales tax drop. Actual revenues in 2015: $10,594,148 Actual revenues in 2014: $10,573,441 Actual revenues in 2013: $10,807,200 Actual revenues in 2012: $9,789,182 Actual revenues in 2011: $9,723,122 EXPENDITURES - General government Budgeted: $1,236,117 Actual: $1,067,831 *$168,286 less than the city projected (The total was $922,629 for 2015, and $1,062,429 for 2014.) - Public safety Police Budgeted: $2,669,936 Actual: $2,646,452 *$23,484 less than projected Fire Budgeted: $1,021,044 Actual: $935,420 *$85,624 less than projected Court Budgeted: $125,840 Actual: $114,063 *$11,777 less than projected - Public works Budgeted: $1,056,007 Actual: $1,062,619 *$6,612 more than projected - Economic development Budgeted: $195,621 Actual: $272,372 *$76,751 more than projected - Culture and recreation Budgeted: $378,105 Actual: $457,760 *$79,655 more than projected - Debt service, principal and interest Budgeted: $973,939 Actual: $552,906 *$421,033 less than projected - Water and sewer utility expenses Budgeted: $2,653,795 Actual :$2,253,570 *$400,225 less than projected - Capital outlay Budgeted: $724,655 Actual: $613,530 *$111,125 less than projected (Last year, the city spent $915,184 on capital outlay projects.) - Excess (deficiency) of revenues over expenditures Kolder said the city anticipated a deficit of $636,489, but ended up with a surplus of $192,247. --TOTAL expenditures Budgeted: $11,043,059 Actual: $9,874,876 *$1,168,183 less than projected Actual expenditures in 2015: $9,777,695 Actual expenditures in 2014: $9,893,610 Actual expenditures in 2013: $9,838,630 Actual expenditures in 2012: $9,028,329 Actual expenditures in 2011: $9,955,570 Some figures on the city's utility fund: Sewer Sewer total revenues: $917,710, 2016; $896,774, 2015 Sewer total operating expenses: $1,127,275, 2016; $1,119,534, 2015 Water Water total revenues: $1,642,341, 2016; $1,583,276, 2015 Water total operating expenses: $1,024,648, 2016; $1,043,258, 2016 Total operating revenues: $2,560,051, 2016; $2,480,050, 2015 Total operating expenses: $2,151,923, 2016; $2,162,792, 2015 Kolder noted that expenses decreased about $10,000 and revenues increased about $80,000. He said water rates are lower in the city in comparison to his other clients, and departmental costs are relatively low. FINDINGS Kolder did not detail all of the findings, but highlighted some of the nine that were noted this year. Eleven were noted last year. You can see prior year findings HERE. "Some of them are repeat findings such as the master bank account not being up-to-date and fully reconciled," Kolder said. "It is, as we speak, but it was not when we came into the audit." Second year master bank account not reconciled Kolder said the master bank account is where all the city's funds are pooled. He said it was not up-to-date for about 10 to 12 months. "This is the second year that this has taken place," he said. Councilman Danny Dowd asked if the state legislative auditor would take note of that. "They normally give you three strikes, Danny. It's a 'three strikes' type of rule and then what happens is if you haven't corrected this situation, they can suspend some of the state funding that they give you," Kolder said. He said he felt the state would be "stringent" on this issue. "In other words, I think they are monitoring this and like I said, it's only been two years they have implemented this 'three strike' rule. So, we are going into the third year or we're in the third year now. So, if we submit this again next year, there's a possibility that could occur," Kolder continued. Dowd also asked about a finding that says total revenues were off in three funds by $625,000, from the budget. "That should have been noticed and adjusted periodically?" he asked. Kolder said, "If you see that your revenues and/or your expenses are going to be off more than 5 percent, you should then bring it forth to this council and then go ahead and if you so desire, which you probably would, is maybe make an amendment. Now, towards the end of the year, you may have a lot of things that have taken place during the year and you'll want to wrap it all together and you do one final amendment -- most cities do this. But yes, during the year when you see it's off by more than 5 percent, or it's projected to be off, you should do something." Kolder said the administration has to bring it to the council so that members are aware of that, however. Payments to sinking, reserve funds not made Kolder said the city did not make monthly payments to the sinking and reserve funds in relation to a bond issue, as required by law. The bond issue requires that amounts be transferred monthly into separate accounts. The transfers were not made in full to these accounts for the fiscal year. "We got with Alice (Eddington, finance director) and that has now been corrected, but those were not made like they should have been last year. You didn't default on any bonds, but you are required to make those on a monthly basis, so those were some of the things we had this year that we didn't have last year," Kolder said. Journal entries addressed in 'management letter' Kolder said a "management letter" was included in the report regarding numerous journal entries recorded on the city's books "in an attempt to adjust budgeted amounts." "These journal entries were inappropriate in nature as they did not reflect an adjustment of actual transactions. It's recommended that management ensure all journal entries recorded properly account for existing funds and actual transactions of the city," the letter continues. Kolder said the staff was trying to adjust the budget, and they mixed some budget numbers with actual numbers, causing some inaccuracies. "And it was creating a little bit of a situation, so to speak. Obviously, it's going to deter you from having accurate financial statements if you've had budgeted amounts that were mixed in on that," he said. Kolder said as a result, auditors had to make "an excessive number" of adjustments -- in total, over 100 for the city. "We had to make quite a few adjustments and I think y'all can see that and that shouldn't be the case. With this size city, I mean, we are going to make adjustments probably, you know, because there 's just some things that some of your staff may be unaware of or whatever the situation may be. But it was a little bit of an excessive number of adjusting journal entries and that's why we're mentioned it here, part of which was because of these budget items being mixed up in the actuals," he said. The West Central News Center will update this story when the findings are publicly released. Each will include a corrective action plan - guidance the city will follow to correct the issue. On a day, Income Tax department said that that yet another branch of Axis Bank was under the scanner after demonetisation, the bank came out to claim that it had been providing vital information for raids by various agencies. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: Income Tax department revealed Thursday morning that its officials found suspicious transactions of about Rs 89 crore in 19 bank accounts in Ahmedabad. The IT raid was conducted on Wednesday in an Axis Bank branch at Memnagar, Ahmedabad, where the officials identified four suspected bank account operators. Four bank officials are also under the scanner. Now amid questions being raised about the credibility of banking procedures in the Axis Bank, it has said that the bank is behind the Income Tax raids. advertisement READ| Axis Bank branch raided in Ahmedabad, Rs 89 crore transactions under scanner Rajesh Dahiya, executive director (ED), Corporate Centre, Axis Bank gave a reply after India Today carried out the report about suspicious transactions being examined by the IT officials in Ahmedabad. Here are the highlights: "Our operation and audit team are working with independent forensic agency KPMG 22x7 and are appropriately highlighting suspicious transactions to be shared with the relevant investigative agencies," Rajesh Dahiya said. "I would also like to share that we have already filed 17 STRs (Suspicious Transactions Report) over a period of time for the cases under discussion including several STRs during last one month," Rajesh Dahiya said. The Axis Bank has said that it has been proactive in sharing any suspicious transaction with IT department and other relevant agencies. Dahiya said, "Additional information as required has also been shared proactively with investigative agencies to aid their efforts, and we continue to file STRs on various scenarios which may lead to suspicious transactions." "It is also important to understand that while the complete banking industry is working tirelessly to make the government's initiative of demonetisation and digitisation successful, action by some unscrupulous elements to circumvent laid out processes will not be tolerated," Dahiya said, adding, "The Bank will take action as and when any malpractices by employees are confirmed." --- ENDS --- By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 21, 2016 | 05:36 PM | PADUCAH, KY Information from multiple sources led to the arrest of a suspected methamphetamine dealer and two other people.Detectives with the McCracken Co. Sheriff's Department followed up on leads they received earlier in the week, and got a search warrant for a home on South 4th Street in Paducah, where they believed drug sales were taking place. Detectives went to the home about 2:20 pm on Wednesday, and found their suspect, 56-year-old Jeff Lyon of Paducah, along with 46-year-old Paula Sudduth-Beard of Murray and 28-year-old Majeta Ponthier of Muddy, Illinois and Gulfport, Mississippi.The search led to the seizure of alleged methamphetamine, along with meth trafficking items and a rifle. Lyon is a convicted felon who cannot legally possess a gun. Detectives say Ponthier had a meth syringe on her, and Sudduth-Beard has meth in her purse.Lyon was arrested for trafficking meth - 2nd or subsequent offense, possession of meth, drug paraphernalia and marijuana, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.Sudduth-Beard and Ponthier were both arrested for possession of meth and drug paraphernalia.All three people were taken to McCracken County Jail. By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 21, 2016 | 03:24 PM | MARION, IL The Marion Police Department is investigating a string of arsons that occurred on December 21st,.At 1:13 am, Marion Police and Marion Fire Department responded to a house fire on East Calvert Street. The fire was extinguished and there was damage to the interior of the home.At 2:46 am, both agencies responded to the 1100 block of East Dickinson in response to a motorcycle fire.At 3:02 am, both agencies came to the 700 block of North Garfield for another house fire, which was extinguished, but damaged the interior of the home.Nobody was hurt in any of the reported incidents.One male subject was detained and taken into custody for resisting/obstructing officer and obstructing justice.The investigation involving several departments is still open, so additional information is unavailable at this time.The arsons are under investigation by the Marion Police Department, Marion Fire Department and Illinois State Fire Marshalls Office. Anyone with any information regarding the fires are asked to call the Marion Police Department at 618-993-2124. Another Axis Bank branch is under the scanner for suspicious transactions in Ahmedbadad, where 19 accounts are being examined and leads followed by the IT officials. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The Income Tax department officials raided another branch of Axis Bank in Ahmedabad. The IT officials conducted the raid at Mayamnagar branch of the bank and examined 19 accounts. The officials found suspicious transaction of Rs 89 crore in the surveyed bank accounts. READ| Money laundering racket: Top Bengal businessman held at Mumbai airport Here are the facts: advertisement 1. The IT officials visited the Mayamnagar branch on Wednesday to carry out verification of bank accounts. 2. The IT department had received information about dummy accounts being operated by some people post-demonetisation. 3. The IT officials found that a total transaction of Rs 89 crore took place in 19 bank accounts after November 8. 4. During customer identification process, the IT officials discovered identified four persons. 5. The bank account operators deposited Rs 89 crore in these accounts and later transferred those that amount to beneficiaries through RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement). 6. "On the basis of our ground work, we had conducted this survey. We have found that Rs 89 crore was deposited soon after PM made the demonetization announcement in these accounts. Later, the money was transferred via RTGS to concerned beneficiaries", a senior IT official said. 7. The beneficiaries included bullion traders and ship breaking traders. Four bank officials are under the scanner of the Income Tax officials. 8. The bank officials have said that the KYC (Know Your Customer) norms were fulfilled while opening the accounts. IT officials have, however, refused to believe the KYC details at their face value and put the four officials under the scanner. 9. "These accounts were opened by taking only pan card details. No other KYC norms were followed. Around four bank officials are under our scanner", the IT official said. 10. "In this branch, four local people with shady background opened these 19-20 bank accounts. One kingpin is behind these locals, who had deposited the money. We are searching that kingpin", the official said. 11. The Income Tax department is likely to share the details of its ongoing investigation with CBI but only after completing its probe. 12. The IT sleuths suspect that there could be kingpin behind the men operating the bank accounts and are trying to locate the main player behind the suspicious transactions. 13. "In this branch, four local people with shady background opened these 19-20 bank accounts. One kingpin is behind these locals, who had deposited the money. We are searching that kingpin", the official said. --- ENDS --- advertisement Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Astros throw group no-hitter at Phillies to tie Series at two games each Polska Press sp. z.o.o informuje, ze wszystkie tresci ukazujace sie w serwisie naszemiasto.pl podlegaja ochronie. Dowiedz sie wiecej. Jestes zainteresowany kupnem tresci? Dowiedz sie wiecej. The guard, Suku Shoren, was attacked by unknown persons around 1.30 am on Wednesday at Auliapur Christian Mission, said officer in-charge of Kotwali police station Redwanul Rahim. According to mission's official Supol Hembram, some unidentified miscreants broke into the mission and stabbed the guard. Hearing Shoren's screams, locals rushed to the spot and took him to Dinajpur Medical College, where he succumbed to his injuries. The incident, which took place just three days before Christmas, has spread panic among the local community. The investigators have found that "numbering of these bundles (banknotes) are in a jumbled format and not in a proper sequence." By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: According to the data shared by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), cash worth Rs 316 crore was seized by the Income Tax (I-T) department till last week, which includes new banknotes of Rs 80 crore. The I-T department, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other investigative agencies have come across shocking findings which could raise fingers on the supply and currency management of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). advertisement Top investigators have pointed out a common concern, which according to them, is helping the crooks and corrupt bankers to cash out the new banknotes outside the banking system. MAJOR FINDINGS OF INVESTIGATORS: 1. The RBI is supplying new currency notes in the form of jumbled serial numbers. 2. Normally, the RBI issues fresh banknote packets containing one hundred serially numbered banknotes. Each banknote bears a distinctive serial number along with a prefix. The prefix consists of a numeral and a letter/letters, followed by a serial number. The number, for example, could be 9BC 952098. 3. Subsequently, if these packets or each bundle (100 notes) move out from the RBI printing press or the currency chest of RBI/banks, then these packets are numbered in a proper sequence, so that the bankers at the other end could check and examine these packets (with those numbers) to find out whether any manual manipulation has occurred or not. 4. In the last 42 days, what the investigators have found is that "numbering of these bundles (banknotes) are in a jumbled format and not in a proper sequence." Due to these "jumbled serial numbers", it is getting very difficult to identify from which currency chest or bank the money has moved out, illegally. 5. "If we know the sequence, then we could identify the involved bank or the chest, conduct further investigation and take action. The RBI has been informed about the findings and we expect it to take a serious note of it", one senior ED official said. 6. When asked about the people responsible for the fraud, one top official from the I-T department (investigation wing) explained the route from where the alleged leakage is taking place. 7. The official said, "The major leakage is taking place between the currency chest/sub-chest and the bank branches, across the country. Money is changing hand between this route," the I-T official said. Also read: 4 Bengaluru men smartly used a glitter pen to make fake Rs 2000 notes and succeeded WHAT ARE CURRENCY CHESTS? 1. Currency chests are branches of selected banks authorised by the RBI to stock rupee notes and coins. The responsibility for managing the currency in circulation is vested in the RBI. The central bank advises the Centre on the number of notes to be printed, the currency denominations, security features and so on. advertisement 2. The RBI offices in various cities receive the notes from note presses and coins from the mints. These are sent to the currency chests and small coin depots from where they are distributed to bank branches. 3. The RBI has set up over 4,075 currency chests all over the country. Of the 4,075 currency chests in the country, 2,722 or 67 per cent are held in branches of the State Bank of India and its associate banks. 4. Other Nationalised banks hold 1,173 chests, taking the share of the PSU banks to 95 per cent. Private sector banks (160), Co-operative banks (3) and foreign banks (4), regional rural banks (5) also have crucial role to play in stocking currency on behalf of the RBI. 5. Vishwas Utagi, vice-president All India Banks Employees Association said, "It is the responsibility of the RBI to check these loopholes in the supply management because from printing, handling and supplying - the apex bank is responsible." advertisement 6. "And if such irregularities have been found by the investigators on the supply side, than the bank officer above the chief manager level needs to be questioned. No junior level officers have the authority to handle the supply management of currencies," Utagi added. 7. Queries sent to RBI on these findings, remained unanswered till now. 8. If sources are believed, large number of bank officials (at all levels) are under the probe, especially in those cases where new notes has been seized. 9. Meanwhile, the investigation details are being shared within the IT, ED and CBI to take further action, as per its jurisdiction. Also read: Snapdeal to deliver cash at your doorstep, for now limit is Rs 2000 --- ENDS --- This incident from a Bhopal hospital will bring back the horrible memories of Dana Majhi carrying his wife's body on his shoulders for 10 km in Odisha. This time the hospital does not shift a dead woman to a safe mortuary leaving the body in the open for rodents to feed on. By Hemender Sharma: In a shocking incident rats ate eyes of a dead woman in a Bhopal hospital as the officials did not care for any protection of the body. The incident took place in Gandhi Medical College and Hospital on the intervening night of December 8 and 9. The body of a septuagenarian woman, who died in the hospital, was kept under a shed, which was open from all sides. advertisement READ| Tribal man in Odisha had to walk 10 km carrying wife's body This shed, inside the medical college campus, is used by an NGO called Share-N-Care Welfare Society, run by Sayeed Sohail Hassan- a social worker. Share-N-Care Welfare Society brings abandoned patients to hospital and keep them at the shed till they are either admitted in the Gandhi hospital or sent to some other hospital. WATCH: SYSTEM FAILS ANOTHER VICTIM The deceased, identified as Gulab Bai, was found at the hospital gate on December 2. She had lost her memory and one of her hands was badly injured. There were worms in her hand injuries, which were covered by all sorts of flies. Once admitted in the hospital, doctors at the social welfare department cleaned her hand before it could be examined medically. The doctors suggested that her hand's condition required amputation. Bhopal Medical College and Hospital. (Photo: Facebook) READ| Odisha's Dana Majhi, who carried his dead wife on his shoulder, receives Rs 9 lakh from King of Bahrain But, before the amputation surgery could be performed, Gulab Bai died on December 8. Her body was wrapped in a blanket and kept at the Share-N-Care Welfare Society shed. "Next day, when her body was being handed over to the social welfare department, we realised that the eyes had been eaten by rats," Hassan told India Today. Hassan took photographs and made a video of the disfigured body before handing it over to the authorities. READ| Odisha again: Man forced to carry ailing wife to hospital on shoulder RATS CANNOT BE CONTROLLED: KULASTE When hospital authorities were asked about the eyes of a dead body being eaten by rats, they tried to play it down. But, the most shocking response came from Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Faggan Singh Kulaste, who represents Madhya Pradesh's Mandla constituency in the Lok Sabha. Kulaste told India Today, "No one has any control over rats. They eat soft things only." Rats have become a menace in Bhopal's Gandhi Medical College and Hospital. Patients have complained about rodent problem to the hospital authorities several times in the past, but to no avail. --- ENDS --- advertisement By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) A delegation of BJP today met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking the Centres intervention in ending the blockade in Manipur, as it claimed that the state government had failed to protect the interests of the people. Speaking to reporters here, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, BJPs election incharge, said the delegation sought the Centres intervention in opening up the blockade as "Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has completely failed the state". advertisement "Despite the central government having provided additional forces, still he has not taken any action.Actually, we see a design in roadblock and its timing. Ibobi Singh is guilty of making Manipur people suffer and therefore, we have sought intervention of the Union Home Minister," the HRD minister said. Javadekar said there is violence in the state and communal harmony has been breached. "What we are seeing is that political vested interests are dividing. The Chief Ministers role is always divide and rule and that is what is on display today," he alleged. Asked if the delegation had sought imposition of the Presidents rule, Javadekar said it had only sought "appropriate action". "We are saying that appropriate action should be taken, what that appropriate action is, is for the central government and the ministries concerned (to decide). We are seeing that the state has been brought to a situation where everybody is fighting everybody," he said. He said some people were harming the interests of the state just for political gains. Asked about the allegations levelled by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Javadekar said those accusations have already been rejected by the court. "So this is absurd. He thought that he will bring an earthquake but he has dug a pit for Congress," the senior minister claimed. PTI ADS AAR --- ENDS --- Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A sister company of Winnipeg-based G3 Canada Ltd. is building a state-of-the-art grain terminal in North Vancouver it says will be a game-changer for the Canadian industry. G3 Canada president and CEO Karl Gerrand said the new terminal being built by G3 Terminal Vancouver will be a next-generation terminal thats equipped with a rail-loop track capable of holding three 134-car trains something none of the existing grain-exporting terminals in Canada can do. The rail-loop track will allow the trains to unload while in continuous motion and return to G3 Canadas inland primary elevators to pick up more grain without ever having to detach from their locomotives. Gerrand also noted the four new inland terminals G3 recently built two in Manitoba and two in Saskatchewan are also equipped with rail-loop track, which speed up the loading there, as well. SUPPLIED A rendering of the grain export terminal, which will be built at the Port of Vancouver, B.C. Right now there is a lot of jockeying of cars and breaking up trains to load them (which means) extra loading time, he said. So its a real game-changer. Its sort of the future of the grain industry. Its really going to increase cycle times, and it really increases the efficiency of how grain gets moved to ports. So its going to be a real benefit for Canadian farmers. The new port terminal, which is expected to open in time for the fall harvest in 2020, will have more than 180,000 metric tonnes of storage and will be able to handle cereal grains, oilseeds, pulses and special crops. Much of the product it handles will be supplied via a throughput agreement G3 Terminal Vancouver has with G3 Canada, whose assets include primary grain elevators and port terminals stretching from Leader, Sask., to Quebec City, a Great Lake grain-transportation vessel and Canadas largest private fleet of grain hopper cars. The president of the Grain Growers of Canada, which represents more than 50,000 grain, oilseed and pulse growers in Canada, said the new port terminal will be a great new asset for the Canadian grain industry. Especially for us grain farmers in the West. We need to see increased export opportunities, and this new terminal will bring that, Jeff Nielsen said. But Nielsen noted the benefits of the new export terminal wont be fully realized if Canadas railways cant get grain to the West Coast in a timely fashion. We know thats our biggest challenge when it comes to shipping grain the railroads, he said. If theyre willing to provide the service, we can move grain faster to the terminals. Thats what we need. Nielsen said new rail-reform legislation the federal government is expected to introduce in the spring hopefully will provide for increased accountability for the railroads. If they can get the product to the coast on time, then thats great. And if not, the new legislation will bring in penalties, he added. To ensure its new port terminal will have plenty of grain to handle, Gerrand said G3 Canada will be building eight to 10 more high-throughput elevators on the Prairies over the next two to three years. We want to have them (the new inland terminals) all finished by the time it opens because we want to start feeding grain to it. He said most of the new inland terminals will be built in Saskatchewan and Alberta because the company already has three inland terminals in Manitoba. Once the new Vancouver terminal opens, the companys inland terminals in Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan will feed grain to its four export terminals in Eastern Canada, and its inland terminals in the rest of Saskatchewan and in Alberta will feed grain to the new West Coast facility. Gerrand wouldnt reveal how much G3 expects to spend on building the new Vancouver terminal, other than to say that its in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Although the other major grain-handling companies, including Winnipeg-based James Richardson International, have expanded their West Coast port terminals in recent years, Gerrand noted the new G3 terminal will be the first new terminal built in Vancouver since the 1960s. Because it will be the only new-generation terminal on the West Coast and the only one with a rail-loop track, that should give the company an advantage over its competitors, he said, and also help to attract more farm customers. G3 Global Grain Group is the parent company of G3 Canada Limited and G3 Terminal Vancouver. G3 Global Grain Group acquired the assets of CWB (formerly the Canadian Wheat Board) in 2015. It is owned by G3 Global Holdings, which is a joint venture between Bunge Canada and Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company Canada Limited. murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. AFTER more than a year of discussions, Omnitrax Canada and a consortium of First Nations led by Chief Arlen Dumas of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation have signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the potential sale of the Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill. Although it is non-binding, Omnitrax said in a release Thursday the MOU will commence the transfer of ownership. Omnitrax Canada president Merv Tweed said he believes the deal can get finalized by this spring. WAYNE GLOWACKI / FREE PRESS FILES Arlen Dumas and his group will be able to start talking with potential grain shippers for next year. No details of the potential transaction such as financial considerations, future operations or public-sector involvement were released. Omnitrax, which is owned by the Denver-based Broe Group, made it clear a year ago it wanted to sell its Manitoba assets, which it has owned since 1997. It laid off most of the Port of Churchill staff just prior to the 2016 shipping season, and no grain was shipped from the port this year. The Hudson Bay Railway has cut freight service to Churchill to just one train per week. Tweed said the MOU will mean Dumas and his group will be able to start talking with potential grain shippers for next year. We wanted to make sure the public is aware of what is going on, Tweed said. It is important for people to know that the 2017 grain season is in peril, and a deal has to get done. Omnitrax and the Dumas consortium, called Missinippi Rail Consortium, signed a non-disclosure agreement about a year ago. Despite claims from another group, which included Churchill Mayor Mike Spence and Opaskwayak Cree Nation Chief Christian Sinclair, it was working on a solution, Tweed said Omnitrax has only ever dealt with the Dumas group. We are grateful that Omnitrax Canada believes in our process and our people and is willing to get started now. Ensuring First Nations ownership in these assets is a vital part of ensuring long-term viability in the north. Now we need the government of Canada to complete their review so that this process can be concluded as soon as possible, said Dumas. In an interview, Dumas would not confirm which communities are part of his consortium, but he said he was not excluding any. There was no indication from Tweed there have been any new developments in Ottawas relative interest or involvement in the transaction. All Dumas would say is that discussions with the federal government are on-going. Earlier this month, Omnitrax sued the Manitoba government for more than $1.7 million, alleging it reneged on a promise to cover losses of the Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill in the 2015 season. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/12/2016 (2143 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The death of an 18-year-old woman in foster care in a home in Oakbank in the RM of Springfield will undergo an external investigation requested by Sandy Bay Child and Family Services. Lydia Whitford was found dead in a licensed Oakbank foster home last summer but her death was only ruled a homicide this week. Oakbank RCMP reported Tuesday they responded July 14 to the home where Whitfords body was found. The RCMP major crime unit and the RCMP serious crime unit are investigating. Manitobas Office of the Childrens Advocate will examine the case, at the request of Sandy Bay CFS. However, the advocates office will only conduct its review after the RCMP investigation is completed. Richard De La Ronde, Sandy Bay CFS executive director, said Whitford was visited regularly by support workers. They last looked in on Whitford two weeks before her death. De La Ronde said Whitford is autistic, non-verbal and afflicted with epilepsy. She had been in the child welfare system since 2002, and been living with her most recent placement for little more than a year. RCMP have given no details on Whitfords injuries or how she died. Sandy Bay CFS told Winnipeg media that Whitford was under their care at the time, and that it was considered an extension of care because she was legally an adult. Her sister, Jessica Whitford, wants to know why RCMP and CFS werent more up front with her family about the circumstances surrounding Lydias death. She said they were initially told by Sandy Bay CFS that Lydia died of natural causes. Jessica also cant understand why anyone would want to hurt Lydia. How could somebody do that to somebody innocent like that, somebody whos really gentle? Jessica said. She didnt verbally speak so she didnt really have a voice. De La Ronde said the foster home Lydia lived in was shut down after her death. Its an automatic response when theres any kind of critical incident, he said. De La Ronde said it was RCMP that initially told CFS Lydia died of natural causes and thats the information they gave her family. (The RCMP) said they were changing it to a homicide without providing any reason. You never want to lose a child, or anyone in care, for that matter. We want to make sure checks and balances are in place. The Office of the Childrens Advocate said its aware of Lydias death. A spokesperson said because she was 18 a review cant be automatically initiated, but an investigation will likely be launched once the police wrap up their case. with files from The Canadian Press Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/12/2016 (2143 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Finance Minister Cameron Friesen has invited the leaders of some of the provinces largest public-sector unions to his office Jan. 5, but they dont know why. The Manitoba Federation of Labour, Manitoba Government and General Employees Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees all confirmed Wednesday theyve been invited, but have no idea whats on the agenda. Manitoba CUPE president Kelly Moist said Premier Brian Pallister will not be at the meeting. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Finance Minister Cameron Friesen says there is no one single silver bullet to wiping out the deficit. Friesen wouldnt even confirm Wednesday the meeting will take place. As a standard practice we dont comment on the content of private meetings, he said in an emailed statement. However, we look forward to continued dialogue with our partners in labour. Pallister has said in recent weeks he wants to meet with public-sector labour leaders to hear their ideas on how to fix the provinces finances. Im trying to build a team here, trying to get everyone to the table. All topics can be brought up and raised. Im not ruling out anything, he said in late November. In his state-of-the-province address Dec. 8, Pallister said he wants to reduce the number of health-care bargaining units from the current 169. He has been accused of planning to impose a wage freeze on public workers and considering opening up existing contracts. The University of Manitoba and its faculty association said Pallister directed them to take a pause year with a wage freeze while they were still in negotiations for a new collective agreement. Pallister has not confirmed any of the allegations, but has repeatedly called for all hands on deck to deal with the provinces burgeoning deficit, which now exceeds $1 billion, Friesen said Tuesday. The premier is currently in Costa Rica at his family vacation home, but is expected back before Jan. 5. CUPE is open to discussion with government and ready to listen to what government has to say, Moist said. We were advised that the premier would not be in attendance at this meeting, so are continuing to wait for that opportunity. MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky said if the finance minister invites her, shes happy to attend. He didnt (provide an agenda) and I didnt ask, she said. MFL president Kevin Rebeck said hes eager to attend Friesens meeting, but is frustrated Pallister hasnt reached out. The Manitoba Teachers Society and the UMFA said theyve had no contact from Pallister nor have they been invited to meet with Friesen. The Manitoba Nurses Union could not be reached Wednesday. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) A 100-day campaign will be launched on December 25, which is observed as Good Governance Day, under which parliamentarians, including Union Ministers, will visit various parts of the country to highlight the Centres key initiatives. "December 25, the birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will be observed as Good Governance Day. On that day, the government will launch a 100-day campaign across the country on the theme of good governance," Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said today. advertisement He said, ministers, members of Parliament will travel across the country to highlight the key initiatives of the Union government in the last two-and-a-half years. The endeavour of the Modi-government is to improve delivery systems, promote digital transformation and take forward the connectivity revolution in all sectors, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister said. Earlier, Naidu released the Indian governments calendar for 2017 with the theme Mera Desh Badal Raha Hai, Aage Badh Raha Hai (My country is changing, it is developing). He also released the mobile application of the calendar which can be downloaded from Google Play Store. The calendar showcases various flagship schemes and initiatives of the government with a different theme every month. The theme for August is Armed Forces: Pride of the Nation, for September Cashless Transactions, and for November it is Corruption Free Governance. On the occasion, he also released the Press in India Report 2015-16 prepared by the Registrar of Newspapers of India. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore was also present on the occasion. PTI MP NSD --- ENDS --- Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. You knew it was going to happen, and happen again. Self-styled social-media champions of whats right and wrong deciding to disrupt the holiday roadside program set up by Winnipeg police to catch and deter drunk drivers. Checkmating the Checkstop program, so to speak, by revealing its nightly locations online. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Traffic division officers stopped 1,860 vehicles during the week. Not surprisingly, two Facebook pages with similar objectives and names Check Stop Alert Winnipeg and Winnipeg Checkstop Alert have attracted thousands of followers. Some of them might be hoping to avoid being pulled over when theyve been drinking. They dont believe the purpose of the program is to take drunks off the road. Its about driving revenue for the city, they say, and serving the police budget. Such is the depth of public cynicism about the police service when it comes to traffic enforcement. A recent post on Winnipeg Checkstop Alert supported their own view of the real intent of the Checkstop program: Dont be fooled by their marketing to help get drunk drivers off the road that is how they get the public to support the program. Their real intention is revenue generation, ie; tickets for things that you would normally just receive a warning for. The writer went on to offer examples he believes police are also on the lookout for: a burnt-out bulb, snow on your licence plate, a broken headlight or tail light, the height of your vehicle, the type of tires on your vehicle, a various slew of other minor offences, including and not limited to low windshield washer fluid. Do police officers, who advertise Checkstop as a program to stop drunk drivers, also take the opportunity to do other traffic enforcement? Are police taking the opportunity to hand out tickets and fines while theyre looking for drunk drivers, as advertised? The answer is yes, and the statistics from this years Checkstop program confirm that. While police reported stopping 2,286 drivers during the campaigns first two weeks, and charging 19 with impaired driving, they also issued 80 traffic-related provincial notices. Its that kind of number drives a conspiratorial mind to use the power of social media against the power of the state. Apparently, the mission is to right a perceived wrong. The recent posting on the Winnipeg Checkstop Alert had more to say about the police service and, in particular, the Facebook pages past and present relationship with Checkstop and the cops. Last year, the WPS welcomed the Facebook groups for advertising and posting the locations of Checkstops and patrol cars because it let people know that they were out there, the posting stated. Now this year they smear and say its unjust. You know what changed in the last year? Our groups have been doing their jobs, preventing thousands of citizens from being wrongfully ticketed for minor infractions. They felt this, theyre over-budget and cant afford to run the Checkstops year-round like they initially planned. All they want is our money and they are doing it under the guise of safety telling you its to get drunk drivers off the road so they can have justification to pull people over and ticket them That may explain the police response Tuesday after I asked for its reaction to the Facebook groups. The fact that information is being shared on (social media) regarding Checkstop locations is one thing, a police spokesman responded. However, if that messaging and intention complements our message regarding not drinking and driving, and it ultimately stops merely one person from getting behind the wheel while impaired, mission accomplished. That appears to back up the pat on the back the social-media crusaders claim they received last year from the police service. But last year, Staff Sgt. Rob Riffel clearly told one media outlet that using Facebook to tell drivers where Checkstops were set up sends the wrong message. Anyway, the police answer to my question Tuesday went on say this: If the message is solely for the purpose of promoting impaired drivers or potentially impaired drivers to avoid or evade officers, that is a concern. No one wins, and all of us are put a higher risk as a result. I dont believe the Facebook groups are purposely out to help drunk drivers anymore than I think Checkstop is primarily a revenue grab in the guise of public safety. Whether the groups message is to help drunk drivers evade police isnt what matters. The reality is thats what it does. Whos to blame? Well, both the crusaders and the cops. The crusaders because they are giving drunk drivers an escape route that could lead down a dangerous road and to a dead end no one wants. As for the cops, social media wouldnt be on their case if drivers didnt feel unjustly targeted by being ticketed in school zones when school hasnt even started or being caught in speed traps that have little to do with safety and a lot to do with topping up the city treasury. There is a way for police to stop social media from targeting the Checkstop program and start reversing the perception its about revenue: stop writing minor traffic tickets at Checkstops, and start giving friendly warnings to innocents who hadnt noticed their tail light wasnt working. After all, it is Christmas, a time of goodwill toward all. Our police officers can use all the goodwill they can get. Their collective agreement ends this month. gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It is hard not to roll your eyes when you read yet another report urging an increase in the number of licensed taxicabs in Winnipeg. Just like bitter winters and pesky mosquitoes, a chronic shortage of taxis is an innate aspect of life in this city. The taxicab industry, through guile and old-fashioned political spadework, has been incredibly successful in stopping the provincial government from allowing more licences to be issued. Its a condition that has resisted empirical analysis, political will and simple economics. Which is why the most recent effort to open up the debate about the right number of taxis seems doomed. A report and survey produced by MNP on behalf of the Manitoba Taxicab Board certainly makes it clear we are now, as we have always been, shortchanged when it comes to taxis. The report found that Winnipeg has one taxi for every 1,252 Winnipeggers. This ratio is 50 per cent higher than it is in similar-sized or larger cities in Canada, a reality that led the reports authors to recommend an increase of 150 taxicab licences (to the current total of 410) and leeway for ride-sharing services such as Uber to start cruising city streets. That rumbling sound you hear is the sound of the owners of taxi licences preparing to launch a protest to stop any elected official from agreeing to implement these recommendations. If history is any indication, the taxicab owners will win, and Winnipeggers will continue to be underserved. The politics works like this: two companies control about 90 per cent of year-round licences; those companies are dominated by licence owners who are very good at politics, maintaining strong relationships with politicians at both the municipal and provincial level; the licence owners lavish support financial and otherwise on their political friends to ensure that their interests are looked after; in the event that someone breaks rank and tries to modernize the licensing ratio, the licence owners and their companies respond with swift, loud protest. Drivers at Unicity and Duffys will dispute this characterization, but one need only look at the success they have had in thwarting any effort to increase the number of year-round licences. Which brings us to Uber, the ride-sharing app/service that is a runaway success in most larger cities in North America. Uber has not unveiled any firm plans to start operating here, but it should really only be a matter of time. Uber is already up and running in Alberta, Quebec and Ontario, and given its branding as a hip and progressive way to get around, Winnipeg will get Ubered at some point. That should certainly cause the taxicab industry here to start reconsidering its traditional political strategy. Uber has had a seismic impact on the taxicab industry in the cities where it operates. The value of licences has been driven down just as the number of cars available for urban travellers has gone up. The appeal is not hard to identify: many younger people feel that by supporting Uber, they are supporting a new economy of self-employed people who are forging a new niche in a traditional economy. Passengers also have a lot to like; Uber fares are often a fraction of what regular licensed taxis charge, and depending on the time of day, response times can be better. All of that would most certainly be an advantage for Uber in a city such as Winnipeg, which is dramatically underserved by regular taxis. On the other hand, allowing ride-sharing apps to operate legally here would likely hammer the traditional taxicab industry and spark a political backlash. It should be noted the future for Uber is not entirely certain, as it faces a potential revolt from its drivers that could dramatically change the way it is seen by its customers. As one of the poster children for the so-called gig economy, Uber has proven to be great for commuters but a pretty questionable deal for drivers. Or so say the thousands of Uber drivers who are involved in disputes with the company over low wages and poor working conditions. Class-action lawsuits have sprung up all over the U.S., with drivers in some cities threatening to unionize. Preliminary legal rulings have gone against Uber, finding it has not fairly compensated its drivers. In France, disgruntled Uber drivers found they could not make a decent living after deducting from their fares the levy paid to the host company, fuel, insurance and depreciation. As a result, Uber drivers in Paris are threatening to blockade the city to force the ride-sharing behemoth to start paying them better. That does not mean Uber cannot be a good thing here. Although it is highly unlikely anyone can make a living as a ride-sharing driver, the mere threat of Ubers arrival here has revived the debate on the number of taxicab licences Winnipeg needs. Ultimately, there will likely be a political appetite to allow ride-sharing services to operate here. If nothing else, politicians like to be seen as hip and with it by embracing leading-edge social-media trends, hence the flood of 50- and 60-something politicians tweeting. Realizing they cannot ignore consumer demand, other Canadian cities have found compromises on the introduction of Uber, allowing it to operate in competition with traditional taxis but putting in place regulatory requirements for appropriate licensing and insurance of ride-sharing drivers. Winnipeg needs more taxis so that hailing a cab on the street a convenient and attractive way of living in a reasonably big Canadian city can become a reality here. If the taxicab industry is hell-bent on discouraging politicians from increasing the number of licences, as it has always done, then politicians need only smile and utter one, simple word: Uber. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Last week, Edmonton city council passed a budget that included $1.3 million in 2017 and $1.2 million in 2018 for 14 poverty-reduction initiatives. These projects are part of the End Poverty Edmonton strategy a bold initiative led by Mayor Don Iveson and developed with thousands of Edmontonians through 2014 and 2015. The strategy aims to pull 10,000 people out of poverty in five years, and highlights six game-changers as critical places to start, including eliminating racism, providing livable incomes, affordable housing, accessible and affordable transit, affordable and quality child care and access to mental health services and addictions support. In addition to these most recent investments, Edmonton has also implemented a program that provides free bus passes for at-risk youth and is cost-sharing a low-income bus pass with the province of Alberta. The city has also advocated for an increase to the minimum wage, which the Alberta government has confirmed it will act on. KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg does not have a comprehensive poverty-reduction strategy, despite pressure from anti-poverty advocates. Winnipeg does not have a comprehensive poverty-reduction strategy despite years of pressure from anti-poverty advocates. Reducing poverty is so far off city councils radar that the word poverty isnt even mentioned in the 2017 budget. Its fair to say our city council is nowhere near Edmontons when it comes to leading on poverty reduction. Mayor Brian Bowman will know from his participation in the Cities Reducing Poverty: When Mayors Lead conference held earlier this year that Edmonton is not the only Canadian city Winnipeg is lagging far behind in the fight against poverty. For example, Toronto introduced its TOProsperity: Toronto Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2015. Torontos plan outlines six issue areas of focus including housing stability, service access, transit equity, food access, quality jobs and livable wages and systemic change. The jury is still out on how effective the plan will be, but Torontonians now have something by which to measure the citys progress on poverty reduction. Importantly, Edmontons plan also makes a strong case for poverty reduction in the spirit of true reconciliation aligned with the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions final report. Like Winnipeg, Edmonton has a large indigenous population, with a high number of indigenous people living in poverty. The EndPoverty Edmonton plan acknowledges this injustice and aims to make systemic changes to better reflect the needs, interests and culture of aboriginal people. So whats happening in Winnipeg? Not much. Unlike other mayors, Brian Bowmans response to poverty has been ad hoc and reactionary, at best. For example, immediately before attending the When Mayors Lead conference in Edmonton, Bowman announced the Winnipeg Promise initiative, which aims to assist low-income families to register for the Canada Learning Bond. The bond is a worthwhile initiative, but hardly a comprehensive poverty-reduction plan, nor a City of Winnipeg initiative. The Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council is an initiative hosted by the United Way of Winnipeg and the city of Winnipeg is one of many participants. The city has contributed financially to the council in past years and it now contributes $150,000 annually to the councils End Homelessness Winnipeg. While the council is doing some interesting work, it does not take a comprehensive approach to poverty reduction, nor does it take an active role in policy and systems change. The mayor also recently announced the city will provide $150,000 to the Winnipeg BIZ to address homelessness. But the BIZ takes no responsibility for acting, stating that instead of focusing on what people need, we focus on what that person is able to bring to the table. Bowman signalled some hope when designating 2016 as the year of reconciliation; however, unlike Edmontons mayor, he has failed to make the link between reconciliation and poverty reduction, and has not indicated in any substantive way what reconciliation means for the city as we approach 2017. If Bowman wants to be a leader on poverty reduction and reconciliation, he has a lot of work ahead of him. But he doesnt have to start from scratch. The idea of a comprehensive poverty plan was identified in the 2010 SpeakUpWinnipeg process, which was followed by a brief mention of poverty in the Our Winnipeg Plan approved by city council in 2011. Community organizations are keen to help and he can look to plans such as Edmontons for guidance. Bowman might be slow out of the gate, but it isnt too late to put Winnipeg on the map as a city that truly cares about reducing poverty and inequality. Kirsten Bernas is research and policy manager for the Canadian Community Economic Development Network Manitoba. Lorie English is the executive director of the West Central Womens Resource Centre. Merchants Banks Swipe Out Hunger Facebook giveaway has concluded with a donation of $224 to Winona Volunteer Services, among various other donations to food banks near the companys 21 locations. Merchants Bank donated five cents each time a Merchants Bank credit card or debit card was used between Nov. 28 and Dec. 7, for a total of $10,000 to be split among twelve food shelves. The total donation amount was determined by the percentage of votes cast for each food shelf on Merchants Banks Facebook page. More than 5,841 votes were cast in this years giveaway. The Food Shelves were nominated by bank locations. The Winona-area Swipe Out Hunger awards break down as follows: Hometown Resource Center (St. Charles bank location): $407 La Crescent Food Share (La Crescent bank location): $372 Semcac (Caledonia, Lanesboro, Rushford and Spring Grove): $442 Winona Volunteer Services (Winona, Lakeside and Goodview bank locations): $224 During last years Swipe Out Hunger giveaway The Hunger Task Force received the top donation of $5,000, and more than 8,100 total votes were cast. FOX LAKE LeRoy Meats will add partners and employees with a new facility in Fox Lake as the business prepares to grow and possibly expand sales of products outside the state of Wisconsin. The 90-year-old business will continue with its Horicon facility, but according to owner Scott Hurst more production space is needed. We just dont have enough room for production where we are at, Hurst said. Construction of the new 11,000-square-foot facility will begin in the spring with the plan to open in fall 2017. LeRoy currently employs about 65 people and Hurst said he anticipates adding 15 full-time jobs with the expansion. In addition, Steve Christian and Randy Hurst will become partners in the business. While the added production will help the business grow, Scott Hurst also wants the retail portion of the new facility to be a destination. He said there is interest from other businesses that would be complementary and help further develop the site on the west side of Fox Lake. LeRoy Meats will be the first business in Fox Lakes Tax Incremental finance District 3, according to Mayor Tom Bednarek, who announced the expansion at a city council meeting Wednesday. The area being developed includes 4.8 acres for LeRoy Meats and another 11 acres that Bednarek said could be developed. It is north of Highway 33 on the west side of Fox Lake just past Kwik Trip and the Agnesian Clinic. Hurst pointed out that the location overlooks a portion of Fox Lake perhaps hinting that a hospitality business would be a good fit. We agree its going to be a fantastic location, Hurst said. Theres a lot of traffic. The city will provide LeRoy Meats with a direct financial incentive using TIF District funds and will sell the land for $1. City officials could not say Wednesday night how much the incentive would be or the amount that LeRoy Meats was investing in the project. Fox Lake also will pay for the infrastructure (roads, sewer and water), but Bednarek said the city hopes to get grant funds to help. According to Hurst and city officials, the deal has been in the works for at least two years. This was the first time any details were made public. Were looking forward to being part of the community, Hurst said, pointing out that the business is active in Horicon through fundraisers and other activities. The business provides a wide variety of meat including homemade sausage and bacon, catering, a deli, venison processing and more. It has received a wide variety of recognition at the state and national level. Friends may call at St. Benedict Catholic Church, 3370 Deerfield West, Suamico, from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. at the church. A man broke into an unguarded SBI ATM in Bhopal in the early hours on Wednesday, but failed to steal Rs 22.5 lakh in new currency notes. The unguarded SBI ATM in Bhopal, where a burglar failed to steal Rs 22.50 after breaking two locks. By Hemender Sharma: While the complaints of cash crisis continues to torment the central government and RBI, an ATM with about Rs 22.50 lakh cash was left unattended in Bhopal. As it happened, an unidentified man, covering himself in a blanket, broke into to ATM kiosk at the dead of a night on Wednesday with the intention to steal cash from the machine. advertisement The man spent over 40 minutes inside the unguarded ATM of the State Bank of India on the Gitanjali Square under Kamala Nagar police station in Bhopal. The burglar broke two locks of the ATM in order to lay his hands on the cash tray. READ| Robbers kill guard in a failed attempt to loot ATM in Patna The CCTV footage clearly shows a man, loosely covering himself in a blanket, enters the ATM kiosk at 3.39 am on Wednesday and exits at 4.19 am. He carried an iron rod and tried breaking the teller machine. "After going through the CCTV footage, the man appears to be aged around 25-year-old and has long hair," the Bhopal police said. Police also said that there was no security guard at the ATM despite bank authorities been warned of break in attempts in the view of ongoing cash crisis. The banks have been advised in writing to beef up security, the police added. Interestingly, a bank official on condition of anonymity said, "The decision not to employ a guard was taken by the bank management as a cost cutting measure. The management was of the view that CCTV cameras would act as a deterrent and that a 24-hour guard was not required in a crowded place like this one." READ| Rs 5 lakh looted from ATM cash van in east Delhi So, it seems the burglar was aware of the fact that the ATM was not guarded. But, after 40 minutes risking being caught by some cash seeker or a passerby, the burglar flees from the spot. Bank officials said that ATM was replenished with cash on December 16 and there was a sum of Rs 22.50 lakh available at the time of the break in. "The cash has been counted and safe," the bank officials said. A case of attempted loot has been registered. Police have looking for the intruder. ALSO WATCH: --- ENDS --- A Lodi man was treated for exposure today after his truck fell into Lake Wisconsin in the town of West Point. The Columbia County Sheriffs Office responded to a 911 call this morning, reporting a vehicle breaking through the ice about 30 yards from the shore at Sunset Harbor Boat Landing. The 82-year-old driver was able to get out of his truck and out of the water unharmed, but was taken to Sauk Prairie Hospital by a responding ambulance as a precaution. The truck was towed back to shore. In a news release, Columbia County Sheriff Dennis Richards encouraged fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts to be mindful of ice thickness before going out on the ice. The Department of Natural Resources offers general guidelines of a minimum of 12 to 15 inches for a medium sized truck, 8 to 12 inches for a car or small pickup, 5 inches for a snowmobile or ATV, at least 4 inches for walking or ice fishing, and in no uncertain terms tells readers that if there is only 2 inches or ice or less: STAY OFF. The same factors that can make Lake Wisconsin dangerous during the summer can also make it more unpredictable in the winter. Its where it connects with the Wisconsin River, so there are currents flowing through there, said Columbia County Emergency Management Director Pat Beghin. There are areas with solid ice and then a short distance later it isnt as thick. The currents carry warmer flows from the river downstream to literally undercut the ice that may be expanding from colder temperatures above. This is expected to be an even bigger factor this year due to the warm wet autumn weather. Although a cold snowstorm like last weekend's could outwardly suggest the arrival of ice season, it is a mixed message. With all the snow on top of it, that insulates, said Beghin. So even though we had the cold last week, a lot of that stayed away from the water. As the National Weather Service offers a forecast of a rainy Christmas Day with a high approaching 40 degrees, it is less likely that Wisconsin lakes or rivers will be mistaken for being ice-sporting appropriate. Though even in the event of colder conditions, Beghin recommends caution and due diligence, highlighting the tag line of the DNR: No ice is ever safe. A 73-year-old Reedsburg woman was killed Dec. 21 in a collision on Highway 33 near Reedsburg. The Sauk County Sheriffs Office was notified around 1:36 p.m. that two vehicles had collided just west of Coon Bluff Road in the town of Excelsior. A preliminary investigation found that a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am driven by a 23-year-old Prairie du Sac woman was traveling east on Highway 33 and attempted to pass a rural postal vehicle that was delivering mail. When the Pontiac crossed the center line, it struck a westbound Mazda driven by a Reedsburg woman, the sheriffs office reported. The 23-year-old driver was flown by medical helicopter to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison for treatment of her injuries. The Reedsburg woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Alcohol and seatbelt use have not yet been determined. The names of those involved in the incident were not released pending notification of family. Traffic on Highway 33 was closed for more than 3 hours as a result of the crash. The incident remains under investigation by the Sauk County Sheriffs Office. Also responding to the scene were the Reedsburg Fire Department, Reedsburg Area Ambulance Service, Wisconsin State Patrol and the Sauk County Highway Department. The crash was the second serious collision in that area of Highway 33 in a little more than a week. On Dec. 13, a woman and her two children were injured in a collision after authorities say Kevin Robert Swanson 43, of Reedsburg, slammed into their vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol. He has been charged with drunken driving and jailed on a $2,500 cash bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 26. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said now the government's biggest supporter on demonetisation has turned a critic of the policy, and is saying the same thing that his party had been saying from day one. By Sahil Joshi: A day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is a BJP ally, spoke against implementation of demonetisation policy, Shiv Sena, another BJP ally, criticised the Central government's decision. The Chief Minister had said that demonetisation was not what he wished for, adding he was still breaking his head as a solution to the ongoing (currency) crisis remained elusive. advertisement Here is what Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said: Writing in Sena's mouthpiece Saaamna, party chief Uddhav Thackeray said, "We fail to understand if we should congratulate Chandrababu for finally understanding the truth of demonetisation or be surprised that a senior leader like him also got swayed by false promises". Taking a dig at Prime Minister's cashless drive, Thackeray's editorial said Chandrababu Naidu, who is a pioneer of digital revolution and made Hyderabad a cyber city, lost elections. "This proves that digital kranti is not going to solve people's daily bread and butter issues," the editorial said. Calling the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister a supporter-turned-critic of the demonetisation policy, Thackeray in his scathing editorial said, "It was Naidu who, after the November 8 announcement, was telling people to be patient and use digital payments. Now, he has understood that despite this people are suffering, and so has taken a U-turn". Thackeray said that now the government's biggest supporter on demonetisation has turned a critic of the policy and its implementation, and is saying the same thing that Shiv Sena had been saying from Day one. Shiv Sena's stance on the demonetisation drive has witnessed several changes. In an editorial in Saamna last month, the party called the decision "demonic" that can lead to "financial anarchy". Days later, in a complete U-turn, Shiv Sena MPs called the move "bold and historic" after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In yet another shift in its stand, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, taking a swipe at the Prime Minister, said, "Now only 8-10 days are left, thereafter it will be happiness all over. After December 30, we will talk about it". His comments came while talking to reporters on Tuesday at Pali in Raigad district. ALSO READ: No solution to demonetisation, still breaking my head: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu ALSO READ: Demonetisation: Shiv Sena MPs meet RBI deputy governor, demand measures to ease suffering of people ALSO WATCH --- ENDS --- Health sciences key to reducing triggers of poverty Receiving his honorary doctorate, Professor William Pick tells new doctors they have a much bigger role to play than keeping their patients healthy. As future custodians of the health of South Africas people, the over 500 graduands of the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences carry a huge responsibility to their country. This is according to Professor William Pick, Emeritus Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, who addressed about 500 graduands of the Wits Health Sciences Faculty in December. Speaking at their graduation ceremony, where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine Honoris Causa, Pick told the graduands that as doctors, they can help people to be healthier, and therefore reduce the triggers into poverty. As we celebrate best and brightest in society today, I ask the custodians and future custodians of healthy populations to look at the societal context in which you practice your craft. In the context of the world population 50% cannot afford housing and healthcare, 25% dont have enough food to eat. People are triggered into poverty through illness, injury and death. Yet we know that as healthcare practitioners our intervention can make a difference, he said. Pick who is also the former head of the School of Public Health, and retired interim president of the Medical Research Council, added that the improved health of a country results in higher GDP of countries. Health is no longer confined to provide cure, care or encouragement. It has a far more profound contribution to make to improving the human condition. Our job is to ensure that the craft that we practice is to promote, sustain and contribute to a bigger social endeavor, he said. You are the leaders of tomorrow and the problems you face have many challenges. But as a graduate of this great African University, you can to rise to the challenge, armed with the commitment to improve the human condition, you will find real fulfillment every day. In reading out Professor Picks citation, Professor Martin Veller, Dean of Health Sciences, lauded Pick, for his distinguished leadership in public health and whose life and work has been devoted to improving healthcare for all South Africans. The ceremony saw over 500 students graduating with degrees in health sciences, including in dentistry, medicine, medical and health sciences, clinical medical practice, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and pharmacy. The faculty also conferred 134 Masters degrees in science and medicine and 31 PhDs. 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. 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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 First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through three segments: Regional Banking, Specialty Banking, and Corporate. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. The company also underwrites bank-eligible securities and other fixed-income securities eligible for underwriting by financial subsidiaries; sells loans and derivatives; and offers advisory services. In addition, it offers various services, such as mortgage banking; title insurance and loan-closing; brokerage; correspondent banking; nationwide check clearing and remittance processing; trust, fiduciary, and agency; equipment finance; and investment and financial advisory services. Further, the company sells mutual fund and retail insurance products; and credit cards. It operates approximately 500 banking offices in 22 states under the First Horizon Bank brand; and 400 banking centers in 12 states under the FHN Financial brand in the United States. The company was formerly known as First Horizon National Corporation and changed its name to First Horizon Corporation in November 2020. First Horizon Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. The following companies are subsidiares of Dover: APM Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Accelerated Production Systems, Acme Cryo Intermediate Inc., Acme Cryogenics, Acme Cryogenics Inc., Acme Elevator, Advansor A/S, Advansor Dover International (Poland) sp. z o.o., Advansor Germany GmbH, Alfred Fueling Systems Holdco Ltd., Alfred Fueling Systems Inc., Alfred Fueling Systems Intermediate Holdco Ltd., All-Flo Pump Company, Anman LLC, Anthony Equity Holdings Inc., Anthony Holdings Inc., Anthony Inc., Anthony International, Anthony International Foreign Sales Corp., Anthony International Holding Company, Anthony Mexico Holdings LLC, Anthony North Holdco Inc., Anthony Specialty Glass LLC, Anthony TemperBent GP LLC, Audax ECII Blocker Inc., Auto Glanz Solutions LLC, AvaLAN Wireless Systems Incorporated, BELVAC CR spol s r.o., BSC Filters Limited, Belanger, Belanger Inc., Belvac Middle East FZE, Belvac Production Machinery Inc., Blackmer, BlitzRotary GmbH, Blue Bite LLC, Blue Bite LLC, Butler Engineering and Marketing S.P.A., CDS Visual, CDS Visual Inc., CEP Liquidation LLC, CP Formation LLC, CPC Europe Inc., CPI Products Inc., Caldera, Canada Organization & Development LLC, Chief Automotive Technologies (Shanghai) Trading Company Ltd., Chippewa Square Captive Insurance Company, Colder Products Company, Colder Products Company GmbH, Colder Products Company LTD, Cook Compression LLC, Cook Compression Limited, Cook-MFS Inc., Cryogenic Experts LLC, DD1 Inc., DDI Properties Inc., DE-STA-CO Benelux B.V., DE-STA-CO FRANCE, DE-STA-CO Shanghai Co. Ltd., DESTACO UK Limited, DFH Corporation, DFS Netherlands B.V., Datamax International Corp, De Sta Co (Asia) Company Limited, De-Sta-Co Cylinders Inc., DeStaCo Europe GmbH, Delaware Capital Formation Inc., Delaware Capital Holdings Inc., Dositec Sistemas SL, Dosmatic U.S.A. Inc., Dover (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Dover (Schweiz) Holding GmbH, Dover (Shanghai) Industrial Co. Ltd., Dover (Shenzhen) Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Dover (Suzhou) Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Dover Asia Trading Private Ltd., Dover Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Dover Business Services EMEA Limited, Dover Business Services Europe S.R.L., Dover Business Services LLC, Dover Business Services Philippines Corporation, Dover CLP Formation Limited Partnership, Dover Canada Holdings ULC, Dover Canada Operations ULC, Dover Corporation Regional Headquarters, Dover DEI Services Inc., Dover Denmark Holdings ApS, Dover EMEA FZCO, Dover Energy UK Ltd, Dover Engineered Products Segment Inc., Dover Europe Inc., Dover Europe Sarl, Dover Fluids UK Ltd, Dover France Holdings, Dover France Participations, Dover France Technologies, Dover Fueling Solutions Segment Inc., Dover Fueling Solutions UK Limited, Dover Germany GmbH, Dover Global Holdings LLC, Dover Holdings de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Dover Imaging & Identification Segment Inc., Dover India Pvt. Ltd., Dover Intercompany Services UK Limited, Dover International B.V., Dover International Operations Inc., Dover International Ventures Inc., Dover International ithalat ihracat ve Pazarlama Limited Sirketi, Dover Italy Holdings S.r.l., Dover Luxembourg Finance Sarl, Dover Luxembourg Participations Sarl, Dover Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Dover Luxembourg Services Sarl, Dover Operations South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Dover Overseas Ventures Inc., Dover Pumps & Process Solutions Segment Inc., Dover Refrigeration & Food Equipment Segment Inc., Dover Refrigeration & Food Equipment UK Ltd, Dover Resources International de Mexico S. de R.L. C.V., Dover Solutions Colombia SAS, Dover Southeast Asia (Thailand) Ltd., Dover Spain Holdings S.L., Dover Switzerland Participations GmbH, Dover UK Pensions Limited, Dover WSCR Holding LLC, Dover WSCR LLC, Dover do Brasil Ltda., Dow-Key Microwave Corporation, Dresser Wayne Data Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Dresser Wayne Fuel Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ECI - IGT Holdings LLC, ECI Holding Company LLC, ECI RegO S. de R.L. de C.V, ECI RegO Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., ECII (Mexico) LLC, EOA Systems Inc., Ebs-Ray Holdings Pty Ltd, Ebs-Ray Industries Pty Ltd, Ebs-Ray Pumps Pty Ltd, Em-Tec, Engineered Controls International LLC, Espy, Ettlinger, Ettlinger Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH, Fairbanks Environmental Limited, Fibrelite Composites Limited, Fibresec Holdings Limited, Fibresec Limited, Finder, GAL LLC, GIIER LLC, Gala Industries, Guangdong Tokheim LIYUAN Oil Industry Technology Limited Company, Highland Park Insurance Company, Hill PHOENIX Inc., Hill PHOENIX WIC LLC, Hill Phoenix Costa Rica Sociedad De Responsabilidad Limitada, Hill Phoenix El Salvador Limitada de Capital Variable, Hill Phoenix Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix Honduras Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Hiltap Fittings Ltd., Hydro Systems Company, Hydro Systems Europe Ltd., Industrial Motion Control LLC, Innovative Control Systems, Innovative Control Systems Inc., Inpro/Seal LLC, JK Group, JK Group S.P.A., JK Group USA Inc., K S Boca Inc., K&L Microwave DR Inc., K&L Microwave Inc., KPS (Beijing) Petroleum Equipment Trading Co Ltd., KPS Fueling Solutions Sdn. Bhd., KPS Hong Kong Holding Limited, KPS UK Limited, KS Formation Inc., KS Liquidation Inc., KSLP Liquidation L.P., Kiian Digital (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Knappco LLC, Knowles Electronics, LIQAL, LIQAL B.V., Liquip, Liquip, Liquip International Pty Limited, MAAG, MARKEM FZ SA, MARKEM-IMAJE Corporation, MIP Holdings Inc., MS Printing Solutions, MS Printing Solutions S.R.L., Maag, Maag Automatik Plastics Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Maag Gala Inc., Maag Germany GmbH, Maag Italy S.R.L., Maag Pump Systems, Maag Pump Systems (US) Inc., Maag Pump Systems AG, Maag Reduction Inc., Maag Service (Malaysia) Sdn. Bdn., Maag Service (Taiwan) Ltd., Maag Systems (Thailand) Limited, Macro Technologies LLC, Malema, Marathon Equipment Company (Delaware), Markem Imaje Center of Competencies Spain S.L.U., Markem-Imaje, Markem-Imaje (China) Co. Limited, Markem-Imaje - Unipessoal Lda, Markem-Imaje A/S, Markem-Imaje AB, Markem-Imaje AG, Markem-Imaje AS, Markem-Imaje B.V., Markem-Imaje CSAT GmbH, Markem-Imaje Co. Ltd., Markem-Imaje GmbH, Markem-Imaje Holding, Markem-Imaje Identificacao de Produtos Ltda., Markem-Imaje Inc., Markem-Imaje India Private Limited, Markem-Imaje Industries, Markem-Imaje Industries Limited, Markem-Imaje KK, Markem-Imaje LLC, Markem-Imaje Limited, Markem-Imaje Ltd., Markem-Imaje N.V., Markem-Imaje Oy, Markem-Imaje Philippines Corporation, Markem-Imaje Pty. Ltd., Markem-Imaje S.A., Markem-Imaje S.A. de C.V., Markem-Imaje S.r.l., Markem-Imaje SAS, Markem-Imaje Sdn. Bhd., Markem-Imaje Singapore Pte. Ltd., Markem-Imaje Spain S.A., Markpoint Holding AB, Midland Manufacturing LLC, Midwest Cryogenics Inc., Mouvex, Northeast Services Inc., Northern Lights (Nevada) Inc., Northern Lights Funding LP, Northern Lights Investments LLC, Nova Controls Inc., OK International, OK International Holdings Inc., OK International Inc., OK International Ltd., OPW Engineered Systems LLC, OPW Fluid Transfer Group Europe B.V., OPW Fluid Transfer Solutions (Jiang Su) Co. Ltd., OPW Fluids Group Inc., OPW Fuel Management Systems Inc., OPW Fueling Components (SuZhou) Co. Ltd., OPW Fueling Components LLC, OPW Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., OPW Slovakia s.r.o., OPW Sweden AB, Officine Meccaniche Sirio S.R.L., PDQ Manufacturing, PDQ Manufacturing Inc., PISCES by OPW Inc., PSD Codax Holdings Limited, PSD Codax Limited, PSG (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PSG (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., PSG California LLC, PSG Germany GmbH, Petro Vend Sp. z o.o., Pike Machine Products Inc., Pole/Zero Acquisition Inc., Precision Brasil Equipamentos E Servicos Para Postos De Combustiveis Ltda., Precision Service - Servicos De Manutencao E Instalacao De Postos De Abastecimento De Combustivel Ltda., Production Control Services, Pump Management Services Co. LLC, Quantex Arc Limited, Quantex Patents Limited, RAV France, Ravaglioli S.P.A., Reduction Engineering GmbH, RegO (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., RegO Holding GmbH, RegO Products, RegO Valve (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Rego GmbH, Revod Corporation, Revod Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Revod Sweden AB, Robohand Inc., Rosario, Rosario Handel B.V., Rotary Lift Consolidated (Haimen) Co. Ltd., SE Liquidation LLC, SWEP France, SWEP Germany GmbH, SWEP Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., SWEP North America Inc., SWEP Slovakia s.r.o., SWEP Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Seabiscuit Motorsports Inc., Shanghai RegO Flow Technology Company Ltd., Shine Bloom - ECI A Blocker Corp., Shine Bloom - ECI Blocker Corp., Shine Bloom - ECI S Blocker Corp., Simmons Sirvey Corporation, So. Cal. Soft-Pak, So. Cal. Soft-Pak Incorporated, Soft-Pak, Solaris Laser, Solaris Laser S.A., Somero Enterprises, Sound Solutions, Sound Solutions, Space S.R.L., Spirit, Start Italiana S.R.L., Superior Holding LLC, Superior Products LLC, Swep Energy Oy, Swep International A.B., Swep Japan K.K., Sys-Tech Solutions, Sys-Tech Solutions Inc., Systech, TQC Quantium Quality S.A. de C.V., TTSI III Inc., TWG Canada Consolidated Inc., TXHI LLC, Tartan Textile Services Inc., The Espy Corporation, The Heil Co., Tokheim, Tokheim Belgium, Tokheim China Company Limited, Tokheim GmbH, Tokheim Group, Tokheim Hengshan Technologies (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Tokheim Holding B.V., Tokheim India Private Limited, Tokheim Sofitam Applications, Triton Systems, Tulsa Winch Inc., UPCO Inc., US Synthetic, Unattended Payment Solutions LLC, Unified Brands, Val TemperBent Glass L.P., Vectron Frequency Devices (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vehicle Service Group LLC, Vehicle Service Group UK Limited, Vos Food Store Equipment Ltd., WSCR Corp., Warn Automotive LLC, Warn Industries, Waukesha Bearings, Waukesha Bearings Corporation, Waukesha Bearings Limited, Waukesha Bearings Russia LLC, Wayne Fueling Systems, Wayne Fueling Systems (Rus) Limited Liability Company, Wayne Fueling Systems Australia Pty Ltd, Wayne Fueling Systems Canada ULC, Wayne Fueling Systems Italia S.R.L., Wayne Fueling Systems LLC, Wayne Fueling Systems Ltd., Wayne Fueling Systems Sweden AB, Wayne Fueling Systems UK Holdco Ltd., Wayne Industria e Comercio Ltda., WellMark, WellMark, and em-tec GmbH. Read More By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today sought a report from Indian Ambassador in Norway on the allegations made by an Indian couple that the Norwegian authorities have taken away their five-year-old child on frivolous complaint of abuse. "I have asked Indian Ambassador in Norway to send me a report," Swaraj tweeted. BJP leader Vijay Jolly had written to her and the Indian Ambassador in Norway after the couple sought his help in getting back the custody of their child. advertisement Meanwhile, MEA officials said, "Our Embassy officials in Oslo have spoken to the boys father Anil Kumar Sharma and extended full support. However, Sharma informed the mission that he has hired a lawyer to represent him in the case." When contacted, Norwegian Embassy spokesperson said, "The Embassy became aware of this case yesterday evening. We have asked relevant authorities in Norway to provide us with further information, and are awaiting their response." In his letter to Indian Ambassador Debraj Pradhan, Jolly had raised concern on "forcible custody" of the boy Aryan by Child Welfare Department of Norway on "baseless and fabricated complaint" in Oslo on December 13. Sharma is a member of Overseas Friends of BJP. Jolly said he has received a call from a senior MEA official saying that help will be given to the Indian couple. This is the third case since 2011 when children have been taken away from their Indian-origin parents by the authorities in Norway on the grounds of abuse. In 2011, a three-year-old and a one-year-old were separated from their parents, prompting the then UPA government to take up the issue with Norway. The Norwegian court later allowed the children to be reunited with their parents. In December 2012, an Indian couple was jailed on charges of ill treatment of their children, 7 and 2 years. Later, they were were sent to their grandparents in Hyderabad. PTI SLB VIT MPB PYK RT --- ENDS --- 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 OGE Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and energy services provider that offers physical delivery and related services for electricity, natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric energy. It provides retail electric service to approximately 879,000 customers, which covers a service area of approximately 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas; and owns and operates coal-fired, natural gas-fired, wind-powered, and solar-powered generating assets. As of December 31, 2021, the company owned and operated interconnected electric generation, transmission, and distribution systems, including 16 generating stations with an aggregate capability of 7,207 megawatts; and transmission systems comprising 54 substations and 5,122 structure miles of lines in Oklahoma, and 7 substations and 277 structure miles of lines in Arkansas. Its distribution systems included 350 substations; 29,494 structure miles of overhead lines; 3,365 miles of underground conduit; and 11,125 miles of underground conductors in Oklahoma, as well as 29 substations, 2,795 structure miles of overhead lines, 349 miles of underground conduit, and 662 miles of underground conductors in Arkansas. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. The Consumer Banking and Lending segment offers diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses. Its financial products and services include checking and savings accounts, and credit and debit cards, as well as home, auto, personal, and small business lending services. The Commercial Banking segment provides financial solutions to private, family owned, and certain public companies. Its products and services include banking and credit products across various industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management services. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment offers a suite of capital markets, banking, and financial products and services to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients. Its products and services comprise corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, equity, and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities services. The Wealth and Investment Management segment provides personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, and trust and fiduciary products and services to affluent, high-net worth, and ultra-high-net worth clients. It also operates through financial advisors. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes generic medicines, specialty medicines, and biopharmaceutical products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers sterile products, hormones, high-potency drugs, and cytotoxic substances in various dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, injectables, inhalants, liquids, transdermal patches, ointments, and creams. It also develops, manufactures, and sells active pharmaceutical ingredients. In addition, it focuses on the central nervous system, pain, respiratory, and oncology areas. Its products in the central nervous system include Copaxone for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; AJOVY for the preventive treatment of migraine; and AUSTEDO for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington disease. The company's products in the respiratory market comprise ProAir, QVAR, ProAir Digihaler, AirDuo Digihaler, and ArmonAir Digihaler, BRALTUS, CINQAIR/CINQAERO, DuoResp Spiromax, and AirDuo RespiClick/ArmonAir RespiClick for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Its products in the oncology market include Bendeka, Treanda, Granix, Trisenox, Lonquex, and Tevagrastim/Ratiograstim. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has a collaboration MedinCell for the development and commercialization of multiple long-acting injectable products, a risperidone suspension for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. By PTI: Bhubaneswar, Dec 22 (PTI) Congress workers today staged a demonstration outside Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) office here demanding resignation of city Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena in connection with a sex video and death of an engineering student. Shouting slogans against the Mayor, a large number of Congress workers who staged a sit-in near the BMC Office also demanded a CBI investigation into the the death of engineering student Asutosh Mohanty alias Rishi in May this year and the sex clip purportedly featuring Jena. advertisement Claiming that the police failed to probe the matter due to pressure from the ruling party as the Mayor is a general secretary of BJD, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Prasad Harichandan said only a probe by CBI can unravel the truth. Congress would continue its agitation till the Mayor resigned, the PCC chief said adding that the there were allegations that the sex tape had links with Rishis murder. Stating that charges against the Mayor would never be probed by state police in a fair and impartial manner, Harichandan said it was amply clear that Jena, being an influential leader, was being shielded by the BJD Government. The PCC chief hit out at the Naveen Patnaik government, accusing it of failing to deal with the case seriously and ensure prompt and time-bound probe by police. PTI SKN NN BSA --- ENDS --- Announcing the 2017 W&M Global Film Festival Happy birthday, GFF! W&M's Global Film Festival turns 10 in February and will celebrate with films from around the globe, special guests, panel discussions and receptions, all either on campus or at Merchants Square. Courtesy GFF Photo - of - Hide Caption The William & Mary Global Film Festival (GFF) is celebrating its 10th anniversary with four days of films, special guests, workshops and receptions from Feb. 23-26. The festival will feature a diverse program of films and live events showcasing the work of international filmmakers, William & Mary faculty and emerging student talent from around the globe. Highlighting the festival will be five Virginia premieres and eight international films from or about countries such as India, Japan, Russia and Pakistan. All screenings will take place at the Kimball Theatre, with workshops and receptions happening on the William & Mary campus or at Merchants Square. "For the 10th anniversary we wanted to showcase all the William & Mary talent in the filmmaking industry among faculty, alumni and students," said Liz Sykes '06, co-producer of this year's GFF. "Wth the films and special guests we have lined up, we think we have achieved that." {{youtube:medium:center|6Rp6SmXWz64, The 2017 GFF official trailer}} Opening the festival is the featured film The Tiger Hunter. It is the story of Sami Malik, a young Indian who travels to 1970s America to become an engineer in order to impress his childhood crush and live up to the legacy of his father a legendary tiger hunter back home. To put it mildly, things dont go as he planned. Writer/director Lena Khan and producer Megha Kadakia will be present for a Q&A following the film, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Fridays feature film is The Russian Woodpecker, an award-winning documentary that examines the mind of an irradiated Ukranian artist on a quest to discover the criminal behind the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Director/producer/editor Chad Gracia will be present for a Q&A following the films showing at 8 p.m. {{youtube:medium:center|9rd4ARsbg_0, The Russian Woodpecker}} On Saturday at 8:30, the Virginia premiere of Accidental Courtesy: Darryl Davis, Race & America will be shown. Davis, an accomplished musician who has performed worldwide with rock legends Little Richard and Chuck Berry, uses his spare time to meet and befriend members of the Ku Klux Klan. He and director Matt Ornstein will be present after the film to discuss the project and some of the remarkable results of Davis' unusual person-to-person campaign. Among the films being shown involving William & Mary alumni is "Tower," produced by Megan Gilbride '00. Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation, "Tower" is based entirely on first-person testimonies and is a suspenseful retelling of the tragic day a sniper climbed the iconic tower at the University of Texas and opened fire on the people below. It will be hosted by Sharon Zuber, professor of Film and Media Studies and English, and can be seen on Friday, Feb. 24, at 5:30 p.m. The Muscarelle Museum of Art will host the opening reception on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 5-8 p.m., offering heavy hors doeurvres, an open bar and entry to the exhibit entitled Botticelli and the Search for the Divine. Tickets for the opening reception and all-access passes for GFF events are currently on sale. Tickets for each screening will go on sale Jan. 18. The 2017 festival is sponsored by the Roy R. Charles Center for Academic Excellence, the Reves Center for International Studies, Canon, the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission and the Muscarelle Museum of Art. The complete schedule and passes are now available. Congress has lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that instead of giving answers to the charges levelled by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, he is speaking a comedian's language in frustration. By Mausami Singh: Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the verbal battle to Congress's camp over demonetisation, the main opposition party has hit back. Responding to PM Modi's taunt at its senior leaders, Congress general secretary BK Hari Prasad said that the language used at the Varanasi function was not appropriate. Earlier, speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre in Varanasi PM Modi ridiculed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's allegations of personal corruption against him. advertisement READ| PM Narendra Modi taunts Rahul Gandhi: Now we have seen what earthquake is all about Highlights of Congress's response Prime Minister is speaking in frustration. His language is not of a prime minister but of a comedian, BK Hari Prasad said. After congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi made serious charges against the Prime Minister, people expected that he would answer to those allegations. They expect him to speak the language of the Prime Minister and not the language of the comedian. The fact that PM Modi has not reacted on Sahara Diary by maintaining silence shows that he is accepting the allegations. Whether Rahul Gandhi is learning to speak or has already learnt to speak is an internal matter of the Congress party, said Hari Prasad. Prime Minister needs to learn as to what should be the language and behaviour of a prime minister, he said. You don't need any certificate from Narendra Modi even after two years he's not speaking like a prime minister. Narendra Modi should give the report card of Guajarat. Why doesn't he talk about Gujarat model now, asked the Congress leader. Electoral victory is not everything. Even Phoolan Devi (the dreaded bandit from Chambal badlands) won elections, BK Hari Prasad said. If Modi is really so clean, he should be get a Supreme Court monitored SIT probe into the allegations leveled by Rahul Gandhi, the Congress said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Japan that business is in his blood. The country doesn't need a businessman PM, the party said. --- ENDS --- China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who was at the centre of a long and bitter power tussle with the Aam Aadmi Party, resigned from his post today. By India Today Web Desk: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who was at the centre of a long and bitter power tussle with the Aam Aadmi Party, resigned from his post today, one-and-a-half years before his tenure ends in 2018. "Lt Governor Shri Najeeb Jung has submitted his resignation to the Government of India. He thanks the Hon'ble Prime Minister for all the help and cooperation he received during his tenure as the Lt. Governor of Delhi," a press release issued by Jung's office said. advertisement "Shri Jung also thanks the people of Delhi for all their support and affection, especially during the one year's President Rule in Delhi, when he got unstinted support from them and which in turn helped run the administration in Delhi smoothly and effortlessly. He also thanks the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi for his association in the last two years," the statement said. Also read | Najeeb Jung acting like Hitler, Modi won't make a Muslim India's Vice-President: Arvind Kejriwal The statement added that the 65-year-old former bureaucrat will be going back to his "first love, which is academics". Jung had taken over as Delhi Lieutenant Governor in July, 2013. 'NOT IN RACE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT'S CHAIR' Talking exclusively to India Today, Jung denied him being in the race for Vice-President's chair. "No, I am not in the race. I intend to spend time in academic works and writing. I am looking at university in both America and Singapore. I also have a house in Goa where I intend to move," Jung said. "I believe I have served Delhi and done my job and now I want to spend more time with family," he added. Also read | Jung appreciates Kejriwal, says they share good personal rapport THE JUNG WITH AAP In its power tussle with the Centre, Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had called Jung an agent of the BJP, which rules at the Centre. Sh Jung's resignation is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 22, 2016 ??? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ??????????? ??????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ????????? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ????? Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) December 22, 2016 Earlier this year, in a severe setback to the AAP, the Delhi High Court recognised the Lt Governor as the administrative head of the Delhi government. Also read | Will chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai but can't force anyone, says Delhi Lt Gov Najeeb Jung advertisement This prompted Jung to set up a panel to probe over 400 files related to various decisions taken by the Delhi government ever since coming to power, which it called "illegal". However, the AAP government quickly moved the Supreme Court against the August 4 High Court decision and hopes to gain back the lost ground in 2017. WHY MYSTERY SURROUNDS JUNG'S SUDDEN RESIGNATION Nobody had an inclination that he was going to resign despite his ongoing fight with the Delhi government. Jung was seen as an able administrator and close to the Modi government. On December 16, Jung intimated the Union Home Secretary about going on a leave from December 21 to January 1. If he had to resign, why did Jung write his leave letter? In his conversation with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Jung cited personal reasons behind him stepping down. He had only 18 months of tenure left, what was the urgency to resign before that? The big question now is what happened between December 16 and December 22 which forced Jung to resign. (With inputs from Ankit Tyagi) --- ENDS --- The Sine Ngayene and Wanar sites in Senegal and Wassu and Kerbatch sites in Gambia are some of West Africa's greatest archaeological landmarks. 5. Description and History As ancient monuments go, the stone circles of Senegal and Gambia may not be in the same league as the Great Pyramids, Stonehenge or the Easter Island statues. Yet, they represent a remarkable cultural and architectural achievement of pre-historic western Africa. Located in an area 100 km wide and 350 km within Senegal and Gambia are 1053 stone circles consisting of no less than 28,930 monoliths around 2m in height and weighing more than 7 tons each.The stone circles seem to have had a funerary purpose. Recent excavations in the immediate vicinity have uncovered mass burials, in which bodies were haphazardly interred, indicating an epidemic or a sacrificial ritual. However, according to Islamic writers, the monoliths were erected around the around the burial mounds of royal personages of the ancient empire of Ghana. After the advent of Islam, prominent Muslims were also buried under the same custom and the stone circles became sacred spaces. 4. Tourism The stone circles and other monoliths found in the area are divided into four large complexes: Sine Ngayene and Wanar in Senegal; Wassu and Kerbatch lie in the Central River region of Gambia. Each stone circle comprises of between 10 and 24 megaliths; however, they are of the same approximate size in any given circle.Of the 1053 circles, 93 were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2006. Sine Ngayene is the largest site in the entire region with 52 stone circles, including one concentric circle. But Wassu and Djalloumbere attract the maximum number of visitors as the region encompasses more than a thousand megaliths erected in as many as fifty circles. 3. Uniqueness Recent excavations suggest that the stones date back from the 3rd century B.C. to 16th century A.D., reflecting a tradition that endured for almost two millennia. The stone circles of Senegambia are just one of the three trans-border World Heritage properties on the Dark Continent. It required some geological knowledge to identify the best laterite rocks from the nearby quarries and carve out the monoliths in cylindrical or polygonal pillars. The stones had to be extracted in singular pieces, which required tremendous skill. Having accomplished this, the stones were transported and erected in the various complexes along the River Gambia. This required a strong social order able to mobilize the hundreds of laborers required for the erection of each circle, much like in ancient Egypt. 2. Natural Surroundings, Sights, and Sounds As the name suggests, the Stone Circles of Senegambia are located between the River Senegal and the River Gambia in West Africa. Around 1 km to the east of the Sine Ngayene complex in Senegal lies the quarry from which many of the megaliths were removed and processed. During exploration, pottery shards were found at Wanar. They were scattered around the stones and buried in different layers of earth. The layers suggest that the pottery was deposited after the drystone had disappeared but before the stones themselves collapsed. The stone circles are all found near burial mounds. The Sine Nhayene complex was surrounded by hundreds of burial mounds called tumuli. The mounds had leveled over centuries of erosion. There is evidence to show that people were first interred at the site and the monoliths were erected later in burial ceremonies. 1. Threats and Conservation Efforts In Gambia, the sites are the responsibility of the Directorate for Cultural Heritage of the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC), which employs a permanent staff of caretakers. The two sites in Senegal also enjoy the protection of central laws covering historical monuments and excavations and discoveries.There are long-term action plans to preserve the entire the Senegambian complex for its cultural significance. The objective is to promote the region as a tourist destination and provide economic benefits to the local communities. Beyond conservation and enhancement, both Senegal and Gambia encourage archaeological projects and in-depth research to better align the sites with educational and developmental objectives at the national levels. The hostility between the two had turned bitter enough for Kejriwal to say earlier this month that the L-G was acting like Hitler, following in footsteps of "his masters" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: The tenure of Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, who resigned today, will be remembered more for the spate of tussles he had with the territory-state's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The two top constitutional heads of Delhi sparred on several occasions over powers and decisions. The hostility between the two had turned bitter enough for Kejriwal to say earlier this month that the L-G was acting like Hitler, following in footsteps of "his masters" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. He accused Jung of selling his soul to Modi in order to become the Vice-president even though the PM would never appoint a Muslim to the post. advertisement These are the seven instances when Jung and Kejriwal had serious differences. 1. DCW MEMBER SECRETARY Earlier this month, Jung appointed IAS officer Dilraj Kaur as Member Secretary of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). The move came eight days after Kejriwal had sought the removal of incumbent Alka Dewan, terming her appointment "unconstitutional" and against the consent of the Delhi government. PP Dhal assumed charge of as the "officiating" Member Secretary of the Commission following directions by Kejriwal. 2. OFFICIAL FILES Jung had appointed a three member committee to look into 400 files submitted by the Kejriwal government. The committee was constituted to look into the "infirmities and irregularities" in the files. 3. DERC CHAIRPERSON Jung scrapped the appointment of Krishna Saini as chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) by the AAP government on grounds of legal infirmities. According to the L-G, Saini was appointed to the post without his approval as mandated under rules and procedures. 4. DELHI'S ADMINISTRATIVE HEAD The fight between Jung and Kejriwal over administrative head's post even reached courts. The Delhi High Court held that the L-G is the administrative head of Delhi. The AAP government challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court. The Kejriwal government described the L-G as an "employee of the central government" in "a master-servant relationship". Delhi High Court decided that AAP is ruling a Union Territory and not a full state. 5. SWATI MALIWAL'S APPOINTMENT AS DCW CHAIRPERSON Jung cancelled the appointment of Swati Maliwal as the DCW chairperson. In a statement, Jung's office insisted that the L-G is the sole authority in Delhi on major issues, including top appointments. 6. ACB'S POWERS Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) became a battle turf between Jung and Kejriwal. It was torn between the appointees of the two. Kejriwal claimed that the ACB office has been "physically taken over" by Delhi Police. On the other hand, ACB chief MK Meena - a Jung appointee - accused the Delhi government of bypassing complaints meant to be sent to ACB. 7. CHIEF SECRETARY In May, 2015, Delhi's then Chief Secretary KK Sharma went on leave to the US for a personal visit for 10 days. Jung appointed IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting chief secretary of Delhi. Kejriwal called the appointment unconstitutional. advertisement Also read | Jung with Jung: 4 reasons why Kejriwal will move Supreme Court over tussle with L-G WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- Email Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter Single Family Home Sales Spike in Late 2016, Condo Sales Dip Sign Up Free | The WPJ Weekly Newsletter Relevant real estate news. Actionable market intelligence. Right to your inbox every week. Go Thank you for your interest! You will now be receiving our Weekly Real Estate Newsletter. Real Estate Listings Showcase According to a new report by the MIAMI Association of Realtors, the Miami single-family homes market registered its best November in seven years as total single-family home sales jumped 13.1 percent, mid-market home sales rose 45.2 percent and luxury sales skyrocketed 43.4 percent year-over-year.Prices for all Miami properties and total sales volume increased as some home buyers and investors moved to finalize purchases in the wake of the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election."The political uncertainty led some home buyers to pause and take a wait-and-see approach with real estate," said Mark Sadek, a Coral Springs Realtor and the 2016 MIAMI chairman of the board. "Now that the election is over and there's more certainty about the direction of the country, home buying should increase for a South Florida region that's seeing sustained population and job growth."Mortgage rates have increased in recent weeks, and that may have encouraged some home buyers who were waiting on the sidelines to make purchases in November. Despite the increase, mortgage rates remain at historic lows, making home buying more affordable.According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage is 3.77 percent. The average rate in 1990, in comparison, was 10.13 percent.Total existing Miami-Dade County residential sales -- which posted a record year in 2013 and near record years in 2014 and 2015 -- decreased a negligible 0.3 percent year-over-year from 2,003 to 1,997.Single-family home sales increased 13.1 percent year-over-year, from 906 in November 2015 to 1,025 last month. The 1,025 transactions are the highest November total for the Miami single-family homes market since November 2009 when 1,156 homes were sold.Existing condo sales -- which are competing with a robust new construction market -- decreased 11.4 percent year-over-year, from 1,097 transactions to 972.Sales for mid-market Miami single-family homes, or properties listed from $300,000 to $600,000, increased 45.2 percent in November, from 261 to 379. Homes sold in the $300K to $600K range represent 37 percent of total Miami single-family home sales.The top of the single-family homes market also had a strong month. Luxury ($1-million-and-above) homes posted 43.4 percent more transactions than a year ago, rising from 53 to 76 sales.Miami single-family traditional sales also posted gains, jumping an impressive 30.5 percent from last year. This huge gain in traditional sales, from 662 to 864 transactions, is great news for the local market.Total sales volume for all properties accounted for $829.2 million last month, a 9.6 percent increase from the $756.9 million sales volume a year ago. These sales do not include Miami's multi-billion dollar new construction condo market.Median sale prices for single-family homes jumped 13.1 percent, increasing from $274,200 to $310,000. Existing condos experienced 7.0 percent price appreciation, climbing from $203,000 to $217,250. Miami single-family home prices have risen for 60 consecutive months. Condo prices have increased in 64 of the last 66 months, a streak spanning more than five years.Despite the increased prices, Miami properties remain at 2005 price levels and at a major bargain compared to other global cities. A 120-square meter condo in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach cost $149,900 on average, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). London ($960,840), Hong Kong ($776,280), and New York ($1.6 million) prices are at least five times higher.Total Miami distressed sales declined 39.7 percent year-over-year, from 491 to 296 last month. Only 14.8 percent of all closed residential sales in Miami were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 24.5 percent in November 2015. In 2009, distressed sales comprised 70 percent of Miami sales.Short sales and REOs accounted for 3.8 and 11.0 percent, respectively, of total Miami sales in November 2016. Short sale transactions dropped 12.6 percent year-over-year while REOs fell 50 percent.Nationally, distressed sales accounted for 6 percent of all sales in November, down from 9 percent a year ago.The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Miami single-family home sales was 50 days, a 6.4 percent increase from 47 days last year. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date for single-family properties increased 4.9 percent to 107 days.For condos, the median time to contract increased 6 percent to 71 days. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date stayed the same at 119 days.The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes increased 0.1 percent to 95.5 percent. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 93.5 percent, a decrease of 1.2 percent.In addition to competing sales from new construction units, the lack of access to mortgage loans continues to impact existing condominiums. Of the 9,307 condominium buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, only 12 are approved for Federal Housing Administration loans, down from 29 last year, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and FHA.Nationally, total existing-home sales rose 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million in November from a downwardly revised 5.57 million in October. November's sales pace is now the highest since February 2007 (5.79 million) and is 15.4 percent higher than a year ago (4.86 million).Statewide, closed sales of existing single-family homes totaled 19,763, up 12.8 percent from November 2015, while townhouse-condo sales totaled 7,794, up 4.1 percent compared to a year ago.The national median existing-home price for all housing types in November was $234,900, up 6.8 percent from November 2015 ($220,000). November's price increase marks the 57th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $220,000, up 10 percent from the previous year, according to Florida Realtors. The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties in November was $162,000, up 8 percent over the year-ago figure. Statewide median sales prices for single-family homes and condos have risen for 60 consecutive months.Miami cash transactions comprised 43 percent of November total closed sales, compared to 55 percent last year. Miami cash transactions are more than double the national average of 21 percent. Miami's high percentage of cash sales reflects South Florida's ability to attract a diverse number of international home buyers, who tend to purchase properties in all cash.Condominiums comprise a large portion of Miami's cash purchases as 57.4 percent of condo closings were made in cash in November compared to 29.5 percent of single-family home sales.Inventory of single-family homes increased 7.7 percent in November from 6,131 active listings last year to 6,605 last month. Condominium inventory increased 18.6 percent to 14,811 from 12,492 listings during the same period in 2015.Single-family homes have a 6.0-month supply, which indicates a balanced market. Existing condominiums have a 13-month supply, which indicates a buyers' market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six and nine months supply of inventory.Total active listings at the end of October increased 15 percent year-over-year, from 18,623 to 21,416. Active listings remain about 60 percent below 2008 levels when sales bottomed. New listings of Miami single-family homes increased 5.7, from 1,475 to 1,559. New listings of condominiums increased 1 percent, from 2,196 to 2,217.Nationally, total housing inventory at the end of November dropped 8.0 percent to 1.85 million existing homes available for sale, and is now 9.3 percent lower than a year ago (2.04 million) and has fallen year-over-year for 18 straight months. Unsold inventory is at a 4.0-month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.3 months in October.Most Miami preconstruction condo developers require a 50-percent cash deposit on new units. The deposit is not only one of the highest in the United States but is significantly higher than the 20 percent required during the last real estate cycle. The large cash deposits show how committed Miami's preconstruction condo buyers are to the local market.Sixty-four condo towers with 6,760 units have been completed in Miami-Dade County east of I-95 in the last five years since the start of 2011, according to a Dec. 12 report from preconstruction condo projects website Cranespotters.com and the MIAMI Association of Realtors. Ambulance (illustration) By: Tanya Malhotra A public official died after the ambulance that was taking him to a hospital fell into the sea, according to police in the Philippines. Cebu police said that Tayud barangay captain Felipe Lauron, 56, suffered fatal injuries when the ambulance that was taking him to the hospital, crashed into the sea. The driver of the ambulance, 28-year-old Von Ryan Maranao, is in police custody on suspicion of reckless driving. Also on board the ambulance during the crash was Junrel Paculanang, 29, nurse Edgar Ferrer, Jr., 23, and Lauronas wife Elizabeth, 55. According to the police investigation, Lauron suffered from chest pain and shortness of breath on Monday night, prompting Elizabeth to call for help. Elizabeth told police that Maranao was driving the ambulance quickly when it fell into the sea near a seafood restaurant at around 11:00 p.m. Elizabeth said that the driver escaped after the accident, leaving her, Lauron and the nurse in a dangerous situation. Neighbors who saw the incident, immediately called for help. Another ambulance was dispatched to the scene, and they transported Lauron, Elizabeth and Ferrer to the Mendero Medical Center. Elizabeth and Ferrer suffered minor injuries while Lauron was pronounced dead on arrival. Employees of an ATM logistics company have been booked for allegedly siphoning off Rs 1.88 crore in new Rs 2,000 currency notes. The employees were taking advantage of a loophole in the ATM cash replenishment system. (Representational Image) By Ashish Pandey: The Central Crime Station at Hyderabad booked a case against employees of an ATM logistics company, after the firm accused them of siphoning off Rs 1.88 crore in new Rs 2,000 currency notes. The cash was meant for replenishing ATMs daily. The company LogiCash discovered the misappropriation of cash in one ATM during an internal audit, and an eventual investigation revealed similar frauds in other ATMs, which primarily included State Bank of India ATMs in the city. advertisement SBI had given a contract for ATM replenishment and management to Tata Communications Payment Solutions Limited, which in turn gave a sub-contract to Logicash. The employees' modus operandi was to take advantage of a loophole in the ATM cash replenishment system: The cash is physically deposited in ATM's and amount is also registered manually, which can easily be manipulated. Only a physical audit can reveal the cheating in ATM. CCS suspect that the case is just the tip of the iceberg and similar frauds might have taken place on a large scale post demonetisation, involving staff of several logistics companies. Speaking to India Today, Detective Department DCP Avinash Mohanty said, police has directed cash management companies to regularly conduct physical checks at ATMs to ensure money meant for public does not reach the hands of unscrupulous people. Hyderabad police have also requested banks to be more alert while outsourcing. --- ENDS --- Police has identified three Lashkar terrorists who were involved in three bank loot incidents in Kashmir since demonetisation. By Ashraf Wani: Jammu and Kashmir police have identified three Lashkar terrorists as the group behind three bank robberies took place in South and central Kashmir after demonetisation. These were the first ever cases of bank theft reported from the area in almost 20 years. THE ROBBERIES #1 On November 21, Rs 13 lakh were looted from J&K Bank Branch in Malpora Chararisharief in Budgam District. advertisement #2 On December 8, Rs 13.38 lakh were looted from the same bank's Arihal branch in Pulwama District. #3 And in the latest incident, Rs 10 Lakh were looted on December 15 from J&K Bank's Ratnipora branch in Pulwama. THE HUNT #1 "Immediately after the incident of bank robbery police swung into action and started investigation. Initial enquiries from eye witnesses, and identification from photos thereof and inputs from sources pointed towards a foreign militant code Abu Ali, as one of the assailants," said Azhar Bashir ASP J&K Police Pulwama. #2 Ali, it was eventually found, was also part of the group that carried out the Budgam robbery. #3 Further inputs and leads in the case, including CCTV footage, suggested that the same three militants conducted all three robberies -- they were identified as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants Arif Dar alias Rehan, and Pakistani militants Abu Ali and Abu Ismail. #4 Police then discovered the involvement of one Ramiz Raja, who was then called in for questioning. They found that he was an over-ground-worker of the outfit and after the robbery the militants approached him to exchange the old currency they had looted. #5 His disclosures further led police to Manzoor Ahmad, who had aided in the disposal of the robbed amount. In the process, looted cash worth Rs 1.99 lakh in old denomination was recovered. Further investigations are ongoing, but with all main accused on the run, a huge challenge faces security agencies in Kashmir. --- ENDS --- Although the background to Mondays attack on a Berlin Christmas market remains unclear, politicians and the media are using it to mount a right-wing offensive in Germany and throughout Europe. The attack claimed 12 lives and left 48 people injured. On Tuesday, the police released a 23-year-old refugee from Pakistan because of lack of evidence that he had driven the truck that ploughed into a crowd at the Breitscheidplatz in central Berlin. Now the search is focused on a young Tunisian, Anis Amri, who has been living in Germany since July 2015 and has been under surveillance by the security authorities because he is alleged to be in contact with a German network of the Islamic State. According to press reports, the investigators found an identification document from Amri under the drivers seat of the vehicle. Why they discovered it only after one-and-a-half days, although they had previously examined the vehicle for DNA traces of the first suspect, remains unanswered. Just as puzzling is why a perpetrator on the run would leave his visiting card at the crime scene. Ralf Jager, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, the state where Amri was registered, told the press that the participation of the man in the attack was still not at all clarified. On the basis of available information, nothing definitive can be said about those responsible for the Berlin attack. An Islamic background cannot be excluded, but neither can a provocation by home-grown right-wing forces be ruled out. It should be recalled that the attack carried out by an 18-year-old student in Munich this past summer was immediately declared an act of Islamist terrorism, until it turned out that the offender was a right-wing extremist. The lack of clarity has not stopped politicians and the media from using the Berlin attack to launch a concerted campaign against refugees and demand a massive buildup of the state apparatus. The right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the federal government, are leading the pack. Their attacks are directly or indirectly directed against the CDU chairperson and chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, who plans to run for a fourth term as chancellor in the Bundestag (parliamentary) elections next autumn. Although Merkel has long since dropped her pose of acceptance of refugees fleeing the imperialist wars in Iraq, Syria, Libya Afghanistan and other countries in the Middle East, Northern Africa and Central Asia, and switched to a course of ruthlessly deterring and deporting refugees, her critics continue to denounce her for being soft in regard to the refugee problem. Marcus Pretzell, a leading AfD politician, tweeted immediately after Mondays attack: The deaths are Merkels responsibility! On Wednesday evening, the AfD organized a vigil in front of the Chancellery at which far-right organizations such as Pegida, the Identities, and the National Democratic Party (NPD) planned to take part. On Tuesday, Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU Chairman Horst Seehofer declared in Munich: We owe it to the victims, their families and the entire populace to rethink and readjust our entire immigration and security policy. The Bavarian minister of the interior, Joachim Herrmann, claimed on Deutschlandfunk that the perpetrators were people who had come to Germany as part of the refugee stream. He added, The risks are obvious. Participants in the Maischberger news interview program broadcast by ARD Tuesday evening demanded a massive state buildup. Shlomo Shpiro, known as an Israeli terror expert, described the Berlin attack as Germany 9/11. In the US, he declared, people had woken up to the threat of terrorism from one day to the next. This was now taking place in Germany. The solutions, he said, are police, intelligence, security policy, but also social. Shpiro called for doing away with the outdated laws, regulations and structures that had been anchored in the German constitution as a consequence of Nazi rule. He said it was necessary to centralize the state surveillance and police apparatus. He acknowledged that services in Germany have a bad reputationkeyword, Stasi, Gestapo, etc. But, he said, the times when people could dwell on the crimes of such organizations were over. Klaus Bouillon, the chairman of the Interior Ministerial Conference, called for clear solutions to deal with the terror threat, which will certainly continue. He continued: We need to significantly strengthen the police, we need new forms of organization, we need more weapons. We need to think, do we need new laws to help investigation agencies, do we need to control the new media more? The Greens and the Left Party are supporting this campaign. The chairperson of the Green Party in the Bundestag, Katrin Goring-Eckardt, attacked Shpiro and Bouillon on the Maischberger show from the right. She criticized the fact that the intelligence services had not been centralized long before. On Deutschlandfunk, the Green politician Boris Palmer demanded: There must be more deportations. The Left Party has been demanding more police for some time. These reactions were not restricted to Germany. Across Europe, right-wing parties and governments seized on the Berlin attack as confirmation of their authoritarian and xenophobic policies. Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis, a millionaire entrepreneur, declared that Merkels policy was responsible for this dreadful act. He continued: It was she who let migrants enter Germany and the whole of Europe in uncontrolled waves, without papers, therefore without knowing who they really are. Migrants had no place in Europe, he insisted. The Dutch extremist Geert Wilders published a picture of Merkel with blood on her hands and blamed Europes cowardly leaders for a tsunami of Islamic terrorist attacks. The former UKIP (UK Independence Party) leader Nigel Farage posted on Twitter: Terrible news from Berlin but no surprise. Events like these will be the Merkel legacy. The head of the Polish ruling party PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, declared: We will defend Poland. The countrys interior minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, announced: If the old government were still in power, we would have had several thousand, maybe 10,000 Islamist immigrants in the country. Then the danger would be great. It is all about a struggle of Civilisations. He added that it was no accident the target was a Christmas market. The editor of Die Zeit, Josef Joffe, a notorious right-winger, was jubilant, writing in the British Guardian: Now the cocoon has burst for good. Ever protective of our privacy laws, Germans will soon come around to much intensified surveillance by our own intelligence services and those of our allies Now Germany will invest even more in securityand perhaps show a bit more gratitude to the NSA, GCHQ and DGSE. Militarism in Germany would also benefit, Joffe continued. Pacifism, the nations traditional posture since the Second World War, is losing its luster as Putinist expansionism encroaches on NATOs eastern borders, while Donald Trump dismisses the alliance as obsolete. He concluded: Above all, if the perpetrator does turn out to be a refugee, Merkels open door policy on refugees will get a decisive make-over. The policy of the open door was a grand moral gesture stemming from Germanys ugly pastan act of historical atonement. But, he added, The noblest of intentions go awry when terror legitimizes anti-migrant and isolationist parties on the right and on the far left. There is no indication that this right-wing campaign has significant popular support. The atmosphere in Berlin is calm. Most of those interviewed express grief and horror combined with the hope that the attack does not poison the public climate and lead to an upturn in the fortunes of the right wing. Seehofer's attempt to politicize the terrible events after only 14 hours aroused widespread anger. What is taking place is a deliberate campaign by ruling circles for which the attack on the Christmas market provides an ideal pretext. Here lies the real parallel to 9/11, as opposed to the claims of the Israeli terror expert Shpiro. The attack on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, in which the US intelligence services played a still-to-be-clarified role, provided the pretext for the wars in the Middle East by means of which the United States sought to defend its position as the sole world power, while erecting a huge surveillance and security apparatus for the control and suppression of the working class. The culmination of this development is the presidency of Donald Trump, whose government is comprised of members of the financial oligarchy and the military. The ruling elites in Europe are now taking the same course. In so doing, they are responding to growing social tensions and the breaking apart of the European Union. The differences that arise between and within the bourgeois parties are purely tactical. In the basic direction of policymilitarism and social counterrevolutionall of the established parties are in accord. Mamata described Modi and his team as Ali Baba and his gang of thieves accusing the Prime Minister of robbing the people of all their wealth to enrich himself. She claimed that thousands of artisans and workers have come back to there natives due to unemployment, the list of which she promised to send to the President. She also conducted a meeting regarding the demonetisation drive with all party functionaries on Thursday afternoon. Around 1500 party representatives of various levels were present at the meeting. She had recently traveled to Midnapore and Bankura to understand the condition of people after demonetisation. She expressed her concerns for the pensioners and the lack of money in the market and its effect on the livelihood of the farmers. She was also equally dismive about the idea of a cashless society claiming that 92% of the villages do not have a bank and hence a cashless economy wasn't possible. She expressed her dissatisfaction towards the RBI saying the people can no longer trust the RBI and country will run into recession if things continue the way they are. Calling the demonetisation drive the biggest scam in the history of the world, she said "Modi hatao, Desh Bachao". She requested people to join her in this slogan, saying the country is not safe under his leadership and he had become a dictator. She requested people to join her in this slogan, saying the country is not safe under his leadership and he had become a dictator. She announced that the TMC government from 1st January to 8th January will conduct meetings and roam all over the state to inform people about the Modi's agenda. Mamata accused the RBI of discriminating against West Bengal. Mamata went on to ask as to why demonetisation was not part of discussion in the parliament and why a bill was not passed for the same, calling the move, unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic. Final certified election results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia show that Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote over Republican Donald Trump by a margin of nearly three million votes: 2,864,974 to be exact. The final figures, tabulated and reported by Cook Political Report Wednesday, showed Clinton with 65,844,610, 48.2 percent of the total vote, and Trump with 62,979,636, 46.1 percent of the total votes. Third-party candidates won 7,804,213 votes, or 5.7 percent of the total, with the bulk of that going to Libertarian Gary Johnson (4.5 million) and Green Party candidate Jill Stein (nearly 1.5 million). This was the largest third-party vote since 1996, when H. Ross Perot won nearly 8.1 million votes in his second campaign as an independent. It was more than double the third-party vote in 2000, when Green Party candidate Ralph Nader won 2.3 million votes. Clintons vote was the third highest ever received by a US presidential candidate, below only the 69.5 million won by Barack Obama in 2008 and the 65.9 million Obama won in his 2012 reelection campaign. Trumps total is the highest popular vote ever received by a Republican, nearly one million votes more than George W. Bush won in his 2004 reelection. Even though she won the popular vote by a substantial margin, Clintons showing marked a distinct decline in the Democratic vote in the industrial Midwest, only partially offset by an increase in the Pacific Coast states as well as in heavily Hispanic areas of Arizona and Texas. As a result, she lost Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania by narrow margins, posting vote totals well below those of Obama in 2008 and 2012, and lost the Electoral College. Despite winning the presidency, Trump has demonstrated considerable defensiveness about his sizable defeat in the popular vote. He tweeted Wednesday after the latest figures were released, Campaigning to win the Electoral College is much more difficult & sophisticated than the popular vote. Hillary focused on the wrong states! He added a few minutes later, I would have done even better in the election, if that is possible, if the winner was based on popular votebut would campaign differently. In a tweet in late November, Trump wrote, In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. This was a double lie, since there is no evidence whatsoever of millions voting illegally, and since Trumps Electoral College margin was hardly a landslide. When the votes were tallied in Washington, D.C. and 50 state capitals Monday, Trump won 304 electoral votes to Clintons 227, with seven votes scattered among other candidates. His margin in the Electoral College ranks 46th out of 58 US presidential elections. It is striking, however, that neither prominent Democrats nor the corporate media have cited Trumps loss of the popular vote as significantly undermining his political authority to install an ultra-right cabinet and embark on policies that are widely opposed by the majority of the American people. There have been occasional statements by Democrats, like incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, that Trump lacks a mandate, but these are almost incidental compared to the high-volume shrieking about alleged Russian hacking and the impact of FBI Director James Comeys intervention in the election campaign 11 days before the vote. Typical were the comments of former president Bill Clinton Monday, in an interview with a local newspaper in Albany, New York. Clinton said his wife fought through everything, and she prevailed against it all. But at the end, he said, we had the Russians and the FBI deal. But she couldnt prevail against that. These complaints were reinforced by the release Tuesday of the text of the application for a search warrant sought by the FBI on October 31, eight days before the election, targeting a laptop computer shared by Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband, former Representative Anthony Weiner. The request for a search warrant is legally questionable, essentially arguing that any email between Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin was potentially incriminating because some emails between the twoa few dozen out of thousands previously examined by the FBIhad contained confidential or secret information. While legal experts were divided about the propriety of the judges decision to grant the search warrant on this basis, there is no disputing that the public release of a letter by FBI Director James Comey, two days before the search warrant was sought, was an unprecedented intervention by the FBI into a presidential campaign, in defiance of precedents barring any public investigatory step within 90 days of an election. Clintons lawyer David Kendall declared in a statement Tuesday that the FBI affidavit requesting the search warrant, highlights the extraordinary impropriety of Director Comeys October 28 letter, publicized two days before the affidavit, which produced devastating but predictable damage politically and which was both legally unauthorized and factually unnecessary. Neither the Democrats nor the media choose to address the more fundamental question of how Clinton could have been running so closely contested a race against Trumpthe most unpopular individual ever to run for presidentthat a last minute scandal could tip the election against her. Recent reports on the US housing market have revealed that homeownership levels in the US have dropped to record lows in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. A report released last week by the Pew Research Center shows homeownership rates are at the lowest level in over 20 years, while US Census data evaluated by real estate firm Trulia show that young people aged 18-24 are living with their parents in numbers not seen since 1940, the year after the Great Depression officially ended. According to the data accumulated by Trulia, and reported by the Wall Street Journal, the share of young people living with parents in the US in 2016 was nearly 40 percent. Noting that homeownership is closely correlated with housing affordability and income, the Journal states that the only other period in which comparable rates were seen was over 75 years ago. In contrast, only 24.1 percent of young people were living with their parents in 1960. Those 18 to 24 years old, known as millennials, have surpassed Baby Boomers (ages 51-69) as the countrys largest living generation. However, the Journal notes a Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report, which found that despite the number of people under the age of 30 increasing by over 5 million since 2006, there are less than 200,000 new homeowners within this group today. A report released by Pew provides a more detailed breakdown of the loss in homeownership affecting broad sections of the working class. In 2004, homeownership in the US hit a modern peak of 69 percent. By contrast, the homeownership rate had fallen to 63.5 percent in 2016. Current homeownership rates have sunk to levels lower than in 1994, the period prior to the dot-com boom, when home values began their rapid growth. Significantly, the Pew study shows that young people have suffered the most under todays conditions. In 2004, 43 percent of people under the age of 35 owned homes. Today, that number has fallen to 35.2 percent, a drop of 18 percent from 12 years earlier. Homeownership for people age 35-44 declined by 16 percent in this same period. When based upon income, the collapse was also stark. The report notes that homeownership for people with household incomes lower than $44,000 fell from a high of 52.9 percent in 2005 to 47.1 percent in 2015. This was in contrast to better-off homeowners, making yearly incomes of between $44,000 and $132,000, and high-income homeowners making over $132,000, who saw a drop from 73.8 to 68.3 percent and from 86.6 to 80.3 percent, respectively. The Pew report found that African Americans were the hardest hit racial group in the US, with homeownership rates falling from a peak of 49.1 percent in 2004 to 41.3 percent today. Whites and Hispanics also saw their homeownership rates plummet, from 76 percent to 71.9 percent and from 48.1 percent to 47 percent, respectively. In addition, the number of loan applications has collapsed since 2004. According to Pew, housing loans for whites have fallen by 45 percent; 77 percent for African Americans and 76 percent for Hispanic residents. The 2008 collapse of the housing market precluded millions of people from ever obtaining ownership of a home, an aspiration long-associated with the American Dream. The report notes that nearly 72 percent of all renters wish to own their homes, but are blocked from doing so by stringent rules put in place to curb the illegal lending practices that occurred in the lead-up to the housing collapse. A report released two weeks ago by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that life expectancy fell for the entire US population for the first time in over 20 years in the period from 2014-2015, the last year on record. A recent study produced by economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman show a vast growth in total income inequality in the US since 1980, with the top 1 percent obtaining the same percentage of income today that the bottom 50 percent of the US population held in 1980. A study released in early December by economists from Harvard, Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley found that the percentage of Americans making more in income than their parents had collapsed from over 90 percent in 1970 to only 51 percent in 2014. These reports and others released in the recent period further undermine President Barack Obamas claim that Americans are doing pretty darn great thanks to his administrations policies. The decline in support from people 18-29 was among the key factors in the November 8 defeat of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who had promised to continue the policies of the Obama administration. Barack Obama is the first two-term American president to have presided over war every day of his tenure in office. He bequeaths to a Trump administration ongoing operations in Afghanistan, continuing drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, the consequences of the 2011 destruction of Libya, the instigation of civil war in Syria, US sponsorship of the brutal Saudi interventions in Yemen, and the civil conflicts in Ukraine, the Caucuses and across Africa. Obamas blood-soaked legacy, however, is most graphic in Iraq. There is a bitter irony in this, given the fact that he was elected in 2008 largely on the basis of claimed opposition to the Bush administrations invasion and occupation of the country, and his boasts, after continuing the war for nearly three more years after his inauguration, to have ended it with the formal withdrawal of US forces in December of 2011. Obama launched new military attacks in Iraq following ISIS June 2014 capture of Mosul, where one of the most criminal episodes in over 25 years of US violence against Iraq and its people is currently unfolding. The northern Iraqi city is under siege by tens of thousands of US-led Iraqi Army forces, Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) troops and sectarian Shiite militias. The objective is to take back control of the city from the Sunni extremist Islamic State, which was able to capture Mosul and other Iraqi cities from the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad only because of the weaponry and recruits it had gained in Syria by serving as a proxy for the US and its allies in the war for regime change against the government of Bashar al-Assad. The Obama administration seized upon this blow-back from its own policy to resume large-scale American operations in Iraq and directly intervene in the war in Syria. Uncounted numbers of Iraqis and Syrians have paid with their lives as a result. The majority Sunni cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in western Iraq have already been effectively destroyed and depopulated as a result of the campaign to evict ISIS. Now, the same destruction is being inflicted to liberate MosulIraqs second largest city with a population of some 1.5 million. After two months of the US-led assault, reports from Mosul testify to large-scale civilian casualties, mass displacement, the wholesale destruction of infrastructure and housing, and horrific human suffering. The Baghdad government instructed Mosul residents to remain in their homes and not flee the city. In the weeks since, air strikes by the US and British, French, Australian, Canadian, Jordanian and Iraqi war planes have shattered bridges linking the west and east of the city across the Tigris River and destroyed water pipelines. Electricity has been cut off in most areas. The university and other public buildings have been reduced to rubble, while roads are being cratered to stop vehicles using them. Hundreds of thousands of people, including large numbers of children, are trapped without safe drinking water, adequate food or access to medical treatment. ISIS has rigged buildings with explosives and is sending vehicles driven by suicide bombers against the government forces pushing into the eastern suburbs. It has ignited oil-filled trenches to cover the city in thick black smoke and hinder air attacks. The US-led offensive is making limited progress due to the savage resistance. The most populated suburbs are still held by ISIS. In the areas that have been retaken by US-led forces, just 100,000 people have been able to flee to tent city displacement camps. Males are separated from their families to be detained and interrogated for potential ISIS sympathies. Scattered reports have surfaced of Sunni civilians being killed or tortured by sectarian Shiite troops or militias. Once in the camps, people are prevented from leaving for security reasons. A Kurdish government representative stated this week that 2,000 more people are now fleeing the city each day. Lisa Grande of the United Nations told the Washington Post: We are very worried that we are going to run out of supplies. We only have limited amounts of stocks, and if everyone near and inside Mosul requires help, we wont have enoughnot by a long shot. Medical facilities have been overwhelmed by civilians with wounds caused by gunfire or explosives. The fate of the majority of wounded, inside the city where hospitals are not functioning, is terrible to contemplate. The Obama administration and American media, as well as the governments and media in allied states, have denounced as a war crime the Russian-backed Syrian government offensive that dislodged US-backed Islamist rebels from the city of Aleppo. The plight of Aleppo civilians, particularly imagery of suffering children, has been widely reported. The people of Mosul, however, are being treated as collateral damage by the imperialist hypocrites, barely warranting comment. Casualties are largely being blamed on ISIS using civilians as human shields or attacking people trying to escape the city with snipers or mortars. Summing up the situation, one displaced person told the Washington Post: People of Mosul have two options. Either stay inside and die because of the bombing or hunger, or go to the campsto the prison. Either way, its a slow death. The US military has stated that the offensive will go on for at least two to four monthswell into the first stages of a Trump presidency. When, or if, Mosul falls, the full extent of civilian deaths is unlikely to ever be known. Close to 14 years since the US invasion, the credible estimate by Lancet that it caused over 650,000 deaths just between March 2003 and June 2006 is still routinely rejected as exaggerated by apologists for American imperialism and its puppet government in Baghdad. The death toll of this years bloodbaths in Fallujah and Ramadi has not been revealed. While the exact human cost is unknown, there is no doubt as to the overriding motive behind the 1991 Gulf War, years of sanctions on Iraq, the 2003 US invasion, through to the current blood-letting in Mosul: Oil. The 2003 invasion was a criminal conspiracy planned between the Bush administration and the major oil conglomerates and justified with flagrant lies that Iraq threatened the United States with weapons of mass destruction. It was continued under Obama because years of Iraqi resistance had prevented the US establishing untrammelled dominance over either the countrys energy resources or the broader Middle East. During the past three years, ISIS victories in Iraq, and Russias decision to join Iran in militarily supporting the Syrian Assad government, have further set back the US agenda. US intrigues in the Middle East will continue under Trump. He is surrounded by figures steeped in the 25-year attempt to subordinate the region to American dictates. These include Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, whose company sought to buy up much of Iraqs oil industry. In charge of the Pentagon will be Gen. James Mad Dog Mattis, who commanded Marines in the 2004 assault on Fallujah, opposed the withdrawal of US forces in 2011, and has advocated military confrontation with Iran to shatter its influence in Iraq and Syria. The degree to which the Middle East becomes the focus of US aggression under Trump will be determined by the outcome of the bitter struggle taking place within the American establishment over which major rival to its world position should be its more immediate target. Accusations by the Democratic Party and much of the American media that Trumps victory is the result of Russian interference, stems from their concern that the new administration intends to moderate the confrontation with Russia in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, in order to focus more immediately on escalating the conflict with China. Regardless of what front is ultimately chosen by a Trump administration, the legacy of Barack Obama is the heightened danger of World War III. Michael Eric Dysons latest column, on the front page of the Sunday, December 18 editorial section of the New York Times, extends the venomous attacks of the practitioners of identity politics on those who dare to question the view that race is the fundamental dividing line in American society. Dyson, a Georgetown University professor, author and regular contributor to the Times, headlines his article, Donald Trumps Racial Ignorance. Within a few paragraphs, however, it becomes clear that his real target is not Donald Trump at all, but rather the working class. Pundits and Democratic politicians alike have struggled to come up with explanations for the evaporation of the Clinton electoral victory they had so confidently predicted. The dominant line, championed by the Times and also by both Bill and Hillary Clinton in recent weeks, is that Russian hacking and the last-minute intervention of FBI Director James Comey on the issue of Clintons emails combined to deliver key battleground states to the Republican nominee. Many millions of people are not buying this unlikely explanation, however. In the weeks since the election, it has become increasingly clear that Trumps success was due largely to his ability to pose as the anti-establishment candidate, a pose made possible only by both the reactionary record of the Obama administration and the right-wing campaign of Hillary Clinton. Major sections of the corporate media and the ruling elite, committed to the identity politics strategy that was, along with war-mongering against Russia, the sum total of Clintons campaign, have mounted a defense of their racialist and gender-based appeals, even as they continue their hysteria on Russian hacking and its supposedly enormous impact. Dyson is part of the identity politics counterattack. There is only one subject he wishes to discuss, and that is race. He accuses Trump of not knowing black people, but then he continues, Mr. Trump is not alone in this deliberate ignorance, as postelection calls on the left to forget about identity politics have shown. The road ahead is not easy, primarily because Mr. Trumps ignorance about race, his critical lack of nuance and learning about it, exists among liberals and the white left, too. Dyson zeroes in on 2016 presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders, who won more than 13 million votes in the primaries, only slightly fewer than Clinton, by declaring himself a democratic socialist and calling for a political revolution against the billionaires. From the start of his 2016 presidential campaign, Dyson writes, Bernie Sanders was prickly about race, uncomfortable with an outspoken, demanding blackness, resistant to letting go of his preference for discussing class over race. Mr. Sanders seemed to remain at heart a man of the people, especially if those people were the white working class. One should note the sarcasm with which Dyson drops the phrase man of the people. He portrays himself as a representative of black America, but Dyson is, in fact, a political representative of only one thin section of the African-American population, the upper-middle class. The Times columnist owes his allegiance to the ruling elite and has nothing but contempt for the working class of all races and ethnicities. Dyson is outraged at Sanderss timid recent suggestion that it may be necessary to go beyond identity politics. He quotes Sanders as saying that it is very easy for many Americans to say, I hate racism, I hate homophobia, I hate sexism, but a little bit harder for people in the middle or upper-middle class to say, maybe we do have to deal with the greed of Wall Street. This, according to Dyson, is a nifty bit of historical revisionism, since, he claims, for the longest time there was little consideration of diversityamong liberal elites. It is Dyson who is guilty of revisionism, if not worse. For more than 40 years, the US ruling class has embraced the mantra of diversity and programs such as affirmative action. Far from liberal elites avoiding this approach, it has been a key element of the social counterrevolution over the past four decades: attacking the jobs and living standards of the working class while elevating a privileged layer of blacks, Latinos, women and gays into the ranks of corporate management, political office, academia, the labor bureaucracy and the media. The ruling class and both capitalist parties, beginning with Nixons black capitalism almost five decades ago, have fomented divisions on the basis of race. Nixon combined his cynical use of affirmative action with the notorious Southern strategy, aimed at shifting the remnants of the Jim Crow establishment to the Republican Party. This was followed by various other techniques, including the law-and-order campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s. Meanwhile, the Democrats, reflecting the impossibility of any program of even modest social reform under decaying American capitalism, abandoned even the hint of an appeal to workers based on the defense and extension of the social programs of the 1930s and 1960s. The two parties worked out an unspoken and filthy division of labor, in which the Democrats were allowed to posture as defenders of the black, Hispanic and immigrant population, while white workers were increasingly labeled as privileged and ceded to the Republicans. Bernie Sanders is, of course, no representative of the working class. His differences with both Clinton and Dyson are only tactical. Sanders meekly accepted the nomination of Clinton and obediently lined up in support of her campaign. And he is continuing his efforts, after the election fiasco for the Democrats, to channel mass opposition to Trump and Wall Street back into this party of big business and war. It is not primarily Sanders that worries Dyson. He cannot forget the millions who voted for Sanders precisely because of the fact that, in Dysons words, he was guilty of discussing class over race. All these votersmasses of workers and young peoplenot to mention the even greater number who didnt vote because they were thoroughly disgusted with both big-business parties, were not turned off by the talk of class. Dysons attack on Sanders for daring to speak of the greed of Wall Street makes very clear his own alignmentwith Wall Street. Dyson closes with an attack on working class solidarity, which he calls a coverto combat racial, sexual and gender progress. Here he makes explicit his hostility to the working class and his use of racial politics to attack and divide the working class on behalf of the ruling elite. Dyson and the whole layer for which he speaks fear that the decades in which identity politics has been largely unchallenged except by the Marxist movement are coming to an end. The identity politics industry that has provided so many perks and privileges in academia and elsewhere will find itself under siege from the left, from a genuine movement of the working class and the resurgence of the class struggle. Those disgusted by the identity politics campaign of Hillary Clinton were by no means confined to white workers, some of whom voted for Trump in protest or disgust. Millions of black, Hispanic and immigrant workers stayed home (and some even voted for Trump), because they were also disgusted with eight years of growing inequality and continuous war under Obama, and Clintons promise to continue his policies. It is the stirrings in the working class that have Dyson and the editors and publishers of the Times, along with the rest of the media, increasingly worried. They are working overtime to change the subject from class to race, from the collapse of the vote for the Wall Street Democrats to the supposed whitelash that elected Trump. Early this month, a group of US naval officers flew out of the Mattala Rajapakse International Airport at Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka after a week-long training exercise with Sri Lankan naval and air force personnel. No public information was released about the visit until the US embassy in Colombo issued a statement on December 13, two days after the US naval officers departed. The exercises are part of the expanding military ties between the US military and the Sri Lankan security forces under the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government. The embassy stated the US naval officers were from Patrol Squadron 10 or the Red Lancers, which is stationed at Jacksonville, Florida. It said the visit was a routine deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific to ensure safety and security of vital sea lanes and trade routes, including integrating air and sea patrol operations. The US embassy quoted Lieutenant Anthony Beres, the detachments senior officer, who declared that the US was pleased to partner with our friends in the Sri Lankan government and armed forces and demonstrate the capabilities of the P-8A, and exchange expert advice. The group travelled to Sri Lanka on a P-8A Poseidon aircraft, regarded as worlds most advanced surveillance-combat plane, which was used during the training exercises. Boeing, which manufactures P-8A Poseidon, says the aircraft is designed for long-range anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The Indian government, as part of its military cooperation with US, has signed a more than $US1 billion deal with Boeing to purchase four P-8Is, a previous version of the same aircraft. It already has eight of the planes. The Indian Express reported that the aircraft is armed with deadly Harpoon missiles, light-weight torpedoes and rockets. The newspaper said the Indian navy was extensively using the P-8I to keep a strict vigil on the Indian Ocean, which has seen numerous Chinese submarine forays, including the docking of a nuclear submarine in Sri Lanka. In line with Washingtons enhancement of Indias military capability, the US is establishing military interoperability with the armed forces in Sri Lanka, which sits astride strategically important Indian Ocean sea lanes (see: US deepens military ties with Sri Lanka). US Pacific Command (PACOM) chief Admiral Harry B. Harris told a security conference at Galle in Sri Lanka late last month that the Pentagon was constructing a strong naval alliance against China in the Asia-Pacific region, integrating India as a frontline state with its other two important Asia-Pacific military allies, Japan and Australia. Harris also visited the Trincomalee naval base, a strategic deep-water harbour on Sri Lankas east coast. PACOM is currently training Sri Lankan navy soldiers and marines. Prior to the PACOM chiefs visit, the USS Summerset spent three days at Trincomalee, providing basic military and small-boat operational training for members of the Sri Lankan navy. While expanding its anti-China military alliance in the Indian Ocean, the US is continuing its provocations near Chinese-claimed islets in the South China Sea. Under bogus claims of freedom of navigation, PACOM has sent several warships into waters claimed by China in the South China Sea, heightening tensions between Washington and Beijing. Last Friday, a Chinese vessel seized an American underwater drone in the South China Seaan act the US branded as illegal. Three years ago, as part of its geostrategic maneouvres to isolate China in the Asia-Pacific region, the US began pressuring Sri Lankas then President Mahinda Rajapakse to distance his government from China. The campaign included a US-sponsored resolution in the UN Human Rights Council calling for an international investigation into Sri Lankan war crimes. It culminated in a regime-change operation, engineered by Washington. Rajapakse was ousted and the pro-US Maithripala Sirisena installed as Sri Lankan president via the January 2015 presidential election. Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe shifted Sri Lankas foreign policy in favour of the US and India, and are overseeing the increasing integration of the Sri Lankan military into the Pentagons agenda. The government, however, is attempting to present this shift as normal activity, claiming it is part of efforts to strengthen Sri Lankas armed forces. The Colombo establishment is concerned that if it reveals how closely Sri Lanka is being tied into the US war plans against China it could trigger widespread opposition from workers and youth. Several press accounts this week detail president-elect Donald Trumps intention to retain a private security staff upon occupying the White House, in addition to the United States Secret Service. Trump, who has already retained his private security details beyond the usual timeframemost presidential candidates turn security work over to the Secret Service as soon as the opportunity is availablewill be the first chief executive in American history to carry privately employed security staff into his presidency. Over the course of Trumps presidential campaign and subsequent Thank You tour, his private security force served mainly to evict protesters in a bullying, demonstrative fashion. Get em out of here became a line that Trump rally attendees could generally expect to hear from the speakers platform, and it was not infrequently met with applause, or even violence from Trump supporters themselves. There is an element of authoritarian and even fascistic showmanship in such occurrences that plays to Trumps reactionary social base. There are presently three lawsuits involving 10 plaintiffs against Trump, the Trump Organization and associated security contractors alleging unnecessary and wrongful physical contact by these would-be White House security staffers. A key figure in the security apparatus is Trumps personal bodyguard since 1999, Keith Schiller, a former New York City narcotics officer who boasts that he is no stranger to putting my hands on people and that he hires big guys to do all the fighting. Schiller says he has a staff of more than a dozen in his employ. Filings with the Federal Elections Commission reveal direct payments to Schiller of $181,000 between July 2015 and mid-November 2016. Likewise, Trumps campaign paid for $50,000 of security services to KS Global LLC, a cryptic corporation registered anonymously in Delaware in October 2015, which carriers Schillers initials. On top of this, Trump paid over $106,000 in the last four months of the presidential campaign to Black Tie Protection Services, also associated with Keith Schiller, and another $28,000 to ASIT Consulting, owned by former FBI agent Don Albracht. Yet another security outfit, XMark LLC, is the largest beneficiary of Trump campaign funds, weighing in at $579,000 in payments. The company consists in part of former FBI agents Eddie Deck and Gary Uher, as well as former New York City cop Michael Sharkey. In all, the Trump campaign spent over $1 million for security services, dwarfing the Clinton campaigns $360,000. Aside from their high-profile, macho approach to executive security, the coterie overseen by Schiller is also marked by boorishness. Politico cites ex-Secret Service officers and security experts as taking a critical attitude toward Schiller, who tended to get in the way of protocol like protecting an evacuation route, and otherwise contributed to confusion between the Secret Service, local police departments and Trumps security personnel. In addition, the companies associated with Schiller boast about their tactics, abilities and assignments, whereas the Secret Service generally refuses to disclose its methods in order to keep would-be attackers from dissecting and obviating their protocol, an elementary aspect of executive protection. In the same Politico report, sources from the Trump transition team anticipate that Schiller will serve as the president-elects full-time physical gatekeeper, which is at least part of his role presently. Schiller knows Trump inside and out and is kind of a consigliere he knows all the players, all the properties. The word consiglierepopularized by the 1972 film The Godfatherreveals perhaps more than the Trump insider intended, underscoring the Mafia Don persona that so defines the billionaire-turned-president. Federal law currently prohibits anyone from carrying firearms in a federal building, especially the White House, except for the Secret Service. It is unclear whether the incoming private security force will abide by this or not, nor is it clear what role Trump would have the Secret Service perform. With or without pistols, the personal protection squad that will supplement the Secret Service in the Trump White House represents a noteworthy and authoritarian departure from bourgeois norms. The question arises: what does Trump have so much anxiety about that the Secret Servicea federal detachment almost as old as the Civil Warcould not protect him from? At the very least, the purported need for such a private auxiliary force reflects once more the degraded, personalist and authoritarian character of the Trump White House. It may well mean more. Tensions within the American deep state have reached an all-time high in the 2016 presidential election, with different factions supporting different policiesincluding the plotting of war with different countries, namely, Russia or China. This ruling class internecine war takes place in cloak-and-dagger fashion, as the allegations of Russian hacking and election interference make clear. See for example Obama threatened war over alleged Russian election hacking. Trump alienated a substantial faction of the American military brass and Central Intelligence Agency with his criticisms of such foreign debacles as the Iraq war, however limited and insincere his remarks were. These forces, and others that tend to favor an escalation of tensions with Moscow, lined up squarely behind Clinton. More recently, the CIA has sought to validate the totally unsupported claims that Vladimir Putin ordered cyber warfare aimed at securing a Trump election victory. In the other camp are elements favoring a confrontation with Beijing. Supporters of this tactic within the FBI pressured the agencys director to resurrect claims of Hillary Clintons email malfeasance in the final stretch of the 2016 election, without precedent, and without any legitimate law enforcement need to do so. Viewed in this light, Trumps selection of a personally loyal security staff over and above the norm for all preceding presidents recalls the Roman satirist Juvenals adage on imperial palace intrigue: who will guard the guardians themselves? Over Rs 230 crore in new currency has been seized since demonetisation. More than 9,000 weddings are possible in the amount seized. By India Today Web Desk: It has been 45 days since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the surprising decision of demonetisation to curb the problem of black money in our nation, and a lot has happened since then. The scrapping of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has affected the entire system of our country making it difficult for many Indians to cope with this development. Decommissioning the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will amount up to a staggering 86 per cent of India's cash-based economy. advertisement From numerous income tax raids all over the country to the longest ATM queues you can possibly imagine, the after effects of PM's plan has affected many across the nation. The IT raids that were carried out since demonetisation have revealed shocking facts about the amount of money that was caught. According to multiple media reports, the total amount in new currency will indeed make your head spin. Photo: DailyO Number of persons required to withdraw by cheque (Rs 24000/person/week) Photo: DailyO - Number of persons required to withdraw by cheque (Rs 24000/person/week) Photo: DailyO - Number of persons required to withdraw by cheque (Rs 24000/person/week) Photo: DailyO - Number of weddings possible (Rs 2.5 lakh/wedding) Photo: DailyO - Number of ATM card transactions required to withdraw (Rs 2500/week/card) There are a few other fun things to know about as well. The possible value exchanged till now is Rs 308,51,08,000 (seized + commission), if we withdraw from an ATM 24x7 at one transaction per minute. It would take us 543 days to withdraw this amount. If we stack the size of all the seized notes (except the 500s) it would be equal to 88 meters. The stack would be taller than the height of Qutab Minar. Length wise these notes would be 132.9 km long and is equal to the distance from Delhi to Agra. Here's a database of people who were stashing the new currency. OPINION - Black money seized in new notes crosses Rs 230cr: What was the point of demonetisation? --- ENDS --- TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- A new bill could help some juveniles in Florida avoid criminal records. If passed, it would require law enforcement to issue civil citations for certain misdemeanors instead of an arrest. Ebony Cargle says juveniles deserve a second chance -- and this bill would help do that. Avoiding a criminal record is something Cargle wishes was an option for her. She was just a teen when her life changed. "My intention was not to steal, but I guess, as a 16-year-old, you don't make wise decisions at the time," said Cargle. She stuffed a shirt in her purse while shopping. police arrested her seconds after she left -- charging her with petty theft, but it started a chain of challenges she never expected. Cargle said, "I had probation officers come into the school every week. I went to court about three times." Her record kept her unemployed for six years and almost hindered her education. "It followed me, even in college. When I went to TCC, I had to do appeals every semester just to explain the situation." Cargle eventually had her record expunged, but it cost her time and money. "You kind of feel defeated," she said. "You almost feel like you don't get a second chance." But a second chance is what Senate Bill 196 proposes. Rather than arresting juveniles, they'd be issued civil citations for 11 types of misdemeanors, including alcohol possession, battery and disorderly conduct. "When we do prevention in any manner, it cuts back on the original intent, so we need to do that with juveniles," said Emanuel Sapp, a member of the Gadsden County School Advisory Committee. Attorney Chuck Hobbs said, "It will codify and make sure that some overzealous prosecutor -- maybe in Jacksonville, Miami or Orlando -- won't try to throw the book at some young boy or girl who ultimately might wind up being the next pastor or the next attorney." "They can still push through. They can still make better choices," said Cargle. "They still have a chance. Life is not over for them." The bill was filed in the Florida Senate Tuesday, and a companion bill is expected to be filed in the Florida House as well. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Bringing a smile to the face of a child in is, for many, what the holiday season is all about. Wednesday, the Quincy Chapter of Refuge House joined forces with the Quincy Police Department to hand out dolls to woman and children who've suffered from "domestic abuse". Providing a little holiday healing is the goal of the doll giveaway, and it begins with and is motivated by individual stories as much as statistics. These folks inspire hope, and take part in spreading holiday cheer where it's needed the most. We spoke with Sandra Collins, the organizer of the doll giveaway event, Lindsey Pierce, who works with the Refuge House, and Captain Robert Mixson. Domestic violence is a serious issue. At the national level, one in five women have fallen victim to some form of sexual or domestic violence in their lifetime. According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 2015, there were over 19,000 domestic and sexual violence calls in Leon County. In Gadsden County law enforcement responded to no fewer than 246 calls related to abuse, stalking, and sexual violence. The "Handle Me with Care" dolls foundation has been operating this giveaway for four years. Last year, donations were distributed to children in need in the Frenchtown area. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL)--ITT Tech students are not giving up on their dreams even though the doors are now closed. The tech school shut down early in September. Thirty-eight states stopped online and classroom instruction, then ITT filed for bankruptcy. Countless students were left high and dry without degrees, just like one nursing student here in Tallahassee who was expecting to graduate and become a registered nurse, but now it's going to take him longer than he planned. Michael Harvey told me at first he thought a fellow student was kidding around when she told him she got an email that ITT Tech was closing. That same day on September 6 he found out it was no joke Harvey says he was just six months shy of graduating and becoming a registered nurse. "(I was) heartbroken, disgusted," said Harvey. "They gave us no warning." For Harvey, it was a sinking, panicked feeling to know the school was closed. "We were told that we were getting our books later, and it seems like this was something planned all along," said Harvey. Harvey says he would've taken the National Council Licensure Examination or NCLEX exam, an exam that shows you're able to start as an entry level nurse. Instead, his world came crashing down. Reporter: How much did it cost you to attend ITT Tech? "Luckily I did have a previous degree so I did have credits that transferred, but for my fellow students it's a averaging about $50,000," said Harvey. "All that money gone nothing to show for. If you try to get those loans repaid then you start at ground zero." According to the U.S. Department of Education, students could apply for loan forgiveness or transfer earned credits to another institution. However, having another program accept those college courses hasn't been easy. "We did find there were a lot of students especially in nursing in their last semester which was very problematic and heartbreaking for many of them as well as it was for us," said Tallahassee Community College Provost Feleccia Moore-Davis. "There were others in others programs where were able to align for example with our CISCO and CNA program." The CNA or certified nursing assistant prepares students for the state nursing assistant competency exam, but the nursing program has different standards. "They may have to start over that are aligned with the ITT programs," said Moore-Davis. "Unfortunately I did not find any that would facilitate that seamless alignment, so they may lose those credits and not all to see what the future holds." ITT Tech closed, Tallahassee Community College offered an information session concerning transferring. Forty-five people showed up. About 20 enrolled. "What TCC was able to do is we mobilized to serve those students," said Moore-Davis. "Those who did and didn't qualify for financial aid there were scholarships we provided for them. We also teamed with our foundation such that TCC Foundation provided $10,000 in scholarships for the students." Harvey isn't attending TCC. He's trying to find ways to finish his degree. His teacher was given a termination letter on the day the school closed, but she is still helping students so the material they previously learned stays fresh on their minds. "The NCLEX is a national wide exam and if these students lose their edge, it'll be hard for them to pass that NCLEX and the previous knowledge will be slow it'll be intense training so they'll need to pass those courses," Anne Marie Thompson. Right now the students are trying not to look back, but ahead. Harvey says they are working to get a completion certification to where they will be allowed to take the NCLEX and become RN's. "It's our hope," said Harvey. "If not, the dreams and dedication is gone to waste." As Harvey continues to pursue his dream, we'll follow his progress and update you. As for other ITT Tech students looking to transfer, the TCC provost recommends checking the education department's website. You can peruse the site and see each college's level of accreditation. Remember if you have a story for the insiders send us an email to abc27news@wtxl.tv attention insiders. A huge war of words has broken out between the BJP and Congress on demonetisation. While Rahul Gandhi today quoted Ghalib in his speech in UP said asked PM Modi to respond to his accusations, BJP hit back and said that Congress was unable to digest that a non-Gandhi had become the PM. By Brijesh Pandey: While Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's accusations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi might not have caused a political earthquake, it has certainly led to a massive war of words between the BJP and Congress. When Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, accused PM Modi of taking money from Sahara nine times on , BJP had deployed Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to defend the PM and he called Modi pure like Ganga, while rubbishing Rahul's claim. advertisement Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, asking where was the "earthquake" the Congress leader had threatened at a rally in Mehsana in Gujarat on Wednesday. Today was the turn of Rahul Gandhi. ALSO READ | Modi's quake vs Rahul's quake: Decide the winner Companies paid crores to Modi: Rahul Gandhi's explosive corruption charge on PM WATCH: 'Rahul Gandhi speaks without thinking; PM Modi pure as Ganga' MOCK ME, BUT ATLEAST ANSWER MY QUESTIONS: RAHUL GANDHI SLAMS PM MODI In a rally in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi quoted Ghalib, asking PM Modi to reply to the questions raised by him. Waving papers of Sahara Birla, Rahul said, "You may mock me but at least answer my question. Did you do corruption or not?" WATCH: Rahul Gandhi: Mock me all you want Modiji but you have to answer citizens' questions Further hitting out at PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi said that PM has waived off Rs 12,000 crore loan for Lalit Modi. Gandhi said Modi also helped Vijay Mallaya escape to London and gave him a toffee of Rs 12,000 crore. Rahul Gandhi said Modi had promised that he will get black money from abroad and will give everyone Rs 15 lakh. "Did that happen?" asked Rahul Gandhi. Soon after Rahul Gandhi's rally was over, BJP hit back at the Congresss vice-president yet again. ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi still learning the art of speaking: PM Modi in Varanasi In reply to PM's earthquake taunt, Rahul quotes Ghalib: Har ek baat pe kahte ho tum ki tu kya hai... BJP HITS BACK, SAYS 'CONGRESS NOT ABLE TO DIGEST MODI HAS BECOME PM' BJP's National Secretary Shrikant Sharma taunted Gandhi and said that people with black money have lost their sleep, and Rahul Gandhi seems to be most upset. Shamra said, "Nobody can accuse this government of even 10 paise corruption and Rahul is attacking PM Modi without even thinking. They are not able to digest that Modi has become the Prime Minister. They think that only Gandhi family has right to rule and nobody else". advertisement Replying to Rahul Gandhi accusation that the Modi government helped Vijay Mallaya flee, Srikant Sharma said that, first Gandhi should tell what was Congress' relationship with Malaya that they gave him a loan in the first place. He said, "It was Congress who gave Gautam Adani Rs 32,000 crore loan, you gave Ambani Rs 1 lakh 13 thousand crore loan. We are only recovering those loans". Calling Rahul Gandhi super PM during the UPA 2, Srikant also said that Rahul had the keys to CBI, ED and IT. "How come he is remembering it after 4 years". Also Read: PM Modi hits out at Rahul, Manmohan, Chidambaram on demonetisation, says Congress exposing itself PM Modi taunts Rahul: Now we have seen what earthquake is all about --- ENDS --- YAKIMA, Wash. -- A 64-year-old West Valley man who Yakima County Sheriffs deputies say was stabbed during a fight with his brother over space While many see Christmas, Hanukkah and other December holidays as a season of giving, police and package services say others view it as a time The shortest day of the year melds into the longest night of the year, which is why local ho You are the owner of this article. Divyanka Tripathi and Vivek Dahiya are having the best time of their life in Paris. By India Today Web Desk: Divyanka Tripathi and Vivek Dahiya are on the best vacation of their life right now and they are enjoying every bit of it. The newlyweds have finally got an extended leave from YHM makers for their European honeymoon, and their travel plans are making us happy as well as jealous. Divek's first stop is Paris, where they are also planning to celebrate Christmas. The couple seems to be spending some relaxed moments there as they recently posted a picture of their lavish breakfast spread. They are also making the most of their time by visiting the landmarks of Paris like the famous cabaret Moulin Rouge. See pics: Divyanka Tripathi, Vivek Dahiya's mini honeymoon in Udaipur will give you couple goals advertisement What's more? Divek will bring in their New Year in London. Yes, you read that right. Since Vivek has stayed in UK for a couple of years, the couple will not need any tourist guide. We are just too happy for you Divek! You two look fabulous in these pics. From coactors to friends then to life partners and now travel partners! Let's explore the world together! A photo posted by Vivek Dahiya (@officialvivekdahiya) on Dec 22, 2016 at 3:48am PST Petit Djeuner en #Paris A photo posted by Vivek Dahiya (@officialvivekdahiya) on Dec 22, 2016 at 2:56am PST Checking out the classic! ?? A photo posted by Vivek Dahiya (@officialvivekdahiya) on Dec 21, 2016 at 4:35pm PST --- ENDS --- As the airport emerges from legal and financial troubles, Rob Peterson and others at the city of Yakima believe the facility is finally in a position to grow. By India Today Web Desk: On their 5th wedding anniversary, actor Dulquer Salmaan took to Facebook and shared an adorable picture with wife Amal Sufiya. He wrote, "How you married a cartoon like me I'll never know ! But thanks baby ! Happy Anniversary !! 5 years flew by like 5 blinks ! I'm so sorry I'm not home this year. I promise to make it up to you when I get back." advertisement Amal Sufia, who hails from North India, is an architect by profession. The couple entered the wedlock on December 22, 2011. ALSO READ: 10 best South films of 2016 ALSO READ: 10 blockbuster films of 2016 ALSO READ: 10 best performances of 2016 Dulquer Salmaan, who is currently shooting for Sathyan Anthikad's Jomonte Suvisheshangal, will next be seen in director Lal Jose's Oru Bhayankara Kamukan. The film will be scripted by Unni R, who has earlier worked with Dulquer in the superhit Charlie. Last seen in the critically acclaimed film Kammatipaadam, Dulquer will be playing the lead role in Bejoy Nambiar's upcoming Malayalam film. Titled as Solo, the project is a Malayalam-Tamil bilingual and is touted to be a never-before-seen attempt in Malayalam cinema. --- ENDS --- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus recent visit to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is another layer in Israels policy to strengthen its ties with what former Minister Ephraim Sneh refers to as the new periphery. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Similar to the old periphery idea of the late 1950s, when Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion searched for allies in the region against Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Nasserism and found Turkey, Iran and Ethiopia the revolution in Iran, the Soviet Unions dissolution, the occupation of Iraq, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the Arab Spring created new circumstances for cooperation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Chabads Or Avner School in Baku (Photo: AFP) The changes in the international and regional arena have, therefore, created new opportunities. Cooperation with Azerbaijan is allegedly surprising as this is a Shiite country which borders on Iran and is economically and religiously connected to the Islamic Republic (Iran has 16 to 25 million Azeri Shiite residents). As opposed to Iran, however, Azerbaijan is a secular state driven by pragmatic considerations rather than by a radical religious ideology, which has turned it into a desired target of the Israeli periphery policy. Three main interests guide Israels policy in Azerbaijan: First of all, a foothold in an advanced post on Irans border, which could bear intelligence and diplomatic fruit in the battle against Iran on the issue of nuclear weapons and international terror (primarily ISIS and Hezbollah). In this context, the media have raised the possibility of Israel using bases in Azerbaijan for landing and fueling purposes as part of a possible attack on Iran. Such an option was raised in the Saudi context as well, but both countries denied these reports. Worshippers at a mosque in Azerbaijans capital, Baku. A Shiite but secular country (Photo: AFP) Second, an available and relatively cheap solution for Israels fuel needs. According to different sources, Israel purchases 40 percent of its oil produce from Azerbaijan. It is transferred through an oil pipe from Baku to Jihan in Turkey through Georgia, and from there in tankers to the Ashdod Port. Its ironic that Azerbaijan is thereby replacing Iran, which was Israels main oil supplier until the Khomeini revolution in 1979. Third, Israel has become an important supplier of arms, boats and remote-piloted vehicles to Azerbaijans army. Netanyahus visit, according to different reports, has to do with the sale of the Iron Dome defense systems. The scope of these deals amounts to billions of dollars. An alliance of interests The regional interest in cooperating with Israel is based on a number of elements: First of all, the need to purchase military resources in the war against Armenia over the landlocked Nagorno-Karabakh region, particularly in light of the refusal of different countries in the West to get involved in the conflict and the support Armenia receives from Russia and Iran. This cooperation does not end in the military field, but also includes collaborations in the fields of medicine, technology and agriculture. Second, the fact that Iran is a political, economic and religious threat to Azerbaijan. The problem is that Irans geographical proximity and its military strength are forcing Azerbaijan to wisely manage its policy to prevent a deterioration in the relations. In the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Azerbaijanis are like the Palestinians'' who claim that the Armenians robbed them of lands (Photo: AFP) Third, there is an expectation that the Jewish lobby in the United States will help Azerbaijan fight the Armenians, who are working to be portrayed in the West as the victim not just in terms of the holocaust in Syria, but also in terms of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Moreover, the good relationship between the two countries is based on the existence of an Azerbaijani Jewish community, the majority of which has immigrated to Israel (about 70,000 of 100,000) since the USSRs collapse, but serves as an active bridge in building the relations between the countries. Relations below the surface Like Israels relations with the Gulf states and other countries, its relations with Azerbaijan suffer from the mistress syndrome as well: While the two countries maintain diplomatic relations, Azerbaijan doesnt have an embassy in Israel. Moreover, in international forums it tends to vote against Israel, so as not to alienate the Islamic countries and mainly in order to win their support in the conflict with Armenia. There is no wonder, therefore, that Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev was quoted in one of the WikiLeaks telegrams from 2009 as saying that 99 percent of the relations between the two countries are held below the surface. Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev (Photo: EPA) Nonetheless, the frequent visits by senior officials (Netanyahu, late President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman from the Israeli side, and the foreign minister from the Azeri side) indicate that Azerbaijan has a need to demonstrate an independent foreign policy, particularly vis-a-vis Iran and Turkey. Its interesting to see that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has spurred the tightening relations, although the Azerbaijanis are ideologically on the Palestinians' in this conflict; in other words, Armenia occupied about 20 percent of Azerbaijans territory in 1992 and banished a large part of the population (a million residents, according to Azerbaijan). Even if the comparison between the two conflict is not entirely accurate, it shows that in many cases diplomatic and economic interests rather than ideology play a key role in international relations. UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Thursday on a draft resolution that would demand that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council is due to vote at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday, diplomats said. It was unclear how the United States, which has traditionally protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. U.S. officials said this month that President Barack Obama was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office. In 2011, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the Palestinians refused a compromise offer from Washington. The draft text to be voted on Thursday says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace." UNITED NATIONS- Egypt circulated a draft UN resolution Wednesday night that demands a halt to Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank and declares that existing settlements "have no legal validity" and are "a flagrant violation" of international law. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The proposed resolution also stresses that "the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-state solution" which would see Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace. The Security Council scheduled a meeting at 3:00pm EST (10:00pm Israel time) Thursday to vote on the draft resolution. UN Security Council (Photo: Reuters) Much of the international community considers Israeli settlements illegal and backs the establishment of a Palestinian state, even though a deal appears to be increasingly complicated. But Egypt's call for a speedy vote leaves almost no time for negotiations among the 15 council members, and some language in the draft is highly likely to be unacceptable to the United States, Israel's closest ally and a veto-wielding council member. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said the resolution "will do nothing to promote a diplomatic process, and will only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror." "We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those terms saying negotiations should take place without conditions. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon (Photo: UN) In September, the international diplomatic "quartet" of Mideast peacemakers called for Israel and the Palestinians to take steps to resume stalled peace talks. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, has said a cessation of all Israeli settlement activities and an end to its nearly 50-year occupation of "Palestinian territory" are necessary for a comprehensive peace agreement. The West Bank was captured by Israel from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967, while the Gaza Strip was captured from Egypt during that same war. But the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders remain wide, preventing any meaningful talks since 2009. The draft resolution calls for intensified and accelerated international and regional diplomatic efforts "aimed at achieving, without delay a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East." New Zealand, a non-permanent council member, has been pushing a separate resolution that would set out the parameters of a peace settlement. Israel has informed the United States that Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in Syria are using US armored personnel carriers originally supplied to the Lebanese Army, a senior Israeli military officer said on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The US State Department said last month that the American embassy in Beirut was working to investigate images on social media purporting to show Hezbollah, which supports President Bashar al-Assad, displaying US military equipment in Syria. Those images were widely reported to have been of US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, which the State Department said were extremely common in the region. Hezbollah parades US supplied armored personnel carriers In an intelligence briefing to foreign reporters in Tel Aviv, the senior officer showed a photograph of military vehicles, which he said included US-made armored personnel carriers (APCs), along a road. "These APCs are of the Hezbollah, while fighting in Syria, that they took from the Lebanese armed forces," he said in English, describing the guerrilla group as dominant in Lebanon. "We shared this information with other countries, including the US of course, and I can even say that we recognized these specific APCs with some specific parameters that we know ... these were given to the Lebanese armed forces. It's not an assumption," said the officer, who under the rules of the briefing could not be identified by name, rank or position. Western diplomatic sources have said the APCs were delivered to the Lebanese Army by the United States as part of a program to equip that force. Hezbollah shows off its tank division The officer made no comment about when the APCs would have been supplied to the Lebanese Army. The officer said Hezbollah has 8,000 fighters in Syria where more than 1,700 of the group's combatants have been killed since 2011. Israel and Hezbollah, which the officer said has 30,000 members, half of them combatants, last fought a war in 2006. An Israeli woman missing since Mondays terror attack in Berlin has been identified as one of the victims on Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Daliya Elyakim, 60, from Herzliya, is the wife of Rami Elyakim who himself was seriously wounded in the attack. The Foreign Ministry announced that the Israeli Embassy in Germany is working in conjunction with the family to bring Daliyas body back home to Israel. The couples children, a son aged 28 and a daughter aged 26, arrived in Berlin at the behest of the German police in order to provide DNA samples to identify their mothers body. Daliya Elyakim was murdered in the Berlin terror attack President Reuven Rivlin said Thursday morning that It is with great sadness that I received word of the death of Daliya Elyakim, caused as a result of the terrible terror attack in Berlin. I send my condolences to the family who is at this moment at the bedside of Rami, Daliyas husband. He too was seriously wounded in the terror attack, and we are praying for his swift and speedy recovery. We remain united and determined against murderous terror which is attacking every corner of the world, the president continued. We will fight extremism and hate with all of our strength. The Berlin terror attack killed 12 and wounded 48. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack. German police are on the search for a suspect of Tunisian decent who they believe carried out the attack. Israel's parliament early on Thursday gave final approval to the 2017-2018 state budget that the Finance Ministry says will reduce the cost of living, tackle a housing crisis, and boost economic growth and productivity. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Lawmakers voted 60-48 in favour of the nearly 1 trillion shekel ($261 billion) spending package and economic plan, which followed approval in parliament's finance committee on Tuesday. "The budget is a social one," said Finance Minister Kahlon, "a budget that helps the entire population. It reduces social gaps, increases public spending, cuts taxes and ... emphasises social ministries." Finance Minister Kahlon (Photo: Gil Yohanan) Kahlon has said his policies -- which include levying a tax on those who own at least three apartments -- would rein in housing prices that have more than doubled since 2007 to put home ownership out of reach of many younger Israelis. Passage of the budget was not in doubt since the six-party coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds 67 of parliament's 120 seats. Netanyahu fought hard for a two-year budget as a means of stabilising his coalition despite many calls in the government to stick to a yearly budget since it is difficult to project what will happen to the economy two years out. The two-year package includes safeguards that will allow the 2018 budget to be reassessed next year if initial economic and fiscal forecasts are missed, with a provision for spending cuts if necessary to reach the deficit target. Israel's economy is expected to grow nearly 3 percent in 2016 and as much as 3.5 percent in 2017, while the jobless rate is very low at 4.5 percent. Israel's corporate tax rate, currently 25 percent, will fall to 24 percent in 2017 and to 23 percent in 2018. The total base budget stands at 906.8 billion shekels - 446.8 billion shekels for 2017 and 460 billion for 2018. The largest single expense is defence, at more than 70 billion shekels each year. Various additions, if revenue proves higher than projected, could bring the total budget in the next two years to 994 billion shekels. The Finance Ministry has set a budget deficit target of 2.9 percent of GDP for both 2017 and 2018, up from initial targets of 2.5 and 2.25 percent, respectively. This has angered the central bank, which wants the government to rein in spending. KANDAHAR - They are speaking about the same deadly drone war that the United States has been waging this year, but talk to the U.S. military and Afghan civilians and their conclusions about who is targeted are often starkly different. To the Americans, only enemy combatants were killed by missiles fired from unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan in 2016. Eyewitness accounts, however, along with United Nations reports, suggest dozens of civilians were among the casualties. "People seem to think we just shoot missiles at random," Lieutenant Shaw, a drone operator in his 20s told Reuters at the U.S. Air Force's base in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. "But if anything, we are better equipped than many manned aircraft to make sure we have the right guy." The certainty expressed by drone operators often contrasts with the chaos described by witnesses on the ground. TOKYO - Japan is seeking to win a contract to supply Thailand with an air defense radar system built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp, as it looks to counter growing Chinese influence in the Southeast Asian nation, according to four Japanese government officials and one industry source. The effort is part of a wider push by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration to bolster its position in the region along with its U.S. ally. The Chief of Staff of Japan's Air Self Defense Force, Yoshiyuki Sugiyama, traveled to Bangkok last month to discuss areas of possible cooperation. Japan expects the Thai military government to begin accepting competitive bids as early as next year as it upgrades and adds to its existing U.S. and European radar systems, the sources said. It is unclear who else may be bidding. The value of such a contract is unclear as the specifications for the system have not yet been released. Radar systems built by Mitsubishi and other companies for Japan can stretch to hundreds of millions of dollars depending on the complexity and coverage. The sources said Japan would look to offer a lower price system because of Thailand's limited defense budget. BEIRUT- Conditions to implement a multi-billion dollar contract to supply Saudi-financed French weapons to Lebanon are now favourable after the formation of a new government in Beirut, France's foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Thursday. Speaking in the Lebanese capital after meeting President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, Ayrault said it was also more important than ever that the new authorities keep up dialogue with Saudi Arabia and Iran to ensure the country was not dragged into the Syrian conflict. "The conditions are favorable," Ayrault told reporters during a visit after the formation of the new government on Sunday. "The sun is shining again on Lebanon." Saudi Arabia suspended a $3 billion programme to supply the Lebanese army with French-made weapons in February, citing concern about the influence on interim Beirut authorities of the powerful Shi'ite muslim movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran.Financed by Riyadh, the equipment was to be supplied by France to bolster the army in its fight against jihadi groups. Ayrault said he and Aoun would soon travel to Saudi Arabia to discuss the contract and wider ties. After the High Court of Justice rejected their initial declaration, the residents of Amona issued a clarification on Thursday afternoon agreeing "all as one to a peaceful evacuation without conflict or resistance," adding that their commitment is without any condition." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter On Thursday morning, the residents issued a similar declaration to the court, made at the request of the judges. The High Court is currently deliberating on the state's request to extend the deadline for the illegal outpost's evacuation by 45 days in an effort to implement the willing evacuation compromise reached with the residents. Settlers in Amona (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg) "To remove any doubt," the residents wrote, "all of the respondentsthe residents of Amonasee themselves are committed by the signatures of the elected leaders of the town to the evacuation agreement and the advancement of the plan to legalize Amona." They further committed to "peaceful evacuation without any conflict and resistance, this in accordance with the decision made by the community." However, in their initial statement, the residents noted that they are "convinced the state will also meet its commitments to build alternative housing for the use of the Amona residents, as well as to the other commitments detailed in the agreement signed between the sides." The High Court judges said this addition indicates the residents were conditioning their peaceful evacuation on the state fulfilling its own commitments. "This was not the statement that was requested yesterday. The court, even if it grants the postponement request, was not asked to address the legality of the agreement and the possibility of its implementation. The declaration the residents were asked to deliver was to be made in unequivocal language." This, in turn, led the residents to issue the amended statement. The Amona settlers' signed clarification to the court The only obstacle now in the way of implementing the agreement reached with the settlers, which will include the immediate construction of temporary housing for 24 of Amona's families in a nearby plot, is objections by the Palestinian land owners. "This request to postpone the evacuationwhich was filed four days before the deadline set in the ruling, and after the state had two years to carry it outis a new record in the disintegration of even the appearance of maintaining values like the rule of law, equality, protection of property rights, and fairness," said the Palestinian land owners' response, filed with the help of the legal NGO Yesh Din. Yesh Dins representatives claimed that granting an extension to the evacuation deadline would be akin to surrendering to the threats made by the Amona residents. "One can only imagine how would the state respond if a common citizenwho does not have the connections and political backing the residents of Amona enjoythreatened the authorities with resistance to the execution of a court ruling," the NGO wrote. "In fact, there is no need to imagine. Israel has been scarred by difficult evacuations of poor citizens who, for financial reasons, have been issued with evacuation ordersin Kfar Shalem and Giv'at Amal (both neighborhoods in Tel Aviv), in the Bedouin village Al-Araqeeb in the Negev, and of course in the Palestinian sector in the West Bank." Yesh Din and the Palestinian land owners also attacked the compromise agreement itself. "The state is planning on committing a blatant violation of trust by stealing private lands that belong to Palestinians and giving them to those who have already proven they would apply any means necessary to invade others' lands, refuse to leave, and even threaten in making it difficult to carry our judicial orders," they wrote. "It's hard to think of a more brutal violation of trust. This is a completely immoral and illegal act." The new currency notes, meant to be delivered to public/bank account holders, appeared to have been misappropriated by Lodha and his associates. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested one Paras Mal Lodha, a 62-year-old businessman of Kolkata in connection with recovery of large amount of cash in new currency notes from a company belonging to Advocate Rohit Tandon of T&T law firm and J Shekhar Reddy of Chennai. The new currency notes, which were entrusted to banks meant to be delivered to public/bank account holders, appeared to have been misappropriated by Lodha and his associates for monetary gains. advertisement Details given by the ED: 1. Lodha along with other accused persons, including some international hawala operators are involved in the process of large scale money laundering. 2. The ED in its statement said that based on the follow up of search at office premises at R-89, Greater Kailash-I, New Delhi of T & T Law Firm belonging to one Rohit Tandon, a Delhi based Lawyer by Income Tax and Delhi Police Crime Branch Team, Rs 13.62 crores were recovered and seized including Rs 2.62 crores of new denomination notes of Rs 2000. 3. Pursuant to this, an FIR was registered by Crime Branch, Delhi and the ED started investigation under the provisions of Money Laundering Act. 4. It said the new currency notes were acquired illegally through unauthorised channels with the possible collusion with bank officials as recovery of such huge quantity of new currency notes was not possible under existing guidelines and restrictions. 5. The investigation revealed that the money was arranged and sent by one Kolkata based Lodha who was involved in the activity of monetising the demonetised currency on commission basis with help of other associates. 6. He was intercepted and detained at the Mumbai airport when he was about to leave for Malaysia and asked to join investigation. 7. During Interrogation, Lodha admitted that post-demonetisation he and his associates had converted old de-monetised currency of at least Rs 25 crores approximately into new currency notes for commission at 15-20 per cent. 8. Further investigation in the matter is on. Also read: EXPOSED: The unrestricted bitcoins bazaar that helps dispose illicit wealth during demonetisation --- ENDS --- MOSCOW - Russian air strikes in Syria have killed 35,000 rebel fighters and succeeded in halting a chain of revolutions in the Middle East, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday. Speaking at a gathering of top military officials that appeared designed to showcase Russia's military achievements, Shoigu said Moscow's intervention had prevented the collapse of the Syrian state. "We are now stronger than any potential aggressor," President Vladimir Putin said at the same event at the Defence Ministry in Moscow. Shoigu said Russian aircraft had flown 18,800 sorties in Syria since the start of the Kremlin's operation there last year, destroying 775 training camps, 405 sites where weapons were being made and killing 35,000 fighters. BELGRADE- Russia will supply Serbia with fighter jets, tanks and combat vehicles, a move that potentially strengthens Moscow's influence in the Balkans. The six MiG-29 fighter jets, 30 T-72 tanks and 30 combat vehicles come from Russia's weapons reserves. The jets will need immediate overhaul after delivery in March, which will cost between 180-230 million euros (between $188-240 million.) Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who secured the deal during his visit to Russia on Wednesday, says the Russian "donation" will "dramatically" boost his country's defense capability. Most of Serbia's neighbors are NATO members. Vucic says Serbia will remain militarily neutral despite the new weaponry from Russia. KINSHASA - At least six people were killed and 150 wounded in clashes between Pygmies and Bantus this week in southeastern Congo, a local activist said on Thursday, the latest flare-up in a three-year ethnic conflict that has killed dozens. David Ngoy Luhaka, a priest and member of the Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace, said fighting broke out on Tuesday when a Pygmy militia attacked the town of Manono, leading to reprisals by Bantu militia. Seven teenagers were arrested for going into an ultra-Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem and attacking worshipers there after a failed attempt to rob them. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Police investigators said that the youths came to the synagogue after three of them were caught scoping the building for easy targets to rob, and looking for items to steal from the synagogue itself. Teens attack synagogue in Jerusalem (: ) X The three teens who arrived to scope out the synagogue were all Jewish boys aged 13-15. They were primarily looking to steal jackets and other valuables. The boys saw the security cameras at the entrance to the synagogue and attempted to conceal their faces. After the synagogue employee caught them and told them to leave, the three boys went out and got four more of their friends. They then began to beat the worshippers. The worshippers used their bare hands and tear gas to drive the boys away, and then called the police. Teens attacking synagogue Security camera footage shows the teenagers at the entrance to the synagogue armed with melee weapons The teens ran after seeing that the police had been called, and two of them ran in the direction of Ramat Eshkol. Those two then stole an ultra-Orthodox mans phone, and told him he had to pay them NIS 100 to get it back. The man paid the boys, and then called the police who found the boys and arrested them. Four of the seven were arrested on Thursday. They are all between the ages of 13 and 16. Another suspect is being investigated. Shay Azoulay describes the experience of loneliness and detachment as essential for his existence. The most difficult part is not having a family, he says. He was born to an ultra-Orthodox family and found himself completely isolated in the secular world after his ties with his family were severed. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The fact that there is no contact in everyday life is not so bad, because were adults. But suddenly the holidays arrive and the day-to-day routine is broken, Azoulay explains. The students dorms empty out, because everyone goes home. I wont forget Yom Kippur, when I was completely alone there. A day that is such a family day. And Rosh Hashana before that, and then Sukkot and Passover, and even just on weekends, when you have no contact with anyone. Shay Azoulay, before and after. 'The most difficult part is not having a family' In this complete solitude, he found an adoptive family thanks to Hillel, a non-profit organization that helps young adults who left the Haredi world. Hillel, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary these days, will open its third branch next month, in Haifas Hadar neighborhood. To this very day, I cant stand the holidays, Azoulay admits. As far as Im concerned, a holiday is a terrible day. And there were also those small days, like your birthday, that you dont celebrate because there is no one to celebrate with. The cultural immigrants feeling of solitude Azoulay was raised in a Haredi Sephardic family in Jerusalem that seeks to be Ashkenazi. He studied in yeshivot, but at the age of 18 he start going through a process that made him leave the religious world and Jerusalem behind. He moved to central Israel and then to the north, where he completed a bachelors degree. He recently returned to Jerusalem to study for a masters degree at the Hebrew University. My dream was to create a group that would meet on Fridays for a Shabbat meal. Hillels branches in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv held such meetings, but I was in the north, and coming to the center from the north on Friday evening is impossible," he says. It went on like that until Hillel helped me find an adoptive family. They come bearing gifts on every birthday and every holiday, show an interest in me when Im ill, when I move, when I go abroad. Its an amazing family that is now accompanying me in everything that goes on in my life. Loneliness, Azoulay adds, is only one of the symptoms of the crisis people who have left religion experience. The second thing Hillel helps with very much is the scholarship issue. Its not just the money. You see your friends; even if they dont get money, they return to the dorms with their mothers food, with clean laundry. There is someone who cares for them. There are hardly any students who are completely alone in the world. So Hillel hands out scholarships, and there is someone to guide you on what happens before you start school and where to go after you graduate. Azoulay needed guidance on the most basic things: How to write a resume and what are matriculation exams. It doesnt cross your mind. You never think about it. I was sure that I would become a doctor, because I never realized what it takes to be admitted into medical school. Every person who has left religion is a cultural immigrant, and he has to learn everything from the beginning," he said. "There was someone who fired me because I spoke in an Ashkenazi accent, and I would sometimes speak Yiddish. So he told me that it was inappropriate. My body language was different too. He told me that I dont stand up like a man. I was shocked, and I realized that I had a lot to learnand didnt really have who to ask. You fall and get up, fall and get up, hundreds of times. The joy of life won Galit Rosenblatt, the manager of the new Hillel branch in northern Israel, has worked with weakened populations in the past on behalf of the Welfare Ministry. I find it very interesting working now with strong populations, of people who have chosen to make a change and are looking for someone to lend them a hand, she says. Whoever goes through this process is a strong person, who is making quite a difficult choice. Rosenblatt says she is already hearing from people in northern communities ahead of the branchs inauguration, and stresses that the main problem faced by people who have left the religious world is making secularism accessiblefrom opening a bank account to opening a Facebook page. Another obstacle is education. Most of them need basic education. Even those who are strong students at the Technion today had to do all the core studies first, take a pre-preparatory course and then a preparatory course, before being able to begin their studies. One of these students is 24-year-old Hanni from the Krayot, who not so long ago was a Chabad follower and is currently studying landscape architecture at the Technion. She began the process of leaving religion several years ago. It started as an internal process, a conflict between the internal beliefs and the values I really believed in, and the joy of life. The joy of life won," she says. I deliberated for a long time, and I also wanted to be financially independent. So first of all, I found a job so I could stand on my two feet, and then I bought five pairs of trousers at once. That was the physical move. She defines her relationship with her family as a loose connection. She turned to Hillel about three months. Chabad used to refer to Hillel as a missionary organization that makes people leave religion. Thats far from the truth. At first, they didnt even want to take me in, because I was undecided. They demanded that I make the decision myself. GENEVA- A cessation of hostilities across Syria is vital to avoid another deadly battle like the one in Aleppo and get the peace process back on track, the United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday. At least 35,000 people, both civilians and fighters, have been evacuated from east Aleppo in a week-long operation, the latest U.N. figures show. "Many of them have gone to Idlib, which could be in theory the next Aleppo," de Mistura told journalists in Geneva. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday regaining full control of the northern city of Aleppo was a victory for his Russian and Iranian allies as much as his own country. Egypt postponed "potentially indefinitely" a UN Security Council vote on Thursday on a resolution it proposed demanding an end to Israeli settlement building, diplomats said, saying Cairo acted under pressure from Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, put off the vote because of pressure from Israel, diplomats said. "Every member of the Security Council was ready to vote at 3pm," said a Western diplomat on condition of anonymity. "Egypt has delayed the vote following an intense Israeli lobbying campaign against them." The UN Security Council (Photo: AFP) Any council member can propose a draft resolution. Council member Egypt worked with the Palestinians to draft the text. It was not clear whether a vote would be rescheduled. Diplomats said a final decision on whether to push ahead with the draft resolution would be made after a meeting of some Arab ministers in Cairo later on Thursday. Officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office spoke to Egyptian officials on Thursday about postponing the vote, an Israeli diplomat said. It was not clear what pressure Israel may have put on Egypt but there are several ways it could do so, including curtailing Israeli security cooperation in Egypt's fight against Islamist militants in the Sinai desert. An Egyptian diplomat suggested Cairo may have put off the vote in part to maintain good relations with the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump. "We (Arab states) are all looking for a way to ensure constructive relations with this new administration. It's not clear if this (resolution) helps that, or if it might even hinder," said the diplomat. Egypt circulated the draft Wednesday evening and the 15-member council had been due to vote at 3pm (8pm GMT) on Thursday. The resolution would have demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." The draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law." It expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperilling the viability of a two-state solution." Pressure on Obama to veto draft resolution A vote would have forced US President Barack Obama to decide in his last month in office whether to shield Israel with a veto, or, by abstaining, to register criticism of the building on land that the Palestinians want for a state. Obama has been considering whether to lay out parameters for a solution or to allow a critical resolution through the Security Council before he steps down in the hopes this might ultimately help to end the conflict. US Secretary of State John Kerry had planned to make a speech to explain the US stance on Thursday but cancelled it after the vote was postponed, a US official said. In a sign that they feared Obama might abandon the United States' long-standing diplomatic protection for Israel at the United Nations, US President-elect Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the White House to veto the draft resolution. "Israelis deeply appreciate one of the great pillars of the US-Israel alliance: the willingness over many years of the US to stand up in the UN and veto anti-Israel resolutions," Netanyahu said in a video he released a few hours before the planned vote. Netanyahu urges US to veto resolution (: ") X "I hope the US won't abandon this policy; I hope it will abide by the principles set by President Obama himself in his speech in the UN in 2011: That peace will come not through UN resolutions, but only through direct negotiations between the parties," he added. "And that's why this proposed resolution is bad. It's bad for Israel; it's bad for the United States; and it's bad for peace." Netanyahu also took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to appeal to Obama, tweeting at 3:28am that the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday." Hours later, Trump, posting on Twitter and Facebook, backed fellow conservative Netanyahu on one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the pursuiteffectively stalled since 2014of a two-state solution. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," Trump said. US President-elect Donald Trump (Photo: AFP) "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," he wrote. After Trump's statement, a US administration official said: "We have no comment at this time." Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. He has already signalled a possible change in US policy by appointing one his lawyersa fundraiser for a major Israeli settlementas Washington's new ambassador to Israel. The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. US officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office. Some diplomats hoped Obama would allow Security Council action by abstaining on the vote. Israeli officials voiced concern that passage of the resolution would embolden the Palestinians to seek international sanctions against Israel. In Beirut, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters that Paris was looking at the text of the resolution with great interest. "The continuation of settlements is completely weakening the situation on the ground and creating a lot of tension," he said. "It is taking away the prospect of a two-state solution. So this could reaffirm our disagreement with this policy." Netanyahu, for whom settlers are a key component of his electoral base, has said his right-wing government has been their greatest ally since the capture of the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. Some legislators in his right-wing Likud party have suggested Israel declare sovereignty over the West Bank if the United States does not veto the resolution. That prospect seemed unlikely, but Netanyahu could have opted to step up building in settlements as a sign of defiance of Obama and support for settlers. In 2011, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the Palestinians refused a compromise offer from Washington. The Shin Bet has uncovered a terror cell of over 20 Hamas members from across the West Bank who planned suicide bombings in crowded location in Haifa and Jerusalem, it was cleared for publication on Thursday. The cell operated in the Nablus area and recruited four suicide bombers who were supposed to carry out attacks in Haifa, Jerusalem and different bus stops. The Shin Bet has uncovered a terror cell of more than 20 Hamas members from across the West Bank who planned suicide bombings in large Israeli cities, it was cleared for publication on Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The cell operated in the Nablus area and recruited four suicide bombers who were supposed to carry out attacks in crowded locations in Haifa, Jerusalem and different bus stops. Israeli forces arrest members of the cell (: ") X Most of the arrested cell members have served time in Israeli prison in the past for their involvement in terror activity against Israel. In their questioning, the suspects revealed that between May to August 2016, they set up an explosives workshop in Nablus, where they produced some 7kg of TATP explosive material. They used that material to build bombs for their planned attacks. The terror cell (Photo: Shin Bet) The members of the cell also bought M16 assault rifles with the aim of carrying out shooting attacks against Israeli citizens. The terrorists received support from a wide network of accomplices that aided them in different areas: producing and hiding the explosives, purchasing and hiding weapons, transferring money to fund this activity, and hiding wanted suspects. Explosives, arms and other materials the cell planned to use (Photo: Shin Bet) The terror cell was exposed after months of work by the Shin Bet, in cooperation with the IDF and the Judea and Samaria Police Department. Upon arresting the suspects, the Israeli security forces seized several explosive devices that were ready for use, additional explosive materials, materials used to make explosives, and M16 rifles. "The Shin Bet investigation unearthed a well-organized, structured Hamas cell. Had it not been discovered, it would have carried out grave terror attacks. Thanks to excellent intelligence and operational activities of Shin Bet and IDF forces, the cell was discovered in time," a senior Shin Bet official said. "This investigation reveals, once again, the efforts that Hamas is investing into creating terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria to carry out attacks against Israelis." Israeli generic drug giant Teva will pay $519 million to settle charges that it paid bribes to foreign officials to win business in Russia, Ukraine and Mexico, US officials announced Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Teva, the world's biggest generic drug company, promised to enhance its compliance program after its Russia subsidiary pleaded guilty to one count of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and it signed off on a deferred prosecution agreement, the Justice Department said. "Teva and its subsidiaries paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in various countries, and intentionally failed to implement a system of internal controls that would prevent bribery," said assistant attorney general Leslie Caldwell. Teva factory in Haifa (Photo: Reuters) The case included bribes by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to a "high-ranking Russian government" official who used his authority to boost sales of the Teva multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, resulting in more than $200 million in profits for Teva and about $65 million for the Russian official between 2010 and 2012, the Justice Department said. In Ukraine, Teva also admitted to paying bribes to a senior government official, who agreed to promote Teva drugs. The Ukraine payments to the government official are from 2001 and 2011. In Mexico, Teva's subsidiary paid bribes to doctors employed by the Mexican government since at leat 2005, according to the Justice Department. Teva said it commenced a probe of bribery after learning of problems from employees and US government and employees in early 2012. None of the employees involved in the wrongdoing are still at the company, it said. "While the conduct that resulted in this investigation ended several years ago, it is both regrettable and unacceptable, and we are pleased to finally put this matter behind us," said Teva chief executive Erez Vigodman. "The Teva of today is a fundamentally different company." Teva will pay a criminal penalty of $283 million to the Department of Justice. It also agreed to pay $236 million in disgorgement to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a parallel case. The ED probe under the PMLA revealed that Gautam Kundu, Chairman of Rose Valley Group of Companies, floated a large number of companies to attract deposits from public. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday attached assets worth market value of over Rs 1250 crore belonging to Rose Valley Group of companies in its Fourth Attachment made in the case. 1. The investigation by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) revealed that Gautam Kundu, Chairman of Rose Valley Group of Companies, floated a large number of companies to attract deposits from public without any permission from the RBI by making false promises of huge returns and launching fraudulent schemes. advertisement 2. The group formed a maze of companies and laundered the deposits received by showing cross-investments in group companies and large amounts were thereafter diverted by showing fictitious losses. 3. The amount cheated from depositors is estimated to be around Rs 8500 crore. 4. Deposits received from the public were used for personal gains and investments were made in immovable assets, including hotels and resorts at different places across the country. 5. These include a resort in Port Blair, hotels in Jaipur, Hardwar, Ranchi, Silchar, Goa and Kolkata having an estimated market value around Rs 1250 crores. (deed value Rs 465 crore). 6. Besides 12 high-end vehicles, including Rolls Royce costing around Rs 6 crore, were also acquired out of Proceeds of Crime. 7. All these movable and immovable assets have now been provisionally attached under PMLA. 8. The total attachments in the case now stand at Rs 1606 crore, including Rs 350 crore attached earlier. Further investigation in the case is in progress. Also read | Enforcement Directorate arrests 2 Axis Bank managers in Delhi for taking gold bricks as bribe --- ENDS --- MOSCOW - Russia's military today can overpower any potential foe, President Vladimir Putin told an annual end-of-year meeting Thursday with defense chiefs. "We can say with certainty: We are stronger now than any potential aggressor," he told the meeting. "Anyone!" His comments come at the end of a year when tensions between Russia and the West have remained on edge over the civil war in Syria. Tensions between Russia and the West have been souring ever since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and surreptitious support of separatists in eastern Ukraine. Relations dipped further after Russia last year launched an air offensive in Syria to support President Bashar Assad. US prosecutors charged a Virginia man on Thursday with attempting to aid Islamic State, including by trying to buy weapons for the militant group and posting support on social media for attacks. Lionel Williams, 26, was arrested in Suffolk, Virginia, on Wednesday, and made his initial appearance in federal court in Norfolk on Thursday, according to court filings. Williams pledged allegiance to Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in a Facebook post in March 2016, when he declared that it was "time for me to take a stand," authorities said in court papers. An informant and an undercover federal agent began communicating with Williams, who eventually contributed money to what he believed would be a fund to help buy military equipment for Islamic State, according to authorities. Williams also expressed support for attacks on civilian targets, prosecutors said. Authorities said Williams purchased an assault rifle online on Dec. 3, 2015, the day after a couple killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, in a mass shooting that was apparently inspired by foreign militants. In court papers, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent said comments that Williams made earlier this week about going to heaven appeared to suggest he "was moving closer to committing an attack that would result in his death." Several hours before the UN Security Council was scheduled to vote on a draft resolution demanding Israel halts its settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, plans to build more than 300 settler homes were made public on Thursday afternoon. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to the agenda for the Jerusalem Planning and Construction Committee's meetings next week, its members will be asked to approve plans for 192 housing units in Ramat Shlomo and 136 units in Ramotboth neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. The committee will also be asked to approve plans for eight housing units in Beit Hanina, a Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem. The Ramot neighborhood in east Jerusalem (Photo: AFP) Following Israeli pressure, Egypt postponed the vote scheduled for Thursday on a draft resolution that would have demanded Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." The draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law." It expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperilling the viability of a two-state solution." The High Court of Justice accepted on Thursday a request to postpone the evacuation of the illegal outpost of Amonascheduled for December 25by 45 days. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The new date set to carry out the demolition order is February 8, 2017. The court stressed that "this is a final and last extension, even if no alternative solution is found." Settlers put up signs saying 'Amona will not fall again' and 'The government won't survive Amona's evacuation' (Photo: Reuters) The residents of Amona welcomed the decision to postpone the evacuation, saying "Now, the responsibility is entirely on the state and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who committed to erect in the next 45 days homes on the mountain for the residents of Amona, and preserve the town. The ball is in their hands." The legal NGO Yesh Din, which represents the Palestinian land owners, criticized the decision, noting "Even though the High Court has determined that the arguments presented to postpone the evacuation were insufficient, the judges agreed to the impertinent request and did not reject out of hand the corrupt deal made between the government and the lawbreakers in Amona." "The states makes no effort to hide the fact there is no plan at present on how to move the settlers of Amona, therefore the entire purpose of the extension is to try to find how to bypass the law and avoid having to carry out the court ruling," the NGO continued. "We will continue to act to ensure that the extension given to the state will not be used to finding news ways to avoid having to return the lands to their rightful ownersPalestinians from Silwad, Taibe and Ein Yabrud," Yesh Din concluded. Yesh Din and the Palestinian land owners also attacked the compromise agreement itself. "The state is planning on committing a blatant violation of trust by stealing private lands that belong to Palestinians and giving them to those who have already proven they would apply any means necessary to invade others' lands, refuse to leave, and even threaten in making it difficult to carry our judicial orders," they wrote. "It's hard to think of a more brutal violation of trust. This is a completely immoral and illegal act." Earlier on Thursday, following a request from the High Court, the residents of Amona issued a declaration agreeing "all as one to a peaceful evacuation without conflict or resistance," adding that their commitment is without any condition." Joint List MK Basel Ghattas was arrested on Thursday evening on suspicion of smuggling cell phones to Palestinian terrorists serving sentences in Israeli prisons. He will be brought in front of a judge on Friday morning. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Police summoned Ghattas for questioning under caution for the second time on Thursday afternoon after Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein removed the Arab MK's parliamentary immunity earlier in the day. He is facing charges of conspiring to commit a crime, fraud, breach of trust, and violations of Israel Prisons Service orders. Ghattas arriving at the offices of the police's Lahav 433 investigating unit on Thursday (Photo: Yuval Chen) A statement on behalf of Ghattas said that "Never has the attorney general submitted a request to revoke parliamentary immunity from arrests and searches, and never was a public figure, an MK, was arrested in this way. MK Ghattas has arrived for questioning as required and has answered all of the questions. "This is a vengeful and arbitrary arrest, because the police, (Prime Minister) Netanyahu and (Public Security) Minister Erdan want a photo of an Arab MK in handcuffs. The arrest is a political move and is not necessary to the investigation. Fairness obligates to treat an Arab public representative just like a Jewish one, and that is not the situation here." The Knesset's House Committee on Wednesday approved Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's request to strip Ghattas of his Knesset immunity. Police could not arrest Ghattas before his immunity was lifted. The attorney general wrote that after MK Ghattas passed envelopes to a security prisoner in jail, and after the security prisoner attempted to conceal the envelopes on his person, the envelopes were confiscated by the prison service, whereupon 12 cell phones and 16 SIM cards, two cell phone batteries, and headphones were found. Mandelblit said that Ghattas denied passing anything to the prisoner. It was only after he was shown security camera footage of himself passing the envelope to the prisoner that the MK admitted to his deeds. However, he claims that he had no idea what was in the envelopes, and claims that he was only giving the prisoner political literature. Some of the phones Ghattas was caught smuggling into prison. In response to the committee's decision, the Arab MK wrote to the Knesset speaker, saying that the steps taken against him are unprecedented. (The attorney general) asked the committee to remove my immunity from search and arrest, something that the attorney general has never asked any other MK to do. This includes cases whereby MKs were being investigated for crimes such as corruption, rape, and even worse allegations. There is no doubt that this extreme steps timing and nature is being done in conjunction with the harsh voices coming from the Knesset House Committee, which casts serious concern on the attorney generals double standards, MK Ghattas continued. He accused the House Committee of being "militant and political as was expected, and didnt focus on the issue." A Syrian monitoring group says 47 civilians have been killed in Turkish airstrikes on the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 14 children were killed in the strikes Thursday on the northern town. Earlier in the day, the Observatory reported 24 civilians had been killed. The fight for al-Bab has grown increasingly costly as Turkish and Syrian opposition forces close in. The Turkish military said 16 of its soldiers were killed in the battle this week. The ISIS-run Aamaq News Agency said 50 civilians were killed in air strikes Thursday. It circulated images of a tank and other military gear it reported to have seized from fleeing Turkish forces. Three years later: Epic Rooster 73 Flight remembered In the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, in the same exhibit hall with Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis and the Wright Brothers' 1903 flyer, under a case of protective glass, stands a massive silver cup, lined in gold, atop a three-tiered mahogany pedestal. The pedestal is adorned with dozens of small, silver medallions inscribed with the names of U.S. Air Force Airmen in recognition of their surpassing acts of valor, bravery and patriotism--names like Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, pioneer of supersonic flight; World War I ace fighter pilot Capt. Edward "Eddie" Rickenbacker; and Lt. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle, who planned and led the pivotal, maiden air attack on Japan during World War II, among many others. Since 1912, the Mackay Trophy has been given annually in honor of the most meritorious flight of the year by an Air Force Airman, Airmen or organization. It is the oldest and most esteemed award of its kind in Air Force history. In November 2014, the names of three 920th Rescue Wing pararescuemen, along with twelve Airmen from the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., were added to the Mackay Trophy in recognition of their actions during a mission that took place Dec. 21, 2013 in South Sudan. Tech. Sgt. Jason D. Broline, Tech. Sgt. Daniel C. Warren (now a combat rescue officer with the 212th Rescue Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard) and Staff Sgt. Lee R. Von Hack-Prestinary were part of the crews of Rooster 73, 74 and 75--three CV-22 Ospreys sent by the U.S. State Department to evacuate the American Embassy and other U.S. citizens from in and around the town of Bor in South Sudan, which was quickly destabilizing into civil war. Upon reaching a U.N. airfield at Bor, all three aircraft took heavy surface-to-air fire. Four Rooster 73 crewmembers were critically wounded during the attack, and all three Ospreys sustained major damage. Yet the nearest location from which to safely meet medical support aircraft was at the Ugandan coastal city of Entebbe--roughly 450 miles due south of Bor. The aircraft had been badly damaged. According to the battle damage assessment performed by flight crews following the attack, the Ospreys had sustained, "...flight control failures, hydraulic failures and punctured fuel tanks resulting in massive uncontrollable fuel leaks, and damage to multiple essential structural components." It would be an incredible achievement for the aircrews just to keep the crippled planes flying. But it would be another thing entirely to make it to Entebbe in time to save the lives of the wounded crewmembers, who were deteriorating quickly. To make things worse, the wounded were onboard Rooster 73, and the 920th pararescuemen were on Rooster 74, with no possibility of landing until Entebbe. Cut off from the wounded but determined to help, Broline, Warren and Von Hack-Prestinary began looking for unconventional methods. What they found was an ingenious solution that resulted in every single crewmember returning home alive. Their solution: a "flying blood bank." Time would be critical, they reasoned, once they finally touched down in Entebbe. The wounded needed blood desperately, and any delay could result in death for any or all of them. So, the reservists got on the radio and retrieved the blood types of the wounded troops, after which they began drawing blood from matching healthy aircrew members. As a result, they were able to transfuse fresh, lifesaving blood to the wounded mere moments after touching down at the medical rendezvous point at Entebbe. At the ceremony honoring this year's Mackay Trophy recipients, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III praised the aircrew members of Rooster 73, 74 and 75, and spoke of the impact of their actions upon the Air Force in full. "Their dedication to duty, professionalism, bravery, courage and airmanship was on display during the aerial flight supporting a non-combatant evacuation order in the vicinity of Bor, South Sudan," said General Welsh. "The distinctive accomplishments of Rooster 73 Flight reflect greatly on the caliber of our United States Air Force Airmen." By PTI: From Aditi Khanna London, Dec 21 (PTI) Britains new Investigatory Powers Bill, dubbed the"snooperscharter"for its sweeping nature of access to the British public?s internet history and passed into law by the British Parliament last month, has been deemed illegal by the European Unions highest court. "General and indiscriminate retention" of emails and electronic communications by governments is illegal, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled this week. advertisement Only targeted interception of traffic and location data in order to combat serious crime ? including terrorism ? is justified, according to a long-awaited decision by the ECJ in Luxembourg. The UK government said it is "disappointed" with the judgment and plans to defend the new law robustly in the Court of Appeal. "Given the importance of communications data to preventing and detecting crime, we will ensure plans are in place so that the police and other public authorities can continue to acquire such data in a way that is consistent with EU law and our obligation to protect the public," a UK Home Office statement said. The case will now return to the UK Court of Appeal to be resolved in terms of UK legislation. The aim of going to Luxembourg was to clarify EU law on surveillance. As Britain is still a member of the EU until it officially triggers Brexit negotiations under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, it is bound by the judgments of the ECJ. "The fact that the data is retained without the users of electronic communications services being informed of the fact is likely to cause the persons concerned to feel that their private lives are the subject of constant surveillance. Consequently, only the objective of fighting serious crime is capable of justifying such interference," a summary of the ECJ ruling said. The challenge was initially championed by David Davis, then a back bench Conservative party MP but now the Brexit Secretary in British Prime Minister Theresa May?s Cabinet. He had withdrawn from the case following his ministerial appointment. The controversial "snoopers charter" requires communications companies to retain data for 12 months. Tom Watson, Labours deputy leader, who is among those bringing the case, said: "This ruling shows its counter-productive to rush new laws through Parliament without a proper scrutiny." Lawyers for the UK government maintained that intercepted communications have been at the heart of every terrorist case investigated by police and the security services in recent years. PTI AK PMS --- ENDS --- advertisement Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - Today, at approximately 3:40 a.m., the Yuma Police Department responded to a single vehicle collision into Shaw Field, 2350 W. 1st Street. The initial investigation revealed a gray 2006 Ford Focus was traveling northbound on Avenue B and failed to stop at the intersection at 1st Street. The vehicle went through the fence at Shaw Field and rolled. The 21 year old male driver was pronounced deceased at the scene. There were no passengers in the vehicle. This case is still under investigation. The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - Aspiring entrepreneurs are invited to attend the following sessions at the Coworking Oasis, Yumas first coworking space! The Coworking Oasis is located on the second floor of the Main Library, 2951 S 21st Drive. Please note, the library will be closed Monday, January 2nd, for New Year, and Monday, January 16th for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Wednesday, January 4th 1:00-3:00 p.m. Business Video Training Watch online webinars, video training, and resources covering a variety of business topics in the Coworking Oasis media center. To register, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tuesday, January 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st 1:00- 3:00 p.m. SBDC Business Mentoring Counselors from the AWC Small Business Development Center (SBDC) will be onsite to provide evaluation and guidance. If you have an idea and dont know where to start, mentoring can help you fast-track your plans! Wednesday, January 11th & 25th 1:00-3:00 p.m. Drop-In Job Help Get help with online searches, resume writing, and other job search tools. Requests for specific topics can be e-mailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Saturday, January 14th 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ASU Startup School Stage 1 Introduction to Entrepreneurship This series of facilitated workshops by the Arizona State University (ASU) Entrepreneurship Outreach Network teaches entrepreneurs what they need to do in order to develop a successful venture. To register, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Saturday, January 21st 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Introduction to WordPress Workshop Business Librarian Andrew Zollman shares tips for building a website in WordPress. Participants will create a basic webpage during the workshop. Space is limited to 12 people. Monday, December 19th @ 5:00 p.m. Monday, January 23rd 5:00-6:00 p.m. Meet-up Monday Entrepreneur Network Meet with other entrepreneurs in the Coworking Oasis. Find out where you are with your small business goals! Saturday, January 14th 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ASU Startup School Stage 2 Creating and Shaping Ideas This series of facilitated workshops by the Arizona State University (ASU) Entrepreneurship Outreach Network teaches entrepreneurs what they need to do in order to develop a successful venture. To register, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. For more information, contact Andrew Zollman, Business Librarian, at (928) 373-6480 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . There is no charge to attend any program. The Coworking Oasis was funded in part by the State Grants in Aid Program through the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records Agency. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - Yuma Fine Arts Association (YFAA) have elected to donate their 400 piece Permanent Art Collection to the Arizona Western College Foundation that will be curated at the College. AWC is honored to be a recipient of this collection that will move over to campus during the month of January 2017. On behalf of the YFAA Board of Trustees, I am pleased to announce that we will be donating the Yuma Fine Arts Association Permanent Collection to Arizona Western College for the benefit of the community said Teri Ingram, YFAA Board President. The Collection represents years of dedication and arts advocacy and we are thrilled that it will be going to an institution that also believes in the importance of arts and culture to the benefit of everyone. Yuma Fine Arts Association, originally known as the Yuma Art Center, was established as a 501(c)3 in 1962 to stimulate interest in a wide variety of art forms and to meet the community needs for a fine arts cultural center. For the next fifty years, YFAA was dedicated to producing quality art exhibits, workshops, and cultural events to promote the arts in our community. Much of the YFAA Permanent Collection was amassed through purchase awards and donations from the annual Southwest Invitational art exhibit that began in 1966. It became known as the best collection of contemporary Arizona artists in the state. Yuma Fine Arts has had many homes but never wavered from its mission to support Arizona artists. More recently, YFAA was contracted by the City of Yuma to curate the exhibits in the Yuma Art Center, a city owned and operated building. Earlier this year, the YFA contract with the City was not renewed. The Yuma Fine Arts Permanent Collection is an important historical and cultural asset that deserves to be on display in our community. The collection will be curated by AWC students that will participate in a class that teaches curating, cataloging, and creating a system of sourcing the artwork that will be hung at AWC. Our hearts are full and we look forward to seeing it on display at the Arizona Western College campuses, said Ms. Ingram. During the over 20 minutes meeting with the minister, the General spoke about the supersession issue and Parrikar gave him a patient hearing. By Ajit Kumar Dubey: Amid row over his sidestepping, Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Pravin Bakshi on Wednesday met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar where he is believed to have registered his grudges on the issue with the government. During the over 20 minutes meeting with the minister, the General spoke about the supersession issue and Parrikar gave him a patient hearing, sources said here. advertisement Officers posted in the Eastern Command in Kolkata said the meeting was "very good" and the minister's response was also similar. Also read: Will Lt General Bipin Rawat's appointment bring an end to factionalism in the Army? PARRIKAR WAS ALL EARS This was the first time Parrikar was meeting Bakshi after the announcement of Lt Gen Bipin Rawat as the next chief of Army to succeed outgoing incumbent General Dalbir Singh. There has also been speculation that he could resign after being overlooked for the top post. Sources close to Bakshi, however, clarified that there was no such issue raised during the meeting. Soon after the meeting, Bakshi left back for Kolkata. Also Read: Lt General Bipin Rawat to succeed General Dalbir Singh as the new army chief NO RESIGNATION The last time an officer was superseded in the appointment of a new Army chief, he had resigned. That was Lt General SK Sinha, who put in his papers after the Indira Gandhi Congress government selected his junior General AS Vaidya to be the chief in 1983. Along with Bakshi, Southern Army commander Lt Gen PM Hariz has also been superseded by the government while favouring Rawat on the basis of his experience in counter-insurgency operations. Also Read: Why Lt General Bipin Rawat, man who led surgical strikes in Myanmar, is best suited to be Army chief WHO IS LT GENERAL RAWAT Rawat, an infantry soldier, was found best suited among other contenders to deal with challenges like cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and the situation with Pakistan, both areas which the government feels will be under focus for the next 2-3 years. After the supersession, Bakshi has been attending his office and carrying out his daily duties. Two days ago he had sought the meeting with defence minister and Parrikar also met him after returning from Goa on Wednesday afternoon. Parrikar was in Goa to campaign for the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. "It was a routine courtesy call and the meeting was sought by the senior Army commander," a defence ministry official said. advertisement Bakshi also met Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag after meeting Parrikar. Singh is set to visit the Eastern Command in Kolkata shortly as part of his farewell tour. He will hang his boots on December 31. In the rank-conscious Army, a large number of supersession takes place every year in the middle ranks and in some cases, certain officers continue to serve under their juniors. However, at the senior ranks, individuals don't feel comfortable in doing so as they have to salute the higher rank. In the present case, the Army chief-designate Lt Gen Bipin Rawat had served under Bakshi as 3 Corps Commander when the latter was heading the Eastern Command. The government decision made him junior to Rawat now. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Mumbai, Dec 21 (PTI) With the Anti-Corruption Bureau giving her a clean chit in the chikki purchase case, Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde today said the allegations against her were part of a plan to defame her. "I had said many times that there was no substance in the allegations (of irregularities in chikki purchase). On several occasions in the Legislative Assembly also, I have replied to the charges," Pankaja said. advertisement "Those who made the allegations saw a lot of irregularities in `chikki that wasnt even distributed (among schoolchildren)," the Women and Child Welfare Minister said. "A supari (contract) was taken to defame me," Pankaja said. The BJP Minister, however, did not disclose who was behind the move to malign her. "The ACB has given me a clean chit. I am absolved of the charges. I wasnt involved in any wrongdoing," Pankaja asserted. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has closed the case against the Minister in the matter pertaining to alleged irregularities in awarding contracts for materials worth Rs 206 crore for school children. Pankaja was accused of flouting norms in awarding contracts for supplying items like chikki (sweetmeat made with nuts and jaggery), mats, notebooks and water filters, among others, for schoolchildren. Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant had last year lodged a complaint with the ACB demanding an inquiry into the allegations against the Minister and submitted a set of documents purportedly supporting the charges. PTI VT RSY RG --- ENDS --- 12-year-old S. Mona reportedly went to the third floor of her school, Raghava Concept School building, during lunch hour and later fell under suspicious circumstances. By Ashish Pandey: In a tragic incident a Class 8 student of a private school fell down from the third floor of the school building. The incident came in light only when a passerby noticed the girl in pool of blood and informed the school authority. HOW IT HAPPENED The accident took place on Wednesday noon when 12-year-old S. Mona reportedly went to the third floor of her school, Raghava Concept School building, during lunch hour and later feel from the third floor in suspicious circumstances. The school management only came to know about Mona's tragic fall when a passerby alerted the school at around 3PM. She was immediately rushed to the hospital where her condition is said to be critical. Mona was the elder daughter of S. Shiva Kumar, who runs a Pan shop at Jagathgirigutta. The Kukatpally police has registered a case under 338 IPC (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and investigating all possible angle of the suspicious fall of the Mona. advertisement Meanwhile, child right activists has blamed the school management for its carelessness and demanded strong action on them. --- ENDS --- Kabul: Eight people were killed when Taliban suicide bombers stormed the residence of an Afghan lawmaker in the capital Kabul, officials said after the attackers were gunned down early Thursday following a nearly 10-hour siege. Helmand MP Mir Wali survived the assault with injuries but two of his grandsons and bodyguards were among those killed in the attack, which began on Wednesday evening following a recent lull in violence in Kabul. The Taliban in a statement said their suicide bombers raided the house to disrupt an "important gathering of officials" to address the deteriorating security situation in the lawmaker`s southern opium-rich province. "President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemns the attack on the residence of Helmand MP Mir Wali, which killed two members of his family, a number of his bodyguards and the son of another MP from Uruzgan, Obaidullah Barakzai," the presidential palace said in a statement. "President Ghani termed the attack as an unforgivable crime. Attacking the residence of national personalities cannot be justified in any religion and is against Islamic values." In all eight civilians and officials were killed, said Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of Kabul police`s Criminal Investigation Department. Mir Wali was hospitalised after he jumped from his roof to escape the attack, he added. Sporadic gunfire and explosions were heard from the house early Thursday as Afghan forces cordoned off the property to launch a clearance operation. "The coordinated attack was carried out by three suicide bombers. They were gunned down by Afghan forces," Obaidi told reporters. The brazen attack underscores the worsening security situation in Afghanistan and highlights how the Taliban are stepping up targeted attacks on high-level officials. The militants are escalating their nationwide insurgency despite the onset of winter, when fighting usually ebbs, even as international efforts intensify to restart stalled peace talks. Fifteen years and hundreds of billions of dollars since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the security situation in the country remains fraught and Afghan forces are struggling to contain the conflict. Islamabad: A Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting has revealed that bureaucrats in the Pakistan Foreign Office are allegedly not adjusting huge public funds allocated for promotion of the Kashmir cause. The revelation came during the proceedings of a PAC meeting held at the Parliament House on Wednesday. PAC member Shafqat Mehmood during the meeting presided by Naveed Qamar in the absence of its chairman Syed Khurshid Shah questioned the method of expenditure of public funds for promoting the Kashmir cause and sought details of the expenditure. However, the issue could not be debated further due its sensitive nature. During the discussion, it emerged that former foreign minister Hinna Rabbani Khar and Nawabzada Amadullah Khan are among those diplomats including Ather Mehmood, Abdul Jalil and Zeshan Haider Rizvi who allegedly received huge public funds in the names of travelling allowance, reports The Daily Times. The Auditor General of Pakistan informed the PAC that the Pakistan Embassy at Washington DC borrowed Rs. 90 million loan in 2013-14 when the Pakistan People's Party was ruling the country. The loan was taken from a Pakistani bank for construction of building without the Economic Affairs Division's approval when Shireen Rehman was Pakistan's envoy to the United States. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry during the meeting said that only USD 15 million loan was received from the Pakistani bank and only USD 2.3 million loan remains to be paid. The PAC forbade the Foreign Secretary from taking more loan from the banks, saying it is not the business of the diplomats to borrow money. The PAC stated that it was the Finance Ministry's task to provide capital to the state functionaries for different projects. The PAC expressed its ire over the lack of a proper financial system in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which gave enough space to the corrupt mafia for committing financial irregularities. The Foreign Secretary informed the PAC members that a sufficient amount had been retrieved by taking strict line of action from the diplomats, who allegedly misused public money. He pledged that all plundered money would be retrieved and deposited in the national exchequer. Chaudhry stated that only five Pakistani missions abroad have hired the services of competent accounts experts while the remaining 117 missions are maintaining their fiscal accounts through manual methods. Tel Aviv: A Palestinian man was killed during clashes with Israeli soldiers overnight as they arrived to demolish the home of the alleged perpetrator of an attack on Israelis, the army said Thursday. A spokeswoman said that during a confrontation "suspects threw improvised explosive devices at soldiers, who responded by opening fire, resulting in the death" of a Palestinian. The Palestinian health ministry identified the man killed as Ahmad al-Kharoubi, 19. Manila: The Philippines independent human rights watchdog said Thursday it will investigate President Rodrigo Duterte`s admission he killed three criminals years ago, after the United Nation`s rights chief called for a murder probe. Duterte, who is waging an anti-drugs war that has left thousands dead, said last week that he helped police kill three suspected kidnappers early in the first of his several terms as mayor of the southern city of Davao. UN rights chief Zeid Ra`ad Al Hussein said Tuesday that Duterte`s killings, by his own admission, "clearly constitute murder" and Philippine judicial authorities must launch an investigation. Commission on Human Rights chief Jose Gascon said he has formed a team of investigators to look into the matter, even as Duterte`s spokesman Ernesto Abella dismissed the UN call as mere "opinion". "Law enforcement agencies... must investigate as a matter of course any information that suggests that a crime may have been committed with the view to ensuring that perpetrators are ultimately held accountable should the evidence warrant it," Gascon said in a statement. The commission is an independent government body that prosecutes law enforcers or other officials who commit torture, extrajudicial killings or violate Filipinos` constitutional rights. The commission had investigated then Davao mayor Duterte over allegations he ran death squads that killed more than a thousand petty criminals there. Duterte has variously denied or confirmed the allegations. The commission did not file any criminal charges after completing its inquiry. Gascon said his agency has "reconstituted a team to further investigate (Davao death squads) to look into the new revelations and public admissions that may shed light on our previous findings." "The team will look into any matter that may further shed light on the killings in Davao that was the subject matter of our previous investigation." Duterte easily won presidential elections in May largely on a promise to eradicate illegal drugs in society by by launching an unprecedented campaign in which tens of thousands of people would be killed. More than 5,300 people have died since he took office in late June, including 2,124 at the hands of police. The commission has said it is investigating several cases where police were responsible. Duterte insists police have not violated any law in killing drug suspects. On Wednesday Abella said Duterte`s admission about the killing of three people referred to "legitimate police action" but did not address the fact the then mayor was not a police officer. Duterte has said he routinely carried a gun during his early years as mayor of Davao to protect himself from crime. He has not said if the weapon used in the ambush was licensed. Berlin: German authorities came under fire Thursday after it emerged that the prime suspect in Berlin`s deadly truck attack, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker, was known as a potentially dangerous jihadist. Prosecutors have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Anis Amri, offering a 100,000-euro ($104,000) reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he "could be violent and armed". A temporary residence permit believed to belong to Amri, alleged to have links to the radical Islamist scene, was found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that rammed through a packed Christmas market in Berlin Monday, killing 11. The twelfth victim, the hijacked truck`s Polish driver, was found shot in the cab. Police have searched a refugee centre in Emmerich, western Germany, where Amri stayed a few months ago, as well as two apartments in Berlin. In a sign of defiance, Berlin was set to reopen the Christmas market at the central Breitscheid square where the articulated truck cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd. Organisers said they would dim the lights and tone down the Christmas music but begin serving mulled wine and open the traditional market huts, as Berliners left a sea of flowers and candles at the site in honour of the victims. But as the manhunt intensified, questions surfaced about how the suspect had been able to slip through the net, avoiding arrest and deportation despite being on the radar of several security agencies. "The authorities had him in their crosshairs and he still managed to vanish," said Der Spiegel weekly on its website. The top-selling daily Bild`s frontpage headline screamed "Deportation Failure!" while local tabloid B.Z. said starkly "They knew him. They did nothing" next to a photo of the heavyset, dark-haired Amri. Conservative lawmaker Stephan Mayer, a critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel`s liberal stance on asylum, told public radio that the case "held up a magnifying glass" to the failings of her migration policy. But Armin Laschet, a deputy leader of Merkel`s Christian Democrats, placed the blame with regional security authorities, calling their failure to keep tabs on Amri "shocking". The attack, Germany`s deadliest in recent years, has been claimed by the Islamic State group. Among the confirmed dead were six Germans and an Israeli woman. A total of 48 people were injured.In a revelation likely to stoke public anger, German officials said they had already been investigating Amri, suspecting he was planning an attack. The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing "a serious act of violence against the state". Berlin prosecutors said separately that Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, "possibly to carry out an attack". But after keeping watch on him from March until September this year they failed to find evidence of the plot, learning only that Amri was a small-time drug dealer, and the surveillance was stopped. The New York Times reported, citing US officials, that Amri had done online research on how to make explosive devices and had communicated with IS at least once, via Telegram Messenger. He was also on a US no-fly list. In Tunisia, Amri`s family expressed disbelief on hearing he was wanted. "I`m in shock, and can`t believe it`s him who committed this crime," his brother Abdelkader Amri told AFP. But "if he`s guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists -- we have no dealings with terrorists." Amri left Tunisia after the 2011 revolution and lived in Italy for three years, a Tunisian security source told AFP. Italian media said he served time in prison there for setting fire to a school. He arrived in Germany in July 2015 but his application for asylum was rejected this June. His deportation, however, got caught up in red tape with Tunisia, which long denied he was a citizen.The apparent security failings in the case triggered fresh criticism of Merkel`s refugee policy, which has seen over a million people arrive since last year. The record influx has fuelled support for the nationalist anti-migrant AfD party, which has accused Merkel of endangering the country. But even within her own CDU party, dissent grew louder. "Nationwide, there are a large number of refugees about whom we don`t know where they`re from or what their names are. And that`s a potential major security issue," said Klaus Bouillon, interior minister of Saarland state. Germany had until now been spared the devastating jihadist carnage that has struck neighbouring France and Belgium. But it has suffered a spate of smaller attacks, including two assaults in July that left 20 people injured. Both were committed by asylum seekers and claimed by IS. The Berlin Christmas market carnage evoked memories of the July 14 truck assault in the French Riviera city of Nice, where 86 people were killed by a Tunisian IS-sympathiser. Ankara: Turkish authorities on Thursday released six close relatives of the assassin of the Russian ambassador to Ankara after holding them for almost three days for questioning in the wake of the killing, state media said on Thursday. Investigators are looking for links of the killer, Turkish policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas, to the group of the US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames for the failed July 15 coup. Russia, which on Thursday was laying to rest ambassador Andrei Karlov with full honours in Moscow, has urged caution and warned not to jump to hasty conclusions. Both parents, the sister, two uncles and an aunt of the assassin were released after questioning in Aydin province in western Turkey, state-run news agency Anadolu said. Turkish media said the authorities were still holding six suspects linked to the Rustu Unsal police academy in Izmir where Altintas studied from 2012-2104 and where officials believe he came under the influence of Gulen. Among these are Suleyman Ergen, who Turkey accuses of being a top Gulen agent at the academy. The reports said they are still being questioned. Erdogan on Wednesday said for the first time there was "no need to make a secret out of the fact" Altintas was a member of Gulen`s group. Turkey has embarked on a massive crackdown on what it calls the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO) in the wake of the July coup aimed at unseating Erdogan. But Erdogan said the assassination of Karlov showed Gulen supporters were still present within the security forces and purges needed to continue. "I have to say this very clearly -- this dirty organisation is still within the military, still within the police," he said. But the Kremlin, which has sent 18 Russian investigators to Ankara, indicated earlier that it was not the time for hurried pronouncements on responsibility. "In this case it is hardly worth hurrying to any conclusions until the investigation determines -- as our president said -- who was behind the murder of our ambassador," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Gulen himself has condemned Monday`s assassination of ambassador Karlov and had denied any involvement in the July 15 coup. Panaji: Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, another sitting Congress MLA Pandurang Madkaikar on Thursday resigned from the party and his seat to join the BJP, along with his supporters. Madkaikar submitted his resignation from the Congress, as well as legislator from Cumbharjua assembly constituency, before formally joining the Bharatiya Janata Party at the ruling party's state headquarters in presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and state BJP President Vinay Tendulkar. "I made a mistake by quitting the BJP and for the last 12 years I was repenting it," Madkaikar said. Madkaikar is the second Congress MLA to to join the BJP, after Cortalim legislator Mauvin Godinho. With their quitting, the legislative strength of the Congress from nine to six as Taleigao legislator Atanasio Monserrate was expelled from the party more than a year ago for anti-party activity. Incidentally, Parrikar, when he was Chief Minister, had accused Madkaikar of making attempts to grab land and of corruption, during a discussion in the assembly and had even ordered a police probe into the affair. Asked if he continues to back the allegations made against Madkaikar, Parrikar said: "An enquiry is being conducted. We will have to find out the status of the enquiry". He also said that if the enquiry brings up something adverse, "action will be taken". Delhi: The NDA government wants to expand the mandate of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), as per a media report. According to Hindustan Times, the Centre wants to give NIA powers to probe human trafficking, weapons dealers, hacking of important websites and violations of the explosives law. At the same time, the report said that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh wants to end NIA's dependence on approval from state police chiefs before confiscating or attaching assets of those who were accused of crimes. Law and order is a state subject. NIA Act was enacted on 31-12-08. At present NIA is functioning as the Central Counter-Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency. To quote from NIA's official website (nia.gov.in) - "The government after due consideration and examination of the issues involved, proposed to enact a legislation to make provisions for establishment of a National Investigation Agency in a concurrent jurisdiction framework, with provisions for taking up specific cases under specific Acts for investigation." Oslo: A five-year-old child has been separated from his NRI parents by Norwegian authorities who accused them of beating him. This is the third such case in the last five years. The boys father, Anil Kumar was quoted as saying by The Indian Express - The Child Welfare Department of Norway took custody of my five-and-a-half-year-old son on December 13, at 9.30 am, from his kindergarten school. They did not give us prior information. At 10 am, the same day, four policemen came to my house, took my wife into custody, and interrogated her from 11.15 am to 2.45 pm." Kumar, who owns an Indian restaurant, further told the media house - "When we asked for the reason, it was conveyed to us that we had beaten up our son." Kumar has served as vice president of the Overseas Friends of the BJP in Oslo and migrated from Punjab to Norway about 26 years ago. He said that the boy has been sent to a childrens welfare home in Hamar, about 150 km away from Oslo. He and his wife, Gurvinderjit Kaur, have sought governments intervention in the matter. They interrogated our child for about one-and-a-half hours. They showed us some of those videos. The video shows that when asked whether his parents have loud discussions with each other and if they beat him up, his answer was no. When they asked him whether his grandfather had beaten him up, he became very angry, Kumar said. They met their son at the welfare home on Monday. He told IE - He was wearing the same clothes and undergarments in which he had gone to school a week ago. He is not receiving proper care from the child welfare department. He hugged us and cried a lot he is our only child why would we torture him. He is an active child, and is very fussy about eating He likes to eat Indian food he is being given bread and porridge, and has not been eating well. I have never even raised my voice at him, how can I beat him up? His mother spent sleepless nights taking care of him as he is an asthma patient. How can we physically hurt our beloved son. We met the child welfare officials twice, on December 14 and 16. They said they received a complaint from a person." Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the Opposition for stalling Parliament over demonetisation and likened it to the "cover fire" given by Pakistani forces to help terrorists in infiltration. He mocked Rahul Gandhi for his "earthquake" remark and said the "young leader" of Congress does not think before speaking and had unwittingly admitted to the "failure" of his party's reign. On a brief tour of his Lok Sabha constituency, his first since announcing demonetisation on November 8, Modi asserted that the note ban will expose not only the 'kala dhan' (black money) but also the 'kale mann' (ill-intentioned people). Also Read: PM Narendra Modi 'happy' to see Rahul Gandhi speak, says no more 'earthquake' threat now The Prime Minister, while addressing a function at Benaras Hindu University after launching some developmental projects for the poll-bound UP, said he had never thought that the opposition parties would "side with the corrupt", a reference to the stalling of Parliament. "Many people say I had not taken account the consequences of this huge step (of demonetisation). In fact, the only thing that I could not take into account was the brazenness with which many political parties and leaders came to the rescue of the corrupt," he said. Charging the opposition parties, who have been attacking the government over demonetization, with "brazenly standing in support of the corrupt and the dishonest", Modi said it was like Pakistani forces provide "cover fire" at the border when "terrorists infiltrate into India". "Now I understand for whom the entire uproar was. They have a young leader who is just learning to give speeches. Since the time he has learnt to speak, there is no limit to my happiness," he said, mocking at 46-year-old Rahul. "In 2009, you couldn't even tell what is inside this packet and what is not. Now we are finding out," the PM said referring to Rahul without naming him. A day after Rahul accused him of taking money from Sahara and Birla groups when he was Gujarat Chief Minister, Modi said, "He (Rahul) had been going around threatening that when he speaks, there will be an earthquake. If he hadn't spoken, there could have been an earthquake. It would have been an earthquake that people would have had to deal with for 10 years. "There is no chance of an earthquake now that he has spoken. We can rest assured that there is no danger of the natural calamity in sight." (With PTI inputs) Income tax authorities revealed that the account holder was a cab driver and could not explain the sources of the cash deposits. By Ashish Pandey: Continuing its crackdown against unaccounted income and black money hoarders, sleuths of the Income Tax department on Thursday found one of the dormant accounts where unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 7 crore was deposited post the demonetisation announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 1. What is more interesting is that investigation by income tax authorities revealed that the account holder was a cab driver and could not explain the sources of the cash deposits. advertisement 2. On further examination of CCTV footage of the bank, it was found that the cash deposits were done by two of the accomplices of the cab driver. 3. The income tax department of Hyderabad, however, tracked down the movements and caught the two people and questioned them about the cash deposits and purchase of gold. 4. On being interrogated, the cab driver agreed to pay the taxes under the Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) scheme. 5. In another case, the department seized Rs 29.5 lakh cash (out of which Rs 17 lakh is in new denomination) from one person in in Hyderabad, identified as Manoranjan Das. Das is a native of Balasore in Odisha. 6. Moreover, search operations were also conducted at different locations in Bhubaneswar and Kolkata on Sirajuddin and Company (a mining contract and export company) on the orders of the Hyderabad DG Income Tax. 7. Officials are continuously monitoring bank transactions over Rs 2.5 lakh while also monitoring the sale and purchase of Gold in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. --- ENDS --- Mumbai: In all likelihood, this is likely to stoke a fresh controversy! Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Abu Azmi on Thursday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Azmi has requested the Maharashtra CM to pass an order to allow Muslim government employees a special break of 90 minutes to perform Friday prayers (namaz). "Citing constitutional freedom given to all citizens of our beloved secular country, I would request you on behalf of the Muslim community to please pass an order allowing Muslim government employees of the State of Maharashtra a special break of 90 minutes, to perform their Friday prayers," Azmi said in a statement. "I hope you are aware of the weekly obligatory Friday prayers, to be performed by all Muslims. Even those Muslims who lack in performing daily five times prayer, love and overwhelm desire to not to miss the weekly Friday which has been compulsorily performed in a Masjid at a fixed time of about 1:30 PM," he added. Uttarakhand government's decision on 'namaz' Influenced by the landmark decision of the Uttarakhand government, a special 90-minute break would be given to the government employees from the Muslim community in Uttarakhand for Friday prayers. The decision was taken at a special cabinet meeting on Saturday. The meeting was chaired by the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat. The break will be extended from 12:30 pm until 2 pm for Muslim employees. New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday sought a report from the Indian Ambassador in Norway after an Indian couple alleged that their child was taken away by the local authorities over ill-treatment. "I have asked Indian Ambassador in Norway to send me a report," Swaraj tweeted. BJP leader Vijay Jolly had written to her and the Indian Ambassador in Norway after the couple sought his help in getting back the custody of their child, PTI reported. Meanwhile, MEA officials said, "Our Embassy officials in Oslo have spoken to the boy's father Anil Kumar Sharma and extended full support. However, Sharma informed the mission that he has hired a lawyer to represent him in the case." When contacted, Norwegian Embassy spokesperson said, "The Embassy became aware of this case yesterday evening. We have asked relevant authorities in Norway to provide us with further information, and are awaiting their response." In his letter to Indian Ambassador Debraj Pradhan, Jolly had raised concern on "forcible custody" of the boy Aryan by Child Welfare Department of Norway on "baseless and fabricated complaint" in Oslo on December 13. Sharma is a member of 'Overseas Friends of Debraj Pradhan, Jolly had raised concern on "forcible custody" of the boy Aryan by Child Welfare Department of Norway on "baseless and fabricated complaint" in Oslo on December 13. Sharma is a member of 'Overseas Friends of BJP'. Jolly said he has received a call from a senior MEA official saying that help will be given to the Indian couple. This is the third case since 2011 when children have been taken away from their Indian-origin parents by the authorities in Norway on the grounds of abuse. In 2011, a three-year-old and a one-year-old were separated from their parents, prompting the then UPA government to take up the issue with Norway. The Norwegian court later allowed the children to be reunited with their parents. In December 2012, an Indian couple was jailed on charges of ill treatment of their children, 7 and 2 years. Later, they were were sent to their grandparents in Hyderabad. (With PTI inputs) Patna: Communal tension has gripped a village in Bihar's Vaishali district on Thursday. The tension erupted after an alleged honour killing of a 20-year-old boy. The boy, Veerchand, was found dead in Sarma village early on Thursday morning, police said. Killed over affair? The preliminary investigation suggests the boy was killed over an affair with a girl from a different community. His body was recovered from behind the girl's house. The girl and her father have been arrested, police said. "We have began investigation into the case and deployed additional security forces from neighbouring police stations in the village to maintain peace," Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said. Stone pelting According to reports, a mob pelted stones at police and the girl's house, creating panic in the village. In view of the tension, District Magistrate Rachna Patil and SP Rakesh Kumar have been camping in the village. Security deployed Heavy police deployment has been made in and around the village to avoid any untoward incident. "Tension prevails between two communities in the village but under-control," a local police official said. According to villagers, the victim was seen in the village on Wednesday evening. Delhi: California almonds have emerged as the new product in cross-LoC trade in Jammu and Kashmir that are being used a mode of terror funding, according to the NIA. The NIA has registered a case in this connection and carried out searches on traders at trade facilitation centres at Salamabad in Kashmir region's North Kashmir's Baramulla district and Chakan-da-bagh in Poonch district of Jammu region. During the searches, documents related to exchange of California almonds were seized by NIA and were being scrutinised, the NIA said. The traders from PoK were sending and receiving California almonds and it is alleged that the money was used for funding of terror groups in the state. The NIA said in a statement that a reliable information was received that a large scale transfer of funds from Pakistan to India has been taking place, through the import of California almonds (badam giri) via the cross-LoC trade mechanism through the trade facilitation centres located at Salamabad and Chakkan-da-Bagh. According to the cross-LoC trade agreement between India and Pakistan, products grown in both sides of Jammu and Kashmir will be exchanged under barter system. The products included 'Badam giri' that is grown in parts of Pakistan- occupied-Kashmir (PoK). Following is the full statement by the agency: Reliable information was received by the Central Government, that a large scale transfer of funds from Pakistan to India has been taking place, through the import of California Almonds (badam giri) via the Cross-LoC trade mechanism through the Trade Facilitation Centres (TFCs) located at Salamabad, Uri, District Baramulla and Chakkan-da-Bagh, District Poonch. This is in gross violation of the State policy of prohibition on trade in third-party origin goods through this mechanism and Information indicated that these funds are being used for fomenting terrorism and separatism in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Central Government, having regard to the gravity of the said offence as well as its bearing on the National security is of the opinion that the offence involved is of raising funds for terrorist acts, which is punishable under section 17 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, a scheduled offence under the NIA Act, 2008. In view of the aforesaid opinion, the Central Government has issued orders under section 6(5) of the NIA Act, 2008, directing the National Investigation Agency, to take up the investigation on the aforementioned information regarding the crime. Accordingly, the NIA Police Station at New Delhi has registered a case vide case no. RC-17/2016/NIA/DLI dated 16th Dec, 2016 against commission of offences under section 17 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967, as amended. An An NIA team has presented the FIR before the NIA Special Court at Jammu and investigation teams of the NIA have conducted searches and seized several incriminating documents, at several places connected with the crime, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, since the registration of the case. NIA initiates investigation against terror funding through illegal trade in Jammu and Kashmir. https://t.co/3JcmaYZL59 NIA India (@NIA_India) December 21, 2016 Earlier clothes and 'dupatta' (stole) were being used to finance terror in the state. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: In line with the government's initiative of Digital India and e-transactions, Daman and Diu, a union territory along the Arabian Sea coast, has become the first cashless region of the country. During a recent visit to the Union Territory, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir praised the painstaking efforts of the Daman and Diu administration in successfully making the region a cashless one. An official statement said that at least 190 teams of trained volunteers visited more than 25,000 households spread across Daman and Diu to apprise their members of the benefits of cashless transactions. Also Read: CBSE schools to go cashless from January 2017 The administration has introduced free Wi-fi services in the Union Territory recently as a step towards Digital India programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and 3,500 GB data was used by over 32,000 tourists and local people during the last 45 days. Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday arrested businessman Parsamal Lodha for converting over Rs 25 crore old currency into new. The Enforcement Directorate earlier on December 1 raided multiple hawala operators across the country involved in illegal conversion of old currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 to valid legal tender since demonetisation on November 8. The ED raided multiple locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai among others based on intelligence gathered by the agency. Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced scrapping of Rs. 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to curb corruption and black money, the Income Tax department raided several hawala dealers and jewellers across the country for cutting barter deals with people to convert invalid currency notes into valid legal tender. With ANI inputs Kinshasa: Seventeen people have been killed in clashes between DR Congo police and members of a cult that believes the end of President Joseph Kabila's mandate will usher in the apocalypse, a regional governor said today. Bienvenu Esimba, governor of DR Congo's northwestern Mongala province, said the clashes broke out Wednesday in the provincial capital Lisala when members of the sect burned dozens of houses and attacked a market before launching an assault on local electoral commission offices. "The toll from the clashes is 14 militiamen from the political-religious cult and three dead police officers," Esimba told AFP by telephone, adding that cult leader Wami-Nene was among those killed. A local Catholic priest confirmed that cult members had launched the attack. DR Congo is mired in political crisis two days after Kabila's second and final term in office had been due to end on December 20, with no indications that he is planning to step down. Esimba said the cult members, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, had burned 47 houses and attacked the offices of the electoral commission because they judged the institution to be "useless". Troops had to step in to "neutralise" the guru Wami-Nene during the three hours of violence until midday on Wednesday, he said, adding that security forces had "acted in legitimate defence". The situation was calm by this morning, Esimba said. Lisala lies on the Congo river deep in the rainforest, some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) northeast of the capital Kinshasa. Baghdad: At least 25 persons were killed on Thursday in the Iraqi city of Mosul after three suicide car bombs were detonated at a market place, a security source said. The bombings, that left dozens wounded, occurred when the cars blew up amid a crowd of civilians at a market place and positions of security sources at Gogjali district of Mosul, Xinhua quoted sources as saying. Security forces blockaded the district and carried out a search operation looking for more car bombs believed to be in the area, a source said. The attacks came as the security forces were carrying out operations to clear the recently-freed districts from the Islamic State terror group in the eastern side of Mosul. After nearly seven weeks of battle against the IS inside Mosul, the elite Counter-Terrorism Service retook control of 40 districts, while the army's 9th armoured Division and the 1st Division recaptured six more neighbourhoods in the city. Beijing: The founder of one of China`s few websites dedicated to reporting human rights abuses has been formally arrested for "leaking state secrets", Amnesty International said Thursday -- the latest blow in a broad crackdown on activists. Huang Qi ran the website "64 Tianwang", named in part after the bloody June 4, 1989, crackdown on Tiananmen Square protestors, for nearly two decades. Its headlines -- "Village Officials Stab Campaigner", "Gangsters Detain Protestor" -- are rarely seen in ordinary Chinese media, and the content is blocked on the mainland. The site was awarded the Reporters Without Borders (RSF)-TV5 Monde Press Freedom Prize in early November. Twelve years ago, he received RSF`s "Cyber-Dissident Prize." Just weeks after receiving the most recent prize, Huang was detained by police in his hometown of Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, according to Amnesty -- his third detention this year. Last Friday, his family received official notice that he had been formally arrested for leaking state secrets to overseas entities, the campaign group said. It remained unclear whether he had access to a lawyer, Amnesty China researcher Patrick Poon told AFP, stating that Huang was "at risk of torture and other mistreatment". "He may have been targeted because of the international attention he and his website received" from the RSF prize, Poon said. Huang`s arrest might also be intended as a warning to websites chronicling grassroots activism in advance of a controversial new law set to impose restrictions on foreign NGOs operating in China, which will come into force in January. The law gives police wide-ranging powers over overseas charities and bans them from recruiting members or raising funds in the country. "I`m quite worried that the government is trying to send a signal to organisations that they believe to have foreign links," said Poon, noting that authorities had detained Liu Feiyue, founder of the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website, around the same time as Huang. President Xi Jinping has overseen a wide-ranging clampdown on civil society since assuming power in 2012. But Huang`s struggles to continue his work date even further back. In 2000 he was jailed for five years, the first ever Chinese "cyber-dissident" to be imprisoned for online activism. He was imprisoned again for a further three years in 2009 for reporting on low-quality school buildings that collapsed in a massive earthquake the previous year in Sichuan which claimed 87,000 lives. He had been physically abused while in jail, Huang told AFP during an interview last year, but stated that he nevertheless felt that authorities now appreciated his coverage, as the exposure of injustices committed by local officials dovetailed with an anti-corruption campaign also launched under Xi. "The top levels of government no longer think of me as a threat," he said at the time. "They even see me as useful, because I expose a lot of cases which they don`t know about." Sydney: A Christmas Day terror plot targeting central Melbourne has been foiled after raids across the city resulted in seven arrests, police said on Friday. Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton alleged those detained planned to attack high-profile locations including Melbourne`s iconic train station, Federation Square and St Paul`s Cathedral. By PTI: From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Dec 22 (PTI) Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain has said that he never attended a school and missed out on its joys as he was home schooled due to "various reasons". Hussain was speaking at a function at the Cadet College Hassanabdal near Islamabad yesterday where he told students to follow in the footsteps of Pakistans founder M A Jinnah to better meet the challenges that the country is facing. advertisement "When asked about the presidents comment regarding his own education, alumni relations officer at the cadet college Syed Mohammad Ali said the president was home schooled due to various reasons," the Dawn reported. Hussain belongs to Pakistans financial hub Karachi where he settled after his family migrated from Agra during the partition. He rose from humble beginnings to become the president of the country. He is considered as confidante of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who approved his appointment to the top job due to his loyalty to Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party. Soon after his appointment as president, Hussain said in one of his interviews that he had also attended a religious seminary in Karachi. It is for the first time that he said that he was deprived of formal modern schooling. PTI SH MRJ ZH MRJ --- ENDS --- District of Columbia: Donald Trump Thursday tapped veteran Republican party strategist Sean Spicer to be White House press secretary, the mouthpiece of his administration, as he unveiled the top members of his presidential media team. Spicer is a familiar face in Washington, as the longtime chief spokesman of the Republican National Committee. Also named to top White House press posts were: Jason Miller, who was named director of communications; Dan Scavino, director of social media, and Hope Hicks, director of strategic communications. "Sean, Hope, Jason and Dan have been key members of my team during the campaign and transition," Trump said in a statement from his Mar-a-Lago estate in south Florida, where he is spending the Christmas holidays. "I am excited they will be leading the team that will communicate my agenda that will Make America Great Again," the president-elect said. The New York Times reported that Trump had hoped to persuade his former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway to at least share the press secretary podium -- but that she declined. Conway was rewarded Thursday for her key role Trump`s successful campaign with a White House post as counselor to the president-elect. Washington: A scathing US Congressional report released today branded intelligence leaker Edward Snowden a "serial exaggerator and fabricator" and said he has had continual contact with Russian intelligence services. The partially redacted report, released by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, portrays Snowden as a disgruntled government contractor rather than a legitimate whistleblower. The former National Security Agency contractor leaked thousands of classified documents to the press in 2013, revealing the vast scope of US surveillance of private data that was put in place after the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to the report, Snowden swiped about 1.5 million documents and those he leaked to the press were "merely the tip of the iceberg." "Most of the material he stole had nothing to do with Americans' privacy, and its compromise has been of great value to America's adversaries and those who mean to do America harm," Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said. Snowden was quick to disparage the report, taking to Twitter to decry its "obvious falsehoods." "After three years of investigation and millions of dollars, they can present no evidence of harmful intent, foreign influence, or harm. Wow," he wrote. Snowden now lives in exile in Russia where he has sought asylum after fleeing his home in Hawaii and a brief stint in Hong Kong. Should he ever return to the US, he would be tried for espionage and other charges carrying up to 30 years in prison. "Since Snowden's arrival in Moscow, he has had and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services," the report states. Snowden tweeted that the committee report was slanted and deliberately omitted his criticisms of Russian policy. "Despite this, they claim without evidence I'm in cahoots with Russian intel. Everyone knows this is false, but let's examine their basis:" he adds, before posting a series of tweets on the matter. The report also states that a Pentagon review had identified "13 high-risk issues," eight of which relate to specific capabilities that if the Russian or Chinese governments know about could put American troops at greater risk "in any future conflict." Since September, a campaign calling for a presidential pardon for Snowden 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 US President Barack Obama leaves office in January or a plea bargain that would shield him from spending a lot of time in jail. Snowden himself has said he is not expecting a pardon. Brussels: The European Police Office (Europol) has signed an agreement with EURid, the European Commission-appointed internet registry manager, to enhance internet security cooperation. According an Europol press release on Wednesday, the cooperation aims to engage in joint efforts related to fighting cybercrime, Xinhua news agency reported. EURid is the registry manager of the .eu domains upon appointment of the European Commission in 2003, responsible for the verification of registrars. EURid also developed a working partnership with Belgian law enforcement to fight cybercrime, the statement added. Baghdad: Islamic State claimed three suicide car bombs that killed at least 15 civilians and eight Iraqi policemen on Thursday in an eastern suburb of Mosul, according to a military statement. The attacks targeted Kokjali, a suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago. A military spokesman said the car bombs went off in a market. The U.S.-backed assault on Mosul, the jihadists` last major stronghold in Iraq, was launched by a 100,000-strong alliance of local forces on Oct. 17. It has become the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Islamic State militants retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they are retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction. Four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed by mortar fire this week during aid distribution in Mosul, the United Nations said on Thursday. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," said Lise Grande, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. "All parties to the conflict - all parties - have an obligation to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians survive and receive the assistance they need." Elite army forces have captured a quarter of the city but the advance has faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants. The authorities do not release figures for civilian or military casualties, but medical officials say dozens of people are wounded each day in the battle for Mosul. Palm Beach: US President-elect Donald Trump called the attacks this week in Berlin and Ankara "terrible" on Wednesday and said he has been proven to be correct about his plans to impose curbs on Muslims immigrating to the United States. "Whats going on is terrible, terrible," Trump told reporters, when asked about the truck attack that killed 12 people at a Christmas market in Berlin and the killing of Russia`s ambassador to Turkey by a gunman in Ankara. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Berlin killings and the assassin in Turkey shouted about the war in Syria as he gunned down the envoy from Moscow, which has aided Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels in that country`s long civil war. Trump was asked by reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, if Monday`s violence would affect his consideration of a ban on Muslims entering the United States or of a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries. "You know my plans. All along, Ive been proven to be right. 100% correct. Whats happening is disgraceful," Trump said on Wednesday. At one point in his election campaign Trump called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country as a means of fighting terrorism, drawing widespread criticism at home and abroad. He later rephrased this to propose temporarily suspending immigration from regions deemed as exporting terrorism and where safe vetting cannot be ensured. On Monday, Trump immediately blamed the Berlin attack on Islamic State and other Islamist militants who "continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad." Asked about his reference to Christians, the president-elect broadened his response on Wednesday, "It`s an attack on humanity, and it`s gotta be stopped." "What`s happening is disgraceful," Trump said, adding that he has not talked to President Barack Obama since the Berlin and Ankara attacks. Trump has been critical of Obama, and of his Democratic rival in the November presidential election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for what he says is a reluctance to clearly name Islamist militancy as a threat. Trump on Wednesday did receive a President`s Daily Brief, the most highly classified and closely held document in the government, his transition team said. The real estate magnate and former reality TV star, who has publicly cast doubt on some conclusions of the intelligence community, is receiving the briefing about once a week, far fewer than most recent presidents-elect, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursaday said its foreign secretary will travel to Russia to participate in a trilateral meeting with Russia and China next week which will discuss key regional issues including peace process in Afghanistan. "The Foreign Secretary will lead the Pakistani delegation in this meeting. This is an existing forum for undertaking informal discussions on issues of regional peace and stability, including situation in Afghanistan," Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Nafees Zakaria said at the weekly press briefing here. The trilateral meeting will be held on December 27 and peace in Afghanistan will be on the top of the agenda due to increasing threat of ISIS to Central Asia, which is considered as Russian backyard, There are also reports of contacts between Taliban and Russian officials as the latter recognise the importance of Taliban in checking the threat of ISIS. Zakaria said peace and stability in Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan and the entire region. "In this spirit, we remain committed and extend all cooperation to the efforts towards bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan. Pakistan has played a very positive role in bringing warring factions to the negotiating table. Whenever we are approached to help bring the warring factions to the negotiating table, we will assist," he said. Seoul: South Korea`s Constitutional Court on Thursday began its deliberations on a parliamentary impeachment vote against President Park Geun-hye, who could become the first elected South Korean leader to be thrown out of office. Park was indicted in a December 9 parliamentary vote by a wider-than-expected margin after being accused of colluding with a friend to pressure big businesses to make contributions to non-profit foundations backing presidential initiatives. Park, whose father ruled the country for 18 years after seizing power in a 1961 coup, has denied wrongdoing but apologised for carelessness in her ties with the friend, Choi Soon-sil, who is facing her own trial. Neither Park nor Choi appeared in court on Thursday when judges decided to admit prosecutors` investigation documents, in an early setback for Park`s defence team, which had tried to block them. Although stripped of her presidential powers, which are being wielded by the prime minister, Park retains her title and her official residence. She is serving a single five-year term which is set to end in February 2018, and has presidential immunity but risks facing prosecution after leaving office. Park`s popularity has sunk to near record lows since the influence-peddling scandal blew up, but many South Koreans already had doubts about her leadership, partly because of a 2014 ferry disaster in which 300 people, most of them school children, were killed. The Court raised that accident on Thursday, asking that Park account for her activities during a seven-hour period when the disaster was unfolding, and when her critics believe she was negligent. "We request the claimee report where she was in the Blue House, during the seven hours that has become an issue, exactly what work she was engaged in," one of the court`s nine judges, Lee Jinsung, said, referring to the presidential compound in the capital, Seoul. The court also identified Park`s friend, Choi, and two former Blue House officials, An Chong-bum and Jeong Ho-seong, as witnesses in the hearing. Park`s lawyers said earlier the vote to impeach her had no legal basis and the court should throw the case out. The court said it would hold the next preparatory hearing on December 27. Aleppo: The army said Thursday it has retaken full control of Syria`s devastated second city Aleppo, scoring its biggest victory against opposition forces since the civil war erupted in 2011. The announcement came after a landmark evacuation deal that put an end to a ferocious month-long offensive waged on east Aleppo by government forces and allied militia. An army statement said the general command "announces the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists, and the departure of those who stayed there". A rebel official spoke of a "great loss" for the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. "On the political level, this is a great loss," Yasser al-Youssef of the Nureddin al-Zinki rebel group told AFP. "For the revolution, it is a period of retreat and a difficult turning point." Referring to Assad`s closest allies, Ahmed Qorra Ali of the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group said: "Aleppo is now under the occupation of Russia and Iran." The army announcement came after state television reported that the last convoy of four buses carrying rebels and civilians had left east Aleppo and arrived in the government-controlled Ramussa district south of the city. Earlier, the Red Cross said more than 4,000 fighters had left rebel-held areas in the final stages of the evacuation.The loss of east Aleppo is the biggest blow to Syria`s rebel movement in the nearly six-year conflict, which has killed more than 310,000 people. It puts the government in control of the country`s five main cities: Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Damascus, and Latakia. Syria`s conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011 but spiralled into a civil war after a brutal government crackdown on dissent. It has drawn in proxy powers and attracted foreign jihadists, but successive attempts to negotiate a political end to the conflict have failed. Assad`s victory in Aleppo is a boon for his allies in Moscow and Tehran and a defeat for the opposition`s backers, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Western states. Because of the intensity of these global rivalries -- particularly between Russia and the United States -- the international community struggled for years to respond to the bloodshed in Syria. "The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran," state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying before the army announcement on Thursday. The evacuation had been hampered by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. "Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, in one of the last stages of the evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated in private cars, vans, and pick-ups from eastern Aleppo," said Ingy Sedky, the spokeswoman in Syria for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She said about 34,000 people had left rebel areas of Aleppo under the evacuation plan. The United Nations said it had deployed observers to monitor the final evacuations, under a Security Council resolution adopted on Monday.Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, said 31 staff had been assigned for monitoring at Ramussa. Heavy snowfall from Wednesday, which blanketed Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, had hampered the evacuations. Rebel forces, who seized east Aleppo in 2012, agreed to withdraw after a month-long army offensive that drove them from more than 90 percent of their former territory. The deal was brokered by Russia, which launched air strikes in support of Assad`s regime last year, and Turkey, which has supported some rebel groups. As part of the Aleppo evacuation deal, it was agreed some residents would be allowed to leave Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority villages in northwestern Syria that are under siege by the Sunni Muslim rebels. About 1,000 people have been able to leave the villages in recent days. The evacuation of Aleppo`s rebel-held sector was a pivotal moment in a war that has triggered a major humanitarian and refugee crisis. As well as a major strategic gain for Assad, the withdrawal has, however, given fresh impetus to international efforts to end the conflict. Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed this week to guarantee Syria peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire, laying down their claim as the main powerbrokers in the war.Repeated attempts at peace have failed, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene fresh talks in Geneva in February. Formerly the beating heart of Syria`s commercial and cultural industries, Aleppo had been split since July 2012 between rebels in the east and the government in the west. East Aleppo became a powerful symbol for Syria`s opposition, which set up its own administration to run schools, electricity and water there. Opposition fighters lobbed rockets into government-held territory, and regime forces battered the east with air strikes and artillery. Moscow`s military intervention in support of Assad marked a major turning point. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday the Russian air force has killed 35,000 fighters in Syria since it began in September last year. Turkey launched its own campaign in Syria in late August in support of pro-Ankara rebels, with the aim of ousting Islamic State group jihadists as well as Kurdish militia from areas near its border. Turkish air strikes killed at least 47 civilians including 14 children on Thursday in the IS-held town of Al-Bab, which Turkish forces have been seeking to capture for weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The raids came a day after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by jihadists around Al-Bab -- Ankara`s biggest loss of the campaign so far. Kabul: The Afghan Police say gunmen have stormed the home of a lawmaker in the capital, killing eight people and leaving the parliamentarian wounded after he jumped from the roof to escape. The Taliban claimed the attack, which began late yesterday, saying they targeted a meeting of military officials. Police officer Sadiq Muradi says the gunmen attacked the house of Mir Wali, a lawmaker from the restive southern Helmand province. They battled his guards for several hours, eventually killing eight people, including family members, friends and members of his security detail. Three attackers were killed. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack. United Nations: The UN Security Council on Thursday postponed a contentious vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its settlement activities as President-elect Donald Trump weighed in and said the United States should veto the measure. Egypt requested the delay one day after submitting the draft text to the council, a move that triggered immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a US veto to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained unclear whether Washington would shift its stance this time, possibly abstaining to allow the measure to pass, although without US support. "Israelis deeply appreciate one of the great pillars of the US-Israel alliance: the willingness over many years of the United States to stand up in the UN and veto anti-Israel resolutions," Netanyahu said. "I hope the US won`t abandon this policy." Israel launched a frantic lobbying effort to pressure Egypt to drop the bid and reached out to its supporters in the United States and at the Security Council for support. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said his government was deploying "diplomatic efforts on all fronts to ensure that this disgraceful resolution will not pass in the Security Council." A UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, dubbed the Israeli lobbying a "diplomatic World War III" and a senior Security Council diplomat suggested that the motion could be buried indefinitely. "There was a window of opportunity. Whether that window is still there is really not clear," said a Western diplomat.Trump, who campaigned on a promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel`s capital, bluntly said Washington should use its veto to block the resolution. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," he said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis." Arab ambassadors held an emergency meeting at the United Nations to press Egypt to move ahead with a vote and an Arab League committee met in Cairo to discuss the fate of the motion. Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said Trump`s call for a veto was in response to pressure from the Israeli prime minister. "He is acting on behalf of Netanyahu," he said. Trump has chosen as ambassador to Israel the hardliner David Friedman, who has said Washington will not pressure Israel to curtail settlement building in the occupied West Bank. No new timeframe was announced for the vote, which had been scheduled for 3 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday. Illustrating how the Egyptian decision caught Washington flat-footed, Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to make remarks laying out a "vision" for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Kerry spoke to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Wednesday and then, after the Egyptian decision, to Netanyahu on Thursday. "The secretary was preparing to deliver some remarks today about a vision for the Middle East and certainly for the Middle East peace process itself, and he decided in light of the postponement itself that it would be prudent for him to postpone his remarks," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in Washington.Israeli settlements are seen as a major stumbling block to peace efforts, as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. The draft resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." It states that Israeli settlements have "no legal validity" and are "dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution" that would see an independent Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. UN diplomats have for weeks speculated over whether the administration of President Barack Obama would refrain from using its veto. Obama`s administration has expressed mounting anger over the continued expansion of the Jewish outposts and speculation has grown that he could launch a final initiative before leaving. The Middle East peace process has been comatose since a US initiative to re-launch peace talks collapsed in April 2014. France announced plans to host an international conference on January 15 to try to restart talks based on the two-state solution. The students called off their protest on Wednesday temporarily but after the talks failed, they resumed the protests on Thursday. By Manogya Loiwal : The increase in the registration fees from Rs 29,000 to Rs 37,000 in IIT Kharagpur has left students agitated. More than 200 students have been protesting outside the director's office since Monday and 8 students are on a hunger strike. The students in protest of the sudden change sent a petition on December 14 to the director signed by 1200 students, despite a considerable number of students being on holiday. advertisement TALKS BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND STUDENTS FAIL: 1. One of the biggest demands of the petition was to roll back the fee hike among other demands. 2. The authorities did not get back to the students rather termed their protest undemocratic. 3. The lack of response from the authorities compelled the students to carry out a protest rally from Technology Students Gymkhana, IIT Kharagpur, on Tuesday morning and finally sat on a strike outside the director's office. 4. The authorities managed to leave their offices on Wednesday afternoon. 5. The authorities of IIT Kharagpur finally decided to break their silence on Thursday and in a statement, Director IIT, Proffesor P P Chakrabarti informed, "The mess overhead charges of Rs 8250 per semester, which had not been changed for several years now in-spite of constant increase in cost of manpower and materials, now runs on major institute support. More than Rs 12 crore have been provided in the last two years to bridge the gap. Also, some costs like security, gaps in electricity bill, etc have been directly taken over by the institute to alleviate the burden on students. This has also resulted in problems with quality of food. Based on specific request and discussion with the students, the actual mess overhead cost was computed in a transparent manner with the agreement of student/ hall representatives by consolidating all the manpower, cleaning and other costs." 6. Explaining further, he said, "The cost without institute support turns out to be around Rs 15,800 per semester at current rates, primarily due to salary increase and material cost over the last 6 years and inclusion of manpower cost of more than 450 personnel of the contracted mess which was not there in the earlier calculations. These details have been shared with relevant people and student representatives. This helps the students to only pay for the food costs separately without manpower included there, this effectively reducing food costs and helping improve food quality. The students representatives had made an appeal to provide institute support because though this is the real cost, the jump appears high now." 7. The administration had agreed to look into the matter and examine what level of support can be provided within the norms. "This is a process that takes time because there are several kind of students and the support may be different for different categories, which will have to be evolved after due discussion with the students, many of whom are away now. The students were informed accordingly and have been told to pay the overhead charges as calculated now and the amount received from institute support would be adjusted in due course when this can be calculated. This is similar to the direct benefits scheme (eg LPG) for - a policy that the government has asked us to follow. A team of Dean Student Affairs, Dean Undergraduate Studies, Dean Postgraduate Studies and Research will work with Hall Management Centre Team to work this out and share the same with director and deputy director for approval and implementation. They will also study the practices in other large /older IITs. The most suitable decision will be taken within the applicable norms. The institute has to balance the funds we can spend on this category, as it may affect other categories like support to top national and international conferences, which help achieve excellence," said the Chakrabarti. advertisement 8. "The administration has been trying to make them see reason to the best of our abilities. The efforts to engage with them in a reasonable manner are on and will continue. However, democratic decision making processes cannot be subverted through disruptive coercion and under duress," informed Chakrabarti. 9. Even Registrar, Pradip Pyne said, "Yes, the fees has been revised, apparently looks to be substantial. But as we have said, we are open to discussion. In fact, the director has already asked for details and we are re-examining what has been done. We will see what is the best we can do to address the concerns of the students. I must add, that we have close to 11,600 students out of which 6,500 are undergraduate, 2,500 are research scholars pursuing their PHD rest are MTech Masters Programme students. Majority of the students have accepted the change, the increase in the fair. A section of the student have asked for reconsideration of the change and we will examine it. If something can be done, we will definitely do it. We have a positive approach, if some calculation somewhere has gone wrong, it can be corrected." advertisement 10. The authorities and students have not managed to come to a consensus. The students temporarily called off their protest on Wednesday evening and decided to discuss matters over a meeting on Thursday. 11. The meeting, however, failed and the protests and relay hunger strike has resumed. Also read: IIT Kharagpur students go on hunger strike against fee hike, director locked in his office overnight Talks between management and students fail: One of the biggest demands of the petition was to roll back the fee hike among other demands. advertisement --- ENDS --- United Nations: The UN Security Council will vote on Thursday on an Egyptian-drafted resolution demanding that Israel immediately halt its settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. Egypt circulated the draft late Wednesday and a vote was scheduled for 3 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday. Israeli settlements are seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal and has repeatedly called on Israel to halt them, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the United States to use its veto to block the measure. "The US should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday," Netanyahu tweeted. The draft resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." It states that Israeli settlements are "dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution" that would see an independent state of Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. The text stresses that halting settlements was "essential for salvaging the two-state solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground."UN diplomats have for weeks speculated as to whether the administration of US President Barack Obama would decide to refrain from using its veto to block a draft resolution condemning Israel. Obama`s administration has expressed mounting anger over Israeli settlement policy and speculation has grown that he could launch a final initiative before leaving. The measure calls for "immediate steps" to prevent acts of violence against civilians, but does not specifically single out the Palestinians to stop incitement, as demanded by Israel. Israel last month revived plans to build 500 new homes for Jewish settlers in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, after Donald Trump won the US presidential election. Under Netanyahu`s government, settlement construction has surged with some 15,000 settlers moving into the West Bank over the past year alone. Israel`s Ambassador to the United Nations described the proposed measure as the "peak of hypocrisy" arguing that it will "only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror." "We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," Danny Danon said in a statement. The United States joined the European Union, the United Nations and Russia in calling for a halt to Jewish settlements in a report released in October by the so-called diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East. The report was to serve as the basis for reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process which has been comatose since a US initiative collapsed in April 2014. Washington: A US-based cyber security firm claimed that it has found strong evidence of links between the Russian military intelligence and the group which hacked the online portal of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). DNC had hired cyber security firm CrowdStrike to probe the hack. The firm reportedly found evidence of a malware used by the Ukrainian army against pro-Russia separatists with the malware used in the DNC intrusion. The firm believes Russia's military intelligence agency GRU to be one of the two hacker groups involved in the DNC hack, ANI reported. "Now we have high confidence, it was a unit of the GRU," the report quoted CrowdStrike co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch as saying. The FBI is said to be privately in congruent with the findings of CrowdStrike. The evidence points how different arms of the Russian government are carrying out such types of cyber acts in the United States, the report said. Washington has accused Russia of interfering in the US election. The GRU is reportedly used for tactical intelligence collection on the battlefield. The other group that hacked the DNC also works for Russian intelligence, CrowdStrike said. Washington: The United States has played down Russian reports that already tense ties between the old foes have plunged to chilly new lows. The State Department denied yesterday a Kremlin claim that communications are frozen, noting that Secretary of State John Kerry had called his Russian counterpart as recently as Tuesday. The Pentagon also noted that on the same day Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the claim, its officers had held a video conference with Russian commanders on how to stay out of each other's way in Syria. "Practically all levels of dialogue with the United States are frozen," Peskov told Mir TV, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. "We don't communicate with one another. Or we do so minimally," he added, causing surprise in Washington. "I don't know exactly what to make of that comment," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "Obviously, we don't agree and have issues with Russia on a variety of issues, but dialogue has not been broken." Kirby said Kerry had spoken to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday by telephone to hear about talks Russia had hosted with Iran and Turkey to seek a solution to the crisis in Syria. "Look, there's a lot of issues where dialogue and communications between the United States and Russia remain important, and for our part, we remain committed to that dialogue and that communication," Kirby said. "It doesn't mean that we're always going to agree and it doesn't mean that there's not going to be tensions. But as far as we're concerned, communications are not frozen and dialogue is still happening. Differences are still being discussed, debated." Russia finds itself locked in its worst standoff with the West since the Cold War over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, the conflict in Ukraine and lingering disagreement about the conflict in Syria. US President Barack Obama's administration on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining sanctions on Moscow over Crimea with new financial restrictions on Russian businessmen and companies. The Russian foreign ministry said it "regretted" the new sanctions. The White House this month also pointed to direct involvement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in cyber attacks designed to impact the US election. The upcoming presidency of Donald Trump raises questions over the future of US policy toward Russia given his apparently softer line on Putin. Putin himself has reiterated Moscow's readiness to work with the Trump administration once the president-elect takes office in January, stressing the importance of normalizing the countries' relations. Tokyo: The United States returned to Japan the control of 4,000 hectares occupied until now by its military bases on the southern island of Okinawa. The ceremony in Nago on Thursday, was attended by top Japanese government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga and US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy This is the largest return of US-occupied land since 1972, when Japan regained the administration of Okinawa, where 240,000 people died during the Second World War and which had been controlled by the US ever since, reports Efe. The returned land, which is 17 per cent of the territory administered by the US military on the island, was used for combat training in forest areas. "This decreased training area on Okinawa will not deteriorate our commitment or our ability towards working with the government of Japan and our partners in the Japan Self-Defense Forces in mutual defense of this country," US Lt. Gen Lawrence D Nicholson said in a statement. Nicholson added that that the US intends to return more land to Japan in the future. Opposition by the local population and politicians to US bases on the island has intensified over time owing to several incidents. The latest took place on December 13 when one of the controversial Osprey MV-22 aircrafts, a US military aircraft which has been deployed in Japan since 2012, crashed. Okinawa shelters half of the 48,000 US troops in Japan as well as 70 percent of the US military facilities in the country. By Pramod Madhav: As if the death of Jayalalithaa and the battering by cyclonic storm Vardah had not done enough damage to the state and its people, the income tax department has gone the whole hog into weeding out corruption from Tamil Nadu. 1. It all began with the raid at an apartment at Teynampet on December 8th. The three-storey apartment was raided by income tax officials. advertisement 2. Around 2 pm, a couple of men who entered the gate in a Bolero unloaded a money counting machine outside a bank. The seriousness of the situation came to the fore when I-T officials unloaded another money counting machine from their vehicle. Fearing that something big is rolling out, all 'sources' within the I-T department were fired up instantly to find out what was going on. 3. Reports confirmed that the income tax raid was occurring on the 1st floor of the apartment which belonged to one Srinivasalu and that officials had seized demonetised notes worth Rs 40 crore. 4. Three names came up namely Srinivasalu, Sekhar Reddy and Prem Kumar. On further interrogation, Sekhar Reddy became the main focus of the raid and the money hoarding episode. 5. Interestingly, within minutes, an image of Sekhar Reddy standing next to Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister O Panneerselvam came on WhatsApp. 6. After the raid, a container was brought in to transport the money recovered from the apartment. The amount recovered at the end of the day was a whopping Rs 106 crore along with 132 kg of gold. 7. Before the officials went away, they left a tip-off that a top IAS officer would soon be in trouble. WHO IS SEKHAR REDDY? 8. Sekhar Reddy, a man of humble beginnings just like OPS, entered the mainstream of Tamil Nadu politics 7 years ago after being reportedly introduced to Ram Mohan Rao, a 1985 batch IAS officer. Reddy got into the good books of the government and acquired various tenders. In no time, he became a baron. At that point, Panneerselvam was holding the portfolio as Public Works Department minister as well. 9. With his connections in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Sekhar Reddy allegedly indulged in a host of money laundering practices across the country. As the board membership of N Kanniah, leader of Southern Railways Mazdoor Union, with Thirupathi Devastanam came to an end, Sekhar Reddy was made a board member from Tamil Nadu. 10. Just like everything else, Sekhar Reddy's life and work was moving smoothly until this fateful December. advertisement 11. Chief Secretary Ram Mohan Rao has been with Tamil Nadu government since his initial service days. The late chief minister replaced Gnanadesikan, a 1981 batch IAS officer, on June 8, right after winning the assembly elections. Rao, superseded close to 14 IAS officers to the post of Chief Secretary on that day, all because of his reported good contacts with cabinet ministers. 12. Rao proved he was capable of running the state in the absence of a chief minister when Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo due to high fever and dehydration on September 22nd. 13. Even though the portfolios of the chief minister were transferred to OPS, it was Rao and another lady IAS officer who ran the show. DISASTROUS DECEMBER 14. The month of December 2016 can't be easily erased from the minds of Chennaites as they faced the sad news of the death of their most revered chief minister Jayalalithaa and then Cyclone Vardah bashed the city with its 192 km/hour gusty winds. 15. Chennaites had barely recovered from these dual blows when I-T raids happened. In an unprecedented move, income tax sleuths raided the house of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary. 16. On 21st December, around 9 am, there was confirmed information that the Chief Secretary's house was raided by the Income Tax department. Unable to digest the fact, everyone rushed to Ram Mohan Rao's residence at Y Block on the 6th Main Road in Anna Nagar area. advertisement WATCH VIDEO 17. According to initial reports, it was only clear that I-T officials were only there to retrieve documents and not seize money or properties. But the situation turned serious when 3 Toyota Innova SUVs entered the street, and CRPF men alighted from them. The soldiers attached bullet magazines to their guns and got off the vehicle. 7 personnel were posted at Rao's house while the rest were made to wait as backup. 18. It was strange that the honest Tamil Nadu police was not trusted with guarding the house. From the side of the income tax department, it was verbally stated that they did not want any action while seizure of sensitive documents from the house was going on. 19. After a raid that started around 5.30 am and went up to 8 the next morning, it was confirmed that I-T officials had seized 30 lakh of cash, 5 kg of gold and many other costly items. With the simultaneous raid at Rao's son Vivek's residence, tax sleuths found 5 crore rupees of undisclosed wealth. advertisement 20. Ram Mohan Rao, who held the additional charge as Vigilance Director, found himself in trouble. 21. Simultaneously, Sekhar Reddy and Srinivasulu were produced in a special CBI court in Chennai and were remanded until 3rd January. 22. Unlike Jayalalithaa, who would have immediately taken action against anyone from her government in minutes, OPS remained mute. While Panneerselvam had the time to write a letter to the prime minister about the releases of 51 apprehended Tamil fishermen, he did not utter a word about his chief secretary being probed by I-T. 23. The raid concluded on 22nd December around 8 am and the CRPF jawans were removed from Rao's residence. After a day's silence, Tamil Nadu government issued a statement that IAS Girija Vaidyanathan had been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu government, which made Ram Mohan Rao go back to the 'waiting list'. TIP OF ICEBERG 24. As expected, income tax officials have retrieved a huge number of documents, carrying crucial and sensitive information. Many current and former ministers' names were seen to have joined the list. Many are now in panic mode, as the man who headed the bureaucratic department of the government has been rendered powerless. CAUSE AND EFFECT 25. The first to react to this development were AIADMK's secondary leaders. Many of them were very sure that this was the result of the Centre's trying to dictate its way into Tamil Nadu politics. "You honestly think this would have happened had Amma been alive?" asked a top AIADMK leader. WATCH VIDEO 26. The incidents occurring now show why AIADMK ministers and MLAs were in such a hurry to make VK Sasikala 'Chinnamma' and the party's General Secretary.Senior journalist and political analyst Mani warned that it wouldn't be a surprise if more senior political leaders came under fire. 27. "The disproportionate assets case verdict has been on hold since June and can be announced in January or February", Mani warned, adding flame to the fire.Of all the reactions to the incident, the most comical and relevant one was from a bystander watching Rao's house being raided. 28. "Now you understand why Modi hugged OPS and kept his palm on Sasikala's head while he came to pay his respects to Amma's body?" he said with a cheeky smile. Also read | Girija Vaidyananthan replaces Rama Mohana Rao as Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary --- ENDS --- European equities fell Thursday on Italian woes in quiet pre-holiday trade, but Milan rose as investors eyed a likely state bailout of crippled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena. BMPS, the world's oldest lender, edged closer to a state rescue as its last-ditch plan to raise five billion euros ($5.2 billion) of new capital risked falling short. The result of the share offer is due to be released later Thursday or early Friday but the bank acknowledged that it had failed to attract an anchor investor after pinning its hopes on Qatar. A separate debt-for-equity swap offer, which is also part of the plan to replenish its coffers, reaped just over two billion euros. BMPS lies at the epicentre of an Italian banking crisis which has cost the troubled firm over 80 percent of its market capitalisation over the past year. Last week it launched a last-ditch attempt to find, through private investors, the funds the ailing lender needs to shore up its balance sheet. Dealers said the Milan stock market gained half a percent Thursday on relief that Italy's financial sector would not be left exposed to contagion. -- Bank sector 'won't collapse' -- "Financials are happy to hear that the sector won't be left to collapse under the weight of BMPS," said Accendo Markets analyst Michael van Dulken, in reference to stock market gains in Milan, "even if a state bailout -- or precautionary recapitalisation --looks set to be rather long and drawn out". Media reported that a state bailout could take up to three months, while the lender has admitted that it only has four months' worth of liquidity left. "Two or three months is very much at odds with the year-end deadline that had been worked to under the failed private solution," van Dulken told AFP. "It is especially worrying given yesterday?s revelation that the bank only has enough liquidity to stay afloat for another four months; less if clients keep withdrawing deposits." Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni confirmed last week that the government was prepared to come to its aid if the private rescue failed. Story continues If it came to that, it would use a move known as precautionary recapitalisation, meaning shareholders and holders of junior bonds, a risky class of debt, must contribute to saving the bank. - 'Broader issues' - The plight of the stricken Italian lender has sparked fears of a dangerous new phase in the eurozone debt crisis. "I think the problems facing Monte dei Paschi are indicative of broader issues related to under-capitalisation not just in the Italian banking industry but throughout the eurozone," VTB Capital analyst Neil MacKinnon told AFP. "Policymakers have preferred to 'kick the can down the road' during previous eurozone debt and banking crises rather than address key issues of necessary recapitalisation and bank restructuring." On Wednesday, Italian parliament approved Gentiloni's plan to set aside 20 billion euros to help Italy's ailing banking sector which is buckling under bad loans estimated at a combined 360 billion euros, or around a third of the eurozone's total. "Monte dei Paschi remains the major highlight in Europe," noted LCG analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya. "Funds raised by Paschi's debt swap progressed to 2.07 billion euros. The bank needs to raise 5.0 billion euros worth of capital to be saved. "The low probability of achieving this amount increases odds of some kind of government rescue." The bank itself has admitted it has only four months' worth of liquidity left. The results of the capital increase are due to be released on Thursday, or possibly Friday. Back in London on Thursday, trade was quiet with the market facing a half-day opening on Friday before the Christmas weekend. Frankfurt and Paris will remain open for a full day on Friday. "In London, you can tell it's the last full trading day before Christmas," noted Lee Wild, head of equity strategy at online stockbroker Interactive Investor. "Volumes are light and, after another volatile and stressful year, those traders still at their screens are more interested in ordering last-minute gifts than building new positions." - Key figures around 1130 GMT - London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,033 Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.1 percent at 11,457 Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,825.90 Milan - FTSE MIB: UP 0.5 percent at 19,305 EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,266.90 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 19,427.67 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.8 percent at 21,636.20 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,139.56 (close) New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 19,941.96 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0458 from $1.0425 Dollar/yen:UP at 117.57 yen from 117.53 yen Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2338 from $1.2358 Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 18 cents at $52.31 per barrel Oil - Brent North Sea: DOWN 26 cents at $56.20 World equities drifted Thursday, with worries about Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank creating the only disturbance in the force of pre-holiday inertia. London managed a small gain at the close, Paris ended flat and Frankfurt finished the day slightly down. Wall Street was lower approaching midday in New York, slipping a little further away from the elusive 20,000 target on the Dow index. "The long awaited 20,000 benchmark on the Dow isn't breached yet and this is likely to keep some traders excited," said Hussein Sayed at FXTM. Monte dei Paschi (BMPS), the world's oldest lender, edged closer to a state rescue as its last-ditch plan to raise five billion euros ($5.2 billion) of new capital risked falling short. "Monte dei Paschi remains the major highlight in Europe," noted LCG analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya. BMPS lies at the epicentre of an Italian banking crisis which has cost the troubled firm over 80 percent of its market capitalisation over the past year. Last week it launched an urgent attempt to find, through private investors, the funds needed to shore up its balance sheet. - Monte falls - The bank's stock posted gains for some of Thursday's session amid hopes the crisis will end with some kind of viable solution, including a possible rescue by the government. "A state bailout would at least allow the lender to continue as a going concern," said David Cheetham at XTB. But then the bank's shares slipped back again to close 7.5 percent lower on the day at 15.08 euros. Whatever BMPS's fate turns out to be, investors took heart from the Italian government's decision to unblock 20 billion euros for the country's entire banking sector. "Financials are happy to hear that the sector won't be left to collapse under the weight of BMPS," Accendo Markets analyst Michael van Dulken told AFP. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the government was prepared to come to its aid if the private rescue failed. If it came to that, it would use a move known as precautionary recapitalisation, meaning shareholders and holders of junior bonds, a risky class of debt, must contribute to saving the bank. Story continues - 'Kick the can' - The plight of the stricken Italian lender has sparked fears of a possible rekindling of the eurozone debt crisis. "I think the problems facing Monte dei Paschi are indicative of broader issues related to under-capitalisation not just in the Italian banking industry but throughout the eurozone," VTB Capital analyst Neil MacKinnon told AFP. "Policymakers have preferred to 'kick the can down the road' during previous eurozone debt and banking crises rather than address key issues of necessary recapitalisation and bank restructuring." Back in London, trade was quiet with the market facing a half-day opening on Friday before the Christmas weekend. Frankfurt and Paris will remain open for a full day on Friday. "In London, you can tell it's the last full trading day before Christmas," noted Lee Wild, head of equity strategy at online stockbroker Interactive Investor. Traders were "more interested in ordering last-minute gifts than building new positions", he said. Alexandre Baradez, an analyst at IG France, said not too much should be read into Thursday's softness in stock markets. "This doesn't look like a market that changing direction," he said. "This is more like a slightly negative consolidation." - Key figures around 1645 GMT - London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,063.68 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.1 percent at 11,456.10 (close) Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 4,834.63 (close) Milan - FTSE MIB: FLAT at 19,214.32 New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 19,898.63 EURO STOXX 50: FLAT at 3,269.51 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 19,427.67 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.8 percent at 21,636.20 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,139.56 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0448 from $1.0425 Dollar/yen: UP at 117.55 yen from 117.53 yen Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2287 from $1.2358 Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 45 cents at $52.94 per barrel Oil - Brent North Sea: UP 49 cents at $54.95 CYBERSPACEBerman Innovations, inventor of The Semenette and POPDildo, was mentioned in three mainstream outlets recently. The publications noted companys products innovative medical applications, as well as its status as a woman-run business. The new press is on top of a mention in a recent Bustle.com list of 8 Sex Toys Invented by Women Specifically for Female Pleasure. Unless youre actively trying to get pregnant, theres a good chance you know more about what it takes to prevent pregnancy than to conceive, writes Cosmopolitan Sex & Relationships Editor Hayley MacMillen in 10 Things Your Fertility Doctor Wants You to Know About Getting Pregnant Right Now. Of POPDildo, she writes, Insemination can help you get pregnant when intercourse isnt working or isnt an option for example, members of same-sex female couples Intracervical insemination (ICI) [mimics] what happens during intercoursethink of the turkey baster method and ejaculating toys such as POPDildo are growing in popularity. To read MacMillens article in Cosmopolitan in full, visit Cosmopolitan.com. U.K. news outlet The Independents Love and Sex writer Kashmira Gander mentions POPDildo inventor and Berman Innovations CEO Stephanie Berman in her article, 2017 will be Year of Vagina-nomics and Women Designing Sex Toys are Leading the Way. In her piece, she references a 2017 trend report, writing, The JWT intelligence agency hailed the rise of pelvic floor muscle exercises, vulvar skincase, and G-spot stimulators as a sign that it will be the year of the vagina-nomics Long seen as taboo, the rise of fourth-wave feminism is encouraging women to talk about their vaginas and vulvas like never before, according to report by Lucie Green, Worldwide Director of the Innovation Group, JWT. To read Ganders article in The Independent in full, visit Independent.co.uk. Medical Plastics News, also based in the U.K., named its coverage of Berman Innovations as one of its most-read stories of 2016: Weve had some great stories and innovation from North American-based companies over the last year, writes contributor Lu Rahman in Meet the All-Stars in Medtech. One of the most popular stories of the year came from Berman Innovations. Owner Stephanie Bermans POP by The Semenette unites a sex toy with a device that aids conception. To read Rahmans article in full, visit MedicalPlasticsNews.com. What an honor it is to receive this kind of mainstream coverage in such a wide variety of media outlets! says Berman. This past year was spent focusing on the launch of POPDildo and really honing in on its pleasure applications, so its very exciting to have both its medical and pleasure functions be recognized and praised. With our recent six adult industry award nominations, this is an exceptional way to end our year and I continue to be very grateful and humbled at the overwhelmingly positive response from customers, retailers and the media. Im looking forward to 2017to continue to evolve POP and bring other innovative products to the market. For more information, visit POPDildo.com. By PTI: Kathmandu, Dec 22 (PTI) A 44-year-old Indian national has been arrested from the Tribhuvan International Airport here for possessing banned Indian currency worth Rs 363,500. Police arrested Thupten Gelek when he was about to leave for New Delhi of India from Kathmandu on an Indigo Airlines flight (6E032). He was carrying 210 notes of Rs 1,000 denominations and 307 notes of Rs 500 denomination. advertisement Police found the notes hidden inside a suitcase during a security check. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 had announced the ban on banknotes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations. PTI NSA --- ENDS --- Customers check a new iPhone 7 exhibited at Puerta del Sol Apple Store the day the company launches their iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on September 16, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images) Data plans in Canada are among the most expensive in the world, and its leading to low usage rates, according to a new survey. The data comes from a report by Swedish telecom competitiveness specialist Tefficient which was released last week. The survey analyzed mobile data usage in 32 countries and found that Canadians will likely be envious of their counterparts in other countries who are seeing lower bills and thus using their cellphones less to check their social media, watch videos, post photos and perform other tasks that require data while on the go. The most expensive mobile data countries are Canada, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic and the Netherlands and as a consequence mobile users in these countries are using very little mobile data, Tefficient said in the report. (Tefficient) Canadian cellphone providers are earning about $60 per gigabyte for each mobile subscriber, which was the highest among all surveyed countries. In comparison, telecoms south of the border are generating about $21 a month. In turn, Canadians are using about half as much data as their U.S. neighbours. Bigger data buckets lead to lower revenue per gigabyte, which increases usage, said Tefficient. At least when customers can use those big buckets also on data-only devices. The report said that cellphone plan providers might be tempted to keep prices up and data plans small in order achieve good profit margins. However, Tefficient said these companies risk alienating their customers who, in turn, realize that they can rely on Wi-Fi instead. One could expect that the fastest growth relative to the usage level would be seen in low-usage countries, the telecom consultancy said. On the contrary, our analysis finds that growth is faster in higher-usage countries where operators have introduced unlimited, or very generous, mobile data propositions. This isnt the first time that Canadian cellphone plan providers have faced criticism for pricey offerings. A CRTC report from earlier this year found that the average monthly household bill for mobile services has jumped from $79 in 2013 to $83 in 2013. Canadians are also paying the third-highest rates for mobile data in three different price tiers among G7 countries and Australia. By Marco Aquino LIMA (Reuters) - Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA is in advanced talks on selling its majority stake in a $5 billion natural gas pipeline project in Peru to Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc , Peru's Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne said in a televised interview. The two companies and the government of Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski struck a deal Friday, Thorne said. "We're about to close," Thorne told local journalist Jaime de Althaus in an interview late on Tuesday. "I think we'll be signing before the end of the year." Techint Group would also join the project as a junior partner and would be tasked with construction, Thorne added. Brookfield, Odebrecht and Techint declined to comment. Thorne did not respond to requests for comment. Odebrecht is at the center of Brazil's biggest-ever graft scandal. Worries about liability for corruption have snagged financing for the pipeline and Odebrecht's attempt to sell its 55 percent stake in the project as required by lenders. Thorne said Brookfield agreed to keep an anti-corruption clause in the pipeline contract, a condition the government had been firm on but which had been a deal breaker for U.S.-based Sempra Energy when it nearly bought Odebrecht's stake last month. Sempra said the clause would allow Peru to seize the project if Odebrecht were found to have broken any laws. The government said it would apply to corruption going forward and is part of all public work contracts. As the project stalled, the government considered rescinding the contract to hold a new auction. But Odebrecht's junior partner, Peruvian construction group Grana y Montero , said the government would have to pay more than $1 billion in compensation for investments made if it did so. Grana's shares jumped by more than 10 percent on Wednesday. Thorne said the government would likely look for a company to build smaller pipelines that would link the main pipeline to cities in southern Peru. The pipeline is expected to transport natural gas from southern Peru to the coast where it will fuel power plants and a future petrochemical complex. An Odebrecht-led consortium won the pipeline contract in 2014 during the government of former president Ollanta Humala after its sole competitor was disqualified. Peruvian prosecutors have accused Humala taking illicit funds from Odebrecht but have not yet pressed charges. Spanish energy company Enagas SA controls a 25 percent in the project and Grana holds 20 percent. (Reporting By Marco Aquino,; writing by Mitra Taj; editing by Andrea Ricci, G Crosse) Photo from The Canadian Press Brian Pallister, the Manitoba premier, has revealed he will spend six to eight weeks a year at his vacation home in Costa Rica. But hell be working remotely, of course. The recently-elected premier, who won a landslide back in April, is currently the No. 2 most popular premier in the country (Saskatchewans Brad Wall took top spot). When I go down there, I work, Pallister told The Canadian Press. I work at things that I dont get interrupted at, and I do get some time with my family, which is great because I dont get much time with my family when Im here, he said. This is marks yet another time Costa Rica has figured large in headlines concerning the premier. Back in the spring a CBC investigation uncovered that he has spent about one in five days travelling to and from the Central American country since becoming the PC leader in 2012. The PC leader owns shares in two Costa Rican companies, and he has admitted in the past he spends a lot of time in that country to develop property he owns. But by Pallisters own calculations, he works so hard when hes in the province hes responsible for running that any extra work he gets done at his vacation home in another continent is sort of a bonus. I typically work 60-hour weeks, Pallister told the Canadian Press about the time he spends in Manitoba. So in the 10 months that I am here, Im typically doing 15 months of work, and Im proud of that. Back in 2014, Pallister was in the Latin American country during extreme flooding when his home province declared a state of emergency and brought in the military. However, during that time, he told media he wasnt going to visit affected communities because he didnt want to be politicizing the natural disaster. Manitobans are not asking for photo ops, Pallister said. Eventually, it was revealed he had been in Costa Rica during that period. So far, the most recent news concerning Costa Rica is causing mixed reaction on social media. Story continues Ray Yuen on Facebook says Pallister should choose whether he wants to be Premier or a property owner: Show me another government employee who gets eight weeks off in a row. I dont care that he claims to be working. How about setting up an office for me on the Caribbean for eight weeks?! Ill be happy to be around to answer a few emails while sipping on margaritas. Brenda Bage is more conciliatory: So long as hes gone during normal government breaks, he is reachable by his staff (phone, email, etc) and he returns immediately incase of emergency I really dont see the problem. He is entitled to time off just like any other person/politician where he chooses to spend that time is ultimately up to him. Joanne Guthrie Bjornson called him an absentee Premier This doesnt include time spent at his summer cottage either does it? Oh well, you suckers who handed handed him a majority, he doesnt care what you think. Suckers got suckered Others remained very supportive of the new premier: Ruth Windsor: Lets see you do his job. Your whining if you work more than 40 hrs a week or a weekend. You need a day off. I wouldnt want his job. Dina Metcalfe Viallet: Who says its a vacation? I can guarantee hell still be working down there. With laptops and smartphones, the work never goes away. Ask anyone self employed or in sales if they ever get a true holiday. And Josh Carl just wants Pallister to work more before he takes his eight weeks of vacation: Takes 20 years in government to earn that much time. Politicians are elected so each election they start the job over again, there is no carry over. Ian Down sarcastically thought the premier must have had some union luck on his side: Just started and already get two months holidays. Must have a good union! Virtual Reality Lehman College to Build VR Center in NYC A student using EON Reality's VR and AR knowledge transfer platform. Source: EON Reality. With virtual reality and augmented reality markets projected to exceed $160 billion by 2020, an infusion of talent will be needed to meet the workforce demand. Lehman College, a liberal arts college that is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, today unveiled its plans to build an Interactive Digital Center (IDC) that will train future VR and AR professionals. As part of the colleges School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the IDC will support the training of new VR and AR professionals as well as support the development of VR and AR applications that will assist in teaching Lehmans students, according to a prepared statement. Lehman partnered with EON Reality, a VR services company, to build the new center on its satellite campus CUNY on the Concourse. EON Reality has worked with other institutions to build IDCs and help develop workforce skills in interactive and 3D technology another market that is expected to increase in the coming years. This effort will provide invaluable state-of-the-art experiential training to students of our School of Continuing and Professional Studies positioning them well for the opportunities of the burgeoning VR/AR industry, commented Jose Luiz Cruz, president of Lehman College, in a statement. The college said that the first phase for the center involves the creation of a VR and AR training facility and development lab called the EON Entrepreneur School. There, selected individuals will participate in a program that involves three months of classroom training followed by seven months of project-based learning (developing work for real customers). The facility will also have an Icube Mobile a 360-degree immersive room for students to test their work. The IDC is scheduled to open during Q2 2017. Applications are now open. Further information is available on the EON Reality site. Coding Texas Cracks Down on Coding Bootcamps Coding bootcamps, or accelerated computer programming schools, are increasing in number across the nation. They are popular alternatives to brick-and-mortar institutions, especially among millennial students who want to enter computer engineering and related fields of work. However, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) argues that these schools are poorly regulated and have skirted state oversight for years. According to reporting from the Dallas Business Journal (DBJ), the commission has been getting tough on code schools. TWC has sent letters to at least 10 coding bootcamps in Austin since summer. The letters informed coding bootcamps like Coding Dojo, DevMountain and Austin Coding Academy that they had been operating outside Texas business laws for some years, according to DBJ. Furthermore, the letters offered guidance for coding bootcamps to legally operate within Texas. First, they need to obtain a Certificate of Approval to comply with Texas Education Code Section 132.051, or receive an exemption from these regulations from TWC. Bootcamps were asked to apply for a Certificate of Approval within 60 days of receiving the letter, otherwise they would incur fees ranging from $1,100 to $3,300, depending on school size. TWC also warned that unlicensed schools are liable to refund tuition costs for any students who file complaints with the agency. Although coding bootcamps are by no means inexpensive typically costing $15,000 to $20,000 the promise of landing a job after completing just 8-12 weeks of classes makes the programs an attractive option for professionals looking to change careers. And, according to a recent survey of more than 1,000 bootcamp graduates, 73 percent are working full-time in jobs that utilize the skills acquired in the bootcamps. This may be why the coding school community in Texas is continuously growing, with approximately 12 bootcamps (37 courses) in Austin and 10 bootcamps (28 courses) in Dallas, according to Course Report.A PDF version of the TWC letters can be viewed here. Update: Coding Dojo has informed Campus Technology that it received approval from the Texas Workforce Commission on Dec. 22, 2016. Releases from NASA, NASA's Galex, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, HubbleSite, Spitzer, Cassini, ESO, ESA, NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory, Royal Astronomical Society, NRAO, Astronomy Picture of the Day, Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Gemini Observatory, Subaru Telescope, W. M. Keck Observatory, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, JPL-Caltech, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, ICRAR, etc The confessions of an ISIS recruit, who was arrested today in Kullu, is a perfect script for a Bollywood masala thriller. The accused from Bengaluru stayed in Kullu for six months and had converted to Christianity to prevent arrest, and was planning to reach Syria via Indonesia with his Indonesian girlfriend. By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The recent arrest of an ISIS recruit is no less than a Bollywood potboiler- the terror suspect falls in bad company, the cops come calling, but terror suspect has a narrow escape from arrest, goes underground, converts to Christianity, believes to be in love with an "Indonesian" woman he calls his girlfriend and then gets caught. advertisement This is not a potboiler but reality. Abid Khan, a 23-year-old Abid Khan resident of Bengaluru, lived in a church in Banjar town in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh for the last six months before he was arrested in a joint operation of NIA and Kullu Police. Khan was planning to reach Syria via Indonesia and had recently visited Sri Lanka. ALSO READ | ISIS recruits from Kerala: 11 out of 22 missing Keralites suspected to be in Syria WAS GOING TO INDONESIA TO MEET HIS 'GIRLFRIEND' Khan told his investigators that he was to visit Indonesia to visit an Indonesian girl, whom he termed his girlfriend. But investigators are yet to conclude on this aspect. A mobile phone and a laptop recovered from him could lead to crucial clues into Abid's life while he was at large. How Khan, a Bengaluru man, reached Kullu is another story by itself. ALSO READ | Mumbai anti-terror squad seeks govt's help in ISIS-recruit Tabrez Khan's case CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, VISITED SRI LANKA AND STAYED IN KULLU While the NIA launched a nation-wide swoop down on the ISIS terror suspects in January this year, arresting two dozen ISIS suspects, Khan remained out of reach. Khan's three other associates from Bengaluru were arrested. They were identified as Asif Ali, Mohammed Afzal, Syed Mujahid but Abid Khan lay low. Khan has told NIA slueths and Kullu police that he converted to Christianity in a methodist church of Bengaluru to stay out of the radar of the agencies. The NIA will corroborate this aspect, since they are yet to formally take over the case. After conversion, he went to Sri Lanka allegedly on a fake passport with his fake identity of Paul. Sources told India Today that Khan went to Sri Lanka in March-April this year for a month alleged on a missionary work. The NIA team from New Delhi, in a joint operation with Himachal police, had nabbed Abid Khan from a remote village of Banjar in Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh today. advertisement The police custody of the accused was extended till December 26. The NIA only plans to seek his custody in a fortnight. ALSO READ | Thane man working with Islamic State caught in Libya: ATS --- ENDS --- English Finnish Municipality Finance Plc Stock exchange release 22 December 2016, 08:00 EET Moody's affirms Municipality Finance Plc's Aa1 credit rating The credit rating agency Moody's affirmed its long-term credit rating on Municipality Finance Plc to be maintained at Aa1 on December 21, 2016 with stable outlook. The short-term credit rating of is still the best possible, Prime-1. Moody's assesses that Municipality Finance's strong credit ratings are based on its ownership and high market share in the Finnish regional and local government sector and in the central government subsidized housing finance. Moody's estimates that among the company's credit strengths are its good asset quality and the predictability of its financial performance. Moody's states that its credit rating is also based on Municipality Finance's diverse funding, good liquidity, strong capitalisation and its low risk appetite. Under Moody's rating methodology Municipality Finance's ratings reflect those of the Republic of Finland. The long-term credit rating on the Republic of Finland is also Aa1. MUNICIPALITY FINANCE PLC Further information: Pekka Averio President and CEO tel. +358 500 406 856 Esa Kallio Executive VP, Deputy to the CEO, Head of Capital Markets Tel. +358 50 3377 953 Measured by the group's balance sheet, Municipality Finance Plc (MuniFin) is Finland's third largest credit institution. The company is owned by Finnish municipalities, the public sector pension fund Keva and the Republic of Finland. MuniFin is an integral part of the Finnish public economy. MuniFin's balance sheet totals nearly EUR 36 billion. Funding for the company is primarily obtained through the international capital markets. MuniFin's funding is guaranteed by the Municipal Guarantee Board. MuniFin's mission is to ensure competitive funding for its customers in all market conditions. The company's customers are Finnish municipalities, municipal federations, municipally controlled companies and non-profit housing corporations. A significant portion of lending is used for socially responsible projects such as building hospitals, healthcare centers, schools, day care centers and homes for the elderly. The Municipality Finance Group also includes the subsidiary company, Financial Advisory Services Inspira Ltd. Read more: www.munifin.fi PRESS RELEASE Mithra launches ITS product Tibelia[1] on the GLOBAL market Mithra Pharmaceuticals received 14 Marketing Authorizations (MA) in 12 European countries for its product based on tibolone. Mithra should receive shortly 3 more authorizations for France, Italy and Greece. Tibelia received 24 months' shelf-life and should be able to extend this to 36 months in 2017, what would give the product a unique advantage on the market and would make it more competitive than its competitors. In 2016, Mithra signed 8 License and Supply Agreements. Mithra expects to sign other agreements with Ukraine, Russia, Chile, Singapore, France and Switzerland. Mithra estimates, according to the sales forecasts of his distributors, incomes in double digit for the next five years. Liege, Belgium, 22 December 2016 - Mithra Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on Women's Health, announces today that it obtained 14 Marketing Authorizations for the commercialization of its product Tibelia in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Mithra is still waiting for 3 MA in France, Greece and Italy that should be received by the beginning of 2017. The product based on tibolone developed by Mithra will be more competitive due to its extended shelf-life. Valerie Gordenne, CSO Mithra Pharmaceuticals: "At this stage, we believe we can justify a shelf-life of 36 months versus 24 months for the competitors. Currently, data are available on 24 months for the pilot batches. Trends show a possible stability extension. The results are confirmed on the first industrial batch (18 months). The best stability of the active ingredient in the formulation is linked to specific components of this formulation, for which a patent has been applied." In 2016, Mithra signed 8 License and Supply Agreements in the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Benelux, Australia, South Africa, Canada and Finland for a total amount in double digit, down payments included. In 2017, Mithra expects to sign other agreements with Ukraine, Russia, Chile, Singapore and France In United Kingdom, marketing is already effective, as well as it will be effective in Spain and Holland in January 2017. Francois Fornieri CEO Mithra Pharmaceuticals: "Obtaining a Marketing Authorization for a product candidate is a real recognition of the unique expertise of our team in terms of development and regulatory affairs. Tibelia is set to be a competitor on the European market. It is indeed a 'complex' therapeutical solution as tibolone, the active ingredient involved, is known as a particularly unstable active ingredient, presenting many challenges in terms of development. Obtaining marketing authorisations for such a product is a significant validation for Mithra's development and regulatory expertise, which was previously demonstrated in the development of Mithra's first R&D projects developed in the past, and which will continue to serve it well as it continues to develop and prepare the regulatory pathway for its lead products based on Estetrol." The global market of tibolone is an attractive and growing market of EUR 131 million[2], accounting for an increase of 4.3% in value[3]. In terms of volume, this market represents 315 million tablets, up 2%[4]. About Tibelia Tibelia is a synthetic steroid (tibolone) intended to be used for hormone replacement therapy. Tibelia is a product that mimics the activity of the female sex hormones in the body, and is used especially for the relief of symptoms occurring after menopause. In some countries, this product is also used for the prevention of osteoporosis. It has been demonstrated that tibolone has favourable effects on various tissues in the body, such as brain, vagina and bone[5]. Pictures For pictures of Francois Fornieri, please click on the following link: http://www.mithra.com/en/logo/ For more information, please contact: Press Julie Dessart Chief Communication Officer +32 4 349 28 22 / +32 475 86 41 75 press@mithra.com Investor Relations Francois Fornieri, CEO +32 4 349 28 22 investorrelations@mithra.com Consilium Strategic Communications Jonathan Birt, Sue Stuart, Hendrik Thys +44 2 037 095 700 mithra@consilium-comms.com About Mithra Mithra Pharmaceuticals SA, founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the University of Liege by Mr. Francois Fornieri and Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Foidart, is a Euronext listed pharmaceutical company (MITRA) focused on Women's Health. Mithra's mission is to improve every stage of women's life with innovative and accessible pharmaceutical solutions. As such the Company aims to become a worldwide leader in women's health by developing, manufacturing and commercialising proprietary, innovative and differentiated drugs and complex therapeutical solutions in four therapeutic fields of women's health: fertility and contraception, menopause and osteoporosis, gynecological infections and female cancers. Mithra has an approximate headcount of 141 staff members and is headquartered in Liege, Belgium. Further information can be found at: www.mithra.com Important information The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words "believes", "estimates," "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", "plans", "continue", "ongoing", "potential", "predict", "project", "target", "seek" or "should", and include statements the Company makes concerning the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law. To subscribe to Mithra's newsletter, visit investors.mithra.com [1] Code name for the product based on Tibolone developed by Mithra. Every distributor is free to choose the name he wishes to commercialize locally. [2] Source : IMS Q3/2015 [3] Source : IMS Q3/2015 [4] Source : IMS Q3/2015 [5] Livial Patient Information Leaflet. English Swedish Cresto AB, a subsidiary in the B&B TOOLS Group specialising in fall protection for the industrial and construction sectors, entered into an agreement today to acquire AAK Safety AS. AAK Safety is the leading fall protection specialist in Norway, with annual revenue of approximately MSEK 70 and some 30 employees. AAK Safety is a niche company specialising in fall protection, with sales of personal protective equipment, fixed fall protection systems and related services to customers in such areas as the energy, telecom, offshore and rescue industries in Norway. The company also conducts sales via construction and industrial resellers. Cresto, the market-leading supplier of fall protection solutions to the industrial and construction sectors in Sweden and Denmark, already has an established partnership with AAK Safety concerning the companies proprietary product brands. The acquisition now further strengthens and develops this partnership, bringing Cresto and AAK Safety together to form the leading fall protection specialist in the Nordic region, with combined annual revenue of just over MSEK 150 and approximately 70 employees. AAK Safety is a well-established company with a high level of expertise and dedicated employees, good customer relationships and a strong position in an attractive and growing market niche for fall protection in Norway, says Pontus Boman, Executive Vice President of B&B TOOLS. The acquisition is in line with our strategy for the Bergman & Beving operating segment, and as the leading supplier of fall protection solutions in the Nordic region, we anticipate excellent opportunities for further development and growth within both Cresto and AAK Safety. Closing is scheduled to take place in February 2017. The acquisition is expected to have a marginally positive effect on B&B TOOLS earnings per share during the current financial year. Stockholm, 22 December 2016 B&B TOOLS AB (publ) For further information, please contact: Pontus Boman, Executive Vice President, B&B TOOLS AB, Tel: +46 10 454 77 00 Mats Karlqvist, Head of Investor Relations, B&B TOOLS AB, Tel: +46 70 660 31 32 This information was submitted for publication on 22 December 2016 at 13.25 p.m. CET. Security forces cordoned off Hajin village in Bandipora district of north Kashmir in early hours on Thursday. By Ashraf Wani: The Army and police on Thursday cordoned off Hajin village of Bandipora, Jammu and Kashmir early this morning. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Gunshots were heard in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipore district. After hearing the gunshots, miscreants pelted stones on police and security forces that resulted in clashes. However, militants managed to flee from the spot. Search operation is still underway to trace the militants. Two militants and an Army jawan were killed earlier on November 25 in the ongoing encounter between militants and security forces in Bandipora. advertisement --- ENDS --- CARMIEL, Israel, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT:PLX) (TASE:PLX), announced today that the last patient has been enrolled in the Companys phase II clinical trial of AIR DNaseTM (PRX-110) for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis (CF). The Company expects to report interim top-line results from this study during the first week of January 2017, and full results before the end of the first quarter of 2017. AIR DNase is a plant cell-derived recombinant form of human deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) that the Company has designed, through chemical modification, to be resistant to inhibition by actin. Given actin is a potent inhibitor of DNase I activity, the Companys AIR DNase has the potential to enhance the enzymes efficacy significantly in CF patients when compared to the currently approved DNase treatment (Pulmozyme). The phase II trial is a 28-day switch-over study of 15 CF patients previously treated with Pulmozyme to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AIR DNase in CF patients. Patients that have participated in the trial have undergone a two-week washout period, in which they were not treated with Pulmozyme, before dosing with the Companys AIR DNase. The main efficacy endpoint is the change of forced expiratory volume (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC). Additional endpoints include safety and tolerability, immunogenicity and pharmacokinetic data. In the trial, AIR DNase is administered through Philips Respironics' I-neb AAD Inhaler System, for which the Company has a supply agreement for the exclusive use of the device for the development of an inhaled product based on dornase alfa for the treatment of CF. The I-neb AAD is a small, lightweight, virtually silent device that is fully portable and has a unique vibrating mesh technology that allows for faster administration than conventional jet or ultrasonic nebulizers. We believe that our unique enzyme modification, which allows the enzyme to resist actin inhibition, could translate into favorable improvement in FEV1 parameter, compared to those experienced to date, and could be of great help to CF patients coping with this devastating disease. In addition to PRX-110, we have two other product candidates currently in clinical trials in patients; PRX-102 for the treatment of Fabry disease and OPRX-106, a first in the world oral enzyme in development for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. We are excited about these product candidates as they are both specifically designed to be superior to existing products, with the potential to garner significant market share in their respective categories. About Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. Protalix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins expressed through its proprietary plant cell-based expression system, ProCellEx. Protalixs unique expression system presents a proprietary method for developing recombinant proteins in a cost-effective, industrial-scale manner. Protalixs first product manufactured by ProCellEx, taliglucerase alfa, was approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2012 and, subsequently, by the regulatory authorities of other countries. Protalix has licensed to Pfizer Inc. the worldwide development and commercialization rights for taliglucerase alfa, excluding Brazil, where Protalix retains full rights. Protalixs development pipeline includes the following product candidates: PRX-102, a modified version of the recombinant human alpha-GAL-A protein for the treatment of Fabry disease; OPRX-106, an orally-delivered anti-inflammatory treatment; PRX-110, a chemically modified DNase I for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis; and others. Forward-Looking Statements To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, all such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The terms anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, plan and intend and other words or phrases of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future experience and results to differ materially from the statements made. These statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations as to such future outcomes. Drug discovery and development involve a high degree of risk. Factors that might cause material differences include, among others: failure or delay in the commencement or completion of our preclinical and clinical trials which may be caused by several factors, including: slower than expected rates of patient recruitment; unforeseen safety issues; determination of dosing issues; lack of effectiveness during clinical trials; inability to monitor patients adequately during or after treatment; inability or unwillingness of medical investigators and institutional review boards to follow our clinical protocols; and lack of sufficient funding to finance clinical trials; the risk that the results of the clinical trials of our product candidates will not support our claims of safety or efficacy, that our product candidates will not have the desired effects or will be associated with undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics; risks related to the amount and sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents; risks related to the successful conclusion of our negotiations with the Brazilian Ministry of Health regarding the purchase of alfataliglicerase, and our commercialization efforts for alfataliglicerase in Brazil generally; risks relating to our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on or to refinance our 2018 convertible notes or any other indebtedness; risks relating to the compliance by Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz with its purchase obligations and related milestones under our supply and technology transfer agreement; our dependence on performance by third party providers of services and supplies, including without limitation, clinical trial services; delays in our preparation and filing of applications for regulatory approval; delays in the approval or potential rejection of any applications we file with the FDA or other health regulatory authorities, and other risks relating to the review process; the inherent risks and uncertainties in developing drug platforms and products of the type we are developing; the impact of development of competing therapies and/or technologies by other companies and institutions; potential product liability risks, and risks of securing adequate levels of product liability and other necessary insurance coverage; and other factors described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The statements in this press release are valid only as of the date hereof and we disclaim any obligation to update this information, except as may be required by law. New York, NY, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New York City Regional Center (NYCRC) is pleased to announce the repayment of its $60 million EB-5 loan used to assist the continued redevelopment of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York Citys largest industrial park. The borrower of the EB-5 capital was the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. The $60 million investment and resulting job creation enabled 359 individuals (EB-5 investors and family members) to receive permanent residency in the United States under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. They are among the more than 2,400 individuals who have achieved permanent residency in the United States through NYCRC offerings to date. The $60 million of EB-5 capital helped fund a key phase of redevelopment at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (Navy Yard). The federal government closed the Navy Yard in 1966 and subsequently sold it to the City of New York, which reopened it as an industrial complex. Over the past few years, the City of New York has embarked on the largest expansion of the Navy Yard in 65 years. The redevelopment of the Navy Yard is a key element of the City of New Yorks plan to spur economic growth, refurbish its industrial manufacturing sector, and create additional jobs. The $60 million loan from the NYCRC provided much needed capital for the renovation of a 215,000 square foot industrial building in the Navy Yard. The building was previously used as a machine shop for the United States Navy during World War II but had sat vacant for decades. The project transformed the building, now named the Green Manufacturing Center, into New York Citys leading hub for green manufacturing and sustainable design. EB-5 capital was also used to assist with surrounding infrastructure improvements in the Navy Yard such as the building of new roads, water and sewer lines, and pile foundations and bulkhead walls to allow for the continued use of dry docks and adjacent berths to support maritime activity in the New York harbor. We are very pleased with the repayment of the $60 million loan to the 120 EB-5 investors in this offering, said Paul Levinsohn, Managing Principal of the NYCRC. The NYCRC takes seriously our role in spurring job creation and economic development as well as our responsibility to assist our EB-5 investors and their families begin a new life in America. We extend our best wishes to them on their continued journey and we look forward to helping all our investor families in the future. We are proud that our first loan to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation has been repaid, added George L. Olsen, Managing Principal of the NYCRC. This repayment is a major milestone for the NYCRC and, of course, for our EB-5 investors and their families. The repaid $60 million loan is one of seven NYCRC EB-5 loans totaling $339 million being used for critical projects in the Navy Yard. Since 2010, EB-5 capital from the NYCRC has directly helped implement a broad range of new construction, infrastructure and building improvements, and the renovation of over 1.2 million square feet of vacant and dilapidated buildings. The NYCRC has provided over $300 million of financing to help the redevelopment of New York Citys largest industrial park and further the Navy Yards mission to spur economic development and create new jobs. We are pleased to play a role in this effort, said Mr. Levinsohn. The NYCRC was approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2008 to secure foreign investment for real estate and infrastructure projects within Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The NYCRC was the first EB-5 regional center approved in New York City and has secured over $1.3 billion of capital for 21 economic development projects throughout the city. In addition to projects in the Navy Yard, the NYCRC has provided capital to assist with the redevelopment of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station and the construction of a wireless infrastructure network in New York Citys subway stations. The NYCRC is providing capital for the redevelopment of a new cargo facility at JFK Airport and the construction of Fresh Directs new headquarters in the South Bronx. NYCRC funding is also being used for construction of the City Point development in downtown Brooklyn, a new medical office/hotel complex in Washington Heights, and the expansion of the Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx. The NYCRC is securing capital to help fund the construction of LinkNYC, the public-private initiative that is bringing the nations largest and fastest public Wi-Fi network to the streets of New York City. In addition to helping fuel economic development in New York City, NYCRC offerings have enabled over 2,400 individuals to become permanent residents of the United States through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. To date, investors in NYCRC offerings have received over 2,340 I-526 petition approvals and over 800 I-829 approvals. Over 5,000 EB-5 investors and family members in NYCRC offerings have also received conditional residency in the United States. We are extremely proud of the NYCRCs stellar track record over the past eight years. We look forward to continuing this success for our investors and their families, said Mr. Olsen. For more information about the NYCRC, please visit www.nycrc.com. # # # As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) Terming Najeeb Jungs tenure as Delhi Lt Governor a "black chapter" on safety of women in the national capital, DCW chief Swati Maliwal today said they are now free from his "tyranny" following his regisnation. In a sudden move, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung resigned today, ending a nearly three-and-half-year-long eventful tenure, mostly marked by bitter confrontation with AAP government on a range of issues that virtually brought governance to a halt on many occasions. advertisement "Double win for DCW. Delhi women freed from Jung tyranny. HC orderd release of 2 month DCW salary. Hope new LG will work toward women safety. "Black chapter for women in Delhi over. Jung ji failed as LG. 6 rapes daily, didnt hold single meet on women safety, brutally attacked DCW," Maliwal said in a series of tweets. Claiming that Jung had not convened a single meeting on women safety in the last one year despite instructions from he from the Union Home Ministry, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief claimed his sudden resignation proves all have to be accountable for womens safety in Delhi. "Jung ji failed to even meet DCW. Last week 2 Notice issued on him by HC on DCW petition to explain why no meet in women safety in Delhi. LGs sudden resign proves all have to be accountable for women safety in Delhi. If you ignore and attack women, you will have to step down," she tweeted. Last week the DCW chief had written to the Prime Minister, urging him to listen to "mann ki baat" of the women of Delhi and ensure that a high-level panel on womens safety is set up. The women and girls of Delhi are paying the price of the tussle of governance between the Centre and the Delhi government. The L-G had not convened a single meeting on womens safety in the last one year despite express instructions from the MHA, she had said. Yesterday, the Delhi High Court had asked the office of the L-G to apprise it whether any special task force on womens safety is in place in Delhi and if it did not exist then in how many days the L-G would do it. The courts direction had come after the DCW chief expressed doubt over the existence of the task force, claiming the L-G has not called a meeting regarding womens safety in the national capital in last one year. PTI PLB NSD --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: Karisma Kapoor and her ex husband Sunjay Kapur had a troubled marriage and a prolonged separation battle, with accusations and counter-accusations making it a messy affair. After months of mud slinging, the two finally agreed on the modalities of the separation and were granted a divorce. In the middle of her ugly legal war, Karisma reportedly found solace in the arms of Mumbai-based entrepreneur, Sandeep Toshniwal. Her most recent Instagram picture shows Karisma sporting a huge diamond on her finger, sparking rumours that she is secretly engaged. advertisement ALSO READ: Karisma Kapoor's diamond ring proof of her engagement with beau Sandeep Toshniwal? ALSO READ: Karisma Kapoor and beau Sandeep Toshniwal ready to move in together? PHOTOS: Karisma Kapoor spotted with rumoured boyfriend Sandeep Toshniwal for the first time ALSO READ: Karisma Kapoor to ring in the New Year with rumoured boyfriend Sandeep Toshniwal? If grapevine is to be believed, Karisma and the entrepreneur have been going strong for a few years now. In 2014, the year she filed for divorce, rumours of her liason with Sandeep were already doing the rounds. In fact, at one point, it was even being suggested that Karisma's increasing proximity to Sandeep was the reason behind his marriage falling apart. When Mumbai Mirror asked her sister Kareena Kapoor Khan if she was going to tie the knot with him, Bebo replied, "Lolo will never remarry. Leave her alone, her divorce hasn't come through yet. It's a traumatic time for her." But two years have passed since then, and a lot has changed. A few months earlier, it was being reported that all was not well between the Biwi No 1 actor and Sandeep. However, the two quashed the break-up rumours in style by celebrating the release of Kareena's film Ki And Ka together. The two reportedly even brought in Sandeep's 37th birthday in Bangkok together, along with Kareena and her husband Saif Ali Khan. As always, the two made sure not to be clicked together, with the two sisters leaving in one car, Saif taking another car and Sandeep leaving surreptitiously in a third car. Shortly after, reports emerged that Karisma and Sandeep crossed paths with her ex husband Sunjay at a restaurant in London, and the latter apparently created quite a scene. It was only after a while that he realised that he and Karisma have been separated for years, and he calmed down. Recently, stories were doing the rounds that Sandeep is house hunting, and not for a bachelor pad. This sparked off rumours that Karisma might move in to his apartment with her two children, Sameira and Kiaan, who are apparently quite fond of Sandeep. Right after this piece of news came out, Karisma made her first public appearance with Sandeep together - the two were snapped leaving Kareena's house. advertisement The usually camera-shy couple's public appearance led to speculation that the two are ready to take their relationship to the next level. Sandeep and Karisma will reportedly bring in the New Year together in Singapore. If the reports are true, and things are indeed getting serious between Karisma and Sandeep, we wish them all the happiness in the world. --- ENDS --- By Revathi Rajeevan: A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided several co-operative banks across Kerala, the authorities seized unaccounted cash of Rs 266 crore from the district co-operative bank in Malappuram today. While the official details are yet to be released, it is learnt from sources that the amount of money had no documented source at the time of the raid, a significant part of which is said to have come from co-operative societies. The bank officials claimed that Rs 100 of the Rs 266 crores was the bank's opening balance, another Rs 85 crore were from its subsidiary banks, both of which are documented. The rest, the bank claims, they were bound to take from co-operative societies in the form of demonetised old notes between November 10 and 14. In addition, the bank has shifted the onus of showing the documents for these to the primary co-operative societies. Further scrutiny and official details from the authorities are awaited to get to the source of the alleged unaccounted cash, if there is any. Meanwhile, Minister for Co-operation Kadakampally Surendran came out against the CBI for the raids on co-operative banks alleging that this was done to destroy the co-operative sector in Kerala. The Enforcement Directorate and the CBI had raided the district co-operative banks in Kollam, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Kannur earlier. advertisement Also read: Kerala priest donates kidney to save a Muslim woman --- ENDS --- Following the footsteps of Fr. Davis Chiramel, Kerala priest Fr. Shibu Yohannan donated one of his kidneys to a Muslim woman from Thrissur. By India Today Web Desk: Christmas is all about giving and receiving, a time to remember others who are less fortunate than us and a time remember the needy. Father Shibu Yohannan from Kerala made an immensely selfless contribution to the spirit of Christmas, the spirit of giving. Fr. Shibu, 39, a priest from the St. Mary's Jacobite Church in Wayanad donated one of his kidneys to Kairunnissa, a 29-year-old Muslim woman hailing from Thrissur. advertisement The recipient Kairunnissa, mother of a 3-year-old, was suffering from kidney ailment for the past three years and was undergoing dialysis therapy since the last one-and-a-half years. The family was desperately looking for a donor as the hospital rejected Kairunnissa's 56-year-old mother from donating her organ. She was chosen as a recipient by the Kidney Federation of India after the priest's kidney was found to be matching. The Kidney Federation of India was founded by Fr. Davis Chiramel, who was also the first priest in Kerala to donate a kidney to a stranger. The organ transplant took place at Kochi's VPS Lakehsore Hospital. Known for his charitable works, he recently raised Rs 25 lakh for patients who are suffering from cancer. --- ENDS --- Some residents of London are sending out their Christmas messages to Syrian refugees living in the country and it is heart-warming. By India Today Web Desk: The struggle and pain that the Syrian refugees are undergoing right now is beyond words. It's all war and no peace in their homeland and to leave one's country and settle in a foreign land is a heart-wrenching task in itself. Amid all this, trying to spread some Christmas cheer is a YouTuber who decided to record messages for the refugees who are suffering in Syria as a social experiment. advertisement Some residents in London were asked if they had any message for the refugees living in the country and the responses which were recorded were extremely touching. While someone asked the participants to record their messages, a Syrian refugee who was standing in a corner was listening to all the messages through a headphone. After the participants were done, he walked up to meet the people who were surprised on coming face-to-face with a refugee. They hugged him and wished him strength. This video is a reminder that in a world full of suffering, there is hope. Watch the video below- --- ENDS --- The appointments were quashed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan today. By Pramod Madhav: The appointment of 11 members to Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission by the state government was today quashed by the Madras High Court saying that no process was followed. Taking just a day to complete the selection process, the order was passed on January 2, 2016. V Ramamurthy, R Pratap Kumar, V Subburaj, S Muthuraj, M Sethuraman, AV Balusamy, M Madasamy, P Krishna Kumar, A Subramanian, NB Punniamoorthi and M Raja were the members who were appointed in a day. The members' appointment was confirmed in a day, ahead of the May 2016 elections and just before the 'model code of conduct' could be implemented. DMK's Rajya Sabha MP TKS Elangovan, Puthiya Thamizagam Party leader Krishnasamy, PMK leader and advocate K Balu had filed a PIL on the matter in the Madras High Court earlier. The appointments were quashed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan today. advertisement Also read: Raids end at Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary's house, office; Rs 30 lakh cash, 5 kg gold recovered --- ENDS --- By PTI: Shillong, Dec 22 (PTI) Meghalaya government today sought financial assistance from the Centre for setting up of AYUSH Directorate in the state to promote alternative medicines. The goverment also asked the Centre for reservation of at least 18 seats for local indigenous students at the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy (NEIAH) which was officially inaugurated today. advertisement "It (directorate) will also help in improving the quality of teachers of various AYUSH systems, ensuring affordable AYUSH services and drugs which are safe...", Health Minister Roshan Warjri said at the inaugural address of the NEIAH held at Mawdiangdiang. The Minister also sought assistance to implement the various projects taken up by Meghalaya State Medicinal Plants Board (MSMPB), which according to her will only promote alternative medicines. The Board currently handles matters related to policy formulation, coordination of various agencies dealing with medicinal plants, local health traditions, sustained availability of medicinal plants, validation and certification issues and conservation and preservation of medicinal plants in the state. The Health Minister also asked the Centre to consider and reserve a minimum of 18 seats (9 homeopathy and 9 ayurveda) out of 100 seat, on par with seats allotted by NEIGHRIMS for the MBBS to local indigenous population in Meghalaya. "This will help overcome the language barrier and make the people fully understand and accept the significance of AYUSH system of treatment," she said. Stating that in the last two decades the alternative system of medicines and treatments have gained popularity to a great extent particularly in homoeopathy, ayurvedic and yoga and naturopathy. "However, in absence of an AYUSH medical institute and college in the state the students have been deprived of the facility to pursue this line of study, since the state quota has very limited seats". The Minister also submitted a memorandum to the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) AYUSH, Shripad Yessa Naik during the inauguration of NEIAH. Among other proposals of the state government includes approval for setting up of 50 bedded AYUSH hospitals and wellness centres in all the 11 districts in the state. PTI JOP SUS KJ LNS --- ENDS --- Okay, this comment is about this story, and I have two points: 1) Do not hang your head in shame. Many people have read this story as saying that the giant tri-color holiday popcorn tin is something to be embarrassed about. IT IS NOT. I personally have purchased two this year. 2) The people in the video are heathens and completely wrong. I will shove fistfuls of cheap popcorn down my throat as quickly as the next person -- but in the taste test, I could immediately tell the difference between the cheap stuff and the expensive stuff. Me, along with two other colleagues, were legitimately disturbed that nobody else could. We discussed, and it turned out we are all from Illinois or Kansas City. Those places are known for having good popcorn (Chicago is the home of Garretts, for example). So if you are used to good popcorn, you would absolutely be able to tell the difference between the good stuff and the crap. Ronald Reagan The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive. Albert Einstein If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. Winston Churchill It isnt so much that liberals are ignorant. Its just that they know so many things that arent so. With integrity nothing else counts; Without integrity nothing else counts. Winston Churchill Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself. Harvey S. Firestone It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office. H. L. Menken Referenda insure all have a voice in land use decisions. U.S. Supreme Court Listen carefully to first criticism of your work. Note just what it is about your work the critics don't like - then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping. Jean Cocteau Portugal is considering abandoning golden visa scheme Biden and Erdogan to meet at G-20 summit NATO supports normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and welcomes EU efforts Bank of England raises interest rates by largest amount since 1989 Scholz says Berlin must change its attitude toward China Cavusoglu and Stoltenberg disagree over Sweden's and Finland's fulfillment of commitments Turkish Vice President to visit Azerbaijan and occupied Shushi Britain buys 250 million pounds worth of oil from Azerbaijan from July 2021 to June 2022 Yair Lapid congratulates Benjamin Netanyahu on winning election Armenian MOD: Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense spreads another disinformation ENISA: War in Ukraine, geopolitics fuel cyberattacks Armenian MFA: Yerevan and Baku agree to speed up work on agreeing procedure of Commissions' activities Zelenskyy will not participate in G20 summit if Putin participates in it WP: Man who attacked Pelosi's husband was in the U.S. illegally At Upper Lars, 30 cars are allowed through per day instead of previous 300: What are authorities doing? Bloomberg: Turkey unlikely to sign Sweden's bid for NATO membership before the end of the year Military servicemen in Armenia to be attested: Discussion at parliamentary standing committee IEA calls for urgent action on gas shortages in Europe French Senate to consider resolution demanding immediate withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenian territory Papikyan: The final number of dead will be published after the identification is complete Armen Grigoryan presents to Patrushev consequences of Azerbaijani aggression Indonesia reveals its own kamikaze drones UN: Russia resumes participation in inspection of ships in Black Sea Grigoryan: Armenia interested in using communication routes through Azerbaijan Investigative Committee: 10 officers charged in Armenia FT: Azerbaijan demands EU funding and long-term contracts for gas supplies Security Council Secretary: Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenian territory US becomes 2nd largest gas supplier to EU Russian Defense Ministry reports release of 107 Russian servicemen from Ukrainian captivity How U.S supports Azerbaijan in 20 years by suspending 907th Amendment? Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will receive less funds in 2023 than in previous two years German government urges its citizens to leave Iran Armenian MFA: Unblocking infrastructures is one of the main directions of talks Armenia MFA: We expect positive results in relations with Turkey in near future Armenia to open diplomatic representations in several countries in 2023: Uruguay among them Former Pakistani Prime Minister injured in shooting of election motorcade Russian MFA: Great Britain transferred underwater drones to Ukraine Armenia FM: International community has sent very clear signal to Azerbaijan Prime Minister receives Arin Karapet, Swedish MP Dollar, euro drop in Armenia Armenia FM: In few days there will be meeting between me, Bayramov, Blinken in Washington IRNA: Iran's IRGC eliminated a group that was planning attacks on government agencies Lawcoster 'Pobeda' to resume flights to Armenia at end of this year Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: One cannot despair, struggle must continue Deputy FM: Armenia can make some progress in simplifying visa regime with EU Turkey says Russia assures not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine CSTO deputy chief: Armenia-Azerbaijan escalation, confrontation risk remains Armenian MFA: Cautious optimism in restoration of diplomatic relations with Hungary Uzbekistan refuses to resume operation of Mir cards in country Belarus Council: If Poland unleashes aggression, war will spread throughout Eastern Europe Peskov: It is up to the Ministry of Defense to increase the term of military service Valerie Boyer: Corrupt, racist Azerbaijan is attacking Armenia borders, seeking to continue ethnic cleansing, genocide Meeting of CIS Security Councils chiefs kicks off in Moscow Charles III travels with teddy bear and toilet seat EU plans to finance programs in Armenia for AMD 55 billion 747 mln Economy minister: Armenia and Iran are making efforts to jointly sell goods to third countries Azerbaijani Armed Forces practice capturing borders during exercises on border with Iran Storm in Philippines leaves 150 people killed Inflation in Turkey is up to 85.51% in October Armenia economy minister on Central Bank: First they said increase would be 4%t, then 1%, then 6% Borrell thanks UN and Turkey for facilitating Russia's return to the grain deal Foreign direct investments in Armenia last year totals AMD 129.2bln Minister: Examination of Armenian soldiers' bodies continues Jaguar station wagon from Elizabeth II fleet to be sold at auction IMF plans to provide more than $165 million to Armenia Marukyan: Baku says Karabakh Armenians should either stay on Azerbaijan terms or leave for 3rd country Minister of Economy: Armenia's role in Eurasian Economic Union grows Biden says U.S. troops will stay in Europe for a long time Vahan Hunanyan: Yerevan and Tehran have no disagreements on most issues Armenia, Russia to collaborate in information security Artsakh State Minister: There are many principal disagreements with Armenian authorities Public TV Company of Armenia to make purchase worth AMD 2 698.6mln for Junior Eurovision 2022 Armenian-Russian trade turnover up by 71.7%, Economy Minister Secretaries of CIS Security Councils to discuss nuclear security Economy minister: Armenia exports to other EEU countries increased 2 times Outgoing Artsakh Minister Artak Beglaryan to take position in state government system Japan Coast Guard reports 3 North Korean missile launches in a day Pashinyan says Armenian government did a lot for revival of Armenian aviation Oil falls in price Patrushev comments on Zelenskiy's statement about preventive nuclear strike WSJ: Americans favor Republicans over Democrats Turkey announces normalization of grain corridor Gold prices are down Putin calls on CIS countries security councils to use all their security capabilities SPRING PR founders were awarded the 'Global PR Leader of the year' Copper prices are rising State Duma member proposes to extend term of military service in Russia Iranian MPs: Powerful Iran will never tolerate changing of its borders Turkey to complete construction of pipeline in Black Sea in November Newspaper: Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty to be signed in Georgia US delivers more than 200 artillery systems to Ukraine since February Secretary of Armenian Security Council to visit Moscow Switzerland to direct $100 million to repair energy infrastructure in Ukraine Study: Blue whales eat 10 million particles of microplastics a day Microsoft president warns of shortage of staff to fight climate change Latvia extends state of emergency on Belarus border WSJ: UAE tried to convince Saudi Arabia not to cut oil production Cavusoglu: Greece must stop arming the demilitarized islands in the Aegean Sea Moody's downgrades outlook for banks in Germany, Italy, and 4 other countries to negative About 40 international companies to announce their relocation to UAE by end of year Mumbai Congress has put up banners across the city counting down the final 10 days for exchanging old currency notes. Mumbai Congress has found a new way to protest against demonetisation. (Representational Image) By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Mumbai Congress has put up banners across the city counting down the final 10 days for exchanging old currency notes, adding to a series of protests it has held against the government's demonetisation move. Calling it a 'banner campaign against Modi government's demonetisation decision', the party has put up countdown banners in vantage locations of Mumbai. "This countdown is for BJP. Everyday we will change the banner and update it. This is to remind people that 50 days are getting over, and to remind BJP how people are suffering due to this decision." said Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam. Posters put up by Mumbai Congress counting down days left to exchange old currency. (Image: India Today) advertisement "People are unhappy and deeply inconvenienced because of the decision. Lot of small scale industries in and around Mumbai have been shut down. Daily wage workers are running to their villages due to irregular payments from owners. So we are running a countdown for government to know if citizens' woes will really end in the next nine days," he said. The party has zeroed down 25 spots where these banners will be put up starting Thursday. On the last day of their campaign -- December 30 -- the party plans to launch a phone number where people can leave a missed call if they have been affected by the demonetisation move. Mumbai Congress plans to collect this data to present at a big rally which is yet to be finalised. --- ENDS --- YEREVAN. President of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Galust Sahakyan, on Thursday received a delegation, led by chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee for the CIS, Eurasian integration and Communications with Compatriots, Leonid Kalashnikov. The Armenian parliament speaker stressed that Armenian-Russian relations have a rich history of friendship, and that this is a solid foundation for the current strategic partnership between the two countries, the NA informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. Separately, Sahakyan extended condolences on the recent murder of Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov. We condemn this heinous terrorist act, and share the Russian peoples grief, he added. Within the course of the continuous development of state relations between the two countries, the NA speaker highly assessed the role of legislative bodies. In the context of Armenia-Russia allied and strategic relations, Sahakyan highlighted the cooperation and mutually beneficial approaches within international parliamentary organizations. Kalashnikov, for his part, highly assessed the existing friendship between Armenia and Russia and the interparliamentary cooperation, which are on the firm basis of friendship. The interlocutors expressed the hope that the views expressed and recommendations made at the Yerevan session will contribute to increasing the efficiency of the further joint activities of the parliaments of the two countries. Several other matters of mutual interest also were discussed at this talk. YEREVAN. It is important for Russia to remove the anti-Russian sentiments that developed among the Armenian society, after April. Russian MP Konstantin Zatulin on Thursday told the aforementioned to reporters in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. And we dont see this [only] today, he noted. But rather throughout the period I would call a period of doubts in Russias allied commitments to Armenia, as a [fellow] CSTO [i.e. Collective Security Treaty Organization] member. In Zatulins words, however, the current activities by the leaders of the two countries are aimed at dissipating these doubts. The Russian MP also noted that, in his view, the cause for the current situation on the Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact and the continued shooting is the fact that there is no settlement at the Nagorno-Karabakh soil and around it, to this day. Nagorno-Karabakh will hardly return to Azerbaijan SSR, first of all because Azerbaijan SSR doesnt exist now, said Zatulin. On the other hand, there are territories around Nagorno-Karabakh that need to be returned in case of a comprehensive settlement [of the conflict]. In his words, Russias cooperation with Azerbaijan needs to be in favor of Armenia, since Russia has to keep Azerbaijan away from taking unpredictable actions. What took place in [early] April [i.e. when Azerbaijan unleashed a large-scale military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh] is a regrettable exception; but first of all Azerbaijan bears its accountability, added the Russian MP. [But] I believe that Turkey likewise had its share of the accountability at that time. YEREVAN. President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, on Thursday received a delegation, led by Chairman Leonid Kalashnikov of the Russian State Duma Committee for the CIS, Eurasian integration and Communications with Compatriots. The Duma delegation is in Armenia along the lines of this committees joint meeting with the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia. The President underscored the consistent deepening of Armenias relations and cooperation with strategic partner Russia, press office of the President informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. Sargsyan added that Armenian-Russian collaboration complements and further strengthens bilateral relations also within the framework of integration unions. The Armenian President expressed the hope that the results of the joint Yerevan meeting will contribute to the strengthening of state ties. He noted that the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)which comprises Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstanhas a quite immense potential for contributing to economic development. In addition, President Serzh Sargsyan highlighted that Armenia is a staunch supporter of the development of integration processes, and underscores all member states active work toward consistently pushing these processes forward. The hostility between the two had so bitter that Kejriwal actually said earlier this month that the L-G was acting like Hitler, following in footsteps of "his masters" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: The tenure of Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, who resigned today, will be remembered more for the spate of tussles he had with the territory-state's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The two top constitutional heads of Delhi sparred on several occasions over powers and decisions. The hostility between the two had become so bitter that Kejriwal actually said earlier this month that the L-G was acting like Hitler, following in footsteps of "his masters" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. He accused Jung of selling his soul to Modi in order to become the Vice-President even though the PM would never appoint a Muslim to the post. advertisement HERE ARE SEVEN INSTANCES WHERE ARVIND KEJRIWAL AND NAJEEB JUNG FAILED TO SEE EYE TO EYE: 1. DCW MEMBER SECRETARY Earlier this month, Jung appointed IAS officer Dilraj Kaur as Member Secretary of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). The move came eight days after Kejriwal had sought the removal of incumbent Alka Dewan, terming her appointment "unconstitutional" and against the consent of the Delhi government. PP Dhal assumed charge of as the "officiating" Member Secretary of the Commission following directions by Kejriwal. 2. OFFICIAL FILES Jung had appointed a three member committee to look into 400 files submitted by the Kejriwal government. The committee was constituted to look into the "infirmities and irregularities" in the files. 3. DERC CHAIRPERSON Jung scrapped the appointment of Krishna Saini as chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) by the AAP government on grounds of legal infirmities. According to the L-G, Saini was appointed to the post without his approval as mandated under rules and procedures. 4. DELHI'S ADMINISTRATIVE HEAD The fight between Jung and Kejriwal over administrative head's post even reached courts. The Delhi High Court held that the L-G is the administrative head of Delhi. The AAP government challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court. The Kejriwal government described the L-G as an "employee of the central government" in "a master-servant relationship". Delhi High Court decided that AAP is ruling a Union Territory and not a full state. 5. SWATI MALIWAL'S APPOINTMENT AS DCW CHAIRPERSON Jung cancelled the appointment of Swati Maliwal as the DCW chairperson. In a statement, Jung's office insisted that the L-G is the sole authority in Delhi on major issues, including top appointments. 6. ACB'S POWERS Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) became a battle turf between Jung and Kejriwal. It was torn between the appointees of the two. Kejriwal claimed that the ACB office has been "physically taken over" by Delhi Police. On the other hand, ACB chief MK Meena - a Jung appointee - accused the Delhi government of bypassing complaints meant to be sent to ACB. 7. CHIEF SECRETARY In May, 2015, Delhi's then Chief Secretary KK Sharma went on leave to the US for a personal visit for 10 days. Jung appointed IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting chief secretary of Delhi. Kejriwal called the appointment unconstitutional. advertisement ALSO READ: Najeeb Jung resigns as Delhi Lt Governor; thanks PM Modi for help, Arvind Kejriwal for 'association' HERE ARE SEVEN INSTANCES WHERE ARVIND KEJRIWAL AND NAJEEB JUNG FAILED TO SEE EYE TO EYE: DCW MEMBER SECRETARYEarlier this month, Jung appointed IAS officer Dilraj Kaur as Member Secretary of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). The move came eight days after Kejriwal had sought the removal of incumbent Alka Dewan, terming her appointment "unconstitutional" and against the consent of the Delhi government. PP Dhal assumed charge of as the "officiating" Member Secretary of the Commission following directions by Kejriwal. OFFICIAL FILESJung had appointed a three member committee to look into 400 files submitted by the Kejriwal government. The committee was constituted to look into the "infirmities and irregularities" in the files. DERC CHAIRPERSONJung scrapped the appointment of Krishna Saini as chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) by the AAP government on grounds of legal infirmities. According to the L-G, Saini was appointed to the post without his approval as mandated under rules and procedures. DELHI'S ADMINISTRATIVE HEADThe fight between Jung and Kejriwal over administrative head's post even reached courts. The Delhi High Court held that the L-G is the administrative head of Delhi. The AAP government challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court. The Kejriwal government described the L-G as an "employee of the central government" in "a master-servant relationship". Delhi High Court decided that AAP is ruling a Union Territory and not a full state. SWATI MALIWAL'S APPOINTMENT AS DCW CHAIRPERSONJung cancelled the appointment of Swati Maliwal as the DCW chairperson. In a statement, Jung's office insisted that the L-G is the sole authority in Delhi on major issues, including top appointments. ACB'S POWERSDelhi's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) became a battle turf between Jung and Kejriwal. It was torn between the appointees of the two. Kejriwal claimed that the ACB office has been "physically taken over" by Delhi Police. On the other hand, ACB chief MK Meena - a Jung appointee - accused the Delhi government of bypassing complaints meant to be sent to ACB. CHIEF SECRETARYIn May, 2015, Delhi's then Chief Secretary KK Sharma went on leave to the US for a personal visit for 10 days. Jung appointed IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting chief secretary of Delhi. Kejriwal called the appointment unconstitutional. --- ENDS --- advertisement advertisement Office of the Personal Representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Chairman-in-Office (OSCE CiO) conducted the years last monitoring of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The monitoring was held on Wednesday, and nearby Berdavan village of Armenias Tavush Province, and Kemerli village of Azerbaijan. Prior to the monitoring, however, OSCE CiO personal representatives field assistants Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria), Peter Svedberg (Sweden) and Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), together with representatives from the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of Armenia and the MOD 3rd Army Corps, visited Tavush Provincial Office. Tavush Deputy Governor Levon Sargsyan thoroughly briefed the guests on the present-day situation at the border areas of Tavush. At the briefing, the participants also reflected on the shots being fired by the Azerbaijani armed forces, and toward Armenian civilians, and border motorways. Thanking the Armenian side for the provided information, the OSCE CiO personal representatives field assistants noted that they will include this information in their final reports. Subsequently, they headed for the Armenia-Azerbaijan border where, receiving guarantees from both sides as to not to fire shots, the border monitoring was conducted at a certain distance. No cases of ceasefire violation were recorded during the monitoring. YEREVAN. - Both the destruction of cross-stones in New Jugha (Armenian quarter of Iran) and the April war once again proved the terrorist nature of Azerbaijan. Deputy Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly (NA), Eduard Sharmazanov, who is also the head of the Armenian NA delegation to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Parliamentary Assembly, said the aforementioned on Thursday at the meeting with the Chair of the Russian Federal Assembly State Duma Committee on the CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Links with Compatriots, Leonid Kalashnikov. The Armenian Deputy Speaker offered his condolences to the Russian side over the terrorist assassination of the Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov in Turkey. Sharmazanov noted that the Armenian people know through their experience what the state terrorism means: the Armenian Genocide committed as early as 100 years ago, the destruction of thousands of cross-stones by Azerbaijan in New Jugha and this years four-day April war are its vivid proof At the meeting, the sides underscored the need to fight against terrorism by a united front. Sharmazanov noted that as the head of the Armenian NA to the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly he attaches importance to the fact that the relevant Committee of the Russian State Duma is holding its first session abroad in Armenia. In particular, the NA Deputy Speaker noted: This comes to once again prove that our ties are developing, the further development and deepening of parliamentary relations stemming from the interests of both states. Nevertheless I think that it is necessary to give new impetus to the Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary ties. Leonid Kalashnikov, for his part, agreed with Armenian NA Deputy Speakers view that the Armenian-Russian relations are at a high level. The sides underscored the importance of the further deepening of the Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary relations and coordinated work in inter-parliamentary institutions. Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed. YEREVAN. - Discussion of the $90 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) kicked off in the Armenian parliament Thursday. Deputy Minister of Finance Armen Hayrapetyan assured that the loan is designed for the budgetary expenditures on infrastructures. Out of the overall amount, $ 60 million is allocated for the budgetary expenditures till the end of 2016, the remaining $30 million being earmarked for year 2017. The amount will be lent for 15 years with a grace period of three years and at Libor + 0,5 percent interest. The loan is provided for the management of road networks, water supply and energy. The agreement will launch the second round of the ADB efforts aimed at supporting the infrastructures in Armenia. The first agreementapproved in 2012has already been implemented. Under it, Armenia received means for improving the water supply management and road network. YEREVAN. - The Law of the Republic of Armenia On non-governmental organizations provides for strict control over NGOs, which are funded by the state budget. Armenian Minister of Justice, Arpine Hovhannisyan, said the aforementioned at a final press-conference Thursday. According to the Minister, the Law on On non-governmental organizations was positively assessed by all Armenian NGOs. Have we solved all the existing issue by 100 percent? I dont think so. Have we solved the overwhelming majority of these issues? I think yes. We already have a law, which has been positively assessed by the civil society, Hovhannisyan noted. According to the Minister, this is an extremely important impulse, since liberalization took place both in the sphere of providing reports and auditing NGOs. The emphasis was put on the strict control in regard to NGOs, which are funded by the budget, and not on the mechanisms of suppressing the civil society. Exactly this ensured the positive attitude of the civil society to the law, Hovhannisyan added. Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, who is on an official visit to Georgia, on Thursday met with the Chairman of Georgian parliamentary Committee of Defense and Securitym Irakli Sesiashvili, and Foreign Minister of Georgia Mikheil Janelidze, the press-service of the Armenian Defense Ministry informed Armenian News NEWS.am. At the meetings, the interlocutors discussed friendly Armenian-Georgian ties, the present level of cooperation and development prospects in different spheres, as well as other issues of mutual interest. Reference was also made to the issues of maintaining and enhancing regional security and stability. The sides reconfirmed the readiness of the Armenian and Georgian governments to develop cooperation. On the same day, the Defense Minister visited the cathedral of St. George of Tbilisi and met with the leader of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and the clergy. The delegation led by the Armenian Defense Minster also visited Hayartun Cultural Educational and Youth Center. Apart from this, the Minister met with members of Armenian community of Tbilisi, heads of institutions in Satskhe-Javakhk region and representatives of community organizations. At the meetingm Sargsyan highly appreciated the role of the Armenian church in the life of the Armenian people, Armenia and its armed forces, as well as the Diaspora. He also touched on the reforms carried out in the armed forces and different cooperation programs with different Diaspora institutions in the framework of the army-society ties. In Tbilisi, the Armenian Defense Minister also met with the representatives of the Georgian civil society. Home Secretary Rajiv Meherishi rubbished reports that Najeeb Jung was asked to step down as Delhi's LG and said he is yet to receive the copy of his resignation letter. By Mausami Singh: Even as the news of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung's resignation flashed on the television screens, Home Secretary Rajiv Meherishi who was in a close door meeting over some other issue with the Chief Secretary of Delhi MM Kutty was caught unaware. GOVT DENIES JUNG ASKED TO RESIGN Meherishi rebutted reports that Jung was asked to resign. Though Jung's resignation was issued in a press release, the Home Secretary claimed he is yet to receive a copy of the resignation letter. The resignation needs to be sent to President and then a copy would be forwarded to the Home Ministry. On the advice of the government, the President will accept or reject the resignation. Meherishi said that he had met Najeeb Jung a couple of days ago and he had given no inkling that he was going to resign. "In fact we have a meeting slotted for tomorrow as we have been going through the checklist of remaining work in Delhi," Meherishi said. There is no fixed tenure for Lieutenant Governor, however, the Governor of a state has a five year tenure. advertisement ALSO READ: Najeeb Jung resigns as Delhi Lt Governor; thanks PM Modi for help, Arvind Kejriwal for 'association' Najeeb Jung acting like Hitler, Modi won't make a Muslim India's Vice-President: Arvind Kejriwal --- ENDS --- Countries around the World React to Berlin Attack Countries around the world are beefing up security in major cities and around holiday events following the vehicle attack in Berlin, Germany on December 19. The truck, which can be described as a semi, or 18-wheeler, jumped a sidewalk and plowed through a blocked off street reserved for pedestrians enjoying the Christmas Market. Twelve people were killed and more than 40 more were injured. As of Tuesday, police were still looking for the driver in what theyve been calling, a terrorist attack. When news of the incident made its way across the world, countries began to deploy more officers to the streets, up perimeter security and warn residence to keep an eye out for suspicious activity. In France, President Francois Hollande said the country was under a high level of threat following the events in Berlin, but also pointed out that the country already has a large-scale security operation in place. Frances town of Strasbourg has been a particular concern for security forces this Christmas, as it is a frequent tourist spot but has also had its share of jihadist cells broken up within its vicinity. The Christmas market in the town will have police and barricades set up at various entry points as well as bag checks and private security guards that will be mingling with the crowds during high population hours. In Austria, the traditional home of the Christmas market, authorities said security will be stepped up around the cities with the most popular attractions. Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka urged people to carry on with their normal routines, but to be alert to anything unusual. In the United States, cities around the country are beefing up security by adding additional officers, especially in the crowded cities of Chicago and New York City. Police are paying special attention to crowded public areas and holiday gatherings. Both cities cautioned that the increased police presence was strictly preventative and no specific threat had been received. After a long day at your office in the CBD, its time to go for your nightly dose of alcoholpreferably a cheap one. But whenever anyone mentions cheap drinks, the first bar everyone suggests is always Five Izakaya Bar. Theres a time and place for cheap beers in a sweaty bar where people jostle each other as they bob their heads to the top 40s cover band thats playing that night. But what if youre looking for a fancier bar with a more romantic ambience? Here are 8 bars with stylish interiors and happy hours that ease the financial burden. Raffles Place &Sons Source 20 Cross Street Singapore 048422 &Sons is the epitome of casual Italian chic, but unlike most places to which the label chic can be applied, is actually quite affordable to dine and drink at. From Mondays to Fridays till 8pm, all Italian wines can be had at the happy hour prices of $7++ to $9++ a glass, and draft beers at $5++ for a half pint. A bucket of five Peronis goes for $40++, while a bucket of 5 Meanbreas/Ichnusas goes for $35++. The Black Swan Source 19 Cecil St Singapore 049704 This art-deco style bar looks very posh on the inside, but guess what, you can actually enjoy the ambiance without going broke if you show up on weekdays from 5 to 9pm. Thats when house pours, house wines and draft beers go for $9, oysters go for $2 (each customer is entitled to a maximum of 6 oysters per drink) and signature cocktails at The Powder Room go for $12. Kinki Source 70 Collyer Quay #02-02 Customs House Singapore 049323 It can be hard to find an affordable place to drink at Customs House. Kinki, which is adorned with hipper-than-thou graffiti art, opens out onto a rooftop bar which boasts an Instagram-friendly view of Marina Bay. On Mondays to Saturdays from 5 to 8pm, enjoy their 1-for-1 offer on selected beers, wines and spirits. Telok Ayer The Flying Squirrel Source 92 Amoy Street #01-02 Singapore 069911 This cosy hole-in-the-wall, fashionably located down a tiny lane on Amoy Street, is a hidden bar without the pretentiousness. The Japanese fusion menu is refreshing, but if youre just there for the drinks, they have happy hour from 4-8pm Mondays to Fridays, where you can enjoy $8 Asahi bottles, $38 buckets and wines at $10 a glass. Story continues OBagtinolles Source 2 Gemmill Lane Singapore 069247 Love Paris? Cant wait to go back? Then check out OBagtinolles, a Parisian-themed bar that actually serves up wine at pretty affordable prices. Right now they offer 10 cocktails at $10 after 10pmgin tonics and mojitos included. On Wednesdays, French champagne goes for $10 a glass / $50 a bottle all night long. Whats more, from 7 to 9pm, every group of four ladies receives a free bottle of champagne (walk-in customers only). Tanjong Pagar Hopscotch Bar Source 28 Maxwell Road #01-04 Red Dot Traffic Building Singapore 069120 Tucked away in the Red Dot Traffic Building with a charming courtyard out front and an inviting industrial-chic interior, Hopscotch serves up artisanal cocktails with a local twist. Happy hour, which runs from 5 to 8pm, gets you 1-for-1 half pint beers, wines and cocktails. The Bar Above Source 72 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088493 You might have unknowingly passed by The Bar Above many times without even realising it was there. This bar is nestled above Vietnamese eatery Pho Stop, and has an open air terrace overlooking the tops of traditional shophouses and a view of the futuristic Pinnacle @ Duxton. Happy hour, which runs from 6 to 7pm (and also 11am to 12pm, if you manage to get away for an early lunch break), nets you three bottles of Tiger Beer for $21. LEntrecote Wine Bar Source 37 Duxton Hill Singapore 089614 This little Parisian Bistro is a romantic date spot, and also secretly has one of the best happy hour deals on usually-pricey Duxton Hill. From 5 to 8pm on Tuesdays to Sundays, glasses of wine go for $7, while selected cocktails are $10. Also, if you want to explore more bars in Singapore, dont forget to check out the all-new Cheers app, which you can get together with the Entertainer for a combined price of $95 (originally $250 for two apps). Youll get to enjoy 1-for-1 deals not just on drinks but on whole bottles as well! Wheres your go-to for a post-work drink? Share your favourite bars in the comments! The post 8 Stylish Bars in Singapores CBD With Happy Hour Deals appeared first on the MoneySmart blog. MoneySmart.sg helps you maximize your money. Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with our latest news and articles. Compare and shop for the best deals on Loans, Insurance and Credit Cards on our site now! More From MoneySmart And here's why young Singaporeans are giving up on looking for jobs. Singapore convicted a third private banker in connection with the international money-laundering scandal involving state fund 1MDB in neighbouring Malaysia. Yeo Jiawei, a Singaporean former wealth manager with Swiss bank BSI, was convicted after a 12-day trial of witness-tampering and obstructing the city-state's 1MDB-linked investigations. He will be sentenced on Thursday. Check here to get to know the whole story. Despite the continued drop in private home prices, Singapores property market has showed signs of life, with a rejuvenated collective sales market and robust luxury residential sales. Data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed that private home prices fell by 10.8 percent over 12 consecutive quarters, while rents dropped by 10.7 percent. Nonetheless, the sales volume for the first nine months of 2016 increased by 9.8 percent year-on-year to 11,993 private units. Read more here. Its not the best time to be a fresh grad in Singapore. Amidst depressing news that fresh grads are entering a difficult market comes this dramatically-titled report that claims that more and more 20-somethings have stopped looking for jobs, simply because theyre too discouraged. Apparently, young Singaporeans are finding it so difficult to find jobs that meet their requirements that many are throwing in the towel altogether. Some try to start businesses or do freelance work or odd jobs to get by. Click here to know why this is happening. More From Singapore Business Review PM Modi was in Varanasi to lay the foundation stone of a cancer centre. Speaking at Banaras Hindu University Modi mocked Gandhi over his "earthquake" remark that the Congress leader made recently. By India Today Web Desk: Barely hours after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra was paid huge money by big corporate houses during his stint as Gujarat CM, the PM today laughed off the allegations, saying it was good to see the 'young leader learning the art of speaking.' Modi was in Varanasi to lay the foundation stone of a cancer centre. Speaking at Banaras Hindu University Modi mocked Gandhi over his "earthquake" remark that the Congress leader made recently. Rahul Gandhi had accused the Modi government of not allowing him to speak in Parliament despite his speech being ready. He had said an "earthquake will come" if he gets the opportunity to speak. advertisement PM MODI'S RESPONSE TO RAHUL GANDHI'S 'EARTHQUAKE' : Now that their young leader has spoken, we have seen what the earthquake is all about. It is good that he (Rahul Gandhi) has started to speak. There is no possibility of an earthquake now. If he hadn't spoken, there could have been an earthquake. It would have been an earthquake that people would have had to deal with for 10 years. In 2009, were not sure what inside that packet (Rahul Gandhi). Now we know what was there. He is still learning the art of speaking. I am very happy for him. Addressing a public rally in Mehsana, Gujarat, yesterday, Rahul Gandhi had claimed that top firms paid PM Modi kickbacks when he was the chief minister. He said that the Income Tax department raided a company on 22 November, 2014 and the records of raid are with the department for the last two and half years yet no action has been taken. "An independent enquiry must be initiated," Rahul Gandhi said. "As per record with I-T, Rs 2.5 crore was given to PM Modi on 30 Oct 2013; Rs 5 crore on 12 November 2013; Rs 2.5 crore on 27 November 2013; Rs 5 crore on 29 November 2013," Gandhi claimed. ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi still learning the art of speaking: PM Modi in Varanasi Companies paid crores to Modi: Rahul Gandhi's explosive corruption charge on PM WATCH: 'Rahul Gandhi speaks without thinking; PM Modi pure as Ganga' --- ENDS --- (Bloomberg) -- Kengo Kyogoku borrows about 122,000 yen ($1,035) per month in addition to a scholarship and a part-time job, because his mother cant afford to pay his college fees at the prestigious Waseda University in Tokyo. The amount is huge, said Kyogoku, a sophomore of communications and computer engineering. I get depressed when I think about it. I wonder if I would have to pay it all back forever. But I have no choice. Kyogoku is becoming the norm rather than the exception in Japan, where more than half of college students now need financial aid. Loans were rare in the past as most students came from affluent middle-class families who could afford the fees. Todays parents inherited the legacy of Japans long economic ice-age, with fewer family-wage jobs and lower savings, fueling a sense of generational inequality. While Japan is nowhere near the level of the U.S. -- students there owe some $1.3 trillion in total, compared with about $76 billion in Japan -- the rise of college loans is a triple blow for the country. It puts a bigger financial strain on the shrinking younger generation who already have to shoulder a bigger share of the tax and welfare burden. It dissuades poorer students, who worry that they wont get the jobs needed to be able to repay the loan. And it increases the strain on a deeply indebted government to boost scholarships to make education affordable. "In Japan, I feel more pain and more despair among young people, said Matthew Goodman, a senior adviser for Asian economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. You have fewer and fewer young people. You need to make the ones who are there more confident, optimistic and productive. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set aside 7 billion yen in the budget Thursday to launch government scholarships in the year starting in April 2017 in an effort to make higher education affordable. Family economic conditions shouldnt dictate childrens future, Abe said in parliament in October. If everyone supports a child with scholarships and the child works hard to become a tax payer in the future, thats an investment for the future indeed. Story continues Demographic Divide But, as with most administrations in Japan, the lions share of social spending still goes to the older generation who have the votes and influence to unseat politicians. People 75 and over outnumber children aged 14 and younger, and the trend is forecast to accelerate. By 2035, the older group will make up 20 percent of the population while only 10 percent will be under 15, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. Japans education system was a pillar of its post-war economic ascent, providing the countrys industries with skilled workers who helped companies like Sony Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. develop world-beating technology and production systems. Between 1960 and 1980 the proportion of 18-year-olds going on to college jumped to 37 percent from 10 percent, according to the education ministry. Today, roughly 80 percent pursue some form of higher education and a college degree no longer guarantees full-time employment with one of the big job-for-life corporations that were the backbone of the economy. On top of his loan and a 400,000 yen scholarship from the university, Kyogoku works at a karaoke shop to cover his expenses and try to save for graduate school. Im pessimistic about the Japanese economy, said Kyogoku, 20, who lives with his single-parent mother. When you look at demographics, its pretty hopeless. Raising the knowledge level is vital to Japan as the government aims to use more robots and automation both in manufacturing and services to overcome the labor shortage and spur growth. Innovations like artificial intelligence can replace even complex labor on top of manual labor, which means people need higher skills to keep up, said Masayuki Kobayashi, professor of higher education at the University of Tokyo who led a government panel of experts on student loans. Education still has plenty room to improve and can contribute to economic growth. Student Loans With family support dwindling, more students are turning to the Japan Student Services Organization, the government-backed lender that charges interest from zero to 3 percent depending on academic credentials and prevailing bank rates. The number of college students borrowing from Jasso rose by 51 percent to about 976,000 in the decade through March 2016. Include loans and scholarships from other entities and more than half of college students now rely on outside assistance, according to the organization. Rising indebtedness is having its effect, said Yoshiharu Iwashige, a Tokyo-based lawyer. Some students drop out by working too much to cut their debt, and many others who cant meet payments come to him to file for bankruptcy, Iwashige said. This has become a middle-class problem, Iwashige said. Many give up marriage and having children, which are now for the privileged. Student loans get in the way. Abes efforts are unlikely to be enough to stem the tide of borrowing as the government itself is deeply in debt. Its impossible to turn everything into scholarships, Jasso President Katsuhiro Endo, 71, said. Policymakers hesitate to cut spending for senior citizens given their political clout, he said. Jassos total outstanding loans more than doubled to almost 9 trillion yen in the decade through March 2016. Some 165,000 people, or 4.2 percent of the borrowers whose payments are due, were behind for more than three months as of March 2016. Japanese universities must help students or risk losing some of the best talent to colleges abroad, according to Taiji Saito, dean of student affairs at Waseda, the alma mater of seven former prime ministers. The university provided 2.1 billion yen in scholarships in the year ended in March 2016, while its students had borrowed 9.3 billion yen in Jasso loans as of the end of the year. Hiroki Yamakawa, 18, from Aichi prefecture in central Japan, might not have made it to the university without a 400,000 yen annual scholarship. His mother runs a kimono shop after his father died. He says the problem wont go away until the government can get people to start spending more and investing in the younger generation. People in their 70s and 80s hoard up money and dont spend because they want to save for the future, Yamakawa said. (Updates with budget information in the sixth paragraph.) To contact the reporter on this story: Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brett Miller at bmiller30@bloomberg.net, Adam Majendie 2016 Bloomberg L.P. Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras is selling stakes in two big offshore oilfields and two power plants to France's Total in a deal worth $2.2 billion, both companies announced. The agreement comes under a previously announced Petrobras asset sale aimed at raising billions of dollars for the indebted group. The transaction will see Total get pumping rights to significant parts of two deepwater, pre-salt oilfields off Brazil's southeastern coast whose discovery in 2007 was seen as a resource bonanza. Total will pick up 22.5 percent of the Iara field and 35 percent of the Lapa field, which started operation on Tuesday. The French company will also become 50-percent owner of two thermal energy plants, Romulo de Almeida and Celso Furtado, in the northeastern state of Bahia. The transaction comes at a time of relatively low prices for oil -- and amid a huge corruption scandal involving Petrobras that saw the company's rating downgraded and its debt pile of over $120 billion become worrisome. Total's CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, said in Paris that "these deals will considerably reinforce Total's presence in Brazil by giving us access to the remarkable pre-salt resources and allowing us to integrate into the promising integrated gas chain in the country." He later told AFP that Brazil is a "land of opportunity" for Total. "I often say that you should look for oil and gas where (we know) they are. There is a lot in Brazil, and the moment in time helps us, because in fact they are a country experiencing difficulties," he said. "They are looking for partners. They decided to open up to foreign investment (in oil), and that gives us the chance to talk with Petrobras and see what common ground we can find." Petrobras chief Pedro Parente said in Rio de Janeiro the deals should offer some strategic advantages and savings. "And they should help us to reduce our debts," he stressed. President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday threatened to "whack" the Philippines' money laundering council, a regulatory body headed by the central bank governor, accusing its officials of corruption and failing to do their job. Duterte, given to incendiary language, was furious that the central bank's Anti-Money Laundering Council had failed to provide him an unspecified "assessment report". "I'll count one to three and if you don't resign, I will treat you as a drug addict," said the 71-year-old, who is waging a brutal anti-drug campaign that has left more than 5,000 people dead since he became president in July. In a speech after signing the 2017 national budget, he said: "Better prepare there because I'll give you a whack." "You are all corrupt," he said, without naming any official. "I am going to charge all of you there, criminally." The four-member council is the state regulatory body enforcing the country's anti-money laundering law. It is headed by central bank governor Amando Tetangco and also includes the government's chief insurance and securities regulators, as well as the council's executive director. Duterte did not spell out what was in the report he was demanding. The law prohibits the council from sharing any information with anyone else except under court order. Duterte noted that Tetangco would be retiring soon. The governor completes his second six-year term in July next year. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre later said Duterte was not referring to the central bank governor but "the office of the executive director, her deputy and the head of investigation". In another speech to a women's group north of Manila, aired on television, Duterte accused the council's officials of failing to do their job and warned he would have the justice department file charges against them. "I will personally arrest you," he said. Duterte's spokesman did not reply to AFP's requests for clarification, while the council referred requests for comment to the central bank. Story continues Aides told AFP the central bank's spokeswoman was unavailable for comment. Last month Duterte had warned the central bank and the council to "avoid a confrontation between us". At the time he said government agencies had to "do more, especially on digging records that would show laundered money". The fiery Duterte won a landslide election victory this year after pledging to kill 100,000 criminals to prevent the Asian country from turning into a "narco-state". Since July police said they have killed 2,124 drug suspects while more than 3,000 others were gunned down or stabbed by unidentified assassins. Duterte asserts his anti-crime campaign was legal and has called US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a "fool" for criticising it. President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday threatened to "whack" the Philippines' money laundering council, a regulatory body headed by the central bank governor, accusing its officials of corruption and failing to do their job. Duterte, who is given to incendiary language, demanded that the members of the central bank's Anti-Money Laundering Council resign for failing to provide him an unspecified "assessment report". "I'll count one to three and if you don't resign, I will treat you as a drug addict," said the 71-year-old, who is waging a brutal anti-drug campaign that has left more than 5,000 people dead since he became president in July. "Better prepare there because I'll give you a whack. But you are all, you are all corrupt," he said in a speech after signing the 2017 national budget. "I am going to charge all of you there, criminally," Duterte said without naming any council official in particular. The four-member council is the state regulatory body enforcing the country's anti-money laundering law. It is headed by central bank governor Amando Tetangco and also includes the government's chief insurance and securities regulators, as well as the council's executive director. Duterte did not spell out what was in the report he was demanding. The law prohibits the council from sharing any information with anyone else except under court order. Duterte noted that Tetangco would be retiring soon. The governor completes his second six-year term in July next year. In another speech to a women's group north of Manila, aired on television, Duterte accused the council's officials of failing to do their job and warned he would have the justice department file charges against them. "I will personally arrest you," he said. In a speech last month Duterte had warned the central bank and the council to "avoid a confrontation between us". At the time he said government agencies had to "do more, especially on digging records that would show laundered money". Story continues Duterte's spokesman did not reply to AFP's requests for clarification, while the council referred requests for comment to the central bank. Aides told AFP the central bank's spokeswoman was unavailable for comment. The fiery Duterte won a landslide election victory this year after pledging to kill 100,000 criminals to prevent the Asian country from turning into a "narco-state". Since July police said they have killed 2,124 drug suspects while more than 3,000 others were gunned down or stabbed by unidentified assassins. Duterte asserts his anti-crime campaign was legal and has called US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a "fool" for criticising it. Singapore on Thursday jailed a third private banker for his role in an international money-laundering scandal involving neighbouring Malaysia's state fund 1MDB. Singaporean Yeo Jiawei, a former wealth manager with Swiss bank BSI, was sentenced to 30 months for witness tampering and obstructing the city-state's 1MDB-linked investigations. The 33-year-old was convicted on Wednesday following a 12-day trial earlier this year. In handing down the sentence, judge Ng Peng Hong said he had taken into consideration Yeo's efforts to frustrate investigations, findings of money-laundering and cheating, and the fact that Yeo had committed the offences while on bail. Other charges of money-laundering, cheating and forgery will be tried next year. Yeo's lawyer told reporters after the hearing that Yeo was "seriously considering" an appeal against his conviction and sentence. State prosecutors had pushed for a 36-month sentence. Allegations that huge sums were misappropriated from 1MDB through money-laundering have triggered a corruption scandal which has embroiled Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. It was revealed during Yeo's trial that he had close working ties with Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, a family friend of Najib. Najib founded the 1MDB fund while Low helped set it up and played a key role in its decisions. Both men have strongly denied any wrongdoing. Singapore, a regional financial hub known for its transparency and strong stance against corruption, last year launched a probe into alleged unlawful fund flows linked to 1MDB. Local authorities have seized nearly $180 million in assets, with half linked to Low. BSI and another Swiss bank, Falcon, were kicked out of the city-state this year for what regulators called massive lapses in financial controls. Swiss banks were allegedly used to transfer illicit funds. Two other former private bankers from BSI have also been jailed in Singapore for fraud in connection with the case. Syrian troops strengthened their hold over Aleppo on Friday after retaking full control of the city, as residents anxious to return to their homes moved through its ruined streets. The army announced on Thursday it had recaptured the former rebel stronghold of east Aleppo following a landmark evacuation deal that saw thousands of opposition fighters and residents bussed out. It was the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad's forces in nearly six years of civil war and a major win for his foreign backers, with key ally Russia hailing the "very important" step. Braving the cold, war-weary residents crossed districts that had become dangerous front lines, eager to return to neighbourhoods they had not seen in years. Civilians wrapped in coats trekked through the cold, some rolling their belongings on wheelbarrows. "I came to check on my house, which I haven't seen in five years," resident Khaled al-Masri said. "I really hope my home wasn't badly damaged." The evacuation operation ended more than four years of fierce fighting in Aleppo, which had been divided between government forces in the west and rebels in the east since 2012. Opposition forces still control an area west of Aleppo and at least six civilians were killed Friday in the first rebel rocket fire on the city since it fell under government control, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Later Friday, air raids targeting rebel territory to the west of the city killed three fighters, the Britain-based monitor said. And near the ancient city of Palmyra, the Islamic State group killed 27 Syrian soldiers and allied militiamen in a series of attacks, the Observatory said. - 'Nothing left' - The evacuation agreement was brokered by rebel backer Turkey and regime supporter Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Assad Friday to congratulate him on the "liberation" of Aleppo, the Kremlin said. "This success was possible thanks to mutual efforts of all who came together in the fight with international terrorism in Syria," it said. Earlier, Putin hailed Aleppo's recapture, calling it a "very important part of the normalisation in Syria", saying the next step would be "conclusion of a ceasefire agreement on all of Syria's territory". The Kremlin also announced Putin had signed an order to expand Russia's naval facility in the Syrian city of Tartus, while Russian military police had been dispatched to recaptured parts of Aleppo. "We sent in a battalion of military police yesterday evening to maintain order in the liberated territories," Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said. On Friday morning, government fighters moved into Ansari, Al-Mashhad, and other neighbourhoods they had not entered since mid-2012. They searched for improvised explosive devices and mines, clearing buildings to prepare the way for civilians to return, the Observatory said. As they finished sweeping through the main streets, soldiers moved into the smaller alleyways to check for bombs, an AFP correspondent in one district said. In Bustan al-Qasr, a heavily damaged neighbourhood near Aleppo's famed Old City, bulldozers removed rubble from the streets. As the army moved through Al-Mayssar district, Umm Abdo, 42, said she had found her former home but it had been destroyed. "There's nothing left... but houses can be rebuilt," she said. Syria's war transformed Aleppo from the country's industrial hub to a worldwide symbol of bloodshed and devastation. The army on Thursday announced "the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists". - 'Toughest battles' - The regime victory came after state television said the last convoy of four buses carrying rebels and civilians had left east Aleppo and arrived in the government-controlled Ramussa district south of the city. The evacuation deal, overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent, put an end to a month-long offensive waged on Aleppo's east by pro-government forces. The assault was backed by pro-government militia, including powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. In a televised speech on Friday, Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah said the army's win in Aleppo put an end to any hopes Assad's regime would collapse. "After Aleppo, one can comfortably say that the goal of regime downfall has failed," Nasrallah said. The ICRC said the evacuation operation had seen 35,000 people bussed out of Aleppo and another 1,200 evacuated from Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority towns in northwest Syria besieged by rebels. Nearly six years in, the conflict has killed more than 310,000 people and displaced half of Syria's pre-war population. The army's win in Aleppo has put the spotlight on the role of powerbrokers Russia, Iran and Turkey, which agreed this week to guarantee new peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire. Repeated attempts at peace have failed, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene fresh talks in Geneva in February. BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took control of Aleppo city on Wednesday after the last batch of fighters was evacuated, but a U.N. official and rebels said evacuations were not yet completed. Evacuations from the east of the city were continuing on Wednesday evening, a U.N. official in Syria told Reuters. A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army rebel alliance, Osama Abu Zaid, they would carry on into the night and had been slowed by bad weather. He was speaking to the al-Arabiya al-Hadath news channel from the Turkey-Syria border. Two other rebel officials also said the evacuation process was not complete. One said there were around 2,000 fighters and civilians still waiting to be transported out of the city, although it was difficult to gauge numbers. An aid worker told Reuters that completion of the evacuation aboard buses was expected to be "imminent". The war monitor said only one small position on the western outskirts of the city remained in rebel hands. It said some 21,500 civilians had lost their lives in and around Aleppo during the battle for control of the city. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Catherine Evans and editing by John Stonestreet) Ali Hribish stands by the Arch of Septimius Severus which dominates Libya's ancient city of Leptis Magna, brandishing letters of thanks for his efforts to protect the site. The former electricity company employee in his 50s has become the Roman city's unlikely saviour, protecting it from looting and vandalism as chaos rocks the country following the 2011 downfall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Despite having no background in archaeology, Hribish gathered a band of fighters who dedicated themselves to preserving the ancient Roman city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. While others set up armed groups to protect banks and public buildings, "we immediately thought of Leptis Magna," says Ashraf Mohammed, 33, one of the first fighters to join Hribish's group. "A bank can be rebuilt, but our monuments and our history are things we can't replace," he says. The group of 20 young men, Kalashnikov assault rifles in hand, go on a routine patrol around the 50 hectare (120 acre) site. They inspect the hippodrome, the basilica and the open-air theatre that used to host some 15,000 spectators on its terraces, with a sublime view of the Mediterranean. Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, who was born in Leptis Magna and ruled Rome from 193 to 211 AD, favoured his home town and turned it into one of the most beautiful cities in the empire. He endowed it with splendid monuments including a vast basilica over 30 metres (100 feet) high, and renovated the thermal baths built during the reign of Hadrian (76-138 AD). The open-air pool is still intact to this day. - Looting and vandalism - Hribish, from the nearby city of Khoms, fears for the site's safety. The jihadists of the Islamic State group, which destroyed priceless artefacts in Syria and Iraq, are still active in Libya despite having been ousted from Sirte, their North African bastion. But "we are much more worried about looting and acts of vandalism," Hribish tells AFP, saying he knows "every stone of the site". Hribish says he was "appalled" when IS blew up UNESCO-listed Roman-era temples and looted ancient relics in Syria's Palmyra. But he says that unlike the country's other historical sites, "Leptis Magna has been protected from acts of looting and we are continuing to monitor it." "We will not allow IS or anyone else to touch it," he says. In 2015, his men discovered and defused a bomb weighing several kilograms (pounds) in a cafe close to the site. But he doubts it was put there by jihadists, in a country where multiple armed groups are struggling for power. Islamist ideologues are not the only threat to the site, he says, pointing out that it was developers who destroyed part of the city of Cyrene, an ancient Greek and Roman city in eastern Libya, in order to build houses there. "We have prevented acts like that here," he says. He proudly adds that he has blocked plans to build an unlicensed row of shops immediately next to precious remains. - Waiting for a state - "At the start, we thought our mission would be a short-term thing. We expected a state would be built that could guarantee that the country's archaeological sites would be protected," he says. Libya remains divided between rival governments and militias waging a bitter struggle for power. Other inhabitants of the nearby town of Khoms have also mobilised to protect administrative buildings and banks from vandalism and looting. Hribish says he supports the restoration of Libya's monarchy which was overthrown in the coup that brought Kadhafi to power in 1969. "We will continue with our mission until a real state is built," Hribish says. But his colleagues complain they are defending the site with the most basic means. "There are no surveillance cameras, no fence, not even fire extinguishers," Ali Ghazi, 26, tells AFP. Ghazi, who is unemployed, tells of the "nightmare" of putting out grass fires in the summer. "Some people tried putting them out by beating them with sticks, while others brought in buckets of sea water," he says. Walid Abu Hamid, 33, says the city needs restoration work to tackle the effects of erosion. "We have told the Department of Antiquities, but in vain," he says. "Kadhafi marginalised our history and our heritage for more than 40 years. It's time for us to look after it and show it to the world." By PTI: Washington, Dec 22 (PTI) A NASA space-based sensor that can see through fog, clouds and darkness has given scientists the first continuous look at the boom-bust cycles of polar phytoplanktons - microscopic marine plants that are the foundation of the oceans food web. The decade-long set of images shows that phytoplankton cycles are more tied to the push-pull relationship between them and their predators than was initially thought. advertisement Phytoplankton are the foundation of the oceans food web. Commercial fisheries, marine mammals and birds all depend on the blooms, said Michael Behrenfeld from the Oregon State Universitys College of Agricultural Sciences. "Its really important for us to understand what controls these boom-bust cycles and how they might change in the future, because the dynamics of plankton communities have implications for all the other organisms throughout the web," Behrenfeld said. Phytoplankton also influence Earths carbon cycle. Through photosynthesis, they absorb a great deal of the carbon dioxide near the oceans surface. That, in turn, allows carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to go into the ocean. The satellite-mounted LIDAR instrument, dubbed Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarisation (CALIOP), uses a laser beam to map the oceans surface and immediate subsurface. CALIOP monitored plankton in the Arctic and Antarctic ocean waters from 2006 to 2015. CALIOPS measurements show that, as the phytoplankton growth accelerates, the blooms are able to outpace the organisms that prey on them. As soon as that acceleration stops, however, the predatory organisms catch up and the bloom ends. The finding goes against the commonly held belief that blooms begin when phytoplankton growth rates reach a threshold rate and then stop when growth rates crash, he said. Instead, blooms start when growth rates are extremely slow, and then stop when phytoplankton growth is at its maximum but the acceleration of the bloom has hit its peak. It is only then that the predatory organisms catch up and the bloom terminates. The study also shows that in Arctic waters the year-to-year changes in this constant push and pull between predator and prey has been the primary driver of change over the past 10 years. The situation is different in the southern ocean around Antarctica, where changes in the ice cover held more sway. "The take-home message is that if we want to understand the production of the polar systems as a whole, we have to focus both on changes in ice cover and changes in the ecosystems that regulate this delicate balance between predators and prey," said Behrenfeld. advertisement The study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. PTI MHN SAR MHN --- ENDS --- The US Department of State warned yesterday its nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to the Sulu archipelago and through the southern Sulu Sea, saying threats to US citizens and other foreigners throughout Mindanao remain a concern. In its updated travel warning, the State Department urged US citizens to exercise extreme caution when traveling to Mindanao, citing continued terrorist threats, insurgent activities and kidnappings. Terrorist and insurgent groups based in the Sulu archipelago continue to kidnap foreigners in Eastern Sabah province and the southern Sulu Sea area that stretches from the southern tip of Palawan, along the coast of Sabah, Malaysia and the islands of the Sulu archipelago, up to Zamboanga City in Mindanao. Separatist and terrorist groups continue to carry out attacks and kidnappings against civilians, foreigners, political leaders and Philippine security forces in Mindanao, the State Department said. Since January 2016, at least 13 separate kidnappings of foreigners have been reported across Mindanao. In western Mindanao, terrorist, insurgent and criminal gangs regularly conduct kidnappings for ransom. In central Mindanao, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) remain active in the Cotabato City area and in Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces, where the government maintains a state of emergency and a greater police presence. The travel warning also cited a terrorist group conducted a bombing in Davao City last September, killing 15 and wounding 69 people. Following the attack, the Philippine government declared a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence in Mindanao. There have been no reports of US citizens in Mindanao specifically targeted but the State Department said general threats to US citizens and other foreigners throughout Mindanao remain a concern. US government personnel are required to obtain special authorization from embassy security officials before traveling to Mindanao and Sulu. Heres another reason you may need to switch to a new operating system. More major changes are coming to Skype in the coming few months. In the end, users of older versions of the video conferencing app will likely be forced into newer versions. And people using one relatively new mobile operating system may have to get new devices if theyre going to continue using Skype. In the end its forcing users including small businesses to ask will Skype still work on many older operating systems now that a newer version is here. Skype announced recently that it was retiring its version for the Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. If your tablet or smartphone runs Windows Phone 7, you either cant or soon wont be able to use Skype. If you want to continue using Skype on a smartphone, youll have to get a new phone, one running Windows Phone 8 or 8.1. Skype made the announcement to customers in a recent post on its official support page saying: Within the next few weeks, youll no longer be able to sign in and use Skype on any Windows Phone 7 device. You will still be able to use Skype on a variety of mobile platforms, including Windows Phone 8 or 8.1, but unfortunately, Skype will no longer be available in any form on Windows Phone 7. If you use and pay for Skype subscription services such as a phone number to accept incoming calls you may want to consider canceling prior to another billing period starting. Thats especially true if you dont update to a Windows Phone 8 device. Its only one of several recent major developments with Skype that affect end-users directly. Back in June, Skype warned users it was retiring older versions of the app. In an official post on the Skype Garage and Updates blog Product Marketing Manager Tom Huang explained: As we look ahead to the future, were focusing our efforts on bringing the latest and greatest to the most recent versions of Skype. As a result, we are going to retire older versions of Skype for Windows desktop (6.13 and below) as well as Skype for Mac (6.14 and below) over the next few months. But the problems dont stop there. In another issue Skype recently said it is working on a fix for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard users who apparently cant use the newer version of Skype on their operating system, The Next Web reports. Certainly OS X 10.5 Leopard is an older operating system and is no longer even supported by Apple. But small business owners sometimes use older systems and may resist technology upgrades due to budget considerations. As Skype points out, the newer version of the software certainly has its pluses including: instant messaging to offline clients ability to view consistent chat histories across multiple devices ability to sync read and unread messages across multiple devices. In the end difficulty using a valuable tool like Skype may be another reason to rethink that systems upgrade. Image: Skype Finding the proper insurance options for your new business can be a long and complicated process. From professional liability to health coverage and even vehicle coverage, there are so many different things to consider in order to ensure that your business is fully covered should anything happen. For a bit of insight into the complicated world of business insurance, Ryan Hanley, head of marketing for Trusted Choice, shared some tips for small businesses in the list below. Find a Good BOP A BOP, or business owners policy, can be a great place to start when getting coverage for your business, according to Hanley. Most providers that offer business coverage should have a BOP offering, which might include a variety of different coverage such as liability, employees liability, vehicle coverage and more, rolled into one package. Even Home Businesses Need Coverages Some business owners who work out of their home might think that they dont need insurance at all. But that isnt the case. Hanley explained in a phone interview with Small Business Trends, If you run an Etsy store out of your garage and you keep all of your products and supplies out there. Say your house burns down and all of that is gone, your homeowners policy isnt going to cover that. Monitor Your Policies as You Grow As your business grows, you might outgrow your basic BOP and need to consider some other options. Hanley said that usually when businesses start growing to multiple locations or producing a large volume of products, its time to look into some other options beyond just the BOP that you started out with. Assess Your Risks To know what coverage is right for you, whether youre just looking at different BOP coverage or other plans altogether, you need to know your biggest risks. If your business is one that operates mainly online, then youll likely need plans that cover online activities like cyberattacks. But if you sell physical products, youll probably want to focus more on products liability. Cover Your Employees If your business has employees, then you definitely need coverage for them. Workers compensation requirements vary by state, but you may be forced to have this type of coverage for your employees. And even if its not a legal requirement, it may be a good idea depending on the type of work your team members are tasked with. Dont Overlook Freelancers A common error when it comes to workers compensation insurance, said Hanley, is when companies dont offer coverage for freelance or contract workers. Hanley says, Just because you send them a 1099 form at the end of the year doesnt mean theyre not an actual employee. That only matters when it comes to taxes. Know What Constitutes an Employee For that reason, its important that you realize when someone is an actual employee versus a contractor. Though it can vary by situation, Hanley says that oftentimes if someone does business under an official business name other than their own, that likely makes them a contractor rather than an employee. For example, if you hire an official computer company to fix your hardware from time to time, you probably dont need to offer them coverage. However, if you have a freelance IT person on staff who you pay regularly and who works for you under their own name, theyre probably considered an employee. Check Your State Requirements You also need to look into your actual state requirements, since they vary throughout the country. An agent should be able to help. But you need to be sure that you are compliant with all of the legal requirements. Consider Disability Coverage Aside from general workers comp, it may be beneficial for you to offer short-term or long-term disability coverage to your team. This may even be required by your state. Make Sure You Have Benefits Liability If you offer any benefits to your employees, such as health coverage, you should also consider a benefits liability policy. If, for instance, you only offer a high deductible health plan with minimal coverage, an employee can potentially take legal action against you if they face a hardship due to a lack of options. Benefits liability ensures that you would be covered in that instance. Get Liability Coverage for Your Team You can also consider adding employment practices liability to your coverage. This would cover any instance of workplace harassment, wrongful termination, discrimination or similar issues. And Cover Outside Contractors When looking into liability policies, its a good idea to make sure you get one that also covers independent contractors. According to Hanley, you can be found liable for the actions of anyone you hire to do work at your location. So for instance, if you hire a plumber who sexually harasses one of your employees, they can sue you since youre the one who brought them in. Online Businesses, Get Cyber Liability For online businesses, you may also need liability coverage if you collect any payment or personal information. If you ever get hacked or if theres a leak of that information, customers may be able to take action against you. Cover Your Professional Advice In addition, if youre a consultant or offer any sort of advice to people, you may need separate liability coverage that will take care of you in case someone faces hardships due to your advice. This is often called Errors and Omissions coverage. Get Coverage for Denial of Service Attacks You may also need to make sure that your cyber liability or similar policy offers coverage in case of Denial of Service attacks. This may be especially relevant if your business offers any kind of online services or courses. If theres ever an extended period of time where customers or clients cant access what theyve paid for due to such attacks, you could need coverage for those instances. Cover Your Products For more tangible products, you can also purchase products liability coverage. This covers you in case one of your products causes injury or illness. This could be useful if you sell food products, toys or anything that may present any sort of hazard to users. See Also: 10 Tips for Starting a Bookkeeping Business Get Business Coverage for Business Vehicles You also need to make sure that you have specific business coverage for any vehicles used for business purposes. Even if you own a vehicle personally, it needs to be covered under a business policy if youre going to use it in that capacity. Even Uber Drivers May Need Business Coverage For example, Hanley says theres been some confusion in recent years particularly among people who drive for Uber, Lyft or similar companies. Even if you use your personal vehicle and just drive for those companies on occasion, your personal auto policy wont cover any incident that happens while youre working as an Uber driver. So you may need a separate policy to make sure youre covered in those instances. Look Into Specific Industry Coverage The different types of insurance discussed above are really just the tip of the iceberg, according to Hanley. There are several more specific types of coverage that may benefit your business, depending on your industry. So look into the types of coverage that may be most applicable to your business and the type of work you do. Do Your Own Research While it is helpful to seek out a professional to help with your insurance decisions, Hanley also says that business owners should do their own research first. If you know, at least in basic terms, the types of coverage you may need, then youre more likely to find the best deal and an agent or company that you can trust. Shop Around You also shouldnt just go with the first agent or company that you come across. Shop around to find the best agent and policies that really work for you. Find an Independent Agent Hanley also says that it really helps to get in touch with an independent agent to guide you through the process. An independent agent can give you quotes and information about a variety of policies from a variety of different sources. So youre most likely to find the best deals. Go with Someone You Trust However, its not always enough to just find any agent. Hanley says that its really important for you to find someone that you trust. That way, you can be sure youre getting the best coverage specific to your business. Make Sure Theyre Reputable It can also help to ask around or get some references to make sure that your agent of choice is reputable and not just someone who makes a good first impression. In addition, make sure that they have all of the necessary licenses or certifications. Evaluate Your Needs Regularly Once you are satisfied with your coverage, the process isnt over. You should regularly evaluate your coverage with your agent as your business grows. New employees, locations or even state regulations could impact what types of coverage you need. So stay on top of it and realize that keeping your business insured is a process that wont ever end. Related reading: 11 Types of Business Insurance You May Need Learning Resources Discovery Ed Adds Virtual Reality to Civil War Lessons Now on Discovery Education's Techbook, students can access immersive experiences and watch U.S. soldiers on the battlefield during the American Civil War. Although Discovery Education is known for hosting virtual field trips, the company has now begun to build virtual reality (VR) experiences into its digital content. Recently, the company announced the addition of three new VR components to its social studies products. Both Discovery Education Streaming Plus and Techbook will use content from a new, six-part American Heroes Channel series, "Blood and Fury: America's Civil War" to enable students to explore Civil War themes through the eyes of soldiers. In "Desertion," students will learn why soldiers deserted before they reached the battle and what could happen to them when they abandoned their posts. "Bridges" explores how geography defined the course of the Civil War. Specifically, the VR experience will use the Rappahannock River in Virginia, which created a natural barrier for the Union Army, to learn how the armies adapted their weaponry to overcome the dangers they faced. Although many people imagine most battles that took place in the Civil War as being fought in open fields and enclosed woodlands, some key battles also took place in towns. "Urban Warfare" takes students through that experience to illustrate the impact battle locations made on the outcome of the war. "Virtual reality content offers students an unparalleled opportunity to engage with a topic and immerse themselves in learning," said Ann Clermont, a sixth grade literacy and social studies teacher at the Green Bay Area Public School District's Red Smith School in Wisconsin, in a prepared statement. "When integrated thoughtfully into instruction, these resources enrich lessons by adding perspective to the geography, politics and psychology of the Civil War." "A little fill here and there may seem to be nothing to become excited about. But one fill, though comparatively inconsequential, may lead to another, and another, and before long a great body may be eaten away until it may no longer exist. Our navigable waters are a precious natural heritage, once gone, they disappear forever," wrote the Wisconsin Supreme Court in its 1960 opinion resolving Hixon v. PSC and buttressing The Public Trust Doctrine, Article IX of the Wisconsin State Constitution. By Michelle Nichols and Lesley Wroughton UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States intended to allow the U.N. Security Council to approve a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building, two Western officials said on Thursday, a major reversal of U.S. practice of protecting Israel from such criticism. Egypt, which had proposed the draft resolution, abruptly put off a vote that had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon and diplomats said Cairo had acted under pressure from Israel and to avoid alienating U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The two Western officials said that U.S. President Barack Obama had intended to abstain from the vote, a relatively rare step by the United States to register criticism of the building on occupied land that the Palestinians want for a state. U.S. officials have voiced growing fears that a "two-state" solution is imperilled by Israeli settlement building and so have been more willing to voice open criticism of it, including, the two officials said, via Thursday's planned vote. In a sign that they feared Obama might withdraw the United States' long-standing diplomatic protection for Israel, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the White House to veto the draft resolution. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, called Trump on Thursday, a Trump transition official said, saying they spoke broadly about laying the ground for Middle East peace. Sisi's office said the two leaders spoke. "The presidents agreed on the importance of affording the new U.S. administration the full chance to deal with all dimensions of the Palestinian case with a view of achieving a full and final settlement," said presidency spokesman Alaa Yousef. The resolution would demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem" and it said the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law". Egypt is currently a Security Council member and worked with the Palestinians to draft the text. CONSTRUCTIVE RELATIONS WITH TRUMP? Officials in Netanyahu's office spoke to Egyptian officials on Thursday about postponing the vote, an Israeli diplomat said. It was not clear what pressure Israel may have put on Egypt but there are several ways it could do so, including curtailing Israeli security cooperation in Egypt's fight against Islamist militants in the Sinai desert. Netanyahu took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to make the appeal for a veto, in a sign of concern that Obama might take a parting shot at a policy he has long opposed and at a right-wing Israeli leader with whom he has had strained ties. Hours later, Trump backed fellow conservative Netanyahu on one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the pursuit, effectively stalled since 2014, of a two-state solution. The White House declined comment and the State Department declined to immediately comment on reports of the planned abstention. OBAMA CRITICAL OF SETTLEMENTS Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office on Jan. 20. Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Trump, who has already signalled a possible change in U.S. policy by tapping a fundraiser for a major Israeli settlement as Washington's ambassador to Israel. Netanyahu, for whom settlers are a key constituency, has said his government has been their greatest ally since the capture of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war. Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally. The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. The United States has vetoed dozens of Security Council resolutions on Israel and it is rare for it to abstain. The last time the Security Council adopted a resolution on Israel and the Palestinians was in January 2009, when Washington abstained on a resolution calling for ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. In 1979 the United States abstained on a resolution focused on settlements, when the council said Israeli settlements have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Britain also abstained. (Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy, Susan Heavey, Arshad Mohammed, Matt Spetalnick, Emily Stephenson and Lesley Wroughton in Washington, John Irish travelling with the French foreign minister, Jeffrey Heller and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem and Amina Ismail and Ahmed Aboulenein in Cairo; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and James Dalgleish) RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's government said on Thursday it was working to identify the authors of social media posts praising the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey this week. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was gunned down by an assassin while giving a speech in an art gallery in Ankara on Monday. Morocco has been trying to develop ties with Moscow as it seeks new business partners and builds support on the United Nations Security Council for its proposal to offer the disputed Western Sahara region autonomy under its sovereignty. "An investigation has been opened by authorities under the prosecutor's supervision to identify the people involved, and legal sanctions will follow," the interior and justice ministries said in a joint statement. The North African kingdom has been tracking militants since Islamic State seized whole regions of Syria and Iraq in 2014-15. Morocco sees itself as a partner to the West in the war on Islamic militancy, although hundreds of fighters from Morocco and elsewhere in North Africa have joined militant forces in Syria's civil war. Officially, Morocco is aligned with the Gulf Cooperation Council in its stance on the Syrian war but it has commented less on the conflict since the king visited Moscow earlier this year. The Gulf nations mostly back the rebel forces in Syria, while Russia has supported President Bashar al-Assad. But Morocco is divided internally over the Syrian conflict. Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane this month accused Russia of destroying Syria, only for the foreign ministry to reject the comments saying it respected Russia's role in international affairs. (Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Patrick Markey and Hugh Lawson) By Justyna Pawlak and Pawel Sobczak WARSAW (Reuters) - Britain's decision to leave the European Union is an opportunity to reform the bloc, giving more say to national governments and less to Brussels institutions, Poland's eurosceptic leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said. The head of Poland's ruling party told Reuters that Warsaw would push for a new EU treaty, a more influential role for central Europe within the bloc and continued strong ties with Washington. Kaczynski, 67, holds no government post, but he is seen as Poland's most powerful figure and was identified by Reuters as one of the 10 faces for Europe to watch in 2017 amid a rise in populism, euroscepticism and the uncertainties of a Trump administration in the United States. While disappointed at the departure of Britain, which Kaczynski sees as a natural ally for Poland as a country that shares his hawkish stance on Russia and desire for close relations with the United States, Brexit is also an opportunity, he said in an interview. "Britain is leaving the EU, but ... this situation is also an opening," he said, dismissing the notion that an EU without Britain should continue the path of greater integration and centralisation of powers "The issue ... outside of Germany ... isn't seen as clear-cut," he said. "I think almost everyone says Brexit requires a new treaty, a far-reaching change of the treaty." "We need reforms which clearly define that the EU is an association of national states and that national states are the foundation. Plus, we need far-reaching deregulation," he said. "In private, some (EU representatives) say we are right, but they are asking if we have (others') support." Few EU politicians question the need to reform the EU amid concerns that the bloc may now be breaking apart because its 500 million citizens no longer see it as a guarantor of peace and prosperity. But the direction of change remains divisive. PINPOINTING ALLIES Poland's relations with Brussels have soured since the PiS won power last year. Kaczynski, the twin brother of the late president Lech Kaczynski who was killed in a plane crash in 2010, has a running feud with former Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, president of the EUs European Council, whom he blamed for failing to keep Britain in the EU. In addition, the European Commission has opened an inquiry into the rule of law in Poland where the PiS government has been accused of curbing democratic rights. Kaczynski said he wanted the voice of Poland and its central European peers - Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, known as the Visegrad Four (V4) - to gain more sway in Brussels. "We are working hard on the V4," he said. "Institutionalising the V4, which already holds regular prime ministers' meetings would be an element of bolstering Poland's status (in the European Union)." The four countries share their opposition to EU migration policy, but Kaczynski's eurosceptic stance, while resonant with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is less popular in Prague and Bratislava. On the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, Kaczynski said it was difficult to guess what his foreign policy will be. "I don't think there is a politician in the world who can say something definitive about Trump," he said. Many Europeans fear Trump may dilute the historic U.S. military commitment to protect them from Moscow, but Kaczynski said he expected the president-elect to negotiate with Russia "from the position of strength". "All signs suggest that we will try to negotiate but ... from the position of strength, not as a weaker (interlocutor) or even ... one who is retreating." Kaczynski said he was less concerned than some of his European peers over Trump's decision to appoint Rex Tillerson, the CEO of oil giant Exxon, who has close ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin, as secretary of state. "We know Tillerson had close contacts with Russia. The question is whether a change of his role ... will change his approach," Kaczynski said. "From the point of view of a negotiator - and Trump is a negotiator - nominating someone who doesn't have a negative approach towards Russia from the start ... is not a bad approach." (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian air strikes in Syria have killed 35,000 rebel fighters and succeeded in halting a chain of revolutions in the Middle East, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday. Speaking at a gathering of top military officials that appeared designed to showcase Russia's military achievements, Shoigu said Moscow's intervention had prevented the collapse of the Syrian state. "We are now stronger than any potential aggressor," President Vladimir Putin said at the same event at the Defence Ministry in Moscow. Shoigu said Russian aircraft had flown 18,800 sorties in Syria since the start of the Kremlin's operation there last year, destroying 725 training camps, 405 sites where weapons were being made and killing 35,000 fighters. "The chain of 'colour revolutions' spreading across the Middle East and Africa has been broken," Shoigu said. Russia's intervention in Syria is widely seen as having saved President Bashar al-Assad's forces from defeat and as being crucial to their retaking full control of Aleppo. Shoigu also said Russia's nuclear missile forces would next year be swelled by three extra units armed with modern weaponry and that the air force would receive five modernised strategic bombers. But Putin warned that while Russia's military power had grown substantially, "if we don't want that to change we had better not lose focus." (This story has been refiled to fix typo in number of training camps in fourth paragraph.) (Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Andrew Osborn) By PTI: Kathmandu, Dec 21 (PTI) Nepal police has launched a probe into the death of a 15-year-old girl who died of suffocation after she was banished to a shed outside the village during her menstruating cycle, an ancient Hindu custom outlawed by the government over a decade ago. The victim, a ninth grade student, was found dead at a cowshed in Gagra of Achham district on December 18, police said. advertisement The police said the girl suffocated after lighting a fire to keep herself warm during the freezing winters, BBC Nepal reported. The practice, known as chhaupadi, is a social custom of keeping menstruating girls and women in a narrow shed outside the village, under the ancient Hindu custom which views menstruating girls as unclean. In many cases the huts that menstruating girls and women are banished to are shared with cattle and their excrement and are sometimes set far away from habitation. Some communities in remote areas believe that they will suffer a misfortune such as a natural disaster unless menstruating women are secluded. While in isolation they are denied their usual intake of food and are prohibited from drinking milk. The practice was outlawed by the government in 2005, but it is still prevalent among many village communities in Nepal, especially in western Nepal. Just a month ago, another woman died in Chhaupadi shed. It was also reported that the 21-year-old woman died due to lack of oxygen. She was also told to have lit fire in the shed. PTI UZM AKJ UZM --- ENDS --- BELEN A historic Hispanic city in New Mexico has one in the center of town on public property. Denver has one in front of its City Hall. A small farming community in Colorado has one outside a public park. A Pennsylvania city refused to take its display down despite a legal threat. Across the country, annual disputes over displays celebrating the birth of Jesus on public land have pitted local residents against advocacy groups pushing separation of church and state. But after years of complaints, communities continue to resist demands that they remove public display celebrating the birth of Jesus from public property. The moves come after residents have rallied around the displays or conservative groups have offered legal assistance to keep displays up amid legal threats. As far as Im concerned, its a dead issue, said Jerah Cordova, the mayor of Belen, where a Nativity scene artwork sits year-round and was not taken down after threats of legal action last year. The Nativity scene not only represents the history of our town; it represents our culture. Belen Spanish for Bethlehem is a small city of 7,000 people and nearly 70 percent Hispanic. Last year, residents raised $50,000 for a festival in support of the display after a letter threatening legal action. In Franklin, Pa., a city of 6,500, councilors last month voted to keep a decades-old Nativity scene in a city park after receiving an email from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation. That foundation has sent similar letters warning municipalities that public Nativity scenes violated the separation of church and state. Franklins city councilors consulted lawyers and resolved the issue by agreeing to allow secular Christmas decorations in the park. Officials in St. Bernard, Ohio, a suburban of Cincinnati, ignored a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation and opted to keep in place a Nativity scene in front of City Hall. In Bethlehem, Pa., tourists visit to see miniature depictions of various settings of the Nativity story. That display is run by the nonprofit, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites and is not connected to the city government. In previous years, some municipalities pulled Nativity scenes after receiving complaints from the foundation. For example, officials in Wadena, Minn., removed the citys decades-old Nativity scene off public property after receiving a letter from the foundation. Supporters and opponents of the Nativity scenes agree that municipalities are fighting harder to protect the displays. We are seeing more municipalities digging in after learning about their rights, said Mat Staver, who heads the Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which offers the municipalities advice to protect them and volunteered free legal help for Franklin, Pa. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said more cities and towns simply ignore complaints that placing Christian art on public property violates the U.S. Constitution. In recent years, conservative Christians have complained about the secularization of Christmas, said Andrew Chesnut, the Bishop Walter F. Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. We also are seeing a rural and city divide, where rural areas are facing less resistance (to Nativity scenes) while there is more conflict in cities, which are more diverse, Chesnut said. Gaylor said some cities and towns are getting around the conflict by setting up public spaces where volunteers can erect Nativity scenes along with secular Christmas displays. But we dont think putting a couple of reindeer up near a Nativity scene solves the problem, Gaylor said. Still, the pressure has forced some cities to scrap plans for Nativity scene displays. In Gig Harbor, Wash. a maritime city near Tacoma officials blocked residents from putting up a display after getting a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. That prompted a small protest in the city of 7,000 people this week from residents who wanted a Nativity scene. When cities and state allow the public spaces, Gaylor said, the foundation tries to submit its own display. In some states, the foundation put up a Nativity scene with James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and the Statue of Liberty. Instead of baby Jesus in a manger, the group put in place a copy of the Bill of Rights. In New Mexico, Cordova predicted Belen will never remove its Nativity scene. Its here to stay, he said. PHOENIX A judge on Wednesday refused to block a new voter-approved law raising Arizonas minimum wage, turning away a challenge from top business groups in the state. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley rejected arguments from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, other chamber groups and a Phoenix-area restaurant operator that the law didnt contain a source of revenue to handle increased state costs. Kiley said the law exempts the state itself from having to pay the higher wages and theres no mandate that it pay its contractors more for work they do on the states behalf, so the need for to a new revenue source isnt triggered. He also noted that though the states Medicaid program had decided to increase reimbursement rates on Jan. 1 for nursing homes, home health care aides and providers of care for developmentally disabled people, theres no federal or state mandate that it do so. Kiley accepted an argument by state Attorney General Mark Brnovich that the Legislature isnt forced to fund the increases caused by the new law. Brnovichs office defended the law along with proponents of Proposition 206, the measure that raises the minimum wage from $8.05 an hour to $10 on Jan. 1 and to $12 in 2020. The judge also turned away an argument that the law illegally contained two separate subjects a minimum wage increase and a mandate that employers give workers sick pay. An estimated 700,000 Arizonans earn less than $10 an hour now, according to federal statistics cited by backers of the law. The raises approved by the state Medicaid program are expected to cost $48 million for six months, although all but $11 million is federal money. Kileys ruling turned away an effort to temporarily block the wage law pending a full trial. A trial could still be held, but it would likely be months away. Chamber spokesman Garrick Taylor said the groups leaders will consult with their attorneys and decide whether to appeal. If filed, an appeal would likely go directly to the Arizona Supreme Court. We have concerns regarding the constitutionality of the initiative and so well determine whether that conversation continues, Taylor said. Tomas Robles, chairman of the group that backed the initiative, said the Chamber was claiming poverty for its members while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees. Im glad that the judge chose to be on the right side of history, and really protecting democracy more than anything, Robles said. The Chamber themselves are looking to completely disregard the will of the people, the will of the voters, because they want to keep their pockets fat. The 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office said Wednesday it has found no reason to charge a Bernalillo County Sheriffs deputy in the non-fatal shooting of Alejandro Valdez last January. Valdez, 25 at the time, with face and neck tattoos and who goes by Grumpy, was shot in the shoulder about 3:30 a.m. Jan. 21 after fleeing authorities in a stolen car and firing shots at them after crashing in the South Valley, according to a criminal complaint. The District Attorneys Office finds that there is not probable cause to criminally charge Deputy Michelle Carlino with any crime under the laws of the state of New Mexico, according to the DAs shooting review released Wednesday. The report outlined how Carlino and other deputies followed the stolen car near Rio Bravo and Isleta SW when the driver accelerated and drove off the road and into an embankment near Del Rio Road. The report says that when Carlino stopped her vehicle, she witnessed muzzle flashes from the driver who exited the crashed car. She said she fired at him four times, standing behind the door of her cruiser, and she said she heard shots from the driver hitting her vehicle. She told investigators she feared for life. Valdez ran and made his way to an apartment complex where a 10-hour SWAT standoff ensued before deputies entered the apartment with a search warrant and found him hiding under bedsheets. A firearm was found in a closet, according to the complaint. Valdez was booked into jail on suspicion of aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence, receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to jail records. The sheriffs office said Valdez had been arrested previously on charges that include battery on a police officer, escape from custody and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. One of the New Mexicos largest food banks says it distributed 32 million pounds of food through its partner agencies and provided food to an average of 70,000 people in 2016. The Roadrunner Food Bank says it increased the number of meals for kids by over 300,000 more meals. Thats a total of 1.4 million meals for kids this year. Roadrunner says it also served an extra 3,000 seniors since launching its senior hunger initiative in 2015. But the organization says next year will bring just as many challenges as child hunger and poverty continue. Roadrunner is encouraging more donations. It announced on Wednesday that monetary donations made this month will be matched dollar-for-dollar for up to $80,000. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named billionaire investor Carl Icahn and vocal China critic Peter Navarro as high-level advisers, moves that suggest his administration is standing by controversial campaign promises to roll back regulations and renegotiate free trade agreements On the stump, Trump called for a moratorium on new government regulations and pledged to eliminate many of the existing ones starting with repeal of President Barack Obamas signature healthcare legislation. He also tapped into the frustration of many working class voters by vowing to withdraw from long-standing free trade deals, such as the North American Free Trade Act. Since the election, comments from some of Trumps advisers as well as the president-elect himself appeared to indicate that he might moderate his stance. But on Wednesday, Trump signaled that he may double down. Navarro, an economics professor at the University of California-Irvine, was one of the sharpest critics of globalization among Trumps advisers on the campaign trail. He worked closely with commerce secretary nominee and billionaire industrialist Wilbur Ross during the campaign, helping to craft the hard-line approach on trade that propelled Trump to victory. The proposals included ripping up long-standing agreements with Mexico, slapping double-digit tariffs on imports from China and punishing companies that outsource manufacturing jobs. In a statement, Trump said has been influenced by Navarros work for years. He has presciently documented the harms inflicted by globalism on American workers, and laid out a path forward to restore our middle class, he said. Navarro will lead the National Trade Council, an advisory position within the White House that the Trump transition team said is equivalent to the historically powerful roles of the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. Navarro will help shape strategy in trade negotiations, address the decline in manufacturing jobs and implement Trumps pledge to Buy American, Hire American. Navarro authored several books blaming China for the hollowing out of Americas middle class and produced a documentary titled Death By China that was narrated by actor Martin Sheen. His positions break with traditional Republican orthodoxy, and economists have warned that implementing Trumps protectionist policies could ignite a trade war that would undermine the American recovery possibly even throw the nation into recession. Hes as hard a hard-liner as they come, said Patrick Chovanec, managing director and chief strategist at Silvercrest Asset Management Group. All you have to do is watch his movie or read his book. China is the nemesis. Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia University Business School and former chief economist for President George W. Bush, said Navarro has long been motivated by what he sees as an unfair playing field with China. Navarro is a longtime Democrat and has said he felt abandoned by his party. Peter has a set of ideas in which hes interested, Hubbard said. Politicians use conservative or liberal labels. Peter found a political leader who was very interested in his ideas. Icahn, one of a handful of hedge fund investors who supported Trumps during his campaign, will serve as a special adviser overseeing regulatory reform. Carl Icahn will be advising the President in his individual capacity and will not be serving as a federal employee or a Special Government Employee, the transition said in a statement. The extent of his responsibilities were not clear, but he has expressed skepticism of many environmental regulations. However, he has defended the sweeping financial reforms passed after the Great Recession that Trump has pledged to dismantle. Icahn has had a hand in shaping Trumps economic agenda from the start at times in ways that benefited his own investments. One of Icahns companies, for example, owns two oil refineries that might have to pay more than $200 million because of a congressionally-mandated program designed to promote the blending of ethanol with gasoline. At the time, Icahn said in an interview with The Post: Sure I have an agenda. George Washington had an agenda too, citing the founding fathers land holdings. But having an agenda doesnt mean youre not doing the right thing. The renewable fuel program, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, establishes renewable fuel certificates, and many big oil companies have been earning substantial profits while independent refiners struggle. The EPA is doing for Big Oil what it could never do for themselves: Get rid of all the competitors in the refining business, Icahn said. Trump also claimed victory Wednesday after meeting with Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg. In a tweet, Trump had complained that Boeings price tag for Air Force One was too high. Muilenburg said Wednesday that the company would get it done for less than the $4 billion Trump had indicated it would cost. 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, he said. trump-advisers Interstate 40 eastbound was closed at Wyoming for a fatal crash during rush hour Wednesday evening, according to the Albuquerque Police Department. Around 6:30 p.m. spokesman Daren DeAguero said the preliminary investigation found two vehicles were traveling on the interstate when one vehicle ran into the other from behind. He said the vehicle that struck the other one contained an elderly driver and one passenger, and the passenger died on the scene. He did not identify anyone involved. Speed appears to be a factor in this crash, DeAguero said. The interstate was reopened shortly after 10 p.m. The NIA arrested the mastermind of fake currency notes racket deported from Saudi Arabia. By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: NIA sleuths today arrested Abdul Salam, wanted in connection with smuggling of high quality fake Indian currency notes. The arrest was made after Abdul was deported from Saudi Arabia to Delhi's IGI Airport. Abdul alias Podi Salam, a resident of Malappuram district of Kerala was charge-sheeted absconding accused in Nedumbasserry FICN Case in 2014. The case deals with the criminal conspiracy to smuggle Rs 9,75,000 worth of fake Indian currency notes, which were seized from Abid Chullikulavan Hassan by Customs wing IC(Rummage and Intelligence Unit), Kochi at Nedumbasserry International Airport in January 2013. advertisement The NIA had taken over investigation of this case after re-registering FIR in 2014. Charge sheet was filed by the NIA against five accused persons, including Abdul Salam, on charges of being part of the criminal conspiracy to smuggle high quality counterfeit Indian currency notes to India from UAE and had facilitated smuggling of the contraband. The case is pending trial before the NIA special court at Ernakulum, Kerala. Also Read: Rs 100, Rs 50 currency notes are now facing security threat, Finance Ministry sources tell India Today 21-year-old Make In India awardee arrested with fake Rs 2,000 notes worth Rs 42 lakh --- ENDS --- Since election night almost five weeks ago, Ive been giving some thought about the Electoral College and not just because Donald Trump received the majority of electoral votes while Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a margin of nearly 3 million. Lets be clear, Donald Trump won the presidency by the rules that exist. As many people now know, this was the fifth time in United States history that a president was elected despite having lost the popular vote. Two of these five anomalies have occurred in the last five elections. This has caused an outcry that the Electoral College is unfair because in a democracy, the person getting the most votes should be elected. Should we abandon the Electoral College and go to a system where the winner of the nationwide popular vote becomes president? Its important to examine the two basic reasons that our founders created the Electoral College system. First, they wanted to give the small states a voice as active participants in electing the president. Under a popular-vote system, the fear was that the small states would be all but ignored by the campaign and become irrelevant simply because of their size. Second, the founders believed that ordinary citizens couldnt learn enough about the candidates and their positions to make a reasonable judgment, so they would vote for electors, who were involved in the political process, to make well-informed decisions in voting for the best candidate. But neither of these arguments is persuasive today. With the Electoral College creating a system where only battleground states are up for grabs, most small states are ignored because they are either solidly red (e.g. Wyoming, Montana), or solidly blue (e.g. Hawaii, Delaware.) Additionally, todays technology means ordinary citizens can get information about the candidates from all forms of social media, 24-hour cable-news networks and televised presidential debates. The arguments for switching to the popular vote seem to be more persuasive. First, it would rectify the unfairness of small states having more electoral votes per population than big states. For example, California with 55 electoral votes has one elector for every 705,000 people. On the other hand, Wyoming, with three electoral votes has one elector for every 194,000 people. If California had the same proportion of electors as Wyoming does, it would have more than 190 electoral votes. Perhaps the best argument for going to a popular-vote system is that it would force candidates to campaign nationally instead of confining themselves to 10 or 11 swing states. They would be forced to campaign in states like California, New York and Texas, which, despite having a high number of electoral votes, are largely ignored, because the first two are solidly blue, and the third is solidly red. On balance, Id prefer to have the winner of our presidential elections determined by the popular vote. However, there is a significant drawback to this. Imagine in the last election if Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a total of 49,000 votes nationwide. There would be demand for a recall in virtually every precinct in America, meaning battalions of lawyers, endless vote recounts, arguments in court. We wouldnt know who the president was until March or April of the following year. I believe we can get the best of both systems if we kept the Electoral College, but mandated each state to award its electors by the proportion of the popular vote received in that state. In Pennsylvania, Donald Trump would have received 10.0 electoral votes, Hillary Clinton 9.8, Gary Johnson 1.5 and Jill Stein .5. The popular vote would be important, but the Electoral College would remain with its benefits, and the possibility of a nationwide recount would be eliminated. As logical as this proposed system might sound, there is one problem with it. The electoral-vote distribution for the 2016 Presidential election was Trump 306, Clinton 232. Under my proposal, Hillary Clinton would have received 257 electoral votes, Donald Trump 251, Gary Johnson 18 and Jill Stein 6. That means that no one would get the constitutionally mandated majority, or 270 electoral votes, and the election would be sent to the House of Representatives. Having the House of Representatives determine who will be president is worse than either the current Electoral College system or direct popular-vote system. To keep my proposed system, we would have to do away with the constitutional requirement that the winner has to get more than 50 percent of the electoral votes and just awards the presidency to the person who got the highest total. In other words, the winner would be decided by a plurality, not a majority. This idea would require changing the constitution. That is a difficult thing to do and a slow, cumbersome process, but worth it. There have been 700 bills introduced in the Congress to end or reform the Electoral College. Its time for number 701. Ed Rendell is a former governor of Pennsylvania and former mayor of Philadelphia. Samantha Kochman, a University of Pennsylvania student, contributed to this column. It is hard to believe that the Creator of our universe with its billions of galaxies could have sent Himself to this little blue blip not so long ago in the form of an infant born to a virgin, to be first worshipped by illiterate shepherds where He lay in a feed trough, livestock peering down at Him, Eastern potentates following a star to the site. But here we are again, singing those songs, so we shall see. My mother loved Christmas with her whole heart. With six children and no credit cards and my father ever watchful for unnecessary expense, Christmas was a mountain for Grace to climb, requiring endurance, planning, stealth and skill, but she brought it off to perfection every year, until she was in her 90s and then she coasted on her memories. Her mother died when my mother was 7 and Mother had no memory of her, which troubled her deeply. She looked at photos of her mother, tall, haggard, from the early 1920s, and tried to dredge up some recollection, anything at all, the sound of her voice, what she cooked, what her hand felt like. Grace was third from the end of 11 children, the 12th having died with the mother, of scarlet fever, and Grace was raised by her older sisters, Marian and Ruby and Margaret. Complaint was not encouraged in that family, and mental health was not a topic for discussion, but clearly Christmas was a shining moment of gaiety in a family of modest means and strict decorum. When I was 19, my older brother asked me to look after his house over Christmas so he and his young family could drive out to New York for a week. His house was in the woods and I, intoxicated by Thoreau at the time, was more dramatic than necessary and announced that I would spend Christmas alone out there to figure things out. A poem of mine got in the college literary magazine, with the lines: The ice is thin and deep is the dark Below, green lights in the trees and red, Winding my way into the winter mist. Coat open and the silver blades are sharp And that long long bend ahead Will take me out and away from you and all of this. Which was about skating, but a girl I knew thought it was suicidal and she came out to the woods to visit me and bring me dinner from her mother turkey, candied yams, cranberry, in tinfoil. We lit candles and sat and meditated on the mystery of life, and it was pleasant to have someone be so concerned about my well-being. At the time, I thought of suicide as poetic, an artistic choice stemming from great emotional depths. Two months later, her boyfriend Leeds was killed when a drunken driver pulled out of a parking lot and into his mothers car coming back home from a play at the Guthrie Theater. Twenty-some years later, sunk in depression, my friend filled her pockets with rocks and paddled a canoe out to the middle of a lake and capsized it and drowned. Life is good. On a winter night, looking into a fire, our dead are around us, testifying to that. The books on the shelves, the young people around the table, the carols on the radio in the kitchen, the shining snow on the hill that looks out at the Mississippi River. As you get old, you gain a stripped-down life, minus the clutter and hullabaloo, the excess food and alcohol, the meaningless gifts, and it is quite satisfying to sit with your true love in candlelight, a plate of cookies on the table, and let memories come and go. My mother is there. Its 6 a.m., still dark out, and Ive come down the stairs in my pajamas to the darkened tree, a note from Santa, the crumbs of the gingersnap I left for him, and I hear the padding of bare feet on the stair, and suddenly the tree bursts into light, and my mother is standing there in a raggedy robe. She missed her dead mother and found her every year in making Christmas for us. Even after she moved to Florida, she flew back for a proper Minnesota Christmas with frost on the windows and wind in the chimney. What you do for children is never wasted: this Christmas will live on and nourish them long after you have faded away. Distributed by The Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News. A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says New Mexicos rate of income inequality the gap between the incomes of the rich and poor is the 12th-highest in the nation. Earlier this year the Economic Policy Institute said New Mexico had one of the lowest levels of income inequality, ranking No. 44 among the states. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities a nonpartisan think tank that analyzes policies from a progressive perspective says the gap has worsened over the past three-and-a-half decades, and that the top 1 percents share of income doubled between 1979 and 2013, from 10 percent to 20 percent. The Economic Policy Institute a nonprofit think tank that says it researches the economic status of working America compared the average income of the top 1 percent to the average income of the remaining 99 percent. But before anyone argues a tax on New Mexicos so-called 1 percenters is the answer to all budget woes, its important to note that while their income is about 16 times that of the remaining 99 percenters, it takes just $231,276 a year to enter the realm of the so-called super-rich in the Land of Enchantment. (In Connecticut you would have to earn $659,979 to join the lofty few.) Elizabeth McNichol, who authored the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report, argued that income inequality is bad for the economy because it reduces opportunities for working people. If New Mexico wants to improve its economic situation, it will need to address the divide between the richest households and the rest of the state. While there are valid arguments over how to view income inequality zero isnt great if it means everyone is dirt poor there are some obvious ways to tackle the issue here. We can start by addressing how many people are or arent working. In the Dec. 5 edition of the Journals Business Outlook section, reporter Marie C. Baca provided a sobering profile of the states civilian workforce. Only 57.5 percent of the states workforce defined as those 16 and older (no upper limit) who are able to work actually participate in the workforce. Conversely, 42.5 percent, or about 686,000 individuals, who could do not participate. Those numbers are mitigated to some degree: Those not participating could be retirees, non-working college students, women with care-taking responsibilities or workers who have been out of work so long theyve stopped looking for a job. Or folks who cant pass a pre-employment drug test. An October Business Outlook report quoted one business owner as saying for every 10 drug tests, four candidates fail and another four never show up to take the test. Still, the numbers indicate there are a lot of New Mexicans capable of working who, for whatever reasons, arent. The states high unemployment rate is reflective of the workforce participation numbers. And it doesnt help on the income inequality score. New Mexicos unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in November the second-highest in the nation. (Alaska was No. 1 with 6.8 percent.) New Mexico has had that same dubious honor for the past four months. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate for November was 4.6 percent. Like other studies, the income-gap reports can be pitted against each other to support an ideological bent, or they can be used to focus on the real bottom line that to shrink its income gap New Mexico first and foremost needs to quite literally get working, and part and parcel with that is balancing the state budget, reforming the tax structure, better educating the workforce, diversifying the government- and oil-dependent economy and convincing new college graduates to stay and thrive here. The income gap is simply one more indicator we need to do better. 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. Arlene Harjo is getting her car back but she says she wont stop moving forward with her lawsuit until the city ends the program that allowed them to take possession of her car nine months ago. City attorneys said in court filings that they plan to file several different motions to dismiss the case before it gets to trial. Harjo has filed litigation against the city of Albuquerque seeking to end a city program that allows police to seize vehicles from suspects arrested on suspicion of a second or subsequent felony. Harjos 2014 Nissan Versa was seized when her son was arrested for drunken driving in April. She said she gave her son permission to drive to the gym, but instead he drove to Clovis and was arrested while driving back to the city. Her son had prior drunken driving convictions, the most recent coming in 2009, according to court documents. The city agreed to release the vehicle to Harjo. The city in court filings said that it reviewed documents from Harjos seizure and found the city shouldnt have taken control of the vehicle because it was seized outside the city limits. Upon confirming this information, the city promptly informed Ms. Harjos attorneys that we intend to release the vehicle to her, City Attorney Jessica Hernandez said. Harjo said she has been paying several car bills for the past eight months when the city had her car. It took them (nine) months to dawn on them that they shouldnt have taken the car? Harjo said. The focus now is to prevent this from happening to anyone else. Robert Frommer, one of Harjos attorneys from the Institute for Justice, a libertarian law firm in Washington, D.C., said Harjo still has good reason to continue her lawsuit to try to end the program. She was still harmed, he said. She had to be subject to this unlawful scheme. Albuquerque police for several years have confiscated vehicles from certain drivers using a city ordinance. But some have argued that state forfeiture laws should prohibit Albuquerque police, and a handful of other law enforcement agencies in the state, from taking vehicles from drivers who are suspected but not convicted of a crime. Hernandez has said the citys seizure program operates under a nuisance-abatement ordinance. She said its a useful tool to fight against drunken drivers and that innocent owners have steps they can take under the ordinance to get their vehicles. Harjo said she is committed to moving forward with her case in hopes that it leads to a judge abolishing the citys seizure program. I was angry, she said of the procedure the city used to confiscate her car. I felt (the hearing officer) was trying to intimidate me and make me feel like I did something wrong. SANTA FE The Attorney Generals Office continues to drill down into former Sen. Phil Griegos possible misuse of his campaign funds, obtaining a search warrant for his American Express card account. Investigators want to know more about 13 payments totaling nearly $16,000 they say were made from his campaign bank account to American Express from 2012 to 2014 but not reported to the secretary of state, as state law requires. It is unknown, for instance, if the unreported payments paid for campaign or purely personal expenses, Special Agent Mark Pinto wrote in his request for a search warrant. The search warrant, obtained Sept. 28 but unsealed in state District Court just last week, is the latest publicly disclosed step in the AGs probe. Search warrants had been obtained previously for his bank records. Griego, a Democrat from San Miguel County who resigned from the Senate in March 2015, already is facing criminal charges for his role in the sale of a historic state-owned building near the Capitol in 2014. A real estate associate broker, hes alleged to have used his position as a legislator to get a $50,000 fee from the transaction. Charges against him include bribery, perjury and violating his oath of public office; a trial is scheduled for October 2017. Griego has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his attorney has said the state lacks sufficient evidence to back them up. The former lawmaker also is the subject of a pending complaint filed by the New Mexico Real Estate Commission, related to the 2014 real estate deal and whether he properly disclosed his involvement in it. Griego, whose license as an associate broker has been inactive since March, could face disciplinary action if he is found to have violated real estate laws or regulations. He has denied any wrongdoing. According to the recently released search warrant, in the period from March 2012 through January 2014, Griego made 23 payments totaling $23,375 from his bank campaign account to American Express. He failed to report 13 of them, totaling $15,916, to the secretary of state, the AGs investigator said. Previously, investigators had said there were 43 instances since 2012 in which checks written from Griegos campaign account were not reported to the secretary of state. Griegos lawyer, Tom Clark, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest search warrant. SANTA FE Fresh off a divisive presidential election that generated renewed debate over the Electoral College, a state senator from Albuquerque is proposing legislation that would add New Mexico to an interstate compact aimed at guaranteeing the president in future elections would be elected by national popular vote. Sen. Mimi Stewart, a Democrat, said Wednesday that her bill was filed in response to this years election, in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College despite receiving nearly 2.9 million fewer votes nationwide. I do think theres something wrong with the system when the second-place winner (in the popular vote) wins, Stewart told the Journal. Its certainly too late for this election, but its not too late to back away from this system for future elections. Stewart, who introduced similar legislation in 2009 that passed the House but died in the Senate, said shes been receiving 15 to 20 emails per day from constituents upset about the Electoral College system and this years election results. A national popular-vote system would take effect if enacted by enough states to form a majority of the Electoral College. Under such a scenario, a constitutional amendment would not be needed to make the change, as the Electoral College would not technically be abolished. Already, 10 states including California, Washington and Illinois have enacted such popular-vote legislation. Arguments against the popular-vote system include the belief it would allow urban areas to decide elections and the fear it would undermine the importance of states in the election process. Stewart said she expects critics of the legislation to argue that a popular vote system would decrease the influence of New Mexico the state has five electoral votes but said shes trying not to be provincial in her thinking. Under the current system, states are allocated electoral votes based on their population. Specifically, the 538 members of the Electoral College are allocated based on how many representatives each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives plus one for each senator. Electors in most states are required by law to cast their votes for the candidate who received the most votes in that state. This years Electoral College vote took place Monday. Trump got 304 votes, compared with 227 for Clinton, clearing the way for him to take office next month as the nations 45th president. All five New Mexico electors cast their votes for Clinton, who defeated Trump by 8 percentage points in last months statewide vote. A historical footnote: The current Electoral College system has now, including this years race, led to five presidents being elected without winning the nationwide popular vote. I think its an anachronism, Stewart said of the Electoral College. Its just out of date. New Mexicos 60-day legislative session does not start until Jan. 17, but lawmakers could begin pre-filing legislation earlier this month. BERLIN German officials presented mounting evidence Thursday that Anis Amri was behind the wheel of a truck that smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12, as authorities across Europe pressed ahead with their feverish manhunt for the 24-year-old Tunisian, who has evaded capture since the attack. Police raided properties in Berlin and the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia where Amri is believed to have spent time. They also swooped on a bus in the southwestern city of Heilbronn after receiving a tip that turned up nothing. No arrests were made, said Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors. Even so, investigators were increasingly confident that Amri carried out the rampage after finding his fingerprints in the cab of the truck that had been hijacked shortly before Mondays attack. We can tell you today that there are additional indications that this suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after visiting the Federal Criminal Police Office along with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Fingerprints were found in the cab, and there are other, additional indications that suggest this, he told reporters. It is all the more important that the search is successful as soon as possible. German authorities have been on the defensive after it emerged that Amri had been considered a potential threat for months, subjected to surveillance and put in pre-deportation detention in August only to be released again due to paperwork problems. The fact that the attack is alleged to have been carried out by a man who came to Germany seeking asylum last year also prompted fresh criticism of Merkels decision to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants into the country without thorough security checks. While police have noted that most migrants are law-abiding, a number of high-profile crimes, including the New Years Eve assaults in Cologne and several violent attacks over the summer have stoked anti-migrant feeling in Germany. Two attacks in July, along with the truck attack in Berlin, were claimed by the Islamic State group. We have made great efforts in recent years to better prepare for terrorist threats, Merkel told reporters. This makes me confident that we will withstand the test that we now face. While members of Merkels party have called for tighter asylum laws and a crackdown on potential extremists in the wake of the attack, the chancellor appealed once more for calm. I want to say how very proud Ive been in recent days that the great majority of people have reacted soberly, she said. At the site of the bloodbath, Berliners made a show of defiance. Vendors reopened their stalls at the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church even as police placed concrete blocks by the roadside to provide extra security. In tribute to the victims, organizers decided to do without festive music and bright lights. Berliners and visitors placed candles and flowers at a makeshift shrine for the victims . Berlins state Health Ministry raised the number of injured in the attack to 56, saying some victims went to hospitals on their own. The agency said 12 people were being treated for severe injuries, with some still in critical condition. Another 14 people with less-serious injuries remained hospitalized and 30 others had been discharged. German authorities have offered a reward of 100,000 euros ($105,000) for information leading to Amris arrest, but they warned he could be violent and armed. In Tunisia, Amris brothers spoke to The Associated Press, urging him to surrender to authorities. Whether he did it or not, I ask him to report to the police. We are suffering because of him, said Abdelkader Amri. Another brother, Walid, said Amri may have been radicalized in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Italys Justice Ministry confirmed reports that Amri was repeatedly transferred among Sicilian prisons for bad conduct, with prison records saying he bullied inmates and tried to spark insurrections. He served 3 years for setting a fire at a refugee center and making threats, among other things but Italy apparently detected no signs that he was becoming radicalized. Amris mother, Nour El Houda Hassani, insisted he had shown no signs of radicalization and questioned whether he was really the market attacker. Speaking in the central Tunisian town of Oueslatia, she said poverty drove Amri to steal and to travel illegally to Europe. I want the truth to be revealed about my son, she said. If he is the perpetrator of the attack, let him assume his responsibilities and Ill renounce him before God. If he didnt do anything, I want my sons rights to be restored. ___ This story has been amended to correct the attribution of quotes between Abdelkader Amri and brother Walid Amri. ___ Associated Press writers Bouazza ben Bouazza in Oueslatia, Tunisia; Ciaran Fahey in Berlin; and Frances DEmilio in Rome contributed. WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) A Canadian woman who authorities say managed to hide her 4-year-old pet cat Bella in her handbag during a trans-Pacific flight had her vacation cut short when border agents discovered the ruse at a New Zealand airport. The woman was refused entry into the country and she, her husband and the cat were forced to catch the next flight home, Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman Craig Hughes said Thursday. He called the woman's actions reckless and dangerous. New Zealand has strict regulations for importing pets. Cats and dogs from most approved countries must have an implanted microchip and be quarantined for a minimum of 10 days after arrival. Hughes said the couple, both in their mid- to late-20s, managed to conceal the cat from the flight crew and other passengers during the 7,000-mile (11,300-kilometer) flight from Vancouver to Auckland. Apparently it was a very quiet cat. Very docile, Hughes said, adding that it may have been drugged to make it drowsy. He said the traveling couple said they had nothing to declare upon arrival but border agents then determined their muddy boots needed inspecting. Agents then moved the couple's bags to an X-ray machine. Hughes said the woman was very reluctant to have her small handbag X-rayed and insisted it had already been checked. She finally admitted there was a cat inside, Hughes said, but then said she'd told a ticketing agent about Bella when she purchased her ticket. Hughes said even if the woman's story were true, which he doubted, it was still unacceptable to bring a cat across the border without declaring it. He said foreign cats could bring with them ticks and diseases that aren't present in New Zealand. He said the woman got upset about being sent back home. She had plans to have a nice holiday with her husband in New Zealand, Hughes said. And her cat. 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. WASHINGTON Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden remains in contact with Russian intelligence services, according to a bipartisan congressional report released at a time when Russia is considered a top national security concern. The two-year inquiry focused on Snowdens 2013 leak of classified U.S. material about Americas surveillance programs. It concluded that Snowden compromised national security by these disclosures and is avoiding prosecution while living in a country that is considered one of the top U.S. adversaries. In recent months, U.S. intelligence agencies have been outspoken about their beliefs that Russia actively interfered in the U.S. political process by hacking into private email accounts. The report sends a strong message to President Barack Obama during his final days in office: Do not pardon Edward Snowden. Obama has not offered any indication that he is considering pardoning Snowden for the leaks that embarrassed the U.S. and angered allies. Lisa Monaco, Obamas adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism, said last year that Snowden should come home to the United States and be judged by a jury of his peers not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime. However, there has been a push by privacy advocacy groups to pardon the former NSA contractor who they herald as a whistleblower for leaking documents that disclosed the extent of the data the U.S. collects on Americans in its efforts to fight terrorism. After the disclosures, Obama reined in some of the surveillance authorities and put in place additional measures to provide more transparency to the classified programs. The House intelligence committee released the report to provide what the panels chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., called a fuller account of Edward Snowdens crimes and the reckless disregard he has shown for U.S. national security. The 33-page unclassified report pointed to statements in June 2016 by the deputy chairman of the defense and security committee in the Russian parliaments upper house, who asserted that Snowden did share intelligence with the Russian government. The report said, Since Snowdens arrival in Moscow, he has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services. The following sentence was redacted, and there is nothing in the unclassified report that explains why the committee believes Snowden is still sharing intelligence with the Russians. The committees top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said Snowden isnt a whistleblower as he and his defenders claim. Most of the material he stole had nothing to do with Americans privacy, and its compromise has been of great value to Americas adversaries and those who mean to do America harm, Schiff said. Ben Wizner, Snowdens lawyer, dismissed the report and insisted that Snowden acted to inform the public. The House committee spent three years and millions of dollars in a failed attempt to discredit Edward Snowden, whose actions led to the most significant intelligence reforms in a generation, Wizner said. The report wholly ignores Snowdens repeated and courageous criticism of Russian surveillance and censorship laws. It combines demonstrable falsehoods with deceptive inferences to paint an entirely fictional portrait of an American whistleblower. One of the programs that came under great scrutiny is set to expire in a year, and it will be a top priority for the House committee, among others in Congress, to get it renewed. Under that program, the NSA sweeps up communications of non-Americans outside the U.S., and it can also capture the domestic communications of any American in contact with the terror suspect, even if those contacts have nothing to do with terrorism. The resulting sweeps are likely to have included emails and other data from tens of thousands of Americans over the past decade, experts have said. Three years ago, Snowden revealed U.S. government efforts to hack into the data pipelines used by U.S. companies to serve customers overseas. The programs collected the telephone metadata records of millions of Americans and examined emails from overseas. Snowden fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia to avoid prosecution. ___ Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report. AUSTIN, Texas Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is praising the collapse of a deal to repeal North Carolinas anti-LGBT law as he continues calling for Texas to adopt a similar measure. Patrick said Thursday the North Carolina law known as House Bill 2 is essential legislation. The law omits gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from state anti-discrimination protections. It also orders transgender people to use bathrooms and showers that align with their sex at birth. Patrick is pushing his Republican-controlled Senate for a similar law next year, although no legislation has yet been filed. Texas business groups have slammed the proposal, pointing to how jobs and sporting events have shunned North Carolina. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott says hes waiting to see what legislation is filed. The Texas Legislature reconvenes in January. By PTI: Investigation has established the group used different Investigation has established the group used different methods of communication to connect within themselves and with overseas ISIS handlers, it said. This included the use of the dark net through Tor browser, use of encryption applications such as Orbot, Amn al Mujahid, an encryption program by Al-Fajr Media Centre which is an exclusive distributor of Al Qaeda?s Propaganda, Chatsecure, Telegram, and encrypted email systems, it added. advertisement They deliberately used secure communication and encryption to evade detection by law enforcement agencies. Investigation conducted so far has successfully established all the accused are members of a terrorist gang, the agency said. Each member played his role in the conspiracy. There were several meetings conducted by the members over the period where many decisions were taken on the course of action to be taken in furtherance of the conspiracy, it said. The group made efforts to go and join the ISIS ranks, took instructions from the handler, formed a terrorist group, pledged Bayah to the ISIS, recruited others, contributed money, utilized the funds so collected to procure raw materials, mobile phones, SIM cards, firearms, ammunition, explosive precursors, in pursuance of the terror conspiracy. All the accused conspired with a common intent to commit terrorist acts and threaten safety, security and integrity of the nation, the NIA said. PTI SKL TIR --- ENDS --- Tobias Rene always wants to give back. The Native New Mexican is donating a unique charity gift this year a raffle for a private New Years Eve house party. And proceeds from the raffle will benefit Cancer Aid Resource & Education, a nonprofit organization offering services and support for individuals going through cancer. CARE helps patients and families with non medical needs while in active treatment for their cancer, such as gas cards, food, rent utilities and lodging to name a few. Im so honored to give of my time this holiday season to benefit a great cause, said Tobias Rene. CARE is a great organization that offers much needed support to people going through cancer. I have personally had family and friends endure cancer, so this cause is definitely important to me. Raffle tickets are $1, and can be purchased on the campaign raffle tobiasrene.com/nye-raffle. The raffle closes at 2 p.m. mountain on Christmas Day, December 25, 2016. The drawing will take place at 3 p.m. Christmas Day. Rene has sold more than one million albums and digital downloads in the last decade. And he recently jump started his music career and is working on new music. The winner of the private New Years Eve event will be announced after the winner has been notified. The private New Years Eve show will take place in the winners home (in accordance with noise ordinances) from 10 p.m.-midnight Dec. 31. SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. A 20-megawatt solar energy facility has opened east of Tucson. The Sierra Vista Herald reports (http://bit.ly/2hXp2i0 ) that Arizona utility provider Sulphur Springs Valley Cooperative and California-based energy company SunPower announced Wednesday that their solar facility is now open and will provide energy to nearly 3,000 customers in rural areas south of Willcox. The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates that the project will produce enough energy to power 2,800 average homes over two decades. Under its deal with SunPower, SSVEC will purchase the electricity provided by the nearly 53,000 solar panel system at a flat rate for the next 20 years. SSVEC Chief Member Services Officer Jack Blair says the price has not been publicly disclosed but is comparable to the current rate the utility provider pays other energy producers. ___ Information from: Sierra Vista Herald, http://www.svherald.com Anthea Butler thought shed heard it all before. Butler, a religious study professor at the University of Pennsylvania, a black woman who teaches a class about the religious right in America and a fiery liberal on social media, has been ridiculed in recent years on primetime TV by the rights Sean Hannity and called out on AM radio by Rush Limbaugh. So shes gotten used to the call-outs by angry conservative eggs on Twitter, to the emails that call her an n-word who doesnt belong on an Ivy League campus and to the calls to her department chair from people posing as Penn alums, demanding that this professor with an expansive Afro who calls herself dangerous in her online profile be fired ASAP. But when a fellow professor contacted her a few weeks ago and told her shed been placed on a brand new nationwide professor watch list intended to help conservatives identify faculty liberals, Butler felt like rising McCarthyism on Americas campuses just surged to a new high water mark. So its making things uncomfortable for everybody, which Im personally upset about and dont like, Butler told me this month, referring to online list that includes several well-known professors. It affects the environment on a campus like Penn, the sense that theres free speech for some and not for others. If youre a black women at an Ivy League school, there no free speech for me because theyre already pissed that Im there. It hasnt escaped the attention of Butler and others that a list targeting liberal profs came out at the same time that Donald Trump who campaigned in an often-bullying style against so-called elites like the media and the academic community is ascending to the presidency. In one sense, it all seems like a back-to-the-future moment, because professors were often watched and targeted for alleged leftist sympathies, real or imagined, by the FBI and its allies in the 1950s and 60s in the era kicked off by the Communist witch hunts of then-Sen. Joseph McCarthy. But there is also something new and frightening about an era of emboldened white nationalists and others on the fringe far-right and their ability to use the internet, social media and other technologies to bully and try to silence voices they dont agree with. Since Trumps election victory on Nov. 8, theres been a surge in reported hate crimes on college campuses as well as high schools in middle schools, from Swastikas on bathroom stalls to racist texts, with growing concern over physical violence. Conservatives have countered that the minority of students who support Trump or right-leaning causes are the ones being harassed. The watch list, created and promulgated by a nationwide youth-oriented conservative group called Turning Point USA, feels like dousing that smoldering flame with kerosene. Whats more, what purpose could the list serve beyond intimidating liberal-leaning academics from speaking freely? a motive that seems absurd considering that the No. 1 right-wing complaint about college campuses has been so-called speech codes and political correctness they claim (occasionally with justification) can assault the 1st Amendment. Matt Lamb, a University of Nebraska grad student with the title of director of constitutional enforcement and transparency for Turning Point USA, insisted to me in a phone conversation that the intent of the watch list wasnt to shut professors up or shut them down. We want students to push back, he insisted, adding that the goal is collect all the random reports of professorial comments that have outraged conservatives in recent years and corral them on one handy-dandy list. Yet one other troubling aspect of the list is that the majority of the supposed heresies didnt even take place in a classroom, where critics on the right have long insisted that students are indoctrinated with liberal ideas. Many happened on Twitter, during televised appearances, in published op-eds or at political rallies. Penns Butler, for example, is cited for a tweet referring to another pundit, also black, who used a racial epithet about then-presidential candidate Ben Carson, and for an article she wrote after George Zimmermans acquittal for killing Trayvon Martin, in which she wrote this American god aint my god. The renowned bioethicist Arthur Caplan, who taught at Penn for years and is now at New York University, made the list for the sin of comparing Trumps immigration policies to Hitler in an article for the Poynter Institute. Turning Points Lamb told me, in essence, that professors are always on duty, even when the comment is made on Twitter or in an op-ed. It all seems ridiculous to the newly blacklisted, like Temple professor of higher education policy and sociology Sara Goldrick-Rab, author of the acclaimed book on the high cost of college (ironically, a supposed pet issue for conservatives) titled Paying the Price. Shortly before leaving the University of Wisconsin for Temple, Goldrick-Rab had come under fire for tweeting about similarities between Badger State Gov. Scott Walker and, you guessed it, Hitler. Its an attempt to tell students what to think and do and is also therefore insulting, Goldrick-Rab told me by email. What they claim I did is nonsense, and was twisted by the media as part of launching Walkers presidential campaign. What matters is that faculty stand for free speech and the deliberate discussion of difficult ideas, and I and everyone on the list do that. She continued: This is going to put a chill on a lot of people from saying things. It limits the kind of conversations we can have who wants these people doxxing you? that is, printing personal information such as phone numbers and home addresses. Exactly. Its not just college professors, but union presidents, journalists and even, sadly, members of Congress who find themselves at the end of a torrent or abuse and even threats of violence, often for doing little more than criticizing or just getting criticized by our incoming Dear Leader. Groups like Turning Point USA certainly do have an 1st Amendment right to air their grievances about certain professors and post them to the internet. But I think they also know the shameful real-world consequences. McCarthyism has been with us for a long time, but in 2016 McCarthyism has been weaponized, and honest free speech can only suffer. For conservatives, the supposed champions of campus free speech, to be doing this isnt just gross. Its the height of hypocrisy. ABOUT THE WRITER Will Bunch is a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. Readers may email him at bunchw@phillynews.com 2016 Philadelphia Daily News Visit the Philadelphia Daily News at www.philly.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ WASHINGTON For those searching for stronger evidence of Russias connection to the hack of the Democratic National Committee, the tale of an infected Ukrainian Android app used for cellphones or tablets may help, according to a cybersecurity firm. A report released Thursday by CrowdStrike describes how a widely used application developed by a Ukrainian artillery officer to more quickly conduct strikes may have become the means by which the Russian government gained intelligence such as the whereabouts of Ukraines military forces. The app, developed in 2013 by self-taught programmer Yaroslav Sherstuk and distributed over social media, was ultimately hijacked by the Fancy Bear hacking group believed to be affiliated with the Russian military intelligence agency, the GRU. In 2014, Fancy Bear created a malicious variation of the Android application for download and posted it on a Ukrainian military forum. By some reports, an estimated 9,000 gunners in the Ukrainian military installed the application on Android tablets or cellphones as conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine that pit government forces against Russia-backed rebels in April 2014. Officers who used the infected application on the battlefield provided the Russian hackers with their general location as well as potentially valuable intelligence, such as access to their contacts, text messages, call logs and internet data, the report states. The malicious software known as X-Agent, which was used to help turn the clash with Ukrainian forces to Russias advantage, is the same malicious software that was used to hack the DNC, said Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chief technology officer of CrowdStrike. His company was hired to investigate the DNC hack and over the summer publicly attributed it to Fancy Bear. Alperovitch said the Ukrainian example demonstrates an even stronger connection between Fancy Bear operators and the Russian military. For them to use this on the battlefield they need a closely integrated connection, Alperovitch said. Its exactly the mission of the GRU. We think this is very convincing evidence that links the two (Fancy Bear and the GRU) together. But CrowdStrikes findings were met with skepticism in Ukraine. Sherstuk, who created the app, said he wasnt speaking to reporters when reached by telephone. In a series of Facebook posts, he dismissed the CrowdStrike story as rotten information. Nevertheless, he urged soldiers to only download updated versions of the app directly from him. Delete earlier versions of the program, he wrote Thursday. Victor Romanchuk, a Ukrainian programmer who said he was familiar with the app, suggested it wouldnt make a very good spy tool. The program is often used on specially ordered tablet computers with no internet connection, said Romanchuk, making them of limited use to an enemy seeking real-time information on troop movements in the field. Russias Ministry of Defense did not immediately return a message seeking comment, but Russias leadership has repeatedly rejected allegations that the Russian military is involved in Ukraine despite a large body of evidence to the contrary . Russian officials have also denied the Obama administrations accusation that the highest levels of the Russian government were involved in trying to influence the U.S. presidential election. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russias goal was to help Donald Trump win an assessment the president-elect has dismissed as ridiculous. President Barack Obama has ordered intelligence officials to conduct a broad review of the election-season cyberattacks. ___ Raphael Satter in Paris and Sveta Kozlenko in Kiev, Ukraine, contributed to this report. ___ Follow Tami Abdollah on Twitter at https://twitter.com/latams BEIRUT After the governments capture of the rebel-held east of the city, heres a look at key events in Aleppo since the start of Syrias uprising nearly six years ago: March 2011: Protests erupt in the southern city of Daraa over the detention of a group of boys accused of painting anti-government graffiti on a school wall. On March 18, security forces fire on a protest in Daraa, killing four people in what activists regard as the first deaths of the uprising. Demonstrations spread, as does the crackdown by President Bashar Assads forces, eventually igniting a full-scale civil war. 2012 July: Rebel fighters seize eastern Aleppo, dividing the city. The intense fighting that follows, including almost daily barrel bombs dropped by government warplanes on the poorer and more densely populated east, causes an estimated 1 million civilians to flee. Another half million are displaced inside the eastern part of the city in the first year of the conflict. October: The U.N. negotiates a short-lived truce during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. Fighting damages cultural and historic sites, including the Grand Umayyad mosque, which both sides sought to control. December: Rebels launch an offensive that expands their presence in Aleppo province and secures supply lines to the Turkish border. They seize a number of military and air bases, increasingly isolating government forces. All flights from Aleppo airport are suspended after al-Qaida-linked fighters threaten to shoot down civilian planes. 2013 January: At least 147 bodies wash up on the banks of Aleppos Queiq River, apparently killed by government security forces. April: Aleppos ancient Citadel, used by government forces as a base, comes under rebel fire. The government targets the Umayyad mosque minaret, suspecting rebels were using it. Amid the fighting, passageways between the two sides of the divided city emerge, allowing an informal link for residents, but also turning deadly at times, as sniper fire kills many. August: Insurgents gain control of the Aleppo-Damascus highway, tightening the siege on the government part of the city. Residents of eastern Aleppo take food to relatives in western Aleppo. October: Poor coordination and infighting weaken the rebels ranks. That winter, Islamic State group militants clash with the rebels, establishing a presence in the eastern part of the city. December: The government begins an unprecedented campaign of dropping barrel bombs on Aleppo city and surrounding areas, driving more people out. IS expands its presence in the eastern part of city. 2014: January: Rebels unite against IS, driving the extremists out of Aleppo. Government forces exploit the fighting to push the rebels back. May: Using a new tactic, rebels tunnel beneath a hotel used as a government command and control center and blow it up. The government intensifies its barrel bomb campaign. 2015 March: Insurgents blow up the Air Force Intelligence building in Aleppo after digging a tunnel, a symbolic victory. The newly formed Army of Conquest, which brings together rebels and al-Qaida-linked fighters, seizes Idlib city to the northwest. October: Russia begins launching airstrikes to bolster Assads forces. Syrian troops launch an offensive around Aleppo. Iraqi, Lebanese and Iranian militias also throw their weight behind the government, setting the stage for a wider offensive against Aleppo that would continue until the following year. 2016 February: Russia and the U.S. broker a cease-fire that excludes extremists. Signs of normal life return to Aleppo. April: The cease-fire collapses, bombing resumes, and the Castello road, the only road out of eastern Aleppo, becomes a death trap. July: The government and allied forces impose a full siege on eastern Aleppo, with some 250,000 still in the enclave. Rebels break the siege for a few weeks, but government force seal the city off again by August. September: A cease-fire negotiated by Russia and the United States holds for a few days, but talks to bring in aid go nowhere. An airstrike hits a humanitarian aid convoy north of the city. October: Russia announces it is suspending its airstrikes on eastern Aleppo and designates humanitarian corridors, urging the rebels and residents to leave the eastern enclave. The rebels reject the offer, no one uses the corridors and the U.N. says it cannot carry out medical evacuations due to security concerns. The government continues its air raids. November: The government launches a renewed, intensified air campaign. In late November, Syrian troops and allied forces launch a major ground offensive, rebel defenses crumble and thousands flee. Dec. 14: A cease-fire, brokered by Turkey and Russia, is announced for the evacuation of rebels and civilians from the tiny remaining sliver under opposition control, effectively surrendering the city to the government. But it fails to take hold, government shelling continues. Dec. 18: World powers reach a deal to allow the evacuations to resume, and over next days buses ferry out thousands of civilians and hundreds of fighters across government-held areas to rebel territory in Aleppo province. Rebels agreed to allow government forces to evacuate civilians and the sick from two Shiite villages under siege in rebel-controlled Idlib province. Dec. 22: Under heavy snow and freezing conditions, the last people leave eastern Aleppo. The Syrian military announces that it has re-established security across the city. Albuquerque police officers responding to reports of shots fired in a northwest Albuquerque home came out emptyhanded after the suspects apparently managed to escape from an hourslong SWAT standoff Thursday afternoon. Officer Fred Duran said after investigating, police believe no shots were fired. They believe two suspects broke into a home on the 100 block of Phoenix NW by kicking in the door, causing loud bangs that neighbors may have thought were shots. The homeowner told officers he had heard the suspects inside. The Albuquerque Police Departments SWAT team was called out, and SWAT officers spent hours making PA announcements. Once they got a warrant to go inside, they found the home was empty, Duran said. Police found two stolen vehicles outside the home, and are investigating those as well as the possible burglary. Officers shut down much of Second Street during the SWAT call, and reopened it by 8 p.m. The area has been reopened and detectives will continue with the investigation to determine who was responsible for this, Duran said. We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain. Official sources said tax officials have carried out a total of 760 searches, survey and enquiry operations under the provisions of the Income Tax Act and seized Rs 3,590 crore in old notes and Rs 93 notes in new notes. By Press Trust of India: The Income Tax department has unearthed undisclosed income worth over Rs 3,590 crore in old and now-demonetised currency notes while more than Rs 93 crore in new notes has been seized as part of its countrywide operations against black money hoarders post the demonetisation of two high-value currencies by the government. 1. Official sources said tax officials have carried out a total of 760 searches, survey and enquiry operations under the provisions of the Income Tax Act since the note ban was declared on November 8, even as the department has issued 3,589 notices to various entities on charges of tax evasion and hawala-like dealings, till Wednesday. advertisement 2. The department has seized cash and jewellery worth over Rs 505 crore during the same period even as the new currency seized is valued at more than Rs 93 crore. 3. "The total undisclosed income admitted or detected as part of this action, till December 21, is more than Rs 3,590 crore," they said. 4. The agency has also referred a total of 215 cases to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and 185 cases to the CBI in order to enable them to probe other financial crimes like money laundering, disproportionate assets and corruption as part of their legal mandate. Also read | I-T department detects Rs 3,185 crore black income, seizes Rs 86 crore new notes --- ENDS --- Real Estate News That beloved holiday film Christmas without a tree seemed sad. Nick Lu for The Boston Globe Their lives are very busy right now, those of my three almost adult children. They will soon be home under our roof again, all five of us to celebrate Christmas together. We will head up the street to the neighborhood farm stand to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. One that will fit just so in our cozy family room. I can imagine it now, the way this process will play out. One daughter will spy a tall, elegant, slender tree that reaches our ceiling. She will talk about how all of our ornaments may actually fit on a tree this size. The other daughter will want a shorter, more plump tree with long needles and branches. She will reminisce about how her dad has taught her to place certain ornaments back in the branches for a more dramatic effect. My son will choose a tree with his nose, not his eyes. He will find one with the most beautiful scent, the kind that drums up memories of hikes in the woods of Maine and New Hampshire one that will fill our home with the scent of Christmas. Advertisement: As my family relives this routine each year, I am reminded of my first Christmas married to my husband. Prior to our wedding, we had found a wonderful little apartment to rent on the third floor of an old Victorian. It had the smallest galley kitchen and a nice eating nook. In total contrast, the living room was a space to be reckoned with. We were thrilled with its expansive size, with its high, seemingly endless ceilings and the wide and tall great wall. We easily ignored the pale pink painted walls, as the natural sunlight lit up the room in an almost ethereal fashion. We envisioned entertaining our family and friends in this space, watching movies on a big-screen TV while sitting curled up on a sectional that snaked around the center of the room, and even having parties where there was room to dance. Being practical, we set a goal of buying our own home at the end of the lease. So we worked and saved. We did not purchase that big-screen TV or that sectional. The great wall remained bare, and the room was furnished with a love seat, chair, and my 1980s Zenith TV. We were happy. Advertisement: As our first Christmas together approached, we began decorating our apartment with the festive items we owned. We also booked a trip to Minneapolis to spend the holidays with my husbands family. We were faced with our first dilemma as newlyweds. We had already decided that when we had our own home, we would buy a fresh-cut tree. But what to do this year? We were traveling and on a tight budget, so purchasing a tree seemed unwise. However, Christmas without a tree seemed sad. So together my husband and I considered our options and ended up getting what has turned out to be our most memorable and talked about tree. With an old-fashioned slide projector and a picture of my husbands Christmas tree from the past year, we projected the most beautiful tree onto the expansive great wall of that living room. The colors were brilliant! Even better, we could move the projector and make the tree short and plump or move it back and make it tall and slender. We placed our family gifts under the tree. As we headed out this year with our children on our journey to find the perfect tree, we asked our kids whether they would ever consider having a funky projected tree so that size and shape would appeal to all. But my son was quick to remind us that we want a tree that will fill our home with the scent of Christmas. So out the door we go to the farm stand up the street. Advertisement: Suzanne Berry, an occupational therapist, lives in Milton. Send comments and a 550-word essay on your first home to [email protected] Please note: We do not respond to submissions we wont pursue. By PTI: Colombo, Dec 22 (PTI) A consignment of kitchen apparels with printed images of Buddha, shipped from India, was today seized by Sri Lankas customs authorities for hurting religious sentiments. The stock of 5,424 sets of kitchen apparels, which included aprons, oven gloves and table serviettes, was seized from a container during the Customs checking on several other goods from India, Customs Spokesman Dharmasena Kahandawa said. advertisement The stock was detected while the container was opened for unloading some other items in Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror reported. The shipment had arrived from Tuticorin few days ago and the ship was travelling to Slovenia, in the Central Europe via Sri Lanka. The cargo arrived at the BQ4 warehouse of the Colombo Port on December 2 and the shipment arrived on SS St John Ark. Kahandawa said investigations would be done and relevant actions would be taken by the Customs. He said the Sri Lanka Customs would inform to the Indian Customs to conduct an inquiry and to stop such items that hurt the sentiments on any religion. Nearly 70 percent of Sri Lankas 21 million people are Buddhists and authorities are highly sensitive to perceived insults to the faith. PTI PMS --- ENDS --- Irish people travelling abroad over Christmas should exercise extreme caution, according to the Foreign Affairs Minister. Charlie Flanagan's comments come in the wake of the attack in Berlin which killed 12 people. The Minister said a terrorist attack couldn't be ruled out in Ireland. With a large man hunt is underway in Berlin, Charlie Flanagan has this advice for Irish people heading abroad. "My advice to Irish citizens travelling anywhere in Europe is to exercise a high degree of caution. "Many European countries have a state of high alert. I acknowledge that the events of the last 48 hours have heightened tensions. My advice to Irish people would be to exercise caution." A tourist who was enjoying Berlin's Christmas market with his girlfriend when a truck ploughed into the crowds has described the "carnage" at the scene. Luke Theis, 21, and Lara Colombo, 22, both from Washington, US, were on the other side of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and heading to the area which was targeted when they became aware of the commotion. Mr Theis, a student, told the Press Association: "We started seeing people running and hearing ambulances from all directions so we walked over. It was carnage everywhere. There was blood all over the floor. "There were people lying on the floor - I am not sure what their condition was - I could count about eight lying down. "The biggest mental image I have is there were two rivers of blood going down the floor. "Nobody was really helping anybody. People were running. It was like every man for themselves. It was dusty and chaotic. "There were ambulances and police sirens. People were yelling in German - I don't know what they said but it sounded like 'Get out, get out, get out'." American tourists Lara Colombo and Luke Theis. Concerned for his girlfriend's safety, Mr Theis decided to return to their hotel. But as they made their way back he said a fight broke out between some Germans and "Middle Eastern" men at the bus station. The couple then got on a bus, where he said the driver targeted a woman wearing a burka who did not have a ticket. He said: "When I got on the bus, the driver didn't ask for anyone's ticket but he was shouting 'Ticket, ticket, ticket' to a Muslim woman who had a stroller. No-one else was asked for their ticket. Another lady with a baby paid for her. "You could feel the tension in the air - it was hostile. It seemed people were scared of people from the Middle East. "There was this 'We don't want you here' vibe." Mr Theis has booked flights out of Germany earlier than planned as the couple no longer feel safe, and they are leaving on Wednesday morning. He said: "My girlfriend's safety is my priority. We are in shock. I think it hasn't settled. People have died right next to you. It won't settle for a couple of days. "It's unsettling to think that you are so close to maybe dying. One minute you are alive and enjoying the Christmas market and then you are dead and your family has to spend Christmas without you. "My heart completely goes out to all the victims' families." Another witness, Jan Hollitzer, 36, said he heard screams as the truck made its way through the stalls, but that the market was "really silent" as "shocked" shoppers looked on at the aftermath. Mr Hollitzer, deputy editor-in-chief of local news outlet Berliner Morgenpost, told the Press Association: "First, I heard a noise, then he destroyed the booths on the market and we heard some screams, and then the truck came out of the market on the left side." Mr Hollitzer said he walked across the street to the market and saw destroyed stalls, broken glass, crockery and tables, and injured people lying on the ground. "I moved forward and saw the back of the truck - it was a lorry," he said. "There were some people under the truck and it was really scary, really terrifying. "I moved on the street to see the front of the truck, which was destroyed." Briton Emma Rushton, who was at the scene, said the market lights were torn down as the truck ploughed through. She told the New York Times that the vehicle had "completely decimated" the hut in front of her, adding: "It happened so quickly that people wouldn't have had an opportunity to get out of the way. "People were sitting, holding their heads. There were pools of blood on the floor. There were people in the recovery position. "And it was completely decimated - the wood, glass, everything everywhere." Mike Fox, from Birmingham, told the Associated Press that the truck had missed him by about three metres. He said he had seen people trapped under stalls and others who appeared to have broken limbs. "You do what you can to help who you can, really," he said. "It happened so fast that there was nothing we could do to stop it - if we'd tried to stop it we would have been crushed." Vivian Hilse, 15, a school pupil from Berlin, was at the market with her best friend when the lorry crashed into the market. "I didn't see the lorry but I heard it, I heard people screaming," she said. "We tried to run away but my best friend fell over and broke his leg. "Everyone was running. I could hear screaming and saw lots of injured people. "I was really afraid. We got in the ambulance and went straight to hospital. "It was only when we were in the hospital that we knew what had happened. "It is awful, you don't feel safe in your own city." Berlin resident Andreas Heller, 56, was enjoying wine and a Bratwurst at the Christmas Market an hour before the attack. "It was very festive and people were very happy - there was a lot going on," he said. "I live just three to five minutes away from here, I am shocked by what has happened. "We were expecting something to happen but even so we are all deeply affected. "These events are always exploited by the right wing populists to incite hatred. But that is what the terrorists want. What's very important is that people use their heads and think about what happened, to have a measured and intelligent response." Mr Heller said Angela Merkel was being blamed by those affiliated to right wing parties, who described the victims as her dead. "That is primitive and revolting," the retired carer said. By PTI: Houston, Dec 20 (PTI) Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have developed an oral vaccine against Salmonella - the deadly bacteria responsible for one of the most common food-borne illnesses in the world. Oral vaccination is simplest and least invasive way to protect people against salmonella infection, researchers said. Taking this vaccine by mouth also has the added advantage of using the same pathway that salmonella uses to wreak havoc on the digestive system, they said. advertisement "In the current study, we analysed the immune responses of mice that received the vaccination by mouth as well as how they responded to a lethal dose of salmonella," said Ashok Chopra, professor at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) in the US. "We found that the orally administered vaccines produced strong immunity against salmonella, showing their potential for future use in people," said Chopra. There is no vaccine currently available for salmonella poisoning. Antibiotics are the first choice in treating salmonella infections, but the fact that some strains of salmonella are quickly developing antibiotic resistance is a serious concern. "Another dangerous aspect of salmonella is that it can be used as a bioweapon - this happened in Oregon when a religious cult intentionally contaminated restaurant salad bars and sickened 1,000 people," researchers said. Salmonella is responsible for one of the most common food-borne illnesses in the world. In the US alone, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are about 1.4 million cases with 15,000 hospitalisations and 400 deaths each year. It is thought that for every reported case, there are about 39 undiagnosed infections. Overall, the number of salmonella cases in the US has not changed since 1996. Salmonella infection in people with compromised immune systems and children under the age of three are at increased risk of invasive non-typhoidal salmonellosis, which causes systemic infection. There are about one million cases globally per year, with a 25 per cent fatality rate. In earlier studies, the UTMB researchers developed potential vaccines from three genetically mutated versions of the salmonella bacteria, that is Salmonella Typhimurium, that were shown to protect mice against a lethal dose of salmonella. In these studies, the vaccines were given as an injection. The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. PTI SAR SAR --- ENDS --- Modified On Dec 22, 2016 03:29 PM By Raunak for Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 2016-2020 The Range Rover Evoque Convertible will be a direct import available only in the HSE Dynamic trim. Land Rover will soon offer the option of a new model with its hot-selling Range Rover Evoque in India. According to our source, the Tata-owned British off-road automaker will launch the Evoque Convertible in the second half of 2017 in the country. It will be positioned as a niche product, and is expected to be a direct import from Europe with a price tag in the vicinity of Rs 75 lakh. Like the Evoque, the Convertible will also have no direct rival as such in the country. The Evoque Convertible will be available in a single variant HSE Dynamic powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged Si4 petrol engine. The engine puts out 240PS of max power and 340Nm of peak torque at 1,750rpm, mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission with four-wheeldrive layout. It propels the Evoque Convertible from nought to 100kmph in 8.6 seconds before hitting a top speed of 209kmph. Land Rover claims that it is capable of raising and lowering its roof in around 20 seconds at speeds of up to 48kmph. Speaking of the features, the Convertibles features will be identical to those of the 2017 Evoque HSE Dynamic variant. It will come with features such as the InControl Touch Pro Navigation 10-inch infotainment system, adaptive LED headlights, configurable ambient interior lighting, and others. Recommended Read: Updated Range Rover Evoque Launched At Rs 49.10 Lakh Read More on : Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 2016 The Charity Commission has frozen the bank accounts of an animal charity Action Aid for Animals while it opens a statutory inquiry to examine the financial controls. Action Aid for Animals has not submitted accounts since 2013 and the Commission says it has been engaging with the charity on its governance since 2012. The charity was issued with an action plan in November 2015, which included filing its overdue accounts. Its objectives are to rehome abused animals in England, Croatia, Hungary and Romania. It has two trustees listed on the Commissions website, Kendra Pinder and Katie Thomas, and the regulator said it is concerned that the charity might be inquorate. The Commission has frozen the charitys bank accounts and has issued orders to restrict trustees from entering into certain transactions relating to the charitys operations overseas. Latest available accounts Its accounts for the year ending July 2013 show an income of 191,000 and expenditure of 189,000. The accounts also included a statement relating to its previously late accounts. We are a very open and honest charity, we prefer that our supporters and donors are award of any problems we have faced, or even mistakes we have made. In reference to our accounts continually being late for submittance, this basically boils down to us being a small charity having to do a large charitys job So in all honesty, though we know the importance of maintaining records and submitting our accounts for independent examination, because of lack of manpower and commitment much of the time it has been a choice between saving animals' lives or sitting down to gather paperwork. Possibly we were wrong to so but we focused on saving animals' lives. It added that it was active online so that its supporters could see how money was being spent and said that an ex-volunteer had been responsible for clearing out a storage container and had spilled liquids over the receipts. Charity criticises regulators announcement Pinder told Civil Society News that the vagueness of the Commissions announcement could damage the charity. She said: Unfortunately it is a general statement which leaves much to open interpretation and in this day and age of gossip mongering and social media we have no doubt there will be many preferring to believe the worst rather than preferring all the facts. She said that the charity had no reserves and that trustees had been covering shortfall in the charitys income. For various projects we have not been able to raise the funds needed to cover them, she said. The trustees, including myself have put in our own money to cover the shortfall, for example 2014-2015 I myself covered many charity bills and projects, veterinary bills, charity projects such as the rescue of 40 dogs from an horrific kill station in Romania. This left me 42,000 out of pocket. She said she planned to file accounts for two years by the end of this week. On one hand we have let our supporters down through lack of organisation on the administration front for this we truly are sorry. However what we have continued to do and will continue to do is ensure that the animals that need us will always take precedent and that all funds raised go towards helping the animals in need but will be taking into account any advice the Charity Commission will give us to enable a reserve fund to be built but also better administration procedures in place. The following companies are subsidiares of Johnson & Johnson: 3Dintegrated ApS, ALZA Corporation, AMO (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd Beijing Branch, AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd Guangzhou Branch, AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd., AMO ASIA LIMITED, AMO Asia Limited (Korea Branch), AMO Asia Limited Taiwan Branch (Hong Kong), AMO Australia Pty Limited, AMO Australia Pty Limited (New Zealand Branch), AMO Canada Company, AMO Denmark ApS, AMO Development LLC, AMO France, AMO Germany GmbH, AMO Groningen B.V., AMO International Holdings Unlimited Company, AMO Ireland, AMO Ireland Ireland Branch, AMO Italy SRL, AMO Japan K.K., AMO Manufacturing USA LLC, AMO Netherlands BV, AMO Nominee Holdings LLC, AMO Norway AS, AMO Puerto Rico Manufacturing Inc., AMO Sales and Service Inc., AMO Singapore Pte. Ltd., AMO Spain Holdings LLC, AMO Switzerland GmbH, AMO U.K. Holdings LLC, AMO United Kingdom Ltd., AMO Uppsala AB, AUB Holdings LLC, Abott Medical Optics, Acclarent Inc., Actelion Ltd, Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Actelion Pharmaceuticals US Inc., Actelion Treasury Unlimited Company, Akros Medical Inc., Albany Street LLC, Alios BioPharma, Alza Land Management Inc., Anakuria Therapeutics Inc., Animas Diabetes Care LLC, Animas LLC, Animas Technologies LLC, AorTx Inc., Apsis, Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Asia Pacific Holdings LLC, Atrionix Inc., Auris Health, Auris Health Inc., Backsvalan 2 Aktiebolag, Backsvalan 6 Handelsbolag, Beijing Dabao Cosmetics Co. Ltd., BeneVir BioPharm Inc., Berna Rhein B.V., BioMedical Enterprises Inc., Biosense Webster (Israel) Ltd., Biosense Webster Inc., Branch of Johnson & Johnson LLC (RU) in Kazakhstan, C Consumer Products Denmark ApS, CSATS Inc., Calibra Medical LLC, Campus-Foyer Apotheke GmbH, Carlo Erba OTC S.r.l., Centocor Biologics LLC, Centocor Research & Development Inc., Cerenovus Inc., ChromaGenics B.V., Ci:Labo Customer Marketing Co. Ltd., Ci:Labo USA Inc., Ci:z Holdings, Ci:z. Labo Co. Ltd., Cilag AG, Cilag GmbH International, Cilag Holding AG, Cilag Holding Treasury Unlimited Company, Cilag-Biotech S.L., CoTherix Inc., Coherex Medical Inc., ColBar LifeScience Ltd., Company Store.com Inc., Conor MedSystems, Cordis International Corporation, Cordis de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Corimmun GmbH, DePuy Hellas SA, DePuy International Limited, DePuy Ireland Unlimited Company, DePuy Mexico S.A. de C.V., DePuy Mitek LLC, DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., DePuy Products Inc., DePuy Spine LLC, DePuy Synthes Gorgan Limited, DePuy Synthes Inc., DePuy Synthes Institute LLC, DePuy Synthes Leto SARL, DePuy Synthes Products Inc., DePuy Synthes Sales Inc., Debs-Vogue Corporation (Proprietary) Limited, Dutch Holding LLC, ECL7 LLC, EES Holdings de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EES S.A. de C.V., EIT Emerging Implant Technologies GmbH, Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Europe) GmbH, Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., Ethicon Endo-Surgery LLC, Ethicon Inc., Ethicon LLC, Ethicon PR Holdings Unlimited Company, Ethicon Sarl, Ethicon US LLC, Ethicon Women's Health & Urology Sarl, Ethnor (Proprietary) Limited, Ethnor Farmaceutica S.A., Ethnor del Istmo S.A., FMS Future Medical System SA, Finsbury (Development) Limited, Finsbury (Instruments) Limited, Finsbury Medical Limited, Finsbury Orthopaedics International Limited, Finsbury Orthopaedics Limited, GH Biotech Holdings Limited, GMED Healthcare BV, GMED Healthcare BV (Branch), Global Investment Participation B.V., Guangzhou Bioseal Biotech Co. Ltd., Hansen Medical Deutschland GmbH, Hansen Medical Inc., Hansen Medical International Inc., Hansen Medical UK Limited, Healthcare Services (Shanghai) Ltd., Hickory Merger Sub Inc., I.D. Acquisition Corp., Innomedic Gesellschaft fur innovative Medizintechnik und Informatik mbH, Innovative Surgical Solutions LLC, J & J Company West Africa Limited, J&J Pension Trustees Limited, J-C Health Care Ltd., J.C. General Services BV, JJ Surgical Vision Spain S.L., JJC Acquisition Company B.V., JJHC LLC, JJSV Belgium BV, JJSV Manufacturing Malaysia SDN. BHD., JJSV Norden AB, JJSV Produtos Oticos Ltda., JNJ Global Business Services s.r.o., JNJ Holding EMEA B.V., JNJ International Investment LLC, JOM Pharmaceutical Services Inc., Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy (Holding) Limited, Janssen BioPharma LLC, Janssen Biologics (Ireland) Limited, Janssen Biologics B.V., Janssen Biotech Inc., Janssen Cilag C.A., Janssen Cilag Farmaceutica S.A., Janssen Cilag S.p.A., Janssen Cilag SPA, Janssen Development Finance Unlimited Company, Janssen Diagnostics LLC, Janssen Egypt LLC, Janssen Farmaceutica Portugal Lda, Janssen Global Services LLC, Janssen Holding GmbH, Janssen Inc., Janssen Irish Finance Unlimited Company, Janssen Korea Ltd., Janssen Oncology Inc., Janssen Ortho LLC, Janssen Pharmaceutica (Proprietary) Limited, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Janssen Pharmaceutica S.A., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Janssen Pharmaceutical Sciences Unlimited Company, Janssen Pharmaceutical Unlimited Company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. Japan Branch, Janssen Products LP, Janssen R&D Ireland Unlimited Company, Janssen Research & Development LLC, Janssen Sciences Ireland Unlimited Company, Janssen Scientific Affairs LLC, Janssen Supply Group LLC, Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., Janssen Vaccines Branch of Cilag GmbH International, Janssen Vaccines Corp., Janssen-Cilag, Janssen-Cilag (New Zealand) Limited, Janssen-Cilag A/S, Janssen-Cilag AG, Janssen-Cilag AS, Janssen-Cilag Aktiebolag, Janssen-Cilag B.V., Janssen-Cilag Farmaceutica Lda., Janssen-Cilag Farmaceutica Ltda., Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Janssen-Cilag International NV, Janssen-Cilag Kft., Janssen-Cilag Kft. Branch Office, Janssen-Cilag Limited, Janssen-Cilag Manufacturing LLC, Janssen-Cilag NV, Janssen-Cilag OY, Janssen-Cilag Pharma GmbH, Janssen-Cilag Pharmaceutical S.A.C.I., Janssen-Cilag Polska Sp. z o.o., Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd, Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd (Branch), Janssen-Cilag S.A., Janssen-Cilag S.A., Janssen-Cilag S.A. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag s.r.o., Janssen-Pharma S.L., Jevco Holding Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson (Angola) Limitada, Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd., Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd. Beijing Branch, Johnson & Johnson (Egypt) S.A.E., Johnson & Johnson (Hong Kong) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Ireland) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Jamaica) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Kenya) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. (DHCC Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. (JAFZA Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. Service Center (DAFZA Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Mozambique) Limitada, Johnson & Johnson (Namibia) (Proprietary) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (New Zealand) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Philippines) Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Private) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Thailand) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson (Trinidad) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Vietnam) Co. Ltd, Johnson & Johnson - Societa' Per Azioni, Johnson & Johnson AB, Johnson & Johnson AB Eesti filiaal (Branch), Johnson & Johnson AG, Johnson & Johnson AG (Zuchwil Branch), Johnson & Johnson Belgium Finance Company BV, Johnson & Johnson Bulgaria EOOD, Johnson & Johnson China Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Consumer (Hong Kong) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer (Thailand) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer B.V., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health Care Switzerland Branch of Janssen-Cilag AG, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Holdings France, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (Dominican Republic Branch), Johnson & Johnson Consumer NV, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Saudi Arabia Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Services EAME Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Del Paraguay S.A., Johnson & Johnson Dominicana S.A.S., Johnson & Johnson Enterprise Innovation Inc., Johnson & Johnson European Treasury Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson Finance Corporation, Johnson & Johnson Finance Limited, Johnson & Johnson Financial Services GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Financial Services GmbH (Branch Office), Johnson & Johnson Gateway LLC, Johnson & Johnson Gesellschaft m.b.H., Johnson & Johnson GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Guatemala S.A., Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc., Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions Inc., Johnson & Johnson Hellas Commercial and Industrial S.A., Johnson & Johnson Hellas Consumer Products Commercial Societe Anonyme, Johnson & Johnson Hemisferica S.A., Johnson & Johnson Holding GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Inc., Johnson & Johnson Industrial Ltda., Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC Inc., Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Limited, Johnson & Johnson International, Johnson & Johnson International (Belgian Branch) (European Logistics Center), Johnson & Johnson International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (Branch), Johnson & Johnson International Financial Services Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson K.K., Johnson & Johnson Kft., Johnson & Johnson Korea Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Korea Selling & Distribution LLC, Johnson & Johnson LLC, Johnson & Johnson Lda, Johnson & Johnson Limited, Johnson & Johnson Limited (Sri Lanka Branch), Johnson & Johnson Luxembourg Finance Company Sarl, Johnson & Johnson Management Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical (China) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical (Proprietary) Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Ltd. Beijing Branch, Johnson & Johnson Medical (Suzhou) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical B.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices & Diagnostics Group - Latin America L.L.C., Johnson & Johnson Medical GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Medical Korea Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical Mexico S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical NV, Johnson & Johnson Medical Products GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Medical Pty Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Medical S.A., Johnson & Johnson Medical S.C.S., Johnson & Johnson Medical S.p.A., Johnson & Johnson Medical SAS, Johnson & Johnson Medical Saudi Arabia Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical Taiwan Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Ankara Branch), Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Izmir Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East - Scientific Office, Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ - LLC (Lebanese Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC, Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC (Ghana Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC (Kenya Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC Branch (TSO) (Saudi Arabia Branch), Johnson & Johnson Morocco Societe Anonyme, Johnson & Johnson NCB (Belgian Branch), Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB, Johnson & Johnson Pacific Pty Limited, Johnson & Johnson Pakistan (Private) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Panama S.A., Johnson & Johnson Personal Care (Chile) S.A., Johnson & Johnson Poland Sp. z o.o., Johnson & Johnson Poland sp. z o.o. oddzial w Warszawie "Consumer", Johnson & Johnson Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd. Korea Branch, Johnson & Johnson Pty. Limited, Johnson & Johnson Romania S.R.L., Johnson & Johnson S.A., Johnson & Johnson S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson S.E. Inc., Johnson & Johnson S.E. d.o.o., Johnson & Johnson SDN. BHD., Johnson & Johnson Sante Beaute France, Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision Inc., Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision India Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Taiwan Ltd., Johnson & Johnson UK Treasury Company Limited, Johnson & Johnson Ukraine LLC, Johnson & Johnson Urban Renewal Associates, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Shanghai) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Ireland Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson d.o.o., Johnson & Johnson de Argentina S.A.C. e. I., Johnson & Johnson de Chile Limitada, Johnson & Johnson de Chile S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Colombia S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson de Uruguay S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Venezuela S.A., Johnson & Johnson del Ecuador S.A., Johnson & Johnson del Peru S.A., Johnson & Johnson do Brasil Industria E Comercio de Produtos Para Saude Ltda., Johnson & Johnson for Export and Import LLC, Johnson & Johnson s.r.o., Johnson Y Johnson de Costa Rica S.A., Johnson and Johnson (Proprietary) Limited, Johnson and Johnson Sihhi Malzeme Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, LTL Management LLC, La Concha Land Investment Corporation, Latam International Investment Company Unlimited Company, Legal Entity Name, MDS Co. Ltd., McNEIL MMP LLC, McNeil AB, McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co., McNeil Denmark ApS, McNeil Healthcare (Ireland) Limited, McNeil Healthcare (UK) Limited, McNeil Healthcare LLC, McNeil Iberica S.L.U., McNeil LA LLC, McNeil Nutritionals LLC, McNeil Panama LLC, McNeil Products Limited, McNeil Sweden AB, Medical Device Business Services Inc., Medical Devices & Diagnostics Global Services LLC, Medical Devices International LLC, Medos International Sarl, Medos International Sarl succursale de Neuchatel (Branch), Medos Sarl, MegaDyne Medical Products Inc., Menlo Care De Mexico S.A. de C.V., Mentor B.V., Mentor Deutschland GmbH, Mentor Medical Systems B.V., Mentor Partnership Holding Company I LLC, Mentor Texas GP LLC, Mentor Texas L.P., Mentor Worldwide LLC, Micrus Endovascular LLC, Middlesex Assurance Company Limited, Momenta Ireland Limited, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., NeoStrata Company Inc., NeoStrata UG (haftungsbeschrankt), Netherlands Holding Company, NeuWave Medical Inc., Neuravi Limited, Novira Therapeutics, Novira Therapeutics LLC, NuVera Medical Inc., OBTECH Medical Sarl, OGX Beauty Limited, OMJ Holding GmbH, OMJ Ireland Unlimited Company, OMJ Pharmaceuticals Inc., Obtech Medical Mexico S.A. de C.V., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals NV, Ortho Biologics LLC, Ortho Biotech Holding LLC, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC, Orthospin Ltd., Orthotaxy, PT Integrated Healthcare Indonesia, PT. Johnson & Johnson Indonesia, Patriot Pharmaceuticals LLC, Peninsula Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pharmadirect Ltd., Pharmedica Laboratories (Proprietary) Limited, Princeton Laboratories Inc., Productos de Cuidado Personal y de La Salud de Bolivia S.R.L., Proleader S.A., Pulsar Vascular Inc., Regency Urban Renewal Associates, RespiVert Ltd., RoC International, Royalty A&M LLC, Rutan Realty LLC, SYNTHES Medical Immobilien GmbH, Scios LLC, Sedona Singapore International Pte. Ltd., Sedona Thai International Co. Ltd., Serhum S.A. de C.V., Shanghai Elsker For Mother & Baby Co. Ltd, Shanghai Elsker Mother & Baby Co. Ltd Minghang Branch, Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Ltd., Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Sightbox LLC, Sodiac ESV, Spectrum Vision Limited Liability Company, Spectrum Vision Limited Liability Partnership, SterilMed, SterilMed Inc., Surgical Process Institute Deutschland GmbH, Synthes Costa Rica S.C.R. Limitada, Synthes GmbH, Synthes Holding AG, Synthes Holding Limited, Synthes Inc., Synthes Medical Surgical Equipment & Instruments Trading LLC, Synthes Produktions GmbH, Synthes Proprietary Limited, Synthes S.M.P. S. de R.L. de C.V., Synthes Tuttlingen GmbH, Synthes USA LLC, Synthes USA Products LLC, TARIS Biomedical, TARIS Biomedical LLC, TearScience Inc., The Anspach Effort LLC, The Vision Care Institute LLC, Tibotec LLC, Torax Medical Inc., UAB "Johnson & Johnson", UAB Johnson & Johnson Eesti Filiaal (Estonian Branch), Vania Expansion, Verb Surgical, Verb Surgical Inc., Vision Care Finance Unlimited Company, Vogue International, Vogue International LLC, Vogue International Trading Inc., WH4110 Development Company L.L.C., XO1, XO1 Limited, Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd., Xian-Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. Beijing Branch Office, Xian-Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. Shanghai Branch Office, Zarbee's Inc., and Zarbee's Naturals. Read More By PTI: From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Dec 21 (PTI) Pakistan today said it is gathering "more evidence" from the alleged RAW spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and will share dossiers on Indias "involvement in subversive activities" with the UN. While briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs here, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also regretted the "Indian aggression" on the Line of Control (LoC). advertisement Interrogation of Jadhav is underway and more evidences are being collected from him, he said. "Dossiers about Indian involvement in subversive activities in Pakistan will be presented before the UN and other important countries after completion of investigation from Kulbhushan Jadhav," Radio Pakistan quoted him as saying. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary said there are several UN resolutions on the Kashmir dispute and that the international community should exert pressure on India for the implementation of these resolutions. He claimed 45 Pakistani civilians have been killed due to "unprovoked Indian firing" on the LoC and Islamabad has informed the UN in writing about these violations. PTI SH SAI AKJ SAI --- ENDS --- Okay, truth be told, I love this time of year. I love December and everything that goes along with it. I mean, a train ride on the Polar Express? Brunch with Santa? Annual holiday baking class with my daughter? Whats not to love? Its also a time of year to set goals and plan for the future. As a self-diagnosed planaholic, it doesnt get any better than this. Now is the perfect time for credit union leaders to reflect on the year that was and outline key drivers for success in the year ahead. To remain competitive, many of those credit union plans and goals will focus on process improvements or technology enhancements to benefit members. In fact, nearly 70 percent of chief information officers said they plan to spend between one and 10 percent more on technology next year compared to previous years, according to a recent survey published through SourceMedia research. The other third of the 300 respondents from various financial institutions intend on growing their IT budges by even more. Looking ahead, here are three things I believe credit unions should focus on in 2017: Improve records management Compliance certainly isnt a new topic for credit unions. But it also isnt a simple process for these providers either. In order to keep up with the growing number of regulations, and document/records and avoid fines and bad press, credit unions should be setting records management functionality as a priority in 2017. Once digital, records management capabilities use pre-defined rules to automate records management processes, from record declaration through final disposition. Users can then place holds on those records to automatically destroy or purge them from the system, staying in compliance with the exact amount of time a records needs to be held and avoiding the risks associated with unsuccessful audits. Know your member To support todays crucial member-centric service strategies, credit unions should utilize technology such as enterprise content management (ECM). With electronic documents and information stored in a secure, central system, employees are able to access member information and documents directly through their core banking system or line-of-business interfaces without having to switch screens or applications. That means they can answer member inquiries with a simple mouse-click. It also means theyre focusing on members, not looking for information. Providing fast, accurate answers when a member needs help is vital. Its the core of your business. This is not only a great time to make a lasting impact on your members, but also capture sales information, generate leads, make offers or create new sales. Wow your member By integrating core banking software with ECM software, member service representatives have instant access to relevant information, enabling them to quickly and accurately handle inquiries, as well as up-sell products and services. ECM solutions also provide several mechanisms for customized, automated statement delivery. You can deliver compound statements with check images via e-mail, fax or posting on the Internet and then customize them to include member-specific marketing messages. credit unions can also provide secure online access to member documents, enhancing the member experience as well as reducing the workload on service representatives. Dont wait until the egg nog is gone and the ball has dropped, start now on your plan for success in 2017. Until next time, enjoy this most wonderful time of the year! An international team of scientists has identified variants of the gene EBF3 causing a developmental disorder with features in common with autism. Identification of these gene variants leads to a better understanding of these complex conditions and opens the possibility of diagnosing other previously undiagnosed patients with similar clinical disorders. The study appears in the American Journal of Human Genetics. "We investigate the genetic causes of complex neurological conditions of various types, such as autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability," said first author Dr. Hsiao-Tuan Chao, postdoctoral research fellow of pediatric-neurology at Baylor College of Medicine. "Such conditions are long-lasting, manifest very early in life and range from mild to severe. They can affect different neurological functions; however, sometimes they have overlapping similarities. For many of these conditions there is no definite diagnosis, treatments are limited and there is no cure." Chao and colleagues have taken a step toward better understanding some of these conditions. They discovered new mutations of the gene EBF3 in three patients presenting with a newly described syndrome. "The patients' main features include developmental delay, coordination problems, limited facial expressions at an early age and abnormal verbal communication and social behaviors. They can also present with repetitive motor movements, high threshold to pain and cognitive impairments," said Chao. "This newly described syndrome has many similarities with what we see in autism spectrum disorders, but also important differences." The researchers used whole exome sequencing, a laboratory technique that allows the identification of all the genes in an individual's genome. In the patients, they identified two new variants of the gene EBF3 that were not present in the patients' parents. Mutations of EBF3 are rare in the general population but more common in a population of individuals with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability. "The gene is known to be essential for normal development of the nervous system," said Chao. "It is one of the key factors involved in how neurons develop and connect with each other, but has not been studied in detail. In animal models, mutations that cause the gene to lose its function result in death of the embryo. EBF3 had never before been associated with a disease." Models show gene EBF3 causes neurodevelopmental disorders That the three patients with developmental disorders have mutations in the same gene is not sufficient proof that the mutations cause the condition. To determine whether the mutations can cause neurodevelopmental problems the scientists tested the effect of the mutations in the laboratory fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. "We genetically engineered fruit flies to carry the mutations present in the patients," said Chao. "The defective gene product was not able to carry on the functions of the normal gene; the effect is so severe that the fly embryos do not survive. On the other hand, when we introduced the normal version of the human gene, the files developed normally." Improved diagnosis The identification of variants of EBF3 that can cause neurodevelopmental disorders has improved the genetic diagnosis of these conditions."We are able to provide a genetic diagnosis for patients who did not know the cause of their condition," said Chao. "This provides some relief to their parents and the possibility of reaching for support from a community of parents whose children are affected by similar disorders. In addition, by gaining a better understanding of how people are affected by EBF3 dysfunction, we as physicians are better equipped to prognosticate the developmental outcomes for these children." "Being able to see our research in fruit flies help us diagnose a patient in our own hospital was very gratifying. Knowing the genetic basis allows for more insights into this disorder of the brain," said Dr. Michael F. Wangler, assistant professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor, a senior author on the paper. ### Other contributors to this work include Mariska Davids, Elizabeth Burke, John G. Pappas Jill A. Rosenfeld, Alexandra McCarty, Taylor Davis, Lynne Wolfe, Camilo Toro, Cynthia Tifft, Fan Xia, Nicholas Stong, Travis K. Johnson, Coral G. Warr, Members of the UDN, Shinya Yamamoto, David Adams, Thomas C. Markello, William A. Gahl, Hugo J. Bellen and May Christine V. Malicdan. The authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, New York University, Baylor Genetics Laboratories, Columbia University, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Monash University. This work was supported in part by U54NS093793, R24OD022005, and R01GM067858, by the Intramural Research Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute and by the Common Fund, Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health. The Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine derives revenue from the clinical exome sequencing offered at Baylor Genetics. An international team of scientists has discovered that the gene, OGDHL, a key protein required for normal function of the mitochondria -- the energy-producing factory of the cell -- and its chaperone, nardilysin (NRD1) are linked to progressive loss of neurological function in humans. Working with the fruit fly, an experimental animal model in the lab, the scientists found a mechanism by which misregulation of mitochondrial function leads to neurodegeneration. The results appear in Neuron. "In our research we look for genes whose loss of function results in deterioration of neurological functions in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster," said first author Dr. Wan Hee Yoon, postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Hugo Bellen, professor at Baylor College of Medicine, investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and senior author of the paper. "In the fly we found that loss of function of nardilysinled to a slow, progressive neurodegeneration." Yoon and colleagues discovered that nardilysin helps the folding of an important protein, an enzyme called OGDH, present in mitochondria. Loss of nardilysin function results in loss of OGDH and a build-up of a compound called a-ketoglutarate (a-KG). High levels of a-KG increase a cellular response mechanism called mTOR that normally provides clearance of cellular components such as proteins and organelles. Yoon observed that mutation of nardilysin leads to abnormal build-up of a-KG followed by mTOR activation and eventually to slow accumulation of cellular trash. Importantly, a drug named rapamycin suppresses the neurodegenerative conditions caused by this accumulation of cellular garbage. In 2009, a group led by Dr. Eiichiro Nishi in Japan genetically engineered a mouse to lack nardilysin.The mice developed neurological problems with motor coordination, balance and memory issues, findings which at the time were not known to be linked to the mechanism described above in the fruit fly. The team led by Bellen realized that the results in fruit flies and in mice might suggest a role for nardilysin and its target protein OGDH in neurological problems in humans. Searching for disease variants of nardilysin, OGDHL At the same time that Yoon was investigating nardilysinand its target protein OGDH, across the street co-author Dr. Ender Karaca, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. James R. Lupski's group at Baylor, was working to solve a rare disease by sequencing the patient's genome through the Baylor-Hopkins Center for Mendelian Genomics (BHCMG). Karaca had discovered a 16-year-old patient with a rare variant in OGDHL who was unable to walk, was bound to a wheelchair and whose head had not grown normally. Yoon and Karaca connected and realized that the mechanism in flies that Yoon was working on might explain the undiagnosed patient of Karaca. "We realized that Ender had identified OGDHL as the top candidate gene for his patient at the same time that we were identifying OGDHL as a target of nardilysin," said Yoon. "After we saw a patient with a severe disorder and variants in OGDHL, we wondered about nardilysin," said Bellen. The researchers then widened their search for similar patients by posting the information of the disease-causing variants of nardilysinin GeneMatcher, a web tool for rare disease researchers developed by the BHCMG team at Johns Hopkins University. Researchers looking for patients carrying rare disease genes post the gene in GeneMatcher. If another researcher around the world has a patient with a matching gene, the teams can contact each other to share the information and collaborate. By posting nardilysinin GeneMatcher, Yoon and colleagues identified a patient whose DNA had been sequenced at the University of California in Los Angeles Clinical Genomics Center. The patient is a 15-year-old boy who presents with symptoms that are remarkably similar to those present in the patient identified by Karaca. "We knew then that these two patients had a very similar disorder, but we had to prove that the genetic variants were causing their conditions," said Yoon and Bellen. Using flies to study how human disease genes work The data from the two patients were strong evidence that the variants in nardilysin and OGDHL are linked to neurodegenerative disease in humans. However, to establish that the disease variants can cause the condition, the researchers turned back to the flies where they could use genetic technology to test the variants. "We can test a human gene side by side with a copy containing a variant from a patient in flies," said co-author Dr. Michael F. Wangler, assistant professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor. Using this technology, Yoon showed that mutant flies carrying a normal copy of the human gene show normal development and neuronal function. However, flies carrying genes with deleterious variants found in patients failed to rescue the loss of the genes in flies. This suggests that the mutations found in patients are indeed deleterious. "These studies show how valuable the fruit fly model is to uncover and test genes linked to human conditions, and to work out how mutations may cause diseases," said Bellen. ### Other contributors to this work include Hector Sandoval, Sonal Nagarkar-Jaiswal, Manish Jaiswal, Shinya Yamamoto, Nele A. Haelterman, Nagireddy Putluri, Vasanta Putluri, Arun Sreekumar, Tulay Tos, Ayse Aksoy, Taraka Donti, Brett H. Graham, Mikiko Ohno, Eiichiro Nishi, Jill Hunter, Donna M. Muzny, Jason Carmichael, Joseph Shen, Valerie A. Arboleda, Stanley F. Nelson. The authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Dr. Sami Ulus Research and Training Hospital of Women's and Children's Health and Diseases (Turkey), Kyoto University, Valley Children's Hospital at Madera and the University of California at Los Angeles. This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH R01GM067858, NIH T32 NS043124-11) and the Research Education and Career Horizon Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award Fellowship 5K12GM084897, the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, the CPRIT Metabolomics Core Facility Support Award RP120092, NCI/ 2P30CA125123-09 Shared Resources Metabolomics core, Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center (DLDCC), Alkek Center for Molecular Discovery, Mass Spectrometry COE by Agilent and the NIH R01GM098387. Further support came from research grants 26293068, 26670139 and 26116715 and a research program of the P-Direct from the MEXT of Japan and the NIH K08NS076547 funded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The authors acknowledge the support of the NIH (1RC4GM096355), the Robert A. and Renee E. Belfer Family Foundation, the Huffington Foundation and Target ALS and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This work was also supported in part by a grant from the National institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (R01NS058529), the Baylor-Hopkins Center for Mendelian Genomics, the US National Human Genome Research Institute, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute grant U54HG006542. J.R.L. has stock ownership in 23andMe and Lasergen, is a paid consultant for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and is a coinventor on multiple United States and European patents related to molecular diagnostics for inherited neuropathies, eye diseases and bacterial genomic fingerprinting. The Baylor College of Medicine derives revenue from the chromosomal microarray analysis and clinical exome sequencing offered in the Baylor Genetics Laboratory. TAMPA, Fla. (Dec. 22, 2016) - Modern medicine and treatments for bacterial infections and cancer have significantly increased life spans and improved quality-of-life. However, many drugs eventually fail because of the outgrowth and survival of treatment-resistant populations. A collaborative team of researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center's Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO) Program, led by Alexander Anderson, Ph.D., and Oxford University's Department of Computer Science are using mathematical models to explain how bacteria and cancer cells exploit an evolutionary process known as bet-hedging to resist medical intervention. "Treatment resistance occurs partly because cell populations are heterogeneous - consisting of a mixture of cells with differing characteristics, some of which are impervious to therapy," said Anderson. "Heterogeneity is found in all organisms, from bacteria and fungi, to plants, insects and cancer cells, and can serve as a survival mechanism to ensure that at least a portion of the population can survive a catastrophic environmental change." Where this heterogeneity arises through mechanisms other than genetic mutation, it is referred to as bet-hedging. Bet-hedging has been identified previously as a mechanism of drug resistance in both bacterial infections and a number of cancers. It is unclear how the phenomenon of bet-hedging first evolved or how it continues to persist where catastrophic events are rare, as natural selection should theoretically drive its loss in a population. The IMO team performed mathematical modeling, coupled with extensive simulations, to predict the evolutionary origin and fate of bet--hedging. Mathematical modeling allows scientists to study complex biological systems and processes that could not feasibly be studied with common laboratory and clinical experimental approaches. The researchers report that biological redundancy can lead to bet-hedging through the introduction of random genetic mutations that initially have no impact on the characteristics of a species. Additionally, the molecular mechanism that controls bet-hedging can slow the rate of its loss. Combined, these mechanisms can ensure that bet-hedging is not lost even where catastrophic events do not occur. These results have important implications for the treatment of diseases that are associated with drug resistance due to bet-hedging. The study's lead author, Dan Nichol from Oxford University, said, "One strategy with the potential to overcome resistance is called a treatment holiday, wherein a patient ceases treatment for a period of time to prevent strong selection for drug--resistant cells that will ultimately drive relapse." Researchers at Moffitt performed simulations showing that the underlying mechanism that controls bet-hedging determines whether a treatment holiday will be beneficial. Other strategies for overcoming bet-hedging-driven treatment-resistant diseases rely on discovering drugs that kill the resistant cells, or identifying targetable genetic mechanisms to prevent their emergence. The IMO team suggests that these strategies could be ineffective in the long-term as redundancy can render single genetic targets ineffective. Instead, they suggest that it may be possible to identify multiple targets whose combination will prevent bet-hedging, or shift the proportion of resistant cells to a manageable level -- allowing treatment with traditional chemotherapeutic drugs or resulting in controlled, rather than expanding, disease. ### The study was published in the December issue of Genetics and was supported by funds received from the National Cancer Institute (grant U54CA193489). About Moffitt Cancer Center Moffitt is dedicated to one lifesaving mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. The Tampa-based facility is one of only 47 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt's excellence in research, clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt is the No. 6 cancer hospital in the nation and has been listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of the "Best Hospitals" for cancer care since 1999. Moffitt devotes more than 2.5 million square feet to research and patient care. Moffitt's expert nursing staff is recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet status, its highest distinction. With more than 5,200 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of $2.1 billion. For more information, call 1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488), visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the momentum on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Summary: Clinical trial failure rates for small molecules in oncology exceed 94% for molecules previously tested in animals and the costs to bring a new drug to market exceed $2.5 billion There are around 2,000 drugs approved for therapeutic use by the regulators with very few providing complete cures Advances in deep learning demonstrated superhuman accuracy in many areas and are expected to transform industries, where large amounts of training data is available Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), a new technology introduced in 2014 represent the "cutting edge" in artificial intelligence, where new images, videos and voice can be produced by the deep neural networks on demand Here for the first time we demonstrate the application of Generative Adversarial Autoencoders (AAEs), a new type of GAN, for generation of molecular fingerprints of molecules that kill cancer cells at specific concentrations This work is the proof of concept, which opens the door for the cornucopia of meaningful molecular leads created according to the given criteria The study was published in Oncotarget and the open-access manuscript is available in the Advance Open Publications section Authors speculate that in 2017 the conservative pharmaceutical industry will experience a transformation similar to the automotive industry with deep learned drug discovery pipelines integrated into the many business processes The extension of this work will be presented at the "4th Annual R&D Data Intelligence Leaders Forum" in Basel, Switzerland, Jan 24-26th, 2017 Thursday, 22nd of December Baltimore, MD - Scientists at the Pharmaceutical Artificial Intelligence (pharma.AI) group of Insilico Medicine, Inc, today announced the publication of a seminal paper demonstrating the application of generative adversarial autoencoders (AAEs) to generating new molecular fingerprints on demand. The study was published in Oncotarget on 22nd of December, 2016. The study represents the proof of concept for applying Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) to drug discovery. The authors significantly extended this model to generate new leads according to multiple requested characteristics and plan to launch a comprehensive GAN-based drug discovery engine producing promising therapeutic treatments to significantly accelerate pharmaceutical R&D and improve the success rates in clinical trials. Since 2010 deep learning systems demonstrated unprecedented results in image, voice and text recognition, in many cases surpassing human accuracy and enabling autonomous driving, automated creation of pleasant art and even composition of pleasant music. GAN is a fresh direction in deep learning invented by Ian Goodfellow in 2014. In recent years GANs produced extraordinary results in generating meaningful images according to the desired descriptions. Similar principles can be applied to drug discovery and biomarker development. This paper represents a proof of concept of an artificially-intelligent drug discovery engine, where AAEs are used to generate new molecular fingerprints with the desired molecular properties. "At Insilico Medicine we want to be the supplier of meaningful, high-value drug leads in many disease areas with high probability of passing the Phase I/II clinical trials. While this publication is a proof of concept and only generates the molecular fingerprints with the very basic molecular properties, internally we can now generate entire molecular structures according to a large number of parameters. These structures can be fed into our multi-modal drug discovery pipeline, which predicts therapeutic class, efficacy, side effects and many other parameters. Imagine an intelligent system, which one can instruct to produce a set of molecules with specified properties that kill certain cancer cells at a specified dose in a specific subset of the patient population, then predict the age-adjusted and specific biomarker-adjusted efficacy, predict the adverse effects and evaluate the probability of passing the human clinical trials. This is our big vision", said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, CEO of Insilico Medicine, Inc. Previously, Insilico Medicine demonstrated the predictive power of its discovery systems in the nutraceutical industry. In 2017 Life Extension will launch a range of natural products developed using Insilico Medicine's discovery pipelines. Earlier this year the pharmaceutical artificial intelligence division of Insilico Medicine published several seminal proof of concept papers demonstrating the applications of deep learning to drug discovery, biomarker development and aging research. Recently the authors published a tool in Nature Communications, which is used for dimensionality reduction in transcriptomic data for training deep neural networks (DNNs). The paper published in Molecular Pharmaceutics demonstrating the applications of deep neural networks for predicting the therapeutic class of the molecule using the transcriptional response data received the American Chemical Society Editors' Choice Award. Another paper demonstrating the ability to predict the chronological age of the patient using a simple blood test, published in Aging, became the second most popular paper in the journal's history. "Generative AAE is a radically new way to discover drugs according to the required parameters. At Pharma.AI we have a comprehensive drug discovery pipeline with reasonably accurate predictors of efficacy and adverse effects that work on the structural data and transcriptional response data and utilize the advanced signaling pathway activation analysis and deep learning. We use this pipeline to uncover the prospective uses of molecules, where these types of data are available. But the generative models allow us to generate completely new molecular structures that can be run through our pipelines and then tested in vitro and in vivo. And while it is too early to make ostentatious claims before our predictions are validated in vivo, it is clear that generative adversarial networks coupled with the more traditional deep learning tools and biomarkers are likely to transform the way drugs are discovered", said Alex Aliper, president, European R&D at the Pharma.AI group of Insilico Medicine. Recent advances in deep learning and specifically in generative adversarial networks have demonstrated surprising results in generating new images and videos upon request, even when using natural language as input. In this study the group developed a 7-layer AAE architecture with the latent middle layer serving as a discriminator. As an input and output AAE uses a vector of binary fingerprints and concentration of the molecule. In the latent layer the group introduced a neuron responsible for tumor growth inhibition index, which when negative it indicates the reduction in the number of tumour cells after the treatment. To train AAE, the authors used the NCI-60 cell line assay data for 6252 compounds profiled on MCF-7 cell line. The output of the AAE was used to screen 72 million compounds in PubChem and select candidate molecules with potential anti-cancer properties. "I am very happy to work alongside the Pharma.AI scientists at Insilico Medicine on getting the GANs to generate meaningful leads in cancer and, most importantly, age-related diseases and aging itself. This is humanity's most pressing cause and everyone in machine learning and data science should be contributing. The pipelines these guys are developing will play a transformative role in the pharmaceutical industry and in extending human longevity and we will continue our collaboration and invite other scientists to follow this path", said Artur Kadurin, the head of the segmentation group at Mail.Ru, one of the largest IT companies in Eastern Europe and the first author on the paper. ### About Insilico Medicine, Inc Insilico Medicine, Inc. is a bioinformatics company located at the Emerging Technology Centers at the Johns Hopkins University Eastern campus in Baltimore with Research and Development ("R&D") resources in Belgium, UK and Russia hiring talent through hackathons and competitions. The company utilizes advances in genomics, big data analysis, and deep learning for in silico drug discovery and drug repurposing for aging and age-related diseases. The company pursues internal drug discovery programs in cancer, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, sarcopenia, and geroprotector discovery. Through its Pharma.AI division, the company provides advanced machine learning services to biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and skin care companies. Brief company video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l62jlwgL3v8 A study by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators finds, for the first time, that women with a history of acute kidney injury with complete clinical recovery have an increase of several adverse outcomes of pregnancy - including premature delivery and preeclampsia, a condition that is hazardous for both mother and baby - even though they appear to have normal kidney function prior to pregnancy. Their findings are being published online in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. "Our findings that women with a history of acute kidney injury were at increased risk of complications including preeclampsia are important, because all of these women appeared to have recovered from their kidney injury prior to pregnancy," says Jessica Sheehan Tangren, MD, of the MGH Division of Nephrology, lead and corresponding author of the report. "They would not necessarily have been identified as at high risk for pregnancy complications." While acute kidney injury is primarily seen in the elderly and in critically ill individuals, it can occur in children or young adults hospitalized for conditions including serious infections, major surgery, trauma or from medication side effects or interactions. Existing kidney disease is recognized to increase the risk for pregnancy complications, but the possibility that a previous episode of acute kidney injury could also increase risk had not previously been investigated. To address that question the research team analyzed medical records for all women who delivered babies at the MGH between 1998 and 2007 - 105 of whom had a history of recovering from acute kidney injury and 24,640 with no history of kidney disease. Despite having normal results on the standard test for kidney function - the glomerular filtration rate - women with a history of acute kidney injury were more likely to develop preeclampsia (23 percent versus 4 percent) and to have cesarean deliveries (40 percent versus 27 percent). In addition to greater likelihood of being born early, their babies were more likely to be small for their gestational age and to require intensive care treatment. After adjustment for several factors, a history of acute kidney injury was associated with a 2.4 times greater risk of any adverse fetal outcome and a 5.9 times greater risk of preeclampsia. While the reason behind this increased risk is unclear, it's possible that changes known to take place in small blood vessels within in the kidneys during recovery from acute kidney injury may compromise the organ's ability to cope with the demands of pregnancy. "We know that kidneys undergo major changes during pregnancy, and that sort of 'renal stress test' may reveal previously undetected kidney disease in women with a history of acute kidney injury," says Tangren. Jeffrey Ecker, MD, chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MGH, says, "Information like this helps obstetric providers know what to be vigilant for in pregnant women with a history of acute kidney injury and indicates that asking about such history is important. Being especially watchful for signs and symptoms of preeclampisa in such patients is one immediate application of this work. In a longer view, work like this offers important hypotheses for future study. Can interventions in patients with a history of acute kidney injury prevent complications like preeclampsia? Taking a baby aspirin each day during pregnancy is recommended for some women at high risk for preeclampsia. Should such preventative treatment be used in women with a history of acute kidney injury? Questions like this deserve further thought and study." ### Ravi Thadhani, MD, MPH, chief of the MGH Division of Nephrology and a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, is senior author of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology report. Additional co-authors are Camille Powe, MD, MGH Division of Endocrinology; Elizabeth Ankers, MGH Division of Nephrology; Kate Bramham, MD, PhD, King's College London; Michelle Hladunewich, MD, MS, University of Toronto; and Ananth Karumanchi, MBBS, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. The study was supported by National Institutes of Health grants T32 DK007540-30, T32 DK007028-41 and K24 DK094872-05. Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute (http://www.massgeneral.org/research/about/RI-welcome.aspx) conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $800 million and major research centers in HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, photomedicine and transplantation biology. The MGH topped the 2015 Nature Index list of health care organizations publishing in leading scientific journals and earned the prestigious 2015 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service. In August 2016 the MGH was once again named to the Honor Roll in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals." LA JOLLA, CA - December 21, 2016 - A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is the first to show exactly how the drug Arbidol stops influenza infections. The research reveals that Arbidol stops the virus from entering host cells by binding within a recessed pocket on the virus. The researchers believe this new structural insight could guide the development of future broad-spectrum therapeutics that would be even more potent against influenza virus. "This is a very interesting molecule, and now we know where it binds and precisely how it works," said study senior author Ian Wilson, Hanson Professor of Structural Biology, chair of the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology and member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at TSRI. The study was published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Treatment Can Target Many Strains of Influenza Arbidol (also called umifenovir) is an anti-flu treatment sold in Russia and China by the Russian pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard. The drug is currently in stage-four clinical trials in the United States. The drug targets many strains of influenza, giving it an advantage over seasonal vaccines that target only a handful of strains. The new study sheds light on exactly how it accomplishes this feat. Scientists had long been curious whether Arbidol bound to the viral proteins used to recognize host cells--or with the viral "fusion machinery" that enters and infects host cells. To answer this question, the researchers used a high-resolution imaging technique called X-ray crystallography to create 3D structures showing how Arbidol binds to two different strains of influenza virus. The structures revealed that Arbidol binds to the virus's fusion machinery, as some had suspected. The small molecule binds to a viral protein called hemagglutinin, stopping the virus from rearranging its conformation in a way that enables the virus to fuse its membrane with a host cell. "We found that the small molecule binds to a hidden pocket in hemagglutinin," said study first author Rameshwar U. Kadam, senior research associate at TSRI. He added that the drug acts as a sort of "glue" to hold the subunits of hemagglutinin together. "Arbidol is the first influenza treatment shown to use a hemagglutinin-binding approach," he said. This vulnerable pocket is "conserved," meaning it is likely important for viral function--and more difficult to mutate as the virus spreads--suggesting why Arbidol has relatively broad use in fighting many strains of the virus, including emerging strains. The new findings also help scientists understand how Arbidol compares to influenza treatments such as Tamiflu. Wilson explained that Tamiflu prevents the virus from getting out of cells, while Arbidol prevents it from getting in. This means Arbidol, or future drugs that take a similar approach, could be given as a preventative treatment before an outbreak hits. "When we had the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the vaccine came too late," said Wilson. "If we had a front-line therapeutic, that could have worked much better until a vaccine was ready." Wilson said the next step for researchers is to discover and/or design other small molecule therapeutics that can bind even more tightly with the hemagglutinin. ### This study, "Structural basis of influenza virus fusion inhibition by the antiviral drug Arbidol," was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant R56 AI117675) and an Early Mobility Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation. This study used resources funded in whole or in part by the National Cancer Institute (grant Y1-CO-1020); the National Institute of General Medical Science (grant Y1-GM-1104); the U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science (contracts DE-AC02-06CH11357 and DE-AC02-76SF00515); the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research and by the National Institute of General Medical Science (grant P41GM103393). About The Scripps Research Institute The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more than 2,500 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists--including two Nobel laureates and 20 members of the National Academy of Science, Engineering or Medicine--work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. For more information, see http://www.scripps.edu. MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA & GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Dec. 21, 2016 - Specific Technologies and FIND today announced a collaboration to promote the development of new solutions for diagnosis of bloodstream infections in resource-poor environments. The development of an infection in the bloodstream is the cause of sepsis, a systemic inflammatory response which can be life threatening. The global burden of sepsis is significant. According to recent estimates, 31.5 million cases occur annually, resulting in some 5.3 million deaths [1]. The great majority of these cases occur in lower- and middle-income countries and rank among the leading causes of maternal and neonatal mortality. Sepsis is thought to account for over 10% of maternal deaths and 70% of the 9 million neonatal and infant deaths that occur annually [2,3]. Survival in low-resource settings largely depends upon rapid detection and administration of appropriate antibiotics, both of which are extremely challenging: current approaches to sepsis diagnosis are labor-intensive and require well-resourced laboratories. Specific Technologies has developed a system called SpecID for clinical microbiology diagnostics that combines pathogen detection with identification in culture, providing substantial advances to existing methods and taking what now is often a highly manual, three-step, two-day process and translating it into a single labor-free instrument that delivers comparable results within 12 hours. This reduction in technician involvement is suited to low- and middle-income countries where technicians trained to perform Gram stains are often unavailable near the point of blood sample collection. Under the collaboration between Specific Technologies and FIND, work will be done to expand Specific Technologies' species identification library to include additional pathogens that commonly cause bloodstream infections in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), develop specifications for adapting SpecID to LMICs, and develop a plan to manufacture and validate a new version of the instrument. "The wide use of broad spectrum antibiotics to treat suspected sepsis not only increasingly fails to save the patient but is driving the evolution of yet more resistant strains." said Catharina Boehme, FIND CEO. "In the era of antimicrobial resistance, we must aim for rapid diagnosis followed by targeted treatment. Increasing access to rapid blood culture for pathogen identification and drug susceptibility testing is thus a major priority, and the SpecID system holds particular promise to address this need in low-resource settings." "Our agreement with FIND further highlights the broad demand for the rapid evolution of existing blood culture practices around the world," said Paul Rhodes, Chief Executive Officer of Specific Technologies. "While our blood culture paradigm has been designed for developed world microbiology labs, the labor-free nature of its Gram status and species identification functions make it well suited for the constraints of resource-limited regions." "We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with FIND where we can together enable broader testing for this important healthcare challenge that so many areas of the globe cannot access due to the technical requirements of existing testing practices," said Rob Lozuk, President of Specific Technologies. ### About the SpecID System During growth in culture, bacteria produce small molecule volatile metabolites unique to their species and strain. Utilizing a chemical fingerprint that combines detection and identification into a simple, automated single step utilizing a low-cost disposable printed sensory array, the novel SpecID system identifies microorganism species and strain from the metabolomic signature of volatiles produced during growth. About Specific Technologies Specific Technologies has developed in vitro diagnostic systems based upon a unique, patented metabolomic signature technology that enables rapid identification of microorganisms. Its first commercial application applies this fundamental new platform to the detection and characterization of microorganisms causing blood stream infection, and to the rapid and low cost phenotypic determination of their antibiotic susceptibility. Specific Technologies is based in Mountain View, CA. For press inquiries, please contact: press@specifictechnologies.net About FIND FIND, established in 2003 as a global non-profit, is dedicated to accelerating the development, evaluation and use of high-quality, affordable diagnostic tests for poverty-related diseases, including tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, sleeping sickness, hepatitis C, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, Buruli ulcer, febrile illnesses and infectious diseases with outbreak potential, such as Ebola. Over the last decade, FIND has partnered in the delivery of 14 new diagnostic tools, including eight for tuberculosis, and has created an enabling environment for numerous others through the provision of specimen banks, reagent development and better market visibility. FIND also supports better access to new diagnostics through implementation, quality assurance and lab strengthening work. FIND has over 200 partners globally, including research institutes and laboratories, health ministries and national disease control programmes, commercial partners, clinical trial sites, and bilateral and multilateral organizations (especially WHO). To learn more, visit http://www.finddx.org. For press inquiries, please contact Julie Archer at Julie.Archer@finddx.org or on +41 79 830 6364. 1. Fleischmann C, et al., Assessment of Global Incidence and Mortality of Hospital-treated Sepsis. Current Estimates and Limitations. American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine. 2016 Feb 1;193(3):259-72. 2. Bonet M, et al., New WHO guidance on prevention and treatment of maternal peripartum infections. The Lancet Global Health , Volume 3 , Issue 11 , e667 - e668 3. Tupchong K, et al., Sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock: A review of the literature, African Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2015, Pages 127-135 Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and six other institutions have designed a new diagnostic tool for a rare and deadly autoimmune disease that affects the skin and internal organs. By measuring the activity of genes in tiny skin samples, the researchers were able to predict disease progression in patients as much as a year earlier than clinicians who used standard methods for evaluating patients. The study will be published Dec. 22 in JCI Insight. The lead authors are Shane Lofgren, a research associate at Stanford, and Monique Hinchcliff, MD, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University. The senior author is Purvesh Khatri, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford. Systemic sclerosis, also called scleroderma, is an autoimmune disease that causes scarlike thickening of the skin and internal organs, such as the kidneys and lungs. According to Hinchcliff, systemic sclerosis affects about 100,000 people in the United States. A better test The cause of systemic sclerosis is unknown, and there are no drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating it. Many patients are given drugs that are approved for use in other diseases, but each drug is clinically effective in only a fraction of patients. To find out if a patient is responding to treatment, clinicians use a test called the modified Rodnan skin score, in which a doctor pinches the skin to see how thick it is. For the test, the physician squeezes the patient's skin in 17 places, rating the thickness of each pinch of skin on a scale of 0 to 3 and adding the scores together for a maximum score of 51. "It's a very crude measure," Khatri said. He noted that despite careful training, doctors may give the same patient different scores. Different physicians evaluating the same patients may agree only 60 to 70 percent of the time, Hinchcliff said. "It has always embarrassed me to pinch a patient's skin in 17 areas to try and accurately assess the degree of skin fibrosis. In this day and age, it would seem we should be more precise," she said. Because the measures of disease progression are imprecise, said Khatri, it can take two years for physicians to be sure if a given treatment is having any effect. A more precise measure of disease progression has long been needed. The team used publicly available patient data shared by hospitals across the United States to search for a set of genes whose activity would mark the progression of systemic sclerosis, or SSc. Gene expression is the process by which cells extract information from genes and render it as molecules of protein or RNA. Cells have the capacity to express more or less of each molecule, creating a pattern of expression that changes according to the presence of infections or of autoimmune diseases such as SSc. Khatri and his team identified 415 genes whose expression changed in a pattern that indicated how serious a person's SSc had become. The researchers were able to use these gene-expression patterns as the basis for a test, which they called the SSc Skin Severity Score, or 4S. They used SSc patient data from two clinical centers to identify the 415 genes, and data sets from patients from five additional centers to validate the new test. They also included data from healthy participants who served as controls. It was easy to distinguish the gene-expression data related to healthy skin samples from the data for diseased skin samples, said Khatri. "The data for all the healthy skin fell within one bubble," he said, "while all the data for the scleroderma patients fell within another." Getting results a year earlier The team looked at data from a cohort of Northwestern University patients who had been tested repeatedly with the skin pinch test while being treated with a drug. The 4S test -- applied to this preexisting set of patient data -- could distinguish patients who were improving from those who were not 12 months after their treatment began. In contrast, the doctors' skin pinch test from the same set of data took 24 months to identify which patients were improving. "In the data from Northwestern, all the patients were getting exactly the same treatment, the same drug," said Shane. "Yet we were able to predict a year before the clinician which patients were getting better and which were getting worse." Clinical trials, as opposed to retrospective studies looking at pre-existing data, are needed to validate the 4S test, the researchers said. But if it works as well as Khatri and his collaborators hope, clinicians may be able to evaluate patients' response to treatments much more quickly, so they can be switched to some other treatment that may work. The test could also help advance the search for better therapies. "And what was really cool was that we could predict on an individual level which patients would get better or worse," Khatri said. The 4S test is an example of Stanford Medicine's focus on precision health, the goal of which is to anticipate and prevent disease in the healthy and precisely diagnose and treat disease in the ill. A possible treatment? The study also uncovered a gene-activity signal suggesting the involvement of epidermal growth factor receptors in the disease, a fact that was previously unknown, said Khatri. EGFR is important in cell division and plays a role in cancer and other diseases. In SSc, "we showed that EGFR is consistently upregulated," Khatri said. And, he added, drugs that have been approved by the FDA for treating EGFR-related conditions may turn out to be useful in treating patients with systemic sclerosis. Soon, he said, his team will begin giving EGFR-inhibiting drugs to mice with a sclerodermalike condition to see if it helps. "It's very exciting," said Khatri. "This is a disease that has stumped people for more than 25 years." ### Other Stanford co-authors are professor of dermatology David Fiorentino, MD, PhD; professor of medicine Paul Utz, MD; associate professor of medicine Lorinda Chung, MD; postdoctoral scholars Peggie Cheung, PhD, and Alex Kuo, PhD; and rheumatology fellow Antonia Valenzuela, MD. In addition to Northwestern, researchers at the following institutions also contributed to the study: Dartmouth College, the University of California-San Francisco, the Hospital for Special Surgery, the University of Texas Health Science Center and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants 1U19AI109662, U19AI057229, U54I117925, U01AI089859, 1R21AR068035 and K23AR059763), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Scleroderma Research Foundation. Stanford's Department of Medicine also supported the work. The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://med.stanford.edu/school.html. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. For information about all three, please visit http://med.stanford.edu. Print media contact: Jennie Dusheck at (650) 725-5376 (dusheck@stanford.edu) Broadcast media contact: Margarita Gallardo at (650) 723-7897 (mjgallardo@stanford.edu) Parasmal Lodha, who has huge business interests in West Bengal, was held at Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee the country. By Atir Khan: A top Bengal businessman accused of being the kingpin of a money laundering racket was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) at the Mumbai airport today. Parasmal Lodha, who has massive business interests in West Bengal, was arrested while he was trying to flee the country. ED officials said Lodha was arrested "in connection with conversion of more than Rs 25 crore of old notes to new notes in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases." advertisement The Delhi Police had recently recovered Rs 13.65 crore in cash, including Rs 2.60 crore in new currency notes, in raid on lawyer Tandon's firm. A currency counting machine was also recovered from the premises and the firm had hired just one guard. All the Tandon assets were estimated to be worth over Rs 10,000 crore. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Lodha arrested by ED at Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee the country following raids on Tamil Nadu sand mining mafia Sekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon, who owns a law firm in Delhi. Lodha reportedly changed defunct Rs 500, 1000 notes for Reddy and Tandon post November demonetisation move. Lodha is being brought to Delhi where he will be produced before a court later today. In Chennai, Income Tax raids at Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao's premises concluded today after over 24 hours. Officials recovered Rs 30 lakh of unaccounted money and 5 kg of gold from Rao's house. Sources said that the top bureaucrat's son Vivek has confessed to having undisclosed assets of Rs 5 crore. ALSO READ: Raids end at Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary's house, Rs 30 lakh cash, 5 kg gold recovered Rs 100, Rs 50 currency notes are now facing security threat, Finance Ministry sources tell India Today --- ENDS --- MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE (December 22, 2016) - Female fireflies have long known that the best romances are with a male firefly who offers the most nourishing and largest "nuptial gift" - a protein-packed capsule of sperm that is rich with egg-producing and life-extending nutrients for the female. However, the molecular composition of nuptial gifts has remained unknown even though the gifts offer benefits that keep a female firefly coming back for more. Now, new research at Tufts University, in collaboration with MIT scientists, reveals the mystery of this special package, offers the first peek into the content of firefly gifts, and sheds new light on post-mating sexual selection. The findings were published today in Scientific Reports. Focusing on the common Eastern firefly, Photinus pyralis, also known as the Big Dipper, researchers found more than 200 identifiable proteins within the nuptial gifts. The proteins' diverse functions can be inferred based on their resemblance to proteins known from other insects. Some are structural proteins that make up the fabric of the nuptial gift, while others are enzymes that may help unpackage the gift, allowing its contents to be released. Still other enzymes appear to be a biochemical way of nudging the female to lay more eggs. The researchers also identified enzymes that might enhance a male's paternity success by expediting sperm storage or by increasing the ability of male sperm to fertilize the female's eggs. Corresponding author Sara Lewis, Ph.D., professor of biology in the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University, said new technologies enabled the research group to decipher exactly what's inside these amorous bundles. Among the new advances used were studies of gene expression within the reproductive glands of male fireflies and proteomic analysis to identify specific proteins that get transferred to females during mating. "We found that firefly nuptial gifts are complex, elegant structures manufactured by a bevy of male glands," said Nooria Al-Wathiqui, who earned her Ph.D. at Tufts in 2016 and is co-first author of the study. "In fact, if you look inside a male firefly, you'll find them jam-packed with gift-making machinery." Although gene expression and proteomic studies give insight into gift protein composition, different approaches were needed to reveal other ingredients that might be contained within male gifts. So researchers conducted a high-resolution metabolomic exploration that found that firefly nuptial gifts also contain lucibufagin, a bitter-tasting toxin shown in previous work to protect firefly eggs and adults. Females might use these male-donated toxins to help defend themselves or their offspring against predators. "We knew a lot about firefly courtship, but we were still in the dark about firefly sex," said Lewis. "I think it's safe to say that adult fireflies are obsessed with sex." The Lewis Lab at Tufts has been researching firefly sex for more than two decades. The lab's previous field and laboratory studies have shown that females choose their mates based on the timing of males' bioluminescent courtship flashes and that firefly females mate with several different males across successive nights. The lab also discovered that female fireflies benefit from male nuptial gifts with higher lifetime egg production and increased longevity, while also finding that males who provide larger gifts are able to sire more of the females' offspring. Deciphering what makes certain males more successful after mating has proven to be very challenging because post-mating events transpire within the hidden recesses of the female reproductive tract. Future studies will investigate the roles played by specific components of the male gift in promoting female egg production and improving male reproductive success. More studies also are needed to determine how the anti-predator toxins donated by male fireflies contribute to protecting females and their offspring. "This study opens up so many exciting avenues for future sexual selection research in fireflies and in other gift-giving insects," said Lewis who appeared in TED2014Talks. ### In addition to Lewis and Al-Wathiqui, authors include: co-first author Timothy R. Fallon, a Ph.D. student at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; co-corresponding author Jing-Ke Weng, a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and associate professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Adam South, who earned his Ph.D. at Tufts in 2012 and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University. This work was funded in part by Tufts University, the Beckman Young Investigator Program, Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences, and the Searle Scholars Program. "Molecular characterization of firefly nuptial gifts: a multi-omics approach sheds light on postcopulatory sexual selection," Scientific Reports. DOI: 6:38556.DOI:10.1038/srep38556 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 Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university's schools is widely encouraged. Quantum mechanics dictates sensitivity limits in the measurements of displacement, velocity and acceleration. A recent experiment at the Niels Bohr Institute probes these limits, analyzing how quantum fluctuations set a sensor membrane into motion in the process of a measurement. The membrane is an accurate model for future ultraprecise quantum sensors, whose complex nature may even hold the key to overcome fundamental quantum limits. The results are published in the prestigious scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. Vibrating strings and membranes are at the heart of many musical instruments. Plucking a string excites it to vibrations, at a frequency determined by its length and tension. Apart from the fundamental frequency - corresponding to the musical note - the string also vibrates at higher frequencies. These overtones influence how we perceive the 'sound' of the instrument, and allow us to tell a guitar from a violin. Similarly, beating a drumhead excites vibrations at a number of frequencies simultaneously. These matters are not different when scaling down, from the half-meter bass drum in a classic orchestra to the half-millimeter-sized membrane studied recently at the Niels Bohr Institute. And yet, some things are not the same at all: using sophisticated optical measurement techniques, a team lead by Professor Albert Schliesser could show that the membrane's vibrations, including all its overtones, follow the strange laws of quantum mechanics. In their experiment, these quantum laws implied that the mere attempt to precisely measure the membrane vibrations sets it into motion. As if looking at a drum already made it hum! A 'drum' with many tones Although the membrane investigated by the Niels Bohr Institute team can be seen with bare eyes, the researchers used a laser to accurately track the membrane motion. And this indeed reveals a number of vibration resonances, all of which are simultaneously measured. Their frequencies are in the Megahertz range, about a thousand times higher than the sound waves we hear, essentially because the membrane is much smaller than a musical instrument. But the analogies carry on: just like a violin sounds different depending on where the string is struck (sul tasto vs sul ponticello), the researchers could tell from the spectrum of overtones at which location their membrane was excited by the laser beam. Yet, observing the subtle quantum effects that the researchers were most interested in, required a few more tricks. Albert Schliesser explains: "For once, there is the problem of vibrational energy loss, leading to what we call quantum decoherence. Think of it this way: in a violin, you provide a resonance body, which picks up the string vibrations and transforms them to sound waves carried away by the air. That's what you hear. We had to achieve exactly the opposite: confine the vibrations to the membrane only, so that we can follow its undisturbed quantum motion for as long as possible. For that we had to develop a special 'body' that cannot vibrate at the membrane's frequencies". This was achieved by a so-called phononic crystal, a regular pattern of holes that exhibits a phononic bandgap, that is, a band of frequencies at which the structure cannot vibrate. Yeghishe Tsaturyan, a PhD student on the team, realized a membrane with such a special body at the Danchip nanofabrication facilities in Lyngby. A second challenge consists in making sufficiently precise measurements. Using techniques from the field of Optomechanics, which is Schliesser's expertise, the team created a dedicated experiment at the Niels Bohr Institute, based on a laser custom-built to their needs, and a pair of highly reflecting mirrors between which the membrane is arranged. This allowed them to resolve vibrations with amplitudes much smaller than a proton's radius (1 femtometer). "Making measurements so sensitive is not easy, in particular since pumps and other lab equipment vibrates with much larger amplitudes. So we have to make sure this doesn't show in our measurement record," adds PhD student William Nielsen. Vacuum beats the drum Yet it is exactly the range of ultra-precision measurements where it gets interesting. Then, it starts to matter that, according to quantum mechanics, the process of measuring the motion also influences it. In the experiment, this 'quantum measurement backaction' is caused by the inevitable quantum fluctuations of the laser light. In the framework of quantum optics, these are caused by quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in empty space (vacuum). Odd as it sounds, this effect left clear signatures in the Niels Bohr Institute experiments' data, namely strong correlations between the quantum fluctuations of the light, and the mechanical motion as measured by light. "Observing and quantifying these quantum fluctuations is important to better understand how they can affect ultraprecision mechanical measurements - that is, measurements of displacement, velocity or acceleration. And here, the multi-mode nature of the membrane comes into play: not only is it a more accurate representation of real-world sensors. It may also contain the key to overcome some of the traditional quantum limits to measurement precision with more sophisticated schemes, exploiting quantum correlations", Albert Schliesser says and adds, that in the long run, quantum experiments with ever more complex mechanical objects may also provide an answer to the question why we don't ever observe a bass drum in a quantum superposition (or will we?). ### Contact: Albert Schliesser, Professor in Quantop Optics at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, +45 3532-5254, albert.schliesser@nbi.dk Researchers in Bill Cresko's University of Oregon lab and collaborators examined the snakelike fish in detail and published their work as a reference so other labs around the world can follow their lead EUGENE, Ore. -- Dec. 22, 2016 -- University of Oregon biologists have produced a detailed genome of the snakelike gulf pipefish, delivering a new research reference tool to help explore an ancient fish family that includes seahorses and sea dragons and has generated bodies with vastly different features over time through genetic changes. Comparing the genome with other vertebrate organisms may help scientists learn about basic aspects of human biology, such as how skulls develop and change shape and how the genome that people mostly share with other vertebrates can be tweaked to create new structures, said Susan Bassham, a senior research associate in the lab of UO biologist William Cresko where the research was done. While such research connected to human features is an added benefit, a more immediate payoff is that the methods used during the project are laid out so that other small labs can use them as a reference for creating genomes of organisms they are interested in studying. A paper detailing the genome was published Dec. 20 by the journal Genome Biology. The gulf pipefish -- abundant in seagrass beds of the Gulf of Mexico -- has the species name of Syngnathus scovelli. It belongs to the family known as Syngnathidae, which dates back at least 50 million years. "This group of species has novelties that are not well understood from an evolutionary genetic standpoint," said Clay Small, one of the paper's lead authors and a postdoctoral fellow in Cresko's lab in the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. "The family Syngnathidae is a very good model clade for studying these derived structural features because they are so weird looking in terms of their unique body plans. Ultimately, we are interested in identifying genetic changes that are related to the evolution of these novel features in this whole family." Species in the Syngnathid family have long snouts, which help their suction-like feeding behavior. They have bony body armor. They lack pelvic fins, ribs and teeth and have evolved unique placenta-like structures in males for the brooding of developing offspring. The publication of the gulf pipefish genome came less than a week after the genome of another family member, the tiger tail seahorse, was announced in the journal Nature. "Having this pair of papers published almost simultaneously moved genomic analyses of this remarkable group of fish ahead tremendously," said Cresko, a professor of biology. The two genomes show that losses and changes in specific genes or gene functions may be responsible for evolutionary innovations, Small said. Through evolution, the pipefish and seahorse genomes have lost genetic elements compared to distant fish ancestors. These likely explain some changes in body alignment and the loss of pelvic fins, which correspond to legs in the human vertebrate lineage, he said. A big part of Small's efforts focused on the ability of male pipefish to gestate embryos in their brood pouch. The gulf pipefish, Bassham said, provides an example of one of the most elaborated placental structures found in the males of various pipefish species. Some 1,000 genes are expressed differently in the pouch during a male's pregnancy to control developmental processes, nutrient exchange, stability and immunity, the researchers reported. In a comparative analysis between pregnant and non-pregnant male pipefish, Small found a family of genes that behaved unusually. This gene family, patristacins, contains some members that turn on during pregnancy, and others that are suppressed during pregnancy. The group of genes is likely unique to syngnathid fishes, and they behave similarly in seahorses. The UO-led team also found that gulf pipefish have two chromosomes fewer than most ray-finned fish. "By looking at the patterns of where genes lie in the genome, it's very likely this difference resulted simply from the fusion of four of the ancestral chromosomes into two," Bassham said. "Most fish have 24 chromosomes, but the gulf pipefish has 22." The researchers used a genome-sequencer in the UO's Genomics Core Facility, along with a genetics technology developed at the UO called restriction-site associated DNA markers, now known as RAD-sequencing. It allows researchers to sort data and then organize it all back together into a detailed genetic map. The team also used three software packages developed by co-author Julian Catchen, a former UO postdoctoral researcher now at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The software was designed to complement RAD-sequencing and genome assembly data. Using fish genomes, Bassham said, should allow research groups to ask a lot of different biological questions. "Fish are vertebrates. We are vertebrates," she said. "We share large swaths of our biology with these fish. We'd like to understand how evolution occurs, and some of the most exciting aspects of evolution happen when novel features appear in an evolutionary lineage. "Novelties can happen multiple ways," Bassham said. "Sometimes it involves a loss of a structure that creates a new way of life. In other cases, it might be an evolution of a new body part that wasn't there before. Where did that tissue come from? How did it come into being? What was modified to make it? Or what developmental gene pathways were changed to allow for it?" ### Other co-authors with Bassham, Catchen, Cresko and Small were Angel Amores, research associate in the UO Institute of Neuroscience; Allison Fuiten, graduate student in Cresko's lab; former UO student R.S. Brown, who now is at Oregon Health and Science University; and Adam G. Jones of Texas A&M University. The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation supported the research. A more-detailed look at the science unveiled by the gulf pipefish genome paper can be seen in a blog posted by the BioMed Central. Sources: Susan Bassham, research associate, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, 541-346-5189, sbassham@uoregon.edu; Clay Small, postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, 541-346-4232, csmall@uoregon.edu Note: The UO is equipped with an on-campus television studio with a point-of-origin Vyvx connection, which provides broadcast-quality video to networks worldwide via fiber optic network. There also is video access to satellite uplink and audio access to an ISDN codec for broadcast-quality radio interviews. Links: Cresko lab: http://creskolab.uoregon.edu/ Institute of Ecology and Evolution: http://ie2.uoregon.edu/ Seahorse genome paper: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v540/n7633/full/nature20595.html BioMed Central blog: http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/on-biology/2016/12/20/pipefishgenome/ Shirley Hastings, director of UT Extension Strategic Planning and former associate dean of Family and Consumer Sciences, has been honored as a Legend in Family and Consumer Sciences by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS). The recognition occurred at the 107th annual Conference and Expo, held in Bellevue, Washington. The honor spotlights Hastings' achievements and her visionary role in leading the profession. She has provided leadership for Family and Consumer Sciences throughout a career that has spanned positions in five states--New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Through her efforts, Hastings obtained more than $70 million in funding to build and strengthen FCS programs. As a past president of AAFCS, she led the professional organization to set and attain ambitious goals based upon her deep-rooted belief in how the profession positively impacts the lives of families and communities. During the AAFCS conference, Hastings and other Legend honorees shared their experience and insights with members in interactive sessions called "Learning from Legends in our Field." Hastings' biography of professional accomplishments was published in a book titled Leaders in Family and Consumer Sciences. The book, which was introduced at the national meeting, recognizes individuals who have advanced the quality and impact of the profession of the human sciences. ### Gambian sleeping sickness -- a deadly parasitic disease spread by tsetse flies -- could be eliminated in six years in key regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to new research by the University of Warwick Gambian sleeping sickness could be eliminated in 6 years thanks to University of Warwick research Combination of active screening and tsetse fly traps the key to quick elimination Without changing current strategy, elimination isn't predicted until the next century Gambian sleeping sickness - a deadly parasitic disease spread by tsetse flies - could be eliminated in six years in key regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to new research by the University of Warwick. Kat Rock and Matt Keeling at the School of Life Sciences, with colleagues in DRC and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, have calculated the impact of different intervention strategies on the population dynamics of tsetse flies and humans - establishing which strategies show the most promise to control and eliminate the disease. They found that a two-pronged approach - integrating active screening and vector control - could substantially speed up the elimination of Gambian sleeping sickness in high burden areas of DRC. Without changing current strategy, elimination might not happen until the 22nd century. The researchers, who work as part of the Neglected Tropical Disease Modelling Consortium, used complex mathematical models to compare the efficacy of six key strategies and twelve variations within two areas of Kwilu province (within former Bandundu province), DRC. Previous work by the same group indicates that high-risk people are often missed from active screening. The new model concludes that improved active screening - making sure that all people are screened equally, regardless of risk factor - may allow elimination as a public health problem between 2023 and 2031. If vector control strategies - using "tsetse targets" coated with insecticide to attract and kill flies - are added, this elimination goal is likely to be achieved within four years when coupled with any screening approach. If DRC adopts any of the new strategies with vector control, transmission would probably be broken within six years of launching the new program in these areas - and over 6000 new infections could be averted between 2017 and 2030. Strategies which rely only on self-reporting of illness and screening of low-risk individuals are unlikely to lead to elimination of sleeping sickness transmission by 2030, and delay elimination until the next century. Gambian sleeping sickness, or Gambian human African trypanosomiasis, is caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, carried by tsetse flies in Central and West Africa. Without treatment, the disease usually results in death. In recent years, programmes have performed intense active and passive screening to decrease disease incidence. A few areas have also combined these medical interventions with vector control. But some high prevalence regions of DRC have not achieved the reductions in disease seen in other parts of Africa. Other strategies for elimination will also include reinforced passive screening, new diagnostic tools and improved drugs. In 2012, the World Health Organization set two public health goals for the control of Gambian sleeping sickness, a parasitic disease spread by the tsetse fly. The first is to eliminate the disease as a public health problem and have fewer than 2000 cases by 2020; while the second goal is to achieve zero transmission around the globe by 2030. Kat Rock comments: "We found that vector control has great potential to reduce transmission and, even if it is less effective at reducing tsetse numbers as in other regions, the full elimination goal could still be achieved by 2030. "We recommend that control programmes use a combined medical and vector control strategy to help combat sleeping sickness." ### The research, "Predicting the Impact of Intervention Strategies for Sleeping Sickness in Two High-Endemicity Health Zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo", is published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing There are a number of words and phrases that we recommend avoiding, or avoiding in certain contexts and usages. Some are ambiguous or misleading; others presuppose a viewpoint that we disagree with, and we hope you disagree with it too. Ad-blocker When the purpose of some program is to block advertisements, ad-blocker is a good term for it. However, the GNU browser IceCat blocks advertisements that track the user as consequence of broader measures to prevent surveillance by web sites. This is not an ad-blocker, this is surveillance protection. Access It is a common misunderstanding to think free software means that the public has access to a program. That is not what free software means. The criterion for free software is not about who has access to the program; the four essential freedoms concern what a user that has a copy of the program is allowed to do with it. For instance, freedom 2 says that that user is free to make another copy and give or sell it to you. But no user is obligated to do that for you; you do not have a right to demand a copy of that program from any user. In particular, if you write a program yourself and never offer a copy to anyone else, that program is free software albeit in a trivial way, because every user that has a copy has the four essential freedoms (since the only such user is you). In practice, when many users have copies of a program, someone is sure to post it on the internet, giving everyone access to it. We think people ought to do that, if the program is useful. But that isn't a requirement of free software. There is one specific point in which a question of having access is directly pertinent to free software: the GNU GPL permits giving a particular user access to download a program's source code as a substitute for physically giving that user a copy of the source. This applies to the special case in which the user already has a copy of the program in non-source form. Instead of with free software, the public has access to the program, we say, with free software, the users have the essential freedoms and with free software, the users have control of what the program does for them. Alternative We don't describe free software in general as an alternative to proprietary, because that word presumes all the alternatives are legitimate and each additional one makes users better off. In effect, it assumes that free software ought to coexist with software that does not respect users' freedom. We believe that distribution as free software is the only ethical way to make software available for others to use. The other methods, nonfree software and Service as a Software Substitute subjugate their users. We do not think it is good to offer users those alternatives to free software. Special circumstances can drive users toward running one particular program for a certain job. For instance, when a web page sends JavaScript client code to the user's browser, that drives users toward running that specific client program rather than any possible other. In such a case, there is a reason to describe any other code for that job as an alternative. Assets To refer to published works as assets, or digital assets, is even worse than calling them contentit presumes they have no value to society except commercial value. BSD-style The expression BSD-style license leads to confusion because it lumps together licenses that have important differences. For instance, the original BSD license with the advertising clause is incompatible with the GNU General Public License, but the revised BSD license is compatible with the GPL. To avoid confusion, it is best to name the specific license in question and avoid the vague term BSD-style. Closed Describing nonfree software as closed clearly refers to the term open source. In the free software movement, we do not want to be confused with the open source camp, so we are careful to avoid saying things that would encourage people to lump us in with them. For instance, we avoid describing nonfree software as closed. We call it nonfree or proprietary. Cloud Computing The term cloud computing (or just cloud, in the context of computing) is a marketing buzzword with no coherent meaning. It is used for a range of different activities whose only common characteristic is that they use the Internet for something beyond transmitting files. Thus, the term spreads confusion. If you base your thinking on it, your thinking will be confused (or, could we say, cloudy?). When thinking about or responding to a statement someone else has made using this term, the first step is to clarify the topic. What scenario is the statement about? What is a good, clear term for that scenario? Once the topic is clearly formulated, coherent thought about it becomes possible. One of the many meanings of cloud computing is storing your data in online services. In most scenarios, that is foolish because it exposes you to surveillance. Another meaning (which overlaps that but is not the same thing) is Service as a Software Substitute, which denies you control over your computing. You should never use SaaSS. Another meaning is renting a remote physical server, or virtual server. These practices are ok under certain circumstances. Another meaning is accessing your own server from your own mobile device. That raises no particular ethical issues. The NIST definition of cloud computing mentions three scenarios that raise different ethical issues: Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service. However, that definition does not match the common use of cloud computing, since it does not include storing data in online services. Software as a Service as defined by NIST overlaps considerably with Service as a Software Substitute, which mistreats the user, but the two concepts are not equivalent. These different computing practices don't even belong in the same discussion. The best way to avoid the confusion the term cloud computing spreads is not to use the term cloud in connection with computing. Talk about the scenario you mean, and call it by a specific term. Curiously, Larry Ellison, a proprietary software developer, also noted the vacuity of the term cloud computing. He decided to use the term anyway because, as a proprietary software developer, he isn't motivated by the same ideals as we are. Commercial Please don't use commercial as a synonym for nonfree. That confuses two entirely different issues. A program is commercial if it is developed as a business activity. A commercial program can be free or nonfree, depending on its manner of distribution. Likewise, a program developed by a school or an individual can be free or nonfree, depending on its manner of distribution. The two questionswhat sort of entity developed the program and what freedom its users haveare independent. In the first decade of the free software movement, free software packages were almost always noncommercial; the components of the GNU/Linux operating system were developed by individuals or by nonprofit organizations such as the FSF and universities. Later, in the 1990s, free commercial software started to appear. Free commercial software is a contribution to our community, so we should encourage it. But people who think that commercial means nonfree will tend to think that the free commercial combination is self-contradictory, and dismiss the possibility. Let's be careful not to use the word commercial in that way. Compensation To speak of compensation for authors in connection with copyright carries the assumptions that (1) copyright exists for the sake of authors and (2) whenever we read something, we take on a debt to the author which we must then repay. The first assumption is simply false, and the second is outrageous. Compensating the rights-holders adds a further swindle: you're supposed to imagine that means paying the authors, and occasionally it does, but most of the time it means a subsidy for the same publishing companies that are pushing unjust laws on us. Consume Consume refers to what we do with food: we ingest it, after which the food as such no longer exists. By analogy, we employ the same word for other products whose use uses them up. Applying it to durable goods, such as clothing or appliances, is a stretch. Applying it to published works (programs, recordings on a disk or in a file, books on paper or in a file), whose nature is to last indefinitely and which can be run, played or read any number of times, is stretching the word so far that it snaps. Playing a recording, or running a program, does not consume it. Those who use consume in this context will say they don't mean it literally. What, then, does it mean? It means to regard copies of software and other works from a narrow economistic point of view. Consume is associated with the economics of material commodities, such as the fuel or electricity that a car uses up. Gasoline is a commodity, and so is electricity. Commodities are fungible: there is nothing special about a drop of gasoline that your car burns today versus another drop that it burned last week. What does it mean to think of works of authorship as a commodity, with the assumption that there is nothing special about any one story, article, program, or song? That is the twisted viewpoint of the owner or the accountant of a publishing company, someone who doesn't appreciate the published works as such. It is no surprise that proprietary software developers would like you to think of the use of software as a commodity. Their twisted viewpoint comes through clearly in this article, which also refers to publications as content. The narrow thinking associated with the idea that we consume content paves the way for laws such as the DMCA that forbid users to break the Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) facilities in digital devices. If users think what they do with these devices is consume, they may see such restrictions as natural. It also encourages the acceptance of streaming services, which use DRM to perversely limit listening to music, or watching video, to squeeze those activities into the assumptions of the word consume. Why is this perverse usage spreading? Some may feel that the term sounds sophisticated, but rejecting it with cogent reasons can appear even more sophisticated. Some want to generalize about all kinds of media, but the usual English verbs (read, listen to, watch) don't do this. Others may be acting from business interests (their own, or their employers'). Their use of the term in prestigious forums gives the impression that it's the correct term. To speak of consuming music, fiction, or any other artistic works is to treat them as commodities rather than as art. Do we want to think of published works that way? Do we want to encourage the public to do so? Those who answer no, please join me in shunning the term consume for this. What to use instead? You can use specific verbs such as read, listen to, watch or look at, since they help to restrain the tendency to overgeneralize. If you insist on generalizing, you can use the expression attend to, which requires less of a stretch than consume. For a work meant for practical use, use is best. See also the following entry. Consumer The term consumer, when used to refer to the users of computing, is loaded with assumptions we should reject. Some come from the idea that using the program consumes the program (see the previous entry), which leads people to impose on copiable digital works the economic conclusions that were drawn about uncopiable material products. In addition, describing the users of software as consumers refers to a framing in which people are limited to selecting between whatever products are available in the market. There is no room in this framing for the idea that users can directly exercise control over what a program does. To describe people who are not limited to passive use of works, we suggest terms such as individuals and citizens, rather than consumers. This problem with the word consumer has been noted before. Content If you want to describe a feeling of comfort and satisfaction, by all means say you are content, but using the word as a noun to describe works and communications through which people have expressed themselves adopts an attitude you might rather avoid: it treats them as a commodity whose purpose is to fill a box and make money. In effect, it disparages all the works by focusing on the box that is full. To avoid taking that attitude, you can call them works, publications, messages, communications, as well as various other words that are more specific. Those who use the term content are often the publishers that push for increased copyright power in the name of the authors (creators, as they say) of the works. The term content reveals their real attitude towards these works and their authors. When thinking about the term content, please note that contents is a different matter. It is a form of the same word, but used with a different meaning. Talking about the contents of a file or the table of contents of a book does not imply a judgment about files in general or books in general, so it does not have the problem we are talking about here. We first condemned this usage of content in 2002. Since then, Tom Chatfield recognized the same point in The Guardian : Content itself is beside the pointas the very use of words like content suggests. The moment you start labelling every single piece of writing in the world content, you have conceded its interchangeability: its primary purpose as mere grist to the metrical mill. In other words, content reduces publications and writings to a sort of pap fit to be metered and piped through the tubes of the internet. Later, Peter Bradshaw noticed it too. This is what happens when studios treat movies as pure, undifferentiated corporate content, a Gazprom pipeline of superhero mush which can be turned off when the accountants say that it makes sense to do so. Martin Scorsese condemned the attitude of content in regard to films. The attitude implied by content is illustrated pointedly in this critical description of the development path of platforms run by people who base their thinking on that concept. The article uses this word over and over, along with consume and creators. Perhaps that is meant to illustrate the way those people like to think. See also Courtney Love's open letter to Steve Case and search for content provider in that page. Alas, Ms. Love is unaware that the term intellectual property is also biased and confusing. However, as long as other people use the term content provider, political dissidents can well call themselves malcontent providers. The term content management takes the prize for vacuity. Content means some sort of information, and management in this context means doing something with it. So a content management system is a system for doing something to some sort of information. Nearly all programs fit that description. In most cases, that term really refers to a system for updating pages on a web site. For that, we recommend the term web site revision system (WRS). Copyright Owner Copyright is an artificial privilege, handed out by the state to achieve a public interest and lasting a period of timenot a natural right like owning a house or a shirt. Lawyers used to recognize this by referring to the recipient of that privilege as a copyright holder. A few decades ago, copyright holders began trying to reduce awareness of this point. In addition to citing frequently the bogus concept of intellectual property, they also started calling themselves copyright owners. Please join us in resisting by using the traditional term copyright holders instead. Creative Commons licensed The most important licensing characteristic of a work is whether it is free. Creative Commons publishes seven licenses; three are free (CC BY, CC BY-SA and CC0) and the rest are nonfree. Thus, to describe a work as Creative Commons licensed fails to say whether it is free, and suggests that the question is not important. The statement may be accurate, but the omission is harmful. To encourage people to pay attention to the most important distinction, always specify which Creative Commons license is used, as in licensed under CC BY-SA. If you don't know which license a certain work uses, find out and then make your statement. Creator The term creator as applied to authors implicitly compares them to a deity (the creator). The term is used by publishers to elevate authors' moral standing above that of ordinary people in order to justify giving them increased copyright power, which the publishers can then exercise in their name. We recommend saying author instead. However, in many cases copyright holder is what you really mean. These two terms are not equivalent: often the copyright holder is not the author. Digital Goods The term digital goods, as applied to copies of works of authorship, identifies them with physical goodswhich cannot be copied, and which therefore have to be manufactured in quantity and sold. This metaphor encourages people to judge issues about software or other digital works based on their views and intuitions about physical goods. It also frames issues in terms of economics, whose shallow and limited values don't include freedom and community. Digital Locks Digital locks is used to refer to Digital Restrictions Management by some who criticize it. The problem with this term is that it fails to do justice to the badness of DRM. The people who adopted that term did not think it through. Locks are not necessarily oppressive or bad. You probably own several locks, and their keys or codes as well; you may find them useful or troublesome, but they don't oppress you, because you can open and close them. Likewise, we find encryption invaluable for protecting our digital files. That too is a kind of digital lock that you have control over. DRM is like a lock placed on you by someone else, who refuses to give you the keyin other words, like handcuffs. Therefore, the proper metaphor for DRM is digital handcuffs, not digital locks. A number of opposition campaigns have chosen the unwise term digital locks; to get things back on the right track, we must firmly insist on correcting this mistake. The FSF can support a campaign that opposes digital locks if we agree on the substance; however, when we state our support, we conspicuously replace the term with digital handcuffs and say why. Digital Rights Management Digital Rights Management (abbreviated DRM) refers to technical mechanisms designed to impose restrictions on computer users. The use of the word rights in this term is propaganda, designed to lead you unawares into seeing the issue from the viewpoint of the few that impose the restrictions, and ignoring that of the general public on whom these restrictions are imposed. Good alternatives include Digital Restrictions Management, and digital handcuffs. Please sign up to support our campaign to abolish DRM. Ecosystem It is inadvisable to describe the free software community, or any human community, as an ecosystem, because that word implies the absence of ethical judgment. The term ecosystem implicitly suggests an attitude of nonjudgmental observation: don't ask how what should happen, just study and understand what does happen. In an ecosystem, some organisms consume other organisms. In ecology, we do not ask whether it is right for an owl to eat a mouse or for a mouse to eat a seed, we only observe that they do so. Species' populations grow or shrink according to the conditions; this is neither right nor wrong, merely an ecological phenomenon, even if it goes so far as the extinction of a species. By contrast, beings that adopt an ethical stance towards their surroundings can decide to preserve things that, without their intervention, might vanishsuch as civil society, democracy, human rights, peace, public health, a stable climate, clean air and water, endangered species, traditional artsand computer users' freedom. FLOSS The term FLOSS, meaning Free/Libre and Open Source Software, was coined as a way to be neutral between free software and open source. If neutrality is your goal, FLOSS is the best way to be neutral. But if you want to show you stand for freedom, don't use a neutral term. For free If you want to say that a program is free software, please don't say that it is available for free. That term specifically means for zero price. Free software is a matter of freedom, not price. Free software copies are often available for freefor example, by downloading via FTP. But free software copies are also available for a price on CD-ROMs; meanwhile, proprietary software copies are occasionally available for free in promotions, and some proprietary packages are normally available at no charge to certain users. To avoid confusion, you can say that the program is available as free software. FOSS The term FOSS, meaning Free and Open Source Software, was coined as a way to be neutral between free software and open source, but it doesn't really do that. If neutrality is your goal, FLOSS is better. But if you want to show you stand for freedom, don't use a neutral term. Instead of FOSS, we say, free software or free (libre) software. Freely available Don't use freely available software as a synonym for free software. The terms are not equivalent. Software is freely available if anyone can easily get a copy. Free software is defined in terms of the freedom of users that have a copy of it. These are answers to different questions. Freemium The confusing term freemium is used in marketing to describe nonfree software whose standard version is gratis, with paid nonfree add-ons available. Using this term works against the free software movement, because it leads people to think of free as meaning zero price. Free-to-play The confusing term free-to-play (acronym F2P) is used in marketing to describe nonfree games which don't require a payment before a user starts to play. In many of these games, doing well in the game requires paying later, so the term gratis-to-start is a more accurate description. Using this term works against the free software movement, because it leads people to think of free as meaning zero price. Freeware Please don't use the term freeware as a synonym for free software. The term freeware was used often in the 1980s for programs released only as executables, with source code not available. Today it has no particular agreed-on definition. When using languages other than English, please avoid borrowing English terms such as free software or freeware. It is better to translate the term free software into your language. By using a word in your own language, you show that you are really referring to freedom and not just parroting some mysterious foreign marketing concept. The reference to freedom may at first seem strange or disturbing to your compatriots, but once they see that it means exactly what it says, they will really understand what the issue is. Give away software It's misleading to use the term give away to mean distribute a program as free software. This locution has the same problem as for free: it implies the issue is price, not freedom. One way to avoid the confusion is to say release as free software. Google Please avoid using the term google as a verb, meaning to search for something on the internet. Google is just the name of one particular search engine among others. We suggest to use the term search the web or (in some contexts) just search. Try to use a search engine that respects your privacy; for instance, DuckDuckGo claims not to track its users. (There is no way for outsiders to verify claims of that kind.) Hacker A hacker is someone who enjoys playful clevernessnot necessarily with computers. The programmers in the old MIT free software community of the 60s and 70s referred to themselves as hackers. Around 1980, journalists who discovered the hacker community mistakenly took the term to mean security breaker. Please don't spread this mistake. People who break security are crackers. Intellectual property Publishers and lawyers like to describe copyright as intellectual propertya term also applied to patents, trademarks, and other more obscure areas of law. These laws have so little in common, and differ so much, that it is ill-advised to generalize about them. It is best to talk specifically about copyright, or about patents, or about trademarks. The term intellectual property carries a hidden assumptionthat the way to think about all these disparate issues is based on an analogy with physical objects, and our conception of them as physical property. When it comes to copying, this analogy disregards the crucial difference between material objects and information: information can be copied and shared almost effortlessly, while material objects can't be. To avoid spreading unnecessary bias and confusion, it is best to adopt a firm policy not to speak or even think in terms of intellectual property. The hypocrisy of calling these powers rights is starting to make the World Intellectual Property Organization embarrassed. Internet of Things When companies decided to make computerized appliances that would connect over the internet to the manufacturer's server, and therefore could easily snoop on their users, they realized that this would not sound very nice. So they came up with a cute, appealing name: the Internet of Things. Experience shows that these products often do spy on their users. They are also tailor-made for giving people biased advice. In addition, the manufacturer can sabotage the product by turning off the server it depends on. We call them the Internet of Stings. LAMP system LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHPa common combination of software to use on a web server, except that Linux in this context really refers to the GNU/Linux system. So instead of LAMP it should be GLAMP: GNU, Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. Linux system Linux is the name of the kernel that Linus Torvalds developed starting in 1991. The operating system in which Linux is used is basically GNU with Linux added. To call the whole system Linux is both unfair and confusing. Please call the complete system GNU/Linux, both to give the GNU Project credit and to distinguish the whole system from the kernel alone. Market It is misleading to describe the users of free software, or the software users in general, as a market. This is not to say there is no room for markets in the free software community. If you have a free software support business, then you have clients, and you trade with them in a market. As long as you respect their freedom, we wish you success in your market. But the free software movement is a social movement, not a business, and the success it aims for is not a market success. We are trying to serve the public by giving it freedomnot competing to draw business away from a rival. To equate this campaign for freedom to a business's efforts for mere success is to deny the importance of freedom and legitimize proprietary software. Modern The term modern makes sense from a descriptive perspectivefor instance, solely to distinguish newer periods and ways from older ones. It becomes a problem when it carries the presumption that older ways are old-fashioned; that is, presumed to be worse. In technological fields where businesses make the choices and impose them on users, the reverse is often true. Monetize The proper definition of monetize is to use something as currency. For instance, human societies have monetized gold, silver, copper, printed paper, special kinds of seashells, and large rocks. However, we now see a tendency to use the word in another way, meaning to use something as a basis for profit. That usage casts the profit as primary, and the thing used to get the profit as secondary. That attitude applied to a software project is objectionable because it would lead the developers to make the program proprietary, if they conclude that making it free/libre isn't sufficiently profitable. A productive and ethical business can make money, but if it subordinates all else to profit, it is not likely to remain ethical. MP3 Player In the late 1990s it became feasible to make portable, solid-state digital audio players. Most players supported the patented MP3 codec, and that is still the case. Some players also supported the patent-free audio codecs Ogg Vorbis and FLAC, and a few couldn't play MP3-encoded files at all because their developers needed to protect themselves from the patents on MP3 format. Using the term MP3 players for audio players in general has the effect of promoting the MP3 format and discouraging the other formats (some of which are technically superior as well). Even though the MP3 patents have expired, it is still undesirable to do that. We suggest the term digital audio player, or simply audio player when that's clear enough, instead of MP3 player. Open Please avoid using the term open or open source as a substitute for free software. Those terms refer to a different set of views based on different values. The free software movement campaigns for your freedom in your computing, as a matter of justice. The open source non-movement does not campaign for anything in this way. When referring to the open source views, it's correct to use that name, but please do not use that term when talking about us, our software, or our viewsthat leads people to suppose our views are similar to theirs. Instead of open source, we say, free software or free (libre) software. Opt out When applied to any form of computational mistreatment, opt out implies the choice is a minor matter of convenience. We recommend reject, shun or escape from. PC It's OK to use the abbreviation PC to refer to a certain kind of computer hardware, but please don't use it with the implication that the computer is running Microsoft Windows. If you install GNU/Linux on the same computer, it is still a PC. The term WC has been suggested for a computer running Windows. Photoshop Please avoid using the term photoshop as a verb, meaning any kind of photo manipulation or image editing in general. Photoshop is just the name of one particular image editing program, which should be avoided since it is proprietary. There are plenty of free programs for editing images, such as the GIMP. Piracy Publishers often refer to copying they don't approve of as piracy. In this way, they imply that it is ethically equivalent to attacking ships on the high seas, kidnapping and murdering the people on them. Based on such propaganda, they have procured laws in most of the world to forbid copying in most (or sometimes all) circumstances. (They are still pressuring to make these prohibitions more complete.) If you don't believe that copying not approved by the publisher is just like kidnapping and murder, you might prefer not to use the word piracy to describe it. Neutral terms such as unauthorized copying (or prohibited copying for the situation where it is illegal) are available for use instead. Some of us might even prefer to use a positive term such as sharing information with your neighbor. A US judge, presiding over a trial for copyright infringement, recognized that piracy and theft are smear words. PowerPoint Please avoid using the term PowerPoint to mean any kind of slide presentation. PowerPoint is just the name of one particular proprietary program to make presentations. For your freedom's sake, you should use only free software to make your presentationswhich means, not PowerPoint. Recommended options include LaTeX's beamer class and LibreOffice Impress. Product If you're talking about a product, by all means call it that. However, when referring to a service, please do not call it a product. If a service provider calls the service a product, please firmly insist on calling it a service. If a service provider calls a package deal a product, please firmly insist on calling it a deal. Protection Publishers' lawyers love to use the term protection to describe copyright. This word carries the implication of preventing destruction or suffering; therefore, it encourages people to identify with the owner and publisher who benefit from copyright, rather than with the users who are restricted by it. It is easy to avoid protection and use neutral terms instead. For example, instead of saying, Copyright protection lasts a very long time, you can say, Copyright lasts a very long time. Likewise, instead of saying, protected by copyright, you can say, covered by copyright or just copyrighted. If you want to criticize copyright rather than be neutral, you can use the term copyright restrictions. Thus, you can say, Copyright restrictions last a very long time. The term protection is also used to describe malicious features. For instance, copy protection is a feature that interferes with copying. From the user's point of view, this is obstruction. So we could call that malicious feature copy obstruction. More often it is called Digital Restrictions Management (DRM)see the Defective by Design campaign. RAND (Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) Standards bodies that promulgate patent-restricted standards that prohibit free software typically have a policy of obtaining patent licenses that require a fixed fee per copy of a conforming program. They often refer to such licenses by the term RAND, which stands for reasonable and non-discriminatory. That term whitewashes a class of patent licenses that are normally neither reasonable nor nondiscriminatory. It is true that these licenses do not discriminate against any specific person, but they do discriminate against the free software community, and that makes them unreasonable. Thus, half of the term RAND is deceptive and the other half is prejudiced. Standards bodies should recognize that these licenses are discriminatory, and drop the use of the term reasonable and non-discriminatory or RAND to describe them. Until they do so, writers who do not wish to join in the whitewashing would do well to reject that term. To accept and use it merely because patent-wielding companies have made it widespread is to let those companies dictate the views you express. We suggest the term uniform fee only, or UFO for short, as a replacement. It is accurate because the only condition in these licenses is a uniform royalty fee. SaaS or Software as a Service We used to say that SaaS (short for Software as a Service) is an injustice, but then we found that there was a lot of variation in people's understanding of which activities count as SaaS. So we switched to a new term, Service as a Software Substitute or SaaSS. This term has two advantages: it wasn't used before, so our definition is the only one, and it explains what the injustice consists of. See Who Does That Server Really Serve? for discussion of this issue. In Spanish we continue to use the term software como servicio because the joke of software como ser vicio (software, as being pernicious) is too good to give up. Sell software The term sell software is ambiguous. Strictly speaking, exchanging a copy of a free program for a sum of money is selling the program, and there is nothing wrong with doing that. However, people usually associate the term selling software with proprietary restrictions on the subsequent use of the software. You can be clear, and prevent confusion, by saying either distributing copies of a program for a fee or imposing proprietary restrictions on the use of a program. See Selling Free Software for further discussion of this issue. Sharing (personal data) When companies manipulate or lure people into revealing personal data and thus ceding their privacy, please don't refer to this as sharing. We use the term sharing to refer to noncommercial cooperation, including noncommercial redistribution of exact copies of published works, and we say this is good. Please don't apply that word to a practice which is harmful and dangerous. When one company redistributes collected personal data to another company, that is even less deserving of the term sharing. Sharing economy The term sharing economy is not a good way to refer to services such as Uber and Airbnb that arrange business transactions between people. We use the term sharing to refer to noncommercial cooperation, including noncommercial redistribution of exact copies of published works. Stretching the word sharing to include these transactions undermines its meaning, so we don't use it in this context. A more suitable term for businesses like Uber is the piecework service economy or gig economy. Skype Please avoid using the term skype as a verb, meaning any kind of video communication or telephony over the Internet in general. Skype is just the name of one particular proprietary program, one that spies on its users. If you want to make video and voice calls over the Internet in a way that respects both your freedom and your privacy, try one of the numerous free Skype replacements. Software Industry The term software industry encourages people to imagine that software is always developed by a sort of factory and then delivered to consumers. The free software community shows this is not the case. Software businesses exist, and various businesses develop free and/or nonfree software, but those that develop free software are not run like factories. The term industry is being used as propaganda by advocates of software patents. They call software development industry and then try to argue that this means it should be subject to patent monopolies. The European Parliament, rejecting software patents in 2003, voted to define industry as automated production of material goods. Source model Wikipedia uses the term source model in a confused and ambiguous way. Ostensibly it refers to how a program's source is distributed, but the text confuses this with the development methodology. It distinguishes open source and shared source as answers, but they overlapMicrosoft uses the latter as a marketing term to cover a range of practices, some of which are open source. Thus, this term really conveys no coherent information, but it provides an opportunity to say open source in pages describing free software programs. Theft The supporters of a too-strict, repressive form of copyright often use words like stolen and theft to refer to copyright infringement. This is spin, but they would like you to take it for objective truth. Under the US legal system, copyright infringement is not theft. Laws about theft are not applicable to copyright infringement. The supporters of repressive copyright are making an appeal to authorityand misrepresenting what authority says. To refute them, you can point to this real case which shows what can properly be described as copyright theft. Unauthorized copying is forbidden by copyright law in many circumstances (not all!), but being forbidden doesn't make it wrong. In general, laws don't define right and wrong. Laws, at their best, attempt to implement justice. If the laws (the implementation) don't fit our ideas of right and wrong (the spec), the laws are what should change. A US judge, presiding over a trial for copyright infringement, recognized that piracy and theft are smear-words. Trusted Computing Trusted computing is the proponents' name for a scheme to redesign computers so that application developers can trust your computer to obey them instead of you. From their point of view, it is trusted; from your point of view, it is treacherous. Vendor Please don't use the term vendor to refer generally to anyone that develops or packages software. Many programs are developed in order to sell copies, and their developers are therefore their vendors; this even includes some free software packages. However, many programs are developed by volunteers or organizations which do not intend to sell copies. These developers are not vendors. Likewise, only some of the packagers of GNU/Linux distributions are vendors. We recommend the general term supplier instead. By PTI: Varanasi Varanasi, Dec 22 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid foundation stone for a cancer centre and a super speciality hospital here besides touring Kabir Nagar area to inspect laying of underground cables, installation of heritage streetlights and lighting of heritage buildings. In his Lok Sabha constituency here, he also visited a trade facilitation centre and a crafts museum, where he stressed the need for harnessing "the immense potential hidden among Varanasis people, including its artisans and sportspersons". He showered praise on Textiles Minister Smriti Irani for finishing in time the phase I of a project which was inaugurated by him. advertisement "Smriti Irani has put a lot of effort into this. It is the result of her continuous efforts that the phase I is ready for inauguration in such a short span of time. I congratulate her, her team and her predecessor Santosh Gangwar," the Prime Minister said. In Kabir Nagar, installation of heritage streetlights and lighting of heritage buildings is being done by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a venture of Union Power Ministry. Among the projects, Modi laid the foundation stone for a 150-bed ESIC super speciality hospital and a health research institute. He began his five-hour visit to his constituency with a visit to the BHU campus where he laid foundation stone for a cancer centre and remarked, "I will be launching or dedicating projects worth nearly Rs 2100 crore during this visit of Kashi". PTI NAC AKK --- ENDS --- Haiti - Economy : Signing of a partnership to create 28,000 emergency jobs The Government, through the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), signed a partnership agreement on Friday to create 28,000 emergency jobs in the regions affected by the hurricaneMatthew, with financial support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) of nearly US $2 million. Nearly 2.7 million people have been affected by Hurricane Matthew. In this context, livelihood rehabilitation, with a particular focus on women, is crucial to ensuring immediate income for the most vulnerable and creating the conditions for a long-term recovery. UNDP initiatives in the field (Cash for work) will focus on the management of waste and debris (destroyed trees and houses), repairing infrastructure (such as irrigation canals) and the rehabilitation of roads and community structures. Their objectives will be to enable the resumption of agricultural activities in time for the planting season and the revitalization of markets and economic activities in the affected communities. In addition, UNDP teams, in partnership with FAES, will provide technical assistance to municipalities and associations in these regions. In terms of geographical scope, UNDP emergency employment projects will focus on the affected departments of the South and Grand'Anse, beginning with 9 communes in the Grand'Anse (Abricots, Anse d'Hainault, Beaumont , Bonbon, Chambellan, Dame Marie, Jeremie, the Irois and Moron). HL/ HaitiLibre Overall the researchers found that yoga holds potential promise for helping improve anxiety, depression, PTSD ( post-traumatic stress disorder ) and/or the psychological consequences of trauma, according to a University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill news-release regarding a study by researchers at its School of Social Work. Release adds that the study suggested that clinicians and service providers consider recommending yoga as an intervention in addition to other treatments. According the published abstract of this study in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse Journal, under the title Yoga for Trauma and Related Mental Health Problems, which undertook a systematic meta-review of 13 literature reviews (which examined 185 distinct studies): Findings show that the evidence regarding yoga as an intervention for the effects of trauma as well as the mental health symptoms and illnesses often associated with trauma is encouraging. Health and human service providers have expressed growing interest in the benefits of yoga to help individuals cope with the effects of trauma, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); the abstract says. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, called the UNC-Chapel Hill looking into possible usage of yoga for trauma and related mental health problems a step in the positive direction. Zed urged all major world universities to explore various benefits yoga offers. Yoga, referred as a living fossil, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted. Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to a 2016 Yoga in America Study, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added. Some of the study researchers are considering several possible future studies, including one that would examine the use of yoga within a rape crisis center or domestic violence shelter, UNC-Chapel Hill news-release indicates. UNC-Chapel Hill, said to be the nations first public university founded in 1789, claims to be a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service and boasts of two Nobel laureates on its staff. Dwight D. Stone, Carol L. Folt and Gary L. Bowen are its Trustees Chair, Chancellor and School of Social Work Dean respectively. Source : From Our Correspondent Update 10.31pm: A man in his 60s has been shot dead as his partner looked on. The victim, named locally as Noel Kirwan, was targeted by a lone gunman shortly after he pulled into the driveway of a house in the Ronanstown area of Dublin just after 5pm. The 62-year-old, originally from the north inner city, was hit by several bullets fired into the driver's side of the Ford Mondeo. The killer escaped in a white Peugeot Partner van 10-CE-9834 which was found burnt out a short time later behind the nearby Neilstown shops. Kirwan was understood to have associated with Gerry "the Monk" Hutch. His family has been embroiled in a bitter feud with the Kinahan crime cartel which turned bloody in September 2015 when Gary Hutch was shot dead in Spain. At least 10 people have been killed in Ireland and Spain as a result. Gino Kenny, People Before Profit TD from the area, appealed for calm. "Violence just breeds violence. It's terrible for the family," he said. "It hasn't been confirmed but obviously if there's a link to the Hutch and Kinahan feud then it's a cycle of violence that has to stop. Someone has to say stop. Fathers, brothers are being killed." His partner was not injured but is understood to have been deeply distressed by the killing. A tent was erected over Kirwan's Mondeo car for several hours following the shooting while forensic examinations took place at the scene. A group of people believed to be relatives were brought to the crime scene by gardai at about 9pm before the man's body was removed in an ambulance. Update 9.20pm: Gardai are investigating the fatal shooting which occurred in the driveway of a house at St. Ronans Drive, Clondalkin Dublin 22 this evening at approximately 5.10pm. Gardai have stated that it appears that a lone male entered the driveway of the house at the above location and fired a number of shots fatally injuring the driver of a car. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. A female passenger in the car was uninjured. The lone male then left the scene and is believed to have got into a white Peugeot Partner Van Registration No: 10-CE-9834. This van was found burnt out a short distance away at the Neilstown Shopping Centre. A full investigation has commenced and an incident room has been established at Lucan Garda Station. Investigating Gardai are appealing for witnesses, particularly those people who were in the area prior to the incident and immediately after the shooting and who may have information or who may have seen anything unusual or suspicious to contact them at Clondalkin Garda Station on 01 666 7600 The Garda Confidential Line, 1800 666111 or any Garda Station. Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald described those involved in the shooting as "a scourge on Dublin and the good people of our city". "They go about their brutal business with no concern for the fear that they inflict on our communities and with zero regard for the innocents who may be caught up in their terrible acts," she said. Ms McDonald called for additional policing and justice resources to tackle gangland. "The actions of those involved in these crimes are an affront to the spirit of Dublin. Our communities, our families and all who inhabit this city have had enough. We are done with being caught up in this seemingly endless cycle of violence," she said. Update: The man who was shot in west Dublin is now reported to have died. A small van believed to have been used in the shooting incident was found burnt out at Neilstown Shopping Centre a short time later. The scene has been preserved for technical examination. Gardai are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information is asked to contact them at Ronanstown Garda Station on 01 666 7700, The Garda Confidential Line, 1800 666111 or any Garda station. Earlier: A man has been severely injured after being shot in west Dublin. Gardai say he suffered multiple gunshot wounds at St Ronan's Drive in Ronanstown at 5pm this evening. The man, in his late 50s or early 60s, is believed to have been shot in the head. Gardai have said the shooting has "all the hallmarks of a gangland attack". Emergency services are at the scene which has been sealed off. It is expected that a full Garda investigation will be launched this evening. Dalata, which owns the Clayton and Maldron brands, lodged its application with Cork City Council for a hotel bounding Beasley St, South Mall, and Parnell St. It bought the loans from Lone Star for 10.2m earlier this year. Dalata has indicated it will inject 22m into its redevelopment. A hotel was started in 2007 and planning permission granted, including for a double underground basement car park, spa, and leisure centre, reception area, bar, cafe, restaurant and 121 bedrooms, but the project fell by the wayside soon after. Dermot Crowley, deputy chief executive of business development and finance at Dalata, told the Irish Examiner its plans for South Mall included additional bedrooms and a revamp of the ground floor. He said: It is a prime location with nearby major developments at Albert Quay and the Cork convention centre under way. Mr Crowley said Dalata anticipated its new Maldron Hotel in Belfast to be completed by mid-2018. We are very excited about Belfast. It will mean a Clayton and Maldron close to each other in a very important market. Dalata said that revenue per available room in its largest market of Dublin increased by almost 17% for the 11 months to the end of November compared with 2015. The group said that Brexit had no impact on its hotels in Ireland or Britain, where it operates a number of hotels. Mr Crowley said: We do very well with the domestic, European, and US markets so Brexit hasnt made a difference. The Clayton hotel brand increased in size in Ireland from 1,588 rooms to 2,904 rooms with the rebranding to Clayton of the three former Clarion hotels, including Cork City, and the former Doubletree by Hilton hotel, otherwise known as the Burlington, in November and December 2016. In the UK, Dalata said that construction was under way at the new 226-room Maldron Hotel Newcastle, due to open in the summer of 2018. The company said: We continue to actively look for further opportunities to open new hotels in the UK under the capital light leasing model. Shares in the 825m company remained relatively unchanged yesterday at 4.50, but they are down almost 18% this year. The company listed on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges in June, having upgraded from secondary markets. Mr Coffey said yesterday that although prospects had improved remarkably since the dark days of the economic crisis, Brexit and the sustainability of corporate tax revenues will be highly challenging. The Limerick native, who has been a resident of Cork for over 20 years, succeeds John McHale who had chaired IFAC since the watchdog was set up five years ago. It was established to help prevent any repetition of the conditions that brought the State close to bankruptcy and led to it requiring a bailout to avoid defaulting on its sovereign bond debt. Mr Coffey said he aims to sustain IFACs reputation under Mr McHale as a watchdog never afraid to bare its teeth should economic conditions get out of line. The IFAC has clashed with the Government over its budget in the last two years, and last month criticised Mr Noonans 2017 budget for breaching EU expenditure rules. Economic conditions have clearly improved since IFAC was set up, but challenges remain, Mr Coffey told the Irish Examiner. Mr Coffey was commissioned in October by the Department of Finance to write a report about future-proofing the countrys corporate tax regime. The ESRIs Martina Lawless has also been appointed to the watchdog, and the OECDs Sebastian Barnes has been reappointed. Separately, one of the most senior civil servants at the Department of Public Expenditure in an email said some of the economic analysis carried out by IFAC lacked basic coherence. In correspondence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, William Beausang, the assistant secretary at the department, said IFAC had ignored offers to work directly with officials. The email was sent just before IFAC issued its pre-budget statement warning the package was close to prudent limits. Mr Beausang wrote to both Thomas Conefrey, the watchdogs chief economist, and Mr McHale saying it was disappointing they had not made more contact. Mr Beausang said he wanted open dialogue. Mr Conefrey replied: We regret if there has been a misunderstanding on the nature of the dialogue you envisaged. We continue to have a very fruitful engagement with your department at a technical level and hope that this continues. Mr Beausang responded by asking for increased discussions between IFAC. The EUs top court ruled the difference between the lower and normal rates of air travel tax constituted unlawful state aid. Ryanair said yesterday it had been expecting the ruling and it cleared the way for the airline to take a High Court action against the Government to recover 88m in damages which it claims it suffered as a result of being forced to pay the illegal tax. The tax was introduced in March 2009 as a budgetary measure to raise much-needed revenue for the exchequer, despite strong opposition from the airlines and the tourism industry. Airlines were required to pay the tax for every passenger departing from an airport in the Republic, although transfer and transit passengers were exempted. The cost of the air travel tax was passed on by all airlines to customers 2 for short-haul flights under 300km and 10 for all other flights. The Government abandoned the two-rate system in March 2011 and introduced a flat tax of 3 on all flights regardless of distance after the European Commission opened infringement procedures. The case was prompted by a complaint lodged by Ryanair, in July 2009, when the airline claimed the tax conferred an unfair advantage on some of its competitors as they operated a significant number of flights to destinations under 300km. The commission subsequently ruled the Government should recover the difference between the two taxes 8 per passenger. In February, the ECJ partially annulled that decision following separate cases taken by Ryanair and Aer Lingus on the basis that Brussels had failed to show that the advantage enjoyed by the airlines was in all cases 8 per passenger. Yesterdays ruling was the result of a challenge by the commission to that decision and restored the original finding that the sum of 8 per passenger must be recouped. The ECJ said the unfair advantage arose simply from the fact airlines had to pay a lower amount than they would have had to pay if their flights had been subject to the standard 10 rate. Ryanair and Aer Lingus have claimed the obligation to repay 8 per passenger now was the equivalent of having to pay an additional tax or discriminatory penalty as they were no longer in a position to recover the money from their customers. The Luxembourg-based court said there was nothing that had prevented airlines from increasing fares on shorter flights by 8 to enjoy the economic benefits corresponding to the difference between the two rates. It stated the commission was not required to examine whether, and to what extent, the beneficiaries of the illegal state aid had actually utilised their economic advantage arising from the application of the lower 2 rate. The Government supported the commissions appeal and had asked the ECJ to dismiss the cross-appeals by the two airlines. It is estimated Ryanair will face a bill for 12m and Aer Lingus will be asked to refund 4m. Both airlines were also ordered to pay all costs of the legal battle including those of the commission with the exception of the Government which must pay its own costs in the case. Aer Lingus said it was studying the judgment. Rent caps will be signed into law this week after passing through the Seanad yesterday. However, there is a fear that landlords will switch to Airbnb operations, to dodge the rent controls and to maximise income. Simon Coveney said he had written to local authorities to ensure Airbnb providers were not operating like B&Bs or hotel owners. His comments in the Seanad come as a cross-departmental group examining homestays here begins its work. It will report by June. Mr Coveney took the unprecedented step of warning Airbnb yesterday that the company should not be replacing permanent tenancies. Simon Coveney A change in the planning treatment is a good way of dealing with that, which is what we have been supporting, he told the Seanad. In October, Bord Pleanala upheld a ruling that a property owner in Temple Bar needed to get planning permission to continue renting it out for short-term lets. Planning chiefs cited the extent and frequency of visitors to the property, its commercial nature, and security concerns and disturbance to other renters. Rent caps of 4% a year will be introduced in Dublin and Cork City when signed into law by the President this week. Other areas and cities will then be assessed as rent-pressure zones by next month. However, there are fears landlords facing the rent caps will now instead go down the Airbnb route, where owners can potentially increase their incomes. Landlords say the market will correct itself, with hoards switching to Airbnb. Furthermore, short-term renters use facilities less, leaving little wear and tear. However, numbers switching over to Airbnb will further reduce the rental supply, Labour senator Kevin Humphreys warned: No one objects to someone using Airbnb for occasional short-term rental use. Where it is being run as a business though, the planning system must step in to ensure that the correct permissions are in place. Mr Coveney told the Seanad that efforts were under way to clampdown on homestay providers operating like hotels. We have written to local authorities to support that distinction in planning enforcement, which is a good way of dealing with this, without having to go through legislative change, he said. Owners regularly selling short-term stays must face the same procedures that B&Bs go through, including standards, inspections and taxation, he said. Meanwhile, a High Court judge has ordered activists and homeless people occupying Apollo House, a vacant office building in Dublin city, to leave the premises by January 11. Glen Hansard, Carrie Hennessy, Aisling Hedderman and Brendan Ogle speak to the media. Picture: Collins Courts Mr Justice Paul Gilligan granted an injunction sought by Tom OBrien and Simon Coyle of Mazars who were appointed joint receivers over the building by a Nama-related company to vacate the property and restrain the trespass at Apollo House. Home Sweet Home, a group made up of trade unionists and the Irish Housing Network, took charge of the building last Friday to house homeless people. There are 40 people living in the makeshift hostel. The campaign is backed by musicians and artists such as film director Jim Sheridan, musician Glen Hansard, and actress Saoirse Ronan. The group has been flooded with donations while tradespeople have reinstated heating, plumbing and electricity in the building. Mr Coveney was asked if he believed Apollo House was unnecessary given that 160 to 210 extra beds would be available in the capital by this weekend. He said he would work with the campaigners in Apollo House to move occupants into more medium-term and permanent solutions. This Christmas about 7,000 people, including children, will be living in emergency accommodation. Hotel chain Dalata, though associated company Leevlan Ltd, this week signalled its intention to increase the bedrooms tally, from 120 to 165 beds, on an existing part-developed hotel site it purchased this year from Nama for 10.2m. Over 60 jobs are anticipated by the third quarter of 2018. Initially part-developed by the Corbett family but left in a core state post-recession, the site is located between the historic 125-bed Imperial Hotel and the 191-bed Clayton (ex-Clarion) Hotel on Lapps Quay. It can be glimpsed behind the landmark at the former AIB at 97 South South Mall, at 93-95 South Mall, and 17-18 Parnell Place, with limestone frontage to the narrow Beasley St. The sites new owners, skilled hotel operators Dalata, now control more than 20% of Greater Corks hotel stock, including the former Clarion, now a Clayton Hotel, which is the citys largest with 191 bedrooms, scheduled for a multi-million euro revamp in 2017. The company also has a Clayton Hotel at Silversprings, and a Maldron brand hotel at Shandon, and is expected to brand its new South Mall hotel in 2018 as a four-star Maldron, following planning approval and completion. It has considerably redesigned the layout prior to seeking permission to extend further at floors four and five on Beasley St, and to replace permitted basement level parking and car lift with a light well, with bedrooms and business meeting rooms below ground. The planning application by Leevlan/Dalata also proposes demolition of 95 South Mall, part-demolition and reinstatement of 93-94 South Mall, and a 1,500 sq ft retail unit onto Parnell Place. The companys plans to increase the number of bedrooms is fantastic news for the city, and comes on top of planning sought for a 146-bed hotel on South Terrace last month, said hotel sales specialist Denis ODonoghue of Savills. He said Cork City is underprovided for growing accommodation demand, with a further hotel site also in the offing at Sullivans Quay, owned by BAM and near the site of the planned events centre. The average occupancy of Cork hotels now spans 85%-90%, and rooms rates have gone up by 16% in a year to 93 per room on average, compared to an average of 103 per room in Dublin. The warning comes from the Commission for Rail Regulation, which says there was a significant increase in the number of Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD) incidents last year. In its 2015 annual report, the commission points out that, since 1983, maximum speeds on the network have increased from 120km/h to 160km/h, frequency of rail services has doubled on most mainline routes, and additional routes have opened. It said the risk profile associated with train movements had changed over the period, but that change had not been balanced by a proportionate increase in the level of protection offered by the signalling systems. The margin between tolerable risk and intolerable risk has therefore been reducing. In regard to the safe working of trains , Iarnrod Eireann (IE) signalling systems currently do not offer the level of protection that is nowadays expected of passenger carrying railways in a developed economy. It said that proven technology to reduce the exposure to driver error is only applied to a small proportion of the IE network and some of that equipment is now of a 30 year-old vintage. The commission said less than 5% of the network has Automatic Train Protection (ATP), predominantly the Dart. That automatically applies the brakes if a driver fails to obey a signal or a speed limit. A further 41% of the network has Continuous Automatic Warning System which provides drivers with an in-cab indication of signal aspects, but will not override the drivers subsequent actions if they are inappropriate. The other 54% of the network has no driver warning or ATP system. A marked increase in the number of SPAD events on IE is a reminder of the ever-present risk of a human error induced railway accident, the report said. The number of SPAD incidents in 2013 was 18, That fell to 10 in 2014, but rose again to 15 last year. The commission said 14 of those were attributable to Irish Rail. Besides the SPADs, there were 18 other reportable incidents including derailments, collisions between machinery and the Mallow to Tralee train running through landslide debris. It pointed to three incidents which, under slightly different conditions, could have resulted in serious consequences including a SPAD and collision with level crossing gates in Castleconnell in November 2015. The commission said it was to be expected that there would be healthy tension between a regulator and regulated entities, but it described relations between IE and itself as strained throughout 2015. This was most evident in the stance adopted at the most senior level of IE management when responding to matters of safety management compliance identified by the commission. It is of concern that the type of sentiment expressed in its correspondence with the regulator may be a reflection of a leadership attitude to safety that would be less than the commission expects. For its part, Iarnrod Eireann said that, during 2016, it had engaged with the commission and agreed a joint programme of actions, including revised reporting and governance arrangements between the two bodies. It said safety was the number one priority across all levels of organisation adding that it had received a recent allocation of funding to commence installing Automatic Train Protection Systems as a strategic response to the principal risk of Signals being Passed at Danger. Speaking at a function at his constituency Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked Rahul Gandhi over his corruption charge against him and said it was good to see a young leader learning to speak. By Brijesh Pandey: The supposed "earthquake" allegation of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on PM Modi continued to draw responses from curt to caustic from the ruling BJP. Today, the PM addressed a rally in his constituency Varanasi and all eyes were fixed on what his response would be to Rahul Gandhi's corruption allegation. And Prime Minister didn't disappoint. He lampooned Rahul Gandhi by saying that he was happy that one youth leader is learning to speak. He also hit out at the former PM Manmohan Singh an Finance Minister P Chidambaram. advertisement HERE'S HOW PM MODI, BJP MOCKED RAHUL'S CORRUPTION CHARGE: "I think it would have been better if he wouldn't have spoken. The former PM is saying that how this country can go cashless when 50 per cent of the population is poor. Was he giving my report card or his own report card," Modi said. PM Modi further hit out at Manmohan Singh by saying that very few people know that he was associated with economic process of this country since 1972 and we are bearing the burden of this legacy. When this question was asked to Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu , his reply was extremely curt. "He doesn't deserve the response. You know what I am trying to say. Whose government was there in 2013?" Naidu asked. Not only Naidu, Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy also slammed Rahul. He said, "Rahul Gandhi doesn't even know that the allegation which he has levelled against PM has already been rejected by the Supreme Court". He further said that whenever anything important happens in country, Rahul Gandhi is always travelling abroad. That is the reason why he doesn't know anything and whatever is fed to him, he speaks that without checking it for himself. Because of this behaviour of Rahul, the Congress party is shrinking fast in the political landscape of the country. Santosh Gangwar (Minister of State - Finance) was equally dismissive of the allegation levelled by Rahul Gandhi against PM Modi. He said, "Rahul Gandhi should first give answer to the corruption done in the UPA regime. Only then he should ask these question." ALSO READ: PM Modi as pure as Ganga, Rahul Gandhi's allegations are baseless: BJP Modi's quake vs Rahul's quake: Decide the winner --- ENDS --- Ultra Lithium Inc. (TSX.V: ULI) ("Ultra Lithium" or "the Company") reports assay results from trenching and channel sampling at its 100% owned Georgia Lake Lithium Project located in the Thunder Bay Mining District, Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The results of one of the three channels cut at Camp Pegmatite indicates 1.15 % lithium oxide (Li2O) over 3 metres. There are anomalous values of beryllium (Be), niobium (Nb), rubidium (Rb), and tantalum (Ta) in these channel samples. Highlights of the Camp Pegmatite sampling program are (see table for details): Channel CH16-01 intersects 1.1% Li2O over 2.29 m with Be 243 to 251 parts per million (ppm), Nb 51 to 66.4 ppm, Rb 752 to 972 ppm and Ta 34.8 to 69.2 ppm. Channel CH16-02 intersects 1.07% Li2O over 1 m with Be 259 to 293 ppm, Nb 42.4 to 66 ppm, Rb 703 to 1270 ppm and Ta 27.3 to 52.7 ppm. Channel CH16-03 intersects 1.15% Li2O over 3.0 m with Be 262 to 315 ppm, Nb 49 to 62.4 ppm, Rb 535 to 1090 ppm and Ta 29.8 to 43.6 ppm. The fieldwork program was carried out by Pleson Geoscience in October - November 2016 after receiving permits from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM), Ontario. Camp Pegmatite exists on the south shore of Wood Pigeon Lake. Historical work exposed a small outcrop near the shore. The field crew continued stripping along strike until the overburden depth was too thick to proceed further. Camp Pegmatite is a 3-4m wide, strong spodumene growth near the center of the dike, with the margins exhibiting more aplite "zones" or veins. Pegmatite is near vertical with a strike of 325, and changes to 340 as the trench proceeds to the east. Grab samples indicated up to 2.73% lithium oxide, with some channels assaying up to 1.57% Li20 over 1m. Dr. Weiguo Lang, CEO of Ultra, stated that, "We are very pleased with the channel sampling results from the first of the eight historically documented pegmatites on Ultra Lithium's Georgia Lake property. These areas present excellent exploration potential for discovering more lithium bearing pegmatites and will help us build a strong portfolio of lithium assets. The Company is also currently completing due diligence on its Argentinian brine lithium project located in the famous lithium triangle." About Ultra Lithium Ultra Lithium is an exploration and development company with a focus on the acquisition and development of lithium assets. The Company is currently focused on acquiring promising lithium assets in Argentina located in the famous lithium triangle while exploring its Georgia Lake and South Big Smoky Valley Projects. Source: Ultra Lithium Wellgreen Platinum Ltd. (TSX: WG) provides an update on the Company's recent activities. Metallurgical Testwork The Company initiated metallurgical testing (the "Metallurgical Program") on the Wellgreen Project in April 2016. As reported in its September 13, 2016 news release, the objectives of this program are: to further refine the recovery information of the payable metals from the earlier work completed as part of the 2015 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA", see press release dated February 2, 2015 ); and, ); and, to evaluate the potential to produce a marketable bulk Ni-Cu-PGM concentrate, or, alternatively, separate marketable nickel and copper concentrates. We are pleased to report that metallurgical testing on the primary geometallurgical domains has produced a final flowsheet capable of generating high quality bulk Ni-Cu-PGM concentrates, which was the primary objective of the program. A minor mechanical issue regarding persistence of froth was revealed during locked cycle testing. Testing has moved substantially toward resolution of this issue using conventional chemical technologies. It is expected that the final metallurgical results will be reportable towards the latter end of first quarter 2017. Testing to demonstrate the viability of a process to produce separate copper and copper/nickel concentrates has also been successful. The metallurgical program is being carried out by XPS in Falconbridge, Ontario, together with Wellgreen's internal metallurgical consulting team. Project Update In parallel with the metallurgical testwork, the Company is also in the process of evaluating and updating the Wellgreen geologic model by incorporating the past two years of exploration drill data. The 2016 drill program (see press release dated July 11, 2016) consisted of 2,503 metres of infill and exploration drilling in 13 drill holes. Borehole EM surveys were conducted in three holes. The Company refined its understanding of the North and Middle Arms' geometries and mineralogies while demonstrating continuity of semi-massive sulfide mineralization in two distinct high grade targets in the Central Zone. The Company anticipates that the holes drilled in the Central Zone could assist it in evaluating a potential upgrade in the confidence category of some of the tonnage in the PEA stage 3 and stage 4 pits in that Zone from Inferred Mineral Resources to Measured and Indicated. The Company installed five additional water monitoring wells in support of hydrogeologic modelling for environmental and mine-planning engineering in the areas of 2015 PEA tailings storage dam, stockpile and waste dump. In addition, the Company recently completed a LiDAR survey of the entire project area. LiDAR is an airborne survey system which captures high accuracy, georeferenced data across large areas for mapping, engineering surveys and mine planning activities. Environmental and baseline studies required for a mining permit application are being conducted in parallel with other activities. Diane Garrett, President and CEO commented "We are very pleased with the metallurgical work completed to date indicating the ability to produce a high quality bulk Ni-Cu-PGM concentrate and the successful testing to produce separate concentrates. The mechanical issues in locked cycle testing could not have been anticipated prior to execution of the test and the end of year holiday schedule has pushed resolution of the issue into the first quarter of 2017. The Company still expects to meet its previously disclosed guidance of final results in the first quarter of 2017, albeit now later in the quarter. We are pleased with the progress our new management team has made during 2016 to ensure that the metallurgical, geological modelling and other work programs being conducted in parallel will deliver the results necessary for a solid foundation to continue progressing the Wellgreen Project." About Wellgreen Platinum Wellgreen Platinum is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on the active advancement of its 100% owned Wellgreen PGM-Nickel Project located in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The 2015 PEA demonstrated that the Wellgreen Project has the potential to become a large, low cost, open pit producer of platinum, palladium, gold, nickel, and copper. The Wellgreen property is accessible from the paved Alaska Highway, which leads to year-round deep sea ports in southern Alaska. Source: Wellgreen Platinum Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX: AUG) provides an exploration update from it's Peruvian portfolio and further information about its proposed 2017 exploration plans. Peru Auryn has been active during Q4, 2016 on its Peruvian portfolio with extensive surface sampling undertaken on the Sombero and Huilacollo properties to advance these projects toward a drill ready stage. Auryn is also active in negotiations with various communities across the portfolio with good progress being made. Sombrero Project Surface exploration work at the Sombrero project focused on the southern half of the property where 773 meters of trenching, 405 rock chips and 311 soil samples were collected. The purpose of this work was to expand upon the previous limited rock chip geochemical sampling that returned significant gold and copper values in the mineralized skarn setting. Importantly, the footprint of the known mineralized system was expanded by the new discovery of a 300 by 350 meter zone of skarn mineralization in the southwest region of the claim area. Huilacollo Project Exploration work on the Huilacollo project focused on the southern half of the property. 1,259 talus fine samples were taken over an area of 3 by 4 kilometers where no previous reliable surficial geochemical sampling had occurred. In addition, 25 rock chip samples were taken in select areas with outcrop that demonstrated epithermal textures. The purpose of this work was to develop a geochemical picture over geophysical anomalies characterized by resistivity highs and chargeability lows that have the potential to host oxide gold mineralization. Banos del Indio Exploration plans are to undertake a property wide IP survey in Q1 of 2017 and to further delineate targets which will be followed by surface sampling programs with drilling expected to begin in Q4. Banos Del Indio is one of the largest untested alteration systems in the Andes and sits on the same north south structure of the epithermal belt in Southern Peru which is 10 kms north of the Huilacollo concessions. Curibaya Exploration work on the Curibaya project focused on follow-up work on anomalous gold and copper drainage basins identified in Auryn's 2016 stream sediment survey. Two high-level, multi-kilometer potentially porphyry style clay alteration systems have been identified in the southwest and northwest portions of the claims demonstrating that further follow-up work of soil and rock-chip sampling is warranted. Auryn 2017 Exploration Plans Auryn focused on capitalizing on the advancements achieved in a very successful 2016 field season. Targeting efforts have provided 17 high priority drill targets at the flagship Committee Bay gold project. The company has also been successful at assembling a world-class exploration portfolio with the additional acquisitions of the advanced Homestake Ridge project in the "Golden Triangle" of northwestern British Columbia and the Sombrero, Huilacollo and Banos del Indio projects in southern Peru. Auryn's global exploration plan in 2017 will be to aggressively drill all projects across its portfolio with the primary focus on new discoveries. The proposed drill plan for 2017 is to drill a total of 55,000 meters of which 25,000 meters will be drilled across 17 multi-kilometer long targets in the Committee Bay project, 15,000 meters across the Homestake Ridge project and another 15,000 meters across the Sombrero, Huilacollo, and Banos del Indio projects in southern Peru. Shawn Wallace, President and CEO, commented, "We are thrilled to have been able to acquire these high quality projects over the past 2 years. Each project provides a significant standalone opportunity for major discoveries while our portfolio approach significantly lowers Auryn's overall risk profile. 2017 will be a year where our technical and financial teams will capitalize on this foundation and execute our operational plan to realize the goal of value creation for all stakeholders and investors." About Auryn Resources Auryn Resources is a technically driven junior mining exploration company focused on delivering shareholder value through project acquisition and development. The Company's management team is highly experienced with an impressive track record of success and has assembled an extensive technical team as well as a premier gold exploration portfolio. Auryn is focused on scalable high-grade gold deposits in established mining jurisdictions, which include the Committee Bay gold project located in Nunavut, the Homestake Ridge gold project in British Columbia and a portfolio of gold projects in southern Peru, through Corisur Peru SAC. Source: Auryn Resources U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at a valedictory news conference with Korean correspondents at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, Tuesday. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-woo Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon virtually declared his bid to run for South Korea's presidency, Tuesday. During a meeting with Korean correspondents at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Ban said he will find ways to use his 10 years of experience at the United Nations for his country the clearest indication yet of his presidential ambitions. "If what I have seen, learned and felt while in office for 10 years could help develop Korea, I will not spare myself for the country," Ban said. "I will decide what and how I will contribute after collecting opinions from many people after I return home. The most important thing is citizens' thoughts." Ban plans to return home after completing his second term as U.N. chief at the end of this year. Although Ban did not clearly declare his presidential bid, his words were regarded as a de-facto declaration of his intention to run. "Although I am 73 (next year), I am prepared to devote myself to the country if my health permits," Ban said. While the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil is gripping the nation, Ban said Koreans are frustrated and enraged by the "lack of good governance," and the fault lies with the "system and leadership" an apparent move to distance him from President Park. The former foreign minister, who has been talked about as a competitive candidate in next year's presidential election for some time, has been rumored to consider running for the presidency under the banner of the ruling Saenuri Party, with President Park and her loyalists backing him. However, in the wake of the corruption and influence-peddling scandal that brought about the impeachment of the President, Dec. 9, there seems to be little chance that Ban will join the governing party. Despite his words, Ban failed to elaborate on with whom he will team up with for his presidential run, but was open to banding together with various political groups. "It is not possible to do politics by myself and there should be some sort of means and vision, but it is difficult, at this time, to say whom I will work with," said the career diplomat, who has no political base in Korea. "What I can tell you now is that I plan to return home in mid-January and meet leaders from all walks of life (before my final decision)." In the domestic political spectrum, Ban, regarded as a conservative figure, is anticipated to form an alliance with breakaway lawmakers from the Saenuri Party, who are at odds with the pro-Park faction, or to align with the second-largest opposition People's Party for the election, currently scheduled for December 2017. Hours after his press conference, 35 anti-Park lawmakers, including former Chairman Kim Moo-sung and former floor leader Yoo Seong-min, announced they were leaving the Saenuri Party. More lawmakers are expected to join them soon. People's Party interim leader Kim Dong-cheol welcomed a possible alliance with Ban, saying, "I think he can join us." Ban was elected as the U.N. chief in 2007, with huge support from former President Roh Moo-hyun, but his recent moves linked to Park loyalists drew a backlash from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, comprised of many of Roh's former aides and followers who denounced him as a traitor. However, Ban refuted the accusation, dismissing it as a "political offensive." "It is an insult to me. I cannot accept it," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi have been locking horns over the issue of demonetisation, and here's their face off. By Mohak Gupta: In the past few weeks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi have been locking horns over the issue of demonetisation and its effects on common people. Early this month, Gandhi promised an 'earthquake' claiming he had information on 'personal corruption' by PM Modi. He followed that up with allegations that Modi received crores as kickbacks from a big corporate during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister. advertisement "As per record with I-T, Rs 2.5 crore was given to PM Modi on 30 Oct 2013; Rs 5 crore on 12 November 2013; Rs 2.5 crore on 27 November 2013; Rs 5 crore on 29 November 2013," Gandhi had claimed. Modi remained unfazed, however, before going on to ridicule Rahul for the 'earthquake' claim. In various speeches, PM Modi has alleged that those crticising black money are either hoarding illegal wealth themselves, or are somehow supportive of corruption. Critics of the demonetisation policy, however, vehemently disagree saying, criticism cannot possibly equate to complicity. Many other arguments have been presented against demonetisation, including this one by Rahul, saying it is only the common man who's seen sweating it out at queues outside banks and ATMs. Numerous stories from across the country have highlighted the perils faced by people, especially farmers, as a result of the move deeming Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes illegal. At the same time, reports suggest that this shift in currencies has helped in clamping down on ills like trafficking and the rampant everyday terror in Kashmir. All these issues have been recurring elements in speeches given by PM Modi and Rahul. As pointed out by experts and multiple reports, the government's argument in favour of demonetisation has shifted focus from 'rooting out illegal wealth' to turning into a 'cashless economy'. One of the biggest criticism of the latter argument is that almost two-thirds of the country's population remains un-banked. The lack of internet penetration -- an essential to facilitating digital economy -- is another crucial factor. This, too, has remained a recurring factor in speeches given by Modi and Rahul on demonetisation. While on the one hand Modi has defended the move, saying, the government is adequately prepared for the mammoth task it faces, Rahul has argued that cashless-ness should remain a choice and not a rule. --- ENDS --- Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving metals market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. "Congress vice-president is still learning the art of speaking," PM Narendra Modi said. By India Today Web Desk: A day after Rahul Gandhi charged him with corruption at a rally in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit back today, saying the Congress vice-president is still learning the art of speaking. Speaking at an event in Varanasi's Banaras Hindu University, Modi said, "There is a young leader. He is learning to speak. The day he started speaking, I was very happy. If he hadn't, there would have been an earthquake." advertisement ALSO READ | Modi's quake vs Rahul's quake: Decide the winner Best quotes from Modi's speech: I had never thought some leaders would stand with the corrupt. Kisi ka kaala dhan khul raha hai to kisi ka kaala man khul raha hai. Manmohan Singh said 50 per cent people in this country illiterate. How can they use technology? Now you tell me whose report card are you presenting? Where did this 50 per cent poverty and illiteracy come from? Now that their young leader has spoken, we have seen what the earthquake is all about. We had no idea what he (Rahul Gandhi) was made of earlier, now we know. He is still learning the art of speaking. I am very happy for him. --- ENDS --- TODAY: Even after the Pirates reached an agreement with Ivan Nova, the Pirates are still trying to acquire Quintana, FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). WEDNESDAY: The Pirates have worked hard to trade for star White Sox lefty Jose Quintana, ESPNs Buster Olney tweets. Olney notes that Quintanas very reasonable contract which guarantees him a very reasonable $15.85MM over the next two years, plus cheap options or $1M buyouts for 2019 and 2020 would fit into the budget of the low-revenue Pirates. The Bucs currently have a very young and unproven rotation behind Gerrit Cole, and Quintana would certainly provide a big boost to a team that could conceivably contend in 2017. Acquiring Quintana, though, would seemingly constitute a significant change in direction for the Pirates, who have spent much of the offseason thus far discussing trades involving star outfielder Andrew McCutchen (who they now appear likely to keep). Adding Quintana, who has pitched over 800 innings in the last four seasons and who had a 3.20 ERA, 7.8 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 while finishing 10th in AL Cy Young voting in 2016, would dramatically increase the Pirates chances of making the playoffs next year. Quintana would come at a significant price in prospects. The White Sox have driven hard bargains so far this offseason in trading Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, and they reportedly asked for top prospects Francis Martes and Kyle Tucker, plus big-leaguer Joe Musgrove, when the Astros called about Quintana. Thats not a wholly unreasonable price for a terrific pitcher with four years of control remaining, particularly given the seemingly seller-friendly market this offseason, but it isnt cheap, either. The Pirates could conceivably offer top prospects like Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow or Mitch Keller in a Quintana trade, although the exact players discussed as theyve worked to deal with the White Sox remain unknown. Sika Delali Annastacia, CEO of Delat Academy, (seated in middle) flanked by the grandaunts The first batch of students of the Delat Beauty Academy in Accra, Ghana's leading make-up artistry school, have successfully ended their on-the-job training session in make-up artistry. The beauty school is a practical training ground and grooming facility instituted by the academy for its graduates to undergo critical assessment in order to better position them for the job market. Delat Beauty Academy continues to be at the forefront of providing a cutting-edge vocational training in the industry. The school which started in July 2016 operates from a state-of-the-art facility and offers beauty services, including make-up artistry, 'gele' tying, nails (pedicure and manicure), hair styling, eye lash fixing, consultation, among others, at a very affordable fee. The college currently runs one month intensive programme in make-up artistry. In all, 21 students completed their courses. Lubumbashi (DR Congo) (AFP) - Soldiers sealed part of Congo's second city and carried out mass arrests of young men on Thursday, residents said, as talks to defuse the country's explosive political crisis continued. Protests and deadly clashes have erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo over President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down at the end of his mandate on December 20. The army sealed off the Matshipisha-Gbadolite neighbourhood of Lubumbashi from 5 am (0300 GMT), five residents of the city told AFP. The operation was concluded by early afternoon, said the police commander in Haut-Katanga province, Jean-Bosco Galenga. On Wednesday the region's governor Jean-Claude Kazembe was forced to flee as stones were thrown at him when he tried to visit Matshipisha on a "peace march" aimed at demonstrating that the authorities were in control there following deadly violence on Tuesday. "The objective of sealing off (the area) was to retrieve three weapons stolen from police during clashes on 20 and 22 December (when) two police stations were looted," said Galenga. DR Congo police say 22 people were killed Tuesday in clashes in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and other cities The weapons were all successfully located, he added. Police said a total of 20 people were killed Tuesday in clashes in the capital Kinshasa, Lubumbashi in the southeast, and Matadi and Boma in the west. Galenga said six of the deaths were in Matshipisha, revising down an earlier death toll. Forty-seven people were also injured in the district. Human Rights Watch has put the total death toll at 34, increasing an earlier estimate. Matshipisha residents said that the army sealed off the district, going house-to-house, searching and arresting young men and teenagers. "They put them in trucks to take them off in an unknown direction," said one resident, adding that two adolescents and a young man were arrested in his area. "I saw three trucks filled with young people," said another. 'Arbitrary arrests' Several dozen people, representing families of those detained, demonstrated outside the Lubumbashi headquarters of the UN's MONUSCO force to protest against the "arbitrary arrests". They were cleared by Congolese police around 11:30 am without incident. Riot police patrol in Lubumbashi earlier this year Lubumbashi, the capital of Haut-Katanga, is the fiefdom of an opposition leader in exile, Moise Katumbi. Talks to end the political crisis headed by the bishops' conference CENCO resumed on Wednesday after breaking up at the weekend without a breakthrough. CENCO chairman Archbishop Marcel Utembi appealed for a deal by Christmas. CENCO has also called for an independent investigation into the violence that greeted the end of Kabila's mandate. The conference said it hoped to hold a meeting at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) to give an update on how the talks are progressing. The mainstream opposition headed by 84-year-old Etienne Tshisekedi has called for "peaceful resistance" from the country's 70 million people, pinning its hopes on a deal at the negotiating table. But in what Kabila's opponents dubbed a provocation, a new government was announced overnight Monday. In separate development, 17 people were killed in clashes between Congolese police and members of a cult that believes the end of Kabila's mandate will usher in the apocalypse, a regional governor said Thursday. Bienvenu Esimba, governor of northwestern Mongala province, said the clashes broke out Wednesday in the provincial capital Lisala when members of the sect burned dozens of houses and attacked a market before launching an assault on local electoral commission offices. Kinshasa was calm on Wednesday although security forces were still out in force, manning roadblock checkpoints that were erected overnight. Thierry Vircoulon, a central Africa specialist at France's Sciences Po university, said that the scope for protest in Kinshasa had been "locked down" and that opposition might now shift to areas outside the capital "and take the form of regional rebellions". Congo has never witnessed a democratic transfer of power following polls since independence from Belgium in 1960. The president has been in office since his father Laurent Kabila's assassination in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and again in 2011. Two decades ago, the country collapsed into the deadliest conflict in modern African history. Its two wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s dragged in at least six African armies and left more than three million dead. Katiola (Ivory Coast) (AFP) - Gerard, a bright-eyed eight-year-old with closely-cropped hair, tucks into his meal, showing no signs of thinking about how very close to death he once came. The jovial little lad is one of Ivory Coast's "cursed" children. Custom dictated that he should not live. Gerard's mother died while she was giving birth -- and the tradition of the Tagbana ethnic group was that her baby, deemed the work of an evil spirit, should be drowned. The child's big break came through a tiny charity -- a home called the Saint Genevieve Welcome and Transit Centre, located in the northern town of Katiola, the only one of its kind in the country. With meagre funds, it works to save "cursed" children from their doom. Set up by a Catholic priest, Germain Coulibaly Kalari, 54, the home today shelters 17 children aged between three and 14, two of whom are infected with HIV. "If a child's mother dies while giving birth, or a child is born with a handicap, the child is got rid of," Kalari said bluntly. Set up by a Catholic priest, Germain Coulibaly Kalari, the Saint Genevieve Welcome and Transit Centre in Katiola, northern Ivory Coast, today shelters 17 children aged between three and 14, two of whom are infected with HIV They are considered to carry a "curse" for the entire community, he explained. Such practices are also prevalent in other African countries. In Madagascar for example, twins were killed or abandoned at birth because they were viewed as a bad omen. "The child is shunned because he is blamed for misfortune, and so is physically eliminated," Kalari said, sitting on the terrace which also doubles as the home's schoolroom and dining room. "I have seen many cases of this kind... Each time I think about it, it sends a shiver down my spine," he said. "It drove me to do something to save these children from death." Drowning and poison "Cursed" children are typically drowned in bathwater -- but sometimes poisons are used in the case of "snake children," the term for babies whose handicap will prevent them from walking or talking. Catholic priest Germain Coulibaly Kalari speaks during an interview at the Saint Genevieve Welcome and Transit Centre for so-called 'cursed children', in the northern Ivory Coast town of Katiola The word "kill" is never used. The favourite formulation is that the child is "being escorted back to its real parents, the spirits, meaning supernatural beings," said Celine, a local woman in her forties who sells food at the market. Those who are tasked with carrying out the act first speak to the parents, explaining that a malevolent spirit intervened when their child was conceived. As a result, the infant is not human and must be "escorted back," she said. "You will not see any handicapped person in our region," said Kalari, who began his child-saving mission eight years ago. He regularly issues demands from his pulpit for the lethal practice to end. Such practices are legally banned but are often clandestinely carried out with the complicity of the parents and consequently there are no legal proceedings. Catholic priest Germain Coulibaly Kalari poses with children at the entrance to the Saint Genevieve Welcome and Transit Centre for so-called 'cursed children', in the northern town of Katiola, Ivory Coast Vincent Morife, a sociologist, said ending the life of a "cursed" child was defended on the grounds of stigma: the infant would have only the bleakest future in a society where superstition and ignorance of handicap is so deeply entrenched. "It is going to be hard, very hard, for parents around here to give up the practice," said Abiba Kone, who has been managing the centre since it was set up five years ago, casting a protective eye over "her children." "If you have a handicapped child, you have to look after it when you are supposed to be working in the fields," she adds. "(...) Parents feel it's a waste of time, and that's why they prefer to get rid of the child." Shelter... for now Kone's "staff" comprises a cook, a cleaner and a child minder. The centre scrapes by thanks to gifts from "kind people, NGOs and local people," she said. The home includes a bedroom for the girls and another for the boys, each with three triple bunk beds, and cribs for the babies. The walls of the living room are lined with donated books, and there is a small television for the children. The children's day begins with prayers, followed by breakfast and schooling, or for the very young, play time. The centre is a haven. But only for a while. "We are unable to keep children beyond the age of 15," said Kalari, heaving a sigh of regret. "Those who go back to their families are rejected or left to starve." Ghana Most Beautiful (Belgium) announced in October 2016 that its name has been changed to Miss Obaasima. All existing aims, objectives, Obligations, contracts and agreement under the previous name of Ghana Most Beautiful will continue to remain in force. It said the change of name takes effect from the date of announcement. Established by a renowned Fashion Designer Ama Wusuwaah of Wusuwaah Diary. Miss Obaasima is a beauty pageant estblishment for ladies between the ages of 18yrs and 28yrs, Ghanaian born and/or raised in Belgium. With a vision to provide for and to empower Ghanaian young women in developing the confidence they need to achieve their personal best, the Pageant will enable contestants to shine a spotlight on Ghana through a fashion show and cultural performance, which will hereby educate and inform the world about the beauty of Africa. Deborah Vanessa will host the Obaasima 2017, which takes place at Theatre Eleryck in Antwerpen Belgium on Friday 7th April 2017. FOKN Bois (Wanlov the Kubolor & M3nsa) is expected to perform. Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. BERLIN, ACCRA, Dec. 21 - (UPI/GNA) - German authorities said Tuesday they've released a man initially suspected in the truck crash that killed 12 people at a holiday market in Berlin -- an event officials are investigating as an act of terrorism. Berlin police said their investigation has determined a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum-seeker they arrested appears to be above suspicion -- based partly on the fact that he had no blood on his clothing at the time of his arrest, shortly after the crash. He was detained leaving the scene. Police said the driver of the delivery truck almost certainly would have had blood on his clothing, because it was everywhere inside the truck's cab. "The investigations so far did not result in an urgent grounds for suspicion," prosecutors said in a statement. "The criminal investigations carried out so far have not been able to prove a presence of the accused during the incident in the truck." Officials said the driver is likely still at large, and they continue to acknowledge the possibility that the event was carried out by a migrant. The stolen truck, loaded with steel beams and belonging to a Polish company, drove through a festive holiday market in Berlin's west flank on Monday. At least 48 people were injured, 18 seriously. The company that owned the truck said it lost contact with its driver prior to the attack, leading police to suspect it had been hijacked somewhere along its route. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday said the incident is being treated by police as a terrorist attack. "I know it would be especially hard to bear for all of us if it should be confirmed that the person who committed this act sought protection and asylum in Germany," she said. "This would be especially despicable toward the many, many Germans who are daily engaged in helping refugees, and toward the many, many people who truly need this protection and strive to integrate themselves into our country." Tuesday, through its Amaq news agency, the Islamic State claimed credit for the Berlin truck crash, saying one of its "soldiers" was responsible. "The executor of the operation in Berlin is a soldier of the Islamic State and he executed the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition countries," the statement said. Authorities will likely be at least somewhat skeptical of the claim, however, as the terror group has previously demonstrated its willingness to take responsibility for acts of violence in which it is not directly involved. The group claimed credit for a knife attack in October that killed a teenage boy. Investigators doubted the claim, though, saying it didn't align with evidence in the case. German authorities still aren't sure yet whether Monday's crash was a deliberate act. While the number of refugees entering Germany dropped in 2016, Merkel's open-door policy has polarized voters. The Berlin incident threatens to undermine her domestic policy as Germany heads to an election year, and could lead to more support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany Party, known as AfD. "Germany is no longer safe," AfD co-chairwoman Frauke Petry said. "We must be under no illusions. The breeding ground in which such acts can flourish has been negligently and systematically imported over the past year and a half." Monday's crash has similarities to a July attack in Nice, France, in which a truck plowed through a crowd, killing 80. The Islamic State also took credit for that attack. The Berlin crash also came on a day on which a Russian ambassador was assassinated in Ankara, Turkey, and a shooting occurred in a Zurich mosque. GNA It was not without reason that Rahul is called a 'Pappu'. Giriraj termed the allegations against the PM as baseless and by leveling baseless charges on PM Modi the Congress scion proved that 'Pappu till date remained a Pappu'. He said, Elders have rightly said that maturity has nothing to do with wisdom and this is the case with Rahul. His age is increasing but he still lack wisdom. Pappu has remained a Pappu. Maintaining that the documents relying on which Rahul charged PM Modi of taking bribe worth Rs. 40 crore from Sahara group has already been dismissed by the Supreme Court which said that the documents were inadequate and lacked credibility to order probe into the matter of corporate houses bribing politicians. He added that Rahul should not forget that he is too embroiled in corruption case in National Herald case and presently out on bail. Rahul wanted to become the king of liers and he has failed in his attempt badly. Rahul and his family are sunk neck deep in corruption and the Congress Vice-President should not forget that he himself is out on bail in corruption case. 21.12.2016 LISTEN By Cecilia A.K. Diesob, GNA Accra, Dec. 21, GNA - Mansuki Ghana Limited (MGL), a natural cosmetics manufacturing, packaging, trading and service entity, has developed over 20 ranges of value added cosmetics out of Shea butter. The products, classified into three categories; soap, lotion and hair products, include coconut oil and Shea butter natural hair food, pure body Shea butter lotion, Shea butter black soap locally known as Alata samina, Shea butter herbal hair treatment, Shea butter and coconut nourishing shampoo and Shea butter and coconut extra nourishing conditioner. Ms Israella Kafui Mansu, the Chief Executive Officer of MGL, told the Ghana News Agency that Shea butter had cosmetic benefits of nourishing the body and hair. She said MGL Shea butter products offered super food for the skin as 'we maintain its natural rich precious constituents such as unsaturated fats with a large proportion of non-saponifiable components, essential fatty acids, vitamins E and D, phytosterols, provitamin A and allantoin.' 'Shea butter has shown to be a superb moisturizer with exceptional healing properties for the skinand its side effects are negligible as compared to other chemically saturated cosmetic products,' she said. Ms Mansu said it also offered natural sunscreen protection for the skin against the ultraviolet radiations of the sun though the level of protection offered may be variable. She said Shea butter also provides protection to the hair against the harmful water and weather conditions. She said the world was progressively accepting and acknowledging the numerous benefits Shea butter offered the body but unfortunately Ghanaians were still pessimistic to even use the value added shea butter products. Ms Mansu said most people complained about the raw off-scent and thick texture of Shea butter which put people off therefore the company started working towards reducing the smell and making it soft and more skin-friendly. She encouraged graduates to venture into the business market as there were numerous opportunities for progressive young ones. 'I ventured into the Shea butter production seven years ago after National Service when it was difficult to get the so-called formal job. Within seven years I have been able to employ others. 'Currently my products are on high demand on the European market and quiet recently we have gained some customers who buy in large quantities from Australia,' Ms Mansu said. GNA Tel Aviv, ACCRA, Dec 21, (dpa/GNA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was under fire Wednesday after reportedly telling settlers facing eviction that he once had to stay at a hotel after being ousted from his residence. According to local media, Netanyahu told Israeli residents from the West Bank settlement of Amona that he and his family were forced to sleep at the Sheraton Hotel Jerusalem after he lost the 1999 election and was booted "without warning" from the prime minister's residence. The settlers, who were meeting with Netanyahu to reach a compromise deal on their impending eviction, were stunned by the comment, the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported. Israel's top court ruled in 2014 that Amona, built on land belonging to Palestinians from surrounding West Bank towns, must be vacated. The Israeli government and the residents agreed Sunday to a deal that would see 24 families peacefully move to adjacent land considered absentee property while the 16 remaining families would move to a nearby settlement. As part of the agreement, the government on Tuesday asked the high court for a 45-day extension to a December 25 eviction deadline. GNA 21.12.2016 LISTEN Moscow, ACCRA, Dec 21, (dpa/GNA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed his annual press conference by one day to Friday so he can attend a mourning ceremony for the slain ambassador to Turkey, the Kremlin said. A funeral service for Ambassador Andrey Karlov will take place on Thursday at Moscow's prestigious Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, to be presided over by the Russian Orthodox Church's highest-ranking clergyman, Patriarch Kirill. Karlov was fatally shot at an art gallery in Ankara on Monday night by a gunman identified as a Turkish law enforcement officer who shouted Islamist slogans and denounced Russia's military campaign in Syria. Putin's typically hours-long press conference to highlight major issues concerning the country as the new year approaches is expected to be overshadowed by the assassination and related security concerns. "Putin will likely extol Russia's victories in the fight against terrorism in Syria and say that such victories never come easy," Russian political analyst Mikhail Troitskiy told dpa. A record number of journalists - more than 1,400 - have been accredited for Putin's press conference in Moscow, state media reported. GNA The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has urged the incoming Nana Akufo-Addo-led government to fulfil campaign promises aimed at boosting the agro sector. In a congratulatory message to the president-elect, the network of smallholder farmer organisation in Ghana said victory at the presidential poll comes at a time when the agriculture transformation has become critical. Peasant farmers note with satisfaction your visionary promise of One Village One Dam, especially in Northern Ghana; the establishment of agroindustry/factories in every district in Ghana based on the raw materials available in those districts; setting up a fertilizer factory in Western Region, provision of input subsidies and pursuance of an aggressive industrialization and value addition to agricultural production; rehabilitation of the existing public irrigation schemes, including the abandoned Vea Irrigation project; the Afram Plains Irrigation and Irrigations in the Northern Savannah. We believe these are all laudable and achievable, said the release issued in Accra on Wednesday. Read the full release below. Congratulatory Message to President-Elect Nana Addo-Danquah Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) The Board and Members of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG)representing a network of smallholder farmer organisations in Ghana, wishes to congratulate the President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the elected members of Parliament and the New Patriotic Party (NPP)on emerging victorious in the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. The Association also congratulates the outgoing President, John Dramani Mahama for his magnanimity in conceding defeat. The Electoral Commission and indeed, all Ghanaians deserve commendation for ensuring a peaceful election. To the President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo, your victory has come at a time that agriculture transformation in Ghana is at a crossroad and hence the need for a committed leader with a focus on agriculture, especially smallholder agriculture. The local agriculture sector is experiencing a decline in growth partly due to inadequate investment in the sector, changes in weather as result of climate change and corresponding low incomes for producers. It is the hope of PFAG that you will address these challenges and bring agriculture to the next level and beyond as envisioned in your 2016 Manifesto. Your Excellency, on the eve of the last elections, PFAG analysed the manifestoes of the various political parties, especially that of your party and the NDC, which we scored and issued a statement to that effect. This exercise was to help our members and smallholder farmers make informed choices at the just ended polls. The choice has fallen on you and your party and PFAG is hopeful that you will deliver accordingly in the next four years on the mandate given you. Peasant farmers note with satisfaction your visionary promise of One Village One Dam, especially in Northern Ghana; the establishment of agroindustry/factories in every district in Ghana based on the raw materials available in those districts; setting up a fertilizer factory in Western Region, provision of input subsidies and pursuance of an aggressive industrialization and value addition to agricultural production; rehabilitation of the existing public irrigation schemes, including the abandoned Vea Irrigation project; the Afram Plains Irrigation and Irrigations in the Northern Savannah. We believe these are all laudable and achievable. We recognise that you are yet to take office but your Excellency, we are constrained to remind you that the declining number of agricultural extension officers in the country is worrying as it is affecting farmers access to, and use of, technology in support of agricultural modernization. The promise in your manifesto to work to achieve the UN-recommended ratio of one extension officer to 500 farmers, with emphasis on recruiting female extension officers is particularly exciting news for us as it will go a long way to increase technology dissemination and uptake. The conflict between Fulani Herdsmen and peasant farmers across many parts of the country in the past has led to the loss of lives, property, farms and pollution of water bodies. We call on your government to consult widely and formulate policies that will regulate the activities of nomadic herdsmen to ensure there is peaceful co-existence between crop farmers and livestock farmers specifically the Fulani herdsmen. Lastly, we wish to remind elected members of Parliament of the weaknesses identified with the Ghana Plant Breeders Bill (PBB) that compelled the outgoing Parliament to halt its passage for further consultation. The Plant Breeders Bill in its current form is not small holder farmer friendly as it denies the farmers seed rights and is skewed towards foreign multi- national corporate take-over of our local seed industry. PFAG leading the Food Sovereignty Platform calls on the new Parliament to do a proper consultation and formulate Plant Breeders law that will protect the Ghanaian scientist, Ghanaian Seed growers and farmers. Your Excellency, the President-elect and the elected honourable Members of Parliament, whiles PFAG congratulates you for your victory and wishes you well as you take over the leadership of governance on January 7th, the Association and its members assure you of peasant farmers readiness to collaborate and work with you to ensure vibrant agricultural sector in Ghana. The Association wishes to encourage you to let the NPP 2016 manifesto promises on the agricultural sector be the guide for agricultural development; for it is the basis for the massive support from farmers and it will be the indicator farmers will use to monitor and score your governments performance and subsequent re-election or otherwise come 2020. PFAG wishes you good health and Gods guidance as you take over the leadership of our beloved country. God Bless Our Homeland Ghana. Thank you. Signed by The National President Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana Abdul- Rahman Mohammed Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | GN The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has intercepted some counterfeit drugs that were being transported from Niger to Kpando in the Volta Region. The four Nigeriens, who were nabbed on Monday, were carrying the generic forms of Viagra, which contents lacked active ingredients and thus cannot perform the function for which it was manufactured. The fake drugs were meant to be sold to the unsuspecting public as sex enhancing drugs, which could compromise the treatment of sexual related problems. The Volta Region Director of the FDA, Mr Eugene Addo, indicated that the products, upon inspection, had no registration and as such its efficacy and safety was in question. He also indicated that the authority had challenges interrogating the four as language barrier had been the main hurdle in getting them to cooperate. The FDA boss has thus called for ultimate vigilance from the public during this Yuletide and beyond while entreating them to assist the authority and other law enforcement agencies in apprehending these unscrupulous individuals and groups who may be out to deceive the unsuspecting public through this dubious means. With the Yuletide just around the corner, several types of merchandise are made available on the Ghanaian market. Consumers also tend to spend the most during these periods and thus patronise several products on the market. Unscrupulous traders, therefore, take advantage of the situation by flooding the market with counterfeit products and other products which are beyond expiration dates. The FDA recently downplayed reports of the influx of some fake rice purported to be plastic rice on the Ghanaian market. Fethullah Gulen, a renowned Turkish Islamic scholar, preacher and social advocate, has condemned the assassination of Russia's Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, in Ankara. The gunman an off-duty policeman opened fire at an art gallery in Ankara as Andrei Karlov was making a speech, then stood triumphantly over his body shouting revenge for Syria and Aleppo. Mr. Fethullah Gulen, who was once accused by the Turkish President of being behind a botched coup few months ago, said the killing of the Russian Ambassador which is an act of terrorism cannot be justified. Andrey Karlov. the Russian ambassador to Turkey, left, was shot dead in Turkish capital Ankara. He said I am shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the tragic assassination of Russia's Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, who was speaking at an art gallery in Ankara. I condemn in the strongest terms this heinous act of terror. No terrorist act can be justified, regardless of its perpetrators and their stated purposes. It is the expectation of the Turkish people and the world that the government investigate the circumstances of this incident, identify those who aided the perpetrator and take the necessary precautions so that such an attack cannot be staged in the future. I send my deepest condolences to Ambassador Karlov's family and to the Russian people for this tragic loss. I ask God the Most Compassionate to dry the roots of terrorism and lead the world to days of peace and tranquility, he said. Turkish and international experts repeatedly have pointed out the deterioration of security and counter-terrorism efforts due to the Turkish government's assigning hundreds of counter-terrorism police officers to unrelated posts, as well as the firing and imprisoning of many others since 2014. Fethullah Gulen added that, this despicable act of shooting an ambassador, who represents an entire nation, only exacerbates the Syrian conflict that has already taken too many lives and driven too many from their homelands, like adding fuel to a fire. I urge the Turkish and Russian governments, as well as the rest of the international community, to continue to work towards a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict in Syria. Our work to make the world a more peaceful place must continue unabated. About Fethullah Gulen Fethullah Gulen is an Islamic scholar, preacher and social advocate, whose decades-long commitment to education, interfaith dialogue and altruism has inspired millions in Turkey and around the world. Gulen is the honorary chairman of the Rumi Forum, Washington, DC and the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, Brussels, Belgium. About Alliance for Shared Values The Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as a voice for cultural organizations affiliated with Hizmet, a civil society movement inspired by prominent preacher and peace advocate Fethullah Gulen. Based in New York, the Alliance strives to promote peace and to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against any ethnic, cultural or religious community. By: citifmonline.com/Ghana The Minority in Parliament has rubbished claims that it is against the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill. This is in response to the Majority caucus yesterday [Wednesday] accusing them of stalling the consideration of the remaining amendments left to be worked on before passage of the longstanding Bill. According to the majority, many MPs on the minority side, since Tuesday, have been leaving the chamber in droves when the matter of the RTI bill comes up, denying the house the needed quorum to transact business matter. Dominic Nitiwul But speaking to Citi News, the Deputy Minority Leader, Dominic Nitiwul, reiterated his soon-to-be majority caucus commitment to passing the RTI Bill. This is despite Mr. Nitiwul admitting the Minority still had issues with some clauses in the implementation of the bill. We are all committed to passing it. Every single member of Parliament is committed to passing the Right to Information bill. As a party and as a caucus, we are one of the few people who want it passed. We thought that even by this time, we should have passed that Bill. There are clauses in there that we think are problematic. One of them is the implementation because the majority, thinking they would win the election, decided to push the implementation to five years from today. It was one of the issues we said no to. So there are some pertinent issues we need to agree on before we will pass it as it is, the Deputy-Minority leaders added. The RTI Bill was drafted in 1999 and reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was not presented to Parliament. The first attempt at enacting the law on the right to information was made when the Bill was presented to Parliament on February 5, 2010. The Attorney-General on June 25, The Attorney General on June 25, 2015, moved the current incarnation of the Bill for the second reading which is currently awaiting passage in Parliament. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 20/12/16 CHANGE OF DATE OF DELIVERY OF STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY H.E THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA TO PARLIAMENT The Parliament of Ghana wishes to inform the citizenry that as per the requirements of article 67 of the 1992 Constitution, the Sitting President of the Republic will deliver an address on the State of the Nation to the people of Ghana through the 6th Parliament of the Republic of Ghana. The address which was earlier tabled for Thursday 22nd of December 2016, will now be on Thursday 5th of January 2017 at 10.00 prompt. Kate Addo (APR), Deputy Director, Public Affairs Parliament of Ghana +233(0)244236944 Since 1966 that first coup took place in Ghana to end the rule of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, many unjustifiable military brutalities on Ghanaian people has been left in the annals of history and forgotten. That cannot continue under this current democratic dispensation of ours when only the law is supreme.The only way that it can be stopped is to prosecute criminal soldiers who find themselves in conflict with the law. Let the law deal with them appropriately without fear or favour. Ghanaians, based on their experienced and agreed realities came to fear the soldiers more than respecting them based on their attitude of brutalities and violence unleashed on them at least chance by the soldiers. Successive military takeovers cemented the "perceived" military superiority in the minds of Ghanaians and increased their fear of soldiers. Ghanaians terrified and trembled at the feet of the soldiers because anytime there is a takeover, the constitution is suspended, some form of lawlessness is perpetrated and violence unleashed on some innocent Ghanaians. From 1966 to 1981, about six coups took place in Ghana. Almost all these coups were accompanied by some form of violence and lawlessness so Ghanaians became accustomed to the treatments of soldiers and feared them more instead of respecting them. This has inculcated some thinking into some "shallow minded" individuals in the military who believe that the military is supreme to all other security services and for that matter can take them for granted and treat them anyhow, particularly the police. These soldiers should be made to understand that the days of military takeovers and revolutions are long gone, dead and buried deep in the history of Ghanaians and for that matter, they should get the right orientations that come with democracy and rule of law because it has come to stay. The paradigm has shifted to a more decent form of governance where the rule of law is supreme and it is applied without fear or favour. It is however expected that trained soldiers should be law abiding instead of lawlessness as exhibited by the lieutenant and his men at Kwesimintsim police station to extent of beating a whole pregnant policewoman mercilessly. There was a turning point in the lives of all Ghanaians including the soldiers themselves in 1992 when the constitution was promulgated and the nation accepted democracy as her system of administration and governance. This democracy brought about rule of law, respect for fundamental human rights of all manner of persons and freedom of speech and expression. Any law that is against these basic provision of the constitution is null and void per the dictates of the constitution in article 1, clause 2. Ghana went a step further to uphold her democracy when in the year 2000 the man himself Flt/Lt Jerry John Rawlings who has two successive coups titles under his belt handed over power to J. A Kufour and his NPP after 19 years in power. I have a huge respect for Paapa J for his contributions to make Ghana stable unlike Yahya Jammeh in somewhere the Gambia who is on the brink of sending his country into political crisis and power struggles. Ghana has since had change of power alternating from political parties to another with our recent general elections conducted in December 7 as most credible, transparent, free and fair ever to have been conducted in the history of this country. It's a plus for all Ghanaians and security services particularly the military and police stood in the center of the threshold as far as the peace and stability of this country is concerned when it comes to elections. I must say that that this feat of deepening Ghana's democracy would have been very impossible without the combined efforts of all our security services particularly the police and the military. We are partners in ensuring that our efforts collaborate and complement one another as security services to make the Ghanaian society safe and better in execution of our constitutionally mandated duties and not to attack one another at the least opportunity. We are partners serving in various capacities for the peace and stability of our motherland, Ghana. That should guide us one Ghanaians serving in different security services to foster unity among us. I therefore find it very difficult and ask, what at all will make a well trained soldier see himself to be superior to a police officer in this democratic dispensation and for that matter organise themselves to a police station to beat them up in an attempt to free a British soldier who has misbehaved and has been arrested by police officers who are mandated to do so ? It beats my imagination if these soldiers are not truly criminals. "I can't think far" here and "I can't think madness". The law must take its course this time around. The behaviours of those soldiers is an upfront to constitutional rule and the rule of law, and for that matter must be dealt per the dictates of the law and within its confines. If the behaviour of miscreants in the military attacking the police every now and then is not nibbed from the bud, it will one day bring about photographs of horrifying images that will send shivers into the spine for all those who look on unconcerned as the "bandits" in the military keep assaulting and brutalising the police. The very reason why we should put all hands on deck to remove miscreants in the security services particularly the police and the military. It appears that round table discussions to solve these issues do not help matters but rather end up to shield miscreants in the military who organise themselves to attack the police. The round table inter police and military dialogues seem to rather help these individual criminals in the military to evade justice thus the very reasons why there is a continuous attack on the police because there is no precedent set to deter others from such occurrences in the future. This time around, these criminally minded soldiers must be made to face the full rigors of the law like all other criminals without fear or favour. They should be made to pay the full price for their reckless behaviours towards the police and disrespect for our state laws. Justice in the interest of the state must be served without delays because justice delayed is justice denied. The soldier is not above the law. The criminal soldier should not find comfort in the law when he offends it. This is not the first time soldiers are beating the police and going away with it. An assault on the servant of the king is assault on the king himself. If the king is not so much interested if his servant is being assaulted continuously, common sense should tell the servant that he should protect himself from being assaulted all the times. We have escorted some of our own to prisons. Some who were even executing their constitutionally mandated duties but went beyond the extreme and for that matter defaulted one way or the other. We were not merciful to them. Let us equally apply the law on these soldiers. Justice for Kwesimintsim police! Prosecute the criminal soldier!! The law must work!!! 22.12.2016 LISTEN The Sultan of Sokotos recent visit to Enugu State where he went to felicitate with Enugu Rangers as champions of the 2015/2016 NPFL season has been described by a section of the media and some commentators as a bridge-building one. But then, is it really? In as much as the visit is commendable, the Sultan himself putrefied his own oil when he said that the reason why Ndigbo are killed whenever there is a crisis in the north is because they are the industrious ones found in everywhere and in every village but nobody plans or sends people to kill the Igbos. Apart from being ridiculous, it is insulting to the sensibilities of the Igbo and horrifying to upright members of the society that the reason why a people are usually targeted for mass murder is because of their industry and number. They are not killed because they are bad neighbours; they are not killed because they are trouble makers, they are not killed because they are law breakers; they are killed just because they are industrious and large in number! This statement by His Royal Highness, Alhaji Mohammad Saad Abubakar III, is a confirmation of what we have always known: that the Igbo are hated for nothing but jealousy and that most crises in the northern part of Nigeria have been instigated not because of anything serious but as an alibi for a systematic extermination of the Igbo people. Little wonder then the Igbo are targets of northern Islamic extremists when there is a crisis between Israel and Palestine in far away Middle East. When some Danes draw a cartoon of Prophet Muhammed in far away Denmark, Ndigbo in Kano, Kaduna and Niger would have to pay for it with their blood. When there is a furore about Nigeria hosting an international beauty contest in Abuja or Lagos, the Igbo in Zamfara and Yobe would have to be killed and their sources of livelihood destroyed for the message to be passed that such contest is Haram to some people. When the US bomb Iraq, the Igbo in Adamawa are bombed by northern elements in return. When there is a sharp disagreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, it is the Igbo in Bauchi that pay for it. When the Sunnis and the Shias have issues with each other in Kaduna or other places, it is a recipe for Igbo sons and daughters to be beheaded in those places even when they are neither Shiites nor Sunnis. The Igbo people are not only killed by these northern Islamists simply because they can be found everywhere according to the Sultan, in most cases, even when they disappear from the theatre of war and go into hiding even in custody of the police, they are desperately but carefully sought after and killed. This has been the lot of Ndigbo especially in the north over a long period of time. The authorities usually hold no one responsible for these dastardly acts, no one is arrested, no one is prosecuted. Even if thousands of Ndigbo are victims of issues they are not in any way connected with, no action is taken against the perpetrators. Media outrage follows, police look away, northern traditional rulers keep mute, Ndigbo bury their dead, and then they return to continue their businesses without bitterness, without vindictiveness or vengeance in mind, not even anywhere in the South East would there be reprisals. The sun rises (in the east) and sets (in the west), yet, the vicious cycle continues in the north. In as much as one would want to commend the Sultan for his initiative, it would have been better if he had insisted that all those who killed Madam Bridget Agbahime, an Igbo indigene, in Kano, be prosecuted. After all, the Sultan who is also the leader of all Muslims in Nigeria said during that visit that justice is panacea for peaceful coexistence. If that is the case, what did he say about the manner the case against the alleged murderers of Madam Bridget was withdrawn and the suspects let go just like that despite the hue and cry that followed that macabre murder of a harmless septuagenarian, despite the promise by the police, state and federal governments to ensure the killers face the law? The Sultans visit would have made more sense if he had visited Kano and insist that those killers be brought to book as panacea for peace. But no, he goes to beg the victims of his peoples murderous activities to accept their fate as the one that naturally befalls an industrious people with large populations. It is quite ridiculous! Like the Sultan rightly observed, it is the continued absence of justice that has caused the unending agitations in the South East which is growing louder by the day and have started receiving the attention of the international community to the consternation of antagonists of the agitations. Unless the Sultan, his co-traditional and religious leaders, state and federal government officials of northern origin stop carrying about as if they own Nigeria and relent from skewing justice and development against those they perceive as their subordinates, such visits of the emir would only remain a journey of monumental hypocrisy designed to make vigilant and courageous Igbo sons and daughters let down their guard while terrorist herdsmen from the Sultans enclave run riots even in the south east unchallenged. The governors may have laughed with him and that is because he went to felicitate with Rangers International of Enugu. That we understand. When the Sultan is serious about justice and peace, we will know. For now, the bridge he went to Enugu to build remains of paper quality blown away by the wind as soon as he started the work. [email protected] ; Twitter: StJudeNdukwe By PTI: Roy said the minority population in Bangladesh including Roy said the minority population in Bangladesh including Buddhists, Christians and Hindus, was earlier around 29 per cent, which has now reduced to 8 per cent. Roys ancestral house was in a village at Brahmanbaria district of present Bangladesh, about 40 km from here. He said the rights of minorities were persecuted even after Bangladesh was liberated in 1971, since a pro-Pakistan government ruled the country for years after the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibar Rahaman. advertisement To a question, Roy said, the present Bangladesh government should regularly make announcements through different agencies about the its commitment to instill confidence among the minorities that the present government had taken many measures to safeguard them. "Truth must prevail and that was the reason behind searching out the untold stories of torture, which many people are not aware about. I know, by hushing up the truth and reality, no good can be delivered. "But nobody should think that I am against friendship with Bangladesh. We speak the same language and share same culture and we need to strengthen our friendship with that country," Roy said. He said many people were aware about the massacres in Noakhali in East Pakistan, but not many know what happened at Chuknagar in Khulna district. "More than 10,000 Hindus were killed on May 20, 1971 when the Pakistani Army opened fire at Hindus and later Razakars (Collaborators) joined the Pak Army and butchered them," he said. "Only 1,500 people died in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab, but many people do not know that 10,000 people died in Chuknagar," the Governor added. PTI JOY SBN DKB ABH --- ENDS --- Many interesting developments have taken place since the NPP routed the Government of my party, the NDC, in the just ended General and Presidential elections. The looter John Mahama Government promised a smooth transition as though he had an option in the matter. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State are invited to the inauguration of the new Government as though this was a favour being done the President-elect and the new Government. The Spin is in the blood of the lototer Government which loots and spins the plundering of the public purse for the likes of Woyome, Waterville and others and inflates contract prices to the detriment of the public purse. One would have thought that the massive defeat of the Looter Government never witnessed in the annals of Ghanaian history would make it circumspect of how it handles the last days of its dying pangs as a Looter Government so that the Independent Prosecutor may have mercy upon them. Unfortunately impunity and corrupt behavior once internalized is difficult to change over-night as subsequent events show. Agreements reached at the transitional team do not appear to have been kept by the Looter Government which is in a hurry to finish what it could not do in the last eight years. New contracts are being signed left, right and center by the outgoing looter Government under the claim of legality and constitutionalism. We hear that 17 days to the handing over of power to the peoples choice of a new Government, serious and fundamental decisions affecting the electorate who resoundingly rejected the outgoing looter Government at the polls are being taken by it without consultation with the incoming Government. Then on Tuesday 20th December 2016 we woke up to the news that: President John Dramani Mahama has confirmed Joseph Whittal as the new Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). In the same news item we are told that: The President has also appointed Ms. Josephine Nkrumah as the substantive head of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE). Ironically the news report adds: The appointments come a few weeks after the President lost the presidential elections to the opposition NPP leader Nana Addo Dankwaa Akufo-Addo. The President-elect will be sworn-in January 7, 2017. The reporter therefore deliberately leads the intelligent reader to ask whether there is nothing wrong with such midnight appointments by a Government that has just been routed by an incoming Government at the polls with corruption being one of the main electoral issues at stake at those polls. Not unexpectedly, the transition team of the incoming Government issues a statement stating that: These appointments .have been done contrary to an earlier agreement at the Transition Committees meeting of December 19th, at which meeting it was agreed that such appointments would be done subject to consultation with the Presidential Transition Committee. The statement adds that: We will, therefore, like to serve notice that the incoming administration reserves the right to review these and other high profile appointments, recruitments and contracts being embarked upon in these final days contrary to normal conventions associated with Presidential transitions and the consultation mechanism agreed. In a 19th December 2016 Myjoyonline report two young Ministers of the looter John Mahama regime are reported to have defended the decision by functionaries of the Mahama led administration to award contracts and give appointments days after being voted out of government. Haruna Iddrisu is reported to have said that: As a country what we need to pride ourselves is that you are assured of a peaceful, smooth transition of power from one political leadership to another, recognition of the continuous exercise of the legitimate legal authority and mandate by the current administration and know that an Act of Parliament cannot amend the constitution. The constitution clearly defines a four year mandate for the president and acts that are done on or before the midnight of 6th January are lawful and legitimate, he explained. In the same Myjoyonline report it is reported that: The most eminent of the contract (sic) is the 18 million waste management contract signed with SCL Waste Management Limited. Incidentally this sole sourced contract was signed by Mahama Ayariga who claimed that: the contract had been on his desk around November. But as an MP seeking re-election he was busy campaigning and could not therefore give it any attention. With outright impunity he says that: I have up to the 6th January 2017 to implement what I want to do. I have heard some arguments justifying the midnight appointments, contracts and recruitments on the basis that former President J. A. Kufuor exercised executive powers to the last day of 6th January 2009 as precedent for what the Looter Government is now engaged in doing. The NDC Government when it assumed office on 7th January 2009 decided not to challenge the midnight decisions of President Kufuor thus giving them legitimacy. It cannot pass for a precedent. Another difference which is being overlooked is that President Kufuor was exhausting his eight year mandate and his interpretation of the Constitution and the laws of Ghana cannot be binding on an incoming Government that has routed the incumbent Government soundly at the polls. I disagreed with what President Kufuor did but the then President-elect and his Vice-President-elect decided to let it pass without testing their constitutionality or legality. Their decision cannot bind the incoming Government so massively voted for by We The People. The incoming Government has through its transition team given notice of its intention to contest the midnight decisions of the Looter Government and I think the overwhelming votes it received at the polls justifies its stand. I have also read on 20th December, 2016 that, unlike the Mills/Mahama Government, Philip Addison, a lawyer, has commenced an action to challenge some of the present midnight decisions of this looter Government. My kinsman is being appointed the Commissioner for the CHRAJ when after wasting the public purse up to the Supreme Court to contest whether or not the suspects in the Mabey and Johnson case could be investigated for corruption he chose to go to sleep after promising he was going to investigate using the trove of credible evidence I sent CHRAJ in the case as Attorney General. This same kinsman of mine white washed the Ford Expedition Saga even though he knew the CHRAJ had no jurisdiction over the President because the Attorney General could not prosecution him even if he were found culpable by CHRAJ. So even though he is my kinsman and culture requires me to keep quiet, I ask myself as an enlightened Ghanaian Putting Ghana First whether this appointment is compensation for past and future protection. This is a problem of conscience and not kinship or ethnicity wrong is wrong no matter who is the beneficiary! I had always thought that Governments were to act not only in accordance with the letter of the law or constitution but above all in accordance with its spirit if the rule of law is to prevail. Lets wait and see whether the sterile legal and constitutional arguments of Haruna Iddrisu and Mahama Ayariga and their kind would prevail or the spirit of the Constitution that animates the letter of the law will prevail in the Courts. President Barrack Obama had a constitutional right to nominate a US Supreme Court Judge, and nominated Merrick Garland but the Republican senators in a move with little precedent in US history simply refused to consider Garlands nomination saying the winner of the November 8th presidential elections should make the pick. One Steven Michel filed a suit in a US federal court and lost and made an application to the Supreme Court of the US to force a senate committee vote on it. The US Chief Justice, John Roberts, denied the emergency application on Monday, 19th December 2016. The spirit prevailed over the letter of the Constitution. I argued and lost what is now referred to as the 31st December Case in the Supreme Court of Ghana in December 1993 narrowly but I took away the wise words of the late Mr. Justice Fanscios, (who was one of the majority that ruled against my case), whose speech in the case appears to me to remain the locus classicus on the balance that should be struck between the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution. Mr. Justice Franscios said in that case that: The letter and spirit of the Constitution A constitutional document must be interpreted sui generic to allow the written word and the spirit that animates it, to exist in perfect [78][79] harmony. It is interpreted according to the principles suitable to its particular character and not necessarily according to the ordinary rules and presumptions of statutory interpretation: see Minister of Home Affairs v Fisher [1979] 3 All ER 21, PC. This allows for a broad and liberal interpretation to achieve enlightened objectives while it rejects hide-bound restrictions that stifle and subvert its true vision He continued: My own contribution to the evaluation of a Constitution is that, a Constitution is the out-pouring of the soul of the nation and its precious life-blood is its spirit. Accordingly, in interpreting the Constitution, we fail in our duty if we ignore its spirit. Both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution are essential fulcra which provide the leverage in the task of interpretation. In support of this, we may profitably turn to the Constitution, 1992 itself which directs that we accord due recognition to the spirit that pervades its provisions. [79]. On the peoples choice as pointing to the spirit of the constitution, Mr. Justice Francois said: The Peoples choice By its sovereign will, the people of this country have chosen a multi-party system of government to regulate their affairs. The fact that they chose a new direction and a new system of governance, is the clearest pointer to change. In charting a different course, the democratic path, the people of this country took a solemn step away from what was immediately prevailing. Viewed in this light, it is idle and illogical to hold that the old order has yielded place to nothing new. Especially when the new order is diametrically opposed to the old which it supplanted.[80] What is going on in the transition to the new Government reinforces my conviction for my pre-election call upon the electorate to vote out the incumbent looter Mahama Government to stop the plundering of the public purse and get our looted monies back. When I look at how the Looter Government is preparing its final exit after its miserable and unprecedented defeat at the polls, I am left in no doubt that Ghana would have been bankrupted with another four years of this looter Government in power. Come to think of it, the last election (2012) was not won at the ballot but by the razor-thin votes of eleven Justice of the Supreme Court, indicating a doubtful peoples mandate. So how come this Looter Government is so arrogant even after the people have spoken decisively on the only occasion one can call a representative ballot since December 2008? Impunity! But this impunity can be curbed by constitutional means to the regret of this outgoing Government after 7th January 2017. It is important that as many enlightened middle class Ghanaians speak up to defend the majority of our citizens who are uneducated in the Whitemans ways but funded our education through college and university. Ghanaians must be the beneficiary of our public purse and not just a few political elite and establishment figures. Fear is the enemy of change! I am not cowed, have not been cowed, cannot be cowed, and will not be cowed by subtle messages of threats of postponing my disappearance until the new Government comes into office. Ghana is worth dying for and so fellow citizens speak up and defend your 7th December 2016 votes by not allowing this looter Government to deliberately make it impossible for the Government you popularly vote for to govern smoothly upon assuming office on 7th January 2017. Do not sit on the fence at this last hour and allow looters who came into office by the razor-thin majority vote of Justices of the Supreme Court to intimidate fellow citizens Putting Ghana First. Martin A. B. K. Amidu Accra, 21st December 2016 The Youth Ambassadors of Ashanti, a pressure group fronting for the development and peace of the Ashanti Region, have commended the Regional Police Commander, COP Kofi Boakye and the NPP Regional Chairman, Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, for their immense contributions towards the peace and development of the region. The group noted that both the Police Commander and the NPP Chairman have shown exemplary leadership in their respective capacities and must be commended for their roles. Whilst praising COP Kofi Boakye for instilling discipline and uplifting the image of the service in the region since assuming officer as the Police Boss, the group also showered commendations on Chairman Wontumi for being the youngest regional chairman of the NPP to have delivered victory to the party. According to them, the two personalities are invaluable assets to Asanteman and must therefore be protected jealously in the interest of the development of the region. They cited for example, COP Kofi Boakye's unprecedented initiatives which have ensured that all lands belonging to the service which were encroached by individuals, were reverted to the service. Apart from that the Youth Ambassadors of Ashanti pointed out that under the leadership of COP Kofi Boakye, personnel can now boast of decent accommodation and other facilities that make policing more efficient and effective. They contended that under Kofi Boakye's reign, the region has witnessed unprecedented peaceful atmosphere where businessmen can now go about their duties without fear of being attacked. "Through the initiative of COP Kofi Boakye, lands which were hitherto idle have now been turned into a profitable venture with the construction of stalls that serve economic benefit to the police," they observed. On Chairman Wontumi, the group said it was fascinated by the alacrity and the dexterity with which the NPP regional Chairman executed his job, leading to the huge successes chalked by the NPP in the December 7 elections. John Mahama went to the office, one day, as vice president and returned home as the president, following unexplained demise of Atta-Mills behind his desk at the presidency. Mahama therefore had not prepared himself for the task of office of president, which comes with all difficulties. He therefore had no choice but to put in the front-line, those juvenile-delinquents bigots with offensive verbal flatulence, whose only claim to fame was heap insults on any decent member of the Ghanaian society that dare expressed divergent views. Cracks at the presidency The seat of government was then sharply stratified on the lines of Atta-Mills and John Mahama loyalists, where assigns of the former, were treated as complete aliens in retaliation for suffering assigns of the latter were subjected under the tenure of the former. Some loyalists of Atta-Mills were actually sacked from their positions and made to go with empty hands, with others being made completely redundant on the job. The presidency was completely drained of Fantes who had been offered opportunities by Atta-Mills, and in their places, were firmly transfixed people of northern extraction; and I have evidence of this because I had some of these ostracized Fantes actually complaining to me and I do not believe even ex-president John Mahama will deny this. As a matter of fact, I know a Fante loyalist of Atta-Mills, who was board chairman of one of our parastatals but was unjustifiably dismissed, and his position filled with a northerner. And this man was so bitter that he actively worked to ensure the mandate of John Mahama was never renewed because he saw him [Mahama] as a tribal bigot. Sympathy votes For the time John Mahama served the remaining period of Atta-Mills presidency, he enjoyed the goodwill of Ghanaians, mainly due to sympathy arising from Atta-Mills demise. Those were the days himself and his followers would always tout the calm nature of Atta-Mills, and promise to continue what he had started. Effigy of the man then became ndc emblem and it was boldly displayed on all apparels of ndc operatives when they made appearances on every tv/radio programme, as well as public functions. They continued to bask in the glory of Atta-Mills demise and the day of the mans demise was actually turned into a national day of mourning where gallons of unadulterated crocodile tears was shed, with sole intention of playing on the key-board of peoples emotions for selfish political gains. In the end, many promises were made but inability to achieve them was cleverly buried under heap of sympathy arising of Atta-Mills demise. So after becoming a president without a contest but because his boss died, a contest stared him in the face when the time came for their partys flagbearership race. And because he was scared, he put a mechanism in place, obviously by the power of money, to ensure anybody who attempted to contest him was branded mentally-deranged.in the end, he had his way; but even a contest which he was the only contestant, over 63,000 hardcore members of his own party [ndc] voted against him. That development should have given him and their party hierarchy a great deal of worry and urgent self-introspection. But as the popular saying goes those that the gods want to destroy, they first made mad. They therefore wrapped themselves up in thick blankets of self-denial and obdurate belligerence, and carried as if nothing was happening. Such deep internal cracks were foolishly covered-up with the constant propagandists shouts of John Mahama is a unifier under whom there is peace and tranquility in our party. Nana Addo was then blamed for even the day-to-day running of NPP, when the man had absolutely nothing to do with same. Indeed, a man who contested NPP flagbearship race with six others, and finally came out with a victory margin of nearly 95%, was demonically portrayed as divisive by ndc propagandists. So whiles members and sympathizers of NPP were busily marketing Nana Addo for the election-2016,assigns of ndc were foolishly expending all time and energies, demonizing him at the expense of selling their candidate John Mahama. Role of social media On social media, for example, while NPP had well-organized and clinically coordinated platforms of dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers of projecting ideals of Nana Addo and NPP, ndc, on the other-hand, relied on rudiments of uneducated FOOLS whose core mandate was to insult the person of Nana Addo. And what made me felt so sure ndc was going to lose the election was this: when an NPP social media activist has come up with a cogent post, laden with heavy dose of intellectual analysis on social media promoting the party and its candidate, an ndc FOOL-soldier will just come and write NANA ADDO WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT. I was therefore not surprised when on the 17th December,2016 edition of alhaji-alhaji on Radio Gold,Kwesi Pratt, who himself was at the fore-front of ndc propaganda machine, turned round to accuse followers of the party for sitting aloof for NPP activists to dominate the social media space for four solid years, without knowing what to do to counter. After serving a first-term of office, the good people of this country were then in the best of position to properly assess John Mahama, without the benefits of sympathy from Atta-Mills demise. His appointees came under scrutiny, and socioeconomic well-being of the masses was put on the scale.in the end, Ghanaians passed a clear decisive verdict of rejecting 8years of massive corruption, obscene arrogance and notorious incompetence. Disastrous Veep Further deepening the woes of John Mahama was his uncharismatic vice Amissah-Arthur, was clearly lacks the skill in public speaking but because he wanted to appear HIPPY, he went on reckless tangent of always spewing garbage on campaign platforms.as economist, we expected him to have engaged Dr. Mamudu Bawumia, the Vice President-elect, in serious debates on how Ghanas economy has been managed/mismanaged over the past 8years. A series of public lectures held by Dr. Bawumia, during which facts/figures pointing to apocalyptic state of our economy were put out in the public domain, never attracted attention of Amissah-Arthur. Rather shamelessly, he was on campaign platforms claiming a friend of his had advised him not to respond to pertinent economic questions raised by Dr. Bawumia. Without a question, the man was a complete disaster. The comedians To further deepen the woes of ndc electoral fortunes in the just-ended 7th December, 2016 general elections, were: 1. The taking over of the media space, in days before the elections. The party spent huge sums of cash on airtime only to send party propagandist into radio stations to paint a picture of Ghana being transformed into PARADISE, and that, those complaining of hardship had no justification whatsoever to do so. And I remember coming up with a write-up in which I made it clear that, that communication strategy was going to backfire because it was extremely insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians. 2. The importation of a legion of Nigerian comedians who were paid millions of dollars, to throw rocks into the eyes of Ghanaians. For example, the REFURBISHED Ridge Hospital [because nothing over there was built from scratch], was undertaken with taxes of ordinary Ghanaians. So, paying a Nigerian comedian, huge sums of cash to come and tell us that project was a 10-star hotel, and not a hospital, indeed, was REPUGNANT, FOOLISH, INSANE and CRUDE. Smoothness level Effectively, John Mahama was in office for close to 6yeaars where his performance was scrutinized; faced a contest where he had a real contestant without the help of sympathy votes, and his was cut to his real size. But after such an unprecedented level of defeat, the ndc hierarchies who have accumulated billions of dollars in cash and physical properties, have smartly hidden their incompetence behind a so-called post-election disturbances, with expressed-purpose of diverting boiling anger of their party FOOLED-SOLDIERS [soldiers of the party who have been used and dumped]. I was so amused when Kofi Portuphy, chairman of ndc, held a press-conference to warn that after 7th January, 2017, any attack on any ndc member will be commensurately responded to. But the point is; ndc is still in power so why are they not dealing with present danger in society, but rather blaming it on a president-elect who has no power to issue orders to our security agencies? My advice to ndc leadership Finally, my humble word of advice to ndc top hierarchy is; they should be bold and tell their party followers the truth about woeful incompetence in putting in place an effective campaign strategy, and also, pocketing huge sums of campaign cash, with the thinking that the 2016 general elections was, once again, their party was going to be successful with the usual rigging plot. And like I have stated somewhere, following the meteoric performance of NPP and unprecedented annihilation of ndc in the 2016 elections, managers of the party [ndc] should be forward-looking because, within the first year of Nana Addo presidency, an effective database of all Ghanaians will be put in-place, and credible national ID system actualized. This will then provide the platform for a credible voter register to be compiled which is the bedrock of free, fair and transparent elections. Nana Addo then, with the team of competent ministers, will implement the key campaign promises, which will obviously present other political parties with a huge mountain to surmount at the polls in election-2020 and beyond. So ndc, particularly, should better reorganize and cut-out the needless opposition cacophony. Justice Abeeku Newton-Offei Email: [email protected] From 19 until 21 December, 2016, Hon. Thomas Oppermann, Leader of the Social-Democratic Party in the German Bundestag, visited Namibia to familiarise himself with the state of the intergovernmental negotiations and economic and scientific relations between the two countries. He held talks i.a. with Dr. Zedekia Ngavirue, Special Envoy of the Government of the Republic of Namibia, Hon. Ida Hoffmann and Bernadus Swartbooi, MP, as well as Mr. Magongora Kavihuha, Secretary-General of TUCNA. The programme further included visits of the Aviation Centre at Eros Airport, an investment of Rheinland Air from Germany, the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S), the Port of Walvis Bay and of historic sites in Windhoek and Swakopmund. THE OFFICE of ex-President Jerry John Rawlings has stated that there is no rapport whatsoever between the former president and the Volta Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Peter Amewu, as the latter had indicated. According to a statement issued and signed by Kobina Andoh Amoakwa from the Communications Directorate of the office of the former president, the claim by John Peter Amewu that there is rapport between himself and the former president is false and malicious. To make such untruthful and absurd claim of a follow-up telephone call which can easily be verified is foolhardy, imprudent, unbecoming of a political actor who is supposed to lead with integrity and absolutely disrespectful to former President Rawlings, the statement pointed out. It would be recalled that Mr. Amewu, in an interview with Joy News Television on December 15, 2016, had praised Mr. Rawlings for assisting the NPP emerge the winner of the December 7 polls, creating the impression of a good rapport between him and Mr. Rawlings. I want to say a big thank you to him (President Rawlings). Even on the night of elections when the results were coming in, he did call, Mr. Amewu was quoted to have said during that interview. The Volta Regional Chairman of the NPP had also pointed out that the former president and founder of the defeated National Democratic Congress (NDC) had contributed immensely to the low voter turnout in the region during the polls. But in the statement to set the records straight, the office of Mr. Rawlings said emphatically, For the records the former president has met and talked to Mr. Amewu only once in his lifetime. This encounter, which was at the full glare of the media, took place when he led the Volta Regional executives to pay a courtesy call on the former president after he was enstooled as the Nutsifafa Fiaga of the Anlo Traditional Area. The purpose of the visit, the statement stressed, was to lodge a complaint about the alleged attempts by non-Ghanaians across the Ghana-Togo border to vote in the just-ended Ghanaian presidential and parliamentary elections. The office therefore, demands an apology and retraction of the said falsehood in the same manner and prominence such false claim was carried, the statement charged. BY Melvin Tarlue Nsawam, Dec. 21, GNA - The St Martin's Senior High School at Adoagyiri-Nsawam in the Eastern Region, has marked its 50th Anniversary with a call on parents and guardians to continue to enroll their children in school. Mr Theo Thadmor-Sareoh, the Headmaster of the School, who made the call, said this would enable the children to acquire skills and knowledge for quality life, national economic growth and the development of the society. The celebration was on the theme: 'Years of Quality Education - Prospects for a Sustainable Human Development'. It coincided with the School's Speech and Prize-giving Day. Major General Sampson Kudjo Adeti, the Chief of Staff - Ghana Armed Forces, who is an old student, and the Guest Speaker, said Catholic Schools had been in the forefront of providing quality manpower for the administrative functions of the country and beyond. He urged the School authorities to continue to imbue in the students the Catholic tenets of projecting God as the Supreme Creator who expected mankind to be fair to his fellow man. He said this would be an additional bond of integrity among the students in their education. The Most Reverend Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum, the Catholic Bishop of Koforidua Diocese, who chaired the occasion, advised the students to always let their books be their companions for them to chalk success in their examination. He told the students that as the School's motto stands: 'Sapientia Dwitts Melior: 'Wisdom is Better than Riches'', they should always strive for wisdom through learning and they would be blessed with any other things in life by God. The Most Rev Afrifah-Agyekum asked parents to ensure that they provided the needed educational materials for their children for them to have a stress-free mind to learn. GNA Accra, Dec. 21, GNA - The Kokofu Leprosy Unit project being undertaken by Lepers Aid Committee, a self-sacrificing voluntary and humanitarian organisation would begin in January next year. The GHa 548,067 project which is being financed through voluntary contributions and fundraising activities is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. The Reverend Father Andrew Campbell, Board Chairman of the Lepers Aid Committee, disclosed this at a Fundraising Musical Concert in Accra. He said the organisation has led to the creation of many leprosy units in the country including one at Weija in the Greater Accra, Ho in the Volta Region and Nkanchina, near Kpandai in the Northern Region. Rev Campbell said leprosy was an infectious disease that caused severe disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms and legs. He said the disease has been around since ancient times often surrounded by terrifying, negative stigmas and tales of leprosy patients being shunned as outcasts. Rev Campbell noted that outbreaks of leprosy have affected and panicked people on every continent, adding that 'today about 180,000 people worldwide are affected with the disease, He expressed the hope that the project would break the transmission chain of the disease by identifying, treating and managing lepers at the early stages of the infection. The Board Chairman appealed to the government and benevolent organisations to contribute generously to the project. Nana Owusu Ansah, Gyimakyehene of Kokofu in the Ashanti Region commended Rev Campbell for initiating and executing many projects in the country and also for winning many awards. The Gyimakyehene gave the assurance that the Kokofuman would support the project for its early completion. GNA The Deputy Minister of Power, John Jinapor has challenged president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo to ensure that he fulfills his promise of scrapping energy sector levies in the country. The NPP promised the people of Ghana that if they don't want dumsor they shouldn't vote for us. And now the people of Ghana had confidence in them, they voted for the NPP, they expect that all the levies and tax will be scrapped immediately as promised. Nana Addo prior to the December 7 polls assured to scrap what he described as killer and nuisance taxes including the energy sector levies if Ghanaians voted for him. John Jinapor The passage of the energy sector levy resulted in the prices of petroleum products shooting up by 27%. Electricity and water tariffs also shot up astronomically; a move the NPP said worsened the plight of Ghanaians. Speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, the outgoing deputy minister said the NPP must honour its promise. We took that decision in the best interest of the country. We took that decision because we were convinced beyond reasonable doubt that, that was the best decision for this country and there was no alternative. And I will stand by that decision President Mahama took any day. We said we needed the levy because there was some financial issue. When PURC increased the tariff, the NPP said when they come they will reduce the tariffs. We had to take some of the tough and painful decisions in order to sustain power but they say that they have a way of dealing with it and they can still reduce the tariffs, let's see how it goes. But sometimes we must face the facts and be frank to the people of Ghana. Some of the decisions are tough, some are difficult but the truth is that if you don't take those tough decisions you risk collapsing the entire power sector, he added. By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin Ama Benyiwa-Doe 22.12.2016 LISTEN Ghanaians spoke on 7th of December with the power of a pneumatic sledgehammer. It was sharp and decisive. It appears the incumbent party never anticipated such an outcome from the look of things. The proverbial blame game has started in earnest; kicking mud and dust in all directions. As expected, the political pathologists are not making things easy for them either. The most revealing part is that I never knew the NDC have so many coroners, however they are awful at it, and it has rather opened the Pandora box. They have lost an election that they honestly believed it was in the bag. Whether it was a genuine belief is not for me to say. However, their perceptions and those of Ghanaians were on different frequencies. They pushed on with their infrastructural development as if it was the only thing Ghanaians cared about. Besides, if they had kept the cost down and not inflate them beyond acceptable levels the electorates would have probably danced to their tune. As the screams of Ghanaians went into crescendo, they kept promoting their infrastructural agenda and even deceived themselves that Mahama was at par with Kwame Nkrumah. It was a fatal historical amnesia. Its unforgiveable for them not to have incorporate into their thinking that regardless of all his impressive achievements, the patron saint of Ghanaian socialism was booted out violently with relish. Nkrumah never listened when Ghanaians started complaining bitterly about the state of affairs during his time. But to his credit, at least, he admitted when he had been administered with the coup de grace that had he known it was milk that Ghanaians wanted he would have constructed milk taps in their homes. This is the indefensible arrogance of the progressives, which led to the death of millions in China, Russia, Cambodia etc., because they think their perception of development is the ultimate. Ama Benyiwa-Doe once said, and I am paraphrasing because she burst out in Fanti. She said that we do not fill our stomachs with roads when NPP was touting Kufuors achievement of improving our road infrastructure. Lo and behold, they repeated the same mantra to the surprise of those who dabble in Ghanaian political soundbites. Even what further confuses me and electrified my shock is when they went on about what NPP did under President Kufuors administration. The point is why were they punished in 2008 and perhaps 2012? If they cannot understand this simple fact, then their ignorance cannot be defined. So, are they trying to tell Ghanaians that after SADA, Woyome, SUBA, GYEEDA etc. we should still vote for them? This is pride and impunity that stinks to the high heavens. Why should Ghanaians reward the babies with sharp teeth who do not pay homage to our culture that put premium on the respect of the elderly. Why should we give children who spit on the fabric of our culture with vengeful maliciousness another chance? To administer the euthanasia pill or spray acid into our eyes? Please! Ghanaians are not that stupid and ignorant. The Akans have a saying that you cannot trample on the balls of a fool twice. It is possible the first time, but pain will make anybody wise up including a fool. Ghanaians trusted their precious testicles to President Mahama and his cohorts, and they trampled on it mercilessly. Ghanaians want the best for their body politics and sterling management of their finances. If that is their main reason for punishing NPP in 2008 and 2012, why should the NDC be treated differently for the same behaviour. Its Mahama and his cronies of insatiable vampires who will advance this argument, or someone who takes Ghanaians as fools. Philip Kobina Baidoo Jnr London [email protected] 22.12.2016 LISTEN Top innovators demonstrate Future X technology Winners to earn up to $175,000 in cash prizes and an opportunity to collaborate with world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs researchers Espoo, Finland Nokia announces the winners of its third annual Bell Labs Prize, all of whom demonstrated game-changing ideas in the fields of science, technology, engineering or mathematics. The first place prize, selected from over 250 innovative ideas, was awarded to the team of Sungwon Chung, Hossein Hashemi and Hooman Abediasl. The second place prize was awarded to Elad Hazan, and the third place prize was awarded to the team of Apostolos Georgiadis, Emmanouil Tentzeris and George Goussetis. In addition to the cash prizes, all of the winners are given the opportunity to collaborate with world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs researchers to further develop their ideas. This years Prize competition attracted more than 250 proposals from 41 countries, which described innovations in Future X network, system, platform or device technologies that have the potential to be an order of magnitude (10x) better than the state of the art today. Proposals were narrowed down to seven teams of finalists who presented their ideas to a group of industry luminaries in the final judging event on December 14. The top three prize winners: First place prize ($100,000) was awarded to the team of Sungwon Chung, Research Associate; Hossein Hashemi, Professor; and Hooman Abediasl, PhD candidate; all with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, for their Large-Scale Plasmonic Optical Phased Array - an architectural innovation for nanodevices. Second place prize ($50,000) was awarded to Elad Hazan, Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, for Linear Learning for Deep Insight. Third place prize ($25,000) was awarded to the team of Apostolos Georgiadis, Associate Professor at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland; Emmanouil Tentzeris, Ken Byers Professor at the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech; and George Goussetis, Professor at Heriot-Watt University, for their 3D/Inkjet Printed Millimeter Wave Systems. Marcus Weldon, President of Nokia Bell Labs & CTO, said: We are delighted to recognize this years Prize winners and their brilliant ideas. The winners embody the essence of Bell Labs and the Bell Labs Prize solving the great challenges facing humankind in the coming 10 years, with disruptive solutions that think differently. We received an impressive variety of innovative proposals from machine learning and computing technologies, to breakthroughs in optics, to new kinds of integrated circuits and component technologies, and novel wireless networking techniques and approaches. We look forward to collaborating with these leading innovators to help turn these ideas into reality. About Nokia Nokia is a global leader in creating the technologies at the heart of our connected world. Powered by the research and innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, we serve communications service providers, governments, large enterprises and consumers, with the industry's most complete, end-to-end portfolio of products, services and licensing. From the enabling infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things, to emerging applications in virtual reality and digital health, we are shaping the future of technology to transform the human experience. www.nokia.com By PTI: Roy said the minority population in Bangladesh Roy said the minority population in Bangladesh including Buddhists, Christians and Hindus, was earlier around 29 per cent, which has now reduced to 8 per cent. Roys ancestral house was in a village at Brahmanbaria district of present Bangladesh, about 40 km from here. He said the rights of minorities were persecuted even after Bangladesh was liberated in 1971, since a pro-Pakistan government ruled the country for years after the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibar Rahaman. advertisement To a question, Roy said, the present Bangladesh government should regularly make announcements through different agencies about the its commitment to instill confidence among the minorities that the present government had taken many measures to safeguard them. "Truth must prevail and that was the reason behind searching out the untold stories of torture, which many people are not aware about. I know, by hushing up the truth and reality, no good can be delivered. "But nobody should think that I am against friendship with Bangladesh. We speak the same language and share same culture and we need to strengthen our friendship with that country," Roy said. He said many people were aware about the massacres in Noakhali in East Pakistan, but not many know what happened at Chuknagar in Khulna district. "More than 10,000 Hindus were killed on May 20, 1971 when the Pakistani Army opened fire at Hindus and later Razakars (Collaborators) joined the Pak Army and butchered them," he said. "Only 1,500 people died in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab, but many people do not know that 10,000 people died in Chuknagar," the Governor added. PTI JOY SBN DKB ABH LNS --- ENDS --- The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region has described as premature, calls for all executives of the party to step aside following the partys performance in the 2016 general elections. According to the party, the calls are misplaced, especially at a time when the party is taking stock of what led to its defeat in the December 7 poll. At a press conference yesterday, a pro NDC-group, the Crusade for Probity and Accountability, demanded that the current leadership step aside for overseeing the worst election defeat of a sitting government. The Crusade for Probity and Accountability But in a Citi News interview, the deputy NDC Volta Regional Secretary, Mustapha Gbande, rubbished the calls, retorting that the group had no standing make such demands because it is not a recognised organ of the party. It is premature and unwarranted for a group of people to go out there and call on executives to step down without necessarily creating or having any concrete report of why we have lost an election knowing very well that a lot of factors contributed to our defeat. In any case, you cannot trace our defeat to the cause of any single executive. The body they formed is not a recognised body under the NDC and so they lack the legal capacity to call on the past executives to step down, he said. Mr. Gbande, instead urged cool heads to prevail so the party could strategise whilst allowing the elected government the space to install themselves. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana Project to further bridge sub-Saharan Africas energy gap by supplying 200 MW Aboadze, Ghana 14 December 2016 Amandi Energy Limited (Amandi Energy) today announced that it has reached financial close and begun construction of the $552 million Amandi Energy Power Plant (Amandi Project), a 200 megawatt (MW) combined cycle, dual-fuel power project in Aboadze, Ghana. Its the only large scale base-load independent power generation project in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve financial close to date in 2016. Amandi Energy was founded by a consortium of developers with extensive experience of doing business in Ghana and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa (Amandi Founder Group or AFG). For the Amandi Project, AFG has, prior to financial close, partnered with majority owner of the project Endeavor Energy (Endeavor), a leading Africa-focused independent power company backed by global private equity firm Denham Capital, and Aldwych International (Aldwych), a prominent developer, owner and operator of power generation projects in sub-Saharan Africa. The Amandi Project will be crucial in helping to meet Ghanas growing power needs. Once constructed, the plant will be one of the most efficient power plants in the country and will produce more than 1,600 gigawatt hours per year, energising up to one million Ghanaian households. Amandi Energy will sell power to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement. It will be initially fuelled by light crude oil, but is expected to switch to indigenous gas from Ghanas offshore Sankofa natural gas field once available. The Amandi Project will be fully constructed within 28 months and is scheduled to come online in April 2019. The plants construction will create 400 jobs, most of which will be filled by Ghanaians, and the plants operations will employ up to 40 people full time. The $552 million investment required for the Amandi Project comprises $134 million in equity from the sponsor group, which includes Endeavor, AFG, Aldwych, Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 managed by Harith General Partners (PAIDF2), and ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund (ARMHIF). The $418 million in debt financing is provided by a group of lenders, including the U.S. Governments development finance institution Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which will provide a $250 million loan, as well as CDC Group plc, which will provide an $83 million loan, Nedbank Limited and Rand Merchant Bank. The Amandi Project signifies another achievement for the U.S. Power Africa programme, as OPICs funding is the initiatives largest investment in West Africa to date. As Power Africa partners, OPIC, Denham Capital, Endeavor and Aldwych seek to make a difference with their projects throughout the continent by working with national governments and local stakeholders to build the capacity necessary to help meet critical demands for new electricity supplies. A spokesperson from Amandi Energy commented: We started this journey four years ago with a strong belief in the Ghanaian power sector and a commitment to contribute to its growth and success, and have been able to build a strong management team focused on delivering this complex transaction. We have excellent working relations with our partners Endeavor and Aldwych, which have allowed us to bring this project to financial close on a timely basis. Sean Long, CEO of Endeavor, added: Ghana embarked on a mission to strengthen its power sector that has now created an opportune time for international investing. We are very pleased to be working with Ghanas government and the ECG, as well as the Amandi Founder Group and Aldwych, to realise this project. Were also proud of the Denham Capital and Endeavor teams for successfully working with our committed partners to achieve financial close on the required $418 million of debt financing for the Amandi Project while at the same time continuing to execute on other important power projects across the continent. Helen Tarnoy, Managing Director of Aldwych, said: Aldwych International acted as co-developer and technical partner through 2.5 years of development and we are delighted to see the successful conclusion of this effort. Harith CEO and Chairman of Aldwych, Tshepo Mahloele, further added: The financial close of the Amandi Project represents a critical moment in addressing Africas growing demand for reliable power infrastructure and the persistent lack of properly packaged, bankable projects in the energy space. The project will assist Ghana by realising its developmental objectives and unleashing the countrys industrial potential. Additional power is critical to Ghana as it seeks to meet ever increasing demand and OPIC is proud that this project will help support that, said Elizabeth L. Littlefield, OPIC President and CEO. OPICs financing and reinsurance will enable the construction of a combined cycle gas turbine power plant that, not only will meet the energy demands, but looks to further develop its economy by creating jobs for local Ghanaians. Holger Rothenbusch, CDCs Managing Director, Debt, concluded: We are very pleased to be part of this project which is our largest debt commitment in Africa to date and has the potential to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the region, not to mention boosting existing businesses through more consistent access to power. Amandi Energys financial adviser was Fieldstone Africa, Trinity International LLP served as international legal adviser and Senet Corporate Solicitors served as Ghanaian legal adviser. Clifford Chance LLP acted as international legal adviser to the lenders, and ENSafrica, Ghana served as Ghanaian legal adviser. Norton Rose Fulbright LLP acted as international legal adviser to Endeavor. Mott MacDonald served as lenders technical advisor and Parsons Brinckerhoff Power acted as owners engineer. For more information about the Amandi Project, please visit www.amandi-energy.com . About Endeavor Energy Endeavor Energy is a Denham Capital-backed leading independent power producer (IPP) company focused on Africa with its headquarters in Houston, Texas, USA and offices in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, Accra, Ghana, Conakry, Guinea and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Endeavor Energy develops, acquires, finances, owns and operates thermal, hydroelectric, biomass, waste-to-energy and hybrid, first-of their-kind power generation plants in Africa. Endeavor Energy is led by a seasoned management team with over 200 years of combined IPP experience around the world, and a proven record of identifying and executing on project development and acquisition opportunities in Africa and elsewhere. With the financial and strategic backing of energy-focused global private equity investor Denham Capital, the company possesses significant financial and operational capability to generate and participate in multiple power development projects in Africa. Endeavor Energy is also a sponsor of the U.S. governments Power Africa initiative. For additional information, please call +1 (281) 369-5908 or email us at [email protected] . For more information about Endeavor, visit www.endeavor-energy.com . About Amandi Founder Group Amandi Energy was founded by a consortium of developers incepted by a group of private individuals with extensive experience of doing business in Ghana and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. About Aldwych International Aldwych International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aldwych Holdings, which is in turn majority owned by the Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF). Aldwych was established in 2004, for the purpose of developing, owning and operating power generation, transmission and distribution projects in Africa. The Aldwych management team has a long history of international power industry experience and has successfully financed or re-financed over two dozen power projects worldwide totalling over 12,000MW and almost US $4bn, in both the developed and the developing world. Aldwych was co-developer and is the largest investor in the ground-breaking Lake Turkana wind power project in Kenya, and is the technical partner and investor in the co-development of the Azura-Edo IPP in Nigeria, both of which are now in construction. See more at www.aldwych-international.com . About Denham Capital Denham Capital is a leading energy and resources-focused global private equity firm with more than $8.4 billion of invested and committed capital across eight fund vehicles and offices in London, Boston, Houston and Perth. The firm makes direct investments in the energy and resources sectors, including businesses involving power generation, oil and gas, and mining, across the globe and all stages of the corporate lifecycle. Denhams investment professionals apply deep operational and industry experience and work in partnership with management teams to achieve long-term investment objectives. For more information about Denham Capital, visit www.denhamcapital.com . About Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 Harith General Partners is the leading Pan-African fund manager for infrastructure development across the continent. Based in South Africa, Harith manages the $435m Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2. PAIDF 2 is a sequel fund to Africas first and only 15-year infrastructure fund, the $630m Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF 1). The PAIDF funds are invested in a number of major infrastructure projects in diversified sectors such as energy, transport and information, communication and telecommunications and are supported by African capital raised from state pension funds, development finance institutions, top investment banks and financial institutions. Harith has offices in Johannesburg and Cote dIvoire. About ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund ARMHIF is a closed-ended specialist Infrastructure Fund established by Asset & Resource Management Company Ltd of Nigeria, and Harith General Partners Proprietary Limited of South Africa, and invests equity in transport, energy, and utilities infrastructure projects across West Africa. ARMHIFs first investment, the $868 million Azura-Edo IPP, is a 459MW open-cycle gas turbine power station currently under construction near Benin City, in Edo State, Nigeria. The Amandi Project is ARMHIFs second investment, and the Fund has a robust pipeline of further deals under development. Through its smart deployment of capital and management of infrastructure assets, ARMHIF aims to make, in a profitable way, a solid contribution to improving infrastructure in West Africa and Nigeria in particular. About the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) OPIC is the U.S. Governments development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help address critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy and national security priorities. Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets, catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds, when commercial funding cannot be obtained elsewhere. Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. All OPIC projects adhere to high environmental and social standards and respect human rights, including worker's rights. By mandating high standards, OPIC aims to raise the industry and regional standards of the countries where it funds projects. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 160 countries worldwide. About CDC Group plc CDC Group plc is the UK's development finance institution. Wholly owned by the UK Government, it invests in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia with the aim of supporting economic development in order to create jobs. CDC Group plc has invested in Africa since its establishment in 1948, providing capital in all its forms, including equity, debt, mezzanine and guarantees. It has net assets of 3.9bn. Find out more at www.cdcgroup.com . About Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), a division of FirstRand Bank Limited is a leading African corporate and investment bank and part of one of the largest financial services groups in Africa. We offer our clients innovative, value-added advisory, funding, trading, corporate banking and principal investing solutions. We have over the past two decades concluded many high-profile deals in over 35 African countries. As the corporate and investment banking arm of FirstRand Bank Limited (which is wholly-owned by FirstRand Limited), RMB has representative offices and branches in the UK, India, China, and the Middle East and has access to a retail bank network in 25 African countries, including Ghana. About Nedbank Nedbank Corporate and Investment Bank (South Africa) is a co-lead arranger for the Commercial Bank debt tranche. As a leading financier of energy in Africa, Nedbank CIB is perfectly positioned to provide the financial backing that will realise energy projects on the continent to benefit its people and communities. We are proud of our role as co-lead arrangers and co-funders of the Amandi Energy deal which will improve the lives of many Ghanaians, transform the countrys economic landscape and power its future development, says Mike Peo, Head: Infrastructure, Energy and Telecoms at NCIB. Mallam Alhassan Abukari, 60, a Fulani Muslim cleric, has been arrested by the Bimbilla police in the Nanumba District of the Northern Region for allegedly having carnal knowledge with three boys aged between 10 and 15. The victims are all Fulani's living in the community. One of the victims (name withheld), is currently on admission at the Bimbilla hospital undergoing treatment due to severe pains and swelling around the anus. Investigations revealed that the suspect picks children from poor backgrounds under the pretext of taking them through Arabic classes in his house. Mallam Abukari is alleged to be having anal sex with the children and if any of them refused, he purportedly punished them severely or even threatened them. He succeeded in sodomizing three children but the latest victim, 13 years old, blew his cover. A report was made to the police and the suspect was quickly arrested at his residence. The Arabic classes have since been halted by the police and the children sent to their various homes. The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh who confirmed the arrest to DAILY GUIDE, said the suspect is currently in police custody for further investigation. According to him, after investigations he would be charged and arraigned before court charged with defilement. FROM Eric Kombat, Bimbilla The politics of today is incomparable to the politics of the 1980s. Similarly, the voter of today is dialectically different from the voter of the 1980s. It is not for fun that political strategists are sometimes hired by political parties to provide roadmap on which a political campaign will travel. Constant change in the behavior of voters has necessitated a phenomenon where political parties spend several months, and sometimes years, to study the depth of a politic river they want to step into. Anything short of this rudimentary element in politics will lead to a cataclysmic fall of any political party, regardless of the shrewdness of members of its campaign team. In the 1990s, it was easy to hoodwink electorates with few bags of rice, cooking oil etc to vote for you. Those were the days when blind loyalty and adulation took centre stage of our politics. Ethnicity also played major role in adding to this voting pattern. The charisma of individual candidates, as it is even today, was also determining factor. It would not be out of place to conclude that the NDC was ahead of other political parties in terms of political strategy of in the 1990s. The party studied the political terrain and crafted strategies that best suited the politics of those days. The NDC was not concerned about the politics of suit and tie or what is preferable called "bookish urban politics". They identified with the ordinary people. They ate the food of the commoner, wore the cloths of the downtrodden, slept in the heat induced thatch roofed mud houses with them. In fact, NDC politicians of those days portrayed the attributes of a commoner. But that style of politics has given way to different style of politicking even in a social democratic party like the NDC in modern days. Rightly so, there are some traces of this social democratic inclination in the way NDC plays its politics even today. It was based on this ideological indoctrination that the concept of "door to door" campaign gained prominence in our body polity courtesy the late John Atta Mills. The NDC does not shy away from running into even people's farms in the hinterlands to campaign. The difference between the NDC and the NPP in this style of campaigning is that whilst the latter copied this style, the former was "born" with it. This made the NPP's supposed "door to door" campaign looked artificial anytime they attempted something like that. It was on the strength of this well thought out strategy, ably fashioned by the party's strategists, that the NDC, despite resource constraints, managed to whip the NPP in the 2008 election. The NPP in that elections outclassed the NDC in all spheres save the height of intellectual and issue based campaigns ably led by the likes of the Ahwoi brothers, Totobi Quakyi, and other NDC heavyweights. The NDC then did not sought the services of celebrities to "sell" it messages. In fact, the NDC' s campaign then was cashless to the extent that it was less attractive to celebrities. Only a few of these celebrities who were naturally NDC identified with the party those days. Virtually all the celebrities pitched camp with the NPP because then the party was in government and was actually swimming in money. With all the flamboyance and extravagance, the NPP still lost that election. Their supposed celebrities who were thought to wield so much influence could not help Nana Akufo Addo win the 2008 election. Fast forward 2012, the NDC staged a relatively moderate campaign. The tragic death of Prof John Mills also pulled some appreciable number of votes for the NDC, albeit not quantifiable. In this campaign, there was no talks about celebrities campaigning for the NDC. If there was at all, they were not on full display. The likes of Kassim Sinare and others who are well known NDC members have been with the party for some time now. They have played varying roles in ensuring NDC's victory in previous election. In those days, they were not specifically assigned to use their "celebrity prowess" to woo voters for the party. They campaigned like any other devoted NDC member. In the 2012 election, the NPP which paraded almost all the heavyweight celebrities in the country could only boast of just some few loyal ones. It was obvious that there was no much money for the campaign so most of the celebrities left the elephant party in the letch. When the NDC retained power in 2012, President Mahama created the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts. Madam Abla Gomashie, a veteran actress, was nominated deputy minister, and she is still at post. This gave an indication that the Mahama government was interested in getting a member of the creative art industry to represent their interest in government. Perhaps, this was partly done to reward the roles some members of the creative art industry played in the NDC's victory in that election. This emboldened some members of the art industry to openly endorsed their preferred political party candidates in this year's election. This created a stiff competition between pro NDC celebrities and pro-NPP celebrities. In the NDC, these celebrities were assigned "special" roles to use their influence to whip support for the party. Because the NDC was not used to this style of campaign, the pro-NPP celebrities outweigh the former's celebrities. Mr John Dumelo and others, for instance, were tasked to go to schools, mostly tertiary institutions, to preach the party's message. Achievements in the "green book" and infighting in the NPP dominated their respective messages to the students. This golden opportunities were wasted on these trivial issues at a time teacher trainees and trainee nurses were fuming over withdrawal of their allowances. Students in other institutions bared their teeth over bursaries, payment of utility bills and others. Instead of the youth wing of the party to use such opportunities to engage the students and explain these issues to them, it was left to celebrities to engage in talk shops. Of course, the NDC celebrities toured other areas aside schools. In villages that they toured, they attracted huge crowds. It has turned out after the election that their visits recorded such crowds because the "villagers" were only interested in catching a glimpse of them. They were not interested in their messages. This is enough proof that the celebrities were not put to good use. It could also mean that unlike the NPP, fashionistic campaigns staged by celebrities do not work for the NDC. Bear in mind, extravagance and opulent lifestyles are alien to social democracy. Perhaps this could account for reasons why the NDC have won previous elections without the active input of celebrities like what we witnessed in this year's election. By Amos Blessing Amorse Asabaham-Accra [email protected] The First Lady, Lordina Mahama has facilitated the construction of a building for toddlers at the Osu Children's Home in Accra through the Lordina Foundation. Mrs Mahama, who commissioned the building in Accra, noted that the children cannot be blamed so society must not neglect them. She believes that the children must feel comfortable in a place they call home. The First Lady, upon arrival at the orphanage, shared candies to children who sang Christmas songs, danced and interacted with them. Mrs. Mahama presented items to the children to help them celebrate Christmas. Items presented to the home included bags of rice, gallons of oil, assorted biscuits, sweets, soft drinks, tomato paste, tuna flakes, boxes of spaghetti and bales of clothes. The First Lady made similar donation to the Christ Foster Home at Fafraha. Seven orphanages have so far benefited from the First Lady during this Christmas festive. They are Let Kids Smile in Nkoransa, Bethesda Children's Home, Frank May Orphanage both in Techiman, Tamale Children's Home and Anfani Home. The First Lady has for the past years made donations to selected orphanages across the country. These donations are aimed at supporting the underprivileged children in the orphanages. The Manageress of the Home Christiana Addo expressed gratitude to the First Lady for her continuous support. She stated that with the support from the First Lady, the children at the home are going to have enough to eat and drink during this festive season. National Director of Social Welfare Benjamin Otoo said more emphasis must be placed on child fostering and family base care. This, he noted, would surely reduce the workload on the various homes across the country. Other challenges faced by the home include lack of buses to convey inmates of the home to places and funding for medication. He was however thankful for the construction of the building facilitated by the First Lady, saying that part of it would be used for nursery since the old block is too small and obsolete. The First Lady visited the Christ Faith Foster Home where she donated food items, gallons of cooking oil, and bags of rice, biscuits, assorted drinks, detergents and confectionary. She danced with the children who sang Christmas songs. Director of the Home, Kofi Adu- Boahene, was full of praise for the First Lady, saying she has always supported the home, especially during festive seasons. Victor Baah, an inmate of the home, expressed appreciation to the First Lady for her love and support. I have been in this home for the past six years and the First Lady always come here to give us gifts, he said. Victor prayed for the blessings of the Lord for the First Lady. The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, accompanied the First Lady to the orphanage. Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality Nikos Kazantzakis AN ALL INCLUSIVE GOVERNMENT? That should ordinarily be a brilliant idea we are all Ghanaians. To err is human, so people who deliberately smeared Nana Addo should be forgiven and brought back into the 'fold'? We have heard some people proposing Ivor Greenstreet (leader of the CPP) for the position of Attorney General: Samia Yaaba Nkrumah and Papa Kwesi Nduom (of the PPP) for cabinet positions. Theoretically, yes: but practically, hmmm. The dynamics of politics were different in 2000 when NPP did not field candidates in certain constituencies, especially given the support of other persons ( from different parties ) to NPP's success, That gave some persons an easy ride to Parliament; Mallam Issah ( PNC ), Papa Kwesi Nduom ( CPP ) were in Kufuor's Government. In 2016, the dynamics have changed. Apart from Kwasi Addai (Odike) of the United Front Party and Akpaloo of the Independent People's Party who openly declared their support for NPP, and assisted it in its campaigns, other oppositions lobbed on the common ground: 'change' nothing more, nothing less. Thus an all inclusive government is a bright idea whose season has not come! Unfortunately. That could be recommended later. Rawlings's military PNDC and later his civilian NDC after de-robing, plus Professor Mills's period, robbed many potential Ghanaians of the chance to contribute their quota for 35 years, each year adding on to the age of the prospective politicians and political animals. The truth is that the past NDC government was vicious, towards some Ghanaians who were outside of it. Daily Graphic editorial of Monday, December, 19, 2016 was spot on when it stated: We urge the incoming administration not to terminate the appointment of public officials just because they are associated with the NDC. How we wish the same exhortation had been delivered in 2009. Without compunction of conscience, and without a twinge of 'fellow feeling' and 'human ness', the NDC Government was quick to terminate the appointment of public servants whom they perceived to have affiliation with the NPP; in some cases, such persons were so frustrated in their jobs that they decided to call it quits! Nobody cared how they fared, cared for their families, attended to their health. It has taken eight long years for people to appreciate the battle is the Lord's. One may understand the ecstasy of the affected persons: bedecking their private cars with NPP flags and pennants. At the Ohene Djan or Accra Stadium on Sunday, 18th December, 'old' folks were gyrating and getting immersed in glossolalia or xenoglossy the gibberish 'ha-ha-ha' sound, simply a labyrinthine amalgam of languages which towered over Babel. Championing it were: Cindy Thompson, Lucky Mensah, Praye Tenten, Praye Tiatia and Agya Koo. The teeming youth who voted for 'change' deserve not just a pat on the back, but jobs for effectively aligning themselves with the NPP, and assisting in its success. They have all seen how their classmates became Ministers and Deputy Ministers overnight by aligning themselves to the NDC, got 'bloody' loaded and turned into 'babies with sharp teeth', giving instructions to their lecturers because they had become Deputy Ministers of Education. It was loudly proclaimed that the NDC was the party for the youth; the NPP was for the old fuddy-daddies. Rewards?- It is tempting for people to turn their attention to 'confiscated' vehicles. These vehicles are not flotsam and jetsam. They are property of distraught Ghanaians who had struggled in the cold weather overseas. When the vehicles arrive, some are caught by the 60-day rule for clearance as per section 59 of the Customs Act. 2015 (Act 891) and get 'forfeited' to the State. The part blatantly ignored is sub-section (3) which states: The price at which a forfeited motor vehicle is disposed of whether by auction or sale, allocation or any other method shall include the duty and taxes eligible ( sic) on the motor vehicle. The word ought to be 'exigible', oughtn't it? So, persons cast in the mould of Carl Somebody would put their own prices and sell or dash these vehicles to party faithful: a Toyota Corolla for GH 3000; Toyota Prado for GH 6000some would find their way into their garages for sale at market prices. The law on these confiscated vehicles requires an amendment, and any amendment should tilt in favour of the importer of the vehicle who had bought it from overseas, paid the freight, and got it shipped down. Liberal terms should be worked out for such an importer. It is not only unconscionable but downright illegal to have people combing the Car Park at Tema 'searching' for vehicles which have hit the 60- day ceiling, and carting them away immediately without getting these confiscated vehicles gazetted. Some people do not even know or care that previously, importers were given 120 days to clear their vehicles: it was the need to decongest the port that led to the reduction of the period. Until 7th January, 2017, His Excellency, potentate, Negus Negusti, Vivacious John Dramani Mahama remains the President of Ghana. So, ministries, including Hassan Ayariga's can sign fresh contracts, recruit new persons into the security services and public service, give appointments to the head of CHRAJ and NCCE? Any critic to these episodes, is referred to the law. In William Shakespeare's 'Henry VI,' Dick the Butcher advises Jack Cade, the king: The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers . John Gay in ' The Beggars' Opera' writes, A fox may steal your hens, sir, A whore your health and pence, sir , your wife may steal your Rest, sir, A thief your goods and plate,if lawyer's Hand is fee'd, sir he steals your whole Estate. Where is morality; where is ethics? Presidential morality; Presidential ethics. Sad, so sad. Africanus Owusu-Ansah [email protected] The five-storey executive flats. INSET: The CJ and Ambassador Victor Gbeho cutting the tape to commission the facility The Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, says that 74 superior court judges currently do not have official accommodation. She stated that out of the total of 143 superior court judges, only 69 have official accommodation. The CJ explained that the introduction of judicial reforms and the need to implement various interventions aimed at improving justice delivery, among others, have necessitated the appointment of more judges and magistrates. Speaking at the commissioning of two newly constructed five-storey block executive flats for high court judges in Accra yesterday, Mrs. Wood noted that the engagement of more judges by the Judicial Service has invariably resulted in the increase in the number of judges who require accommodation from the State. To address this challenge, the CJ stated that the Service in 2010 embarked on a project to convert some of the old bungalows into modern residential facilities for the judges. As part of this project, six two-storey bungalows were to be constructed at East Ridge, Accra, four two-storey bungalows in Kumasi and 10 executive flats for High Court judges at Roman Ridge, she disclosed. According to Mrs. Wood, at the end of September 2013, three out of six unit 4-bedroom residential accommodation was completed at East Ridge and were being occupied by three Court of Appeal Judges. The second phase, involving the construction of three two-storey bungalows, is in progress and expected to be completed in 2017. However, the construction of four two-bedroom bungalows at Danyame, Kumasi for Court of Appeal Judges has come to a standstill due to funding challenges. Alex B. Opoku Acheampong, Judicial Secretary, said the facility was a great gift from God to the Service generally and in particular to the 10 high court judges who would be occupying it. He was optimistic similar projects in Kumasi would soon be inaugurated. Kofi Arhin, the Project Consultant, urged the occupants to maintain the facility well. The contract for the building was awarded to Messrs Antartic and Mawums Construction by the Ministry of Water Resources Works and Housing in December 2010. In 2013, the work came to a standstill due to funding challenges that affected the government until 2016 when the Ministry of Finance authorized the Service to complete the project with its Internally Generated Fund (IGF). The project christened, 'Liberty Court' comprises two five-storey executive flats consisting three bedrooms, living dining area, study, a laundry room with a two-bedroom out house with standard furnishing for each of the 10 flats, a spacious car park, a standby generator, among others. By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson [email protected] Two unidentified armed robbers have been set ablaze by some residents at Tinga, near Bole in the Bole District of the Northern Region. Residents and the armed robbers exchanged fire in the community resulting in the deaths of the two armed robbers. The suspected armed robbers fired shots indiscriminately which unfortunately hit a pregnant woman who was rushed to the hospital for treatment. The Tinga community has recorded many robberies this year, and residents are calling on the police to beef up security in the area. District Police Commander ASP David Azumah, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, said the police received information about the robbery and quickly moved to the scene. According to him, two of the armed robbers were shot dead in the process but two others managed to escape from the scene. He indicated that some residents set ablaze the two armed robbers, saying because of the large number of the residents, the police could not control them so they set them ablaze. The armed robbers could not be identified immediately because their bodies were burnt beyond recognition. ASP David Azumah disclosed that the police retrieved one AK47 riffle and ammunition from the crime scene. The police in the district have intensified patrol in Tinga and its surroundings. From Eric Kombat, Tinga The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a contribution of 3 million (approximately US$3.7 million) from the Government of the United Kingdom to respond to the critical needs of more than 164,000 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan. WFP will use the funds to purchase sorghum, a South Sudanese staple, that will be included in the food assistance it provides to South Sudanese refugees in the border states of White Nile; North, South and West Kordofan; East, North and South Darfur. WFP is buying the sorghum locally to support farmers and agricultural production. The UK Government remains concerned about the South Sudanese refugee crisis and the vulnerable women and children who are affected by food insecurity and displacement, said Christopher Pycroft, Head of the UK Department for Development (DFID) in Sudan. We are committed to responding and assisting refugees in Sudan. To date, the UK Government has contributed nearly 16 million to the refugee response. We will continue to monitor the ongoing crisis and provide support as needed. The UK has been a major donor to WFP in Sudan for years, contributing a total of 65.7 million (around US$81 million) in the past five years, enabling WFP to assist vulnerable groups and people who are food insecure across the country. In addition, the UK is a leading contributor to WFP Sudans continuing use of innovative and sustainable solutions to end hunger. Since 2013, DFID has contributed over 52 million to the WFP cash and voucher programme in Sudan. Launched in 2009 in eastern and central Sudan, this programme has expanded to the Darfur region where it currently supports more than half a million displaced people who exchange the vouchers for their choice of food items at 180 local shops. Thanks to DFIDs support, WFP has also successfully introduced electronic voucher technology in Darfur, supporting more than 30,000 displaced people living in Otash Camp in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. We are grateful to the UK for supporting our operations in Sudan, thus enabling us to tailor our response to the needs of the people we assist, said WFP Sudan Representative and Country Director Matthew Hollingworth. This particular contribution will help ensure that the South Sudanese refugees who have come to Sudan will not go hungry. Sudan is one of WFPs most complex emergencies, with recurring conflict, new and protracted displacement and crisis levels of malnutrition and food insecurity. During 2016, WFP planned to assist 4.6 million vulnerable people in Sudan through a mix of activities, including emergency food and cash-based transfers, nutritional support and resilience-building activities to help communities become self-reliant. President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to begin his Thank you tour Thursday in the Northern Region, two weeks after his victory in the presidential poll. He would meet members of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs to interact and thank them for the support showed him during the election. He would also interact with the residents as well as the rank and file of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Region. The President-elect would begin his tour at Nayiri from where he would head to Bolgatanga. Nana Akufo-Addo's visit comes days after he defeated incumbent President John Mahama in the presidential election. He polled 53.86 percent of the valid vote cast while the President had 44.40 percent. Since his election, he has addressed members of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, Volta Regional House of Chiefs as well as the Asantehene Otumfuor Osei Tutu II. He has reiterated his commitment to fulfill every promise he made to Ghanaians on his campaign. The implementation of the free Senior High School education, one factory-one-district, and one village, one dam would all be implemented, he has said. With two weeks to his official inauguration as the leader of the country, Nana Akufo-Addo is embarking on the tour to thank Ghanaians for the honour done him. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | AKABP Fishermen plan to show black flags to PM Modi, when he comes to Mumbai on Saturday to take part in the Samudra Poojan event, as part of the stone-laying ceremony for the Memorial. By Mayuresh Ganapatye, Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Fishermen in Mumbai are threatening to show black flags to PM Modi to protest against the laying of the foundation stone ceremony of Shivaji Maharaja Memorial along the coastline on December 24. 1. Prime Minister Modi will be coming to Mumbai to take part in the Samudra Poojan along the coastline, where a 400-feet statue of Shivaji Maharaja will come up. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will also be present on the occasion. advertisement 2. Spread over 15 hectares the project will cost more than 3600 crore rupees. The Shivaji statue in the Arabian sea will be the tallest in the world, bigger than even the Statue of Liberty. 3. The fishermen association is opposed to the setting up of the statue at this site as it feels doing so will lead to pollution and hamper their business. 4. "We are not against Shivaji's statue or memorial, but yes we are against the area which the government has identified for the same. That 42-acre area near the Arabian sea is a prime location where we get quality fishes. If construction starts there, it will affect our business. Where should we go then", said Damodar Tandel , president of the fishermen association. The site along the coast chosen for the Shivaji statue. 5. Work on the memorial will be done in two phases. The memorial will have museum, exhibition gallery, amphitheatre, helipad and hospital. The memorial will showcase replicas of Shivaji forts. 6. The Maharashtra government has been holding talks with fishermen regarding this project since last year. But nothing has worked out so far. This project first came on paper during the 7. Congress-NCP regime, but now the BJP government is going to start work on it. "Why this place was selected for this statue? There are a lot of big, open spaces in and around Mumbai. If government is adamant on its stance, we will protest against the PM's visit on 24th. Our 4,000 to 5,000 fishing vessels will show him black flags during the ceremony", Tandel said. 8. Although it is a state government function, the BJP is taking full opportunity to trumpet this as its achievement ahead of BMC polls in 2017. 9. Meanwhile, the BJP plans to make the event a grand show. The BJP has included this project in its poll manifesto is leaving no stone unturned to make it a grand affair. 10. BJP workers have collected water from various rivers in the state and soil from forts of Shivaji Maharaj for the foundation-stone laying ceremony. advertisement 11. A float carrying the water and soil will move around in Mumbai on Friday and the water and soil will be handed over to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis at a grand ceremnony at the Gateway of India. 12. On the day of the Bhoomi poojan, places like the Bandra-worli Sealink, Girgaum Chowpatty, and Worli will witness attractive programs on the streets depicting the culture of Maharashtra. 13. "Descendants of Shivaji Maharaj Udayan Raje and Sambhaji Raje will accompany PM Modi. We have chosen 5 spots on the route of PM from Girgaum Chowpatty to BKC, where we will showcase the great culture of the state. We plan to make the city "Shiv-may" (full of Shivaji era)," said PWD Minister Chandrakant Dada Patil. 14. Meanwhile, the Opposition has called the project politically motivated. "The project was the idea of Congress and NCP Govt in the first place. The BJP govt had similarly performed the bhoomi poojan of Ambedkar memorial at the Indu Mill in a haste, but the project is yet to see the light of day. This is being done with a political motive ahead of the BMC polls", said NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik. advertisement Also read | Maharashtra government allegedly planning to spend 18 crore on Shivaji memorial bhoomipujan --- ENDS --- Members of the Minority side in Parliament have served notice they may boycott the last minute approval of certain agreements which they say government is illegally pushing through. According to the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the sheer disregard of the house in relation to handover notes in the ongoing transition process as a guide to business in the house and the tabling of new loans are unfortunate. Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensa-Bonsu More than a month and two weeks after the statutory period in which the Administrator General was required to submit copies to Parliament. As I speak to you now, even as of yet, handover notes have not been submitted to Parliament. Parliament has not been presented with handing over notes from the Administrator General covering the activities of the presidency, neither has Parliament been given any report relating to the projections of developments that government envisages. Parliament cannot say that it is on its own and decide on which business to transact including the approval of new loans. In the absence of such accurate hand over notes and reports to Parliament, one would expect that in the spirit of consensus building, the current administration would clear any undertakings especially new engagements with the presidential transition team. The President John Dramani Mahama administration has elected not to avail itself of this vehicle. In the circumstance, we the NPP minority caucus wants to register our deepest disgust at unilateral decisions being taken to have Parliament approve of loans, suppliers credit agreements and project implementation agreements. The latter of which process is unknown to the rules of procedure, that is our standing orders in this Parliament, he said. The Majority caucus yesterday [Wednesday] accused the Minority of stalling the consideration of the remaining amendments left to be worked on before passage of the longstanding Right to Information (RTI) bill. According to the majority, many MPs on the minority side, since Tuesday, have been leaving the chamber in droves when the matter of the RTI bill comes up, denying the house the needed quorum to transact business matter. But speaking to Citi News today [Thursday], the Deputy Minority Leader, Dominic Nitiwul, reiterated his soon-to-be majority caucus' commitment to passing the RTI Bill. Meanwhile, Parliament has begun the consideration of emoluments for some Article 71 office holders. In a closed sitting which lasted for about 40 minutes yesterday, Members of Parliament deliberated on the report of the Presidential Committee on Emoluments for Article 71 office holders. It is unclear if approval was given to the recommendations of the report at yesterday's closed sitting. By: Marian Ansah & Duke Opoku Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @EfeAnsah The referencing of last minute moves by the erstwhile Kufuor administration to justify the outgoing National Democratic Congress governments recent last minute deals hold no substance, former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, has said. I disagreed with what President Kufuor did but the then President-elect and his Vice-President-elect decided to let it pass without testing their constitutionality or legality. Their decision cannot bind the incoming Government so massively voted for by We The People, Mr. Amidu has stated in an article on the matter. Some government functionaries have pointed to former President John Kufuors okaying of the Single Spine Salary Scheme with just a day to leave office in 2008, as justification for the government has taken following in the weeks leading up to the handover of power on January 7, 2017. Nonetheless, Mr. Amidu has argued that former President Kufuors interpretation of the law then was not binding on subsequent governments. I have heard some arguments justifying the midnight appointments, contracts and recruitments on the basis that former President J. A. Kufuor exercised executive powers to the last day of 6th January 2009 as precedent for what the Looter Government is now engaged in doing. Another difference which is being overlooked is that President Kufuor was exhausting his eight year mandate and his interpretation of the Constitution and the laws of Ghana cannot be binding on an incoming Government that has routed the incumbent Government soundly at the polls. Martin Amidu Mr. Amidu also indicated that the NDC could have challenged Presidents Kufuors last-minute decisions, like Lawyer Philip Addison has done with his recent lawsuit , but opted not to. The NDC Government when it assumed office on 7th January 2009 decided not to challenge the midnight decisions of President Kufuor thus giving them legitimacy. It cannot pass for a precedent. The incoming Government has through its transition team given notice of its intention to contest the midnight decisions of the Looter Government and I think the overwhelming votes it received at the polls justifies its stand. I have also read on 20th December, 2016 that, unlike the Mills/Mahama Government, Philip Addison, a lawyer, has commenced an action to challenge some of the present midnight decisions of this looter Government, the former AG noted. Find Mr. Amidus full article here By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has urged the incoming new Patriotic Party (NPP) government to take adequate measures to address the conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and peasant farmers across the country. The farmers in a congratulatory message to President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo said the incoming government must consult various stakeholders to formulate policies that will regulate the activities of the nomadic herdsmen. The conflict between Fulani Herdsmen and peasant farmers across many parts of the country in the past has led to loss of lives, property, farms and pollution of water bodies. We call on your government to consult widely and formulate policies that will regulate the activities of nomadic herdsmen to ensure there is peaceful co-existence between crop farmers and livestock farmers specifically the Fulani herdsmen. The farmers added that the NPP's victory came at a time when the country required a serious political commitment to agriculture to salvage its declining growth. The local agriculture sector is experiencing a decline in growth partly due to inadequate investment in the sector, changes in weather as result of climate change and corresponding low incomes for producers. It is the hope of PFAG that you will address these challenges and bring agriculture to the next level and beyond as envisioned in your 2016 Manifesto. They said Akufo-Addo's one village one dam policy especially in Northern Ghana and his quest to establish factories in every district in the country are based on available raw materials were laudable. They added that we are constrained to remind you that the declining number of agricultural extension officers in the country is worrying as it is affecting farmers' access to, and use of, technology in support of agricultural modernization. The promise in your manifesto to work to achieve the UN-recommended ratio of one extension officer to 500 farmers, with emphasis on recruiting female extension officers is particularly exciting news for us as it will go a long way to increase technology dissemination and uptake. By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @jnyabor 22.12.2016 LISTEN By Pascal Kafu Abotsi ([email protected]) Appointees in the new government under President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, whose aim will be directed at lining their pockets through the engagement of the private sector in competition over contracts, may have to look elsewhere. This is because, the private sector would play a pivotal role in the fulfilment of the campaign promises of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), ahead of the last elections, like the One District, One factory policy for instance, for which reason the private sector would have to be pampered by the government. According to him, his appointees would not be seen as competitors, but rather, supporters of the private sector to ensure its growth. Those who seek to be in my government to make money are going to be disappointed. They will make money in the private sector, not in the public sector, he stated. Nana Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when he introduced Mr Alan Kyerematen as the incoming Minister for Trade and Industry at the Post-Annual General Meeting Private Sector Forum of the Private Enterprises Federation (PEF) in Accra yesterday, He admitted to the difficulties the industrial sector faced, and mentioned how his administration would address some of the key issues, since the private sector would be a major source of jobs, especially, for the youth, in an Akufo-Addo administration. Nana Addo set off the solution with the financing of businesses, where he emphasised that his government would re-focus the National Investment Bank (NIB) to provide finance for the industrial sector. We shall establish an Industrial Development Fund (IDF) to finance critical private sector industrial initiativesn and realign the focus of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) to attract financing and investments into selected strategic industries, he added. The incoming administration will, therefore, strive to eliminate the current system of political patronage that distorts our economy, he stated, as he gave the assurance of restructuring the existing state-sponsored microfinance schemes, such as the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), to provide credit for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), and also strengthening oversight responsibilities over privately-financed micro finance institutions. Nana Akufo-Addo also touched on the provision of energy for industry. According to him, Probably, the most acute challenge that industries and businesses have faced in the past five years has been power related. The power supply has been inadequate, unreliable, and expensive for industries and businesses. He thus promised to resolve the power problems, which collapsed most businesses, to ensure that businesses spent their energies on more productive and innovative issues. As far as raw materials are concerned, the President-elect mentioned that his administration would provide specific incentives for the production and supply of quality, locally-produced non-agricultural raw materials for industry at competitive prices. We shall provide a comprehensive programme of support for the cultivation of selected agricultural products as raw materials for agro-processing, including tomato, cassava, cocoa, soya beans, maize, oil palm, cashew, cotton, sheanut, selected fruits, groundnuts and rice, he added. For the empowerment of local businesses, the man, who won this years election by more than one million votes, said he believed in empowering the local private sector, and would pass legislation which would require that, at least, 70% of all Government of Ghana, taxpayer-financed contracts and procurements be executed by local corporate entities. In addition, we will introduce a policy requiring that 30% of the required 70% be sourced from entities owned by women, persons with disability, and those established under the Youth Enterprise Fund, he stated. As part of its measures to harmonise industrial relations, it was the hope of Nana Akufo-Addo that his government would work with stakeholders, including employers and trade unions, in an open and fair manner on employee welfare, as well as ensuring living wages for all workers. He emphasised: We intend to develop, in collaboration with employers, trade unions, educational institutions and other state bodies, such as SSNIT, a database of the labour market, with the view to establishing a National Recruitment Agency to serve as the primary source for channelling job openings to Ghanaians. We will also work with employers and trade unions to formulate a policy of comprehensive occupational health and safety standards. 22.12.2016 LISTEN From Ernest Best Anane A District Police Headquarters has been commissioned at Juaben in the Ejisu Juaben Municipality of the Ashanti Region. The facility would serve as office and residential accommodation for police personnel at the local level. COP Kofi Boakye, Ashanti Regional Police Commander, who commissioned the facility, assured Ghanaians, especially residents in the Ashanti Region, of the readiness of the police personnel to remain neutral, fair and firm in the discharge of their duties, as provided by law, irrespective of the government in power. According to him, no region in the country was more peaceful than Ashanti Region, before, during and after this years elections, and cautioned that any individual or group of people who would cause political violence would be arrested and prosecuted, in accordance with the law. Nana Otuo Serebour II, Juabenhene, on his part, commended the Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Assembly for its support to nananom in making their dreams come to reality. He also entreated residents to always assist the police with accurate information, to enable them deliver in protecting lives and properties, and ensuring peace and order, to ensure a conducive and peaceful atmosphere for them to go about their businesses without fear of their lives. Meanwhile, two other police stations have been commissioned at Buabai and Pakoso in the Asokore Mampong Municipality. The police stations were built by Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase constituency, through his share of the MPs Common Fund. According to him, the gesture is to help the police beef up security to protect lives and properties in his constituency, and also to ensure that the area is peaceful for the electorate to live without fear. ACP Osei Kwaku Ampofo Duku, Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, who represented the Regional Commander, COP Kofi Boakye, commended the MP and the Municipal Assembly for the efforts in maintaining peace and order in the constituency, stressing that security is a shared responsibility, since the government alone cannot do it. He said there is the need for individuals and corporate bodies to contribute their quota to ensure peace and security in their various localities. Meanwhile, the MP has donated four motorbikes to the newly-established police stations, while Nana Boakye Ansah Debrah, Asokore Mamponghene, also donated two motorbikes to the Asokore Mampong Police Station to help beef up security in the municipality. 22.12.2016 LISTEN The National Trust Holding Company (NTHC) is to institute measures to position the company to take advantage of existing opportunities and to overcome challenges to enhance growth. These measures would include the redefining of NTHC processes, enhancing systems and developing people to meet the expectations of customers and the threats of competitors. Mr Francis Apanka, the Acting Managing Director of NTHC, speaking at the 40th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service, said the industry was experiencing turbulent times, especially with the rising cost of living, which was affecting disposable income and investment. This, he said, was without a doubt adversely affecting every business and it was important as the company progressed into the future to refocus on a number of things to reposition the company's business. Mr Apanka said, to stay ahead of the competition, there was the need to engage extensively in the processes geared toward repositioning the Company. Pertinent processes to be embarked on include increasing customer reach and service, both geographical and virtual, expanding product range, delivering competitive returns on investment to shareholders as well as rewarding staff performance and promoting competitiveness in the industry. Mr Apanka said the business was into offering financial services where the key raw materials remained the integrity of their platform, the confidence of their customers, and the expectations of their shareholders. Thus, he said, the only way to achieve the ambition of the 40th Anniversary was to build a sustainable business, an end product, which was the 'right mix' of these raw materials. The Acting Managing Director expressed confidence that in the bid to achieve these noble and necessary goals, NTHC will rise to the occasion, once again. The Reverend Emmanuel Barriga, Director of Church Life and Nurture at the Global Evangelical Church, admonished the workers not to be complacent and to avoid dwelling on past glory. They should also hold firm to the Company's core values, while they worked together as a team to meet organisational goals. Don't cut corners, but have strong hatred for evil and also be passionate about what you do, he urged the management and workers. The Company's 40th Anniversary, launched earlier in June, was marked on the theme: Pioneering Sustainable Investment Banking: Now and into the Future. The events were intended to appreciate customers, promote brand and products, improve physical health and give back to the community. They included a Customer Appreciation Day, Commencement of a Financial Literacy Programme, Health Walks, and provision of a mechanised borehole at the Weija Leprosarium to provide potable water to its residents. There are plans to support the construction of another leprosarium at Kokofu in the Ashanti Region. Source: GNA Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene 22.12.2016 LISTEN Otumfuo's Akwamuhene, Baffour Kwame Akowuah III and the Omanahene (paramount chief) of Manso Nkwanta Traditional Area, Nana Bi-Kusi Appiah are fighting for supremacy over Datano, a community in the Amansie West district of the Ashanti Region. Each of them is claiming Datano owes allegiance to him and have installed chiefs to represent their interest in the community. Datano happens to be under the Manso Adubia Stool and owes allegiance to the Manso Nkwanta Traditional Area. Akyamfuo Kwame Akowuah III, Otumfuo's Akwamuhene Upon the death of the chief of Datano, Nana Kwadwo Boateng III, alias Mr. Kwadwo Nimo in February 2016, Otumfuo's Akwamuhene and overlord of Manso Akwamu, who is also the chief of Asafo in Kumasi installed a chief in the person of Nana Adjei, alias Kwadwo Francis for the town last April. The Chronicle has gathered that Nana Adjei swore the oath of allegiance to the chief of Abiram in April this year. He says Nana Boateng III, who he succeeded was not a member of the royal Asona family, a claim Nana Akwasi Boateng IV disputes that the deceased chief had been Odikro of Datano for many years. The Omanhene of Manso Nkwanta Traditional Area, where Datano serves as Benkum wing also installed a chief in the person of Nana Akwasi Boateng IV, alias Nana Akwasi Buor, on December 12, 2016, with the support of Nana Pomaa II, Obaapanin of Datano. As a result a situation of insecurity has thus been created in the town, resulting in bloody clashes between followers of the two factions, resulting in the exile of the Nana Boateng whose palace had allegedly been ransacked by supporters of Nana Adjei. It is alleged that GHc85,000 and some gold ornaments were stolen during the attack on Nana Boateng's palace, which was later set ablaze. Datano happens to be part of Manso Adubia stool lands, which also serves Manso Nkwanta, hence the conviction that it is not traditional for the chief of Datano to swear an oath of allegiance to Abiramhene, who owes allegiance to the Asafohene. Nana Bi-Kusi Appiah II, Omanhene of Manso Nkwanta Traditional Area Nana Bi-Kusi Appiah indicated that reports have been lodged to the District and Regional Police Commands but no serious action had been taken in respect of complaints. He has thus petitioned the Ashanti regional Security Council (REGSEC) over the prevailing insecurity at Datano saying REGSEC's intervention to avoid the town being rendered a ghost town. He said guns are being shot indiscriminately to intimidate and harass followers of Nana Boateng without any reasonable cause. Nana Boateng has since last week gone into self-exile to save his life. The Omanhene suspects that the Police have taken sides by seeing the development as purely chieftaincy instead of moving in to protect lives hence the petition for REGSEC's intervention without any further delay to ensure that sanity , peace and respect of the law and order in the community prevails. Meanwhile, COP Kofi Boakye, Ashanti Regional Police Commander reacting to the concerns of the Omanhene, said three persons had initially been arrested and that the Command was in touch with the Manhyia Palace to ascertain the claims of the two chiefs concerned. According to the Police Commander, the Omanhene of Manso Nkwanta had earlier been cautioned and restrained from fuelling the situation by installing a rival chief while investigations were being conducted but went ahead and breached the Public Order Act 419 by installing another chief for the community, which automatically sparked off hostilities between the followers of the two sides. From Sebastian R. Freiku, Kumasi The St. Marys Old Girls Association (SMOGA), together with the administration and students of St. Marys Senior High School in Korle Gonno, Accra, have donated clothes, toiletries, detergents, drinks, food items and toys to the Childrens Block of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. The items, estimated at a cost of GH10,000, were presented on Sunday December 11, 2016 to climax the schools Feast of Immaculate Conception (St. Marys day), which fell on Thursday December 8, 2016. The Headmistress of the school, Ms. Doris Bramson, and the National President of SMOGA, Mrs. Lynda Graham, presenting the items, said the donation formed part of the school and the associations humanitarian activities, especially during this season of giving. It was their hope that every child admitted at the block would benefit from the items. Mrs Amanda Adu- Amankwah, a Principal Nursing Officer and National Vice President of SMOGA, and Ms. Samantha Nartey, a Senior Nursing Officer, received the items on behalf of the management of the Korle-Bu Childrens Block, with appreciation to the school and the old girls association for their timely and kind gesture. 22.12.2016 LISTEN By Bernice Bessey One hundred and seventy police personnel of the Ghana Police Service have touched down at Juba International Airport, South Sudan, to assist the United Nations in a peacekeeping mission in the conflict-embroiled nation. The personnel, after receiving eight weeks training from US security trainers for the Formed Police Unit (FPU), would be in the war-torn country, for almost a year before they are replaced with another batch. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. John Kudalor, addressing the contingent at the Police Training School, Accra, on Tuesday, before departure, encouraged the officers to set themselves high standards and work assiduously to achieve them. He reminded them that they were not just going to be peacekeepers, but also ambassadors of the Ghana Police Service by their behaviours, saying: I know you are going to excel more than others, because you have been better trained. He further advised them to constantly contact their families back home to enhance the bond between them. The Police Director of International Relations, Assistant Commissioner of Police Michael Abotsi, reiterated that the FPU personnel were trained in a collaboration with the American government for eight weeks. He added that incentives such as allowance, foreign accounts, cooks and police band added to the contingents operations to make their lives comfortable. As you leave, you must also have you family in mind, prepare them physically and psychologically. By Gideon Ahenkorah, GNA Accra, Dec. 21, GNA - Ms Dzigbordi K. Dosoo, the CEO of Allure Spa in the City, has dismissed the public perception that a Spa is a place for sex trade. Ms Dosoo explained that the spa was a place where people went for massage, hydrotherapy or reflexology, all of which contributed to the reduction of emotional, psychological and physical strains. These therapies, she said, were not intended to satisfy their sexual desires. Hydrotherapy is the use of treated water for the treatment of different conditions, including arthritis and related rheumatic complaints, while reflexology is the application of appropriate pressure to specific points and areas on the feet, hands, or ears to help cure conditions like anxiety, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular issues, diabetes, headaches, kidney function, and sinusitis. Ms Dosoo, however, observed that in some parts of Asia, the spa was seen as a place where people engaged in all sorts of sexual activities. 'But globally, the spa is seen as a place for pain relief and healing; a place where people go to experience physical treatment and emotional healing.' Ms Dosoo was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra during the 10 years anniversary launch of the organisation. Ms Dzigbordi Dosoo, who is also the CEO of Allure, therefore, urged the public to patronise spa services to make the industry viable in Ghana. She also said spa services were not as expensive as often assumed by most people and added that, 'the average Ghanaian can afford it.' 'Some people think Allure Spa is outrageously expensive. Others also think we charge dollars, which is not true'. The Allure CEO, said the spa industry deserved more attention from the Government and the public considering its enormous importance. 'Sometimes, we get calls from medical doctors asking us to assist patients to reduce stress and depression through massage and other treatments when they are diagnosed of chronic headaches and blood pressure,' she said. She revealed that the Allure Spa in the City was rolling out "highly upgraded packages', which matched international spa standards to intensify the satisfaction of its customers. Ms Dosoo said: 'The services of Allure are tailored to meet the needs all persons who wish to have the best of health'. Ms Dosoo is a renowned Wellness Grooming, Image and Lifestyle Expert, who is well rooted in the Spa Industry, in Africa and beyond. GNA South Delhi's Madanpur Khadar villagers have no supply of potable water, thanks to mismanagement by the Delhi Jal Board. DJB chief engineer told Mail Today that action will be taken if photographic evidence showing dirty water could be produced. By Varun Bidhuri: Residents of Madanpur Khadar village in South Delhi are being forced to drink contaminated water with human excreta due to the callous attitude of Delhi Jal Board and Delhi government officials. The drinking water pipeline that was laid through the main sewerage is the reason for this plight. Speaking to Mail Today, the villagers said they visited the Delhi Jal Board and other Delhi government offices several times to lodge complaints, but to no avail. All they are getting still is filthy water to drink. advertisement Also read: South Delhi to get new look: NCRPB identifies 8 roads for facelift When Mail Today visited the village, it was clear that rather than shifting pipeline of drinking water, new roads have been constructed to cover sewerage, leaving the residents with no other supply of potable water. Kuldeep Singh, one of the residents, said: "In 1983, a sewage line was placed in this area and water pipeline was laid five years back. Whenever there is a leakage in the water pipeline, it gets mixed with the sewage and human excreta. No action has been taken even after several complaints." Also read: Nightlife in South Delhi getting messier, uglier; brawls and scuffles on the rise Another villager Neeraj Singh said: "Only those families which can afford the reverse osmosis equipment and other water purifying machines can survive here. People are facing chronic diseases like kidney and liver complications". When contacted, Delhi Jal Board chief engineer (south zone) said work will be done to resolve the issue soon but on one condition - there should be photographic evidence for dirty water in the area. Watch: This gadget can produce 37 litres of clean drinking water out of thin air --- ENDS --- Dodowa (GAR), Dec. 21, GNA - Apple Homes, a subsidiary of 633 Foundation, on Tuesday, donated items valued at GHE10,000.00 to the Potters Village at Dodowa in the Shai-Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region. The items were six bags of maize, six bags of rice, assorted canned drinks, eggs, toiletries, canned food and detergents. Mrs Melissa Ennin-Anagbo, the President of the Foundation, who made the donation on behalf of her outfit, said the Foundation were touched by the plight of the inmates, hence the support. She said the Foundation had supported many orphanages over the years and had also assisted some senior high school students in the payment of their fees. Mrs Ennin-Anagbo said the foundation had also provided some communities with boreholes and would soon support women to expand their trade. She expressed the hope that the donation would go a long way to offer a relief to the inmates and also celebrate the yuletide happily. Dr (Mrs) Jane Irina Irina Adu, the President of the Potters Village, who received the donation, thanked the Apple Homes for their gesture and appealed to other benevolent organisations to go to the aid of the Home. GNA Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood has signed the Judicial Anti-Corruption Compact agreement with the International Bar Association here in Accra. This means Ghana has adopted the International Bar Association system of fighting corruption. The Chief Justice noted the move is aimed at mobilizing an army of anti-corruption crusaders in the judicial service across the globe. The bar associations, lawyers, judges, prosecutors and stakeholders in the judicial service who are signatories to the agreement are publicly pledging their commitment to fighting judicial corruption. President of the International Bar Association, David Rivkin, who signed on behalf of the IBA, maintains that unless judicial corruption is eliminated, it will be difficult to eliminate corruption in its entirety in all aspects of governance. When there is corruption in the judiciary, it involves lawyers, prosecutors, judges, he said emphasizing the need to have a particular responsibility to work on judicial integrity. It is also important to work on judicial corruption not only so that the public has a sense of the fairness of the process and the integrity of the judicial process but also because unless judicial corruption is eliminated, it is impossible to eliminate corruption in order aspects of the governance systems and structures, he said. Meanwhile, Chief Justice Georgina Wood hoped that the agreement will not be a mere ceremony but will form an integral part of the justice system. -3news From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the victorious New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has offered the sum of GH10,000 for information on the whereabouts of a Kumasi-based broadcaster, Daasebre Agyei Dwamena, who has gone missing for the past two weeks. The Kumasi-based radio presenter, who works at Ash FM, has created anxiety in the Ashanti Regional capital, following his disappearance. The last time family members and colleagues heard from Daasebre Dwamena was on Wednesday December 7 during the elections, but he has since gone missing and cannot be traced. Several calls to his mobile phones have failed to connect through, whilst both children and family members have also been unsuccessful in attempts to establish contact. Daasebre Dwamena, a strong critic of the outgoing National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration and President John Mahama, was last heard reporting from his hometown somewhere in the Bekwai Municipality, until he went incommunicado around 4pm on the day of the elections. Though management of the station has lodged an official complaint with the Central Police Command, they were advised not to make the matter public until thorough investigations were done. But with his absence growing too loud, family members decided to make enquiries from his employees, only to be told he had not been seen over the past 14 days. Though it was rumoured that he told some associates that he would go into self-imposed exile for two weeks after the elections, circumstances surrounding his disappearance, and the fact that he has not made any contact with any single individual, has raised serious questions. Rumours of kidnapping or ritual murder are also rife, but both his employers and the security agencies have sought to downplay the assertion. However, in order to speed up investigations, the Ashanti Regional Chairman, on Tuesday, made a cash donation of GH10,000 to the management of Ash FM as a reward for information leading to his whereabouts. Chairman Wontumi told The Chronicle in an interview that he was worried about the development, and so are most residents and ardent listeners of the station. He, therefore, charged the police to intensify investigations 22.12.2016 LISTEN From John Bediako, Nsawam In a bid to produce quality graduates for the socio-economic development of the country, an appeal has gone to missionary educational institutions to continue to integrate high moral values with human resource development. The Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major General Sampson Kudjo Adeti, made the appeal over the weekend, during the 50th Speech and Prize Giving Day of St. Martin's Senior High School at Nsawam, in the Eastern Region. Making specific reference to the Catholic Mission, Major General Adeti, an old student of the school, said that the church has zealously played its part in the provision of quality education as its portion of the social agenda. The Armed Forces Chief of Staff said that today, the competition to access Catholic schools is so keen that parents and students would go to great lengths to benefit from strict discipline and moral upbringing, which is sometimes only possible in those religious environments. According to him: It is most refreshing and fulfilling to come back home to the school, as it were, to the campus that gave substance to aspirations and hopes of colleagues and I as teenagers several decades ago. Profoundly, the Catholic Church has been able to mobilise its own resources to provide educational institutions at all levels, spanning pre-school up to university education, which has [the] additional quality of nurturing the relationship between the individual and God, he added. He went on to say that a student educated in a Catholic institution should be under no illusion with regard to his own morality, and his responsibilities to himself and society at large. He continued that graduates from Catholic schools accept their place in the community of people, who see life beyond the mere acquisition of academic degrees and so much material wealth, but rather harnessing and nurturing the potential graduate to exercise his best capabilities in the general interest of society. The Major General laid emphasis that prayerful and educated adults are huge assets to society, especially, considering the threat of superstitious beliefs and deification of material wealth that hinder the society from living by their faith. It is heart-warming to learn, therefore, that a group of Catholics in Accra have already undertaken to raise funds to build a Catholic Senior High School, for the benefit of the youth, he added. The Parliament of Ghana has come under self-inflicted pressure to sanction some key outstanding bills and agreement before it, 24 hours before it rises. Members of Parliament (MPs) are expected to pass the Right to Information (RTI) bill, and give their approval to the power purchase agreement between Karpower Ghana and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). At a sitting Thursday to consider the issues before them, MPs only sat for 15 minutes due to the absence of the requisite documentations to aid discussion. Joy News Parliamentary Correspondent, Joseph Gakpo reports that sitting was adjourned for Parliaments Finance Committee to make those documents available. The report [Karpower agreement] was not ready in the morning, he said, adding the MPs are poised to clear their tables before the seventh Parliament is ushered in on January 7. The minority in Parliament has said it would not take part in any discussion in the House if its members are not served with the handing-over notes from the outgoing National Democratic Congress (NDC). Minority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said they have no reservations against the RTI bill and other businesses but want the Presidential Transition Act to be respected. At a news conference in Accra, Thursday, he said, "Nobody is saying that government machinery should not run." The Act, he said directs the outgoing government to provide a hand-over note which has to contain projections and activities that are key to the incoming government. "The issue we raised was that give us the projections and we know whatever we do," he said, adding the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho has no authority to push through any bill without the necessary legal backing. MP for Keta Constituency in the Volta Region, Richard Quarshiga said the failure of the legislature to pass the RTI bill would be fatal for the country. "If indeed we have to really go through the whole process, then it would mean we have to stay throughout the night," he said adding it would be a herculean task to do. The bill, the former NDC Propaganda Secretary said it is crucial for it to be ignored. "We are all very anxious to see it passed." Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | [email protected] President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says he wants to be remembered as a leader who created widespread prosperity in Ghana. He said his government would reverse challenges in the Ghanaian economy which have made it difficult for businesses to thrive and jobs to be created. We will make sure we succeed and bring about the progress and prosperity of the Ghanaian people, he told residents of the Northern Region during the start of his Thank you tour. More soon Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | [email protected] "...To repeat, in nearly 6 years of oil production at the Jubilee Oil Fields under Mahama and his NDC party, Ghana received just $3.3 billion out of nearly $17 billion dollars in oil revenues...representing just 19.76% of total oil revenue...Mr. Mahama called their predatory and plundering scheme the "Ghana Hybrid System", now...consolidated into a law they enacted about 3 months ago they call Act 919...It is all a Ghana version of a 419-Royalty-Scheme to rob Ghanaians of their sovereign oil and gas wealth...The important question now is, what is Akufo-Addo going to do about Ghana's oil contracts to ensure Ghana gets better than 50% of all oil revenues produced in Ghana? Ghana, it is your chance now: Ask Akufo-Addo what he is going to do...", (Prof Lungu, 14 Dec 16). Dear reader, as at 30th September, 2016, just 2 month before the 2016 elections, Ghana had earned a meager US$3.320 billion, representing just 19.76% of total oil revenue of US$16,803,359,555. This is even far below the 42% "minimum government take" recommended by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). 42% is the least expected to accrue to the host country from total production revenue for allowing sovereign oil and gas resources to be exploited in partnership with private oil corporations in any country. In fact, receipt by countries of better than 50% of total oil revenues is actually the norm in other African countries, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. They will be remembered as cartoon characters, thieves, and hucksters! It surely was a scandal to discerning Ghanaians and Ghana supporters when Mr. John Mahama, with the support of his NDC party, allowed the oil companies to trample upon the world standard Production Sharing Agreement and failed to collect Fair Trade Oil revenue for sovereign Ghana. They permitted the foreign oil companies to collect more than $6 billion in extra cash, in addition to their Fair Share oil company profits. To repeat, in nearly 6 years of oil production at the Jubilee Oil Fields under Mahama and his NDC party, Ghana received just $3.3 billion out of nearly $17 billion dollars in oil revenues. The NDC called their predatory and plundering scheme the "Ghana Hybrid System", now transformed and consolidated into a law they enacted about 3 months ago they call Act 919. It was a Trojan Horse of epic proportions, and still is, until Akufo-Addo and his NPP stop all that theft of Ghana oil money. In the Mahama-NDC-bait and switch, the United Kingdom and American private interests used just $29 million to secure that extra $6 billion from Ghana while Ghanaians were hoodwinked on 'Oil Revenue Management'...It was an epic swindle, a sad and mischievous contract on Ghana, when Ghana ought to have received more than $9 billion. The problem for Akufo-Addo is, a concession scheme, or any oil contract scheme other than Fair-Trade Oil Share PSA contract for Ghana's oil and gas that secure less that 50% of revenues will in fact be a betrayal and a sell-out of Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana, one more painful time. And Akufo-Addo must inform Mr. Kobina Takir "Hybrid" Hammond that he is not going to ride the GOGIG Revenue Management Trojan horse with "Hybrid" Hammond or anyone, nor will he play the Mahama-NDC plunder games while the people of Ghana suffer for lack of income and development. Ghanaians live in the midst of plenty but have now become a beggar Nation with a Mount Afadjato-sized bowl in hand. Mahama and his NDC's Act 919, with its Ghana Hybrid System foundation, is a conspiracy hatched against the masses of Ghanaians for the benefit of the oil companies, some Ghanaian elite technocrats and politicians like John Mahama, Benjamin Daguda, Kobina Takir "Hybrid" Hammond, etc., and the countries where they send the plundered funds. It is all a Ghana version of a 419 Royalty scheme to rob Ghanaians of their sovereign oil and gas wealth in the name of investment, that, like gold, diamonds and other minerals, will never materialize until Ghanaians receive a Fair Share of their own oil revenues that is better than 50%, to begin with. The important question now is, what is Akufo-Addo going to do about Ghana's oil contracts to ensure Ghana gets better than 50% of all oil revenues produced in Ghana? Ghana, it is your chance now: Ask Akufo-Addo what he is going to do. Mr. Nana Akufo-Addo Dankwa, what are you going to do about the Ghana oil contracts to ensure Ghana gets better than 50% of its own oil income in Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana? SUBJ: Fallen John Mahama -- How the NDC Plundered $6B in Ghana Oil Cash. Support Fair-Trade Oil Share Ghana (FTOS-Gh/PSA) Campaign/Petition: https://www.change.org/p/ghana-fair-trade-oil-share-psa-campaign-ftos-gh-psa/ Brought to you courtesy www.GhanaHero.com16 Dec 16. (Powered by: www.GhanaHero.Com). 22.12.2016 LISTEN By Iddi Yire, GNA Accra, Dec. 22, GNA - A total of 89 students graduated from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) at a joint ceremony in Accra on Wednesday. The students comprised 27 in Master of Arts in Gender, 31 in Peace and Security (MGPS), 31 Master of Arts in Conflict, Peace and Security (MCPS) and 31 in Executive Master of Arts in Conflict, Peace and Security (EMCPS) graduates. They are from 11 countries namely Ghana, Nigeria, Japan, Switzerland, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, South Sudan, Togo, Sierra Leone and Niger. Ms Joyce Bawa Mogtari, Deputy Minister of Transport, Irene Naa Toshie Addo, Member of Parliament (MP), Tema West Constituency, and Yaw Frimpong Addo, MP, Manso Adubia Constituency attended the ceremony. Others are Mrs Dzifa Attivor, a former Minister of Transport, Basil Theodore Anuka, a former MP, Builsa North Constituency, and Boris Maelezo Alaba MP from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Air Vice Marshal Griffith S. Evans, the Commandant of KAIPTC, said the Institute was elated by the successful completion of the courses by the graduates. 'Your interests and discourses must linger on into all facets of National life, as each aspect affects the peace and security of our great nation. 'Our expectations as a Centre is that you will be active role takers in the development of the nation and readily offer your professional perspectives to support nation building processes in the same measure you will be pursuing your desires for a better life,' he stated. Air Vice Marshal Evans said that the KAIPTC had demonstrated its commitment to offering academic programmes and courses aimed at building the needed human capacity in the field of Governance, Conflict Prevention Management and Post Conflict Reconstruction. 'We are resolute about investing in the future of Peace, Human Security, Stability and Development. "And I am proud to say that the Centre is progressively achieving its vision in this regard,' he added. Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, the Minister of Defence and Chairman of the KAIPTC Governing Board said, the Centre, through the academic courses, was equipping students with the academic foundation, analytical tools, practical skills toward conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping, peace-building and reconstruction within broadly inclusive and participatory environments. He said the Centre was contributing to the filling of the critical gaps much needed for a long-term comprehensive resolution to conflicts and by so doing promoting the progression of the continental and global developmental agenda. It was also directly contributing to a safer, harmonious and sustainable environment for the current and prospective generations. 'As a nation, we must recognise the immeasurable value of the KAIPTC and celebrate it as such,' he said. "I would like to commend the internal and external stakeholders and partners who have contributed to the success of the running of the post graduate programmes at the centre," he said. Dr Kunbuor encouraged the graduating students to stay engaged with the institution and maintain a strong alumni network. 'Remember that you have invested one year of your time and resources to go through the programme and you are individually aware of the financial, social and opportunity costs that have come with pursuing your various programmes," he said. "My fervent hope is that this investment will not only be intellectually or financially profitable for you alone, but to the nation as a whole," he said. 'I also urge you to use the knowledge, skills and experiences gained during this programme to contribute to the management of the plethora of security challenges we face as a continent', he added. Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful, the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, who spoke on the impact of social media on security and said the pressure and challenges of increasing social media usage presented a lot of opportunities but fears too, just like a double-edged sword and that the security agencies should encourage the responsible usage, whiles appreciating its immense utility in rapid information dissemination. 'I urge current and future students of KAIPTC to explore the security implications of social media usage and our electoral affairs, especially the role it may have played in the surprising result of the just-ended general election as it would be educative and instructive," she said. She called on policy makers to be introduced to the security challenges, which confronted the nation. The Annual Review of the Peace Support Operations book was launched at the event. GNA 14-year-old Ebbah Wyse is believed to be one of the best mathematicians in Nigeria. Ebbah, who recently won the gold medal in the junior category at the Mathematics Olympiad held in South Africa, has garnered quite a bit of attention from many. 14-year-old regarded as one of the best Mathematicians in Africa His school mate, Chidera Anakua, also took home the Bronze prize at the same competition. Uche Ogbu, one of the organisers of the event said of the duo, we are proud to announce them to the world as, mathematics champions of Africa. Greensprings School has been the natural habitat of a pantheon of very brilliant and excellent students over the years; our students have once again made Nigeria proud. The yearly Mathematics competition is organised by the South African Mathematics Foundation. READ ALSO: Amanda Francis gives birth a day after realising she was pregnant Watch the video below and know all about the top ten greatest mathematicians the world has ever seen. Source: Legit.ng Two new videos have surfaced on the internet showing the Jihadi father, brainwashing his daughters. Little girls were seen wearing black hijabs before they were sent on the death mission. By India Today Web Desk: Bombings, bloodshed, and children who do not know fear, this is what Syria has become now. Many say the country is a death toll altogether. On December 16, a young seven-year-old girl blew herself up in Damascus, Syria. According to the State news agency, SANA and Damascus police source, an explosion took place inside a police station in Al-Midan. advertisement According to a Reuters report, a young girl entered the police station and shortly after asking to use to the toilet, blew herself up inside the police station. However, a video was shot before the suicide bombing took place. The seven-year-old was sent to the police station by her parents where she was blown up by a remote detonator. In the first video, the father of the seven-year-old was seen talking to both his daughters, the other one being nine-year-old. The daughters were seen wearing black hijabs with a black and white flag behind them. The footage shows how the father is brainwashing his little daughters. Take a look at the first video down below: #EXPOSED! #JFS jihadist teaches his daughters how to blow themselves in sake of god, the same baby who blew herself days ago in #Damascus pic.twitter.com/YAYDEjNcKT Majd Fahd (@Syria_Protector) December 21, 2016 However, there was another video which surfaced on the internet where the little girls were seen in completely normal attire, wearing beanie hats and colored clothes. The girls were seen bidding a final goodbye to their mother before they were sent on the death mission. According to a report by The Sun, The Jihadi parents brainwashed the little girls in the name of Jihad to blow themselves up. #Nusra fighter & his wife sent their 7y old & 9y old daughters to blow themselves up in Damascus , 7y old already did last week in Al-Midan pic.twitter.com/rmYYYerTFw Ibrahim Joudeh (@Ibra_Joudeh) December 21, 2016 A man behind the camera asked the mother why she is sending her children into jihad so young. "No one is young when it comes to jihad as every Muslim is supposed to participate in jihad," she replied. Both the girls are seen saying 'Allahu Akbar' in the video, following the instructions given by father in the first video. Reportedly, after these videos, one of the girls blew herself up inside the Damascus police station. No Jihadist group has taken responsibility for this attack yet. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Lucknow, Dec 22 (PTI) Playing the caste card months ahead of the Assembly election, the Akhilesh Yadav government today approved inclusion of 17 Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list, despite the Allahabad High Court having earlier struck down a similar move. A major contender for power, BSP supremo Mayawati swiftly went on the offensive dubbing it as "mere drama" and an attempt to "deceive" these castes as the power to include any caste in the SC list was vested with the Centre. advertisement In an apparent bid to woo the OBCs ahead of the potentially tough electoral contest, Akhilesh Yadav chaired a meeting of the state Cabinet which cleared a proposal in this regard. The proposal will now be sent to the Centre for approval. The 17 sub-castes which the government wants included in the SC category are Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar, Godia and Machua. Mayawati termed the move as "mere drama" and a decision which was both "unfortunate and condemnable", and aimed at "deceiving" these communities. "After having neglected all the backward castes barring one in the past five years of its rule, the SP government is out to mislead them in the same way as was done by the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government," she said in a statement. "The UP Cabinets assent for inclusion of 17 OBCs in the SC list is a mere drama played out just before the Assembly elections in the state," Mayawati said, adding "it is both unfortunate and condemnable and aimed at deceiving these castes." She said the decision is against the law as as the power to include any caste in the SC list was vested with the Union government. Earlier in March 2013, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly had passed a resolution recommending the Centre to include the 17 castes of the state in the SC list. The resolution had said a detailed study by UP SC/ST Research and Training Institute found these 17 castes "deserving" to be included in the SC list. The Mulayam Singh Yadav government too had passed a Cabinet resolution in February 2004 and sent it to the Centre for clearance. Later, Mulayam went ahead and issued a government order on October 10, 2005 giving SC benefits to these castes, which was, however, struck down by the High Court. After Mulayam governments decision on this issue, these castes were "left in the lurch" for they then belonged neither to the OBC nor the SC category. advertisement Mayawati claimed that the BSP government which succeeded the Mulayam Singh Yadav dispensation brought these castes back into the OBC list and sent a proposal to the Centre for including them in the SC list only on the condition of increasing the SC quota. PTI ABN/SAB DIP SK SK --- ENDS --- Elon Musk officially acquires Twitter as deal closed, may upturn Trump Kanye West bans Elon Musk has officially taken over Twitter as its new owner and has fired top executives of the company and may return Donald Trump and Kanye West to the site. The Muslim votes may get split between Mayawati's BSP and SP-Congress alliance. Similarly, the Brahmin votes may get divided between BJP and the SP-Congress combine. By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: Ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress are learnt to be negotiating to forge an alliance for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. If the negotiations are successful, the two main rivals - BJP and BSP - have a major cause of worry. A Bihar-like Grand Alliance in UP comprising SP, BSP and Congress would have been invincible. But even without BSP, the SP-Congress combine would be a formidable force to defeat BJP and BSP. UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav claims that his party's alliance with Congress will fetch them 300 votes. Though this may be an exaggeration, a win may not be far-fetched. advertisement 1. In Bihar, ruling JD(U), Lalu Prasad's RJD and Congress came together in 2015 Assembly elections to form a grand alliance against BJP-led NDA. The formidable mahagathbandhan swept the polls because the caste and Muslim factors weighed heavily in its favour. The grand alliance got the solid backing of the Yadavs, Kurmis and Muslims. 2. The same could see a repeat in UP. While Yadavs would vote for the SP-Congress alliance, the Muslims and Brahmins would either follow suit or get divided. The Muslim votes may get split between Mayawati's BSP and SP-Congress alliance. Similarly, the Brahmin votes may get divided between BJP and the SP-Congress combine. In both the cases, the SP-Congress combine would be the gainer. 3. In Bihar, while Yadavs constitute 14 per cent the voters, Muslims are 17 per cent. Kurmis, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's castemen who comprise 4 per cent of the voters, too voted for the grand alliance. The experiment was successful. The RJD and JD(U), which fielded 101 candidates each on the total 243 constituencies, won 80 and 71 seats respectively. Congress, which fielded candidates on 41 seats, won 27. Total, they won a whopping 178 of the 243 seats. While RJD polled 18.4 per cent of the votes cast, JD(U) polled 16.8 and Congress 6.7 per cent. 4. In UP, Yadavs and Muslims form the mainstay of SP. It had come back to power in 2012 with their solid backing. While Yadavs constitute 8.7 per cent of the state's total votes, Muslims form 18 per cent. In the 2012 elections, SP registered its highest vote share of 29.15 per cent of total votes polled. It won 224 of the total 403 seats. The Congress, which fought elections under the leadership of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, won 28 seats, polling 11.63 per cent of votes. 5. On the other hand, SP's traditional rival BSP polled 25.91 per cent of the total votes cast, winning 80 seats. And BJP managed to win only 47 seats, polling only 15 per cent of total votes cast. 6. In Bihar, BJP won just 53 of the 157 seats it contested. Strike rate-wise, its performance was poorest than all the three parties of the mahagathbandhan. However, on individual level, it polled the highest percentage of votes - 24.4 per cent. In UP too, the BJP may perform the best individually but it may fail to match the combined strength of SP and Congress. 7. In Bihar, the ruling JD(U) was successful in beating the anti-incumbency mood in 2015 and retained power. The same may hold true for UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav who may ride back to power by stitching an alliance with Congress. advertisement 8. The same story could have got repeated in UP if the ruling SP, Mayawati's BSP and Congress had come together on a single platform. This unprecedented combination would most likely have proved invincible. 9. As in Bihar, BJP has not declared its chief ministerial candidate for UP. It had cost them dear then. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah were the faces of the Bihar polls. Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad encashed on the "Baahri versus Bihari" sentiment. 10. The same sentiment may get repeated in UP where BJP is banking on Modi's image after the September 29 surgical strikes against Pakistan. 11. However, it is yet certain how will PM Narendra Modi's November 8 demonetisation step will play out in UP. If long queues for cash at ATMs and in banks do not shorten, the public mood may go against BJP. 12. The Akhilesh Yadav government today gave its assent to include 17 Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list. The move is being aimed at wooing the OBCs in the 2017 Assembly elections. The 17 sub-castes which the government wants included in the SC category are Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar and Machua. advertisement 13. BJP has been successful in winning the municipal polls held in states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra after demonetisation initiative. It also performed well in the bye-elections to Assembly and Lok Sabha seats held 11 days after the demonetisation move. 14. However, as Congress believes, the people may have given a benefit of doubt to Narendra Modi who has sought time till December 30 for the cash situation to normalise. Tides may turn if the PM fails to keep his promise. Also read | Samajwadi Party, Congress on verge of forging alliance for 2017 UP polls --- ENDS --- The planned visit by President Muhammadu Buhari to Enugu for an economic and security summit alongside former president Olusegun Obasanjo has sparked heavy protest in the state. The president was billed to attend the summit alongside other top Nigerians but the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) issued a warning to the president not to visit any part of Biafraland. The continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the director of Radio Biafra has fueled the agitation for Biafra although the president has insisted that Nigeria will not break-up. READ ALSO: Buhari to declare open South East summit The group issued a statement threatening to stage a protest in the state to show their displeasure at the presidents visit. From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that Buhari is not welcome in Biafra land because his coming is tantamount to biting off our nose to spite our face. READ ALSO: Biafra Agitation: Chief Orji Uzor Kalu visits Kanu in Kuje Therefore, we warn Muhammadu Buhari to stay away from Biafra land to avoid unpleasant consequences on him and those inviting him. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, IPOB said. Youths hoisting Biafra flags took to the streets in Enugu chanting Biafra and warning that the president should not set foot in the state. See photos of the protest below: JUST IN: Massive Biafra protest hits Enugu over President Buharis visit (photos) Biafra protesters n Enugu Biafra protesters ask President Muhammadu Buhari not to step into Enugu JUST IN: Massive Biafra protest hits Enugu over President Buharis visit (photos) Source: Legit.ng - The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has claimed victory over President Muhammadu Buharis scheduled visit to Enugu state - The said they succeeded in preventing President Buhari from attending a summit in Enugu - The group also warned some ministers including, Chris Ngige, Ogbonnaya Onu and others against standing in their way towards the actualization of Biafra The IPOB has claimed it stopped Buhari from going to Enugu state The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has claimed victory over President Muhammadu Buharis scheduled visit to Enugu state. IPOB in a statement circulated on Thursday, December 22, said the group succeeded in preventing president Buhari from attending the South-East Economic and Security Summit (SEESS) in Enugu. The group also thanked all its members especially those who participated in the protest. The indigenous people of Biafra IPOB worldwide and it's leadership commend the people of Biafra over their supports towards stopping the president Muhamadu Buhari not to attend the economic summit in Enugu today been 22nd December 2016. READ ALSO: JUST IN: Massive Biafra protest hits Enugu over Buharis visit (photos/video) We thank everybody who participated in making these efforts a reality because the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other leadership have drafted 2020 men to Enugu who are ready to die with Buhari today in Enugu. IPOB has claimed it stopped President Buhari from going to Enugu state The IPOB spokesperson Powerful Emma said the global community would have had the opportunity to justify the killings and illegal arrest of its members by the Nigerian government had the president visited. Therefore, we thank Chukwu Okike Abiama because the federal government would have seen what they have not seen before because we are Biafrans not Nigeria and we know why we choose nonviolent approach towards this noble cause not out of fear, Emma said. He further warned some ministers including, Chris Ngige, Ogbonnaya Onu and others against standing in their way. READ ALSO: TENSION mounts in Enugu as IPOB moves to protest Buhari's visit This project of Biafra restoration championing by the God ordained leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not like other pro Biafra movement where politicians can make jest of, we are for mission, beware Ngige we are not illiterates and drop out as you said and we are not jobless people as you also insinuate. The Nigeria government and Buhari must release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other IPOB members in detention illegally and investigates the amnesty international reports which indicted the security agencies in Nigeria and summit the investigations for the public to see. Let us open their evils committed against the members of IPOB and Biafrans at large, IPOB said. President Buhari was scheduled to attend the SEESS in Enugu state today, December 22. However, the IPOB had issued a warning against the presidents visit. However, as at the time of this report, it is not clear whether the president would still attend the summit. Meanwhile, the IPOB expressing their grievance took to the streets of Enugu protesting President Buharis visit. Source: Legit.ng SANA, Yemen Two car bombs exploded in a city in central Yemen on Tuesday afternoon, killing more than two dozen people, including at least 15 children returning home from school, according to a witness and Yemeni officials. The city, Rada, has been a flash point for the armed conflict between Al Qaedas Yemeni affiliate and Houthi rebels, who seized control of the capital, Sana, in September. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings in Rada, but suspicion fell on Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Nasser al-Sana, a media spokesman in Rada, said the bombings appeared to target Houthis gathered at the home of a local political leader, Abdullah Idris, who has come under repeated attack from Al Qaeda for his cooperation with the rebels. In October, another car bombing at Mr. Idriss compound killed at least 15 people and destroyed several buildings. Despite security checkpoints in and around Rada, the attackers were able to detonate at least two explosives Tuesday, killing at least 10 Houthi fighters, officials said. One of the bombs also appeared to have struck a passing bus carrying schoolgirls from Al-Khansa school, Mr. Sana said. After the bombings, Houthi fighters put the city on virtual lockdown and set up roadblocks, he added. France opened the worlds first solar panel road today in the village of Tourouvre-au-Perche, population of 3,000, in Normandy, per The Verge. The one-kilometer road is made of 30,000 square feet of solar panels and generates enough electricity to power the towns street lights. A silicon-based resin covers the solar panels so that they can withstand the weight of the 2,000 vehicles that drive the road everyday. French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal is looking to add solar panels to 1,000 kilometers of French highway, but there are drawbacks to the panels. Namely, the road solar panels cost more than typical panels, with the one-kilometer road costing $5.2 million alone, and, since they lay flat, theyre less efficient than angled panels on rooftops. The price of renewable energy technologies has dropped dramatically in recent years and Colas, the energy company that built the road, is hoping that the price of the road panels will see a similar drop, especially considering that they have 100 other projects currently in progress. 2016 marked a massive seismic change in the worlds politics, like the earth was just jarringly knocked out of its usual orbit. Forget the 2016 WAS A DUMPSTER FIRE gags for a moment. Yeah, Phife Dawg died, and were all still in mourning. But historians are going to look back on 2016 with the same grave reverence as they do on 2001 or 1980 or 1939 years that completely shifted the course of the world. To put it clearly: this was a big one, historically speaking. From the rancid swamp of the past year, Id probably say theres a couple of truths we can pull out. The next decade is probably going to be dominated by harder right-wing elements. And possibly harder left-wing elements too, if they play their cards right. The soft, treacly liberal centre the world has been so accustomed to for the past few decades is dead and buried. Sozaboutit, if thats your jam. Funnily enough, Australia didnt cop that much of the heat. Yeah, we got Pauline Hanson, but weve been down that road before. Its old hat for us. So, without further ado heres the shit that went down this year in politics. THE UK NOPED OUTTA THE EUROPEAN UNION pictured: the british silent majority Absolutely one of the greatest and most consequential political shockwaves of 2016 was Brexit. Against the expectations of the media and the political establishment, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Prime Minister David Cameron had promised a referendum on leaving the EU as conditional on his election victory in 2015. Well, he won. And then he lost. Despite polling telling everyone that Brexit wouldnt happen, and the full weight of the establishment promising economic and social doom and gloom, fire and brimstone, the whole bloody works: it happened. Well, it hasnt quite happened. And no one really knows exactly how the UK will extricate itself from the myriad regulations and obligations that came with EU membership. Why dont they know? Because nobody really made any concrete plans for if Brexit actually happened. But theyll be out. Whether it was a noble reaction against elites or a racist backlash against immigration and free movement, it happened and it may well be the defining event of our time. THE U.S. ELECTED DONALD J. TRUMP AS PRESIDENT Another one everyone said would never happen. Serially bankrupt reality TV sex pest Donald Trump sailed through the Republican primaries by insulting his opponents and appealing to the basest nativist instincts of the United States of America. It wasnt even close. Then, facing the highly qualified establishment candidate Hillary Clinton, he dominated again. Despite making wildly racist claims and enduring the kind of scandals that would disqualify any candidate in any other election, he won. Now hell be President, and nothing will change that. Whether the Democrats will learn from Trumps victory by 2020 is another story altogether. They fundamentally, critically misread the howling void of hatred, fear and terror that made up middle America when they picked Clinton the person who most resembled the system as it currently exists as their candidate, and theyll sting for it. Whether Trump will end up being George Bush Mark II, or will genuinely turn the table on how politics is done in the USA leaves to be seen. Hes filling his cabinet with a motley cabal of oil executives, anti-enviro loons, racist demagogues and deeply unqualified sycophants, so whichever way he goes itll be a wild 2017. MALCOLM TURNBULL FUCKED UP THE ELECTION (ron howard voice) it wasnt Ahh, Malcolm Turnbull. The man who seized power from Tony Abbott before realising that he didnt actually know what to do with it, and didnt have a specific vision for the country beyond apps are good. After being paralysed in the Senate, Turnbull confidently called a double dissolution election, assured that he would defeat walking focus group Bill Shorten. Spoiler alert: he did, but barely. And, with every seat in Parliament up for grabs, an interesting ragtag group of neer-do-wells did the grabbing. Pauline Hansons One Nation, having been out of politics since the late nineties, was back with a vengeance. Her party grabbed four seats. Maverick centrist Nick Xenophon cleaned up in South Australia. And Turnbull, thinking hed have a nice civil Senate and a perfect opportunity to prove himself as the sensible, urbane Prime Minister the country so sorely deserved, ended up eating dirt. Fast forward nearly half a year, and things dont look much better. The harder right wing elements in the Coalition are gathering power and momentum, and Turnbull that poor, poor bloke looks braced to leave office with a record which is all sound and fury, signifying nothing. TERROR ATTACKS CONTINUED Paris, Lahore, Berlin, Nice, Ankara. The world suffered through a number of terrorist attacks in 2016, in a time of great uncertainty. The worlds politics have been affected by these attacks in a number of ways recently with the backlash against German chancellor Angela Merkel after this weeks truck attack in Berlin. The threat of Islamic State and the continued intervention of Western powers in the Middle East heightens these tensions, and the worlds leaders are scrambling to maintain the multicultural institutions of the past few decades while reducing the threat of terrorism. JOHN KEY RESIGNED remember when he did this tho New Zealand PM John Key bucked the trend of pollies resigning in disgrace or being forced out by simply resigning because he was a bit sick of it. Whether or not you respect the guys legacy, youve gotta admit stepping down because youre a bit done with it all is probably the most peaceable transition of power well see on this planet for a long time. THE PHILIPPINES ELECTED A MANIAC The Philippines felt the great global pull to the authoritarian right, too. The country, wracked by a long, losing war against the drug trade, elected former Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a man alleged to have enabled and participated in extrajudicial killings of drug dealers and users in his city. That reign of terror has moved to a national scale. Its currently estimated that over 6.000 people have been killed since Duterte was elected. Its overly simplistic and probably pointless to call him the Trump of the Philippines, but you can see a similar portrait of a canny media performer who knows he can say whatever the hell he wants with no real repercussions. THE SYRIAN CRISIS GOT MUCH WORSE You can draw a line between many of the things in this list and the situation in Syria. The refugee crisis has driven the biggest movement of people since World War II, and that enormous displacement of asylum seekers has energised far-right movements across the globe who are keen to throw up walls literal and figurative to keep them all out. But its a situation of tremendous human tragedy beyond its political significance. The Syrian people are suffering greatly because of the proxy war being waged within their borders, between seemingly limitless enemies fighting for all manner of ends. It is estimated that over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, with many more displaced. FIDEL CASTRO KICKED THE BUCKET Among all the big celebrity deaths of 2016, probably the most politically consequential was the death of Fidel Castro the father of Cubas socialist revolution and a thorn in the side of the West. His brother Raul Castro has been governing the country since 2008, but Fidel keeled over in November. He leaves a legacy that people will debate forever: a fervent (and effective) anti-colonialist who ended up perpetrating many of the same injustices upon his people as the regime which came before him. Loved and loathed in equal measure, he leaves a Cuba which is just beginning to open itself to the world again. THE PANAMA PAPERS LEAKED Heres one time has forgotten and might not have had the kind of impact on global politics as wed perhaps hope. The papers of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca leaked back in April, revealing the kind of high-level financial and corporate wizardry the worlds political and financial elite use to escape taxation and move their money around the globe. What did it do for global politics? Mmm not very much. Not very much at all. Looking back in December, we can say that its been pretty thoroughly forgotten. Well, thats not strictly true. Icelands Prime Minister resigned. Chalk that one up as a victory. PEOPLE POWER WON AT STANDING ROCK Its a message of hope in a world gone mad. The protests in Standing Rock, North Dakota proved that solidarity goes a long way when it comes to achieving political ends especially when political processes are crumbling. Native American activists fought hard against the North Dakota Access Pipeline which was planned through parts of their land including a sacred site. After standing their ground against police violence, the activists ended up winning. It may seem small time to you, but its inspiring stuff in dark and uncertain times, real collective action still triumphs. CLIMATE CHANGE: STILL HAPPENIN, SORRY accurate depiction of actual events Look, its not strictly politics but it has real political resonance. Climate change is something the worlds paralysed political institutions havent been able to do much about, and it really passed a threshold this year. Global atmospheric carbon levels passed 400 parts-per-million in September the highest it has ever been. Ever. In history. And its not likely to drop lower than that in our lifetimes. Each month of the first six months of the year broke NASA temperature records. Arctic ice is in dramatic retreat. And what are we doing about it? Contrary to the claims of Malcolm Roberts and his ilk, who think climate change is a manufactured conspiracy enabling global elites to seize power not a whole lot. Certainly nowhere near enough. Happy holidays! Were all definitely looking forward to how the worlds going to fuck itself in 2017. Photo: Getty Images. The Bachelors Megan & Tiffany who are now allowed to be referred to by their full names, Megan Leto Marx and Tiffany James are obviously the best thing to come out of the hetero show. The pair famously fell in love with each other instead of Bachie Richie Strahan, and made worldwide headlines when they confirmed their relationship in October. In fact, such is the rampant public interest in their antics (not to mention theres Insta-cash to be made) that the two even launched their own couples Facebook page, which may be the first time any couple have gone to such lengths to make something Facebook official. 2016. Its a time, I tell ya. The really cool thing here besides the fact that both girls seem to be genuinely stoked with each other, which is always nice in a relationship is that that their relationship is helping bring more visibility to same-sex couples in Australia, which in turn normalises queer experiences and will hopefully abet the effort to overturn the discriminatory laws against LGBTQIA people. Megan + Tiffany have posted a series of v. v. cute posts in the last 24-hours, offering a glimpse into their relationship and raising awareness of the discrimination faced by queer people in Australia every day. If you took the whole same-sex issue out of our relationship, it would still be untraditional. We ordinate our own life and love terms, and somehow it works, wrote Megan. Tiffany quoted America author Marie Lu, but her words were obviously directed at Megan and goddamn its cute. You drive me insaneYoure the scariest, most clever, bravest person I know, and sometimes I cant catch my breath because Im trying so hard to keep up. There will never be another like you. You realise that, dont you? Billions of people will come and go in this world, but there will never be another like you. In a post last week, Megan used her growing fame to highlight Australias outdated marriage equality laws and called on the country to get its act together. Ive been wanting my story with Tiffany to pleasantly and without force try to help normalise same-sex relationships and desires. Unfortunately, the more stories I hear and people I talk to, the more vividly I see the social, political and mental oppression the Australian government has inflicted on sexual minorities with a law created by privileged white men, a very long time ago. It was 1902 when women in Australia were granted the right to vote and 1962 before Aboriginal people were granted this same right. Before this, voting essentially was a privilege made and utilised by white men. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, is not an opinion or some quote you put on a fucking fridge magnet- its a moral obligation- and the first article point in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was proclaimed by the UN and signed by Australia in 1948. Sixty eight years later our liberal, secular democracy upholds an outdated and oppressive law that states you cannot marry who you love if it is out of the script of what is traditional. Voting was made for white men- and we have changed the law despite its inception. Why cant we do the same with marriage? If you are a man, and you find the idea of being with another man sexually disgusting, I guess the answer is to not fuck another dude, instead of using political and social means to instil personal inclinations on minorities with different sexual agendas. Our beautiful country has become an embarrassment to me, as I believe it has allowed religious sentiments to be involved where they should not be- in politics. Good on you Aus, for supporting programs that help young people deal with mental health issues arising from being part of sexual minorities, but maybe ceasing social and political oppression would reduce mental health struggles in the first place. Im not wanting to get married any time soon, nor do I have a vendetta against men or those who hold religious values. My cause is only one that supports human rights for ALL humans. Come on Australia, quit the fucking around. Three goddamn cheers to that. Photo: Instagram / Megan Leto Marx. Global Poker Index: David Peters Takes Over Player of the Year Lead December 22, 2016 Martin Harris Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player's results over six half-year periods. For a look at the entire list, visit the official GPI website. Here's a look at the rankings as of Dec. 21. 2016 GPI Player of the Year Rank Player GPI Score Change 1 David Peters 3666.31 +2 2 Fedor Holz 3644.80 -1 3 Justin Bonomo 3513.79 -1 4 Chance Kornuth 3336.54 - 5 Adrian Mateos 3269.00 +2 6 Ari Engel 3255.23 -1 7 Paul Volpe 3192.88 -1 8 Nick Petrangelo 3176.03 +3 9 Ankush Mandavia 3138.97 - 10 Samuel Panzica 3114.66 -2 Over the last couple of weeks in this space we've highlighted how a few different challengers were starting to close in on Fedor Holz who had occupied the top spot in the 2016 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race for more than six months. Two weeks ago it was Ari Engel whom we spoke of gaining ground on Holz, then last week it was Justin Bonomo who'd moved up into second position to narrow the gap. But rushing past all of those players and Holz, too, as the finish line nears is David Peters who thanks to his third-place finish in the European Poker Tour Prague Main Event won by Jasper Meijer van Putten accumulated enough points to edge just barely ahead of Holz with less than two weeks to go in December. The race isn't over, of course, and there are still a few chances for players to accumulate points before the year ends. But Peters is now the betting favorite to win 2016 GPI POY heading into the holidays. GPI 300 Top 10 Rank Player GPI Score Change 1 Fedor Holz 4722.60 - 2 David Peters 4435.53 +1 3 Nick Petrangelo 4329.12 -1 4 Justin Bonomo 4232.44 - 5 Dan Smith 4212.68 - 6 Steve O'Dwyer 4141.78 +10 7 Tom Marchese 4081.59 - 8 Jake Schindler 3974.69 - 9 Adrian Mateos 3944.03 +5 10 Connor Drinan 3925.63 - Holz remained atop the overall GPI rankings where he's enjoyed a large lead over the chase pack for some time. This marks his 28th week atop the list, the longest-streak of any GPI No. 1 since the rankings began in 2011. Peters moved up a spot to No. 2 in the overall rankings, his highest career ranking to date. Meanwhile former No. 1 Steve O'Dwyer jumped from No. 16 to No. 6 this week after making three final tables in three separate 25,500 High Roller events at EPT Prague, taking sixth, fifth, and third in them. Falling from the top 10 this week was another former No. 1, Jason Mercier, who slipped from No. 6 to No. 13. It's the first time Mercier has been out of the overall top 10 since June 2015. Welcome to the GPI Top 300 Rank Player Total Score 198 Jesse Yaginuma 2176.08 208 Andreas Freund 2139.31 218 Louis Salter 2086.08 237 Matthew Stout 2027.64 253 Pavel Plesuv 1993.35 258 Vincent Delgado 1984.56 262 Timothy Burt 1977.39 273 Rumen Nunev 1948.97 276 Jean-Noel Thorel 1945.74 280 Patrick Mahoney 1938.47 283 Wael Sarkis 1930.68 284 Dan O'Brien 1928.65 285 Josip Simunic 1927.62 288 Daniel Colman 1914.67 290 John Monnette 1910.43 291 Jesse Alexis Cohen 1909.68 292 Jonathan Abdellatif 1907.80 293 Matas Cimbolas 1907.69 294 Javier Zarco 1903.44 300 Alex Difelice 1883.76 A big group of 20 newcomers joined the overall GPI top 300 this week, many of whom collected cashes at EPT Prague in order to make their upward moves. The highest-ranked of the bunch, Jesse Yaginuma, was an exception to that trend, having made his move from No. 306 to No. 198 on the strength of recent cashes in the World Series of Poker Circuit Los Angeles festival at the Bicycle Casino, including a victory in the $3,250 High Roller event. Biggest Gains Rank Player Total GPI Score Change 276 Jean-Noel Thorel 1945.74 +363 283 Wael Sarkis 1930.68 +244 218 Louis Salter 2086.08 +183 292 Jonathan Abdellatif 1907.80 +178 92 Julian Stuer 2640.29 +140 Heading the list of "Biggest Gains" looking only at players ranked in this week's top 300 is Jean-Noel Thorel who catapulted from No. 639 to No. 276 this week. Thorel moved up after making three final tables in Prague, finishing second one of the 25,500 Single-Day High Roller events, fifth in another one, and seventh in the 5,200 Hyper-Turbo NL event. Biggest Drops Rank Player Total GPI Score Change 295 David Malka 1903.41 -98 238 Roland Israelashivilli 2024.81 -95 277 Ben Yu 1942.86 -89 234 Iliodoros Kamatakis 2033.68 -73 279 Govert Metaal 1940.71 -70 Finally, again only looking at players ranked in the top 300, David Malka endured the steepest decline this week after falling from No. 197 to No. 295. What to Expect Next Week Things are quieting down with the holidays approaching, although the Dutch Open Poker Series is currently ongoing in Breda, Netherlands where Ari Engel is among the participants. There will also be another $100,000 Super High Roller at the ARIA Resort & Casino on Dec. 30-31 to give high-stakes players a last chance to cash (and collect GPI points). To view the GPI overall rankings in their entirety, visit the official GPI website. While you're at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page. Hippodrome Casino Gears Up For the PokerStars Festival London December 22, 2016 Matthew Pitt Editor The Hippodrome Casino is gearing up for the first PokerStars Festival London event of 2017 where nine tournaments are set, including a 400,000 guaranteed Main Event that is sure to attract some of the best players from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe and beyond. Previously the home to the London leg of the UK & Ireland Poker Tour, the Hippodrome Casino is a luxurious venue featuring five distinct bars, live music and cabaret performances, a shisha terrace, three floors of gaming choice, a top restaurant and a lavish poker room. It is in the poker room where the attention of the regions top grinders is fixated between Jan. 23 and Jan. 29, when the PokerStars Festival London runs. Kicking off the festival is the 275 Super Deep tournament followed by the 2,200 High Roller and the 990 Main Event, the latter coming with a guaranteed prize pool of 400,000. 2017 PokerStars Festival London Schedule Dates Tournament Buy-in Jan. 23-25 PokerStars Super Deep 275 Jan. 24-25 PokerStars Festival High Roller 2,200 Jan. 25-29 PokerStars Festival Main Event 990 Jan. 26 StarsFun Roulette Tournament 120 January 27 StarsFun Blackjack Tournament 120 Jan. 28 StarsFun Craps Tournament 120 Jan. 28-29 PokerStars Cup 330 Jan. 29 NL Holdem Ladies Event 170 Jan. 29 Turbo Deepstack UKIPT Edition 220 As you can see in the table above, PokerStars is hosting a trio of casino game tournaments under the StarsFun banner, which will take place in Lolas Underground Casino inside the Hippodrome Casino. There will also be cash games running throughout the festival, either 1/3 no-limit holdem with a 150 minimum sit down and a 1,000 maximum or 2/5 no-limit holdem Deep Stack with a 500 minimum buy-in and no maximum. Cash game players are also invited to a special Cash Race on Jan. 11 that awards 4,000 in PokerStars Festival London tournament credits. Hippodrome Announces New PokerStars London Series The Hippodrome used to host the popular UKIPT Series and Hippodrome Classics in its prime West End location, but these are being replaced by the PokerStars London Series. There will be five such series throughout 2017, each with a 275 buy-in, with the first event scheduled for March 3-5. Each of the 275 buy in PokerStars London Series events see players sit down with 25,000 chips and play to 30-minute levels on Day 1 and 40-minute levels on Day 2. PokerStars London Series Key Dates March 3-5 April 7-9 May 26-28 Oct. 6-8 Nov. 10-12 There will also be a PokerStars London Super Series held between Aug. 30 and Sept. 4, and once more information becomes available, PokerNews will pass it onto you. Online qualifiers for the PokerStars London Festival are now running online at PokerStars and are available via your computer or mobile device. If you dont have a PokerStars account, download PokerStars via PokerNews, enter the marketing code PNEWS and use the bonus code STARS600 when making your first deposit to be rewarded with a 100 percent up to $600 first deposit bonus. Head to King's Casino for the German Poker Tour Over the Holidays December 22, 2016 Jason Glatzer Editor Celebrate the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve by heading to the biggest poker room in Europe, King's Casino, in Rozvadov, Czech Republic for some fantastic poker action with the return of the German Poker Tour. The German Poker Tour Main Event at King's Casino is one of the best deepstack events in all of Europe. This is not only due to the format, but also the lower buy-in of 299 along with a very generous 200,000 guaranteed prize pool! If you have some family time planned, we are not asking you to cancel it, but you can work around your schedule. There are three opening days in this event on Dec. 26, 27 and 28. Each day also allows for one reentry, giving you plenty of ways to build a stack. However, if you are busy all three of these days, you can also choose to skip this step and just register right before Day 2. You will still get the same 50,000 opening chips, which is plenty in this deepstacked affair. Blind levels on the first two days are long at 45 minutes per level. On the final day, they get even longer with 60 minutes per level. Additionally, you can enjoy the plethora of side events that by themselves feature guaranteed prize pools of almost 100,000 and are likely to be much bigger than that. If you have been to King's Casino before, you likely already know that cash games are running around the clock. These games are typically softer than you will find just about anywhere else and start with buy-ins of just 100 for both 1/3 no-limit hold'em and 2/2 pot-limit Omaha. King's Casino won't even be taking a break over Christmas and New Years Eve as games will be running all day and all night long on the holidays. Celebrate your holidays on the felts and join the hot action at King's Casino for the German Poker Tour. PokerNews Podcast 425: Happy Holidays, feat. Andrew 'luckychewy' Lichtenberger December 22, 2016 PokerNews Staff In this week's PokerNews Podcast, Matthew Parvis and Sarah Herring discuss EPT Prague news, like the William Kassouf chop deal in the 10,300 EPT Prague High Roller, David Peters moving into the top Player of the Year slot above Fedor Holz and the upcoming holiday. Herring and Parvis are joined by Andrew Lichtenberger, who just launched a beta version of his new poker site, www.LuckyChewyPoker.com. You can subscribe to the entire iBus Media Network on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews Podcast family of podcasts is now available on audioBoom. Private and public sector working together this is how the much anticipated, upcoming outdoor agricultural show, Agritech Expo Tanzania, taking place in Arusha from 26-27 January is described by the local agricultural sector in the country. By: Agritech Expo Tanzania The horticultural sector is an awakening giant Media Contact Agritech Expo Tanzania annemarie.roodbol@ spintelligent.com +27217003500 Agritech Expo Tanzania+27217003500 End -- Private and public sector working together this is how the much anticipated, upcoming outdoor agricultural show,taking place in Arusha from 26-27 January is described by the local agricultural sector in the country.The inaugural farming B2B platform, which already enjoys strong support by the farming community, will not only gather farmers, from commercial to emerging and small scale; but also key officials from regional governments, agro associations, NGOs, aid, development and research agencies; agro dealers, traders and retailers; suppliers, consultants and technical experts as well as venture capitalists, investors and bankers."The role of private sector is highly recognised in the agricultural policy, strategies and programmes" says Dr David Nyange, Policy Advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Tanzania, a supporting partner of the upcomingHe adds: "as industrialisation is at the top of the current development agenda, the technologies that will be displayed at the Expo have potential to play a great role toward the commercialisation of agriculture which is necessary for ensuring sustainable supply of raw materials to the industry".Other host partners for the event are the Agriculture Council of Tanzania (ACT), the Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA), the Southern Agricultural Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) and the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in Arusha.Agri suppliers supporting Agritech ExpoThe industry has responded with great enthusiasm to the first Agritech Expo in Tanzania.Global farming equipment leader John Deere and its distributor in the country, LonAgro Tanzania Ltd, are gold sponsors for the event. Says Lukas Botha, Managing Director, LonAgro Tanzania: "from land and seed bed preparation, through to crop care and harvesting, LonAgro John Deere in Tanzania has the complete solution.""The horticultural sector is an awakening giant" says Harald Peeters, MD Tanzania of the vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan Q-Sem, a bronze sponsor at Agritech Expo. He adds: "Tanzania has plenty of land, enough water and year round sunlight. I am looking forward to an Expo which raises the awareness of the Government to the fact that the private sector is a partner in development, creating thousands of jobs, educating workers and building the nation".Other leading agri suppliers that have already confirmed their presence at the event include Afrivet, Ford, CMC Automobiles, Hughes Motors, Maji, HortiPro, Irrico, Rivulis, AMDT, FNB, Lindsay Africa, Balton, Kibo Seed, Neptun Boot and TFSC.The Agritech Expo success storyThe success story of the outdoor agricultural show, Agritech Expo, which is about to expand to Tanzania, started in the Zambian agri-hub of Chisamba three years ago and has been a tremendous boost for that country's farming sector. The inaugural Agritech Expo Tanzania has transitioned from the Agribusiness Congress conference that has taken place in Dar es Salaam for the last three years.Agritech Expo Zambia in 2016 drew a record-breaking attendance of 17 605 visitors and 160 exhibitors over 70 000 sqm of space. The three-day expo also featured two international pavilions, from Germany and Zimbabwe, welcomed two agriculture ministers, from Zambia and the Czech Republic, and the Zambian President H.E Edgar Lungu officially opened the show."We at John Deere have been attending and exhibiting at this event since its inception three years ago and are pleased to see the progress that the organisers are making in growing this event and reaching all those concerned with agriculture from government to small scale farmers" says Kevin Lesser, Global Marketing Director, John Deere, Kenya, adding: "we fully support the direction of growth intended for this event in Tanzania. We look forward to next year's event".Event dates and location:Exhibition: 26-27 January 2017Commercial Farmers' Focus Day: 26 January 2017Venue: Selian Agricultural Research Institute, Arusha/Dodoma Main Road, ArushaTwitter: @Agritech_ExpoFacebook: @AgritechZambiaTanzaniaLinkedin: Agritech ExpoInstagram: Agritech_AgribusinessWebsite: http://www.agritechexpotanzania.com/ Contact:Senior communications manager: Annemarie RoodbolTelephone: +27 21 700 3558Mobile: +27 82 562 7844Email: annemarie.roodbol@ spintelligent.com A trend sweeping Europe, the 20 minute workout that gives the results of 90 minutes with Whole Body Electronic Muscle Stimulation opens at Sport & Health Herndon 1 2 3 4 5 Personal 20 (128) Personal 20 (143) aNDREAIA WITH ENGLISH Vivafit3032 Vivafit2899 End -- Personal20, the Electro Fitness Studio, had its Grand Opening event at Sport & Health Worldgate location on December 19. A Portuguese brand currently with 10 locations abroad, hosted a cocktail and ribbon cutting ceremony with Miss Portugal Cristiana Viana. Also attending were industry leaders Kirk Galiani, USFITNESS Co-Chairman, and Allison Flately, Corporate Strategy Office of Corporate Fitness Works.The first Personal20 in the USA, a studio dedicated to whole body electronic muscle stimulation, is "a boutique inside the health club". "The fitness industry and traditional health club operators have been witnessing the rapid growth of boutique studios with a niche value proposition. Having a Personal20 Studio at the entrance of a Sport & Health club is a unique opportunity to offer something innovative that can reach the un-tapped market and serve as a great first step towards fitness," says Connie Ruiz, who is on the executive board and leading the project for the USA. The service is available for non-members while members of Sport & Health have a member discount.Personal20 is powered by E-Fit technology, the first of its kind from Europe to have the FDA clearance. "This new technology will be revolutionary for the fitness industry. The stimulation of 350 muscles combined with active exercise obtains outstanding results in a 20 minute workout," says Connie, who is also the exclusive distributor for E-Fit machines in VA/MD/DC territory.The Sport & Health club in Herndon, Virginia is home of the first showcase location. No fitness club in the area has more ways to get fit than Sport & Health. Staying true to this differentiation factor, here is one more new way to get fit. The E-Fit technology can deliver over 36,000 muscle contractions in 1 session.This training method has been used for over 30 years by professional athletes and it is highly regarded by doctors and physiotherapists in Europe.Now fitness professionals can deliver a whole body electronic muscle stimulation (EMS) workout with all the benefits of increasing strength, body-shaping, and back-pain relief. This technology has been used for 7 years in Germany, Spain, Belgium and Hungary.Naturally our muscles achieve movement when the brain sends electrical impulses. Wearing a special work out suit with 20 electrodes, EMS also sends electrical impulses to our muscles. Highly effective results can be obtained when combined with exercise.The training is very versatile with 3 different impulses. Low impulse stimulates blood circulation and the lymphatic system. This is effective for muscle relaxation and cellulite elimination. The medium impulse is appropriate for cardio fitness training with muscles contracting and relaxing. The high impulse reaches deep muscle tissues not easily reached by conventional exercises. It is used for muscle building, toning, weight loss and recovery after childbirth. http://www.Personal20.com By: 3W Infra Contact 3W Infra Roy Premchand, Managing Director ***@3winfra.com +31 20 894 33 44 3W InfraRoy Premchand, Managing Director+31 20 894 33 44 End --The new managed service is aimed at cloud providers, systems integrators, managed hosting providers, broadcasting companies and enterprises in need of 'remote hands' onsite, whether their data center is located in Amsterdam, London or Frankfurt.As a "pure-play" IaaS provider, 3W Infra intends to deliver infrastructural hosting services only. Therefore, 3W Infra Remote Hands is delivered on the level of racks and servers and includes the deployment, maintenance and/or troubleshooting with regards to hardware, network and cable management. The Remote Hands service may as well include component replacement and spare part inventory management. As 3W Infra is dedicated to delivering - highly customized - IaaS services in its purest form, the Remote Hands engineers won't deliver any services with regards to the software stack.3W Infra Remote Hands is a "data center neutral" service, which means that the engineering services can be provided in data centers wherever it is desired. It will initially be delivered to customers in need of remote hands in the Amsterdam, Netherlands region. Soon, this service will be expanded to other European Internet hubs as well, including Frankfurt (Germany) and London (UK) depending on market demand. 3W Infra Remote Hands is being delivered through a pay-per-use model, implicating that users will only have to pay for the actual resources they use rather than paying a subscription fee."3W Infra has its own flagship data center located in Amsterdam, but our Remote Hands services are provided wherever it is needed," said. "Some customers have already benefited from our Remote Hands services. These clients include companies with IT infrastructures located in Netherlands-based data centers such as EvoSwitch, Equinix and Easynet. We're now ready for a broad roll-out."3W Infra has chosen to launch its Remote Hands service in the Amsterdam region first, with the London and Frankfurt regions coming up soon. Like Frankfurt and London, Amsterdam is a high-density data center area where virtually all major players within hosting, cloud and colocation have their presence."For those cloud services providers, systems integrators, enterprises, managed hosting firms and others lacking the hands and/or IaaS expertise in the Amsterdam area, 3W Infra Remote Hands ensures quick and knowledgeable delivery of IT infrastructural tasks," added. "Whether scheduled or ad hoc, our early stage Remote Hands customers have noticed super fast response times 24/7. We expect to continue the fast delivery of these remote hands services in any data center a customer would like, and we hope it will add to their already customized 3W Infra experience."The idea for establishing the 3W Infra Remote Hands service on the world's main Internet hubs in Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London originated from a limited amount of support tickets at the 3W Infra support desk. "Maybe it's caused by the high quality brands we're using or the qualities of our engineering staff deploying the equipment," added. " Anyway, as we had plentiful engineering support hours available for our customers, we thought we might disconnect it from the IaaS infrastructures delivered and turn it into a distinct and data center neutral Remote Hands service."3W Infra is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which explains a bit why the Remote Hands service has been launched in Amsterdam first. There's another reason however for launching the Remote Hands service in the Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt areas."As all three Internet hubs are densely connected, it exerts great attraction to verticals like Online Gaming, FinTech and Big Data customers alike," added. "These verticals tend to bring their infrastructures close to the edges of the networks, so many of them are in need of engineering hands and brains worldwide with Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt as the main Internet hubs with an expected high demand. That's where our Remote Hands service comes in, as it can be quite expensive for these companies to employ their own engineers locally."Provided as a data center neutral service, 3W Infra Remote Hands is available directly for IaaS customers with IT infrastructures located in the Amsterdam region. The 3W Infra Remote Hands services in Frankfurt and London are expected to be available soon.Founded in 2014 by some Internet and hosting industry veterans, 3W Infra is a pure-play Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) hosting provideheadquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The company's enterprise-grade hosting solutions - tailored to the specific needs of each customer - are engineered for scalability and cost-efficiency, with cloud-enabling services including dedicated servers, colocation, IP Transit, and high-level customer support with remote hands.As a fast-growing company aiming for sustainable growth, 3W Infra has alreadyunder management, while its global network now exceedsof available bandwidth. 3W Infra's customer base includes some of the largest Internet, broadcasting and cloud services companies in Europe and beyond.To learn more about 3W Infra, visit: www.3winfra.com We at Taxationservices.com.sg, a leading online portal, are trying to give an inside scoop on the Singapore company registration & Singapore taxation. These are the prime factors that attract foreigners to incorporate a company in Singapore. Media Contact Ms. Meena info@taxationservices.com.sg ***@taxationservices.com.sg 65360036 Ms. Meenainfo@taxationservices.com.sg65360036 End --is anprovider that specializes in company incorporation, taxation, accounting and other allied services. Being an active player in these areas, the firm is capable of rendering high-quality services to its esteemed clients. It has a team of lawyers, accountants, tax consultants and company secretaries that ensure to deliver best-in-class services in the industry."Many a time, people come to us to enquire what really invites a huge pool of foreign investors and entrepreneurs to come to Singapore and build their dream over here. As per our experience and expertise, we have found the key driver to be the attractive tax regime of the country. We have published this release to disseminate our analysis or finding to the mass of people who desperately want to know about it.One can learn how tax framework of Singapore has been designed to benefit the new entrants. We have analyzed the benefits of registering a company from a tax point of view," she further added.From last few decades, Singapore has been deemed to be a preferred business hub for both new and established entrepreneurs alike. One of the vital aspects that encourageis the tax incentives, allowance, and exemptions offered by the honest government.The corporate income tax rate in Singapore is capped at 17%, which is one of the lowest in the world. On top of it, the generous government has rolled out a series of incentives including zero-tax benefits for start-ups.The tax exemption is open to all new companies except these two types of companies: A company whose principal activity is that of investment holding and A company whose principal activity is that of developing properties for sale, investment, or both.To qualify for tax exemption for start-ups, eligible companies must satisfy these three qualifying conditions: The company must be incorporated in Singapore; The company must be a tax resident in Singapore for that year; The company must not have more than 20 shareholders throughout the basis period for that YA where: all of the shareholders are individuals "beneficially and directly" holding the shares in their own names; or at least one shareholder is an individual "beneficially and directly" holding at least 10% of the issued ordinary shares of the company.This full tax exemptions scheme is applicable for first three years of incorporation. Following that, a company can enjoy partial tax exemptions (applicable tax rate is 8.5%) on its annual revenue up to S$300,000. And headline tax rate will be applicable for those companies whose taxable income is more than SDG 300,000.According to Singapore budget 2016, companies can enjoy income tax rebate up to 50% for the YA 2016-2017, capped at S$20,000 for each year.The continued effort of Singapore government to sign comprehensive tax agreements with different countries has enabled many foreign nationals to avoid double taxation burden. Singapore so far has added more than 70 tax treaties to its extensive network.A locally incorporated company is considered to be a tax resident of Singapore even if it is wholly owned by foreign national if directors meeting held in Singapore. A Singapore tax resident company is eligible to enjoy tax exemption on foreign-sourced dividends, overseas branch office profits, and foreign-sourced service income under section 13(8) of the Income Tax Act.The entire tax structure has been designed in a manner to attract maximum global investors and entrepreneurs so as to enhance its economy. The liberal government has made every possible effort to make the policies extremely business-friendly. As a result, theprocess has been made easier and prompt. The process can be done electronically, ensuring easy, fast and hassle-free incorporation to the business aspirants.The government has succeeded in its endeavor to a greater extent. This is the reason why Singapore is increasingly evolving despite the fact that the Republic has no natural resources. Its economy entirely relies on trade and finance. In a bid to make the nation economy robust and highly competitive, the government has designed the very attractive one-tier tax system of Singapore with a series of tax incentives and benefits.Ms. Meena discussed that "Over the years, the team of company incorporation ofhas been providing high-end assistance to clients intending to set up a company in Singapore. The pocket-friendly services of the firm are best suitable for small and medium enterprises.Taxationservices.com.sg is one of the best corporate firms in Singapore delivering a suite of business services to a diverse client base. A variety of services has been provided under-the-single-roof to make the entrepreneurial journey of their clients easy and fuss-free. Apart from, the firm is efficient in offering accounting, bookkeeping, AGM filing, Annual Return filing, corporate taxation services, payroll, corporate secretarial services and so on.High Street Centre,#17-02, 1 North Bridge Road,Singapore 179094Phone: +65-6536 0036Email: info@taxationservices.com.sg DPI Research has announced the addition of the "Thailand MICE Industry & Forecast to 2022" report to its offering dpiresearch Media Contact sales@dpiresearch.com End -- The MICE industry is one of the key sectors that Thailand intends to develop in order to stimulate quality visitors both within the country and abroad. Thailand is one of the most important and popular MICE destination worldwide. Thailand is famous MICE destination due to its solid basic infrastructure, strategic location, developed transportation systems, international connectivity, a well-trained private sector, continual government support and sound regulations. Each year, it stages numerous meetings, seminars, and world-class exhibitions, and welcomes numerous visitors led by the world's leading tour companies. Thailand has plans to develop more MICE-related amenities, especially convention centers and venues that can stage mega events, growing its capacity to serve an expanding market and rising demand for meetings, conventions and exhibitions.It is forecasted that Thailand will attract more than 1.3 Million MICE travelers and generated nearly about US$ 4 Billion revenues by 2022.Meetings are the most popular segment in the Thailand MICE Industry. Meetings controls a lion's market share of around 75% for the year 2015 and it is expected to continue its dominance till 2022.East Asia is the major source of MICE travelers in Thailand. East Asian countries representing XX% of all overseas MICE travelers. Europe and South Asia have shown its potential to become 2nd and 3rd popular MICE traveler's region. The Americas is the fourth leading source market for Thailand MICE industry. It is predicted that East Asia will continue its #1 position in the Thailand MICE travelers by the year 2022.In Thailand MICE traveler Inflow, China holds the highest share in 2015, and it is expected that China will maintain its position in the forecasting period. Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam hold the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best source countries for MICE traveler visits to Thailand.In Thailand MICE traveler's revenue, China contributed XX% share in 2015 and likely that China will be best country to generate the maximum revenue to the Thailand MICE industry. Other countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and India are also the important source countries for the Thailand MICE industry.DPI Research report titled "Thailand MICE Industry & Forecast to 2022" provides detailed information on the Thailand MICE Industry. This report analyzes market data and provides a better understanding of MICE travelers flows and revenue to Thailand. Market outlook in value terms for the forecasted period for Thailand MICE Industry has been detailed in the report. This report also entails a detailed description of growth drivers and challenges of the Thailand MICE Industry.Thailand MICE Industry have been analyzed from 4 viewpoints:1. Thailand MICE Travelers Inflow, Revenue & Forecast - Regional Analysis (2012 - 2022)2. Thailand MICE Travelers Inflow, Revenue & Forecast - Country Wise Analysis (2012 - 2022)3. Thailand MICE Travelers Inflow, Revenue & Forecast - Industry Analysis (2012 - 2022)4. Thailand MICE Industry Growth Drivers & ChallengesThailand MICE Industry & Forecast to 2022 - By Industry Analysis1.Meetings2.Incentives3.Conventions4.ExhibitionsThailand MICE Industry & Forecast to 2022 By Regional Analysis1.East Asia2.Europe3.The Americas4.South Asia5.Oceania6.Middle East7.AfricaThailand MICE Industry & Forecast to 2022 - Countries Wise Analysis1.Cambodia2.Indonesia3.Loas4.Malaysia5.Myanmar6.Philippines7.Singapore8.Vietnam9.China10.Hong Kong11.Japan12.Korea13.Taiwan14.France15.Germany16.Russia17.Italy18.United Kingdom19.USA20.Canada21.Brazil22.Bangladesh23.India24.Pakistan25.Sri Lanka26.Australia27.New Zealand28.Isreal29.UAE30.South Africa31.Other CountriesData SourcesThe information contained in this report is based on both primary and secondary sources.Primary Sources: Questionnaires, surveys, telephonic interviews with industry experts and observationsSecondary Sources: Secondary data analysis and review involves collecting and analysing a vast array of information. DPI Research seeks information from different sources such as published articles, company websites, magazine articles, associations, trade journals, annual reports, newspapers, books, Government official websites and other paid database sources.More Details: http://www.dpiresearch.com/ report-details.php? P_ID=56 Contact USMaria RaiSales Managersales@dpiresearch.com Contact Michael Adesigbin ***@myself.com Michael Adesigbin End --Michael Adesigbin the author announces the release her book "Mother of The World" which exemplifies precisely how Queen Elizabeth continues to be humble since the time before she became Queen. She traveled in the London Underground subway system the very first time in May 1939, followed by her governess Marion Crawford and her sister Princess Margaret. Through the years even as Queen, she's been on public transport several times. She proceeded to her first state visit as Princess Elizabeth to South Africa with her mother and father, then King and Queen, from February to May 1947.Additionally "Mother of The World" shows Queen Elizabeth's II love for children. During the summer of 2005, she established the first children's trail in Buckingham Palace landscape for its regular opening. The palace is opened to households with children under 12 years of age. They are offered access to a tour of the state rooms as well as interviews with Royal Collection Trust curators and Royal Household staff. Queen Elizabeth has shown to be a modern Queen. She sent her first e-mail in 1976, from a British army base. In 1997, Buckingham Palace's first official website was created, and she joined Facebook in November 2010 with a page named the British Monarchy. She joined Twitter in July 2009 and a YouTube channel for the Royal Familycalled the Royal Channelwas launched in December 2007. Over the years, the Queen made it a duty to visit countries around the world with great ties to the United Kingdom. Since her accession to the throne in 1952. One of the chapters just for those who might be wondering how and why Her Majesty has two birthdays. Queen has over 600 different charity organizations she has been supporting.This book is my present to the Queen of England on her 90th birthday celebrations. She has spent almost her entire life in service to the people of United Kingdom and the rest of the world. With this book my intention is to raise 1m pounds through downloads on amazon at 1 which will be given to the Queen to support her 600 charities.This book has been put together with vital information;the information in this book has been researched properly. This was put together by reading from different websites, articles, and through the media who relentlessly help bridge the gap between the monarch and the world. There are photographers who literally follow the monarchs daily in order to get photos and be able to share with the rest of us. The plan is to present to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth a present and dedicate this work to humanity. The first one million (1,000,000)will be donated to Her Majesty's Trust fund to help support her charitable causes.The rest of the revenue from downloads of this book goes to help achieve my dream. On the last page of this book you will find a drawing of a building plan for this project (for illustrative purposes only). Join me and help me build a "Queen Elizabeth Homeless Shelter". my hope is that the country and the rest of the world finds my work interesting enough to support me and spend to purchases an e-copy. Thank God for the grace He's given me to live in the United Kingdom. Today England has a mother in Queen Elizabeth II who is Britain's 40th monarch since William the Conqueror was crownedthe longest reigning monarch in the United Kingdom. Sister Communities of San Ramon, Nicaragua (SCSRN), a Durham based non-profit, is excited to announce that they will be building four new classrooms By: Sister Communities of San Ramon, Nicaragua Contact Sister Communities of San Ramon, Nicaragua ***@gmail.com Sister Communities of San Ramon, Nicaragua End -- Sister Communities of San Ramon, Nicaragua (SCSRN), a Durham based non-profit, is excited to announce that they will be building four new classroomsThese new classrooms will be built in the communities of El Roblar and El Jinete, in in the municipality of San Ramon, Nicaragua. This brings the tally of classrooms built by SCSRN, to 28 classrooms over 14 years.The classrooms in El Jinete will be used for K-6, in order to meet the need for space in this growing community. This year, 140 children enrolled at the beginning of the school year, and thirty were turned away because of lack of space."We are very happy to have this construction project come to our community, because we want all of our children to get the chance to study," says Leocadio Sanchez, community leader in El Jinete.In El Roblar, the new construction is part of SCSRN's "High School for All" campaign, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education's secondary rural school project. Many children in rural communities do not attend high school because of the high cost of daily transportation to the nearest high school, and because teenagers are expected to work to help support their families. The Ministry of Education has begun high school classes on the weekends in some rural primary schools to ensure that all children have access to secondary education.High school classes in El Roblar began three years ago, each year opening up a new grade (in Nicaragua high school lasts five years). This school year, the El Roblar primary school has been filled to capacity with just first-, second-, and third-year students. As this school year comes to a close, teachers and administrators have been worried about how they were going to accommodate the rising fourth-year students. The construction of these two classrooms comes at just the right time.In the words of one administrator:"Parents in rural communities are seeing the importance of high school education more and more, and they want to send their kids to school, which is great, but we were very worried about not having enough space for them."About the Sister Communities of San Ramon, NicaraguaSCSRN has been supporting community-identified projects in education, health, sanitation, and environment in the rural municipality*of San Ramon, Nicaragua for over 20 years. All construction projects are completed by the community SCSRN covers the cost of materials and specialized labor, and the community contributes the unspecialized labor. To learn more visit: https://san- ramon.org/ *Nicaraguan municipalities are comparable to counties in the United States. San Ramon has a population of approximately 45,000 people, and currently 78 rural schools. United Nations financing the $59.4 million San Miguel Regional Hospital in El Salvador By: IBT Group of Miami Media Contact Melissa Lichtenheld Wragg & Casas Strategic Communications ***@wraggcasas.com 305-372-1234 Melissa LichtenheldWragg & Casas Strategic Communications305-372-1234 End -- IBT Group of Miami, a leading business group in the development of public works, was selected by the Salvadoran Institute of Social Security (ISSS) to construct the new San Miguel Regional Hospital in El Salvador."IBT Group has consolidated experience in the construction of turnkey hospitals and medical centers in Latin American countries such as the Dominican Republic, Peru and Panama. We are pleased to bring our expertise to develop a first-class hospital for the country of El Salvador," said Daniel Toledano, managing director and chief operating officer of IBT Group of Miami.Representatives of IBT Group of Miami, a Eurofinsa Group company, and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which is financing the $59.4 million project, signed the contract Nov. 10 in San Salvador.The work includes dismantling and demolition of existing infrastructure, new construction, and supply and installation of equipment. The existing emergency service will be remodeled.The project is in response to the need for ISSS to provide a hospital that guarantees sophisticated healthcare to residents of the eastern part of the Republic of El Salvador. At present, the number of patients requiring healthcare overwhelm the dilapidated facility.After completion of the project in 2019, the residents of the area will receive care in an advanced health facility with rigorous sanitary conditions. Resources include 160 hospital beds, five operating rooms, three emergency rooms, an intensive care unit, intermediate care, nephrology care, 63 external consultations, emergency service, a pharmacy, blood laboratory, imaging, ambulatory medical procedures, and physical medicine.Counted in IBT Group's long record for the construction of hospital and health centers are more than 3,600 hospital beds, about 20 hospitals and more than 44 health infrastructures, such as hospitals, primary care centers and hemodialysis services.IBT Group's Latin American projects include the City of Health hospital in Santo Domingo; Our Lady of Altagracia, Padre Billini and Monte Plata Provincial hospitals in Dominican Republic; Hospital and Polyclinic Leopoldo Barton Thompson and the Guillermo Kaelin de la Fuente Hospital in Peru; and the Anita Moreno, General Meteti and General Bugaba hospitals under construction in Panama.IBT Group's headquarters are in Miami, and the company has subsidiaries in Madrid, London and Paris, as well as permanent local offices in 31 countries on five continents with more than 4,500 employees.Based in Miami, IBT Group is a multinational group of companies that specialize in the development of public works and the integration of construction equipment projects for public institutions. With proven experience, technical know-how, and financial backing, IBT has become an industry leader in the delivery of "turnkey" development and infrastructure projects in several countries around the globe. Learn more at http://ibtgroup.com By: VERC Enterprises VERC Trinity Ed Alliance Dec 2016 End -- VERC Enterprises, a leading convenience store and Mobil/Gulf gasoline operator with locations throughout Eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire, recently presented Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton with two checks for $500, grants made possible through the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Program.Funded by the ExxonMobil Corporation and Global Partners LP, the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program is designed to provide local retailers an opportunity to invest in the future of their communities through educational grants to neighborhood schools.Barry Ahern, Director of Operations and Human Resources at VERC Enterprises presented the checks totaling $1,000 to John Giuggio, Principal of the Upper Campus on behalf of VERC Pembroke Mobil and VERC Randolph Mobil."We're proud to participate in such a fine program that recognizes and supports the quality of local schools," said Leo Vercollone, CEO of VERC Enterprises.VERC Enterprises is the region's leading, independent chain of convenience stores and gasoline stations, with locations throughout Eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The company began 39 years ago with a single car wash in Marshfield, in a business founded by Eugene Vercollone. Today two of Mr. Vercollone's sons operate the company, with Leo as President and Paul as Vice President. The firm has more than 270 employees and is a leader in hiring those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. In 2011 VERC Enterprises was recognized by the Boston Business Journal as a Best Place to Work in Massachusetts and as a Leader in Diversity and in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016 by the Boston Globe as a Best Place to Work in Massachusetts. For additional information, please visit the website, www.vercenterprises.com , or call 781-934-7300.To learn more about VERC, please view: https://www.youtube.com/ embed/videoseries? list=PLesS4W9hjtufdf6GhvnfUKMk2l2Q- r-MM (Left to right) Barry Ahern, Director of Operations and Human Resources, VERC Enterprises presents two checks totaling $1,000 to students at Trinity Catholic Academy and Upper Campus Principal John Giuggio. The grant was made possible through the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Program. Brunswick Real Estate Capital has held the first closing of its second senior debt fund in the Nordics, thereby reaching over 415 million (SEK 4 billion) under management. Main investors are some of the regions largest institutions. The first close reinforces real estate debt as an asset class as well [] The Cofinimmo Group acquired a nursing and care home in Germany and two Medical Office Buildings in the Netherlands for a total amount of 24.2 million. The investments made since the May 2015 capital increase amount to 276.2 million. Germany On 14.12.2016 the Cofinimmo Group acquired a... [] The Ingolstadt-based automotive brand went down in market by 28.9% in 2019, for a total sales of 4,594 units. The year prior to it was better, but not the best; with sales touching 6,463 units. Meanwhile, the year 2017 saw Audi selling 7,876 units. Put in simple words, Audi India faced back-to-back losses for a period of three years. 2019 sales is the lowest registered by Audi in India since the last 9 years. The last time their annual sales were lower, was in 2009. On the bright side, the brands used-car dealership network Audi Approved Plus registered an appreciable growth of 11% in 2019, with a sales count of 1,240 units. On the other hand, Mercedes maintained its position as the No 1 luxury car brand in India. BMW has maintained the 2nd spot. Below is the last 10 years of sales data registered by Mercedes, BMW and Audi in India. Year Mercedes BMW Audi Total 2019 13,786 9,000 4,594 27,380 2018 15,538 10,405 6,463 32,406 2017 15,330 9,800 7,876 33,006 2016 13,231 7,500 7,720 28,451 2015 13,502 6,550 11,192 31,244 2014 10,201 6,200 10,851 27,252 2013 9,003 7,327 10,003 26,333 2012 6,840 9,375 9,003 25,218 2011 7,500 9,371 5,511 22,382 2010 5,819 6,246 3,003 15,068 Total 1,10,750 81,774 76,216 2,68,740 Last year, Audi India was rather dormant (in the regular passenger-vehicle portfolio) with just two launches: A4 facelift and all-new A6. The new-generation C8 Audi A6 reached Indian shores after a considerable gap from its global introduction, with a price tag starting at Rs 54.20 lakh ex-showroom. However, a lot of potential buyers were left disappointed since the mid-level luxury saloon debuted in the country only in a petrol format. Audi India claims that the new A6 was well-received by its loyal customer base, but we are sure it would have easily doubled in sales, had there been a diesel variant. Even though Audi India is currently going the petrol way, the automotive group is working on a new diesel strategy for the Indian market. The company is still going through some rough patches with the Volkswagens Dieselgate emission scandal; a stain that will remain difficult to cleanse for years. Meanwhile, its primary rivals, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have got a desirable range of diesel models across all major price segments. However, the slow Indian automotive economy affected the other Germans as well with Mercedes-Benz India registering a sales decline of 9.9 per cent while the figure went up to 13.1% for BMW India. For this year, Audi India plans to conduct two main launches: Q8 luxury SUV and A8 luxury saloon. The stunning five-seater Audi Q8 is one of the latest products in the brands global portfolio and as its nomenclature suggests, it sits above the 7-seater Audi Q7. To an extent, it could be considered as a trimmed-down, more affordable version of the Lamborghini Urus or Bentley Bentayga V8. On the other hand, the new-generation D5 Audi A8 made its international debut with some of the best and latest technology in the business, almost three years ago. Hence, the Indian market is quite late to the party. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz and BMW India had introduced the latest versions of their respective flagship saloons: W222 Gen 2 S Class and G12 7 Series facelift; within a reasonable gap from their global premieres. Over the past centuries, as we humans have cleared fields for farms, built roads and highways, and expanded cities ever outward, we've been cutting down trees. Since 1850, we've reduced global forest cover by one-third. We've also changed the way forests look: much of the world's woodlands now exist in choppy fragments, with 20 percent of the remaining forest within 100 meters of an edge, like a road, backyard, cornfield, or parking lot. Scientists have studied fragmented forests for decades, mostly to gauge their effects on wildlife and biodiversity. But recently, two Boston University College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) scientists -- Andrew Reinmann (GRS'14), a postdoctoral research associate, and Lucy Hutyra, an associate professor of Earth and environment -- have turned their attention to another issue: the effects of forest fragments on carbon storage and climate change. They found that temperate broadleaf forests, like the stands of red oak common in New England, absorb more carbon than expected along their edges, but they also found that those edges are more susceptible to heat stress. The research, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation, and published in the December 19, 2016 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers some good news and bad news about forest fragmentation. It suggests that while these forests may be more valuable carbon sinks than previously thought, they are also more sensitive to climate change. "Having accurate estimates of what those trees on the edge are doing -- how much carbon they're taking out of the atmosphere -- is really important when we think about our future climate," says Reinmann, lead author on the paper. The annual atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a potent greenhouse gas and agent of global warming, has increased by more than 40 percent since the start of the Industrial Revolution and continues to rise. Forests play a critical role as a carbon sink, absorbing about 25 percent of the CO 2 emissions we humans put into the sky. Most of our understanding of forest carbon dynamics comes from studying intact rural forests like Hubbard Brook in New Hampshire's White Mountains and Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA, not from studying forest fragments. "When you fragment a forest, you change a lot of the growing conditions of the forest that's left behind," says Reinmann, "but we don't have a very good understanding of how that change affects carbon sequestration and storage." To find out, Reinmann and Hutyra gathered data from 21 fragmented forest plots around Boston, measuring about 500 trees. In eight of those plots, they went a step further, taking sample cores from trees above 10 centimeters in diameter, a total of 420 cores from 210 trees. They used the cores, and other data, to calculate how fast the trees grew. A tree's size and growth rate indicate how much carbon it can absorb and also how much stress it's experiencing. advertisement Reinmann and Hutyra found that forest fragments grow faster along the edges than intact forests, absorbing more carbon than expected. "When you create that edge, you essentially are reducing competition and freeing up resources like light, water, and nutrients for trees," says Reinmann, who notes that the effect extends in about 20 meters from the forest edge. Curiously, the finding may hold only for temperate broadleaf forests common in New England, the Appalachians, Canada, and Europe. Amazon rainforest has the opposite effect when fragmented, with lower biomass and less carbon storage along the edges. "Foresters and loggers have known this intuitively for a long time: if you go in and you reduce the competition for resources, the remaining individuals will grow faster," adds Hutyra. "The novel piece of this work was to quantify it across these edges, see how far into the forest it goes, and put it into context with how much this fragmentation matters in a portion of the world -- southern New England -- that we know is a large net carbon sink." Though this seems like a win for our patchy New England forests, deforestation is still bad for carbon sequestration overall. "When you fragment a forest, the remaining forest can offset a little bit of what was lost, but not completely," says Reinmann. "So it may not be as terrible from a carbon perspective as we thought, but it's still bad." Offsetting this (somewhat) good news is the paper's other finding: these forest edges, more exposed to wind and sun, grow more slowly when stressed by heat. "You lose a lot of carbon benefit in hot years," says Reinmann, who found that the "magic number" for local trees is about 27C (80.6F), which corresponds to the average high temperature in July, our hottest month. "But once you get much past that threshold, the trees grow much slower," he says. And the really bad news: if regional temperatures continue to increase at a steady pace, the current carbon benefit offered by forest edges may decline significantly. "If this carbon sink all of a sudden shuts off, our projections for future climate will change," says Reinmann. "So our current understanding and ecological models, which don't account for this, are missing something important." Reinmann and Hutyra are currently expanding the work to study rural forests and are so far finding even larger effects there. They are also hoping to use high-resolution imaging and more precise chemical analyses to look closer at core samples to see how growth and photosynthesis change over days, seasons, heat waves, and other environmental stressors. More data may lead to better models, says Hutyra. "As we continue to more actively manage our landscape, whether it be thinking about agricultural intensification in Brazil or urban expansion in China or sprawling urban development here, the fragmenting of the landscape is ubiquitous. It's likely to stay, if not increase," says Hutyra. "And so quantifying the effects of all this fragmentation is really important for understanding the long-term and short-term ability of forests to continue to take up carbon, and for us to be able to accurately model that to project future climate." The same researchers who pioneered the use of a quantum mechanical effect to convert heat into electricity have figured out how to make their technique work in a form more suitable to industry. In Nature Communications, engineers from The Ohio State University describe how they used magnetism on a composite of nickel and platinum to amplify the voltage output 10 times or more -- not in a thin film, as they had done previously, but in a thicker piece of material that more closely resembles components for future electronic devices. Many electrical and mechanical devices, such as car engines, produce heat as a byproduct of their normal operation. It's called "waste heat," and its existence is required by the fundamental laws of thermodynamics, explained study co-author Stephen Boona. But a growing area of research called solid-state thermoelectrics aims to capture that waste heat inside specially designed materials to generate power and increase overall energy efficiency. "Over half of the energy we use is wasted and enters the atmosphere as heat," said Boona, a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State. "Solid-state thermoelectrics can help us recover some of that energy. These devices have no moving parts, don't wear out, are robust and require no maintenance. Unfortunately, to date, they are also too expensive and not quite efficient enough to warrant widespread use. We're working to change that." In 2012, the same Ohio State research group, led by Joseph Heremans, demonstrated that magnetic fields could boost a quantum mechanical effect called the spin Seebeck effect, and in turn boost the voltage output of thin films made from exotic nano-structured materials from a few microvolts to a few millivolts. advertisement In this latest advance, they've increased the output for a composite of two very common metals, nickel with a sprinkling of platinum, from a few nanovolts to tens or hundreds of nanovolts -- a smaller voltage, but in a much simpler device that requires no nanofabrication and can be readily scaled up for industry. Heremans, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Nanotechnology, said that, to some extent, using the same technique in thicker pieces of material required that he and his team rethink the equations that govern thermodynamics and thermoelectricity, which were developed before scientists knew about quantum mechanics. And while quantum mechanics often concerns photons -- waves and particles of light -- Heremans' research concerns magnons -- waves and particles of magnetism. "Basically, classical thermodynamics covers steam engines that use steam as a working fluid, or jet engines or car engines that use air as a working fluid. Thermoelectrics use electrons as the working fluid. And in this work, we're using quanta of magnetization, or 'magnons,' as a working fluid," Heremans said. Research in magnon-based thermodynamics was up to now always done in thin films -- perhaps only a few atoms thick -- and even the best-performing films produce very small voltages. In the 2012 paper, his team described hitting electrons with magnons to push them through thermoelectric materials. In the current Nature Communications paper, they've shown that the same technique can be used in bulk pieces of composite materials to further improve waste heat recovery. Instead of applying a thin film of platinum on top of a magnetic material as they might have done before, the researchers distributed a very small amount of platinum nanoparticles randomly throughout a magnetic material -- in this case, nickel. The resulting composite produced enhanced voltage output due to the spin Seebeck effect. This means that for a given amount of heat, the composite material generated more electrical power than either material could on its own. Since the entire piece of composite is electrically conducting, other electrical components can draw the voltage from it with increased efficiency compared to a film. While the composite is not yet part of a real-world device, Heremans is confident the proof-of-principle established by this study will inspire further research that may lead to applications for common waste heat generators, including car and jet engines. The idea is very general, he added, and can be applied to a variety of material combinations, enabling entirely new approaches that don't require expensive metals like platinum or delicate processing procedures like thin-film growth. If countries abide by the Paris Agreement global warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, potential fish catches could increase by six million metric tons per year, according to a new study published in Science. The researchers also found that some oceans are more sensitive to changes in temperature and will have substantially larger gains from achieving the Paris Agreement. "The benefits for vulnerable tropical areas is a strong reason why 1.5 C is an important target to meet," said lead author William Cheung, director of science at the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program and associate professor at UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. "Countries in these sensitive regions are highly dependent on fisheries for food and livelihood, but all countries will be impacted as the seafood supply chain is now highly globalized. Everyone would benefit from meeting the Paris Agreement." The authors compared the Paris Agreement 1.5 C warming scenario to the currently pledged 3.5 C by using computer models to simulate changes in global fisheries and quantify losses or gains. They found that for every degree Celsius decrease in global warming, potential fish catches could increase by more than three metric million tons per year. Previous UBC research shows that today's global fish catch is roughly 109 million metric tons. "Changes in ocean conditions that affect fish stocks, such as temperature and oxygen concentration, are strongly related to atmospheric warming and carbon emissions," said author Thomas Frolicher, principal investigator at the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program and senior scientist at ETH Zurich. "For every metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, the maximum catch potential decreases by a significant amount." Climate change is expected to force fish to migrate towards cooler waters. The amount and species of fish caught in different parts of the world will impact local fishers and make fisheries management more difficult. The findings suggest that the Indo-Pacific area would see a 40 per cent increase in fisheries catches at 1.5 C warming versus 3.5 C. Meanwhile the Arctic region would have a greater influx of fish under the 3.5 C scenario but would also lose more sea ice and face pressure to expand fisheries. The authors hope these results will provide further incentives for countries and the private sector to substantially increase their commitments and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "If one of the largest carbon dioxide emitting countries gets out of the Paris Agreement, the efforts of the others will be clearly reduced," says author Gabriel Reygondeau, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program senior fellow at UBC. "It's not a question of how much we can benefit from the Paris Agreement, but how much we don't want to lose." Kennametal Inc. engages in development and application of tungsten carbides, ceramics, and super-hard materials and solutions for use in metal cutting and extreme wear applications to enable customers work against corrosion and high temperatures conditions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Metal Cutting and Infrastructure. It offers standard and custom products, including turning, milling, hole making, tooling systems, and services, as well as specialized wear components and metallurgical powders for manufacturers engaged in various industries, such as the manufacturers of transportation vehicles and components, machine tools, and light and heavy machinery; airframe and aerospace components; and energy-related components for the oil and gas industry, as well as power generation. The company also provides specified product design, selection, application, and support services; and standard and custom metal cutting solutions to aerospace, general engineering, energy, and transportation customers. In addition, it produces compacts, nozzles, frac seats, and custom components used in oil and gas, and petrochemical industries; rod blanks and abrasive water jet nozzles for general industries; earth cutting tools and systems used in underground mining, trenching and foundation drilling, and road milling; tungsten carbide powders for the oil and gas, aerospace, and process industries; and ceramics used by the packaging industry for metallization of films and papers. It provides its products under the Kennametal, WIDIA, WIDIA Hanita, and WIDIA GTD brands through its direct sales force; a network of independent and national distributors; integrated supplier channels; and through the Internet. The company was founded in 1938 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Carnival Corporation & plc is a leisure travel company operating a fleet of cruise ships, hotels, and resorts with international destinations. Brands under the Carnival Corporation umbrella include Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America, P&O Cruises, Seaborn, Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, and Cunard. The companys goal is to provide extraordinary vacations at an exceptional value. As of 2022, the company laid claim to nearly half of the global cruising market share with several new ships in the works. Carnival Cruise Line was launched in 1972 with one second-hand ship and a tank of fuel. The first port of call was San Juan, Puerto Rico, but soon more were added. The original growth strategy included a festive atmosphere, features and amenities unlike any other cruise line at the time. Slow to start, the growth strategy shifted into overdrive in 1980 when Carnival shocked the world by building its own ship. The Tropicale became an iconic name in the cruising industry and sparked a wave of shipbuilding that is still underway. The companys growth hit a new stride in 1987 following the IPO which floated 20% of the company on the open market. The proceeds from the IPO allowed the company to embark on a voyage of acquisition and now Carnival is the worlds largest travel and leisure business. Today, Carnival Corporations 87 ships visit approximately 700 ports worldwide and employ more than 120,000 people while serving more than 13 million guests annually for a total of 85 million passenger cruise days per year. Net revenue, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, peaked out at over $6.5 billion annually. Carnival Cruise Line is the companys largest brand serving guests on all coasts of North America. The brand's 22 ships make 1500 voyages per year with trips ranging from 2 days to 3 weeks and ports of call from the Caribbean to Alaska. The company's largest ship is named Panorama and can accommodate more than 4,000 passengers. Carnivals 9 brands provide access to a wide range of cruising styles and destinations including the Caribbean, Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, England, and ports in Asia. The company is headquartered in Miami, Florida and has offices around the world. The company also has the distinction of being the only company included in both the S&P 500 and FTSE 250 indices. This is a current list of the top 250 companies by market capitalization on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Learn more . The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is one of the largest, and most recognizable, stock exchanges in the world. The NYSE is in New York City, New York at 11 Wall Street. The NYSE has been in existence since the earliest days of the United States becoming a nation, in 1792 and is primarily made up of blue-chip companies with large market capitalizations. In fact, many of the stocks that make up the Dow Jones Composite Index (i.e. The Dow) are listed on the NYSE. This article gives a brief history of the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, it covers topics such as what kind of stocks trade on the exchange, what are the listing requirements, how trading is performed, and what the daily price movement of the NYSE tells investors about investor sentiment. What Were the Origins of the NYSE? Today, the New York Stock Exchange is known as the center of the financial universe. However, the exchanges origin is far more humble. On May 17, 1792, 24 stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement creating a centralized exchange to help provide order to the securities market in what was still a young nation. The "Buttonwood Agreement comes from the tree of the same name under which the founders signed the agreement. An initial benefit of the exchange was how it removed the need for auctioneers when trading commodities like wheat and tobacco and to set a commission rate. The exchange initially focused on government bonds. However, the exchange had no formal home. Business was usually conducted informally in the local coffeehouses. In 1817, the exchange changed its name to the New York Stock & Exchange Board which later became the New York Stock Exchange. At this time, the exchange adopted a constitution that set the rules for trading. A group of stockbrokers met twice a day at 40 Wall Street to trade 30 stocks and bonds. Over time, the exchange moved became the financial hub of the country and moved to its current location in 1865. What Kind of Stocks Trade on the NYSE? As of June 2022, the NYSE includes approximately 2,400 companies with a market capitalization of over $28.2 trillion. Although the NYSE trades stocks of all market capitalizations, its best known for trading the stocks of large cap companies. These have the benefit of being mature companies in mature industries. And many of these companies reward shareholders with dividends. However, that also means that many of these companies are better suited for value investors as opposed to growth investors. In bear markets this stability can be a benefit for investors as these stocks tend to perform less bad than more volatile stocks. But in a bull market, these stocks are not likely to provide investors with the growth that they look for. An interesting fact about how the NYSE and NASDAQ operate is that the companies with the five largest market caps on the NYSE are also listed on the NASDAQ exchange. What Are the Listing Requirements For the NYSE? The NYSE has strict guidelines that govern the types of companies that can list on the exchange. Here are the major requirements that all companies must meet: The company must have at least 2,200 shareholders The company must trade over 100,000 shares per month The company must have a market valuation of over $100 million The company must generate more than $75 million in annual revenue However, there is at least one advantage of having such stringent requirements. That is the companies that meet the requirements generally find it easier to get more investors funds when they hold their initial public offering (IPO). Once a company begins trading on the NYSE, it must continue to meet these requirements. If it doesnt it can be delisted. In addition to these requirements, the stock must continue to trade above $1. If the price of a stock drops below $1 for more than 29 consecutive trading days, the stock receives an Initial Price Violation Notice. At that point, the company has 10 days to provide the exchange with a plan for bringing their shares above $1. How are Trades Executed on the NYSE? For over a century, the floor of the NYSE was the place for investors to be. This meant trades were conducted by traders who ran buy and sell orders across the trading floor looking to broker a deal for their clients. But with the birth of the NASDAQ exchange in 1971, the New York Stock Exchange began conducting electronic trading. However, the NYSE continues to conduct trades in an auction style. Brokers purchase stocks on behalf of their clients or firms. Every order features a broker who will enter the order electronically and a specialist who serves as the market maker for that stock. The specialist posts bid and ask prices and manages the actual execution of the trades. And there are still a handful of stockbrokers who still traffic buy and sell orders physically on the floor of the exchange. How Does the NYSE Signal Investor Sentiment? Like its counterpart, the NASDAQ, the NYSE measures the risk appetite of investors. When the NYSE is moving higher over a length of time, it signals that a risk on environment. Conversely when the NYSE moves lower over a significant period, it signals that investors are moving to a risk off position. Some Final Thoughts on the NYSE Financial news networks plan their programming schedule around the opening and closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange. Its still considered a distinguished honor when individuals or groups are invited to ring the opening bell. In fact, Warren Buffett is attributed with saying that in the short term, the stock market acts like a voting machine. A fact that many U.S. presidents will attest to. The NYSE is the oldest and most recognizable of all the stock exchanges. It also has the most stringent requirements for inclusion. And those requirements must be maintained even after a stock begins publicly trading on the exchange. Although the NYSE still has a small in-person Trading Floor, much of the trading is done electronically to provide traders with the speed to execute trades. Telefonica, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company's mobile and related services and products comprise mobile voice, value added, mobile data and Internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone services; local, domestic, and international long-distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; supplementary value-added services; video telephony; intelligent network; and telephony information services, as well as leases and sells handset equipment. The company also provides Internet and broadband multimedia services comprising Internet service provider, portal and network, retail and wholesale broadband access, narrowband switched access, high-speed Internet through fibre to the home, and voice over Internet protocol services. In addition, it offers leased line, virtual private network, fibre optics, web hosting and application, outsourcing and consultancy, desktop, and system integration and professional services. Further, the company offers wholesale services for telecommunication operators, including domestic interconnection and international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators; and local loop leasing services, as well as bit stream services, wholesale line rental accesses, and leased ducts for other operators' fiber deployment. Additionally, it provides video/TV services; smart connectivity and services, and consumer IoT products; financial and other payment, security, cloud computing, advertising, big data, and digital telco experience services; virtual assistants; digital home platforms; and Movistar Home devices. It also offers online telemedicine, home insurance, music streaming, and consumer loan services. The company was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. Charlie arrived at Collier County Animal Services (CCAS) in Florida as a stray in December 2015. This December, he's still there, and is desperately searching for a family for the holidays. When Charlie first arrived at the shelter, he was incredibly shy and anxious. "He was a quiet, slightly timid dog that was very particular about the people he wanted to interact with, and preferred to not be in the presence of any other dogs," Katie Sibert, volunteer coordinator at CCAS, told The Dodo. "His picky taste and aloof behaviors had turned away many families that were interested in meeting with him." No one knows how the 3-year-old boxer mix ended up on the streets, or if he'd ever even had a home at all. After spending months at the shelter, Charlie was transferred to a local humane society in July, but became even more anxious there due to the hectic environment. He was eventually transferred back to a smaller, quieter branch of CCAS, where he's been ever since. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs Charlie is terrified of strangers, and doesn't like changes to his daily routine. His quirks and struggles have caused him to be misunderstood and left him without a home for so long, when really, he's actually a calm, sweet dog. "He is actually a really laid-back and sweet boy when he isn't stressed out," Sibert said. "He loves taking walks and likes the water hose. He enjoys affection and attention from staff who he knows and feels comfortable with. He likes being close to someone in a calm, quiet environment." Over the summer, Charlie got to spend a day out of the shelter with a staff member he felt comfortable with, and experienced his very first time lounging on a couch ... ... and going shopping for new toys. Charlie's anxiety sometimes gets in the way of potential adopters being able to see his personality, but that doesn't mean the right family isn't out there somewhere. What Charlie really needs to be successful is someone who understands him. Charlie's ideal home would be one with no kids, no pets and little excitement. He needs a quiet place where he can spend his days napping and relaxing, free from any chaos or sudden changes that might trigger his anxiety. "Charlie would benefit from an adopter that is patient, understanding and knowledgeable about challenging dogs with behavioral issues and is willing to work with him," Sibert said. "It will likely take a person making multiple visits to meet with him to no longer be a stranger to him." This sweet dog is the shelter's longest-standing resident, and just wants to find a home for the holidays. What Charlie really needs to not be anxious is a safe, warm home away from shelter life with a family who loves him. Beefcakes' earliest journal entries read a little bit like the Diary of a Broken Dog. Excerpts, from July 2015, note "skilled surgeons working hard to address the issue of his badly broken jaw ... " Of course, the dog didn't actually write them. One of his caregivers at the Longmont Humane Society kept careful notes after he arrived with a gunshot wound to his head. " ... third surgery on Friday evening ... " "Multiple procedures to repair and stabilize ... " But note after painstaking note eventually yields to a change in tone. "Healing nicely ... " "Friendly with people of all ages ... " And then those journal entries start to read like the Diary of an Unbreakable Heart. Last year, Beefcakes became one of the most famous dogs in Colorado, not only surviving a gunshot at close range but bouncing back into a lovable dog who quickly found a real home. Dodo Shows Little But Fierce Pocket-Sized Kitten Grows Up To Be A Wild Woman Only that home wasn't to last. In September, a death in the family sent the celebrity dog back to the Longmont Humane Society. "With the change in the family dynamic they made the decision to return him. They really, really loved him. It's just tragic circumstances," Carrie Brackenridge, marketing and communications manager at the shelter, tells The Dodo. But it didn't mean Beefcakes was back at the beginning. He had already charmed everyone at the shelter during his first stay there. In fact, Beefcakes is so beloved among shelter staff and volunteers, he doesn't even live in a kennel. He calls a staff member's office home. "He gets a lot of people smiling every single day," Brackenridge says. "That's really how he prefers things. He adores being in the company of people. We all love being around him. He just makes people happy." Beefcakes' fame, however, never goes to his head. In fact, Beefcakes is once again waiting for someone to take him home - with his trademark smile. "He has a lot of interest from the community," Brackenridge notes. "We just haven't seen him get a lot of visits since he's been back." But while his heart has proven bullet-proof, it's not, as caregivers noted, murmur-proof. "He's going to be on medication to support his heart for the rest of his life," Brackenridge says. The shelter is looking to find a home for Beefcakes in the Boulder County area, so staff can deliver him directly to his lucky new adoptive family. And that's what he must have seemed like to the staff at a medical center in northern Canada, where the dog spent day after day haunting the property. But they soon realized the truth: "He was owned," Erin Manahan, a foster care volunteer with Northern Reach, told The Dodo. "A very well taken care of dog, actually." His family had been in a car accident. They died at that very hospital, orphaning him in an instant. And the dog, whose name was Snappy, just couldn't let it go. Staff members at the nurses' station gradually earned Snappy's trust, feeding him and taking care of the heartbroken dog. For years, the Mendoza Zoological Park in Argentina was widely known as the place where Arturo, a polar bear, languished in scorching heat before finally passing away - but now things are changing drastically. This week, the zoo, which just got a new director, decided to give all four of its elephants to South America's first elephant sanctuary, Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, which just opened in October. Asian elephant family Pocha, Tamy and Guillermina, as well as African elephant Kenia, are going to say goodbye to zoo life - just as soon as the sanctuary can build habitats for them. Kenia, the Mendoza Zoo's lone African elephant | Junia Machado/Santuario de Elefantes Brasil "The fact that the Mendoza Zoo is taking the initiative to move all four of their elephants is a selfless act that is inspiring and deserves enormous accolades," Scott Blais, CEO of the Global Sanctuary for Elephants (GSE), the organization that coordinated the agreement, told The Dodo. "We know that elephants are highly complex emotionally, socially and psychologically ... Fortunately, the Mendoza Zoo has realized the negative impact captivity has on these sentient beings and they have made the clear choice to provide them with a brighter future." Dodo Shows Dodo Heroes Woman Devotes Her Life To The Stray Dogs Of Bali Asian Elephant Tamy went from the circus to the zoo - and soon he'll be on his way to Latin America's first elephant sanctuary. | Junia Machado/Santuario de Elefantes Brasil Blais hopes that this is only the beginning of a larger paradigm shift in how people think about elephants in captivity. And there have been some precursors. In the U.S., for instance, the Detroit Zoo gave its elephants to Performing Animal Welfare Society's sanctuary in California in 2005 after zookeepers realized that no zoo could be sufficient to meet the needs of the animals. "The Mendoza Zoo's progressive decision will hopefully cause other facilities to examine their programs and acknowledge the need for change," Blais said. "This move will also help to open the eyes of the general public that even with the purest of intentions, zoos simply cannot provide certain species with a life that meets even their most basic needs. For the benefit of all captive animals, let this be the beginning of a global trend towards putting the animals' needs first above human desires." Junia Machado/Santuario de Elefantes Brasil The decision to free the elephants comes after another piece of good news. A judge recently ordered Cecilia, a chimpanzee at the zoo, to be freed so she could live with others of her kind at a sanctuary. The decision shows, GSE wrote, that a "sanctuary is the perceived logical choice that animals would choose if we could understand their voice and their true desires." "When Pocha, Guillermina, Kenia and Tamy take their first steps into their sanctuary it will mark the end of an embarrassing era of negligence and the beginning of a remarkable, transformative journey," Blais said. Junia Machado/Santuario de Elefantes Brasil If Cleo the sheep hadn't been rescued, she'd probably be dead by now. But thankfully, people were able to save her - and a surprise arrival who came just in time. Cleo was rescued from a farm in Westport, Massachusetts, in what's been referred to as one of the worst animal abuse cases in the United States. More than 1,000 animals - including sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and chickens - were kept in deplorable conditions at the 70-acre farm. The ASPCA led a rescue operation that took several days and involved over 45 people, and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Kelly Mullins, the animal care director for Catskill Animal Sanctuary, was there to assist the ASPCA as the group evacuated as many animals as possible. "There were dilapidated sheds, and there was garbage everywhere," Mullins told The Dodo. "It smelled horribly. There was rotting food. There were not a lot of safe areas for the animals to go into coverage from the rain or the weather conditions. The fencing was made of discarded appliances, pieces of fencing next to old boats. A lot of the animals were very malnourished." Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Orphaned Deer Runs Back To The Wild With Her Best Friend For some animals, the rescuers had arrived too late. "There were a lot of dead bodies and bones," Mullins said. "It's always shocking to see anything like that because no matter how long you're involved with rescue of animals, it's still impossible to believe that anyone would treat any animal this way." The ASPCA arranged for the animals to be transported to different sanctuaries and refuges in the area. Catskill Animal Sanctuary took in 130 animals, including Cleo the sheep. The five sheep Catskill Animal Sanctuary rescued from the Westport farm | Catskill Animal Sanctuary Like most of the animals rescued from the Westport farm, Cleo was malnourished and underweight. But she quickly started filling out, and the sanctuary team began to suspect that Cleo might be pregnant. When Cleo's udders became full, their suspicions were confirmed. One of the rescued sheep at the sanctuary | Catskill Animal Sanctuary On Monday, the night before Cleo's baby was born, Kellie Myers, the healthcare coordinator for Catskill Animal Sanctuary, took Cleo into the infirmary, knowing her time was close. Then Cleo went into labor. "She exhibited all the signs - pacing, lying down and then getting up, then lying down and getting up, and having contractions," Mullins said. "But when no baby arrived by 4 the next morning, I called the vet, fearing something was wrong. She'd been in labor for too long." They rushed Cleo to the Hurley Veterinary Hospital in Hurley, New York. There, a vet named Dr. Gillian Ferguson helped Cleo deliver two lambs - twins. Unfortunately, the first lamb was stillborn. They initially thought the second lamb was stillborn, too. Then the lamb twitched. "Dr. Ferguson said, 'Oh my god! He's alive!'" Mullins said. "And she started working on him again, and he started breathing and he started making noise." Catskill Animal Sanctuary The sanctuary team named the newborn lamb Ferguson after the vet who'd saved his life, and probably his mother's life as well. Catskill Animal Sanctuary Cleo and Ferguson are now back at the sanctuary, although they're staying inside the infirmary while Ferguson is still young. Catskill Animal Sanctuary Mom and baby are both doing well, according to Mullins. "She's a pretty chilled-out and relaxed mom," Mullins said. "And Ferguson's gained weight." Catskill Animal Sanctuary "We're all overjoyed to see this wee tiny little boy come into the world after such horror and hardship that his mom lived through, and to now be able to offer them both a safe and happy home for the rest of their lives," Mullins added. "It gets us out of bed in the morning and gets us going - that we can at least give them something good." Catskill Animal Sanctuary In the race to develop self-driving cars, Michigan is suddenly aiming to give Silicon Valley a run for its money. The Motor City has been the centre of the United States auto industry for more than a century. But as computer chips and software have become increasingly important in automobiles, Silicon Valley has seemed to take the lead, especially in the development of the supersmart cars of tomorrow. Google and Tesla, for example, have been at the forefront in creating cars with the ability to drive themselves. And many automakers have opened California outposts to become part of the high-tech scene. Uber and Lyft, the app-based ride-hailing services, are both based in San Francisco. But Michigan is trying to regain the high ground. General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are all engaged in autonomous vehicle projects based in Detroits environs. And the state government is laying the ground for even more self-driving development work. The latest step came this month when Gov. Rick Snyder signed a package of laws to permit more extensive testing of self-driving cars on public roads, while clearing the way for use of autonomous vehicles in trials by ride-hailing services. We are opening a new portal for autonomous technology, Snyder said in an interview. This helps reinforce the message that Michigan is a place of innovation. The passage of Michigans new laws come as Uber battles with California authorities over the companys test of self-driving cars in San Francisco. The state contends Uber has not obtained the necessary permits, although Uber has continued picking up passengers with its autonomous test cars. Nevada and Arizona are also vying to lure companies that are testing and developing self-driving cars. Whats at stake is a potential economic boost the millions of dollars automakers and others are spending on research and engineering, and the high-paying jobs they are creating. The city of Pittsburgh is also intent on competing with Detroit as a self-driving technopolis. Because of some pioneering research in self-driving technology at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh has emerged as a key development site. Uber is using autonomous cars to provide rides in one section of the city, a project for which Bill Peduto, the mayor, said he was happy to roll out the red carpet. Delphi Automotive, a maker of automobile components, is also working on self-driving systems in Pittsburgh. Even before Michigan passed its new laws, the state was gaining ground. Earlier this year Googles self-driving car project, now called Waymo, partnered with Fiat Chrysler to develop a fleet of 100 self-driving minivans and opened a technical office in Novi, Mich., near Detroit. The modified Pacifica vans, engineered in Michigan and assembled at Fiat Chryslers plant in Windsor, Ont., just across the river from Detroit, were recently delivered to Waymo. The two companies tested the first prototypes at Fiat Chryslers proving grounds near Ann Arbor. Ontario means to play its own big role in self-driving technology. Earlier this year, General Motors announced that it would create up to 1,000 engineering jobs in the province, many focused on autonomous driving software development. And this week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially opened BlackBerrys self-driving research centre in Ottawa. It is based around a company formerly known QNX Software Systems, which has a long history as a supplier to auto companies. Back in Michigan, Ford is expanding its autonomous car efforts at its headquarters in Dearborn. It has built 30 self-driving cars and aims to have a fully automated car, with no steering wheel or pedals, in volume production by 2021. Ford intends for those cars to be first used in urban, ride-hailing fleets. The University of Michigan has created a 32-acre centre for testing self-driving vehicles in Ann Arbor. Called MCity, the 32-acre facility has streets, intersections, traffic lights and road signs that provide a realistic environment where companies can hone autonomous vehicles before putting them on public roads. The university has also broken ground on a much larger, 335-acre site that was once the home of a Second World War bomber factory. Michigans new laws allow the testing of autonomous vehicles that have no steering wheel or gas and brake pedals. California prohibits testing of such cars on public roads. Michigan is also allowing more extensive testing of autonomous trucks travelling in groups or platoons. Theres the wrangling going on between the tech companies and the authorities in California over what is and what isnt allowed, said Karl Brauer, a senior editor at Kelley Blue Book, an automotive research firm. Meanwhile, in Michigan, you get the sense that its What can we do to help you? General Motors, the nations biggest automaker, said last week that it planned to soon begin testing its autonomous vehicles on Michigan roads. The company added that it would also build its first self-driving Chevrolet Bolts already available as an all-electric car for human drivers at an assembly plant in the Detroit suburb of Orion Township. GM is not saying when self-driving cars will be available for sale, but that it expects the Bolt will initially be for ride-hailing services. The addition of autonomous vehicles early next year may help secure the long-term future of the Orion Township plant, which makes the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact as well as the Bolt. GMs decision to centralize its production of self-driving models in Orion Township is a big step toward making Michigan a manufacturing hub for autonomous cars. We expect to be the first high-volume auto manufacturer to build fully autonomous vehicles in a mass-production assembly plant, Mary Barra, GMs chief executive, said at Fridays announcement. GM has already been testing autonomous Bolts at its technical centre in Warren, Michigan, as well as on public roads in San Francisco and Scottsdale, Arizona. But Barra said Michigans new law would help make the state the centre of its winter-weather tests. Being here where we can get the cold, snow and all the different weather conditions, she said, is very important. Read more about: SHARE: The city is taking the owners of three downtown homes on Bleecker St. to court for alleged zoning violations related to their use as short-term rentals a business city council is expected to look at regulating next year. If the owners are convicted, it will be the second time Torontos Municipal Licensing and Standards (MLS) department has been successful in laying these kinds of charges in connection to the citys booming short-term rental market. In this case, the houses near Sherbourne and Wellesley Sts., have been listed on several rental sites and been the subject of complaints by neighbours, who say they were unnerved by strangers coming and going, noise, garbage and parking issues. The charges against 104 and 106 Bleecker St. date back to incidents on Feb. 5. The charge against 102 Bleecker stems from May 9. The zoning bylaw outlines the uses that are permitted for any city property, said Mark Sraga, director of Investigation Service for MLS. In the case of Bleecker St., single family homes, row houses and tourist homes are all permitted. For a tourist home, the bylaw requires it to be the principal residence of the landlord. In this case, the homeowners dont live there, Sraga alleged. Two other homes on Bleecker St. are part of the same rental business, owned by Roman Neyolov, who is listed as the owner of the two other Bleecker St. properties. Although his name is not on the titles of the three houses charged, he told the Star last May that he has an interest in the properties. In that previous interview, he also said that Bleecker St. residents had harassed his tenants. Neyolov told the Star he would welcome rental regulations such as those Quebec uses in its tourist home system where properties are inspected by the government and landlords pay a fee. He did not respond to a Star request for comment for this article. The owners listed on the property records couldnt be reached for comment. The maximum fine for a zoning violation is $25,000 for an individual and $50,000 for corporations, according to Sraga. Those are the maximums so we would not expect anything near that, he said. In the absence of a city policy that sets clear rules for rentals on web-based platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO, the zoning charges are a welcome response, said Thorben Wieditz of the hotel workers union-led Fairbnb coalition. The coalition uses the term ghost hotels to refer to properties that are operated as short-term rentals by absentee owners. At the end of the day, regulation is needed to avoid the city going after individual violators. If you have a system in place where platforms are forced to only post listings that have a valid city permit, then we would not have to deal with these kind of scenarios because these places would not be on the short-term rental market in the first place, said Wieditz. Last month, the owner of a Willowdale home, the site of a March shooting, pleaded guilty to a single zoning bylaw violation involving a short-term rental. The justice of the peace agreed to delay sentencing in that case until January to give the owner time to put the house on Glenelia Ave., near Bayview and Cummer Aves., on the market. The property sold for about $2 million on Nov. 30. The Bleecker St. charges are expected to be heard in court on Jan. 9. SHARE: PORT DOUGLAS, AUSTRALIAWe traipse single-file through the worlds oldest living rainforest eyes peeled for birds, lizards and the treacherous stinging gympie gympie plant until our guide, Tom Creek, suddenly stops. Yuda binga binga ngayu jenan oondool yali jilbanga, he calls out, using the native language of the Kuku Yalanji. The dense tree canopy nearly swallows Creeks voice, but he seems satisfied his message has been received. Im letting the spirit world know that were here and why, he explains. An indigenous guide at Mossman Gorge in northern Queensland, Australia, Creek shares insight into how his people survived in the rainforest for thousands of years. Continuing towards the river, he points out plants used to heal wounds and demonstrates using sassafras bark as soap. Its not just a hokey act for tourists. The Yalanji still actively practise these traditions today and its these authentic experiences visitors to Australia are increasingly seeking out. In 2015, Tourism Australia launched a new campaign recognizing indigenous experiences as one of the key drivers of tourism, with 14 per cent of international visitors taking part in an Aboriginal cultural experience. What I discover on the Cassowary Coast, though, is the most powerful experiences are owned and run by the Aboriginal people themselves. Named for the vibrant emu-like birds that inhabit the region, everything here seems Dr. Seuss-ified. The road stretches out between lush green peaks shrouded in clouds, while gum trees and glimpses of Australias iconic red soil punctuate the passing banana plantations. After driving two hours south of Cairns, we arrive in Tully, the home of Cafe Chloe, a social entrepreneurship supported by G AdventuresPlaneterra Foundation. In addition to offering an introduction to the Janbanbarra Jirrbal Rainforest peoples culture, through activities such as boomerang-painting workshops, the cafe provides Aboriginal students such as Demi Gutchen with vocational training. Gutchen, 17, shyly says she used to work on a banana farm that smelled like rats. Now, shes working towards a future in hospitality and tourism. Its all about sustaining culture, explains Cafe Chloes owner, Sonya Jeffrey. So far, the centre has trained 10 students and welcomed more than 1,500 travellers. Goodwill alone doesnt bring in tourists, though, so after a lunch of damper (bush bread) and barramundi cooked traditionally in ginger leaves, I ask Jeffrey why she thinks tourists are suddenly so keen to tap into Aboriginal culture. Theres a huge interest in the ancient knowledge thats been passed down from generation to generation, she says. For the last five years, her company Ingan Tours has been taking visitors on indigenous-guided treks and whitewater rafting tours through the rainforest, where they learn about the Jirrbals connection to the land. The rainforest was our hardware store, our supermarket, our chemist; it fascinates people that you could get everything you needed to survive from this beautiful landscape, says Jeffrey. It really opens peoples minds. Although there had once been more than 500 different Aboriginal nations with languages, cultures and customs as diverse as the countrys vast landscape this strong connection to the environment is a common thread. Its evident as we weave through the cultural centre at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, some 2,700 kilometres away, and learn how the local Anangu people live by the customs of Tjukurpa, or the principle that the people and landscape are one. Also known as Ayers Rock, Uluru became a hot spot in the early 50s, when tourists started flocking to the red centre to see the famous monolith. It wasnt until 1985 that the land was given back to the traditional landowners. Since then, the Anangu and Parks Australia have jointly managed the area, and Tjukurpa is once again a ruling principle. Photography at sites of cultural significance is strictly off-limits. Even climbing Uluru once a brag-worthy statement slapped on souvenir T-shirts is discouraged, as its considered a path of spiritual significance. After reading about the medicinal properties of irmangka (native fuschia), I wander down a path that leads, predictably, to a gift shop. It contains no made-in-China wares Anangu women produce everything at the Walkatjara Art gallery. Sitting on the floor, theyre focused on creating dot paintings characteristic of the region. Home to 60 artists, the not-for-profit is Aboriginal-owned. However, understanding Australias Aboriginal people and their connection to the land is far more complex than something that can be bought in a gift shop. After exploring the base of Uluru, my group heads out to the sunset viewing a scene best likened to an outback tailgate party, complete with barbecued food, Eskies (coolers) filled with beer, and Champagne corks flying. Yet, as the light changes, so does the atmosphere. Ulurus hazy orange hue slowly transforms into a deep scarlet, and a quiet reverence settles over the crowd. This moment, our tour guide Keilie Stokes believes, is something that cant be packaged or sold. I think the Anangu got it right, she says. Theres something very sacred about this place. Jessica Wynne Lockhart was hosted by G Adventures, which didnt review or approve this story. When you go Do this trip: National Geographics Explore Australia is a 12-day upgraded journey offered by G Adventures. In addition to exclusive National Geographic content such as a behind-the-scenes look at the James Cook University research aquarium, a history lecture by an Aboriginal elder, and a food tour of Melbourne visitors have the opportunity to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. Stops include Sydney, Port Douglas, Cairns, Uluru and Melbourne, with prices starting at $4,999 (Canadian), excluding airfare to Australia. Details at: gadventures.com Eat: Sounds of Silence, Ayers Rock Resort: While Ulurus sunset viewing area is perfect for a barbecue, step it up a notch or three with a three-course dinner and a glass of sparkling wine served under the stars. At the Sounds of Silence, guests are treated to dishes that incorporate native bush ingredients, all from a scenic vantage point overlooking the national park. Details at: ayersrockresort.com.au Ochre, Cairns: Located on the Cairns waterfront, Ochre specializes in modern Australian cuisine. With a focus on sustainable regional foods and native Australian produce, you can try everything here from kangaroo sirloin to wallaby topside, to crocodile. Details at: ochrerestaurant.com.au Lucy Liu, Melbourne: As you make your way down the alley, dont look for a sign keep an eye out for the red lights that lead the way into this Asian-fusion restaurant instead. Serving amped-up street food, this is the place to go for housemade kimchi, dumplings and cocktails. Details at: lucylius.com.au Shop: Skip the cheap airport tchotchkes and opt for locally made goods instead. Melbournalia only carries apparel, accessories, art and kitchenware by Melbourne artists. Here, youll find tea towels silkscreened with flowering gum trees, Australian map tote bags, and hand-poured soap featuring echidnas and kangaroos. Details at: melbournalia.com.au Do your research: Australia.com and GAdventures.com SHARE: A convicted felon attempted to move at least $12 million through a Canadian bank, which failed to report the transactions to authorities in a breach of anti-money-laundering law, new documents obtained by the Toronto Star and National Observer show. For keeping the transactions secret, the bank, whose name has been removed from the documents, was fined $1.15 million the first and only time a bank has been penalized for this kind of offence in Canada. It committed the very serious offence of failing to report a suspicious transaction related to the commission or attempted commission of a money laundering offence, according to 109 pages of heavily censored documents obtained through an access to information request by the National Observer. From early 2012 to the end of 2013, the unnamed bank processed 1,179 international electronic transfers of $10,000 or more from the mystery client, who used a potential shell company and operated out of an unnamed country associated with money laundering. It also accepted 45 cash deposits of $10,000 or more, all without ever reporting the transactions to Fintrac, Canadas money laundering and terrorist financing enforcement agency, as required by law. The vast number of unreported transactions is shocking, one financial expert said. Richard Leblanc, a professor of corporate governance at York University, said it pointed to the possibility of bank employees conspiring with the client. This is a remarkable failure of governance at a major financial institution, Leblanc said. Its shocking that this would occur. Adam Ross, who authored a recent report on money laundering in Canada for Transparency International, said the case highlighted a total lack of due diligence. Its either systematic collapse of a monitoring system or employees of the bank were aiding and abetting this guy. The Canadian Bankers Association declined to comment on the new information and sent an eight-month-old statement first made when the fine was announced in April. While the newly released Fintrac documents censor the clients name, the dates and descriptions of his activities line up directly with those of Manitoba online pharmacy entrepreneur Andrew Strempler, 42, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges in the U.S. after his shipments were found to contain counterfeit medication: The Fintrac documents say the client was arrested in June 2012, following his deportation from (redacted). Strempler, according to news reports, was arrested in Miami in June 2012, during a stopover on his deportation flight from Panama to Canada. The Fintrac documents say the client pleaded guilty in October 2012, related to the commission or attempted commission of a money laundering offence. Strempler, according to court documents, pleaded guilty in a Southern District of Florida court on Oct. 4, 2012, to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. The Fintrac documents say the bank was aware of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation into the client in 2011. On Sept. 8, 2011, an FDA investigator confirmed to the bank that there was an active investigation of (redacted). Stremplers factual proffer, signed Oct. 8, 2012, states that the FDA sent him a letter as early as 2001, saying it would be illegal for RxNorth to ship drugs that were not FDA-approved into the United States. The Fintrac documents say the client was sentenced in January 2013. Court documents show Strempler was sentenced to 48 months in prison and fined $25,000 (U.S.) by Judge Jose E. Martinez on Jan. 9, 2013. Strempler was transferred to a minimum security prison in Manitoba in July 2015 and was released in October last year. His name now appears on a website for a consulting firm based outside Winnipeg. Despite repeated attempts to reach Strempler this week for comment, he did not respond. According to the timeline of the case, at least some of the 1,224 unreported transactions occurred while Strempler was incarcerated. According to U.S. court transcripts, the district attorney was able to determine that Strempler made $95 million from his mail-order pharmaceuticals business in 2005 and 2006 alone, $20 million of which was put in his wifes name. Since Fintrac oversees only financial institutions, its findings against the bank have no bearing on Strempler. The financial oversight body said it is prevented by law from naming the banks client. Fintrac does have the authority to name the bank, but has refused to do so. In the documents obtained by the Star and the National Observer, Fintrac lays out the criteria for public naming in three media lines. The unknown bank meets two of those three criteria: it committed a very serious violation and its penalty was greater than $250,000. In April, Fintrac officials said the bank couldnt be named until all appeals were exhausted. At that time, the agency issued a public notice of the fine, in order to send a message of deterrence now and bring about improved compliance behaviour as quickly as possible. This week, however, Fintrac spokesperson Darren Gibb confirmed all appeals have now been exhausted and the agency is still keeping the banks name secret. This ongoing refusal to name the bank involved in such a large-scale financial breach is un-Canadian, said York Universitys Leblanc. Normally, in a country like ours, theres disclosure and transparency, he said. You cant have deterrence without names. Thats the most important thing the name of the institution and individuals involved Theres a public right to know. Richard Powers, director of governance programs at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management, said corporations found guilty of wrongdoing should face the same public accountability as individuals. If it were me, the name would be on the front page, he said. Any person would be identified. Why should a corporation not face the same? To act as a deterrent, there should be full disclosure. The banks infractions which also included failing to develop and apply compliance policies and procedures were not referred to police for a criminal investigation because Fintrac determined an administrative monetary penalty was the most appropriate course of action. The most serious violation assessed by Fintrac involves an incident in February 2012 when the bank received a suspicious transaction related to the commission or attempted commission of a money laundering offence which should have (been) reported, reads a Fintrac analysis document. That transaction was an incoming electronic funds transfer of $10,000 or more with several red flags, the document reads. At the time of the transfer, Strempler was already facing fraud-related charges in the U.S. The bank had confirmed he was under investigation by the FDA and the RCMP. His account was frozen. The bank filed two previous suspicious transaction reports and placed him on enhanced monitoring, which included filing to Fintrac on a quarterly basis about his activities. High volumes of wire transfers were received in the clients account and the transactions involved a potential shell company, the Fintrac analysis document reads. The transactions involved (redacted) which is known or suspected to be a country facilitating money laundering activities and a country where illicit drug production or exporting may be prevalent. Shortly after the transfer arrived, it was reversed and the funds were returned to the sender. Still, the bank filed no suspicious transaction report to Fintrac. In the documents, Fintrac describes suspicious transaction reports as the most significant report that Fintrac receives as it conveys information directly relevant to money laundering or terrorism financing. Failing to file such a report reconstitutes a violation with the most impact, because it undermines the foundation of the regime which is reporting of transactions to Fintrac, the reasons for the decision say. The bank did not contest Fintracs findings. (Redacted) admitted to the violation by stating that it should have reported the transaction in question as a suspicious transaction, the documents state. The documents show the banks maximum fine was $1.8 million. Fintrac originally imposed a fine of $1.5 million, but that was reduced further. In a letter to the bank on Dec. 15, 2015, an unnamed Fintrac official wrote that the $1.5-million figure was reviewed in light of the written representations you had submitted and that after full consideration I impose a total administrative monetary penalty of $1,154,670. Those bank submissions, filed Sept. 30, 2015, argued the proposed penalty was too high in consideration of the nature and actual circumstances of the violations, and that the harm done is minimal. When asked if the fine levied was appropriate for the severity and number of violations, Fintrac said administrative monetary penalties are intended to be non-punitive and are issued to encourage change in the non-compliant behaviour. Fintrac imposed the penalty Dec. 15, 2015, but would not make its first-ever fine against a bank public for more than three months. SHARE: MONTREALOnce a staple of the holiday news season, the televised prime ministerial fireside chats are well on the way to joining the ghosts of Christmases past. The CBC and Radio-Canada among others have opted out of the format, rightly concluding that the days when there was something special or for that matter newsworthy about deferentially serving up a prime minister to a festive nation had gone. So have the days when a government leader had to rely on a handful of major networks to reach a national audience. Interviews with the prime minister are a dime a dozen this December. On top of various year-end Parliament Hill interviews and a news conference, Trudeau has spent the past week on a year-end tour. At the end of last week, he was in Montreal taking questions from Radio-Canada viewers. This week he spent time in Vancouver and Calgary. There was a time when a contingent of Parliament Hill reporters would have tagged along. But trips outside the parliamentary precinct are so few now, as it is possible to catch Trudeau live in action from ones computer at no cost to media organizations. This year marked the 150th anniversary of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. For its members, it was a bittersweet occasion. In tandem with the larger journalism universe the gallerys membership has been shrinking. That may be even truer of the institutions collective influence. The challenging economics of journalism tell only part of the story. When I came to Parliament Hill in the late eighties, Le Devoirs Montreal-based justice reporter would hop on a bus and travel to Ottawa every time the Supreme Court released a major ruling. Collecting it in person was the only way to get the text of a decision on the day it was rendered. For that reason, larger news organizations often based their justice reporter on Parliament Hill. With the exception of the televised House debates, pretty much anything that happened around or on the Hill was only accessible to journalists who were physically present on the premises. It was impossible to keep up with the narrative at a distance from the capital. The members of the gallery truly were the ears and eyes of Canadians on Parliament Hill for more than a century. But today, the Globe and Mails Andre Picard writes the most authoritative health policy column on offer from Montreal. In English as in French, the bulk of the immigration and foreign policy commentary and analysis no longer emanates from Parliament Hill bureaus. Every year, the budget lockup draws a gaggle of columnists and editorialists who normally toil in Montreal and Toronto. With access to federal finance documents at the tip of anyones fingers, more fiscal policy coverage than ever is done outside the federal capital. And, of course, it is no longer necessary to have a desk a few blocks down from the Supreme Court to obtain its rulings in real time. The much-watched At Issue panel on CBCs The National has never had a permanent member whose exclusive workplace was Parliament Hill. (I have been splitting my time between the federal capital and Montreal for 20 years.) And yet parliamentary insiders regularly vote it as the most influential media panel. Over the years, a lot of policy expertise and knowledge has been farmed out of the press gallery, and, with it, many of the relationships that minister and mandarins used to nurture with those who were on the beats that pertained to their portfolios. As a consequence but also as the result of the practice of clickbaiting, the ratio of politics reporting versus public policy coverage coming out of the parliamentary press has steadily increased. The press gallery has become more diverse but polls suggest its output has tended to become less germane to the priorities of voters. Parliament Hill remains the only place in the country where conflicting political currents come to clash. The dynamics are a must-watch for anyone who wants to understand how complex Canada is. That is not easily done via a computer screen. It is impossible to imagine national political coverage without a parliamentary component. But regardless of their number, the daily reporting of Parliament Hill media insiders is probably no more likely to be restored to pride of place in the national conversation than the cosy fireside chats of the not-so-distant past. Chantal Hebert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. SHARE: Health care keeps us alive. But Canadians are dead to the debate about who pays for what Ottawa or the provinces. The bleating and blustering of our politicians, haggling and haranguing in public, is as unfathomable as fiscal federalism itself. There is only one taxpayer funding health care. Patients lack the patience to keep score of how politicians score political points when divvying up $37.2 billion in transfers from Ottawa. No one believes politicians, or their pointy-headed advisers. Because where you stand depends on where you sit and flit on fiscal federalism. In opposition, Justin Trudeau implied he would bump up federal transfers in a new era of federal-provincial harmony. Now as PM, Trudeau is nostalgic for the old Conservative formula limiting increases to 3 per cent annually. But the role reversal goes further. Trudeaus governing Liberals havent just traded places with the Conservatives in the House of Commons; they have also transplanted much of Ontarios brain trust from Queens Park to Parliament Hill. More than a game of passing the buck, its musical chairs. You can see why the tall foreheads seem to be talking through their hats with a straight face: Gerald Butts, Trudeaus principal secretary, held the same post for former premier Dalton McGuinty, clamouring for greater fiscal fairness from the federal government to prevent a crippling blow to Ontarios future finances. Now hes gone from provincial soothsayer to federal naysayer. Same with Katie Telford, a ministerial chief of staff at Queens Park who now holds that post for Trudeau. Any fealty to Ontarios stance seems subsumed by her new federal job. Matthew Mendelson is deputy secretary to the Privy Council Office in Ottawa, a public servant responsible for Trudeaus program delivery. At Queens Park, he was deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs, leading the charge for more money from Ottawa. He later helmed the Mowat Institute, a think-tank largely funded by the province to make its case for more federal cash flow. Other Ontario loyalists who have quit Queens Park for Trudeaus Ottawa: John Zerucelli, John Brodhead, Brian Clow and Zita Astravas. Their new-found federal loyalty comes with the territory, but it diminishes their credibility provincially. The role reversal goes both ways. An exodus of federal Liberals to Kathleen Wynnes Ontario has diluted their centralizing, controlling Ottawa impulses as they go provincial: Andrew Bevan, a former chief of staff to ex-Liberal leader Stephane Dion in Ottawa now holds that job for Wynne. David Herle, a longtime strategist for ex-PM Paul Martin is now campaign guru for the provincial party. Tim Murphy, a former chief of staff to Martin, is Ontario campaign co-chair. And Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins, who keeps demanding more money from Ottawa, is a former federal Liberal staffer. Even the opposition Progressive Conservatives are transplanting their federal mindset to Queens Park. PC Leader Patrick Brown is a former federal MP, and former Tory finance minister Joe Oliver now wants to run provincially, after trying to rein in transfers to the province. Having served on both sides of the federal-provincial divide, they are all talking from both sides of their mouths. So whos right in this perennially parochial dispute? Perhaps its the wrong question. Its not just about more money, but better management of a massive health-care system that has received generous cash infusions of 6 per cent annually for more than a decade. Provinces like Ontario have been bending the cost curve Queens Park limited health care to a 2.1-per-cent increase in the current fiscal year so why demand ongoing 6-per-cent hikes (the latest provincial ask is 5.2 per cent, Ottawa offered 3.5 per cent). Ontario protests that Ottawa pays a declining share of health care costs now 23 per cent, while internal polling shows Canadians still believe Ottawa pays fully 50 per cent of health-care costs. Hence Ottawa should pay more, the provinces insist. But the former provincial advisers who now populate the federal government wont be easily persuaded, and might turn that argument back on itself: If Ottawa gets full credit from voters for paying half however wrongly its sitting pretty politically. Why pony up? Campaigning prime ministers are prone to promise the moon to the provinces. Post-election, however, PMs predictably announce that the money comes with strings attached and promptly tighten the purse strings. Where you stand depends on where you sit and flit within our federation. And makes it harder for the rest of us to fathom. Martin Regg Cohn's political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn SHARE: Police have arrested 16 men and are looking for three others in connection with a spree of 37 robberies which they say involved a group of pathetic parasites that are members of two Toronto gangs. The violent robberies, between May and November, targeted banks and retail stores, and involved getaway cars and firearms stolen from different cities in southern Ontario, Staff-Insp. Mike Earl told a news conference Thursday. Earl said the suspects are members of the Complex Crip Gangsters and the Treyy Money Gang, which are based in northwest Toronto. Its much like a criminal organization, Earl said, describing the suspects as a well-orchestrated group of thugs who were arrested with the help of police in York Region, Peel, Guelph, Halton, Hamilton, Durham and Barrie. Sixteen of the robberies, some of which involved street robberies and home invasions, took place in Toronto, and another 13 remain unsolved. [Theyre] spreading like a bad smell in the GTA, he said. Police say 18 vehicles were stolen in Toronto, Guelph, Halton and Peel regions between May and July for use in the robberies. This is a very difficult case . . . . Youd almost need an analyst from the CIA to put this together, because of the amount of mixing and matching of these individuals, Earl said. According to investigators, gang members would interchange roles of stealing cars, being the upfront armed robber or being the getaway driver. During the robberies, the suspects terrorized the victims with various firearms. They were not afraid to use physical force to get their way, Earl said. When asked about the gangs roots in the citys north-west neighbourhood, which has been plagued by the most gun violence this year in the city, Earl said those arrested could be suspects in other crimes. Theres no doubt in my mind that some of these people should be looked at as persons of interest for other violent crimes in these neighbourhoods, he said. Investigators are hoping that the public will be able to assist in identifying more members involved, as recruitment into the gangs appears to be never-ending. I dont think its over . . . . Until we actually collapse this entire gang, its not over. Earl said. We have to keep working on this so they cant rebuild their roster. If we can get rid of the top guys that are actually doing the recruitment from taking the kids probably some of them with no records and turning them into thugs . . . thats our goal. Toronto Police charges: List of charges. SHARE: This winter, like she did every winter for most of her adult life, Sister Susan Moran would certainly have been spending her days and nights making sure people were out of the cold. She was driven, she explained in one of the many stories chronicling her remarkably selfless life, by a singular mission to create a welcome, loving and warm place for those who struggled to do it for themselves. I knew my mission, my calling was here with the homeless, Moran told the Star, in 2007. We have to take better care of our vulnerable. There has to be better affordable housing. This winter, three decades after she co-founded Out of the Cold a program where faith-based organizations including churches, synagogues and mosques open their doors and offer a safe place to warm up and sleep the people who shared her mission will have to carry on without her. Moran died Sunday at the residence of Our Ladys Missionaries, the place she had called her home since 1963. She was speaking to her brother on the phone and died instantly, a family member said. Sister Susan Moran was 78. Her niece, Mary Jo Eustace, remembered a smart, feisty, determined woman of enormous faith, who could connect with everybody she met, never passed judgment and was known for her love of giving flowers and writing long and loving messages in cards, often with gold and silver sharpie markers. She is, and was, a force of nature, Eustace told the Star. She was all about love and acceptance for everybody. From a homeless person on the street to the Queen of England, she treated everybody the same. Her work and tireless dedication was recognized. Moran was invested with the Order of Canada in 2006 and was inducted into the Order of St. Michael in 2001, through St. Michaels College School (high school). Moran joined the school as a special education consultant and helped with the chaplaincy program, starting in 1987. That year a homeless man Moran and the students took food and clothing to was beaten to death. His death prompted Moran, along with co-founders Basilian priest Rev. John Murphy and Anglican priest Rev. John Erb, and the students, to create a soup kitchen in an old storefront, on St. Clair Ave. W. Three decades later, the Out of the Cold program provides shelter for thousands of people across the province. Last year, 16 Toronto organizations supported by Dixon Hall Neighbourhood Services which doesnt track all Toronto programs provided warmth, safety and food to more than 1,240 people. Dixon Hall staff said there are also programs in York Region, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Woodstock and Barrie, to name a few, as well as outside Ontario and in the U.S. Mayor John Tory, in a statement sent to the Star, described Out of the Cold as the best example of how communities can organize to help the most vulnerable among them. Sister Susan Moran was at the very heart of developing that model and making it work, he said. She has left the city a lasting legacy that is deeply appreciated. The longest running overnight program runs out of St. Patricks Church, on McCaul St., and started a few years after the creation of Out of the Cold. Father Santo Arrigo said Moran would always come to community events and was known for grabbing the microphone to encourage the crowd. She would say, dont forget, look after each other, Arrigo said. Where her influence has been is to show people they can do something to really make a difference in the lives of people who call the streets their home. Moran was raised in Toronto and studied at Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School, then attended teachers college in Toronto and taught for a couple of years, before joining the abbey in 1963. Sister Frances Brady, congregational leader at Our Ladys, met Moran when she joined the abbey and described her as full of life and enthusiasm, and having a gift for talking and being with other people. The onset of the cold weather, Brady said, was always of great concern to Moran and when she wasnt out on the street, she was infamous for marshalling support through the phone. She really kept in touch with so many people around the city, Brady said. Dennis Bruce met Moran when he and his wife started an Out of the Cold program at the Blythwood Road Baptist Church in 1995. Moran came the first night to help get people settled. She also brought Bruce and his wife a bound copy of Martin Luther King Jr.s speech, Ive Been to the Mountaintop, inscribed with Dear sisters and brothers, God bless your love and courage. Love Sister Susan. Out of the Cold. Last Saturday, the Blythwood program fed 130 people and 76 spent the night, Bruce said. Her vision to start this has literally saved hundreds of lives on our streets. I will say that unequivocally, he said. He also spoke of the ever-growing list of names of the people who have died because of homelessness, posted at the Church of the Holy Trinity. I recognize some of those names, Bruce said. I think that board would be at least twice the size if it wasnt for Sister Susan. Cathy Crowe, a street nurse and advocate for the homeless, described Moran as a personal hero, a deeply loving and positive woman who taught her the value of persistence and pushing for political accountability. She knew people and believed in the basics. Warm people up, shelter them and give them love, Crowe said. She said Moran told her many times that she never wanted the Out of the Cold program to last. She wanted the government to act, so people would have places to stay, to have shelter, to have homes, Crowe said. Crowe remarked that it was strange and notable that her death came at a time when so many Torontonians, at all levels, are backing the fight to make sure everybody in the city has warm and safe places to sleep. I feel like it is all being channelled from her... It sure feels like she is doing something, Crowe said. In addition to her many friends and colleagues, Moran leaves her brother Dan and sister Maureen, six nieces and nephews and 12 grand-nieces and nephews. A mass of Christian burial will be held at Scarboro Missions chapel, on Kingston Rd., on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. SHARE: Do you know anyone who knows anyone who celebrates HumanLight? Seasons Greetings to them. To some of you, Happy Hanukkah. To the vast majority of you, Merry Christmas. And to all of you Happy Holidays. This could be called a common-sense approach, except too many people still bicker about greetings at this time of year. I wish my friends Happy Diwali on social media not to exclude those who dont celebrate it, but to have them join my celebration. I receive a Merry Christmas greeting in that same spirit. Its different for businesses and government, though. Brands and retailers are guided by their market and local cultures on whether to go with the all-encompassing Happy Holidays or whether inclusivity itself would offend their consumer base. Its a simpler decision for public schools, hospitals and government institutions as secular spaces, they could celebrate cultural aspects of all holidays, but keep religion out. In other words, Christmas tree in, Bible out. At an individual level, though, raking people over the coals for wishing each other Merry Christmas, when an overwhelming majority celebrates it, is unnecessary. A White Christmas can be magical, with snow flakes drifting down, weaving a lush carpet around plushly decorated homes, chandeliers of ice on trees reflecting the twinkling lights from within, where oh, what fun a happy family unwraps gifts over pancakes and hot cocoa, with the sounds of pealing bells and Santas Ho Ho Ho still echoing in the distance. Sure, that was a heavy dose of Hollywood-influenced imagery, but even pared down to reality, there is no denying the prettiness of a white Christmas and the excitement it heralds in millions of Canadian homes. And if the families within those homes were, say, Asian (which you dont see if you Google Christmas family), and Santa was, say, black (as opposed to blackface Netherlands, Im looking at you) that picture would remain undisturbed, right? Or would it? Ah, if only life were red and green instead of black and white and all those shades of brown. Especially brown. Perhaps we need to see our prophets and makers in our own likeness, which would explain why the Middle-Eastern Christ became a blue-eyed, white man for some, or why others insist the fictional Santa must be Caucasian. There is a richness to the vast appeal of Christmas that can go unappreciated when racial hegemony crops up in religion. The Shack, an upcoming film based on the book by William P. Young, is already stirring controversy, as the book did, for its depiction of God as a black woman. Earlier in December, when Minnesotas Mall of America hired a black Santa to greet customers, the local Star Tribune wrote a glowing piece about Santa Larry a retired U.S. vet who fought in the Gulf War, his real white beard and his joyous spirit. The inexplicable abuse it elicited was such that it forced the news organization to shut down online comments on the story. However, this is a season of good tidings, and a Canadian story offers just that. A 10-year-old Edmonton bakery apologized this month for the annual appearance of a costumed Black Pete at the store. The Dutch character called Zwarte Piet is Santas sidekick and appears in blackface, black curls and big red lips. Its a tradition that began in the Netherlands, said to date back to the 1850s. His appearance in the Netherlands routinely provokes protests around the world. It also created discomfort in Edmonton. The bakery apologized after hearing the concerns. We do realize that we have offended people with our Zwarte Piet character, Dutch Delicious Bakery said in a Facebook post. So to those we have offended, it was done very unintentionally, and we are sorry for causing hurt. That is why we have decided to change our festivities in the coming years to incorporate a Chimney Piet who will have soot streaks on his face and lose the curly hair and red lips. Its not clear if Black Pete continues to appear this year, but yay for openness to change. Not everyone celebrates the religious side of festivals. Some focus on the cultural and spiritual facets to them. Christmas is easily the worlds most widely celebrated holiday, marked by Christians and non-Christians, but you wouldnt know that if you looked up stock images. An advertising consultant in Britain wanted to change that. Nadya Powell teamed up with an established modelling agency, and a photographer captured images of diverse black families unwrapping gifts, kissing under the mistletoe or decorating trees. The photos are available online. Many of the parents who are part of #ChristmasSOwhite have experienced their children asking if they can have white skin like the girls on TV and in magazines, says Powell. This is not a future we want for any child. #ChristmasSOwhite seeks to end the lack of representation. Next in their sights: #easterSOwhite. SHARE: Whats it like to have lived in Canada for 15 years but still be an outcast for lacking immigrant status? How does it feel to be rejected by employer after employer because your social insurance number indicates you are a refugee? Who is there to give you emotional support when you live alone in limbo in a foreign country? These are some of the questions a dozen youth with precarious immigration status in Toronto explore in Seeds of Hope: Creating a Future in the Shadows, a new book published by Life Cycle Books Ltd. in conjunction with the FCJ Refugee Centre. We have all had these experiences coming to Canada, always in transit, said one of the writers, Destin Bujang, 25, who fled Cameroon to Toronto in 2012 and is still fighting to obtain his status here. The book gives us quite a sense of accomplishment. What we would like to do is to give ourselves a voice. When someone finds themselves in the same situation like ours, they should know they are not alone and they should not feel silenced. The idea of the book project, made possible with a ArtReach Foundation grant, came from Bujang, who studied journalism back home, and the books co-editors, siblings Francisco and Paloma Villegas, who drew on the inspiration from the book Underground Undergrads: UCLA undocumented immigrant students speak out. The Villegas, who themselves grew up without status with Mexican parents in San Francisco, came to Toronto in 2006 first as international students before earning their permanent status in Canada. While some of the stories are autobiographical, others contain elements of fiction. Tanya Aberman, the projects co-ordinator and one of its editors, said the book highlights newcomers ongoing struggle between hope and hopelessness. The stories, she said, are meant to create a conversation among young people with precarious status, their allies, the immigration system and the Canadian public. These youth have had some really hard experiences, but no matter how hard, they always come through and feel the hope is still there despite the difficult times, said Aberman, who has worked with the refugee community for six years. Their stories really opened up my eyes, with their lived realities and emotions that go with it. In the story In Transit,Bujang reflects on the feeling of safety, the sweet memories with his family in Cameroon and the concept of home. I would have loved to stay with my family and loved ones and live all the dreams I dreamed of when I was growing up. If only where I call home was actually home. Home is where the heart is, and the heart can only breed where peace and love exist, he wrote. Canada is my home now. Not because I am a citizen but because my heart is here. Sheriff Alimi, 21, who wrote the story Blending In, said refugee and non-status youth often live in isolation because they dont want people to know about that, and having ones voice heard is an empowering experience. He picked the subject because fitting in is the ultimate goal for migrant youth like him, and making or breaking it can be determined by immigration papers. His story is infused with the experiences of other precarious youth he has come across. I was worried when I saw every other kid go to school every day, and all I did was stay home to do literally nothing but look at the ceiling and try to figure out why I could not be in school, wrote Alimi, who came here alone from Nigeria for asylum last year and is now a permanent resident. I felt different from the other kids. I could not even play with them because my parents wouldnt let me. It took me a long time before I figured out that I could not go to school because I wasnt legal. Julia Amanda Salmons parents sent her to a relative in Canada from Jamaica for a better life three years ago when she was 15. She was later taken into the care of Childrens Aid. There was this cloud over your head all the time. You just dont know when immigration is coming to get you, said the 18-year-old, who decided to use her real name in the book after she was approved for permanent residency in June. I feel emotionally and mentally relieved now I have the paper. That piece of paper decided my future. I dont have to hide, added Salmon, who has been on the honour roll in school here and aspires to study nursing and midwifery in university after she finishes Grade 12 in 2017. The book is sold online at FCJ Refugee Centre and A Different Booklist bookstore. The proceeds will go toward a scholarship for youth with precarious status in Canada. SHARE: WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALANDA Canadian woman who authorities say managed to hide her 4-year-old pet cat Bella in her handbag during a trans-Pacific flight had her vacation cut short when border agents discovered the ruse at a New Zealand airport. The woman was refused entry into the country and she, her husband and the cat were forced to catch the next flight home, Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman Craig Hughes said Thursday. He called the womans actions reckless and dangerous. New Zealand has strict regulations for importing pets. Cats and dogs from most approved countries must have an implanted microchip and be quarantined for a minimum of 10 days after arrival. Hughes said the couple, both in their mid- to late-20s, managed to conceal the cat from the flight crew and other passengers during the 7,000-mile (11,300-kilometre) flight from Vancouver to Auckland. Apparently it was a very quiet cat. Very docile, Hughes said, adding that it may have been drugged to make it drowsy. He said the travelling couple said they had nothing to declare upon arrival but border agents then determined their muddy boots needed inspecting. Agents then moved the couples bags to an X-ray machine. Hughes said the woman was very reluctant to have her small handbag X-rayed and insisted it had already been checked. She finally admitted there was a cat inside, Hughes said, but then said shed told a ticketing agent about Bella when she purchased her ticket. Hughes said even if the womans story were true, which he doubted, it was still unacceptable to bring a cat across the border without declaring it. He said foreign cats could bring with them ticks and diseases that arent present in New Zealand. He said the woman got upset about being sent back home. She had plans to have a nice holiday with her husband in New Zealand, Hughes said. And her cat. SHARE: PHILADELPHIAIkea will pay $50 million to the parents of three toddlers who died when its dressers toppled onto them, lawyers for the families said Wednesday. The settlement ends wrongful-death suits filed by the families and comes six months after those deaths and others prompted the unprecedented recall of 29 million Ikea dressers. At the time, the company acknowledged the dressers were at serious risk of tipping onto and killing children. Teds death was completely preventable, Janet McGee of Apple Valley, Minn., whose 22-month-old son Theodore died last February when a Malm dresser fell on him, said in a statement. We would never want other parents to have to experience what we have been forced to endure. This has been a tragic, heartbreaking season for us and our family, and no amount of money will make up for the loss of our sweet little boy. The plaintiffs also include the parents of Curren Collas, a 2-year-old from West Chester, Pa., and Camden Ellis, a 2-year-old from Snohomish, Wash. Both died in 2014. The $50 million will be split equally among the three families, with an undisclosed share going to the attorneys. As part of the settlement, Ikea has also agreed to make $50,000 donations to three childrens hospitals in the name of the boys. One will go to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia in memory of Curren Collas. The lawsuits, filed in Philadelphia court, claimed the Ikea dressers were defective and dangerous and that the Sweden-based retailing giant continued to sell them despite the risk, while not properly warning consumers. In all, seven deaths have been publicly linked to unstable Ikea dressers, the first in 1989. The settlement came shortly after Ikea gave the parents attorneys internal documents it had long fought to keep confidential. In September, the company risked sanctions when it defied a Philadelphia Judge John Milton Younges order to provide the files. Legal experts called the resistance unusual, and the judge said Ikeas refusal made him start to wonder what was in the documents. Under the settlement, the contents of those records will remain private. The families attorneys agreed to return the files to Ikea, with the stipulation that company not destroy them. That was important to us and to the families, said attorney Daniel Mann of Feldman Shepherd, the Philadelphia firm that represented the families. In the event there are other children this happens to, their families to be able to see what we have seen. Lawyers for Ikea declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Ikea could not immediately be reached for comment. Ikea has made previous payouts to the parents of at least two other children killed in tip-overs of their furniture. In 2008, Ikea paid $2.3 million to the parents of Katie Elise Lambert, a 3-year-old Huntingdon Valley, Pa., girl who had been crushed by an Ikea wardrobe while playing in her bedroom, court records show. The following year the company settled another case, this one for an undisclosed amount, filed by the parents of a 3-year old girl from Chula Vista, Calif., who died when a three-drawer Ikea dresser in her bedroom tipped onto her. SHARE: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAA Canadian woman will stand trial for her involvement in allegedly importing cocaine into Australia on a cruise ship, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The newspaper said Melina Roberge cried Wednesday as a magistrate ordered her tried on a charge of bringing a commercial quantity of cocaine into the country. Roberge, 23, was arrested in late August with two other Canadians 64-year-old Andre Tamine and 28-year-old Isabelle Lagace after the MS Sea Princess docked in the Australian city. The newspaper had previously reported that Lagace entered a guilty plea on the same charge last Friday and that Tamine is to appear in the New South Wales District Court next year. Australian Border Force Cmdr. Tim Fitzgerald had said detection dogs helped police allegedly find 95 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated $30.5 million, in suitcases. Roberges lawyer argued the Quebec woman had no knowledge of the drugs and said there was no evidence that tied her to them, the Herald reported. But Magistrate Robert Williams said it was highly improbable that anyone other than Roberge or Lagace would have stored drugs in the suitcases without the defendants knowledge. The cabin space was tiny and the suitcases can be described as reasonably large suitcases, the Herald reported Williams as saying. Roberges case returns to court in February, and Lagace is expected to be sentenced the same month. SHARE: LOS ANGELESA body believed to be that of a former reality show contestant was found buried in a backyard near Los Angeles after a man in one of her nursing classes pointed police to the shallow grave as they questioned him in the womans disappearance, authorities said. Lisa Marie Naegle, 36, a nurse, was a losing contestant in 2010 on the E! network show Bridalplasty, where she competed for a dream wedding and plastic surgery. Police said they arrested Jackie Jerome Rogers on suspicion of murder Tuesday after questioning him and that he indicated her body was at his house in the community of Lennox, near Los Angeles International Airport. We can confirm a body which we believe is Lisa Marie was discovered in a shallow grave at the suspects home, police spokesman Sal Ramirez said Tuesday night. The detectives strongly believe it is her. Naegle taught nursing at West Los Angeles College, and Rogers was one of her students, the Daily Breeze newspaper reported. Police did not give details on their relationship or a motive for the killing. It was not immediately clear whether Rogers had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. Naegle had gone to a birthday party Saturday night at a beer hall and restaurant in Torrance. Her husband, Derek Harryman, said he got home from work and texted her around 2 a.m. Sunday to see where she was. Within a minute or two, she called me, Harryman told the newspaper. She sounded really, really drunk. She said, Im going to get some food and then Ill be home. She never arrived. Harryman and Naegles sister filed a missing persons report and launched a social media campaign to help find her. The family said a friend who works at the beer hall let them see surveillance video that they say shows Naegle leaving with Rogers and getting into his vehicle. We went and we looked at the film and she left with him, her brother, Rafael Chavez, told the Daily Breeze. He told everybody he left without her. The family said they asked Rogers to tell them what happened. While he was talking to us and telling us his story, multiple different times he said he absolutely did not go home with her, or did not take her home, Naegles sister, Danielle Naegle-Kaimona, told KABC-TV. After the family confronted Rogers with the video, they said he altered his story to say that Naegle had gotten into his car but then got out moments later. They then contacted police. SHARE: BERLINGerman public broadcaster RBB reports that the fugitive suspect in the deadly truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market was seen on surveillance footage visiting a mosque before and after the attack. RBB reported Thursday that Anis Amri was filmed exiting a mosque in Berlin on Dec. 14 and 15. He was again filmed hours after Mondays attack, at the same mosque in the capitals Moabit district. The mosque was raided by police Thursday, two days after documents naming the 24-year-old Tunisian were found in the cab of the truck that smashed into a Christmas market in the west of the city, killing 12 and injuring dozens more. Separately, the newspaper Tagesspiegel reported Thursday that investigators believe Amri suffered facial cuts in the attack and may still be in Berlin. German officials presented mounting evidence Thursday that Amri was behind the wheel of a truck that smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12, as authorities across Europe pressed ahead with their feverish manhunt for the 24-year-old Tunisian, who has evaded capture since the attack. Police raided properties in Berlin and the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia where Amri is believed to have spent time. They also swooped on a bus in the southwestern city of Heilbronn after receiving a tip that turned up nothing. No arrests were made, said Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors. Even so, investigators were increasingly confident that Amri carried out the rampage after finding his fingerprints in the cab of the truck that had been hijacked shortly before Mondays attack. We can tell you today that there are additional indications that this suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after visiting the Federal Criminal Police Office along with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Fingerprints were found in the cab, and there are other, additional indications that suggest this, he told reporters. It is all the more important that the search is successful as soon as possible. German authorities have been on the defensive after it emerged that Amri had been considered a potential threat for months, subjected to surveillance and put in pre-deportation detention in August only to be released again due to paperwork problems. The fact that the attack is alleged to have been carried out by a man who came to Germany seeking asylum last year also prompted fresh criticism of Merkels decision to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants into the country without thorough security checks. While police have noted that most migrants are law-abiding, a number of high-profile crimes, including the New Years Eve assaults in Cologne and several violent attacks over the summer have stoked anti-migrant feeling in Germany. Two attacks in July, along with the truck attack in Berlin, were claimed by Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL. We have made great efforts in recent years to better prepare for terrorist threats, Merkel told reporters. This makes me confident that we will withstand the test that we now face. While members of Merkels party have called for tighter asylum laws and a crackdown on potential extremists in the wake of the attack, the chancellor appealed once more for calm. I want to say how very proud Ive been in recent days that the great majority of people have reacted soberly, she said. At the site of the bloodbath, Berliners made a show of defiance. Vendors reopened their stalls at the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church even as police placed concrete blocks by the roadside to provide extra security. In tribute to the victims, organizers decided to do without festive music and bright lights. Berliners and visitors placed candles and flowers at a makeshift shrine for the victims. Berlins state Health Ministry raised the number of injured in the attack to 56, saying some victims went to hospitals on their own. The agency said 12 people were being treated for severe injuries, with some still in critical condition. Another 14 people with less-serious injuries remained hospitalized and 30 others had been discharged. German authorities have offered a reward of 100,000 euros ($105,000) for information leading to Amris arrest, but they warned he could be violent and armed. In Tunisia, Amris brothers spoke to The Associated Press, urging him to surrender to authorities. Whether he did it or not, I ask him to report to the police. We are suffering because of him, said Abdelkader Amri. Another brother, Walid, said Amri may have been radicalized in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Italys Justice Ministry confirmed reports that Amri was repeatedly transferred among Sicilian prisons for bad conduct, with prison records saying he bullied inmates and tried to spark insurrections. He served 3 years for setting a fire at a refugee centre and making threats, among other things but Italy apparently detected no signs that he was becoming radicalized. Amris mother, Nour El Houda Hassani, insisted he had shown no signs of radicalization and questioned whether he was really the market attacker. Speaking in the central Tunisian town of Oueslatia, she said poverty drove Amri to steal and to travel illegally to Europe. I want the truth to be revealed about my son, she said. If he is the perpetrator of the attack, let him assume his responsibilities and Ill renounce him before God. If he didnt do anything, I want my sons rights to be restored. This story has been amended to correct the attribution of quotes between Abdelkader Amri and brother Walid Amri. MORE ON THESTAR.COM Germany hunts for violent and armed Tunisian suspect in Berlin Christmas market attack Daesh groups responsibility of Berlin market attack cannot be confirmed, U.S. spokesman says Toronto Christmas market increases security after Berlin attack Read more about: SHARE: The proud Florida sheriff stood at the front of the room full of reporters, holding up a photo of the green, sinister Christmas character. This is really not the Grinch, Grady Judd, Polk County sheriff, said, before holding up a second photo a womans mug shot. This is the Grinch. The woman, Tammy Strickland, 38, is accused of taking part in a scam to steal toys from Toys for Tots, a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve to distribute toys to children whose parents cannot afford them for Christmas. She was arrested on Monday and charged with 166 felony counts including grand theft and using fictitious identification as well as 28 misdemeanour charges. After receiving a tip, detectives learned that Strickland a former volunteer with the charitable organization had submitted counterfeit applications for childrens toys, using 140 fictitious childrens names and 28 fictitious adult names. In an undercover sting, detectives arranged to meet the woman at a Toys for Tots warehouse Monday for her to collect the donated toys for the applications she had submitted. She drove to the warehouse in a 2005 Cadillac Escalade to load the toys onto a utility trailer. Do you hear me? Judd reiterated in the news conference. She drove up in her Cadillac. Detectives told Strickland her bail would amount to about $180,000 (U.S.), to which she responded well, I guess Im not going anywhere, Judd said. Well yeah, Tammy, you are going someplace, Judd said. You are going where we lock up Grinches. Its called the county jail, or Grinch city. And Tammy, he added. Youre going to eat pressed turkey on Christmas morning. Through a search warrant in Stricklands home, detectives found 118 unwrapped toys, which a witness in the home said were from Toys for Tots, Judd said. Detectives determined she submitted some fictitious applications for Toys for Tots in 2015, the same year she volunteered as a route co-ordinator for the organization, picking up toys from various local businesses. It is unclear what exactly the woman who has children of her own was doing with the toys after obtaining them, Judd said. Strickland, who owns an income tax preparation services company in Auburndale, Florida, had previously advertised giving away toys to her customers, Judd said. The investigation is ongoing and other charges are possible. During the news conference, Judd motioned to a table that displayed the various toys authorities seized from Stricklands house. There would have been 140 children going without Christmas this year because of her ugly attitude, Judd said. The holiday spirit was evident at the Polk County Sheriffs Office, especially on its Twitter and Facebook accounts, which show a photo of Judd in a Santa Claus hat, and include multiple posts with lyrics to Christmas songs written primarily in emoji. To publicize Tuesdays news conference, the office also posted an image on Facebook of reporters alongside a photoshopped elf. Were excited that shes in jail, Judd said. It makes my Christmas a happy Christmas. SHARE: Denouncing the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Germany, president-elect Donald Trump renewed his vow to stop radical terror groups and appeared to suggest a willingness to move ahead with his campaign pledge to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from coming to the United States. Trump proposed the Muslim ban during the Republican primary campaign, drawing sharp criticism from both parties. During the general election, he shifted his rhetoric to focus on temporarily halting immigration from an unspecified list of countries with ties to terrorism, though he did not disavow the Muslim ban, which is still prominently displayed on his campaign website. The president-elect, when asked Wednesday if the attack in Berlin would cause him to evaluate the proposed ban or a possible registry of Muslims in the United States, said, You know my plans. All along, Ive been proven to be right, 100 per cent correct. Whats happening is disgraceful, said Trump, who deemed the violence an attack on humanity, and added, its got to be stopped. A transition spokesman said later Wednesday that Trumps plans might upset those with their heads stuck in the politically correct sand. President-elect Trump has been clear that we will suspend admission of those from countries with high terrorism rates and apply a strict vetting procedure for those seeking entry in order to protect American lives, spokesman Jason Miller said. But transition officials did not comment on whether Trump could also push for the overarching ban on Muslims. Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, has claimed responsibility for Mondays attack in Berlin that left 12 people dead and 48 injured. On Wednesday, German officials launched a Europe-wide manhunt for a violent and armed Tunisian man suspected in the killings. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on ABCs Good Morning America Thursday that Trump is the guy out there saying we need extreme vetting policies, that we need to have a better system vis-a-vis countries that train, harbour and export terrorists. He said during the campaign long after he originally proposed that that this would be more strictly tied to countries where we know they have a history of terrorism and that this is not a complete ban, she added. Trumps transition team announced Thursday that Conway is headed to the White House, where shell serve as counsellor to the president. Trump, who addressed journalists for less than two minutes Wednesday outside his palatial South Florida estate, said he has not spoken to President Barack Obama since the attack. Aides said that he received the classified presidential daily intelligence briefing on Wednesday and met with incoming White House national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump was spending the final days of 2016 huddled with advisers at Mar-a-Lago, his grand resort in Palm Beach. He also met Wednesday with the heads of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, companies with high-dollar government contracts that Trump has criticized. Boeing has a contract to build two new Air Force One planes, and Lockheed Martin builds the F-35 fighter jet. Trump said of his meeting with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, Its a little bit of a dance. Were trying to get costs down. Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of Boeing, said his company is committed to working with Trump to lower costs on the Air Force One project. The president-elect was also finalizing his senior White House team, wrapping up a decision-making process that has been dogged by infighting among rival factions within Trumps organization. Conway, a pollster who served as Trumps third campaign manager, is widely credited with helping guide him to victory. She also is a frequent guest on television news programs. Conway will continue her role as a close adviser to the president and will work with senior leadership in the White House to effectively message and execute the administrations legislative priorities and actions, the president-elects transition team said in a statement. Trump praised Conway as a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda who has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message. But some of Trumps original campaign aides have expressed concern to the president-elect himself that they are getting boxed out in favour of those more closely aligned with incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Among the early advisers who will not be joining Trump at the White House is Corey Lewandowski, his combative first campaign manager. But the operative wont be far away Lewandowski announced plans to start a political consulting firm with offices just a block away from the White House. Lewandowski oversaw Trumps campaign through the Republican primaries, but he clashed with the candidates family and was fired. Still, he remained close to Trump, talking with him frequently and showing up occasionally at the president-elects offices during the transition. Lewandowski said he was offered multiple opportunities to join the administration, though people with knowledge of the process said those opportunities did not include senior positions in the West Wing. The president-elect announced plans to hire economist Peter Navarro to run a new National Trade Council that will be housed in the White House. Navarro, author of Death by China, has endorsed a hard-line approach toward relations with Beijing. In a statement, the Trump transition team said the creation of the council demonstrates the president-elects determination to make American manufacturing great again. Trump also named billionaire investor Carl Icahn as an adviser on regulatory reform, though the transition team said Icahn would not be serving as a federal government employee. Transition officials said additional announcements on White House jobs were expected this week. Meanwhile, Democrats were looking ahead to confirmation hearings for Trumps Cabinet picks, including Steven Mnuchin, his nominee to lead the Treasury Department. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown sent Mnuchin a letter Wednesday asking him to explain his involvement with OneWest, a bank that critics have called a foreclosure machine. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONIn the early hours of July 10, Seth Rich was fatally shot near his home in the U.S. capital. Police said the 27-year-old Democratic staffer was likely the victim of an attempted robbery. But Monica Crowley, a Fox News analyst who recently joined president-elect Donald Trumps national security team, suggested a different culprit: Hillary Clinton. Maybe, in fact, it wasnt a robbery, Crowley said Aug. 10 on The OReilly Factor. Maybe there was something more sinister here ... The question going forward, I think for Mrs. Clinton, for everybody here, is what else is out there? Who has it? Whose life may be in danger? This comment is typical of the perspective Crowley brings to her appointment as senior director for strategic communications for the National Security Council. But its not just her: many of Trumps highest-level appointees have a history of publicly promoting conspiratorial, outlandish and fringe beliefs, particularly about Muslims, the Clinton family and the environment. The common link is they are often false narratives that remain unproven or take on stubborn life on the Internet despite being debunked by the mainstream media. Those who promote such narratives include top Trump national security staff, advisers and Cabinet designees, many of whom will enter the executive branch with long records of public statements from their careers as conservative commentators and politicians. Their open and shared tendency toward repeating false narratives, a more prevalent theme in this administration than previous ones, raises questions about what role debunked and discredited theories might play in Trumps decisions as president. The question is particularly urgent given Trumps own pattern of conspiratorial statements he rose to political prominence after repeatedly raising the false idea that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States and his refusal to accept a daily briefing from the intelligence community. He has said he prefers to rely on updates from his advisers, some of whom have promulgated such false narratives. Trumps transition team did not respond to a request to comment for this piece. Mark Fenster, author of Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture, said touting such unproven or outlandish theories can bias the judgment of people in power, with real consequences. You might inaccurately or unfairly interpret information that comes your way. You might seek out a limited number of sources of information and make decisions that are not as good as they could otherwise have been, said Fenster, a professor at the University of Floridas Levin College of Law. The federal government is facing very complex issues on a regular basis that require political judgment calls ... If someone has certain cognitive predispositions, it can lead to wrong answers. Thirty days from Trumps inauguration, for example, his designee to lead the Office of Management and Budget is receiving scrutiny over his choice in July to speak to a chapter of the John Birch Society, a far-right group known for its paranoia about central banking and the fear of a shadowy world government. The group was once estranged from mainstream conservatism due to its conspiratorial views, but that did not stop Republican Rep. Mick Mulvaney, from praising and encouraging its work, according to Mother Jones, citing audio of the speech. Controversial beliefs, often nurtured and grown in a petri dish of partisan websites before becoming more widely known, are starting to have real-world consequences. One such falsehood nearly led to tragedy Dec. 4 when a North Carolina man entered a Washington, D.C., pizza parlour armed with an AR-15 rifle, bent on investigating a child sex ring with purported ties to Clinton that he believed operated in tunnels beneath the restaurant. The man, 28-year-old Edgar Welch, was arrested and now faces the possibility of 30 years in prison. He found nothing. It would be unfair and inaccurate to say that conspiracy theories lead to violent acts necessarily, but at a time of heightened political drama, they can, said Fenster. Pizzagate started on Twitter Oct. 30 when user @DavidGoldbergNY claimed Clinton-related emails newly discovered by the FBI point to a pedophilia ring with Clinton at the center. The theory travelled to Reddit and 4chan before finding a proponent in Alex Jones, the far-right radio talk show host on whose show Trump and his acolyte, Roger Stone, who often promotes such conspiracies, have appeared. In early November, Belleville, Ont., resident Stefanie MacWilliams posted an article to conspiracy website Planet Free Will linking the pedophilia theories to the fact that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta had dined at the Washington pizzeria Comet Ping Pong. Her story became part of a worldwide citizen investigation, and the hashtag #Pizzagate quickly spread with the help of unmanned programs known as bots. Members of Trumps inner circle have stoked similarly lurid rumours about the Clintons. On Nov. 3, Trumps national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, tweeted a link to an online post claiming the NYPD had evidence linking Clinton to child exploitation and sex crimes with minors. U decide, Flynn wrote, calling the post a must-read. He has since deleted the tweet. Online media amplifies such theories, helping them gain traffic in remote and niche corners of the Internet. Conservative websites such as Breitbart, the Drudge Report, Infowars and WND play host to the least scrupulous theorizing. Sometimes, their coverage drives discussion at more prominent outlets such as Fox News. Social media produces memes that get picked up by public figures, including lawmakers. Eventually, mainstream media outlets may carry the rumours, if only to debunk them. Joseph Uscinski, an associate professor at the University of Miami, said the risk of having conspiracists in government is they can act on those beliefs with the force of law. In other institutional contexts, weve seen the damage that conspiracy theorists can do when they have power, said Uscinski, author of American Conspiracy Theories. Hitler and Stalin come to mind, though those were very different institutional contexts. At the same time, Uscinski said, survey data shows everyone believes in at least one conspiracy theory. It is not shocking to hear that people in government believe a few, he said. What it comes down to is which ones do they believe and whether they are actionable. These views go far beyond the consensus among many in Trumps world that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by scientists or that voter fraud does, contrary to the evidence, take place on a vast scale. Accusations of anti-Semitism have been levelled at Stephen K. Bannon, Trumps senior adviser and the former head of Breitbart News, which has run columns with strong conspiratorial, anti-Semitic overtones. Bannon himself has said he doesnt like Jews and doesnt want his children to attend school with them, his ex-wife said in a sworn court declaration in 2007. Bannon, through a spokeswoman, has denied making these statements. Trump, too, has been accused of fuelling anti-Semitism with some of his rhetoric and campaign imagery. His final ad used photos of prominent Jews to illustrate those who control the levers of power and a global power structure, drawing a rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League. Still, few of Trumps advisers publicly espouse anti-Semitic views. The unproven narratives they promote are more likely to centre on Islam. Bannon, along with many others in the conservative media, has promoted the falsehood that Clintons closest aide, Huma Abedin, is a tool of the Muslim Brotherhood. Crowley, in 2008, called Obama Arab-African and accused him of lying about his heritage, echoing Trumps long history of claims that Obama was not born in the United States, retracted late in the campaign under pressure from critics. Trump has also falsely suggested that Obama is Muslim. Flynn frequently warns audiences, without merit, that Islamic law is taking root in the United States. One of his claims, which has been repeatedly batted down by fact-checkers, is that Florida Democratic senators voted to impose it in their state. Our country was built upon the foundation of Judeo-Christian principles, values, norms, Flynn told an audience on Aug. 23. We should fight this idea of this imposition of sharia law into our system. And believe me, folks, it is happening. Flynn later called Islamism a vicious cancer that has to be excised, comparing it to Nazism and fascism. In February, he tweeted a link to a video promoting Islamophobic conspiracy theories, adding the message: Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL. That tweet is still online. Clinton is a target of more than her fair share of unfounded allegations. Kathleen K.T. McFarland, Flynns deputy, claimed in 2006 that Clinton dispatched helicopters to surveil her house as she campaigned for Senate. McFarland has also argued that Clinton and other members of the Obama administration traded lives for votes in their handling of the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Crowley was among the original conservative commentators accusing Clinton of false illnesses, suggesting in December 2012 she had faked a reported concussion to avoid testifying before the House about the Benghazi attacks. Clintons testimony was postponed until Jan. 23, 2013. Few have gone further than Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, of Montana, Trumps pick for Interior secretary, who told voters in 2014 that Clinton was the real enemy -- the Antichrist. Other Trump appointees are known for airing strange and unproven theories. Rick Perry, who Trump will nominate for Energy secretary, in 2014 repeatedly claimed without evidence that Obama was responsible for a surge in undocumented immigrants crossing the Texas border. We either have an incredibly inept administration, or theyre in on this somehow or another, Perry told ABC News in July 2014. I mean, I hate to be conspiratorial, but I mean, how do you move that many people from Central America across Mexico and then into the United States without there being a fairly co-ordinated effort? Retired surgeon Ben Carson, who will lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development if hes confirmed, exists in what occasionally seems like his own universe of theories, claiming at times that prison makes inmates gay, that the devil is responsible for the theory of evolution and that the pyramids were originally constructed not as tombs, but to store grain. Carson, Perry and Trump have all suggested that the Obama administration manipulates its monthly unemployment rate to paint a rosier picture of economic growth, a conspiracy dubbed unemployment trutherism. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, a member of Trumps kitchen cabinet of corporate leaders, also holds this view. Read more about: SHARE: At Canadas Wonderland, you can buy your child a Fast Lane Pass so he or she can experience the thrill of pushing ahead of all the other children waiting to get on a ride. Its excellent preparation for todays world of hyper-privilege where the rich get to buy their way to the front of just about every line. We live in a society thats riddled with elitism and special privilege. One of the few hold-outs is medicare, Canadas public health care system, where a billionaire cant bypass a fast-food worker waiting for medical care. Access is determined by medical need, not wallet size. We all pay for medicare through our taxes. And, if were sick, we can spend weeks in a hospital, receiving top-level medical care, and walk out at the end without paying a penny. Its not surprising that, in a national contest sponsored by CBC Television, Canadians voted Tommy Douglas, father of medicare, the greatest Canadian of all time. Its easy to lose sight of the truly inspiring aspects of medicare in the midst of federal-provincial wrangling, like this weeks negotiations, over health care financing. Whats ultimately at stake is whether there will be sufficient public funding to prevent provinces from turning over more of our health care system to the private sector. The push for private, for-profit medicine really got going after the Chretien Liberals deeply cut federal health care funding in 1995. Ottawa had contributed 25 per cent of total health spending in 1977, but that contribution dropped down to just 9.8 per cent by the late 1990s, leaving the provinces reeling and sending hospital wait-times climbing. Advocates of private health care eagerly moved in, and have been a loud part of the public debate ever since. Since the late 1990s, Ottawa has been increasing the federal contribution, restoring it to about 23 per cent today. Now the Trudeau government, roughly following the course laid out by Stephen Harper, plans to slow the growth of the federal contribution. The provinces insist the Liberal offer would reduce the federal share back down to about 20 per cent, leaving them struggling with rising health costs. All this creates conditions that embolden those pushing for privatization, including conservative think tanks and private clinic operators. In B.C., orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brian Day is in court trying to strike down health care laws that restrict his business opportunities. He operates two highly profitable private clinics and wants to ensure he and other medical entrepreneurs can collect fees from the public system while charging patients whatever extra amounts they wish. If he wins, the floodgates could open. Privatization advocates want us to believe public health care is no longer affordable. But in fact, its private, for-profit medicine thats unaffordable. The publicly funded portion of our health care spending doctors fees and hospital stays has remained fairly stable as a percentage of GDP for more than 30 years. What is out of control is the part controlled by the private sector drugs, home care, physiotherapy, etc. If we want to control health care costs, we should extend the publicly funded portion, not open more services to the private sector. But that would require more public funding, which provincial and federal governments, after years of deep tax cutting, are reluctant to commit to. High drug prices, for instance, are a major contributor to rising costs. The solution, as many studies have shown, would be a national universal pharmacare program, which would cost money to get started but ultimately save Canadians billions of dollars a year. But while extending the public system would make sense, the political winds are blowing in the opposite direction, particularly with a Republican White House and Congress planning to move the U.S. even farther into the weeds of private medicine, with its special privileges for those with money. Expect to hear privatization advocates try to destroy our faith in our public system, pointing out that a dog can get a hip replacement faster in Canada than a human. That may be true because veterinary care is private and, with enough money, you can get whatever you want as soon as you want it. On the other hand, if an owner cant pay, the dog is put down. In an age when the rich demand a fast lane to the front of every line, it will require resolve and determination to preserve our medicare system, a bastion of equality sharply at odds with the heartless corporate world we inhabit. Linda McQuaig is a journalist and author. Her column appears monthly. SHARE: I like giving Christmas cards to my neighbours. I dont check to see if they are Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Greek Orthodox or atheists, for that matter. I just get swept away in the joy of giving at the end of December. Its a ritual thats been with me since I was born. Years ago, when my residence was a townhouse with a front yard, I found myself falling into the trance of the holidays once the carols dominated the radio waves at the start of December. Inspiration would urge me to create and soon I had a full scene with animated reindeer and Santas sleigh filled with paper coloured boxes. In the background, my Christmas trees lights blinked through the bay window. One day, five years after my display had morphed bigger and bigger, I found my next door neighbour at my front door, sheepish-faced and a box of cookie wafers in her hand. I was going to wrap them up, she said, red faced. But I wasnt sure if you celebrated Christmas or not. The words hung in the air and I blinked before finding my response. But. I gave you Christmas cards, and chocolates. She smiled sheepishly. And the reindeer, and the tree in the window? I stammered. Yes, I know. She held out the box of wafers, unwrapped and without a card. I reached out and took them, thanking her. As I shut the door, I felt the slap of offence. So this is what its come to, I thought. Suddenly, I was standing on the outside again, lumped into a category of someone who didnt celebrate the Canadian national holiday. Even though I did, in a secular fashion. I am not Christian. But I am a Canadian, born in Trinidad, an island in the Caribbean where the cultural mosaic is a way of life. My parents, who are Hindus, celebrated the day designated as the birth of Jesus Christ with carols, family dinners and stockings, as did their parents. No doubt, a tradition brought over by the British and continued as part of the islands Commonwealth status. In turn, when the island observes Diwali, Muslims, Christians and Jews call out the greeting to their neighbours, and are invited for dinner by their Hindu friends. Because its a national holiday and because custom called for the Hindu festival to be shared with non-Hindus in an endeavour of unity. My mother cooks fish on Good Friday, because thats the Trinidadian tradition. We make a special milk dessert on Eid, because, thats what her familys Muslim neighbours shared when she was growing up. Its an excuse to party, say my friends as they jab me jokingly, calling out the countrys reputation for socializing. Perhaps they have a point. When my friend who Ive known since grade 3, invites me to her Hanukah open house, I am honoured to stand among the dozens of non-Jews to watch the lighting of the last light on the menorah. Because for me, its an inherent excuse to share. So as we move to a more culturally diverse society, the controversial greeting, Merry Christmas is now replaced with Happy Holidays. Because for many Canadians, December brings anticipation of Hannukah and Kwanza along with Christmas. And for some, the holidays simply mean days off where they spend time with their family without a religious celebration. Gifts in shiny red paper are not forced upon them, or are they obligated to purchase a tree to place inside their home. But every year, the new greeting is tainted with uncertainty and in some cases, resentment. Are we simply trying to cover all of the celebrations in one sweep or are we trying to ignore the old adage, Merry Christmas? For me, its become uncomfortable. And I suppose my former neighbour felt the same when she gifted me with the unwrapped wafers. Sadly, she didnt want to force her tradition upon me. I wish I had told her that I didnt mind. I may not be Christian, but I am Canadian. And for me, the cultural sensitivity to which weve all been trying so hard to adhere has become overly sensitive. Diversity is about sharing. So I dont mind if you share your Christmas with me. Priya Ramsingh is the principal of Arka Communications, a communications consulting company. www.arkacomm.ca SHARE: Theres a bandit on the loose, but dont worry: the police say hes extremely polite. According to local cops, the thief is handy with a razor, but only to trim the peach fuzz from his youthful, clean shaven face. The kid likes to rob banks hes ripped off five Yonge St. branches in a mere month but goodness, police say, the grammar in the stick-up notes he hands to bank tellers is impeccable. Toronto police inspector Mike Earl labelled this unknown thief the lunchtime bandit, and a preppy punk at a truly bizarre press conference on Tuesday. Media outlets have playfully amplified Earls comments it kinda feels like folks are rooting for the kid. Given that the suspect is a young, book-smart, well-dressed white boy, his social value as a relatively harmless rascal is worth far more than the cash he has stolen. The suspect is described as preppy, Earl told reporters at the press conference. Dave Chappelle, the beloved black comedian who has made a career critiquing whiteness, couldnt have written it better. This joke, even if unintended, allows the public to take bandit boy and his crimes less seriously. Earls statement that the suspect is a clean-cut individual that probably doesnt fit this mould is a much clearer indicator of bias would a bearded suspect make more sense? Inspector Earl, a veteran who has apparently investigated hundreds of bank robberies in Toronto, also emphasized the thiefs language skills in the notes he uses to demand cash from bank employees. The notes, to my understanding, are well written with proper grammar, which tells me that he very well may be, uh, maybe hes never been in trouble before, Earl said. This eagerness to explain the thiefs behaviour, to vouch for his intellect, is notable for its sympathy. Why dont police give all suspects such benefit of the doubt? Maybe hes an educated individual and this is his only hope to get some kind of money, Earl went on. Yeah, maybe. I wonder what policing in Toronto would look like if police were so generous towards all criminal suspects, particularly those who are not seen as white, male, well-educated, and well-dressed. Imagine police extended this generosity to the residents they disproportionately target through carding, people who are stopped even though they are not suspected of any crime. I see why people might label the police and media treatment of the bank thief as privilege, whether they are referring to the suspects race, gender, or perceived social status. But privilege doesnt go far enough. This white man is painted in a rosy light in direct contrast to people who must, for the sake of power and social dominance, be vilified. In other words, we reserve our worst assumptions and judgments about crime for the poor, the racialized, for trans and gender non-conforming people, for the uneducated. Treating this thief as we treat others would be going too far. Media stories about the robber have emphasized the brazenness of his crimes he doesnt even try to hide his face when entering the banks he intends to rob. Gosh, it seems he has some weird confidence that he wont get caught, or that if he is caught, his crime wont be taken as seriously as it might otherwise be if he was someone else. Look no further than inspector Earl and the lighthearted media coverage to understand where the thief could be getting this idea. American writer Ta-Nehisi Coates has compellingly described racism as not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy toward some and broader skepticism toward others. We can extend this observation to patriarchy and classism. Privilege is a term we might use to describe the sympathies extended to this young thief, but the real problem is the violence of our skepticism for people we label as criminals and threats. The so-called lunchtime bandit has been telling bank employees he has a gun when he demands money. Yet Earl and the police have not issued the well-known public warning that the thief should be considered armed and dangerous. It is interesting that, in a city where police kill black people who are holding hammers or scissors, or who are unarmed, the same cops can make excuses for a white guy who had the good sense to shave before committing his crimes. Thats not privilege, its power, a power that transforms a public terror into an intelligent white man whose only hope is to take what he wants by force. Desmond Cole is a Toronto-based journalist. His column appears every second Thursday. SHARE: Canada may pride itself on not being the Wild West of gun violence, like its neighbour to the south. But it can still do better. The reality is Toronto police are concerned about gaps in gun control laws that they say are putting more legally purchased Canadian guns into the hands of dangerous criminals. Thats not their only worry. They have also seen a spike in criminals using rifles and shotguns for crimes since the former Harper government shut down the long gun registry in 2012. Now their concerns are rightly being taken up by Mayor John Tory, who shared them in a letter last week with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. As Tory put it, he wants only one thing: To get the guns out of the hands of those who choose to do harm and are hell-bent on disrupting our peaceful city. His letter was sent as 2016 closes out with a spike in gun-related homicides as well as non-fatal shootings. (As of Sunday night, 39 of Torontos 67 homicides of 2016 were gun-related.) The mayor says his main worry is the shocking fact that there is no limit on the number of firearms any one licensed gun owner can purchase and possess. Indeed, as the Stars Betsy Powell reported last month, that gap allowed Andrew Winchester, for one, to use his one firearms licence to buy an astonishing 47 Berettas, Walthers and Glocks and 48 boxes of ammunition from two stores over just six months. He then transferred 43 of the guns to a middleman and was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2014. Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer noted at the time that all those guns purchased by a single individual did not raise any flags with the stores, the Chief Firearms Officer or the Canadian Firearms Registry. In fact, police say they are catching gun dealers because the weapons they sell are turning up at crime scenes and can be tracked back to them, rather than because of red flags that should be raised for them by firearms officers and registry officials. Tory also told Goodale he is concerned about the increasing use of long guns in crime. While he says he recognizes a re-instatement of the long-gun registry may not be practical at this time, he is urging Ottawa to examine some form of tracking for sales of these weapons as well. Tory is right to take a stand on both these fronts, not just for the city, but for the country. Ottawa should listen and make his requests a priority for action in 2017. The Liberals did, after all, campaign on a platform that promised to repeal some of the legislative measures the former Conservative government passed in 2015 in Bill C-42 which effectively watered down gun control laws and to introduce further efforts aimed at reducing gun crime in Canada. Its high time they acted on both of those promises. Read more about: SHARE: Re: Grade 10 literacy test will be paper only, Dec. 17 Grade 10 literacy test will be paper only, Dec. 17 Kristin Rushowys article regarding the Grade 10 literacy test explored the inadequacy of the Internet in its present state to be used throughout the province as a trustworthy means to evaluate Grade 10 students. EQAO did not do its due diligence in allowing this test to be administered to all students. The Internet is not safe and is not secure enough for this activity in its present state due to cyber attacks. This has been another waste of money on the provinces part that can be added to the Hydro cancellation of a power plant, hydro lines ending in the ground, the eHealth boondoggle, the ORNGE helicopter fiasco, underfunded hospitals, overpaid CEOs, and on and on and on. Above all, Kathleen Wynne has lost control of the provincial governments finances. Ontario is in more debt than California. It is time for the so-called MPP experts to be turfed, and a new government formed in the next election. Dale Lovering, Oro-Medonte SHARE: Re: Trumps NAFTA gambit could take aim at medicare, Dec. 12 Trumps NAFTA gambit could take aim at medicare, Dec. 12 As sure as the sun rises in the morning, Thomas Walkom will have a column critical of trade and trade agreements. Mondays column on the threat to Canadas healthcare system because of Donald Trump and NAFTA was a classic. President-elect Trump may or may not want to renegotiate parts of NAFTA, but I hardly think Canadas healthcare system is at risk. This is silly fear mongering. Despite nominating NAFTA critic Wilbur Ross as secretary of commerce, Trump will find that the North American economy is so integrated, that any major changes to NAFTA will end up in economic upheaval for all involved, particularly the United States. The supply chain from autos to other manufactured goods is so intertwined; basically, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico have one economy. Obviously, Canada should protect its interests if president-elect Trump is serious about reopening NAFTA, which I think is highly unlikely. Opposition to NAFTA was a convenient and cheap campaign slogan. The facts show the United States has benefited immensely from NAFTA, more so than Canada and Mexico. Thomas Walkom clearly hates trade agreements whether its NAFTA, CETA or TPP. But it doesnt matter if he likes it or not, globalization is a reality and Canada is a country that is dependent on exports and needs trade agreements to export its goods and services. Recently the Star reported that Mexico has surpassed Canada in exports to the United States. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but Canada needs to remain competitive. Boeing recently signed an agreement with Iran to sell $16 billion worth of aircraft. I dont see Trump vetoing the deal given the amount of U.S. jobs involved. Despite Trumps dislike of Iran, his presidency was built around preserving American jobs. This is why I dont think NAFTA is threatened under Trump too many jobs involved and if anything, Trump is not ideological. We dont know what will happen under President Trump, but Canada should not retreat from globalism. We should continue signing trade agreements where appropriate. As many international observers have noted, our relatively open immigration system attracts talent from around the world. Canada is seen by many international investors as an open, diverse and tolerant society, not prone to nutty populism and nationalism. PM Trudeau should play on this, which, to his credit he is doing. This could be and should be Canadas golden age. And lets get Bombardier selling C-series aircraft to Iran. Andrew van Velzen, Toronto Thomas Walkom writes, Free trade with Canada was not an American priority when talks began in 1985. It was Canada that wanted the deal. In fact, the approach for free trade was made in 1983 by Paul Robinson, U.S. ambassador to Canada, to the then head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Speaking in Vancouver in December 89, Robinson recalled, Im pleased to say I did play a principal role in the re-initiating of the Free Trade Agreement which I know is controversial in Canada... I realized, of course, that the public initiative had to come from Canada, because if it came from us, it would look as if we were trying to gobble up our neighbour. Even the terminology was decided in the U.S. We were afraid, Robinson said, to call it free trade, so we referred to it as freer trade, which was kind of silly. As in our first free trade election in 1891, then again in 1911 and 1948, it was the U.S. seeking economic union with Canada. Contrary to Mr. Walkoms claim, Canada has ample power and resources to step out of the FTA/NAFTA straitjacket and become an independent player on the world stage. David Orchard, Saskatoon It is probably not too soon to start making it clear to every MP who wants to remain an MP, that Canadians will not tolerate anyone who even thinks about endangering Medicare for the sake of dealing with Donald Trump. Herb Alexander, Thornhill SHARE: Re: Dont turn away, Editorial Dec. 14 Dont turn away, Editorial Dec. 14 While the emasculated Western governments and media wring their hands and gnash their teeth about the ongoing genocidal atrocities in eastern Aleppo they persistently turn a blind eye to real core problem of all conflict that remains unanswered and in plain view who is providing and profiting from the constant stream of arms and equipment to both sides in this conflict and how are they delivered? This is not a minor logistical problem that can be carried out without the knowledge of the spy satellites of major powers. There are only so many ways you can transport heavy arms and equipment to war zones. It should be a fairly simple process to cut these supply lines and quickly restrict both sides ability to make war. Also, it is not only arms but the endless other needs of armies in the field fuel, clothing, food, shelter and water without which the conflict would end in several weeks. Additionally, how is it possible for Syrias non-existent economy to continue to pour billions into the civil war for almost six years without defaulting on their debts? Who is financing Assad? There are many shadow players on both sides in any war that need to be put under the spotlight of investigative journalism and western governments. Oligarchs and financiers around the world are reaping massive blood profits from the death and destruction happening in Syria and Iraq. Rather than bemoaning the fate of the civilians in Aleppo, Western governments and their media should be asking hard questions about the involvement of their own arms industries in fuelling the arms race. Who is supplying the various factions, how is it being delivered and who is profiting from this human carnage? The answers I am sure would be revealing. Given the helplessness of the West in relation to a military solution it seems apparent that this conflict and others in the region could be effectively curtailed with a complete and comprehensive arms and financial embargo aimed at the Syrian government and the rebel groups like Daesh without firing a shot. Choking off financing and supplies to the combatants would soon bring silence to the battlefield where direct confrontation has been a complete and utter disaster. We need to heavily regulate our arms industries to ensure that weapons production and distribution is heavily controlled at the source by all countries. Rather than berating each other about their military tactics, governments should be hammering our multilateral arms control deals that stem the tide of illegal and legal weapons to conflict zones around the world and the blood profits that come from them. Unfortunately our geopolitics continues to be fuelled by the corporate profits of the military-industrial complex and the futile bravado of male testosterone the real threat to world peace going forward. Robert Bahlieda, Newmarket Aleppo, Syria, and Mosul, Iraq, are two deeply wounded and broken cities. Both historic, both most grievously devastated where the souls of the two nations emerge intensely divided from the din and ashes of this strife. Aleppo and Mosul, to their torment, have attracted the attention of both the United States and Russia. While the U.S. assisting the aggressive forces in Mosul and Russia supporting the assailants in Aleppo. Despite the barbaric conditions that have been inflicted by this siege of Mosul, no one is talking about war crimes, much less advocating a ceasefire in Mosul, as they are in Aleppo. In their brutal siege of Mosul, the Iraqi city, the U.S. and its allies asserting their interests and hegemony, while in Aleppo, Russia and its allies are consolidating their position. But the coverage of human catastrophe in Mosul is getting a scant coverage compared to the tragedy in Aleppo. Why? It is an indictment of the worlds inability to prevent the killings and mayhem with impunity by these two superpowers. Javed Akbar, Ajax The Star continues to dish out a biased opinion on the situation in Aleppo. For the Star, only the Syrian government is to blame for the death and destruction taking place. No mention is made of the rebels and the atrocities they have also committed. And what about the Americans arming the rebels? If the Americans had not involved themselves in cozying up to the rebels/insurgents from the very beginning, and let the rebels duke it out with the Assad regime, a lot of the misery we are now witnessing would have been avoided. I say let the Assad regime rid the country once and for all of the rebels, a number of these groups being Daesh/Al Qaeda sympathizers. In the past decade or more, no thanks to the unwelcome involvement of the Americans, countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria have been left politically unstable, masses dead and displaced and their landscape devastated to the core. Aquil Ali, Toronto SHARE: In the spring of 1966, when miniskirts, the Beatles and Bonanza were all the rage, Bruce Craig was a teenager whod had enough of high school. He had no intention of returning for Grade 13 in the fall. Then he spotted a newspaper story about a new learning opportunity coming to his Scarborough neighbourhood. Craig asked his mother to drop off an application. And as the story goes, that day he became the first student to register for the brand new Centennial College. As a child in South Korea, Seui-Gi Cho dreamed of airplanes, inspired by a great-uncle who worked as an aviation engineer and showed her stacks of photographs and aircraft designs. Today, Cho, 22, is pursuing a career as an aviation technician far from her Seoul home in the hangar and classrooms at one of Centennials four campuses. Craig and Cho are Centennial students of the past and present. Their experiences half a century apart reflect how much Ontarios first community college and the college system at large have transformed since William Davis, education minister at the time and later Premier, announced an innovative network of schools to train baby-boomers for the technological revolution. When Craig walked through Centennials doors opening day Oct. 17, 1966, he had no idea he was on the wave of a groundbreaking shift in post-secondary education in Ontario. All he knew was the school was close to home, the classes were small and the business administration program (tuition $190) promised to be practical, hands-on preparation for the job market. Everybody in my class all felt the same way. They were all really excited and thrilled to be there, says Craig, 69, who has retired from a career in pharmaceutical sales. It felt like a new beginning for a lot of people. Fifty years later, the Centennial College that Cho arrived at is barely recognizable, yet still grounded in the fundamentals of applied learning. Shed studied avionics back home, but wanted practical experience instead of theory. She found it at Centennials aviation technician program, which she began in September, 2015 after three months learning English in Toronto. Craig, like most of his classmates, was a kid from the neighbourhood when he began his business course. Today, colleges still draw largely from their surrounding communities. But Cho is part of an exploding cohort of international students, which at Centennial has grown by 78 per cent in the last five years and now accounts for a third of its 20,200 full-time students. There have even been reported sightings of a Centennial College poster on the back of a bus in rural India. Its two months after the official 50th birthday celebration when Craig and Cho meet on a blustery December day in the sunlit student hub at Centennials Ashtonbee campus in Scarborough, where Cho has just finished exams in the aging hangar out back. Beginning in the fall of 2019, students in her program will relocate to a state-of-the-art aerospace facility at the old Downsview air force base, thanks to $44.2 million announced by Ottawa and the province in November. Craig looks around at the spacious contemporary building hes never laid eyes on. Its a long way from the former radar assembly factory he entered in 1966 amid the sound of hammers and drills as workers scrambled to finish renovations. That original campus has since been turned into condominiums. Yet something he cant put his finger on is familiar here. There was a deja vu as I walked in. Dramatic change has taken place at Centennial and the other 19 colleges that opened across the province in 1967, from Windsor to Ottawa to Thunder Bay. And not just in the architecture. As the father of the community college system, Davis envisioned a network that was parallel but equal to universities, notes Michael Skolnik, professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. It represented a step towards democratization of higher education at a time when university was primarily for the privileged and there were few other options, he adds. But parity of esteem was a long time coming. At the time, we might have been considered third-class, laughs Craig behind universities and an emerging powerhouse called Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, now a university. Today, colleges are sought-after destinations. And, in what Skolnik calls an unforeseen shift, the fastest-growing cohort is students who have university degrees but are seeking applied and technical skills to get a job. For students like Craig, college was a stepping stone to university. He went on to earn a sociology degree from Trent University. Nowadays, the traffic is going both ways on the superhighway that has developed between the two systems. The number of colleges granting four-year degree programs with experiential and applied components has grown by 200 per cent in the last decade. Students are lining up for collaborative college and university programs that offer both a diploma and a degree in four years. Centennial, for example, partners with Ryerson University for its nursing program, and U of T for journalism, communications technology and paramedicine. Parents and students no longer buy the notion that university equals success, says Colleges Ontario president Linda Franklin. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development cites access to colleges as the reason Canada is at the top of the heap in post-secondary attainment rates, she adds. Skolnik recalls the energy and sense of adventure surrounding the birth of colleges, just as he was beginning his career as a young researcher and visiting college campuses. There was such an excitement among the administrators and faculty because they felt they were really part of an important social movement occurring across the province and the country, he says. Colleges were providing options for people that didnt exist before. Being part of it was a real high for the people involved. Bruce Craig remembers the thrill when Centennial, named for Canadas 100-year birthday, opened its doors with 519 students, a faculty of 28 and no shortage of youthful energy. As acting president of the student council, Craig led a march to Queens Park that year to say thank you. He was one of a few students invited into Davis office for a chat. Craig cant recall any women in his class of about 25. But there were 14 enrolled in the one-year secretarial sciences program that would become Centennials first graduating class in 1967, a celebration attended by then-Premier John Robarts. It was very exciting and a lot of fun, says Sandy Marion, who was 22 when she began teaching the program as one of Centennials original faculty members, earning $7,200 for the year. The bureaucrat doing the hiring drew her a map of the province and covered it in dots where all the new colleges were to be located. Teachers had three weeks to set up their classrooms, but most mornings they couldnt find their desks because construction had moved them during last-minute fixes. The first president, John Haar, wore a hard hat while sitting at his. On opening day, a rain barrel in the hallway caught the rain dripping through the ceiling, recalls Marion, 72, over the phone from her winter home in Arizona. She spent 32 years at Centennial on the frontlines of the technology revolution as typewriters, Dictaphones and shorthand were replaced by computer screens and Microsoft Office. And she watched as young women such as her first secretarial students expanded their horizons into skilled trades, technology and Chos field of aviation. When Cho graduates this June, she hopes to find work in Canada as an aviation electrician. She doesnt know where, but shes an adventurer with an open mind excited about the future. After all, this is what I wanted since I was little. COLLEGES BY THE NUMBERS Choices: 900 programs offered at 24 English and two French-language colleges, ranging from skilled trades to biotech to IT and journalism Current enrolment: 220,000 full-time students; 300,000 part-time Students enrolled who have a university degree: 15 per cent, up more than 40 per cent from five years ago International students: 12 per cent of total students, up from 5 per cent five years ago Employment: 83 per cent of college grads find jobs within six months. Source: Colleges Ontario SHARE: Foxconn has taken another major step in its ambition to expand beyond its role as a key supplier to Apple (AAPL) in committing to the European consumer electronics business. Sharp (SHCAY) , now a Japanese subsidiary of Foxconn, will buy two TV companies in Eastern Europe - in Slovakia and Poland -- in a move that would signify its return to a business it once dominated. Osaka, Japan-based Sharp said Thursday it would acquire 56.7% in Cyprus-based SkytecUMC, a holding company which owns Slovakia-based Universal Media and UMC Poland, which are both involved in TV operations. The purchase comes as an extension of a business alliance Sharp had already signed with Universal Media in September and would mean the Japanese consumer electronics player is making a comeback in the arena of TV making and selling in Europe. The announcement follows reports last week that Sharp will no longer supply LCD TV panels to South Korean rival Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) from next year, even though that meant it would lose half of its annual sales volume. The decision sparked speculation that Foxconn, through Sharp, would not only revive the loss-making Sharp, but also boost its presence as maker of end-products. There was also media speculation that Sharp and Foxconn are considering building a new LCD TV panel plant in China. Investors will watch whether Sharp will make similar moves in other regions, including the U.S., where last year the company gave its brand license to Hisense as part of a move to restructure its North American LCD TV business. Universal Media is a designer, maker, and distributor of several brands, including Sharp, Germany's Blaupnkt, and the US's HarmanInternational's (HAR) Harman Kardon. Meanwhile, UMC Poland was established in 2006 as Sharp Manufacturing Poland involved in LCD module and TV assembly productions, and has established relationships with European retail chains. Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry (HNHPF) , acquired 66% in debt-ridden Sharp in August for 388 billion after a 100 billion price reduction as due diligence raised concerns about Sharp's corporate value. The purchase was perceived as a long-time ambition of Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, who in the end beat Innovation of Network Corporation of Japan, a public-private fund which wanted to break up Sharp and add its panel business into JapanDisplay (JPDYY) , another major Apple supplier. Sharp was the fourth-biggest LCD TV maker in 2008. It has consistently lost market share every year since, according to Statista, while Samsung has dominated the $100 billion annual market. Sharp's finances haven't fared much better: it booked net losses in four out of the last five years -- the latest amounting to a loss of 256 billion -- and remains stuck in the red as of Sept. 30. (Apple is held in Jim Cramer's charitable trust Action Alerts PLUS. See all of his holdings here.) Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) has agreed to pay $519 million to the U.S. federal government to settle charges of foreign bribery. Teva's share price saw a boost on the news, jumping 2.3% from market's open. Shares hit $37.21 apiece midday Thursday. The company was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly violating foreign bribery laws in its Russian, Mexican and Ukrainian subsidiaries between 2002 and 2012. In 2012, after learning of bribery allegations from both employees and U.S. officials, Teva launched an investigation into each of the three divisions and found that its Russian staff had engaged in bribery. In 2013, the entire staff in Teva's Russian office was replaced. "While the conduct that resulted in this investigation ended several years ago, it is both regrettable and unacceptable, and we are pleased to finally put this matter behind us," said Erez Vigodman, Teva's President and CEO in a statement. He added that Teva today is a "fundamentally different company." Teva has seen its share price fall 44% this year. The company sold off its generics unit to Impax Laboratories earlier this year for $586 million. Soon after selling its generics unit, Teva purchased Anda from Action Alerts PLUS holding Allergan (AGN) for $500 million. A little over a week after Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google announced that its self-driving car research unit would become its own Alphabet-owned entity called Waymo -- a name that refers to "a new way forward in mobility" -- the company may have found a major new partner for its efforts. Japanese carmaker Honda Motor (HMC) said Thursday that it is in "formal discussions" with Waymo to build its self-driving technology into Honda cars. The collaboration will allow the companies to "learn about the integration of fully self-driving sensors, software and computer" into Honda models, the company said in a statement. If Waymo and Honda agree to partner, Honda would provide Waymo with vehicles built to accommodate self-driving technology, which Waymo could then add to its flock of self-driving cars currently being tested in the U.S. "The news supports our expectation that Waymo will be focused on technology with the potential to license to vehicle manufacturers rather than making the cars themselves," Jefferies analyst Brian Fitzgerald wrote in a research note. Google had previously set its eyes on developing its own entirely autonomous vehicle without even a steering wheel or pedals for human use. The company's new move toward creating just the software and partnering with carmakers like Honda to make the actual vehicles themselves could help Waymo get off the ground faster. Honda said that a partnership would allow both companies to "explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to market." Fitzgerald said that he was "encouraged" by the efforts Google, and by extension Waymo, is making in the self-driving space, despite the fact that the company has not realized its ultimate goal of having not just "hands-off" but "eyes-off" driving technology. Alphabet is a holding in Jim Cramer'sAction Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells GOOGL? Learn more now. "We see this as yet another beneficial productive (and prolific) interface between man and machine that should provide useful consumer insights ultimately leading to a more granular mosaic of consumer profiles/intents/demographics (and thus more relevant information and advertising)," Fitzgerald added of the tie up between Honda and Waymo. He rates Alphabet stock as a "buy" with a $1,000 price target. Alphabet stock was trading down about 0.6% to $807.30 in the late afternoon Thursday, but has risen about 3.8% in 2016. Google's self-driving test cars have driven about two million miles on public roads in four U.S. cities and more than a billion simulated miles annually, which gives the company plenty of data to sift through in building its new technology. But Waymo isn't the only company moving forward in the self-driving car arena. Carmaker Tesla (TSLA) launched its own "Autopilot" self-driving system late last year. And in October, CEO Elon Musk claimed that the Autopilot system had been used to drive about 222 million miles. Technology giant Apple (AAPL) has been relatively hush-hush about its self-driving ambitions code named "Titan." In early December, however, the company wrote to U.S. regulators asking for more flexibility on emerging guidelines for self-driving technology, indicating that it could be exploring the space more seriously than suspected. Additionally, ride-hailing companies like Uber are moving forward with autonomous technology. Despite the popularity of self-driving, it isn't all smooth riding. Earlier this week, Uber pulled its own self-driving cars from the streets of San Francisco after facing backlash from city officials for not getting the proper permits to operate autonomous vehicles in the area. Additionally, Tesla came under fire earlier this year after multiple reports of sometimes-fatal accidents involving drivers using its Autopilot feature. Flowserve Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, distributes, and services industrial flow management equipment in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Flowserve Pump Division (FPD) and Flow Control Division (FCD). The FPD segment offers custom and pre-configured pumps and pump systems, mechanical seals, auxiliary systems, replacement parts, upgrades, and related aftermarket services, including installation and commissioning services, seal systems spare parts, repairs, advanced diagnostics, re-rate and upgrade solutions, retrofit programs, and machining and asset management solutions, as well as manufactures a gas-lubricated mechanical seal for use in high-speed compressors for gas pipelines. The FCD segment provides engineered and industrial valve and automation solutions, including isolation and control valves, actuation, controls, and related equipment, as well as equipment maintenance services for flow control systems, including advanced diagnostics, repair, installation, commissioning, retrofit programs, and field machining capabilities. This segment's products are used to control, direct, and manage the flow of liquids, gases, and fluids. The company primarily serves oil and gas, chemical and pharmaceuticals, power generation, and water management markets, as well as general industries, including mining and ore processing, pulp and paper, food and beverage, and other smaller applications. The company distributes its products through direct sales, distributors, and sales representatives. Flowserve Corporation was incorporated in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas. Liberia rebuilds education system after years of civil war By Priyanka Pruthi GANTA TOWN, Liberia, 16 September 2011 War, bullets and bloodshed words which generations of Liberians are still more familiar with than books or schools. Its only been eight years since the country knew peace; the scars from its paralyzing 14-year civil war remain visible as its people try to heal. Today, the government is working to rebuild the infrastructure that was completely destroyed large parts of Liberia doesnt have roads and millions are living without basic access to water, healthcare or electricity. But ask any Liberian what they need most and the answer is the same education. UNICEF correspondent Priyanka Pruthi reports on a school in Liberia that's setting new standards for the education system in the country. Watch in RealPlayer Prince Manguo, 16, realizes that education is his only escape from a life of poverty. He left his family behind in their village in Bahn and moved to Ganta, the second largest city in Liberia, with the single-minded focus of finding a school that would help him turn his dreams into reality. I want to be a mechanical engineer because I want to help the country build some houses, he said. Alone but determined, Prince found his way to the newly constructed Ganta Public School. With its sprawling campus, well ventilated classrooms, playgrounds, solar powered electricity, computer laboratories, clinic and cafeteria where students are served lunch free of cost. UNICEF Liberia/2011/Scott Students attend the morning assembly at the Ganta Public School in Liberia. Restructuring education sector Constructed with support from UNICEF and the Government of the Netherlands, The Ganta Public School is part of an initiative that aims to build high quality schools in a country where overcrowded public schools with inadequate staff and infrastructure are the norm. All the physical facilities at the institutions of learning - basic, secondary and tertiary were destroyed (during war), both in the private and public sector, explained Othello Gongar, Liberias Education Minister. Fortunately this new government started with some emphasis on restructuring the basic education sector with assistance from partners including UNICEF, USAID. Built on 25 acres of land donated by the community in Liberias Nimba County, The Ganta Public School is slowly charting a new course for the education system in the country. It is one of the 21st century schools in the Republic of Liberia in that it has a lot of modern facilities that will attract and make the children learn well, that will encourage the children to remain in school, said Oswer Gbengan, the Principal of the school. UNICEF Liberia/2011/Scott The construction of the Ganta Public School was funded by UNICEF and the Government of Netherlands. The project is part of an initiative aimed at building high-quality schools in Liberia. Paving the path But its not just the facilities that create a unique environment at the Ganta Public School. This school has several components - it has a community center, a mini radio station, latrines for boys and girls...something you dont have in other schools, said Matthew Flomo, UNICEF Education in Emergency Officer. UNICEF helped teachers become more attentive to the needs of their students, and also established a parent-teacher association to keep the community involved in the growth of the school. We gave initial support even in terms of school materials - copy books, pencils, toiletries, hand washing materials - basic materials to be able to first maintain the school, explained Mr. Flomo. UNICEF Liberia/2011/Scott Students attend a geography class at the Ganta Public School located on the border between Liberia and Guinea. A sharp contrast Decontee Coffy, 17, feels the Ganta Public School is a sharp contrast to others she has attended. Over here the teachers are putting an effort, she said. I feel that I'm learning better, they encourage us to be creative. The school is now nearing end of its first academic year with over 450 students in classes till the eighth grade but the progress remains slow. Many of the promised facilities are still not up and running We have a library, we have a science lab, we have a radio station, we have an auditorium - we have so many facilities but the radio station is not in function and the library has no books, explained Decontee. Hope despite hurdles For the Pastor of the local church, who is now Princes caretaker, the Ganta Public school has brought with it precious opportunities that are invaluable to children in the community. I'm a father of six children and things are very difficult but we are here together, said Pastor John G.B Kennedy. We are thankful for the Ganta Public School where we don't have to pay fees so Prince can go to school. At the end of the day, even the smallest push goes a long way for students like Prince - students who are waiting for a chance to break away from their countrys violent past and claim their future. The central tenet of President-elect Donald Trumps plan to speed up the economy sounds fiendishly simple: Cut tax rates and get more tax revenue from faster growth. To most economists, the proposal is frighteningly familiar. They call it supply-side economics, the theory that encouraged President Ronald Reagan to cut taxes so much in 1981 that the government began running huge budget deficits. George H.W. Bush once dubbed it voodoo economics. Reagans first budget director recently called the concepts premise dead wrong. And one of Reagans top economists once knocked the idea that higher revenue would result as hyperbole. Even Reagan himself later agreed to a series of modest tax increases to put the government budget on sounder footing. Trump does not use the phrase supply-side economics, but the formula is what enables him to promise $4.4 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years that he said will not increase federal budget deficits a result economists overwhelmingly do not believe possible. My tax cut is the biggest since Ronald Reagan. Im very proud of it, Trump said in his first debate with Hillary Clinton. And in a speech to the New York Economic Club in September, Trump said that his planned $4.4 trillion in tax cuts would spur 3.5 percent to 4 percent growth that would offset rate cuts. It will be deficit-neutral. If we reach 4 percent growth, it will reduce the deficit, he said. Trumps top advisers include champions of supply-side theory. One is Larry Kudlow, the conservative television pundit the president-elect is considering for a key economic advisory role, possibly as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Im a supply-sider, and theres no breaking news there, Kudlow said in an interview. I think growth solves a lot of problems, including budget problems. He said he considers Trump in the tradition of Reagan and President John F. Kennedy, whose tax cuts Kudlow admires. Kudlow has said that deep cuts in taxes would put a booster rocket under the economy. On NBCs Meet the Press on Oct. 30, he said Trumps tax cuts, particularly [for] businesses and small business . . . will grow this economy at 4 percent to 5 percent. Larry is a true free-market capitalist and for that I strongly admire his work, said David A. Stockman, who was director of the Office of Management and Budget under Reagan. But hes also an incorrigible bull after having spent so many years sniffing financial bubble glue at CNBC. Wall Street bulls are more optimistic than pessimistic bears. Stockman, a former Michigan Republican congressman and onetime divinity student, hired Kudlow, then on Wall Street, to be associate director for economics at OMB at the beginning of the Reagan administration. But in an email, Stockman said that Kudlow was dead wrong as chief economist at OMB in 1981 when he claimed that big tax cuts would cause an immediate boom and be self-financing. Stockman added: When we raised taxes three times during 1982-1984 to curtail the runaway deficit and the economy still rebounded strongly during those years, he had no answer. Yet Kudlow remains undaunted, claiming that the formula can work. And he is not alone. Trumps pick for treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said that we can absolutely get to sustained 3 to 4 percent by imposing the largest tax change since Reagan. Trumps nominee for commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, and Peter Navarro, a business professor at the University of California at Irvine, have proposed an infrastructure plan that they say would give investors tax credits and would not cost the government anything. Instead, they said, new construction and new jobs would generate enough federal receipts that the proposal would achieve revenue neutrality, the economic equivalent of a free lunch. To most economists, including Republicans, that conclusion is hooey. Four percent growth is a nice aspiration but very difficult to achieve, said N. Gregory Mankiw, a Harvard economics professor who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush. In light of the ongoing retirement of the baby-boom generation and the fact that most women are already working, growth in the labor force will likely be much slower in the future than it has been over the past several decades. Moreover, he added, unemployment has fallen and there is not a lot of slack that might otherwise permit faster-than-normal growth. In recent meetings with business leaders, Trump transition advisers have walked back the earlier forecasts for economic growth, according to a participant in one of the meetings. They now acknowledge that growth might hit only 3 percent. Mankiw said better tax and regulatory policy could speed growth, and he cited changes House Republicans were mulling. But, he added, even with sensible pro-growth policies, over the next decade even 3 percent long-run growth would be quite an accomplishment. It remains unclear what Trumps new OMB director, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), a deficit hawk, will think of the supply-side formula. But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) has acknowledged that Trumps plan might require larger deficits than GOP lawmakers previously said they would accept. Kudlow maintained that lower marginal tax rates on capital gains and income, especially for the wealthy, would spur people to work and invest more, so much that tax revenue would increase. Why the wealthy in particular? Those people have the most flexibility to work or not work, invest or not invest. Their sensitivity is very high, while in the middle income, not as much, Kudlow said. Middle-income earners would simply spend more. In the 1970s and 80s , supply-side economics was championed by Arthur Laffer, who famously drew the theory on a napkin for White House advisers to President Gerald Ford. Mainstream economists have always acknowledged that there is some supply-side effect on revenue from faster growth when taxes are cut, but not nearly enough to offset the reduction in rates. The height of supply side hyperbole was the Laffer curve proposition that the tax cut would actually increase tax revenue because it would unleash an enormously depressed supply of effort, Martin Feldstein wrote in a 1986 paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Feldstein, a Harvard economics professor, was chairman of Reagans Council of Economic Advisers from 1982 to 1984. Feldstein agreed that the reduction in tax rates did have a favorable effect on work incentives and on real GNP and that the resulting loss of tax revenue was significantly less than the traditional revenue estimates would imply. But, he added, the miraculous effects anticipated by some of the new supply side enthusiasts were, alas, without substance. At least in 1981, when Reagan and Congress pushed ahead with sharp tax cuts, the loss of revenue was not catastrophic because the U.S. economy had less debt. When Reagan took office, the outstanding national debt was just under $1 trillion, or 31 percent of gross domestic product. Yet Stockman notes that 35 years later, the U.S. economy is fatally hobbled with $64 trillion of public and private debt. It needs fiscal and financial discipline, not supply-side nostrums. But, he said, pointing to Kudlows claims, Larry still doesnt know he was wrong the first time. The house pho (rare eye of round, brisket in savory beef broth) at Caphe Banh Mi. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) The bottle racks and stainless-steel WineStation dispensers stand to the right when you enter Caphe Banh Mi. You cant miss them. Theyll practically be panting on you, like drunks in a crowded subway, as you inevitably wait for a table in this cozy, neighborhood hideaway in Old Town Alexandria. If youre forced to wait long enough, you might even begin to wonder which of these grapes could relate to the high-strung, high-maintenance broth found in the bottom of a typical bowl of pho. The thought crossed my mind as I huddled next to the bottles one evening, hoping no one would open the door and allow the winter air to blast-chill the tiny dining room. [Banh Ta Deli: Where Vietnamese sandwiches pack in artistry and balance] When I finally sat down, I asked the waiter for a wine recommendation to pair with my pho. His face went tight. He shook his head repeatedly, half-embarrassed, until he formed the words he didnt want to speak: He doesnt drink. I opted for a 2013 Burgundy from Meiomi, a California glad-hander with the ingratiating flavors of black cherry and vanilla. The pho didnt want anything to do with it. [A focus on genuine Vietnamese noodle soup pays off for Pho Real] Owner and chef My Huynhs restaurant features a wall map of Vietnam surrounded by city names. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) The soup itself was that rare bowl that requires no doctoring with tabletop condiments. The broth was copper colored, clarified but not completely clear. It had a tea-like clarity with a flavor profile to match: light, refined, balanced. The star anise, too often the alpha dog of pho, had been commanded to play nice with the puppies. As such, the spices biting, fennel-like aromas were mere component parts, equal to the soups caramelized onions, the charred ginger and the sly buttery seduction of the beef broth. To drown this in Sriracha would be like affixing emoticons to American Gothic. The woman behind this broth is My Huynh, a Vietnamese native whose Alexandria restaurant is a graceful rejoinder to her detractors, who happen to be relatives. Huynh used to help run a handful of Yogiberry frozen yogurt shops with her family, but they had a falling out. According to my family, I couldnt do anything on my own, Huynh says. Caphe Banh Mi is evidence to the contrary, starting with the arty space itself. One section is reserved for the most tasteful wall map Ive ever seen in a restaurant: A chalky white wall features the slender, seahorse-shaped outline of Vietnam, along with a series of raised letters, whose shadows spell out the names of major Vietnamese cities. The tabletops look like autumn leaves were trapped in amber. The place gives the average strip-center pho parlor an inferiority complex. The classic banh mi sandwich has sliced ham, country pate, headcheese and cha lua sausage. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) As the name indicates, Caphe also sells meaty banh mi, each served in a paper-lined basket with ringlets of jalapeno neatly stacked outside the baguette so you can control the pepper heat of your sandwich. The classic banh mi a pig-intensive bite with sliced ham, country pate, headcheese and cha lua sausage hits many of the right notes, although the kitchen stiffed me on pickled vegetables. Without its acid tongue, the sandwich was an exercise in unctuousness. The pork shoulder banh mi trades mostly on its grilled meat, the other flavors retreating to the corners of the crusty bread, even the garlicky Vietnamese mayo. Even though Huynh prides herself on recreating the fresh, fragrant, fishy flavors that she savored in central Vietnam, shes no straitjacketed purist. Her sloppy Viet banh mi is described as a baguette packed with spicy red curry ground beef, but dont let the semi-South Asian language fool you: Its basically sloppy joe meat spooned into that roll, a sweet-and-spicy tomato mixture that Huynh developed to appease her kids. The sandwich is definitely engineered for a kids palate. While not as obvious as the banh mi for junior high cafeterias, other dishes also appear to acquiesce to Westernized palates. The dipping sauce known as nuoc cham strikes me as sweeter and less fishy at Caphe than at similar outlets at, say, the Eden Center. Yet thats not necessarily a dealbreaker. The crisp, chewy imperial rolls pack plenty of flavor crab, shrimp, pork, wood-ear mushrooms without demanding the intoxicating umami punch of fish sauce. The same holds true for the charbroiled catfish that lounges atop vermicelli noodles: The fillet, prepared with turmeric and dill, actually tastes better without nuoc cham. Its texture is less flaccid, too. Fried imperial rolls. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Catfish vermicelli. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Of course, just when I thought I had sized up Caphe, the place would upend my expectations. Like the evening I ordered a vermicelli bowl paired with slices of grilled pork, crushed peanuts, mint, pickled daikon and big blocks of fried imperial roll. This time, the accompanying nuoc cham smelled as if a million little anchovies had died for the cause, their pungent juices supplying that rotting wave of deliciousness that ties together the best Vietnamese food. If I had zeroed in on my favorite dishes at Caphe the pho, the catfish and pork vermicelli bowls, the filet mignon salad with its fresh, elevating notes of mint I was still no closer to finding a wine to pair with the house noodle soup. One night, I selected a 2012 sauvignon blanc from Chimney Rock Winery in Napa Valley, a vintage that balanced its sweet pear nectar with a mild acidity. Ugh. The wine and pho just eyed each other suspiciously the entire meal. But then my friend proceeded to madly customize her bowl, like some Dr. Phokenstein. She squeezed an entire wedge of lime into the broth, followed by another wedge and another. She also dribbled in a few dots of Sriracha. I slurped her concoction, then sipped my wine. The sauvignon blanc had suddenly found a friend, one acid seeking out another. Later, on the phone with Huynh, I related my troubles finding a decent wine to match with her noodle soup. She wasted no words: It doesnt work so well with pho. The tiny Caphe Banh Mi in Old Town Alexandria fills up fast. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture or distribute highly addictive pain pills have hired dozens of officials from the top levels of the Drug Enforcement Administration during the past decade, according to a Washington Post investigation. The hires came after the DEA launched an aggressive campaign to curb a rising opioid epidemic that has resulted in thousands of overdose deaths each year. In 2005, the DEA began to crack down on companies that were distributing inordinate numbers of pills such as oxycodone to pain-management clinics and pharmacies around the country. Since then, the pharmaceutical companies and law firms that represent them have hired at least 42 officials from the DEA 31 of them directly from the division responsible for regulating the industry, according to work histories compiled by The Post and interviews with current and former agency officials. The number of hires has prompted some current and former government officials to ask whether the companies raided the division to hire away DEA officials who were architects of the agencys enforcement campaign or were most responsible for enforcing the laws the firms were accused of violating. The number of employees recruited from that division points to a deliberate strategy by the pharmaceutical industry to hire people who are the biggest headaches for them, said John Carnevale, who was director of planning for the White Houses Office of National Drug Control Policy and now runs a consulting firm. These people understand how DEA operates, the culture around diversion and DEAs goals, and they can advise their clients how to stay within the guidelines. The DEAs Diversion Control Division, tasked with preventing prescription drugs from reaching the black market, wields enormous power within the pharmaceutical world. The small division, with about 300 employees at its Arlington, Va., headquarters, can suspend or revoke the licenses of doctors, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies that fail to comply with federal law. From 2000 to 2015, nearly 180,000 people died of overdoses from prescription painkillers in what public health authorities have called an epidemic. States including Massachusetts, and most recently Virginia, have declared public health emergencies as the number of deaths has escalated. [How drugs intended for patients ended up in the hands of illegal users] It is not unusual for corporations to hire federal employees directly away from the government. Their expertise and inside knowledge can be invaluable, but there are laws and regulations to slow the revolving door in Washington and prevent potential conflicts of interest. The restrictions include a lifetime ban on participating personally and substantially on a particular matter that the official had handled while working for the federal government. There also is a two-year ban on switching sides on a wider array of matters that were in the employees official purview. State bar associations impose additional post-employment restrictions for government lawyers. An industry spokesman said former DEA diversion officials are hired for their expertise. Our industry is highly specialized, and the function of drug diversion experts even more so, said John M. Gray, president and chief executive of the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, which represents drug distributors. As such, for these individuals who want to continue to grow in their areas of expertise, it is logical for them to pursue government and industry roles that are closely aligned with their professional experience. While The Post did not find evidence that the officials violated conflict-of-interest regulations, the number of hires from one key division shows how an industry can potentially blunt a government agencys aggressive attempts at enforcement. The DEA diversion officials who have gone to the industry since 2005 include two executive assistants who managed day-to-day operations; the deputy director of the division; the deputy chief of operations; two chiefs of policy; a deputy chief of policy; the chief of investigations; and two associate chief counsels in charge of legal affairs and enforcement actions against pharmaceutical companies. Its obvious that they targeted the office, said Joseph T. Rannazzisi, who ran the diversion division for a decade before he was removed from his position and retired in 2015. If you want to understand how we were doing our investigations, the best way to do it is to take our people who are doing the investigations and put them in place in your company. Its not difficult to understand why you would take these guys. They know the law. Most of the DEA officials went to work for the pharmaceutical industry and law firms within weeks of leaving the agency. Among the 31 DEA diversion employees, 22 began their new jobs within weeks of leaving the DEA, according to work histories the officials posted on LinkedIn, as well as news releases and biographies published by the companies and law firms that hired them. The Post found that several high-ranking DEA supervisors from outside the diversion division also took top jobs with industry: four special agents in charge and three assistant special agents in charge of field operations in some of the nations largest cities, including New York, Washington and Atlanta. In responses to questions from The Post, the DEA said in a statement that former employees must follow the law and ethics regulations in taking jobs in the private sector. Many who serve in government possess expert knowledge in a wide variety of fields. It is not uncommon for former government officials to use or rely on such expertise when they transfer to the private sector following their public sector service, DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said in the statement. Employees who leave DEA and other government agencies for private sector work are expected to abide by the applicable laws and ethics rules that govern their private sector activities. At least five of the 31 DEA employees were hired by McKesson the nations largest drug distributor and fifth-largest corporation. McKesson has been the subject of two publicly disclosed DEA enforcement actions, which resulted in $163 million in fines after allegations that the firm failed to report hundreds of suspicious orders for millions of pain pills from Internet pharmacies and others. McKesson has put significant resources towards building a best-in-class controlled substance monitoring program to help identify suspicious orders and prevent prescription drug diversion in the supply chain, the company said in a statement. It is only natural that this team is comprised of a broad range of experts, including individuals who have spent time at DEA, as they bring deep knowledge of effective strategies to prevent diversion. Our team is deeply passionate about curbing the opioid epidemic in our country. The Post contacted a dozen former DEA officials who went to work for the drug industry, but few agreed to be interviewed. Those who did said they followed federal ethics guidelines designed to prevent potential conflicts of interest for officials who switch from government to the industries they once regulated. I dont feel like I took off the white hat and put the black hat on, said Larry P. Cote, who left as the associate chief counsel for the DEAs diversion division in May 2012 to become a partner at the law firm Quarles & Brady. Thats really not whats going on. Its trying to get the best people in place to make sure that companies are staying compliant. And frankly, that benefits the DEA as much as it benefits the companies. At Quarles & Brady, Cote serves as co-director of the firms DEA Compliance and Litigation Practice Group and provides legal advice to some of the nations largest pharmaceutical companies. Cote said he obtained an ethics opinion from the DEA that advised him on which cases he could and could not handle in the private sector. Ethics experts said revolving-door issues have been a long-standing concern across the government, with some of the most notable cases coming from the Defense Department. President-elect Donald Trump recently criticized the revolving door at the Pentagon, saying high-ranking officials should never be allowed to go work for companies in the defense industry. The ethics experts said the number of officials switching sides at the DEA raises serious questions about whether the ability of the diversion division to carry out its mission has been compromised by the pharmaceutical industry. The findings that so many DEA officials have switched from their roles preventing, detecting and investigating illegal drug use to working for those involved in the supply chain is disturbing, said Scott H. Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group in Washington. Its also another reminder of how well the revolving door is greased and how the revolving door can negatively impact government operations. Its not a surprise that DEA isnt as vigilant as it once was when so many ex-feds are working for the companies that they once investigated. *** In 2004, DEA officials became alarmed by the increasing number of overdose deaths. The following year, the agencys diversion division launched an initiative designed to hold distributors of narcotics accountable for the hundreds of millions of pills that were being diverted to the black market. The DEA pursued cases against some of the largest opioid distributors in the country, including McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, as well as CVS and Walgreens, which distribute opioids to their own pharmacies. In general, the companies did not admit wrongdoing and said they were taking steps to address illegal diversion. In 2008, McKesson settled one of those cases, paying a $13 million fine without admitting liability. That same the year, the DEA filed a case against Cardinal. That company also settled, paying a $34 million fine. Cardinal promised to improve monitoring of its drug shipments. The DEAs initiative was sharply curtailed in the face of pressure from the pharmaceutical industry beginning in 2013, according to a Post investigation published in October. In fiscal 2011, civil case filings against distributors, manufacturers, pharmacies and doctors had reached 131. By 2014, they had fallen to 40. [The DEA slowed enforcement while the opioid epidemic grew out of control] The slowdown came after DEA lawyers began to require a higher standard of proof before cases could move forward. Supervisors in the field said they were frustrated that their cases were being stalled at DEA headquarters. Top DEA and Justice Department officials have declined to discuss the reasons behind the slowdown. Government ethics experts said regulators often join the industries they oversee, lured by substantially higher salaries. That high rate of turnover makes you really wonder whether those officials were acting in the interests of the DEA rather than the companies they were regulating, said Craig Holman, an expert on revolving-door issues for Public Citizen, a government watchdog group in Washington. Just by seeing your colleagues going that way, that tells you that you can shape your future employment prospects if you behave accordingly. Once senior employees leave for jobs in the industry, they are in positions to help pharmaceutical companies comply with the complex laws and regulations that govern controlled substances. But ethics experts said they also can exploit weaknesses they are aware of within the DEA. One of the key players in the DEAs diversion initiative went to work for a law firm that represents the companies he used to regulate. D. Linden Barber, who served as associate chief counsel from 2006 to 2010, guided cases against some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the country. In 2008, Barbers office filed its first diversion case against Cardinal, accusing it of failing to properly monitor shipments of painkillers. Barber conducted extensive meetings with DEA attorneys assigned to the case and was deeply involved in crafting a memorandum of agreement to settle the allegations against Cardinal, according to a DEA document. The case resulted in the $34 million settlement with Cardinal. In September 2011, Barber, who had been serving as the DEAs regional diversion counsel in the Midwest, left for the law firm Quarles & Brady. His colleague, Larry Cote, had taken over as associate chief counsel at DEA headquarters. The next month, the DEA served warrants seeking records from Cardinal as part of a second case against the company. Quarles & Bradys clients include Cardinal. Seven months later, in May 2012, Cote, who helped to coordinate the second Cardinal case while at the DEA, joined Barber at Quarles & Brady, becoming co-director of compliance and litigation. Cote had appeared in court on behalf of the DEA in the case against Cardinal three months earlier, records show. Barber said he sought advice from Roberto D. DiBella, the DEAs ethics lawyer, before and after leaving the agency. Barber declined to say whether he asked DiBella for advice about representing Cardinal, but he said his representation of his clients complied with ethics laws. The rules governing my work as an attorney make it inappropriate for me to discuss work I did for DEA and any other clients, he said in a statement to The Post. However, the records of DEA will show that I followed the rules. I never worked on a matter for DEA and then worked on the same matter for the other party. I am proud of the work I did for DEA and of the work I do in private practice for clients who want to work with DEA to stop the abuse of prescription drugs. The DEA provided The Post with a copy of DiBellas ethics opinion. It shows that Barber asked for guidance on his representation of Cardinal. DiBella told him that he was banned for life from representing Cardinal on any issues connected to the 2008 memorandum of agreement (MOA). Your representation of Cardinal to address an alleged violation of the MOA would on its face appear that you switched sides on a matter that you participated in as a DEA employee, DiBella wrote. DiBella did not respond to interview requests. The DEA said the ethics opinion was reviewed by DiBellas supervisor to double-check the advice Barber was given. Cote said he, too, asked DiBella for an ethics opinion before leaving the agency in 2012. I provided him with a fairly comprehensive list of the cases that I worked on, he said in a recent interview. The DEA provided a copy of the opinion to The Post. It noted that Cote had participated personally and substantially in specific matters relating to at least 10 companies while he was at the DEA. It said he was banned for life from communicating with or appearing before the DEA or any other federal agency on behalf of those companies on the specific matters he handled. The companies include some of the largest drug distributors and retailers in the nation, including McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Walmart. Cote said he has followed the opinion, which also singled out his work for the DEA on the Cardinal case. I did not and really have not represented Cardinal since I left DEA, Cote said. Our firm does do work for Cardinal, but Ive been really walled off from it because some of these matters are still pending and I just didnt want to go there. Josephine Peterson contributed to this report. She is attached to The Posts investigative unit through a program at American University. Lucite pills display ($98-248, jonathanadler.com). (Courtesy of Jonathan Adler) Jonathan Adler blew into Washington last week to visit his Georgetown store and see what his customers are buying for gifts and for themselves for Christmas. Looks like his Lucite pop art pills, supersized meds in three sizes from $98 to $248, are a hit. Adler likes them grouped casually in several colors on a coffee table or piled in a corner. He says theyre the accessory of the moment and they let your guests know that they are dealing with someone formidable and eccentric. Designer Jonathan Adler. (Maura McEvoy) You cant miss Adler; hes the one in the white jeans (he owns 40 pairs of the Uniqlo white pants). They are his uniform, he says, for friends brises or to wear to weddings. And they are perfect, he says, for a December store visit in chilly Washington. Adler, 50, is known for his mod and crafty furniture and accessories. He says his goal is to create products, whether gold lip-shaped place-card holders or rocket-shaped decanters, that appeal to picky people. Adler started as a potter, but ended up forming his own design company 23 years ago. In addition to working on pottery, he designs beds, desks, rugs and lighting and writes books. He and his husband, Simon Doonan, Barneys New York creative ambassador-at-large, live in Manhattan and Shelter Island, in homes full of mid-century modern, glam lighting and Adlers creations. Whats Adler got going on in 2017? Hes in the process of refreshing the Parker Palm Springs hotel, a place he first designed more than 10 years ago. The redo includes the installation of a seven-foot-tall bronze banana, his first foray into public sculpture. [Pantones 2017 Color of the Year is a bright and powerful green] We sat on one of his low-slung sofas in the shop and talked trends for next year. Heres his take. Mixed metals: I love brass and nickel together, says Adler, who is wearing metallic silver Adidas X Raf Simons Stan Smith sneakers. He likes the shine, shimmer and movement of metals in interiors, whether on mirrors or in side tables. In his line he has designed Electrum Boxes, storage boxes that open up to reveal velvet linings to hold treasures and jewels. Electrum is a sparkly alloy of both gold and silver, Adler says. Lucite: Whether bar carts or cocktail tables, clear Lucite is turning up in every room of the house. Lots of people are living in small spaces, says Adler. Lucite is very glamorous and makes a room seem larger. I think its like jewelry for the home. Jewel tones: I like strong colors, Adler says. Jewel tones can energize a room and you can mix them together for a great look. He is partial to emerald, lavender, turquoise and cobalt. Hes also a fan of the new Pantone Color of the Year for 2017: Greenery. Zoology Parrots Pillow ($325, jonathanadler.com). (Courtesy of Jonathan Adler) Electrum cylinder box ($348, jonathanadler.com). (Courtesy of Jonathan Adler) Statement pillows: Pillows are a quick way to glam up your spaces, he says. Adlers favorite pillows these days have sparkle such as sequins or beads. The motifs include butterflies, ships and birds. Less calculated decorating: Look for interiors to be more quirky and eccentric, Adler says. Since millennials are more random and less stylistically dogmatic in what they choose, he thinks there will be a movement toward rooms with things in myriad styles. I find this kind of liberating, Adler says. Since millennials collect images more than stuff, it will force designers to work harder. If people are less acquisitive, everyone will have to work to make irresistible stuff. Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton as Mildred and Richard Loving in the movie Loving. (Ben Rothstein/Focus Features) Loving shows Virginia at its most romantic and picturesque. Toward the beginning of the drama, a man takes his pregnant wife-to-be to an empty field and tells her in a slow drawl, Im going to build you a house right here. The couple stand on a patchy, tree-lined stretch of grass, the rhythmic buzzing of cicadas pulsing around them. Low-hanging clouds pass languidly overhead, and the grass flutters in the breeze; humidity practically radiates off the screen. In the movie, Virginia is the place where these sweethearts, played by Golden Globe nominees Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga, meet and fall for each other in the mid-1950s. But its also the place where a white man and his wife, whos black and Native American, would get arrested for the crime of cohabitating. Virginia forced Richard and Mildred Loving to go to jail or leave the state they loved, and they spent nearly a decade in Washington, D.C., trying to return. Virginia showed up in three major movies this year, all based on true stories. The Birth of a Nation, a drama about the 1831 slave uprising led by Nat Turner, takes place in Southampton County, not far from the setting of Hidden Figures, which opens Sunday and tells the story of black female mathematicians working for NASA during the space race. These dramas capture the conflicted nature of the commonwealth the way progress and resistance are in constant battle, with some citizens rejecting the status quo just as forcefully as others cling to it. Is there something particular about Virginia that makes these kinds of stories more likely? Maybe. Andrew Talkov, vice president for programs at the Virginia Historical Society, recently noted how Virginia includes both the Deep South and the liberal North. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, even though its a mere 100 miles from Washington, where Abraham Lincoln was working to set all men free. Virginia was the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson, who called slavery a moral and political depravity but owned slaves all the same. Its the state where one of the largest Confederate flags in the country flies, just outside of Danville, erected in response to the citys decision to take its own banner down. Similarly, in Loving, Virginia became the place that made interracial marriage legal but only because the Supreme Court forced its hand. The film takes a sensitive and knowing approach to its setting. Director Jeff Nichols chose to film there, and the Little Rock native understands the tricky magnetism of the region. The South is a complex place, and, for all the things that we love about it, there are also things we dont love about it, Nichols said. But that doesnt minimize the fact that its home and youre drawn to these people and this culture, and the smell, and the feel, and the heat and everything else. Loving director Jeff Nichols chose to film the movie in the state of Virginia, where the story is set. (Ben Rothstein/Focus Features) Today, the Lovings Caroline County is still a bucolic area where farming and timber are the main industries. Residents are churchgoers there are seven places of worship in the small town of Bowling Green alone and theyre active in civic organizations such as the Rotary Club and the Lions. Bowling Green is the kind of place where two volunteers from the countys historical society were happy to spend their Thursday morning chatting about the good old days with a journalist who also happens to be a Virginia native albeit from a little farther north. We call that occupied Virginia, society President Wayne Brooks told me with a chuckle. The Lovings seem like a footnote in this quiet countys history. Native Bernard Collins remembers Mildred as an extremely gracious lady, but she and her family were by no means local celebrities. Their story is just one of many at the historical society, which takes up a room in a small museum dedicated to a painter best known for his Civil War battlefield scenes. Out front theres a monument commemorating the valor of the resident soldiers who served in the Confederate army, not far from a black obelisk dedicated to the countys African American citizens, who overcame slavery and other forms of prejudice to make many significant contributions to the county. The Stonewall Jackson Shrine is just up the road at the small white building where the Confederate general died of pneumonia in 1863 after he was mistakenly shot by his own men. Around the corner from the historical society is the dilapidated prison where Mildred Loving was jailed after the county sheriff stormed into the couples bedroom in the middle of the night and told them that the District marriage certificate on their wall was no good here. Bowling Green was overwhelmed when thousands of people poured in after a casting call for extras in Loving. But in the middle of an autumn weekday, the only sound is the flags, one Virginian, one American, flapping in the breeze. Truthfully, the Lovings probably wouldnt have minded flying under the radar in Caroline County; they remained press-shy after the trial. Richard was killed in a car accident in 1975, and Mildred died of pneumonia in 2008. During their exile in Washington, they never took to the bustling hubbub, the landscape of pavement and asphalt. Eventually, the couple and their three children secretly moved back to the state, just beyond the jurisdiction of the Caroline County sheriff. She loved her home and was willing to risk the safety of herself and her family to be next to it, Nichols said of Mildred. I think that was part of her spirit. She just needed that place. Months later, the Supreme Court ruled in the couples favor and Richard finally got to build that house. In their own quiet way, the Lovings were rebels, much like the change agents in this years other Virginia movies. Nat Turner was an anomaly even before he started a slave revolt that led to the deaths of 60 white men, women and children and the slayings of hundreds of slaves in retaliation. He knew how to read, which is how he became a traveling preacher. At least in the movie, that unique chance to see the rest of the state opened his eyes to atrocities at other plantations, and what he saw shocked and emboldened him. Armie Hammer, left, and Nate Parker in The Birth of a Nation. (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Nate Parker, who wrote, directed, produced and starred in the movie, grew up in Norfolk, but he didnt find out about the revolt until he went to college out of state. Imagine my dismay in learning that one of the greatest men to walk the soil in this country was a man who grew up and lived and breathed and fought less than 100 miles from where I grew up, Parker told the Hollywood Reporter this year. He spent seven years trying to remedy the situation with a movie. The drama had epic momentum after a promising debut at Sundance in January but fizzled when 1999 rape allegations involving Parker and his co-screenwriter Jean Celestin resurfaced. Some fans of the movie think Parkers film was unfairly torpedoed, given that he was found not guilty. Perhaps audiences werent ready to see the leader of a bloody slave revolt as the protagonist in a movie, Parkers supporters hypothesized. Though, as a Virginia native where 19th-century rebels are still revered, the filmmaker made a good case for why Turner belonged on-screen. This country was built on rebellion, he said during that same interview. So when we talk about American heroes, people that fought against an oppressive force, I think that its a no-brainer that Nat Turner exists in that conversation. Hidden Figures came into theaters with a lot less baggage, and its being widely celebrated, with Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations. The movie is based on a book by Margot Lee Shetterly, who grew up in Hampton, Va., the daughter of a NASA scientist. Unlike Parker with his subject, Shetterly was fully aware of the black women who helped launch astronauts into space. What came as a shock was how few people outside of her community knew the story. So she brought the extraordinary tale to the masses about black women working in a technical field in the Jim Crow South. Even as these women helped guide John Glenn back to Earth, they had to use separate bathrooms from their white counterparts and were required to sit at a table in the cafeteria with a sign that read colored. One of the women stole the sign and every sign that materialized afterward until, finally, the notices stopped appearing. Janelle Monae, center right, in Hidden Figures. (Hopper Stone/SMPSP/Twentieth Century Fox) Hidden Figures made it to the screen with the help of musician Pharrell Williams, originally from Virginia Beach. He produced the movie and co-wrote the score, and part of what inspired him to get involved was where the story took place. We want those kinds of stories that come from there to show, man, people have been doing amazing things all along, he said. So what cant you do, young man? What cant you do, young woman? You can do anything you want. Back at the historical society in Caroline County, Wayne Brooks is reminiscing about the past. He has a collection of tattered old issues of the Caroline Progress spread out in front of him, with headlines both sensational Sheriff Brooks Solves Rape-Slaying, Clears Up Four Unsolved Murders and mundane, such as Oyster Supper, 5:30-8:30 Fri., At Methodist Church. He believes that Caroline County was exceptional in some ways. Race relations tended to be good. There wasnt a Ku Klux Klan presence or racial violence, which was the case in some neighboring areas. But the villain at the center of Loving was not just any county sheriff hounding a quiet couple his name was Garnett Brooks, and he was Wayne Brookss cousin. Brooks, who had just seen the movie the night before at the Richmond premiere, said he thought the portrayal was fair, even if he believed his cousin may have been doing someone elses bidding. It may not be as straightforward as the movie makes it seem. Its just another complicated story from a complicated state. Freeport, Maine, is known for its outlets featuring national and international brands. However, a number of Made in Maine retailers are showing off their state pride and local craftsmanship in the center of town. (FreeportUSA) The shaving scuttle mugs, ikebana vases and butter dishes from Georgetown Pottery travel less than 30 miles from a studio on a Maine island to the showroom in Freeport. The journey for Maine Woolens woven blankets is even more brief, a 10-mile jaunt from the Brunswick mill to the Main Street shop. At Wilburs of Maine Chocolate Confections, you can lob a maple maltball from the factory floor to the retail area without straining your arm. If this were a race, the Vietnam-made pajamas from J. Crew Factory would lose to Team Maine by almost 8,000 miles. Play the free association game with Freeport and you will most likely blurt out Outlets. The southern Maine town (population: about 7,800) is known for discount shopping at more than 170 national and international stores. The only connection the chains have to Maine is their street address. But the retail topography is changing. Made in Maine signs appear in shop windows, and labels on handmade goods proudly hail their place of birth. Employees eagerly explain the origin stories of the companies and demonstrate, through props, videos or simple instruction, the craftsmanship of their products. The local movement is definitely catching on, said Jim Cram, executive director of the Freeport Historical Society. Boots, blankets and pottery The town has dabbled in many careers over the centuries, including shipbuilding, fishing, canning and shoemaking. Its most famous boot guy is Leon Leonwood Bean (long for L.L. Bean), but the outdoorsman who disdained cold, wet feet wasnt the first visionary to sow his dreams in Freeports soil. The outlets piggybacked on L.L., and he piggybacked on E.B. Mallet, said Holly Hurd, the historical societys collections manager and curator. In the mid-1800s, Mallet poured a sizable inheritance into the development of Freeport, which benefited from the railroad and the nearby Harraseeket River. He invested in coal and steam power, and built one shoe factory and then another. The classic L.L. Bean boot greets visitors at an entrance to its flagship store. The company was founded in Freeport more than a century ago. (John Van Decker/Alamy Stock Photo) L.L. Bean overlapped with Mallet. In 1912, he introduced the Maine Hunting Shoe, which he sold from the basement of his brothers apparel shop. Today, the Beanopolis in the town center comprises the 200,000-square-foot flagship store plus separate buildings for its home goods; hunting and fishing gear; bike, boat and ski toys; and outlet. Take your time, a green-vested employee advised an overwhelmed customer. Were open 24 hours. In 1951, the company introduced a 24/7/365 schedule and has closed only a handful of times when President Kennedy was assassinated, Bean died and a fire broke out in the 1980s. The outlets rose from those ashes. The small inferno destroyed Leightons Department Store; Dansk moved in. More chains arrived. But over the years, new buds have started to blossom: the homegrown retailers. Maine-made products symbolize our state, said Wilburs employee Nate Parent. Maine is a beautiful state with gorgeous coastlines, woods and mountains. However, we also have some of the harshest winters anywhere, so that makes us tough, independent and resilient. Brahms Mount weaves its blankets on antique shuttle looms at a mill 30 miles north of Freeport. (Andrea Sachs/The Washington Post) In late November, I borrowed some of that Maine grit as I strolled along Main Street, a blocks-long run of national and local stores. I ducked into Brahms Mount, which uses antique shuttle looms to construct its blankets, throws and towels. A video transports viewers to the Monmouth mill 30 miles north of Freeport. Suzanne Lauzier, a store manager, guided me around the store, practically a Dwell magazine spread with warmly dressed beds and artfully cluttered tabletops. I followed her to a hanging rack of blankets. Pulling one down, she described the signature markings of a Brahms Mount: closed selvage (banded hems), a herringbone pattern, hand-twisted fringe that falls like Komondor locks. The blankets come in more than 20 colors, including seven shades of blue that cover all of the moods of the Maine sea and sky. The eco-minded manufacturer also crafts smaller pillows out of leftover material and stuffs them with balsam, which makes you think of Maine, she said. Across the street, Maine Woolens names its blankets after Pine Tree State towns (Belfast, Rockport, Harmony) and landscape features (Seacoast, Sugarloaf, Rangeley). Many of the patterns have backstories, too. The stars in the Galaxy blanket were inspired by a 19th-century item discovered at a flea market in Scarborough, Maine; the Bedfords hucklace weave pays homage to New England whalers, who could bring limited personal items on the long sojourns. If only we could send blankets back in time. Georgetown Pottery stocks its shelves with glazed porcelain pieces created by local artists who work out of an island studio nor far from Freeport. (Andrea Sachs/The Washington Post) At Georgetown Pottery, I stepped into a quintessential Maine scene without having to brave the cold ocean spray. Brush-painted renderings of blueberries, birch trees, lighthouses and sailboats adorned the porcelain works. I held a vase up to my ear and listened for the crashing waves. No two pieces will be the same, said Judy Wing, an employee. The color of the water, the thickness of the sand or the shape of the clouds might be different. The company was started by Jeff Peters, a Californian who embarked on a cross-country road trip in the 1970s and bailed on the adventure and college once he reached Maine. The ceramics student glazed and fired pots in a one-room log cabin in Georgetown. About 80 percent of the objects at the Freeport store are made by potters at the studio. The remaining items showcase other Maine artists, such as Sarahs Sand Dollars colored pendants. The lobsterwoman discovered her second trade after accidentally spilling red wine on the sea urchin. Art was borne out of clumsiness. Official dessert, treat and gem Quick quiz: What is Maines official state treat? If you guessed wild blueberry pie, you are wrong. That is the state dessert, which just happens to be made with the state berry. Bow Street Market sells both official edibles (try the baked good from Two Fat Cats Bakery) plus the state treat, the whoopie pie. Wicked Whoopies is the big whoop in town and offers pies in a rainbow of flavors at its Main Street location. R.D. Allen Freeport Jewelers specializes in tourmaline, which is mined in Maine. The state gem appears in a variety of colors, including watermelon. (Andrea Sachs/The Washington Post) Quick quiz, Part II: What is Maines official gemstone? Hint: Its the October birthstone. Tourmaline was the first gem to be excavated by modern-day miners in America; the original dig took place in 1820, on Mount Mica in Paris, Maine. In 1972, three men unearthed the largest tourmaline find in North America, on Plumbago Mountain in Newry, Maine. The main chamber of the Dunton Quarry contained 1,700 pounds of tourmaline. (The National Museum of Natural History owns one of the treasures, the 10-inch Jolly Green Giant.) Six years later, the government pronounced tourmaline its state gem. Tourmaline is much rarer than diamonds, said Annette Evans, who owns and operates R.D. Allen Freeport Jewelers with her husband, Mark. Tourmaline moves nimbly along the color spectrum, from translucent to coal black. The store devotes several display cases to a pink and green combo that resembles a slice of watermelon. The store features about 20 Maine artists who often keep the New England environment in mind. For example, rings with a low bezel or twin prong setting easily clear gloves and mittens. The ultimate fashion test: You can wear these with your L.L. Bean clothes, she said. Chocolate moose and lobsters Wilburs advances the theory that everything tastes better drenched in chocolate. The company coats blueberries, cashews and even the state animal. Schoolteachers Tom and Catherine Wilbur created Wilbur the Moose in their basement during a summer break in the 1980s. The animal pop on a stick has milk chocolate antlers and nose, and peanut butter fur. The couple later introduced a chocolate hunting boot, an ode to its neighbor, and a chocolate lobster, which the government crowned as the state crustacean in April. Wilburs produces about 5,000 pounds of candy per week at its Lower Main Street factory. Visitors can watch the process from start to finishing bite. It is not uncommon for candy to come off of our belt, get packaged and labeled, and then be rushed right onto our shelves, said Nate, all within a matter of minutes. Recycled sail bags If Sea Bags could talk, they would regale us with maritime stories as riveting as Patrick OBrian sagas. All of the items duffels, totes, envelope clutches, log carriers, wristlets, diaper bags are made out of used sailcloth. The Portland company has reclaimed more than 500 tons of sails since 1999 and, over the past two years, has salvaged more than 10,000 sails destined for the landfill. As a sailor, the navy blue anchor spoke to me, but my allegiance to my upbringing was tested by the cute critters, including a fox, a bear, a black Labrador and a lobster claw between snaps. But then I found a more fitting souvenir: a tote with the state outline. I could decide where on Maine to affix a big heart. More from Travel: Still finding kicks on Route 66 When Americans land in trouble abroad, these expats step in That rescue dog doesnt need a home. He needs a flight companion to get there. Clinton Azagba, 17, playing Joseph, and Ayo Tunde-Sanya, also 17, playing Mary, receive gifts from the wise men as the shepherds look on in the chilly night during the First Baptist Churchs annual live Nativity in Savage, Md. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Mary and Joseph shuffled side by side down the concrete path until they arrived at a stable made of plywood and weathered two-by-fours. The couple eased onto bales of straw, leaned over the manger and peered down at baby Jesus. The newborn before the two costumed teenagers was just a doll, swaddled in a sky blue blanket stitched with a teddy bear, but the seriousness in their dark eyes made it hard to tell. The pairs earnestness, though, was being tested. They had been forced to abandon their miniature donkey, Buddy, who was acting particularly stubborn. And when the adoring wise men approached the manger with their gifts (apple cinnamon cider Yankee Candles rather than gold, frankincense and myrrh), they numbered only two, because the third sage was contending with a migraine. Then, at the moment a heavenly host of angels was supposed to emerge in divine splendor, nothing happened. Mercifully, perhaps, almost no one was there to see the mishaps. The crowd for the nights first performance included three men, two women and Coco, a bundled-up poodle. Around the world each December, Christians celebrate one of their holiest holidays by reenacting Jesus birth more than 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. Many productions are elaborate and professional, drawing thousands of visitors and donations. But many others, such as this one at a local park in Savage, Md., are mounted in obscurity, void of pretense, and sustained by little more than faith. And so, for 16 years, the First Baptist Church in this town of 6,000 has hosted a live outdoor Nativity. This year, the honor of playing the lead roles had been given to Ayo Tunde-Sanya and Clinton Azagba, each 17 and the children of Nigerian immigrants. It was a frigid Friday night in the middle of their senior year of high school, and yet here they were, without complaint. The church is tiny, with just 70 active members, but had somehow produced a troupe of actors so multi-hued they could have passed for a (far) off-Broadway cast of Hamilton young and old, immigrant and native-born, black and white and Latino. The former mill town is just 25 miles north of Washington, the symbol of the nations deep divide, but it felt much farther away. The lone nod to politics came from a message on the churchs front sign: If you want America to be great again put Jesus first! The congregation hosts block parties, Easter egg hunts and movie nights year-round, but no event is more important to them than the Nativity. It has never mattered much how many visitors show up or how miserable the weather is. They do it because, in different ways to each of them, its meaningful, even when the wind chill plunges to 19 degrees, as it did that night. [A lost engagement ring. A frantic search. And a Christmas miracle.] And now, after weeks of preparation, the Nativity had just unraveled, so Pastor J. Alan Latham walked out from the darkness and gave a brief sermon on why the story of Jesus still matters. Were sorry for the technical difficulties, he added. The angels are normally a little more glorious. Latham also apologized for what he was about to do: An impromptu a cappella rendition of Away in a Manger. Liz Slater, 74, leads a group of singing angels as the baby Jesus is introduced during the live Nativity. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Then, suddenly, midway through the atonal second verse, relief arrived when O Come, All Ye Faithful blared through the speakers, and bright lights on the scaffolding behind the stable flashed on to illuminate the caroling, white-robed celestial spirits. And at last, on the ruddy faces of the five spectators, faint smiles appeared. A love rooted in faith Bill Waller couldnt keep his brown eyes dry. One tear after another leaked down the creases in his bright red cheeks, drawn out by the crisp, chilly air, but he had no time to search for tissues. The show would begin in three hours, and the 76-year-old had much to do. The $20 steel-wire star above the manger needed to be connected, the angels green metal scaffolding needed to be wrapped in black tarp, the narrators four- decade-old remote microphone needed to be tested, the shepherds fake orange fire needed to be switched on, and the bales of straw needed to be placed around the Nativity scenes centerpiece. Itll look much more stable-ish, he promised, standing beneath the plywood roof. Waller, an engineer who worked 34 years for the federal government, has attended First Baptist since 1969, and hes helped construct the set for every one of the churchs Nativity performances. Waller comes back year after year, he said, because he wants to do his part to tell an important story. But thats not the only reason. Seyi Oyeyemi, 14, who plays one of the wise men, awaits his cue to enter the manger. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Mason Cooper, 14, far right, shakes some motion activated hand warmers to ward off the cold. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) It also reminds Waller of the Nativitys early years, back when his wife, Jacky, could still talk to him. The two met at age 14 in a Birmingham, Ala., church, where they sang together in the choir. She was an alto, he said. I was the loudmouth. Theyve loved each other ever since, through four kids and 53 years of marriage. Faith was always at the center of their relationship. He taught Sunday school. She started the churchs food pantry. And then there was the Nativity, which in its early days was much grander, complete with shops, townsfolk and a 12-foot-tall wrought-iron star. Each year, Waller would build the sets and, before her Alzheimers, Jacky would bring him lunch, hang the Christmas lights and join him in the caroling. [Im such a failure right now: A mom pleads on Craigslist for Christmas help.] A nurse the couple met at church cares for Jacky full time now, but Wallers devotion to his wife hasnt faltered. He tickles her feet each morning until she laughs and stares into his eyes. He takes her on dates to Costco, where he wheels her inside and feeds her bite-size pieces of pepperoni pizza. And when Waller needs to hear Jackys voice again, he serenades her with an old hymn, and for reasons he cant explain, she always sings along. Its about the message It was an hour until showtime, and Pam Nixon couldnt find the pillow needed to evoke Marys pregnancy, so the live Nativitys longtime director dug up a partly deflated SpongeBob SquarePants rubber ball and what looked like a wadded-up green grass hula skirt. Were going to make a belly, she told an alarmed Ayo. In the room across the hall, three young shepherds debated the best way to put on their robes and headscarves as the remaining wise men arrived. And within a few minutes, to Ayos relief, Nixon found the pillow, which she tucked inside one of two sweatshirts the girl wore beneath her white robe. How do you feel? Okay? Nixon asked, patting Ayos stomach. Yeah, the teen said. Sorry, Nixon told her. Just trying to make you look heavy with child. Ayo didnt mind, just as she didnt mind missing a friends party to sit through two hours of teeth-chattering cold. Christmas means a lot to her, both because of her beliefs and because the story behind it is one of the few she remembers learning in Nigeria, where Ayo lived before moving to the United States at age 4. To play Mary was a great honor. Its about the message, she said. [She gave a stranger a Christmas gift that changed both their lives] And, like so many of the other kids, she was eager to help Nixon Miss Pam who soon gathered her Nativity thespians for a final pep talk. When you see people walking up, dont be talking about YouTube and going to the mall. Thats not conversation for first-century Judea, she said, standing next to a box packed with 40 pairs of hand-warmers. We didnt have iPhones in Jesus day. Nativity organizer Pam Nixon, left, gives last-minute instructions to her young actors, telling them to stay in character. We didnt have iPhones in Jesus day, she reminds them. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Over 16 years, Nixon, who always plays an angel, had watched her production shrink along with her church. In the beginning, crowds came on buses to First Baptists mini-Bethlehem, but time passed and people quit, died or moved away. As the congregation thinned, though, it also grew more diverse. Nixon, 53, had been one of the few black members, but in the past decade, Hondurans, Ghanaians and Burmese have all worshiped there. And year after year, with the help of whoever was able, she and a half-dozen others at First Baptist have willed the Nativity into being: Through snowstorms, icy rain, stable-toppling winds, a goat that rammed shepherds, a camel that spit on Mary and Joseph. Nixon, who once performed on a broken hip, has never considered quitting. It matters too much to her, just as it does to fellow angel Liz Slater, 74, whose three granddaughters had all played Mary, and Dolores Duck, 84, who each year hands out foam cups of Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Even on the night before her mother died of cancer in 2009, Nixon donned her white robe and sang louder than ever before and found the peace that she needed. And now, on another frosty December evening, Nixon huddled atop the scaffolding and hoped that the First Baptist Church of Savage would help someone else find peace, too. Down below, Waller had fixed the technical problem (a failed audio connection), the ailing third wise man had pushed through his headache, and Ayo and Clinton had adjusted their plan to make do without Buddy, the obstinate miniature donkey. Almost no one comes to watch the live Nativity, but those performing dont mind the small audience. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) About a dozen people arrived for the second performance of the night, which was nearly flawless, and close to the same number showed up to the third. Up on the scaffolding, the angels waited as their breath fogged the air and the silver tinsel garland outlining their ethereal white robes shimmered in the moonlight. Are we through? one asked, but the others werent sure. The cast normally gave four performances, but what if nobody else came? Then, through the darkness, they saw something: Two visitors. No one hesitated. Mary and Joseph took their places, the shepherds circled the fake fire, the wise men hid behind the stable, and the angels prepared to sing. Salvatore Ferragamo strengthens presence in Asia Asia The Italian luxury brand announced it has acquired a 100% stake in four joint-venture companies, which control the companys distribution in South Korea and South-East Asia. Salvatore Ferragamo has acquired from Trinity Luxury Brands Holdings and Ferrinch, which are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Trinity Ltd, a listed company in Hong Kong, the remaining 20% stake in the SEAK joint venture distribution companies for a total cash consideration based on their Net Depreciated Asset Value as of December 31, 2016. The transaction involves the four companies Ferragamo Korea, Ferragamo Malaysia, Ferragamo Singapore and Ferragamo Thailand. According to the Group, the transaction occurred in the framework of the joint venture agreement entered in 2012, which provided for a put and call option to sell/acquire the remaining 20% shares of the said four companies, hence, allowing Salvatore Ferragamo SpA. to own 100% of the companies share capital. Salvatore Ferragamo is now present in the strategic markets of Korea and South East Asia with a well-established retail network of 70 stores. A sign paying tribute to U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Peter Taub hangs outside his mothers D.C. restaurant, Bub and Pops. Taub was killed Dec. 21, 2015, in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Dec. 21, 2016 A sign paying tribute to U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Peter Taub hangs outside his mothers D.C. restaurant, Bub and Pops. Taub was killed Dec. 21, 2015, in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Matt McClain/The Washington Post Family members and colleagues gather at the shop owned by the mother of Air Force Staff Sgt. Peter Taub, who was among six airmen killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on Dec. 21, 2015. Family and colleagues gather at the shop owned by the mother of Air Force Staff Sgt. Peter Taub, who was among six airmen killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on Dec. 21, 2015. Family and colleagues gather at the shop owned by the mother of Air Force Staff Sgt. Peter Taub, who was among six airmen killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on Dec. 21, 2015. The sign outside said the sandwich shop was closed, but people kept coming in anyway, eager for their lunchtime hoagie. Inside the tiny restaurant in downtown Washington, Arlene Wagner nervously wiped tables and laid out trays of food. Bub and Pops wasnt open for business on Wednesday, but it wouldnt be empty. Sorry, guys, were closed, she told a couple of regulars, turning them away and locking the door behind them. Were having a remembrance for my son. It had been exactly a year since Staff Sgt. Peter Taub and five other U.S. airmen were killed by a suicide bomber while on patrol in Afghanistan. Now the survivors of the attack were coming here to eat, along with Taubs commander and more than a dozen other airmen. As Arlene, a wiry 65-year-old in glasses, wondered how they would all fit, a tub of French onion dip fell off a table and exploded on the floor. Arlene jumped. Peter Taub, left, with his mother, Arlene Wagner, and brother, Jonathan Taub, the night before Peter deployed to Afghanistan. Peter was among six airmen killed by a suicide bomber on Dec. 21, 2015. (Arlene Wagner/Courtesy of Arlene Wagner) Im just trying to get through the day, she said. Arlene had just closed Bub and Pops on Dec. 21, 2015, when her older son, Jonathan Taub, the restaurants chef, came tearing through the kitchen. Pete was killed, he said. Wagner checked her phone, saw the missed calls and knew it was true. Her son, a 30-year-old father with a second baby on the way, was gone. That night, three officers in crisp blue uniforms arrived to officially deliver the news. Now airmen were again at her door. Brig. Gen. Keith M. Givens, head of the Air Forces Office of Special Investigations, stepped into the restaurant and hugged Arlene. Next to arrive was Peters OSI partner, who had nearly been killed in the blast. Hey, honey, Arlene said, embracing the man, who asked not be identified. She hugged each person who came through the door, all 17 of them. (WUSA 9) Im going to take a breath now, she said, pausing to compose herself. Thank you for all being here. Now eat. They filled their plates with hoagies and salad, chips and dip, and sat in near-silence, unsure how to begin, which stories to tell. There was Peters partner, who had spotted his buddys body through the lingering smoke as he made his way to the medevac helicopter. There were the two other surviving airmen, who had been knocked back 10 feet by the blast and were now, like Peters partner, dealing with traumatic brain injury. And there was the Marine who had rushed through exposed territory to try to help. This is really quiet, Arlene said. Should I put on some Christmas music? One person missing from the table was Peters older brother. Theyd been close growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Jonathan was tall and burly. Peter was so skinny and sweet that his parents worried about him. After Arlene and Joel Taub split, the siblings struggled. Jonathan was shot in the back during a fight shortly after graduating from high school. He recovered, went to chefs school and worked in some of Philadelphias best restaurants before moving to the District, where he opened Bub and Pops with his Mom and stepdad in 2013. Peter partied too much and dropped out of community college. His solution was to enlist. His father, whod grown up during the Vietnam War, was wary. American troops were dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. Joel told his son that the Army and Marine Corps were too dangerous. Instead he suggested the Air Force. [Three brothers went to war in Afghanistan. Only one returned.] Peter had served for eight years before being deployed to Afghanistan. Hours before Peter shipped out in 2015, Jonathan made him his favorite hoagie to take to the airport. On Wednesday, the 33-year-old chef was in the back office of Bub and Pops, sitting at a computer underneath two photos of his brother. He couldnt bring himself to attend the luncheon. Instead, he tried to distract himself with YouTube videos of famous chefs. Im not even sure why they are here, he said, glancing at security cameras showing the airmen eating lunch. Is that wrong for me to say? They were there, Givens said, to honor and remember Peter, one of 2,383 service members who have died in the longest war in U.S. history. If Pete could have chosen to switch places with anyone here, he wouldnt have, he told Arlene. But you know that. You raised him. Arlene brought up the polka-dot socks Peter used to wear, even as an Air Force investigator, and the mood inside the restaurant began to lift. Peter hid the fact that he was being sent to Afghanistan, telling his family he was on his way to Qatar, Arlene recounted. She found out only while helping him pack when his wife, Christina, accidentally let the secret slip. Her ex-husband, Joel, thought their son was in Qatar, out of harms way, until the day Peter died in a war many Americans have all but forgotten. He told me he was going to get a mug with Afghanistan on it and, when he was back, give it to his father, she said of her son. Thats how he was going to let him know. Special Agent Heather Garver, sitting across the table from Arlene, nodded her head. I went to the bazaar with him one morning, and we went and picked it out, Garver said. He wanted a certain marble so he could have it engraved. Soon, stories about Peter were coming fast and thick. There was the time he broke his partners glasses during a Silly String fight, the day he mysteriously procured a Christmas tree in Afghanistan just before the holidays, and the tale of how he left rotting food in his desk before heading overseas. In the middle of the stories, Arlenes phone rang. It was Christina, Peters widow. She had learned she was pregnant with their second child a few weeks after Peter left for Afghanistan. Now the baby girl Peter never met was on FaceTime, staring out at the men who were with her father when he died. [For 14 children who lost parents in Afghanistan, the war will never be over] This is Petra, Arlene said. She has Petes smile, his eyes, said Garver. Arlene spoke to her son for the last time a week before he died. With Christina pregnant and Arlenes sister battling cancer, life and death loomed over the conversation. It was great to be with you for so long yesterday, Arlene texted him afterward. She texted again later that week to say she loved him. Love U too, he texted back. The day he died, Peter and a half-dozen other OSI agents climbed into their armored vehicles and headed toward the village of Bajawri, a tiny town six miles from Bagram, to meet with the village elder. Afterward, as they walked back to their vehicles, an Afghan approached on a motorcycle. When he reached the Americans, a bomb hidden underneath the motorcycles seat exploded, sending shrapnel that scythed through the airmen. Among those killed were a New York City police detective serving in the U.S. National Air Guard and an openly gay Air Force major whod pushed to repeal the militarys dont ask, dont tell policy. A cold, hard rain fell on Dec. 23 as airmen carried the six flag-draped caskets off the back of a C-17 at New Castle Air Base in Delaware. Peters casket was last, his family recalled. I was shivering but I was also crying so hard, Jonathan said. It was unreal, seeing my brother pulled off that plane in a f------ box. The holidays were agony. Theyd closed Bub and Pops, posting a sign announcing Peters death to their customers. We sat around and went through a lot of scotch, Joel said. We didnt celebrate the holidays, and we probably never will again. There was a funeral, complete with 21-gun salute, in Christinas home town of Easton, Pa. And another ceremony at a firehall in Lansdale, Pa., near where Peter grew up. Then began the procession of terrible reminders of what theyd lost: The day in April when Peter would have returned home. Memorial Day. The birth of Petra, named after her father. Nov. 2, which would have been Peters 31st birthday. Veterans Day. And Thanksgiving, which Arlene spent with Christina and the girls. Arlene, once described by a Washington Post food writer as Bub and Pops official anti-depressant, struggled to keep it together. I spend a lot of time cutting off my emotions because if I didnt, I wouldnt be able to get out of bed in the morning, she said. Id be a basket case. Jonathan began snapping when food deliveries came up short, when drivers cut him off, when his mother got on his nerves. He began drinking and smoking more, too. I dont know how I didnt go off the deep end, he said. I wake up and I feel like I have 1,000 pounds on my back and there is a hole in my heart. In the end, it was the restaurant that helped save them. Jonathan began serving fancy dinners on Saturday nights, pouring his energy into elaborate creations such as deconstructed cheesesteak in bone marrow, and Burgundy snails with creme fraiche. For Arlene, it wasnt the food but the customers. It started with the flowers and stuffed animals they left outside Bub and Pops after Peters death. Then a regular who owns a framing shop brought in a large sign honoring Peter. Arlene hung it in the front of the shop, took it down when it became too much, and then hung it back up again. One man sent a card saying he, too, had lost his son in Afghanistan. A woman wrote to say Peter had given her son half of his hoagie at BWI before shipping out. And then there were the service members and veterans who stopped by to pay their respects. Some had served with Peter. But many were strangers. Arlene could often spot them as soon as they walked in: Their posture gave them away. She walked around the counter and embraced them. On Wednesday, when the food was gone and the stories were told, the airmen stood up to leave. Arlene hugged them all again and showed them to the door, turning away a customer who tried to sneak through the open door. Sorry, were closed, she said, locking the door and heading back into the restaurant to clean up. For a quarter-century, D.C. residents have known Eleanor Holmes Norton as the no-vote delegate to Congress who cant manage to turn the District into the 51st state. But recently, the world has gotten a glimpse of the consciousness-raising civil rights attorney she embodied in the 1970s when she represented female Newsweek researchers in their quest for equal rights at work. Per tradition, the women toiled behind the scenes, with no chance for advancement, only to hand their work over to male reporters who reaped the bylines and the glory. In the 10-episode Amazon series Good Girls Revolt as in real life Norton (D) revealed the trouble with that arrangement. It was not merely unfair; it was illegal. She filed the first class-action gender-discrimination case and sparked a wave of similar lawsuits at media companies across the country. From left, Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.), Coretta Scott King and Eleanor Holmes Norton together, circa 1977. (Courtesy of Eleanor Holmes Norton) That the show was reportedly canceled by an all-male team is an irony that inspired the hashtag #SaveGoodGirlsRevolt and may boost efforts for a second season elsewhere. Wherever Norton goes these days, people cant stop bringing up the show and her former life as a fiery, feminist attorney with something to prove. Just dont ask her for a selfie. When people say, Oh, my God is that Eleanor Holmes Norton? she wailed, I say, No, its just Eleanor, she said, switching to a calmer tone. She is flattered by her small-screen self, played by Joy Bryant Boy, I should have been that pretty but the formidable 79-year-old cautioned against hero worship. People who are easily star-struck can be easily duped, she said. As she sees it, President-elect Donald Trump would never have won the election were it not for his star turn as an overblown authoritarian on The Apprentice. I associate overadmiration of figures that one sees in the media with too little ability to think for yourself and be critical of people, she said. Norton reflected on the show, her life and the state of politics this past week in her office on Capitol Hill, where she has represented the District since 1991 as its nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives. Her office is filled with black-and-white photographs of her native Washington. The images include her grandfather, Richard Holmes, the son of a runaway slave from Virginia and one of the citys first African American firefighters. Theres Norton with her two younger sisters. And a sign proclaiming the District the Last Colony. The recent attention from the Amazon series has sent Norton back in time. In the show, $2 would buy six packs of cigarettes, and its taken as a compliment when a hotshot male reporter tells a female researcher, Youre pretty cute when you get a scoop. Strange, Norton said. Strange, strange, strange, strange, carrying me this far back in my life. But I always like to think there was life before Congress. The series she has seen most but not all of the episodes portrays her as a pregnant attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who sports Pucci print dresses and an Afro. After an initial encounter with Norton, one dumbfounded female character says to another, Shes terrifying. Asked how her conversations with the Newsweek Dollies, as they were known, really went down, Norton laughed and said she knew instantly that the case was a slam dunk. The women were not so sure. She had to convince the group, Phi Beta Kappas and Rhodes scholars among them, to overcome their fear of losing their jobs or being blacklisted and to sue their bosses for gender discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Slowly, she was able to sow together that courage, woman to woman, until it stuck, she said. Thats where the first season ended. In truth, Norton said she flummoxed the male magazine executives and Katharine Graham, then the publisher of The Washington Post, which owned Newsweek at their first meeting and gained the upper hand. The Newsweek men this is a liberal publication seeing me of child, behaved toward me as I think they would not have a male adversary, said Norton, who was five months pregnant with her daughter at the time. They rushed to get me a seat. And the chair sets me up higher than they, looking down. She giggled recalling the story. The real negotiations led to a settlement within weeks and another successful legal challenge a few years later that resulted in requirements that the magazine promote women. The fictional turning point comes late in the series, when the actress who plays her leans in toward two defendants and says: I didnt take this case just to change your lives for the better. I took this case to make some damn noise and change the world. Norton traces the seeds of her determination back to childhood. The oldest of three girls, she was expected to take charge. Sent to the Safeway alone for the first time at 7 years old, she admonished the butcher to replace a puny pork chop with a bigger one. Her grandmother bragged to friends about the little girls gumption, and Nortons confidence soared. Still, she had a way to go. She graduated from Dunbar High School, founded in 1870 as the countrys first public high school for black students. When Norton attended in the 1950s, it was a premier school in the African American community with alumni that included historians, artists, civil rights activists, doctors and scientists. Upon graduation from Antioch College in Ohio, Norton applied for a full ride to New York University School of Law, but she was turned down because the scholarship was reserved for men. It never occurred to her to make a fuss. I just said, Oh, shucks. I wouldnt have wasted my time, she said. At Yale University, she earned a masters degree in American studies and a law degree as one of two black law students. The other was Marian Wright Edelman, who went on to found the Childrens Defense Fund. A summer spent registering voters in Mississippi with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ignited Nortons instinct to fight even if that meant helping people whose ideas were abhorrent to her. Lest you think I always represented the good girls, Norton said. At the ACLU in the late 1960s, she represented white supremacists denied the right to hold a rally in Maryland and the segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace after New York City Mayor John Lindsay blocked him from giving a speech. I relished the opportunity to show that the First Amendment is vital by representing someone I disagreed with, she said. After that, Lindsay named her head of New York Citys Commission on Human Rights, President Jimmy Carter appointed her the first woman to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and she became a law professor at Georgetown University. [District voters approve referendum to make D.C. the 51st state] Despite the gains in civil rights and womens rights in those years, Hillary Clintons loss in the presidential election in November was a blow to Norton and other women pushing for pay equity. To them, Trumps win was the ultimate affront. The misogyny that was in that campaign was so overwhelming that the notion that there would be Americans who would vote for him just seemed far-fetched, she said. The new administration, coupled with a GOP-controlled House and Senate, ushers in what she called the most perilous time for the District since she took office. Without a Democrat in the White House, theres no backstop to congressional action against the city, she said. But Norton is hopeful, noting that she found an unlikely ally in then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the mid-1990s. He allowed the District to get out from under billions in pension debt, and he endorsed university tuition and first-time homebuyer grants still in place today. I just formed a relationship with him, she said. I dont pretend that Ill form a relationship with Donald Trump, but Ive got to find members I can work with here to save my people from being thrown over. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.) One week after a Virginia nightclub received harassing phone calls for declining to host an inauguration party dubbed the DeploraBall, the Donald Trump supporters behind the event have found a new venue to celebrate the election of their media-bashing candidate: the National Press Club. Doing it at the press club asserts that were a new force in town, said Jeff Giesea, one of the organizers. And were not just doing it as a troll. The Jan. 19 party had garnered attention on Twitter earlier this month in part because several of its slated guests are best known for being online provocateurs, contributing to conspiracy-theory websites and sharing views with the alt-right, an extremist movement of mostly young men seeking a whites-only nation. But the organizers say they are simply fans of the president-elect and in no way connected to the alt-right, which has come under intense scrutiny since a number of its members flashed Nazi salutes at a Washington conference last month. [Lets party like its 1933: Inside the disturbing alt-right world of Richard Spencer] 1 of 35 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Heres a look at Trumps administration so far View Photos The men and women the president-elect has selected for his Cabinet and White House team. Caption The men and women the president-elect has selected for his Cabinet and White House team. Scott Gottlieb, nominee for commissioner of FDA President Trump is set to nominate Scott Gottlieb, a conservative physician and businessman with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry, to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, a White House official said. Courtesy of American Enterprise Institute/via Reuters Wait 1 second to continue. This is an event for Trump supporters from across the country, from all backgrounds, ethnicities and walks of life, the events site says, adding: We will not tolerate any incendiary actions, remarks or gestures that go against the open basket spirit of the event. Giesea reiterated that point in an interview Thursday. Moms from the Midwest are flying out for this, he said. Theyre not part of the alt-right. They dont even know what that is. In a statement, press club President Thomas Burr said that its downtown D.C. location would host a private, client-paid inaugural ball for supporters of President-elect Donald Trump as we have for incoming presidents of both parties for decades. This is not an event, he added, sponsored or endorsed by the National Press Club. The leaders of the DeploraBall a name inspired by Hillary Clintons description of some Trump supporters as deplorables had been in talks with the Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington, but, according to a statement, the venue backed out because of the suspicious actions of the organizers not because of political pressure. Party promoters had sold hundreds of tickets and claimed online that the ballroom was booked before any contracts had been signed. [Clarendon Ballroom gets harassing calls after declining to host Trump backers DeploraBall] The venues staff later told police that they had received harassing phone calls. I think there was a perception that they did it partly for political reasons, Giesea said. We certainly didnt encourage anyone to troll them. The controversy has not curtailed interest in the party, which quickly sold out of its 1,000 tickets. Tickets get you in the door, the site says, with open bar, light hors doeuvres, fun people, cool music, and endless memes. Rachel Weiner contributed to this report. The MGM will celebrate its first new year at National Harbor with a party and concert by the rock-and-roll group Duran Duran. (Bill OLeary/Washington Post) Midnight at 7 Visitors can walk through the Symphony of Lights and enjoy music, face-painting, vendors and party favors. Fireworks show at 7 p.m. 5-8 p.m. Runs through Jan. 8. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 410-740-7666. www.hcgh.org/symphonyoflights. $20, age 4 and younger free. New Years Eve party Come dressed to impress to see comedian Frank Lyles, then dance to music by DJ Twinn and the Top5 Band and Show. 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Half Note Restaurant and Lounge, 4882 Glenn Dale Rd., Bowie. 301-809-6683. www.halfnotelounge.com. $50. Big Night DC Gaylord National Resort hosts its annual New Years Eve extravaganza with 15 themed party areas, live and DJ music, and more. 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor. 301-965-2000. www.bignightdc.com. $114.99-$329.99, subject to change. Roaring 20s New Years Eve event Come dressed in 1920s attire and enjoy light hors doeuvres and a champagne toast at midnight. 9 p.m.-1 a.m. American Legion Post 108, 3608 Legion Dr., Cheverly. cheverlyamericanlegion.com. $25, reservations requested. Duran Duran The MGM celebrates its first new year at National Harbor with this party and concert by the rock-and-roll group. 10:30 p.m. MGM National Harbor, 101 MGM National Ave., Oxon Hill. 844-346-4664. www.mgmnationalharbor.com. $113-$317, subject to change. Christian A. Chapman, a U.S. diplomat who served in hot spots including Southeast Asia and survived an assassination attempt in Paris during a three-decade career in the Foreign Service, died Nov. 27 at his home in Washington. He was 95. The cause was dementia, said his son, Hillary Chapman. The son of an American father and a French mother, Mr. Chapman served with the Free French forces in World War II before joining the diplomatic ranks in 1950. His first assignment was as a consular officer in Casablanca during the waning days of French rule in Morocco. He later served as an economic officer in Beirut and as an assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Iran, arriving shortly after Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was deposed in a U.S.-backed coup in 1953. Mr. Chapman spent the late 1950s in Vietnam and then Laos, where he was chief political officer. After postings in Luxembourg, Paris, Brussels and Washington, he returned to Laos in the mid-1970s. As charge daffaires at the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane, he helped manage the crisis when demonstrators with the communist organization Pathet Lao seized control of U.S. buildings. Mr. Chapman, a veteran Foreign Service officer, died at 95. (Family photo) Back in Paris, while serving as charge daffaires, he survived an assassination attempt in 1981 claimed by the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions, a terrorist organization. A gunman fired on him as Mr. Chapman left his home en route to work. The bullets missed him, and he escaped unharmed. I had a luncheon date, a reception, and a dinner, and I went to all three, to show publicly that the American charge was not cutting and running, he later told The Washington Post. Christian Addison Chapman was born in Paris on Sept. 19, 1921. His father taught French literature at Princeton University, and his mother was a homemaker. Mr. Chapman grew up in Paris and New Jersey and was attending Princeton when World War II broke out. Midway through his sophomore year, he left the university and joined the Royal Air Force, fighting alongside the Free French forces. In an interview with the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, he said that he was shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans. He received French military decorations including the Legion of Honor. Mr. Chapman returned to Princeton, where he received a bachelors degree in economics in 1948. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1983, later leading the Washington chapter of the Friends of Vieilles Maisons Francaises, a French-American historical preservation organization. Survivors include his wife of 56 years, the former Anita Ioas of Washington; two daughters, Catherine Chapman-Wong of London, Ontario, and Jennifer Chapman of Washington; his son, Hillary Chapman, also of Washington; and two grandchildren. Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh has accused NMS of illegally kicking out residents and in many cases dropping them off at homeless shelters or inadequate facilities. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) A nursing home operator in Maryland aggressively and illegally booted residents from its facilities to maximize payments it collected from public health plans and in many cases dropped the residents off at homeless shelters or inadequate living facilities, the states attorney general alleged in a sweeping lawsuit filed Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The lawsuit asserts that the firm, Neiswanger Management Services (NMS), was acutely aware of the reimbursement differences between federal Medicare and the lesser rates paid by Medicaid, which uses state and federal money to provide health coverage for low-income patients. NMSs motive, according to the attorney general: Leave bed space for new Medicare patients, who yield more than $500 a day in reimbursements, compared with roughly half that for Medicaid. The nursing home operation discharged patients without their consent once their Medicare coverage ran out and without the planning the state requires for placing them in a safe and secure environment, the lawsuit says. They put hundreds of vulnerable patients at risk, and we think what they did was illegal, said Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D). More than 700 people likely reside in the nursing home operators five facilities in Maryland, the lawsuit said. After being discharged from an NMS nursing home, Andrew Edwards, 31, said the company moved him to a nightmare of a housing facility. (Courtesy of Andrew Edwards.) The company, based in Hyattsville, said Wednesday that it has done nothing wrong. NMS strongly denies any wrongdoing and disputes the entirety of the attorney generals allegations in this matter, said Mark Yost, the companys chief executive. We intend to prove our case and will respond in the appropriate forum in due time. The 62-page lawsuit covers the often complicated world of Medicare payments for people who are discharged from hospitals to a nursing home. According to the attorney general, NMS aggressively seeks these clients and then aggressively seeks to get them out after 100 days, when the Medicare reimbursements for that type of care run out. NMS kicked out patients even if their bills had been paid and did so without properly setting them up in their next living facility, Frosh said. Further, the patients whose income levels made them eligible to switch to Medicaid after the 100-day window closed also were booted because the nursing facility would have made less off Medicaid, according to the lawsuit. They maximized the highest public payments, which is Medicare, he added. When that ends, they will take Medicaid, but only if they have empty beds. When NMS issued involuntary discharge notices to its residents, it almost always said it was doing so because the residents failed to pay or failed to arrange for payment by Medicare, Medicaid or a third-party payer, according to the litigation. The attorney generals office compared the number of discharge notices at NMSs five nursing homes with those at 225 other nursing homes. Over a 17-month period ending May 31, NMS facilities issued 1,061 discharge notices, the attorney general said, compared with 510 such notices at the states other nursing homes combined. That just smacks you in the face, Frosh said. Theyre doing something that nobody else is doing. One former resident of an NMS facility in Hagerstown, Andrew Edwards, said Wednesday in an interview that his stay at the nursing home was fine. Edwards, 31, is cited by name as an example in the states lawsuit. All the nurses were good, he said. The therapy was great. He suffers from kidney disease, needs dialysis and used a walker, the lawsuit and he said. The problem with Edwardss care, the lawsuit alleges, occurred after an NMS staff member loaded him into a vehicle with a woman, assuring Edwards that she would take him to an assisted-living facility. Instead, the lawsuit asserts, she drove him to a house in Baltimore with no handicap accessibility. On his second day there, weakened by a missed dialysis treatment, he told the house owner that he needed to go to a hospital, the lawsuit states. Edwards was left at the door of St. Agnes Hospital, where he received emergency dialysis, according to the lawsuit. A social worker got Edwards to a better living facility, Edwards said in an interview. Im glad that I am out of that place, he said of the previous house. It was like a nightmare staying there. Frosh said his office was troubled by finding at least three unlicensed senior living facilities where NMS patients ended up. We uncovered that stuff in our investigation of NMS and were very concerned about it, he said. He said: The president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi introduced a proposal which consists of 10 articles and it will revolutionize Iran. In this proposal, Rajavi has affirmed her commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the other international documents. She calls for the abolition of the death penalty; the independence of judges and creating a modern legal system. Baroness Gould, a prominent advocate for womens rights, said: We will continue to focus on human rights. It is vital that we continue to audit the Iranian regime since they violate the human rights. The members of House of Lords have also done same. As a result, the sanctions related to human rights are still in place. According to the UN, at least 966 were executed by the Regime in 2015. Gould pledged her support of the UN General Assemblys resolution and insisted that the Iranian regime should allow the UN rapporteur on human rights to visit and inspect. She added: We are particularly concerned about the number of executions carried out in Iran; in particular, the execution of those prisoners who were teenagers. The situation of human rights in Iran is still critical. The Iranian government should respect human rights since this issue is an essential part of their interaction with the rest of the world as well. An 18-year-old man linked to robberies of two taxi drivers who had picked up passengers at Union Station has been arrested, D.C. police said Thursday. Johnathan Waddell of Northwest Washington has been charged with armed robbery and robbery. Police said that in each case, the suspect robbed the drivers in the 300 block of Evarts Street NE, near a playground in the Edgewood neighborhood, two miles north of Union Station. [Police investigating taxi robberies in Northeast Washington] Police said the first robbery occurred about 6 p.m. Dec. 12. The taxi driver picked up a man at the station. Upon arriving at Evarts Street, police said the man pointed a gun at the driver and demanded money. The man ran away after obtaining an undisclosed amount. The second attack occurred about 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Police said a taxi driver who picked up a man at Union Station was again attacked on Evarts Street. This time, police said the man had his hand in his jacket pocket, making the victim believe he was in possession of a firearm. A third robbery was reported Monday night in the 300 block of Evarts Street NE, but it did not involve a taxi driver. Police have not said whether there is a connection to the robberies on Dec. 12 and Sunday. A man, his wife and his teenage daughter were rushed to a District hospital Thursday morning after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning inside their home in Northeast Washington, according to the D.C. fire department. The man was in critical condition, a fire spokesman said. His wife and daughter were transported in serious condition. All were taken to George Washington University Hospital. Doug Buchanan, a spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, said firefighters were called about 6:40 a.m. to the single family house in the 3300 block of 20th Street NE. He said the initial call was for a man suffering a heart attack. Buchanan said firefighters arrived to find the man unconscious and his wife and daughter, who was home visiting from college, disoriented. The spokesman said firefighters took carbon monoxide readings and the levels exceeded 500 parts per million. Life-threatening levels are at 35 parts per million. The fire department called the readings dangerous. He said the man regained consciousness while being transported to the hospital. Buchanan said firefighters shut gas off to the house, which is in the Brookland neighborhood. The cause remains under investigation, but the spokesman said the family had the furnace repaired on Wednesday and that given the levels of carbon monoxide in the home, investigators believe a faulty or unsecured valve could be to blame. Buchanan said the house had two carbon monoxide detectors but neither had working batteries. In one, the spokesman said, firefighters found one AA battery missing. A 19-year-old man was fatally shot Thursday morning by a Prince Georges County police officer after he allegedly pointed a gun at another officer as they investigated a suspicious car. The incident unfolded about 8 a.m. on a residential street in Capitol Heights, Md., just over the District line. Police recovered two guns from the scene, including a 9mm carbine rifle, and they said the vehicle matched descriptions of one used in recent robberies and shootings in the vicinity. The slain man was identified as Terrance Toshay Thomas Jr., who lived four blocks from where he was killed in the 4100 block of Byers Street. A passenger who was in the vehicle and tried to run away was arrested, police said. Officers performed CPR on Thomas, who died at a hospital, authorities said. As police continued the investigation, a young woman dressed in black broke down in the street a few doors from where Thomas lived and had grown up, weeping and stamping her feet on the ground. She was carried to a car by two young women. No comment, an older family member said. We are not speaking. Another woman said, We are still grieving. Thomas has a criminal history in the District and Maryland. Two weeks ago, a D.C. Superior Court jury convicted him of two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of destruction of property after an incident in July in which authorities say he rammed a police car following a police pursuit that began in Prince Georges and ended in the District. County officers suffered minor injuries. Police said the 2003 Buick Regal that Thomas was driving had been taken in a carjacking in Maryland. A judge sentenced Thomas to 180 days in jail but suspended the sentence and imposed a year of probation. . Meanwhile, Thomas had been awaiting a February trial in Prince Georges after he was arrested in October and charged with numerous felony firearms offenses. He was out on bail when he was killed. Police said that on Thursday morning, officers twice went to Byers Street, both times to investigate a suspicious vehicle. The first time, police did not find anything. On the second call, police said officers found two men sleeping in a car. The officers were in uniform. Prince Georges Police Chief Henry P. Stawinski III said a female officer approached the passenger side and a male officer walked up to the drivers side. He said the passenger immediately began to get out of the car. The chief said the driver then pointed a handgun in the direction of the female officer and the passenger. Stawinski said the male officer fired his weapon twice, striking Thomas. The chief said it could not be determined whether Thomas fired his gun; he said investigators are awaiting forensic tests. Charges were pending against the passenger, who is in his late 30s or early 40s. Authorities on Thursday posted on Twitter photos of the two guns from the scene. One photo shows the carbine that police said was found on the passengers side of the car; another shows a handgun on the drivers-side floorboard. Dan Morse and Justin Wm. Moyer contributed to this report. Authorities are asking for the publics help as they investigate a small fire that was set at a homeless encampment in Silver Spring on Wednesday afternoon. At around 4:30 p.m., someones belongings were set on fire at the encampment at 16th Street and Georgia Avenue, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service said. No injuries or substantial damage was reported, the spokesman said, and a witnesss account of the incident was vague. Authorities asked that anyone with information about the fire contact them at 240-777-2263. The H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse is the site of an alleged sexual assault in a holding cell. (Keith Alexander/The Washington Post) A D.C. inmate identified by authorities as the victim of a brutal sex assault in a D.C. Superior Court holding cell said in an interview that he saw three U.S. marshals leave the area shortly before the incident. The 27-year-old man said he heard one marshal say, Its lunchtime, shortly before the three left. The inmate said he looked from inside the cell but could not see or hear any other marshals. He said his cellmate began to assault him an attack that court papers say was partially captured on security cameras and lasted about 12 minutes. Officials from the U.S. Marshals Service and the court declined to comment on the Nov. 11 incident and the inmates account. The Marshals Service also would not discuss the staffing at the time or say how often marshals are required to check on inmates. The mans cellmate Jerome Holliway, 36, of Southeast Washington was charged with first-degree sexual abuse. The incident remains under investigation by D.C. police and the FBI. The Post generally does not identify victims of sexual attacks. In a 30-minute interview through the D.C. jails video visitation system, the younger inmate recounted the events of that day. He almost killed me. I thought I was going to die. I tried to fight back, the man said. I tried to scream for help. I was panicked, he said. He said his assailant repeatedly told him to shut up. [Inmate in cellblock at D.C. Superior Court allegedly sexually assaulted] The alleged attack happened on Veterans Day as both inmates were waiting to be taken back to the D.C. jail. This happened in what is supposed to be one of the safest places. In the courthouse. Where marshals are supposed to protect everyone. Just steps away from a judge, the inmate said. You would think you would be safer there. The man was at court that day for a judge-ordered psychological evaluation following his arrest last month. He is accused of attacking a man with a box cutter in a Northwest Washington liquor store. After a brief hearing, the man said he was ushered to the holding cell by a marshal. Holliway, who had been arrested for violating his parole in a previous simple assault and obstruction of justice case, was already in the cell, according to court records. The younger inmate said the alleged attack began minutes after he was put in the cell. He said Holliway asked him why he had been arrested. The younger man said he refused to answer and his cellmate asked again. The man said he told his cellmate he just wanted to go home. Holliway then asked a third time why the younger man was locked up, according to the inmate. The man said he ignored the question and instead said he was hungry and was hoping one of the marshals would bring a sandwich. The younger man said he walked over to the cell door but didnt see any marshals. The cellmate then told him, he said, I need to make sure youre not a cop. With that, the man said, Holliway grabbed him and threw him to the floor. The attacker then grabbed him by the shackles around his ankles and dragged him across the floor into a small area behind a metal divider where the toilet is located, the man said. There, he said, Holliway choked him, punched him several times, bit him on his back and then sexually assaulted him. Court documents said the video shows that Holliway, with his pants down, leaps on his cellmate and then drags the other man, who was then naked, to the front of the cell. A witness in another cell described Holliway as the big dude when recounting the attack to investigators. Holliway is 6 feet, 9 inches and 195 pounds. The alleged victim is 6 feet and 155 pounds. When marshals arrived at the cell five minutes after the attack ended they found the younger inmate naked and curled into a fetal position on the floor with his orange prison jumpsuit wrapped around his ankles, according to court documents. Holliway, fully clothed, was sitting on a bench. Holliway told authorities the sex was consensual, according to the documents. From the interview from the D.C. jail, the younger inmate said he fell unconscious during the attack. Afterward, he was taken to MedStar Washington Hospital Center, where nurses conducted a rape exam. He was hospitalized for two days, he said. A spokeswoman for the D.C. Public Defender Service, which represents Holliway, declined to comment. He is set to appear before Judge Jose M. Lopez on Jan. 27. Last week, a D.C. Superior Court judge delayed a hearing in the younger inmates assault case after a court psychologist found the man mentally incompetent to stand trial. Tammy Seltzer, director of the D.C. Jail and Prison Advocacy Project, called the alleged assault horrific. Leaving defendants unsupervised and cameras unmonitored puts individuals in danger. We know that people with psychiatric disabilities are generally more vulnerable and we count on the marshals to protect them when theyre brought to court, Seltzer said. The inmate said the assault has left him physically and emotionally scarred. I dont feel how I normally would. Im angry. But Im not sure if how I feel is because of the attack or because of the meds Im now on, he said. One thing he remembered inside the cellblock is a sign often displayed in jails and prison. It read: Break the Silence. Report Sexual Assault and Prison Rape. He remembers seeing that sign during the attack. Just ironic, he said. Julie Tate contributed to this report. A Virginia man was charged Thursday with attempting to provide support to the Islamic State, prosecutors said. In October and November, Lionel Nelson Williams of Suffolk sent money to a person he believed was collecting money to purchase weapons and ammunition for Islamic State fighters, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a statement. The recipient was an FBI informant, according to court records. Williams, 26, also pledged his support for the Islamic State on social media in March, court records showed, writing Its time for me to take a stand and I love the Mujahideen on Facebook in March. In addition, he bought an AK-47 assault rifle the day after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., in 2015, prosecutors said, and fired the gun during target practice in a field near his home. Williams faces up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors said. Last year the United States had the lowest rate of population growth of any year since the Great Depression, according to census figures released Tuesday. The milestone is due largely to the aging of the population, with more deaths last year than at any time since 2000, according to William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The nation grew by 0.695 percent between 2015 and 2016 to 323.1 million, down from 0.732 percent the previous year the lowest increase since 1937-1938, when it was 0.60 percent. Immigration also declined, though for the past three years it has been higher than it had been since before the recession of 2007-2009. But the fall in the natural increase, from 4.07 to 3.84 per 1,000, reflecting fewer births and more deaths, is the lead cause of the slowdown and the trend is expected to continue, Frey said. The aging of the population is the main thing, he said. We still have a positive natural increase, and there are other countries that dont have that such as Germany and Japan. But in coming years the increase will continue to decline, with serious policy implications, he said. We need to pay attention to the dependent older population whos going to have to be taken care of, through Social Security and Medicare and general support for them. [In one-third of U.S. states, more white people are dying than being born] At the same time, he cautioned that the United States will need to invest in immigrants who are helping to shore up the younger segment of the labor force. The latest numbers show some states being hit harder by population loss while others are on an upswing shifts that could affect future statewide and national elections. Western and Southern states such as Nevada, Arizona and Florida, which took big hits during and after the recession, have been growing recently, while states with higher costs of living, including New York and California, and Midwestern states such as Ohio and Illinois, have seen a decline in growth as people have moved away. Outmigration from California had stagnated during the recession and post-recession period, but now the Golden State appears to be losing more migrants to neighboring states, in a phenomenon known as domestic outmigration, Frey said. A similar pattern is occurring between New York and Southeastern states. Utah is now the fastest-growing state its population increased 2 percent to 3.1 million while North Dakota, the growth leader in 2014-2015, fell to become the 15th-slowest-growing state as its oil extraction economy withered. Illinois leads the nation in population losses for the third year in a row, with its largest domestic outmigration since 1990. Texas had the highest numeric gains, with growth in immigration, domestic migration and natural increase. Florida, which bled population during and after the recession, also ranks high because of immigration and domestic migration. California and New York, on the other hand, rank high on immigration and natural increase but are among the nations biggest losers in terms of domestic migration, ranking 49th and 51st, respectively. The District of Columbia registered its highest population count since the 1970s, at 681,170 an upward trend that is expected to continue. The changes have important implications for future elections. Projecting current trends onto the 2020 Census, Frey calculated that Texas would gain three electoral college votes, Florida would gain two, and Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Oregon would gain one each. Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia would lose one apiece. Given this Novembers voting, the shifts would result in Donald Trump netting two additional electoral college votes from Hillary Clinton. The changes imply that a lot more states could be competitive in national elections. Typically the Midwest and the Northeast have voted for Democrats while Southern and Southwestern states have voted for Republicans. But Barack Obama won some traditionally Republican states and Trump picked up some traditionally Democratic ones. As domestic migration continues, Republicans will no longer be able to rely on wins in Southern states and Democrats will have to play stronger defense in northern industrial areas they once took for granted, Frey said, adding, Its kind of up for grabs right now. Outmigration from areas with declining economies can create a vicious cycle, said Philip Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland. When the good prospects are elsewhere, people with good prospects leave, he said, adding, The middle of the country is still hollowing out overall in the long-term. At the same time, the recent election showed the extent to which small towns in rural areas are still in play, Cohen said. If future population shifts make once-reliably red or blue states competitive, populations of small towns could become very important. And as states such as California see more outmigration, immigrants from Mexico and Central America could increasingly head directly to states such as North Carolina and Iowa where there are jobs. Once they and their children become citizens, this could have electoral implications. In the small towns where immigrants are going, they can have a big effect, Cohen said. Scott Clement contributed to this report. Lighting a candle in the darkness that is something that stands on its own, Rabbi Jack Moline told me just as that early winter night was closing in and the Christmas lights around us began twinkling. Its a powerful image, a strong metaphor for both Christians and Jews. The start of Hanukkah and Christmas fall on the same day this weekend, a rarity that comes only every few decades. It means millions of people of both faiths will be lighting candles together, across the land. Hello? Haters? Are you seeing this celestial bat signal? Its a sign. Interfaith wonderpowers: Time to activate. Because the darkness has been deep this year. [Trump vs. Obama in the alleged war on Christmas] For ages, anti-Semitism felt dead or maybe just dormant in the ugliest, dark corners of America, where moon-landing and illuminati conspiracy theories writhed. But since the start of this presidential campaign, there has been a resurgence of swastikas and hate speech. Trolls are trying to ignite the Internet with pictures of ovens or subversive signals sent to people with Jewish-sounding names. Its no surprise to me that there are people who hate Jews for being Jews, said Moline, who is president of the national Interfaith Alliance. History will never allow American Jews to completely exhale, not even in the country where George Washington, Founding Father Numero Uno, sent that lovely letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Rhode Island back in 1790: May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid, he wrote. Rabbi Gerry Serotta, the executive director of the InterFaith Conference on Washington, said that America has been wonderfully hospitable to Jews. More than 40 percent of the worlds Jews live here. Both Serotta and Moline grew up when Jewish kids were bullied in school, slurs and jokes were common and there were quotas on the number of Jews admitted to American universities. But their kids? Theyve experienced none of that. And the stuff theyre seeing today is scary. Not just scary because there are swastikas on a school bathroom wall in tolerant and enlightened Bethesda. Not only frightening because a guy who hosted a showcase of bigotry and hate Stephen K. Bannon will work in the high reaches of the Trump White House. But todays atmosphere is terrifying because of what other minorities are facing. What Jews are experiencing now aint nothing, Moline said. A people who saw their communities destroyed and their families slaughtered by the millions during the Holocaust are understandably appalled by how Muslims are now being targeted in this country. While Merry Christmassing across the country this week, Trump underscored his commitment to a nationwide Muslim registry and a ban on Muslim immigrants. You know my plans all along, Trump declared. This far more than a swastika scrawled on a building is terrifying. If theyre asking Muslims to register, of course well get every Jew in America to register, Rabbi Daniel Zemel vowed at a Friday night Shabbat service at Temple Micah in the District last month. If theyre going to start deporting people, well make Temple Micah into a sanctuary. Moline agreed, joining Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims outside Masjid Muhammad, which calls itself The Nations Mosque, in Northwest Washington last month and saying, I will be the first in line to say, Ana Muslim! I am a Muslim! Its because Jews remember not just the Nazis, but people like Marion Pritchard. Pritchard, a Dutch social work student, was 96 when she died in Washington last week. She was credited with feeding, clothing and hiding more than 150 Jews during the Holocaust, many of them children. She even killed a Nazi collaborator who discovered one of the hideouts she used under floorboards. She shot him and slipped his corpse into a coffin with another cadaver to escape detection. Pritchard always insisted that none of it would have been possible without the assistance of others. Serotta pays tribute to Christians like her every Christmas. His family goes out for Chinese food, as many Jewish families do, and then volunteer at a local churchs soup kitchen so Christians can have the night off to celebrate with their families. Hell do it again this year and light his Hanukkah candle when he gets home. The rabbis America is the one we must embrace a place of love, religious freedom and tolerance. George Washington was very clear in his letter to the Jews he visited in Rhode Island, explaining that the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. And now is a good time to live up to that promise, to light a candle in the darkness. Twitter: @petulad The Maryland Public Service Commission approved an alternative screening process that would allow Uber and Lyft to continue operating in the state without conducting fingerprint-based background checks of their drivers. The decision Thursday averted a showdown with California-based Uber which had threatened to leave Maryland and represented a victory in the ride-hailing companies battles against regulations that would have jeopardized their ability to maintain tens of thousands of drivers in the state. Uber and Lyft had argued that the electronic checks they use, supplemented by court records, are as thorough, or better than the law-enforcement-backed methods suggested by regulators. But the commission noted in its ruling that neither fingerprinting-based nor commercial background checks are completely comprehensive and accurate. It did acknowledge, however, that each check used by the ride-hailing companies involves extensive efforts to identify criminal history, are supplemented by ongoing safety protocols and updates, and include unique and emerging methods of authenticating identities. The state-approved process incorporates the ride-hailing companies current methods but requires additional provisions, including annual rescreening, auditing requirements, a 60-day written notice of any significant changes to the screening process, written certifications of their drivers identities, and a three-day reporting requirement for new arrests and convictions. Uber and Lyft already adhere to some of the requirements in Maryland, including annual rescreening, and using accredited background check providers. [Uber threatens to pull out of Maryland if state requires fingerprint-based background checks] In separate statements, Uber and Lyft lauded the decision reached by four commissioners. This decision ensures that tens of thousands of hard-working residents continue to have fair access to flexible work opportunities and the reliable transportation options millions of Marylanders and visitors have come to expect and rely on, said Tom Hayes, Ubers regional general manager. Lyft applauded the decision but left open the possibility that it may seek further changes to the requirements in the future. While we will continue to work with the Commission on certain aspects of the rules, we appreciate their recognition that Lyfts modern background check process is comprehensive and rigorous, a company spokeswoman said in a statement. The Rockville-based Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, which supported fingerprinting, said Uber and Lyfts checks do not go far enough even with the new provisions. The group represents about a thousand taxicab, limousine, for-hire, paratransit and non-emergency driving services, and has sought to expose the problems presented by lax regulations in the ride-hailing industry. The fact remains that the only way to identify an individual is through their fingerprint, said Dave Sutton, spokesman for Whos Driving You?, an initiative of the organization, which lists offenses committed by ride-hailing drivers on its website. Uber can hire experts and generate persuasive testimony but in practice they are sloppy. ... In the Maryland hearing, theyve hired experts to create convincing sounding data but the reality is passengers are being hurt. [Uber screening process drew scrutiny long before Kalamazoo shootings] Sutton pointed to a lawsuit filed in California that alleged Uber had misled the public with claims it had best in the industry background checks. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, who was part of the lawsuit, has said screenings that omit fingerprint scanning are completely worthless, and Uber agreed to pay up to $25 million in fines and stop referring to its background checks as superior to industry competitors. The commission said it believed that the alternative background checks it approved were as comprehensive and accurate as the fingerprint-based background check. Under the new rules, screenings would encompass a drivers entire adult life rather than the seven years currently required by Uber and Lyft. (Uber says it already abides by this requirement in Maryland.) Drivers would also be required to return their Uber and Lyft decals if their accounts became deactivated. A spokeswoman for the commission said the new checks elevated electronic screening to the level of fingerprinting by addressing concerns about identity verification, the comprehensiveness of record searches, and timely follow-up requirements. The Commission, which regulates ride-hailing in the state, conducted three days of hearings on the issue in November. Uber said then it would have to cease operating in the state, taking its 30,000 drivers with it, if fingerprint-based background checks were enacted. [Uber threatens to pull out of Maryland if state requires fingerprint-based background checks] The companies had argued that fingerprinting was a costly and burdensome requirement on drivers and disproportionately targeted minorities, who were more likely to be wrongfully flagged for offenses. The companies also argued that state and FBI fingerprint databases presented an incomplete portrait of a persons criminal history, with records that often didnt note the final dispositions of cases. But state regulators said electronic checks by firms Checkr and Sterling Infosystems, the services used by Uber and Lyft, were inadequate. They pointed to several examples of sexual assault and other violent crime committed by Uber drivers. There are three major areas of concern, Christopher T. Koermer, director of transportation for the Public Service Commission, said in his hearing testimony. [Ubers] and Lyfts processes for ensuring that the applicant is not providing false identifying information . . . the limitations on the time period covered by a review of the applicants record and . . . the lack of criminal activity updates. [Metro moving forward with plan to use Uber, Lyft for some paratransit services] Proponents of fingerprinting argued that Ubers screening methods allowed violent criminals to fall through the cracks, citing a driver who was arrested on attempted-murder charges in May after he allegedly tried to shoot two police officers in Gaithersburg, Md., and several incidents involving gun violence. It wasnt clear, however, that fingerprint-based tests would have helped. In one case, in which an Uber driver was arrested on charges that he killed six on a shooting rampage in Kalamazoo, Mich., the 45-year-old had no previous criminal record. Maryland was not the first market that Uber threatened to leave over fingerprinting. In May, Uber and Lyft ceased ride-hailing in Austin over the requirement; Uber has also threatened to yank its service from Houston if a new fingerprinting requirement isnt reversed. Maryland has three times as many Uber drivers as the Austin area, the biggest market that Uber has left. If it had pulled out of Maryland, the ripple effect would have been felt across the region, affecting service in Baltimore, Annapolis and part of the D.C. region. Uber and Lyft have 10 days to formally respond to the commissions modifications. Supporters of the Netherlands Carillon, which for more than 50 years has rung out melodies of international friendship from a point overlooking Washingtons monumental landscape, launched a $5.8 million restoration fundraising effort Thursday with a $4 million commitment from the National Park Service. The 127-foot tower between the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery has been closed to visitors for the past five years, and needs serious structural and safety repairs to make it safe to climb. Under the planned restoration, three new bells will join the 50 existing bells, to make the site a grand carillon, one of only about two dozen in the world. All the bells are cast in the Netherlands, and kept in tune with annual visits by Dutch carillonneurs. Repairs are urgently needed, but the operation also gives us the opportunity to upgrade the memorial, Dutch Ambassador Henne Schuwer said in a statement. In addition to the money from the American government, the Royal Netherlands Embassy is raising $1.2 million through the Netherland-America Foundation for the chimes, its operating system and surroundings. It will also pay for the new bells, create an educational curriculum for visitors and for future repairs. Those who wish to donate can do so at www.nlintheusa.com/carillon. The embassy is also supporting the Singing Bronze Foundation in the Netherlands, which is trying to raise $600,000 there. The carillon was donated by the Dutch people in 1952 to thank the United States for its role in liberating the Netherlands during World War II, and for the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild its economy after the war. Most visitors who happen upon the summer concerts on the lawn beneath the tower do not know its significance, nor do they realize that each bell ranging from 42 pounds to 6 tons is unique, carrying an emblem that represents different groups within Dutch society and inscribed with sentiments of gratitude. Every time I pass by, I realize that this monument is a symbol for Dutch gratitude to the U.S. It represents the good relationship we have, Schuwer said. The fact that this building will be restored strengthens my optimism about the future of Dutch-American ties. Syria Iran recently congratulated themselves of the defeat of the democratic Syrian resistance forces in Aleppo. Yahya Safavi, the top foreign policy adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said: The liberation of Aleppo reinforces the political strength of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The new American president must accept the reality that Iran is the leading power in the region. The mullahs even continue to spread the myth that they are defeating ISIS through their military and financial support of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Foad Izadi, a conservative-leaning professor of world politics at Tehran University, said support for the Syrian dictator and his violent war against his own people was a necessary evil. He said: If Syria falls, youll either get a pro-Israeli government there, or you get the Islamic State, or you get Libya. Those are not good options for us. However, the Iranian Regime fails to note that its real fear is not ISIS but the Iranian people. If the Syrians are allowed to rise up against a tyrant, why shouldnt their Iranian brethren? Adnan Tabatabai, Iran analyst and CEO of Germany-based think tank CARPO, said: Syria is important as a way of maintaining its access to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which acts as a defence force for Iran against Israeli influence in the region, but Irans main priority is simply to secure its borders with Iraq and Afghanistan for the sake of its territorial integrity. The Iranian mullahs are also supporting the terrorist group, Hezbollah, in Lebanon and recently managed to input ex-general, Michel Aoun, as president. But where are they getting the money to support all this military action? From the 2015 nuclear deal, of course. This may change under Donald Trump, who famously called the agreement a bad deal, and has since lined his cabinet with Iranian sceptics. However, Trump has also criticised US ally Saudi Arabia for its reliance on the US and spreading fundamentalist Islam. Saudi Arabia Tabatabai said: For Iran, its much easier not to rely on the US because they havent been doing that for the past three decades, whereas its a major change for Saudi Arabia and other regional rivals of Iran to stop counting on the US. Saudi Arabia has suffered setbacks even before Trump takes office with low oil prices, the defeat of the Syrian Resistance forces in Aleppo and their bombing campaign against Hezbollah in Yemen. However, Iran may not be in such a good position. Aram Nerguizian, a Middle East analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said: For all the talk of Iran being in a much better position it doesnt change the fact that Iran is a Shiite power in a Sunni-majority region. He said: Neither side wants an all-out war. At some point, they have to accept some degree of influence for the other side. The alternative is an indefinite ideological war between Sunnis and Shiites, and thats just not sustainable. Nerguizian notes that the Saudis still have major advantages- including the billions of dollars in arms that they purchased from Western allies. He said: Folks have been projecting the collapse of the House of Saud for 60 years and it hasnt happened. For all their instability, the Gulf countries are far more integrated into the global economy than Iran and still have the support of key Western allies. Even supposedly close relationships are fraught. Nerguizian said: Irans relationships with big powers like Russia and China are very fickle. Those countries have their own priorities. Syria is just one small part of the region. When it comes to things like energy, Russia is more than happy to partner with other countries in the Gulf. The Affordable Care Acts cost-sharing subsidies could be eliminated as soon as President-elect Donald Trump takes office. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Even without Congress repealing the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration could undermine the law by unilaterally ending billions of dollars the government pays insurers to subsidize the health coverage of nearly 6 million Americans. Given that insurers would still be required to provide consumers that financial help, such a move could create upheaval in the ACAs marketplaces prompting health plans to raise their prices or drop out, according to health-policy experts in both major political parties. Intervention by the new president to stop the payments would precipitate a pretty serious crisis almost immediately unless Congress stepped in, said James Capretta, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The money is for a kind of financial assistance that is less familiar than the tax credits the law gives most people for their ACA plan premiums. These cost-sharing reductions are designed instead to lower the deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket fees for nearly half the customers this year. The payments are expected to total $9 billion in 2017. Eligible consumers would not feel their loss right away because the law still would compel insurers to lower the fees charged. But without government money to make up the difference, the insurers would take an instant hit. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) The subsidies could be eliminated as soon as President-elect Donald Trump takes office, a consequence of an unusual lawsuit that House Republicans brought against the Obama administration two years ago. The GOPs case, part of its sustained attack on the 2010 law, contends that the cost-sharing reductions to insurers are illegal because Congress has not provided a specific appropriation for them an argument the administration disputes. In May, a federal district judge ruled in favor of the House but left the subsidies in place while Obama officials appealed the decision. Once Trump is sworn in, his administration could simply drop the appeal. At that point, the payments would stop, barring a reversal by the Republicans who sued to get rid of the subsidies. Lawmakers would then have to approve funds to keep the payments in place. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has granted a House request to pause the case until Trump takes office. [Judge strikes down Obama health law insurance subsidy in victory for House GOP] Members of Trumps transition team have not signaled whether the incoming president intends to exercise this power, and sources who have spoken with transition staffers say no decision appears to have been made. Transition spokespersons did not respond to multiple requests for comment. However, Trumps choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), is a vehement ACA critic who has been outspoken in opposing the cost-sharing subsidies. The day of the lower courts ruling, Price hailed the decision as a momentous victory for the rule of law and against the Obama administrations overreach of constitutional authority. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) The uncertainty over cost-sharings future is alarming Obama administration officials, insurers that participate in ACA marketplaces and even some ACA detractors such as Capretta. Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that carries out much of the sprawling law, said that ending the subsidies would be a drastic move and an enormous step backwards. The payments are one way in which the ACA helps make private insurance affordable for people with relatively low incomes who buy coverage through HealthCare.gov or similar marketplaces at the state level. While the law offers premium tax credits for marketplace customers with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line, the cost-sharing reductions are for a narrower group. They help those with incomes up to 250 percent of the poverty level just under $30,000 for individuals or about $60,000 for a family of four who buy the second-lowest tier of ACA coverage, known as silver plans. Some 5.9 million consumers or 56 percent of the people with ACA health plans benefited from such subsidies in the first half of this year, HHS figures show. This week, two consumers went to court seeking to take part in the appeal. They argue that an end to the subsidies will produce devastating consequences for the individuals who receive these reductions, as well as for the nations health insurance and health care systems generally. [Trump spurs fears, hopes among Americans insured by the Affordable Care Act] At Americas Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), preserving the cost-sharing payments is a top priority during the industry trade groups private conversations with lawmakers over the GOPs plans to dismantle the health-care law. Without those subsidies, that is a dramatic financial cost burden that goes to the plans, AHIP spokeswoman Kristine Grow noted. Grow predicted that additional plans would follow the insurers that already have withdrawn from ACA marketplaces, citing unexpectedly high-cost customers. If they feel the market is unstable and there is no pathway, there is a very high likelihood they will pull out of the market at the first logical opportunity, she said. Typically, insurers must choose each spring whether to participate in the federal health exchange and state-run marketplaces for the coming year; that timing means the next round of decisions will be made a few months after Trump takes office. But a wrinkle in the plans federal contracts gives them a possible way to withdraw much earlier. The 10-page agreement that health plans sign with the CMS says the agency recognizes that plans designed their coverage and set their prices on the assumption that both premium tax-credits and cost-sharing reductions would be available. In the event that this assumption ceases to be valid, the agreement says, plans could have cause to terminate their participation. Everyone is in limbo right now, said J. Mario Molina, president of Molina Healthcare, which sells ACA coverage in nine states. Two-thirds of its customers qualify for cost-sharing. As of last month, the company had received $172 million from the government this year for customer subsidies about 12 percent of Molinas revenue. If the payments ended, he said, that would completely wipe out the companys small operating margin. The uncertainty is particularly untimely, coming in the midst of the ACAs fourth enrollment period, as the insurer prepares to mail membership cards and benefit brochures to those who are signing up. We have no choice at this point [but] to go forward, Molina said. Yet he knows that if Trump stops the cost-sharing, his company will face the hard choice of losing money or dropping out of its ACA marketplaces. In defending the cost-sharing reductions in court, Obama administration officials have pointed out that without the payments, ACA insurers would ultimately raise their prices, which would mean higher government costs for the laws premium tax credits. The amount of money going to those credits could jump by as much as 30 percent, the HHS estimates. For their part, the House Republicans who sued say there is a constitutional issue to prove about the power of Congress over spending. The outgoing administration counters that authority for the subsidies is already embedded in the law. A House leadership aide, briefing reporters last week, said it is not yet clear how lawmakers would respond if Trump moved to cut off the cost-sharing payments. But, the aide acknowledged, There are cascading effects about insurance markets we are very aware of. Iran has sent in its top generals, established a training camp in Iraq to train mercenaries, and even recruited Afghan refugees to fight in the war; supposedly there are now 25,000 troops under Iranian control in the country. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said that the Iranian forces have established a headquarters, just 20 miles southeast of Aleppo. Shahin Gobadi, the spokesman for the NCRI, said: This report leaves no doubt that the Iranian regime is the primary obstacle to any solution in Syria. The current situation in Aleppo and the role of the Iranian regime in the atrocities committed on the ground require the immediate expulsion of the IRGC and its mercenaries from Syria. By meddling in other countries, the mullahs try to cover up their vulnerability at home. The survival of the [Iranian] regime has been intertwined with maintaining the Assad dictatorship in power in Syria. The troops controlling Aleppo are under the control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC); indeed, photos recently surfaced of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Forces (a more violent arm of the IRGC), surveying the streets of Aleppo with his Russian counterpart. Gobadi said: The fact is that Aleppo has been occupied by the IRGC and its mercenaries. Mass executions, preventing the transfer of civilians including women and children, attacking the civilians has all been done by the forces of the mullahs regime. He continued: [They] are the main source of the crisis in Syria and the region. By abusing the inaction of the international community and being convinced of not being held accountable for its crimes, [Iran] has continuously become more emboldened. Further evidence of Irans influence comes from a meeting between the foreign and defence ministers of Russia, Iran, and Turkey regarding the Syrian civil war. John Kirby, White House Press Spokesman, said: We know that there are Iranian-backed fighters in SyriaWeve talked about the unhelpful role that they have been playing in supporting the Assad regime through advice, through some combat operations, certainly through arms and assistanceWe have said before we want the regime and its backers, which includes Iran, to stop that kind of activity and to try to get us to a point where we can achieve a meaningful ceasefire. ETHIOPIA 9,800 detained under emergency to be freed Ethiopia said Wednesday that it is releasing nearly 10,000 people detained under its ongoing state of emergency but plans to charge almost 2,500 others accused of destabilizing the country. Deputy government spokesman Zadig Abraha told the Associated Press that 9,800 people were being freed. They have been given lots of trainings . . . so that they wont be part of the destructive trend that we have seen in the past, Zadig said. The East African country declared the state of emergency in October after nearly a year of anti-government protests that rights groups say left hundreds dead. Most of the detainees are from the restive Oromia and Amhara regions. The government has said that under the state of emergency, people detained could be sent to rehabilitation centers without being charged. Ethiopia, one of Africas best-performing economies, was hit by a wave of protests beginning in November 2015 when ethnic Oromos protested proposed land seizures intended to expand Addis Ababa, the capital. The violence then spread to the Amhara region in the north and beyond. Associated Press EUROPEAN UNION Court rules against new British cyber law The European Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that governments must not indiscriminately collect and retain peoples emails and electronic communications, dealing a blow to Britains contentious new cyber-surveillance law. Europes highest court said general and indiscriminate retention of data by governments is unlawful and cannot be justified in a democratic society. Only targeted retention aimed at fighting serious crimes could justify such state interference, it said. Britains Parliament passed legislation last month that expanded the reach of state surveillance. The law requires telecommunications companies to keep records of all customers emails and Web activity for a year and gives officials unprecedented access to such information. Government departments can access the data without a warrant. The government says the law will help in the fight against terrorism and crime. Liberty, a civil liberties group that backed the legal challenge, said Wednesdays ruling meant that the law must be urgently changed. Britains government said it was disappointed by the ruling and would mount a strong defense when the case returns to the Court of Appeal in London. Associated Press MONGOLIA Harsh winter prompts warnings of crisis An unusually harsh winter in Mongolia that is decimating livestock and sending temperatures to minus-70 degrees may create a humanitarian crisis, aid groups warn. Save the Children and the International Federation of the Red Cross said Wednesday that this winter will probably see vast swaths of the Mongolian steppe affected by the extreme weather phenomenon known in Mongolia as dzud. A dzud typically occurs once a decade but could strike for a second straight year. The dzud last year killed more than 1 million animals, a blow to Mongolians, who depend on livestock for food, milk and income. The government said last week that it met with international organizations to discuss efforts to deliver essential supplies amid worsening conditions and heavy snowfall since October. Associated Press 2 Ukrainian troops killed in fighting: At least two Ukrainian troops were killed over 24 hours in renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine, officials said. Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesman, said one Ukrainian soldier also was held captive while eight were injured in that period south of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. Fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government troops has killed more than 9,600 people since April 2014. A 2015 cease-fire deal did not stop the fighting but lowered its intensity. U.S. returns some land on Okinawa: The U.S. military announced the return to the Japanese government of the largest tract of land about 10,000 acres in more than 40 years, reducing American-administered areas on the southern island of Okinawa by 17 percent. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy attended a ceremony in Tokyo to mark the handover. The United States retained control of Okinawa after its World War II victory, returning the islands to Japan only in 1972. From news services RUSSIA Turkish cleric in U.S. denies role in killing A U.S.-based Muslim cleric on Thursday condemned the killing of Russias envoy to Turkey and rejected accusations that his movement was behind the attack. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot by an off-duty police officer at a photo exhibition Monday in the Turkish capital, Ankara. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has implicated Fethullah Gulen, a former ally, in the killing, accusing his movement of links to the gunman. In a video address, Gulen accused Erdogan of defaming his movement and suggested that the Turkish government would facilitate other killings and blame them on Gulens followers. Gulen has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999. Russia has flown a team of 18 investigators and Foreign Ministry officials to Turkey to help investigate Karlovs killing. In Moscow, officials and lawmakers gathered at the Foreign Ministrys headquarters for a ceremony to honor Karlov. Diplomats and officials laid flowers at the open casket alongside an honorary guard. President Vladimir Putin arrived at the end of the ceremony, laid flowers at the casket, offered condolences to the ambassadors widow and left. Associated Press ROMANIA Nomination delayed of female Muslim premier Romanias president said Thursday that he needs more time to nominate a new prime minister, delaying the confirmation in office of the countrys first female Muslim premier amid signs of unease. The Social Democrats, who won elections on Dec. 11, on Wednesday proposed economist Sevil Shhaideh, a little-known former minister, as prime minister. President Klaus Iohannis had been expected to give official support to that nomination on Thursday. But he said he will delay any announcement until after Christmas. He did not say why. Shhaideh, 52, served as Romanias regional development minister last year. Critics of her nomination say that she lacks sufficient political experience. She is married to Akram Shhaideh, a Syrian, who obtained Romanian citizenship in 2015. The Rise Project, a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, said Thursday that Shhaidehs husband had postings in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on his Arabic-language Facebook page. Meanwhile, the Romanian Orthodox bishop of Cluj, Andrei Andreicut, said he personally wanted a Romanian and Orthodox prime minister. More than 85 percent of Romanians belong to the influential church. Associated Press Death toll in alcohol poisoning in Russia climbs to 72: Local health officials in Russias Siberia said the number of people who have died this week from drinking a bath lotion that contained methanol has climbed to 72. The Health Ministry in the Irkutsk region said 33 people were still in the hospital. Bottles with the lotion carried warnings that it was not for internal use, but the labels said the product contained ethyl alcohol, not methanol. Household products containing alcohol are popular in Russia as a cheap alternative to standard spirits. Bombings in Mosul kill 23: Three car bombs ripped through an outdoor market in Mosul, killing at least 15 civilians and eight police officers, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said. The attack occurred in the eastern district of Gogjali, which Iraqi forces retook from Islamic State militants weeks ago as part of an ongoing operation to drive them from Mosul. The Islamic State captured the northern city in summer 2014. Senegalese man found guilty in U.S. womans killing: An Italian court has convicted a Senegalese man of killing an American woman he met at a nightclub and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. Ashley Olsen, 35, was found dead in her apartment on Jan. 9, 2016. She had been strangled and had suffered skull fractures. Police arrested Cheik Tidiane Diaw after street surveillance cameras showed him walking with Olsen toward her home that night and DNA traces were found on a cigarette butt and condom in her apartment. Cambodia seizes animal parts smuggled from Africa: Cambodia has made one of its biggest seizures of smuggled animal parts, including more than a ton of ivory, a wildlife protection group said. The Wildlife Alliance said about 3,000 pounds of ivory, 10 cheetah skulls and 180 pounds of cheetah bones, and 301 pounds of pangolin scales were found concealed in three containers shipped from Mozambique. Cambodia has made 19 seizures of ivory and rhino horn from six African nations since 2014, the Wildlife Alliance said. From news services As an engineering professor and transportation safety researcher who has been closely following the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authoritys lingering (and sometimes serious) safety problems for the past 20 years, I could not agree more with the Dec. 18 editorial A needed message arrives at Metro: Youre fired that there is an urgent need for a cultural change concerning safety at Metro. General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld should be commended and supported for his intention to change WMATAs safety culture. However, firing grunts, who, in this context, are the victims of a poor organizational safety culture that for many years ingrained ambivalence, tolerated deviance, encouraged complacency and promoted mediocrity, is ill-advised and can cause further deterioration of morale and performance. As professor James Reason, who has written books on organizational accidents and safety culture, has said, these employees tend to be the inheritors of system defects created by poor design, incorrect installation, faulty maintenance and bad management decisions. Their part is usually that of adding the final garnish to a lethal brew whose ingredients have already been long in the cooking. A culture change imposed by force, firing and fear is a culture that will be opposed by resistance, backlash and reprisals. Mr. Wiedefeld should focus on instilling all the traits and their needed behavior and attitudes for a healthy safety culture in Metro. Najmedin Meshkati, Los Angeles The editorial board would be right if those firings started at the top. When asked about the East Falls Church derailment, Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld acknowledged that there was a balance there of service versus the work that needed to be done. And that balance probably was tilted more toward service than it should have been. Mr. Weidefelds decision put public safety at risk, but he blamed workers. Termination of a handful of front-line workers may play well for Metros public relations, but it is not going to change the problems that caused the derailment and the many track issues throughout the system. It is time for management to stop retaliating against workers for its own managerial failures and deal with the systemic and cultural and sometimes nuanced problems that this union, the Federal Transit Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been calling on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to address for years. Raymond Jackson, Forestville The writer is second vice president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689. IN MAY 1988, when Vice President George H.W. Bush was running for president, he was appalled to read in the newspapers that a lawyer claiming to have influence with him had been hired by a New York defense contractor. The vice president wrote a letter to his son George, published by the New York Times, admonishing him to beware of newfound friends who will ask for things and reminding him to avoid any sign of impropriety. The family of President-elect Donald Trump would be wise to absorb the letter and spirit of Mr. Bushs message. In recent weeks, three of Mr. Trumps grown children, who play a prominent role in his business and political affairs, have been toying with dubious fundraising events that could be a channel for influence-peddling. Mr. Trump should lay down the law hard and fast: No one can use his family as a shortcut to federal-government business. Family members have often been ethical burdens for presidents the problem did not begin yesterday. But Mr. Trump seems to be especially vulnerable as he moves from private life to public service. He has done little to draw clear lines: His tax returns are still not public, and he has yet to disclose how he plans to avoid conflicts of interest once in office. His grand art-of-the-deal philosophy may have been wonderful in real estate, but in public life he will be held to a high standard: to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety. In order to satisfy that and retain public trust, he cannot leave the back door of the White House ajar for influence peddlers. Two recent episodes involving the Trump family are worrisome. The first was an auction offering a coffee with Ivanka Trump, the president-elects daughter, for contributions that would go to the Eric Trump Foundation, run by Ms. Trumps younger brother, to benefit St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Tennessee. The auction essentially advertised access for money, a real temptation to impropriety, regardless of the merit of the charity. Wisely, after being online for 10 days, the auction was called off Dec. 16. Then it was disclosed that a recently formed conservation charity was luring donors with promises of access to the president at an event in Washington on the day after the inauguration as well as a multiday hunting or fishing trip with his oldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, in exchange for half a million dollars or more for the charity. On Tuesday, the family issued a statement saying the event had not been approved or pursued by them, but reports suggest it was the brainchild of two Dallas friends of the Trump sons. They have decided not to attend. If these missteps are a sign of inexperience, the Trumps must learn quickly. Mr. Bush warned his son in 1988 that they would face a lot of microscopic probing. The Trumps are now in that realm and ought to embrace the ironclad rule that in public service, access and influence are not for sale. Monica Crowley at Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 15. (Pool photo by Albin Lohr-Jones via European Pressphoto Agency) In the early hours of July 10, D.C. resident Seth Rich was fatally shot near his home. Police said the 27-year-old Democratic staffer was probably the victim of an attempted robbery. But Monica Crowley, a Fox News analyst who recently joined President-elect Donald Trumps national security team, suggested a different culprit: Hillary Clinton. Maybe, in fact, it wasnt a robbery, Crowley said Aug. 10 on The OReilly Factor. Maybe there was something more sinister here. . . . The question going forward, I think for Mrs. Clinton, for everybody here, is what else is out there? Who has it? Whose life may be in danger? Those comments are typical of the perspective Crowley brings to her appointment as senior director for strategic communications for the National Security Council. But its not just her. Many of Trumps highest-level appointees have a history of publicly promoting conspiratorial, outlandish and fringe beliefs, particularly about Muslims, the Clinton family and the environment unproven narratives that remain stubbornly alive on the Internet despite being debunked by the mainstream media. Those who promote such narratives include top Trump national security staffers, advisers and Cabinet designees, many of whom will enter the executive branch with long records of public statements from their careers as conservative commentators and politicians. Their open and shared tendency toward repeating false narratives, a more prevalent theme in this administration than previous ones, raises questions about what role debunked and discredited theories might play in Trumps decisions as president. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) The question is particularly urgent given Trumps own pattern of conspiratorial statements he rose to political prominence after repeatedly raising the false idea that President Obama was not born in the United States and his refusal to accept a daily briefing from the intelligence community. He has said he prefers to rely on updates from his advisers, some of whom have promulgated such false narratives. Trumps transition team did not respond to a request to comment for this article. Mark Fenster, author of Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture, said touting such unproven narratives can bias the judgment of people in power, with real consequences. You might inaccurately or unfairly interpret information that comes your way. You might seek out a limited number of sources of information and make decisions that are not as good as they could otherwise have been, said Fenster, a professor at the University of Floridas Levin College of Law. The federal government is facing very complex issues on a regular basis that require political judgment calls. . . . If someone has certain cognitive predispositions, it can lead to wrong answers. Less than 30 days from Trumps inauguration, for example, his designee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), is being scrutinized for his choice in July to speak to a chapter of the John Birch Society, a far-right group known for its paranoia about the Federal Reserve and the possibility of world government. The group was once estranged from mainstream conservatism because of its conspiratorial views, but that did not stop Mulvaney from praising and encouraging its work, according to Mother Jones, citing audio of the speech. Controversial beliefs, often nurtured and grown in a petri dish of partisan websites before becoming more widely known, are starting to have real-world consequences. On Dec. 4, a North Carolina man entered a D.C. pizza parlor armed with an AR-15 rifle, bent on investigating rumors about a child sex ring with purported ties to Clinton that he believed operated in tunnels beneath the restaurant. (Erin Patrick O'Connor,Manuel Roig-Franzia/The Washington Post) [Pizzagate, from rumor to hashtag to gunfire in Washington] The man, 28-year-old Edgar Welch, was arrested and now faces the possibility of 30 years in prison. He found nothing. It would be unfair and inaccurate to say that conspiracy theories lead to violent acts necessarily, but at a time of heightened political drama, they can, Fenster said. Pizzagate gained steam on Twitter after user @DavidGoldbergNY claimed on Oct. 30 that Clinton-related emails newly discovered by the FBI point to a pedophilia ring with Clinton at the center. The theory traveled to Reddit and 4chan before finding a proponent in Alex Jones, the far-right radio talk-show host on whose show Trump and his acolyte Roger Stone, who often promotes such conspiracies, have appeared. Soon, the theory incorporated the fact that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta had dined at the D.C. pizzeria Comet Ping Pong. The hashtag #pizzagate was born and quickly spread with the help of unmanned programs known as bots. Members of Trumps inner circle have stoked similarly lurid rumors about the Clintons. On Nov. 3, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, now Trumps pick for national security adviser, tweeted a link to an online post claiming the New York Police Department had evidence linking Clinton to child exploitation and sex crimes with minors. U decide, Flynn wrote, calling the post a must-read. He has since deleted the tweet. [Flynns tweet wasnt about Pizzagate but his son is now defending the baseless conspiracy theory ] Online media amplifies such theories, helping them gain traffic in remote and niche corners of the Internet. Conservative websites such as Breitbart, the Drudge Report, Infowars and WND play host to the least-scrupulous theorizing. Sometimes, their coverage drives discussion at more prominent outlets such as Fox News. Social media produces memes that get picked up by public figures, including lawmakers. Eventually, mainstream media outlets may carry the rumors, if only to debunk them. Joseph Uscinski, an associate professor at the University of Miami, said the risk of having conspiracists in government is they can act on those beliefs with the force of law. In other institutional contexts, weve seen the damage that conspiracy theorists can do when they have power, said Uscinski, co-author of American Conspiracy Theories, published in 2014. Hitler and Stalin come to mind, though those were very different institutional contexts. At the same time, Uscinski said, survey data shows that everyone believes in at least one conspiracy theory. It is not shocking to hear that people in government believe a few, he said. What it comes down to is which ones do they believe and whether they are actionable. These views go far beyond the consensus among many in Trumps world that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by scientists or that voter fraud does, contrary to the evidence, take place on a vast scale. Accusations of anti-Semitism have been leveled at Stephen K. Bannon, Trumps senior adviser and the former head of Breitbart News, which has run columns with strong conspiratorial, anti-Semitic overtones. Bannons ex-wife said in a sworn court declaration in 2007 that Bannon has said he doesnt like Jews and doesnt want his children to attend school with them. Bannon, through a spokeswoman, has denied making these statements. Trump, too, has been accused of fueling anti-Semitism with some of his rhetoric and campaign imagery. His final ad used photos of prominent Jews to illustrate those who control the levers of power and a global power structure, drawing a rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League. Still, few of Trumps advisers publicly espouse anti-Semitic views. The unproven narratives they promote are more likely to center on Islam. Bannon, along with many others in the conservative media, has promoted the narrative that Clintons closest aide, Huma Abedin, is a tool of the Muslim Brotherhood. Crowley, in 2008, called Obama Arab African and accused him of lying about his heritage, echoing Trumps long history of claims that Obama was not born in the United States, retracted late in the campaign under pressure from critics. Trump has also falsely suggested that Obama is Muslim. Flynn frequently warns audiences, without merit, that Islamic law is taking root in the United States. One of his claims, which has been repeatedly batted down by fact-checkers, is that Democratic state senators voted to impose it in Florida. Our country was built upon the foundation of Judeo-Christian principles, values, norms, Flynn told an audience on Aug. 23. We should fight this idea of this imposition of sharia law into our system. And believe me, folks, it is happening. Flynn later called Islamism a vicious cancer that has to be excised, comparing it to Nazism and fascism. Clinton is a target of more than her fair share of unfounded allegations. Kathleen KT McFarland, Trumps pick to be Flynns deputy, claimed in 2006 that Clinton dispatched helicopters to surveil her house as she campaigned for Senate. McFarland has also argued that Clinton and other members of the Obama administration traded lives for votes in their handling of the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Crowley was among the original conservative commentators accusing Clinton of false illnesses, suggesting in December 2012 she had faked a reported concussion to avoid testifying before the House about the Benghazi attacks. Clintons testimony was postponed until Jan. 23, 2013. Few have gone further than Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Trumps pick for interior secretary, who told voters in 2014 that Clinton was the real enemy the Antichrist. Other Trump appointees are known for airing strange and unproven theories. Former Texas governor Rick Perry, who Trump will nominate for energy secretary, in 2014 repeatedly claimed without evidence that Obama was responsible for a surge in undocumented immigrants crossing the Texas border. We either have an incredibly inept administration or theyre in on this somehow or another, Perry told ABC News in July 2014. I mean, I hate to be conspiratorial, but I mean, how do you move that many people from Central America across Mexico and then into the United States without there being a fairly coordinated effort? Retired surgeon Ben Carson, who will lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development if hes confirmed, exists in what occasionally seems like his own universe of theories, claiming at times that prison makes inmates gay, that the devil is responsible for the theory of evolution and that the pyramids were originally constructed not as tombs but to store grain. Carson, Perry and Trump have all suggested that the Obama administration manipulates its monthly unemployment rate to paint a rosier picture of economic growth, a conspiracy dubbed unemployment trutherism. Former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch, a member of Trumps kitchen cabinet of corporate leaders, also has espoused this view. Read more at PowerPost Washington Post illustration; iStock Netflix has a nifty new China strategy: Skip it. In January 2016, the video-streaming service announced an ambitious global expansion. The goal was to beam American hits such as House of Cards around the world including, eventually, in China. Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global Internet TV network, said chief executive Reed Hastings at a large tech conference. Sending racy American content into a country that censors almost everything may have seemed like a leap, but Netflix was confident. The China plan, Hastings said, was on a slow and steady path. Less than a year later, having launched just about everywhere else, Netflix shelved the streaming project. It opted instead to license some content to Chinese providers for modest revenue, according to a quarterly letter. (Representatives of the company declined to comment.) Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, delivers a keynote address during an event at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company has shelved its project to stream content in China. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg) For some highflying U.S. Internet businesses, the China dream is fading; for others, it looks radically different from what they had hoped. Californias Internet companies once dreamed of liberating China with technology, thinking that the system of censorship known as the Great Firewall would inevitably crumble like the Berlin Wall, paving the way for their advance in the worlds most populous nation. But President Xi Jinping has tightened, rather than loosened, control of the Internet and increased restrictions on foreign companies. Six years after Google retreated from Chinas search-engine business over censorship and hacking concerns, U.S. firms seem more willing than ever to play the Communist Partys game they just cant win it. Even if they can gain a foothold, which is hard enough, there is practically no way they will be able to overtake the Chinese companies that have comfortably established themselves. Facebooks China charm offensive, which included Mark Zuckerberg studying Mandarin, has yielded little. Googles search business and Twitter remain blocked. LinkedIn and Microsoft censor and still, neither is a major player in Chinas online space. Amazon.com is sputtering along against the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. After great initial success, Apple is being overtaken by local upstarts. [Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.] Still, tech companies are pushing, and they are looking to the incoming Trump administration for help breaking in. When executives from the major U.S. technology companies met with President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 14 at Trump Tower, they complained about a Chinese proposal that would require foreign technology companies to deposit the source code for their software with the government, according to a person who was familiar with the discussions. Bill Bishop, a tech consultant who writes Sinocism, an influential China newsletter, said he has seen waves of confident California firms humbled by efforts to crack the China market. Each generation believes they can find a way, but the Chinese Communist Party has upped their game in terms of censorship, and these companies that nobody has heard about 10 years ago now they are the biggest companies in the world, he said, referring to corporate behemoths such as Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi and Baidu, sometimes called the Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google of China. U.S. companies are going to make a Chinese play, but not the way they imagined. Thinking small If you were looking for a symbol of downsized China dreams, it would be hard to do better than Wuzhen, the luxe but isolated resort that plays host to Chinas World Internet Conference each fall. The summit, in its third year, brings together an oddball cast which this year included Chinese Internet regulators, pro-censorship academics, the prime minister of Cambodia and emissaries from U.S. companies such as Amazon and Facebook. One of the most high-profile speakers was Reid Hoffman, the executive chairman of LinkedIn, who praised Xis signature infrastructure plan, a spending bonanza known as One Belt, One Road. U.S. companies considering a China move often talk about the LinkedIn model a model that means close local ties and full cooperation with the government. Internet start-up employees work on their computers at 3W Coffee in Beijing. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) Acting local or, indeed, operating at all means playing by local rules, even when those rules run counter to the idea of free expression and association. LinkedIns Chinese site censors content and puts limits on forming groups. LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner has described the companys introduction of a Chinese-language version as involving compromises that are far from ideal and can be very painful. LinkedIn did not agree to an interview for this article. Unlike when Google and Yahoo were hauled in to testify before Congress for censoring content a decade ago, LinkedIns censorship has earned the company a small amount of bad press, but has not been treated as a major story. LinkedIns bigger challenge is competing in the Chinese market. Its Chinese site has more than 20 million users fair by U.S. standards, but diminutive for a Chinese social network, analysts said. To better connect with young workers, it launched an app called Chitu which promises to be real and fun. The app sounds millennial-friendly it hosts livestreams with celebrities, for instance but faces fierce competition from homegrown challengers with a head start. Staying relatively small, saying the right things and complying with authorities seems to be the only option. Evernote, an organizational app, launched a China-specific version in 2012. In 2014, the app shelved a feature that Hong Kong protesters had used to share information in China. Like many U.S. companies doing business in China, Evernote has agreed to store Chinese citizens data on Chinese servers, where authorities can access it. It runs its China operation in a bright, foosball-equipped office in Beijings tech district. The business is chugging along but remains small, employing a couple of dozen people. That fact that both firms are cited as China success stories shows just how tough it is for U.S. businesses. Jeremy Goldkorn, director of the media and consulting firm Danwei, summed up the best-case scenario for U.S. Internet start-ups as not getting kicked out, but not making a lot of money. Many large U.S. tech giants, from semiconductor companies to Apple, have made impressive profits in China, but its getting harder now, said Scott Kennedy, who directs a project on Chinese business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. This is a market that makes or breaks companies. Locked out The titans of U.S. technology are facing some of the toughest challenges yet. Google and Facebook remain at the periphery, reduced to selling ads while they angle for a Communist Party-brokered compromise that could get them in. Over the past few years, Facebook has made a high-profile push to win over Chinas leaders. When Chinas former Web czar, Lu Wei, toured Facebooks office in 2014, a copy of Xis book, The Governance of China, was visible on Zuckerbergs desk. Last March, Zuckerberg braved Beijings toxic air to take a notorious smog jog through Tiananmen Square. Despite recent reports that Facebook is building a censorship tool to help secure access to the Chinese market, the social network remains blocked, with little chance of that changing anytime soon, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of its sensitivity. To comply with Chinese law and regulations, Facebook would need to drastically change its product, experts said. If the company were to secure the requisite permits to operate and thats a big if its not clear that it would succeed. In the years that Zuckerberg has been studying Mandarin, Chinas government has ramped up its focus on innovation and helped build an alternate universe where local technology rules. Facebook would need to compete, for instance, with Tencents WeChat, a chat service with more than 800 million active users that has morphed into one-stop shopping for socializing, news and e-commerce. When I think about Facebook in China, I think, Whats their advantage? said William Bao Bean, a Shanghai-based partner at SOSV Ventures and the managing director of Chinaccelerator, which invests in start-ups. Their product is so outpaced by the local companies. That does not mean Facebook wont try. Tim Sparapani, who was Facebooks first director of public policy and is now principal at SPQR strategies, said entering China was part of Zuckerbergs vision and he wouldnt bet against Mark. If Mark says he is going to connect the world, he is going to connect the world. Its about fulfilling that vision of ubiquitous worldwide connectivity. Facebook declined a request for comment. Carmen Chang, a partner at the Silicon Valley firm New Enterprise Associates and a longtime China dealmaker, said that ambitious companies such as Facebook will take the long view in China strengthening their ties and waiting for new opportunities. China is too important a market for these companies to settle for a Plan B, she said. They will take what they can get and keep probing. Some companies will never give up. Others wonder why Silicon Valley stays optimistic. The people at the top are used to moving forward at cyber-speed, not to being pushed aside, blocked, for reasons that are not based on the technology or based on somebody having a better idea its just foreign to their way of thinking, said Lester Ross, a managing partner at Wilmer Hale in Beijing, who advises U.S. and Chinese companies. If you can afford it, its patience and hope that things change. I dont see signs of that in front of us in the near term, he said. It is very hard to be optimistic. Dwoskin reported from San Francisco. Congcong Zhang in Wuzhen and Luna Lin in Beijing contributed to this report. Read more Internet activists are finding ways around Chinas Great Firewall Chinas scary lesson to the world: Censoring the Internet works Chinas plan to organize its society relies on big data to rate everyone America wants to believe China cant innovate. Tech tells a different story. Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news He was the man nobody wanted. When Anis Amri washed up on European shores in a migrant boat in April 2011, he landed on the windswept Italian island of Lampedusa already a fugitive. Sought in his native Tunisia for hijacking a van with a gang of thieves, the frustrated Italians would jail him for arson and violent assault at his migrant reception center for minors on the isle of Sicily. There, his family noted, the boy who once drank alcohol and never went to mosque suddenly got religion. He began to pray, asking his family to send him religious books. The Italian Bureau of Prisons submitted a report to a government anti-terrorism commission on Amris rapid radicalization, warning that he was embracing dangerous ideas of Islamist extremism and had threatened Christian inmates, according to an Italian government official with knowledge of the situation. The dossier was first reported by ANSA, the Italian news service. The Italians tried to deport Amri but couldnt. They sent his fingerprints and photo to the Tunisian consulate, but the authorities there refused to recognize Amri as a citizen. The Italians, officials there say, could not even establish his true identity. Italys solution: After four years in jail, they released him anyway giving him seven days to leave the country. 1 of 32 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Truck rams crowd in Berlin Christmas market, killing at least 12 people View Photos A massive black truck plowed into a Christmas market teeming with holiday revelers in Berlin on Dec. 19, killing at least 12 and wounding dozens more. Caption The suspect in the attack, 24-year-old Anis Amri, was killed in a shootout with police in Milan on Dec. 23. Dec. 23, 2016 Italian police officers stand next to the body of Anis Amri, the suspect in the Berlin truck attack, in a suburb of Milan. Reuters Wait 1 second to continue. On Monday, German authorities believe, Amri, now 24 and with previously known links to Islamist extremists, drove the truck that slammed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and wounding dozens. They had tried to deport him, too, though Tunisia long refused to take him back. The night before the attack, Amri called his family in Tunisia, as he would nearly every weekend. His birthday on Thursday was fast approaching, and he seemed animated. Whats the weather like? Is it raining? What are you having for dinner? his sister, Sayida Amri, 36, in his bleak home town of Oueslatia, Tunisia, recalled him asking Sunday. He asked her, she said, to pass the phone to his youngest niece, Zeinab 4 years old. Do you even know who I am? he asked her. [Refugees in Germany fear backlash after Berlin truck attack] His case suggests two critical realities of modern terrorism that present major new challenges, especially in Europe. The cumbersome, sometimes flawed system of deportation and asylum mixed with open borders has made it exceedingly easy for radicalized Islamists to operate on the continent. Yet Amri is also the latest suspect to have emerged from a disconcerting counterterrorism gap in both Europe and the United States. In case after case including that of the German Christmas market attack authorities have come forward after the fact to say that they had enough cause to place the suspect under surveillance well before the violence. But never enough to move in for an arrest. This has been true of the majority of lone-wolf terrorism plots over the past several years. The Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, had been under FBI investigation for 10 months. The bureau had also tracked but had been unable to build a case against the Boston Marathon bombers or the plotters who targeted a contest to draw cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. The same was true with Amri. Several months ago, during a surveillance operation monitoring radical Islamic preachers, German authorities intercepted a communication, which, in retrospect, appeared to forecast Amris violent intent. They would not disclose the precise wording, but two German officials with knowledge of the investigation said the intercept was not straightforward enough to directly indicate an imminent threat. He never made such a clear statement during this interaction, which could have led to the conclusion that he would become a martyr, one of the officials said. Amri fell into a dangerous gray zone he was on the U.S. no-fly list a month ago, and Germans had linked him to a radical network led by Abu Walaa, a 32-year-old of Iraqi descent arrested in November on charges of recruiting and sending fighters from Germany to the Islamic State. Amri had also been under police surveillance for several months until September of this year, because he was suspected of planning a burglary in Berlin to finance the purchase of weapons. The suspicion wasnt confirmed, however, and authorities found him guilty only of being a small-time drug dealer. This kind of super-low-tech, improvised thing is hard, said Rafael Bossong, research associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. The guy didnt buy any weapons. He didnt give off absolutely clear signals. The question is, how do you definitely prevent that? [After Germany attack, Trump notes pledge to track American Muslims] Amri appears to have attempted to manipulate the German asylum system an inundated bureaucracy clogged with a backlog of more than 400,000 cases following the arrival of 1.2 million asylum seekers over the course of the past two years. According to Der Spiegel, he claimed to be Egyptian and to have suffered persecution there when applying for asylum in Germany in April. When officials questioned him, he could not answer basic questions about his alleged home country. They checked their data system and found that he had been registered under several aliases and birthdays. By July, his asylum request was rejected. And yet, they could not deport him, because Tunisia initially refused to take him issuing him a passport only last Monday, the same day as the attack. The way the system is designed, even had Amri fully cooperated, however, the Germans would not have had access to his criminal record in Italy. The computer databases used in Europe to vet migrants in the first instance does not include such data. European law enforcement officials say that sharing information across borders has sharply increased in the 13 months since the Bataclan attack in Paris. But just because information is in a database does not always mean that it gets used, they say. Im not sure its that we dont have enough information, said Brian Donald, the chief of staff of Europol, the pan-European police agency. I think its more about ensuring that law enforcement has access to the information we have. [After Germany attack, Trump notes pledge to track American Muslims] Back in Oueslatia, Amris family remains incredulous. His brothers and sisters rushed back to their mothers home, a simple house on a dirt street, when they heard the news. They said he changed after his arrest in Italy. He started praying during his time in jail in Italy, his sister said. He even asked me to send him a book called, Paradise for good people. After his release, he told them he survived off small jobs painting, running errands. The siblings huddled around a little charcoal burner, the sisters all hunched, arms wrapped tightly around them. They said they find it hard to believe that it was him, but if its true, that he brought shame on his family and Tunisia. They have been trying to contact him ever since they heard about him being wanted. His phone has been switched off. They say he left for Italy in spring 2011, following a crime they say he was framed for. The arson in Italy, they insist, was also an accident. His mother, Nour el Huda, 60, who at times had to leave the room to compose herself, described her youngest son as someone who used to drink alcohol and enjoyed Tunisian folk music. In jail in Sicily, according to the Italians, he spent time with a violent group of Tunisians and religious radicals. But there was so much he didnt tell them including his attempt to claim asylum in Germany. After his release from the Italian jail, he got by, they said, by doing odd jobs. House painting. Running errands. My son was planning to come back next year and start a small business here, said his mother, Nour el Huda, 60, her voice trembling. He was homesick. We hope he didnt do it; we really hope he wasnt involved, she repeated as a German camera crew pulled up outside. Kottoor reported from Oueslatia, Tunisia; Pitrelli, from Rome. Souad Mekhennet and Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin, Michael Birnbaum in Brussels and Greg Miller in Washington contributed to this report. Read more: The Berlin attack is no surprise. Experts have warned about trucks for years. Flow of foreign fighters plummets as Islamic State loses its edge Germany launches raids in 60 cities, bans group on suspicion of ISIS recruiting A picture taken on Oct. 17, 2016, shows an employee walking behind a glass wall with machine coding symbols at the headquarters of Internet security giant Kaspersky in Moscow. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images) A cybersecurity firm has uncovered strong proof of the tie between the group that hacked the Democratic National Committee and Russias military intelligence arm the primary agency behind the Kremlins interference in the 2016 election. The firm CrowdStrike linked malware used in the DNC intrusion to malware used to hack and track an Android phone app used by the Ukrainian army in its battle against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine from late 2014 through 2016. While CrowdStrike, which was hired by the DNC to investigate the intrusions and whose findings are described in a new report, had always suspected that one of the two hacker groups that struck the DNC was the GRU, Russias military intelligence agency, it had only medium confidence. Now, said CrowdStrike co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch, we have high confidence it was a unit of the GRU. CrowdStrike had dubbed that unit Fancy Bear. The FBI, which has been investigating Russias hacks of political, government, academic and other organizations for several years, privately has concluded the same. But the bureau has not publicly drawn the link to the GRU. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) CrowdStrikes fingering of the GRU helps to deepen the publics understanding of how different arms of the Russian government are carrying out malicious and deeply troubling cyber acts in the United States. The director of national intelligence and the homeland security secretary in October publicly blamed the Russian government for interfering in the U.S. election, including through hacks of political organizations and targeting of state election systems. After the election, the CIA and other intelligence agencies concluded that one of Russias aims was to help President-elect Donald Trump win the election through a campaign of active measures or influence operations that included the hacking and dumping of emails onto public websites. [FBI in agreement with CIA that Russia aimed to help Trump win White House] The GRU, evidently, was key to this operation. The GRU is used for both tactical intelligence collection in the battlefield in support of Russian military operations and also strategic active measures or psychological warfare overseas, said Alperovitch, who is an expert on Russia and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. The fact that they would be tracking and helping the Russian military kill Ukrainian army personnel in eastern Ukraine and also intervening in the U.S. election is quite chilling. CrowdStrike found that a variant of the Fancy Bear malware that was used to penetrate the DNCs network in April 2016 was also used to hack an Android app developed by the Ukrainian army to help artillery troops more efficiently train their antiquated howitzers on targets. The Ukrainian armys D-30 towed howitzers, which date to the Soviet era, typically take a number of minutes to position based on hand-drawn targeting data. With the Android app, positioning takes 15 seconds, CrowdStrike found. The Fancy Bear crew evidently hacked the app, allowing the GRU to use the phones GPS coordinates to track the Ukrainian troops position. In that way, the Russian military could then target the Ukrainian army with artillery and other weaponry. Ukrainian brigades operating in eastern Ukraine were on the front lines of the conflict with Russian-backed separatist forces during the early stages of the conflict in late 2014, CrowdStrike noted. By late 2014, Russian forces in the region numbered about 10,000. The Android app was useful in helping the Russian troops locate Ukrainian artillery positions. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Ukrainian artillery forces lost more than 50 percent of their weapons in the two years of conflict and more than 80 percent of their D-30 howitzers, the highest percentage of loss of any artillery piece in their arsenal, the report stated. The app was not available in the Android app store and was distributed only through the social media page of its developer, who is a Ukrainian artillery officer, Yaroslav Sherstuk, according to CrowdStrike. It could be activated only after the developer was contacted and a code was sent to the individual downloading the application. The other group that hacked the DNC also works for Russian intelligence, CrowdStrike reported earlier this year. But the firm is not sure if it is the more internally focused FSB, or the foreign intelligence arm, the SVR. Both grew out of the KGB. That group, which CrowdStrike has called Cozy Bear, has not apparently been deployed in the influence operation, Alperovitch said. Rather, it is focused on traditional espionage. It is the group that is believed to have hacked unclassified networks of the State Department, White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. More from National Security: U.S. intelligence officials say Russian hacks prioritized Democrats The attorney general could have ordered FBI Director James Comey not to send his bombshell letter on Clinton emails. Heres why she didnt. Hackers can now report bugs in Defense Dept. websites without fear of prosecution FBI Director James B. Comey testifies during a hearing on July 7 before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Twelve days before the presidential election, FBI Director James B. Comey dispatched a senior aide to deliver a startling message to the Justice Department. Comey wanted to send a letter to Congress alerting lawmakers that his agents had discovered more emails potentially relevant to the investigation into Hillary Clintons private email server. The official in Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yatess office who received the FBI call immediately understood the explosive potential of Comeys message, coming so close to the presidential election. Federal attorneys scrambled into offices on the fourth and fifth floors of Justice Department headquarters, where they huddled to figure out how to stop what they viewed as a ticking time bomb. It was DEFCON 1, said an official familiar with the deliberations. We were incredibly concerned this could have an impact on the election. Aides at Justice and the FBI located in offices directly across the street from each other on Pennsylvania Avenue began exchanging increasingly tense and heated phone calls, nearly a half-dozen throughout the afternoon and evening of Oct. 27 and into the next morning. Justice officials laid out a number of arguments against releasing the letter. It violated two long-standing policies. Never publicly discuss an ongoing investigation. And never take an action affecting a candidate for office close to Election Day. Besides, they said, the FBI did not know yet what was in the emails or if they had anything to do with the Clinton case. Remarkably, the countrys two top law enforcement officials never spoke. As Comeys boss, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch could have given the FBI director an order to not send the letter. But Lynch and her advisers feared that Comey would not listen. He seemed to feel strongly about updating Congress on his sworn testimony about the Clinton investigation. Instead, they tried to relay their concerns through the Justice official whom the FBI had called. Their efforts failed. Within 24 hours of the first FBI call, Comeys letter was out. [Read the letter Comey sent to FBI employees] Nearly two months later, the effect of that letter on the 2016 race is still being debated. Clinton told donors recently that she blamed a pair of unprecedented events for her loss. One was the Russian hacking of Democratic Party officials. The other was Comeys letter. Corey Lewandowski, President-elect Donald Trumps former campaign manager, said in a speech at Oxford University shortly after the election that what Comey did was amazing and gave Trump the spring in his step he needed to win the election. (The Washington Post) An examination of how a single letter from the FBI became a political bombshell reveals that it was the result of two law enforcement leaders failing over months to navigate the unusually ugly politics of 2016. Having a presidential candidate under active criminal investigation was extraordinary. But Comey and Lynch repeatedly underestimated how much their actions would reverberate in a closely contested presidential race. Lynchs meeting in June with Bill Clinton on a tarmac in Phoenix led to a crisis in leadership at the department over how to handle the Clinton email investigation. Rather than formally recuse herself, Lynch left ambiguous who would be making final decisions on issues regarding Hillary Clinton. Into that vacuum stepped Comey, an FBI director who prides himself on having a finely tuned moral compass that allows him to rise above politics. Weeks before the letter, Comey had advised against the Obama administration public statement admonishing Russia for the Democratic Party hacks, arguing it would make the administration appear partisan too close to the election. But to him, the Clinton email investigation was different. Battered by Republican lawmakers during a hearing that summer, Comey feared he would come under further attack if word leaked about the Clinton case picking up again. He was surprised by the intensity of the reaction to his letter, according to people familiar with Comeys thinking. His reputation fell further after the FBI acknowledged three days before the election that the emails amounted to nothing. Comey has taken the harsher beating in public for his decision, but some political observers and former Justice officials say that Lynch deserves at least as much scrutiny. Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School professor and senior fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution, said that the controversy shines a light on Lynchs compromised position and failed leadership as attorney general. If she thought [the letter] violated department policy or was otherwise a bad idea, she could have ordered him not to send the letter, said Goldsmith, who noted that soon after the letter was released, Justice officials proceeded to criticize Comey when Lynch had the power all along to stop him. It was an astonishing failure of leadership and eschewal of responsibility, especially if Lynch really thought what Comey did was wrong. A former senior FBI official who worked closely with Comey for several years said that Comeys sense of obligation to Congress was the key factor driving his decision. He had testified under oath months earlier that the Clinton investigation was closed. But another factor that day was that Lynchs credibility had been compromised months earlier in Phoenix. Anybody whos ever worked with Jim Comey knows that he has an independent spirit, the official said. But he still very much believes in the chain of command. If he has a boss whos asking him to do something thats in the scope of the law and reason, hes going to follow it. He would have followed protocol. Had the issue with Loretta Lynch on the tarmac not happened, things would be different. People forget that. The tarmac Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, shown in Phoenix on June 28, spoke to Bill Clinton on the tarmac at the airport. (Nancy Wiechec/Reuters) It was a sweltering June day in Phoenix, and Lynchs plane had just landed at the airport. She and four staffers had flown west for a series of meetings with local police officers. The staffers walked down the plane stairs first and stepped into a van on the tarmac. The plan was for Lynch and her husband, who was also on the trip to follow quickly afterward and step into another vehicle. As the staffers waited for about five minutes in the van, checking their smartphones, they suddenly saw a man with silvery white hair approaching the plane. At first, the staffers could not tell who it was. But then, as the man got close to the airplane steps, one of the staffers said with surprise, Is that Bill Clinton? It was. Clinton had just wrapped up a fundraiser for his wife and arrived at the tarmac to fly out of Phoenix. His Secret Service detail tipped him off that Lynch was there, too, and he sent word that he wanted to say hello. Lynch felt she could not say no to the former president, who 17 years ago promoted her to U.S. attorney. Once inside the plane, Lynch said that she, Clinton and her husband discussed their travels, Clintons grandchildren, golfing and Brexit. But as the visit dragged on, Lynch became anxious. The Justice Department was still conducting an investigation into Hillary Clintons email practices during her tenure as secretary of state. Lynch had just wanted to say a quick hello to Bill Clinton, and now they had been talking for close to half an hour. Her aides outside were also concerned. One of them got out of the van and walked back onto the plane to tell Lynch that they needed to get moving. Lynch would later insist that she and Clinton did not discuss the investigation into his wife. But the optics were immediately damaging. Republican legislators raised questions about whether Lynch and the Justice Departments investigation had been compromised. [How everyone looks bad because Clinton met with Lynch] Four days later on July 1, Lynch acknowledged in an interview with Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart that her meeting with the former president cast a shadow over how [the Clinton] case may be perceived and she certainly would not do it again. Then, in an effort to allay any concerns, Lynch said she would fully accept the recommendations of career prosecutors and the FBI on how to proceed with the Clinton case. Capehart pressed her to explain. Did that mean she would review their recommendation and make her own judgment? No, she said. He asked further. Did that mean she was recusing herself from the case? Lynch did not give a clear answer. Those close to Lynch said that she planned all along before the tarmac incident even to accept the recommendations of the FBI and career prosecutors. To this day, aides say she does not see any connection between her meeting with Bill Clinton and what Comey would do next. Extremely careless FBI Director James B. Comey, shown at the agencys headquarters in Washington on July 5, filled the leadership vacuum created by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, some analysts say. (Cliff Owen/Associated Press) Four days after Lynchs remarks, Comey, known for his independent streak, called reporters to FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue to announce the conclusion of the year-long Clinton investigation. It was a stunning event both because of what he said and how he said it. Usually, in a high-profile case, the FBI makes a recommendation to the Justice Department, and then the attorney general not the FBI director announces in a news conference the final decision on any charges. It is rare for officials to hold a briefing when prosecutors decline to pursue a case. In this case, Lynch and other Justice officials did not even find out that Comey was holding a briefing until shortly before he began speaking. At the news conference, Comey stood wedged between two FBI flags as he read a prepared speech to reporters. I have not coordinated this statement or reviewed it in any way with the Department of Justice or any other part of the government, Comey said. They do not know what Im about to say. He proceeded to sharply criticize Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, calling her behavior extremely careless. But he said that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges against her. Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case, Comey said. Justice officials were shocked. They had never seen an FBI director deliver such remarks. He was out there on his own, said a former high-ranking Justice Department official. That was unheard of, unprecedented. Lynch did not recuse herself but also was not fully participating, which left a vacuum that the FBI director decided to fill. Comey, though, felt that given the highly politicized nature of the case, the FBI needed to practice radical transparency for the public to trust the governments findings on the case. I think the confidence of the American people in the FBI is a precious thing, and I want them to understand that we did this investigation in a competent, honest and independent way, Comey said in a three-paragraph internal memo sent to all FBI employees shortly before he spoke. Folks outside the FBI may disagree about the result, but I dont want there to be any doubt that this was done in an apolitical and professional way and that our conclusion is honestly held, carefully considered, and ours alone. Two weeks before the Republican National Convention, Comeys announcement ignited a blast of criticism from Republicans and Trump supporters who said the investigations outcome had been influenced by politics. The system is rigged, Trump tweeted. Two days later, Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee grilled Comey for five hours. In September, he was brought before the House Judiciary Committee. My first question is this, would you reopen the Clinton investigation if you discovered new information that was both relevant and substantial? Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) asked Comey during the hearing. Its hard for me to answer in the abstract, Comey replied. We would certainly look at any new and substantial information. Case reopened Part of a Nov. 6 letter from FBI Director James B. Comey to Congress is shown. Comey tells Congress that a review of new Hillary Clinton emails has not changed our conclusions from earlier this year that she should not face charges. (Jon Elswick/Associated Press) On Oct. 3, FBI agents seized a computer and other electronic devices from Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former congressman who was now being accused of having a sexual relationship online with a 15-year-old girl. In their search for evidence, the agents stumbled upon something else: 650,000 emails stretching over several years with thousands possibly tied to Clintons private server and associated with Clinton and Weiners estranged wife, Huma Abedin, a senior aide to the Democratic presidential nominee. Within days, Comey was notified of the discovery. At that point, the agents and their supervisors did not know how many of the emails could be relevant, if they contained classified information or were duplicates of evidence that had already been investigated. They also could not peer into the contents of any Abedin or Clinton emails because they only had a search warrant for Weiner-related evidence. The agents were directed by FBI officials to do more work and report back to Washington when they had a better idea of the scope of the material on the computer and how much might be linked to Clinton. Two more weeks went by as the bureau brought in their computer forensic experts to further examine what appeared to be on the computer, but not look at the contents of the emails. Finally on Oct. 27, three weeks after the emails had first been discovered, agents made a presentation to Comey in his office. They still had no idea what was in the emails, only that there were thousands associated with Abedin, including some correspondence with Clinton. To learn if there was classified information on the emails, they would need a search warrant. Comey agreed it was time. He also began wrestling with whether to notify lawmakers. He worried that getting a warrant would alert more people to the probe, increasing the chances of a leak to the media. He feared a huge outcry if anyone learned the FBI was again investigating Clintons emails without informing Congress. Comey would later privately tell lawmakers that he was stuck in a really bad place. FBI officials contacted career prosecutors who had worked the Clinton email case to ask what they thought about sending the letter. Dont do it, they advised. Meanwhile, Justice officials decided that neither Lynch nor her deputy, Yates, should order Comey to not send the letter. They were not sure how Comey would respond to such a command. And they too feared leaks. Lynch and her advisers were nervous about how it would look if people found out that she, a Democratic presidential appointee, told Comey to keep secret from Congress a new development in the Clinton investigation. Instead, they tried to convince Comey that he had never promised to update Congress at every turn. He had merely said he would look at any new information in the case. When that did not work, they made one last effort to contain the damage. Justice officials wanted Comey to simply say that he had new information that might be related to the Clinton probe, and to make clear the FBI did not know whether the new material was significant. The FBI did not take their advice, as Justice officials would learn after they saw Comeys final letter when he sent it to Capitol Hill. The FBI director said the emails appear to be pertinent to the investigation. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tweeted, Case reopened. This was exactly the impression from the letter that Justice officials feared most. Half an hour later, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tweeted, A great day in our campaign just got even better. FBI reviewing new emails in Clinton probe. Matt Zapotosky and Adam Entous contributed to this report. Read more: What reason did the FBI have to resume Clinton email investigation? The public will soon get more details. Justice officials warned FBI that Comeys decision to update Congress was not consistent with department policy Computer seized in Weiner probe prompts FBI to take new steps in Clinton email inquiry President-elect Donald Trump warned the Obama administration Thursday against a possible abstention in a key U.N. Security Council vote that would declare illegal all Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory in the West Bank and the mostly Arab East Jerusalem. The resolution, initially scheduled for a Thursday vote, urges Israelis and Palestinians to commit to negotiations toward a two-state solution a possible centerpiece for now-stalled peace efforts. Word of the resolution and the possibility of an abstention that would upend decades of U.S. policy brought a flurry of activity in Israel and beyond. In a Twitter post, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the U.S. should veto the anti-Israel resolution. That was followed by a near-identical, pre-dawn tweet from Trump and a statement by his transition office. The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed, he said. As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis, Trump said. [Trump once donated $10,000 to a West Bank settlement] Within hours of the swelling criticism, the vote was postponed, at least until Friday, at the request of the government of Egypt, which drafted the resolution and placed it on the Security Council agenda, asked for the vote to be postponed, at least until Friday, according to a spokesman for the Spanish U.N. mission, which currently holds the Security Council chair. Trump has been highly critical of the Obama administrations reproach of the government of President Abdel Fatah al-Sissis crackdowns on Egyptian civil society and said his administration would view Egypt as a close security ally. Asked what communication the president-elect had with the White House before his statement Thursday morning, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said, I dont think itd be appropriate to try to qualify one way or the other, other than to say we gave them a heads-up in advance. The White House, Miller said, has been unbelievably gracious with their time, advice and opinions to the president-elect and his senior staff so far in making this transition as smooth as possible. In a statement issued after the postponement, Netanyahu said, Israelis deeply appreciate one of the great pillars of the US-Israel alliance: the willingness over many years of the US to stand up in the UN and veto anti-Israel resolutions. I hope the US wont abandon this policy; I hope it will abide by the principles set by President Obama himself in his speech in the UN in 2011: That peace will come not through UN resolutions, but only through direct negotiations between the parties. (The Washington Post) And thats why this proposed resolution is bad. Its bad for Israel; its bad for the United States; and its bad for peace. The resolution, promoted by liberal Jewish groups in the United States, has been the subject of intense debate in recent days within the Obama administration. Secretary of State John F. Kerry has pushed for a clear statement of position before the administration leaves office. A Kerry speech outlining the U.S. stance that was tentatively scheduled for Thursday morning appeared to have been canceled within two hours of its planned delivery, according to U.S. officials, who said the matter remained unsettled within the administration. In a speech this month at the Brookings Institutions Saban Forum, Kerry outlined what he called a basic choice that has to be made by Israelis. . . . Are there going to be continued settlements? Is there going to be a continued implementation of settlement policy, or is there going to be separation and the creation of two states? Kerry noted that the United States has repeatedly described settlements as an obstacle to peace but that the Israelis havent listened. At the same time, successive U.S. administrations have blocked U.N. resolutions declaring the settlements illegal and calling for international action against them. [Settlement backers in Israel make new push to safe West Bank footholds] As settlement activity has spread at a rapid pace over the past six months and right-wing members of the Israeli government have spoken out against a two-state solution U.S. dismay has grown. That has led to the current discussion of whether the administration should take advantage of its final month in office to make the kind of strong statement outlined in the resolution. If its biased and unfair and a resolution calculated to delegitimize Israel, well oppose it. Obviously, we will, Kerry said at the forum. We always have. But its getting more complicated now because there is a building sense of what Ive been saying to you today, which some people can shake their heads, say, well, its unfair. We have been adamant to the Palestinians about their need to deal with their education system and to change the things kids are taught and to try to lead by example with respect to the nonviolence and so forth, he said. But I do believe that Israel, because of decisions that are being made on a daily basis quietly and without a lot of people seeing them or fully processing the consequences, is heading to a place of danger. Trump met with Netanyahu in September and spoke with him the day after the Republicans election last month, inviting the Israeli leader to visit again at his earliest opportunity. At the time, Trump stated his intention to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a highly symbolic act that successive U.S. presidents have refused to make. Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital. Last week, Trump named his New York bankruptcy attorney, Daniel Friedman, as his nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel. Friedman, a strong supporter and financial backer of West Bank settlements, has said that they are legal and that Israel should annex Palestinian territory. [Trump picks settlement backer as U.S. ambassador to Israel] Israeli cabinet ministers held an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss strategy if Washington decided not to use its veto powers in the Security Council. We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the Council, tweeted Danny Danon, Israels ambassador to the United Nations. Other Israeli minister and political leaders also released statements calling on the United States to stand by its longtime ally. Education Minister Naftali Bennett from the hard-line Jewish Home party released a video clip calling the Security Council hypocritical for condemning Israel, while a genocide is happening in Aleppo, Syria. Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital for 3,000 years but later today the U.N. Security Council will gather to condemn and hurt Israel for living here in our capital. This is a Guinness world record in hypocrisy, he said. Hundreds of men, women and children are being killed in Aleppo and this is the number one issue from the Security Councils perspective. Frances ambassador to Israel, Helene Le Gal, told an Israeli radio station that she believed her country would vote in favor of the resolution. She said it would make it clear to all the sides, particularly Israel, that the Security Council was worried about the situation. The draft resolution condemns all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including . . . the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions. The settlements, it says, have no legal validity and are a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. It further demands that Israel immediately cease all settlement activities and calls on all states to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967. The resolution calls for the U.N. secretary general to report on implementation of the resolution within three months. Assuming the resolution passes with a U.S. abstention, that would allow the Trump administration to veto any subsequent action to impose its terms. Carol Morello in Washington and Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem contributed to this report. A Syrian army soldier places a Syrian national flag during a battle with rebel fighters at the Ramouseh front line, east of Aleppo, Syria, on Dec. 5, 2016. (Hassan Ammar/AP) Syrias government declared Thursday that it had regained full control of Aleppo after the last rebel fighters and civilians evacuated the key city as part of an agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey. The Syrian military announced on state media that security and stability had been returned to eastern Aleppo, once the largest rebel stronghold. The terrorists a term used by the Syrian government to describe nearly all of its opponents had exited the city, the military said. President Bashar al-Assads consolidation of Aleppo marks the end of the opposition presence in the city for the first time in more than four years and deals a major blow to the rebellion to unseat him. Assad now appears to have the upper hand in the conflict, which began with protests against him in 2011. The Syrian leader and his allies are poised to consolidate their hold on areas of the country under their control and further squeeze the beleaguered rebellion elsewhere. His critics in the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia must increasingly grapple with a Syria, or at least a major portion of it, that is now firmly under his control. 1 of 41 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Scenes from Aleppo View Photos Images from inside the besieged Syrian city. Caption Images from inside the Syrian city. Dec. 19, 2016 Syrians evacuated from Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite villages under rebel siege, are welcomed by pro-government forces as they arrive in Jibrin, on the eastern outskirts of Aleppo. George Ourfalian/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue. [Endgame in Aleppo, the most decisive battle yet in Syrias war] The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey met in the Russian capital Tuesday to discuss ways to end the Syrian war, which has killed more than 400,000 people and displaced millions. On Thursday, Russias deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency that Assads future is absolutely not a topic for discussion right now. Last week, pro-rebel residents of Aleppo began boarding buses to flee the citys war-ravaged eastern districts as part of the Russia-Turkey deal that effectively surrendered their areas to Assads forces. In frigid winter weather, desperate men, women and children waited in the thousands to be shuttled westward to rebel-held Idlib province. The deal broke down multiple times as government-allied militias from Lebanon and Iran demanded similar evacuations from nearby Shiite villages besieged by rebel fighters. We left Aleppo with broken hearts, said Abu Jaafar, a 60-year-old father of five who was evacuated from eastern Aleppo. U.N. officials said earlier Thursday that more than 40,000 people had been evacuated , but the total number is unclear. Before the agreement, the United Nations estimated that 250,000 people lived in eastern Aleppo. For Syrias armed opposition, Thursdays events are a severe setback, if not an outright catastrophe. As the final buses departed the snow-glazed ruins of eastern Aleppo late Thursday, rebel fighters expressed sadness. Some lashed out at the international community for what they said was insufficient support especially weapons to battle Assad and his powerful allies, including Iranian-controlled Shiite militias from Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. All the world remained silent toward the crimes committed by the Russians, Iranians and 60 Shiite sectarian groups by not enabling rebels to obtain the means for defending themselves and their lands, said Lt. Col. Abu Bakr, a commander of the Jaish al-Mujahideen group that is part of the rebel umbrella Free Syrian Army. This victory of Russia and Irans sectarian militias is over the ruins of a destroyed city. In 2012, rebel forces had triumphantly stormed the eastern districts of Aleppo and hoped to use the city as a staging ground for their eventual assault on the capital, Damascus, where they hoped to unseat Assad. Instead, the war dragged on. Government allies, notably Iran and Russia, helped Assad gain momentum, and residents of eastern Aleppo endured years of horrific bombardment from government and Russian warplanes that decimated hospitals, homes and entire families. Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report. Read more: At 7, Bana al-Abed told the world about the siege of Aleppo on Twitter. Now, she is safe. Heres what the end of Aleppos rebellion looks like Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news At least 31 people have been confirmed dead from a massive chain-reaction explosion which tore through the San Pablito Market, one of the largest fireworks markets in the country, in Tultepec, Mexico on Tuesday. The town lies just north of the capital and is considered part of Greater Mexico City. The explosions, which took place in an area containing over 300 tons of fireworks, left the bodies of the dead so badly burned that neither their ages nor genders could be determined on site. Among the few bodies which have been identified so far are seven adolescent boys, a three-month old baby, and a 12-year-old girl. In addition to the dead, over 70 people were injured in the explosions, including three children whose injuries are so severe they have been sent to Galveston, Texas for specialized treatment. Some of the injured were admitted to the hospital with severe burns covering as much as 90 percent of their bodies. As of this writing, 47 people remained hospitalized, among them 10 children. The market was especially well stocked with fireworks at the time of the incident due to the high demand around the holidays. The market, which regularly holds over 300 vendors, was expected to sell 100 tons of fireworks by the end of its season, which lasts from August through December. More than 80 percent of the 300 stalls at the market were destroyed by the explosions, according to state officials. In addition to this immense loss of life, the tragedy also spells a serious crisis for the surrounding area. The San Pablito Market was a vital part of the local economy, sustaining a large portion of the regions population. With its destruction, more than three-quarters of the towns residents, who are in some way involved in the pyrotechnic industry, will be affected. One source estimated that sales from this market provided sustenance to over 40,000 families. While the immediate cause of the explosion is still unknown, the head of Tultepec emergency services, Isidro Sanchez, has speculated that a lack of safety measures was the likely cause of the blasts. If the cause is proven to be the result of poor regulation, the tragedy will represent one more major scandal for the Mexican government. The market was inspected by safety officials only one month prior to the incident, and no irregularities were reported. In fact, San Pablito Market was described by the head of the local pyrotechnics association to the online publication Animal Politico just last week as one of the safest markets in all of Latin America with stalls having sufficient space so that there is not a chain reaction in case of a spark. While this explosion is among the worst fireworks tragedies in the country's history, it is not the first. Mexico has experienced many deadly explosions caused by poorly controlled and often illegal fireworks markets over the last few decades. A 1988 blast in Mexico citys La Merced market killed 68; In 1999 an explosion of illegally stored fireworks left 63 people dead; and in 2002, 29 were killed at a market in Veracruz. The San Pablito Market itself has had at least two other explosions over the last decade alone. After a series of near deadly incidents, more safety precautions were added to the market including provisions that all structures must be built of brick and concrete and fireworks had to be kept beneath glass out of reach of customers. Firefighters were also stationed on site. Despite these measures being officially in place, some employees reported to the Mexican daily La Jornada that there had been frequent violations. Among those reported were things such as neglect of a 15 meters distance between the premises and the parking lot. The newspaper also quoted workers at the market saying that merchants had overstocked and improperly stored fireworks. According to these accounts, a bundle of rockets known as brujitas toppled over and ignited from friction with the pavement, setting off the disastrous chain reaction. Whether or not this was the cause is still to be determined. The most devastating feature of such frequent tragedies like the one in Tultepec, Mexico is how easily they could have been prevented. Poor regulation of such a volatile industry, the lack of advanced safety resources and the fact that there is an entire region of a country racked by immense poverty and forced to rely on fireworks sales as a means of survival, are all the result of a dysfunctional socio-economic system which fails to protect, sustain, and least of all fulfill, its population. After meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, top officials of the Russian, Iranian and Turkish governments issued a joint eight-point statement of principles calling for the extension of a ceasefire throughout Syria and a negotiated settlement between the Syrian government and its opponents. Much of the statement, dubbed by Russian officials the Moscow Declaration, was boilerplate. It declared the three countries support for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, while affirming that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict. The timing of the statement and the geopolitical alignment of its three signatories, however, make the document extraordinarily troubling for Washington. The meeting in Moscow was convened on the basis of the stunning defeat delivered to the nearly six-year-old US-orchestrated war for regime change in Syria. Last week, Syrian forces, backed by Russia and Iran, retook eastern Aleppo, the last urban stronghold of the Islamist militias that served as US proxy forces in the fight against the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad. That Turkey has now joined with Assads key allies, Russia and Iran, is an indication of the severity of this defeat. Previously, Turkey had served as a key state sponsor of the Al Qaeda-linked militias fighting in Syria, allowing its territory to be used as a conduit for the shipment of CIA-supplied arms and foreign fighters into the country, while dispatching elements of its security forces to provide them aid and training. Over the past week, however, Turkey joined with Russia in brokering a ceasefire with the so-called rebels in eastern Aleppo, along with their evacuation together with that of thousands of civilians from the besieged enclave. The Moscow statement declared that the three countries welcome joint efforts in eastern Aleppo allowing for voluntary evacuation of civilians and organized departure of the armed opposition. The statement stands in sharp contrast to the position taken by Washington, which has waged a propaganda campaign denouncing the governments retaking of Aleppo as a massacre and even genocide. That Turkey, a key NATO ally for the last six decades, with the second largest army in the US-led military alliance, has joined with the two countries viewed by Washington as the principal obstacles to its drive to assert hegemony over the Middle East and Eurasia is a serious blow to US policy. The Turkish government has sought a rapprochement with Moscow since last May, when it began efforts to assuage tensions that erupted after the Turkish air force carried out an ambush shootdown of a Russian warplane operating on the Turkish-Syrian border in November of 2015, raising the threat of an armed conflict between the two countries and potentially drawing NATO into a war with nuclear-armed Russia. Relations between the two countries grew closer after the abortive military coup against the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan last July, which Erodgan and his supporters blamed on Washington and Berlin. The Erdogan government has also clashed with Washington over the US alliance with the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militia affiliated with the Turkish Kurdish PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), which Ankara regards as a terrorist organization and against which it has waged a protracted counterinsurgency campaign. Erdogan ordered the Turkish army into Syria last August, ostensibly to join the US campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS), but more importantly to block the YPG from establishing a de facto Kurdish state on its border. The issuing of the Moscow statement came on the heels of Mondays assassination in Ankara of the Russian ambassador, Andrei Karlov, by an off-duty member of an elite Turkish police unit. While there was initial speculation that the killing could provoke a crisis between Russia and Turkey, the two governments have insisted that they are united in response to the assassination, while pro-government media and officials in both countries have made statements blaming Washington and NATO for the crime. The affiliations and motives of the killer, 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, remain in dispute. Erdogan made a statement Wednesday categorically identifying Altintas as a supporter of the opposition Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania. Erdogan and his ruling AKP party blamed Gulen supporters for the abortive July coup, and the government has since launched a massive purge of the military, the police forces and the civil service that has seen over 100,000 people sacked and some 37,000 detained. Meanwhile, Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest), the joint command center of Islamist militias dominated by the Syrian Al Qaeda affiliate, issued a statement Wednesday claiming responsibility for the assassination. Such an affiliation is in line with the statements made by the assassin after pumping nine bullets into the Russian ambassador. While it has been widely reported that he shouted out, Dont forget about Aleppo, dont forget about Syria, it was less widely acknowledged that he began his rant in Arabic, proclaiming himself one of those who give Mohammed our allegiance for jihad, a slogan used by Al Qaeda. The Turkish prosecutors office has announced that it is investigating why police who responded to the scene of the assassination shot and killed the assassin rather than seeking to capture him. Sections of the Turkish media have also raised questions on the same subject, pointing out that killing Altintas served to impede the investigation into his real motives. Erdogan reacted angrily to the questions, suggesting that failing to kill him could have cost more lives. The Turkish government has obvious motives for pinning the killing on the Gulenists, which would serve to legitimize its police-state crackdown while diverting attention from the deep ties forged between the Turkish security forces and the Islamists in Syria during the war for regime change against Assad. The editorial reaction to the assassination and the subsequent trilateral meeting in Moscow by the two papers of record of the US political establishment Wednesday was telling. The New York Times noted that the most important thing to say about Mondays dramatic assassination of Russias ambassador to Turkey by a lone gunman is that it has not ruptured relations between the two countries. It concluded that losing Turkey as an ally would be another unacceptable casualty of the Syrian war. The Washington Post was more blunt, stating that the assassination might have been expected to derail a fragile detente between the regimes of Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan." The newspaper continued: "Instead, it has served to underline a budding alliance that could have the effect of excluding the United States from the endgame of Syrias civil war and critically weakening US influence across the Middle East. The paper described the killing as a sign that Russia may pay a price in blowback for its intervention in Syria, but concluded that Washington may be facing a peace [in Syria] that will empower a string of anti-US strongmen from Damascus and Tehran to Ankara and Moscow. These suggestions by the two most influential US newspapers that a political assassination has had the opposite of the desired effect have ominous implications, given the level of anti-Russian hysteria whipped up in recent months by both the US government and the corporate media. This anti-Russian campaign saw the former director of the CIA, Michael Morell, tell a television interviewer last August that Washington should respond to the events in Syria by covertly telling the moderate US-backed rebels to go after the Russians. Asked if he meant killing Russians, Morell answered in the affirmative. In his end-of-year press conference last week, President Obama said that Washington would retaliate against Moscow over allegations of Russian interference in the US election at a time and place of our own choosing. Whether or not Washington had a direct hand in the murder of Ambassador Karlov, evidence points to the killing having been carried out by someone affiliated with the US proxy forces in Syria. More fundamentally, the initial reaction to the reversals for US policy in the Middle East suggest that far greater acts of violence are being prepared. The election of Donald Trump as US president has generated heightened uncertainty and tensions throughout the Asia Pacific region with his promises to scrap the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and implement trade war measures against China, as well as threats to abandon military alliances with Japan and South Korea unless they bear the costs. The concerns were further exacerbated when Trump this month called into question the so-called One China policy that has formed the linchpin of relations with China, not only for the United States but countries throughout the region. Under the policy, Washington recognises Beijing as the sole legitimate government of all China, including Taiwan. In Australia, Trumps election has intensified the ongoing debate in the political and military establishment over the basic dilemma facing the ruling class: how to balance between China, the countrys largest export market, and the United States, the countrys longstanding strategic partner. The divisions, which run through both the ruling Liberal-National Coalition of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the opposition Labor Party headed by Bill Shorten, are being intensified by the worsening economic position of Australian capitalism and the growing danger of conflict between the US and China. Trumps victory has prompted those critical of the Obama administrations confrontational pivot to Asia against China to once again call for a more independent Australian foreign policyone that safeguards trade and investment with China. Former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating last month publicly blasted those who treat the Australian alliance with the US with a reverential, sacramental quality. He declared that Australia had a more or less tag-along foreign policy with the US and its time to cut the tag. Speaking later in November at the University of Melbourne, he declared that under Trump, the US would be refocussing on themselves, not alliances and that Australia needed a dexterous, mobile, clever foreign policy. Former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Richard Woolcott commented that Trumps election may well be good for Australia by forcing the forging of a more independent foreign policy focussed on the Asia Pacific region. Moreover, the Trump presidency will hopefully bring an overdue end to our misconceived and ineffective operations in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Washington Post this month noted the debate that Trump had triggered in Australia, pointing to the remarks of Labors foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong who called for consideration of a broader range of scenarios than previously contemplated and declared that Trumps views ran counter to what are core values for more Australians. The call for Canberra to focus more on the Asian region has been the longstanding catch cry of the Greens party, even as it tacitly supported the US-led war in Afghanistan. Greens leader Richard Di Natale declared last month that Trumps views represent an allys worst nightmare and called for a fundamental reassessment of the US alliance. We need to recognise that the alliance has served us well; its served us poorly at times, but there are grave concerns now that the alliance with the US represents a security threat to Australia, he said. None of those pressing for a more independent foreign policy focussed particularly on Asia is openly advocating an end to the US alliance. Rather their call for a more agile foreign policy expresses the deep concern in ruling circles about the economic impact of the US confrontation with China and the potential for Trumps extreme right-wing militarist views to provoke popular anti-war opposition. The room for manoeuvre is narrowing, however. In 2010, Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was ousted in an inner-party coup by party and trade union powerbrokers, who, it was later revealed in WikiLeaks cables, were protected sources of the US embassy in Canberra. Rudd had alienated the Obama administration by suggesting that the US reach a modus vivendi in Asia with China, right at the point when it was preparing to confront Beijing. Rudds replacement Julia Gillard provided the Australian parliament as the platform for Obama to announce his pivot to Asia in November 2011 and signed a deal for the basing of US Marines in northern Australia. Over the past five years, under both Labor and Coalition governments, the Australian military and intelligence apparatuses have been more closely integrated into the Pentagons planning for war against China. Australia is already central to the US militarys operations around the world, with key facilities such as the Pine Gap spy base essential to its intelligence, communications and missile targeting systems. Since 2011, the US has obtained growing access to Australian military bases, not only for its Marines but its warships and planes. Admiral Harry Harris, head of US Pacific Command (PACOM), revealed this month that the most advanced American fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, would start operating out of northern Australia next year. Nuclear-capable bombers already fly in and out of northern bases. The integration and interoperability of Australian forces with the American counterparts extends to the embedding of Australian officers in PACOM headquarters in Hawaii. Harris pointedly paid tribute to the fact that Australian Major General Greg Bilton is deputy commander of US Army Pacific and Australian Navy Commodore Ian Middleton is a senior advisor for strategic planning and policy. While Prime Minister Turnbull was critical of the pivot when it was announced, his government has continued to strengthen Australias integration with the US military. After protracted haggling, Canberra reached an agreement with Washington in October to share the costs of upgrading Australian bases to bring US Marines in Darwin up to a full complement of 2,500 and to provide for US air force and naval deployments. Last month Turnbull publicly endorsed Trumps plans for a vast expansion of the military, including the expansion of the US navy from 274 ships to 350 and their more extensive deployment in the Asia Pacific. A stronger United States means a safer world, he declared, and berated Labor spokeswoman Wong for wanting to move away from our most trusted, most enduring ally, move away [and] put our country at risk. Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has enthusiastically embraced Trumps plans for a military expansion as a possible boon for Australian military industries. Referring to Trumps criticism of Japan and South Korea for not paying enough toward US bases, he declared last month that we are not strategic bludgers and foreshadowed greater defence spending. The close integration of Australia and US is underscored by the decision of the huge American defence contractor, Lockheed Martin, to establish a research lab at the University of Melbourne next year, the first of its kind outside the United States. Sections of the Australian political establishment have responded to the uncertainty generated by Trumps election by calling for even closer ties with the US. Former Labor leader and ambassador to Washington Kim Beazley hit out at Keatings remarks, declaring he was right off the beam. Beazley said Canberra had to use the influence we have [in Washington] to try and mitigate the effect of policy changes in the region, including Trumps trade war measures against China. Peter Jennings, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, advocated a doubling down of Australian military commitments to the US to send a signal to Trump that Canberra was fully on board. He called for more Australian troops to be dispatched to Iraq and suggested allowing the US navy to base an aircraft carrier in Western Australia. The remarks reflect the prevailing view in strategic policy circles that Canberra should remain firmly wedded to the US alliance as the means for prosecuting its own economic and strategic interests in Asia and internationally. The debate highlights the increasingly precarious balancing act facing the Turnbull government, which has backed the pivot and the US military build-up in Asia, while attempting to avoid antagonising China and risking economic retaliation. It has so far not carried out a freedom of navigation operationsending a warship into Chinese-claimed watersdespite pressure from Washington. Last week Turnbull also made clear that his government was not about to change its One China policy as Trump has threatened to do. The debate in Australian ruling circles will only intensify after Trump is inaugurated as US president next month and proceeds to implement his aggressive agenda against China. The disputes in Canberra undoubtedly reflect discussions taking place in capitals throughout the region as each seeks to defend its economic and strategic interests. This in turn will only intensify geo-political rivalry in the Asia Pacific and heighten the dangers of trade war and military conflict. Credit: Getty Images When you're considering changing your hair color, the after-care and slight damage to follow is always something to be anticipated--especially if you're being extra dramatic, like going from dark brunette to platinum blonde. More often than not, your hair is left in a drier state than its previous one, in need of daily drops of hydrating oil, with split ends in abundance. Nestled along a charming row of townhouses in New York City's West Village neighborhood, the ever-innovative Whittemore House Salon has developed a hair lightening powder with potential to revolutionize the industry. Thanks to a sugar molecule once used in anti-aging skincare and to treat minor burns, the hair lightening powder actually repairs the damage in your strands as your color is lifted. "It took roughly two years to develop, working wiht a company that deals with powder in Milan, and we would travel out there multiple times to show scientists our hair painting technique in the lab. There were specific things me and my salon partner Victoria Hunter wanted it to do, and we actually taught the scientists how to paint, which was pretty hysterical," says hairstylist and product co-founder Larry Raspanti. "We came upon this sugar extract--the polymers from the sugar worked well with the powder, dissolved into the hair shaft, filled damage in the cuticle, and helped push pigment out quicker, so the lightening process didn't take as long." The Whittemore House Hair Paint essentially combines the lightening properties of a traditional bleach or powder, and fuses them with the reparative qualities of a bond builder. It can be used to create just about any look from natural-looking babylights to icy platinum layers without damage, as the molecule seals off your hair cuticle, and continues the repair process in the 72 hours that follow. RELATED: These Salons Offer a Side of Botox With Your Blowout Your hair won't face nearly as much dryness in the subsequent months as it would with a typical bleach, and because your cuticle isn't exposed, the risk of oxidation and brassiness remains low. "When you put sugar in hot water or coffee, it melts and takes over the liquid," Raspanti explains. "It works the same way in your hair shaft by taking over and sealing it off, which actually helps the color to last longer. The sugar molecule helps your hair to repair itself." And fun fact: the Hair Paint was the hero product behind that brigade of bleach blonde models at Alexander Wang's Spring 2017 show. Over the course of two days, both Raspanti and Hunter worked in tandem to take each girl's strands from rich brown to pale gold. "We did a total of 20 models, which wouldn't have been possible without the product," he adds. If you aren't in the New York City area, Raspanti and Hunter will be training stylists in Los Angeles and New Orleans, and the product is in the process of rolling out to salons managed by The Left Brain Group. Ask for the powder by name in your local salon, and if you're a stylist, you can order it online at whittemorehousesalon.com for $42 per bag. Giving in to your blonde ambitions has never been a better idea. Federal authorities have charged a retired police officer with the murders of four men who have been missing since mid-April, PEOPLE confirms. According to a statement from Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Nicholas Tartaglione, 49, was arrested on Monday for the murders and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Tartaglione previously served on the Briarcliff Manor, New York, police force. In recent months, he allegedly applied for positions open with the police department in Mount Vernon, New York, according a spokesperson for Bharara. While all murders tear at the fabric of our communities, when the alleged perpetrator of a gangland-style, quadruple homicide is a former police officer, that strikes at the heart of civilized society, Bharara said in the statement. 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. Bhararas statement claims that in April, Tartaglione participated in the senseless murder of four people in a bar in Chester, New York. The four victims had not been seen or heard from since the day of their alleged murder, according to Bharara. Tartaglione is accused in the killings of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna and Hector Gutierrez, who all disappeared on April 11. The statement alleges investigators secured surveillance video from that day, which allegedly shows the four victims exiting a car outside a Chester diner in the same plaza as Likquid Lounge, a bar that is owned by Tartagliones brother. Prosecutors believe Tartaglione murdered the four men inside the bar during a botched drug deal. According to Bhararas statement, some of the victims were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Authorities believe Tartaglione was meeting at least some of the men to either purchase or sell cocaine. Story continues The despicable acts of murder are more egregious in this case because the alleged murderer, a former police officer, once swore to serve and protect people from harm, said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. in the statement. The FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force works day after day to battle the crimes that accompany the drug trade to keep criminals and their illegal actions from impacting innocent people. Four bodies believed to be the victims were found this week on property Tartaglione rents in Otisville, New York, reports The Journal News. On Monday, Tartaglione appeared in federal court in White Plains, New York, after being charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, and four counts of murder in furtherance of a conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. He entered a not guilty plea, according to The Journal News. Tartaglione is being held on an unspecified amount of bail. He faces a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life behind bars if convicted on the drug conspiracy charge. He faces a minimum of 20 years and the possibility of the death penalty or life in prison on each of the charges accusing him of murder in furtherance of the drug conspiracy. Messages left for Tartagliones attorney were not returned Wednesday. Photo credit: Getty From Cosmopolitan The Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot and killed Monday during an event at a photo exhibit, where, the BBC said, the ambassador's wife was present at the time of his death. Andrei Karlov, 62, was addressing a small audience of people at a gallery in the Turkish capital Ankara when 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, an off-duty Turkish police officer dressed in a black suit and tie, approached from behind and shot the ambassador. Witnesses scattered, seeking cover as the gunman waved his gun and shouted, "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria!" An Associated Press photographer in the audience captured haunting images of the aftermath that were published and shared widely. Photo credit: Associated Press Among the witnesses was Marina Karlov, the ambassador's wife who, according to Russian media, had spent a "lifetime" with her husband and together they had a son CNN reported. Marina fainted upon hearing that her husband died and was hospitalized, according to The New York Times. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. On Tuesday, she attended a short ceremony for her husband, whose body - which was in a coffin draped in the Russian flag - was carried across the Esenboga airport in Ankara. A plane then took the ambassador's body and his wife back to Russia. Photo credit: Getty Photo credit: Getty Photo credit: Getty With reporting from The Associated Press. You Might Also Like Finally, the shortest day of 2016 is here. In light of the many beloved celebrity deaths of 2016 not to mention election season it seemed like we were going to be trapped in this year forever, but thankfully time continues to pass and we have our seasonal reminder that nothing lasts forever, not even 16. The downside is that its going to be so very cold and so very dark from now on. Whats the winter solstice? It is the precise moment the Northern Hemisphere is as far as it will ever get from the sun. And should I want to time my celebration to the minute, what should I do? Well, its too late. It happened at 5:44 a.m., EST Wednesday. Sorry. Theres always next year. If Wednesday is the shortest day of the year, why is it going to get colder before it gets warmer? Arent we at peak cold right now? Short answer? We live on a big planet. It takes a little while for everything to level out, so itll be a few weeks before the loss of sunlight makes itself apparent in the mercury. Exactly how short will the daylight hours be? About nine hours max right now. But eventually well be gaining a minute of daylight per day by a week after New Years, and then two minutes a day by the fourth week of January. So whats the big deal? Well, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and a few other holidays all derive from solstice celebrations. Much like how Halloween dates back to pagan celebrations of the end of farming season and the harvest, winter solstice celebrations were one big party before everything shut down for the winter. Tim Ireland/AP Is that why the girl Im Facebook friends with who went to art school and wears only black is so jazzed? Probably. One of the biggest solstice celebrations in the world is still going on at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, annually, where druids, Wiccans and other pagans gather to mark the holiday. Go on. Well, Yule, as a thing, comes from the winter solstice celebrations of various Scandinavian and Germanic peoples. (It was also known as Jul, Julblot, jolablot, midvinterblot and julofferfest.) After these were reconciled with Christianity, we got the Christmas tree, Christmas wreaths, and Yule logs. Consequently, a lot of pagans who are into pre-Christian Viking, Germanic, etc. religious customs are very into the solstice. Story continues They cant be the only ones who celebrated such a thing! Ugh, no, fine, youre right. Virtually every culture has some kind of myth or tradition tied to the solstice. Theres Amaterasu in Japan, the Shinto faiths sun goddess, whose emergence from a cave is celebrated on the winter solstice; theres a prehistoric Irish tomb called Newgrange thats aligned to capture the winter solstices sunrise; and theres the Roman feast of Saturnalia, which was a week-long feast in December that included the observance of the solstice. Wasnt the world supposed to end around a winter solstice at one point? Good memory! Yes 2012s winter solstice coincided with the end of the Mayan calendar, which many interpreted with sadly unfulfilled apocalyptic connotations. Should I cast spells on the winter solstice? As soon as possible, yes. According to Witchipedia, the winter solstice supports magick related to turning points, changes, new beginnings, home and hearth, family relationships, world peace and personal renewal. Sunrise is the best time to cast such a spell, so either try again at sunset or wait until next year. OneRepublic is asking fans to help victims of the Berlin Christmas market attack after donating $100,000 through their Good Life foundation. OneRepublic donated $100,000 to the victims and families of the Berlin Christmas market attack through local charity, Weisser Ring. "This week's horrific attack in Berlin hit especially close to home," the group's Ryan Tedder tells Rolling Stone. "We were in the Christmas market just the night before." On Monday evening, December 19th, a truck plowed through a traditional outdoor Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring 48 people, according to CNN. "We hope these funds can help rebuild the lives of those affected by the Berlin attack and encourage everyone to help in any way they can," Tedder says. The charity, Weisser Ring, is Germany's largest support organization for victims of crime, providing everything from financial, medical, legal and personal support to helping with court paperwork and other official matters. German authorities are still searching for suspect Anis Amri, the Tunisian man who is believed to have committed the attack. Officials confirmed that Amri's fingerprints were found inside the truck. Per The New York Times, Amri was on the radar of various intelligence agencies in Europe and the U.S., and had previously been detained for deportation after being caught with fake papers. He was ultimately freed despite being considered potentially dangerous. Related Content: Photo credit: undefined From ELLE Kate Middleton, the royal who occasionally will rewear an outfit, isn't without her investment pieces-and this year she had many. DailyMail has estimated the cost of the Duchess of Cambridge's 2016 wardrobe at 174,170 ($214,788.19). This is a particularly steep increase from last year, where she reportedly spent 43,260.99 ($53,509.52). The big costs this year came from the Duchess's two country tours. Her India tour in April cost 35,000 ($43,291.50); her Canada tour in late September was 62,000 ($76,687.80). Label-wise, Middleton's priciest pieces come from high-end designers like Alexander McQueen and Jenny Packham. Catherine Walker coats, a favorite of Middleton, don't come cheap either. Below, a look at the 10 most expensive things the Duchess wore this year. The costs are reportedly covered by Prince Charles's official Household budget, which is funded through his Duchy of Cornwall estate (so no British taxpayer dollar.) 1. Alexander McQueen White and Red Broderie Anglaise Dress (modified from resort collection; $5,100) Photo credit: undefined The Duchess wore the dress when she arrived in Vancouver during her tour of Canada with Prince William, on September 25. 2. Custom-made Jenny Packham Navy Dress (approximately $5,000) Photo credit: undefined This was the look Middleton started her tour of Canada with and what she wore to meet Justin Trudeau on September 24. Bonus: The hat KMidd wore-made by Sylvia Fletcher for Lock and Company and embellished with maple leaves-was approximately $4,000. 3. Custom-made Jenny Packham Navy Gown (3,500/$4,428.23) Photo credit: undefined The Duchess wore this during the Bollywood gala she attended in Mumbai on April 10 during her India tour. 4. Dolce & Gabanna White Lace Dress (3,450/$4,266.45) Photo credit: undefined KMidd wore this to day 2 of the fancy Royal Ascot on June 15, where it was out in its full glory. It appears Middleton wore the dress earlier, during the Queen's 90th birthday gala, under a red Zara blazer (49.99/$61.82). Photo credit: undefined 5. Catherine Walker Cream Coat ($4,000) Photo credit: undefined This was the Duchess's farewell look when she and her family left Canada on October 1. Story continues 6. Catherine Walker Light Blue Coat Dress (3,200/$3,957.28) Photo credit: undefined The Duchess wore this snowflake-like custom lace coat to the Queen's 90th birthday service on June 10. 7-9. Catherine Walker Green Coat (3,000/$3,710.70) Photo credit: undefined The Duchess wore this coat to a flower show in Chelsea on May 23. Jenny Packham Cream Gown (3,000/$3,710.70) Photo credit: undefined Middleton wore this gown to a gala in support of East Anglia's Children's Hospices on June 22. Sophie Hallette Lace Dress (3,000/$3,710.70) Photo credit: undefined KMidd wore this lace dress during the Commemoration of the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme in Thiepval, France on July 1. 10. Temperley London Top and Matching Skirt (2,990/$3,698.34) Photo credit: undefined She wore this crop top skirt set for the Queen's 90th birthday celebration in New Dehli, India on April 11. You Might Also Like Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday: 1. TRUMP CALLS FOR BOOSTING US NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES The president-elect's comments came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said strengthening his country's nuclear capabilities should be a chief military objective in the coming year. 2. WHAT THE EVIDENCE IN GERMANY IS SHOWING Fingerprints inside the truck that smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin belong to 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri, who has evaded capture so far. 3. WHERE CHRISTMAS DAY ATTACKS WERE PLANNED Police in Australia have detained five men suspected of planning a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in the heart of Melbourne. 4. UNSAFE TRANSPORT LEADS TO DEATHS AMONG MIGRANT FARMWOKERS The Associated Press has found more than a dozen accidents that left at least 38 dead and nearly 200 injured just since January 2015. 5. SYRIAN GOVERNMENT TAKES FULL CONTROL OF ALEPPO President Bashar Assad's victory allows him to regain full authority over the country's largest city and former commercial powerhouse. 6. THREE CAR BOMBS IN MOSUL KILL 23 The attack in the city's Gogjali district is its deadliest bombing yet since Iraqi forces wrested it away from the Islamic State group more than a month ago. 7. INQUIRY SAYS SNOWDEN IS IN CONTACT WITH RUSSIA'S SPY SERVICES The bipartisan congressional report on the former NSA contractor is being released at a time when Russia is considered a top national security concern. 8. MEN ARE REMOVED FROM JETBLUE FLIGHT WITH IVANKA TRUMP ABOARD A New York man says it happened after his husband "expressed displeasure" about flying with Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. 9. WHO HAS BEEN INDICTED IN ARGENTINA Justin Bieber is accused of sending his bodyguards to beat up a photographer and take his camera equipment outside a Buenos Aires nightclub three years ago. 10. YOUNG MOM FROM '16 AND PREGNANT' DIES Valerie Fairman, 23, appeared in the second season of the show in 2009-2010 when she gave birth to a daughter. 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The cats are part of a crew of 100 felines that were rescued from an elderly couples trailer, FOX 40 News reports. Story continues At first we thought it was 60, we said its probably 30, it turns out to be 100, Sammies Friends staff member Evan Walsh told the station. Ive never vaccinated that many I did 91 in one day, staff member Alex Maloney said. An Instagram post from Sammies Friends shared earlier this week said that the staff was overwhelmed by all the felines, and asked for potential adopters or fosters to come to the facility to meet the cats. HELP with a capital H, the post said. This afternoon at 5 pm Sammies Friends received over 70 cats. We already had 84! This is a crisis. If theres a silver lining here, its that the felines are relatively healthy, FOX 40 said. Its pretty unusual that theyre all healthy and friendly and pretty thatll make them easy to adopt, said the rescues founder Cheryl Wicks. To help care for the cats, visit the rescues website. 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 Valerie Fairman, who once starred on the second season of MTVs reality show 16 and Pregnant, has died at the age of 23. According to TMZ, Fairman died from a suspected overdose. The website reports that Fairmans mother said she was at a friends house in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. After calling for Fairman, who was in the bathroom, the friend broke down the door and discovered her unresponsive. The Chester County Coroner told E! News that Fairmans exact cause of death is under investigation but toxicology tests will be conducted to determine the cause. Fairmans 7-year-old daughter, Nevaeh Lynn Fairman, is currently with Fairmans mother. Its an unfortunate end for Fairman who has struggled with substance abuse for years and had recent run-ins with the law. Last week, she was caught resisting arrest and providing a false ID. In 2015, Fairman was arrested on charges of prostitution. Following the news of Fairmans death, a spokesperson for MTV said, We are saddened by the news of Valerie Fairmans passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time. Fellow MTV stars also paid their respects as Teen Mom 2 star, Chelsea Houska tweeted, How incredibly sad. My heart goes out to her daughter and family. Jenelle Evans also took to social media, tweeting, Oh my god. I just spoke to her a couple months ago and told her Im proud of her and looks like shes doing good Dont take life for granted. Hold your children and love them close. 16-and-pregnant-logo Photo: MTV Related Articles WHAT WE LIKE: Life for our long-term Ford Mustang GT has slowed down a bit lately, what with the dawn of another Michigan winter and the car staying relatively close to home since our last checkup. But even covered in a haze of road salt, its bad-ass looks continue to draw more approving nods than just about any other vehicle we drive regularly. Were certainly not bored yet with the 435 horsepower from the Coyote 5.0-liter V-8, evidenced by a heavily worn pair of rear Pirelli P Zero summer tires (275/40ZR-19s) that cost us $480 to replace. Despite the flogging, were still averaging 20 mpg overall. While hammering on the GT on our commutes and favorite back roads is always a good time in the warmer months, the Mustang has proved able to generate fun of a different sort as we drift on slippery roads with winter rubber. WHAT WE DONT LIKE: The return of the cold also has us pining for electric heaters in our cars optional Recaro sport seats, which several drivers still have yet to warm up to, period. We continue to experience more drivetrain clunks than wed prefer when shifting through the six-speed manuals lower gears, although the most significant of recent complaints center on the grabby brakes and how their initial hypersensitivity to pedal pressure impedes smooth driving. We can also see the light at the end of our 40,000-mile testing tunnel, meaning well soon have to give back our sinister-looking pony car, another situation we bemoan. WHAT WENT WRONG: Along with replacing the stock rear Pirellis, we also spent $615 to replace the similarly worn rear Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 winter tires, and in the process broke a tire-pressure sensor in one of the 19-inch wheels. That set us back $36. A scheduled dealer visit for the cars 30,000-mile maintenance included an oil-and-filter change, tire rotation, and inspection for $62. Our total bill for general service has yet to reach $200, though, which helps compensate for the cars appetite for rubber. WHERE WE WENT: Thanks to its minimal frills, tiny back seat, the front seats that some find uncomfortable, not to mention the presence of more accommodating long-termers for road trips, our Mustang coupe hasnt been a long-distance favorite. Since our last update, a voyage to Kentucky has been its longest journey, with a couple of weekend jaunts to Indiana also thrown in. Months in Fleet: 14 months Current Mileage: 32,586 miles Average Fuel Economy: 20 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 16.0 gal Fuel Range: 320 miles Service: $187 Normal Wear: $480 Repair: $0 Damage and Destruction: $768 Specifications > VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe PRICE AS TESTED: $41,290 (base price: $33,295) ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection Displacement: 302 cu in, 4951 cc Power: 435 hp @ 6500 rpm Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 107.1 in Length: 188.3 in Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.4 in Passenger volume: 87 cu ft Cargo volume: 14 cu ft Curb weight: 3782 lb PERFORMANCE: NEW Zero to 60 mph: 4.3 sec Zero to 100 mph: 10.3 sec Zero to 130 mph: 18.0 sec Zero to 150 mph: 25.4 sec Rolling start, 560 mph: 4.9 sec Top gear, 3050 mph: 9.3 sec Top gear, 5070 mph: 8.8 sec Standing -mile: 12.9 sec @ 112 mph Braking, 700 mph: 156 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g FUEL ECONOMY: EPA city/highway driving: 15/25 mpg C/D observed: 20 mpg Unscheduled oil additions: 2 qt WARRANTY: 3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper; 5 years/60,000 miles powertrain; 5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection; 5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance WHAT WE LIKE: Approaching the midway point of our long-term Ford Mustangs 40,000-mile review, the 2016 GT continues to largely please drivers with its rev-happy, 435-hp 5.0-liter V-8 and sinister, blacked-out mien. Its Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires are long gone, and the return of 0.94 g of lateral grip from the Pirelli P Zero summer rubber means were back to tearing up country roads and highway interchanges. Despite its more civilized, global design, the latest Mustang still feels all-American at heart, including one of our favorite characteristics, the sloping fastback roofline that evokes that of the first-generation Mustang from the mid-1960s. It is an excellent way to get an instant pick-me-up. Additional long-distance travel also has boosted our average fuel economy to 20 mpg, which is 1 mpg better than the EPAs combined rating and sufficient for 320 miles of range on the open road. WHAT WE DONT LIKE: The arrival of our long-term 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS, however, has brought with it an alternative pony-car lens through which to view the Mustang. The Chevys wicked dual-mode exhaust makes us wish even more that we could hear the full voice of the Fords heavily muffled Coyote V-8. Both cars have comically small back seats, but our Mustangs front chairs continue to elicit gripes about their confining side bolsters, which can impede smooth shifting of the six-speed manual transmission. Logbook comments have called out the GTs brakes for being too grabby on initial application, particularly when theyre cold. And while Fords new Sync 3 infotainment system is vastly simpler to use than was the previous MyFord Touch, its a little too basic for some after exposure to the Chevy MyLink system in our better-equipped 2LT Camaro. The Mustangs greatest demerit has centered on its manual shifter, which can often feel notchy in lower gears. Its not helped by the short 3.73:1 gearing of our GTs optional Performance package; several drivers have found it difficult to smoothly and quickly work through the lower ratios around town, where clunks from the drivetrain can be heard as each gear is selected. Our local Ford dealer inspected the shifter and the gearbox for problems but deemed it to be working normally. WHAT WENT WRONG: Aside from lingering suspicions regarding the shifters well-being and a scheduled dealer visit for its 20,000-mile service ($82.85 for an oil and filter change, inspection, tire rotation, and a new cabin air filter), our Mustangs largest issue since our last update has been Michigans apocalyptic roads. Specifically, a large pothole attempted to swallow the left-rear tire on our commute. The damage was severe, with the impact driving the shock-absorber shaft up through the shock and its upper mount and even denting the fuel-filler tube above that. We limped the GT to the dealer to have all those damaged components replaced and the suspension realigned. (Surprisingly, all four wheels and tires survived.) Repairs took less than a week, after which the dealer relieved us of $732.32. WHERE WE WENT: While our long-termer is still primarily a commuter within southeastern Michigan, in the past 10,000 miles it has made treks to Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Its latest voyage was to Virginia International Raceway to support our annual Lightning Lap track fest, at the conclusion of which road-test editor Chris Benn contemplated trading with another editor to drive the long-term Camaro SS back to Ann Arbor instead of the Mustang. Despite the shifter and the funky Recaros, he ultimately decided the GT was the more comfortable travel companion for the long trip home, proving that many of us still have lots of love for Fords latest pony car. Months in Fleet: 8 months Current Mileage: 19,092 miles Average Fuel Economy: 20 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 16.0 gal Fuel Range: 320 miles Service: $125.25 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Damage and Destruction: $732.32 Specifications > VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe PRICE AS TESTED: $41,290 (base price: $33,295) ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection Displacement: 302 cu in, 4951 cc Power: 435 hp @ 6500 rpm Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 107.1 in Length: 188.3 in Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.4 in Passenger volume: 87 cu ft Cargo volume: 14 cu ft Curb weight: 3782 lb PERFORMANCE: NEW Zero to 60 mph: 4.3 sec Zero to 100 mph: 10.3 sec Zero to 130 mph: 18.0 sec Zero to 150 mph: 25.4 sec Rolling start, 560 mph: 4.9 sec Top gear, 3050 mph: 9.3 sec Top gear, 5070 mph: 8.8 sec Standing -mile: 12.9 sec @ 112 mph Braking, 700 mph: 156 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g FUEL ECONOMY: EPA city/highway driving: 15/25 mpg C/D observed: 20 mpg Unscheduled oil additions: 1 qt WARRANTY: 3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper; 5 years/60,000 miles powertrain; 5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection; 5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance WHAT WE LIKE: Weve gone nearly 8000 miles since our first report on this long-term test of the 2016 Ford Mustang GT and have grown much more comfortable with the latest pony cars redesign and greater level of refinement. Our coupe has acquitted itself well as a reliable commuter vehicle in all types of weather. And even with the optional Recaro sport seats and the short, 3.73:1 final-gear ratio included in our test cars Performance package, long-distance comfort has been impressive for front-seat occupants. Several longer highway journeys have helped our GTs average fuel economy rise to 19 mpg, the same as the EPAs combined rating. Were still delighted with the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8s 435 horsepower and burbly exhaust, as well as the continued compliments we receive for the cars menacing, blacked-out appearance. The new Sync 3 system in the Mustang is a huge improvement over the previous MyFord Touch interface that we had so many issues with over the years. Its large, bright graphics, simpler menus, and greater connectivity make it much easier to use. WHAT WE DONT LIKE: Few drivers have complained about the new Mustangs qualities, aside from not being able to enjoy the car more due to winter weather and the necessary fitment of Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 winter tires. Although ultra-supportive, the Recaro seats have drawn the loudest gripes, perhaps also because of the climate near our HQ: The seats lack heating elements and their thick side bolsters can limit movement, particularly when shifting the six-speed manual while wearing a bulky coat. That said, the thrones have excellent lumbar support and even our largest front passengers have praised their comfort over long hauls. Despite our GTs average range creeping up to more than 300 miles on a tank, its still incredibly easy to drain the Mustangs 16-gallon supply in city driving. Other minor quibbles center around cabin ergonomics, such as the engine ignition button on the console being too easy to hit by accident (yes, that happened). The map pockets extend deep into the door panels, which is great until you lose track of an item and cant see it hiding down there. WHAT WENT WRONG: Aside from the V-8 needing a top-up with a quart of synthetic oil at 4100 miles, zilch. The Mustang has shrugged off Michigans cratered roads with ease, and its first servicea scheduled 10,000-mile jobincluded an oil-and-filter change and inspection for a mere $42. WHERE WE WENT: Due to its short range and mostly useless back seat, the majority of our long termers travel has been confined to schlepping around metro Detroit as a commuter. Its longer treks have taken it to Indiana, Chicago, and Frankenmuth in central Michigan, with the latter two trips testing the Mustangs winter mettle as it capably handled whiteout snow squalls and icy roads with little issue. As the weather gets warmer, the Mustang is likely to travel farther afield. Months in Fleet: 5 months Current Mileage: 10,243 miles Average Fuel Economy: 19 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 16.0 gal Fuel Range: 305 miles Service: $42 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Damage and Destruction: $0 Specifications > VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe PRICE AS TESTED: $41,290 (base price: $33,295) ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection Displacement: 302 cu in, 4951 cc Power: 435 hp @ 6500 rpm Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 107.1 in Length: 188.3 in Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.4 in Passenger volume: 87 cu ft Cargo volume: 14 cu ft Curb weight: 3782 lb PERFORMANCE: NEW Zero to 60 mph: 4.3 sec Zero to 100 mph: 10.3 sec Zero to 130 mph: 18.0 sec Zero to 150 mph: 25.4 sec Rolling start, 560 mph: 4.9 sec Top gear, 3050 mph: 9.3 sec Top gear, 5070 mph: 8.8 sec Standing -mile: 12.9 sec @ 112 mph Braking, 700 mph: 156 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g FUEL ECONOMY: EPA city/highway driving: 15/25 mpg C/D observed: 19 mpg Unscheduled oil additions: 1 qt WARRANTY: 3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper; 5 years/60,000 miles powertrain; 5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection; 5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance Detroits muscle cars have experienced a renaissance of sorts latelyHellcats, Shelbys, and Camaros, oh my!yet it took some European-inspired refinement to bring the most out of Dearborns Ford Mustang. Heavily updated for 2015, which included the mainstream models first-ever independent rear suspension, the latest Mustang GT snagged a 10Best Cars award upon its debut and then bested the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack and previous-gen Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE in its first comparison test. Now we welcome this sinister-looking 2016 GT coupe into our paddock for a 40,000-mile shakedown. The latest Mustang is an altogether more sophisticated thing than its predecessors, which is key for its new global mission. The ride is more comfortable and composed with the multilink rear suspension, which itself dictated a new tuning approach for the front strut setup. And the interior is more insulated and better turned-out, even if the fast rear glass means back-seat occupants will need to remove their heads before entering. Additional electronic aids, including adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warning, are now available, as is a 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder. The cars proportions are softer and more flowing than before, and the styling adopts much of Fords corporate look while still recalling Mustangs past. Updates for 2016 are limited to the addition of Fords much-improved Sync 3 infotainment tech on Premium models, along with secondaryand nearly invisibleturn signals integrated into the GTs hood vents. You can read our official breakdown of the 2016 Mustang here, as well as an in-depth interview with Fords development team here. But the most important thing about our test car is what makes it a GT: the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8, which develops a throaty 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, up from the previous-generation GTs 420 and 390. Its not as wicked as the new Shelby GT350s 5.2-liter flat-crank V-8, but the Coyote loves to rev and is an absolute hoot when paired with the standard six-speed manual gearbox, which is light in effort and snicks tightly through the gates. Performance figures from our test cars initial visit to the track (after its break-in period) were strong and slightly quicker than our long-term 2013 Mustang GTs, with a zero-to-60-mph time of 4.3 seconds and a quarter-mile pass of 12.9 at 112 mph. Pricing a Pony While base GT fastbacks start at $33,295, our Premium coupe in Shadow Black stickered at $37,295 before options and features a host of trim and equipment upgrades: brighter interior accents, dual-zone automatic climate control, heated and cooled leather front seats, a nine-speaker stereo, selectable driving modes, ambient lighting, aluminum pedals, illuminated sill plates, heated exterior mirrors with integrated turn signals and Pony puddle lights, a painted rear diffuser, and unique 19- and 20-inch wheel options. Thats on top of the Mustangs standard automatic HID headlights, sequential LED taillights, eight airbags, and the GTs Track Apps and line-lock burnout software. Also available on Premium versions is an upgraded Shaker audio system, voice-activated navigation, and the aforementioned driver aids. We passed on all of that but did opt for the $1595 black leather Recaro sport seats, which are snug-fitting and lack the heating and cooling of the standard chairs. They also provide the driver with the necessary support to exploit our cars other option: the $2495 GT Performance package. That bundles larger, six-piston Brembo front brakes, a 3.73:1 rear axle ratio with a Torsen limited-slip differential, a stiffer suspension setup, a larger radiator, chassis and strut-tower braces, unique tuning for the electrically assisted steering and stability control, and black-painted 19-inch wheels with Pirelli P Zero summer tires, sized 255/40 in front and 275/40 at the rear. The bottom line: $41,290. Initial Impressions At the limit, our GT does have a moderate sense of understeer in corners, what with 54 percent of its 3782 pounds residing over the front axle. But that can be easily corrected with a stab of the throttle. Our test car still managed a healthy 0.94 g of lateral grip on the skidpad, and the additional traction from the sticky Pirellis kept panic stops from 70 mph to just 156 feet. The Mustangs steering isnt superquick at 2.6 turns lock-to-lock, yet it is precise and natural enough in feel to make you think its hydraulically assisted. Steering effort can be adjusted from light to heavy by a toggle on the center stack or via the adjacent switch that cycles through the selectable Normal, Sport+, Track, and Snow/Wet drive modes, which also affect the engine response and stability control. With less than 2500 miles on the odometer, were still getting used to our long-termer and have yet to take it any distance from home. And the mileage accumulation definitely will take a hit soon as the Michigan winter begins in earnest. To prepare, weve put the Mustang on a set of Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 winter tires. We have yet to encounter any technical or service issues with the car, but there have been a few complaints about the limited range (260 miles) from the smallish 16-gallon fuel tank and our test cars observed 16 mpg in the real worldwell below the EPAs combined rating of 19 mpg. The other gripe concerns the latest GTs muffled exhaust note, which lends it a more civilized attitude at the expense of some of its rowdy character. It still has a pleasant growl, but this is a muscle car with a great V-8 engine, and it deserves to be heard. You likely can plan on us asking for a Ford Performance exhaust (or a set of exhaust cutouts like those on the old Boss 302) for the holidays. Months in Fleet: 1 month Current Mileage: 2349 miles Average Fuel Economy: 16 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 16.0 gal Fuel Range: 260 miles Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Damage and Destruction: $0 Specifications > VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe PRICE AS TESTED: $41,290 (base price: $33,295) ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection Displacement: 302 cu in, 4951 cc Power: 435 hp @ 6500 rpm Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 107.1 in Length: 188.3 in Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.4 in Passenger volume: 87 cu ft Cargo volume: 14 cu ft Curb weight: 3782 lb PERFORMANCE: NEW Zero to 60 mph: 4.3 sec Zero to 100 mph: 10.3 sec Zero to 130 mph: 18.0 sec Zero to 150 mph: 25.4 sec Rolling start, 560 mph: 4.9 sec Top gear, 3050 mph: 9.3 sec Top gear, 5070 mph: 8.8 sec Standing -mile: 12.9 sec @ 112 mph Braking, 700 mph: 156 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g FUEL ECONOMY: EPA city/highway driving: 15/25 mpg C/D observed: 16 mpg Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt WARRANTY: 3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper; 5 years/60,000 miles powertrain; 5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection; 5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance Last week, President Obama signed into law the largest piece of health care legislation since the Affordable Care Act. The law -- known as the 21st Century Cures Act -- has the potential to invigorate medical research, promote innovation and speed the development of new treatments for cancer and other chronic diseases. In addition, the law allocated funding for specific work in the areas of mental health services and opioid addiction research. The bill provides more than $6 billion in funding and is a welcome relief to scientists who depend on funding for important medical research from the National Institutes of Health. The law -- the result of bipartisan cooperation -- may also significantly impact the way the Food and Drug Administration operates when approving new drugs and medical devices. How the Law Will Impact Health and Science By funding the NIH with nearly $4 billion in research dollars, the Cures Act will allow important research to continue and will spur innovation. The NIH funds nearly 35,000 projects ever single year. NIH-generated breakthroughs have led to decreases in mortality rates for heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases. Academic medical centers depend on NIH funding in order to continue to conduct important clinical trials that ultimately lead to new medicines, treatments and, in some cases, cures for once incurable diseases. In addition, the advances that are made possible through NIH grants have resulted in research jobs, economic growth, increased productivity and decreased disease burden, both in the United States and throughout the world. A Congressional study from 2000 found that nearly 60 percent of the most important drugs on the market today resulted from NIH-funded research grants. For example, the NIH funded the Human Genome Project, which may be one of the most important research endeavors of our time. [See: 5 Common Preventable Medical Errors.] How Will The Cures Act Change the FDA? Currently, the FDA regulates all the new drugs and devices that enter the U.S. market. The FDA is loaded with red tape, and it can be incredibly expensive for pharmaceutical and medical device companies to get new products through the approval process -- often costing billions of dollars from the start of the drug creation process to the end of the approval timeline. The FDA is charged with making sure that consumers are protected from unsafe medications and devices and are singularly focused on this goal. Currently, in order for a drug to meet the approval of the FDA, large amounts of data supporting the safety and efficacy of the drug or device are required. The FDA prefers that this data be the result of large randomized controlled clinical trials -- the most reliable type of evidence that is available from research. RCTs are expensive to conduct and often take years to complete. Under the Cures Act, companies will be allowed to submit observational data and "in house" registry data as evidence for the safety and efficacy of a new product. This is likely to result in a substantial cost savings, but opponents worry that the new policy may result in unsafe products making it to the market and putting patients at risk. Proponents of the law argue that the current high costs related to FDA approval discourage innovation and keep smaller companies and entrepreneurial enterprises from entering the process. Many believe that the Cures Act will promote the development of new ideas that can have a more immediate impact on health and medicine. [See: Top Reasons Children End Up in the Hospital.] Mental Health, Addiction and More The Cures Act also addresses the opioid crisis. More Americans died from overdoses in 2016 than from motor vehicle accidents. The new law provides important funding for the treatment and prevention of opioid addiction. In addition, the law creates a new government position: Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Access to mental health treatment services in the United States must be improved, and the Cures Act will provide a substantial focus on improving care for those who need it. What's Missing? While the 21st Century Cures Act goes a long way toward making medical innovation work for every American, there's more that needs to be done. Most critics of the law suggest it allows for drug and device makers to go unchecked. Many pharmaceutical companies continue to price-gouge and charge exorbitant prices for common drugs. Another common criticism is that certain companies and CEOs represent all that is bad in the medical drug and device industry -- they line their pockets with money at the expense of patients who need both treatment and hope. Recently, a federal lawsuit was filed against several generic drug makers due to accusations of colluding to "fix" prices -- all at the expense of the medical consumer. We can no longer allow the pharmaceutical and medical device industry to go unchecked. The new law will certainly spur innovation and hopefully decrease costs -- but we must also look to Congress to examine the pricing practices of pharmaceutical and device companies. The United States can no longer bear the research and development costs for the rest of the world. [See: How to Help Aging Parents Manage Medications.] Looking Forward.... Ultimately, I believe that the 21st Century Cures Act will play an important role in the development of new treatments and cures for chronic diseases over the next decade. We have some of the best and brightest medical minds in the world here in the U.S., and it's vital that we continue to fund their important work. By using research in genomics and personalized medicine, it is likely that we will, in fact, find a cure for certain cancers as part of the "Cancer Moonshot" over the next decade. Beirut (AFP) - Syria's conflict has killed more than 310,000 people, uprooted over half the population and left much of the country in ruins since it erupted almost six years ago. Here are some key statistics: - Huge death toll - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said last week it had recorded the deaths of 312,001 people since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Those killed included 90,000 civilians, of which 16,000 were children, the Britain-based monitor said. In a country with a population of some 23 million before the war, the United Nations estimates around 6.6 million people have been internally displaced by the fighting. And almost one million Syrians are besieged by the warring parties, according to UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien. In November, he said there had been a steep increase in what he called this "deliberate tactic of cruelty", in particular by the Syrian regime. - Refugees - The war has forced 4.8 million people to flee Syria, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Neighbouring Turkey has taken in more than 2.7 million Syrians, the UNHCR says, and is now the main host country. It is followed by Lebanon, with more than one million Syrian refugees, according to the UN. Jordan, which the UNHCR says has taken in 655,000 Syrians, says it has accepted considerably more, at 1.4 million. At least another 228,000 Syrians have taken refuge in Iraq and 115,000 in Egypt, the refugee agency says. Syrian refugees have in increasing numbers travelled to or attempted to reach Europe, making the perilous journey overground or by sea. - Imprisoned, tortured - In August, Amnesty International said Syrian authorities were committing torture on a "massive scale" in government prisons. It said more than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody since the conflict began. But it said the real figure is much higher, pointing to tens of thousands of forced disappearances. Story continues The Observatory, for its part, says at least 60,000 people have died over five years from torture or harsh conditions in regime prisons. The monitor says half a million people have passed through regime jails since the start of the conflict. And several thousand have died over the same period in prisons run by rebel groups or jihadists, it says. In February 2016, UN investigators accused the regime of "extermination" in its jails and detention centres. - Economy in ruins - Experts say the conflict has set Syria's economy back by three decades, with almost all its revenues cut off and most of the infrastructure destroyed. The education and health systems are in ruins. In 2015, a coalition of non-governmental organisations said Syria was living almost without electricity, with 83 percent of lighting no longer working. More than 80 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to a study published in April 2016 by the United Nations and Britain's Saint Andrews University. The study also said the Syrian economy contracted by 55 percent between 2010 and 2015. Cyber security software providers are anticipating the year 2017 to be an eventful one, as enterprises and government agencies aim at tightening their security loopholes amid growing cyber attacks. Numerous data breaches at high profile business houses and government agencies have demonstrated the current vulnerable state of the cyber security systems. Even the U.S. presidential election campaigns have not been free from hacking scandals and data breaches. Cybersecurity threats are anticipated to intensify in the New Year due to growing proliferation of cloud computing, Internet of things (IoT) and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trends. Increasing interconnectivity between different devices makes the whole system vulnerable if any one of the nodes gets affected by Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Moreover, prevalence of open source as standard for infrastructure software has aggravated the cybersecurity threats. Further, growing incidence of Ransomware is a major headwind for cybersecurity providers. Higher Spending Presents Growth Opportunity Despite being blamed for its sluggish actions, the U.S. federal governments cyber security funding is one of the largest in the world. Per the Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP) published in Feb, 2016, the spending on cyber security is expected to reach $19 billion for fiscal 2017. Under President-elect Donald Trump, the current spending figure has every chance to increase as state-sponsored threats from Russia and China continue to impact the U.S. government and businesses. According to Morgan Stanley For large enterprises, security breaches can result in tens of millions of dollars in losses, both direct and indirect. When small companies are hacked, the damage can be irreparable. A National Cyber Security Alliance study found that 60% of small businesses close their doors within six months of a data breach. Morgan Stanley expects cyber security products and services market to surpass $60 billion in 2016 and double by 2020. Per Markets and Markets, the cyber security market is estimated to grow at CAGR of 10.6% from $122.45 billion in 2016 to $202.36 billion by 2021. According to market research firm IDC, the hot areas for growth are security analytics, threat intelligence, mobile security,and cloud security. Per Gartner, worldwide spending on IoT is anticipated to reach $348 million this year and will climb to $434 million in 2017. According to Trend Micro, Ransomware will grow at 25% in 2017. Our Picks Higher spending and growing demand for cyber security products is expected to boost returns for cyber security stocks in 2017. Here we focus on five such stocks that have a favorable combination of Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy) and VGM Score of A or B. Our research shows that this favorable combination offers the best upside potential. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation BAH The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM score of A. The company has beaten earnings estimates in all of the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 3.51%. Earnings estimate for fiscal 2017 increased 1.2% (2 cents) to $1.75 per share in the last 60 days, reflecting year-over-year growth of 4.6%. Looking for the Best Stocks for 2017? Be among the first to see our Top Ten Stocks for 2017 portfolio here. Story continues BOOZ ALLEN HMLT Price and Consensus BOOZ ALLEN HMLT Price and Consensus | BOOZ ALLEN HMLT Quote Science Applications International Corporation SAIC The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM score of A. The company has beaten earnings estimates in all of the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 9.20%. Earnings estimate for fiscal 2017 increased 1.8% (6 cents) to $3.36 per share in the last 60 days, reflecting year-over-year growth of 4.6%. SCIENCE APP INT Price and Consensus SCIENCE APP INT Price and Consensus | SCIENCE APP INT Quote VASCO Data Security International Inc. VDSI This stock also has a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM score of A. The company has beaten earnings estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 97.86%. Earnings estimate for fiscal 2017 increased 19% (8 cents) to 50 cents per share in the last 60 days. VASCO DATA SEC Price and Consensus VASCO DATA SEC Price and Consensus | VASCO DATA SEC Quote Leidos Holdings Inc. LDOS - The stock has a VGM score of B and carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here. The company has beaten earnings estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 12.20%. Earnings estimate for fiscal 2017 is currently pegged at $3.15, which reflects year-over-year growth of 44.2%. LEIDOS HOLDINGS Price and Consensus LEIDOS HOLDINGS Price and Consensus | LEIDOS HOLDINGS Quote VeriSign Inc. VRSN This stock also has a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM score of B. The company has posted an average positive surprise being 5.06% in the trailing four quarters. Earnings estimate for fiscal 2017 increased 3.8% (13 cents) to $3.56 per share in the last 60 days, reflecting year-over-year growth of 7.5%. VERISIGN INC Price and Consensus VERISIGN INC Price and Consensus | VERISIGN INC Quote Where Do Zacks' Investment Ideas Come From? You are welcome to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks free of charge. There is no better place to start your own stock search. Plus you can access the full list of must-avoid Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See the stocks free >> 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 VASCO DATA SEC (VDSI): Free Stock Analysis Report VERISIGN INC (VRSN): Free Stock Analysis Report BOOZ ALLEN HMLT (BAH): Free Stock Analysis Report SCIENCE APP INT (SAIC): Free Stock Analysis Report LEIDOS HOLDINGS (LDOS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research De-Beers-Blue-Diamond "The Oppenheumer Blue" diamond, a 14.62 carat Fancy Vivid blue emerald cut diamond from a De Beers mine valued at $57.5 million Earlier this month, De Beers celebrated the grand opening of their newest boutique at 717 Madison Avenue in New York City. De Beers has been the luxurious home of diamonds for over 100 years since they opened their doors in 1888. The fete was nothing short of a glamorous affair. Actresses Kate Mara, Greta Gerwig, and Fan Bingbing were just a few of the stylish guests who celebrated the boutique while attendees sipped champagne and ate delightful diamond ring-shaped caviar bites. During the festivities, Yahoo Style caught up with De Beers CEO Francois Delage to discuss what else? Diamonds. With the holidays around the corner, weve already covered everything from gifts for your teacher, your parents, the tech lover and more, but what do you give the woman who already has everything? Delage suggested the most extravagant blue diamond in the world, "The Oppenheumer Blue" diamond, a 14.62 carat, Fancy Vivid blue emerald cut diamond from a De Beers mine valued at $57.5 million (although this diamond has since been sold at a Christie's auction). Ahead, we're going to take Delage's advice and show you the most extravagant holiday jewels that would impress even the most glamorous women who already (seemingly) have it all. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. There were so many stories about natural hair this year that weve had to shrink them into subcategories just to make sure that most of them got a mention. And yes, they were all over the map, but the takeaway was a great one, according to natural hair guru Nikki Walton. This year was a mixed bag for natural-hair news some amazingly positive stories, some that stunk of years past but all in all I believe that one things for sure: Natural hair is no trend its here to stay, Walton tells Yahoo Beauty. Women have embraced their texture and theyre boldly and confidently rocking it in all situations. Its absolutely the new normal. The world will eventually catch up. Below, the year in review. Models set an example While the Victorias Secret Fashion Show in Paris was likely the star here as more natural hairstyles than ever reigned on the runway, thrilling models like Maria Borges and Herieth Paul it was not the only forum in which models highlighted the new normal. South Sudanese model Duckie Thot, a former contestant on Australias Next Top Model, wrote an honest Instagram post about dealing with natural hair in the fashion industry, which resonated deeply. And when Marc Jacobs made the naive misstep of sending his white models down the runway in faux dreadlocks, he was called out mightily until he apologized. Celebs spoke out Famous folks continued to wear their natural hair with pride this year, including Amandla Stenberg, who wowed fans by gracing the cover of Teen Vogue with her crowning glory in full effect. The 17-year-old also spoke out about cultural appropriation and her personal journey away from hair straightening. Solange made a beautiful statement with her curls on SNL as did Beyonce with her Lemonade braids, Olympic fencer Nzingha Prescod with her game-changing curls, and little North West with her highly tweeted fro. Soooomy daughter had registration today and lets just say shes not happy abt the #JCPS no natural hair policy. pic.twitter.com/ApPDyv3sbo Attica Scott (@atticascott) July 27, 2016 Parents fought back Kids were in the forefront when it came to natural-hair freedom this year and parents were major cheerleaders, including, most recently, a dad who stood up for his mixed-race daughters cornrows. Moms raised hell at schools that caused problems, including Marian Reed of Texas, where she got an apology from the administration, and Attica Scott of Kentucky, who successfully fought to have a racist hair policy changed. Fierce parent and student protestors worked to get a similar policy changed at a girls school in South Africa, making international headlines. Story continues Everyday people got props Not only did viral hits reflect peoples excitement over natural hair this year including the beautiful fros of Nakyia Whittys bridal party and the beloved series of flowers in Afros created by Dazhane Leah but hair braiders in Iowa got more freedom with a much-needed law change, and one woman brought issues of natural-hair judgment to the attention of Hillary Clinton herself. The truth got attention There were, of course, some ugly stories to report a woman being fired from her job because of her natural hair and a man being told to cut his braids or else not get hired but they got attention in the press, which could be seen as hopeful. Plus, there was positive pushback, including from Shea Moisture, which ran a beautifully inclusive campaign, as well as a cringe-worthy moment turned around by stylist Deepica Mutyala, who decided to educate herself about black womens hair instead of hide from her error. This doll And finally, in a category all her own: the release of My Natural Doll, from Congolese hairstylist Mushiya Tshikuka, the host of WEtv reality show Cutting It In the ATL. In a world where the dolls we play with and the role models we see shape our perception of beauty and our self-confidence, the website notes, it is important that our little girls are constantly exposed to a reflection of themselves beautiful dark skin and kinky hair like that which grows out of their own head. Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Photo credit: Getty + Dana Tepper From Seventeen Many fans are still reeling from the news that Camila Cabello is leaving Fifth Harmony. But while 5H hit plenty of highs (and high notes) during their time as a fivesome, there were telltale clues of disharmony all along - hidden in Camila's body language. Communication expert Lillian Glass, Ph.D. analyzed six 5H red carpet photos snapped throughout the years and spoke with Seventeen.com to share her intriguing findings. December 19, 2012: Subtly standing out Photo credit: Getty + Dana Tepper At first glance, the girls look super happy in this throwback pic taken on the eve of their third-place X Factor finish. But their smiles don't tell the whole story. "Camila has positioned herself out more to the front-she thinks she's the star here," Dr. Glass says. "While Lauren is leaning into the group, Camila is leaning forward into the shot. She stands on the end because she wants to be noticed." October 6, 2015: Detaching from the group Photo credit: Getty + Dana Tepper Three years after joining forces as Fifth Harmony - and as breakup rumors start circulating - the band's body language is telling. "Ally, the girl in yellow, is leaning toward Camila, but Camila is leaning away," Dr. Glass observes. "She's not even connected to the other girls. Her downward gaze says she's detached." November 19, 2015: Rebuffing a friendly gesture Photo credit: Getty + Dana Tepper A month later, clad in white-hot outfits for the Latin Grammy Awards, it appears Lauren wants to bring Camila closer - but can't. "Lauren is trying to reach out to her, and Camila's not responding," Dr. Glass says. "There's so much distance between them." December 9, 2016: Gazing absently Photo credit: Getty + Dana Tepper In this photo, taken on Jingle Ball red carpet in New York City 11 days before Fifth Harmony announced that Camila was leaving the group, Dr. Glass says trouble clearly was imminent. "Camila is looking away and doing her own thing," Dr. Glass explains. "She's no longer part of the group." Story continues December 12, 2016: Standing solo Photo credit: Getty + Dana Tepper Three days later, before performing at Jingle Ball in Washington, D.C., Camila's body language telegraphs a break. Unlike the rest of 5H, whose arms are touching, Camila stands completely apart. "She looks miserable, but she still wants to be noticed," Dr. Glass says. "She's the only one with her hand on her hip." December 16, 2016: Asserting herself Photo credit: Getty + Dana Tepper Even when Camila is at the center of a group, her body language says she's on her own. "Here we see the other girls crowding in front of her, but look and you'll see Camila has extended her right foot," Dr. Glass says. That's a subtle but significant power play. "This is a girl who wants the attention." [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="10%20Signs%20Camila%20Cabello%20Was%20Leaving%20Fifth%20Harmony" customimages="" content="article.44166"] Hannah Orenstein is a writer at Seventeen.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram. You Might Also Like - By Tiziano Frateschi Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio) founded his Connecticut-based hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, in 1975. In both the second quarter and third quarter, the guru increased his position in the following stocks: Celgene Corp. (CELG) During the second quarter, Dalio increased his holding by 78.05%. He again increased it by 389.04% in the third quarter. Celgene is a biopharmaceutical company. It is engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies designed to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory related diseases. Third quarter net product sales grew 28% year over year and adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 28%. Adjusted operating margins improved by 80 bps. Spiros Segalas (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder of the company among the gurus with 0.71% of outstanding shares, followed by Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.59%, Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.16%, Samuel Isaly (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.06%, Julian Robertson (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.05%, Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.05% and Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.03%. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) During second quarter, the investor increased his position by 79.79% and by 33.33% in the third quarter. He currently holds 0.02% of outstanding shares of the stock. The company manufactures heart valves and repair products used to replace or repair diseased or defective heart valves. Third quarter sales grew 20.1% and GAAP earnings per share increased 20.4%. The company reported an increase of 25.9% for adjusted earnings per share. The largest shareholder among the gurus is Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio) with 4.23% of outstanding shares, followed by Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.82%, Simons with 0.69%, Meridian Funds (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.47%, PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.26%, Cohen with 0.16% and Isaly with 0.1%. Story continues Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (MJN) During the second quarter, the guru increased his holding by 83.89% and again by 677.97% in third quarter. The guru currently holds 0.03% of outstanding shares. The company manufactures, distributes and sells infant formulas, children's nutrition and other pediatric nutritional products. Gross sales declined 2% from the third quarter of the prior year and earnings before interest and income taxes (EBIT) was 1% higher than the prior year quarter. David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder of the company among the gurus with 0.93% of outstanding shares, followed by Simons with 0.33%, Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.17%, George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.09%, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.05%, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.04% and John Paulson (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.04%. McKesson Corp. (MCK) During the second quarter, the guru increased his position by 156.61% and again by 23.98% in the third quarter. The guru currently holds 0.02% of outstanding shares. McKesson distributes pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and health care information technology that makes health care safer while reducing costs. Second quarter revenue grew 2% year over year and GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations declined 49% year over year. The largest shareholder among the gurus is Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 3.17% of outstanding shares, followed by Simons with 0.34%, Greenblatt with 0.1%, Isaly with 0.09%, First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.04%, Paulson with 0.03% and Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.03%. Masco Corp. (MAS) During the second quarter, Dalio increased his holding by 30.56%. In the third quarter, he again increased it by 14.34%. The guru currently holds 0.06% of outstanding shares. Masco manufactures, distributes and installs home improvement and building products, including faucets, cabinets, architectural coatings and windows. Third quarter net sales increased 2% and gross margins improved to 32.7% from 32.0%. Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder of the company among the gurus with 1.25% of outstanding shares, followed by Simons with 0.57%, Cohen with 0.51%, Manning & Napier Advisors Inc. with 0.38%, Third Avenue Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.24% and Martin Whitman (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.22%. Anthem Inc. (ANTM) During the second quarter, the guru increased his holding by 127.51%. He again increased it by 73.67% in the third quarter. The guru currently holds 0.03% of outstanding shares. Anthem is a health benefits company that offers a spectrum of network-based managed care plans to the large and small employer, individual, Medicaid and Medicare markets. Third quarter net income was $617.8 million, or $2.30 per share, compared to$ 654.8 million, or $2.43 per share, in the same quarter of the prior year. The largest shareholder among the gurus is Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 3.19% of outstanding shares, followed by Larry Robbins (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.12%, Hotchkis & Wiley with 1.41%, Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.22%, Dodge & Cox with 1.18%, First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.07% and T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.08%. Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) During the second quarter, the investor increased his position by 1,534.43% and again by 89.35% in the third quarter. The guru currently holds 0.09% of outstanding shares. Whirlpool manufactures and markets home appliances. It produces and sells washers, dryers, refrigerators, air conditioners, dishwashers, freezers, microwave ovens, ranges, air purifiers and other typical household appliances. Third quarter net sales decreased 0.5% while operating profit increased 12.5% from the same quarter of a year before. The largest shareholder among the gurus is Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 2.78% of outstanding shares, followed by Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.41%, Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.3%, David Tepper (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.54%, Ken Heebner (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.47% and Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.32%. Mohawk Industries Inc. (MHK) During the second quarter, Dalio added to his holding by 235.79%. He added an additonal 88.03% in the third quarter. The guru currently holds 0.08% of outstanding shares. Mohawk is a flooring manufacturer that creates products to enhance residential and commercial spaces around the world. The company's segments are Carpet, Ceramic, and Laminate and Wood. Third quarter net earnings were $270 million and diluted earnings per share were $3.62, an increase of 25% from the same quarter of a year before. Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder of the company among the gurus with 3.32% of outstanding shares, followed by Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.59%, Daniel Loeb (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.21%, Eric Mindich (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.18%, Tepper with 0.78%, Meridian Funds (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.69% and Cohen with 0.61%. Pfizer Inc. (PFE) During the second quarter, the investor increased his holding by 21.87%. In the third quarter, he again increased it by 11.72%. Dalio currently holds 0.01% of outstanding shares. Pfizer is a research-based biopharmaceutical company. The company has five operating segments: Primary Care, Specialty Care and Oncology, Established Products and Emerging Markets, Animal Health and Consumer Healthcare. It reported diluted earnings per share of 21 cents and adjusted diluted earnings per share of 61 cents for the third quar. The largest shareholder among the gurus is Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 0.78% of outstanding shares followed by Fisher with 0.52%, Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.35%, T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.23%, Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.23%, Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.2%, Simons with 0.14% and Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.11%. Disclosure: I do not own any shares of any stocks mentioned in this article. Start a free 7-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. AAR Corp. AIR reported second-quarter fiscal 2017 earnings of 35 cents per share, up 34.6% from the year-ago figure of 26 cents. Total Revenue Net sales came in at $423.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2017, down 1.8% from $431.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Segment Details In the reported quarter, Aviation Services reported revenues of $346.7 million, down 3.6% year over year due to the impact of the Lake Charles transition and the wind-down of the KC10 Program. Expeditionary Services garnered revenues of $77.1 million, up 7.2% from $71.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Highlights of the Release In the fiscal second quarter, AAR Corp.s cost of sales declined 4% year over year to $357.6 million. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 7.4% to $46.3 million due to investments in new business development. The company incurred interest expenses of $1.2 million, lower than $1.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Financial Condition AAR Corp.s cash and cash equivalents as of Nov 30, 2016 were $23.0 million, down from $31.2 million as of May 31, 2016. Net property, plant and equipment were $213.9 million as of Nov 30, 2016, compared with $238.1 million as of May 31, 2016. As of Nov 30, 2016, total debt increased to $163.3 million from $150.1 million as of May 31, 2016. Dividend History During the fiscal second quarter, the company has paid dividends of $2.6 million, or 7.5 cents per share. Price Movement During the quarter under review, AAR Corp.s rate of return was 40.8%, outperforming the Zacks categorized Aerospace/Defense Equipment industrys gain of 7.6%. This could have been because of the companys persistent focus on gradually lowering its debts as well as its expectations of an increase in cash flow driven by strong fundamentals. Being the largest independent MRO provider in North America, the company enjoys a competitive edge over others operating in this space such as Ducommun Inc. DCO, CAE Inc. CAE and Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. SPR. Story continues Zacks Rank AAR Corp. 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 AAR CORP (AIR): Free Stock Analysis Report SPIRIT AEROSYS (SPR): Free Stock Analysis Report DUCOMMUN INC DE (DCO): Free Stock Analysis Report CAE INC (CAE): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Accuray Incorporated ARAY has signed an agreement with Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital per which the latter would purchase three Radixact Systems. The aforementioned system provides clinicians access to the newest features of advanced radiation therapy to treat patients. For the last six months, the stock witnessed a negative return of almost 7.41%, wider than the Zacks categorized Medical Instruments sub-industrys loss of roughly 2.97%. However, markets reacted positively to the aforementioned news and the stock gained almost 3.26% to close at $4.75 on Wednesday. Also, Accurays long-term growth fundamentals are compelling. The company recorded a three-year CAGR of 7.43% for revenues and 15.00% for adjusted earnings per share. Meanwhile, the estimate revision trend holds some promise, with two estimates moving north over the past two months and no movement in the opposite direction. Notably, the current year estimates for the stock improved by 2 cents to a loss of 15 cents over the same timeframe. Of the three Radixact Systems to be bought by Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, two will replace the existing TomoTherapy Systems and one will be installed in a new bunker. The agreement also includes an upgrade to the hospital's existing CyberKnife M6 System to include the latest features for motion management and treatment efficiency. Going forward, we are bullish on Accuray owing to the strong presence of its flagship products CyberKnife and TomoTherapy systems in the radio-therapy market. As per data available from Markets & Markets, the radio-therapy market is estimated to reach $7.54 billion by 2020, which presents a considerable growth opportunity for Accuray. We believe the addition of Radixact in Hong Kong will aid the company in penetrating this fast growing Asian market. Zacks Rank & Key Picks Currently, Accuray has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector include Addus HomeCare Corporation ADUS, LHC Group, Inc. LHCG and IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. IDXX. Addus HomeCare and IDEXX Laboratories sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Meanwhile, LHC Group carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Addus HomeCare has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of approximately 15%. Notably, the stock represents an impressive one-year return of 50%. LHC Group has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 15%. The company has returned almost 17.6% in the last three months. IDEXX Laboratories has an expected earnings growth of almost 15%. The company posted a promising year-to-date return of almost 64%. 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 ACCURAY INC (ARAY): Free Stock Analysis Report IDEXX LABS INC (IDXX): Free Stock Analysis Report LHC GROUP LLC (LHCG): Free Stock Analysis Report ADDUS HOMECARE (ADUS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Home: Some pets never have one to call their own. Wed like to help change that by introducing you to an adoptable pet every week. Today, meet Cinderella, a 9-year-old pup rescued from the dog meat trade by the Soi Dog Foundation with help from Californias Helen Woodward Animal Center. In October, this princess pooch arrived in the United States from Thailand. Over the past few months, staff at the Helen Woodward Animal Center has worked with the once fearful and confused dog to prep her for a forever home, including a very dedicated foster mom named Cheryl Soloman. Its very obvious to me that Cinderella had a family at some point, said Solomon. She loves having a home and people to connect to and she adapted to us very quickly. It would mean so much to me to know that shes cuddling with loved ones for the holiday season. She had a very tough start and she deserves her fairytale ending. This girl requires an experienced dog owner who is prepared to provide a stable environment for her. For more information about her, contact the Helen Woodward Animal Center at 858-756-4117 ext. 313, or visit the website. According to a press release, the Soi Dog Foundation estimates that approximately 5 million dogs per year are consumed in Vietnam, the majority being stolen pets. To learn more about how you can help dogs like Cinderella, click here. Click here to meet last weeks adoptable pet, Lucky. Adopting a pet is an amazing experience and a big decision! Before bringing a pet into your home, its important to consider your family circumstances and do your research. KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan police and security officials combed through the wreckage of a member of parliament's house in Kabul on Thursday after an attack by Taliban gunmen in which at least seven people were killed. Broken glass and spent bullet cartridges lay on the bloodstained ground of the heavily fortified house in the district of Khushal Khan belonging to Mir Wali, a member of parliament from the volatile southern province of Helmand. Police special forces units sealed off the house following the attack on Wednesday night but gunfire and explosions could be heard for several hours. "It was a really terrifying situation here in the night," said neighbor Matihullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name. "There were explosions and firing. It was really horrible and we couldn't sleep whole the night." The Taliban said 20 people, including senior security officials from Helmand, had been killed in the attack but government officials put the death toll at seven. Two Taliban gunmen had also been killed, they said. The attack underlined the fragile security situation in Kabul which has seen a series of kidnappings, suicide bombings and other insurgent attacks on targets connected to the Western-backed government. The Taliban said the attack targeted a meeting of security officials who had been invited to discuss Helmand, a major opium-producing region which has fallen increasingly under insurgent control over the past two years. (Reporting by Sayed Hassib and Hamid Shalizi, writing by James Mackenzie) President-elect Donald Trump hasnt said much about Africa, but judging by his explosive Twitter feed, he is no great admirer of the continent. He has called South Africa a total and very dangerous mess, for example, and predicted that every penny of the $7 billion going to Africa as part of President Barack Obamas Power Africa initiative, a bipartisan effort to build reliable electric power grids, will be stolen corruption is rampant! This kind of rhetoric, coupled with his calls to deport illegal immigrants and ban Muslims from entering the United States, has caused alarm in Africa courteous messages of congratulations from African leaders notwithstanding. Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, for example, has announced that he has disassociated himself from the United States. But its too early to say definitively that the incoming administration will be bad news for Africa. Thats because there is little evidence that Trump will make the continent a priority or that he is even familiar with the major issues there. That means career civil servants and diplomats, together with Congress, will play a big role in setting policy a recipe for continuity rather than change. To be sure, there are subtle ways in which Trumps presidency could be detrimental to the interests of some African countries. More than any other continent, Africa faces the consequences of climate change, especially rising sea levels and desertification. The U.N. estimates that 70 million Africans could be affected by coastal flooding by the year 2080, up from 1 million in 1990. At the same time, the Sahara is marching south, bringing droughts that displace traditional herders, who then collide with settled farmers, sometimes violently. In southern Africa, drought has been recurring for years, depriving many small farmers of their livelihood. Trump, meanwhile, has famously dismissed climate change as a Chinese hoax and is unlikely to lead in the implementation of the 2016 Paris agreement on greenhouse gas emissions. Trumps hostility to trade agreements is also a source of anxiety on the continent. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade deal offering preferential access to U.S. markets to some three dozen African countries, might be a target for Trumps anti-trade policies. It was renewed in 2016 for 10 years with bipartisan support in Congress meaning that it may be difficult for Trumps administration to secure the votes to repeal it but it is now unlikely that the new administration and Congress would broaden AGOAs scope. Counterterrorism is another area where a Trump presidency could herald a change in U.S. policy toward Africa. The president-elects full-throated pledges to take out the Islamic State and his choices of retired generals to head the National Security Council and the departments of Defense and Homeland Security could presage an escalation of U.S. military engagement in Africa, where the group has established footholds in Libya and threatens to expand south into the Sahel. The Islamic State is also affiliated to some extent with the indigenous jihadi movement Boko Haram, which is active in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. The ongoing insurrection in Mali also has jihadi links, though more with al Qaeda than with the Islamic State. All of these countries could conceivably see deeper U.S. engagement as a result. Then again, the president-elect has said he opposes sending U.S. troops into additional foreign theaters. Although its worth parsing Trumps campaign rhetoric for clues about the future, its important to remember that his administrations approach to Africa will likely be determined largely by the executive agencies primarily the departments of State and Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the intelligence community as well as interested members of Congress from both parties. Since the president-elect has demonstrated little interest in Africa, his cabinet secretaries will probably play an overarching role in setting policy while officials even further down the chain the assistant secretaries and deputy administrators with specific Africa responsibilities will do the critical work of matching broad policy to African realities. Even further from Trumps inner circle, the U.S. ambassador in each African country will be the administrations advocate as well as its eyes and ears. In sub-Saharan Africa, ambassadors are usually career members of the U.S. Foreign Service. Political appointees from outside the service are common only in South Africa, Tanzania, and sometimes Mauritius. (Many Africa posts are designated as hardship and are hence unattractive to nonprofessionals.) All ambassadors, whether career or political, are usually required to submit a letter of resignation on Inauguration Day. Previous administrations have declined the resignations of career diplomats while often accepting those of political appointees, especially when the new president comes from a different party. Its impossible to say for sure if Trump will observe this tradition. If Trump administration insiders perceive the Foreign Service and others with foreign-policy experience as part of the foreign-policy establishment he ran against, he may well make more political ambassadorial appointments in Africa. Then again, because Africa is likely to fly under the administrations radar, there may be more continuity of personnel and policy there than in other parts of the world, such as the Middle East, Russia, and China. All of this suggests that U.S. policy toward Africa is unlikely to change dramatically after Jan. 20. And in many ways, the president-elects relative lack of interest in the continent is consistent with both his predecessor and his opponent during the general election. Trump never mentioned sub-Saharan Africa during the presidential debates, but neither did Hillary Clinton. Likewise, many Africans expected Obamas 2008 election to catapult Africa up the list of American priorities. Certainly, there were Obama administration initiatives, notably Power Africa and the Young African Leaders Initiative, which aims to support the next generation of democratic leaders. But they were relatively modest in size smaller than George W. Bushs PEPFAR initiative to fight HIV/AIDS, his Millennium Challenge Corporation, or AGOA, which was put in place during the presidencies of Bush and Bill Clinton. With Trump moving into the White House, were unlikely to see any ambitious new Africa-focused initiatives anytime soon. Indeed, for American friends of Africa, the hope must be that the Trump administration will adopt the watchword of first, do no harm. Nevertheless, policy is made and implemented by individuals within the bureaucracy. Those individuals are unlikely to change overnight, except at the very top. One mans Twitter feed is not policy. Image credit: SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images Airbus Group SE announced Thursday that it has signed a firm contract with Iranian flag carrier Iran Air for 100 aircraft. The order includes 46 A320 family, 38 A330 family and 16 A350 XWB aircraft. The original deal called for 118 planes, but the airline cancelled its order for 12 superjumbo A380s and has sliced another 6 planes as well. At a Sunday press conference in Tehran, the airline's CEO, Farhad Parvaresh, said only that Iran Air would cut its order to a total of 100 planes and eliminate all A380s. The order announced Thursday has one more A320 than in the original deal and 7 fewer A330s. An A320 carries a list price of $98 million while the current version of the A330-200 has a list price of $231.5 million, the current A330-300 is listed at $256.4 million and the A330-900neo lists for $287.7 neo. Airbust did not specify which of the A330 Family were cut. ALSO READ: America's 25 Murder Capitals Because the planes contain at least 10% U.S. technology, the sale to Iran is contingent on export licenses granted by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The licenses were granted in October and November of this year, before the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation restricting U.S. financing for airplane sales to Iran. Airbus said that the sale complies with Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that removed sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions on the country's development of nuclear energy. Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier said: This is a landmark agreement not only because it paves the way for Iran Airs fleet renewal. Our overall accord includes pilot training, airport operations and air traffic management so this agreement is also a significant first step in the overall modernisation of Iran's commercial aviation sector. ALSO READ: The Most Expensive City in Each State Iran Air CEO Parvaresh said: I am delighted that we have reached an agreement to go to the next decisive phase and start taking delivery of new aircraft. I am gratified that this new round of cooperation with Airbus has come to fruition and brought us closer with more practical steps to follow for Iran Air's fleet renewal. Iran Air considers this agreement an important step towards a stronger international presence in civil aviation. We hope this success signals to the world that the commercial goals of Iran and its counterparts are better achieved with international cooperation and collaboration. Story continues The Boeing Co. (BA) also has an agreement to sell some 80 planes to Iran, but recent legislation restricts Boeing's ability to assist Iran Air get financing for the purchase. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg met with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday and emerged from the meeting with a big smile and a comment that Air Force One would come in under the $4 billion budget that Trump assigned to the plane. Not a peep, though, about selling planes to Iran or keeping the U.S. Export-Import Bank operating. Related Articles GENEVA (Reuters) - A week-long operation to evacuate tens of thousands of people from east Aleppo as well as two Shi'ite villages in Syria's Idlib province is complete, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday. "All civilians who wished to be evacuated have been, as well as wounded and fighters," ICRC spokeswoman Krista Armstrong said. The aid agency led the complex operation in snowy winter conditions with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The Syrian army said it had retaken complete control of Aleppo on Thursday after the last rebel fighters were evacuated from the battered city, handing President Bashar al-Assad his biggest victory of the nearly six-year-old war. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by John Stonestreet) Santeny (France) (AFP) - A collateral victim of the Syrian war, Aleppo soap has found a sanctuary far from the ruined city whose elegant souks, many now reduced to rubble, have made the coveted green bars for centuries. In an industrial zone on the outskirts of Paris, a Syrian master soapmaker is carrying on the tradition, mixing olive oil and laurel oil with water and lye to produce a deeply moisturising natural cleanser that has won devotees worldwide. The scent of laurel oil wafts through the corridors of the factory in Santeny, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) southeast of the French capital, where big blocks of soap are drying. Wearing white overalls, Hassan Harastani stirs a bubbling pea-green mixture in a giant cauldron while chatting with businessman Samir Constantini. Constantini, a trained doctor, began importing soap from Syria's historic second city in 2004 and later began producing the soap under the "Alepia" brand. His plan had been to open a soap factory on the outskirts of Aleppo with Harastani, a master of the art who learnt the trade from his father. But Syria's brutal civil war, which has made a smouldering ruin of much of Aleppo, laid waste to his plans. Harastani and his family fled the fierce fighting that turned the city into a global symbol of suffering. "We could no longer go to the factory because of the shelling and kidnappings," he said. With all but one or two of around 50 soap factories destroyed in Aleppo, Constantini and Harastini decided to start producing the soap on French soil. "We left our country, our houses, our businesses, our friends," Constantini says, counting off his losses with a sigh. "I used to have lots of customers, in Syria but also abroad, in France, Italy, Germany, the Gulf countries, South Korea, Japan, China," he says. "I was an ordinary person who loved his work and his family... It's the only profession I've known for over 35 years." Story continues - 'We will return' - On arriving in France, he resumed his trade, 4,000 kilometres from home. Constantini is adamant that the Made in France soap is still essentially Syrian. "If a top French chef opens a French restaurant in New York it remains French cuisine, not New York cuisine. It's the same for the soap. It is made by the master soapmaker Harastani and is, therefore, proper Aleppo soap," he argues. The entire soapmaking process -- from the selection and mixing of the oils and lye through to the drying and cutting -- is carried out according to family recipes dating back more than 3,000 years. "I am very proud to carry on this tradition," says Constantini. "The know-how is not being lost. It will endure despite what is happening in Syria." The nearly six-year war came to a head in the eastern part of Aleppo last week, as thousands of hungry, terrified residents began being bussed out of the city after weeks of bombings. For Constantini the war has mushroomed into a "world war" pitting global powers against each other in a scorched-earth battle for control of the Middle East. With no immediate end to the fighting in sight, he says the best thing he can do is "continue making this soap and hope that peace will return." Harastani says he does not know what the future holds but is "not so pessimistic". One thing is certain, he says. "We will return to Syria someday." Paris (AFP) - The fall of Aleppo marks the victory of an authoritarian alliance stretching from Tehran to Moscow, analysts say -- and the biggest win yet for President Bashar al-Assad since civil war erupted in 2011. His regime's total control over east Aleppo, declared Thursday, was obtained with pitiless brute force that has reduced much of the country's former economic heart to rubble, in a war that has killed more than 310,000 people nationwide. "The first lesson this teaches is that brute force pays off, and that abstention has a price," said Bruno Tertrais from France's Foundation for Strategic Research. The force, he said, comes from "the massive involvement of Russia and Iran, who have changed the course of the war" by ploughing air power, weapons, money and might into destroying the rebels. The abstention, he added, was "American non-intervention in 2013", when President Barack Obama failed to follow through on his threat to act if Assad crossed a "red line" by using chemical weapons. It was in 2013, too, two years after the start of the uprising, that Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, its ally, announced their entry into the conflict on the side of the regime. Russia threw itself into the fight two years after that, turning the tide for Assad. "The Russian involvement was when it really ended, when we knew nothing could be done", one French diplomatic source said bitterly. Analysts say the fall of Aleppo has brought Turkey -- which for years backed the opposition against Assad but then helped Russia to organise the final evacuation of the city's rebel zone -- into the authoritarian alliance. Now Ankara sits alongside Moscow, Tehran and Damascus in being able to dictate the terms of a political settlement in Syria in "negotiations between friends", as one European diplomat put it. Each sees its own interests in Syria's future: for Turkey, a stable neighbour on its border, a diplomatic ally for Iran and as a "useful" tool for Russia, notably against US influence. Story continues - Pyrrhic victory - Assad, meanwhile, has a long way to go to regain others parts of Syria in the hands of opposition forces, Kurdish fighters, and Islamic State jihadists. Aleppo has suffered such huge devastation because of sustained fighting and massive aerial bombardment that it will take years for the city to recover. "This is a Pyrrhic victory", warns researcher Karim Bitar at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs. "On the one hand, it has accentuated the frustration and humiliation felt by Syrians. On the other, the Russians are already starting to feel the consequences", he said, referring to the assassination of Moscow's ambassador to Turkey Monday by a man seeking to avenge Aleppo. Foreign powers which have backed the Syrian opposition, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some Western states, come out after the Aleppo defeat weakened, analysts said, consigned to an observer status. Tertrais underscores that Aleppo's fall, and the resurgence of Assad, was not an "inevitable" outcome of the war but a consequence of inaction by Washington and its allies. "This is not a question of Western powerlessness. It is a question of a lack of willpower," he said. As Elliot Abrams noted in a recent Council of Foreign Relations brief, US policy of non-intervention looks set to continue in the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, which is more likely to see action supporting democracy as a luxury the West cannot afford in the face of Islamist threats. - A boost for Islamic State? - The democratic aspirations of Syrian activists who kicked off the protests in 2011 are among the casualties buried in the rubble of the war, the analysts say. But among the victors is the Islamic State group. While the world's gaze -- and Russia's military might -- have been trained on Aleppo, IS fighters have regained ground elsewhere in Syria, notably in Palmyra, where they had been driven out eight months earlier. "The resources spent taking (Aleppo) precipitated a major series of opportunistic ISIS (Islamic State) victories in central Homs province, including the loss of Palmyra and a swathe of oil and gas fields," said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington thinktank. It looks like Winn (Jeremy Jordan), a.k.a. Agent Schott, is going out in the field for the first time when Supergirl returns from its midseason hiatus next year. In the trailer for Season 2, episode 9, titled Supergirl Lives, Alex (Chyler Leigh) tries to boost Winns confidence seemingly before he goes ahead with his first outside mission as a D.E.O. agent. Im scared, the former CatCo employee tells Alex in the preview clip. You dont think I wasnt afraid the first time I went out in the field? Alex replies. I believe you keep fighting, so suit up. If Winn ends up going on his first outside mission, then fans might see him dressed in an all-black D.E.O agent outfit for the first time. The trailer also reveals Roulettes return (Dichen Lachman) to the series. In the video, Roulette meets someone in secret. Weve got to stop meeting like this, she tells an unidentified character. Roulette made her first appearance on the series in Season 2, episode 4, titled Survivors. Although Roulette was arrested for running an underground alien fight club at the end of the episode, an order from the higher-ups made the National City Police Department release the villainess from their custody, making her comeback a little expected. In the trailer, Kara also finds herself in what appears to be an alternate planet under a Red Sun like Kryptons sun, Rao. Under their native sun, Kryptonians are only as strong, fast and durable as a human of Earth and possess no extraordinary superpowers. That probably explains why Kara is bleeding in the preview clip. Its unclear how the Girl of Steel finds herself in what seems to be an alternate planet. Does it have something to do with the aliens hunting Mon-El (Chris Wood)? Only time will tell. Supergirl Season 2, episode 9, which is directed by Kevin Smith, airs on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 at 8 p.m. EST on The CW. Watch the trailer below: Story continues Jeremy Jordan as Winn Photo: The CW Related Articles Watch Entertainment Tonight on Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. Jeopardy! contestant Cindy Stowell's winning streak may have come to an end on Wednesday, but her impact on the show will last far longer. Host Alex Trebek recently paid respect to Stowell, who competed on the show with stage 4 colon cancer, but sadly died on Dec. 5 -- just over a week before her first episode aired. The 41-year-old science content developer from Austin, Texas, won an impressive six games, and donated her winnings to cancer research efforts. "This past six Jeopardy! programs, you folks have been getting to know the talented champion Cindy Stowell," Trebek says in a video message. "Appearing on the show was a lifelong ambition for that lady -- what you did not know is that when we taped these programs with her a few weeks ago, she was suffering from stage 4 cancer, and sadly, on December 5, Cindy Stowell passed away. So from all of us here at Jeopardy!, our sincere condolences to her family and her friends." NEWS: 'Jeopardy!' Contestant With Stage 4 Cancer Dies a Week Before Her Episode Airs Alex Trebek pays his respect to Cindy Stowell. #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/s0pYT5z7iX Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) December 22, 2016 Jeopardy! also shared a video of Stowell talking about her incredible journey on the show. "I'm dying of cancer and I would really like the money that I win to be used to help others, and so this seems like a good opportunity," Stowell says, fighting back tears. "This has been an unreal experience." Only Trebek and a small number of the show's producers knew of her condition when she competed. While reaching out to Jeopardy! producers about auditioning for the show, Stowell shared her predicament. "Do you have any idea how long it typically takes between an in person interview, and the taping date?" she wrote. "I ask because I just found out that I don't have too much longer to live. The doctor's best guess is about 6 months. If there is the chance that I'd be able to still tape episodes of Jeopardy! if I were selected, I'd like to do that and donate any winnings to charities involved in cancer research. If it is unlikely that the turnaround time would be that quick, then I'd like to give up my try out spot to someone else." Story continues Stowell then qualified to compete on the show when she auditioned in Oklahoma City, and was booked for a taping just three weeks later on Aug. 31 -- the soonest the show's schedule would allow -- the Jeopardy! website shared. WATCH: Alex Trebek Delivers the Ultimate Burn on 'Jeopardy!' Fortunately, Stowell and her family did get to watch her first three episodes before she died, due to the show sending her advance copies. They also expedited her prize money -- $103,801 in total -- which she received and acknowledged. "Cindy came on the show with a mission. We gave her the opportunity to fulfill that mission and she made the most of it,"Jeopardy! executive producer Harry Friedman said. Related Articles (Updates with details, background, quotes from sources) By Alberto Sisto ROME, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Italy's Alitalia has approved a short-term financing deal and a new industrial plan that will include job cuts, it said on Thursday, as the loss-making flagship carrier steps up efforts to sustain its business. Alitalia and its creditors, including Italy's two biggest banks UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, have been in talks for weeks over the future of the carrier. It is looking to revamp its operations in a market facing increasing pressure from low-cost airlines, more competition from high-speed trains and lower passenger numbers due to terror attacks. In a statement on Thursday, Alitalia said short-term funding had been agreed to allow its management team to begin negotiations in the next 60 days with key stakeholders. "The next two months will be crucial for Alitalia," Chief Executive Cramer Ball said, adding without "a subsequent and significant financing package from shareholders Alitalia will have no future". Sources have previously said various financing options were being discussed, including fresh credit lines, a cash call and a bond conversion into semi-equity financial instruments without voting rights. The conversion would allow controlling shareholder Etihad Airways to invest more without breaching the ownership limit required for Alitalia's European status. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad invested 560 million euros ($585 million) in Alitalia in 2014 as part of a wider 1.76 billion euro rescue deal and pledged to return it to profit by 2017 by slashing costs, turning Rome into an intercontinental hub and adding more lucrative long-haul connections. But two years later, Alitalia is losing at least half a million euros a day and may remain unprofitable for another two to three years, sources have said. In its statement on Thursday, Alitalia said it needed to overhaul its business model by developing its long-haul network, reshaping its short- and medium-range business, cutting costs and jobs and agreeing commercial agreements and partnerships. Story continues Etihad, Alitalia's biggest single shareholder with a 49 percent stake, is now pushing to turn the business around. Proposals include cutting up to 2,000 jobs and some unprofitable routes and grounding at least 20 planes, sources have said. But there is scepticism whether the proposed revamp will be sufficient. Alitalia is also heavily unionised and there will likely be a significant backlash to the proposed cuts. Italy's government has often come to Alitalia's rescue in past years, but Rome is currently dealing with a banking crisis and has very limited room for manoeuvre because of EU rules. With Abu Dhabi unwilling to give any more money to Alitalia, Etihad may choose to lend the carrier some of the cash it raised in a recent $1.5 billion sukuk issue, another source said. ($1 = 0.9568 euros) (Additional reporting by Stanley Carvalho in Abu Dhabi, Paola Arosio in Milan and Cyril Altmeyer in Paris; Writing by Agnieszka Flak and Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Steve Scherer/Ruth Pitchford) MILAN (Reuters) - Alitalia and creditor banks have struck a deal on the financial resources required to keep the Italian airline afloat, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Controlling investor Etihad Airways, which holds a 49 percent stake, is struggling to relaunch the loss-making carrier since investing 560 million euros ($585 million) as part of a wider 1.8 billion euro rescue deal in 2014. Alitalia is losing half a million euros a day and is far from returning to profitability by next year, as pledged by Etihad two years ago. Italian shareholders, including Italy's two biggest banks UniCredit (CRDI.MI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), hold a combined 51 percent share. (Reporting by Alberto Sisto, writing by Giulia Segreti, editing by Steve Scherer) By Aaron Ross and Tim Cocks KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police said they had arrested 275 people across Democratic Republic of Congo as two days of protests against President Joseph Kabila appeared to subside on Wednesday. Sporadic gunfire rang out over the capital and witnesses reported clashes in the southeastern mining hub of Lubumbashi, but nothing on the scale of the violence when youths took to the streets on Tuesday accusing Kabila of trying to cling to power. Police said 21 civilians and one officer had been killed in the protests that erupted as Kabila's mandate expired without any elections in place to pick a successor. Rights groups earlier gave higher death tolls. Kabila and his supporters have denied any plan to stay in power and said elections were delayed by logistical problems. But African and Western powers fear the political crisis could spiral into broader conflict, risking a repeat of the 1996-2003 wars in this vast, chaotic country that killed millions and drew in the armies of half a dozen neighbouring states. Police spokesman Colonel Pierre Mwanamputu said most of the dead civilians had been hit by stray bullets or shot while looting over Tuesday and Wednesday. "The heavy security presence will remain in place until the end of the year," he added. On Wednesday security forces repressed protests in Lubumbashi that left 10 dead and 47 wounded, King Kasongo, a lawyer and activist for the NGO Humanism and Human Rights (HDH), said. Crowds also wounded a policeman and attacked government offices, health centres and gas stations, he told Reuters. Human Rights Watch (HRW) earlier said that at least 26 people were killed across Congo, including one in Lubumbashi, though it had yet to provide a final tally. The director of the United Nations human rights office in Congo, Jose Maria Aranaz, said he had confirmed 19 deaths with 45 wounded. [nL5N1EE68L][nL5N1EG36L] CHURCH LEADS TALKS As an uneasy calm returned, some Kinshasa residents ventured from their homes on Wednesday, but the city's normally hectic traffic had slowed and buses were limited. Authorities arrested 20 members of the activist group LUCHA for sitting in front of the office of the governor of North Kivu province in the city of Goma, the group said on Twitter. The main opposition bloc showed up to the resumption of talks mediated by Congo's Roman Catholic bishops, but Jean Marc Kabund, the leader of one of the parties in the bloc, the UDPS, told reporters he was only there to insist on Kabila quitting. The church has assumed the responsibility of trying to prevent the crisis spinning out of control. [nL5N1E01K9] "Those of you with political responsibility, listen to the voice of your own conscience, recognise the cruel suffering of your people and take to heart the common good," Pope Francis told his weekly audience on Wednesday, addressing Congo leaders. "They should go to dialogue to find a solution," said Maggie Munanango, selling peanuts in a Kinshasa market. Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa's biggest miner of copper and metals used in gadgets such as cobalt, has not known a peaceful transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. Armed groups have repeatedly clashed over Congo's land and mineral wealth and used mass rape as a strategic weapon. Separately, clashes between police and a militia led by a Christian pastor in northwest Mongala province killed 15 militiamen and three policemen on Tuesday, the former deputy commissioner of Mongala Michael Sakombi said. [nL5N1EG4K0] The clashes were not linked to the wider politics, but they underscored how easily armed conflict can erupt. (Additional reporting by Kenny Katombe, Amedee Mwarabu Kiboko, Benoit Nyemba in Kinshasa and Crispian Balmer in Rome; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Andrew Heavens) - By insider CEO of Alphabet Inc (GOOG) Lawrence Page sold 33,332 shares of GOOG on 12/19/2016 at an average price of $802.65 a share. The total sale was $26.8 million. Alphabet Inc through its subsidiary Google Inc is engaged in improving the ways people connect with information & products including Search, Android, YouTube, Apps, Maps & Ads. It also produces internet-connected home devices & provides internet services. Alphabet Inc has a market cap of $547.64 billion; its shares were traded at around $794.56 with a P/E ratio of 1.13 and P/S ratio of 0.25. Alphabet Inc had an annual average EBITDA growth of 27.00% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Alphabet Inc the business predictability rank of 5-star. CEO Recent Trades: CEO, 10% Owner Lawrence Page sold 33,332 shares of GOOG stock on 12/19/2016 at the average price of $802.65. The price of the stock has decreased by 1.01% since. CEO, Google Inc. Sundar Pichai sold 4,000 shares of GOOG stock on 12/07/2016 at the average price of $762.78. The price of the stock has increased by 4.17% since. CEO, 10% Owner Lawrence Page sold 16,670 shares of GOOG stock on 11/28/2016 at the average price of $772.11. The price of the stock has increased by 2.91% since. CEO, 10% Owner Lawrence Page sold 16,670 shares of GOOG stock on 11/28/2016 at the average price of $791.46. The price of the stock has increased by 0.39% since. CEO, 10% Owner Lawrence Page sold 33,332 shares of GOOG stock on 11/25/2016 at the average price of $771.38. The price of the stock has increased by 3.01% since. Directors and Officers Recent Trades: SVP, Corporate Development David C Drummond sold 2,000 shares of GOOG stock on 12/12/2016 at the average price of $794.93. The price of the stock has decreased by 0.05% since. President, 10% Owner Sergey Brin sold 33,340 shares of GOOG stock on 12/05/2016 at the average price of $767.77. The price of the stock has increased by 3.49% since. VP, Alphabet Corp. Controller James Grier Campbell sold 194 shares of GOOG stock on 12/02/2016 at the average price of $744.59. The price of the stock has increased by 6.71% since. President, 10% Owner Sergey Brin sold 33,332 shares of GOOG stock on 12/02/2016 at the average price of $756.21. The price of the stock has increased by 5.07% since. Director Ann Mather sold 45 shares of GOOG stock on 12/01/2016 at the average price of $761.13. The price of the stock has increased by 4.39% since. Story continues For the complete insider trading history of GOOG, click here .This article first appeared on GuruFocus. americans-martha-clark fx The Americans was well represented on Uproxxs lists of the best shows of 2016. FXs superb Russian spy-drama finished second in both the television critics poll and Alan Sepinwalls ranking. The stakes were higher, the acting never stronger, the drama repeatedly shattering, he wrote about season four. And we still have two more seasons to go in this story! If The Americans keeps improving, Im not sure my heart can take it. How can the best get even better? By putting one of Philips wigs on Mail Robot, obviously. Other than that, though, The Americans shouldnt change a damn thing. Consistency is one of the series greatest assets, and showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields have learned to adopt the slow burn, which we used to think that was a back-handed compliment, or possibly even an insult, Weisberg told EW. But theyve come to embrace the slow burn such a slow burn that it may not even be burning at all. Were just telling a story as it unfolds. For us, the penultimate season is just another season of telling a story of this family and the people around them. Its not ramped up. Its not hyped up. Its not building the tension but it will be a great season. But how about a certain poor character? Whats she up to? Martha is off the grid, Weisberg said, before adding, But whats your grid? The interviewer answered, The grid is the cast of the show, to which Fields responded, We did not say that. Well, thats certainly cryptic. Hang in there, Martha. You might be called into service one of these days. (Via Entertainment Weekly) Editors Note: This story originally ran on December 22, 2016. A reminder to everyone in town: Michael Shannon has graced us with his towering, square-jawed presence for quite some time. Sure, his profile has risen exponentially in the last eight years following his Oscar-nominated supporting turn as John Givings, the clinically insane, brusque young man in Sam Mendes Revolutionary Road. But Shannon had already made his mark before that film, with a slew of prolific filmmakers including Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys II), Cameron Crowe (Vanilla Sky), Oliver Stone (World Trade Center), William Friedkin (Bug), and the late Curtis Hanson (8 Mile, Lucky You). And for a bulk of that early career momentum, Shannon has Lee Daniels to thank. Yes, the director of The Butler and Precious, and the co-creator of Foxs hit TV series Empire. Before becoming a filmmaker, Daniels was a talent manager and spotted Shannons turn as the inept drug dealer Chris in Tracy Letts 1998 play Killer Joe; the actors first paid acting gig in NY. Lee called me after seeing Killer Joe and said, I can get you work, remembers Shannon. He phoned a casting director, and then told me to go to the audition. I just got you the job, Lee said. Just show up. The role I read for was Dundun in Jesus Son. Call him raw, tough, deadpan, down-to-earth, Shannon is known for his array of troubled personas, from a paranoid Gulf War veteran in Friedkins Bug to the tragic Givings in Revolutionary Road, a guy who has no problem getting into the face of Leonardo DiCaprios flawed husband character Frank. Then theres Shannons religious Fundamentalist Prohibition officer Nelson Van Alden in HBOs 1920s gangster land drama series Boardwalk Empire, as well as the ruthless suburban real estate shark Rick Carver from last years 99 Homes. This year, in Tom Fords sophomore feature Nocturnal Animals, Shannon plays another heavy; a hard-bitten Texan cop named Bobby Andes, who comes to the aid of Jake Gyllenhaals devastated out-of-towner Tony Hastings. Tonys been ambushed by a group of notorious hicks whove killed his wife and teenage daughter. Bobby helps Tony exact revenge. Technically, theyre both characters in a novel-within-the-movie written by author Edward Sheffield (Gyllenhaal again). He sends the book to his ex-wife Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), who has ascended in status and is now a wealthy Los Angeles art gallery owner. Morrow dives into the book, reliving Hastings tragedy as though its possibly one she once experienced with her ex-husband. Story continues Bobby fits Shannon like an old shoe, but at a warmer angle than some of his previous parts. Says Ford on casting Shannon, There really was no one else that fit this part so well. Michael is an amazing actor. He is incredibly versatile. He is the Marlboro Man. He is Gary Cooper in High Noon, an archetype that exists in cinema history. He sees through the smoke and mirrors and to the truth, says Shannon about Bobby. Hes seen a lot of gruesome stuff in his career, which is wrapping up, and this is one last case hes determined to see justice on. You could argue that, no matter how nefarious or eccentric Shannons dramatic personae have been, theres a grounded humanity to them all. This in large part boils down to Shannons approach. Even though his angelic Bobby is a complete 180 from the ruthless Rick of 99 Homes, in the actors opinion, the latter isnt a bad guy. Its my job [as an actor] to not be judgmental of people, but to understand them, Shannon said about that role at an Awardsline screening last year. Rick just wanted to be a real estate broker. Its like during the Bubonic plague. Hes like the guy who had to drag all the dead bodies away; this is a responsibility that was thrown in his lap. I dont think hes the devil. Some actors prefer to keep their bag of tricks closed; Shannon on the other hand, embraces any discussion of his craft, his preferred acting method being Meisner, because hes trying to get actors to listen to each other. Coming up during his 1990s Chicago theater days, Shannon credits Jane Brody, a drama teacher and casting director. Her big thing was that acting is about relationships, and that is the foundation of acting, he says. Shannon would get to the soul of Bobby every morning during production by listening to Hank Williams songs during the 45-minute drive to set. Preparation depends on the role, and in the case of Nocturnal Animals, Shannon flew with his instincts and decided not to meet with any Texan lawmen before cameras rolled. Cops are a prevalent part of our consciousness, says Shannon. The actor had a different approach on 99 Homes when it came to understanding the complexities of the Florida real estate trade, and met with a salesman with a panache for flipping properties. While Ford sought Shannon out and entrusted the role to him, the actor says that the realization of Bobby occurred when Ford took the clippers out of the hairdressers hands and started cutting my hair. I never had a director do this before. Tom knows exactly [what he wants]; hes lived the whole movie in his imagination. Witnessing Shannons process, Ford says, Michael has that quality that allows him to completely disappear into a character. He is a totally focused actor and was definitely scary at times because he stays in complete character on set. Since landing his first feature role in the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, Shannon has remained a tireless working actor. This past year, IMDb lists Nocturnal Animals as one of 10 titles he starred in. Some of Shannons highlights this year include playing the King of Rock n Roll in Elvis & Nixon, starring in two movies by his friend and frequent collaborator Jeff NicholsMidnight Special and Lovingand playing an angry boyfriend in the noir romance Frank & Lola, from film journalist-turned-director Matthew Ross. Another troubled guy? Not at all. We sympathize with Franks anguish, because his girlfriend cheated on him. Why would a seasoned actor take a chance with young talent like Rossand earlier, with Nichols 2007 debut, Shotgun Stories? Shannon explains: Its exciting to work with a filmmaker at the beginning of their career. I had the pleasure of working with some of the great cinema minds like Martin Scorsese later in their careers, but I often wonder what it would have been like to work with him during Taxi Driver, or with Werner Herzog during Fitzcarraldo. You have to take a chance on people, adds Shannon with feeling. Someone took a chance on me. Related stories Long Road To Oscar: How Each Best Picture Nominee Got Here How 'La La Land' Composer Justin Hurwitz Used "Sleight Of Hand And Deception" To Create His Dynamic Score 'Captain Fantastic' Star Viggo Mortensen On The Way The Film Plays Post-Election: "I Think It's A 'Yes We Can' Movie" [December 22, 2016] Helen Koo Chosen for Inaugural Gerber FashionTech Professional Award at ITAA 2016 Conference TOLLAND, Conn., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gerber Technology, the world leader in integrated software and automation solutions for the apparel and industrial markets, names Helen Koo, assistant professor, Department of Design at University of California, Davis, as the recipient of Gerber Technology's FashionTech Professional Award. The award was presented to Dr. Koo at the 2016 ITAA Conference; she was selected because of the creative and practical projects designed by her students yielding breakthrough innovations in wearable technology. Additionally, she is recognized for founding the Fashion Design and Technology Lab at the University of California, Davis and has focused her research on clothing designed to help those with special needs and physical limitations such as mobility and vision as well as developing clothing to help manage chronic diseases. "We are honored to recognize Dr. Koo and support her with Gerber Technology products to further her cause of enabling research directed at solving quality-of-life issues," said Elizabeth King, vice president, digital solutions community and ecosystem at Gerber Technology. "Her work, inspiring the future generation of FashionTech designers aiding those with disabilities, is an admirable use of technology in the fashion industry." About Helen Koo Dr. Helen Koo is an assistant professor of Design and a founder of the Fashion Design and Technology Lab (FT Lab) at the University of California, Davis. Her resarch and creative activity interests include apparel design and product development, wearable technology, functional garments and sustainable designs. She has conducted multidisciplinary funded research projects on developing functional gear for sports, protective products and clothing for extreme environments, and smart clothing with sensors for healthcare. Her recent works focus on developing wearable technology for people with chronic diseases and disabilities. About the FashionTech Professional Award Gerber's FashionTech Professional Award is a contest for FashionTech instructors, faculty and professionals from colleges and universities that are members of ITAA. This year, the contestants submitted an essay describing how they and their school utilized advancements in technology to inspire students over the last 18 months and the resulting student project(s). The recipient of the award receives a subscription of Gerber software and training valued at $20,000 and includes industry-leading products such as AccuMark and YuniquePLM as well as training through Gerber University. The ITAA 2016 Conference marks the first year Gerber has given the award. About Gerber Technology Gerber Technology delivers industry-leading software and automation solutions that help apparel and industrial customers improve their manufacturing and design processes and more effectively manage and connect the supply chain, from product development and production to retail and the end customer. Gerber serves 78,000 customers in 130 countries, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies in apparel & accessories, home and leisure, transportation, packaging and sign & graphics. The company develops and manufactures its products from various locations in the United States and Canada and has additional manufacturing capabilities in China. Based in Connecticut in the USA, Gerber Technology is owned by AIP, a New York based, global private equity firm specializing in the technology sector and has more than $3.0 billion assets under management. Visit www.gerbertechnology.com for more information. Contact: Jamie Bibb Tel: +1 419 244 7766 [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/helen-koo-chosen-for-inaugural-gerber-fashiontech-professional-award-at-itaa-2016-conference-300383116.html SOURCE Gerber Technology [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated a judge's 2013 ruling that a central Missouri technical college's mandatory drug testing policy is unconstitutional when applied to all students. The full 8th U.S. District Court of Appeals, in a 9-2 ruling, sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in reversing an earlier decision by a three-judge panel of the same St. Louis-based court. The panel overturned U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey's permanent injunction that barred State Technical College of Missouri formerly Linn State Technical College from drug screening all of its roughly 1,200 students. But Thursday's 32-page ruling does uphold Laughrey's permitting the college to drug test students in five programs involving safety-sensitive training aviation maintenance, electrical distribution systems, industrial electricity, power sports, and servicing of Caterpillar heavy equipment. In pressing the universal screening the ACLU decried as unconstitutionally invasive, the 55-year-old college insisted that fostering a drug-free environment amounted to a "special need" justifying departure from the usual warrant and probable-cause requirements. The 8th Circuit disagreed Thursday, concluding the college's drug-testing mandate wasn't sparked by a crisis and that the school "does not believe it has a student drug-use problem greater than that experienced by other colleges." "Fostering a drug-free environment is surely a laudable goal," Judge Roger Wollman wrote for the court's majority, but "Linn State has not demonstrated that fostering a drug-free environment is a 'special need' as defined by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a dissenting opinion, Judge C. Arlen Beam wrote that the college had a right to drug test all students. Beam said "a severe, relevant and discernible drug crisis supportive of Linn State's actions does exist and has existed every moment relevant to this litigation." Story continues Beam added that the court erred "in rejecting Linn State's reasoned conclusion that its suspicionless drug testing and screening program ensures safety and deters harm to every student." Messages left Thursday by The Associated Press with the college's president and spokesman were not returned. The ACLU, which filed the class-action lawsuit in 2011, heralded Thursday's ruling as a warning to other schools mulling similarly sweeping drug tests. "We shouldn't treat students seeking to better their lives through education with immediate suspicion," Tony Rothert, ACLU of Missouri's legal chief, said in a statement. Under the Fourth Amendment, "every person has the right to be free from an unreasonable search and seizure including college students." Buenos Aires (AFP) - An Argentine court has ruled that pop star Justin Bieber must face trial for allegedly assaulting a photographer outside a nightclub in 2013, according to a decision published Thursday. Judge Alberto Banos ordered Bieber to go on trial on charges of robbery, attempted robbery and assault with minor injuries, according to the decision. The case dates to a stop in Buenos Aires on the Canadian heartthrob's Believe tour. According to the complaint, a bodyguard, following Bieber's orders, forcefully seized photographer Diego Pesoa's camera and cellphone outside a nightclub in the upscale Palermo neighborhood in November 2013. Bieber has ignored court orders to appear before the judge, prompting Argentina to request an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest. The plaintiff's lawyer, Matias Morla, welcomed the ruling. "The judge's decision is excellent and represents a new slap in the face to Justin's arrogance," he said. "Justin has hidden behind his fame and money to escape justice. Now he will have to observe the court ruling of a sovereign country like Argentina and show up to testify like any other citizen," he told Argentine newspaper Diario Popular. Bieber, 22, once enjoyed a squeaky clean image, but has recently had frequent run-ins with the law, including in the United States and Canada. The Obama administration is ending a post-9/11 special registration program known as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration. This program was designed to keep track of immigrants coming into the U.S. from terrorist known countries. Former Army Deputy Assistant Secretary Van Hipp said he believes when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, he should bring back the Muslim registry program. In Germany we were reminded of the hard lesson of what happens when you basically put out a welcome mat for refugees from every known terrorist hot spot in the world, he said to the FOX Business Networks Stuart Varney. Hipp has a plan to encourage Muslims to come forward if they hear about a terror plot in their own mosques. I call for a rewards program for moderate and reforme Muslims. If you see something going on in your mosque, encourage them to come forward, we can save a lot of lives, he said. Hipp wants the U.S. to tighten its borders because potential terrorists may be able to sneak in using different aliases. Fifty-nine thousand people from countries other than Mexico were caught illegally coming into this country in 2012 that was according to the former FBI Director. Many had Middle Eastern names and they changed them to Hispanic names. They know how to get there, they are here and we got to start protecting the lives of American people, he said. Related Articles It's peak season for package deliveries, but one Arizona community might be missing a few presents this holiday season. The Glendale Police Department said a FedEx truck that was briefly left unattended with the keys in and the engine running was stolen Tuesday along with everything that was inside. Read: Cops ID Man They Say Stole Pot of Gold Worth $1.6M From Armored Truck in Daring Heist "The vehicle was running and there were still packages inside of the truck with the rear doors wide open," Glendale Officer Tiffany Smith told KPHO Wednesday morning. "FedEx is working to find out just how many packages are missing." While the driver was dropping off packages, cops say he returned to the truck to find a suspect in a ski mask inside the vehicle. The driver told police the suspect pulled out a gun as he approached. Just then, the driver said a white sedan pulled up to the truck. A second suspect got out and also brandished a gun. But even under the threat of being shot, the driver reportedly fought back. Even as the suspect pulled away, the driver held on until finally being overpowered and forced to retreat. The suspects sped away with about 100 packages in the truck. According to KPHO, the truck was found by patrol officers around noon. However, there was no sign of the suspects and no indication of where they went. Read: Gold Rush: Man Scurries Away Undetected After Stealing Pot of Gold Worth More Than $1M From Armored Truck In a statement, FedEx officials said they were working to determine how many and which packages were missing. Spokeswoman Nikki Mendicino said the company is grateful nobody was seriously injured and is fully cooperating with police. Watch: 80-Year-Old Grandfather Jumps on Truck to Stop Thieves From Stealing His Bicycle Related Articles: Arrival doesnt look like any other science fiction film, and thats in large part because of Bradford Young. The cinematographer was already widely admired in the film industry for his work on features like Selma and A Most Violent Year, but the scale and unique look of Arrival are getting him some new attention. As awards season approaches, Paramount has posted a video tribute that showcases Youngs dazzling work on the sci-fi sleeper hit (which was named one of Yahoos 10 best films of 2016). Watch it above. Related: Arrival: An Astrophysicist Fact-Checks the Science and Gives It an A Young, whos from Kentucky, credits his talent for creating beautiful images to being raised in his familys funeral home. I didnt know what a cinematographer was growing up, but I grew up around a lot of image-intense environments, he said in an interview for the EFTI school of photography. Young was actually director Denis Villeneuves second choice for Arrival, after 13-time Oscar nominee Roger Deakins (the DP for such classics as The Shawshank Redemption and The Big Lebowski), who was busy making Hail Caesar! for the Coen brothers. But it doesnt appear that Young will be anybodys second choice from now on: Hes already been booked as the cinematographer for Lucasfilms 2018 Han Solo film. Bradford Young talks about Arrival: Photo credit: Worldwide Auctioneers From Road & Track Only a few more than a thousand DB4 coupes left Aston Martin's then new factory in Newport Pagnell wearing the Superleggera body designed by Carrozzeria Touring, and this particular example is a Series 2 that went to a famous voice actor in Los Angeles in 1962. It's a good thing that Aston offered a six-month factory guarantee, because a year later, the car had its 240 horsepower straight-six engine replaced and gained a new owner. At some point in time, the Aston was repainted in green and the upholstery re-dyed black. What's for sure is that in the early seventies, it was driven from Colorado to Massachusetts, where it was parked outdoors at its new owner's home. Then, the trees started to grow. Quickly. Almost five decades later, it was dug out, and this all original time capsule is now going under the hammer for an estimated $375,000 to $475,000. Knowing that a Series 2 costs roughly $750,000 nowadays, this half rotten but complete project car might just be a bargain, and it certainly deserves some love after spending its entire life next to a shed in Massachusetts. via Car Throttle You Might Also Like The auto sector had a mixed week in terms of developments, although the performance of stocks was mostly positive. Winnebago Industries, Inc. WGO surpassed earnings and revenue estimates for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, while Toyota Motor Corporation TM projected 1% global sales growth for 2017. Meanwhile, General Motors Company GM announced new investments as well as plans to temporarily stop production in a few U.S. plants. Even Ford Motor Co. F revealed plans to pause production in Venezuela. Additionally, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. HMC announced that it is in discussion with Waymo for a self-driving collaboration. Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories 1. Winnebago reported adjusted earnings of 60 cents per share in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 (ended Nov 26, 2016), higher than 32 cents earned in the prior-year quarter. Also, the figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 35 cents. Revenues for the first quarter increased 14.5% to $245.3 million and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $221 million. The year-over-year increase in top line was due to strong growth in the towables business. Winnebago currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 2. Toyota expects global sales to increase by 1% to 10.2 million vehicles in 2017 over its projection for 2016, triggered by higher sales in North America, China, Europe and Asia. Launch of new models, including the C-HR compact sport utility vehicle, will drive sales for the automaker. These benefits will offset sluggish demand in the Middle East due to low oil prices (read more: Toyota Projects Global Sales Increase of 1% for 2017). Currently, Toyota has a Zacks Rank #3. 3. General Motors announced plans to invest around $552 million in the U.S. mainly for upgrading manufacturing facilities in Tonawanda, Lockport and Rochester located in New York and Parma Metal center in Ohio. The automaker plans to spend around $2.2 billion in its U.S operations in 2016 in order to support the production of upgraded engines and vehicles. The new investment is part of this investment plan. Story continues Meanwhile, the auto giant confirmed that it will be closing five U.S. assembly plants for one to three weeks next month, mostly to trim the oversupply of sedans and other passenger cars as consumer preference for trucks and SUVs is growing. According to the Detroit Free Press, GMs Detroit-Hamtramck and Fairfax plants will be closed for three weeks; its Lansing factory that builds that Cadillac CTS and ATS will be shut down for two weeks; and GMs plants in Lordstown, OH and Bowling Green, KY, which build the Chevy Cruze and Corvette, respectively, will not be operational for one week. General Motors currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 4. Hondas R&D subsidiary, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. is in discussions with Alphabet Inc.s unit Waymo for a collaboration related to the self-driving technology. Per the discussions, Honda will provide modified vehicles, which will be integrated with Waymos self-driving technology and become part of the latters test fleet. Honda currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. 5. Ford halted production in Venezuela last week and said that it will not restart it before next April. This decision has been taken in the wake of sluggish demand for new cars in South America. The shutdown will affect around 2,000 workers. This temporary halt in production is not likely to affect Fords results as the company reports its Venezuela operations separately (read more: Ford Halts Production in Venezuela till April on Weak Demand). Ford carries a Zacks Rank #3. Performance The strong performance of the overall equity market pulled up all auto stocks over the last week. Only Harley-Davidson, Inc. HOG lost marginally among the stocks listed below. Meanwhile, Tesla Motors, Inc. TSLA led with a 4.5% gain. Over the last six months, Harley-Davidson gained the most, while Ford suffered the maximum loss among the stocks listed below. Company Last 1-Week Period Last 6 Months GM +1.3% +24.2% F +0.9% -4.1% TSLA +4.5% +5.6% TM 0.0% +13.7% HMC 0.0% +15.8% HOG -0.5% +29.4% AAP +1.2% +13.3% AZO +1.9% +6.3% Auto-Tires-Trucks Sector 5YR % Return Auto-Tires-Trucks Sector 5YR % Return Whats Next in the Auto Space? On Dec 30, 2016, Harley-Davidson will pay a quarterly dividend of 35 cents per share to shareholders of record as of Dec 16. On the same day, Lear Corp. will pay a quarterly dividend of 30 cents per share to shareholders of record as of Dec 9. Zacks' Best Investment Ideas for Long-Term Profit Today you can gain access to long-term trades with double and triple-digit profit potential rarely available to the public. Starting now, you can look inside our stocks under $10, home run and value stock portfolios, plus more. Want a peek at this private information? Click here >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report FORD MOTOR CO (F): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA MOTORS (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report HONDA MOTOR (HMC): Free Stock Analysis Report TOYOTA MOTOR CP (TM): Free Stock Analysis Report WINNEBAGO (WGO): Free Stock Analysis Report HARLEY-DAVIDSON (HOG): Free Stock Analysis Report GENERAL MOTORS (GM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. By Madeline Kennedy (Reuters Health) - Back pain is the most common type of pain older men complain of, and it could signal a greater risk of falling, even for people with no other disabilities, according to a recent U.S. study. We know that older people with back pain have poor physical function, like lower strength and difficulty rising from a chair, said lead author Lynn Marshall, an associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. Pain is not thought of as a traditional fall risk factor, but our study showed that back pain is a risk factor for falls among older men, Marshall told Reuters Health by email. She and her colleagues analyzed data on nearly 6,000 men over age 65 living at home. Between 2000 and 2002, the participants filled out baseline questionnaires about back pain - whether they had experienced it in the previous 12 months, where the pain was, how often it happened and how severe it was. Over the following year, the men also reported every four months on whether they had fallen and how many times. The researchers also collected information on the mens medication use, dizziness, disabilities and other body areas experiencing pain to account for the influence of these factors on the risk of a fall. Just over two thirds of the men reported having had back pain in the baseline questionnaire. Among these, 62 percent had pain only in the low back, 9 percent reported the pain as severe, 20 percent were bothered by their pain "all or most of the time" and 30 percent limited their activities because of the pain. During the next year 1,388 men one quarter of the group fell at least once, and 632 men had multiple falls, according to the results in Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences. The men with back pain were 30 percent more likely than those without it to fall multiple times, though the risk of falling just once was the same between groups. The risk of any fall was higher for people with pain in two different parts of the back, however, and higher still for people with three or more sites of pain, compared to those with no back pain. Men with more severe back pain or pain that occurred more often were also at greater risk for falls. Falls and particularly injuries from falls are a common source of disability and functional decline among older persons, but are preventable through relatively inexpensive interventions, said Dr. Thomas Gill, a professor of geriatric medicine at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Gill noted that making safety adjustments in the house, such as tacking down rugs and adding grab bars in bathrooms may be helpful for people at risk of falling. Physical activity and exercise, particularly focusing on gait, balance and muscle strength, are beneficial, he said by email, adding that proper footwear is important. Minimizing the number of medications that may affect the brain or blood pressure may also be helpful to prevent falls, Gill said. Falls are the leading cause of death and injury in older Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study doesnt prove that back pain causes falls. But the results are in line with similar findings of a heightened fall risk among U.S. women with back pain, the authors note. Its possible that fear of falling, or cognitive problems associated with the back pain could explain the link, the researchers write, but more studies are needed to understand the connection. Falls result when we lose our balance and fail to recover it, Marshall noted. To avoid falls, we need to be aware of both the conditions that could cause us to lose balance and the conditions that prevent regaining balance. Marshall recommends talking to ones doctor about any concerns about balance or falling and that people ask how best to adapt their homes to avoid falls. SOURCE: bit.ly/2hxUi9v Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, online November 16, 2016. Unified Office is a service provider that aims to make the kind of UC solutions that were once only available to the largest companies accessible to the small and medium business set. The company, which markets its services under the name Total Connect Now, delivers private cloud-based managed services that address worker mobility and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend. The company will be exhibiting at the upcoming ITEXPO in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. We recently caught up with Unified Office CEO and founder Ray Pasquale to talk about new technology and how his company is employing it. How have technology changes over the past 12 months helped businesses grow? Weve been able to make extensive use of emerging virtualization technologies like servers, for example, to build a fault tolerant cloud at a fraction of the cost of T1/MPLS lines and tunnels. Broadband speeds and quality have increased along with decreased prices that have allowed companies like ours to combine relatively inexpensive cloud virtualization techniques with broadband to deliver high-value solutions to our customers that help them realize dramatic increases in productivity and hence revenues and profits. What are your thoughts on containerization technology as an alternative to traditional virtualization? We use it all the time. It is a great virtualization strategy. What percentage of your workforce would you consider mobile? We are all mobile at our company and work wherever we are and wherever we have to. We were founded on that premise. Are you leveraging big data/analytics to operate more efficiently? Ray Pasquale I would refer to it as little data. We have been able to offer our customers business intelligence analytics that essentially discard the big data noise and keeps the relevant little data that matters to our customers. This helps them to take immediate remedies in some cases or to plot trends over time to retool their businesses to operate more effectively. How can artificial intelligence best be used in business applications? Weve been able to leverage our own AI techniques in helping humans to become more effective and productive at what they do and by helping customers to become more loyal and sticky as a result. How have the growing number of high-visibility security breaches impacted your outlook on security? Security concerns are going to be with us forever, big or small. We utilize multiple layers of security, and we do not depend on various firewalls and other fencing techniques for our security. We assume those fences will be breached and have created various local methods to adjust. Is the cloud/MSP model a realistic one for reliable IT security? MSP is separate from cloud here. Cloud security is definitely a concern. Cloud by itself is not necessarily insecure; rather it is the sheer number of cloud providers that may or may not exercise best practices as it relates to security. To what extent are you using cloud services in your daily business processes? We use cloud extensively in conjunction with premises-based small devices to create end-to-end reliability and quality. Has your use of cloud-based resources increased over the past year? Do you expect to make more use of cloud computing in the coming year? Our cloud-based virtualization layer increases year over year as our company grows. Are channel partners keeping up with the latest trends and developments? They are not. Many are trapped by legacy economics and are hoping that buggy whips will stage a comeback. Many are failing and will fail, and new channels will develop to take advantage of new technologies, particularly as they relate to recurring revenue economics and MSPs. Share this Page Edited by Alicia Young If youre a rock n roll fan who came of age in the 80s, then you probably partied to 18 and Life or Youth Gone Wild two massive singles from Skid Rows quintuple-platinum self-titled debut, which came out 30 years ago on Jan. 24, 1989. And you definitely slow-danced at your prom to Skid Rows I Remember You, one of the most beloved power ballads of all time. Interestingly, original Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach tells Yahoo Entertainment that I Remember You almost wasnt good enough for his then-bandmates Rachel Bolan and Dave Sabo, who thought that the song was too wimpy. You know, we wanted to be tough guys, punks, metalheads! Bolan and Sabo actually fought to keep the song off Skid Row, so Bach asked the bands manager, Doc McGhee (famous for also working with KISS, Bon Jovi, and Motley Crue), to check out the song during a rehearsal. So we did it, and Doc was laughing the whole time. I didnt know if he thought it sucked. But at the end of the song he said, Ha ha ha. Yeah, thats on the record. And the rest was history. I mean, Carrie Underwood does [I Remember You] now. Its a cross-platform smash hit song, Bach points out. Ive seen Carrie Underwoods cover on YouTube. It is fantastic. She has a whole background vocal section where they have choreography to it. She hits every scream, all that ending heavy metal stuff. She kills it! Also, in the [Australian] issue of Rolling Stone magazine, they ask Norah Jones, What song was it that made you want to be a rock star? And her answer was I Remember You by Skid Row! Thats Norah Jones. She tells this story that she had a crush on this metalhead dude, so she tried to get into metal, but she couldnt get into it. But she loved I Remember You, so she made a mixtape with that song starting out and gave it to him. And she says whenever she hears our song, she gets a wave of I hate to say it nostalgia. Of course, there was always more to Skid Row than just the big MTV hits, and Bach admits, At the time it bugged us that we were just known as a ballad band. He recalls one embarrassing, if amusing, moment when he especially felt the sting of this stigma: I remember specifically when I Remember You was a big hit on MTV, we were playing in Daytona Beach. I was walking around on the beach before the gig, and two guys were walking around and they recognized me, and they started going, IIIII reeemember yoooooouuu, like mocking me. But I was, like, mocking myself with them because I was sick of me, too. Story continues Skid Row fought this stereotype by taking a risk and getting heavier and harder on their landmark sophomore album, Slave to the Grind. We knew there was a lot of goofy bands in metal at the time and we were bugged by them, too. So our way of being different than all the goofy bands was to be pretty much a real heavy metal band, Bach explains. Naturally there was pressure from Skid Rows label, Atlantic Records, to repeat the success of the first record, but Back and his bandmates knew what we had to do. And then we had people in the industry years later say, You guys were ahead of your time. You knew what you were doing back then. Because not a lot of bands would have gotten heavier on their second album. Slave to the Grind became the first metal album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, in 1991, and it was the first No. 1 album of the SoundScan era. Still to this day, when I hear [Slave to the Grinds opening track] Monkey Business, it crushes my skull, Bach says proudly. I have to hold my head in my hands and go, How do you ever beat that one right there? That is a monster jam. I defy you to put that on and not bang your f***in head. I remember Lars Ulrich [of Metallica] being in the studio with me when I cut that vocal. I was literally looking at him, going, Im gonna show you somethin right now, buddy. I asked him, How is it? He said, Its roaring. Unfortunately, despite all this success, by the time Skid Row got around to recording their third album (and their final one with Bach), Subhuman Race, everything was falling apart. There were a lot of tensions. I wasnt as aware of it as the other guys were, I guess, chuckles Bach. I never thought we would break up, because we were so big. I didnt know you could make it that big and then just say, F*** it, man. Our last show was in Rio de Janeiro on the Monsters of Rock tour in 1996, with Motorhead and Biohazard and Mercyful Fate, King Diamond all these scary metal bands. And the crowd didnt like us on this bill. And that was our last show. Skid Row was offered one more gig, opening for Bachs childhood heroes KISS, but when the rest of the band turned it down, that was the last straw. I left these s***ty messages on their answering machines, and they called me up and said, You dont have a band anymore. So I took that as, I guess Im out of the band. Because that was the only band I was in! Bach took his firing in stride at the time. How did I handle it? We had just sold about 20 million records, and I had a 3.5-acre estate. So I watched videos, I drank a lot of beer, I smoked the best weed in the world. I was pretty set, yknow? It wasnt like I was sad in my big house with a bunch of money in the bank. I was concerned, maybe. But I had just made it big. I was eating at Italian restaurants and partying. Sebastian Bach (Paul Rosales) Bachs ousting from Skid Row coincided with the rise of alternative rock and grunge, when almost all bands of the genre dubbed hair-metal (a tag Bach despises) were falling by the wayside. But Bach wasnt sad about that musical changing of the guard, either. I know you want me to answer, Oh, I was so sad,' he says, but I dont care about other bands. I have a voice that has a life of its own Metal laughs at this s***. Grunge? Bye. Techno? Later! Boy bands? Whats the name of your band again? Heavy metal is not a fad. Heavy metal is for life. When asked if the original Skid Row lineup would ever reunite perhaps for the 30th anniversary Bach, who says he hears that question a thousand times every f***in day, quips: I am open to singing the same songs that I sing every night with a different bass player, yes. I can do it! I can handle the situation! If they wanna go around to every town in the world and collect cash, they can give me a buzz. But, he adds, Its between the managers at this point. I dont know what to say. Theres no words I can make, coming out of mouth, that can change the situation. Someday maybe all of us will realize that collectively we were a force that had a real kind of chemistry, possibly more than without each other. Bach covered all of this and much more in his 2016 memoir, 18 and Life on Skid Row, but he skipped over some of the juicier, more sordid details of his 80s rock-star exploits. There is a section on my computer hard drive which is called Cut Out of Book. This isnt really a tell-all book. Its a tell-some book, he laughs. So, whats hidden on his hard drive? I did write down a lot of sex. In my brain, before I wrote it down, I thought, Thisll be killer in my book! Thisll be great! And then Im reading it back, and its like, Then she unzipped my fly and reached in for my manhood And Im like, What the f***? This is like being trapped on a tour bus with Billy Bush and the president. Youre like a creep! Get this out of your book, dude. This is gross. So instead of being known for bad-boy heavy mental antics, Bach will likely most be remembered for I Remember You. And hes OK with that, haters be damned. You know, as time goes by, who cares about that kind of [backlash]? Just the fact that you made a song that somebody likes? Thats good enough. Watch all of Sebastian Bachs multipart, in-depth interview for talk about the time he blew out his voice, his friendship with Axl Rose, his short-lived alt-rock band with the Breeders Kelley Deal and Smashing Pumpkins Jimmy Chamberlain, why its hard for him to listen to his lyrically dark last two solo albums, and more. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Amazon, Tumblr, Spotify. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) A jailed activist in Bahrain on trial for allegedly spreading "false news" is being investigated over a letter published in his name by a French newspaper, authorities said Thursday, the second such probe into his writings in recent months. Nabeel Rajab's incarceration comes amid an intense crackdown on dissent by the Sunni rulers of Bahrain, a predominantly Shiite island off Saudi Arabia plagued by unrest since its 2011 Arab Spring protests. At issue is a letter that appeared Tuesday in Le Monde in Rajab's name. In it, Rajab asks France and Germany to "be ready to face the monarchies of the Arabian-Persian Gulf" as they "claim to be allies in the battle against extremism while fueling the crisis." "I am writing from a prison in Bahrain where I expect to be tried for criticizing the bombing of Yemen by Saudi Arabia and for revealing the torture committed in the prisons of my country. For that I risk 15 years in prison," the letter reads. "My trial is not exceptional, it is ordinary. Thousands of Bahrainis are in prison for expressing criticism and protesting against the government." Early Thursday, Bahrain's Interior Ministry announced an investigation into Rajab over the letter, which it said contained "false rumors and tendentious news that represented an abuse of the Kingdom of Bahrain" and other Gulf countries. The ministry also said Rajab denied writing to the newspaper, an assertion challenged by rights groups supporting the activist. "Nabeel Rajab's recent letters remind us of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail,'" said Husain Abdulla, executive director of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, referring the U.S. civil rights icon's message on nonviolent protest. "Like King, Nabeel is a true champion of human rights." Rajab's lawyer and Bahrain's government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Story continues Bahrain has said no one can be prosecuted for political views because of freedom of expression enshrined in the constitution. But activists say Rajab already faces another charge over a letter published in The New York Times in September. A secular politician also briefly faced charges for speaking to The Associated Press in November during a visit by Britain's Prince Charles and wife Camilla . Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and an under-construction British naval base, saw protests Wednesday after police clashed with residents of a besieged town that is home to Shiite cleric Isa Qassim, who was stripped of his citizenship in June. The police operation sparked an apparent warning Thursday from the Ashtar Brigade, a Shiite militant group that analysts say has claimed some 20 bombings in Bahrain since 2013. An online threat attributed to the group cautioned the government that "our finger is on the trigger." Human Rights Watch meanwhile raised concerns about the detention of Sayed Alawi, an engineer at the telecommunications firm Batelco, who was held for five weeks without access to his lawyer or his family. Bahraini officials have alleged Alawi violated the country's anti-terrorism laws. ___ Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap. His work can be found at http://apne.ws/2galNpz . Milan (AFP) - Troubled Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena edged closer to a state bailout on Thursday as its last-ditch plan to raise billions of euros risked falling short. BMPS, the world's oldest bank and Italy's third-biggest, launched a bid to sell fresh shares this week under plans to raise five billion euros ($5.2 billion) to shore up its capital base. The result of the share offer is expected by Friday but the bank acknowledged late Wednesday that it had failed to attract an anchor investor after pinning its hopes on a big Qatari take-up. A separate debt-for-equity swap offer, which is also part of the plan to replenish its coffers, reaped just over two billion euros, the bank said. The plan additionally entails selling off 27.6 billion euros in bad loans. The European Central Bank has given the bank until December 31 to fund its recovery or risk being wound down. The Italian government has, however, said it stands ready to step in if necessary. The bank had the worst results in a July stress test by the European Banking Authority and admitted this week to having just four months' liquidity left. BMPS is at the centre of a crisis in Italy's banking sector -- made up of some 700 banks -- which is buckling under the weight of bad loans estimated to total 360 billion euros. The bank's stock lost another 7.5 percent in Milan on Thursday, closing at 15.08 euros. This took its drop since the start of the year to a staggering 87 percent. - '833 euros per family' - But investors still hoped that the crisis will end with some kind of viable solution, including a possible rescue by the government. "A state bailout would at least allow the lender to continue as a going concern," said David Cheetham at XTB. The Italian parliament approved on Wednesday a 20-billion-euro bailout package that would aim to stem the woes of the ailing banking sector. "This is like forcing every family to pay 833 euros to save banks in trouble," quipped Codacons, a consumer rights group. Story continues Analysts say the poor appetite among private investors so far towards bolstering the bank's coffers by five billion euros raises the likelihood of a state injection. "The low probability of achieving this amount increases (the) odds of some kind of government rescue," Ipek Ozkardeskaya, of London Capital Group, said in a note to clients. But the Italian government is hamstrung by recent EU rules requiring the pain of a rescue to be shared by investors, so that taxpayers are not left footing the bill as has often been the case since the financial crisis. But such burden-sharing -- rather than an outright bailout -- worries the Italian government because many of BMPS's bonds are held by some 40,000 small shareholders whose anger could become political dynamite. Last year's rescue of four small banks led to heavy losses for small savers, prompting demonstrations and at least one suicide -- not a scenario the government wants to see repeated. - Italy's options - Rome now has several options depending on how much the bank manages to raise itself, said economist Lorenzo Codogno, of LC Macro Advisors Limited and a former senior Italian finance ministry official. "If the shortfall is limited, the government could step in and inject probably up to another billion" without triggering burden-sharing rules. But, he added that "if the whole operation fails, the government would have to intervene" with a "precautionary recapitalisation". This means shareholders and holders of junior bonds, a risky class of debt, must contribute to saving the bank. If it comes to that, the government may seek ways to compensate high-street savers for their losses in some form that is acceptable to EU regulators. Finance Minister Carlo Padoan on Wednesday said that the Italian banking system "is solid, even if there are some crisis situations" and insisted that the 20 billion euros set aside was "sufficient". Founded in Siena in 1472, BMPS has been in trouble for years. Weakened by the disastrous purchase in 2007 of the Antonveneta bank at twice the estimated value, it quickly drifted into scandal when its management team was accused of fraud and misuse of funds. It subsequently ran up huge losses and has had to raise capital twice since 2014. ST. GEORGE, UT / ACCESSWIRE / December 22, 2016 / Basic Invite, an online stationery company, rolled out a whole new line of products to satisfy the growing demands of their clients. On December 21, Basic Invite introduced 40 unique baptism and christening invitations that can be fully customized online. The baptism invitations offer unparalleled online customization options with over 150 color options per element. The ability to change the color on each element to one of over 150 colors gives customers the ability to make a card with almost unlimited color options. Customers can also add, remove, and move text boxes to personalize a card to create the exact look they want on their card. "Over the last 12 months, we have launched over a half dozen new product lines to fit the growing demand of our customers, and 2017 will be no different. We want to make sure our clients are able to find a card for all of life's biggest moments," said Basic Invite's CMO Eric Mortensen. Customers can choose to have their design printed on 5 different premium paper types. Each paper is a minimum of 110lb cardstock to ensure a quality feel no matter which paper is selected. Real foil designs are also available. With any of Basic Invite's foil designs, customers can pick and choose which elements they would like to have in foil instantly online. These foil options extend to the text elements on the page, unlike many other stationery companies that do not allow real-time foil customization of text. Basic Invite will continue to push forward with new product lines in 2017. Upcoming new lines will include the following: birthday, sweet sixteen, quinceanera, and business stationery. About Basic Invite BasicInvite.com corporate office is located Saint George, Utah. Basic Invite offers hundreds of handpicked invitation designs to give customers the perfect starting point for any style or taste. Choose from a full line of customizable wedding sets, graduation announcements, baby stationery, bar and bat mitzvah invitations, baptism invitations, thank you cards, as well as holiday cards. Story continues Media Contact: Eric Mortensen dir@basicinvite.com SOURCE: Basic Invite When it rains, it pours was never more true for a company than Chipotle (CMG) this year. The stock spent most of the year fighting to stay above the $400 mark, but since the company's Q3 report in late October it is fighting to get back above it. As the company still reels from the lingering after effects of their E.coli food poisoning scare last year, they reported that revenue decreased 14.8% to $1.0 billion and comparable restaurant transactions decreased 15.2% while comparable restaurant sales dropped 21.9%. Then, at a recent investor conference hosted by Barclays, Chipotle management admitted that it is now "nervous about the guidance" the company gave during its most recent earnings call. The fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain forecast Q4 same-store sales declines in the low single digits. For 2017, the company sees a same-store sales increase in the high single digits and earnings per share of $10. Analysts at J.P. Morgan and Instinet cut Chipotle's price target in the days following the conference. Describing the news as "disappointing" the analyst from JPM cut his price target from $425 to $375 while Instinet analysts also lowered their price target to $333 from $372. Activists, Rich and Poor Also troubling the company has been pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman who recently won a battle to replace four members of Chipotle's board. But more troubling is the conundrum the company has between keeping reliable labor and maintaining quality customer service. During the food safety crisis of the past year, management found itself having to pour new procedure on staff to keep stores clean and protect customers. The result was a higher turn-over in staff which has negatively impacted customer service overall. And that high turnover impacts costs at a time of declining revenues, creating a double-edged sword of their own design. One could say that unskilled restaurant laborers have their own brand of activism when the job just isn't worth it. Story continues And this is a new black eye for Chipotle that most investors didn't see coming. More on Chipotle's fall from customer service grace in a moment. In response to all this heat, analysts slashed their EPS estimates for full-year 2016 to $1.80 from $3.61 since the late October report. And 2017 profit projections were cut from $9.93 to $9.37. But in the two weeks since that conference, next year's consensus EPS estimate has fallen further to $9.13. As the Burrito Turns While Chipotle has survived the food-borne health scare as a company, they have lost their growth momentum as potential new customers choose other dining options. You can imagine the quick and easy decision that many people might make to go elsewhere when the stigma of food poisoning lingers. But now they have new issues with customer service as they over-burden their low-wage staff with excessive cleaning procedures. This is one problem many analysts, myself included, did not expect. Here's how I viewed Chipotle's stellar position in fast-casual with stand-out customer service in July of 2015, ironically right before the beans hit the fan... Chipotle's Secret Sauce of Success The business certainly still has a fighting chance. It just takes a while to re-work one's image in the minds of the public. And they'll figure out the labor issues too. But until the earnings estimates turn back up, it's time for hungry investors to find other delicious growth stories. The Zacks Rank will let you know. So Where Are the Profitable Trades? Be sure to short or avoid this Bear Stock of the Day. Now would you like to see Zacks' recommendations that have the best profit potential? Starting today, for the next month, you can follow all our private buys and sells in real time from value to momentum . . . from stocks under $10 to ETF and option moves . . . from insider trades to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises (we've called them with 80%+ accuracy). You can even look inside portfolios so exclusive that they are normally closed to new investors. Click here for all Zacks trades >> 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 CHIPOTLE MEXICN (CMG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. When Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) reported its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Wednesday, the retailer said that it had $0.85 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.96 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters called for $0.98 in EPS and revenue of $3.01 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $1.09 and $2.95 billion in revenue. Comparable sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2016 decreased by roughly 1.4%, compared with a decrease of about 0.4% in last year's fiscal third quarter. Comparable sales from customer-facing digital channels grew in excess of 20%, while comparable sales from stores declined in the low single-digit percentage range. ALSO READ: 10 Brands That Will Disappear in 2017 During the third quarter of fiscal 2016, the company repurchased $76 million of its common stock, representing roughly 1.8 million shares, under its existing $2.5 billion share repurchase program. At the end of the quarter, the company had about $1.9 billion remaining in its repurchase program, and it is expected to be completed sometime in fiscal 2020. In terms of guidance for the fiscal year, the company expects to see its EPS at the low end of the range of $4.50 to $5.00. The consensus estimates call for $4.73 in EPS and $12.24 billion in revenue. The board of directors also has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, to be paid on April 18, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 17. On the books, Bed Bath & Beyond cash and cash equivalents totaled $473.0 million at the end of the quarter, versus $490.7 million in the same period from last year. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond were down over 7% at $42.11 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst price target of $ and a 52-week trading range of $38.60 to $52.71. Related Articles LTI - Luxury Travel Intelligence, a company which provides international guidance for high-end travelers, has drawn up a list of the best luxury hotel openings in 2016. The number one position goes to Helena Bay Lodge in New Zealand. The last to be included in the ranking is Les Neiges in Courchevel, France, which just opened on December 16. Having visited 53 new luxury hotels around the world, Luxury Travel Intelligence says that Helena Bay Lodge is on the way to becoming one of the best hotels on the planet. Able to accommodate up to ten guests, it offers just five suites and highly attentive staff. The hotel is set against the idyllic backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. Guests can go diving or simply relax on the adjacent private beach. They can also take a killer whale-spotting helicopter trip over the ocean. France and Italy: luxury destinations While the Caribbean remains a very popular luxury hotel destination, such as the Pink Sands Club in the Grenadine Islands and Le Barthelemy at St Barth's, Europe is also well represented on the list, thanks to France and Italy. 2016 has been a very busy year for the luxury hotel business in France. After a period of refurbishment, the legendary Ritz reopened in June. Luxury Travel Intelligence describes the hotel as a "go to" when in Paris. And in Courchevel, the Barriere group is ranked in tenth position with Les Neiges, its very first hotel in the mountains. LTI- Luxury Travel Intelligence also singled out Fendi Private Suites in Rome, which is located above the prestigious fashion house's flagship store. The other Italian luxury hotel opening on the list is located near Lake Como. Il Sereno offers splendid views, which greatly impressed the experts. Top 10 luxury hotel openings in 2016 1. Helena Bay Lodge, New Zealand 2. Pink Sands Club, Canouan 3. Soneva Jani, Maldives 4. The Beekman, New York 5. Le Barthelemy, St-Barth's 6. Ritz, Paris 7. Fendi Private Suites, Rome Story continues 8. Il Sereno, Lake Como 9. The Lodge Feline Fields, Kalahari 10. Les Neiges - Courchevel BEIJING (Reuters) - Five districts in Beijing have announced plans to cap or lower their population in the next few years, local media reported on Wednesday, as the Chinese capital bids to tackle chronic pollution and congestion. Beijing was one of 24 cities across northern China to issue a smog "red alerts" in the past week, triggering emergency measures to close factories and restrict traffic. The heavy pollution in Beijing cleared on Thursday, but it could return, with energy demand - much of which is met by coal - to remain high throughout the winter heating season. Dongcheng, a core urban district of Beijing, plans to cut its permanent residents to 762,000 by 2020, down 115,000 compared to the 2016 target, while Xicheng district is targeting a cap of 1.1 million within five years, the newspaper said. Daxing and Shunyi, two new municipal districts, are targeting a population below 1.7 million and 1.3 million respectively. Shijingshan, a relatively small district in area, aims for 616,000 next year, almost unchanged, it said. The official Beijing News said plans to relocate residents, companies and some government departments to suburban areas or even outside the capital, together with the demolition of illegal buildings, are expected to play a major part in the scheme to cap population. Beijing, home to around 22 million people, has pledged to resolve what policymakers in China describe as "Big City Syndrome", where rapid and imbalanced growth has created a congested, polluted and chaotic industrial megapolis with soaring living costs and strained public services. The city government toyed with the idea of cutting the total population by 5 million people a few years back, but abandoned the idea in their 2016-2020 five year plan. It still pledged to keep population below 23 million by 2020. The capital's population has risen by around two-thirds since 1998, while energy consumption has more than doubled and the number of vehicles on its roads tripled over the period. Beijing's rapid growth has also sapped the economies of neighboring regions, including Hebei province. (Reporting by Stella Qiu and David Stanway) Extreme smog in Northern China, most notably Beijing, presented an ongoing crisis this week. Tens of thousands of people have attempted to leave the area even as the smog shut down transportation. A red alert for smog was issued Friday for Beijing and was finally lifted at midnight, but not before nearly a week of serious effects. Schools were closed, a number of roads were shut down and more than 100 flights were canceled. Some 460 million people were affected by the smog, with some 200 million people living in areas with smog at least 10 times the acceptable level laid out by the World Health Organization, ABC News reported. It got so bad it was dubbed the "airpocalypse." Cities near the center of the coal and steel industry in the area were struck particularly hard by the smog. Handan, a city in the same province as Beijing, saw an average air quality index of 780 Monday, which is well over the 0-500 scale laid out by Greenpeace. "The ongoing 'airpocalypse' is further evidence that China must implement far stricter limitations on coal consumption and accelerate the restructuring of the economy away from the heavily polluting sectors," Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Dong Liansai told ABC News. Reports indicated some folks had escaped to less polluted areas, with one person who left describing a ski resort as a "refugee camp" of sorts. Others had plans to leave the country altogether to escape the smog. One agency told China Daily some 150,000 people are expected to be sent overseas to escape the smog in December when pollution is at its worst. By Thursday afternoon the smog seemed to have passed thanks to an inrush of cold air. Most recent reports from an air quality monitor pegged levels at "good" or "moderate," a major upgrade over a series of reports of "hazardous" air quality. Story continues Related Articles The youngest of the Hadid sisters rounded off a busy year by being named "Model of the Year Women 2016," Thursday, December 22, by website Models.com. A panel of 250 fashion industry experts, including designers, stylists, photographers, editors, make-up artists and casting directors, voted to crown the American model with this year's title. At the end of each year, the Models.com website asks industry experts and the public to vote for the male and female models who stood out the most over the course of the year. Votes are cast in several categories, including Model of the Year, Social Media Star, Street Style and Humanitarian. Stars of 2016: Bella Hadid and Jordan Barrett The rapid rise of Bella Hadid -- who was unknown just two years ago -- could hardly go unnoticed by the fashion world. Her successful year, jam-packed with advertising contracts and catwalk shows, has now been recognized with the title "Model of the Year." At just 20 years old, the young catwalk star is particularly in demand among the most luxurious fashion houses and beauty brands. Over the course of 2016, Bella Hadid has starred in runway shows for Bottega Veneta, Versace, Moschino, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Dior Haute Couture and Chanel Haute Couture. She also became a brand ambassador for Dior Beaute, and has featured in campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Topshop, Versace, Calvin Klein and Givenchy. While the fashion industry picked Bella Hadid, the public vote favored the faultless path of Kendall Jenner. That's perhaps not so surprising given that the model totals some 106 million followers across social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Other models nominated for this year's award include Lineisy Montero, Gigi Hadid, Irina Shayk, Ruth Bell, Lexi Boling, Vittoria Ceretti, Mica Arganaraz and Rianne van Rompaey. In the male category, Australian model Jordan Barrett was picked as Model of the Year by industry experts, while Brazilian model Francisco Lachowski won the public vote. Story continues Emily Ratajkowski on the rise In other categories, Gigi Hadid (industry experts) and Emily Ratajkowski (public) took the title of Social Media Star, along with Jordan Barrett (industry experts) and Lucky Blue Smith (public) in the male category. Cameron Russell (industry experts) and Karlie Kloss (public) were recognized for their commitment to humanitarian causes. Willow Smith (industry experts) and Cara Delevingne (public) were the favorite female Celebrity Models, with Jaden Smith (industry experts) and Jared Leto (public) coming top in the male award. DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) A deputy in central Michigan rescued three people from a burning home while his body camera recorded his heroics. Eaton County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Jenkins pulled the people from the fire in Delta Township Tuesday evening. WLNS-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2hw8E78) Jenkins was treated for smoke inhalation but not hospitalized. In the video, orange flames light a room. Jenkins calmly says, "We got people trapped inside," then tells the residents to get out. A woman says, "We can't. She can't walk." Then, "Can you just put it out?" Jenkins persists in leading the residents to safety as flames shoot out a window and firefighters drag hoses across a lawn. He later says, "We got everybody out. Nobody's left inside." One of the victims was in critical condition. The other two were treated and released. In the latest salvo in Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolies bitter divorce proceedings, the actor has accused Jolie of releasing sensitive details of their custody agreement to the media through public court filings. Pitt filed a memorandum to his request to have divorce documents pertaining to custody sealed on Dec. 21, outlining specific reasons why information about their ongoing custody battle over their six children should remain private. In the documents obtained by PEOPLE, Pitt slams Jolie for, he says, compromising their childrens privacy. Jolie appears to be determined to ignore even agreed upon standards relating to the childrens best interest, state the documents. Pitt claims Jolie exposed the children by making public the names of their therapists and other mental health professionals. He asserts that Jolie has no self-regulating mechanism to prevent sensitive information from being released to the public. As evidence, he points to the re-release and filing of documents that contain private information. Although she had already made them public, she did it again. Pitts legal team also drafted a proposed order, which the actor would like the judge to approve. Jolies team now has the opportunity to respond to the request before a judge makes a decision. This filing comes just weeks after Pitts request for an emergency hearing to have all documents sealed had been denied. Laura Wasser, Jolies attorney, previously said the actress does not oppose sealing documents to prevent details from becoming public, but that Pitts team didnt consult with them before the emergency hearing, which is why she opposed it at the time. SAO PAULO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Hypermarcas SA, Brazil's most diversified pharmaceutical firm, has agreed to sell a diaper business to Belgium's Ontex Group NV for about 1 billion reais ($300 million) in cash, a person with knowledge of the transaction said on Wednesday. According to the person, who requested anonymity because terms of the deal remain private, the sale could be announced as early as Thursday. A public relations executive working for Sao Paulo-based Hypermarcas did not have an immediate comment. An email sent to an Ontex's press officer after working hours was not immediately answered. ($1 = 3.3265 reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Sandra Maler) DailyFX.com - Talking Points - According to Forbes, the UK is now the fifth best country to do business in, up from tenth a year ago. - However, a ruling by the EUs top court could complicate the divorce proceedings between the EU and the UK. - See the DailyFX Economic Calendar and see what live coverage for key event risk impacting FX markets is scheduled for next week on the DailyFX Webinar Calendar. The UK is now the fifth best country to do business in, up from tenth a year ago, according to an annual list published by Forbes. That flies in the face of warnings by remain campaigners ahead of Junes UK referendum on EU membership that a decision to leave would be devastating for the British economy. Kurt Badenhausen, a senior editor at Forbes, said the UK had climbed the rankings thanks to improved scores on corruption, tax burden and monetary freedom, as well as a stronger stock market.There was no mention of the impact of the Brexit vote Since the June 23 referendum, which resulted in a vote to leave, the FTSE 100 index of the largest London-listed companies share prices has climbed by 700 points, or 11.1%, to above 7,000 at the time of writing. Chart: FTSE 100 Daily (June to December 2016) Brexit Briefing: UK Climbs Best for Business List Despite Brexit Warnings The British Pound, which tumbled immediately after the referendum, has since steadied but its drop will have helped UK companies that export, and by extension the UK economy. Elsewhere, the US fell one spot to 23rd place, continuing a decade-long slide from its No.1 ranking in 2006, according to Forbes. Falling scores on trade and monetary freedom, along with rising levels of red tape and bureaucracy are behind the decline for the worlds largest economy, commented Badenhausen. Sweden moved up four spots to top the charts for the first time, followed by New Zealand, Hong Kong and Ireland. Chad, in central Africa, was last. In a separate development, the EUs top court ruled on Wednesday that ratification by EU institutions isnt enough to pass a trade deal with Singapore.As Daily FX noted, that could set a precedent for the Brexit negotiations. Story continues The EU Court of Justice advocate-generals view that member states must also approve the accord with the Asian city state means UK Prime Minister Theresa May might have to negotiate with 27 other national parliaments and in some cases their regional lawmakers if she wants a wide-ranging trade agreement with the bloc. --- Written by Martin Essex, Analyst and Editor To contact Martin, email him atmartin.essex@ig.com Don't trade FX but want to learn more? Read the DailyFX Trading Guides. 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. London (AFP) - Britain on Thursday announced the discovery of a highly contagious strain of bird flu in a wild duck found dead in Wales, warning poultry keepers to remain vigilant as Christmas approaches. The same H5N8 strain was detected last week at a turkey farm in Lincolnshire in eastern England but the government said there was no suggestion the disease had spread from that farm to the duck. "As this is a wild bird, it highlights the importance for poultry keepers to follow our clear advice on biosecurity," the government's chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens said in a statement. Gibbens said the risk to public health was "very low". The H5N8 strain can spread quickly in affected farms and can lead to the culling of thousands of birds. The strain has been detected in 13 other European countries including France and Germany since October. Hungary is the country that has had the highest number of outbreaks in that time, with 201 instances reported on farms and four in wild birds. London (AFP) - Britain's Prince Charles warned against intolerance towards refugees fleeing religious persecution on Thursday, saying the rising tide of populism was reminiscent of the "dark days" of the 1930s. "The suffering doesn't end when they arrive seeking refuge in a foreign land," the heir to the throne told BBC radio. "We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith." The 68-year-old, in his third broadcast for the "Thought for the Day" section of popular news programme Today, added: "All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s." Charles said his comments applied not just to Christians fleeing parts of the Middle East but also to other persecuted faiths in the world including Yazidis, Jews, Ahmadi Muslims and Baha'i people. Referring to the "monstrous extremism" seen in World War II, the Prince of Wales said the fact that "nearly 70 years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution is to me beyond all belief". "We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past," he said. In the run-up to Christmas he pointed to the idea that Jesus' family had sought refuge from persecution, and said the Prophet Mohammed had also "migrated" from Mecca to Medina in search of religious freedom. Prince Charles, who will become the supreme governor of the Church of England when he succeeds his mother Queen Elizabeth II, often speaks out about the plight of Christian minorities in the Middle East. But he has long said he wants to be seen as a "Defender of Faiths" rather than the monarch's official title of "Defender of the Faith", to reflect Britain's multicultural society. Every Christmas, foie gras producers in Bulgaria and Hungary are overwhelmed with overseas orders but while France remains their key client, the hunt for more lucrative markets is leading to Asia. France is the top producer and consumer of the controversial delicacy. Foie gras is fundamental to a traditional Gallic Christmas dinner and France has made a habit of stocking up its own inventories with cheaper versions from Bulgaria and Hungary. At Bulgaria's largest factory near the southern village of Milevo, dozens of women nimbly sort, clean, devein, and pack hundreds of kilos of duck livers that have come straight from the slaughterhouse. Other workers cook and can glazed duck confit. Virtually unknown at local Christmas dinner tables, the bulk of Volex's production will go to France. The labels of big French brands are placed directly on the jars before they even leave the factories, although the country of origin is also indicated. This year, Bulgaria and Hungary estimate that sales in newer markets could shoot up by around 15 percent as French exports outside the EU have been hit by repeated bird flu scares. "If 10 years ago we sold 100 percent of our produce to France, now this share is about 80 percent," Volex factory owner Plamen Chelebiev told AFP. - Diversifying markets - For the past four years, his sales have been increasing in Switzerland and Japan, and more recently also in Vietnam and Thailand. "In these markets we sell our products under our own brand names and at much higher prices, which makes it more interesting for us," Chelebiev said. But Volex is also doing well inside the EU. In Spain and Belgium, "we're now selling our products without passing via France," Chelebiev added. Bulgaria and Hungary entered the lucrative trade in the 1990s by modernising large cooperative farms from communist times and using cheap hand labour. Since then, Bulgaria has become the world's largest maker of duck foie gras after France, while Hungary holds a quasi monopoly on fattened goose liver. Story continues Even French producers have expressed concern over the growing competition. "A part of Bulgaria and Hungarian products are going to third countries whose markets remain closed to us," Marie-Pierre Pe, the director of French foie gras makers' group CIFOG, said earlier this year. Around 100 companies in Bulgaria, the EU's poorest country, are involved in the foie gras business. Volex hatches some three million ducklings every year from French-imported eggs at an 80-hectare (195-acre) farm in the southern town of Haskovo. Two million are sold to other Bulgarian producers, while the rest are raised and fed in collective cages before being transferred to the slaughterhouse and factory in Milevo. Unlike France, Bulgaria never had the money to invest in single cages for the highly criticised practice of gavage, or force-feeding birds with grains to fatten their livers around four times their natural weight. Ducks put on weight more quickly in single cages because they have no room to move -- but these were prohibited EU-wide in 2016 after protests by animal rights activists. Bio-safety measures at farms in both Bulgaria and Hungary are extremely strict, insist producers. The huge buildings are regularly emptied for weeks and sanitised to prevent any bacterial diseases from breaking out, say officials. - 'As good as French foie gras' - "The quality of our raw foie gras is the same as in France and even better, due to the good conditions during the raising of the birds," according to Volex. But all this notwithstanding, neither Bulgaria nor Hungary have the capacity to conquer traditional French markets. Although the bird flu crisis has slashed 25 percent of France's exports in 2016, the country has massive stocks due to overproduction in previous years. In 2015, France produced around 19,000 tonnes of foie gras, while Bulgaria came a distant second with 2,500 tonnes and Hungary third with 2,000 tonnes. France's exports stood at 5,000 tonnes in 2015. By comparison, Bulgaria and Hungary together sell between 3,000 and 4,000 tonnes abroad annually, according to data from producers' organisations. However, their eyes are now focussed on the burgeoning appetite for luxury products in Asia. "We have expanded our presence in Japan and also started recently to sell in Singapore and Thailand," said a Hungarian producer, requesting anonymity. "They cannot match demand by solely buying from France." The billionaire corporate-raider turned activists new role likely will involve helping the White House pick a new chairman for the nations securities regulator that will support his insurgent fund agenda. By Ron Orol Billionaire corporate-raider turned activist Carl Icahn on Wednesday was named special adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump on overhauling federal regulations, a role that could help advance his insurgent fund agenda because it will involve helping the White House pick a new chairman for the nations securities regulator. Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the worlds great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated, said Trump in a statement. He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies. His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable. In this role, Icahn is reportedly involved in helping the Trump transition team pick the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several reports in recent days have suggested that Trump is likely to pick Debra Wong Yang, a former U.S. Attorney and partner in the LA office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP as the next SEC chief. However, Icahns involvement in the selection process could add a new wrinkle to it, especially if he supports candidates where his interests dont necessarily align with that of mainstream Republicans. A close Trump ally, Icahn is a strong advocate for limits on CEO pay and shareholder rights. Case in point: It is likely that Icahn will push for an SEC chief that will seek to rewrite the rules for proxy fights that pit dissident directors against incumbent boards in a manner that will give institutional investors more flexibility when it comes to picking nominees. Icahn applauded the SEC for issuing a draft rule on the subject even though the measure was opposed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the agencys one current GOP commissioner, Michael Piwowar. Story continues Expect Icahn also to be opposed to an effort driven by the corporate community and many mainstream Republicans that would have the SEC shorten the number of days an insurgent investor has to file a public disclosure with the agency in the form of an activist Schedule 13D when the investor acquires 5% or more of a company. In his decades long career as a raider-turned-activist, Icahn has railed against executive compensation packages offered to many top executives. Thats why it is possible Icahn also may be more supportive of an SEC proposal that is unlikely to be approved before the change in administration that would require big financial firm executives to wait much longer to cash out bonuses. He may also back a yet-to-be-approved measure that gives corporations several years to claw back CEO pay connected to misconduct. However, should Icahn identify an SEC chairman that is supportive of limits on CEO pay expect that individual to be at odds with mainstream Republicans, including Piwowar, who are opposed to limits on CEO pay. Icahns position on proxy fight rules and disclosure of positions may be at odds with another candidate reportedly under consideration for SEC Chairman, former agency commissioner, Paul Atkins, a libertarian who is unlikely to move to adopt pay rules if he were picked as chairman. California independence movement supporters claim they have opened what they hope will be the sovereign republic's first embassy overseas. The movement known to social media users as #Calexit may have seen its first step toward secession with the opening of an embassy in Moscow to be used for cultural outreach, according to media reports Tuesday. Yes California, the grassroots organization urging state residents to back the secession of California, said it established in Moscow its first embassy to promote tourism and trade with California. Louis Marinelli, president of Yes California, said the move could eventually see California team up with other foreign governments. "We want to start laying the groundwork for a dialogue about an independent California joining the United Nations now, Marinelli said in an email, the Los Angeles Times reported. A rally of support for a so-called Calexit swelled after Republican Donald Trump was elected president in November, but the secession movement could have a far road ahead of it despite the state's robust economy and large population. If the ballot measure attracts enough signatures to put the issue to a vote in November 2018, a special election on independence would be held in March 2019. After that, it would still need approval from Congress and 38 states. Supporters insist Californians are ready for change. The potential 2018 ballot would ask: Should California become a free, sovereign, and independent country? We didnt have much talk about secession until 15 years ago ... weve seen further growth in support for secession, Jason Sorens, a lecturer in the department of government lecturer at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, who also founded the Free State Project, previously told The Christian Science Monitor in an interview. Voters have sorted more clearly into two parties and have ideologically diverged and created more alienation from the federal government. Story continues Marinelli, a San Diego resident who is working as an English teacher in Russia, met with the Antiglobalization Movement of Russia and 30 other independence groups worldwide during a conference on secessionists rights in September. Yes California will work with any group that shares its values and supports the right of self-determination. [W]e want California to become an independent country and we're not going to hold any punches to make that happen," he told reporters. Marcus Evans, the vice president of Yes California, filed a proposed ballot measure with the Attorney Generals Office in November. We always thought that if we just connected with the people who thought about this, but didnt tell their friends and family because they would be seen as kooky and weird, that the quiet population would become vocal, Evans said. If you dont want to support our suggestion, thats fine. Lets just have the conversation and discuss the facts. Californians have informally debated secession in the past, including during the recent war in Iraq and the George W. Bush administration's decision to keep foreign prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. As a sovereign republic, California could have the worlds sixth-largest economy. Related Articles (Reuters) - The California Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday to hold a hearing in the parole case of Leslie Van Houten who, as a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, took part in one of the most notorious mass murders of the 20th century. California Governor Jerry Brown overturned a California Board of Parole recommendation to release Van Houten in July, saying she was an "unreasonable danger to society," four decades after she was convicted and sentenced to life for the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. In a petition to the state's Supreme Court, her attorney Rich Pfeiffer said Van Houten believed the governor did not have evidence that she remained a risk to the public, the City News Service in Los Angeles reported. The Supreme Court denied the petition for review, according to an entry on the court's online case database. Pfeiffer was not immediately available for comment. Manson, who is also serving a life sentence, directed Van Houten and his other mostly young, female followers - known as the Manson Family - to murder seven people in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war between whites and blacks. Van Houten was found guilty of the LaBianca murders in 1971 and sentenced to death, but that conviction and sentence were overturned on appeal. She was retried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1978. The La Biancas were stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Aug. 10, 1969, after which the killers used their blood to write "Rise", "Death to Pigs" and "Healter-Skelter", a misspelled reference to a Beatles song, on the walls and a refrigerator door. Among the victims of the Manson Family was actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski. She was stabbed 16 times by cult members. Four other people were stabbed or shot to death at Tate's home on Aug. 9, 1969, by Manson's followers, who scrawled the word "Pig" in blood on the front door before leaving. Van Houten was not involved in the Tate murders. Manson is serving out his sentence at Corcoran State Prison in California for the seven Tate-LaBianca killings and the murder of another man, Gary Hinman, in July 1969. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Paul Tait) Cambodian officials have seized 1.5 tonnes of illegal ivory and animal parts hidden in a timber shipment from Mozambique that was destined for China, a wildlife charity and an official said on Thursday. The huge haul -- one of the largest seizures in Cambodia this year -- highlights the Southeast Asian nation's key role in a lucrative and ecologically disastrous illegal wildlife trade primarily fuelled by Chinese demand. According to Wildlife Alliance, a Cambodia-based conservation group which helps authorities track smugglers, customs officials made the bust while searching some shipping containers last Friday on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Hidden behind rare timber logs, they found 1.3 tonnes of African elephant tusks, 10 cheetah skulls, 82 kilograms (180 pounds) of animal bones and 137 kilograms of pangolin scales. "This is a huge case with too many dead elephants. We should be seeking justice for these animals," Kdov Nuch, customs director at Kandal dry port where the interception was conducted, said in the statement. The shipping company on the manifest was the same one involved in a bust in Vietnam in late October in which nearly a tonne of ivory was discovered. Wildlife Alliance said the chief suspect is a Vietnamese national at large who is known for being a key smuggler, but did not name the individual. Un Vannarith, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh forestry administration cantonment, confirmed the seizure to AFP, but declined to elaborate any further. Pictures released by Wildlife Alliance from the raid showed customs officers standing behind hundreds of elephant tusks stacked on wooden palettes and bags filled with pangolin scales. Demand for animal parts, especially in China and Vietnam, has decimated the populations of many rare species and is a major scourge for Africa's already pressured elephants and rhinos. The reclusive pangolin has become the most trafficked mammal on Earth due to soaring demand in Asia for their scales for traditional medicine and their flesh, considered a delicacy. Story continues The scales -- like rhino horn -- are nothing more than keratin, the same substance that makes up finger nails. Yet both are falsely touted as a cure for multiple ailments, including cancer, among some practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. Ivory, a substance which is banned for trading globally, is prized for its beauty. Conservationists have voiced concern that Cambodia, an impoverished nation where rule of law is weak, has emerged as a key transit route for African ivory in recent years. Campi Flegrei, Europes only supervolcano, is showing signs of reawakening and its eruption could affect half a million people, according to a new study. Magma could trigger the release of fluids and gases at an increased rate after a certain threshold, the researchers said. Of the several quiescent calderas worldwide, Campi Flegrei has recently shown among the clearest signs of unrest, the study by Italian and French scientists from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Bologna, Italy, noted. The study was published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. Hydrothermal rocks, if heated, can ultimately lose their mechanical resistance, causing acceleration towards critical conditions, lead author Giovanni Chiodini told Agence France-Presse. The population at risk highlights the urgency of obtaining a better understanding of Campi Flegrei's behavior, Chiodini noted. It, however, remains unclear when exactly the volcano will erupt. Scientists have been detecting an increase of low-level activity and heating since 2005 in the area. They also have been noticing ground and magma deformation in the area. In 2012, the status of Campi Flegrei was changed from green, which refers to the volcano being quiet, to yellow, which means it needs scientific attention. The presence of more than half a million people living in the proximity of the [Campi Flegrei] caldera makes this situation particularly challenging for local authorities and other decision-makers, according to the research. Campi Flegrei was formed nearly 40,000 years ago in an explosion that spewed out several cubic miles of magma, rock and lava. The supervolcano last erupted in 1538. The eruption was relatively smaller and created a new hill called Monte Nuovo. Related Articles Christmas at Sandringham is on! After canceling their annual train trip to Sandringham Estate on Wednesday due to heavy colds, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were well enough to travel Thursday. I can confirm that The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have left Buckingham Palace and are traveling to Sandringham, a spokesperson for the palace said. Instead of their usual train ride, the royals traveled by helicopter. On Wednesday, the 90-year-old monarch was expected to take a train from London to Kings Lynn, but about 30 minutes before she and Philip, 95, were due to arrive at the London station, assembled photographers were told: Its not happening now. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have heavy colds, and so have decided not to travel to Sandringham today, a palace spokesperson said Wednesday. For more celebrity videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. Now that the Queen and Philip are on their way to their Norfolk estate, the royal familys traditional Christmas plans are underway. Each year, the royal family joins Queen Elizabeth at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. On Christmas morning, the royal family makes their way for Christmas services at St. Mary Magdalene church. Each year, hundreds of well-wishers gather to see the royals on their annual march to church. After church, the royal family heads back to Sandringham House for a lunch of Norfolk turkey and other festivities. Capping off a milestone year that saw celebrations surrounding her 90th birthday, the Queen has also decided to hand down some of her patronages to other members of the royal family to ease her workload. Baghdad (AFP) - Mortar fire and car bombs killed more than 30 people including aid workers near Mosul Thursday as Iraqi forces battled to seize the city from the Islamic State group. A triple car bombing on a market killed at least 23 people in Gogjali, a few kilometres (miles) east of Mosul, the army said. Gogjali was retaken by pro-government forces on November 1, two weeks into a massive operation to oust IS jihadists from their last stronghold in Iraq. Since launching the operation against IS on October 17, Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service has advanced into Mosul from the east, but progress has since slowed. "A terrorist attack in the form of three car bombs at a market in Gogjali killed 15 civilians and eight police," a coordination centre for the forces battling IS said in a statement. IS said three of its suicide bombers carried out the attack. Mortar fire also killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in Mosul city, the United Nations said. "According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queueing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire," UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq Lise Grand said in a statement. "Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents" that also wounded up to 40 people, she said. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," Grande said. "The killing of civilians and aid workers violates every humanitarian principle." Iraqi forces pushing towards Mosul on the southern front have yet to enter the city, and another advance from the north has stalled. To the west, forces from pro-government paramilitary groups are close to the town of Tal Afar, between Mosul and the border with Syria. However, areas taken from the jihadists are still exposed to deadly artillery attacks, bombs and gunfire. Story continues - 'Torn to shreds' - Monday's attacks in Gogjali and Mosul came a day after Human Rights Watch said IS was "indiscriminately" attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the jihadists in Mosul. "Residents said (IS) members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were 'unbelievers' and therefore valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces," the rights group said. The jihadists have targeted civilians with mortars, explosives and gunfire, HRW said. Amnesty International said Thursday that children are being killed and wounded as well as witnessing horrific violence during fighting for the city. "Children caught in the crossfire of the brutal battle for Mosul have seen things that no one, of any age, should ever see," the rights group's Donatella Rovera said. "I met children who have not only sustained horrific wounds but have also seen their relatives and neighbours decapitated in mortar strikes, torn to shreds by car bombs or mine explosions, or crushed under the rubble of their homes," she said. Some 100,000 people have fled since the Iraqi operation against IS began, and aid organisations have said they fear it could result in the displacement of more than a million people. The government has encouraged civilians in Mosul -- where a million or more people may still live -- to stay in their homes if possible. That could help prevent a potentially catastrophic wave of displacement. But it also hampers Iraqi forces' progress and exposes civilians to significantly more danger than they would face in camps. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad beginning in June 2014. Iraqi forces supported by a US-led coalition and Iran-backed militias have since regained much of the territory the jihadists took. But the war has taken a significant toll, and commanders have said jihadists have offered stiffer resistance than expected, prompting fears that the operation could drag on. Caterpillar, Inc.s CAT global retail sales for the three-month period ending Nov 2016 plunged 17%. So far this year, Caterpillars monthly sales have posted an average decline of 15%. The companys sales growth has been in the red for an unprecedented stretch of 48 consecutive months. The four straight years of monthly sales decline is much aggravated from the last 19-month long stretch spanning from Oct 2008 to Apr 2010 wherein the company had suffered the same fate due to recession. Caterpillar results continue to bear the brunt of a stronger dollar and low-end user demand across many of the companys businesses due to economic weakness throughout the world. Nevertheless, the Caterpillar stock has outperformed the Zacks Categorized Machinery Construction/Mining industry. The stock has gained from speculations that the mining and construction equipment behemoth will be a major beneficiary if Trump stays true to his promise of infrastructure improvements. A look at Caterpillars price performance since Nov 9 reveals that the company has delivered a return of 3.4%, clearly outpacing the abovementioned Zacks sub industrys gain of 2.9%. As per the companys Nov 2016 sales report, overall performance was dragged down by a 32% slump in Latin America. Sale continues to fall in the Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) and in North America with declines of 26% and 19%, respectively. Asia Pacific region remains the only bright spot, which saw 11% rise in sales. The region has been exhibiting strength since August with the growth graph picking up from single digits to double digits. Overall sales at Resource Industries, which continues to bear the brunt of weak mining spending due to lower commodity prices, were down 24%. Latin American sales witnessed the maximum decline of 37%, followed by a 30% drop in EAME and 28% drop in North America. The Asia Pacific region was the exception, recording a 7% increase. Story continues Sales in Construction Industries decreased 15% year over year, primarily hit by the 30% slump in Latin America. Sales in EAME and North America were down 24% and 17%, respectively. On the contrary, the Asia-Pacific regions recorded an increase of 11%. Sales in the Energy & Transportation segment fell 25% mainly due to a 32% plunge in the Transportation sector. Sales in the Power Generation sector declined 31% followed by the 24% decrease in the Industrial sector. Further, the Oil & Gas sector declined 17%. CATERPILLAR INC Price CATERPILLAR INC Price | CATERPILLAR INC Quote In construction, Asia Pacific is showing promise of late and leading indicators of U.S. non-residential construction signal robust conditions ahead for the domestic construction industry. To counteract the effect of weak mining on its top line, Caterpillar tenaciously continues to cut down costs and reduce capacity. This along with other restructuring actions, and share repurchases will aid the mining behemoth to stay afloat despite weak demand. Caterpillar currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the sector include ACCO Brands Corp. ACCO, EnerSys ENS and John Bean Technologies Corp. JBT. ACCO Brands witnessed a 4% increase in earnings estimates in the last 60 days. The company sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. EnerSys also sports a Zacks Rank #1 and its earnings estimates have gone up 4% in the last 60 days. John Bean Technologies, another Zacks Rank #1 stock, has seen earnings estimates move north by 2% over the same time frame. 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Click to get this free report CATERPILLAR INC (CAT): Free Stock Analysis Report JOHN BEAN TECH (JBT): Free Stock Analysis Report ENERSYS INC (ENS): Free Stock Analysis Report ACCO BRANDS CP (ACCO): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Pascale Denis PARIS (Reuters) - Champagne drinkers in Britain - the biggest export market for bubbly - face higher prices next year as the impact of the shock Brexit vote on the British pound takes its toll, champagne industry executives warned. "The market in Britain is undergoing a period of adjustment. The brands have not yet factored in the effect of foreign exchange rates on their prices," said Charles-Armand de Belenet, marketing director for Pernod Ricard's Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouet champagne brand. The June vote for Britain to quit the European Union led sterling to slump to its lowest level since 1985 against the U.S dollar and to fall against the euro, although it has since edged back up from those lows. [GBP/] The weak pound makes euro-priced products more expensive in sterling terms. French champagne industry executives told Reuters that while they had managed to offset the Brexit impact to an extent this year, with some firms delaying price rises, they would have to raise prices in Britain in 2017 to protect their profit margins. Bruno Paillard, who heads the Lanson champagne house, said that while Lanson's sales were showing signs of an increase from last year, exchange rates remained a worry. "The question of exchange rates is a cause for concern, it represents quite a considerable loss of money," said Paillard. Jean-Marie Barillere, president of the Union of Champagne Houses, said champagne firms that billed in euros were seeing their costs go up and their orders go down. Taittinger head Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger said his company had had a "good year, even in England," but Bollinger executive Jerome Philipon warned champagne drinkers of higher prices next year. "The major brands will have to hike their prices from January onwards. But one price hike still won't compensate for the hits from the exchange rate," he said. France exported 150.7 million bottles of champagne in 2015, worth 2.64 billion euros (2.24 billion pounds), according to an industry group. Britain accounted for nearly 23 percent of France's champagne exports by volume that year, equivalent to 34.2 million bottles. (Writing by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Adrian Croft) On Wednesday, Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable told a New York judge that Fox News is attempting to extract "tens of millions of dollars of subscription fees to which it is not entitled as a matter of contract, industry practice, or common sense." The parties are in court trying to figure out, after Charter and TWC closed their $71.4 billion merger in May, which cable company's agreement governs Spectrum's carriage of Fox News. (Univision and Showtime have filed similar suits on the same subject.) Charter was paying more per subscriber than TWC was, so naturally, Charter now wants to pay Fox News under the TWC deal. According to Fox News, however, Charter can't claim that TWC is the surviving party to contracts after previously telling regulators and shareholders it was acquiring TWC. As Fox News' complaint puts it, "Charter's position that TWC acquired and now manages Charter is a ruse, acting as a fraud on Plaintiff and on the public generally - a point no more clearly seen than that, since its acquisition of TWC, Charter has reportedly decided to vacate the Time Warner Center and move all operations to Charter's offices in Connecticut." Fox News wants a judge to declare that the Charter agreements, not the terminated TWC deals, are the operative ones. Charter has other ideas and is prepared to bring to move forward on the weighing of contracts. "Plaintiff maintains that the deal that should set the terms for the combined New Charter is the higher-rate deal that applied to a smaller operator, with fewer customers, rather than the lower-rate deal that applied to a bigger operator, with more customers," states a court brief. "This is nonsensical and contrary to the fundamental economic logic of the cable industry." For now, however, Charter's attorneys at Paul, Weiss (the same firm hired by Fox News to conduct an investigation of Roger Ailes) are letting the contract claims pass in favor of an effort to dismiss as "duplicative" the non-contract claims like fraud and breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Story continues "This is purely a contractual dispute over which agreement governs the relationship," states a motion to dismiss. Charter also is arguing against the idea of fraud during negotiation of the Fox News agreement. Charter says the fraud claim "is nothing more than a claim that New Charter never intended to follow its contracts," and with respect to what was said during carriage fee talks about the cable company's future plans to become a larger company, Charter tells the judge that statements of future intent are not actionable under New York law. As for "speculation" of what was said to regulators about the merger, Charter points out that any representations to authorities like the FCC came a year after its agreement with Fox News. Plus, Charter believes such allegations are misplaced. "In essence, Plaintiff contends that had Defendants said something different to their regulators, it may have prompted some unspecified action by Fox News, which in turn may have led to some unspecified result," states Charter's motion. "The Amended Complaint, however, does not - and in fact cannot - allege with adequate specificity how Fox News' decision not to make submissions led to any actionable harm." BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing police on Thursday blamed poor driving for an accident in a northern part of the city, where four people were killed when a minibus drove into a market. The incident happened in mid-afternoon on Wednesday in a small town in Beijing's largely rural Changping district, where the minibus drove into an agricultural market. Police said in a short statement the driver "improperly operated" the minibus, causing it to lose control. Another 12 people were injured, none of whom suffered life-threatening injuries. The driver has been detained on suspicion of causing the accident and investigations are underway, the statement said. China has a poor traffic safety record. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait) BEIJING (Reuters) - China has found two more cases of human bird flu infection, bringing this week's total to three and stoking fears the deadly virus could spread at a time when other Asian nations are battling to control outbreaks of the disease. Health officials in nearby South Korea and Japan have been scrambling to contain outbreaks of different strains of bird flu, with the poultry industry there bracing for heavy financial losses. A man diagnosed with the H7N9 strain of bird flu is being treated in Shanghai, after traveling from the neighboring province of Jiangsu, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning said on its website on Wednesday. Shanghai is China's most populated city with more than 24 million residents. The local government in Jiangsu is looking into the origin of the infection, the provincial health authority said on Thursday. In Xiamen, a city in China's eastern Fujian province, local authorities ordered a halt to poultry sales from Thursday in the Siming district, after a 44-year-old man was diagnosed with H7N9 flu on Sunday, state news agency Xinhua reported late on Wednesday. The patient is being treated in hospital and is in stable condition, Xinhua said, citing Xiamen's diseases prevention and control center. The city has a population of about 3.5 million. The latest incidents come after Hong Kong confirmed an elderly man was diagnosed with the disease earlier this week. CHICKEN DEMAND AT RISK? The cases come as South Korea and Japan have ordered the killing of tens of millions of birds in the past month, fueling fears of a regional spread. Bird flu is most likely to strike in winter and spring and farmers have in recent years increased cleaning regimes, animal detention techniques and built roofs to cover hen pens, among other steps, to prevent the disease. In the past two months, more than 110,000 birds have been killed following bird flu outbreaks, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. They did not lead to human infection. Each year, China slaughters 11 billion birds for consumption. Authorities have not culled any birds as a result of this week's episodes, which appear to be isolated. Still, farmers worry the virus could spread, hurting demand for chicken as the Chinese prepare for peak demand during Lunar New Year celebrations at the end of January. Amid recent outbreaks elsewhere, the Chinese are feeding their flocks more vitamins and vaccines and ramping up hen house sterilization to protect their birds. On Wednesday, authorities said they would ban imports of poultry from countries where there are outbreaks of highly pathogenic bird flu. It already prohibits imports from more than 60 nations, including Japan and South Korea. The last major bird flu outbreak in mainland China in 2013 killed 36 people and caused about $6.5 billion in losses to the agriculture sector. Delegations from Japan, South Korea and China gathered in Beijing last week for a symposium on preventing and controlling bird flu and other diseases in East Asia, according to China's agriculture ministry website. (Reporting by Josephine Mason, Hallie Gu and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Joseph Radford and Manolo Serapio Jr.) SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China launched a satellite to monitor its greenhouse gas emissions early on Thursday, the latest step in efforts to cut its carbon footprint, the official Xinhua news agency said. The launch follows the United States joining China in formally ratifying the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions. It also comes as large sections of northern China have been shrouded in near-record levels of air pollution for most of the past week, disrupting flights, closing factories and schools, and forcing authorities to issue red alerts. China launched the satellite via a Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwestern Gobi Desert, Xinhua said. The 620 kg (1,370 lbs) satellite TanSat was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 km (435 miles) above the earth and will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, said Yin Zengshan, chief designer of TanSat at the Chinese Academy of Sciences micro-satellite research institute. The launch comes after an international study showed that world greenhouse gas emissions stayed flat for the third year in a row in 2016, thanks to falls in China. The satellite will provide China's policymakers with independent data for three years, the news agency said. TanSat will take readings of global carbon dioxide every 16 days, accurate to at least 4 parts per million. The rocket carrying TanSat also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring, the agency added. China is the third country after Japan and the United States to monitor greenhouse gases with its own satellite, the agency said. (Reporting by Engen Tham) BEIJING (Reuters) - China's November crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia jumped nearly 30 percent from the year before, customs data showed on Thursday, with the kingdom overtaking Russia to become the largest crude supplier to the world's No.2 economy. Imports from Saudi Arabia rose 29.19 percent on a year earlier to 1.15 million barrels per day (bpd), while supply from Russia climbed 17.92 percent to 1.12 million bpd, the figures showed. Crude oil imports from Iran in November grew 24.48 percent year-on-year to 611,338 bpd, while imports from Iraq rose 15.68 percent to 695,148 bpd. China shipped in 850,425 bpd of crude oil from Angola in November. South American suppliers Brazil and Venezuela have ramped up shipments by 79.16 and 39.17 percent respectively over the first 11 months, mostly due to demand from independent refineries. China's total crude oil imports in November were up 18.3 percent on the year at 7.87 million bpd, rebounding strongly from October. Imports for the first 11 months rose 14 percent to 7.53 million bpd, which represents an incremental purchase of nearly 925,000 bpd. The data came after Saudi-led OPEC and its rival producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output and ease a global glut, lifting prices to 17-month highs. The market is now waiting to see how the pledged cuts will be delivered (Reporting by Aizhu Chen, Muyu Xu and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Joseph Radford) BEIJING (Reuters) - President Xi Jinping said China's approach to regulating its red-hot property market will include financial, fiscal, tax, land, and regulatory measures as Beijing looks to develop a long-term mechanism for an industry prone to speculation. China's home prices rose at the fastest pace on record in November. Prices are rising by more than 20 percent annually in many major cities, making housing increasingly unaffordable for the middle class. "The country should accurately understand the residential feature of housing and form a housing mechanism that serves both purchase and rental purposes and meets housing demands of a new urban population," Xi said on Wednesday, according to comments carried on state media Xinhua after a meeting in Beijing. China will strictly limit credit flowing into property speculation in 2017 and restrain property bubbles and prevent price volatility, the country's top leaders said at a key economic meeting last week. The government has highlighted the need for a well-developed rental market as people are priced out of owning a home. China has for years mulled an annual property tax, though little progress has been made since a limited tax was implemented in Shanghai and Chongqing in 2011. In November the finance minister at the time said China was actively pushing forward reforms on property taxes. Xi said the market will play the leading role in meeting varied housing demand, while the government will satisfy basic housing demand. (Reporting by Elias Glenn; Editing by Michael Perry) A Chinese consortium is set to acquire a 40 percent stake in Pakistan's main bourse, the country's stock exchange said Thursday. At least 17 entities had expressed an interest in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), whose benchmark stock index was one of the best performing indices worldwide in 2016. The deal is estimated to be worth about $84 million, according to an official who requested anonymity. The PSX is currently owned by more than 300 Pakistani brokers. "The bid submitted by Chinese Consortium @ Rs. 28 per share emerged as the highest and acceptable under the relevant regulations," the PSX said in a statement. The consortium comprises three Chinese exchanges -- China Financial Futures Exchange Company Limited, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and two local financial institutions -- Pak-China Investment Company Limited and Habib Bank Limited. "The Divestment Committee will now issue the Letter of Acceptance to the above Consortium, subject to formal approval of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)," the statement added. Following the sale, the company plans to offer 20 percent of its shares to the public, officials say. Under its stock exchange reforms, Pakistan merged its three stock exchanges -- the Karachi Stock Exchange, the Lahore Stock Exchange and the Islamabad Stock Exchange -- to form the PSX in January this year. The benchmark KSE index of 100 shares was at the level of 46,699 points on Thursday, compared with 32,816 points on January 1. Confidence in Pakistan is growing, with the International Monetary Fund claiming in October that the country has emerged from crisis and stabilised its economy after completing a bailout programme. Its credit rating has improved, while there are encouraging signs of foreign investment, such as a massive Chinese infrastructure project officials routinely call a "gamechanger". CARBONDALE -- Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has tried to be a voice of voiceless people and a defender of defenseless people throughout his decade-long term, the diplomat told audiences Wednesday in the SIU Student Center Ballrooms. In his final public lecture as secretary-general, Ban discussed challenges facing the world today and what he has learned during his time in office. The talk -- co-sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and the United Nations Association-USA Southern Illinois Chapter -- marked Bans first visit to SIU, although the university had twice invited him to campus in the past. I believe he chose Southern Illinois (for his final public appearance) because of our strong reputation as a national research university and our rich history of embracing international education, which dates back to 1947, just two years after the founding of the United Nations, Interim Chancellor Brad Colwell said before the lecture. We are extremely proud to enroll students from more than 100 nations each year. During his introductory remarks, Colwell announced that SIU is now a member of the United Nations Academic Impact Program, an initiative launched by the secretary-general in 2010 that connects higher-education institutions with the U.N. Im very glad to be in a place where global citizenship is a part of the schools identity, and where diversity is in the campus DNA, Ban said. The South Korean political leader leaves office at the end of the month and will be succeeded by Antonio Guterres. Im counting the days, Ban joked. Ban, who has served as secretary-general since 2007, said his visit to SIU comes at a time of worldwide transition and uncertainty. For the first time in history, the U.N. and U.S. leadership are changing simultaneously; the U.S. presidential term is four or eight years, and the U.N. secretary-general term is five or 10 years. The world is also undergoing a transition in every sense. We are becoming more urban as more people live in cities. We are becoming younger, with the largest generation of youth the world has ever known, Ban said. Ban said he had served during a decade of turmoil, having watched the world suffer the biggest financial collapse since the Great Depression along with a staggering refugee crisis. There are currently more people in need of humanitarian aid than any time since the end of World War II, and at least 130 million people need daily life-sustaining support by the UN. The past decade has also seen political polarization and shocking crimes against civilians, Ban said. Even in peacetime, basic human decency often seems in short supply, as people look and talk past each other. These challenges have been arduous and complicated as any we have seen in the United Nations history, Ban said. The conflict in Syria has defied the efforts of some of the worlds most experienced mediators, Ban said. I continue to stress that there is no military solution. There is only an inclusive political solution, he said. He described the situation in Aleppo as a synonym to hell, and noted that just a few days ago, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution to deploy United Nations monitors to ensure safe evacuation of civilians. There are fires still burning in Yemen, Mali and South Sudan, where tens of thousands of people have been displaced, the secretary-general said. Despite ongoing global crises, there are gains to report, he said. In the past 10 years, the U.N. successfully ended peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone and will soon do the same in Liberia; it has also helped ensure democratic elections in Guinea and Myanmar. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Progress, adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in 2015, is another recent achievement. The plan contains 17 sustainable development goals to create a healthier, more prosperous world and ensure that the planet remains inhabitable. Ban said he also draws hope from the inroads made in combating climate change. The Paris climate change agreement, signed by 194 countries, aims to restrict greenhouse gas emissions and limit the rise of global average temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. We must make sure that whether it is a Republican administration, Democratic administration, whoevers in power, in the United States and elsewhere, this promise must be kept and fully implemented, Ban said. Ban stressed the importance of leading by example when it comes to sustainability issues. I have devoted all my passion, time and energy to make sure that world leaders move in the right direction. If I did not lead by example, I would not have any convincing power, he said. Ban said we need to de-carbonize industrial operations and focus on developing sustainable energies like wind and solar. Citizens should stay engaged and tell elected officials that they should lead by example in lowering greenhouse gas emissions, Ban said. Even in the universities, there are many areas where you can make sure you dont make (many) greenhouse gas emissions and you use sustainable energy. Can you promise? Ban asked. He was met with applause. Ban was scheduled to visit the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield after his lecture, and said he draws hope from the spirit that resides right here in Southern Illinois. One can draw a straight line from the principles President Lincoln defended to those that animate the United Nations charter. Lincoln was a heroic force for equality, integration and reconciliation, he said. He urged students and young people to become global citizens by looking beyond the United States. Just remember that youre a family member of this world, one world, where we have to live together peacefully, equal to everybody. That can be done only when you have a global citizenship, a global vision. Particularly young people, you have a dynamic passion. I will do this, I will become this. That passion is very good. With a person without passion, you cannot make anything. But if your passion is not accompanied with compassion for others, then you dont know where this passion will go, Ban said. In a question-and-answer session following the lecture, Ban told moderator Jak Tichenor that he would not be alive if not for the UN. He was just 6 years old when the Korean War broke out. When I was poor, the United Nations brought food. They fed us. When I really wanted to study they brought textbooks, and milk, and water, and clothes. So I am a child of the United Nations, he said. Asked about the future of agricultural production, Ban said we need to work toward minimizing food waste in rich countries like the US. Chrissy Teigen has the best Bill Murray story Weve all heard a Bill Murray story in our time. Perhaps he hugged a friend of a friend of a friend and quietly whispered, No one will believe this ever happened. Or maybe he was spotted washing dishes at a random house party in Brooklyn. And as unlikely as it may seem, Chrissy Teigen just shared her own Bill Murray encounter, and its as delightfully weird as we could have hoped. For some backstory, The New Yorker recently released a video of people sharing their stories of Bill Murray unexpectedly appearing in a Murray-sighting support group (and while yes, its very funny, the stories are all from real people). Teigen saw the article, and linked to it on Twitter with the following comment: Wait this happened to me too. A waiter dropped a plate of half eaten food and said it was from "the man at the bar" - it was bill murray https://t.co/b5L7OkV9Pi christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 21, 2016 Okay, just for clarification: The waiter dropped a plate of half-eaten food and said it was from the man at the bar it was Bill Murray. If this is, in fact, true, then its probably one of the funniest things weve ever heard, and convinced us that our cultures strange obsession with Bill Murray is entirely totally valid. Sending a pretty lady a half-eaten plate of food is weird, absurd, and totally pokes fun at a ridiculously tired cliche (aka, The gentleman at the bar sends his regards, waiter hands girl martini from dude she doesnt know and probably doesnt care to). Perhaps one of the most intriguing things about most Murray sightings is that usually, theres always the chance that the tale-teller could have been mistaken. Was it Bill Murray, or was it just someone who looked like Bill Murray? Most of us will never know, and thats what makes these modern-day legends so very powerful (and straight up hilarious). The post Chrissy Teigen has the best Bill Murray story appeared first on HelloGiggles. Christina Grimmies family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the concert promoter and venue where the former The Voice contestant was murdered in June. The lawsuit, filed in the 9th Judicial Circuit of Orange County, Florida, claims wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress [which] arises from the shooting and tragic death of Christina Grimmie. The complaint lists Grimmies father Albert, mother Tina and brother Marcus as plaintiffs. The defendants are concert promoter AEG Live and The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Plaza Foundation, which owns the Plaza Live Theater where Grimmie was killed. The outside security company hired by the venue is also named. Also Read: Christina Grimmie's Autopsy Results Released The suit claims that the defendants failed to take adequate security measures to ensure the safety of the performers and the attendees at the concert venue the night of the attack. By only doing superficial bag checks with no body pat downs or the use of metal detectors to safeguard against concertgoers bringing weapons into the theater, Christinas assailant was permitted to enter The Plaza Live Theater facility with two 9mm Glock handguns, two full magazines and a large hunting knife, the complaint reads. Also Read: Christina Grimmie's Killer Was 'Infatuated' With 'The Voice' Star, Police Say Grimmie, a YouTube sensation and contestant on Season 6 of The Voice, was shot on June 9 outside of the Plaza Live as she signed autographs for fans after a concert. Grimmies brother tackled the gunman, who shot and killed himself in the struggle. Pamela Chelin contributed to this report. Related stories from TheWrap: Christina Grimmie's Autopsy Results Released Christina Grimmie's Killer Was 'Infatuated' With 'The Voice' Star, Police Say Christina Grimmie's Family Releases Tribute to Murdered 'Voice' Star Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Preparations for Christmas are in full swing at the site of Jesus's birthplace, with Bethlehem shops, hotels and church officials planning for more visitors than 2015, when violence put a damper on celebrations. At Manger Square next to the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, the annual giant Christmas tree covered in gold ornaments is in place. Only a handful of Palestinians could be seen taking pictures near the tree on Wednesday while a number of tourists were walking around the city, located a short drive from Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Crowds will however file into the Palestinian city on Saturday for Christmas Eve, when celebrations culminate with midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity -- with the grotto where Jesus is believed to have been born underneath. Some 2,500 tickets are usually given out for the mass and those wishing to attend must register in advance. Beyond that, tens of thousands of tourists are expected to visit sites including Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth over the holidays, tourism officials say. Israel's tourism ministry said some 120,000 visitors were expected in December, half of them Christians. Christians make up less than two percent of the populations of both Israel and the Palestinian territories, though they account for some 28 percent of Bethlehem's 32,000 people. Palestinian officials said they were expecting more visitors than last year, with major hotels in Bethlehem booked. "There is more stability this year and the numbers coming out of the tourism ministry are showing that there will be growth between 2015 and 2016," said Sami Khoury, who runs the Visit Palestine online tourism portal. "There are more bookings this year. A lot of people are coming this month and the hotels are booked." Khoury was unable to provide specific figures. - More hotel bookings - Story continues There is more optimism this year in Israel and the West Bank after a wave of violence and protests that erupted in October 2015 sharply reduced visits for Christmas. The violence saw knife, gun and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians targeting Israelis. Many of the Palestinian assailants were killed by Israeli forces while others were shot dead during clashes and protests. The violence has greatly subsided in recent months, though tourists will still have to cross Israel's West Bank separation barrier to reach Bethlehem. Israel has occupied the West Bank for nearly 50 years. For Wahid al-Laham, a Bethlehem shop owner selling Christmas memorabilia and decorations, shopping has been better than last year but still falls short in comparison to previous years. Christmas shopping "was half the rate of previous years, but 80 percent higher than compared to 2015," he said. The 2014 war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip also decreased tourism that year. But while Israel and the West Bank have seen less violence, Christians across the wider Middle East were facing a "tragedy," a leading church figure said in Jerusalem on Monday. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and who will celebrate Bethlehem's midnight mass, pointed specifically to Syria and Iraq. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem heads the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land. Pizzaballa said up to two-thirds of Christians have left in Iraq and Syria. Christians in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave separated geographically from the West Bank, also face another grim year. The impoverished strip run by Islamist movement Hamas has seen three wars with Israel since 2008. It has been under an Israeli blockade for around a decade, while Egypt's border has also remained largely closed. The vast majority of the two million population are Muslim, though some 3,000 Christians live there. Nasser and Renee Jildeh are planning to have a quiet Christmas at their house near the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City, with only a small tree as a decoration. "We used to get a big Christmas tree decorated with beautiful things and put it near the entrance of the house," Renee Jildeh said. "But now we don't buy anything because of the bad economic situation." Islamabad (AFP) - A Christmas-themed train on Thursday set out on a journey to criss-cross Pakistan in an effort to promote tolerance in the overwhelmingly Muslim country. Adorned with Christmas lights and mock snowmen, and with carriages that have portraits and tributes to notable Christian Pakistanis, the government says it hopes to change mindsets in Pakistan, where attacks and persecution of religious minorities have become routine. Christians make up an estimated 1.6 percent of Pakistan's 200 million people and have long faced discrimination -- sidelined into lowly paid jobs and often the target of trumped-up blasphemy charges. "This is a sign of tolerance, everybody will celebrate Christmas together," Human Rights Minister Kamran Michael told AFP, adding that members of the public would be welcomed to visit the train and see its exhibits along its many stops. It set off Thursday afternoon from Islamabad to Peshawar, capital of the conservative northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and will travel to Lahore on Christmas day before leaving for southern Karachi on January 1. Discrimination and violence against religious minorities is commonplace in Pakistan, where Muslims account for more than 90 percent of the population. A bomb attack on a park in Lahore on Easter Sunday in March killed 73 people, with the Pakistani Taliban claiming the attack and saying they had targeted Christians. Twin suicide attacks against churches in Lahore killed 17 people in March last year, sparking two days of rioting by thousands of Christians. Agnes, a Catholic Pakistani who attended the launch ceremony, said she was grateful for the gesture, while acknowledging it was symbolic. "It's nothing more than a function -- but it makes me feel proud, it is a first step," she said. "Let's hope we can celebrate christmas in peace and harmony in the many years to come". HONOLULU (AP) A 19-year-old college student has been charged with animal cruelty, nearly a year after seabirds were found dead at a Hawaii nature reserve. Christian Gutierrez is charged with 14 counts of animal cruelty and other charges. The Hawaii Department of Public Safety says he turned himself in Tuesday and was released after posting $25,000 bail. Hawaii News Now reports there were at least 15 destroyed nests of Laysan albatrosses at Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve last December. Gutierrez's attorney, Myles Breiner, says his client didn't harm any birds. He says Gutierrez was camping at Kaena Point with a group of classmates from Punahou School, a prestigious prep school in Honolulu. Breiner says one of the others is responsible. According to a police report, Gutierrez attends New York University. He's scheduled to be arraigned next week. BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Some 4,000 jailed Colombian guerrillas are waiting anxiously on an amnesty bill that would allow them to leave behind long prison sentences and rejoin their comrades as part of a peace deal. The amnesty is the first legislative initiative to emerge from the accord between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the government that was ratified last month, ending a half-century of warfare that has left more than 220,000 people dead and almost 6 million displaced. The bill easily cleared two congressional committees this week and is expected to be passed in early January. The Associated Press visited La Picota prison in the capital, Bogota, and spoke with the rebels all 150 or so still consider themselves FARC members about their plans for the future. Their common living quarters, Patio 4, looks more like a small-town plaza than a maximum-security prison, with prisoners reclining in hammocks, playing dominoes and selling soft drinks from makeshift stores. The same hierarchy and discipline required on the battlefield are also present here: All the guerrillas said they are ready to take up any assignment from FARC commanders to help the group transition into a political movement. But they also worry about what life on the outside has in store. Foremost among their concerns is whether they may be hunted down by former adversaries from demobilized right-wing paramilitary groups. "They're going to want to get back at us for things that happened during the armed conflict, and now they'll be able to do it easily," said Orlando Traslavino, one of the leaders of the Domingo Bioho column, as the FARC prisoners call themselves. This year more than 70 leftist activists, many of them from rural areas where the FARC dominates, have been killed by unknown assailants. The slayings recall the bloodshed that accompanied a previous peace process with the FARC in the 1980s, when thousands of activists were killed. Story continues Many of the jailed rebels' only crime is rebellion. Those convicted of or facing charges of more serious offenses will now have to provide testimony to special peace tribunals to judge atrocities committed on all sides. Traslavino, who was captured by security forces 11 years ago, said many of his comrades don't have any marketable skills and risk being recruited by criminal and drug-trafficking gangs that could fill the void left once the FARC's 8,000-plus fighters disarm. "It's no secret that many joined the FARC as children," said Traslavino. "The only thing they know is how to fire a weapon." (Paul Wallace is a former European economics editor of The Economist and author of "The Euro Experiment." The opinions expressed here are his own.) By Paul Wallace Dec 22 (Reuters) - "Rogue One," the latest in the Star Wars franchise, has had mixed reviews but features one undisputed star: K-2SO, a gangly robot with the best lines. Movies of the distant future always tap into current anxieties, and the latest alarm is that the robots are coming. Droids may not conquer the world, but they will take over its work - white-collar as well as blue-collar. Could these filmmakers know something we don't? Previous scares, such as when Time magazine reported on "the automation jobless" in the early 1960s, were just that. But many technology gurus insist that this time is different as artificial intelligence (AI) comes of age. Amazon has recently made its first commercial delivery by drone to a customer near Cambridge, England. It is also trying out a grocery store in Seattle that does away with the hassle of checkout lines. Several American states now permit the operation and testing of "autonomous vehicles." These applications of technology reflect extraordinary advances in AI. Cloud robotics liberate machines from a stand-alone existence as they share data with one another. Machine intelligence is burgeoning as "deep learning" allows computers to form associations and to predict appropriate responses by processing huge volumes of data. As a result robots are poised to march off the assembly lines where they perform narrowly defined repetitive tasks and into the wider world of work. Innovations such as driverless vehicles and drones could displace swaths of jobs in transport and delivery. Administrative and support roles in offices are also up for grabs. A report from accountancy firm Deloitte in 2015 depicted multiple robots as "a virtual workforce - a back-office processing center but without the human resources." As much as 47 percent of American employment is at high risk of being automated over the next 10 to 20 years, reckoned Oxford University's Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne in 2013. They subsequently worked out that 35 percent of British jobs were similarly vulnerable. Based on their figures, Andrew Haldane, the Bank of England's chief economist, has estimated that up to 15 million British jobs could be automated - close to half the current total. Story continues But the new jobs panic is exaggerated and misplaced. For one thing, political and social caution may block some of the potential uses, such as self-driving cars. For another, many jobs will continue to require a blend of skills, flexibility and judgement that is difficult to automate. David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argues that such employment requires "tacit" expertise that cannot readily be codified. A study by researchers at the Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim, published this year by the OECD, disputed the gloomy prognostications of Frey and Osborne. It argued that their estimates overstated potential job losses by assuming that whole occupations would be displaced rather than specific tasks within them. That mattered because apparently highly vulnerable occupations such as bookkeeping and accountancy generally involve crucial social interactions. By examining tasks rather than occupations, the Mannheim research team found that only nine percent of American jobs and 10 percent of British ones were especially susceptible to automation. Most important, it is much easier to project the jobs that may be lost than to imagine the ones that will be created. In the 20th century agricultural employment dropped from 40 to 2 percent of the American workforce. Farsighted experts in 1900 might have predicted a collapse in farming jobs. But as Autor pointed out in a recent TED talk, it would have been far harder to envisage the vast variety of new jobs such as radiologists and yoga instructors which kept employment more than rising in pace with the population. Two decades ago the dotcom boom was under way, but who even then could have foreseen the explosion in social media? Today's tech hubs such as Silicon Valley and trendy parts of Berlin and London are full of young people doing jobs like designing smartphone apps that have only just sprung into existence. Beyond jobs that are the direct offspring of new technologies there are a host of ones that are indirectly generated through higher productivity. A more efficient food industry lets households spend less of their income on home cooking and more on eating out, creating jobs in restaurants. More generally, consumers can splash out more on a wide range of discretionary purchases, creating jobs for personal trainers and tour guides. Could the new jobs that will be created lag behind those that are destroyed? This seems unlikely. The progress in artificial intelligence is the latest stage in a much longer revolution in information technology, stretching back to mainframe computers after World War Two, spreading to personal computers in the 1980s and the internet in the 1990s. Yet throughout these successive waves of disruption employment has carried on rising. The real cause for concern is not about the number of jobs but their quality. Automation looks set to continue whittling away mid-skilled routine jobs while expanding those requiring both high and low skills. The only realistic answer to this increasing polarization is to redouble efforts to foster lifelong learning and to upgrade skills and expertise. The latest predictions of a world without workers will prove to be as wildly off the mark as previous ones. Science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov formulated his famous three laws of robots to ensure they would not run amok. A fourth one is needed: robots won't kill work. They will indeed destroy many existing jobs, but humans will create new ones to replace them. (Reporting by Paul Wallace) The physician-owned company is the first to offer state-specific medical, administrative, and business growth resources for providers adding cannabis to their practice PITTSBURGH, PA / ACCESSWIRE / December 22, 2016 / The medical cannabis industry exists only when physicians and clinicians corroborate with state laws and regulations. A lack of recommending providers can hinder the industry in a state, and foster an exploitative environment where doctors become a front for adult use. Compassionate Certification Centers (CCC) is a physician-led and owned company dedicated to preventing both those outcomes by supporting a well-educated network of providers. The organization is designed for healthcare professionals, offering accredited resources and diagnostic tools to ensure a vibrant and inclusive medical community. For more information visit compassionatecertificationcenters.com, or call 1-888-316-9085. Based in Pittsburgh, CCC is the first company in the United States to offer Medical Marijuana Membership Services for physicians in legalized states and those with pending legislation. "We as providers have an obligation to understand the treatment options that are available today. Whether you believe in medical marijuana or not, it is ultimately for your patients," explained CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Bryan Doner. The medical marijuana consulting company provides a full spectrum of industry-focused resources, including: research, marketing, networking, legal services, access to patients, and more. "Our organization was founded to provide best-practices education to medical professionals, while helping administrative personnel manage the inevitable growth that occurs when cannabis is carefully and properly added to a practice. In this way, we support the entire industry," said COO Melonie Kotchey. CCC will be hosting the World Medical Marijuana Business Conference & Expo in Pittsburgh, on April 21-22, 2017. The inaugural conference is the first of its size, and will introduce new medical methodologies and advance the national healthcare agenda on an unprecedented scale. Story continues Nearly 250 medical marijuana related companies and non-profit organizations are expected, as well as thousands of industry leaders, policy makers, and entrepreneurs from throughout the country. To hear an audio podcast or read an interview with CEO Dr. Bryan Doner, visit www.compassionatecertificationcenters.com/media/. About Compassionate Certification Centers Compassionate Certification Centers is a Syndikos Investments, LLC portfolio brand based in Middleton, Delaware, that produces the World Medical Marijuana Business Conference & Expo. Compassionate Certification Centers implements the first of its kind membership program for all types of healthcare providers to access medical cannabis research and patients throughout the U.S. states, district and territories. Membership program benefits feature tools and resources needed to operate healthcare providers' own certification centers including: potential patients based on geography, research, full-spectrum marketing, peer networking, legal documents and services, cannabis education and CME credits, cannabis product training, and much more. Compassionate Certification Centers is based in Pittsburgh, for more information visit compassionatecertificationcenters.com or join the discussion at Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Google+. LEGAL DISCLOSURE Compassionate Certification Centers does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act (US.CSA). Information Compassionate Care Centers: Melonie Kotchey, info@compassionatecertificationcenters.com, 888-316-9085 ext.101, or Sven Hosford, sven@compassionatecertificationcenters.com, 412-915-5340. Proven Media: Kim Prince, kim@provenmediaservices.com, 480-221-7995, or Neko Catanzaro, neko@provenmediaservices.com, 401-484-4980. SOURCE: Compassionate Certification Centers Families trying to do right by their college-age students are the latest victims of the state's ongoing budget mess, with funding on hold for Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants. Money for continuing the state grants was not included in the stopgap funding bill passed earlier this year, although several state universities said they would continue to enroll the students through the second semester. Other students, including some at private universities, aren't as lucky as those schools are making some very difficult choices of their own. As reported by (the JG-TC) Springfield bureau last week, a new survey from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the grants through the Monetary Award Program, suggests some schools that covered the grants in the fall arent making guarantees for the spring. Of the 96 colleges and universities that responded to the survey, 53 percent said they would guarantee the funding for the spring semester, down from 60 percent in the fall, although not all schools responded to the survey. The stopgap budget plan (which ends Dec. 31) included money to finish paying off last years MAP grants, but didn't include money for the current year. Most schools covered the amounts for the fall, but not all are doing that for the spring. (Eastern Illinois University) is, but Illinois Wesleyan University (for example) is changing its policy to case-by-case eligibility. A majority of schools that are covering the grants said they would require students to repay them if the state doesnt come through with the money, or reduces the program's funding level. As the state continues to stumble along through another budget stalemate, lawmakers and other state leaders need to pay close attention to the people and programs they choose to fund or not fund. If there is a non-government grant available for a particular program, perhaps the state's grant could be shaved or dropped. The type of program also needs to be taken into consideration: Surely education is a higher priority one that would pay off in benefits for years to come than other programs of more questionable design. Not every student will get state aid for attending college, but those who do have the greatest need those who qualify for MAP grants and should be given priority, as should the program itself. Education is the key to a good life, a good economy and a good future. Illinois needs to make sure its funding priorities are front and center, not just for MAP grants, but for vocational, pre-k, secondary and post-secondary learning and teaching. We call on our legislators and legislative leaders to step up and do the right thing. Yes, we've asked them to do that time and time again, and will continue until they do. -- Bloomington Pantagraph * Reports Q2 adj. profit of $0.49/shr vs est $0.45 * Expects sales trends to improve in second half * Shares touch record high of $39.40 (Adds details from conference call, updates shares) Dec 22 (Reuters) - ConAgra Brands Inc, the maker of Chef Boyardee pasta and Orville Redenbacher's popcorn, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as the company benefited from less discounting and lower costs. The company's shares rose as much as 3.68 percent to touch a record high of $39.40 in morning trading on Thursday. The packaged foods maker has been trying to boost profit by investing in higher-margin products such as Reddi-wip whipped cream and Hunt's ketchup and clamping down on unprofitable volume sales to retailers. ConAgra said gross margin rose 270 basis points to 31 percent in the second quarter ended Nov. 27. Part of that came from higher prices on upgraded products such as Banquet's frozen meals, which were previously sold at $1. ConAgra has tweaked the brand's recipes, adding more chicken to pot pies and cream to mashed potatoes. Margins were also helped by more effective promotions for the company's premium meals, Tom McGough, president of ConAgra's consumer foods business, said on a conference call. The Chicago-based company said it would push ahead with efforts to shore up margins and to reshape its portfolio by exiting low-profit brands and adding products through acquisitions. The quarterly results were the first since ConAgra spun off its Lamb Weston frozen potato business in November to become a branded-foods only company. The company sold its loss-making private label business to TreeHouse Foods Inc in February. Net income attributable to ConAgra fell to $122.1 million, or 28 cents per share, in the quarter, from $154.9 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier. Selling and general expenses fell 13.5 percent to $417.9 million. Excluding items, the company earned 49 cents per share from continuing operations, beating the average analyst estimate of 45 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Story continues Net sales fell 11.5 percent to $2.09 billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $2.11 billion. The company said it expects sales trends to improve in the second half of the year. Up to Wednesday's close of $38, ConAgra's stock had risen about 16 percent since the start of the year. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto) (Reuters) - ConAgra Brands Inc (CAG.N), the maker of Chef Boyardee pasta and Orville Redenbacher's popcorn, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as the company benefited from less discounting and lower costs. The company's shares rose as much as 3.68 percent to touch a record high of $39.40 in morning trading on Thursday. The packaged foods maker has been trying to boost profit by investing in higher-margin products such as Reddi-wip whipped cream and Hunt's ketchup and clamping down on unprofitable volume sales to retailers. ConAgra said gross margin rose 270 basis points to 31 percent in the second quarter ended Nov. 27. Part of that came from higher prices on upgraded products such as Banquet's frozen meals, which were previously sold at $1. ConAgra has tweaked the brand's recipes, adding more chicken to pot pies and cream to mashed potatoes. Margins were also helped by more effective promotions for the company's premium meals, Tom McGough, president of ConAgra's consumer foods business, said on a conference call. The Chicago-based company said it would push ahead with efforts to shore up margins and to reshape its portfolio by exiting low-profit brands and adding products through acquisitions. The quarterly results were the first since ConAgra spun off its Lamb Weston frozen potato business in November to become a branded-foods only company. The company sold its loss-making private label business to TreeHouse Foods Inc (THS.N) in February. Net income attributable to ConAgra fell to $122.1 million, or 28 cents per share, in the quarter, from $154.9 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier. Selling and general expenses fell 13.5 percent to $417.9 million. Excluding items, the company earned 49 cents per share from continuing operations, beating the average analyst estimate of 45 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Net sales fell 11.5 percent to $2.09 billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $2.11 billion. Story continues The company said it expects sales trends to improve in the second half of the year. Up to Wednesday's close of $38, ConAgra's stock had risen about 16 percent since the start of the year. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto) At least 34 people have been killed by government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of nationwide protests over the countrys president refusing to step down from office after his term expired, Reuters reported. President Joseph Kabila was still in power at the time the Thursday report was published. Congolese police have been squaring off with anti-Kabila activists since Monday when Kabila did not step down despite his presidential term ending at midnight that day. Government security forces utilized tear gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to subdue the boisterous crowds, prompting The U.S., Britain, the European Union and the United Nations to all condemn the Congolese government and its security forces for violating human rights when outlawing the protests. A statement issued by U.S. government on Tuesday pressed Kabilas security forces to Respect the rights of Congolese citizens to assemble peacefully and express their opinions without fear of retaliation, retribution, or arbitrary arrest. While the large majority of those who lost their lives were protestors shot and killed in the streets by government security forces, some were pedestrian bystanders who died from being in caught in the crossfire, a representative of the Human Rights Watch said. Evidence indicated that between 19 and 26 people were killed in Kinshasa and the countrys second most populated city of Lubumbashi during demonstrations on Monday night and Tuesday. Roughly 50 people were injured, the Guardian reported. As for incarcerations, Congolese police spokesman Col Pierre Mwanamputu said 275 people had been detained since Monday and 116 were still behind bars. A Congolese constitutional court verdict in October ruled that Kabila could remain the president until his successor was elected democratically, according to Africa News Tuesday. But anti-Kabila demonstrators accused the leader of purposely allowing his presidency to expire without holding an election in order to stay in power. Story continues Congolese government authorities have said that an election hasnt happened yet because of financial impediments. Therefore, the election is currently scheduled for April of 2018. The Catholic Church in Congo has played an intricate role in mediating between the protesters demands and the will of the government. Church representatives have made it their goal to resolve the political conflict by Christmas. Related Articles Ex-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at a rally in Buffalo, N.Y., last April. (Photo: John Minchillo/AP) Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trumps first campaign manager, announced Wednesday that he and another Trump campaign veteran are launching a government relations and political consulting firm. In a conversation with Yahoo News, Lewandowski said the company, Avenue Strategies, will back candidates who support the Trump agenda and help corporate clients navigate the new government. Lewandowski insisted his new venture isnt a break with Trumps campaign pledge to drain the swamp and change the traditional Washington scenario in which former politicos cash in on their connections. I can promise you I will not be a registered lobbyist, Lewandowski said. Yeah, I can promise you I will not be a swamp creature. The launch of Avenue Strategies was first reported by the Washington Examiners David Drucker, who said Barry Bennett, Lewandowskis partner in the firm, would be registering as a lobbyist. The two partners sent out a press release Wednesday touting the fact their firm will be just a block from the White House, in the same building as the D.C. headquarters of Trumps presidential transition team. Lewandowski worked with Trump from the earliest days of his long-shot presidential bid last year. He was fired in June after months of controversy that included battery charges after he allegedly grabbed the arm of a female reporter at a Trump campaign event in Florida. The state attorneys office declined to prosecute Lewandowski for the incident. Despite his exit from the campaign, Lewandowski, who went on to work as an election commentator for CNN, has remained close with Trump. He regularly provided advice during the final months of the presidential race and has met with the president-elect during the transition. In the press release announcing Avenue Strategies launch, Lewandowski said he will always be President-elect Trumps biggest supporter. Lewandowski told Yahoo News that he decided to launch the company after turning down multiple opportunities to take a job in Trumps White House. Story continues If you ask anybody who has happened to know me for the last 20 years, they will tell you that I am not the type of person to traditionally go inside an agency or an administration. Thats not where I can produce the best value, said Lewandowski. He added, I think my value proposition is best where I can help coordinate outside entities to support an administration or to support objectives of that administration, whether thats grassroots activities or grasstops activities, something of that nature. Lewandowski would not say whether he discussed plans for the company with Trump. I dont want to talk about any private conversations which I may or may not have had with the president-elect, Lewandowski said. Prior to leading the Trump campaign, Lewandowski worked for multiple campaigns, as a lobbyist and as a marine patrol officer in his home state of New Hampshire. He also held positions with the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, a major force behind the tea party movement. Bennett managed Ben Carsons presidential campaign before becoming a senior adviser to Trump when Carson left the race. Trump nominated Carson for the position of secretary of housing and urban development earlier this month. Lewandowski and Bennett first met roughly 20 years ago when they were both working as chiefs of staff for Ohio congressmen. Lewandowski called Bennett a very, very capable operative and praised his work on Carsons campaign. They raised an enormous amount of money. They were very successful, and they built a long-term opportunity for Dr. Carson, Lewandowski said. On the political front, Lewandowski said their goal would be helping other candidates tap into the movement started by Trump. That movement was not harnessed in a way until the very end because many of the people fell outside the traditional political structure. So, in other words, they didnt identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats, Lewandowski said. They identified themselves as Americans, and Donald Trump tapped into the desire to make America great again and put America first. And I want to make sure that that movement continues. Trumps campaign was distinctive because the candidate was able to generate significant media coverage through social media posts and comments made in rallies and interviews rather than paying for television advertisements. Lewandowski said he would aim to help candidates connect with voters through social media, but he cautioned that Trumps approach cant necessarily be replicated by another politician. Donald Trump brings a unique perspective to the media, and his ability to drive the narrative is unlike anybody else I have ever seen, Lewandowski said. Lewandowski said incumbents shouldnt be concerned about him backing candidates who will run against them as long as they toe Trumps line. Its not about being worried because Donald Trump wants to bring people together, but what I do think is fair to do is to hold people accountable if theyre not supporting the agenda, which is the presidents agenda, Lewandowski said. While Lewandowski told Yahoo that political campaigns will take up a lot of my focus, he also has plans to work with corporate clients at Avenue Strategies. The other part of our business model is helping corporate clients receive a fast answer from the government whether its the answer they want or the answer they dont want. You know, government stagnation has been more of a detriment to small businesses than anything, said Lewandowski. Not getting a fast answer often requires companies falling into what they call the valley of death, where theyve got a little bit of money, but they dont have enough money, and theyre in that in-between. We can be helpful where companies can get a fast no rather than a long maybe. Currently, Lewandowski lives with his family in New Hampshire. While Avenue Strategies will be headquartered in Washington, Lewandowski isnt ready to commit to moving just yet. I think Im going to have to spend a lot more time in Washington than I have for the last two years. Thats for certain, he said. BERLIN (AP) A German man angered by loud fireworks has been convicted of murdering an 11-year-old girl on New Year's Day, a slaying that prosecutors called "pointless and absurd." The girl, identified only by her first name Janina, died after being shot in the back of the head while out celebrating in the village of Unterschleichach, north of Nuremberg. The Bavarian state court in Bamberg sentenced the man to 12 years in prison Thursday. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for the 54-year-old man. The man, who wasn't named in line with German privacy laws, had been angered by loud fireworks and used a revolver to fire randomly at a group of women and children. During the trial he denied intending to kill anybody. The United States Coast Guard was called in to search for a man who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship off the coast of the Florida Keys Thursday morning. A 22-year-old man was reportedly seen jumping from the 12th deck of the ocean liner at 1:49 a.m. about 33 miles southeast of Key Largo. A Coast Guard Air Station Miami MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, an Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew, a Station Islamorada boat crew and the Cutter Margaret Norvell crew are assisting in the search, the Coast Guard said in a news release. Royal Caribbean confirmed the Independence of the Seas cruise ship was finishing a four-night trip and was on its way back to port in Florida when the incident occurred. We are saddened to report a guest onboard Independence of the Seas was witnessed intentionally going overboard from deck 12 at 1:45 a.m., the company said in a statement. The ship immediately alerted local authorities and turned around to help search for our guest. Two of the ships lifeboats and the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a search. The ship continued on its way to Florida after the Coast Guard officially took over the search, NBC Miami reported. The Coast Guard typically steps in when passengers go missing from cruise liners, be it deliberately or accidentally. From 2006 to 2016, 283 people fell overboard from cruise ships, Cruise Junkie reported. Two passengers went missing from cruise ships in separate incidents in May alone. A 46-year-old man fell 100 feet overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship also near Key Largo. The Coast Guard looked for David Mossman of Texas for 48 hours before the search was called off. A 33-year-old woman went missing from a Carnival Cruise ship sailing the Mexico coast. The Coast Guard covered more than 4,300 square miles during a 20-hour search before it was called off. Related Articles Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) (AFP) - Every time Meder Jumayev looks at his wristwatch, the pensioner is happy to see a familiar face looking back at him. The watch face shows Saparmurat Niyazov, who as ruler of isolated Turkmenistan from before the end of the USSR to his death in 2006 created one of the world's most flamboyant personality cults. "I wear it all the time as a reminder of those days," said Jumayev, who used to teach courses on Niyazov's spiritual advice book, the Ruhnama, at a university in the gas-rich republic's capital Ashgabat. Such images are now rare in the Central Asian state, where everything from vodka to dairy products once bore Niyazov's face. In fact, Niyazov merchandise has almost vanished from sale entirely as his successor Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov -- a former dentist and minister in Niyazov's rubber-stamp cabinet -- looks to fashion his own cult. "These two presidential cults are really very similar in nature and function," said Luca Anceschi, a regional expert at the University of Glasgow. "The difference is mostly in the extremes of the Niyazov cult," he said, citing a vast book-shaped statue that Niyazov put up to honour the Ruhnama -- which used to mechanically open each evening, accompanied by an audio recording -- as "just incredible". Such excesses reportedly even amazed Niyazov's authoritarian counterparts in the region, Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan, who died this year, and Nursultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan. In a recent interview with Russian current affairs site Republic.ru, Kyrgyzstan's ex-president Askar Akayev claimed the Uzbek and Kazakh leaders "used to joke about (Niyazov) a bit." They nicknamed him "Super-murat", Akayev recalled. - 'Fatherly care' - The statue of Niyazov's book of folk wisdom still stands in Ashgabat, but Berdymukhamedov removed the text from the school curriculum in 2013. Story continues And recently a member of the state-controlled intelligentsia urged Berdymukhamedov to publish his own wise thoughts in place of Niyazov's. The 59-year-old will seek a fresh seven-year term in February in a vote lacking real competition. Echoing his predecessor, Berdymukhamedov has written books on tea, horses and traditional medicine and has his own massive golden statue to rival one of Niyazov that used to rotate according to the sun's movements. One honour that Berdymukhamedov is unlikely to claim, however, is Niyazov's title of "Turkmenbashi," or Father of all Turkmen, denoting his status as the founder of the majority-Muslim country. "Even Russian-speakers affectionately called him 'Papa'," said 50-year-old Ashgabat resident Vera Fomina. "I miss Niyazov. An entire generation grew up under his rule." She added: "I remember his fatherly care and his attention and kindness to people -- as well as the stable food prices and social benefits for the public." - 'Self-made man' - Commemorations marking the tenth anniversary of Niyazov's death on Wednesday were low-key. He received no mention in the state newspapers, while state television aired a three-minute report showing citizens laying flowers at his grave. Berdymukhamedov and other top officials were not shown participating in the commemorations. Niyazov's early life was marred by tragedy. When he was just two years old, his father was killed in World War II, according to his official biography. Six years later his mother died in an earthquake in Ashgabat, and he spent time in a state children's home. Niyazov renamed the month of April after his mother, but it has been changed back since his death. The eccentricities of Niyazov's post-independence reign stood in contrast with his previous career, which followed a typical Soviet path. As head of Turkmenistan's Communist Party from 1985, Niyazov was a hardliner and ambivalent about the reforms championed by then-leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Once free of Moscow, he presided over a shocking human rights record including widespread torture allegations, while the domestic media glorified him on a daily basis. In 2003, the Economist magazine named Turkmenistan the world's worst place to live. The country only had one presidential election under Niyazov, in 1992. He ran uncontested and won 99.5 percent of the vote. "From a children's home to the Great Turkmenbashi: in the West you might call him a self-made man," joked a foreign diplomat based in Ashgabat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Many in Turkmenistan still admire Niyazov, but there is also a recognition that some aspects of life have improved since his death. Berdymukhamedov lifted a ban on opera, abolished exit visas and made the internet accessible -- albeit tightly controlled -- for ordinary citizens. "I think people respect (Turkmenbashi's) historical role," said the foreign diplomat. "But few would choose to go back and live according to his precepts." NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 22, 2016 / CytoDyn Inc. (the "Company") (CYDY), a biotechnology company focused on the development of new antibody therapies for combating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and other diseases, announces that it has engaged the expertise of NetworkNewsWire ("NNW"), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company that delivers a new generation of social communication solutions, news aggregation and syndication, and enhanced news release services. NNW's strategies help public and private organizations find their voice and build market visibility via social media and a rapidly expanding distribution network of well over 5,000 key syndication outlets. "Maintaining strong communication with CytoDyn shareholders is highly important as we pursue regulatory approval of PRO 140, our leading monoclonal antibody for HIV infection," says Nader Pourhassan, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of CytoDyn. "As we focus on our ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial with PRO 140, NNW will work behind the scenes and use its vast network to keep existing and potential investors up-to-date on our progress." As part of the Client-Partner relationship with CytoDyn, NNW will leverage its investor-based Brand Network of partners, various newsletters, social media channels, blogs, and other outreach tools to generate greater brand awareness for the Company. "Though tremendously invaluable, communication strategies are an often overlooked aspect of business for many biotech and biopharma companies," states Sherri Franklin, director of Content Marketing for NNW. "CytoDyn, however, is taking a proactive approach in making sure the investment community is aware of its progress. We look forward to working with this exciting company as it addresses a significant global concern and advances its clinical development of monoclonal antibodies for treatment of HIV infection." About CytoDyn CytoDyn is a biotechnology company focused on the clinical development and potential commercialization of humanized monoclonal antibodies for the treatment and prevention of HIV infection. The Company has one of the leading monoclonal antibodies under development for HIV infection, PRO 140, which has completed Phase 2 clinical trials with demonstrated antiviral activity in man and is currently in Phase 3. PRO 140 blocks the HIV co-receptor CCR5 on T cells, which prevents viral entry. Clinical trial results thus far indicate that PRO 140 does not negatively affect the normal immune functions that are mediated by CCR5. Results from seven Phase 1 and Phase 2 human clinical trials have shown that PRO 140 can significantly reduce viral burden in people infected with HIV. A recent Phase 2b clinical trial demonstrated that PRO 140 can prevent viral escape in patients during several months of interruption from conventional drug therapy. CytoDyn intends to continue to develop PRO 140 as a therapeutic anti-viral agent in persons infected with HIV and to pursue non-HIV indications where CCR5 and its ligand CCL5 may be involved. Story continues For more information visit www.CytoDyn.com. About NetworkNewsWire NetworkNewsWire (NNW) provides news aggregation and syndication, enhanced press release services and a full array of social communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and distribution company with an extensive team of journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies who need to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. NNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today's market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge. For more information, visit https://www.NetworkNewsWire.com Please see full disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website: http://nnw.fm/Disclaimer NNW Contact: NetworkNewsWire (NNW) New York, New York www.NetworkNewsWire.com 212.418.1217 Office Editor@NetworkNewsWire.net SOURCE: CytoDyn Inc. 100 years ago, Dec. 22, 1916 CHARLESTON -- Emery Andrews, Republican of Mattoon, will be the Coles County states attorney for the coming four years. In the contest brought by Ira Powell, his Democratic opponent in the election of Nov. 7, Mr. Andrews is declared the winner by a majority of 32 votes, a gain of two votes given him on the night of the election. A recount of the ballots was finished this morning when Precinct 7 of Mattoon was ended. On the face of the recount, the vote stands at Andrews 4,513 and Powell, 4,483 MATTOON The Mattoon Post Office will remain open on Christmas morning until 10 oclock, according to an announcement this morning by Postmaster E.F. Poorman. The office will be closed all day Sunday, as usual. On Christmas morning, city and rural carriers will make their usual rounds. Parcel post carriers will be kept busy through the entire day MATTOON the temperature dropped during the night to 4 degrees below zero, according to the thermometers of Captain J. Withington, local authority on the weather. This is the coldest temperature so far this winter WASHINGTON The population of the United States and its territorial possessions is approximately 112,144,620, according to a table given out today by the U.S. Census Bureau. New York, as first city, has 5,602,841 residents; and Chicago, second, with 2,497,722. 50 years ago, 1966 MATTOON -- Plans to spend $4 million in expanding facilities and production capabilities of the General Electric Co.'s Mattoon lamp plant were revealed today by plant Manager Robert W. Wright. Addition of new manufacturing, warehouse and employee service areas scheduled for completion in 1968 will nearly double the size of the present facility, Wright said. The plant, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in Mattoon a month ago, had doubled the number of employees in the past year. The GE plant now employs about 1,000 people... MATTOON -- Norman B. Hannah, U.S. minister to Thailand and a native of Mattoon, has been named chief of a negotiating team on a U.S.-Thailand agreement governing the status of American military in Thailand. Hannah, a son of Circuit Judge and Mrs. Harry I. Hannah of Mattoon, has been a Foreign Service officer since 1947. He has served the U.S. in China, Iran, Washington, Africa and Afghanistan, in addition to Thailand... MATTOON -- Winners in the 1966 Christmas Decoration Lighting Contest, sponsored annually by the Mattoon Jaycees, were announced today. Winner of the Most Original category was Robert Lanman, 601 Dakota; Most Elaborate, H. Nolan Sims, 3613 Western; Best Religious Display, Mrs. Dorothy Fultz, 3327 Moultrie; Best Overall Display by Business, Anaconda American Brass Co. 25 years ago, 1991 Sunday. No paper. 100 years ago, Dec. 23, 1916 MATTOON -- The Illinois Central Railroad Co. has given to the employees of the mechanical department, as a Christmas present, an increase of wages averaging one and a-half cents an hour, the pay of machinists increased from 41 cents an hour to 42 and one-half cents. The increase was voluntary on the part of the company and came to the employees as a surprise. There are 485 employees in the mechanical department of this division, of which 260 are residents of Mattoon, this being the location of the general shops of the division. The machinists of the Big Four Railroad are seeking an increase of wages. They are now receiving 39 cents an hour MATTOON Employees of the American Express Co. in Mattoon were made happy this morning on receipt of word from officials of the company to the effect that each one of them is to receive as a Christmas present a bonus of one months wages, in reality being two months wages in one. However, this applies only to those employees who receive $2,000 a year or less. All men receiving in excess of that sum are handed a cigarette, as one of the officers of the company in Mattoon expressed it this morning MATTOON J.W. and E.C. Craig, attorneys representing Ira Powell, announced today that they will carry to the Illinois Supreme Court the fight to wrest from Emery Andrews the office of states attorney of Coles County. On the face of canvassing returns made this week, Andrews was declared elected to the office by 30 votes. Stress is expected to be laid by the two attorneys on the legality of votes cast in two precincts in Ashmore Township and two precincts in Humboldt Township. They claim the precincts were never legally redistricted and as a consequence the votes cast in each is invalid and should be thrown out. 50 years ago, 1966 MATTOON -- Thanks to Lionel M. Homann of Mattoon, those serving in the military in Vietnam from Mattoon will soon be receiving free copies of the Journal Gazette. Retired from the U.S. Navy, Homann said news from home meant a lot to him while he was in the service. He approached local organizations with five pledging $50 each to support the project -- American Legion Post 88, Lions Club, Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club and the Journal Gazette. About 60 men from the Mattoon area currently are serving in Vietnam. Homann said other groups are expected to finance renewing the subscriptions after the first six-month period... ARTHUR -- Progress Industries of Arthur reported today that the company experienced the most profitable year in its history with sales totaling more than $8 million. Stockholders re-elected all seven board members. Officers for the coming year are Everett Fitzjarrald, president and chief executive officer; Chester A. Martin, executive vice president; Sherman E. Robinson, vice president; Cecil L. Walker, vice president; James L. Thompson, vice president; Richard L. Castleman, financial vice president and secretary; and Ray K. Mallinson, treasurer and assistant secretary. 25 years ago, 1991 MATTOON -- Imagine working five days and getting paid for only three. Or, suppose money was so slow coming in that it was like not getting paid at all. Those are complaints recently expressed by local health care providers on the State of Illinois delayed payments of Medicaid claims. Recent figures had the state delaying about $400 million in payments due to the state budget shortfalls. The state is about three months behind in its payments to group homes and other providers, compared to less than two months during normal times MATTOON -- Ten Greyhound Bus passengers were injured Saturday morning when the bus brakes apparently failed and it hit a retaining wall on the Morgan Phipps Memorial Bridge. Mattoon Police reports said the bus, driven by Eric R. Dundas and carrying 32 passengers, was northbound on foggy Lake Land Avenue and attempted to turn west onto Charleston Avenue when the brakes failed. The right front of the bbus struck the retaining wall about 7:49 a.m. Saturday. Ten passengers were taken by ambulance to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. Nine received Emergency Room treatment and were released. One was admitted for observation and discharged Sunday. Even though the bus moved the retaining wall about six inches and partially collapsed the sidewalk, Illinois Department of transportation engineers said there was no structural damage to the bridge that stretches over the Illinois Central Railroad tracks. It took 75 years, but a Pensacola, Florida, woman received the ultimate early Christmas gift this year when her husband helped her to track down her birth mother and learned that she was still alive at age 91. Now Lesley Ortiz, 75, and her mom, Betty Waring Davis, who lives at a care center in St. Petersburg, Florida, are making up for lost time, sharing old photographs, comparing favorite colors and cuisines and singing country-western songs, all while looking at each other with a mixture of joy and disbelief that Lesleys deepest wish came true. Never in my life did I think that this would happen I feel like my life story is just beginning, Lesley, a retired teacher, tells PEOPLE. I was happy growing up, and I had kind and loving parents. But I always wondered where I came from. I wanted to look like somebody. And now, I finally do. Lesley as a young girlCourtesy Lesley Ortiz Lesley in 1959Courtesy Lesley Ortiz Persuaded by her husband, Bob Ortiz, 77, a retired architect, Lesley was finally convinced to take a DNA test through 23andMe this past summer, to find some answers about her past. Shed always expressed a curiosity, says Bob, but as she got older, she realized that she had no family history that could help her if any health issues came up. Since she had a name for her birth mother, we decided to search. After Bob found some DNA matches listed at 23andMe, he sent a letter to one of Lesleys first cousins. Lesley was shocked and delighted when the relative called to inform her that not only was she on the right track, but her mom was still alive. And there was more good news to come. I learned that I had two younger sisters, both in St. Petersburg, where my birth mom was, Lesley tells PEOPLE. It was overwhelming. I felt like Id hit the jackpot. Lesley with her sisters, Nancy and CathyCourtesy Lesley Ortiz Not wanting to upset Betty or her newly-found siblings Cathy Belcher and Nancy Davis Lesley sent a letter to Cathy, telling her about her search and introducing herself. Story continues I was worried about disrupting their lives, and I wanted them to have a choice of whether to accept me or not, Lesley says. She neednt have worried. Her birth sisters opened their arms and welcomed her into their lives. Then they prepared to gently deliver the news about Lesley to their mother. I kept thinking how horrible it must have been for my mom to carry that burden with her all these years, Nancy, 71, tells PEOPLE. To not know what had happened to a baby I was sure she had been forced to give away. My heart just broke for her. Talking to their mother at the care center, she and Cathy learned that Betty had become pregnant at age 16 and was sent away to a home for unmarried, pregnant young women near Boston, where she lived at the time. Immediately after her daughter was born, the newborn was whisked away and put up for adoption. I wondered from time to time if I had a boy or a girl, Betty tells PEOPLE, and it made me feel very sad. I prayed that my little one was safe and happy. I never thought about trying to find this child, not even knowing what sex she was. When Cathy and Nancy told me about Lesley, my first reaction was to deny it, she adds. Then the truth started coming out in tiny increments when they assured me they werent going to be mad. It took a few days for all of it to sink in. Betty, Lesley, Cathy and NancyCourtesy Lesley Ortiz On July 10, Lesleys 75th birthday, she and Bob went to St. Petersburg to meet her birth family for the first time. My sisters were waiting for us at the airport and we had a very emotional reunion, she says. We hugged and cried they couldnt have been more accepting. There was no denying that she was our sister, Cathy, 66, tells PEOPLE. She looks just like mom and a lot like Nancy. The first time we met, it felt like we were immediately connected. Courtesy Lesley Ortiz At the care center, when Lesley walked into her mothers room, Betty stretched out her arms and enveloped her daughter in a warm hug. I kept telling her, My little one, she recalls, and I could see the likeness. I thought she was so very cute. As for Lesley, who is now introducing Betty to three new grandchildren and four great-grandchildren and will soon help celebrate her moms 92nd birthday on Jan. 11, I looked at her and I saw myself in my mother, she says. I hugged and hugged her and didnt want to let go. It was like I had come home. Dax Shepard was a little freaked out by Kristen Bell when they first met, which is pretty funny While these two are currently Hollywoods It couple, they didnt always start out that way. An interview confirmed that actor Dax Shepard was a bit cautious of Kristen Bell when they first met, based on one thing Bell just seemed too happy. (Seriously, we find that to be pretty darn endearing, and were so happy that our initial read on Kristen Bells personality was, indeed, correct) When I met her and her friends, I was suspicious of their unbridled happiness, Shepard said to Good Housekeeping. I thought, Something stinks here; theyre in a cult.' Bell has also said that their first meeting was not electric, but their love slowly grew over time. So, it really does seem like opposites (eventually) attracted. And, based on that, we now have the happy and goofy couple we adore. The reason why we love Kristen and Dax so much? Well, its not their Samsung washer commercials although those do help. No, we love the fact that theyre so open about the nitty gritty parts of marriage. Theyve openly admitted that theyve been to marriage counseling, have praised the art of disagreements in marriage, and help remind us that at the end of the day, were all just human. Eating our hearts out at the @baby2baby gala. Great cause, great food great night!!!! A photo posted by kristen bell (@kristenanniebell) on Nov 12, 2016 at 8:48pm PST (Seriously, how cute are these two?) MICHIGAN you dirty old mitten...you still make us happy after all these years. #lakemichiganbeach A photo posted by kristen bell (@kristenanniebell) on Sep 14, 2016 at 3:19pm PDT These two just proved that first impressions are often wrong. But for Shepard, Bells positive attitude definitely helped steer him in the right direction. Kristens a good girl, Shepard said in a 2012 interview with Playboy. She grew up very Christian, went straight to college, did great in school and started work immediately. Shes charitable and philanthropic and rescues dogs. So when we met, our backgrounds were opposites. Story continues As hes discussed prior, Shepard battles issues with addiction, once saying that his first loves were Jack Daniels and cocaine. So, perhaps Bells kindness is exactly what he needed to get himself on a better path. Well always be cheering for these two, no matter what! The post Dax Shepard was a little freaked out by Kristen Bell when they first met, which is pretty funny appeared first on HelloGiggles. MOSCOW (AP) Local health officials in Russia's Siberia say the number of people who have died from drinking a bath lotion that contained methanol has climbed to 72. The health ministry in the Irkutsk region said on its website Thursday that another 33 were still in hospital while six others have been discharged. Bottles with the lotion carried warnings that they weren't for internal use, but labels said the product contained ethyl alcohol rather than methanol. Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked the government to restrict sales of surrogate alcohol in the aftermath of the mass poisoning. But Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin in an interview with state television on Thursday rejected suggestions that taxes and duties on alcohol drinks should be lowered in order to cut down the surrogate alcohol consumption. By Alana Wise NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc removed two men from a plane at London's Heathrow Airport before takeoff on Wednesday, and one of the men accused the airline of acting on passenger complaints that he had been speaking on a phone in Arabic. In a statement after Delta Flight 1 landed in New York, Delta said the man, Adam Saleh, and the other passenger were removed because they "sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting." The airline said its information was based on statements collected from the flight crew and other passengers. Saleh, a Muslim American and YouTube personality, has posted what he calls "experiment" videos in the past showing him speaking Arabic on planes. On Wednesday, Saleh posted a video to his verified Twitter account, followed by 315,000 users, showing himself and a second passenger being escorted off of the flight. "We're getting kicked out because we spoke a different language... Six white people against us bearded men," he said from the plane's cabin. Several passengers can be seen heckling him and waving goodbye as he leaves the aircraft. It was not immediately clear what took place before the recording began. "What is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees. It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority," the Delta statement said. Airlines have in recent months battled negative publicity over incidents in which Muslim passengers were removed from flights. In November, a supporter of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was allowed to stay on a domestic U.S. flight after going on an expletive-filled rant. He was later banned for life from Delta flights. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Howard Goller and Grant McCool) Dior has announced that the new expansion of their Rome boutique is now open. Located in Piazza di Spagna, the expansion to the existing boutique on the corner of Via Condotti features two brand new areas for both women and men. Both areas feature an elegant and contemporary design, with a modern white and grey color palette and details such as natural wood to welcome shoppers with natural warmth. In the new sophisticated surroundings clients will be able to browse woman's accessories, including jewelry, handbags and small leather goods, and for the first time in Rome, an area dedicated to the entire men's collection, as Dior Homme continues its European expansion. Recently, theres been some controversy as to whether pets can be properly considered a humans offspring. Conventional wisdom would have it that yes, that can be a thing, if not in the letter of the law, than in the spirit. Thats a good thing, too, because the law apparently isnt sold on the idea. A divorcing couple in Canada recently asked Justice Richard Danyliuk of the Court of Queens Bench for Saskatchewan to consider their three dogs 13-year-old Quill, 9-year-old Kenya and 2-year-old Willow as children for the purpose of establishing visitation rights. (The wife was petitioning for sole custody.) Danyliuk did not take the request lightly: Rather, he spent 15 pages on his August ruling, just now being publicized. Things start nice enough: Dogs are wonderful creatures. But, he was also unequivocal in denying the request: After all is said and done, a dog is a dog. At law it is property, a domesticated animal that is owned. At law it enjoys no familial rights. My present task is not to act with emotion or to validate the personal perspective of pet owners within the legal context, Danyliuks ruling continued. Rather, it is to interpret and then apply the law. And for legal purposes, there can be no doubt: Dogs are property. David Grimm, who wrote the excellently titled Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs, told the Washington Post that the ruling is in keeping with U.S. law, though the American legal system has progressively granted animals more and more rights. For example, pets can be beneficiaries of legal trusts in the majority of American states, and have been assigned lawyers in some instances. (Edward Gorey, for instance, a famous 20th century artist, left his entire estate to the care and welfare of animals, including the raccoons in his attic.) Grimm notes that cases like this one will begin to be seen as precedent-setting as our relationship with our pets moves more towards the familial. Is it right that a judge says that that cat is a piece of property? I think in the next few decades, this is probably where the relationship with our companion animals is going to get really interesting, he told the Post. Decisions like this will play into that. President-elect Donald Trump, with Michael Flynn and Reince Priebus, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday. (Photo: abin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) Asked Wednesday about the recent ISIS-inspired truck attack in Berlin, President-elect Donald Trump appeared to double down on his campaign plans to stop terrorism by temporarily banning immigration from Muslim countries and creating a registry of Muslim immigrants already in the United States. You know my plans, he said, when asked by a reporter about the two proposals. Trump ran on the idea that the United States can prevent terrorism by not letting Muslim immigrants into the country. But as he takes office in January, the president-elect will collide with the reality that the United States terrorism problem is very different from that of Germany, which took in about a million primarily Syrian refugees in the space of a few years. Americas problem is homegrown. Since 9/11, every major terror attack on U.S. soil has been carried out by a legal permanent resident or U.S. citizen. An analysis of the dozens of people prosecuted for plotting ISIS-inspired terror attacks here or seeking to travel to Syria to become foreign fighters shows that 80 percent of the would-be terrorists are U.S. citizens. The vast majority of them are in their early 20s or late teens, and a third converted to Islam from another religion. Slideshow: Truck attack at Berlin Christmas market >>> The Obama administration has spent millions of dollars addressing this homegrown threat, steering money into research about how to prevent radicalization and funding law enforcement pilot programs in major cities such as Los Angeles and the Twin Cities to build trust between police and Muslim communities. The administration created a senior role at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to coordinate these programs, which are referred to as countering violent extremism or CVE. The CVE effort tries to prevent young people from being indoctrinated by radical Islamic extremism online, and also targets other forms of extremism, like white supremacy. Story continues The sad part is were really at the very beginning of understanding what programs to put in place and what programs work, said Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University School of Law. The fate of these initiatives under the Trump administration is unclear. Trump has said almost nothing about how to prevent radicalization at home except for saying that Muslim Americans must report to authorities when a member of their community is behaving suspiciously. Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, Trumps pick to lead DHS, said in an interview with NPR last year that ISIS had perverted Islam into a radical doctrine, and that the vast majority of Muslims are wonderful people, whether they live here in the United States or overseas. He acknowledged that winning the ideological war against ISIS is the more difficult, complex part of the problem than beating the group on the battlefield. I think we have to steel ourselves for a fairly long war, Kelly said. But Kelly did not elaborate on how that ideological war could be won, and its unclear whether he supports the Obama administrations approach to countering homegrown radicalization. He declined an interview through a representative of the Trump transition team. Republicans are already pressuring DHS to discard the Obama administrations counterterror approach. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who also sought the DHS chief job, said in a speech earlier this month that the administration should repeal and replace President Obamas failed, politically correct Countering Violent Extremism policies. McCaul said the programs should be refashioned to explicitly target radical Islamist terror. That approach would likely be supported by Michael Flynn, Trumps national security adviser. In his 2016 book, Field of Fight, Flynn writes that the way to prevent people from being attracted to the ideas of radical Islam is for U.S. politicians to condemn them. Flynn has also made statements that suggest he does not distinguish between adherents of radical Islam and moderate Muslims. Earlier this year, he tweeted that fear of Muslims is RATIONAL. Retired Gen. John Kelly, Trumps pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, talks to reporters last January. (Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) Flynn believes that criticizing the radical strain of the religion would lead to fewer terror attacks. Our leaders have to say these people are a threat to the country, and we have to combat them, said Michael Ledeen, Flynns co-writer and a Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. It will encourage Muslims who dont like radicalism to come forward and organize and combat the radicals. It will encourage them to cooperate more with law enforcement officials across the country. But academics who study CVE programs say that labeling Muslims broadly as extremists erases the goodwill built between these communities and law enforcement. CVE programs are labeled as targeting extremism in general, not just Islamic extremism, in order to gain the support of Muslim communities and show that the government recognizes extremism comes in many forms. One of the real difficulties in implementing CVE has been a lot of pushback from Muslim American communities who resent being singled out, said Stevan Weine, who researches CVE programs and is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. They are aware that a very large portion of attacks in the U.S. are caused by white supremacists and not Muslim jihadists. They resent the singling out of their community, which they think violates civil liberties and causes stigma and discrimination. If the government labels the programs to explicitly focus on Muslims, Weine said theyre likely not to have the cooperation of the community. This is a problem, since law enforcement relies on family members and friends to alert them if their loved one shows signs of becoming radicalized. John Horgan, a psychologist at Georgia State University who studies ISIS recruiting tactics, said he fears the emerging field of countering terror recruiting and radicalization could be swept away by the new administration. Weve already made some serious strides in countering terrorism, and we need to do this smart, Horgan said. The consequences of not doing this the right way will be profound in ways that I think none of us really understand yet. President-elect Donald Trump is becoming the negotiator in chief. The celerity businessman turned politician held meetings Wednesday with generals, military procurers and two of the largest defense contractors in an effort to control costs in the massive Pentagon budget, Trump said Wednesday. The conversations followed tweets from the President-elect objecting to the price of a new Air Force One replacement and the estimated $1.5 trillion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Its unusual for a President, let alone one who has yet to take office, to become personally involved in defense-procurement negotiations. But it follows a pattern for Trump, who told TIME last month he intends to negotiate directly with companies in an effort to control costs and boost American manufacturing. Eight generals and admirals, and the Pentagons top civilian procurer met with Trump for more than two hours Wednesday to discuss ongoing and future defense contracts. Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson and Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg also met with Trump. Trying to bring costs down costs, Trump told reporters after the meetings. Primarily the F-35, trying to get the costs down. A program that is very, very expensive. The meetings at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., were not advised in advance by Trumps team, which said he was only involved to be in internal staff meetings Wednesday. Trump indicated that he has not yet secured cost concessions from Hewson. Were just beginning, its a dance, Trump said. Its a little bit of a dance. But were going to get the costs down and were going to get it done beautifully. Hewson, who declined to speak with reporters after the meeting, said in a statement that she had a productive meeting with Trump. I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress weve made in bringing the costs down, she said. The F-35 is a critical program to our national security and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies. Story continues Trump has been critical of the Lockheed Martin program on Twitter, with his comments sending shares of the company temporarily down. The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2016 It followed a tweet days earlier by the President-elect claiming that the presidential-aircraft replacement would cost $4 billion and called for its cancellation. Trumps meeting with Boeing CEO Muilenburg appeared to be more productive, as the airplane manufacturer guaranteed Trump that the project to replace the aging, heavily modified Boeing 747-200s that serve as Air Force One with more modern 747-800s would cost less than $4 billion. Were going to get it done for less than that, and were committed to working together to make sure that happens, Muilenburg told reporters. The new plane will almost certainly not be ready for Trump to fly unless he wins a second term. 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, Muilenburg said. Weve got a hot production line and were ready to go. Trump added later, I think were looking to cut a tremendous amount of money off the program. Military officials brought scale models of the three F-35 variants as part of their presentation. General Carlton Everhart was holding a binder with a photo of Air Force One on the cover as he walked into the club. President-elect Donald Trump Thursday said he still plans to drain the swamp, despite larding his proposed cabinet with billionaires and lack of an articulated plan for eliminating conflicts of interest while in office. Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski downplayed the importance of eliminating lobbyists and influence-peddlers Thursday on Fox & Friends, a day after former U.S. House Speaker told NPR Trump regarded the concept as cute and plans to drop talk about it. Not so, Trump tweeted. And Gingrich decided to take back his remarks. The phrase made for a great campaign slogan, right up there with lock her up. But when it came time to put his Cabinet together, Trump turned to major campaign donors in selecting fast-food restaurant executive Andrew Puzder to head the Labor Department, WWE co-founder Linda McMahon to head the Small Business Administration, investor Wilbur Ross to head the Commerce Department, Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Rickets as deputy commerce secretary, philanthropist Betsy DeVos to head the Education Department and hedge fund operator Steven Mnuchin to head the Treasury Department. Rewarding major contributors and bundlers with plum assignments is a Washington tradition, witness commerce secretary appointments going to Penny Pritzker under President Barack Obama, Don Evans under George W. Bush, Ronald Brown under President Bill Clinton and Robert Mosbacher under George H.W. Bush. The six big donors tapped by Trump so far donated, along with their families, $11.6 million to Trumps campaign. The biggest single contributor was Linda McMahon, who along with her husband Vince, gave $7.5 million, the Washington Post reported. Trump self-funded his primary run but decided to solicit funds for the general election run, accepting the support of both individuals and PACs. Story continues Trump spent much of the campaign slamming wealthy elites, damning what he called the corrupt machine of entrenched political leaders and donors. He made much of Democrat Hillary Clintons relationship with Wall Street, saying in a Nov. 6 video Washington power brokers and global special interests have damaged the American working class. Trumps post-election actions appear at odds with his campaign rhetoric. Daniel Weiner, senior counsel at the New York University School of Laws Brennan Center for Justice, told CNBC Trump is playing with fire if you ride a wave of anger against the establishment and big-money politics and then practice big money politics. Sheila Krumholz, executive director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said Trump is focusing narrowly on the problem, pinpointing lobbyists rather than attacking the bigger picture. "His focus on lobbyists means he's concerned about it, but he's defining it very narrowly. Insiders will arguably have more power in the next administration given the kind of powerful perch that they're being appointed to," she told CNBC. Related Articles CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke with U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump on Thursday about Egypt's draft resolution on Israeli settlements at the U.N. Security Council, Sisi's office said on Thursday. "During the call they discussed regional affairs and developments in the Middle East and in that context the draft resolution in front of the Security Council on Israeli settlement," said presidency spokesman Alaa Yousef. "The presidents agreed on the importance of affording the new U.S. administration the full chance to deal with all dimensions of the Palestinian case with a view of achieving a full and final settlement." (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by James Dalgleish) Eight people were killed when Taliban suicide bombers stormed the residence of an Afghan lawmaker in the capital Kabul, officials said after the attackers were gunned down early Thursday following a nearly 10-hour siege. Helmand MP Mir Wali survived the assault with injuries but two of his grandsons and bodyguards were among those killed in the attack, which began on Wednesday evening following a recent lull in violence in Kabul. The Taliban in a statement said their suicide bombers raided the house to disrupt an "important gathering of officials" to address the deteriorating security situation in the lawmaker's southern opium-rich province. "President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemns the attack on the residence of Helmand MP Mir Wali, which killed two members of his family, a number of his bodyguards and the son of another MP from Uruzgan, Obaidullah Barakzai," the presidential palace said in a statement. "President Ghani termed the attack as an unforgivable crime. Attacking the residence of national personalities cannot be justified in any religion and is against Islamic values." In all eight civilians and officials were killed, said Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of Kabul police's Criminal Investigation Department. Mir Wali was hospitalised after he jumped from his roof to escape the attack, he added. Sporadic gunfire and explosions were heard from the house early Thursday as Afghan forces cordoned off the property to launch a clearance operation. "The coordinated attack was carried out by three suicide bombers. They were gunned down by Afghan forces," Obaidi told reporters. The brazen attack underscores the worsening security situation in Afghanistan and highlights how the Taliban are stepping up targeted attacks on high-level officials. The militants are escalating their nationwide insurgency despite the onset of winter, when fighting usually ebbs, even as international efforts intensify to restart stalled peace talks. Fifteen years and hundreds of billions of dollars since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the security situation in the country remains fraught and Afghan forces are struggling to contain the conflict. An Idaho couple married for an incredible 73 years have both died of natural causes within hours of each other. Read: Brother of Cancer-Stricken 'Jeopardy!' Champ Reveals Her Pain During Filming: 'She Pushed on Through It' Neldon Potter, 91, and his wife, Helen, 90, both passed away earlier this month. Helen passed at 8:30 p.m. December 7 and her husband died at 11:45 a.m. the next day 15 hours and 15 minutes apart. They lived with their two daughters Nancy, 72, and Kathy, 70 who cared for them. Mom said that she would never be able to retire, that death would be her retirement, so she finally retired, Kathy told EastIdahoNews.com. Their daughters said they both met at a dance in St. Anthony area of the state where they fell in love instantly, according to their children. She chased him down his fathers pea patch and tripped him and asked him to marry her, Kathy said. Mom said she found dad to be very handsome and had kissable lips. He said he fell in love with her because she looked nice. The couple married when they were teens and local townspeople, along with some friends and family said the marriage wouldn't last. Read: Bridal Party Stops at Hospital After Wedding to Visit Grandma Who Missed Ceremony We were just talking about why they stayed together for 73 years, and mom and dad both said that people said their marriage would never work when they got married, so they stayed together 73 years to prove them wrong, Kathy said. The couple is survived by their four children, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Watch: Now That's Endless Love! Couple Finally Gets Married After 41 Years of Dating Related Articles: The car business is about to take us all on a wild ride. Autonomous vehicles will challenge industry business models. Electric propulsion will challenge the global economy. Toyota this month joined Daimler, Volkswagen, General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) in making a major longer-term commitment to electric vehicles. Big automakers are being pushed toward EVs faster than the public realizes. Business-model dynamics and clean energy regulators demand the course change. An unknown is the unintended consequences of removing even a small portion of energy demand from a crude oil market in equilibrium. Right now, EVs represent just 1% of the market. Even in China where demand is growing fastest, EVs account for just 337,000 units in a market of 22 million. And despite the bevy of shiny Teslas roaming Silicon Valley streets, EVs make up just a tiny fraction of the 17.5 million-unit U.S market. image courtesy Jens Wolf/ Associated Press That is going to change. Car companies know autonomous vehicles are coming. That will bring lower sales and a new Mobility-as-a-Service business model in which EVs will be sought after. Veteran venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson told an audience that Uber Chief Exec Travis Kalinick recently told him that in 2020, if Teslas are autonomous, hed want to buy every single one of them 500,000 of estimated 2020 production. Id want them all, he said. That type of enthusiasm is not lost on auto company honchos. They see EVs as their path to MaaS fleet sales. Toyota chief exec Akio Toyoda, is personally overseeing EV expansion. Volkswagen wants EVs to represent 25% of sales by 2025. Ford said it would invest $4.5 billion by 2020. While the rise of electric cars now seems inevitable, it will have a devastating impact on long-term fossil-fuel demand. In February, Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysts predicted EVs will reach price parity with internal combustion vehicles by 2022. More important, many of these models will have better performance. Add that to operational advantages and its tough to see why most people would opt for anything else. They are fun to drive featuring terrific acceleration and nimble steering due in part to their lighter weight. Story continues Based on trends and forecasts that take into account MaaS, Bloomberg analysts suggest EVs could create a 2 million barrel/day glut of oil as early as 2023. And that is where the unintended consequences get tricky. Even Tesla founder Elon Musk concedes political advantages make it difficult to replace fossil fuels as the main source of energy. However, oil prices are governed by margins. A significant longer-term glut would ravage prices, force producers to give up on costly projects and flip the power structure in global politics. It would also wreak havoc with the U.S. petrodollar equation, but we will leave that for another day. This is a big deal, like identifying the cloud computing opportunity a decade ago. We know electric vehicles are coming. We know why. Now we just have to wait to see if politics will intervene, and how it will affect our investment choices. My guess is that the more innovative and progressive auto parts makers, like Magna Intl (MGA) of Canada, may be a better bet than car makers as they shift production toward higher margin pieces like electric powertrains. Click here to sign up for my free VIP newsletter on the intersection of business, technology and culture More than three years after an official prompt from the President, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a long-awaited rule aimed at preventing disasters like the 2010 refinery explosion that killed seven workers in Anacortes, Washington. That tragedy was the subject of a recent joint investigation into worker safety by the Center for Public Integrity and Al Jazeera English, which highlighted a culture of repeated safety lapses at the Tesoro refinery. The new rule, which was signed by outgoing EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday, represents a significant set of changes to the agencys Risk Management Program. The program oversees some of the nations top stockpilers of hazardous chemicals, including a broad array of facilities ranging from paper mills to petrochemical plants. But the timing of the rule is potentially precariousas it could be subject to undoing by the incoming Trump administration, which has expressed misgivings about the scope of federal regulations. Even if the rule survives, some critics argue it doesn't go far enough in pushing companies to adopt safer technologies and processes. This rule is a tragic flip flop by President Obama, who previously championed protecting communities by requiring safer chemical processes, said Rick Hind of Greenpeace. We believe history will not judge this flip flop kindly because of the millions of workers and community residents who will not be protected even if it is implemented. This story is part of Environment. Click here to read more stories in this topic. Don't miss another Environment investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email. It was Obama who set the rulemaking in motion more than three years ago with an executive order urging the agency to take action, just three months after a fatal fertilizer explosion in West, Texas. The changes ordered by the new rule focus on coordination of emergency response efforts as well as local preparedness, but leave it up to companies to decide whether or not to implement safer alternatives in their practices, such as a using a less toxic chemical or a less dangerous industrial process. Story continues They could have done a stronger rule and had it enforced out of the range of the Congressional Review Act, Hind said, referring to a provision of law allowing an incoming administration to claw back any so-called midnight rules passed in the final weeks of a presidential term. As terrorism has reared its ugly head once again, its amazing the administration didnt prioritize this as also a security issue, he added. But Mathy Stanislaus, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management, stood behind the finalized rule, saying it was the culmination of years of work that carefully considered security and public safety, along with industry concerns. The timing really reflected the extensive engagement with all the stakeholders, said Stanislaus. We struck the right balance. Those advocating on behalf of industry saw things differently. They were so determined to get this rule out, said Shannon Broome, who represents the Chemical Safety Advocacy Group, an industry coalition. It was completely rushed. Broome said she was still parsing through the rule itself, which is several hundred pages, but said she was concerned about the speed with which the rule was finalized following the comment period. She pointed out the EPA also declined to meet with stakeholders after the comment period closed, which she found troubling. The EPA received more than 60,000 comments on the rule before it was finalized. This story is part of Environment. Click here to read more stories in this topic. Related stories Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C. IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 22, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit against Xerox Corporation ("Xerox" or the "Company") (XRX). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between April 23, 2012 and October 23, 2015 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm in advance of the December 23, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline. If you purchased Xerox shares during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. There has been no class certification in this case. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Xerox repeatedly touted its new software product, Health Enterprise, as an important growth area for the Company, which would operate at low cost and high profit margin. The Company's statements pertaining to the profitability and growth prospects of the Health Enterprise business were materially false and misleading because Xerox failed to disclose: that the Company's existing Health Enterprise projects were experiencing major delays and cost overruns; that Xerox would be unable to deliver Health Enterprise implementations at sustainable profits; and that as a result of the above, the Company's statements about its business, operations, and prospects lacked a reasonable basis. On October 26, 2015, Xerox released its third quarter 2015 financial results which were disappointing due to costs associated with the implementation of Health Enterprise and the termination of Health Enterprise contracts with the state agencies of California and Montana. When this information emerged to the public, the stock price of Xerox fell, causing investors serious harm. If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit, at no charge to you, or if you have questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. Story continues This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions. Contact: Joon M. Khang, Esq. Telephone: 949-419-3834 Facsimile: 949-225-4474 joon@khanglaw.com SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP By Helena Soderpalm and Olof Swahnberg STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Ericsson sees more tie-ups between telecom operators and media companies after AT&T Inc's planned acquisition of Time Warner Inc, offering some hope for the no-growth telecom equipment gear maker, its media chief told Reuters. Per Borgklint said the industry will likely see more such acquisitions as operators hunt for more content while media outlets seek more efficient ways to reach clients. AT&T's purchase of Time Warner will have a positive effect on Ericsson in the long term though in the shorter term it may lead to slower decision-making, Borgklint said in an interview. AT&T is Ericsson media's biggest customer among telecom firms. "It'll be up to us to capitalise on it, but it's in general very positive that they have a great interest where we are active," he said. Borgklint said the business is a good fit for the firm due to sales and technical synergies with its networks and services operations. Ericsson's media business eyes turning break even in terms of profit in the second half of 2017, thanks to a push into new Internet-based cloud solutions. Ericsson, which has seen core revenue fall for the past three years, has predicted annual growth of around 10 percent for its media unit for the next couple of years, in line with the market which is fragmented with many competitors in different niches. The division makes up 5 percent of Ericsson's total revenue. The Silicon Valley-based executive said sales growth in media will be driven by a move from traditional broadcast media to individualised, increasingly on-demand media consumption by mobile users on the go with their phones or tablets. (Editing by Mia Shanley and Eric Auchard) TIRANA, Albania (AP) The European Union has called on Albanian authorities to pursue judicial reform swiftly as an essential precursor to talks on EU membership. The EU spoke out after Albania's Constitutional Court on Thursday turned down an opposition request to block a law that requires background vetting of judges and prosecutors. A statement from the EU office in Tirana encouraged Albanian authorities "to start swiftly with the implementation of the evaluation of judges and prosecutors." The reform plans, prepared with help from EU and U.S. experts, seek to ensure the political independence of judges and prosecutors and to root out bribery. The EU wants tangible results before setting any date on membership negotiations. BERLIN (AP) Authorities across Europe scrambled Thursday to track down a Tunisian man suspected of driving a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin as one of his brothers urged him to surrender. Nearly three days after the deadly attack that killed 12 people and injured 48 others, the market in the center of the capital was due to reopen. German authorities issued a wanted notice for Anis Amri on Wednesday and offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($104,000) for information leading to the 24-year-olds arrest, warning that he could be violent and armed. One of Amris brothers urged him to turn himself in. I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it, brother Abdelkader Amri told The Associated Press. He said Amri may have been radicalized in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. German media reported several locations were searched overnight, including a refugee home in Emmerich on the Dutch border. There was no immediate comment from federal prosecutors, who are leading the investigation. The manhunt also prompted police in Denmark to search a Sweden-bound ferry in the port of Grenaa after receiving tips that someone resembling Amri had been spotted. But police said they found nothing indicating his presence. An Israeli woman, Dalia Elyakim, has been identified as one of the 12 killed when a truck plowed into the market in central Berlin on Monday evening, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said. German officials had deemed Amri, who arrived in the country last year, a potential threat long before the attack and even kept him under covert surveillance for six months this year before halting the operation. They had been trying to deport him after his asylum application was rejected in July but were unable to do so because he lacked valid identity papers and Tunisia initially denied that he was a citizen. Story continues Documents belonging to Amri, who according to authorities has used at least six different names and three different nationalities, were found in the cab of the truck. Family members of Amri, speaking from his hometown of Oueslatia in central Tunisia, were shaken to learn that he was a suspect. Amri left Tunisia years ago for Europe but had been in regular contact with his brothers via Facebook and phone. A Europe-wide manhunt has been launched for Anis Amri, a Tunisian man suspected of Mondays truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 people, according to reports Thursday. German officials have issued a wanted notice for the 24-year-old and offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($104,000) for information leading to his arrest. According to German media reports, investigators searched several locations overnight, including a refugee home in Emmerich on the Dutch border. Amri is reported to have entered Germany through Freiburg, a city in the countrys southwest, in July 2015 and was suspected of having ties with the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS. German authorities classified him as a potential threat earlier this year, according to German news outlet Spiegel Online. Officials in Germany have warned that Amri could be violent and armed. His brother, Abdelkader Amri, told the Associated Press that the suspect is likely to have been radicalized in a prison in Italy, where he traveled during the Arab Spring uprisings. Abdelkader also urged his brother to surrender. "I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it," Abdelkader reportedly said. After the manhunt was issued, police in Denmark searched a Sweden-bound ferry in the port of Grenaa following tip-offs that a person resembling Amri was on the vessel. However, police said they did not find anything. Mondays attack, in which about 48 people were injured, was claimed by ISIS. The militant group issued a statement on the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency calling the attacker a soldier of the Islamic State. According to a European arrest warrant, Amri was born in the Tunisian town of Ghaza and had half a dozen names most of them variants of his real name. He also had Egyptian and Lebanese citizenship, the warrant stated. Related Articles By Rod Nickel and Michael Hogan WINNIPEG/HAMBURG, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Demand for Canadian flax, used in linoleum flooring and health foods, has pushed prices of the oilseed to one-year highs as Europe shuns Russian supplies laced with a herbicide made by Dow Chemical Co. The European Union, the world's second-largest importer of flax after China, slashed acceptable levels for haloxyfop by 90 percent last June, shifting demand to Canada, where farmers do not use it. The limit was lowered due to concerns about safe levels of the weed-killing chemical in food. Canada and Russia are the world's two biggest suppliers of flax, a blue-flowering crop whose seed is used in breads and that produces oil for paints and linoleum. "Europe's need to import more Canadian flaxseed has contributed to increasing prices of flaxseed in the EU in recent weeks," said Thomas Mielke, chief executive of Hamburg-based forecaster Oil World. Canada's good fortune is a reversal from 2009, when it was mostly locked out of EU trade after genetically-modified flax showed up in shipments. It also comes as Canadian farmers have substituted some flax plantings in recent years with more profitable canola and lentils. Dow is aware of concerns about haloxyfop in flax and is trying to find a "pragmatic way forward," with the European Commission, said spokeswoman Rachelle Schikorra. "The EU has shown little willingness to consider the impacts on the trade of bulk agricultural commodities," she said, adding other companies sell generic versions of haloxyfop. PRICES ON THE RISE Western Canadian flax prices range between C$12 and C$13 per bushel, their highest since 2015, said Canadian analyst Chuck Penner of LeftField Commodity Research. Some Russian shipments pass the EU's strict inspection and currently sell for nearly one-third more than at the beginning of 2016, a European oilseed broker said. "We're going to be looking at the effects of this right through next October, November," said Don Kerr, president of Flax Council of Canada. Story continues Higher demand has generated more sales for delivery in spring, when Canada's inland shipping channels reopen, Kerr added. Canadian exporters, who include Richardson International and Glencore Plc unit Viterra Inc, may be hard-pressed to fill flax demand, however, after farmers harvested their smallest crop in four years, with mixed quality. Canada's agriculture department on Wednesday forecast Canadian 2016-17 flax exports of 600,000 tonnes, down 2 percent from a year earlier. Consumers are not likely to notice higher food prices, since flax makes up a small portion of cost, but industrial linseed oil users may get pinched if prices stay high well into next year, said LeftField's Penner. Canadian farmers are likely to plant more flax in 2017, partly replenishing global supplies, he said. China may now buy more Russian flax, since it does not have the same strict standard, Penner added, while Turkey is already buying more from Russia at a discount, according to the European broker. (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris, editing by G Crosse) LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - European shares edged lower on Thursday, dropping further from their highest levels of the year, though drugmaker Actelion provided support after it entered exclusive discussions with prospective bidder Johnson & Johnson. The STOXX 600 was down 0.2 percent, falling for a second straight session after hitting its highest level since Jan. 4 on Tuesday. Outside the STOXX 600, shares in Monte Paschi failed to open, and were indicated down 6 percent. It failed to find an anchor investor for its private rescue plan on Wednesday, and looks set for a state bailout. Miners were the biggest sectoral fallers, down 0.9 percent as copper hit a 1-month low. Top STOXX 600 riser was Actelion, which rose 7.7 percent to hit a record high. The Swiss biotech company has turned back to potential acquirer Johnson & Johnson for exclusive talks about a "strategic transaction", in an about-turn that appears to sideline rival suitor Sanofi. Sanofi rose 1.8 percent. Nokia was the top faller on the index, down 4.3 percent after it said it had filed a number of lawsuits against Apple for violating technology patents. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Alison Williams) Talk about lucky Longoria! The former Desperate Housewives star exchanged the pre-holiday madness for a little R&R in Mexico this week. RELATED: Eva Longoria Reveals 'Girlie Sleepovers' With Victoria Beckham: 'Our Hairdresser Brushes Our Hair Until We Go to Sleep' Eva Longoria is vastly enjoying her beach getaway and documenting every fabulous minute of it on social media. The carefree 41-year-old posted a beachside clip to Snapchat frolicking and dancing in the sand. Longoria's white beach hat and sunglasses provide some essential sun protection, while the matching bikini flawlessly shows off her deep tan. Snapchat The actress appears thrilled to be basking in the sun, as she posted a jumping-for-joy pic to Instagram on her first day of vacation, saying, "First day of vacay and this is how I feel! #happyholidays." First day of vacay and this is how I feel! #happyholidays A photo posted by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on Dec 20, 2016 at 4:38pm PST A photo posted by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on Dec 20, 2016 at 10:31am PST While she's not getting her sun on, Longoria can be seen relaxing with a bottle of wine in her plush Mexican villa. "A 3 Liter of wine never hurt anyone #WineOClock," she captioned the makeup-free snap. A 3 Liter of wine never hurt anyone.... #WineOClock A photo posted by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on Dec 21, 2016 at 2:22pm PST This vacation comes after she cut her honeymoon short back in June in support of Hillary Clinton at a fundraiser. Longoria married Jose Baston last May in a beautiful private ceremony in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. EXCLUSIVE: Eva Longoria Reveals How She Kept Her Star-Studded Wedding Under Wraps For more on the recent newlyweds, check out the clip below. Related Articles By Nate Raymond Dec 22 (Reuters) - A one-time chief executive has been sentenced to two years in prison for engaging in a scheme to pocket $657,000 he made selling antiques instead of using it to help pay a judgment obtained by U.S. regulators for illegal stock sales. Robert Olins, the ex-CEO of the now-defunct SpatiaLight Inc, was sentenced on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan after pleading guilty in June charges that he conspired to obstruct justice and engaged in money laundering. The judge also ordered Olins to forfeit $160,000 and pay restitution of $657,000, prosecutors said. A lawyer for Olins did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. The case arose out of what prosecutors said were efforts by Olins, 59, to avoid making payments on a $3.4 million judgment that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won against him in 2011. The judgment stemmed from a 2007 lawsuit in California by the SEC against Olins, SpatiaLight, a high-definition television display maker, and Argyle Capital Management Corp, a company wholly owned by Olins. The SEC had contended Olins and Argyle illegally sold more than 400,000 shares of SpatiaLight stock without disclosing those sales and while making misrepresentations to investors about the shares enabling him to net $2.6 million. Prosecutors said Olins failed to make payments on the judgment, leading in 2012 to a judge appointing a receiver who would oversee the sale of pieces in his arts and antiques collection, valued at $8.6 million to $13.8 million. The receiver itself, Oklahoma-based American Bank and Trust Company, had lent Argyle $3.5 million in 2003, of which $2.6 million remained unpaid. The proceeds of the sale were to be used to pay the receiver, the SEC and other creditors. Not wanting to pay the SEC, Olins schemed with an antiques dealer, Henry Neville, to obscure the true value of items in the collection and to hide assets from the receiver and two federal courts, prosecutors said. Story continues The scheme enabled Olins to earn $657,000 in undisclosed and unapproved income from the sale of a set of Louis XV antique vases and a pair of Louis XV gilt bronze dragon candelabra, prosecutors said. Neville, who was a director of New York operations for antiques dealing company Mallett Inc, pleaded guilty in May to charges including obstruction of justice and conspiring to commit bank fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8. The case is U.S. v. Olins, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00861. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is seeking to win a contract to supply Thailand with an air defense radar system built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp, as it looks to counter growing Chinese influence in the Southeast Asian nation, according to four Japanese government officials and one industry source. The effort is part of a wider push by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration to bolster its position in the region along with its U.S. ally. The Chief of Staff of Japan's Air Self Defense Force, Yoshiyuki Sugiyama, traveled to Bangkok last month to discuss areas of possible cooperation. Japan expects the Thai military government to begin accepting competitive bids as early as next year as it upgrades and adds to its existing U.S. and European radar systems, the sources said. It is unclear who else may be bidding. The value of such a contract is unclear as the specifications for the system have not yet been released. Radar systems built by Mitsubishi and other companies for Japan can stretch to hundreds of millions of dollars depending on the complexity and coverage. The sources said Japan would look to offer a lower price system because of Thailand's limited defense budget. Japans push for stronger ties with Thailand, will benefit the U.S. given the growing tensions over Chinas claims in the South China Sea, according to the sources. Japan, which until 2014 had a ban on arms exports, has not previously sold military equipment to Thailand. Since the 2014 coup brought the current Thai government to power, the U.S. has had strained relations with its old ally, which served as a staging ground for American forces during the Vietnam War, offering access to strategic airfields and ports. In July, Thailand agreed to buy three Chinese-built submarines worth around $1 billion in a deal that illustrated Beijing's willingness to fill the vacuum left by Washington. And last month, Thai and Chinese military planes performed acrobatic demonstrations together at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, around 260 km (161 miles) northeast of Bangkok, as a prelude to the first joint military drill between the nations' air forces. A company spokeswoman said Mitsubishi Electric does not discuss individual deals. While we are aware that Thailand is moving ahead with the deployment of air defense radar, we can't comment on the activities of individual corporations," a spokesman for Japan's defense ministry said. A Thailand Defense Ministry spokesman, Kongcheep Tantravanich, said that many countries want to sell it to us but we have to see if the system fits. Spokesmen for the Royal Thai Navy and the Royal Thai Air Force said they had no knowledge of a plan for a new system. Washington has a statutory obligation to withhold aid to militaries involved in coups against democratically elected governments. That includes restricting its arms makers from selling military kit to the country. Japan does not face such restrictions in engaging with the Thai government. Tokyo is worried that China's wooing of Thailand could further split members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and blunt criticism of China's island building in the South China Sea. Beijing has claimed most of the resource-rich waterway as its own, sparking protests from other claimants, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. The radar Japan proposes for the deal is a variant on Mitsubishi Electric's fixed-position FSP-3 radar, an older generation system that has been used by Japan's Self Defense Forces to detect air threats, the sources said. (Reporting by Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo; additional reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Panarat Thepgumpanat in BANGKOK; Editing by Martin Howell in Singapore) ***SPOILER ALERT!! If you haven't watched Wednesday's episode of Vikings, do not read!! And with that, it's time to bid farewell to Queen Aslaug. Vikings said goodbye to Ragnar's (Travis Fimmel) second wife on Wednesday's episode, titled "In the Uncertain Hour Before the Morning," after she was shot in the back -- yup, you read that right -- by Ragnar's first love, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick). EXCLUSIVE: 'Vikings' Star Alexander Ludwig Talks Bjorn's 'Power Play' and 'Transition' Out of Ragnar's Shadow ET recently hopped on the phone with Aslaug herself, Alyssa Sutherland, who revealed that while her death might have left us with our mouths gaping open, Aslaug pretty much knew it was coming. History Channel "She knows she's done," Sutherland said of Aslaug's thoughts just before her death. "I think she knows exactly what's going to happen to her. What's left is how." How is right! Audiences watched Aslaug deliver one last "dig," in Sutherland's words, to Ragnar's former wife, as Lagertha agreed to Aslaug's surrender and request for safe passage out of Kattegat -- only to shoot an arrow into her back the moment she turned to leave. While the move might have been built up by "20 years of history" -- Lagertha told Aslaug she'll never forgive her just the episode before -- it's still a literal stab in the back. Turns out, Sutherland couldn't be more pleased with the result. EXCLUSIVE: 'Vikings' Star Clive Standen Talks Rollo's Absence, Teases 'Fiery' Reunion Between Rollo and Bjorn "I kind of love that whole scene for her," the Australian actress dished. "You sign onto any show, you know that you could go at any point. You don't know how long they're going to keep you [or] how long storylines are going to go. All you really hope for is that if you're going to go, you get to go out with a bang, and I was so thrilled when I read that scene." Story continues "I sent [Vikings creator and writer] Michael [Hirst] an email immediately like, 'My goodness, this is incredible, and I'm so thankful,'" she added. Sutherland is also thankful for is the closure her character received from Ragnar before saying goodbye. "That was a huge scene. I loved that scene... I think all she's ever wanted is for him to be kind and tender with her," she confessed. Sutherland also noted that it "was a lovely scene" before revealing that it was actually Fimmel's idea. "Michael told me that the scene was Travis' idea... if Ragnar was going to make amends with people, then he needed to make amends with Aslaug as well. I'm grateful for it." History Channel EXCLUSIVE: 'Vikings' Season 4 Teasers Foreshadow Bloodshed and Death While Sutherland emailed a big thank you to Hirst, she's had to keep the news of Aslaug's death on lockdown to pretty much everyone else since the summer of 2015. "I've been keeping a secret for over a year. It's not easy," she said. "We filmed it in October of last year, so I've known since I think August of last year. They gave me about six weeks of a heads up. It's been a minute for me to have to keep that secret!" While most of the cast found out the usual way through reading the script, there was one person Sutherland said she had to tell ASAP: Maude Hirst, who plays Helga on the show and is not-so-coincidentally the daughter of Michael Hirst. Maude's sister, Georgia, plays Torvi. "When I was in Ireland, I would live with Maude. We lived together each season, and we are, in fact, incredibly close. She's a dear friend of mine, and I remember going, 'Oh, I'm going to have to tell Maude,'" Sutherland revealed, explaining that she remembers very clearly stopping for "a six-pack or a bottle of wine" before heading home. "I actually think I forced a beer upon her. I was like, 'You need a drink.' She was like, 'Well, I don't know if I want one.' I'm like, 'No, I have something to tell you, and I just want you to have a drink.'" As for what Sutherland -- who will next star in Spike's The Mist -- will miss most about her time on Vikings, she says it's without a doubt the people. "Our crew was so wonderful. It's pretty tough, after you've spent four years you become so close," she told ET. "So to have these people in your life for that amount of time, and then to leave that's the hardest part, I think." Vikings airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on History Channel. EXCLUSIVE: 'Vikings' First Look! Lagertha Trains Her Protege for the Art of War in Winter Premiere Related Articles Los Angeles (AFP) - A US judge on Wednesday appointed an independent expert to review evidence seized in the murder case of US tycoon Robert Durst. The 73-year-old Durst, who appeared in a wheelchair at a hearing in Los Angeles and whose bizarre life was the focus of an acclaimed HBO series, is charged with the 2000 execution-style killing of longtime friend Susan Berman. His attorneys are seeking to suppress evidence, including a three-hour interview with prosecutors after his arrest in March of last year, from being used during his upcoming trial. They also argue that some 60 boxes of Durst family documents seized by prosecutors should be ruled inadmissible during the trial on grounds they are protected under attorney-client privilege. The prosecution, however, says the documents can be presented as evidence as Durst had made them available to producers of the six-part HBO documentary "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst." The series, which aired last year, focused on the deaths of Berman and Durst's former neighbor, as well as the disappearance of his first wife, who vanished in 1982 from the couple's New York cottage. In the documentary's explosive finale, Durst is heard muttering to himself, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course," apparently unaware that a wireless microphone remained switched on while he used the bathroom. "There is it, you're caught," he said at another point. "What a disaster." He was arrested in March 2015, a day before the finale of "The Jinx" aired, when police found a .38 caliber revolver and marijuana in his New Orleans hotel room. He was sentenced to seven years in prison on a weapons charge and, as part of a plea deal, was transferred to Los Angeles in November from a prison in Louisiana. The real estate scion, who is worth an estimated $100 million, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Berman. Authorities believe that Durst flew to California in December 2000 and shot Berman a day before she was to be questioned by police concerning his wife's disappearance. In the interview with prosecutors following his arrest -- a transcript of which was released last week -- he said he was "on meth" during filming of the documentary and indicated he might accept a plea deal in the murder charge. A new hearing in the case is scheduled for January 6 to consider a request by prosecutors to take video testimony of two witnesses -- an elderly doctor and an unnamed person -- because of concerns for their safety. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The warning from the UN envoy could not have been starker: Pounded by a near-daily barrage of air strikes, Aleppo would be totally destroyed by Christmas unless the United Nations stopped the carnage. During the weeks that followed Staffan de Mistura's distress call in early October, there was a global outcry as Syrian forces, backed by Russia, tightened their grip on the city, but little action at the United Nations. Two Russian vetos at the Security Council blocked attempts to halt the bombing and spare civilians as UN statements professing that there can be no military solution to the devastating five-year war rang hollow. With the fall of Aleppo, the world body founded on the post-World War II promise of "Never Again" is once again facing questions about its ability to confront conflicts. "The fall of Aleppo is the single greatest crisis for the UN since the Iraq war," says Richard Gowan, a UN expert at the European Council on Foreign Affairs. "It has created an enormous crisis of trust in the Security Council." Diplomats point the finger of blame at Russia, accused of providing diplomatic cover while its Syrian ally waged an all-out assault on Aleppo. But there are also recriminations against Western powers, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the broader UN system that has been unable to bring humanitarian aid to one million Syrians under siege. - Too late - Alarmed by UN reports that Syrian militias had executed dozens of civilians in east Aleppo, France, Britain and the United States called for observers to be dispatched to monitor the situation on the ground. It took four days for the council to finally adopt a resolution on deploying UN observers and two days later, the teams had yet to set foot in the eastern districts of Aleppo. Amnesty International lamented that "this important measure has come far too late", and warned: "The world is watching how the UN responds to the plight of Aleppo." Story continues Ban, who steps down next week after 10 years as UN chief, has defended the world body's handling of the Syria crisis even though the war escalated under this watch. In a recent interview with AFP, Ban said divisions among world powers, regional players and among Syrians themselves had created a "perfect storm" that allowed the war to rage on, killing more than 310,000 people. "If there is any criticism, I am ready to accept this," he said. "But sometimes, a situation just develops beyond my control, beyond the control of the United Nations." Ban has appointed three envoys to lead UN efforts to end the war, with De Mistura taking up the mission in July 2014 after former secretary-general Kofi Annan quit as did his predecessor, veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi. - No sanctions, no justice - After nearly six years of conflict, there is no international investigation under way of war crimes in Syria after Russia, backed by China, used its veto in 2014 to block a request to the International Criminal Court. Contrary to other conflicts such as South Sudan and Yemen, no UN sanctions have been imposed on those deemed responsible for the bloodshed. Next week, France and Britain are to present a draft resolution demanding sanctions for chemical weapons use in Syria, but Russia will undoubtedly again veto the measure. That would be the seventh Russian veto since the conflict began in 2011. "The Syrian crisis has profoundly damaged the UN's reputation across the Arab world," said Gowan. "Many Sunni Arab governments view the Security Council as a Russian tool." Russia fiercely defends its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has remarked that were it not for Moscow's military intervention, "the black flags" of the Islamic State group "would be flying over Damascus." Antonio Guterres, who will succeed Ban on January 1, will inherit the UN failure in Syria. The former UN refugee chief and Portuguese prime minister has said it was high time to "stop the nonsense" in Syria, though he will have to contend with the new US administration of President-elect Donald Trump. For many diplomats, Aleppo joins Rwanda and Srebrenica on the list of UN failures, marking another low in the world body's 71-year history. The "comparisons between Aleppo, Rwanda and Srebrenica tell you everything about the magnitude of the current catastrophe," says Martin Edwards, professor of diplomacy at Seton Hall University. "There is nowhere to go but up." Teen Mom OG reality star Farrah Abraham took to Instagram Thursday to mourn the death of Valerie Fairman. The young mother appeared on the second season of 16 and Pregnant, along with Teen Mom 2 stars Jenelle Evans and Chelsea DeBoer. I feel so heartfelt with sadness of the struggles Valerie was going through I deeply am saddened by this tragedy and I wish that others around Valerie could have helped her, Abraham, 25, wrote to her 805,000 followers. I pray [for] nothing but protection, love and peace to her daughter through this very confusing holiday time. Only 23. We lost a very beautiful young mom with the world ahead of her. Surround yourself with other who will truly care and be a great influence be careful. Within hours, Abrahams post was liked thousands of times. An official cause of death for Fairman, 23, has not been revealed. Its suspected she died from an overdose. The former reality star struggled with drugs. She also got into trouble with the law, being arrested for prostitution in 2015 and resisting arrest and providing a false ID last week. Fairmans 7-year-old daughter, Neveah, is staying with the reality stars mother. The father of her daughter, Matt, has not yet issued a statement on his ex-girlfriends death. I feel so heartfelt with sadness of the struggles Valerie was going through I deeply am saddened by this tragedy and I wish that others around Valerie could have helped her and I pray nothing but protection , love and peace to her daughter through this very confusing holiday time. Only 23 we lost a very beautiful young mom with the world ahead of her. Surround yourself with other who will truly care and be a great influence be careful. A photo posted by Farrah Abraham (@farrah__abraham) on Dec 22, 2016 at 9:18am PST MTV, however, issued a response in the wake of Fairmans death. We are saddened by the news of Valerie Fairmans passing, it read Thursday. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time. Fairman died Wednesday at a friends house in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Her friend, who wasnt named, broke down the door of the bathroom and found Fairman unresponsive. Her cause of death is being investigated by The Chester County Coroner, E! Online reported Thursday. Abraham wasnt the only 16 and Pregnant alum who responded. Evans and DeBoer also issued tweets Thursday. How incredibly sad. My heart goes out to her daughter and family. https://t.co/O9XGLvpC1u Chelsea DeBoer (@ChelseaHouska) December 22, 2016 Rest Easy Angel. ___ #RIPValerie my heart is heavy and my prayers go out to your family and Nevaeh. https://t.co/er1Hv5t5eQ Jenelle Evans (@PBandJenelley_1) December 22, 2016 Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella Related Articles A Baltimore dad was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Wednesday in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, who was abandoned in a hot car while he got drunk on gin and passed out. Wilbert Carter, 32, could face more than 10 years in prison for leaving the child alone in a locked Lincoln Town Car for 16 hours. Circuit Judge Jeannie Hong revoked Carters bail and ordered him behind bars pending his sentencing. Read: Panicked Dad Puts Baby in Refrigerator After Pulling Her from Hot Car Defense attorney Margaret Mead became emotional and pleaded, Its the holidays! He has two other children! The Baltimore Sun reported. There is a child thats dead, the judge replied. After deliberating for less than a day, jurors acquitted the father of more serious charges of depraved murder and child abuse resulting in death. He also was convicted of reckless endangerment and confining an unattended child. Carter acknowledged responsibility for what happened to his daughter, saying he had been drinking gin with his brother-in-law on Fathers Day in 2015 while the toddler was with him. It was a horrible mistake, and thats all I can say, he testified Monday, the paper reported. Carter drove home about midnight, and left Leasia strapped in the back seat while he went to a nearby female friends house, where he passed out on the porch. You thought you were going to get lucky, and thats how you ended up on her porch, Assistant States Attorney Anne Colt Leitess told him in court. No, he replied. Carter woke up in the morning, walked home and slept in the basement until 4 p.m., the prosecutor said. When he got up, he realized something was wrong and went looking for Leasia, who was still in the back of his vehicle. The temperature was 89 degrees, authorities said. Prosecutors played a 911 call in court, which carried multiple voices screaming and a woman telling the dispatcher, A child was left in the car. Shes been there all day. Story continues When the operator asked for a description of the child, the caller replied, I cant look at her. Read: Cop Shatters Window to Rescue Baby from Hot Car, Discovers It's A Doll: 'It Was Absolutely Convincing' A firefighter testified the girl had massive second- and third-degree burns across her body. Relatives of Carter told the court he was a good father who didnt drink heavily. He has two other daughters ages 15 and 11. Ive been doing this for 15 years, and Ive never been in this type of situation, he said on the stand. He said he hasnt had a drink since his daughter died. The prosecutor asked the judge to revoke Carters $250,000 bail, citing a drug-related arrest in October. His attorney said he had a prescription for the narcotics he was carrying and that she was confident the charges would be dropped. The judge sided with the prosecution and ordered Carter be sent immediately to jail. Hes a broken man, his attorney said outside court. How do you ever get over that? To keep him (in custody) at this time of year from his other children you talk about rubbing salt in the wound, Carters lawyer said outside court, according to The Sun. His sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. Watch: 'Hot Car' Dad Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole for Son's Death Related Articles: South Korea's scandal-hit president was asked to clarify the mystery surrounding her whereabouts at the time of a disastrous 2014 ferry sinking Thursday, as the Constitutional Court opened her impeachment hearing. Parliament voted to impeach Park Geun-Hye earlier this month over a corruption scandal in which she allegedly colluded with a friend to strong-arm donations from large conglomerates to two dubious foundations. She is also accused of ordering aides to leak state documents to friend Choi Soon-Sil, who has no official title or security clearance, and allowing her to meddle in state affairs including the appointment of top officials. The case is now being considered by the Constitutional Court which has 180 days to rule on the validity of the impeachment. Justice Lee Jin-Sung rejected an apparent attempt by Park's lawyers to stall the hearing, instead launching into questions over where she was in the aftermath of the Sewol ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead. "I'm sure the president herself will know best what she did on the day of the Sewol ferry disaster," Lee said. "We request that she provide all details." Park's response to the tragedy was one of the issues cited when parliament voted for her impeachment and Park faces growing pressure to explain what she was doing on the day. Questions have been raised over Park's activities during a seven-hour period after she was initially informed of the sinking and before her first appearance at an official meeting to discuss the government's response. Unconfirmed media reports have suggested a wide range of theories about Park's whereabouts, including a romantic liaison, participation in a shamanistic ritual, cosmetic surgery or, most recently, a 90-minute haircut. Massive demonstrations have been taking place in Seoul and other cities every Saturday for the past two months, with protestors calling for Park's immediate departure from office. Story continues The impeachment process was ignited and fuelled by public outrage at Park's behaviour, with the weekly mass protests demanding that politicians take a proactive role in removing her from the presidential Blue House. The National Assembly has played its part, but the country now faces a lengthy period of uncertainty at a time of slowing economic growth and elevated military tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea. Park, who has been suspended from her duties since the impeachment vote on December 9, has remained defiant, declaring she will "calmly" wait until the conservative-leaning Constitutional Court reaches a decision. - Party split - The impeachment has set off an early scramble among her potential successors, even before a final decision has been made to remove her from office. South Korea's ruling conservative party is at the same time facing an imminent split over the issue, which could seriously undermine its election chances. More than 30 Saenuri lawmakers who have been at odds with Park, including a few leading presidential hopefuls, declared Wednesday to leave the party to create a new reformist unit. A split could complicate any potential presidential run by outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who had been widely expected to compete on the Saenuri ticket, leaving him without an obvious platform to launch and run his campaign. Ban strongly hinted that he would jump into the presidential race when he met South Korean journalists in New York Tuesday, saying he was willing to devote himself to developing South Korea. It remains unclear whether Ban will join the Saenuri Party or the emerging conservative party. If the justices confirm impeachment, Park will be permanently removed and elections must be held within 60 days -- meaning a ballot could be held as early as late March. At least six members of the nine-judge panel are needed to approve the motion, and Park is apparently pinning hopes on the court's conservative bent. Choi, who is said to have had a "Rasputin-like" influence over the president, pleaded not guilty to all charges when her trial opened this week. * Tunisian suspect on the run since Monday's attack * Investigators believe he drove crash truck * Video appears to show truck speeding towards market * Brothers say suspect changed while in Italian jail * Merkel, under pressure, hopes attacker caught soon * Attack raises security fears elsewhere in Europe (Adds video appearing to show truck driving into market) By Paul Carrel and Joseph Nasr BERLIN, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Fingerprints from a Tunisian suspect have been found inside the truck that smashed through a Berlin Christmas market on Monday in an attack that killed 12 people, and investigators assume the migrant was at the wheel, officials said. A hunt is underway across Europe for Anis Amri, 24, as Germany reels from its worst attack in decades. A video clip from a car-mounted dashcam obtained exclusively by Reuters appears to show the truck driving into the market at speed, immediately after which people run away from the scene. "We can report today that we have new information that the suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters on Thursday. "In the cab, in the driving cabin, fingerprints were found and there is additional evidence that supports this," he said. Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office, told reporters: "At this point in the investigation, we assume Anis Amri drove the truck." Police had carried out searches across Germany on Thursday but made no arrests, she said. Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing demands to take a much tougher line on immigration and security, said she hoped the perpetrator would be arrested soon. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the truck mowed through a crowd of people and bulldozed wooden huts selling Christmas gifts and snacks beside a famous church in west Berlin. One of the 12 dead was the Polish driver from whom the truck had been hijacked. His body, stabbed and shot, was found in the cab. Story continues Amri had been identified by security agencies as a potential threat and rejected for asylum, but authorities had not managed to deport him because of missing identity documents. In Tunisia, two of Amri's brothers, Walid and Abdelkader, said they feared the failed asylum-seeker may have been radicalised by radical Islamists while he spent almost four years behind bars in Italy. "He doesn't represent us or our family," Abdelkader told Sky News Arabia. "He went into prison with one mentality and when he came out he had a totally different mentality." The suspected involvement of a migrant - one of more than a million allowed into Germany in the past two years - has intensified political pressure on Merkel, who plans to seek a fourth term in elections next year. Armin Schuster of her Christian Democratic party told broadcaster NDR: "We need to send the signal: Only set off for Germany if you have a reason for asylum." Germany had until now been spared the kind of mass-casualty militant attacks that have hit France, Spain and Britain in recent years. No attack on German soil has claimed so many lives since 1980, when 13 people including the suspected bomber, a member of a neo-Nazi group, were killed in an explosion at a Munich beer festival. MARKET REOPENS Ringed by concrete bollards, the Berlin market reopened on Thursday, with candles, flowers and flags laid amid the small festive huts in tribute to those killed. Bild newspaper cited a counter-terrorism investigator as saying it was clear last spring that Amri was looking for accomplices for an attack and was interested in weapons. The paper said preliminary proceedings had been opened against him in March based on information he was planning a robbery to get money to buy automatic weapons and "possibly carry out an attack". In mid-2016, he spoke to two Islamic State fighters and Tunisian authorities listened in on their conversation before informing German authorities. Amri also offered himself as a suicide attacker on known Islamist chat sites, Bild said. Police started looking for him after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of the truck. Broadcaster rbb said the perpetrator lost both his wallet and mobile phone while running away from the attack site. The attack has heightened concerns across Europe in days before Christmas. In France, target of three major attacks in the last two years, security around festive markets was strengthened with concrete barriers, and troops were posted at some churches. The Italian Foreign Ministry said an Italian woman named Fabrizia Di Lorenzo was among the Berlin victims, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an Israeli woman called Dalia Elyakim had been identified among the dead. (Reporting by Paul Carrel, Joseph Nasr, Michelle Martin, Michael Nienaber, Thorsten Severin, Victoria Bryan in Berlin and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; additional reporting by Sabine Siebold in Mazar-i-Sharif,Afghanistan; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f31686%2f55c17f90-867b-44da-b735-77af24513823 While some may prefer a hot and steamy firemen calendar for the holidays, one Oklahoma fire department opted to go in quite a different direction. In 2016 alone, six of the 33 firefighters at Durant Fire Department in Oklahoma became parents to adorable babies. So, they decided to pull out all the stops and coordinate a sweet Christmas card featuring the six future firefighters. SEE ALSO: Hospital makes adorable superhero costumes for NICU babies Image: RICHARD PARKER "The idea came about from a casual conversation between several of the wives and mothers (including the chief's wife Dana Joines and Lt. Cliff Wilson's wife Shembra Wilson), about the unique circumstances of so many newborns being born into the department at one time," Richard Parker, a firefighter and paramedic for the department wrote to Mashable. The babies pose in three different settings around the fire station including the firetruck. Image: RICHARD PARKER Parker took the photos for the card. "Before I joined the fire department I was a professional photographer," Parker told Mashable. "So when the idea was proposed to feature our new additions as a possible Christmas card, I was asked if I would take the photographs. I of course agreed and the rest is history." Image: RICHARD PARKER Parker said the photoshoot took a lot of work but was definitely worth it in the end. A team of parents and firefighters coordinated matching outfits for the tots, and Parker went up in a cherry picker to get an aerial view. "The mothers got together and decided on the costumes," he said. "Having worked with infants before, I knew there would be a very small window of opportunity. So I came up with the different scenes and set everything up before the families showed up," Parker said. "Once everyone was there, I would say the entire photo shoot only took about 30 to 45 minutes." Image: RICHARD PARKER Happy holidays, future firefighters! Beirut (AFP) - Syria has been wracked by a devastating civil war for more than five and a half years. Peaceful pro-reform protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which began on March 15, 2011, were met with repression, prompting an armed uprising that later descended into a multi-sided nationwide conflict. More than 312,000 people have been killed in the war since 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. - 2011: Revolt and repression - March 15, 2011: Unprecedented protests demanding greater civil liberties and freedom for political prisoners erupt after 40 years of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family. Crackdowns follow in Damascus and Daraa in the south, cradle of the uprising. The regime denounces "an armed rebellion by Salafist groups". In April, protests spread, with calls for Assad's fall. In July, defected Syrian army colonel Riyadh al-Assad sets up a Free Syrian Army (FSA) operating out of Turkey to fight the regime. Islamist groups join the revolt. - Air power - On March 1, 2012, Syrian forces overrun the rebel-held Baba Amr district of powderkeg Homs in central Syria, following 27 straight days of relentless shelling of the city. On July 17, 2012 FSA fighters launch a battle for Damascus, but the government has held on firmly while rebels have surrounded the capital. From 2013, helicopters and regime warplanes regularly drop barrel bombs on rebel districts in the northern city of Aleppo and the rest of the country. - Iran enters the picture - From April 2013 the head of the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, says it is fighting on the side of the Syrian regime. Shiite Iran, for its part, strengthens military support for its ally Assad, who belongs to the Alawite clan, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. - Chemical weapons - On August 21, 2013 the regime is accused by the United States of killing more than 1,400 people with chemical weapons in two rebel-held zones near Damascus. Story continues In September, Washington -- which backs the rebels -- and Russia -- which backs Assad -- agree on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, ruling out the threat of US strikes. - Rise of the jihadists - From 2013, jihadists, notably from the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, the Al-Nusra Front, had strengthened their grip on the north, at the expense of the FSA. In 2014, the jihadist Islamic State group seizes vast swathes of territory in the north, overshadowing the anti-regime rebellion. IS makes Raqa city the capital of the "caliphate" which it proclaims in late June in territories it controls in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. - First international air strikes - In September 2014, US President Barack Obama vows to build an international coalition to defeat IS. On September 23, the US and Arab allies launch air strikes on IS in Syria. Kurdish groups, which had in November 2013 announced the establishment of a transitional autonomous administration in northern zones, make with the help of coalition air strikes key territorial gains including Kobane on the border with Turkey in January 2015. - Russia intervenes - On September 30, 2015, Russia launches air strikes on Syria, saying its intervention is against "terrorist groups", including IS. Rebels and their foreign backers say Moscow is targeting moderate regime opponents in a bid to bolster Assad. The strikes help the regime, which has suffered a series of resounding defeats since March 2015, to retake territory. - Turkey intervenes - On August 24, 2016, Turkish troops launch Operation Euphrates Shield in the province of Aleppo to drive out the IS, as well as Kurdish militias, which are allied with Washington in the fight against the jihadists but considered by Ankara to be terrorists. - Aleppo: all-out war - On September 22, the army announces the launch of a major offensive to retake the rebel-held east of the battleground city of Aleppo that it has besieged since July. Syria's second city and former economic capital had been divided since 2012 with western districts controlled by the regime and the east in rebel hands. On November 15, the regime, backed by its allies, renews its assault, carrying out its fiercest bombardment for two years. The regime recaptures the eastern sectors in a rapid advance lasting less than a month. On December 22 the army declares it has full control of Aleppo, after the last convoy of civilians and rebel fighters left the last rebel pocket of the city under a withdrawal deal. Beirut (AFP) - Syria's one-time economic hub Aleppo became the front line in a bitter civil war, and has been shattered by heavy fighting. Opposition forces seized eastern parts of the city in July 2012 and government forces have battled to recapture them ever since. Here are five aspects to the fight for Aleppo: - Ancient city - Aleppo is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, dating back to at least 4000 BC. Benefitting from a strong manufacturing base, it was the Ottoman Empire's second biggest city in the 19th century. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986, Aleppo's citadel is a jewel of medieval Islamic architecture, though it was damaged by an explosion in July 2015. Two years earlier, fighting destroyed the 11th century minaret of the Ummayad mosque, and the city's ancient covered market has suffered extensive damage as well. - War comes to Aleppo - In April and May 2011, thousands of students demonstrated in the city, echoing protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government that erupted elsewhere in Syria in March. The protests were crushed but rebel fighters seized areas in the nearby countryside that they used as a base to drive into the city in July 2012. Army troops staged a counterattack and retained control of western districts, leaving the city divided. Air strikes on rebel areas in the eastern half followed. - Five-month siege - Much of the city has been reduced to a wasteland by air and artillery attacks. Since December 2013, the army has dropped hundreds of barrel bombs -- crude explosive devices that cause indiscriminate damage. The rebels have retaliated with rocket fire on government-held neighbourhoods. Since July 17, rebel districts have been under near-continuous siege by the army and 250,000 civilians have suffered from food and fuel shortages. Heavy shelling by the army has destroyed all established hospitals in the area. - Regime offensive - Government forces mounted several offensives to regain control of the whole city in the past months. Story continues An assault launched on November 15 with Russian air support made swift gains, with government forces and allied militia capturing rebel neighbourhoods one by one. The iconic Old City fell on December 7. More than 465 civilians have died in east Aleppo during the assault and another 142 have been killed by rebel rocket fire on government-held areas, according to a toll released on December 15 by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. At least 34,000 people have been evacuated from rebel districts of Aleppo, the International Committee of the Red Cross says. - Strategic prize - Aleppo was Syria's biggest city before the war, and it lies at the crossroads of key land routes, making it a strategic prize for both sides. Analysts say Assad was determined to retake Aleppo before US president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. With his forces in control of the capital and Aleppo when Trump is inaugurated, Assad "may say replacing the regime is categorically out of the question", according to political analyst Mathieu Guidere. With his victory in Aleppo, Assad controls the country's five biggest cities, giving him the upper hand if UN-brokered peace talks resume, analysts say. OCALA, Fla. (AP) A Florida police officer shot and wounded a bank robbery suspect who was in custody at a Florida hospital after the man attacked a medical employee, authorities said Thursday. Ocala acting police chief Rodney Smith told reporters the suspect, who had been arrested earlier, had to be removed from his handcuffs to undergo an X-ray exam late Wednesday night. He attacked a female staff member and grabbed a pair of scissors from a desk, which he used to threaten the medical staff and officer. The officer fired twice, striking the suspect both times, after the man failed to follow orders, police say. "The suspect grabbed medical personnel, armed himself with scissors, made threats to the medical personnel and to our officer, which led to the officer actually shooting the suspect," Smith said in a press conference. The identities of the officer and suspect have not been released, but Smith said the policeman is a "veteran officer" with more than 25 years in service. He was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The suspect remains at the Ocala Regional Medical Center where he is being treated for the wounds. Smith said he is expected to live. After being discharged from the hospital, he will be taken to the Marion County Jail. The hospital staff suffered minor injuries. The shooting erupted before midnight on Wednesday in Ocala, which is north of Orlando. Earlier, police and FBI agents had arrested the man after an investigation into a bank robbery. They took him to the hospital after he complained that he was injured during the arrest. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the publishing of Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquezs most iconic novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, a work of magical realism that chronicles the saga of the multigenerational Buendia family. To celebrate the occasion, tour operator Amakuna is launching its In the Footsteps of Gabriel Garcia Marquez package. The 10-night pilgrimage, which begins in January and costs around $4,100 per person, takes guests on an intimate journey through the novelists homeland. The Colombian excursion kicks off in Bogota, where bibliophiles will participate in a behind-the-scenes tour of Garcia Marquezs former school and university as well as taste authentic local flavors at the Paloquemao food market. Next, they will be treated to an intimate tour of the La Cueva Bar in Barranquilla, where the literary legend regularly met with a string of other up-and-coming writers and journalists. Guests will then tour Tayrona National Natural Park, the picturesque utopia dotted with verdant rainforests and crystal clear lagoons that inspired much of the novelist's writing. The trip also includes a visit to Garcia Marquezs birthplace, Aracataca (which inspired the fictional town of Macondo featured in One Hundred Years of Solitude), as well as a stop in Mompos, an enclave of preserved colonial architecture dubbed the town that time forgot. The trip is bookended with a stay in Cartagena, the fictional setting for Love in the Time of Cholera, where a guide will show guests more than 45 spots associated with the novelists life and works. From Garcia Marquezs humble hometown to the mystical national park that helped inspire his magical realism oeuvre, the tour will give insight into Colombias most famous author. (amakuna.com) More From Robbreport.com EXCLUSIVE: Kohanaiki Debuts $65 Million Hawaiian Clubhouse Dynamite Watches with ShoesYes, Shoesas Their Muse The 12 Whiskeys of Christmas: Day 11 Follow in the Footsteps of Columbias Most Famous Author The 12 Whiskeys of Christmas: Day 6 The 12 Whiskeys of Christmas: Day 12 By Paul Carrel and Joseph Nasr BERLIN (Reuters) - Fingerprints from a Tunisian suspect have been found inside the truck that smashed through a Berlin Christmas market on Monday in an attack that killed 12 people, and investigators assume the migrant was at the wheel, officials said. A hunt is underway across Europe for Anis Amri, 24, as Germany reels from its worst attack in decades. A video clip from a car-mounted dashcam obtained exclusively by Reuters appears to show the truck driving into the market at speed, immediately after which people run away from the scene. "We can report today that we have new information that the suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters on Thursday. "In the cab, in the driving cabin, fingerprints were found and there is additional evidence that supports this," he said. Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office, told reporters: "At this point in the investigation, we assume Anis Amri drove the truck." Police had carried out searches across Germany on Thursday but made no arrests, she said. Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing demands to take a much tougher line on immigration and security, said she hoped the perpetrator would be arrested soon. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the truck mowed through a crowd of people and bulldozed wooden huts selling Christmas gifts and snacks beside a famous church in west Berlin. One of the 12 dead was the Polish driver from whom the truck had been hijacked. His body, stabbed and shot, was found in the cab. Amri had been identified by security agencies as a potential threat and rejected for asylum, but authorities had not managed to deport him because of missing identity documents. In Tunisia, two of Amri's brothers, Walid and Abdelkader, said they feared the failed asylum-seeker may have been radicalized by radical Islamists while he spent almost four years behind bars in Italy. "He doesn't represent us or our family," Abdelkader told Sky News Arabia. "He went into prison with one mentality and when he came out he had a totally different mentality." The suspected involvement of a migrant - one of more than a million allowed into Germany in the past two years - has intensified political pressure on Merkel, who plans to seek a fourth term in elections next year. Armin Schuster of her Christian Democratic party told broadcaster NDR: "We need to send the signal: Only set off for Germany if you have a reason for asylum." Germany had until now been spared the kind of mass-casualty militant attacks that have hit France, Spain and Britain in recent years. No attack on German soil has claimed so many lives since 1980, when 13 people including the suspected bomber, a member of a neo-Nazi group, were killed in an explosion at a Munich beer festival. MARKET REOPENS Ringed by concrete bollards, the Berlin market reopened on Thursday, with candles, flowers and flags laid amid the small festive huts in tribute to those killed. Bild newspaper cited a counter-terrorism investigator as saying it was clear last spring that Amri was looking for accomplices for an attack and was interested in weapons. The paper said preliminary proceedings had been opened against him in March based on information he was planning a robbery to get money to buy automatic weapons and "possibly carry out an attack". In mid-2016, he spoke to two Islamic State fighters and Tunisian authorities listened in on their conversation before informing German authorities. Amri also offered himself as a suicide attacker on known Islamist chat sites, Bild said. Police started looking for him after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of the truck. Broadcaster rbb said the perpetrator lost both his wallet and mobile phone while running away from the attack site. The attack has heightened concerns across Europe in days before Christmas. In France, target of three major attacks in the last two years, security around festive markets was strengthened with concrete barriers, and troops were posted at some churches. The Italian Foreign Ministry said an Italian woman named Fabrizia Di Lorenzo was among the Berlin victims, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an Israeli woman called Dalia Elyakim had been identified among the dead. (Reporting by Paul Carrel, Joseph Nasr, Michelle Martin, Michael Nienaber, Thorsten Severin, Victoria Bryan in Berlin and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; additional reporting by Sabine Siebold in Mazar-i-Sharif,Afghanistan; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) MILAN Longtime Vogue Italia editor in chief Franca Sozzani died on Thursday. She was 66. Born in Mantua, Italy, in 1950, she headed the Italian magazine for 28 years, shaping it into one of the most influential magazines globally. Sozzani touched on topics deemed taboos by others, dedicating whole issues to themes such as Curvy, or Black, the obsession with plastic surgery, the BP Gulf oil spill or domestic violence. Earlier this month, Sozzani received the First Swarovski Award for Positive Change in London, and in September, a movie on her life directed by her son Francesco Carrozzini premiered in Venice at the citys Film Festival. Designers and industry leaders have been posting tributes to the late editor on Instagram and Twitter. American Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour wrote the following in a blogpost on Vogue.com. In private, Franca was warm, clever, funny, and someone who could give the Sphinx a run for its money when it comes to keeping a confidence. She was also the hardest-working person I have known, and with an envy-inducing ease with multitasking. She made everything she worked on appear effortless, regardless of whether it was an event for several hundred; a whirlwind trip to Africa to support the continents emerging designers, or the creation of yet another newsworthy, provocative and utterly spellbinding issue of Italian Vogue. Farewell to Franca Sozzani, a woman who believed fashion could be more. We cant always be writing about flowers, she said,' tweeted Vanessa Friedman of The New York Times. Designer Donatella Versace posted an Instagram photo, captioned: Ciao Franca, my dearest friend. You will be in my heart forever. The screening of the documentary on Sozzani in September reflected her stature in the fashion industry, with guests ranging from Azzedine Alaia and Miuccia Prada to Renzo Rosso, Diego Della Valle, Riccardo Tisci and Donatella Versace. Story continues The screening was followed by a dinner held by Valentino in her honor, in the presence of Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti and the brands sole creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli as well as its chief executive officer Stefano Sassi. The likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Bruce Weber, Marina Abramovic, Jeff Koons and Baz Luhrmann appeared in the film, expressing their views on Sozzanis work and persona. Interviewed ahead of the screening, in her staple understated manner, she said the comments were more controversial than, as she put it, hagiographic. I didnt want a santino [holy picture] of me, or anyone saying I am a genius. There are people Ive had clashes with, Sozzani told WWD. To wit, Conde Nast chairman and chief executive officer Jonathan Newhouses comments that he thought shed taken Vogue too far. I said, If you keep going in this direction, I might have to fire you. To be sure, Sozzani courted controversyand appeared unfazed by the commotion she often caused. Never afraid to speak her mind, Sozzani channeled her views on Vogue.it, and sharing her opinion on her blog, bonding with readers around the world. At the screening of the film in Venice, Sozzani received the red carpet treatmentjust as much as any Hollywood A-listers, with young fans clamoring for selfies and screaming for autographs. While her looks conveyed a delicate image, with her petite frame and long, wavy blonde hair and azure eyes, Sozzani was determined and set on leaving her mark in the world, as she says in the film, not content with being a bourgeois housewife. In a WWD interview in 2011, Sozzani stated her views for Vogue Italia very simply, saying that what differentiates the magazine is that it tells its own stores, it does it in a way that is sometimes stronger than other magazines. I would say the strength of Vogue Italia is its creativity and image. She wondered how to translate the magazines photos and content online, which quickly became a success, driving sales at newsstands, too. See More on Franca Sozzani: Franca Sozzani Discusses Reasoning Behind Vogue Italias February Issue by Mario Testino >> Fashion at the Forefront in Venice >> Fashion Designers Expected to Flock to Screening of Franca Sozzani Film at Venice Festival >> Franca Sozzani Film Screening Draws Anna Wintour, Naomi Campbell and More >> Launch Gallery: Franca Sozzani Dies at 66 Related stories Designers Pay Tribute to Franca Sozzani of Vogue Italia on Instagram British Photographer David Hamilton Found Dead in Paris Mytheresa and Vogue Germany Host Dinner for J.W. Anderson Franca Sozzani, the longtime editor in chief of Italian Vogue, died in Milan on Thursday of an undisclosed illness. She was 66. Sozzani was appointed to the position in 1988, the same month that her counterpart Anna Wintour was named editor in chief of American Vogue. Franca was warm, clever, funny, and someone who could give the Sphinx a run for its money when it comes to keeping a confidence, Wintour wrote in a tribute. She was also the hardest-working person I have known, and with an envy-inducing ease with multitasking. She was by far the most talented, influential, and important person within the Conde Nast International organization, Conde Nast International chairman and chief executive Jonathan Newhouse added. She made Italian Vogue a powerful and influential voice in the worlds of fashion and photography by publishing groundbreaking photography and journalism. In doing so she expanded Vogue beyond what had been the traditional model of a fashion magazine and often courted controversy by doing so. Rapper and designer Kanye West also expressed condolences. Franca Sozzani was always so nice and sincere. You will be deeply missed, he tweeted. Franca Sozzani was always so nice and sincere. You will be deeply missed. pic.twitter.com/B2Y7OM1uEy KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) December 22, 2016 During her career, Sozzani nurtured the careers of photographers like Mario Testino, Herb Ritts, and Steven Meisel. She was also know for pushing the envelop editorially, including the 2008 Black Issue, which only featured models of color. The magazine shot entirely by Meisel was praised for embracing the beauty of diversity. Sozzani appeared as a mentor on Seasons 15 and 16 of Americas Next Top Model, where the prize was a spread in Vogue Italia. Story continues She was the subject of the documentary Franca: Chaos and Creation, which premiered at this years Venice Film Festival. It was directed by her son Francesco Carrozzini. Carrozzini was reportedly at his mothers side when she died. Related stories Lightbox to Produce Documentary Series about British Edition of Vogue for BBC United Nations (United States) (AFP) - France and Britain are pushing the UN Security Council to ban the sale of helicopters to Syria and to impose the first sanctions over the use of chemical weapons in the five-year war. A draft resolution obtained by AFP on Wednesday calls for asset freezes and travel bans against four Syrian officials and 10 entities including a Syrian research center tied to chemical weapons development. Diplomats however said the measure is certain to be vetoed by Russia, Syria's ally, which has blocked council action on Syria with six vetoes so far. A vote at the council is expected as early as next week. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that several units of the Syrian army had used toxic weapons against three villages in northern Syria in 2014 and 2015. It was the first time an international probe blamed President Bashar Al-Assad's forces after years of denial from Damascus. Government helicopters flying from two regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, the panel's latest report said. Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia. British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said there must be "significant measures" to follow up on the panel's findings and called for sanctions. "We'll be pursuing that with our council colleagues and circulating a draft shortly," he told reporters. Russia however has said that the report's findings are "inconclusive" and not strong enough to warrant sanctions. Under the proposed measure, the council would demand that all UN member-states "prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer" to the Syrian military and government of "any helicopters, or related materiel including spare parts." Story continues A UN committee that oversees a sanctions blacklist for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State would also be tasked with adding names of those responsible for a mustard gas attack in Syria in 2015. The UN panel concluded that IS fighters were behind that attack. The mandate for the joint investigation was recently extended for another year to allow it to investigate chemical attacks that have been reported in Syria this year. The OPCW is investigating more than 20 alleged cases of use of toxic chemicals in Syria since August, the director general told AFP last month. BEIRUT (Reuters) - Conditions to implement a multi-billion dollar contract to supply Saudi-financed French weapons to Lebanon are now favorable after the formation of a new government in Beirut, France's foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Thursday. Speaking in the Lebanese capital after meeting President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, Ayrault said it was also more important than ever that the new authorities keep up dialogue with Saudi Arabia and Iran to ensure the country was not dragged into the Syrian conflict. "The conditions are favorable," Ayrault told reporters during a visit after the formation of the new government on Sunday. "The sun is shining again on Lebanon." Saudi Arabia suspended a $3 billion program to supply the Lebanese army with French-made weapons in February, citing concern about the influence on interim Beirut authorities of the powerful Shi'ite muslim movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran. Financed by Riyadh, the equipment was to be supplied by France to bolster the army in its fight against jihadi groups. Ayrault said he and Aoun would soon travel to Saudi Arabia to discuss the contract and wider ties. "Everything must be done to keep Lebanon out of the Syria conflict," Ayrault said. "We want Lebanon to keep dialogue with all its regional neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and Iran." In the Syrian conflict, Iran backs the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight with Saudi-backed Sunni muslim rebels. Lebanon's President, Michel Aoun, and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri have formed a new government of 30 ministers drawn from most sides of the country's political spectrum and from all of its religious sects, the cabinet office said on Sunday. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Andrew Callus) Of the many Galaxy S8 rumors floating around, the possibility of Samsung's next smartphone packing a virtual assistant that can take down Siri is one of the most exciting. However, that news may be too good to be true, as a new report out of Korea suggests that Samsung may be prohibited from putting its own AI in its phones due to a patent dispute with Google. Citing industry sources, Business Korea states that Samsung and Google signed a patent-sharing agreement in 2014 in which the two company's services are not to compete with one another. Google just launched its own robust artificial intelligence called Google Assistant on such devices as the Google Pixel and Google Home, so a similar service from Samsung could violate this supposed agreement. Earlier this year Samsung acquired artificial intelligence company Viv Labs, and confirmed that it's working on a virtual assistant solution that could take on Siri and Alexa by working seamlessly with third-party apps. The Galaxy S8 is rumored to have two distinct virtual assistants -- dubbed Bixby and Kestra -- which, collectively, would offer the types of voice controls you'd find on an iPhone or Google Pixel while going even further. One rumored feature is the ability to send money to anyone using just your voice. MORE: This Futuristic Phone Just Beat iPhone 8 to Punch The Galaxy S8 losing its built-in virtual assistant would be a big blow against the much-anticipated phone, especially as Samsung battles to regain customer trust after the Galaxy Note 7 fire fiasco and recall. However, there are still plenty of reasons to look forward to Samsung's next flagship. The S8 is expected to arrive with a sharp dual-lens camera and vastly improved processors, and could tout a stunning, nearly all-screen design that would make the S7 Edge look modest. Other rumored specs include a 4K display, a larger screen size and the removal of the headphone jack. Samsung typically unveils its new flagship every year at Mobile World Congress in February, though a recent report suggests that the company may instead opt to host a standalone event for the Galaxy S8 in April. Either way we're only months from Samsung's next big launch, so stay tuned for updates. Story continues See also : 11 Worst Tech Fails of 2016 A quarter-century after the fall of the Soviet Union, Moscow and Washington are in a confrontation with growing echoes of the Cold War, a conflict that was supposed to have been consigned to historys dustbin. Even more troubling is that neither side has offered much of a framework for managing let alone resolving the new geopolitical standoff. The result has been an escalating conflict, with no clear end in sight. Donald Trump is right to want to break with the policies of his predecessors that are in part responsible for the dismal state of relations today. But the president-elects assorted statements and tweets on Russia his emphasis on the importance of better personal relations between himself and President Vladimir Putin, and his willingness to negotiate over everything from counterterrorism cooperation in Syria to sanctions imposed for Russias annexation of Crimea and incursions in Ukraine to the status of NATO does not yet amount to a Russia strategy. While Trump is clear about his desire to improve relations, he has not defined where exactly hed be willing to concede and where hed push back against the Kremlin, nor has he laid out an overarching vision for U.S. relations, not only with Russia, but with Europe as a whole. For inspiration, the incoming U.S. administration would be wise to look to the last successful example the Cold War strategy that culminated in the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. And that means looking to its founder, George F. Kennan. In the late 1940s, as U.S.-Soviet confrontation heated up, Kennan who served as deputy to the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, and later as ambassador himself offered a comprehensive plan for managing that rivalry in two famous papers: a 1946 diplomatic cable known as the Long Telegram and The Sources of Soviet Conduct, an essay pseudonymously published in Foreign Affairs in 1947, better known as the X Article. Kennans analysis, which included the injunction to confront the Russians with unalterable counterforce at every point where they show signs of encroaching upon the interest of a peaceful and stable world, became the basis for President Harry S. Trumans containment doctrine. Story continues Kennans containment strategy began from a careful and sophisticated analysis of the Russian leadership, whom he considered to be both pragmatic and opportunistic, and motivated by an expansionist ideology that could be checked by real-world constraints and costs. If the adversary has sufficient force and makes clear his readiness to use it, he rarely has to do so, wrote Kennan in 1946, so that If situations are properly handled there need be no prestige-engaging showdowns. In the hands of more hawkish Cold Warriors, Kennans containment concept became an excuse for policies he never endorsed: the costly nuclear arms race, the war in Vietnam, and the chess match in the Middle East and Latin America, all justified in the name of competing with the Soviet aggressor. Kennans notion of containing Soviet expansionism via counterforce gave rise to a domino theory championed by Truman, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and subsequent administrations, under which third-world combatants became proxies for Moscow and Washington. Superpower involvement in intrastate and regional conflicts increased the likelihood of escalation to a direct U.S.-Soviet conflict, and even nuclear war. Kennans contemporary Paul Nitze, who also played a major role in shaping U.S.-Soviet policy, viewed the strategy as a battle of will and numbers, and argued for overwhelming the Soviets with superior military capabilities and deployments across the world. But Kennan was horrified by such militarized interpretations of containment. For deterrence to work, Kennan argued, the West needed to convey a clear and compelling threat without a threatening or bullying tone, which he worried Russians might perceive as weakness, or which might push the Kremlin into a domestic political corner where it was forced to escalate. Like almost any other government, Kennan warned in his 1947 essay, The Source of Soviet Conduct, the Kremlin can be placed by tactless and threatening gestures in a position where it cannot afford to yield even though this might be dictated by its sense of realism. He counseled that the Russians were keen judges of human psychology highly conscious that loss of temper and of self-control is never a source of strength in political affairs, and would be quick to exploit such evidences of weakness. Simply put, Kennan believed that Moscow could and should be deterred without resorting to high-risk arms races or proxy conflicts. The relevance of Kennans strategy did not end with the Cold War. The major debate today over U.S. policy toward Russia centers on the Kremlins motives for its actions whether it is acting primarily out of insecurity (fear of NATO encirclement, U.S. meddling in the post-Soviet neighborhood, perhaps even regime change in Russia itself) or whether it is simply exploiting Western weakness to restore its regional dominance and global influence. The great benefit of Kennans strategy is that it doesnt require that debate to be settled it encourages both engagement with the Kremlin, and the projection of strength needed to deter Russian aggression. Above all, Trump should keep in mind Kennans emphasis on credibility and self-control. And to that end, Washington should take care not to overstretch its deterrent capabilities. For example, NATO can only deter Russian threats to the territorial integrity, political stability, or financial security of member states in the Baltic and Black Sea regions if it defines clear red lines and how it will respond when those lines are crossed. It is vital that the incoming presidential administration affirm its commitment to NATOs Article 5, which mandates a collective response in case of an armed attack on any member state. Similarly, the United States itself can deter Russian cyberattacks, but only if it is clear and consistent in defining what constitutes such an attack, and if Moscow believes that the U.S. response will be certain and unacceptably severe. Read more from this series: Could Mikhail Gorbachev Have Saved the Soviet Union? If only he wasnt betrayed by the Communist Party. The End of the End of the Cold War: 25 years later, Russia has renegotiated the terms of surrender. PHOTOS: The Last Days of the Soviet Union A look at the months leading up to the collapse of a global superpower. By contrast, despite Western condemnation of Russian actions in Ukraine, partial isolation from international forums, and economic sanctions, Russia has not been deterred. This is because Moscow judges the benefits of blocking Kievs moves towards the European Union and NATO to be far greater than the limited costs, given the political and military constraints, that Ukraine and the West are capable of imposing in response. While Kennan called for counterforce as a deterrent, he warned against applying Western power to try to change the Russian government itself. Such an approach would not only overreach in terms of the Wests actual capacity to influence events within Russia, but would certainly galvanize support among proud Russians for continued confrontation with the West. Instead, Kennan advised his own government to formulate and put forward for other nations a much more positive and constructive picture of [the] sort of world we would like to see than we have put forward in past. Many Europeans, he added, are tired and frightened by experiences of [the] past, and are less interested in abstract freedom than in security. Far from a dated reference to the aftermath of World War II, Kennans words capture a renewed sense of vulnerability to internal and external threats in Europe and the United States today, and underscore the continued necessity of U.S. leadership. In that sense, the Wests response to Russias aggression in Ukraine, Moscows apparent interference in European and American politics, and the Kremlins media activities around the globe, needs to go beyond determining how to defend NATO allies militarily. The new U.S. administrations central challenge and the challenge facing the West as a whole is whether it can provide the positive vision that was integral to Kennans containment strategy, especially in addressing persistent problems like education, health care, infrastructure, and employment. If Washington demonstrates vision and resolve to address its own most pressing challenges, Americans can have far greater influence on developments in Russia than they ever could through direct confrontation. Containment, as Kennan himself thought of it, was as much about reaffirming and broadcasting the vision at the heart of Western power and prosperity, as it was about devising a direct response to Russian power. Indeed, the Cold War ended to a great degree because Russians came to view the United States as a successful and prosperous society, whose model they hoped to emulate and whose partnership they desired to manage global challenges. By contrast, todays deterioration in relations has been deepened by American failures in Iraq and Afghanistan and the lingering consequences of the global financial crisis of 2008, which shattered Russians faith in the American model for economic development. Having embraced the frustration of ordinary citizens with American democracys broken institutions, can President-elect Trump now restore their confidence? Surely, Kennan wrote, there was never a fairer test of national quality than this. In the light of these circumstances, the thoughtful observer of Russian-American relations will find no cause for complaint in the Kremlins challenge to American society. Todays U.S.-Russia confrontation may not exactly be a new Cold War, but Kennans insights are as relevant as they were 70 years ago. If the incoming Trump administration is to benefit from Kennans insights today, it will not only need to define the means by which it will defend U.S. interests and allies, but also put forward a vision for solving common challenges and building prosperity. The current conflict, like the Cold War, will end not when one side has pummeled the other into exhaustion or bowed to the others interests, but when both are convinced that a brighter future is within reach. Photo credit: WARREN K. LEFFLER/U.S. News & World Report via Library of Congress Christmas came early for one Georgia couple 11 weeks early to be exact. Kortney and Justin Miller, of Newnan, welcomed quadruplets on Dec. 16 when Kortney went in for her 29-week appointment. Brandon, Brayden, Bryant, Kenlee made their grand entrances just minutes apart, with Piedmont Newnan Hospital Dr. Heather Turner calling the births very special early Christmas presents, according to Today. Miller 23, told Today that although twins and triplets run in her family, she was surprised when her OB-GYN broke the news seven weeks into her pregnancy. I never thought there would be four, Miller said. My mother was with me, and she said, Youre carrying on the tradition! When Miller reached 15 weeks, the hospital assembled a quad squad to prepare for the delivery of the first set of quadruplets ever to be born at the hospital. Once we recognized it was a pregnancy that was meant to be, there was a lot of preparation to do, Turner told Today. Any time we anticipate a pre-term delivery, there is a lot of coordination across the labor and delivery unit as well as the hospital to lay the groundwork so everything can be as smooth as possible. The big day came early. Miller took to the hospital for a prenatal visit to learn that she was dilated to three centimeters. Were going to go have babies! Turner told the expectant mother. VIDEO: Quadruplet Dad Carlos Morales Reveals Emotional Moment When One of His Kids Spoke Their First Word Miller delivered the little ones by caesarean section Turner told Today that the births went amazingly well and the babies will remain in the hospitals Neonatal Intensive Care Unit until they grow stronger. Kortney has started a GoFundMe page for the family to cover expenses as Justin is on unpaid paternity leave. She uploaded a photo of the infants to the fundraising page, writing, My 4 precious miracle babies. ALGIERS (Reuters) - A Tunisian man suspected in the Berlin Christmas market attack left Tunisia seven years ago as an illegal immigrant and spent time in prison in Italy, his father and security sources told Tunisia's Radio Mosaique on Wednesday. The radio reported on its website that security sources had named the suspect as Anis Amri from Oueslatia in rural central Tunisia. He served four years in jail in Italy on accusations of burning down a school, it said. The father told the radio station that his son had left for Germany a year ago. A Tunisian interior ministry spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking confirmation of the radio report. German authorities began looking for a Tunisian asylum seeker as a suspect after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of the truck that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market in the deadliest attack on German soil since 1980. Twelve people were killed. Mosaique said the suspect had also been accused of violent robbery in Tunisia. Amri, 24, had contact with his brothers, but not his father, it said. Authorities were questioning the father about possible links to Islamic State, the radio said, citing security sources. Oueslatia, near the historic religious city of Kairoaun, is like many marginalised, rural Tunisian towns where unemployment is high and opportunities scarce for young men. Several families there have lost sons who joined jihadist groups in Iraq, Syria and Libya. More than 4,000 Tunisians have left to join Islamic State and other militant groups overseas, recruited by hardline preachers or online networks. Tunisia was hit last year by three major militant attacks, two targeting foreign tourists, by gunmen who spent time in jihadist camps overseas. (Reporting by Patrick Markey; Editing by Ralph Boulton) Germany is engaged in a massive manhunt for a Tunisian man who authorities believe is tied to Mondays terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. On Wednesday, the German media released a photo of the man--identified by police only as Anis A--and who reportedly left documents near the truck used to carry out the attack, which killed 12 people. As you can see in the photo above, however, the published photo, which appeared in Bild, obscures the mans face. Meanwhile, news outlets in the United Kingdom and elsewhere are publishing unredacted pictures of the suspect. Here is the image that appears above a story on the website of The Independent: According to David Meyer, a journalist based in Berlin and frequent contributor to Fortune, the decision by the German media to redact the suspect face is due to the countrys strict privacy laws, which also explain the decision to publish only the initial of his surname. Get Data Sheet, Fortune's technology newsletter Meyer adds that a case of mistaken identity earlier in the investigation, in which German authorities detained a Pakistani immigrant who has later been released, show why the police and media want to be cautious in publishing photos. But he also notes that in this situation--a manhunt where police want help to find the suspect--he doesnt understand the reasoning for obscuring his face. As of late Wednesday morning Eastern Standard Time, the manhunt for the suspect is still ongoing. News reports say he is an asylum seeker, and that authorities believe he has ties to ISIS. According to The Independent: Anis A, who posed as Egyptian and Lebanese under various fake names, was reportedly classified as a terror threat and put under increased surveillance before a court in Ravensburg issued an order for his deportation in July. It was unclear how he remained in Germany. The terror attack, and the German authorities struggle to track down the suspect, may lead some in Germany to reevaluate the countrys tough privacy laws. Story continues See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com AP_9606200674 President-elect Donald Trump made waves on Thursday by tweeting that the US must "expand its nuclear capability" until "the world comes to its senses." It's the latest in a string of remarks the president-elect has made, either during the campaign or following its conclusion, that have raised some eyebrows about the US's nuclear arsenal. His prior statements led some to question: Could a president make the decision to use a nuclear weapon without any interference from others? Bruce Blair, a former Minuteman missile-launch officer and research scholar at Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security, told Business Insider in September that the answer, essentially, is yes. Blair pointed to a step-by-step outline of the nuclear chain of command, which he helped describe in Bloomberg earlier in September. Here's what would happen, according to Blair: The president would consult with top military brass about the use of a nuclear weapon. The president would come to a decision. The order would be verified and officially issued. The launch crews would take over. And finally, the missiles would be deployed. If the threat wasn't imminent, Blair said it would likely take a few days to prepare the weapons. But if in the middle of a sustained conflict during which nuclear weapons had been on the table as a last resort, the process would be vastly accelerated missiles could be in the air within as little as 15 minutes. Congress could do nothing to stop the decision if it were made in haste, Blair said. "I mean, the Constitution of the United States designates the president as commander in chief, and there is no wiggle room there," he said. "And of course, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in 1973 that allows for the president to deploy armed forces for up to 60 days without congressional approval. By law, by custom, Congress has bowed out of the process." Blair added that there is "a protocol and requirement" for NATO consultation, and if there wasn't consent from the country responsible for launching the weapon, "it's sort of open to question" whether NATO could "effectively veto" its use. Story continues For example, if the weapon were to be delivered from the nuclear base in Germany, where the US shares weapons, and dropped by a German plane, Germany could potentially ignore the order. "You're getting into kind of fuzzy territory there," he said. The only measure that could be taken at home, Blair said, is the invoking of Section 4 of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution which has never been used. That section allows for the vice president, together with a majority of Cabinet heads or Congress, to declare the president disabled and unfit to execute the duties of the office. The vice president would have to submit a written declaration to the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate explaining why the president is unable to fulfill his duties. If approved, the vice president would take over. Blair called that "the only thing" government officials "could possibly do" in such a situation. NOW WATCH: Donald Trumps connection with Vince McMahon and WWE spans decades More From Business Insider Harare (AFP) - A Zimbabwean court has ordered President Robert Mugabe's wife to return three properties she seized from a local businessman in a messy dispute over a $1.35-million diamond ring, a lawyer said Thursday. Grace Mugabe was taken to court by Jamal Ahmed after she took over three of his properties, demanding that he repay the $1.35 million (1.3 million euros) she had paid for a diamond ring that she then decided she did not want. On Wednesday, Zimbabwe's High Court ordered Grace to vacate the properties she seized, Ahmed's lawyer Beatrice Mtwetwa said in a statement. According to court documents seen by AFP, Ahmed said Grace had made an order for the $1.35 million diamond ring in Dubai. She "placed an order for a diamond with my daughter in Dubai which she indicated her husband wanted to buy her for their anniversary," he said. The first lady "then refused to take delivery of the diamond and instead demanded a full refund." Ahmed, who is not currently in Zimbabwe, said he has received threats from officials from Zimbabwe's spy agency -- the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). "I have been threatened with harm if I return and it is necessary that I get some form of protection," court documents quoted him as saying. "If the respondents have a genuine cause of action against me, they have a right to take me to court ... without taking the law into their own hands." - 'Reign of terror' - Ahmed said the first lady was aware that his business had already incurred the costs of preparing the diamond for its sale. To avoid trouble the businessman offered to repay the money in instalments and has paid back $150,000 already, he said in court documents. He also claimed that Grace, together with her son, initiated "a reign of terror and harassment where I was verbally threatened, harassed, insulted and told that I could not do anything to them as they are in fact 'Zimbabwe'". Story continues "Threats of taking over my properties in Zimbabwe were also made," he added. This is not the first time Grace Mugabe has been involved in a controversial business deal. In 2011 she was caught in a spat over a $1-million truck deal with South African businessman Ping Sung Hsieh. Grace, 51, married Mugabe in 1996. She now heads the ruling ZANU-PF party women's wing. She has said that she has the right to rule the country, like any other Zimbabwean, and is now among those angling to replace her husband. We need the handbag Meghan Markle was carrying when Prince Harry dropped her off at the airport. NEED. Its no secret that were shipping HARD over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. We just adore these two together, whether theyre rocking their matching bracelets, buying their first Christmas tree as a couple, or going to see a play in Londons West End. So of course were swooning over the fact that Harry personally took his gorgeous GF to Heathrow airport the other day for her flight home after celebrating the holidays together in England. I mean, what a prince! Right? Harry was surrounded by security while walking through Heathrow (being part of the royal family and all), so he wasnt photographed alongside Meghan. But thats okay, because when we look at the pics of Markle heading to her gate, we only have eyes one thing: her super gorgeous *royal* blue handbag. Her purse is kind of stealing the show, right? We cant stop staring at it. We also might be adding it to our holiday wish list! (We totally are.) If youre wondering where this amazing fit-for-a-princess bag came from, weve got the scoop. Meghan was carrying the Small Zipped Bayswater by Mulberry in Porcelain Blue. bag As of right now, the bag is sold out. *sob* But since it carries a whopping $1,375 price tag, were not crying too terribly hard. The good news is that weve tracked down a few look-a-like bags for less! So its totally possible to channel royal GF vibes without breaking the bank. Yaaasss queen! *crown emoji* The Michael Kors medium Selma Tote in Electric Blue, currently $244 (30% off!) at Farfetch. kors Juicy Coutures Diagonal Zipper Satchel in Cobalt Blue, only $39.oo at Kohls. juicy GUESS Kinglsey Small Satchel in Cobalt, available at Jet for $122.50. bag And if youre all about the luxe royal blue color, but you prefer a crossbody bag, theres always the InStyle Convertible Mini, available at Kohls for only $24.99. blue bag BRB were going shopping! The post We need the handbag Meghan Markle was carrying when Prince Harry dropped her off at the airport. NEED. appeared first on HelloGiggles. In 2010, environmentalists and investor advocates hailed the creation of new regulatory guidelines directing corporations to disclose the financial risks they face from climate change. Six years later, critics say federal officials have not adequately enforced those rules and those regulators will soon be appointed by an administration whose leader has expressed skepticism about both financial regulations and climate change. The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive, Donald Trump said in a 2012 tweet that has been cited by Democrats who say the president-elect does not take the issue seriously. Read: Can Trump Reverse Obama's Drilling Ban? Trumps appointees will control various federal agencies that shape U.S. climate change policy including the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the climate disclosure rule. That Obama era directive instructs companies to more thoroughly disclose how environmental legislation may affect their industries, the regulatory implications of international climate treaties, and the direct impact of a warming climate on the viability of their particular business models. Trump has yet to say whom he will appoint to head the SEC, but some environmental advocates say they are concerned about what the new administration will mean for the climate rule. We are in dangerous time, said Richard Ferlauto, a former SEC official who now serves on the board of the 50/50 Climate Project (a group of investors pushing for more corporate environmental disclosures). The traditional regulatory framework for all sorts of things including climate are all under threat. Unfortunately, I don't think climate guidance will be relevant at all within the new administration. The GOP-led Congress may applaud that development: In the last few years, Republican lawmakers have repeatedly proposed measures to prohibit the SEC from enforcing the climate disclosure rule. Story continues The future is uncertain in any field, but imagine attempting to put in writing any prognosis on the effects of climate change on your industry or business on a long-term time horizon, wrote Florida Republican Rep. Bill Posey in an op-ed promoting his legislation to effectively kill the rule. Now attempt to do this, knowing Washington bureaucrats will review your statements and people may take action against you if they don't like what you report. This requirement is highly speculative and offers little concrete information to investors. Some institutional investors as well as environmental advocates have disputed that contention. From an investor's point of view, knowing how a company plans to respond to climate change is must-have information, says Anne Simpson, the director of sustainability at the $300 billion California Public Employees Retirement System, the nations largest pension system. We want companies to play out scenarios about potential risk of rising sea levels and drought all the multifaceted risks associated with climate change, she told International Business Times. Since the international climate treaty known as the Paris Agreement was finalized last spring, that information is even more crucial for investors, said Mindy Lubber of the nonprofit Ceres, which works with investors to push for corporate transparency on climate issues. If we are going to live under the Paris agreement, where we are trying to limit warming to 2 degrees, that will require massive changes in how the economy is structured, she told IBT. If climate risk is not represented in the hard financial analysis of companies how they are valued investors wont have full information. We need accurate data, and thats where the SEC comes in. When the SEC first proposed the climate rule, the agency sent a flurry of letters commenting on the adequacy of companies disclosures nearly 50 in the first two years. But under current SEC Chair Mary Jo White, the SEC has been much less involved in the issue. During Whites tenure, the SEC has issued only 8 letters that mention climate change, and the commission has not launched any investigations into incomplete or inadequate disclosures. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the SEC has no immediate plans to expand the 2010 guidelines into a more detailed set of rules. The low level of SEC activity does not necessarily mean that companies are doing a better job of disclosing climate-related risk on their own. Two major coal companies, Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources, both went bankrupt in 2014 after assuring their investors that environmental regulation wouldnt affect their bottom line. In a landmark case in 2015, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued Peabody Energy for not disclosing internal studies that indicated the company would take a major hit from new climate change regulations. The suit eventually forced Peacody to make the information available to investors. Amid criticism of the SEC for not more aggressively enforcing the rule, major institutional investors have struck out on their own, pushing non-binding disclosure agreements. The Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a collection of more than 120 institutional investors representing more than $15 trillion in assets, has been stepping up pressure on corporations to be more forthcoming with investors about how climate change may affect their business. The 50/50 Climate Project has brought together 50 institutional investors, representing nearly $13 trillion in assets, with the goal of pressuring energy companies to disclose climate risk. Just last week, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures a heavy-hitting coalition of investors and industry groups chaired by Michael Bloomberg released a set of voluntary guidelines for climate disclosure by corporations. There remains significant disagreement about what constitutes adequate disclosure. For example, Exxonmobil whose CEO Rex Tillerson was recently tapped by Trump as secretary of state has long maintained that it cant attach specific numbers to its climate-risk disclosure data. And these voluntary and industry-led efforts could flounder, especially without an enforcement mechanism. Its tough if theres no teeth, said Ferlauto, the former SEC regulator. Though Trump has not yet weighed in specifically on climate disclosure, he hasnt signalled any enthusiasm for reining in those industries responsible for climate change, or further restricting corporate behavior. In November, shortly after winning the election, Trump promised to cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy, including shale energy and clean coal, creating many millions of high-paying jobs. Thats what we want, he said. Thats what weve been waiting for. Trump will be able to influence climate-related disclosure through his appointments of SEC commissioners. Two seats are vacant, and White has promised to resign leaving three of the five seats open for Trump nominees. Clearly the new administration has a new viewpoint on regulation and climate, and we are certainly cautious about what will happen at the SEC, said Lubber. If Republican efforts to defund the rule were to succeed, she added, It would be like telling the FDA that they can regulate meat, but not dairy. It would be a very unfortunate and dangerous way to make policy. Related Articles NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 22, 2016 / Healthcare and Hospital stocks were some of the biggest losers on the market following the election of President Donald Trump. On November 9th, Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) and HCA Holdings Inc. (HCA) posted losses of 25 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Throughout his campaign Donald Trump has been a major critic of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. "Obamacare is a disaster. You know it. We all know it," Trump said at last month's debate. "We have to repeal it and replace it with something absolutely much less expensive." Register with us now for your free membership and gain access to our latest Healthcare reports at: www.rdinvesting.com/subscribe-today/ During his campaign Trump pledged to repeal and replace Obamacare, which could see up to 21 million Americans lose their health insurance. The threat of millions of Americans losing health insurance would be a major hit to hospitals' bottom line. "We see extreme risk of ACA repeal/replace, loss of the Medicaid expansion, a primary driver of results for both hospitals and health plans," Mizuho Securities analyst Sheryl Skolnick said in a research note. Trump has since wavered a bit on his stance against Obamacare. After Trump's meeting with President Obama at the White House President Trump hinted that a full repeal of Obamacare could now potentially be off the table as he favored two of Obamacare's key pillars. Trump has stated he would like to continue allowing children under 26 to stay on their parents' health plan and also would like to keep the mandate that forces insurers to cover all illnesses, regardless of pre-existing conditions. Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) Get Your Up-To-Date Tenet Healthcare Research Report at www.rdinvesting.com/company/THC. Tenet Healthcare's shares gained 0.68 percent to close at $14.88 a share Wednesday. The stock traded between $14.51 and $15.01 on volume of 2.02 million shares traded. On December 5th, the company announced that it had signed a multi-year national agreement with Centene Corporation to provide Centene and Health Net members "with in-network access to Tenet's hospitals, outpatient centers and employed physicians in 18 states." Tenet reported a net loss from continuing operations of $9 million, or $0.09 per share, for the third quarter of 2016, compared to a net loss of $28 million for the third quarter of 2015. Shares of Tenet Healthcare have fallen approximately 50.9 percent year-to-date and are down roughly 12.5 percent in the past month. Story continues HCA Holdings Inc. (HCA) Get Your Up-To-Date HCA Holdings Research Report at www.rdinvesting.com/company/HCA. HCA Holdings' shares gained 0.23 percent to close at $73.52 a share Wednessday. The stock traded between $73.16 and $73.93 on volume of 1.06 million shares traded. On November 14 th, the company's Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program of up to $2 billion of the company's outstanding common stock. HCA Holdings reported a net income of $618 million, or $1.59 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2016, compared to $449 million, or $1.05 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2015. Shares of HCA Holdings have gained approximately 8.7 percent year-to-date and are up roughly 0.8 percent in the past month. 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CONTACT For any questions, inquiries, or comments reach out to us directly at: Address: Research Driven Investing, Unit #901 511 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10011 Email: contact@rdinvesting.com CFA and Chartered Financial Analyst are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. SOURCE: RDinvesting.com Growing up, Michaela Mendelsohn could only be herself in private. The person everyone knew wasn't Michaela -- it was Michael. When she was 7, Mendelsohn played stickball with all the other kids in Long Island, New York. Behind closed doors, she tried on her sister's clothes in an era when the term "transgender" wasn't even used. She fully transitioned in 2006. Despite growing awareness, experts say the transgender community is experiencing a crisis in the wake of last month's election of Donald Trump, whose party's values don't often align with LGBT interests. Trans Lifeline, a nonprofit that focuses on the well-being of trans people, received more than 400 calls on its peer-to-peer transgender well-being hotline the two days following the presidential election. Before that, it averaged 75 calls per day. Calls typically spike following times of crisis for the transgender and lesbian-gay-bisexual communities -- like after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. Also two days post-election, The Trevor Project, an organization that offers intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBT and questioning kids, saw its average number of crisis hotline calls more than double. "Since the election, the LGBT children in this country are really frightened, and it comes through on the calls," says Mendelsohn, now a 64-year-old transgender activist, businesswoman and board member of The Trevor Project. That anxiety may not abate anytime soon. The trans community is expected to double in the next few years, as more people feel comfortable coming out. Yet this increased visibility can bring increased resistance and backlash. More conservative districts, for example, have spoken out against the issue of whether trans people can use the bathroom with which they identify. "Trans people are the ones who are most likely to experience violence in bathrooms , yet we are portrayed as being predators," says Andre Perez, director of marketing and communications for Trans Lifeline. Story continues Amid the increased hostility, where can the transgender community turn for help -- and how can others provide it? [See: 8 Things You Didn't Know About Counseling.] A Community in Crisis Nearly half -- 41 percent -- of trans people attempt suicide at some point in their lives. The factors contributing to these attempts often include: feeling rejected, victimized, mis-gendered or discriminated against, according to study by Rylan Testa, an assistant professor of psychology at Rhodes College, Perez explains. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, released in December by the National Center for Transgender Equality, found that 60 percent of respondents who are out to their immediate family received support from those people about their identity. Still, 10 percent of respondents who had come out to their immediate family experienced violence from a family member due to their identity. Mendelsohn is no stranger to feeling less than her peers. She faced harsh bullies growing up, though the taunting reached its peak in ninth grade when the class bully urinated on her in the boys' shower after gym class. And just because she seemed different. She suppressed her identity for a long time, transforming herself into a macho athlete and later fathering three kids. After years of concealing who she was, she eventually couldn't handle it anymore and began her transition. She didn't feel suicidal until showing up anonymously to her daughter's seventh grade middle school open house in 2006 ahead of her full transition. There, she read one of her daughter's poems and learned how heartbroken her daughter was with the changes taking shape. The next day, Mendelsohn debated stepping into oncoming traffic. Her then 19-year-old son saved her life, telling her, "Dad, I don't care what gender you're in, this family needs you." "Research suggests that likelihood of making an attempt increases as a person gets older, contrary to popular belief," Perez says. "This is because trans people experience trauma associated with life events -- family rejection, sexual assault, domestic violence, hate violence, etc. -- and the trauma compounds itself as people continue to experience trauma." [See: How to Find the Best Mental Health Professional for You.] Getting Help Trans Lifeline's volume of "calls are not as high as they were immediately after the election, but they are still higher than they were before the election," Perez says. While crisis hotlines are always available to those in need, trans community members who are struggling can reach out to key individuals, too. "Look for someone in their life who feels 'safe' to come out to for support," Mendelsohn says. "Could be a relative, friend or teacher. Those who attempt suicide most often are feeling they are all alone with no one to turn to." The American Psychological Association recommends calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) if you're feeling suicidal, which can point you toward the closest suicide prevention and mental health service provider. The APA also gives tips on how to be vigilant for warning signs in others. There may be challenges, however, in finding a professional specializing in issues unique to the trans community. "Callers to the Trans Lifeline often live outside of major metropolitan areas, do not have health care and/or do not know where to find supportive mental health professionals," Perez says. "Sometimes they are calling because they sought care only to find abuse at the hands of psychiatric facilities and therapists. Crisis intervention is critical, but it is not enough." Perez says the organization is working on the first-ever Trans Mental Health Survey, in conjunction with the National LGBTQ Task Force. If you are transgender and need someone to talk to, you can call the Trevor Project Lifeline here: 866-488-7386 and Trans Lifeline here for the U.S.: (877) 565-8860 and here for Canada: (877) 330-6366. [See: How Social Workers Help Your Health.] How You Can Help If you're not transgender, there are ways you can speak up for the community -- including doing things as simple as watching your language. Be a safe place. Mendelsohn tells students not to use phrases like "that's so gay" or words like "tranny," as they can make people feel badly about themselves. She adds: "Students not using these words helps them create a safe space for their friends who might be looking for someone to 'come out to.' Our studies show that just one compassionate adult in a youth's life lowers their chance of suicide by 30 percent." Support trans-led organizations, financially or through volunteer work. Perez says the greater lesbian, gay and bisexual community could be doing more to help the transgender community, specifically. "The reality is that for a long time, LGBT organizations don't have a good track record of serving the trans community or being authentically inclusive, and it's very rare for an LGBT organization to have a history of promoting leadership from trans folks," he says. Get educated. "I think people should educate themselves and not necessarily rely on people in the trans community to have to educate them about all of the things," says Tamara Pincus, a licensed clinical social worker and certified sex therapist. Perez worries about Trans Lifeline's ability to answer all the calls it receives, a problem that can only be solved with the support of the community and from outsiders. David Oliver is Associate Editor, Social Media at U.S. News & World Report. Follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, or send him an email at doliver@usnews.com. Henry Schein, Inc. HSIC has recently been recognized as the "Best Animal Healthcare Product Provider 2016". This has been awarded by a U.K.-based health care publication Global Health & Pharma (GHP) Magazine during its inaugural animal health awards meet. Henry Schein has been rewarded for its efforts to innovative products and services for the animal health practitioners for an efficient and profitable run. Also, the companys dedication to supporting global animal health through public-private partnerships and in-kind donations influenced the selectors. In this regard, we take a note of the companys partnership with Mission Rabies and an investment of $60,000 in health care supplies to eradicate rabies worldwide and to support the organization's canine vaccination efforts in Malawi. This apart, the company also joined forces with assistance dog organization Canine Companions for Independence in the U.S., which helps physically disable people to provide volunteers who raise future assistance dogs during the first 18 months of life. We note that, in the past one year, Henry Schein steadily outperformed the Zacks categorized Medical - Dental Suppliesindustry with respect to share price movement. The stock is currently down 2.79% which compares favorably with the negative return of 9.77% for the broader industry. Adding to it is Henry Scheins favorable estimate revision trend with four upward revisions in last 30 days as against zero downward revisions. Also Henry Schein recorded a CAGR of 5.7% over the last five years for revenues, reflecting strong fundamentals in its growth performance. We expect the recent recognition by GHP Magazine to further bolster the companys bullish share price trend. Henry Schein is well positioned to gain from its extensive global footprint and diverse channel mix. Favorable market dynamics is a major growth catalyst, going forward. The companys animal health business is gaining traction on the back of tailwinds in the North American as well as overseas markets. The burgeoning demand for animal health products in the U.S. should accelerate growth. Story continues The companys distribution business boasts a wide global footprint with 61 distribution centers. Apart from North America and Europe, it has presence in Australia and New Zealand as well as in emerging nations like China, Israel, Czech Republic and Poland. The companys recent acquisition of Scil animal care company has distribution presence in 25 additional countries. Its RxWorks acquisition has expanded Henry Scheins customer base in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and the Netherlands. Jorgan Kruuses buyout has already extended the companys presence in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, while the 50% ownership investment in Maravet has expanded its animal health business in Romania. We believe Henry Scheins worldwide reach provides it a major competitive advantage over other players in the healthcare distribution industry. We strongly believe that all these developments should bode well with the companys constant efforts to capture market share in the world veterinary space. Zacks Rank & Key Picks Henry Schein currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked medical stocks include 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 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. NxStage Medical gained 14.6% over the last one year compared with the S&P 500s 11.4% growth. The company has a four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 46.3%. Baxter International rallied 17.2% over the last 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 111.3% 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 BAXTER INTL (BAX): Free Stock Analysis Report NXSTAGE MEDICAL (NXTM): Free Stock Analysis Report HENRY SCHEIN IN (HSIC): Free Stock Analysis Report BOVIE MEDICAL (BVX): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. If youre the CEO of a big US company, one of your goals for 2017 has got to be staying out of Donald Trumps crosshairs. It will be easier for some than others. Hes very much driven by gaining respect and appreciation, Chris Malone, founder of consulting firm Fidelum Partners, says of the incoming president, in the video above. Hes pursued that in a very reactive, very opportunistic and very aggressive way. Trump has publicly criticized companies such as Carrier (UTX) and Ford Motor Co. (F) for moving US jobs offshore or setting up new plants in foreign countries such as Mexico. He got Carrier to change its plans and keep some jobs in Indiana, while Ford tweaked its manufacturing plans to address Trumps concerns. Since then, Trump has criticized defense contractors Boeing (B) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) for costly programs he says are ripping off American taxpayers. Trump seems likely to continue bashing big companies, since its an easy way to score points with Joe and Julie Sixpack. So which companies are vulnerable? And which might be best inoculated against a Trump onslaught? Fidelum thinks one of the most vulnerable companies is Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), the management consulting firm, which does a lot of work for the federal government. Booz employed intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden, who many in the government consider a traitor, as well as Harold Martin III, who was arrested earlier this year and charged with stealing thousands of classified documents from the National Security Agency. We think Booz Allen Hamilton is an easy target, Malone says. Trump could say, you havent done a very good job for us. We want some rebates or some discounts. Another company that should watch its back, according to Malone: Walmart (WMT), which has a huge workforce of full- and part-time employees who earn relatively low pay, with some receiving limited benefits. Walmart is already a regular target of worker-rights groups, putting it in the news frequently. If Trump were looking for a corporate villain with thousands of workers who could use better benefits or a friendlier work schedule, Walmart would fit the profile. Story continues Its not clear Trump would go beyond rhetorical criticism and actually try to harm a company that fell out of favor with him. Some companies tweet-blasted by Trump have suffered quick declines in their stock prices, but the shares have generally recovered. Trump may be trying to use the bully pulpit to score political victories without actually planning much in the way of action against companies that dont treat workers the way he feels they should. Other companies are better positioned to withstand an assault by Trump. Malone cites Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA) and Starbucks (SBUX) as companies he considers Trump-proof, largely because they already have good public reputations and well-regarded CEOs. These are guys who can counterpunch as well, and Donald Trump doesnt want to take a lot of hits if he can avoid it, Malone says. Trump has criticized Apple for making products in China, for instance, but it seems to have had no effect on Apples sales, reputation, stock price, or future production plans. And Trump just invited Apple CEO Tim Cook to his make-nice tech summit. Trump might make enemies in corporate America, but he needs some friends there, too. Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. This story on Hidden Figures first appeared in the Nominations Preview issue of TheWraps Oscar magazine. Once upon a time, a bunch of African-American women helped John Glenn break through the Earths atmosphere and orbit in space. No, really. Honestly, I thought it was historical fiction, said Octavia Spencer, who plays one of those women in the film Hidden Figures. As she said this, Spencer was sitting in the shadow of the Soyuz spacecraft, built by the Soviets in the 1960s and an essential reason for the race to the moon. A capsule now hangs in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which the cast of the film visited in December ahead of opening weekend. Spencer plays Dorothy Vaughan, one of the so-called human computers employed by NASA to do rapid-fire math to support the effort to launch a manned rocket into space. Her colleagues, equally little-known by history, included Katherine Johnson, a numbers prodigy who helped calculate key trajectories for Glenns orbit around the earth in 1961; and Mary Jackson, who became the first African- American female aerospace engineer after joining NASAs Langley Research Center in Virginia in 1951. Also Read: 'Hidden Figures' Review: Taraji P Henson Runs the Numbers in This Entertaining Civil Rights Space Saga Jackson had to petition a court to be allowed into a segregated school to take the college courses required to work as a NASA engineer, and she did so successfully. Johnson is played by Taraji P. Henson and Jackson by Janelle Monae, who said that, like Spencer, they were mystified by how little they knew. I thought the fact that wed never heard of these women it had to be fiction, Spencer continued. It wasnt. It was a bittersweet, disheartening moment at first, and then I felt compelled to be part of the story. Added Henson, who is most famous for playing the high-pitched character Cookie on the hip-hop TV drama Empire, I had to do it. It felt like it was my duty. I didnt know these women existed, and I was like, Why are we just learning about this? I couldnt wait to be Katherine Johnson. Story continues Monae dropped all her other projects to become part of this film once she learned the story was real. I had a plethora of feelings I went through one being shock, she said. I had no clue who Mary Jackson was, or Katherine Johnson or Dorothy Vaughan or any of the colored computers who worked at NASA during that era. I had no idea who these women were. So I made it a personal responsibility to stop what I was doing and portray Ms. Mary Jackson. I didnt want any other girl, any other American, to not know about this history. Also Read: John Glenn, Astronaut and US Senator, Dies at 95 The intensity of feeling is understandable. In a Hollywood dominated by strong male heroes and a popular culture where African-American women actors too often portray servants or victims damaged by poverty, addiction or crime, Hidden Figures is a welcome antidote. All of the actors felt the need to seize the chance to play leading roles with such inspiring personal stories. The fact that it was actual history only made it more vital. Within NASA, the existence of the African-American computer women was not entirely mysterious, but it took a book by Margot Lee Shetterly to break them into wider renown. I actually knew of Katherine Johnson two years before I read the book, said Charlie Bolden, a former Marine and astronaut who now serves as NASA administrator the agencys top official. I gave the commencement at her alma mater, Virginia State, and I kept seeing this name Katherine Johnson and didnt know who she was. After doing additional research, Bolden, who is also African American, concluded, I was mesmerized by this woman. Bolden got to meet Johnson, now age 98, at the White House when President Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. That was mind-boggling for me, he said. She was this iconic heroine. Had it not been for what she did, I would not even be where I am today. Also Read: 'Hidden Figures' to Receive Ensemble Performance Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival Shetterly had become interested in this hidden history as someone who grew up in the NASA community. Her father worked there, and she met these female mathematicians and engineers at company picnics. She knew they existed, Spencer said. There was a picture of a parade for the astronauts and she asked, Who are these women, what do they do? It sent her on a mission to find out what their contributions were. At the time the women worked at NASA, the late 1950s and early 1960s, the country was in a full-blown Cold War. The U.S. tried to face down Soviet expansion across the globe and suddenly with the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1958 in space, too. The effort to catch up with the U.S.S.R. became a national priority, and as a result the demand for all scientists and mathematicians, including the human computers who did the calculations that would soon be the province of mechanical IBM computers, moved into high velocity. Among those, Johnson stood out. Bill Barry was a NASA consultant on the film who knew her unique abilities at a time when the brightest in the country were focused on inventing math that would allow space travel. Katherine had a facility with mathematics that boggles the mind, he said. It quickly became apparent after she was hired [by the NASA precursor NACA] in 1953 that she had very unusual talents. So when the Space Task Group formed, she was pulled in because they required the very best of the best. And she was a force to be reckoned with. Also Read: You Haven't Heard of the Women From 'Hidden Figures,' But You're About To Indeed, the film depicts the true story of Glenn requesting that Johnson personally verify the math to calculate his orbit before he agreed to take off. Similarly, Vaughan led the way in figuring out how to program IBMs new computer the machine that would replace the women which led to her becoming an expert in the early computer language Fortran. But the ironies for women like Johnson, Jackson and Vaughan were extraordinary. A widow before she got remarried to military veteran Jim Johnson (played in the film by Mahershala Ali), Johnson had three children to support. Jim Crow laws were still in effect everywhere including the segregation that kept Mary Jackson from an engineering degree until she petitioned the court. These women did not have the right to vote. Or to relieve themselves with dignity. One of the films most potent set pieces features Johnson running across Langleys west campus to the Colored Women restroom a half-mile from her office, which in heels often took up to 45 minutes round trip. (In the film, her supervisor, played by Kevin Costner, berates her for her absences, and Hensons Johnson gives him a powerful tongue-lashing herself.) Also Read: First 'Hidden Figures' Trailer: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer Play NASA Mathematicians (Video) While NASA was one of the more progressive places to work and eventually removed that bathroom sign, that history didnt disappear as quickly as one might think. At the Air and Space Museum, Spencer met Andrea Razzaghi, NASAs Astrophysics Division deputy director, who recounted, When I first joined NASA, I started off as a hands-on mechanical engineer, and I was the only woman in a group of 50 engineers. Not joking the restroom I used said, Woman. Singular. I always wondered if that was a mistake somebody made. Being a woman and on top of that a minority woman [meant] being treated with some skepticism where men were given the benefit of the doubt, said Razzaghi. I often had to get through that hurdle. I dont think it was a conscious bias. It never is, Spencer added wryly. At a time when women often find it difficult to achieve parity in Hollywood, Hidden Figures has a remarkably strong female presence throughout. Shetterly wrote the book because she wanted others to know the story, and indeed, she founded the Human Computer Project, a virtual museum that tells the stories of the female mathematicians of NASA. Veteran producer Donna Gigliotti found and optioned Shetterlys book before it was even published. Screenwriter Allison Schroeder grew up near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, studying high-level math and interning at the agency where her grandmother was a programmer and her grandfather took part in Project Mercury. And craftspersons were led by a female director of photography, Mandy Walker. Also Read: 7 Actresses Who Demanded Equal Pay in 2016, From Emma Stone to Viola Davis (Photos) The songwriter, performer and music producer Pharrell Williams signed on as producer with his partner Mimi Valdes. Gigliotti called him to join the project when she was only 55 pages into the book. Its three African-American female protagonists who were scientists, engineers, mathematicians, technologically advanced, said Williams. And because theres a deficit of that representation, that made it all the more sweet. Director Ted Melfi also felt called to the film, like a welcome duty. Pharrell says the universe brings you exactly what you need to be doing, he said. It touched me so deeply, it came to me. I dont know why. It opened my eyes to the unconscious bias of everyday life. This movie has changed my life forever. The awards season exposes a number of buried stories from the annals of Americas tortured past, including the slave rebellion of Nat Turner in The Birth of a Nation and the injustice of interracial marriage laws depicted in Loving. But Hidden Figures stands out for being so recent but also for being an unapologetically inspirational tale of women who did not seek the spotlight, content to be given the opportunity to contribute to a greater cause space exploration. Its those kind of people that the film offers up for the pleasure of well-deserved attention, a story that nourishes while it entertains. I hope the solidarity these women had in their very insular communities is something we take from the film, said Spencer. What we can do as women if we stand shoulder to shoulder is wonderful and its all about empowerment. And for the men out there we have to stop looking at each other externally and look at what we find internally. Click here to read more from the Nominations Preview issue of TheWrap Oscar magazine. Related stories from TheWrap: 'Hidden Figures' Review: Taraji P Henson Runs the Numbers in This Entertaining Civil Rights Space Saga SAG Awards: The Complete List of Nominees 15 Golden Globes Snubs and Surprises, From Martin Scorsese to Taraji P. Henson (Photos) LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Holiday travel at Los Angeles International Airport was snarled in a bottleneck of high volume and bad weather on Thursday, a spokesman for the facility said, as LAX became the nation's most troubled airline hub ahead of Christmas. LAX had more canceled and delayed flights than any other U.S. airport on Thursday, according to tracking website FlightAware.com. From midnight to noon, it had nearly 200 delays and 55 canceled flights, Los Angeles World Airports spokesman Frederick Badlissi said in a telephone interview. Those figures broke down as 33 canceled departures, 22 canceled arrivals, 96 delayed departures and 78 delayed arrivals, he said. The airport on the Pacific Coast was beset with heavy winds on Wednesday and early on Thursday, which forced flights to arrive from the west, the opposite of their normal route, and led to disruptions on the tarmac, he said. Also, volume is up at LAX this holiday season, which expects to have 4.3 million passengers pass through its gates between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3 compared to 3.9 million last year. "You've got volume of planes, you've got volume of passengers and you've also got the weather," Badlissi said. He added that they had combined in a "perfect storm" of travel disruptions. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by James Dalgleish) Gary Miller/WireImage Nothing can ease the grief of the families of the five Dallas police officers who were killed by a sniper during a protest this summer. But a New York charity is trying to ease their financial concerns this holiday season by paying off their mortgagesor helping them buy homes. The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, founded after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to support veterans, first responders, and their families, raised about $610,000 for the families. Some of that money was used to pay off the home loans of Sgt. Michael Smith and Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Brent Thompson, a newlywed, giving their families some much-needed financial security. It takes the burden off the minds of surviving family members, foundation spokeswoman Catherine Christman told realtor.com. They know the homes are going to be there. Its one less thing for them to worry about. Smiths widow, Heidi Smith, told reporters on Monday that she and her daughters would just like to thank everyone that made this possible for us to stay in our home that Michael worked so hard to provide for us. Emily Thompson, a fellow DART officer who had been married to Brent Thompson for only about two weeks, also thanked the group. This is amazing, she said. Wonderful. The family of Sr. Cpl. Lorne Ahrens had no housing needs, Christman said, and Officer Michael Krol was single with no children, so their families were given $100,000 each. The foundation is also working to help the widow of Officer Patrick Zamarripa buy a home. The Dallas police officers were killed during a Black Lives Matter protest in response to recent police shootings. It could not be more fitting than at Christmastime we are providing homes for these families who are so deserving, Christman said. The group also paid off the Iowa mortgage for the widow of Sgt. Anthony Beminio, the Des Moines police officer and father of three who was gunned down in November rushing to the scene where a fellow officer had been shot. Story continues At the end of the day, this pain is not going away anytime soon, the foundations Chief Operating Officer John Hodge told Fox affiliate KDFW. Were trying to relieve a small portion of the pain. An additional $10 million was raised for the Texas officers families by the Assist the Officer Foundation and the Dallas Foundation. The money will also go toward helping the nine other Dallas officers hurt in the attack. We owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to the officers who lost or risked their lives to keep us safe, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told reporters this week. Out of one of the darkest days in our citys history, we have seen an incredible outpouring of love and support from organizations and individuals all over the world. The post Holiday Heart Warmer: Foundation Pays Off Mortgages for Slain Police Officers Families appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com. By Alexandria Sage and Naomi Tajitsu SAN FRANCISCO/TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd said it is in talks to supply vehicles for Alphabet Inc's Waymo to test self-driving technology, in the latest instance of a carmaker teaming up with a tech firm to supplement its own automation efforts. The talks, which come just one week after Waymo became an independent company, could see Honda become the tech firm's second partner after Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV agreed in May to add the technology to its minivans. The moves illustrate how carmakers, faced with the high cost of developing autonomous driving tech in-house, are separating into those going it alone, such as General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co, and those teaming up to spread the costs. Honda already has tie-ups with tech startups, notably with Southeast Asian ride-hailing service Grab. It has been working alone to develop cars which can drive themselves on highways by 2020 while stressing vehicles will always require drivers. But it said was interested in the approach of Google's self-driving car project - now Waymo - to develop fully autonomous, driverless cars. "There's only so much technology a company can develop while focusing on one specific approach," Honda spokesman Teruhiko Tatebe told Reuters. "By approaching it from multiple angles it's possible to come up with new innovations quicker." At the same time, technology firms such as Waymo have started to form partnerships with automakers to finally get their technology - seven years in the making in the case of Waymo - into more vehicles. "You've got Google, which is engaging with another automaker to apply its technology into different vehicles and different platforms," said senior analyst Jeremy Carlson at researcher IHS Automotive. "From Honda's perspective, you get a close-up look at some of the most capable technology in the industry today." Honda has been developing automated driving functions and ways to connect vehicles to the internet, as well as artificial intelligence to enable vehicles to "think" while driving. With Waymo, Honda said it may provide vehicles modified to accommodate the startup's software - as Fiat Chrysler has done with its Chrysler Pacifica minivans. It also said there was potential for "close" cooperation between Honda and Waymo engineers. A Waymo representative said the company was "looking forward to exploring opportunities to collaborate with Honda." (Reporting by Alexandria Sage and Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Christopher Cushing) Honda Motor Co., Ltd.s HMC R&D arm Honda R&D Co., Ltd. has entered discussions to collaborate with Waymo an independent company of Alphabet Inc. GOOG for the self-driving automobile technology. The companies will be discussing the procedure to incorporate Waymos self-driving technology into Honda vehicles. The collaboration will help both the companies to learn about integration of fully self-driving sensors and software in Honda vehicles. As part of the collaboration, Honda will be providing modified vehicles for Waymos self-driving technology. Later, these vehicles will be tested across four cities in the U.S. along with Waymos fleet of cars. If the agreement gets finalized, Hondas R&D engineers in Silicon Valley, California and Tochigi, Japan, will work with Waymo engineers in Mountain View, California and Novi, MI. Honda expects to start supplying vehicles with automated driving capabilities by 2020 in order to achieve its goal of vehicle collision-free roads. This collaboration will help the automaker in achieving this goal. HONDA MOTOR Price HONDA MOTOR Price | HONDA MOTOR Quote Price Performance Honda has underperformed the Zacks categorized Auto Manufacturers-Foreign industry so far this year. The companys shares have lost 5.98% compared to the industrys loss of 3.19%. The share price decline can be attributed to frequent recalls, dampened fiscal 2017 revenue guidance, declining sales in Japan and high research and development expenses. Zacks Rank & Key Picks Honda currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked companies in the auto space include Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. ALSN and Rush Enterprises, Inc. RUSHA. All the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Allison Transmission has a long-term expected growth rate of 11%. Rush Enterprises has a long-term expected growth rate of 15%. 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 RUSH ENTRPRS-A (RUSHA): Free Stock Analysis Report HONDA MOTOR (HMC): Free Stock Analysis Report ALLISON TRANSMN (ALSN): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Kinshasa (AFP) - Hopes rose Thursday for a deal aimed at ending a dangerous crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a source with the Catholic church, which is overseeing the talks in the capital Kinshasa. "We are going to wrap up tonight," the source said. The talks are being presided by the Congo National Episcopal Conference, CENCO, which has previously urged a conclusion by Christmas. "The agreement has to be signed tomorrow because the bishops have to be in their dioceses by Saturday at the latest," the source said, referring to Christmas Eve. The central African country of 70 million people has been thrust into a potentially explosive crisis over the future of President Joseph Kabila. Kabila, 45, has been been in office since his father Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and again in 2011, and his term in office officially ended on December 20. In November, he cut a power-sharing deal, appointing fringe opposition politician Samy Badibanga as prime minister -- a move that would effectively extend his term to at least late 2017. A working document being used at the talks, seen by AFP, sets out a plan for a "political transition" and the holding of presidential elections -- which should have been held this year -- in "late 2017." A so-called national transition council would be set up to ensure the agreement is carried out. Vast and resource-rich but poor and chronically unstable, DR Congo has never witnessed a democratic transfer of power following polls since independence from Belgium in 1960. Two decades ago, the country collapsed into the deadliest conflict in modern African history. Its two wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s dragged in at least six African armies and left more than three million dead. Its restive east remains a battleground for rival ethnic militia. The deadline for Kabila's official departure from office unleashed clashes that have left between 56 and 104 people dead, according to divergent tolls. Those figures do not include an attack that took place Tuesday in the central town of Kananga, for which the toll remains unclear. Keegan-Michael Key (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Twentieth Century Fox/AP Images) Imagine no Key & Peele, which means no Liam Neesons or Obama Anger Translator. Becas Boss would have been entirely different in Pitch Perfect 2. Jordan Peele may have still co-written Keanu, but whos to say the film would have been made without his partner in cat-seeking crime? And theres no way that Gustav, the mutton-chopped German adviser to James Franco in the new comedy Why Him? would have been such the scene stealer. All because Keegan-Michael Key would have been in Ashland, Oregon. The ubiquitous comedic actor points to one decision in his life the first really significant fork in the road, professionally, he explained to Yahoo Movies at Beverly Hills hotel while promoting Why Him? that altered the entire course of his career. Related: How James Franco Got Walter Whited by Bryan Cranston in Why Him? It was the summer of 1996 and Key, 25 at the time, was fresh out of Penn State where hed earned an M.F.A. in theater. He had performed some improv here and there, mostly during undergrad at the University of Detroit, but he considered himself a Serious Dramatic Actor. And he had a choice between two options. One was to head to Champaign-Urbana to perform at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. I thought, if I do that, then thats the course Im going to be on, Key said. Ill start trying to work my way up the ranks. In that world, you want to make it to Ashland, Oregon. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is the top of the ladder. The other option was to go back to his hometown of Detroit and act in an independent film called Get the Hell Out of Hamtown written by a couple of his friends. Key ultimately chose the latter not the ladder for many reasons, he said, but mostly for the comfort of being back in the environment he knew. Key in Why Him? (Fox) What he didnt know is that the role in Hamtown (named for the Detroit-adjacent, blue-collar city of Hamtramck) would lead him on this glorious 19-year detour into comedy. Although his role in Hamtown was dramatic, a few cast mates were members of the Second City Detroit improv troupe, and encouraged him to audition. Much to my chagrin, Key remembered. I was like, What are you talking about? Im a dramatic actor. I dont do sketch comedy. How dare you, how dare you, sir?! Story continues Key, of course, got in, and the transformation took root. Second City was like me getting a second masters degree. I got to learn comedy there. Timing, how to write jokes, what the anatomy of a joke is, what the anatomy of a scenario is. It was one of the most impressionable times, and one of the greatest learning times in my life. After four years and 11 revues at Second City Detroit, Key was drafted into improvs big leagues: Second City ETC in Chicago. His drive for comedy only intensified. Anyone who goes to Second City Chicago is in some way, shape, or form in the back of their head thinking, SNL might call. SNL might call. If they say that they dont think about that, I think its a little disingenuous. Were all there to explore improvisation, but it wouldnt be bad to be on SNL. That, of course, sounds very much like the plot of Dont Think Twice, Mike Birbiglias drama about comedy and one of five films Key appeared in this year. That was a very autobiographical film for me, Key admitted. Saturday Night Live didnt call, but MADtv did, even though the Fox sketch series had sent talent scouts to SCETC to look for female performers. It was the break Key needed. He would spend six seasons on MADtv and also form another career-changing relationship, this time with co-star Peele. Fox had initially planned to test the actors against one another but they displayed such an effortless chemistry the network had no choice but to keep both. keanu3 Keys monster year in 16 is a direct extension of his climb up the sketch ladder in Second City and then on MADtv and Comedy Centrals Key & Peele. First there was his action-comedy Keanu with Peele and the years cutest gangta kitty; then voice roles in high-flying animated kiddie flicks Angry Birds and Storks; the aforementioned indie hit Dont Think Twice, and now Why Him?, a Meet the Parents-esque laugher that pits Francos brash billionaire against the father (Bryan Cranston) of his new girlfriend (Zooey Deutch). Related: Watch Key, Peele, and the Cast of Keanu Rate the Internets Cutest Kittens These are all comedic roles, but the actor insists hes not naturally funny. I guess that can be true depending on the person, but for me its the craft of it. People are surprised to hear I started in drama. They say, Oh, you have the facility for this. But I say, No, I think thats my training.' As Key puts it, All comedy is is dramatic elements with a little bit of heightening The character doesnt know theyre in a comedy, the same way a character doesnt know theyre in a drama. From the sounds of it, Key will soon be a man who knows hes a character or characters in a drama. Things are changing as we speak, he says about his want to return to more serious work. Whats exciting is there are quite a few projects that Im not at liberty to talk about that are not comedies. And Im thrilled. And as I move forward, I think were turning the ship the right way. Maybe hell even end up in Astoria, Oregon. Why Him? opens Friday. Watch the trailer: By Emily Stephenson and Svea Herbst-Bayliss (Reuters) - Billionaire Carl Icahn will advise Donald Trump on rescinding what the activist investor called "excessive regulation" on U.S. businesses, the president-elect's transition team announced on Wednesday. Icahn will serve as a special adviser, not a federal employee, and he will not have specific duties, Trump's team said in a statement. He will not take a salary, a transition aide said. The pick could draw scrutiny because Icahn, whose major investments include insurer American International Group and oil refining business CVR Energy, could help shape rules meant to police Wall Street and protect the environment. In the transition team statement released on Wednesday, Icahn said it was time to "break free of excessive regulation" and let businesses create jobs. Icahn, an early supporter of Trump's White House bid who has at times been outspoken about regulation, has already helped the transition team weigh candidates to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. He has held meetings at his New York City office, not far from Trump Tower but away from reporters staked out there, people familiar with the talks said. Current SEC Chair Mary Jo White will leave in January. Candidates to replace her have included former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins and Debra Wong Yang, a former federal prosecutor, a source familiar with the matter said. Over the years, Icahn's businesses have had occasional regulatory run-ins, according to disclosures with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He is a large investor in nutrition supplement maker Herbalife, which said at one time it was investigated by the SEC. "Voters who wanted Trump to drain the swamp just got another face full of mud," Democratic National Committee spokesman Eric Walker said in a statement, referring to Trump's pledge to clean up Washington. Icahn, who was once known as a corporate raider, said in a recent Reuters interview the 2010 Dodd-Frank banking law "went too far." He is a critic of the U.S. biofuels program that requires oil companies to use renewable fuels such as ethanol. "I do believe that, to some extent, we have gone overboard concerning the environment. But I leave that to the experts in that area," Icahn told CNN in a recent interview. Trump and Icahn share some history in the casino business. Icahn this year helped shutter the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resorts in Atlantic City, two years after buying it out of bankruptcy. The casino was once a prized part of Trump's empire. (Reporting by Emily Stephenson, Sarah N. Lynch, Steve Holland and Diane Bartz in Washington, Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Chris Prentice in New York and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Alan Crosby) New York (AFP) - Ikea will pay $50 million to settle with the families of three small children in the US who were killed by dressers that tipped over, attorneys representing the families said Thursday. Attorneys from Feldman Shepherd announced the settlement after a two-day mediation overseen by a federal magistrate judge. The three families will share the $50 million, Feldman said in a news release. IKEA also agreed to make three separate $50,000 donations to hospitals in memories of the children and a $100,000 contribution to Shane's Foundation, a nonprofit focused on children's safety. An Ikea spokesperson confirmed a "tentative settlement" was reached but declined further comment, saying it had not yet been approved by the court. In June, Ikea announced it was recalling more than 35 million chests and dressers from its "Malm" line in North America after six children died in the United States when they tipped over. The Swedish furniture company subsequently recalled another 1.6 million of the models in China. US regulators had urged consumers to act urgently after discovering the chests could tip over and crush children unless properly anchored to the wall. Stockholm (AFP) - A new fad that has people hiding out in IKEA stores overnight and walking out the next morning has left the Swedish retailer less than amused. In Europe, pranksters seeking a thrill have followed in the footsteps of Bram Geirnaert and Florian Van Hecke, two Belgian students who filmed and posted on YouTube a video clip about the night they spent last summer at an Ikea store in Ghent. Their video, entitled "Two idiots at night in Ikea", has been viewed 1.7 million times -- fewer however than their British counterparts "Carnage" and "LordOmar", who have made a name for themselves by spending 24 clandestine hours in stadiums, zoos, cinemas and theme parks, and whose stay at a British Ikea has garnered 2.3 million views. "We were thinking about something crazy we could do after we graduated from high school," Geirnaert told AFP. Hiding out for hours each in a separate cramped display wardrobe, the two ventured out into the showroom once they were sure the cleaning staff had gone for the night. "We didn't go too far inside the store because we didn't want to risk being caught by a motion sensor," Geirnaert recalled. Crawling under the covers of a large bed, "we were too nervous to really fall asleep. With every sound of the wind or every noise we heard we were wide awake again." When the store opened the next morning, Geirnaert and Van Hecke coolly walked through the aisles to the exit, as unwitting sales staff greeted them and thanked them for their visit. Others have not been so lucky. "Carnage" and "LordOmar" were caught by a night watchman, as were two teenage girls in the southern Swedish town of Jonkoping on December 17. The underage girls will not be prosecuted, but future trespassers may not be so fortunate, Ikea spokesman Jakob Holmstrom said. - Daytime dozers - "We hope we've seen the beginning of the end" of this "overrated" craze, Holmstrom told AFP, insisting the prank is hardly worth the effort. Story continues "It'll be a long night of sitting still, only to then get in trouble with the law." At its almost 400 stores worldwide, the manufacturer of Billy bookcases has been targeted by around 1,300 clandestine night visitors, Swedish police investigator Lars Forstell told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. But Ikea roundly rejects that number. "We have no overall global number but we have had significantly fewer incidents than 1,300. If we look at Sweden, we have had four cases at 20 stores," Holmstrom says. Geirnaert and Van Hecke are meanwhile not encouraging others to break the law. "Ikea didn't personally contact us, we only read in the newspaper that they thought it was funny once but they didn't want other people to try it," Geirnaert said. Holmstrom strongly advised against re-creating their prank, stressing that Ikea "can't guarantee people's safety. If something were to happen they wouldn't be able to get out", in the event of a fire for example. In addition, intrusions of this kind amount to trespassing, punishable by law, he said. Meanwhile in China, Ikea -- founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad and which has 180,000 employees worldwide -- has a similar but different problem: visitors are known to pop into Ikea stores during the afternoon to take a nap in the display beds. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f326768%2f6ec1393c-435c-45e5-b8cd-19213e791211 Whats in a name? Or so, said the great William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, possibly his most celebrated work. SEE ALSO: The 8 most Bollywood things about 'La La Land' But perhaps there is a lot in a name in a country like India, where the christening of a newborn is a massive occasion. Families are known to carefully choose their child's name, sometimes even taking into account the alignment of stars and other extra-terrestrial happenings. In such a sensitive milieu, A-list celebrity couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor he, who hails from the royal family of Pataudi in northern India, and she, who belongs to the oldest and most illustrious family of Indian cinema came under heavy social media criticism for naming their newborn Taimur. The hashtag #Taimur trended on Twitter all of Wednesday and generated more than 3 million impressions. Still counting. Image: Keyhole DATA Taimur, born on Dec. 20 in Mumbai, shares his name with a barbaric figure from medieval history, and Indians lashed out at his Oxford-educated father for his carelessness. I wouldn't mind some twat from Owaisi clan naming his son Taimur. The thing is one expects better from a man of Saif's education. Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) December 21, 2016 Taimur Lang or Tamerlane was the founder of the Timurid Empire in 14th century Persia and he continues to live in Indian folklore as a true-blue villain. He, of Turkish-Mongol ancestry, had invaded the country in 1398 and brought down the Delhi Sultanate. Various historians believe that his military campaigns across Islamic empires in India, Persia, Syria and Ottoman Turkey, led to the slaughter of 17 million people, amounting to nearly 5 percent of the world population. Taimur is also known to have beheaded his mother at the age of 18. Story continues Much of the criticism came from Indias right-wing commentators whose disgust seemed to stem from the fact that Taimur Ali Khan Pataudis parents, Khan and Kapoor, had an inter-religious marriage, still considered an aberration in this part of the world. And they tweeted out a list of Taimurs atrocities to remind the couple of their supposed faux pas. So Saif Ali Khan's son and a Pakistani missile have the same name: Taimur. Both inspired by a mass-murderer who slaughtered Hindus. Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) December 20, 2016 At the age of 18 #Taimur killed his mother by beheading her & jailed his dad with steel chains. My advance condolences to Saif and Kareena. #MODIfied SUMIT (@sumitjaibharat) December 20, 2016 Atleast folks are now learning about Taimur; something which NCERT failed 2 teach! God bless Saif&Kareena May their next one be named Qasim! Harpreet (@CestMoiz) December 21, 2016 These r words of Taimur from his book 'Tuzk-e-Taimuri' where he describes with glee how he ordered the massacre of 1,00,000 Hindus in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/E9VCEttKue Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) December 20, 2016 Meanwhile, the couples relative and veteran Indian actor Rishi Kapoor, slammed Twitterati for their relentless outrage over the name. Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child please?Mind your business,it's got nothing to do with you.Parents wish! Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 And popular Indian politician Omar Abdullah seemed to concur. The only people who get to decide a baby's name are the parents of said baby & the ones they ask. Why should opinion of the rest matter? Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) December 20, 2016 There were others who drew comparisons between Emperor Taimur and Greek invader Alexander, whom history remembers more flatteringly. Taimur was a villain. He invaded countries, razed cities, killed many. Alexander was a hero. He invaded countries, razed cities, killed ... Ashok Malik (@MalikAshok) December 20, 2016 Some tried to rationalize. Taimur/Babur/Jalal/Nadir are generic 1st names, not 2nd or family names like Hitler or Abdali. There're any number of Nathu Rams or Godses https://t.co/1r6LmwwZtz Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) December 21, 2016 And some added wit and sarcasm. "on the day he was born in breach candy hospital, taimur ali khan trended on twitter," begins a horrible millennial salman rushdie novel. Supriya Nair (@supriyan) December 20, 2016 Don't be ridiculous. Deutsche Bank Asia chief economist is named Taimur. On last count, he had no problems. https://t.co/QKiYJeP7ip Andy Mukherjee (@andymukherjee70) December 21, 2016 Taimur was just a humanitarian conqueror - the real killer is demonetization The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) December 22, 2016 Dear Sanghi bhaiyyon, we know its not the taimur that bothers, its the love jihad that hurts the most Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) December 21, 2016 He is so Pink. Instead of #Taimur they could have named him Jaipur. pic.twitter.com/8BjvQTHeAw Sagar (@sagarcasm) December 20, 2016 And unsurprisingly, India's obsession with Bollywood celebrities continued to manifest on social media. (Adds comment from Freeport official) JAKARTA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Indonesia is considering allowing miners to negotiate an extension of their operating permits five years before expiry, rather than two years currently, the energy and mining minister said on Thursday. "The negotiation for the extension may not be two years, perhaps it can be five years before the contracts end," Ignasius Jonan told reporters. "This will apply for everyone." Under current regulations, U.S miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc , whose contract in Indonesia ends in 2021, can only start negotiating an extension in 2019. Freeport welcomed the news and will cooperate with the government, said its Indonesia spokesman, Riza Pratama. The spokesman said the company could not give more details until the regulation is implemented. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Eveline Danubrata; Editing by Richard Pullin and Kenneth Maxwell) Tehran (AFP) - Iran has scored a string of victories across the Middle East, and decades of isolation mean it is well-placed to weather the uncertainties of a Trump presidency. But fears that it could dominate the region are overblown, experts say. Having rarely commented on its role in the Syrian conflict, Tehran has been suddenly full of self-congratulation at the imminent defeat of rebel forces in Aleppo. "The liberation of Aleppo... reinforces the political strength of Islamic Republic of Iran. The new American president must accept the reality that Iran is the leading power in the region," Yahya Safavi, top foreign policy adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told reporters last week. The dominoes do indeed appear to be falling in Iran's favour in recent weeks. Its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the form of battlefield advisers and volunteer fighters is paying off, and its mortal enemy -- the Islamic State group -- could soon be ousted from Mosul in neighbouring Iraq. In Lebanon, the protracted debate over who should be president ended in success for ex-general Michel Aoun, who is allied to the Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah. Iran has also seen billions of dollars in assets and oil sales unfrozen by last year's nuclear deal with world powers, and its allies in Yemen, the Shiite Huthi rebels, have held on despite a year of crippling bombardment by a Saudi-led coalition. - Living with Trump - And then there's the imminent arrival of Donald Trump. The US president-elect has surrounded himself with fiercely anti-Iran advisers, but has also criticised Iran's main regional rival Saudi Arabia for its reliance on US support and spreading fundamentalist Islam. After decades of isolation, Iran might be the best-placed to deal with the uncertainty Trump is about to inject into Middle Eastern affairs, said Adnan Tabatabai, Iran analyst and CEO of Germany-based think tank CARPO. Story continues "For Iran, it's much easier not to rely on the US because they haven't been doing that for the past three decades, whereas it's a major change for Saudi Arabia and other regional rivals of Iran to stop counting on the US." Even before Trump takes office, the Saudis have been facing a host of setbacks. Their economy has been battered by low oil prices, the rebels they support in Syria are on the run, and their Western allies are increasingly disturbed by the brutal bombing campaign in Yemen. For all this, analysts say fears that Iran could come to dominate the Middle East are unfounded. "A lot of Iran's successes in the region are really to do with the failures of others. We shouldn't overestimate its capacities," said Tabatabai. "Syria is important as a way of maintaining its access to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which acts as a defence force for Iran against Israeli influence in the region, but Iran's main priority is simply to secure its borders with Iraq and Afghanistan for the sake of its territorial integrity." - 'Preventing permanent war' - Foad Izadi, a conservative-leaning professor of world politics at Tehran University, said support for Assad's bloody offensive was a necessary evil, and ultimately defensive in nature. "If Syria falls, you'll either get a pro-Israeli government there, or you get the Islamic State, or you get Libya. Those are not good options for us," he said. "If Syria breaks up, then Iraq breaks up, and that's right next door. This isn't about dominating the region -- it's about preventing permanent war." Iran also faces clear limits to any attempt at expanding its power. "For all the talk of Iran being in a much better position... it doesn't change the fact that Iran is a Shiite power in a Sunni-majority region," said Aram Nerguizian, a Middle East analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Neither side wants all-out war. At some point they have to accept some degree of influence for the other side. The alternative is an indefinite ideological war between Sunnis and Shiites, and that's just not sustainable." Nerguizian said the Saudis still had some major advantages, not least the billions of dollars in military hardware they have purchased from Western allies. "Folks have been projecting the collapse of the House of Saud for 60 years and it hasn't happened," he said. "For all their instability, the Gulf countries are far more integrated into the global economy than Iran and still have the support of key Western allies." Nor can Iran count on Russia, which has been a close ally in the Syrian conflict. "Iran's relationships with big powers like Russia and China are very fickle. Those countries have their own priorities. Syria is just one small part of the region. When it comes to things like energy, Russia is more than happy to partner with other countries in the Gulf," said Nerguizian. IRBIL, Iraq (AP) Zaid Ahmed's barber shop in the Gogjali district of Mosul was packed with customers Thursday when the first of three car bombs ripped through the outdoor food market outside. Ahmed was unharmed, but when he made a dash for safety, the second blast hit. The 25-year-old father of two was among dozens wounded in the attack that killed 23 people, including eight policemen, the deadliest bombing yet in the district since Iraqi forces wrested it away from the Islamic State group more than a month ago. Repeated attacks by IS militants in parts of Mosul "liberated" by Iraqi forces including mortars, sniper fire, suicide car bombs and sneak attacks are plaguing attempts by troops to advance in the city and shaking residents who are trying to find some semblance of a normal life again. Authorities slapped a 24-hour curfew on Gogjali soon after the bombings, two of which hit the market and its surroundings, while the third hit outside a mosque a short distance away. Human Rights Watch said in a statement this week that IS fighters are deliberately targeting civilians who refuse to join them as they retreat in the face of the advancing Iraqi forces. Mosul residents who spoke to The Associated Press this week agree with the assessment of the New York-based rights group, saying the militants seem to be punishing them for not joining them as they pull back and over widely publicized scenes of public jubilation in Mosul over the end of IS rule. On Thursday, the United Nations said two mortar attacks in eastern Mosul killed four aid workers and seven other civilians earlier this week. It said 40 other people were wounded in the attacks. It did not identify the aid workers or provide their nationalities. The scene at the hospital where victims of Thursday's triple bombings were taken testified to the persistent violence in Mosul areas retaken by the government forces. The ward where the injured are first admitted in a hospital in Irbil, capital of Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish region east of Mosul, was filled with screams of pain from the wounded and the wailing of relatives. Story continues When the ward was overwhelmed by the wounded from the triple bombings, many complained they were not being attended to quickly enough. Pools of blood covered parts of the floor as doctors and nurses worked feverishly. Beside the victims of the bombings, some of the wounded were victims of mortar attacks blamed on IS. Gogjali, on Mosul's easternmost outskirts, was one of the first districts to be recaptured in the offensive launched in October, and it has seen the fastest return to relative normalcy. Its outdoor food market and stores are attracting thousands of shoppers from Gogjali as well as from other Mosul neighborhoods. Ahmed lives in another district but came to Gogjali to open his barber shop. "I leased the shop two weeks ago, and now it lies in ruin," he told the AP from his hospital bed in Irbil, where he is recovering from injuries to his head and hand. His father, also a victim of the triple car bombings, lay injured just a few beds away in the West Irbil Emergency Hospital. "Gogjali is the best place to do business in Mosul now that Daesh is gone," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. Schools have reopened and a local police force and traffic cops are back on the streets of Gogjali, a poor and middle class district. The area has also become a hub for relief operations by the government and aid organizations struggling to meet the basic needs of Mosul's liberated areas a little more than a quarter of the city. Firas Abdel-Monaim had just left his mobile phone at a repair shop in central Gogjali to be fixed and was making his way to buy tomatoes and onions when the first of the three blasts, apparently targeting the police, hit. "I was tossed up in the air, then landed hard on the street before I got up and kept running until I felt something in my left arm," he said from his Irbil hospital bed while feeling his arm. "A whole chunk of it is gone," said Abdel-Monaim, whose wife is about three weeks away from giving birth to their first child, a baby girl. "Life is slowly returning to normal. People desperately want their lives back," he said, while gasping for air. "These are Daesh's last desperate acts." ___ Associated Press writer Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report. Beirut (AFP) - Written off by the West, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has defied all expectations of his downfall, thanks to his iron will but also his crucial alliances with Russia and Iran. Syria's army declared Thursday it has recaptured all of Aleppo, allowing the 51-year-old president to deal a potentially knock-out blow to the opposition forces that rose up against him in 2011. "The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran," state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying before the army announcement. For nearly six years, Assad has been able to count on his bloodied but loyal armed forces, his powerful intelligence services and the support of many people in Syria terrified by the rise of jihadist forces such as the Islamic State group. His opponents, meanwhile, have often been deeply divided and disorganised, and received timid backing from Western and Arab Gulf allies unwilling to stand by their side militarily. Assad, analysts said, was able to survive because he never wavered in his deep belief that he had no choice but to fight on. "It has always been a struggle for life and death. There was no question of stopping this war. It was either win or lose," said Nikolaos van Dam, a former Dutch ambassador and Syria expert. "The regime has half a century of experience of how to stay in power. It has the support of the army and security services," he said. "Popular support is not that decisive, but comes among others from minorities that feel threatened by Islamists and jihadists." Having arrived in power in 2000 following the death of his father Hafez, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for 30 years, Assad was taken by surprise by the revolution. - Sure of 'ultimate victory' - Inspired by the Arab Spring movement sweeping the Middle East, opponents of Assad's rule rose up in a wave of protests across the country. Story continues Assad did not hesitate and the protests were violently suppressed, with the Syrian leader denouncing his opponents as either jihadists, foreign agents of a conspiracy concocted by the United States and Israel, or both. Opposition forces took up arms and many of the rebels were hailed in the West and Sunni Gulf Arab states -- long enemies of Assad's Shiite-linked regime -- as the vanguard of a democratic Syria. Still, despite some tentative efforts to provide arms and training to opposition forces, the revolution's backers never cracked Assad's conviction that he was going to win the war, analysts said. "Assad advisers maintained from the beginning that they were confident of success so long as the United States Air Force did not bomb Damascus or get involved in the war," said Joshua Landis, director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Even at the regime's worst moment, when his forces were driven in March 2015 from Idlib province, "Assad and his advisers brushed off their defeats as limited", Landis said. "They always projected a strong sense of self-assurance in their ultimate victory." Patience was vital, analysts said, with Assad -- no matter how isolated from the West -- willing to hold out for as long as it took to put down the rebellion. "He was from the same school as his father, and this school has always understood the importance of time, how to turn bad headwinds into good," said Waddah Abed Rabbo, editor-in-chief of Syria's influential Al-Watan daily newspaper. Still, the key to his victory, Abed Rabbo and others said, was the steadfast support Assad was able to count on from his foreign allies. "He never doubted his victory because he knew that his country had for decades nourished a solid strategic alliance with Russia, Iran and others," he said. - Old, strong alliances - Those alliances date back decades. The Soviet Union was a major supporter of Assad's father, and Syria's ruling elite -- hailing from the Alawite branch of Shiite Islam -- have long had close ties with Shiite-dominated Iran. "Syria's relations with its allies are old and founded on... interests that are still valid today," said Souhail Belhadj, a political scientist at the Geneva-based Institute of International and Development Studies. "The Syrian regime has always shown itself to be a loyal military, strategic, political, ideological and economic ally for as long as this alliance has lasted." In contrast, as Syria's war dragged on, the opposition saw its support dwindle away. The "Friends of Syria" group, formed in 2012 by Western and Gulf nations to support the rebellion, backed the National Coalition as the country's recognised opposition and imposed sanctions on the regime. But that support, analysts said, never went far enough. "The weakness of Assad's enemies has to a great extent been determined by insufficient support of the 'friends' of the Syrian opposition," van Dam said. Emboldened by his win in Aleppo, Assad now has little reason to make any concessions to the opposition. "He will rule much as he has in the past, using a combination of intimidation and patronage," Landis said. "We have seen that the Assads are unable to change the fundamental nature of the regime." (Adds further detail, background) BAGHDAD, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed three suicide car bombs that killed at least 15 civilians and eight Iraqi policemen on Thursday in an eastern suburb of Mosul, according to a military statement. The attacks targeted Kokjali, a suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago. A military spokesman said the car bombs went off in a market. The U.S.-backed assault on Mosul, the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq, was launched by a 100,000-strong alliance of local forces on Oct. 17. It has become the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Islamic State militants retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they are retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction. Four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed by mortar fire this week during aid distribution in Mosul, the United Nations said on Thursday. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," said Lise Grande, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. "All parties to the conflict - all parties - have an obligation to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians survive and receive the assistance they need." Elite army forces have captured a quarter of the city but the advance has faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants. The authorities do not release figures for civilian or military casualties, but medical officials say dozens of people are wounded each day in the battle for Mosul. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by Ralph Boulton) By Jeffrey Heller and Michelle Nichols JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israel urged the United States on Thursday to veto a U.N. Security Council draft resolution calling for an immediate halt to settlement building on occupied land that Palestinians want for a state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to make the appeal, in a sign of concern that President Barack Obama might take a parting shot at a policy he has long opposed and a right-wing leader with whom he has had a rocky relationship. Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council is due to vote at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) on Thursday, diplomats said. It was unclear, they said, how the United States, which has protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. The resolution would demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem". The White House declined to comment. Some diplomats hope Obama will allow Security Council action by abstaining on the vote. Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office. Tweeting at 3:28 a.m., Netanyahu said the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday". Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He has already signalled a possible change in U.S. policy by appointing one his lawyers - a fundraiser for a major Israeli settlement - as Washington's new ambassador to Israel. In 2011, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the Palestinians refused a compromise offer from Washington. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, said on Israeli Army Radio: "In a few hours we will receive the answer from our American friends." "I hope very much it will be the same one we received in 2011 when the version was very similar to the one proposed now and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at the time, Susan Rice, vetoed it." The draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law". It expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperilling the viability of a two-state solution". The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. Danon said nothing would change on the ground if the resolution passes. But he said it could spur Palestinians to seek international sanctions against Israel and impede any return to peace talks that collapsed in 2014. A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. (Editing by Louise Ireland) Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli police said Thursday they arrested an Arab lawmaker whose immunity has been lifted after he was suspected of secretly giving cellphones to two Palestinian high security prisoners. Basel Ghattas of the Joint List, a coalition of Arab Israeli parties, has denied the accusations. A police spokesman told AFP Ghattas was detained after being questioned, and will appear before a judge on Friday morning at Rishon LeZion, about 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Tel Aviv. The 60-year-old Ghattas said on Thursday he would accept his parliamentary immunity being lifted shortly before a planned vote in the Knesset on the issue. Israeli media have reported that 12 mobile phones were found on two separate prisoners in searches after Ghattas visited Ktziot prison in the Negev desert. One of the prisoners is serving time for the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli soldier in 1984, news site Ynet reported. Police on Thursday said the lawmaker is suspected of passing phones and SIM cards to detainees at the prison on an unspecified date. As an MP, Ghattas is suspected of using parliamentary immunity to escape the search and smuggle the mobile phones into the prison. Arab lawmakers from the Joint List, the third largest force in parliament with 13 seats, frequently clash with Israel's leaders. Arab Israelis make up some 17.5 percent of the country's population. They are the descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of Israel in 1948. They hold Israeli citizenship, but largely see themselves as Palestinians. On Wednesday, parliament decided to restrict visits by deputies to high security prisoners. (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the United States to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement activities in a vote scheduled for Thursday. Netanyahu said in a message on Twitter that the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution." The Security is due to vote on a draft that would demand that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening, diplomats said. It was unclear how the United States, which has traditionally protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. A White House official declined comment. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Sandra Maler) ROME (Reuters) - The Italian cabinet met late on Thursday to discuss details of a widely anticipated government-led rescue of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) after the bank failed to raise enough money from private investors to stay afloat. Parliament on Wednesday authorised the government to borrow up to an extra 20 billion euros ($20.9 billion) to prop up failing banks, starting with the Tuscan lender that for years has been at the forefront of Italy's banking woes. Monte dei Paschi said on Thursday it had raised less than half of the 5 billion euros of fresh capital that it needs by the end of the year to avoid being wound down by European authorities. (Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, Writing by Crispian Balmer, editing by Valentina Za) LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Italian and Spanish 10-year government bond yields rose in opening trading on Thursday following reports of a possible state bailout for ailing Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Monte dei Paschi has all but failed to pull off a last-ditch rescue plan and a state bailout for the ailing Italian bank now looks inevitable, sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Italy's 10-year government bond yield was up 2 bps to 1.84 percent by 0815 GMT, while the Spanish equivalent was up a similar amount to 1.34 percent. "A bailout in itself is good news, but the big question is whether it is in line with European law," said DZ Bank strategist Daniel Lenz. "It's an open question whether there will be a solution everybody is fine with." EU rules require that bond holders are tapped first in any bank bailout before taxpayer cash, if its more that 1 billion euros, can be used. (Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan, Editing by Marc Jones) Italian banks received a push on signs that the government may intervene to support its financial sector. The countrys government announced that it has asked parliament to let it borrow as much as 20 billion (around $21 billion) for a potential rescue plan for troubled banks. Investors should note that Italy is the Euro zone's third-largest economy and is heavily debt ridden. The countrys largest bank, UniCredit, is looking to raise 13 billion (around $13.5 billion) and cut jobs. Other banks Monte dei Paschi di Siena are also working to raise funds. These lenders have non-performing assets worth more than $370 billion (read: What Does Italy Referendum Mean for These ETFs?). Meanwhile, Moodys has called Italys banks among the 10 weakest globally and cut its outlook for the countrys financial institutions to negative from stable. In the agencys stress tests, Italians banks performed worse than their counterparts in Portugal, Spain and Ireland, pulled down by high level of bad loans and a high cost-to-income ratio. Thus, Italy seems to be walking in the footsteps of Greece owing to its mounting debts. Italy's debt already stands at 136% of the country's GDP, second only to Greece in the EU. Greeces financial condition has been in the limelight time and again. Last year, the country was on the brink of a default only to be saved by a multi-billion-dollar bailout by the EU and IMF. This allowed the country to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the Euro zone. Banks in Italy received a blow as a result of the resignation of the countrys prime minister Matteo Renzi, after his program of constitutional reform was rejected by Italians in a referendum. With this, market watchers expect political uncertainty and the likelihood of an early election in Italy. The No movement was led by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement party, commanded by Beppe Grillo. If Grillo wins in an early election, he might dump euro, reintroduce the Italian lira and call for a situation like Brexit (read: European ETFs Fall Out of Investor Favor Since Brexit). In this light, the only pureplay Italy ETF iShares MSCI Italy Capped EWI will be in the spotlight. The fund tracks the MSCI Italy 25-50 Index and is home to a small basket of 23 companies. The fund trades in average daily volumes of around 1.1 million shares. It is heavily concentrated in the top two firms holding more than one fourth of the total assets. Financials takes the top spot in terms of sector holdings with 31.3% weight, followed by energy, utilities and industrials. The product has AUM of $555.9 million and charges 49 bps in fees per year from investors. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #5 or Strong Sell with a Medium risk outlook (read: Prepare for Uncertainty with These "Quality" ETFs). Another ETF that can come under the spotlight is iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF EUFN. The fund provides exposure to financial companies in Europe by tracking MSCI Europe Financials Index. The fund trades in an average daily volume of around 800,000 shares and has AUM of $537.5 million. Italy has 5.2% exposure in the fund. EUFN charges 48 bps in fees per year from investors. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 or Hold with a Medium risk outlook (see: all the European Equity ETFs here). Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it 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 ISHARS-MS EU FN (EUFN): ETF Research Reports ISHARS-ITALY (EWI): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research 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 MILAN (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors have wrapped up a probe into the head of Italian oil major Eni (ENI.MI) and others over alleged corruption in Nigeria, legal and judicial sources said on Thursday. The probe involves a total of 11 people, including Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and former CEO Paolo Scaroni, as well as Eni itself and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L). It was not immediately possible to reach those involved for comments. Under Italian law those under investigation have three weeks to show why they should not be charged. Prosecutors gave no indication they intended to drop the case. The case revolves around the $1.3 billion purchase in 2011 of Nigeria's OPL-245 offshore oil block by the Italian major and Shell. (Reporting by Manuela D'Alessandro, writing by Stephen Jewkes, editing by Francesca Landini) Dec 22 (Reuters) - Italian retail sales jumped 1.2 percent month-on-month in October after three consecutive monthly declines, but were down 0.2 percent from the year earlier, data showed on Thursday. October's 1.2 percent month-on-month rise was the largest increase for more than two years, but sales in the three months to October were still down 0.2 percent from the May-to-July period. In the first 10 months of the year retail sales were flat compared with the same period of 2015. National statistics institute ISTAT marginally revised up September's data to show a 0.5 percent month-on-month drop, compared with a an originally reported 0.6 percent fall. The 0.2 percent year-on-year fall in sales in October marked the fourth consecutive annual decline. The data are expressed in value terms and are not adjusted for consumer prices, which were down 0.1 percent in October from the year earlier, based on Italy's EU-harmonised index (HICP). Ivanka Trumps pastel ensemble and cool sunglasses screamed summer. (Photo: Splash) December 21 might have been the first day of winter, but Ivanka Trump wasnt having it. Instead, she wore her spring best, despite the dipping degrees. The 35-year-old businesswoman stepped out in the nearly freezing weather in a $1,160 white Peter Pilotto turtleneck featuring 70s-eqsue geometric patterns. While the Track Stripe Wool Fleece Turtleneck Sweater was probably warm, the pastel pattern inspired by the board game Ludo set against the white material would probably be more fit for Easter, not Christmas. Plus, she paired it with pale pink dress pants. Seriously, this outfit screams daytime brunch with flowers on the cusp of blooming. And while were all dreaming of those days, were not pulling out the pastels just yet. We do appreciate her sunny disposition; in a month or so we are going to be seriously sick of all the gray sweaters, dirty snow and tights. Did Ivanka Trump forget that its winter? (Photo: Splash) To top it all off she didnt top it off; instead of wearing a parka in the frigid cold, she carried her white peacoat. It seems like Ivanka, who recently began contending with paparazzi hanging outside of her apartment on a daily basis, has fully transformed into a street style star. Like her peers who attend fashion week in February wearing weather inappropriate clothing, she doesnt seem to let temperatures get in the way of a fabulous outfit. This isnt the first time the president elects daughter stepped out into winter weather without coat. Just last week she stepped out in a black blouse featuring see-through lace cutouts around her shoulders and black cropped slacks, carrying her coat. The high was 34 that day. The day before, she rocked a pale blue dress and what looked like bare legs. Maybe were turning into our mothers, but, we want to scream, put on a coat! Youll catch a cold! Ivanka, your outfits might be worth showing off, but not worth freezing for. You know its winter, right? Or maybe she learned a thing or two from her meeting with Al Gore and this is her way of proving the effects of global warming? Story continues Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. James Franco is happy to share his passions with the world and his costars. Franco appeared on Conan Wednesday, alongside his Why Him? costar Bryan Cranston, when he shared that many of the paintings that appear in the movie are his own creations. I did a lot of them, yes, the 38-year-old actor explained of the paintings in his characters home. There was supposed to be a lot of art in the house, and they consulted me: What kind of art do you think you would have? They showed me kind of very generic paintings, so I thought, Well, I have some paintings that may be funnier and may be more in line with the character. Franco showed off one his works, which featured two humping capybaras. I got it wrong. I thought they were hamsters, so it was F word hamsters, and then I put it online and everyone was like, No, those are capybaras. So I PGd it up. Franco also gifted Cranston with a painting with a personal twist. Not only was the artwork depicting what the Breaking Bad star called a beautiful marijuana leaf, but Franco had also mixed some real marijuana into the paint. Cranstons wife, however, was less thrilled about the present. I brought it home to my wife. Weve been together for almost 30 years, and we have a nice little Connecticut home, and I said, Honey, where do you think this would fit? Cranston explained. And she said, I dont know if it would fit anywhere. His costar replied with a suggestion: Over the bed. jamie dimon JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says America's treatment of private-sector businesses is at a "reset moment," following the appointment of several executives to key cabinet positions. President-elect Donald Trump filled his cabinet with "very qualified people who are patriots," Dimon said in an interview with Bloomberg's Megan Murphy. He added: 145 million people work in America; 125 million of them work for private enterprise; 20 million work for governmentfiremen, sanitation, police, teachers. We hold them in very high regard. But you know, if you didnt have the 125 you couldnt pay for the other 20. Business is a huge positive element in society. But for years its been beaten down as if were terrible people. So I think its a good reset. Dimon, who was reportedly considered for Treasury secretary, said he did not think he was suited for the position. But he did not rule out a future role in government, saying he would never turn down a call from the US president. Some of Trump's picks, including two from Goldman Sachs, raised some eyebrows since the president-elect had criticized his opponents' ties to the bank while campaigning. Dimon said he's not sure what he would do after he leaves the bank, but it won't be running another big corporation. "When I leave here, Ill probably teach a little bit," Dimon added. "I may write a book. I have been through a lot. Im lazy, so Ill probably go to New York City and maybe join or start an entrepreneurs of color fund like we have here in Detroit. Its going to be a gas. Im going to do a lot of stuff. But I will not run another major big company." Dimon supported President Barack Obama in 2008 and during the aftermath of the financial crisis. But as post-financial-crisis Dodd-Frank regulation started to impact the American financial system, however, he became much more critical. Dimon said the public's negative perception of large banks, driven in part by the bailouts they received after the financial crisis, is not going away "for a long time." Story continues NOW WATCH: Watch Yellen explain why the Federal Reserve decides to raise rates More From Business Insider Japan aims to ramp up defense spending as it was revealed that out of the record 97.5 trillion yen ( $830 billion) spending budget for fiscal 2017 approved Thursday, a record sum of over 5.13 trillion yen ($43.6 billion) is dedicated to the defense budget. While this budget will certainly test Prime Minister Shinzo Abes ambition to achieve a primary budget surplus by 2020 in a country with the world's heaviest debt burden, it also grants some semblance of security amid rising tensions with China and North Korea, according to Reuters. Fears of North Koreas growing nuclear and missile capabilities also led to the approval of a separate 171 million yen spending plan that was approved for the current financial year, according to Bloomberg. That Japan was seeking a ballistic missile defense system from the U.S. was hinted at by Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, who said last month that while the government didnt have a concrete plan, it was considering the option. The Bloomberg report added that there was 14.7 billion yen budgeted for procurement of new ship-based ballistic missile interceptors known as SM-3 Block II A. The fifth consecutive increased annual defense spending since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in late 2012 is scheduled to kick in from April. Besides its plans of acquiring a missile defense system expected to cost around 33 billion yen to secure itself from the growing threat from Kim Jong Un, Japan will also bolster its coast guard capabilities to defend the East China Sea. We will urgently begin strengthening our [maritime safety] structure, as Japan needs to substantially strengthen the structure and capabilities of the coast guard, Shinzo Abe was quoted as saying by the Guardian. In this regard, Japan is said to expand its fleet from 16 to 22 submarines with newer, improved sensor capabilities that will cost 72.8 billion yen. In all, a rise of 12 percent to the tune of 211 billion yen is noted as the increase in the Coast guard budget. From this, about 48 billion yen is to be allocated for new ships, which will be able to carry helicopters. Story continues Besides naval spending, Japan will also purchase six Lockheed-Martin F-35 fighter aircraft at a cost of 88 billion yen and increase its personnel numbers 118 to 13,744. Related Articles japan Ever since 1899 when Japan began collecting data on how many babies are born each year, the total has never fallen below 1 million. Until 2016. With a week left in the year, officials predict only 981,000 babies will have been born a dip of 25,000 from 2015. The death count, meanwhile, is around 1.3 million. Japan's fertility crisis has been many years in the making. As older generations start to die off without younger generations starting families behind them, economists say Japan shows all the signs of a "demographic time bomb." Without any intervention, Japan's economy will only continue to shrink. "We will continue to put efforts into support for child-rearing," welfare minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki told The Japan Times. Japan's fertility rate is among the lowest in the world, at just 1.4 births per woman. Sociologists have found populations stay steady when a country has at least 2.1 births per woman. Beneath that threshold, and countries are likely to see their populations start to decline, which Japan has. Other countries face similar problems, including the US, Denmark, China, and Singapore with fertility rates of 1.87, 1.73, 1.6, and 0.81, respectively although Japan's case may be the most severe. A 2016 study conducted by a Japanese research firm found that nearly 70% of unmarried Japanese men and 60% of unmarried Japanese women weren't in relationships. This is despite most people claiming they do want to get married eventually. Japan has gone to some great lengths to boost its fertility rate to the goal of 1.8 births per woman by 2025, as set by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. For instance, the country is letting men play with dolls to get accustomed to fatherhood. And the government is organizing speed-dating events to help young people meet. In the meantime, the time bomb has forced Japan to recognize the importance of innovation more than ever specifically, with robotics technology. Without strapping young humans to do the work, machines may be the next best thing. Story continues NOW WATCH: The US is $19.9 trillion in debt here are the countries we owe the most More From Business Insider NBC Cindy Stowells six-day Jeopardy! ended on Wednesday night. The champion who died of cancer before her episodes could air had a run full of come-from-behind dramatics and a quiet, reserved calm. She was also, amazingly, fighting Stage IV cancer and on medication to manage the pain. Stowell took her 6-day, $103,803 win streak into a tough Wednesday show that saw all three contestants near the $10,000-mark heading into Final Jeopardy. All three knew the answer to Final Jeopardy the Bahamas but Stowell was in second before the final question and couldnt make it to seven days. Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek narrated a brief tribute to Stowell after the episode ended, pointing out what most viewers by now had known: Stowell died on December 5, before we ever met the shows newest star. Jeopardy!s winningest contestant, Ken Jennings, made a sad point Stowell would have competed in the shows Tournament of Champions. Cindy qualified for a Tournament of Champions she wouldn't live to see. In 2016 "bittersweet" is the best we can do. https://t.co/hvujLuBZtt Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) December 21, 2016 Stowell won an additional $2,000 for her second place finish, which means she donated $105,803 to cancer research. In a year full or tragedy and death, Stowell is a tragic hero. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's legal battle rages on. In new court docs filed by Depp's divorce attorney, Laura Wasser, on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by ET, Depp is asking that the court order Heard to pay $100,000 toward his attorneys' fees and costs. RELATED: Amber Heard Files Court Docs Claiming Johnny Depp Hasn't Paid Divorce Settlement Depp also wants to be allowed to deduct that amount from his next divorce settlement payment to Heard if she fails to pay within 10 days of the court's order. The 53-year-old actor has incurred nearly $1 million in attorneys' fees and costs with Wasser and her office, according to the filing. A court hearing on this motion is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2017. Additionally, Wasser questioned Heard's behavior, claiming the 30-year-old actress acted "erratically" and "uncooperatively" throughout the case. The lawyer also said Heard's most recent court filing of a Request for Order on Dec. 13 was "entirely unnecessary." RELATED: Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in the 'Process of Finalizing' Divorce Settlement "The impact of her relentless pursuit on Johnny -- the damage her false allegations have caused his personal and professional reputation, his and his family's emotional well-being, and his finances-appears to be of no interest to Amber," Wasser stated in the court filing. In the Request for Order motion, Heard's team implored the court to order Depp to uphold his end of their divorce settlement. According to documents obtained by ET, the former couple previously signed a Deal Point Memorandum, outlining what each party would pay and responsibilities they had to uphold. Heard's lawyers claimed Depp has not followed through on several points listed in their agreement. RELATED: A Timeline of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's Relationship, Divorce and Domestic Abuse Allegations For more on Depp and Heard's divorce battle, watch the video below. Story continues Related Articles Kate Beckinsale can't wait to spend Christmas with family -- and that includes her ex, Michael Sheen, and his current girlfriend, Sarah Silverman. The 43-year-old actress opened up to ES Magazine on Wednesday about her holiday plans, where she couldn't help but gush about how much she loves Sheen and Silverman. WATCH: Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale Adorably Embrace Upon Hearing Their Daughter Lily Got Into College "We split up ages ago. We have been not together far longer than we were ever together. But I really love him and like him and we make each other roar with laughter," Beckinsale explained of her close relationship Sheen, which she admits is confusing for some. The two met in 1995 and split in 2003, though share 17-year-old daughter Lily, who remains both of the actors' main priority. "I really love [Sheen's] girlfriend [Silverman] as well and we are lucky we both get on, and Lily gets on great with her," she revealed. "Having as many strong females in your teenage daughter's life as possible is a good thing." Lily's definitely got a lot of strong females in her life, but she's also surrounded by a lot of performers -- which is why Beckinsale wouldn't be surprised if her daughter decided to become an actor. RELATED: Michael Sheen Says Ex Kate Beckinsale and Girlfriend Sarah Silverman Gang Up on Him: They 'All Just Make Fun of Me' "That would be like sitting there with a glass of wine and saying you can't have a drink. I can see why she wants to do it," she explained. "I don't love the downside of it for my baby. But it's not like she hasn't seen her parents having a real experience of what it's like." ET recently sat down with Beckinsale -- who split from her husband, Len Wiseman, in October -- where she spoke more about navigating the holidays with Lily, Sheen and Silverman. "We had Thanksgiving at his girlfriend's house and they're having Christmas at our house," she said. "We like hanging out with each other, so it's not like, 'Oh, who gets Lily?' or whatever. It's like, 'Whose house are we going to be at?'" Story continues "I think we both really felt like, we really agreed on what would be the right thing for Lily," she added of how they're able to get along so well. "And I think, you know, not hating each other and fighting and all that would be awful for her. I think we've also got a really similar sense of humor, and I do find that humor can save an awful lot of things and help a lot of things." RELATED: Kate Beckinsale Got Daughter Lily in Trouble After Drawing a NSFW Doodle on Her Homework See more in the video below. Related Articles President-elect Donald Trump has named campaign manager Kellyanne Conway as counselor to the president, his transition team announced early Thursday morning. Conway, 49, has been serving as a senior member of Trumps transition team after becoming the first female campaign manager of either major party to win a presidential election. According to the transition team, Conways position as the highest-ranking female in Trumps White House will see her continue her role as a close advisor to the president and will work with senior leadership to effectively message and execute the Administrations legislative priorities and actions. Kellyanne Conway has been a trusted advisor and strategist who played a crucial role in my victory, Trump, 70, 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. I am pleased that she will be part of my senior team in the West Wing. RELATED VIDEO: Natasha Stoynoff on Donald Trumps Very Personal Attacks: Its An Attempt to Silence Women Conway joined Trumps team in early July as his third campaign manager. She is the founder and owner of a polling and political research company. Conway said in the statement that she was humbled and honored to accept the position. I want to thank the President-elect for this amazing opportunity, she said. A Trump presidency will bring real change to Washington and to Americans across this great nation. FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) A Kentucky jury has ruled a former Democratic state senator knowingly aired a false TV ad in 2014 and has ordered him to pay his Republican opponent $200,000 in damages. R.J. Palmer, the former Democratic minority leader in the Kentucky Senate, lost to Republican Ralph Alvarado in 2014. A week before the election, Palmer paid for a TV ad using courtroom footage to imply Alvarado, a medical doctor, was "getting rich off addiction" by unlawfully prescribing $3,000 worth of oxycodone to a criminal defendant. Alvarado said the footage was altered, adding the defendant had a valid prescription. Alvarado sued Palmer and his political consultant, Dale Emmons, for defamation. The case dragged on for two years. Emmons settled the case in March and sent Alvarado a written apology. Palmer opted for a trial, and on Wednesday the jury unanimously ruled against him. Alvarado called the verdict a "vindication." "I think there are other politicians who have been subject to this kind of attack during campaigns in the past, I've just been determined enough to spend the money to see it through to get a jury verdict on something like this," Alvarado said. "I hope that it sends the message to people considering running in the future to consider the kind of words and ads they run on others." Palmer's attorney John Hendricks said he and his co-counsel had just received the verdict Wednesday afternoon and they are reviewing their options. Alvarado's attorney Christopher Hunt said the jury awarded $125,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages. The verdict also found Palmer acted with malice, a required finding for defamation under Kentucky law because Alvarado is a public figure. By Joseph Akwiri MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenyan officials seized nearly two tonnes of smuggled ivory after recalling a shipment en route to Cambodia following intelligence that it contained illegal cargo, a tax official said. The 1.97 tonnes of ivory, valued at 197 million shillings ($2 million), were hidden in hollow wooden planks and declared as ceramics, David Yego, Kenya Revenue Authority's commissioner for investigations, said on Wednesday. Authorities in Singapore returned the shipment to Mombasa after Kenya raised the alarm. Yego expressed concerns that the smugglers had been able to bypass new security measures designed to stop narcotics and ivory smuggling at the port. "The manner in which the tusks were concealed causes a concern to us, as to the manner in which ivory traffickers are adapting new tactics to avoid detection at ports, but we are up to the task," Yego told journalists in Mombasa. Many of the 334 pieces of ivory had red ink marks that Yego said might indicate they were police evidence exhibits. Kenya made several high-profile ivory seizures in 2013 and 2014, and the ivory is usually securely stored to be used as evidence. Elephant poaching across Africa peaked in 2011 but remains "unacceptably high", according to the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants Programme (MIKE), which is supported by the Convention on International Trade in Endangers Species (CITES). Well-armed criminal gangs kill elephants for tusks and rhinos for their horns, and the parts are often shipped to Asia for use in ornaments and medicines. In 2013, the government imposed stiffer penalties - longer jail terms and bigger fines - on anyone convicted of poaching or trafficking in wildlife trophies, saying poaching was harming tourism, a major foreign exchange earner. In February, the government replaced senior managers at the port to try to tackle drug and ivory smuggling. (Editing by Katharine Houreld) One month before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and, if the Senate approves, appoints a man who has been recognized for his friendship with Moscow to secretary of state the Kremlin wasnt showing signs of optimism for the incoming administration. Almost every level of dialogue with the United States is frozen, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian government, told local media. We dont communicate with one another, or [if we do] we do so minimally. Peskovs remarks followed President Barack Obamas executive orders to extend U.S. sanctions against Moscow to seven additional individuals and eight entities Tuesday as part of Washingtons response to Russias annexation of Ukraines Crimean peninsula, which the U.S. government does not recognize as legitimate. The Kremlin spokesman, in addition to warning that the new sanctions would damage U.S.-Russia relations, said Moscow would take commensurate measures to respond, Reuters reported. But on a more surprising note, Peskov also said he did not expect things to change with Trump in the White House. The Kremlin, he said, predicted the next administration would bolster attempts by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a major Western counterbalance to Russian hegemony in the East, to expand into Eastern Europe and supersede Moscows influence in the region a phenomenon commonly referred to as NATO enlargement. The comments may come as a surprise to critics of Trumps approach to tension between NATO and Russia. In July, Trump informed the New York Times he did not plan to automatically assist recent NATO adherents in the Baltic Sea region if they faced threats from neighboring Russia unless they fulfill their obligations to us. His statement, the Times said, marked the first time a major candidate for president declared American assistance of its allies to be conditional. Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson, Trump's choice for secretary of state, has a history of voicing his opposition to the Obama administrations 2 1/2 years of sanctions against Russia. Even prior to the Treasury Departments imposition of the 2014 financial penalties, Tillerson was awarded Russias Order of Friendship medal in 2012. Story continues It remains unclear how friendly Moscow will be with the rest of the incoming administration. Related Articles Communication channels between the White House and the Kremlin are frozen, according to Russian authorities. On Wednesday, the RIA news agency quoted Dmitri Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson and husband of the ice dancer who recently performed in a Holocaust concentration camp uniform, as saying, Almost every level of dialogue with the United States is frozen. We dont communicate with one another, or [if we do] we do so minimally. His comments follow U.S. intelligence officials accusing Russia and perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin himself of being behind email hacks and leaks that took place over the course of the American presidential election, arguably to the detriment of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. So, too, do they follow U.S. President Barack Obamas final annual press conference last week, during which he spoke of Russias cyber meddling and warned Moscow, We can do stuff to you. Peskovs comments also come a day after the Russian, Turkish, and Iranian foreign ministers met in Moscow to discuss Syria. Notably, this was the day after the Russian ambassador was assassinated in Ankara (some Russian officials have blamed the United States for the incident). U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was notably absent. Peskov added that the Kremlin did not expect U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to immediately reject NATO enlargement. Some might suggest that these comments were aimed at simultaneously maintaining a siege mentality in Russia while inviting the incoming administration to improve relations. The Kremlin is signaling that they would like to restart dialogue with Washington in the new Trump administration, noted Agnia Grigas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, but they would like Russias actions in Ukraine and Syria to go unnoticed. Regardless of the intended impact of the statement, the reality remains that the frozen communications conflict is a departure from what was. Since the end of the Cold War the 25th anniversary of which is at the end of this month the United States and Russia have communicated in some areas even when things werent going well in others. For example, even when diplomatic ties were unraveling over crises in Ukraine and Syria, the two countries did not freeze over communications with respect to the Arctic Circle, and were strong partners in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal. Story continues Peskov also said Kremlin officials are too busy with work and with projects to consider who is running for president in 2018. Though opposition leader Alexei Navalny has already thrown his hat into the ring, many expect Putin to be re-elected. He has not yet announced his candidacy. Photo credit: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images Dax Shepard was taken aback by Kristen Bells unbridled happiness when they first met in 2007 at a birthday dinner for mutual friends. The duo, who married in October 2013 in Los Angeles, are one of Hollywoods most adorable couples, but it was not love at first sight. When I met her and her friends, I was suspicious of their unbridled happiness, he told Good Housekeeping magazine. I thought, Something stinks here; theyre in a cult.' Things quickly changed later, and they began dating in late 2007. The couple have two daughters together, Lincoln, 3 1/2, and Delta, 2. The actor, 41, who battled substance abuse, celebrated 12 years of sobriety in September. In a touching Tweet, he noted how the decision to get clean in 2004 led him to Bell, 36, and their family. 12 years ago today I came out of my last toxic, life threatening stupor, he wrote. I now have a wife & babies & some self-esteem #gratitude #promises. BEIRUT (AP) The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): 8:30 p.m. A statement by the Syrian armed forces says the northern city of Aleppo has returned to government control, ending a four-year rebel hold over parts of the city. The statement broadcast on Syrian TV said the army has re-established "security" in the northern city after the last rebels evacuated from their final toe-hold in the eastern parts of the city. The Syrian government's recapture of Aleppo is a major turning point in the Syrian civil war with potentially powerful political repercussions. It represents a momentous victory for President Bashar Assad and a crushing defeat for Syria's opposition which will struggle to forge a way forward. The ancient city has been divided into rebel and government parts since 2012. ___ 8:15 p.m. A Syrian monitoring group says 47 civilians have been killed in Turkish airstrikes on the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 14 children were killed in the strikes Thursday on the northern town. Earlier in the day, the Observatory reported 24 civilians had been killed. The fight for al-Bab has grown increasingly costly as Turkish and Syrian opposition forces close in. The Turkish military said 16 of its soldiers were killed in the battle this week. The IS-run Aamaq News Agency said 50 civilians were killed in air strikes Thursday. It circulated images of a tank and other military gear it reported to have seized from fleeing Turkish forces. ___ 8 p.m. A U.N. spokesman says evacuations are continuing from besieged neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo, with the operation believed to be in its final stages. Farhan Haq tells reporters that U.N. monitors at a government checkpoint in Aleppo observed thousands departing from east Aleppo in private vehicles overnight and Thursday. Some vehicles struggled to advance in a snow storm and sub-zero temperatures. Haq said that more than 34,000 people have been evacuated since Dec. 15. Story continues He said that since Dec. 21, 435 wounded and sick people have been evacuated, with 95 people in critical condition transferred to Italy and rural western Aleppo ___ 7 p.m. Syrian state-owned media is reporting that the last batch of rebels is now evacuating eastern Aleppo with their families. Al-Ikhbariya TV and Lebanon's Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar channel say four buses and 15 vehicles are now carrying the final group of rebels from the last rebel-held sliver of eastern Aleppo. Live footage from the Ramousseh crossing showed the nighttime evacuation Thursday. Al-Ikhbariya said the Syrian military is expected to announce Aleppo a fully "liberated" city once the last rebels leave. The evacuations were sent in motion last week after Syria's opposition agreed to surrender its last footholds in eastern Aleppo, effectively ending the opposition's four-year hold over parts of the city. ___ 3:05 p.m. A top Russian diplomat says President Bashar Assad's future is not on the agenda of Syria talks involving Russia, Iran and Turkey. Foreign ministers of the three countries sat down for talks on Tuesday in what Moscow said was the "most effective format" to bring an end to the war in Syria. Western nations have long demanded Assad step down as part of any settlement, while Russia and Iran have provided extensive diplomatic and military support to his government. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency Thursday that Assad's future is "absolutely not a topic for discussion right now" between Russia, Iran and Turkey. ___ 3 p.m. A Syrian monitoring group says at least 24 civilians have been killed in Turkish airstrikes on the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Turkish jets raided the northern town Thursday, and that seven children were among the dead. The fight for al-Bab has grown increasingly perilous as Turkish and Syrian opposition forces close in on the town. The Turkish military said 16 of its soldiers were killed in the battle this week. The IS-run Aamaq News Agency circulated video late Wednesday purporting to show Turkish airstrikes on the town. It reported a bakery had been destroyed. Jets could be heard flying overhead. It was snowing. ___ 2:30 p.m. Turkey's defense minister says two Turkish soldiers wounded in a battle to retake an Islamic State-held town in northern Syria have died, raising the death toll in two days of fighting to 16. Fikri Isik told Turkey's parliament that the two died Thursday from wounds that were sustained in three separate IS suicide attacks in the town of al-Bab a day earlier. Turkey sent ground troops into northern Syria in August to help Syrian opposition forces drive IS from a border area and prevent Syrian Kurdish forces from making further advances. Thursday's fatalities bring the number of Turkish soldiers killed so far in northern Syria to 37. Isik says more than 1,000 IS militants have been killed in the Turkish-backed offensive, entitled Euphrates Shield. ___ 2 p.m. Syrian President Bashar Assad says the "victory" in the northern city of Aleppo is not only for Syria but for all countries fighting terrorism, especially Russia and Iran. State TV says Assad made the comments during a meeting Thursday with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari. Iran and Russia have been Assad's strongest backers since the civil war began in March 2011. Syrian rebels are withdrawing from Aleppo as part of a Russian-Turkish deal that would bring the country's largest city under Assad's control and mark his biggest victory in more the five years. Assad says the advance in Aleppo is a "major step on the road to wiping out terrorism" in Syria and will contribute to efforts to end the war. ___ 1:25 p.m. Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has led a funeral service for Russia's ambassador to Turkey, who was shot dead on Monday. In his eulogy at the beginning of the service, held at Moscow's main Christ the Savior Cathedral, Kirill referred to Andrei Karlov as a "martyr." He told mourners that Karlov "will enter God's kingdom and he will receive the Lord's grace thanks to our prayers and his death as a martyr." Kirill and other clerics, all dressed in ceremonial white robes, led the service, which was expected to last for at least an hour before Karlov's body is taken to the cemetery. Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara earlier this week. ___ 11 a.m. Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have released the family members of the policeman who killed the Russian ambassador. The policeman's parents, sister and three other relatives were among 11 people detained over the killing of Ambassador Andrei Karlov as he delivered a speech at the opening of a photo exhibition in Ankara. The policeman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, was later killed in a police operation. The Anadolu Agency says the six family members were released Thursday without charges. Those still in custody include Altintas' roommate. A ceremony for Karlov, to be attended by President Vladimir Putin, was being held in Moscow. ___ 10:30 a.m. The International Committee of the Red Cross says the evacuation of the last remaining civilians and fighters from a rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo will be completed in the coming hours. Spokeswoman Ingy Sedky says the few thousand remaining people will be evacuated Thursday in 40 buses and hundreds of private cars. She says another four buses will leave the besieged government-held villages of Foua and Kfarya in the northwestern Idlib province. Sedky says the operation will take place over multiple stages and be completed later on Thursday. The evacuations were set in motion last week after Syria's opposition agreed to surrender its last footholds in eastern Aleppo. Since then, about 25,000 fighters and civilians have been bused out, according to the United Nations. ROME (AP) Lazio midfielder Senad Lulic has been banned for 20 days and fined 10,000 euros (around $10,500) for a racist insult toward Roma defender Antonio Rudiger following the Rome derby. In a post-match interview, Lulic said Rudiger was provoking Lazio players and that "two years ago he was selling socks and belts in Stuttgart, now he acts like he's a phenomenon." A day after the Dec. 4 derby, Lulic wrote on Instagram that he responded to a provocation with "another provocation." Lulic, who is Bosnian, said "I come from a country that knows about the tragedies caused by ethnic prejudices. That's why I'm sorry that I got carried away by the post-derby tensions and to have expressed myself in an inopportune manner." Roma won the derby 2-0. President-elect Donald Trumps first campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who left amid a swirl of controversy, will not be joining the Trump administration, but he told the FOX Business Networks Maria Bartiromo, hes starting a political consulting firm near the White House. [President-elect Trump] has a massive agenda which he needs to get through Congress if hes going to be successful, he said. I want to help on the outside, coordinate those activities and make sure that people who are with his agenda have a voice and make sure that we can encourage those people in Congress to move his agenda forward. Lewandowski is forming the firm with Barry Bennett, who also briefly advised the Trump Campaign and helped broker the meeting between Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and Trump. Lewandowski said the role hes created from the outside will drum up the movement created during the campaign. As [Trumps] agenda continues to move through Congress we want to make sure the American people can continue to be heard, that, that voice can be brought to Washington to say we want fundamental and wholesale change because thats what we voted for, he said. Related Articles As "om telolet om" continues to set the world on fire with its sick arpeggio and head-scratching virility, Life in Color's flagship Miami festival jumps on the bus to capture some of that sweet meme-able heat. The "world's largest paint party" took to Twitter to announce Om Telolet Om as its secret headliner. The Indonesian phrase joins superstars Diplo, Carnage and Marshmello for the big 10-year anniversary celebration Saturday, Jan. 28. All right, so "om telolet om" is really just a thing Indonesian kids yell at local bus drivers to honk their horns, but it is a phrase taking the music world by storm. Tons of DJs have been tweeting it out, including real-life LIC headliner Marshmello, so this stunt is appropriately hilarious and on-theme with the rest of the electronic dance community. Check the Life in Color website for tickets and more info. We forgot to mention our secret #LICMiami headliner... OM TELOLET OM. pic.twitter.com/lLERkTMa7l - LIC - Life In Color (@lictour) December 21, 2016 LAS VEGAS (AP) A 21-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on Thursday after pleading guilty to the death of a Las Vegas mother of four who was targeted in a neighborhood cul-de-sac last year. Erich Milton Nowsch Jr. left the courtroom sobbing after he was sentenced for second-degree murder for the death of Tammy Meyers, 44, in February 2015. The case was initially cast as road rage while Myers taught her 15-year-old daughter to drive in a school parking lot, but authorities later attributed it to a series of misunderstandings and parties mistakenly identifying each other. "My intentions were to take someone bad out, not a loving, caring mom," Nowsch said in a nearly three-hour taped interview last year obtained by The Associated Press. "My intention was to take someone who was going to hurt my family out, not someone's mom, not Tammy." Nowsch will be eligible for parole after 10 years, but also must serve at least four more years for a weapons enhancement. "Am I going to forgive you? Never. Ever," Meyers' widower, Robert Meyers, told the defendant at the hearing. "I hope for me and mine that you burn in hell and you get what you have coming to you today, because you, mister, are an animal." Nowsch tried earlier this month to withdraw his guilty plea, but was denied. He requested Thursday that his sentencing be delayed because he didn't have enough time to prepare, but District Judge Michael Villani denied that too, saying the killing stemmed from "one of the worst chain of events this community has seen." Getaway driver Derrick Andrews, 28, was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and accessory to murder. The Feb. 12 shooting appears to have resulted from a series of tragic coincidences. Investigators believe Meyers was shot outside her home after an initial confrontation with another driver. Story continues That night, she was teaching her teenage daughter how to drive in a parking lot when that driver, who has never been found or identified, apparently threatened to kill the mother and daughter. Meyers' family said she was upset and afraid when she dropped her daughter off and picked up her son, who came armed with a gun. They drove around the neighborhood to confront that driver. Meanwhile, Nowsch said he had been walking in a park when he noticed a car following him. He was on edge because he had been dodging death threats linked to drug deals and street disputes and wanted to protect himself and his mother, baby sister and cat, Nowsch told detectives in the taped interview. He said he called a friend to pick him up. Nowsch said he tried to scare off the car following them by flashing his gun, but he got upset when he saw the car near his house. Nowsch said he didn't remember exactly what happened next but that he fired several bullets at a car in one location before ending up in the cul-de-sac, where he emptied an entire clip. His account differs from that of authorities, who say Nowsch fired several shots at the Meyers' car before chasing her to her home, where the mother got out of the car and was fatally shot in the head. Meyers' son also shot back at one point, but he wasn't injured, authorities say. The police recording also included a call Nowsch made to his mother. "The only reason I confessed, Mom, was because they knew everything," he said. "They knew it was an accident." On Wednesday, ABC aired Game Changers with Robin Roberts, where the Good Morning America host interviewed some of 2016s biggest movers and shakers, like Lebron James, Michael Phelps, and Hamilton creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Robin joined Lin at his childhood home in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, the inspiration for his first Broadway musical, In the Heights. Lins father, Luis, welcomed Robin into his home, and pridefully boasted about his sons achievements. Luis said that Lin has changed the vision of Latinos in this country, which Lin clarified, You're speaking to the larger statement of having Latinos not playing gang members in a Broadway show. Luis agreed, adding, There are politics and political change, which is what you do. In your part of the world. Lin jokingly responded with, I'm more of a song and dance man as he smiled at the camera. By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) - The Baltic state of Lithuania, on the frontline of growing tensions between the West and Russia, says the Kremlin is responsible for cyber attacks that have hit government computers over the last two years. The head of cyber security told Reuters three cases of Russian spyware on its government computers had been discovered since 2015, and there had been 20 attempts to infect them this year. "The spyware we found was operating for at least half a year before it was detected similar to how it was in the USA," Rimtautas Cerniauskas, head of the Lithuanian Cyber Security Centre said. When presented with the allegations, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters they were "laughable" and unsubstantiated. "Did it (the spyware) have 'Made in Russia' written on it?" quipped Peskov. "We absolutely refute this nonsense." He said Russia itself was targeted in cyber attacks "round the clock," but said it would be stupid to accuse foreign governments. Fears of Russian cyber attacks have come to the fore since the U.S. election campaign when hacking of Democratic Party emails led to allegations from U.S. intelligence that Moscow was involved. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, all ruled by Moscow in communist times, have been alarmed by Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and its support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. In what Baltic officials say was a wake-up call, Estonia was hit by cyber attacks on extensive private and government Internet sites in 2007. State websites were brought to a crawl and an online banking site was closed. Lithuanian intelligence services, in their annual report, say cyber attacks have moved from being mainly targeted at financial crimes to more political spying on state institutions. Russian spyware was transferring all documents it could find, as well as all passwords entered on websites such as GMail or Facebook, to an internet address commonly used by Russian spy agencies, Cerniaukas said. "This only confirms that attempts are made to infiltrate our political sphere," said Cerniaukas. PREPARATIONS Germany's domestic intelligence agency reported earlier this month a striking increase in Russian targeted cyber attacks against political parties and propaganda and disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing German society. The domestic intelligence chief said Russia may seek to interfere in its national elections next year. Although no Russian cyber meddling was detected in the run up or during the Lithuanian general election in October, Cerniauskas said his country needs to understand it is vulnerable to such meddling. "Russians are really quite good in this area. They have been using information warfare since the old times. Cyberspace is part of that, only more frowned upon by law than simple propaganda", he said. "They have capacity, they have the attitude, they are interested, and they will get to it so we need to prepare for it and we need to apply countermeasures." Lithuanian officials targeted by the Russian spyware held mid-to-low ranking positions at the government, but their computers contained a stream of drafts for government decisions of its positions on various matters, said Cerniauskas. The head of the Lithuanian counter-intelligence agency Darius Jauniskis said Russia tried to sow chaos in Lithuania by orchestrating a cyber attack in 2012 against the Lithuanian central bank and its top online news website. "It is all part of psychological warfare," he told Reuters earlier this month. (Additional reporting by Peter Hobson in Moscow; Editing by Alistair Scrutton/Andrew Osborn) With three solid successes behind him as a director, Ben Affleck continues to forge a career behind the camera at least that strives for the kind of quality that only dribbles out of major studios once or twice a year. With The Town, his Oscar-winning Best Picture Argo, and his first helming effort Gone Baby Gone, Affleck has established himself in the mode of an Eastwood or Redford the kind of actor who can easily move into the directors chair without missing a beat, and bring a level of class to whatever movie he chooses to make. He has done that again with Live By Night, an ode to the great gangster movies of the 1930s and 40s that also manages to stand on its own. It is the kind of film you dont see much anymore, a throwback and a real movie-lovers dream especially if you long for the days when Cagney and Robinson ruled this particular roost at Warner Bros. It is entirely appropriate that Warners is the studio behind this outing, which also has a feel for the more auteurish films in this genre prevalent in the 60s and 70s, a la Bonnie And Clyde, another Warners release. If it doesnt quite hit those levels, or later entries in the genre like Goodfellas, The Departed and the holy grail The Godfather, it still is an admirable and successful effort. Going back to the well with Gone Baby Gone author Dennis Lehane, Affleck has adapted Lehanes novel about a ruthless gangster with a moral center (if thats possible in that brutal trade). Affleck, also an Oscar winner as a writer for 1997s Good Will Hunting, has effectively lifted Lehanes work, set in the early 30s, to a big-scale movie that, as I say in my video review above, is not only exciting but also stunning to look at thanks to a first-rate, top-of-the-line production team. It also happens to be beautifully acted right down the line. Casting himself in the lead, Affleck plays World War I vet Joe Coughlin, son of Bostons Police Deputy Superintendent (Brendan Gleeson, very fine as usual), who finds himself on the other side of the law. Yet he is not your typical screen gangster as he also exhibits a strong morality of sorts, with heart. Of course, he also has guns, and as he showed earlier in the fall release The Accountant, Affleck likes shooting things up, and theres plenty of that here as well as romance. Amid a relationship with gangster moll Emma Gould (a colorful Sienna Miller) while trying to exist in a town where there is a mob war between the Italians and the Irish, Joe finds himself landing in prison. When he gets out he switches to the rum trade in a move to Tampa, where he hooks up with more baddies and becomes romantically involved with Graciela (Zoe Saldana), who among other attributes has strong connections to the molasses needed for producing rum in the Prohibition era. Story continues Chris Messina, in a change of pace and adding 40 pounds, expertly plays Joes trusted right-hand man Dion. Theres impressive work as well from Elle Fanning, continuing to grow up before our eyes as Loretta Figgis, daughter of the Tampa police chief (Chris Cooper). Shes intriguing in her limited screen time and has one killer scene with Affleck that reps her best work yet. Robert Glenister and Remo Girone fit the bill as believable gangster types. Affleck has made a superb film out of his clear passion for this well-worn genre, and it is proven by the team he got to make it with him. Deserving as many accolades as the cast is Robert Richardsons cinematography; Jess Conchors production design; and the well-paced editing of William Goldenberg, who won an Oscar for Afflecks Argo. Splendid costume design by Jacqueline West and a flavorful score by Harry Gregson Williams also add to the murderers row of behind-the-scenes talent Affleck has meticulously assembled. Producers in addition to Affleck are Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Todd, and Jennifer Davisson Killoran. Warner Bros releases it in select theaters Christmas Day and wide on January 13. Do you plan to see Live By Night? Let us know what you think. Related stories 'Assassin's Creed' Review: Oscar-Caliber Cast Fails To Lift Latest Video Game Movie 'Patriots Day' Review: Berg & Wahlberg's Powerful & Inspiring Look At The Boston Marathon Bombing And Its Aftermath 'Blade Runner 2049' Teaser: The Present Meets The Past By Lisa Rapaport Most living kidney donors pay at least some of the expenses related to donation themselves, which may limit how many people can afford to provide organs to transplant recipients, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined survey data from 796 living kidney donors on how much they spent for out-of-pocket medical costs as well as indirect expenses such as lost income or travel bills associated with donation. Overall, 78 percent of the donors shouldered some costs themselves, and 21 percent of them reported more than $500 in out-of-pocket medical bills and other expenses, the study found. While the need for kidney transplants continues to rise, I do think that costs deter donors, said lead study author Jennifer Wiseman, a living donor social worker at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. I do not advocate that we begin paying living kidney donors to donate, Wiseman added by email. Rather, I am for financial neutrality I think that living kidney donation should not cost donors anything. In the study, donors were 44 years old on average and 53 percent of them were blood relatives of their organ's recipient. The majority of donors were female, and nearly all of them were white. At the time of the donation, 83 percent of the donors had jobs and 84 percent had health insurance. While 72 percent of the donors reported no out-of-pocket medical expenses, 27 percent did pay for some of their care themselves and 6 percent spent more than $500, researchers report in the journal Transplantation. By contrast, 75 percent of donors reported nonmedical expenses. Usually these bills were related to travel to and from the transplant center, and for 18 percent of donors, non-medical expenses exceeded $500. Even when donors reported no out-of-pocket costs, 23 percent still said they had at least moderate financial burden as a result of this experience, likely due to things like lost wages. To meet out-of-pocket costs, 35 percent of donors dipped into savings, 14 percent borrowed from friends or family, 7 percent had a fundraiser and 4 percent borrowed from a bank or credit union. All told, 22 percent of the donors received grant money from a local foundation or from the National Living Donor Assistance Center to defray costs. But 51 percent of these grant recipients still reported moderate to high financial burden. One limitation of the study is that the degree of burden is somewhat subjective and depends on a variety of factors like how easily donors can keep up with other daily expenses, the authors note. Still, the study adds to a growing body of evidence that living kidney donors face financial burdens that can discourage donations, said Dr. Peter Reese, a chair of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) ethics committee and a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Every person discouraged from donating means another person with kidney disease suffering and dying prematurely from end-stage kidney disease, Reese, who wasnt involved in the study, said by email. Even though organ donation is an altruistic act that shouldnt be motivated by money, it also doesnt make ethical sense for organ donors to shoulder huge costs, said Dr. Neil Wenger, director of the University of California Los Angeles Health Ethics Center. Removing a financial disincentive is not the same as providing an incentive and could serve to permit potential donors to find it feasible to be able to act altruistically, Wenger, who wasnt involved in the study, said by email. In the long run, paying for donors' costs may mean better outcomes for less money than letting transplant recipients remain on dialysis, often the only treatment alternative for people awaiting transplants, said Dr. Robert Truog, director of the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Organ transplantation has consistently been shown to be substantially more cost effective than treatment with dialysis, and with a much improved quality of life, Truog, who wasnt involved in the study, said by email. Why arent we doing everything we can to remove the substantial disincentives for those who would consider being a living donor? By Barbara Lewis and Dasha Afanasieva LONDON (Reuters) - London's high court ruled Turkey had no rights over British assets that are part of the Koza Ipek media and mining conglomerate, in a victory for exiled Turkish businessman Akin Ipek, whose businesses have been seized by the state. Turkish authorities have taken control of hundreds of companies, including Istanbul-listed gold mining company Koza Altin which was placed in receivership in October 2015, for alleged links to Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. U.S.-based Gulen was once an ally of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his AK Party but relations soured from 2013. Ankara accused Gulen's network of followers of orchestrating an attempted coup in July and branded it a terrorist organization. Gulen has denied accusations he played a role in the attempted coup and said he condemned it in the strongest terms. Following the court judgment handed down on Wednesday, London-based Ipek, said in an email to Reuters he was "very happy to see justice". "There have been many crazy slanders and accusations about me and my companies. The latest court decision in the UK is one fruit of an honestly lived life," he said. Koza Altin's trustees said they are seeking the removal of Ipek, as a director of Koza Ltd, a British subsidiary set up in March 2014, and to prevent him from deciding what to do with some 60 million pounds ($73.77 million) of shareholders' capital held by Koza Ltd. Court documents seen by Reuters showed a judge in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice found Turkish trustees had no authority over British-based assets. Turkish officials were not immediately available to comment. The judge also ruled that the approximately 60 million pounds could be transferred to accounts managed by Hanson Asset Management, which could allow the British subsidiary to get a higher return on its capital. Hanson Asset Management was not available for comment. A spokesman for Koza Altin said it was confident of its case and expected further legal action. No-one from Mischon de Reya, the lawyers that represented the Turkish trustees, was available for comment. The rift between Gulen and Erdogan escalated when Gulen's network was blamed for a corruption probe in late 2013 which implicated members of Erdogan's family and government. In the most high-profile clamp down on a Gulen-related company, lender Bank Asya, which was founded by the cleric's followers, was seized, and its operating rights eventually canceled when no buyer could be found for the tainted asset. Ipek's family business Ipek Holding has a 25 percent stake in Koza Altin. The share price of Koza Altin, which counts the Vanguard Group and Schroeder Investment management among its shareholders according to Reuters data, has been volatile as political events have unfolded. (Editing by Alexandra Hudson) Loving hair stylist Kenneth Walker boasts an accomplished resume, working closely with Denzel Washington from Ricochet to American Gangster. But in speaking with Walker about Jeff Nichols latest, depicting the beautiful and historic love story between Richard and Mildred Loving, its clear that his connection to the project is as personal and profound as they come. Growing up in the era depicted in the film, Walker vividly recalls his first exposure to prejudice as well as the hairstyle worn by Mildred, which his own mother and grandmother wore. Below, Walker discusses his admiration for Jeff Nichols, his relationship with actors and the moment in which Joel Edgerton became a blonde. When did the story of the Lovings originally come to your attention? This came many years ago. See, Im from that era. I was in high school during that time. My mom was very into news, as were my grandparents. They were talking about this couple, the Lovings. I remember that so well. We listened to the radio, and newspapers, and had a little tiny TV. In high school, there were a lot of young people that were interested in what was going on in the world at that time. I just happened to be one of them. It caught my interest. But then I wasnt really surprised, because when I started high school, they were hanging black dummies on the flagpole because it was a white school. That was my first exposure to prejudice and different kinds of people, because I grew up in Watts. Watts was different from South Central LA. Watts was a community of families, and we had Hispanic, black, white, Japanese. We had an array of colors there at that time, and we were all connected. We were friends, we ate together, talked together, went to school together. So, it was something that I needed to be a part of. Youve worked with stars like Denzel Washington and an assortment of acclaimed directorswhat stood out to you about Jeff Nichols in the making of this film? Jeff Nichols was such a knowing person, knowing what he wanted, what he expected of his actors. He established a line of communication with all of the departments, letting them know what he wanted. This was a very low-key film, and we were fortunate to have the documentary of the Lovings, so to replicate that was what he wanted. He wanted to see Mildred come alive on the screen. And Ruth Negga, she wanted Mildred to come alive on the screen. I know this may sound silly to you, but there were many days that we worked, and I felt Mildreds presence on that trailer. We would talk about it because we would come up with hairstyles without even looking, and they were so Mildred, you know? If you look at those scenes of them on the couch, thats one big thing where shes laying in her lap. They have put two of those pictures together, you almost cant tell which is which, except for the fact that one is in color and one is in black and white. Story continues Quite naturally, Im looking at things other people dont look at. But when they reversed the Supreme Court decision in 1968, and they were sitting in that office, in that room, that was Mildred Loving sitting there, real Mildred Loving. And Joel [Edgerton] translated into Richard, because Joels hair is basically black, or dark brown. To make it more blonde as was Richards, that was a feat unto itself, but we did get it done and it looks on camera like it was his hair. What was your experience that momentthat bleaching of the hairwith Edgerton? He was such a gentle soul and secure in who he was, as was Ruth. When you find secure people, they trust you when they see that you know basically what youre doing, and you explain to them that it will be a process to get him actually almost to white hair, and then tone it into a nice blonde. Jeff and the cameraman, Adam [Stone], they were both like, Wow. We were testing it as we were doing itthis was before we started shooting. We would see orange or red or something ugly in it. I would see it as well, but its nothing like having a camera and the way they light it. We didnt do HD, we did film. So film, youre figuring out your stock and what youre working with, so its another whole process. Film, I think, is the most beautiful thing in the world. After about a week, I hit it. The color was spot on and he was able to not have to use a permanent toner on his hair. I was toning his hair every morning with a temporary toner, which would adhere to and last all day, but when he went home and he washed it out, when he came back in the next day, his hair was bright again. But in doing that, I was able to save him from having peroxide and all those chemicals put back in his hair every time after I bleached him and then had to tone him. Rather than put another something with a chemical in it, I just used the temporary color and it worked beautifully. Jeff was so amazing, but Joel was just the gentleman of gentlemen. We had fun, we talked, and then watching them in the morning come on the trailer, wed make a big pot of beautiful coffee with beautiful coffee cups, no plastic, no Styrofoam, none of that. I kept peppermints on my station and everybody would come inI mean, every actor. We had a camaraderie that was unique unto itself. Are actors always so willing to take part in that kind of physical transformation, with the time it requires? Id imagine it could be logistically challenging to keep changing looks from one film to the next. It only becomes complicated when there are too many opinions of what it should be. The actors definitely should have some input on how they feel, what they have studied and what they have about who this character is, where he came from and what have you. The final analysis is, its the vision of the director, because Mr. Nichols wrote this himself. Ive worked with a lot of actresses. Not so many men that have an issue, because Ive done wigs on men and what have you. Women, they have another ego. See, when you can let your guard down and know that this woman was a countrywoman, she was not trying to be pretty. He was attracted to what he saw in her in in the country. Their love was so deep, just the way they looked at each other. Its animated on the screen. It was bigger than life, without a word being said. My favorite thing is when the attorneys ask, when they didnt want to go to court, Is there anything youd like us to say to the Supreme Court? He just looked at them and said, Yes, I love my wife. Thats one of those lines which almost feels written, but is so beautiful with the knowledge that it was taken verbatim. Thats the real deal. I have been inundated with calls of people talking about this film. The actors, the looks that they saw, how the makeup was done beautifully and simply. It wasnt over the top, and it was just a joy. How did your work in hair integrate with the work done by the makeup department, and other key artists involved? Lets go to the beginning of this film in Richmond, Virginia. You see her running through there to tell her sisters that shes pregnant, and shes very country. Her hair is not done, really. Shes just excited. They hug and love and talk to each other. Then, after they get married, and that horrendous thing that happens to them in jail, they have to move to DCthat was like another whole transition because makeup, wardrobe, and myself, we kept her very plain and he was just a country guy, just going to work, laying his cement, doing what he did, making a living for what was to be a big family. When they moved to the city and then she was pregnant with her first child, that whole scene where when she was getting ready to deliver and shes like I wanted your mother to deliver this child. That is mind boggling to me. That was so beautiful. They get in their car. She puts that scarf on and then, I was dealing with the scarf, even though its a wardrobe thing, but he had a distinct pattern in that scarf, and every time we would shoot that scene or re-do it, it might be the next day wed shoot some more. I would have to keep that scarf on so that that design was exactly in the same spot. Then, when they moved to the city, after she had her first child, thats when I cut her hair. You could see a definite shorter version of her. She was in house dresses and stuff, old country house dresses in Richmond. When she cuts to D.C., her wardrobe changes, if you notice. Her makeup was very simple then. You might have seen a touch of lips or something a little different. Nothing dramatic. She didnt look made up, and she didnt look overdressed, and her hair was simple for her to deal with. My mother and my grandmother wore those same hairstyles. I knew that period really well. Being in high school during that time and watching the 60s was a whole nother era. [Mildred] became not chic, but more, Ill say, for lack of a better word, citified. She was more of a city girl, but the country was her roots. She could not stand being in the city, especially after her child was hit by that car. It was over. Were going back to Virginia. Related stories 'Piper' Helmer And Pixar Animator Alan Barillaro Discusses Facing The Waves In Making His Shorlisted Directorial Debut 'Sausage Party' Director Conrad Vernon On Vindicating Box Office Results Of An R-Rated Animated Experiment 'Lion' And 'Rogue One' DP Greig Fraser On Film Versus Digital And Fundamental Similarities At The Heart Of The Two Films The first time Ken Boettcher flew home on a plane filled with Vietnam vets, they landed in Seattle and walked into a gauntlet of protesters. They called the soldiers baby killers, he said. Rapists. They spit on them. The second time he flew home on a plane filled with Vietnam vets, returning to Omaha after an honor flight to Washington, D.C., in June, they were greeted with applause from an estimated 5,000 well-wishers. And with respect. It was a totally different homecoming for us this time. You had 500 crying Vietnam veterans. Happy tears. The long day left an impression on Boettcher. Hed been to Washington before, and hed visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, but there was something profound about this trip, about reading the names of those who fought and didnt make it home while surrounded by hundreds of men who fought and did. You look at that wall with other vets, and its a totally different experience. The Boyd County farmer wanted to help others to share that experience, so he and area vets who took the trip organized a fundraiser to help pay for the next flight. They scheduled a soup supper in Spencer. They collected prizes to auction, including a double bale fork, mineral feeder and an 80-acre aerial spraying. They booked the school choir to sing patriotic songs. And on Veterans Day, nearly 400 people -- almost the population of the town -- poured in to the community hall and raised nearly $40,000, three to four times what Boettcher had expected. We just appreciated being able to go last June, he said. And we thought it would be a great deal for some other people to go. The organizers can use the money -- they just added another jet, making the May 1 trip the biggest yet. Four flights will leave Omaha long before the sun rises, carrying 620 Vietnam vets from Nebraska on a free trip to tour the nation's war monuments and memorials. They'll return to a welcome-home ceremony at the Lincoln airport. It's not cheap. Add everything up, and the trip will cost about $900 per veteran, said organizers Bill and Evonne Williams. That includes $86,500 for each jet, and the cost to charter 16 buses for vets and volunteers in Washington and 10 buses for spouses back in Nebraska, who will be treated to a day of homefront activities, and all of the food, color-coded jackets and hats. So the Omaha couple is grateful for the $38,000 from Boyd County, and the $5,500 raised by Central Catholic High School in West Point, and the $3,325 collected in Lindsay. These little towns, they get behind something and they go at it, Bill Williams said. It also helps when a company like Lincoln's Sandhills Publishing pledges to pay for an entire plane, he said. The couple has been finding money to orchestrate honor flights since 2008, taking 2,600 vets from World War II, Korea and Vietnam to the country's capital. But the trip in May is their last, Williams said. This is it, he said. The final mission. And demand is high. They've received 700 applications so far, more than they can carry. For the June trip, they took only vets who saw combat in Vietnam. For this one, they're placing a priority on combat service but will take those who served other roles in Vietnam during the war. They have a crack at it, Williams said. But if they kept the enemy out of Topeka, Kansas, theyre not going. As they did earlier this year, the couple enlisted the help of two combat vets and Nebraska attorneys -- James Martin Davis in Omaha and Jim Cada in Lincoln -- to sort through applications and determine the roster. We're not qualified, Williams said. But they can sit there and look at battalions and units and that kind of thing. They could decide rather quickly if they go in the good pile or the bad pile. The lawyers are studying discharge papers and other documents to make sure eligible applicants actually served in Vietnam. Our main goal is to make sure they were there, Cada said. And that they served during war time. Cada, who took the trip to Washington in June, has another goal: To convince Vietnam veterans about the power of an honor flight. Like Boettcher from Boyd County, he'd been to the memorial wall before. And like Boettcher, he was moved by experiencing it with others who understood. To see the wall with all of your fellow Vietnam veterans, it was really an emotional feeling, he said. You got to bond with guys you didnt even know, but there's that special bond you have with other veterans. And there was something even more powerful when he stepped off the return flight to Nebraska, and was welcomed home by 5,000 people. Which we didn't have when we came back, of course, he said. I was crying, I was laughing, I was smiling. I just had so much emotion. Im so glad I went. KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Malaysia's state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad inked a deal to study two oilfields in Iran with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Petronas, as the firm is known, will conduct studies at South Azadegan and Cheshmeh Khosh that are expected to conclude in the second quarter of 2017, the Malaysian firm said in a statement late on Wednesday. Iran, OPEC's third largest oil producer, plans to launch next year a new-style contract for helping develop its oil and gas fields, part of an effort to sweeten the terms it offers and attract more foreign investment. It has in recent weeks signed agreements with other oil producers such as Russia's Gazprom Neft and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd for oilfield studies. Petronas used to import 50,000-60,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude before it stopped buying due to Western sanctions. Malaysia's cabinet on Wednesday also gave the go-ahead to pursue a free trade agreement with Iran, state news agency Bernama reported. The potential for trade with Iran was enormous in areas such as oil and gas, and palm oil, trade minister Mustapa Mohamed was quoted as saying. (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Richard Pullin) NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Authorities say an Indian citizen living in New Jersey who's accused of fondling a passenger on a flight from India to Newark wrote notes to the victim apologizing for a "moment's stupidity." Federal prosecutors say 40-year-old Ganesh Parkar, of Robbinsville, moved from his ticketed seat in business class Wednesday and sat next to a woman in economy class on an Air India flight from Mumbai. They say he touched one of her breasts after she fell asleep. Investigators say he apologized in two short notes written while on the flight. Parkar was charged Thursday with abusive sexual contact. He was released on a $50,000 bond, put under home electronic monitoring and ordered to relinquish his passport. The charge carries a maximum two-year prison sentence. Parkar's attorney says his client "asserts his innocence." ___ This story has been corrected to show the suspect's last name is Parkar, not Parker. Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced hope Thursday that the prime suspect in Berlin's deadly truck attack would be caught quickly, after it emerged that the Tunisian rejected asylum seeker was a known jihadist. In an act of defiance, Berliners flocked to the same Christmas market that witnessed the murder of 12 people on Monday, as it reopened for the first time in three days. Just as Merkel praised the country for not succumbing to fear in the wake of the attack, she insisted that authorities would manage to track down the alleged assailant. "I am certain we will meet this test we are facing," she said, voicing confidence for a "hopefully quick arrest". "In the past few days I have been very proud of how calmly most people reacted to the situation." Prosecutors have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri, offering a 100,000-euro ($104,000) reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he could be armed and dangerous. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the case against Amri was hardening, with his fingerprints found in the cab of the 40-tonne truck, as well as his temporary residence permit. The articulated lorry rammed through the crowd late Monday, killing 11. The twelfth victim, the hijacked truck's Polish driver, was found shot in the cab. Berliners returned Thursday to the market at the central Breitscheid square, leaving a sea of flowers and candles for the victims and signs reading "Love Not Hate". Organisers dimmed garish lights and turned down the party music but began serving cakes and mulled wine. Amid a low-key police presence, vendors embraced each other, some weeping as they opened their stands. - 'They did nothing' - The attack, Germany's deadliest in recent years, has been claimed by the Islamic State group. Among the confirmed dead were six Germans, 60-year-old Israeli Dalia Elyakim, and a young Italian woman called Fabrizia Di Lorenzo. A total of 48 people were injured. Story continues But as the manhunt intensified, questions surfaced about how the suspect had been able to slip through the net, avoiding arrest and deportation despite being on the radar of several security agencies. "The authorities had him in their crosshairs and he still managed to vanish," said Der Spiegel's news website. The top-selling daily Bild's frontpage headline screamed "Deportation Failure!" while local tabloid B.Z. charged "They knew him. They did nothing", next to a photo of the dark-haired Amri. Conservative lawmaker Stephan Mayer, a critic of Merkel's liberal stance on refugees, told public radio that the case "held up a magnifying glass" to the failings of her migration policy. But Armin Laschet, a deputy leader of Merkel's Christian Democrats, placed the blame with regional security authorities, calling their inability to keep tabs on Amri "shocking". Merkel herself said Germany had "known for a long time that we are in the crosshairs of Islamic terrorism. And yet, when it happens ... it is a totally different situation." She hailed the "highly professional work" of federal and state police as well as the "smooth cooperation" with international partner organisations. But in a revelation likely to stoke public anger, officials said they had already been investigating Amri, suspecting he was planning an attack. The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing "a serious act of violence against the state". Berlin prosecutors said separately that Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, "possibly to carry out an attack". But after keeping watch on him from March until September this year they failed to find evidence of the plot, learning only that Amri was a small-time drug dealer, and the surveillance was stopped. Since the attack, police have searched a refugee centre in Emmerich, western Germany, where Amri stayed a few months ago, as well as two apartments in the capital. The New York Times reported, citing US officials, that Amri had done online research on how to make explosive devices and had communicated with IS at least once, via Telegram Messenger. He was also on a US no-fly list. Der Spiegel reported that German government wiretapping against "hate preachers" had indicated that Amri had offered to carry out a suicide operation but that his statements were too vague for prosecutors to use. - 'In shock' - Amri's family expressed disbelief on hearing he was wanted. "If my brother is behind the attack, I say to him 'You dishonour us'," Abdelkader Amri told AFP in a poor village in central Tunisia. Amri left his home country after the 2011 revolution and lived in Italy, where he served four years in prison for setting fire to a school, local media reported. He arrived in Germany in July 2015 but his application for asylum was rejected this June. His deportation, however, got caught up in red tape with Tunisia, which long denied he was a citizen. Germany had until now been spared the devastating jihadist carnage that has struck neighbouring France and Belgium. But it has suffered a spate of smaller attacks, including two assaults in July that left 20 people injured. Both were committed by asylum seekers and claimed by IS. The Berlin carnage evoked memories of the July 14 truck assault in the French Riviera city of Nice, where 86 people were killed by a Tunisian IS-sympathiser. By Andrew M. Seaman News stories about medical research rarely include objective comments from experts who weren't involved in the work, according to a recent analysis. Of nearly 600 news articles about medical research published in early 2013, only about one in six included a comment from a person not affiliated with the research - and a quarter of the independent sources quoted in the articles appeared to have no relevant expertise about the topic, the study found. Also, the commenters frequently had conflicts of interest. As reported in CMAJ December 19, the researchers identified 131 studies published in major medical journals that were covered by the news media in 591 stories. Only 92 of those news stories - or about 16 percent - included comments from people unaffiliated with the research. About a fifth of those commenters were editorialists whose opinion pieces about the research were published along with it in the same issue of the medical journal. Roughly half of the "outside" sources had academic expertise related to the topic, and 56 percent had expertise from treating patients. A quarter of the commenters had no academic or clinical expertise; many of these were spokespeople. "We were surprised by the low proportion of news reports that included comments," study co-author Dr. Andrew Grey, of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, told Reuters Health in an email. Also, he said, "The average person should be aware that commenters in health new stories quite frequently have (conflicts of interest) that are relevant to the topic at hand, that are frequently not reported and quite likely to influence the disposition of the comments towards the research in question." In the new analysis, 54 percent of independent commenters had a professional conflict of interest and about a third had a financial conflict of interest. Results were similar for the editorialists. Grey and his colleagues undertook the study after one of them was asked by a science media organization to comment on a new piece of research. Another researcher responded first with comments critical of the study, and those were published. The story did not mention that new study contradicted the commenter's own findings. "We think readers should be appraised of any (conflicts of interest) so they can consider their importance," said Grey. Gary Schwitzer, publisher and founder of the medical news watchdog site HealthNewsReview.org, told Reuters Health his website has reviewed nearly 2,300 health news stories over its 10-year history. HealthNewsReview.org has 10 criteria for a high-quality medical news story (http://bit.ly/RIHXwp). One of those elements is that stories contain an independent comment from a person without conflicts of interest. About half of the stories evaluated by the site's reviewers meet that requirement in some way, said Schwitzer, who is also an adjunct associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis. There is "really good evidence (that) people can be harmed by single source stories relying on input from people who stand to gain from whatever message is being delivered," said Schwitzer, who wasn't involved in Grey's study. Grey said it wasn't his team's intention to offer advice to journalists, but he said those covering medical research should identify and report relevant conflicts of interest. A lot of power rests in the hands of people reading, watching and listening to health news, said Schwitzer. "If we could get more people to look at how we independently and critically vet the evidence as it's presented in news stories, I think high schoolers and maybe even eighth graders can learn to cut through the smoke screen and become better critical thinkers," he said. Categories Celebrity Style When news broke out that Margot Robbie married Tom Ackerley in a secret ceremony earlier this week, the Internet went wild on every little detail of her wedding, from the unusual catering menu (were talking pizza and BBQ) to her stunning pear-shaped engagement ring. But what we really wanted to know was where she got that gorgeous lace bardot dress, and as it turns out, it wasnt fresh off the runway. The actress reportedly opted to keep tradition alive by wearing her mother Sarie Kesslers 30-year-old wedding gown, which was altered just a week before the wedding with the help of Australian designer Casey Tanswell. We have to say that is one bold last-minute fitting, but it was totally worth the wait as Margot looked radiant on her big day. Lubumbashi (DR Congo) (AFP) - Soldiers sealed part of Congo's second city and carried out mass arrests of young men on Thursday, residents said, as talks to defuse the country's explosive political crisis continued. Protests and deadly clashes have erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo over President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down at the end of his mandate on December 20. The army sealed off the Matshipisha-Gbadolite neighbourhood of Lubumbashi from 5 am (0300 GMT), five residents of the city told AFP. The operation was concluded by early afternoon, said the police commander in Haut-Katanga province, Jean-Bosco Galenga. On Wednesday the region's governor Jean-Claude Kazembe was forced to flee as stones were thrown at him when he tried to visit Matshipisha on a "peace march" aimed at demonstrating that the authorities were in control there following deadly violence on Tuesday. "The objective of sealing off (the area) was to retrieve three weapons stolen from police during clashes on 20 and 22 December (when) two police stations were looted," said Galenga. The weapons were all successfully located, he added. Police said a total of 20 people were killed Tuesday in clashes in the capital Kinshasa, Lubumbashi in the southeast, and Matadi and Boma in the west. Galenga said six of the deaths were in Matshipisha, revising down an earlier death toll. Forty-seven people were also injured in the district. Human Rights Watch has put the total death toll at 34, increasing an earlier estimate. Matshipisha residents said that the army sealed off the district, going house-to-house, searching and arresting young men and teenagers. "They put them in trucks to take them off in an unknown direction," said one resident, adding that two adolescents and a young man were arrested in his area. "I saw three trucks filled with young people," said another. - 'Arbitrary arrests' - Several dozen people, representing families of those detained, demonstrated outside the Lubumbashi headquarters of the UN's MONUSCO force to protest against the "arbitrary arrests". They were cleared by Congolese police around 11:30 am without incident. Story continues Lubumbashi, the capital of Haut-Katanga, is the fiefdom of an opposition leader in exile, Moise Katumbi. Talks to end the political crisis headed by the bishops' conference CENCO resumed on Wednesday after breaking up at the weekend without a breakthrough. CENCO chairman Archbishop Marcel Utembi appealed for a deal by Christmas. CENCO has also called for an independent investigation into the violence that greeted the end of Kabila's mandate. The conference said it hoped to hold a meeting at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) to give an update on how the talks are progressing. The mainstream opposition headed by 84-year-old Etienne Tshisekedi has called for "peaceful resistance" from the country's 70 million people, pinning its hopes on a deal at the negotiating table. But in what Kabila's opponents dubbed a provocation, a new government was announced overnight Monday. In separate development, 17 people were killed in clashes between Congolese police and members of a cult that believes the end of Kabila's mandate will usher in the apocalypse, a regional governor said Thursday. Bienvenu Esimba, governor of northwestern Mongala province, said the clashes broke out Wednesday in the provincial capital Lisala when members of the sect burned dozens of houses and attacked a market before launching an assault on local electoral commission offices. Kinshasa was calm on Wednesday although security forces were still out in force, manning roadblock checkpoints that were erected overnight. Thierry Vircoulon, a central Africa specialist at France's Sciences Po university, said that the scope for protest in Kinshasa had been "locked down" and that opposition might now shift to areas outside the capital "and take the form of regional rebellions". Congo has never witnessed a democratic transfer of power following polls since independence from Belgium in 1960. The president has been in office since his father Laurent Kabila's assassination in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and again in 2011. Two decades ago, the country collapsed into the deadliest conflict in modern African history. Its two wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s dragged in at least six African armies and left more than three million dead. Photo credit: McDonald's From Delish If you're a frequent fast-food eater, or even if you like the occasional Big Mac, you've more than likely ordered a value meal that gets you a sandwich, fries, and drink in one package deal. This is not only make the ordering process easier ("lemme get a number 2 with some Mac sauce") it presumably saves you some cash as well. But a new lawsuit claims that the company's "Extra Value Meal" is false advertising. In Chicago, a lawsuit filed last week claims that McDonald's restaurants in the Cook County area charge more for a value meal than when the items it entails are purchased individually, the Daily Herald reports. According to the man behind the suit, James Gertie, the two-cheeseburger value meal actually costs 41 cents more than when the two cheeseburgers, medium fries, and soft drink are ordered separately. Because of this, his suit charges consumer fraud and deceptive practices. Gertie told the newspaper: "The reason that I am doing this is not about the 41 cents. It's because of the principle. A value meal is supposed to be a cheaper price. That's the whole point of a 'value' meal. I believe in the principle of true advertising. If a company advertises something to be a value, then that is what it should be." Photo credit: McDonald's Gertie said he contacted Chicago attorney Paul Markoff after not receiving explanations at the drive-thru, or from an email he sent to McDonald's corporate offices about the price discrepancy. So far, neither the franchisee owner of the locations in questions nor McDonald's corporate has responded to the suit. The marketing material surrounding the Extra Value Meal doesn't specifically state that the price is lower than individual item purchases. It reads: "You value food just as much as you value a good price. Thanks to our delicious meal bundles, you can have both. A meal with quality ingredients that's easy on the wallet? That's a great deal." Story continues The case has yet to move forward in the court system, but if a judge grants it class-action status, damages can be sought on behalf of customers who purchased the two-cheeseburger meal. For now, you might want do some quick math before you buy into value meals at any fast-food chains for the foreseeable future. Follow Delish on Instagram. You Might Also Like Keeping the sun off your face is important. (Photo: Getty Images) According to disturbing new research, cases of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, are on the rise in the U.S. More Americans are also dying of the disease than they did seven years ago. The findings come courtesy of a JAMA Dermatology study that analyzed cases of melanoma in 2009 and 2016. The researchers found that one in 54 people will be diagnosed with invasive melanoma (skin cancer that penetrates deeper into the skin and may have spread to other parts of the body), compared with one in 58 in 2009. Scientists also discovered that the lifetime risk of developing in situ melanoma (a form of melanoma in which the top layers of the skin are affected) has increased from one in 78 people in 2009 to one in 58 today. The overall odds of developing some type of melanoma are incredibly high. Researchers found that one in 28 people will receive a melanoma diagnosis over their lifetime. According to the American Cancer Society, there will be more than 76,000 new melanoma cases diagnosed in the U.S. in 2016, and more than 10,000 people are expected to die of the disease this year. The risk of melanoma is more than 20 times higher for people with light skin, and having blond hair or skin that freckles or burns easily also raises a persons risk. However, genetics can also be a factor. Exposure to ultraviolet light, from the sun or tanning beds, is a major risk factor for most melanomas, the American Cancer Society says. Melanomas can appear anywhere on your body, but they often show up on a persons back, legs, head, and neck. Gary Goldenberg, MD, medical director of the dermatology faculty practice at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, tells Yahoo Beauty that the numbers are concerning but not surprising. Despite public health measures and public education regarding sun exposure and dangers of tanning beds, I see patients regularly with sunburns and tans, he says. Brian Gastman, MD, plastic surgeon, medical and surgical director of melanoma at Cleveland Clinic, tells Yahoo Beauty that doctors are getting better at picking up melanomas, which may explain the increase in numbers. However, Goldenberg says, incidents of the cancer are increasing, especially in young patients. This is directly related to the amount of sun exposure patients are still getting, he says. Story continues While many cancers have pain as a symptom, leading patients to see a doctor and receive a diagnosis, melanoma often doesnt, Gastman points out. Thats why he says prevention is so important. To lower the odds that youll contract melanoma, he says its important to be smart about your UV exposure. Goldenberg agrees. We cant change our genes, but we can change our behaviors, he says. Theres a correlation between melanoma development and the number of sunburns a person has before the age of 18. Parents can and should protect their children and teens from sunburns and exposure, but sun exposure and burns as an adult also contributes to your melanoma risk, Goldenberg says, which is why its important to limit your UV exposure as an adult as well. Its also important to have regular visits with your dermatologist for skin checks. Often we are able to find atypical moles before they progress to melanoma or find melanoma in its earliest stage, Goldenberg says. And, he notes, that can have a big impact on your overall health: The earlier these lesions are found, the less chance that they will spread. Detection is getting better for melanoma, and Gastman says he expects that the death rates will eventually decline, provided patients and doctors are on top of the disease. We are looking at it less and less as a deadly disease, despite these numbers, he says. There is hope: We are curing people that weve never cured before. Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. One of the most iconic pictures of 2016 is a photo taken at the May G7 summit in Japan. It shows Barack Obama, Francois Hollande, David Cameron, and Matteo Renzi smiling and waving at the camera, while Angela Merkel looks on, fingers steepled, in her signature pose exuding both serenity and self-restraint. The men in the picture seemed nervous, and had every reason to be. By years end, each would have been forced to make way for populist energies in their respective countries. A consensus has now emerged among foreign-policy elites that the departure from the international stage of the other four men has left Angela Merkel as the only person capable of upholding the tenets of the global liberal order. The last hope for the free world, they suggest, rests on Merkels reelection in the fall of 2017. Those hopes are dangerously misguided. Giving Merkel the mantle of moral leadership is based on a misreading of her past eleven years in office. It assumes that Merkels three coalitions in Germany and her active steering of the European Union have been unqualified successes. They have not. Rather, supporters of the liberal order should root for an alternative coalition to take shape during next years German elections, expected in September 2017, which excludes both Merkel and her Christian Democrats from government. A so-called red-red-green coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party (SPD), left-wing Die Linke, and the Greens offers the best way forward for German democracy, a recalibration of the European Union, and the future of the liberal world. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, Merkels leadership has been tested on four different fronts: the eurozone debt crisis, the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Schengen crisis over refugees and intra-EU migration, and the creeping authoritarian tendencies of governments in Hungary and Poland. In all four crises, Merkels governments have dithered and German leadership has fallen short. First, during the euro crisis, German insistence on fiscal austerity and structural reform pushed the burden of adjustment of the crisis squarely onto debtor countries, with disastrous consequences for the monetary unions cohesion as a whole. Unlike the United States after the global financial crisis, Germany refused to provide the regional public goods the eurozone needed for a swift recovery. While the United States responded to the global panic in 2008 with a fiscal stimulus package and allowed the Federal Reserve to be the global lender of last resort, Germanys role during the euro crisis was austerity for all and a refusal during the first three years of the crisis to let the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank use its balance sheet to calm financial markets. Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaubles tough stance vis-a-vis Athens was motivated by the exposure of German banks to the euro periphery, a strict adherence to ordoliberal economic ideas touting balanced budgets and fiscal restraint, and a populist refrain that touted the Continents northern saints and southern sinners. A Greek fiscal crisis quickly turned into a full-blown sovereign debt crisis as a result of German insistence on following dysfunctional fiscal and monetary rules. While Germanys economy has fared well since 2010, this has come at the cost of declining living standards, record unemployment, and increased Euroskepticism across the EUs southern periphery. With no hope of economic recovery, the future of the common currency remains fragile at best. Second, in the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Germany has put all its faith in NATO and economic sanctions and cobbled together a fragile Western coalition. Whatever its moral merits in the abstract, it has had little practical merit. While a brittle truce between Ukraines warring parties has been upheld so far, the sanctions have given Putins regime in Moscow the chance to tighten its grip on power at home, without improving Ukraines hopes of reasserting sovereignty over eastern Ukraine or Crimea. Merkel will now have to contend with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has clearly signaled a desire for a rapprochement with Russia. Trump is less interested in continuing the synchronized U.S.-EU economic sanctions regime imposed on Russia, and has signaled his doubts over NATOs ironclad commitment to mutual defense. With the Russo-skeptic British now on the path of leaving the European Union altogether, the only hope for a common European foreign policy to influence Russian behavior is to go back to the Ostpolitik formula devised by Germanys center-left during the Cold War. That policy was one of Wandel durch Handel: change through active reengagement with Moscow. For better or worse, Russia is central to many of the most pressing questions facing Europe, from the future status of Ukraine to the bloody conflict in Syria and it is a plain fact that it holds greater leverage in these matters. By offering better relations, the EU and the United States may give Putin a reason to cooperate with the West. That may also prove naive, as Putin tends to operate by his own set of principles, but it is hard to see how Merkels antagonistic approach can achieve any improvement to the current status quo. Third, while Merkels initial we can do this attitude toward Syrian refugees in 2015 earned her a lot of plaudits internationally with Germany leading the way in taking in over 1 million asylum-seekers her Willkommenpolitik (welcome policy) would soon U-turn into a cynical grand bargain with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stem the flow of migrants into the Schengen Area. The deal with Erdogan had the EU provide financial assistance and promise future visa-free travel to the EU for Turkish nationals in return for Turkey closing its borders to illegal migrants trying to get to Greece. While the deal effectively sealed the refugee route to Germany via the Balkans, it did little to tackle the more persistent problem of migrants from Africa coming across the Mediterranean and into Italy. Indeed, it may have made that problem worse by leading people to assume that the deal with Turkey meant that Europes migration issues had been solved. Moreover, the deal rests on shaky foundations, including the illusory hope that an increasingly illiberal Erdogan regime, which is flirting with a reintroduction of the death penalty, could soon accede to join the EU. While neither party has an interest in the deal unraveling, it is a constant reminder of the EUs chronic lack of a common, effective migration policy. Fourth, neither the EU nor Germany has been able to stop the gradual slide toward authoritarianism in both Hungary and Poland. With Viktor Orbans Fidesz party in Budapest and Jaroslaw Kaczynskis Law and Justice party (PiS) in Warsaw, the EU now counts two illiberal governments among its member states. It is not just that Germany has failed to prevent this from occurring. As the political scientist R. Daniel Kelemen has persuasively shown, Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has played a crucial role in accommodating Orbans consolidation of power in Hungary which includes weakening judicial independence and censoring the media. By allowing Fidesz to remain in good standing in the European Peoples Party (EPP), of which the CDU is the leading member, Merkel put party politics above liberal democratic principles. Orban has thus been spared any real EU pressure let alone sanctions to rein in some of his more egregious autocratic instincts at home in return for EPP party cohesion and support for crucial votes in the European Parliament. By allowing partisan politics at the EU level to permit the spread of illiberalism in Hungary, Merkel opened the door for illiberal tendencies to flourish in other EU member states. Since once Orban was allowed to get away with his illiberal practices, Kaczynskis PiS (which is not a member of the EPP) had a powerful ally in Orbans Fidesz. Merkels quiet accommodation of Orban and Kaczynski hardly make her a paragon of liberal virtue, especially when considered alongside her Faustian bargain with Erdogan. The inadequacy with which Europe has dealt with its quadruple crisis over the past decade alone calls for fresh leadership in Berlin. Indeed, for the sake of the health of German democracy, a change at the chancellery would be advised. The only realistic way for Merkel to remain in power would be through yet another grand coalition with the social-democratic SPD. This, of course, assumes that the CDU rules out governing with the right-wing anti-EU and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is currently polling at around 15 percent of the overall vote. It also assumes that a coalition with the liberal Free Democratic Party falls short of a majority, as the polls currently indicate it would. Furthermore, Merkel has stated that the Greens are not her preferred partner. As political scientist Wade Jacoby argues in a forthcoming journal article, grand coalitions serve a purpose as long as they are formed with particular bipartisan reforms in mind. But since they take away the crucial element of choice among the electorate, they should only be used sparingly. That was indeed the case for most of postwar German history until Merkel came to power in 2005. While a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD was only tried once from 1945 to 2005 (in the 1960s), two of Merkels three coalitions have been such grand coalitions. The fact that both AfD on the right as well as Die Linke and the Greens on the left have seen their electoral fortunes rise proves that Germany is already experiencing voter fatigue with grand coalitions. If Merkel is returned to power, it will only be more of the same, with potentially catastrophic consequences. The Austrian case should be a warning to Germany. After decades of grand coalitions between center-right Christian democrats and center-left social democrats in Vienna, voters have flocked to the far-right Freedom Party. Their candidate, Norbert Hofer, almost captured the symbolic post of the presidency earlier this month, only narrowly losing to independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen. After 11 years in power, Merkels CDU has run out of ideas. Over the past 35 years, it has only been out of government for seven years (1998-2005). Only real change in Germany has the potential to break the deadlock in all four crises facing the EU. The postwar liberal world order was founded on a compromise that granted countries control over domestic policy as long as they moved in a broadly liberalizing direction. The European Union was that orders finest achievement. But, especially after the Brexit vote, it can no longer be sustained under present German leadership. Merkel has inspired and imposed austerity policies which have been disastrous for the eurozone and rejected systemic solutions to the financial crisis like eurobonds or common deposit insurance. The EU today is more vulnerable to external aggression than it has been in 25 years, and Merkels moves to further antagonize Russia will only deteriorate relations. The refugee crisis has not been solved but merely been put on the back burner. And two central European member states now openly defy the EUs democratic liberal norms. The EU needs a new German-brokered grand bargain, one which entails increased economic solidarity between member states at the price of a truly common EU migration policy with real burden sharing of refugees. But only after a changing of the guard in Berlin would such a bargain be conceivable. A red-red-green coalition among the Social Democrats, Die Linke, and the Greens offers not only a viable alternative to another Merkel-led grand coalition, but Europes best hope of longer term survival. A center-left coalition could end austerity as we know it, offer systemic solutions to the eurozone and refugee crises, and an end to the cozy relationship with right-wing illiberal democrats in Central Europe. The ball is now in the court of the SPD, the leader of Germanys center-left. After years of partnering with Merkels party, its own policy profile has been compromised to the detriment of its popularity. They now have an opportunity to make a clear break with the consensus economic policies Germany has pursued over the past decade, and start to champion the reflationary economic solutions that would thrill the partys traditional working-class base and could finally rebalance the eurozone economy. If done right, red-red-green could give European integration a new lease on life and reestablish the European Union as a key pillar of the global liberal order. Whats clear is that if it remains under Merkels leadership, Europe will remain a fading power that both Trumps United States and Putins Russia can easily ignore. Photo credit: CARL COURT/Getty Images/ Mayor Chris Beutler has named Brandon Kauffman, finance director for the city of Topeka, as Lincolns new finance director. Kauffman, who must be confirmed by the City Council, would replace Steve Hubka, who retired Sept. 30. Former Finance Director Don Herz has served as interim finance director. Prior to being named Topekas finance director in 2015, Kauffman served as Topekas chief fiscal officer. He also worked for Butler County, Kansas, as finance director from 2009 through 2012 and then as assistant county administrator from 2012 through 2014, according to a Wednesday evening news release from Beutler's office. Kauffman has a bachelors degree in political science from Kansas State University and a masters degree in public administration from Wichita State University. He served as president of the Kansas Government Finance Officers Association. Beutler said one of Kauffmans first duties will be to help select a new budget officer. Before his retirement, Hubka served as both interim finance director and budget officer. Hubka, who had been budget officer for 21 years, took on both jobs when Herz retired in August 2011. Beutler said the budget position is key to working with the administration, department directors and the City Council on a budget process. The city Finance Department handles city funds and investments, prepares city bond issues and helps develop the citys annual budget. Kauffmans confirmation hearing before the City Council is scheduled for Jan. 23, and his starting date is Jan. 30. (Reuters) - Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said he had "no reason to be concerned" he would be charged in connection with the Flint drinking water crisis that exposed city residents to high levels of lead, the Detroit Free Press reported on Thursday. Snyder made the comments to the newspaper on Wednesday, the day after two Flint emergency managers appointed by the governor were indicted on felony charges of conspiring to violate safety rules. "I have no reason to be concerned," Snyder was quoted as saying, while acknowledging he could not speak on behalf of state Attorney General Bill Schuette. Both Snyder and Schuette are Republicans. Snyder told the paper much of the $3.5 million in taxes he is using for his criminal defense was being spent to find and prepare records requested by Schuette and the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is also investigating the water scandal. Schuette has filed 43 criminal charges against 13 current and former state and local officials, including the emergency managers this week. Snyder's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the interview. Flint has been at the center of a public health crisis since last year, when tests found high amounts of lead in blood samples taken from children in the poor, predominantly black city of about 100,000 residents. Critics have called for charges to be brought against the governor, who has been in office since 2011, as well as other high-ranking state officials. Snyder has said he believes he did nothing criminally wrong. Asked at a news conference on Tuesday whether the investigation would lead to charges against senior state officials, Schuette said no one was excluded from the probe. Flint's water contamination was linked to a switch of its source to the Flint River from Lake Huron in April 2014, a change made in an attempt to cut costs, while the city was under state-run emergency management. (Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Lisa Von Ahn) Shares of Microsoft Corporation MSFT have outperformed the broader Zacks Computer Software industry over the last six months. While the broader index yielded a positive return of 13.0%, the stock generated a positive return of 24.6% over the same period. The outperformance of the stock was primarily driven by Microsoft's continuing enterprise strength, benefits from the Office 365 subscription model, strong growth prospects of Azure and promising new products. Further, the LinkedIn acquisition is expected to boost Microsoft's presence in the social media market. The deal will also strengthen the company's enterprise business. Meanwhile, per a Reuters report, the company has won a whopping $927 million contract from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for providing technical support and consulting. We note that this deal follows a Feb 2016 deal that Microsoft signed with the DoD to upgrade the operating systems of its four million employees in a span of 12 months. At that time, Microsoft stated that the Windows 10 deal was the companys largest enterprise deal for the product ever. As the tenure of PC upgrades is coming to an end, the DoD has again placed its trust in Microsoft to take care of the technical support for these systems and to ensure that everything keeps on running smoothly. What Does this Mean for Microsoft? When it comes to operating systems for PCs, Microsoft still rules the roost with its Windows operating platforms. However, there is stiff competition in the space with the presence of other major operating platforms such as Apples AAPL Mac OS X, the open source Linux and Alphabet GOOGL owned Googles Chrome OS. With big government organizations such as the DoD deciding to go with Microsofts operating platforms and technical support and consulting, the companys long-term growth prospects seem bright. MICROSOFT CORP Price MICROSOFT CORP Price | MICROSOFT CORP Quote Story continues Zacks Rank and Key Picks At present, Microsoft carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). A better-ranked stock in the broader technology space is Konami Holdings Corporation KNMCY sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Notably, the consensus estimate for Konamis current year has improved to $1.67 from $1.59 over the last 30 days. 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 APPLE INC (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report ALPHABET INC-A (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report KONAMI CORP-ADR (KNMCY): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research * GCC sukuk issuance slumped this year * Conventional bonds more attractive for issuers * Governments forced to rely more on foreign investors * Unsatisfied demand to facilitate sukuk issues in 2017 * But secondary market suggests little demand at long end By Davide Barbuscia and Bernardo Vizcaino DUBAI/SYDNEY, Dec 22 (Reuters) - After slumping in 2016, issuance of Islamic bonds from the Middle East looks likely to rebound next year as Gulf states take advantage of unsatisfied demand, but investors may shun the long end of the curve. As governments scrambled to cover budget deficits due to low oil prices this year, they overwhelmingly turned to conventional debt - a shift from the traditional pattern in which sukuk and conventional bonds had roughly equal shares of the region's international bond issuance. In the first half of 2016, governments in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council raised just $1.1 billion or 5 percent of their total debt issuance through longer-term sukuk, against 38 percent a year earlier, Moody's estimated. Saudi Arabia's $17.5 billion debut bond in October was entirely conventional. Meanwhile, GCC corporate and project-related sukuk issuance totaled $2.5 billion in the first eight months, up marginally from $2.3 billion a year ago but down sharply from $5 billion in 2013 and $6.5 billion in 2014, Standard & Poor's estimated. With cheap oil tightening liquidity in their banking systems, Gulf governments were forced to rely more on foreign investors rather than Islamic banks and funds, which pushed them towards conventional debt. Also, as oil prices sagged, governments were in a hurry to raise money and did not want to spend extra time planning sukuk issues - which tend to be more complex than conventional bonds - or explaining their intricacies to investors. Sukuk documentation can vary across the GCC in terms of structure, legal requirements and compliance with sharia standards, noted Ruslena Ramli, head of Islamic finance at Malaysia's RAM Ratings. Story continues "In the GCC, sukuk issuances are typically supported by real assets. Identifying sufficient assets to support sukuk issuances may add to the funding timeline and affect the overall financing cost." UPSWING NEXT YEAR Issuance may become more normal in 2017. With oil rebounding and austerity policies in place, GCC governments are somewhat less pressed for cash and have more time to plan sukuk. Also, this year's dearth of new sukuk has left unsatisfied demand among Islamic investors, including banks that need high-grade sharia-compliant bonds to meet liquidity standards. "Sukuk are very much in demand and global sukuk issuance is on an upswing," said Mohieddine Kronfol, chief investment officer for global sukuk and Middle East fixed income at Franklin Templeton Investments. "Going forward we should expect sovereign issues to be less lumpy and more diverse in format and currency," he said. Saudi Arabia is believed to be considering an international sukuk issue in the first quarter of 2017. Bahrain could sell sovereign sukuk in that period, though the central bank told Reuters no decision had been made. Conventional bonds look likely to retain one attraction for Gulf issuers, however, because long maturities above 10 years seem more feasible for conventional debt. "The sukuk market still lacks a significant investor base for the long end of the curve. Sukuk buyers are traditionally more involved in five- and 10-year paper," said a Dubai banker. Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) issued 30-year sukuk in 2013 but secondary market trading in its bonds suggests demand is weaker for that maturity than for conventional debt. Its 30-year sukuk is at a premium of 75-80 basis points over the 30-year tranche of the Saudi sovereign bond, against an initial 50 bps in October. For shorter tenors, SEC's 2022 and 2023 sukuk are almost flat to Saudi sovereign bonds maturing in 2021 and 2026. Given the pricing advantage of conventional paper at the long end, Riyadh could choose maturities of five and 10 years for a sukuk issue next year, said Doug Bitcon, head of fixed income funds and portfolios at Rasmala Investment Bank. (Editing by Andrew Torchia and Tom Heneghan) FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - A Senegalese migrant was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday for the murder of Ashley Olsen, a U.S. woman who was killed in the Tuscan city of Florence in January. Diaw Cheik Tidianee, 27, was arrested by police on Jan. 14, five days after Olsen's body was found dead in her apartment. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled and also had two fractures to her skull. Florence prosecutors said Tidianee had met the 35-year-old Olsen in a local nightclub and that the two had consensual sex in her home under the influence of alcohol, and possibly drugs, before he killed her. He denied murdering her, telling investigators that he had pushed her and that she had hit her head when she fell over. Olsen came from Florida and had been living in Florence for three years before her death. Friends said she had moved to Italy to join her father Walter Olsen, who was teaching in the city. The case attracted considerable international media attention and investigators were keen to avoid any repeat of the drawn-out saga that followed the 2007 killing of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, not far from Florence. Kercher's American flatmate Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend spent almost four years in prison for the crime before finally being acquitted last year by Italy's highest appeals court. (Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Mireille Soria has stepped down as co-president of DreamWorks Animation in order to focus on producing, leaving Bonnie Arnold as sole president of the studio. Sorias move comes four months after Comcast Corp. closed its $3.8 billion acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. Arnold and Soria had been the lead producers behind the studios How to Train Your Dragon and Madagascar franchises. They were named co-presidents of feature animation in early 2015 when Bill Damaschke stepped down as chief creative officer, then became co-presidents of the studio after Ann Daly exited as president on the day after the Comcast acquisition closed. Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Pictures, said in a Dec. 12 memo to staff that Soria would be transitioning out of her executive role as the studio wrapped up its Boss Baby and Captain Underpants movies in 2017. She also said Soria would continue to produce the studios Madagascar films. As we are all fortunate to know firsthand, Mireille is an incredibly passionate and talented filmmaker who has contributed to the DreamWorks Animation legacy, Langley said. She has shepherded a successful slate of films during her tenure at the studio, including the Madagascar franchise, of which she will continue to be involved as a producer. The four Madagacar movies, including spinoff Penguins of Madagascar, have grossed more than $2.1 billion worldwide. DreamWorks has not yet announced details on the next entry in the franchise. Fox is releasing The Boss Baby, directed by Tom McGrath with a voice cast of Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, and Lisa Kudrow, on March 31. Fox is also handling Captain Underpants, based on Dav Pilkeys childrens novel, which hits theaters on June 2. Universal will take over distribution of the DreamWorks animation movies, with Larrikins set for Feb. 16, 2018. DreamWorks Animation announced on Dec. 5 that it had moved back How to Train Your Dragon 3 to March 1, 2019. It also set Everest, an Oriental DreamWorks movie, for Sept. 27, 2019. Variety first reported in November that DreamWorks Animation and Universal had pulled the plug on Croods 2. Story continues Here is Langleys memo: Dear Colleagues, I am writing to let you know that Mireille has decided to return to focusing solely on producing and will be transitioning out of her executive role as Co-President as we wrap up both Boss Baby and Captain Underpants in the new year. Bonnie will remain President, with full oversight of development and production for the feature animation group. As we are all fortunate to know firsthand, Mireille is an incredibly passionate and talented filmmaker who has contributed to the DreamWorks Animation legacy. She has shepherded a successful slate of films during her tenure at the studio, including the Madagascar franchise, of which she will continue to be involved as a producer. I want to personally thank both Mireille and Bonnie for their guidance and stewardship during this time of transition. As we close out 2016, we are energized for the New Year and looking forward to accomplishing great things together in 2017. Donna Related stories Comcast Launches VOD Movie Extras in Pacts With Four Studios 'How to Train Your Dragon 3' Release Pushed Back a Year Universal's 'Sing' YouTube Karaoke Contest Will Fly Three Winners to L.A. for Digital Workshop For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. Berlin (AFP) - As police hunt for Tunisian Anis Amri, the top suspect in Berlin's Christmas market attack, public anger has grown over a catalogue of failures that allowed him to evade arrest or deportation. An incredulous public has learned that Amri was a rejected asylum seeker and known radical jihadist with a history of crime who had been under police observation for plotting an attack before surveillance was dropped. "They knew him. They did nothing," ran the scathing headline of Berlin's B.Z. tabloid. Here are the missed chances that may have prevented Monday's attack, according to what we know so far from official statements and press reports. - False start - It seemed too good to be true when police said Monday night they had arrested a suspect within an hour of the attack -- a Pakistani man who had apparently been identified by an eyewitness. By the time police let him go late Tuesday for lack of evidence, they had lost 24 hours during which the public had not been told the armed killer was still on the run. Police say a forensics team only found a wallet containing Amri's papers in the truck cabin on Tuesday afternoon. It took until Wednesday afternoon for authorities to issue a Europe-wide public wanted notice that gave Amri's full name, age and photograph and warned the public he was dangerous. - Attack plot - Amri had been watched since March by counter-terrorism services who knew he was in contact with radical Islamists and could have been plotting an attack. He had had contact with Iraqi "hate preacher" Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A., who was arrested by German police in November for setting up a recruitment network on behalf of the Islamic State group. Berlin prosecutors say Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary meant to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, "possibly to carry out an attack". Surveillance had however shown that Amri was working as a small-time drug dealer in Berlin, and the observation ended in September. Story continues Amri had used different identities to travel between German states, an unnamed investigator told the Bild newspaper, "but apparently there was never sufficient evidence to arrest him". Der Spiegel news weekly said security services had even heard Amri volunteer for a suicide attack -- but that he had used a phrase considered too obscure to stand up as evidence leading to an arrest. Amid the finger-pointing, debate is raging over whether Amri's case highlights incompetence or an overburdened security apparatus. Police say that a suspect's 24/7 phone and personal surveillance requires a rotating team of up to two dozen officers. German security services say they are keeping an eye on some 540 radical Islamists they consider potentially dangerous. - Deportation blocked - Amri arrived in Germany in July 2015 at a time when a historic influx of migrants and refugees was overwhelming authorities. His asylum request was rejected in June this year, but Amri couldn't be deported because he had no passport and Tunis denied he was a Tunisian citizen. Finally, the new Tunisian travel document arrived on Wednesday, two days after the attack, said Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, who added coolly that he preferred not to comment on the delay. Germany has repeatedly accused Tunisia and other North African states of stalling on the repatriation of their nationals from Germany. - Jailed in Italy - Adding to the troubling list of questions is the fact that Amri was known as a dangerous offender in Italy and was considered a threat by the United States. An unnamed US official told The New York Times that Amri had been on a US no-fly list, had in the past allegedly researched online how to build a bomb and had had contact with IS via messaging service Telegram. In Italy, where Amri had arrived by boat from Tunisia in 2011, he had served more than three years in jail for setting fire to a school building used to house refugees and other offences. In May 2015, he was placed in deportation detention but released weeks later, free to travel on to Germany, wrote Die Welt. Italy only issued an alert for him across Europe's visa-free Schengen zone this year, according to Der Spiegel. When Amri issued his asylum request in Germany, he initially claimed to be an Egyptian fleeing state repression but was unable to answer even basic questions about the country, the magazine said. His asylum request was denied but, because he couldn't be expelled, he was issued a stay of deportation paper -- the document that police this week found in the mangled truck cabin. Law enforcement authorities have made an arrest in the case of arson and vandalism of the Greenville Hopewell Baptist Church, a black church in Greenville, Mississippi, that was burnt and spray-painted with the words Vote Trump, in early November, before the presidential election. Andrew McClinton of Leland, Mississippi, an African-American parishioner of the church, has been charged with first-degree arson of a place of worship, said Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, according to CBS news affiliate WJTV. McClinton, 45, remained in custody Wednesday night after being taken to the Washington County Detention Center, according to the Clarion-Ledger. He is still awaiting his initial appearance in Greenville Municipal Court. "The charges that he received today, it was not a hate crime but we do not know if the federal government will pursue that as such because we do not have a motive yet," Kenya Collins, a spokesperson for the city of Greenville, told the Clarion-Ledger. Firefighters were swift to extinguish the blaze at the 111-year-old church after a 911 call alerted the authorities at around 9:15 p.m. (10:15 p.m. EST) on Nov. 1. No one was reported to be injured. Police have not yet attributed a motive to the burning of the church that was originally characterized as a hate crime believed to have been carried out by Trump supporters due to the Vote Trump graffiti. However, Mississippi Fire Marshal and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said that investigators dont believe the incident was politically motivated. We do not believe it was politically motivated. There may have been some efforts to make it appear politically motivated, Chaney told the Associated Press (AP). The cause of the incident has not been disclosed and investigations are ongoing. We dont know if it was direct flame contact, contact with clothes or paper, but this here is an ongoing investigation and still remains to be an arson investigation, Greenville Fire Chief Ruben Brown Sr. told the Clarion-Ledger in November. Story continues The investigation has sprawled over law enforcement circles and is being investigated by the Greenville Police, Greenville Fire Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to CNN. Media reports suggested that the FBI was investigating the incident too. We will not rest until the culprit, be they male, female, black, white, Republican, or Democrat; is found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons reportedly said after the fire. Mississippi law suggests that if found guilty, McClintons sentence could range from a minimum of five years, and a maximum of 30 years, besides making full restitution for the damage caused. But, McClinton also has a prior rap sheet. Having been convicted for an armed robbery in 2004 that took place in Lee County, Mississippi, he was released in 2012 after serving eight years in prison, the AP reported. Prior to that, in 1997, he was sentenced to seven years for attempted robbery in Lee County and was also sentenced to three years probation for a grand larceny conviction in 1991. Related Articles (Reuters) - An man who was a member of a historic black church in Mississippi that was burned and spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump," has been arrested in the case, authorities said on Wednesday. The Greenville church was set ablaze a week before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election, leading officials initially to view it as a politically motivated hate crime. Andrew McClinton, 45, was charged with arson of a place of worship for the fire at the Hopewell Baptist Church, said Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. McClinton, who is African-American, was a member of the church, said Kenya Collins, a spokeswoman for the city of Greenville. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is part of the Public Safety Department, did not say what led authorities to McClinton or speculate about his motive. Mississippi State Fire Marshal Mike Chaney said in an interview: "At this point we do not believe it was a politically motivated crime though it appears there were attempts to make it look politically motivated." He said McClinton was still being interviewed on Wednesday afternoon and that details about his motivation would likely emerge soon. Chaney, who also serves as the state's insurance commissioner, said the arson was not believed to be insurance-related. Mississippi correctional officials said on Wednesday that McClinton served eight years in state prison, from 2004 to 2012, for armed robbery in Lee County in the eastern part of the state. Greenville, where McClinton lived, is near the Mississippi River about 85 miles north of Vicksburg. Black churches in the U.S. South have long been a base of support for the Democratic Party, so the attack and the language supporting Republican nominee Donald Trump were taken as political statements. During the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Southern black churches were often targets for arson and bombings by white supremacists. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif.; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Peter Cooney) Kiev (AFP) - A top monitor for the conflict in Ukraine warned Thursday that a "massive upsurge in violence" has pushed fighting between Kiev's forces and pro-Russian rebels to levels not seen in months. The statement by Alexander Hug of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) came a day after the body hailed progress toward a New Year's truce agreement that must still be approved by the insurgents. Ukrainian forces have lost at least eight soldiers since Sunday in the conflict that has simmered in the European Union's backyard since 2014. The eastern separatists have rarely disclosed their own losses during clashes that have claimed nearly 10,000 lives according to the UN. Hug said his organisation had recorded a 75 percent increase in the number of ceasefire violations in recent weeks. The deputy chief of the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission for Ukraine added that the use of heavy weapons banned by a tattered February 2015 peace agreement -- that neither side has actually followed -- had risen by 300 percent. "Behind these dry facts lies a massive upsurge in violence," Hug told reporters. The stark words came one day after the OSCE helped mediate talks between representatives from Russia and Ukraine on ways to stop shelling for at least the holiday season. Russia denies playing a part in the conflict and calls its troops caught or captured in the war zone volunteers. But its seat at the negotiating table underscores the sway it holds over the insurgents from the mostly Russian-speaking industrial regions of Lugansk and Donetsk. - New holidays truce? - A spokeswoman for Ukraine's representative to Wednesday's meeting said the three sides had agreed to call for a new holiday truce that would reflect one negotiated a year ago. Her comment was echoed by a top Ukranian army spokesman on Thursday. "The armed forces of Ukraine are ready to implement the president's peace plan," Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told Ukraine's 112 television channel. Story continues The insurgency's representatives were not present at the meeting and issued no immediate comment. But the OSCE's negotiator overseeing the periodic trilateral meetings voiced hope that peace would soon come to the most devastated parts of the former Soviet republic in the next few days. We "reaffirm our commitment to a comprehensive, sustainable and unlimited ceasefire, starting at midnight on 24 December 2016 (Kiev time)," Martin Sajdik said in a statement issued late Wednesday. Previous such calls have been generally accepted by the rebels because they included Russia's involvement. No Ukrainian troops were reported killed on Thursday. The FBI reported Monday that 1,197,704 violent crimes were committed in 2015, up 3.9% from 2014. Violent crime rates are by no means uniform across the country. Some of the nations cities are far more dangerous than others. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed violent crime rates in major U.S. cities from the FBIs 2015 Uniform Crime Report. Violent crime includes all offenses involving force or threat of force and are broken into four categories: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. For every 100,000 U.S. residents, 372 of these crimes were committed in 2015. St. Louis, Missouri led the nation with 1,817 violent crimes per 100,000 residents last year. Cary, North Carolina, by contrast, is the safest city in the nation with just 51 reported violent crimes per 100,000 city residents. ALSO READ: America's 25 Murder Capitals Relatively crime-free cities can be found in states just a few hundred miles from some of the most violent places in the country. California is home to cities such as Irvine, Murrieta, and Sunnyvale, which have among the 10 lowest violent crime rates of all U.S. major cities. However, California is also home to some of the most violent cities in the country, including Oakland, which is just 40 miles from Sunnyvale. In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Nancy La Vigne, director of the Justice Policy Center at nonprofit economic and social policy research organization the Urban Institute, noted the highly localized nature of violence in the United States. We see no connection between state policies and where these [crime] trends are up or down, La Vigne said. Because many diverse and complex factors can affect violence in a community, it is very difficult to predict and address violent crime. For example, some cities attempt to curb gang violence by increasing enforcement. These efforts, however, are usually not successful, if you dont look at issues around structural inequality and reasons why kids may be compelled to join gangs to begin with, La Vigne explained. Story continues In many cases, the reason for the heightened violence is the lack of law-abiding activities, including -- La Vigne noted -- employment opportunities. The unemployment rate exceeds the national rate of 5.3% in 19 of the 25 cities with the highest violent crime rates. Several other social and economic factors have been tied to high violent crime. The vast majority of the cities with the highest violent crime rates tend to also report very low incomes, high poverty, and low educational attainment. The cause and effect relationship between violent crime and measures of social well-being such as poverty, educational attainment, and employment can go in both directions. For example, people living in high-crime neighborhoods can suffer from stress and other negative social and health outcomes that can limit their chances to obtain an education and gainful employment. Or, businesses may be less likely to locate in high-crime neighborhoods, effectively limiting employment opportunities for local residents. A relatively small percentage of the population -- even within the most disadvantaged communities -- is actually engaged in violence, according to La Vigne. Still, every resident of relatively unsafe communities is affected in some way by the violence that occurs there. The difference between victim and perpetrator is often indistinguishable, she said. To identify the 25 most dangerous U.S. cities, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed violent crime rates in cities with at least 100,000 people from the FBIs 2015 Uniform Crime Report released Monday. The total number and rates of murder, non negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, which are included in the violent crime rate, as well as burglaries, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson all classified as property crime also came from the FBIs report. We also considered these data for each year from 2011 through 2015. Annual unemployment rates for 2015 came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Median household income, poverty rates, the percentage of adults with at least a bachelors degree, population, and the percentage of adults with at least a high school diploma came from the U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey (ACS). These are Americas 25 most dangerous cities. 25. Minneapolis, Minnesota > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,062.9 > 2015 murders: 47 > Poverty rate: 22.6% > Unemployment rate: 3.3% With a violent crime rate of 1,063 reported incidents for every 100,000 residents, nearly three times the corresponding national rate, Minneapolis is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. Robbery is especially common in the Midwestern city, with 459 reported incidents per 100,000 residents, the 10th highest rate of any American city. Poor economic conditions can often lead to large populations of disengaged young men -- the group most likely to commit violent crimes. However, Minneapoliss economy is fairing better than the country as a whole. The citys 3.3% unemployment rate in 2015 was well below the national 5.3% rate that year. 24. Tallahassee, Florida > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,064.3 > 2015 murders: 16 > Poverty rate: 31.1% > Unemployment rate: 5.2% Tallahassees violent crime rate of 1,064 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2015 was nearly triple the national violent crime rate. Particularly, the state capital reported the seventh highest rate of rape in the country and the 18th highest rate of aggravated assault. Violent crime in the city spiked considerably in recent years. The 2015 violent crime rate was 21.6% higher than it was half a decade prior. ALSO READ: The Most Expensive City in Each State 23. Springfield, Illinois > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,070.4 > 2015 murders: 11 > Poverty rate: 18.6% > Unemployment rate: 5.6% With less than 120,000 residents, Springfield, Illinois is smaller than the majority of Americas most dangerous cities. Across the country, aggravated assault is the most common type of violent crime. In keeping with that trend, the 880 reported incidents of aggravated assault in 2015 were the primary driver to the citys high violent crime rate. 22. Anchorage, Alaska > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,070.9 > 2015 murders: 26 > Poverty rate: 8.3% > Unemployment rate: 5.0% Alaska consistently struggles with high incidence of rape, as is evident from the high rate of rape Anchorage reported last year -- the third highest of any major U.S. city. The 517 reported rapes in the city last year amounted to 172 incidents per 100,000 residents, significantly more than four times the corresponding national rate of 39 incidents per 100,000 people. 21. Springfield, Massachusetts > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,073.4 > 2015 murders: 18 > Poverty rate: 30.1% > Unemployment rate: 9.3% A depressed economy often drives up crime rates, as young men -- the most likely perpetrators of violent crime -- are less likely to be socially engaged. With a near nation leading 9.3% unemployment rate in 2015, economic opportunities in Springfield, Massachusetts are scarce. The same year, there were 1,073 violent crimes, including murder, rape, and robbery in Springfield per 100,000 residents. 20. Buffalo, New York > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,118.6 > 2015 murders: 41 > Poverty rate: 30.9% > Unemployment rate: 7.1% Buffalos violent crime rate of 1,119 per 100,000 in 2015 was slightly more than three times the national violent crime rate. With few exceptions, nonviolent crime -- which includes burglary, larceny, arson, and motor vehicle theft -- tends to be higher in areas with more violent crime, and Buffalo is no different. The city's nonviolent crime rate of 4,330 per 100,000 residents in 2015 was also much higher than the national rate of 2,487 that year. Buffalo had the sixth highest arson rate of any major U.S. city. 19. Atlanta, Georgia > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,119.6 > 2015 murders: 94 > Poverty rate: 25.2% > Unemployment rate: 6.3% High crime rates often accompany poor economic conditions. In Atlanta, a city with one of the highest violent crime rates in the country, more than a quarter of the population lives in poverty, far more than is typical in most American cities. Despite being one of the most dangerous U.S. cities, Atlantas violent crime rate is actually an improvement from five years ago. The citys 2015 violent crime rate was 14.7% is lower than it was in 2011. 18. Toledo, Ohio > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,128.9 > 2015 murders: 24 > Poverty rate: 27.7% > Unemployment rate: 5.8% Though it was not an especially safe place to begin with, Toledo, Ohio has gotten considerably more dangerous in the last five years. The citys violent crime rate in 2011 was 998 incidents per 100,000 people, 10% lower than the 2015 violent crime rate. In keeping with the national trend, the incidence of aggravated assaults contributed most to the Ohio city's total violent crime rate. 17. Hartford, Connecticut > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,140.9 > 2015 murders: 32 > Poverty rate: 34.4% > Unemployment rate: 10.4% While the relationship between crime and education is complicated, furthering ones education can lead to better employment and earnings opportunities, which in return may help reduce the likelihood of crime. In Hartford, just 15% of adults have a college degree, roughly half the corresponding national rate. The city ranks among the worst 10 U.S. cities in both poverty and unemployment. A lack of a strong labor market has likely contributed to the Connecticut capitals extremely high violent crime rate. ALSO READ: The Worst Companies to Work For 16. Lansing, Michigan > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,157.0 > 2015 murders: 09 > Poverty rate: 29.4% > Unemployment rate: 6.3% Lansing is 16th most dangerous city in the country and the second most dangerous in Michigan. High crime rates often accompany poor economic conditions, and many in Lansing are struggling. Nearly 30% of the citys population lives below the poverty line, almost double the national poverty rate. Murders typically comprise the smallest share of violent crime and they are especially uncommon in Lansing. The city had only 9 murders in 2015, after adjusting for population, this was the second lowest murder rate of all of Americas most dangerous cities. 15. Washington, District of Columbia > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,202.6 > 2015 murders: 162 > Poverty rate: 18.2% > Unemployment rate: 6.9% With over 8,000 violent crimes in 2015, Washington D.C. is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. Robberies are especially common in the nation's capital, with 506 incidents per 100,000 residents, roughly five times the corresponding national rate. There were also 162 murders in the city in 2015, more than in all but nine other cities. 14. San Bernardino, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,245.9 > 2015 murders: 44 > Poverty rate: 33.0% > Unemployment rate: 8.2% While the relationship between violent crime and socioeconomic measures -- such as education, poverty, and unemployment -- is complicated, cities with high rates of violent crime tend to also share certain characteristics. For example, as is the case with most violent cities, San Bernardino adults tend to have belowaverage educational attainment. In fact, just 67.7% of the areas adults have a high school diploma and 11.7% a college degree. These are nearly the lowest rates of any major U.S. city. 13. Indianapolis, Indiana > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,288.0 > 2015 murders: 148 > Poverty rate: 21.4% > Unemployment rate: 5.0% Aggravated assault and robbery contribute the most to violent crime nationwide -- and Indianapolis is no different. The city reported 440 robberies and 752 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people in 2015, much more than the national rates of 102 and 238 per 100,000 people, respectively. The murder and rape rates in Indianapolis were also well above the national figures. 12. Stockton, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,352.0 > 2015 murders: 49 > Poverty rate: 25.8% > Unemployment rate: 9.6% While the relationship is not always clear cut, those who have access to a decent-paying job appear to be less likely to engage in either violent or nonviolent crime. It may also be the case that violent crime can, for a number of reasons, stunt a regional economy and the earning potential of the area's residents. At the very least, both unemployment and poverty are very high in the majority of high crime cities. Stockton, California exhibits similar trends. The city, which has the 12th-highest violent crime rate of major U.S. cities, also had the fifth highest annual unemployment rate and, and more than one in every four residents live in poverty. 11. Springfield, Missouri > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,355.6 > 2015 murders: 10 > Poverty rate: 26.4% > Unemployment rate: 4.3% Crime rates tend to be higher in economically depressed areas where opportunities are scarce. In Springfield, Missouri, more than one-quarter of area residents live in poverty, one of the highest poverty rates in the country. After spiking by 73.2% over the five years through 2015 -- the second highest increase of any major U.S. city -- Springfields violent crime rate is the 11th highest in the country. In 2015, there were 179 rapes for every 100,000 residents, the highest incidence of rape in the country. ALSO READ: America's Most and Least Successful Companies in 2016 10. Kansas City, Missouri > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,417.3 > 2015 murders: 109 > Poverty rate: 19.4% > Unemployment rate: 5.5% While the nationwide violent crime rate rose by 3.9% in 2015, the increase in Kansas City was far more dramatic. With homicide and aggravated assault rates surging, the city reported a 14.4% spike in violent crime last year. Crime in the city is up even more from five years ago. The city's violent crime rate increased by 21.2% from 2011 through 2015, even as the nationwide rate declined by 0.7% over that period. 9. Oakland, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,442.5 > 2015 murders: 85 > Poverty rate: 21.0% > Unemployment rate: 5.9% Nationwide aggravated assaults are more than twice as common as robberies. In a handful of cities, however, including Oakland, the robbery rate is higher than the aggravated assault rate. With 3,290 robberies, or 784 for every 100,000 residents, Oakland has the highest robbery rate in the country. There were 570 aggravated assaults reported for every 100,000 city residents, still more than double the national rate. 8. Little Rock, Arkansas > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,485.0 > 2015 murders: 32 > Poverty rate: 18.0% > Unemployment rate: 4.7% Property crime rates declined across the country in 2015, while violent crime rates increased. In keeping with the broader trend, Little Rocks property crimes declined by 9.8%, while the violent crime rate increased by 6.9%. Both changes outpaced the respective 3.9% and 7.8% national changes, however. With the sixth highest aggravated assault rate in the country, Little Rock is the only city in Arkansas to rank among the nations most dangerous. 7. Baltimore, Maryland > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,535.9 > 2015 murders: 344 > Poverty rate: 24.2% > Unemployment rate: 7.7% While murders are far less common than the other offenses that comprise violent crime, Baltimore has recently earned a national spotlight for its near-nation-leading murder rate. Baltimore has the second highest murder rate of major U.S. cities -- at 55 murders for every 100,000 residents, it is more than 11 times the national murder rate. The number of murders in Baltimore have risen considerably over the last five years. There were 196 reported incidents of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in Baltimore in 2011. Last year, there were 344. 6. Rockford, Illinois > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,585.3 > 2015 murders: 19 > Poverty rate: 25.4% > Unemployment rate: 8.3% After Memphis, Tennessee, Rockford, Illinois has the highest rate of aggravated assault in the country. High crime areas often lack economic opportunity, and Rockford is no exception. More than a quarter of area residents live in poverty, and the citys 8.3% unemployment rate in 2015 was nearly the highest in the country. Rockfords violent crime rate surged by 27.2% in 2015, one of the most dramatic increases in the country. 5. Milwaukee, Wisconsin > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,596.1 > 2015 murders: 145 > Poverty rate: 29.4% > Unemployment rate: 6.7% Even as the nation's population increased by 3.2% over the five years ending in 2015, violent crime fell by 0.7% over that period. In Milwaukee, however, although the population rose by just 0.5%, the number of violent crimes rose by 60.5% -- from less than 6,000 incidents to more than 9,500. In just five years, the city moved from the 29th most dangerous city to the fifth most dangerous among major U.S. cities. A major driver of that increase was aggravated assault incidents -- the number of aggravated assaults nearly doubled during that time. 4. Memphis, Tennessee > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,740.1 > 2015 murders: 135 > Poverty rate: 27.4% > Unemployment rate: 7.3% Memphiss violent crime rate of 1,740 incidents per 100,000 residents trails only three other U.S. cities. Nationwide, aggravated assault is the most common of all violent crimes. In Memphis, there were 7,653 reported aggravated assaults in 2015, or 1,163 per 100,000 people, the highest such rate of any other city. ALSO READ: The Best Charities to Donate to This Year! Like many violent cities, Memphiss economy is in poor shape. More than a quarter of city residents live below the poverty line, and the 7.3% unemployment rate in 2015 was 2 percentage points higher than national unemployment rate. 3. Birmingham, Alabama > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,746.2 > 2015 murders: 79 > Poverty rate: 31.0% > Unemployment rate: 7.2% Violent crime in Birmingham, Alabama's increased by 10% from 2014 and by 17.2% from 2011. As the third most violent city in the country, Birminghams murder, robbery, and aggravated assault rates are each among the top five of all major U.S. cities. As in many high crime areas, poverty is relatively common in Birmingham. Citywide, 31% of residents live in poverty, a higher poverty rate than that of all but a dozen other large U.S. cities. 2. Detroit, Michigan > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,759.6 > 2015 murders: 295 > Poverty rate: 39.8% > Unemployment rate: 12.4% There were 1,760 violent crimes in Detroit for every 100,000 city residents in 2015. Though the citys violent crime rate is down 22.3% from 2011, it is the second highest in the country. Detroit's high violent crime rate is likely tied to the few opportunities the dismal economic climate provides. Nearly 40% of city residents live in poverty, and 12.4% of the workforce was unemployed as of 2015, each the highest share of any major U.S. city. 1. St. Louis, Missouri > Violent crimes per 100,000: 1,817.1 > 2015 murders: 188 > Poverty rate: 27.8% > Unemployment rate: 6.1% Including 188 homicides, there were 5,762 violent crimes in St. Louis in 2015. Adjusting for population, the citys murder and violent crime rates, at 59 murders and 1,817 per 100,000 city residents, are each the highest in the country. The number of violent crimes reported in St. Louis increased by 7.7% last year, faster than the national uptick of 3.9%. Over the last five years, however, the incidence of violent crime is down by 3.2%. Related Articles SYDNEY (AP) The navigator for super maxi Wild Oats XI, which holds the Sydney to Hobart line honors race record, said Thursday the 100-foot yacht could finish three hours faster than the mark it set in 2012, based on weather bureau projections for Monday's start. Veteran Spanish sailor Juan Vila, set to race the Sydney to Hobart for a third time, said weather models suggested the winner could finish in around 38 or 39 hours. That would have Wild Oats XI across the line at Constitution Dock in Hobart on the island state of Tasmania in about 1 day, 14 or 15 hours, well inside Wild Oats' record of 1 day, 18 hours, 23 minutes, 12 seconds. For Monday's start of the race in Sydney Harbour, winds of 15 to 20 knots north to northeasterly are forecast, increasing to 30 knots. A gusty southwesterly wind change is then tipped to move up the southern New South Wales coast late Monday, hitting the fleet as it approaches Bass Strait. "Our routing suggests we are almost in record time, just a little bit under, but that can change over the next days with new forecasts," Villa said. The 72nd Sydney to Hobart, a 628 nautical-mile (722-mile, 1,164-kilometer) race, has attracted 90 entries, including 12 international yachts. Those overseas yachts include skipper Jonas Grander on Swedish entry Matador, Richard Stain on Britain's Samskara, Kwanymin Rho on Sonic from South Korea and Joseph Mele, skipper of the U.S. entry Triple Lindy. Last year, American yacht Comanche, damaged by winds and high waves, won the storm-wracked race that featured 108 starters. The 100-foot super maxi, owned by Netscape founder Dr. Jim Clark and skippered by Ken Read, reached the line 2 days, 8 hours, 58 minutes, 30 seconds. It was the first American winner since 1998 and the first foreign winner since Sweden's Assa Abloy in 2001. Netflix on Thursday disclosed the planned 2017 compensation packages for CEO Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos, among others. The changes continue compensation trends at the streaming video giant in recent years, including more stock options for Hastings and a higher target bonus for Sarandos. Hastings is scheduled to make a salary of $850,000 in the new year, down from $900,000 in 2016, with a stock option allowance of as much as $21.2 million, up from $19.0 million, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. He is again not scheduled to get a bonus. For the last few years, Hastings has taken a cut in his base salary and made up for that in stock options. His base salary dropped from $3 million to $1 million in 2015 and fell to $900,000 in 2016. Hastings' 2017 compensation is set to amount to more than $22 million overall, up from $19.9 million in 2016. Sarandos, meanwhile, will see his base salary in 2017 remain at $1 million, just like in 2016 and 2015. His stock option allowance for the new year drops to $11.0 million from $11.8 million, but his target bonus jumps from $4 million to $9 million. Overall, he could make $21 million, up from $16.8 million. Netflix has had a bumpy 2016. Following a global launch in January that boosted its subscriber numbers, the streaming video giant then saw a slowdown in membership additions following a price increase. But Netflix is on track to end the year on an upswing, even if the gains aren't as great as they were last year. At the end of the third quarter, Netflix had 86.7 million subscribers worldwide. Going into the week, its stock was up nearly 13 percent for the year after a gain of 140 percent in 2015. Read more: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' Base Salary Drops, Stock Options Rise Nick Cannon has had a minor health setback. (Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic) While Nick Cannons 5-year-old twins, Roc and Roe, are spending the holiday with their mom, Mariah Carey, in luxury accommodations, hes back in the hospital. Related: Mariah Careys Son Roc Outdances His Mom to Her Own Song For all who have been trying to contact me the last few days this is where Ive been, he captioned a snapshot of himself in a hospital bed. And I will be in the Hospital through Christmas. All good though, Doctors say I will be back to normal before the New Year. #LupusSucks #ncredible #warrior. For all who have been trying to contact me the last few days this is where Ive been. And I will be in the Hospital through Christmas. All good though, Doctors say I will be back to normal before the New Year. #LupusSucks #ncredible #warrior A photo posted by LORD NCREDIBLE ALMIGHTY ????IkeT???? (@nickcannon) on Dec 22, 2016 at 12:55pm PST The Americas Got Talent host revealed that he had been diagnosed with lupus nephritis which he described as a rare form of lupus attacking his kidneys in 2012. Since then, Cannons been hospitalized multiple times and has been outspoken about his struggle with the autoimmune disease. I want to continue to educate, show people that you can live with this condition and similar conditions as long as you live right, Cannon explained to HuffPost Live in April 2014. I always say Ive changed my test into a testimony. Related: Mariah Carey and Nick Cannons Divorce Settlement Has Some Unusual Terms Just a few days ago, Cannon was at the hospital for a reason that had nothing to do with his personal health. He and the legendary Dick Gregory paid a surprise visit to patients at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. How sweet is that? Were sure his friendly ex has already sent flowers. LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities are involved in negotiations aimed at securing the release of some of the more than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok, the president's spokesman said on Thursday. His comments, posted on Twitter, came in response to reports in Nigeria's media that some of the girls had been released by the Islamist militant group, which he said were untrue. "The negotiations are ongoing and the Department of State Service, DSS is full of optimism that they will be successful," Garba Shehu, a spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari, said in a tweet. "To my friends spreading the news of a further release of Chibok Girls, we are not there yet," he tweeted. Around 270 girls were taken in April 2014 from their school in Chibok, Borno state, where Boko Haram has waged a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state, killing more than 15,000 people and displacing over two million. Dozens escaped in the initial melee, but more than 200 girls remained missing until October when 21 of the girls were freed following mediation by Switzerland and the International Red Cross. The jihadist group has kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children but the kidnapping of the Chibok girls brought worldwide attention to the group. The Nigerian military has in recent weeks been carrying out a large-scale offensive in the Sambisa forest, Boko Haram's vast northeastern woodland stronghold. A military spokesman, in a statement issued late on Wednesday, said the army had rescued 1,880 people during operations in the forest over the past week. Reuters was unable to independently verify the claim. (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram, editing by G Crosse) LONDON (Reuters) - James Ibori, a former Nigerian state governor jailed in Britain for corruption, has been released after serving the required time in prison. Ibori, who as governor of oil-producing Delta State from 1999 to 2007 became one of Nigeria's richest and most powerful men, was serving a 13-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering. As is normal under British procedures, Ibori had been due to be released from jail this month after serving half his sentence, taking into account pre-trial detention. Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd had sought to keep Ibori in prison, or electronically tagged, until he returned 18 million pounds ($22 million) of "proceeds of crime", but that a judge had rejected that proposal, a person familiar with situation said. (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Toby Chopra) The Platte Institute for Economic Research has found a worthy cause with its push to reduce the amount of regulatory red tape that ensnarls entrepreneurs and growing businesses in Nebraska. The Omaha-based conservative think tank said earlier this month that it is working with Gov. Pete Ricketts to review the nearly 200 occupations that require a government license under state law. In many cases, Nebraskas rivals and our neighboring states have more reasonable licensing requirements, the Platte Institute says on its website. For example, cosmetologists or barbers have to take 2,100 hours of training in Nebraska, which can cost up to $20,000, while most states require 1,500 hours or less. A massage therapy license in Nebraska requires 1,000 hours of training, while most states require 500-700. Sen. Nicole Fox of Omaha, who succeeded in exempting natural hair braiding from licensing requirements during the legislative session earlier this year, will join the Platte Institute in January when her term expires. Were not looking at getting rid of all licensing, but were looking at how can we make Nebraska competitive but still make sure that were ensuring safety and the health of the public, Fox told the Journal Star. The Platte Institute said that Nebraskas regulations dont stand up well when they are subjected to legal challenge. Nebraskas courts overturned roughly 37.8 percent of regulations, substantially higher than the 20-27 percent range for Colorado, Florida, and Iowa, the organization reported. Obviously, going to court to challenge regulations costs money and takes time that could be devoted to more productive pursuits, so the success of those legal challenges hints at a larger problem. The institute suggests sensibly that requiring sunset provisions on regulations would automatically create a natural process for getting older, outdated, and inefficient regulations off the books. Jim Vokal, CEO of the Platte Institute, says that occupational licensing affects one in four U.S. workers and is the biggest labor force issue in the country today. Support for getting outdated licensing requirements can be found on both ends of the political spectrum. In a report last year the White House Council of Economic Advisors and other federal agencies declared, There is evidence that licensing requirements raise the price of goods and services, restrict employment opportunities and make it more difficult to take their skills across state lines. Regular readers of this page know that the Journal Star editorial board occasionally differs with the Platte Institute on its policy nostrums. This time, however, the think tank is on track to doing something beneficial for the states economy. ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian oil workers at Exxon Mobil have decided to end a strike over sackings of staff after earlier agreeing to halt crude oil production, a union official said on Wednesday. "Production will resume any moment," Lumumba Okugbara, acting general secretary of oil labour union PENGASSAN, told Reuters. "We just rose from a meeting with the management and the issues that had led to the labour impasse have been resolved after the minister of petroleum intervened." He did not say by how much crude production had been affected since the union shut down Exxon Mobil's Nigeria headquarters in Lagos to protest against the sackings of more than 100 employees last week. "It was not a total shut down," he said, adding that workers at Exxon facilities had downed tools when the company handed out sacking letters on Monday. "I cannot tell you for now whether the company has agreed to stop sacking of workers or not but the doors for further negotiations are open," Okugbara said. Exxon could not immediately be reached for comment. Oil traders said the February oil loading programme at Exxon's Qua Iboe terminal had been delayed for an unknown reason. Nigerian labour unions have in recent months criticised oil companies for laying off workers. The industry has been hit by low crude prices and a wave of militant attacks in Nigeria's oil hub, the Niger Delta, hampering production capability. (Reporting by Anamesere Igboeroteonwu, Alex Lawler and Ulf Laessing; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Jane Merriman) Alexander Fultz was just five years old back in 2010 when his little brother was hospitalized for a rare illness. He and his family spent a lot of time roaming the halls of Levine Childrens Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. Alexander remembers being upset thinking about all the time the kids spent away from home. I was wondering how the children in the hospital got to go home for Christmas, the now 11 year old from Pineville, North Carolina recalls. When his parents told him the really sick kids didnt get to leave over the holiday Alexander tells PEOPLE: I convinced my parents to buy me five or six toys to drop off at the hospital. Dad Troy remembers: As soon as we got home from the hospital he ran up to his room and he created a bank from a box and some art supplies we had. Alexander explains: I wanted to remind everyone to put spare change in it when we passed by it and then we started bringing it to our events. Six years later they still bring that same box to events, even though theyve long since outgrown it. In 2o15, the family officially formed Alexanders Toy Trunk www.alexanderstoytrunk.com ,a non-profit that collects toys and money they use to buy additional items. Theyve raised around six-thousand dollars since the day Alexander first asked to shop for others. Its fun and I know Im making a difference in the community, Alexander says. I didnt expect it to be this big. I just expected to give a bunch of toys to the hospital every year. Carrie Keuten, the event director at Levine Childrens Hospital, heard about what the Fultz family was doing and knew she had just the right mission for Alexander. She asked him to help the hospitals youngest patients. He was so sincere from the very first time I met him, she tells PEOPLE. He fascinates me. Its very difficult for us to get things for the babies in the NICU (the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and its heartbreaking for those parents at Christmas time. Story continues Alexander Fultz and Carrie KeutenCourtesy Kristie Fultz From that point on, the Fultzs started focusing their Christmas shopping trips to make sure that every baby in the NICU got clothing and toys. I think one of my favorite days of the year is the day before Christmas when we drop everything off and the light I see in his eyes, says Alexanders mom, Kristie, 39, a cardiac sonographer. I cant put it into words. He doesnt get to meet the patients or the families and yet he has this drive to do it for people he doesnt get to meet. Im just in awe of him. He makes us so proud. This year people in at least three other states are also helping collect and deliver toys. Troy gets choked up talking about the incredible impact his son is having. Sometimes its hard to talk about, says Troy, 42, a senior vice president at Bank of America. Its great and the biggest thing for me is to watch how it inspires others. We hear stories from other kids where theyve started to ask for toys to be brought to their birthday parties to be donated to give to the hospital. Even little Benjamin, now seven, helps play Santa. Every year for his birthday instead of asking for presents, he asks friends to bring specific items that the hospital says kids are asking for. Last year I collected UNO cards for my birthday and we donated them to the hospital, he says. This Christmas is bigger than ever. The family estimates they may have three times as many gifts to bring to the hospital than last year and Alexander says it doesnt bother him that he never gets to meet the recipients. Im ok if I dont because I dont get to meet Santa. And he says playing Santa is way better than even when Santa visits his own home. I like giving to other people because I know Im helping. North Korea accused South Korea of attempting to persuade its ambassadors around the world to defect in a secretly ongoing international campaign Thursday, describing the purported move by Seouls Unification Ministry as "political terror." Officials claimed the South Korean government was spearheading an operation which included "viciously slandering our supreme leader and our socialist system," by sending propaganda ridiculing Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un to the reclusive nations ambassadors. "This is clearly political terror, trying to cause social chaos and bloodshed inside a sovereign state," Ju Wang Hwan, a North Korean ministry official for the Institute for Disarment and Peace, said in an interview Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Hwan described a deliberate scheme by South Korea, including emails sent to North Korean ambassadors with propaganda appearing identical to North Korean official state media. Those messages allegedly included a call for North Korean officials to defect, as North Korean Deputy Ambassador to London Thae Yong Ho did in August. North Korea never disputed the ambassadors defection, though the country typically claims defectors, like a group of female restaurant workers who left on their own will to China, were abducted by outsiders. Whether North Korea's continued heightened rhetoric pointed toward Seoul could eventually result in armed military conflict or not, remains unclear. RTX2VYJG Photo: Reuters South Korean officials reported the North was readying a new nuclear test earlier this month, stating the country was now capable of mounting warheads on ballistic missiles. The North has also been reportedly testing missile launches, including one appearing to happen on April 23, though the missile on traveled 30 kilometers. Story continues "Assessment by South Korean and U.S. intelligence is that the North is always ready for an additional nuclear test in the Punggye-ri area," Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, said in a press briefing in September. "North Korea has a tunnel where it can conduct an additional nuclear test." Several unsuccessful missile launches by North Korea have been strongly condemned by the South and its allies. U.S. officials detected a failed missile launch in early November in the northwestern city of Kusong in North Korea. "We strongly condemn this and North Korea's other recent missile tests, which violate UN Security Council Resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology," Navy Commander Gary Ross said in a statement after the incident. "We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations." The South Korean government has denied having any involvement in North Korean defections, calling Pyongyangs latest claims unfounded. Seoul Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee said the Norths recent accusations were "groundless" and distorted propaganda. Related Articles OSLO (Reuters) - The Norwegian government aims to pass a law in the spring of next year to allow testing of self-driving vehicles on Norwegian roads, it said on Thursday. Norway is one of the largest markets for Tesla Motors electric vehicles, thanks to generous government subsidies. Tesla said in October its new models will come with hardware, including cameras and a radar, to enable them to be fully-self driving. The move to permit testing of self-driving vehicles is also aimed at giving a competitive edge to Norwegian technology companies as the country seeks to diversify away from the offshore petroleum sector, hit by a plunge in global oil prices. Other companies exploring self-driving cars include Alphabet's Google, Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] and Ford Motor Co. Norway's Ministry of Transport and Communications said the government was sending out a proposal for consultation on a new law with the aim of getting a bill passed by parliament in the spring of 2017. "The objective of the bill is to facilitate the testing of self-driving vehicles on Norwegian roads ... within the framework of traffic safety while protecting the integrity of personal information," it said in a statement. Self-driving vehicles will be introduced gradually, and only technologically mature systems would be approved for testing, it added. The roll-out of self-driving cars faces a bumpy start in some countries due to lack of regulation and public scepticism about their safety. Uber stopped testing its self-driving cars in San Francisco this week, after California authorities revoked the registration of 16 of its self-driving cars because they had not received the proper permits. Uber said it was not obliged to have a permit because its vehicles require continuous monitoring by a person in the car. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Adrian Croft) Photo credit: undefined From ELLE I remember when it was first suggested to me that Santa Claus might be a fraud. I was in third grade, and I was where just about everyone is when they hear it for the first time: on the school bus. "Think about it," some older kid in a Penn State Starter jacket sneered. "How could he get to all those houses in one night?" I nodded politely, humoring him, but I wasn't convinced. One pimply Santa truther wasn't going to sway my faith. After all, I remember reasoning with myself, if he's right, that means retail, Hollywood and, oh yeah, every adult on earth has been lying to kids for ages. It was beyond comprehension. It still is. But even though, with its white-bearded face, Santa is ridiculous, my husband and I didn't even discuss omitting this festive conspiracy from our kids' childhood. And that's what it is: a conspiracy. Conspiracies take effort. Let's look at the Santa experience. First, you tell the lie; then, you tell the sub-lies: Yep, reindeer can fly, so long as you have eight of them together and one of them has a fog lamp on its face. Of course an obese man can go up and down our chimney without making a sound. What do you mean, you're creeped out that he's watching you all the time? Stop being paranoid and go sit on his lap! Yep, reindeer can fly, so long as you have eight of them together and one of them has a fog lamp on its face. When you're done gaslighting your toddler, it's time to create the receipts. There's a lot of grunt work involved in keeping the lie afloat. Here are some slightly insane things I've done this December: I took wrapping paper back to Target because my son, Mac, got a glimpse of it, and I don't need him putting two and two together. I readied a Christmas-morning backstory for Mac on why Santa was able to make all the members of the Paw Patrol crew except for Everest. The Cliffs Notes version: Santa needed Everest and her-or his, I'm foggy on Everest's gender-snowmobile to help pull his sleigh out of a snow drift. (By the way, thanks, Paw Patrol, for debuting a new character just weeks before the holidays, you snout-faced sadists.) I stalked other families' social media accounts to suss out which local Santa looks jolliest, lest I drag my kids somewhere only to find that we've been stuck with one of those Santas who looks like he's still mourning the death of indoor public smoking (you've seen them-empty eyes, black Skechers sneakers instead of boots). I am not wrestling two miniature boys into sweaters and shoes for that. I invoked Santa's wrath, less in an Elf on the Shelf way than in a KGB way, when Mac took off his own diaper and stomped in it with both feet. Scrubbing poop out of the wood grain in the floors, I murmured over and over, "Wow. I really hope, for your sake, Santa doesn't catch wind of this." Story continues Photo credit: Courtesy Nick Jr. Why do we do this? It makes no sense, especially when you acknowledge that the damage Santa can do cuts beyond moments of parenting insanity. What happens when your kids believe in Santa, and your budget can't cover the pile of gifts they expect to materialize? What do you do when your kid comes home sobbing because their friend taunted them that they're the only one who doesn't know that Santa's not real? (Answer: You destroy this friendship immediately, because the kid who goes around blowing up Santa is always the same kid who, six months later, briefs all their peers on what sex is. With a high degree of inaccuracy.) What do you say when your child inevitably glares at you and asks, "Why did you tell me Santa was real?" I stalked other families' social media accounts to suss out which local Santa looks jolliest, lest I drag my kids to one of those Santas who looks like he's still mourning the death of indoor public smoking. I've never heard a perfect response to that question. I'm not sure there is one that can satisfy the ears of an indignant, pragmatic grade schooler, drunk on the power of catching a grownup in a lie. There is no way to tell kids just how crucial it seems, as the world seems to flirt with apocalypse daily, to create magic for them at any cost. Chances are, they won't understand for another twenty years or more, not until they have their own children and see for themselves what a glowing antidote believing can be to reality. When my mother reluctantly came clean on Santa to me, she framed it this way: "No, there isn't a Santa who's one guy who comes to everyone's house in one night," she said. "But the spirit of Santa is real. It's there every time someone does something kind for someone else at the holidays and doesn't need to be thanked for it. And now that you know the truth, it's your job to be Santa, too." "OK, Mom," I said. Then I went back to studying for my driver's permit exam. My mom really didn't want to let go of Santa. And now, when I hear Mac's elated gasp at every mention of the guy, his eyes literally twinkling, I understand exactly why. You Might Also Like Photo credit: Facebook / Belfast Live From Good Housekeeping After an unfortunate run-in with an exercise machine, Natasha Galbraith went for a routine trip to her local hospital to sew up a cut below her right eyebrow. But what happened next was anything but routine - as a nurse attempted to stitch up her cut, medical glue trickled into her open eye. That was the last time she'd open her eye for the next four days. After returning to the clinic the next day - Galbraith's daughters were distraught, fearing that their mother had lost her sight - hospital staff apologized, but told her there was nothing to be done. They prescribed regular eyes baths and claimed that the glue would dissolve on its own with five days. As for her vision, they assured her it was intact. "I didn't even know what my sight was like under it but they just kept saying in the hospital, 'Your sight is going to be okay,'" Galbraith told Belfast Live. But bathing her eye, she said, "if anything, made it worse." By day four, Galbraith was feeling that Christmas panic - she was basically house-ridden and couldn't venture outside to buy her family gifts. For Galbraith, drastic times called for drastic measures: With the help of a friend, she picked up a pair of nail scissors and swiftly snipped off her eyelashes. Oy. "I was told to just let it run its course but if I had let it run it would have been over Christmas," she explained. "I had no other option." I can think of a few other options - listening to doctors and waiting just one more day, perhaps? - none of which include bringing a blade anywhere near your peepers. But Galbraith's crazy Hail Mary worked. Her eye fluttered open. Her eyelashes, though, didn't make the cut. She currently has half of her top lashes and none on the bottom. As for her sight? "I can see okay now but it was a bit blurry at the start when it first opened," she said. Causeway Hospital, where the glue incident took place, has since released a statement: "The [hospital] acknowledges that the care Ms. Galbraith received was not of the standard we would expect and would again apologize to her for the pain and discomfort experienced," a spokesperson told Belfast Live. Story continues The hospital was definitely in the wrong, let's just get this straight. This holiday season, if you find yourself in Galbraith's position - you know, with an eyebrow lac and a medically-glued eyeball - promise us you won't replicate her method. Deal? Deal. [h/t The Mirror] You Might Also Like Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f327519%2f7cda4ee6-0ff4-41cd-b624-22bad96862b3 This has been a rough year, but don't lose hope yet. We all deserve to end the year on a positive note, so First Look Media has created the perfect holiday card to enjoy and share with others. The creative idea was inspired by one of the bright spots of 2016 following the election: "Subway Therapy," the positive and peaceful Post-it note protest in Manhattan's Union Square subway station. SEE ALSO: Union Square 'Subway Therapy' wall will be preserved After the election results were announced in November, residents of New York City used the walls of the busy subway station to express themselves on brightly colored office supplies. #SubwayTherapy at the Union Square Subway in NYC pic.twitter.com/6XIJ3VEwMr Micah G (@M_icah) December 5, 2016 On Dec. 16, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted that the sticky notes aren't going to be taken down any time soon, but now, people who aren't in New York have a way to marvel at the beauty. As the sticky note protest began to spread, First Look Media saw how impactful the movement had become and decided to immortalize sections of the wall in a holiday card. The card allows users to zoom in and read the comforting messages by simply scrolling their cursors over the image. Story continues First Look Media's simple but powerful link to the card states, "2016 was a year like no other." A short description about the interactive, landscape photograph reads: Image: first look media The creator of the public art installation, Matthew Levee Chavez, said, "I started the project so people could have a channel to express their thoughts, feel less alone, and also become exposed to opinions different than their own," and that's exactly what he's done. The media company has also created a hard copy book inspired by the walls. Washington (AFP) - The United States said Thursday it was relaunching a trade fight against a European Union ban on imports of hormone-treated American beef, raising the possibility of imposing tariffs on European goods. The US decision, which reignites a long-standing disagreement, was taken following the failure of talks to adopt a transatlantic trade pact this year. "American ranchers raise some of the best beef on the planet but restrictive European Union policies continue to deny EU consumers access to US beef at affordable prices," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement from the office of the US Trade Representative. The World Trade Organization in 1998 ruled that an EU ban on imports of US beef violated WTO obligations and was not based on scientific evidence, according to the statement. European officials had argued that the dispute should be handled via the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, but said in September that adopting the proposed trade pact in 2016 was no longer possible. Given the failure of the TTIP talks, the US is reinstating its trade action, according to USTR. The statement said the US could impose tariffs on a list of EU goods following a public hearing. arctic In one of the final and most dramatic environmental actions of Barack Obamas time in office, the president banned new oil and gas drilling in nearly all US waters in the Arctic Ocean. On December 20, the president used the authority granted by a 1953 law to remove the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas from the federal Arctic waters that are considered available for lease. Combined, the two seas make up 98% of the US Arctic water territory a total area of more than 100 million acres. Obamas action, which he announced in conjunction with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was applauded by environmental groups that have been fighting Arctic drilling practices for years. Environmentalists say the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf's underwater canyons provide essential habitats for sea animals, many of which are facing endangerment due to the extreme warming of Arctic waters. Drilling and excavation on the sea floor could lead to even more species extinction not to mention the impact the extracted oil would have on the earth's climate once it gets burned. The law Obama used as the basis for his action is called the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and was passed under President Eisenhower. The act gave the president the ability to sell leases to oil companies who want the right to tap into oil reserves on the Outer Continental Shelf, the underwater land around the US. But according to one clause in the law, the president also has the ability withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands. Obama took that power seriously yesterday. With almost all the unleased lands now considered protected (or unavailable for drilling), no new leases will be granted. (Oil companies who currently have leases will be able to stay, unaffected.) Because the 1953 act didnt include any provision for reinstating Outer Continental Shelf lands for drilling after they've been withdrawn, the White House has defined the action as permanent. Story continues That claim of irreversibility seems specifically aimed at protecting Arctic waters from Donald Trump, who has promised to open more federal land to drilling and resource extraction. If the President-elect does try to undo Obamas action once he takes office, he will likely face a court battle to determine whether it's legal to reinstate federal land that a former president has previously put under protection. arctic oil drilling shell protests seattle Oil industry advocates have already voiced opposition to the action, suggesting that Donald Trump will find a way to reverse it. Blocking offshore exploration weakens our national security, destroys good-paying jobs, and could make energy less affordable for consumers, Erik Milito, American Petroleum Institutes Upstream Director, said in a statement. But not all oil producers seem shaken by the change. It is important to realize that significant development or production from these deep-water areas will not happen in the current pricing environment, it will take much higher and sustainable prices, Avi Mirman, CEO of Lilis Energy Inc, a Denver-based oil and gas exploration and production company, tells Business Insider. Mirman suggests that Obama's ban is largely symbolic, since Arctic exploration is such a risky, costly endeavor, and US shale now offers companies cheaper extraction options. (Plus, oil production in the Arctic makes up just 0.1% of the countrys oil production, according to the Washington Post.) Oil giant Shell illustrated Mirmans point in 2015, when it abandoned its drilling operations after spending over $7 billion hunting for oil in the Alaskan Arctic. Also, the infrastructure needed for such project is extremely expensive and will take many years to build given the climate and available times to work in those areas, Mirman explains, suggesting that exploration and production companies like his will focus instead on more cost-efficient projects. Companies who still wish to pursue Arctic drilling, however, could do so in Alaskas state waters the same 1953 law gives states control over the underwater area 3 miles offshore of their coastlines. After that, its federal territory. Although the Arctic drilling ban represents a major milestone for environmental groups, many advocates immediately started using the action as an example of protections that could be extended to other parts of the Outer Continental Shelf. We must afford the same protections to the people of the Gulf of Mexico, which has become an energy sacrifice zone, Friends of the Earth Climate Campaigner Marissa Knodel said in a statement. Greenpeace US spokesperson Mary Sweeters echoed that sentiment, suggesting that the presidents current five-year energy plan puts residents of the Gulf Coast region at risk of damage from oil spills. The job will not be done until no new leases are granted anywhere in US waters, she said. NOW WATCH: This startling animation shows how much Arctic sea ice has thinned in just 26 years More From Business Insider Science not affected by what we may believe. If a person jumps out of an airplane without a parachute because he denies the law of gravity, it won't change the tragic results. So it is with all scientific laws. The truth of them doesn't depend on our belief. They simply are true. It doesn't affect the scientific truth if a U. S. senator is a doubter or even if the president is a denier of global climate change ("Fischer supports rollback of EPA rules, other nominees," Dec. 9). Whatever any of us may profess, carbon dioxide is necessary for life but the excessive amount produced by the burning of coal, oil and gas ends up in the atmosphere. There, it blocks some of the heat of our sun from returning into space. Too much carbon dioxide causes the earth to warm. The hotter it gets, the more droughts and fires we will suffer. Melting ice raises the oceans, flooding coastal lands. Evaporation of more water results in greater storms and heavier rains in some areas. By Mitra Taj and Alexandra Valencia LIMA/QUITO (Reuters) - Politicians and investigators across Latin America demanded more information from Brazil-based construction giant Odebrecht on Thursday after it admitted to a decade of immense bribe payments in the region. In agreeing on Wednesday to pay at least $3.5 billion to Brazilian, U.S. and Swiss prosecutors, the largest penalty ever in a foreign bribery case, Odebrecht admitted to paying officials to help secure lucrative construction contracts in 12 countries, potentially opening itself up to new prosecution. Nearly 80 Odebrecht executives and employees have also agreed to turn state's witness as part of a leniency deal, and their testimony is expected to provide even more evidence about corruption in several nations. Peru's president and a Venezuelan opposition leader said Odebrecht should explain the payments in their countries, while Ecuador opened an investigation and Colombia's government asked the attorney general's office to move forward with one. "Prosecutors will have to bring people from Odebrecht here so that they explain who they paid this money to," Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski told reporters, referring to the $29 million Odebrecht said it paid officials in the Andean nation between about 2005 and 2014, spanning three presidencies. Guilty pleas on Wednesday from Odebrecht and Braskem SA (BRKM5.SA), the petrochemical company it jointly owns with Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, were the first in the United States following a nearly three-year investigation in Brazil. Odebrecht and Braskem were charged with conspiring to violate the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which is aimed at deterring companies from bribing officials overseas. Odebrecht said it paid $439 million outside of Brazil, with the largest bribe admissions abroad in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Panama. Brazilian prosecutors have singled out Panama for not cooperating with their investigation. Story continues Panama's presidency said on Thursday it supported an investigation by local prosecutors that would "punish the companies and persons involved in these acts." Panama's national prosecutors' office said it was requesting information on the investigation from the United States. The discovery of kickbacks to Brazilian politicians off contracts between state-run companies, mainly Petrobras (PETR4.SA), and engineering conglomerates like Odebrecht, has generated political upheaval and led to 80 convictions in Brazil. More than 50 politicians there are under investigation. ROADS, TUNNELS, SUBWAYS Family-run Odebrecht blossomed during an economic boom in Brazil under former Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff and its executives regularly rubbed shoulders with elites across Latin America. It became the region's largest engineering conglomerate, building parts of a road across the Amazon jungle, tunnels and subways in major cities. Brazilian prosecutors say they are certain Odebrecht's way of doing business in Brazil, where the company is accused of paying out $2 billion in bribes in the past 15 years, was the way it operated around the globe. Argentina and Peru had already opened investigations into Odebrecht construction contracts for suspected kickbacks to former politicians. Prosecutors in Peru recently returned from an investigative trip to Switzerland, which has turned over information on about 1,000 bank accounts to Brazilian authorities on suspicion they are linked to the country's wide-ranging corruption scandal. Brazilian police say Odebrecht may have paid bribes to former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala as well as Argentine officials, including a former transportation secretary. Humala denies wrongdoing. Kuczynski, who was not named in the Brazilian investigation but was prime minister or finance minister when Odebrecht agreed to bribe a high-ranking official in 2005, said on Thursday he was not involved in any corrupt scheme. Ecuador's attorney general, Galo Chiriboga, said on Thursday he had requested information from Brazil and the U.S. Justice Department. "We will find out who Odebrecht bribed," he told state-run media. The head of Guatemalas special anti-corruption prosecutors office told Reuters he had already been investigating Odebrecht bribes to a government official, and President Jimmy Morales said the government would revise all Odebrecht contracts. Experts on corporate bribery said the Odebrecht admissions in a dozen countries - which also include Angola and Mexico - could subject Odebrecht to new investigations. "It is possible that those countries could pursue their own actions, said Peter Spivack, a Washington-based corporate lawyer and expert on the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He said many of the countries named do not have corporate criminal liability laws, or like Argentina, have newly introduced laws, meaning penalties would be a lesser civil sanction or public procurement bars. 'PATTERN OF CORRUPTION' The Argentine prosecutor in charge of the Odebrecht investigation, Sergio Rodriguez, said the plea deal on Wednesday would have a direct impact on their case, which is looking at four Odebrecht projects, and he was trying to reach Brazilian prosecutors to find out more. "We have a preliminary case open," Rodriguez told Reuters. "We will need to incorporate the information from the agreement sooner or later." Sources close to Odebrecht and Brazil's federal prosecutors say it was mostly the work of the Brazilian investigators that led to the Odebrecht's record-setting corruption settlement. But if the settlement, which was negotiated in Brasilia, had been announced in Brazil, its legal system would have required that details remain sealed and not disclosed to the public, two sources close to the negotiation told Reuters on Thursday. The hope among Brazilian officials is that by having the plea agreements with Odebrecht and Braskem made public, authorities in the other countries will now come under public pressure to follow up and investigate. "The corruption we've uncovered in Brazil was systematic and complex, and Odebrecht's central role in it is now obvious," Brazilian federal prosecutor Carlos Lima said earlier this year. "We've found that wherever Odebrecht has worked, there has been this pattern of corruption, and we're carefully collaborating with several other countries on this." (Additional reporting by Brad Brooks in Brazil, Nicolas Misculin in Argentina, Julia Symmes Cobb in Colombia, Mica Rosenberg in New York, Elida Moreno in Panama, Sofia Menchu in Guatemala, Joanna Bernstein in Mexico, Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas, Jorge Pineda in Dominican Republic; Writing by Caroline Stauffer in Buenos Aires; Editing by Kieran Murray and Alistair Bell) COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) A 112-year prison sentence imposed on a convicted rapist for crimes he committed at age 15 is unconstitutional because it doesn't allow any opportunity for possible release, a divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The court's 4-3 ruling came in the case of Brandon Moore, who was tried as an adult and convicted in the 2001 armed kidnapping, robbery and gang rape of a 22-year-old Youngstown State University student. The woman was abducted as she arrived for an evening work shift and was repeatedly raped at gunpoint by Moore and an accomplice before being released, according to court records. The decision returns the case to a county court to resentence Moore, now 29. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote that teenagers may not be locked up for life without a chance of parole if they haven't killed anyone. The court said in the case of a Florida man serving time for armed robberies when he was a teen that the constitution requires young people serving life sentences to at least be considered for release and the chance of rehabilitation. At issue was whether the ruling applied to Moore, whose prison term imposed in 2008 consists of multiple sentences stacked on top of one another. Justice Paul Pfeifer, writing for the majority, cited the brutality of Moore's crime and noted the facts "do not engender a sense of sympathy for him." Nevertheless, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling applies even to cases like Moore's, who would be 92 when first eligible for parole, Pfeifer said. It "is clear that the court intended more than to simply allow juveniles-turned-nonagenarians the opportunity to breathe their last breaths as free people," Pfeifer said. Justice Sharon Kennedy, writing for the minority, said Moore's sentence should stand because the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling didn't address stacked sentences. She also said the state appeals court that heard Moore's delayed request to overturn his sentence didn't have authority to do so. Story continues "While I would gladly add my voice to the conversation supporting the creation of separate sentencing guidelines for juvenile offenders who are bound over to the adult system, I cannot join today's majority when there is no basis in law and when to do so, in my opinion, would violate the separation-of-powers doctrine," Kennedy wrote. Prosecutors in Mahoning County argued the multiple sentences make Moore's punishment constitutional, even though they "may preclude the possibility of release during the juvenile offender's life," according to an August filing with the court. Moore's lawyer said his punishment amounts to the same thing. It "defies science and common sense to think that a 112-year sentence is anything but life without parole," Moore's attorneys argued in a court filing in July. The Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office said it's weighing whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. While that court said juveniles who don't commit murder are much less deserving of the most serious punishments, it's hard to imagine someone more blameworthy than Moore "when he engaged in the horrific robbery, kidnapping, and repeated rape of the victim," said Ralph Rivera, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor. The ruling gives Moore a "meaningful opportunity" to prove he has changed, said his attorney, Rachel Bloomekatz. "As the Ohio Supreme Court recognized, kids are different, and any sentence for a nonhomicide offense that denies them a second chance at life is unconstitutional," she said. ___ Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/andrew-welsh-huggins By Ana Mano SAO PAULO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Creditors and Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris have proposed issuing warrants as part of an alternative restructuring plan for Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA, a move that would give certain bondholders better returns on investment. The warrants would give creditors the right to purchase a number of shares equivalent to 5 percent of the firm's total equity capital after a planned capital injection, according to a term sheet dated Dec. 16 seen by Reuters. The exercise date on the warrants would be after January 2018 and only investors owning bonds secured by Telemar Norte Leste SA, one of the seven Oi units which filed for creditor protection in Brazil, would be eligible. Oi bondholders represented by Moelis & Co, which own about 10 percent of the company's total outstanding debt, unveiled the plan last week to rescue the debt-laden carrier. Under the proposal, the bond holder group would consider the warrants and a $1.25 billion equity offering. This group, backed by strategic investor Orascom TMT Investments SARL, a firm owned by Sawiris, have committed to underwriting the entire new offering if no other investors step forward. In exchange, the new money providers would be entitled to a 7.5 percent backstop fee. Oi, Moelis and majority shareholders in the company declined comment for this report. Karim Nasr, the executive representing Sawiris, was not immediately available for comment. The proposal comes weeks after a dissident group of Oi creditors, who until mid-November had been negotiating with Moelis as advisors, organized and retained Sao Paulo-based G5 Evercore in an effort to maximize recoveries for bondholders without Telemar guarantees. A source close to Moelis said the warrants structure was the "least traumatic" option for the creditors within this group, which is also comprised of non-Telemar bondholders. But the source agreed that if Oi meets certain performance targets, the Moelis proposal would give the Telemar bondholders an additional four basis points of recovery. Story continues The Moelis plan underscores efforts by certain Oi creditors to double bondholder recoveries to about 40-45 cents on the U.S. dollar from some 18-20 cents under Oi's original reorganization plan, presented on Sept 5. However, the proposed warrants re-ignite inter-creditor tensions because guarantees provided by a company in bankruptcy "are worth zero," said an investor referring to Telemar. He added the backstop fee is "unusual." The Moelis plan, which has yet to be negotiated with Oi, entails an immediate debt-for-equity swap whereby creditors would convert 24.82 billion reais ($7.54 billion) worth of bond debt into a 95 percent stake before the new equity offering. ($1 = 3.2920 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Andrew Hay) By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil futures fell on Wednesday after Libya said it expects to boost production over the next few months and a report showing a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories last week. Brent futures for February delivery fell 89 cents, or 1.6 percent, to settle at $54.46 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for February lost 81 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $52.49 per barrel. Even though WTI futures for February were down, the U.S. front-month gained about 0.5 percent due to the contract roll from lower-priced January to the higher-priced February on Tuesday and closed at its highest level in over a week. "The big news of the day is that it looks like we're going to get more crude out of Libya," said James Williams, president of energy consultant WTRG Economics in Arkansas. Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) confirmed on Tuesday that pipelines leading from Sharara and El Feel fields had reopened, saying it hoped to add 270,000 barrels per day (bpd) to national production over the next three months. "The big question is what will OPEC do about the Libyan increase. With Libya excluded from the production cut agreement, I anticipate the Saudis will unilaterally balance the Libyan crude," WTRG's Williams said. On Nov. 30, OPEC agreed to cut output by 1.2 million bpd for six months from Jan. 1, with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting around 486,000 bpd. On Dec. 10, non-OPEC countries including Russia agreed to reduce output by 558,000 bpd, the largest-ever contribution by non-OPEC producers. In the United States, U.S. crude stocks rose by 2.3 million barrels in the week to Dec. 16 even as refineries hiked output, while gasoline stocks and distillate inventories fell, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. That was the first weekly build in crude stockpiles in five weeks. Analysts were expecting U.S. crude inventories to fall by 2.5 million barrels, according to a Reuters poll. The EIA report diverged widely from the American Petroleum Institute industry group's data released late Tuesday, which showed a larger-than-expected 4.1-million-barrel crude draw. Story continues Oil markets are expected to remain well-supplied despite the planned OPEC and non-OPEC reductions. Russia's 2016 oil output is expected to total 547.5 million tonnes (11 million barrels per day), a 2.5 percent increase from last year, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters late on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f326647%2fa6a046c2-8f55-4c8a-b082-dc2cf671bb2b If you've been seeing what looks like a new-age mantra making the Twitter rounds, you'll be happy to know it's not a call to chill out before the holidays. It's just the latest internet trend. DJs have been tweeting "Om Telolet Om" over the past few days as random videos recording people shouting the phrase have been on the rise. But the odd trio of words has origins far beyond the turntable. It actually comes from a roadside ritual in Indonesia. SEE ALSO: Artsy photo app Prisma gets more social The phrase means "Sir, honk your horn, sir" (more or less) and generally doesn't make much sense outside the context of honking buses in Indonesia. The BBC reported Tuesday that the meme started with young people trying to get buses in Indonesia to honk their horns, which have customized jingles. But then people started pestering musicians with the honking plea and the phrase took off, with many DJs playing along. The BBC reported nearly 800,000 tweets with the phrase and counting. The musicians latching onto the trend include DJ Snake, Zedd and many others. OM TELOLET OM Zedd (@Zedd) December 20, 2016 Om Telolet Om DJ SNAKE (@djsnake) December 20, 2016 Teen pop star Austin Mahone even made a meme-inspired beat after thousands of fans ambushed him with the phrase. Other artists are also playing around with the horns and phrase. But it has spread way beyond the music industry at this point. The internet loves it, so it must be cool, right? Story continues Can someone tell me What is "OM TELOLET OM" mean? BamBam() (@BamBam1A) December 21, 2016 A man walks by a destroyed house Yemens 21-month war has devastated the country and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe. The UN recorded 4,014 killed and thousands more injured by Saudi-led coalition air strikes between March 2015 and September 2016, carried out with the backing of the US and UK. The war has displaced 2.2 million Yemenis, while an additional 180,000 have fled the country (refugees are so desperate, some are fleeing to Somalia). Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, was pulled into this crisis after Houthi rebels ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in early 2015. Alarmed by the Houthi rebel advances in Yemen, neighboring Saudi Arabia and its allies in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council called for the United Nations to bring an end to the coup (pdf). The Saudi-led coalition quickly began an extraordinary air campaign, pounding the rebels in Yemen in a desperate bid to reinstate Hadis government. Within three months, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition had been accused of war crimes, including hitting a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital. Thats a problem for the US and UK, who have been selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. Both countries have signed the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which prohibits the selling of weapons where it is known that they would be used in war crimes. The UK, which has ratified the ATT, is bound by its rules, while the US cannot undermine its objective as a signatory. In total, Human Rights Watch has documented the use of US weapons in 23 apparently unlawful coalition airstrikes, says Priyanka Motaparthy, a senior emergencies researcher for Human Rights Watch. Thats quite a significant number. Motaparthy also slams the British government for ignoring overwhelming evidence that there is a high likelihood that UK-made weapons could be used in unlawful strikes. Story continues So, what does this overwhelming evidence look like? Over the course of the war, the UK and US have rebuked Saudi Arabia, but last week the US went one step further and announced it was limiting arms sales to Saudi Arabia amid concerns over Yemen, with a White House spokesman warning Saudi Arabia that US security co-operation was not a blank check. (Saudi Arabia would later try to downplay this report). This is the first time you have US officials saying because of our concerns about the number of civilian deaths, because of our concern about how the targeting practices. We are halting this sale,' says Motaparthy, I think that messageeven if only one sale was haltedis an important one. But the US is continuing to provide a huge package of military equipment, assistance, and advice to the Saudi Arabia, Motaparthy explains. And despite the evidence of the coalition using cluster bombs, the UK reaffirmed its support for Saudi Arabia, insisting the weapons were used against legitimate military targets. The US government is the largest arms exporter in the world, so if even it has reservations then you know its time to act, says Andrew Smith, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Arms Trade. Like the US, the UK has licensed billions of pounds worth of arms to Saudi forces. Like their US counterparts, UK arms companies have fueled and profited from the destruction taking place. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Jerusalem (AFP) - A Palestinian man was killed during clashes with Israeli soldiers overnight as they arrived to demolish the home of the alleged perpetrator of a deadly attack on Israelis, the army said Thursday. A spokeswoman said that during a confrontation "suspects threw improvised explosive devices at soldiers, who responded by opening fire, resulting in the death" of a Palestinian. The Palestinian health ministry identified the man killed as Ahmad al-Kharoubi, 19. The spokeswoman said Israeli soldiers were attempting to demolish the home of Misbah Abu Sbeih -- who went on a deadly shooting rampage in October -- in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Kufr Aqab. Sbeih was shot dead by security forces on October 9 after killing police officer Yosef Kirma, 29, while Israeli media identified the second victim as 60-year-old Israeli woman Levana Melihi. A wave of violence in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel since October 2015 has killed 245 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some died in Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Panama City (AFP) - Panama's government on Thursday warned of punishment for public employees who took any of the more than $59 million in bribes paid by Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in return for contracts. The declaration by President Juan Carlos Varela's administration came a day after US officials said Odebrecht and its petrochemical affiliate Braskem had agreed to pay $3.5 billion in "the largest-ever global foreign bribery resolution." The Odebrecht conglomerate pleaded guilty to bribing government officials and political parties to the tune of $788 million to secure business on three continents -- mostly in Brazil, but also in 11 other countries in Latin America and Africa. Under the plea agreement, Brazil will receive 80 percent of Odebrecht's fines, while the United States and Switzerland will garner 10 percent each. Varela's office said it "fully backed" investigations by prosecutors in Panama to prosecute and sanction "companies and persons involved in these acts." A high-ranking Panamanian government official involved in infrastructure works was allegedly involved in the bribery, but the documents released so far have not named names. Odebrecht received more than $175 million in profits from contracts obtained in Panama, many of which were awarded under the government of former president Ricardo Martinelli, who is living in exile in the United States. Varela's government has asked for Martinelli's extradition to face charges that he spied on opponents, and of graft. Several of Martinelli's ministers have been imprisoned. It's been just over two weeks since Pandora pulled the curtain off Pandora Premium, its new all-you-can-eat streaming service, at a flashy event in southern Manhattan on Dec. 6. Pandora Premium is still not available publicly, but even so the market has appeared unimpressed with its contours; Pandora Media stock, which ended Dec. 6 at $13.78 per share (before the announcement event), edged up seven cents the following day and has remained effectively flat since, before dropping to its current $13.29. That stagnation has not deterred the Matrix Master Fund from seeking approval to increase its stake in the company, by over 5 percent. In a filing yesterday with the FCC -- required because of foreign ownership rules that govern the terrestrial radio station Pandora owns in South Dakota, a purchase which itself took the FCC a year to approve -- Matrix asks for both permission to increase its stake in the company and for the Commission to exempt Pandora from the "50 percent rule" that says no more than 49.99 percent of Pandora can be owned by a foreign company. The enlarged stake isn't imminent -- the last day to file replies on comments about the move is Feb. 7. Why is Matrix betting against the market? The investment group, which has or had interests in 192 different companies including Apple, Oculus, Quora and Spotify-acquired The Echo Nest, may be anticipating an acquisition of Pandora in the year to come. Four days prior to the debut of Pandora Premium, conflicting reports of an acquisition of Pandora by SiriusXM (and so Liberty Media, which owns 65 percent of the satellite radio company) hit the wires. In May, when the same rumor was percolating, Pandora's stock rose 32 percent over the course of a few weeks. This most recent turn of the rumor mill resulted, likely because it landed on a Friday, in a much more modest stock jump of four cents. Equally likely, the fund is simply betting on the company's near future prospects. A strong marketing push behind Pandora Premium will arrive early next year; that arm of the company is, to say the least, robust. Calls for comment to the FCC were not returned at press time. Pandora declined to comment. Matrix did not immediately responded to a request for comment. After reading the articles about the Veterans in Monday's paper, it has prompted me to give my recommendation for the new outpatient clinic to be built on the Veterans affairs campus ("The complicated why of veterans suicides," Dec. 19). This place is a safe place for every veteran. There are a lot of vets with P.T.S.D., myself included. I am a disabled Vietnam vet with P.T.S.D. I know from experience that this is one place I feel safe at. I know I can visit with other vets in the parking lot, and it doesn't matter if there is two of us or ten, what matters is we won't be harassed, people wondering what we are doing or anything! The help we receive from our providers inside is some of the best in the world. The help we receive outside, from our fellow vets is also so very important. They understand what their fellow veterans are going through. Trust me, it helps! Also, we have a lot of Korean War and World War II vets. Some of them don't get around quite as well as they used to and that's okay! There is no rush and they can also have the peace of mind knowing that this also is their safe place! So, to the powers that be, please consider letting us vets keep our safe place! There is a whole lot of healing going on here, inside and out! Lynn W. Koeppe, Lincoln Many fish migrate or die when the water gets too hot, but millions could be saved if the world meets the global warming targets in the 2015 Paris accord, a study said Thursday. Fish are an important part of the food chain and a global industry worth $148 billion in exports each year worldwide. Findings in the US journal Science compare the scenarios of 1.5 Celsius of warming (2.7 F) above the pre-industrial days, as set forth in the Paris deal, to 3.5 C by century's end, or the path the planet is currently on. If global warming continues unchecked, and the 3.5 C scenario comes to pass, the depletion of fish populations would deprive the industry of six million tons of catch each year, the study found. Since fisheries near the equator would be most negatively affected if the Paris targets are not met, the people who rely on fish for their livelihoods there are also more likely to suffer than their counterparts further north. The maximum catch potential could drop 47 percent in the Indo-Pacific region, which includes the Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Thailand, South China Sea, and Sulu-Celebes Sea, the study said. "The benefits for vulnerable tropical areas is a strong reason why 1.5 C is an important target to meet," said lead author William Cheung, associate professor at the University of British Columbia's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. "The seafood supply chain is now highly globalized. Everyone would benefit from meeting the Paris Agreement." The study analyzed data from 19 Earth system models, comparing outcomes for nearly 900 marine fish under a scenario of continued high greenhouse gas emissions to stronger fossil fuel cutbacks. Under either scenario, the amount of fish will decline. A warming increase of 3.5 C "will decrease the maximum catch potential on a global level by eight percent," the study said. Temperature increases of 1.5 C "will decrease maximum catch potential by 2.5 percent." Story continues Researchers said the findings should convince countries -- including the United States under President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened to abandon the deal -- of the importance of increasing their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. "If one of the largest carbon dioxide emitting countries gets out of the Paris Agreement, the efforts of the others will be clearly reduced," said co-author Gabriel Reygondeau, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program senior fellow at UBC. "It's not a question of how much we can benefit from the Paris Agreement, but how much we don't want to lose." - By Subia Khan Parsley Energy (PE) is an oil and gas exploration company that operates in the Permian Basin and is involved in the acquisition, development, production, exploration and sale of crude oil and natural gas properties. The company operates primarily in the Midland and the southern Delaware basins in North America. Though the company has already given year-to-date returns of nearly 100%, there is upside potential for the stock based on the company's fundamentals. Permian Basin operations The Permian Basin is a rich and resourceful acreage in the U.S. It lies in Western Texas and Southeastern New Mexico. The basin has complex geology with accumulation of oil and gas in stacked layers. It has depths ranging from 1,000 feet to more than 25,000 feet with Midland and Delaware being the largest basins in the Permian acreage. Parsley Energy has its operations in the largest subsidiary basins of Permian making it accessible to huge undiscovered and recoverable oil assets. According to the latest report, approximately 20 billion barrels of undiscovered and recoverable oil is available in the Wolfcamp shale of the Midland Basin alone. The geology of the Permian Basin is rich and complex both horizontally and vertically. That is the reason why even after drilling for more than 100 years the asset still has a high percentage of recoverable oil and gas. Drillers can produce crude cheaper in the Permian Basin than in many other U.S. basins. This is the reason why drillers prefer to acquire assets here as the break-even cost is relatively low. Also, with the oil price hovering around $50 per barrel, cost reduction is a priority for companies, and that has further helped in reducing per barrel cost. Parsley Energy has an advantage over peers as it is a big player in the Permian; with a spike in drilling activity the company is well positioned to extract oil profitably. Story continues Huge demand for Permian assets has resulted in higher prices and with increasing competition in the basin; the asset valuations are likely to remain robust. This is the primary reason why Parsley Energy is trading at a high multiple. However, since the company is a big player in the Permian and has delivered good results in the past, production growth will sustain as oil also moves higher. High production growth There has been almost 100% growth in total production for the third quarter as compared to the last year from 21,565boed in third-quarter 2015 to 43,000boed in the third quarter this year. The growth is accompanied by a positive effect on the company's EBITDA margins and average realization. The company has a strong history of production growth, and the production momentum is sustainable keeping in mind the rich assets along with significant resource expansion potential. One such example of asset is Wolfcamp A & B which has 800 feet to 900 feet thickness and can afford 600 feet to 700 feet between top and bottom targets. With current inventory of 24 per section, the asset alone has a potential of 60 inventories per section. Acreage footprint and operational capacity is expected to increase rig count which would help in growth along with increase in inventory through multizone expansion and down spacing. Liquidity profile Parsley Energy has a strong financial position with current liquidity of $801 million. As of Sept. 30 the company had cash in hand of $201 million and has reported an 89% increase in the borrowing base up from $475 million to $900 million. This reflects strong production and reserve growth for the company. However, based on its current cash position and ample liquidity, Parsley Energy has elected a commitment level of $600 million which bring its total liquidity to $801 million. In addition to this, the company also has a nine-month operating cash flow of $175 million. For fiscal 2016 the company estimates capital expenditure of approximately $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion. Considering the fact that Parsley Energy will increase its capex in fiscal 2017 by around 50% and at the same time estimating a 50% increase in OCF due to improving oil prices (estimated fiscal 2017 OCF equals $240 million), the company will still have sufficient liquidity to meet its capex requirements {$900 million (revolving credit facility) plus $201 million (cash in hand) plus $240 million (estimated OCF) equals $1.34 billion}. Thus, with earliest notes maturity in 2022 and an improving borrowing base, Parsley Energy is well positioned to meet both its debt and capex requirements. With excess liquidity the company also has the flexibility to provide consistent dividends. Conclusion With strategic acquisitions in the Permian basin along with continuous effort to cut down on their D&C and G&A cost, Parsley Energy has the capability to improve its EBITDA margin. The company also has a decent liquidity profile which further convinces me to be bullish on the stock in spite of the big rally this year. Disclosure: No position in the stock. Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. (Recasts with witness account) By Amy Tennery NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A JetBlue airline passenger, who media outlets and a witness described as making angry remarks at the sight of Ivanka Trump on his flight, was removed from the plane on Thursday by the airline. JetBlue Airways Corp confirmed in a statement that a passenger had been removed from a flight set to depart from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, but provided no information on the incident. Another passenger on the flight, Marc Scheff, said that when the man saw President-elect Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, he "did a double take and said 'Oh my God. This is a nightmare!'" "The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly," JetBlue said in a written statement. "In this instance, our team worked to re-accommodate the party on the next available flight." Reuters was not able to identify the passenger who was removed. A Twitter user cited by TMZ, Matthew Lasner, said his husband was going to confront Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, at the airport. "Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial," wrote Matthew Lasner (@mattlasner) in the since-deleted tweet. "My husband chasing them down to harass them. #banalityofevil." Lasner, a professor at New York's Hunter College, did not respond to requests for comment directed to his Twitter account, which has since been taken offline, or to messages left at his office or sent to his Facebook account. Scheff, who told Reuters he was sitting in the row in front of Ivanka Trump on the flight, which was set to take off for San Francisco, said of the passenger who was later removed from the flight, "He started shaking." Scheff, 40, added that after JetBlue staff approached the man to "make sure he was calm," the passenger said, "They ruin our country, now try (to) ruin our flight!" Scheff said the passenger was "clearly agitated" but did not "scream or yell." Ivanka Trump was en route to Hawaii for a vacation with her family, according to an ABC News report on the incident. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Donald Trump and his family are spending the Christmas holidays at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. (Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Additional reporting by Melissa Fares in Palm Beach, Florida; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler) Los Angeles (AFP) - From "Aliens" to "Interstellar," Hollywood has long used suspended animation to overcome the difficulties of deep space travel, but the once-fanciful sci-fi staple is becoming scientific fact. The theory is that a hibernating crew could stay alive over vast cosmic distances, requiring little food, hydration or living space, potentially slashing the costs of interstellar missions and eradicating the boredom of space travel. But the technology has always been unattainable outside the fertile imaginations of filmmakers from Woody Allen and Ridley Scott to James Cameron and Christopher Nolan -- until now. Atlanta-based Spaceworks Enterprises is using a $500,000 grant from NASA to leverage techniques used on brain trauma and heart attack patients to develop "low metabolic stasis" for missions to Mars and the asteroid belt. "It takes about six months to get out to Mars... There are a lot of demands, a lot of support equipment required to keep people alive even during that period," said SpaceWorks CEO John Bradford The aerospace engineer told a panel in Los Angeles marking the release Wednesday of "Passengers," the latest movie to explore suspended animation, that his company was adapting the medical technique of induced hypothermia to astronautics. Hospitals lower the core temperature of trauma patients by around 10 degrees Farenheit (12C) to achieve a 70 percent reduction in metabolism, although they are "shut down" for a couple of days rather than the months astronauts would need. "We're evaluating it. We think it's medically possible," Bradford told journalists. - Hard science - Morten Tyldum's "Passengers" stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence as strangers on a 120-year journey to the distant colony of Homestead II when their hibernation pods wake them 90 years too early. While the research being done by SpaceWorks could make 180-day journeys to Mars much more affordable, the technology is not capable -- not yet -- of extending human life to allow for the thousands of years required to reach our next nearest star. Story continues Even at the relatively small Mars-like distances, "induced torpor" is not without its challenges, says Bradford, especially on short missions where astronauts have little time to recover after being woken from stasis. "You're going to be tired. In this process, you're not really sleeping, your body doesn't enter a (rapid eye movement) state," said Bradford. "If we look at animal hibernators, they will actually come out of hibernation to sleep and then go back into hibernation." "Passengers" screenwriter Jon Spaihts says he found himself running into tensions between the dramatic requirements of the movie and "hard science" when it came to designing his hibernation pods. Neither induced torpor nor any of its most realistic alternatives are "states in which Sleeping Beauty in her bed would look particularly gorgeous," he said. - Distant worlds - "The hibernation in this movie is a little more magical just because we need people to look cute in those pods. People floating in a sea of sludge or frozen like popsicles are a little less romantic." The idea of finding a sufficiently Earthlike planet or moon in the sterile vastness of space is another problem on which science has made giant progress in recent years. Before 1989 humanity was aware of just nine planets in the universe -- those orbiting our own sun -- but scientists have since identified some 3,545 "exoplanets" in 2,660 solar systems. "To have kids wake up these days and think there are thousands and thousands of planets out there, that's a crazy thing to grow up with -- knowing there's probably life on these distant worlds," said Tiffany Kataria, a weather specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA says the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, launching in 12 months, will seek out yet more new worlds among the galaxy's brightest stars, where the discovery of Earthling-friendly planets is deemed more likely. A year later, the James Webb Space Telescope will launch on a mission to provide the clearest picture yet of the chemical composition of interesting exoplanets. So what are the odds of finding a planet with the right atmosphere, roughly the same gravity and protection from radiation -- a real-life version of the Homestead II depicted in "Passengers?" "We simply don't know. It must be out there," says Kataria. The stars of the science-fiction movie "Passengers" got to talk to a real NASA scientist and ask some big questions about space. Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Sheen talked with Tiffany Kataria, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who studies the atmospheres of planets around other stars, during a press junket for the new flick. You can watch the full video in the window below. "What's going to be the next groundbreaking discovery in space travel and in propulsion in space?" Pratt asked Kataria. "I think getting close to the speed of light getting the technology in order to do that is going to be the next breakthrough," Kataria said. "But I think we're a bit of a ways away from that." Sheen asked Kataria about some big-concept ideas, including time travel and which cosmic event is likely to destroy the human race first: the death of the sun or a singularity (like a black hole). Lawrence asked about the accuracy of the phrase "a wrinkle in time." Kataria who also discussed the real-world science that inspired the movie at a recent event did sneak in one question at the end of the interview, asking the stars what drew them to the new movie, which gave Lawrence a chance to work in some spacey wordplay check out the video to see what she said. Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Editor's Recommendations LIMA (Reuters) - The government of Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said it was helping the attorney general's office obtain information from prosecutors abroad after Brazil-based Odebrecht said in a global plea deal that it doled out $29 million in bribes to local officials over three presidencies. Kuczynski has not been implicated in any act of corruption, Prime Minister Fernando Zavala stressed on Wednesday after engineering conglomerate Odebrecht acknowledged paying $20 million to benefit a high-ranking official in about 2005, when Kuczynski was finance minister and then prime minister under President Alejandro Toledo. Prosecutors in Peru have been probing potential wrongdoing in Odebrecht's local contracts since a massive graft scandal ensnared the company in Brazil, but they have yet to press charges. "We're against any kind of corruption and are going to support relevant bodies so those investigations are deepened," Zavala said in a weekly news conference. Earlier this month the attorney general's office reopened a preliminary graft probe into whether Kuczynski and Toledo helped Odebrecht win $500 million in infrastructure contracts in 2005, after concluding the probe had been closed prematurely. Kuczynski will continue to cooperate with prosecutors, said Zavala, who said the probe stemmed from a law passed during Toledo's term that was "approved by Congress, not by the president." But both Toledo and Kuczynski - then the prime minister - signed off on the law after it was proposed by a ruling party lawmaker. Carlos Huerta, the local attorney who asked prosecutors to probe the contracts, said the law changed bidding rules so Odebrecht could compete. A massive settlement deal that Odebrecht reached in the United States on Wednesday said Odebrecht made $20 million in payments to companies owned by an intermediary of an official who offered to help it secure an infrastructure contract, part of $29 million in bribes it distributed in Peru from about 2005 to 2014. The plea bargain has jolted Peru as it threatens to expose high-level corruption during the governments of Toledo and former presidents Alan Garcia and Ollanta Humala. Prosecutors have alleged Humala took illicit funds from Odebrecht and said in November they have evidence to convict him of money laundering. Kuczynski, a 78-year-old former Wall Street banker, has been trying to shore up his corruption-fighting credentials after the opposition ousted his education minister over alleged irregularities in a school computer contract on his watch. (Reporting by Mitra Taj and Marco Aquino; Editing by Leslie Adler) LIMA (Reuters) - Peru President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on Thursday denied any involvement in $20 million in bribes that Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht SA said it paid to an unnamed official to win a public works contract in 2005, when he was prime minister. In a massive plea deal signed in the United States on Wednesday, Odebrecht said it distributed a total of $29 million in bribes to unnamed officials in Peru during the terms of three presidencies from about 2005 to 2014. Kuczynski, a 78-year-old former investment banker who was prime minister and finance minister in 2005, said Odebrecht employees must be brought to Peru to explain whom it bribed to secure public work contracts. "It clearly needs to be investigated," Kuczynski told reporters. "I can guarantee that I didn't receive anything or do anything." Earlier this month, Peru's attorney general's office reopened a preliminary graft inquiry into whether Kuczynski and former President Alejandro Toledo helped Odebrecht win infrastructure contracts by passing a law that declared highway projects of national interest. "I signed off on a law that Congress passed. That's not a crime," said Kuczynski, who assumed the presidency five months ago. Odebrecht has an outsized presence in Peru, where its donation of a small version of Rio de Janeiro's famous Christ the Redeemer statue dots Lima's skyline. In the past decade it has won public work contracts worth more than $10 billion. Kuczynski rejected calls from some to kick Odebrecht out of Peru, saying some of its managers were guilty but not the company as a whole - despite its guilty plea. (Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Paul Simao and Leslie Adler) MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte called a top U.N. official an "idiot" and "joker" on Thursday for urging that murder investigations be launched against the president after he admitted personally killing people. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday said Philippine judicial authorities should probe Duterte's accounts of having carried out killings when he was mayor of Davao City. "This guy (Zeid) is ever the joker or crazy," Duterte said during a televised speech, and repeatedly called him "stupid". "You U.N. officials, sitting there on your asses, we pay you your salaries. You idiot, do not tell me what to do ... Who gave you the right?" Duterte told businessmen last week that when mayor he "personally" killed criminals on the streets and later admitted shooting dead three men involved in a kidnapping case, during a police gunfight in the late 1980s. Zeid on Tuesday said investigations should also be opened into deadly anti-drugs campaigns in Davao when Duterte was mayor and the "shocking" number of deaths during the current nationwide campaign. More than 6,000 people have been killed as part of Duterte's crackdown, a third by police and the rest still officially under investigation. Duterte says the shootings by police were in self-defense. Duterte has previously threatened to withdraw from the U.N. and called it "inutile" for being slow to respond to crises. "Please shut up because your brain is lacking there," he told Zeid. "Go back to school. You United Nations, you do not know diplomacy. You do not know how to behave to be an employee of the United Nations. "You do not talk to me like that, you son of a bitch." (Reporting by Martin Petty; editing by Andrew Roche) The fatal shooting of Andrei Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, by off-duty Turkish police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas has once again highlighted concerns over law enforcement officials being radicalized by terrorist groups such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State group. Altintas is reported to have shouted an Arabic phrase commonly used in propaganda materials of ISIS whose books were found at his house. While investigators are looking whether Altintas had any connections to the terrorist groups, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday blamed the attack on the followers of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of the president and now a self-exiled scholar. He [Altintas] was a member of the FETO terrorist organization. There is no point in hiding this, Erdogan said. From the places he was raised to his connections thats what they point at. Turkish officials are also probing Altintass links to the Gulen Movement, a name referring to the clerics supporters. However, Gulen has denied any involvement in Karlovs shooting and condemned the attack. In other instances, U.S. authorities have arrested people with law enforcement ties accused of helping ISIS. This August, Washington D.C. officials arrested Nicholas Young, a veteran police officer with D.C.s Metro Transit Police Department, for attempting to help the militant group. The 12-year veteran of the transit police force allegedly bought tech items to send to ISIS operatives to help them in their communication. Authorities caught him after undercover agents with the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force were disguised as ISIS operatives. Young had reportedly been under surveillance since 2010. According to the Department of Justice, Young traveled to Libya in 2011 and tried to visit the troubled country a second time, telling FBI agents that he had been with rebels attempting to overthrow the Muammar Qaddafi regime. Last July, FBI agents arrested Alexander Ciccolo, the estranged son of a reputed Boston police captain, as a possible terrorist suspect. Authorities reportedly recovered weapons loaded with possible bomb-making equipment, including a pressure cooker, several chemicals, an alarm clock, along with attack planning papers and jihad paperwork. He went by the name Abu Ali al-Amriki and neighbors said he recently converted to Islam, FBI officials told ABC News at the time. Story continues This is a very bad person arrested before he could do very bad things, one senior federal official told ABC News about Ciccolo. Related Articles Two inmates were discovered missing from the Work Ethic Camp in McCook about 10:50 Wednesday night, according to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Security footage shows Andrew Russell, 20, and Charles Canaday, 35, walking away from the camp at 5:30 p.m., spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith said in a news release. Russell is 6-foot-2-inches tall and weighs 170 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. He was sentenced in Dawes County on two counts of manufacturing a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, Smith said. Canaday is 5-foot-10-inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. He was sentenced in Greeley, Howard, Sheridan and Valley counties on three counts of burglary, one count theft and one count criminal mischief, Smith said. Both men were last seen wearing khaki pants and gray stocking caps. Russell wore a gray sweatshirt and Canaday had on a brown coat. The Work Ethic Camp is a minimum security facility. Inmates housed there have reached a level of custody where they are able to work in the community with intermittent supervision, Smith said. The Vaticans announcement of an impending deal with China along political and religious dimensions has sparked serious debate among Catholics worldwide. But for Taiwan, it raises diplomatic worries, not doctrinal ones. The Holy See is one of now just 21 governments that grant diplomatic recognition to Taipei instead of to Beijing. As the democratic island struggles against the suffocating pressure of its continental neighbor, what does it mean for one of its few unambiguous allies, and perhaps the one with the greatest soft power, to negotiate terms of agreement with Beijing? The latest blow has come in the tiny African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe, which has just broken off ties with Taipei and is set to re-recognize Beijing after ditching it in 1997. But since the electoral victory this year of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Tsai Ing-wen, seen by Beijing as dangerously pro-independence, Taiwan has faced increasing antipathy from China, which has curtailed the number of Chinese tourists allowed to visit and repeatedly blocked Taiwans participation in multilateral organizations, including the UNFCCC, the global climate change body, and the International Civil Aviation Organization, the agency responsible for flight safety. This comes despite Tsais moderation. She must respect the wishes of the Taiwanese people, who have registered deep concern about drifting too close to an acquisitive China. But more than any other leader, she has reined in the radical, pro-independence elements in her party and pulled the DPP to the political center. Despite real stretches by Tsai, this was still not enough for Beijing, which has ratcheted up pressure accordingly. Signs of trouble already appeared in March after election results were in but before Tsai assumed office. China established diplomatic relations with Gambia, which had previously broken off ties with Taiwan, raising concerns that it might try to peel off additional allies as has just happened with Sao Tome. There are now worries that the Vatican could be the next ally poached, especially after the Catholic Churchs top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, announced expectations for new developments and a new season of relations with China. Though officials in Taipei have publicly proclaimed that ties are stable, and graciously expressed support for dialogue and greater religious freedom, they are quietly concerned that relations with the Vatican could be severed, if not this year, then one day in the future. Of the 190 plus countries in the world today, 20 nations, plus the Holy See, now recognize Taiwan, using the formal name Republic of China (ROC), with its capital in Taipei. The remainder officially recognize the Peoples Republic of China, ensconced in Beijing. Some nations such as Panama have had continuous relations with Taiwan since its founding. Other ties are to small island states subject to a diplomatic tug of war with China, periodically fueled by development aid. Many nations including the United States and numerous countries in Europe engage in a vibrant trading relationship and maintain de facto relations with Taiwan through economic and cultural offices that function as embassies. This is a remnant of Cold War conflicts. The ROC government historically claimed all of China, Mongolia, Tibet, and Taiwan, even after it was driven to the island, which it had occupied in 1945. Today, the government no longer actively pursues this claim, and in 1991, then-President Lee Teng-hui renounced the use of force to reunify China and acknowledged Beijings rule on the Chinese mainland as a gesture of goodwill. China, in contrast, has never renounced the use of force to acquire Taiwan. For more than six decades, the Holy See has recognized Taiwan, sticking by it even after the islands largest allies ditched it diplomatically in the 1970s. Though the Vatican originally kept its representative on the Chinese mainland after the Communist takeover in 1949, the diplomat was expelled shortly after. The relationship with the Peoples Republic has been testy ever since, particularly fraught over the appointment of bishops. Catholicism has a long history in China, including a spate of missionaries and advisors during the Qing Dynasty. The community has persisted, even through the darkest days of the Cultural Revolution, when it was attacked as an invasive force. In contrast, Catholics in Taiwan have historically been granted the protection of law, and the church functions much as it does in any other country. Decades of growth have resulted in a flourishing community of 300,000 practicing Catholics, including Taiwanese Vice President Chen Chien-jen. Pope Francis maintains the churchs right to freely choose religious leaders, but the Chinese Communist Party insists that it should dictate the process of selection. Conflicts such as this have forced mainland Chinese Catholics to choose between a government-sponsored church that rejects the primacy of the pope and worshipping as apparently half of the estimated 9 million to 12 million Chinese Catholics do in unregistered or underground churches that proclaim loyalty to Rome. Despite such challenges, relations have lately smoothed, due to concerted efforts by the Catholic Church, which remains interested in ministering to its flock across the Taiwan Strait. Critics of these negotiations, such as Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, have raised concerns that the Vatican is being hoodwinked by the Chinese Communist leadership and that the church might backslide on matters of religious and human rights. Other observers are more optimistic, believing talks will create space for the Catholic Church to develop in China without conceding too much ground on spiritual tenets. Vatican and China watcher Francesco Sisci anticipates a wide-ranging concordat that secures the church and popes primacy in religious teaching while deferring to the Chinese government in worldly matters. The gray zone in between would require constant negotiation. Given the resurgence of faith communities in China in recent years, this type of agreement may even open the doors for broader religious freedom, by fully separating civil affairs from spiritual ones, thus insulating them from too much state interference. But the opening up has created fears that the Vatican might sell out Taiwan to purchase better relations with China. The top Vatican diplomat, Parolin, later attempted to downplay such talk, but there is good reason for concern: Chinas diplomatic track record reveals that it has regularly sought to monopolize diplomatic ties with foreign states, to the exclusion of Taiwan, so a future break in official Vatican-Taiwan relations is not inconceivable. However, indulging in such a crass diplomatic quid pro quo would not just deplete the Vaticans political capital but undermine the very source of it. The Holy See numbers among the few global entities that are not only subject to international norms but also granted the moral authority to explicitly define them. Thus, unlike for most states, outright realpolitik is not an option for the Vatican if it wants to retain its credibility in the eyes of believers. At a time of democratic retreat across the globe, support for a fiercely free Taiwan is particularly important. Given the historical persecution of Catholics in China and the Communist Partys abominable record on human rights, both clergy and lay people even the popes supporters have expressed serious reservations about his approach. Will the Vatican dilute its unique legitimacy by accommodating a regime it previously denounced? Chinese Catholics broadly support religious freedom, but those who have resisted the regime for decades remain wary. Other commentators wonder: Are these far-reaching hopes guided by a realistic understanding of China or imprudent idealism? Could papal diplomats simply be too eager to reach a historic accord with a regime that has taken advantage of foreign naivete? In the meantime, Taiwanese allies in heavily Catholic Central America will be closely watching the churchs next steps. Taiwanese diplomats fear a major rapprochement between the Vatican and China could initiate a domino effect of other countries relinquishing long-term friendship with the island in exchange for new relations with Beijing. The move by Sao Tome, a heavily Catholic country, has only added to these worries. At one end of the spectrum, the status quo features exclusive recognition of Taiwan by the Vatican, with no official ties to China. At the other end, the most extreme scenario would be if the Vatican offered outright recognition of China and completely derecognized Taiwan. This would come across as wholesale abandonment of Taiwan and its Catholic community, even if important spiritual ties were to remain. Though the church is most influential through the parishes in which it ministers, not necessarily the papal nuncios who reside in the capital, Taiwan symbolically losing its last official ally in Europe will hurt. As an alternative to sole recognition of Taiwan, a growing number of Taiwanese are hoping the Vatican could opt for dual recognition. Citizen activists most recently raised this idea in an open letter to Taiwanese Vice President Chen. This option would preserve Taiwans ties to the Vatican but would not require the Catholic Church to shun relations with China. For anyone interested in maintaining global harmony, especially Taiwanese who would prefer to diversify their international relationships, this may even be more favorable than exclusive recognition. Other countries could see the possibility of simultaneously recognizing Taipei without rejecting Beijing and peaceably develop relations with both. The Vatican would achieve its religious aims while opening creative new horizons for peaceful international coexistence. Finally, it is possible for the Holy See and China to reach a significant accommodation one that resolves issues of episcopal appointments, freedom of worship, and numerous other religious matters without addressing diplomatic recognition at all. Were the Catholic question to be settled as a purely religious affair, it would uphold the social interests of the Chinese people, maintain cross-strait stability, and burnish their global stature while eliding the thorny international politics. The choice here is not only for the Vatican but Beijing as well. Despite the habitual temptation to leverage negotiations for overwrought nationalistic purposes, if Chinese officials were to forgo petty demands about Taiwan, they could instead build up durable goodwill with multiple actors. Every time China chooses to humiliate Taiwan, it frustrates the Taiwanese public and drives the wedge deeper between the two societies. Beijing also comes across as a leering international bully. By embracing its untraditional role of both state and religious arbiter, the church could play the good-faith broker, intoning magnanimity and reminding stakeholders to focus on substantive benefits, thus upholding respect for the humanity of all concerned. Unfortunately, given Chinas belligerent attitude on Taiwans foreign relations and the Communist Partys stoking of nationalism for domestic purposes, better arrangements may not be forthcoming. Furthermore, if the Vatican comes across as a supplicant requesting access to the Middle Kingdom, instead of a world-class institution with unparalleled social influence, this also further reduces its negotiating power. Given changing complexities across the strait, one hopes the issue will never become so crude as the Vatican one day horse-trading Taiwan for a chance to expand its influence in China. And although recent negotiations center on spiritual matters, political considerations will undoubtedly seep into the calculus. Still, when Pope Francis is involved, one cannot help but hope for wiser, gentler solutions coming to pass. In these uncertain times, ethical global leadership is ever more important. It would be a shame if the Vatican abdicated its claim to it. Photo Credit: GREGG BAKER/Stringer Sweetgreen Salad The popular salad chain Sweetgreen is about to go cashless. The fast-casual chain, which has roughly 60 locations in the Northeast and California, will soon accept payment only via its app or credit card. All Sweetgreen locations in New York, California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania will stop accepting cash on January 18. Locations in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, will go cashless in March. Boston, where state laws require businesses to accept cash payments, will be exempt from the new policy. The switch will make Sweetgreen one of the largest chains in the nation to completely ditch cash, but the change probably won't affect too many customers cash purchases make up less than 10% of Sweetgreen sales. Going cashless "started with an imperative that we've always had at Sweetgreen: How do we simplify things?" Sweetgreen cofounder Jonathan Neman told Business Insider. Last January, six Sweetgreen locations stopped accepting cash in a test that proved to be a success. According to Neman, the locations that cut cash transactions could speed up service by 10% because workers didn't have to spend time counting money. Going cashless also reduces the threat of theft or robbery, he said. Sweetgreen 8 Going cashless has gone hand-in-hand with Sweetgreen's emphasis on online and mobile ordering, which tends to make people spend more. Customers who order and pay online or via the app now make up 30% of Sweetgreen's sales. Refusing to allow customers to pay with cash does have some downsides, though. Neman said Sweetgreen's biggest challenge in going cashless will be making sure customers understand the reasoning behind the change. Employees will serve in the "front lines" explaining cashless payments to customers, he said. Sweetgreen will also publish a post on Medium explaining the change and post clear signage so that customers will see it before they get in line to order. Another problem is that about 7% of the US population doesn't have a bank account, meaning they will be automatically excluded from ordering Sweetgreen. Neman said Sweetgreen hopes to address this issue through continued community outreach, as well as by potentially exploring new formats of stores that fit different customers' needs. Story continues Going cashless is just one of Sweetgreen's plans for building a forward-thinking restaurant chain, many of which are driven by the company's in-house tech team. Other initiatives include increasing online orders, building an app focused more on engagement to be released next year, and collecting data that allows for more complete knowledge about everything from kitchen prep to customer preferences. "The restaurant industry is so behind on this and so ripe for innovation," said Neman. "It's very, very exciting." NOW WATCH: Here's why people wait in such long lines to buy salad at Sweetgreen More From Business Insider Many staff members at marijuana dispensaries have not had any formal training for their positions, according to a small new study. Researchers found that 30 people of the 55 dispensary staff members surveyed in the study (55 percent) had received any sort of formal training for their current positions. Only 20 percent had received any medical training on the health effects of marijuana, and just 13 percent had received any training on the science of the drug, the researchers found. The staff members surveyed worked at medical or nonmedical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, California, Arizona, Oregon, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine. [25 Odd Facts About Marijuana] Moreover, some of the dispensary staff members in the study made recommendations to people who were purchasing marijuana that were not accurate or appropriate for treating their customers' conditions, said lead study author Nancy Haug, a professor of addiction medicine at Palo Alto University in California. For example, 13 percent of the staff members in the study said they had recommended types of marijuana that are high in levels of THC marijuana's main psychoactive component to patients who intended to use the marijuana to treat anxiety, the researchers found. However, previous research has shown that THC may make anxiety worse, Haug told Live Science. And 7 percent of the staff members recommended THC for treating epilepsy, whereas research has shown that another marijuana compound, called CBD, may work to treat epilepsy, Haug said. The researchers asked the study participants about their job responsibilities, and whether they had training related to their job. The researchers also asked the participants what types of marijuana they typically recommended to people with particular conditions. They found that 35 percent of the dispensary staff members had received customer service training; 26 percent had received business training; 20 percent, medical training; and 13 percent, scientific training. Twenty percent had received some other type training that might have involved learning about cannabis. Story continues Yet 94 percent of the study participants said that they had provided advice to customers. That included recommending which marijuana strains customers should use and advising customers on the benefits of marijuana for particular symptoms. [Marijuana Could Treat These 5 Conditions] The staff members in the study said that the most common symptoms reported by their customers were chronic pain, insomnia and anxiety. Of all staff members in the study, 62 percent said that they always or often checked in or followed up with their customers after their purchases, to ask about their health conditions, according to the study, published Dec. 1 in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Overall, the staff members were more likely to recommend marijuana with an equal ratio of THC to CBD for people with anxiety, PTSD or trauma and Crohn's disease, rather than recommending marijuana that is high in THC, the researchers found. This is in line with what experts recommend, the researchers said. Staff members were also more likely to recommend marijuana with high levels of CBD and equal ratios of CBD to THC for customers with ALS, epilepsy and muscle spasms, rather than recommending marijuana high in THC. For people with epilepsy and the other conditions, this recommendation is also in line with research suggesting that CBD may indeed benefit patients. However, some staff members made recommendations that were not in line with what is thought to be effective for a given condition, the researchers said. For example, 10 percent of staff members said they had recommended marijuana with high levels of CBD for people who wanted to increase their appetite, but research has shown that it is THC, and not CBD, that may help patients increase appetite, the researchers said. The results show that dispensaries should provide training to their staff members, Haug said. This training should be based on findings from current scientific literature on cannabis, she said. Originally published on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations Dec 22 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. The Times - British car production accelerated to its highest level in 17 years in November amid rising domestic and international demand. http://bit.ly/2i2F21I - Meggitt has sold its weapons training target provider to QinetiQ for 57.5 million pounds ($71.09 million). http://bit.ly/2i2Ce4L The Guardian - The UK government has pledged to give decent broadband speeds to up to 600,000 homes via a new 400 million pounds ($494.52 million) funding pot. http://bit.ly/2i2E2uw The Telegraph - A Tunisian man wanted in connection with the deadly truck attack on a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market had been previously investigated over an earlier attack plot, a senior German official has said. http://bit.ly/2i2y7FJ - UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing more than a dozen resignations by MPs, Labour sources have said after a backbencher quit and triggered a by-election the Conservatives expect to win. http://bit.ly/2i2zkNt Sky News - The Polish driver of the lorry that ploughed into the Berlin market was still alive after the attack and was shot dead just before the hijacker fled, say reports. http://bit.ly/2i2vlAb - The chair of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has emerged as a surprise late candidate to lead the reconstituted board of the BBC. http://bit.ly/2i2ATe1 The Independent - Southern Railway is set to receive an unlikely "Christmas bonus" despite months of travel chaos and commuter misery, union bosses have said. http://ind.pn/2i2vDY1 - Rolls-Royce has denied reports that it avoided U.S. sanctions by exploiting a loophole to sell equipment to Iran. http://ind.pn/2i2w0BT ($1 = 0.8089 pounds) (Compiled by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Hay) Dec 22 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** Latvia's ambassador to Canada defended a NATO decision to send a Canadian-led battle group to his Baltic country in 2017, after a Russian diplomat suggested this act of deterrence aimed at Moscow was a waste of resources that would be better spent fighting extremism. https://tgam.ca/2hd1oPO ** Members of the Chinese community have been asked for payments of as much as C$5,000 ($3,700) to attend private cash-for-access functions with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, amounts that exceed federal contribution limits. As part of an ongoing review of fundraising activities by the Liberal Party, the Globe and Mail spoke with invitees who described requests that suggest significant discrepancies between official ticket prices and the actual cost of entry. https://tgam.ca/2hKDV9e NATIONAL POST ** With its declaration that high-speed internet a basic service, Canada's telecom regulator is shifting its regulatory focus from voice to broadband. In a much-anticipated decision released Wednesday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission declared that all residents are entitled to access voice and broadband Internet services on fixed and mobile wireless networks. http://bit.ly/2iexpbR ** Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's policies may make drilling and investing in the United States more competitive in the short term, but climate change policies are still necessary long-term given both global trends and state level legislation in the U.S. http://bit.ly/2hfMBWe (Compiled by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru) Dec 22 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Brazilian construction company Odebrecht SA paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to officials in 12 countries in a scheme lasting two decades, prosecutors said. Odebrecht and its affiliated petrochemical firm, Braskem, pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court and together will pay at least $3.5 billion in penalties in a case brought by authorities in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland. http://nyti.ms/2i32qME - Uber Technologies Inc, which defied California state regulators who said the service was illegal, stopped the autonomous car program in San Francisco after only a week. http://nyti.ms/2i37PDp - The United States has placed a unit of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd back on its blacklist of notorious marketplaces known for selling counterfeit goods and violations of intellectual property rights. http://nyti.ms/2i35EQm - The board of California's state public pension system, Calpers, voted to lower expectations for future investment returns, a step that will increase pressure on the budgets of towns and cities across the state. http://nyti.ms/2i3fx0m - President-elect Donald Trump met with the chief executives of Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp and said his goal was to try to "bring costs down." http://nyti.ms/2i33iko (Compiled by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru) The Prince of Wales was speaking out after a recent wave of hate crimes targeting Muslims and other minority religions around the world. In the third airing of BBC Radio 4's "Thought for the Day," Prince Charles reminded listeners that various religions around the world currently remain under "evil persecution," encouraging tolerance and inclusion in the midst of the holiday season. The prince described an encounter he recently had with a Jesuit priest who fled Syria and told him of the harrowing experiences Christians face in their own homelands. "He thought it quite possible there will be no Christians in Iraq within five years," Prince Charles said in his Christmas message. "Clearly, for such people, religious freedom is a daily, stark choice between life and death." As the prince noted, the Syrian priests story is all too similar to the story of the Nativity, what he described as the fleeing of the Holy Family to escape violent persecution. But the ongoing oppression against minority religions globally isnt exclusive to Christianity. Prince Charles expressed his disbelief for the ongoing persecution of Muslims, Sikhs and other religions being targeted by hate crimes and persecution in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. He described the perils of World War II, in which his parents' generation saw global intolerance target Jewish communities during the Nazi era. "That, nearly seventy years later, we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief," Prince Charles said. The Prince of Wales also discussed the story of the Prophet Mohammad, who, like many other religious leaders, was "seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship." RTX2SAY4 Photo: Reuters Prince Charles ended his BBC radio segment by urging listeners to eradicate the "deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days." Story continues "Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same," Prince Charles concluded. "To value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God." Related Articles Photo credit: Jason Davisundefined From Delish Just as popular as the homes Property Brothers stars Jonathan and Drew Scott design is what's going on in their love lives-seriously, some of the top Google searches around them question whether they're married, dating or single, and if so, whether they're gay or straight-and this week, Drew inadvertently answered fans after getting engaged to his girlfriend of six years, Linda Phan. (For the record, Jonathan's also off the market.) The HGTV star may be known for renovating houses, but when it came to his proposal, he let someone else do the building-in this case, creating a four-tier, Dr. Seuss-inspired cake. The pastel-colored, topsy-turvy design emulates Phan's favorite book, Oh, The Places You'll Go, according to People. Photo credit: Facebook/Le Dolci "[It] looked identical to the mountain on the book cover, and the character standing atop the cake had the ring hanging from his finger," Scott told the magazine. He also specially designed the engagement ring, a 1.2-carat round-cut solitaire in a swirl setting. The sweet meaning behind @MrDrewScott's engagement ring for fiancee Linda Phan https://t.co/RkuQRYkKqm pic.twitter.com/SAUiB3UH9H - PeopleStyle (@peoplestyle) December 20, 2016 "I'm still in shock," Phan said in an interview on Today. Scott worked with Le Dolci Bake Shop in Toronto to design the cake, which featured layers of Belgian chocolate cake frosted in salted caramel Swiss meringue. The whole thing was covered in fondant and edible ink, so the bakery could make the towering dessert match every last detail of the book, from the Seussian font to the shading on the balloons. (One of the cake's designers even brought in her 4-year-old son's copy of the book, referring to it frequently to make sure everything was just right, bakery founder Lisa Sanguedolce told us.) Story continues Photo credit: Facebook/Le Dolci Even the bakery has special significance to the Scott family-the brothers have been going there for years, even filming an episode of Property Brothers there. Just a few weeks ago, Scott took Phan to the shop to bake a cake with her, which he recorded on Facebook Live. As fans asked when they would get married, he didn't say a word. "I'm sure he knew then!" Sanguedolce wrote via email. Photo credit: Courtesy of Le Dolci Scott didn't just present her with a cake when he proposed; he went all out, secretly recording Train's "Marry Me" a few weeks before the wedding. On the big night, he took Phan to a restaurant, which played his recording of the song as they brought out the cake. His bride-to-be was stunned. "When that came out, and when I was down on one knee, Linda was so confused," Scott explained. "After she said yes, I took her over a few doors down, I had-I flew in her family, my family, we had like 200 of our family and friends, all of her old high school friends and everybody together-to celebrate." Both brothers and Phan recently appeared on the Today show, where they discussed the proposal, and the lengths Drew had to go to in order to keep his plans under wraps. Often, he'd borrow Jonathan's phone-or members of his production team's-to make calls to the bakery, just so she wouldn't accidentally see a call from the shop. "Drew got a fake email address to use while this was all happening, he snuck off to record a song-guaranteed she either thought he was having an affair or that something was in the mix for the holidays," Jonathan said. He also joked that his brother's proposal also puts the pressure on him, as people suddenly ask if he's going to pop the question any time soon-and if he does, how he'll manage to top what his brother did. "I'm madly in love with this fantastic woman," he told correspondent Jenna Bush Hager, though the conversation changed course before he could elaborate on whether he, too, plans to get down on one knee in the near future. We'll let him make that announcement in his own time. Follow Delish on Instagram. You Might Also Like Russia should fortify its military nuclear potential and develop missiles that can penetrate any missile-defense system, the countrys President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. He also called for the balanced development of all branches of the armed forces, precision weapons, modern means of communication and inspection as well as electronic warfare systems. "We need to strengthen the strategic nuclear forces, for that we should develop missiles capable of penetrating any current and prospective missile defense systems," Putin said at a defense ministry meeting, according to Tass news agency. "We must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralizing threats to our country," the president said. Putin said that about 60 percent of modern armaments are currently in the Russian nuclear forces and there has been advancement of training level of troops. "The state of the nuclear triad that plays a key role in keeping strategic parity was maintained at the proper level," he reportedly said. Since last September, Russia has been involved in an air campaign in Syria in support of President Bashar Assad. "The Syrian army received considerable support, thanks to which it carried out several successful operations against militants," Putin said. Also on Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military has "tested 162 types of modern armaments during military campaign in Syria," including Sukhoi warplanes and MiG and Kamov helicopters. "They have shown to be highly effective," Shoigu reportedly said. Related Articles Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for the country to reinforce its military nuclear potential and praised the army's performance in its Syria campaign. In a speech that recapped military activities in 2016, Putin said the army's preparedness has "considerably increased" and called for continued improvement that would ensure it can "neutralise any military threat". "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems," the Kremlin strongman said. "We must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralising threats to our country." He said Russia's military had successfully demonstrated its capabilities in Syria, showcased its technology to potential arms buyers and helped the Syrian army make considerable advances. "The Syrian army received considerable support, thanks to which it carried out several successful operations against militants," he said. "The effective use of Russian weapons in Syria opens new possibilities for military-technical cooperation. "We must take maximum advantage of this. We know there is interest in modern Russian weapons from foreign partners." Russia began its bombing campaign in Syria in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad, with its special forces also operating on the ground in the country. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military had used "162 types of modern armaments during the military campaign in Syria," including its Sukhoi warplanes and MiG and Kamov helicopters. "They have shown to be highly effective," he said. - '35,000 fighters' - Shoigu produced figures for the entire campaign in Syria but did not mention any estimate of civilian casualties. Story continues Russian warplanes have "liquidated 725 training camps, 405 weapon factories and workshops, 1,500 pieces of terrorist equipment, and 35,000 fighters, including 204 field commanders," he said. The Russian airforce has conducted a total of 18,800 sorties and carried out 71,000 strikes since the start of its campaign, Shoigu said. "In general, the operation has allowed (us) to solve several geopolitical problems," he said. "We have considerably damaged international terrorist organisations in Syria, stopped their expansion... (and) prevented the breakup of Syria." Russia is prioritising its Asian partners including India and China for arms sales, he added. Shoigu said NATO activities along Russia's western borders have grown eight-fold over the past decade, forcing Moscow to send more warplanes to prevent breaches of Russian airspace. Next year, four additional S-400 anti-missile defence systems will be delivered to the army, and Russia will pay particular attention to its Western flank and the Arctic, he said. "First and foremost, we will continue to increase military capabilities... take measures to reinforce troops in the western, southwestern and Arctic strategic sectors," Shoigu said. (MOSCOW) The Kremlin hopes that Donald Trumps administration will help improve the strained Russia-U.S. ties that it describes as frozen, but it doesnt expect any immediate breakthroughs, President Vladimir Putins spokesman said Wednesday. Dmitry Peskov told Mir TV that the Kremlin expects the new U.S. administration to take a fresher and more constructive approach, while cautioning against excessive optimism. He warned that Washington would be unlikely to reverse such moves as the deployment of NATOs forces near Russian borders or quickly lift sanctions against Russia. We have never worn rose-colored glasses, Peskov said. We clearly understand that any U.S. president will first of all protect interests of his country. Peskov rejected the claims by Trumps opponents that the U.S. president-elect is too Russia-friendly, saying that was a reflection what he called Russophobia. We dont know yet what kind of president Trump will be and what position toward Russia he will take, Peskov said, adding that the two nations should talk about their existing problems. If our partners show the readiness to conduct a dialogue to search for solutions and to take mutual concerns into account it will mark a new approach, Peskov added. He rejected President Barack Obamas accusations of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, saying that Obama has repeatedly raised the issue with Putin but the Russian leader has strongly denied the claims. If such accusations are made, we have the right to demand an explanation, a proof and arguments. We havent been offered any of it, he said. Peskov said the U.S. election hacking allegations further dented the two nations already troubled relations. Dialogue with the United States has been frozen on practically all levels, he said. Story continues U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby responded by saying that the dialogue with Russia has continued despite their differences, stressing that diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues. ____ Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report. In a year-end speech to his top military officers on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin threw down the gauntlet, declaring that the Russian military, emboldened by recent adventures in Syria and Ukraine, is ready to defeat any country that dares challenge it. We can say with certainty: we are stronger now than any potential aggressor, he proclaimed. Anyone. He also made a pitch for bigger and badder nuclear weapons. Putin said Moscow must strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems. Putins remarks came just ahead of President-elect Donald Trumps own nuclear musings, on Twitter, of course. Trump, who betrayed confusion over U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities and policies on the campaign trail, tweeted his intention to overturn two decades of bipartisan U.S. policy to reduce the countrys nuclear stockpiles. The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes, he tweeted. But that only set the stage for the dramatic escalation in rhetoric that came Friday morning, when Trump told MSNBCs Mika Brzezinski, let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all. The comments came again after Putin spoke Friday morning in Moscow. The Russian leader appeared to try and ratchet down the heat a bit when asked about Trumps tweet, saying, as for Donald Trump, there is nothing new about it, during his elections campaign he said the U.S. needs to bolster its nuclear capabilities and its armed forces in general. While tensions remain high between the two countries over the war in Syria, Russian intrusions into the U.S. presidential election, and a NATO buildup near Russias European borders, the nuclear issue and the gradual drawdown of both countries stockpiles was one that had remained relatively quiet. Story continues The comments from two men who have expressed a willingness to work together to reduce tensions show how tough it may be to overcome great-power rivalries, driven both by Moscows desire to reclaim its place and a nervous NATO bulking up against a perceived threat. Former defense secretary and CIA director Bob Gates, who is advising Trump, told the Washington Post Thursday that one of the things he is focusing on is helping get the Russia strategy right. But hes also urging caution to U.S. allies. Weve never had a populist movement or political insurgency quite like this that actually captured the White House, he said. That means there will be more discontinuities in our foreign policy. Im telling people: Give us some space here and have some strategic patience. And dont overreact even to Trumps tweets. Putins speech at the defense ministrys headquarters in Moscow comes weeks before NATO is slated to deploy thousands of new troops to Eastern Europe and the Baltic states in an effort to reassure alliance members looking nervously over their borders at their Russian neighbors, who are themselves moving troops and tanks to the border region. But questions remain over the ultimate fate of the new deployments, as President Barack Obamas $3.4 billion European Reassurance Initiative which would put more U.S. troops in Europe could run up against President-elect Trumps campaign promises to cut spending on stationing U.S. troops abroad. The money will help fund the deployment of two more U.S. brigades about 8,000 soldiers in all to Eastern Europe and the Baltics next year. It will also pay for placing about 1,600 tanks, artillery pieces, and other vehicles in a storage facility in The Netherlands. The prepositioned gear is intended to allow U.S. troops to deploy more quickly. Other vehicles will be stored in Bulgaria, Estonia, Poland and Romania. We want to make sure we are sending a clear signal to Russia that we will not accept any violation of NATOs territorial integrity, Dutch Gen. Tom Middendorp, Chief Defense Staff, Royal Netherlands Army, said at the opening of the facility earlier this month. The wider plan will see Germany will lead a multinational battalion in Lithuania, with similar units to be led by the U.K. in Estonia and Canada in Latvia. The moves display very strong signals to allies and to Russia about American resolve, said Lisa Sawyer Samp, who directed NATO and European strategic affairs activities on the National Security Council until 2015. But Putin on Thursday warned that his government is adjusting plans to neutralize potential threats to our country. His Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu added that for the first time in its history, Moscow has blanketed the Russian border with early warning anti-missile systems, and announced plans to deploy more troops to Russias western borders with NATO, and to the Arctic. The NATO deployments and new Russian divisions establishing themselves just over the border from Ukraine and the Baltic states represent the most significant staredown between Moscow and the alliance since the end of the Cold War, and are heightened by the Russian practice of keeping NATO off balance by launching unannounced snap exercises with thousands of troops along the borders. One senior U.S. defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Foreign Policy that Russia has used such exercises as a pretext in the past to do things that are completely beyond the pale, like the 2008 incursion into Georgia, a precedent that makes NATO wary. Complicating matters is the Trump tweet, which comes a day after he met with a host of military officials involved in the U.S. nuclear program. While the message was vague, any increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal would be a radical departure from what the bipartisan trend in Washington has been since the end of the Cold War, said Kingston Reif, director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Association. Every president since the end of the Cold War has reduced the size of the nuclear arsenal, he said, noting that any change in that policy would be a very concerning and destabilizing symbol for the rest of the world about the U.S. commitment to reducing nuclear weapons. The Russians are certainly not growing the size of their arsenal. Washington has accused Moscow of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty by conducting flight tests of the missile in recent months, and officials have said they fear Russia is building more missiles than they would need merely for testing, sparking fears they could be deployed. As it stands, the U.S. government is slated to spend $1 trillion in modernizing and replacing elements of the nuclear triad in the coming decades, including new intercontinental ballistic missiles, and nuclear-capable bombers and ballistic missile submarines. Expanding the nuclear force could carry a similarly massive price tag, which would be hard to square with Trumps plans to cut taxes and reduce federal revenue. Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are now well enough to travel. On Thursday, a royal spokesperson confirmed that the couple is now at the queen's estate in Norfolk, England -- Sandringham -- after they delayed their travel on Wednesday due to the two coming down with "heavy colds." Queen Elizabeth, 90, and Prince Philip, 95, left Buckingham Palace by helicopter and landed in less than one hour. The queen is still scheduled to address the nation in her annual Christmas Day speech on Sunday. WATCH: Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Cancel Annual Christmas Trip Due to Illness Traditional Christmas activities for the royal family include attending church in the morning, opening presents, going back to Sandringham Palace for lunch and then watching the queen's speech in the afternoon, royal expert Katie Nicholl told ET earlier this month. The monarch has recently taken a step back from her royal duties, in order to reduce her workload. On Tuesday, she announced that she was stepping down as patron of 25 organizations. She will be handing over her patronage of certain groups to other members of the royal family including her grandson, Prince William, and Kate Middleton. On Monday, Will and Kate, alongside Prince Harry, continued their busy schedule, when they attended a Christmas party together hosted by youth support service The Mix in London. The Mix is a charity which offers confidential support to young people online, through social media and via a phone helpline. WATCH: Queen Elizabeth Poses With Prince Charles in Beautiful New Portrait Meanwhile, Harry's girlfriend, Suits actress Meghan Markle, is expected to spend the holiday in Los Angeles with her family. "[Harry] knows the rules of the royal family and he knows that until they get engaged, Meghan will not have a place around that Christmas dinner table," Nicholl previously told ET. "If you think about all those years that Prince William was courting Kate Middleton, she had to wait 10 years until she was invited to Sandringham. Harry and Meghan have only been dating for a few months." Story continues Watch below: Related Articles LONDON (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth, 90, and her husband Prince Philip, 95, left Buckingham Palace by helicopter on Thursday, going ahead with their Christmas travel plans following a day's delay because both were suffering from heavy colds. Elizabeth, the world's longest-reigning living monarch, and Philip had originally been due to catch a train from London to their Sandringham country residence in Norfolk, eastern England, on Wednesday. "I can confirm that The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have left Buckingham Palace and are travelling to Sandringham," said a palace spokesman on Thursday without giving further details. (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Stephen Addison) (Editor's note: Paragraph 3 contains language that readers may find offensive.) By Timothy Mclaughlin Dec 22 (Reuters) - A racist, expletive-filled rant caught on camera at a Louisville, Kentucky, mall has led to a permanent ban for a shopper and prompted an apology from the city's mayor. The video shows a white woman standing in a checkout line at a JCPenney department store in the Jefferson Mall and berating two women who shopper Renee Buckner, who posted the footage on Facebook on Tuesday, said were Hispanic. "Go back to wherever the fuck you come from, lady," the woman can be heard saying in the video, which had been viewed more than 7 million times as of Thursday. "Hey, tell them to go back to where they belong," the white woman continued after a store employee told her to mind her language. "They come here to live, then act like everybody else." The incident started, Bucker said in her post, when one of the shoppers added items to her friend's purchase, rather than standing in line. "(You're) probably on welfare," the white woman said. "The taxpayers probably paid for all that stuff." After one of the Hispanic shoppers appeared to try to apologize, the woman told her to "speak English; you are in America. If you don't know it, learn it." Sarah Enlow, a marketing director for the mall, said on Thursday that neither the woman who delivered the rant nor the women she was shouting at had been identified. The Jefferson Mall, which lists Macy's Inc and Old Navy among its other anchor tenants, said it would try to identify the woman and ban her from there permanently. "Jefferson Mall strives to create a comfortable and convenient experience for all of our guests, and we absolutely do not condone this type of behavior," the mall said in a statement on Tuesday. JCPenney said in a statement that it would not tolerate such behavior in its store. Once the victims are identified, the retailer said, it would reimburse them and further apologize. In a series of messages posted on Twitter on Wednesday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer called for tolerance. "I am sad and disappointed to see conduct like what happened at Jefferson Mall, when one person so dehumanizes another human being," Fischer said. "As a country of immigrants, we must understand we only move forward through peace, acceptance and embracing those who are different from us." (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Lisa Von Ahn) By Timothy Mclaughlin (Reuters) - A racist, expletive-filled rant caught on camera at a Louisville, Kentucky, mall has led to a permanent ban for a shopper and prompted an apology from the city's mayor. The video shows a white woman standing in a checkout line at a JCPenney department store in the Jefferson Mall and berating two women who shopper Renee Buckner, who posted the footage on Facebook on Tuesday, said were Hispanic. "Go back to wherever the fuck you come from, lady," the woman can be heard saying in the video, which had been viewed more than 7 million times as of Thursday. "Hey, tell them to go back to where they belong," the white woman continued after a store employee told her to mind her language. "They come here to live, then act like everybody else." The incident started, Bucker said in her post, when one of the shoppers added items to her friend's purchase, rather than standing in line. "(You're) probably on welfare," the white woman said. "The taxpayers probably paid for all that stuff." After one of the Hispanic shoppers appeared to try to apologize, the woman told her to "speak English; you are in America. If you don't know it, learn it." Sarah Enlow, a marketing director for the mall, said on Thursday that neither the woman who delivered the rant nor the women she was shouting at had been identified. The Jefferson Mall, which lists Macy's Inc and Old Navy among its other anchor tenants, said it would try to identify the woman and ban her from there permanently. "Jefferson Mall strives to create a comfortable and convenient experience for all of our guests, and we absolutely do not condone this type of behavior," the mall said in a statement on Tuesday. JCPenney said in a statement that it would not tolerate such behavior in its store. Once the victims are identified, the retailer said, it would reimburse them and further apologize. Story continues In a series of messages posted on Twitter on Wednesday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer called for tolerance. "I am sad and disappointed to see conduct like what happened at Jefferson Mall, when one person so dehumanizes another human being," Fischer said. "As a country of immigrants, we must understand we only move forward through peace, acceptance and embracing those who are different from us." (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Lisa Von Ahn) WORLDS APART Riz Ahmed is easy to likeand easy to worry about. With his wide, soulful eyes, disarming smile, and thin frame, the British actor projects a kind of gentleness bordering on vulnerability. Fans have fretted over his naive video-journalist assistant in Nightcrawler and his distraught accused killer on HBOs The Night Of. In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (out Dec. 16), he costars as Bodhi Rook, a former Imperial pilot trying to prove hes a good guy by helping the Rebellion steal the original Death Star blueprints. I was probably acting from an early age without realizing it, Ahmed says. I was a child of Pakistani immigrants, working-class background, and I had gotten a scholarship to go to a kind of white, middle-class private school. Id be skipping class and not turning up to play rugby and stuffbecause I hated itto go hang out with my homies on the streets. This chameleonism, it became second nature to me. GALACTIC DREAMS Ahmed, 34, was born a few months before Return of the Jedi came out, and as with most kids, the Star Wars films poured rocket fuel all over his imagination. I remember watching the first films with my big brother, and seeing these crazy images of Ewoks and AT-ATs and Jabba the Hutt and Chewbacca and Darth Vader, he says. We started acting out our own sci-fi movies at home. Wed run around the house acting out these space battles, going tush!tush!tush! for the explosions. His mother, who spoke Urdu, didnt call their game Star Warsshe called it Tush-Tush. She didnt quite understand what the hell I was doing, he says. Now you get it, Mom! Heres what I was doing. BIG BREAK After graduating from Oxford with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics and studying Shakespeare for a year at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Ahmed got his first role in Michael Winterbottoms 2006 docudrama The Road to Guantanamo. He also costarred in 2010s Four Lions, a pitch-black satire about bumbling terrorists, but he says he tried to steer away from too many of those parts. I came into the industry at a time where there were a lot of post-9/11 stories being told, he says. But I made a decision that I dont want to play characters that I feel are stereotypical or that feed into an us-versus-them worldview. MUSICAL INTERLUDE Rapping under the name Riz MC, Ahmed just finished touring to promote the album Cashmere with his band, Swet Shop Boys. The record is about otherness and identity, he says. One song, T5, addresses global travel in an age of racial profiling. During a politicized time that people are taking very personally, [the album] is an interesting combination for sure. CHICAGO (AP) Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's decision to release thousands of pages of private emails does not end a dispute in Illinois about public access to such emails from him and other officials when they deal with government business. Emanuel announced late Wednesday that he had settled a lawsuit by a government watchdog group over emails from his personal accounts, but it allows him and his personal lawyer to decide which emails are public records and which are not. It's not clear what emails were withheld, and the Emanuel administration said it still disputes whether the private emails were actually public documents. The watchdog Better Government Association said the group didn't have the time or money to keep fighting its lawsuit. But the Chicago Tribune, which filed a similar lawsuit, said it was not ready to settle for the 2,700 pages of emails the mayor's office released and will press ahead with its legal challenge. "It should not have required extended legal action to protect the public's right to this information," Bruce Dold, the paper's editor and publisher, said in a statement. ___ THE LEGAL BATTLES The Better Government Association sued the mayor in October 2015 to force compliance with a Freedom of Information Act request for official emails sent from Emanuel's private account. The Tribune had sued a month earlier, asking a judge to determine whether the mayor's use of personal email accounts to conduct government business violated Illinois' open records laws. Emanuel has argued that emails sent on private devices are automatically exempt from disclosure laws, but two Cook County judges have ruled against him. That included a judge who earlier this month ordered the city and the mayor to produce an index of certain private account emails and text messages. The settlement between the Better Government Association and Emanuel was viewed by some open-records advocates as a major victory. Story continues "This makes clear that public officials are going to have to produce the records they may take on private devices," said Don Craven, Springfield-based lawyer for the Illinois Press Association. ___ INSIDE THE EMAILS The emails clearly illustrate Emanuel's frequent attempts to engage with influential people in business, government and the media and the access they had to him on at least one private email address. They included David Plouffe, a top official at rideshare company Uber and President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager. Plouffe contacted Emanuel about the issue of signs that needed to be placed on vehicles doing pickups at the city's two major airports. When Alan Warms, an investor who contributed thousands of dollars to Emanuel's campaign committee, complained about a "HUGE uptick in crime ... in my neighborhood," the mayor responded within minutes that more officers were "just added' to the area and that he was passing along Warms' address to the police district. Emanuel also heard from hedge fund billionaire, Ken Griffin, who complained about a path on the lakefront that's used by pedestrians and bikes and asked whether the city could "accept private funding" to make it safer. Emanuel responded that Griffin's idea to paint speed bumps on the path was a good one. Just this week, Griffin pledged $12 million to create separate paths for runners and bikers. ____ WHAT'S NEXT Andy Shaw, the Better Government Association's president and CEO, told the Tribune that while it is possible a judge would have ordered more emails released after a protracted legal battle, the settlement accomplished its objectives of compelling the city to release private emails that deal with public issues and a pledge from Emanuel "that he wouldn't use private emails to do public business." He also said that while the agreement allows the city to claim exemptions and make redactions to certain emails, "If we feel they are excessive or inappropriate, we will see them in court." While the association's public records request sought all private emails from Emanuel and two aides that dealt with public business, the Tribune's lawsuit seeks emails on more specific topics and the mayor's private text messages. The settlement suggests that when the issue returns to court, the city will still make the argument that it didn't need to release the emails. "The parties disagree about whether emails stored on personal, non-city email accounts related to the transaction of public business are subject to disclosure under (the Freedom of Information Act)," the settlement says. With only weeks to go before the GOP-controlled Congress begins work on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republican lawmakers and staff are struggling to address potentially catastrophic effects of killing off the program without a suitable replacement in hand. Until now, GOP lawmakers biggest challenge has been to convince consumers, insurers, the hospital industry and others that the process will be gradual perhaps taking as long as two to three years to implement and that the 20 million or more people who obtained coverage under Obamacare and the expanded Medicaid provision will not abruptly lose their plans. Related: Want to Pay Less than Half for Your Meds? Join the Throngs and Try Canada However, it is now dawning on the Republicans that repealing the dozen or so major Obamacare tax increases along with the premium subsidies for low and middle-income Americans would seriously crimp their effort to devise and finance a substitute health insurance program down the road. Obamacare is financed by a combination of tax increases, Medicare tax increases and cost-saving measures, and other federal and state tax revenues. When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it required hospitals, the health insurance industry, medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies to share in the cost because of the huge profits they would likely accrue from millions of new paying customers. Republican critics of Obamacare have long derided these additional taxes especially the 2.3 percent medical devices tax, a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services, and taxes on brand-name drugs and health insurance companies selling policies on and off the government exchanges as millstones around the necks of businesses large and small. Related: GOP Sets the Clock for Obamacare Repeal as Health Care Groups Hit the Panic Button They have also targeted two other Obamacare tax hikes on the earnings and investments of those making more than $250,000 a year. Story continues But there is compelling evidence that if the Republicans go ahead next month and scrap all the taxes hikes as part of an overall repeal of the Affordable Care Act, they will not have enough revenue to finance a replacement plan. Obamacare operating costs are likely to total $1.24 trillion between 2019 and 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A new Brookings Institution analysis released earlier this week estimates that only 40 percent of that total or $496 billion would be available to finance a Republican replacement over that same period if all the existing tax provisions were scrapped. The Republicans could generate as much as $850 billion of the total needed through a number of budgetary and tax maneuvers, including the use of dynamic budget scoring to claim $200 billion of new revenues through economic expansion. There is also talk of capping the tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance to pick up another $100 billion or so. Related: 8 Big Changes Under Tom Prices Obamacare Replacement Still, they would fall far short of the resources they would need if they repealed all the tax hikes mandated by the ACA. These tax cuts would make it much more difficult to achieve a sustainable replacement plan that provides meaningful coverage without increasing deficits, wrote Loren Adler, a Brookings health policy expert, and Paul Ginsburg, a senior fellow in economic studies. Meanwhile, the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities warned in another report that Senate and House GOP leaders might attempt to raid the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs to underwrite their replacement plan should Congress repeal all of the existing Obamacare taxes. Given Republicans opposition to revenue increases, such as those used to fund the ACA, they most likely would turn to Medicaid and Medicare as their primary source of savings to finance a replacement measure, the report stated. Related: Heres the Problem With Trumps Plan to Sell Health Insurance Across State Lines According to The Hill, Republican House Ways and Means Committee members discussed the possibility of preserving some of the Obamacare taxes during a legislative retreat last week at the Library of Congress. While no firm decisions have been made by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), it now appears unlikely that the Republicans will seek an across the board elimination of all the taxes. Some of the Obamacare taxes could be preserved as part of a larger tax reform bill later in the year, according to the report. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Faith, boring and virtuous, is the dirge. Doubt is the thing that swings. And the hushed energy of doubt that drives Silence, Martin Scorseses radiant exploration of what it means to believe in the grace of God, or of anything. Silence is most easily categorized as a religious movie, and its certainly of a piece with Scorseses other pictures about belief and spirituality, The Last Temptation of Christ and Kundun, both of which rank among his finest yet also most underappreciated work. But Silenceadapted from Shusaku Endos 1966 novel of the same name, about Portuguese Jesuit missionaries facing persecution in 17th century Japanworks on so many levels, and is so hauntingly beautiful to look at, that no one should be turned off by the Jesus angle. Silence is something to see whether youre certain theres a God or whether you just believe in sunlight, which covers just about everybody. Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver play Sebastiao Rodrigues and Francisco Garrpe, Jesuit missionaries from Portugal who volunteer, fervently, to travel to Japan, where Christians are being persecuted. Theyve received news that their mentor, Cristovao Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who had been doing missionary work in the country, has caved in to pressure from the Japanese authorities and apostatizedin other words, disavowed his faith. Might they be able to find him? They pack up their almost nonexistent belongingsJesuits travel lightand begin their long journey, making a stop in Macau to pick up the rapscallion guide who has been chosen for them, Kichijiro (Yosuke Kubozuka). What they find when they reach Japan both defies their expectations and unnerves them: The devout Christian peasants who greet thempeople who have been almost literally driven underground for their forbidden faithcan hardly believe this blessing, that they finally have genuine priests in their midst. Rodrigues and Garrpe are stunned by the depth of the locals commitment and at first worry that they might not be able to meet these mountainous expectations. But Rodrigues warms to the job fairly quickly; Garrpe is the one whose anxiety never fully dissipates, and whose nerves begin to fray after too many days in the small hut where the two are kept in hiding, unable to venture out during daylight. One day, after Rodrigues, too, succumbs to cabin fever, the two sneak out to sun themselves on a rock. The scene is a gentle, almost imperceptible dramatic pivot: As they soak up the glory of natural light, they notice two peasants, unknown to them, staring in their direction. Framed by branches, half obscured by swirls of mist, these figures are a mystery, a promise, a warning of suffering to come. The sight of them, ghosts made of flesh and blood, is so visually bewitching that it seems to stop time. Silence is deeply attuned to the natural world, almost pagan in its fervid depiction of ruggedly gorgeous seashores and quasi-mystical leafy forests, courtesy of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (who has worked with Scorsese once before, on The Wolf of Wall Street) and Scorseses longtime production designer Dante Ferretti. (The picture was filmed in Taiwan.) But this is also a story told largely with faces, like that of the almost comically villainous Inoue (the marvelous, purring Issei Ogata), who attempts to grind the faithful down with logic, though he really prefer torture. Theres also Kubozukas anguished neer-do-well Kichijiro, who wears an unblinking mask that combines treachery and innocence in a kind of perverse purity. Kichijiro keeps denouncing Christianity to save his own skin, only to run back to Rodrigues for forgiveness: The turnaround time between betrayal and repentance gets shorter and shorter, becoming a kind of bitter slapstick. And then theres Driver, whose searching eyes and noble oblong face and could have been dreamed up by Francisco de Zurburan. The vision of Drivers Garrpe plunging into the sea, his long cartoon limbs flailing as he strives to save a group of peasants about to be executed for their faith, is one of the films most lingering images. Its a little strange to think of a film thats ostensibly about Christianity as one that casts a spell. But anybody who has grown up inhaling the scent of incense during massor believing that stabbing a consecrated host with a pencil is the surest path to Hellunderstands that Catholicism, in particular, gives off a heady, otherworldly perfume. When Scorsese shows us a group of peasants apostatizingone by one, theyre led up to a metal plate imprinted with an image of Jesus and exhorted to stomp on itthe sight of their muddy sandaled feet, sullying the sacred, induces a kind of trance like horror. Sections of Silence are difficult to watch for other reasons: Scorsese doesnt flinch from the grisly suffering of Christian martyrs, and he trusts us to be able to face up to it, too. Garfields dutiful, contemplative Rodrigues faces the most grueling trial of all. But to tell you whether he succeeds or fails would give the whole game away. Besides, the essence of Silence has nothing to do with failure or success. The nature of belief is far too variegated for that. Scorsese has wanted to make a movie out of Endos novel since he first read it, in 1989. In the introduction to a recently published edition of the book, he writes, On the face of it, believing and questioning are antithetical. Yet I believe that they go hand in hand. One nourishes the other. To that end, Silence makes no clear value judgment between belief and doubt. Its a movie in the shape of a question mark, which may be the truest sign of the cross. Paris (AFP) - The 100,000-euro ($104,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of Anis Amri, the Tunisian prime suspect in Berlin's deadly truck attack, is a rarity in Europe. Rather, the exceptions prove the rule, with rewards in recent years offered over war crimes, a political assassination and a far-left group's assault on the US embassy in Athens. Notorious Serbian war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic, who eluded arrest for 16 years, saw his bounty go up to 10 million euros ($14 million at the time) before he was finally arrested in May 2011 to face trial in The Hague. However, no-one cashed in on the reward, for the "Butcher of Bosnia" was tracked down through intelligence work. Rewards are rare in Sweden, but investigators made an exception in the still unsolved case of the February 1986 assassination of prime minister Olof Palme. An initial offer of 500,000 kronor was raised a hundredfold in November 1987 to 50 million kronor (5.2 million euros at today's exchange rates). The offer still stands nearly 20 years on. In 2007, Greece and the United States offered a combined $2 million reward for information after the far-left extremist group Revolutionary Struggle fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the US embassy in Athens. The presumed ringleaders, Nikos Maziotis and Paula Roupa, were arrested in 2010 but fled justice in 2014, when the reward offer was doubled. Maziotis was recaptured six months later but Roupa remains at large. Croatia, which regularly offers small rewards for information about murders or other serious crimes, offered the equivalent of 45,000 euros in 2003 for war crimes suspect General Ante Gotovina, who was later arrested in the Canary Islands. France has resorted occasionally to offering rewards, notably in operations to bust drug-trafficking rings, while Dutch authorities offer several dozen rewards each year for information on serious crimes such as murder and rape. But the practice is less common in Britain and almost unheard of in Denmark. Story continues It is rare in Austria and non-existent in Portugal, where media hardly ever even publish photos of wanted suspects. By contrast, in the United States the practice is well entrenched, going back to the Wild West days of Jesse James and Billy the Kid. The highest reward ever offered by the FBI was $25 million for information leading to the capture of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, killed in a US Navy Seal raid in Pakistan in May 2011. The United States last Friday matched that figure for the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, more than doubling the $10 million originally on his head to $25 million. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f31712%2f2e0e108a-c898-469a-ab38-f2afb47e722e Holy sh*t, where's the Tylenol? Eric Anstey, in Lower Sackville, Canada, might need it after standing in the pouring rain for 15 minutes recreating a classic scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. As part of his "12 Dares of Christmas," Anstey did a perfect impression of Cousin Eddie's infamous "sh*tter's full" segment, screaming the phrase at cars passing by. The series of dares serve as his personal effort to raise money for a scholarship in honor of his cousin Rylee Sears, who passed away last year of meningococcal meningitis at the age of 16. SEE ALSO: Cosplayers pull a 'Nightmare Before Christmas' prank on mall Santa The benevolent jokester shared a hilarious video on his Facebook page, with his wife's commentary. Im happy to entertain, but the most important thing for me was the donations and getting as much money as I could for the kids about to start their college careers, Anstey told BuzzFeed Canada. He was an outstanding young man, he was one of those kids that was kind to everyone. Polite and friendly, and really cared about people. While in Lower Sackville pic.twitter.com/5Qwy7QfLv5 Redsoxsgal (@Eastcoastsport1) December 18, 2016 The National Lampoon homage was the seventh and most popular dare in Anstey's series so far, surpassing 41K views since its release. Previously, he ate a habanero pepper, sang Christmas carols at Costco and took a two-minute ice bath, and has, so far, raised more than $3,000 in donations. You can continue to watch Anstey's dares and find out how to donate to the Rylee Sears fund on his Facebook. We can't wait to see what he comes up with next. Mashable has reached out to Anstey for comment. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f31667%2f82684ac4-3dab-4090-b8fd-cf3e885cdf93 LONDON Combining running and art isn't the easiest thing in the world, but one British man seems to have managed it. SEE ALSO: This clever pilot used flight radar to spell out a friendly message Owen Delaney is a 39-year-old network engineer living in London. In the run-up to Christmas, he's been using Strava the social network used by runners and cyclists to plan and track routes to create some splendidly festive patters. Here's a cheerful reindeer. Image: owen delaney/strava And here's a happy snowman. Image: owen delaney/strava The holly at the top of this Christmas pudding must have been tricky. Image: owen delaney/strava "It was just a bit of fun really," Delaney explained to Mashable. "The idea first came about a couple of years ago when I did something similar for an online competition. I didn't have any plan to carry it on after Rudolph, but my friends seemed to like it so I did the Santa one the next day, then I thought why not try and come up with something different every day up until Christmas." Delaney uses Strava's route plotting tool to map out his patterns, then heads out with his phone and follows the route using the Strava mobile app. He's then been sharing his creations on Twitter. Here's a nice festive bauble... Image: owen delaney/strava ...And a tree to hang it on. Image: owen delaney/strava You can't fault that sleigh. Image: owen delaney/strava This one may be our personal favourite. Image: owen delaney/strava There's some nice explosion detail around the cracker on this one. Image: owen delaney/strava This festive snowflake must have made for a slightly repetitive run. Image: owen delaney/strava Finally, here's the big man himself. Image: owen delaney/strava That last one, despite being the hardest to run, is Delaney's favourite. "Bushy Park is not exactly easy underfoot in some places, which left the eyes looking like he'd been at the sherry," he added. Delaney said he's been completely blown away by the attention his patterns have received. "It's great though, everyone seems to be enjoying it and it's bringing lots of smiles, and lovely comments from people," he said. "That's what's motivating me to keep going. "We could all do with something simple and happy this year I think." And in the future? Story continues "There'll be one every day until Christmas Day," said Delaney. "Then who knows, maybe New Year? Easter? A dragon for St. George's day? "That might be pushing my luck..." You can follow Delaney on Twitter and Strava to see his new patterns. BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Russia will supply Serbia with fighter jets, tanks and combat vehicles, a move that potentially strengthens Moscow's influence in the Balkans. The six MiG-29 fighter jets, 30 T-72 tanks and 30 combat vehicles come from Russia's weapons reserves. The jets will need immediate overhaul after delivery in March, which will cost between 180-230 million euros (between $188-240 million.) Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who secured the deal during his visit to Russia on Wednesday, said the Russian "donation" will "dramatically" boost his country's defense capability. Most of Serbia's neighbors are NATO members. Vucic said Serbia will remain militarily neutral despite the new weaponry from Russia. "The sky over Serbia will be absolutely safe," Vucic said. "That means we will have an advantage over those who would perhaps think of threatening Serbia in the future. We are not threatening anyone." Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has been sliding toward traditional Slavic ally Russia. The arms deal comes amid growing tensions between Serbia and neighboring Croatia, a NATO and EU member, and intensified Russian efforts to prevent the Balkans aligning further with the West. Many in Serbia are hostile toward NATO because of its bombing of the country in 1999 over a bloody government crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, something both Serbia and Russia reject. Serbia's labor minister Aleksandar Vulin said the arms deal with Russia is "historic." "Since the NATO aggression, we were never safer," Vulin said. "Now we will be able to defend our territories." Moscow (AFP) - Russia on Thursday laid to rest its envoy Andrei Karlov after a packed memorial ceremony in Moscow for the diplomat who was assassinated by an off-duty policeman in Ankara this week. Dozens of colleagues and relatives attended the ceremony for Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey whose death Moscow labelled an act of terror. Russian President Vladimir Putin laid red roses at the foot of Karlov's coffin and spoke with his relatives but left the ceremony without making a statement. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the deceased envoy, who was 62, and paid his respects to his mother Maria, widow Marina and son Gennady, also a diplomat, as the ambassador's body lay in state in a flower-decked coffin. "We are saying goodbye to our friend Andrei Karlov who became a victim of a malicious, vile terrorist attack while in the line of duty," Lavrov said at the ceremony held in the foreign ministry headquarters. "We will never forget Andrei." A religious service was then held at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill before the ambassador was laid to rest at cemetery north of the city with full military honours. In terrifying scenes captured on photo and video, 22-year-old policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas shot the ambassador nine times in the back on Monday while he was delivering a speech at an exhibition of photographs of Russia in Ankara. The envoy fell to the ground and later died in hospital. The assailant, who was off-duty and managed to circumvent the metal detectors by flashing his police credentials, shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and "Don't forget Aleppo" after targeting Karlov and was himself killed in a subsequent shootout with Turkish guards. - Killer's relatives released - Altintas had no prior criminal record but Turkish authorities have moved to link the murder with Fethullah Gulen, a preacher living in self-imposed exile in the United States whom Ankara previously blamed for orchestrating the attempted coup in July. Story continues Pro-government press had reported that police discovered pro-Gulen literature belonging to Altintas and sympathisers of the preacher in his circle. Erdogan went as far as to say that the killer "was a member of the FETO (Fethullah Terror Organisation)." Gulen has denied involvement in both the coup and the envoy's assassination, and Moscow has also refrained from assigning blame, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning against "rushing to conclusions" before the investigation is complete. A group of Russian investigators has been working on the probe in Turkey since Tuesday. Turkish prosecutors on Thursday said they have released six relatives of Altintas who were detained for questioning in the wake of the attack. Thirteen people were arrested in the murder probe and police were looking for 120 people, authorities said. Russia has bestowed a prestigious Hero of Russia honour on Karlov posthumously, while his alma mater MGIMO Institute of International Relations has initiated a scholarship in his name. Karlov studied Korean and Japanese as he trained for his diplomatic career and worked for many years in North Korea, including as ambassador between 2001 and 2007. He has served as envoy to Turkey since 2013. ASHLAND - Teens from approximately a dozen Nebraska communities gathered Dec. 10-11 in Ashland for hands-on training in anti-tobacco tactics at the No Limits Fall Summit Dec. 1011 at the Carol Joy Holling Youth Camp. No Limits is Nebraskas youth-led anti-tobacco movement for young people in grades 712. Summit sessions educate teens about ways tobacco companies target young people to become new customers. No Limits Youth Board member Tayte Jussel of ONeill says the event helps young people gain leadership skills and make an impact in their communities. "The Fall Summit will help me take the fight to Big Tobacco in my own town. My plan is to do a project with Christmas lights to illustrate that 1,300 people die from tobacco-related causes in the United States every day, said Jussel. I will put the lights in a tree on Main Street of my town and make a poster under it that says each light bulb represents a life taken by Big Tobacco. Molly Kincaid, No Limits project coordinator, says the tobacco industry continues to release new products and packaging designed to appeal to youth. Were seeing more evidence that products like e-cigarettes can actually lead young people to smoke traditional cigarettes, said Kincaid. No Limits helps teens raise awareness of tobacco-related issues and help their peers resist marketing messages of Big Tobacco. Most No Limits events are offered at no charge to Nebraska youth in grades 712. To learn more about future No Limits events and activities, visit NoLimitsNebraska.com or contact Kincaid at 866-394-8336 or info@nolimitsnebraska.com. Moscow (AFP) - A Russian military court on Thursday sentenced a 21-year-old student who tried to enter Syria after falling in love with an Islamic State jihadist to four and a half years in prison. Varvara Karaulova was detained last year after she tried to cross into war-torn Syria from Turkey while still a philosophy undergraduate at the renowned Moscow State University. Judge Alexander Ababkov said in court that the "criminal activity of the defendant continued for quite a long time" and that Karaulova had a criminal intention. He said she was a "supporter of radical Islamist views" and decided to join IS, aware of the jihadist group's aim to "create an Islamic caliphate." Karaulova was charged last year with preparing to participate in a "terrorist organisation", but pleaded not guilty, saying she was motivated by love for a Russian jihadist fighting in Syria. Karaulova, her dark hair in a pony-tail, looked calm as the judge read the verdict, watched by family members including her parents and stepmother. Defence lawyer Sergei Badamshin told reporters it was a "very harsh, unjustified sentence" and "we have already appealed." Prosecutor Mikhail Reznichenko said his side, which had requested a five-year sentence, was satisfied with the decision. Karaulova's lawyers argued that the authorities are trying to make an example of her to warn off other young Russians from trying to head to Syria, where Moscow is conducting a bombing campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Her father Pavel Karaulov condemned the sentence as "absurd." He told reporters outside the court that he now regrets having gone to the authorities when his daughter disappeared, saying: "I made a mistake... by turning to those who should protect our security." Lawyer Ilya Novikov said that sentence sent a message to parents in a similar situation that "you mustn't go to the FSB (security service), you mustn't believe the state." Story continues - 'Stupid escapade' - In her last words in court on Wednesday, a weeping Karaulova said her attempt to cross into Syria was "all a mistake, a very stupid reckless act." "I have realised all my mistakes and my stupidity," she said. "I dream of making amends for my guilt for all this stupid escapade." In 2012, while still a teenager, Karaulova met a man named Airat Samatov online and they wrote to each for three years without ever meeting. Samatov went to Syria in 2014 and told her he was fighting for IS. Karaulova converted to Islam and began wearing a hijab. She disappeared without warning in May 2015, prompting a frantic search by her parents. They found that she had flown to Turkey and travelled to the border with other women hoping to join men fighting for IS. Turkish border guards detained the group and she was forced to fly back to Russia with her father. Investigators initially said she was being treated as a witness before arresting her in October 2015. Her case is particularly unusual in Russia since her family is not Muslim. By Peter Hobson MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia staged a somber funeral ceremony on Thursday for Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey who was shot dead in Ankara by a man who shouted "Allahu Akbar" and "Don't forget Aleppo". President Vladimir Putin, who promised retribution after Karlov, 62, was killed on Monday, was among mourners, including relatives and fellow diplomats, who gathered at the Foreign Ministry building where the slain envoy's body lay in an open casket in Russian Orthodox tradition. Russia and Turkey say the assassination was a failed attempt to derail a rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara which has seen them cooperate more closely over Syria, even though they have backed different sides in the conflict. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laid flowers near Karlov's body in a ceremony in the marbled lobby of the looming Stalin-era skyscraper in central Moscow. Lavrov said Karlov had been the victim of "a despicable terrorist act". Putin, who has said he knew Karlov personally and posthumously awarded him the highest military medal of Hero of Russia, paid his respects, briefly sitting beside the coffin and speaking to Karlov's widow. Karlov was a Soviet-trained diplomat who worked in North and South Korea during the 1990s and 2000s and was sent to Turkey in 2013. His name was etched into a slab of pink marble on the wall of the foreign ministry building commemorating Russian diplomats killed in the line of duty. Proceedings moved to Moscow's gold-domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral later on Thursday where the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, led a ceremony. "He will go down in the history of the Fatherland," said Kirill. The envoy was buried later on Thursday in a cemetery in a northern Moscow suburb with military honors, his coffin draped in the Russian flag. "We must know who directed the killer's hand," Putin said after Karlov was assassinated. Turkish authorities have identified the assassin as Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, who had worked for Ankara's riot police. He was later killed by security forces. President Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the killing on the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, something Gulen denies. The Kremlin however has said it is too early to say who stood behind the murder. Russia has flown a team of investigators to Turkey to help with the investigation. (Editing by Andrew Osborn and Richard Balmforth) (Refiles to fix typo in number of training camps in 4th paragraph) MOSCOW, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Russian air strikes in Syria have killed 35,000 rebel fighters and succeeded in halting a chain of revolutions in the Middle East, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday. Speaking at a gathering of top military officials that appeared designed to showcase Russia's military achievements, Shoigu said Moscow's intervention had prevented the collapse of the Syrian state. "We are now stronger than any potential aggressor," President Vladimir Putin said at the same event at the Defence Ministry in Moscow. Shoigu said Russian aircraft had flown 18,800 sorties in Syria since the start of the Kremlin's operation there last year, destroying 725 training camps, 405 sites where weapons were being made and killing 35,000 fighters. "The chain of 'colour revolutions' spreading across the Middle East and Africa has been broken," Shoigu said. Russia's intervention in Syria is widely seen as having saved President Bashar al-Assad's forces from defeat and as being crucial to their retaking full control of Aleppo. Shoigu also said Russia's nuclear missile forces would next year be swelled by three extra units armed with modern weaponry and that the air force would receive five modernised strategic bombers. But Putin warned that while Russia's military power had grown substantially, "if we don't want that to change we had better not lose focus." (Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Andrew Osborn) Moscow (AFP) - In Russia, elderly women are usually expected to forget about fashion and watch their grandchildren. Not 71-year-old Olga Kondrasheva, who is fighting stereotypes by modelling for a glossy magazine. "I'm over 70 now but my life is just beginning and it's so interesting," says Kondrasheva, slim and sporting wavy white hair, a few minutes before a studio photoshoot for the Russian edition of Cosmopolitan magazine in central Moscow. With a lifelong zest for adventure, she used to take part in zoological expeditions to study wildlife across Russia and has worked as an extra in films. She admits she "never trained as a model", but says she has "always been fascinated by this line of work". "I'm discovering a totally new side to myself. When I've had my hair and make-up done and I've got a nice outfit on and there's some lovely music playing, it's wonderful," she enthuses. Kondrasheva found herself posing for the cameras thanks to a website called Oldushka ("Oldie") launched by photographer Igor Gavar. "I wanted to show that older people can work in the fashion industry and they can be beautiful -- even with wrinkles and white hair," he says. The site serves as an informal modelling agency by showcasing studio shots of Gavar's elderly subjects, who like catwalk queens a quarter of their age have been spotted in all kinds of places -- on the street, in a supermarket, and even a dance floor. Gavar has managed to organise numerous photoshoots for his dozen or so "muses", including 80-year-old former air stewardess Irina Denisova and 64-year-old Lyudmila Brazhkina, a retired engineer. Several striking silver-haired men are also on Oldushka's books, though of those who have scored shoots in Russian fashion catalogues, magazines and advertisements so far, all but one have been women. - 'Like a little holiday' - The retirement age in Russia is 55 for women and 60 for men. Many continue working long afterwards out of economic necessity -- and few look forward to retirement, knowing that years of money worries likely lie ahead. Story continues The average pension in Russia is only around $200 (185 euros) per month, but Oldushka allows its models to "earn a little bit extra," Gavar says. He and the model split the fees for any shoots secured through the website, which have so far ranged from $40 to $300. They say the work gives women a new lease of life and a confidence boost at a time when their main role in Russian society as "babushkas" or grandmas is to provide large amounts of free childcare. "It brightens up my life. Doing this is always so joyful, so positive," says Brazhkina. "And I enjoy being viewed in a different way during the photoshoots -- not the way I see myself in the mirror. It's like a little holiday!" she says, smiling. - 'Enormous potential' - Old age has been enjoying something of a moment in global fashion as feminists challenge traditional beauty standards and as the West comes to grips with an ageing population. Last year French label Celine chose 82-year-old author Joan Didion as its new face, while Dolce & Gabbana, American Apparel and Saint Laurent have all featured elderly models in recent campaigns. Russia faces a similar demographic trend as developed Western countries, with nearly a quarter of the population currently over retirement age, a figure expected to rise to 27 percent by 2025 -- 39.9 million people, according to the health ministry. Eduard Karyukhin, head of the Dobroye Delo ("Good Deed") organisation that works with elderly people, says "the stereotype of a retired woman who stays at home and looks after the grandchildren is changing". "Elderly people have enormous potential," Karyukhin said. "They just need help with organising their leisure activities." The women involved in Oldushka said family members sometimes find it hard to understand their new pastime. "My husband was very angry at first. He kept asking me: what are you doing this for?" said Kondrasheva. "But then he saw this was making my life interesting with lots of activity and it was keeping me fit. And now he is supportive." A pro-Russian rebel military vehicle convoy moves towards Donetsk , eastern Ukraine, in 2014. (Photo: Mstyslav Chernov/AP) The same Russian intelligence hackers who attacked the Democratic National Committee and stole thousands of internal emails used computer malware to penetrate the Android cellphone of a Ukrainian military officer, enabling the Russian military to target and destroy Ukrainian artillery forces in that country, according to a new report released Thursday by a top cybersecurity firm. The report is by CrowdStrike, the firm that was hired by the DNC last spring and that first linked the hack of the committees computers to Russian hackers it called Fancy Bear. Its new analysis further strengthens the case that these same Fancy Bear hackers are closely tied to the Russian military, said Dmitri Alperovitch, chief technology officer and co-founder of CrowdStrike. The same hackers that have stolen files from the DNC are engaged in the identification and targeting of Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, said Alperovitch in an interview with Yahoo News. This establishes a connection between Fancy Bear and the Russian military at an operational level. The deployment of Fancy Bear hacking tools in the Ukrainian conflict is, in one sense, not a surprise. Ever since CrowdStrike first published its report linking the DNC hack to Fancy Bear, the firm has contended the perpetrators were closely associated with the GRU, the name of Russias military intelligence service. But the new report being published Thursday would appear to make the linkages even stronger, suggesting that Fancy Bear hackers even used the identical malware to penetrate both the DNC and the Ukrainian military. According to its new report, the malware was likely initially designed in order to target a mobile app that had been developed by a Ukrainian military officer, part of that countrys 55th Artillery Brigade, to enable his countrys artillery forces to more rapidly fire D-30 Howitzers against Russian separatist forces, backed by the Russian military, in eastern Ukraine. Story continues The military officer, a Russian language speaker, in April 2013 surprisingly promoted the app as modern combat software on a Russian language social media site. This apparently drew the attention of the Fancy Bear hackers, who regularly monitor such sites, according to the CrowdStrike report. The hackers then developed a malware dubbed X-agent to infiltrate the officers Android app sometime in late 2014 a year of turmoil in Ukraine when then pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych fled the country following protests in Maiden Square, and military conflict broke out with an estimated 10,000 Russian troops moving into the country. The report says Russian troops then used the X-agent malware to pinpoint the location of Ukrainian Howitzers and destroy them. This resulted in potentially hundreds of Ukrainian casualties, according to Alperovitch. Relying in part on open source media reports and eyewitness accounts, the report notes that the Russians used drones to develop more precise locational data for Ukrainian positions, introducing the possibility that the Android malware served to support the reconnaissance role of traditional battlefield assets. But what may be most significant, according to Alperovitch, is that the same X-agent malware was later used by Fancy Bear to attack the DNC. We have ONLY seen Fancy Bear use it and no other group ever, he wrote in an email to Yahoo News. Its source code is also not publicly available and has never been seen on any underground forums. The FBI reported Monday that 1,197,704 violent crimes were committed in 2015, up 3.9% from 2014. While the increase is discouraging, it is by no means a crime wave. Some areas have serious crime problems, but there are a number of U.S. cities where violence is a rare occurrence. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed violent crime rates in major U.S. cities from the FBIs 2015 Uniform Crime Report. Violent crime includes all offenses involving force or threat of force and are broken into four categories: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. For every 100,000 U.S. residents, 373 violent crimes were committed in 2015. ALSO READ: America's 25 Murder Capitals Cary, North Carolina is the safest city in the nation with just 51 reported violent crimes per 100,000 city residents. By contrast, St. Louis, Missouri, leads the nation with 1,817 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Relatively crime-free cities can be found just a few hundred miles from some of the most violent places in the country. California is home to cities such as Irvine, Murrieta, and Sunnyvale, which have among the 10 lowest violent crime rates of all U.S. major cities. California is also home to some of the most violent cities in the country, including Oakland, which is just 40 miles from Sunnyvale. In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Nancy La Vigne, director of the Justice Policy Center at nonprofit economic and social policy research organization the Urban Institute, noted the highly localized nature of violence in the United States. We see no connection between state policies and where these [crime] trends are up or down, La Vigne said. Because many diverse and complex factors can affect violence in a community, it is very difficult to predict and address violent crime. For example, some cities attempt to curb gang violence by increasing enforcement. These efforts, however, are usually unsuccessful, if you dont look at issues around structural inequality and reasons why kids may be compelled to join gangs to begin with, La Vigne explained. Story continues For example, in many cases, the reason for the lack of violence is the presence of more lawful activities, including -- La Vigne noted -- employment opportunities. The unemployment rate is below the national rate of 5.3% in 20 of the 25 cities with the lowest violent crime rates. Several other social and economic factors have been tied to low violent crime. The vast majority of cities with the lowest violent crime rates tend to also report very high incomes, low poverty, and high educational attainment. To identify the 25 safest U.S. cities, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed violent crime rates in cities with at least 100,000 people from the FBIs 2015 Uniform Crime Report released Monday. The total number and rates of murder, non negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, which are included in the violent crime rate, as well as burglaries, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson all classified as property crime also came from the FBIs report. We also considered these data for each year from 2011 through 2015. Annual unemployment rates for 2015 came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Median household income, poverty rates, the percentage of adults with at least a bachelors degree, population, and the percentage of adults with at least a high school diploma came from the U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey (ACS). These are Americas 25 safest cities. 25. Virginia Beach, Virginia > Violent crimes per 100,000: 138.3 > 2015 murders: 19 > Poverty rate: 8.3% > Unemployment rate: 4.3% There were 138 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in Virginia Beach in 2015, roughly one-third the national violent crime rate. Of the 626 violent crimes that were reported in the city that year, there were 234 aggravated assault incidents, 270 robberies, 103 rapes, and 19 murders. The number of murders reported in Virginia Beach is exceptionally high compared with other relatively safe cities, most of which reported no more than two murders last year. Crime tends to be less prevalent in more affluent areas. Virginia Beach is one such area, with a poverty rate of just 8.3%, or nearly half the national poverty rate of 15.6%. 24. Simi Valley, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 136.5 > 2015 murders: 1 > Poverty rate: 6.6% > Unemployment rate: 5.0% Like residents of most of the nations safest cities, Simi Valley residents are well-off financially. The typical household earns $89,595 a year, the 13th highest median household income of major U.S. cities and considerably higher than the national median household income of $53,482. Low violent crime levels are tied to the affluence of a citys population. In these cities there are often more lawful activities -- employment opportunities, for example -- available to residents. 23. Arvada, Colorado > Violent crimes per 100,000: 135.2 > 2015 murders: 2 > Poverty rate: 8.4% > Unemployment rate: 3.6% While there is no evidence that unemployed individuals are more likely to commit violence than individuals who are employed, cities with low crime rates tend to also have relatively healthy job markets. Arvada is one such city -- just 3.6% of the workforce is unemployed, well below the national annual rate of 5.3%. ALSO READ: The Most Expensive City in Each State 22. Provo, Utah > Violent crimes per 100,000: 132.7 > 2015 murders: 0 > Poverty rate: 30.1% > Unemployment rate: 3.0% The FBI did not document a single murder or nonnegligent manslaughter in Provo last year, one of only a handful of major U.S. cities where such killings were practically nonexistent. As is almost always the case, aggravated assaults made up the majority of violent incidents in Provo. At 67 incidents per 100,000, Provo's aggravated assault rate is less than a third of the national rate of 237 aggravated assaults per 100,000 Americans. Compared with other relatively safe cities, Provos poverty rate is exceptionally high. At over 30% it is close to double the national poverty rate. 21. Round Rock, Texas > Violent crimes per 100,000: 131.9 > 2015 murders: 1 > Poverty rate: 9.8% > Unemployment rate: 3.2% With a violent crime rate of 132 incidents per 100,000, well under half the national rate of 373 per 100,000, Round Rock is one of the safest cities in the United States. However, violent crime rose by 33.0% over the five years through 2015, among the largest spikes of any major U.S. city. Specifically, there was a 61.2% surge in the number of aggravated assaults, the eighth largest such increase. Round Rocks dramatic population growth over that time of 13.7% can partly explain the increase in the number of crimes. Still, crime levels remain low, likely explained by the same economic factors that attract residents to the city. Fewer than 10% of residents live in poverty, and just 3.2% of the workforce is unemployed, each among the lowest such percentages of any major city. 20. Olathe, Kansas > Violent crimes per 100,000: 131.3 > 2015 murders: 3 > Poverty rate: 7.4% > Unemployment rate: 3.3% Crime is often less prevalent in cities with low poverty and unemployment, which could help explain why Olathe is one of the safest cities in the country. Just 7.4% of Olathe residents live in poverty and just 3.3% of workers are unemployed, far lower than the national poverty and unemployment rates of 15.6% and 5.3%, respectively. While Olathe is one of the safest cities, crime is on the rise. The number of violent crimes rose by 75.2% between in 2015, the sharpest increase of any U.S. city. 19. Surprise, Arizona > Violent crimes per 100,000: 130.7 > 2015 murders: 2 > Poverty rate: 11.0% > Unemployment rate: 5.6% Just 131 violent crimes were reported per 100,000 Surprise residents in 2015, far fewer than the national rate of 373 violent crimes per 100,000 Americans. While Surprise remains one of the safest cities in the country, 2015 was far more dangerous than in the previous year. The 22.6% jump in the number of violent crimes, one of the sharpest increases of any U.S. city, was driven by greater numbers of rapes and aggravated assaults last year. 18. Corona, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 129.6 > 2015 murders: 5 > Poverty rate: 11.3% > Unemployment rate: 5.2% There were just 130 violent crimes per 100,000 Corona residents in 2015, much lower than the national crime rate of 373 per 100,000. While Corona is one of the safest cities in the country, crime has been on the rise. The number of violent crimes reported in the city rose by 24% last year, one of the sharpest increases of any major U.S. city. In response to the spike in crime, the Corona police department initiated an investigation into local gang activity earlier this year. In a single sweep of the city, the police department made 52 arrests and seized an estimated $1.6 million worth of drugs. 17. Santa Clara, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 126.3 > 2015 murders: 1 > Poverty rate: 9.0% > Unemployment rate: 3.7% Just 126 violent crimes per 100,000 residents were reported in Santa Clara in 2015, among the lowest of any city in the country. Violent crime tends to be less common in wealthier areas, and the affluence of Santa Claras population may partially explain the citys low crime rate. The typical household in Santa Clara earns $93,840 a year, the seventh highest median income of any large U.S. city. Also, Santa Clara's low unemployment rate, at 3.7%, reflects a healthy job market. In such economic conditions, residents are less likely to turn to criminal activities out of necessity. ALSO READ: The Worst Companies to Work For 16. Centennial, Colorado > Violent crimes per 100,000: 125.9 > 2015 murders: 1 > Poverty rate: 5.2% > Unemployment rate: 3.6% Crime tends to be less prevalent in areas with low poverty and low unemployment, as fewer crimes are committed out of financial necessity and more legal economic opportunities are available, for example. In Centennial, just 5.2% of residents live in poverty, and 3.6% of workers are unemployed, far lower than the national poverty and unemployment rates. Also, 97.4% of Centennial adults have at least a high school diploma, the largest share in the country. The high educational attainment rate likely helps keep unemployment low and therefore help keep crime levels also low. 15. Orange, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 122.4 > 2015 murders: 7 > Poverty rate: 12.6% > Unemployment rate: 4.2% While Orange is one of the safest cities in the country, crime there is on the rise. Even as the population fell, there was a 21.1% increase in the number of violent crimes between in 2015, one of the sharpest spikes in crime nationwide. In 2014, California passed a law that reduced prison sentences for certain drug offenders. The Orange County Sheriff's Department attributed the crime increase to the law, claiming it would lead to potential repeat offenders returning from prison sooner. The number of burglaries in Orange surged by 43.4%, the fourth most of any city. 14. Cape Coral, Florida > Violent crimes per 100,000: 116.8 > 2015 murders: 0 > Poverty rate: 13.7% > Unemployment rate: 5.1% With just 117 violent crimes reported per 100,000 residents in 2015, Cape Coral is the safest city in Florida and one of the safest in the country. Crime is also steadily declining in the area. Even as the Cape Coral population increased by more than 5,000 residents in 2015, the number of reported violent crimes fell by 16.1% -- one of the best improvements in the country. The number of property crimes also fell significantly last year. 13. Bellevue, Washington > Violent crimes per 100,000: 109.7 > 2015 murders: 2 > Poverty rate: 8.0% > Unemployment rate: 4.0% Just 110 violent crimes were reported per 100,000 Bellevue residents in 2015, the lowest rate in Washington and one of the lowest nationwide. While Bellevue has a fairly low violent crime rate, it has a relatively high property crime rate. The area's property crime rate of 3,126 incidents -- of burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson -- per 100,000 residents is higher than the national rate by about 600 incidents. 12. Woodbridge, New Jersey > Violent crimes per 100,000: 109.0 > 2015 murders: 1 > Poverty rate: 6.1% > Unemployment rate: 0.0% There were just 109 violent crimes reported per 100,000 residents in Woodbridge in 2015, among the lowest per capita of any U.S. city. Crime tends to be less prevalent in more affluent areas, and Woodbridge is no exception. The typical household in the city earns $86,506 annually, far more than the $53,482 the typical household earns nationwide. Similarly, just 6.1% of Woodbridge residents live in poverty, the sixth smallest share of any city. 11. McAllen, Texas > Violent crimes per 100,000: 108.1 > 2015 murders: 2 > Poverty rate: 26.4% > Unemployment rate: 5.0% One of the poorest cities in the country, McAllens poverty rate of 26.4% is far more than the national poverty rate of 15.6%. While crime tends to be more prevalent in less wealthy areas, McAllen is one of the safest cities in the country. Just 108 violent crimes were reported per 100,000 residents in 2015, less than in all but 10 cities. One reason for the low crime rate may be McAllens location along the U.S.-Mexico border. Many government agencies -- including Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement among others -- help police enforce the law in border towns such as McAllen. Perhaps due to the additional enforcement, border towns are often safer than most large U.S. cities. ALSO READ: The Best Charities to Donate to This Year! 10. Thousand Oaks, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 104.6 > 2015 murders: 0 > Poverty rate: 7.0% > Unemployment rate: 5.5% Crime is often less prevalent in high income areas, and the affluence of Thousand Oaks may partially explain the low level of violence in the city. The typical household in the city earns $99,115 a year, the fifth highest median income of any major U.S. city. Also, just 7.0% of residents live in poverty, less than half the 15.6% national poverty rate. Living in economically disadvantaged areas can strain relationships, lead to financial distress, and encourage illegal behavior. The absence of these factors has likely helped reduce violence in Thousand Oaks. 9. Sunnyvale, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 103.6 > 2015 murders: 1 > Poverty rate: 7.9% > Unemployment rate: 3.7% Sunnyvale is one of many California cities among the safest in the country. There were just 104 violent crimes per 100,000 Sunnyvale residents in 2015, among the lowest of any U.S. city. Crime is less common in wealthy areas where residents have access to a healthy job market. The typical Sunnyvale household earns $103,257 annually, nearly double the national median income. Similarly, just 3.7% of the Sunnyvale workforce is unemployed, one of the lower unemployment rates nationwide. 8. Temecula, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 102.1 > 2015 murders: 1 > Poverty rate: 8.2% > Unemployment rate: 4.8% While Temecula is one of the safest places in the country, crime is on the rise. The number of violent crimes rose by 14% between last year, one of the sharper increases of any U.S. city. Like in many cities in California, the police department in Temecula has attributed the uptick in crime to Californias recent reductions of prison sentences for certain drug offenders. The number of property crimes -- burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson -- in Temecula increased substantially in 2015. 7. Glendale, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 96.4 > 2015 murders: 5 > Poverty rate: 14.7% > Unemployment rate: 6.5% There were fewer than 100 violent crimes per 100,000 Glendale residents in 2015, the seventh lowest rate of any city in the country. At 1,737 incidents per 100,000 residents, Glendales property crime rate is also relatively low. By contrast, there were 2,487 property crimes reporter per 100,000 people nationwide. While crime is often less common in wealthy areas with favorable economic conditions like low unemployment, Glendales population is actually slightly less affluent than is common in Americas safest cities. The median annual household income in Glendale of $52,451 is about $1,000 lower than the national figure. Similarly, Glendale's 6.5% unemployment rate is slightly higher than the national unemployment rate. 6. Frisco, Texas > Violent crimes per 100,000: 91.0 > 2015 murders: 2 > Poverty rate: 4.2% > Unemployment rate: 2.9% Just 91 violent crimes were reported per 100,000 residents in Frisco in 2015, less than in all but five U.S. cities. Crime is often less prevalent in wealthy areas with low unemployment, as fewer crimes are committed out of financial necessity, more lawful opportunities tend to be available, and the financial distress that can lead to violence is less common. In Frisco, the typical household earns $112,155 annually, the highest median household income in the country. Also, the 2.9% unemployment rate is tied for the fourth lowest of any city. 5. Naperville, Illinois > Violent crimes per 100,000: 87.0 > 2015 murders: 0 > Poverty rate: 4.3% > Unemployment rate: 4.5% There is often less crime in wealthy areas with low poverty, and Naperville is no exception. The typical Naperville household earns $109,512 annually, the second highest median income of any large U.S. city. Similarly, the 4.3% poverty rate is the second lowest. The drivers of crime levels appear to be very localized. While suburban Naperville is one of the safest cities in the country, neighboring Chicago is one of the most dangerous. There were 478 reported murders or instances of nonnegligent manslaughter in Chicago in 2015, more than in any other city in the country. ALSO READ: Cities With the Shortest Life Expectancy in Every State 4. Gilbert, Arizona > Violent crimes per 100,000: 71.6 > 2015 murders: 2 > Poverty rate: 6.8% > Unemployment rate: 4.2% Five years ago 84 violent crimes were reported per 100,000 residents in Gilbert. Even then, the city was among the safest, and the crime rate has fallen since then. Just 72 violent crimes were reported per 100,000 Gilbert residents in 2015, the fourth lowest rate of any large U.S. city. According to Arizonas local CBS channel, Gilbert's police attribute the drop in crime to its use of data in its recently implemented crime tracking system. 3. Murrieta, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 63.0 > 2015 murders: 0 > Poverty rate: 7.9% > Unemployment rate: 5.4% Murrieta residents reported just 63 crimes per 100,000 people in 2015, the third lowest violent crime rate of any city. There were also just 1,553 property crimes per 100,000 residents, far lower than the national figure. While the Murrieta violent crime rate remained unchanged compared to 2014, however, the property crime rate increased substantially. Like many cities in California, the Murrieta police department attributes the spike in property crime to a state law passed in 2014, which reduced prison sentences for certain drug offenders. The 16.6% increase in the number of property crimes in Murrieta is in stark contrast with the 2.6% nationwide decline. 2. Irvine, California > Violent crimes per 100,000: 55.8 > 2015 murders: 2 > Poverty rate: 12.4% > Unemployment rate: 3.3% Nearly two-thirds of adults living in Irvine have at least a bachelors degree, one of the highest proportions of any city in the nation and a very strong indication of the prosperity that tends to accompany high educational attainment rates. In turn, such prosperity tends to help keep crime levels low. In relatively safe cities, there tend to be more lawful opportunities for residents, which reduces the likelihood of violence. With an unemployment rate of 3.3%, one of the lowest rates, Irvine workers have access to more jobs, for example. 1. Cary, North Carolina > Violent crimes per 100,000: 50.5 > 2015 murders: 5 > Poverty rate: 6.7% > Unemployment rate: 3.8% No city is safer than Cary, where just 51 violent incidents were reported last year for every 100,000 city residents -- a fraction of the national violent crime rate of 373 per 100,000 people. Also, while violent crime is up across the nation, the number of incidents in Cary dropped by 17.3% last year. In addition to safe neighborhoods, Cary residents enjoy high incomes, low poverty, and a healthy job market. The typical household earns $91,481 annually versus the national median of $53,482. The city's poverty rate of 6.7% is less than half the national rate of 15.6%. And, 3.8% of the workforce is unemployed, well below the 2015 national jobless rate of 5.3%. Related Articles LAPPEENRANTA, Finland (AP) Santa and Father Frost, not tanks and troops, have met up at the busiest border crossing between Russia and Finland. But despite the jovial ho-ho-hos in the annual show of seasonal goodwill and neighborly friendship, there lies an increasing disquiet in the Nordic nation. Finland shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia and is preparing to celebrate a centenary of independence from its huge eastern neighbor. Yet Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 remains an uneasy reminder that current borders can be changed by force. Hannu Himanen, a senior security adviser at Finland's Foreign Ministry, says Finnish-Russian relations are "correct ... and as good as they can be" in the current environment. "It has annexed Crimea. It is ... supporting a war, an armed conflict, in Ukraine which has caused a lot of anxiety in Europe, including also northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region," Himanen told The Associated Press. "The government doesn't see Russia as a threat but one could say Russia today is a source of concern. We have to watch Russia's behavior." Finland's independence festivities begin with fireworks on New Year's Eve and last through the night into 2017, followed by scores of events during the year, culminating in the president's ball on Dec. 6, marking the day that Parliament declared independence from Russia in 1917. "Independence is particularly important to Finns. We have a history of fighting for our independence either literally on the battlefield or then in terms of keeping a small society together," said Charly Salonius-Pasternak, senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. "Most Finns I know, in some ways, are planning on celebrating 100 years." Preparations continue amid tensions in the Baltic Sea region, where non-aligned neighbors Finland and Sweden have watched Moscow's growing military muscle, including airspace violations by Russian military aircraft and the deployment of missiles in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. In a counter move, NATO has increased its presence in Baltic member states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Story continues Finns are used to regional conflict. After 700 years of Swedish rule, the area known as Finland served as a battlefield for Russian-Swedish conflicts and in 1809 it fell into Russian hands. However, as an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire, it was allowed to develop politically including forming a parliament eventually leading to independence in the turmoil surrounding the Russian Revolution. That independence proved difficult later on. After an attack by Stalin's Red Army in 1939, Finland was drawn into two bitter wars, eventually forcing the evacuation of 400,000 people and ceding more than 10 percent of its territory to the Soviet Union, in line with the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties. Salonius-Pasternak says that invasion attempt made the Finns increasingly wary of their geopolitical position. "In terms of the actual battlefield, (Finland) kept its territory. This makes most Finns quite proud of this Herculean effort but because of this and the experiences from the second World War there's a recognition that if you live next to big country you have to take them into consideration," he said. During the Cold War, Finland walked a fine line between East and West, subjecting foreign policy decisions for the Kremlin's approval in exchange for tacit permission to develop a capitalist economy. Now the threats are of a different nature cyberattacks, social media "trolls" and disinformation and propaganda campaigns all believed to be orchestrated by Moscow, causing worry not just in government circles. "There is enough circumstantial evidence and there are clear cases where pro-Russian accounts in the social media spread information, part of which is false and fake and invented," Himanen said. Johan Backman, a pro-Russia activist at the Kremlin-funded Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, brushes off the criticism, saying that Finnish and European governments are afraid of what he calls "true information." "Actually, Russian media is quite modest. (It) is delivering information about Russian decision-making and the brilliance of the Russian leadership, so it's not propaganda," he said. Meanwhile, the "Santa summit" at Nuijamaa on Finland's eastern border took place Monday, with Russia's Father Frost and his granddaughter, Snow Maiden, arriving through a border no man's land to meet the Finnish Santa Claus. "Truth be told, our nations have been friends for a very, very long time," Father Frost said. "Friendship does not have borders territorially. I want to congratulate all, all of the people of the world with the approaching New Year. And let all your dreams come true. Happy New Year." By Marwa Rashad and Andrew Torchia RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it had succeeded in cutting a huge state budget deficit caused by low oil prices and would increase government spending in 2017 to support flagging economic growth. The announcement appeared likely to reassure global investors worried about the kingdom's ability to cope with shrunken oil revenues. The riyal came under speculative pressure this year but currency jitters have eased in recent months. "The public finances havent improved on this scale since the early 1990s, following the end of the Gulf War," said Jason Tuvey, Middle East economist at London-based Capital Economics. Nevertheless, analysts said Saudi Arabia's outlook remained uncertain. Some parts of the 2017 budget plan - including a big jump in oil income projected next year - were not fully explained, and the economy is likely to face more pain in coming years as Riyadh struggles to eliminate the deficit entirely. The deficit shrank to 297 billion riyals ($79 billion) in 2016 from last year's record gap of 367 billion, which was a mammoth 15 percent of gross domestic product. The original 2016 budget plan had projected a deficit of 326 billion riyals. Riyadh slashed spending on infrastructure and perks for civil servants to get its finances under control. For the first time in years, it kept its spending below its original budget projection in 2016; actual spending was 825 billion riyals compared with a projection of 840 billion. Revenues were slightly higher than expected at 528 billion riyals instead of 514 billion as the government raised cash with steps such as higher municipal and visa fees. These austerity measures sapped consumers' income and deterred private companies from investing - even though their investment is vital to diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil in the long term. Economic growth slowed to 1.4 percent in 2016, far below the average of 4 percent in the past decade, the government said. Story continues NEXT YEAR The 2017 budget plan may help growth pick up. Riyadh plans to increase spending to 890 billion riyals from the 840 billion originally projected for 2016; spending on infrastructure is to rise 69 percent. Domestic fuel and electricity prices will rise by unspecified margins later this year as the government reduces its subsidy burden, but to protect the petrochemical industry, gas feedstock prices will not increase before 2019. To offset the impact of austerity on poorer citizens, the government will introduce a system of cash payments to them. At the same time, the government projected higher oil prices and non-oil revenues would help it shrink the deficit further next year to 198 billion riyals or 7.7 percent of GDP. Some doubts continue to overhang Saudi finances, however. The budget projected oil revenues would soar 46 percent to 480 billion riyals next year, even though Saudi Arabia has pledged to cut its output under a deal with OPEC and Brent oil, at $55 a barrel, is only 25 percent above its average price in 2016. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Riyadh had based its budget on a "conservative" scenario for oil prices, but did not reveal a specific price. Higher domestic energy prices will help bolster oil revenues, other officials said. Several economists estimated the budget assumed an average oil price within a range of about $47 to $55 a barrel. Another uncertainty is the effect on the economy of Riyadh's drive to reduce the deficit to zero by 2020. A 5 percent value-added tax is to be introduced in 2018, which could hit consumer spending significantly. "It is feasible that the combination of expenditure reduction, new taxes, cutting of waste, privatisation plans etc. could allow Saudi to eliminate the budget deficit by 2020," said Nasser Saidi, president of consultancy Nasser Saidi and Associates in Dubai. "However, this would require fiscal adjustment by some 2 or 3 percent (of GDP) per annum, which risks inducing a recession." (Additional reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh, Noah Browning, Tom Arnold and Alexander Cornwell in Dubai; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Dear Doctor: Do I really need a yearly mammogram? Dear Reader: This might be hard to accept, but if you're woman at low to average risk of breast cancer, you probably don't need a yearly mammogram. That's not to say we shouldn't give mammograms their due. Mammograms can reduce deaths from breast cancer, and they're an important reason why breast cancer death rates have decreased over the last 40 years in this country. Studies have found a decreased death rate from breast cancer among women who have had mammograms compared to those who didn't. Now let's look at just how much benefit. The public health advocacy group the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force calculated that, if 10,000 women between the ages of 39 and 49 had regular mammograms for 10 years, it would prevent three breast cancer deaths. For the same number of women between the ages of 50 and 59, there would be eight fewer breast cancer deaths. And for women between 60 and 69, there would be 21 fewer breast cancer deaths over that 10-year time period. In short, the overall death rates were not significantly different between those women who had mammograms and those who didn't. This has especially been shown in studies in Canada and Sweden that compared the impact of annual mammograms with yearly breast exams from a health professional. In a 22-year Canadian study of 89,000 women, no difference in death rate was seen among women who had regular mammograms compared to those who had yearly breast exams with a health professional. This may point more to the importance of getting a yearly breast exam than the benefit of getting a mammogram. Mammograms also have downsides. A primary one is that they have many false positives, leading to more imaging, breast biopsies and significant anxiety for patients. Another is that many breast cancers, such as ductal carcinoma in situ, would never be of clinical significance, so finding them on a mammogram is of little benefit. That's not to say mammograms aren't useful. They do find breast cancers. But doctors and their patients need to discuss their risks and their benefits. If you're a woman who has a mother or a sister with breast cancer, or if you have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation that increases breast cancer risk, then a yearly mammogram after the age of 40 is a good idea. If you have a combination of risk factors -- such as having had your first baby after the age of 30, having later-onset menopause or having had an earlier onset of menstruation -- then a mammogram is likely a good idea. However, if you're at average risk of breast cancer and between the ages of 40 and 49, there is only a small statistical benefit in having a mammogram, which should be balanced with the risks of testing. If you are between the ages of 50 and 69, the benefit of a mammogram may overcome risk. At that age, you should get a mammogram every two years. If you're older than 70, keep in mind that breast cancer rates increase up to the age of 80, so the screening could have a benefit. But that benefit must be weighed against the likelihood of dying from something else. Here again, the recommendation is for a mammogram every two years, but you should discuss your individual needs with your doctor. Breast cancer screening is still evolving, with newer 3-D types of mammograms, breast MRIs and the possibility of biochemical markers to detect breast cancer. We'll need future studies of these technologies to assess their effectiveness at detecting breast cancer and reducing death rates. In time, the recommendations may change yet again. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Sazerac is plunging into Tennessee whiskey production, lining up veteran distillers to run things while continuing an expansion strategy highlighted by its earlier purchase of Southern Comfort. The family-owned, privately held company said Thursday it purchased a craft distillery in Newport, Tennessee, for an undisclosed price. Sazerac said it expects to begin producing Tennessee whiskey at the distillery in early 2017. "We see a lot of potential in the distilling capabilities of this operation," said Sazerac President/CEO Mark Brown. The acquisition was limited to the Avery's Trail distillery and does not include any brands, the company said. The distillery's best-known product was the Popcorn Sutton whiskey brand named after a colorful Tennessee moonshiner. Sazerac did not immediately say if the white whiskey will continue to be made at the distillery. All of the East Tennessee distillery's employees will be retained, including veteran master distiller John Lunn and master blender Allisa Henley, Sazerac said. Both bring considerable whiskey-making experience as former distillers of George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey. Sazerac looks forward to tapping their expertise "to start laying down true Tennessee whiskey," Brown said in a statement. Lunn and Henley said they look forward to creating a new Tennessee whiskey. The dominant Tennessee whiskey brand is Jack Daniel's, the flagship product of Brown-Forman Corp. "Anytime you're making a really good, quality product, there's going to be room for that," Lunn said in a phone interview. Sazerac said it hasn't officially coined a brand name for its Tennessee whiskey. Before production begins, the company said it has to modify the distillery's pot stills. Sazerac said it will follow what is known as the "Lincoln County Process," which requires whiskey to be filtered through maple charcoal before being aged in unused charred barrels made out of oak. The filtering requirement makes up the principal difference from making bourbon. Story continues Chuck Cowdery, an American whiskey writer and author of "Bourbon, Straight," said how big a player Sazerac becomes in Tennessee whiskey is "an open question." "It's a gamble," he said by phone. "It's not by any means a sure thing. It really remains to be seen if there actually is a Tennessee whiskey category, other than Jack Daniel's." Sazerac has an extensive lineup of whiskeys, vodkas, gins, tequilas and other spirits. Sazerac purchased the iconic Southern Comfort brand from rival Brown-Forman earlier this year in a $542.4 million deal that also include Tuaca, a premium liqueur brand. The company said it's long been interested in expanding to Tennessee whiskey. "As the American whiskey market continues to develop and evolve, we believe there will be further 'whisky style' segmentation within ... the category," said Sazerac spokeswoman Amy Preske. "We believe that Tennessee whiskey as a style will be a part of that evolution, and we want to fully participate in that evolution." Sazerac is looking to further tap into a growing market for American whiskeys. Combined U.S. revenues for bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey shot up 7.8 percent to $2.9 billion in 2015, up $210 million from the prior year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey exports in 2015 topped $1 billion for the third straight year. VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis launched an investigation Thursday into the ouster of a top official at the Order of Malta, the ancient aristocratic religious order, amid evidence that Francis' own envoy to the group engineered the removal without his blessing over a years-old condom scandal. Albrecht von Boeselager, a high-ranking official in the order for three decades, was removed as grand chancellor Dec. 8 after he refused to resign. One charge against him concerned a program that the order's Malteser International aid group had worked several years ago with other aid groups to help sex slaves in Myanmar. The trafficked women had been forced to work as prostitutes and were given condoms to protect themselves from AIDS, two people familiar with the case said. An internal investigation was conducted and von Boeselager admitted he knew about the condoms, which were distributed by other aid programs, not his. The Vatican was informed, Malteser International's participation in the program ended and an ethics committee was launched to ensure that future projects adhered to Catholic Church teaching, the officials said. Church teaching opposes artificial contraception. However, some Catholic priests and nuns in Africa and elsewhere have condoned the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS. Francis himself has said that "avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil" when, for example, women are at risk of the Zika virus. In a statement, von Boeselager said he had been asked to resign during a Dec. 6 meeting attended by Francis' ambassador to the order, the conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke. During the meeting, the order's grand master indicated that the request to resign "was in accordance with the wishes of the Holy See." However, no such request was ever made. Von Boeselager said since his ouster, the Holy See has written to the order "confirming that such a wish was never raised." Story continues By naming an independent commission to look into the case, Francis appears to be seeking an objective assessment of von Boeselager and his ouster without the input of Burke, who has been among Francis' fiercest critics. Burke is one of four cardinals who have publicly questioned Francis' flexible approach to whether civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion. Burke is a hard-liner on the issue, as well as on the absolute prohibition on the use of artificial contraception. Francis removed him as the Vatican's supreme court justice in 2014 and named him to be the patron of the Order of Malta, an ancient Catholic order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world and has an army of volunteers who respond to natural disasters and war zones. Burke had conveyed to the Order of Malta's governing council on Dec. 6 that Francis wanted von Boeselager to resign, the two people familiar with the case said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak about internal meetings. Burke warned that if von Boeselager wasn't removed, the Vatican would take over the order's properties, they said. On Dec. 15, a new grand chancellor was elected, John Edward Critien. In his statement, von Boeselager said he still considers himself the duly elected grand chancellor, albeit one who has been impeded from doing his job because of an ouster that violated the order's legal norms on several fronts. He said he has always felt bound by the teachings of the church and rejected the "liberal" label that his opponents have given him. "To contrive an accusation that I do not acknowledge the church's teaching on sexuality and the family, based on the sequence of events in the Malteser International Myanmar project, is absurd," the statement said. The pope's five-member commission of inquiry is made up of Order of Malta members who have close ties to the German-born von Boeselager. Francis also named a trusted Jesuit canon lawyer as a member. The knights trace their history to the 11th century with the establishment of an infirmary in Jerusalem that cared for people of all faiths making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. ___ Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield Whether it's the family dog or penguins at the zoo, many of us harbor a special love for animals. And for some, that passion leads them to pursue higher education and a career in the veterinary field. Whether you are pursuing preveterinary studies or you're already enrolled in a graduate veterinary degree program, there are many scholarships available to offset your education expenses. [Learn tips and advice on paying for college.] The Golden Meadow Kennel is dedicated to helping u ndergraduate students who are interested in preveterinary or animal husbandry studies. The kennel's $1,000 Pre-Veterinary and General Animal Husbandry Education Scholarship is open to enrolled students at any accredited college. In addition to the application, students must submit an essay detailing why they should receive the scholarship, their postgraduation goals and their plans for using the knowledge they've gained in college The Dec. 31 application deadline is quickly approaching, but students still have a few days left to apply. Graduate students from New England who are entering their final year of a four- or five-year veterinary program can apply for the VSTONE Scholars Award. The $5,000 award is offered by the Veterinary Scholarship Trust of New England. Applicants must reside in New England, attend an AVMA-accredited veterinary school or college and must intend to return to New England following graduation. Those not selected for the award will be el igible for smaller awards, as funding allows. The U.S. Army offers the F. Edward Hebert Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program, a full-tuition scholarship and $2,000 monthly stipend, to graduate students pursuing a variety of health fields, including veterinary studies. To be eligible, applicants must be U.S. citizens, have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and be accepted into or enrolled in an accredited graduate studies program in the U.S. or Puerto Rico. They must also qualify as a commissioned officer. Story continues [Nurture a veterinary education with these scholarships.] Recipients are expected to maintain full-time student status. They are also obligated to one year of service in the U.S. Army for each year they receive the scholarship. Many students interested in the veterinary field grew up with pets. Students can use their pet ownership skills to earn the Dog Fence DIY Veterinary & Pre-Veterinary Academic Scholarship. The scholarship is open to students enrolled full-time at an accredited institution in either a doctorate of veterinary medicine program or undergraduate biology or preveterinary studies program. All applicants must submit a 2,000-word essay on how to be a pet owner. They must also have a minimum 3.5 GPA. Undergraduate applicants must have completed at least the first two years of undergraduate education and have declared their major in biology or preveterinary studies. Pet ownership is a big responsibility and one that the John D. Spurling OBE Scholarship takes seriously. The program awards $10,000 in total to five distinguished veterinary students pursuing degrees in advanced responsible pet ownership. Applicants must be full-time students studying veterinary medicine, veterinary technology, physical therapy, animal care, animal behavior or grooming and training. They must be enrolled in degree or certification programs at an accredited institution. Awards are intended for use as tuition assistance and are based on academic excellence, community experience with responsible pet ownership and letters of recommendation. [Check out more scholarships for animal lovers.] For students passionate about animal rights and counteracting animal cruelty, consider applying for the Animal Compassion Veterinary Scholarship Award. This $500 scholarship is aimed at promoting future veterinarians that will help educate the public about fair treatment of animals. In addition to a proven history of advocating for animals, applicants must be enrolled in an undergraduate program at a U.S. institution that is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. They must also plan to pursue veterinary medicine in graduate school. Further, applicants must have a minimum 3.0 GPA and be able to demonstrate financial need. Veterinary students with a passion for horses can find scholarships to further their studies in this area. For example, the American Association of Equine Practitioners offers up to 36 $1,500 Winner's Circle Scholarships to veterinary students in their second and third years at universities with a national AAEP student chapter. Applicants must be national AAEP student members who are active within their school's chapter. They must also be in good accademic standing. The deadline to apply is Jan. 13. More From US News & World Report At the risk of stating the obvious, its been a big year for news. (Okay, maybe understating the obvious.) The U.S. presidential election, one of the biggest stories in years, unfolded over the course of 2016, and dominated much of public discourse. Add that to widespread police killings, to the Zika epidemic, to Syria, and it seems like, for readers of news, internet overwhelm reached a new level this year. Theres always too much to read, which means some great stories, for whatever reason, just dont take off. But through all thats happening in the world, we believe in the power of science, technology, and health stories to help us understand the world, and to help us understand ourselves. So, were recommending some of our favorite overlooked articles we wrote this year. We hope these second helpings find a little room on your holiday reading plate. And because were not immune, yes, some of them are about Donald Trump. Recommended: The Brainless Slime That Can Learn By Fusing As LED technology makes it cheaper to illuminate buildings, cities are becoming experimental spaces for an ancient form of visual communicationand not always for the better. Adrienne LaFrance | January 25 The danger of infusing light with political meaning is, of coursewho decides what the message is? Tillett told me. Lighting of buildings in particular, but public lighting in general, can have a strong coercive power. We are creatures drawn to light, and if you choose to broadcast your political message or advertise on the top of or on the face of a building, we will look at it, even if we would prefer to look away. The U.S. government can predict food insecurity before it occurs. But the warnings arent always heeded. Robinson Meyer | February 3 Despite the efficacy of early-warning systems, politics can thwart them. Five years ago, many experts who pay attention to food scarcity around the world started saying alarming things about the Horn of Africa Why was the famine not prevented? Thanks to the local militant group Al-Shabaaband U.S. laws preventing humanitarian groups from interacting with itfood did not reach many areas of Somalia in time or at all. Story continues In this episode of If Our Bodies Could Talk, senior editor James Hamblin talks with the president about what to expect from precision medicine. Recommended: The Case Against Reality James Hamblin | March 2 PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Is that your good side? JAMES HAMBLIN: Neither one is my good side. A disease called primary progressive aphasia gradually robs people of their language skills while leaving their minds intact. Ed Yong | April 1 Writing has become very difficult. I can manage to write at a good level for only about 10 minutes, and then I make a lot of spelling errors. I can no longer read a whole scientific paper in one go. And I can really manage one reasonable length conversation a day. Thirty minutes. Law enforcement can access privately-collected location information about carsand some low-income neighborhoods have faced extra scrutiny. Kaveh Waddell | April 22 Police, too, have used license-plate readers heavily in low-income areas. The Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted a request in 2014 for information about the Oakland Police Departments use of license-plate readers. When the advocacy organization analyzed the data it got back, it found that the readers were deployed disproportionately often in low-income areas and in neighborhoods with high concentrations of African-American and Latino residents. A biotech company is building devices that will allow people to decipher genes in remote jungles, at sea, or even in spaceand they say theyre just getting started. Recommended: How Obama Failed Black Americans Ed Yong | April 28 Parker foresees that we will enter a second age of genomics, one where sequencers will become like telescopes: a formerly boutique scientific instrument that you can now buy from a toy store. The Supreme Court struck down a law that would force many Texas clinics to close. But for abortion providers in conservative areas, staying open is just the start. Olga Khazan | June 27 For the first few years after the Midland clinic began providing abortions, there was an eerie quiet, as Holeva describes it. Then, practically overnight, the protesters materialized. One group wore matching Jesus robes. Another had what Holeva calls Mary on a surfboarda statuette of the virgin mother affixed to a plank. It was like a three-ring circus, she said. Designers obsess over revolutionizing products, but not everything has to be reinvented. Ian Bogost | July 11 Inside the box, a notice, printed in lower-case casual: downtime. redesigned. It promises that my new slippers will offer a search for adventure and a communion with perfection in the mundane. Suddenly, I am not even sure what slippers are, even. What will come after the touch screen? Adrienne LaFrance | July 11 At this point in technological history, interfaces are built so that computers can do as much as possible within the limitations of a humans sensory motor system. Given what many people use computers for, this arrangement works out wellgreat, even For others though, traditional interfaces arent enough. For months I tried doing little tasks designed to improve my life, hoping they would add up to something big. Julie Beck | July 13 Thats a very American idea, that if youre unhappy, youre doing something wrong, Norem says. Its your own fault. I think there is guilt and anxiety about not being happy, and thats part of what drives the market for self-help books. (And now, apps.) Unhappiness is sometimes treated like a moral failing. The individualist American dream of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps can leave people wondering where they went wrong if theyre not happy and successful. After 30 years of development, virus-beating insects are finally being deployed in megacities around the world. Ed Yong | August 8 In just four months, the dengue-proof insects had almost totally replaced the native ones. For the first time in history, scientists had transformed a population of wild insects to stop them from spreading human diseases. And they did it through symbiosis. The error in equating aggression with competence James Hamblin | August 8 Trump is both a product of a masculine culture and a beneficiary of its musky tenets. Rather than criticize him or lose faith, his fans forgive and apologize for his words. Masculine culture is both a reason that Trump does what he does and a reason that people accept and trust it. The clear colas nostalgic relaunch harkens back to a time when the worlds problems seemed simple. Ian Bogost | August 12 Clarity is an ambiguous virtue today. Its more frequently called transparency now, and the naive still advance it as a simple salve for all ills... Today that false dream remains, in the form of technological innovation that promises to change the world by producing an even more commercialized version of progress than we endured two decades ago. Would it be a step too far to call Silicon Valley one big, compostable bottle of Crystal Pepsi? Probably. When officers categorize wallets or cellphones as evidence, getting them back can be nearly impossibleeven if the owner isnt charged with a crime. Kaveh Waddell | August 15 To me it feels like legal robbery, like a shake down. If our clients were doing what the police are doing, itd be called robbery, and theyd be charged or indicted within a day or two. A new anatomical understanding of how movement controls the bodys stress response system James Hamblin | August 24 If someone dies of a herpes infection, their temporal lobes look like soup, Strick explained to me. In West Texas, a Christian pregnancy center has grown increasingly involved in reproductive lifeincluding teaching sex ed in public schools. Olga Khazan | September 9 The solution, Judy decided, was to steer kids away from sex, rather than describe how to do it safely. You might as well say, Well, you're going to smoke dope, she told me, so we're going to offer free dope at lunch. On living with mosquitoes in the time of Zika Julie Beck | September 15 A mosquito is a vampire. It sucks your blood and leaves a mark...But its never more vampiric than when it spreads a virus. Like a vampire, its bite hijacks your body. The bite leaves behind a poison that weakens you, that changes you. Half a century ago, media thinkers warned that the television revolution could create a candidate like the Republican nominee. They were right. Adrienne LaFrance | September 22 It is clear that, in 2016, Trump embodies Hughess worst fears about what television would engender in presidential politics. Trump is an entertainer-turned-politician who blurs the issues rather than clarifying them, a fear monger who is as adept at exaggeration as he is antagonistic to nuance. Television alone is not responsible for Trumphes responsible for himselfbut it did help him along the way. NASA researchers are modeling Martian settlements after early American colonists. Sarah Zhang | October 18 Its a mass problem. The more mass you have to take, the more expensive it is to escape Earths gravity and get to Mars. And some of the heaviest cargo will be material to shelter astronauts from the radiation zipping through Mars thin atmosphere. With 3D-printing, you dont need to bring shelter. You build it out of dirt or ice already on Mars. It had a good run. Robinson Meyer | October 25 The Republican presidential candidate, lately famous for coarsening public debate and attempting to delegitimize the democratic process, has also perpetrated a crime against the English language. It seems probable that his campaign will doom a perfectly pleasant word, a happy verb with a 750-year history. Scientists in China have used CRISPR to make a modified goat that produces more of the fine wool. Sarah Zhang | October 26 What does making more cashmerethrough a process as widely misunderstood and disliked as genetic modificationdo to its value? What happens to a luxury product in the age of genetic engineering? Global warming is hard to understand. This statistic isnt. Robinson Meyer | November 3 There is not a god-given year, basically, as to when the ice is gone, but it really is this limit of total emissions. So if we emit less, then it will take longer. Its as simple as that. As kids, two Guinean brothers invented a new script for their native language. Now theyre trying to get it on every smartphone. Kaveh Waddell | November 16 The formal education system is exclusionary, they say, because it considers people illiterate if they cant read and write Frenchthe colonial languagerather than asking whether or not they can read or write their own native tongue. Thats one of the things thats really hindering the progress in Africa and Guinea in particular, Ibrahima says. We spend so many resources learning new languages, even though we already have languages that we can use to develop our countries. Psychologists have failed to replicate a famous study suggesting that short fiction improves readers abilities to read the emotional states of others. Joseph Frankel | December 2 There are many things literature can do. It can give voice to perspectives that are often silenced, offer refuge, and allow readers try on the lives of others. But this is slow work that depends so much on social circumstance. No reader, writer, or book exists in a vacuum. Trying to reduce the process of reading to a snapshot task leaves out some of this context. Psychological research helps explain why conflicts are so intractable when morality is involved. Julie Beck | December 14 Moral superiority becomes a mechanism of preserving advantage, she says. This is true even if the feeling of moral superiority doesnt lead to outright hostility to other groups. Preferring members of your own group means that they get the trust, generosity, and benefit of the doubt that outsiders dont. Blatant hate isnt always necessary. The absence of positive feeling toward a group leaves a negative space, and bigotry often rushes in to fill it. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council will vote Friday on whether to impose an arms embargo and sanctions on South Sudan, but the measure is expected to fail amid divisions over how to pressure leaders to end the three-year war. The council will meet at 9:30 am (1430 GMT) to decide on the US-drafted resolution calling for a one-year ban on weapons sales and sanctions on rebel leader Riek Machar, the army chief and a minister. The United States, backed by Britain and France, has argued that cutting off the arms flow was urgently needed following UN warnings of a risk of mass atrocities. Diplomats however said the measure fell short of the nine votes needed for adoption in the 15-member council. Russia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Venezuela and more importantly the three African council members -- Angola, Egypt and Senegal-- have all expressed serious reservations. A rejection of the arms embargo would be a setback for the United States, which helped South Sudan gain independence in 2011 but has been unable to steer the country away from a war that erupted two years later. Under the proposed resolution, Machar, army chief Paul Malong and Information Minister Michael Makuei would be put on a sanctions blacklist, subjected to an assets freeze and a global travel ban. Japan, which has some 350 troops serving in the UN mission in South Sudan, has argued that the measures, if adopted, would antagonize President Salva Kiir's government and put peacekeepers' lives at risk. Opponents of the sanctions point to Kiir's call earlier this month for a national dialogue to restore peace, saying that initiative must be given a chance. - Risk of mass atrocities - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is backing the US push for a ban on arms deals with South Sudan, saying an embargo would reduce the capacity of all sides to wage war. "If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory towards mass atrocities," Ban told the council on Monday. Story continues The draft resolution provides for a one-year ban on the "supply, sale or transfer" of "arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment" as well as spare parts. The world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 3.1 million people displaced. US Ambassador Samantha Power has argued that all sides were mobilizing for more fighting and that action was needed to prevent a bloodbath. "The situation is not getting better, but worse, and we are sitting on our hands," Power told the council on Monday. "Large-scale attacks could start at any moment." Russian Deputy Ambassador Petr Iliichev cast doubt over warnings of a risk of genocide, arguing that criminal groups and "undisciplined" troops were responsible for mass violence, and not the government's policy. There is growing alarm over the humanitarian crisis in the country as the conflict enters its fourth year. More than 6 million people -- half of South Sudan's population -- are in need of urgent aid and humanitarian organisations expect this number to rise by 20 to 30 percent next year. Some 1.3 million South Sudanese have fled across borders as refugees, including 383,000 who have fled to Uganda since July, according to UN figures. NICE, France (AP) The nightmares returned to Catherine Cocampo this week visions of a truck careening through crowds, leaving a trail of corpses behind it. Residents of the French Riviera city of Nice lived through that nightmare in July, and are reliving it this week following Monday's chillingly similar narrative in Berlin. Cocampo, a 57-year-old teacher, volunteered to give psychological support to victims after the truck attack on Nice's Bastille Day beach-side fireworks party, which killed 86 people. That attack was carried out by a Tunisian who claimed allegiance to Islamic State extremists. "I lived again the scene the victims described to me ... I had a very bad night. Bad nightmares came back," she said after seeing the carnage from the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market Monday. Nice retiree Caroline Barbier can't bear to watch the Berlin news at all. "This brings back too many memories. We need time before we can go through all this" again, she said. A surge of visitors has come to a memorial site to pay respects to those killed in Nice following this week's attack in the German capital which killed 12. The site, a bandstand near the Promenade des Anglais, is covered in stuffed animals, notes and flags from around the world. A couple from nearby Cannes, Franck et Joelle Ribal, visited for the first time this week, prompted by the Berlin attack. "We are not safe anywhere. This happened in Berlin, in Nice, next in Cannes or in Turkey or anywhere else, we don't know," said Joelle Ribal, an entrepreneur. Security is tight at the Nice Christmas market, but that is not deterring many residents. "We force ourselves to go out, to show that we are not afraid. We have to continue to live despite of all this," said Pierre Tedeschi. Five months after the Nice attack, some of the injured are still recovering and many questions linger about the attacker, his motives and how many others might have been involved. Nine people have been handed preliminary charges in the investigation, though it's unclear if they knew of driver Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel's deadly attack plan. Bouhlel himself was killed by police. The funding is for its power plant project in Bangladesh. Sembcorp Industries is looking to end the year with a bang as it secured a project financing for its Bangladesh power plant from International Finance Corporation. In a statement, Sembcorp revealed that IFC, along with Singapore-based infrastructure project financing firm, Clifford Capital and CDC Group, the UK governments development finance institution, have a share each of US$103 million in the total project finance debt. The construction work on the greenfield dual-fuel combined-cycle power plant in the Sirajganj district of Bangladesh has already commenced with the signing of financing agreements and targeted loan drawdown. Sembcorp Industries president and CEO Tang Kin Fei said with the support of IFC, Clifford Capital and CDC, the group has strengthened its commitment towards supporting Bangladeshs vision for continued growth and development. "Sembcorps Sirajganj power plant will allow us to provide cost-effective and reliable energy solutions to the country over a period of 22.5 years upon its completion," he stated. The power plant will be developed by Sembcorp North-West Power Company, a joint venture between Sembcorp Utilities and Bangladesh's state-owned North-West Power Generation Company. The project will be the second largest independent power plant in the country, and represents the largest foreign direct investment into this sector in recent years. The success of the project will demonstrate the profitability and sustainability of public and private-sector partnerships in Bangladeshs power sector to international players and help attract additional capital to the sector. More From Singapore Business Review Sense8 fans are about to have a very merry Christmas. The series is finally returning to Netflix for a Christmas special more than a year and a half after the first season aired. With so much time between new episodes, its easy to forget the details. Luckily, you can get a quick refresher on where each cluster member left off below: Wolfgang and Kala: The feud with his uncle (Sylvester Groth) finally came to a climax. Wolfgang (Max Riemelt) apparently killed his abusive father, and he is angry that Sergei never stepped in to stop his dad. Wolfgang and his uncle end up in a bloody fight. He hides out in the kitchen while coming up with a plan. Luckily, Kala (Tina Desai) shows up and helps him make a bomb out of kitchen supplies, killing Sergeis bodyguards. Wolfgang shoots his uncle in the face several times. Its a violent act that clearly makes Kala question some things. Wolfgang tells her that she has to marry her fiance. Riley: Riley (Tuppence Middleton) is trapped inside the BPO research facility in Iceland, and Will (Brian J. Smith) is the one who will save her. However, Riley is plagued by flashbacks to the night she gave birth. Her husband and baby died. Will pushes her to get through the flashbacks though. They have to make an escape, and once he is compromised, she has to pull through. Will: Though he manages to save Riley, he locks eyes with the evil man thats been after the cluster, Whispers (Terrence Mann). Will and the villain now have a psychic link. Angelica (Daryl Hannah) and Jonas (Naveen Andrews) tell Will that suicide is the best option now. However, Will decides to drug himself instead. If he is unconscious, Whispers cant get into his head. Riley drives the ambulance to get them out, and Will wakes up on a boat. Riley tells him that he saved everyone before injecting him to knock him out again. Sense8 Season 1 finale Photo: Netflix Story continues Nomi: Hacker skills come in handy when youre breaking into secret research facilities. Nomi (Jamie Clayton) and her girlfriend Amanita (Freema Agyeman) helped Will get a car and ID. They help navigate the escape too. Sun: After taking the fall for the men in her family, Sun (Donna Bae) is still in jail. However, she uses her psychic link to help Will and Riley out of BPO. She skillfully fights off the guards. Capheus: The driver comes in handy when Riley and Will need to hotwire an ambulance. Though Capheus (Aml Ameen) wasnt a big player in the finale, he had a lot of action in the penultimate episode, where he hit a gang leader with his bus. Lito: The actor didnt get much screen time either. However, Lito (Miguel Silvestre) popped in when information was needed, and he flirted with the nurses to get the information. Prior to the finale, he got back together with Hernando (Alfonso Herrera) after rescuing Dani (Erendira Ibarra) from her abusive boyfriend. When Sense8 returns, fans will see how Will is surviving with his link to Whispers. While Season 2 doesnt officially start until May, the Christmas episode will reveal what the characters have been up to. Executive producer Lana Wachowski revealed that there might be some characters feeling lonely in the holiday special. I wanted to tell a story in this first episode that was kind of about time and presence and how these new lives that these characters were experiencing made them feel empowered, like they can do anything as long as theyre together, said in a video released by Netflix. And at the same time, it has a way of making them feel vulnerable and almost more alone than theyve ever felt. Audiences may also notice that Capheus looks different. Ameen was recast earlier this year. Toby Onwumere will take over the role in Season 2. The Sense8 Christmas special hits Netflix Dec. 23. Season 2 premieres May 5. Related Articles RACINE A preliminary hearing for a woman charged with homicide for her alleged role in the murder of a local woman whose body was found in a city garbage truck was postponed Wednesday. But not without some emotional exclamations from the defendant. Myquette L. Johnson, of the 1500 block of Taylor Avenue, was charged on Nov. 4 with first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the reported strangulation death of Kim Cantwell. Cantwell, 50, was allegedly killed on Oct. 4 in an apartment above Sunshine Supermarket, 1559 Taylor Ave. Hours later her body was reportedly wrapped in blankets and thrown into a trash container behind the store. Harry Fumich, 49, was charged the next day with first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse and robbery with use of force. Fumich allegedly admitted to the crime, telling police Cantwell, who also lived in one of the apartments above the corner store, owed him money for cocaine. Johnson, who was allegedly in Fumichs apartment when the murder occurred, was charged a month later but did not make her initial appearance until Dec. 12, when she was brought in on a warrant. On Wednesday, Johnson could be heard wailing from a room next to a Racine County courtroom as she waited to make her preliminary hearing. Minutes later she told a Racine County sheriffs deputy that she would be able to control her emotions during the court appearance, but the 31-year-old, appeared visibly distraught as she entered the courtroom in a green, padded suicide prevention suit. Sitting down next to public defender Erin J. Preston, Johnson wailed he took advantage of me. Noting that Johnson had not been assigned to a specific public defender, Preston requested that the defendants preliminary hearing be postponed until one is found. When asked by Racine County Circuit Commissioner Alice Rudebusch when that might be, Preston said a couple of weeks. We only have a few attorneys that do this level of case, she explained, as Johnson continued to whimper softly. Johnson is slated to appear for a rescheduled preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. on Jan. 4 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave. President-elect Donald Trump has been publicly denying climate change longer than hes been in politics. Back in 2012, he proclaimed the concept was invented by the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive (the tweet still exists). Now that Trump is gearing up for the White House, his early appointments in environmental and energy departments reflect that denialism, as Seth Meyers pointed out on Wednesday. Ivanka interest in climate change gave people a glimmer of hope, but of course Trumps team moved quickly to snuff out that glimmer by reassuring everyone that Trump still thinks climate change is totally made-up, Meyers said. For example, Trump has nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, even though Pruitt is a climate change denier who continues to support fracking even as the natural gas drilling technique has exponentially increased the number of earthquakes in his home state. Trump has also tapped former Texas Governor Rick Perry to lead the Department of Energy, even though Perry is perhaps most famous for forgetting the name of the department in a 2012 Republican primary debate. So the climate situation may well be dire under a Trump administration, which is why we need to keep bringing attention to it, Meyers said. Its literally life or death. Without a strong response, we could be in for more arctic melting, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and earthquakes. Watch the clip below. IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 22, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit against Sanderson Farms, Inc. ("Sanderson Farms" or the "Company") (SAFM). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between December 17, 2013 and October 6, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm in advance of the December 27, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline. If you purchased shares of Sanderson Farms during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang LLP, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. There has been no class certification in this case yet. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Sanderson Farms made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information. On September 2, 2016, some media outlets reported the filing of an antitrust class action lawsuit against Sanderson Farms and some of its peers for conspiring to manipulate the price of broiler-chickens. Allegedly, in 2008, Sanderson Farms, along with Tyson Foods and several other companies, conspired by sharing proprietary data and reducing production to support prices. On October 4, 2016, a group of consumers filed an antitrust class action complaint against Sanderson Farms and several of its industry peers for violations of the Sherman Act. On October 7, 2016, Pivotal Research downgraded peer company Tyson Foods from "buy" to "sell," due to fears over the class action against the Company and its peers, which it called "powerfully convincing." When this information was disclosed to the public, the stock price of Sanderson Farms declined, causing investors harm. If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit, at no charge, or if you have any questions regarding this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. Story continues This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in certain jurisdictions. Contact: Joon M. Khang, Esq. Telephone: 949-419-3834 Facsimile: 949-225-4474 joon@khanglaw.com SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP san jose homeless Silicon Valley is a land of extremes. At one end are California's wealthy and super-wealthy the 76,000 millionaires and billionaires who call Santa Clara and San Mateo counties home. At the other end are the thousands of people who struggle to feed their families and pay their bills each month. Nearly 30% of Silicon Valley's residents rely on public or private assistance. Wealth inequality gaps of that size exist elsewhere, but in America's epicenter of innovation, the gaps demand extra attention. And if Silicon Valley manages to close those gaps, perhaps less-unequal areas could do the same. "The wealth is palpable," philanthropy adviser Alexa Cortes Culwell tells Business Insider. "You come home and every neighbor has a Tesla parked on the street, with a cord running out to it. It's a weird, surreal place to live right now." According to a new report Culwell published with social sector expert Heather McLeod Grant, local nonprofit organizations seldom see any of that wealth come their way, despite the huge impact it would have on reducing poverty. Culwell and Grant describe a profound empathy gap between Silicon Valley's highest earners and the nonprofits in their area. The co-authors dub this the "prosperity paradox." Basically, neither side has any idea what the other is thinking or feeling and in the case of Silicon Valley's wealthiest, that the other side exists at all. santa clara homes "The social and economic stratas send people down different routes, different highways, different grocery stores," Culwell says. Very few of the 100 high-net-worth individuals she and Grant spoke with said they knew what kind of organizations were in the poorer parts of San Jose and San Carlos. Story continues "Nothing in their lives takes them to those areas," Culwell says. If people gave at all, it was to brand-name organizations whose missions were much larger in scope than the two counties included in the report. In other words, according to all the data that was collected, Culwell and Grant say the stereotype of Silicon Valley elites as greedy hoarders turned out to be mostly false. A lot of people expressed a desire to give more of their portfolio to local groups; they just didn't know where to begin. It's not just the wealthy Nonprofits shared some of the responsibility in creating the paradox. Only a small portion of the 140 local nonprofit leaders interviewed for the report used language that Culwell and Grant thought would resonate with Silicon Valley-types. "Donors typically come from the private sector, and they think about companies in financial narratives," Culwell says. They use the language of numbers, of revenue growth year over year. "Nonprofits speak a more social and moral language." They talk about how important the work is they're doing, and how happy it makes people. That gap can create awkward encounters if a donor wants to help out. "If a donor asks you how many people you serve and how much it costs per person, you can't stop and go look that up," Culwell says. "In their world, that would never happen." food bank volunteers How to bridge the divide For both sides to work together effectively, each has to recognize the challenges of the other. That's the empathy gap the researchers identified: There's currently a disconnect between what donors need to know before donating, and what nonprofits have focused so much of their energy on. Culwell and Grant are optimistic the gap can be bridged. At the bottom of their report, they list several steps each side can take to reduce overall poverty in Silicon Valley. Nonprofits could brush up on their numbers and set clear goals for how far the donations will go, while potential donors could join a giving circle to educate themselves about the nonprofit world or give money to finance back-end costs if they aren't interested in supporting a cause directly. Culwell says success in Silicon Valley would be a great omen for the rest of the country, especially since innovation is baked in to the region. "The prosperity paradox in Silicon Valley gives us this opportunity to use all the ingenuity of the Valley to create the bridge to this divide," she says. "We talked to 300 stakeholders, and afterward we felt like if we could just get them to keep talking, extraordinary things could happen." NOW WATCH: A Silicon Valley startup is using robots to make pizza More From Business Insider Theres a Sinbad movie from the 90s you think exists but we all completely imagined it Remember that movie you almost definitely watched in the 90s, where that comedian Sinbad played a genie who helped two kids heal their fathers broken heart after their mothers passing? This classic was called Shazaam, of course but in todays news that will totally blow your mind, it never actually existed. And the reason why we all think it did is being hotly debated by Reddit truthers who have taken on Shazaams existence as their pet cause. Amelia Tait at New Statesman wrote an excellent deep dive into the Shazaam situation on Wednesday, December 21st, tracing the phenomenon back to its origins a 2009 Yahoo! Answers post asking Do you remember that Sinbad movie? People did, but no one could find evidence online that it existed. A short time later, some Redditors were on the case, latching themselves on to a wide assortment of conspiracy theories on why this movie is impossible to find online. Have you noticed no one my age has seen this so called Sinbad Genie movie, only you people who were kids in the 90's. The young mind ! Sinbad (@sinbadbad) September 7, 2016 The most popular and mind-blowing of these theories is called the Mandela Effect, made popular by both Reddit and a Vice article about the Berenstein Bears. Sorry, make that the Berenstain Bears because even though the titular Bears were always Berenstains, theres a whole contingent of people out there (raises hand) who distinctly remember the popular book series being spelled Berenstein. If youre wondering how these Bears are connected to Shazaam and South African anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela, it all has to do with collective memory. A large group of people distinctly remember Mandela dying in prison, just as a large group of people distinctly remember the Berensteins and the existence of Shazaam. And so, according to the internet, that means that there are thousands of us with the same false memory who used to live in a parallel universe. A universe with a Sinbad genie movie, Berensteins, and a far earlier end for Mandela. Story continues Vices story led to the creation of the r/MandelaEffect subreddit, in which redditors can submit new examples of collective memory failure and debate hot topics like Shazaam, which has its own, very lively page. Because people dont just vaguely remember watching this film, they remember details like plot points, and even cover art. It said Sinbad in big letters that dwarfed the other print, a redditor named Don told New Statesman, with Jessica* adding [It had] a purple background, featuring Sinbad dressed as a genie, back to back with a boy who looks about 11 or 12 years old. Sinbad has an annoyed expression on his face. Of course Sinbad is annoyed because the film were most likely remembering is actually Kazaam, which starred Shaquille ONeal as a genie granting a childs parental wishes. Kazaam But redditors are still crying foul, claiming that either the Mandela Effect is totally happening or something a bit less sci-fi, like, say, Sinbad becoming embarrassed of the film and somehow destroying all evidence that it ever existed. (Something a bit far-fetched, as a genie film for kids sounds pretty much in line with the rest of the mans career. And, like, would Sinbad really have that power?) If youre totally freaked out by this and not ready to buy into that whole alternate reality thing, know that New Statesman also spoke with Dr. Henry Roediger, a professor at the Washington University Memory Lab who offered a far more reasonable explanation. Lots of people remember detailed, but utterly false, memories, he said, adding that one persons report of a memory can influence anothers, making false memories spread. One persons memory infects another, he concluded. So if you believe in ~ science ~ and the power of the human brain, it definitely makes sense why so many of us remember Shazaam, despite the sad fact that none of us ever watched this early-90s masterpiece in our current timeline. But since so many redditors still want to believe, Fox Mulder-style, that the truth is out there, the search for Shazaam will almost definitely continue. The post Theres a Sinbad movie from the 90s you think exists but we all completely imagined it appeared first on HelloGiggles. Tech crunch. A cybersecurity firm says it has uncovered evidence linking the group that hacked the Democratic National Committee to Russias military intelligence arm, and has concluded with high confidence that it was the entity behind the Kremlins interference in the 2016 election. The report from CrowdSource that was released late Thursday linked malware used in the DNC cyber break-in to malware used to hack and track an Android phone app used by the Ukrainian army in its fight against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. The FBI, which has been investigating Russias hacks of political, government, academic and other organizations for several years, privately has concluded the same. But the bureau has not publicly drawn the link to the GRU, the Washington Posts Ellen Nakashima writes, using the acronym for the Russian militarys intel group. The app used by Ukrainian troops helped calibrate their D-30 howitzers, and was available only to army officers who had requested the app from the officer who developed it. But once the GRU penetrated the app, the Russian-backed, and Russian-led separatists were able to locate the artillery pieces and hit them with accurate counterfire. Certainty, belief and secret meetings. Every U.S. intelligence agency has agreed the hacks on the DNC were conducted by hackers working under orders from Russian government officials. President-elect Donald Trump has rejected the conclusion of the intelligence community, and his national security advisor, Mike Flynn, recently held a secret meeting with the leader of Austrias far-right Freedom Party, which has Nazi roots and has just signed a cooperation agreement with the Russian political party headed by Vladimir Putin. No, tanks. Russia hammered the decision by The Netherlands to allow the U.S. Army to store dozens of tanks and heavy vehicles in a warehouse there as an anti-Russian move. It looks like the Dutch authorities have started to get a taste for deliberately destroying relations with Russia, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.It is not an aggressive but a defensive act, Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders insisted. The move comes just as new brigades from the U.S., Germany, and the U.K. begin deploying on a temporary basis to facilities in NATOs Baltic states. Story continues Bills for the holidays. Meanwhile, Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee have introduced legislation that would slap sanctions on foreigners who have interfered in U.S. elections, The Hill reports. The bill would not only bar entry, but also freeze their assets. All 19 Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee signed on to the bill. So far it does not have any Republican cosponsors. Words and things. After an impromptu 2-minute press conference by Trump in front of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida Wednesday, everyone is again trying to figure out if PEOTUS means what he says. Asked about the violence in Berlin and Ankara, and if it would affect his ideas about banning Muslims from entering the United States, he said, you know my plans. All along, Ive been proven to be right. 100 percent correct. Whats happening is disgraceful. Authorities in Germany are searching for a Tunisian man identified as Anis Amri who was facing deportation after being caught with fake papers, as the prime suspect for driving a truck into a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people. Good morning and as always, if you have any thoughts, announcements, tips, or national security-related events to share, please pass them along to SitRep HQ. Best way is to send them to: paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or on Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley MAGAing Team Trump is claiming that the President-elect has managed to lower the cost of the next Air Force One with the power of his thumbs. DOD Buzz reports that transition team member Anthony Scaramucci claimed that Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg agreed to cut the price of the presidential jet to less than $4 billion following a meeting with the President-elect. Trump raised the issue of Air Force Ones cost in a previous tweet alleging that costs are out of control on the project and that he should cancel the order! Following a meeting with Trump, Muilenburg told reporters that Were going to get it done for less than that. Trumps Wednesday meeting with Boeing and Lockheed Martin CEOs indicates he might be a hands-on president when it comes to Pentagon acquisition. Lockheed and Boeing are not just the first and second largest defense contractors in the world, but also share the dubious distinction of having come under fire from the president-elects Twitter account over the cost of the F-35 and Air Force One programs, respectively, Defense News Aaron Mehta notes. When it comes to the troubled F-35 program, Trump said after the meeting, its a program thats very, very expensive, but its a dance. Its a little bit of a dance, but were gonna get the cost down, and were gonna get it down beautifully. Japan Japan is spending big or at least bigger on defense for the fifth year in a row, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Japanese cabinet approved a $44 billion budget for the countrys Self Defense Forces, a 1.4 percent increase year over year. As part of the spending, Japan is considering whether to buy American Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense ballistic missile defense systems to guard against North Koreas growing missile programs and a new submarine in order to check Chinas increasingly assertive maritime claims. Russia Russia tested a satellite-killing missile, according to Popular Mechanics, firing the PL-19 Nudol without aiming at or taking out a particular satellite. The system is designed to intercept ballistic missiles in their midcourse phase as they briefly exit the atmosphere for reentry. The same capability allows them to target and hit satellites, a capability thats become more desirable as the U.S. military has become increasingly reliant on satellites for communication, navigation, and intelligence. Afghanistan Seven years into the creation of a special visa program to help U.S. military translators from Afghanistan find refuge in the United States, interpreters for American troops are still struggling to get to and stay in the country. The AP reports that backlog of Afghans looking to receive special immigrant visas after helping U.S. forces has grown to 13,000 people. The number of visas available, however, is still quite small with just 1,500 additional visas approved through 2020 as part of recent legislation. NSA The National Security Agencys inspector general is on administrative leave after allegations that he retaliated against a whistleblower at the signals intelligence agency. The anonymous whistleblower in question tells the AP that inspector general George Ellard denied him a job in the inspector generals office after someone leaked his name to Ellard and the fact that he had filed an ethics complaint regarding financial misconduct at a conference in Tennessee. Three other inspectors general offices looked into the allegations against Ellard and NSA director Adm. Mike Rogers has recommended he be fired after reading the panels investigation. Photo Credit: U.S. Army Washington (AFP) - A scathing US Congressional report released Thursday branded intelligence leaker Edward Snowden a "serial exaggerator and fabricator" and said he has had continual contact with Russian intelligence services. The partially redacted report, released by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, portrays Snowden as a disgruntled government contractor rather than a legitimate whistleblower. The former National Security Agency contractor leaked thousands of classified documents to the press in 2013, revealing the vast scope of US surveillance of private data that was put in place after the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to the report, Snowden swiped about 1.5 million documents and those he leaked to the press were "merely the tip of the iceberg." "Most of the material he stole had nothing to do with Americans' privacy, and its compromise has been of great value to America's adversaries and those who mean to do America harm," Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said. Snowden was quick to disparage the report, taking to Twitter to decry its "obvious falsehoods." "After three years of investigation and millions of dollars, they can present no evidence of harmful intent, foreign influence, or harm. Wow," he wrote. Snowden now lives in exile in Russia where he has sought asylum after fleeing his home in Hawaii and a brief stint in Hong Kong. Should he ever return to the United States, he would be tried for espionage and other charges carrying up to 30 years in prison. "Since Snowden's arrival in Moscow, he has had and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services," the report states. Snowden tweeted that the committee report was slanted and deliberately omitted his criticisms of Russian policy. "Despite this, they claim without evidence I'm in cahoots with Russian intel. Everyone knows this is false, but let's examine their basis:" he adds, before posting a series of tweets on the matter. Story continues The report also states that a Pentagon review had identified "13 high-risk issues," eight of which relate to specific capabilities that if the Russian or Chinese governments know about could put American troops at greater risk "in any future conflict." Since September, a campaign calling for a presidential pardon for Snowden 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 US President Barack Obama leaves office in January or a plea bargain that would shield him from spending a lot of time in jail. Snowden himself has said he is not expecting a pardon. Newly declassified passages from a highly critical House Intelligence Committee report on Edward Snowden assert that since arriving in Moscow the former NSA contractor has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services. Minutes after the report was released Thursday, Snowdens chief lawyer, Ben Wizner, tweeted that the report was petulant nonsense. Snowden has adamantly denied such contacts, most recently this month in an interview with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric. Snowden told Couric he gave Russian officials the stiff-arm when they first approached him in 2013, and that since then, while living with President Vladimir Putins approval as a fugitive in Moscow, they have left me alone, for the most part. The panels newly declassified 33-page report, which is being released this morning, cites classified U.S. intelligence reporting to support its assertion of continuous contacts with Russian intelligence an especially explosive charge in light of the current uproar in Washington over Russian interference in the U.S. election. But all details of that intelligence reporting are still classified and blacked out in the report, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the public to assess. The charge comes at a time when Snowdens defenders who portray him as a courageous whistleblower who exposed U.S. surveillance abuses are making their final, uphill pitch for a pardon before President Obama leaves office. His lawyers have also repeatedly pointed out he has also criticized Russian surveillance practices; in his interview with Couric, Snowden said these severe criticisms have made him a liability to the Russians. The House committee spent three years and millions of dollars in a failed attempt to discredit Edward Snowden, whose actions led to the most significant intelligence reforms in a generation, Wizner said in a statement after the committees release. The report wholly ignores Snowdens repeated and courageous criticism of Russian surveillance and censorship laws. It combines demonstrable falsehoods with deceptive inferences to paint an entirely fictional portrait of an American whistleblower. Story continues For all of its harsh rhetoric, the report contains no evidence whatsoever that Snowdens intentions were anything other than public-minded, that his actions caused harm, or that he is under foreign influence because no such evidence exists, he added. In fact, the NSAs former deputy director has stated publicly that he does not believe that Snowden acted under the influence of a foreign power. A U.S. government official told Yahoo News the committees characterization of continuing contacts between Snowden and Russian intelligence reflects the current thinking of the U.S. intelligence community. But U.S. officials do not have evidence that Snowden has actually shared NSA documents with the Russians, said the official, who did not provide any further details about the nature of the alleged contacts. A congressional staffer familiar with the matter said the committee and the intelligence community have high confidence in the reports of continuous contacts and that you dont have high confidence based on a single [intelligence] report. House Intelligence Chair Rep. Devin Nunes said in a statement Thursday the newly declassified report shows Snowdens reckless disregard for U.S. national security, adding, I look forward to the day when he returns to the United States to face justice. California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the panels ranking minority member, added: Snowden and his defenders claim that he is a whistleblower, but he isnt, as the committees review shows. The House report fleshes out a three-page executive summary that was released in September and was approved on a bipartisan basis by all members of the intelligence committee. That summary denounced as aggressively dishonest by one of the journalists who received documents from Snowden labeled him a serial exaggerator and fabricator as well as a disgruntled employee who did tremendous damage to national security by disclosing classified material about U.S. surveillance practices. (The summary did not include the allegation about Snowdens contacts with Russian intelligence, which was declassified by the U.S. intelligence community only this week.) After the release of the executive summary, the committee asked Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to declassify the panels full report (much of which is based on secret U.S. intelligence reports and interviews with officials at the National Security Agency and other U.S. agencies). Many key sections of the document remain classified and blacked out including 20 specific examples of damage that U.S. officials believe was caused by Snowdens disclosures. Also still classified are estimates about the cost to the U.S. government believed to be in the billions of dollars to rebuild and repair U.S. signals intelligence systems capabilities as a result of his disclosures. Still, the newly declassified version cites a wealth of previously undisclosed internal emails, memos and interviews to draw a highly unflattering portrait of Snowden as an intelligence community misfit driven as much by personal grievances as by his publicly stated concerns about invasions of U.S. privacy. It also reveals a glaring internal screwup by U.S. intelligence officials that allowed documented concerns about Snowdens conduct by the CIA to go undetected when he landed a job as an NSA contractor. Among the highlights: Snowden had a troubled work history within the U.S. intelligence community. Hed raised multiple complaints about his treatment that had nothing to do with U.S. surveillance practices. Less than three months after obtaining his first job with the CIA as a telecommunications information system officer (TISO) in 2006, he sent an email to the agencys inspector general complaining that he was being unfairly targeted by his supervisor because he had raised concerns about morale and retention issues including the pay of TISOs compared with contractors doing similar work. Snowden, then 23, had surveyed other TISOs in his office and then written up his findings, sending them directly to the CIAs deputy director for support, one of the 10 most senior executives in the agency. What prompted Snowden to complain to the inspector general, according to the report, was that his supervisors after learning that he had gone over their heads had pulled him into their offices for unscheduled counseling, during which, he asserted to the IG, they were extremely hostile and seemed to believe I have trouble bonding with my classmates. Snowden asked the IG to help protect him from reprisal for speaking truth to power. Notably, the report said, this was the only record of Snowden contacting the inspector general during his tenure at the CIA. Snowden later landed a CIA TISO post overseas in Geneva, it has been publicly reported, although the city is blacked out in the report despite the concerns of his previous supervisor, recorded in a Sept. 8, 2008, internal memo, that Snowden often does not positively respond to advice from more senior officers does not recognize the chain of command, often demonstrates a lack of maturity, and does not appear to be embracing the CIA culture. Snowden later modified the software for his performance review by manipulating the font, the report says. (Snowden has said that while writing his annual self-evaluation he discovered flaws in the software of the CIAs personnel Web applications that would make them vulnerable to hacking. With his supervisors approval, he asserted, he wrote some code and text in his personnel evaluation, but a more senior manager grew furious and wrote a critical comment in his personnel file.) His behavior caused him to be recalled for professional consultations with the chief of all CIA technical officers in Europe, according to the committee report. His supervisor called him in for six counseling sessions between October 2007 and April 2008. When he flew home to Washington with his girlfriend in September 2008 for medical appointments disobeying orders, the report says his supervisors recommended that he not return to his position. Although Snowden has since asserted that he had ethical qualms about working for the CIA in Geneva the Oliver Stone movie Snowden depicts him recoiling at being asked to blackmail a potential Pakistani asset over sexual misconduct the report says records of Snowdens multiple counseling sessions show no evidence he ever raised such issues at the time. When Snowden applied for a new position with an NSA contractor (Perot Systems, later purchased by Dell) in March 2009, NSA Security checked with an intelligence community-wide database known as Scattered Castles to verify his security clearance and, seeing no red flags, approved his hiring on April 7 of that year. This happened because CIA Security had yet to update Scattered Castles with the issues raised about Snowdens employment in Geneva. Thirteen days later, on April 20, the CIA did, entering negative information about Snowden that was unknown to NSA and was apparently never detected. Because NSA had checked the database three weeks earlier, NSA Security did not learn of the (blacked out) in his record at that time, the report states. In the fall of 2010, a government contractor, U.S. Information Services, did a periodic background investigation of Snowden and cleared him in a report that never verified his CIA employment or checked with any of his supervisors. Nor did it request any character references beyond the two Snowden had provided: his mother and his girlfriend. In early 2012, Snowden took a new position with Dell as a systems administrator at the NSAs Hawaii Cryptologic Center. Some co-workers recall him expressing strong political opinions, complaining about bills in Congress that he believed would be harmful to online privacy and according to one co-workers account indicating sympathy for China. (He claimed that, based on his meeting with Chinese hackers at a conference, the United States caused problems for China but China never caused problems for the United States, the report states, citing a committee interview with a co-worker.) He soon got into an email dispute with his supervisor over an issue that is blacked out in the report. But, much like he did at the CIA, Snowden went outside channels, according to the committee: He copied a deputy head of NSAs technical services directorate in one of his replies during which he accused one of his middle managers of evasion and finger-pointing. This earned him a rebuke from an NSA civilian employee in Washington who, on June 22, 2012, wrote him in an email that his response was totally UNACCEPTABLE because under no circumstances will any contractor call out or point fingers at any government manager whether you agree with their handling of an issue or not. Snowden has publicly claimed that his breaking point for disclosing classified documents was Director of National Intelligence Clappers March 13, 2013, testimony before Congress in which he (falsely) denied that the NSA collected data on Americans. But the report states that Snowden began his mass downloading of documents from NSA networks on July 12, 2012, barely three weeks after his rebuke from the NSA official. (Snowden has asserted that, while he had already begun his downloading and had reached out to journalist Glenn Greenwald in December 2012, he didnt actually disclose any documents until after Clappers testimony.) He used blunt scraping tools to download the material and used his systems administrator privileges to search across other NSA employees personal network drives and copy what he found, the report states. He also asked several of his unwitting co-workers for their security credentials so he could obtain information he could not access, causing at least one NSA co-worker to lose his security clearance and resign. Snowdens searches quickly expanded beyond surveillance programs and included searches for human resource files and files relating to promotion and hiring decisions, as well as the personal network drives of individuals belonging to individuals involved in the hiring decision for a job for which Snowden had applied, the report states. On Thursday, the House Intelligence Committee released a declassified report into former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden that alleges he has maintained ties with Russian intelligence agencies. The 37-page report some of which remains classifiedincludes a detailed report of his career as a government worker, and how he managed to extract millions of documents from the NSA without being detected by exploiting a vulnerability the agency was unaware of. The exploit itself is redacted in the report. At the heart of the report is the conclusion that Snowden is not a whistleblower and did harm to national security. Several serious charges are made against the former NSA worker, including a claim he has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services since taking asylum in Russia after fleeing the United States. The reportwhich lawmakers noted is a review and not a formal investigationcites classified information to support the claim, making the evidence of it unavailable to the public. The document also contains 20 specific accounts of apparent damage Snowdens actions have caused, but those too have been redacted. Snowden, who remains in Moscow, took issue with the report. He refuted its claims on Twitter, arguing the document is rife with obvious falsehoods. The former NSA contractor dismissed the claim he is working with Russian intelligence by attempting to discredit the source of the information. The House Intelligence Committees document points to an NPR interview with Frants Klintsevich, a senator in Russia and deputy chairman of the countrys defense and security committee, in which he claims Snowden has shared intelligence with Russia. Snowden pointed out that Klintsevich said in that interview audio he was only speculating. He also noted earlier this week Klintsevich claimed NATO was behind the assassination of a Russian ambassador in Turkey despite there being no evidence to support the claim, indicating the Russian senator may be making politically motivated claims in both cases. Story continues Many of the charges made in the report were dismissed out of hand by Snowden, who refuted a claim he went to a hacker convention and met Chinese hackers as false and insane because he never went to any hacker con during my time in government. He also dismisses an argument he should have gone to the NSAs Inspector General George Ellard by noting Ellard was recently removed from his post for retaliating against whistleblowers. Snowden called the document an endless parade of falsity so unbelievable it comes across as parody, but noted it unintentionally exonerates him by documenting his many attempts to report waste, fraud, and abuse to his superiors. Bottom line: this report's core claims are made without evidence, and are often contrary to both common sense and the public record, Snowden concluded. Related Articles Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f31683%2f0a5a739c-d0ad-42cf-acca-137e8731d6e6 This son gave his mother the Christmas present she really wanted. Enda Conway surprised his mother by traveling over 5,000 miles to her home in Claremorris, Co. Mayo, Ireland, when she thought he wouldn't make it home for the holidays. After moving to San Francisco for work, Conway hadn't seen his mother in four months. "I used to travel from Dublin every week...to see her," he told Mashable. "Mum lives alone and I'm the youngest, so [those four] months seemed like a lot longer." SEE ALSO: Jimmy Fallon and The Roots join Paul McCartney, Tori Kelly and more for 'Wonderful Christmastime' Two planes, one train and five taxis later, Conway finally made it to his mother's house, where he waited an hour for her to come home from the local town. But once she made it, it was perfect. Besides almost giving his mother a heart attack, this special reunion is what the holidays are all about. RACINE The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that the City of Racine over-assessed Regency West Apartments in 2012 and 2013 by a combined total of close to $3 million. The decision, released Thursday, overturns a 2015 decision by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and could reduce the amount of property taxes communities can collect from federally subsidized housing developments going forward. It could also find the city having to refund upwards of $180,000 in property taxes to the developer of the 72-unit complex located at 2300 Loni Lane. The Michigan-based developer sued the city in 2013, alleging it overvalued the nine-building subsidized housing complex in 2012 and 2013. The developer sued again in 2014, but that case was held in abeyance pending the outcome of the other two cases, which were later combined. The city assessed the property at $4.425 million in 2012 and $4.17 million in 2013. Regency West claimed a more accurate value for the property during those years was $2.7 million and $2.73 million, respectively. After losing in local court, the owner appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals. A month after the Court of Appeals decision upholding Racine County Circuit Judge Gerald Ptaceks ruling, the developer petitioned the state Supreme Court for review. Justices announced in March that they would be taking the case in hopes of examining the law related to the appropriate methodology for assessing low-income housing developments. The buildings were built as Section 42 low-income housing. Under Section 42, developers receive tax credits for building affordable housing, but the properties are subject to income and rental restrictions. Decision In a 31-page opinion drafted by Justice Pat Roggensack, the court majority found that the city failed to follow the state law when it assessed the apartment complex. The courts decision is not simply a review of the lower courts decisions, Roggensack notes in the decision, but rather a new trial in which the justices should review the facts presented to the circuit court, and not just the Court of Appeals decision. In a complicated examination of state law and property assessment techniques, Roggensack writes that the city failed to appropriately follow recognized assessment guidelines to value the property. In 2012, the city failed to correctly use the income approach to valuing the property, she writes, because it determined the developments net operating income using mass appraisal techniques that relied on data from market-rate properties. An appraiser must not value federally regulated housing as if it were market-rate property. Doing so causes the assessor to pretend that the subject property is not hindered by federal restrictions, Roggensack writes. The court ruled that the city failed to use proper assessment guidelines in its 2013 assessment because it incorrectly used a comparable sales approach to value the property when it used Section 8 properties as comparables. The restrictions on Section 8 properties are different than those placed on Section 42 properties, the justices noted. Dissent and reaction In a dissenting opinion, Justice Shirley Abrahamson, bemoaned the majoritys take on the case. Fortunately for Regency West (and unfortunately for Racines coffers and the other Racine taxpayers), the majority opinion declares that the lower assessment of the property at issue is correct, wrote Abrahamson for herself and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. The majority opinion flouts the longstanding principle that property tax assessors should use the best information possible in order to determine real propertys full value, upends the proper scope of appellate review, and inserts itself as a fact-finder. In a statement issued Thursday, City Attorney Scott Letteney said the city is still considering its options, which include asking the state Supreme Court to take another look at the decision, or petitioning the U.S Supreme Court for review. While we will thoroughly analyze the Courts decision and the consequences of such a decision, we are disappointed in the outcome, Lettney said. We believe that the Racine County Circuit Court and the Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided the matter correctly. Maureen A. McGinnity of Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner LLP, the attorney handling the case for Regency West, said Friday that her clients were very pleased with the Supreme Courts decision. The court not only rejected the citys unjust, excessive assessment of Regency West, it also clarified assessment requirements applicable to low-income housing projects generally, she added. Should the city accept the decision, the state Supreme Court has ordered the circuit to determine what refund Regency West is owed. The city has spent $71,555.81 on attorney fees in the case since 2013. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the creation of 15 new countries in December 1991 remade the world overnight. The Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation disappeared, and democracy and free-markets spread across the now defeated Soviet empire. Of course, 25 years later, events didnt exactly unfold as initially predicted. The forces of globalization have mutated former Soviet countries in unseen ways, emboldening autocrats and entrenching corruption across the region. Meanwhile, the geopolitical animosities of the Cold War are resurgent, with relations between Moscow and Washington at their lowest point since the Soviet-era arms race. The creation of new countries, meanwhile, has given rise to nationalism and autocracies that are shaping foreign-policy decisions and altering societies in unforeseen ways. Yet, the significance of this quarter-century of change is still not fully understood. Why did the Soviet Union really collapse and what lessons have policymakers missed? How is history repeating itself across the lands of the former superpower? In search of answers, Foreign Policy asked six experts with intimate knowledge of the region from their time in finance, academia, journalism, and policymaking. Here are the unlearned lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is still collapsing. Serhii Plokhy Abandonment has consequences. Bill Browder Ideology should not guide foreign policy. Dmitri Trenin Russia cant lead through imperialism. Nargis Kassenova Globalization only enriched and empowered autocrats. Alexander Cooley Moscow is still sacrificing innovation for state security. Andrei Soldatov The Soviet Union is still collapsing. Serhii Plokhy is the professor of history and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. He is the author of The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, and his latest book is The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story. Story continues The 20th century witnessed the end of the world built and ruled by empires: from Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, which fell in the final days of World War I, to the British and French empires, which disintegrated in the aftermath of World War II. This decades-long process concluded with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the mighty successor to the Russian Empire, which was stitched back together by the Bolsheviks in the early 1920s, only to fall apart 70 years later during the final stage of the Cold War. Although many factors contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union, from the bankruptcy of communist ideology to the failure of the Soviet economy, the wider context for its dissolution is often overlooked. The collapse of the Soviet Union, like the disintegration of past empires, is a process rather than an event. And the collapse of the last empire is still unfolding today. This process did not end with Mikhail Gorbachevs resignation on Christmas Day 1991, and its victims are not limited to the three people who died defending the Moscow White House in August 1991 or the thousands of casualties from the Chechen wars. The rise of nation-states on the ruins of the Soviet Union, like the rise of successor states on the remains of every other empire, mobilized ethnicity, nationalism, and conflicting territorial claims. This process at least partly explains the Russian annexation of Crimea, the war in Ukraine, and the burst of popular support for those acts of aggression in the Russian Federation. As the victim of a much more powerful neighbors attack, Ukraine found itself in a situation similar to that of the new states of Eastern Europe formed after World War I on the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires. Those states struggled with the enormous tasks of nation building while trying to accommodate national minorities and defend themselves against revanchist powers claiming the loyalty of those same minorities. Although the historical context of the collapse of empires helps us understand the developments of the last 25 years in the former Soviet space, it also serves as a warning for the future. The redrawing of post-imperial borders to reflect the importance of nationality, language, and culture has generally come about as a result of conflicts and wars, some of which went on for decades, if not centuries. The Ottoman Empire began its slow-motion collapse in 1783, a process that reached its conclusion at the end of World War I. The ongoing war in eastern Ukraine is not the only reminder that the process of Soviet disintegration is still incomplete. Other such reminders are the frozen or semi-frozen conflicts in Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the semi-independent state of Chechnya. A lesson that todays policymakers can learn from the history of imperial collapse is that the role of the international community is paramount in sorting out relations between former rulers and subjects. Few stable states have emerged from the ruins of bygone empires without strong international support, whether it is the French role in securing American independence, Russian and British involvement in the struggle for Greek statehood, or the U.S. role in supporting the aspirations of former Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe. The role of outsiders has been and will remain the key to any post-imperial settlement. Looking at the current situation, its difficult to overstate the role the United States and its NATO allies can play in solving the conflict in Ukraine and other parts of the volatile post-Soviet space. The fall of the Soviet Union, which carried the legacy of the last European empire, is still far from over. RETURN TO LIST. READ MORE The End of the End of the Cold War CLICK HERE Could Mikhail Gorbachev Have Saved the Soviet Union? CLICK HERE PHOTOS: The Last Days of the Soviet Union CLICK HERE Abandonment has consequences. Bill Browder is the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management and the head of the Global Campaign for Justice for Sergei Magnitsky. When the Soviet Union collapsed 25 years ago, the world breathed a collective sigh of relief as the threat of nuclear annihilation was all but eliminated. Russia transitioned into a democracy, and the West could refocus its efforts on peace and prosperity. In the process, however, the pendulum swung from intense anxiety toward Moscow to inattention and neglect. Unfortunately, while the West was ignoring Russia, it was quietly mutating into something far more dangerous than the Soviet Union. With no real laws or institutions, 22 Russian oligarchs stole 40 percent of the countrys wealth from the state. The other 150 million Russians were left in destitution and poverty, and the average life expectancy for men dropped from 65 to 57 years. Professors had to earn a living as taxi drivers; nurses became prostitutes. The entire fabric of Russian society broke down. Meanwhile, the West wasnt just ignoring the looting of Russia; it was actively facilitating it. Western banks accepted pilfered funds from Russian clients, and Western real estate agencies welcomed oligarchs to buy their most coveted properties in St-Tropez, Miami, and London. The injustice of it all was infuriating for average Russians, and they longed for a strongman to restore order. In 1999, they found one: Vladimir Putin. Rather than restoring order, however, Putin replaced the 22 oligarchs with himself alone at the top. From my own research, I estimate that in his 18 years in power he has stolen $200 billion from the Russian people. Putin did allow a fraction of Russias oil wealth to seep into the population just enough to prevent an uprising, but nowhere near enough to reverse the horrible injustice of the situation. But that didnt last long either. As the oil boom waned, the suffering of ordinary Russians resumed, and people took to the streets in 2011 and 2012 to protest his rule. Putins method of dealing with an angry population comes from the standard dictator playbook: If your people are mad at you, start wars. This was the real reason behind his invasion of Ukraine, and it worked amazingly well: Putins approval rating skyrocketed from 65 percent to 89 percent in a few months. In response to the annexation of Crimea, the war in Ukraine, and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which killed 298 innocent people, the West had no choice but to respond with a range of sanctions against Russia. These sanctions, combined with the collapse of oil prices, led to more economic hardship, which made the Russian people even angrier. So Putin started another war, this time in Syria. The problem the world now faces is that Putin has effectively backed himself into a corner. Unlike any normal world leader, he cannot gracefully retire he would lose his money, face imprisonment, or even be killed by his enemies. Therefore, what started out as a profit-maximizing endeavor for Putin has transformed into an exercise in world domination to ensure his survival. Twenty-five years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the West still faces a menacing threat from the Kremlin. It is now driven by kleptocracy rather than communist ideology. But it is still the same menace, with the same nuclear weapons, and an extremely dangerous attitude. The real tragedy is that if Western governments hadnt tolerated Russian kleptocracy over the last quarter century, we wouldnt be where we are today. But as long as Putin and his cronies continue to keep their money safe in Western banks, there is still leverage: Assets can be frozen, and accounts can be refused. If one lesson is to be taken from the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is that we in the West cannot continue to keep our heads in the sand and ignore kleptocracy in Russia, because the consequences are disastrous. RETURN TO LIST. Ideology should not guide foreign policy Dmitri Trenin is the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center and served in the Soviet and Russian armed forces from 1972 to 1993. His latest book is Should We Fear Russia?. The Soviet Union saw itself as an ideological power. Moscow believed that communism offered, as the old communist slogan went, a bright future for all humanity. Leaders in Moscow were convinced that communism was the right recipe for any country, regardless of history, development, or culture and 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet empire, that misplaced logic is still shaping events around the globe. The Soviet Unions first major success in communism promotion came in Mongolia, where Moscow prided itself in shifting the country from feudalism to socialism by the late 1930s. After World War II, in addition to Eastern Europe and East Asia, Soviet-sponsored regimes spread across the globe, from Latin America to East Africa, with nominal success. But then came Afghanistan in 1979. Moscow went in first to ensure that leaders in Kabul remained loyal to the Soviet Union, but once it was in, the mission changed to helping the Afghans build a state and society based on the Soviet model, like it did in Mongolia. It was in Afghanistan that the Soviet Union discovered the power of militant Islam and eventually understood that it was so much easier to invade a deeply religious country than to reshape its society. By the time Moscow sent military forces into the country, the Soviet Union had revealed its cardinal weakness: imperial overreach. Moscow was already beginning to struggle to keep in line its allies in Eastern Europe and to support dozens of client states across the globe. Discontent at home was grossly enhanced by the war in Afghanistan, which was both costly and unnecessary. At the same time, the Soviet economy had run out of steam by the 1980s, with infrastructure crumbling and popular rancor growing. The cost of supporting a long list of satellites and surrogates was sapping the finances of the Soviet Union. Moscow, which had always been wary of borrowing abroad, began to take more and more loans. In the final years of the Soviet Union, its foreign policy was heavily influenced by the constant need to seek more funding from abroad: The pace of domestic liberalization was increased, steps toward the German reunification were taken, and Moscow did not intervene when Eastern Europe pursued its own political course in the 1980s. The lessons from this historical episode apply first of all to the Russian Federation, the successor to the Soviet Union. It immediately rejected any state ideology, abandoning not only the global empire but also the lands traditionally seen as Russias historical heartland, such as Ukraine. Twenty-five years later, as it seeks to rebuild itself as a global great power, Russia is realizing that founding an empire under a different name is not in the cards. Having entered the war in Syria, Russia has also made it clear from the start that it will not send in its ground forces, lest Syria becomes another Afghanistan. But the lessons shouldnt be limited to the former Soviet space. History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. U.S. interventions in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 developed into massive nation-building projects under the guise of democracy at great human and financial cost. Any ideology, not just communist, is a poor guide for foreign policy. Foreign military misadventures result in disappointment at home and loss of prestige abroad. And a growing national debt is a ticking bomb that threatens the very stability of the state. In the end, the Soviet Union paid the ultimate price for its imperial hubris. RETURN TO LIST. Russia cant lead through imperialism. Nargis Kassenova is an associate professor and director of the Central Asian Studies Center at the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research in Almaty. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the five new countries of Central Asia Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were initially left on the outside looking in. The Belavezha Accords the document signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, and Stanislav Shushkevich of Belarus on Dec. 8, 1991, that marked the dissolution of the Soviet Union and created a much looser Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place were signed with no input from the Central Asian republics. This process revealed an important truth about relations between the opposite sides of the Soviet empire: The Slavic leaders called the shots, while the Central Asians accepted the consequences. For the westward-looking Russia of the early 1990s, Central Asia was a burdensome backwater that it did not mind shedding off. After painful efforts to a keep a single economic space and share a currency, Yeltsins government pushed other CIS states out of the ruble zone in 1993. This move was particularly painful for Central Asian states, which were highly dependent on Russian banks for financial transfers to stabilize their battered economies. As Russia became less democratic and more nostalgic about Soviet glory in the late 1990s, Moscow began to show interest again in Central Asia. As the Kremlin revived talk of its privileged interests and spheres of influence, it sought new ways to establish itself as the center of economic and political activity in Eurasia. Moscow poured new resources into the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance that contains three of the five Central Asian countries. In 2015, the Eurasian Economic Union, an economic bloc of Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan widely heralded by Vladimir Putin came into effect to more closely bind the former Soviet countries. Through its alliances, Moscow continues to behave as a sovereign and not as the first among equals in a union. When the West sanctioned Russia over its interference in Ukraine in 2014, Moscow responded with its own set of retaliatory sanctions against European products. This was done without consulting Belarus or Kazakhstan, the other members of the Eurasian Customs Union, the precursor to the Eurasian Economic Union. Russia also carried out missile attacks from the Caspian Sea to targets in Syria in fall 2015 without taking into account the concerns of its military ally and closest partner Kazakhstan, which was forced to reroute flights on short notice out of the region. At the societal level in Russia, there is not much interest or love for Central Asians. Millions of labor migrants from Central Asia work in Russia, sending back money to support the families they left behind. This has grown anti-immigrant and racist sentiments in the country, and some key opposition politicians have even sought to channel it. Mikhail Prokhorov, a billionaire and presidential candidate during Russias 2012 elections, condescendingly promised that he would close the border with Middle Asia (the Soviet term referring to Central Asia minus Kazakhstan) and introduce a visa regime with these countries. Alexei Navalny, the charismatic activist planning to run in the 2018 presidential elections, has campaigned in the past on introducing a visa system with Central Asia and the Caucasus. With nationalism on the rise, Central Asians have increasingly become the other for Russians. This trend should urge Central Asians to keep in mind the lesson of the early 1990s. Without shared identity or a shared dream for the future, its impossible to build a political community or have any kind of meaningful economic integration. Central Asian states and societies need to reflect on their past and present dependencies and develop identities that are separate from their Soviet history and attachment to Russia. After 25 years, its time for Central Asians to abandon the type of self-victimization typical of colonized people and truly embrace their countries independence. RETURN TO LIST. Globalization only enriched and empowered autocrats. Alexander Cooley is Director of Columbia Universitys Harriman Institute and the Claire Tow of Professor of Political Science at Barnard College in New York. His forthcoming book, co-authored with John Heathershaw, is Dictators without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia. The five new countries of Central Asia Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union as a forgotten region seemingly cut off from the forces of globalization. Scholars and policymakers came to view Central Asia as isolated, disconnected, and insufficiently integrated into the global economy. The regions governments became increasingly authoritarian, and economies were left stagnant and unreformed from their Soviet days. The Central Asian states, however, were not exactly shielded from globalization. Rather than facilitate the transition from a communist command economy, Central Asias relationship with the liberal world system after the collapse of the Soviet Union suggests that globalization actually encouraged capital flight, enshrined corruption, and allowed some of the worlds most brutal dictators to cement their rule. This legacy of offshore finance has played out across Central Asia, shortchanging the regions economies and empowering its autocrats. The regions elites may not have transitioned their countries to liberal political and economic systems, but they did use state institutions to personally enrich themselves relying on anonymous shell companies and offshore bank accounts to camouflage their shady transactions. Although the West chastised these countries for pervasive corruption, it rarely paid attention to the international accountants, lawyers, and external advisors who helped to structure these illicit arrangements. In Tajikistan, a small mountainous country north of Afghanistan, political battles have been waged over the Tajik Aluminum Company (Talco), the countrys largest exporter, whose management structure is registered in the British Virgin Islands. Accusations of millions of dollars siphoned off and embezzled overseas, allegedly by President Emomali Rahmon and his relatives, have played out in London, Swiss, and New York courtrooms. Similarly, in Turkmenistan, an investigation by the anti-corruption watchdog Global Witness estimated that $2 billion to $3 billion in the countrys foreign currency reserves accumulated from the trade of natural gas under Turkmenistans first president, Saparmurat Niyazov was held by Deutsche Bank in an account that was solely controlled by the Turkmen president. In oil-rich Kazakhstan, a massive bribery scandal implicated a half-dozen major Western energy companies, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, over lucrative energy concessions in the 1990s. The accusations alleged the companies funneled some $80 million in bribes to senior Kazakh elites via offshore bank accounts. In 2010, James Giffen, an American middleman and senior advisor to President Nursultan Nazarbayev, pled guilty to one minor violation under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, after mounting a public authority defense under which he argued that he acted on behalf of various U.S. government entities, including the CIA, to promote American interests through these opaque deals. Meanwhile, in Kyrgyzstan, two presidential regimes, both of which were ousted in separate popular uprisings in 2005 and 2010, used the U.S. air base at Manas to enrich themselves and their associates. Although the base was critical to the U.S. militarys campaign in Afghanistan, billions of dollars from lucrative fuel contracts were channeled through mysterious offshore companies registered in Gibraltar. Neighboring Uzbekistans economy is generally considered closed, but it, too, was engulfed in an international bribery scandal. Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of the countrys late president, reportedly used a variety of offshore vehicles to structure more than $1 billion in payments and kickbacks from Western telecommunications companies. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, outside observers have frequently characterized Central Asia as a reclusive part of the world. However, by overlooking how regimes strategically used offshore vehicles, bank accounts, and financial intermediaries, the West has ignored its own complicity in fostering the global networks that supported autocracies in Central Asia and around the former Soviet world. RETURN TO LIST. Moscow is still sacrificing innovation for state security. Andrei Soldatov is an investigative journalist and cofounder of Agentura.ru, a Russian information hub on intelligence agencies. He is the co-author of The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russias Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries. On Dec. 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the countrys information security doctrine. The 17-page document outlines the Kremlins perception of the threats posed by terrorism, foreign propaganda, and cyber-espionage, before calling for a major change the creation of a national system of managing the Russian segment of the internet. The doctrine goes on to suggest that telecommunications and information technology (IT) companies should consult with the security services ahead of introducing new services and products and that the country needs to liquidate the dependence of domestic industries on foreign information technologies. Although this might seem like a bold new direction for Russia, its actually a remnant of the past and a sign that the Kremlin has learned nothing from its Soviet history when it comes to embracing technological change. Like the Soviet Union before it, the Russian government and its security services are aiming to restrict innovation for fear of the social and political upheavals it could bring. Thats exactly how things were organized in the Soviet Union, where authorities traded technological development for the specter of state security. In our book The Red Web, journalist Irina Borogan and I describe how in June 1975, Yuri Andropov, then-chairman of the KGB, reported to the Central Committee about Jewish refuseniks making international phone calls. Andropovs recommendation was to suppress the use of international communication channels for transmission abroad of biased and slanderous information. The measure was adopted and worked to limit the spread of dissent, but as a result, the Soviet Union fell far behind the West. When the Soviet Union collapsed, accounting for this technological deficit needed a new approach, and Vladimir Bulgak, the minister of communications under former President Boris Yeltsin, was willing to break with the past. Russia desperately needed modern communications, but local industry couldnt provide the technology. Due to Soviet-era restrictions, the Russian telecommunications industry now lagged behind the West by 20 to 25 years. We came to think that our industry would never catch up, and that meant we had to go and buy, Bulgak told me during an interview. And Moscow did just that. In the span of three years, more than 70 percent of all Russian intercity phone stations were replaced by modern digital ones, made in the West, and Bulgak increased the number of international lines in the country from 2,000 analog ones to 66,000, all of them digital. Bulgak bought equipment from abroad, bypassing old Soviet factories at enormous cost many of them were forced to close, leaving thousands of people high and dry. But by 1995, Russia had established a modern, national communications industry. Thriving and profitable internet businesses sprang up in the early 2000s, something that would have been impossible without the lines and stations purchased by Bulgak. The infrastructure of the Russian internet was built on Western technology, primarily Cisco, an American conglomerate, because the new national telecoms companies believed that reliability was more important than the origin of the supplier. Putin has not learned this lesson. When Western sanctions were imposed on Russia in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea, Putin called for import substitution to replace foreign products with domestic ones. The new security doctrine cements this idea, saying that the level of dependence of the domestic industry from foreign IT is too high and that this makes Russia dependent on foreign geopolitical interests. But the countrys industry simply cant produce all the equipment that is needed, and desperate officials have since turned to China to replace Western technology. And although its an open question whether this new doctrine will actually make Russia any safer it will surely limit the countrys economic potential. RETURN TO LIST. Top photo credit: VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images Master limited partnerships may become attractive investments again for people seeking both income and growth after these vehicles saw a few years of sharp losses because of plunging oil prices. MLPs have features of limited partnerships, but trade like a stock. They generally invest in energy infrastructure projects, and many analysts' favorite investments in the sector focus on the so-called midstream, which usually are pipelines that carry crude oil and natural gas to refineries. MLPs create steady income, but because building pipelines are big, expensive projects they depreciate over a long time. With energy prices stabilizing now that the OPEC said it is willing to cut oil production, and there is an incoming U.S. presidential administration friendly to fossil-fuel production, the outlook for MLPs appears to be on firmer footing, say energy experts. [See: The Best Energy Stocks to Buy for 2017.] "The table is set for the energy sector. A lot of uncertainties are off the table," says Rob Thummel, portfolio manager of Tortoise Capital Advisors in Leawood, Kansas. "Prices have stabilized and are probably range bound. Fifty to 60 dollars (for crude oil) is a sweet spot for MLPs and any other energy stock. Producers can earn an adequate return at that level and consumer demand will remain strong. For MLPs, demand for the commodity is key." Supply and demand balancing out. With global oil supplies likely to be falling after a few years of a production glut and consumer demand still strong, that bodes well for MLPs. Furthermore, U.S. production is likely stable, too, after sliding from its peak in 2015 during the oil-price drop, says Darin Turner, managing director and portfolio manager for Invesco Real Estate in Dallas. "What that creates is a relatively positive fundamental environment for MLPs," Turner says. "We're almost doing a 180 from where we were 18 months ago, when everybody thought U.S. production was never going to be as high as it was back in 2014 and '15." Story continues Under President Barack Obama, the oil industry struggled with getting pipeline permits to build new infrastructure, say Turner and Jay Hatfield, portfolio manager at the InfraCap MLP exchange-traded fund (ticker: AMZA). A combination of a friendlier presidential administration and improved technology to make U.S. producers much more cost-efficient should bode well for the sector, Hatfield says. "There are two reasons for higher MLP prices. One, the U.S. is the lowest-cost marginal producer in the world. ... Second, we no longer have a president whose primary energy policy is to eliminate fossil fuels," Hatfield says. "That was the primary driver of Obama's energy policy. They opposed all energy-related projects, specifically pipelines like Keystone and the Dakota Access pipeline. This administration will be at least open to approving them. That's a pretty big improvement." Thummel says even though oil prices were volatile this year, the sector itself had "a good year," noting the first exports of liquid natural gas and methane, and the first crude-oil exports since the 1970s-era oil embargo lifted. Some risks remain. There is demand for crude oil and natural gas both domestically and from abroad, and to meet that demand pipelines need to be built to get energy from places like the Marcellus deposit in the eastern U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico. However, public opposition to pipeline construction is well-documented, such as protests about the Keystone XL pipeline that would run from Canada into the U.S. and most recently the Dakota Access pipeline. Both crossed major waterways, and protests about the Dakota Access pipeline also concerned the potential impact on Native American communities. [See: Oil ETFs: 8 Ways to Invest in Black Gold.] Invesco's Turner says protests about building new pipelines remain a risk, especially when pipelines run close to populated areas. While on the campaign trail, Donald Trump said he would have approved the Keystone pipeline, and it's possible his administration may make permitting easier, but public concerns are not likely to go away, Turner says. "There's a general view of continued dependence on fossil fuels, plus building energy infrastructure in people's back yard is always going to be a topic of high debate," Turner says. "What we do believe is people at times don't connect the dots on that we're building out this pipeline infrastructure specifically as it relates to natural gas and using that natural gas to displace the use of coal." Cheap prices encouraged many power plants to switch to natural gas from coal, which also has one-third to half the carbon emissions of coal. Thummel agreed regulatory risks might be an issue, more on the state side than the federal level. While protests may result in regulators requesting more environmental impact studies before making final approvals, regulators also need to weigh the financial impact on consumers, he says. "Pipelines are the cheapest and also the safest way to transport energy in the U.S. anywhere," he says. "Regulatory lags will continue to extend as regulators request additional info. We don't think that causes pipeline building to be stopped, but it possibly slows the pace of it." There is also demand from Mexico for U.S. natural gas as that country modernizes its electricity grid to run on natural gas instead of oil, Thummel says. "Those opportunities could continue to expand, but if there are concerns about protectionism, that would be a negative," Thummel says. Hatfield says for investors interested in MLPs, he likes two energy companies, both of which he says are currently undervalued. Williams Partners ( WPZ) owns the largest pipeline infrastructure, with a focus on natural gas. More natural gas pipelines need to be built to satisfy the demand for this fuel, he says. Another pick is Energy Transfer Partners ( ETP), but he says investors should wait on this one. The firm is merging with Sunoco, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017. This firm is also building the Dakota Access pipeline, which he expects will eventually be approved. [Read: Bottoming MLPs Offer a Bright Spot for Energy Investors.] "We think it's substantially undervalued because of the merger and the protests," he says. More From US News & World Report Master limited partnerships may become attractive investments again for people seeking both income and growth after these vehicles saw a few years of sharp losses because of plunging oil prices. MLPs have features of limited partnerships, but trade like a stock. They generally invest in energy infrastructure projects, and many analysts' favorite investments in the sector focus on the so-called midstream, which usually are pipelines that carry crude oil and natural gas to refineries. MLPs create steady income, but because building pipelines are big, expensive projects they depreciate over a long time. With energy prices stabilizing now that the OPEC said it is willing to cut oil production, and there is an incoming U.S. presidential administration friendly to fossil-fuel production, the outlook for MLPs appears to be on firmer footing, say energy experts. [See: The Best Energy Stocks to Buy for 2017.] "The table is set for the energy sector. A lot of uncertainties are off the table," says Rob Thummel, portfolio manager of Tortoise Capital Advisors in Leawood, Kansas. "Prices have stabilized and are probably range bound. Fifty to 60 dollars (for crude oil) is a sweet spot for MLPs and any other energy stock. Producers can earn an adequate return at that level and consumer demand will remain strong. For MLPs, demand for the commodity is key." Supply and demand balancing out. With global oil supplies likely to be falling after a few years of a production glut and consumer demand still strong, that bodes well for MLPs. Furthermore, U.S. production is likely stable, too, after sliding from its peak in 2015 during the oil-price drop, says Darin Turner, managing director and portfolio manager for Invesco Real Estate in Dallas. "What that creates is a relatively positive fundamental environment for MLPs," Turner says. "We're almost doing a 180 from where we were 18 months ago, when everybody thought U.S. production was never going to be as high as it was back in 2014 and '15." Story continues Under President Barack Obama, the oil industry struggled with getting pipeline permits to build new infrastructure, say Turner and Jay Hatfield, portfolio manager at the InfraCap MLP exchange-traded fund (ticker: AMZA). A combination of a friendlier presidential administration and improved technology to make U.S. producers much more cost-efficient should bode well for the sector, Hatfield says. "There are two reasons for higher MLP prices. One, the U.S. is the lowest-cost marginal producer in the world. ... Second, we no longer have a president whose primary energy policy is to eliminate fossil fuels," Hatfield says. "That was the primary driver of Obama's energy policy. They opposed all energy-related projects, specifically pipelines like Keystone and the Dakota Access pipeline. This administration will be at least open to approving them. That's a pretty big improvement." Thummel says even though oil prices were volatile this year, the sector itself had "a good year," noting the first exports of liquid natural gas and methane, and the first crude-oil exports since the 1970s-era oil embargo lifted. Some risks remain. There is demand for crude oil and natural gas both domestically and from abroad, and to meet that demand pipelines need to be built to get energy from places like the Marcellus deposit in the eastern U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico. However, public opposition to pipeline construction is well-documented, such as protests about the Keystone XL pipeline that would run from Canada into the U.S. and most recently the Dakota Access pipeline. Both crossed major waterways, and protests about the Dakota Access pipeline also concerned the potential impact on Native American communities. [See: Oil ETFs: 8 Ways to Invest in Black Gold.] Invesco's Turner says protests about building new pipelines remain a risk, especially when pipelines run close to populated areas. While on the campaign trail, Donald Trump said he would have approved the Keystone pipeline, and it's possible his administration may make permitting easier, but public concerns are not likely to go away, Turner says. "There's a general view of continued dependence on fossil fuels, plus building energy infrastructure in people's back yard is always going to be a topic of high debate," Turner says. "What we do believe is people at times don't connect the dots on that we're building out this pipeline infrastructure specifically as it relates to natural gas and using that natural gas to displace the use of coal." Cheap prices encouraged many power plants to switch to natural gas from coal, which also has one-third to half the carbon emissions of coal. Thummel agreed regulatory risks might be an issue, more on the state side than the federal level. While protests may result in regulators requesting more environmental impact studies before making final approvals, regulators also need to weigh the financial impact on consumers, he says. "Pipelines are the cheapest and also the safest way to transport energy in the U.S. anywhere," he says. "Regulatory lags will continue to extend as regulators request additional info. We don't think that causes pipeline building to be stopped, but it possibly slows the pace of it." There is also demand from Mexico for U.S. natural gas as that country modernizes its electricity grid to run on natural gas instead of oil, Thummel says. "Those opportunities could continue to expand, but if there are concerns about protectionism, that would be a negative," Thummel says. Hatfield says for investors interested in MLPs, he likes two energy companies, both of which he says are currently undervalued. Williams Partners ( WPZ) owns the largest pipeline infrastructure, with a focus on natural gas. More natural gas pipelines need to be built to satisfy the demand for this fuel, he says. Another pick is Energy Transfer Partners ( ETP), but he says investors should wait on this one. The firm is merging with Sunoco, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017. This firm is also building the Dakota Access pipeline, which he expects will eventually be approved. [Read: Bottoming MLPs Offer a Bright Spot for Energy Investors.] "We think it's substantially undervalued because of the merger and the protests," he says. Debbie Carlson has more than 20 years experience as a journalist and has had bylines in Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, and other publications. Follow her on Twitter at @debbiecarlson1. Industrial tool maker Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. SWK recently announced that it has agreed to sell a majority portion of its Mechanical Security businesses to dormakaba. The transaction proceeds will be approximately $725 million in cash. Post the release of third-quarter 2016 results on Oct 27, shares of the company yielded 1.5% return, underperforming the return of 8.8% generated by the Zacks categorized Machine Tools & Related Products industry. Despite the underperformance, we believe that this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has solid growth potential, backed by its strategy of shifting its business portfolio toward favored growth markets through organic and inorganic ways. In the near term, improved performance in the Tools & Storage segment and better profitability in the Security segment will boost the companys financial performance. Before discussing the divestment, a brief description of Stanley Black & Deckers Security segment might be useful. The segment comprises Convergent Security Solutions and Mechanical Access Solutions businesses. The latter sells automatic doors, commercial hardware, locking mechanisms, electronic keyless entry systems, keying systems, tubular and mortise door locksets. In 2015, the Security business generated revenues of $2.1 billion, representing 19% of the companys total revenues in the year. Divestment Deal Per Stanley Black & Deckers signed definitive agreement, the to-be-divested assets include the commercial hardware brands, BEST Access, phi Precision and GMT. In the past twelve months, these assets generated revenues of $270 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $52 million. Businesses not meant for sale including commercial electronic security and automatic doors, contributed approximately $1.8 billion in revenues in the last twelve months. Brands such as Sargent and Greenleaf were not included in the sale. Subject to the fulfilment of customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, Stanley Black & Decker anticipates the divestment to be completed in the first quarter of 2017. The company expects that the deal will likely dilute earnings by roughly 20 cents per share in 2017. However, it anticipates the impact of this dilution to be more than offset by the accretion anticipated from the Newell Tools acquisition (expected to be completed in the first quarter), low-interest financing strategies and share buybacks. Netting the impacts, the company anticipates 5 cents earnings accretion in the year. Though the initial impacts of the divestment seem unfavorable, we believe such dispositions are in sync with Stanley Black & Deckers inorganic ways of strengthening its core businesses. The estimated after-tax cash proceeds of approximately $700 million from the deal can be utilized for boosting more attractive businesses in the companys portfolio. Stocks to Consider Stanley Black & Decker has a market capitalization of $17.6 billion. Over the last 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the stock has increased by 0.3% to $6.49 per share for 2016 while decreased by 1.3% to $6.99 per share for 2017. Story continues STANLEY B&D INC Price and Consensus STANLEY B&D INC Price and Consensus | STANLEY B&D INC Quote Some better-ranked stocks in the machinery industry include Enersys Inc. ENS, II-VI Incorporated IIVI and Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. AIT. While Enersys and II-VI Incorporated sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Applied Industrial Technologies carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Enersys Incs earnings estimates for fiscal 2017 improved over the last 60 days. It has an average positive earnings surprise of 3.01% for the trailing four quarters. II-VI Incorporated reported better-than-expected results in the last four quarters, with a positive average earnings surprise of 39.80%. Also, bottom-line expectations for fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018 have improved over the past 60 days. Applied Industrial Technologies earnings estimates for fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018 have been revised upward over the last 60 days. Average earnings surprise for the last four quarters is a positive 4.93%. 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 II-VI INCORP (IIVI): Free Stock Analysis Report STANLEY B&D INC (SWK): Free Stock Analysis Report APPLD INDL TECH (AIT): Free Stock Analysis Report ENERSYS INC (ENS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research MANHATTAN, Kansas (AP) -- Kansas State point guard Kamau Stokes limped off the floor early in the first half with an injury to the same knee he had hurt a year ago. Coach Bruce Weber had worried that he might've had another serious injury for the second-straight season. This time though, Stokes returned to the game and helped spark the Wildcats to victory. Stokes scored a season-high 18 points and Kansas State used a 19-1 run late in the first-half to defeat Gardner-Webb 67-54 on Wednesday night. ''We just had to pick up our defense,'' Stokes said. ''Coach got on us about that. We were playing lazy. Teams do that sometimes and we've got to stop that whenever it happens.'' While Kansas State (11-1) was 5 of 7 from the field during that late first-half stretch, Gardner-Webb (7-6) struggled from the field as they missed all 11 shot attempts in the final 7:02 of the first half. Stokes and DJ Johnson were the only Wildcats to score in double figures on the night. Johnson scored 16 points and was a perfect 8 for 8 from the field in the victory. This was the final game for the Wildcats before they venture into Big 12 conference play. ''I feel like we are prepared,'' Stokes said. We are ready to go into conference play. We missed out on a lot of close games that we should've pulled out.'' Gardner-Webb scored the first eight points of the second half but once again struggled as they shot 10 for 25 from the field. Jamaal Robateau scored 17 points and Tyrell Nelson 14 to lead the Runnin' Bulldogs. BIG PICTURE Gardner-Webb: The loss by Gardner-Webb breaks the Runnin' Bulldogs two game winning streak and brings their record to 4-2 in the month of December. Kansas State: Kansas State wraps up their non-conference slate with a 7-0 record at home. STAT OF THE NIGHT: Kansas State's DJ Johnson was the first Wildcat to be a perfect 8-8 from the field since Luis Colon shot 9 for 9 in a 2009 game against Southern Mississippi. Story continues HE SAID IT: DJ Johnson on Kamau Stokes: ''This is my buddy. He passes me the ball and I screen for him. I make sure he does not get his head knocked off on screens. We are best friends on the court. He's going to help us in conference play. We were missing a true point for last year. Carlbe (Ervin) stepped up, but he did not play that position in practice. We have a true point guard going into conference play.'' UP NEXT Gardner-Webb: The Runnin' Bulldogs next game is their conference opener as they host High Point on December 29. Kansas State: Kansas State will host Texas in the first game of Big 12 Conference play on December 30. stripe cfo will gaybrick In late November, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Stripe, a San Francisco payments processing startup, had raised $150 million in a deal co-led by General Catalyst Partners and CapitalG (formerly Google Capital), that valued the startup at $9.2 billion. That's just shy of double the $5 billion valuation it had achieved in 2015, when a group of institutional investors including Visa handed over $80 million. Stripe was, and remains, the most valuable financial technology startup. It also led Forbes to name 26-year-old Stripe President John Collison the "world's youngest self-made billionaire" (John's brother and cofounder Patrick is two years older). The cash infusion put a cap on what turned out to be a big year for Stripe: Early in 2016, the company announced the launch of Atlas, a program to help entrepreneurs all over the world, including Cuba, launch their own internet businesses. Stripe Radar, a new anti-fraud tool, bolstered the companys offerings to big businesses. And while Stripe started off serving smaller customers, Stripe CFO Will Gaybrick says that in 2016, the Fortune 500 started coming to them. This year, Target, SAP, the NFL, and both presidential campaigns used Stripe's services to power at least some of the payments processing they build into their apps and websites. "The business and product grew faster than our valuation actually grew" between the two funding rounds, says Gaybrick. Yet despite that growth, even as we look ahead to 2017, and the potential IPO boom as well-funded companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify likely make their long-awaited debuts on the stock market, Gaybrick says that his company has "no plans" to go public in the foreseeable future. "We are very happy as a private company right now," Gaybrick says. Room to grow In 2016, Gaybrick says, Stripe spent a lot of its money and time on recruiting new leadership from companies like Amazon and Twitter, even as it invested its engineering know-how in the behind-the-scenes infrastructure stuff that keeps the company running smoothly. The new money is going toward furthering its international expansion, while it builds out its product to appeal even more to developers at small and large companies alike. Story continues The reason Stripe isn't rushing into the public markets, Gaybrick says, is simply that it doesn't need to. As online shopping and app purchases slowly but surely makes a dent in brick-or-mortar shopping, Stripe stands to benefit. As customers like Slack get bigger, they take more payments, of which Stripe gets a cut. Patrick collison, john collison, stripe, sv100 2015 While Stripe doesn't disclose whether or not it's profitable, Gaybrick says that the company's history of venture capital funding is a clear sign that there's still plenty of upside left in the business. For instance, he says, legendary Silicon Valley venture firm Sequoia Capital has invested in Stripe in every single one of its 7 funding rounds since it left the Y Combinator program from 2011 through this most recent event. To Gaybrick, that's a clear sign that the firm remains confident there's room for Stripe to keep growing privately. As a "cash-efficient business," and a growing one, Gaybrick says, Stripe's challenge is less about raising further capital than it is making sure that the company is keeping its engineers and product teams focused in the right direction, as it looks for growth. Laying the groundwork To that end, Gaybrick says he takes a more hands-on role with Stripe's product than most CFOs. From Gaybrick's perspective, the big challenge CFOs will face, including himself, isn't necessarily managing money it's managing the limited manpower available at any given time, and staying focused. "[CFOs are increasingly] not constrained by capital, they're constrained by engineering resources and they're constrained by time," Gaybrick says. Lyft Glowstache And so, it's in the best interest of the CFO's office to help ensure discipline and focus, making sure that the company is spending those resources on things that will turn into revenue for the company. It adds a "new dimension" to the job. With 2016 fast coming to a close, Gaybrick is confident that the company made the right investments to stay competitive, whether or not it goes public. "We've done a lot of preparing of the organization," Gaybrick says. NOW WATCH: The biggest security mistakes people make when buying things online More From Business Insider Madrid (AFP) - Spain's annual Christmas lottery on Thursday showered 56 million euros ($58 million) on residents of a struggling town where nearly a third of the population is out of work. Celebrating residents in Pinos Puente in the southern farming region of Andalucia danced, sang, embraced and sprayed sparkling wine in the streets, images broadcast on public television TVE showed. "The tickets went to people with low incomes, people who really needed it," Carmen Capilla, a local United Left town councillor told AFP by telephone. Much of the winnings came from tickets sold by the local branch of the tiny United Left political coalition in Pinos Puente, with 258 of its tickets hitting the winning number for the second prize, each paying 125,000 euros. Many charities and associations buy the tickets from the state-run lottery and resell them with a small markup as a way to raise funds. The winning tickets will bring 32.2 million euros in prize money to the town of around 13,000 residents, which has an unemployment rate of 29 percent and a yearly municipal budget of just eight million euros. Other winning tickets were sold by the local lottery office or other associations. "It is a lot of money for a town that has been punished hard," Pinos Puente mayor Jose Enrique Medina told AFP. "The prize money was widely distributed, it went to many families that really needed it." - 'Promenade of Hope' - Spain's annual Christmas lottery, known as "El Gordo" ("The Fat One"), is ranked as the world's richest, handing out a total of 2.3 billion euros this year. Unlike other big lotteries that generate just a few big winners, the draw aims to share the wealth, and millions of numbers yield some kind of return. The draw spread cheer across Spain, where the unemployment rate stood at 18.9 percent in the third quarter, the second-worst rate in the European Union after Greece. A state lottery office on Madrid's Paseo de la Esperanza, which means "Promenade of Hope", sold 1,650 tickets with the winning number for the top prize, each of which wins 400,000 euros. Story continues The winning tickets will bring around 600 million euros to the lower middle class neighbourhood in southern Madrid. Among the lucky winners was Vicente Villaverde, a 44-year-old technician with Gas Natural who learned he had won as he got ready to go to work. "I went to look for my tools when I got a call to say to check my ticket, I had won 400,000 euros," he told reporters outside the lottery store. "I have a child with a handicap, this is going to make our lives easier," he said, adding he would also help his brothers, including one who recently lost his job. The lottery, which dates back to 1812, is an important Christmas tradition in Spain, with many families, offices and bar regulars clubbing to buy tickets which cost 20 euros each. The draw, which goes on for over three hours, informally ushers in the Christmas season. Children from a Madrid school that used to be a home for orphans pick small wooden balls bearing the winning numbers and prizes out of two giant tumblers, and sing them out. Many Spaniards spend the morning glued to TV sets, radios and computers, waiting to see if they are among the lucky winners. The United Left, which includes the Communist Party of Spain, backs greater state intervention in the economy and less reliance on the power of markets. Pearson Specter Litt might lose another valuable employee when Suits returns from its hiatus next month. In a recent interview with TVLine, series creator Aaron Korsh revealed that Rachel (Meghan Markle) is going to receive a job offer from his dad Robert Zane (Wendell Pierce) at the beginning of Season 6, episode 11, titled Shes Gone. Korsh said that Robert is going to convince her daughter that its no longer worth it to work for Pearson Specter Litt (P.S.L.) now that the firms anchor is gone. Her father is going to say, Listen, it was one thing when Jessica (Gina Torres) was there. Shes not there [anymore], and Im not sure that firm is going to survive without her. Come work for me, Korsh said of how Robert tries to sway Rachel to work for his firm, Rand, Kaldor & Zane. Shes got to decide: Is she going to stay at Pearson Specter, or is she going to go work for her dad? Jessicas departure from P.S.L. isnt Roberts only selling point to convince his daughter to work for him. In his mind, and potentially in the real world, [Rachel] might have a better chance of getting into the bar if she left the firm that hired a fraud and moved on, Korsh added. So thats part of his sales pitch. Rachel has been a loyal employee of P.S.L. since day 1 of the series, and the people in the firm have become family to her, so its unlikely that she would leave the firm during this tough time. In addition, Rachel has been very open about her dislike of living in the shadow of her famed father, so it would be out of her character if she ends up accepting Roberts job offer. Do you think Rachel will leave P.S.L.? Tell us what you think in the comments below! Suits Season 6, episode 11 airs on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017 at 10 p.m. EST on USA Network. Meghan Markle as Rachel Photo: Nigel Parry/USA Network Related Articles Ever wonder why gingerbread men are shaped like men in the first place? The answer can be traced back hundreds of years at least. According to Carole Levin, director of the medieval studies program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and author of The Reign of Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth Is 16th-century reign was known for elaborate royal dinners that included marzipan shaped like fruit, castles and birds. But the Queens retinue also included a royal gingerbread maker. She did do a banquet where she had gingerbread men made to represent foreign dignitaries and people in her court, says Levin. It was a creative time in history, after all. The English Renaissance was in full swing. William Shakespeare was writing plays, such as the comedy Loves Labours Lost (An I had but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it to buy ginger-bread, the clown Costard quips). But it was also a time of great religious wars, and perhaps the gingerbread dignitaries would have been part of what Levin calls the Queens clever diplomacy, at a time when Anglican Britain stood opposite Catholic France and Spain. But the Queen wasnt the only person eating gingerbread men. Also during this time period, gingerbread men were dished out by folk-medicine practitioners, often described as witches or magicians, who would create them as love tokens for young women. If they could get the man of their choice to eat the gingerbread man that had been made for them, the idea was the man would then fall in love with the young woman, Levin says. So how did they become something to eat around the winter holidays? The popularity of gingerbread during the holidays can, at least in part, be attributed to the belief that spices heated you up in the winter, says Michael Krondl, author of Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert. Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter Story continues And gingerbread itself is even older than thatthough Krondl points out that some of the earliest versions of gingerbread didnt have ginger and werent always a bread. Many of the earliest versions of gingerbread were basically honey cakes. Krondl traces honey bread or cakes back to ancient Greece and claims that, ancient Roman men ate anatomically-correct honey cakes before orgies to stimulate their sexual appetites. Any spices that were added would change over time, as the popularity and availability of spices varied. Paul Freedman, author of Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination and a professor of History at Yale University, likewise cites a recipe for gyngerbrede in an mid-15th-century English cookbook manuscript, which does not call for ginger. It had chewy, toffee-like consistency, sort of like a candy. Take a quart of honey and seethe it and skin it clean. Rake saffron and powdered pepper and throw them on the honey. Take grated bread and moisten it. Combine with honey and spices. Add cinnamon and cloves and make into squares. If you want it to be red, color with red sandalwood. Overall, the big gingerbread traditions come from Germany, France, the Netherlands and the British Isles. Some English cooks were using sugar instead of honey by the end of the 16th century and molasses by the mid-17th century. The addition of butter and cream gave rise to the 18th century recipes that very much resemble the modern gingerbread cookies of today, according to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Counting the number of bugs whizzing high overhead annually may seem all but impossible, but researchers in Britain have completed the most comprehensive tally ever conducted. And the headcount they came up with was almost un-bee-lievable. A total of 3.5 trillion insects weighing a combined 3,200 tons annually migrated annually over a region in south-central England monitored with specialised radar and a balloon-supported aerial netting system, the scientists said on Thursday. "High-altitude aerial migration of insects is enormous," said University of Exeter entomologist Jason Chapman, whose research was published in the journal Science. "These aerial flows are an unappreciated aspect of terrestrial ecosystems, equivalent to the oceanic movements of plankton which power the oceanic food chains." The researchers tracked the migration of insects at altitudes between 492 feet and 3,937 feet (150-1,200-meters) over a 10-year period. They suspect even more migrating bugs could be found elsewhere. "The numbers will be considerably higher in most parts of the world, but we lack the data to extrapolate the total numbers yet," Chapman said. In terms of biomass, the insects greatly exceeded migratory birds in Britain. Their biomass was seven times that of the 30 million songbirds flying from Britain to Africa each autumn. While the study did not plot the departure and destination points for the migrating bugs, they were thought to be travelling back and forth numerous miles (km), and sometimes over the English Channel and North Sea. "Some of the butterflies and moths we studied migrate hundreds of kilometres (miles) in each generation, and thousands of kilometres (miles) over the course of the year, which may include six generations," Chapman said. Insects play important roles, pollinating plants, facilitating productive soil through decomposing, serving as food sources for birds and bats, spreading disease, and serving both as crop pests and predators of crop pests. "We could not function without them," Chapman said. The mass insect migrations generally headed north in spring and south in autumn. The most abundant day-flying insects in the study included cereal aphids and the tiny parasitoid wasps that attack them. The most abundant medium-sized day-flying insects included hoverflies and ladybirds, also called ladybugs, and the most common big ones included large butterflies such as the painted lady. At night, abundant small insects included midges and other flies, while medium-sized ones includes lacewings and large ones included noctuid moths and hawkmoths. (Reporting by Will Dunham) Several states with newly strengthened Republican statehouse majorities could see their own versions of Gov. Scott Walker's signature Act 10 legislation in the coming year, Walker confirmed in an interview on Wednesday. Lawmakers in Iowa, Kentucky and Michigan have discussed developing bills based on the controversial policy that sparked massive protests at the state Capitol and catapulted Walker to national prominence, Walker told the Cap Times in a wide-ranging interview. Walker ushered through the legislation, which effectively eliminated collective bargaining for most public employees, almost immediately after taking office with a Republican legislative majority to back him up in 2011. The 2016 elections offer similar circumstances in several other states. Iowa a state where Walker campaigned heavily during his presidential bid will be led by Republicans in the governor's office and both houses of the Legislature for the first time since 1998. Kentucky will also be under one-party rule, with Republicans winning the state Senate majority for the first time since 1921. Michigan held onto its existing GOP trifecta. "It's no surprise that three states controlled by Republican governors would be considering a destructive bill ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) deems 'model legislation,'" said Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Brandon Weathersby in an email. "The only things Act 10 has created are job losses, budget deficits, and a declining public education system, all while hurting the pocketbook of Wisconsin families." Walker argues time has shown his legislation has been effective in saving taxpayer dollars and offering more flexibility for local communities in budgeting. The first thing Walker has told elected officials who have asked for advice on how to bring Act 10 to their states is to talk to the public about their plans. "Youve got to not just fix things, youve got to talk about them," Walker said. "Most politicians talk about them but dont fix them. We, early on, fixed them but didnt talk about it. You've got to do both ... That was one of the lessons we learned that we passed onto others, is constantly communicate what youre doing and why youre doing it." The governor faced frequent criticism during the battle over Act 10 that he hadn't told people of his plans to curb the power of labor unions, and ultimately faced and beat back an attempt to recall him from office. Walker also said he advises lawmakers to "do it early" and not be afraid of fallout in the next election. "And whatever power you get out of a win, I say dont hoard it, reinvest it. Always keep performing," he said. Beirut (AFP) - There have been multiple diplomatic pushes aimed at ending the Syria conflict since it erupted in 2011, but all have ended in failure. Here is a recap. - Arab initiatives - November 2, 2011: The Arab League says it has reached an agreement with Syria to end the fighting, free detainees and withdraw troops from cities, but the terms are not applied. Two months later, Arab foreign ministers adopt an initiative providing for the transfer of power from President Bashar al-Assad to his deputy and a unity cabinet. In early 2012, Assad's government formally rejects the plan and says it is determined to crush the rebellion. - Geneva I - June 30, 2012: An "action group" meeting in Geneva says it has reached agreement on a Syrian transition of power. But those present -- Arab states, Britain, China, France, Russia, Turkey and the United States -- interpret the deal differently. Washington says it marks the start of a "post-Assad" period. Beijing and Moscow maintain that it is up to the Syrians to determine their own future. - Geneva II - January 22-31, 2014: The Russia-backed Syrian government and US-supported opposition figures hold talks in Switzerland without results. February 15, 2014: United Nations mediator Lakhdar Brahimi ends the talks. He resigns on May 13 after more than 20 months of fruitless efforts, and is replaced in July by Staffan de Mistura. - Russian offensive/Vienna talks - October 30, 2015: A month after Russian air strikes begin in Syria at the request of Damascus, 17 countries including Russia, the United States and for the first time Iran, meet in Vienna. The regime and opposition are absent from the talks, which break up amid deep disagreement over Assad's fate. November 14, 2015: World diplomats agree in Vienna on a fixed calendar for Syria's future but remain sharply at odds over Assad. - UN resolution passed - December 18, 2015: For the first time, the UN Security Council unanimously adopts a plan for a political solution, including negotiations between the opposition and the regime as well as a ceasefire. The text provides for a transitional government within six months and elections within 18 months. Story continues - Indirect negotiations - In March-April, 2016 three rounds of indirect negotiations between the regime and opposition take place in Geneva under UN auspices. They fail over conditions for a transition and are hindered on the ground by violations of a truce imposed by Washington and Moscow. - Sixth Russian UN veto - December 5, 2016: Russia and China veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for a seven-day ceasefire in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo. It was the sixth time that Russia, and the fifth that China, have used their vetoes to block UN action on the war. But the army pressed an offensive on Aleppo, finally declaring on Thursday that it had full control of the city after one month of fighting. (Adds quote, details, celebrations in west Aleppo) BEIRUT, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Syrian army said it had retaken Aleppo completely and brought "security and safety" back to the city, as the last group of rebel fighters were evacuated on Thursday. The evacuation of the rebels, who had been holed up in a small, battered enclave in Aleppo, puts the city entirely under the control of the army and its allies after years of fighting, state television said. The final phase of the evacuation ended when a convoy carrying nearly 150 people, including fighters and members of their families, departed towards rebel-held areas outside the city, it said. Broadcasting live, state media showed footage of a convoy crossing from the Ramousah highway junction in south Aleppo to al-Rashideen in the countryside just southwest of the city. In parallel, two buses carrying people from the pro-government villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, besieged by rebels in Idlib, arrived in government-held Aleppo, state TV said. Government forces had insisted the two villages must be included in the deal to bring people out of Aleppo. Under a deal brokered by Turkey and Russia, convoys of buses and cars have shuttled thousands of civilians and fighters out of Aleppo's last rebel-held pocket towards opposition areas outside the city since late last week. The Syrian army announced in a statement on Thursday "the return of safety and security to the city of Aleppo". "This victory constitutes an important turning point," it said. In the western part of the city, held throughout the war by the government, there was celebratory gunfire, fireworks, and street parties on Thursday night, witnesses told Reuters. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government is backed by Russian air power and Shi'ite militias, including Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and Iraq's Harakat al-Nujaba. The mostly Sunni rebels include groups supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies. For four years, the city was split between a rebel-held east and government-held west. During the summer, the army and allied forces besieged the rebel sector before using intense bombardment and ground assaults to retake it in recent months. (Reporting by Ellen Francis in Beirut, Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Catherine Evans) Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - The army said Thursday it had retaken full control of Syria's devastated second city Aleppo, scoring its biggest victory against opposition forces since the civil war erupted in 2011. The announcement came after a landmark evacuation deal that ended a ferocious month-long offensive waged on east Aleppo by government forces and allied militia. The operation climaxed a battle that lasted nearly four and a half years, and transformed the city into a worldwide symbol of bloodshed and devastation. Thousands of inhabitants in the western part of the city -- which had remained under the regime's control throughout the conflict -- took to the streets, chanting slogans and shouting their jubilation despite extreme cold. Cars crawled along, their drivers sounding their horns, and in city squares, children had the colours of the Syrian flag painted on their cheeks. "Our joy is immense. Life returned to Aleppo today," said lawyer Omar Halli, who predicted "victory over all of Syria." An army statement said the general command "announces the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists, and the departure of those who stayed there". A rebel official spoke of a "great loss" for the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. "On the political level, this is a great loss," Yasser al-Youssef of the Nureddin al-Zinki rebel group told AFP. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. "For the revolution, it is a period of retreat and a difficult turning point." Referring to Assad's closest allies, Ahmed Qorra Ali of the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group said: "Aleppo is now under the occupation of Russia and Iran." The army announcement came after state television reported that the last convoy of four buses carrying rebels and civilians had left east Aleppo and arrived in the government-controlled Ramussa district south of the city. Earlier, the Red Cross said more than 4,000 fighters had left rebel-held areas in the final stages of the evacuation. Story continues - Biggest blow - The loss of east Aleppo is the biggest blow to Syria's rebel movement in the nearly six-year conflict, which has killed more than 310,000 people. It puts the government in control of the country's five main cities: Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Damascus, and Latakia. Syria's conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011 but spiralled into a civil war after a brutal government crackdown on dissent. It has drawn in proxy powers and attracted foreign jihadists, but successive attempts to negotiate a political solution to the conflict have failed. Assad's victory in Aleppo is a boon for his allies in Moscow and Tehran and a defeat for the opposition's backers, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Western states. Because of the intensity of these global rivalries -- particularly between Russia and the United States -- the international community struggled for years to respond to the bloodshed in Syria. "The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran," state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying before the army announcement on Thursday. The final stages of the evacuation had been hampered by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. "Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, in one of the last stages of the evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated in private cars, vans, and pick-ups from eastern Aleppo," said Ingy Sedky, the spokeswoman in Syria for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She said about 34,000 people had left rebel areas of Aleppo under the evacuation plan. The United Nations said it had deployed observers to monitor the final evacuations, under a Security Council resolution adopted on Monday. - Pivotal moment - Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, said 31 staff had been assigned for monitoring at Ramussa. Rebel forces, who seized east Aleppo in 2012, agreed to withdraw after a month-long army offensive that drove them from more than 90 percent of their former territory. The deal was brokered by Russia, which launched air strikes in support of Assad's regime last year, and Turkey, which has supported the rebels. As part of the Aleppo evacuation deal, it was agreed some residents would be allowed to leave Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority villages in northwestern Syria that are under siege by the Sunni Muslim rebels. About 1,000 people have been able to leave the villages in recent days. The evacuation of Aleppo's rebel-held sector was a pivotal moment in a war that has triggered a major humanitarian and refugee crisis. As well as a major strategic gain for Assad, the withdrawal has put the spotlight on the role of powerbrokers Russia, Iran and Turkey, which agreed this week to guarantee new peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire. - Failed peace efforts - Repeated attempts at peace for Syria have failed, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene fresh talks in Geneva in February. Formerly the beating heart of Syria's commercial and cultural industries, Aleppo had been split since July 2012 between rebels in the east and the government in the west. East Aleppo became a powerful symbol for Syria's opposition, which set up its own administration to run schools, electricity and water there. Opposition fighters lobbed rockets into government-held territory, and regime forces battered the east with air strikes and artillery. Moscow's military intervention in support of Assad marked a major turning point. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday the Russian air force has killed 35,000 fighters in Syria since its intervention began in September last year. Turkey launched its own campaign in Syria in late August in support of pro-Ankara rebels, with the aim of ousting Islamic State group jihadists as well as Kurdish militia from areas near its border. Turkish air strikes killed at least 47 civilians including 14 children on Thursday in the IS-held town of Al-Bab, which Turkish forces have been seeking to capture for weeks, a monitoring group said. The raids came a day after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by jihadists around Al-Bab -- Ankara's biggest loss of the campaign so far. Social media users this week shared pictures and videos of Christians celebrating Christmas festivities in western Aleppo for the first time in at least four years. The images emerged as the Syrian army asserted control over the city's last rebel-held eastern pockets. Accounts, many of which belonged to supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad, posted photographs and footage of Syrians lighting Christmas trees in a square in western Aleppo. Celebrations were reportedly interrupted by a bombing in the city's Aziziyeh neighborhood. However, no injuries were reported. After years of conflict and continued reports of violence on both sides following an uneasy ceasefire reached between the Syrian government and the opposition, Christians expressed their hope that this holiday season would bring stability. "Despite the harsh conditions the people of Aleppo are enduring, [for both] Christians and Muslims, Christmas brings the hope for peace that we have missed for the last five years. Although many churches have been destroyed in Aleppo, the bells of the other churches will sound and hope they bring us peace," Jesuit Father Ziad Hilal told Christian Post. "Christians are preparing themselves for Christmas in their churches and associations, along with our compatriots in Syria, so that the sound of violence overcomes the deep sound of faith that each believer enjoys God is with us." Hilal also pointed out the massive humanitarian efforts to evacuate civilians and remaining militants from eastern Aleppo, a former rebel stronghold mostly taken last week by the Syrian army, backed by Russian airstrikes and Iran-backed paramilitary groups. Rebels have accused the military and its allies of killing up to 30,000 civilians to take back the city. Meanwhile, the Syrian government has blamed rebels for holding up to 100,000 civilians hostage since taking the city in 2012. Syrians can be seen singing, dancing and waving flags, with some depicting Assad and his Lebanese paramilitary ally Hezbollah. Others dressed as Santa Claus and marched in brass bands. Critics of the Syrian government responded to the footage by criticizing reported human rights abuses and war crimes committed by forces loyal to Assad. The celebrations distracted from the destruction, bloodshed and humanitarian crisis as the took control over the city's eastern neighborhoods, they said. Story continues The Christian community in Syria, about 400,000 people or around 10 percent of the population, is one of the oldest in the world. They have experienced heightened levels of persecution since the beginning of the conflict, especially in territory held by the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, and in rebel-held areas from jihadist groups such as Jabhat Fatah Al Sham and Ahrar Al Sham. Syrian and Russian airstrikes have also damaged Christian sites, leading some within the minority group to criticize the tactics of the Syrian military and its allies. Related Articles Can I ask your advice? It was a late November evening in Thessaloniki, Greece. I had just hopped in a cab with TIMEs Arabic translator, Abeer Albadawi. We had spent the day interviewing a young couple from Syria that were at the center of Finding Home, our year-long project about pregnant refugees giving birth and raising children in Greek refugee camps. Now, we would return to one of those same camps one where Abeer, too, had once called home. Like the women we were profiling, Abeer was a refugee. She and her husband and daughter had made the perilous overland crossing from Syria in 2015, eventually boarding a rubber dinghy in Turkey that would take them to Greece, and, she hoped, onward to Western Europe. Not only did Abeer, 22, speak a fluid English picked up as a student in Aleppo, she also had a reporters instinct for detail and a knack for asking hard questions at exactly the right time. When she asked one woman what it was like to share a 100-square-foot tent with four kids, her husband and her husbands second wife, we were granted rare insight into the complications of polygamous marriages. I knew from that day forward that she would be a vital member of our reporting team. About three weeks later Abeer was summoned to Athens for her second asylum interview, the one that would reveal where exactly in Europe she and her family would be sent. Refugees entire lives in Greece revolve around these interviews. They take monthsfor many they will likely take yearsto materialize. They offer the first glimpse of a settled future for families that have been living in limbo, relegated to tents on the fringes of society. Because the asylum process is confidential, Abeers asylum officer couldnt tell her beforehand which country was offering to take her. She would only find out in the interview, at which point she would have a choice. She could accept the offer, or she could reject it and claim asylum in Greece instead. Either way she would have to decide immediately. She really wanted to go to Ireland because she spoke English. But she suspected she would be offered Germany, because all the other refugees that had interviews at that time were all being sent there as well. Story continues Video: When 22-year-old Nourelhuda Altallaa went into labor in Thessalonikis Papageorgiou Hospital, she didnt understand what the Greek doctors and midwives were saying. Communication is one of the biggest problems for refugees, and for the people caring for them. Abeer is a go-getter, fearless and sociable. Within months of arriving in Greece she had managed to find a patron who put her family up in an apartment, instead of the tents that most refugees get. When I met her, she had just been offered a full time job with a humanitarian organization worth 1300 euros ($1360) a month a fortune for a newly arrived refugee. Then the local university offered her a scholarship for a new masters degree program in Refugee Studies. She was starting to put down roots. But Abeer was torn. Her husband had no job, and the prospects were dim in economically crippled Greece. Abeer wasnt sure she wanted her daughter going to school and learning Greek at the expense of English. As our taxi sped along the darkened highways towards the refugee camp, she asked me for my advice on a decision that would dictate the rest of her and her familys lives. We discussed the pros and cons at length. I was confident that whatever Abeer chose, she would land on her feet. I wasnt so sure about the future for her husband and daughter though. Nor was she. At that point our taxi driver, a 23-year-old named Nico, interrupted. I am sorry to jump in, he said in flawless English. But I am hearing this conversation, and its the first time Ive ever heard something like this, and I must say something. He launched into an impassioned speech about how much he loved his country but, he concluded, There is no future for the young here. There are no jobs, there is no hope. He looked at Abeer through the rearview mirror. Maybe you have a job, but your husband wont find one, and what future is there for your daughter? I am proud of my country, so I am ashamed to say this, but you must choose Germany. At least there you have a future for your family. He apologized again for breaking the taxi driver pretense of deafness, and stayed silent for the rest of the journey. So did Abeer. Three days later, she texted me as soon as she got out of her interview. I am going to Germany, she said. I hope it is the right choice. Abeer and her family arrived in Munich on Dec. 15, and then moved on to a small town near Bielefeld, in northwest Germany. For the moment she is staying in a crowded hostel with other refugee families, but she will be given her own accommodation in a few weeks. Her husband and daughter will shortly start German lessons, and she is already looking for a job. Here it will be difficult, she told me over WhatsApp. I dont speak German, so I cant find a job. But I will start. Meanwhile, the Greek university is still honoring the scholarship offer, and letting her take the course online. I like working with refugees, and I want to do that in the future. Four days after she arrived, a cargo truck plowed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 in what is thought to have been a terrorist attack. German authorities suspect that the perpetrator may have been a Tunisian immigrant who was already under suspicion of terrorist links, but they have not caught anyone yet. Abeer frets that whoever is behind the attack, there will be a backlash against refugees. Oh my God. I am worried, she told me over the phone. I think after that attack, people will be angry now at the migrants. Every person who already hates refugees will hate them more. Already, she is starting to wonder if she should have stayed in Greece. Maybe they dont have opportunities there, she says. But at least they were friendly to the refugees. Here no one even smiles at us. Continued reporting for the Finding Home project is supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, is to visit Guatemala next month amid US-China tensions spurred by US president-elect Donald's Trump speaking by telephone with the Asian leader and threating to snub Beijing's "One China" policy. Guatemala's foreign ministry confirmed the visit, to take place January 11-12, just a week before Trump takes office on January 20. The Central American country is among just 21 nations in the world that defy China's stance to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country. It said Tsai's visit was to "strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation." Her trip was also to take in Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. China views Taiwan as a renegade province and fiercely opposes diplomatic recognition of it as a country. Beijing has asked the United States to prevent Tsai flying through US airspace on her way to Central America. Some reports suggest she could stop in New York to speak with Trump's entourage. Washington's adherence to the "One China" policy has been questioned by Trump, who suggested he could use recognition of the island as a bargaining chip to extract trade deals from Beijing. "I don't know why we have to be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," he told Fox News earlier this month. Shortly after a semi-trailer packed with steel sped through an outdoor Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing 12 and injuring dozens more, Germanys chancellor expressed a concern likely shared by many Germans. We dont want to live paralyzed by fear of evil, Angela Merkel said. The fear, in this case, arose from terrorism in one of its crudest forms: a truck, a driver, and a crowd of people. An assailant had weaponized everyday life in a country of 80 million people, 44 million cars, and countless public squares. The plan involved some level of sophistication: The attacker may have researched vulnerable venues ahead of the incident, and seems to have used a gun to kill the original driver of the truck. But the nasty truth about violence so basicrequiring no training, weapons, or collaboration with a terrorist group, nothing more than access to a vehicle and the ability to drive itis that it is extremely difficult to prevent. The less complex the terrorist plot, the harder it is to thwart. The type of terrorism on display in Berlin leaves societies with three choices: 1) Try to secure public spaces by heavily fortifying them, thus transforming peoples way of life; 2) Try to stop would-be attackers by dramatically expanding the governments surveillance and investigatory powers, thus increasing the states intrusions into peoples lives; or 3) Try to minimize the frequency and lethality of terrorism, while learning to live with the threat of attacks and to be resilient when they inevitably occur. Those choices are lurking behind debates in Germany right now about how to better protect public places (there are a variety of design and technological solutions); control immigration (far-right politicians have been quick to blame the countrys generous asylum policy for the attack, even before the identity of the assailant was known); and broaden the use of security cameras (state surveillance is a touchy subject in the country, owing to the legacies of the Nazis and the Stasi). They are the subtext of Merkels refusal to be paralyzed by the fear of evil. Story continues Recommended: Aleppo Before the War Terrorist groups, for their part, grasp the terrifying simplicity of violence by vehicle. Thomas Joscelyn, a terrorism expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, points to an article titled Just Terror Tactics in a recent issue of ISISs Rumiyah magazine, which featured an image of a rental truck near photos of the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade and this years Bastille Day truck attack in Nice, France: Though being an essential part of modern life, very few actually comprehend the deadly and destructive capability of the motor vehicle and its capacity of reaping large numbers of casualties if used in a premeditated manner, the article in Rumiyah read. ... Vehicles are like knives, as they are extremely easy to acquire, Rumiyah advised would-be jihadists. But unlike knives, which if found in ones possession can be a cause for suspicion, vehicles arouse absolutely no doubts due to their widespread use throughout the world. ... Rumiyahs editors went on to suggest targets, including outdoor markets. In general, the Islamic State advised, one should consider any outdoor attraction that draws large crowds. European governments facing a growing threat of Islamist terrorism, especially terrorism perpetrated by lone extremists inspired by groups like ISIS, will now face even greater pressure to secure venues that were not designed to be secure, against a weapon that was not designed to be a weapon, the Soufan Group, a security consultancy, wrote on Wednesday. Adding security on the perimeter of a soft target simply changes the strike zone. There is nothing new about terror strikes against soft targets; what is new is that the baseline threat is now so high in so many countries, the Soufan Group noted in another brief earlier this year: Unlike symbolic or high-value targets such as government buildings, there is no way to truly harden soft targets. Parks are designed for leisure, and for easy access and movement. Mass transit is designed to move people efficiently. Both would cease to fulfill their designed functions if onerous security measures were implemented. Furthermore, adding security on the perimeter of a soft target simply changes the strike zone. Terrorists are looking for high body counts; a crowd at a checkpoint for a park or a metro is just as attractive as a crowd inside a park or metro. One needs to look no further than Iraq to see how dangerous crowded checkpoints can be for the civilians they are ostensibly designed to protect. Terrorists have wielded vehicles as a weapon against civilians not just in Berlin and Nice, but at a chemical plant in France and on the campus of Ohio State University. The terrorism scholar Martha Crenshaw estimates that there have been 30 such incidents around the world since 1994, excluding attacks involving car or truck bombs (Palestinian terrorists have been deploying car-ramming against Israeli civilians for years). ISIS has lost lots of fighters and territory in Syria and Iraq, weakening its ability to stage sophisticated attacks. But its capacity to convey ideas online remains strong. Those ideas, plus a driver, a car, a crowd, and a claim of responsibility, are all thats needed for the group to strike in the heart of Germany. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) The North Dakota Department of Transportation has completed additional testing of a bridge damaged during protests of the Dakota Access oil pipeline. The department said its testing was completed Thursday with help from the Highway Patrol, the Morton County Sheriff's Department, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. There's no timetable for reopening the span. Core samples were taken from the bridge and will be sent to an out-of-state lab specializing in evaluating concrete cores exposed to high temperatures. Results could take up to a month. The Backwater Bridge north of Cannon Ball has been closed since October, when protesters blocked it with burning vehicles. The bridge has been the site of several clashes between protesters and police. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault said the successful testing of the bridge is a big step toward restoring relations between the state and the tribe. "Today was an example of how we can collaborate to restore relationships and peace in North Dakota," Archambault and Burgum said in a joint statement Thursday. State transportation officials had said they can't inspect the bridge until they know their workers will be safe. Before he left office last week, then-Gov. Jack Dalrymple met with Archambault, agreeing to enlist the BIA to help ensure the safety of inspectors so that the bridge can reopen. Protesters worry about the pipeline's effects on drinking water and on Native American artifacts, while Texas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners said the pipeline will be safe. The four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline is to carry North Dakota oil 1,200 miles to Illinois. The project is stalled while the developer and the Army clash in federal court over permission for the pipeline to cross under the Missouri River. Donald Trump is speaking with two voices on trade, one of the hot-button issues that propelled him to victory on Election Day. Trump, the incoming president, alarmed free traders with protectionist rhetoric during the campaign, vowing to impose tariffs on Chinese imports and invoke other punitive measures if the nations trade deficit doesnt improve. He has now backed that rhetoric by naming economist Peter Navarro to a new group called the White House National Trade Council. Navarro, a business professor at the University of California, Irvine, is the author of Death by China and many other books and articles claiming that Chinese mercantilism is decimating the US economy. He co-authored candidate Trumps economic plan and fueled many of his protectionist ideas. Business groups hate Trumps threat to shake up US trading relationships, since that would likely provoke retaliatory measures by China and other trading partners subject to new US restrictions. Most Fortune 1000 companies have some exposure to the Chinese economy. Navarros ideas, if implemented, could shut down an important source of growth for those businesses and thousands of smaller companies dependent on them. But the hawkish Navarro is an outlier, even in the Trump administration. Other Trump nominees are more comfortable with free trade and loath to risk a trade war with China, or anybody. Private-equity billionaire Wilbur Ross, Trumps pick to head the Commerce Department, insists there will be no trade wars and says the main effort will be urging other countries to buy more US products. Ross has personally benefited from relatively free access to the Chinese market, and he knows how tit-for-tat sanctions would hurt American companies and the US economy. Trumps Treasury nominee, Steve Mnuchin, is a Goldman Sachs alum and Wall Street establishmentarian who seems unlikely to threaten the global economic order that has enriched the shareholder class. And Trumps pick to be ambassador to China, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, comes form a state that has benefited from open trade with China and other countries through agricultural exports that account for 22% of the jobs in Iowa. Story continues So Trump has set up a dichotomy on trade within his own economic team. The Trump transition team says Navarros trade council will generate innovative strategies in trade negotiations, study the evolution of the manufacturing sector and find better ways to match blue-collar workers with available jobs. On paper, such councils are subordinate to Cabinet-level officials such as the Commerce and Treasury secretaries. So Navarro will be an adviser while Ross and Mnuchin will be policymakers more likely to determine final outcomes. Trump, of course, will be the ultimate decider, and Navarro or anybody else inside or outside the White House could end up being more influential than Ross or Mnuchin, if he or she gets Trumps ear at the right time. But Trump may be setting his economic team up for internal dissension if Navarro and his council feel ignored, or if Trumps Cabinet picks feel undermined by lower-ranking White House operatives. Few administrations escape first-year palace intrigue as various appointees jockey for power, and Trumps freewheeling, unconventional approach could generate more fireworks than usual. A year from now, whoever is still around can probably be declared the winner. Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. A Republican lawmaker is backing off a proposal to require random drug testing of students in extracurricular activities. Instead, Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, said Thursday he is considering legislation that would require school districts to provide a way for parents voluntarily to have their child tested for drugs. Kleefischs revised proposal comes after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Gov. Scott Walker this week panned Kleefischs original proposal to require drug tests for all students in extracurricular activities and for students who park on school campuses. Allowing testing of hair samples would likely be part of the new proposal, Kleefisch said. Having children urinate in a cup is still (a) fairly abhorrent (idea), said Kleefisch, who said he was seeking a proposal that would still find a way to identify students who are using drugs but was more palatable to the public. It was the idea of requiring drug tests of student urine samples that drew the most objection to the proposal at a hearing last week of a committee convened to find ways to combat heroin use. Kleefisch organized and led the Coalition to Combat Heroin. The proposed bill to require random drug testing was one of four proposals to come from the committees work. It also would have required the state Department of Public Instruction to develop a model policy to guide school districts. DPI had not taken a position on the proposed legislation. The original idea also drew objection from the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. WIAA spokesman Todd Clark said last week that such a policy should be developed at the local school district level. A number of school districts in Wisconsin already have their own policies requiring random drug testing of students who are in extracurricular activities and who park on campus. Kleefisch said his new proposal would not override those policies, which have been deemed constitutional. State Supreme Court rulings on the constitutionality of suspicionless drug testing have been mixed. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that randomly drug testing students who are participating in voluntary competitive activities is legal and does not violate Fourth Amendment rights. Xi Jinping Rodrigo Duterte Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has pursued two main policies during his six months in office: Embracing China and brutally cracking down on his country's drug trade. Achieving the latter goal, however, may have to come at the expense of the former, as Chinese suppliers appear to be fueling the production and trafficking of methamphetamine and related drugs to and within the Philippines. In Asia, China is the largest source of methamphetamine precursors. Most of the world's seizures of raw ephedrine in 2014 took place in China, amounting to 31.6 tons, according to data cited by Reuters. The Philippines was next with 510 kilograms, much of which likely came from China. "Although the majority of [China's] precursor chemical production and export is intended for legitimate use, precursors are being diverted by transnational criminal organizations to produce illicit drugs," the US State Department said in a report issued this year. China's location near drug-production areas in Southeast and Southwest Asia, its modern transportation infrastructure and coastal hubs, lax oversight of its sprawling industrial and pharmaceutical industries, and official corruption all help "make it an ideal source for precursor chemicals intended for illicit drug production." Philippines meth shabu drugs police The Philippines appears to more than just a destination for illicit Chinese narcotics however. A Reuters investigation published on December 16 queried officials from the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Department of Justice, finding what appeared to be an "entrenched and sophisticated system of trafficking" organized by small, close-knit Chinese groups that control the process "from the procurement of precursors in China to the production of the drug in the Philippines to its distribution by local gangs." Story continues This involvement has been borne out by arrests Philippines authorities have made in recent months. A bust in August recovered $82.7 million worth of "shabu," a local name for methamphetamine, from a Manila warehouse reportedly belonging to a Chinese syndicate. A September raid on a pig farm-cum-drug lab led to the arrests of seven Chinese citizens. China Philippines meth drugs supply transport routes East Asia Nearly two-thirds of 77 foreign nationals arrested in the Philippines on meth-related charges from January 2015 to mid-August 2016 were Chinese, according to Reuters. Nearly one-quarter were residents of Taiwan or Hong Kong. Duterte has invoked China in some of his broadsides against the drug trade, saying in July that "the big fish" in the industry could be found in China. And during Duterte's landmark trip to Beijing in October, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to set up joint investigations of drug cases as well as to increase exchanges of intelligence and other resources to combat drug crime. But Philippine officials are doubtful that any Chinese assistance will be forthcoming. Philippines meth lab shabu Rodrigo Duterte drugs drug war "I almost fell off my chair when I heard that China would be helping the Philippines with its drug problem, a Philippine Department of Justice official who has dealt with drug offenses for some time but with little cooperation from China told Reuters. We are not aware of any high-profile drug cooperation between China and the Philippines since the presidents visit to Beijing," Philippine National Police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said to Reuters. 'I will kill you if I see you outside' Duterte has framed use of shabu as a danger to his country (though usage rates he cites don't stand up to scrutiny), but so far his criticism of Beijing for its response, or lack thereof, to its drug industry has paled in comparison to the Philippine president's eviscerations of his own countrymen involved in the drug trade. Philippines Manila drug war violence killing crime Broader geopolitical concerns may be behind his seeming reluctance to target China with the same vitriol he has flung at drug users and pushers in the Philippines, as well as at the US and human-rights organizations that have criticized his bloody crackdown, which has claimed more than 6,000 lives and led to the arrests of many thousands more since he took office six months ago. While Duterte's administration has not been hesitant to paint with a broad brush when staking out domestic lawbreakers, it was much more nuanced with defending Chinese officials from Reuters detailing of Chinese involvement in drug production and trafficking. "Many of those running the drug trade are Chinese triads, which are criminal syndicates. These are not government officials," a statement from Duterte's office, issued in mid-December, read. "It is not fair to blame all of China and her people for the drug problem perpetuated by some of its nationals," the statement said. "Not all Chinese are related to drugs." Philippines jails drug war violence Duterte's stance is likely of a piece with the rhetorical and political pivot he's tried to make to world powers other than the US since he took office, a major part of which has been his efforts to reconcile with China. These efforts have had a material element. A US senator, dismayed by the mounting body count in Duterte's drug war, put a hold on the sale of 26,000 rifles from the US to Philippine police, prompting an outburst from Duterte, and the US recently decided to shift $5 million in funding for Philippine law enforcement away from drug-control programs. China has reportedly offered $14 million in small arms and fast boats to support the Philippines' drug war and fight against terrorism. Beijing has also made a $5oo million long-term soft loan for other equipment. Philippines police troops security forces Manila Rodrigo Duterte war on drugs crime violence The $14 million is minuscule compared to the more than $120 million in military aid supplied to Manila by Washington in 2016. But that amount and the $50 million soft loan illustrate the marked reversal in Chinese-Philippine relations, which less than a year ago were colored by a bitter dispute over Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea. Duterte's excoriations of his country's drug users has vastly outstripped his criticism of China, which appears to be a driving force behind the scourge he claims to want to wipe out. "I will make it a must, a mandate that all of you affected by drugs, do not leave your homes," Duterte said at the end of November. "If you go out, you sons of bitches, I will kill you if I see you outside." NOW WATCH: Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte congratulates Trump on a 'well-deserved victory' More From Business Insider After pausing on his other seasonal business of shipping fall leaves from New England to the less autumnally endowed states, entrepreneur Kyle Waring has been busy shipping boxes of snow across the country, just in time for the holidays. So far, he has sold over 2,500 poundsmore than a metric tonfor this side business, succinctly named Ship Snow, Yo. After the powerful noreaster blizzard Juno ravaged Boston in 2015, Waring, who is 28 and works for a videogame company, realized there was enough snow to share. According to Waring, the first flakes, sent in water bottles were intended to be joke gifts, something youd send to your friend in Florida who cant keep from bragging about the sunshine. Inundated by orders, Waring pivoted from water bottles and was sending real boxes of usable, non-joke snow two weeks later. The first successful shipment arrived in Florida that February. 250+ lbs of snow shipped today! It's a winter wonderland up here You got ???? pic.twitter.com/SAHOUzdLi0 Ship Snow, Yo! (@shipsnowyo) December 13, 2016 Waring and his wife and business partner Jessica do not use artificial techniques favored by ski mountains ravaged by climate change. Instead, they follow the sky. We go on the hunt for the perfect snow in the mountains of Northern VermontNear Stowe, Warren and Colchester VT, Waring, who lives in Boston, told Yahoo Finance. Last year, however, in its third season, Ship Snow, Yo had to harvest snow from Colorado no thanks to climate change. There wasnt any snow in the northeastfor the whole season, says Waring. To make sure the snow does not arrive at the destination as water, after some testing, Waring ships the snow in a heavy two-inch thick styrofoam cooler and overnights the box via Fedex (FDX) where it can last for 36 hours in 72 degrees. Story continues Being snow, it does still melt, so each box is filled with padding of a few extra pounds of snow to make up for the attrition. An overnight box keeps around 90% of its contents solid, and a two-day keeps around 70%. Customers can choose from 10-plus pounds for $69, a 10-plus pound snowman for $79, 20-plus pounds (on sale!) for $119, or the 50-plus-pound blizzard in a box. Being Fedex, they do ship worldwide, though it costs more. A 20-pound box to China will run around $350. So who buys this stuff? Most of the orders are gifts, from folks in the North looking to share a little piece of winter with their family and friends in the south, says Waring. Most of the shipments are going to Florida, California, Arizona, Texas and Hawaii. This year Ive seen an uptick in corporate orders, which appear to be gifts for their business partners, vendors or colleagues that work in the south. Much of it needs to be sent just in time for Christmas, so for Waring its crunch time. Over the next two days, Waring has a whopping 1,300 pounds that need to go out the door. Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. Read more: White House: Robots will kill jobs and make inequality worse Those brutally small airplane seats may soon be a thing of the past Why we use so many chat and texting apps Map: The largest company in every state GOP introduces plan to massively cut Social Security Heres what happens when you give cash to the extremely poor AMMAN (Reuters) - Thousands of rebels and fighters were still waiting on Thursday to be evacuated from the last rebel bastion in Aleppo but harsh weather was complicating the final phase of the operation, a rebel spokesman said. Ahmed Kara Ali, spokesman for the rebel group Ahrar al Sham that is involved in departure negotiations, told Reuters "large numbers" were left but it was difficult to estimate how many remained, beyond it being in the thousands. The operation to evacuate civilians and fighters from rebel-held eastern Aleppo has already brought out thousands of people since late last week. But obstacles have disrupted the departure of the last group, with rebels and Iranian-backed militias blaming each other for the delays. Since the resumption of evacuations last night after a suspension, Kara Ali said 20 buses and over 600 civilian vehicles had left the rebel enclave for opposition-held areas in rural western Aleppo and Idlib province. The last evacuees are believed to be fighters and their families. Another rebel official said a heavy snow storm that hit northern Syria and the sheer numbers of civilians still remaining were among the factors behind the delay in the mass evacuation. "The numbers of civilians, their cars alongside and of course the weather all are making the evacuation slow," Munir al-Sayal, head of the political wing of Ahrar al Sham, said. Sayal said he expected the evacuation to end before evening if there were no hitches and matters proceeded normally. "If it proceeds in this routine way, we should be done this evening," the senior rebel official told Reuters. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Tom Heneghan) The new year will bring a new nominee to the Supreme Court with an incoming Republican administration taking over the White House, and three long-overdue cases finally will get a spot on the Supreme Court calendar. courtfreize535 It has been 281 days since President Barack Obama nominated federal judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. The nomination will run out in January 2017, when a new Congress convenes and Donald Trump takes his oath as President, nominating his own candidate to the Court. At that point, the Court could schedule three cases that were among the last cases Scalia considered in private conferences, where at least four Justices need to agree that a case is accepted for arguments. On January 15, 2016, the Court issued a miscellaneous order granting eight cases certiorari, acknowledging that the Supreme Court would review lower-court decisions on appeal. Scalia passed away about a month later in Texas. Perhaps the most high-profile of those eight cases was McDonnell v. United States, where former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell challenged a corruption conviction. McDonnell won his case in the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016. The three cases that remain from that order, court watchers believe, were cases that Scalia voted to accept and spoke to issues that interested him which would explain why they have been delayed. In Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Pauley, the Court seeks to answer the question of whether religiously affiliated schools can be constitutionally denied equal access to a government benefit, even if the benefit has nothing to do with matters of faith. At issue is a program in Missouri that provides rubberized material for school playgrounds, made out of old tires. Missouris constitution bars parochial schools from such public benefits, explicitly because of the Missouri constitutions Blaine Amendment, first adopted in 1875. The amendment still reads in part: No money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, or denomination or religion Story continues The church appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that no public benefit could be further removed from the states anti-establishment concerns than a grant for safe rubber playground surfaces that serve no religious function or purpose. In the second case, the Supreme Court will look back at one of its big decisions from the 1970s when it hears a dispute involving four family members and the state of Wisconsin. In 1978, Justice William Brennan wrote for a 6-3 majority in the Penn Central v. New York City case that redefined property rights under the Fifth Amendments Takings Clause and also served as a foundation for historic preservation programs at a local level. Now, the Court will consider that logic and a precedent from another noteworthy case in Murr v. Wisconsin. The Murr family has owned two riverfront lots since the 1960s; one of the lots contained a vacation cottage; the other lot wasnt developed. The parents bought the two lots originally, and they were conveyed to four of their children in 1994 and 1995. In 2004, when the children began to explore selling the empty lot to pay for improvements in the cottage, they found out that a zoning law established in 1975 barred the children from selling the empty lot separate from the cottage. The zoning law also prohibited the development of the empty lot because it didnt meet minimum size requirements for an independent lot. The familys lawyers cited another Supreme Court decision, Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council (1992), which said that the denial of all economic use of a property by a government regulation was a taking under the Fifth Amendment and required just compensation. The state government argued that the properties should be considered as a whole in the takings analysis, citing the Penn Central decision. And the third case addresses an issue involving class-action lawsuits that Scalia had complained about in other decisions. In Microsoft v. Baker, a group of consumers in Washington State sued Microsoft, complaining that its Xbox 360 device had a defect that caused an optical disc to spin out of control, making the machine unplayable. The group sued as a class, since their individual claims would have been for small amounts, and pursuing them individually wasnt feasible. The group then lost the lawsuit in a trial court but they also used a legal option called a voluntary dismissal of a claim with prejudice to keep the case alive. The court accepted the Microsoft appeal to clear up a conflict among lower courts on the legality of the dismiss-then-appeal question. - By Tiziano Frateschi Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio) is co-CEO of Markel Corp., and president and chief investment officer of Markel-Gayner Asset Management. During the third quarter, the guru reduced or exited the following holdings: Gayner exited his position in Copart Inc. (CPRT) with an impact of -1.25% on the portfolio. The company provides online auctions and vehicle remarketing services in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Brazil. The company offers services to process and sell vehicles over the internet. Third quarter revenue grew 19.8% from the same quarter of a year before and the gross margin increased 20.2%. GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity (ROE) of 47.60% and return on assets (ROA) of 22.65% are outperforming 97% of the companies in the Global Auto and Truck Dealerships industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.23 is below the industry median of 0.49. The largest shareholder of the company among the gurus is Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.07% of outstanding shares, followed by Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.28%, Columbia Wanger (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.22%, John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.09% and Keeley Asset Management Corp (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.09%. The guru sold out of National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) with an impact of -0.54% on the portfolio. The company designs, manufactures and sells equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling, completion and production operations, and the provision of oilfield services to the upstream oil and gas industry. GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10. The ROE of -19.69% and ROA of -12.69% are underperforming 68% of the companies in the Global Oil and Gas Equipment and Services industry. Financial strength has a rating of 5 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.47 is above the industry median of 0.43. Story continues Dodge & Cox is the largest shareholder of the company among the gurus with 8.35% of outstanding shares, followed by First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) with 5.28%, Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.17%, John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.45%, PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.32% and Simons with 0.3%. He sold out of Capital One Financial Corp. (COF). The trade had an impact of -0.21% on the portfolio. Capital One is a financial services holding company. Through its banking and non-banking subsidiaries, it markets financial products and services. Third quarter net interest income grew 4% year over year and 11% quarter on quarter. The company reported an increase of 3% for total net revenue. GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10. The ROE of 7.64% and ROA of 1.17% are underperforming 61% of the companies in the Global Credit Services industry. Financial strength has a rating of 5 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.16 is below the industry median of 0.57. The largest shareholder of the company among the gurus is Dodge & Cox with 10.16% of outstanding shares, followed by Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 4.01%, Hotchkis and Wiley with 1.21%, Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.04%, Nygren with 0.97%, Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.78%, Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.66% and Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.29%. The guru exited Carbo Ceramics Inc. (CRR). The transaction had an impact of -0.07% on the portfolio. The company supplies ceramic proppant. It provides fracture simulation software, fracture design, engineering and consulting services and a broad range of technologies for spill prevention, containment and countermeasures. Third quarter revenues decreased 73% from the same quarter of a year before. Operating loss was $30.5 million as compared to $19.2 million in the same period in 2015. GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 4 out of 10. The ROE of -17.98% and ROA of -14.35% are underperforming 70% of the companies in the Global Oil and Gas Equipment and Services industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 1.28 is above the industry median of 0.43. Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder of the company among the gurus with 1.79% of outstanding shares, followed by Royce with 0.77%, Simons with 0.53% and Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.05%. The guru closed his holding of C.R. Bard Inc. (BCR). The trade had an impact of -0.06% on the portfolio. The company manufactures, distributes and sells medical, surgical, diagnostic and patient care devices. It sells its products to hospitals, individual health care professionals and extended care facilities. GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The ROE of 32.57% and ROA of 9.90% are outperforming 83% of the companies in the Global Medical Instruments and Supplies industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.61 is below the industry median of 1.21. The largest shareholder of the company among the gurus is Simons with 1.08% of outstanding shares, followed by Donald Yacktman (Trades, Portfolio) with 1%, the Yacktman Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.75%, Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.37%, Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.31%, Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.17%, Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.13% and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.01%. Gayner reduced his holding of LiLAC Group. (LILA) by 0.03%. LiLAC is the world's largest international TV and broadband company with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 4 out of 10. The ROE of -12.61% and ROA of -3.09% are underperforming 82% of the companies in the Global Pay TV industry. Financial strength has a rating of 3 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.08 is below the industry median of 0.40. The largest shareholder of the company among the gurus is Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.56% of outstanding shares, followed by Dodge & Cox with 1.45%, Grantham with 0.5%, Bill Gates (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.21%, Simons with 0.12%,Tudor Jones with 0.1%, Glenn Greenberg (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.09%, George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.08%, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.08% and Gayner with 0.01%. Disclosure: I do not own any shares of any stocks mentioned in this article. Start a free 7-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. CANBERRA, Australia (AP) Police in Australia have detained five men suspected of planning a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in the heart of the country's second-largest city, officials said Friday. The suspects had been inspired by the Islamic State group and planned attacks on Melbourne's Flinders Street train station, neighboring Federation Square and St. Paul's Cathedral, Victoria state Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said. The arrests came after a truck smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing 12 people. A manhunt is underway for the person behind that attack, which prompted increases in security around the world. PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) If Santa Claus stops in North Korea this year, he'll find some trees and lights and might even hear a Christmas song or two. But he won't encounter even a hint of what Christmas actually means not under a regime that sees foreign religion a very real threat. There are almost no practicing Christians in North Korea. But there used to be. And while the trappings of the holiday season they once celebrated haven't been completely expunged, any connections they had to the birth of Jesus have been thoroughly erased. Take Christmas trees, for example. SYDNEY (AP) A man was charged with two counts of murder on Friday in a notorious, 20-year-old case that terrified residents of Western Australia and became one of the country's longest-running investigations. The development in the so-called "Claremont serial killings" case comes two decades after three women vanished from the wealthy Perth suburb of Claremont in Western Australia. The remains of two of the women Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon were later found in remote areas; the third, Sarah Spiers, remains missing. Over the years, hundreds of police officers tried and failed to crack the case. Authorities offered hefty cash rewards for information, took DNA samples from 2,000 Perth taxi drivers and even recruited a convicted Perth serial killer, David Birnie, for his insight. Story continues PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused South Korea of committing "political terror" by stepping up efforts to encourage defections by North Koreans overseas, especially diplomats. Ju Wang Hwan, a ministry official working in its Institute for Disarmament and Peace, said North Korean diplomats around the world have received emails with attachments containing articles that look like they are from North Korean state media. He said the articles have been changed to confuse and influence their intended readers by "viciously slandering our supreme leader and our socialist system." "This is clearly political terror, trying to cause social chaos and bloodshed inside a sovereign state," Ju said in an interview in Pyongyang. TOKYO (AP) Japan's Emperor Akihito has marked his 83rd birthday, thanking the people for their concern and effort to accommodate his apparent abdication wish. Akihito said in birthday remarks released Friday that he is "profoundly grateful that many people have lent an ear to my words and are giving sincere thought" to the issue. Akihito also greeted thousands of well-wishers from the palace balcony. Akihito, in a rare address in August, indicated his wish to abdicate, citing concerns that his age and health conditions may start limiting his ability to fulfill his duties. A government-commissioned panel of experts is discussing a possibility of enacting a special law allowing his abdication, without touching more controversial issues, including an option of allowing a female emperor. PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) Pyongyang's pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel, which poetically enough was built with some help from Egyptians, is one of the world's strangest landmarks and most conspicuous construction-project fails. Intended to be the world's tallest hotel, it has yet to host a guest, even though it's nearly as old as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The perennial mystery: Will it ever? Nearly 30 years after ground was broken, the tower looms eerily dark in the Pyongyang night, a single light at the top blinking a silent warning to aircraft. By day, residents walk quickly to and from the nearby subway station with nary a glance upward at its 105-story presence. BEIJING (AP) China has reported at least seven cases of bird flu in humans across the country this month, including two deaths, as authorities take steps to guard against an outbreak. Five cases of H7N9 bird flu infections have been diagnosed in central Anhui province since Dec. 8, and two people have died, state media reported. In Shanghai, officials said this week that a man was diagnosed with H7N9 and is being treated in a city hospital. Another case has been reported in Xiamen in coastal Fujian province, where poultry sales have been halted. In rural Jinzhai county in Anhui province, local officials on Thursday announced a two-week closure of a meat market after a shopkeeper was diagnosed with H7N9. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea on Friday mocked outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over his apparent ambitions to run for South Korean president, calling him an opportunistic "chameleon in a human mask" who's dreaming a "hollow dream." The North's state-run Uriminzokkiri website said Ban's alleged presidential ambitions were absurd because the way he handled his job as U.N. chief for the past 10 years has left him living in "criticism and shame." The article said Ban had a bad reputation in South Korea's domestic politics because he's an opportunist who "sets sail wherever winds blow and changes colors by the circumstance." "There is an old saying that you stretch your feet no longer than your blanket will reach, and his harboring presidential ambitions despite living in all sorts of criticism and shame could only described as an incomparably hollow, silly dream," Uriminzokkiri said. BEIJING (AP) China has warned that ties with the U.S. will likely see new complications and the only way to maintain a stable relationship is by respecting each other's "core interests." Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks Thursday appeared to underscore that China's position on Taiwan is non-negotiable, weeks after President-elect Donald Trump suggested he could re-evaluate U.S. policy on Taiwan. It also mirrored Beijing's relatively measured posture toward the incoming U.S. administration despite signs of growing wariness. Wang told the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, that China will strive to boost cooperation with the U.S. but he foresaw "new, complicated and uncertain factors affecting bilateral relations" under the Trump administration. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Afghan police say gunmen have stormed the home of a lawmaker in the capital, killing eight people and leaving the parliamentarian wounded after he jumped from the roof to escape. The Taliban claimed the attack, which began late Wednesday, saying they targeted a meeting of military officials. Police officer Sadiq Muradi says the gunmen attacked the house of Mir Wali, a lawmaker from the restive southern Helmand province. They battled his guards for several hours, eventually killing eight people, including family members, friends and members of his security detail. Three attackers were killed. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack. Washington (AFP) - British scientists have for the first time measured the migration of insects in the skies and found that more than three trillion pass over our heads each year. Insects are key players in healthy ecosystems. They pollinate crops, eat crop pests and provide food for birds and bats. Experts say this first-of-its-kind measurement suggests insect migration -- which most of us never see -- is a major event. "Insect bodies are rich in nutrients and the importance of these movements is underappreciated," said co-author Jason Chapman of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. "If the densities observed over southern UK are extrapolated to the airspace above all continental landmasses, high-altitude insect migration represents the most important annual animal movement in ecosystems on land, comparable to the most significant oceanic migrations." By weight, this movement would take up 3,200 tons, more than seven times the mass of the 30 million songbirds which leave Britain for Africa each autumn, said the study in the journal Science. Most of the traveling -- some 70 percent -- is done by day, said scientists at the University of Exeter and Rothamsted Research. Using special radars pointed at the sky, lead author Gao Hu tracked the migration of insects at a height of 150 meters (yards) for nearly a decade. The annual average came out to 3.37 trillion insects. Travel was heaviest on warm days, researchers said. f35b WASHINGTON In response to a series of cost overruns and other development issues for the F-35 fighter jet, President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday he has asked Boeing to "price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet." Trump's request announced via tweet came a day after meeting separately with the CEOs from Lockheed Martin and Boeing to discuss bringing the "costs down" on the F-35 fifth-generation stealth jet and the next fleet of presidential aircraft. Boeing's response also announced via tweet said it accepted the invitation to work with the Trump administration to "affordably meet US military requirements." On December 12, Trump said the cost for Lockheed Martin's fifth-generation stealth F-35 Lightning II jet was "out of control." The message sent Lockheed Martin's stock down from $251 at the opening bell to $245.50, before it rebounded to a little more than $253 a share. Similarly on Thursday, shares of Lockheed Martin fell 2.0% to $247.75 after hours, while Boeing shares rose 0.7% to $158.52. hewson "We're trying to get costs down ... primarily the F-35, we're trying to get the cost down. It's a program that is very, very expensive," Trump said on Wednesday after meeting with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson. Trump said the negotiations with Lockheed Martin were "just beginning" and described it as "a little bit of a dance." "I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we've made in bringing the costs down," Hewson said in a statement. "The F-35 is a critical program to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our US military and our allies." Story continues Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II, valued at an acquisition cost of $379 billion, has become one of the most challenged programs in the history of the Department of Defense. It has experienced setbacks that include faulty ejection seats, software delays, and helmet-display issues. f35 "The problems on this program quite frankly in the past were very simple. We were overly optimistic in the technical risk in building this leading edge fighter and so we put unrealistic schedules and budgets together and then when we ran into problems we did not manage them very well," Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, head of the F-35 Joint Program Office, said during a briefing with reporters on Monday. "I think that this program is vital for air dominance for us and our allies for the next 5o years. It replaces many, many, many legacy fleets, it has tremendous international participation and involvement, and it is a necessary program for the United States to maintain its security," Bogdan added. We spent a day with the people who fly and fix the F-35 here's what they have to say about the most expensive weapons project in history The suggested Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a generation behind the F-35, lacking the coveted capabilities such as stealth and sensor fusion. In short, Boeing's Super Hornet would need to be significantly redesigned, manufactured, and tested over multiple years in order to meet the same requirements as the F-35. A little bit of background on America's fifth-generation jet f35 Manufactured by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, the fifth-generation "jack of all trades" aircraft was developed in 2001 to replace the aging Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy fleet. Designed to accommodate the unique needs of each sister-service branch, the F-35 comes in three variants: the F-35A for the Air Force, F-35B for the amphibious Marine Corps, and F-35C for the Navy. All of the fighters are equipped with radar-evading stealth, supersonic speed, and "the most powerful and comprehensive integrated sensor package of any fighter aircraft in history," Jeff Babione, the head of Lockheed Martin's F-35 program, said in a statement. We saw where America's most expensive war machine gets a classified feature, but this is all we can tell you about it "I have stealth," US Air Force Maj. Will "D-Rail" Andreotta, commander of the F-35A Lightning II Heritage Flight Team and F-35 pilot, told Business Insider in a recent interview. "I've fought against F-16s and I've never gotten into a dogfight yet. You can't fight what you can't see, and if F-16s can't see me then I'm never going to get into a dogfight with them." In other words, the F-35 gives pilots the ability to see but not be seen. f35a What's more, unlike any other fielded fighter jet, the F-35 can share what it sees in the battle space with counterparts, which creates a "family of systems." "Fifth-generation technology, it's no longer about a platform. It's about a family of systems, and it's about a network, and that's what gives us an asymmetric advantage," Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, said during a Pentagon briefing. Elaborating on the advantages, US Air Force Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, the director of the F-35 integration office, said the aircraft was "one our adversaries should fear." "In terms of lethality and survivability, the aircraft is absolutely head and shoulders above our legacy fleet of fighters currently fielded," said Pleus, an F-35A pilot and former command pilot with more than 2,300 flying hours. Now for the price tag ... this tho The US is slated to buy 2,443 F-35s at an acquisition cost of $379 billion. Earlier this week, the F-35 Joint Program Office released the finalized price for the most recent production contract for the fifth-generation jet. After a little more than 14 months of negotiations between the Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin, the ninth Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP-9) contract for 57 F-35 jets was valued at $6.1 billion. The LRIP-9, which is essentially the ninth batch of jets, includes 34 jets for the US and 23 for five international countries. The following is a breakdown of the unit price per variant in current year dollars (including aircraft, engine, and fee): 42 F-35A model aircraft: $102.1 million a jet 13 F-35B model aircraft: $131.6 million a jet 2 F-35C model aircraft: $132.2 million a jet By comparison, in the previous contract, LRIP-8, the government paid $108 million for the Air Force's F-35A, $134 million for the Marine Corps' F-35B, and $129 million for the Navy's F-35C. While the price for the Air Force and Marine Corps' variants saw a reduction of $5.9 million and $2.4 million respectively, the Navy model saw an increase of $3.2 million. "Why did that happen?" said Bogdan, head of the F-35 Joint Program Office, during a briefing with reporters. "That happened because in lot nine the Navy bought two C models and in lot 8 the Navy bought four models." "So they cut their production in half and as a result of that when you do an economies of scale in one direction it hurts you in the other direction. Having said that, I fully anticipate that when we do settle LRIP 10 you'll see all three variants, the A, the B, and the C come down in price significantly," Bogdan said. And by "significantly" Bogdan added that he believes "somewhere on the order of 6 to 7 percent per airplane, per variant." Meanwhile, the 57 aircraft in LRIP-9 are in various stages of production at Lockheed Martin's facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Deliveries for these aircraft are slated to begin in the first quarter of 2017. NOW WATCH: This is how pilots train to fly the F-35 Americas most expensive fighter jet More From Business Insider (Adds comments from nonproliferation experts) By Melissa Fares and Timothy Gardner PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - P resident-elect Donald Trump called for an expansion of the United States' nuclear capabilities on Thursday, in a tweet that alarmed nonproliferation experts who said that a boost to the U.S. arsenal could fuel global tensions. In his Twitter post, Trump said, "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," but gave no further details. It was not clear what prompted his comment. However, earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia needed to "strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces." Asked about the tweet, Trump spokesman Jason Miller later said Trump was "referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it - particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes." Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, also has "emphasized the need to improve and modernize our deterrent capability as a vital way to pursue peace through strength," spokesman Jason Miller said. Miller told Reuters that Trump was not advocating the use of nuclear weapons, and said Trump's comments were not meant to be read as a new policy proposal. Experts wondered whether Trump's brief tweet meant he wanted to breach limits imposed on U.S. strategic weapons and delivery systems by the 2011 New START treaty with Russia - or planned to expand the non-deployed stockpile. "It is completely irresponsible for the president-elect or the president to make changes to U.S. nuclear policy in 140 characters and without understanding the implications of statements like 'expand the capacity,'" said Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, a leading proponent of arms control based in Washington. "He must have leaders around the world trying to guess what he means," Kimball said in an interview. "This is bush league." Story continues Putin, who has said that Trump has confirmed to him that he is willing to mend ties between the two countries, also spoke on Thursday of the need to enhance Russia's nuclear arsenal. "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems," he said in a speech in Moscow. If Trump and Putin both want to expand nuclear weapons, that would effectively end arms control efforts underway since the Nixon administration, said Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund, a foundation that works to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons. "This is how arms races begin - with a battle of words," Cirincione said, urging Trump, a real estate mogul, to "make the biggest deal of his life" and negotiate cuts to the nuclear arsenal with Russia. "Neither side needs to be spending hundreds of billions of dollars on nuclear weapons we don't need," Cirincione said. 'FARCICAL' The United States is one of five nuclear weapons states allowed to keep a nuclear arsenal under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The others are Russia, Britain, France and China. Trump's "farcical" tweet failed to communicate a "rational deterrence policy" and risks fueling arms race dynamics with Russia and China, said Miles Pomper, Senior Fellow at the Washington-based Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The United States needs to do more to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands, rather than creating more materials, Pomper told Reuters. "Expanding our nuclear arsenal will do nothing to prevent nuclear proliferation or prevent nuclear terrorism. We have more than enough nuclear weapons as it is," Pomper said. Trump, who was elected on Nov. 8, campaigned on a platform of building up the U.S. military but also pledged to cut taxes and control federal spending. Most of the U.S. arsenal was built between 25 and 62 years ago during the arms race with the former Soviet Union, and has been patched and otherwise refashioned many times to extend its lifespan. During the next decade, U.S. ballistic missile submarines, bombers, and land-based missiles - the three legs of the nuclear triad - are expected to reach the end of their useful lives. Maintaining and modernizing the arsenal is expected to cost at about $1 trillion over 30 years, according to independent estimates. Trump's tweet came the day after meeting with a dozen Pentagon officials involved with defense acquisition programs. He also met with the chief executives of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, the country's two largest defense contractors, about high-profile projects he said cost too much. Late on Thursday, Trump said on Twitter that he had asked Boeing to "price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet" because of the "tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35." (Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington, Lewis Krauskopf in New York and Emily Stephenson in Honolulu; Writing by Susan Heavey and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Frances Kerry) By Melissa Fares and Timothy Gardner PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump called for an expansion of the United States' nuclear capabilities on Thursday, in a tweet that alarmed nonproliferation experts who said that a boost to the U.S. arsenal could fuel global tensions. In his Twitter post, Trump said, "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," but gave no further details. It was not clear what prompted his comment. However, earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia needed to "strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces." Asked about the tweet, Trump spokesman Jason Miller later said Trump was "referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it - particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes." Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, also has "emphasized the need to improve and modernize our deterrent capability as a vital way to pursue peace through strength," spokesman Jason Miller said. Miller told Reuters that Trump was not advocating the use of nuclear weapons, and said Trump's comments were not meant to be read as a new policy proposal. Experts wondered whether Trump's brief tweet meant he wanted to breach limits imposed on U.S. strategic weapons and delivery systems by the 2011 New START treaty with Russia - or planned to expand the non-deployed stockpile. "It is completely irresponsible for the president-elect or the president to make changes to U.S. nuclear policy in 140 characters and without understanding the implications of statements like expand the capacity," said Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, a leading proponent of arms control based in Washington. "He must have leaders around the world trying to guess what he means," Kimball said in an interview. "This is bush league." Putin, who has said that Trump has confirmed to him that he is willing to mend ties between the two countries, also spoke on Thursday of the need to enhance Russia's nuclear arsenal. "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems," he said in a speech in Moscow. If Trump and Putin both want to expand nuclear weapons, that would effectively end arms control efforts underway since the Nixon administration, said Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund, a foundation that works to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons. "This is how arms races begin - with a battle of words," Cirincione said, urging Trump, a real estate mogul, to "make the biggest deal of his life" and negotiate cuts to the nuclear arsenal with Russia. "Neither side needs to be spending hundreds of billions of dollars on nuclear weapons we dont need," Cirincione said. 'FARCICAL' The United States is one of five nuclear weapons states allowed to keep a nuclear arsenal under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The others are Russia, Britain, France and China. Trump's "farcical" tweet failed to communicate a "rational deterrence policy" and risks fueling arms race dynamics with Russia and China, said Miles Pomper, Senior Fellow at the Washington-based Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The United States needs to do more to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands, rather than creating more materials, Pomper told Reuters. "Expanding our nuclear arsenal will do nothing to prevent nuclear proliferation or prevent nuclear terrorism. We have more than enough nuclear weapons as it is," Pomper said. Trump, who was elected on Nov. 8, campaigned on a platform of building up the U.S. military but also pledged to cut taxes and control federal spending. Most of the U.S. arsenal was built between 25 and 62 years ago during the arms race with the former Soviet Union, and has been patched and otherwise refashioned many times to extend its lifespan. During the next decade, U.S. ballistic missile submarines, bombers, and land-based missiles - the three legs of the nuclear triad - are expected to reach the end of their useful lives. Maintaining and modernizing the arsenal is expected to cost at about $1 trillion over 30 years, according to independent estimates. Trump's tweet came the day after meeting with a dozen Pentagon officials involved with defense acquisition programs. He also met with the chief executives of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, the country's two largest defense contractors, about high-profile projects he said cost too much. Late on Thursday, Trump said on Twitter that he had asked Boeing to "price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet" because of the "tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35." (Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington, Lewis Krauskopf in New York and Emily Stephenson in Honolulu; Writing by Susan Heavey and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Frances Kerry) (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday echoed Israel's call for a veto on a U.N. Security Council draft resolution to halt settlements, saying it "puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis." "Peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," Trump said in a statement released by his transition team. (Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council delayed a contentious vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt settlements as President-elect Donald Trump weighed in and said the United States should veto the measure. Egypt requested that the vote be postponed, one day after submitting the draft text to the council, a move that triggered immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a US veto to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained unclear whether Washington would shift stance this time, possibly abstaining to allow the measure to pass, although without US support. "Israelis deeply appreciate one of the great pillars of the US-Israel alliance: the willingness over many years of the United States to stand up in the UN and veto anti-Israel resolutions," Netanyahu said. "I hope the US won't abandon this policy." Israel launched a frantic lobbying effort to pressure Egypt to drop the bid and reached out to its supporters in the United States and at the Security Council for support. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said his government was deploying "diplomatic efforts on all fronts to ensure that this disgraceful resolution will not pass in the Security Council." A senior Security Council diplomat suggested the motion could be buried indefinitely. "There was a window of opportunity. Whether that window is still there is really not clear," said a Western diplomat. - Trump calls for US veto - Trump, who campaigned on a promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, bluntly said Washington should use its veto to block the resolution. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," he said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. Story continues "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis." CNN reported that Israel reached out to Trump for help to pressure the Obama administration into vetoing the resolution. The network quoted a senior Israeli official as saying Israel "implored the White House not to go ahead and told them that if they did, we would have no choice but to reach out to President-elect Trump." "We did reach out to the president-elect and are deeply appreciative that he weighed in, which was not a simple thing to do," the official said, according to CNN. Trump called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to talk about the vote, CNN said, citing a diplomatic source. It said Trump called after Israel asked him to step in. Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said Trump's call for a veto was in response to pressure from the Israeli prime minister. "He is acting on behalf of Netanyahu," he said. Trump has chosen as ambassador to Israel the hardliner David Friedman, who has said Washington will not pressure Israel to curtail settlement building in the occupied West Bank. No new timeframe was announced for the vote, which had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Arab ambassadors held an emergency meeting at the United Nations to press Egypt to move ahead with a vote but an Arab League committee decided after meeting in Cairo to continue talks on the fate of the motion. Palestinian envoy Jamal al-Shobaki told reporters in Cairo that Egypt asked for more time and that there would be discussions over the next two days on the next step. Illustrating how the Egyptian decision caught Washington flat-footed, Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to make remarks laying out a vision for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Kerry spoke to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Wednesday and then, after the Egyptian decision, to Netanyahu on Thursday. President Barack Obama's administration has expressed mounting anger over the continued expansion of the Jewish outposts and speculation has grown that he could launch a final initiative before leaving. - Saving the two-state solution - Israeli settlements are seen as a major stumbling block to peace efforts, as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. The draft resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." It states that Israeli settlements have "no legal validity" and are "dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution" that would see an independent Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. The Middle East peace process has been comatose since a US initiative to re-launch peace talks collapsed in April 2014. France announced plans to host an international conference on January 15 to try to restart talks based on the two-state solution. Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump on Thursday named his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, credited with crafting much of the strategy that carried him to last month's shock election victory, to the post of counselor to the president. Conway, who since the election has played a prominent role at Trump's side as he prepares to enter the White House, will continue as a close advisor after he is sworn in next month, a transition team statement said. "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," he said. Conway, 49, the first woman campaign manager of either major political party to win a presidential general election, said she was "humbled and honored." "I want to thank the president-elect for this amazing opportunity," said Conway, who prior to her work with Trump was a political pollster and consultant specializing in targeting women voters. She made a round of television interviews Thursday morning, elaborating on her White House role in the Trump administration. Conway told MSNBC she saw herself as "a discreet adviser" on Trump's communications strategy, calling him a "brilliant communicator and connector." "That's how he won this campaign, how he became president. If I can support that, I will." Kellyanne Conway, the political operative who was ubiquitous presence on TV in the final months of Donald Trumps presidential campaign, has been named counselor to the president. Conway is credited with bringing order to Trumps political operation after she joined his team as campaign manager in August. There had been much speculation in recent weeks about whether Conway would land a White House appointment. She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message, Trump said in a statement. I am pleased that she will be part of my senior team in the West Wing. Conway became a staple of morning TV news shows and cable news programs after joining the Trump team. She was a deft in verbal sparring with journalists and surrogates for Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Conway was disciplined in preaching the Trump campaigns core talking points even when the candidate himself went off-message. For the past 21 years Conway headed the Polling Company/WomanTrend, a Washington, D.C.-based firm research firm that has worked for political candidates as well as corporate and non-profit orgs. The fate of the company, which Conway owns, is not immediately clear. The Trump transition team noted that Conway is the first woman to lead a victorious U.S. presidential campaign. I want to thank the President-elect for this amazing opportunity, Conway said. A Trump presidency will bring real change to Washington and to Americans across this great nation. 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. Related stories Hollywood's 10 Biggest Scandals and Controversies of 2016 Donald Trump Names Sean Spicer as Press Secretary, Sets Communications Team More Donald Trump Footage: Does It Really Exist? Washington (AFP) - President-elect Donald Trump met Wednesday with some of the US military's top brass to discuss ways of reducing costs, particularly for the F-35 stealth fighter program. The meeting at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida came after Trump last week blasted the F-35's costs as "out of control" in a message on Twitter. Several three- and four-star generals and admirals attended the meeting, including the F-35 program chief Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan. "Trying to bring costs down," Trump said when asked what the meeting was about. "Primarily the F-35, trying to get the costs down. A program that is very, very expensive." With a current development and acquisition price tag of $379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft -- most of them destined for the Air Force -- the Lockheed Martin-built plane is the most expensive in history, and costs are set to go higher still. Once servicing, maintenance and other costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft's lifespan through 2070, overall program costs have been projected to rise to as much as $1.5 trillion. Trump has frequently turned to Twitter to vent his outrage across a range of topics. On December 6, he blasted Boeing over the possible $4 billion price tag for a replacement Air Force One presidential plane. He also called that project "out of control." Trump also met with Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson and Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg. Asked whether he had secured any concessions from Hewson, Trump said: "We're just beginning, it's a dance." "But we're going to get the costs down and we're going to get it done beautifully." Boeing's Muilenburg told reporters the meeting with Trump went "great" and said Air Force One would be delivered for less than $4 billion. "We're going to get it done for less than that, and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens," Muilenburg said. * Security Council to vote on draft resolution * Resolution calls for halt to settlement building * U.S. has protected Israel from U.N. action * Concern over Obama parting shot at settlements * Trump tweets that resolution should be vetoed (Adds U.S. administration official, French foreign minister) By Jeffrey Heller and Michelle Nichols JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump echoed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in urging the Obama administration on Thursday to veto a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that calls for an immediate halt to settlement building on occupied land Palestinians seek for a state. Netanyahu took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to make the appeal, in a sign of concern that President Barack Obama might take a parting shot at a policy he has long opposed and at a right-wing Israeli leader with whom he has had a rocky relationship. Hours later, Trump, posting on Twitter and Facebook, backed fellow conservative Netanyahu on one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the pursuit - effectively stalled since 2014 - of a two-state solution. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," Trump said. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," he wrote. After Trump's statement, a U.S. administration official said: "We have no comment at this time." Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council is due to vote at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) on Thursday, diplomats said. It was unclear, they said, how the United States, which has protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. The resolution would demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem". Story continues The White House declined to comment. Some diplomats hope Obama will allow Security Council action by abstaining on the vote. Israel's security cabinet was due to hold a special session at 1500 GMT to discuss the issue. Israeli officials voiced concern that passage of the resolution would embolden the Palestinians to seek international sanctions against Israel. In Beirut, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters that Paris was looking at the text of the resolution with great interest. "The continuation of settlements is completely weakening the situation on the ground and creating a lot of tension," he said. "It is taking away the prospect of a two-state solution. So this could reaffirm our disagreement with this policy." OBAMA CRITICAL OF SETTLEMENTS Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office. Tweeting at 3:28 a.m., Netanyahu said the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday". Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. He has already signalled a possible change in U.S. policy by appointing one his lawyers - a fundraiser for a major Israeli settlement - as Washington's new ambassador to Israel. Netanyahu, for whom settlers are a key component of his electoral base, has said his right-wing government has been their greatest ally since the capture of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war. Some legislators in his right-wing Likud party have already suggested Israel declare sovereignty over the West Bank if the United States does not veto the resolution. That prospect seemed unlikely, but Netanyahu could opt to step up building in settlements as a sign of defiance of Obama and support for settlers. Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally. In 2011, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the Palestinians refused a compromise offer from Washington. Israel's U.N. ambassador Danny Danon said on Israeli Army Radio: "In a few hours we will receive the answer from our American friends." "I hope very much it will be the same one we received in 2011 when the version was very similar to the one proposed now and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at the time, Susan Rice, vetoed it." The draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law". It expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperilling the viability of a two-state solution". The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and John Irish travelling with French foreign minister; Editing by Tom Heneghan) By Jeffrey Heller and Michelle Nichols JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump echoed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in urging the Obama administration on Thursday to veto a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that calls for an immediate halt to settlement building on occupied land Palestinians seek for a state. Netanyahu took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to make the appeal, in a sign of concern that President Barack Obama might take a parting shot at a policy he has long opposed and at a right-wing Israeli leader with whom he has had a rocky relationship. Hours later, Trump, posting on Twitter and Facebook, backed fellow conservative Netanyahu on one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the pursuit - effectively stalled since 2014 - of a two-state solution. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," Trump said. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," he wrote. After Trump's statement, a U.S. administration official said: "We have no comment at this time." Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council is due to vote at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) on Thursday, diplomats said. It was unclear, they said, how the United States, which has protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. The resolution would demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem". The White House declined to comment. Some diplomats hope Obama will allow Security Council action by abstaining on the vote. Israel's security cabinet was due to hold a special session at 1500 GMT to discuss the issue. Israeli officials voiced concern that passage of the resolution would embolden the Palestinians to seek international sanctions against Israel. In Beirut, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters that Paris was looking at the text of the resolution with great interest. "The continuation of settlements is completely weakening the situation on the ground and creating a lot of tension," he said. "It is taking away the prospect of a two-state solution. So this could reaffirm our disagreement with this policy." OBAMA CRITICAL OF SETTLEMENTS Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office. Tweeting at 3:28 a.m., Netanyahu said the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday". Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. He has already signalled a possible change in U.S. policy by appointing one his lawyers - a fundraiser for a major Israeli settlement - as Washington's new ambassador to Israel. Netanyahu, for whom settlers are a key component of his electoral base, has said his right-wing government has been their greatest ally since the capture of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war. Some legislators in his right-wing Likud party have already suggested Israel declare sovereignty over the West Bank if the United States does not veto the resolution. That prospect seemed unlikely, but Netanyahu could opt to step up building in settlements as a sign of defiance of Obama and support for settlers. Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally. In 2011, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the Palestinians refused a compromise offer from Washington. Israel's U.N. ambassador Danny Danon said on Israeli Army Radio: "In a few hours we will receive the answer from our American friends." "I hope very much it will be the same one we received in 2011 when the version was very similar to the one proposed now and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at the time, Susan Rice, vetoed it." The draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law". It expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperilling the viability of a two-state solution". The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and John Irish travelling with French foreign minister; Editing by Tom Heneghan) President-elect Donald Trump, who recently raised hackles in China by speaking with the Taiwanese president over the phone, has sent another belligerent signal to the Asian giant. On Wednesday, the Trump transition team announced the appointment of the outspoken China critic Peter Navarro as head of the newly created White House National Trade Council. The trade council would advise Trump on innovative strategies in trade negotiations, coordinate with other agencies to assess U.S. manufacturing capabilities and the defense industrial base, and help match unemployed American workers with new opportunities in the skilled manufacturing sector, the transition team said in a statement, adding that the trade council would help the president-elect make American manufacturing great again. Navarro is a visionary economist and will develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores, the transition team said. The University of California, Irvine professor author of books like Death by China and The Coming China Wars has long been a no-holds-barred critic of Americas trade relations with China. In his role as a senior policy adviser to the president-elect, Navarro called for a renegotiation of trade deals that he claimed benefit China and lent his support for Trumps proposal to impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports. While my research confirmed cheap labor was a factor driving the Made-in-China boom, I also uncovered the widespread use of sweatshops and pollution havens neither of which are banned by WTO rules, Navarro wrote in an op-ed for San Francisco Chronicle in August. I also discovered Chinas real competitive edge was driven by a set of unfair trade practices from illegal exports subsidies and currency manipulation to intellectual property theft. Navarros appointment comes just days after Trump signaled that his administration may discontinue the United States one-China policy wherein the U.S. maintains diplomatic ties only with China, and not with Taiwan, which China says is a breakaway province. Over the past few weeks, many economists have expressed fears that Trumps belligerent stance on China may trigger a trade war that adversely affects both sides. Story continues Trump wants the economy to grow. Trump wants to be beloved. But if implemented, Navarros crazy scheme to eliminate the trade deficit and achieve balanced trade would cause massive capital flight, closure of foreign markets to US goods, economic meltdown, and I would hope open revolt by congressional Republicans to neutralise the Trump presidency, Daniel Ikenson, head of trade policy at the Cato Institute in Washington, told Financial Times. Related Articles A planned vote Thursday on a draft resolution that calls for an immediate end to Israeli settlement activity on occupied land that Palestinians want for a state was postponed amid pressure from Israel, NBC News reported. Egypt on Wednesday circulated the draft resolution, which would demand that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pushed for a veto of the measure, which was set for a vote from the 15-member council on Thursday. It is unclear if or when a vote on the measure will take place. President-elect Donald Trump joined in on the veto calls in a statement Thursday morning. Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller said the team notified the White House before the statement's release. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," Trump said in a statement. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis." The outgoing Obama administration had planned to abstain from the vote, which would have been seen as a slight to Israel, several diplomatic sources told NBC. The Obama White House has had tense relations with Israel and previously criticized settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. In a tweet Wednesday, Netanyahu specifically urged the U.S. to veto what he called "the anti-Israel resolution." In another tweet Wednesday, Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said: "We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted." Trump has already been decidedly friendlier with Israel than did President Barack Obama, meeting with Netanyahu in September before his election as president. He appointed attorney David Friedman, who backs Israeli settlements, as his ambassador to Israel. Story continues Trump has supported moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a politically charged move that Friedman backs. NBC News' Andrea Mitchell and Reuters contributed to this report More From CNBC The auto industry is looking for help from President-elect Donald Trump. Just three weeks after Election Day, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would propose leaving its existing fuel-economy regulations in place through 2025, calling for automakers to achieve an average of 54.5 miles per gallon across each of their lineups by the 2025 model year. Automakers were not pleased. They accused the EPA of rushing a planned reevaluation of the MPG rules, and executives say they will work with the Trump administration to try to reverse course. Ford (NYSE:F) CEO Mark Fields, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, derided the EPAs move as 11th-hour politics. The 2011 agreement that revamped the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program included a midterm review that was scheduled to extend into 2017, with a final set of rules drafted by April 2018. Instead, the EPAs plan started the clock on a public comment period that ends Dec. 30, and the agency is expected to finalize its decision before Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the U.S. auto industrys trade group, responded by calling the decision an extraordinary and premature rush to judgment. We look forward to working with the new Administration, Congress, and California regulators to see whether it might be possible to get things back on track in a fashion that builds on our fuel efficiency progress while also protecting affordability for average Americans and the vital employment our sector generates, the Alliance said. The Association of Global Automakers, which represents international car companies, also fired back at the EPA. John Bozzella, the groups president and CEO, urged the EPA to reverse course or at least grant an extension of the one-month comment period. The hasty decision to accelerate the EPA process, taken in the waning days of an Administration, raises serious concerns about the objectivity and factual foundation of their action, Bozzella said. Story continues The EPA said its decision was based on an extensive technical analysis showing that automakers are well positioned to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards under CAFE. The 2025 goal of 54.5 mpg reflects a 56% bump from the fleetwide average of 35 mpg required for 2017 models. Automakers have criticized the miles-per-gallon target as too stringent, especially given recent market tends. Consumers have shown limited interest in electric cars, and Americas appetite for larger vehicles has only grown. Plug-in electric cars represent about 0.8% of the U.S. market so far this year. Meanwhile, sales of trucks, SUVs and vans this year are up 7% year-over-year through November, accounting for more than half of all 15.86 million new vehicles sold. The evidence is abundantly clear that with low gas prices, consumers are not choosing the cars necessary to comply with increasingly unrealistic standards, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers noted. Car manufacturers hope to have the ear of the incoming administration. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Trumps nominee to lead the EPA, could be receptive to the industrys concerns. Pruitt has accused the agency of overstepping its bounds during President Barack Obamas tenure, and he is promising to roll back regulations that hamper businesses. The American people are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from our economy due to unnecessary EPA regulations, and I intend to run this agency in a way that fosters both responsible protection of the environment and freedom for American businesses, Pruitt said in a statement announcing his nomination to the EPA post. A spokesperson for the Trump transition team said Pruitt was unavailable to comment during the confirmation process. Already, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has agreed to postpone a large increase in penalties for automakers that miss fuel-economy targets. The new fines were set to kick in for 2015 models, but they will now go into effect for 2019. The regulator, responding to a petition from the industry, also said it would seek to simplify rules across multiple agencies. Automakers have been calling for the federal government to streamline regulations, citing the Obama administrations promise for One National Program in 2009. Currently, there are two different sets of rules through CAFE, which is overseen by NHTSA, and the EPAs emissions regulations. Related Articles Donald Trump tweeted about nuclear weapons on Thursday, and it went about as well as might be expected, with reporters hurriedly seeking explanations from his communications team, arms control experts puzzling over the president-elects cryptic words, and a fair amount of were-all-going-to-die-in-atomic-fire from Twitter users apparently not overfond of the incoming administration. The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes, Trump wrote. The president did not spell out what he meant by strengthen and expand, nor what it means for the world to comes to its senses. It was not immediately clear what sparked the abrupt pronouncement from the man who will have his finger on the nuclear trigger shortly after midday on Jan. 20. But Trump transition team communications director Jason Miller told Yahoo News by email that the president-elect was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes. And, Miller said, Trump believes in the need to improve and modernize our deterrent capability as a vital way to pursue peace through strength. Trump met on Wednesday with the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, something that led one CNBC contributor to wonder whether the tweet had something to do with those companies lucrative military contracts. But he also met that same day with a dozen senior military officers, including Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, who specializes in nuclear deterrence. And just a few hours before Trumps abrupt announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Moscow needed to pump up its own atomic arsenal. We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems, the Kremlin strongman said. Story continues Trumps official transition website includes a nuclear mission statement of sorts but no details. A Trump Administration also recognizes the uniquely catastrophic threats posed by nuclear weapons and cyber attacks. Mr. Trump will ensure our strategic nuclear triad is modernized to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent, the statement reads. Concerns about the state of U.S. nuclear weapons, designed and built when Washington and Moscow faced off in the Cold War, are bipartisan. If we dont replace these systems, quite simply they will age even more, and become unsafe, unreliable, and ineffective, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said in a Sept. 26 speech at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. The fact is, most of our nuclear weapon delivery systems have already been extended decades beyond their original expected service lives. So its not a choice between replacing these platforms or keeping them its really a choice between replacing them or losing them, Carter said, standing in front of a B-52 bomber apparently loaded with cruise missiles. President Obama, for all of his passionate talk about reducing the worlds nuclear stockpiles, has put the country on course for a nuclear modernization effort with a price tag in the hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps as much as a trillion. In order to win Senate approval of his New START arms control agreement with Russia, the president also promised billions to upgrade Americas nuclear research facilities. During the campaign, Obama questioned Trumps fitness to manage the U.S. nuclear arsenal. One of the real estate entrepreneurs rivals for the GOP nomination, Sen. Marco Rubio, warned against giving the nuclear codes to an erratic individual. While the transition website message on nuclear weapons is orthodox, many of Trumps campaign-trail comments were anything but. He suggested that allies such as South Korea and Japan might need to pay the United States more under military cost-sharing plans if they hoped to remain covered by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, or that they might need to get their own nuclear weapons. He suggested he might be open to using nuclear weapons against the so-called Islamic State. He appeared not to know what the nuclear triad is the mix of submarine, land-based, and bomber-carried missiles that the United States relies on. He said using nuclear weapons is an absolute last stance but in the same breath said he would aim to be unpredictable. While the issue of whether and how to modernize the countrys stockpile was never front and center in the campaign, Trump did note his concerns about keeping up with Moscow. Our nuclear program has fallen way behind, and theyve gone wild with their nuclear program. Not good. Our government shouldnt have allowed that to happen, Trump said during the second debate with Hillary Clinton. Russia is new in terms of nuclear. We are old. Were tired. Were exhausted in terms of nuclear. A very bad thing. trump carrier factory On Thursday, CNN reported that President-elect Donald Trump's administration is considering imposing a 5% tariff on all imports into the United States. While the decision is not final, sources told CNN the tariff could be implemented through an executive order in the early days of the Trump presidency. The move is not surprising, given that Trump made free trade one of the central topics of his campaign after criticizing China, Mexico, and Japan. He suggested putting a 45% tariff on Chinese imports, said he would declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office, proposed taxing imports from Mexico, said he'd "rip up" trade deals, and called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, "a rape of our country." Trump has said in victory rallies since the election that for trade, "we have to look at it almost as a war," asking "who the hell cares if there's a trade war?" Trump said China specifically is committing "the greatest jobs theft in the history of the world." Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citi, wrote in a note to clients before the report of the new tariff that protectionist trade policies might spark a global trade war, "which could easily trigger a global recession." Deutsche Bank has also addressed the negative risks of the Trump trade agenda. A team from the firm wrote in a note on Friday that "the biggest threat to growth is a possible protectionist turn, which could depress global trade and even trigger trade wars." In addition to the tariff talk, Trump appointed Peter Navarro head of the new National Trade Council on Wednesday. Navarro has been a longtime critic of China he wrote a book titled "Death By China." While these moves do not signal a coming collapse in international trade, they suggest that Trump's more protectionist tendencies will come out during his time in office. Story continues Additionally, a tariff of any kind is likely to spark a reaction from major US trading partners such as China. Chinese officials are reportedly weighing options for how to respond to hostile trade moves by Trump. Given the moves by Trump, we've broken down just how a protectionist trade scenario could affect the US economy and the geopolitical order. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. A macroeconomic drag A 5% tariff may affect the US economy higher costs, a slight drag to GDP growth but economists are worried about what it signals going forward. Michael Gapen, a chief US economist at Barclays, has estimated the economic drag that tariffs on imports from China and Mexico may have on US GDP growth. Assuming a 15% tariff on Chinese imports and a 7% tariff on Mexican imports modestly above their current levels of 2-10%, depending on the good Gapen estimated that the US would see a 0.5% reduction in annual GDP growth in just the next year. china factory Meanwhile, Buiter said Citi estimates trade and other policy uncertainties could be a 1% drag on US GDP over the next year. And should the president-elect eventually follow through with any of these policies, the US risks retaliatory measures from other countries. "If tariffs are more punitive and lead to a public trade spat with China, markets will get nervous, especially if a sharp, retaliatory, [Chinese yuan] depreciation looks like a realistic response," said Ajay Rajadhyaksha, head of macro research at Barclays. If other countries follow this pattern, it could lead to a downward spiral or litigation at the World Trade Organization. "Depending on the specific measures, retaliatory action from elsewhere could be expected, while the risk of trade and currency wars could grow," said Janet Henry, chief global economist at HSBC. Making it more expensive for consumers An increase in tariffs could be passed through to individual Americans by companies in the form of higher prices. Parts for consumer items are made abroad, so increasing tariffs could make it more expensive to import these parts for goods. To protect corporate profits and margins, companies could hike prices which is not ideal for consumers. Best Buy TV shopping deal extended warranty A crucial thing to consider here is that this type of price increase is not caused by the virtuous wage and price increase cycle, but rather by an exogenous shock to prices without a boost to the labor market. In plain English, that means that while parts manufactured in China instantly become more expensive for Americans under tariffs, wages do not necessarily go up the corresponding amount to offset this cost increase. Theoretically, companies could avoid tariffs by increasing production in the US. However, the problem is that labor is more expensive in America, so even if companies brought production to the US, the increased labor costs could push prices up, too. A 'nail in the coffin' of the post-World War II economic order Not only could Trump's moves affect everyday consumers in the US, they also could upend macroeconomic polices that have been in place for more than half a century. As Buiter notes, these policies have increased worldwide prosperity and been positive developments for the US. From the Citi economist's note (emphasis added): "We stress the potential multipliers of changes in the US position on international trade: the US has been the champion of free trade and open borders for decades. A retreat from globalization by the US would likely lead to reciprocal actions from other countries, and reinforce the latest shift towards de- globalization and could be another nail in the coffin of the liberal global economic world order that has supported prosperity since 1948." Taking it a step further, now that Trump has been elected president, the possibility of passing the TPP the landmark free trade agreement that aims to slash tariffs and promote economic growth among 12 nations in the Pacific Rim excluding China has effectively dropped to nil. (President Barack Obama's administration has already suspended its efforts to win congressional approval for the deal before Trump takes office, saying that its fate is up to the president-elect and Republican lawmakers.) Japan Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe China Chinese President Xi Jinping And that could have major implications for the future of the economic and geopolitical order in Asia Pacific, given that the deal is arguably more about the US's long-term position in Asia than about the near-term financial advantages. Americans want jobs Mainstream economists generally agree that free trade is good for an economy in the long run even though within an economy there will be some people who benefit less, particularly in the short term while trade-restrictive measures hurt consumers. However, some voters across developed economies believe free trade hurts their countries, which is likely a reflection of their personal experiences. In the US, 89% of Americans said they think the loss of US jobs to China is a somewhat or very serious issue, according to Pew Research statistics previously cited by Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Ethan Harris and Lisa Berlin. Moreover, only 46% of Americans said they think NAFTA was good for the economy. But it's not just Americans dreaming of a manufacturing comeback Japanese farmers, for example, have been staunchly against the TPP. There's some empirical evidence to back up those grievances. In January, labor economists David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson published a paper showing that increased trade with China caused some big problems for US workers. From the paper's meaty abstract (emphasis ours): "China's emergence as a great economic power has induced an epochal shift in patterns of world trade. Simultaneously, it has challenged much of the received empirical wisdom about how labor markets adjust to trade shocks. Alongside the heralded consumer benefits of expanded trade are substantial adjustment costs and distributional consequences. ... "Adjustment in local labor markets is remarkably slow, with wages and labor-force participation rates remaining depressed and unemployment rates remaining elevated for at least a full decade after the China trade shock commences. "Exposed workers experience greater job churning and reduced lifetime income. At the national level, employment has fallen in US industries more exposed to import competition, as expected, but offsetting employment gains in other industries have yet to materialize." Moreover, most of the economic gains from globalization have been for the middle class in emerging markets not the middle class in developed markets such as the US. Below is one of the more popular charts illustrating this, from economist Branko Milanovic, via Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Ajay Singh Kapur and Ritesh Samadhiya back in June. screen_shot_2016 10 27_at_1.58.53_pm Although both Trump and Hillary Clinton zeroed in on workers' anxieties over job losses during their campaigns, it's important to note that at least some of America's job losses are not due to trade, but rather due to automation. And crucially, automation not only hits manufacturing, but also affects jobs that require advanced degrees, such as neuroradiology. "From a political perspective, I don't think the focus on trade is misplaced. It's effective. Because it has an 'other,'" Alexander Kazan, strategist at Eurasia Group, said in a video for the Eurasia Group Foundation. "When you talk about technology, it's much more amorphous. It's this sense that we all lose. So I think politically it's less effective." Depends on how much is done Ultimately, a lot will depend on how much protectionist policy Trump is able to pass when he steps into the Oval Office. Donald Trump meets with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Capitol Hill. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts Some observers say its unclear how much of the anti-trade rhetoric Trump genuinely intends to carry out. Additionally, there is a strong contingent within Trump's own party that is supportive of free trade. The possible tariff and appointment of Navarro, however, are signs that protectionist trade could play a major factor in the Trump policy agenda. NOW WATCH: Watch Yellen explain why the Federal Reserve decides to raise rates More From Business Insider Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish authorities on Thursday released six close relatives of the assassin of the Russian ambassador to Ankara after holding them for almost three days for questioning in the wake of the killing, state media said on Thursday. Investigators are looking for links of the killer, Turkish policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas, to the group of the US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames for the failed July 15 coup. Russia, which on Thursday was laying to rest ambassador Andrei Karlov with full honours in Moscow, has urged caution and warned not to jump to hasty conclusions. Both parents, the sister, two uncles and an aunt of the assassin were released after questioning in Aydin province in western Turkey, state-run news agency Anadolu said. Turkish media said the authorities were still holding six suspects linked to the Rustu Unsal police academy in Izmir where Altintas studied from 2012-2104 and where officials believe he came under the influence of Gulen. Among these are Suleyman Ergen, who Turkey accuses of being a top Gulen agent at the academy. The reports said they are still being questioned. Erdogan on Wednesday said for the first time there was "no need to make a secret out of the fact" Altintas was a member of Gulen's group. Turkey has embarked on a massive crackdown on what it calls the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO) in the wake of the July coup aimed at unseating Erdogan. But Erdogan said the assassination of Karlov showed Gulen supporters were still present within the security forces and purges needed to continue. "I have to say this very clearly -- this dirty organisation is still within the military, still within the police," he said. But the Kremlin, which has sent 18 Russian investigators to Ankara, indicated earlier that it was not the time for hurried pronouncements on responsibility. "In this case it is hardly worth hurrying to any conclusions until the investigation determines -- as our president said -- who was behind the murder of our ambassador," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Gulen himself has condemned Monday's assassination of ambassador Karlov and had denied any involvement in the July 15 coup. In todays TV News roundup, Dwayne Johnsons Rock the Troops brings in a sizable audience. Plus, Viola Davis will be featured on Bravos Inside the Actors Studio, Viacoms Bob Bakish and A+E Networks Nancy Dubuc head to NATPE, Starz announces premiere dates for its Rolling Stones documentary, and more. RATINGS The ratings are in, and Dwayne The Rock Johnsons Rock The Troops broke a four-year record for Spike TV. The music and entertainment event for military families brought in 2.2 million viewers across all telecasts on Spike and other Viacom networks that aired the holiday special, delivering more viewers than any Spike tentpole event in four years. The TV special produced by Johnson and Dany Garcias Seven Bucks Productions, Casey Patterson Entertainment and Don Mischer Productions was put on to honor the men and women of Americas Armed Services. Filmed on location at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, celebrities such as Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, George Clooney and Nick Jonas appeared. CASTING Viola Davis will be featured on Bravos Inside the Actors Studio on Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. In anticipation of her appearance in the revival of Fences, Davis will discuss her greatest performances and achievements, including her Oscar nominations for her work in Doubt and The Help as well as her historic Emmy win for her portrayal of Annalise Keating in ABCs How to Get Away With Murder. Davis will also receive her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the same day. DATES Starz has grabbed the U.S. television premiere of the tour documentary The Rolling Stones Ole! Ole! Ole!: A Trip Across Latin America on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 9 p.m., as well as the concert docu Havana Moon on Jan. 22 at 9 p.m. A Trip Across Latin America follows the Rolling Stones as they tour through 10 cities in Latin America in early 2016, leading up to their tour finale in Havana, Cuba. Havana Moon features the full Havana concert, marking both the end of their tour and the first time a foreign rock band has played Cuba. Story continues EXECUTIVE NEWS Viacom CEO Bob Bakish, and Nancy Dubuc, president and CEO of A+E Networks, will deliver keynote addresses as part of the line-up for NATPE Miami 2017. The event will serve as Bakishs first major public appearance since he was named permanent president-CEO of Viacom earlier this month. The conference, which provides a global marketplace and resource for television and platform executives, will take place Jan. 17-19, and will feature the third installment of the NATPE Reality Breakthrough Awards, hosted this time by comedian and Fuller House star Bob Saget. SPECIALS The Trumpet Awards, a prestigious annual event celebrating African-American achievements and contributions, has been acquired by Bounce TV. Set to celebrate its 25th Anniversary in 2017, The Trumpet Awards will premiere on Bounce TV on Sunday, Jan. 29. The black-tie ceremony will be held at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, Jan. 21. Bounce TV also announced that veteran public affairs executive Jeff Johnson will assume the newly created position of VP of community outreach. In his new role, Johnson will manage relationships within Trumpet Awards, as well as develop the networks public affairs initiatives and partnerships with community organizations. Related stories Playback: Viola Davis on 'Fences,' 'Suicide Squad' and Feminine 'Badassery' Dwayne Johnson Honors Service Men and Women With 'Rock the Troops' Mega-Event Our Staff Picks: TV Shows to Watch the Week of Dec. 12, 2016 Two Americans are among those injured in Mondays truck attack on a crowded Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people and injured dozens more, reports say. One of the American nationals has been released from a Berlin hospital while the other remained hospitalized in serious condition on Thursday, CBS News reports, citing an official with the U.S. Embassy in Germany. The names of the injured Americans have not been officially released. The incident occurred at around 8 p.m. in Breitscheidplatz in western Berlin when the truck plowed into the bustling crowd. Anis Amri German police via AP German officials are still searching for the suspect, 24-year-old Anis Amri, of Tunisia, after his identity documents were reportedly found in the truck, a security official told CNN. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. The German federal prosecutors office issued a warrant for the man, offering a reward of up to 100,000 euros for information about his location, CNN reports. Investigators said Amri is 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighs about 165 pounds. The warrant noted that Amri could be violent and armed. Police initially detained a suspect in connection with the attack, but later released the man due to a lack of evidence. EPA/PAUL ZINKEN 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. ISIS has claimed that it inspired the attack, according to CNN. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday called the incident a likely terrorist attack. This is a difficult day. I am, like millions of people during these hours, horrified and shocked by what happened at the Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, she said, according to the New York Times. We must assume at the current time that it was a terrorist attack. By Josh Smith KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - They are speaking about the same deadly drone war that the United States has been waging this year, but talk to the U.S. military and Afghan civilians and their conclusions about who is targeted are often starkly different. To the Americans, only enemy combatants were killed by missiles fired from unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan in 2016. Eyewitness accounts, however, along with United Nations reports, suggest dozens of civilians were among the casualties. "People seem to think we just shoot missiles at random," Lieutenant Shaw, a drone operator in his 20s told Reuters at the U.S. Air Force's base in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. "But if anything, we are better equipped than many manned aircraft to make sure we have the right guy." The certainty expressed by drone operators often contrasts with the chaos described by witnesses on the ground. "There were dead bodies and body parts everywhere," said resident Hameed Shinwari, describing the scene soon after an attack in his village in eastern Nangarhar province, where as many as 15 civilians were killed in a drone strike in September, according to a U.N. report and local people who say they witnessed it. Civilian casualties in coalition air strikes have been highly sensitive throughout the 15-year-long U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, and avoiding them is crucial to winning local support for the government in its fight against the Taliban. The issue has gained new urgency as the United States has relied more on unmanned aircraft since most international troops were withdrawn at the end of 2014. In the Nangarhar strike, a 12-year-old boy was among those who told Reuters they had been wounded. U.S. officials said the only confirmed casualties were Islamic State fighters. The incident starkly highlights the divide between the U.S. military, which says not a single civilian was killed in such operations in 2016, and critics, including human rights groups and some former drone pilots, who say overly broad targeting policies are putting too many civilians in the crossfire. LAWFUL TARGETS? Speaking in rare interviews at their bases in Kandahar and nearly 8,000 miles away in the deserts of Nevada, U.S. drone crews defended their methods for hunting down Islamic State, Taliban, al Qaeda and other militants. Among the types of missions described by drone pilots in Afghanistan are "signature strikes", when the identity of the targets is not known but they are tagged as combatants based on their behavior and other intelligence. The range of video and electronic sensors on unmanned aircraft can help make sense of the messy modern battlefields where insurgents often blend into local populations, they say. "We know who they are," said Lieutenant Colonel Michael Navicky, head of the U.S. Air Force's drone program in Afghanistan, in an interview at his headquarters at Kandahar. If pilots notice civilians nearby after a missile has been fired they can still call off the strike by guiding it into an unpopulated area, he said, a maneuver called a "shift cold". While acknowledging that drones can be better than manned aircraft at picking targets, many human rights activists argue that U.S. policies can leave too much room for interpretation. "The question is not whether they (the U.S. military) know names, but are they lawful targets?" said Letta Tayler, a senior counterterrorism researcher for Human Rights Watch. With fewer U.S. troops on the ground, there was a "grave risk" that strikes could be misdirected or manipulated by sources on the ground to settle local scores, she said. "As the fight in Afghanistan morphs into something new, there are many questions that the U.S. needs to answer." The U.N. reported in October that at least 32 civilians had been killed through September in drone strikes in Afghanistan, contributing to an overall increase in civilian casualties from U.S. and Afghan air strikes compared with last year. When asked about the sharply different accounts of the outcome of strikes, U.S. military spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said in a statement that U.S. troops "employ detailed systems of technical, tactical and procedural checks and balances before employing all weapons in Afghanistan". "Strict rules apply to the use of air-delivered munitions, particularly when civilians may be present or whenever there is a possibility of striking a civilian structure," Cleveland said. "WE'RE HUMAN" Another U.N. report, released in July, said a pair of strikes in Paktika province on April 6 killed at least 17 civilians. "When we arrived there, a pick-up truck had been attacked and was in flames," Ainullah, a resident who said he went to the scene after the strike, told Reuters. He described the casualties as "shopkeepers who were bringing food to their children". As in other strikes this year, the U.S. military contested the status of those killed. A spokesman told Reuters that they found "no evidence" that any non-combatants were killed. Drone operators, who spoke to Reuters on the condition they were only identified by their rank and first name, insisted strikes were only conducted after extensive surveillance. The approval process for strikes was "significant", and went "very, very high in the chain of command", said Captain Eric, a drone pilot. As many as 85 percent to 90 percent of requested strikes were rejected, he added, because of concerns over civilian casualties or a lack of information about the target. "We're human, and we feel what is happening when we have to launch a strike," drone pilot Major Adam said. "That motivates us to make sure we get it right, because the last thing we want is for the worst to happen." (Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni in Kabul, Ahmad Sultan in Nangarhar, and Mohammadullah Himatyar in Paktika; Editing by Alex Richardson) Ninth Circuit Overturns ruling on Second Amendment Waiting Period By Dean Weingarten. December 16th, 2016 Article Source On 14 December, 2016, a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court ruling in Silvester v. Harris. In the original decision, the District Court ruled that requiring a gun owner who had already passed a background check, and who either already owned a registered gun or had a concealed carry permit, was an infringement on the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The Ninth Circuit held that a 10 day waiting period was a "reasonable safety precaution". From the decision at uscourts.gov(pdf): The panel reversed the district court's bench trial judgment and remanded for entry of judgment in favor of the state of California in an action challenging a California law establishing a 10-day waiting period for all lawful purchases of guns. The panel first stated that this case was a challenge to the application of the full 10-day waiting period to those purchasers who have previously purchased a firearm or have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and who clear a background check in less than ten days. The panel held that the ten-day waiting period is a reasonable safety precaution for all purchasers of firearms and need not be suspended once a purchaser has been approved. The panel determined that it need not decide whether the regulation was sufficiently longstanding to be presumed lawful. Applying intermediate scrutiny analysis, the panel held that the law does not violate plaintiff's Second Amendment rights because the ten-day wait is a reasonable precaution for the purchase of a second or third weapon, as well as for a first purchase. You can see that the decision claims that this reasoning is under the "intermediate scrutiny" standard. But it is clear that "intermediate scrutiny" has simply become another name for "rational basis" which is virtually no standard at all. Here is another snippet. From sanluisobispo.com: But 9th Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder said the waiting period makes sense, for example, for someone who already owns a hunting rifle but may want to buy a larger-capacity weapon that will do more damage when fired into a crowd. "A 10-day cooling-off period would serve to discourage such conduct and would impose no serious burden on the core Second Amendment right of defense of the home," she said. Using the rational of the Court, it is hard to see that there is any limit on the waiting period that could be imposed. If a 10 day limit is not a serious burden, why not a 20 day, or a 40 day, or a year? The court did not ask for or recieve any evidence that the presumed "rational" argument had any substance, had ever happened, or if any studies had ever been done to find out. The Crime Prevention Research Center filed an amicus breif in the orginal case. From the brief: Despite assertions that the benefits from waiting periods and background checks are obvious, the complete lack of empirical studies to support those claims is stark. No evidence is offered that either of these laws reduce violent crime, nor that they reduce overall suicide rates. Even more striking, the discussions that Appellant and amici use are not relevant to the case before the court. The Ninth Circuit seems determined to uphold as many infringements on the Second Amendment as it can, until stopped by the Supreme Court. Until a new justice is appointed to replace Justice Scalia, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will accept an appeal, or reverse the Ninth Circuit's decisions on the Second Amendment. 2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch Back to Top By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is canceling an inactive registry program for visitors from countries where extremist groups are operating, a plan similar to a Muslim registry considered by President-elect Donald Trump. The Department of Homeland Security is formally ending the National Security Entry-Exit Registration Systems program, known as NSEERS, by removing outdated regulations, spokesman Neema Hakim said on Thursday. The rule change will be published in the Federal Register on Friday and takes effect immediately. DHS concluded that the program, which was suspended in 2011, was redundant and inefficient and did not provide increased security. Begun a year after the Sept. 11, 2001 al Qaeda attacks on the United States, the program expanded within a year to require registration from visitors from 25 countries, most of them with majority-Muslim populations. "The intervening years have shown that NSEERS is not only obsolete but that its use would divert limited personnel and resources from more effective measures," Hakim said. Trump was asked on Wednesday whether he would support a Muslim registry, similar to the dormant DHS program, and he would not confirm or deny his plans to do so. Several Trump transition aides have told Reuters the incoming Trump administration will not resurrect the program, although a key Trump immigration adviser, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, has advocated the idea. The announcement came as a growing number of prominent tech companies including Facebook, Twitter and Apple have told various news organizations that they would not help the Trump administration build a Muslim registry. Earlier this month, employees at dozens of technology companies also signed an online pledge vowing not to help Trump build a data registry to track people based on their religion or assist in mass deportations. The petition has been signed by more than 2,500 employees. 'FAILED PROGRAM' Story continues The Obama administration's decision to formally end the program drew praise from critics who said it was discriminatory. "I applaud President Obama for his decision to dismantle NSEERS, the idle and ineffective federal registry that targeted Muslims and undermined our core values," New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee welcomed the decision, calling NSEERS a "failed program rooted in discriminatory profiling." At one point in his campaign, Trump called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country as a means of fighting terrorism. That drew widespread criticism at home and abroad, and Trump revised his proposal to suspending immigration from regions deemed as exporting terrorism and where safe vetting could not be assured. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway was asked on Thursday if the president-elect has backed away from the idea of a Muslim registry. "Well, he said during the campaign long after he had originally proposed that, that this would be more strictly tied to countries where we know they have a history of terrorism" Conway said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "This is not a complete ban," added Conway, who was named Trump's White House counselor on Thursday. Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state who helped write tough immigration laws in Arizona and elsewhere, told Reuters last month that Trump's policy advisers had discussed drafting a proposal to reinstate a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries. Kobach helped design NSEERS while working in the Justice Department under President George W. Bush. (Additional reporting by Julia Edwards, Dustin Volz and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Bill Trott and Paul Simao) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted to establish a special team to "collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence" as well as to prepare cases on war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the conflict in Syria. The General Assembly adopted a Liechtenstein-drafted resolution to establish the independent team with 105 in favor, 15 against and 52 abstentions. The team will work in coordination with the U.N. Syria Commission of Inquiry. Liechtenstein U.N. Ambassador Christian Wenaweser told the General Assembly ahead of the vote: "We have postponed any meaningful action on accountability too often and for too long." He said inaction has sent "the signal that committing war crimes and crimes against humanity is a strategy that is condoned and has no consequences." The special team will "prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over these crimes." The U.N. resolution calls on all states, parties to the conflict, and civil society groups to provide any information and documentation to the team. "The establishment of such a mechanism is a flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a U.N. member state," Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told the General Assembly before the vote. Syrian allies Russia and Iran also spoke against the resolution. The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria was established by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council in 2011 to investigate possible war crimes. The Commission of Inquiry, which says it has a confidential list of suspects on all sides who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, has repeatedly called for the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Russia and China vetoed a bid by western powers to refer the conflict in Syria to The Hague-based court in 2014. A crackdown by Assad on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 led to civil war and Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq. Half of Syria's 22 million people have been uprooted and more than 400,000 killed. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols Editing by G Crosse and James Dalgleish) (Recasts; adds quotes from report summary, detail) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A United Nations internal inquiry released on Wednesday found that a deadly attack on an aid convoy in Syria in September came from an air strike, but it could not conclude that the attack was "deliberate" or who was to blame. At least 10 people died and some 22 were injured in the Sept. 19 attack on a U.N. and Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy at Urem Al-Kubra near the city of Aleppo, which also destroyed 17 trucks, the inquiry found. "The board found that, while the incident was caused by an air attack, it was not possible to identify the perpetrator or perpetrators," according to a summary of the report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which was submitted to the 15-member U.N. Security Council on Wednesday. However, the board noted that only Syrian, Russian and U.S.-led coalition aircraft had the capability to carry out such an attack, not opposition forces. It said it was "highly unlikely" that U.S.-led coalition aircraft were involved in the attack. The inquiry found that "multiple types of munitions deployed from more than one aircraft and aircraft type" struck the aid convoy. "The board stated that it did not have evidence to conclude that the incident was a deliberate attack on a humanitarian target," Ban's summary read. U.S. officials believed Russian aircraft were responsible for the strike, but Moscow denied involvement and the Russian Defense Ministry said a U.S. drone was in the area at the time of the attack. The Syrian army also said it was not to blame. A United Nations expert with UNOSAT (U.N. Operational Satellite Applications Programme), which reviews only commercially available satellite images, said in October that analysis of satellite imagery showed that it was an air strike. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Thursday on a draft resolution that would demand that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council is due to vote at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday, diplomats said. They said it was unclear how the United States, which has protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. The White House declined to comment. Some council diplomats hope President Barack Obama, who has had a rocky relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, may allow Security Council action by abstaining on the vote. In a post on Twitter, Netanyahu said the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday." The tweet gave no indication whether Israel had been informed of how Washington planned to vote. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. U.N. diplomats see the resolution as a final chance for council action on the Middle East before Republican President-elect Donald Trump succeeds Democrat Obama on Jan. 20. Trump has signaled he would support Israel in a number of critical areas and not pressure it to engage in talks with the Palestinians. Obama's administration has been highly critical of Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, that Obama was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office. In 2011, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the Palestinians refused a compromise offer from Washington. The United States says continued Israeli settlement activity lacks legitimacy. 'DANGEROUSLY IMPERILING' The draft text to be voted on Thursday says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law." It expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperiling the viability of a two-state solution." The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. Most countries and the United Nations view Israeli West Bank settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel disputes that settlements are illegal and says their final status should be determined in any future talks on Palestinian statehood. The last round of U.S.-led peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in 2014. Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon called the draft "the peak of hypocrisy" and said: "It is absurd that at a time when thousands are being massacred in Syria, the Security Council is devoting time and energy to convene and discuss condemning the only true democracy in the Middle East." The draft said the council would "reiterate its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and that it fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard." The "Quartet" sponsoring the stalled Middle East peace process - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - said in July that Israel should stop building settlements. The Quartet report said at least 570,000 Israelis were living in the settlements. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney) UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. General Assembly voted Wednesday to establish an investigative body that will assist in documenting and prosecuting the most serious violations of international law in Syria, including possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. The 193-member world body adopted a resolution by a vote of 105 to 15 with 52 abstentions over strenuous objections from Syria and close ally Russia who accused the assembly of interfering in the work of the Security Council, which is responsible for issues of international peace and security. Liechtensteins U.N. Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, who sponsored the resolution, said vetoes in the Security Council, by Russia, have led to inaction at the expense of the people of Syria. Our inaction tends to signal that war crimes and crimes against humanity are condoned and have no consequences, he said. Wenaweser said this was why the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, had to address the issue of accountability for violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws since March 2011, when the Syrian conflict began. The resolution takes one meaningful step, he said, in establishing a new body to closely coordinate with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was established by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council. It said earlier this year that war crimes are rampant in Syria. Syrias U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari called the resolution illegal, a flagrant interference in the affairs of a U.N. member state, and a direct threat to a solution of the 5 1/2-year conflict which has killed more than 250,000 people. The resolution establishes an International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism under U.N. auspices to closely cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses and prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings in the future. Story continues It asks the secretary-general to arrange for the speedy establishment of the independent body, which will initially be funded by voluntary contributions, and urges all U.N. member states, especially parties to the conflict, to cooperate with it. The General Assembly today demonstrated that it can take the reins on questions of justice in the face of Security Council deadlock, said Balkees Jarrah, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. She said countries that voted for the unprecedented resolution took a critically important stand for victims of massive grave crimes. The General Assembly will now help pave the road to accountability after years of unchecked atrocities, Jarrah said, and perpetrators now know that evidence of their misdeeds will be collected to hasten the day when they find themselves in the dock. The U.S. government has put Alibaba, Chinas largest e-commerce platform, back on its blacklist of marketplaces for counterfeit goods. The company hit back, suggesting that the move was politically-driven. The spat points to a rising number of trade and economic difficulties between China and the U.S. In its latest report on Notorious Markets the U.S. Trade Representative put Alibabas Taobao online trade platform back on its blacklist after previously removing it from the list in 2012. The report said that the problems with Taobao are large volume of allegedly counterfeit and pirated goods available, and the challenges right(s) holders experience in removing and preventing illicit sales and offers of such goods. While the USTR report acknowledged efforts by Alibaba to clean up the platform including the removal of 380 million product listing sin the year to August it said that its newly introduced Good Faith program represented double standards. The Good Faith Program reportedly remains out of reach for the vast majority of right holders, particularly SMEs, due to stringent eligibility criteria that must be met and maintained over a period of time, it said. In 2016 alone, we proactively removed more than double the number of infringing product listings than in 2015. It is therefore unreasonable for the USTR to have concluded that Alibaba is less effective in anti-counterfeiting than when it reviewed our efforts in 2015 and when it removed us from its list four years ago, wrote Alibaba Group President, Michael Evans in a letter published on the company website. Unfortunately, the USTRs decision leads us to question whether the USTR acted based on the actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate. The political-economic atmosphere between China and the U.S. has already darkened in the weeks since the Nov. 8 election of Donald Trump as the next President. Trumps comments about China the One China Policy, and the recent drone incident in the South China Sea have angered Chinese politicians. Similarly, Chinese acquisitions of U.S. business assets, particularly in Hollywood, has become a mainstream topic of discussion in Washington D.C. Story continues It remains to be seen whether Trump will make good on his campaign promise to label China as a currency manipulator. But his appointment on Wednesday of economist Peter Navarro to head a newly formed White House National Trade Council points to more economic clashes between the worlds two largest economies. Navarro is the author of several books that criticize Chinas economic and military policy and their impact on the U.S., including one called Death by China. Related stories Chinese Streaming Giant iQIYI Heading for IPO (Report) China's Xinke Cancels Voltage Acquisition, Buys Pegasus Stake Six Flags to Build Water Park in China By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday returned Taobao, China's most popular consumer-to-consumer shopping website, to its blacklist of "notorious marketplaces" known for the sale of counterfeit goods and violations of intellectual property rights. The move by the U.S. Trade Representative's office against the online bazaar run by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd followed complaints from U.S. and international trade groups for apparel and luxury goods that Taobao was not doing enough to police sales of fakes and pirated products. Inclusion on the blacklist does not carry any direct penalties but is a blow to Alibaba's efforts to shed perceptions its websites are riddled with fakes - a key to gaining a bigger international customer base and taking market share from global competitors such as eBay Inc and Amazon.com. The company expressed disappointment with the move. Taobao was put on the USTR blacklist in 2011 but removed in 2012 after it made efforts to address concerns of intellectual property rights holders and committed to cut the number of pirated and counterfeit goods on its website. In unveiling its 2016 list, USTR acknowledged that Alibaba had taken steps to combat piracy, including addressing the misuse of brand keywords, blurred trademarks in product images and developing technology to prevent counterfeit sellers from reopening under new names. USTR said, however, the current levels of reported counterfeiting and piracy were "unacceptably high," with such goods posing a "grave economic threat" to U.S. creative and innovative industries and posing public health threats in some cases. "One large motor vehicle manufacturer reported that at least 95 percent of the merchandise bearing its company's brand names and trademarks found on Alibaba platforms is suspected to be counterfeit," USTR said. Alibaba Group President Michael Evans said in a statement the company was "very disappointed" to be put back on the list as it was far more advanced in protecting intellectual property rights than it was four years ago. He added that the decision ignored Alibaba's work to remove more than twice the number of product listings this year than in 2015. "We question whether the USTR acted based on the actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate," Evans said. In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not know the details of the blacklisting, but that in principle China-U.S. trade and business relations should be mutually beneficial and win-win. "If some specific problems arise, we hope that both sides can appropriately resolve them via friendly consultations," she told a daily news briefing. Alibaba touts Taobao as China's largest online shopping destination by gross merchandise volume and among the top five websites in China and top 15 globally. Alibaba shares fell 0.7 percent on the New York Stock Exchange to $89.25. (Reporting by David Lawder; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday sued Barclays Plc (BARC.L) and two former executives on charges of fraud in the sale of U.S. mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. The British bank was accused of deceiving investors about the quality of loans underlying tens of billions of dollars of mortgage securities between 2005 and 2007, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York. Loans had been made to borrowers with no ability to repay and were based on inflated home appraisals, the complaint said. "With this filing, we are sending a clear message that the Department of Justice will not tolerate the defrauding of investors and the American people," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. Barclays said the claims in the lawsuit are "disconnected from the facts" and that it has an obligation to defend against "unreasonable allegations and demands." In terms of demands, Barclays was apparently referring to negotiations with the Justice Department to settle the claims without a case being filed. "Barclays will vigorously defend the complaint and seek its dismissal at the earliest opportunity," its statement said. The bank's U.S.-traded shares (BCS.N) ended regular trading on Thursday down 1.8 percent at $11.07. Barclays is among a number of European banks that have been under investigation for misconduct in the sale of mortgage securities, which contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) are in negotiations over similar claims, sources have told Reuters. Major U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) have already paid tens of billions of dollars to settle with U.S. authorities over their pooling and sale of the securities. According to the lawsuit against Barclays, more than half the underlying loans in $31 billion worth of mortgage loans pooled into 36 deals defaulted. Story continues In addition to Barclays and affiliated companies, the lawsuit accuses two executives of illegal behavior central to the scheme: John T. Carroll and Paul Menefee, both former managing directors at Barclays Capital units. Carroll, Barclays head subprime trader in the run-up to the housing crisis, and Menefee, the banker in charge of due diligence on the subprime deals, are accused of intentionally misrepresenting and omitting key information on the securities. When asked about 40 loans already delinquent before a deal closed, Carroll told Menefee to "just leave them in, according to the lawsuit, and Menefee did. Menefee, who blamed the delinquent loans on fraud, then falsely represented to investors and rating firms that the deal did not contain such delinquent loans, the complaint said. Menefee also described one loan pool as "about as bad as it can be," according to the complaint. Lawyers for Menefee, 47, of Austin, Texas, and Carroll, 49, of Port Washington, New York, did not immediately return calls for comment. The complaint alleges violations of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), based on mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and other misconduct. The statute allows for civil penalties up to the amount of Barclays' gain, or the amount of losses suffered by others. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld, additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Cynthia Osterman) By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday sued Barclays Plc (BARC.L) for fraud in the sale of mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. The British bank deceived investors about the quality of loans underlying tens of billions of dollars of mortgage securities between 2005 and 2007, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. district court in Brooklyn, New York. Loans had been made to borrowers with no ability to repay and were based on inflated home appraisals, the complaint said. Barclays did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bank's U.S.-traded shares (BCS.N) were down 1.7 percent at $11.08 shortly before the close of the market. Barclays is among a number of European banks that have been under investigation for misconduct in the sale of mortgage securities, which contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are in negotiations over similar claims, sources have told Reuters. Major U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) have already paid tens of billions of dollars to settle with U.S. authorities over their pooling and sale of the securities. According to the lawsuit against Barclays, more than half the underlying loans in $31 billion worth of mortgage loans pooled into 36 deals defaulted, (Reporting by Karen Freifeld, additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) By Karl Plume CHICAGO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Kansas wheat farmer Michael Jordan is breaking with a century-old tradition grain producers have trusted to protect their businesses: He has stopped using futures to hedge risks to his crops. The CME Group's Kansas City wheat contract sets grain prices for millers, exporters and other grain buyers both today and in the future. Traditionally, prices converge with the price of wheat sold in local cash markets. But Jordan and other U.S. farmers say they no longer trust this hedging tool, amid growing complaints among producers and grain elevators that the hard red winter (HRW) wheat contract is broken. The last three expiring contracts have gone off the board with wider-than-normal basis at their registered delivery locations, with cash prices 25 percent or more lower, according to exchange and cash market data. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is "very aware of the problem" but has not made any promises about if or how the problem may be addressed, said Kansas Wheat Commission Chief Executive Justin Gilpin, who met with CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad in Kansas City in August. The exchange, too, knows there is an issue, but has been reticent to make any promises, said David Schemm, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers. The CFTC declined to comment on the matter to Reuters. CME spokesman Michael Shore told Reuters, "We continue to have discussions with a broad cross-section of customers in this market regarding their concerns," but he declined to comment directly on the matter. SOWING UNCERTAINTY Futures contract problems have happened before. CME's soft red winter wheat contract failed to converge for nine straight contract expirations beginning in 2008, before CME implemented a scheme known as variable storage rates (VSR) to force convergence. Among possible solutions being discussed for the HRW contract are a doubling of current storage rates or enacting a VSR scheme, Schemm said. Story continues The issue is sowing financial uncertainty throughout the agricultural economy, from grain elevators and wheat millers to crop insurers and farm banks. "This is turning a lot of storage hedges and new-crop forward contracts on their heads," said Dan O'Brien, an agricultural economist with Kansas State University. Growers hedge risk via forward cash contracts with elevators, which take market positions to cover their own risk. They, in turn, are able to offer farmers competitive prices for future deliveries of grain. Crop insurance calculations are also askew as prices that set premiums and determine payouts, set by futures prices, are far different than actual cash prices. Schemm said that hurt his own farm. He missed out on a crop insurance payout of about $10,000 because the futures prices used to calculate his policy benefits did not reflect how far the cash market value of his grain had fallen. STORAGE WOES One key factor behind the contract problem, said Kansas State University agricultural economist Art Barnaby, is storage. The HRW contract sets monthly wheat storage costs at 6 and 9 cents per bushel. But elevators storing HRW wheat for these contracts - including ADM, Cargill, Marubeni Group's Gavilon Grain - say the price tag for this storage should actually be valued much higher, Barnaby said. That's because they do not want their storage capacity filled with grain they cannot sell. Meanwhile, massive global supplies of wheat are keeping cash prices low, especially in Kansas, where farmers harvested record-large yields this year. The lack of coming-together of futures and cash prices has left many farmers fearful this season. The loss of market protections, they say, threatens to heap further pain on farmers struggling with decade-low grain prices and net farm incomes at a seven-year low. Farmers have used futures for decades to hedge the financial risk of planting a crop by locking in prices for future grain sales. "The whole point of hedging is to protect yourself against price moves," said Jordan, who planted 1,000 acres of hard red winter wheat this fall in north-central Kansas. "But instead, all this has done is increased the risk." (Editing by PJ Huffstutter and Leslie Adler) Uber has been forced to back down in its dispute with Californian authorities, taking its self-driving cars off the streets of San Francisco Wednesday. The move followed the states Department of Motor Vehicles revoking their registration as well as reports of the cars running red lights. A standoff occurred after Uber had declined to follow the example of competitors such as Google and Tesla, which obtained state-issued permits for their self-driving cars. Because it employed a driver to sit in each of its fleet of 16 self-driving cars ready to take the wheel, Uber insisted that a permit wasnt necessary. But a week after the ride-hailing giant formally launched its cars on the San Francisco streets, the DMV cracked down. Uber is welcome to test its autonomous technology in California like everybody else, through the issuance of a testing permit that can take less than 72 hours to issue after a completed application is submitted, a DMV spokesman wrote in an emailed statement to the San Jose Mercury News. The department stands ready to assist Uber in obtaining a permit as expeditiously as possible. Ubers move into the rapidly expanding and increasingly competitive self-driving car market saw it also launch a fleet of self-driving Volvos in Pittsburgh in September. As part of the program, customers have been able to hail the cars. The $68 billion company insists it has not given up on its plans in California. Were now looking at where we can redeploy these cars, an Uber spokeswoman wrote in an emailed statement to the San Francisco Examiner, but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules. Uber self-driving car Photo: Reuters/Aaron Josefczyk/File Photo However, the failure to obtain permits was not the only controversial aspect of Ubers self-driving program in California. Questions were also raised about their safety when at least three self-driving cars were reported to have run red lights in San Francisco. A video even emerged showing one of the cars doing just that. Story continues Uber claimed that the incident was a result of human error, a claim countered by one witness. San Francisco mayor Ed Lee said he discussed the issue when he met with Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick on Friday. Oh yeah, I brought up the video, Lee said. He claimed and I dont know this for a fact that the technology was turned off at the time. It is not the first time the safety of self-driving cars has been called into question. Indeed, Uber has admitted that its cars have a problem with the way it crosses bike lanes, while one of its self-driving vehicles was involved in a collision in Pittsburgh in October. Tesla now has self-driving technology installed on all its new cars but, in May, a driver deploying the autopilot mode was killed after it drove under a truck. Related Articles By Maria Vega Paul MADRID, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies launched in Madrid on Thursday its first fleet of electric cars. In Spain's capital city, as elsewhere, Uber's service of matching private car owners with passengers has prompted anger among the heavily-regulated taxi sector. The company hopes the introduction of cleaner cars will help improve its image in a city governed by left-wing, environmentally mayor Manuela Carmena, said Carles Lloret, managing director of Uber for southern Europe Madrid's city administration in November unveiled new measures at combating pollution, from limiting private traffic in the centre to tightening speed limits on access roads. "We want to do things that are in line with what the town hall wants," Lloret said. Regulation and hostility from local taxi firms drove Uber off Spanish streets at the end of 2014 after a Spanish judge ruled the company did not comply with the country's laws and represented unfair competition. But it returned to Madrid in April with UberX which, unlike its previous UberPOP service, used professionally licensed drivers. The fleet of electric cars form a part of its premium UberONE service, which offers extras such as in-car Internet connections. Uber operates in Madrid with restrictive licences which it says impedes expansion. It hopes the launch of the environmentally service may encourage a liberalisation of the car-sharing sector. "We would love to see more licences awarded in the future, perhaps for greener cars so there could be more in circulation," said Lloret. Founded in 2009, Uber Technologies Inc. has expanded exponentially worldwide but has come up against opposition from traditional taxi drivers and faced court injunctions in several countries, including Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands as well as Spain. (Writing By Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Julien Toyer and Mark Potter) By Heather Somerville SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] has removed its self-driving cars from San Francisco streets, halting the autonomous program one week after its launch as the company faced a regulatory crackdown. The California Department of Motor Vehicles said on Wednesday it revoked the registration of 16 Uber self-driving cars because they had not been properly permitted. For the last week, the agency was demanding that Uber shut down its program and comply with regulations requiring a permit to test self-driving cars on public roads. Uber said it was not obligated to have a permit because its vehicles require continuous monitoring by a person in the car. San Francisco was supposed to be Uber's second testing ground for its self-driving cars. The company unveiled its self-driving cars in September in Pittsburgh. "We're now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules," an Uber spokeswoman said in a statement. California defines autonomous vehicles as having the capability to drive "without the active physical control or monitoring of a natural person." Uber has argued that the law does not apply to its cars, which cannot stay in autonomous mode continuously. A driver and an engineer are in the front seats to take over frequently in sticky traffic situations such as construction zones or pedestrian crossings. Uber's defiance was met with threats of legal action from the DMV and the state attorney general. The DMV told Uber that if it had obtained a permit, the regulator would have given the green light to the self-driving pilot. DMV director Jean Shiomoto said in a letter sent to Uber on Wednesday that she would "personally help to ensure an expedited review and approval process," which she said can take less than three days. The permit process is largely seen as a public safety measure, as regulations also require that companies provide the DMV with accident reports. Uber, however, has complained that its home state has favored complex rules over technological innovation. Story continues It is not yet clear whether Uber will apply for the permit or simply bring the self-driving cars to another state. Another 20 companies exploring self-driving cars, including Alphabet's (GOOG.O) Google, Tesla Motors (TSLA.O) and Ford Motor Co (F.N), have obtained California DMV permits for 130 cars. Uber opened up the self-driving car program to San Francisco passengers on Dec. 14, but has been testing the cars on city roadways for more than a month. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler) (Adds context) By Heather Somerville SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc has removed its self-driving cars from San Francisco streets, halting the autonomous program one week after its launch as the company faced a regulatory crackdown. The California Department of Motor Vehicles said on Wednesday it revoked the registration of 16 Uber self-driving cars because they had not been properly permitted. For the last week, the agency was demanding that Uber shut down its program and comply with regulations requiring a permit to test self-driving cars on public roads. Uber said it was not obligated to have a permit because its vehicles require continuous monitoring by a person in the car. San Francisco was supposed to be Uber's second testing ground for its self-driving cars. The company unveiled its self-driving cars in September in Pittsburgh. "We're now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules," an Uber spokeswoman said in a statement. California defines autonomous vehicles as having the capability to drive "without the active physical control or monitoring of a natural person." Uber has argued that the law does not apply to its cars, which cannot stay in autonomous mode continuously. A driver and an engineer are in the front seats to take over frequently in sticky traffic situations such as construction zones or pedestrian crossings. Uber's defiance was met with threats of legal action from the DMV and the state attorney general. The DMV told Uber that if it had obtained a permit, the regulator would have given the green light to the self-driving pilot. DMV director Jean Shiomoto said in a letter sent to Uber on Wednesday that she would "personally help to ensure an expedited review and approval process," which she said can take less than three days. The permit process is largely seen as a public safety measure, as regulations also require that companies provide the DMV with accident reports. Uber, however, has complained that its home state has favored complex rules over technological innovation. Story continues It is not yet clear whether Uber will apply for the permit or simply bring the self-driving cars to another state. Another 20 companies exploring self-driving cars, including Alphabet's Google, Tesla Motors and Ford Motor Co, have obtained California DMV permits for 130 cars. Uber opened up the self-driving car program to San Francisco passengers on Dec. 14, but has been testing the cars on city roadways for more than a month. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler) By Heather Somerville and Alexandria Sage SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday removed its self-driving test cars from California and put them on trucks bound for Arizona, shuttering the autonomous vehicle project in its home state after a week-long battle with regulators. The California Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday revoked the registration of 16 cars in Uber's self-driving fleet, which the regulator said lacked the proper permits. Arizona, however, does not require any special permits for self-driving cars, according to the state Department of Transportation. Autonomous vehicles have the same registration requirements as any other car. Uber's self-driving program had been running in San Francisco for just a week, and all the while the company was embroiled in a dispute with the state DMV and attorney general. Both threatened legal action if Uber did not remove its self-driving cars from the road, which the company ultimately did on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Uber loaded its cars onto long-haul trucks belonging to Otto - a self-driving truck company Uber acquired in August. "Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck," an Uber spokeswoman said in a written statement. "We'll be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks." San Francisco had been selected as Uber's second testing ground for its self-driving cars after Pittsburgh, but the company immediately faced a backlash from the DMV, which requires that any company testing autonomous vehicles on public roads receive a permit. But Uber refused to apply for the permit, arguing that state regulations do not apply to its cars, which require constant monitoring and interference by a person in the vehicle. California defines autonomous vehicles as having the capability to drive "without the active physical control or monitoring of a natural person." Amid the fray, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey invited Uber to bring its cars to his state. Story continues "Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide open roads," Ducey said in a statement released Thursday. "While California puts the brakes on innovation and change with more bureaucracy and more regulation, Arizona is paving the way for new technology and new businesses." Alphabet Inc's autonomous car division Waymo is also testing in Arizona. (Reporting by Heather Somerville and Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Cynthia Osterman) By Maya Nikolaeva PARIS (Reuters) - UBS France (UBSG.S) is to buy the local private banking arm of Italy's Banca Leonardo, the latest instance of consolidation in the private banking industry, which is having to contend with rising regulatory costs and a pressure on fees. As part of the deal UBS France, a subsidiary of UBS Group (UBSG.S), will also create a joint-venture wealth management boutique with the executives of Banque Leonardo France, the firm it is buying, that will be called "La Maison de Gestion". UBS France will hold a majority stake in the joint venture and the remainder will be held by La Maison de Gestion and some of its shareholders, including the Dassault group and Michel David-Weill, former chairman of the investment bank Lazard. UBS France said the deal would strengthen its asset management arm, with the new joint venture company holding about 4 billion euros (3.40 billion pounds) of assets under management. "With this transaction, UBS France strengthens its roots and its ambitions in France," UBS France's chairman Jean-Frederic de Leusse said in a statement. The companies did not disclose any price regarding the deal. The transaction will also boost UBS France's assets under management to 13 billion euros from 11 billion, added de Leusse in an earlier interview with French newspaper Les Echos. Banca Leonardo said the sale of its French subsidiary will allow the company to focus more on its core Italian private banking market. Founded in 1999, Banca Leonardo was acquired in 2006 and recapitalised by a group of European investors led by former Lazard and Mediobanca banker Gerardo Bragiotti. The deal between UBS France and Banca Leonardo comes during a wave of consolidation within the French wealth management industry this year, which has included Rothschild & Co (ROTH.PA) acquiring French regional private bank Martin Maurel. (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva; editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Greg Mahlich) Dec 22 (Reuters) - Insurer Legal & General Group Plc (L&G) said it had named EY executive Jeff Davies its chief financial officer, with effect from the spring of 2017. Mark Gregory, who has been the firm's finance chief since 2013, would step down from the board when Davies takes up the role, but will continue to be employed by L&G until the end of August to help with the handover, the company said. Davies, who is a senior partner at accounting and consulting firm EY, has also worked at the world's second-biggest reinsurer Swiss Re. L&G said in February that Gregory will retire in January 2017, after having worked at the British firm for 17 years, the last seven of them in board-level positions. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) London (AFP) - A British truck driver has raised more than 50,000 (59,000 euros, $62,000) via crowdfunding for the family of the Polish driver found dead in the truck used in the attack on a Berlin Christmas market. Dave Duncan said on the website GoFundMe, where he created the campaign on Tuesday, that the story of 37-year-old Lukasz Urban had shocked him. "Although I did not know Lukasz, the story of his untimely departure shocked and disgusted me. "So, as a fellow trucker, I decided to reach out to the trucking community and beyond to help in some small way," he said, signing off with the words "RIP Lukasz... from the truckers of the UK and beyond". According to the website, 3,400 people had made donations. Twelve people were killed when the Polish-registered articulated truck, laden with steel beams, slammed into a crowded holiday market late Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims. Urban, who worked for his cousin Ariel Zurawski's transport company in northern Poland, was found killed with a gunshot in the passenger seat. Zurawski described him as a "good guy" and said his body showed signs of a struggle with the assailant or assailants including stab marks. "One person would not have been able to overpower him," Zurawski said of the heavyset relative he had grown up with. "We could see injuries. His face was bloodied and swollen," he told private news channel TVN 24, referring to a photo he received from Polish police. An autopsy indicated that the driver was still alive at the time of the attack, Bild newspaper reported. German police are hunting for a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker identified as the prime suspect. Ukrainian officials returned masterpiece paintings valued at $17.7 million stolen from a Verona museum in November 2015 to Italys culture minister at a ceremony in Kiev on Wednesday. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko returned the 17 paintings, which included works by Rubens, Tintoretto and Mantegna, stolen from Veronas Castelvecchio Museum to Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini. Ukrainian border guards had seized the paintings near the Moldovan border in May. The Associated Press reported that five people, including a museum guard, had been convicted in Italy over the November 2015 raid while two Moldovans await trial. A terrible tragedy happened when the paintings of the best masters of humanity have been heisted from Veronas Museum. This is as if a part of the citys heart has been stolen," said President Poroshenko in a statement released by his office. Photographs of the paintings are available in the press statement from Italys Culture Ministry. Credit: YouTube/ MiBACT.TV via Storyful United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A UN aid convoy that was bombed while en route to the besieged city of Aleppo in September came under an air attack, a UN inquiry has concluded, but it was unable to identify the perpetrators. The board of inquiry found that "while the incident was caused by an air attack, it was not possible to identify the perpetrator or perpetrators," said a summary of the findings released on Wednesday. The convoy was "subject to an attack from the air, using multiple types of munitions deployed from more than one aircraft and aircraft type," the inquiry found. The munitions used during the 30-minute assault may have included missiles, rockets and small bombs, it added. At least 10 people were killed and 22 injured in the September 19 attack at Urem al-Kubra, near the northern city of Aleppo, as a fragile ceasefire agreed to by the United States and Russia collapsed. The board rejected allegations that the attack could have been carried out by direct fire or a ground assault in the rebel-held area. It noted that Syria and Russia as well as the US-led coalition "all had the capabilities needed to carry out an attack of the kind" that took place that day. But it concluded the involvement of coalition aircraft was "highly unlikely." The board said it had received reports that three Syria helicopters and three aircraft were "highly likely" to have perpetrated the attack and that a Russian plane was also suspected of being involved. "However, the board did not have access to raw data to support these assertions and, in their absence, it was unable to draw a definitive conclusion," it said. Russia and Syria have denied involvement in the bombing. The board of inquiry, led by retired Indian general Abhijit Guha, was not allowed to visit the scene of the attack in Urem al-Kubra, but it did travel to Syria in early December. Geneva (AFP) - The UN said Thursday that it had deployed dozens of observers in east Aleppo to monitor the last stage of an evacuation, which is clearing the way for Syria's army to retake the city. "Thirty-one staff are now assigned for monitoring," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, told AFP, adding that the observers included both national and international staff members, and that some had been reassigned from other tasks. "They are all on the job right now," he said. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council will vote on Thursday on an Egyptian-drafted resolution demanding that Israel immediately halt its settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. Egypt circulated the draft late Wednesday and a vote was scheduled for 3 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday. Israeli settlements are seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal and has repeatedly called on Israel to halt them, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the United States to use its veto to block the measure. "The US should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday," Netanyahu tweeted. The draft resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." It states that Israeli settlements are "dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution" that would see an independent state of Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. The text stresses that halting settlements was "essential for salvaging the two-state solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground." - All eyes on US - UN diplomats have for weeks speculated as to whether the administration of US President Barack Obama would decide to refrain from using its veto to block a draft resolution condemning Israel. Obama's administration has expressed mounting anger over Israeli settlement policy and speculation has grown that he could launch a final initiative before leaving. Story continues The measure calls for "immediate steps" to prevent acts of violence against civilians, but does not specifically single out the Palestinians to stop incitement, as demanded by Israel. Israel last month revived plans to build 500 new homes for Jewish settlers in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, after Donald Trump won the US presidential election. Under Netanyahu's government, settlement construction has surged with some 15,000 settlers moving into the West Bank over the past year alone. Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations described the proposed measure as the "peak of hypocrisy" arguing that it will "only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror." "We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," Danny Danon said in a statement. The United States joined the European Union, the United Nations and Russia in calling for a halt to Jewish settlements in a report released in October by the so-called diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East. The report was to serve as the basis for reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process which has been comatose since a US initiative collapsed in April 2014. UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. General Assembly voted Wednesday to establish an investigative body that will assist in documenting and prosecuting the most serious violations of international law in Syria, including possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. The 193-member world body adopted a resolution by a vote of 105 to 15 with 52 abstentions over strenuous objections from Syria and close ally Russia who accused the assembly of interfering in the work of the Security Council, which is responsible for issues of international peace and security. Liechtenstein's U.N. Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, who sponsored the resolution, said vetoes in the Security Council, by Russia, "have led to inaction at the expense of the people of Syria." "Our inaction tends to signal that war crimes and crimes against humanity are condoned and have no consequences," he said. Wenaweser said this was why the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, had to address the issue of accountability for violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws since March 2011, when the Syrian conflict began. The resolution takes "one meaningful step," he said, in establishing a new body "to closely coordinate" with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was established by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council. It said earlier this year that war crimes are "rampant" in Syria. Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari called the resolution illegal, "a flagrant interference in the affairs of a U.N. member state," and "a direct threat to a solution" of the 5 1/2-year conflict which has killed more than 250,000 people. The resolution establishes an "International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism" under U.N. auspices to closely cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria "to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses and prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings" in the future. Story continues It asks the secretary-general to arrange for the speedy establishment of the independent body, which will initially be funded by voluntary contributions, and urges all U.N. member states, especially parties to the conflict, to cooperate with it. "The General Assembly today demonstrated that it can take the reins on questions of justice in the face of Security Council deadlock," said Balkees Jarrah, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. She said countries that voted for the "unprecedented" resolution "took a critically important stand for victims of massive grave crimes." The General Assembly will now help "pave the road to accountability after years of unchecked atrocities," Jarrah said, and "perpetrators now know that evidence of their misdeeds will be collected to hasten the day when they find themselves in the dock." Leptis Magna (Libye) (AFP) - Ali Hribish stands by the Arch of Septimius Severus which dominates Libya's ancient city of Leptis Magna, brandishing letters of thanks for his efforts to protect the site. The former electricity company employee in his 50s has become the Roman city's unlikely saviour, protecting it from looting and vandalism as chaos rocks the country following the 2011 downfall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Despite having no background in archaeology, Hribish gathered a band of fighters who dedicated themselves to preserving the ancient Roman city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. While others set up armed groups to protect banks and public buildings, "we immediately thought of Leptis Magna," says Ashraf Mohammed, 33, one of the first fighters to join Hribish's group. "A bank can be rebuilt, but our monuments and our history are things we can't replace," he says. The group of 20 young men, Kalashnikov assault rifles in hand, go on a routine patrol around the 50 hectare (120 acre) site. They inspect the hippodrome, the basilica and the open-air theatre that used to host some 15,000 spectators on its terraces, with a sublime view of the Mediterranean. Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, who was born in Leptis Magna and ruled Rome from 193 to 211 AD, favoured his home town and turned it into one of the most beautiful cities in the empire. He endowed it with splendid monuments including a vast basilica over 30 metres (100 feet) high, and renovated the thermal baths built during the reign of Hadrian (76-138 AD). The open-air pool is still intact to this day. - Looting and vandalism - Hribish, from the nearby city of Khoms, fears for the site's safety. The jihadists of the Islamic State group, which destroyed priceless artefacts in Syria and Iraq, are still active in Libya despite having been ousted from Sirte, their North African bastion. But "we are much more worried about looting and acts of vandalism," Hribish tells AFP, saying he knows "every stone of the site". Story continues Hribish says he was "appalled" when IS blew up UNESCO-listed Roman-era temples and looted ancient relics in Syria's Palmyra. But he says that unlike the country's other historical sites, "Leptis Magna has been protected from acts of looting and we are continuing to monitor it." "We will not allow IS or anyone else to touch it," he says. In 2015, his men discovered and defused a bomb weighing several kilograms (pounds) in a cafe close to the site. But he doubts it was put there by jihadists, in a country where multiple armed groups are struggling for power. Islamist ideologues are not the only threat to the site, he says, pointing out that it was developers who destroyed part of the city of Cyrene, an ancient Greek and Roman city in eastern Libya, in order to build houses there. "We have prevented acts like that here," he says. He proudly adds that he has blocked plans to build an unlicensed row of shops immediately next to precious remains. - Waiting for a state - "At the start, we thought our mission would be a short-term thing. We expected a state would be built that could guarantee that the country's archaeological sites would be protected," he says. Libya remains divided between rival governments and militias waging a bitter struggle for power. Other inhabitants of the nearby town of Khoms have also mobilised to protect administrative buildings and banks from vandalism and looting. Hribish says he supports the restoration of Libya's monarchy which was overthrown in the coup that brought Kadhafi to power in 1969. "We will continue with our mission until a real state is built," Hribish says. But his colleagues complain they are defending the site with the most basic means. "There are no surveillance cameras, no fence, not even fire extinguishers," Ali Ghazi, 26, tells AFP. Ghazi, who is unemployed, tells of the "nightmare" of putting out grass fires in the summer. "Some people tried putting them out by beating them with sticks, while others brought in buckets of sea water," he says. Walid Abu Hamid, 33, says the city needs restoration work to tackle the effects of erosion. "We have told the Department of Antiquities, but in vain," he says. "Kadhafi marginalised our history and our heritage for more than 40 years. It's time for us to look after it and show it to the world." The U.N. Security Council was supposed to vote Thursday on ending the construction of Israeli settlements in territory seized by Israel during the 1967 war. The U.N. maintains that settlement in such areas is illegal, but Israel has continued construction. And so, Wednesday night, Egypt put forth a proposal that would have demanded an end to the construction of settlements decided the matter more definitely, leaving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tweet that the United States should veto what he characterized as an anti-Israel resolution. However, it now seems that the Security Council vote will be delayed perhaps until Friday, perhaps longer. And if it is much longer that is, if it is delayed until the point at which U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office in less than a month then the resolution, which would require nine votes and no vetoes, will not pass. In a Thursday morning statement, Trump said the Security Council resolution puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis. As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations, Trump said. That settlement status should be determined in negotiations, and not by U.N. resolution, is also the position of the current Israeli government. Incidentally, this is also the position of Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict should not be internationalized, Lowey said in a statement Thursday. Only the parties themselves can resolve their complicated differences through direct negotiations. The proposed resolution will not further the cause of peace. This is perhaps the lone issue on which Trump and Lowey, a long-time campaigner for Hillary Clinton, agree. Story continues But, more importantly to the future of this particular resolution, it is also likely the position of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trumps pick for U.S. ambassador to the U.N. After it was announced that Haley was Trumps pick to represent the United States in New York, the Times of Israel headlined a story heralding Haley as pro-Israel. Haley was critical of the Iran deal, and signed into law a bill that would stop the boycott of, divestment from, and sanctioning of Israel (BDS) in South Carolina. (It should perhaps here be noted that opposition to the movement is not exclusive to the American right wing; in May of this year, Italy pushed back against BDS by bringing a delegation of Israeli academics and researchers to the country). It is perhaps safe to say, then, that Haley will not censure Israel from the floor of the U.N., just as many might safely surmise that the next American ambassador to Israel will not criticize the Mideast country during his time in it. David Friedman, Trumps choice as next ambassador to Israel, is a controversial hardliner who has levied harsh criticisms against political figures and organizations who dont, in his view, support Israel strongly enough. Hes accused the Obama administration, which weathered a rocky and tense relationship with Israel over the past eight years, of blatant anti-Semitism. He also called the liberal Jewish advocacy organization J Street far worse than kapos in a June op-ed referring to the slang term for concentration camp inmates who did the will of their Nazi guards. It wasnt just that Trump picked Friedman that surprised many Middle East experts, but also that he tapped the envoy so early in the transition process. I cant recall an ambassadorial appointment to such a sensitive diplomatic post being made this early in a transition, Aaron David Miller, a former State Department adviser on Arab-Israeli relations to both Republican and Democratic administrations, wrote for Foreign Policy. When it comes to the U.S.-Israel relationship, were in for a dramatic change, he wrote. Photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN/AFP/Getty Images Washington (AFP) - US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen on Thursday again condemned the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara, after Turkish authorities moved to link him with the murder. "I reiterate that I sincerely condemn the act of terror against the Russian ambassador," Gulen said according to English subtitles on a video published on YouTube. "I send my deepest condolences to all Russian people, especially to their leaders." In terrifying scenes captured on photo and video, 22-year-old policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas shot Ambassador Andrei Karlov nine times in the back on Monday while he was delivering a speech at an exhibition of photographs of Russia in Ankara. Pro-government press have reported that police discovered pro-Gulen literature belonging to Altintas and sympathizers of the preacher in his circle. "While the assertion is wrong and irresponsible, it is not unexpected since Mr (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan blames Mr Gulen for any and all harm that besets Turkey," the Alliance for Shared Values, which supports Gulen, said in a statement. Gulen had first condemned the shooting late Monday. Ankara has also blamed Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, for orchestrating the attempted coup in July. Gulen has denied involvement in both the coup and the envoy's assassination, and Moscow has also refrained from assigning blame, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning against "rushing to conclusions" before the investigation is complete. After opening fire, the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greater") and "don't forget Aleppo," vowing that those responsible for events in Syria would be held accountable. Turkey and Russia stand on opposite sides of the Syria conflict, with Ankara backing rebels trying to topple Moscow ally President Bashar al-Assad. MOSCOW (AP) A U.S.-based Muslim cleric on Thursday condemned the killing of Russia's envoy to Turkey and rejected accusations that his movement was behind the attack. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition Monday in the Turkish capital, Ankara. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has implicated Fethullah Gulen in the killing, accusing his movement of links to the gunman. In a video address made available to The Associated Press, Gulen accused Erdogan of defaming his movement and suggested that the Turkish government would facilitate other assassinations and blame them on Gulen's own followers. Gulen said "it is not possible for them to convince the world of such accusations." Russia flew a team of 18 investigators and foreign ministry officials to Turkey to help investigate Karlov's killing. In Moscow, Foreign ministry officials and lawmakers gathered at the Russian foreign ministry's headquarters for a farewell ceremony to Karlov. Diplomats and officials laid flowers at the open casket alongside an honorary guard. "Those who raised a hand against Ambassador Karlov, who took his life, will definitely fail in their attempts to stop Russia from cooperating with other countries including Turkey," said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the upper chamber of Russia's parliament. President Vladimir Putin arrived at the end of the ceremony, laid flowers at the casket, offered condolences to the ambassador's widow and left. Karlov's casket then was carried out of the foreign ministry building and bound for a funeral service at Moscow's main Christ the Savior Cathedral. Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, said as the service began that the ambassador died a "martyr's death." Karlov later was laid to rest at a cemetery north of Moscow. In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visited the Russian Embassy to lay a memorial bouquet of carnations. Karlov "now has become the eternal symbol of Turkish-Russian friendship," Yildirim wrote in a book of condolences. Washington (AFP) - America must massively boost its nuclear capability until the "world comes to its senses," President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday, hours after a similar vow by Russia's Vladimir Putin. Trump made the statement on Twitter, without providing details or context, a day after meeting a group of Pentagon top brass, and shortly after Putin called for Russia to reinforce its own nuclear capabilities. "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," Trump tweeted. The open talk of ramping up nuclear capabilities -- reminiscent of Cold War pledges -- marks a jarring departure from the stance of President Barack Obama, who in a famous speech in Prague in 2009 called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. In 2010, Obama and Russia's then president Dmitry Medvedev signed the so-called New START treaty that calls for a significant reduction in the nuclear arsenals of both countries. Trump's remark came after Putin declared, "we need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces," while boasting about the Russian army's performance in its Syria campaign. Russia's focus should be on "missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems," the Kremlin strongman added. A top Trump advisor tried to soften the impact of the tweet, saying the incoming president was not trying to change longstanding US positions on a global security issue. "What he's saying is he wants us to be ready to defend ourselves and he's not making new policy," Kellyanne Conway, who on Thursday was tapped as White House counselor, said in an interview with MSNBC. "I think all the president-elect is saying is that we have to be able to keep ourselves safe and secure and when others stop building their nuclear weapons, then we'll feel more secure in that regard," she explained, but sidestepped a question on whether Trump was referring to a specific actor posing new risks of proliferation. Story continues On Wednesday Trump met with a group of Pentagon brass including Vice Admiral James Syring, who heads the Missile Defense Agency. Their conversations centered on cutting costs to various military programs, and it was not known if Trump's tweet was triggered by information the incoming president gleaned from the US officials, or by Putin's comments. America currently has an estimated arsenal of about 7,000 nuclear warheads, second only to Russia, which has a few hundred more. - 'Reckless' tweet - The Pentagon wants to replace or modernize all three legs of its "triad," a three-pronged nuclear attack force comprising intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarines and bombers. Experts estimate the cost will hit $1 trillion over the next 30 years. Laicie Heeley, a nuclear expert at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan anti-nuclear proliferation think tank in Washington, told AFP it was "reckless" for Trump to tweet on the topic without offering details. "To make such a loaded statement without context or follow-up is irresponsible at best," she said. "We could be talking about a return to the Cold War here, when the threat of a nuclear catastrophe was very real. Russian rhetoric is already moving in that direction. It wouldn't take a lot to bring us back there." During the presidential campaign debates, Trump was unable to provide specifics when asked what his priority would be for the nuclear triad, saying: "For me, nuclear, the power, the devastation is very important to me." "I think we need somebody absolutely that we can trust, who is totally responsible, who really knows what he or she is doing. That is so powerful and so important," he said at the time. The United States put a division of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba back on a blacklist of "notorious markets" known for selling counterfeit goods and violating intellectual property rights. The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which removed Alibaba from its annual list four years ago, included the company's online platform Taobao in its latest release, saying it is not doing enough to curb sales of fake and pirated goods. "The Taobao.com e-commerce platform is an important concern due to the large volume of allegedly counterfeit and pirated goods available and the challenges right holders experience in removing and preventing illicit sales and offers of such goods," the agency said. Although inclusion on the blacklist carries no penalties, it deals a blow to Alibaba's reputation after the company has struggled to improve its image and boost international sales. China's largest online retailer said it is "disappointed" by the decision, saying it has improved policing of the goods for sale on its platforms. "In 2016 alone, we proactively removed more than double the number of infringing product listings than in 2015," Alibaba Group president Michael Evans said in a statement. "The decision ignores the real work Alibaba has done to protect IP rights holders and assist law enforcement to bring counterfeiters to justice." He suggested the "current political climate" in the United States may have more to do with USTR's decision. In response to a question about the decision during regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she hoped that trade difficulties with the US can be solved "in a proper way through friendly consultations." "The two countries should provide a fair and impartial trade environment for the activities of each other's companies," she added. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly accused China of stealing intellectual property, part of what he calls the country's economic war against the United States. Alibaba and its Taobao site have long been accused of providing a platform for the sale of counterfeit goods. Alibaba was suspended from the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition watchdog in May. The usually private Katie Holmes opens up about raising her daughter outside Hollywood and were all ears Being a mom is hard, but being a mom in Hollywood is a whole other world. Actress, Katie Holmes talked about trying to raise her daughter without any Hollywood influence and we commend her for her efforts. Holmes is usually pretty private about her home life and her daughter Suri who she shares with ex Tom Cruise but now shes opening up about being a momat least a little bit. While promoting her new film, All We Had, which is also her directorial debut, Holmes was open and honest about motherhood and raising a child as an actress. When asked about her parenting approach, the 38-year-old actress explained that she tries to keep Hollywood and Suri very separate. I try to make our world very much an environment thats just all about being a kid without too much of Hollywood coming into that. And I just enjoy it, Holmes told The New York Times. #blessed #goodnight #gratitude #happybirthdaymom #family #love A photo posted by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Sep 11, 2016 at 12:51pm PDT Honestly I think that there are so many books and opinions about how to be a great mom, and you have good days and bad days, and sometimes you do great and sometimes you could have done better, she explained. But I have to say Im really enjoying having a 10-year-old. Shes a remarkable person. While the Dawsons Creek alum does keep her adorable 10-year-old daughter out of the limelight as much as possible, its clear that the two are never far apart. They spend as much time together as they can and Holmes has even shared a few pictures of the two on her Instagram her most recent being on her birthday. Birthday vibes continued so grateful today A photo posted by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Dec 18, 2016 at 7:35pm PST Suri might be young, but she is definitley already a beautiful mini version of her mother and we cant get enough of these two. In honor of their mother-daughter bond, Holmes revealed that she dedicated her first directing gig to Suri in the credits of the movie, because shes an awesome mom. Story continues It was my first film, and I want her to always know that shes the inspiration behind everything, and so hopefully it means something as she gets older, Holmes told the publication. Just to let her know how important she is. My sweetie #setlife #gratitude A photo posted by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Jun 16, 2016 at 12:59pm PDT Ya, okay we get it, Katie you are supermom! The post The usually private Katie Holmes opens up about raising her daughter outside Hollywood and were all ears appeared first on HelloGiggles. Valerie Fairman, who appeared on Season 2 of the MTV reality series 16 and Pregnant, has died at age 23, TheWrap has confirmed. Fairman was at a friends home in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, with the friend becoming concerned when she went into the bathroom and never came out. The friend broke down the door and found Fairman unresponsive, per TMZ. The cause of death is unknown at this time Friends and family took to social media to express their sadness at Fairmans passing, with her sister tweeting, Valerie you will forever be missed. I love you baby girl and I will always love you. Fairmans daughter, seven year old Nevaeh, is currently with Fairmans mother. Also Read: Suspect in 'Bridalplasty' Contestant's Disappearance Arrested for Murder Following her appearance on 16 and Pregnant, Fairman had numerous run-ins with law enforcement. In 2015 she was arrested for prostitution during a sting operation carried out by law enforcement in New Castle, Deleware. She was also detained just last week for providing a false ID to law enforcement and resisting arrest. Fairman was also charged in 2012 in Pennsylvania for a theft case that included one misdemeanor and one third-degree felony charge. She had also struggled with drug abuse, which included a stint in rehab in 2012 for prescription pill addiction. Related stories from TheWrap: 'What Is This Garbage?': Tomi Lahren Rails Against MTV's 'Resolutions for White Guys' (Video) MTV's New Year's 'Resolutions for White Guys' Slammed as 'Racist,' 'Disgusting' Viacom CEO Calls MTV US Strategy a 'Mistake' Before Valerie Fairman died Wednesday at the age of 23, the 16 and Pregnant star had had a tough couple of years since appearing on the MTV reality series. While on the show, then-15-year-old Fairman had regular fights with boyfriend Matt, including one noteworthy argument when she had to convince him he was the father to her child, Nevaeh Lynn, now 7. Aside from her tumultuous relationship on the show, she also struggle with substance abuse. In 2011, Fairman was arrested for allegedly beating up her adoptive mother which caused her to suffer a broken vertebra, according to a local newspaper at the time. She was reportedly charged and held for a few days at Chester County Youth Center. Fairman was later arrested in late 2012 for a handful of other crimes which included three misdemeanors and three felonies. She served 52 days in jail and was given probation, which she violated, prompting a warrant was issued for her arrest in 2014. She was reportedly sentenced to 22 months in prison, according to multiple reports, but served less than two months. In February 2015, Fairman was arrested for prostitution after cops spotted her streetwalking in New Castle, Delaware. At the time, she allegedly offered to perform a sexual act on an undercover officer in exchange for money. Just last week she was busted for resisting arrest and providing false ID to law enforcement and attempted to run from cops before they subdued her, reports TMZ. Before Fairmans death, she had checked into five different rehab treatment facilities during the last 5 years (most recently just a few months ago), according to TMZ, only to relapse again and again. Fairman was found unresponsive at a friends house in a locked bathroom Wednesday. An MTV spokesperson told PEOPLE: We are saddened by the news of Valerie Fairmans passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time. By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Vehicles were still streaming out of eastern Aleppo on Thursday morning after an evacuation overnight monitored by the U.N., a United Nations official in Syria told Reuters on Thursday. Snow, bad weather and the poor condition of some cars appeared to have slowed the operation on Wednesday in east Aleppo, where only a small number of rebels are still waiting to leave under an agreement with the Syrian government. "The evacuation is still ongoing, monitors are still on site. About 300 private vehicles left overnight and this morning," the U.N. official said. A rebel contact inside Aleppo said that the "evacuation operation is continuing and has not ended". Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had appeared close to taking back control of Aleppo on Wednesday, but U.N. and rebel officials denied that an operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the city had been completed. About 30,000 people had been evacuated from Aleppo by Wednesday in a nearly week-long operation, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has led the convoy of buses and ambulances with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. In Geneva, ICRC spokeswoman Krista Armstrong told Reuters that the evacuation "will still take quite some time, possibly most of today (Thursday)". The civilian evacuees have been taken mainly to opposition-held western rural Aleppo and Idlib province. The last evacuees are believed to be fighters and their families. At least 435 sick and wounded people have been medically evacuated, including dozens of children who require treatment mainly for trauma injuries, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The most critical cases were being taken to Turkey. (Additional reporting by Sulieman Al-Khalidi in Amman; Editing by Louise Ireland) Viacom CEO Bob Bakish and A+E Networks CEO Nancy Dubuc will add some executive star power to the lineup for NATPE Miami 2017, to be held January 17-19. Each will deliver keynotes at the annual gathering for dealmakers in production, advertising, distribution, and music. Dubuc will open NATPE Miami and Bakish will address the NATPE Platforms track, which mostly concerns trends in convergence and technologies. The NATPE Platforms track will also feature a master class by social media entertainer Logan Paul. He recently announced plans to create, produce and star in an original short-form scripted series for the French production house, Blackpills. Those attending the Brands and Advertising track will have a chance to hear from CSI creator Anthony Zuiker. NATPE Storytellers will include Adi Hasak, who created NBCs Shades of Blue and USA Networks Eyewitness. Other events include the NATPE Reality Breakthrough Awards, hosted by comedian and actor Bob Saget. The confab also will include sessions with composer Paul Williams (Weve Only Just Begun, You And Me Against The World, and Rainbow Connection), morning show host Al Roker, and Hulu Head of Content Craig Erwich.. Related stories Viacom Names Bob Bakish Permanent CEO As He Tries To Chart A Future Without CBS Merger Unlikely As Redstones Say They Want Viacom And CBS To Stay Independent Viacom CEO: It's Time To Focus On Growth Potential Following Year-Long "Drama" Photo credit: Charlie Colmer From Country Living Photo credit: undefined Long before hectic holiday schedules were the norm and everything you needed to celebrate Christmas was available at your local mall, the details that went into Christmas traditions were carefully crafted. Far from being mass-manufactured, holiday trappings were thoughtfully and beautifully made, including Christmas cards. Once upon a time, holiday cards were a labor of love. Especially in the years from the 1950s through the 1970s, many cards were custom-designed and full of meaningful personal details. Humor was also a popular hallmark of vintage Christmas cards. "It was a way to sort of distinguish yourself," Alexander Tochilovsky, a professor who curates vintage Christmas cards for the Cooper Union, explained to Wired. Interestingly enough, the American greeting card industry wasn't established until World War I, when popular German penny postcards were no longer allowed to be imported, resulting in a sudden demand for more options, according to AL.com. Throughout the 1920s, hand-painted Art Deco cards were popular, and elaborate pen-and-ink illustrations became widespread a decade later, according to The Mercury News. Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons In the 1950s, when graphic designers began to create holiday cards, they would showcase inside jokes or the humor of the specific sender-an element that's missing from most cards today. "Holiday cards were an art, not a commodity," reporter Liz Stinson writes in her Wiredarticle. "Although intended to spread holiday cheer, the cards also allowed graphic designers to show off skills usually reserved for clients." They were playful, full of visual wit, and personal details, which is why they stand out compared to the cards you find in drugstore aisles today. Photo credit: undefined Nowadays, most families and businesses rely on Hallmark, digital services like Shutterfly or Snapfish for semi-customized cards, or even email newsletters to send their well wishes, but we'll always cherish the sentimental, artistic nature of vintage Christmas cards and the handwritten messages that accompanied them. Story continues Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons (h/t Wired) You Might Also Like SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) The investigation began six months ago after a Virginia man allegedly pledged allegiance to Islamic terrorists on Facebook. It ended Wednesday with his arrest on charges he gave $250 to FBI informants pretending to buy weapons for the Islamic State group in Iraq, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Lionel Nelson Williams, 26, of Suffolk, also owned an AK-47 assault rifle and was expressing the desire to carry out his own "martyrdom operation" in the days before his arrest, according to court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in eastern Virginia. U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Joshua Stueve said Williams lacked an attorney at his initial court appearance Thursday. He'll be assigned a public defender if he fails to hire his own attorney by a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Stueve said. Irene Stewart, a longtime neighbor of Williams and his family, told the Virginian-Pilot (http://bit.ly/2hhq23e) that Williams is a "good Muslim," who had been caring for his grandmother. She doubted that he would have supported terrorists and said the FBI "could have led him into it." In March, a "member of the public" told the FBI that Williams posted Islamic State group videos on his Facebook page and expressed support for the organization, court documents stated. The person also tipped the agents off about his AK-47, the purchase of which the FBI confirmed through records with state police in Virginia. Court records said he bought the weapon a day after the deadly terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, California, last year. The FBI said its investigation also revealed that Williams practiced shooting the gun in his backyard. Agents started to follow his Facebook posts. In one, he allegedly praised "lone wolf attacks" for the terror they cause in the "lands of the enemy." A person who worked with the FBI subsequently added Williams as a friend on Facebook. Following some online conversations, Williams met with an undercover FBI employee, court records said. Story continues During a meeting in June, Williams said he wanted to attack "hard targets" such as members of the military and police officers, according to charging documents. But he allegedly said he held off because needed to care for his grandmother. At another meeting in October, an undercover employee asked Williams if he wanted to give money to the "lions of Mosul, referring to the Islamic State group in Iraq. The person added that "it's going to kill people, do you understand?" Days later, Williams allegedly provided access to a pre-paid cash card with $200 on it. The next month, he sent $50 to an informant who was pretending to solicit funds for 10,000 rounds of AK-47 ammunition for the Islamic State group. As the investigation continued into December, Williams was discussing the possibility of carrying out his own "martyrdom operation" or attack that would lead to his death, court records stated. When he was arrested early Wednesday afternoon, the FBI said agents found the AK-47 and a handgun at his home. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the Thursday funeral for the countrys ambassador to Turkey who was assassinated in Turkeys capital, Ankara, on Monday. The 64-year-old laid a bouquet of red roses at the foot of Andrei Karlovs casket during the ceremony at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. Karlovs wife, Marina Karlova, and mother shed tears at the funeral, with Karlova planting a kiss on her late husbands forehead. The 62-year-old ambassador was attending the exhibit Russia as seen by Turks at an Ankara art gallery on Monday when an off-duty police officer opened fire, according to the BBC. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty The man fired several shots before yelling in Russian, Dont forget about Aleppo, dont forget about Syria, the New York Times reports. The gunman was fatally shot by police, according to Associated Press, which cited Turkish news channel NTV. Hillary to Trump: Youre Putins Puppet In televised remarks after the killing, Putin described the assassination as an attempt to undermine the easing tensions between Russia and Turkey, according to CNN. Donald Trump later condemned the assassination in a statement. The murder of an ambassador is a violation of all rules of civilized order and must be universally condemned, Trump said, according to Politico. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge said on Thursday that Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) has reached an agreement in principle to provide "substantial compensation" to the owners of about 80,000 3.0-liter polluting diesel vehicles, a key hurdle to resolve the German automaker's emissions scandal. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer did not disclose the amount of owner compensation, which is not included in a $1 billion settlement announced earlier this week between VW and U.S. regulators. Half of the compensation will be paid at the time Breyer gives final approval of the settlement. Some fixes for the 3.0 litres may not approved until 2018, Breyer said. Earlier this week, Volkswagen reached the $1 billion settlement with U.S. regulators, offering to buy back about 20,000 of the vehicles, fix the remaining 60,000 and pay $225 million into an environmental trust fund to offset the vehicles' excess emissions. The settlement covered luxury VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles with 3.0-liter engines. With the agreement, Volkswagen would spend as much as $17.5 billion in the United States to resolve claims from owners as well as federal and state regulators over polluting diesel vehicles in addition to compensation for the 3.0-liter owners. Volkswagen spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the automaker was pleased with the agreement in principle, but said details will remain confidential for now. Breyer said the final agreement must be filed with the court by Jan. 31, and he expects to hold a Feb. 14 hearing to approve the deal. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also expected to back the deal, Breyer said. Volkswagen, the world's No. 2 automaker, could still spend billions of dollars more to resolve a U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation and federal and state environmental claims and come under oversight by a federal monitor. It is possible a deal could be reached before the end of the Obama administration, said sources briefed on the matter. Story continues Breyer in October approved VW's earlier settlement worth about $15 billion with regulators and the U.S. owners of 475,000 polluting diesel vehicles with smaller 2.0-liter engines, including an offer to buy back all of the cars. VW lawyer Robert Giuffra said Thursday the automaker has offered buybacks to nearly 200,000 customers and 104,000 have accepted the offer at a value of nearly $2 billion. VW had agreed to pay $5,100 to $10,000 in compensation to each of the U.S. 2.0-liter owners. If the new settlement follows the pattern, it could add $400 million to $800 million to the 3.0-liter settlement. But funds from a separate settlement with German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH [ROBG.UL] are expected to defray VW's compensation costs. (Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge said on Thursday that Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) has reached an agreement in principle to provide "substantial compensation" to the owners of about 80,000 3.0-liter polluting diesel vehicles, a key hurdle to resolve the German automaker's emissions scandal. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer did not disclose the amount of owner compensation, which is not included in a $1 billion settlement announced earlier this week between VW and U.S. regulators. Half of the compensation will be paid at the time Breyer gives final approval of the settlement. Some fixes for the 3.0 liters may not approved until 2018, Breyer said. Earlier this week, Volkswagen reached the $1 billion settlement with U.S. regulators, offering to buy back about 20,000 of the vehicles, fix the remaining 60,000 and pay $225 million into an environmental trust fund to offset the vehicles' excess emissions. The settlement covered luxury VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles with 3.0-liter engines. With the agreement, Volkswagen would spend as much as $17.5 billion in the United States to resolve claims from owners as well as federal and state regulators over polluting diesel vehicles in addition to compensation for the 3.0-liter owners. Volkswagen spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the automaker was pleased with the agreement in principle, but said details will remain confidential for now. Breyer said the final agreement must be filed with the court by Jan. 31, and he expects to hold a Feb. 14 hearing to approve the deal. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also expected to back the deal, Breyer said. Volkswagen, the world's No. 2 automaker, could still spend billions of dollars more to resolve a U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation and federal and state environmental claims and come under oversight by a federal monitor. It is possible a deal could be reached before the end of the Obama administration, said sources briefed on the matter. Story continues Breyer in October approved VW's earlier settlement worth about $15 billion with regulators and the U.S. owners of 475,000 polluting diesel vehicles with smaller 2.0-liter engines, including an offer to buy back all of the cars. VW lawyer Robert Giuffra said Thursday the automaker has offered buybacks to nearly 200,000 customers and 104,000 have accepted the offer at a value of nearly $2 billion. VW had agreed to pay $5,100 to $10,000 in compensation to each of the U.S. 2.0-liter owners. If the new settlement follows the pattern, it could add $400 million to $800 million to the 3.0-liter settlement. But funds from a separate settlement with German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH [ROBG.UL] are expected to defray VW's compensation costs. (Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) San Francisco (AFP) - Volkswagen on Thursday said it had reached an agreement in principle with owners of 3.0-liter cars affected by its emissions cheating scandal. The announcement follows this month's $1 billion settlement with US authorities for the roughly 80,000 vehicles in the 3.0 liter category, involving the buyback, repair or cancellation of leases for the affected vehicles and helping the company inch closer toward putting the scandal behind it. In a statement, the company said it reached an agreement and that US District Judge Charles Breyer had ordered settlement approval documents be filed with the court by the end of January. Elizabeth Cabraser, lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the class-action suit, said in a statement that owners would receive "substantial compensation in addition to an emission modification or buyback, depending on the generation of vehicle." Volkswagen admitted last year it had installed software in as many as 11 million vehicles sold worldwide to circumvent tests for emissions while enabling them to release up to 40 times the permitted amounts of nitrogen oxides during actual driving. Volkswagen in October finalized a record $15 billion settlement for 2.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi vehicles but faces a pending criminal probe by US authorities into the emissions cheating case. Anthony Scaramucci had his longest, highest-volatility call option come into the money on Nov. 8. That call option, of course, was Donald J. Trump beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Scaramucci, 52, is the founder and co-managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, a fund of hedge funds with $11.8 billion in assets under management. Hes also on Trumps transition team as an executive committee member. The Mooch, as hes affectionately called, is one of the more visible figures on Wall Street. A former CNBC contributor, he has also made frequent appearances on Fox Business Network where he also previously co-hosted Wall Street Week, the iconic financial program he resurrected. He published his third book this year, Hopping Over The Rabbit Hole. Hes best known for hosting the SALT Conference, a star-studded hedge fund event in Las Vegas that brings together billionaires, politicians, and celebrities. Anthony Scaramucci arrives at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, November 28, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar Hes become even more visible in his role on the presidential transition team. As a member of the teams executive committee, Scaramucci proposes, interviews, and recommends candidates for jobs in the new administration. These positions include deputy, under and assistant secretary positions, as well as the thousands of positions needed to be filled in the new administration including ambassadorships. Hes also made numerous cable news appearances on behalf of the transition team. Late last week, Scaramucci confirmed that hes weighing a sale of SkyBridge and exploring the possibility of taking a government post. Yahoo Finance sat down for a wide-ranging interview this month with Scaramucci, whom weve named our Wall Streeter of the Year. He didnt rule out a future in public service when asked about possible future political ambitions. Can I look you straight in the face and say that I will never run for office or never work for the American government in some capacity? I honestly have no idea. I wouldve probably been more confident about that five years ago and say adamantly no the same way I would have been very confident about saying 20 years ago that I would never be on TV, he said. Story continues Scaramucci walks with former CIA director retired Gen. David Petraeus as he arrives at Trump Tower for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) When asked about what hes most proud of in 2016, he responded: I want to be in one part of President Trumps Cabinet I want to be in the secretary of loyalty section of the Cabinet. He continued: [What] Im most proud of is when people were railing on me and telling me that I would put my business at risk, Im going to be an abject failure post-election, people are telling me that I am an idiot, commercially stupid for supporting Mr. Trump, that I actually had no chance to win, what I was doing is backing a loser and making myself into a loser The thing Im most proud of is that I never walked away from the fight. For the most part, hedge fund managers and investment bankers tend to shy away from the media. Not Scaramucci. In a way, hes become a voice for the hedge fund community. Im not really even trying to be the voice of the hedge fund community, to be candid. I dont really think of myself in a self-important wayI just have an opinion and because theres a shortage of opinions, generally, therefore, my opinion is fairly prominent. I mean if there were 10 guys opinions, and lets say 10 of them were 10 billionaire hedge fund managers, then my opinion would be de minimus. Scaramucci on stage at the SALT Conference in Las Vegas. REUTERS/Steve Marcus He added: But the problem is the billionaire hedge fund manager being told by their PR people, Keep your mouth shut. Stick your head in the sand. I think a very big mistake for them. I wrote about that in the book your heads in the sand like an ostrich, but your butt is up in the air and the sun is burning down on it. Scaramucci also has a reputation for defending people, including Steve Cohen, whose firm SAC Capital pleaded guilty to insider trading. Hes also stood up for Jon Corzine, the former New Jersey governor who came under fire for his leadership at MF Global, which collapsed in 2011. My attitude is you got to stay with your friends. Stick with your friends, Scaramucci said. People make mistakes too, by the way. I hate sanctimonious, self-righteous people that pretend theyve never made mistakes. That attitude extended to Trump, as well. When a tape surfaced of Trump making lewd comments about women on a hot mic with Billy Bush on Access Hollywood, Scaramucci still defended him on Twitter. No one can excuse the statements but they werent public.Think for a moment of your worst private moment exposed, then start your judgment. Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) October 8, 2016 A former finance co-chair for Mitt Romneys 2012 presidential campaign, Scaramucci joined the Trump campaign in late April. During the primaries, Scaramucci first signed on with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walkers campaign and moved to Jeb Bushs campaign after Walker called it quits. In the fall of 2015, when Trump criticized the hedge fund industry for being paper-pushers, Scaramucci called him a hack politician in a Fox Business Network appearance. That was before he got on the Trump train. Having a great time post speech. We are going to work harder than ever. To Win for the American People pic.twitter.com/E2cKUsLpj0 Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 22, 2016 For Scaramucci, the biggest surprise in 2016 wasnt Trumps victory. The biggest surprise to me is how quickly the American public is actually embracing the post-Obama era. And what is the post-Obama era going to be? In my opinion, it will be a lot less ideological. It will be more consensus-building, more deal making. Itll be more pro-American worker and pro middle-class family and it will be less nonsense about transgender bathrooms and this sort of like political correctness, which is all nonsense by the way, he said. He continued: It will be more about fairness. You know if life is unfair, which thats an axiomatic fact, it is the governments job is to make it fairer, not fairest or to make it fair. Its never going to be fair, OK. The rich and the poor will always be among us, OK. Thats just an axiomatic fact of life. It just has to do with the way the world works, and you can read in the Bible and you can observe over 5,000 years of secular history. What a government can do is provide a safety net. What government can do to provide a climate for entrepreneurship and innovation which will lead to greater prosperity. Scaramucci has an interesting perspective on class in America. He was raised in a middle-class family on New Yorks Long Island, and his father started out as an hourly-wage construction worker before moving to a desk job. Credit: Paul D. Schreiber High School Yearbook Its Christmastime so Ill say something nice about [Senator] Elizabeth Warren. The one thing that she actually gets, she said none of us do any of this alone. I think she totally misstated, You didnt make thatBut what she does get right is that we need, foundationally, really good schools, because at the end of the day Im a product of a good public school. He added: But without a really good public school I could not have the life that I have. And without America, forget it. When asked about where he gets his ambition, he responded: I dont know, I mean, I think thats like poverty anxiety. Actually, I think, what happens is, [Blackstone Vice Chairman] Byron Wien said this better, but youre likely to start to form your patterns of behavior between the ages of 11 and 17. Whats happening to you at that point in your life is probably the thing that youre going to end up doing. And so for me, we had a great middle-class life, there was no question about that. But there was always a little bit of a monetary anxiety in the house and so I think that got transformed into my entrepreneurial ambition. I remember being 11, 12, 13 years old and said, OK, Im going to go become my own boss and make my own money and started with a paper route and and kept going from there. Scaramucci graduated from Tufts University and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School. After Harvard, he landed a job at Goldman Sachs investment banking unit. A year later, he was fired. Two months later, he was rehired, this time for the banks sales division. He spent seven years at the firm before moving into the hedge fund business. He attributed a large part of his success in the financial services community to his early career experience at Goldman. Host Anthony Scaramucci of Wall Street Week, and Maria Bartiromo tape the premiere show on the Fox Business Network, in New York Thursday, March 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Trumps Cabinet, which features a handful of prominent Goldman alums including Steve Mnuchin, Steve Bannon, and Gary Cohn has been viewed by some as being out of touch with the forgotten men and women of America. This is such nonsense. In the last eight years, weve had class warfare rhetoric and anything from Washington and from politicians is absolutely nonsensical. I grew up in a middle-class family where my parents never went to college and at the dinner table at night we didnt rail on rich people. My parents said, Go do your homework and get a really good job and maybe someday you too could be rich. We didnt rail on success. We celebrated success. He continued: If youre a Goldman Sachs banker, the chances areGoldman Sachs is very meritocratic place youre a very successful person and you actually know how to operate inside of a global mechanized system. So why wouldnt Mr. Trump draw on people that have that skill set? I am tired of people railing on Goldman Sachs. He added that he would like to personally debate the cabal thats out there. Many of the folks being tapped for Cabinet positions are in his relationship network. I have found that when my career has progressed the most is by helping other people progress their careers, he said. Scaramucci stands outside the Le Cirque restaurant with others before a fundraising event for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., June 21, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar He later added: Im always interested in what is the goal of the person next to me you know the person wants to be the secretary of energy and theyre a good friend of mine, I try to help them become secretary of energy.Im a big believer Ive told my kids this, You will go so far in life if you can celebrate the successes of your friends. A life-long Republican, Scaramucci always had an interest in politics the same way someone would read about sports. He didnt become politically active until a fellow Harvard Law graduate, Barack Obama, ran for president in 2008. Scaramucci supported Obama back then. I like President Obama Id never say anything bad about him as a guy, but I dont like the policies that emanated from his administration. At the end of the day, my political philosophy is a little bit more non-ideological. Scaramucci views himself as a socially inclusive person. Hes a supporter of gay rights. Hes written checks to the Human Rights Campaign and the American Unity PAC, which promotes gay rights inside the Republican party. I view myself as a socially responsible person where we have to try to get our revenues and our expenditures to match so that our children will do better, so thats my political philosophy, he said. Scaramucci at the annual Skybridge Alternatives Conference (SALT) in Las Vegas May 7, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking But what really became clear to me is as I started to get some level of success, Ive now [become] minority partner in my own life. So if youre at a 53% net effective marginal tax rate you are the minority partner in your life and whos the majority partner? Politicians. They are taking the money from you and theyre allocating it and things, he said. So if Im the minority partner in my own life, I better get involved in the hiring process. Now theres the possibility he may be hired. Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Read more: Watch Chewbacca sing Silent Night in his native Wookiee if youre into that sort of thing Quick, whats your favorite Christmas song? And quick, who is your favorite Star Wars character? If your answers are Silent Night and Chewbacca then OH WOW do we have a treat for you. Our friends over at How It Should Have Ended have made a delightful music video combining one of our favorite Christmas songs, and one of our favorite Millennium Falcon pilots. The song was actually created by Scott Andersen back in1999. THAT IS BEFORE PHANTOM MENACE CAME OUT, that is so long ago. As Scott writes on his blog: I hunted down all of the Chewbacca sound clips I could find on the Internet. Remember, this was 1999. Google was just a year old. I think I may have still been using AltaVista. It was quite an undertaking. And the result is quite impressive. Many years later (and many Star Wars movies later) How It Should Have Ended has taken Scotts hard work and given it a cheerful video, and one that were probably going to watch every day from now until Christmas. And maybe even after Christmas, too. This music video has it all: Chewbacca giving his usual Wookiee grunting noises that only Han can understand (now, auto-tuned!), Han Solo himself, Lando Calrissian smirks, and even a special guest appearance by Santa Jabba the Hutt, because of course. Pulling footage from both the original trilogy and the Force Awakens (but oddly not the Star Wars holiday special??) go ahead and gather the family round the tree, friends. This is our new favorite holiday song. The post Watch Chewbacca sing Silent Night in his native Wookiee if youre into that sort of thing appeared first on HelloGiggles. 15 Nepali tourists injured in Thailand bus crash Fifteen Nepali tourists were injured in a bus accident in this southern province early Wednesday. The Iraqi forces struggling to retake the country's second-largest city, Mosul, from ISIS have paused their advance, entering what a US official called an "operational refit." That halt comes after two months of hard fighting, during which Iraqi forces and their allies have pried just one-quarter of the city away from the 4,000 or so ISIS militants hunkered down there. A US-led coalition has supported Iraqi forces throughout the campaign, including a November 16 strike that destroyed an ISIS watercraft vital for navigating Iraq's extensive rivers near Mosul. Coalition-led airstrikes near Mosul on November 16 targeted four watercraft, destroying them and six mortar systems, two fighting positions, two vehicles, a bunker, and an ISIS-held building. Those strikes also targeted tunnels and tactical units. Mosul is bisected by the Tigris River and had five bridges connecting the eastern and western halves of the city. ISIS militants in the city mined and booby-trapped the bridges, and as of late November, four of the five had been destroyed. Mosul Iraq Tigris River bridges The US-led coalition has gone after ISIS watercraft on numerous occasions, particularly in the run-up to the Mosul campaign, which kicked off in mid-October. In September alone, coalition warplanes destroyed 65 boats, which ISIS has used both as a means of transport and a way to mount improvised-explosive attacks. Boats have also figured into ongoing fight for control of Mosul and its environs. On September 14 and 16, strikes near the towns of Qayyara and Sultan Abdallah, which are south of Mosul on the Tigris River, destroyed more than 50 boats. The Iraqi campaign has so far recaptured about one-quarter of Mosul from ISIS, and the terror group has maintained some freedom of movement to launch counterattacks, mounting vehicle-borne suicide-bomb attacks with relative alacrity. ISIS suicide attack Mosul Iraq bombing fighting Story continues When the operation against ISIS in Mosul began, there were believed to be about 1 million civilians caught in the city. In the weeks of fighting, tens of thousands have been displaced, but many more remain in contested parts of the city or in areas under ISIS control. Civilians are frequently caught in the crossfire, in some instances reportedly by coalition or Iraqi government forces. Even civilians in liberated parts of Mosul are not safe from the fighting. Iraqi officials have not released statistics about those killed and wounded in the Mosul offensive, but the UN said in mid-November that civilian casualties were overwhelming Iraqi government and international aid groups in the area. "Since then, the situation seems to have deteriorated," Reuters reported this week. You can see the full video of the November 16 strike below. NOW WATCH: Meet the Iraqi PMU one of the greatest threats against ISIS More From Business Insider * Investors question Swatch Group strategy in shrinking market * CEO announced new project to develop electric car batteries * Investors say have little information on Swatch battery * They are concerned about timetable, cost of project By Silke Koltrowitz ZURICH, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Three years ago, Swatch Group was riding high. The world's largest watchmaker, known for its colourful plastic watches as well as upscale brands including Breguet, reported record gross sales. Then in several newspaper interviews in 2015 and in early 2016, chief executive Nick Hayek announced that he was taking the company in a new direction, launching a battery for electric vehicles with the goal of reaching $10-15 billion sales by 2020. Investors called the plan expensive and unrealistic and with 2016 group sales predicted to be below last year's 8.45 billion Swiss francs ($8.36 billion), inventory rising and Hayek refusing to announce savings despite slowing sales, they are questioning the group's strategy. Urs Beck, a fund manager at EFG Asset Management who has Swatch among his top 10 holdings, said Hayek had lost some credibility with investors because his forecasts had not always come true. "When he says 10, you know it can be 5," Beck said. "There is little information on the Swatch battery. Hayek is known for giving fancy forecasts that often only materialize in the long term." Carine Menache, who runs a family investment company and has Swatch among her biggest holdings, said it had not been an easy ride, but she had nevertheless added to her position when the share price fell below 250 francs in August. "It seems to be coming back, but hope is not an investment strategy," she said, adding that Hayek was a good manager but should diversify more into luxury accessories and launch more limited editions or smartwatches. "I have not heard that they were cutting costs, but they should probably do that." A spokesman for Swatch Group declined to comment on criticism of its strategy but said in an emailed statement the company was not planning to reduce production capacity now or in the future. Story continues The share price has fallen by 12 percent so far this year on top of a 21 percent drop last year. That compares to 7 and 19 percent declines respectively at rival Richemont. Swatch trades at a 17 percent discount to Richemont relative to 12-month forward earnings. At over 20 percent, short interest in Swatch's bearer shares is no longer at the peaks seen earlier this year, but still high, IHS Markit data shows, reflecting short sellers' expectation that the shares will fall further. TIMETABLE UNREALISTIC The car battery has been jointly developed by Belenos Clean Power, in which Swatch holds a 51 percent stake, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Car batteries are an attractive growth market if numbers of electric vehicles (EVs) explode to two-thirds of all cars by 2030 in wealthy cities, as several studies predict. But it is also a highly competitive field, where heavyweights like Tesla and Panasonic invest billions to gain scale and bring down costs for the currently dominating Lithium-ion batteries. Prototypes are being produced at Swatch's Renata battery unit near Basel but have not yet been presented to investors who are waiting for signs of progress. "The timetable seems unrealistic to me. It is impossible to get from zero to 10 billion sales within just three years," said Paul Wyser, owner of Swiss battery maker Wyon and a former Swatch Group manager who still owns some shares. "Battery development takes time because of the comprehensive safety tests. You also need to see if it works over the long term." Technical details have also been scarce. Swatch has said that the new battery uses a vanadium pentoxide compound for the cathodes and a new electrolyte composition, giving it higher energy density, a longer life span, shorter recharging times and a better safety profile than conventional batteries. Wyser said vanadium pentoxide was available and cheap, but was just one of many materials being tested for car batteries at the moment with an uncertain outcome. Hayek, who declined to comment for this article, has said publicly that the battery could generate revenue of $10-15 billion by 2020, from use in cars, e-bikes, e-scooters and drones. EXPENSIVE DEVELOPMENT Others have questioned the cost associated with the project. "You need to invest a lot before you get a return," Vontobel analyst Rene Weber said. Swatch has not provided any financial details on the project, but Hayek said in a newspaper interview that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese car maker Geely in May and that the battery could be jointly produced in China from early 2017 if tests were successful. But Geely sounded a cautious note: "This is one of many projects, we work with a lot of suppliers," spokesman Ashley Sutcliffe told Reuters by phone. "It's early stages for both parties right now. Whether we'll develop it together or invest in the project, that is all too far away." Beck said the outlook for the project was not clear. "Investors do not have any figures, just this long-term fantasy that something could come of the cooperation with Geely...There are so many joint venture partners, that even if the project becomes a success, Swatch Group will probably only get a small share of it," he said. Nevertheless, Beck said liked the Swatch's long-term approach and even the high inventory levels. "It is when the cycle is at its lowest that you can gain market share and Swatch Group is well positioned for that," he said. ($1 = 1.0111 Swiss francs) (Additional reporting by Laurence Frost in Paris and Eric Auchard in Frankfurt; editing by Anna Willard) More than a year after a stranger smashed a glass in her face for speaking Swahili at a Minnesota Applebees restaurant, Asma Jama forgave her attacker and urged her to choose love over hate. My religion teaches me to forgive so I can get on with my life, Jama told Jodie Burchard-Risch at a sentencing hearing in Anoka County Court on Tuesday. If I hold a grudge, if I hold the hate you hold towards me against you, its not going to serve me well. Asma Jama, left, and Farhio Khalif, executive director of the nonprofit Voice of East African Women, discuss the effects of Islamophobia on Oct. 20. (Photo: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minneapolis Star Tribune via ZUMA Wire) According to Minnesota Public Radio, Burchard-Risch and her husband were dining at the restaurant in Coon Rapids in October 2015 when they became irritated by Jama and her family speaking Swahili in the booth next to theirs. Jama reported to police that the couple then told them to go home and said, When youre in America, you should speak English. Jama, an ethnic Somali and U.S. citizen who has lived in Minnesota since 2000, responded by saying, I can speak English, but we choose to speak whatever language we want. Burchard-Risch then hit Jama in the face with a beer mug, sending her to the hospital with a gash in her lower lip that required 17 stitches. Image of Asma Jama posted on a GoFundMe.com page. (www.gofundme.com/Asmamedicalfund) Burchard-Risch, 44, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and, on Tuesday, received a six-month prison sentence with up to five years probation. Minnesota is home to a large Somali population and, like many parts of the country, has seen a reported rise in anti-Muslim violence and harassment in recent months. An October report by the Minneapolis Star Tribune on the FBIs response to the statewide rise in crimes targeting Muslims, noted that, since her attack, Jama had become involved with a nonprofit called Voice of East African Women. The group works with federal law enforcement officials to encourage more victims to report their own experiences like Jama did. Though she said she was happy its over, Jama also vowed to keep fighting. What happened to me on that day is unacceptable. It shouldnt happen to anybody else, Jama said at Tuesdays hearing, noting, I used to be a carefree person, and now I cant go anywhere by myself. Addressing Burchard-Risch directly, Jama said, What you did to me that day wasnt good. You should never do anything like that to anybody. But, she assured her attacker, My intentions toward you are not bad. I dont have any ill feelings towards you, Jama said. I just want you to understand at the end of all this that we are all the same. It doesnt matter whats on my head, it doesnt matter the color of my skin we are all the same human beings, we are fighting for the same rights. Melania Trump (left) and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (right), seen with her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, have a lot in common. Photo: Getty Images If Melania Trump is looking for a role model on how to transition from being a model to a first lady, she need look no further than Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the former first lady of France, who celebrates her 49th birthday on Friday, Dec. 23. And thats not just because President-elect Donald Trump allegedly planted a story about his having dated Bruni after he split from his second wife, Marla Maples, in the early 90s a claim Bruni-Sarkozy has consistently denied. New York Post Its because, as one of the highest-paid models of the 90s, Bruni-Sarkozy is more than well-versed in dealing with the press, which is apt to shame a woman whose body is intrinsic to her work and who also happens to be married to a major head of state. Bruni-Sarkozy married Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president of France, in February 2008, when Sarkozy had held the office of the presidency for just under a year. Carla Bruni walks a runway during her modeling days. Photo: Getty Images A nude photo of Bruni-Sarkozy was sold at auction in April 2008, and news of the sale was widely covered in the press, especially in British newspapers, just as the Sarkozys were in the United Kingdom for an official state visit. Additional nude images of Bruni-Sarkozy surfaced at around the same time, to the sound of clicking tongues, in an attempt to diminish the French presidents credibility. (The promise of additional images of Bruni-Sarkozy in the buff was even used as part of an attempted hack of G20 delegates.) Carla Bruni-Sarkozy walks the runway during the Chanel Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 1989 show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on Oct. 24, 1988, in Paris. Photo: Getty Images And yet, Bruni-Sarkozy refused to express shame or embarrassment for her work, rarely even acknowledging it and, in doing so, making clear that there was no reason to be embarrassed by her body or her work. Melania Trump as portrayed in Avenue Magazine. (Photo: Avenue Magazine) It certainly set a model to follow after similar photos of Melania Trump were leaked last summer in the throes of her husbands campaign for the presidency. In an interview with CNNs Anderson Cooper in October, Mrs. Trump made clear that she had nothing to apologize for, saying, Im very proud I did those pictures. Im not ashamed of my body. I feel very comfortable with myself and with my body, and they were taken for a European French magazine. In Europe, we are proud of the bodies, no matter what size you are. And it was done as art and a celebration of female body. Story continues More: Inside Melania Trumps Modeling Days in Paris Donald and Melania Trump in March 2016. Photo: Getty Images Bruni-Sarkozy has been clear that she doesnt see herself as a feminist, a position that Mrs. Trump has not yet articulated, but is certainly imaginable, given her public identity or rather, lack thereof. Trump actively chose to abstain from the campaign trail, has offered very few interviews, and has announced that she wont be moving to the White House (for now). On the whole, Melania attended to her son and her private family life during the campaign. Meanwhile, her stepdaughter Ivanka Trump emerged as Donald Trumps lady-things-explainer-in-chief, and could take on a broader role than the typical first daughter. Perhaps the best thing Mrs. Trump can learn from Mrs. Sarkozy is to simply not care what others think. Bruni-Sarkozy masterfully cared when she wanted when it came to talking about issues she was invested in, like the global fight against HIV and AIDS and remained at one remove from politics for the other 98 percent of the time. More: The Fashion Insider Who Helped Melania Trump Pick Her Wedding Dress Tells All Trump Transition President-elect Donald Trumps administration continues to take shape as he taps economist Peter Navarro, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, and Kellyanne Conway for key roles. Navarro and Icahn have both been selected to help drive Trumps economic agenda, tackling trade and regulation. Icahn has voiced his concern about federal regulations hurting American business, while Navarro, a Harvard economist has repeatedly said the U.S. is in an economic war with China aligning with Trumps message throughout his campaign. Conway, who managed Trumps campaign during the elections, has been one of his most trusted allies. Watch Risk & Reward with Deirdre Bolton as she breaks down the latest additions in the Trump administration, today at 5 p.m. ET. Berlin Attack Authorities are on high-alert as the search continues for Anis Amri. The 23-year-old Tunisian man is believed to be connected to the truck rampage that killed 12, and injured dozens Monday. Amri immigrated to Germany as a refugee seeking asylum, and was previously on the radar of police for planning an attack prior to Mondays incident. Lou Dobbs Tonight has expert insight and analysis on the fight against terror, tonight at 7pm ET. The Dealmaker Businessman and President-elect Donald Trump is already striking deals even before stepping foot in the White House. After publicly calling out Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) over the price tag of building a new Air Force One fleet, both companies have apparently reached an agreement with Trump to reduce the cost. The Watch Continues All eyes are on Wall Street as the Dow inches closer to the 20000 mark. The Dow has been flirting with elusive number over the last two weeks. Countdown to the Closing Bell will be live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to bring you the very latest on the markets! Dont miss it, today at 3 p.m. ET. UFC on Varney From on businessman to another, UFC President Dana White joins Varney & Co. today at 9:45 a.m. ET to talk all things Trump, and how he built his business from the ground up. Related Articles Marine Le Pen, leader of Frances far right National Front, is struggling in her search for campaign cash. Her party apparently is trying to scrape together the 20 million euros it needs for the coming presidential and legislative elections. It received a 9 million euro loan in 2014 from Moscows First Czech Russian Bank, but that bank lost its license in July. National Front treasurer Wallerand de Saint Just told Bloomberg on Thursday, The loss of the FCRB was a hard blow for us. The Russia loan was a stable resource. Now we are still searching for loans. French banks, per Saint Just, have refused to fund Le Pens party. A U.S. bank apparently balked at lending $20 million back in August. Le Pen is widely expected to make it into the second round of voting in next springs French presidential election. Polls currently indicate she will be crushed by center-right candidate Francois Fillon, but why anyone would listen to polls on anything other than the Italian referendum at this point is beyond us. This is to say that, prior to Thursdays campaign finance confession, things seemed to be looking up for Le Pen, who is merrily sending out scare tweets about Fillon and proposing to bar undocumented migrants children from receiving free education (this is illegal under the French constitution, but no matter). Le Pen could likely easily find more Moscow money, but may now approach with greater caution. Thats in part because of the risk of criticism from the French press, though it should be noted Fillon also has a penchant for Putin. Moreover, her ties to Russia may also be coming under U.S. scrutiny, at least according to reports Wednesday. However, Russian money to the National Front is but one of many fronts on which Russia has fortified itself against the liberal West this year. Indeed, on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Defense Ministry, We can say with certainty: we are stronger now than any potential aggressor. Any. And thats without Le Pen in the Elysee. Photo credit: Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images (BATON ROUGE, La.) The federal government has allowed four groups at the forefront of the white nationalist movement to register as charities and raise more than $7.8 million in tax-deductible donations over the past decade, according to an Associated Press review. Already emboldened by Donald Trumps popularity, group leaders say they hope the president-elects victory helps them raise even more money and gives them a larger platform for spreading their ideology. With benevolent-sounding names such as the National Policy Institute and New Century Foundation, the tax-exempt groups present themselves as educational organizations and use donors money to pay for websites, books and conferences to further their ideology. The money also has personally compensated leaders of the four groups. New Century Foundation head Jared Taylor said his group raises money for the benefit of the white race, a mission taxpayers are indirectly supporting with the groups status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The IRS recognized it, the Charles Martel Society, the National Policy Institute and VDare Foundation as charities more than a decade ago. Samuel Brunson, a tax law professor at Loyola University in Chicago, noted the nonprofit status gives these groups a veneer of legitimacy and respectability. It should make people uncomfortable that the government is subsidizing groups that espouse values that are incompatible with most Americans, he said. The IRS has tried to weed out nonprofit applicants that merely spread propaganda. In 1978, the agency refused to grant tax-exempt status to the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi group that published an anti-Semitic newsletter. And in 1994, a court upheld the denial of tax-exempt status for the Nationalist Movement, a Mississippi-based white nationalist group. Some tax experts said the IRS is still feeling the sting from conservative critics over its 2013 concession that it unfairly gave extra scrutiny to tea party groups seeking tax exemptions. Story continues I dont think theyre feeling very brave right now, said Ellen Aprill, a tax law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. IRS spokesman Michael Dobzinski said he cant comment on individual nonprofits. Louisiana State University law professor Philip Hackney, a former IRS attorney, said the agency receives tens of thousands of applications annually and doesnt have the resources to scrutinize many of them. A lot of applications fly through, Hackney said. Theyre looking for easy ways to sort things out and kind of give rubber stamps. New Century Foundation, a Virginia-based nonprofit, has raised more than $2 million since 2007 and operates the American Renaissance online magazine, which touts a philosophy that its entirely normal for whites to want to be a majority race. Taylor, a Yale-educated, self-described race realist, said his group, founded in 1994, abides by all laws governing nonprofits. We certainly did not conceal our intentions, Taylor said. I think we are educational in precisely the terms that Congress defined. Taylor, whose tax filing says he received $65,000 in compensation in 2015, said he isnt raising money to enrich himself or his group. We hold it in trust for the white race, he said. We take this seriously. This is not something we do for fun or profit. This is our duty to our people. In a 2012 article, University of Georgia business professor Alex Reed argued the IRS can and must revoke the New Century Foundations charitable status. Reed said the agencys lax enforcement allowed other groups including ones he labeled as white nationalist, anti-gay, anti-immigrant or Holocaust deniers to qualify for tax breaks under the guise of operating educational organizations. The Montana-based National Policy Institute is run by Richard Spencer, who popularized the term alternative right about a decade ago. The so-called alt-right is a fringe movement that has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism. Spencers group raised $442,482 in tax-deductible contributions from 2007 through 2012. More recent fundraising figures for the group arent available in online tax returns, but Spencer said Trumps candidacy already has boosted his groups fundraising. Spencer hosted a postelection conference in Washington that ended with audience members mimicking Nazi salutes after Spencer shouted, Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory! Spencer has advocated for an ethno-state that would be a safe space for white people. The Georgia-based Charles Martel Society was founded by wealthy publisher William H. Regnery II, who also founded the National Policy Institute. The group raised $568,526 between 2007 and 2014 and publishes The Occidental Quarterly. In an article last December, the journals editor applauded Trumps campaign as a game changer for white people who oppose immigration and multiculturalism but said they have a long way to go to really change the public discussion of race, Western culture, and Jewish influence. The Connecticut-based VDare Foundation is led by Peter Brimelow, founder and editor of an anti-immigration website. Brimelow, who spoke at the National Policy Institutes conference last month, founded his nonprofit in 1999 and raised nearly $4.8 million between 2007 and 2015. Brimelow has denied that his website is white nationalist but acknowledged it publishes works by writers who fit that description in the sense that they aim to defend the interests of American whites. Brimelow received $378,418 in compensation from his nonprofit in 2007, accounting for nearly three-quarters of its total expenses that year. Brimelow says his salary that year was $170,000 and the rest reimbursed him for travel, office supplies and other expenses. From 2010 through 2015, VDare Foundation didnt report any compensation directly paid to Brimelow. But, starting in 2010, the nonprofit began making annual payments of up to $368,500 to Brimelows Happy Penguins LLC for leased employees. Brimelow disclosed his ownership of that company on tax returns. Chuck McLean, a senior research fellow for the nonprofit watchdog Guidestar, said the IRS could view those independent contractor payments to Happy Penguins LLC as improper self-dealing unless the nonprofit can show they were fair-market value transactions. Brimelow says he set up that company to protect and pay his employees and himself. Brimelows group reported modest fundraising increases for each of the past three years. He is confident that trend would continue during Trumps administration. We have every reason to believe that it will, he wrote in an email. - By Faisal Humayun In times of depression for a particular industry, there are short-term opportunities that can provide stellar returns. Just as an example, Whiting Petroleum (WLL) was depressed due to lower oil prices and leverage with the stock trading at $3.53 on Feb. 25. Over the next 10 months, the stock surged by 243% to current levels of $12.12. As oil trends higher and the company makes efforts to reduce debt, this article discusses whether Whiting Petroleum is worth considering at current levels. I want to start by mentioning that Whiting Petroleum has surged in the 10-month period, but the stock is at the same level where it was trading on April 27. In other words, the big upside for the stock came in two months from year-to-date lows, and the stock has largely been volatile to sideways following the initial surge. To analyze whether the stock can move higher in 2017, the most important point to discuss is the company's debt. On Dec. 9 Whiting Petroleum announced the conversion of $721.0 million of mandatory convertible senior notes and mandatory convertible senior subordinated notes to 77.6 million common shares. On Nov. 21, Whiting Petroleum announced the sale of North Dakota midstream assets for a consideration of $375 million. Related to these two recent transactions and the company's effort to reduce debt, the following points are worth noting: On debt conversion coupled with debt reduction from proceeds of asset sale, Whiting Petroleum will see total debt decline by $2.3 billion since March. The company is moving in the right direction; as oil trends higher, there might be hopes of better valuation on asset sale. Debt reduction has involved equity dilution, and I expect further equity dilution in the next 12 months. Just to put things into perspective, Whiting Petroleum has converted debt of $1.1 billion to equity this year. Even with the debt reduction, Whiting Petroleum reported total debt of $3.4 billion (including debt reduction from the North Dakota asset sale). For the three and nine months ended Sept. 30 Whiting Petroleum reported cash interest expense of $4.64 and $4.72 per barrel. With cash interest expense still higher per barrel of oil equivalent, there is need to further reduce debt and potential equity dilution can keep the stock sideways. Among the positives, Whiting Petroleum has no debt maturity until 2018 and no significant debt maturity until 2019. Therefore, debt refinancing is not a near-term concern, but debt reduction is likely to continue, and that will be aided by oil trending higher. Story continues Therefore, my broad view on the company's deleveraging is that the initiative has been successful toward achieving lower leverage and reducing debt servicing cost. However, I see more debt reduction coming in 2017, which can be equity dilutive. This should keep the stock sideways even if the assets deliver strong production and relatively better cash margin. Whiting Petroleum has core positions in the Bakken formation of Montana and Niobrara region of Colorado with exposure to bounce back in oil prices. The company also has strong hedged positions for 2017 and 2018. While assets have the capability to deliver long-term returns, I would wait for oil prices to sustain at higher levels and for further deleveraging before fresh exposure. As I mentioned above, the stock has already surged by 243% from year-to-date lows and sideways movement can sustain in the medium term. Also, there are other stocks in the industry that have low leverage, and production growth remains robust. Stocks like Parsley Energy (PE) and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) can be relatively superior picks in the industry. Disclosure: No positions in the stocks discussed. Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Bana Alabed, Aleppo's tweeting girl, meets Turkey's President Erdogan Bana Alabed - the seven-year-old Syrian who tweeted about life inside rebel-held east Aleppo - has met Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Be careful what you wish for, the saying goes you just might get it. For decades, Americans on both sides of the aisle have argued that the country needs a new, citizen-driven approach to politics. Rather than having careerists for politicians, we should have outsiders with proven track records in the private sector serve for short periods of time. If they can run a business successfully, they can make government work. The more successful the entrepreneur, the more successful the nation will be. Belief in that theory fueled the independent bids of H. Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996, and also the efforts to get Michael Bloomberg into the presidential race last year. Related: Trump's Washington Hotel a Conflict of Interest: Democratic Lawmakers Starting in 2017, America has the opportunity to test this theory at the highest possible level of both politics and wealth. Donald Trump will take office on January 20th, and leave his long career as a real-estate developer and resort mogul behind. Or more accurately, Trump will leave some of it behind and thats where the problems begin. It has become customary for presidents to put their assets into a blind trust or other hands-off financial structure after first liquidating significant assets that might present a conflict of interest. Federal law requires executive branch officials to use blind trusts, but the separation-of-powers doctrine makes the applicability to the president and vice-president questionable at best. Still, those occupying the highest office have found it politically appropriate, at the very least, to put their personal financial interests at arms length from their policy decisions. Barack Obama moved his assets into index funds and bonds with full disclosure in order to settle the question but not a blind trust. In April 2010, more than a year after taking office, The Washington Post took notice on how the now-outgoing president has rejected the approach taken by most of his predecessors in the modern era by simply converting assets into Treasuries and widely diversified funds. Story continues Related: Conflicts of Interest With Trumps Businesses Are Already Occurring The Posts Michael Shear pointed out that then-mayor and multi-billionaire Bloomberg had not put his assets in a blind trust either. Bloomberg adviser Kenneth Gross dismissed the need for Obama to use a blind trust, arguing that his investments would have little to do with presidential policy. "He's got his money in exactly the kinds of investments that don't require a blind trust." That didnt keep Obama free of all allegations of potential conflicts of interest. A 2011 controversy at the FCC over spectrum allocations involving a venture firm called LightSquared reached the White House when a four-star Air Force general accused Obamas aides of pressuring him into altering Congressional testimony in favor of the firm. Three months earlier, the Huffington Post had reported that several well-connected Democratic donors and officeholders had taken stakes in LightSquared, including Obama himself as an early investor who remains close to other early investors. LightSquared eventually lost the fight long after the media lost the minimal interest it showed about the conflict of interest. It nonetheless demonstrates the political risks involved in refusing blind trusts. Obamas predecessors utilized them as a ready shield against critics of their policies. And as recent coverage of the potential for conflicts between Trumps personal finances and his responsibilities as president, the president-elect cant count on media disinterest to shield him. Related: Trumps Kids Are on His Transition Team: A Serious Conflict of Interest? Trumps good business fortune makes it more difficult to resolve those potential conflicts. Where Obamas assets were primarily investments that could easily be liquidated or converted, Trumps holdings are primarily real estate in an empire that remains a personal and family business. Even if Trump was inclined to liquidate, it could take years to unwind his properties in a rational manner and hes clearly not inclined to liquidate. Like most men and women who build personal business empires, Trump wants to pass the business along to his children. The conflict-of-interest issue will only get amplified as a result of Trumps Cabinet picks, most of whom are top executives at firms such as Goldman Sachs and Exxon. Wilbur Ross, Trumps nominee as Secretary of Commerce, is a billionaire investor whose position would directly impact his portfolio. Some have already begun to notice a pattern of benefit just from being mentioned as a potential member of the next administration. Federal laws and rules would apply to these officials, which is why the Trump team has begun to look at whether discretionary blind trusts could be used to satisfy the requirements as well as Trumps political needs. A discretionary trust would allow Trump to retain ownership of the assets while being run by either a family member or a trusted third party. The principal benefit for Trump would be the elimination of the need to liquidate his assets, which a true blind trust would require in order to shield the president from questions about conflicts of interest. However, a discretionary trust allows the trustee to communicate with the owners about business matters, which would negate the political benefits of the trust for the Trumps and probably fail to satisfy the legal requirements for Trumps Cabinet to boot. Related: Trump: Nobody but the Media Cares About Conflicts of Interest Richard Painter, who served as George W. Bushs ethics lawyer, told Politico that a discretionary trust would be highly inappropriate, and leaving existing assets in place while determining policy would constitute a violation of at least the spirit of the rules. That might still be a problem even if his children buy him out completely. In one potential demonstration of this futility, foreign governments have already begun toadying up to Trump through his resorts. We can expect more of these efforts after the inauguration. In short, we have a mess that wont be quickly or easily resolved. Will voters care enough about this to damage his political capital? So far it seems to have done little to dampen enthusiasm for Trump among his supporters, and a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll suggests hell have a honeymoon with a broader range of voters as he takes office. After all, over sixty-two million voters voted for the businessman even with the potential for these conflicts already apparent, and they may be inclined to give Trump a pass at least until they suffer some disillusion over his governing choices. Related: Trumps Massive Global Business Footprint Can Subvert US National Security That may come sooner rather than later. Trump says he wants to drain the swamp and make dramatic changes in the way Washington does business. Thats precisely why Trump will need to put his interests into a blind trust to protect himself from the potential backlash. If Trump alienates enough voters and members of Congress with his policies, those conflicts of interest will offer a very handy excuse to push for impeachment under the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Voters gave Trump the presidency but they dont want Trump to give them the business. Trump has to choose whether he wants to be a mogul or be a president, and he needs to make that choice now. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f326696%2f8bf895ef-1ae6-4686-bbcd-21251989860f Oh, Canada. A cat-loving woman has been sent home by New Zealand customs officials after they found a feline hiding in her handbag. The unnamed woman who arrived from Vancouver, had the feline in the small carry-on bag. That's a 14-hour flight, by the way. SEE ALSO: Creepy 'monster'-like object washes up onto New Zealand beach She declared "dirty boots" to officials, then later confessed that she had the pet on her person when Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) staff attempted to x-ray her bag. "She was very reluctant to have the hand bag x-rayed, saying it had already been checked by our quarantine officers. She only revealed the cat after we insisted the bag will have to undergo further biosecurity checks," Craig Hughes, from the MPI, said in a statement. Due to the find, the woman was refused entry and hence forced to return back to Canada on the next available flight. She claimed she told officials of her cat when she bought her ticket, but New Zealand authorities were having none of it. "We believe this was a deliberate and very stupid attempt at smuggling. There are strict biosecurity rules in place to stop imported cats and dogs from introducing pests and diseases into New Zealand. The passenger clearly decided those rules didn't apply to her," Hughes said. It's not the first time someone's tried to smuggle living things in their carry-on luggage. In March, a woman was arrested after a four-year-old child was found in one of her bags on an Air France flight. While in April, a man was sentenced to five years' jail for repeatedly smuggling turtles out of the U.S., including one occasion where he was found with 51 turtles attached to his legs at the Ontario, Canada border. BONUS: Hairballs are coming: Kittens remake Season 5 of 'Game of Thrones' Ankara (AFP) - The seven-year-old Syrian girl whose Twitter account provided a tragic window for the world into the destruction of her hometown Aleppo on Thursday described taking up blogging to give a voice to the city's children. Bana al-Abed was one of thousands of people evacuated from once rebel-held areas of Aleppo in the last days under a deal brokered by Turkey and Russia. She was evacuated on Monday and taken to the Turkish capital along with her family, including her mother Fatemah who manages the account. "We wanted the world to hear the voice of the children of Aleppo. We spoke of the bombardments and tweeted so that people could see the war," Bana told AFP in an interview in Ankara. Bana and her family lived in east Aleppo, which was controlled by rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime and backed by Turkey. They were evacuated as the area was being overrun by government forces, who are now on the verge of clinching their biggest victory in the six-year war by taking total control of Aleppo. "I fear the war because he wants to kill us," she said in apparent reference to Assad. "I am scared. I fear for my brothers and for my parents," she said in Arabic. On Wednesday she was given the rare honour of being hosted along with her family by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara. - 'Like a hell' - For her 330,000 online followers, Bana became a symbol of the tragedy in Syria, as she and her mother sent poignant tweets on the destruction of their city and the struggles of daily life. Assad's regime has slammed her and her mother's messages as propaganda, and pro-government critics even alleged the account was fake. But her mother Fatemah, who runs the account @AlabedBana, said such allegations were purely motivated by jealousy. "I think everyone says that because they are jealous. And they know that we are real and want to make us feel upset. Story continues "So I think they must see this and he will recognise that we are not a propaganda," Fatemah said, speaking in English. Fatemah said "our life in Aleppo was like a hell". "We could not make our children go to school, we could not sleep very well. Every time there were bombs -- you can't imagine there the life that we were in." "We don't have enough food, we can't find clean water we can't go to hospitals because they were targeted," she added. Bana, speaking in English, added: "It was difficult. I was afraid. There is always bombing. Even in the night." Turkey is hosting some 2.7 million refugees from the Syria conflict but has made clear it now prefers to help look after the recently displaced, who are not injured, on the Syrian side of the border. Most of those evacuated from Aleppo are expected to be housed in refugee camps assisted by Turkey in Idlib province, rather than being brought across the border. However it makes exceptions for special cases and the wounded. It was not immediately clear if Bana would be staying in Turkey. - 'No one helps us' - Bana's account has posted pictures of the destruction in Aleppo including her rubble-littered street, while people have tweeted messages of support and concern, notably fearing for her life when tweets became less frequent. At least 15,000 children are among the more than 300,000 people who have been killed in the Syrian war. Fatemah said the idea for the account came when "Bana said 'Mum, why don't we hear about the situation in Aleppo and no one helps us?'" "So we decided to make this account to make sure all the world listens to the kids' voice and help turn attention to the suffering." Fans of Bana include the author of the Harry Potter novels J.K. Rowling who sent the family electronic copies of her books. "I would like to thank everyone who helped support the children of Aleppo," said Bana in English. A falsely accused Tennessee man who spent 31 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit was compensated just $75. That was back in 2009 after DNA evidence cleared Lawrence McKinney of a rape involving his neighbor in 1977. Since then, McKinney told CBS News he's worked odd jobs at his church just to pay the bills. Read: Zsa Zsa Gabor's Widower Describes His Efforts to Revive Her and Reveals Her Last Words While McKinney has been spared an entire lifetime behind bars, he says he's lost years he'll never get back. "I dont have no life, all my life was taken away," said McKinney, who is now 61. According to the Innocence Project, McKinney was convicted in Shelby County Criminal Court on June 22, 1978 after the victim identified him in court as one of her two attackers. He was sentenced to 100 years in prison. The other co-defendant also was convicted and sentenced to prison. In 2008, tests of bodily fluid from the victims bed linen revealed a mixture of stains from three people none of whom was McKinney. On June 30, 2009, McKinney's conviction was vacated and the charges were dismissed. He was released on July 20, 2009 with the check for $75, which he said he couldn't even cash for months because he had no ID. Despite twice petitioning the parole board, McKinney has received no formal exoneration because the board felt there wasn't sufficient proof of his innocence despite his vacated conviction. And McKinney needs that exoneration to get any real compensation from the state of Tennessee, where he could be eligible for up to $1 million. "It is not justice for him not to receive compensation for being wrongfully imprisoned," said Jack Lowery, McKinneys lawyer. With McKinney at an apparent impasse with the parole board, his last hope now lies with Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. Lowery hopes his client will be the first person the governor exonerates. And in the meantime, a petition to Gov. Haslam was created on Change.org to potentially sway him. Story continues Read: Now That's Endless Love! Couple Finally Gets Married After 41 Years of Dating "Lawrence reminds us that we must have faith. He is currently working toward becoming a preacher, because, as he says, 'With my situation, I feel like people could get the hope to make it through anything,'" the petition reads. "All of us in his community and his church are angry about what happened; we feel vengeful. But he does not. He says he doesnt have time. Its amazing." Watch: Woman to Adopt Children of Terminally Ill Best Friend: 'I Love These Kids With All My Heart' Related Articles: GENEVA/OTTAWA (Reuters) - A dispute panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) largely ruled in favour of Taiwan on Wednesday on its complaint over anti-dumping duties imposed by Canada on some of its steel goods. The ruling, related to certain carbon steel welded pipes and certain provisions of Canada's underlying legislation, found that Canada had contravened the WTO's Anti-Dumping Agreement but that Taiwan had failed to establish some points. Canada slapped duties on some imports of carbon steel welded pipes from Taiwan in 2012 and Taiwan brought the complaint to the WTO in Jan 2015. The annual value of Taiwan's exports of carbon steel welded pipes to Canada dropped from around $19 million before the anti-dumping duties were imposed to around $5 million, Taiwan officials said at the time of the filing. A spokesman for Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada will review the decision before deciding whether to appeal. Both sides have 60 days to decide whether to appeal any of the panel's findings. "Canada takes its WTO trade obligations seriously and is also committed to maintaining a strong trade remedy system," spokesman Alex Lawrence said in an email. The panel found that Canada acted inconsistently with certain obligations under the WTO and recommended that Canada bring its measures into conformity. Taiwanese trade officials said that while they welcomed the ruling on Thursday, they also expect Canada will appeal the decision. "In our filing, we requested the Canadian government to amend its laws," said Jack Hsiao, an official in the trade negotiation office of Taiwan's cabinet. Hsiao added that Canadian regulations regarding dumping investigations were problematic and if their appeal were rejected Canada would need to revise its rules. Joseph Galimberti, president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said the group is "disappointed but not surprised" by the ruling. Galimberti said the impact of the decision on Canada's steel industry is not hugely significant but declined to quantify the impact. The group's member companies produce about 13 million tonnes of primary steel as well as over 1 million tonnes of steel pipe and tube products annually, for sales of about $4 billion. "We would not want speculate on an amount of business on which Canadian companies could conceivably lose out or how market shares would shift as a result of the ruling," Galimberti said in an email. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Leah Schnurr in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Jeanny Kao in Taipei; Editing by Toby Chopra, Chizu Nomiyama and Christian Schmollinger) By Joseph Menn (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc's secret scanning of customer emails at the behest of a U.S. spy agency is part of a growing push by officials to loosen constitutional protections Americans have against arbitrary governmental searches, according to legal documents and people briefed on closed court hearings. The order on Yahoo from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) last year resulted from the government's drive to change decades of interpretation of the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment right of people to be secure against "unreasonable searches and seizures," intelligence officials and others familiar with the strategy told Reuters. The unifying idea, they said, is to move the focus of U.S. courts away from what makes something a distinct search and toward what is "reasonable" overall. The basis of the argument for change is that people are making much more digital data available about themselves to businesses, and that data can contain clues that would lead to authorities disrupting attacks in the United States or on U.S. interests abroad. While it might technically count as a search if an automated program trawls through all the data, the thinking goes, there is no unreasonable harm unless a human being looks at the result of that search and orders more intrusive measures or an arrest, which even then could be reasonable. Civil liberties groups and some other legal experts said the attempt to expand the ability of law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to sift through vast amounts of online data, in some cases without a court order, was in conflict with the Fourth Amendment because many innocent messages are included in the initial sweep. "A lot of it is unrecognizable from a Fourth Amendment perspective," said Orin Kerr, a former federal prosecutor and George Washington University Law School expert on surveillance. "It's not where the traditional Fourth Amendment law is." But the general counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Robert Litt, said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday that the legal interpretation needed to be adjusted because of technological changes. "Computerized scanning of communications in the same way that your email service provider scans looking for viruses - that should not be considered a search requiring a warrant for Fourth Amendment purposes," said Litt. He said he is leaving his post on Dec. 31 as the end of President Barack Obama's administration nears. DIGITAL SIGNATURE Reuters was unable to determine what data, if any, was handed over by Yahoo after its live email search. The search was first reported by Reuters on Oct. 4. [nL2N1CA1OW] Yahoo and the National Security Agency (NSA) declined to explain the basis for the order. The surveillance court, whose members are appointed by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, oversees and approves the domestic pursuit of intelligence about foreign powers. While details of the Yahoo search are classified, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters it was aimed at isolating a digital signature for a single person or small team working for a foreign government frequently at odds with America. The ODNI is expected to disclose as soon as next month an estimated number of Americans whose electronic communications have been caught up in online surveillance programs intended for foreigners, U.S. lawmakers said. [nL1N1EB1SU] The ODNI's expected disclosure is unlikely to cover such orders as the one to Yahoo but would encompass those under a different surveillance authority called section 702. That section allows the operation of two internet search programs, Prism and "upstream" collection, that were revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden more than three years ago. Prism gathers the messaging data of targets from Alphabet Inc's Google , Facebook , Microsoft , Apple among others. Upstream surveillance allows the NSA to copy web traffic to search data for certain terms called "selectors," such as email addresses, that are contained in the body of messages. ODNI's Litt said ordinary words are not used as selectors. The Fourth Amendment applies to the search and seizure of electronic devices as much as ordinary papers. Wiretaps and other surveillance in the internet age are now subject to litigation across the United States. But in the FISC, with rare exceptions, the judges hear only from the executive branch. Their rulings have been appealed only three times, each time going to a review board. Only the government is permitted to appeal from there, and so far it has never felt the need. PUBLIC LEGAL CHALLENGES The FISCs reasoning, though, is heading into public courts. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 5 cited FISC precedents in rejecting an appeal of an Oregon man who was convicted of plotting to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony after his emails were collected in another investigation. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are fighting the expansion of legalized surveillance in Congress and in courts. On Dec. 8, the ACLU argued in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a lawsuit by Wikipedias parent group against the NSA should not have been dismissed by a lower court, which ruled that the nonprofit could not show it had been snooped on and that the government could keep details of the program secret. The concerns of civil libertarians and others have been heightened by President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of conservative Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas to be director of the CIA. Pompeo, writing in the Wall Street Journal in January, advocated expanding bulk collection of telephone calling records in pursuit of Islamic State and its sympathizers who could plan attacks on Americans. Pompeo said the records could be combined with "publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database." Yahoo's search went far beyond what would be required to monitor a single email account. The company agreed to create and then conceal a special program on its email servers that would check all correspondence for a specific string of bits. Trawling for selectors is known as "about" searching, when content is collected because it is about something of interest rather than because it was sent or received by an established target. It is frequently used by the NSA in its bulk upstream collection of international telecom traffic. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an appointed panel established by Congress as part of its post-9/11 expansion of intelligence authority, reported in 2014 that "about" searches "push the program close to the line of constitutional reasonableness." A glimpse of the new legal arguments came in a FISC proceeding last year held to review NSA and FBI annual surveillance targets and four sets of procedures for limiting the spread of information about Americans. Judge Thomas Hogan appointed Amy Jeffress, an attorney at Arnold and Porter and a former national security prosecutor, to weigh in, the first time that court had asked an outside privacy expert for advice before making a decision. Jeffress argued each search aimed at an American should be tested against the Fourth Amendment, while prosecutors said that only overall searching practice had to be evaluated for "reasonableness." Hogan agreed with the government, ruling that even though the Fourth Amendment was all but waived in the initial data gathering because foreigners were the targets, the voluminous data incidentally gathered on Americans could also be used to investigate drug deals or robberies. "While they are targeting foreign intelligence information, they are collecting broader information, and there needs to be strong protections for how that information is used apart from national security," Jeffress told Reuters. ODNI's Litt wrote in a February Yale Law Review article that the new approach was appropriate, in part because so much personal data is willingly shared by consumers with technology companies. Litt advocated for courts to evaluate "reasonableness" by looking at the entirety of the government's activity, including the degree of transparency. Litt told Reuters that he did not mean, however, that the same techniques in "about" searches should be pushed toward the more targeted searches at email providers such as Yahoo. Although speaking generally, he said: "My own personal approach to this is you should trade off broader collection authority for stricter use authority," so that more is taken in but less is acted upon. This position strikes some academics and participants in the process as a remarkable departure from what the highest legal authority in the land was thinking just two years ago. That was when the Supreme Court's Roberts wrote for a majority in declaring that mobile phones usually could not be searched without warrants. After prosecutors said they had protocols in place to protect phone privacy, Roberts wrote: "Probably a good idea, but the Founders did not fight a revolution to gain the right to government agency protocols." With little evidence that the Supreme Court agrees with the surveillance court, it remains possible it would reverse the trend. But a case would first need to make its way up there. (The story corrects Kerr's law school affiliation in seventh paragraph) (Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco; additional reporting by Dustin Volz, Mark Hosenball and John Walcott in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Grant McCool) For Immediate Release Chicago, IL December 22, 2016 Zacks Value Investor is a podcast hosted weekly by Zacks Stock Strategist Tracey Ryniec. Every week, Tracey will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. To listen to the podcast, click here: (https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/243221/are-the-most-hated-stocks-the-best-values) Are the Most Hated Stocks the Best Values? Welcome to Episode #22 of the Value Investor Podcast Every week, Zacks value stock strategist and the Editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio service, Tracey Ryniec, talks about all things happening in the value stock universe, including her top stock picks. 2016 is winding down so that means looking forward to next years investing strategies. With US stock indexes still trading at new record highs, that leaves value investors wondering: where will the value stocks be in 2017? By its very definition, being a value stock means that that stock is out of favor with investors and Wall Street. It might not be in a favored industry or maybe it is having management issues. Sometimes, value investors find themselves looking at companies that are in industries or sectors that everyone hates. Who wants to invest in the extreme out-of-favor areas? It may even result in having to hold the nose and dive in. 2017 could be one of those years. But that is the nature of value investing. It can mean getting into areas that seem unappetizing, or even boring, at least at first. After all, if I told you a year ago that the community banks would be a red hot investment at the end of 2016, would you have believed me? 3 Hated Areas to Find Value Stocks in 2017 International stocks have underperformed since 2008. Because of that under performance, the Mom and Pop investor hates them. But this is the very time when you should be looking at them. You can buy a basket of small cap stocks through theVanguard All-World ex-US small cap ETF (NYSEARCA:VSS Free Report). It has forward P/E of 14.4. It also has an attractive price-to-sales ratio of 0.8 and a price-to-book ratio of just 1.3. You get some reward with a dividend yielding 2.7%. Story continues Or, if you want to play individual international companies, check out Brazilian regional jet maker Embraer Air (NYSE:ERJ Free Report). It is trading with a forward P/E of 13. The Homebuilders. They were the best performing sector in 2012 and since then, theyve done nothing. With mortgage rates rising, this also seems like a risky play. But some of them are cheap. The industry is worth a look.Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL Free Report) targets the more affluent buyers, who should be helped by Trump tax breaks. It is also starting a brand to target affluent Millennials. Shares are cheap, with a forward P/E of only 10. Everyone says the mall is dead, so why would you want to buy the mall retailers?JC Penney (NYSE:JCP Free Report) has been trying to turn it around for a few years, but earnings havent caught up yet. Its not cheap, with a forward P/E of 186. A better option would be a hybrid mall and strip mall player like Kohls (NYSE:KSS Free Report). It is expected to grow earnings by 7% next year but shares are still cheap, with a forward P/E of 13.2. Be careful of value traps in this area. Value investors are known for their ability to look outside the box for stock ideas. You might not always like the options, but dont dismiss a stock solely because its in a sector or industry that you cringe at. Find out more about where Tracey is looking for value stocks in 2017 on this weeks podcast. Happy New Year! Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor of the Insider Trader and Value Investor services. You can follow her on twitter at @TraceyRyniec and she also hosts the Zacks Market Edge Podcast on iTunes. About Zacks Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Click here for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros. Get the full Report on VSS - FREE Get the full Report on ERJ - FREE Get the full Report on TOL - FREE Get the full Report on JCP - FREE Get the full Report on KSS - FREE Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates. Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com/performance Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report VANGD-FA -US SC (VSS): ETF Research Reports EMBRAER AIR-ADR (ERJ): Free Stock Analysis Report TOLL BROTHERS (TOL): Free Stock Analysis Report PENNEY (JC) INC (JCP): Free Stock Analysis Report KOHLS CORP (KSS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Berlin attack: Christmas market reopens following lorry rampage The Berlin Christmas market where 12 people were killed on Monday by a suspected Islamist extremist who drove a truck into a crowd has reopened. From Woman's Day After gaining widespread recognition for teaching a class at the National Down Syndrome Congress in Alaska, one Zumba instructor has become a sensation. Yulissa Arescurenaga, 24, of San Francisco is the first person with Down syndrome to become a certified Zumba instructor in the U.S., according to Love What Matters. She practiced and memorized routines for up to six hours every day for years in order to achieve her dream of becoming an instructor. Yulissa attended her first Zumba class in 2008 and loved it so much that she made it her goal to become an instructor. She earned her certification in 2012, according to Today.com. Now, she leads multiple classes every week. Last year, Yulissa led a session with the founder of Zumba, Beta Perez, at the Zumba Instructor Convention in Orlando, FL, according to the Alaska Dispatch. "You should have seen her on stage last year at convention," one commenter wrote on Facebook. "She leads really well, super confident and very sweet." The praise for Yulissa doesn't stop there. "This is my kids' Zumba instructor at their school," another commenter wrote. "They love Fridays when their class gets to go." "I got an amazing workout," another student told the Alaska Dispatch after attending one of her sessions. "She was killing it. She didn't miss a beat." If the Latin beats and fun dance moves aren't enough to get you dancing, then Yulissa's energy is sure to get you motivated. "She loves to put a smile on people's faces," her mother told Today.com. Yulissa's mom hopes that her daughter's journey and passion will show others that people with Down syndrome can accomplish anything. Keep on dancing, Yulissa! (h/t Love What Matters) You Might Also Like Tim Gunn acts as a mentor and educator on Lifetimes Project Runway. (Photo: Getty Images) Project Runway host Tim Gunn has been incredibly vocal on his belief that the fashion industry fails to cater to all shapes and sizes. In a scathing op-ed for The Washington Post earlier this year, the fashion mentor slammed designers for not creating for the plus-size market or acknowledging the size of contemporary women. Considering that Gunn seems devoted to standardizing the sizes the majority of women in the United States wear, its not surprising that his Christmas list aligns with the notion as well. The television personality shared his wish list with the New York Post, and No. 2 on the list reads, A new season of Project Runway in which all of the models are size 12/14-plus. Isnt it time that fashion designers address the real world? he wonders. Gunn isnt wrong; more than 67 percent of women in the United States are considered plus-size (size 14 and up). This vast market is often neglected by designers, and Gunn is one of the many figures within the industry who are working to change that. I love the American fashion industry, but it has a lot of problems, and one of them is the baffling way it has turned its back on plus-size women, Gunn wrote in the Washington Post piece. Its a puzzling conundrum. The average American woman now wears between a size 16 and a size 18, according to new research from Washington State University. Gunn also noted how lucrative the plus-size market is. There is money to be made here ($20.4 billion, up 17 percent from 2013). But many designers dripping with disdain, lacking imagination or simply too cowardly to take a risk still refuse to make clothes for them. Along with the opinion piece, Gunn has also more recently been featured in a segment for PBS NewsHour in which he urged designers to widen their target clientele and explained how much more successful they could become by doing so. Interestingly enough, only one contestant has designed a plus-size collection for the shows final episode designer Ashley Tipton in Season 14. I hope that Im starting something, where people feel that it is expected to have plus-size models walk in New York Fashion Week, Tipton said at the time of the collections release. I hope this starts a whole revolution, that plus-size is accepted in fashion. Story continues Although one would have expected Gunn to be supportive of Tipton working to bridge the gap in the market, the fashion mentor was far from it. In his Washington Post piece, he slammed the designer for her hideous clothes. Ashley Nell Tipton won the contest with the shows first plus-size collection. But even this achievement managed to come off as condescending, he wrote. Ive never seen such hideous clothes in my life: bare midriffs; skirts over crinoline, which give the clothes, and the wearer, more volume; see-through skirts that reveal panties; pastels, which tend to make the wearer look juvenile; and large-scale floral embellishments that shout prom. Gunn felt that her victory was not warranted and her designs did not bring the plus-size industry any justice. Her victory reeked of tokenism, he wrote. One judge told me that she was voting for the symbol and that these were clothes for a certain population. I said they should be clothes all women want to wear. I wouldnt dream of letting any woman, whether shes a size 6 or a 16, wear them. A nod toward inclusiveness is not enough. Although Gunn wasnt a fan of Tiptons designs, that doesnt mean he is not fully supportive of increasing plus-size awareness and the scope of the market. Training designers within an upcoming season of the program to cater to only the plus-size market would be an interesting twist for a show that has remained unchanged for years. Considering Gunn has been a fixture on Project Runway since the shows debut in 2004, he must hold considerable weight and might even be able to make the plus-size season happen. It could be interesting to see whats in store for the shows 16th season. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Ive been writing a tech predictions column for nearly 30 years now. I study our research and look for trends and information that give me hints of what I believe might be the hot topics, trends or issues that will impact the tech industry in the coming year. Here are what I believe will be the biggest trends and issues in tech for 2017: President Trumps Impact Its well known that Silicon Valley was generally not a big supporter of President-elect Donald Trump. However, technology executives are pragmatic, and they know they need to deal with his administration if they want to see their tech agenda advanced over the next four (or eight) years. Trumps recent meeting with leaders like Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and others allowed these leaders to share with Trump their concerns. Trump now needs to try and make sure he doesnt do anything that hurts the tech world from making advances during his presidency. However, Trump is unpredictable, and its unclear what his approach to tech might be. This will be a huge issue for tech in 2017, possibly the biggest. Augmented/Mixed Reality Will Be More Important Than Virtual Reality Although VR is the hot tech product at the moment, with the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sonys PlayStation VR garnering much of the consumer attention, VR will mostly be used in gaming over the near future. On the other hand, Niantics Pokemon Go game introduced AR to a broad worldwide audience, giving players a taste of how information and images can be superimposed on any kind of image or setting to add content and even video to the real world. Apple CEO Cook said he believes AR is much more interesting to his company than VR. I would not be surprised if AR will be a big focus when Apple introduces its next iPhone, likely in the fall of 2017. Expect more non-Apple phones to pack AR as well, likely via Googles Tango tech. I also believe we will see the first generation of mixed reality consumer glasses that have both AR and VR apps, although AR will be the predominant solution in this generation of consumer devices. Story continues 2-in-1 Computers Take Off Talking with most PC vendors, especially those making Windows portable PCs, its becoming increasingly difficult to innovate on a traditional clamshell laptop design. Consequently, PC makers are putting most of their attention on innovating around what the industry calls 2-in-1s, which feature a tablet-style design with an attachable keyboard. (Think Microsofts Surface Pro lineup.) PC vendors will also work on convertibles, which look more like traditional laptops but also have a touchscreen and removable keyboard. (Think Lenovos Yoga machines.) The PC industrys goal now is to move everyone over to 2-in-1 and convertible designs, as they are a more versatile computing platform. (And convincing users they need to upgrade could help juice flagging sales.) Car buyers will increasingly demand smart automobiles Although well see plenty of news and activity around the development of self-driving vehicles, these types of cars wont be on the market for mainstream use until at least 2022. In the meantime, consumers will be interested in finding ways to make their existing cars smarter using software like Apples CarPlay or Googles Android Auto and other data-connected systems to add intelligence to any car. Additionally, there are some interesting new smart automotive systems like one from Navdy, which adds a heads-up display (HUD) to nearly any vehicle, displaying navigation information, notifications and more. In 2017 well see more car owners opt to smarten up their existing vehicles using tech like this. Hackers and criminals will get smarter There were around 707 million cybersecurity breaches in 2015, with 554 million in just the first half of 2016, according to Intel Security, formerly McAfee. This year, hackers are learning to use artificial intelligence to automate their attacks, making it even faster for them to break into targets accounts. The New York Times John Markoff has more: The alarm about malevolent use of advanced artificial intelligence technologies was sounded earlier this year by James R. Clapper, the director of National Intelligence. In his annual review of security, Mr. Clapper underscored the point that while A.I. systems would make some things easier, they would also expand the vulnerabilities of the online world. The next generation of these tools will add machine learning capabilities that have been pioneered by artificial intelligence researchers to improve the quality of machine vision, speech understanding, speech synthesis and natural language understanding. Some computer security researchers believe that digital criminals have been experimenting with the use of A.I. technologies for more than half a decade. Tim Bajarin is recognized as one of the leading industry consultants, analysts and futurists, covering the field of personal computers and consumer technology. Mr. Bajarin is the President of Creative Strategies, Inc and has been with the company since 1981 where he has served as a consultant providing analysis to most of the leading hardware and software vendors in the industry. Reports from Turkish media claim that Apple has been asked to help unlock an iPhone belonging to the Russian ambassadors assassin. The device, a relatively archaic iPhone 4S, was reportedly recovered from 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altntas, a 22-year-old police officer who shot and killed Russias ambassador to Turkey . The iPhone is said to be protected with a standard 4-digit passcode. In theory, and depending on the version of iOS installed on the device, the protection should be relatively easy to bypass. MacReports claims that Turkey has asked Apple for help unlocking the device, but although Apple has not said anything yet, it is clear that Apple will not help. In addition to Apples supposed support, Russia is also apparently sending a team of technical experts to Turkey to help examine the phone. Don't Miss: The best TV shows on Netflix youve never heard of The case echoes the long-running Apple vs FBI battle over unlocking the San Bernandino killers iPhone 5c earlier this year. There are important differences, however. Apple has historically complied with legal orders to unlock a device, within the limits of its ability. What it objected to in the San Bernandino case was writing software to specifically create a backdoor into iOS, which it said was a slippery slope that could fundamentally damage the security of iOS devices. Depending on the version of iOS in question here, that may not be necessary. Older versions of iOS, lacking full-device encryption and without the hardware protection of the Secure Enclave chip, are far more vulnerable. The iPhone 4S can run iOS 9, although versions of iOS 7 and onwards tend to slow the device down so much that many users stay on older versions. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com A new and somewhat bizarre lawsuit filed against Google accuses the search giant of running an internal spying program and forcing employees to adhere to illegal confidentiality agreements, policies, guidelines and practices. Don't Miss: 5 products under $100 that will instantly improve your life The lawsuit was filed earlier this week by an anonymous product manager. The suit claims that Googles employment agreements expressly prohibit Google personnel from reporting illegal conduct they may have witnessed or even bringing to light potentially dangerous product defects. The complaint alleges that Google discourages the aforementioned type of whistle blowing activities because such statements might ultimately resurface during legal proceedings. The complaint also details that Googles employment agreement precludes employees from disclosing their base pay to potential employers and even from discussing what their working experience at Google was like. The policies even prohibit Googlers from speaking to their spouse or friends about whether they think their boss could do a better job, the complaint adds. Also interesting is the allegation that Google prohibits employees from writing creative fiction, without prior approval, if the main character works at a tech company in Silicon Valley. The lawsuit takes the position that Googles sweeping confidentiality agreements are unnecessarily broad and ultimately violate California labor laws. The complaint reads in part: The unnecessary and inappropriate breadth of the policies are intended to control Googles former and current employees, limit competition, infringe on constitutional rights, and prevent the disclosure and reporting of misconduct. The policies are wrong and illegal. In regards to the allegations that Google wants employees to keep illegal activity and potentially dangerous products on the down low, the complaint reads: Google restricts what Googlers say internally in order to conceal potentially illegal conduct. It instructs employees in its training programs to do the following: Dont send an email that says, I think we broke the law or I think we violated this contract.' The training program also advises employees that they should not be candid when speaking with Googles attorneys about dangerous products or violations of the law. The program advises Googlers that some jurisdictions do not recognize the attorney-client privilege and Inside the U.S., government agencies often pressure companies to waive the privilege. Story continues As a point of interest, the plaintiff in this case has been a Google employee for just over 2 years and, per the complaint, was recently outed, albeit falsely, for leaking proprietary information to the press. Google has since issued a statement to The Verge relaying that it will defend this suit vigorously because its baseless. The full suit can be read below. John Doe vs. Google, Inc. by Nick Statt on Scribd Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f326682%2fede783de-fe39-48ff-aab3-663e3ed71623 A computer's ability to accurately identify images is a white whale for many technology companies, from Baidu to Google. One Australian startup has found a corner of the market to dominate, winning contracts with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and IP Australia for algorithms that can detect and compare logos. SEE ALSO: Airbnb is getting into the airline booking disruption game with 'Flights' TrademarkVision, which has support from Australia's CEA Startup Fund, uses machine learning to support image searches that can identify similar trademarks. Having a unique trademark or logo is vital, but many intellectual property registration bodies often require outdated forms of non-visual search that make comparison difficult. Australia, for example, relies on keywords, Europe on Vienna codes and the U.S. on design codes. "The Nike logo is protected with words like 'tick' to describe the image and you're hoping that someone will use the word 'tick' when they search to see if they're copying someone else accidentally," TrademarkVision COO Cameron Mitchell explained to Mashable. The deep learning system the EUIPO has rolled out allows users to upload an image and search it against the existing database. For example, here are the results when you search Adidas' three stripe logo. Image: euipo Mitchell said the aim is to develop algorithms that can think more and more like humans when they see an image. For example, a computer might look at a beach ball and a penguin and see that they're roughly the same shape, he suggested. The challenge is to make the computer contextualise the object, as well as see its alike-ness. "What we have to do is train the computer to identify the object in the image as well," he said. "So there's a weighting between the semantic meaning what the object is and the image similarity." Story continues While Mitchell couldn't share specific cases due to client confidentiality, he said their technology is also used by companies monitoring trademarks to ensure nothing is registered that's too close to their own. "It's a shift in a very archaic industry," he said. "The deep learning models that we use in our machine learning umbrella are just scratching the surface." The company also plans to tackle other types of image data, including industrial design 3D drawings that represent a new object or structure. "We have to get user data to understand when people think two things are similar," he said. "In the trademark space, that's our biggest challenge, but our vision is much, much wider than trademarks. "Our vision is to be the leader in image recognition, full stop." By Eric Auchard and Jussi Rosendahl BELGRADE/HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia Corp said on Wednesday it had filed a number of lawsuits against Apple Inc for violating 32 technology patents, striking back at the iPhone maker's legal action targeting the one-time cellphone industry leader a day earlier. Nokia's lawsuits, filed in courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich, Germany, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, cover patents for displays, user interfaces, software, antennas, chipsets and video coding. "Since agreeing a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products," Nokia said in a statement. Apple on Tuesday had taken legal action against Acacia Research Corp and Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc [GEGGIM.UL], accusing them of colluding with Nokia to extract and extort exorbitant revenues unfairly from Apple. "Weve always been willing to pay a fair price to secure the rights of patents covering technology in our products," said Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock. "Unfortunately, Nokia has refused to license their patents on a fair basis and is now using the tactics of a patent troll to attempt to extort money from Apple by applying a royalty rate to Apples own inventions they had nothing to do with." Acacia and Conversant did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Nokia was not immediately available to comment on the Apple lawsuit. The legal action by Nokia and Apple appear to mark a revival of the "smartphone patent wars" that began five years ago, when Apple filed a series of patent infringement cases against Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> around the world, with wins and losses on both sides. Apple's lawsuit against Acacia, Conversant and Nokia was filed only one day after Ottawa-based Conversant named Boris Teksler as its new chief executive. He had worked as Apple's director of patent licensing and strategy from 2009 to 2013, the latter half of his tenure overlapping with the lawsuits against Samsung. Acacia is a publicly traded patent licensing firm based in Newport Beach, California. One of its subsidiaries sued Apple for patent infringement and was awarded $22 million by a Texas jury in September. Similarly, Conversant, which claims to own thousands of patents, announced last week that a Silicon Valley jury had awarded one of its units a $7.3 million settlement in an infringement case against Apple involving two smartphone patents. Nokia, once the world's dominant cellphone maker, missed out on the transition to smartphones triggered by Apple's introduction of the iPhone in 2007. The Finnish company sold its handset business to Microsoft Corp two years ago, leaving it with its telecom network equipment business and a bulging portfolio of mobile equipment patents. But this year, Microsoft sold its Nokia-feature phone business to a new company called HMD Global. Nokia agreed to a 10-year licensing deal with HMD, which continues to market low-cost Nokia phones and plans to introduce new Nokia smartphone models next year. (Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lisa Shumaker) Nokia Corporation NOK recently announced that it has sued Apple Inc. AAPL for patent infringement. The complaints against Apple have been filed in Germany and the U.S. Per Nokia, Apple has declined offers presented by Nokia for licensing the patented inventions of the former that are used in several products of Apple. Per Nokia, Apple had last agreed to a license covering certain patents from portfolio of Nokia Technologies in 2011. Nokias portfolio after its acquisition of NSN in 2013 and Alcatel-Lucent in 2016 comprises three valuable groups of intellectual property. The company owns a number of patents for various technologies used in smartphones, tablets, personal computers and other devices. Notably, the company has invested over EUR 115 billion in Research and Development in the past 20 years. The companys technologies are widely used across several mobile devices, including those by Apple. Nokia said that it was compelled to take the action after several years of negotiations failed. The actions concern 32 patents covering features such as user interface, antenna, software, video coding, display and chipsets. The company has filed lawsuits in the Regional Courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich in Germany and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company also mentioned that it is likely to file additional actions in other jurisdictions. Zacks Rank and Performance Nokia carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The company has been struggling to boost sales of its smartphones. However, it is rapidly expanding in the field of technology and wireless infrastructure. The company has entered into collaborations and agreements with leading names globally despite competition from peers like Motorola Solutions Inc. MSI and Clearfield Inc. CLFD. We note that Nokias stock has underperformed the Zacks categorized Wireless Equipment industry over the past six months. Shares of the company declined 16.49%, while the industry gained 7.08% over the same period. Story continues 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 NOKIA CP-ADR A (NOK): Free Stock Analysis Report APPLE INC (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report MOTOROLA SOLUTN (MSI): Free Stock Analysis Report CLEARFIELD INC (CLFD): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Berlin attack: Tunisian fugitive 'had been under surveillance' A Europe-wide manhunt is under way for the Tunisian man wanted for the Berlin lorry attack, who had been under surveillance earlier this year, media reports say. Turkish officials reportedly reached out to Apple but a report says its unlikely the tech giant will cooperate. Turkish officials reportedly contacted Apple to help them unlock the iPhone of the off-duty police officer who shot and killed a Russian ambassador on Monday, but it remains unclear if the tech titan will help, according to MacReports Thursday. Russias Andrei Karlov was shot and killed by Mevlut Mert Altintas while giving a speech at an art gallery in Turkeys capital Ankara Monday. Altintas was then shot and killed by Turkish special forces and during its ongoing investigation into officials recovered his iPhone 4S. However, the phone is locked and requires a four-digit passcode. Both Turkish and Russian authorities want to crack the phone and Russia is reportedly sending a team to Turkey to work on the device, MacReports reported. Turkish officials also contacted Apple, but as of now the report says its while Apple has yet to respond that it is clear it wont help. The stakes for such a possible refusal are much higher than when Apple last took on authorities over its proprietary software and hardware. Controversy rang across the country after Apple denied the FBIs request to unlock the iPhone of one of the attackers in the San Bernardino, California, mass shooting that took place more than 12 months ago. A messy court battle resulted as the FBI tried to use a court order to force Apple to write code that would unlock the phone without deleting any of the data it contained, NPR wrote in a rehash of the saga. Apple contended it didnt want to give law enforcement a master key and specifically cited the possibility of global powers like Russia and China asking for similar help. Eventually, the FBI was able to unlock the phone thanks to a mysterious third party with no involvement from Apple. In February, Apple CEO Tim Cook posted A Message to Our Customers detailing why the company wouldnt aid the FBIs investigation. Compromising the security of our personal information can ultimately put our personal safety at risk. That is why encryption has become so important to all of us, an excerpt of the letter read. Story continues For many years, we have used encryption to protect our customers personal data because we believe its the only way to keep their information safe. We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business. Related Articles Samsung may be done with disappointing Galaxy Note 7, but the South Korea giant is not done with the user interface that debuted with the discontinued handset. As per recent reports, Samsung is rolling out the UI to its current Note flagship, the Galaxy Note 5. More evidence has surfaced supporting an Android Nougat update for Samsungs mid-range premium devices. In particular, the Samsung Galaxy A5 will update to Android Nougat in late January, the Australian carrier Optus confirmed on its software support website. Details follow reports from SamMobile that the Korean manufacturer plans to update its entire Galaxy A series line to Android Nougat. What is interesting is the device in question is the original Galaxy A5, which released in 2014. Users expected the device would not update again after receiving Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow in August. However, support from the Australian carrier raises hope that other markets will also update the two-year-old smartphone. Samsung released an updated Galaxy A5 model in 2015, which is also expected to update to Android 7.0 Nougat. However, no specific details about that device have surfaced. Also included on Optus update list is the original model Galaxy A3; however, that smartphone has not yet been assigned an update timeline. Optus has update details for several other Samsung devices, including the Android December security update for the Galaxy Note 5 and a VoLTE Software upgrade for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. These updates are all scheduled for the end of December. However, there are no further details for Android Nougat updates on newer Samsung devices. The Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are currently being beta tested for a Android Nougat release. The official roll out is expected between late December and January. Few carriers have revealed details, except Verizon and Australian carrier Vodafone, which will both update their models in January. Related Articles "Sexbots" are a staple of science fiction, but some specialists believe the first animated lovers made of microchips, rubber and plastic will be a reality in just months (AFP Photo/) (AFP/File) London (AFP) - Sex with robots is "just around the corner", an expert told a global conference in London this week featuring interactive sex toys and discussions on the ethics of relationships with humanoids. "Sexbots" are a staple of science fiction -- the idea of robots as sex partners is explored, for instance, in recent films and television series like "Ex-Machina" and "Westworld." But some specialists believe the first animated lovers made of metal, rubber and plastic, programmed to provide sexual bliss, will take a step into reality just months from now. "Sex with robots is just around the corner, with the first sexbots coming... some time next year," artificial intelligence expert David Levy told the International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots at Goldsmiths, University of London. US California-based company Abyss Creations next year will start marketing sex robots that are billed as life-like, with the ability to talk and move like humans. Ultimately, Levy said, people should entertain the thought of marriage with robots as early as 2050. The conference in London showcased some of the latest developments in robotic sex toys, such as gadgets which allow couples to kiss, no matter how far apart they are. The "Kissenger", which attaches to your mobile phone, contains sensors to detect the pressure of a kiss and transmit it to your partner's device in real time. It has been under development for several years. Now students at Tokyo's Keio University are developing the "Teletongue", aimed at providing "remote oral interaction" and designed to be "kinky", according to co-creator Dolhathai Kaewsermwong. It allows couples to send licking sounds and sensations through cyberspace using a "lollipop", creating an "immersive experience", she explained. - 'Moral panic' - Lynne Hall, of the University of Sunderland's school of computer science, in northeast England, said that robots could create "a fantastic sexual experience". Story continues "There are lots of benefits to sex with robots... it's safe, you never catch any disease, you can control it," she told the conference. She rejected the idea that robots would replace or threaten sex with humans, however. "We are somehow fed by moral panic... 'It's disgusting... nobody will ever have sex with a human again'," Hall told the conference. "But people are regularly watching porn... and they are still having sex with humans," she said. Levy, the author of "Love and Sex with Robots", from which the annual conference takes its title, said marriage to robots would be the next logical step. "As sex with robots becomes more and more commonplace... we shall come face to face with the very real possibility of marriage to robots," the former international chess master said. And why not? Robots of the future will be "patient, kind, protective, loving", never "jealous, boastful, arrogant, rude," Levy said -- "unless of course you want them to be". "All of the following qualities and many more are likely to be achievable in software within a few decades," he added. Levy is convinced that rapid changes in attitudes to sex and marriage in recent years point to a world where "more and more people come to accept sex and love with robots". - 'Robot personhood' - In his vision, robot parents could become a social norm, with laws to acknowledge "robot personhood" and make marriage and parenting by humanoids more than just a fantasy. "The time is fast approaching when the theoretical debate must evolve into laws, and the consequences of those laws will be staggering," he said. For now, however, sexual relations with humanoids are a step too far for many. Emma Yann Zhang, a PhD student at London's City University who worked on the Kissenger prototype, believes there is still a long way to go before people will accept the idea. In a pilot study conducted by the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia, partnered with City University, participants were asked about their perceptions of sex robots, including the potential for intimacy and attraction. Although many were open to the possibility that humans could be attracted to robots, "when asked 'would you have a robot as a lover?', most of them said 'no'," said Zhang. Hall agrees that the "paradigmatic change" suggested by Levy is "not going to happen for a very long time". In the meantime AI enthusiasts will be watching closely to see how quickly the new generation of sexbots fly off the shelves next year. The telecom industry saw strong performances by most of the key stocks last week. Meanwhile, U.S. telecom behemoth Verizon Communications Inc. VZ stole much of the limelight. After Yahoo! Inc. YHOO disclosed another data breach case on Dec 14, experts now believe that its recent acquisition deal with Verizon for $4.83 billion may be in jeopardy. This was Yahoos second revelation of a hacking scandal that might have affected 1 billion of its customers. In Sep 2016, Yahoo had reported data breach of 500 million users during 2014. Notably, there were speculations of a billion dollar discount in the purchase agreement between the parties in the wake of the disclosure. In a related development, Bloomberg recently reported that Verizon is looking to take over some major companies in the digital media space. The company is systematically diversifying its business model into the digital media platform, targeting the lucrative segments of digital advertising and content creation as well as distribution. Moreover, Verizon is on track to strengthen its foothold in the fiber space especially in the dark fiber category. Additionally, management has decided to allow Samsung to help customers disable Galaxy Note 7 phones. Notably, Samsungs Note 7 line of phones has a battery issue which at times has led to explosions during charging. Last week has been a mixed one for the largest cable MSO (multi service operator) Comcast Corp. CMCSA. Canadian cable behemoth Rogers Communications Inc. RCI recently announced plans to dump its Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) platform and adopt Comcasts cloud-based X1 video platform. With this, Rogers Communication will be the third cable operator in Canada after Shaw Communications Inc. SJR and Cox Communications to shift to the X1 platform. On the other hand, Comcast might face a hefty lawsuit fine of around $100 million in relation to its service protection plan. The Attorney General of Washington has sued the company on grounds of offering far less coverage on its $4.99-a-month service protection plan than advertised. Comcast currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Story continues Meanwhile, U.S. telecom giant AT&T Inc.s T Enhanced Control, Orchestration, Management and Policy (ECOMP) virtualization platform has been in the news for quite some time now, courtesy of launch dates and test schedules. Toward this end, leading Canadian telecom operator BCE Inc.s BCE subsidiary Bell Canada is set to test AT&Ts ECOMP platform. In a separate development,regional wireless operator, United States Cellular Corp. USM recently conducted joint 5G trials with telecom infrastructure gear maker Ericsson ERIC in Madison, WI. In a separate development, CenturyLink Inc. CTL, a leading regional wireline operator, won a three-year contract to provide the U.S. Senate state offices with a unified communications-as-a-service platform for hosted voice-over-Internet-protocol service. Total contract is worth $11.4 million, which will be distributed as $3.8 million per year. Read the last Telecom Stock Roundup for Dec 15, 2016. Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories 1. The purchase of Yahoos core assets are in line with Verizons long-term view to gain traction in the lucrative mobile advertising segment. However, given the persistent erosion of Yahoos brand value, Verizon can now consider the data breach to be a material adverse event. which will allow it to change the terms of the $4.83 billion transaction. The company can not only seek renegotiation of purchase price and also has the option to opt out of the deal. (read more: Is Yahoo's Verizon Deal in Danger Post Data Breach Case?) 2. Verizons existing ad programs collect personal data related to its users, which the company now shares with its subsidiary AOL. Mobile video advertising is gradually shifting from the simple selling of banner ads on the mobile Web to automated or programmatic ad selling. Verizon is becoming a leading company that sells mobile ads across numerous websites and applications. Its advertising platform is designed to monetize applications for publishers and developers through the use of data-driven ad targeting. (read more: Is Verizon Forging Ahead with Digital Media Expansion Plans?) 3. Comcasts next-generation web-capable X1 platform offers a hybrid IP/QAM video gateway with an advanced user interface and the ability to port third-party apps that tie into a cloud-based infrastructure. X1 is a cloud-based TV guide which includes recommended web videos and a new mobile application. Using the powerful X1 platform, Rogers Communications aims to provide its customers with an advanced seamless and connected TV experience, at home or outside. (read more: Rogers Communications Drops IPTV for Comcast's X1.) 4. The recent approval from FCC regarding the $1.8 billion deal to purchase XO Communications Inc.s fiber-optic network is in line with Verizons focus to expand its fiber assets. This XO deal is expected to expand the companys metro and on-net fiber as well as millimeter wave wireless spectrum holdings in major markets. The XO Communications acquisition will help Verizon serve three of its main domains: business services, consumer FiOS and as a backhaul for its upcoming 5G wireless services. (read more: Will Verizon Pursue More Fiber-Optic Deals in 2017?) 5. We are impressed with U.S. Cellulars strategies like the introduction of a new billing system, continuous rollout of 4G LTE, enhancement of LTE handsets, completion of various spectrum transactions and monetization of non-strategic assets. These business moves might help the company boost subscriber base and arrest churn.We expect U.S. Cellular and Ericsson to continue working together to further develop the 5G technology in sync with their business requirements. (read more: U.S. Cellular and Ericsson Complete 5G Trials in Wisconsin.) Price Performance The following table shows the price movement of the major telecom players over the past week and the last six months. Company Last Week Last 6 Months VZ 2.59% -1.96% T 2.19% 2.57% S 0.84% 92.01% TMUS 2.16% 35.41% VOD -0.88% -21.75% CHL -0.30% -5.60% AMX 2.45% 1.97% CMCSA 1.39% 13.07% DISH -0.70% 13.16% Over the last five trading sessions, share price movement of most of the major telecom stocks witnessed a positive trend although none of the companies gained or lost considerable value. Similarly, over the last six months, the price performance of most telecom stocks was predominantly positive. Among the stocks that gained significantly are Sprint (92.01%), T-Mobile US (35.41%), DISH Network (13.16%) and Comcast (12.07%). On the other hand, Vodafone lost 21.75% in the same time period. Whats Next in the Telecom Space? We do not foresee any significant changes in the telecom industry or overall global economic factors that can affect the industry in the coming week. Consequently, we expect stocks to trade in line with the broader market. 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INC (YHOO): Free Stock Analysis Report ERICSSON LM ADR (ERIC): Free Stock Analysis Report AT&T INC (T): Free Stock Analysis Report BCE INC (BCE): Free Stock Analysis Report VERIZON COMM (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report SHAW COMMS-CL B (SJR): Free Stock Analysis Report ROGERS COMM CLB (RCI): Free Stock Analysis Report COMCAST CORP A (CMCSA): Free Stock Analysis Report CENTURYLINK INC (CTL): Free Stock Analysis Report US CELLULAR (USM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Uber executives will undoubtedly have mixed emotions as they arrive to work at the companys San Francisco headquarters on Thursday morning. On one hand, the companys freshly launched self-driving car pilot in San Francisco has come to an early and abrupt end. The Department of Motor Vehicles was tired of the back and forth with Uber, which had refused to obtain special permits for its self-driving Volvo SUVs because it insisted they did not fit Californias definition of true autonomous cars. So, the DMV revoked the registrations of all 16 vehicles, making it impossible to operate them legally on San Francisco roads. On the bright side, Uber launched a new fleet of Tesla taxis on Thursday, its first ever fleet of electric vehicles. Don't Miss: Our favorite iPhone 7 case isnt even really a case Were now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules, an Uber spokeswoman said following the California DMVs decision to revoke the registration on each of Ubers self-driving cars. For the time being, the company has not announced concrete plans to relaunch its self-driving car initiative. But halfway around the world, things are looking much brighter for Uber on Thursday. Uber first began to test electric vehicles for its on demand car services in London and Portugal, but fleets have yet to officially launch in either of those markets at this point. Instead, Ubers first fleet of electric taxis has just hit the roads in Madrid, where a severe problem with pollution has prompted a great deal of interest in electric vehicles. As has been the case in many markets, Uber ran into problems with Spains taxi commission following its launch in the country. Its new fleet of Teslas is seen in part as an effort to play nice with the local government in Spains capital city. Uber currently operates with a restricted permit in Madrid, which prevents the company from expanding its operations in the region. Story continues We want to do things that are in line with what the town hall wants, an Uber executive told Reuters. We would love to see more licenses awarded in the future, perhaps for greener cars so there could be more in circulation. Ubers new fleet of Tesla cars will be part of the companys UberONE service in Madrid, a costly high-end taxi service that offers premium features to passengers, such as in-car Wi-Fi connectivity. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com A new OLED screen tops the list of rumored features for next year's iPhone 8. But that could be in doubt as the company that makes the machines that create OLED panels is having a hard time meeting demand. That's the word from Bloomberg in a profile of Canon Tokki, a company that essentially controls the market for machines that can make OLED screens. The Canon-owned subsidiary can only build a few dozen machines each year and it already has a "growing backlog" of units it needs to create for OLED panel makers. If Canon Tokki can't cut through that backlog, Bloomberg says, it could impact the number of iPhones with OLEDs that Apple could offer next year. In an interview with Bloomberg, Canon Tokki's CEO Teruhisa Tsugami said that customers on its waiting list need to wait about two years before they can get one of its $85 million OLED-producing machines. And while it's unclear where Apple's manufacturing partners might be in line, the chief executive told Bloomberg that his company is "doing all we can" to get machines out the door more quickly. MORE: The Best iOS Apps You're Not Using (But Should Be) Since 2017 marks the 10th anniversary for the iPhone, expectations are building that Apple will come out with a major overhaul of its smartphone after releasing a relatively modest update to its smartphone lineup this year. One potential area for Apple to improve would be the iPhone's display, which currently features an LCD panel. Samsung's flagship phones, in contrast, feature OLED screens, which offer richer colors, better contrast and black levels and wider viewing angles. They also would allow Apple to go with a curved design on its next iPhone. But if Apple's going to swap out its LCD screens for OLED ones, it will need OLED panels. And this new Bloomberg report suggests there could be a bottleneck in the supply chain. Apple could find a workaround by only adding OLED screens to some iPhone 8 models. To that end, some Apple watchers expect the company to produce three iPhone models in 2017, with an OLED panel being one of the marquee features on a high-end iPhone. Nevertheless, based on that Bloomberg report, it seems like the likelihood of an OLED-equipped iPhone will come down to Canon Tokki and just how quickly it can get manufacturing units out the door. Story continues See also : Best Last-Minute Gifts FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, the sign outside the National Security Administration (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Md. A federal oversight board that concluded the NSAs once-secret phone records surveillance program was unconstitutional is in disarray just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will have only two remaining members as of Jan. 7, and zero Democrats, even though its required under federal law to operate as an independent, bipartisan agency. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) WASHINGTON (AP) A federal board responsible for protecting Americans against abuses by spy agencies is in disarray just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will have only two remaining members as of Jan. 7 and zero Democrats, even though it is required to operate as an independent, bipartisan agency. The vacancies mean it will lack the minimum three members required to conduct business and can work only on ongoing projects. Trump would have to nominate new members who would have to be confirmed by the Senate. The board was revitalized after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's disclosures on the scope of U.S. spying in 2013. It notably concluded that the NSA's phone surveillance program was illegal. Since then, it has been crucial in ensuring members of Congress and the public have a window into the highly secretive and classified world of intelligence agencies. But it's unclear whether Trump will support robust intelligence oversight. During his campaign, Trump appeared to support strengthened intelligence overall and surveillance of mosques, but he's more recently expressed distrust of intelligence agencies. The Trump transition team didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Jim Dempsey, a Democrat, will leave the board Jan. 3 because for months the Senate has not confirmed his re-nomination by President Barack Obama. And former U.S. Judge Patricia Wald, the only other Democrat, informed the White House this month that she intends to retire effective Jan. 7. The board also will lose its executive director, Sharon Bradford Franklin, who plans to step down before Trump's presidency, according to an individual with knowledge of the board's operations who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Already in limbo is a public oversight report on the use of a Reagan-era executive order that since 1981 has authorized sweeping powers by intelligence agencies like the NSA to spy even on innocent Americans abroad and never has been subject to meaningful oversight from Congress or courts. The senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein of California, has said her committee has not been able to sufficiently oversee programs operated under the order. Story continues The privacy panel's report on the order is stalled and there's no work being done on it, according to the individual, who has knowledge about the project's status. Some individual agency reports related to the order were expected to be completed before the board loses its quorum, the person said. Another review, of a 2014 presidential directive that details U.S. signals-intelligence activities for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, is on track to be released before Jan. 20, the individual said. That review was requested by Obama. One of the board's two remaining Republicans, Rachel Brand, whose term officially expires in January, could continue through March. If Trump were to move forward with any board nomination, she may continue through the end of the year. Should Brand leave, Republican Elisebeth Collins would become the last board member; her term ends in January 2020. The oversight board was created by statute in 2007. Its members serve part-time and required to be able to maintain a top-secret clearance. While lacking enforcement ability to impose its recommendations on the intelligence community, the board does have the "power of persuasion and invoking public concern about issues," said former board chairman David Medine, a Democrat who resigned a year early, in July, to work for a development organization. That power is significantly diminished without the minimum three members necessary to report findings to the public. The board's review of intelligence agencies' use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the NSA used to conduct bulk collection of domestic telephone records, concluded their program was illegal and should be shut down. That finding split along party lines with the Democrats in the majority. The review also drove passage of the USA Freedom Act, which went into effect in November 2015. It prevents the government's bulk collection of Americans' phone records and requires a request to a phone company first to be vetted by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rather than an internal agency administrator. Congress has at various points, including in the 2017 intelligence budget bill, put in provisions to limit the board's authorities or constrain its spending. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in an emailed statement that the panel's role as a government watchdog is "absolutely critical now." He said Congress needs to ensure the board functions as intended by defending its authority and making sure its new members are committed to independent oversight. The board contributes "important information to the public discourse and debate," said Neema Singh Guliani, legislative counsel with the ACLU. But if it can't do its job, maybe "we're in the same lack of oversight that led to the abuses of the past." ___ Follow Tami Abdollah on Twitter at https://twitter.com/latams Mireille Soria is exiting her post as co-president of DreamWorks Animation, leaving Bonnie Arnold, who shared the co-president title with her, to serve as president. Soria plans to remain at the studio as a producer of its Madagascar franchise. Soria and Arnold were named co-presidents of feature animation at DWA in January 2015, following the departure of Bill Damaschke as chief creative officer, and in August 2016, they were both named co-presidents of the studio as part of a restructuring in the wake of Comcast's $3.8 billion acquisition of DWA. Before moving into the executive suit, Soria had produced such DWA movies as Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Sinbad: Legends of the Seven Seas before producing 2005's Madagascar and its various sequels. As an exec, she was involved in overseeing the upcoming 2017 releases The Boss Baby and Captain Underpants. In a Dec. 12 memo, Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley informed the DWA staff that Soria would be leaving her executive role to focus on producing. Arnold, Langley wrote, "will remain president, with full oversight of development and production for the feature animation group." Langley went on to say, "Mireille is an incredibly passionate and talented filmmaker who has contributed to the DreamWorks Animation legacy. She has shepherded a successful slate of films during her tenure at the studio, including the Madagascar franchise, of which she will continue to be involved as a producer. I want to personally thank both Mireille and Bonnie for their guidance and stewardship during this time of transition. As we close out 2016, we are energized for the New Year and looking forward to accomplishing great things together in 2017." Black soot smeared on suspended CIAA chief Karkis face Two persons smeared black soot on the face of suspended Chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Lokman Singh Karki, at the Supreme Court premises in Kathmandu on Thursday. Upper Tamakoshi project: Completion deadline pushed back again The much-touted Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project is going to miss its construction deadline of July 2018 as its contractors, consultant and the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) have agreed to push back the completion date to December 2018. Concern over ID check lapse The Indian government has expressed concern over Nepal Airlines carrying Indian travellers without checking their original government-issued ID to confirm their Indian nationality. Constitution amendment: Voices against bill rise as oppns strength in House reaches 201 Dissenting voices against the constitution amendment bill have grown louder at Parliament, with three more fringe forces joining the chorus of the six parties led by the main opposition CPN-UML. Enforce laws to check VAW, say rights activists Women rights defenders have criticised the government for failing to enforce laws regarding violence against women, saying that non-implementation of laws has given rise to incidents of violence against in women in recent days. Ex-king concerned over current state Expressing grave concern over the current state of political affairs, former king Gyanendra Shah has called on people to shoulder their responsibility to safeguard the nation from efforts to break the unity between the Mountains, the Hills and the Tarai. Fight against hunger Govt and development partners should ensure enough food reaches deficient areas Gathabandhan lashes out at CPN-UML The Sanghiya Gathabandhan including the Madhesi alliance has issued a statement against the main opposition CPN-UML. India agrees to develop, upgrade four air routes India has agreed to develop the Trans-Himalaya 2 air route and redefine the Kathmandu-Mahendranagar-Delhi (L626) route as a bi-directional route during the Nepal-India air service talks which concluded in New Delhi on Wednesday. Infra summit from Feb 19 Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), an apex body of the countrys manufacturing and service industries, is organising the second edition Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2017 in Kathmandu from February 19-20. Pramod Mishra is a biweekly columnist for The Kathmandu Post. He is the department chair of English Studies at Lewis University in the United States. Luxury hotels announce Christmas, New Year deals Luxury hotels in Nepal have come up with exiting deals for Christmas and Gregorian New Year, offering an array of treats from brunch and dinner to celebration parties and retreats. Mahanagar Yatayat adding 40 new buses Mahanagar Yatayat Pvt Ltd will be adding 40 more new disabled- and eco-friendly buses to its fleet in the next six months. Nepal condemns killing of Russian envoy in Ankara Nepal on Wednesday condemned the killing of Russian ambassador to Turkey in Ankara. Package deal on major issues soon: PM Dahal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that major political parties will reach a package deal on constitution amendment, elections and impeachment against the suspended chief of the anti-graft body CIAA. Ramechhap bridge projects: Contractors told to show progress or face termination The Division Road Office (DRO) in Khurkot, Sindhuli, has warned of terminating the contracts for bridge projects in Ramechhap district if the concerned contractors fail to make progress within a month. Reconstruction woes Providing succour to earthquake survivors is a national priority as well as a humanitarian imperative Syria conflict: Aleppo evacuations resume after 24-hour delay The final phase of the evacuation of rebel-held eastern districts of the Syrian city of Aleppo has restarted, after being stalled for a day. Tiwari cremated, Rupandehi admin to recommend for martyrs honour The family of slain Durga Tiwari, Rupandehi district chairman of Youth Association Nepal (YAN), received his body on Wednesday after the local administration assured them to recommend the government to declare him a martyr. Workshop held to seek feedback on Muslim Commission Bill Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development Hitraj Pandey on Wednesday urged all concerned to remain alert to ensure the rights of the Muslim community. Parliaments Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises wants the Governor Bank of Uganda Prof Emanuel Mutebile to resign or be relieved of his duties. The committee in its recommendations to parliament wants Mutebile to be held personally responsible for allegedly acting outside the law and giving financial guarantees to investors in the roads sector without the approval of the House. The committee Chaired by Bugweri County MP Abdul Katuntu also wants the State Minister for Finance Gabriel Ajedra to be sacked over allegations of influence peddling in the award of contracts to contractors. COSASE yesterday submitted part of its probe findings that exposed gross rot in several government enterprises including the Uganda National Roads Authority, Uganda Railways Corporation and Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, among others. Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa asked parliament to allow government to take action on all parties involved before any such drastic action can be considered. FUFA has confirmed three different build up matches for the Uganda Cranes in January 2016. The national team will train until 31st December 2016 when they fly out for Tunisia where they will have the first training camp. In Tunisia, they will play two buildups with the countries elite clubs before the international friendly against Tunisia slated on the 4th January 2016. They will again fly out on the following day to Dubai for the second training camp. In Dubai, Uganda will play Slovakia and Cote dIvoire on the 8th and 11th January 2017 respectively. The new programme implies that the earlier planned international build up matches against Gabon and Libya have been cancelled. the finance director Decolas Kiiza also confirmed that the financial resources promised by Government will be availed since the FUFA budget of Ug.shs 4.39 billion is already on the desk of the Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Kataha Museveni By Joseph Kato President Yoweri Museveni has directed security agencies to screen all suspects of Kasese conflict so that the innocent ones are released. This has been revealed by Christine Muhindo, the presidential advisor on Rwenzori matters. While unveiling a six member committee appointed by the president to ensure harmony returns in the Rwenzori sub-region, Muhindo said he was aware that some of the suspects were mere casual workers in the Rwenzururu palace. Over 120 people were killed and 154 including King Wesley Mumbere arrested during the clashes between security forces and royal guards of the Rwenzururu kingdom on November 26 and 27. The Police is yet to give a comment on how it will would implement the presidents directive. The Jinja Chief Magistrates Court last week charged the suspects with several counts including terrorism, treason, murder and aggravated robbery. The U.S. Army has reportedly stopped an effort to collect and analyze data from blast gauges mounted on helmets and clothing to detect battlefield injuries, according to a news report. Even though the devices captured reams of data for researchers, including the potentially harmful effects of firing shoulder-fired weapons in confined spaces, they apparently didn't do exactly what officials were hoping for -- and that was to determine how close troops had to be near a blast to receive a concussion, according to a report by NPR's Jon Hamilton. While Army Secretary Eric Fanning said the Pentagon's "current inventory of blast gauges does not provide consistent and reliable data in the training or combat environment," retired Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the service's former vice chief of staff who led a campaign to raise awareness about the harmful effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mental health issues, called the decision to shelve the devices "a huge mistake." The report references blast gauges made by BlackBox Biometrics, a firm initially funded by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. But the military has tested other blast-protective technology and products, as well. BAE Systems, for example, makes small sensors that monitor and record the overpressures and accelerations experienced through head impacts or movements. The British-based defense contractor's Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Systems mounts inside a combat helmet to measure the pressure and angular and linear accelerations from traumatic events. "If an explosion, for example, causes quick head movements or pressures that exceed predefined thresholds, HEADS records the event," its website states. "This stored event data can later be easily downloaded through a USB connection, allowing medical personnel to receive information crucial in determining the potential for head and brain injuries." The Army beginning in 2007 put blast sensors into tens of thousands of helmets to monitor head injuries from roadside bombs in Afghanistan. The Pentagon and NCAA in 2014 announced a joint study into concussions. And the Army in 2015 awarded the University of Southern Mississippi a $4.9 million grant to conduct research into helmet liners for soldiers. Vice Adm. Matthew Nathan, surgeon general of the Navy, last year told Military.com he hopes the partnerships pay off. 'It's not standard practice yet, but the experimental prototypes are allowing us to determine what types of hits and what types of helmets provide the best protection against a concussion," he said. "One of our challenges is that two individuals can receive the same apparent force injury to their heads and one comes out completely functional and doing fine and the other has headache and some post-concussive signs," Nathan said. "So what it is about individual makeup as well that may make you more susceptible to an injury than your buddy?" Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 52F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 52F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. AUBURN A Steuben County man admitted shooting at an off-duty police officer and burglarizing a home during a hearing in DeKalb Superior Court I Wednesday. Tyler Gaiski, 23, of the 4600 block of West C.R. 100S, Angola, pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony, and burglary of a dwelling, a Level 4 felony, as part of a plea agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Gaiski faces a sentence of 26 years, with 22 years to serve and four years on probation. Judge Kevin Wallace took Gaiskis pleas and the plea agreement under advisement and scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 6. Giving one-word answers to questions from his attorney, Gaiski admitted shooting a handgun toward off-duty Kendallville police officer Michael McCann on Sept, 22, 2015. Gaiski admitted his actions created a substantial risk of death to McCann. He also admitted breaking into a dwelling with the intent to commit a felony or theft. Gaiski originally was charged with attempted murder, a Level 1 felony, along with torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal, a Level 6 felony. Those counts will be dismissed if Wallace accepts the plea agreement. The burglary count was amended from a more serious charge of burglary armed with a deadly weapon, a Level 2 felony, as part of the agreement. According to an affidavit filed by DeKalb County Sheriffs Department Detective Ben Rice, the burglary occurred Sept. 22, 2015, on C.R. 28 near Corunna. The affidavit said a son of the homeowner noticed a vehicle parked at the rear of the home, near its walk-out basement. He called his father and learned that no one was supposed to be in the home. The son called 911, and a neighbor, Michael McCann, who is a Kendallville police officer, met him at the end of the driveway. McCann later told Rice he had been contacted by the homeowner, who informed him that someone might be breaking into his house. Armed with a flashlight and his duty firearm, McCann went to the rear of the house, where he saw a car backed up to the house. He identified himself as a police officer and shined his light on a man who was sitting in the drivers seat. McCann said he instructed the man to show his hands, and the man suddenly pointed a firearm at him and began firing six to eight rounds, the affidavit said. McCann returned fire and retreated from the area by running near trees and a detached garage. After the shooter sped away in the car, police found Gaiski near the Noble-DeKalb county line road and Mapes Road, where the car had crashed near a woods. K-9 units found Gaiski near a cornfield about 300 yards from the car, where he was taken into custody and commented to an officer that he hoped he had not killed anyone, the affidavit said. Rice said Gaiski told him he was going to break into a house to steal items for money to bond his girlfriend out of jail, the affidavit said. He told Rice he did not know who lived at the home on C.R. 28, but he knocked on the door, and when no one answered, he knew no one was home, the affidavit said. Click, buzz, whoosh! Donald Trump's disconnect with facts was supposed to cease once he took the election. His latest whopper proves that's not going to happen. After the CIA's disclosure that Russian hackers tried to influence the election in Trump's favor, Trump bleated that we can't trust an agency that got the intelligence so wrong in the run-up to the Iraq War. Whoa. That wasn't a CIA failure; Dick Cheney was pressuring the CIA to give the Bush Administration quasi-facts to support its inevitable march for war. His personal visits to CIA headquarters in 2002 are well-documented. Remember yellowcake from Niger, mobile chemical production labs, and a mushroom cloud as the smoking gun? These were George Bush/Dick Cheney/Donald Rumsfeld/Condoleezza Rice fantasies, not CIA failures. President-elect Trump continues to quote fiction as fact. He did not win a "massive, landslide victory," as he told Fox News on Dec. 11. He lost the popular vote by more than 2.5 million votes and his Electoral College victory will rank historically as no "landslide" at all. Donald Trump sits in a golden chair in a tower with his name emblazoned on it. He lies to the American people with utter disregard for the dignity of the office he will soon inhabit. He could go a long way to reach out to the majority of American people who did not vote for him; he could keep his promise to release his tax returns. Let us judge from actual facts who Donald Trump represents. I can remember with great anticipation opening up Christmas presents on Christmas morning. I have to admit that you could always tell who the gifts were from by the way they were wrapped. My mother had an uncanny ability of being able to wrap even the most odd-shaped presents with a graceful art. On the other hand, the presents I wrapped stood out, too, but for the opposite reason. Corners were far from crisp, paper was cut unevenly and even sometimes too short. I was comforted that it was the thought and the effort that counted. This Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the incarnate son of God. If you pause and reflect on the nature of his birth, it would have been an entirely unremarkable event apart from the events of the Magi and the Shepherds. A baby born in a stable was actually not an uncommon occurrence. His bed is a feeding trough. Even the town of Bethlehem was rather unremarkable: House of Bread doesnt scream glory and majesty fitting for the place where the incarnate creator of the heavens and the earth was to be born. In fact, it would seem that God chose a surprisingly unremarkable wrapping in his Christmas gift to the world. But really, this is the good news of the incarnation itself. That God would humble himself to dwell with us; to get his hands dirty and feet smelly as he lived among us. Hes called a king, but this king doesnt rule from palaces, but makes his throne on a hill outside the capitol city between two criminals as he dies for the sins of the world. It is this picture that is easy to lose sight of in our pristine Nativity scenes with a clean and shining babe in a manger. Its this same child who was born to go to the cross for you and me. Unremarkable? By many accounts, yes. And I thank God for that, because the only savior I have came into this world of rough edges and peculiar wrapping to save even the likes of me and you. Merry Christmas. On Dec. 14, La Crescent-Hokah Superintendent Kevin Cardille hosted the second annual state of the school meeting in the La Crescent High School cafeteria. While parents, residents, staff and teachers enjoyed cookies and coffee provided by the teachers association, Cardille focused on not only the recently failed levy and the current financial situation, but also spent a good portion of the meeting outlining changes the school has made in the past year. The positives During the presentation, Cardille ticked off a list of accomplishments within the district. Since last December, the school hired an architectural firm to provide an analysis of the elementary school building, the districts budget was balanced for the first time in five years, and the school focused on providing community education programs, as well as walking trails with benches and high-tech classrooms that promote the schools focus on going paperless. There was a civil rights review that scrutinized the high school building, and as a result, the district transformed an extra room next to the boys locker room into a drama room. The reviews intent was to provide equal opportunity, as the boys room had more lockers and space than the girls. The schools ACT scores are still among the highest in the Coulee Region, Cardille noted. The Booster Club was recently approached by a group of students to start a cheer squad, which will materialize after the holiday break. Cardille also spent a portion of the night going over initiatives that the district is putting into action. They include courses that will allow students to earn credit to Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical, improvement in Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test outcomes, facility maintenance and a career track that includes concurrent enrollment, Advanced Placement courses, a college-level examination program, and career exploration. The future A demographic study commissioned by the district earlier this year showed that the declining enrollment trend has plateaued. The school district captures around 32 percent of the births and transplanted families in La Crescent. The early childhood programs the district has been promoting show that there is an increase in 3- and 4-year-olds compared to the past few years. The study initially predicted that the district would be losing students, but instead, enrollment stayed about the same. As school districts are funded by the state based on of how many students are enrolled, this means positives gains for projected state funding this year. The levy By May 1, 2017, the school district is required let teachers know if they will be returning for the following school year. That means any cuts the district will make have to be decided in the first four months of the year. In the past five years, the school board has chosen to spend down the districts fund balance. While they have annually used $350,000 of the balance in the past few years, that fund wasnt tapped for this school year. This is not a perfect science, Cardille said. After last years meeting, my only preconceived notion was that we needed a levy, we needed to get that through. Work with me on the next question. Why? What can you do to help? Cardille encouraged those who attended to not only stay involved, but to bring someone with them when they attend meetings. We have a school board meeting next week; give us suggestions, Cardille said. The issue There were no decisions made at Wednesdays school board meeting, just discussion. Currently, the target is to split $300,000 worth of reductions into five different areas: elementary school, middle school, high school, buildings and grounds maintenance, and activities. The other $200,000 needed will come out of the fund balance. Concerned residents asked Cardille a myriad of questions. When could the levy be redone? Did we cut from the fund balance this year? If we make the cuts this year, can we restore the programs after passing a levy next November? and Can we look into state funding? Cardilles responded to each: November is the next opportunity to pass a referendum; no, the fund balance wasnt used; and yes, the district could restore programs cut if the next levy passes. Cardille also emphasized legislative meetings in the future, but thought that currently, the district should work with the current bottom line. We need to keep focus on what we immediately need to work on, he said. If the levy passes next November, then the district will see those funds at the beginning of the next fiscal year on July 1, 2018. The next steps are to compile all the revenue and reduction ideas that we collect tonight. Some ideas might not be possible, but I urge you to write down those ideas anyway, he said. You are going to come up with things that we wont think of. We need you to bring those ideas forward. At the next four to five school board meetings, the decisions for cuts will have to be made. This (next Novembers levy) has to pass, obviously. Well be in a worse spot if it doesnt pass, La Crescent resident Matt Todd said. This was an informative first meeting to figure out where were at. Todd, a father of a fourth-grader, sixth-grader and ninth-grader, believes that the marketing campaign for the failed levy was not good enough. Where was the marketing? Rural people didnt know, people in town didnt know, Todd said. When I grew up, there were a number of levies and there were vote yes signs everywhere. Its just frustrating. Todd was echoed by other parents at the meeting. I appreciate that the superintendent is listening to the community and taking the time to do these things, La Crescent resident Michelle Shippy said. The hardest part is that everyone in this room voted yes. We cant change what happened; we need to move forward. Under the proposed areas for revenue ideas, attendees that evening filled out sticky notes, with some that said 300 for 300: stop the cuts. 300 for 300 After the official state of the school meeting ended, La Crescent resident Steve Mau and his committee presented their grassroots movement. They are asking the community, for this one time only, to help donate to the school. Their goal is to not only raise community spirit, but help lessen the cuts the district will make this year by raising the $300,000 needed. Mau announced that as a 38-year resident of La Crescent, he will donate $1,000 to the cause. If we can do this, think what thatll do to the moral of the teachers and staff, he said. Theyll be able to create things versus coming to work every day and thinking about, What do I have to give up? Megan Budde knows how hard work and perseverance can pay off. The 28-year-old student from Brownsville completed Western Technical Colleges nursing program with a pinning celebration Dec. 15. She was also the first Western student to receive a Wisconsin Nurses Association Future Nursing Leader Award. A single mom who went through several stops and starts to her education, Budde said the honor sums up her view that life isnt easy, but the journey is worth it. The award makes me feel like all the hard work was noticed, she said. And worth it. Budde said she had always liked Western since it was close to home and two of her brothers, Drew and Darren, attended the college. She also comes from a family of nurses. Her mother Mickey Budde-Jangula and brother Jarad are nurses. She enrolled at the college in 2006 and started taking her general education courses. She left Western for a year to study psychology at Winona State University and then a family tragedy struck. Her first semester at WSU, Buddes brother Drew died in a car accident, and it was up to her to help pick up the pieces. Many of her family members were devastated by the loss, and Megan did a lot of the work planning the funeral arrangements for her brother. She tried to go back to school after everything that had happened, but had fallen too far behind in her coursework and had to withdraw for the semester. The next semester, she fought to get back into the program, but after that semester was over, decided to take some time off for reflection. But her family kept pushing her to finish her education, especially from her mother, who wanted her to finish her nursing degree. She decided to come back to Western in 2012. Along with her classes, Budde also had to raise her son Kamden, who is now 9, by herself as Kamdens father was unable to care for his son. It wasnt always easy balancing work, school and family, and Budde said there were a lot of nights when supper was a burnt frozen pizza as she focused on getting back into school. Her mom was a big help, she said, and watched Kamden on some of those nights when she had a lot of school work. The teachers at Western were also really good to work with, she said, and were understanding when she had a family emergency or something would come up that impacted her ability to make a test or attend one of her practical experience days. Her first semester back at the college, Budde said her teachers gave the students a speech about the impact of having a positive attitude. She tried to live by that motto by always looking forward and trying to be a role model and mentor for her fellow students. Nursing instructor Charlene Hopkins was the instructor who nominated Budde for the award. Hopkins said Buddes efforts balancing her family and school work while mentoring students and staying active in leadership positions in the student nursing organization not only motivated her peers, but the instructors she worked with. Ive seen her grow not only as a nursing student, but as a caring individual, Hopkins said. Shes been a tremendous asset to the program. It is kind of hard to let her go. I wish to express my gratitude to Winona County Commissioners Greg Olson, Marie Kovecsi and Jim Pomeroy for voting in favor of banning the extraction of industrial silica sand at the meeting Nov. 22. You are courageous leaders and I praise you for your tenacity and wisdom while dealing with this delicate issue. This effort is the outstanding outcome of community work and action. This effort is also a clear indication that social justice, environmental stewardship and sustainability remain high values for a majority of citizens in Winona County. I am proud to live in a community that understands the imperative needs of conserving our natural resource base (soil, air, water, biodiversity) despite the emphases on continuing to consume the same as if they were inexhaustible. I am proud to be part of a community that is willing to respond critically to illusory narratives that are supportive of developing wealth for few profiteers and an economy that is extractive and oblivious of long-term environmental consequences. Im excited to live in a community that is still willing to counteract the bullying of the corporative, industrial complex with consistency and committment. Im enthusiastic for the support that the position taken by Winona County with the frac sand ban is giving to the water protectors in North Dakota. This community success will hopefully trigger more action and successes in the future ahead because the time has come to value more our natural capital than our individual bank accounts. The banning of frac sand mining has made history and this achievement can be considered the stepping-stone to a sustainable development in our region. I am sure more counties will soon follow Winonas example and many years from now, our great-grandchildren and their children will be greatful for the decision we have just made. TOMAH Dennis David Pierce, 83, of Tomah died Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016, at his home. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, Torkelson Funeral Home, with burial with full military honors to follow at St. Marys Catholic Cemetery, both in Tomah. Visitation from 9 a.m. until the time of Mass. ONALASKA Globe University is pulling out of its Wisconsin and South Dakota locations by the end of the year. The announcement, which can be found on the Globe University website, states the company will cease operations at those campuses at the end of the month. Globe, which operates a campus in Onalaska, will transfer administration of those campuses to Utah-based Broadview University, and students will have the option to complete their program at the campus or online through an agreement approved with Broadview. This holiday season will not be so happy for the thousands of students forced to complete their programs elsewhere, the hundreds of employees losing their jobs, or the communities that depend on a skilled workforce, according to a statement on the Globe website. We will continue to work with regulators to seek more reasonable actions and for our other programs to continue. According to the most recent federal numbers, the Onalaska campus enrolled more than 170 students and had an average annual tuition of $18,756. Nearly 75 percent of students received an average of $4,200 in Pell Grants, and more than 80 percent receive an average of $7,100 in federal student loans. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swansons office filed a lawsuit against for-profits Globe and the Minnesota School of Business in 2014, claiming the institutions used deceptive practices to enroll students in criminal justice programs. In the aftermath of the judges ruling in favor of the suit, state officials took steps to close the Minnesota campuses of Globe University and its sister institution Minnesota School of Business. More recently, the U.S. Department of Education revoked access to federal student aid programs, a decision which globe officials have said they are appealing. In a statement, education department officials said the university preyed on those looking to become public servants and abused taxpayer funds. Western Technical College officials have reached out to former Globe students about opportunities to continue their studies at the public two-year college. Details about transferring, including registration, can be found on Westerns website, and questions can be directed to Enrollment Services and registration assistant Lacey Hemmersbach at hemmersbachl@westerntc.edu or 608-785-9884. The health care ratings at several Wisconsin state nursing homes for veterans have tumbled again in the wake of annual certification inspections that found multiple problems in facilities. The latest decline for the state Department of Veterans Affairs facilities at King comes as the homes face a state audit and Gov. Scott Walker searches for a new department secretary. The rating for Kings Olson Hall dropped to two stars, or below average, on the five-star scale used by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website created to allow consumers to compare quality among nursing homes. The rating was downgraded because of violations found in a September inspection. Olson had a five-star rating from 2014 through the end of November despite a March 9 inspection citation for substandard care and placing residents in immediate jeopardy related to the death of a resident. According to a CMS spokeswoman, a clerical error at the state Department of Health Services prevented the citation from lowering the ranking for months while Walker and WDVA secretary John Scocos touted Kings apparent top ratings in response to public criticism of care given to veterans at King. Walker has since announced Scocos would resign effective Jan. 7. Governor Walkers top concern is the care of our veterans, Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said in a statement Wednesday. The next secretarys top priority will be to ensure our veterans are receiving the best services possible. The Democratic leader of the state Senate said Republicans who control state government have been dragging their feet on addressing problems at the veterans homes. Rather than addressing issues with staff shortages, outdated medical equipment and crumbling infrastructure, Republicans relied on a flawed rating system to justify their inaction and ignore serious concerns from veterans and staff, Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, said in a statement. All four King units for the first time had overall top ratings in October when the status of one of them, Stordock Hall, rose from four stars to five. On Nov. 28, after the clerical error related to Olson Hall was discovered, Olson was reduced to four stars overall. It was given two stars in the category of health inspections, four stars for staffing, and five stars for quality measures. The September certification inspection, which produced seven citations, contributed to the most recent reduction in Olsons health rating, which fell to one star, with the overall rating dropping to two stars. The ratings are based on three years of inspections, which means Olsons status no longer takes into account its 2013 certification inspection that resulted in no citations, said WDVA spokeswoman Carla Vigue. Another of the four King units also saw its ratings fall. MacArthur Hall dropped to four stars overall and four stars for health. And Boland Hall, a state veterans home in Union Grove, dropped from four stars to three stars overall and from three stars to two for health. Vigue said that despite the declines in the homes ratings in the health inspection category, they remained above average in categories of staffing and quality of care. Ensuring that veterans and those living at our homes receive the best care possible (is) something we take very seriously and work very hard at, Vigue said. As always, when issues do arise during these inspections, just as they do in any 24-hour skilled nursing facility, corrective action plans are put in place so that we may make improvements. WDVA was fined $76,900 in the March 9 citation, but is appealing. The La Crosse Police Department will take over security in January for the citys parking ramps, having civilian aides replace the private security hired last February. Police Chief Ron Tischer told the citys Municipal Parking Utility Board Wednesday that his part-time civilian aides will begin working in the ramps overnight. They wont be officers; theyll be civilian security people, which will have our vehicle, our radio and direct contact with dispatch, Tischer said. It will replace the current system where security officers who see a problem need to call the 911 dispatch office and relay the issue to the dispatcher, who then radios police. You know how the telephone game works. You dont get the true picture of whats actually happening, Tischer said. With the police department taking it over, the security guards will have police radios, letting officers know directly what the issue is while simultaneously notifying the dispatch center. Itll be a lot more efficient, a lot quicker, a lot better service and a lot more police exposure to the ramps when somethings going on, Tischer said. The move will also save the city money, because the security aides work part-time. When it comes to vandalism and other security issues, the city has seen serious improvement this year, parking utility coordinator Jim Flottmeyer said. Even with the winter and the bad weather, its been better, Flottmeyer said. Is it ever going to be 100 percent? Probably not. Far fewer people have been found sleeping in the ramps after area groups have stepped up to combat homelessness this year, as well as an increased police presence in the form of downtown neighborhood resource officers. The police department has done a really good job of keeping an eye on it, Flottmeyer said. The city has seen about a dozen broken gate arms this year, compared to 124 in 2015 although it should be noted the arms were off for several months while city officials weighed how to address the issue and the arms are left up during the weekend. Anybody who has done it on purpose has been issued a ticket, Flottmeyer said. Council member Martin Gaul, who serves as vice chair of the committee, said he was grateful for the hard work of Flottmeyer and the police department, saying their leadership has been a positive move for the city. Its not just a parking ramp issue. We all know there are negative things happening in the ramps, shall we say; its not just somebody bunking there, Gaul said. Its important for the city to address all of those issues, he added. I work with this little old gal who was able to morph from desperate panic to Christmas joy when a teller at Altra Federal Credit Union became an angel flying close enough to the ground to give her a lift. Now, before anybody gets all medieval on my heinie, as Al Yankovich might say (actually, he did say that, in Amish Paradise), Ill note that Kim Fiedler and I hark back to the day when you could call a chick a gal without being accused of being politically incorrect. (Full disclosure: I harken quite a few years farther back than she does.) And calling her little isnt a slight, because this gentle, talented artiste is a mere 4-foot-11 (and that is a factor in the story). Kim, who is so unassuming that she rejected the opportunity to get her picture in the paper today, also is an angel of sorts for me, because Im going to let her do the heavy lifting for this column by stealing her Facebook post from Dec. 16: I met my Christmas angel today. I took the day off from work so I could get all my Christmas projects, shopping and errands done before the busy work week coming up. One of the disadvantages of living in an apartment is having to use the coin-op laundry, which means I need lots of quarters. So, I started out my errands by stopping by Altra Federal Credit Union near my home to get quarters. Experience tells me they cant send that many quarters through the drive-up, so I headed on into the lobby. For those of you unfamiliar with Altra, the tellers are hidden behind a wall; transactions are handled via closed-circuit TV. After I submitted my request, a teller named Becca asked me to pick up the phone to converse with me privately. She asked if I had checked my bank balance recently, that I was overdrawn. Not a little, but by over $400! I felt the blood drain from my face and almost fainted. My hearts racing. That cant be! I just deposited a check via the night depository last weekend. I know I had not spent that much and then some. Becca checked all records no trace of a deposit made. Perhaps the deposit slip fell back into your car, she said. Im positive I put it into the night depository. Being only 411, using a drive-up is rather an ordeal. I have to actually get out of my car to reach the depository. It was dark and snowy; there was a kid skateboarding or riding a bike or something through the parking lot. I remember clearly putting my envelope inside and shutting the depository securely. Becca went back and checked again. Nope, no check was deposited. By this time, I have tears running down my face: How can I pay my bills, get groceries, finish holiday shopping, let alone do my laundry? Becca came out to the lobby, gave me a big hug and said, Dont worry, well get to the bottom of this I promise! She actually went outside the building to the drive-up night depository, looked around, felt around and sure enough, all scrunched up in the base of the depository door was my check, deposit slip inside the wrinkled up envelope! Hallelujah! Becca didnt stop there. She went back through my account records and credited back all the overdraft funds and printed out a statement so I could see. And she didnt even stop there. Once I was finally on my way running errands, my phone rang it was Becca assuring me all was well with my account and was checking to make sure I wasnt having trouble using my account! Christmas saved by my angel, Becca! Now, if that doesnt warm the cockles of your heart, you must have a heart of stone. As for Becca Legg, well, she humbly downplays kudos for herself, saying in a phone interview, One of the things we strive for at Altra is to help members have a pleasant experience. Here and there, I do what I can. I saw her struggling, and I tried to help, said Legg, 25, who works at the Altra office at 2715 Losey Blvd. S. in La Crosse. Fiedler is the first one to say that Legg not only tried but also succeeded in averting a disaster, right down to the comforting embrace. She hugged me like I was some blubbering old grandma, Fiedler said during a conversation Monday, smiling and adding, Well, I guess I was a blubbering old grandma. Legg indicated that Altra angels surround her, saying, All of us here do that not just me. Well, hark the herald, angels sing Merry Christmas, and God bless us, every one. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching a new conservation effort to boost the monarch butterfly population through habitat improvements. The program will allow landowners to enroll up to 50,000 acres of farmland in the Conservation Reserve Program, through which the government pays farmers to remove environmentally sensitive land from production. This is a huge win for conservation in Wisconsin, said Patty Edelburg, state executive director of the Farm Service Agency. While participation in CRP programs is down, Edelburg said the agency in recent years has had to turn away farmers looking to put their lands into conservation. In order to qualify, land must have been planted with crops for at least four of the past six years. If accepted into the program, landowners agree to follow a conservation plan that calls for a mix of grasses and flowering plants including milkweed that monarchs, bees and other polinators feed on. These insects are critical to the production of dozens of common foods, from apples to vanilla. Polinators are the lifeline between us and the foods we eat, said Brandon Soldner, a conservation program specialist with the FSA. Bright orange with black and white markings, monarch butterflies are found throughout North America, mostly east of the Rocky Mountains. During the summer they are found as far north as Canada. Beginning in August, they make a two-month journey south to a handful of sites in Mexico, where they spend the winter before returning to mate in the spring. Two decades ago, about a billion monarchs occupied a winter habitat of 44.5 acres, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By 2013-14, that had fallen to about 37 million butterflies. More than 90 percent of those butterflies feed on common milkweed, much of which has been eradicated by modern farming and landscape practices, said Kurt Waterstradt, Wisconsin private lands coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Planting 50,000 acres of Wisconsin in milkweed could boost the population by 750,000 butterflies, Waterstradt said. Its imperiled, he said. We dont want to put it on the Endangered Species List. Available to landowners in the southern two-thirds of the state, the monarch program is modeled on an existing one that was aimed at improving habitat for the endangered Karner blue butterfly in Jackson and Eau Claire counties. With about 350 acres enrolled, the Karner blue program in Jackson County is full. Julie Dokkestul, executive director for the FSA in Jackson and Trempealeau counties, said there are landowners who couldnt get into that program will likely flock to the monarch program. Dokkestul notes that seeds for the monarch program will be more affordable than those for Karners. CRP rents vary based on location, land quality and other factors. In 2015, Wisconsins average rents ranged from $25 an acre in Florence County to $148 in Grant, with an overall average of about $80 an acre, according to FSA data. Standard cropland rents for an average of $109 an acre in Wisconsin, and about $200 an acre for irrigated land, according to data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The FSA expects to begin accepting applications this winter. Planting would begin in spring of 2018. Participation in CRP programs plummeted over the past decade, largely driven by rising commodity prices that had farmers looking to plant more corn. Between 2005 and 2015, Wisconsin lost 61 percent of its conservation acres. Minnesota lost 35 percent. Thats nearly 988,000 acres of land in the two states combined that was taken out of conservation. Farmers in parts of Wisconsins hilly Driftless area including Jackson, Trempealeau and Vernon counties took more 3/4 of conservation acres out of the program. When crop prices are really really good people dont want to put land into conservation cover, said Kim Iczkowski, a spokeswoman for the agency. When prices fall conservation becomes more of a viable option. VATICAN CITY Pope Francis launched an investigation Thursday into the ouster of a top official at the Order of Malta. Cardinal Raymond Burke, who served as the bishop of the La Crosse Diocese from 1995 to 2003, is accused of engineering the mans removal without the popes blessing over a years-old condom scandal. Albrecht von Boeselager, a high-ranking official in the ancient religious order for three decades, was removed as grand chancellor Dec. 8 after he refused to resign. One charge against him concerned a program that the orders Malteser International aid group had worked on several years ago with other aid groups to help sex slaves in Myanmar. The trafficked women had been forced to work as prostitutes and were given condoms to protect themselves from AIDS, two people familiar with the case said. An internal investigation was conducted and von Boeselager admitted he knew about the condoms, which were distributed by other aid programs, not his. The Vatican was informed, Malteser Internationals participation in the program ended and an ethics committee was launched to ensure that future projects adhered to Catholic Church teaching, the officials said. Church teaching opposes artificial contraception. However, some Catholic priests and nuns in Africa and elsewhere have condoned the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS. Francis himself has said that avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil when, for example, women are at risk of the Zika virus. In a statement, von Boeselager said he had been asked to resign during a Dec. 6 meeting attended by Burke. During the meeting, the orders grand master indicated that the request to resign was in accordance with the wishes of the Holy See. However, no such request was ever made. Von Boeselager said since his ouster, the Holy See has written to the order confirming that such a wish was never raised. By naming an independent commission to look into the case, Francis appears to be seeking an objective assessment of von Boeselager and his ouster without the input of Burke, who has been among Francis fiercest critics. Burke is one of four cardinals who have publicly questioned Francis flexible approach to whether civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion. Burke, a native of Richland Center, Wis., is a hard-liner on the issue, as well as on the absolute prohibition on the use of artificial contraception. Francis removed him as the Vaticans supreme court justice in 2014 and named him to be the patron of the Order of Malta, an ancient Catholic order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world and has an army of volunteers who respond to natural disasters and war zones. Burke had conveyed to the Order of Maltas governing council on Dec. 6 that Francis wanted von Boeselager to resign, the two people familiar with the case said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak about internal meetings. Burke warned that if von Boeselager wasnt removed, the Vatican would take over the orders properties, they said. On Dec. 15, a new grand chancellor was elected, John Edward Critien. In his statement, von Boeselager said he still considers himself the duly elected grand chancellor, albeit one who has been impeded from doing his job because of an ouster that violated the orders legal norms on several fronts. He said he has always felt bound by the teachings of the church and rejected the liberal label that his opponents have given him. To contrive an accusation that I do not acknowledge the churchs teaching on sexuality and the family, based on the sequence of events in the Malteser International Myanmar project, is absurd, the statement said. The popes five-member commission of inquiry is made up of Order of Malta members who have close ties to the German-born von Boeselager. Francis also named a trusted Jesuit canon lawyer as a member. The knights trace their history to the 11th century with the establishment of an infirmary in Jerusalem that cared for people of all faiths making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. With the help of a little glitter, Hintgen Elementary second-grade students were able to make the holidays brighter for residents at Bethany St. Joseph. All four second-grade classes visited the care center on Wednesday. The students sang several carols for the residents before giving them handmade holiday cards and visiting with the seniors. The project was part of a weeklong series of events tied to the holidays in second-grade teacher Karissa Bakalars class. Her students also learned about holiday celebrations around the world as part of a social studies unit and had discussions about the meaning of giving during the holiday season. The students had a passport they filled out this week as they learned about the other countries celebrations, traditions and foods. And on Friday, the students will be able to make their own gingerbread houses as one of their Tiger Pride rewards for the year. Before they could make their holiday cards for the Bethany St. Joseph residents on Tuesday, Bakalars read the students the story Mr. Willowbys Christmas Tree, where the main character bought a large tree for his parlor. When he cut the top off to make it fit, he donated the smaller portion to someone who could use it and the cycle went on all the way to the family of a mouse. During the story, Bakalars would pause and ask the students what they thought would happen next or their thoughts on how to give back during the holidays. With the story finished, each student was able to choose two pieces of paper, and were asked to make two cards for the residents using holiday-themed cut-outs, glitter and writing a personalized holiday message. Students wrote messages such as Merry Christmas or Happy New Year and personalized their cards with snowflakes, Christmas trees and plenty of gold glitter. Liliana Morales-Cuamacateco used stars and trees to decorate her card. She said she wanted to include Christmas trees on her card since it is so close to the holiday and she was looking forward to celebrating it. She wrote a message of Happy Holidays on her card and said she was a little nervous and hoped the residents liked it. She said she hoped the card made them happy and she likes giving gifts to people. Bakalars students and the other three classes walked to Bethany St. Joseph from Hintgen Wednesday afternoon to share their cards and sing carols. They sang Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas before giving the residents their cards and chatting for a little while. Verda Guberud, 84, was one of the residents to get cards. She said the students work was beautiful and looked forward to putting the cards up in her room at the center. It was nice to get the visitors, she said, and hoped they would come back again. It really made my day, she said. It makes the holidays extra special. With all the talk and debate about building a wall, I think a wall should be built around the state of California, especially Hollywood, so no one can get out to infect the rest of the United States. Almost all fads, movements, fashion trends and politically correct ideas start there. It's appalling what the left, including many celebrities in Hollywood, was doing to encourage members of the Electoral College to vote against Donald Trump. People are in shock where's the outrage? The extremist left has got to be the epitome of sore losers. When are the celebrities going to move to Canada like they promised to do if Trump was elected? I would be glad to donate a one-way ticket to them, especially Whoopi Goldberg or George Clooney the outspoken Donald Trump haters. Canada now has a reason to build a wall, and that reason is to keep the wacko celebrities out. These people need a better hobby than getting married and divorced constantly. They can't even figure out how to sustain a marriage. Being rich and affluent doesn't give these stars the power to influence how we vote. The people have spoken. Celebrities, grow up, move on. It's over. Deal with it. The article Ron Johnson not sold on CIA conclusion that Russia tried to tip the election to Donald Trump (Dec. 15 Tribune) is deeply disconcerting. To not believe evidence that is deemed "very likely true," an actual classification for intelligence agencies, is an affront to all our military personnel, including our hard-working, overseas, boots-on-the-ground soldiers. It is especially scary because Johnson heads the Senate Homeland Security committee. By disqualifying the intelligence not only from the CIA, but also from 16 other government and intelligence agencies, Johnson is sending a message to all other foreign governments and rebel groups (including ISIS) that we are a disjointed country open for cyber attacks. These signals could embolden our enemies to attack, and not just through the internet, but through military strikes on the United States in the Middle East. Johnson needs to stop this behavior of trying to please our president-elect and start supporting his constituents in Wisconsin. What happens when Russia, or other foreign entities (think North Korea and the Sony hack), hacks into our DMV system and has access to our names, addresses and credit card numbers? Will he disqualify that intelligence as well? If this happens, then millions of Johnsons constituents could lose their identity, their savings and their dignity. Denying firm evidence from 17 intelligence agencies is not only wrong, it is terrifying. Johnson's constituents need to let him know that his statements are unacceptable. Mike Degan, Holmen Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy In 1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy. In 1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was eventually vindicated. In 1910, a fire lasting more than 26 hours broke out at the Chicago Union Stock Yards; 21 firefighters were killed in the collapse of a burning building. In 1937, the first, center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel connecting New York City and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River was opened to traffic. The second tube opened in 1945, the third in 1957. In 1940, author Nathanael West, 37, and his wife, Eileen McKenney, were killed in a car crash in El Centro, Calif., while en route to the funeral of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who had died the day before. In 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington for a wartime conference with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe rejected a German demand for surrender, writing Nuts! in his official reply. In 1968, Julie Nixon married David Eisenhower in a private ceremony in New York. In 1977, three dozen people were killed when a 250-foot-high grain elevator at the Continental Grain Company plant in Westwego, La., exploded. In 1989, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, the last of Eastern Europes hard-line Communist rulers, was toppled from power in a popular uprising. Playwright Samuel Beckett died in Paris at age 83. In 1991, the body of Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage slain by his terrorist captors, was recovered after it had been dumped along a highway in Lebanon. In 2001, Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers. (Reid is serving a life sentence in federal prison.) In 2010, President Barack Obama signed a law allowing gays for the first time in history to serve openly in Americas military, repealing the dont ask, dont tell policy. Several decades ago three young students journeyed through dusty rural California in hopes of meeting famed migrant farm worker organizer Cesar Chavez. Once they found Chavez, they sat with him and asked, Cesar, how do you organize? Chavez replied, well, first you talk to one person, then you talk to another person, then you talk to another person. The students assumed Chavez misunderstood their question and clarified that they wanted to know how mass movements are built. Chavez repeated, first you talk to one person, then you talk to another. The key to making change is as elementary as Chavezs secret of organizing. It comes down to discomfort. Comfortable people dont move. They stay where they are because they are comfortable where they are. To make them move, they have to be made uncomfortable. Its like the basic law of physics . . . and object at rest will remain at rest, unless some force makes it move. A corrupt political establishment will stay corrupt and a failing political system will keep failing us, unless some force makes the powers-that-be change their ways. That force is discomfort. Living in interesting times is said to be the Chinese curse. The curse were living is uncomfortable times. Anxiety and fear about the countrys future are running high among tens of millions of Americans. With deindustrialization and economic globablization, the only thing that seems certain for the time being is uncertainty. Official reassurances that unemployment is falling and the economy is recovering mean nothing to someone who once earned $25 an hour working in a factory before that work was exported overseas and the best available replacement job pays maybe $11 or $12 an hour. For someone whose standard of living has been cut in half, claims of economic recovery are an abstraction. For them, the American Dream appears to be in the process of being downsized. And worse yet, their gut tells them their children will probably have it harder than theyve had it. The discomfort this reality produces has fueled a reactionary, authoritarian populism that gave rise to the Tea Party movement and paved a route to the White House for Donald Trump. Back in March, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne asked the question, can a moderate left beat a radical right? His question was answered on November 8. American now stands at a crossroads. We can take a divisive, backward-looking, destructive path. Or we can choose a uniting, forward-looking, constructive route. For the moment, a large segment of the population appears to favor the former for lack of a well-defined and compelling alternative. That better road wont be paved until people who are disturbed by the direction were currently traveling get uncomfortable enough to move. Those alarmed by the actions of the radical right are going to have to warm up to agitation and provocation. They are going to have to make friends with discomfort. Mike McCabe, Madison, is the founder and president of Blue Jean Nation. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Small Business Development Center is looking for the next generation of entrepreneurs. As part of its 2017 Innovation Generation Program, the SBDC will hold the Coulee Ventures High School Business Challenge. Participating high school students will operate as a team or individually to develop business ideas and present them to a panel of judges at a business competition in April. The program will consist of eight Sunday afternoon sessions from 4 to 7 p.m. starting Jan. 22 at the Institute for Campus Excellence at UW-L. Under the guidance of an instructor and mentors from local businesses, students will work together to develop a business plan. They will present business concepts and compete for awards, including cash and donated products, in the high school division of the UW-L Eagles Eye Business Competition. Coulee Ventures is our way of bringing our business education expertise to our areas youth, SBDC Director Anne Hlavacka said. We want to ignite and support the entrepreneurial interests of Generation Z. Applications for the free program will be accepted until Jan. 4. Details and applications are available at: www.uwlax.edu/cei/entrepreneurship. For additional information, contact the center at CEI@uwlax.edu or 608-785-8648. Continued from last week Jacob Post Michelet owned and operated a store in Lillehammer and also owned property. He had to sell everything before they could leave Norway and his wife had just had a new baby girl in February. So, there was a lot of work to be done. According to a passenger list, the family left Christiana/Oslo, June 27, 1851, aboard the Incognito with Capt. Christofferson, and arrived Aug. 30, 1851 in New York. It was an ocean voyage of two months aboard ship with three small children, Sophie, 7, Wilhelm, 5, Carl (Charles), 2, and a new 4-month-old baby. The last part of the trip from New York took another month, so they would have arrived in Milwaukee the end of September as Wisconsin fall began. As Christmas Eve approached in1851, what were the new surroundings like for this family? They had left family members behind in Norway. For Jacob Post, his thoughts may have been of his older brother who had pursued a successful career in the military and attained the rank of general major. In Norway, they had lived in the town of Lillehammer on the main street where there were shops and neighbors. Jacob Post Michelet had been a merchant and as such, had days filled with the lively trade of the customers from town and the farms in the surrounding area. Coon Prairie was so very different. The Coon Prairie book says, Until 1848 beautiful Coon Prairie lay untouched and unvisited by white people, only bands of roaming Indians. By 1851 it was home to very few families, there was no church, but in November of 1851 after the Michelets arrived, Coon Prairie was visited by a traveling Lutheran minister Pastor Nils Brandt. The Coon Prairie Book recounts events by Pastor Brandt on his travel to Coon Prairie. On the way, I suddenly heard shooting in the woods. There was a group of Indians doing the shooting but I did not know this otherwise I would have been frightened. I had not yet seen an Indian. After a while I reached Coon Prairie. It began to snow. Here I met several Norwegian settlers and asked them the way to Even Gullord. The Coon Prairie book says of Even Gullord, His home was headquarters for visiting pastors, and his barn swept and cleaned was for several years the congregations gathering place. Pastor Brandt continued, The next day I conducted services for a large gathering; I met the Michelet family who had sailed with us on the Incognito. It was a very pleasant reunion at this time just before the Christmas season began. Jacob Post Michelets father had been a minister in Norway and he had grown up at Molands praestegaard. It is not known if there was a Christmas Eve service 1851 but if there was one in Even Gullords barn it would have been a fitting reminder of the very first Christmas. Coon Prairie was a hunter and fishermans paradise with deer and other wild game. The streams swarmed with large trout. But a major problem for the settlers was the scarcity of water. Coon Prairie was elevated several hundred feet above the valley floor, so what made it wonderful for farming also made it impossible to dig a well. As Christmas approached the settlers had to deal with the chore of hauling enough water for daily needs. In Lillehammer, Norway, at Christmas, the light of day dwindled to about six hours. On Coon Prairie, the days were a bit longer. It is not known if the family had a Christmas tree. The Christmas tradition of gift giving and decorating trees came to Norway in the mid 1800s. Beginning with the wealthy, who had seen trees in Germany and Denmark, they adopted the practice and it spread throughout the country. As Coon Prairie was a settlement of almost entirely Norwegians, traditions and customs for Christmas would have been carried on in some way in this new country. Traditional baking would have been done. A trip of 50 miles to Dousmans store at Prairie du Chien would have been made in advance of the deep snow. Abundant supplies would have been brought to last the winter months and make Christmas a holiday. The trip back to Dousmans for Johan and his father Jacob, gave the opportunity to again see his former employer. Norwegians have a tradition of celebrating the eve of big days. So, it may have been the same in 1851 for the settlers on Coon Prairie. There may have been talk about the Nisse, guardian of the farmstead and its fortunes. While it is impossible to know the exact origin of the Nisse, there is evidence that it has been around in some form as long as Norwegians have lived in Norway well before the country had a name. The Christmas Yuletide traditions in Norway and the new land would have included the Nisse. My cousin Col. Fredrik Michelet (ret,), Norwegian Army, writes from Norway: Up to 1800 it was believed that Nissen was part of the environment and invisibly present on the farms. Food was regularly placed in the barns. Later the custom of setting out a meal to Nissen on the night before Christmas took form. It is no doubt that Norwegians going to America at the time of the Michelets exercised the tradition. It is likely that this tradition did come with the Michelet family and they followed the traditions of their ancestors in Norway. Those who pleased the Nissen were beneficiaries of their help. Those who did not run their farms properly or treat their animals well were punished with sick animals and poor crops. Plans for the Julebord Christmas table would have not been easy for these pioneers. The availability of traditional Norwegian food was nonexistent. It is not known what they had for this special meal. The sweets part of the meal would have been easier to manage. Only the simplest ingredients were needed to make desserts like Fattigmond Bakkels. They would have had a cow, the source for milk, cream and butter and chickens for eggs. Handed down through the family is Johanna Michelets recipe for Fattigmond Bakkels. Johan Michelet, married Johanna Kvaernstuen in 1861 a younger first cousin to Even Gullord. This recipe is copied exactly as originally written. Fattigmond Bakkels 1 cup eggs cup granulated sugar 1 cup sweet cream 2 tablespoons alcohol or whiskey to make bubbles 2 cups flour Chill dough Roll out thin and cut in diamond shape Fry in hot lardsprinkle with powdered sugar It is best to work with 2 people one to cut the cookies and one to poke bakkels under fat. God Jul to All A minor miracle happens every month at Shepherd of the Hills Church in Onalaska. Thanks to a pastor, Dr. John Reinke, the deaf can hear and learn about faith issues. Reinke carries the title Missionary at Large to the deaf. He pastors two deaf churches in southern Wisconsin and maintains an overseas teaching ministry to the deaf in a handful of different countries. He also makes a monthly teaching visit to Onalaska. Since Biblical times, the deaf have been the focus of special ministry. In the New Testament, the Gospel writer Mark records Jesus miracle of restoring hearing to a deaf person in the Decapolis region (modern day Israel). Lacking any direct divine intervention, however, Reinke uses religious sign techniques, specially prepared curriculum and technology to advance Bible knowledge for the deaf through an outreach called Jesus Signs. Reinkes ebullience overflows when he teaches. Outside of his salt and pepper beard, every inch of his face smiles. A dynamo of dramatic energy, he acts out lessons and introduces new faith concepts in creative ways. His voice rises and falls with inflection and he signs as he talks. He treats every class member like hes known them for years. He also wears a black, wide-brimmed hat. Reinke grew up hard-of- hearing in a small country church in Gaylord, Minn. Even as a young man, he knew he wanted to become a pastor, so after high school, he enrolled at Concordia College in St. Louis, Mo., and later entered Concordia Seminary. While in Seminary, Reinke and his wife, Dacia, came in contact with a deaf church and it was then that he began to realize the barriers that kept the deaf from attending church or even understanding spiritual concepts. Its more than the obvious impairment problem. (Reinke himself wears two hearing aids. Without them, hes almost totally deaf.) When deaf people are taught to sign, they learn words about how to function in the public marketplace, Reinke explains, But how do you teach sign vocabulary for the Bible? The barriers rise from not only the lack of words in the sign vocabulary, but also from the confusion over the meaning of existing Biblical words. The word must be conceptually accurate or theyll (deaf people) miss the meaning, he said. You simply cant take English and translate it and expect them to understand. Another barrier to understanding is their thought process. Deaf people think concretely, he said, which makes abstract spiritual concepts like original sin difficult to explain. So Reinke often places those concepts into a story or an analogy. Picture a brownie with all the best ingredients money can buy, he says. Everythings perfect. But just for looks, he continues, Ill sprinkle just a pinch of something that resembles barnyard material on top. Still perfect? He makes his point. You can live the best way, but one mistake spoils the whole thing. Youve got to have a picture story, he said. Reinke served for seven years as Missionary to the Deaf in the Nebraska district of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and it was during this time in 1997 that he was tasked with his first overseas ministry to the deaf in Ghana, Africa. It became a watershed experience. That really changed my perspective on how we did ministry, he said. During this time, Reinke began to re-write curriculum, but also realized that he had to train teachers and leaders first. He also needed tools to teach parents who had a deaf child. Signing is another language, he said. Its three-dimensional. Today, through his work, a whole curriculum is available through the Lutheran Deaf Outreach. Some of that curriculum is an adaptation of Reinkes doctoral dissertation on teaching spiritual concepts to the deaf. His dissertation will eventually become a book titled, The Spitting Jesus. Far from being sacrilegious, its title accurately reflects the mysterious, but compelling way Jesus used to heal the deaf man in chapter seven of Marks Gospel. Since Reinkes first visit to Africa, hes followed up with nearly 20 more, as well as trips to India (30 million deaf), Latvia and Brazil. He has a trip planned to Australia in January. In the U.S., his goal is to reach one million deaf people (98 percent unchurched) by launching a Jesus Signs ministry in every state. Reinke raves about the boon that technology has been to the world of the deaf. He knows all the newest electronic wizardry to help the hearing impaired. He uses video conferencing for live worship and YouTube for deaf programming. But for Reinke, the phone is basic. Deaf people love their cell phones, he said with a grin. We can text or better yet, theres an app similar to Skype for deaf people. He points out obvious advantages of the app that include signing, lip reading and facial expression. Soon, Reinke hopes to have his entire list of classes available worldwide by phone. But for all his high-tech involvement, Reinke still relies on a very low-tech option to improve his hearing his black hat. The wide brim captures the sound making the words crisper, while at the same time, blocking out the background noise, he said. This increases my comprehension of words by 50 percent, he said, grinning and adjusting the hat. And he turns and starts another class. More information about the deaf ministry can be found on the Shepherd of the Hills website at www.sothonline.org or by phone at 783-0330. Thursday, December 22, 2016 Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times In the first installment of a series, Alexandra Zavis looks at the diverse groups of immigrants coming to the Mexican bordertown Tijuana en route to the United States. "Bangladesh. Cameroon. Nepal. Eritrea. The border between the United States and Baja California is suddenly teeming with migrants from all over the world hoping to make it into America. How did they get there? Our foreign correspondents traced their perilous journeys in a four-part series that begins today. Read the first installment here, and see why Haitians have showed up by the thousands after a circuitous trek." UPDATE (12/23). For the second installment, click here. This one looks at the dangers facing migrants at the Darien Gap near the border of Colombia and Panama. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times UPDATE (12/24): Here are Parts III and IV of the Desperate Trek series. KJ https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2016/12/the-desperate-trek-haitians-africans-asians-mexicos-border-cities-are-getting-overwhelmed-with-migra.html You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close scholarship, news and new ideas in legal history The memory of a beloved pet inspires one couple's fight against injustice. Christmas is going to be a little brighter this year for many families in Hernando County. The Salvation Army played Santa for hundreds of children on Wednesday. Salvation Army donates gifts to over 700 kids in Hernando Kids received gifts from bikes down to essentials Volunteers have been working to fill goody bags for 160 families and more than 700 children. Dolores San Antonio, a widow and single mother, was a recipient of the Salvation Army's generosity. Christmas is hard because I miss my husband. My daughter, she doesn't have a dad, but she has me, and I try to do the best I can," San Antonio said. San Antonio has an 11-year-old, but said she cant always get her what she wants. This year, I think she got what she wanted, so I'm really excited," she said. The Salvation Army has been collecting items since October, from bikes to essentials. We just got custody of the children, and we didn't have anything, so this means a lot," said Marilyn Scaccio, trying to hold back tears. Scaccio, 62, just took in her three toddler grandchildren. I can just see it on Christmas morning... I can't even put words to it. It's just amazing, it's going to be amazing," Scaccio said. With all the chaos going on in the Scaccios' lives, the gifts provided joy for the holiday season. The Salvation Army was able to provide at least five gifts per child. It was a heated debate over transgender rights, but North Carolina lawmakers failed to repeal the Bathroom Bill on Wednesday. Deal to repeal North Carolina's anti-LGBT law collapsed Republican state legislators quit trying to repeal the law called House Bill 2 Law omits gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from state anti-discrimination protections and orders transgender people to use bathrooms and showers that align with their sex at birth Mayor Rick Kriseman's editorial in The Charlotte Observer The bill bans people from using public restrooms that dont correspond to their biological sex as listed on their birth certificates. In an op-ed in The Charlotte Observer in April, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman extended an offer to North Carolina residents to move to St. Pete. He said he wants them to know that St. Petersburg is welcoming, inclusive, and open for business. Kriseman also wrote that he wants business to relocate to Florida, where the sun shines on all. Lawmakers were expected to repeal it on Wednesday with Republicans feuding over whether to fully or partially repeal it, and Democrats accusing them of reneging on a pledge to get rid of it, lawmakers couldnt come to an agreement. For now, the bill will remain in place. The St. Petersburg Police Department is investigating a homicide after a woman's body was found in an alleyway Wednesday morning. Woman's body found in alleyway on 63rd Ave. S in St. Pete Major crimes detectives are investigating Investigators now treating it as a homicide St. Petersburg Police said the body of 22-year-old Taylor Anne McAllister was found behind homes in the 2100 block of 63rd Avenue South shortly before 8 a.m. Police said a man was salvaging aluminum cans in the area when he saw McAllister's body in an alleyway. He and another neighbor called 911. Based upon evidence at the scene, detectives determined that McAllister was the victim of a homicide. Police said the victim lives in Pinellas County but is not a resident of St. Petersburg. An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday morning to determine the exact cause of death. If anyone has information on this crime, you are asked to call 893-7780. Civil society organisations in Assam have vowed to resist the privatisation of oil fields at Geleki in the Shivsagar district of the state fearing it may have a negative impact on the interests of natives and the development of the region. Speaking with Firstpost, Aswini Chetia, advisor to All Assam Tai Ahom Students Union (AATASU), a students body that is a part of a joint committee of the eight groups that are opposing the privatisation, said, "As per existing policy of the Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC), Assam is provided with corporate social responsibility fund for socio-economic development of the region. We want the Government of India to make clear its stance on what will happen to those benefits after the new arrangement comes into force." The resistance has come at a time when the Government of India is envisioning a target of reducing its dependency on oil and gas import by 10 percent by the year 2022. Chetia also said that the civil society organisations have been repeatedly demanding the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to clarify its stand on the issue, but have not received any reply so far. He also asserted that unless the Central government assures to protect the interests of the natives, the resistance movement will not be lifted. Anupam Borgohain, president of the Geleki Sangrami Joutha Mancha, a joint committee formed to protest the privatisation of the oil field said, "On 19 December, the committee made a decision to resist the exploration of crude oil from the Geleki oil field. But, on Wednesday, the ONGC invited us for a discussion on the issue. The ONGC officials told us that the company has not signed any agreement with any private party to privatise the Geleki oilfield till now." However, the ONGC has reportedly entered into a production sharing agreement with Schlumberger, one of the world's biggest suppliers of technology and services in the oil and gas industry to work on an ageing ONGC field in Assam. Borgohain said that the joint committee has demanded that ONGC should make its stand public on the issue. "We have given ONGC three days time to make its stand clear on the issue of privatisation (of the Geleki oil field) and the rights of the locals, or else we will resist any exploration in the Geleki oilfield, he added. Crude oil exploration has long been an integral part of Assamese identity politics aimed at economic self-determination through exercising the indigenous population's rights over natural resources. The historic Assam Accord of 1985 that was signed after the Assam agitation is considered a guiding document of Assamese identity politics. It led to the creation of Numaligarh Refinery that manages the states crude oil resources besides standing as a symbol of Assamese pride. There is a growing discontent among many in Assam that the crude oil rich state is receiving a raw deal from the two major oil extracting giants Oil India Limited (OIL) and ONGC in terms of royalty to be paid to the state on oil extraction. It was only recently that the Oil and ONGC paid Rs 1,450 crores to the state as royalty on a pre-discounted price and that too after much persuasion by the state government. "The only benefit of oil extraction that goes directly to the hands of the local people is the corporate social responsibility fund," says Ashwini Chetia. Apart from spending millions of rupees in education and health care sector in the state, thus leading to the creation of indirect employment, the ONGC's social responsibility fund has created more than 4,000 direct employment in the self-help group sector, says a research conducted by Prof PK Halder and Bidhu Kanti Das. However, in June 2016 Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas declared that privatisation of 12 small oilfields in Assam will add Rs 4,000 crores as revenue to the state coffers. The oil industry has also contributed in creating downline industries and services in Assam that are contributing to the states gross domestic product (GDP). "But this set up tends to get disturbed if the oil fields are privatised, which is why we are against such privatisation. But if the government has to privatise the oil fields then the rights of the locals have to be protected," Chetia told Firstpost. Borgohain informed Firstpost that apart from AATASU, the joint committee protesting the privatisation of the Geleki oil field also includes All Assam Students Union, All Assam Tea Tribes Students Association, Brihottar Asomiya Yuba Mancha, the local committee of Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, Geleki Byabosaee Sanstha and AJYPP. Srinagar: Independent legislator Sheikh Abdul Rashid and his supporters were on Thursday detained as he tried to lead a protest march against Jammu and Kashmir government's move to grant domicile certificates to West Pakistan Refugees. Rashid attempted to lead the march from Sher-i-Kashmir Park here to Lal Chowk against the government decision. But as the protesters reached the GPO Srinagar, police swung into action and detained the independent legislator from north Kashmir's Langate constituency, along with his supporters, a spokesman of his Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) said. Talking to reporters before being detained, Rashid said the government decision to grant domicile certificates to West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) was "totally unacceptable to us". He alleged that the state government was behaving as a "proxy" and "extension" of the Union government in Delhi. "Time has come for Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to break this alliance (with BJP) and go to people once again (to seek votes)," he said. Rashid vowed to sit on a day-long "hunger strike" in front of chief minister's residence at Gupkar here to protest the government decision. The WPRs, settled in Jammu and Kashmir, are citizens of India and have the right to vote in parliamentary elections. However, they are not permanent residents of the state in terms of Jammu and Kashmir Constitution. They do not enjoy voting rights to the state assembly and local bodies. Najeeb Jung tendered his resignation as the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi on Thursday. Jung's resignation brings an era of skirmishes, between any state government and a person at Constitutional position appointed by the President, to an end. #UPDATE Najeeb Jung resigns, says he is returning to his first love, academics. Jung had 1.5 years left in his term, reports @rupashreenanda News18 (@CNNnews18) December 22, 2016 Jung, whose tenure was marked with run-ins with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, had close to more than a year and a half to go for his term to end and the reason for his resignation is not yet known. However, in his resignation letter, Jung thanked Kejriwal and the people of Delhi for "unstinted support from them, which in turn helped run the administration in Delhi smoothly and effortlessly." Najeeb Jung would be returning to his first love, which is, academics: Lt.Governor office #Delhi ANI (@ANI_news) December 22, 2016 Speaking with CNN-News18, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that the resignation should not be seen as anything else other than what it is. Political observers have said that the ongoing battle with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi would have eventually worn the LG out. An eventful year in terms of Delhi politics, 2016 saw a new chapter in the AAP versus central government tussle continuing the drama of last year when the Anti-Corruption Branch was "hijacked" and Kejriwal's office was raided with experts saying development had suffered and this situation needs to be rectified once and for all. This year saw a severe setback to the AAP when the Delhi High Court recognised Jung as the administrative head of the Delhi government. This prompted Jung to set up a panel to probe over 400 files related to various decisions taken by the Delhi government ever since coming to power, which it called "illegal". However, the AAP government quickly moved the Supreme Court against the 4 August high court decision and hopes to gain back lost ground in 2017. "We have full faith in the Supreme Court and that's why we have approached them. It is our firm belief that in the coming days, things will become clear and we will get justice from the Supreme Court," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said when asked about the AAP government's expectations from the apex court. What may boost the Delhi government's confidence was the Supreme Court's observation made last that the elected government should have "some powers" in order to function properly. The Supreme Court has listed the case for final disposal on 18 January. The confrontation between the Delhi government and the Centre escalated from the very first day of the year when Kejriwal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lt Governor Jung of allegedly masterminding the CBI raid at the Delhi Secretariat and the mass casual leave taken by IAS officers here just a day before the first edition of the odd-even scheme was to take off. In March this year, the AAP government appointed former Chief Income Tax Commissioner Krishna Saini as chairperson of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) without taking Jung's approval. In September, after the 4 August high court verdict giving primacy to Jung, the now-former LG scrapped Saini's appointment ab initio, rendering all decisions taken by him void, and asked the government to start the selection process from the beginning as per the law. Kejriwal called it a "conspiracy" by the BJP-led Centre to increase power tariff in the national capital as "Saini had issued many orders since his appointment to fix the accountability of power companies". Another flashpoint in the AAP-LG row was when Jung removed Delhi's health secretary Tarun Seem and PWD secretary Sarvagya Srivastava both officers instrumental in the implementation of the Delhi government's Mohalla Clinic (Neighbourhood Clinic) project. In response, Kejriwal said Modi was "hell bent on destroying Delhi through the Lt Governor". Interestingly, Seem's replacement, Chandraker Bharti, has constantly been at loggerheads with the government, the most recent instance being his "refusal to visit a hospital along with Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain where a patient died due to non-availability of a ventilator". Throughout the time that Jung and Kejriwal warred over jurisdiction issues, citizens of Delhi suffered the most. On one hand there is a party swept into power on a popular vote and then there is the central governments appointee the Lt Governor. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thought he was governing Delhi. Jung claimed otherwise. The tension between L-G and the elected government extended to the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) as well when Jung appointed Alka Diwan as its Member Secretary in October. Diwan stopped payment of salaries to contractual employees of DCW, prompting Kejriwal to seek her removal, terming her appointment unconstitutional and against the Delhi government's wishes. Jung then replaced Diwan with another IAS officer, Dilraj Kaur. Kejriwal rejected her appointment and directed PP Dhal to officiate in the position. After Delhi High Court's judgment stating that Jung is the real boss in Delhi, there was a major crisis of governance in Delhi. The rights and wrongs and the limitations of Jung's powers are for the courts to look at, but there was no doubt that decisions taken by Jung, were to paralyse the Delhi government's policy making abilities and also to discredit the leadership of AAP. The power tussle between Jung and Kejriwal infact was criticised by many and rebel AAP leader, and now Swaraj Abhiyan crusader Yogendra Yadav said that Jung is acting as an instrument of the BJP and the real victims in this perceived confrontation between the Delhi Government and the Centre are the common people of the national capital. Constitutional expert and former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap feels that the tussle is taking a toll on development in the national capital. "It is a very sad state of affairs. The tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government is certainly affecting the development works in the city. Those suffering are the people who voted AAP to power," Kashyap had told IANS. He said the government is run with "cooperation" and "collaboration", not with "confrontation". Pointing to Kejriwal's predecessor, Sheila Dikshit, Kashyap said if the elected government had taken the Lt. Governor in confidence from the beginning, this situation would not have arrived. As for the future prospects of the tussle, Kashyap said: "It will depend on the results of the Punjab, Goa and Uttar Pradesh assembly elections (in 2017) and what lesson the AAP takes from them." Former Lok Sabha Secretary General PDT Achary said the Supreme Court will decide the matter of jurisdiction once and for all, putting all controversies to rest. "Whichever way the Supreme Court decides, at least the public will know the government's powers. Whether the High Court verdict is upheld or overruled, all controversies will end," Achary had told IANS. Achary, however, said the elected government should enjoy certain powers, otherwise there is no point in creating an assembly and a council of ministers. "As per the Constitution, the elected government and the council of ministers are collectively responsible to the legislature. If the LG has all the powers then this provision of the constitution loses its meaning," he said. "In that case who will be responsible for governance?" Achary had told IANS that Delhi is the biggest loser in this whole setup and added that Delhi currently faces a peculiar situation due to the prevailing confusion over the matter of jurisdiction. "Due to this, the governance in the city is at a standstill and the government has become powerless. The only hope is that the apex court takes the final decision and ends all the confusion," he added. With inputs from agencies In a sudden move, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung resigned on Thursday, ending a nearly three-and-half-year-long eventful tenure, mostly marked by bitter confrontation with AAP government on a range of issues that virtually brought governance to a halt on many occasions. Jung resigned 18 months before his tenure ended, with Raj Niwas sources stating that he would like to return to his "first love", which is academics. Without citing reasons, Jung's office said he has submitted his resignation to the Centre. The 65-year-old Jung, a former 1973 batch IAS officer and former vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University, had assumed charge of Lt Governor of Delhi on 9 July 2013. After Jung tendered his resignation, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Jung and asked why the L-G chose to resign. Jung, however, said that the reasons behind his resignation were personal. Kejriwal also extended his best wishes to Jung in a tweet. According to Times Now, he said that "It was good to work with him and we wish him well for his future endeavours." Sh Jung's resignation is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 22, 2016 Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also tweeted his best wishes and said that despite the "sweet and sour" relationship they shared, the Delhi government and the L-G did great work together. Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) December 22, 2016 According to News18, the Home Ministry sources were also clueless about Jung's move. Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi has said that he had spoken to the Lt governor on Tuesday, but he had o knowledge that Jung would tender his resignation. "The LG met me day before yesterday (Tuesday) but he did not give any indication of submitting his resignation. Another meeting of mine with the LG is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday)...I have come to know about his resignation only from the media," he said. Senior Raj Niwas officials also confirmed that nobody, but Jung's immediate family knew about his move. Ajay Chaudhry, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Lt governor said that even Jung's office was not aware of his decision. He said that the resignation has been sent through a special messenger and the L-G has said he would want to go back to academics, write books and spend time with his family. His regime has been in news for the tumultuous relationship he shared with the Delhi government and Kejriwal. "Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has submitted his resignation to the Government of India. He thanks the Prime Minister for all the help and cooperation he received during his tenure," the L-G's office said in a statement. The reason behind his surprise decision is not immediately known. However, sources close to him told PTI that his resignation has nothing to do with his acrimonious relationship with the AAP government and he was contemplating to quit for last few months. "His decision to quit was not at all related to his relationship with the AAP government. It was purely a personal decision which he was mulling over for quite some time," they said. "Jung also thanked the people of Delhi for all their support and affection, especially during the one year of President's Rule in Delhi, when he got unstinted support from them and which in turn helped run the administration in Delhi smoothly and effortlessly," the statement said. Jung also thanked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his association in the last two years. "Jung would be returning back to his first love, which is, academics," said his office. On one hand reacting to the resignation, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said, "I dont think Jung is a person who picks up a fight unnecessarily. It was more in the nature of the local government to court controversies." However, Congress Spokesperson Ajay Maken demanded that the Modi government should explain the "unceremonious exit" of the Delhi L-G. Maken further alleged that the move could mean a "tacit understanding" between the Centre and the state government to replace him. "Perhaps Jung would be replaced with a RSS functionary," Maken speculated. Congress leader P C Chacko said BJP's attitude towards Governors and LGs may be the reason behind Jung's decision. "BJP never takes independent stand as per as the offices of Governors and LGs are concerned. BJP wants the Governors and LGs to act as per their political thinking. This is putting many Governors and LGs in difficulties. May be this is behind the resignation," he said. The BJP, however, made it clear that it was happy with the spokesperson RP Singh said, "Najeeb Jung was doing a good job, his resignation has come as a surprise to us." TV reports also alleged that Jung's resignation has not been accepted yet. "We are surprised, just like everybody. His tussle with the state government has finally ended, and our best wishes are with him for his future endeavours," says AAP leader Kumar Vishwas. "Log aate jate rehte hain, vo sadan aur vo pad rehta hai (People come and go, position stays). He marred the sanctity of that office on the behest of the Centre, may be he realised he is doing wrong. He is a soft spoken nice person, but he was insulting the peoples mandate on the Centres behest. He has been freed from playing that part and I, on behalf of my party, will send him best wishes for his future," Vishwas added. A 1973-batch IAS officer, Jung had assumed charge as 19th Lt Governor of Delhi on July 9, 2013, five months before the Delhi Assembly elections. The then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had played a role in appointing Jung, who was serving as Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia University, to the top post in the city administration. He had run the city for nearly one year after the AAP government had quit on February 14, 2014 after a short stint of 49 days. Born on January 18, 1951 Jung has done his post graduation in History from Delhi University and later did MA in Social Policy and Planning from London School of Economics, UK. He had joined Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 1973 and served in Madhya Pradesh government and at several key positions, including as joint secretary in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, in the central government. A literary enthusiast, Jung had also worked with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies of Oxford University on Energy related issues. With inputs from agencies New Delhi: The resignation of Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday caught Delhi's political circle by surprise with the Congress terming the exit "unceremonious" and the BJP claiming he was "upset" with the AAP government. Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said a BJP delegation had met the L-G on Wednesday over delimitation of municipal wards when Jung had "expressed" his displeasure with the Kejriwal government. "Even then he was upset with the AAP government stalling work. But we did not foresee this. He told us that he was going on a week-long leave. Delhi needed him," Gupta said. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said Jung has a meeting scheduled with him on Friday. "The L-G met me day before yesterday but he did not give any indication of submitting his resignation. Another meeting of mine with the L-G is scheduled for Friday (tomorrow)... I have come to know about his resignation only through media," Mehrishi said. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken sought the response of the Centre over Jung's "unceremonious exit" while party leader PC Chacko suggested the resignation might be due to BJP's pressure. "Was he removed to bring someone who is close to RSS? Was it done considering the upcoming municipal polls? Jung is an able administrator," Maken told reporters. "BJP never takes independent stand as far as the office of Governor is concerned and this is putting many a Governors in difficulty. May be this is behind the resignation," Chacko said. One morning last May, I had gone to two institutes at Goettingen University. So, by the time I walked through the picturesque little town to the station, I was just able to leap onto the early afternoon train before it departed. As I struggled with the ticket machine on board, a couple of young men sitting across the aisle looked on uneasily, slightly sheepish. Having got the ticket, I sat down beside them and got talking. I had guessed right. They were from Iraq, and they were going to the refugee centre just a few kilometres outside Goettingen. It was one of the largest reception camps in Germany, and many arriving refugees had to stay there until they were interviewed and a decision made about where they could be sent - and whether relatives left behind could join them. The camp turned out to be a set of buildings and pre-fab structures, generally white but occasionally painted inside in nice pastel shades or with birds or stars in spaces meant for children. The rooms were generally large, with spacious corridors outside. There were bags in some places, and the occasional pile of garbage too outside a pre-fab building. Children of various ages, ranging to young adults, played various sorts of unsophisticated games, often involving kicking a ball or two. Young Germans flitted around, trying to sort things out, clean, and communicate to the extent possible when a refugee asked questions. Hardly any of the refugees knew German. Not everyone spoke English. There were people from various countries Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Iritrea, Somalia. Several sat in a hall, waiting a turn to be interviewed. Some looked concerned. Overall, though, they appeared calm and secure. Many had infants in their arms, or little children near them. Easy acceptance The most striking thing was how easily the adjacent community seemed to accept the overload of refugees. Local residents pointed the way to the camp quite happily. A few days earlier, I had sat with a couple of German friends in Muenster, sipping a fizzy drink at a street-side table on the outskirts of Muensters historic old town. At one point, I was riveted by the sight of a very neatly turned out family passing down the street. They looked as if they were straight out of Levant - perhaps a relatively conservative section of Syria, for the women wore neat bright hijabs. I seemed to be the only one who noticed the family. They had apparently been shopping, judging from the bags they carried. They evidently lived in the imposing building down that road, right next to the beautiful leafy park along the brook that runs through that part of Muenster. A superb location, the town had made it over as sort of family hostel for refugees. In both places in Germany, Muenster in the west and Goettingen much farther east, local communities appeared to have accepted the visitors quite happily. This was about seven months ago, when more than a million refugees had already arrived in Germany. Questions were certainly being asked, but they tended in most places to be about logistics and efficiency of Germanys reception arrangements - as well as measures required to deal with crime - rather than resentment or hate. There had also been a resentful reaction, mainly in areas of economic contraction and social distress. Those areas tended often to be in the former East Germany. So, there had been hate-filled demonstrations the previous winter by organisations such as Pegida. But there had been counter-demonstrations too in several cities to assert the rights of refugees. Terror challenge There can be no doubt that the horrific truck attack that killed 12 persons at a Christmas market in the heart of Berlin on Monday will increase the questioning and deepen the divide, politically within Germany, and beyond. US President-elect Donald Trump tweeted about it in specifically inter-religious terms quite soon after the attack. The attack will severely weaken the hand of Germanys gutsy Chancellor, Angela Merkel. She went out on a limb last year to open her countrys doors to more than a million unscreened migrants in the space of a few months. This one event could turn the tables on her enviable three-inning success story. Many Germans, particularly from her own conservative party, had reservations about her open-door policy. By the time I visited those camps this summer, the door had already shut again. It had only remained open in the autumn and winter last year. By spring this year, Merkel had made a covert deal with Turkish strongman Erdogan: refugees turning up in Greece from Syria were repatriated through Turkey this year, in exchange for a gradually unfolding Turkish wish-list. Meanwhile, Merkel got Macedonia to build a wall to block passage from the Greek peninsula to the rest of Europe. Many German conservatives held that all that was too late that the damage had already been done by letting so many refugees enter unchecked. A large number of Pakistanis and Afghans entered Europe last year along with the flow of Syrian refugees. There were some Eritrean and other refugees too. A range of political opponents pointedly criticised her refugee policy in the wake of Mondays Christmas market attack. The xenophobic Alternative for Germany was of course in full flow. But there were statements even from the Communist Die Linke. Several leaders of Merkels Christian Democratic Union too are uneasy. In a brief statement on Tuesday, a somber Ms. Merkel said: I know it would be very difficult to accept if it were to be confirmed that a person who sought asylum and protection in Germany, committed this act. This would be especially appalling to all people who are working day in, day out to help the refugees and to all who really need our protection and make an effort to integrate. The inflow of refugees may have been limited to a few months, but it was huge. It has changed the countrys demography irreversibly. Germans by and large have done a great job of adjusting to the change, and welcoming their new neighbours. There can be no doubt, though, that the road ahead will not be easy. Tunisian suspect Anis Amri's fingerprints have been found in the cab of the truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin, strengthening the case linking him to the deadly attack, Germany's top security official said on Thursday. Authorities across Europe were scrambling to find the 24-year-old suspect, a day after Germany issued a wanted notice for him and warned that he may be "violent and armed." In Berlin, the Christmas market that was ripped apart by the truck reopened with increased security measures in a signal of the city's resilience. German authorities have offered a reward of up to $104,000 for information leading to Amri's arrest. Twelve people were killed and 48 injured in Monday evening's rampage, which was claimed by the Islamic State group. "We can tell you today that there are additional indications that this suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after visiting the Federal Criminal Police Office along with Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Fingerprints were found in the cab, and there are other, additional indications that suggest this," he told reporters. "It is all the more important that the search is successful as soon as possible." In Tunisia, one of Amri's brothers spoke to The Associated Press to urge him to surrender to authorities. "I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it," brother Abdelkader Amri told the AP. He said Amri may have been radicalised in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Amri's mother said he had shown no signs of radicalisation and questioned whether he was really the attacker. Speaking Thursday in the central Tunisian town of Oueslatia, Nour El Houda Hassani said poverty drove Amri to steal and to travel illegally to Europe. She said Amri spent time in an Italian prison and in Switzerland before reaching Germany. "I want the truth to be revealed about my son," she said. "If he is the perpetrator of the attack, let him assume his responsibilities and I'll renounce him before God. If he didn't do anything, I want my son's rights to be restored." Tunisian police who interrogated the family on Wednesday took away her telephone and were studying her communications with her son, she said. German officials put out an arrest warrant for Amri, who according to authorities has used at least six different names and three different nationalities, after finding a document belonging to him in the cab of the market attack truck. German authorities had deemed Amri, who arrived in the country last year, a potential threat long before the attack this week and even kept him under covert surveillance for six months this year before halting the operation. They had been trying to deport him after his asylum application was rejected in July but were unable to do so because he lacked valid identity papers and Tunisia initially denied that he was a citizen. At the market outside Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, police placed concrete blocks at the roadside Thursday to provide extra security as it reopened. In a solemn tribute to the victims, organisers decided to do without party music and bright lighting and Berliners and visitors laid candles and flowers at the site. An Israeli woman, Dalia Elyakim, and 31-year-old Fabrizia Di Lorenzo of Italy were among the 12 killed in the market attack, their countries said. Di Lorenzo had lived and worked in Berlin for several years. Two Americans were among the wounded, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Washington: The United States has played down Russian reports that already tense ties between the old foes have plunged to chilly new lows. The State Department denied yesterday a Kremlin claim that communications are frozen, noting that Secretary of State John Kerry had called his Russian counterpart as recently as Tuesday. The Pentagon also noted that on the same day Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the claim, its officers had held a video conference with Russian commanders on how to stay out of each other's way in Syria. "Practically all levels of dialogue with the United States are frozen," Peskov told Mir TV, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. "We don't communicate with one another. Or we do so minimally," he added, causing surprise in Washington. "I don't know exactly what to make of that comment," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "Obviously, we don't agree and have issues with Russia on a variety of issues, but dialogue has not been broken." Kirby said Kerry had spoken to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday by telephone to hear about talks Russia had hosted with Iran and Turkey to seek a solution to the crisis in Syria. "Look, there's a lot of issues where dialogue and communications between the United States and Russia remain important, and for our part, we remain committed to that dialogue and that communication," Kirby said. "It doesn't mean that we're always going to agree and it doesn't mean that there's not going to be tensions. But as far as we're concerned, communications are not frozen and dialogue is still happening. Differences are still being discussed, debated." Russia finds itself locked in its worst standoff with the West since the Cold War over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, the conflict in Ukraine and lingering disagreement about the conflict in Syria. US President Barack Obama's administration on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining sanctions on Moscow over Crimea with new financial restrictions on Russian businessmen and companies. The Russian foreign ministry said it "regretted" the new sanctions. The White House this month also pointed to direct involvement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in cyber attacks designed to impact the US election. The upcoming presidency of Donald Trump raises questions over the future of US policy toward Russia given his apparently softer line on Putin. Putin himself has reiterated Moscow's readiness to work with the Trump administration once the president-elect takes office in January, stressing the importance of normalizing the countries' relations. Washington: President-elect Donald Trump has met with some of the US military's top brass to discuss ways of reducing costs, particularly for the F-35 stealth fighter programme. Yesterday's meeting at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida came after Trump last week blasted the F-35's costs as "out of control" in a message on Twitter. Several three- and four-star generals and admirals attended the meeting, including the F-35 program chief Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan. "Trying to bring costs down," Trump said when asked what the meeting was about. "Primarily the F-35, trying to get the costs down. A program that is very, very expensive." With a current development and acquisition price tag of USD 379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft most of them destined for the Air Force the Lockheed Martin-built plane is the most expensive in history, and costs are set to go higher still. Once servicing, maintenance and other costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft's lifespan through 2070, overall program costs have been projected to rise to as much as USD 1.5 trillion. Trump has frequently turned to Twitter to vent his outrage across a range of topics. On 6 December, he blasted Boeing over the possible $4 billion price tag for a replacement Air Force One presidential plane. He also called that project "out of control." Trump also met with Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson and Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg. Asked whether he had secured any concessions from Hewson, Trump said: "We're just beginning, it's a dance." "But we're going to get the costs down and we're going to get it done beautifully." Boeing's Muilenburg told reporters the meeting with Trump went "great" and said Air Force One would be delivered for less than USD 4 billion. "We're going to get it done for less than that, and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens," Muilenburg said. Tokyo: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet on Thursday approved Japan's biggest annual defence budget in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and a territorial row with China. The Cabinet approved 5.13 trillion yen ($43.6 billion) in defence spending for the fiscal year starting in April, up 1.4 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year. It marks the fifth straight annual increase and reflects the hawkish Abe's attempt to build up Japan's military, which since World War II has been constitutionally limited to self-defence. Abe, who is pushing revisions to the constitution, strongly backed new security laws that took effect this year making it possible for Japanese troops fight abroad for the first time since the end of the war. Japan is on constant alert against neighbouring North Korea which has conducted two underground nuclear tests and more than 20 missile launches this year. Under the new budget, the ministry aims to beef up Japan's ballistic missile defences, allocating funds for a new interceptor missile under joint development with the United States. Also reflected in the spending is Tokyo's determination to defend uninhabited islets in the East China Sea administered by Japan as the Senkakus but claimed by China as the Diaoyus. The ministry said it has allocated funds for increased monitoring operations and to maintain mastery of the air and sea to counter attacks against what it euphemistically described as "island areas" a reference to the disputed territory. Separately, the Japan Coast Guard will increase security around the islands by allocating a record 210 billion yen, which includes two new patrol ships and the hiring of 200 more personnel. In August, Tokyo lodged more than two dozen protests through diplomatic channels claiming that Chinese coast guard vessels had repeatedly violated its territorial waters around the disputed islands. Also in August, Abe appointed Tomomi Inada, a close confidante with staunchly nationalist views, as his new defence minister. She has in the past been a frequent visitor to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, which South Korea and China criticise as a symbol of Japanese militarism. Japan has been boosting defence ties with the Philippines and other South-east Asian nations, some of which have their own disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. The defence budget earmarks funds to dispatch extra personnel to the Philippines and Vietnam to increase gathering and sharing of information. Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, dismissing rival partial claims from its South-east Asian neighbours. It also opposes any intervention by Japan. The defence allocation is part of a record 97.5 trillion yen national budget that will be sent to parliament for debate and approval early next year. By Emma Batha LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The humanitarian catastrophe in Lake Chad basin, where conflict has left over 8 million people destitute with many "teetering on the brink of famine", was the most neglected crisis in 2016, according to a survey of aid agencies.Following Lake Chad in a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of 19 leading aid groups were Yemen, where children are starving, and South Sudan where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon fears genocide is about to start. Overshadowed by the wars in Syria and Iraq and the global refugee and migrant crisis, Lake Chad barely made the headlines this year, but aid organisations said the crisis was "on an epic scale" with "terrifying rates of child malnutrition"."Syria broke my heart, but for out and out human suffering and almost zero media coverage, the food crisis sparked by Boko Haram in Nigeria and Niger was the pits," said Suzanna Tkalec, humanitarian director at Caritas. Boko Haram militants have displaced 2.4 million people across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger during a seven-year campaign to create an Islamist caliphate. Oxfam said parts of northern Nigeria were already experiencing famine and Action Against Hunger warned many children were at risk of dying.Almost 7 million people lack food but insecurity makes it hard for aid agencies to reach the most vulnerable.International Medical Corps' programmes director, Ognjen Radosavljevic, said border closures had disrupted markets, agriculture was collapsing and food was unaffordable."It is essential that the global community wakes up to the horrors ... in this region," he added.YEMEN "SHAMES US ALL" Aid workers also warned of famine in Yemen where nearly two years of war between a Saudi-led Arab coalition and the Iran-allied Houthi movement has pushed the Middle East's poorest country to breaking point. The crisis, exacerbated by restrictions on imports, has left over four fifths of the population struggling to find enough food and water to survive."That's the highest level of humanitarian needs in the world and yet Yemen has received negligible media attention," said Laurie Lee, head of CARE.Eight in 10 children are stunted and every 10 minutes a child dies from preventable diseases, agencies say.Some have warned that Yemen could run out of food within months. "It is heart-breaking to already witness starving children," said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, adding that all sides in the conflict were hampering aid deliveries. "We must put an end to this man-made disaster that shames us all. If the situation is allowed to continue to deteriorate, it will result in famine across Yemen in 2017." "OMINOUS SIGNS" Several agencies sounded the alarm over South Sudan where there have been calls by the head of a U.N. human rights commission to deploy a 4,000-strong protection force to stop a "Rwanda-like" genocide."South Sudan passed the one million refugee mark this year, yet it is a crisis that has barely made the front pages," said Mercy Corps' director Craig Redmond, adding that the world's youngest country had overtaken Afghanistan as the most dangerous place to be an aid worker.More than 3 million people have been uprooted by fighting, with 1.2 million seeking shelter in nearby countries.Agencies said the response was chronically underfunded with the regional refugee plan getting only a third of the support it needed. "In sheer scale it has become Africa's biggest displacement crisis. And as 2017 approaches the signs are ominous that more suffering is to come," U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi said. The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and World Vision named the fallout from the powerful 2015-2016 El Nino weather phenomenon as the most neglected crisis, saying over 60 million people remained affected worldwide.In southern Africa, El Nino-induced drought has devastated farms, killed off livestock and crippled food production, with "alarming consequences", said Garry Conille, IFRC's head of operations."It is the poor and vulnerable once again who are suffering disproportionately and far too quietly," added Conille, a former Haitian prime minister.Libya and Myanmar, where renewed violence has uprooted many Rohingya Muslims, were also flagged up in the poll.International Rescue Committee's policy director Sanjayan Srikanthan said Libya, which has made headlines for the refugees and migrants leaving its shores for Europe, was in crisis.Instability and fighting has left more than one in five Libyans needing humanitarian assistance and displaced 240,000 people, he said, adding that the healthcare system was on the brink of collapse. Several agencies expressed alarm at the sheer number of neglected crises.Christian Aid said 2016 was notable for "an emerging chasm between need and response" which threatened to undermine the foundations of humanitarian aid. (Additional reporting Umberto Bacchi. Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Peter Hobson | MOSCOW MOSCOW Russia staged a sombre funeral ceremony on Thursday for Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey who was shot dead in Ankara by a man who shouted "Allahu Akbar" and "Don't forget Aleppo". President Vladimir Putin, who promised retribution after Karlov, 62, was killed on Monday, was among mourners, including relatives and fellow diplomats, who gathered at the Foreign Ministry building where the slain envoy's body lay in an open casket in Russian Orthodox tradition.Russia and Turkey say the assassination was a failed attempt to derail a rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara which has seen them cooperate more closely over Syria, even though they have backed different sides in the conflict.Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laid flowers near Karlov's body in a ceremony in the marbled lobby of the looming Stalin-era skyscraper in central Moscow. Lavrov said Karlov had been the victim of "a despicable terrorist act". Putin, who has said he knew Karlov personally and posthumously awarded him the highest military medal of Hero of Russia, paid his respects, briefly sitting beside the coffin and speaking to Karlov's widow. Karlov was a Soviet-trained diplomat who worked in North and South Korea during the 1990s and 2000s and was sent to Turkey in 2013.His name was etched into a slab of pink marble on the wall of the foreign ministry building commemorating Russian diplomats killed in the line of duty.Proceedings moved to Moscow's gold-domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral later on Thursday where the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, led a ceremony. "He will go down in the history of the Fatherland," said Kirill.The envoy was buried later on Thursday in a cemetery in a northern Moscow suburb with military honours, his coffin draped in the Russian flag."We must know who directed the killer's hand," Putin said after Karlov was assassinated. Turkish authorities have identified the assassin as Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, who had worked for Ankara's riot police. He was later killed by security forces.President Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the killing on the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, something Gulen denies. The Kremlin however has said it is too early to say who stood behind the murder.Russia has flown a team of investigators to Turkey to help with the investigation. (Editing by Andrew Osborn and Richard Balmforth) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. United Nations: The UN General Assembly has agreed to set up a panel to gather evidence on war crimes in Syria, taking a first step toward prosecuting those responsible for atrocities in the nearly six-year war. A resolution on establishing the investigative mechanism was adopted yesterday in the 193-nation assembly by a vote of 105 to 15, with 52 abstentions. The panel will work closely with the UN Commission of Inquiry which has submitted several reports detailing atrocities committed during the war that has killed more than 310,000 people. Civil society groups have also been compiling documents, lists of witnesses and video footage that could one day be used in a court of law. The measure prepared by Liechtenstein was co-sponsored by 58 countries including the United States, France, Britain, Italy and Germany as well as regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Addressing the assembly, Liechtenstein's Ambassador Christina Wenaweser said the resolution would address the Security Council's failure to ensure those responsible for serious crimes face justice. Russia, Syria's main ally, and China in 2014 blocked a request by the council that the International Criminal Court begin investigations of war crimes in Syria. "We are finally taking one meaningful step to meet the expectations that we have failed for such a long time," Wenaweser said. Syria's Ambassador Bashar Jafaari slammed the measure, saying it was contrary to the UN charter and a "flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a UN member-state." Russia, China and Iran were among the countries that opposed the measure. The resolution tasks the UN secretary-general to report within 20 days on the establishment of the new panel, which will be funded by the United Nations. It will set up an "international, impartial and independent mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes" in Syria since March 2011, when the conflict began. The panel will "collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses and prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings," according to the draft text. Human rights groups applauded the move. "By establishing the investigative mechanism, the General Assembly is helping pave the road to accountability after years of unchecked atrocities," said Balkees Jarrah, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. "Perpetrators now know that evidence of their misdeeds will be collected to hasten the day when they find themselves in the dock," she said. GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. Thick, gray smog fell over Beijing on Tuesday, choking Chinas capital in a haze that spurred authorities to cancel flights and close some highways in emergency measures to cut down on air pollution. Beijing and much of industrial northern China are in the midst of a red alert, the highest level in Chinas four-tiered pollution warning system. The alert has affected 460 million people, according to Greenpeace East Asia, which calculated that about 200 million people were living in areas that had experienced levels of air pollution more than 10 times above the guideline set by the World Health Organization. Members of the public closely watch levels of PM2.5, particles measuring 2.5 microns across that are easily inhaled and damage lung tissue. The World Health Organization designates the safe level for the tiny, poisonous particles at 25 micrograms per cubic meter. On Tuesday morning, the PM2.5 reading in Beijing climbed above 300. In many northern Chinese cities, the reading has exceeded 500 micrograms per cubic meter. State media reported that 169 flights have been canceled at Beijing Capital International Airport, where visibility fell at one point to 300 meters. Sections of Beijings sixth ring road, the outermost highway encircling the city of more than 20 million people, were shut down in a bid to keep cars off the roads. Authorities have even removed charcoal grills from restaurants and banned spray painting in parts of the city, state media reported. Adding to a sense of crisis, local news in recent days reported that hospitals were encountering a boom in cases of children with respiratory problems and preparing teams of doctors to handle the surge of pollution-related cases. Photos showed waiting rooms crowded with parents carrying youngsters wearing face masks. Outside the Capital Pediatrics Institute on Tuesday, parents voiced frustration about the toxic air for throat infections and the flu. He is coughing and breathing short, and always feeling sputum in his throat, said Du Renxin, an IT worker, who was with his 2-year-old, who has had to make monthly visits to the doctor. China has long faced some of the worst air pollution in the world, blamed on its reliance of coal for energy and factory production, as well as a surplus of older, less efficient cars on its roads. Beijing and other cities have tried to improve air quality by switching power plants from coal to natural gas and rolling out fleets of electric buses and taxis. But despite its public commitment to reduce carbon emissions, China remains the worlds largest producer and consumer of coal, with plans to build new factories and increase production. Government officials, facing rising energy prices earlier this year, lifted caps on production days for many mines. Since the red alert went into effect, more than 700 companies stopped production in Beijing and traffic police were restricting drivers by monitoring their license plate numbers. Dozens of cities closed schools and took other emergency measures. The smog has serious repercussions on the lungs and the respiratory system, and it also influences the health of future generations, so under a red alert, it is safer to stay at home rather than go to school, Li Jingren, a 15-year-old high school student in Beijing, said Monday. In nearby Tianjin, authorities canceled 350 flights and closed all highways in the municipality. Public transportation services were increased as restrictions on cars were imposed. Authorities in the northern province of Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, ordered coal and cement plants to temporarily shut down or reduce production. Nomaan Merchant & Wayne Zhang, AP U.S. Rep. Raul Labradors press office said Wednesday night he is actively considering a run for governor but is still focused on his role in Congress for the time being. Labrador, a Republican who represents Idahos 1st Congressional District, has long been rumored to be interested in the job, but has so far always answered that he was focused on his upcoming term in Congress. However, an article in the conservative magazine National Review on Wednesday said Labrador had already made up his mind to run, citing the congressmans colleagues. The article, Conservatism in the Era of Trump, is about the role the House Freedom Caucus will play now that Donald Trump is going to be president. Labrador is one of the caucuss most prominent members. Muddying the picture further is the fact that some of the Houses most stalwart conservatives have just left Congress or soon will, says the article, written by Tim Alberta. (Mick) Mulvaney (R-S.C.), of course, is headed to OMB. Scott Garrett, a Freedom Caucus board member, lost a hard-fought reelection battle in his New Jersey district. Louisianas John Fleming, also a board member, gave up his House seat to run unsuccessfully for the Senate. Raul Labrador, another board member, has been one of the most outspoken critics of GOP leadership but colleagues say hes decided to run for governor of Idaho, a decision that might remove him from the front lines of some intra-party fights, and would remove him from the House altogether in 2018. Right now my focus is serving the people of Idaho in Congress and helping the new administration during the initial transition, Labrador told the Times-News in an email Wednesday. Im actively considering a run for governor, but its way too early to talk about a 2018 race. When its appropriate Ill make an announcement. Lt. Gov. Brad Little has already declared his intent to run for the job in 2018, as has former state Sen. Russ Fulcher, who ran against incumbent Gov. C.L. Butch Otter in the 2014 primary. Otter, who is being vetted now for a possible job in the Trump administration, has said he wont run for another term. Both Fulcher and Labrador are viewed as being to the right of Little and Otter and could potentially draw support from the same pool of more conservative Republican voters. In 1915, Albert Einsteins General Theory of Relativity described gravity as a warp in the fabric of spacetime and predicted that accelerating, massive bodies would ripple the fabric. Because gravity is the weakest of forces, Einstein believed these gravitational waves would never be detected. The first gravitational wave detectors, in the 1950s, were big metal bars meant to resonate ever so slightly with passing gravitational ripples. After decades of failure, physicists took a different tack: splitting laser beams, reflecting them off mirrors, and recombining them to look for patterns in the waveforms of the reconstituted light, indicating that a minuscule variation in the mirrors positions had resulted from a passing gravitational wave. The earliest detectors, in the 1970s, lacked sufficient size (and thus, sensitivity), so three decades and more than a billion dollars later, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory was born. LIGO, in Hanford, Wash., and Livingston, La., ran from 2002 to 2010 without success. Major sensitivity upgrades were completed last fall, and within hours of turning on, advanced LIGO had detected the merger of two previously unknown, medium-mass black holes (35 and 30 solar masses) 1.4 billion light years away spiraling together to become a 62-solar-mass black hole, converting three solar masses into gravitational waves in 20 milliseconds. A similar black hole merger detection followed in December. (An October 2015 event was too weak to definitively distinguish from detector noise.) After months of reviewing their data, the LIGO team announced the detections in February. A-LIGO received a further sensitivity boost this year and resumed looking for gravitational waves last month. 2017 will almost certainly bring several detections of potentially smaller and/or more distant black hole mergers, and perhaps the first mergers of less-massive neutron stars. Next column: The big astronomy events of the year ahead. Volunteers The Senior Companion Program at the CSI Office on Aging needs volunteers, age 55 and older, to assist homebound seniors by providing friendly visits, transportation or other assistance as needed. Senior Companions make positive impacts by helping to improve the mental and emotional status of their clients. Senior Companions receive a stipend per hour of service (to income eligible seniors) and can work between 15 to 40 hours a week. They receive reimbursement for mileage, and training on age-related problems. Information: Dandre, 208-736-2122, or toll free, 800-574-8656. Volunteers Horizon Home Health and Hospice is looking for volunteers to join their team to provide quality compassionate care to patients through the following activities: companionship, socialization, respite, and support for patients and families and much more. Information: Cynthia Nixon, 208-800-8085 or cnixon@horizonhh.com. Volunteers The Fifth Judicial District CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Program is seeking community volunteers to become advocates for abused children. Advocates receive training and support to investigate, report, monitor and advocate for children involved in the child protection system. Advocates are needed in all eight counties of the district, and the program needs volunteers in the Mini Cassia area. Information: Tahna, 208-735-1177. Drivers The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteer drivers for its Road to Recovery program in Twin Falls. Volunteers will drive patients to and from medical treatments. Commitment is flexible. Information: 1-800-227-2345. Drivers The Twin Falls Senior Center needs drivers to deliver meals to homebound seniors in Twin Falls Monday through Friday, and the routes take an hour or less to complete. Commitment is based on your availability. Volunteers must be 18 years of age with their own car, and have proof of liability insurance and a background check. Drivers receive 54 cents a mile fuel reimbursement. Information: 208-734-5084. Volunteers The Twin Falls Senior Center has a ladies group (The Crazy Quilters), who are looking for individuals to put finishing touches on quilts as a group while socializing. The group meets from 9 a.m. to noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All quilt project proceeds are given to the Twin Falls Senior Center. Information: 208-734-5084. Volunteers St. Lukes Home Health and Hospice is looking for new volunteers to join its team to share compassion and care and increase the quality of life for patients and their families. The program is designed to offer companionship and socialization to patients as well as respite and support for the caregivers. Information: Marie Sharp, 208-814-7603 or sharpm@slhs.org. Volunteers St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center is in need of volunteers for a variety of positions from shuttle drivers to care volunteers to gift shop volunteers and more. The medical center is looking for pleasant, and friendly individuals with a sincere interest in voluntary services offered to patients, visitors, employees and guests. Meet new people and learn new experiences and challenges. Information: Kim Patterson at 814-0861 or kimpa@slhs.org, or visit the Volunteer Services Office, lower level at St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center; 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls. Applications are available at the Front Information Desk. TWIN FALLS This timeline was compiled using court documents and police records and shows how events unfolded according to the Twin Falls Police Department and Twin Falls County Prosecutors Office. April 2016: Gerardo Raul Chavez and Austin Dobbs, roommates at a Twin Falls home, pool together between $700 and $800 to buy Xanax from Vason Lee Widaman. Several people, including Dobbs, tell police that Widaman takes the money but never delivers the pills. Late April: After never receiving his portion of the Xanax, Dobbs begins to believe Chavez ripped him off and kept all the pills, but Chavez tells his roommate he never got the drugs. Chavez tells Dobbs some kid named Vason and some girl ripped them off, and Chavez was going to have to deal with him. Around this time, Chavez tells Dobbs hes going to kill the person who stole their money. Early May: Chavez, Dobbs and Jose Daniel Alvarez go to the Devils Corral area on the north rim of the Snake River Canyon, where they fire a black 9 mm handgun belonging to Chavez. May 6: Dobbs witnesses Chavez loading the 9 mm gun while wearing gloves, but when a bullet drops to the ground, Alvarez picks it up without gloves and hands it Chavez, who loads it into the gun. May 7, 2:30 p.m.: Dobbs is leaving the residence he shares with Chavez when he passes Alvarez driving a dark gray Dodge Charger registered to Alvarezs father. May 7, 3:32 p.m.: Police receive a call of shots fired at North College Road West and Northern Pine Drive. Officers Egan and Gealta are first on scene and find Widaman on the ground with several gunshot wounds. They administer life-saving efforts until paramedics arrive and take over, but Widaman dies at the scene. May 7, 6 p.m.: Alvarez, driving the gray Charger, picks up Dobbs at his mothers home. Chavez is in the back seat, and Alvarezs girlfriend is in the front seat. Dobbs tells the others theres been a shooting and suggests they go see the crime scene. Chavez leans forward and tells Alvarez to avoid the scene, and instead the group drives to the College of Southern Idaho, and then to Buhl to Alvarezs girlfriends house. May 7: As police begin investigating the killing, they find five 9 mm shell casings around Widamans body. They also scour Widamans cellphone for clues, where they find hes been in contact with someone listed in his phone as G. Looking through police records, the number for G matches Chavezs cellphone number. Officers canvass the North Pointe subdivision looking for witnesses. One witness tells them she saw a dark sedan driving slowly next to a boy on a bicycle about 3:30 p.m. The witness said she thought the car was a Ford Mustang, but after looking at pictures of both a Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger, she said it looked more like a Charger. Police contact three juveniles who live in the area, two of whom say they knew Widaman. One says a man named White Jose, later identified as Alvarez, might be involved. Another tells police it was common knowledge that Widaman was a drug dealer, and says Alvarez drives a dark Dodge Charger and he could be involved. A friend of Widamans tells police a Hispanic man nicknamed G was involved in the shooting, and the friend witnessed Widaman and G involved in drug deals in the past. The friend said G was driving a black, four-door diesel truck the same type of truck registered to Chavezs mother. Widamans friend identifies a photograph of Chavez as the person known as G. The friend also tells police that a few weeks prior to the shooting, Widaman had ripped off G for about $700 or $800. Another of Widamans friends tells police the 15-year-old had been involved in a number of drug deals and he had begun ripping people off. Unknown date: After finding that Widaman was in contact with Chavez, police obtain phone records showing texts and calls from Chavezs phone for May 6 and 7. The records show that at 3:27 p.m. on May 7, five minutes before the shooting was reported, Chavezs phone was at or near the location of the shooting of Vason. May 8: Police go to Chavezs last known address, in Buhl, in hopes of talking to him about the killing. Chavez is not at the home, but up the street, outside the home of Alvarezs girlfriend, they see the dark Dodge Charger registered to Alvarezs father. Detectives knock on the door at Alvarezs girlfriends home, but nobody answers. Dobbs later tells police that he, Chavez, Alvarez and Alvarezs girlfriend were all inside Chavez and Alvarez were freaking out but they hid and didnt open the door. May 9: Police go to Chavez and Dobbs Twin Falls residence and detain both men for questioning. Alvarez is also brought in. After lead investigator Ken Rivers speaks to all three men, Alvarez and Dobbs are released. Chavez is arrested on a misdemeanor warrant for a probation violation. May 9: Police hold a press conference before the City Council meeting. They dont take questions, but they release grainy surveillance photographs of the dark sedan seen near the shooting. May 10: Chavez is arraigned on his misdemeanor probation violation, and a judge sets his bond at $10,000. Chavez posts the bond and is released from custody. May 10: A Canyon Ridge high schooler tells the school resource officer that she witnessed the shooting. She says she was driving near the high school when she saw a dark gray or black vehicle with chrome or silver wheels, and she saw a gun come out of the passenger side window and fire several shots. Scared after realizing what happened, she drove away. Later, she said she was confused, and the gun might have been held out the drivers side window. May 11: Rivers interviews a resident who lives 200 feet from the shooting and may have witnessed the aftermath. The witness tells police she was in her front yard when she heard gunshots, and looking that way, saw a gray or black Dodge with tinted windows leaving north on Northern Pine Drive. She says the front passenger window was down and describes the passenger as a young Hispanic man with a round face, but when presented with two photo lineups, she cant positively identify a suspect. May 16: Another witness in the area of the shooting tells Rivers she watched the confrontation between a boy on a bike and a person in a vehicle. She says she saw the passenger in the car shoot the boy on the bike, watched the boy fall down, and then watched the car leave northbound on Northern Pine Drive. She described the car as dark gray with silver wheels, and when shown photos of Alvarezs Charger, she said it looked exactly like the car shed seen. May 26: Chavez appears in Twin Falls County Magistrate Court on a probation violation hearing in his drunken driving case from October 2015. June 14: Sorenson Forensics Laboratory in Salt Lake City sends a forensic analysis to the Twin Falls Police Department reporting theres enough DNA on the shell casings to make a comparison of a possible suspect. June 16: Chavez is in court again for a probation violation hearing in the drunken driving case. Hes taken into custody after failing a drug test. June 27: Two police officers spot Alvarez sitting in his Charger outside the Twin Falls County Jail. Knowing theres a warrant out seeking his DNA sample, they arrest Chavez. In his car they find drugs and drug paraphernalia and hes charged with two felonies, though the case has since been dismissed. At some point, a DNA sample is collected and Rivers sends the sample to the Utah laboratory to be tested against the shell casings. Early July: An inmate at the Twin Falls County Jail contacts police and says Chavez, in custody at the jail for his probation violation, is talking about Widamans murder. The inmate agrees to become a confidential informant and records a conversation in which Chavez tells him Widaman owed him $700. July 7: Chavez is released from jail on the probation violation. Aug. 3: Prosecutors again allege that Chavez has violated his probation. A warrant is issued for his arrest. Early October: Dobbs and Chavez are driving around after Chavez had consumed alcohol. Chavez tells Dobbs to pull over, turn off his phone and give it to him. Dobbs hands his phone to Chavez, and Chavez tells him, I just wanted to let you know, that kid who stole our money, I handled it. He also tells Dobbs, Im also going to get Ken Rivers, and when I say something is going to happen, it does. Oct. 25: Police interview Dobbs. Oct. 28: Rivers receives a report from the Utah laboratory showing Alvarezs DNA matches the DNA found on the shell casings. Due to the type of test used which identifies the male Y-chromosome the results cannot distinguish the DNA between males on Alvarezs fathers side of his family. Nov. 6: Police arrest Chavez on the probation violation warrant from August and prosecutors charge him with two new misdemeanors for resisting or obstructing arrest and providing false information. Chavez posts bond in both cases and promises to appear for a hearing. Its the last known contact he has with police until Tuesdays stand-off. Nov. 16: When Chavez doesnt show up for his court hearing he promised to attend, a new arrest warrant is issued. Monday: Police and prosecutors obtain warrants for Chavez and Alvarez on first-degree murder charges. Tuesday, 2:01 p.m.: Alvarez is arrested while driving on U.S. 30 near Pole Line Road just east of Buhl by the Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office SWAT team, who were conducting surveillance. Tuesday, 3 p.m.: A police SWAT team surrounds the home at 348 Locust Street North and asks for Chavez to exit the house with his hands up. About an hour later, Chavez comes out and gives himself up peacefully. Wednesday: Chavez and Alvarez are arraigned on felony counts of first-degree murder and intimidating a witness. Theyre held without bond. TWIN FALLS Between mid-2015 and mid-2016, Idaho experienced the strongest population growth since 2008. The U.S. Census Bureaus latest estimates show the states population grew 1.8 percent, by more than 30,000 people. This put Idaho in third place nationally for the strongest increase. The change is largely a result of a high birth rate and domestic migration, the Idaho Department of Labor said in a statement. Nearly 19,000 people moved into Idaho from other states and countries in the one-year period, and the states birth rate was seventh highest in the country 13.7 births per 1,000 women. Idahos population growth was more than 1 percent annually between 1990 and 2010 with a peak of 3 percent in 1993 and 1994. Growth dropped to just 0.7 percent in 2012, matching the national rate. Utah became the nations fastest-growing state, increasing population 2 percent, exceeding 3 million people. Next on the list were Nevada, Idaho, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, the District of Columbia and Texas. Eight states dropped in population Mississippi, Wyoming, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia and Illinois. What do they do? This nonprofit organization was incorporated in 2002 to provide Idahos surplus wild big-game meat to area food pantries and food-insecure families. Protein especially red meat is the least available food item food banks and pantries receive. The meat is donated locally to the Richfield Community Food Bank, The Hunger Coalition in Bellevue, Martha & Marys Food Pantry in Jerome, Rock Creek Food Pantry in Kimberly, Mustard Seed Ministries in Twin Falls and the WEMA Emergency Food Pantry in Buhl. The organization especially targets families where two or three members might draw a permit in the same year and end up with too much meat for one family. It also targets out-of-state hunters who cant take all their meat home with them. Donated road kill and the meat from depredation hunts where the wild game population is too great for a given area can also feed the pantries. Theres so much wasted food here, said Jeff Schroeder, the organizations executive director. We receive donations to pay for processing so it makes it easier for hunters to donate their game. Whats changing? The organization is seeing a growing need in the senior population. Being able to provide wild game for seniors really excites me because many of them used to hunt and are no longer able to hunt. So they get real excited when they receive donations of wild game, said Schroeder, whos involved with the food pantry in Jerome. Also protein, especially red meat, is hard to come by for food banks or pantries. As a food, I think wild game meat is the best. Its good quality lean protein. How can people help? Hunters can donate extra big-game meat, such as deer, reindeer, caribou, elk, moose, antelope and bison that their own family will not use. Donations of money are also needed to pay for the processing of donated meat. Whats the biggest difference the charity made in 2016? The organization went statewide. The organization also negotiated a rule change through Idaho Health and Welfare to clarify that its OK to process wild game for donations. The rule change allows the meat to be labeled for private use or donation purposes. What are their hopes for 2017? The organization hopes to get more food pantries and processors participating. It also hopes to create more awareness with hunters so more will know about the program. In addition, Schroeder says he plans to start working to change laws that currently prohibit wild game from being used in meals in soup kitchens. It will probably take legislative change to do that, he said, but Id like to get started on that this coming year. TWIN FALLS Instead of giving gifts this year, Monie Smith and three of her friends decided to help others in need. Now a newly arrived refugee family has an entire Unitarian Fellowship helping them acclimate to their new home in Twin Falls. Smith reached out to the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center and found out a family of seven would arrive Dec. 14. She quickly realized she would need more help. When she reached out to her church, the Magic Valley Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, the entire congregation pitched in and quickly rounded up donations and helped prepare a home for the incoming family. On Dec. 15, members of the Fellowship met Emmanuel Kasombwa and Sofia Makelele and their five children for the first time. The family was originally scheduled to arrive at noon Dec. 14, but a missed connection in Chicago and a winter storm later caused them to land in Twin Falls at nearly midnight. The family of seven has lived in Tanzania for 20 years but is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The children one girl and four boys range in age from 7 months to 19-years-old. In the refugee camp, they lived in a hut made from trees from the forest. On Dec. 15, they answered questions from Fellowship members who came to meet them inside their new home. We are so glad you are finally here, said Marion Wallace, a Unitarian Fellowship member. And we are looking forward to getting to know you. We are happy to see you, too, Kasombwa said through translator Emile Wilondja. Magic Valley Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship members spent days preparing the house for their arrival. And not just putting items in their proper places, but making the house into a home. A red banner hung from the wall that said, Merry Christmas. A dining room table was decorated with two Santa figurines and candles. The family is Christian but never had a Christmas tree before. The tree twinkled in the corner of the living room with a handmade star wrapped in foil on top. A shelf was filled with toys, a stuffed fox, dog and cat. A sign said, God Bless Our Home and All Who Enter. The home is good, Kasombwa said. As fellowship members prepared the home, they learned there were a lot of other people who wanted to help. Costco donated new winter coats, gloves, hats, socks and towels for each person in the family. The winter gear was waiting for the family when their plane finally landed in Twin Falls. A random shopper who gave Susan Bachtold, a Fellowship member, information on space heaters at Home Depot also handed her $70 to purchase the heater after hearing about the arriving family. It was the last one on the shelf, Bachtold said, and will be used to heat a cold back bedroom. Then, a woman who gave Bachtold advice on baby items, winded up buying a child booster seat and a child car set for the family. All these wonderful people played a part in helping this new family start a new life here, Bachtold said. I call you all My Beings of Light. Miracles happen all the time, one just has to be open to them and believe. Wilondja told the Fellowship members that the family didnt sleep last night after their long day of traveling. As cold rain turned snow into ice outside, Smith asked the family if they had gone outside to touch the snow. Kasombwa said they learned about snow in videos, but this was the first time they saw it in person. You have to touch it, Smith said. Kasombwa and Makelele smiled, but no one moved toward the door. Makelele wore sandals and a long skirt. When Monie asked if they had enough blankets, they said they found the blankets, but it was still too cold. Robin Romney, another Fellowship member, also helped collect donations. Romney said she plans to check on the family from time to time. I love the generosity of this area, Romney said. I love the kindness of the heart and willingness of people to jump in and do whatever is good for anyone else. Romney has been a member of the Magic Valley Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship since 2007. Every second Sunday the Fellowship takes collections gathered at services and donates them to a charity or family. We call it Pay it forward, Romney said. We collect it in the hopes that they would be in the position to help someone else. Romney held back tears when she talked about meeting the family for the first time. I dont know the words, Romney said. You feel like your heart is this huge light. Thats how I felt anyway. The family speaks French and Swahili. When Micheal Johnson, Smiths husband and a Fellowship member, arrived, he introduced himself in French. But he told the family he only knew a little. So I will have to learn to speak Swahili, Michael said. I know one word: Hakuna Matata. Kasombwa threw back his head to laugh loudly, as Makelele smiled wide. When we came here, Smith said. The house was empty. Its been a really incredible experience for us to set this up. It shows that our community is kind and progressive. November 12, 1930 - December 13, 2016 TWIN FALLS - Grandma Polly got her last baby home December 13 with the passing of Robert (Bob) Lee Sorenson in Lake Worth, Florida. Bob was born November 12, 1930 in Twin Falls to Jack and Margaret McCoy Sorenson. Bob's father died when he was 6 years old. Bob spent his youth helping his mother, sister and 2 brothers on the family farm south of Twin Falls. In 1949 he graduated from Twin Falls High School. The following year he enlisted in the US Air Force and was trained as a radio operator. He was stationed in Germany for 18 months. Following his discharge from the military Bob worked 30 years for General Dynamics in Chicago and Pomona, California as an engineer. He worked on many missile systems of the 60's, 70's and 80's including rockets for the early manned space flights. Bob retired in 1985 and returned to Twin Falls Catching up on fishing at Magic with his brothers Stan and Roy. He bought and sold real estate for awhile. He tried his hand as a bar owner for about a year. Bob was a Moose member in Twin Falls and ran the bus trips to Las Vegas for many years. He was a great 'Tour Director' for these trips. In 2009 he got a call that changed his life forever. Bob reconnected with Margie, whom he met in Germany in 1952. They married December 24, 2010. The happy couple spent the winters in Lake Worth, Florida and summers in Twin Falls, Idaho. They traveled frequently with his nephew and wife, Rod and Sue, 3 trips to the Caribbean, yearly trips to California, 2 cross country car trips and many trips to places to see what was there. Bob is survived by his wife Margie, his daughters Kelly (Jeff) Dunn and Deborah Milat, a grandson and granddaughter, two great grandsons, nieces and nephews and many friends. Bob was preceded in death by his parents Jack and Margaret, stepfather Deles Van Zante, sister Evelyn, brothers Stan and Roy and two infant brothers. UB, I was your nephew but you treated me like your son, until we meet again, Rod. When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. Author Unknown. Special To The Washington Post WASHINGTON A recent article reporting that some of Hillary Clintons supporters are searching for a glimpse of her as she wanders the woods near her Westchester County, New York, home seems a good signal to declare that the Democrats wilderness years have officially begun. The final Democratic hopes to change the elections outcome expired Monday when the electoral college certified Donald Trump as the next president. The placing of Donald Trumps hand (Look at those hands! Are they small hands?) on the Bible is now just days away and with it the official start of the Trump administration. Democrats, like mother Addie in As I Lay Dying who listened as her coffin was hammered together outside her bedroom window, can listen to the sounds of the presidential inaugural platform and viewing stands under construction as they are prepared to receive the new president, the one who could never be. The political reverberations of Trump are just beginning. So far, he hasnt said or done anything to reassure the majority of Americans who voted for someone else that he cares a whit for their concerns or support. Through appointments his ambassador to Israel and his national security adviser and his conversation with Taiwan, he has shown a relish for pouring fuel on some of the most dangerous global hot spots in the world. In areas of the budget and environmental policy, Trump has outsourced the former to magical ideas of Paul Ryan and the latter to three individuals who are: 1. A climate denier suing to abolish the agency he is appointed to run; 2. A climate denier who wants to abolish the department he is going to run if he can remember its name; and 3. A man who says he believes in climate change but allowed his company, the largest fossil-fuel company in the world, to fund groups that deny it. On this, the shortest day of the year, it feels especially cold and dark for Democrats.Some seem to be looking for new leaders to guide them from the wilderness. (Joe Biden might note that Moses was 80 when he began leading the Israelites through the wilderness to the Promised Land.) Others are looking inward and examining their core beliefs. Does the party have the right ideas and platform to appeal not just to the coasts, but to the middle of the country and swing counties who feel left behind and subsequently turned against it? And some are simply in despair. As Dante wrote, Midway in the journey of our life / I came to myself in a dark wood / for the straight way was lost.Carter Eskew is a founder of The Glover Park Group who oversees the firms branding, corporate reputation and creative services groups. Before forming GPG in 2001, Carter worked as a political media consultant and corporate strategist. Why Are Pakistans Stock and Financial Markets Soaring, Really? During six decades of US aid, Pakistans living standards plunged. But in the past year, Asias largest frontier market delivered foretaste of its promise with Chinas support. Recently, Pakistans stock market crossed the 46,000 point milestone. Investor sentiment is increasingly bullish. In the past year, Pakistans equity markets beat those of China and India by a wide margin. The former was up 16%, whereas the latter were in negative for the year. In 2017, the market is expected to see more than half a dozen new initial public offerings, while optimistic analysts anticipate the benchmark index advance to cross 55,000 points, which would potentially generate a yield of 17-21%. Pakistans market success Since competitiveness does not seem to explain Pakistans market success, Forbes attributes the latter to the countrys role as a frontier market, the inflow of Chinese investment, the World Banks support and recent acquisitions. And yet, rankings in competitiveness index, which tends to measure past success, do not always explain market movements, which are based on future projections. Second, the distinction between frontier and emerging markets has less to do with exposure to global markets than with the degree of development, as well as lesser liquidity and greater risk. Further, Pakistan has received $1 billion from the World Bank. However, the Banks commitments in Pakistan amount to $8.6 billion in the past half a decade and have been substantial for some time. What does seem to be relevant, however, is that Chinese companies not US firms have been behind major acquisitions. Something is going on in Pakistans markets, but conventional wisdom does not capture the big picture. Theres more to the story. Eclipse of US-Pakistan military ties Recently, Washington suspended $300 million of military aid, after the cancellation of the deal to sell Pakistan eight F-16 fighter jets at a cost of $270 million. Since 2011, there has been a 73% decline in US security assistance and a 53% decrease in economic assistance to Pakistan. These moves reflect a major shift. Between 1951 and 2011, US commitments in Pakistan totaled $67 billion; in the subsequent five years, almost $14 billion. Yet, between 2003 and 2015 alone, terrorism took the lives of almost 21,000 civilians and 6,400 security personnel. According to central State Bank of Pakistan, extremist violence has cost the country $118 billion in the past 15 years over a third of its GDP. Has the military assistance improved ordinary Pakistanis living standards? No. Rather, it has gone hand in hand with a dramatic deterioration of living standards. In 1980, Pakistans GDP per capita ranked 109th internationally; in 2000, 131st; and today 146th. It is this era of military destabilization that is now fading in Pakistan as a new era of economic development is emerging which markets have recognized. Economic development with China While significant challenges remain ahead, economy has somewhat stabilized. After the recently completed three-year economic reform program, Pakistans real GDP growth is almost 5% - at par with Malaysia (4.7%) and not far from that in Indonesia (5.8%). Pakistan also has substantial growth potential. Despite massive amounts of US aid, over 42% of Pakistans people remain in agriculture. Almost two-thirds of Pakistanis still live in the countryside, which means that urbanization still has a long way to go - Karachis population is likely to increase to almost 20 million and Lahores to 10 million by 2025. The migration to cities is also fueled by one of the fastest natural population growth rates in Asia. As a result, Pakistans cities struggle with capacity constraints in transportation and energy, while migration is occurring amid longstanding war and conflict. Fueled by the China-Pakistan free trade agreement, bilateral economic relations have increased rapidly. China is now Pakistans largest trade partner and military supplier. And a massive China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is under construction; reportedly, at the cost of $51 billion. CPEC seeks to connect Kashgar and Gwadar, through a network of highways, railways and pipelines. It is an extension of and could become a model of Chinas huge One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. In turn, Chinese investors are acquiring Pakistani companies (e.g., Karachis K-Electric by Shanghai Electric Power Co) while the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange seek to buy a stake of up to 40% in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Second historical effort of modernization With population estimated at 195 million, Pakistan is the sixth most populous nation in the world and the greatest potential emerging economy in the world after China and India, Indonesia and Brazil. The current development craze is not the first one. During the 1960s, Pakistans real GDP growth was 6.8%, about the same as Chinas today, and the country was a world model of economic development. Ironically, as South Korea tried to emulate Pakistan's economic planning, Pakistan itself failed to implement that model. Now, half a century later, Koreas GDP per capita is almost $37,000 but Pakistans less than $5,000. Today, Pakistan is shifting toward economic development. That, however, requires peace and stability and thus minimal friction with regional neighbors and the kind of massive infrastructure investment that China can offer. Development matters. Dr. Dan Steinbock is an internationally recognised expert of the nascent multipolar world. He is the CEO of Difference Group and has served as Research Director at the India, China and America Institute (USA) and visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Centre (Singapore). For more, see www.differencegroup.net 2016 Copyright Dan Steinbock - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Israel defense minister vigdor Liberman has stopped short to claim Israels responsibility in the assassination of Tunisian engineer Mohammed Al-Zawahri also known as a Hamas militant. If someone was killed in Tunisia, hes not likely to be a peace activist or a Nobel Prize candidate, Liberman said before adding We will continue to do in the best possible way what we know how to do that is to protect our interests. Israel has been blamed by Palestinian movement for the assassination of the 49-year old man outside his house on December 15. Zawahri, a Tunisian engineer and university lecturer was killed by 20 bullets in his car outside his house of the Tunisian second city of Sfax. The victim lived in exile for 20 years and only came back to Tunisia after the 2011 revolution. He had reportedly been working for Hamas for 10 years and tried to sneak into Israel in 2014. Israel accuses the Tunisian engineer for being behind Hamass drone program. Tunisian interior minister Hedi Majdoub also claimed that a foreign hand is behind the assassination without going into details. The assassination according to the Tunisian official had been planned since June this year and was masterminded from two European capitals namely Vienna and Budapest. Three suspects including a female journalist have been arrested in connection to the assassination, all of them Tunisians, reports say. The female journalist according to Majdoub was hired by foreigners posing as a media company planning to make documentaries in Tunisia for a Malaysian TV channel, including one about the aerospace industry in Arab states. The company asked the journalist to contact Zawahri as one of the interviewees for the documentary film, Israeli media Time of Israel reports. The engineers assassination sparked anti-Israel demonstration in capital Tunis Tuesday. Hundreds of Tunisians waving Palestinian flags denounced Israels alleged implication. With our soul, with our blood, we will avenge you Palestine, they chanted. Zawahri has been considered a martyr. Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. Because the measures of disease progression are imprecise, said Khatri, it can take two years for physicians to be sure if a given treatment is having any effect. A more precise measure of disease progression has long been needed. The team used publicly available patient data shared by hospitals across the United States to search for a set of genes whose activity would mark the progression of systemic sclerosis, or SSc. Gene expression is the process by which cells extract information from genes and render it as molecules of protein or RNA. Cells have the capacity to express more or less of each molecule, creating a pattern of expression that changes according to the presence of infections or of autoimmune diseases such as SSc. Khatri and his team identified 415 genes whose expression changed in a pattern that indicated how serious a persons SSc had become. The researchers were able to use these gene-expression patterns as the basis for a test, which they called the SSc Skin Severity Score, or 4S. They used SSc patient data from two clinical centers to identify the 415 genes, and data sets from patients from five additional centers to validate the new test. They also included data from healthy participants who served as controls. It was easy to distinguish the gene-expression data related to healthy skin samples from the data for diseased skin samples, said Khatri. The data for all the healthy skin fell within one bubble, he said, while all the data for the scleroderma patients fell within another. Getting results a year earlier The team looked at data from a cohort of Northwestern University patients who had been tested repeatedly with the skin pinch test while being treated with a drug. The 4S test applied to this preexisting set of patient data could distinguish patients who were improving from those who were not 12 months after their treatment began. In contrast, the doctors skin pinch test from the same set of data took 24 months to identify which patients were improving. What was really cool was that we could predict on an individual level which patients would get better or worse. In the data from Northwestern, all the patients were getting exactly the same treatment, the same drug, said Shane. Yet we were able to predict a year before the clinician which patients were getting better and which were getting worse. Clinical trials, as opposed to retrospective studies looking at pre-existing data, are needed to validate the 4S test, the researchers said. But if it works as well as Khatri and his collaborators hope, clinicians may be able to evaluate patients response to treatments much more quickly, so they can be switched to some other treatment that may work. The test could also help advance the search for better therapies. And what was really cool was that we could predict on an individual level which patients would get better or worse, Khatri said. The 4S test is an example of Stanford Medicines focus on precision health, the goal of which is to anticipate and prevent disease in the healthy and precisely diagnose and treat disease in the ill. A possible treatment? The study also uncovered a gene-activity signal suggesting the involvement of epidermal growth factor receptors in the disease, a fact that was previously unknown, said Khatri. EGFR is important in cell division and plays a role in cancer and other diseases. In SSc, we showed that EGFR is consistently upregulated, Khatri said. And, he added, drugs that have been approved by the FDA for treating EGFR-related conditions may turn out to be useful in treating patients with systemic sclerosis. Soon, he added, his team will begin giving EGFR-inhibiting drugs to mice with a sclerodermalike condition to see if it helps. Its very exciting, said Khatri. This is a disease that has stumped people for more than 25 years. Other Stanford co-authors are professor of dermatology David Fiorentino, MD, PhD; professor of medicine Paul Utz, MD; associate professor of medicine Lorinda Chung, MD; postdoctoral scholars Peggie Cheung, PhD, and Alex Kuo, PhD; and rheumatology fellow Antonia Valenzuela, MD. In addition to Northwestern, researchers at the following institutions also contributed to the study: Dartmouth College, the University of California-San Francisco, the Hospital for Special Surgery, the University of Texas Health Science Center and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants 1U19AI109662, U19AI057229, U54I117925, U01AI089859, 1R21AR068035 and K23AR059763), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Scleroderma Research Foundation. Stanfords Department of Medicine also supported the work. Ivorian ruling coalition party has won 167 parliamentary seats out of 254 in the countrys legislative elections held on Sunday, the electoral commission announce on Tuesday. The results of the elections are as follows: RHDP (ruling coalition) won 167 seats, Independents won 75, UDPCI won 6, UPCI won 3 and the FPI (former party of Laurent Gbagbo) won 3 seats, the president of the IEC, Issouf Bakayoko declared. The Houphouetist Rally for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) of President Alassane Ouattara secured 67.75% of the seats ahead of the Independents who won 29.53% of seats. The voter turnout, according to the IEC, was 34.10% making it one of the lowest participation rate in elections in the country. The most notable results showed a former minister sacked by Ouattara, Mabri Toikeusse Albert Abdallah winning overwhelmingly by 77.3% through the main opposition party, the Ivory Coast Democratic Party. President Alassane Ouattaras ruling coalition promises growth. The opposition Ivorian Popular Front participated in the vote despite boycotting politics since 2011 after fighting saw its founder, ex-President Laurent Gbagbo, and others jailed. The new parliamentarians are made up of 225 men and 29 women. More than 6.2 million people were registered to vote and elect new members of the National Assembly. This is the first national election conducted after the adoption of the new Constitution in the October referendum. The Algeria-backed separatist Polisario front has no standing to represent the economic interests of Western Sahara or to bring proceedings on behalf of the Sahrawi population. This is the gist of the ruling delivered on Wednesday by the Court of Justice of the European Union after examining in appeal a verdict issued in a first instance on December 2015. The first verdict suspended the Morocco-EU farm agreement struck in 2012 on grounds that it included within its scope the Sahara provinces in Southern Morocco. Morocco had then firmly responded to the ruling and suspended all relations with European institutions, prompting the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to fly to Rabat to reassure the Moroccan partner that the EU will challenge the courts decision and protect the global trade pact which lowered tariffs on Moroccan agricultural exports to the bloc. The European Union actually moved quickly to fix the problem and preserve its partnership with Morocco and lodged, at the request of all the Member State, an appeal challenging the first instance judgment. After the European Court of Justice received the appeal, its Chief Advocate General Melchior Wathelet recommended in a legal opinion the invalidation of the December 2015 judgment on the partial annulment of the Morocco-EU agreement. In his opinion piece, Melchior Wathelet explained that the Polisario front is not a legitimate organization and that therefore its appeal to a European court was inadmissible. The separatist front does not have the standing to represent the economic interests of the Western Sahara region, and therefore cannot claim to be the exclusive representative of the Sahara population in international relations, the Advocate General had argued and pleaded for overturning the first instance verdict. In reaction to the new verdict, the EU foreign policy chief and the Moroccan Foreign Minister stressed in a joint statement that the two sides took note of the ruling delivered on Wednesday by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the Agricultural Agreement between Morocco and the European Union. The ECJ judges ruled inadmissible the action for annulment against the said Agreement, introduced by the Polisario Front, the two sides said, affirming that the EU-Morocco Agricultural Agreement remains in force. France on its part vowed to continue to work with its partners and the European Union to develop the quality partnership between the EU and Morocco, including in the agricultural sector. The French Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday in a press release that Paris took note of the ECJ verdict overturning the previous ruling on the EU-Morocco agricultural agreement and that France had supported the appeal brought by the European council to challenge the annulment of the farm accord. As to Frances standpoint on the Sahara issue, the release reiterated that its position on the Sahara remains unchanged and that it supports the search for a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution, under the aegis of the United Nations and in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council. France considers the autonomy plan presented by Morocco in 2007 as a serious and credible basis for a negotiated solution, the press release stated further. A military tribunal in Ouagadougou has adjourned the hearing of 27 soldiers, all members of a former regiment of Compaores presidential security. The group of dissidents had been arrested in December 2015 for allegedly planning to free coup leader Gilbert Diendere and former foreign affairs minister Djibril Bassole as well as complicity and illegal detention of firearms and ammunition. According to prosecutors, the defendants also wanted to attack gendarmerie brigades in Ouagadougou as well as an army weapons storage center. Their plan was to ensure the comeback of the presidential guards dissolved after the failed coup, push for the reintegration of hundreds of soldiers removed in 2011 as well as call for the payment of unpaid allowances after their return from a United Nations mission, the prosecutors said. As a reminder, Africas fourth-ranking gold producer held elections in November last year after the brief military takeover. The presidential guard unit, known by its French acronym RSP, was dismantled because it was seen as key in supporting the regime of ex-President Blaise Compaore, who ruled the West African nation for 27 years until he was ousted amid mass protests in 2014. The fall of Blaise Compaore, despite attempts to repress the protests, inspired activists across the continent to hope it would usher in people-power revolutions to oust autocrats in other African countries. An armed group known as Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation, or 3R has emerged in the Central African Republic , killing at least 50 civilians and displacing around 17,000, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. According to HRW, the group appeared in late 2015 to protect the minority Peul population, who are mostly Muslim cattle herders, from attacks by Christian anti-balaka militias. It now has hundreds of well-armed fighters who control territory near Cameroons border. The group has also burned villages and raped women and girls in an apparent bid to punish local communities for perceived anti-balaka support, HRW said. They told us they were ready to move into other parts of the northwest and I think it should be taken seriously, said HRW researcher Lewis Mudge, adding that there is evidence the group has set up road taxes to finance its operations. As a reminder, 3R attacked the town of De Gaulle in September and chased out local authorities despite U.N. troops in the town, HRW said. The U.N. said last week that violence had grown more severe and widespread. The Central African Republic descended into chaos in March 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters seized power, triggering reprisal attacks by Christian anti-Balaka militias. A fifth of the population fled their homes due to violence. The country remains largely divided along religious lines and controlled by warlords. The supreme court of Mauritania has adjourned its final decision on the fate of a popular blogger, Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir, who had earlier been sentenced to death for apostasy. A criminal court in Nouadhibou in the north of the west African country an Islamic Republic that adheres to a strict interpretation of shariah, Islamic law had sentenced Mkheitir to death in December last year. Muslim leaders in deeply conservative Mauritania have earnestly asked the government to carry out the execution of the blogger. Thousands of people gathered in the capital to push for the confirmation of the sentence and the execution of the death penalty later on left the scene on Tuesday without any incident. The criminal chamber of the Supreme Court said the decision to adjourn deliberation on the verdict has been taken due to the recent replacement of one of their assessors. There are fears that even pressure from international community might not be able to save Mohamed who keeps insisting that he believes freedom cannot be defeated. As a reminder, the 29-year-old blogger, in 2013, published an article entitled Religion, Religiosity and Craftsmen on the Aqlame news website. The main theme of his article concerned the marginalized status of Mauritanias craftsmen population. He also criticized the countrys caste system and those who use religion to marginalize certain groups of society. III 2022 , 8 , - 2,2 . 'Like' us on Facebook Follow us: Posted on: Dec 22, 2016 A Revolution to Reinstate the Rudiments of Healthcare Talk by Dr. Neelam Desai This year, the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences celebrated its silver jubilee. Fondly referred to as Bhagawan's Super Speciality Hospital, this institution stands as a reaffirmation that even today, we as a society can retrace our steps that have drifted away from the fundamental principles of healthcare. This institution has not merely proven to be an economically sustainable model of free healthcare, but has also shown the world that 'free' or 'charitable' need not always be substandard. During the celebrations that were held in the Sai Kulwant Hall, Dr. Neelam Desai delivered this address (on 20 Nov 2016), the transcript of which is being offered below for your reading pleasure. Dr. Neelam Desai is a Senior Consultant and Head of Department, Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) at the Hospital. She is one of the senior most surgeons of the hospital, who joined the institution way back in 1993. In the words of the French philosopher Voltaire, Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing. The pivotal word in this scathing description is 'know', a surrogate for knowledge. To the embodiment of all knowledge, learning and wisdom, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I offer my most humble and loving pranams. Honourable Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare - Shri J. P. Naddaji, Honourable Minister of IT and Communications, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh - Dr Palle Raghunatha Reddy, Esteemed Director of NABH - Dr. B. K. Rana, revered members of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, all dignitaries and my dear brothers and sisters, Sai Ram and welcome to all of you. In ancient Rome, Cicero said, In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to others. Human life is precious and this echoes an aphorism from our ancient Indian culture which places a doctor on par with God Himself Vaidyo Narayano Hari. It is something that we are aware of right from our early days and something we strive to do wholeheartedly. Being a doctor calls for wearing multiple caps - friend, counsellor, physician, student and teacher. Only then can a doctor claim to be balanced. In Cicero's time, they spoke the Latin word 'Docere' which means 'to teach or to show'. This is where the word doctor comes from. Being in this field is a continuous process of learning and teaching. The day we attempt to stop any of this is the day we stop growing. Modern medicine has undergone revolutionary changes over the last 100 years; in fact the biggest advances in the field have occurred after the 1930s. This begs the question, Are we really providing the best healthcare possible, in the best manner possible? The other day I came across a message, 'I was born healthy the hospitals made me sick'! Nothing describes the current decay in our healthcare system more aptly. Despite the apparent advancement in the field, there is a gaping hole, a chasm that only threatens to overwhelm. It behoves us all to recall the words of Mark Twain, the American humouristMother Nature heals and the doctor sends the bill. Apathy has become synonymous with the service rendered by the medical profession in certain segments; this is something which is highly condemnable and deplorable. A profession once considered unquestionably noble and venerated as very commendable has become today a science bereft of its soul. The principles of selflessness, compassion and love which govern patient-doctor interaction have been completely replaced with greed, ambition and an uncaring attitude. Medicine today is less an art and more a business - a business which has restricted and prevented the large majority access to good health. The universality of healthcare has today become rigidly local and limited. What we needed was a revolution of hearts and minds to awaken us all. And this revolution has begun in Puttaparthi, a small hamlet in Andhra Pradesh, where you have free healthcare. The medical profession has been humbled by Bhagawan's vision that medical aid is the right of every individual and he/she should get it free of cost. Science without humanity is dangerous, He says. The cost of providing medical care should be absorbed by the society and not be priced and sold in the market as a commodity. It was the 65th birthday of Bhagawan, the year was 1990 and He declared that in exactly a year's time He would be starting a hospital worth 100 crore rupees, doing cardiac surgeries totally free. Thus was born the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences. The profound vision and conviction of Bhagawan had materialised into a concrete reality. The hospital truly is a unique place on earth. Built in less than a year, it is a testament to His will and the human spirit. It appears more like a temple than a hospital. The birth of the hospital was nothing less than a miracle, where the massive area of 1,85,000 square feet was built in less than 7 months, a construction which would take a minimum of 7 years to complete elsewhere. Four major cardiac surgeries were performed on the day of inauguration, and there was no looking back since then. Within a few years of its construction, in the year 1994, our hospital got ranked in the Architectural Digest among the top 50 hospitals of the world. It was the first time a hospital from the developing countries was selected. The first reason cited was the philosophy of the 'holy man' (Bhagawan Baba) that healthcare and education should be free for the entire mankind. The second reason cited was that there is always a form and there is always a function and this institution was a perfect fusion of form and function that they had come across. The hospital's architecture by design embodied the symbolism and proportions of sacred traditions that are believed to engender a divine healing energy. The hospital is open to all the citizens of the world, irrespective of nationality, caste, creed, language or financial status. Leading specialists from all over the world come and volunteer to donate their services and are complementary to the hospital's highly competent team of doctors. The magnitude of work done in the last 25 years is unparalleled in the history of healthcare of the world. Here, not only the professional need of an individual finds fulfilment but also he/she is transformed in other dimensions as well. This is undoubtedly the experience of every individual who comes in contact with our hospital. This hospital has quietened the naysayers by its commitment to the standard of quality care being delivered completely free. All the departments are equipped with ultra-modern facilities on par with any advanced hospital in the world. This is the divine paradox: it is modern and sophisticated, yet it is free. What can be offered to your parents and family must be offered to others, irrespective of class and creed and with the same zeal and interest. This uniformity of healthcare which is prompted and run on the principles of selflessness, love and affection is the principle which resonates across every doctor, technician, nurse and healthcare provider in Swami's institute. It is a standard which shall continue for years to come without any interruption. We are clear in our minds that we cannot wipe every tear and see all the patients or ailments of this country or of the world. No! Bhagawan has created a model for the world to follow. This is a duplicable model which can be started anywhere and in any society determined to serve and which has the unity of thought, word and deed. Bhagawan gives a beautiful insight on what a doctor should be like. He says that love and compassion are the two most important ingredients that the patients look for in a doctor. Paropakarartham idam shariram - the body is an instrument of service. We are today in the midst of sickness and illness - of body, mind and soul. Day by day the clouds only seem to be getting darker with lesser and lesser light and comfort. Today we have newer technologies - robotic surgeries, artificial hearts, newer vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, etc. Does this define the success of modern medicine? The answer is a resounding no! The real victory will be when we succeed in making these services accessible to each and every human being in a manner that touches their heart and comforts their soul. I will close with a favourite saying of mine, Always do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest. I pray to Bhagawan to make us worthy instruments who always endeavour to do all that is right and good in His divine mission of healthcare. I will end with a small prayer by Robin Fogle: Lord, as I treat my patients Help me to be wise; Let me see their problems Through Your discerning eyes. Guide me, Lord, and use me In everything I do, For You're the Great Physician, And I long to be like You. - Radio Sai Team Credit: University of Liverpool The findings of a new study suggest the treatment of people with clinical depression could be improved by helping them set positive, achievable goals. Psychology researchers from the University of Liverpool, Edith Cowan University, Australia, and the University of Exeter analysed the link between clinical depression and how people experiencing the condition set and pursue personal goals. The research examined personal goals set by 42 people diagnosed with clinical depression and another 51 with no history of depression. Avoidance goals Both groups listed their personal approach and avoidance goals: Approach goals focus on reaching a desirable outcome, for example, improve my marathon time. Avoidance goals focus on preventing an undesired outcome, for example, avoid getting upset over the little things. Lead Author, Associate Professor Joanne Dickson from Edith Cowan University, who is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool, said the study found that people experiencing depression were not less motivated than those without depression. Disengaging Associate Professor Dickson, said: "This was backed up by the fact that both groups listed a similar number of goals and valued their personal goals similarly. However the group with depression were more pessimistic about achieving their goals and had more difficulty generating goals focused on positive outcomes. "The group with depression were also more likely to give up on goals they saw as unattainable and at the same time reported greater difficulty in setting new goals to pursue. "While disengaging from unattainable goals is thought to help break a cycle of goal failure, negative thinking and depression this is complicated by the difficulty in setting new goals for people with depression." Positive outcomes Unfortunately, this pattern of goal pursuit may exacerbate depression according to Professor Dickson. She adds: "If we can develop better ways to help people with depression set goals that are achievable and focused on positive outcomes, and assist them in identifying ways to achieve their goals, it is likely to enhance a sense of well-being. "Personal goals are integral to many therapies such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Behaviour Activation Therapy used to treat depression. Therefore, a better understanding of personal goal processes shows promise in developing more effective treatments for depression. "Building confidence and self-belief around goal pursuit may also provide a useful strategy in preventing the onset of depression. More information: Joanne M. Dickson et al. Goal Fluency, Pessimism and Disengagement in Depression, PLOS ONE (2016). Journal information: PLoS ONE Joanne M. Dickson et al. Goal Fluency, Pessimism and Disengagement in Depression,(2016). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166259 Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and six other institutions have designed a new diagnostic tool for a rare and deadly autoimmune disease that affects the skin and internal organs. By measuring the activity of genes in tiny skin samples, the researchers were able to predict disease progression in patients as much as a year earlier than clinicians who used standard methods for evaluating patients. The study will be published Dec. 22 in JCI Insight. The lead authors are Shane Lofgren, a research associate at Stanford, and Monique Hinchcliff, MD, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University. The senior author is Purvesh Khatri, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford. Systemic sclerosis, also called scleroderma, is an autoimmune disease that causes scarlike thickening of the skin and internal organs, such as the kidneys and lungs. According to Hinchcliff, systemic sclerosis affects about 100,000 people in the United States. A better test The cause of systemic sclerosis is unknown, and there are no drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating it. Many patients are given drugs that are approved for use in other diseases, but each drug is clinically effective in only a fraction of patients. To find out if a patient is responding to treatment, clinicians use a test called the modified Rodnan skin score, in which a doctor pinches the skin to see how thick it is. For the test, the physician squeezes the patient's skin in 17 places, rating the thickness of each pinch of skin on a scale of 0 to 3 and adding the scores together for a maximum score of 51. "It's a very crude measure," Khatri said. He noted that despite careful training, doctors may give the same patient different scores. Different physicians evaluating the same patients may agree only 60 to 70 percent of the time, Hinchcliff said. "It has always embarrassed me to pinch a patient's skin in 17 areas to try and accurately assess the degree of skin fibrosis. In this day and age, it would seem we should be more precise," she said. Because the measures of disease progression are imprecise, said Khatri, it can take two years for physicians to be sure if a given treatment is having any effect. A more precise measure of disease progression has long been needed. The team used publicly available patient data shared by hospitals across the United States to search for a set of genes whose activity would mark the progression of systemic sclerosis, or SSc. Gene expression is the process by which cells extract information from genes and render it as molecules of protein or RNA. Cells have the capacity to express more or less of each molecule, creating a pattern of expression that changes according to the presence of infections or of autoimmune diseases such as SSc. Khatri and his team identified 415 genes whose expression changed in a pattern that indicated how serious a person's SSc had become. The researchers were able to use these gene-expression patterns as the basis for a test, which they called the SSc Skin Severity Score, or 4S. They used SSc patient data from two clinical centers to identify the 415 genes, and data sets from patients from five additional centers to validate the new test. They also included data from healthy participants who served as controls. It was easy to distinguish the gene-expression data related to healthy skin samples from the data for diseased skin samples, said Khatri. "The data for all the healthy skin fell within one bubble," he said, "while all the data for the scleroderma patients fell within another." Getting results a year earlier The team looked at data from a cohort of Northwestern University patients who had been tested repeatedly with the skin pinch test while being treated with a drug. The 4S testapplied to this preexisting set of patient datacould distinguish patients who were improving from those who were not 12 months after their treatment began. In contrast, the doctors' skin pinch test from the same set of data took 24 months to identify which patients were improving. "In the data from Northwestern, all the patients were getting exactly the same treatment, the same drug," said Shane. "Yet we were able to predict a year before the clinician which patients were getting better and which were getting worse." Clinical trials, as opposed to retrospective studies looking at pre-existing data, are needed to validate the 4S test, the researchers said. But if it works as well as Khatri and his collaborators hope, clinicians may be able to evaluate patients' response to treatments much more quickly, so they can be switched to some other treatment that may work. The test could also help advance the search for better therapies. "And what was really cool was that we could predict on an individual level which patients would get better or worse," Khatri said. The 4S test is an example of Stanford Medicine's focus on precision health, the goal of which is to anticipate and prevent disease in the healthy and precisely diagnose and treat disease in the ill. A possible treatment? The study also uncovered a gene-activity signal suggesting the involvement of epidermal growth factor receptors in the disease, a fact that was previously unknown, said Khatri. EGFR is important in cell division and plays a role in cancer and other diseases. In SSc, "we showed that EGFR is consistently upregulated," Khatri said. And, he added, drugs that have been approved by the FDA for treating EGFR-related conditions may turn out to be useful in treating patients with systemic sclerosis. Soon, he said, his team will begin giving EGFR-inhibiting drugs to mice with a sclerodermalike condition to see if it helps. "It's very exciting," said Khatri. "This is a disease that has stumped people for more than 25 years." Israeli generic drug giant Teva will pay $519 million to settle charges that it paid bribes to foreign officials to win business in Russia, Ukraine and Mexico, US officials announced Thursday. Teva, the world's biggest generic drug company, promised to enhance its compliance program after its Russia subsidiary pleaded guilty to one count of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and it signed off on a deferred prosecution agreement, the Justice Department said. "Teva and its subsidiaries paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in various countries, and intentionally failed to implement a system of internal controls that would prevent bribery," said assistant attorney general Leslie Caldwell. The case included bribes by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to a "high-ranking Russian government" official who used his authority to boost sales of the Teva multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, resulting in more than $200 million in profits for Teva and about $65 million for the Russian official between 2010 and 2012, the Justice Department said. In Ukraine, Teva also admitted to paying bribes to a senior government official, who agreed to promote Teva drugs. The Ukraine payments to the government official are from 2001 and 2011. In Mexico, Teva's subsidiary paid bribes to doctors employed by the Mexican government since at leat 2005, according to the Justice Department. Teva said it commenced a probe of bribery after learning of problems from employees and US government and employees in early 2012. None of the employees involved in the wrongdoing are still at the company, it said. "While the conduct that resulted in this investigation ended several years ago, it is both regrettable and unacceptable, and we are pleased to finally put this matter behind us," said Teva chief executive Erez Vigodman. "The Teva of today is a fundamentally different company." Teva will pay a criminal penalty of $283 to the Department of Justice. It also agreed to pay $236 million in disgorgement to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a parallel case. Shares of Teva rose 2.2 percent in late-morning trade to $37.18. 2016 AFP Rates of MRSA infection in hospitals that outsource cleaning higher than those using in-house cleaners, says study. Credit: Shutterstock images New research shows that NHS hospitals that employ private cleaners are associated with a higher incidence of MRSA, a 'superbug' that causes life-threatening infection and has previously been linked with a lack of cleanliness. The superbug is becoming increasingly difficult to treat. As from 2005, trusts have been required to regularly report incidents of MRSA, which has enabled researchers to produce empirical evidence for the first time that compares the rates of infection in hospitals that outsource cleaning with those using in-house cleaners. They calculate that, on average, the incidence of MRSA infection between 2005 and 2009 was 2.28 in every 100,000 bed days in trusts that outsourced their cleaning, compared with 1.46 bed days in trusts that used in-house cleaners .a difference of almost 50 per cent. However, the research also highlights that trusts which used outsourced cleaners did save money. Their cleaning costs were lower by around by around 236 per bed per year compared with hospitals that used in-house staff, according to the paper published in the journal Social Science and Medicine. The research was conducted by the University of Oxford, with the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Researchers calculate significantly fewer patients in trusts with outsourced services described the cleanliness of hospital bedrooms as 'excellent', compared with patients in hospitals that had their own cleaners, with a similar result in patient surveys for bathroom cleanliness. The research also shows that only 63% of NHS staff in hospitals with outsourced cleaning services reported having available hand-washing facilities, compared with 68% in hospitals using in-house cleaners. Researchers sampled 126 NHS trusts for the study. Only those with sufficiently high quality, consistent data in relation to MRSA incidence and perceptions of cleanliness were included. Trusts that had changed the type of cleaning service they adopted during the study period or used a mixture of both in-house and outsourced services were left out of the sample. Lead author Dr Veronica Toffolutti, from the Department of Sociology in the University of Oxford, said: 'There has been plenty of anecdotal evidence but for the first time we have empirical data revealing a clear link between outsourced cleaning services and increased spread of MRSA. These findings are significant as efforts to reduce the infection of superbugs in hospitals become increasingly urgent.' Co-author Professor David Stuckler, also from the University of Oxford, said: 'Our study finds that contracting out NHS services may save money, but this at the price of increasing risks to patients' health. When these full costs are taken into account, contracting may prove to be a false economy.' Another co-author, Professor Martin McKee at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: 'The UK has been a world leader in the battle against antimicrobial infection, recognised as one of the greatest threats facing humanity. These findings suggest that what many had suspected is actually true. Outsourced services pose a risk to staff, patients and the wider population.' Researchers calculated the MRSA rate by using the number of MRSA reports recorded by each hospital trust for every 100,000 bed days. MRSA incidence, published every six or 12 months in the Public Health England's annual reports, was matched with reports on patients' perceptions of hospital cleanliness and health workers' feedback on the availability of handwashing facilities (2010-2014). Out of the total sampled, 51 of trusts outsourced their cleaning services, whereas 75 used staff cleaners. The researchers did not examine why there might be slightly lower standards of cleanliness reported for outsourced cleaners as they did not have relevant data on staff turnover or recruitment levels, which the paper says could indicate a measure of job dissatisfaction. The researchers obtained reports into perceptions of cleanliness from surveys commissioned by NHS England from Picker Institute Europe. Data analysed on the economic costs of cleaning per bed are from Estates Return Information Collection for the period 2010-2014. Credit: Fotolia/SSilver The extra pounds you gain during the holidays will not only show up on your hips but will also affect your DNA. This is the result of a large-scale international study coordinated by Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, a partner in the German Center for Diabetes Research, which has now been published in Nature. The study shows that a high BMI leads to epigenetic changes at nearly 200 loci of the genome with effects on gene expression. While our genes do not change in the course of life, our lifestyle can directly influence their surroundings. Scientists speak here of the epigenome (Greek epi: over, outside of, around), which refers to everything that happens on or around the genes. Up to now there has not been much research on how the epigenome is altered as a result of being overweight. "This issue is particularly relevant because an estimated one and a half billion people throughout the world are overweight," said first author Dr. Simone Wahl of the Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology (AME) at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, "especially considering that being overweight can have adverse consequences and lead to diabetes and diseases of the cardiovascular and metabolic systems." World's largest study on BMI and epigenetics For this reason, the international research team led by Dr. Christian Gieger and Dr. Harald Grallert of the AME (as well as Jaspal Kooner and John Chambers of Imperial College London) examined possible correlations between body mass index (BMI) and epigenetic changes. Using state-of-the-art technology, the team carried out the world's largest study so far on the subject. The scientists examined the blood samples of over 10,000 women and men from Europe. A large proportion of these were inhabitants of London of Indian ancestry, who according to the authors are at high risk for obesity and metabolic diseases. In a first step with 5,387 samples, the research team identified 207 gene loci that were epigenetically altered dependent on the BMI. They then tested these candidate loci in blood samples of an additional 4,874 subjects and were able to confirm 187 of these. Further studies and long-term observations also indicated that the changes were predominantly a consequence of being overweight not the cause. Significant changes also in the expression of inflammatory genes "In particular, significant changes were found in the expression of genes responsible for lipid metabolism and substrate transport, but inflammation-related gene loci were also affected," said group leader Harald Grallert. From the data, the team was also able to identify epigenetic markers that could predict the risk of type 2 diabetes. "Our results allow new insights into which signaling pathways are influenced by obesity", said Christian Gieger, head of the AME. "We hope that this will lead to new strategies for predicting and possibly preventing type 2 diabetes and other consequences of being overweight." Next, within the framework of translational research in the German Center for Diabetes Research, the researchers want to investigate in detail how the epigenetic changes affect the expression of the underlying genes. More information: Simone Wahl et al. Epigenome-wide association study of body mass index, and the adverse outcomes of adiposity, Nature (2016). Journal information: Nature Simone Wahl et al. Epigenome-wide association study of body mass index, and the adverse outcomes of adiposity,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/nature20784 In a new study, young children showed signs of kidney damage if their mothers smoked while pregnant. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN), add to the list of negative health effects that can result from maternal smoking during pregnancy. Because smoking is a well-known risk factor for kidney failure in adults, a team led by Koji Kawakami, MD, PhD, Maki Shinzawa, MD, PhD, and Motoko Yanagita MD, PhD (Kyoto University, in Japan) wondered whether maternal smoking during pregnancy might affect children's kidney health. The researchers conducted a population-based retrospective study using a database of health check-ups from pregnancy to 3 years of age in Japan. The investigators looked for the presence of proteinuriaor elevated protein the urine, which is a sign of reduced kidney functionin urinary tests from 44,595 children. In the population examined, 4.4% of women smoked only before pregnancy and 16.7% continued smoking while pregnant. The frequencies of proteinuria in the child at age 3 were 1.7% when mothers continued to smoke during pregnancy, 1.6% when mothers stopped smoking during pregnancy, and 1.3% when mothers were nonsmokers, respectively. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with a 1.24-times increased risk of child proteinuria compared with no exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy. "Maternal smoking during pregnancy is known to be associated with preterm birth, low birth weight, and neonatal asphyxia. The findings from this study suggest an additional adverse effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy," said Dr. Kawakami. "Prevention of child proteinuria is important since child proteinuria can lead to development of chronic kidney disease in adulthood and ultimately end stage renal disease." Georgian Parliament approves 11 billion GEL budget for 2017 102 votes in favour and 10 against the Parliament of Georgia has approved the 2017 state budget.Yesterday the Parliament approved state budget worth of 11 billion GEL (about $4.14 billion/3.95 billion*) to use for state agencies, projects and to further the country.The fiscal and macro-economic indices were planned with the conservative approaches for 2017 and constituted four percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) real growth and GDP deflator.In the mid-term period the real economic growth forecast was expected to constitute six percent and GDP deflator three percent.The state budget assignments were defined as 11,415.5 million GEL, including budgetary funds (10,338.3 million GEL), credits (922.7 million GEL) and grants (154.5 million GEL).The forecast index of budget incomes were defined as 11,457.2 million GEL; non-financial asset reduction sums 90 million GEL; liability increase fund plan 1,792.7 million GEL.The expenditure total constituted 9,121.2 million GEL.Georgias Ministries of Health, Education, Agriculture and Infrastructure will receive the highest financing next year. In particular: Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection will receive 3,414.8 million GEL; Ministry of Education and Science will receive 1,116.2 million GEL; Ministry of Agriculture will receive 258 million GEL; and Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure will recieve 1,258.0 million GEL.Meanwhile, the 2017 state budget also envisaged 65 million GEL to the Georgian citizens to facilitate conversion of the loans in foreign currency into the national currency Lari (GEL) the loans obtained before January 1, 2015 not exceeding 100,000 GEL.The budget also envisaged increase of the excise fees on tobacco giving extra 200 million GEL income. The excise fees will increase on vehicles to allow mobilisation of extra 45 million GEL. The excise fees on oil will also increase allowing obtainment of more than 250 million GEL.Meanwhile, the salary fund and administrative costs in almost all the budgetary organisations will be reduced with 10 percent giving extra 100 million GEL. Furthermore, some budgetary organisations will be annulled or no more financed.The Fund for Regional Projects will receive 260 million GEL while the Fund for Highland Region Development will enjoy 20 million GEL next year.Governments reserve fund will include 40 million GEL and Presidents reserve fund five million GEL Increased rates of employment By Messenger Staff Georgias Minister of Finance - who previously served as the Minister of Economics - Dimitry Kumsishvili, stated that the Georgian Dream authorities have managed to create hundreds of new jobs in the country.He stressed the number of employees has increased in all three quarters of 2016 compared to the previous year.Kumsishvili noted that in 2016, the private sector made an important decision to create new jobs.He announced about 33,000 jobs were created in the first and second quarters of 2016, while the figure rose to 37,000 in the third quarter.The Minister cited statistics according to which the unemployment rate had decreased since 2013 and reached an historical minimum of 12% in 2015.Up to 33,000 jobs were created in the first and second quarters of 2016, while the figure rose to 37, 000 in the third quarter. The unemployment rate had decreased since 2013 and reached an historical minimum of 12% in 2015, said Kumsishvili.The Minister also had to answer the oppositions questions about the planned optimisation in the state bodies, which referred to reducing administration expenses.The Government has stated it planned to reduce administrative expenses by 10% from the next year, and several ministers did not exclude the possibility of firing of people from their current jobs to cut costs.Kumsishvili stated in response that professional employees would never be dismissed.When the Government speaks about creating jobs it should also provide information which lists where people were mainly employed and what their average income was.The average income of most people of Georgians ranges between 400-500 lari, which is a very low income compared to the recent devaluation of the national currency against the US dollar, increased prices of products and medicines.At the same time, the country has no effective mechanism to control how the rights of employed people are protected.If the Government looks into the issue more closely, it will see that the rights of the employed population are very roughly violated very often, as employers mainly perceive their staff as their subordinates who will not be able to find new jobs quickly. The News in Brief Prime Minister Meets the Ambassador of Bulgaria Georgia's Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili held a meeting with Desislava Ivanova, the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Georgia. The diplomat congratulated Giorgi Kvirikashvili on his victory in the parliamentary elections and reiterated Bulgaria's support for Georgia's European and Euro-Atlantic integration. During the meeting, it was emphasized that between 2017-2019, the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria will serve as the NATO Contact Point Embassy to Georgia, while January-June 2018 will mark Bulgaria's EU Presidency. According to the ambassador, Bulgaria will provide Georgia with institutional support. The need to intensify the bilateral relations was also emphasized at the meeting. The Prime Minister of Georgia stressed the importance of advancing the relations between the two countries to a substantially new level because, besides being Georgia's staunch partner, Bulgaria can also share its valuable experience in the path to NATO and EU integration. Special attention was also paid to deepening bilateral economic relations, and joint agricultural projects were planned as well. The meeting was also attended by Tedo Japaridze, the Prime Minister's foreign affairs advisor. (gov.ge) Meeting of the BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers in Belgrade The 35th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) member states was held in Belgrade. The meeting was chaired by Serbias First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic. The Georgian delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister David Jalagania, who, while addressing the meeting, gave a high assessment to the progress Serbia has achieved during the period of the BSEC chairmanship in the spheres of the development of the BSEC-EU co-operation, as well as sectoral co-operation. It was underlined that the existing conflicts in the region impede the development of the economic relations of the BSEC member states. The delegations also underlined the need to resolve the existing conflicts by peaceful means in accordance with the principles of the international law. On 1 January 2017, the Republic of Turkey will take over the Chairmanship-in-Office of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization. Within the framework of the visit to the Republic of Serbia, the Georgian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister David Jalagania, held meetings with Serbias Deputy Foreign Minister D. Petrovic. Deputy Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Renata Pindzo and Director of the International Economic Relations Department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nenad Durcevic. The Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister also held a meeting with Georgians living in Belgrade. (mfa.gov.ge) NATO membership possible with occupied territories By Messenger Staff Georgias President, Giorgi Margvelashvili, says there have been several examples in the history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) when countries with occupied territories and disputed borders were accepted into the alliance.Margvelashvili made his comments at last weeks Tbilisi Strategic Discussion on security issues, initiated by the President and organised by the National Security Council.Margvelashvili stressed that NATO membership for the countries with certain territorial problems turned out to be beneficial for the alliance, for the countries accepted into NATO and for Russia as well, despite Moscows opposition to NATO expansion.Russia has several times stressed NATO-Georgia military exercises created a threat to regional security.Of course, such statements by Russia are deeply ironic when the main cause of instability in the region is mainly Russias actions.It is a country which occupies territories of Georgia and Ukraine and signs illegal military deals with representatives of the occupied territories.With regards to membership in the alliance for a country with occupied territories, this is likely to happen if the alliance reaches a political decision about the issue.Now, even in the event that Georgia meets all NATO demands and reaches standards exceeding even those of NATO members, Georgias NATO membership would be fully dependent on the political decision.Unfortunately, the political decision still seems to be far away, as Georgia is even refused a Membership Action Plan (MAP).Such situation creates the sense of frustration and disappointment in the population, because everybody remembers that Georgia applied for NATO membership to secure its safety and guarantee that Russia would not attack Georgia. However NATO decision to refuse Georgia receiving MAP at NATO Bucharest Summit on April 2008 created favourable conditions for Russia which fulfilled its aggressive plans and disintegrated Georgia snatching to territories of Georgia and recognising them as independent states. The News in Brief Were trying to provide children of Aleppo with humanitarian assistance- PM Kvirikashvili We are trying to provide the children in Aleppo with humanitarian assistance via the UN office, Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili said while attending the service at Makhata mountain, Tbilisi on Saturday. He has wished all Georgian children to have happy childhood. A very beautiful temple is being built at Makhata Mountain. This is a very significant feast. Saint Barbare is the patron of children and first of all I would like to wish all Georgian children happy childhood. I must inevitable mention the situation in Aleppo, Syria. We are now trying to provide the children being in Aleppo with humanitarian assistance by means of the UN office, he has remarked. Georgias Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Barbare on December 17. (IPN) Opposition in Abkhazia ends protest, deal struck with de facto authorities A more than 14 hour long protest ended on Friday with negotiations between opposition leaders and the embattled de facto leader of the Georgias breakaway region Abkhazia. On December 15, hundreds of people converged on the government building in Sokhumi, the capital city of Abkhazia, demanding the resignation of the current de facto president Raul Khajimba. Another rally, in support of the acting head of the breakaway region, was held nearby. Later, Khajimba announced that following the talks with opposition leaders, agreement had been reached, so he would not step down. Khajimba offered the opposition high government positions and agreed to limit his power, local media reported. Following the negotiations, Sergey Shamba, the leader of the political party United Abkhazia, said that the president and the opposition leaders reached an agreement to stabilize the political situation in the region. As a result of the negotiations, the opposition leaders and the authorities of the breakaway Abkhazia signed an agreement on social and political stability, according to the Echo Kavkaza, a Russian language online news service reporting on the Caucasus. The document was signed by President Raul Khajimba, parliament speaker Valery Bganba and leader of the Block of Opposition Forces Aslan Bzhaniya, who was detained and questioned by the Russian police in Sochi in early November. The agreement says that the de facto president, the parliament and opposition groups will cooperate to appoint a vice prime minister, new Constitutional Court judges and a new prosecutor general of the breakaway region. According to Apsnypress, Khajimba scheduled elections for Abkhazias assembly on March 12, 2017. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Abkhazia, Adjara and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia, but failed to achieve recognition. The bloody Abkhazia War in 1992-93 ended in more than 200,000 internally displaced people and a political stalemate that has lasted until today, with Russia propping up the separatist regime in Sukhumi. Adjara was reintegrated through force by President Saakashvili in 2004, but the two remaining conflicts remain unsolved and were further entrenched with the Russo-Georgia War in 2008, after which Moscow recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, established military bases there and signed military treaties. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are seeking a non-use of force commitment, which Georgia rejects from a view that the de facto authorities are illegitimate. Instead Georgia considers the territories occupied by Russia. (DF watch) Tbilisi hosts first ever French-German Regional Ambassadorial For the first time, Tbilisi has hosted a French-German Regional Ambassadorial with the participation of delegates from foreign ministries of France and Germany. The event held on Friday was attended by the Ambassadors of France and Germany to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Russia and Iran. Holding the Regional Ambassadorial in Tbilisi is one more signal that our country is standing on a very important path. The path leads to cooperation, partnership and better integration into Europe, said Georgias Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze. Since Georgia restored its independence our relations with France and Germany have developed successfully. Both of these countries have contributed much towards Georgias democratic advancement, Janelidze added. Meetings of four working groups were held within Ambassadorial, where participants discussed regional political, security and economic issues, and the policies of French and German sides in these areas. (Agenda.ge) For the first time in years, I am optimistic ISLAM IS NO FUCKING RELIGION! IT IS NOTHING BUT A CULT OF HATE, RAPE, MURDER, THEFT, WAR AND TERRORISM AND SHOULD BE DEALT WITH ACCORDINGLY! Islam is not the problem, proclaims the Left. And if you say otherwise, youre a racist, even though Muslim is not a race. Yet a fact remains: virtually all the worlds terrorists today claim Islamic motivations. So if Islam (belief) is not the problem, are we then left with a genetic explanation for this violence? Is there something inherent in the groups generally embracing Islam Arabs, Persians, Indonesians, Punjabis, etc. that would account for it? And, hey, Im just asking; its the liberals who profess ideas suggesting this possibility. Consider: When analyzing WWII and Germany, few claim the problem was Germans, but Nazism. When looking at 1917 Russia, we dont say the problem was Russians, but Marxism. So fill in the blank: when evaluating the Muslim world and its violence, do we assume the problem is the people or _____? Then there are other explanations for Muslim violence, all of which amount to Islamsplainin. Poverty is one, but the Muslim world is not uniquely poor. There are many millions of poor Catholics in South America, Africa and elsewhere; and hundreds of millions of poor Hindus in India. Yet they arent committing terrorist acts. And Osama bin Laden was worth $125 million. Another excuse is U.S. meddling in Muslim nations affairs; our taking Israels side in the Mideast is always Exhibit A. But theres simply no good correlation between American interventionism and Muslim violence. Many nations and regions, such as Nigeria, Kashmir, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Mali, have problems with Islamic terrorism in the absence of a Yankee hand. I n fact, it isnt unusual for Muslim nations to occupy 8 spots on a list of the worlds 10 most dangerous countries (examples found here and here ). It also isnt unusual for a non-Muslim nation in the top 10 to be a country such as North Korea or Central African Republic, the latter of which is 15 percent Muslim. This is no surprise, mind you, if were to believe a comprehensive German study of 45,000 youths that was reported in 2010. It found that while increasing religiosity among the Christian youths made them less violent, increasing religiosity among the Muslim youths actually made them more violent. When evaluating Islam and seeking to understand such phenomena, a simple but important point is never made. Christians may use as a guide for behavior, What would Jesus do? (WWJD); likewise, Muslims view Mohammed as a role model, considering him the Perfect Man. But there is a difference. Ive heard leftists diminish Jesus, saying things such as He wasnt divine, He never existed, we dont know anything about Him, He had brothers and that He was married. What Ive never heard them say it might have been uttered but is rare enough to have eluded my ears is that He wasnt a good man. This is why instead of condemning Jesus, un-Christian movements will often seek to co-opt His story for their own purposes, as the Nazis did with their so-called Positive Christianity. Thats how unassailable Jesus is as a model for behavior. What of Mohammed? He was a warlord who launched close to 30 military campaigns, many of which he led himself. He was a caravan raider (a bandit) and captured, traded in and owned slaves (note: will liberals suggest slave-owning Mohammed be diminished, as they have sought to erase our founders memory?). He ordered massacres , used torture and had dissidents assassinated. He was a polygamist and made it lawful for masters to have sexual relations with their female captives. Mohammad also wasnt very fond of dogs , an attitude begetting their mistreatment in the Islamic world (warning: last three links are disturbing). One could quip here, if the dog is mans best friend and Mohammad hated dogs, was he really part of the family of man? But, in fairness and as Ill acknowledge, as with Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan or Tamerlane, Mohammad was largely a man of his time and place. And Id be happy to let him rest in peace and put his memory to bed except for one thing: more than a billion people worldwide wont. This brings us to that seldom heard point. If someone said Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan or Tamerlane was the Perfect Man and used him as his role model, would you turn your back on that person? Its not just the freedom from guilt by association phenomenon, where, as Hollywood does, people are made to have an affinity for a character for the purposes getting them to accept what hes associated with (e.g., homosexuality). Nor is it akin to admiration for George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, which would wisely be tempered with the knowledge that they were, like everyone else, humans with flaws. For there simply is no room for criticism of a Perfect Man, no way to say Alright, Ill take the good he did and run with it and ignore the bad. If a perfect man does something, it cannot be bad. So is it fair to say that in the Islamic world, spreading religion by the sword, murder, rape and slavery have the sanction of a perceived embodiment of perfection? If much of the Islamic world appears mired in a medieval mentality, it could be because theyre modeling after a medieval man. Yet what mainly plagues us is not Muslims enslavement to misbegotten ideas, but our own. For example, many Westerners cannot open their minds to the possibility that any religion could be a destructive force because theyre in the grip of a destructive force themselves: Religious Equivalence Doctrine, which holds as dogma that all faiths are morally equal. Some may say a solution to this is, as they put it, to realize Islam is not a religion. I hope these people will read the following with an open mind, because I believe this is a misguided notion that itself is dangerous. The idea is thought to have utility: declassify Islam as a religion and rob it of First Amendment protection. Yet how much good would this do? The amendment also guarantees freedom of speech and allows even secular beliefs such as Nazism and Marxism to be promoted. All the proposal could really do is remove Islams tax-free status. The idea is destructive, too, because it appears predicated on the assumption that a religion would have to be good or prescriptive of peace. (In reality, many if not most religions in history, such as that of the human-sacrificing Aztecs, dont meet that standard.) Yet this notion strays mighty close to Religious Equivalence Doctrine, which is corruptive because since different faiths espouse different values, not all faiths can be equal unless all values are. This is moral relativism, which has some serious implications. For example, what differentiates different ideologies is also that they espouse different values. Yet if all values were equal, we couldnt say that conservatism was any better than Nazism or Marxism. We rightly dont believe this, of course, and we should apply the same standard to religion. To wit: religion isnt bad, but there is bad religion. In other words, if we refuse to make qualitative distinctions among religions any group of religions it implies that qualitative differences among values or value sets dont exist. This would mean tolerance could be no better than intolerance, Christianity no better than Islam, and good will toward men no better than jihad. Delving deeper, however, the truth is that, in the most important sense, the secular/religious distinction is a false one. Consider: If God exists, is it more significant that we label belief in Him religious or that its true? If Marxism is essentially a lie, is it more significant that we label it secular or that its untrue? The most important distinction, the only one that really matters, is the true and the untrue. (Note: because weve lost sight of this, our courts now essentially say that Christianity cannot be in government schools but Marxism can. Ponder that.) In the final analysis, people believe things. Some of those things are good and some of those things are bad. Some awfully bad things are believed by a large number of people today. If we want to survive, wed better recognize what those things are and who promotes them and act accordingly. REPORT: The assault to finish off the American The report noted that many illegals don't have jobs or have difficulty in landing good jobs because of local laws. However, it identified several states that have begun easing employment laws so that illegals can get a job. ONLY MEXICANS ARE AS VIOLENT AS THE MUSLIMS. THESE DO NOT JUMP OUR BORDERS TO BECOME AMERICAN. THEY JUMP OUR OPEN BORDERS TO LOOT AND BREED BABIES FOR WELFARE. AFTERWARDS THEY GO VOTE DEM FOR MORE! "With the influx of tens of thousands of Somalis have come numerous mosques and, of course, Islam." "And, as you may have heard, Minnesota has the largest Somali population outside of Africa. Like many immigrants, no doubt, most came for new opportunity and jobs. Many also have come for some of the most generous welfare benefits in the nation." The cold tundra of Minnesota was a foreboding land to early settlers. French fur traders came to the bountiful lakes of the Northern Territory in search of hides and pelts. German and Norwegian farmers came for some of the richest farmland in the world. Flour mills in Minneapolis hired Irish and Polish workers and iron ore mines on the great Mesabi Range brought in Swedish and Eastern European immigrants. Today, many immigrants come from Mexico and Central America. They work in restaurants, at summer farms, and on roofing and construction sites. Programmers from India and Asia work in the many high-tech jobs the Twin Cities provide. Except for the proud Native American tribes, some of whom have become very wealthy from casino gambling revenues, all citizens of Minnesota are or were descendants of immigrants. And, as you may have heard, Minnesota has the largest Somali population outside of Africa. Like many immigrants, no doubt, most came for new opportunity and jobs. Many also have come for some of the most generous welfare benefits in the nation. Aided by many charities, notably Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Charities, and American Refugee Committee, Somali immigrants have transformed the face of Minnesota, not only in major cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul but in many outstate mid-size cities such as St. Cloud and Wilmar. The exact number of the Somali community in Minnesota is a matter of dispute. Minnesota officials put the number somewhere between 30 to 40 thousand. Those in the Somali community put the number much higher. With many Somali refugees from other states moving to Minnesota, one of the highest birth rates of any immigrant group in America, and numerous efforts made to resettle family members still in Somalia or in neighboring refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, the real number of Somalis in Minnesota is probably closer, or soon will be, to 100,000. With the influx of tens of thousands of Somalis have come numerous mosques and, of course, Islam . I grew up on the Eastside of Minneapolis. Full of historic Catholic Churches and many Polish and Eastern European surnames and delis, I don't recall a single mosque in the neighborhood. Now, in my neighborhood alone, I count at least a half dozen. Anecdotal evidence no doubt, but with 95 to 99 percent of Somalis identifying as Muslim, a building boom of mosques and Islamic Centers has occurred all over the City of Lakes and the North Star State. Good liberals praise the "increased diversity" of Minnesota and are quick to decry any real concerns as "Islamophobia". In 2015, Mark Dayton, bleeding heart governor of Minnesota, told a group of longtime residents in St. Cloud after recent problems between white and Somali students at schools in the area, that if they didn't like the new reality of tens of thousands of Muslim immigrants they should "find another state." Great. Minnesota is a welcoming state, except for those who have been here all their lives. The Fifth Congressional district of Minnesota, anchored by the entire city of Minneapolis, has been represented by Keith Ellison for over a decade. Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress is seeking to run the DNC. Despite past ties to the Nation of Islam, Ellison is easily reelected every two years and has risen in national Democratic circles. In addition to Ellison, Minneapolis has elected Somalis to the city council and state legislature. This is not the Scandinavian and German enclave Minneapolis and much of Minnesota used to be. With the largest concentration of Somalis in America, the local news is often full of stories about terrorist recruitment. Dozens of young Somali men have left Minnesota to fight with Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda-sponsored group in Somalia. Six men were recently tried here in federal court for attempting to join ISIS. A knife-wielding man in St. Cloud attacked numerous people at a mall, stopping to cordially ask before stabbing if any were Muslim. Denying that Islamic extremists exist in the Somali community is like denying Minnesota winters are cold. Yet, the nonstop flow of Somali refugees continues. It is time for a pause Minnesotans need a break. Our charity is exhausted, our Minnesota Nice worn out. Apart from terrorism, the state's social services have been greatly stressed. Public housing has long waiting lists, Section 8 apartments are full, welfare rolls have grown significantly and the number of refugees with dangerous and costly diseases like TB is substantial. Acknowledging real problems with refugees and real problems with Islamic terrorism is not racism or fear mongering, it is common sense. For decades, liberal Europe encouraged Muslim immigration and turned a blind eye to radical clerics and segregated "no go zones". I am afraid the same reality has happened in Minnesota. Entire neighborhoods in Minneapolis, such as Cedar Riverside, dominated by low-income public housing high rises, are almost entirely Somali. Integration and assimilation have not occurred the way we were told by charities and Somali activists. A permanent, aggrieved underclass of Muslims ripe for radicalization is now the reality in the heartland of America. The parallels to France and other nations in Europe is both real and concerning. Numerous mass casualty attacks have now led many nations, including France, Belgium, and Germany, to reconsider their open border and immigration policies. Attacks in San Bernardino, Orlando, St. Cloud, and Columbus should lead us to do the same. There is a real threat from radical Sunni Islam that cannot be ignored. I do not see Orthodox Jews flying airplanes into buildings. I do not see many Indian Hindu immigrants asking people their religion before stabbing them. And I do not recall many Mexicans pledging allegiance to a foreign religious group before killing dozens at a nightclub. We ignore reality when we refuse to acknowledge radical Islam for what it is... a grave and existential threat to America's national security. We need common sense when it comes to immigration, not just compassion. Condemning radical Islam is not to condemn the entire religion. Years ago, many Catholics viewed attacks on pedophile priests as an attack on their religion. As a lifelong Catholic, a graduate of America's oldest Jesuit college (Georgetown University) and having a sister who is a Dominican nun, I will admit that I often dismissed claims of clergy sexual abuse as attacks on the Church and legitimate grievances against grandstanding bishops as "anti-Catholic rhetoric." I was wrong. There was a real problem in the Catholic clergy and a harmful defensiveness amongst Catholic bishops and protective laity. Denying the problem made it worse. Attacking those who told the truth ended up hurting the faithful, not helping them. Muslims who refuse to acknowledge radical Islam and the terrorism it breeds are only hurting the vast majority of Muslims who want peace. We are a nation of immigrants. The frozen north of Minnesota was transformed into a productive, innovative, and enterprising territory because of immigrants. There is a reason companies like 3M, Medtronic, General Mills, and Cargill have prospered here. Minnesota is responsible for countless inventions, everything from toasters to thermostats to supercomputers and Black Box recording devices to cortisone, pacemakers and Scotch tape were invented here. We welcome and help people from all backgrounds and faiths. Minnesota has been especially generous in this regard. That is a good thing. @ByKristenMClark When the Florida Legislature returns to Tallahassee in early January for its first committee work week ahead of the 2017 session, two Miami-Dade Republican lawmakers will also use the time to get a head-start on raising money for their 2018 races. And they'll have the help of some powerful party backers. Newly elected Miami state Sen. Frank Artiles and Hialeah state Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. -- who's running for a Florida Senate seat in 2018 -- are planning a joint fundraising reception for Jan. 10 at the Governor's Club in Tallahassee, according to an invitation obtained by the Herald/Times. The host committee for the reception includes five influential Republicans, four of whom are current or future chamber leaders: current Senate President Joe Negron of Stuart, Bradenton Sen. Bill Galvano, Trilby Sen. Wilton Simpson, Miami Lakes state Rep. Jose Oliva and Hialeah Sen. Rene Garcia. As Senate president, Negron is in charge of the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which raises money to assist top party candidates. Galvano and Simpson are both on track to be future Senate presidents after Negron: Galvano in the 2018-2020 term and Simpson in 2020-2022. And, Oliva is poised to take over as House speaker in 2018. Garcia's presence on the host committee indicates an endorsement of Diaz as his successor. Garcia is in his final term representing Senate District 36 and Diaz, a three-term representative, is running for that seat. Expect that Artiles and Diaz won't be the only ones fundraising in January. Committee weeks often attract evening fundraising receptions since lawmakers are already convened in Tallahassee. House and Senate rules bar lawmakers from fundraising during the official legislative session, which in 2017 begins in March. @MichaelAuslen and @ByKristenMClark Death sentences for nearly 200 prisoners were cemented Thursday after the Florida Supreme Court ruled they are not eligible for new hearings or lower sentences under a revamped death penalty law. In a 6-1 ruling, the court decided that more than half of the 386 inmates currently on death row could see their sentences change. But the justices also said recent rulings throwing out parts of the states death penalty law would not apply retroactively to inmates whose cases were finalized before a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2002. The court also lifted a stay on the execution of Mark James Asay, originally scheduled for March 17 of this year. Asay was convicted in 1988 of killing two men, Robert Booker and Robert McDowell, in Jacksonville. Its a signal that executions could begin again after an 11-month hiatus while Floridas death penalty was shrouded in uncertainty. Gov. Rick Scotts office is reviewing the ruling, spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said. The state has executed 23 people while Scott has been in office, more than any governor since the death penalty was re-instated in 1976. Thursdays ruling caps a tumultuous year for Floridas death penalty. The only execution in 2016 was that of Oscar Ray Bolin, Jr. on Jan. 7. He was executed just five days before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the states death penalty unconstitutional in Hurst v. Florida, prompting the Legislature to re-write sentencing laws. Then, in October, the Florida Supreme Court decided that the Hurst ruling required a unanimous vote by the jury to sentence someone to death. Current law requires a supermajority vote by 10 of the 12 members of a jury. Deciding how to apply those rulings to the 386 prisoners on death row has been a thorny issue, the justices wrote, requiring them to balance fairness and inmates constitutional rights with the principle that decisions by judges and juries are final. Critics of the ruling, including some justices on the deeply divided court, say drawing a line in the sand on the day the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its 2002 decision in Ring v. Arizona is arbitrary. That case required that juries find specific aggravating factors before sentencing someone to death and called Floridas death penalty laws into question. Just one justice, who retires Dec. 30, disagreed entirely with the majority. Justice James Perry wrote that all death row inmates should be entitled to new sentences. (The ruling) creates an arbitrary application of law to two groups of similarly situated persons, he wrote. Coupled with Floridas troubled history in applying the death penalty in a discriminatory manner, I believe that such an application is unconstitutional. The courts decision could also lead to more confusion about Floridas death penalty in the future, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Thats not a principled basis to decide whether someone should live or die, he said. And that only adds additional fuel to the cries of death penalty opponents that the United States is incapable of carrying out capital punishment in anything but an arbitrary manner. In a second ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court granted a new sentencing hearing to another death-row inmate, John F. Mosley, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend and infant son in 2004. His sentence was final after the Ring decision, unlike Asays. @MichaelAuslen President-elect Donald Trump is spending Christmas in the Sunshine State, but it's not clear if he and his team will meet with any Florida officials while he's here. Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters that he was "not aware of any specific meetings that are happening." "Obviously, Florida is a very important state to the president-elect, a place where he spends a lot of time," Miller said. "But as far as if there's anything more specific that's happening on this particular trip, I don't have anything to share at the moment." Trump is spending Christmas at his Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago. The trip comes as several Florida politicians are reportedly being considered for administration jobs, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller. As well, there are any number of policy reasons Trump or his advisers would want to meet with elected and appointed officials from the nation's third-largest state. Trump is friends with Gov. Rick Scott, and two state representatives played key roles in his election: Rep. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, was co-chairman of the Florida campaign, and Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, chairs the Republican Party of Florida. HELENA The Montana Land Board voted unanimously this to approve a controversial land swap between a private company and the state near Twin Bridges. Swift River Investments (formerly the Seidensticker Ranch and Hamilton Ranches), offered 861.28 acres of land in Madison County and Butte-Silver Bow County, including 111 acres on the Big Hole River and 750 acres that will improve access to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. A total of 616 acres of state-owned land will be exchanged in Madison County, but its an 80-acre section on the Jefferson River that drew lengthy public comment at Monday's Land Board meeting. Multiple organizations voiced their support for the exchange, which will bring in revenue for the school trust, increase public land access and boost economic development in nearby towns. However, numerous members of the Jefferson River Canoe Trail club were opposed to transferring the land to a private owner and said the land has a historical significance that should remain publicly accessible. In 1805, Meriwether Lewis left a message for William Clark near the confluence of the Big Hole and Beaverhead rivers. His advice on which river was best to navigate with a canoe was left on a tree. A beaver gnawed down the tree, and Clark never received the message. The Jefferson River Canoe Trail club, a chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, used the land just downstream from the confluence as a campsite, where members enjoyed the outdoors and acknowledged Lewis and Clarks voyage. Multiple representatives from the club voiced their concerns, saying the public is rapidly losing access to land in Montana, and in this case, an educational opportunity would be lost. The trail is there to teach people about our nations history, said Katie Bump, Dillon, of the Lewis & Clark Heritage Foundation. Swift River Investments (SRI) says the 80-acre parcel of land isnt where the incident, known as Beaver Chew, took place. The canoe club and SRI have been in negotiations since March 2015, but were unable to reach a solution before the board voted on Monday. The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation received the land exchange application from SRI in February 2015 to resolve trespassing issues and improve privacy. The 80-acre parcel is surrounded by SRI property, and is only accessible from the Jefferson River. In June 2015, SRI offered to donate four acres of riverfront for camping to the Jefferson River Canoe Trail club, but it was refused in early September because of the poor condition of the site. SRI then proposed to title the 80 acres with deed restrictions prohibiting development and agreed to place a Lewis and Clark interpretive sign acknowledging the Beaver Chew incident at the confluence of the Beaverhead and Big Hole Rivers. While negotiations were ongoing, the Land Board gave the land exchange preliminary approval in a 3-2 vote on Dec. 21, 2015. The Jefferson River Canoe Trail club met twice with Skyline Sportsmen, a group advocating for the exchange, but didnt make any progress. The canoe club asked SRI to purchase 20 acres of land for sale on the Jefferson River, priced at $330,000. SRI denied the proposal, but offered seasonal access to a portion of the 80-acre parcel and a matching grant of $50,000 for the canoe trail club to acquire alternative land. The canoe club rejected the last two offers. Because the 80-acre parcel is a navigable river, the DNRC will still own the riverbed. They will transfer 64 acres to SRI, none of which will be accessible to the canoe club. Its a done deal now, said John Grassy, DNRC public information officer. Proponents of the exchange celebrated the additional access that would come from acquiring SRI lands. The SRI parcel will increase public access to the Big Hole River, but both river parcels are surrounded by private land and only accessible by water. Montanas Stream Access Law will allow the public to access the land in the same way they accessed the Jefferson River parcel. No groups took issue with the exchange of the upper land parcels. The DNRC said their acreage isnt popular for recreation. The upper land offered by SRI will attract hunters and improve access by connecting tens of thousands of acres of Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and existing DNRC lands. Madison County Commissioner Ron Nye said more land for hunting would have an economic benefit in Twin Bridges. Several outdoor stores will be able to extend their season to sell hunting equipment. The exchange was also endorsed by two members of the Skyline Sportsmen Club; Vanna Boccadori, a wildlife biologist for Fish, Wildlife and Parks; and a representative from Trout Unlimited. The project has been fully vetted, every criteria met, said Roy Morris of the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Its a great deal and the right thing to do. Auditor Monica Lindeen, who is a member of the Land Board, said she was disappointed the canoe club and SRI could not reach a better solution, but said she supported the swap because shes obligated to do whats best for the trust. The Land Board is responsible for managing state-owned lands to generate the most revenue for schools in the state. The two SRI parcels consist of 861.28 acres of grazing land, with an estimated annual income of $7,064.77. The two DNRC parcels would lose income of $2,935.50 from grazing, generating a net income of $4,129.27. The state will also see a net gain in land value. SRI land has an appraised value of $1,471,780 and the DNRC land is worth $997,500. Monday's meeting was the final one for Auditor Lindeen, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch and Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau. Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and Attorney General Tim Fox won re-election and will resume the meetings with three Republicans in January. In the last city council meeting of 2016, the public works committee gave Missoula a decision on the Fifth and Sixth street debate thats engrossed the city in the last few weeks. With a bare quorum of seven councilors, the committee voted 6-1 for a study of one-lane streets with bicycle lanes, with some tacked-on expectations. City staff will conduct a review of business impacts if the one-lane plan were to be adopted and also collaborate with neighborhood residents on what would benefit their area most. Any options should be of minimal or no cost as well, per committee chair and Ward 2 representative Jordan Hess additions. Action on reconfiguring the streets wont take place until they are repaved, which likely wont happen for a few years, Bicycle/Pedestrian Manager Ben Weiss said. Hess said although council and city staff had taken a strange approach to discussing and approving the next stage of this study, he was confident they could refocus the discussion and make a quick decision before the holidays. The meeting went 15 minutes over time, as council and public commenters continued to disagree on the best change to the two one-way streets. Ward 6 representative Marilyn Marler, who voted against studying a one-lane approach, said since no one agreed on the problem, finding a solution would be difficult. While some, including Ward 3 representative Gwen Jones and two public commenters from the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Board, thought safety was a primary concern along the arteries, Marler and Craig Holtet, owner of Orange Street Food Farm, said there is no data to show theres significant danger on the two one-way arteries. We havent been presented a problem that we can all agree on is the problem, Marler said. I do not feel, based on the vast amounts of email I get, theres a consensus. Indeed, the missoulagov listserv, which is forwarded to anyone signed up to receive it, has thrived in the last few weeks, with current and former city council representatives, neighborhood residents and a couple of county commissioners throwing their two cents into the debate. That debate spread from disagreeing on how safe the streets are for pedestrians to arguing that there are better places for Missoula's limited resources to be spent. Two-way streets might work, but having a 'temporary' fix of one-lane essentially *is* the permanent fix, given the funding scenarios for the next 20 years, Commissioner Stacy Rye wrote. Jones said she mulled over the issue, finally realizing it came down to a single problem danger from the double threat of two one-way lanes slicing through residential neighborhoods. She also brought up councils obligation to follow their complete streets policy, which since 2010 has mandated that all city road construction include better access for pedestrians, bikers and drivers. If we have a chance to address this safety issue, we should use it, she said. It may not be the best fix but it will be better. Right now, Fifth and Sixth streets do not have bike lanes. Mary LaPorte, whos on the Riverfront neighborhood council, asked the council to simply finish the study, no matter which option they chose. Weve been at this a long time in the neighborhood, she said. I think just that its hanging in there demonstrates (that) these are issues. Ward 4 representative John DiBari voted in favor of completing the study, in the interest of moving the conversation forward, making it clear he didnt support any one option for restriping the streets. The $19,500 study was approved last year. Hess agreed, saying at the very least council will have a comprehensive study thats informed them about issues on Fifth and Sixth street. At best, they can move forward with a fully fleshed-out option thats backed up by research. At worst, they commissioned a study that didn't lead to action, but educated the city and the council on issues along the corridor. If we get to the point of actually implementing this, therell be more discussion, DiBari said. The committee also approved several construction projects on state routes through the city, all set to be finished by midsummer. The largest and most complicated project entails leveling the hump that drivers north and southbound on Russell feel when they cross Brooks Street. If you hit the green light its pretty noticeable. If you dont, its not too bad, Street Maintenance Superintendent Brian Hensel said. Im a little leery about that one. Its going to be difficult to fix. The other projects will replace leaky, old pipes in the Orange Street underpass on the north side and level the right turn lane on Broadway Street between Russell and Mullan. Each project will take four days at the most, Hensel said. He plans to combine them with other construction, like the installation of the Orange Street roundabout and the improvements to Russell Street, to lessen the impact to commuters. The Brooks/Russell intersection will probably be worked on at night to avoid traffic, he said. Hensel estimated it would cost a little over $150,000, which will be reimbursed by the Montana Department of Transportation. City Engineer Kevin Slovarp asked the council to approve new signage near C.M. Russell elementary school on South Russell Street, that say the speed zone is in effect from 7 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Monday through Friday. There is a speed zone in place around the school, he said, that requires drivers to slow from 35 mph to 25 mph. But the signs dont specify a time, so its technically in effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week. City Council will meet next on Monday Jan. 9. BILLINGS A Miles City man who admitted trafficking methamphetamine throughout the state, including in Missoula and Kalispell, will spend more than 11 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Susan Watters on Wednesday sentenced Timothy Patrick Pine, II, to 11 years and eight months, for his guilty plea to a conspiracy count. Pine, prosecutors said, was a distributor in 2014 and 2015 of large amounts of meth that came from suppliers in Oregon. Pines co-defendants, Francisco Gutierrez, an illegal resident from Honduras, and Rachel Ruiz, of Portland, Ore., were stopped while transporting nearly pure meth and heroin that was hidden in a car seat occupied by Ruiz child. Pine, 37, who faced up to about 14 years under the guideline range, apologized to his family saying his meth addiction had driven me down a dark path. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich recommended a mid-guideline sentence of about 13 years saying Pine had led a life of crime and showed no inclination to change his ways. Pines criminal record included violent crimes and drug offenses. Pines attorney, Marvin McCann, argued for a sentence of about six years saying Pine was actually a low-level dealer, addicted to drugs and that no violence and guns were involved in the investigation. But Watters rejected McCanns recommendation and said there was nothing about Pines case or background that merited a sentence shorter than the guidelines. Pine, Watters said, was responsible for a significant amount of meth, had a record of domestic abuse and drug convictions and no respect for the law. Pine pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count in July. Prosecutors said agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation worked with a confidential source and undercover agent to buy ounce and gram amounts of pure meth from Pine. In one deal, the agent and informant met Pine at a Motel 6 in Missoula on May 12, 2015. Pine met with Gutierrez and Ruiz, then summoned the agent and informant to his car, where he gave them a quarter pound of meth for $6,000. The next month, Pine agreed to sell the agent and informant another half-pound of meth. Pine told the agent that his source was almost to Missoula. Investigators eventually saw a green Honda Civic they had been alerted to traveling toward Missoula on Interstate 90 and made a traffic stop. Gutierrez was the driver and Ruiz was a passenger. Both were arrested. Ruiz 8-year-old son was in a car seat in the back seat. After getting a warrant, investigators searched the car and car seat and found a pound of almost pure meth and eight grams of heroin hidden in the car seat. Watters earlier sentenced Gutierrez to 63 months on a conspiracy count. Ruiz is awaiting sentencing. Digging is suspended and Montana Rail Link was concentrating Thursday on filling holes and replacing track in its Missoula yard, where more than 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from a malfunctioning pipe on Dec. 12. Theyre now at the point where theyre waiting to get back some official samples from the lab to see where theyre out of it and where theyre not, said Michelle Hutchins of the Missoula County Health Departments water quality district. So theyre going to fill back in and replace the track, at least for the time being. Results from an analytical laboratory are expected back in two weeks. That will help determine what the next remedial step will be, said Matthew Kent of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Hutchins said two weeks sounds reasonable to her, just because I feel pretty encouraged that at least theyve gotten the bulk of the source material. In the winter I just dont think its going to change anything to wait a couple of weeks and have a clearer idea where they need to dig, she added. Kent is the DEQs project officer for the existing state Superfund site on which the spill occurred. He was on site Wednesday, the day excavation was halted. He said MRL estimates 7,080 gallons of diesel fuel were lost in the spill. The railroad is confident that some 3,000 gallons that didnt soak into the frozen ground have been or will be recovered. He agreed that a lot of the remaining 4,080 gallons in the soil have been recovered. MRL has been aggressive with this spill, Kent said. They got on it quickly with their vacuum trucks to remove what was on the surface, and then aggressively excavated to try to remove everything that was under the ground. Environmental contractors Kennedy Jenks and Olympus Chemical Service have been collecting and testing soil samples throughout the cleanup and recovery service, MRL spokesman Jim Lewis said. Itll take further tests to determine the approximate amount of recovered product. A plume of diesel fuel remains deep in the ground from the days of Burlington Northern ownership decades ago. Its monitored by DEQ test wells as part of the Superfund site. MRL purchased the Missoula facility from Burlington Northern in 1987. An excavator began chasing the latest spill underground on Dec. 14. It went down 25-30 feet near the east end of the rail yard, where locomotives are refueled. Some 2,100 cubic yards of dirt weighing 2,867 tons have been removed and hauled to the Republic Services landfill, where operators are trained and permitted to handle contaminated soil per DEQ regulations, Lewis said Thursday in a press statement. Montana Rail Link and our environmental remediation contractors continue clean-up and recovery efforts at the Missoula rail yard and have begun the process of replacing removed soil and rail track infrastructure that was relocated to remove soil, the statement said. We are working closely with DEQ and the Missoula County Health Department during this process. Hutchins said the spill still isnt a threat to Missoulas main aquifer, which is 60 to 70 feet below ground. There is a perched zone of groundwater above the main aquifer and separated from it by clay. It doesnt cover the whole area of the spill and isnt always communicating with the main aquifer, Hutchins said. Data from 2015-2016 indicates the depth of the perched zone ranges from 28 to 30 feet. Hutchins said the wells were sometimes dry so the perched zone groundwater is very thin there. For critters that hardly ever get seen, moose get around. One 5-year-old female even took an ambitious wander through the Bob Marshall Wilderness that would make a good extreme trail race, if only there was a trail. She left her home range near Choteau, crossed the Continental Divide, spent the summer along the Clark Fork around Deer Lodge and Anaconda, and then moseyed back north near Rogers Pass to Fairfield, past Choteau and was last seen near Conrad. As Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 4 spokesman Bruce Auchly noted, AAA couldnt have come up with a more scenic trip. We know this because biologist Nick DeCesare of FWP Region 2 has completed four years of a 10-year study looking at Montanas moose population across the Rocky Mountains. The study now includes 105 moose with radio collars. Most never travel outside a few square miles of home range. But a few demonstrate just how well those long legs ramble. But anyone whos encountered a moose moving through deep snow understands the value of those stilts. They can sprint through chest-deep powder while a pursuing wolf flounders. DeCesare cited an Albertan study which found that moose breathing rates and metabolism improve as the temperature drops, even when the mercury reaches 40 below zero. When the temperatures got above 20 Farenheit in winter, they breathe harder and metabolize harder, DeCesare said. That speaks to how they really are adapted to cold, snowy places. Biologist and wildlife guidebook author Kerry Foresman noted a mooses forelegs are so long, it must get down on its elbows to drink unless its standing in a lake. DeCesare added that while they show up everywhere from valley bottoms to high mountain plateaus, the spots they pick tend to be surprisingly wet. All of which leads up to the fact we dont know as many facts about moose as we do with deer or elk their nearest relations in the wild ungulate family. DeCesare said the historical record indicates moose werent even a regular resident of Montana until around 200 years ago. Lewis and Clark only reported seeing two moose during their Voyage of Discovery through Montana in 1805-06. The FWP study looks at moose in three major landscapes: the Rocky Mountain Front, the Cabinet Mountains and the Big Hole Valley. Each has important differences in forage, predator composition, agricultural use and even weather patterns. Each also shows different population dynamics. The Rocky Mountain Front moose appear healthiest, despite being most affected by a winter tick infestation that makes many scratch off significant amounts of fur. This problem has become widespread in New England moose populations. But both adult and calf survival rates are strong, which may explain why that 5-year-old took such a hike. DeCesare said the landscape may be nearing full occupancy, encouraging younger members to seek out new grazing grounds. Adult moose in the Cabinets near Libby do well, but their calves lag. DeCesare suspects predation by wolves and black bears may be taking out the youngsters. Nevertheless, the population holds fairly stable there. In the Big Hole of Montanas southwestern edge, disease drives the numbers. Calf production is good, but the cows are dying at a higher rate than youd like to see, DeCesare said. We think the mortality is health-related, particularly from some parasite, disease. Theyre dying at times of the year when nutrition shouldnt be a problem. Were still trying to figure whats going on. Biologists have run previous studies on moose populations in the Yaak Valley in the 1980s and the Ruby and Tobacco Root mountains in the 1960s and 70s. But no statewide comprehensive study has been mounted until now. Were at a population level thats below what we were at 20 years ago, DeCesare said. There have been a few rises and falls in between. But were not looking at crash like in Minnesota, where theyre disappearing from the landscape. For once there is some great news in behavioral health care, and it is the 21st Century Cures Act led through Congress by the cosponsorship of assisting bills by U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, with the support of U.S. Sen. Steve Daines. Yes, the Montana delegation was all in, and the act passed the Senate on Dec. 7 with bipartisan support. While news coverage has been somewhat mottled in delivering a clear message about the act, it is legislation that rivals important advances that have been made over the past decade. For example, the Wellstone and Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, and then in 2014 the Affordable Care Acts expansion of mental health and addiction treatment commensurate with benefits for medical/surgical care. Some have argued that this act is the most important piece of legislation since President Kennedys Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963. The seeds for this act were sown by Rep. Tim Murphy's (Pennsylvania) Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 (H.R. 2646), and Sens. Chris Murphy (Connecticut) and Bill Cassidys (Louisiana) Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 (S. 2680). These bills were fashioned into what became the 21st Century Cures Act. The American Psychological Association, the APA Practice Organization and Montana Psychological Association have worked with legislators for four years to pass legislation that would provide essential prevention services, treatment for populations in need and support for research, education and training. Although the Cures Act is not a perfect solution, we believe that it takes important and necessary steps to improve behavioral healthcare. This legislation was scheduled to be signed into law on Dec. 13 and would: Eliminate the Medicaid same day exclusion, which prohibits separate payment for mental health and primary care services provided to Medicaid enrollees on the same day. This change will especially benefit rural citizens. Strengthen the enforcement of mental health parity requirements by directing the Department of Health and Human Services to produce, in coordination with stakeholders, action plans for improved federal and state coordination, and to issue new guidance to health plans. Enhance mental health and substance use treatment for children and families, including reauthorizing the National Child Traumatic Stress Network to support children recovering from trauma, and support screening and treatment of maternal depression. Include provisions that address mental health issues in the criminal justice system, such as increased funding and new authority for the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, law enforcement training and alternatives to incarceration. Authorize the Minority Fellowship Program at $12.7 million to train culturally competent minority mental health professionals, reauthorize the Graduate Psychology Education Program at $15 million and include health service psychology programs and internships in a new $10 million demonstration grant. Provide $4.8 billion outside of the budget caps for initiatives at the National Institutes of Health for fiscal years 2017-2026, including $1.8 billion for cancer research, $1.56 billion for the BRAIN initiative and $1.4 billion for the Precision Medicine Initiative. The American Constitution was framed as law; indeed, according to Article VI it is the supreme law of the land. This understanding is obviously legitimate, yet challenged by subjectivists who want their way with iteven if the Constitution must be essentially destroyedbut on the quiet; public discourse would reveal their untenable sedition and the consequent forced entropy. In a recent decision, District Judge James Reynolds facilitated the sale of medical marijuana in Montanadespite the Constitution and scienceclaiming speed is more important than niceties of law. A bit less haste, please; his subjective declaration contravenes 227 years of constitutional legitimacy. Despite constitutional guarantees of political liberty, Evan Barrett is still gibbering about the injustice of Greg Gianforte spending nearly $6 million of his own money campaigning for governor. Gianforte thinks Montana is worth it; Barrett thinks progressives misrepresentations transcend constitutional legitimacy. And Lawrence Pettit, a one-time Montana commissioner of higher education, who bills himself as a political scientist, wove a weird pre-election fiction about Donald Trump voters being authoritarians longing for the central state to lead them by the nose. So, political libertyvoting for the candidate closest to your political positionscannot coincide with constitutional legitimacy. One of the threads that tie progressives together is their hostility to any principle of legitimacy; legitimacy must be subordinate to raw power. Freedom of religion makes the point. According to the First Amendment, religion is to be free of government. According to progressives, the First Amendment is wrong. Societys liberties are to be conditioned on progressives approval. It is fatally apparent that subsequent juridical pretensions rest on an illusion of legitimacy that, once pierced, reveals progressives acting against the authority of law, criminally, on the authority of government force. In this way we have been indoctrinated. Merry Christmas, everybody. Lynn Swartos, Missoula I have appreciated the Missoulian's increased coverage of important environmental issues the last few months as compared to the past. However, Sunday's editorial, which states that Rep. Ryan Zinke, can represent Montana's values, leaves out the truth of Ryan Zinke's very poor environmental track record and why those of us here in Montana, who love and care for our land, water and life itself, are very concerned about his appointment as the secretary of Interior. In Sunday's Washington Post there is an article explaining how the scientist Michael E. Mann, who is a professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University, has received a long series of threats since the late 1990s, when his research illustrated the unprecedented nature of global warming. I will quote this same Washington Post article: "(Donald) Trumps proposed interior secretary, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), plays down climate change as 'not proven science' and has a dismal record on the environment, voting again and again in favor of the fossil fuel industry." The truth-denying position that Zinke takes is the opposite of what Montana, the United States and the world need right now. Marta Meengs, Missoula During the month of December, many headlines in The Montana Standard informed the public about the death of thousands of lesser snow geese in the Berkeley Pit. The geese landed on the open water of the pit because other waters in the Upper Clark Fork Basin such as Warm Springs Wildlife Management Area were frozen over. The cause appears to be the ingesting of highly acidic water. No doubt in addition to the geese that died in the waters of the pit, more died after they lifted off the pits water and continued south in migration. We must also recognize that animals of prey, such as foxes, coyotes, bald eagles and peregrine falcons, may ingest these dead and dying birds. It would be a matter of conjecture if the concentration of heavy metals in the acidic water taken in by these geese will have a detrimental effect on animals higher up the food chain. This incident was truly tragic, and Montana Resources and others will have to review the protocols they have used in the past and hopefully come up with hazing policies that move the birds off the acid water quicker or prevent them from landing in the first place. I can assure you that the solutions will not be easy to design or implement. We do however have to put the incident in perspective. The breeding population of lesser snow geese exceeds 5 million birds in North America, which is an increase of more than 300 percent since 1970. The population is increasing at a rate of more than 5 percent per year. The current population is the highest since records have been kept. It is well known that only a small fraction of most bird species live long enough to breed in their second year of life. Mortality is high among birds, either by man, disease, predation, habitat destruction (natural and man caused) or from natural causes such as exhaustion in migration and storms. The National Audubon Society estimates that 5 billlon birds die annually in the United States. That equates to nearly 14 million birds a day! One of the natural causes of bird mortality takes place each fall on three of Montanas lakes: Georgetown Lake, Smith Lakes and Rattlesnake Reservoir. The bird species that dies most often is the American coot, although research has shown that the agent of death also affects small numbers of lesser scaups. Over the years, Fish, Wildlife and Parks has surveyed the die-off of coots at Georgetown Lake. They found that in 2006, 1,000 American coots died, and in 2007, 2,500 died. On Nov. 4 this year, FWP biologists Kristi DuBois and Julie Golla surveyed and counted 914 American coots that had died and washed up on the shores of Georgetown Lake. The number is probably higher as bald eagles and other scavengers feed on them. The cause for this phenomenon is interesting and complex. The death of the bird is caused by a trematode (flatworm with one or more external suckers) and involves two intermediate hosts. The faucet snail, (Bithynia tentaculata) a non-native species from Europe is the only known first intermediate host of the trematode or fluke. If the snail is present, as it is in Georgetown Lake, fall migrating American coots stage and feed on the infected snails. The adult trematode then lays eggs in the digestive system of the bird, which are defecated by infected coots and later ingested by faucet snails continuing the cycle indefinitely. Death of the bird is attributed to trematodiasis. In layman's terms, the adult trematodes attack the internal organs and cause lesions and hemorrhaging of blood. Infected coots first appear lethargic and have difficulty diving, feeding and flying before eventually dying. There is no current research to show that fish are adversely affected by the trematodes present in the faucet snails. Nor is there any evidence of a health risk to humans, but it would be unwise to consume sick waterfowl. Each fall, as American coots, stage (rest and feed) in the waters of Georgetown, bald eagles appear in large numbers to feed on them. Eagles are capable of taking live coots from the surface of the water and will also scavenge the carcasses that wash ashore. There appears to be no ill effect to the bald eagle or other scavengers such as coyotes. Nature is extremely efficient at species survival as long as proper habitat is available. Reproduction far exceeds the number of adults needed for breeding to keep a species population stable, as long as proper habitat is available both in the nesting and wintering grounds. However, man-caused bird deaths are not natural and must be kept to a minimum whenever possible, such as the proper location of wind turbines and finding ways to prevent waterfowl from landing in the Berkeley Pit. I have heard some outlandish statements about the severity of the pit incident and its threat to the lesser snow geese population. Please keep in mind, mortality is common in birds, and nature compensates for high mortality rates with high natality rates. Some researchers are saying that the biggest threat to the lesser snow geese population is the sheer number of birds on the breeding grounds in the Arctic. As a result of over population, breeding habitat has degraded. Research shows lighter-weight goslings at every age than several decades ago. In the future, lets hope research can find more effective protocols to protect waterfowl at the Berkeley Pit, but this incident did not endanger lesser snow geese. WEST LIBERTY, Iowa - Customers of West Liberty's Electric Utility will be asked to make up the difference caused by a billing error that occurred in July and August. The City Council unanimously approved council member Diane Beranek's motion Tuesday night to proceed with measures to recoup the $24,688. But recovery of the funding will come with a cost to the city. Recalculating the bills will cost up to $2,000 plus the expense of mailing the corrected billings. "We're looking at $3,500 to $4,000 to recoup $25,000," Mayor Robert Hartman commented. City Manager Lawrence McNaul said if the council took no action to recover the funding, the city would have to justify to state auditors why the loss was written off, plus it would have a negative impact on the city's bonding rating. "It would be a check against us," McNaul said. "I would like to see us recoup it." West Liberty Foods will take the biggest hit at $13,419. Residents will likely see rising sewer and water rates as well, according to a rate study reviewed by City Engineer Leo Foley during a work session prior to the regular council meeting. "Almost every community in Iowa is doing what you are," Foley told the council. "They're looking at their rates and raising them." Foley said a $1 million balance in the sewer fund is desirable to maintain the system and make needed improvements. But he added the problem is the unpredictability of revenue from West Liberty Foods, depending on their production. Lighter loadings from the community's largest employer could reduce the fund balance by $300,000 to $400,000. "They can't tell you any better what's going to happen next year than I can," said Foley. The current sewer rate is $4.77 per 1,000 gallons of water used. Rather than several annual increases, Foley suggested an increase for the next fiscal year, followed by a review. "That might be a little more palatable for the community," he said. "That would be my recommendation." Foley also recommended staying with five percent annual water rate increases. He said the minimum cash balance needed is $400,000, and it is now $583,000. "Things are looking very good," he said. "At the end of 2020, you're going to be in real good shape." The council approved Pay Estimate No. 3 of $166,223 to Ricklefs Excavating of Anamosa for the second phase of the Water Treatment Plant Improvements Projects, bringing the total paid for the nearly $1.7 million project to $325,230. "This is one where they have a lot of work to do," Foley said. "There are some change orders in progress." The council also approved Change Order No. 5 of $20,757 for an additional booster pump and Pay Estimate No. 12 of $21,200 for the first phase of the Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Project, bringing the total paid for the nearly $2.6 million project to $2,530,706. West Liberty officials expect to fill a vacant council seat by appointment. Council member Felicie Simmons announced during the Dec. 6 meeting that she will step down from council because she is moving to another community, leaving one year of her four year term to be served. Hartman said filling the remaining year by appointment would save the expense of a special election. Any West Liberty resident who wishes to fill the seat needs to file paperwork at City Hall by noon Jan. 12, 2017. The council expects to make the appointment Jan. 17. In other business: The council approved payment of claims totaling $144,676. The council approved conducting an annexation study. The council approved rental of the north 20 acres of Dutton Park to Jon King Farms for $4,501 in 2017. The council set a Jan. 17 public hearing on a proposed Urban Renewal Plan Amendment. MUSCATINE, Iowa Muscatines industry and educators will join forces this February in an after-school program that will get fourth and fifth graders excited about science. The program, STEM into MCC, is a result of collaboration between Muscatine Community College and the Muscatine Community School District and is funded by a $25,000 grant from the state of Iowa. MCC President Naomi DeWinter said the program builds upon childrens natural curiosity and catches them before they move to middle school and lose interest in science. The district, DeWinter said, will select 24 students who will come to the college twice a week from February to June. At the college, they will participate in hands-on modules that explore a facet of science. Every module will have an industry expert, DeWinter said, adding that instructors and students from the college and the high school will also help. Joshua Hanna, the lead teacher at East Campus, the high school program located at MCC, said the college and school district will provide input as local industry experts volunteer their time and select projects they would like to teach. Experts will be brought in from area agencies like Monsanto, Muscatine Power and Water, and Discovery Park. Rick Boyer, an MCC life science instructor who was involved in writing the grant, said the program is part of MCCs effort to be the communitys college while showcasing the community's industries. STEM into MCC is one of ten industry-education collaborations funded by the state of Iowa. The goal of the grant program of the Governor's STEM Advisory Council, dubbed STEM BEST (Business Engaging Students and Teachers) is to define the front edge of education in Iowa, indeed for the nation so that a road to the future of schooling is paved, wrote Jeff Weld, executive director of the Iowa Governors STEM Advisory Council. Muscatine is key in building that road. WAPELLO, Iowa - A recommendation to increase the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 salary of most elected Louisa County officials by 2.5 percent, with the exception of Sheriff Brad Turner whose salary was recommended to increase five percent, was approved by the Louisa County Compensation Board Tuesday. The recommendation from the compensation board will be forwarded to the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, which can either accept the proposal or reduce all the salary increases by an equal amount. The supervisors cannot increase the salaries above the compensation board recommendation. Initially the compensation board appeared ready to consider a two percent increase for all officials. However, county supervisors who attended the meeting pointed out they had approved a two-year labor contract last year that included 2.5 percent increases for the countys union workers and a three percent hike for deputy sheriffs. Supervisor chair Paula Buckman said about half of the countys labor force is unionized and will receive the contracted raise in FY 2018. She suspected a split wage settlement could be a problem. It (will create) a lot of hard feelings, she said. She also pointed out if Turner only received a 2.5 percent boost and his deputies received a three percent increase, the county could be violating the law that sets the second deputys salary at 85 percent of the sheriffs salary. Supervisor Randy Griffin, a former 36-year employee with the countys secondary road crew agreed a split wage scale could create discord among the county staff. Griffin said he had opposed the two-year contract because of the potential wage differential. Non-union people will be unhappy, but may live with it, he said. I dont want (the countys) non-union workers to be taken advantage of, board member Jay Schweitzer countered, adding he also was not pleased the compensation board might be forced to follow the unions lead. Board member Jeri Bailey agreed the two-year union deal had handicapped the compensation board. It seems we have had everything predetermined. Im frustrated at this point, she said. Compensation board member Mike Hodges said whether the increase was two percent or 2.5 percent was likely not that significant, adding he felt the larger issue was the countys growing health insurance costs. County employees currently pay 15 percent of the insurance premium, but Hodges and other board members suggested that was less than most private sector employees have to pay. After the compensation board unanimously approved the 2.5 percent as a general increase and the five percent boost for Turner, he proposed a letter be sent to the supervisors urging them to set a cap on the countys share of health insurance. Bailey said she was concerned about referring to a cap and instead suggested the letter ask the supervisors to review the employees share by comparing it with other counties. The rest of the board agreed to that language. The salary recommendation will now go to the supervisors. If the supervisors accept the recommendation, their salary will climb to $27,194 on July 1, 2017. In addition to Griffin, that will include Chris Ball and Supervisor-elect Brad Quigley. The salaries of Auditor Sandi Elliott, Treasurer Vicki Frank and Recorder Leanne Black will increase to $51,431, while County Attorney Adam Parsons will see his salary climb to $64,035. Turners salary will move to $73,103. Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi [] Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Editors note: This story is part of the Registers annual holiday series about people who make a difference in their communities. CALISTOGA They have more in common than just their surname; there is a thread of kindness, caring and community spirit that weaves the Lopez sisters into the fabric of Calistoga. Indira Lopez was the first to arrive in California from their family home in Huajuapan, Oaxaca, Mexico. She moved to San Francisco to earn money to send home to help with expenses for the youngest brother who was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 3. Though working two jobs, what she was sending home wasnt enough so Irais Lopez-Ortega moved to San Francisco, too, to help out, leaving behind her young daughter. Two more sisters, Pilar and Wendy, followed for the same reason to earn money to help out with medical and other expenses related to their brothers illness. Each sister has a long resume of volunteer and service work, and almost certainly if there is a community need, at least one of them will be there. Their names appear on numerous committees and boards, as well as elected positions. Irais is a city council member, and Indira is a trustee on the board for Calistoga Joint Unified School District. They are all basically very strong and (contribute a great deal.) Theyve always been very, very active (in the community). Its in their nature and what they value, said Esmeralda Mondragon, superintendent of the Calistoga school district. Civil service is important to them. It goes back to where they come from in Mexico. Indeed, the seed of their civil service was planted in Oaxaca, Mexico, by their grandfather, aunt, uncles and brother, all who held various positions as elected officials. Irais is a unique figure on the council. Shes the only female, the only Latina, and when she does speak up, shes always got a purpose, said Dylan Feik, city manager. When she spoke up at the Nov. 15 council meeting, her words brought people to tears and clapping, he said. Feik was referring to what Irais said a week after the presidential election when she talked about hearing and seeing so much in the news about hate that she felt moved to speak out. Im very proud of my community, of my people, and Im here to represent them to represent the ones who cannot vote, the ones who cannot speak out for themselves. I want to reassure this community, that my people, the people I represent and the people I am very proud of, we are a hardworking people, Irais said. We came to this country with a lot of dreams. Many of us we came very young, we left our families. In my case, I left my 4-year-old daughter with my mom, with a lot of dreams with my sisters. Through the years we accomplished so much. We are very proud. We are here, were not going away. We are going to be dreaming, (and) keep (on) working. We are just going to keep going. Thank you to this community because since we moved to Calistoga, we are here, we are home. They are passionate leaders in this community, Feik said, and are always quick to jump in to do anything they can to help a senior or a child or anybody in the Latino community. They were all instrumental in responding to the Valley Fire providing countless hours working at the evacuation shelter last year. Indira ran UpValley Family Centers Emergency Assistance program for fire victims, said Jenny Ocon, executive director of UpValley Family Center where Indira works as a program manager (They) all have increased access to public systems and services for Latino families and have been a voice for those who have traditionally been underserved or isolated, Ocon said. The work they do in their day jobs is equally as commendable. As program director with UpValley, Indira ensures the programs are effectively implemented in the local community and the needs of children, youth, adults and seniors are met to the best of our capacity, Ocon said. Indira is a Board of Immigration Appeals accredited representative by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, assisting immigrants with applications for citizenship/legalization. Irais owns two elder care facilities in Calistoga in addition to her work on the city council and as a board member of Rianda House, an activities and resource center that serves Calistoga and St. Helena. She and Indira are also members of Soroptimists International of Calistoga. Wendy was recently recognized as a 2016 Leaders of the North Bay; Empowering the Latino Community by North Bay Leadership Council. She is the case manager and outreach coordinator for PDI Surgery Center in Windsor. PDI provides dental services to low-income children in Northern California. I feel so fortunate to work with these women all are true inspirations to me, Ocon said. It should be noted that their mother, Estela, is wonderful in her own right. She is one of the volunteer promotoras who organizes grassroots projects with the UpValley Family Centers helping us to put on events/activities such as Dia de los Muertos, Zumba classes, and town halls on various topics. As the Lopez sisters learned about community service from their elders, they too, have passed it on to their own children. A saga of high-end wine theft spanning two coasts and nearly as many years appeared to enter its final chapter Tuesday when one of the men charged with the infamous 2014 French Laundry heist pleaded guilty. In a plea agreement accepted by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman, Davis Kiryakoz, 44, of Modesto, admitted to conspiracy to transport more than $370,000 of stolen ultra-premium wine over state lines. The wines slated for interstate transit, Kiryakoz confirmed, came from an illicit trove of more than $870,000 worth of rare and expensive bottles that were lifted from three Bay Area locations between 2013 and 2014. Chief among these were the wines stolen from The French Laundry in Yountville during the early hours of Dec. 26, 2014, Kiryakoz further admitted in the agreement. The wines were taken when The French Laundry was undergoing remodeling and a burglar alarm had been turned off, investigators said. Investigators from the Napa County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that there is no evidence in the case to suggest the culprits had any inside knowledge of or connection to the restaurant. According to a release from federal prosecutors Tuesday, the value of the 110 bottles Kiryakoz admitted to stealing is placed at nearly $550,000. The stolen wines included coveted Screaming Eagle and Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, both brands that retail for thousands of dollars per bottle. The release states Kiryakoz, with an unnamed co-conspirator, later shipped 63 bottles of The French Laundrys wine to a buyer in North Carolina. The majority of the bottles were eventually recovered several weeks after the burglary when the Napa County Sheriffs Office was contacted by an attorney in the state whose client had purchased them. The unidentified buyer alerted the attorney when he realized the wines were stolen. Specialized serial numbers on the bottles confirmed the wines authenticity as those stolen from the French Laundry. Authorities eventually returned the wine to the restaurant, save for four bottles that were never recovered. The widely publicized theft was one of two 2014 burglaries of high-end wine in Yountville, the prior occurring at Redd restaurant in January of that year. The incidents were similar in nature, as both restaurants were broken into during their annual holiday closures. Redds losses totaled 24 bottles worth about $30,000. Sheriff's investigators said Thursday they believed the cases were connected and further confirmed that Redd's wine has not been recovered. Federal authorities arrested Kiryakoz in The French Laundry case earlier this year, along with 53-year-old Alfred Georgis, of Mountain View, charging both men with one count each of conspiracy to transport stolen goods and two counts of transportation of stolen goods. Georgis has not yet entered a plea. According to the release, Kiryakoz is not in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Freeman in March. Napa Countys Vine Trail continued to grow in 2016. A major, new piece debuted late last summer linking the city of Napa with Yountville. This six-mile-long segment proved to be an instant hit, with bikers, runners and walkers often visible using the trail and sitting on its benches. In fact, they took to the trail weeks ahead of the trails opening. Keeping people out of such an enticing construction zone proved to be a daunting task, given its length. Paul and Barbara Porri used to make this Napa-to-Yountville trip in the pre-Vine Trail days by riding along Solano Avenue and its 50-mph-plus traffic. That wasnt to their liking and they are glad they can now use the Vine Trail. We thought it was too dangerous, Paul Porri said during a break on a September bike ride. The new Vine Trail segment is a path all to itself, located between Solano Avenue to the west and the Napa Valley Wine Train tracks and Highway 29 to the east. It passes by vineyards that stretch to the slopes of the mountains. Someday, the Vine Trail is to run 47 miles from Vallejo up Napa Valley to Calistoga. To date, more the 16 miles exist, including segments along the Napa River at Kennedy Park, cutting through the heart of the city of Napa and running along the outskirts of Yountville. New pavement wasnt the only Vine Trail debut in 2016. The Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition unveiled rest stops near Darms Lane and near the South Napa Century Center. These stops have roofs of glass panels designed to resemble grape leaves and wooden wind breaks resembling wine barrels. Philip Sales, executive director of the Vine Trail Coalition, called the design an homage to the Napa Valley. Someday, the Vine Trail is to have as many as 19 such rest stops along its entire length. Sales said they will give the Vine Trail a consistent image and brand. Other new features popped up along Vine Trail segments this past year, such as mileage posts and interpretive signs. Trail users can read about wildlife, Napa State Hospital, the Veterans Home of California at Yountville and other Vine Trail sights. Vine Trail advocates also made plans for the future. Vine Trail Coalition founder Chuck McMinn expressed concern that a section along the railroad tracks passing through an industrial section of the city of Napa lacked the world-class image he is seeking. McMinn and others in September called for creating the Rails Art District. Murals on buildings, sculptures and gateway features such as as a Napa Quake Mosaic in a boxcar could someday give this area some visual spice. Its not world-class yet, but it will be, McMinn said. This nascent Rails Art District is beginning to bear fruit. The city of Napa in November announced it is seeking artists to beautify a 710-foot-long section of chain link fence along the Vine Trail at the city corporation yard. In December, an application filed with the city depicted a planned, 152-foot-long mural to be painted on the back of the Napa Valley Register offices and NAPA Auto Parts store along the Vine Trail at Vallejo Street. The mural by the Polish art group Etam Cru is to depict a man taking a nap in nature. This mural will demonstrate what an arts district could be so people can react to it and get a feeling for what its all going to be about, McMinn said. Theres more to come for the Vine Trail. The Vine Trail Coalition is making plans to build a 9.4-mile, $9.2 million section from St. Helena to Calistoga. This course Read more [...] (Natural News) When Big Government goes off the rails, its almost like theyre smoking crack. In this case, thats not far from the truth: The Albuquerque Police Department now plans to manufacture crack cocaine so they can sell it to people who are then arrested for possession of crack. (See court documents below for proof.) Wait a sec Crack cocaine is an illegal substance, right? So now the police are going to possess it, manufacture it, sell it and then arrest citizens who buy it from them? Yep. Thats how some police tell themselves they are the good guys when they manufacture crack cocaine to sell to the bad guys who were making the crack cocaine before the police started making it. In other words, the Albuquerque Police Department will now be engaged in the manufacture and distribution of Schedule I Controlled Substances, meaning it is no longer deniable that the cops are the drug dealers. Its now right out in the open. See the documents obtained by BurqueMedia The story first broke on BurqueMedia.com, which explains, An affidavit obtained by Burque Media from a confidential source spells out plans by the Albuquerque Police Department to go after low-level drug users in a reverse buy-bust operation. In a reverse buy-bust, undercover agents sell drugs to citizens, and then arrest them for possession. Part of that operation involves APD manufacturing crack cocaine from powdered cocaine. Just as I was writing this story for Natural News, the Affidavit and Motion to Release Evidence document was removed from Scribd. But we have screen shots below, grabbed before the document was memory holed. It says: the State of New Mexico, through its Assistant District Attorney and Affiant Detective Marc Clingenpeel, and hereby request this Courts order to allow detectives to obtain heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine base (commonly referred to as crack), and/or cocaine from the Alburquerque Police Departments Evidence Unit for the purpose of an undercover operation as set below in quantities listed in order powered cocaine may be taken into APDs Criminalistics Unit to be made into crack cocaine. The Alburquerque Police Departments Narcotics Unit will use the heroin, methamphetamine, crack cocaine and/or cocaine to sell to individuals who are seeking to purchase drugs within the City of Alburquerque. Article continues below these documents (scroll down to keep reading): Nodding or shrugging the shoulders to ensnare citizens and charge them with felony drug possession As part of the APDs manufacture and distribution of crack cocaine, theyre planning on ensnaring citizens by using what they call gestures that are commonly used in the area to make contact with someone for the purpose of purchasing drugs. These gestures include nodding and shrugging the shoulders, meaning if you simply nod at one of these undercover APD crack dealers, you could be just moments away from being arrested and charged with attempting to purchase crack. After a nod or shoulder shrug, the person will be escorted to a discreet location, says the document. The detectives will sell the person the requested amount of drugs, it explains, after which the person will be arrested and charged with felony Possession of a Controlled Substance. You mean the same substance the police just manufactured and sold them? Gosh, and during what part of this elaborate operation do the detectives just pocket the cash and let a few buyers walk? Oops! Looks like a few kilos of crack never made it back to the evidence locker strange how that happens. When cops become drug manufacturers and street dealers, something has gone terribly wrong with the failed War on Drugs Now, you see, the police are making the drugs, dealing the drugs and potentially profiting from the drugs. It wont be long before the APD finds it needs to plug a revenue shortfall with some extra cash. And what do you know hundreds of citizens are lining up just to hand them cash for their self-manufactured crack cocaine! The temptation for abuse in this racket is too juicy to ignore. When a detective can make more untraceable cash profit in a single week than they might pull in an entire year on the citys payroll, its not difficult to imagine some of these cops going freelance. And if you have a police-run operation that can manufacture crack cocaine, sell it to people on the street, then arrest those people for buying the very same illegal substance the police department is manufacturing, just how long will it be before fringe police departments start running sex slave rings in order to sell slaves to buyers who are promptly arrested? (Hint: This is already going on. The cover-up is intense because the customers of such activities often tend to be among the political elite.) What can you do about all this? For starters, dont buy crack cocaine. More importantly, if you live in Albuquerque, dont nod or shrug at anybody on the street, or you may find yourself dragged into a dark alley by undercover cops who claim you signaled them with an intent to purchase illegal drugs. If they persist, just tell them you arent interested in cocaine you were actually hoping to buy a good time and you thought the undercover cops were transgender prostitutes. That should work amazingly well. Try it yourself and see! Emorys Department of Film and Media Studies film experts have once again surveyed the theatrical releases of the past year and rendered their verdict on the best. The choices are based on films that have played in Atlanta theaters or elsewhere as of Dec. 15 (eagerly awaited titles such as Fences and Hidden Figures are not included). Many of the titles below are current in theaters, streaming online or available on Blu-Ray or DVD. The films are listed in alphabetical order. Emory reviewers include Tanine Allison (TA), Rob Barracano (RB), Matthew H. Bernstein (MHB), Ryan Cook (RC), Eddy von Mueller (EVM), and James Steffen (JS). 13th From Ava DuVernay (Selma) comes this clear-eyed, deeply disturbing Netflix documentary that examines the flourishing of the American prison industrial complex, (including government, law enforcement, lobbyists and the private prison industry) which has grown from housing 196,441 inmates in 1970 to almost 2.3 million now. In our country, a white male has a 1 in 17 chance of being incarcerated; for a black male it is 1 in 3. DuVernay swiftly traces this injustices development from slavery and the 13th amendments loophole for imprisoning criminals, through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights movement to the war on crime inaugurated by Nixon but carried to fulfilment in the Reagan and Clinton eras bipartisan War on Drugs, the fruits of which are evident in the omnipresent police brutality against African-Americans and the rhetoric of the 2016 presidential campaign. Full of passionate music, incisive commentary from diverse major historians, politicians and activists (such as Brian Stevenson), the films calmly outraged call for justice is must viewing for every American. (MHB) Arrival Denis Villeneuves Arrival has been compared to Interstellar as a thinking-persons science fiction film, but this film displays far more intelligence and emotional depth and should hold up better over time. It is adapted from the 1998 novella The Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. The film expands significantly on the novellas basic premise and offers more in the way of conventional spectacle. Even so, it preserves the psychologically based, non-linear temporal structure, which recalls the Alain Resnais film Je taime, Je taime (1968). Amy Adams certainly deserves an Oscar nomination for her nuanced performance, and the films special effects are absolutely convincing. Highlights include a main character who is a college professora linguistand a narrative more focused on intellectual discovery than on action sequences in the usual sense. It is a compelling and moving experience. (JS) The Handmaiden This period piece from director Park Chan-wook adapts a novel set in Victorian England to 1930s colonial Korea. Park combines baroque violence and explicit eroticism with exacting structure, as if taking a cue from his films male protagonist. The plot is a complex tangle of criminal posturing. A caricatured villain, whose favor among Japanese authorities permits a lavish existence of aesthetic indulgence, collects rare Japanese erotic books and exploits women in the service of his erotic manias. His kept niece and her handmaiden plot against him, and a steamy lesbian romance unfolds. The fraught history of Japanese imperialism and collaboration (recently a popular subject in Korean cinema) receives irreverent treatment: the Victorian Gothic plotting is destabilizing, but the film also invokes 1930s Japanese fiction, notably the lurid detective novels of Poe-inspired Edogawa Ranpo. The film is heavy on style but refreshingly replaces overwrought historical melodrama with seductive fun. (RC) Les Innocentes (The Innocents) The long, many-barbed tail of war coils through this atmospheric French mystery drama set in a Polish border town in 1945, where an idealistic young doctor (Lou de Laage) working with the Red Cross discovers an outbreak of pregnancies at the local Benedictine convent. Agata Lukesza, star of the Oscar-winning Ida, portrays a very different character, the strict Reverend Mother. Director Anne Fontaines treatment of the story, based on actual events during and after the brutal liberation campaigns of Stalins Red Army, plays pretty hard on heartstrings without lapsing into melodrama, and provides a poignant, and all-too-rare look at war through the eyes of the women who endure it. (EVM) La La Land Musicals are not for everyone, but the critics rapture over this film is well-earned. Damien Chazelle (director of Whiplash) has crafted a resolutely contemporary candy-colored, magical tribute to Hollywoods golden age with appealing songs and often elaborate choreography (the opening sequence in a L.A. traffic jam alone is worth the price of admission). Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have real chemistry and they sing and dance surprisingly well. But another key influence are the bittersweet musicals of Jacques Demy (most notably The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), whose narrative twists and alternately comic, lyric and melancholy tones Chazelle has down to a tee. (MHB) The Lobster This is a great film that is easiest to frame, not in terms of other films, but in terms of the theater of the absurd; Waiting for Godot and most closely, Eugene Ionescos The Bald Soprano. The Bald Soprano and The Lobster are both absurdist comedies about the sadness of relationships, andin their silly waythey discuss it more articulately than famous psychotherapist Esther Perel. The film begins with an uncomfortably long shot of a woman driving a car. She gets out, the camera stays in and watches her enter a field and then shoot a cow to death. She is never seen again. The performances are at once silly and also heartbreaking. Very early on we see Colin Farells middle-aged belly sticking out of his pants; we see real pain in his eyes. The very beautiful Rachel Weisz has never been uglier. The score is startling, like something out of a David Lynch movie, and the story is strange, metaphoric and sometimes laugh out loud funny. In the end, what Farell does to accommodate his partner is heartbreaking. (RB) Love and Friendship An audacious and sardonic take on the costume drama, this adaptation of a posthumously published Jane Austen novella is not a love story. Instead, it follows the conniving but charming Lady Susan (Kate Beckinsale in top form), who uses her acidic wit and masquerade of social graces to survive in English polite society. Although she is ostensibly seeking a husband for her daughter, Lady Susan really only looks out for herself, laying bare the economic realities of 18th-century women in comic form. Writer-director Whit Stillman, who visited Emory earlier this year to speak about his artistic process, has composed some of his most sparkling dialogue, all set at a pace that may be challenging to contemporary viewers, but keeps Lady Susans machinations humming. With hilariously acerbic comedy and a hysterical performance by Tom Bennett as a prattling fop, this little-known comedy of manners is definitely worth a look. (TA) Manchester by the Sea This intense yet often funny drama about unbearable loss and bare survival is utterly compelling and must viewing. A Boston area janitor (Casey Affleck) inherits most reluctantly the custody of his teen-age nephew (a wonderful Lucas Hedges) when his brother dies, and this requires him to return to the title town where he has experienced unfathomable tragedy. Afflecks portrayal of a deeply flawed, emotionally numb man just trying to get along is always absorbing. In a late short scene of just roughly five minutes, Michelle Williams, as his ex-wife, is unforgettable. Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me) once again proves his mastery of depicting fraught, intimate relationships with the greatest possible insight and compassion. (MHB) Moonlight Coming-of-age dramas are plentiful, but very, very few achieve these heights. Barry Jenkinss absorbing drama portrays three stages in the life of a lonely, sensitive, extremely quiet south Miami African-American manfirst, as a boy and then a teenager suffering through endless bullying at school and at home (from his drug-addicted single mom), and last as a 25-year-old Atlanta resident. Three relative newcomers portraying the profoundly pained Chiron are never less than fascinating; Mahershala Ali as a paradoxical drug dealer/guardian angel is a standout, but the entire cast does magnificent work. Jenkins pacing is alternately frantic and meditative, the imageryin moonlight and daylightis stunning. This deeply moving, poetic, compassionate and complex story about human frailty, vulnerability and identity is one of the most exhilarating experiences to be had in a movie theater in the past decade. (MHB) Mountains May Depart This 2015 Chinese film (U.S. release 2016) is acclaimed filmmaker Jia Zhangkes latest portrait of his home province in Northern China. Jia again approaches his subject with melancholic distance. His tendency to observe everyday events with sensitivity to their unfolding in historical time is more pronounced than ever: he follows his protagonists, three friends from Shanxi separated by life and love, across three moments of the 21st century: NYE 1999, 2014, and 2025. He also composes their lives within landscapes: the Chinese title (landscapes once known) evokes an aesthetic sense of lost homeland. Think of the misty mountains of Chinese landscape painting, barely defined against negative space. Painting in digital video, Jia gives similar form to contemporary China amid the haze of globalization. He also permits flights of fancy, such as the slightly sci-fi vision of deracinated existence in the near future, where Chinese children and parents who no longer speak the same language communicate by Google Translate. (RC) Honorable Mentions: Deadpool, Denial, Edge of Seventeen, Hell or High Water, Loving, Embrace of the Serpent, Sausage Party, Sully The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] BEIJING: China today launched a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite to understand climate change, hours after it lifted nearly a week-long red alert for the worst smog that engulfed about 40 cities in the country. The620-kg satellite TanSat was put into orbit by Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gobi Desert early this morning, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. This was the 243rd mission of the Long March series rockets. Besides TanSat, the rocket also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring. China is the third country after Japan and the US to monitor greenhouse gases through its own satellite. The satellite was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 kms above the earth and will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, Yin Zengshan, chief designer of TanSat at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)micro-satellite research institute said. The satellite will help understanding of climate change and provide China's policy makers with independent data. On a three-year mission, TanSat will thoroughly examine global carbon dioxide levels every 16 days, accurate to at least 4 ppm (parts per million), the report said. The new satellite will enable China to obtain emissions data first-hand and share it with researchers worldwide, Yin said. The Paris agreement on climate change came into force on November 4, with more than 100 countries committed to reducing their carbon emissions. The satellite can trace the sources of greenhouse gases and help evaluate whether countries are fulfilling their commitments. TanSat means a louder voice for China on climate change, carbon reduction and in negotiations with a bigger say on carbon trading. Earlier in midnight, Beijing lifted the red alert for air pollution as cold air dispersed the smog that has affected the city since Dec 17 which drew strong criticism from public as it disrupted the normal life. Beijing woke up this morning with a relatively clear sky. Since December 17 emergency measures such as even-odd car restrictions will end and classes will resume at schools, official media reports said. While the red alert was implemented by 23 cities including Beijing, 17 other cities implemented Orange alerts for pollution. PM2.5 density in the capital remained high throughout the period of the red alert. About the satellite Lu Naimeng, TanSat chief scientist saidconcentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from 280 ppm to 400 ppm over the past 150 years, leading to an increase in average global temperatures of about 0.7 degrees Celsius over the last century. China's CO2 emissions are to peak around 2030, with emissions per unit of GDP cut by 60 pct of 2005 levels by the same date. Read Also: NASA Orbiter Discovers Infant Versions Of Martian 'Spiders' Facebook Introduces New Doodle Programme To Compete With Google NEW DELHI: Japanese technology company Konica Minolta on Tuesday launched e-bizVAULT, a cloud-based web Document Management System (DMS) solution which offers support for popular browsers and mobile devices. "e-bizVAULT protects organisations against data loss, system failure and unauthorised system access. It is also accessible on a notebook, in the organisation's network, over the web, in the cloud or in a smartphone as well as a tablet, ensuring maximum agility for a business," the company said in a statement. The solution also eliminates the need for setting up servers or configuring applications for a business, reducing expenditures significantly. "e-bizVAULT is a perfect offering for organisations eyeing a scalable and secure DMS solution over the cloud to fetch more agility and operational efficiency. It will also help businesses reduce their operating expenditures significantly," said Yuji Nakata, Managing Director at Konica Minolta India. Read Also: China Launches Satellite To Monitor Global Carbon Emissions NASA Orbiter Discovers Infant Versions Of Martian 'Spiders' Four state universities collaborate on $10 million center to address Zika and other diseases With a $10 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the University of Florida will lead a highly collaborative research program focused on stopping diseases such as Zika before they spread farther into the United States. The grant is part of nearly $184 million in funding the CDC announced Thursday to states, territories, local jurisdictions, and universities to support efforts to protect Americans from Zika virus infection and associated adverse health outcomes, including microcephaly and other serious birth defects. These awards are part of the $350 million in funding provided to CDC under the Zika Response and Preparedness Appropriations Act of 2016. Zika continues to be a threat to pregnant women, said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. States, territories, and communities need this CDC funding to fight Zika and protect the next generation of Americans. The Southeast Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Disease: The Gateway Program will be led by principal investigator Rhoel Dinglasan, a faculty member in the College of Veterinary Medicine's department of infectious diseases and pathology associated with UFs Emerging Pathogens Institute. Dinglasan has enlisted the University of Miami, Florida International University and the University of South Florida to collaborate on research to address the statewide and regional challenge of Zika and other diseases. While everyone is imagining the introduction of diseases like Zika into their states, we dont need to imagine it, Dinglasan said. We have seen Zika, dengue and chikungunya, and it is our responsibility as scientists to do our part to stop them. Florida provides a unique environment to examine the biocomplexity of vector-borne diseases in real time. Miami-Dade is often an entry point for such diseases, adding to the urgency of the research and providing a real-world lab. Solutions that work in the densely populated urban environment of South Florida should work in other locations as well, Dinglasan said. Florida really is ground zero. We are the gateway for vector-borne diseases into the United States, Dinglasan said. But we have the research capability to stop them. State University System Chancellor Marshall Criser II and UF Vice President for Research David Norton noted the significance of the work. By leveraging the resources and expertise of multiple institutions, Florida is poised to make the next major breakthroughs on Zika and other vector-borne diseases, Criser said. This is an excellent example of how collaboration between higher-education institutions and businesses can lead to scientific advances that help us all live healthier, better lives. Norton added: "The research at this Center of Excellence is remarkably important to the state, nation and the world. By teaming with other universities within the state, we are able to deliver a unique array of talent that greatly enhances the impact of this work." Dinglasan, who was recruited under the state's Preeminence Program, had only moved to UF from Johns Hopkins University a month before the call for proposals for the Center of Excellence went out in September. A globally recognized malaria researcher, he knew just where to turn to assemble a team quickly, and he called on international experts at UM, FIU and USF. Each university has a particular expertise in diseases carried by vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks, flies and fleas. Although Zika has dominated the news lately, the long list of vector-borne diseases includes malaria, dengue, Chagas, chikungunya and yellow fever. The World Health Organization estimates there are 1 billion infections a year from vector-borne diseases and 1 million deaths. Dinglasan said he also looked for broad regional support for the Center of Excellence and found it in leading scientists at the Scripps Research Institute-Florida, the Naval Entomology Center of Excellence, the USDA Center for Medical, Agricultural & Veterinary Entomology, Florida A & M University, Georgia Southern University and the Florida departments of Health, and Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Center of Excellence also will leverage Floridas 61 mosquito control programs as a sizable ground surveillance force that could report conditions and bring recommendations back to the labs. It was very important to engage the mosquito control people; they know those neighborhoods much better than those of us in the lab, said Dinglasan, who is also a faculty member in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Theyre on the front line. Theyre the ones who are going to tell us if theres a problem with our strategy. Training is a huge component of the center, with a focus on tackling the shortage of workers in public health entomology and addressing an impending retirement wave among mosquito control managers. The UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences will play a key role in training, partly through its Center for Leadership, Dinglasan said. Each university brings a robust research program to the enterprise, Dinglasan said. FIU is conducting research on mosquito neural genetics, testing a bait that lures female mosquitoes to lay eggs in a trap that kills all the eggs. UM has developed an attractive toxic sugar bait that has been tested in Africa but not in an urban environment in the United States. Mosquitoes use sugar for energy, so using a toxic sugar bait to attract and then kill mosquitoes could reduce the need for spraying. At USF, researchers are working on a way to block transmission of eastern equine encephalitis by migratory birds, who winter in Florida and fly north in the spring. USF has identified locations where the birds contract the disease from mosquitoes and is working to target mosquito control in those areas to keep the migrating birds free of the disease. One of UFs contributions is in mathematical modeling, to quantify how well the research-based solutions work. Dinglasan said modeling will allow researchers to test predictions over the five-year research program, with the goal of stopping vector-borne diseases before they travel north. The powerhouse within UF is our mathematical modeling, and that is the linchpin for a data-driven project like this, Dinglasan said. Data modeling is the one thing that unites all the research. Key to that modeling ability and to the Gateway Program is UFs supercomputer, HiPerGator 2.0, the most powerful university supercomputer in the Southern U.S. and one of the fastest university supercomputers in the country. The collaboration on the Center of Excellence has already led the four universities to explore other research collaborations, Dinglasan said. Where one university had a need, another university has stepped in. We each have our own niche, our own expertise, but together were unstoppable, Dinglasan said. Were a natural team. Khan Iqbal, in his 80s, was arrested by in Gujar Khan area, Rawalpindi, for a murder on August 1, 1996. He was convicted and sentenced to death by the lower courts, Dawn online reported. Khan Iqbal will be executed at Rawalpindi's Central Jail. Bilal Khan, the convict's son, told Dawn news that since his father had been paralysed during imprisonment and was trying to reach a settlement with the family of the deceased. He also claimed that his father had been at home until last year but was directed to report to the Central Jail after the family of the deceased complained to the sessions court last year. He said his father had been in Kohat jail until 2013 when, somehow, he managed to flee while being shifted to another jail. However, he did not disclose how his father remained at home for three years. --IANS ksk/vm ( 183 Words) 2016-12-22-12:24:21 (IANS) Pakistan is on the verge of multi-organ failure due to its wrong policies on socio-economic, political, security and terrorism issues, according to a new book written by a former Indian bureaucrat. "The difference between the democratic journey of India and the military dictatorships in Pakistan provoked questions as to why the two have developed so differently," Tilak Devasher, who retired as Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, said at the launch of his new book "Pakistan: Courting the Abyss" here on Wednesday evening. "The growth of intolerance and radicalisation on the one hand and terrorism directed against India resulting in the deaths of hundreds of innocent Indian civilians on the other lent an ominous dimension to my questions," he said. "I was determined to understand what made Pakistan such a violent and inhospitable place, on the verge of being declared a terrorist state and the worst nuclear proliferator in the world. I short, why was Pakistan courting the abyss?" Devasher stressed that his book was not about any comparison between India and Pakistan relations but a holistic work about Pakistan and the plight it has found itself in now. At a panel discussion following the book launch, Ajai Sahni, Executive Director of the Institute of Conflict Management and the South Asia Terrorism Portal, said that Pakistan's problems lay in the cynical exploitation of religion by its founder leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah. "A lot of his problems have entrenched in the complex dynamics of the country," Sahni said. He stated that the reason for Pakistan's entrapment was its role in terrorism. Sahni said children in Pakistan were being killed and the education system was in complete disaarray. He was of the view that though Islamabad was looking at Beijing for support, China was a pragmatic power and it would take whatever it needed but would give very little in return. Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain, a retired Indian Army Corps commander and a well-known television panellist, said that there was an utter lack of clarity in Jinnah's vision. "The concept of a nation was not clear to them," Hasnain said. According to him, though there is a belief in Pakistan that terrorism and radicalism started during the tenure of th late President Zia-ul-Haq, the fact of the matter is that these started right from 1947. He said that though every other Pakistani leader, except Zia, was a non-believer, each one of them contributed to terrorism. Hasnain, who recently returned from a Track II diplomacy trip to Pakistan, warned that there was a growing thinking in Islamabad that it was winning the proxy war against India, and said that India has not been able to communicate to its neighbour strategically that this was not the case. He also highlighted one section of Devasher's book called "The WEEP Analysis": Water, education, economy, and population. Sushant Sareen, Senior Fellow in the Vivekananda International Foundation, said that the real fault lines in Pakistan were the social and economic parameters and not the Shia-Sunni conflict. He said there should be a psycho-analysis of the Pakistani leadership. Though the book is not about India and Pakistan, one chapter looks at how Pakistan is obsessed with military parity with India and its foreign policy is based on this. In remarks printed on the back cover of the book, Husain Haqqani, former Pakistan Ambassador to the US, writes: "Devasher writes with empathy and his book is full of facts that cannot be ignored by Pakistanis and the rest of the world." --IANS ab/vt ( 597 Words) 2016-12-22-14:28:13 (IANS) Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit is among the names shortlisted for the next Foreign Secretary, a key slot that will soon fall vacant as incumbent Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry has been named Ambassador to the US. Front-runners for the position, in the list compiled by the federal government, include Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Tehmina Janjua and High Commissioner to Britain Sayed Ibne Abbas. However, it was not clear who among them will eventually be the next Foreign Secretary. Sources quoted by Express News pointed out that Basit was the senior-most diplomat after Aizaz Chaudhry. However, seniority was not necessarily a prerequisite as it is the Prime Minister's prerogative to appoint the Foreign Secretary. Of the three contenders, the envoy to New Delhi is considered most suitable, given his experience in dealing with delicate foreign policy issues. His experience as envoy to India was also seen as an added advantage. However, some sources indicated that Tehmina Janjua is the hot favourite for the job. If she wins the government's nod, Tehmina will become the first woman to hold the highest foeign policy position in Pakistan. --IANS ahm/vt ( 202 Words) 2016-12-22-17:52:12 (IANS) After an uproar by separatists and the opposition, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday clarified that refugees who migrated here from Pakistan since after Independence were not given domicile certificates but only identity cards. These refugees, mostly Hindus who migrated into the state during and after the 1947, 1965 and 1971 wars, have no citizenship rights in the state. They can vote in parliamentary elections but have no right to vote in the assembly polls. They cannot apply for jobs with the state government because of they are not permanent residents, according to the state's statutory provisions. Government spokesperson Naeem Akhtar in a statement dismissed the "false and contrived impression" that these refugees from west Pakistan were being made permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. "The government made it clear that such reports are deliberately being circulated to destabilize the situation and hit the political and economic interests of the people," Akhtar said. Both separatists and mainstream politicians had criticised the PDP-BJP coalition government in the state for giving domicile certificates to the refugees from west Pakistan. Refugees from Pakistan-administered Kashmir also have settled in Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the Partition of the subcontinental India. "While the refugees from PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) have the status of the permanent residents of the state, those from west Pakistan are not entitled to permanent residence as they are not the domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir," Akhtar said. He said identity certificates in the same format as in the voter list for the parliamentary polls were being given to west Pakistan refugees to enable them to apply for jobs in paramilitary forces and other central government establishments. "Issuance of identity certificates does in no way change the status of the refugees and they continue to be the non-state subjects," he said. --IANS sq/sar/vt ( 315 Words) 2016-12-22-20:00:13 (IANS) To ensure the commercial efficacy and efficiency of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan would need to lift its exports, boost its productivity, and give a large spur to private enterprise. An article appearing in the Dawn says, "In reality, to properly afford the CPEC projects that are being undertaken, the country (Pakistan) will need to lift its exports, boost its productivity, and give a large spur to private enterprise to get the wheels of domestic investment moving again." It further states that while the government has already announced that loans are being taken under CPEC projects and will be repaid at two per cent interest spread over 20 to 25 years, what is not being revealed is the fact that "more than two-thirds of the money committed for the 'early harvest' projects is actually on commercial terms." The article states, "Of the total USD 28 billion that has or has to come under the 'early harvest' projects, a full USD 19 billion is in the form of foreign direct investment on commercial terms and even the agreement signed in November 2013 between the governments of China and Pakistan that created this raft of investments mentions that these will follow "market principles". "In those project documents that are publicly available, the debt services terms are seven to eight percent, with many of them pegged to six-month Libor and include Sinosure, which is the fee for reinsurance of all loans that Chinese banks require all foreign borrowers to have.Then there is the equity portion. Most of the projects coming in as direct investment, have a debt-to-equity ratio of around 80:20, or in some cases 75:25. And in most cases, return on equity (ROE) is guaranteed at either 17 percent or 20 percent. The question that therefore arises is that if USD19 billion is coming in as investment on commercial terms, and 80 percent of that is debt with the remaining as equity, what is the size of the outflow as debt service and return on equityan discern? The article in the Dawn reveals that hypothetically speaking if debt service outflows are estimated to be about USD one billion and the return on equity is estimated to be USD 646 million and return on equity is kept at 17 percent. And a sum of USD 1.9 billion is kept as repayment of principal, the annual net outflow would be to the tune of USD 3.546 billion once commercial operations of the CPEC begin. In fiscal 2016, Pakistan's total interest outflows (on government borrowing alone) was USD 1.1billion, and therefore, according to the article in the Dawn, it is difficult to visualize how CPEC investments will be booked "as technically they will not be on government account and each project will earn its own money and service its own obligations, whether to its creditors or its sponsors, from its own cash flow." Government debt figures are direct loans, whereas CPEC-related investment would be an investment against a loan. The article warns that both will place a burden on foreign exchange reserves, which will need to increase correspondingly if proper benefit from CPEC projects is to be extracted. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are both warning that for the country to carry its external debt burden, exports need to increase rapidly and that there is also a need to bridge payment gaps when it comes to taking short-term loans from foreign banks. (ANI) "The surprise raids were conducted in Bellary, Bengaluru, Chamarajanagar, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada and Davangere districts," said the ACB in a statement here. Inspector General of Police M.A. Saleem and Additional Director General of Police Gagan Deep of the watchdog supervised the searches in all the six districts. The officials under the scanner are Pampapthi, Principal, Training Centre, Bellary; Basavaraju, Assistant Director, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bengaluru; H. R. Rechanna, Teacher, Chamarajanagar; H.L. Puttalingaiah, Assistant Engineer, Irrigation, Chitradurga; Govinda Naik, FDA, Taluk office, Belthangadi, Leelavathi H.B, Senior Women Health Assistant, Panchalakatte Health Centre, Dakshina Kannada and Umesh N. Patil, Assistant Executive Engineer, Davanagere. "The searches were conducted on credible information that the accused officials were having assets disproportionate to their legal income," said the Bureau. The officials were found to possess huge properties, including farmlands, residential and commercial sites, buildings, gold jewellery and silver ornaments, unaccounted cash, cars, bank deposits, lockers and foreign currency, besides incriminating documents in support of the graft chargers. --IANS fb/vd ( 193 Words) 2016-12-22-21:58:18 (IANS) The 31-year-old recently re-posted the 'extraordinary' clip, an introductory content piece that the makers of the film recently released, on his Twitter handle. "Extraordinary! Never seen anything quite like it in Hindi cinema! Falling short of superlatives to describe it! Congrats to Team Jagga," Ranveer tweeted. On a related note, produced by Disney, 'Jagga Jasoos' starring Ranbir and Katrina Kaif, is slated to release on April 7, 2017. (ANI) In court documents Carrey has asked the judge to strike all allegations and mention of him suffering from multiple STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and passing them to White during their relationship, dubbing the claims "irrelevant" to the case, reports people.com. Carrey, 54, also pointed out that in two of White's suicide notes, she wrote lovingly of him, describing him as family and made no mention of Brigid Sweetman, her mother. "From the two suicide notes, it is indisputable that White looked to Carrey as the person she loved and trusted most," state the court documents. Carrey accused Sweetman of suing him in an attempt to profit from her daughter's suicide. He called the lawsuit a "shakedown". He also disputed claims that he went back on his agreement to pay for White's funeral costs. Sweetman's lawyer responded: "Jim Carrey has admitted he gave White multiple sexually transmitted diseases and purposely lied to her." Along with the STD allegations, both Sweetman and White's estranged husband Mark Burton, who is also suing Carrey, separately claim that Carrey obtained the drugs that killed White under the false name "Arthur King". He provided the drugs to White despite knowing she was prone to depression and had previously attempted suicide. --IANS ks/nv/mr ( 238 Words) 2016-12-22-13:54:12 (IANS) Here's some good news for all the fans who have been waiting to catch a glimpse of Kangana Ranaut, Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan in one frame as 'Rangoon's trailer is all set to release in January. Director Vishal Bharadwaj is all set to commence the New Year by showcasing to the audience, the trailer of the much awaited multi-starrer flick that will also be the first trailer of 2017. "The journey of 'Rangoon' consists of many firsts. The film marks to be my first collaboration with Sajid Nadiadwala and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, it also brings together Kangana, Saif and Shahid for the first time. It is only coincidental that our trailer also happens to be the first trailer of the New Year," said Vishal. Sajid Nadiadwala further shared, "Overwhelmed and very excited to present the audience with the trailer. Vishal is an incredible director and one will get to experience a plethora of emotions as his vision translates on the big screen." Ajit Andhare, COO - Viacom18 Motion Pictures added saying, "'Rangoon' is the coming together of Vishal, Sajid and Viacom18 Motion Pictures' legacy to produce a film that will take you to a time & place never explored in Hindi Cinema. I am excited with the way it's shaped up." Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, 'Rangoon' is an intense love triangle featuring Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles that is all set to release on February 24, 2017. (ANI) Famous film critic, Anupama Chopra recently commented on the gritty nail-biting drama film 'Sicario', which presents an idealistic FBI agent's battle with her own emotions as she is introduced to a whole new world of violence and carnage along the lawless border area stretching between the U.S. and Mexico, as part of a clandestine black ops operation. Sharing her views on this action-packed film that was nominated for three Academy Awards in Cinematography, Sound Editing and Best Original Music Score and is soon premiering on television, Anupama Chopra said, "Sicario is great option - relentlessly tense, brutal and compelling". Starring Academy Award Winner Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin, this American crime-thriller drama film is a stark tale on the escalating war against drugs as the protagonist, Emily Blunt, tries to wrestle her own demons at the cost of the greater good. Led by an enigmatic consultant with a questionable past, an idealistic FBI agent Kate Macer finds herself caught between the boundaries of what can be regarded as moral and immoral. Star Movies Select HD is all set to bring to its audience one of the most honest portrayals of the situation south of the US border featuring an immersive, antagonizing, anxiety building tale with terrific performances, stunning cinematography and ominous score that promises nonstop intensity, on this Christmas eve, December 24 at 9 PM. (ANI) Official sources said here today that a militant hurled a hand grenade towards a police vehicle at Parimpora in the city outskirts last night. However, the grenade missed the intended target and exploded, causing some damage to vehicle. They said no one was injured in the blast, sound of which was heard in the entire area. Security forces immediately launched a massive search operation but the militants had managed to escape, they said.UNI ABS SV SB 0838 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-1075882.Xml On his arrival at the entrance of the temple, Mr Wickremesinghe, his wife Prof Ms Maithree Wickremesinghe and other officials were accorded a warm reception by TTD Trust Board Chairman Dr Ch Krishnamurhty, Executive Officer Dr D Sambasiva Rao and Tirumala JEO KS Srinivasa Raju. Mr Wickremesinghe was received with traditional honours by the temple priests. He was later escorted into the sanctum sanctorum where he stood in front of the main deity for about ten minutes and offered prayers. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister and his wife made an offering in srivari hundi inside the temple complex, according to temple sources. After offering worship, the priests honoured the Sri Lankan Prime Minister with the silk vastram of the deity and the authorities presented him with laddu prasadam and a memento. Meanwhile, the entire Tirumala hills were brought under high security cover following the Prime Minister's visit. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Wickremesinghe said his visit is purely personal. "The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is getting stronger day by day and I prayed Lord for the welfare of the people", he added. AP Minister P Narayana, Urban SP, Ms Jayalakshmi, TTD Trust Board Members Ms Suchithra Ella, Ms Bhanuprakash Reddy and others were present.UNI KNR CS 1146 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1075971.Xml Expressing displeasure over Kannada not beingincluded in NEET, Member of Parliament Pralhad Joshi today said thecentre should consider it. Answering queries from the media, he said that there was somecommunication gap in impressing the Union Government over the issueand he would bring the facts to the notice of Human ResourceMinistry to urgently include Kannada language along with other newlyincluded languages including Gujarati, Telugu, and Tamil. Referring to demonetisation issue he said that the UnionGovernment would not make any compromise over the issue anduncertainty and confusion would be over by the end of first week ofJanuary 2017. People will be able adjust with the new system. The Governmenthas been at the service of common mass by preventing accumulation ofblack money with the few. He denied any allegation of targetting a particular politicalparty or the other on demonetisation issue. Even if the member ofhis party was involved he would openly declare stringent action. Referring to Parliament member Sriramulu issue in alleged moneyhoarding, he said that if any person was found wrong there has beenno objection to make thorough investigation against them.UNI XC RS CS 1449 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0284-1076198.Xml The Congress Party on Thursday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come clear on the kickback charges alleged by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and asked him not to beat around the bush. "We will only say... please do not run helter skelter. Please do not beat around the bush. Come straight to the point. Did Modi ji take money from Birla and Sahara or did Modi ji not take the money...for Birla papers reflect a payment of Rs. 25 crores to Gujarat Chief Minister and Sahara papers reflect a payment of Rs. 40 crore and 10 lakh to Modi ji," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told ANI. Asserting that the country is changing because it has started asking questions, Surjewala pointed out that the nation wants to know whether the Prime Minister has taken money or not. Speaking in Gujarat's Mehsana yesterday, Gandhi alleged that in the records with the Income Tax, there were notings of Sahara officials' claims that they paid Prime Minister Modi nine times between October 2013 and February 2014 and that the total amount was Rs. 40 crore. He also alleged that according to documents with the IT department, the Birla Group too paid Rs. 12 crore to the Prime Minister. Seeking an independent inquiry, Gandhi said that he was raising the issue "on behalf of the country". (ANI) The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the newly-built campus of SEBI's National Institute of Securities Market (NISM) at Patalganga in Raigad district, official sources said. He will also lay the foundation stone of two Mumbai Metro projects, the Elevated Railway Corridors Project and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project, followed by a public rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). NISM is a state-of-the-art academic initiative of the watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Spread across 70 acres, it performs a wide range of capacity building activities at various levels aimed at enhancing the quality standards of and increasing public participation in the securities markets. The NISM campus has been constructed at a cost of around Rs 400-crore through the public-private partnership route. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid its foundation stone in 2013. Later, Mr Modi will go to Pune to lay the foundation stone of the proposed Pune Metro, the third such metro rail project in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Nagpur, sources added.UNI ST NV RJ 1509 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-1076215.Xml Police seized huge consignment of firearms from an express train at local railway station today. Jamui Police Superintendent Jayant Kant said rail police seized 20 half-finished pistols from a bogie of Howrah-Amritsar Express at the railway station. He said, firearms were recovered from an abandoned bag during a routine patrolling and the passengers aboard the bogie were clueless when they were asked about the bag. He said, raids were being conducted to nab arms smugglers. The recovery of firearms came on the close heels of seizure of 40 half-finished pistols from platform number 2 at Sultanganj railway station in Bhagalpur district on December 18. UNI XC-DH AKM 1746 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-1076721.Xml Expressing satisfaction on the preparedness for holding a smooth and fair poll in Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Deo today held a review meeting with the officials, hinting that election dates could be announced any day. "The Election Model Code of Conduct would be strictly enforced in the state within 24 hours of the announcement of poll dates and the Commission would not allow any relaxation," he said. The Deputy Election Commissioner, who had reviewed the preparedness in Varanasi, Allahabad and Kanpur since December 19, told reporters here that he was satisfied with the preparedness with all the booths having Assured Minimum Facility (AMF), including toilets, drinking water and electricity. "This time as a first, voters of the Indian Defence services would be allowed to have e-postal ballots, besides in view of keeping the sanctity of the elections, all the police stations have been made the centre points of any criminal act during the election period and the SHOs would be held responsible. ''For this, a separate App would be brought, where all details would be made available," he said. Mr Deo said once the poll dates are announced, everything will fall in line, including the law and order, and strictness would be maintained at any cost. "Within 24 hours of the announcement of the poll dates, the cities would be cleared from political banners, posters and hoardings besides no one will be allowed to hold meetings or take out processions nor they can put any banners or hoardings," he announced. He said that all committees at the district level for monitoring the free and fair polls have been set up in UP, while issues like paid news intimidation of the voters would be in the radar of the Election Commission. Claiming that there would be adequate numbers of security personnel in the UP polls, including the Central para-military forces, the Deputy Election Commissioner maintained that vulnerability mapping would be done to identified the disturbed areas and polling booths, while a special check would be done so that criminals do not use mobile phones from the jails. Talking about the ongoing summary revision of the electoral rolls, he said that it would be published as per the schedule and this time, orders have been given to the authorities to make the system transparent, so that the deletion and addition do not enter into controversy. UNI MB RJ SNU 1711 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-1076332.Xml Batting for far more stringent provisions of anti-defection law, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said it was the need of the hour to curb the mounting tendency of shifting allegiance from one party to another for satiating the lust for power. Interacting with the mediapersons on the sidelines of Sangat Darshan programme in Kartarpur Assembly segment here, the Chief Minister said it was unfortunate that for the sake of power the 'turncoats' were changing their political affiliations with every passing day. He said this was a disgusting trend which needs to be checked through strict anti-defection law, so that mockery of democracy could be avoided. Mr Badal said through sheer display of 'politics of opportunism' these fugitives not only backstab their mother party but show grave disrespect to the mandate of the people. The Chief Minister exhorted the people to teach the defectors a lesson by rejecting them in electoral race. He said the voters were supreme as they could teach a lesson to the opportunist leaders by showing them door during the polls. Mr Badal also urged the political parties to give a second thought while accepting turncoats from other parties. The Chief Minister added that shifting of political parties by any individual hardly has any bearing on the polity of the state. He said people of the state were wise enough to exercise their franchise as per principle rather than on the basis of caste or religion. Mr Badal said those leaders who backstab their mother party could never succeed in public life as the people don't rely on them.MORE UNI JS SW SNU 1745 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1076528.Xml Delhi's Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, who had a running battle with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday resigned, taking both the central and Delhi governments by surprise. A brief statement released by the Lt Governor's Office did not say why the 66-year-old former IAS officer had called it quits but quoted him as saying that he would return to academics, "his first love". In the statement, Jung thanked both Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kejriwal for their association with him. "He thanks the Prime Minister for all help and cooperation he received during his tenure as the Lt. Governor," it said. Jung became the Lt Governor on July 9, 2013 when a Congress-led coalition was in office. The Modi government retained him even as it replaced most Governors in the states, raising eyebrows. "He (Jung) also thanks the Chief Minister of Delhi for his association in the last two years," the statement said. Jung thanked the people of Delhi too for "their support and affection, especially during the one year's President Rule" leading to the assembly elections that led to an AAP victory in February 2015. A former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, Jung gave no reason for his dramatic decision to step down, not even to his official advisors. He directly sent the resignation to the union Home Ministry through a special messenger. His advisor Ajay Chaudhary said he and his colleagues were not aware of Jung's move. "It was surprising," the official told India Today news channel. Chief Minister Kejriwal, who was in Ranchi, immediately telephoned Jung and later said his exit "is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours". AAP sources said Kejriwal was likely to call on Jung on Friday. The central government, which appoints the Lt Governor, was equally taken aback. Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi told the media that he had met Jung on Tuesday but the latter gave no inkling of his thinking. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which openly backed Jung, did not react immediately. But the Congress said it suspected a "deal" between the Modi and Kejriwal governments leading to Jung's exit. Informed sources said Jung, who could take up an academic job abroad, also wanted to spend more time with his family. Jung's tenure was marked by a sharp escalation in tensions between his office, which reported to the union Home Ministry, and the AAP government of Kejriwal. What began as a turf war turned into an often nasty confrontation between Jung and Kejriwal over who is the boss in Delhi, which, although a state, does not enjoy parity with other states. The central government, through the Lt Governor, controls Delhi Police, law and order and issues related to land in the capital. Jung made it a point to question almost every decision taken by the Kejriwal government, often declaring many of them null and void. Kejriwal repeatedly accused Jung of being "a Modi agent". The recurring Jung-Kejriwal battle was decided in favour of the former on August 4 by the Delhi High Court. The AAP government has moved the Supreme Court, where the matter is yet to be decided. Jung had reportedly confident to friends that he would quit if the Supreme Court decided the turf war in favour of the Kejriwal government. --IANS ruwa-am/mr/sar/ ( 573 Words) 2016-12-22-18:18:12 (IANS) The boy, Veerchand, was found dead in Sarma village early on Thursday morning, police said, adding that the preliminary investigation suggests the boy was killed over an affair with a girl from a different community. His body was recovered from behind the girl's house. The girl and her father have been arrested, police said. "We have began investigation into the case and deployed additional security forces from neighbouring police stations in the village to maintain peace," Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said. According to reports, a mob pelted stones at police and the girl's house, creating panic in the village. In view of the tension, District Magistrate Rachna Patil and SP Rakesh Kumar have been camping in the village. Heavy police deployment has been made in and around the village to avoid any untoward incident. "Tension prevails between two communities in the village but under-control," a local police official said. According to villagers, the victim was seen in the village on Wednesday evening. --IANS ik/lok/bg ( 196 Words) 2016-12-22-18:24:12 (IANS) All India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi who is visiting Dharamshala on December 24, will unveil 12.5 feet statue of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the campus of Rajiv Gandhi Government Engineering College at Massal in Nagrota Bagwan. Transport, Food and Civil Supplies and Technical Education Minister G S Bali disclosed this at a press conference at his residence this evening. He said Mr Gandhi will address public meeting at Dharamshala to celebrate the completion of four years of the Congress rule in this hill state and later will fly to Massal in Nagrota Bagwan and will unveil the 1700 kg bronze statue of Rajiv Gandhi. Mr Bali said Mr Gandhi will inaugurate a Rs 125 crore project spread over 800 canals of land which has been reclaimed. He said the first phase of the college was completed at the cost of Rs 50 crore. He said the college has four engineering courses which included Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics communication and computer science and is imparting training to 1000 students. He said the college was constructed within record time of 14 months. He said the residence of the Director was complete and girls hostels was ready, while work of boys hostel was underway. Earlier AICC president Sonia Gandhi was to unveil the statue but she could not because of her other engagements,Mr Bali said. He said the statue was made by famous Architect and sculptor Padmashree Ram V Sutar. He said on the occasion, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Senior Congress leader Ambika Soni and other dignitaries will also be present.UNI XC JS PY RSA 1936 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1076884.Xml Mr Patnaik left Jeypore Air strip by a chopper at 1240 hours and the chopper was scheduled to land at Kotpad at about 1300 hours. As the chopper did not land in time, the worried officials of district administration sent SOS to state police head quarter. Source said the Chopper crossed the state border and entered in to neighboring Chattisgarh as the pilot could not locate the meeting venue and did not receive the correct signals. The chopper was later landed only after getting proper signals of latitude and longitude. The chief minister later returned to Jeypore air strip by the same chopper and flew back to the state capital. UNI XC BD BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1077113.Xml The normally placid Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, turned emotional as he accused a small group of teachers of acting at the behest of the AAP's political rivals. Hundreds of "guest teachers" who have been demanding permanent jobs in schools run by the Delhi government on Wednesday raised anti-Kejriwal slogans and blocked a key road after an official function. A livid Sisodia said some 15 or so teachers allied to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and Congress had incited the mass of teachers despite being promised higher wages by the Delhi government. "I was really pained" by what these teachers did on Wednesday, Sisodia said. "I fought for your cause with the LG (Lt Governor Najeeb Jung) and this is what you do to us. "How dare you call Kejriwal a 'chor' (thief)? What crime did he commit? You stabbed us in the back. I could not sleep last night." Sisodia threatened action against the teachers who incited others to block the Ring Road and warned the teaching community not to use their platform for political ends. --IANS mr-am/ ( 220 Words) 2016-12-22-21:06:12 (IANS) The passenger was apprehended while he was waiting at theairport to catch a flight to Dubai. Massive raids are being carried out across the country bythe Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate in the wake of theburgeoning fake currency racket post demonetisation. Following the withdrawal of banknotes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000denominations from November 8, the Reserve Bank of India madearrangements for supply of adequate quantity of banknotes in variousdenominations to the public through the banks.UNI ST SS RSA 2139 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-1077185.Xml The police also seized Rs 22,000 cash and some four mobile phones from the smugglers. The arrested were identified as K Virumandi Murugesan (55) a native of Tamil Nadu, B Kamaraju (38) and the students P Rambabu (25), J Eliya (23) of Pedabayalu mandal and Jalli Sreenu (23) of G Madugula mandal. Sub-Inspector G Apparao said K Virumandi Murugesan has lured the students for procuring and smuggling of the contraband. The gang has procured the contraband from parts of Paderu area in Vizag Agency and they have reached Konam area along with the weed through the forest route to evade the police. Acting on tip-off that the gang was transporting the contraband band from Konam to Anakapalle and to Tamil Nadu in train, the police had raided the area and arrested them. The police said the Tamilians have been luring the people in the illegal trade by offering amount. UNI BSR PY RSA 2210 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1077211.Xml Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari today said there was a proposal to develop Goa-Mumbai four-lane concrete expressway, which will not play a significant role in promoting tourism of Goa and but also of Konkan region. Speaking after laying the foundation stone for two packages of four laning of NH 17 for a stretch of 43 km in the state at Kala Academy in the city, he said Goa was heading towards achieving greater heights in infrastructure development and safe road transporation. Speaking on the occasion Mr Gadkari said this project is a part and participle of Goa -Mumbai concrete expressway, which is going to play a significant role in promoting tourism of Goa, also in Konkan region. Stating that the project was aimed at reducing accidents and making the expressway more safe for vehicular traffic, he informed that in Maharashtra work of Goa-Mumbai expressway was being undertaken in 11 packages at an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore. The Union Minister announced that the Centre would develop MumbaiGoa route along sea side in near future and instructions regarding preparation of DPR of the project was given to agencies concerned. In order to explore tourism potential in the State projects like development of route along sea side would benefit to a great extent, he said and stressed for development of water ways to boost industrial growth in the state. He said there was need to build water port in the country where in rivers of Goa could be included in that project. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar expressed happiness that Central Government was funding for major infrastructure projects in Goa. He said State Government took every precaution and designed the project of four laning of NH-17 to safeguard the houses and establishments located along side of the road. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar informed that four laning of NH -17 would be done in four packages from which work of two packages Patradevi to Karaswada Section and Karaswada Porvorim Panaji- Bambolim section would be commenced with today's ceremony. However, further work in South Goa would be executed in near future in another two packages, he said, adding total cost of the project was estimated to be Rs 5,000 crore. Four laning of two sections includes nine vehicular under passes, four flyover, elevated corridors and one vehicular over pass, he said. State ministers, MLAs, among others, were present on the occasion.UNI AKM PY RSA 2211 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1077236.Xml Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday came down heavily on the governments of Manipur and Nagaland for failing to resolve the economic blockade on the National Highway-2, which has throttled the supply of essential goods to the two states. In a scathing letter to Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, Rajnath Singh said the state government had taken no steps to ensure that the NH-2 is kept open or at least movement of convoy is made despite MHA officials being in constant touch with state officials. "As you are well aware, 'law and order' is a subject which falls under the state government by virtue of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution. Government of India can only assist the state government, in case such assistance is required and asked for. MHA has responded to the request for deployment of extra forces in Manipur to assist state forces and 30 convoys have been made available to the state government for this purpose," the letter read. "For the sake of people of Manipur, I call upon you to discharge these constitutional obligations with utmost promptness, while reiterating Government of India's commitment to support your forces in keeping NH-2 open," it added. Similarly, in a strongly worded letter to Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang, Rajnath Singh said, "There have been some reports of the NSF calling for blockage of vehicles even in the portion of NH2 which passes through Nagaland." "I would request you to ensure that there is no disturbance of movement of vehicles going through your state, to enable supplies to pass safely through your state," it added.(ANI) The growth centres would come up along ORR at Patancheru, Tellapur/Nagulapalli, Kokapet, Timmapur/Shamshabad, Tukkuguda, Adibatla, Bonguluru, Pedda Amberpet, Ghatkesar, Keesara, Shameerpet, Medchal and Gundlapochampalli , Minister for Municipal Administration, K T Rama Rao said in the Assembly today during question hour. Preparation of feasibility report was completed and the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) are yet be prepared, the Minister informed while responding to a question raised by members in the House.UNI KNR PY RSA 2300 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1077196.Xml The rally started from Chhatrapati Shivaji statue and wend its way through city's main road before culminating at Gajanan Maharaj Mandir, from where the holy water and the soil were sent to Mumbai. As per the pre-election assurance given by the BJP to erect Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial in the Arab Sea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the memorial on Saturday. For this purpose, the party has appealed to bring soil from the Mahurgad and holy water from the Godavari river. Under the guidance of the district chief of the BJP Santuka Hambarde and Chaitanya Bapu Deshmukh, the rally was taken out by the activists. UNI XR SS PY RSA 2321 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-1077276.Xml Replying to a question in the Senate, he said these jails include Riyadh, Jubail, Buridah, Dammam, Khober and Oniza, reports the Dawn. Aziz added that the embassy of Pakistan is extending all possible assistance to Pakistani prisoners in jails and deportation centers in the Kingdom. "Embassy has sought consular access for the detainees, to inquire about their welfare and extended to them all possible assistance and has also forwarded clemency requests from their relatives to the Royal Court," he said. The advisor said that the Saudi government provided translator's to the accused during the investigation process and proceedings in the courts. "In serious offences, lawyers are provided on the government's expenses," he added. (ANI) This comes as the recent trip by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader prompted protests from China and a suspension of talks on a major loan. The implication of Dalai Lama's visit has gone beyond religion, and bilateral ties between Mongolia and China have been affected, the local media quoted Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil as saying on Tuesday. A source close to the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Orgil's statement was an apology to the Chinese government, reports the Global Times. Mongolia is making efforts to bring bilateral ties back on the right track by restoring dialogue between the two sides, said Munkh-Orgil, adding that his country has resolutely stuck to the one-China policy and acknowledges that Tibet is an inseparable part of China. Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, said on Wednesday that China attaches great importance to Mongolia's clear attitude, adding that Mongolia shall learn a lesson from this Tibet-related affair and respect the core interests of China. The Mongolian Foreign Minister also said last month the Dalai Lama's visit was purely religious in nature, and the Mongolian Government had no role in the invitation. (ANI) Millions of dollars' worth of US-supplied drones that Kiev had hoped would help in its war against Russian-backed separatists have proven ineffective against jamming and hacking, Ukrainian officials say.The 72 Raven RQ-11B Analog mini-drones were so disappointing following their arrival this summer that Natan Chazin, an advisor to Ukraine's military with deep knowledge of the country's drone program, said if it were up to him, he would return them."From the beginning, it was the wrong decision to use these drones in our (conflict)," Chazin, an advisor to the chief of the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces, told Reuters.The hand-launched Ravens were one of the recent highlights of US security assistance to Ukraine, aiming to give Kiev's military portable, light-weight, unarmed surveillance drones that were small enough to be used widely in the field. They are made by AeroVironment.But they appear to have fallen short in a battle against the separatists, who benefit from far more sophisticated military technology than insurgencies the West has contended with in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria.Whether President-elect Donald Trump's administration might seek to provide Kiev anything more robust, however, is unclear, given his stated desire to improve ties with Russia and prioritize the fight against Islamic militants. US restrictions on technology exports could also limit new aid.The Air Force command of Ukraine's armed forces acknowledged to Reuters that the Ravens supplied by the United States had a fundamental drawback: Russia and the separatist forces it supports can intercept and jam their video feeds and data."The complex is analog, therefore command channels and data are not protected from interception and suppression by modern means of electronic warfare," it said.US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that Russia's electronic warfare capabilities were far more sophisticated than thought when the conflict began and that both the US and Ukrainian militaries were adapting.Asked about Ukraine's reaction to the Ravens, one official said it took a considerable amount of time for the drones to reach Ukraine and that by then "they were much less effective than they would have liked, than we would have liked."The US Army told Reuters it still uses Ravens but has upgraded to digital versions."STONE AGE"Some 38 Ukrainian students were trained at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama on how to operate the drones between March and July this year, a US Army spokesman said.Ukraine said it distributed the Ravens across the services and gave one batch to the Zhytomry Military Institute for training purposes.There were mixed accounts on how much the Ravens were being used in Ukraine, which saw Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014 and which has been fighting Russian-backed separatist forces in the east. Nearly 10,000 people have died in the conflict.The Air Force command of Ukraine's armed forces said they were being used in the "Anti-Terrorist Operation" zone, including in combat situations.One Ukrainian official, however, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that although drones were being used in the zone, they were not employed on the front lines.Chazin said they were largely in storage and called them a vulnerability, allowing the enemy to see Ukrainian military positions and, when it wanted, easily take them down. They had short battery life and were unable to reliably fulfill the key mission of gaining intelligence on artillery positions, he said."(Analog) basically puts you back in the stone age of the UAVs," said James Lewis, director of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, using an acronym for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones."I'm not being critical of the Raven. I love the Raven ... But it's a cheap, disposable UAV. And for more intense conflict, that may not cut the ice anymore."TRUMP'S UKRAINE POLICY?The drones, along with other US-supplied items like radar, first-aid kits, night vision and communications gear, fit into President Barack Obama's strategy of providing non-lethal military assistance while focusing on sanctions and diplomacy to end the war.Within that context, the miniature drones, even though small, were a noteworthy element of the more than 600 million dollar in training and equipment that the United States has provided Ukraine so far. Ukraine pegged the Raven program's value at over 12 million dollar.How Trump might alter US support remains unclear, partcularly given cabinet picks that include retired Marine General James Mattis, who has been vocal about his concerns about Russia and was nominated to become US defense secretary.Some of the most prominent Republican lawmakers in Congress have called for Ukraine to receive lethal arms."If anything, it creates a new opportunity," said Luke Coffey at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think-tank.Ukrainian officials have sought to put a brave face on Trump's election, downplaying comments on the campaign trail that included appearing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia and contemplating an end to US sanctions on Russia.Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko is expected to visit Washington next year, and US assistance is sure to be high on his agenda.Topping Ukraine's wish list are Javelin anti-tank missiles made by made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The top US military officer in Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti, told a Senate hearing this year "there's a requirement for an anti-tank weapon, like Javelin."One of the US officials cautioned about limitations on America's ability to export drones that can evade Russia's electronic warfare capabilities.That could leave Ukraine's military to continue building drones from commercially available technology. It now assembles them from components supplied by firms in countries such as Australia, China and the Czech Republic for only 20,000 to 25,000 dollar apiece, Chazin said, and they are more advanced than the more pricey Ravens, which are often funded from private donations. REUTERS VS 0756 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-1075850.Xml People's Daily has termed it as a first setback to Taiwan "diplomacy" after President Tsai Ing-wen's phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump. Sao Tome is the first country to break "diplomatic" relations with Taiwan since Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen took office. The Chinese mainland immediately gave positive feedback as Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that China welcomed the decision by Sao Tome and Principe since the one-China policy is widely recognized around the world. People's Daily said the diplomatic break is not accidental but is obviously a punishment for Tsai's refusal to recognize the 1992 Consensus and other provocations against the one-China policy. Meanwhile, the Taiwan authorities cited Sao Tome's request for enormous aid for the diplomatic cut off. According to local media reports, Sao Tome asked for USD 210 million from Taiwan as the country has long been providing aid to the small and poor countries with which it has "diplomatic" ties. People's Daily said that Tsai's rejection of recognizing the 1992 Consensus is a reckless move as Taiwan is just the size of a province and it cannot compete economically or diplomatically with the mainland. The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) push for Taiwan independence will herald Taiwan's "diplomatic" suicide, it added. (ANI) Afghan police and security officials combed through the wreckage of a member of parliament's house in Kabul today after an attack by Taliban gunmen in which at least seven people were killed.Broken glass and spent bullet cartridges lay on the bloodstained ground of the heavily fortified house in the district of Khushal Khan belonging to Mir Wali, a member of parliament from the volatile southern province of Helmand.Police special forces units sealed off the house following the attack yesterday night but gunfire and explosions could be heard for several hours."It was a really terrifying situation here in the night," said neighbour Matihullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name. "There were explosions and firing. It was really horrible and we couldn't sleep whole the night."The Taliban said 20 people, including senior security officials from Helmand, had been killed in the attack but government officials put the death toll at seven. Two Taliban gunmen had also been killed, they said.The attack underlined the fragile security situation in Kabul which has seen a series of kidnappings, suicide bombings and other insurgent attacks on targets connected to the Western-backed government.The Taliban said the attack targeted a meeting of security officials who had been invited to discuss Helmand, a major opium-producing region which has fallen increasingly under insurgent control over the past two years. REUTERS SHS NS1225 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1076010.Xml The California Supreme Court denied a request to hold a hearing in the parole case of Leslie Van Houten who, as a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, took part in one of the most notorious mass murders of the 20th century.California Governor Jerry Brown overturned a California Board of Parole recommendation to release Van Houten in July, saying she was an "unreasonable danger to society," four decades after she was convicted and sentenced to life for the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.In a petition to the state's Supreme Court, her attorney Rich Pfeiffer said Van Houten believed the governor did not have evidence that she remained a risk to the public, the City News Service in Los Angeles reported.The Supreme Court denied the petition for review, according to an entry on the court's online case database.Pfeiffer was not immediately available for comment.Manson, who is also serving a life sentence, directed Van Houten and his other mostly young, female followers - known as the Manson Family - to murder seven people in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war between whites and blacks.Van Houten was found guilty of the LaBianca murders in 1971 and sentenced to death, but that conviction and sentence were overturned on appeal. She was retried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1978.The La Biancas were stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Aug. 10, 1969, after which the killers used their blood to write "Rise", "Death to Pigs" and "Healter-Skelter", a misspelled reference to a Beatles song, on the walls and a refrigerator door.Among the victims of the Manson Family was actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski. She was stabbed 16 times by cult members.Four other people were stabbed or shot to death at Tate's home on August 9, 1969, by Manson's followers, who scrawled the word "Pig" in blood on the front door before leaving. Van Houten was not involved in the Tate murders.Manson is serving out his sentence at Corcoran State Prison in California for the seven Tate-LaBianca killings and the murder of another man, Gary Hinman, in July 1969. REUTERS SHS PM1244 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1076042.Xml Conditions to implement a multi-billion dollar contract to supply Saudi-financed French weapons to Lebanon are now favourable after the formation of a new government in Beirut, France's foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said today.Speaking in the Lebanese capital after meeting President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, Ayrault said it was also more important than ever that the new authorities keep up dialogue with Saudi Arabia and Iran to ensure the country was not dragged into the Syrian conflict."The conditions are favorable," Ayrault told reporters during a visit after the formation of the new government on Sunday. "The sun is shining again on Lebanon."Saudi Arabia suspended a 3 billion dollar programme to supply the Lebanese army with French-made weapons in February, citing concern about the influence on interim Beirut authorities of the powerful Shi'ite muslim movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran.Financed by Riyadh, the equipment was to be supplied by France to bolster the army in its fight against jihadi groups. Ayrault said he and Aoun would soon travel to Saudi Arabia to discuss the contract and wider ties."Everything must be done to keep Lebanon out of the Syria conflict," Ayrault said. "We want Lebanon to keep dialogue with all its regional neighbours, including Saudi Arabia and Iran."In the Syrian conflict, Iran backs the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight with Saudi-backed Sunni muslim rebels.Lebanon's President, Michel Aoun, and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri have formed a new government of 30 ministers drawn from most sides of the country's political spectrum and from all of its religious sects, the cabinet office said on Sunday.REUTERS SDR NS1545 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1076355.Xml Malki told Xinhua that the consultations have been completed and the draft has been deposited in blue colour to Spain, which was the current chair of the UNSC. "We have requested a special session to look into the draft resolution and we are now awaiting the response of the Council chairmanship to confirm the date," said the minister. He expressed hope that the resolution would be adopted unanimously and overcome the veto for the first time, highlighting that the draft formation was based on the two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the US on Wednesday to veto the resolution to demanding a halt to Israeli settlement activities in Palestinian territory, according to the Israeli public radio. Malki also said that several amendments were included in the latest draft based on the deliberations with the Security Council member states, and particularly with the permanent members who enjoy the veto power. The issue of settlement is considered one of the most complicated issues between Palestinians and Israel. --IANS soni/ahm/dg ( 203 Words) 2016-12-22-18:52:13 (IANS) A Chinese newspaper on Thursday warned India against using the Dalai Lama and Mongolia against China, saying employing proxies to counter Beijing was way beyond New Delhi's capability. The Global Times, which is known to reflect the thinking of the Chinese leadership, called India a "spoilt kid," and wondered what made India so confident when even the US thought twice before "messing" with China on sensitive issues. The op-ed article in the daily came in the wake of the December 11 meeting that Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had with the Tibetan spiritual leader. India also pledged financial support for Mongolia when Beijing punitively hiked tariff on trucks travelling through Chinese territory after Mongolia hosted the Dalai Lama. "New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. Mukherjee met the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November," said the Global Times article authored by Wen Dao. "India wants to disturb China's pace of development by taking advantage of China's national and international problems, most of which have nothing to do with India's national interests," Wen wrote. "India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China," it said. The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Global Times said Mongolia gave in to Beijing and said sorry for hosting the Dalai Lama before New Delhi could start the $1 billion credit line it had promised to Ulan Bator. Mongolia "tried to seek support from India, hoping that by allying with China's competitor, Beijing would be forced to give in". "India's way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line." The newspaper asked India to learn lessons how Beijing and US President-elect Donald Trump dealt with the situation after he spoke to Taiwanese President Tsai-ing Wen on telephone. "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent counter-measures, and must have understood that China's bottom line -- sovereign integrity and national unity -- is untouchable. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage? "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world'. India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is short-sighted." --IANS gsh/dg ( 469 Words) 2016-12-22-19:12:13 (IANS) A cessation of hostilities across Syria is vital to avoid another deadly battle like the one in Aleppo, the United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said today.At least 35,000 people, both civilians and fighters, have been evacuated from east Aleppo in a week-long operation, the latest UN figures show. "Many of them have gone to Idlib, which could be the next Aleppo," de Mistura warned.REUTERS SDR RK1830 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1076812.Xml Islamic State claimed three suicide car bombs that killed at least 15 civilians and eight Iraqi policemen today in an eastern suburb of Mosul, according to a military statement.The attacks targeted Kokjali, a suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago.A military spokesman said the car bombs went off in a market.REUTERS SDR RAI1926 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1076986.Xml Islamic State claimed three suicide car bombs that killed at least 15 civilians and eight Iraqi policemen today in an eastern suburb of Mosul, according to a military statement.The attacks targeted Kokjali, a suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago.A military spokesman said the car bombs went off in a market.The US-backed assault on Mosul, the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq, was launched by a 100,000-strong alliance of local forces on October 17. It has become the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.Islamic State militants retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they are retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction.Four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed by mortar fire this week during aid distribution in Mosul, the United Nations said today."People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," said Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq."All parties to the conflict - all parties - have an obligation to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians survive and receive the assistance they need."Elite army forces have captured a quarter of the city but the advance has faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants.The authorities do not release figures for civilian or military casualties, but medical officials say dozens of people are wounded each day in the battle for Mosul. REUTERS SDR BD1933 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1077013.Xml German investigators believe there is a "high probability" that the Tunisian suspect they are hunting in connection with Monday's attack on a Berlin Christmas market is the perpetrator, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said tosday."We can report today that we have new information that the suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," de Maiziere told reporters."In the cab, in the driving cabin, fingerprints were found and there is additional evidence that support this," he added.Chancellor Angela Merkel, appearing alongside de Maiziere at the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation, said she hoped the perpetrator would be arrested soon. REUTERS PY BD2257 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1077176.Xml Staff from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Egyptian officials today about postponing a UN Security Council vote on a draft resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements, an Israeli diplomat said.Non-Israeli Jewish leaders with good contacts in Egypt also raised the matter, added the diplomat, who could not be named.A western diplomatic source said earlier that the vote had been postponed, potentially indefinitely.REUTERS PY AS2254 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1077260.Xml SHANGHAI, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) on Tuesday signed its first loan agreement, providing a 525 million yuan (75 million U.S. dollars) loan for a solar project in China. The loan was given to Shanghai Lingang Distributed Solar Power Project, with a maturity length of 17 years, under an agreement signed between NDB, the Ministry of Finance and the Shanghai municipal government. "The solar power project is a good example of forward-looking and green investment," said K.V. Kamath, president of NDB. The project by Shanghai Lingang Hongbo New Energy Development is a solar photovoltaic power plant with total capacity of 100 MW. NDB, which formally opened in Shanghai July last year, was created with the objective of financing infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries. The bank approved its first package of loans worth 811 million U.S. dollars in April. BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday met with Leung Chun-ying, chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, to discuss the Belt and Road Initiative and expanding foreign contacts. Hong Kong is an international city experienced in finance, trade, management and legal services, which can play a complementary role with the mainland in the construction of the Belt and Road, Leung said. Wang said that with its regional advantages and professionalism, Hong Kong can contribute to the Belt and Road national strategy, which in return will boost the development of Hong Kong. Wang said the ministry will provide support for Hong Kong's participation and help expand foreign contacts and cooperation. Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav (L), 71, is accompanied by his wife Gila (C-R), as he leaves prison on December 21, 2016 in Ramla. (AFP/Xinhua) JERUSALEM, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Israel's former president, Moshe Katsav, was freed on parole on Wednesday afternoon, after serving five of his seven-year sentence for rape and other sexual offenses. Live television and radio broadcasts showed Katsav walking out of the Maasiyahu Prison, east of Tel Aviv, where about a dozen of family members and supporters were waiting for him. He hugged his wife, Gila, and entered a car that took him to his home in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi. His release came about an hour after the State Attorney Shai Nitzan said that the prosecution would not appeal the Parole Committee's decision to grant Katsav an early release. Under the terms of his parole, Katsav would have to join a prison service rehabilitation program. He would also have to stay under house arrest every night, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., until the end of his parole period. The committee also imposed restrictions on speaking to the media and forbid him to hold a job position in which he will have woman subordinates. Katsav, 71, was born in Iran and became the first president who was born in a Muslim country. He served as Israel's seventh president between 2000 and 2007. In 1977, at the age of 30, he first became a parliament member with the right-wing Likud party. In November 2011, the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed his conviction on two counts of rape of a former employee during his term as a tourism minister in the 1990s, indecent sexual assaults and sexual harassment of two other women while being president, and obstruction of justice. BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- China should stick to its people-centered development philosophy and address people's common concerns in promoting economic growth, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a meeting. "The fundamental goal of maintaining growth pace and promoting economic development is to seek proper solutions to prominent issues of people's common concerns," Xi said at the 14th meeting of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs. The meeting reviewed progress in 165 major projects outlined in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) and discussed some major projects concerning people's livelihoods, according to a statement released after the meeting. Winter heating using clean energy is one of them, as the country still relies heavily on coal as a major energy source. "Promoting clean winter heating in northern areas has a bearing on people's warmth in north China and also on whether the number of smoggy days can drop," according to Xi, who heads the central leading group. A large part of north China has been under heavy smog since last weekend, with more than 20 cities on red alerts, the highest level in a four-tier warning system. Natural gas and electricity can be substitutes for coal in heating buildings in north China, Xi said. Clean energy should be used as much as possible and supply a larger share of winter heating, Xi said, adding that the government will give enterprises a major role in the process to ensure heating is affordable. Xi also said that regulating the housing rental market and curbing property bubbles are two major projects serving Chinese people's residential needs. The country should accurately understand the residential feature of housing and form a housing mechanism that serves both purchase and rental purposes and meets housing demands of a new urban population, he said. The market will play the leading role in catering to multilayered demand, while the government will take care of basic housing demand. China will take a varied approach to regulating the property market, adopting financial, fiscal, tax, land and regulation measures to build a long-term housing mechanism that provides housing for all people, according to Xi. China will roll out garbage classification nationwide to improve people's living environment, Xi said. The country should emphasize classification in garbage collection, transportation and treatment, and strive to raise the coverage of the system. The country will also raise the service quality at nursing homes for the aged and reinforce supervision over food safety, according to Xi. Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Li Keqiang, Liu Yunshan and Zhang Gaoli also attended the meeting, together with other central and local government officials. BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- China is promising greater efforts to provide comprehensive medical care across the country through further medical reform that will benefit both urban and rural residents. The State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday approved two guidelines, one on improving health care and medical service and another on efforts to forge ahead medical reform, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). The new guideline on improving medical service and health care sets out that more efforts will be made in improving health care in the following aspects. First, greater efforts will be made in major disease control and treatment. The government will make more efforts in better preventing major chronic diseases and illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, as well as major contagious and mental diseases. The government will encourage more nursery training, especially in caring for the elderly, children and pay more attention to tackling mental disease. Second, medical competence at the grassroots level is to be enhanced with more medical resources delivered to lower tier institutions. It also calls for improving treatment for the elderly, people with disabilities and poverty-stricken families. Third, approval procedures for new and urgently needed medicine will be simplified. Internet Plus health care will be more widely applied across the country to make medical services immediately reachable. More incentive will be provided to the needs of families with two children. The guideline also emphasized developing the health industry while encouraging more social investment to the sector. "It is important to encourage related departments and governments at all levels to take the initiative in implementation," he said, emphasizing that some obligatory targets in the guideline should be laid out based on sound evaluation. Guideline in deepening China's medical reform in the coming five years was also approved on Wednesday. A set of measures will be implemented. Medical consultation through family doctors will be encouraged, and the government will pilot the ongoing hierarchical medical system in 85 percent of regions around China. The guideline also encourages wider range of medical resource sharing. The government will give strict price control on medical equipment and medicines while better encourage medical services and consultations. The guideline has set the goal that by 2017, reimbursement on hospitalization fee will be realized across different regions and provinces. More improvements will be made in the country's medicine supply system, and the government will ensure the supply of low-price medicine, children's medicine, as well as some urgently demanded medicine. "In terms of medical reform, we need to concentrate on areas of people's concerns, and work harder in reducing high quality medical resources concentration in major cities, and make them more available to the public," Li said. "The medical system needs to be lowered down, and administrative fragmentation needs to be broken to better serve public needs for medical service and cost reimbursement," Li stressed. Health and medical care stays on top of the government's priority, as Premier Li pointed out in this year's government work report that "health is the root for people's happiness." He has stressed on many occasions on the importance of medical reform. "We should continue to provide a sustainable healthcare system that matches our national conditions, so that all people can enjoy better medical service at lower cost," Li has said. China has recorded impressive achievements in improving medical and health care in the past five years. Figures from the National Health and Family Planning Commission showed that average life expectancy in China reached 76.34 years old in 2015. Infant mortality rate decreased to 8.1 from 13.1 per 1,000 infants in 2010. BEIJING/SHANGHAI/GUANGZHOU, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou regulated car-hailing services Wednesday, keeping most of the strict requirements seen in previous drafts of the new rules. All the city governments continue to require drivers to be official residents of their cities and drive locally registered vehicles, making it very difficult for people and vehicles from other cities to work there. Beijing and Shanghai have slightly lowered the requirements for vehicles which were raised substantially in the drafts, while Guangzhou kept the same requirements as in the draft. All three sets of regulations took effect on Wednesday, with a five-month transitional period in Beijing. China's largest online car-hailing platform Didi Chuxing submitted written comments, calling modifications to the draft "more reasonable and relaxed." The regulations were drafted in early October and sent out for public opinion, Beijing receiving 9,246 responses, Shanghai 1,417 and Guangzhou 957. According to Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport (BMCT), 70 percent of the respondents understood or agree with local registration for drivers and vehicles, while only 12 percent expressed doubts. BMCT officials said Beijing needs policies based on its reality of 21.7 million people facing regular traffic congestion and environmental problems. Efficient public transportation should leave online hailing as a minor commuting method, said Zhou Zhengyu, director of BMCT, "Our goal is to increase green commuting for sustainable development." MOGADISHU, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Foreign envoys on Wednesday called on Somali leaders to swiftly address various malpractices to ensure credibility of the electoral process. In a joint statement issued in Mogadishu, envoys from the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Ethiopia, Italy, Sweden, Britain and the United States urged the National Leadership Forum (NLF) to uphold accountability, transparency and legitimacy of electoral process. They also called on the Independent Electoral Dispute Resolution Mechanism (IEDRM) to address serious irregularities during the electoral process, including bribery, intimidation, kidnapping, manipulation of delegate lists and failure to comply with the mandatory requirement to reserve seats for female candidates. According to the international partners, there has been frustration over a lack of feedback from the IEDRM. "For the sake of accountability, transparency and credibility, international partners call upon the IEDRM to publicize the complaints and how it processed them," the statement said. The envoys also called on the NLF, the highest authority that created the IEDRM and that is responsible for safeguarding the legitimacy of the electoral process, to work with the IEDRM to ensure accountability for the electoral abuse. They maintained that the electoral process must now be concluded swiftly and in a successful and credible manner. Michael Keating, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, said the NLF should reach a decision on the disputed seats in the House of the People in a prompt and fair manner that is broadly acceptable to the people of Somalia and the international community. "Any attempt to gloss over the irregularities that plagued some of the voting will not only affect the acceptability of the outcome of the electoral process and compromise the legitimacy of the anticipated new government, but also play into the hands of spoilers and violent extremists bent on discrediting a process that has already achieved greater inclusiveness and more women's representation in Somali politics," he said. KIGALI, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Delegation of the European Union to Rwanda on Wednesday transferred 10 million euro to the Rwandan government for rural road construction. The funds, meant to help rehabilitation and maintenance of 200 kilometers of rural roads, completed the 40-million-euro grant committed in 2013 toward rehabilitation of 700 kilometer road network in Rwanda. Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Rwanda Michael Ryan in a statement stressed the importance of rural roads. "Rural roads provide the backbone of economic activity for nearly 80 percent of Rwanda's citizens, most of who depend on farming and small-scale commerce for their livelihoods. EU financial support has the ultimate objective of reducing poverty and improving living conditions for Rwandans," he said. "Eighty percent of our assistance is now budget support, a sign of EU confidence in Rwanda's economic management," Ryan added. UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council Wednesday adopted a resolution to extend the cross-border aid deliveries to Syria for one year. The 15-nation council expressed outrage at the "unacceptable and escalating level of violence" and the killing of well over a quarter of a million people as a result of the Syrian conflict. Therefore, it requested the Syrian authorities to expeditiously respond to all requests for cross-line deliveries submitted by the United Nations and their implementing partners and to give such requests "positive consideration." The resolution extended until Jan. 10, 2018 the authorization which allows the UN and its implementing partners to deliver humanitarian assistance across borders and conflict lines. On Monday, the Security Council decided to send UN observers to monitor evacuations in Syria's war-torn Aleppo where tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped. The conflict in Syria broke out in March 2011. An estimated 13.5 million people are in urgent need of assistance. Syrian workers stand at the international airport of Aleppo, northern Syria, on Dec. 21, 2016. Syrian official said Wednesday that the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo will return to service soon, after the army forces retook rebel-held areas in the eastern part of the city. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani) ALEPPO, Syria, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Syrian official said Wednesday that the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo will return to service soon, after the army forces retook rebel-held areas in the eastern part of the city. Bassem Mansour, the director of the airport, said so in a speech to reporters at the runway of the airport, which has been out of service since early 2013, and announced that it will soon return to service after the complete of maintenance work. He, however, stopped short of giving a timeframe. "The vicinity of the airport from all directions has become safe for the resumption of flights," he said, adding that the airport will return under service as it used to be ahead of the crisis. Maintenance work is ongoing, including fixing the airport runway lighting, renovating the halls for passengers and fixing the machines for security checks and customs inside the airport. He said the rebels attacks on the airport from the north and northwest have hindered the airport operations and damaged its equipments, adding that after the military operation in Aleppo, the airspace around the airport has become secure. The Syrian army has recently waged a wide-scale offensive in Aleppo, capturing 99 percent of the rebel-held part east of Aleppo. The airport has for long been besieged by the rebels, but never fails to their hands. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump talks with the media at Mar-a-Lago estate where Trump attends meetings, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 21, 2016. (Xinhua/REUTERS) by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to destroy radical terror group Islamic State (IS) after an attack this week in Germany that left a dozen civilians dead. But while he may go harder against the terror group than the current administration, experts said such a plan could risk boosting civilian casualties. Earlier this week a truck slammed into a group of civilians at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring 50. While police in Germany are still investigating, Trump said he believes the attack was perpetrated by radical Islamist terrorists. "[Islamic State] and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad," Trump said in a statement on Monday. "These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth." President Barack Obama's administration has been blasted for what critics describe as using kid gloves to handle the radical terrorist organization, as the U.S.-led coalition has been bombing the radicals for two years and has not yet defeated the militants. Critics say there are not enough bombing raids, and that there are too many rules of engagement that make the bombing less effective than it could be. Experts said that while Trump may attack IS harder than the administration of President Barack Obama, it may lead to more civilian casualties. "I expect Trump to be very tough on (IS) and unleash the full power of the American military on it. He can bomb more heavily and not worry about civilian harm," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua. "If Muslims believe the United States is engaging in a war on Islam, it will provoke additional terrorist attacks in various places around the world," West said. "Obama was more restrained in fighting (IS) because he did not want to hurt civilians and did not want to provoke Muslims around the world. Trump has to be careful that his escalation against ISIS doesn't create new problems down the road," he said. Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that Trump seems to suggest a harder push against IS. The push will be far more muscular than the Obama Administration's in terms of a willingness to increase the tempo of airstrikes, relax rules of engagement that slow targeting authorization for commanders, and emphasize the importance of defeating IS in Syria, he said. Given the early indications that the Berlin attack may have been carried out by a Muslim refugee, Trump will tie his proposed harsher stance on immigration, refugee resettlement, and Muslim entry into the United State to his effort on IS, as well as the domestic policy ramifications, Mahaffee said. DUBAI, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The world's biggest airport duty free retailer said here Wednesday that it is hoping for a growing influx of visitors from China. Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the government-owned Dubai Duty Free (DDF), told Xinhua that as Chinese travelers make up 3.6 percent of all travelers passing through Dubai International Airport and Dubai's second hub Al-Maktoum International Airport, Chinese passengers stand for nine percent of the total spending at DDF. He said this is why DDF provides special offers and services for travelers from around the world, especially China. As many as 450,000 Chinese tourists visited Dubai last year, and projections indicate that this number will rise to 650,000 in the next two years, he said. "DDF has signed an agreement with China UnionPay, so Chinese visitors can use their bank payment cards when they check at DDF shops," he said. He said 10 to 15 years ago, DDF did not employ Chinese nationals. "But today, 570 out of 5,900 staff are Chinese nationals in order to provide sales service in Mandarin." DDF will continue to organize special sales events with discounts for Chinese customers during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays from the end of January till the beginning of February 2017, he said. In 2015, the DDF group generated sales revenues worth about 1.9 billion U.S. dollars. JERUSALEM, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli parliamentary committee voted on Wednesday to revoke the parliamentary immunity of Israeli-Arab lawmaker Basel Ghattas following accusations that he smuggled mobile phones to Palestinian prisoners. The move means that the final decision on the case would be brought for voting in the plenum of the parliament, or the Knesset, on Thursday. The Knesset House Committee unanimously voted in favor of lifting Ghattas' protection from prosecution and arrest. The discussion was held at the request of the Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit. Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri said that Ghattas visited the Ktzi'ot prison in southern Israel on Dec. 18 to visit Walid Daka, who serves a life sentence for the murder of an Israeli soldier in 1984, and Basel Basra, in jail for security offenses. Both prisoners are members of the Fatah, the Palestinian ruling party. Nizri said that based on intelligence, the Attorney General's office authorized the visit to be documented on video, which showed Ghattas giving Basra four envelopes in which a later search found a dozen mini cell phones. He was also shown handing documents to Daka. Ghattas arrived for a police questioning on Tuesday, during which he said the phones were given to the prisoners for "humanitarian reasons" and the documents contained political materials about Ghattas' party, Balad, said Nizri. Balad, as an Arab-Palestinian nationalist party, has frequent confrontations with the government. The maximum penalty for smuggling equipment to prisoners is five years, and up to 10 years if the smuggling was done in order to undermine national security, Nizri added. Security Palestinian prisoners are not allowed to make phone calls to their families. Vacations to visit home are prohibited, and family visits are often not possible as most of the Palestinians do not hold entry permits to Israel. Israel's Arab minority makes up about a fifth of the Israeli population. Arab citizens of Israel are Palestinians who stayed put during Israel's 1948 Independence War. Empty buses that are going to be used to evacuated Syrians from eastern Aleppo enter the embattled city through the Ramoussa crossing, on the southern outskirts of Aleppo, on December 20, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua) ALEPPO, Syria, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- A Syrian military source told Xinhua Wednesday that the rebel evacuation from eastern Aleppo city in northern Syria is ongoing, as an official at the International Committee of the Red Cross said 30,000 civilians have been evacuated from that part of the city. The rebel evacuation is ongoing till the last rebel leaves eastern Aleppo, said the military source, adding that the army will declare the city free of rebels when the last rebel leaves. The evacuation is part of a deal concluded recently between Russia and Turkey. It included the evacuation of civilians from the Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa, which are besieged by the rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib. It came as the Syrian army was on a crushing offensive against the rebel-held part of Aleppo, which resulted in wresting back control over 99 percent of eastern Aleppo. The evacuation operation has been ongoing since last Thursday, and the rebels were leaving in buses and cars through the Ramouseh crossing south of Aleppo toward rebel-held areas in the southwestern countryside of Aleppo. Meanwhile, Inji Sidki, a Syria-based official at the ICRC, told Xinhua that 30,000 civilians, including those with medical conditions, have been evacuated from eastern Aleppo since last Thursday. She said that the last hospital in eastern Aleppo has become empty, adding that all patients have been evacuated, along with other people in need of urgent medical help. The Long March-2D rocket carrying a carbon dioxide monitoring satellite blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Dec. 22, 2016. This was the 243rd mission of the Long March series rockets. Besides TanSat, the rocket also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring. (Xinhua/Ren Hui) By Xinhua writer Yu Fei JIUQUAN, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China launched a carbon dioxide monitoring satellite via a Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi Desert at 3:22 a.m. Thursday. China is the third country after Japan and the United States to monitor greenhouse gases through its own satellite. The 620-kg satellite TanSat was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 kilometers above the earth and will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, said Yin Zengshan, chief designer of TanSat at the Chinese Academy of Sciences micro-satellite research institute. The satellite will help understanding of climate change and provide China's policy makers with independent data. On a three-year mission, TanSat will thoroughly examine global CO2 levels every 16 days, accurate to at least 4 ppm (parts per million). This was the 243rd mission of the Long March series rockets. Besides TanSat, the rocket also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring. FIRST-HAND DATA The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased from 280 ppm to 400 ppm over the past 150 years, leading to an increase in average global temperatures of about 0.7 degrees Celsius over the last century, according to Lu Naimeng, TanSat chief scientist. The new satellite will enable China to obtain emissions data first-hand and share it with researchers worldwide, Yin said. The Paris Agreement on climate change came into force on Nov. 4, with more than 100 countries committed to reducing their carbon emissions. The satellite can trace the sources of greenhouse gases and help evaluate whether countries are fulfilling their commitments. TanSat means a louder voice for China on climate change, carbon reduction and in negotiations with a bigger say on carbon trading. Research on the CO2 flow will improve understanding of the carbon cycle, generate more accurate and reliable predictions of climate change. China's CO2 emissions are to peak around 2030, with emissions per unit of GDP cut by 60 percent of 2005 levels by the same date. A national carbon trading market will open next year. WORLDWIDE SCOPE Many countries are reducing emissions, but calculating how much they are actually doing is difficult. Ground-based monitoring cannot collect accurate data on a global scale, so satellites offer the best means of measuring CO2. Japan and the United States have their own monitoring satellites, but two are far from enough to assess the whole world. "Since only the United States and Japan have carbon-monitoring satellites, it is hard for us to see first-hand data," said Zhang Peng, TanSat application system commander and vice director of the National Satellite Meteorological Center. "Before, all our data came from ground stations. That kind of data is both local and limited, and does not cover the oceans," Zhang said. "The satellite has worldwide scope and will improve data collection. Observing atmospheric CO2 by satellite demands cutting-edge technology, so TanSat is a major technological achievement for China," Zhang said. "We hope TanSat will work with carbon-monitoring satellites of other countries and provide ample data for studying climate change," said Li Jiahong, chief engineer of the National Remote Sensing Center. Researchers took almost six years to develop TanSat and its high-resolution CO2 detector. "The TanSat has very good "vision," and can distinguish changes in atmospheric CO2 as small as 1 percent," said Yin. Cloud and aerosol detectors minimize interference, making observations more accurate. The satellite has different modes for observing oceans and land, and can constantly adjust its orientation and position. To ensure the accuracy of TanSat, six ground-based observation stations will calibrate and examine observational data. "We can now collect carbon data from all over the world, all year round, and record the carbon contributed by both developed countries and the developing countries," said Lin Chao who was involved in developing the detectors. "As for China, we can have detailed analysis on emissions in different regions, provinces and cities, thanks to the satellite," said Lin. RABAT, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Morocco on Wednesday condemned in "the strongest terms'' the terrorist act against a Christmas market in Berlin and expressed its solidarity with Germany. Morocco condemns "the cowardly terrorist act," the foreign ministry said in a statement, expressing condolences to the German people and families and relatives of the victims. The ministry reaffirms Morocco's continued solidarity with Germany, condemning terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations." A truck on Monday ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, leaving at least 12 people dead and some 50 injured. Turkish foreign ministry and Russian Embassy in Turkey held a ceremony to bid farewell to Andrey Karlov in Esenboga Airport of Ankara on Dec. 20, 2016, a day after Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was shot dead by a gunman. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya) ANKARA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The assassination of a Russian envoy in Turkey could rather get Ankara and Moscow closer and pave the way for further cooperation against the international terrorism, local experts say. The murder of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, who was killed on Monday by a Turkish police officer in Ankara, seems to produce positive outcomes in contrary to strain in relations between Turkey and Russia, a retired Turkish ambassador to France, Belgium and Libya, Uluc Ozulker, told Xinhua. Citing strained ties between Ankara and Moscow over downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey in 2015, Ozulker said that the normalization process between the two states was rather slow as Russia was dragging its heels, but the latest incident could accelerate rapprochement. Ozulker recalled Russian President Vladimir Putin's initial statement in the wake of the attack, as Moscow pledged to enhance cooperation against terrorism instead of using a harsh rhetoric against Turkey. "Assassination could turn out to be a blessing in disguise," he said. Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed to jointly act on Syria, one day after Karlov was killed in the Turkish capital, the expert stated that Moscow did not cancel the tripartite meeting despite the assassination. Turkey and Russia, along with Iran, appear to be prominent actors for a solution in the Syrian crisis, Ozulker said, adding that the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be likely to cooperate with Putin over the Syrian crisis as well. "These actors could provide a general ceasefire in Syria," he said. Both Turkey and Russia were constructive in their initial reactions after the incident, according to Cenk Baslamis, an expert on Russia, former correspondent of Turkish daily Milliyet in Moscow and a lecturer in Istanbul University. The two countries obviously have taken lessons from the developments after the downing of the Russian plane, he said, as leaders of the two countries were positive in their statements, instead of declaiming, Baslamis said. The top leaders of Russia and Turkey had a conversation via telephone immediately after the incident, expressing their willingness to jointly investigate the assassination and intensify their cooperation in anti-terrorism. Putin described the murder as "a provocation aimed at derailing the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations and the peace process in Syria." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly condemned the murder of Russian ambassador to Ankara, describing it as a "provocation" aimed at ruining Turkey-Russia ties. "If the attack was aiming to destroy relations between Turkey and Russia, it has not worked," Baslamis said, adding that the interests of Turkey and Russia require joint action of the two countries. The expert believed the attack in the capital of Turkey has sent a message, but the essential intimidation is for Russia. Baslamis recalled that Russia has taken an advantage of vacuum power in Syria in 2015, and since then Moscow has become the main player in the war-torn country. As the assassination took place in the capital of Ankara, a second message was for Turkey, as Turkey has recently been acting in close coordination with Russia regarding the Syrian crisis, he said. Turkey and Russia helped broker a ceasefire deal for Aleppo of Syria which made the evacuations of more than 37,000 people possible. Baslamis said Turkey's relations with the western world have become tense since the July 15 coup attempt. "We have impression that Turkey has been moving away from the West to the bloc that Russia is leading," the expert said. A file photo taken on Oct. 9, 2016 shows Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (R) and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hold the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The final popular vote count was released Tuesday showing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton with a near 3 million lead over opponent Donald Trump, who secured his presidency one day earlier as the Electoral College voted 304 to 227 in his favor. The rare phenomenon of a candidate winning the popular vote -- this year by a record breaking margin -- but losing the election has sparked heated debate on whether the electoral college system, which was devised by the country's founding fathers, should still be part of the presidential election. There are unprecedented signs that the electoral college system is losing attraction. This year saw the largest number of faithless voters in U.S. history. Seven electoral voters voted for someone other than the candidate who won their respective states' popular vote - two Texas republicans dumped Trump while five Democrats opted not to choose Clinton. Even more wanted to vote against their designated candidate but were obstructed by rules from doing so. It is yet unclear of the precise motives behind the faithless voters this year, but records show that some of the faithless voters were driven by the belief that the electoral voting system is no longer suitable for a modern U.S. society. "I wanted to make a statement about the Electoral College. We've outgrown it. And I wanted to point up what I perceive as a weakness in the system," Margarette Leach of West Virginia said after casting her electoral vote in 1988. The sentiment against the electoral college seems to be shared across the country. Jan Brewer, a Republican who served as the governor of Arizona, said it's time to scrap the electoral college. The system had "served its purpose" but "it's pretty disappointing when you think that just a few states really determine who's been elected president," the governor said. "And they get all the attention." The New York Times, a left-leaning newspaper, ran an editorial Monday bluntly titled "Time to End the Electoral College". In the article, the paper claimed "by overwhelming majorities, Americans would prefer to elect the president by direct popular vote, not filtered through the antiquated mechanism of the Electoral College." The piece argued that the system is a living symbol of America's original sin. When slavery was the law of the land, a direct popular vote would have disadvantaged the Southern states, with their large disenfranchised populations. Thus politicians proposed a middle way of letting individual states decide how electors in their states should vote. As recent elections indicate, Democratic party supporters are usually urban dwellers, most of whom reside along the two coasts, leaving the pro-GOP voters to hold on to the vast inland states. Under this political landscape, the Democrats can easily match the Republicans with popular votes but have a tougher time drawing as many electoral votes as the Republicans, since Democratic supporters are more concentrated in geography than Republican supporters. In both recent cases where a candidate won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote, it was the Democratic candidate that lost the election. Wounded by the defeats, the NYT editorial lamented that "it's hard to understand why the loser of the popular vote should wind up running the country." But John Cochrane, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, said that the electoral voting system is vital in uniting the country from dividing further. "The electoral college force candidates to attract geographically dispersed support. Moving a swing state from 45 percent to 55 percent is much more important than moving a solid blue or red state from 75 percent to 85 percent." If presidential candidates prioritize the popular vote, then political views in red or blue states will be solidified and the trench between states will deepen, creating a rift that may result in the repetition of the Civil War, he warned. United Nations Secretary-General designate Antonio Guterres(R) meets with Meng Hongwei, president of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), in New York, the United States, Dec. 20, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- President of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Meng Hongwei met with incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday to discuss cooperation on global security. Meng congratulated Guterres on becoming the next UN secretary-general and stressed that the Interpol will support him to fulfill his responsibilities as the UN chief. Meng said the Interpol is willing to enhance strategic communication with the UN on major issues concerning global security and stands ready to work with the UN to maintain international security and stability. Guterres spoke highly of the long-term partnership between the two organizations and is looking forward to deepening cooperation with Interpol on counter-terrorism, cyberspace security, peacekeeping operations and the fight against human trafficking. He acknowledged that it is of great significance to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations in face of global security challenges. The Interpol was established as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) in 1923. The international agency chose Interpol as its telegraphic address in 1946, and made it its common name in 1956. LONDON, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Figures released on Wednesday showed that borrowing by the British government to meet the shortfall between receipts and expenditure had fallen by 11 percent on the same period a year ago. The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the government had borrowed 59.5 billion pounds (about 73.71 billion U.S. dollars) from April to the end of November, providing reassurance to policymakers who are likely to face an uncertain economic response in 2017 as Britain begins its Brexit procedure. The reduction in borrowing, however, leaves government borrowing touching its highest ever level, at 84 percent of the total GDP or 1.665 trillion pounds. This figure is forecast to continue rising until an unspecified time between 2020 and 2025. NICOSIA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus chose energy companies among several bidders for hydrocarbons exploration licensing, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Wednesday. He said Exxon-Mobil, Qatar Petroleum, Italy's Eni, and France's Total will be invited to enter negotiations before obtaining concessions for exploratory drilling and exploiting possible natural gas or oil finds in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone. Lakkotrypis said Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum will be negotiating for block 10, Eni and Total for exploration block 6. Separate talks will be held with ENI for block 8. The companies had submitted bids as part of Cyprus's third oil and gas licensing round that was announced earlier this year, six months after Egypt made public a 30 trillion cubic feet gas find in Zohr, an offshore field administered by ENI. This find reinvigorated interest in the Eastern Mediterranean as the drilling was done in carbonate layers, whereas previous successful drilling was done in lime layers. Carbonate layers extend from the Egyptian Zohr field into the Cypriot exclusive economic zone fields. Eni, in association with South Korea's KoGas, already have permits for blocks 2, 3 and 9. Total has the license for block 11 and had relinquished the rights for block 10 last year. ExxonMobil and Qatar are newcomers to Cyprus's energy scene. Lakkotrypis and Finance Minister Harris Georgiades have been appointed by the Cypriot Cabinet of Ministers to head the negotiating team with the energy companies. "We would like to conclude the negotiations by the end of January or early February," Lakkotrypis said. Each contract will have a duration of seven years split in three periods, three years for the first, and two years for the second and third, which will be subject to negotiation, he said. LISBON, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's state budget for 2017 faces serious challenges, including the need for more economic growth, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Wednesday in an official address to the country. "We need more economic growth to guarantee the stability of budgetary rigor in the upcoming years," Rebelo de Sousa said at the Belem palace in Lisbon, adding that there were four challenges the implementation of the budget faces. He said the main challenges were unpredictability in the world and in Europe, the consolidation of the country's banking system, the need for economic growth and the need to increase exports and investment. Portugal's state budget for 2017, which was approved last month in parliament, forecasts economic growth of 1.5 percent and a budget deficit of 1.6 percent of GDP next year. On Wednesday, the country's Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa told journalists that the fact the president had enacted the state budget for next year reflected political stability, and said the deficit for this year will be below the 2.5 percent. Portugal has one of the EU's highest government debt levels, which currently stands at 133 percent of GDP. TORONTO, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock market in Toronto had strong performances from the industrials group on Wednesday to lift the index up slightly for its fifth consecutive session of gains. The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite inched up 12.93 points, or 0.08 percent, to close the day 15,305.89 points. Four of the ten sub-sectors finished the session ahead. Industrials group was the biggest mover of the day, climbing 0.63 percent after engineering firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. was awarded a five-year service contract for an unnamed company in Northern Alberta's oil sands region. Shares of the Montreal-based firm soared 2.50 percent to 58.55 Canadian dollars (43.70 U.S. dollars). Also contributing to the gain in Industrials was Bombardier Inc. announcing the delivery of their CRJ200 Special Freighter, a commercial aircraft that is converted from smaller aircrafts used by regional airlines. In their news release, the Montreal-based firm said that there are currently 45 conversions received and expect to convert over 100 units over the course of the program. Shares ended the day up at 2.08 Canadian dollars (1.55 U.S. dollars), a 1.46 percent increase. Other groups to finish in the green on Wednesday were Utilities (0.34 percent), Telecommunications (0.28 percent), Consumer Staples (0.12 percent), Financials (0.10 percent), and Consumer Discretionary (0.02 percent). The TSX Health Care group took the biggest hit on the day, falling 0.96 percent. Laval-based drugmakers ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. contributed to the loss, sinking 4.22 percent and 3.11 percent, respectively. Over the last year, the group has slumped 48.88 percent. Other sectors that lost ground on the day were Information Technology (0.60 percent), Materials (0.29 percent), and Energy (0.05 percent). Blackberry Limited contributed to the decline in Information Technology, as shares dipped 2.40 percent to 9.78 Canadian dollars (7.30 U.S. dollars) a day after reporting better than expected quarterly earnings. Waterloo-based networking equipment firm Sandvine Corporation also faded 0.37 percent. Energy sector stayed afloat on Wednesday as decline in crude oil price was offset by soaring natural gas price. Price of Brent delivered in February retreated 1.61 percent to 54.48 U.S. dollars a barrel. Meanwhile, January natural gas on New York Mercantile Exchange surged 9.47 percent to 3.572 U.S. dollars per million British thermal units as investors bet on a cold winter. Shares of Calgary-based Baytex Energy Corp. and Encana Corporation fell 1.65 percent and 1.20 percent, respectively. On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that non-farm earnings in October was 953.88 Canadian dollars, a 0.1 percent uptick from September. Compared to twelve months prior, there was no change. By region, the biggest change since 2015 are in Northwest Territories (3.8 percent decrease), Alberta (2.6 percent decrease), Nunavut (2.3 percent decrease), and New Brunswick (2.0 percent increase). The Canadian dollar slipped 0.0017 to 0.7464 U.S. dollars. File photo taken on Oct. 19, 2016 shows Donald Trump participating in the third and final presidential debate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday picked Peter Navarro, an economist and a professor at University of California, Irvine, to head the newly-created National Trade Council at the White House, the latest move to reshape America's trade policy. "The formation of the National Trade Council further demonstrates the President-elect's determination to make American manufacturing great again and to provide every American the opportunity to work in a decent job at a decent wage," Trump's transition team said in a statement, adding Navarro will develop trade policies that shrink U.S. trade deficit and help stop the exodus of jobs to other countries. "The National Trade Council will also lead the Buy America, Hire America program to ensure the President-elect's promise is fulfilled in government procurement and projects ranging from infrastructure to national defense," the transition team said. It marked the first time that there would be a council within the White House focusing on American manufacturing and American workers, and it would work collaboratively with three other offices at the White House: the National Security Council, the National Economic Council, and the Domestic Policy Council, according to the transition team. Trump had made trade as a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, trying to appeal to angry and frustrated blue-collar voters who have seen manufacturing jobs lose in an increasing global economy. He had vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pull the United States out of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. During the campaign, Navarro and Wilbur Ross, Trump's pick for commerce secretary, had worked together to help Trump develop the trade, regulatory and energy policy agenda, which focused on reducing U.S. trade deficit and boosting manufacturing. Wednesday's announcement sent a strong signal that Trump could carry out most of his trade policy promises on the campaign trail. But many economists have argued that the trade deficit is driven by macroeconomic variables and it's not a problem for the U.S. economy. "The United States balance of payments has shown trade deficits for 41 straight years-a period during which the size of the U.S. economy tripled in real terms, real manufacturing value added quadrupled, and the number of jobs in the economy almost doubled," Daniel Ikenson, director of trade policy studies at the Cato Institute, wrote in a recent article, raising concerns that misguided views on the trade deficit could lead to protective trade policies. CANBERRA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) has asked the federal government to put on hold plans which would result in an "intrusive" 2.6 meter-high fence being erected around the Parliament House in Canberra. The plan was approved by Parliament last month as an added security measure for the House, but the peak body's national president, Professor Ken Maher said there had a been a "lack of consideration" and consultation before Parliament approved the fence. "The institute is deeply concerned about the lack of consideration of the fence's impact on the heritage value and design of this most significant building," Maher said in comments published in Thursday's newspapers. Australia's Parliament House was designed by renowned Italian architect Romaldo Giurgola and was built in 1988, with the design allowing Australians to walk freely along the grass which acts as a roof for the building. Maher said the decision to erect a fence was against the public interest, and did not strike an important balance between safety and allowing people the freedom to access the House's grounds, as it was designed. "It is essential that on behalf of the Australian people, the fabric and intent of the design of Parliament House is protected now and into the future," Maher said. "We have requested that further information be released and discussion entered into about less intrusive options to enhance the security of the building." The AIA represents more than 12,000 Australian architects. CANBERRA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A "car bomb" which exploded after being driven into the Australian Christian Lobby's (ACL) headquarters in Canberra overnight has been described by its director as an "attack on free speech", but the government has said it was not a politically-motivated or terror-related attack. No one was at the office when the gas bottle-filled van careered into the building, which sustained damage to the ground floor and had its windows blasted out, but the ACL's managing director Lyle Shelton said it was a shocking deliberate act against the group. "This is an attack on free speech in Australia, which I am deeply shocked about and never thought I would see in my lifetime," he told the press on Thursday. He later told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that an attack on the ACL's headquarters was likely because of the group's public opposition to controversial topic such as same-sex marriage. "I think something of this nature, that appears to be so deliberate, is an attack against the sort of things that we've been saying in the public square," he said. "And obviously someone didn't like that which we stand for, which we've advocated publicly." Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has described the incident as a "disgusting attack", but Justice Minister said it was not being treated as a terrorist incident. "The police will obviously now need to use their investigative techniques to track down what the motivation was for this particular attack," Michael Keenan told the ABC. "At the moment they are not treating it as a terrorist incident and there's no ongoing safety issues for the Canberra community." Police said a male driver of the van was the only person injured. He was reportedly taken to Canberra hospital late on Wednesday. WELLINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Falling agricultural exports added to New Zealand's current account deficit in the quarter ending September, the government statistics agency said Thursday. The current account deficit rose to 1.9 billion NZ dollars (1.31 billion U.S. dollars) in the September quarter, up from 1.8 billion NZ dollars (1.24 billion U.S. dollars) in the June quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. New Zealand's export goods were worth 686 million NZ dollars (473.68 million U.S. dollars) less than import goods in the September quarter, with the goods trade shortfall up 190 million NZ dollars (131.19 million U.S. dollars) from the June quarter. "New Zealand spent more on imports of goods, and earned less from exports of goods this quarter," international statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said in a statement. Meat, New Zealand's second largest export commodity, led the fall in export goods, down 235 million NZ dollars (162.26 million U.S. dollars) and falls in fruit exports added to the overall drop. Other contributions to the larger current account deficit were New Zealand's offshore investments earning less income, and foreign tourists spending less in New Zealand. New Zealand's annual current account deficit was 7.5 billion NZ dollars (5.18 billion U.S. dollars), or 2.9 percent of GDP for the year ended September, down from 3.5 percent of GDP year on year. New Zealand's financial account had a net inflow of 5.3 billion NZ dollars (3.66 billion U.S. dollars) in the September quarter. "When New Zealand spends more on imports than we earn from exports, this extra spending needs to be funded from external sources," Attewell said. "Much of this inflow was due to foreign-owned banks increasing their long-term borrowings." New Zealand's net international liability position was 166.2 billion NZ dollars (114.76 billion U.S. dollars), or 64.9 percent of GDP, at the end of September. CANBERRA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The slim majority that Australia's coalition government holds in the House of Representatives could be at risk if maverick Nationals MP George Christensen leaves the coalition "tent" to join a breakaway far-right group, local media reported on Thursday. Christensen took to social media on Thursday to share his thoughts on whispers that outspoken Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi was gearing up for mutiny - in which he would leave the coalition to focus on a breakaway conservative movement. In July, Bernardi created the Australian Conservatives website, aimed at making "the Liberal Party stronger", but colleagues have voiced concerns he may ditch the coalition to form an official far-right, political party. On Thursday, Christensen hinted he will take the Christmas break to decide on his future, after he was told to "pull the pin" on the Liberal Party - something which would result in the government losing its slim majority in the House of Representatives. "With satisfaction with democracy at an all-time low in this country, I really do hope that 2017 heralds a new way of doing things for the Turnbull government and for politics in general," Christensen wrote on Facebook on Thursday. "A lot of people have told me to pull the pin on the government and go with another entity, however, I am loyal to... members who selected me to be their candidate. "What the Turnbull government needs to do is start being more loyal to the voters and the party members who sent us here, or there will come a time when remaining inside the tent is no longer tenable to my conscience or my voters." Following Donald Trump's conservative-led victory in the United States' Presidential election, Bernardi hinted that he would defect from the Liberal Party, saying that he has to "be a part of that change, perhaps even in some way be a catalyst for it". SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Stocks issued in South Korea last month more than tripled compared with the previous month as the biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group, the country's largest family-run conglomerate, made a debut in local bourse, financial watchdog data showed on Thursday. Stock issuance reached 3.4 trillion won (2.84 billion U.S. dollars) in November, up 218.3 percent from the prior month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The surge was attributable to a mega initial public offering (IPO) of Samsung Biologics, the contract manufacturer of biologic drugs affiliated with Samsung Group. The IPO of Samsung Biologics raised funds worth 1.5 trillion won, while Samsung Heavy Industries, one of the country's top three shipbuilders, offered stock rights to raise 1.14 trillion won. Meanwhile, corporate bond issuance amounted to 8.69 trillion won in November, down 2.04 trillion won from a month earlier. Bonds floated by industrial companies tumbled 43.7 percent over the month to 1.69 trillion won in November amid growing uncertainties caused by political unrest. Sentiment among consumers and businesses worsened as the presidential impeachment increased economic uncertainties in the absence of control tower, leading to weaker private consumption and facility investment. Financial institutions issued 5.08 trillion won in bonds in November, down 15.3 percent from the previous month. But, the asset-backed securities (ABS) sales increased 10.8 percent to 1.93 trillion won. Experts inspect the debris one day after a blast occurred at the San Pablito fireworks market in Tultepec, a town in the State of Mexico, Mexico, on Dec. 21, 2016. At least 29 people were killed in the fireworks market explosion near Mexico City on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Obturador/Lucia Flores) MEXICO CITY, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Tuesday's explosion at a fireworks market near Mexico City climbed to 32, authorities said on Wednesday. The blast at the San Pablito Fireworks Market in Tultepec, in the central State of Mexico, destroyed Mexico's biggest market of its kind during the busy holiday season, just days before Christmas. At a press conference, state government secretary Jose Manzur said the earlier death toll of 26 rose after six of the injured died in the hospital. Some 46 people remain hospitalized with severe burns and other injuries, and arrangements were being made to fly some of the 13 heavily burnt to a specialized hospital in Galveston, of the Texas state of the United States. "Of the five patients we hope to send, one of them, Pamela, has burns on 90 percent of her body and they are trying to stabilize her (condition), but a plane is on standby," said Manzur. Later, the official posted on Twitter that another patient, Juan Carlos, was being flown to the U.S. hospital. The state authorities have pledged to pay for the related medical treatment and funerals. Another 12 people are missing in the fireworks explosion. Rescue teams are still combing the rubble while consulting hospitals where they may have been taken for treatment, Manzur said. The blast nearly destroyed all of the 305 businesses at the market, an area of more than a hectare. Dozens of military troops and police officers have been stationed around the site since Wednesday, as investigators searched the site. There have been people coming to look for missing family members. One of them, Ruben Martinez, said he was searching for his grandmother Eva Baez and his uncle Yazmani Gonzalez, both of whom went out to buy fireworks. Related: 26 killed in fireworks market blast near Mexico City MEXICO CITY, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Twenty six people were killed in a fireworks market explosion near Mexico City on Tuesday, said State of Mexico's chief prosecutor Alejandro Gomez. OSLO, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Businesses and other bodies in Norway are expecting more cooperation with China as the two countries have decided to normalize relations after six years of frustrated ties. "We have been hoping for improved political conditions between our two countries for many years," said Kristin Skogen Lund in a recent interview with Xinhua. Skogen is the director general of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), which is the country's major organization for employers and the leading business lobby. The NHO, which represents over 24,000 companies and is made up of 19 sectoral federations and 15 regional offices, "is very happy to see the Chinese-Norwegian diplomatic relations back on track again," Lund said. "Our businesses from a vast number of sectors are now ready to develop goods and services that the global market needs, in a tight partnership with the Chinese," she said, "There is a strong, inherent compatibility between Norwegian and Chinese companies, and we look forward to resume the great cooperation we've had for decades." Jan-Gunnar Winther, director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, said his institute has collaborated closely with Chinese institutions on polar science in the past few years and that a normalization of ties will enable research to strengthen further. "This is the best Christmas present I could think of. After six difficult years, we can now restore our relations to the benefit to both our countries," Winther said, "I look forward to a Chinese-Norwegian 'spring' where new cooperation is activated within a wide variety of sectors." "As a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, I look forward to working with Chinese experts and officials on issues related to climate, polar and ocean," he added. China and Norway issued a statement in Beijing on Monday on normalizing ties. "The Norwegian side is fully conscious of the position and concerns of the Chinese side and has worked actively to bring bilateral relations back on track," said the statement. China-Norway relations deteriorated since the Oslo-based Nobel Committee conferred the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize on convicted Chinese criminal Liu Xiaobo. Liu was sentenced to 11 years in jail on Dec. 25, 2009, after a court in Beijing convicted him of engaging in activities designed to overthrow the government. According to the statement, both sides will promote mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation in various fields, including trade, culture, science and education. "It is positive for us. This will normalize trade between China and Norway, and will also make it easy for us to export salmon to China again," said Henning Beltestad, chief executive officer of Leroy Seafood Group, a leading exporter of seafood from Norway. "We have not been able to export any fresh salmon (to China) since 2010. So it is very positive and good news for us," Beltestad said, "It will mean a lot to us definitely." Remi Eriksen, president and chief executive officer of DNV GL Group, a leading international classification society with headquarters in Norway, said his company has a long and massive presence in China and welcomes the normalization of ties between the two countries. "We are very pleased that the bilateral relations between Norway and China are normalized, and look forward to developing the full potential of the partnership with our Chinese customers," he said. In fact, Norway and China had cooperated in a wide range of areas in the past. The eighth round of talks on a free trade agreement concluded in September 2010, three months before the Nobel Prize episode. In normalizing their relationship, the two countries have also agreed to resume free trade negotiations. "We also believe that signing the statement will bring new energy to the free trade discussions and will be important both for existing and new businesses," the NHO's Lund said. "It will be important to see a free trade agreement come in place at a time when the world needs more cooperation and trade." LOS ANGELES, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Richard Spencer, a white nationalist leader from the U.S. city of Dallas, announced Tuesday that he is "seriously considering" running for a Montana congressional seat. Ryan Zinke, Montana's only congressman, was nominated for secretary of the interior by President-elect Donald Trump. If approved, Zinke's congressional seat would vacated. Spencer, a 38-year-old Dallas native, stated that "he would run as an independent, allowing him a shot at the seat," Dallas News reported. He said he would make a decision by early next year. Richard Spencer, whose National Policy Institute has been described as "a hate group" by the Anti-Defamation League, is also the founder of the "alt-right" movement, which is "a loose grouping of neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and misogynists, united in opposition to the perceived disenfranchisement of white men," according to the Los Angeles Times. Spencer has called Trump an "alt-right hero" and the "first step toward politics that promote pro-white policies." But Trump has previously "disavowed" the so-called "alt-right," according to Dallas News. So far, several Montana Republican legislators have shown interests in the seat, yet no Democrats have stepped forward. KATHMANDU, Dec. 22 (Xinhua)-- The "One Belt One Road" initiative introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping can play a crucial role in the infrastructure development of Nepal and the entire South Asia region, a Nepalese minister said here Wednesday. Nepalese Minister for Federal Affairs Hitraj Pandey made the remarks during a meeting with a visiting delegation of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress of China, which arrived Wednesday at the invitation of Nepalese Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti. "Nepal has already welcomed the 'One Belt One Road' initiative introduced by the dynamic Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping, while we have also become one of the founding members of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)," the minister said. "Our government believes that China's such tremendous initiatives can play crucial role in the infrastructure development in Nepal and the entire South Asia region," he said. The minister said that Nepal wants to reap benefit from China's rapid socio-economic development. "China's socio-economic, infrastructure and cultural development is role model for the entire world." Reaffirming Nepal's long-standing One China Policy, Minister Pandey said that Nepal will not allow any anti-Chinese activities in its territory. The minister thanked the Tibet Autonomous Region for extending food and agricultural support to various districts of Nepal bordering China and hoped that China's central government will further help enhance road connectivity in the northern districts of Nepal bordering Tibet. Head of the Tibetan delegation Padma Choling (Bai Ma Chilin), who is also Chairman of the Standing Committee of Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress, said that China has given top priority to helping develop infrastructure in South Asia under the "One Belt One Road" initiative, as is set out in the 13th five-year development plan. During the visit, the Tibetan delegation will also hold meetings with Nepal's Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti, Deputy Prime Minister Bimalendra Nidhi and Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat. BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a loan of 600 million U.S. dollars, its largest so far, to finance an energy project in Azerbaijan. The decision was made by the AIIB's Board of Directors on Wednesday, the bank announced Thursday. The bank approved its first four loans, totalling 509 million dollars, in June. Three of the four loans are co-financing projects with multilateral development bank partners. The AIIB, a China-initiated multilateral bank, was founded on Dec. 25, 2015. WELLINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A Canadian woman who tried to sneak her cat in New Zealand has been refused entry into the country, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said Thursday. The woman had only declared dirty boots to biosecurity officials at Auckland Airport after she arrived on a flight from Vancouver. She confessed to carrying the cat in a small handbag she had taken aboard the flight when MPI staff attempted to x-ray it, said MPI spokesman Craig Hughes. "She was very reluctant to have the hand bag x-rayed, saying it had already been checked by our quarantine officers. She only revealed the cat after we insisted the bag will have to undergo further biosecurity checks," Hughes said in a statement. As a result of the find, immigration officials refused the woman entry permission to the country. She was forced to return to Canada with her cat on the next available flight. The woman claimed she had alerted officials about the cat when she bought her ticket, said Hughes. "We believe this was a deliberate and very stupid attempt at smuggling. There are strict biosecurity rules in place to stop imported cats and dogs from introducing pests and diseases into New Zealand. The passenger clearly decided those rules didn't apply to her," he said. New Zealand has strict biosecurity rules regarding the entry of animal and plant products and food. SYDNEY, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A group of international researchers on Thursday said they have made a significant stride in protecting and maintaining sustainable reef stocks after finding fish larvae have an internal "magnetic compass" to guide them home. Reef fish hatch from eggs dispersed in the water column into a larval form and are usually at sea for days to months before returning to their home or settling on another reef. Once they have found a reef, they generally stay there for life. It is generally considered that fish use the currents to find a reef to settle on, however, researchers at Queensland state's James Cook University, collaborating with colleagues in Germany, found that larval Cardinal fish have a sense of direction. After collecting fish less than one centimeter long on One Tree Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, fish orientation was tested using the same magnetic field found where they were captured. It was not until they altered the field by 120 degrees, they saw a significant change in the direction the fish swam. "This study is the first clear demonstration that reef fish larvae possess magnetic senses to orient them at night," James Cook University professor of marine biology at the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Mike Kingsford said in a statement on Thursday. "Up until now we only knew adult birds, marine mammals, sharks and boney fish have this in-built sense of direction." Previous research shows once larval fish get closer to their target, a homing process begins where odor, sounds and landmarks are sensed to find a reef. Confirmation of night navigation means baby fish "actually have brains," they know where they are going and are strong swimmers which gives them some control over which reef they settle on, rather than just being led by currents, Kingsford said. "Knowing this, we can develop more accurate models of where larvae go to determine the best way to protect and maintain sustainable fish stocks," Kingsford said. The research was published in the scientific journal Current Biology. MANILA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a two-day official visit to the Philippines next month, Philippine diplomatic sources said on Thursday. The sources said Abe, accompanied by a business delegation, will visit Manila and Davao City, the home city of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, on Jan. 12 and 13. Abe will discuss bilateral cooperation and regional issues with President Duterte during the visit. Both leaders will have a closed-door meeting together with cabinet officials on how to improve trade and relationship between the two countries, the sources said. Duterte made a three-day state visit to Japan last October. The Japanese Air Force One, an aircraft operated by Japan Self Defense Force, landed in Davao City International Airport last Tuesday, apparently on a test run. The aircraft, a Boeing 747, is used by the Japanese government to transport the prime minister, emperor, and other high-ranking government officials. Philippines' Foreign Affairs Department has yet to officially announce Abe's visit. SYDNEY, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Australian authorities have arrested a 27-year-old man on Thursday for allegedly attempting to join the conflict in Syria and Iraq between April and June this year as part of a long running investigation into travelling and returned foreign fighters. Australia, a staunch ally in the U.S.-led fight against terror in Syria and Iraq, has remained on heightened alert for home-grown terror attacks for over two years, arresting or jailing at least 45 suspects in connection to domestic terror plots. The Authorities fear those who have travelled to and returned from Syria, Iraq or any other area where hostile activities are occurring, would become more radicalized and bring back a greater capability in the use of weapons and explosives for any potential attack on Australian soil. Recent attacks in Europe where trucks have crashed into large gatherings are only heightening fears. "Police have constantly warned people against travelling to conflict zones, and we again want to emphasise that actively making plans to join groups in those areas is a criminal offence," Australian Federal Police acting assistant commissioner for counter terrorism Jennifer Hurst said in a statement on Thursday. "The challenge in these matters is to obtain evidence to an appropriate standard for prosecution, but we will work cooperatively and diligently to act in response to those who choose to follow an extremist ideology that is not compatible with the diverse, inclusive values of the Australian community." The Australian government forbids any Australian traveling to war zones without special permission, and those who do and join either side of the conflict face harsh penalties. Under controversial foreign fighter laws, any dual national will have their Australian citizenship revoked if they are alleged to be a member of an organization listed on Australia's official terror group watch list. The 27-year-old arrested in Western Sydney on Thursday, charged with one count of making preparations for incursions into foreign countries for purpose of engaging in hostile activities, faces life imprisonment. Investigations are also ongoing into Australians who have fought for forces battling Islamic State such as the Syrian-Kurdish militant group YPG. by Rene Quenallata Paredes LA PAZ, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia is marching toward the end of the year on the same note it began -- President Evo Morales' pursuit of a fourth term in office. At the start of 2016, the government prepared to gauge public opinion about the three-time president seeking continuity in his presidency. However, Morales lost the Feb. 21 referendum that would have allowed him to run again in the 2019 elections, by a razor-thin margin. While Morales remains extremely popular -- for driving development in one of Latin America's poorest countries since first assuming office in 2006, his reputation had taken a hit from a scandal involving a former girlfriend and allegations of influence peddling. Talk of his reelection largely subsided until mid-December, when Morales announced his intention to run again for the top job in the country, after gaining the support of the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) party. To get a new term in office, Morales still has to combat a legal hurdle and the protest of the opposition party. Bolivia's Constitution limits presidents to two consecutive terms, a stipulation the referendum could have overturned had the "Yes" camp won. Morales' first term legally does not count because it predates the new Constitution, adopted in 2009. However, he still des not qualify for a fourth term in accordance with the law. To surmount the legal obstacle, the MAS has proposed more than one solution. "There are four ways, all four constitutional, legal, legitimate and irrefutable," Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said in an interview with a local TV network on Sunday night. One strategy calls for holding another referendum to amend the Constitution, following a signature drive to prove the measure has popular backing. The second way proposes having a Legislative Assembly vote on a constitutional reform, which would require two-thirds support. A third alternative asks for the Constitutional Court to rule whether the term limit infringes on fundamental freedoms. The fourth option would see Morales resign the presidency six months before his term ends on Jan. 22, 2020, failing to complete his term. Exactly which method would be deployed and which result would follow remain to be seen. One thing is certain. That is it would encounter opposition domestically. The opponents of Morales and the MAS in Bolivia have warned of the possibility of the president extending his tenure through 2025. The head of the opposition Christian Democratic Party and former President Jorge Quiroga said at a press conference on Monday: "We democrats are going to work with all of the political and civic organizations to prevent the serious and evident violation of the Constitution." "What the MAS is doing is failing to respect the people's vote," he added. Alfredo Rada, Bolivia's deputy minister for coordination with social movements, an agency of the presidential office, responded by saying the opposition aimed to disqualify the ruling party's reelection proposals out of fear that it would be defeated again at polls. BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved a loan of 600 million U.S. dollars to finance an energy project in Azerbaijan. The decision was made by the bank's board of directors Wednesday. The loan, the largest the bank has made, will be used to support construction of a natural gas pipeline from Azerbaijan through Turkey, known as the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project, the bank said Thursday. Once completed the project will transport natural gas from fields in Azerbaijan into Turkey and then on to markets in southern Europe. The construction of the pipeline will create jobs in Azerbaijan and Turkey. The bank is co-financing this project with a number of other multilateral development banks, including the World Bank Group and other commercial entities. The approval brings the total amount lent by the bank in its first year to 1.73 billion U.S. dollars in nine infrastructure projects across seven countries. The bank approved its first four loans, totalling 509 million dollars, in June. Three of the four loans were co-financing projects with multilateral development bank partners. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a China-initiated multilateral bank founded Dec. 25, 2015. "I am delighted and proud that the bank has managed to lend over 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in our inaugural year, capped off by the latest loan, which is our largest to date," AIIB President Jin Liqun said. "Thanks to the early steps we have taken, in future years, millions across Asia will experience an improvement in the quality of their lives." SINGAPORE, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has seized 900 grams of heroin from a Malaysian motorcyclist at Tuas Checkpoint, said ICA in a press release on Thursday. Two packets of heroin, weighing approximately 900 grams and worth more than 63,000 Singapore dollars (43,529 U.S. dollars), were found in the 23-year-old man's underwear. The Malaysian man was placed under arrest and could face the death penalty if convicted. Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) provides for the death penalty if the amount of diamorphine or pure heroin imported is 15 grams or more. KABUL, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A 10-hour stand-off at a lawmaker house in the Afghan capital of Kabul ended, leaving 11 people including three attackers dead, according to police Thursday. "On Wednesday evening, house of Mir Wali representative of southern Helmand province came under attack in Khoshal Mina locality. One terrorist detonated his suicide vest at the gate, enabling two gunmen to enter the building. Two attackers were killed by security forces during a counter-attack which ended Thursday morning," a police source told Xinhua at the site. Among the killed were two grandsons of Wali and Hafiz Pason, son of parliamentarian Obaidullah Barakzai, he said. Witnesses said they had heard three heavy explosions and sporadic firing throughout the night. They said a meeting of provincial security officials and local elders had been underway in the three-story building before the attack. Two local elders, one child and two security guards of the building also lost their lives. Lawmaker Mir Wali was among seven injured with no-life threatening wounds, according to the source. Taliban claimed responsibly for the attack. The Taliban militants have been on the rampage since April when they launched a so-called annual rebel offensive in different parts of Afghanistan, including the capital of Kabul, killing and injuring hundreds of people. They urged civilians to stay away from official gatherings, military convoys and centers regarded as the legitimate targets by militants, in addition to warning people not to support the government. Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani issued a statement, strongly condemning the attack. He also instructed concerned officials to provide best medical treatment for the injured and ordered the authorities to thoroughly investigate the attack, according to the statement. NEW DELHI, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- India's top environment court has reportedly ruled that airlines will be fined 50,000 Indian rupees (800 U.S. dollars) if their planes drop poop into the air during flight. The National Green Tribunal has also directed India's civil aviation regulator to conduct surprise checks to ensure that airlines don't flout its ruling, in the wake of a plea by a retired Indian Army official who accused planes of dumping human waste over residential areas in the national capital. "The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) shall also issue directions that aircraft on landing shall be subjected to surprise inspection to see that human waste tanks are not empty," the court was quoted by the media as saying. "If any aircraft is found to be violating such circular or (their) tanks are found to be empty on landing, they shall be subjected to environment compensation of 50,000 rupees per default," it added. Aircraft toilets store human excreta in special tanks, which are normally cleared once the plane has landed. They are also called "blue ice" because of the special chemicals added to the toilets to reduce smell and break down the waste. NEW DELHI, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday took a jibe at main opposition Congress party's second-in-command Rahul Gandhi, saying he is happy that the young Nehru-Gandhi scion has now started speaking. "They (Congress) have a youth leader, he is learning how to speak. Since the time he has learnt how to speak, I am the happiest. In 2009, you couldn't even tell what is inside this packet. Now we are finding out. If he hasn't spoken, there would be a earthquake," Modi said. He added: "It would have been such an earthquake that people would have to deal with it for 10 years. But good he spoke, there is no chance of an earthquake." Modi's dig at Gandhi at the launch of a hospital in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh came a day after the Congress vice president accused him of receiving millions in kickbacks when he was the Chief Minister of the western state of Gujarat. Gandhi Wednesday alleged that Modi got millions of rupees from two well-known corporate houses in India during his stint as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, prompting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to refute the allegations and call the Congress leader a "bluffmaster." Last week, Gandhi had threatened to cause an "earthquake" by exposing the "personal corruption of Prime Minister Modi" amid an ongoing row between the Indian government and opposition parties over the scrapping of currency notes of higher denominations, aimed at curbing black money. Militants are seen at the frontline at the so called Svetlodarskaya duga, on Dec. 19, 2016. Svetlodarskaya duga is a line between rebels and Ukrainian troops. (Xinhua/Alexander Ermochenko) MINSK, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine called for a full ceasefire in the war in east Ukrainian region of Donbass from December 24 in view of the forthcoming holidays, an envoy of the group said here on wednesday. Martin Sajdik, who represents the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in the contact group, said after emerging from a contact group meeting that a comprehensive, steady and indefinite ceasefire is starting from midnight on midnight of December 24 local time. However, Sajdik acknowledged that "a significant number of obligations under the Minsk Agreement had not been fulfilled" so far this year. The diplomat expressed confidence that "the lack of sufficient progress should not stop the negotiating process in the new year", and called for further work "with renewed vigor, with renewed enthusiasm." He also expressed hope that the parties will continue to focus their attention on the issue of observing the ceasefire and disengagement on the contact line. Sajdik welcomed the statement of the Ukrainian side about its willingness to unilaterally release the additional 15 people before the end of this year A war broke out in 2014 between the government forces and the pro-independent separatists in the region.A number of ceasefire agreements were signed but not fully implemented by the two warring sides. Smoke rises as Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government take cover during a battle with Islamic State militants in Sirte, LibyaOctober 2, 2016. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) TRIPOLI, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A year after Libya's rival parties signed a UN-sponsored political agreement, the North African country still suffers a political division and unrest. The Libyan government of national accord was appointed on Dec. 17, 2015 in order to put an end to the political division in the country. However, Libya is still divided between two rival governments and parliaments. Since the uprising that toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi's government in 2011, the North African country has been struggling to make a democratic transition. "The unity government faces a number of obstacles, mainly its inability to control on the ground, as well as the growing influence of militias in the capital, Tripoli, which weakens the government and leads to hikes in foreign currencies prices," Mahmoud Karim, a Libya academic researcher, told Xinhua. Al-Mabruk Khalifa, a Tripoli-based writer, believes that the failure of the political elite to reach a true agreement is one of the main obstacles that the unity government faces. "The failure of parliament to amend the constitutional declaration to include this agreement in addition to the division of political factions and players on the military scene are the main obstacles that the unity government faces," Khalifa told Xinhua. The authorities in Libya struggle to provide basic services to citizens, which were available for Libyans for free during the Gaddafi era. Health care and education used to be provided for free to Libyans under the Gaddafi rule, and foodstuff was subsidized by the government. Today, healthcare, education, electricity, and other services are suffering due to lack of funds. Moreover, the oil-rich country has lost billions of U.S. dollars due to years of closure of oil ports and attacks by militants on the oil fields. The prices of U.S. dollar increased a year after the appointment of the unity government. Also, crimes in the capital have also increased. Moreover, the unity government failed to expel militias from Tripoli. Banks suffers from lack of funds. "All these factors make the people reject the new government," Ashraf Azzabi, a political analyst, told Xinhua. In the meantime in eastern Libya, Major General Khalifa Haftar's forces continue the fight against militant groups. Despite the ground success of Haftar's forces, they still don't have full control over the second largest city in Libya. Haftar's forces managed to take over major oil ports in September after defeating the militias that were controlling them. "After General Haftar took over the oil ports, his popular support has increased," said Karim. "I think the inclusion and exclusion of Haftar in the political agreement in the past have changed drastically, especially in the statements of head of the UN support mission in Libya Martin Kobler, who indicated the need for Haftar's presence in the political scene," Azzabi said. Political rivalry, faltering economy, and insecurity are among the main crises the North African country suffers. The future of Libya remains unclear with the political factions not seeming to be willing to compromise. MANILA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday signed into law 3.35-trillion-peso (67.02 billion U.S. dollars) "People's Budget" for next year, the first under his presidency. At a signing ceremony in Malacanang, the presidential palace, Duterte said Republic Act No. 10924 or the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2017 was "pro-people, pro-investment, pro-growth, and pro-development thrust of the government." The 2017 budget, so far the biggest annual budget assembled, empowers government agencies by funding expanded and improved social services that will lift Filipinos out of poverty, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said. The Department of Education receives the highest allocation worth 544.1 billion pesos (11.09 billion U.S. dollars), Duterte said. The Department of Social Welfare and Development is granted 128.3 billion pesos (2.57 billion U.S. dollars), a significant portion of which is for the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program and monthly rice subsidy for impoverished households. The Department of Health is given a sizable allocation of 96.3 billion pesos (1.93 billion U.S. dollars) to provide the marginalized sector with new and modernized health facilities and expanded health services. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) receives 148 billion pesos (2.96 billion U.S. dollars) budget for 2017 to assist in the country's efforts against illegal drugs, construct new jail facilities, and increase the allowance for prisoners. Duterte has declared an all-out war against illegal drugs, with the Philippine National Police, which is under the DILG, leading the campaign. Duterte noted the budget allocation for the Department of National Defense amounted to 137.2 billion pesos (2.74 billion U.S. dollars) for territorial defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program, and security and stability services. The president thanked both the Senate and the House of Representatives "for ensuring the careful scrutiny and prompt approval of the national budget." ALEPPO, Syria, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The last rebel convoy starts leaving eastern Aleppo city through Ramouseh crossing Thursday, which the operation may last three hours max, military source told Xinhua. Xinhua reporters at the site saw the convoys leaving, some rebels have carried light rifles. Res Crescent ambulances are still at the bridge of Ramouseh, observing the evacuation. "The evacuation of rebels is in its last stage and expected to finish within three hours if nothing happened," the source said. A Syrian soldier at the site was holding a Syrian flag waiting for going up on a high building to raise it and celebrate after the last rebel leaves. The evacuation of rebels and their families started last Thursday, as part of a Russian Turkish-deal to end the rebels presence in eastern Aleppo after the army took over 99 percent of the rebel-held areas. Members of China Standby Peacekeeping Police Force attend the force's founding ceremony in Dongying City, east China's Shandong Province, Dec. 22, 2016. The China Standby Peacekeeping Police Force under the Ministry of Public Security had been formed in Dongying City Thursday. The force consists of more than 300 people, with an average age of 27, selected from border control forces around the country. (Xinhua/Shao Kun) JINAN, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The China Standby Peacekeeping Police Force under the Ministry of Public Security has been formed in Dongying City in east China's Shandong Province, according to an announcement on Thursday. The force consists of more than 300 people, with an average age of 27, selected from border control forces around the country. The force is divided into two subordinate anti-riot forces. The Border Control Department of the ministry is in charge of organizing the force. Organization work started in March. All members of the first anti-riot force passed assessments organized by the UN on Oct. 12, and the force is ready to be sent abroad. The second force is preparing for the assessment. Since 2004, the ministry has organized 12 peacekeeping anti-riot police forces. A total of 1,564 policemen have been sent abroad for peacekeeping missions. HAIKOU, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Charter business flights started at Yongxing airport in Sansha City, Hainan Province, on Thursday. A passenger plane took off at Meilan Airport in Haikou, the provincial capital, and landed at the airport on Yongxing Island, one of the Xisha islands and the city's administrative base, at 10:20 a.m. Thursday. The plane is scheduled to fly back to Haikou Thursday afternoon. Starting Thursday, Yongxing airport will have a daily return charter business flight from Haikou to improve the work and living conditions of the city's public servants and stationed soldiers. The expansion of Yongxing airport was completed in May. It obtained a certificate for civilian use in December and now serves both military and civilian purposes. Sansha City was officially established in 2012 to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands, and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea. HANOI, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The occupancy rate in operational industrial parks (IPs) across Vietnam has reached 73 percent, according to the Economic Zone Management Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment on Thursday. As of early December, there were 324 IPs, including 44 foreign-invested ones, across the nation with a total area of 91,800 hectares, of which 61,700 hectares were for lease. The country's southeast region is home to 109 IPs, accounting for 34 percent, followed by the northern Red River Delta with 83 IPs (26 percent) and the southwest region with 52 IPs (16 percent). As of the end of November this year, all IPs in the country attracted a total 6,947 foreign-invested projects with 110.2 billion U.S. dollars in registered capital. Of which 66.8 billion U.S. dollars has been disbursed, or 60.7 percent of the total registered capital. Meanwhile, domestic projects operating in IPs totaled 6,464, with the total registered capital of 705.6 trillion Vietnamese dong (30 billion U.S. dollars), half of which has been disbursed, said the department. by Ding Chao MOSCOW, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- If outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama would bother to assess what Washington has gained in his administration's anti-Russia attempts since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in early 2014, he might be sad to find that Washington has lost in almost every front -- from Ukraine to Syria, and then to the looming new arms race. By contrast, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is experienced in jangling nerves in the West with unexpected tactical moves, was widely regarded to have broken out of the diplomatic, military and economic encirclement led by the United States. Throughout the year 2016, Russia has been trying hard by diplomatic maneuvers to gain a bigger say in the protracted Syrian crisis, which has helped consolidate its role in the Middle East, and in the meantime, Moscow has stepped up its own version of a "Pivot to Asia" with a focus on the economic sphere. MILITARY FEELERS IN SYRIA Starting with a dramatic bombing campaign in Syria in September 2015, Russia's first military intervention outside the former Soviet Union since the end of the Cold War, the country has not only showed its ability in the global use of force that the United States has long bragged about, but gained increasing political leverage in the war-ravaged country and even the wider region, reminding the United States not to treat Russia as an outsider when it comes to one of the most complicated regions in the world. The mission let the already deep rift between the two powers further fester as Washington slammed Moscow for not intending to hit terrorist targets, but to empower Syrian government troops, and the White House was considering striking Bashar al-Assad's forces in an attempt to bring Damascus back to the negotiating table. Russia, in response, deployed the advanced S-400 and S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems in Syria, warning to shoot down U.S.-led coalition missiles if they were used against the Syrian army. Moreover, in September, Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, was put in combat duty off Syria's coast to support its air mission. Admittedly, this show of Russia's military prowess did come with a cost. The most recent cost was the assassination of its ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, who was shot dead by an off-duty Turkish policeman in Ankara, an act believed to be linked with Moscow's anti-terror operation in Syria. In November 2015, a Russian bomber was downed by a Turkish fighter jet near the Syrian-Turkish border, an incident described by Putin as "a stab in the back" that dealt a crushing blow to Moscow-Ankara ties, which have only begun to recover after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized to Putin in June. Washington's decision in October to suspend its dialogue with Moscow on Syria is a golden opportunity for Russia to boost its presence in the Syrian settlement. Backed by Russia's air force, the Syrian army encroached on the contested city of Aleppo and cleared the northern Syrian city of militants with the evacuation of civilians, which would jump-start the liberation of other Syrian cities. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told the Boston Globe in a recent interview that he regretted Washington failed to "set up a joint cooperative effort" because of differences in the U.S. government. By quitting the talks, the United States ended up as a non-cooperator. TIT-FOR-TAT WITH WEST The standoff between Russia and the United States reached its climax in October when Moscow halted an agreement with Washington on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium because of "hostile actions" by the United States. Before that in April, Putin was absent from a nuclear security summit held in Washington. This means that the two powers have broken in their last possible area of cooperation -- non-proliferation, in addition to anti-terrorism, which, too, has failed, as evidenced by their differences on Syria. Accusations of Russia's involvement in the U.S. presidential elections have been frequently heard during the whole campaign, and they have been heating up recently as Obama, at his wits' end, accused Putin of personally sponsoring the hacking of Democratic Party emails, which was believed to have helped Donald Trump secure the presidency. According to Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow has demanded facts from Washington on the investigation, but "there is silence on the opposite side." Meanwhile, Russia and NATO, perceiving each other as mutual threats, have been increasingly flexing their muscles in Eastern Europe, which indicates the risk of a new arms race. NATO's eastward expansion, military buildup close to the Russian borders and frequent drills have been met with Russia's warning to exit the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which has set a limit to the number of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles Russia and the United States can keep. The Western alliance criticized Moscow for declining all its proposals for cooperation on a regime to ensure missile defense transparency, while Moscow feels it isn't trusted by the military bloc and fears being encircled. The ever-deepening distrust only risks a new Cold War that will compromise everyone's security. The European Union (EU), a traditionally important partner of cooperation with Russia and highly dependent on its energy and natural gas, now seems unsure of how to work with Moscow, while increasingly following Washington's lead in absence of independent judgment. The EU has decided to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months, until July 31, 2017. European Council President Donald Tusk even admitted that the EU was awaiting a clarification of the new U.S. administration's policy in relation to Russia, a move that Moscow said only demonstrated the weakness of the alliance. Brussels decided to expand the sanctions based on such an assertion that Russia failed to honor its commitments in the Minsk agreement aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine, while Moscow insists it is Kiev that should be blamed for the failure of the deal that they agreed upon together with France and Germany. Russia has responded with countermeasures of its own, and so far, there is no sign of any ease of the diplomatic stalemate except for the resulting reciprocal sanctions. But Moscow has at least gained an upper hand in thwarting Kiev's pursuit of EU membership, in addition to the takeover of the militarily significant Crimea peninsula. TURNING EAST There is no denying that Russia's constrained economy in the past two years has been in part caused by the confluence of sluggish oil prices and Western sanctions. This does not get down to the very essence of the issue, however. In his annual state of the union address to Russia's Federal Assembly earlier this month, Putin explicitly said that "internal problems" have been the main reasons for the country's economic slowdown. With its advantages of a large domestic market, rich natural resources and vast underdeveloped territory in its Far East, Moscow sees great potential in improving ties with its Asia Pacific neighbors in a bid to get itself out of the plight. Russia launched the first Eastern Economic Forum in the Far Eastern port city of Vladivostok in September 2015, and the second one was held as scheduled this autumn in the same city with participants from across Eurasia. A number of agreements were inked at both forums on boosting cooperation with China, Japan and South Korea, among others, with a view to attracting investment from eastern Asia for Russia's development projects and expanding exports to the Asia-Pacific market. In Russia's Black Sea city of Sochi in May, Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a five-year action plan to boost cooperation and deepen their partnership. Trade volume between Russia and ASEAN members was 13.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, rather modest compared with ASEAN's trade performance with some other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Russia has given special emphasis to link its development programs with those of China, particularly the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union. In the energy sector, the construction of the Eastern Route pipeline proceeded smoothly this year, and it is expected to start supplies to China in 2018. China is developing Russia's first high-speed rail line connecting Moscow and Kazan with an investment of about 300 billion rubles (5.2 billion dollars). What's more, the two sides are working on a joint program of developing and building wide-body aircraft, a model of which was displayed at this year's Zhuhai Air Show in south China's Guangdong Province. Financial institutions of both countries have clinched agreements to support those projects. NAIROBI, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has denied claims by Kenya of planning to interfere with the country's forthcoming general elections due in August 2017. The UN agency said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening that its electoral programs are only provided after receiving specific requests from national authorities, which, for Kenya, was received in 2014. "UN electoral assistance is guided by several principles including national sovereignty and ownership; objective, impartial, neutral and independent assistance; norm-based assistance aimed at furthering respect for all basic human rights and compliance with the rights and principles enshrined in the Charter of the UN," it said. The UN agency was responding to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's Dec. 12 speech in which he accused unnamed donors who were intent on influencing the outcome of next year's polls slated for August 2017. Kenyatta had warned foreign government against attempts to influence next year's general elections by pumping billions into NGOs in the guise of "civic education." On Monday, Kenyan government barred a U.S.-backed NGO, International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES), from conducting a 20-million-U.S.-dollar Kenya Electoral Assistance Program (KEAP), saying it was unregistered. The funds were provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). However, the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Robert Godec said the allegations were unfounded, noting that the IFES is registered in Kenya under the Companies Act and has legal standing to conduct programs in the East African nation. The foreign envoys from Western countries have also refuted claims that they are financing electoral programs to influence the outcome of the 2017 polls, saying rather that they were only supporting Kenya's bid to have free, fair and credible polls. In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, the envoys maintained that their electoral assistance programs are conducted transparently in consultation with the government, political parties and civil society organizations based on lessons learnt in 2013 general election. The UNDP said it has been involved in similar programs since 2014 in what it says was on Kenya's request to support the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). It said the Strengthening Electoral Processes in Kenya (SEPK) (2015-2018) has been developed, and is implemented in line with these principles. "The project is aimed at providing technical support to the IEBC and other related government institutions; and encouraging broad-based citizen participation in the electoral process," the UNDP said. It said the project document was approved and signed by the government (led by the National Treasury) and UNDP in July 2015. It was the product of extensive consultation with various stakeholders. BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday denied "money diplomacy" with Sao Tome and Principe after the Central African nation cut the so-called "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan. "How can the one-China principle be traded with money? The Chinese government never trades its principles," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a press briefing. Her comments were in response to a question about Taiwan's claim that Sao Tome and Principe had asked for an astronomical figure that Taiwan was unable to pay. Hua said the one-China principle had broad consensus in the international community, while representing people's aspirations. "We appreciate and welcome Sao Tome and Principe returning to the correct track of sticking to the one-China policy. Justice lies in people's hearts," she said. Sao Tome and Principe, an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, announced Tuesday (local time) that it cut so-called "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan. RAMALLAH, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Thursday that a young Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces gunfire near Ramallah. The Ministry said in an emailed press statement that Ahmad Kharrubi, 19, was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers during clashes in Kufor Aqab town between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Local sources said that Israeli forces stormed into the nearby Qalandia refugee camp and Kufor Aqab town, which spurred clashes with Palestinians. The Israeli forces partially demolished the house of Musbah Abu Sbeih, a Palestinian who was killed by Israeli forces on Oct. 9 in Jerusalem, accusing him of opening fire toward Israelis and killing two Israelis, including a policeman. A wave of tensions have broke out between Palestinians and Israeli forces since October 2015, causing over 340 Palestinians and 42 Israelis killed, according to official statistics. HANGZHOU, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Real-name users of Alipay, the payment system of China's e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba, can register to become organ donors on the payment platform from Thursday. Users can simply search for "Medicare" on Alipay and enter the registration page. The registration is completed in just a couple of clicks. The Alipay organ-donating system was developed and will be managed by the China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation. A recent joint survey by the foundation and several online platforms with the support of the World Health Organization showed 83 percent of respondents were willing to become voluntary organ donors. Many of those that said no cited difficulties with complicated application procedures. Registering as an organ donor can be a time-consuming process, involving filling out up to 14 different types of personal information -- with Alipay it will take less than a minute. Despite growing acceptance of organ donation in China, there is still a big gap compared with the number of donors in other countries. "Over 130 million Americans have signed up as organ donors, while in China there are only 80,000," said Huang Jiefu, president of China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation. "Some attribute the low registration rate in China to outdated cultural concepts, but sometimes people just lack channels," Huang told Xinhua. Social networks have become a new channel to promote organ donation. More than 24,000 people registered themselves as organ donors in one month after Facebook started an organ donor status program in May 2012. Apple this year also allowed users to sign up as organ donors on its IOS 10 operating system, which saw 13,000 registrations in one day. Registration just expresses an intention to donate. Organs will not be taken before strict medical and ethical evaluation, as well as approval from family. The public can also cancel their registration at any time. ANKARA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russian officials will examine the phone of Mevlut Mert Altintas, who killed the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, as part of a joint investigation into the assassination, Hurriyet News reported Thursday. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has been examining speculation that Altintas received insider information from Russian Embassy officials. Russian officials are also investigating whether a "mole" in the embassy was involved in the planning of the assassination. Altintas was reportedly wearing a guard police badge during the assassination. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Erdogan said Wednesday in a press conference with his visiting Albanian counterpart that "The assassin of the Russian ambassador is obviously a member of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO). There is no need to hide it." "Where he grew up and all connections reveal this (FETO membership)," he added. Erdogan said that the assassin's international links were being investigated by the Turkish National Intelligence Service. On Monday, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was shot and critically wounded when he was delivering a speech at the Contemporary Arts Gallery in Ankara's central Cankaya district. Karlove died later in the hospital. RAMALLAH, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki affirmed Thursday that a draft resolution against Israeli settlement construction will be submitted to the UN Security Council. Malki told Xinhua that the consultations have been completed and the draft has been deposited in blue color to Spain, which is the current chair of the UN Security Council. "We have requested a special session to look into the draft resolution and we are now awaiting the response of the Council chairmanship to confirm the date," said the minister. He expressed hope that the resolution would be adopted unanimously and overcome the veto for the first time, highlighting that the draft formation was based on the two state solution. He added that several amendments were included in the latest draft based on the deliberations with the Security Council member states, and particularly with the permanent members who enjoy the veto power. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the U.S. to veto the resolution to abort it, according to the Israeli public radio. The Arab Quartet convened in Cairo last Monday and formed a new three-way committee to contact UNSC member states to know their final responses regarding the draft resolution against Israeli settlements. The issue of settlement is considered one of the most complicated issues between Palestinians and Israel. BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities handled 514 cases of online copyright infringement and shut down 290 websites during a July to November campaign, an official statement said Thursday. A total of 4.67 million yuan (670,000 U.S. dollars) of fines were levied for illegally downloads of movies and games, with 33 cases worth 200 million yuan taken to court. An official from the National Copyright Administration said the campaign had improved the online copyright environment. BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top graft buster has exposed eight cases involving officials who have violated the eight-point rules on austerity. The officials were found to have been involved in cases of embezzlement of public funds, use of public funds for banquets and unapproved use of official vehicles, among other misdeeds, according to a statement released by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). The individuals include an official from the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) and the head of a local vocational education center in northeast China's Jilin Province, and their punishments ranged from intra-Party warning to dismissal, it said. In one case, Yang Suizhou, an inspector with the SAT, was stripped of his Party membership and removed from office after he was found to have spent three days traveling with public funds worth 27,700 yuan (3,987 U.S. dollars) in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region after an official trip in July 2015, it said. Yang used the funds to accommodate his friends and relatives, according to the statement. In addition, he attended banquets that could have affected fair enforcement and received gifts from private companies worth 50,000 yuan, it added. The eight-point rules were introduced by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the end of 2012 to address bureaucracy, formalism and extravagance. The CCDI has been publicizing such cases since April 2014. General Secretary of Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachit (R) meets with Liu Qibao, visiting member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 20, 2016. Liu, who is also head of the CPC Central Committee's Publicity Department, was in Lao capital Vientiane for the fifth theory seminar between the two parties. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun) VIENTIANE, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- General Secretary of Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachit has met with Liu Qibao, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee on Tuesday. Liu, who is also head of the CPC Central Committee's Publicity Department, was in Lao capital Vientiane for the fifth theory seminar between the two parties. At the meeting, Liu conveyed greetings of CPC Central Committee's General Secretary Xi Jinping to Bounnhang, saying that during 55 years of diplomatic ties, the two countries have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in various fields. China is willing to join hands with Laos in implementing consensus reached by general secretaries of the two parties, further enhancing high-level exchanges, deepening practical cooperation, promoting people-to-people exchanges, and establishing an unbreakable community of common destiny, Liu said. The senior Chinese party official also briefed Bounnhang on the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. Bounnhang, for his part, sent his greetings to Xi and congratulated the successful organization of the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. Bounnhang said the community of common destiny between Laos and China is of great strategic importance. Lao party and government attach great significance to the traditional friendship with China, and will continuously promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various areas. Meanwhile, during the fifth theory seminar between CPC and LPRP in Vientiane, Liu and Chansy Phosikham, member of the Politburo of LPRP Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the LPRP Central Committee and Head of the LPRP Central Committee's Commission for Organization delivered keynote speeches, as well as introduced measures and experiences of the two parties in strengthening self-construction. During his time in Laos, Liu also met with Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, member of Secretariat of the LPRP Central Committee, Head of the LPRP Central Committee's Publicity Department; attended a signing ceremony on media cooperation between China and Laos, and relevant events to mark the 10th anniversary of China Radio International in Laos. BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Mixed-ownership reform is expected to help China make breakthroughs in state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform, despite remaining challenges. The state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) announced on Wednesday it has passed guidelines to promote market-oriented and mixed-ownership reforms, according to a statement on its website. China said it will take substantial steps in mixed-ownership reform in the electricity, oil, natural gas, railway, civil aviation,telecommunications and military industries. "Piloting mixed-ownership reform in heavyweight industries indicates China's resolve and confidence to push forward SOE reforms," said Liu He, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body. Mixed-ownership reform through diversifying the shareholding structure of SOEs is a pioneer for overall SOE reform, according to a statement issued Friday following the Central Economic Work Conference. Pilot reforms for state-owned asset investment companies, designed to make the state a stakeholder rather than a manager, would raise management and operational efficiency, according to the statement. The prime aim of mixed-ownership reform is to create a flexible and efficient market-oriented mechanism to improve management of SOEs, according to China Enterprise Research Institute researcher Li Jin. Methods to introduce SOE mixed-ownership reform include non-state-owned capital investment, SOE investment in private companies and employee stock ownership plans. Progress has been made in this respect: 68 percent of all SOE-funded firms in 2016 were mixed-ownership, in contrast with 66 percent registered in 2014. Results of the SOE reform are also emerging. Combined SOE profits returned to growth in October after dropping since the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Finance said. In the first ten months, SOEs made a combined profit of 1.92 trillion yuan (276 billion U.S. dollars). China has about 150,000 SOEs, which hold more than 100 trillion yuan in assets and employ over 30 million people. Although significant in stabilizing GDP growth and employment, the blind expansion of SOEs despite the cooling market in recent years has compounded nationwide overcapacity and risk from corporate debts. Though plagued by a slowdown, China is pushing for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of its larger SOEs to enhance efficiency. A 350-billion-yuan national fund was established three months ago to speed up the process. From power supply to tourism, consolidation in a number of sectors has accelerated at an unprecedented pace this year. Food giant Sinograin was approved to acquire China National Cotton Reserves Corporation last month, and two building material producers initiated their merger in August. Ongoing large-scale restructuring is just part of an ambitious program to push government-funded businesses to the market. Guidelines on SOE reform were issued in September last year, promising mixed-ownership pilots, opening up more industries to private capital, and a modern enterprise system. Bolivian President Evo Morales attends a press conference in La Paz, Bolivia, on Feb. 24, 2016. (Xinhua/G.Jallasi/ABI) by Rene Quenallata Paredes LA PAZ, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia is marching toward the end of the year on the same note it began -- President Evo Morales' pursuit of a fourth term in office. At the start of 2016, the government prepared to gauge public opinion about the three-time president seeking continuity in his presidency. However, Morales lost the Feb. 21 referendum that would have allowed him to run again in the 2019 elections, by a razor-thin margin. While Morales remains extremely popular -- for driving development in one of Latin America's poorest countries since first assuming office in 2006, his reputation had taken a hit from a scandal involving a former girlfriend and allegations of influence peddling. Talk of his reelection largely subsided until mid-December, when Morales announced his intention to run again for the top job in the country, after gaining the support of the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) party. To get a new term in office, Morales still has to combat a legal hurdle and the protest of the opposition party. Bolivia's Constitution limits presidents to two consecutive terms, a stipulation the referendum could have overturned had the "Yes" camp won. Morales' first term legally does not count because it predates the new Constitution, adopted in 2009. However, he still des not qualify for a fourth term in accordance with the law. To surmount the legal obstacle, the MAS has proposed more than one solution. "There are four ways, all four constitutional, legal, legitimate and irrefutable," Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said in an interview with a local TV network on Sunday night. Bolivia's President, Evo Morales (2nd-R-Front), interacts with residents after casting his vote during the day of a national referendum in which voters are asked to either accept or reject a constitutional amendment that would allow a new presidential postulation, at Village September 14, Cochabamba department, Bolivia, on Feb. 21, 2016. (Xinhua/Patricia Pinto/ABI) One strategy calls for holding another referendum to amend the Constitution, following a signature drive to prove the measure has popular backing. The second way proposes having a Legislative Assembly vote on a constitutional reform, which would require two-thirds support. A third alternative asks for the Constitutional Court to rule whether the term limit infringes on fundamental freedoms. The fourth option would see Morales resign the presidency six months before his term ends on Jan. 22, 2020, failing to complete his term. Exactly which method would be deployed and which result would follow remain to be seen. One thing is certain. That is it would encounter opposition domestically. The opponents of Morales and the MAS in Bolivia have warned of the possibility of the president extending his tenure through 2025. The head of the opposition Christian Democratic Party and former President Jorge Quiroga said at a press conference on Monday: "We democrats are going to work with all of the political and civic organizations to prevent the serious and evident violation of the Constitution." "What the MAS is doing is failing to respect the people's vote," he added. Alfredo Rada, Bolivia's deputy minister for coordination with social movements, an agency of the presidential office, responded by saying the opposition aimed to disqualify the ruling party's reelection proposals out of fear that it would be defeated again at polls. People take part in a march against the outcome of the recent EU referendum, in London, Britain, July 2, 2016. Around 40,000 people attended the anti-Brexit march after a petition with 4 million signatures was submitted to the parliament, calling for a second referendum. (Xinhua) BRUSSELS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Brexit and the rise of populism across Europe are wake-up calls to European integration which is already under the converging challenges of stagnated economy, anti-immigrant sentiment and terrorism, a veteran official of the European Parliament told Xinhua in a recent interview. Geoffrey Harris, who started his political career in 1976 and retired this year as Deputy Head of Office of the European Parliament Liaison Office with the U.S. Congress in Washington, lamented that people overlooked the potential of negative backlashes in the process of the European integration. "I would not blame any individual. What I blame or regret is that people did not take notice of warning signs over the years," said Harris, who now teaches at Vesalius College in Brussels and the College of Europe in Bruges. Harris has warned against the trend of populism in his book "The Dark side of Europe -- the extreme right in Europe today" published in 1993. He noted that the troubles the European Union (EU) faces now are not unprecedented, and the idea that the European integration could provide opportunity for extreme right parties and populism to gain credibility and support is also not new. He said in early 1990s as now the then European Community (EC) was grappling with a recession and an enhanced fear of immigration. The war in the former Yugoslavia was leading to fears of uncontrolled influx of refugees, just as now there are fears of influx of refugees fleeing the civil war in Middle East and North Africa. He recalled that in 1992 the then French President Francois Mitterrand called a referendum on the Maastricht treaty, a milestone document hammered out by the then 12-member EC in December 1991 to create the EU and the single European Currency, the euro. "This was on the euro and it's a French project. It was not a German idea or a British idea, but the French people themselves almost dropped it, "Harris said. On September 20, 1992, the French in a referendum voted to adopt the Maastricht Treaty by a 51-to-49 margin. This narrow margin is almost the same as the outcome in the June 2016 Brexit referendum in favor of quitting the EU. As a British citizen, Harris opined that Britain's leaving of the 28-member bloc is a "tragedy", saying, "Britain has been a leading power in Europe, playing a very important role in fighting Fascism and Nazis. To be on the outside, it's not a very comfortable position." "Somebody in Britain would say, 'we voted for Brexit, but we did not vote ourselves to be poor, we didn't vote ourselves to have an economic crisis'," he said, stressing that the real consequences of the Brexit maybe take some time to see. Theresa May's government is involved in a legal battle on whether it can begin the process to pull Britain out of the EU without a parliament approval. The Supreme Court is expected to give its rule in January after holding a four-day hearing in early December. The High Court ruled on Nov. 3 that Theresa May's government cannot use a royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty that starts the Brexit process. Article 50 sets out the procedure to be followed if an EU member state decides to leave the bloc. Once the article is triggered, a two-year clock running starts. "Mrs. May has a small majority in the parliament, but there are many conservatives beginning to wonder about this; The Labour party also has been hesitant. Nobody in this time wants to say that's a stupid decision which must be unchangeable," said Harris. "Obviously if Britain does leave, that is bad news," He said, underlining that it will to some degree legitimize nationalist politics, especially in view of the French presidential election slated for next April. According to a recent Elabe survey, with an expected intention of vote up to 28 percent, Marine Le Pen, head of far-right National Front party (FN), is almost certain to cruise to the second round of the election. "Mrs. May is not like Mrs Le Pen, but the Brexit kind of give legitimacy that maybe the EU will not be going to survive, that's very bad in my opinion," argued Harris. Asked whether Marine Le Pen is possible to win the French presidential election, Harris said: "She is a candidate, she has lots of support. It would be unwise to make predictions, but it would be silly to exclude that possibility, and the different leaders have to work out how to respond. " "Marine Le Pen has advantages. A main advantage is that she never exercise any power at national level; she has no negative," Harris said, comparing her with French Former Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who won the center-right Republicans party's primary runoff on November 27 to represent the biggest opposition party in the 2017 French presidential race. Harris warned that terrorists sometimes choose their timings very well and might try to influence the French election, if they want polarization in the country and the EU at large. "Terrorism, economy, immigration -- these three things together make an explosive cocktail," he said. Just in the evening of the day of the interview, a truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, leaving at least 12 people dead and some 50 injured. The sense of insecurity, triggered by terrorist attacks involved immigrants and a possible major economic crisis "because of a shaky euro", will drive voters under the flag of populist parties like FN, Harris explained. Regarding the euro, the symbol of European monetary union, Harris opined that the whole structure of the single currency has not worked out as planned, saying, "political union should come ahead of the monetary union; has a money without a government has great risks." He mentioned that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted to hold a referendum about the euro but eventually had to drop the plan because of his financial minister's disagreement. "Most people in Britain would not agree with that at all. We don't want a political union anyway, and certainly we don't want a euro either, but that's a question about leadership." "Tony Blair was the kind of person to provide the leadership, but because of the Iraq war and the whole things, he missed his chance, (and) became unpopular in Britain, and then became unpopular in Europe." "The train left at the station, but he wasn't on the train," Harris said. WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday urged the United States to veto a UN Security Council resolution seeking to halt Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," Trump said in a statement. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," he added. The 15-member Security Council would vote later on Thursday on the resolution drafted by Egypt which calls for Israel to immediate halt settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territory. However, according to local media which cited sources, the vote had already been postponed. Fire fighters watch the fire at the site of burning ivory and rhino horn in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 30, 2016. Kenya on Saturday torched at least 105 tons of ivoryand 1.3 tons of rhino horn to reinforce Kenya's commitment to eradicate the menace of poaching. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) MOMBASA, Kenya, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan authorities have said that they are investigating Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials over latest seizure of ivory worth 1.97 million U.S. dollars. A multiagency team has launched a probe to apprehend custom officials and clearing agents who might have colluded to sneak out the two containers in October. KRA Commissioner Rashid Ali told journalists on Wednesday that the two containers had a total of 334 pieces of ivory, weighing 1.09 tonnes, stashed in wooden logs destined for Colombia. "We have launched investigation with hope of arresting the mastermind of ivory at the port. It's very clear that our officials might have colluded with poachers to sneak out the containers," Ali said. The containers were intercepted in Singapore and reshipped back to the country. "It's a sad day to see that quite a number of animals are killed and transported. It's a wipeout of number of elephants. We are going to continue to fight this menace," said KRA Commissioner David Yego. Sources indicate that the same clearing agent was behind the smuggling of 12 ivory-concealing containers that were seized in Vietnam early November after also being spirited away from the port of Mombasa. Conservationists say poaching has destroyed large numbers of African elephants, prompting experts to warn the species could be wiped out within decades. JERUSALEM, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Arab lawmaker, Basel Ghattas, was arrested on Thursday over allegations of smuggling mobile phones to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the police said. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that he would be brought in front of a judge to remand his arrest on Friday morning. Police interrogated Ghattas for the second time on Thursday, after the Knesset (parliament) officially stripped his parliamentary immunity, paving the way for arrest and prosecution. In a letter to the Knesset Speaker, Ghattas said he agrees to have his immunity revoked. Shortly later, Ghattas was summoned to questioning in the police and was arrested after three hours of interrogation. The police are investigating allegations that Ghattas smuggled 12 mobile phones to two Palestinian prisoners in jail for security offenses. Samri said that he might face charges of conspiring to commit a crime, fraud, breach of trust, and violations of Israel Prisons Service orders. Ghattas is a lawmaker with the Balad Arab nationalist party, which frequently confronts with the Israeli establishment over Palestinian issues. File photo taken on July 21, 2016 shows Donald Trump taking the stage on the last day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday called for the United States to "strengthen and expand" its nuclear capabilities. "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," the President-elect tweeted. The United States is expected to spend one trillion dollars over the next 30 years upgrading its nuclear arsenal, according to a TheHill news daily report. However, it's not immediately clear what prompted Trump's new proposal and what are the details behind. On the presidential campaign trail, Trump, counter to the past and current U.S. stance, proposed that countries such as Saudi Arabia and Japan should acquire nuclear weapons, stirring sharp criticism at home and abroad at the time. WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Democrats and Republicans squabbled on Thursday over whether Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson's tax returns should be examined as part of the confirmation process. Apart from routinely submitting financial disclosure forms and ethics documents, Tillerson, chief executive officer of Exxon Moile, should also submit his tax returns, Ben Cardin, top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Thursday in a letter to other Democrats on the committee. "I think it is an important part of vetting this candidate because he has never made public disclosures of this type, as he has worked at Exxon Mobile for his entire career and has never been in public service," said Cardin. "Mr. Tillerson was actively engaged with many foreign governments that could become relevant if confirmed as Secretary of State," he added. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee cannot require nominees to provide tax returns and the committee's Republican Chairman Bob Corker immediately blasted Democrats for playing politics. "As is long-standing precedent for nominees by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the committee has not asked Mr. Tillerson to provide copies of his tax returns," said Corker in a statement, adding that the confirmation procedures for Tillerson would be the same as carried out "since well before I joined the committee 10 years ago." Tillerson, 64, is the Texas-based oil company's CEO since 2006. Like Trump, he has no government experience and so far little is known of Tillerson's views about foreign affairs. However, as Exxon's CEO, Tillerson oversees business operations in over 50 countries and has known Russian President Vladimir Putin since 1990s when they first met. Tillerson was awarded Russia's Order of Friendship in 2013, a state decoration to reward foreign nationals whose work is aimed at the betterment of relations with Russia. So far, Tillerson's ties to Russia had raised bipartisan concerns in the U.S. Congress. WELLINGTON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government Friday welcomed a World Trade Organization (WTO) decision that could free up Indonesia's beef market. New Zealand and the United States jointly brought the case against Indonesia in 2013 over 18 non-tariff barriers imposed on agricultural imports since 2011. The barriers included import prohibitions, use and sale restrictions, restrictive licence terms and a domestic purchase requirement. The barriers are estimated to have cumulatively cost the New Zealand beef sector alone between 500 million and 1 billion NZ dollars (345.15 million and 690.3 million U.S. dollars), Trade Minister Todd McClay said in a statement. As recently as 2010, Indonesia had been New Zealand's second-largest beef export market by volume, worth 180 million NZ dollars (124.29 million) a year. "This is an important result for New Zealand's agricultural exporters and for trade fairness," said McClay. "We are committed to pursuing a range of options for addressing trade barriers that affect New Zealand exporters, including WTO dispute settlement as a last resort," he said. "As a result of this process, we have already seen some improvements to Indonesia's regulations and gains for New Zealand exporters to Indonesia. These will only improve following implementation of the WTO decision." New Zealand continued to have a very strong relationship with Indonesia. "The highly professional and constructive manner in which all parties conducted themselves throughout this case is testament to the resilience of the relationship. We enjoy regular high-level political engagement," said McClay. "Even close friends have occasional disagreements and the WTO helps insulate trade policy differences from wider bilateral relations." Indonesia could yet appeal the decision to the WTO's Appellate Body. ATHENS, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Two major Greek newspapers with long history did not go to print on Wednesday due to strike of about 1,000 journalists, technicians and administrative personnel who have not received salaries for several months. Ta Nea (The News) of Lambrakis Press group (DOL) and Ethnos (the Nation) of Pegasus group, both launched in the early 20th century, have been two of Greek's best-selling newspaper for decades. They survived wars, but have been hit hard in the six-year debt crisis, which has taken a toll on media sector due to decreased advertisement revenues. Ethnos did not circulate only during the 1970s military dictatorship. Nea was not printed only during anti-austerity strikes called by media unions in recent years. Employees in the debt-ridden media groups DOL and Pegasus have not been paid since August this year. In protest, the journalists' unions called on Tuesday a 24-hour rolling strike until the 1,000 households receive at least the Christmas bonus ahead of the holidays. In addition, DOL's three websites, which are among the most popular in Greece, are also not being updated. VIMA FM radio station is off the air and the group's magazines are very likely not to reach kiosks in coming days. Similarly, in Pegasus, all print and electronic media of the group are suffering a news blackout. Unionists and employees are blaming publishers for poor management choices. Putting aside the criticism over the reasons behind the crisis, media unions express concern that pluralism and press freedom will suffer a heavy blow should the two media groups collapse. Media sector has started to feel the chill of economic downturn, as another major daily of the country Eleftherotypia was shut down and the private MEGA TV, operating since 1989, is teetering on the brink of collapse due to debts. CARIRI launches Slip Resistance Assessment The occurrence of slips, trips and falls within recent times in commercial spaces has grown rapidly and in speaking with persons in the construction sector, a common point of contention has always been the coefficient of friction, which is the measure of slip resistance of a tile. Almost every building, commercial or otherwise in the country has some percentage of its space covered by tiles. This is a service that is needed in Trinidad and Tobago, and by extension the region, since it will provide users of commercial spaces with a measure of comfort over the safety of walkways and floors. The Slip Resistance Assessment will ensure that slips, trips and falls are minimised and that employers, employees, customers and the general public feel safe in the knowledge that these walkways and floors are slip resistant. In addition to this, it could also help to reduce the cost of the company in the long run by ensuring that tiles that are in place are able to withstand the wear and tear of high levels of use as well as mitigate the companys risk for lawsuits due to slips, trips and falls. To assess a floors slip resistance, CARIRI now has a reliable, thoroughly researched floor friction test method and the equipment necessary to conduct the assessment. CARIRI is mandated to provide value to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and by offering this new service, the institute aims to ensure that they provide professional advice and testing that will go a long way in keeping the walkways and floors of commercial spaces as safe as possible. As Lisa Ramoutar, unit leader of the Industrial Materials Unit Civil stated in her presentation One of the biggest aspects of walkway safety is the slips, trips and falls. We want to minimise these. It is with this objective in mind that the Industrial Materials Unit - Civil sought out the experts in this field and invited them to come to Trinidad to assist the staff at the Institute with training so that they would be better equipped to serve the market. The Substratum Group has been in existence for decades and has been able to establish itself as a leader in providing safer walkways and floors. They have extensive background in the development and execution of floor care solutions for all facility types and they do use a standards-based approach to walkway safety and this was able to tie in nicely with CARIRIs commitment to providing the best service to its clients. David Collette, managing director of the Substratum Group personally came to Trinidad to conduct the training, and at the session, he endorsed the quality of the skills that the team at CARIRI now possesses in the area of Slip Resistance Assessment. He was able to bring to light the importance of quality design, procurement and even maintenance in ensuring that slips, trips and falls occur even less or not at all. The session was well received by a varied cross section of persons which included personnel from the banks, schools, regional corporations, groceries, government ministries, construction companies, architects, etc. CARIRI is now well established after having a number of staff trained in the area of Slip Resistance Assessment and are pleased and proud to be able to launch this service. It is hoped that by providing this service they would be able to reduce risk and provide employers, employees and the general public with the confidence that they can freely conduct their day-to-day business without fear of slips, trips and falls. Slip Resistance Assessment falls under the area of Quality and this is something that CARIRI takes very seriously. Achieving quality standards is one of the most important issues in the construction industry and the management of quality is an important factor in determining the competitive edge of any business. Quality is built in to every aspect of this new service and it is vital that companies recognise the importance of a proper quality system since it begins with selection, sampling and storage of materials used in the construction of walkways and floors. As a certified and accredited testing facility, it is vital that CARIRI take the lead in bringing these key quality issues to the forefront. With over 30 years of experience, the Civil Engineering Unit is the most advanced ISO-certified civil/construction engineering testing laboratory in the Caribbean. CARIRIs team of experienced professionals has provided testing and consultancy services to government ministries locally and within the region and to the construction, energy and light manufacturing sectors, among others. For more information on this service, please contact our Industrial Materials Unit Civil at 285-5050 ext 3190 or email us at lramoutar@ cariri.com or awilliams@cariri.com. Attorney knocks disparity in sentencing This view, however, was not shared or endorsed by San Fernando Magistrate Natalie Diop who chided attorney Ainsley Lucky saying such an observation was irrelevant to the case before her (Diop). Lucky submitted to the magistrate that the son of a well known Senior Counsel Israel Khan was given a light sentence, by a magistrate when he was charged with Driving Under the Influence of alcohol. The attorney continued that the son of well-known contractor Junior Sammy also got a slap-on-the-wrist treatment from a magistrate for a similar offence. Lucky was asked by the magistrate to desist, but he continued by telling Magistrate Diop that the son of a Deputy Commissioner of Police, also charged with driving under the influence, was also the beneficiary of justice with a smile. Lucky sought to highlight the alleged disparity in how justice is meted out, when he failed in a bid to secure the reinstatement of the drivers licence of Standley Andrews, 53, of Embacadere, San Fernando. Andrews permit was suspended in June for a year on a charge of dangerous driving. Lucky argued an application yesterday before Diop to have the permit reinstated on the ground that Andrews occupation is that of a driver at Paramount Transport. Since the suspension, he has been relegated to sweeping the yard and doing odd jobs. Moreso, Lucky told the magistrate, he needs to drive his daughter to school. In in his submission, Lucky made a comparison of how other accused persons have been treated by the courts. James Khan, 34, the son of the Senior Counsel Israel Khan, was reprimanded and discharged on January 2014, on a charge of driving under the influence. Deputy Commissioner of Police Deodath Dulalchans son Dale, 32, appeared in the Chaguanas Magistrates court last month for driving under the influence. Magistrate Diop stopped Lucky from continuing on the ground of relevance and then ruled. She said that even in Andrews application for reinstatement, he denied he was driving dangerously although he was convicted by the court. Andrews has another charge pending before Diop in which he failed to gave a sample of his breath to Police Constable Sujeet Ramcharan, who has stopped him on suspicion that he was driving under the influence of alcohol. The matter is continuing today. I NEED WORK These were words uttered by convicted killer Gilbert Evelyn as he walked out of the San Fernando High Courts yesterday a free man, after spending 26 years behind bars for killing his grandparents. Entering prison at age 33, Evelyn who is now 59, said those long years in prison were not wasted as he learned enough skills he thinks to make himself employable. In 1990, Evelyn burned down his grandparents house in Claxton Bay while they were asleep. He was charged for murder but was found guilty on the lesser count of manslaughter and imprisoned at the Presidents Pleasure. In a ruling yesterday, Justice Carla Browne-Antoine said that Evelyn was perhaps now fit to return to mainstream society, but warned him, times have changed in Trinidad and Tobago since 1990, and there are new challenges you would face as a free man. When you in jail, every day is Christmas even when it is not Christmas, because December 25 come like a normal day. I am free now and I can tell you I want a job. I will be looking for a job, Evelyn said as he walked slowly out of the courthouse accompanied by his 79-year-old aunt Monica Browne. The case against Evelyn was that in 1990, he set fire to his grandparents home leading to the death of Marcus and Constance Evelyn. It was revealed at the trial that at age 13, Evelyn was a user of illicit drugs and on the day of the incident, he used cocaine. Former Justice Kester McMillan accepted a plea of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. Evelyn was sentenced to a period of imprisonment at the Presidents Pleasure. In prison, Evelyn enrolled in drug abuse programmes as well as anger management sessions. Nine years after being imprisoned, attorneys petitioned the High Court in a constitutional motion on behalf of Evelyn, that to sentence a person to the Presidents Pleasure was unconstitutional. Justice Gregory Smith ruled that the prisoner be detained at the Courts Pleasure, which would facilitate his sentence coming up for periodic review. The sentencing review came up for hearing on several occasions before Justice Carla Browne-Antoine, in which State Attorneys made legal submissions in respect of Evelyns life in prison and how well he had responded to various programmes. After 26 years and five months in jail, yesterday was for a decision and as his aunt Browne, who lives in Wallerfield, stood beside him, the court heard that attorney Tempu Nefertari Moheni sought the interest of the aunt. The court heard that Browne has consented to keep Evelyn at her home in Wallerfield if he is released. Justice Browne-Antoine then told Evelyn that he must not think that he was being released willy nilly into society to roam free as there are conditions which if violated would see him return to court and quite possibly sent back to jail. The conditions are that Evelyn be subjected to supervision by a Probation Officer for a period of two years and he must report to them as soon as he leaves the courthouse. The Probation Officers department is to compile a bio-data of Evelyns life and he is to report monthly and the Probation Officer would determine how often thereafter. Justice Browne-Antoine also ordered Evelyn to attend narcotics programmes and any other as directed by the Probation Officer, who is to keep the court abreast of his progress. Further, he is to be subjected to mandatory drug testing and is to stay at Mexico Road, Wallerfield by his aunt Browne. And, if ever he is to leave there to go elsewhere to reside, the judge further ordered, that information must be made available to the Probation Office department. Justice Browne-Antoine said, Mr Evelyn, everything you do I would know. This is an opportunity to start over and I know it is kind of late, but you can start over. The world outside prison is not as you knew it when you went in. Your aunt is elderly and old people are set in their ways, so you must take your time as you go about life. Evelyn was then told he was free to leave. Comfort policing goes Sources added that the CCP is a unit within the larger department known as the Office of Law Enforcement Policy which was established in 2007. The CCP came into being in July 2014 and according to the National Security Ministry website, it was aimed at being a crime reduction initiative of the Ministry consistent with the strategic vision of the TTPS, to make every place in Trinidad and Tobago safe. The programme initially started with 24-hour, two-officer mobile patrols in CCP branded vehicles in designated residential communities to let residents see a greater law enforcement presence. The CCP started under the Peoples Partnership by then national security minister Gary Griffith. At present, over 300 security officers from four security companies including Amalgamated Security are involved in the comfort patrols and officers were given specific communities including Westmoorings, Diego Martin, Valsayn, La Horquetta and Tobago to carry out these patrols. Officers worked closely with police and assisted in patrolling communities while persons were away at work; doing beach patrols; assisting the elderly and school children and also provided back up assistance when needed by police. Sources said that when the Peoples National Movement (PNM) came into power in 2015, a review of the CCP was ordered and a decision was made recently to scrap the programme. On Monday, the Ministry of National Security sent letters to the four security companies involved in the CCP stating the programme will end on January 1. Ironically, on that same day, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, speaking at the opening of the new Besson Street Police Station, opined that statistics showing a reduction in certain crimes were rendered virtually meaningless in a society where the fear of crime and the fear of falling victim to criminals, are pervasive. Sources said Government is actively considering utilising municipal police officers, from various borough corporations, to take on the same work carried out by CCP officers, in a bid to cut costs and save tens of millions of dollars. Sources said it is not known if this plan would work since the Municipal Police force is severely under strength. It is further understood that a retired Deputy Police Commissioner may be given the plum job of overseeing these municipal officers tasked to carry out duties of the soon to be defunct CCP. Contacted for comment, former minister Griffith said it was very unfortunate that the CCP was being scrapped. This is the 21st national security policy that has been dismantled in the last year and a half. Business groups support Industrial Court In that respect, they said they continue to support the independence and smooth operations of the ICTT. AmCham, the Energy Chamber, the TTCSI and the TTMA said they also recognise that, as with all institutions, the ICTT must evolve over time to deal with the social, economic and technological demands of the society. It is how we effect those changes that will prove our maturity and development as a society, they added. The four business groups then stated their commitment to seeking the best way forward, and as such, expect vigorous and unfettered debate on issues of national importance. In a democratic country where freedom of speech is our right, passionate discourse amongst citizens should not only be expected but encouraged as we collectively explore solutions for our problems.We will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that our country becomes even more competitive, that individual rights are protected and that we create opportunities for dialogue. Nowhere in their statement did the four mention a specific person or group who may have questioned their commitment to the independence of the ICTT. Newsday remembers retrenched Arcelor Mittal workers The hampers, each filled with goods costing roughly $1,000, were put together with funds from Newsday, M&M Insurance Services Ltd, the SWWTU, and Ashley Taylor, President of the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation, and helped along by a discount on goods from National Flour Mills Ltd. It was an exercise of the collective will of business and labour which is a good sign for Trinidad and Tobago, said Annisette. It speaks volumes to the people of Trinidad and Tobago that when we put aside our egos and our petty differences and put our collective wisdom together to work in the best interest of Trinidad and Tobago, it can benefit the people. I must express my thanks to Mr Steve Castagne from M&M insurance, who would have been part of the initiative, who developed the idea, who would have worked out the logistics in our discussions. I also want to take the opportunity to express our thanks to National Four Mills who would have given us a 20 percent discount on the prices of the goods that we would have purchased from National Flour Mill and a donation of $1,500. Mr Ashley Taylor, the President of PLIPDECO also gave towards this venture. And Newsday too would have made a sterling contribution, and they readily agreed to be part of this whole exercise. President of the Steel Workers Union of Trinidad and Tobago, Christopher Henry, expressed gratitude on behalf of his union members. I do appreciate the gesture and initiative that is taken by Comrade Annisette and his partners in facilitating the process of providing over 100 hampers here today which will go a long way in providing some relief for these workers, some who have not worked for a year, who have been removed from their homes, some of whom cannot even purchase groceries Auxiliary firemen want wages The men claimed monies allocated for the auxiliaries in National Budget 2016/2017 were spent on equipment for the full time Fire Service, particularly vehicles such as fire-trucks, utility vehicles and buses. Worse, even as the hourly-paid auxiliaries remain unpaid since July, much of the Auxiliary Fire Services allocation has been sent back to the Treasury unused. The officers bemoaned their shoddy treatment, relative to the auxiliary/reserve arms of the nations other protective services - Defence Force, Special Reserve Police and Prison Reserve. The men said the Auxiliary Fire Service Act 1979 says they have the same powers, authority, privileges and immunities plus the same duties and responsibilities of a full-time member of the Fire Service, but in practice this has not been so. They complained they are paid late, not supplied with proper gear such as personal protective equipment, and indeed are often not called out at all to serve. The men questioned the suitability for office of the leadership of the Auxiliary Fire Service whom they complained are not advocating on behalf of the lower ranks. The men said the promulgation of the Regulations that accompany the Auxiliary Fire Service Act will help to promote a greater transparency in the appointment of top-brass and so remedy an allegation situation of square pegs in round holes. They hoped Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, would take up the baton from his predecessor, the late Martin Joseph, (who had drafted the Regulations eight years ago), and help to get the Regulations into effect. Newsday was unable to contact Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, nor Joint Select Committee on National Security chairman, Fitzgerald Hinds. The Budget document, Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure, on page 124 shows that in fiscal 2016 some $41 million was intended for the Auxiliary Fire Unit, but ultimately just $29 million was spent. Some $17 million was spent in fiscal 2015, while this fiscal year the planned estimate is $38 million. Fire Service Association general secretary, Ashton Cunningham has empathised with the auxiliaries plight. They are always disadvantaged with regard to uniform, equipment and getting their salaries on time, he told Newsday. These are long-stand problems which wed have thought would have been resolved a long time ago. Ill do whats in my power to assist. Cunningham agreed that the Regulations are needed to ensure the smooth daily management of the Auxiliary Fire Service, by setting down terms and conditions. He said his Association met Minister Dillon and the Acting Chief Fire Officer in July to discuss matters such as the Auxiliary Regulations, but lamented that the Associations request for a follow-up meeting - made on November 30 - has not yet got a response from Dillon. Rowley: Opposition seeking to create FATCA mayhem Rowley spoke with the media after a book signing at the RIK Book Store in Long Circular Mall on Tuesday. The Opposition believes, he said, that if they do not cooperate, then they believe that mayhem will take place in the country and, in that mayhem, their position would be improved and they might have the opportunity of getting back into office. He said, You might find that difficult to believe. I dont. Rowley said he will not be surprised at all if the Opposition manages to create mayhem in the country that would flow from them not using their vote to protect the countrys interest. Whether you like it or not, that is it. He said when one hears Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar voicing her opinion on the issue, You have to ask yourself Why is she saying that. Why is she doing that? And why are they risking the countrys future? Persad-Bissessar knew of the requirements since 2013 when she was in office, he said adding that she did not do anything then, neither in 2014 nor in 2015. We missed the first deadline. We got an extension for a second deadline and this woman is here on television telling the nation that the sky would not fall in, he said. He continued, As far as the Opposition is concerned, the Government is fear mongering and is crying wolf. I know she knows better than that. The Opposition has been calling on Government to take the Tax Information Exchange Bill, commonly referred to as the FATCA bill to a Joint Select Committee. Government has debated the bill in the Parliament and taken it to the Committee Stage, but the Opposition is still not satisfied with amendments made to it. Deyalsingh warns citizens: Take your health seriously Lets be proactive this coming year, the influenza vaccines are available for free at all Health centres nationwide. We are making it easy for everyone to access and I want to emphasize on the importance of the vaccine and call on citizens who may be most at-risk to contracting influenza, the pregnant women, the hypertensives, the diabetics, the elderly, to make it their responsibility to get this vaccine and to urge your loved ones to do the same. Dont wait to hear in the media that one person or two persons has already died from a virus to take interest. Newsday spoke to the Minister following his address, who expressed optimism that the drive would yield positive results adding that the success of the campaign hinges upon the willingness of the public to become vaccinated. For this year alone weve distributed approximately 20,000 vaccinations, this is more than twice the amount of vaccinations that were given last year. We are committed to ensuring that all persons are safe and healthy, however it is the responsibility of the public to access the vaccine and take the necessary precautions against infection. General Manager of the Primary Health Centre, Dr Peter Baggan, explained that the purpose of the vaccine was to not only minimise the aggressiveness of local influenza virus, but also to protect against foreign viruses, which may be imported from North America. During the Christmas and Carnival seasons especially where persons from abroad come to Trinidad, there is a lot of influx of viral diseases and infections... Mayor Regrello, ex-mayor Hosein tour High Street We are having a national clean-up and are starting to plan, using the model from the San Fernando City Corporation which we had last year September and I am taking a note to Cabinet this Thursday and from there we will make the announcements where we get volunteers from the 14 corporations to be involved, Minister Hosein said. That is like contractors who have heavy equipment that just park up because the work slow and they willing to come out and assist. Asked whether a date had been selected, he said: Most likely after the second week in January. Mayor Regrello said joint police/army patrols have been earmarked for the southern city although there had not been any reports of major criminal activity in the southern city. We have no evidence or information that there is increased crime in the area, I am heartened by that, I am encouraged by that, also I spoke to (National Security Minister) Mr (Edmund) Dillon a couple days ago and there would be increased joint police/ army patrols, Regrello said. Japan tags senior citizens with scan-able barcodes to tackle their problem of elderly people gone missing It likely seems Orwellian to most Americans, but apparently some Japanese are okay with it: One city in the Asian nation has launched a unique program to help keep track of senior citizens who have a tendency to become losttagging their fingers and toes with scan-able barcodes. As reported by Agence France Presse, a firm based in Iruma, located north of Tokyo, developed minute nail stickers, each one carrying a unique identifier that helps concerned families locate missing loved ones, according to the citys social welfare office. The QR-coded, adhesive seals for nails, which are part of a free service that has only recently been launchedand is a first in Japanmeasure only one centimeter (0.4 inches) in size. Being able to attach the seals on nails is a great advantage, one city employee told AFP. There are already ID stickers for clothes or shoes but dementia patients are not always wearing those items. If authorities find an elderly person wandering about, they will contact the local city hall, its telephone number and the wearers identification all placed within the QR code. The chips stay attached for about two weeks, even if they get wet, according to the company, citing recent field trials. As Japans society grows older, governments face unique probless with dementia and other age-related health problems In November, Japanese police started providing noodle discounts at local restaurants for elderly citizens who voluntarily agreed to give up their driver licenses. That offer was the result of a series of deadly accidents involving elderly drivers; its a huge problem because there are 4.8 million people 75 years old or older who hold drivers licenses. Japan is struggling with a rapidly aging population. Demographers believe that by 2060, an astounding 40 percent of Japanese will be over the age of 65, as the countrys birth rate slips to about 1.41 children per woman. As reported by the Japan Times, experts have described Japans birth rate situation as catastrophic because its society is aging as sexless couples are having fewer and fewer children. At present, in fact, the birth rate is below the death rate, meaning Japans population is slowly dying off. That said, the figures dont tell the full story; in fact, demographers say that the situation is reversing itself, the Times noted. As for the tracking device, that is an idea that seems like an innocent solution to what appears to be a mounting problem in Japan. And it could just be an idea that only works in certain societies. But rest assured, the globalist ruling cabal likes authoritarian rule, and would love nothing more than to be able to track every human being on the planet. There are those who would love to track every human on the planet In fact, thats very nearly the case as it is, and we have done it to ourselves willingly, with technology. Our cellphones serve as miniature tracking devices. Automobiles equipped with satellite-fed featuresradio, emergency contact systems, remote start/shut-down systemsalso serve to track us wherever we go. Then there are devices for the home that essentially keep track of us; virtually everything that is connected to the Internet or is satellite-linked. Even our smart electrical power meters are treasure troves of data that can indicate when we are at home, establish patterns of behavior and so forth. Some societiesdictatorships, communist countries, and even some socialist-leaning nations in the European Unionwould either have little choice or may voluntarily agree to allowing themselves to be tracked by the government 24/7/365. That wouldnt work so well in the United States, however, with our constitutional privacy protections, though clearly there are even those in our own country who would love to circumvent those protections or have them overturned. Sources: Yahoo.com JapanTimes.com FreeBeacon.com Submit a correction >> 10 killed in attack on MP's house in Kabul Israel,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Terrorism, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Kabul, Dec 22 (IANS) At least 10 people were killed in an attack targetting the house of an MP in Kabul, the media reported on Thursday. The attack, claimed by the Taliban, was carried out on Helmand MP Mir Wali's residence on Wednesday evening, Tolo News reported. Three attackers stormed his house and one of them detonated his explosives to open the way for other gunman to start a shooting spree, according to reports. But the lawmaker managed to escape. The siege ended early on Thursday morning after a 13-hour standoff in which all the attackers were killed. According to a security official, seven people, including four of Mir Wali's family members, the son of Kandahar MP Obaidullah Barikzai and two security guards were also killed. Crisis Response Unit members and special forces were deployed at the scene. Sporadic gunfire was heard through most of the night. --IANS soni/ksk/mr Will return to direction when time is right: Sasikumar Tamil Nadu,Cinema/Showbiz,Southern Cinema, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Chennai, Dec 22 (IANS) Last seen donning the director's hat with 2010 Tamil thriller "Easan", actor-filmmaker Sasikumar says he will return to helming when the time is right and won't succumb to the pressure of the industry and his peers. "Every time I meet the press, I'm asked when I plan to return to direction. A lot of my well-wishers in the industry too ask the same question. I don't buck to the pressure of all these people because I know I'll direct when the time is right," Sasikumar told IANS. He says he can't let the pressure of his peers influence him. "I can't make a film because someone wants me to. I will decide when I want to direct, and I'm waiting for the right time. It might be next year or the one after that. I have two scripts ready but I'm not quite sure which one to choose first to direct," he said. Sasikumar's Tamil comedy-drama "Balle Vellaiya Theva", in which he has played the lead, is slated for release on Friday. --IANS hp/nv/vm Bangladeshi Hindus have security, but have feeling of insecurity : Tripura Governor Tripura,National,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Politics,Defence/Security, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS null Agartala, Dec 22 (IANS) The Hindu minority in Bangladesh are safe still have a feeling of insecurity, Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy has said. "Bangladesh government has taken steps to provide security to the minority Hindus, but unfortunately the Hindus have a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty about their future," Roy said, while participating in a discussion here on Wednesday night. He said the Bangladesh government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formed an international tribunal to punish the "slaughterers who have killed thousands of people". "During the partition of the country in 1947, (the then) East Pakistan had 29 per cent Hindu, but now it has reduced to 8 to 9 per cent," the governor said. The discussion was arranged in connection of publication of Roy's book - "Ja Chhilo Amar Desh" (What was my country), a tale of exodus of minorities from what is now Bangladesh. Roy, who elaborated how several massacres were taken place in erstwhile East Pakistan and acts of Pakistani Army and the then rulers, said that many people know about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in India but many people do not know about the more heinous massacre in Chuknagar (under Khulna district in Bangladesh). "In the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 around 1,500 people were killed but in Chuknagar massacre, the Pakistani Army and its associate Razakars butchered 10,000 unarmed Hindus by bullets, bayonets and stampede on May 20, 1971," he said. "Chuknagar massacre is one instance. In many places in the then East Pakistan several massacre took place and during Bangladesh liberation war such brutal mass carnage took an ugly turn." "The mass atrocities were begun on Hindus in Noakhali in previous East Pakistan in 1946. With the active participation of Pakistani rulers, the atrocities and massacres on Hindus turned barbaric in 1950, 1964 and 1971. Besides massacre, mass looting, rape and killings forced over one crore Hindus to take shelter in India and lived with heavy poverty and deprivation," he said. Roy, a former President of Bharatiya Janata Party unit in West Bengal, said that his book was not written to generate hate against the Muslims by the Hindus or not to make distance or create enmity between India and Bangladesh. "The book was written only to say the truth. Many books were written, many films were made on the pre and post liberation period, but nowhere it was not elaborated why lakh of Hindu had forced to leave their ancestral homes in the then East Pakistan and took shelter in West Bengal." "I believe, forgive by all means but never forget. The new generation must know what done against the minority Hindus in the then East Pakistan and why lakh of people had to take shelter in India," said the engineer turned politician turned governor. Roy, was born in Kolkata but his ancestors belonged to Bangladesh's Brahmanbaria district. He said that some leaders backed by Pakistani founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah tried to merge Tripura with Pakistan instead of India. He said: "After I wrote my first book - My People, Uprooted - in 2000, I was not allowed to visit Bangladesh as Dhaka did not give me visa but last year, I have visited Bangladesh thrice. I have a cordial relation with Bangladesh." Renowned academician Arunoday Saha and Kolkata based publisher Sabitendranath Roy also spoke in the discussion. The governor in his 384-page book also criticised former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and accused him for creation of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The septuagenarian writer also criticised Left parties for their role in India's partition. --IANS sc/sm/vm null Screening new Bollywood films in Pakistan will take time Pakistan,Cinema/Showbiz,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Politics,Diplomacy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Islamabad, Dec 22 (IANS) The screening of latest Bollywood films in Pakistan will take time, says Nadeem Mandviwala, owner of the Cineplex at Centaurus. The Dawn newspaper on Thursday quoted Mandviwala as saying that the ball was in India's court. In September, cinema owners in Pakistan decided not to screen Indian movies until tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad abated. The Pakistani decision followed the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association's ban on Pakistani actors in Indian movies. The decision caused financial losses to Pakistani cinemas, which were forced to reduce the number of shows as audience numbers fell, the Dawn reported. The move to lift the ban on Indian movies was made last week and older Indian movies already shown in Pakistan are being screened again. Mandviwala said he didn't think they will get latest Indian movies immediately. "It can take days, weeks and even months to start screening new movies. We have lifted the ban and now it is up to Indian distributors whether they will sell movies to Pakistan. "Once Indian distributors agree to sell movies, we will have to get a no objection certificate (NOC) from the government. If the NOC is issued, the movies will have to be cleared by Pakistan Censor Board. "After that we will be in a position to say that new (Indian) movies can be screened in Pakistan," he added. --IANS nn/nv/mr Expats in UAE seek solution to Indian currency woes Togo,Diaspora,Business/Economy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Abu Dhabi, Dec 22 (IANS) As the deadline to exchange demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 Indian currency notes looms, the expatriates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have expressed their concerns that they might not be able to exchange the notes before the deadline. Several expats say they are surprised that the Indian government has not announced any reprieve for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), as many of them would not be able to travel to India before the last date to exchange the demonetised currency, said a report in Gulf News on Wednesday. The expats say they want the Indian government to make arrangements here in the UAE to exchange the invalid notes. Almost each of an estimated 2.6 million Indians in the UAE holds a few thousand Indian rupees, mostly in the denominations of 500 and 1,000 rupees that were demonetised in a surprise move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 night. The scrapped notes can be deposited or exchanged at banks in India by December 30 and at offices of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by March 31, 2017. However, there is no arrangement for the expats to exchange their old currency notes outside India. "The March 31 deadline is irrelevant to NRIs because it is practically impossible for them to reach a faraway RBI office while visiting India. Moreover, many expats go on vacation once in two years," said Shyam Gehi, a resident of Mumbai, who has been living in Dubai for over 40 years. He demanded an extension of the December 30 deadline indefinitely for NRIs and said they should be allowed to deposit at least up to Rs 25,000 in their bank accounts when they visit home. Another expat demanded that the Indian government should extend the deadline by at least one more year for the NRIs. If the deadline extension is not possible, then the government should authorise a money exchange centre in the UAE, otherwise the majority if Indians here will suffer, the expat said. Anurag Kashyap, 40, another expat in Abu Dhabi, suggested that the Indian government authorise the Bank of Baroda, the only Indian bank with commercial operations in the UAE, to facilitate exchange of the invalid notes. However, an official at the Bank of Baroda office in Dubai told Gulf News that there was no information about the bank accepting or exchanging invalid notes. The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a statement on Tuesday that it has taken up the issues raised by the NRI community in UAE with the Ministry of Finance as well as with the RBI. --IANS soni/vt RBI's latest figures: The math still doesn't add up Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) Despite much criticism, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has failed to give a credible account of the new notes supplied to the public. In its latest press release on Wednesday, the RBI said it had sent out for distribution to the public 22.6 billion notes of various denomination worth Rs 5.93 lakh crore. But the break-up given, taken with its earlier statements, shows that the RBI's latest update is a mathematical impossibility. Indeed, the gap between what the apex bank claims it has disbursed and what, according to its own earlier numbers, it could possibly have disbursed, has now grown to over Rs 66,000 crore. This is assuming that 10 per cent of the high denomination notes distributed are of Rs 500 variety. But even if we assume the highly unlikely scenario that all the notes supplied by the RBI were of Rs 2,000 denomination, the math does not add up -- the shortfall would be around Rs 34,000 crore. Despite attempts to seek clarity, the RBI has not responded to IANS' queries. On December 7, during the monetary policy press conference, the Deputy Governor of RBI, R. Gandhi, informed the media that a total of Rs 4 trillion or Rs 4 lakh crore had been disbursed to the public in new currency notes till the day before. Of this amount, Rs 1.06 lakh crore in value or 19.1 billion pieces were in smaller denomination currency notes while the rest -- Rs 2.94 lakh crore -- was by way of high-denomination notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. On December 12, the RBI Deputy Governor told reporters that 21.8 billion pieces of notes were issued to the public till December 10, worth Rs 4.61 trillion or Rs 4.61 lakh crore. The next day, an RBI release on the deputy governor's statement said that 20.1 billion pieces of small notes from Rs 10 to Rs 100 were circulated, while the higher denomination notes amounted to 1.7 billion (or 170 crore) pieces. An earlier IANS report showed, as below, that the RBI math did not add up. According to the RBI, the increase in small notes between December 6 and December 10 was only one billion pieces (from 19.1 billion to 20.1 billion). Even if all the small notes printed were of Rs 100 denomination, it takes the value of small notes to Rs 1.16 lakh crore (from Rs 1.06 lakh crore) leaving Rs 3.45 lakh crore to be covered by high denomination notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. Assuming that only 10 per cent of the total 1.7 billion high denomination notes (170 million or 17 crore) were in Rs 500 notes, its total value (17 crore x 500) amounts to Rs 8,500 crore. Rest of the 90 per cent (1.53 billion or 153 crore) of Rs 2,000 notes amounts to (153 crore x 2,000) Rs 3.06 lakh crore The value of these two high denomination notes amount to Rs 3.14 lakh crore. That leaves a gap of Rs 31,000 crore to be covered, which finds no explanation in any of the RBI's statements. Now let's look at the latest RBI statement on December 21. In this, the RBI says that 22.6 billion currency notes worth Rs 5.93 lakh crore were issued to the public by December 19. Of this, small notes upto Rs 100 denomination were 20.4 billion pieces (2,040 crore pieces) and the rest, 2.2 billion pieces (220 crore pieces) were of higher denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. Let's do the calculation based on this claim. The RBI had said earlier that by December 10, the smaller notes upto Rs 100 in circulation were 20.1 billion. The latest statement thus adds just 0.3 billion (30 crore pieces) to the smaller notes in nine days, till December 19. For the higher denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500, the total notes go up from 1.7 billion pieces to 2.2 billion pieces, thus adding 0.5 billion pieces (50 crore pieces). Even if all the small notes supplied after December 10 were of Rs 100 denomination, it takes the value of small notes to Rs 1.19 lakh crore on December 19 (up from Rs 1.16 lakh crore on December 10) leaving Rs 4.74 lakh crore to be covered by high denomination notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. Let us again assume that only 10 per cent of the total 2.2 billion high denomination notes (220 million or 22 crore) were in Rs 500 notes. It's total value (22 crore x 500) amounts to Rs 11,000 crore. Rest of the 90 per cent (1.98 billion or 198 crore) of Rs 2,000 notes amounts to (198 crore x 2,000) Rs 3.96 lakh crore. The two high denomination notes together amount to Rs 4.07 lakh crore (Rs 3.96 lakh crore + Rs 11,000 crore), leaving a gap of Rs 66,713 crore. How does the RBI explain this continuing discrepancy? The ten per cent assumption is not without basis. In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Finance, Arjun Ram Meghwal, said that till November 29, 156 million pieces (15.6 crore) of Rs 500 and 1,608 million pieces (160.8 crore) of Rs 2,000 had been supplied. The Rs 500 notes amount to about 8.85 per cent of the higher denomination notes. The Parliament reply is the only place where the government has given a break up of the high denomination notes supplied. The RBI has never given this break up -- and that's where the problem lies. --IANS hs/sac/bg Vodafone launches its SuperNet 4G service in Odisha Orissa,National,Business/Economy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Bhubaneswar, Dec 22 (IANS) Vodafone, one of India's leading telecommunication services provider, on Thursday announced the launch of its SuperNet 4G service in Odisha. The telecom giant launched its service in Bhubaneswar and plans to take the high-speed network to all major towns and cities of Odisha by March next year. "As a steadfast partner to Digital India, we are delighted to launch Vodafone SuperNet 4G in Odisha. Beginning today, our customers in Bhubaneswar and soon across Odisha can enjoy the world's largest 4G network experience," said Arvind Vohra, Vodafone India Operations Director. The telecom operator will provide free upgrade to 4G for the customers along with high-speed 4G SIM and with 2GB data free with every upgrade to 4G for the existing customers. Besides, customers buying greater than 1GB packs will get twice the data allowance. It would also provide free three-month access to Vodafone Play, said Vohra. "Odisha is a key market for Vodafone India and as one of the leading telecom service providers, our over four million customers in the circle have a lot to look forward to. Beginning with Bhubaneswar, we will shortly expand the 4G service across the entire state in a phased manner," said Deepak Saluja, business head of Vodafone's Odisha circle. --IANS cd/sm/vt Indian arrested in Nepal with banned currency notes Nepal,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Kathmandu, Dec 22 (IANS) Nepal Police on Thursday arrested an Indian national in possession of banned currency notes worth Rs 363,500 from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Thupten Gelek (44) had 210 notes of Rs 1,000 denomination and 307 notes of Rs 500 denomination. Police detained Gelek while he was about to leave for New Delhi from Kathmandu on an Indigo Airlines flight (6E032). The notes were detected hidden inside a suitcase during security check. Gelek was taken into custody for further investigation about how he had collected the money and for what purposes he was taking it to India. Nepalis are holding billions-worth of banned Indian currency notes in and outside the banking channels. The Reserve Bank of India has not given a nod to Nepal's central bank to exchange these banned notes. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 had announced the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. --IANS giri/ksk/dg Multiple deposits in KYC accounts allowed till Dec 30, RBI clarifies Maharashtra,National,Business/Economy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Mumbai, Dec 22 (IANS) A day after the Reserve Bank withdrew the notification that barred people from depositing old notes in bank accounts more than once, the central bank on Thursday clarified that people are free to make more than one deposit till December 30. The old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes can be deposited at bank branches or in cash deposit machines more than once till December 30, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in the updated Frequently asked questions (FAQ). The customers should use separate pay-in-slips for making deposits in the mixed bunch of demonetised and legal tender notes, it said. Anybody depositing more than Rs 50,000 in cash in their bank account needs to submit a copy of the PAN card in case the bank account is not seeded with the information. The clarification on the part of the RBI comes a day after it took a U-turn on its notification of December 19 after widespread protests from the public. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had clarified the same evening on December 19 that one-time deposit would not attract any scrutiny by bankers. However, on Tuesday, he had insisted that only a one-time deposit would be allowed till December 30. On Wednesday, the RBI withdrew its norms on KYC deposits, but left it unclear whether multiple deposits would be allowed. The RBI said that for non-KYC accounts, if a person deposits more than Rs 5,000 in withdrawn currencies, the account will be credited only after questioning him or her, in the presence of two bank officials, as to why the money was not deposited earlier. The bankers will also have to keep the explanatory statement on record for future audit trail. Even if the non-KYC deposits are less than Rs 5,000 at a time but cumulatively exceed the amount, the bank officials have to get on record an explanation from the depositor of a non-KYC account. The upper limit of deposits for such accounts is also restricted to Rs 50,000. The above restrictions do not apply to deposits under the Taxation and Investment Regime for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. --IANS mm/hs/bg Vote with 'conscience', Nusli tells Tata Motors' shareholders Maharashtra,Business/Economy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Mumbai, Dec 22 (IANS) Industrialist Nusli Wadia, an Independent Director of Tata Motors, has asked the shareholders of the automobile major to vote with their "conscience" during the company's extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) on Thursday. Tata Motors has convened an EGM to decide whether or not to remove Wadia as an Independent Director on its Board. The agenda of the EGM was to take shareholders' approval for the removal of Tata Sons ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry and Independent Director Wadia from its Board of Directors. However, on Monday, Mistry had voluntarily stepped down from his position as non-executive Chairman from the Board of Directors of Tata Motors. Tata Sons board had ousted Mistry on October 24 and appointed Ratan Tata as the Interim Chairman. "It is in your hands to vote with your conscience for what is right for your company and more important for the institution of independent directors," Wadia said in his letter, dated Wednesday but made public on Thursday. He also said he has chosen not to attend the company's EGM on Thursday as the meetings of other Tata companies have been "inappropriately and shamefully stage managed". "What is at stake now is not whether I am removed or not but the fate of the very institution of the Independent Director that has been created in law and by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders," he added. The ability of a promoter to remove an Independent Director through the brute force of its holding in an ordinary resolution on which it can vote is a serious and major dichotomy and contradiction that needs to be and must be addressed urgently, Wadia said. "I have forwarded this letter to the company secretary to read it out to you, my dear shareholders. It is for him and the Board to decide whether they wish to allow him (Ratan Tata) to do so," he added. On Dec 13, Tata Sons had hiked its stake in Tata Motors buying five crore shares worth Rs 486.13 per share. At the end of the last quarter on September 30, Tata Sons held 26.98 per cent stake in the company, while the complete promoter group had a holding of 33.01 per cent in Tata Motors. On the other hand, Wadia had approached the Bombay High Court. On December 16, the Bombay High Court declined relief to minority shareholders of three Tata Group companies seeking to restrain promoters from voting at EGMs between December 21-23 on a resolution to remove Wadia as an Independent Director. However, the Bombay High Court has barred Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Chemicals from filling up the vacancy on the Board of Directors till further orders in the matter. Wadia's support for Tata Sons' ousted Chairman Mistry has led several Tata Group companies to call for their respective EGMs to decide whether or not to remove Wadia from their respective Boards. The development comes a day after Wadia was removed from Tata Steel's Board of Directors. On Wednesday, over 90 per cent shareholders of Tata Steel voted to remove Wadia as an Independent Director of the company during its EGM. --IANS rv/dg Jio's subscriber base may touch 100 mn by March 2017: Fitch Ratings Delhi,National,Technology,Business/Economy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) Riding on the free voice and data offers, Reliance Jio Infocomm's subscriber base may touch 100 million by March 2017 end said Nitin Soni, Director at Fitch Ratings. However, it may even shrink once the telecom operator starts charging its customers, he added. "We think that Jio is adopting a very sound strategy of offering free voice and text services and free data till the end of March to bolster its subscriber base. They currently have 52-55 million subscribers and it could well increase to 100 million by end of March, but we will need to remember that these are free services," Soni told BTVi in an interview. "So as long as it is free, even a customer who is a customer of Airtel or Idea will still take a free Jio SIM to enjoy free services for the next three months. But I think there will be some churn when Jio will start charging from April 1 and that churn may well reduce the subscriber base by 5-10 per cent," he added. Launched in September, Jio was offering its customers free voice and data till December 31, 2016, which it has now extended till March 31, 2017. "But I think at that time the price will be the sole determinant for a customer whether they want to shift to their second SIM on Jio or whether they want to retain their existing SIM with the incumbent. And at that time, the customer will decide how much they are going to pay on a monthly basis to the telecom operator and if Jio at that time is cheaper than the incumbents, then they might as well shift to Jio," Soni said. "But I think there will be a slew of other offers, which we believe will come in the next three months to further attract subscribers and incumbents will obviously take efforts to retain their existing subscriber base and not allow their premium subscriber base to churn over to Jio," he added. Talking about consolidation in the telecom space, Soni said the telecom industry cannot afford more than four to five participants in the long run. "We also believe that Reliance Jio entry into the industry will hasten consolidation, given the competitive intensity has notched quite high now and they have recently extended the offer to March 31." "The consolidation has been going on, we have seen Reliance Communications acquiring MTS, and then merging its operations with Aircel. And some of the weaker telcos are looking also to exit the market. But we believe that there could be some more consolidation in the medium term," said Soni. He said Idea Cellular could face a lot of challenges as it does not have 100 per cent 4G spectrum asset on a pan-India basis. "They could also look to do some merger and acquisition activity to strengthen its competitive position." "And whenever a new entrant comes into this industry, it negatively impacts the weaker telecom company first. We believe that Idea could be well affected in the next 12-24 months and which is the reason we think that they could do some M&A activity to consolidate their position." Soni said Fitch Ratings views the outlook for the entire sector as negative for 2017. "We believe that data tariff will fall by 15-20 per cent because of competitive intensity coming along from Jio. But Airtel is a well established and entrenched incumbent in this market." He said, Airtel with lot of spectrum asset on 900 MHz is well placed to compete against Jio. --IANS ag/vt Communal tension grips Bihar's Vaishali after honour killing Bihar,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Patna, Dec 22 (IANS) Communal tension gripped a village in Bihar's Vaishali district on Thursday after an alleged honour killing of a 20-year-old boy. The boy, Veerchand, was found dead in Sarma village early on Thursday morning, police said, adding that the preliminary investigation suggests the boy was killed over an affair with a girl from a different community. His body was recovered from behind the girl's house. The girl and her father have been arrested, police said. "We have began investigation into the case and deployed additional security forces from neighbouring police stations in the village to maintain peace," Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said. According to reports, a mob pelted stones at police and the girl's house, creating panic in the village. In view of the tension, District Magistrate Rachna Patil and SP Rakesh Kumar have been camping in the village. Heavy police deployment has been made in and around the village to avoid any untoward incident. "Tension prevails between two communities in the village but under-control," a local police official said. According to villagers, the victim was seen in the village on Wednesday evening. --IANS ik/lok/bg Rs. 2.2 cr in new currency seized from Assam trader Assam,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident,Business/Economy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Guwahati, Dec 22 (IANS) Over Rs 2 crore, mostly in new Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,00 denomination notes was seized from a businessman in Assam's Nagaon district on Thursday, police said. Police said that a joint team of police and Income Tax Department raided the house of Amulya Das in Nagaon based on specific information. "During the raid, we have seized new currency notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 denominations amounting to Rs. 2.2 crore. There were also some currency notes of Rs 100," police said. Amulya Das and his son Tapan Das were involved in retail business of cigarette, pan masala, gutka, bidi etc. They also own a newly-constructed hotel in the town and it is learnt that the family also owns some business in Assam's Barak Valley. "We have seized the amount. Our officials are questioning the father-son duo as to where from did they get so much of new currency. We are also going to verify whether the amount seized are proportionate to their legal income or not," said a senior IT official adding that the currencies were hidden in sacks and trunks inside Das's house and store. The Assam Police's CID had recovered over Rs 1.5 crore in new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 denominations stashed from the house of a businessman in Guwahati earlier this month. The CID have also formed a Quick Response Team to carry out operations against black money and other related offences. The 18 officials so tasked have been divided in three groups and they would carry out operations in any part of the state in coordination with the local police if needed. --IANS ah/vd Patnaik seeks inclusion of Odia language in NEET Orissa,National,Politics,Education, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Bhubaneswar, Dec 22 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for inclusion of Odia language as a medium of examination in the prestigious National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for medical courses. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Patnaik urged to include Odia language in the NEET for the larger interest of students in the state. "I find that Odia language as a medium of examination for the students of Odisha who will be appearing for the said test has been conspicuously left out. This, as you can appreciate, will put students from Odisha, who have studied in Odia, at a great disadvantage," he said. The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday decided that NEET-UG will be conducted in eight languages including six regional languages from the 2017-18 academic year. The eight languages are Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Telugu and Tamil. "In fact, this decision of Government of India will provide a competitive advantage for the students reading in 6 (six) regional languages to the disadvantage of those from Odisha," said the Chief Minister. He said the Health Ministry has not sought 'Odia' as an option while taking the state government's views on the language to be adopted for the state's students, and this has created widespread resentment among the students of Odisha who will be appearing for the exam in 2017-18, and onwards. --IANS cd/vd Chinese media warns India against using Dalai Lama card China,Politics,Diplomacy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Beijing, Dec 22 (IANS) A Chinese newspaper on Thursday warned India against using the Dalai Lama and Mongolia against China, saying employing proxies to counter Beijing was way beyond New Delhi's capability. The Global Times, which is known to reflect the thinking of the Chinese leadership, called India a "spoilt kid," and wondered what made India so confident when even the US thought twice before "messing" with China on sensitive issues. The op-ed article in the daily came in the wake of the December 11 meeting that Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had with the Tibetan spiritual leader. India also pledged financial support for Mongolia when Beijing punitively hiked tariff on trucks travelling through Chinese territory after Mongolia hosted the Dalai Lama. "New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. Mukherjee met the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November," said the Global Times article authored by Wen Dao. "India wants to disturb China's pace of development by taking advantage of China's national and international problems, most of which have nothing to do with India's national interests," Wen wrote. "India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China," it said. The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Global Times said Mongolia gave in to Beijing and said sorry for hosting the Dalai Lama before New Delhi could start the $1 billion credit line it had promised to Ulan Bator. Mongolia "tried to seek support from India, hoping that by allying with China's competitor, Beijing would be forced to give in". "India's way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line." The newspaper asked India to learn lessons how Beijing and US President-elect Donald Trump dealt with the situation after he spoke to Taiwanese President Tsai-ing Wen on telephone. "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent counter-measures, and must have understood that China's bottom line -- sovereign integrity and national unity -- is untouchable. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage? "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world'. India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is short-sighted." --IANS gsh/dg 20 rail projects taken up across 8 major ports in 2015-16: IPRCL Delhi,National,Business/Economy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) Indian Port Rail Corporation (IPRCL) on Thursday said that 20 railway projects were taken up across eight major ports in 2015-16. Among the works, 11 works with total project cost of Rs 7, 636.15 crores were for preparation of Feasibility and Detailed Project Report (DPR) and nine works with total project cost of Rs 643.77 crores were for project execution. According to IPRCL, it has completed the pre-feasibility study of a heavy haul rail corridor from Ib Valley-Talcher to Paradip and Dhamra to evacuate coal mines of Mahanadi Coal Ltd (MCL) to the ports for shipping them to the southern states through the coastal route. IPRCL also said that the company has already started rail infrastructure modernisation in Kolkata, Vishakhapatnam, Chennai, Tuticorin and New Mangalore ports. "Rail infrastructure expansion and modernization works are likely to commence from April 2017 in Kandla and JNPT ports and in Haldia Dock Complex (HDC). The company has also taken up the task of preparation of DPR for Rail and Road connectivity of the proposed Major Port at Colachel (Enayam) in Tamil Nadu," said a statement from the IPRCL. IPRCL on Thursday held its maiden Annual General Meeting, during which the company has pushed for enhancement of port connectivity. Registered on July 10 2015, it is the first of its kind joint venture company, between the Major Ports under the Ministry of Shipping and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL). --IANS rup/vd Israel urges US to veto UN resolution on Jewish settlements Israel,Politics,Diplomacy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Jerusalem, Dec 22 (IANS) Israel on Thursday urged the US to veto a UN Security Council draft resolution that demands an immediate halt to settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. "The US should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on his Twitter account. Hours later, President-elect Donald Trump also urged President Barack Obama to exercise the veto. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," Trump said in a post on Twitter and Facebook. "As the US has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations." The vote, expected on Thursday, would be one of the last chances for President Obama to stop Jews from continued settlement building in territories where the Palestinians seek to build their state. The draft resolution, sponsored by Egypt, asserts that the settlements "have no legal validity" and are "a flagrant violation" of international laws. It demands that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast War. About a decade later, right-wing Israelis started to establish settlements on these lands. The US sees the settlements, which are illegal by the international laws, as an obstacle to peace. The Palestinians have vowed not to return to the negotiating table unless Israel freezes its settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. --IANS ahm/dg Jung quits as Delhi Lt Gov, leaves centre, AAP governments surprised (Roundup) Delhi,National,Politics, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) In a surprise move, Delhi's Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, who had a running battle with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, resigned on Thursday, without any reason, leaving the city and central government and most parties taken aback. A brief statement released by the Lt Governor's Office did not say why the 66-year-old former IAS officer had called it quits but quoted him as saying that he would return to academics, "his first love". In the statement, Jung thanked both Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kejriwal for their association with him. While the Bharatiya Janata Party said it was his personal decision and wished him all the best, the Congress questioned if a deal was struck between Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jung became the Lt Governor on July 9, 2013 when a Congress-led coalition was in office. The Modi government retained him even as it replaced most Governors in the states, raising eyebrows. Kejriwal, who was in Ranchi, immediately telephoned Jung and later said his exit "is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours". AAP sources said Kejriwal was likely to call on Jung on Friday. The central government, which appoints the Lt Governor, was equally taken aback. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi told the media that he had met Jung on Tuesday but the latter gave no inkling of his thinking. Jung thanked the people of Delhi too for "their support and affection, especially during the one year's President Rule" leading to the assembly elections that led to an AAP victory in February 2015. Congress Delhi chief Ajay Maken termed Jung's resignation as an "unceremonious exit" and asked the Central government to explain the reason behind it. "We feel there has been a deal between the BJP and AAP because of which he has been made to leave. The central government should come out clean," he added. Hailing Jung's work, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wished him all the best for his future endeavours. Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Sardar R.P. Singh termed Jung's resignation as his personal decision, saying: "In his resignation letter, he has said that he want to pursue academics again, it is his personal decision. And we respect that decision." A former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, Jung gave no reason for his dramatic decision to step down, not even to his official advisors. He directly sent the resignation to the union Home Ministry through a special messenger. His advisor Ajay Chaudhary said he and his colleagues were not aware of Jung's move. "It was surprising," the official told India Today news channel. Informed sources said Jung, who could take up an academic job abroad, also wanted to spend more time with his family. Former Union Home Secretary Anil Baijal's name emerges as the front-runner for the post of Lt Governor in Delhi. Speculations are also rife that former Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi could also be among the choices for the post. Jung's tenure was marked by a sharp escalation in tensions between his office, which reported to the union Home Ministry, and the AAP government of Kejriwal. What began as a turf war turned into an often nasty confrontation between Jung and Kejriwal over who is the boss in Delhi, which, although a state, does not enjoy parity with other states. The central government, through the Lt Governor, controls Delhi Police, law and order and issues related to land in the capital. Jung made it a point to question almost every decision taken by the Kejriwal government, often declaring many of them null and void. Kejriwal repeatedly accused Jung of being "a Modi agent". The recurring Jung-Kejriwal battle was decided in favour of the former on August 4 by the Delhi High Court. The AAP government has moved the Supreme Court, where the matter is yet to be decided. Jung had reportedly confident to friends that he would quit if the Supreme Court decided the turf war in favour of the Kejriwal government. --IANS vv-am-kd/vd Gurugram woman gangraped in Delhi, boyfriend and another held Delhi,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS null New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) The Delhi Police on Thursday arrested a manager of a marketing company and his friend for allegedly raping a 21-year-old woman in west Delhi's Dwarka area. The woman, a resident of Gurugram in Haryana, was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital here on Wednesday night along with her boyfriend Himmat after they fell from a building in Dwarka area and got injured. Police said that both, the woman and Himmat, were drunk when admitted to hospital. Deputy Commissioner of Police Surender Kumar told IANS that the woman alleged that she was raped by her boyfriend and his friend Sunil, a cab driver. "On inquiry, we found that the woman and Himmat accidentally fell from the window of the building where they consumed alcohol during a party," the officer said. He said the woman met Himmat at Kapashera, near Delhi-Gurugram border, on Wednesday. Himmat's friend Sunil joined them later and took them to his flat in Dwarka. The officer said Himmat and Sunil have been arrested and a rape case has been registered against the accused. "We are still probing how the woman and her friend fell from the building, and whether she was raped or it was a consensual act," the officer said. --IANS sp-rak/lok/dg null Pope hopes Christmas will be like 'the first one' Italy,Religion, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Rome, Dec 22 (IANS/AKI) Pope Francis wished Italians a very happy Christmas "like the first one" in a live phone call to the popular daytime television programme Uno Mattina, aired by public broadcaster Rai on Thursday. "I wish you a Christian Christmas, like the first one, when God shook up the world's values," Francis said. "God made himself small, in a stable, with the little, poor people at the margins of society," he continued. "Smallness: in this world where the money God is venerated, it helps us to look to the smallness of our Lord who shook up the world's values. "I wish you a holy and happy, extremely happy Christmas. A big hug to all of you," the pontiff said. A day before his personal call to Rai Uno Mattina, Francis made an unnannounced visit to a small orthopaedic store near the Vatican to order some new insoles. --IANS/AKI vd Modi reaches Varanasi, to inaugurate various projects Delhi,National,Politics, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Thursday morning where he will lay the foundation stones of various projects. In the wake of allegations levelled by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, all eyes will be on Modi as how he responds to the charges. During his visit, the Prime Minister will inaugurate several projects and will also address the party workers. "Will inaugurate a Trade Facilitation Centre and Crafts Museum and launch schemes and programmes of Ministry of Textiles during the Varanasi visit," Modi tweeted. "There will also be an interaction with booth level BJP Karyakartas (workers) working in the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat," PM said in another tweet. Modi will also lay the foundation stone for Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Hospital and a Centenary Super Specialty Hospital at the Banaras Hindu University campus. "Foundation stone for a ESI super speciality hospital will also be laid. All these development works will greatly benefit the people of Varanasi," Modi said in another tweet. Earleir on Wednesday, Gandhi while addressing a rally in Mehsana in Gujarat had alleged that Modi took huge bribes from two corporate houses when he was the Chief Minister of the state. He demanded an independent probe into the matter. After Gandhi's Gujarat speech, the BJP denied the allegation against Modi, saying the Prime Minister was "as pure as the Ganga" river. --IANS am/ksk/vm EU inks $283-mn-deal to boost refugee education in Turkey Belgium,Diplomacy,Business/Economy, Fri, 23 Dec 2016 IANS Brussels, Dec 23 (IANS) The European Union (EU) will invest 270 million euros ($283 million) to build and equip schools for Syrian refugee children in Turkey, according to contracts signed by the European Commission. Under these contracts, some 100 schools are to be built and equipped, benefiting over 70,000 Syrian refugee children, Efe news agency cited a press release by the Commission on Thursday. "With the contracts signed today, we will further improve the educational infrastructure on the ground, enabling over 70,000 Syrian refugee children to have access to schooling across the country," said Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn. The largest part of the funding, about 200 million euros comes from the EU's Facility for Refugees in Turkey, which is designed to address the most critical needs of Syrian refugees and host communities in Turkey today. The Facility supports the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal to stem the influx of refugees into Europe. --IANS vgu/ Turkish air strikes in Syria kills 47 Lebanon,Terrorism,Defence/Security, Fri, 23 Dec 2016 IANS Beirut, Dec 23 (IANS) At least 47 people were killed, including 14 minors and nine women, in Turkish air strikes against the Syrian city of al-Bab, controlled by the Islamic State terrorist organisation, media reports said. Britain-based information office Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that there are serious injuries and people trapped in the rubble and it does not rule out a further increase in the number of fatalities. The bombings on Thursday come after 14 Turkish soldiers died on Wednesday and another 33 were wounded in attacks by extremists against Turkish troops in the vicinity of al-Bab, reports Efe. The observatory said the Syrian insurgents, backed by Turkish planes and tanks, launched an offensive on the outskirts of al-Bab on Wednesday, but their attack was repelled by extremists, who recovered those points. Since the end of August, Syrian armed groups and Turkish troops have been carrying out an operation to expel IS from northern Aleppo. --IANS vgu/ Share An explosive revelation hit the market recently as Nokia took Apple (News - Alert) to court in both the United States and Germany over issues of patent infringement. Nokia filed a number of complaints, reports note, and all with the end result that Apple may have been taking a few pages out of the Nokia (News - Alert) book. Nokia filed said actions with Regional Courts in Munich, Mannheim and Dusseldorf, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Nokia, one of the world's leaders in cell phone technology, had been routinely seen in pockets and purses the world over before the arrival of Apple's iPhone (News - Alert) back in 2007 fundamentally changed the market. Nokia, however, never stopped innovating in the mobile space, and with the acquisition of NSN in 2013 and Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) in 2016, the end result was an ongoing push toward recovering at least some of its lost position. Further complicating matters is that Apple has previously been seen licensing some technologies from Nokia; back in 2011, reports note, Apple had a license on some materials but declined offers to license other technologies, including some which are said to be used in Apple products. The legal actions cover a total of 32 patents, reports note, and range from issues of display and user interface to antennas and video coding. Nokia's head of patent business, Ilkka Rahnasto, commented, Through our sustained investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in today's mobile devices, including Apple products. After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights. It's a surprise to see 32 such patents involved in this matter, though whether or not Apple actually did infringe anything is a matter for the courts to decide. Still, if it does turn out that Apple infringed on that many patents, it's a safe bet that Nokia will have not only landed one substantial and potentially ongoing payday, but also a way to get back into the market. If the courts do find for Nokia here, it may be able to engineer its marketing to note that many of the systems found in iPhones and the like are also found in Nokia devices, since Apple infringed Nokia patents to get these. Effectively, Nokia could make marketing claims suggesting that it built next generation communications to such a degree that even innovator par excellence Apple turned to Nokia for inspiration. That's strictly speculative, of course, and it will be a matter for courts to decide. Even just bringing the suit is a good sign for Nokia, who truly is not out of the mobile device hunt yet. Edited by Alicia Young King Mohammed VI of Morocco and the President-elect of the United States have voiced resolve, during a phone conversation, to strengthen the strategic ties binding the two countries. During this phone call, the Moroccan King reiterated his heartfelt and sincere congratulations to Trump over his election as the 45th president of the United States, the Royal Office said in a statement. The King and the American president-elect agreed to work together to strengthen the strong, deep, and multidimensional strategic ties between Morocco and the U.S., the statement added. France said it took note of the verdict of the European Court of Justice, which declared Polisarios challenge to the EU-Morocco agricultural trade deals as inadmissible. France will continue to work with its partners and the European Union to develop the quality partnership between the EU and Morocco, including in the agricultural sector, the French Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said on Wednesday in a statement to the press. France had supported the appeal brought by the European Council to challenge the annulment of the farm accord, he said. On this occasion, the spokesperson for the French foreign ministry expressed support for Moroccos initiative to grand substantive autonomy to the southern Sahara provinces, as a lasting solution to the conflict. We consider the autonomy plan presented by Morocco in 2007 as a serious and credible basis to find a negotiated solution, said the spokesperson. The European Court of Justice declared invalid the challenge to the Morocco-EU trade deals submitted by the Polisario, the Algeria funded and based separatist militia. The EUs top court, thus overrules the previous verdict and rejects the Polisarios right to appeal. The deals between Morocco and the EU do not concern the Polisario front, the court stated. The ECJs verdict echoes the views expressed by the Courts Chief Advocate General Melchior Wathelet who explained, in an opinion piece, that the Polisario front is not a legitimate organization for contesting the Morocco-EU trade agreements. The Advocate General had called for the suspension verdict to be overturned. German authorities have launched a man-hunt of a 23-year old man across Europe after a botched investigation led to the arrest and release of a Pakistani asylum seeker firstly identified as the Islamic State group militant who rammed the 25-ton lorry into the Christmas market in Berlin on Monday. The wanted young man, Tunisian Anis Amr, according to German authorities arrived in Germany last year and has seen his asylum application turned down. Since then, he has been facing deportation. According to German media outlets Amr first lived in the city of Emmerich am Rhein, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germanys most populous state, and in Berlin. Rhine-Westphalia local authorities indicate that the Tunisian has been under security forces radar on suspicions that he might have been plotting an attack. The monitoring was later on taken over by Berlin security authorities when he moved to the German capital. Amr reportedly left Tunisia seven years ago as an illegal migrant and moved to Italy where he spent some time in prison. Investigations led to Amr after discovery of an identity document found in a wallet left on the floor of the truck led the German authorities to seek the Tunisian man New York Times reports citing Frank Tempel of the Left Party. The document showed that the suspect had been allowed to remain in Germany but that he had not been granted full asylum, the American media further reports. The Islamic State group (IS) Tuesday claimed responsibility of lorry attack which killed 12 people and wounded 50 others. A Moroccan man identified as Redouane S. has been nabbed and charged for belonging to the Islamic State group (IS) terror cell that masterminded the Paris November 2015 attacks. The man aged 24 was arrested in Lower Saxony state on Wednesday, prosecutors announced. Redouane S. is accused of working with cell leader Abdelhamid Abaaoud killed in November last year in a rundown at the outskirt of Paris. The man rented flats in Turkey and Greece between October 2014 and Spring 2015 that were used by cell members to plan the attacks, Reuters reports quoting German officials. He was also aware of the important meeting chaired by Abaaoud in the Belgian city of Verviers, on January 15, 2015, the prosecutors further noted adding that the meeting helped plan the attack which claimed lives of 130 people. The Moroccan man once back in Germany maintained contact with some members of the cell and stood ready to receive orders for future actions, the prosecutors continued. Trumped. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Theres been a lot of confusion lately about Donald Trump and his Muslim database. Specifically, a lot of progressives seem to be under the impression that, since winning the election, Trump has taken steps toward forcing all Muslim citizens of the United States to register with the government. This impression is grounded in two facts: 1. Early in his primary campaign, Trump suggested that he supported the idea of requiring all American Muslims to add their names to some kind of database, so that the security state could keep track of their activities. 2. Trump adviser (and potential Homeland Security pick) Kris Kobach has expressed his support for maintaining a registry of people who have traveled to the United States from Muslim-majority countries on non-immigrant visas. These are two very different proposals. One is an unconstitutional policy of mass discrimination with little precedent since Japanese internment; the other, a constitutional policy of mass discrimination with little precedent since the first term of the Obama administration. From 2002 to 2011, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System forced foreign citizens and nationals whod come to the U.S. from 25 havens for terrorists to register with immigration authorities. Those authorities would then take their photographs and fingerprints and compel them to check in again at a future date. This system was highly selective. The only people compelled to register were men over the age of 16, who were from a designated country, and in the U.S. on temporary visas, like those for work or tourism. There was no explicit religious or racial component to the system. However, 24 of the 25 countries subject to it were Muslim majority (the other was North Korea). As Voxs Dara Lind notes, the primary effect of this project was to make it uniquely difficult for visitors from Muslim-majority countries to overstay their visas. In theory, the purpose of NSEERS was to catch terrorists, not people whod violated civil immigration laws. But visa overstays were what the government found. And visa overstays were what it punished Immigrants who didnt comply with NSEERS (by, for example, not showing up to follow-up appointments) could be deported. But people registering with NSEERS, and giving their information to the government, made it easier to deport someone who then overstayed his visa than it would have been to deport him if hed refused to register at all. The program attracted the ire of civil-rights groups. But when the Obama administration suspended NSEERS in 2011, its official reasoning was more pragmatic than principled: The database was largely redundant since the government already had an automated system that collects and stores information including biometric data like fingerprints on nearly everyone who enters the U.S. Information obtained from fingerprints, flight manifests, travel and identification documents and intelligence sources is more valuable in determining who poses a potential national security risk, read a 2012 report by the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security. Leaving the regulatory structure of the NSEERS program in place provides no discernible public benefit. But even as the administration suspended the program, it left its legal infrastructure in place. Which meant that NSEERS could be revived at the whim of a future administration. Until this week. On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security published a new rule that repeals the regulations undergirding NSEERS. That move will still leave Trump with a fearsome amount of power to restrict the civil liberties of suspected terrorists. The National Defense Authorization Act provides Trump with the authority to detain U.S. citizens indefinitely, without trial, if he and his military advisers deem them a threat to national security. And in ordering a drone strike against Anwar al-Awlaki, Obama established a precedent for the extrajudicial killing of American citizens suspected of terrorism. But, by dismantling NSEERS, Obama will make it a bit more difficult for his successor to force Middle Eastern tourists and guest workers to report to their local ICE offices. Success is made of little victories. Even as Republicans promise them liberation from Obamacare, Americans keep signing up. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Looking anxiously at the dark landscape of tyranny and waste they see in the operation of the Affordable Care Act, Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are planning to rescue the American people by repealing the odious law as their first major order of business next year. Theres a problem, though: The Obamacare exchanges for purchasing private individual health insurance policies, in the midst of a death spiral of rising premiums and departing insurers and consumers, is enjoying an enrollment spike for 2017, with just over a month left to sign up. Robert Pear has the numbers: About 6.4 million people have signed up for health insurance next year under the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration said Wednesday, as people rushed to purchase plans regardless of Republican promises that the law will be repealed within months. The new sign-ups an increase of 400,000 over a similar point last year mean the health care coverage of millions of consumers could be imperiled by one of the first legislative actions of Donald J. Trumps presidency. Hundreds of thousands of other people who took no action will be automatically re-enrolled by the federal government in the same or similar plans, officials said, and their coverage could be threatened as well. Consumers still have until the end of January to enroll. The political inconvenience of a booming market for Obamacare coverage is obvious, particularly at a time when Republicans are trying to figure out how to thrill conservatives with a repeal of the law while delaying the effective date long enough to avoid throwing tens of millions of people out of their health insurance. House Speaker Paul Ryans office is downright grouchy about the news: This disaster of a law has led to massive premium spikes, less choice for patients and a collapse of the exchange markets, and no amount of spinning from the White House can hide this ugly reality, AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, said Wednesday. I dont think its the White House doing the spinning here. There has been quite a bit of talk since Election Day about the nasty surprise a lot of Trump voters may receive if it turns out they should have taken Trump both literally and seriously in his promises to yank their Obamacare coverage. The new enrollment figures reinforce that problem. The five states with the most people enrolling for coverage on the [HealthCare.gov] site through Monday were Florida, with 1.3 million plan selections, Texas (776,000), North Carolina (369,000), Georgia (352,000) and Pennsylvania (291,000). Mr. Trump carried all those states. Assuming the enrollment surge continues through January, it will provide an unwelcome backdrop to the Obamacare repeal effort in Congress. It is probably too late for a delay in the repeal and delay strategy, so congressional Republicans will presumably grit their teeth and move ahead. Meanwhile, Americans will continue to rush into slavery, not realizing their liberation is at hand. A man stands in front of a billboard in support of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Beijing on April 23, 2014. Photo: WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images Australian officials have concluded that the $180 million search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has failed. In a report timed to coincide with the wind-down of the two-year-long inspection of the southern Indian Ocean, a panel of experts convened by the Australian Transport Safety Board opined that the plane most likely lies somewhere in a zone of open ocean about the size of New Hampshire to the northeast of the current search area. This new zone probably wont be examined. The three countries responsible for the search Australia, Malaysia, and China have already stated that no further attempts to find the plane will be undertaken, unless compelling new evidence emerges. In short, the biggest mystery in the history of modern aviation doesnt look like it will be solved anytime soon. So its a good moment to take stock about what we know and what to expect in the future as we try to make sense of frustrating and tragic irresolution: The investigators now say they have a pretty good handle on how the plane went down. Ironically, while admitting failure, the Australian report reflects the experts increased confidence that they understand more or less what happened the night of the vanishing. Based on automatic signals pings exchanged between the plane and a navigation satellite during the final six hours MH370 was in the air, investigators believe that after the airliner vanished from radar screens over the Malacca Strait it must have taken a final turn to the left and flown south on a magnetic compass heading (one of several possible navigational modes a plane can use). It then flew straight until it ran out of fuel and dived into the ocean at high speed, smashing apart into small fragments. The scenario would be consistent with pilot suicide, but the report does not mention the secret Malaysian police report leaked earlier this year that revealed that captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah had saved a set of points on his home flight simulator in which he flew with zero fuel in the remote southern Indian Ocean. The simulator data could reasonably be interpreted as evidence he planned a suicide flight, or it could be a freak coincidence. The ATSB has long maintained silence regarding the possible identity of the perpetrator, saying that its job is to figure where MH370 went, not why it went there. The plane is almost certainly not in the huge patch of ocean investigators spent two years searching. The investigators long believed that the planes impact point lay within a nearly 50,000-square-mile rectangle calculated by Australias Defense Science Technology Group. But this high-probability zone has now been searched out using towed side-scan sonar arrays and autonomous underwater vehicles. Apparently, the plane isnt there. Some observers have speculated that the wreckage might have been missed by the sonar scan, perhaps falling into the shadow of a seamount or the depths of a ravine. The report, however, throws cold water on this idea, explaining that the technology is capable of searching all but the most rugged 1.2 percent of the search area, and therefore, There is a high degree of confidence that the previously identified underwater area searched to date does not contain the missing aircraft. The new proposed search area probably wont be examined. If the plane isnt in the priority search area, then it must be somewhere else. But the range of possibilities is limited. If it crashed any farther north, the debris field would have been spotted during the massive aerial search conducted just after the disappearance. If it crashed south of the current search area, debris would have been swept to the coast of Australia and likely been discovered by beachcombers. By a process of elimination, then, the endpoint could only be in a fairly tightly constrained area, about one eighth the size of the current search zone and adjacent to its northeastern edge. The participants of the First Principles Review were in agreement on the need to search [this] additional area, the report states. But this extra area is large about 10,000 square miles and it would take months and tens of millions of dollars to scan. In its previous agreement with China and Malaysia, Australia stipulated that the search would only continue if credible new evidence leading to the identification of a specific location of the aircraft were found. This new analysis will not likely fit that bill. What if the new area is searched and the plane still isnt found? That, the report states, would exhaust all prospective areas for the presence of MH370. That is to say, if the plane isnt there, then the searchers werent just unlucky, their analysis was altogether wrong, and something else entirely must have happened to the plane. But what? One possibility is that they misinterpreted one of the satellite pings. For instance, the ATSB has long puzzled over the value of the final ping but recently became convinced it must indicate that the plane was plummeting in a steep, fatal dive. If this conclusion is wrong, and the plane was instead being held in a long Sullenberger-esque glide by a suicidal pilot, then the planes endpoint could lie anywhere in a much larger swath of ocean. Another possibility is that the ATSB misinterpreted all the satellite data. After MH370 disappeared from radar over the Malacca Strait, it was electronically invisible, flying over empty ocean in the dark of a moonless night. It could have gone anywhere in the world and no one would have been the wiser. Then, mysteriously, just three minutes later, its satellite communication system switched back on. This is not something that happens accidentally, or that most pilots know how to do. And yet, it is this baffling event that provided everything investigators know about the planes final hours. Could this strange satcom behavior have been the result of tampering by sophisticated hijackers, in order to feed investigators misleading clues? Twice Ive asked teams within the investigation whether the satcom data could have been altered; both times they told me that they assumed that it was good. Now that the ATSB has thrown in the towel, such questions will remain in limbo. The search will not be officially ended, only suspended. This means that according to international aviation treaties search officials will not have to issue a comprehensive final report. And so potentially vital clues about the fate of the airplane will remain hidden away indefinitely. The mystery will endure. Going nuclear. Photo: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images During the 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton spent a lot of time trying to convince voters that handing the nuclear codes to an emotionally volatile reality star would be a decision theyd come to regret. But 46 percent of the electorate begged to differ. And now we all have to lie awake tonight, trying to figure out whether this tweet is meaningless bluster, the prelude to World War III, or both. The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016 Typically, when Americas leaders discuss nuclear strategy, they choose their words carefully minor changes in vocabulary can signal major changes in policy. But experts on nuclear deterrence could not immediately link the phrase strengthen and expand to any specific policy framework. Cannot find previous use of phrase "strengthen and expand" in a Nuclear Posture Review or equivalent. @ArmsControlWonk @Joshua_Pollack? Vipin Narang (@NarangVipin) December 22, 2016 Its worth noting that Barack Obama has already initiated a $1 trillion nuclear modernization program one that could be reasonably described as strengthening and expanding our nuclear capabilities. The presidents plan involves breaking up Americas existing nuclear stockpile into smaller, more reliable weapons, including cruise missiles with nuclear tips. This allows Obama to maintain his pledge to create no new nuclear weapons, while developing a sleek, modern arsenal that will allow the United States to execute more finely targeted nuclear strikes. Its possible, then, that Trump merely intends to continue Obamas modernization efforts under more belligerent branding. If so, those of us who would prefer not to die in a nuclear war would still have plenty to fear: Even before Trumps election, experts were concerned that Obamas modernization program would heighten the risk of nuclear war. One concern is that, by building more precise nuclear cruise missiles, the program will only make their use more thinkable, in the words of former vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James E. Cartwright. Or, as one recent Democratic presidential nominee put it during a closed-door fundraiser last winter: The last thing we need are sophisticated cruise missiles that are nuclear-armed. A separate worry is that plan will kick off a new round of nuclear proliferation, as Stephen Kinzer, a scholar of international relations at Brown University, recently argued: Obamas proposed modernization increases our vulnerability, not our security. The first and most obvious reason is that it will certainly lead other countries to seek equivalent arsenals of their own. It is especially upsetting to Russia, which already feels under increasing American threat as a result of our military maneuvers on its borders and the fact that many of our missiles are positioned in Germany, Turkey, and other countries near its territory. The Russian defense minister recently announced that in response to Obamas plan, Russia will bring five new strategic nuclear missile regiments into service. China would surely match that escalation. If it does so, India will follow. Then Pakistan will jump into the race. It is a recipe for disaster. Of course, Trump may not be referring to Obamas plan at all. Another possibility is that hes signaling the return of Star Wars the space-based nuclear defense system that Ronald Reagan burned $30 billion on the altar of back in the 80s. When Congress reapproved the National Defense Authorization Act last month, it made two significant changes to the law: 1. The word limited was removed from Americas missile defense policy. Since 1999, the U.S. had stipulated that the purpose of its missile defense system was to thwart a limited or small-scale nuclear strike on the homeland. The purpose of that modifier was to signal that the United States had no intention of reigniting a nuclear arms race in outer space. But in November, with little-to-no public debate, Congress dropped that stipulation. 2. A provision calling for the military to start research, development, test and evaluation of space-based missile defense systems was added to the law. These amendments were historic in nature given the paradigm shift forward that they represent, congressman Trent Franks told the Los Angeles Times. I hope that the day will come when we could have solid-state lasers in space that can defeat any missile attack. Theres no question that the lasers Franks describes sound wicked sweet. But there is also little doubt that, as a proposal for the defense budget (as opposed to one for a sci-fi film), they are also wicked stupid. It defies the laws of physics and is not based on science of any kind, David Montague, a retired president of missile systems for Lockheed Corporation, told the Times. Even if we darken the sky with hundreds or thousands of satellites and interceptors, theres no way to ensure against a dedicated attack So its an opportunity to waste a prodigious amount of money. But bipartisan majorities in Congress just voted to take that opportunity. And sending billions of dollars to defense contractors in the name of building an unstoppable space laser sounds like something Trump might do. Granted, it would be more of an expansion of nuclear defense capability, but Trump did describe his ambition in defensive terms: Until the rest of the world comes to its senses regarding nukes, we must strengthen our capabilities. Or, perhaps, Trump simply means that he intends to not only modernize our nuclear arsenal, but to drastically increase its size. Or maybe he just felt like tweeting something tough-sounding this morning. Regardless, other nuclear powers could take Trumps statement as an inspiration or excuse for pursuing nuclear proliferation of their own: On Thursday morning, Vladimir Putin told the Russian people, We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems. We live in interesting times. Heres hoping we dont die in them. Trump helps ISIS promote its Crusaders-Versus-Muslim Take on Terrorism in Germany Illustration: John Leech, Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London, 1850. Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images It was broadly noted yesterday that in reacting (long before the German government itself) to the apparent terrorist attack in Berlin, the President-Elect of the United States differed rather dramatically from the President of the United States. As Peter Beinart noted: The Obama administration identified the victims as members of a nation. Its five-sentence statement about the Berlin attack used the words Germany or German four times. Team Trumps statementdescribed the victims as members not of a nation but of a religion. people killed as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday. The Obama teams statement made no assumptions about the victims faith: It simply noted that the attack had occurred at a Christmas Market. The Trump statement, by contrast, implied that the victims all celebrated Christmas. And it linked those killed in Berlin to other Christians who ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. Anyone who assumes that Christmas shoppers are Christians must have the help do his own seasonal purchasing. As it happens, Germany is not a particularly religious country any more. And thats especially true of Berlin, sometimes called the atheist capital of Europe, where 60% of residents claim to live without any religious faith. Ironically, the only voices that would probably share Trumps characterization of the victims of the Berlin attack as Christians belong to ISIS, which routinely describes all Europeans and Americans as Crusaders determined to finish the work of the medieval Church by reconquering all the Holy Lands and exterminating Islam. Interestingly enough, when asked about the statement outside his Mar-a-Lago estate a day later, Trump seemed to backtrack, or perhaps expose himself to the suspicion hes not familiar with the words his staff is attributing to him, as Alex Shephard suspects: [W]hen asked specifically about that statement, Trump seemed confused, asking the reporter Who said that? When didwhen was that said? Then, when told that he was the one who said it, in a statement, Trump seemed to edit the remark, saying Its an attack on humanity. Thats what it is. Its an attack on humanity and it has to be stopped. It would actually be a good thing if Trump did not write that statement and now realizes that making his empathy for the victims conditional on their religion is a very bad, and un-American, idea. Ill believe it is a trend if he avoids religious framing of terrorist acts in the future. Photo: Marco Rullkoetter/Getty Images/Hemera Imagine being rid of the internet. Doesnt some part of you knot up with rash, intimate desire? Some of us have begun to voice the fantasy, muttering in low whispers: I need to get off, like its a ride thats stopped being fun. Wouldnt it be amazing if Twitter just fell into the sea? In these times, more and more people dare to wish for conscientious boundaries about social media, Wikipedia black holes, and the endless cycle of refreshing and clearing notifications. We want it to stop, because we cant seem to stop it ourselves. For the past several months, regardless of your political leaning, you would probably admit that every device youve touched has been a direct window to heaps of very bad news. Therell be an argument in the comments. Or someone will post a misinformed or insulting assertion, backed by some disreputable link. And then you get the exciting chance to make whatever case you desire in reply, blessed as you are these days with a veritable orchard of search results, memes, Storifys, and whatever else to pick from and assemble the version of the world you most deeply believe in. The internet before the election was already intrusive, overstimulating. The hand-wringing about our filter bubbles had already begun, as had the earnest warnings against assuming tech environments were neutral, when they are not. But few really expected the American presidential election to go the way it did, and the actual result launched an upheaval of all trust in our information sources of choice, and in the culture around those sources. In a recent New Yorker piece, Jia Tolentino describes the distinct esprit du temps of having played ourselves the new and virulent shock of being forced to reevaluate the value, intent, and result of everything we can remember typing into blank fields on internet-connected computers for years. Since then, going online has been imbued with a fresh anxiety, like an unboiled pot: all the arguments we might never win, all the truths we fear we can never prove, all the enemies we fear we may never win over. The strident and placating calls for unity; the well-intentioned cat videos shoved in at every juncture to quell sedition, to act as an antacid. Even the bizarre agita of the right the Nazi frog cartoons, the unending march of plaintive Japanese anime teen memes is sentimental noise of the same kind, a truth thats pure to the poster and ridiculous outside of their own vocabulary. It wasnt always like this. Remember when Twitter was a place to make new, real-world friends? That feels like a lifetime ago. And long before that, when I was a kid, the internet was a place you could go for the truth. It was a window to reality, or at least to a slice of it, that felt realer than your hometown or your school computer lab. At 13, I was just as likely to stumble across pictures of real dead bodies or illicit acts as I was to unearth beloved 20-second Sailor Moon transformation clips straight from Japan. I felt like I was peeking through the keyhole of humanity, at a world whose scope I would never truly know. Back then, there was no other way to watch Sailor Moon. My memories of that time, camped out in front of the earnest molasses crawl of a black-on-white progress bar as my email slowly downloaded, are precious. There would always be one or two three if I was really lucky mysterious missives from strangers I met on message boards about books and music and anarchy. I never knew much about the people I was talking to, but I didnt need to. That wasnt the point. Back then, I lived in a small town where I couldnt be myself, and the internet was, above all things, a place you could go and be yourself. Or anyone but yourself. In the Madeleine LEngle book Many Waters, the protagonists carelessly mash a mysterious computer keyboard, and end up transported back into Biblical times, right before Noahs flood. There they faced all the hardships of a primitive desert society, but to me it was a dream: I wished every day for the computer to beam me away from pep rallies, the mall, suburban life. Everything strange I found online, I clicked. Anyone mysterious, I messaged. I was gratified by the opportunity to be scandalized by things the other kids, the normal ones, did not yet know how to find. Television in the late 90s was crazy-paved with reality TV McMansion serials, but I knew where the real world was. Today, almost everyone I know has seen these political assassination photos, whether they had sought them or not. Can you imagine, today, being excited about checking your email? Try to envision opening your email client and feeling nothing but pure excitement at the potential of human connection. Remember that alien ululation: a modem howling down a phone line, once youd unplugged the household landline and redirected it? Back when talking to strangers online was breathless and new and full of possibility, wide-eyed TV anchors would fumble dryly over buzzwords like emoticon and netiquette as if skeptical it all would last. The @ symbol suddenly marched across glossy magazine covers like a newly minted coin, and it might as well have been a jet pack. In that brave new world I forged a private life, years on years of private lives, and I guarded them zealously. A few years ago I had to erase all of those digital ghosts. I had to destroy the vestiges of ancient America Online accounts, Deadjournals, the flaky grottos of a youth in madness. I had to delete third-party email accounts held by obsolete service providers, and with them all the letters to my very first internet boyfriend, who lived in a different state. All my aliases, all my child-times, all the hoary moods that I had howled into the black ether, had to be silently jettisoned into an oubliette. It made me sad, but I had to do it: I was being intensively targeted online by an internet mob to do with my feminist writing on video games, and one thing these guys like to do is dig into your digital footprint, excavate your private life, and march conveniently pruned excerpts into the service of whatever narrative they want to create about you. They want to humiliate or silence you, or to get you fired, or to isolate you from people who would otherwise support you by making you appear to deserve it. Thats the playbook now. The guys we used to call Gamergate now seem to call themselves something else, and they won the election. Anything that is on the internet can be distorted into the service of someone elses new reality. They can make a news story from anything, just to get under your skin. Anything you say can be used against you by conservative agitators or surveilled by the state. Even people you think are on your side will occasionally be complicit: Just look how the media gleefully mined Ken Bones Reddit accounts and similar, cobbling together a public-property story based in his digital life, just because he dared to step forward and take part in the political process on television. Nor was it only the media Twitter users, Redditors, Facebookers, all were right along for the ride. Those who would have condemned that kind of exposure and memefication from the other side reveled in the chance to caricaturize this non-consenting outlier in the nubby red sweater, and to evaluate whether they thought he deserved it. Sharing, once purportedly the ultimate thing to do online, has become unwise now that we have the whole internet to wield against one another. The safest tack is to serve as little personal information, or as few identifying details to public platforms as possible. To be silent. You will now need to think about what youve digitized or shared your nudes, a kinky email to an ex you now hate, your medical correspondence that they could dig up and rub in your face if the spotlight should ever, for some reason, fall on you. Somehow things have reversed, and now the internet is a place for your buttoned-up self, with the untidy entrails of your real life shoved under the bed, lurking outside the edges of your normal-looking Instagrams. The internet has transformed from a place you could safely hide certain feelings and appetites into a place where you can get in trouble for them. This feels like a loss to me. Like the death of my country, twice. And maybe Ive just got Stockholm syndrome now, but I think this is a large part of what the so-called alt-right on Reddit and on image boards and places like that has also so deeply feared: the very idea that they might have to be judged by the darker threads of their online lives, the things they should not have clicked on and the things they should not have typed. While some of these people are definitely neo-Nazis desperate for a world that lets them shout it proud, I think many more of them are just alienated and lonesome, stashing it all in fears about social justice, censorship, and political correctness. These ones, I cant shake the feeling they would disavow racism and sexism if they could be assured somehow that they could keep their space, that they could be assured of certain permissions, however daunting it would be to offer them. What if its not actually people of color, or immigration, or more women in video games that is really triggering them? What if its the transformative remapping of the internet into a uniquely public space for all of us, one that now has rules? It would be awfully ironic if the group that howls loudest about the idea of safe space is the most terrified about the loss of its own. Yes, you can do all the free speech you like, but no company is required to host it. Yes, you can address whomever you like on social media, directly, in an unprecedentedly democratic frontier, but if 500 other users are addressing that same person and telling her she looks like Harambe, you are a harasser and you might get your account suspended. Or people who dont like harassment might look you up, and find out where you work, and call and tell your boss youre being racist on Reddit. Countless stories abound of otherwise reputable teachers and child-care providers ruined by racy photos dug up by students or employees (or in this case, by the principal). Youre supposed to express yourself, but that self-expression is subject to the court of public opinions wildly capricious legislation. Lots of us thought we were building a new world, an information superhighway, a virtual destination that would improve all things remember the promise of those early web icons, all of which looked like compasses and maps? We were going to be navigators. Yet somewhere along the way, we just ended up enriching Silicon Valley companies with all of our personal content and our shares and our likes, and now have nothing to show for it but a gaping hole in our privacy big enough for petty bullies and political enemies alike to drive a truck through. We still say IRL to distinguish between talking to people digitally and talking in person, but the fact is the internet became the primary site of real life, sometime when we werent looking. Theres no better example of this than the way Donald Trumps Twitter account has juddered suddenly into the dialogue like a piece fallen off some patriotic airplane show. Should propagating untruths from a position of leadership be legal? What if his followers are willing to turn into a harassment mob aimed at any name Donald declares undesirable? Does Twitter act? In any event, a barely tech-literate reality TV star has become social medias top troll and the president in one swoop. Now the internet-as-optimistic-space feels suddenly over, exhausted, cratered with problems too great and strange to pave. Ive heard the hypothesis from the lets just try to understand camp that Trump followers are reacting to the sense they have lost some aspect of their home. In the age of Facebook, SafeSearch, and webinars, maybe long-lived internet citizens are also reacting to this loss. Maybe its why the favored tools of self-defense are privacy violations and fictional stories if they cant have the digital underground, then no one can. As I write this, a new meme is trending on various social-media platforms: 2006 versus 2016, where users compare a picture of themselves from one time period to one ten years later. Of course, this is a fun way of leveraging image software to pretend we havent aged. But viewed differently, it feels like a means of attempting to enforce a chronology, a meaningful, positive, and orderly progression, at a time when we seem to have abruptly lost our collective plot, an ice-fishing line slipping into cold, black water all of a sudden. Missing the Old Internet does no good, of course. Well march on to more privacy solutions and more means of guarding ourselves from abuse of our digital lives, hopefully. Maybe well even see more new online countercultures, and more thriving underground spaces that dont get completely overtaken by white-power jokes. Teens are consistently, astonishingly funny and creative online, so it may all shake out. For now, though, we have no choice but to adapt to the world of big data, metadata, and algorithms that build one profile of you to be used by car insurers, another by potential employers, another by the police. We cannot exit the world of constant news and noise, feedback loops and takes. Now, anything you have ever interacted with or explored is assumed, by people and algorithms alike, to be what you truly believe or desire. This infrastructure long ago became a site of battle for individual self-ownership. And in a final indignity, you cant even silently scream into it anymore. Its as if the wardrobe from Narnia has been slowly swelling and looming, opening its doors dark and wide, taking up the room, becoming the room, becoming the whole house. Photo: Jonathan Ross/Getty Images/Blend Images Over the weekend, numerous consumer-technology companies, many of which were represented during last weeks meeting with President-elect Trump, issued statements against the so-called Muslim database that Trump and members of his circle have advocated for. The companies, in statements to BuzzFeed, said no in clear terms. Apple said, We havent been asked and we would oppose such an effort. Microsoft asserted, We wouldnt do any work to build a registry of Muslim Americans. Facebook, Google, Uber, and IBM offered similar sentiments. Statements like these are clearly worth having on the record, because tech companies often have a habit of saying one thing and doing another, particularly in the face of government regulation. Yet the debate around the hypothetical registry still cant avoid the fact that Silicon Valley companies already have the capability of constructing such a database if they wished. These companies sit on vast stores of data from which alarmingly complete pictures can be constructed. Is there a way, then, for the government to compel these companies to offer assistance or to seize the data on their servers? According to Nate Cardozo, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the answer is not really. They dont even need to go to companies like Google or Facebook or Apple, he said, and frankly thats pretty unlikely. Theyre gonna go to a company like Palantir. Palantir is the big-data analysis company that relies heavily on government-contract work. It is also back by Trump transition team member Peter Thiel, who stands to profit from Palantirs success. Cardozo also cited companies like Dell, Oracle, and Booz Allen Hamilton (which employed Edward Snowden) as companies that likely possess such data or could build the technical back-end for the government. Theyre less trendy but still behemoths when it comes to information technology. Government work like this is done by enterprise companies that keep a relatively low profile. Likewise, if government-surveillance programs dont already have much of this data, advertisers do, and theyll often sell to whomever is willing to pay. CNN reports that while some of the largest data brokers, including Acxiom and Salesforce, have sworn off involvement, many did not comment at all. Oracle, which owns large data companies such as BlueKai and DataLogix, declined to comment to CNN. Unsurprising, considering Oracle CEO Safra Catz attended last weeks summit and is on the Trump transition team. Likewise, according to documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Verge, the Thiel-backed Palantir is already linked to a complex monitoring system used by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency which collates data from national, state, and local law-enforcement sources. Still, could a government attempting to siphon Facebooks data succeed? The answer again is a strong no. According to Cardozo, that would be blatantly unconstitutional if the government were to demand Facebook give a list of all American Muslims. Specifically, it would violate the First and Fourth Amendments. The famous Supreme Court case NAACP vs. Alabama is the precedent here; in this case, the court found in favor of the NAACP after the state subpoenaed the groups membership lists. (A fun nightmare scenario to imagine: Many of the aging Supreme Court justices die or retire and Trump stacks the deck with cronies with little regard for the Constitution.) Even compelling these tech companies to just construct the technical back-end of such a database would be against the law, because writing code is, legally speaking, an act of speech, and thus protected by the First Amendment. Still, the downside of Big Data is more apparent than it has ever been. If consumer-tech companies really want to demonstrate that they are putting their users ahead of their bottom line, the EFF says that they should put their money where their mouths are and start deleting unnecessary user data. The government cant force anything, but as Cardozo said, they can certainly pay for it. At some point, refusing on moral grounds might contradict the fiduciary duties of these publicly traded companies. Whether or not they stick to their word remains to be seen. Franca Sozzani Photo: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images Sad news out of Milan today: Longtime Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani has died at age 66, per WWD. Sozzani, who ran the magazine for almost three decades, was known for her work with photographers like Steven Meisel, Peter Lindbergh, and Bruce Weber. She also served in an Anna Wintourlike role as editorial director of Conde Nast Italy for 22 years. A documentary on her life, Franca: Chaos and Creation, directed by her son Francesco Carrozzini, premiered earlier this year. Sozzani seemed less concerned with commerce than did many of her counterparts, and she allowed her creative collaborators unlimited artistic freedom. She was also eager to grapple with politics, for better or for worse. The editorials she worked on explored some hot-button issues, like plastic surgery and body image (notably, she cast a 2011 cover shoot with three plus-size models; meanwhile, a plus-size model has yet to appear on the cover of American Vogue). But the spreads often ran afoul of political correctness, at best, or earned accusations of racism and tone-deafness, at worst. For example: a shoot themed around oil spills, in the wake of the BP disaster; putting a model in blackface; an Iraq Warthemed fashion shoot; and Haute Mess, a notorious editorial that earned cries of racism and classism. She told the Cut in 2012 that she was committed to her headline-baiting ways: You can just take pictures like in a catalog so you will never be controversial, but thats not my choice of life. Sozzani also earned equal parts cheers and jeers for 2008s Black Issue, which she said was intended as a riposte to the lack of diversity on the runways. A Guardian columnists takeaway noted: To be non-white is to be constantly relegated to a special issue, while the regular edition remains determinedly white. Jezebels Dodai Stewart summed up the mixed reaction by calling it both a success and a failure. Also, Vogue Italias website has long maintained separate channels called Vogue Black and Vogue Curvy, a hamfisted attempt at inclusion that feels more like segregation. To her credit, Sozzani was early to many of fashions ongoing obsessions. In the 90s, she helped drive the supermodel phenomenon by including the models names on covers and pushing them as personalities in their own right. And she was one of the first to pluck Kim Kardashian from Calabasas to high fashion, featuring her on the cover of LUomo Vogue in 2012. Sozzani was a fashion lifer who began her career in magazines in 1976, starting at the childrens title Vogue Bambini. She went on to work at the titles LEI and Per Lui before taking the helm at Vogue. She was a longtime supporter of young designers, founding Milan Fashion Weeks Who Is on Next? initiative, which spotlighted young talent. And she was beloved by designers including Jean-Paul Gaultier, who dressed a model in tribute to her, complete with blond curls, in his final ready-to-wear show. Marc Jacobs and Giambattista Valli are among those whove posted paeans to her on Instagram, while Anna Wintour penned a Vogue.com tribute calling her the hardest-working person I have known, and with an envy-inducing ease with multitasking. Based on the outpouring of tributes, her impact on Italian fashion, and the global fashion world at large, will be missed. Photo: Steve Jennings/WireImage/Getty Deranged style icon and perpetually troubled teen Justin Bieber is in trouble with the law again. According to TMZ, Biebs was just indicted by an Argentine judge for a 2013 incident in which he allegedly sent his bodyguards to assault and rob a photographer outside a Buenos Aires nightclub. Bieber hasnt been able to tour in the country as a result of his ongoing legal troubles, and it looks like it will be a while before his Argentinian fans get the chance to witness his legendary onstage sulkfest for themselves. Argentinian beliebers I would like nothing more than to bring the #purposetour there but the Argentinian government wont allow it. So sorry, he tweeted back in May. If things were to change I would love to come but at this time I cannot. For everyone else in South America I look forward to seeing you. Is it too late now to say lo siento? Sportsgambler.com - The Ultimate Sports Betting Guide Sportsgambler.com is a leading sports betting information website brought to you by a team of industry professionals. Our mission statement has always been simple. To provide you with all the information you need to place informed bets across a wide range of sports and hopefully make a good return on your investment. The website specialises in free betting tips, predictions, match previews, odds, stats, team news, lineups, injuries, bonus and free bet information. Weve been shortlisted twice for an EGR Operator Award and more recognition is sure to come considering that we provide readers with a first-class service. Sportsgambler.com has the most popular sports and leagues covered irrespective of where you are based. This includes Premier League and Champions League football, Indian Premier League cricket, while we showcase ATP and WTA tennis all year round. 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No bettor is going to win with every bet they place, although by following the advice on this website and using the various information and tools at your disposal, you will give yourself a stronger chance of doing well with your online bets. As youll see from the bottom of our website, we are Gamble Aware and encourage anyone experiencing gambling problems to seek immediate help and ensure that they become self-excluded with any betting site where they hold an account. It's almost 2017! Fuck this shit. Portugal, get your shit together. Reply Thread Link IA. Urban areas of Portugal are more LGBTQIA friendly, but it's a different story in rural areas and with the older gens. :( Reply Parent Thread Link How is homosexuality treated and viewed in Portugal? I feel like the country is viewed as Spain's Canada. Reply Thread Link it's more and more accepted in big cities and among the younger gens, but there's still a lot of (mostly religious) prejudice. and we def are Spain's Canada, lmao. =/ Reply Parent Thread Link tbh I always just assumed homosexuality was readily accepted in Portugal because it is in Spain, but this post made me question that and I remembered that they are two completely different counties after all lmao Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lol this description,reminds me of the video calling Uruguay the South American Canada. Idk about Portugal, I feel like most the Spanish I know are pretty... derisive about Portugal. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link there's literally nothing to see in portugal :/ Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Law wise it is one of the countries with more pro lgbt laws. Mentality wise it is one south european don't want a gay neighbour. Reply Parent Thread Link Portugal is a open country actually. Just because my country is one of the most religious and not being part of the elite countries (the richest ones) doesn't mean that portugueses view homosexuality as a bad thing. My country is just not as liberal as Netherlands, Brazil or USA but otherwise it's the same Reply Parent Thread Expand Link They played themselves by even airing Shin-chan. Reply Thread Link Hmmm i wonder if they also do this for hetero content/kissing or if it's only questionable when involves any non-hetero affection. Hmmm Reply Thread Link As a point of reference, they kept Black Lady kissing Mamoru in season II. So incest is cool, but homosexuality is where they draw the line! Reply Parent Thread Link O M G. lmao i shouldn't laugh because actually is super sad but is so absurd i just can't. Reply Parent Thread Link omg nooo (and i hate that freudian moment so much) Reply Parent Thread Link disappointed but not surprised @ my country. our current very left leaning government is doing what it can to change our social intolerance/backwardness, but this is a private channel so they do what they want. things are slowly changing tho, but not fast enough. our latest national controversy is about the use of the word 'maricas' (= fag) in neutral contexts, since the word acquired other meanings (tho still tinged by the original one). the usual edgelords are all ~b-b-but muh freedom of speech~ & deliberately missing the piont, but the fact that the controversy exists is already a positive point imo. Edited at 2016-12-22 07:00 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link holy shit op changed icon Reply Thread Link I have a handful of icons that I switch between, but mostly when I'm commenting rather than when I make posts :) Reply Parent Thread Link aw, don't do this to me, portugal. Reply Thread Link Mess, it's a shame these things happen years after the original was aired. Talk about times changing... Reply Thread Link I did not think Portugal was that kind of girl, I'm honestly surprised by this. Reply Thread Link people against lgbt+ are so fucking stupid. get over it already, weenies. Reply Thread Link The French dub of season III was supposed to start next month but has been postponed to an unspecified date due to low ratings. If/when it does air, I wonder if it'll have similar censorship (sames goes for the German, Italian, Hong Kong, and any other dubs). It's almost 2017. It's ridiculous (or should I say "rediculous") that this nonsense is still happening. GET IT TOGETHER PORTUGAL/WORLD! Reply Thread Link I highly doubt the German dub will edit it out. The French could go either way... Same with the Italian. It's depressing that so many supposedly "developed" countries are seemingly going backwards regarding the rights and acceptance of minorities. Reply Parent Thread Link Honestly cancel the entire series. It's horrible. Reply Thread Link I had no idea this had happened which sucks because I was following the show on BIGGS. :/ I get the thing against Shin-chan (even if it has been replaying FOR YEARS and only now did people get mad at it) but against Sailor Moon? When they didn't even cut those scenes from the original one back in the late 90s? Fucking shame. I thought we were getting better than this considering how progressive we are in terms of social laws but when one of your country's parties is trying to pass chastity classes in schools... People really do get offended by anything these days. It's like we're back to walking on eggshells and treating kids like they are made of glass. I also doubt it were "fans" complaining; more like dumbass parents who think just because their kids watch two girls kissing that it will turn them gay. There's worse things on the open channels like super real domestic violence/rape scenes in novelas and the parents let their kids watch them with them after dinner but they complain about this. Okay then. Reply Thread Link it's so dumb. we've had idk how many openly gay storylines in primetime telenovelas that everyone watches in the past decade, and this is what got everyone's panties in a twist? lmao. Reply Parent Thread Link I rarely watch the open channels but the other day I was zapping and ended up on some novela and there was such a realistic violence scene I couldn't change the channel fast enough. I can't believe we allow that kind of shit on primetime and let kids watch it but a kiss between animated female characters is a problem. Hell, we let kids watch the Casa dos Degredos so... I just told my 50-something year old mother about this and she just side-eyed it so bad it made me laugh. I mean, she watched the original SM with my sisters and I when we were kids and was watching this one with me and never had any problems with the Haruka/Michiru relationship. Although the Sailor Stars' situation of being guys but girls when transforming always confused her but bless her liberal 'you-do-you' heart. <3 Reply Parent Thread Link I think you've misunderstood. BIGGS didn't censor the show because fans were complaining about the content; rather, fans have been complaining ABOUT the censorship and calling BIGGS out for being homophobic. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link From Wallwritings President-elect Donald J. Trump will be sworn in January 20th as the nation's 45th president, following the most contentious, hate-filled presidential campaign in the nation's history. Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic challenger, won the 2016 popular vote by more than a 2 percent majority. According to the Cook Political Report, Clinton's final vote was 65,844,610, compared to Donald Trump's 62,979,636. That is a difference of 2,864,974 in Clinton's favor. The total number of votes for other candidates was 7,804,213. How did this happen? History will blame Trump's victory on the archaic Electoral College. But that will not be accurate. We, the American voting public, did it to ourselves. The Electoral College has been the basis of our presidential elections since the Founding Fathers at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, arrived at a compromise to keep the smaller states within the newly formed democracy. There is agitation to change the process, but don't hold your breath. Those smaller states still demand their place at the election table. It is difficult to tinker with such time-honored procedures. The sole tinkering came in 1804, when electors were instructed to vote twice, once for president and once for vice-president. Meanwhile, we have to accept the fact that on Monday, December 19, the 538 Electoral College electors met in their respective state capitals to confirm Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States, and Mike Pence as vice-president. We gave Donald Trump and Mike Pence 304 elector votes, well beyond the 270 needed to win. Their Democratic challengers, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, received 227 elector votes. Seven "faithless electors" defected from the voting majority in their state, two from Trump-Pence states and five from Clinton-Kaine states. Blogger John Whitbeck produces a daily group email on matters political. He writes that the seven defectors were the most defectors from living presidential candidates in Electoral College history. In a small historic irony, Whitbeck also found that one of the seven defector cast a protest vote, "for Ms. Spotted Eagle, a member of the Yankton Sioux Nation who helped to block (at least for the time being) development of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. She became the first Native American to receive an Electoral College vote for the office of president." What exactly did the Founding Fathers send down the chimney this 2016 Christmas season? We have been gifted our first unfettered Twitter President. He will say what he wants to say, full speed ahead. His actions will be curtailed by our procedures and laws, but his words will go forth from the world's most important political office, unfettered. This is a man without a single day's experience in governance. I have my serious doubts that he has ever walked a precinct. If I am wrong about the precinct-walking, should I expect a correction via Twitter, or in one of his rallies before the faithful? Probably not, but many others, including a former president, will be reprimanded. Trump communicated with disdain and bar-room bluster to a criticism from Bill Clinton. He did so via Twitter, a strange way of relating to one of his twice-elected predecessors. There are plenty of strange things emanating from Trump's Twitter world, mostly revelations of hatred, revenge and anger at anyone who questions or challenges him. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Empire Burlesque The end result of every Islamist terror attack (or even allegedIslamist terror attack) is: 1. Heightened authoritarian powers for governments. 2. Demonization of law-abiding Muslims. 3. More money for war-profiteers, since more war is always the ultimate response. None of these outcomes advance the attackers' cause in any way save one: more repression, demonization and war can lead to more "radicalization" of the people being repressed, demonized and bombed. Thus the responses, which are always the same, always reward the perpetrators of these atrocities by giving them the only thing they can get from the attacks: recruitment tools. "So what are we supposed to do then?" comes the angry cry. Well, one thing we could do to begin breaking this deadly cycle is to quit living in a dreamworld and recognize what the actual policies of our governments are, what our governments are actually doing, and the actual consequences of these actual events. We have to be done with the childish notion that our greatness and goodness is forever being assaulted out of the blue by motiveless monsters who don't appreciate how greatly good we really are. The taking of innocent lives is an abominable evil. It is never justified. It is not justified when sectarian extremists strike at the West; it is not justified when Western nations take innocent lives, on a mass scale, in Muslim countries. But from our side, there is not even the slightest chance of breaking this deadly cycle if we do not acknowledge the realities of what we have done and what we are doing in the world. Knowledge is the only way out of this impasse -- if there is a way out of it. We could see that the policy of destroying whole nations in military actions based on false pretenses or deliberately exaggerated threats, as in Iraq and Libya, spreads ruin, chaos, violence, extremism, refugees and weapons rippling through many other lands, destabilizing them in their turn. We could acknowledge the plain and incontrovertible fact that one main cause of the spread of violent Islamic extremism has been our own support -- covert and overt -- for groups who push this doctrine, when it suits our own geopolitical purpose. This has happened over and over -- such as the support for the violent retrograde sectarian extremists in Afghanistan, whom we called "freedom fighters" when it suited our purpose. It happened in Libya, where, once again, we armed and supported violent extremist groups while pretending they were secular moderates fight for Jeffersonian principles of liberty and freedom. It is happening in Syria, where we are arming, funding and bombing on behalf of some of the most virulent sectarian extremists on earth, including al Qaeda, while, again, pretending they are secular moderates. It is happening in Yemen, where for the 15 months, the U.S. government has been directly aiding the religious extremists of Saudi Arabia in a vicious war and murderous blockade that has cleared the way for the resurgence of al Qaeda, just as it had almost been wiped out in that country. We could acknowledge the plain and incontrovertible fact that these deliberately chosen policies -- chosen as the means to pursue various geopolitical and economic goals, none of which have anything to do with freedom or liberty or human rights -- have resulted in waves of refugees flooding into countries unprepared for them. They have resulted in further radicalization and repression both in the West and in many Muslim lands, straining and tearing at civic structures, particularly in the latter. We could acknowledge the plain and incontrovertible fact that as long as our governments pursue the agenda of advancing and maintaining economic and political dominion in the world -- by whatever means necessary -- then the fallout, the blowback from these policies will continue. It is striking how our savants can recognize this in regard to other countries, but never our own. The assassination of the Russian ambassador in Turkey this week was immediately described as blowback or revenge for Russian actions in Syria. "You see," said American pundits and politicians, "if you go meddling in the affairs of other countries for your own selfish political ends, this is what happens! You radicalize people and then they come after you!" The very clear implication -- and sometimes stated assertion -- is that the Russians are "reaping the whirlwind" of their military intervention in the Middle East. The very same principle applies to Western interventions. But as we all know, one is not allowed to say this. Because of the goodness of our greatness, our interventions are always pure. It is only other countries that pursue amoral policies for their own aggrandizement. If they are met with a violent response to these policies, it's only what they deserve. But if this happens to us, then we are innocent lambs lost in an unfair world. We are floating in an anxious cloud of learned helplessness, willful ignorance and historical amnesia. Knowledge is the only way out of this impasse -- if there is a way out. Beginning in the late Seventies, we actively, deliberately helped build, fund and arm a global network of violent sectarian extremists in order to bedevil the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. We did this: we laid the base (or, in Arabic, "al Qaeda") of global jihad, along the lines of Saudi religious extremism. We stoked this jihad network for more than a decade until every single vestige of secular society was destroyed in Afghanistan and the Taliban took over. We worked with and made a hero of Osama bin Laden (whose family had long-standing business ties in America, including with the Bush family). He was written up in American newspapers as a "freedom fighter" in Afghanistan who had put down his guns and turned his hand to good works in Sudan. We further stoked radicalization in the region when we intervened in a border dispute between Iraq (which we had supported for years, despite its brutal dictator) and Kuwait, whose royal rulers were longtime business partners of the Bush family.(Our former ally, bin Laden, was angered by the presence of U.S. "infidel" soldiers on Saudi soil; he, like the Americans, wanted to see the secular government of Iraq overthrown, but he had wanted it done by Muslim forces. So he turned against his American partners.) We shattered Iraq, imposed sanctions on it which our own leaders acknowledged killed more than half a million children. Finally, in 2003, when the country was not just on its knees but face down in the dirt, we bravely invaded again, citing the presence of weapons of mass destruction which our governments knew were not there, having been given full evidence of their destruction by the man who destroyed them -- Saddam's son-in-law (as reported by Newsweek long before the 2003 war) -- and also having found no trace of weapons or a weapons program in years of UN inspections, including a full-scale, wide-open inspection just before the war. It is very odd that most Americans believed -- and apparently still believe --there would be no consequences from this morally insane and strategically stupid policy. No consequence for killing up to a million innocent people (according to the UK government's method of casualty assessment). No consequence for sending millions of refugees flooding into Syria, a country already greatly strained by a prolonged drought which had wrought massive social upheaval. No consequences for creating a chaos in Iraq where the global jihad movement we helped build poured in and flourished as never before. But there were consequences, of course. Chief among them was the resurgence of al Qaeda and the creation of ISIS, which had its origins in those highly effective "schools" for radicalization: the American military prison camps in Iraq, with their "strenuous interrogations" (as at Abu Ghraib) and their massive sweeps gathering in thousands of innocent people and letting them languish. Syria cracked further under the strain of dealing with millions of Iraqi refugees and continuing drought. Protests arose, response was harsh, and suddenly the country was awash with money and weapons for a full-scale revolt, with thousands of fighters from the global jihad network flooding in. ISIS gained strength in Syria then moved against Iraq. The United States deliberately refrained from helping Iraq stop ISIS in this early period; Obama openly told Tom Friedman in an interview that the US held back because it wanted to put pressure on Iraq to get rid of its prime minister, a longtime US ally who had become insufficiently obedient. [The actual quote: "The reason, the president added, 'that we did not just start taking a bunch of airstrikes all across Iraq as soon as ISIL came in was because that would have taken the pressure off of [Prime Minister Nuri Kamal] al-Maliki.'"] Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Are votes in American elections being counted fairly and accurately? In an open democracy worthy of the name, this should not be a question for forensic science, but in 21st century America, that's just what it is. The United States is unique in the developed world in counting votes with proprietary software that has been ruled a trade secret, not open to inspection, even by local officials whose responsibility it is to administer elections. As we have learned, there is stiff resistance to looking at the ballots with human eyes which might offer a check on the computers. So we are left looking at statistics and anecdotes, trying to determine whether vote counts are honest and reliable. The evidence does not inspire confidence. But whatever you think of the evidence, there is no justification for a system without the possibility of public verification. Since the 2004 election, I have been a statistician in the election integrity movement, a loose network of journalists, academics, lawyers, and interested citizens who share information about problems in America's electoral system, and try to bring our findings to legislators and the press. But neither major party in the U.S. is interested in questioning the vote counts that maintain them in office. From one perspective, this is not surprising, since they are the incumbents, who, by definition, have done well under the existing system. From another vantage, however, it is puzzling that the Democrats have not made an issue of the present system, because there is evidence that, in the 21st century, it is overwhelmingly Republicans that have benefited from the nation's shaky electoral machinery. There is a long and sordid history of vote theft in America, going back to the Colonial era; from Jim Crow to strong-arm union tactics to ballot box stuffing, all sides have worked the system to their own advantage, wherever they felt they could get away with it. For example, in 1948, Lyndon Johnson overcame a 20,000-vote deficit to win the Democratic primary by 87 votes after supporters "found" a box of votes -- alphabetized and using the same handwriting and the same ink -- all cast for him. NYTimes Review of vol 2 of Robert Caro's 3-volume biography of LBJ But the dynamic fundamentally shifted after the Help America Vote Act of 2002 mandated nationwide computerization. No longer has it been necessary to steal one vote at a time; with a few lines of software, the vote count can in theory be tilted in whole regions of the country, tilting the vote count to any desired degree, limited only by the public's willingness to question the plausibility of the outcome. There are strong indications that this has occurred and that skewing of the vote count is so commonplace that the methodology of professional pollsters has been adjusted to adapt to it with their weighting algorithms. Polling companies calibrate their predictive success by using the officially reported vote counts as an unquestioned point of reference. Political polling has adopted a generally Republican tilt. [documented by Jonathan Simon] Between the Rob Georgia fiasco in 2002 and the stolen 2004 election, there was a flurry of concern in the mainstream press. Ronnie Dugger at The Nation and Paul Krugman at the New York Times wrote detailed analyses. But afterward, the newspapers and broadcast media of the liberal establishment, which science-minded citizens regularly count on for an enlightened picture of the world, have been silent or even dismissive on this issue. Since last month's U.S. presidential election, a window has cracked open, and a glimmer of light has shined in an area of darkness. Reporting has been partial and inconsistent and sometimes biased, but a question has been asked that has long been off-limits: Is someone tampering with the computers that count our votes? This part of the story is reported freely Polls on American political attitudes reveal a divergence between what the people want and what our elective representatives deliver. The people want peace (General Eisenhower heard us 60 years ago.) The people want to preserve species and are willing to pay taxes and increased product costs in order to avoid damaging fragile ecologies. The people want a transition from oil and coal to renewable energy, and the people favor robust institutions for public education and public health. In none of these areas is Congress responding to the will of the electorate. Congressional approval ratings are in the 20% range. How does a body of legislators so unrepresentative of mainstream America maintain itself in office from one election cycle to the next? The mainstream American press routinely dismisses populist ideas, treating the majority of the public as a fringe of dreamers. Other parts of the answer are openly discussed. The U.S. Senate and the electoral college are structured to offer enhanced representation to the sparsely populated states where, incidentally, gun rights and fundamentalist Christian values are high priorities. People with progressive values and voting patterns are tightly clustered in urban areas that vote 80-90% Democratic, whereas large stretches of rural America are 55-65% Republican. This distribution provides a natural gerrymandering that decreases progressive representation in Congress. Building on this foundation, many state legislatures have imposed precision, computerized gerrymandering that efficiently bundles Democratic voters in a small number of Congressional districts, leaving a much larger number of districts with thin but reliable Republican majorities. (This was an early Karl Rove initiative, and it has proven devastatingly effective.) In my native Pennsylvania, the electorate is 48% D vs 38% R, but our Congressional delegation has 5 D's vs 13 R's. That campaign spending tilts politics toward corporate interests is widely known and openly discussed. Vote suppression is another open secret. Private companies have been hired to purge the state voter lists aggressively, and on flimsy grounds. It is (statistically) less convenient for Democrats to vote than for Republicans. There are longer lines and voting machine shortages. Voter ID laws are justified on the grounds that they protect the election from non-citizen immigrants trying to vote. But the legislators who are promoting these laws know full well that such laws exclude many more legitimate than illegitimate voters. The ghost of imagined "voter fraud" is a well-promoted myth, while the very real possibility of insider "election fraud" is a taboo topic. Next Time: Part 2: Computerized Vote Theft: A Taboo Topic Vulnerability -- Statistics -- Anecdotes Above: Old bottle of paregoric. Circa 1940s. The large red X on the label indicates that it was classified as an "exempt narcotic", sold without prescription even though it contains morphine. Until 1970, paregoric could be purchased in the United States at a pharmacy without a medical prescription, in accordance with federal law. Credit: Wikipedia While you are reading this article, listen to THIS VIDEO OF GATEWOOD GALBRAITH- It may change your life! It's not just about marijuana, anymore... Oddly enough, I never believed that it was. I was filmed in an interview by a couple in Cincinnati in 2005 who asked me why I was in this 'movement'. My reply was that it was because I wanted to know the REAL truth about why marijuana was illegal because it damn sure wasn't because someone wanted to sell timber and newspapers. "This is just a very small part of a much bigger agenda", I told her. I wish I had a copy of that interview! When the 2014 Farm Bill was passed many businesses started up because of the fact that Hemp was officially allowed to be grown and sold, under specific guidelines of course, but nonetheless grown and sold. When I first started out writing about Cannabis prohibition I wasn't too overly concerned about Agenda 21 and the taking of our rights to farm, have and/or use any kind of plant, I thought they were just after the "narcotics". It didn't take too long to figure out that this just wasn't the case. But there were very few people who understood the ramifications of Agenda 21 and it's far reaching effects out there, and even fewer who wanted to hear about it because everyone was under the impression that the U.N. and our own Government was there to protect us and they "wouldn't do something like that". I was a "conspiracy theorist". The public is kept pretty much in the dark about what is happening at the U.N., because there is so many branches, divisions, offices, lack of media news coverage and also just the fact that most people work and have kids and do not have the time to sit down and listen to the news everyday, and then research it out on the internet! They are just now beginning to see the effects of what I believe was a "test case" when the U.N., effectively made it illegal to consume Cannabis. A test case for what? Their ability to be able to control and regulate every plant known to man, especially the ones that can be consumed by us for food and medicine, i.e., Cannabis and Hemp, and to watch what our reaction would be. How hard was it going to be to regulate us and contain us? Apparently, it wasn't too hard. First, a little background on the U.N. and Agenda 21 because that is where they have Cannabis/marijuana (and the rest of our food and medicinal plants) wrapped up: The "League of Nations", founded in 1920, was the start of what would become the "United Nations" in 1941. The U.N. is responsible for Agenda 21 (Agenda 2030). The U.N. is also responsible for the UNODC (U.N. Office of Drug Control), and the DEA is an extension of that, used to enforce drug regulation and drug law in the U.S. Roosevelt suggested the name (United Nations) as an alternative to "Associated Powers" The U.N. was set up as a guise and sold to the people as a way ... ...to defend life, liberty, independence and religious freedom, and to preserve human rights and justice in their own lands as well as in other lands. Are we fighting a war that we just cannot win? March 19, 1991: Plant Breeders' Rights Extended in Newly Revised UPOV Convention Revisions to the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants strengthen the intellectual property rights of seed developers. The convention was created in 1961 and is one of several international conventions and treaties that operate under the umbrella of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The convention's governing body is the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). The newly revised UPOV agreement extends the term of plant breeders' intellectual property protections for new varieties from 15 years to 20 years. It also prohibits farmers from saving seeds, though there is an optional clause that allows member countries to exempt farmers from this restriction under certain conditions. For example, the clause says the restrictions can be waived if member countries implement other mechanisms that provide equivalent protections for the "legitimate interests of the breeder." 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). Are Elections being Stolen? We shouldn't have to ask. Are votes in American elections being counted fairly and accurately? In an open democracy worthy of the name, this should not be a question for forensic science, but in 21st Century America, that's just what it is. America is unique in the developed world in counting votes with proprietary software that has been ruled a trade secret, not open to inspection, even by local officials whose responsibility it is to administer elections. As we have learned last week, there is stiff resistance to looking at the ballots with human eyes which might offer a check on the computers. So we are left looking at statistics and anecdotes, trying to determine whether vote counts are honest and reliable. The evidence does not inspire confidence. But whatever you think of the evidence, there is no justification for a system without the possibility of public verification. Part 1: Background Part 2: Vulnerability of our election system; statistics suggest fraud Part 3 of 4 : Anecdotes Over the years, there have been a number of cases where a smoking gun appeared. We had physical evidence or an insider in election theft who blew the whistle. Four of our best examples: Clint Curtis, 2001 Princeton Prof Andrew Appel (Image by YourNewsWire) Details DMCA The full story is here Georgia, 2002 In 2002, the Help America Vote Act was new, and in May, the state of Georgia contracted with Diebold to quickly transform their paper-based voting tradition to a fully computerized, paperless system. A $54 million contract with Diebold gave them control over the hardware, the software, programming of individual machines, and training of people who administered the elections locally. In the November, 2002 election, Incumbent US Senator Max Cleland and incumbent Governor Roy Barnes, both Democrats, were odds-on favorites to win re-election. A week before the voting an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll showed Cleland ahead by five points, 49-44, but on election day he lost to his Republican opponent, Saxby Chambliss, by seven points, 53-46, a twelve-point swing. The loss of Governor Barnes to Sonny Perdue was even more remarkable: a one-week switch of fourteen percentage points. [Ronnie Dugger, writing in the Nation , 2004] The thing that makes this an anecdote and not just a statistic is that a rogue computer activist broke into the server of the Diebold company, and found in their system a folder labeled "Rob Georgia". He forwarded the contents to Bev Harris at Black Box Voting , and she found a record of what had been done, and how. She explains details in this article , published prominently in New Zealand. American news outlets were not so interested. The 2004 presidential election in Ohio Ohio was the domain of Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who moonlighted as Ohio Chair of the campaign to re-elect George W. Bush. The press reported a rain of vote suppression tactics: From Consortium News Barack Obama's chance for a transformative presidency ended when he bowed to Official Washington's foreign-policy establishment of neocons and liberal interventionists and bought into the elitist notion that the American people should be guided by propaganda, not informed by facts. Although he began his presidency by promising transparency, Obama instead undertook an unprecedented crackdown on national security whistleblowers, prosecuting more than all other presidents combined. Meanwhile, he authorized partial and misleading releases of information about key events. Instead of an informed public, his administration sought maximum propaganda advantage, such as with the Aug. 21, 2013 sarin gas attack outside Damascus, Syria, and with the July 17, 2014 shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine. But Obama's anti-democratic approach to information, i.e., treating Americans like mushrooms in a darkened cellar, creates an opportunity for President-elect Donald Trump to do the opposite, reinvigorate U.S. democracy by arming citizens with facts. By doing so, he also can counter his reputation as someone hostile to reality. Once in office, Trump could use his power over pardons and commutations to reverse Obama's punishment of truth-tellers -- the likes of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden -- and Trump can authorize as full a release of evidence about turning-point events as possible. There's no justifiable reason for the U.S. intelligence community to continue to withhold its assessments on the Syria-sarin case, which killed hundreds of civilians, or on the shoot-down of MH-17, which killed 298 people. I've been told by intelligence sources that there is a great deal more evidence regarding each incident than the Obama administration has shared even with official inquiries, although holding back this information has allowed guilty parties to escape while sending investigators off in wrong directions. [See here and here.] Instead of pursuing justice, the Obama administration exploited the atrocities to demonize geopolitical "enemies." The sarin case was pinned on the Syrian government and the MH-17 shoot-down was blamed on Russian President Vladimir Putin -- all the better to gin up the New Cold War and justify massive new armaments spending. Official Washington's foreign-policy establishment, aided and abetted by the mainstream U.S. media, also concealed or played down other relevant facts about Syria and Ukraine. Regarding Syria, the Obama administration hid the degree of collaboration between U.S.-backed "moderate" Syrian rebels and radical jihadists, including Al Qaeda's affiliate, Nusra Front. On Ukraine, Obama concealed American complicity in the violent putsch that overthrew Ukraine's elected President Viktor Yanukovych and threw Ukraine into a nasty civil war with the pro-U.S. side relying on neo-Nazi storm troopers to kill ethnic Russian Ukrainians. Those realities had to be whitewashed because they didn't reinforce the desired narrative. Opening the Records On his first day in office, President Trump could order his CIA Director Mike Pompeo to review these cases and release all information that does not compromise sensitive sources and methods. The order could extend to other intelligence-related mysteries, including some that may reflect poorly on Republicans such as the October Surprise mystery of 1980, whether Ronald Reagan's campaign went behind President Jimmy Carter's back to undermine his hostage negotiations with Iran and thus ensure Reagan's election. By demonstrating a readiness to tell it like it is -- regardless of where the partisan chips fall -- Trump could reassure nervous Democrats and progressives who view him as a demagogue who disdains facts and exploits emotions for political gain. He could reverse that negative image by doing what Obama promised -- but failed to deliver on -- a transparent government that trusts the people. Trump also could put mainstream U.S. media outlets in a bind since they would have to admit that much of what they have reported about Syria and Ukraine amounted to either propaganda or disinformation. As much as the big newspapers have decried Trump as a purveyor of "fake news," they would have a hard time arguing against the release of information that gives Americans a fuller understanding of the world around them. After opening up these intelligence files, Trump could explain why he believes neocon/liberal-hawk "regime change" strategies are unwise and how relations with Moscow could be improved based on a clear knowledge of what the Kremlin has and has not done, rather than a slanted and selective presentation of propaganda designed to manage the perceptions of the American people. Advice to Obama In early 2014, as the New Cold War was starting to heat up, I advocated for President Obama to find within himself the courage that Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy displayed when they explained real dangers that Americans faced from, respectively, the Military Industrial Complex and the demonizing of Moscow's leaders in the pursuit of the original Cold War. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Articles Listed By Date List By Popularity Search Title Date Between Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 and Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 SHARE France-Pakistan relations in a new low Pakistan and France relations have touched a new low with Islamabad accusing Paris of Islamophobia. Whatever be the merits of Pakistan's case, it is not helping its cause with its own poor treatment of Hindus, Christians and other minorities. Sunday, April 4, 2021Pakistan and France relations have touched a new low with Islamabad accusing Paris of Islamophobia. Whatever be the merits of Pakistan's case, it is not helping its cause with its own poor treatment of Hindus, Christians and other minorities. (2 comments) SHARE China's spat with Australia hurting China itself China uses coal to meet 70 per cent of its energy needs. Bulk of its coal requirements, about 60 percent, are used to be met by Australia. So, the policy prescription to teach a lesson to Australia became a pain to the Chinese people and to the Chinese industrial hubs that are emerging out of the shadows of Covid- 19 pandemic. Monday, March 1, 2021China uses coal to meet 70 per cent of its energy needs. Bulk of its coal requirements, about 60 percent, are used to be met by Australia. So, the policy prescription to teach a lesson to Australia became a pain to the Chinese people and to the Chinese industrial hubs that are emerging out of the shadows of Covid- 19 pandemic. (1 comments) SHARE Afghanistan- Pakistan relations are set to nose dive again Though Pakistan's hand in Afghanistan's terrorism troubles has always been suspected, it is probably for the first time Kabul has come with clear evidence to expose the linkage. This may have a negative effect on deal with Taliban for peace in the war ravaged country. Sunday, April 5, 2020Though Pakistan's hand in Afghanistan's terrorism troubles has always been suspected, it is probably for the first time Kabul has come with clear evidence to expose the linkage. This may have a negative effect on deal with Taliban for peace in the war ravaged country. SHARE Why Baluchis Are Fretting and Fuming In Pakistan Baluchis of Pakistan are Muslims by birth and faith but are neglected and discriminated in the Islamic Republic. They have taken their case to the global human rights forum in Geneva, saying that extra judicial killings and the phenomenon of missing persons (people held by the secret services without due process of law) have reduced them to second class citizens. Friday, February 15, 2019Baluchis of Pakistan are Muslims by birth and faith but are neglected and discriminated in the Islamic Republic. They have taken their case to the global human rights forum in Geneva, saying that extra judicial killings and the phenomenon of missing persons (people held by the secret services without due process of law) have reduced them to second class citizens. (3 comments) SHARE Going up in Smoke in Pakistan Like drug addiction, smoking has become a major health hazard in Pakistan. Smuggling and illegal local production are depriving the exchequer of huge revenue but there is no visible effort to crack the whip, priming doubts about the hand of Islamist militant groups in illicit cigarette trade as well. Wednesday, May 2, 2018Like drug addiction, smoking has become a major health hazard in Pakistan. Smuggling and illegal local production are depriving the exchequer of huge revenue but there is no visible effort to crack the whip, priming doubts about the hand of Islamist militant groups in illicit cigarette trade as well. SHARE Xi Jinping's rise revives memories of dread Xi Jinping is not Mao but he wants to go down in history as the next Mao. Whether he can make China emerge as the economic and military power house or not, his new title "President for Life" has revived the gory memories of the Cultural Revolution Chairman Mao had perpetuated in his quest for absolute power. Xi's reign may see the world become a more unsure place. Saturday, April 7, 2018Xi Jinping is not Mao but he wants to go down in history as the next Mao. Whether he can make China emerge as the economic and military power house or not, his new title "President for Life" has revived the gory memories of the Cultural Revolution Chairman Mao had perpetuated in his quest for absolute power. Xi's reign may see the world become a more unsure place. Taxpayer Association of Oregon PAC, Use your free Oregon Political Tax Credit to help us win the big tax fight. This year we fought against Measure 97 and we endorsed over 100 candidates. If you do not use it you will lose it and the government will spend it for you. The Oregon Political Tax Credit allows Oregonians to donate up to $50 ($100 couple) and get 100% of it back on their Oregon taxes. That is right 100% of it back! It costs you virtually nothing while it helps fuel our team to kill tax increase ballot measures and help elect pro-taxpayer family candidates at all levels of government (Judges, Mayors, lawmakers). To qualify for the tax credit you must make your donation before the year ends. You can donate instantly online here. You can also mail donations here: Taxpayer Association of Oregon PAC PO Box 23573 Tigard, OR, 97281 Eight darn-good Reasons to help: 1. A tax credit gives you 100% back better than a tax deduction! 2. Your donation helps us fight for lower taxes saving you even more3. If you dont use it you will lose it for the year 4. You easily can donate online 5. Credit cards & pay pal accepted online 6. It helps us elect good lawmakers, mayors, judges, city councilors 7. It helps us defeat tax increase ballot measures 8. It helps us continue our 15 year history of protecting taxpayer families By Taxpayer Association of Oregon, It took only 24 days after voters resoundingly defeated the $3 billion Measure 97 tax for Oregon Governor Kate Brown to conjure up a new $1 billion Son of 97 Tax. This Son of 97 tax is coming soon as Governor Brown has proposed it for the 2017 Legislative Session that begins in just a few weeks. If they speed this tax like they sped the Hidden Gas Tax of 2015 through the Legislature we could see this billion dollar tax become law before Presidents Day. Whats in the tax: This tax is a massive $300 million tax hike on small businesses. It is also a half-billion tax hike on health insurance premiums, hospitals and health care providers. The tax is also a giant tax on liquor and tobacco. What Governor Brown is hiding: First of all, the official governors report of the tax fails to mention the $300 small business tax as an actual tax. Instead it is referred to as a revenue raising idea that closes tax loopholes which magically increases small business taxes by $300 million. By this logic, Governor Brown could eliminate your mortgage interest deduction or terminate your child tax credit and call it closing a loophole. The other thing Governor Brown does is that they delay the tax from being fully implemented by one year. This hides 30% of the cost. So the Governor is selling the tax as a $200 tax (revenue raiser) when it is closer to a $300 million tax. Governor Brown is afraid to show the public the true cost of the tax. How you can help: You can make a donation to the Taxpayer Association or support our TAO-PAC with a political tax credit donation. You choose. But you must act before midnight December 31st! Draft bill of Election 2017 prepared with consensus of all political parties: Ishaq Dar ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said the proposed draft of Election Bill 2017 had been prepared with complete consensus of all political parties and it would ensure transparent, free and fair elections in 2018. The draft bill which gives complete administrative and financial powers to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ensures registration of voters in the ECP automatically after registration of new national identity card and allows handicapped people to post their votes through postal service, was tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday by Dar who is also chairman of the Electoral Reforms Committee and it would be submitted in the Senate on December 22. Addressing the press briefing along with Law Minister Zahid Hamid and Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman, Dar said the government was introducing new law regarding elections after a gap of 40 years to make the electoral process more free, fair and transparent. He said the sub committee was formed in October 2014 which had held 70 meetings so far and presented 1283 proposals. Hamid said that sub-committee's recommendations consist of three parts including Draft Election Bill 2017, Draft Election Rules 2017 and Draft on Constitutional Amendments. Discussing the constitutional amendments, the minister said that the sub-committee approved amendments with consensus. He said that 22nd Constitutional Amendment was held only for the ECP as appointments of chairman and members of ECP were mentioned in the amendment. He said that the sub-committee forwarded the draft of 23rd Constitutional Amendment to the main committee which was presented before the National Assembly and it was also posted on the Assembly's website so that it could be finalized after receiving suggestions from Parliamentarians and general public. He said that sub-committee reviewed/examined 1283 suggestions received from general public and organisations like Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), UNDP, Transparency International and European Union Observers. Dar said the committee awarded many powers to the ECP and its directions/orders would be considered final. He said the committee decided to empower ECP with financial autonomy according to Article 81 of the constitution. ECP can take actions on rigging allegations and it would formulate an election cell to monitor the process. He said that ECP staff would take oath according to their Act and Rules for making the election process transparent. He said that polling scheme would be announced before 30 days of polling which cannot be changed. He said that Close Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras would be installed at sensitive polling stations to avoid rigging allegations. He said that the committee had decided that the persons with disability can also use postal ballot. He further added that the committee also held meetings on voting right for of overseas Pakistanis, Biometrics verification of votes and voting through Electronic Voting Machines but failed to get satisfactory results. Dar said that the committee empowered the ECP to use these technologies on experimental basis in the elections. Discussing the issue of election petitions, he said that hearing of the petitions would be held on day-to-day basis and election tribunals would be bound to announce verdict over petitions in a specific time period. He said that the ECP would make code of conduct for elections and it would be provided to media, election observers and all other organizations. He said that committee asked the ECP to run special campaigns for registration of women voters. Hamid asked the political parties to ensure five percent tickets to women candidates in the general elections. To a question, Dar clarified regarding the notification issued by the government to attach the regulatory bodies with the federal ministries. He said that all the regulatory bodies were already attached with some ministries and this notification transferred the administrative powers of those bodies from one ministry to others. No presence of IS in Pakistan: Nawaz Sharif SARAJEVO: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said there was no presence of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in Pakistan. The prime minister was speaking to a delegation of Bosnian parliamentarians. He emphasized on exchange of parliamentary delegations and sharing of their respective expertise. The parliamentarians of Bosnia and Herzegovina included Barisa Colak Borjana Kristo and Mladen Bosic while Pakistani side included PMs Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi Pakistans ambassador Lt Gen (retd) Salim Nawaz and Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nedim Makarevic. Later, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Chairman of Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr Denis Zvizdic on Wednesday agreed to strengthen ties in the field of trade, defence, agriculture and textiles. Addressing a joint press conference following their meeting at the Institutions Building (Parliament), the two expressed commitment for establishment of a joint commission to further strengthen mutual relations. Nawaz said he had a detailed exchange of views on regional and international matters with the chairman, and added that Pakistan stood committed to its support for the progress and prosperity of people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said it was a great pleasure visiting the friends and well-wishers of the beautiful and historic city of Sarajevo and expressed gratitude to the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in advancing ties with Pakistan. He said the high-level visit was part of boosting momentum in bilateral relationship and added the he concluded with chairman the most productive discussion that focused on entire spectrum of bilateral relations and further cooperation in trade, investment, defence, culture and education. Nawaz said cooperation in power sector and the energy crisis that Pakistan was facing at present, came under discussion. He mentioned that Pakistan had large coal reserves in Sindh, while Bosnia had expertise in hydropower which could be shared. He said infrastructure development mainly construction of motorways and highways being built in both Pakistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina was discussed. He mentioned that Bosnia had a very vibrant production in wood, textile industry and thanked the government of Bosnia for inviting Pakistanis to display their products at an exhibition in their country. He expressed satisfaction that the two countries had agreed to sign visa abolition of their holders of diplomatic and official passports. The prime minister said Pakistans growth rate had gone up and invited the Bosnian businessmen and trade chambers to take opportunities offered by the countrys business conducive environment. He invited the chairman of councils of ministers to visit Pakistan, saying Long live the friendship of Pakistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dr Zvizdic welcomed Nawaz on visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina and termed Pakistan a sincere friend of his country. He thanked Pakistan for extending assistance to Bosnia in a number of sectors and also widely recognizing its position and sovereignty at the international level. He mentioned that the Pak-Bosnia relations had moved to a new phase in the fields of economy and trade, with increase bilateral trade during last 12 months. He said the meeting with Nawaz focused on matters of common interest, with areas identified for cooperation particularly in agriculture, textile and defence. We would focus on developing relations in these three sectors, which would lead to the overall strengthening of our economic relations, he said. Dr Zvizdic said his government was looking forward to receiving a Pakistani business delegation to explore the sectors having potential of cooperation in agriculture to display their products at an exhibition scheduled next year. The visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will further develop our relations and we see it as confirmation of our longstanding future cooperation, the chairman council of ministers said. Separately, Nawaz and Zvizdic visited the old city of Sarajevo. Both walked down the streets of Bascarsija - the ancient city reminding of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian times. They also visited the 16th century Gazi Khusrav Beg Mosque. Courtesy Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Alberta(NEW YORK) -- A 7-year-old boy battling leukemia in Alberta, Canada, recently fulfilled his dream of conducting an orchestra. Donning a tuxedo with penguin tails, 7-year-old Jordan Cartwright led the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra through Canada's national anthem at the Francis Winspear Centre for Music in Edmonton this past Monday. "There was not a dry eye in the entire auditorium," Jordan's father, Scott Cartwright, told ABC News. "For my wife and I, it was an absolutely and astronomically amazing event." Cartwright said the moment "is burnt in my memory forever." "We don't know what tomorrow holds and getting to see our 7-year-old son all done up like a grown-up -- it gave us a glimpse of what he might be in 30 years," Cartwright said. "That is something we'll always cherish." According to Cartwright, Jordan developed a love for classical music while undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatments earlier this year. During his hospital stay, the 7-year-old worked with a music therapist, Cartwright said. "They started working on writing a song together and the chorus of the song goes, 'I am Jordan. I have cancer, but I am so strong,'" Cartwright said. "That therapist really brought light, happiness and joy to Jordan and other children at the hospital in their darkest moments." Upon learning about Jordan's love of classical music and dream of conducting an orchestra, staff at the the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northern Alberta teamed up with the Winspear Centre and Edmonton Symphony Orchestra to help Jordan realize his dreams, according to Suzanne Pescod, RMHCNA's director of marketing and communications. The center's staff and orchestra felt "truly honored to be a part of Jordan's special day," Janice Moore, director of community investment at the Winspear Centre, told ABC News. "Getting to know him and his family has really moved and changed me," Moore said. "So many other people, if put in their position, would have given up at this point. But Jordan and his family have such incredible strength." Cartwright told ABC News Thursday that the whole experience has been, to him, "the biggest Christmas miracle since the birth of Christ." "I'd also just love to add that the Cartwright family, on behalf of Canada, wishes America a very merry Christmas," he said with a laugh. Jordan's friend from the Ronald McDonald House, a little girl with whom he became best friends, was also on the family's mind. Scott Cartwright requested "prayers for Aurora." "She's holding on by just a thread," Cartwright said. "She needs her own Christmas miracle, too." Jordan will be continuing his fight against leukemia with more chemotherapy sessions, according to his father. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher, Former Member of Parliament for the Bosomtwe Constituency, Hon. Simon Osei Mensah, has received massive endorsement to be made a Regional Minister as Ghanaians anxiously wait for the ministerial appointments under the incoming NPP administration. The former MP was identified by the Patriotic Women Group of the New Patriotic Party as the perfect one to handle the needs and aspirations of the NPP in the Ashanti Region. In a press statement issued and signed by its spokesperson of the group, Abigail Asare, the group charged the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, to impress upon Nana Akufo Addo to hand over the region to Hon. Simon Osei Mensah. According to them, being the stronghold of the party, the government will need someone who is hard working and has good human relationship to be able to deal with his constituents. They pointed out that Hon. Osei Mensah possesses all these qualities and can effectively handle all matters relating to the development of the region. "Hon. Osei Mensah has good human relationship, he is hard working and his commitment to the cause of the party and the region is unmatched," they said. The Patriotic Women of the NPP further pointed out that Hon. Osei Mensah has appreciable love and support for welfare of women, stressing that his long years of experience as an MP and head of the party's regional campaign communications, makes him the most ideal person for the job. Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/ email: [email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Credit: University of Birmingham Archaeologists from the University of Birmingham have found "compelling evidence" of new Pharaonic tombs at Qubbet el-Hawa in Aswan, Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities has revealed. A two-metre high ancient encroachment wall has been discovered below a visitors' pathway in the northern part of the West Aswan cemetery at Qubbet el-Hawa. It follows and archaeological mission by the University of Birmingham and the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) Qubbet el-Hawa Research Project Group (QHRP), directed by Dr Martin Bommas of the University of Birmingham. The newly discovered wall is thought to indicate the architectural support for the known tombs of the first upper terrace, including those of Harkhuf and Heqaib, who were governors of Elephantine Island during the Old Kingdom. Owing to the landscape of Qubbet el-Hawa, the support wall helped to secure the hillside, and thus lower lying tombs, which were accessible by a causeway leading to a second terrace. Carl Graves, a PhD student who worked alongside Dr Bommas on the project, said: "The findings are dramatically altering our understanding of the funerary landscape in this area during the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period in 2278-2184BC. I don't think anyone yet knows who the tombs might have belonged to." Nasr Salama, General Director of Aswan and Nubia Antiquities, describes the discovery as "stunning" telling the Egypt Independent that it is now only a matter of time until new tombs are uncovered within the important cemetery. Eman Khalifa, director of the pottery project within the QHRP, told the paper that the stone wall was dated by the pottery shreds embedded within the mortar used to build it. She said that the crushed pieces include parts of carinated bowls, executed in a style typical of the reign of King Pepi II from the Sixth Dynasty (circa 2278-2184 BCE). The find was part of the project's successful first field season, which included the recent discovery of the long sought causeway of Sarenput I, thought to have been the first governor of the area at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. Brown biology graduate student Robbie Lamb cages off an area of algae as part of an experiment to investigate patterns of grazing by herbivorous fish and urchins. Credit: Jon Witman When Brown University Professor Jon Witman returned this year to a small patch of coral off the Galapagos Islands that he had first marked off for study in 2000, he saw virtually nothingand that told him a lot. An underwater ecosystem that had been teeming with diverse life 16 years ago was now a barren patch, an apparent victim of increasingly strong El Nino weather systems amid global climate change. "The 2015-16 El Nino was exceptionally strong," Witman said. "Climatologists predict that the frequency of strong El Ninos will increase with climate change." This year, with funding from the National Science Foundation, Witman has made several expeditions with graduate and undergraduate students to witness the effects of the latest El Nino. He journeyed to the Galapagos in January, March and again last summer, and he's there again now through February on sabbatical. He celebrated Thanksgiving with graduate student Robert Lamb and colleagues at the Charles Darwin Research Station with a holiday meal of ahi tuna, cornbread, pumpkin soup and baked sweet potato. It's been a busy year. "During this past year of fieldwork in Galapagos, there were so many surprises that we could hardly keep up with all the effects of the strong El Nino," Witman said. Amid the warmest water at the beginning of the year, for example, Lamb discovered the emergence of a skin-wasting disease in the reef fishes that he studies. "We were surprised to find this novel wildlife disease running rampant in at least 20 different species," Lamb said. "Such outbreaks of disease are one of the least understood but potentially devastating manifestations of climate change." The same patch of coral in 2000 (left) and 2016 (right) shows a severe decline in its biodiversity. Credit: Jon Witman The disease abated later in the year as the cooler La Nina took over from El Nino. But other changes associated with the warm water were apparent, too: rampant grazing of algae by sea urchins, for example, and the ominous emergence of mats of cyanobacteria. "The cyanobacteria is a species that we haven't seen at these sites in all the time we've been working there," said Fiona Beltram, a Brown junior from Glocester, R.I., who has been a member of the Witman lab for two years. "I'm interested in determining if the cyanobacteria cover leads to bleaching in coralline algae, which are important foundation species on the Galapagos reefs." Among the responsibilities assigned to Beltram, who joined the team in the Galapagos this summer, was to set up experiments to study the cyanobacteria. She also helped to measure what's been going on at about two dozen specific areas, or "transects," that Witman has been monitoring for years. "I've been really passionate about marine science since I was a kid, so it was incredibly exciting to travel down there and actively contribute to fieldwork," Beltram said. "It's also just a beautiful place, especially underwater." A cycle out of balance Graduate student Robbie Lamb encounters a sea lion while diving. Credit: Brown University The question, though, is whether that beautiful place will last. Over the years, Witman said, the El Nino - La Nina cycle has yielded a pattern that alternately seems to destroy, but at other times redeem the subtidal ecosystem's stunning biodiversity. "Corals bleach and sometimes die during the extreme temperature variability from the high temperatures during El Nino and the low temperatures of the ensuing La Nina," he said. "But as La Nina brings more productive water, barnacles reproduce and settle on the stressed corals and all over the bottom." That deteriorates the corals further, but the barnacles serve as food for many other species, promoting a rebound in the undersea life. But the more Witman and his team dives inliterally and figurativelythe more they see that the long-term trend is worrisome. "With continued El Ninos, the Galapagos subtidal ecosystem may be shifting to a system with more barnacles and their predators and fewer corals," he said. "I'm concerned, however, that this may be a lower diversity system, which may make it less resilient to future climate shocks." Who eats whom Warm El Nino waters harm the corals. Credit: Brown University At least for now, the food webs in the area remain full of characters, all of whom have a role to be studied. Lamb and Witman spent November formulating experiments to test hypotheses about what species are grazing on algae and how much. They deployed cages that selectively exclude herbivorous fishes or sea urchins, the two major groups of herbivores in this ecosystem. "We want to understand the individual and combined ecological roles of these two important groups," Lamb said. "Because of their different life histories and feeding strategies, they may be vastly different in how they respond to changes in the environment such as increased wave turbulence from storms generated during El Nino." Because algae serve as the basis of much of an ecosystem's productivity, the answers to these questions come with profound implications. Too much algae consumption can undermine the food supply for other species and reduce biodiversity. The food webs play out in complicated ways, Witman has found, as species fight to survive. As it did for Darwin, the Galapagos still deliver plenty of new lessons about how nature worksthe critical role of triggerfish, for example. "Our research has discovered that triggerfish are keystone predators," Witman said. "They prey heavily on sea urchins and consequently increase the productivity of the marine ecosystem by releasing algae from consumption by sea urchins. Sea urchins are like underwater lawnmowers mowing down bottom-dwelling algae; anything that changes their consumption of algae has a dramatic effect on productivity. We found that Spanish hogfish slow the rate of triggerfish predation on sea urchins by trying to take the urchin out of the triggerfish's mouth." Around the world The colder La Nina encouranges the growth of barnacles, a major food source, on the corals. Credit: Brown University As Witman and his studentsover the years he's trained nine undergraduates, six doctoral students and three postdoctoral scholars in the Galapagos alonecontinue to piece together how subtidal life is changing with climate in the islands, he's also working globally. He took a side trip in early December, for example, to check on another of his regular spots: coral reefs near Easter Island, far off the coast of Chile. When he's home in New England, Witman can often be found in the Gulf of Maine at Cashes Ledge, the largest and deepest offshore kelp forest in the North Atlantic. There, too, climate change may threaten biodiversity. "We are studying the resilience of the kelp forest to warming, as it is such an ecologically important species, and also trying to achieve permanent protection for the spectacular marine communities on Cashes Ledge as a U.S. Marine National Monument," Witman said. Lamb is working concurrently to show how the unique kelp forests on Cashes Ledge are home to some of the healthiest populations of cod and pollock in the southern Gulf of Maine. A triggerfish (top) swims along with its rival the hogfish, which will take urchins out of its mouth. Credit: Brown University Whether in the warm waters of the South Pacific or the much chillier North Atlantic, the goal is to understand how ocean ecosystems work so that people can help them thrive rather than threatening their survival. "Sound management of the oceans requires understanding the roles that key species and biodiversity play in ecosystem functioning," Witman said. "And, of course, how this is being altered by human disturbance." Getting released from prison or police custody can be a huge shock to those who have been incarcerated. Our new research gives an indication of just how vulnerable these people can be. We found that over a seven-year period, 400 people died of a suspected suicide within 48 hours of leaving police detention. The number of people dying in prisons and in police custody has been increasing for several years. There is, rightly, a statutory obligation for every death that occurs within a state institution to be investigated by an independent body. So each death in a prison is investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), while the equivalent in police stations are investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). But for people who die shortly after release from police or prison custody, their deaths are not subject to statutory investigation and are too often invisible. A dangerous transition Our research, published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, looked into non-natural deaths of people who have been released from police detention or prison custody. We found that the data on these deaths is contingent upon the relevant institutions (prisons, police or probation) finding out about the death in the first place and this can be difficult. We examined two sets of data: IPCC data on suspected suicides that occurred within 48 hours of release from police detention and data from the National Offender Management Service on deaths of people under probation supervision, which includes those released from prison. We also conducted interviews with 15 custody sergeants police officers who are responsible for the welfare of a detainee while in a police station prison officers and others such as representatives of police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and Public Health England. The IPCC data suggest that 400 people died between 2009 and 2016 of a suspected suicide within 48 hours of release, although this number declined between the years 2014-15 and 2015-16, as the graph below shows. People who had been detained on suspicion of sex offences accounted for 32% of the 400 total suspected suicides. We also examined a selection of 41 investigations and summaries of investigations into apparent post-release suicides that were provided to us by the IPCC. Half of these people had pre-existing mental health conditions. These referrals also pointed to inadequate risk assessment, record keeping and onward referral to relevant community-based care providers such as mental health or drug treatment providers. We then looked at deaths that had occurred within 28 days of release from prison. Despite some issues with the accuracy and completeness of the data, we identified 66 people between 2010 and 2015 who had died from non-natural causes within 28 days of leaving prison. The numbers are small and so it is difficult to draw wider conclusions, but we found that 44 of those 66 died from a drug-related death. Of the 66, 35 had served a sentence for an acquisitive offence such as theft, shoplifting or robbery, offences which are commonly associated with drug use. We also analysed investigations conducted between 2010 and 2015 by the PPO into deaths that occurred in approved premises, also known as bail hostels, within 28 days of release from custody. These investigations seek to understand what, if anything, could have been done to prevent the death. This highlighted problems with supporting drug-using offenders, a lack of confidence among staff and a failure to create a smooth transition from prison into the community. Staff under strain These analyses only tell part of the story. Our discussions with custody officers painted a complex picture. They argued that they were getting better at identifying people in custody with mental health conditions but that their ability to deal with them effectively was restricted by factors beyond their control such as a lack of appropriate treatment for people after leaving their care and an inadequate number of beds in mental health hospitals. They told us that the risk assessment tool they use for identifying such people was not fit for purpose because it did not go into enough detail and that they would benefit from additional mental health training. They were also strongly in favour of the responsibility for healthcare commissioning in police stations being handed to the NHS, rather than PCCs, a proposal which was dropped in December 2015. The story from prison staff was similar, but they also talked about the use of new psychoactive substances and the negative effects these substances are having on mental health and safety in the prison. Problems also exist when it comes to the provision of community-based care after people are released. These include cuts to community mental health services and drug services, as well as recent changes to the probation service, which have seen 70% of the service outsourced to the private sector. Such reforms have made communication between prisons and probation providers more difficult. These budget cuts and public sector reforms are having a serious impact on the ability of criminal justice agencies to deal with these issues and prevent any future deaths. There needs to be an improvement in the way in which data on non-natural deaths is collected. Deaths post-detention should also be subject to similar levels of investigation as those that occur in police custody and prison. It would be naive to suggest that all deaths of people leaving state detention can be investigated, but there is scope for more oversight from both the IPCC and PPO, at least while they are adjusting to life back in the community. At the same time, the government must maintain investment in mental health and drug services to help prevent those most vulnerable when they are released from detention from taking their own life. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Credit: Aston University The common thought that learning by experience is most effective when it comes to teaching entrepreneurship at university has been challenged in a new study. An analysis of more than 500 graduates found no significant difference between business schools that offered traditional courses and those that emphasise a 'learning-by-doing' approach to entrepreneurship education. The research challenges the ongoing trend across higher education institutes (HEIs) of focussing on experiential learning, and suggests that universities need to reconsider their approach if they are to increase entrepreneurship among their students. Ms Inna Kozlinska, research associate at Aston Business School and author of the study, said: "Entrepreneurship education is seen as a major force capable of generating long-term socio-economic changes through developing entrepreneurial, creative, flexible and wise individuals. There is an ongoing shift towards experiential learning in business schools, yet there is little empirical evidence to suggest this approach has better impact than traditional learning. "This study has shown, contrary to our expectations that 'learning-by-doing' approaches do not necessarily lead to better outcomes for students, and were even found to have adverse effects in some instances. "Educators and researchers have been preoccupied with how to teach entrepreneurship effectively for a number of years already. Many intuitively agree that experiential learning is the most appropriate and fertile given the nature of entrepreneurship entailing uncertainty, ambiguity and dynamism. However, this study challenges common assumptions and draws attention to why learning-by-doing might not work as expected." The study of HEIs in Estonia revealed only one Estonian business school that focussed on learning-by-doing produced graduates with higher entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. This was compared to three business schools with predominantly traditional teaching. Similar findings arose in Latvia, where no differences in entrepreneurial knowledge, skills or attitudes were found between experientially and traditionally-taught graduates. The study highlights another crucial issue that has not been widely researched up until now: how new entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and attitude relate to further achievements in the professional life of graduates. Contrary to expectations, the attitude of graduates was found to have the most positive effect on employability and entrepreneurial activity. The influence of newly acquired knowledge and skills on graduates was not significant. Ms Kozlinska added: "The findings surrounding the attitudes of successful graduates tend to characterise entrepreneurs: a high level of creativity and self-confidence, strong passion towards entrepreneurship, and tolerance to failure." Ms Kozlinska has highlighted three possible reasons why experiential entrepreneurial education does not always work as expected and questioned the overall quality of entrepreneurship education in the Central Baltic region. "First, students should know how to learn experientially, how to make sense and find meaning in challenging learning situations, and how to reflect upon the learning-by-doing process. The learning habits and experiences of the surveyed graduates come from a rather traditional background, where they had been digesting a large amount of textbook information and having some in-class discussions. Hence, highly experiential learning could have been a challenging endeavour for them. "Second, educators teaching entrepreneurship should have a balanced share of experience in teaching and industry. Interviews with entrepreneurship educators in charge of the researched study courses revealed two extremes. Some educators were highly experienced in entrepreneurship but had little experience in teaching. Others had an extensive teaching background but had no or limited entrepreneurial experience. "Third, an entrepreneurship course should be long enough for a meaningful impact on the professional impact of graduates. The surveyed courses in entrepreneurship were one or two semesters long. Although short courses might be impactful, this is not always sufficient for creating measurable impact. More information: The PhD thesis Evaluation of the Outcomes of Entrepreneurship Education Revisited can be accessed at www.doria.fi/handle/10024/129981 Asian golden cat. Credit: WWF-Malaysia/Azlan Mohamed Southeast Asia is home to numerous felids, including the Asian golden cat and the bay cat. The two cat species are closely related sister species which split from each other 3.16 million years ago. Yet, their more recent history was quite different. Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and their international partners could now show that, after a massive volcanic eruption about 73,000 years ago, the Asian golden cat survived only in Indochina, from where it expanded its range in dramatic fashion during the peak of the last Ice Age. The cooler and drier climates at the time pushed its sister species, the bay cat, however, into rainforest refuges on Borneo. These findings are published in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science. Today, the endangered bay cat only occurs in evergreen rainforests on Borneo. In contrast, the Asian golden cat occurs in habitats ranging from tropical rainforests on Sumatra to temperate forests in the Himalayas and southern China. Living in different environments resulted in the evolution of different colour morphs for the Asian golden cat, such as spotted, reddish and greyish to black. Aided by this variation in colour morphs, up to five subspecies have been recognised in the Asian golden cat. A comprehensive taxonomic assessment, where molecular data and morphological characters are combined, was still lacking for both species, and it was unclear why the two sister species differed so much in their range and distribution. An international team of researchers from the Leibniz-IZW, National Museums Scotland and WWF-Malaysia set out to provide such an assessment by using samples collected mostly from museum specimens and applying a new approach where they combined molecular and morphological analyses with statistical models of Pleistocene species distributions. The results suggest divergent evolutionary histories for the two sister cat species. During the Late Pleistocene and especially towards the end of the last Ice Age, the bay cat became restricted to rainforest refuges on Borneo. The results of the models for the Asian golden cat, however, showed that throughout the same period large parts of Southeast Asia contained suitable habitat. "Although we expected this on the basis of their current distribution, our molecular findings first appeared to contradict these results." says Riddhi P. Patel, PhD student at the Leibniz-IZW. Bay cat. Credit: WWF-Malaysia/Azlan Mohamed The scientist found a very low molecular diversity in Asian golden cats, which seemed very surprising and at variance in view of the large distribution area. The resolution of this paradox is provided by assuming a dramatic population reduction during the Late Pleistocene. "We think that the Toba super-volcanic eruption on Sumatra, about 73, 000 years ago, destroyed so much forest habitat that it caused a massive population decline in most of the range of the Asian golden cat, with populations surviving only in Indochina. Only a long time after suitable climatic conditions returned during the last Ice Age were Asian golden cats able to move out from their Indochinese refuge and return to former habitats, spreading north to southern China, east to India and, in particular, south to Sumatra", Patel explains. This hypothesis was consistent with data for morphological characters. "We found the greatest diversity in coat colour morphs in Indochina, whereas on the Malay Peninsula and in Sumatra golden cats are almost exclusively reddish," adds Andrew C. Kitchener of the National Museum of Scotland. These results show that despite their close relationship, the Asian golden cat and bay cat responded quite differently to climate change during the late Ice Age. The recent rapid expansion of the range of the Asian golden cat clearly is incompatible with the current taxonomic classification into five subspecies. "We recommend recognising only two Asian golden cat subspecies, one north of the Isthmus of Kra and the other one south of it on the Malay Peninsula and in Sumatra," says Patel. More information: Riddhi P. Patel et al. Two species of Southeast Asian cats in the genuswith diverging histories: an island endemic forest specialist and a widespread habitat generalist, Royal Society Open Science (2016). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160350 Journal information: Royal Society Open Science If countries abide by the Paris Agreement global warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, potential fish catches could increase by six million metric tons per year, according to a new study published in Science. Credit: Lindsay Lafreniere If countries abide by the Paris Agreement global warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, potential fish catches could increase by six million metric tons per year, according to a new study published in Science. The researchers also found that some oceans are more sensitive to changes in temperature and will have substantially larger gains from achieving the Paris Agreement. "The benefits for vulnerable tropical areas is a strong reason why 1.5 C is an important target to meet," said lead author William Cheung, director of science at the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program and associate professor at UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. "Countries in these sensitive regions are highly dependent on fisheries for food and livelihood, but all countries will be impacted as the seafood supply chain is now highly globalized. Everyone would benefit from meeting the Paris Agreement." The authors compared the Paris Agreement 1.5 C warming scenario to the currently pledged 3.5 C by using computer models to simulate changes in global fisheries and quantify losses or gains. They found that for every degree Celsius decrease in global warming, potential fish catches could increase by more than three metric million tons per year. Previous UBC research shows that today's global fish catch is roughly 109 million metric tons. "Changes in ocean conditions that affect fish stocks, such as temperature and oxygen concentration, are strongly related to atmospheric warming and carbon emissions," said author Thomas Frolicher, principal investigator at the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program and senior scientist at ETH Zurich. "For every metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, the maximum catch potential decreases by a significant amount." Climate change is expected to force fish to migrate towards cooler waters. The amount and species of fish caught in different parts of the world will impact local fishers and make fisheries management more difficult. Comparing the top five carbon dioxide emitting countries to the fisheries catch potential loss. Credit: Design by Lindsay Lafreniere, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program. The findings suggest that the Indo-Pacific area would see a 40 per cent increase in fisheries catches at 1.5 C warming versus 3.5 C. Meanwhile the Arctic region would have a greater influx of fish under the 3.5 C scenario but would also lose more sea ice and face pressure to expand fisheries. The authors hope these results will provide further incentives for countries and the private sector to substantially increase their commitments and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "If one of the largest carbon dioxide emitting countries gets out of the Paris Agreement, the efforts of the others will be clearly reduced," says author Gabriel Reygondeau, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program senior fellow at UBC. "It's not a question of how much we can benefit from the Paris Agreement, but how much we don't want to lose." More information: "Large benefits to marine fisheries of meeting the 1.5C global warming target," Science, science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi 1126/science.aag2331 Journal information: Science Seventy years ago this month, an American military tribunal initiated the first of 12 criminal cases against Nazi doctors for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the name of medical science. Held in Nuremberg, the trials charged doctors for their participation in murder, torture, and other atrocities, including experimenting on prisoners and killing those the Nazis deemed unworthy of life, including people with mental and physical disabilities. As a psychiatrist and the child of Holocaust survivors, I struggle to fathom how a doctor sworn to do no harm could inflict such incredible pain and suffering on another human being. And yet we know today that in the post-9/11 period, doctors and other health professionals were instrumental in designing and implementing the U.S. torture program that destroyed thousands of lives and has undermined the moral standing the United States assumed in the postwar period. In the wake of World War II, those responsible for some of the wars worst crimes were tried before the International Military Tribunals for Germany, known as the Nuremburg Trials, and the Far East, known as the Tokyo Trials. The U.S. government was the leader in pushing for justice, recognizing the importance of a full accounting of the crimes, justice and reparation for the victims, and accountability of those responsible. In fact, the seeds of modern research ethics and human rights protections, including the Nuremberg Code banning nonconsensual medical experimentation and the conventions against genocide and torture, were first sowed in these years after the war. As people like my parents emerged from the camps, these international compacts were meant as a promise: the horrors you and your families endured must never happen again. And the perpetrators will be held accountable for their crimes. But after 9/11, something shifted. Using national security as an excuse, the United States broke the promises it had made to uphold human rights and instead engaged in a secret, illegal torture program. And even after President Obama banned the worst of the torture practices upon assuming office, none of those who designed or implemented that program have been held accountable for their crimes. The U.S. governments failure to pursue justice stands in sharp contrast to its undisputed leadership in promoting justice and accountability for the victims of World War II and its support for the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which captured the vision of a world in which people live free from fear and want. Instead, the U.S. government is now using every tool at its disposal to prevent the victims of torture from accessing justice and a complete accounting of their suffering while in U.S. custody from the hell of the CIAs Dark Prison black site in Afghanistan to the Kafkaesque world of Guantanamo. Perhaps nothing is more a betrayal of the spirit of Nuremberg than the willingness of American medical and health professionals to torture detainees and the ongoing cover-up of such crimes. Health professionals were involved in the torture program from the beginning, including two psychologists who undertook experiments in torture on detainees to test its effectiveness. For a fee of $81 million, psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen helped subvert medical ethics and, in the process, ruined lives. Instead of being held accountable for his actions, James Mitchell is on a book tour attempting to reargue that techniques like waterboarding arent torture despite the fact that the United States convicted several Japanese soldiers for waterboarding U.S. prisoners after World War II. Waterboarding is torture and torture is a crime, one that destroys the very fabric of a rights-respecting society. With a president-elect poised to take office and threatening to bring back waterboarding and much worse, it is crucial that the current administration act now to preserve and declassify all the evidence of these crimes committed by the CIA and the U.S. military, including those committed by health professionals who breached their ethical duties. Its an absolutely necessary step for the United States to begin to regain its moral authority in the world. After the war, the U.S. government didnt try to shield its eyes from atrocities. Rather, during the Doctors Trial, the Unites States was willing to look perpetrators in the face and reckon with the past. Its time to reassume the mantle of leadership and not shy away from the truth. We owe it to all the victims of warfare and atrocities. This post originally appeared on The Huffington Post. The brutality visited on Aleppo in recent weeks has shown the world that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has no scruples about killing his own people and destroying one of the worlds once-great cities. According to the United Nations, as Syrian forces closed in on eastern Aleppo, they executed dozens of civilians on sight, including women and children. Reports of men and boys being rounded up have families wondering what horrors await their loved ones. But its a brutality that has been clear all along to those of us whove watched Assad and his allies engage in a seemingly limitless campaign to annihilate Syrias health care infrastructure and personnel over the past five years. There have been at least 400 attacks on medical facilities in Syria since 2011. The intentional campaign of striking hospitals, emergency clinics, maternity wards, and pediatric units has shown that Assad and his principal backer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, have absolutely zero regard for international law and the longstanding prohibition against attacking medical workers and facilities during wartime. In Syria, attacking hospitals has become an ominous new normal of sorts, a signature of this conflict and likely conflicts to come. And though such attacks violate not just international law but repeated UN Security Council resolutions, the international community has failed to stop them. There has been plenty of rhetoric, plenty of attempts to name and shame, and yet our governments and the international bodies with a duty to maintain peace and security abdicated their responsibilities. This shame will endure for generations. Crimes like the systematic destruction of hospitals are called crimes against humanity because in their barbarity, they violate our common understanding of what it should mean to be human. We are all victims of such atrocities, because as those international norms and standards wither, all of us may someday find ourselves seeking refuge or fleeing a conflict and will find no sanctuary. Its a thought that should terrify us all. One morning just a few weeks ago, the two of us discussed the desperation that we in the medical and human rights communities feel about the situation in Syria. Our governments had let us down; we felt entirely helpless. So we decided to act. We imagined the Peoples Convoy, a crowd-funded effort supported by private citizens, to send a message of solidarity and provide much-needed medical aid to those who are now suffering even more intensely in the wake of Aleppos fall. Laden with nebulizers, scales, examination tables, stethoscopes, and feeding bottle sterilizers, the convoy is now working its way across Europe. Once the supplies reach the Syrian border, our partners who routinely make aid deliveries into Syria will use them to establish a childrens clinic capable of serving 60,000 patients. Its meant to support both those who are suffering but also the valiant doctors whove risked their own lives to save others. A genuine citizen action. But the convoy is also meant to send a message: we do not accept the new normal of attacks on hospitals. And its also an expression of support for the doctors, nurses, medics, and other health professionals inside Syria are the heroes of a conflict where heroics are in short supply. Medical students have become specialists by dint of their own ingenuity and a smartphone. Nurses and medics have logged all-night shifts knowing that if they rest, others might die. They have lived up to the highest ideals of the health professions by providing care without fear or favor. And theyve died because of it. At least 768 medical professionals in Syria have been killed since 2011. In 2012, the Syrian parliament passed a law banning any assistance to opposition forces, including medical care, and branding those who violated the law as terrorists. This law is an affront to the longstanding norms and treaties protecting medical care in conflict. The Peoples Convoy is meant as a message to our medical colleagues that we support their work no matter who they treat. Its unclear what will happen next in Syria or what fresh new horrors await those whove escaped Aleppo and other towns under siege. But the conflict will inevitably end. Thats when the world will reach another moment of reckoning: will we allow the war criminals who attacked the heart and soul of Syrias health care system to get away with it, or will we hold those whove violated international laws and compacts accountable for their crimes? Dr. Rola Hallam is the founder and CEO of CanDo. PharmaMar and Chugai Pharmaceutical Enter into a License and Commercialization Agreement for PM1183 in Japan Details Category: Small Molecules Published on Thursday, 22 December 2016 09:22 Hits: 1891 MADRID, Spain/TOKYO, Japan I December 22, 2016 I PharmaMar (MSE: PHM) has announced today the signing of an exclusive license, development and commercialization agreement with Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo: 4519) for its third marine-derived anticancer drug PM1183 (lurbinectedin) in Japan. Under the terms of this agreement, PharmaMar will receive an upfront payment of 30 million, along with double-digit tiered royalties, and will also be eligible for receiving payments in line with the progress of the development and sales milestones; potentially worth over 100 million. PharmaMar will continue to conduct the clinical development activities for the first two indications of PM1183 (platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and small cell lung cancer) in Japan, whereas Chugai will make milestone payments at study initiation and will be responsible for registration filing. In addition, Chugai will have the rights to conduct clinical development in Japan to pursue additional indications and may contribute to the global development. PharmaMar will retain the exclusive production rights of lurbinectedin and will supply the API to Chugai. PM1183 is PharmaMars third anticancer drug and is currently under development for the treatment of several types of solid tumors. The Company has recently completed the recruitment of patients in a Phase III study in platinum resistant ovarian cancer, and during the month of August, a pivotal Phase III trial in small cell lung cancer was initiated. According to Luis Mora, Managing Director of PharmaMars Oncology Business Unit, we are about to address our second strategic alliance with Chugai for the commercialization of a marine based anti-tumor compound. With this agreement, we will contribute to the sale of PM1183 in Japan. Meanwhile, we shall continue with the clinical development of the molecule and to advance in the upcoming regulatory steps to obtain its approval in the years to come. Both companies share the same value to bring PM1183 an innovative marine based medicine to the Japanese patients so that we can contribute to the treatment, said Chugais Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer, Tatsuro Kosaka. Chugai is committed to continuously provide innovative medicines to the patients. We hope to obtain approval based on the clinical results attained so far, and also from new results that will come in the future. About PM1183 (lurbinectedin) PM1183 is a compound under clinical investigation. It is an inhibitor of RNA polymerase II. This enzyme is essential for the transcription process that is over-activated in tumors with transcription addiction. The antitumor efficacy of lurbinectedin is being investigated in various types of solid tumors, including a Phase III study for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, a Phase II study for BRCA 1 and BRCA 2-associated metastatic breast cancer and a Phase III study for small cell lung cancer. About Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Chugai Pharmaceutical is one of Japans leading research-based pharmaceutical companies with strengths in biotechnology products. Chugai, based in Tokyo, specializes in prescription pharmaceuticals and is listed on the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As an important member of the Roche Group, Chugai is actively involved in R&D activities in Japan and abroad. Specifically, Chugai is working to develop innovative products which may satisfy the unmet medical needs, mainly focusing on the oncology area. In Japan, Chugais research facilities in Gotemba and Kamakura are collaborating to develop new pharmaceuticals and laboratories in Ukima are conducting research for technology development for industrial production. Overseas, Chugai Pharmabody Research based in Singapore is engaged in research focusing on the generation of novel antibody drugs by utilizing Chugais proprietary innovative antibody engineering technologies. Chugai Pharma USA and Chugai Pharma Europe are engaged in clinical development activities in the United States and Europe. The consolidated revenue in 2015 of Chugai totaled 498.8 billion yen and the operating income was 90.7 billion yen (IFRS Core basis). Additional information is available on the internet at http://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english. About PharmaMar Headquartered in Madrid, PharmaMar is a world-leading biopharmaceutical company in the discovery and development of innovative marine-derived anticancer drugs. The company has an important pipeline of drug candidates and a robust R&D oncology program. PharmaMar develops and commercializes YONDELIS in Europe and has three other clinical-stage programs under development for several types of solid and hematological cancers, PM1183, plitidepsin, and PM184. PharmaMar is a global biopharmaceutical company with subsidiaries in Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Belgium and the United States. PharmaMar fully owns other companies: GENOMICA, Spain's leading molecular diagnostics company; Sylentis, dedicated to researching therapeutic applications of gene silencing (RNAi); and two other chemical enterprises, Zelnova Zeltia and Xylazel. To learn more about PharmaMar, please visit us at www.pharmamar.com. SOURCE: Chugai Pharmaceutical Co AzurRx BioPharma Announces First Three Patients Included in Phase IIa Study with MS1819-SD for Endocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency Details Category: Proteins and Peptides Published on Thursday, 22 December 2016 09:46 Hits: 1943 BROOKLYN, NY, USA I December 21, 2016 I AzurRx BioPharma, Inc. (AZRX) (AzurRx or the Company), a company specializing in the development of non-systemic, recombinant therapies for gastrointestinal diseases, announced today that in partnership with Mayoly Spindler, a European pharmaceutical company, that the first three patients in the Phase IIa clinical trial with MS1819-SD for patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) caused by chronic pancreatitis (CP) have been enrolled. The open-label, dose escalation Phase II study is being conducted in two sites in Australia, The Royal Adelaide Hospital and Linear Clinical Research in Perth, as well as two sites in New Zealand, P3 Research in Wellington and CCST in Christchurch. The study is projected to complete 12-15 patients with EPI caused by chronic pancreatitis over the next several months. The primary objective of this Phase II study is to investigate the safety of escalating doses of MS1819-SD in patients with CP. The secondary objective is to investigate the efficacy dose response of MS1819-SD in these patients by analysis of the coefficient of fat absorption (CFA) and its change from baseline. Safety will be assessed at the end of each treatment period with particular attention paid to immunoallergic effects, digestive symptoms and clinical laboratory tests. The Company anticipates reporting data periodically during this trial, with results from the first group of patients enrolled expected to be reported in the first half of 2017. Thijs Spoor, President and CEO of AzurRx, said The enrollment of the first patient/first patients in our Phase II study is a significant milestone in the clinical development of MS1819. We look forward to further demonstrating MS1819s effect in reducing the conditions associated with chronic pancreatitis and improving the lives of EPI patients. We are excited to play an instrumental role in helping to develop new therapies for a range of human conditions said Dr. Richard Stubbs, Managing Director of P3 Research, in Wellington, New Zealand. We are committed to being a leader in trialling medicines that have significant potential to change patient care. MS1819-SD, an oral non-systemic biologic capsule, is a recombinant enzyme that is derived from the yarrowica lipolytica lipase, and is entirely plant-based/vegan. In early animal and human trials, it has demonstrated an appropriate profile to compensate the pancreatic lipase (enzyme) deficiency that is common with CP patients. The deficiency of this enzyme can be responsible for greasy diarrhea, fecal urge and weight loss. There are approximately 100,000 patients in the U.S. with EPI caused by CP according to the National Pancreas Foundation and more than 30,000 patients with EPI caused by cystic fibrosis according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Patients are currently treated with porcine pancreatic enzyme replacement pills. The U.S. market for such EPI porcine replacement therapy pills in 2015 was estimated to be $820 million in the U.S. and $1.5 billion globally according to Wall Street estimates. About AzurRx BioPharma, Inc.: AzurRx BioPharma, Inc. (AZRX) is engaged in the research and development of non-systemic biologics for the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal disorders. MS1819 recombinant lipase for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is the Company's lead development program, and additional early stage research is being conducted for the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. The Company is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, with scientific operations based in Langlade, France. Additional information on the company can be found at www.azurrx.com. About Laboratoires Mayoly Spindler, SAS Mayoly Spindler is a French, independent, family-owned pharmaceutical company, active in research, development, manufacturing, registration and marketing of pharmaceuticals and dermo-cosmetics in more than 70 countries. The company aims to become a global reference in gastroenterology and dermocosmetics. Mayoly Spindler is headquartered in the Paris area of France, and employs 750 people worldwide. Mayoly Spindler website address: www.mayoly-spindler.com About Endocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency: Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) is a condition characterized by deficiency of the exocrine pancreatic enzymes, resulting in the inability to digest food properly, or maldigestion. The deficiency in this enzyme can be responsible for greasy diarrhea, fecal urge and weight loss. About MS1819 MS1819-SD, supplied as an oral non-systemic biologic capsule, is a recombinant enzyme that is derived from the yarrowia lipolytica lipase, and unlike the standard of care, does not contain any animal products. In an animal model, the in-vivo activity of MS1819 was superior to the activity seen in-vivo using the standard of care porcine pancreatic extracts. A previous study has found that MS1819 was well tolerated in humans with no serious adverse events. SOURCE: AzuRx BioPharma Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America. QUEENSBURY The former Glens Falls man who faces trial next month for the killing of a longtime friend sought bail Wednesday in Warren County Court, but didnt get the answer he was looking for. Robert M. Divine Henry, 45, of Ilion, has been held without bail since his July 9 arrest for the killing of Glens Falls resident Kevin Jenks. Henry has four prior felony convictions, and no bail could be set in Glens Falls City Court, and no application was made when he was indicted, in part because murder charge defendants rarely have bail set in amounts they can afford to post. But lawyer Tucker Stanclift said Henry asked his defense team to seek bail at this point of the case, so Stanclifts associate, Taalib Horton, requested that Warren County Judge John Hall set bail at $10,000 cash or $30,000 bail bond. Horton pointed to Henrys ties to the region, including jobs at Irving Tissue, KFC and Saratoga Race Course while he lived in the Glens Falls area several years ago. He believes that you are not a flight risk, Warren County Judge John Hall said, summarizing Hortons motion. Warren County First Assistant District Attorney Jason Carusone disagreed, pointing to Henrys criminal record, the strength of the case against him and the possibility he faces up to life in prison as a persistent felon if convicted of any felony. Henrys co-defendant, Kevin S. Chapman, 49, of Herkimer, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month and agreed to testify against Henry. Carusone pointed out that the majority of the items stolen from Jenks home were recovered in the motel room Henry was renting at the time. There is extensive evidence implicating the defendant in this case, Carusone said. Hall set bail at $500,000 cash or $1 million bail bond, amounts that Henry is unlikely to post in light of the finding he was indigent and eligible for court-appointed counsel because of a lack of financial assets. Henry faces nine charges, including second-degree murder and lesser counts of robbery, burglary, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property for the July 6 strangulation death of Jenks in his Glens Falls home. He has pleaded not guilty. Court records allege Henry set up a meeting with Jenks to rob him, and brought Chapman with him. Jenks, 58, was killed in the home, and one of the two men drove his Cadillac sedan back to central New York, where Jenks credit cards were used. Police arrested them the day after Jenks body was discovered in his home. Henry is scheduled to stand trial starting Jan. 30. He is being held in Warren County Jail for lack of bail. A Granville man was sentenced this week to up to 5 years in prison in Vermont for a December 2015 car crash in which he fled the scene and left his seriously injured 3-year-old daughter behind, officials said. Matthew J. Waterman, 31, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence with injury resulting, grossly negligent driving and cruelty to a child for the Dec. 6, 2015 crash in Weathersfield, Vermont, records show. The charges stemmed from a rollover crash on Route 131 where he and the child were thrown from the vehicle, the 3-year-old suffering several broken bones, according to the Rutland Herald newspaper. Waterman left the crash scene and went to a nearby home, and was found to be drunk when officers located him a short time later. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of violating conditions of his release after he failed to show up for sentencing and was arrested on a bench warrant. Waterman will have to serve a minimum of one year and 67 days in prison before becoming eligible for release. The crowd cheered, returning Seig Heil cries and salutes to their white nationalist leader, Richard Bertram Spencer, after he led them in a tribute to the president-elect during a late November National Policy Institute conference in Washington, D.C. Hail Trump. Hail our people, hail victory, cried Spencer, the founder of the alt-right movement who now heads the whites-only think tank, NPI. Following Spencers controversial fascist salute common to Benito Mussolini and popularized by Adolph Hitler an international spotlight shone on the man who says he is trying to find his way out of what he sees as the multicultural mess of America. And in his quest to return what he calls post-America to its white roots, Spencer and his alt-right contingent are in the midst of putting together a 2017 college tour aimed at changing the American consciousness by tapping into young minds. It all starts with consciousness. Consciousness is everything. All I want to do is change the way people think, Spencer said in a Post-Star interview last Thursday. For a movement to succeed, you need young people. Dubbed a fascist, a racist, a white supremacist and a Nazi, Spencer is undeniably a crusader for the white race, and white males in particular. The alt-right is repackaging white supremacy to appeal to college campuses, said Marilyn Mayo, a research fellow at the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism in New York City, who has been following Spencers activities since 2008. What makes them dangerous is that they make white supremacy seem normal ... in Richard Spencers recent talk at Texas A&M, he was careful with his language to students. Mayo warns that Spencers rhetoric we just love our own people is rooted in hate. What concerns us is the idea that white supremacy ideas are mainstream, Mayo said. They are professionalizing their messages to campuses. They cannot be ignored. What is the alt-right? Coining the term alt-right in 2010, Spencer, 38, said it stands for identity politics for European Americans who resist a status quo of immigration and an anti-white male bias by government and in employment. This is an intellectual vanguard movement of identity. I am well aware that it is controversial, he told The Post-Star. If we are not making controversy, we are doing something wrong. Spencer said most alt-right followers are young white men. There are a few women, but this fundamentally younger (younger than 40) men because it is intellectual, he said. It is a heretical movement, no doubt. Spencer can spout the rhetoric of Greek philosophers and seems equally at ease with the wordplay of academics or the memes of internet trolls. People who spend a lot of time on the internet demeaning others have played a role in Spencers rise to infamy, identifying individuals by gender or race and trying to humiliate and ridicule them online, said Ron Seyb, a Skidmore College associate professor of political science. They can be pretty dangerous, Seyb said. Far from apologizing for online vitriol, Spencer says young people need more trolling, more jokes. Offend everyone, he said recently at the Texas A&M presentation, after fat-shaming a detractor. Whats happening, they are trying to make white supremacy seem like fun and youthful, Mayo said. Its bigoted humor. They are creating memes and an online community where they use their own language ... they are still bigots. Avowed neo-Nazi Tila Tequila posted on social media that its the humor that draws her to the alt-right and memes like Pepe the Frog and Emperor Trump. Attending the November NPI alt-right rally, Tequila posted a controversial photo of her Seig Heil salute with Spencer on Twitter. They think they are being ironic, Mayo said. Its not ironic, its about hate. Words like red pill and blue pill, Red Ice radio and TV, and social media tactics like echoing putting triple parentheses around a Jewish persons name on Twitter, like (((Jane))), for example keep their actual agenda hidden. Red pill is a term used in some alt-right circles, drawn from the movie The Matrix, that refers to a time of enlightenment. Blue pill is just the opposite living an illusion. Echoing was discovered this year when journalists began noticing their names in parentheses on Twitter. To stop this, Jews and non-Jews started putting triple parentheses around their own names, she said. And this made it lose its power. Mayo continued: I want to be very clear, its not fun. they are repackaging hate in a new way, but they are still very dangerous. In response, Spencer asked, How are you defining dangerous? We want to change the world and there are people who dont want that, he said. They should be afraid because we are changing the paradigm and there are many people who benefit from the current paradigm ... but its dangerous for me, too. The Trump effect Critics of the alt-right point to Trumps election and the appointment of the head of Breitbart News, Steve Bannon, to a top White House post as the normalization of white separatist speech. Spencer enthusiastically agrees. He (Donald Trump) slingshotted us into the mainstream, Spencer said. On Saturday Night Live last Saturday, there were two alt-right jokes. To be on Saturday Night Live means we have broken into pop culture. To enhance their appeal, the alt-right has adopted Spencers GQ look, wearing expensive suits and a Hitler Youth undercut hairstyle, common to many celebrities. Mayo said that at a recent alt-right conference she was able to identify known neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the audience also dressed in suits. Spencer encourages alt-right ideologues to adopt his hipster appearance, saying it gives them a recognizable identity. I think its great we have a haircut and people talk about my style and my words, he told the Post-Star. It ultimately means we have a culture and are recognized as a culture. Spencer draws connections between the alt-right and the gay rights movement of a decade ago. People were in hiding and then they came out, he said. We were in hiding and many still are for fear they will lose their jobs. According to a recently released survey, The Trump Effect, by the Southern Poverty Law Center, there has been a dramatic rise in open hate speech among K-12 students since the November election. Of the 10,000 teachers and administrators who responded to the survey, 90 percent reported the school climate has been negatively affected. A full 80 percent describe heightened anxiety and concern on the part of students worried about the impact of the election on themselves and their families, researchers reported. Also on the upswing: verbal harassment, the use of slurs and derogatory language, and disturbing incidents involving swastikas, Nazi salutes and Confederate flags. The Post-Star contacted area high school principals and Glens Falls Superintendent Paul Jenkins, but repeated calls and emails went unanswered. Spencer said President-elect Trump, who has denounced the alt-right on several occasions, does not fully understand it. He also believes that Bannon is not part of his movement. I met Steve Bannon briefly. I dont know him, but I dont think he is alt-right. Its a generational thing and he comes from an older generation, he told The Post-Star. Hes a pugilist willing to fight. Igniting young minds Spencer got degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Chicago and completed doctoral work at Duke University. He said the impetus for his upcoming college tour came out of what he called a good experience at Texas A&M University earlier this month, despite hundreds of detractors. My appearance at Texas A&M created a lot of excitement. No one was disinterested and everyone had an opinion. I dont want to be boring, I dont want people to be apathetic, he said. We are putting together a college tour through Texas and the West Coast. I dont want to reveal the details at this time. I would love to come east. Maybe George Washington or Georgetown, Harvard or Yale. Or maybe even the University of Virginia. Locally, Spencer is not yet scheduled to appear at area colleges and universities, but given an invitation, he said he would. Dr. Kristine Duffy, SUNY Adirondack president, said the college will not tolerate bias-related acts of disrespect. To date, SUNY Adirondack has received little to no complaints about heightened acts of intolerance, she said. We are saddened to hear of these incidents across the nation. Nonetheless, Spencer easily bypasses college sanctions and barriers by reserving public rooms under different names or getting students to reserve rooms for him under the students name. Seyd hears echoes of the past in the alt-right movement and refers to the rapid and polished rise of Hitler Youth. He (Spencer) is clearly used to adversarial conversations and he is very clever at twisting arguments around, Seyd said. They avoid charged language, he said. Rather than bombs and bullets, they go to college campuses and get young, innocent, nubile minds. They appeal to young people. The body pulled Wednesday morning from a well-known Dorset, Vermont swimming hole has been confirmed to be a missing college student, according to Vermont State Police. Vermont State Police said the death of Hadil Marzouq, 21, has been determined to be a drowning, although how she drowned has not been determined. Her body was recovered at about 9:30 a.m. in the back of the quarry under ice after about three days of searching. The Bennington College student was reported missing Sunday after she did not return to the place where she was staying in Bennington, Vermont. Her vehicle was found near the Dorset Quarry, triggering the search in and around the quarry. The case remains under investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Bennington state attorney. WILTON Whether a portion of the nearly $58 million South Glens Falls school construction project should be done exclusively under a union agreement was the subject of a lengthy meeting Monday by the Board of Education, which featured the attorney hired by the district walking out in frustration over his report being attacked. At issue was whether the board should enter into a project labor agreement, or PLA, in which every contractor that works on the project would have to sign and be bound by its terms. PLAs often supersede individual union contracts, and the cited benefits include preventing work stoppages from labor disputes. Superintendent of Schools Michael Patton said after voters approved the proposition last December, the board was approached by the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council about exploring a PLA for its capital project. The board hired a consultant to perform a study to determine whether there would be cost savings under an arrangement. The district had used a PLA in work done in 1999-2001. Attorney David Wukitsch recommended that the board not enter into a PLA. He said he could only come up with about $400,000 in projected savings. He did not attribute any cost savings to apprentice labor because of what he said is a lack of a reliable supply of apprentice labor and quality issues surrounding their work. Wukitsch told the board, which was meeting at Ballard Elementary School in Wilton, that the states highest court has said that PLAs are anti-competitive by nature. He believes that having a PLA would decrease the number of bidders on projects. There are not enough projected cost savings to balance the anti-competitive impact, he said. Board member Nelson Charron, who works as the marketing representative for the United Association of Plumbing and Pipefitters Local 773, criticized Wukitsch for not including information from local labor officials in his report. Wukitsch said he contacted Jeff Stark, president of the Greater Capital Region Building and Construction Trades Council, and left a message. He did not receive a return call. Wukitsch added that he believes that labor officials are not going to tell him anything he does know already. Wukitsch said PLAs are a good idea in an area where there is a history of labor unrest or a shortage of qualified workers. Another instance of where a PLA would be useful is if the project involves a large amount of second-shift work, which is a higher rate because of a pay differential. The rate is typically eight hours pay for seven-and-a-half hours work a 7 percent premium, according to Wukitsch. In this case, only about 14 percent of South Glens Falls work would be done on the second shift. He estimated that even without the PLA, about 40 percent of the bidders on the project would be nonunion. Jeff Stark, president of the Greater Capital Region Building and Construction Trades Council, said he believes the cost savings under a PLA would be more substantial. Stark has negotiated several PLAs over the last four years, with the largest one being the construction at GlobalFoundries. Millions of dollars were saved on the Glendale Nursing Home project in Schenectady County, according to Stark. Every project labor agreement Ive done in the last four years has ended on time, under budget, no complaints, he said. He said project labor agreements have among the lowest incidents of safety problems. Stark apologized if he did not get Wukitschs message, explaining his office was in the process of moving. Joshua Reap, director of government affairs for the Associated Builders and Contractors, said he believes that a PLA creates a vacuum that limits bidders on the project. He said the nonunion, or merit shops, do quality work as well. The problems with a PLA are what he said are antiquated and inefficient work rules that come into play regarding who can do what. He said many of the cost savings can be achieved without a PLA. Let the cards fall where they lie, he said. That was the view shared by Dave Rakvica, vice president of construction services for Schultz Construction of Ballston Spa. Open it up to competition. This is America. Were all going to do the best job we can, he said. He added that if a project labor agreement is in place, he believes about three-quarters of the contracting community would not bid on it. Wukitschs study was blasted as flawed by Phil Stenglein, marketing representative for the Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local Union 83. He accused Wukitsch of cherry-picking cases to support his conclusion. I see it as biased, without merit and nothing more than anti-union propaganda, he said. Board member Thomas Kurtz suggested tabling this matter to January, so the parties can get together to discuss the study. I think theyve put us in a very difficult position, where I dont think we can make an educated decision right now, he said. Bill McMordie, the schools project manager, said the follow-up conversation will give an indication whether the union would be willing to give back the higher pay required for labor during second shift. He believes that Wukitschs study was giving the board a straight shot. Wukitsch said there are going to be unhappy people if they vote for the PLA and if they vote against the PLA. Kurtz insisted that more discussion is needed. Wukitsch then blurted out from the audience Im done. Im done with this. Ive done what Ive been retained to do, he said, and left the meeting. The disparagement Ive had to deal with from this place. Im done. Go find somebody else, he added. Board Vice President John Farrell said the board is receiving conflicting opinions. He said the one thing is clear: If they go against the recommendation from this study, it could open up the school district to potential litigation. If separate parties come back and give opposite opinions from a conversation, I dont know how thats going to help cover our backside, he said. Superintendent Patton said the district has to continue on its timetable for its capital project. The board on Monday approved submitting plans to the state for its Moreau and Ballard elementary school work and the new transportation facility. This work would be outside the scope of the PLA, if the district ends up going that route. The board voted to table discussion until next month, with Charron abstaining. In the meantime, they want the parties to get together. The school board was approached by the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council about exploring a Project Labor Agreement for our capital project. Mike Glens Falls 1st Ward Supervisor Dan Girard has asked that the Warren County Attorneys Office look into what he described as a shouting match that occurred recently in City Hall between Glens Falls Mayor Jack Diamond and Warren County Sheriff Bud York. Girard brought the confrontation up at the end of the public, televised session of Fridays Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting, asking the board to have County Attorney Brian Reichenbach look into what happened. Girard said he had heard Diamonds side of the story, but not Yorks. All Im asking is for the county attorney to have both sides of the story and have it prepared for the Public Safety Committee, Girard said. I think we publicly need to air it out. York said this week that he had put together a letter of response to Girards comments that was sent to county supervisors, and that would serve as his public comment on the matter. He provided a copy of it to The Post-Star, which is attached to the online version of the article. The meeting was a private meeting to discuss a performance issue that the chief invited the mayor to sit in on, York wrote. The disagreement happened earlier this month in the office of Glens Falls Police Chief Tony Lydon, where York had been invited by Lydon to discuss a police issue, Girard said. Officials said York had contacted Lydon to discuss his concerns about a Glens Falls police officers handling of a domestic violence complaint, which had been brought to the sheriffs attention by a concerned resident. Diamond came in to Lydons office and sat down while York discussed the matter with the chief, and the conversation devolved to the point where there were profanities exchanged and Diamond asked York to leave City Hall, Girard said. Diamond would not discuss the matter this week, hanging up the phone on a reporter who was trying to reach him on the issue. Lydon would not discuss the matter Tuesday. Reichenbach referred comment to York and Diamond. Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said he looked into what occurred and said he found no indication York did anything wrong. Were not going to do anything with this. It was a private matter between the sheriff and police chief, and I dont know why the mayor had to get involved in it, he said. York and Diamond are elected officials, and as such, the boards that oversee their offices have limited abilities to discipline them. At the board meeting Friday, Girard said that the Sheriffs Offices hiring in recent years of Glens Falls police officers to fill vacant patrol officer positions might be creating a little bit of an issue between the agencies. Smaller police departments around the region and state have dealt with a wave of departures to bigger, better-paying agencies. Yorks written statement addressed the hiring of former Glens Falls police officers by his department, saying that many who left Glens Falls did so because they were concerned about Diamonds desire to consolidate the Police Department with the Sheriffs Office. That effort ended in March when Diamond decided to withdraw a proposal for consolidation amid union and public opposition. The sheriff wrote that many of the officers who transferred to his agency from Glens Falls did so because of a fear that the department would be disbanded. If the mayor and police chief want to keep people from jumping ship, they need to figure out why it is happening, York wrote. Politics should never interfere with good police management. If the mayor or police chief is upset with me, so be it, York added. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: ronniechua/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. State Department pushed back against claims Wednesday from the Kremlin that diplomatic dialogue between the two countries has "frozen" almost entirely. I don't know exactly what to make of that comment," State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "Obviously, we don't agree and have issues with Russia on a variety of issues, but dialogue has not been broken." Russian news agencies quoted President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, saying that "a dialogue with the United States has been frozen on practically all levels." He also signaled that Putin maybe we waiting out the Obama administration, telling Mir TV that the Kremlin expects the new administration to have a "fresher and more constructive approach." Diplomatic relations with Russia have been at a post-Cold War level since Russia's annexation of Crimea and have worsened during the conflict in Syria and its cyber-intrusions into U.S. political organizations. Russia's comment comes the day after foreign ministers from Turkey, Iran and Russia met in Moscow to discuss future plans for Syria without inviting the United States. Kirby said Wednesday the U.S. doesn't see it as a snub. I would push back on this idea that they've excluded us from Syria," Kirby said. "Yes, we weren't in the meeting in Moscow, but it's not as if we haven't had communication with them before and then right after that meeting. So, there's been no exclusion of the United States with respect to the issue of Syria. In early October the White House officially called off bilateral talks with Russia over the Syria crisis. Nevertheless, Secretary of State John Kerry has since spoken with the Russian foreign minister on several occasions. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East From those who alleged she is on drugs to those who say she is trying too hard. One thing is for sure she has never disappointed when it comes to serving her fans with good music. READ ALSO :Here is proof Nana Ama Mcbrown is the most beautiful actress in Ghana Well very typical of her she almost broke the internet with an outfit which got everyone talking. She posted a picture of her and musician Wizkid on instagram a few weeks ago. In the picture Efya is only earing a see-through net like blouse with just tapes covering her nipples on a pink high-waist pants. David McDermott is alleged to be a member of an organised crime syndicate from Liverpool responsible for a failed smuggling operation discovered by Border Force at Tilbury Docks in May 2013, when officers seized 400kg (881Ibs) of cocaine smuggled into the country in a container of frozen Argentinian beef. He is the last of seven members of the group to be jailed. READ ALSO: Nana Addo confirms Alan Kyeremateng as Trade Minister He was caught in Ghana in March 2016 and was subsequently extradited to the UK in May. He pleaded guilty on the basis that he conspired to import 50 kilos of the 400 kilo load at Liverpool Crown Court. READ ALSO: Alleged British fugitive denied access to his lawyer The cocaine had a value to organised crime of 15m but if cut and sold it would have had a potential street value of approximately 71m. The suspect, Mallam Alhassan Abukari, operates an Arabic school, popularly known as Makaranta, in Bimbilla in the Nanumba North District in the Northern Region. He however pleaded not guilty to the defilement charge levelled against him when he was arraigned before court. According to him, one Awal Iddrisu made the false allegation against him after a misunderstanding between them. The presiding judge, His Honour Twumasi Appiah advised the prosecutor to change the charge from defilement to unnatural canal knowledge of minors after hearing the case. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! 'Mahama is in a comfortable lead' "With the details we have from our Parallel Vote Tabulation, President John Dramani Mahama is in a comfortable lead, and we encourage all supporters to wait for the Electoral Commission as it receives and releases the verified results to the media via its Coalition & Media Centres NDC campaign team. Despite glaring evidence that the president and the governing party were emphatically losing the elections, the campaign team issued a statement claiming they were in a comfortable lead. The party was definitely not cruising to victory in this years elections as they also lost their majority in Parliament. Talk of abdication If the NDC does not win this election, I, Nii Ayi Bonte, would abdicate my throne as Gbese Manste In the run-up to the elections, the chief was perhaps overly confident of a victory for the governing National Democratic Congress. Weeks after the tables turned, many have been waiting on the esteem chief to graciously exit his throne. Ghana is on the equator - Independence Day Brochure As if by divine-designed, Ghana is strategically positioned on the equator making her the call centre of the globe. And like the sun, she radiates light to all parts of the world The Coat of Arm Dark Green: to represent the forests arid farms of the country Address by HE Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Ghana All these errors were contained in a brochure to celebrate Ghanas 59 Independence Day. Photographic evidence of the error-ridden brochure, which strangely claimed Kenyatta as president of Ghana (despite the answer being in his name) and that Ghana was on the equator eventually cost Francis Kwarteng Arthur his job as the head of the Information Services Department (ISD). Arthur apologised for the errors and then had to apologise for apologising - because he falsely claimed the ISD made the brochure. Then was sacked. March 2016 was a period to forget for Francis Arthur. Till date, official has claimed responsibility for the errors. Winner slangs all This morning he (Nana Addo) rather went on Peace FM and spoke slangs there. So I said if you can speak slangs then you should come to the debate and speak there. Despite strong calls from the general public for President Mahama and the opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo to debate each other, the pair didnt. They both complained about the perceived biases of the possible entities that would organise the debate. Eventually, the president attended a debate organised by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation along with other candidates. Copiously missing from the debate was Nana Akufo-Addo. However, hours later, he appeared on radio to answer questions put to him by a morning show host. John Mahama thought Nanas British slangs could not win him the election, clearly he was the one in need of slangs of his own. We saw it we like it This is our new logo. We like it. We picked it. It makes us happy and it reminds us of all the values that we want to bring into our work and where we are going as a commission. Aside the president, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, would count as one of the most vilified personalities (if not the most) in the country. She caused much controversy when as the chairperson, she had to defend the commissions decision to rebrand itself by getting a new logo at a time when the voters register was still not sorted out. When we see you we see corruption You want us to see you, we see you but we see incompetence, we see you but we see corruption, we see you but we see bad management, we see you but we see bad governance, we see you but we want change, we see you but we want Ghana to move forward." Undoubtely the star of this years elections, Samira Bawumia delivered some of the best punches the eventually won the New Patriotic Party the 2016 elections. Osei declares Akufo-Addo president-elect "On the basis of the foregoing figures to and the power vested in me as the chairperson of the electoral commission and the returning officer of the presidential elections, it is my duty and privilege to declare Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as the president elect of the Republic of Ghana." Majority Leader, Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, said the failure of Members of the Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic to pass the Bill into an Act will amount to causing financial loss to the State. Read more: But the Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said, it would boycott the passage of the Bill if the necessary consultation is not done. Hon. Bagbin made the observation on the floor of Parliament, Wednesday, December 21, 2016. He said "I have always maintained that this Parliament must pass this RTI Bill before we rise, it is very important. Even if it means we have to sit till night we have to pass this Bill. Everything has been done. It is just a matter of going through the motions now." "I chaired the Committee as far back as 2013 and submitted the report. In 2014, I proposed the amendments and because the amendments were so huge in terms of not only numbers but content, we were compelled halfway through to refer them to the Attorney-General to incorporate it into a new Bill. "The Attorney-General department has done that they have relaid the new Bill which was referred to the Committee chaired by a new Chairman now they have reported to the House. Weve started the Consideration and we are now at Clause 40 and over." "I mean why should we allow this to go waste? That will be causing financial loss to the State," he said. The Minority leader on his part argued that the government is conducting its activities few days to its handing over contravenes the Presidential Transition Act 2012 (845). He said the law provides the opportunity for the incoming government to be consulted by the outgoing government on key national decisions but this has not been done. "Personally I am committed that we do it," he said but the "Presidential Transition Act has to be followed." More here: Mahama should show commitment to passage The RTI bill has suffered several setbacks in Parliament with the Right to Information Coalition, earlier threatening to stage a protest against government over the delay in the passage of the Bill. The Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu at a press conference in Accra today said this is because the Mahama-led government has failed to provide the house with their handing over notes as required by the transition act. We in the NPP minority caucus would want to register our deepest disgust at unilateral decisions being taken on how parliament approve of loans, suppliers credit agreement and project implementation agreements; the latter of which process is unknown to the rules or procedure of parliament in this period of transition. They also accused the outgoing government of recruiting people into the public service with barely two weeks for the them to hand over to a new government. READ ALSO: We will not compete with the private sector during my tenure We regret to state that we cannot be part of processes and decisions which in our considered opinion are illegitimate. It is also instructive to note that recruitment are being made into the public service. We are aware of the agreement between the government and the IMF in respect of the net freeze in employment until 2017 excerpt in the health and education sectors, he said. READ ALSO: Chief destooled for acting as polling agent for NDC Nana Ekon Ansa Boafo who is the Ankobeahene of Essienimpong, broke the chieftaincy act by getting involved in politics. As per the enstoolment rules, he is not to be seen performing any traditional rights in a capacity as a chief. However, the NDCs regional Vice Chair, Alex Attivor Sawyer, has argued that the chief was not fully engaged as a party polling station agent on the day of elections as being reported. He explained that the chief went there and realized our agents were not there. So he called the Chairman. And the Chairman said OK, he should hold on and he will come and bring the actual polling agents. Its very bad and unfortunate. READ ALSO: Nana Addo confirms Alan Kyeremateng as Trade Minister ...How come this Looter Government is so arrogant even after the people have spoken decisively on the only occasion one can call a representative ballot since December 2008? Impunity! But this impunity can be curbed by constitutional means to the regret of this outgoing Government after 7th January 2017. President John Mahama appointed and swore in heads of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and CHRAJ days to his end of tenure. However, President John Mahama has been sued by the New Patriotic Party for these last minute appoints The suit is challenging the authority of the President to make such last minute appointments. The writ was filed by Philip Addison on Tuesday (December 20). With the latest appointments of officers with security tenure the NPP suspects foul play. Find below Martin Amidu's statement PRESIDENT JOHN MAHAMAS LAST MIDNIGHT APPOINTMENTS, CONTRACTS AND RECRUITMENTS: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU Many interesting developments have taken place since the NPP routed the Government of my party, the NDC, in the just ended General and Presidential elections. The looter John Mahama Government promised a smooth transition as though he had an option in the matter. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State are invited to the inauguration of the new Government as though this was a favour being done the President-elect and the new Government. The Spin is in the blood of the looter Government which loots and spins the plundering of the public purse for the likes of Woyome, Waterville and others and inflates contract prices to the detriment of the public purse. One would have thought that the massive defeat of the Looter Government never witnessed in the annals of Ghanaian history would make it circumspect of how it handles the last days of its dying pangs as a Looter Government so that the Independent Prosecutor may have mercy upon them. Unfortunately impunity and corrupt behaviour once internalised is difficult to change overnight as subsequent events show. Agreements reached at the transitional team do not appear to have been kept by the Looter Government which is in a hurry to finish what it could not do in the last eight years. New contracts are being signed left, right and centre by the outgoing looter Government under the claim of legality and constitutionalism. We hear that 17 days to the handing over of power to the peoples choice of a new Government, serious and fundamental decisions affecting the electorate who resoundingly rejected the outgoing looter Government at the polls are being taken by it without consultation with the incoming Government. Then on Tuesday 20th December 2016 we woke up to the news that: President John Dramani Mahama has confirmed Joseph Whittal as the new Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). In the same news item we are told that: The President has also appointed Ms. Josephine Nkrumah as the substantive head of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE). Ironically the news report adds: The appointments come a few weeks after the President lost the presidential elections to the opposition NPP leader Nana Addo Dankwaa Akufo-Addo. The President-elect will be sworn-in January 7, 2017. The reporter therefore deliberately leads the intelligent reader to ask whether there is nothing wrong with such midnight appointments by a Government that has just been routed by an incoming Government at the polls with corruption being one of the main electoral issues at stake at those polls. Not unexpectedly, the transition team of the incoming Government issues a statement stating that: These appointments .have been done contrary to an earlier agreement at the Transition Committees meeting of December 19th, at which meeting it was agreed that such appointments would be done subject to consultation with the Presidential Transition Committee. The statement adds that: We will, therefore, like to serve notice that the incoming administration reserves the right to review these and other high profile appointments, recruitments and contracts being embarked upon in these final days contrary to normal conventions associated with Presidential transitions and the consultation mechanism agreed. In a 19th December 2016 Myjoyonline report, two young Ministers of the looter John Mahama regime are reported to have defended the decision by functionaries of the Mahama-led administration to award contracts and give appointments days after being voted out of government. Haruna Iddrisu is reported to have said that: As a country what we need to pride ourselves is that you are assured of a peaceful, smooth transition of power from one political leadership to another, recognition of the continuous exercise of the legitimate legal authority and mandate by the current administration and know that an Act of Parliament cannot amend the constitution. The constitution clearly defines a four year mandate for the president and acts that are done on or before the midnight of 6th January are lawful and legitimate, he explained. In the same Myjoyonline report it is reported that: The most eminent of the contract (sic) is the 18 million waste management contract signed with SCL Waste Management Limited. Incidentally this sole sourced contract was signed by Mahama Ayariga who claimed that: the contract had been on his desk around November. But as an MP seeking re-election he was busy campaigning and could not therefore give it any attention. With outright impunity he says that: I have up to the 6th January 2017 to implement what I want to do. I have heard some arguments justifying the midnight appointments, contracts and recruitments on the basis that former President J. A. Kufuor exercised executive powers to the last day of 6th January 2009 as precedent for what the Looter Government is now engaged in doing. The NDC Government when it assumed office on 7th January 2009 decided not to challenge the midnight decisions of President Kufuor thus giving them legitimacy. It cannot pass for a precedent. Another difference which is being overlooked is that President Kufuor was exhausting his eight year mandate and his interpretation of the Constitution and the laws of Ghana cannot be binding on an incoming Government that has routed the incumbent Government soundly at the polls. I disagreed with what President Kufuor did but the then President-elect and his Vice-President-elect decided to let it pass without testing their constitutionality or legality. Their decision cannot bind the incoming Government so massively voted for by We The People. The incoming Government has through its transition team given notice of its intention to contest the midnight decisions of the Looter Government and I think the overwhelming votes it received at the polls justifies its stand. I have also read on 20th December, 2016 that, unlike the Mills/Mahama Government, Philip Addison, a lawyer, has commenced an action to challenge some of the present midnight decisions of this looter Government. My kinsman is being appointed the Commissioner for the CHRAJ when after wasting the public purse up to the Supreme Court to contest whether or not the suspects in the Mabey and Johnson case could be investigated for corruption he chose to go to sleep after promising he was going to investigate using the trove of credible evidence I sent CHRAJ in the case as Attorney General. This same kinsman of mine white washed the Ford Expedition Saga even though he knew the CHRAJ had no jurisdiction over the President because the Attorney General could not prosecute him even if he were found culpable by CHRAJ. So even though he is my kinsman and culture requires me to keep quiet, I ask myself as an enlightened Ghanaian Putting Ghana First whether this appointment is compensation for past and future protection. This is a problem of conscience and not kinship or ethnicity wrong is wrong no matter who is the beneficiary! I had always thought that Governments were to act not only in accordance with the letter of the law or constitution but above all in accordance with its spirit if the rule of law is to prevail. Lets wait and see whether the sterile legal and constitutional arguments of Haruna Iddrisu and Mahama Ayariga and their kind would prevail or the spirit of the Constitution that animates the letter of the law will prevail in the Courts. President Barrack Obama had a constitutional right to nominate a US Supreme Court Judge, and nominated Merrick Garland but the Republican senators in a move with little precedent in US history simply refused to consider Garlands nomination saying the winner of the November 8th presidential elections should make the pick. One Steven Michel filed a suit in a US federal court and lost and made an application to the Supreme Court of the US to force a senate committee vote on it. The US Chief Justice, John Roberts, denied the emergency application on Monday, 19th December 2016. The spirit prevailed over the letter of the Constitution. I argued and lost what is now referred to as the 31st December Case in the Supreme Court of Ghana in December 1993 narrowly but I took away the wise words of the late Mr. Justice Fanscios, (who was one of the majority that ruled against my case), whose speech in the case appears to me to remain the locus classicus on the balance that should be struck between the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution. Mr. Justice Franscios said in that case that: The letter and spirit of the Constitution A constitutional document must be interpreted sui generic to allow the written word and the spirit that animates it, to exist in perfect [78][79] harmony. It is interpreted according to the principles suitable to its particular character and not necessarily according to the ordinary rules and presumptions of statutory interpretation: see Minister of Home Affairsv Fisher [1979] 3 All ER 21, PC. This allows for a broad and liberal interpretation to achieve enlightened objectives while it rejects hide-bound restrictions that stifle and subvert its true vision He continued: My own contribution to the evaluation of a Constitution is that, a Constitution is the outpouring of the soul of the nation and its precious life-blood is its spirit. Accordingly, in interpreting the Constitution, we fail in our duty if we ignore its spirit. Both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution are essential fulcra which provide the leverage in the task of interpretation. In support of this, we may profitably turn to the Constitution, 1992 itself which directs that we accord due recognition to the spirit that pervades its provisions. [79]. On the peoples choice as pointing to the spirit of the constitution, Mr. Justice Francois said: The Peoples choice By its sovereign will, the people of this country have chosen a multi-party system of government to regulate their affairs. The fact that they chose a new direction and a new system of governance, is the clearest pointer to change. In charting a different course, the democratic path, the people of this country took a solemn step away from what was immediately prevailing. Viewed in this light, it is idle and illogical to hold that the old order has yielded place to nothing new. Especially when the new order is diametrically opposed to the old which it supplanted.[80] What is going on in the transition to the new Government reinforces my conviction for my pre-election call upon the electorate to vote out the incumbent looter Mahama Government to stop the plundering of the public purse and get our looted monies back. When I look at how the Looter Government is preparing its final exit after its miserable and unprecedented defeat at the polls, I am left in no doubt that Ghana would have been bankrupted with another four years of this looter Government in power. Come to think of it, the last election (2012) was not won at the ballot but by the razor-thin votes of eleven Justice of the Supreme Court, indicating a doubtful peoples mandate. So how come this Looter Government is so arrogant even after the people have spoken decisively on the only occasion one can call a representative ballot since December 2008? Impunity! But this impunity can be curbed by constitutional means to the regret of this outgoing Government after 7th January 2017. It is important that as many enlightened middle class Ghanaians speak up to defend the majority of our citizens who are uneducated in the Whitemans ways but funded our education through college and university. Ghanaians must be the beneficiary of our public purse and not just a few political elite and establishment figures. Fear is the enemy of change! I am not cowed, have not been cowed, cannot be cowed, and will not be cowed by subtle messages of threats of postponing my disappearance until the new Government comes into office. Ghana is worth dying for and so fellow citizens speak up and defend your 7th December 2016 votes by not allowing this looter Government to deliberately make it impossible for the Government you popularly vote for to govern smoothly upon assuming office on 7th January 2017. Do not sit on the fence at this last hour and allow looters who came into office by the razor-thin majority vote of Justices of the Supreme Court to intimidate fellow citizens Putting Ghana First. Martin A. B. K. Amidu Her story is one that borders on sheer luck and how success does not necessarily come from hard work. She was discovered by chance when she accidentally photo-bombed a live photo session of TY Bello, a renowned photographer. The latter was taking pictures of British rapper, Tinie Tempah, as he prepares to feature on the cover of ThisDay Style. None of the parties involved knew that the event will later form the catalyst for a future star. One that is undeservedly of her position to be frank. In an exclusive interview with Pulse TV, Orisaguna finally digs deep into her emotional fort to narrate what has been an unexpected journey to fame. She did this with a bit of difficulty as she tried to keep the tears from falling off her eyes. Two names that kept on recurring in her speech were TY Bello and Sujimoto. ALSO READ: Model resurfaces with polished English speaking skills The model appeared to be beyond grateful due to the roles the pair have played in her life transformation. She said, "Ever since all of these started, the major people I have seen are TY Bello and Sujimoto. So the two of them have been taking care of me and the children. "Anything I need, they do for me. "TY Bello is like my mother in Lagos. Sujimoto is like my father in Lagos. "May God bless them. May God lift them up more than he he already has." The model has enjoyed ambassadorial position with some top business brands in Nigeria. She speaks highly of the likes of Payporte, Stanbic IBTC, Shirley's Bakery and once again, Sujimoto. According to her, these organisations helped her handle some of her financial responsibilities. Especially the school fees of her children. "I am an ambassador for Payporte. I am an ambassador for Shirley's Bakery in Abuja. They have all been nice to me. "Those who have helped me... Stanbic IBTC paid my children's school fees. Two of my children. "Uncle Sujimoto also pays me a salary every month. I do not do anything for them." Bringing the year 2016 into retrospect, Orisaguna was immensely grateful for the opportunity she had. The iconic fashion icon and editor started out in Vogue around the same time with Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of American Vogue. Wintour commented on Sozzani's passing on the American Vogue's website moments ago after her passing was announced; "I think for the first few years we just circled each other, quietly. Gradually, however, show by show and season by season, Franca and I found ourselves falling into a friendship that I am so happy and honoured to say sustained itself for 30 years." eDaily reports that Jalango who was arrested in the South East Muhuru area in Nyatike Sub-County, Migori County, confessed that he regularly engages in sexual activities with animals because he fears to contract the disease. When he was asked why he had sex with the goat, Jalango allegedly told Muhuru East Location Chief Jim Kawa: I have sex with animals because I fear contracting HIV. Animals cannot contract HIV, unlike humans. Sex with animals is, therefore, safer. Kawa told eDaily that Jalango was handed over to him by irate residents who claim they are worried about their livestock following the suspects confession, saying action must be taken against the suspect as he had confessed that he had had sex with many animals in the area including sheep, donkeys and dogs. Chief Kawa said the suspect, who is a casual labourer in the area, is of sound mind and does not have any mental disorder or is he spiritually possessed like the residents suggested. According to a Facebook user who knows the victim, Chibugo Maureen, the steward who lived the woman at her Parkview, Ikoyi, Lagos State home, had requested for his salary but she told him to be patient as she did not have the money at home. But instead of being patient and wait for the money, the steward allegedly got mad at Adeleke and used a kitchen knife to stab her several times. After making sure the victim was dead, the Cameroonian allegedly fled the scene but was later arrested by the State Police Command. This is how Maureen captured the horrific scene on her wall: Information Reaching me now!!! This beautiful lady Dayo Adeleke was stabbed and killed by her steward over salary ish. No one knows what transpired but no matter what, why will any human created by God do this? Please, we all need to be careful who we bring into our homes. May her Gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Sources told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos, that the two-man gang stormed Tastee Fried Chicken (TFC) outlet at 22 Road, FESTAC Town and abducted the woman at about 8pm. NAN gathered that the victim, who was attached to Tincan Command SDV, a bonded terminal of the NCS, was with her two daughters, when the masked men stormed out of their car and picked her up. One of the victims daughters, Faith Alaba, went to social media to announce the abduction of their mother and called on Nigerians and security agents to assist the family to secure her release. She said: My mother was kidnapped this evening in front of me and my younger sister in a black Murano jeep. We were at TFC at 22 road, FESTAC outside in the car and two men came around. My sister ran out of the car. My mother was still screaming and struggling when the other one pointed a gun at me. We ran away and by the time we looked back as we were screaming for help, they zoomed off. Please, reach me and my family on 08166098469. Our mother was taken away in a black Murano Jeep with Teg. No. EPE103CY, Faith pleaded in her tweeter page. She said that the two masked men came out of their vehicle with guns and kidnapped his mother. I saw them at close range but I wont be able to recognise them. I dont know if anyone has any grudge against my mum but I am appealing to them to please free her. Already, we have notified the police at Area E command, but nothing has been done so far to the best of our knowledge. We have not been contacted by the kidnappers. My mother is smallish in stature. She has a gap in her teeth and has a huge birthmark on her arm, which is arrow- like shaped. The Customs spokesman in Tincan Island, Uche Ejesieme, a Chief Superintendent of Customs, confirmed the incident. He said that his office had informed Customs headquarters in Abuja about the development. The lady is attached to SDV, one of customs bonded terminal under Tincan Island Command. The family has reported to the police and the police are investigating with a view to rescue her. Lagos state police spokesperson, SP Dolapo Badmos, told newsmen that the suspects were arrested in Victoria Island, Ojodu Berger, Oshodi, Obalende and Ilubirin areas of the state. The Commissioner of Police, Mr , has directed the RRS Commander to deploy more operatives to Ojodu Berger, Lekki and Oshodi in order to ensure Ember months-free crime. Some operatives of the RRSs Decoy Team, in arresting one of the suspects, pretended to have had a broken down car under the Ilubirin Bridge around 4:23 a.m. The suspect showed up after a few minutes, trying to collect a handset and money from the policeman pretending to have a broken down vehicle. That was when the police arrested him, she said. The spokesperson said the police also got complaints from the public about the activities of miscreants on road users with broken down vehicle in Ilubirin. Badmos said some of the suspects took advantage of the traffic at Berger, Oshodi and other areas to rob motorists. She said the command was on high alert to curb social miscreants who exploit traffic situations in the metropolis to dispossess Lagosians of their valuables. The rescue was made possible through an operation led by the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Zanna Ibrahim, in partnership with local vigilante groups. According to the Daily Post News, the monarch was abducted on Wednesday and recovered the next day at the early hours of the morning. Confirming the news of his freedom in a chat with Daily Post, Zanna said the king is now in Asaba at an undisclosed location. ALSO READ: Family of kidnapped monarch holds prayer session for his release It took the efforts of 100 police operatives and 30 local vigilante groups to carry out the rescue of the monarch. The Ovie has been rescued by police crack team personally led by me. "The monarchs abductors were fleeing with him to a different location as our men combed the entire bush in search for him. The monarch was abducted by herdsmen. They are very conversant with the bush even more than the indigenes. "Our men sighted the movement of the hoodlums through a touchlight and we shot into the air which they responded. "They engaged us (police) in exchange of gunfire and left the monarch behind. There was laxity on the part of the driver who sighted the kidnappers robbing other vehicles but refused to reverse the car for safety. "We have learnt our lessons from the kidnap of the monarch. The lesson is that we all need to be alert and vigilant. The next day, Wednesday, December 21, 2016, a BBC journalist Martin Patience went to take a look at the plastic rice that was confiscated. According to Patience, the counterfeit rice looked like the real thing and he was nearly fooled into thinking that it was real rice. "Whoever made it did an exceptionally good job - on first impression, it would have fooled me. When I ran the grains through my fingers nothing felt out of the ordinary" wrote the BBC journalist. Martin Patience observed that the fake rice had a "faint chemical odour." "Customs officials say when they cooked up the rice it was too sticky - and it was then abundantly clear this was no ordinary batch," wrote the BBC journalist. According to the report, grains of the fake rice were sent to a laboratory to determine what they were made of. On Wednesday, December 21, 2016, Pulse Gist published a story of how the residents of Jos city in Plateau have been thrown into panic mode after it was rumoured that some unscrupulous businessmen have smuggled 'plastic rice' into the state from China. The divorce case was heard at the Agege Customary Court in Lagos where the 18-year-old marriage was dissolved. Reporting concerning the matter, the Daily Post News disclosed that Onyenobi regards his wife as a careless and wasteful. The estranged husband stated his large investment in his wife's business went on to be a waste as she could not properly manage it. Chioma on the hand appealed to the court not to grant her husband's request who she claimed to be in love with. ALSO READ: Wife tells divorce court how husband impregnated her sister twice Court president, Phillip Williams, however thinks the couple can no longer live together as husband and wife. New Telegraph reports that the suspect was arrested by detectives attached to the Zonal Intervention Squad (ZIS), Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, after several complaints were lodged to the widespread scam. Apart from forging the Ogun CP stamp, the police also accused Ogunleye of forging the stamps belonging to the Ogun State Internal Revenue and states Chief Magistrate. Also arrested was an allegedly accomplice, Isiaka Adebeshin, whom the police said worked with Ogunleye and others as a syndicate to perfect their scam. However, while Ogunleye confessed to committing the crime and raking in over N5 million from the fraudulent business, Adebeshin said he was into the forging of driving licenses, number plates and other documents. The police, in a statement, said the syndicate allegedly used the seals of authority to convince and dupe unsuspecting members of the public. During interrogation, Ogunleye said: Some of the stamps were not mine. They were kept in my shop by my business partner, who is still at large. It was my business partner, Shakiru Gbolahan, who brought the stamps to my shop. He used the stamps for his customers. I was later taught how to use it. I have not made much money from the business. If we want to renew a driving license, we charge N10,000, but if we want to do a new one, we charge N15,000. Since I started this business I have made about N5 million only. I regret my action. It never occurred to me that I would be arrested. On his part, Adebeshin who vehemently denied the allegation of fraud, said they were arrested at Oke-Mosan in their shop. I dont deal in stamps. Whenever a document that requires a stamp is brought to my shop, I would refer them to my colleagues office. My colleague has different stamps. Since I started the job three years ago, I have only made about N2 million. Most of the profits come from the issuance of number plates. I was about to quit the business when I was arrested. Dr. Inyang Asibong, the state Commissioner for health made the commitment on Wednesday, December 21, 2016, at the unveiling ceremony of the Cross River Hospitality Ambassador, Lucy Ime Usanga, as the face of dyslexia campaign. Asibong observed that the reading disorder is a collective problem that can also be prevailed upon. She said, It is a noble cause; it is going to be supported by the State Government through the ministry of health. "It is a collective problem but I know it can be surmounted." Also commenting at the event was the Dyslexia Foundation chairman, Ben Arikpo. According to him, the condition affects one in every six pupils in primary schools across the country, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, made this known while briefing newsmen after inspecting the renovation of Kuchingoro PHC in Abuja. Adewole said that the revitalisation of the PHCs was one of the key components of the Rapid Result Initiatives (RRI) of the government. He said the pilot phase comprised of 109 of the clinics across the country, stressing that we will pick one per senatorial district. He added that additional one centre was in Fuka village of Niger where Lassa fever case was first recorded in 2015. He said government has spent N7 million on the renovation of PHC Kuchingoro in Gwarinpa Ward of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). He added that the revitalisation of the PHCs is the cardinal agenda of the Buhari administration. We want to bring the healthcare services to the door step of our people and the only way to do that is to deliver health through a network of functional PHCs. We are working with the state governors and development partners to replicate it in 10,000 electoral wards in Nigeria during the second phase of the initiative. When we have them working across the country we will be able to serve majority of Nigerians and provide an improve access to healthcare services to them, Adewole said. According to him, many of the ailments that take people to hospitals can be addressed at the PHCs, thereby decongesting the tertiary health facilities. He said it is a partnership between the ministry, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and General Electric. He said that general electric would supply the equipment such as radiotherapy machines, warmer and other accessories. In addition to this, the ministry would ensure that each of the rehabilitated PHCs has a small laboratory for common investigations, the minister said. He said through this we can save life and deliver essential care to reduce maternal mortality in the country." It is not Nigerians that are corrupt. It is their system that is corrupt. If you don't change that system, you can't ever end corruption, the Senator said via Twitter. When the actual cost of living is somewhere around 60k per month and minimum wage is 18k there is no way you can fight corruption! he added. Read a statement issued by IPOB spokesmen, Emma Nmezu and Dr. Clifford Chukwuemeka Iroanya below: On April 25, 2016, 500 Hausa-Fulani terrorists, who go by the name Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN)invaded Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State and slaughtered Biafrans and burnt 11 residential houses and some churches. Mr. President even refused to take a distress call from the Governor of Enugu State and till date, Buhari and his acolytes have not condemned the killings. We have to remind the public that Muhammadu Buhari is the official grand patron of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria. Prior to that incident on January 5, 2016, Hausa-Fulani terrorists abducted the king of Ubulu-Uku Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Akaeze Edward Ofulue III, and killed him in the forest. Typically, no words of condemnation came from Buhari and his acolytes and nobody was arrested and prosecuted. The reasons why we must march tomorrow in Enugu against Buharis coming are for the sake of our fathers and mothers who were killed, and children born and unborn ripped out prematurely from their mothers wombs; we march for the sake of our land and Nimbo community in Uzo Uwani of Enugu State. Again, we must march for the sake of those killed in Aba on February 12, 2016; Onitsha, August 30, 2015; in Nkpor, 29th and those killed on May 30, 2016 and buried in a mass grave. We also must march for the killing in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State; Igweocha, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; the killing in Gbaramatu, Delta State. ALSO READ: There are indications that Buharis absence is connected to a statement issued by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), warning the President not to come to the South-East. The Chairman of the South-East Security and Economic Summit, Prof. Barth Nnaji expressed surprise that the President was not at the summit. Also, a former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku commented on Buharis absence, adding that he wished the President was at the event to hear what he had to say. Anyaoku said I was going to start by saluting the representative of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but I have not been told of such a person. He also said I had hoped that Mr. President would be here to hear me. Like Cato, the Roman senator who always ended his speeches by calling for the destruction of Carthage until his call was heeded, I will restate my assertion that if the Nigerian federation is restructured to have less federating units, this country will achieve greater stability and faster pace of development, and there will no longer be a need for the Federal Government to bailout many of the non-viable 36 states. ALSO READ: IPOB says President has incurable hatred for Igbos Nnaji also thanked former President Olusegun Obasanjo for attending the event as the distinguished guest of honour. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, told the correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that Ogunlesi is an outstanding professional who has accomplished alot. He (Trump) is very wise to have appointed Bayo because Bayo is really an outstanding person professionally and really, I think in many ways. It is almost paradoxical that we in the country will certainly need people with the caliber of Bayo Ogunlesi and that it should be the U.S. rather, that is now going to be benefiting from his amazing talents. But I think the U.S. can only benefit from somebody of Bayos talent, he said. Notwithstanding the misgivings of some people about the policies of Trumps administration concerning Africa and Nigeria in particular, Onyeama hoped that Nigeria would have a cordial diplomatic relations with Trumps administrations. We are looking also optimistically to working with the new U.S. (President-elect Donald Trumps) administration. We hope that we would be able to find common course. At the moment, we have very good relations, this particular (President Barack Obamas) administration has been extremely supportive of Nigerians polcies. And we would like to build on that with the incoming administration, he said. The minister also expressed the hope that with the presence of Ogunlesi in Trumps team, he could be able to bring positive policies about Nigeria and Africa to bear on Trumps administration. And who knows, maybe the presence of Bayo in the team in the U.S. might hopefully be able to bring to the administration positive perspectives with regards to Nigeria, he said. NAN recalls that Trump recently announced Nigerian-born U.S.-based Ogunlesi as a member of his Strategic and Policy Forum, charged with advising the president on economic matters. The 63-year-old Nigerian, who is the chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm and one of Fortune 500 companies, is the only African face in the 16-man team. According to Daily Post, GEJ said he has been receiving calls from people across Nigeria to run in 2019. The former President said this while addressing some of his kinsmen who paid him a courtesy visit at his country home in Otuoke, Bayelsa state. Reports also say chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been calling on GEJ to become the partys flag bearer in 2019. According to the party's chieftains, it was PDP that failed the 2015 general election and not the former President. Former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to President Buhari after the 2015 election results were announced. On Thursday, November 17, 2016, residents of Sokoto state gave the former President a rousing welcome when he paid a condolence visit to the Dasuki family. Ibori was Governor of oil rich Delta from 1999 to 2007. It was a period of high oil prices, soaring 13 percent derivation for oil producing States and insane wealth for Nigeria and the Niger Delta. Alongside other Governors of his era, Ibori stole from the treasury like there was no tomorrow. Before joining politics, Ibori had been convicted of shoplifting in the UK. He has always been a thief. He was born a thief. Covered by the immunity clause in the constitution as Governor, no one could touch Ibori for eight years, no matter how much he stole. For his troubles, he was bestowed with the title of Ogidigbodigbo of Africa by friends and admirers. However, the anti-graft agency in Nigeria moved to arrest Ibori at the expiration of his tenure. As they made to arrest him in his home town of Oghara, a mob of supporters attacked police and spirited Ibori to Dubai. A corrupt Nigerian judiciary couldnt prosecute Ibori for his legendary acts of larceny. He was that powerful. In 2010, Ibori was arrested in Dubai and extradited to the UK where he was convicted based on evidence from the metropolitan police. In 2012, Ibori was jailed in the U.K for fraud totaling nearly 50 million pounds. By some accounts, Ibori stole USD250 million from the Nigerian people. During his time as politician and Governor, Ibori acquired luxury homes and exotic cars at home and abroad. Stealing was what he did best. Stealing was his middle name. Ibori is due back in Nigeria any time soon after serving half of his 13-year sentence in a UK prison. In saner climes, hell return quietly and remain under the covers for stealing from his own people. But the same people he stole from have made elaborate plans to roll out the red carpet and drums to celebrate Iboris return. In fact, the people of Delta State are disappointed that Ibori wont be checking into town in time for the Christmas celebration. How they would have loved to spend Christmas with their hero! But Delta State is in celebratory mood at the time of writing. Theyve left the Champagne on ice. The party has only been delayed, not denied. Theres a song and dance on the streets of Delta. I am grateful to God for his release. I was in a traditional council meeting in Asaba when one of my subjects called me that Ibori has been released. He has worked hard for us and I am hopeful that his release will open a new chapter in Oghara, said the Ovie of Oghara, Orefe 11, Noble Eshimeton. According to Ben Igbakpa, a former commissioner in Delta state, Oghara is agog with celebration that our benefactor, leader, father and visionary has been let off the hook. His release is a lesson to all; it shows that no matter how long ones torture or hard times last, it will one day come to an end. Iboris boys in Warri, Delta State, are making plans to prepare the convicted fraudster for a senatorial run in 2019. Section 137 (1) of the Nigerian constitution bars people indicted for various offences (including fraud) from contesting elections. But the Senate has been hard at work as it attempts to amend the section or yank it off in its entirety. The Nigerian Senate is also home to questionable characters like Buruji Kashamu and Joshua Dariye. Implication: Senator James Onanefe Ibori isnt the stuff of dreams no more. Its now some reality, sources in the know have told Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who represents Delta Central Senatorial District in the upper legislative chamber, is an Ibori boy. Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, still swears by Iboris name, as does Emmanuel Uduaghan before him. According to Okowa, "Ibori built the political family in Delta state in this current dispensation starting 1999. He was the first democratically elected Governor in this dispensation; he was a rallying point for everybodyeven some of them that have broken out now and trying to make waves in other parties, actually grew under him. I do not want to mention names, I am sure that you know them. Whosoever and wherever they are, he built the political family that came up so strong in Delta State, he built most of the roads you see and nobody can take it away from him, Okowa said. Across social media channels, young people from Delta State are over the moon ahead of Iboris return. Once, Delta had even celebrated Iboris birthday while he served his time in jail. Ibori will return to Nigeria a celebrated--rather than despised--figure. And because we are a very sick country with a warped value system, well prop him for a senatorial run someday soon. Chief James Ibori loves Nigeria more than any other thing. He made great sacrifices on several occasions to demonstrate this love. James Ibori is a pillar in Delta State, Igbuya said in a statement. Also Delta Senator, Peter Nwaoboshi has revealed how Ibori continued to influence state and national politics despite being imprisoned in the United Kingdom. Nwaoboshi, who represents the Delta North Senatorial District, made the comments in London after Iboris release on Wednesday. There are many people who have been governors, who have never been opportuned to make their successors, but James Ibori made his successor, he said. There may never be a governor in Nigerian history again who will sit in the prison and make a governor. And there might never be a governor again in the history of Nigeria who will sit in the prison and make senators. And there will be never be a governor again who will sit in the cell and support a senate president, he added. Nwaoboshi and other Ibori supporters present also spoke about how made his daughter a State House of Assembly member from prison. The former governors supporters in his hometown, Oghara also celebrated his release and spoke of their anticipation for his return. Ibori was arrested in 2010 and jailed in 2012 after pleading guilty to money laundering charges. He was initially sentenced to 13 years in prison but eventually spent only four and a half years out of his term before being released. The 15-man panel, headed by DCP Damien Okoro, consists of officers of the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) with investigative, forensic and technical expertise. Idris said The panel which is to conduct its investigation in conjunction with a team from the Department of States Services (DSS) has the following terms of reference: One, Conduct a thorough investigation into the role of security agents before, during and after the election; Two, examine the role of any police officer or security agent whose actions or activities individually or collectively was detrimental to the good conduct of the elections; Three, conduct a forensic analysis on the audio report released by Sahara Reporters as it concerns the election. Four, examine any other matter that is relevant to the conduct of the elections, and make recommendations and implementation strategies to guide future elections. He also charged the panel to probe the violence that marred the exercise in which two police officers were gruesomely murdered. He noted that the 1999 Constitution and other relevant laws empowered the police to conduct investigations into criminal matters across the entire country. The IG gave the committee 30 days with effect from Dec. 17 to submit its findings. Idris said that four suspects had so far been arrested in connection with the murder of two officers, while two rifles had been recovered. The IG said that the police was an apolitical organisation that must not get involved in politics, adding that its interest was to ensure hitch-free elections. He solicited the support and cooperation of all well-meaning Nigerians, especially INEC and the Rivers State Government, to enable the panel succeed in its assignment. Mr Alhassan Abu, the Ife Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ile-Ife. Abu said those that sustained serious injuries had been taken to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile-Ife, while bodies of the deceased were deposited at the hospital mortuary. A truck driver, Mr Akeem Olatunji, who narrowly escaped death, narrated to NAN at the scene how the accident happened. Olatunji said that a Toyota Previa car coming from Ibadan end of the road ram into an oncoming articulated vehicle loaded with logs of wood from Ile-Ife axis. Also, Chief Aderibigbe Odogiyan, the Head of Operations, FRSC, Ile-Ife, who was at the accident scene, attributed the crash to the deplorable condition of the road. Odogiyan said that this forced motorists to ply only one side of the dual carriage ways. Also, the dew that covered the cloud did not allow motorists to see clearly, and instead of being patient, they tried to overtake each other recklessly. We have been warning drivers to stop driving against traffic on the expressway," he said. The News Agency of Nigeria,(NAN), reports that beneficiaries, estimated at 6,000, got gift which included rice and cash, at a ceremony in Ado Ekiti, the state capital. The exercise was carried out under the auspices of a body known as John Kayode Fayemi (JKF) Centre, an advocacy conglomerate instituted some years ago by the former governor, to support the needy in the society. NAN reports that the beneficiaries were drawn from Ado Ekiti, the state capital and the 15 local government areas of the state. Speaking with reporters at the main distribution point in Ado Ekiti, the Director of JKF Centre, Mr Biodun Omoleye, said the minister was carrying out the gesture to cushion the effect of the current economic hardship in the country. He disclosed that contrary to wide held insinuation, the gesture had no political undertone. He said that it was purely humanitarian to provide succour to all manner of people during the yuletide . According to him, the Centre had in June this year distributed food materials to civil servants, labour unions, teachers and local government workers following irregular payment of salaries. Our patron (Fayemi) identifies with the people of the state because no serious-minded individual will look on while the people needs help and we are in our own little way alleviating the suffering of our people This is not a one-off thing as it is a continuation of our desire to put smiles on the faces of our people It is not political or partisan and we are not targeting members of a particular party but the needy because hunger does not know party affiliation and colour of the skin. Our patron, Fayemi does not need to do this to make himself relevant because he is a major stakeholder in the state and a national stakeholder and what he is doing has no political colouration, he said. ALSO READ:Fayemi condemns Ekiti Assembly over N40B fraud allegation Deby is the current chairman of the African Union. A statement by the ministry said the minister made the appeal when he led a team of Ministers of Defence and Chiefs of Defence Staff from troops contributing countries of multi-national joint task force on a visit to Derby. The countries are Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroun and Benin. The minister and defence chiefs were in NDjamena for a meeting of the LCBC Lake Chad Basin Commission. The statement, issued by Col. Tukur Gusau, the ministers Public Relations Officer, was made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja. Dan-Ali said the call was necessary to enable the multi-national task force execute its mandate in the region effectively. He also appealed to African leaders to improve the means of livelihood of the people of the region to deter terrorist from recruiting their youths for their nefarious activities. Responding, Deby assured the visiting ministers and Chiefs of Defence staff of the support of all LCBC Presidents to the MNJTF operations. He also promised to speak with the donors to fulfil their promise THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER Nigerias debt service bill tops N4tr in three years By the end of 2017, Nigeria would have spent N4.1 trillion on debt servicing. The 2017 budget proposal has N1.7 trillion for debt servicing. N700 billion trapped in private placement scams Investors in Nigerias capital market say N700 billion have been trapped in private placements by firms. They urged industry regulators to wade into the perceived scam. Ibori regains freedom in London After over four and a half years in prison, former Governor James Ibori of Delta State yesterday regained his freedom at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. An appeal judge, Mrs. Justice May, ordered the Home Office to immediately release him. VANGUARD NEWSPAPER Drama, as Ibori regains freedom 6yrs after A British High Court, the Royal Court of Justice, Queens Bench Division, Court 1, sitting in London, yesterday, ordered the immediate release of former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori, from prison, saying the move to hold him after serving out his sentence was illegal. Publish your audited financial reports, NEITI reminds NNPC The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, yesterday, called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to immediately publish its audited financial statements as stipulated by the act setting it up and as promised in its monthly reports. Corruption: Whistle-blower to receive five percent of looted funds as reward FG To effectively wage and win the ongoing war against corruption in Nigeria, the Federal Government has introduced a whistle-blowing policy. THE NATION NEWSPAPER Adamant Jammeh: I wont step down Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has lashed out at regional mediators urging him to step down, saying he will not be intimidated. AGF: how we found $1.30m at ex-panel members home The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) has disclosed how over $1.30million cash was recovered from the Abuja home of a member of the committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the procurement of arms and equipment in the Armed Forces, Air Commodore Umar Mohammed (retd). Whistle blowers to get 5% of looted fund The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved the payment of 5 per cent of recovered looted fund to the whistle blower behind the recovery. THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER FG okays 5% of recovered loot for whistleblowers The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the Ministry of Finance Whistleblowing Programme that may see individuals, who voluntarily volunteers credible information on stolen or concealed funds, smiling home with between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of the funds when recovered. Ibori freed, FG begins ex-Delta governors extradition process The Federal Government has commenced the process of extraditing a former governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori, from the United Kingdom, The PUNCH can confirm. Arik passengers in chaotic scene at Lagos airport Passengers, who were scheduled to travel out of the country with Arik Air on Tuesday but could not do so due to the strike action by aviation unions in solidarity with workers of the carrier, on Wednesday morning created an ugly scene at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos following the resumption of flight operations. BUSINESSDAY NEWSPAPER Buhari faces spreading opposition as economy slumps Yusuf Rabiu went door-to-door urging people in the northern Nigerian city of Kano to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in last years elections. More criticism for proposed Corporate Governance Code A renown board room expert, Olusegun Osunkeye has criticised some of the provisions of the suspended National Code of Corporate Governance, saying it is capable of affecting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into Nigeria. Nigerian inputs meet industrial standards despite low quality claims The challenge will also help to boost Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the country. Saraki made the disclosure via a statement signed by his special assistant on New Media, Bamikole Omisore. The statement reads in part: On 2nd of January 2017, my office will launch #MadeInNigeria challenge to connect investors to manufacturers that produce alternatives to imported products, since inception of the 8th Senate, we have championed and encouraged the patronage of #MadeInNigeria goods so as to jumpstart the economy and we have also amended the Public Procurement Act to support this agenda. In 2017, we intend to take #MadeInNigeria further by using legislation to discourage importation of goods that can be produced locally, take the advocacy directly to Nigerians, work with government agencies to create enabling environment and encourage Nigerians who have eyes for local production i.e. goods that are ready substitute to imported ones. From January 2nd 2017, using hashtag #MadeinNigeria manufacturers can post 45 seconds to 3 minutes video of a product we are importing but that they can produce using at least 80 per cent local content. Those shortlisted will be invited to a roundtable with investors and government agencies such as Bank of Industry (BoI), Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and so on. ALSO READ:Buhari holds secret meeting with Saraki Ibori was, on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to ten counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud. He was arrested in Dubai on May 13, 2010, on an international warrant after being declared wanted by the UK Metropolitan Police. Police officers in Nigeria had earlier tried to arrest Ibori at his country home in Oghara, Delta State, but they were forced to retreat after being attacked by his supporters. Ibori's supporters also blocked roads leading into the town to protest against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which had filed 170 charges of corruption against the former governor. A top security source said at the time that it was difficult to arrest Ibori in Nigeria because he enjoyed the support of the countrys security agencies. The scandal is that Chief Ibori enjoys support from various top brass of Nigerias security agencies, the source, a senior official of the State Security Service (SSS) told Sahara Reporters. Thats why he always received information about the plans to arrest him. And that information gave him the edge to mobilize heavily armed thugs who fought to protect him, he added. The former governor eventually found his way to Dubai where he was arrested by Interpol agents in collaboration with the Dubai police. Ibori was said to have confirmed his arrest via text message to an associate, Lulu Enobaifo while his close friend, Niyi Adebayo, who was then the governor of Ekiti state, was overheard telling friends that Ibori had been arrested in Dubai. According to Premium Times, the agency said Wike and Ikenga Ugochinyere, an aide to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki want to recruit hoodlums to cause violence in the FCT. A statement signed by Tony Opuiyo, reads: The Department of State Services (DSS) wishes to inform the general public that it has uncovered a sinister plot by the Rivers State Governor Nyesom WIKE to disrupt machinery of governance in strategic Federal Government agencies by provoking a violent breach of peace in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, today, 22nd December, 2016 and beyond especially at this yuletide season. To achieve this, the Governor had secured the services of one Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, a Personal Aide to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki (Sen), to mobilise some hoodlums to execute their plan. The DSS also said Wike wants to use the protests to distract peoples attention from the allegations levelled against him, adding that the unwholesome role played by the Governor and some of his cronies in the violence that trailed the re-run election in Rivers State which resulted in the gruesome murder of civilians including the beheading of DSP Mohammed Alkali and some of his colleagues as well as the brutalization of INEC staff who failed to do the bidding of the Governor. The DSS also said In furtherance of this plot, protesters are to besiege the National Human Rights Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Assembly, the Nigerian Army and Police Headquarters as well as British High Commission, US Embassy and the UN Secretariat, Abuja; all in an effort to raise false alarm that Rivers State was under siege of security agencies during the elections. While the obvious aim is to draw public sympathy and international attention to spurious allegations of involvement of Federal agencies in violence during the last elections in Rivers State, the actual objective is really to trigger a round of violent action against the government and create opportunity for idlers to join the deceitful protest. Part of the orchestration is to provoke the security agencies and prompt them to take action against the protesters that could result in bloodletting. It is in this line that Ikenga had gone to the outskirts of Abuja to mobilise unemployed youth to carry out his bidding. All this was to be done for a fee and resources to be provided from the treasury of the Rivers State Government. It is also worrisome that Ikenga would engage in this nefarious plot when, after his last arrest earlier this year by the Service, he had pledged to be law abiding and not to cause a breach of the peace. Though Ikenga is now at large, the trio of Emeka Idibia, Ugo Apuamagha and Ejike Nwachukwu have been arrested and are helping with further investigations. These men were picked up at the mobilisation venue trying to perfect the logistics for this unholy enterprise. The young men were hired by Ikenga to take custody of items and materials for the planned violent protest. The recovered items include banners, placards and posters with denigrating, inciting and hate inscriptions meant to impinge the authority of the federal government and further subvert the entire machinery of governance in the country. In order to make this look credible, Ikenga and his cohorts had adopted such groups as Lawyers in Defence of Democracy (LDD) and Citizens for Good Governance (CGG) as cover to supposedly make them look like serious minded civil rights groups and thus bring them into collision course with security agencies. Investigations have so far revealed that while IKENGA is the field organizer and coordinator of the planned protest, Governor WIKE is his sole financial sponsor. The DSS is disturbed that the Governor who is the Chief Security Officer of the State will stoop so low to hire thugs and hoodlums to attack the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and create an atmosphere of chaos and disorder at this yuletide season. According to the Rivers state Commissioner of information, Tam-George, The Rivers State Government challenges the SSS to leave Governor Wike alone and instead focus their operational attention on Boko Haram insurgency that has killed over 70,000 people and displaced 6 million Nigerians in the past six years. Also, Saraki, in a statement issued by his aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said the DSS has not briefed him on the matter. The statement also said the Senate President will never condone any action by any of his aides that threatens the peace of any part of the country or provision of the law. Dr. Saraki hereby calls on the DSS to properly investigate the allegations against Mr. Ikenga and if he is found to have acted against the law, then the law should take its natural course. Its brilliant. Its like why would they make Hamlet a movie? Why would they make Death of a Salesman a movie? Because it is some of the greatest writing in the 20th century, the actor told Reuters. Pulitzer prize-winning Fences, which opens in U.S. movie theatres on Dec. 25, is the first play by the late influential black playwright August Wilson to be turned into a film. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis reprise their 2010 Tony-winning roles as egotistical garbage worker Troy Maxson and his long-suffering wife Rose in the intense family drama about lost hope. The movie was about betrayal and race prejudice in 1950s America. Theres an excitement because we knew that this is permanent now. This is forever. So everybodys coming with their game, Washington said of adapting Fences to film, which he also directed and produced. Washington is also involved in filming all 10 of Wilsons stage plays for TV channel HBO. With strong reviews, Fences has put Washington and Davis front and centre of a Hollywood awards season looking to redeem itself after the #OscarsSoWhite uproar of the past two years. Washington, 61, is seen as a leading contender for his third Oscar, while Davis, 51, is regarded by awards pundits as a shoo-in in the supporting actress race. Every day was an acting Olympics, said Davis of the film shoot. "There was no scene where you just walked in and put down a pot. Wilson, who died in 2005, set many of his plays in the pre-civil rights era, charting the experience of African-American working men and women and their struggle for dignity and love. "He honoured people that literally had been seen as invisible throughout history and he uplifts them as exactly who they are, Davis said. Stephen McKinley Henderson, who plays Troys best friend Jim Bono, said Fences is timeless. Great writers write about the capacity of being human. The politics is just the background of our lives. The really important things are the people who are closest to us, not the people who are in some seat of power a long way away. The PDP stalwart spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Pankshin on Wednesday while reacting to the defection of Sen. Joshua Dariye to the APC. NAN reports that Dariye, a one-time governor of the state, alongside the Deputy Speaker, Plateau State House of Assembly, Mr Yusuf Gakdi, and many others defected to the APC at the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos on Wednesday. The APC National Chairman Chief John Oyegun, Gov Simon Lalong, some national party leaders and members in the state received Dariye and his group. Mwolwus, however, said that the PDP would come out of its problems and those who defected would regret their actions. What they do not know is that PDP is coming out of its challenges very strong and will soon launch a serious move to unseat the ruling APC in 2019. We are leaving nothing to chance to clinch power come 2019, in spite of the negative and destructive activities of the moles in PDP, he said. Mwolwus said that the PDP was strategising to come back to power to rescue Nigerians from the hardship and pains. He said that the departure of Dariye and others would not affect the PDP in the state. The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the pledge when he paid a condolence visit to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris at Force Headquarters, Abuja. A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi on Wednesday stated that Yakubus visit to IGP was to commiserate with him on the death of two policemen during the Dec. 10 Rivers legislative re-run poll. Uchi was murdered in cold blood by suspected cultists alongside Deputy Superintendent of Police DSP. Mohammed Alkali in Ogba-Egbena Local Government Area of Rivers during the state re-run elections. Yakubu also told the police boss that a team, comprising a National Commissioner, retired Air Vice-Marshal Ahmed Muazu; and Human Resources Director, Mr Musa Adamu also visited DSP Alkalis residence in Minna, to commiserate with his family. Yakubu assured Idris of the Commissions support and cooperation at all times. The statement quoted the IGP, Mr Ibrahim in his response as commending INEC management for the condolence visit. Ibrahim said that Yakubus visit marked the first time INECs delegation ever visited the Force Headquarters to express condolences over the loss of its officers while on election duties. This clearly shows that the lives of both INEC and Police personnel matter, Ibrahim said. The Rivers legislative rerun election which held on December 10, was characterised by ballot box snatching, violence and lynching in certain quarters. The Governor has since set up a commission of inquiry to ascertain the number of persons who lost their lives during the exercise. The committee has also been charged with fishing out the perpetrators of the killings. In a chat with Pulse last weekend, Wike rejected claims that he was behind the violence. He also denied making a phone call to threaten electoral officers who weren't doing his bidding. ALSO READ: Have I not said before that if you come to rig election in Rivers, you should prepare your will? Have I not said so before? So what is me threatening to kill INEC officer? "Tell tell the Nigerian police, tell the Nigerian security that I want free and fair elections. "What causes violence? I was here and they wanted to stop the results of my senatorial district from being declared..to manipulate it? If in the course of resisting rigging, they shoot somebody, will there not be violence? "The only condition for peace in Rivers is free and fair elections like it's done all over the world". ALSO READ: Governor creates panel to investigate election violence When personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) stormed 35 Forces Avenue in Port Harcourt on Saturday, October 8, 2016; in an attempt to raid the home of a Judge, television footage showed Wike on the scene. News reports after the incident indicated that the Governor had impeded law enforcement from carrying out their assignment. Wike denies that charge. He reiterated that he was only at the scene of the raid to prevent the breakdown of law and order in a State where he wears the designation of Chief Security Officer. He said he made his way to the scene of the raid only because the Director of the DSS, Lawal Daura, had ignored his phone calls earlier. "People say that they kidnap people a lot in Rivers State and somebody sends you a text message that says people are wearing black, theyve taken over the State. What is going on in your State?You called the Director of the DSS and he wont pick, you call the (CP) and he wont pick..and then I said 'gentlemen, lets find out what is going on'. "And then I took my security personnel along, wondering 'whats going on?' "They said its DSS. And I was like: 'DSS? Whats the problem?' And then they said they got orders from above to bring someone and I was like, who is that? "And they said the Judge. And the Judge in question is a woman. A woman! And they didnt even know the house of the Judge they were looking for! What kind of system is this? "Meanwhile, the DSS shares the same fence with the home of the Judge. You were going to arrest a woman at 1am? Assuming the woman was killed..do you know the effect that will have on us as a State? People will say a Judge was abducted from his or her house and was killed in Rivers State. "Okay, up till now, have they invited the Judge? "You see, I swore an oath to protect life and property. It doesnt matter who is involved. Why cant you invite the person? You can follow the person from the office without the person knowing. Why carry out an arrest at an odd hour? Especially since people say our State is not safe? "DSS Director didnt pick my calls until I got there and then he goes Im sorry. I said no, you are not sorry. Now your people have informed you and then you decided to come herebut I have been calling you and you wont pick my calls. I called the Director 10 times and he didnt pick my callsand then later the CP came. Is that the way we should carry on? I have no business with any Judge. If youve committed any crime as a Judge, you face the music. Apple sued Acacia Research Corp (ACTG.O) and Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc [GEGGIM.UL] on Tuesday, accusing them of colluding with Nokia to extract and extort exorbitant revenues unfairly and anti-competitively from Apple. Nokias lawsuits, filed in courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich, Germany and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, covered patents for displays, user interfaces, software, antennas, chipsets and video coding. Since agreeing a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia. Apple also declined to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apples products, Nokia said in a statement. After a truck ploughed through a crowd of holiday revellers in central Berlin, the country -- having so far been spared large-scale attacks -- is debating the balance between security and an open society. "This attack could have been prevented if the square had been protected by concrete barriers," said Joachim Krause, head of the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University, about the attack that killed 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market Monday. As in Israel, Germany needs "to systematically secure such places," Krause argued in business daily Handelsblatt. "But in Germany this has been neglected, even though the IS (Islamic State group) is calling for just this kind of attack on so-called soft targets." Some cities did quickly react to Monday's carnage -- the Christmas markets of Hamburg, Stuttgart and Dresden installed concrete bollards following the Berlin attack. On the other hand, federal police chief Holger Muench cautioned that, no matter what measures are taken, total security doesn't exist and that "there will always be a risk". In a similar vein, Berlin mayor Michael Mueller argued that "if we secure everything, if we carry out checks at all the entrances to all public spaces, then that will be at odds with our culture of openness". Army patrols? Nonetheless the debate is, once more, heating up. Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday passed a package of security bills, still subject to parliamentary approval, that it said were in response to earlier IS attacks in Germany. They included a measure to broaden video surveillance in public spaces, bodycams for federal police officers and the use of automated devices to read vehicle registration plates. The CSU, the Bavarian wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, is however calling for more sweeping reforms. It re-launched a campaign it initiated months ago, after less severe attacks claimed by the IS in Germany -- to authorise army troops for domestic security duties. The Bundeswehr should be able to use its training and equipment to support police and contribute to public safety, argued CSU lawmaker Florian Hahn, in comments to media group RND. While the sight of armed soldiers on the streets has become common in European countries that have suffered jihadist attacks, such as France and Belgium, it remains taboo in Germany, which in the post-war era set strict constitutional limits on its armed forces. While men and women in uniform are allowed to, for example, fill sandbags during flood disasters, most Germans would object to the sight of armed troops guarding airports and railway stations. The government recently moved to allow a first joint police-army exercise. But the country is a long way from authorising army patrols on the streets, with little will among policy-makers to push the point. And, unlike in France, which has suffered several far deadlier jihadist attacks, no-one in Germany is currently proposing declaring a state of emergency. A member of Merkel's party, Klaus Bouillon, the interior minister of Saarland state, sparked controversy by speaking of a "state of war" after the Berlin attack -- only to quickly backtrack from what many criticised as a verbal escalation. First 'real' attack "The Germans have always given the impression that they believe these attacks only happen to others," wrote Barbara Kunz of the Committee for the Study of Franco-German Relations in an online column for Le Monde. The country "has certainly experienced attacks in the past" but still "the risk seemed unreal", she argued. Therefore the Berlin truck attack -- for which the IS claimed responsibility -- meant "for many Germans that the country has experienced its first 'real' Islamist attack". Police union deputy chief Ernst Walter meanwhile called for more video surveillance and urged an end to "demonising" the technology, in a country that -- after the Nazi and communist dictatorships -- remains suspicious of all kinds of surveillance. German prosecutors have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Anis Amri, offering a 100,000-euro ($104,000) reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he "could be violent and armed". Asylum office papers believed to belong to Amri, alleged to have links to the radical Islamist scene, were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that rammed through a crowded Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing 11. The twelfth victim, the hijacked truck's Polish driver, was found shot in the cab. Police Wednesday searched a refugee centre in Emmerich, western Germany, where Amri stayed a few months ago, as well as two apartments in Berlin, the media reported. But as the Europe-wide manhunt intensified, questions were also raised about how the suspect had been able to avoid arrest and deportation despite being on the radar of several security agencies. "The authorities had him in their crosshairs and he still managed to vanish," said Der Spiegel weekly on its website. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung criticised police for wasting time focusing on a Pakistani suspect immediately after the truck assault, in what turned out to be a false lead. "It took a while before the federal police turned to Amri as a suspect," it said. The attack, Germany's deadliest in recent years, has been claimed by the Islamic State group. Twenty-four people remain in hospital, 14 of whom were seriously injured. Germany has boosted security measures following the carnage, beefing up the police presence at train stations, airports and at its borders with Poland and France. 'Planning an attack' In a revelation likely to stoke public anger, German officials said they had already been investigating Amri, suspecting he was planning an attack. The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing "a serious act of violence against the state". Berlin prosecutors said separately that Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, "possibly to carry out an attack". But after keeping tabs on him from March until September this year they failed to find evidence of the plot, learning only that Amri was a small-time drug dealer, and the surveillance was stopped. In Tunisia, Amri's family expressed disbelief on hearing that Amri was wanted across Europe. "I'm in shock, and can't believe it's him who committed this crime," his brother Abdelkader Amri told AFP. But "if he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists -- we have no dealings with terrorists." Amri left Tunisia after the 2011 revolution and lived in Italy for three years, a Tunisian security source told AFP. Italian media said he served time in prison there for setting fire to a school. He arrived in Germany in July 2015 but his application for asylum was rejected this June. His deportation, however, got caught up in red tape with Tunisia, which long denied he was a citizen. Merkel under pressure The apparent security failings in the case triggered fresh criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel's liberal refugee policy, which has seen over a million people arrive since last year. The record influx has fuelled support for the nationalist anti-migrant AfD party, which has accused Merkel of endangering the country. jpegMpeg4-1280x720But even within the chancellor's own CDU party voices of dissent are growing louder. "Nationwide, there are a large number of refugees about whom we don't know where they're from or what their names are. And that's a potential major security issue," said CDU member Klaus Bouillon, the interior minister of Saarland state. Germany had until now been spared the devastating jihadist carnage that has struck neighbouring France and Belgium. But it has suffered a spate of smaller attacks, including two attacks in July that left 15 people injured. Both were committed by asylum seekers and claimed by IS. Ban, in a statement issued by his Spokesman, Stephane Dujarric in New York, challenged political leaders in DRC to put the interest of the country first. The scribe deplored the reported loss of life in confrontations between the security forces and protesters, including in Kinshasa. He stresses the need for the national security forces to exercise the utmost restraint in the maintenance of public order. He calls on the Democratic Republic of the Congo authorities to investigate any acts of violence and ensure the perpetrators are held accountable, the statement read. Bsn called on all political actors, including the opposition, to exercise maximum restraint in their actions and statements and urge their supporters to refrain from violence. He urges the authorities, once again, to promote and protect human rights and to uphold the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. The secretary-general said he is closely monitoring developments in the DRC, as the mediation led by the Conference Episcopale Nationale des eglises du Congo (CENCO) resumed on Wednesday. He urged all parties involved in the CENCO-led mediation to work constructively and in good faith the outstanding issues related to transitional arrangements leading to the elections, in keeping with the Congolese Constitution. The UN chief called on Congolese political leaders to place the interests of the country and the people above partisan and personal considerations. He urged the politicians to de-escalate tensions and create an environment conducive to the successful completion of the CENCO-facilitated dialogue and the holding of timely, credible and transparent elections. Rebels and civilians who have sought refuge in the opposition-held province, most recently from second city Aleppo, say they are suffering from skyrocketing prices and overpopulation. At least 25,000 people, including rebel fighters, have left east Aleppo since Thursday under an evacuation deal that will see the city come under full government control. "We did not want to leave our land, but they used every weapon available to force us out," says Abu Mohammad, a father of four from east Aleppo. "Now they've prepared a prison for us in order to besiege us and bombard us," he adds, speaking to AFP in a camp hosting around 100 displaced families. Idlib city has been held since March 2015 by a coalition of rebels led by the Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham and the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front. Since then, tens of thousands of people from across the country have flooded the province. The UN office for humanitarian affairs, OCHA, estimates that 700,000 internally displaced people have found shelter in Idlib since Syria's war erupted nearly six years ago. 'Tough' life in Idlib Many of those displaced to Idlib are fleeing government bombardment or evacuating besieged areas under local deals with the regime. These "reconciliation" agreements typically see rebels and civilians bussed out of a town in exchange for an end to shelling or siege by government troops. In addition to Aleppo, six other towns near Damascus have been evacuated in the last several months, including Daraa and Moadamiyet al-Sham. The influx to Idlib has had an overwhelming effect on everyday life, with the cost of rents and basic food skyrocketing and shortages becoming a common reality. Abu Yazan al-Ramah, a fighter who arrived in April from the besieged rebel town of Zabadani near the Lebanese border, says living in Idlib was "tough". "It's expensive. There are some things you can't find or at times they are unaffordable," says the 30-year-old who has joined up with a local rebel group in order to survive. Continuing to work with rebel groups is often the only way that displaced men can secure shelter or food. According to Abu Zeid, a rebel who was wounded near Damascus, armed groups often provide newly displaced fighters in Idlib with free housing, clothes, food "and sometimes money". Even local business owners in Idlib are struggling to respond to the soaring needs. "The population increased and so has demand," says grocery shop owner Jalal al-Ahmad. Ahmad says he buys his merchandise mainly from neighbouring Turkey but admits that when he is stuck, he gets supplies from regime-held areas. "It is much more expensive to buy from regime-held areas," says Ahmad, lamenting the rising cost of basic products such as rice, sugar, tea, cooking oil and eggs. 'Like the Gaza strip' With the new arrivals, he fears Idlib is being turned into "a massive prison, an open-air prison, that can be shut down at any time." "And if it does, it will be like the (Israeli blockaded) Gaza Strip and the regime will begin to eliminate us," Ahmad adds. Other locals, including wealthy real-estate owner Nasser Alloush, agree. The 49-year-old from the village of Binnish says that property values are rising as more people are displaced to Idlib. "The regime wants to gather the revolutionaries and their opponents in one place in order to hit them with one blow," Alloush says. Concerns that Idlib could be the regime's next target are not new, but they have been rising. As early as December 2015, months after Moscow began its air campaign in Syria, a security source in Damascus said Russian and Syrian forces have been holding joint training exercises to prepare for fighting in Idlib. "In the next stage, Idlib will become the major destination and most important target of joint Russian-Syrian military operations," the source said. jpegMpeg4-1280x720In October, Assad said he would use a victory in Aleppo as a "springboard" to capture other rebel strongholds, suggesting Idlib could be next. "It's going to be the springboard, as a big city, to move to another areas, to liberate another areas from the terrorists," the Syrian president said. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura warned last week that Idlib is now at risk of a similar escalation of violence as Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes were carried out on the flashpoint town of Al-Bab, which Turkish forces have been seeking to capture for weeks in the biggest test of a four-month incursion into Syria. The raids came a day after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by jihadists around Al-Bab, in the country's biggest loss of the campaign so far. Turkish troops entered Syria on August 24 in support of pro-Ankara Syrian rebels, with the aim of ousting IS jihadists as well as Kurdish militia from the border area. Turkish forces regularly carry our air strikes in support of the ground operation in Syria but officials insist the utmost is done to avoid any civilian casualties. Defence Minister Fikri Isik told parliament on Thursday that 1,005 IS jihadists and 299 fighters affiliated to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) had been killed so far in the Syria operation, but made no mention of any civilian casualties. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed Thursday to press on with the fight, saying: "Turkey is in the midst of a great struggle -- our fight against terror continues both in our country and outside our borders." UN said only a small number of rebels were still waiting to leave under an agreement with the Syrian government. The official added that the evacuation is still ongoing, monitors are still on site. About 300 private vehicles left overnight and this (Thursday) morning. A rebel contact inside Aleppo said the evacuation would continue. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appeared to be close to taking back control of Aleppo on Wednesday, but UN and rebel officials denied that an operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the city had been completed. It said about 30,000 people had been evacuated from Aleppo by Wednesday in a nearly week-long operation. Report says the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also led the convoy of buses and ambulances with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent for the evacuation. In Geneva, ICRC spokeswoman Krista Armstrong told newsmen that the evacuation would still take quite some time, possibly most of today. The civilian evacuees have been taken mainly to opposition-held western rural Aleppo and Idlib province. The last evacuees are believed to be fighters and their families. No fewer than 435 sick and wounded people have been medically evacuated, including dozens of children who require treatment mainly for trauma injuries, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday. The warning was contained in a statement issued jointly on Wednesday by the Governments of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the U.S. after the inaugural meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) in Washington, D.C. The joint statement said the EDSCG, established by the U.S.-ROK (Republic of Korea)Foreign and Defense Ministers (2+2) Meeting on Oct. 19, 2016, was led by vice ministerial-level officials from the ROK and the U.S. Officials from both sides held comprehensive and in-depth discussions on strategic and policy issues regarding extended deterrence against North Korea, including how to better leverage the full breadth of national power using diplomacy, information, military, and economic elements. The United States reiterated its ironclad and unwavering commitment to draw on the full range of its military capabilities, including the nuclear umbrella, conventional strike, and missile defence, to provide extended deterrence for the ROK. The United States reaffirmed the longstanding U.S. policy that any attack on the United States or its allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons will be met with an effective and overwhelming response. In particular, the United States emphasised that it remains steadfast in meeting these enduring commitments and providing immediate support to the ROK. In response to North Koreas nuclear and missile threats, the officials reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to regularly deploy U.S. strategic assets for the defence of the ROK, as well as to enhance such measures and identify new or additional steps to strengthen deterrence. It said the officials also highlighted that the U.S., in 2016, demonstrated its commitment and resolve to the South Korea by exercising extended deterrence through measures to enhance missile defense capabilities and through clear demonstrations of the U.S. nuclear triad. This includes multiple B-52 strategic bomber flights as well as visits by South Korean officials to observe a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch on Feb. 25 and board a nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) during its port visit to Guam on Nov. 1. The joint statement emphasised the importance of the EDSCG as a high-level consultative mechanism and with a common understanding that such various measures to strengthen their combined defense were necessary to maintain effective deterrence of North Korea. The case included bribes by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to a "high-ranking Russian government" official who used his authority to boost sales of one Teva drug, resulting in more than $200 million in illicit profits for Teva and about $65 million for the Russian official, the Justice Department said. The U.S. Department of State, in a statement, said the designation imposed sanctions on foreign individuals determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. As a result of this designation, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which Mohamedou has any interest is blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Mohamedou. Mohamedou, an al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) operative, was sentenced to death in Mauritania in 2011 after his conviction for attempting to assassinate the Mauritanian head-of-state Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The plot, which was foiled by the Mauritanian Army, included attacks on the French Embassy and the Mauritanian Ministry of National Defence. Mohamedou is also regarded as the mastermind of the terrorist attack that resulted in the killing of four French tourists in Mauritania in 2007. Mohamedou escaped from prison in 2015, but was captured in January 2016 and is currently incarcerated in Mauritania, the Department of State said. The imposition of sanctions by the U.S. against terrorists is a powerful tool, according to the statement. Todays action notifies the U.S. public and the international community that Mohamedou has actively engaged in terrorism. Designations of terrorist individuals and groups expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and result in denial of access to the U.S. financial system. Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, stunned observers by initially accepting his defeat in the December 1 vote by opposition candidate Adama Barrow, but then flip-flopped a week later, rejecting the results and filing a court challenge. His stance has stoked international concerns about the future of the tiny west African country, with the UN joining African leaders in calling for him to step down. "My rights cannot be violated and intimidated to a point where I succumb to blackmail," Jammeh said in a lengthy televised address, referring to diplomatic efforts by the west African ECOWAS bloc. "Unless the court decides the case, there will be no inauguration (of Barrow) on the 19 January," Jammeh added, referring to his petition to the Supreme Court to overturn the election result. "What we are asking for is not for the IEC (Independent Election Commission) to declare me the winner, I cannot do that," he said late Tuesday. "I will not cheat but I will not be cheated. Justice must be done and the only way justice can be done is to reorganise the election so that every Gambian votes. That's the only way we can resolve the matter peacefully and fairly." Buying time Experts say Jammeh has bought time by taking his appeal to the Supreme Court, which has lain dormant since May 2015. All its judges were fired under Jammeh's orders save its chief justice, Nigeria-born Emmanuel Fagbenle. But court sources say six foreign judges, besides Fagbenle, have now been appointed by Jammeh to serve on the Supreme Court to hear his complaint. Complicating matters, the target of Jammeh's complaint, the Independent Electoral Commission that he says made errors requiring a fresh election, is represented by Jammeh's own attorney general. Even Gambia's own bar association has denounced the system as "fundamentally tainted". Fagbenle announced on Wednesday that Jammeh's case had been adjourned until January 10 because the chief defendant -- the IEC -- had not been summonsed to attend, dashing any hopes of a quick resolution to the crisis. 'Big powers' behind ECOWAS In a fiery monologue, the 51-year-old Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, denounced ECOWAS and foreign powers who support it for interference in Gambian affairs. Leaders of ECOWAS -- including Senegal, which surrounds the landlocked country save its coastal border -- said at the weekend they would attend Barrow's inauguration and "take all necessary actions to enforce the results", without spelling out what those measures might be. "ECOWAS is trying to force me out," Jammeh said in the televised remarks. "It will not happen... And let me see what ECOWAS and those big powers behind them can do." Jammeh initially warmly congratulated Barrow after results were declared on December 2. But a week later he condemned "unacceptable errors" by election authorities and called for a new vote. "I will not step down, because this is disrespectful of our constitution which says a transition period of 60 days. Even if he had won legally, I have 60 days of transition," he said Tuesday. The nation's government-in-waiting said on Monday that Jammeh had no constitutional mandate to stay in office beyond January. "Any president who loses constitutional legitimacy becomes a rebel," said Halifa Sallah, a spokesman for the opposition coalition that spurred Barrow to victory. But the opposition has also said Jammeh would not face prosecution on leaving office. Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg For several years now, the amount of tax paid by big companies has come under enhanced public scrutiny and debate with some companies tax affairs being the subject of media and Government attention. In March this year, I joined PwC UK on secondment from the Uganda office and for the past few months, I have had the opportunity to work on a very interesting project, the 100 Group Total Tax Contribution (TTC) survey. This survey looks at the total tax and wider economic contribution that UKs biggest businesses, broadly FTSE 100 companies, large UK private companies and UK multinational groups make to UK public finances. Looking at the survey results, I would say that I was stunned by the numbers I think the contribution these companies make through the taxes that they pay, the jobs they create as well as their investment in capital expenditure and R&D is considerable. This year, the 100 Group companies paid a total of 82.3 billion up from 80.5 billion last year. This represents 13.3% of the total government tax receipts. I think this reflects the importance of these companies to the UK Exchequer. Over half (51%) of the value distributed by these companies goes to government in taxes! Employees are the second largest beneficiary receiving 32% in salaries and wages. This survey also recognises the fact that the contribution made by companies goes beyond tax. Over the last five years, these companies have spent 130 billion on capital investment and 33 billion on R&D. This year, the 100 Group employed 2.1 million people, representing 6.6% of the total UK workforce. These are highly skilled, well paid workers with an average salary exceeding the national average. In addition, the activities of these companies support a wide range of UK suppliers, many of which are SMEs. In my view, the tax contributions made together with the continued investment and related economic stimulus generated by the activities of these big companies is considerable. Therefore, I believe that it is important to demonstrate companies contributions beyond corporation tax and even beyond tax. Studies like this form one of the central elements of transparency; developing meaningful communications to build trust with all stakeholders. Find out more about the Total Tax Contribution of the 100 Group here. Your digital subscription includes access to all content on our agricultural websites across the nation. Access unlimited content and the digital versions of our print editions - This Week's Paper. sponsored by Confused about health insurance? Wellmark has you covered every step of the way. Find out how I can help find you find confidence in your coverage and a plan that works for you. Call me today. An Authorized Independent Agent for John N. Beckey CLU, ChFC, CASL Chartered Financial Consultant Chartered Advisor for Senior Living 102 West 2nd Street, Suite 4 (563) 263-9700 Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. 2015 Wellmark, Inc. W-5018020 08/15 If you have any information about this photo, please contact Jenn Haney by Wednesday @ 5pm 563-262-0550 or Jennifer.Haney@muscatinejournal.com No names were provided before this ad went to press (The Muscatine Journal apologizes for any misspellings of names & identities) ? Before her father's funeral, Ali Kell Caves sat her kids down and asked what they loved most about their Papa. The kids, 10-year-old Karli Rose and 5-year-old Jackson talked about his jokes, hugs, trips to Whiteys Ice Cream and music lessons on Sunday afternoons. And, then, Karli said: When I would sing, he made me feel famous. For many who knew Ellis Kell, he made them feel that way, too. Family members, friends, fellow musicians and fans gathered Wednesday at the Adler Theatre to honor Ellis Kell, a Quad-City musical icon and humanitarian with a hippie heart, who lived by the mantra peace, love and joy of music. One of the greatest gifts that my dad gave us in the final days was the profound sense that every day was a gift, Caves, 29, said. I know that people say each day is a gift, but my dad meant it. Kells wife, Kristi, said she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, from the community, who she said shared her heartbreak. We chose many years ago, Ellis and I, that with his music and the career he wanted to make that we wanted to share it with our community, she said. He loved music so much and always wanted to give back. Within hours of her husbands death on Friday, Kell also lost her father, Ed Swanson, who lived in Omaha. From my heart, I was surely amazed by all the people that came forth and Im overly grateful for that, she said. Following the death of Kell, at age 61, on Friday, Dec. 16, from a pulmonary embolism, there was an instant void in the Quad-City community, Deb Powers, CEO of the River Music Experience, or RME, said. Music was his life, but its so much more about the man than the music, she said. Were feeling a great emptiness and sorrow. Were missing him. Kell, who worked at the RME since its inception in 2004, was the face of the organization, according to Jay Pearce, RME board chairman. He said thousands of kids have learned to play music and express themselves because of Kell. Were celebrating a wonderful man and not only a legendary musician, but the ultimate humanitarian, Pearce said. We owe it to Ellis to carry on his vision. Theres a big hole in the community; there arent just a bunch of Ellis Kells out there. Theres only one. Over the years, Kell spearheaded musical education at the RME, introducing Rock Camp, the Winter Blues program as well as weekly lessons and partnerships with area schools. In 2002, just months after his daughter, Karli Rose, died at age 17, in a car accident, Kell started the Karli Rose Kell Music Scholarship Fund to raise money for music education of children whose parents cannot afford lessons. As a teacher, Kell taught kids how to play instruments, write songs and also how to move on stage and come out of their shells, according to Juliana Logan, 18, who counts Kell as a mentor and father figure. "He taught me how to live life and keep going no matter what gets in your way," she said. When things were negative, he'd tell me to focus on the positive." If it wasnt for him, there probably wouldnt be as many people my age in the blues scene, another student, Jim Drain, 18, said. He said blues music wasnt about playing from your mind, but your heart. Its not about reading the music, but feeling it. Another student, Matt Fuller, said, Were sad, but we know hes resting in peace and jamming in the heavens. At the funeral service, Kells closest friends and students played songs, such as Go Rest High on that Mountain, that moved the crowd to clap, cry or dance. As Bret Dale, who worked as Kells programming assistant at the RME said, he loved nothing more than getting his friends together to play music. Hed say, One day, youre going to inherit this. I never thought it would be like this, Dale said. The Quad-Cities has a feeling of loss right now, but Ellis left so many doors open and its up to us to carry on his legacy. Its also up to the community to carry on the music, said Andrew Landers, who said Kell was his closest friend and mentor. Landers took a red-eye flight from his home in Olympia, Washington, to officiate Wednesday's service. Music became medicinal for him. When you heard him play solo, you were hearing how his day went, he said. The best music heaven has heard is now playing there. UPDATE: The Moline Electoral Board has determined mayoral candidates Bob Vogelbaugh and Stephanie Acri and alderman candidates Sonia Berg and John Zelnio are not eligible to run in the upcoming city election. More details as they become available. EARLIER REPORT: The Moline Electoral Board's decision on whether to allow mayoral candidates Bob Vogelbaugh and Stephanie Acri and alderman candidates Sonia Berg and John Zelnio on the ballot will come down to an interpretation of Illinois law. The board heard nearly three hours of testimony Tuesday morning in the Moline City Council Chambers with both sides offering their interpretations of election law. Mayor Scott Raes had petitioned to have Acri, Vogelbaugh and Berg's names removed from the ballot after all three candidates failed to number their candidacy papers. Richard Potter had submitted a challenge to Zelnio, the current 4th Ward alderman, citing that he did not number his pages and was not consistent with writing his name on his documents. Raes, through his attorney Robert Alvine, stated that his objections were solely based upon statutory violations of Illinois Election Code 10.4, which requires pages to be numbered. Alvine cited four cases pertaining to section 10.4 in his explanation. "Whereas here the petitions are entirely unnumbered, no numbers at all, and they do not conform with section 10.4 and it's mandatory numbering and therefore be thrown out and declared null and void," Alvine said. All four of the candidates being challenged acknowledged that they did not number their pages but argued that the space where the number would go was cut off. Bob Waterman, Acri's attorney, questioned City Clerk Tracy Koranda about what her duties were in accepting the petitions. Waterman read a portion of the official's duties of the local election office manual and stated the clerk was to have a "gatekeeper" type of role in which the clerk was to make sure petitions were in compliance with the law. Koranda said she did not think it was her duty to inform candidates if there was a problem or refuse a nominating petition when candidates submitted their paperwork. When questioned by David Andich, Berg's and Zelnio's attorney, Koranda did say, however, that she could have done better in making sure the petitions were not cut off at the bottom. "I do believe that I should be proofing them more closely," Koranda said. In response to the cases cited by Alvine, Waterman said that only one case has appeared in the 3rd District where petitions were unnumbered. "What does the Stevenson case say, authored by Justice Stengel out of our community, it says that when you have 48 pages and not one of them are numbered, you look at the entire document to determine whether it is a substantial compliance or not," Waterman said. Waterman said "the Illinois Supreme Court says that before a candidate is denied a place on the ballot, the rights of the candidate and voter must be weighed and balanced." Toward the end of the hearing, Vogelbaugh, who has run for city office before, became emotional as he offered a statement to the board. "In the five times that I have run, I've never run into something so petty and ridiculous as what's happened here," Vogelbaugh said. The board, which consists of Connie Mohr-Wright, Alderwoman Lori Turner, 5th Ward, and Alderman Kevin Schoonmaker, 6th Ward, will return at 8 a.m. Thursday at Moline City Hall to render its decision. Alderman Mike Wendt, 3rd Ward, spoke during the public comment section and said he reviewed all the cases cited and the current situation was factually different from all of them. Wendt also noted that he did not number his petitions and did not face any objections. "Thank goodness that the mayor, who is actually in my ward and had every opportunity to object to my petitions, he didn't," Wendt said. "I looked through every other person who ran at my time and every single one of them did not conform. "In this situation, you have the ability to do what we all think in our hearts is right." Familiarity doesn't always breed contempt. Not if it's a familiarity with Christmas. While America and much of the world are focusing attention on the coming of the new president, little attention is paid to a gift not even the world's richest person could pay for and which is even today not received by many to whom it is offered. The year 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. A look back at one of the greatest sermons ever preached about Christmas by the man credited with splitting Christianity from the dominant Roman Catholic Church seems appropriate. Martin Luther's understanding of what we euphemistically call "the real meaning of Christmas" was absolute. After underscoring the humble backgrounds of Mary and Joseph and noting how rich travelers stayed in far better surroundings than the stable the two who would become the world's most famous couple were forced to occupy, Luther commented: "See, this is the first picture with which Christ puts the world to shame and exposes all it does and knows. It shows that the world's greatest wisdom is foolishness, her best actions are wrong and her greatest treasures are misfortunes." Such a notion should humble a politician, even a president, if that were possible. And yet too many among us put more faith in "princes and kings" in the false hope he (or she) can deliver us, instead of the One who really can. Luther strips away any notion of dignity or honor, which we commercially idealize in manufactured Nativity scenes, when he says of Mary and Joseph: "They had neither money nor influence to secure a room in the inn, hence they were obliged to lodge in a stable. O world, how stupid! O man, how blind thou art! But the birth itself is still more pitiful. There was no one to take pity on this young wife, who was for the first time to give birth to a child; no one to take to heart her condition that she, a stranger, did not have the least thing a mother needs in a birth-night. There she is without any preparation, without either light or fire, alone in the darkness, without any one offering her service as is customary for women to do at such times." In the polar opposite of what humankind longs for in fame, riches and honor, Luther speaks of the lowly shepherds to whom the initial announcement of this unique birth was communicated: "Behold how very richly God honors those who are despised of men, and that very gladly. Here you see that his eyes look into the depths of humility, as is written, 'He sitteth above the cherubim' and looketh into the depths. Nor could the angels find princes or valiant men to whom to communicate the good news; but only unlearned laymen, the most humble people upon earth. Could they not have addressed the high priests, who it was supposed knew so much concerning God and the angels? No, God chose poor shepherds, who, though they were of low esteem in the sight of men, were in heaven regarded as worthy of such great grace and honor." Next month, we will inaugurate another U.S. president. Pomp, ceremony and considerable ego will be on display. Two thousand years ago there was another "inauguration" of sorts, one whose goal is out of reach of the smartest political leader. That One had -- and has -- the power to transform lives and fit them for another world. It is a world, according to the baby born in Bethlehem of Judea who became a man and Savior to billions worldwide, that will -- unlike this world and the little it offers -- never pass away. DES MOINES Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds heard pitches Wednesday for school choice vouchers, income tax reform and a full two-year state budget plan during a hearing where members of the public could make their suggestions on how state money should be spent. Branstad worked to downplay expectations of the nearly 20 Iowans, many of them lobbyists or association representatives who offered budget ideas, noting that the current state budget likely will have to be trimmed by at least $100 million and prospects for the fiscal 2018 and 2019 state budgets are challenging given that revenues are growing but not as much as had been hoped. "The big challenge right now is the fiscal year that we're in. We're going to have to go in and do some de-appropriation," said Branstad. "I'm not going to do what the previous governor did and do a stupid across-the-board cut that creates all sorts of havoc and problems." Before the budget hearing, Branstad said he met privately with GOP leaders who will hold majorities in both the Iowa House and Iowa House when the Legislature convenes Jan. 9 and they were in concurrence that spending cuts not affect K-12 schools, Medicaid programs or property tax credits. "We would have to selectively make other reductions in order to get the budget for fiscal year 2017 in balance," he said. "I think we're going to be able to work together to get that done." Branstad said he hopes the GOP-led Legislature will pass a "full two-year budget" that does not partially fund the second year. He said he will lay out his two-year plan on Jan. 10 with his Condition of the State address but told reporters Wednesday "ideally I would like to get to 2 percent" in increased state supplemental aid for K-12 school districts. "That's not going to be easy in light of the budget limitations we're facing," he noted. During Wednesday's hearing, Susan Fenton, a lobbyist for the Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education, urged Branstad to support the creation of educational savings accounts that would give parents flexibility in using state tax dollars to apply toward tuition, textbooks, tutoring or online learning in the public or private school of their choice. "An ESA program will allow true universal choice and inject the positive force of market competition into the Iowa educational system," Fenton said. Audra Meyers of Clive, a former principal at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Des Moines, also advocated for "robust education choice" in Iowa during her comments to Branstad, Reynolds and top aides. She said the roughly $6,500 in per-pupil state spending should "follow the student" in "leveling the playing field" in school choice matters. "Many families are not in a financial position to select the type of education that is best for their child," Meyers said. "Instead, their address determines the education that their child will receive." Branstad, whose three children attended Catholic schools in the Des Moines area, told reporters after the hearing that he is a "strong supporter" of private schools, but added that there are "a lot of issues" to consider in the state's tight budget situation. Sharon Presnall, a lobbyist for the Iowa Bankers Association, advocated that legislators and the governor look for "thoughtful" ways to reform Iowa's income tax code through reforms that bring fairness to the system rather than having government pick winners and losers via various credits and deductions. She said tax changes likely would have to be phased-in over years given the state's budget situation and address federal deductibility which complicates Iowa's income tax and makes Iowa's rates appear to be uncompetitive in national rankings Indonesian police said Monday that they will take action against groups that use violence to enforce an edict from the country's leading Islamic body forbidding Muslims from wearing Christmas attire. National police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said the edict is not a law in Indonesia and that he has reprimanded police who circulated leaflets based on the edict from the Indonesian Ulema Council. Karnavian's remarks came after reports that members of the Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group, went to shopping malls in Surabaya, East Java province's capital, to remind businesses not to require Muslim employees to wear Christmas attire such as Santa hats. They were accompanied by about 200 police officers. Surabaya police chief Col. Muhammad Iqbal said they escorted the group in order to prevent any violence. "Although it is a peaceful action, we keep guard to anticipate undesired things," Iqbal said Sunday. "They are not allowed to go inside because the malls are public areas." The Ulema Council issued an edict on Wednesday forbidding the use of non-Muslim attire such as Santa hats and called on companies to guarantee the rights of Muslims to practice their religion in accordance with their beliefs. Muslim-majority Indonesia recognizes six religions and has a large Christian minority. Christmas decorations are commonplace in shopping malls and offices during the festive season. Karnavian said Islamic groups can use social media to promote understanding of the edict. The Islamic Defenders Front was behind protests in the past two months against Jakarta's minority Christian governor, who is on trial for blasphemy. A Nov. 4 protest in Jakarta, the capital, that attracted at least 100,000 people turned violent, with one death and dozens of police and protesters injured. The Black Hills National Cemetery has rescheduled the Wreaths Across America ceremony for Friday after it was postponed last weekend because of adverse weather conditions. The holiday wreath-laying ceremony is to honor and remember veterans in each branch of the military, the U.S. Merchant Marine as well as prisoners of war and those still missing in action. It will take place at 8 a.m. at the Black Hills National Cemetery at 20901 Pleasant Valley Drive in Sturgis. South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman is scheduled to be the guest speaker for the Belle Fourche Development Corporation's annual meeting at Grap's banquet room. Hultman is a Belle Fourche native and graduate of Black Hills State University. The BFDC meeting is set for Wednesday, Jan. 4, with a social hour at 5 and dinner at 6 p.m. The meeting will include member voting for three seats on the BFDC Board of Directors. Each membership has one vote in the election. Hollie Stalder, BFDC executive, said in member invitations, "The growth of our community continues at a strong pace." The meeting is a celebration of community successes over the past year, she said. One of the Rapid City men accused of being an accessory in what authorities describe as a murder-for-hire plot pleaded guilty Thursday in Seventh Circuit Court. Michael Frye, 25, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to a crime, in connection with the murder of Jessica Rehfeld, a 22-year-old Rapid City resident who went missing in 2015 and was found dead a year later. Frye faces a maximum of five years in prison. Authorities say Rehfelds former boyfriend, Jonathon Klinetobe, 27, hired two men to stab her to death on May 18, 2015, and initially help him bury her in the woods south of Rockerville. About two weeks later, police say, Klinetobe returned with Frye and Garland Brown to move her body into a deeper grave. Frye and Brown initially pleaded not guilty. "Klinetobe told the subjects he would give them monetary compensation for assisting him in this task," according to a document submitted by a Rapid City police detective. Rehfelds body was found in May with the help of a witness who led law enforcement agents to the burial site. Brown pleaded guilty to the same accessory charge earlier this year, and was sentenced in August to four years in prison. Editors note: This is the latest in a series of profiles of United Way-backed agencies and the people they help. Heath Ruml, 43, spent one Sunday morning this month teaching his "little brother" to make chili and peanut butter cookies. In the kitchen of Rumls three-bedroom house on Rapid Citys west side, he showed 10-year-old Kamden Cloke how to chop onions and green peppers, as well as open cans of kidney beans and diced tomatoes using an electric can opener. After Kamden stirred the ingredients into a simmering pot of deer meat, which Ruml hunted last year, the guys moved on to baking. They balled up ready-made cookie dough and laid them on a baking sheet. Then Ruml showed the boy how to add some design by pressing the tines of a fork against the dough. Rumls 6-year-old dog, Blue, a blue heeler (or Australian cattle dog), watched them from the dining room. Ruml, a surgical assistant at Rapid City Regional Hospital, and Kamden, a fourth-grader at Canyon Lake Elementary, usually spend time together outdoors. Two to three times a month, they go hiking or caving, always accompanied by Blue. Last month, they went with friends on a 500-mile day trip that included visiting Custer National Forest and Medicine Rocks State Park in Montana. But that Dec. 11 morning at Rumls home, the man thought it was important to show the boy the essence of the holiday season. The holiday season, the Christmas season, for me, and I used to teach my kids this, is more about giving and helping out, Ruml said. I just thought it would be good for him to experience that. Their plan was to go downtown that afternoon and hand out food to homeless people. Ruml and Kamden met in March through the core mentoring program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Black Hills, a nonprofit group that aims to help children succeed and realize their potential. Part of the organizations half-million-dollar annual budget comes from the United Way of the Black Hills. The goal of the mentoring program, which serves children ages 5 to 18, includes helping them perform well in school, avoid risky behavior and build better relationships. Volunteers, called Bigs, are asked to spend at least an hour each week with their child matches, or Littles. The minimum commitment is one year, since the organization says studies have shown that short-lived relationships have a harmful effect on the Littles. If youre matched with a child for less than six months, it has a worse outcome than if the child has never been matched at all because its just one more person who hasnt followed through with their commitment, said Nicole Burdick, the organizations executive director. A criminal background check and personal references are part of the requirement for volunteers. Ruml, a father of four, said he has always recognized the importance of working with children and was drawn to the work of Big Brothers Big Sisters. He joked that he volunteered because he needed someone to pal around with since his 16-year-old youngest child was gone all the time. Kamden, meanwhile, had been waiting for a mentor since 2011, when he was 5. His mom, Shawna Meisman, signed him up with Big Brothers Big Sisters because she wanted the boy to have a positive male influence since his father was in jail. Kamdens older sister had earlier found a mentor through the program, and the family saw its positive effects, said Meisman, an elementary school teacher in Rapid City. Ruml started out with three potential matches. He chose Kamden, who had been on the waiting list the longest. (Other times, the organization does the matching up.) Ruml plans his activities with Kamden in consultation with Meisman. In the nine months since the two met, Meisman said her son has become more open to new adventures and his confidence has grown. Just the fact that there are adults that follow through with their word, and hes got someone else to talk to besides Mom," she said. He just loves the time with him. Currently 47 boys are waiting for matches, versus 21 girls, so theres an urgent need for male volunteers, said Burdick. Big Brothers Big Sisters has been looking at different ways to attract more men to the program. Outside First United Methodist Church, at the corner of Kansas City and Seventh streets, Kamden and Ruml took turns scooping their chili into plastic bowls and handing out cookies. Men, women and children, wrapped in heavy coats, stopped by for a free hot meal. And Kamden and Ruml couldn't have been happier to do something together for the community. People get the "Dakotas confused all the time. I cant tell you how many times people in D.C. have asked me about the impact of the oil boom in our state, having little idea that the Bakken oil field largely rests north of South Dakotas border. Even without the oil reserves, however, our state plays a role in filling the nations gas tanks, contributing the resources needed to produce renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. This year, about 26 percent of the soybean oil consumed in the U.S. will be used for biodiesel production and around 5 billion bushels of corn will be used for ethanol. Turning corn and soybeans into fuel not only opens the door for better prices and greater market stability, but also offers broader benefits for our national economy and security. The biodiesel industry alone supports nearly 50,000 U.S. jobs and ethanol supports tens of thousands more. Its a fuel that invests and then reinvests again in America. On the flip side, around one-third of petroleum used in America is from foreign sources. This means the United States spends more than $300 billion each year on imported crude oil. Many times, the oil is coming from volatile areas of the world and countries that are wary of Americas continued prosperity. Every step we take toward energy independence is a step we take toward security. Thats why we need to invest in both fossil fuels and renewable fuels. While biofuel production has grown quite a bit in recent years, it still makes up only a small portion of the overall market. Since our nations founding, America has invested in new technologies like this, offering help until theyre strong enough to stand on their own. Today, as part of an all-of-the-above American energy strategy, we must do the same for biofuels. One of the ways in which we encourage biofuel growth is through the Renewable Fuel Standard or RFS, which sets annual goals for the amount of ethanol and biodiesel that must be incorporated into Americas fuel supply. The EPA has often fallen short of what Congress proposed, particularly when it comes to ethanol requirements. Last month, however, for the first time in a number of years, the EPA brought the RFS in line with congressional goals. Since the RFS is re-examined each year, we must continue to hold the EPA accountable. Various forms of energy also have different provisions in the tax code. For biodiesel, we offer a $1-per-gallon tax credit, which can result in cheaper fuel at the pump. Legislation Ive proposed would give more certainty regarding the tax credits availability while adjusting how the support is distributed. The change would ensure the incentive is encouraging American biodiesel production, not the importation of foreign biodiesel a move consistent with our goal of achieving American energy independence. My number one responsibility is to keep the American people safe. Protecting economic opportunities is a close second. By supporting homegrown fuels, we accomplish both while also distinguishing South Dakota as an energy-rich state. Russia's Supreme Court upholds sentence for Hizb ut-Tahrir member MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) The Supreme Court of Russia has upheld the sentence for Abdunabi Zoidov who was found guilty of participating in activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist organization banned in Russia, RAPSI reported from the court on Thursday. The court refused to grant an appeal against the Moscow District Military Courts ruling sentencing Zoidov to four years and four months in prison. Earlier, it was established that Zoidov was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir since the summer of 2014 till October 2015. He was participating in the organizations meetings and was studying religious and ideological literature to obtain skills needed for propagation of radical Islam. Zoidov, along with other members of organization, was arrested on October 19, 2015. He was found guilty of participating in activity of terrorist organization. Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Party of Islamic Liberation), founded in Jerusalem in 1953, is banned in several Arab and Central Asian countries. Russia's Supreme Court banned the group from operating on the territory of the country in 2003, describing it as a terrorist organization. Hizb ut-Tahrir members are regularly arrested by the police across Russia, mainly in big cities in central Russia, the Volga region and Siberia. Moscow school students sentence for joining far-right Ukrainian group reduced MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) The Supreme Court of Russia on Thursday mitigated a 6.5-year prison sentence given to Moscow school student Kirill Banetsky for joining Right Sector, a far-right Ukrainian group banned in Russia, and pushing for extremism, by 2 months, RAPSI reports from the courtroom. The convict said during the Thursday hearing that he returned from Right Sector of his own free will and did not have a chance to report his voluntary withdrawal from the organization because of the arrest. The young man pleaded guilty and repented all what he had done. Banetsky was convicted and sentenced in September 2016. In addition to the prison term, the Moscow District Military Court banned him from posting publicly-accessible materials on telecommunications networks for a year. According to case papers, the school student published three posts calling to extremism on the Internet before April 2015. Upon reaching the age of majority, he left for Ukraine and joined Right Sector where he took sabotage physical and ideological training. In April 2016, Banetsky escaped from the far-right group trembling for his life. On May 1, he was arrested by police in the Bryansk region. VTB bank and Gazprom contractor reach amicable agreement in $272 mln dispute MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI) The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has approved amicable agreement in a lawsuit filed by VTB bank seeking to recover 18 billion rubles ($272 mln) from one of Gazproms major contractors Stroygazconsulting Group of Companies (SGC), RIA Novosti reported on Thursday. On Thursday, the court was supposed to hear Stroygazconsultings appeal against the Moscow Commercial Courts ruling to collect assets in favor of VTB, but parties presented an amicable agreement instead. Conditions listed in the agreement will be announced after the courts ruling is published. The Moscow City Courts ruling was overturned and proceedings in the case were closed. In April 2015, the Bank of Moscow (VTB Group), initial plaintiff in the case, sued SGC, the contracted guarantor to pay off seven loans that were issued in 2012 and 2013 to its subsidiary, Gaztechleasing, before term. In August 2015, the Moscow Commercial Court granted the lawsuit in full. On September 21, the ruling was appealed. SGC is a major construction holding that develops oil and gas condensate reserves and builds compressor stations, pipelines, highways and bridges, as well as railway and metro lines. In 2008-2012, SGCs contract portfolio exceeded 800 billion rubles ($12 bln). The Bank of Moscow is one of Russias largest universal banks providing financial services to corporate clients and individuals. The banks principal shareholder is VTB Bank (96.88%). Russian Press Agencys ex-head fined $1,600 for extremism MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) Moscows Basmanny District Court has sentenced ex-head of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media (Rospechat) and one of the founders of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Boris Mironov, to a 100,000-ruble fine ($1,600) for extremism, the courts spokesperson Yunona Tsareva told RAPSI on Thursday. The court began hearing the criminal case against Mironov in July. Mironov was charged with making calls for forced regime change. Prosecutors claimed that the defendant in his book Battle against Jewish Yoke had intentionally incited readers to armed rebellion, hatred of the Jewish people and sought to dismantle the Russian statehood. The abovementioned book written by Mironov has prompted initiation of the case against him. Russian publishing house Algoritm has issued about 2,000 copies of the book. Russian ex-student sentenced to 4.5 years for attempting to join ISIS MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) The Moscow District Military Court has sentenced Varvara Karaulova (Alexandra Ivanova), a former student of the Moscow State University, to 4.5 years in prison for attempting to join the Islamic State militants in Syria, RAPSI correspondent reports from the court on Thursday. Karaulova is to serve her time in a penal colony of general regiment. The court refrained from fining her. The sentence will be appealed, lawyer Ilya Novikov wrote on his Twitter account. Earlier on Thursday, the court found that Karaulova decided to participate in activities of the Islamic State terrorist group, also called ISIS, an organization banned in Russia. The court noted that she shared organization's ideology. During announcement of her sentence the court noted that it based its judgment on confessions made by the defendant, including those made during her first interrogations after the arrest on October 27, 2015. Karaulovas arguments in favor of her innocence were dismissed as inconsistent and aiming to avoid responsibility. The court did not find any aggravating circumstances in this case. Prosecutors demanded a five-year jail sentence for Karaulova, while defense lawyers asked the court for acquittal. Karaulova went on trial on October 5. Her parents, friends as well as teachers of the Moscow State University have been questioned in this case. The second-year student of the Moscow State Universitys Faculty of Philosophy decided to join ISIS, an organization banned in Russia, and secretly started off for Istanbul on May 27, 2015. Karaulova, who later changed her name to Alexandra Ivanova, was arrested on June 4 near Turkey's border with Syria along with 13 other Russian citizens when attempting to cross into the territory occupied by Islamic State terrorists. In October 2015, she was put in jail. She pleaded not guilty. In October 2016, Karaulova was expelled from the university. Because I get most of my books from op shops and from the withdrawn bins of public libraries, I tend to be a few years behind most of the reading public. I can't post a list of the top books of 2016, because I have hardly read a book published this year. Here, though, are the ten best books I've read, or in some cases reread, this year.Like all the best psychogeographers, Laing knows how to make a relatively short walk into a big story. Her week-long ramble down the banks of Sussex's Ouse River turns into a journey through time, to battles of the eleventh century and then to the fragile utopia that Virginia and Leonard Woolf established beside the waterway in the 1920s. Virginia Woolf praised the Ouse's beauty in her journals and letters, and eventually drowned herself in the river. Laing emerges from the past to let readers into her own emotional life with a frankness that made me suddenly aware how repressed and dishonest my own writing is.I read Taylor's novel for the sixth time last week. When the book was published a decade ago reviewers praised its cool, noirish tone, and thereby missed Taylor's achievement.is full of hardboiled sentences and has the wheezing machinery of a crime novel, but it is really a long love letter to the Auckland of the author's childhood - a city that was being erased, even in 2006, by real estate developers and town planners. Where more conventional noir novelists use short, concrete sentences to push their plot along and sketch their characters quickly, Taylor piles sentence on sentence until his paragraphs swell and shimmer with detail. He keeps his sex scenes cool, but makes burglary erotic.Long before Bob and the Wailers, dreadlocks were made famous by Raymond Firth's massive book about a tiny island. Tikopia sits amidst the Melanesian archipelago of the Solomons, but its people are Polynesians whose ancestors journeyed from Tonga or Samoa millenia ago. Despite the fact that their island covers only five square kilometres, the Tikopians have maintained a complicated and very hierarchical system of chiefs and kings and commoners reminiscent of classical Tongan society. When Firth arrived on the island almost a century ago its people had not completely converted to Christianity, and had only begun to accumulate Western commodities. Many of Firth's readers have seen his book as a sort of a wormhole through which they can travel to ancient Polynesia.I began reading Salter's novel about anarchic mountaineers - it was apparently adapted from the script of a canned film in which Robert Redford was to star - whilst sitting comfortably on a couch. After a few pages I had to lie down carefully on my back. The couch had become a ledge a few inches wide, on the side of a French mountain. Salter's prose is so precise that it causes hallucinations.If you think you have problems with your mother-in-law, then you ought to read the delightfully bitchy. The young Sigrid Nunez should probably have been suspicious when she learned that her boyfriend David Rieff still lived with his famous mother Susan Sontag. Before long Susan had asked Sigrid to move in with her, so that Ingrid could see David without taking the boy away from his mum. Things got more fraught, and more hilarious, from there. In a better worldwould be this entertaining.As Chavism implodes in Venezuela, it might be a good time to read Greene's memoir of his friendship with General Torrijos, the left-wing leader of Panama in the late 1970s and a model for Hugo Chavez. In between reviewing Panama's restaurants and draining its bars of whiskey, Greene reports on Torrijos' experiments in direct democracy and his confrontations with the United States, which in the 1970s still controlled strips of land on either side of the Panama Canal.Half a century ago a German ethnologist sloshed ashore at Niutao, one of the nine atolls that today make up the nation of Tuvalu, and unpacked his hefty and clumsy recording gear. He was soon prompting the island's elderly men and women into singing and chanting old poems about half-forgotten subjects - magicians, and ghost ships, and immortals. Today the unfashionable songs Koch recorded are played on Tuvalu's national radio station. When I first sought outat the Otara Public Library, I found that an earlier patron of the library had removed the poems about magic from the book. I eventually found them intact in a copy fetched from the basement of the central city library.Another reread. If CK Stead'sis an austere, elegant parable, then Harrison's dense and dirty novel - which was published at about the same time as stead's novel, but has never had the same renown - is a how-to guide for dystopians.Unlike any other Pakeha writer of his generation, Finlayson spoke a Polynesian language and lived in both Maori and Pacific Island communities. He's best known for the book, which collected his short stories about the inhabitants of a marginalised and impoverished Maori village, but this coolly written account of New Zealand misrule on a Cook island also deserves to be read today.Like Don De Lillo'sand Tobias Hill'sis a fine novel about archaeologists gone mad and murderous. Moss follows her group of archaeologists to the shore of one of Greenland's gnarled and ice-strewn fjiords, where they dig up the bones and the memories of doomed Viking colonists of the late Middle Ages. Then a mysterious virus spreads swiftly across the warmer parts of the globe, and the aeroplane that was due to pick up the diggers is delayed...[Posted by Scott Hamilton] Privacy Policy RealChoice is a BlogSpot blog. You get whatever privacy you get when you post on a blog. As Blogmistress of RealChoice, I do not collect information on my users or those who post comments. I will delete spam and offensive comments, and thoroughly cooperate with law enforcement, as I did in the case of Ted "Operation Counterstrike" Schulman, if people make terroristic threats on my blog. So fight nice, kids. 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Mr. Nobuo KISHI, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, has pledged this project on September 1st 2016, at the ceremony of the 60th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and Nepal. So this project is regarded as the 60th anniversary commemoration project. In this context, His Excellency Mr. Masashi OGAWA, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal and Mr. Shanta Raj Subedi, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Nepal has signed and exchanged a set of Exchange of Notes (E/N) on behalf of their respective governments for extending the said loan at an event organized at the Ministry of Finance on December 22, 2016. Similarly, at the same time, a Loan Agreement has also been signed and exchanged between Mr. Jun SAKUMA, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Mr. Baikuntha Aryal, Chief of International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance. The ceremony for this event was graciously attended by the Honorable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara and the Honorable Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Ramesh Lekhak. Under this loan assistance, the project will purchase the products and services necessary to construct 5.05 kilometers of tunnel-road stretches from Baad Bhanjyang, Kathmandu to Sisnekhola, Dhading district. 2.45 kilometers of the stretch will be a two-lane tunnel and 2.20 kilometers (Kathmandu side) and 0.40 kilometers (Dhading Side) will be approach roads. It is anticipated that this project will significantly improve vehicular movement and, accordingly, travel time and transport expenses for fuel and spare parts will also significantly decrease. Elaborating the importance of tunnel-road in Nepal, the Embassy has remarked that, like Nepal, Japan is a mountainous country in which tunnels are indispensable for domestic transportation routes. Many tunnels run throughout Japan, and with many years experience, Japan has highly developed tunnel construction technology. Expressing extreme pleasure, His Excellency Mr. OGAWA said that, finally, the first tunnel road in Nepal would be constructed with Japanese assistance. Referring to the present condition of this road link, His Excellency Mr. OGAWA also noted that the Naubishe Thankot section of the Tribhuvan highway has poor road conditions and slow vehicular movement due to the many sharp curves and steep gradient. Considering the complex geological condition of this stretch, it has long awaited either upgrading or re-aligning with a better alternative. Considering the request of the Government of Nepal, the Government of Japan has decided to implement this project to improve transport infrastructure of Nepal. This project has been long awaited in the transport sector to achieve a higher level of safety and smooth operation for in and out bound vehicles from the Kathmandu Valley. The Government of Japan considers that this project will be a symbolic landmark for the socio-economic development of Nepal and for the deepening relationship between our two countries. The project components are (1) Civil works (Construction of the Tunnel (2.45km), Construction of the Approach Road (2.6km), Construction of 2 Bridges along Approach Road, Construction of Toll facility, Construction of Control office, Disposal Area Development, Construction of Distribution line (4.1km)) and (2) Consulting service (Detailed Design, Preparation of Bidding Document, Construction Supervision, Capacity Development for Operation and Maintenance, Safeguard). On the occasion, His Excellency pointed out the necessity of sincere support from the concerned authorities of the Government of Nepal for the successful and hassle free implementation of this project. His Excellency Mr. OGAWA expressed confidence that as Japan is a close friend and sincere development partner of Nepal, Japan will certainly extend all possible assistance to help Nepals endeavor in its nation-building. Japan expects that this project will be instrumental to further strengthening economic activities. It is also expected that the infrastructures being constructed will certainly be yet another cornerstone in enhancing the friendly relations between the people of the two countries. Kathmandu, Nepal: An Indian national has been arrested in possession of banned Indian banknotes worth Rs 363,500 from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. The Nepal Police arrested the Indian national while he was in possession of 210 notes of Rs 1,000 denominations and 307 notes of Rs 500 denomination. The arrested person is identified as Thupten Gelek, 44 of India. The notes hidden in inside of a suitcase were found while Nepal Police were conduction security check. He had reached at the Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) the only international airport of Nepal to leave for New Delhi of India from an Indigo Airlines flight (6E032). Kathmandu, Nepal: Suspended Chief of Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Lokman Singh Karki has been physically assaulted at the Supreme Court (SC) premises on Thursday. Two Maoists cadres have not only assaulted Karki but also smeared black soots on the face of Karki while he was entering at the premises of the SC on Thursday afternoon. Though the motive of the attackers are yet to be identified , the Maoist cadres had shouted slogans like Long Live CPN Maoist, while the police had attempted to arrest them after the attack. The two attackers had attacked in a coordinated manner when Karki was going to the Supreme Court in a private car with registration number Ba 13 Cha, 8586, to attend the hearing on the writ petition filed against him. According to the police, the arrested persons have been identified as Prabal Shahi and Chandra Bahadur Budha of Rukum district and currently living Kathmandu. It is said that duo are associated with All Nepal National Independent Student Union Revolutionary, the student wing of Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN Maoist. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you - like me - are among those who were wildly impressed by French duo Seth Ickerman's retro-futurist music video Turbo Killer and have been eagerly awaiting their reunion with musical act Carpenter Brut for their expanded sequel, Blood Machines, well ... things just got a whole lot more interesting. We wrote about the Blood Machines Kickstarter campaign - set up to raise the funds to go push the length of the sequel up to thirty minutes while also greatly increasing the scope of things - a couple weeks back and the good news comes first with word that they have already exceeded their goal with that. And what does that mean? It means we're getting more ... more may mean a further expansion to feature length or it may mean a VR experience to tie in to the short but it definitely means MORE. How much more really depends on how much the Kickstarter ultimately raises. And then there's this: The French filmmaking duo have caught the eye of Kung Fury helmer David Sandberg, himself no stranger to crowdfunding for VFX heavy retro throwbacks. And Sandberg is so impressed with their work that he has officially signed on as an executive producer for the project. Here's the official word: DAVID SANDBERG (DIRECTOR OF 'KUNG FURY') JOINS THE TEAM OF FRENCH SCI-FI SHORT 'BLOOD MACHINES' Paris, France David Sandberg, the Swedish director of the acclaimed short film Kung Fury, has come aboard as an executive producer on Blood Machines by Seth Ickerman, a French director duo composed of Raphael Hernandez and Savitri Joly-Gonfard. Following two space hunters chasing the female ghost of a machine through the galaxy, Blood Machines is a 30-minutes Sci-Fi short and the sequel of music video Turbo Killer by synthwave artist Carpenter Brut. Currently campaigning on Kickstarter since Dec. 1st, Seth Ickerman already reached his goal after only two weeks. Now passed 100,000 Euros, the French team would like to reach bigger objectives and expand Blood Machines into a Virtual Reality experience (in addition to the short version) or a feature film a la Interstella 5555 by Daft Punk. Seduced by the world of Blood Machines, David Sandberg reached out to Seth Ickerman in the early days of the campaign. As they share the same do it yourself approach and passion for the 80's movies, a collaboration soon appears to be a logical move. Seth Ickerman are hands down some of the most talented and exciting visual artists Ive come across. Each of their frames are gorgeous, show a painstaking attention to detail, and most of all, an undeniable love for movies. I cant wait to see these guys get their shot to tell this story , said David Sandberg. As synthwave music and retro films are labelled as fringe movements, which limit the traditional sources of financing, David Sandberg and Seth Ickerman decided to pull together and cross the streams to make such an ambitious project happen. Blood Machines remains quite bold for a short film while it needs to remain independent and true to the directors vision. Bringing David on board is a natural association for us after ten years in our garage. He went through the same process and what he did on Kickstarter with Kung Fury and later on with the distribution is a true reference for us in terms of maintaining the creative control of his film, while reaching out to a world audience and bridging the garage and professional mindsets. We are really happy that he's joining our team in this exciting adventure!, said Seth Ickerman. After raising $630,000 on Kickstarter with Kung Fury, which premiered in Cannes and was released on Netflix, Sandberg will be bringing his experience to a production team composed of Frederic Fiore and Alexis Perrin. Focused on elevated genre movies, their venture Logical Pictures is currently co-producing An Incident in A Ghost Land by Pascal Laugier (Martyrs, The Tall Man), and has several films lined up including Ickerman, the first feature film of Seth Ickerman. You might be able to argue that J.A. Bayona is not the most original filmmaker currently working today, but there is no denying that he has a masterful understanding of how to direct a film that will grab (almost) all of his audience by the heart and squeeze until it bursts. His first feature film, The Orphanage, was a contemporary take on the gothic tale of ghosts and motherhood that left nary a dry or unfrightened eye in the house. His second, The Impossible, adapted the true story of a family caught in the 2004 tsunami. And with his latest, A Monster Calls, he heads back to genre to tell the story of a boy coming to terms with his mother's imminent death. On the one hand, the story of this boy is neither original not particularly compelling; on the other, there are some outstanding scenes and a genuinely heart-wrenching climax that might melt even the coldest of hearts. Conor (Lewis MacDougall) looks after himself as his mother Lizzy (Felicity Jones) undergoes chemotherapy. Bullies at school and a difficult relationship with his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) mean that Conor spends a lot of time drawing and living in his imagination. Thus comes a anthropomorphic Yew-tree monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) to talk Conor through his pain and anger in the form of old fairy tale stories. Given its source material (a YA book by Patrick Ness), the film aims itself at a younger audience; that is to say, there is no covert subtext, the dialogue is neither particularly clever nor difficult to interpret, and the conclusion (it's okay to grieve and want the pain to end) inevitable. This does not necessarily always mean something negative; but in the case of A Monster Calls, the concentration on the exterior appearances means neglecting (or at least taking a long time to find) the heart. It feels like we are being presented a story, rather than asking us to be in the story. Obligatory scenes of Conor being bullied, of his mother ill with her treatment, of the difficult grandmother/grandson relationship; these presentations lack the necessary emotional impact. When the Monster appears, it is refreshing; like an Ent on steroids, the Monster is a response to Conor's anger and sadness, and comes equipped to tell seemingly irrelevant stories to help Conor cope with his emotional upheaval. Neeson certainly has a voice to tell such stories, and indeed, the incredible animation of these tales is the best part of the film. Adrian Garcia and his team creating some spell-binding work, using watercolour style to tell these marvellous tales that really a lot more interesting than the main story. These tales, perhaps a bit too sophisticated for the intended child audience, are nonetheless captivating both in artistry and execution, and could stand on their own as short films. Now, there really are no original stories anymore; in film, or any art form, all themes have been explored; what matters is either telling stories in a new way, or in an old way that still has meaning and can speak to its audience. This film has all the necessary ingredients for a successful family drama: It has the lost child, scared and alone, bullied and afraid of what is to come; a kind and caring mother; a distant but still human grandmother; the fantastical tree and its strange tales to help Conor come to terms with what he is feeling; a great score by Fernando Velazquez. The story itself is an important one for children and young people, who don't often have the emotional maturity or experience to process heavy emotions and situations. So why does A Monster Calls lack impact? Perhaps it was only with me; I know of spectators who saw the film at previous festivals and loved it. And in the fantastical scenes, the film shines. This might be where Bayona shines: his understanding of how to use fantastic tropes to tell a story are undeniable, and like other directors such as Guillermo del Toro and Steven Spielberg, Bayona can tap directly into how children can often understand far better through stories than direct address. This could explain why Bayona's first film was a success and his second was not; high emotions work in the fantastic in a way that they don't in straight drama. Currently a hit in in cinemas in Spain, A Monster Calls will no doubt find an audience when released in North America during the holiday season, and likely will find a healthy audience there as well. But it feels far more as if it is going through the motions than seeking to genuinely connect. Originally published during the Black Nights Film Festival in November 2016. The film opens in select theaters in North America on Friday, December 23 and then opens wide on January 6. Seguin, TX (78155) Today Partly cloudy skies during the evening giving way to a few showers after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies during the evening giving way to a few showers after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%. A new wrinkle in the battle for internet civility has arrived in the form of a legal petition filed this week by reporter and avid Twitterer Kurt Eichenwald asking that Twitter disclose the identity of a Twitter user who sent him a strobe image that was intended to induce a seizure. Eichenwald has written extensively about his epilepsy, in addition to writing many negative things about President-elect Donald Trump, and once again a Trump supporter has proven to be deplorable by sending Eichenwald a message with the animated image and the words "You deserve a seizure for your posts." Last week, in a Dallas County court in Texas, Eichenwald filed a petition to get Twitter to reveal the identity of the user who sent him the tweet, which in fact succeeded in causing him to have a serious seizure. This was also the second time such an image was tweeted at him, as CNet notes. Eichenwald says he doesn't remember the incident and was bedridden for 24 hours after the seizure. "Your memory gets pretty obliterated," he said. "From what was described to me, this was a multicolored strobe that was going at a speed that was designed to cause a seizure and it succeeded." As Newsweek reports, Twitter has agreed to an expedited order to help locate the user, who used the handle @jew_goldstein. Eichenwald is now intent on pursuing legal action against the user. Eichenwald has remained on Twitter despite the bullying, though he took a brief break after the incident occurred last week. Nonetheless, the lynch mob mentality of the pro-Trump camp has continued, cheering on the person who induced Eichenwald's seizure. Folks, if a blind man says things you don't like politically, it is not okay to direct him toward the edge of a cliff. Find some humanity. Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016 A request: Would self-identified Christians please stop telling me they wish I had died from my seizure last week? Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 21, 2016 Eichenwald writes for Newsweek and longtime Trump foe Vanity Fair, and he's been specifically targeted by Trump fans after tweeting a joke in September about Trump being hospitalized in a mental institution in the '90s something he says was in response to conservatives' battle cries over Hillary Clinton's health, and was taken out of context. Eichenwald appeared on Good Morning America today to help explain his case. He said on the program, "It is amazing to me that simply because I am a political reporter, and that I write about Donald Trump, that we have become so sick and twisted in this country that people think they have the right and obligation to inflict potentially very serious injury." He says he intends to take the Twitterer, known in court so far as John Doe, to court over this personal injury, however he does not intend into sue Twitter itself. Previously: As Calls To Ban Trump Grow, Twitter Provides Window Into President-Elect's Mind An alleged thief who preyed on a SoMa benchsitter ended up in handcuffs Tuesday, nabbed just blocks from the scene of the crime. Police say that the miscreant, whose name has yet to be released, attacked a 27-year-old woman at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday near Fourth and Harrison Streets. According to the San Francisco Police Department, the 20-year-old suspect approached a woman who was sitting on an area bench and gave her a shove. He then "grabbed [her] cell phone and fled the scene on foot." The woman contacted police, who swiftly responded, tracking the suspect to the area of Seventh and Stevenson Streets. Additional details on the suspect and any charges he might face were not available as of publication time, but police say the alleged thief was detained without incident and was booked into San Francisco County Jail Tuesday evening. Related: Cell Phone GPS Helps SFPD Nab Tenderloin Pickpocket A photo posted by Harry Potter Trivia (@hptrivia) on Jun 16, 2016 at 2:24pm PDT If you're a regular Hermione Granger when it comes to factoids about the Harry Potter series, you won't want to miss this: The Swedish American Hall, as close as it gets to the Three Broomsticks in San Francisco, will host a Harry Potter trivia night on February 11. It's the second incarnation of what the Chronicle recalled as a smashing success the first time it occurred, in June. The show comes from Harry Potter Trivia, a traveling group who appears to have had their last contest in Seattle this past week. In addition to themed beverages butter beer cocktails will be flowing, naturally Harry Potter Trivia is known for its novelty drinking rules. Don't mention "he who must not be named," for instance. Tickets for both early (6:30 p.m.) and late (9 p.m.) shows are available and are $10 each. If the existence of this traveling trivia troupe is any indication, there's an ample market for pub trivia nights limited to Harry Potter questions, so get on those tickets quickly. Maybe this popularity shouldn't come as a surprise: Harry Potter often seems to be the only series of books millennials have ever read. But don't worry, there's hope. The last time around, at least, the prizes were gift cards to Green Apple Books. Sorry, I guess I can be a bit of a Slytherin. Voldemort. Related: The 12 Best Independent Bookstores In SF A week after boldly defying California officials and arguing that they had every right to test their self-driving vehicles with paying customers inside, Uber has relented and pulled its self-driving cars off the streets following a meeting Wednesday with representatives from the state attorney general's office and the DMV. The SF Business Times is reporting that Uber issued a surrender statement shortly after the meeting and after a week of national press that has painted the company as operating without respect for the law. Uber has argued since last Wednesday's launch that their vehicles are not entirely autonomous, and therefore shouldn't be subject to state laws trying to align their still-under-testing self-driving software is no different than Tesla's, which has been allowed to operate on streets and highways nationwide because it depends on a driver being (theoretically) always alert and in control. State regulators have been trying to get Uber to stop thwarting the law since the day of the launch in San Francisco, and they finally succeeded at today's sit-down apparently by revoking the registrations for the 16 vehicles themselves. As The Verge notes, Uber apparently didn't want their new self-driving to be designated as test vehicles, and refused to pay a $150 fee per vehicle to register them as such. Uber issued a statement saying, "We have stopped our self-driving pilot in California as the DMV has revoked the registrations for our self-driving cars. Were now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules." I guess that means they're looking for a city outside California that will welcome this experiment? And as for the registration issue, the DMV issued this clarification, per the Business Times: The DMV has taken action to revoke the registration of 16 vehicles owned by Uber. It was determined that the registrations were improperly issued for these vehicles because they were not properly marked as test vehicles. Concurrently, the department invited Uber to seek a permit so their vehicles can operate legally in California. DMV director Jean Shiomoto also said in their letter to Uber, "The DMV fully supports the advancement of autonomous technologies," but added that such technology, "must be tested responsibly." Mayor Ed Lee, who was threatening legal action against the company, issued a statement saying, "We are pleased to hear that the DMV took enforcement action, which I strongly supported; consequently, Uber has removed its unpermitted self-driving vehicles from San Franciscos streets." He added, "I have always been a strong supporter of innovation and autonomous vehicle development and testing, but only under conditions that put human, bicyclist and pedestrian safety first." And meanwhile, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition which contended that the cars did not adequately detect cyclists in bike lanes when trying to make right turns was taking credit for the turnaround in a press release, saying, "Thank you to the hundreds of San Francisco Bicycle Coalition members who spoke up to tell Uber to stop its irresponsible pilot. State and local officials heard you loud and clear." Throughout the week, Uber's stunt has garnered plenty of national press that hasn't been too positive especially after the day of the launch quickly yielded video evidence of an Uber self-driving vehicle running a red light on Fourth Street in San Francisco. And for now, this looks like a wager that did not pay off. Previously: Uber Ignores Mayor Lee's Demand That It Cease Unpermitted Self-Driving Ride Service An online petition, which as of Wednesday had garnered 10,000 signatures and is now up to 13,000, was delivered to San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection on Wednesday by 25-year-old SF resident Julie Mastrine, and it asks that the department, as well as the San Francisco and Oakland Fire Departments, cease doing surprise spot-checks of artists' warehouse spaces and prompting "reactionary" evictions following the Ghost Ship fire. "This is obvious and should not need to be said: the Bay Area has a crisis in affordable housing," Mastrine writes. "Conducting fire inspections that result in evictions is NOT the answer in this environment." Many have argued in the last three weeks that Oakland turned too much of a blind eye to illegal live-work dwellings like the Ghost Ship warehouse and the Chronicle reported on the "eerily prescient" March 2015 warehouse fire on 24th Street in West Oakland that killed two people, where regular inspections had in fact occurred. The tragedy three weeks ago, which claimed the lives of 36 people, has prompted a nationwide uptick in the inspection of such spaces, sometimes resulting in evictions. As Mastrine tells the Chronicle, she was inspired to launch the petition effort because her twin sister, Amy, is an artist whose warehouse dwelling in Potrero Hill was recently the subject of a surprise inspection, and she is worried about being evicted. (But, as the Examiner points out, Julie Mastrine also happens to be the Activism Marketing and Social Media Manager for Care2, the company that hosts petition drives like the one she posted.) Amy and her warehouse-mates were cited for illegal construction and several fire code violations, all of which they were given one day to fix while being asked to evacuate the premises in the meantime. The Mastrine sisters and the petition signers are asking that fire inspectors "Not be so heavy-handed in inspections and enforcement that evictions result." Or, the petition asks that inspections cease altogether until such time that "resources are in place for artists to either 1) bring their buildings up to code in an affordable way OR 2) access new affordable housing." Last week the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said they were spot-checking about 10 warehouses that they believed were being used as illegal dwellings, and one of those was a warehouse on Peralta Street in Bernal Heights where the artist inhabitants received an immediate eviction notice from their landlord. A famed punk venue and artists warehouse in Richmond called Burnt Ramen was red-tagged last week and saw its residents evicted something that "dozens" showed up to protest at a city council meeting Tuesday night, per KQED as ABC 7 reported. Meanwhile Oakland is taking a less reactionary approach, with Mayor Schaaf saying in the wake of the fire that this was not cause for "witch hunts." One of those residents, Nathan Cottam, tells CBS 5 that he has seven co-tenants in the space, and "If we lose this, I cant imagine finding another place thats comparable to what I can afford in the city. I dont anticipate finding something else. Cottam told the Chronicle that their space got their inspection at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, and that it went "as well as it could have." A spokesperson for the SFFD, Lt. Jonathan Baxter, tells the paper that notices of violation do not typically lead to immediate evictions, and he says as long as progress is being made there is usually some leniency. "Were not going out and saying, Heres your violation. Fix it. If its not fixed within this certain parameter of time, were going to go to the next step," he says. But Amy Mastrine insists to the Chronicle, despite the results of the recent inspection, "My space is safe. We took the fire seriously, without any bullying. ... My strongest point, I think, is that we can take care of our own, and we really dont need to be policed in this way. Previously: SF Is 'Spot-Checking' 10 Warehouses That Could Be Illegal Residences While Oakland Is Avoiding Such 'Witch Hunts' A San Francisco yoga instructor and Airbnb host is receiving an outpouring of community support after a home burglary resulted in the loss of her life savings. Janet Stone, a 48-year-old single mother, kept more than just jewelry in her home safe according to the Chronicle it's also where she stored her six-figure cash savings. It was all taken from her on December 14 when a thief broke into her home, located the key to the safe, and completely cleaned it out. I had been saving for over 20 years," Stone told the paper. "I just crouched on the ground, put my head on the floor and cried, she said of the moment she discovered the theft. I couldnt believe that could happen. Adding insult to injury, the burglar even emptied out her daughters' piggy banks. Anything that I was saving went into the safe, explained Stone. We are just trying to make it," she said of her family. In addition to working as a yoga instructor, Stone rents out her home near Mount Davidson Park via Airbnb. She doesn't know if the crook was a previous guest of hers, but she acknowledged the possibility. It felt like they knew exactly where the safe was," explained Stone. "It felt like they were in the house before. Indeed, the burglar was even able to locate the safe key hidden in an old purse in the back of a closet negating the need for a sledge hammer, crowbar, or any other safe-cracking tool. The SFPD hasn't made an arrest, and there is no surveillance video to speed the investigation along. This is very bad news for Stone, as her home insurance doesn't cover cash. Perhaps aware of that fact, a friend of Stone's launched a YouCaring campaign in an attempt to raise some money for the mother of two. Almost $23,000 had been raised as of press time. "I'm starting this page because - already in the few hours since she posted about the burglary - so many of you have asked how you can help," the friend wrote. "And I know so many of you who have asked have been so deeply touched - perhaps even your lives changed - by her offerings." If it turns out that Stone was robbed by one of her former guests, it would not be the first time that renting one's home out on the service had resulted in a burglary. In June of last year a San Francisco woman had $35,000 worth of possessions stolen by an Airbnb guest who broke into a locked room, and in July of this year a man robbed a Piedmont Airbnb after booking a stay under a false name. Stone's aversion to banks reportedly came after losing half her money in the 2008 crash. She told the paper that she is currently rethinking that particular philosophy. Related: Deplorable Teen Allegedly Pretends To Be Midwestern Adult, Trashes Oakland Airbnb Update 12/23: Basically everything I wrote in this post regarding Muni's parking enforcement over the holidays was wrong. I'm sorry about that I took the information exactly as it appeared on Muni's website (linked to below) Thursday morning, right down to that block quote. This morning, however, Muni spokesperson Paul Rose wrote to say that: I think you post may be citing some older info...on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2, parking meters and seven day street sweeping will be enforced. Sunday, December 25, 2016 and Sunday, January 1, 2017: The following parking regulations will not be enforced anywhere in the city: parking meters, seven-day street sweeping, residential parking permits, Monday-Friday daytime street sweeping, and commuter towaway. Monday, December 26 and Monday, January 2, 2017: Parking meters and seven day street sweeping will be enforced. Residential parking permits and Monday-Friday daytime street sweeping and commuter towaway will not be enforced. The website from which I originally took the information has also been edited, with no notation that changes had been made. An email to Rose asking the reason for the discrepancy was the parking enforcement policy changed, or was an error made on their site? was not returned at publication time. Here's the original post: While the Christmas and New Years holidays give San Franciscans a bit more leeway in the street parking department, motorists will be faced with additional restrictions near one of the city's hottest tourist destinations. According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, as Christmas and New Years Day fall on Sundays this year, not only will parkers have the usual latitude those storing their car on city streets on Sundays are allowed, but they'll get the following Mondays free of regulations, too. Per the SFMTA: Observance of Christmas and New Years days will take place on Monday, Dec. 26 and Monday, Jan. 2, respectively. On these days Muni will operate on a Sunday schedule and there will be no enforcement of parking restrictions for: Seven-day street sweeping; Parking meters (including those meters on Port of San Francisco property); Residential parking permits; Monday through Friday street sweeping; Commute hour tow-away (The picture is less rosy for transit takers, with Muni operating on a weekday non-school schedule, with no service on the 1AX/BX, 7X, 14X, 30X, 31AX/BX, 38AX/BX, 41, 81X, 82X, 83X, 88, NX, N Judah Cole Valley Shuttles and the Castro Shuttles from Tuesday, December 27 through Friday, December 30.) But while parking on city streets is a bit easier on those days, parking near the Golden Gate Bridge will be significantly harder. As they have on Easter and Thanksgiving weekends the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District will be closing the parking lots at both ends of the bridge in an effort to reduce congestion, they announced this week. Parking for personal vehicles will be prohibited at the Welcome Center parking lot at the south end of the bridge and the Vista Point parking lot at the north end between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Friday, December 23 to January 2, the District says, encouraging visitors to take public transit or "a tour bus, corporate shuttle, taxi or ride-sharing service" instead. As previously reported, traffic backups due to drivers seeking parking at those lots prompted the regular holiday closures as of this year. Drivers are instead directed to stash their cars at the overflow lots along Lincoln Boulevard and in the Presidio, a not insignificant hike to and from the tourist attraction. Tour bus riders will end up with the best deal during the closure, as they'll be allowed in the lots at either end of the span. Folks taking a cab or a transportation network service like Uber or Lyft can be picked up and dropped off at the Welcome Center, but aren't allowed at Vista Point. Taxis and ride hail services also won't be allowed to wait for passengers, the District says, and will all need proper identification to prove they're not just a regular person trying to weasel in. According to the District, drivers will be alerted to the closure vie big electronic signs, and other signs will be placed on roadways leading up to the bridge "and on the bridge itself leading up to Vista Point exit" to ensure motorists are aware of the restrictions. Related: Toll Plaza Gridlocked As Golden Gate Bridge Parking Lot Closures Backfire Just over a week after the company launched its self-driving service in San Francisco to much fanfare, Uber executives today ordered their autonomous Volvo SUVs packed up and shipped out of state to Arizona. The company plans to redeploy the vehicles on Arizona streets, and is no doubt looking forward to a warmer greeting than the one they received in San Francisco. Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck," the company said this afternoon in a statement. "Well be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and were excited to have the support of [Arizona] Governor Ducey. It was only yesterday that Uber executives met with representatives from the California state attorney general's office and the DMV to argue the case that their self-driving vehicles are not technically autonomous and thus did not require DMV permitting. State regulators disagreed, and last night told Uber they had revoked the registration of the 16 cars thus forcing Uber to cease its self-driving operation in San Francisco and precipitating today's announcement. Interestingly, an Uber spokesperson confirmed to SFist that the Otto trucks pictured ferrying Ubers out of town are themselves self-driving vehicles, although it is unclear if that feature was engaged this morning. The trouble caused by Uber's refusal to obtain permits for the vehicles was only exacerbated by multiple instances of the autonomous cars committing traffic violations. The company's decision to ignore Mayor Lee's demand that it cease operations on SF streets likely didn't help to cool things down. A reporter with the Business Times took a ride in one of the cars before this morning's relocation, and noted that "the [human] driver often had to take over to navigate complex situations." An inquiry as to whether Uber is in touch with the Arizona DMV was unanswered as of press time. Previously: Uber Finally Convinced By DMV To Yank Self-Driving Cars Off SF Streets STORM LAKE, Iowa | Storm Lake Police have charged a woman accused of banging her childs head on the floor with child endangerment. Faelyn Deondra Nicole Wilson, 35 of Storm Lake, was charged with felony child endangerment resulting in bodily injury Wednesday morning. A release issued by the Storm Lake Police Department said a joint investigation with Iowa Department of Human Services showed that Wilson assaulted her 14-year-old son. An argument over household rules escalated into a physical disturbance, police said. According to the release, Wilson threw the child to the ground, sat on him and banged his head on the floor. The child sustained facial injuries, bruising and swelling. He was treated on Dec. 20. Wilson was located at her residence Wednesday after further investigation. SIOUX CITY | The Talented and Gifted (TAG) program in Sioux Citys middle schools will look a little different next year, with the hopes that students receive more specialized attention. Superintendent Paul Gausman said the grades 6-8 TAG program will get a facelift in three major ways, beginning with the 2017-18 academic year. The plans were unveiled as part of a program review in August. First, he said, TAG students in all grades will get a Personalized Education Plan, or PEP. Much like an Individual Education Plan, or IEP, for special education students, the PEP will diagnose a students needs and formulate a plan that best addresses an individuals strengths and learning requirements. It will include regular education teachers, TAG specialists and parents in the conversation about how we will best serve the needs of their child, he said. Kim Neal, director of education supports, added, "We just want to make sure we are identifying for the family, for the teachers and for the administrators how is it that we are serving the students needs." Middle school students will also be placed in cluster groups with other TAG children within regular classes. Neal said this ensures TAG students have children of the same learning level in their classes. The theory behind that is they still have a peer group of similar abilities, so as the teacher is saying visit with your neighbor, talk to your elbow partner, they still have peers within the classroom to compare their thoughts, she said. Pre-Advanced Placement (AP) classes are the third feature of the new design. TAG students can take classes in areas of math, history, science in more to test the waters of higher learning. In high school, students can take AP courses to earn college credit, depending on test scores in that class. Neal said this will help students experience the rigors of those classes before high school. The level of rigor is higher than what they will see in a middle school class, she said, from the depth and breadth of course and the level of independence they are expected to work at. Pre-AP classes will be taught online through the Belin-Blank Center in Iowa City, with a district teacher supervising students in the classroom. Neal said students will most likely take one pre-AP class a year until they reach high school. Currently, the TAG program features a stand-alone reading course. Neal said that will not occur in middle school next year, but the reading needs will be through the steps discussed, as well as an enrichment period. The change will not result in any staff cuts, nor will it require additions immediately. Neal said the TAG specialist who conducts the reading course will continue to be available to students next year. The role of this position will shift to focus on intentional instruction during enrichment time, monitoring Pre-AP courses, and collaborating with teachers regarding differentiation of core content to ensure that needs of gifted students are met, she said. Much like the decision to incorporate reading into the regular subjects instead of offering standalone reading classes in middle school next year, the removal of TAG Reading has caused concern. Larisa Chmielewski, who has helped organize the TAG Boosters parent group, said the approach to offer students an individual plan is a step in the right direction, but not having specific TAG classes may put TAG students at a disadvantage. What that does, parents have said, is it dilutes what are kids are getting and lessens what the kids are getting, she said. When youre a TAG kid, youre on your own. Thats a concern of the parents. We dont want to see that happen. She added that theres a belief among parents that the new model decreases the opportunities available to TAG students, when TAG opportunities should be of a greater quantity as a student approaches higher learning. It looks to us that it may be decreasing, she said. They look at identifying these kids early and get them involved and all of a sudden, they go to middle school and they hardly have anything. The changes, Neal said, will help a TAG student more accurately explore what he or she has the highest interest in or excels the greatest. If, for example, a students strength is in math, his or her plan will be math-specific. Maybe their goal is they want to examine multiple careers in which they can further enhance math skills, because thats their area, she said. We will explore mentors or businesses so they can really dig in to what they want to do in that area of math. The Dakota Access Pipeline became a household name in 2016 as protests over the controversial $3.78 billion project broke out nationwide. The crude oil pipeline that will traverse underneath North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois was first publicly revealed by Dakota Access' parent company, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, in the summer of 2014, and it has been a hot-button topic in those states ever since. The 1,172-mile long pipeline, which extends from the Bakken region in western North Dakota to a refinery near Patoka, Ill., is about 90 percent complete. But a dispute over a small tract of land near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation has delayed plans to start flowing crude through the pipe in 2017, and could upend the project entirely. In a victory for tribal members and their supporters who camped out for months to protest a pipeline they say could be hazardous and damage the water supply of their reservation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently denied Dakota Access a permit to drill beneath Lake Oahe. Iowa was the last state to approve a construction permit for the pipeline, with the Iowa Utilities Board giving the go-ahead in March. The decision was immediately challenged in court by a group of landowners along the route who say state law does not permit the use of eminent domain to acquire access for an out-of-state developer. The parties are awaiting a ruling from a state judge. Nearly 348 miles of the pipeline go through 18 Iowa counties, including parts of Buena Vista, Cherokee, Lyon, OBrien, Sac and Sioux counties in Northwest Iowa. The construction is nearly done in the state and hydro-testing has been completed, according to the latest construction progress report. Some of the plaintiffs in the case are from Northwest Iowa, and protests took place at sites along the route and in Sioux City. In September, more than 100 protesters attended a Native American-led protest in which the participants marched across the Veterans Memorial Bridge. In October, about three dozen pipeline opponents asked the Sioux City Council to adopt a resolution denouncing the project. The council declined to take action. In November, suspected arsonists caused about $2.5 million worth of damage to construction equipment at a pipeline staging area outside of Newell in Buena Vista County. This was the fourth case of arson reported at a pipeline construction site, which prompted Dakota Access pipeline officials to offer a $100,000 reward for any information. WASHINGTON -- With the end of Fidel Castro's nasty life, we can hope, if not reasonably expect, to have seen the last of charismatic totalitarians worshiped by political pilgrims from open societies. Experience suggests there will always be tyranny tourists in flight from what they consider the boring banality of bourgeois society and eager for the excitement of sojourns in "progressive" despotisms that they are free to admire and then leave. During the 1930s, there were many apologists for Josef Stalin's brutalities, which he committed in the name of building a workers' paradise fit for an improved humanity. The apologists complacently said, "You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs." To which George Orwell acidly replied: "Where's the omelet?" With Castro, the problem was lemonade. Soon after Castro seized power in 1959, Jean-Paul Sartre, the French intellectual whose Stalinist politics were as grotesque as his philosophy was opaque, left Les Deux Magots cafe in Paris to visit Cuba. During a drive, he and Castro stopped at a roadside stand. They were served warm lemonade, which Castro heatedly said "reveals a lack of revolutionary consciousness." The waitress shrugged, saying the refrigerator was broken. Castro "growled" (Sartre's approving description): "Tell your people in charge that if they don't take care of their problems, they will have problems with me." Sartre swooned: "This was the first time I understood -- still quite vaguely -- what I called 'direct democracy.' Between the waitress and Castro, an immediate secret understanding was established. She let it be seen by her tone, her smiles, by a shrug of the shoulders, that she was without illusion. And the prime minister ... in expressing himself before her without circumlocution, calmly invited her to join the rebellion." Another political innovator, Benito Mussolini, called his regime "ennobled democracy," and as the American columnist Murray Kempton mordantly noted in 1982, photographs of Castro "cutting sugar cane evoke the bare-chested Mussolini plunged into the battle for wheat." Castro's direct democracy was parsimonious regarding elections but permissive of shrugs. It did, however, forbid "acts of public destruction," meaning criticism of communism. This charge condemned Armando Valladares, then 23, to 22 years in Castro's prisons. Stalin's terror was too high a price to pay for a great novel, but at least the world got from it Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon." And although Castro's regime, saturated with sadism, should never have existed, because of it the world got Valladares's testament to human endurance, his prison memoir "Against All Hope." Prison food was watery soup laced with glass, or dead rats, or cows' intestines filled with feces, and Castro's agents had special uses for the ditch filled with the sewage from 8,000 people. On April 15, 1959, 15 weeks after capturing Havana, Castro, then 32, landed in Washington at what is now Reagan National Airport. He had been in America in 1948, when he studied English and bought a Lincoln. This time, on April 16, in a concession to bourgeois expectations, he dispatched an aide to buy a comb and toothbrush. His connections to communism? "None," he said. He endorsed a free press as "the first enemy of dictatorship," and said free elections were coming soon. Then he was off to a Princeton seminar and a lecture in the chapel at Lawrenceville prep school, well received at both places. By July red stars were being painted on Cuban military vehicles. Three years later, Soviet ballistic missiles were arriving. A year after that, a Castro admirer murdered the U.S. president whose administration had been interested in, indeed almost obsessed with, removing Castro. U.S. flings at "regime change" in distant lands have had, to say no more, uneven results, but the most spectacular futility has been 90 miles from Florida. Castro was the object of various and sometimes unhinged U.S. attempts to remove him. After the Bay of Pigs debacle, the Kennedy administration doubled down with Operation Mongoose, which included harebrained assassination plots and a plan skeptics called "elimination by illumination" -- having a U.S. submarine surface in Havana harbor and fire star shells into the night sky to convince Catholic Cubans that the Second Coming had come, causing them to rebel against Castro the anti-Christ. Nevertheless, Castro ruled Cuba during 11 U.S. presidencies and longer than the Soviet Union ruled Eastern Europe. Socialism is bountiful only of slogans, and a Castro favorite was "socialism or death." The latter came to him decades after the former had made Cuba into a gray museum for a dead utopianism. DES MOINES -- Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds heard pitches Wednesday for school choice vouchers, income tax reform and a full two-year state budget plan during a hearing where members of the public could make their suggestions on how state money should be spent. Branstad worked to downplay expectations of the nearly 20 Iowans, many of them lobbyists or association representatives who offered budget ideas, noting that the current state budget likely will have to be trimmed by at least $100 million and prospects for the fiscal 2018 and 2019 state budgets are challenging given that revenues are growing but not as much as had been hoped. "The big challenge right now is the fiscal year that we're in. We're going to have to go in and do some de-appropriation," said Branstad. "I'm not going to do what the previous governor did and do a stupid across-the-board cut that creates all sorts of havoc and problems." Before the budget hearing, Branstad said he met privately with GOP leaders who will hold majorities in both the Iowa House and Iowa Senate when the Legislature convenes Jan. 9 and they were in concurrence that spending cuts not affect K-12 schools, Medicaid programs or property tax credits. "We would have to selectively make other reductions in order to get the budget for fiscal year 2017 in balance," he said. "I think we're going to be able to work together to get that done." Branstad said he hopes the GOP-led Legislature will pass a "full two-year budget" that does not partially fund the second year. He said he will lay out his two-year plan on Jan. 10 with his Condition of the State address but told reporters Wednesday "ideally I would like to get to 2 percent" in increased state supplemental aid for K-12 school districts. "That's not going to be easy in light of the budget limitations we're facing," he noted. During Wednesday's hearing, Susan Fenton, a lobbyist for the Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education, urged Branstad to support the creation of educational savings accounts that would give parents flexibility in using state tax dollars to apply toward tuition, textbooks, tutoring or online learning in the public or private school of their choice. "An ESA program will allow true universal choice and inject the positive force of market competition into the Iowa educational system," Fenton said. Audra Meyers of Clive, a former principal at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Des Moines, also advocated for "robust education choice" in Iowa during her comments to Branstad, Reynolds and top aides. She said the roughly $6,500 in per-pupil state spending should "follow the student" in "leveling the playing field" in school choice matters. "Many families are not in a financial position to select the type of education that is best for their child," Meyers said. "Instead, their address determines the education that their child will receive." Branstad, whose three children attended Catholic schools in the Des Moines area, told reporters after the hearing that he is a "strong supporter" of private schools, but added that there are "a lot of issues" to consider in the state's tight budget situation. Sharon Presnall, a lobbyist for the Iowa Bankers Association, advocated that legislators and the governor look for "thoughtful" ways to reform Iowa's income tax code through reforms that bring fairness to the system rather than having government pick winners and losers via various credits and deductions. She said tax changes likely would have to be phased-in over years given the state's budget situation and address federal deductibility which complicates Iowa's income tax and makes Iowa's rates appear to be uncompetitive in national rankings. It's red and green and contains the colors of Christmas. Having said that, we doubt many people will be leaving Taco El Guero's Cubana Torta for Santa to snack on. Nope, we're guessing you'll be guarding this grilled sandwich -- containing chorizo, steak, eggs, chopped hot dogs, bacon, queso, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeno, avocado and mayo served on a bolillo roll -- for dear life and that you'll be telling Jolly St. Nick to buzz off. Uh-huh, the torta -- available at the popular 525 Pearl St. eatery -- is good enough that you won't mind being on some fat dude's "naughty" list. Now we know what you're thinking. A Cubano sandwich is usually filled with sliced roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese and a pack of thinly-sliced pickles served with tons of mustard on crusty Cuban bread, right? Well, that's how a Cuban Cubano is made. A Mexican Cubana -- as made by the authentically Mexican Taco El Guero -- comes laden with just about every type of meat, cheese and veggies one can find at a taqueria. Why do they even call this monster of a sandwich a "Cuban"? We're guessing it's because the Mexican Cubana -- like its Havana-born cousin -- is grilled and flattened by a press. Is this skinny (but substantial) sandwich elegant? Hell no! But who expects elegance from a torta? A torta may any other name is still a torta Taco El Guero makes four other tortas beside the Cubana. For example, the regular torta is filled with your choice of meat, beans, lettuce, tomato and cheese on an oblong bolillo. Taco El Guero's Hawaiian torta switches things up with ham, pineapple and bunch of jalapenos while the Torta Milanese comes with flavorful breaded steak and the Torta Fresca replaces meat with a melty queso for a vegetarian-friendly meal. However, the Cubana Torta -- with some serious meat-on-meat-on-meat machismo -- is the alpha male on Taco El Guero's menu board. Is that a wienie in your bun? Alright, some of the meats in Taco El Guero's Cubana are no-brainers. Chorizo? Yup, that's pretty standard. Breaded steak? Gives it a lot of beefy goodness, we thought. Bacon? Why not, it's meat candy, after all. But chopped pieces of hot dog? It may seem strange but it's also strangely satisfying. The saltiness of the wienie pairs well with the spicy and greasy chorizo. A sandwich for all seasons Even though the Cubana Torta may boast the colors of Christmas, it truly is a sandwich for all seasons. We imagine Taco El Guero's signature torta is acceptable hangover food for New Year's, a perfect accompaniment for Cinco De Mayo or, hell, something to extinguish our stomach pangs on St. Patrick's Day, Halloween or Washington's Birthday! Yup, this is one terrific sandwich! Our rating: 4 stars out of five. Where there's smoke, there's a flee-er SIOUX CITY | Much like A Flock of Seagulls, he ran, but couldn't get away. Sioux City law enforcement officials and firefighters spent time midday Friday in pursuit of a man who fled after a wreck on a city street, and putting out a fire in the vehicle. Sioux City police Lt. Pat McCann said Eric Bishop, 36, a transient, was arrested Friday on charges of eluding and second-degree theft. McCann said police determined the vehicle had been stolen earlier Friday. At one point, officials were searching for a second man on the city's Northside, but McCann said it's unclear if a second man ever was at large in connection with the incident. McCann said the activity began after a vehicle wreck just before 11 a.m. at the 400 block of Floyd Boulevard. He said Bishop fled north on Floyd Boulevard, and police pursued him to the north in the Leeds area. The man drove erratically through the area around Leeds to elude officers. He drove the van into the 4200 and 4300 blocks of Jefferson Street, which has few homes and is a largely rural area with fields. The vehicle ran through fences, came to rest and caught fire in a field about 100 yards west of a home at 4335 Jefferson St. The grassy area also caught fire, and firefighters responded to the scene. You steal, you haul SIOUX CITY | Yes, sir, what here isn't stolen? An Omaha man was found in possession of a stolen U-Haul moving truck after being arrested Monday on charges of shoplifting from Sioux City's Menards store. According to court documents, Dustin Stevens, 40, was arrested on charges of second-degree theft and third-degree theft for leaving Menards, 5900 Gordon Drive, with $738 worth of merchandise without paying for it at about 10 a.m. When he was arrested, police found he was operating a 2013 GMC U-Haul moving van that had been reported stolen on Nov. 28 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Also arrested on a charge of third-degree theft was John Parson, 33, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was found with $823 worth of merchandise taken from Menards, court documents said. 1. Enjoy the holidays In case some of you already forgot, its Christmastime. We love the holidays at the Weekender. We love the ornaments, the music, the food and the time spent with family and friends. In fact, we can probably live without those presents and whatnot. We just want to hang out with the people we love most. So we suggest you do the same if possible. Just enjoy the holidays in any way you see fit. Thats all we ask. 2. Christmas tunes Emily and Mitch Martin of the Emily Johnson Band will be performing their first show at Work & Church Booze Parlor. With Mitchs guitar skills and Emilys powerful voice, its sure to be a mesmerizing night full of holiday songs. The duo will put their own unique spin on those traditional tunes, but you can bet that youll love every minute of it. The show begins 8 p.m. Friday (Dec. 23) at Work & Church. 3. Eve at the Orpheum The Sioux City Orpheum Theatre is a wonderful place to visit during the holidays. With its exquisite scenery and luscious music shows and theater productions, its safe to say the Orpheum is chock full of Christmas spirit throughout December. The Orpheum will close out the holidays with Christmas Eve services (provided by Sunnybrook Community Church) at three separate times on Saturday. Join the service at 2, 4 and 6 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre. 4. It truly is wonderful Are you sick of Christmas movies yet? Of course you arent. With just a few days left before Christmas, Blue Cafe will be hosting a dinner and a movie night. Indulge in some delicious eats while watching Its A Wonderful Life, a classic holiday movie that always seems to pop up around this time of the year. The ticket price is $15 and includes dinner. Reserve your spot by calling Blue Cafe at 712-574-1751. The event starts at 6 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 22) at the restaurant, 1301 Pierce St. 5. Party on Just because its the holiday season doesnt mean we cant party. Hell, partying could pass the time away rather well. If youre in the mood for drinks and music and more drinks, then head over to Doxx Warehouse to watch Mrs. Begley & the Boys. The group specializes in playing a wide variety of tunes that are sure to make audience members smile, shout and dance -- songs by The Beatles, Neil Young, Bare Naked Ladies, The Doobie Brothers, Jimmy Buffet, Four Non Blondes and more. The band will take the stage at 9 p.m. Friday (Dec. 23). 6. Tour the museum The holidays usually mean that places are likely to be closed or won't hold as many events. So if you want to kill time before relatives arrive, your options are fairly limited. But if you've got time, you can always visit the Sioux City Public Museum. There you can see the "History of Brewing in Sioux City" exhibit along with an entire photo album of Ireland. We feel these are great exhibits to check out during the holidays before meeting with some of those less-than-pleasant family members, because we either want to be drinking or visiting an entirely different country. BlackRock, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks. It also provides global risk management and advisory services. The firm manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. It also launches and manages open-end and closed-end mutual funds, offshore funds, unit trusts, and alternative investment vehicles including structured funds. The firm launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and real estate mutual funds. It also launches equity, fixed income, balanced, currency, commodity, and multi-asset exchange traded funds. The firm also launches and manages hedge funds. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, real estate, currency, commodity, and alternative markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, SMID-cap, large-cap, and multi-cap companies. It also invests in dividend-paying equity securities. The firm invests in investment grade municipal securities, government securities including securities issued or guaranteed by a government or a government agency or instrumentality, corporate bonds, and asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on bottom-up and top-down approach to make its investments. The firm employs liquidity, asset allocation, balanced, real estate, and alternative strategies to make its investments. In real estate sector, it seeks to invest in Poland and Germany. The firm benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against various S&P, Russell, Barclays, MSCI, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch indices. BlackRock, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in New York City with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts; London, United Kingdom; Gurgaon, India; Hong Kong; Greenwich, Connecticut; Princeton, New Jersey; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, District of Columbia; Toronto, Canada; Wilmington, Delaware; and San Francisco, California. The following companies are subsidiares of Cummins: Anvl, Apollo FC Holdings Ltd., Atlantis Acquisitionco Canada Corporation, Atlantis Holdco UK Limited, Brammo, CIFC Worldwide Partner C.V., CMI Africa Holdings BV, CMI CGT Holdings LLC, CMI Canada Financing Ltd., CMI Canada LP, CMI Foreign Holdings B.V., CMI Global Equity Holdings B.V., CMI Global Equity Holdings C.V., CMI Global Holdings B.V., CMI Global Partner 2 C.V., CMI Global Partners B.V., CMI Group Holdings B.V., CMI Group Holdings Cooperatief U.A., CMI International Finance Partner 1 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 2 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 3 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 4 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 5 LLC, CMI Mexico LLC, CMI Netherlands Holdings B.V., CMI PGI Holdings LLC, CMI PGI International Holdings LLC, CMI Turkish Holdings B.V., CMI UK Finance LP, CMI UK Financing LP, Cherry Island Renewable Energy LLC, Consolidated Diesel Company, Consolidated Diesel Inc., Consolidated Diesel of North Carolina Inc., Cummins (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Cummins (Xiangyang) Machining Co. Ltd., Cummins Africa Middle East (Pty) Ltd., Cummins Afrique de l'Ouest, Cummins Americas Inc., Cummins Angola Lda., Cummins Argentina-Servicios Mineros S.A., Cummins Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Cummins Aust Technologies Pty. Ltd., Cummins BLR LLC, Cummins Battery Systems North America LLC, Cummins Belgium N.V., Cummins Botswana (Pty.) Ltd., Cummins Brasil Ltda., Cummins Burkina Faso SARL, Cummins CDC Holding Inc., Cummins CV Member LLC, Cummins Canada ULC, Cummins Caribbean LLC, Cummins Center of Excellence Singapore Pte. Ltd., Cummins Centroamerica Holding S.de R.L., Cummins Child Development Center Inc., Cummins Colombia S.A.S., Cummins Comercializadora S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Corporation, Cummins Cote d'Ivoire SARL, Cummins Czech Republic s.r.o., Cummins Deutschland GmbH, Cummins Diesel International Ltd., Cummins Distribution Holdco Inc., Cummins EMEA Holdings Limited, Cummins East Asia Research & Development Co. Ltd., Cummins Eastern Marine Inc., Cummins Electrified Power Europe Ltd., Cummins Electrified Power NA Inc., Cummins Emission Solutions (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Emission Solutions Inc., Cummins Empresas Filantropicas, Cummins Energetica Ltda., Cummins Engine (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine (Shanghai) Trading & Services Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine Holding Company Inc., Cummins Engine IP Inc., Cummins Engine Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Cummins Engine Venture Corporation, Cummins Enterprise LLC, Cummins Filtration (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Filtration GmbH, Cummins Filtration IP Inc., Cummins Filtration Inc., Cummins Filtration International Corp., Cummins Filtration Ltd., Cummins Filtration SARL, Cummins Filtration Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Filtros Ltda., Cummins Franchise Holdco LLC, Cummins Fuel Systems (Wuhan) Co. Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies Americas Inc., Cummins Generator Technologies Germany GmbH, Cummins Generator Technologies India Private Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies Italy SRL, Cummins Generator Technologies Limited, Cummins Generator Technologies Romania S.A., Cummins Generator Technologies Singapore Pte Ltd., Cummins Ghana Limited, Cummins Ghana Mining Limited, Cummins Global Financing LP, Cummins Global Technologies LLP, Cummins Grupo Comercial Y. de Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Grupo Industrial S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Holland B.V., Cummins Hong Kong Ltd., Cummins India Ltd., Cummins Intellectual Property Inc., Cummins International Finance LLC, Cummins International Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Cummins International Holdings LLC, Cummins Italia S.P.A., Cummins Japan Ltd., Cummins Korea Co. Ltd., Cummins LLC Member Inc., Cummins Ltd., Cummins Maroc SARL, Cummins Middle East FZE, Cummins Mining Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Mobility Services Inc., Cummins Mongolia Investment LLC, Cummins Mozambique Ltda., Cummins NV, Cummins Namibia Engine Sales and Service PTY LTD, Cummins Natural Gas Engines Inc., Cummins New Zealand Limited, Cummins Nigeria Ltd., Cummins Norte de Colombia S.A.S., Cummins North Africa Regional Office SARL, Cummins Norway AS, Cummins PGI Holdings Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (S) Pte. Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (U.K.) Limited, Cummins Power Generation Deutschland GmbH, Cummins Power Generation Inc., Cummins Power Generation Limited, Cummins PowerGen IP Inc., Cummins Research and Technology India Private Ltd., Cummins Romania Srl, Cummins S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Sales and Service Korea Co. Ltd., Cummins Sales and Service Philippines Inc., Cummins Sales and Service Private Limited, Cummins Sales and Service Sdn. Bhd., Cummins Sales and Service Singapore Pte. Ltd., Cummins Sinai ve Otomotiv Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Cummins South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Cummins South Pacific Pty. Limited, Cummins Southern Plains LLC, Cummins Spain S.L., Cummins Sweden AB, Cummins Technologies India, Cummins Trade Receivables LLC, Cummins Turbo Technologies Limited, Cummins Turkey Motor Guc Sistemleri Sats Servis Limited Sirketi, Cummins U.K. Holdings Ltd., Cummins U.K. Pension Plan Trustee Ltd., Cummins UK Global Holdings Ltd., Cummins UK Holdings LLC, Cummins Vendas e Servicos de Motores e Geradores Ltda., Cummins Venture Corporation, Cummins West Africa Limited, Cummins West Balkans d.o.o. Nova Pasova, Cummins XBorder Operations (Pty) Ltd, Cummins Zambia Ltd., Cummins Zimbabwe Pvt. Ltd., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Costa Rica S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica El Salvador S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Guatemala Ltda., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Honduras S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins S.A., Distribuidora Cummins Sucursal Paraguay SRL, Distribuidora Cummins de Panama S. de R.L., Dynamo Insurance Company Inc., Efficient Drivetrains, Efficient Drivetrains (Beijing) New Power Technology Co. Ltd., Efficient Drivetrains (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Hilite International, Hydrogenics, Hydrogenics Corporation, Hydrogenics Europe N.V., Hydrogenics GmbH, Hydrogenics Holding GmbH, Hydrogenics USA Inc., Markon Engineering Company Ltd., Nelson Burgess Ltd., Nelson Industries, Newage Engineers GmbH, Newage Ltd. (U.K.), Newage Machine Tools Ltd., OOO Cummins, Petbow Limited, Power Group International (Overseas Holdings) B.V., Power Group International (Overseas Holdings) Ltd., Power Group International Ltd., Quickstart Energy Projects SpA, Shanghai Cummins Trade Co. Ltd., TOO Cummins, Taiwan Cummins Sales & Services Co. Ltd., Worldwide Partner CV Member LLC, Wuxi Cummins Turbo Technologies Co. Ltd., Wuxi New Energy Automotive Technologies Co. Ltd., and ZED Connect Inc.. Read More CarMax, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles in the United States. The company operates through two segments, CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. It offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles; and extended protection plans to customers at the time of sale, as well as sells vehicles that are approximately 10 years old and has more than 100,000 miles through wholesale auctions. The company also provides reconditioning and vehicle repair services; and financing alternatives for retail customers across a range of credit spectrum through its CarMax Auto Finance and arrangements with various financial institutions. As of February 28, 2022, it operated approximately 230 used car stores. CarMax, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is based in Richmond, Virginia. 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 The following companies are subsidiares of D.R. Horton: 10700 Pecan Park Austin Inc., 11241 Slater Avenue NE LLC, 2 C Development Company LLC, 8800 Roswell Road Bldg. B LLC, 91st Avenue & Happy Valley L.L.C., ANN & 215 LLC, Austin Data Inc., BP456 Inc., C. Richard Dobson Builders Inc., CH Funding LLC, CH Investments of Texas Inc., CHI Construction Company, CHM Partners L.P., CHTEX of Texas Inc., CV Mountain View 25 Inv LLC, Cane Island LLC, Continental Homes Inc., Continental Homes of Texas L.P., Continental Residential Inc., Continental Traditions LLC, Crown Operating Company Inc., Cypress Road L.P., D.R. Horton - CHAustin LLC, D.R. Horton - Colorado LLC, D.R. Horton - Crown LLC, D.R. Horton - Emerald Ltd., D.R. Horton - Georgia LLC, D.R. Horton - Hawaii LLC, D.R. Horton - Highland LLC, D.R. Horton - Indiana LLC, D.R. Horton - Iowa LLC, D.R. Horton - MV LLC, D.R. Horton - Nebraska LLC, D.R. Horton - Permian LLC, D.R. Horton - Regent LLC, D.R. Horton - Terramor LLC, D.R. Horton - Texas Ltd., D.R. Horton - WPH LLC, D.R. Horton - Wyoming LLC, D.R. Horton BAY Inc., D.R. Horton CA2 Inc., D.R. Horton CA3 Inc., D.R. Horton CA4 LLC, D.R. Horton Commercial Inc., D.R. Horton Cruces Construction Inc., D.R. Horton Inc. - Birmingham, D.R. Horton Inc. - Chicago, D.R. Horton Inc. - Denver, D.R. Horton Inc. - Dietz-Crane, D.R. Horton Inc. - Greensboro, D.R. Horton Inc. - Gulf Coast, D.R. Horton Inc. - Huntsville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Jacksonville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Louisville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Midwest, D.R. Horton Inc. - Minnesota, D.R. Horton Inc. - NNV, D.R. Horton Inc. - New Jersey, D.R. Horton Inc. - Portland, D.R. Horton Inc. - Torrey, D.R. Horton Inc. Foundation, D.R. Horton Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton LA North Inc., D.R. Horton Life Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton Los Angeles Holding Company Inc., D.R. Horton Management Company Ltd., D.R. Horton Materials Inc., D.R. Horton Realty LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Atlantic County LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Central Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Delaware LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Georgia Inc., D.R. Horton Realty of Melbourne LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Tampa LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Virginia LLC, D.R. Horton Seabridge Marina Inc., D.R. Horton Serenity Construction LLC, D.R. Horton Urban Renewal LLC, D.R. Horton VEN Inc., D.R. Horton Corpus Christi LLC, DBC54 LLC, DHI Commercial - Lakeview LLC, DHI Commercial - Signal Butte LLC, DHI Commercial - Tamarron LLC, DHI Commercial Inc., DHI Communities Construction LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Arizona LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Colorado LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Florida LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Iowa LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Nevada LLC, DHI Communities Construction of North Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of South Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Texas LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Utah LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Virginia LLC, DHI Communities II LLC, DHI Communities Inc., DHI Engineering LLC, DHI Insurance Inc., DHI Mortgage Company, DHI Mortgage Company GP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company LP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company Ltd., DHI Ranch Ltd., DHI Realty of Alabama LLC, DHI Realty of Mississippi LLC, DHI Title GP Inc., DHI Title LP Inc., DHI Title of Alabama Inc., DHI Title of Arizona Inc., DHI Title of Florida Inc., DHI Title of Minnesota Inc., DHI Title of Nevada Inc., DHI Title of Texas Ltd., DHI Title of Washington Inc., DHI Verandah South Shores Communities LLC, DHIC - Bridges LLC, DHIC - Brittmore LLC, DHIC - Carolina Forest LLC, DHIC - Desert Peak LLC, DHIC - Durbin Creek LLC, DHIC - Freestone LLC, DHIC - Hammock Landing LLC, DHIC - Heritage LLC, DHIC - Horizon Uptown LLC, DHIC - Jacobs Reserve LLC, DHIC - Lakeview LLC, DHIC - Lipoma LLC, DHIC - Minton Cove LLC, DHIC - Mountain Vista LLC, DHIC - Naco LLC, DHIC - Northshore LLC, DHIC - Prairie Village LLC, DHIC - South Creek LLC, DHIC - Tamarron LLC, DHIC - Valley Vista LLC, DHIC - Varina Gateway LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh II LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh III LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh LLC, DHIC - Westridge LLC, DHIC LLC, DHIC Glendale LLC, DHIC Grove West LLC, DHIC South Park LLC, DHIC Westinghouse LLC, DHIR - Aspen Vista LLC, DHIR - Avian Pointe LLC, DHIR - Emerald Lakes LLC, DHIR - Fosters Ridge LLC, DHIR - Gulf Stream LLC, DHIR - Parkview at Lynn Haven LLC, DHIR - Poplar Terrace LLC, DHIR - Properties I LLC, DHIR - Rock Ridge LLC, DHIR - Sunset Village LLC, DHIR - Village at Hickory Street LLC, DRH - ARK LLC, DRH - ASG LLC, DRH - HWY 114 LLC, DRH Cambridge Homes LLC, DRH Capital Trust I, DRH Capital Trust II, DRH Capital Trust III, DRH Colorado Realty Inc., DRH Construction Inc., DRH Energy Inc., DRH FS Mortgage Reinsurance Ltd., DRH Land Opportunities I Inc., DRH Land Opportunities II Inc., DRH Mountain View LLC, DRH Oil & Gas Inc., DRH Opportunities I Inc., DRH Properties Inc., DRH Realty Company Inc., DRH Realty of Iowa LLC, DRH Regrem L LLC, DRH Regrem LI LLC, DRH Regrem LII LLC, DRH Regrem LIII LLC, DRH Regrem LIV LLC, DRH Regrem LV LLC, DRH Regrem VII LP, DRH Regrem XII LP, DRH Regrem XIV Inc., DRH Regrem XIX Inc., DRH Regrem XLIX LLC, DRH Regrem XLV LLC, DRH Regrem XLVI LLC, DRH Regrem XLVII LLC, DRH Regrem XLVIII LLC, DRH Regrem XV Inc., DRH Regrem XVI Inc., DRH Regrem XVII Inc., DRH Regrem XVIII Inc., DRH Regrem XX Inc., DRH Regrem XXI Inc., DRH Regrem XXII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIV Inc., DRH Regrem XXV Inc., DRH Southwest Construction Inc., DRH Tucson Construction Inc., DRHI Inc., Deer Valley Office Park LLC, Desert Ridge Phase I Partners, Emerald Creek No. 4 L.P., Emerald Realty of Alabama LLC, Emerald Realty of Central Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of North Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Encore II Inc., Encore Venture Partners II (California) L.P., Encore Venture Partners II (Texas) L.P., Encore Venture Partners L.P., Express Realty of Central Florida LLC, Express Realty of North Florida LLC, Express Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Forestar Group, Forestar Group Inc., Founders Oil & Gas II LLC, Founders Oil & Gas III LLC, Founders Oil & Gas IV LLC, Founders Oil & Gas LLC, Founders Oil & Gas Operating LLC, GP-Encore Inc., Georgetown Data Inc., Germann & McQueen L.L.C., Grand Title Agency LLC, Grande Realty Incorporated, Grande Realty of Pennsylvania LLC, Greywes LLC, HPH Homebuilders 2000 L.P., Hadian LLC, KDB Homes Inc., Kaomalo LLC, Lexington Homes - DRH LLC, MRLF LLC, Martin Road Lake Forest LLC, McQueen & Willis LLC, Meadows I Ltd., Meadows II Ltd., Meadows IX Inc., Meadows VIII Ltd., Meadows X Inc., Melody Homes Inc., Pacific Ridge - DRH LLC, Rielly Carlsbad LLC, Rielly Homes Madison LLC, SFTEN LLC, SGS Communities at Grand Quay L.L.C, SHA Construction LLC, SHLR of California Inc., SHLR of Nevada Inc., SHLR of Washington Inc., SRHI LLC, SSHI LLC, Schuler Homes of Arizona LLC, Schuler Homes of California Inc., Schuler Homes of Oregon Inc., Schuler Homes of Washington Inc., Summerlin Pkwy & Cimarron LLC, Surprise Village North LLC, The Club at Cobblestone LLC, The Club at Hidden River LLC, Tierra Financial Advisors LLC, Travis County Title Company, Treasure Assets LLC, Venture Management of South Carolina LLC, Vertical Construction Corporation, WPH-Camino Ruiz LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon II LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon LLC, Walker Drive LLC, Western Pacific Brea Development LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Mountaingate L.P., Western Pacific Housing - SDG LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Westlake II L.P., Western Pacific Housing Inc., Western Pacific Housing Management Inc., Western Pacific Housing-Antigua LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Broadway LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Canyon Park LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Carrillo LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Communications Hill LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Copper Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Creekside LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lomas Verdes LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lyons Canyon Partners LLC, Western Pacific Housing-McGonigle Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Norco Estates LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Pacific Park II LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue East LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue West LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Playa Vista LLC, Western Pacific Housing-River Ridge LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Terra Bay Duets LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Meadows LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Village Center LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Windemere LLC, and Wilson Parker Homes. Read More The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. was founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman as an investment bank catering to institutions and businesses. Among the firm's first products are the revolutionary use of commercial paper for entrepreneurs which opened a new method of finance for business and industry. The original firm expanded to Goldman Sachs in 1882 with the inclusion of son-in-law Samuel Sachs and again in 1885 with a son and another son-in-law. The firm joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1896 expanding into trading of its own and in 1898 it was worth $1.6 million. The company began its work in the IPO market in 1906 with the initial public offering of Sears, Roebuck & Co., and then moved on to Ford and other prominent names of the time. The 1930s brings a change of leadership and a new direction for the firm. The company shifted toward a purer play on investment banking and embarks on a campaign of acquisition that lasted until the present day. The company doesnt go public itself until 1999 and from that point on it will change into a bank holding company that not only offers investment banking services but takes deposits too, and in 2016 the company added consumer banking to its list of services. Today, Goldman Sachs is a financial institution that provides a range of financial services for corporations, institutions, governments, and individuals globally. The company operates through four segments that include Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management, and Consumer & Wealth Management. According to US banking regulations, it is systemically important to the financial health of America. The company is headquartered in New York, New York, and operates 6 regional headquarters as well. Regional headquarters are located in financial hotspots such as London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangalore, and Warsaw. Among its many prominent CEOs are John Corzine and Hank Paulson who both went on to successful work in government. The company's Investment Banking segment provides a full range of financial advisory services as well as underwriting for the public markets. The financial advisory services include but are not limited to strategic advisory for mergers and acquisitions, divestiture, restructuring, and spin-offs. This segment is also engaged in middle-market lending and transaction banking. Underwriting services include IPOs, preferred stock, debt instruments, and bridge loans. Goldman Sachs Global Markets segment facilitates market transactions for institutions, banks, brokerages, corporations, and governments. Services include execution, derivatives, financing, clearing, settlement, and custody. The Asset Management segment manages client portfolios across the investment spectrum while the Consumer & Wealth Management segment provides advisory and banking services to consumers. 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. The St. Mary's County Treasurer's Office is extending the due date for tax payments (due December 31, 2016) to January 3, 2017. Payments may be remitted online, by mail or walk-in service. Payments submitted by mail must be postmarked by January 3, 2017.The Treasurer's office will close at 12 p.m. on December 23 and December 30. The office will be closed all day on December 26, 2016 and January 2, 2017.In addition to holiday closures on December 26, 2016, and January 2, 2017 as previously announced, all St. Mary's County Government Administrative offices will close at 12 p.m. on December 23 and December 30.The St. Mary's County Commission on Aging has announced that due to the Christmas holiday, their December meeting, scheduled for Monday, December 26, has been canceled.The commission's next regularly scheduled meeting will take place on Monday, January 23, 2017.Non-Profit entities in St. Mary's County, seeking funding in the FY2018 Budget as awarded by the Commissioners of St. Mary's County, may now begin the application process by accessing the Applicant Funding Utility. Some significant changes have been put in place this year.The Notice of Funding Availability can be found at www.stmarysmd.com/finance/non-profit . Applicants are advised to review the entire Notice of Funding Availability and follow the links. The application process is completely electronic and must be submitted on-line.The new process is for agencies with IRS 501(c)(3) status only. Deadline for submission is February 3, 2017. Final adoption of the FY2018 Budget is anticipated to occur in May 2017.Entities are strongly encouraged to not delay in submitting an application as the process is new this year. The system will allow a submission to be saved and to return to edit a submission until the February 3, 2017 deadline.Questions regarding the process can be emailed to nonprofithelp@stmarysmd.com.The St. Mary's County Commission for Women has named Barbara Thompson as the recipient of its 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is presented annually to an outstanding woman in St. Mary's County who has exemplified continual dedication and support of the community. Ms. Thompson will be honored at the Commission's annual Women's History Month Banquet on March 15, 2017.The theme of the banquet, "Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor & Business," is a perfect fit for Ms. Thompson. A longtime resident of St. Mary's County, Ms. Thompson is well known for her hard work and support of the community. She is a pioneer serving in leadership roles which have not been traditionally filled by women. Ms. Thompson served as the first woman President of the Board of County Commissioners from 1990 to 1998. Currently she is Chair of MedStar St. Mary's Hospital's Board of Directors, where she has served since 2009 and is President of the Leonardtown Rotary. She is a Co-Founder and past Chair off the St. Mary's Republican Central Committee, past Vice Chair of the Salt and Pepper Organization and the St. Mary's County Charter Writing Board.Ms. Thompson says she is her own mentoralways self-motivated and inspired to accomplish goals. Although employed in some traditionally "male" roles, her hard work and determination have enabled her to overcome gender obstacles. She says it may have taken longer for her to be promoted, but eventually her salary was usually commensurate with men doing similar work. Her "can-do attitude" has enabled her to balance career and family while still finding time to serve her community in many volunteer roles.In addition to honoring Ms. Thompson, the Commission for Women will also present awards to the Woman of the Year and the Woman of Tomorrow at the Women's History Month Banquet in March. Nominations are now being accepted for these honors. To access nomination forms, go to the St. Mary's County Commission for Women website at www.co.saint-marys.md.us/voluntr/women.asp . The banquet is open to the public.The Commissioners of St. Mary's County and Department of Recreation and Parks invite the public to provide comments on the draft 2017 St. Mary's County Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan (LPPRP).The LPPRP is an important document for identifying recreational, agricultural and natural resource and open space preservation needs in St. Mary's County. The LPPRP is updated every five years and offers an opportunity to reassess priorities in light of population growth and changing economic, social and market conditions.The St. Mary's County plan, along with the plans from other counties, will be used by the State to guide planning, funding and programs to meet land preservation, parks and recreation needs across the state.For more information on the LPPRP, please contact the Department of Recreation and Parks at 301- 475-4200 ext. *1811, or e-mail Kathy Bailey at kathy.bailey@stmarysmd.com.Citizens may download a copy of the 2017 plan at www.stmarysmd.com/docs/SMC%20LPPRP%20Draft%20Plan.pdf WASHINGTON (Dec. 22, 2016)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities., is being awardedfor modification P00007 to a previously awarded, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-15-D-0019) to provide MissionCare maintenance support for the V-22 AE1107C engines for the Marine Corps and Air Force. MissionCare is a performance-based logistics concept that includes an engine hourly charge based on hours flown; program management, which covers integrated logistics support, including support equipment requirements data, supportability analysis data and updates, configuration management tracking, formal training, supply management, and contract/business administration; site support, which covers informal technical training, maintenance technical advice, engineering support, and engine repair. Work will be performed in Oakland, California (80 percent); and Indianapolis, Indiana (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2020. No funding will be obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The, is the contracting activity., is being awarded acost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide contractor maintenance and support services in support of F/A-18 C/D aircraft for the government of Kuwait under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed in Kuwait, and is expected to be complete by January 2018. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $20,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-4. The, is the contracting activity (N00421-17-C-0044)., was awardedfor modification P00030 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-11-C-0045) to exercise an option for the procurement of three F/A-18 F414-GE-400 engines and containers for the government of Australia under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed in Lynn, Massachusetts (59 percent); Hooksett, New Hampshire (18 percent); Rutland, Vermont (12 percent); and Madisonville, Kentucky (11 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2017. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $11,411,079 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity. (Awarded on Dec. 16, 2016), is being awarded anot-to-exceed, firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 51 full rate production Lot 90 Harpoon weapon systems, components, and spares for the governments of Egypt (20); Korea (19); and Brazil (12). In addition, this contract provides for components and spares for the Navy; and the governments of Japan, Australia, Thailand, India, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, and Taiwan. Work will be performed in St. Charles, Missouri (71 percent); McKinney, Texas (9 percent); Burnley, United Kingdom (6 percent); Toledo, Ohio (2 percent); Middletown, Connecticut (2 percent); Elkton, Maryland (2 percent); Grove, Oklahoma (1 percent); Lititz, Pennsylvania (1 percent); Kirkwood, Missouri (1 percent); Galena, Kansas (1 percent); Huntsville, Alabama (1 percent); and various locations throughout the U.S. (3 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2017 weapons procurement (Navy); and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $99,616,492 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the Navy ($393,083; 0.19 percent); and the governments of Egypt ($93,102,086; 44.86 percent); Korea ($81,767,119; 39.40 percent); Brazil ($26,523,402; 12.78 percent); Japan ($2,683,621; 1.28 percent); Australia ($1,484,396; 0.72 percent); Thailand ($846,769; 0.41 percent); India ($590,172; 0.28 percent); United Arab Emirates ($73,851; 0.04 percent); Oman ($44,311; 0.02 percent); Kuwait ($14,770; 0.01 percent); and Taiwan ($11,188; 0.01 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales program. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The, is the contracting activity (N00019-17-C-0006)., is being awarded acost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for E-6B Mercury Multi-Role Tactical Common Data Link (MR-TCDL) validation and verification efforts, to include A and B kits, initial spares, spares and installation of the MR-TCDL into one Mission Avionics Systems Trainer. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah (50 percent); Greenville, Texas (30 percent); San Diego, California (18 percent); and Stowe, Massachusetts (2 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2018. Fiscal 2016 and 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $16,892,649 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The, is the contracting activity (N00019-17-C-0009)., is being awarded afirm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of one King Air 350C Cargo Slick aircraft modified to a C-12W for the Navy. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kansas, and is expected to be completed in November 2018. Fiscal 2016 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $13,678,198 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The, is the contracting activity (N00019-17-C-0004)., is being awarded amodification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-15-C-0108) for the procurement of 50 Distributed Targeting System B-kits for F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft and 20 operational bulk data cartridges. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Florida, and is expected to be completed in October 2018. Fiscal 2016 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,797,930 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awardedfor modification to exercise an option to a delivery order 0054 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-11-G-0003) for logistics management support, technical material for maintenance planning, design interface, supply/material support; support of support equipment/technical data, distribution and inventory management/packaging; handling storage and transportation; logistics management information; supportability analysis and technical manuals in support of the H-1 upgrade effort. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in March 2018. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement; and fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,745,781 are being obligated at time of award, $1,804,929 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awardedfor delivery order 0004 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0001) for the manufacture and test of assemblies of the AN/AAR-47 (V) Missile Warning Set for the Navy, and governments of Pakistan, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia and India. Work will be performed in Northridge, California (60 percent); Austin, Texas (20 percent); Clearwater, Florida (9 percent); Loveland, Colorado (3 percent);Westford, Massachusetts (1 percent), and other various locations within the U.S. (7 percent), and is expected to be completed in June 2018. Fiscal 2015, 2016, and 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy and Air Force); foreign military sales; and working capital (Defense) funds in the amount of $9,416,227 will be obligated at time of award, $123,618 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This award combines purchases for the Navy ($556,283; 5.91percent); and the governments Pakistan ($3,432,350; 36.45 percent), Japan ($2,634,698; 27.98 percent), Saudi Arabia ($2,474,279; 26.28 percent), Australia ($292,251; 3.10 percent) and India ($26,366; 0.28 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales program. The, is the contracting activity. Cortez Lenardo Harris, 31, of no fixed address, was carrying a loaded handgun when apprehended. LA PLATA, Md. Michael Howard Williams, 50, of Mechanicsville, was charged with driving while intoxicated, possession of PCP, and numerous traffic violations after causing several hit-and-run crashes. Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at so.md/expungeme. (Dec. 22, 2016)The Charles County Sheriff's Office released the following incident and arrest reports.OFFICERS LOCATE ROBBERY SUSPECT: On December 17 at 8:29 p.m., officers responded to the 3300 block of Westdale Court in Waldorf for the report of a citizen robbery. Investigation showed the victim was leaving a relative's home when she was confronted by a lone male suspect who displayed a handgun and demanded her purse. The victim complied and the suspect fled. Patrol units set up a perimeter and were notified of a suspicious person who entered a nearby hotel. Officer D. Behm and his K9 partner, Ryker, along with additional officers checked the hotel where they spotted the suspect. Upon being detected, the suspect fled, but was apprehended by the K9 team. The suspect,, was carrying a loaded handgun. In addition, officers recovered the victim's purse. Harris was charged with first-degree assault, armed robbery, and felon in possession of a firearm. Det. C. Wimberley is investigating.OFFICERS APPREHEND SUSPECTS IN CAR THEFT: On December 17 at 7 p.m., officers observed an unoccupied stolen vehicle in the parking lot of St. Charles Towne Center. After setting up surveillance, officers observed two males enter the car; they were apprehended without incident. The suspects, both juveniles, were charged with theft. PFC E. Weaver investigated.ATTEMPTED STRONG-ARM ROBBERY: On December 17 at 10 p.m., officers responded to the 3000 block of Crain Highway in Waldorf for the report of an attempted citizen robbery. Investigation showed the victim was walking to her car when several suspects approached and tried to grab her purse. The suspects fled without getting the woman's purse. PFC J. Foster is investigating.OFFICERS APPREHEND IMPAIRED DRIVER INVOLVED IN MULTIPLE HIT AND RUN CRASHES: On Dec. 16 at 5:04 p.m., officers were notified of a hit-and-run car crash on Marshall Corner Road at Bumpy Oak Road in Pomfret. The driver fled and, according to witnesses, was driving erratically. Officers observed the vehicle near Crain Highway and Charles Street and attempted to stop the driver, at which time the operator struck another car and fled north on Crain Highway. As the suspect approached heavy traffic, officers were able to stop the man by placing a police cruiser in front of his vehicle and behind it. The suspect was apprehended and found to be in possession of suspected PCP., was charged with driving while intoxicated, possession of PCP, and numerous traffic violations. No one was injured in any of the hit-and-run crashes. Cpl. T. Hemsley is continuing the investigation.THEFTS OF DELIVERED PACKAGES: The CCSO is investigating several thefts of packages that were left at the doorways of private homes. The thefts have occurred mostly during daytime hours, when packages are most visible. The CCSO is advising people to check with delivery companies to see what options are available in lieu of leaving deliveries at home, unattended. As a reminder, the CCSO is urging people to report suspicious activity immediately. In a few cases, neighbors called police when they observed suspects walking to the front door of homes and walking away with boxes. Investigators are pursuing those leads. Charles County Crime Solvers is offering cash rewards for tips that lead to the arrest of suspects involved in these types of thefts. Tipsters may contact Crime Solvers by calling 1-866-411-TIPS, texting CHARLES + the tip to CRIMES (274637) or submitting tips online at tipsubmit.com . All individuals who provide tips through Crime Solvers will remain anonymous. State-run media everywhere have one common functionto speak on behalf of the state without actually being constrained by the states inherent boundaries. What the state cannot directly state, the state-run media states. In so much as it gives a whiff of what official thinking may be, it is useful to monitor state-run media. With that in mind, I occasionally read Global Times, Chinas state-run English newspaper. It is a convenient shoulder for the Chinese state to fire its gun on in a manner of speaking. I was reading a piece Wen Dao dated December 21 headlined New Delhi overreaches to meddle in Chinas core interests. Dao incorporates several themes in a short piece basically to tell New Delhi that Beijing does not regard India as its equal in global affairs. Be it Beijings decades-long annoyance with the presence of the Dalai Lama in India and its perceived idea that the latter uses him as leverage or a more recent development of India pledging to extend a $1 billion credit line to Mongolia the piece seeks to put India in its place. India's way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line, Dao writes. The piece also brings in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and how he felt the full force of Chinas resolve over his phone conversation with Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen. Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage? the writer asks. As I said it is useful to have state-run media to pose questions which would sound impolitic and undiplomatic coming from its leaders directly. Imagine President Xi Jinping asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi that. The notion that India is punching above its weight in world affairs when it comes to Chinese interests has been around for a while. It has picked up momentum as Indias economy has strengthened over the past decade and a half and especially in recent months when it became the fastest growing major economy overtaking China in terms of its pace. Add to that the Chinese perception that Japan, India and the United States seem to be forging some sort of an informal alliance aimed only at Beijing and you have the makings of some deep annoyance. Of course, the emergence of Trump as the next president could upset some of the equation that was being sought by the outgoing Obama administration. However, so far the incoming president has shown clear signs that he wants to play hardball with Beijing with Russia on his side. This is notwithstanding that Sino-Russian relations have been strong lately, necessitated as they are by the economic sanctions imposed by America and Europe against Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine. China is mindful of a possible rupture that Trumps oft-stated fondness for Russia in general and President Vladimir Putin in particular might cause in the Beijing-Moscow bonhomie. Despite its obvious economic and demographic heft India still remains peripheral to the jostling between America and China over global domination. It might be Modis wish to change that but there are inherent limitations that come with being a democracy unlike for Xi Jinping who can still do things without being encumbered by its domestic consequences. I personally think it is in Indias interests not to get mired in global affairs too much at the cost of compromising the destinies of its 1.311 billion people. An economically powerful and culturally cohesive country of 1.311 billion people will automatically have its natural gravity that none can deny or resist. As for the Dalai Lama as leverage, thats old hat. History shows that India has steadfastly avoided using him as as leverage other than according him the respect and hospitality it is known for. In fact, the Dalai Lama has often said, including to yours truly, that New Delhi plays rather unnecessarily cautious when it comes to him. Mongolias Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil was quoted as saying today that the Dalai Lama will not be invited to his country again. According to a Reuters report he was quoted as saying by the Mongolian newspaper Unuudur on Tuesday, "Under this current government, the Dalai Lama will not be invited to Mongolia, even for religious reasons." That appeared to be under pressure from China which imposed new shipment fees on Mongolian cargo passing through its territory. It is ironic that while Beijing never tires of dismissing the 81-year-old Dalai Lama as irrelevant it scrambles to thwart his movements around the world at every opportunity. Based on true events, Hidden Figures (Fox 2000), co-written/directed by Thomas Melfi (St. Vincent) is the kind of uplifting movie we so desperately need during this particular holiday season. Despite its unfortunate title (based on Margot Lee Shetterlys book of the same name), most of Hidden Figures may take place more than 50 years ago, but it remains as timely as ever. The films hot-button issues, including discrimination based on race and gender as well as strained relations with Russia, are sadly just as relevant today. The three African-American women Katherine (a marvelous Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy (the always reliable Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer) and Mary (Janelle Monae, who gives her second 2016 breakthrough performance after Moonlight) stranded on the side of the road in Hampton, Virginia in 1961 are on their way to work as computers for NASA. A tense encounter with a cracker sheriff soon gives way to a much better and humorous outcome, indicating exactly the kind of movie Hidden Figures will be. In the segregated work environment, Katherine, Dorothy and Mary work in a separate colored building, even though their abilities and contributions are often greater than that of their white counterparts. Fortunately, each of these women is given the opportunity to prove their mettle. Katherines mathematical skills, specifically in regards to analytic geometry, earn her a place on the all-white/all-male engineers team headed by Al (Kevin Costner). Regardless of her intelligence, she is regularly belittled by her co-workers, Paul (out actor Jim Parsons) and Als secretary Ruth (Katherine Quinn, Melfis wife). Adding insult to injury, Katherine must run half a mile to get to the colored restroom in another building. Dorothy and Mary also face challenges. Doing the work of a supervisor, without the title or the compensation, Dorothy is constantly at odds with her unpleasant boss Mrs. Michael (Kirsten Dunst). Meanwhile, Mary, who wants to further her career by getting an advanced degree, is forced to petition the court in order to apply to an all-white program. In addition to the professional environment in which Hidden Figures is set, we get a glimpse of the womens private lives. Katherines, in particular, is given a lot of screen time. A widowed mother of three, Katherine is dedicated to her daughters. When National Guardsman Jim (Mahershala Ali of Moonlight) shows an interest in Katherine, its the kind of sweetly portrayed romance for the which the audience cant help but cheer. Everything about Hidden Figures is pure Hollywood, and yet, for all the gloss, it feels authentic. The clips that precede the end credits, including Katherine receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, only add to the validity. 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Bisuito, the worlds first gay bodybuilder comedian, is not taking his upcoming Christmas show, Stuff Me for the Holidays, lightly. Its going to be probably the biggest show of my life, the Fort Lauderdale resident said. He sold out his debut last April in the Broward Centers Abdo New River Room, embarked on a six city European tour and has now graduated to the centers 700-seat Amaturo Theater. I decided to take advantage of the big stage and add some theatrics to my show, Bisuito said, noting his roots were in musical theater. Hes hired a professional dance team to provide backup for two musical numbers and will also incorporate humorous videos into the show. For years before moving to South Florida, Bisuito owned a video production company. Thats just the beginning of it, he said. The last 20 minutes of the show, Ill be channeling Kathy Griffin and talking shit about people. But dont ask him for any hints about who might be in his crosshairs: Youll have to go to the show to find out, he snapped back. There will be a little bit of everythingcomedy, musical numbers, videos and a big hairy muscle bearprobably wearing a dress. Bisuito might even throw in a few Donald Trump jokes. He honed many while on the European tour this summer that took him to England, Ireland and the Netherlands. They were absolutely obsessed with Donald Trump and how stupid he is, Bisuito recalled. I was really nervous, even though Europe is predominantly English speaking. I didnt know how my comedy would go over, but they know so much about our culture and slang. His performances in Manchester and Amsterdam both sold out and he received warm welcomes in Birmingham, London, Belfast and Dublin. I was treated like royalty. It was an amazing two weeks, he said. Next, Bisuito hopes to travel Down Under. He has been invited to headline shows at the famed Sydney Gay Mardi Gras, but was previously unable to make the trip. Thanks to social media and YouTube, he has garnered a sizable fan base in Australia. They keep emailing me and asking when Im going to come, he added. Bisuito has been working hard to stay on Santas nice list this year and a successful show at the Broward Center just might make that dream a reality. Peter Bisuito performs My Big Funny Peter: Stuff Me for the Holidays at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $25 at BrowardCenter.org. Wed, 26.10.22 - 12:09 Another blast of heat at the end of the month is likely to break the record in Spain With only a few days left in... Dick Latessa, 87, the veteran song-and-dance man who stole hearts as Wilbur Turnblad in the original Broadway production of Hairspray, passed away on Monday, December 19. Latessa was also a breeder and owner of Standardbreds and a 35-year member of the USTA. Audiences will fondly remember Latessas Wilbur cutting a rug with his wife, Edna, played by Harvey Fierstein, in the 2003 Tony Award-winning musical. Latessa was rewarded with his first and only Tony Award, for best featured performance by an actor in a musical. He was 74. A Cleveland native, Latessa was a regular on New York stages, as he appeared opposite Keith Carradine in Tommy Tunes production of The Will Rogers Follies, and in revivals of such popular musicals as Damn Yankees and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, among many others. His last show was a 2012 Broadway transfer of the Vineyard Theatre production of Nicky Silvers The Lyons, with Linda Lavin. Open-faced and quick with a smile, Latessa was loved by the companies he worked with, and always appeared to relish being part of a team putting on a show that would give pleasure to hundreds of people. He never lost that spirit. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Dick Latessa. (USTA) A top-level conditioned pace headlines Friday (December 23) evenings 13-race card at the Meadowlands Racetrack, and players will notice a couple youthful additions to the Big M driver colony. The nights sixth race takes top billing, as nine upper-level pacers will square off for a $15,500 purse in the closing leg of the early Pick 4. Betty Taubers Elrama N will seek a third consecutive win after having circled off cover to a 1:50.3 score over fourth-level rivals on a chilly December 16 evening. As Corey Callahan will be absent for the Friday card, trainer Michael Russo has secured Brett Miller a winner of eight races last Friday to handle the driving duties of the 22-time winner. Elrama N, one of two horses in the field to be entered for the optional $50,000 claiming price, has been installed as the 3-1 morning line favourite from Post 3. Among the eight with whom Elrama N will contend are Ron Burke trainee Rufo, who has been first or second in four of his last five races in Pennsylvania, and Alberto Contador N, who will arrive from Yonkers following a pair of strong closing bids. Rufo, a pillar-to-post winner at Pocono two races ago, figures well to be the pacesetter in the group after likewise nearly controlling the terms in a similar event at Harrahs Philadelphia more recently. Joe Bongiorno will drive the 7-2 second early choice from Post 4. Alberto Contador N could well be a factor from off the pace, noting his near miss at Yonkers in his last effort. Jim Marohn Jr. will drive the Darran Cassar trainee from Post 6. In terms of new additions to the driving colony, Tyler Smith will look to build momentum after his driving double last Thursday. The top-five Hoosier Park reinsman will drive in 12 of the nights 13 races, including five starters at 6-1 or lower on the morning line. Smith will have company this week, as Drew Monti will arrive after having captured the Batavia Downs driving title. The 22-year-old Canisius College alumnus is slated to drive in seven races on the Friday program. As usual, $105,000 in guaranteed Pick 4 and Pick 5 pools awaits players on and off-track alike throughout the Friday card. Post time for the program is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. (ET). (Meadowlands Racetrack) The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie... It's Election season and our editor's mailbox is overflowing. Who do your neighbors support? Read about it here. A Cowlitz County-based party bus company was ordered to cease and desist operations and fined $10,000 after state regulators found the company violated state law. The state Utilities and Transportation Commission imposed the maximum fine for operating and advertising a charter carrier without a permit. The commission said the company owner, Antwan Mason-West, had violated state law in two instances: advertising charter services on a company website and providing staff with a written quote to furnish a party bus in Woodland. Mason-West said he plans to appeal the decision. Mason-West said the company shut down its services in 2015 and now only acts as a third-party broker, which would not need the commission's approval. He said he had taken the website down, but it still appeared on Google. "There's still a gray area. There's not a direct legislation on it," he said. But in a hearing late November, an administrative law judge said the company needed the commission's approval to conduct its business based on the evidence. Staff said they had first sent Mason-West a letter in March telling him that the commission regulates party buses and limousines carrying more than 14 passengers. Mason-West said the state Department of Licensing had already investigated the operations and later argued that a booking service didn't need a carrier license, according to the commission report. The commission's staff kept track of the company for six months. Investigators said they had contacted the company posed as a consumer in August and obtained a quote to provide the transportation services, according to the commission's records. Party bus companies are required by state law to have a permit and meet insurance standards, pass regular safety inspections, and perform drug and alcohol testing on their drivers, according to a statement by the commission. Mason-West has until Dec. 29 to petition the decision. Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke will be chairman of an advisory board for Northwest Innovation Works as it develops its proposed methanol plant, the company announced Wednesday. The three-person advisory board will provide advice and oversight to the firm. Its members include Locke; Choon Fong Shih, professor at the National University of Singapore; and David Sandalow, inaugural fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Members were selected based on their technical and cultural backgrounds and their experience in international relations, trade, environmental policy and economic development, the company said. This is a company with the right values creating new jobs in Washington state that will help reduce the use of coal in China in the global effort against climate change," Locke said. After Locke served as governor from 1997 to 2005, he served as Secretary of Commerce for the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011 and later U.S. ambassador to China from 2011 to 2014. Sandalow also worked for the federal government in senior positions at the U.S. Department of Energy before joining Columbia University, where he specializes in climate and energy policy. The other board member, Shih, is an engineer and researcher at National University of Singapore. Prior to that, he was founding president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. With the tremendous leadership joining our team today, Northwest Innovation Works positions itself as a global leader in the next generation of sustainable manufacturing, said Simon Zhang, CEO of Northwest Innovation Works, in a prepared statement. A Longview housing organization Thursday will get five vouchers totaling $22,847 to provide rental assistance and support services for homeless vets, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray announced. The vouchers for Housing Opportunities of Southwest Washington (formerly the Longview Housing Authority) are part of $3 million in nationwide funding set aside for HUD to support veterans living in rural communities, according to a press release from Murrays office. The program, HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, combines rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the release. The program was reinstated in 2008 with Murrays help. Every single voucher that goes out through the HUD-VASH program can be the difference between a veteran sleeping on the streets, or having safe, stable housing that helps them get back on their feet, said Murray, a Washington Democrat. Since 2008, more than 79,000 vouchers have been awarded and more than 111,000 veterans have been served through the program, according to the release. Im so encouraged to know help is on the way for more veterans and their families in Longview and in communities across the country, Murray said. This is a critically important program, and Ill keep fighting to make sure our country fulfills its promise to care for the men and women who served. Drugs, vehicle prowl Longview police Tuesday arrested Bradley James Crooks, 40, of Arlington, Wash., on suspicion of a felony narcotics offense and second-degree vehicle prowling. Arson Cowlitz County sheriffs deputies Tuesday arrested April Mariee Paulson, 44, of Kelso on suspicion of first-degree arson. Drugs, driving with suspended license Cowlitz County sheriffs deputies Tuesday arrested Scott Allen Sanders, 51, of Kelso on suspicion of a felony narcotics offense and third-degree driving with a suspended license. Firearm theft, burglary Longview police Tuesday arrested Brandon Joseph Middaugh, 24, on suspicion of residential burglary, theft of a firearm, and third-degree malicious mischief. Burglaries 300 block of Rosewood Street, Kelso. Tuesday. Carport door pried open. 1100 block of Vandercook Way, Longview. Tuesday. 1000 block of 22nd Avenue, Longview. Tuesday. Alley gate forced open. Theft 700 block of Studebaker Road, Castle Rock. Tuesday. Three homemade metal firepits, valued at $850. Vehicle prowl 1700 block of 24th Avenue, Longview. Tuesday. Headliner ripped. Stolen vehicle 1500 block of Commerce Avenue, Longview. Teal 1997 Subaru Impreza. WA AES3767. Vandalism U.S. Post Office on 304 Academy St., Kelso. Tuesday. Window broken out. Superior Court sentencings Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning dismissed without prejudice the charge of second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission against Anna Lisa Strago. The Cowlitz County prosecutors office declined to file felony drug possession, drug paraphernalia possession and obstructing a law enforcement officer charges against Toni Lauren Vossen. Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning dismissed without prejudice a felony drug possession charge against Samuel Adam Woodard. The Cowlitz County prosecutors office declined to file the charge of possession of a stolen vehicle against Joseph Lamont Edwards. Joshua Christopher Williams, 29, of Longview, three months in jail, a year on probation and $1,550 for attempted heroin and meth possession on June 10 and Sept. 26. Guilty plea Nov. 1. Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning dismissed without prejudice charges of third-degree theft and forgery against Jacques Eugene Dumont Gerber (case 16-1-01201-6). Robert Dale Roussel, 48, of Longview, a year and a day in prison and four years on probation for failing to register as a sex offender between March 1 and Sept. 1. Guilty plea Nov. 1. Jacques Eugene Dumont Gerber, 38, of Kelso, two years in prison, a year on probation and $800 for second-degree theft, meth possession and four counts of forgery between March 1 and Sept. 8. Guilty plea Nov. 1. Sean Michael Greiner, 30, of Longview, 33 months in prison, 27 months on probation and $700 for failing to register as a sex offender on May 4. Guilty plea Nov. 1. tech2 News Staff Airtel refers to its broadband offering that can support connections up to 100 Mbps as V-Fiber. V-Fiber was initially available in Chennai with plans of introducing it to 87 cities across India. The roll out has now come to Mumbai and existing Airtel Broadband consumers can upgrade to V-Fiber at no additional cost. V-Fiber uses Europe's most advanced broadband technology, called vectorisation. Vectorisation delivers higher bandwidth by reducing the interference in the connection. "We are delighted to bring V-Fiber to our customers in Mumbai, as part of our endeavour to deliver best-in-class broadband experience to users," said Sameer Batra, Chief Executive Officer Mumbai, Bharti Airtel. "With V-Fiber, we are all set to offer an altogether transformed experience on our future ready network to the digitally savvy homes. This solution offers a very quick and convenient upgrade to the customer. Our innovative myHome Rewards program and free voice calling facility will certainly add to the delight of Mumbais Digital Homes" Boosting the capacity of the existing network for providing high speed last mile connectivity means that there is no requirement for additional road digging for roll out. Customers in Mumbai will be able to upgrade their connections and enjoy higher upload and download speeds. V-Fiber is designed for a multi device use case scenario. The connection uses existing copper cables, and only the modem needs to be upgraded. For new users, Airtel has an unlimited three months offer. Airtel is offering unlimited free calls anywhere in India as part of the offer for new users. The roll out of V-Fiber in Mumbai is part of Airtel's Project Leap, an effort to upgrade the Airtel network to support the next generation of products and services. Airtel is the largest provider of broadband services in India, although most of it is through wireless broadband connections. hidden China launched a satellite to monitor its greenhouse gas emissions early on Thursday, the latest step in efforts to cut its carbon footprint, the official Xinhua news agency said. The launch follows the United States joining China in formally ratifying the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions. It also comes as large sections of northern China have been shrouded in near-record levels of air pollution for most of the past week, disrupting flights, closing factories and schools, and forcing authorities to issue red alerts. China launched the satellite via a Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwestern Gobi Desert, Xinhua said. The 620 kg (1,370 lbs) satellite TanSat was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 km (435 miles) above the earth and will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, said Yin Zengshan, chief designer of TanSat at the Chinese Academy of Sciences micro-satellite research institute. The launch comes after an international study showed that world greenhouse gas emissions stayed flat for the third year in a row in 2016, thanks to falls in China. The satellite will provide China's policymakers with independent data for three years, the news agency said. TanSat will take readings of global carbon dioxide every 16 days, accurate to at least 4 parts per million. The rocket carrying TanSat also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring, the agency added. China is the third country after Japan and the United States to monitor greenhouse gases with its own satellite, the agency said. Reuters hidden A Google Inc product manager has sued the company, accusing it of unlawfully prohibiting employees from sharing concerns with coworkers, shareholders or the press, and maintaining a "spying program" to prevent leaks. In the class action lawsuit filed on Tuesday in California state court in San Francisco, the employee, identified only as "John Doe," says Google's employment agreements are illegally broad and violate various state labour laws. The plaintiff says the confidentiality agreements that all Google employees are required to sign essentially bar workers from saying anything about the company, even to each other. The agreements define confidential information as "without limitation, any information in any form that relates to Google or Google's business that is not generally known," according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says the agreements violate state laws that provide that employers cannot bar workers from discussing their wages or disclosing information to government agencies. A spokesperson for Mountain View, California-based Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, said in a statement that the claims were "baseless," and said the agreements were designed to protect sensitive business information and not to bar employees from discussing working conditions. "We're very committed to an open internal culture, which means we frequently share with employees details of product launches and confidential business information," the spokesperson said. Google is facing similar claims from an unidentified employee in proceedings before the U.S. National Labor Relations Board, which recently struck down confidentiality agreements and other employment contracts that could discourage workers from discussing concerns at T-Mobile USA Inc, DirectTV and a number of other companies. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff says that to enforce its policies, Google forces workers to spy on each other through a program called "Stopleaks" that requires them to report the disclosure of confidential information. Employees can be fired or sued for violating employment agreements or failing to report leaks, according to the lawsuit. "Google continues to insist that Googlers refrain from plainly communicating with others that Google is violating the law or endangering consumers," the complaint says. Plaintiffs in court cases are rarely allowed to proceed anonymously absent extraordinary circumstances. The Google worker says that being identified could harm his reputation at the company and his future job prospects. The plaintiff is seeking to represent all current and former Google employees who signed the agreements. The lawsuit says the company has about 65,000 workers. The case is Doe v. Google Inc, California Superior Court, San Francisco County, number not immediately available. Reuters Rehan Hooda Smartphones are one of the most important gadgets in our life and each year smartphone makers from all over the world compete to make the most impressive, sleek and fastest smartphone in the market. Apart from the usual bits of improved processor, a little bit of change in the design or the increased RAM or the battery life, there is nothing different or radical that most of these companies want to attempt. Even though there aren't a lot of companies that go beyond the industry standards to make and attempt something radical. But still, some companies try and attempt something different, and those are the ones that tend to stand apart in the huge sea of smartphones. We have made a round up of the smartphones that left a mark in the year 2016. Here are some smartphones that were crucial and changed the tech world in their own way. Google Pixel XL Google Pixel XL, the first smartphone from Google, is the most important smartphone of the year quite simply because it is the first time the software giant has dived into hardware. It was significant because the Pixel series was the reason why the beloved Nexus line was killed. The Pixel also marked a significant hike in the price to (almost) match the price of Apple iPhone. The Pixel XL provides the ultimate Android experience with the latest Android Nougat 7.1.1 with Google Assistant baked inside. Pixel was not only the first foray into hardware for the company, but in addition, it was a smartphone with many firsts. Google revamped the ROM update mechanism with revamped system architecture and it was also the first smartphone to come with Daydream support. We reviewed the Android powerhouse and you can check out if you should buy the smartphone. One important thing to note is that in extended testing we concluded that Pixel has the best smartphone camera till date, even beating Apple iPhone 7 Plus by a mile. Samsung Note 7 The year 2016 will be incomplete without discussing Samsung and Samsung Note 7 because of everything that happened. On one hand, when most of the smartphones left a mark in 2016, the only thing(s) Samsung Galaxy Note 7 left was smoke, fire, unused fire-proof boxes, tumbling profits, destroyed trust and annihilated environment after the explosive year by Samsung. The most ironic part is that Samsung rushed Note 7 out in the market to compete with Apple iPhone 7 and this move backfired big time for the company as back to back recalls of the smartphones left the company without any flagship to compete with the competition. Samsung delayed working on S8 to investigate the cause of battery fires and explosions in Note 7. The company recently concluded the investigation and had submitted the detailed reports to regulatory bodies across the globe. We can expect a public release of the report soon as the company promised that it would publish the cause of explosions to everyone. OnePlus 3/3T OnePlus 3 was one of the important smartphones for 2016 as it reaffirmed that OnePlus is here to stay. After the failure that OnePlus 2 was, everyone thought that the company is a one-hit wonder in the sea of unknown Chinese companies. But with the launch of OnePlus 3, the company turned off the noise by proving everyone that it indeed can make 'flagship-killer' smartphones without much buzz. The company took the world by surprise with the launch of OnePlus One in 2014. This year the OnePlus 3 became an instant hit and the company raised the stakes by releasing OnePlus 3T. OnePlus 3T is an upgraded version of OnePlus 3 with a new processor, slightly bigger battery and a 16MP front camera. We reviewed both the smartphones and reached a conclusion that this is the best smartphone regarding performance only second to Apple iPhone 7 Plus. OnePlus 3T may lack Daydream or the new update mechanism and Android Nougat 7.1 but these features are coming soon. iPhone 7 Apple iPhone 7 was being considered to be one of the most lacklustre iPhones ever with no buzz in the usual markets according to analysts. But the lack of competition from Samsung or LG pulled people to iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Another significant change that Apple made was dropping 3.5-mm headphone jack along with the introduction of 256GB internal storage options for users in need for more internal storage. The iPhone 7 was the first flagship by Apple to sport waterproof capabilities. The company also added a dual-lens camera setup with different focal lengths for shooting in standard as well as zoomed modes on the iPhone 7 Plus. The company also added a portrait mode to add natural Bokeh using data from both the lenses to give a natural depth-of-field. iPhone 7 and 7 Plus launch was aligned with the launch of iOS10, one of the most significant updates by the company to iOS. Moto Z and Moto Mods The Moto Z was one smartphone that we were looking out for as it had the potential to change how we look at handsets. It was also the only smartphone that allowed one to add and enhance capabilities through modules made by third party vendors. The smartphone pulled in more interest after Google axed Project Ara making Moto Z and the Moto Mods, the only hope for truly modular smartphones. The company promised that it would release 12 mods each year and all mods will be backwards as well as forward compatible with upcoming smartphones. We reviewed the Moto Z and were stunned by the build quality and performance of the smartphone along with the entire idea of mods. But the company should drastically improve the experience before even assuming that the offering will be taken seriously by the consumers. LG G5 LG G5 was the first real smartphone to sport dual camera and the ultra wide perspective was one of the core points of attraction os the smartphone. The company announced the smartphone, and everyone was excited about the latest smartphone in the G series by LG. After a detailed review of the smartphone, we were disappointed in the build quality of the smartphone along with the lacklustre camera and the extremely limited 'Modular'-functionality that the company was touting when the smartphone was announced. The company had announced different modular accessories for the smartphone that ranged from removable batteries, camera and battery mod, Bang & Olufsen-designed DAC mod for improved audio quality along with other mods in the pipeline. But the surprisingly expensive pricing of the smartphone effectively killed it before it even took off in the market. Xiaomi Mi MIX Xiaomi Mi MIX, a concept smartphone by Xiaomi was the talking bout of many during the year. Nobody was expecting a nearly bezel-less design this year, but Xiaomi sneaked in with the quite announcement of this almost perfect looking smartphone. It wasn't released worldwide and only served as a limited launch smartphone. It also came with a unique "Cantilever piezoelectric ceramic acoustic technology" to replace the traditional earpiece for audio. The smartphone looked something straight out of some Sci-Fi movie from early 2000's. It did not win any laurels for its performance by the design and execution itself ensured that Xiaomi had the bragging rights to an innovative design. hidden The mass retention of data is illegal, the European Union's highest court said on Wednesday, dealing a blow to Britain's newly passed surveillance law and signalling that security concerns do not justify excessive privacy infringements. The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) said its ruling was based on the view that holding traffic and location data en masse allowed "very precise conclusions to be drawn concerning the private lives of the persons whose data has been retained". Such interference with people's privacy could only be justified by the objective of fighting serious crime and access to data should be subject to prior review by a court or independent body except in urgent cases, it said. The ruling is likely to upset governments seeking to deal with the threat of attacks such as those in Paris and Brussels and, on Monday, in Berlin. Those attacks have reinforced calls from governments for security agencies to be given greater powers to protect citizens, while privacy advocates - who welcomed the ruling - say mass retention of data is ineffective in the fight against such crimes. The perpetual debate over privacy versus security took on an extra dimension after Edward Snowden leaked details of mass spying by U.S. and British agents in 2013. The ECJ said governments could demand targeted data retention subject to strict safeguards such as limiting it to a particular geographic location but the data must be stored within the EU given the risk of unlawful access. British Challenge The court was responding to challenges against data retention laws in Britain and Sweden on the grounds that they were no longer valid after the ECJ struck down an EU-wide data retention law in 2014. A spokesman for Britain's interior ministry said it was disappointed with the judgment and would be considering its potential implications in the case launched before Britain voted in June to quit the European Union. "Given the importance of communications data to preventing and detecting crime, we will ensure plans are in place so that the police and other public authorities can continue to acquire such data in a way that is consistent with EU law and our obligation to protect the public, he said. When it leaves the bloc, Britain will not be subject to ECJ rulings, but with a two-year exit negotiation process due to begin by the end of March - and a potential transitional phase afterwards - it could be under its auspices for some time. A number of British politicians - including Brexit minister David Davis - filed the legal challenge against a 2014 surveillance law, part of which was suspended by a British court. Britain subsequently passed the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), which, while not directly affected by the ruling, could nevertheless be found to be incompatible with the conditions laid down by the court, lawyers said. "This is a pretty big deal for the UK, Bird & Bird partner, Graham Smith, said. A number of provisions in the IPA, such as the purposes for which data may be retained which go beyond fighting serious crime, are unlikely to pass the court's muster, laywers said. The requirement for targeted retention of communications data could be "a significant headache", said Linklaters partner Richard Cumbley, since security services often only know who is a suspect after the event. Reuters tech2 News Staff Everyone's eyes will on the Nokia stage this year, as the company has scheduled a keynote at the Mobile World Congress, which takes place early next year in Barcelona, Spain. While it has not been confirmed as to what Nokia CEO, Rajeev Suri will announce, there are plenty of Nokia smartphone renders that have begun to surface online, hinting that Nokia may be planning a comeback to the smartphone space, but with Android inside. A new leak comes from a Weibo user, who hints at a Nokia C1 smartphone, which appears to be a flagship through and through. The leaked handset showcases a design language that looks quite similar to the chocolate bar flagship handsets that are on sale today that sport the usual rounded corners and an all-metal unibody build. The Nokia C1 pictured in these leaked images seems to feature a metal design, but with replaceable backs that appear to be made of different materials and textures. The design has rounded corners and an overall broad profile, along with a slim waistline. On the front, the display takes up the major part of the front face, leaving thin bezels on the left and the right sides. At the top and bottom the bezels get a little thicker and while the top seems to be packed with sensors, a front facing camera and a speaker, the bottom too features a similar sized cutout for a second speaker. Moving to the back, we find the Oreo shaped rear camera that has become the norm with flagships in the Lumia series (powered by Windows Phone). This unit however sits flush with the surface and features a dual camera setup with a triple LED flash and a xenon flash with a focus assist lamp next to it. The right side features the power button at the top and a camera/shutter button closer to the bottom end. The left side features a volume rocker with two buttons. The bottom features a 3.5mm headphone jack along with a USB Type-C port. As for the leaked specifications, the slides mention that the Nokia C1 will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 chipset (we guess this is an 835) with 4GB RAM. There will be 32GB, 64GB and 128GB internal storage options and the device will draw power from a 3,210 mAh battery. The same slide also points out that the device will feature Android 7.1.1 out of the box. If these renders (obtained from a video) do turn out to be genuine, Nokia could have quite a contender for next year's flagship space. Add to this the trust worthy Nokia brand name along with Google's Android, and it seems like the perfect mix. hidden Yahoo Inc's secret scanning of customer emails at the behest of a U.S. spy agency is part of a growing push by officials to loosen constitutional protections Americans have against arbitrary governmental searches, according to legal documents and people briefed on closed court hearings. The order on Yahoo from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) last year resulted from the government's drive to change decades of interpretation of the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment right of people to be secure against "unreasonable searches and seizures," intelligence officials and others familiar with the strategy told Reuters. The unifying idea, they said, is to move the focus of U.S. courts away from what makes something a distinct search and toward what is "reasonable" overall. The basis of the argument for change is that people are making much more digital data available about themselves to businesses, and that data can contain clues that would lead to authorities disrupting attacks in the United States or on U.S. interests abroad. While it might technically count as a search if an automated program trawls through all the data, the thinking goes, there is no unreasonable harm unless a human being looks at the result of that search and orders more intrusive measures or an arrest, which even then could be reasonable. Civil liberties groups and some other legal experts said the attempt to expand the ability of law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to sift through vast amounts of online data, in some cases without a court order, was in conflict with the Fourth Amendment because many innocent messages are included in the initial sweep. "A lot of it is unrecognizable from a Fourth Amendment perspective," said Orin Kerr, a former federal prosecutor and Georgetown University Law School expert on surveillance. "It's not where the traditional Fourth Amendment law is." But the general counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Robert Litt, said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday that the legal interpretation needed to be adjusted because of technological changes. "Computerized scanning of communications in the same way that your email service provider scans looking for viruses - that should not be considered a search requiring a warrant for Fourth Amendment purposes," said Litt. He said he is leaving his post on Dec. 31 as the end of President Barack Obama's administration nears. Digital Signature Reuters was unable to determine what data, if any, was handed over by Yahoo after its live email search. The search was first reported by Reuters on Oct. 4. Yahoo and the National Security Agency (NSA) declined to explain the basis for the order. The surveillance court, whose members are appointed by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, oversees and approves the domestic pursuit of intelligence about foreign powers. While details of the Yahoo search are classified, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters it was aimed at isolating a digital signature for a single person or small team working for a foreign government frequently at odds with America. The ODNI is expected to disclose as soon as next month an estimated number of Americans whose electronic communications have been caught up in online surveillance programs intended for foreigners, U.S. lawmakers said. The ODNI's expected disclosure is unlikely to cover such orders as the one to Yahoo but would encompass those under a different surveillance authority called section 702. That section allows the operation of two internet search programs, Prism and "upstream" collection, that were revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden more than three years ago. Prism gathers the messaging data of targets from Alphabet Inc's Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple among others. Upstream surveillance allows the NSA to copy web traffic to search data for certain terms called "selectors," such as email addresses, that are contained in the body of messages. ODNI's Litt said ordinary words are not used as selectors. The Fourth Amendment applies to the search and seizure of electronic devices as much as ordinary papers. Wiretaps and other surveillance in the internet age are now subject to litigation across the United States. But in the FISC, with rare exceptions, the judges hear only from the executive branch. Their rulings have been appealed only three times, each time going to a review board. Only the government is permitted to appeal from there, and so far it has never felt the need. Public Legal Challenges The FISCs reasoning, though, is heading into public courts. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 5 cited FISC precedents in rejecting an appeal of an Oregon man who was convicted of plotting to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony after his emails were collected in another investigation. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are fighting the expansion of legalized surveillance in Congress and in courts. On Dec. 8, the ACLU argued in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a lawsuit by Wikipedias parent group against the NSA should not have been dismissed by a lower court, which ruled that the nonprofit could not show it had been snooped on and that the government could keep details of the program secret. The concerns of civil libertarians and others have been heightened by President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of conservative Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas to be director of the CIA. Pompeo, writing in the Wall Street Journal in January, advocated expanding bulk collection of telephone calling records in pursuit of Islamic State and its sympathizers who could plan attacks on Americans. Pompeo said the records could be combined with "publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database." Yahoo's search went far beyond what would be required to monitor a single email account. The company agreed to create and then conceal a special program on its email servers that would check all correspondence for a specific string of bits. Trawling for selectors is known as "about" searching, when content is collected because it is about something of interest rather than because it was sent or received by an established target. It is frequently used by the NSA in its bulk upstream collection of international telecom traffic. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an appointed panel established by Congress as part of its post-9/11 expansion of intelligence authority, reported in 2014 that "about" searches "push the program close to the line of constitutional reasonableness." A glimpse of the new legal arguments came in a FISC proceeding last year held to review NSA and FBI annual surveillance targets and four sets of procedures for limiting the spread of information about Americans. Judge Thomas Hogan appointed Amy Jeffress, an attorney at Arnold and Porter and a former national security prosecutor, to weigh in, the first time that court had asked an outside privacy expert for advice before making a decision. Jeffress argued each search aimed at an American should be tested against the Fourth Amendment, while prosecutors said that only overall searching practice had to be evaluated for "reasonableness." Hogan agreed with the government, ruling that even though the Fourth Amendment was all but waived in the initial data gathering because foreigners were the targets, the voluminous data incidentally gathered on Americans could also be used to investigate drug deals or robberies. "While they are targeting foreign intelligence information, they are collecting broader information, and there needs to be strong protections for how that information is used apart from national security," Jeffress told Reuters. ODNI's Litt wrote in a February Yale Law Review article that the new approach was appropriate, in part because so much personal data is willingly shared by consumers with technology companies. Litt advocated for courts to evaluate "reasonableness" by looking at the entirety of the government's activity, including the degree of transparency. Litt told Reuters that he did not mean, however, that the same techniques in "about" searches should be pushed toward the more targeted searches at email providers such as Yahoo. Although speaking generally, he said: "My own personal approach to this is you should trade off broader collection authority for stricter use authority," so that more is taken in but less is acted upon. This position strikes some academics and participants in the process as a remarkable departure from what the highest legal authority in the land was thinking just two years ago. That was when the Supreme Court's Roberts wrote for a majority in declaring that mobile phones usually could not be searched without warrants. After prosecutors said they had protocols in place to protect phone privacy, Roberts wrote: "Probably a good idea, but the Founders did not fight a revolution to gain the right to government agency protocols." With little evidence that the Supreme Court agrees with the surveillance court, it remains possible it would reverse the trend. But a case would first need to make its way up there. Reuters Everyone has had rough days, some more rough than others. Now imagine that rough day being broadcast all across the nation for thousands and thousands of people to see. That was the reality for some poor person who got blasted on social media for the way they parked up in Maine. Matthew Mills of Biddleford, Maine posted a photo of a car right outside of a Walmart and in the photo, a compact car is taking up two spots. It is something that is seen every day and is often just scoffed at. While Mills isnt the person who put the carts around the vehicle (or the driver), he is the person that shared the photo itself. His caption on the photo was got a lesson in parking. Brutal. Someone who commented on the photo and claimed to know the person that was driving the vehicle stated that she, came into work and slid into her spot because of an icy spot and couldnt park straight and then someone rudely put carts around her car. Its not the worst excuse in the world, and its also worth mentioning that the melting snow around the car could have made the lines in the parking lot not visible. It isnt time to admonish this person for a bad parking job. Its time to support them and tell them weve all been there before. As far as pet peeves go, this is a minor one. [WLKY] LDP places 17-pt proposal to President UNB, Dhaka : A delegation of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Wednesday placed a 17-point proposal during talks with President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban, including formulation of a law in the current parliament for formation of the Election Commission. The delegation also handed over a list of names of some 'neutral persons' to the President to include them in the search committee. A 10-member LDP delegation, led by its president Oli Ahmed, held the meeting with the President from 3 pm to 3:30 pm as Abdul Hamid initiated formal talks with political parties over the formation of the new EC. His first meeting was with BNP on Dec 18. The President has taken the dialogue initiative as the tenure of the current Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad-led EC expires in February next. "We've submitted a 17-point proposal to the Honourable President on behalf of our party to form a good and neutral Election Commission," Oli told reporters emerging from Bangabhaban. He said they proposed the President to consider only those people who did not have any direct or indirect link with politics for making search committee members. "We've suggested making a former chief justice who didn't have any direct or indirect connection with politics and didn't hold any profitable post convener of the search committee," the LDP chief said. The LDPs proposal include kipping the EC independent, formulating a legal framework as per the constitution regarding the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and other commissioners, constituting a separate Secretariat for EC and fixing the age limit of election commissioners and deploying army during voting and giving them power which police force enjoy to arrest troublemakers. Briefing journalists about the meeting, President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin said President Abdul Hamid told the LDP delegation that there is no alternative to election in democracy. "The opinions of political parties will play an important role in forming a strong Election Commission (EC)... it's possible to solve many problem through discussions though those are sometimes not possible to solve by enacting law," Joynal Abedin quoted the President as telling the LDP delegation. Oli Ahmed, also former minister, presented his party's proposals on the process of forming a search committee, he said. Police counter-terror unit arrests 7 Biman officials over PM flight `glitch` bdnews24.com : Police have arrested seven officials of the Bangladesh Biman two days after a case was started over the glitch that forced a flight carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to make an emergency landing. The counter-terrorism unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police made the arrests, Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman told bdnews24.com on Thursday. He said details of those arrested will be soon released. Several top officials including engineers at Biman have been suspended over the incident. A Boeing-777 aircraft carrying the prime minister to Hungary on Nov 27 made emergency landing at Turkmenistan's Ashgabat airport after a drop in fuel pressure was detected in one of the engines. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina waited at the airports VIP lounge while the plane was being inspected for faults. The plane Ranga Prabhat, which had 99 onboard, was in the airport for four hours before it was able to take off to reach Budapest. A member of the state-owned carrier's investigation committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told bdnews24.com that a human error caused the glitch. A nut of the tank storing engine oil or lubricant was loose and the 'problem was fixed after tightening it', he said. More to follow..... Trump plans to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from US Donald Trump appeared to stand by his plans to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from US. The Washington Post : President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to stand by his plans to establish a registry for Muslims and temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from the United States. Speaking outside his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump did not walk back the proposals after he was asked by a reporter whether he was rethinking or reevaluating them in the wake of a fresh terrorist attack in Berlin. "You know my plans," Trump said. He went on to add that the attack on a Berlin Christmas market, which was claimed by the Islamic State, had vindicated him. German authorities are seeking a 24-year-old Tunisian migrant, whom they say has ties to Islamist extremists, in connection with the attack, which killed 12 people and injured dozens. "All along, I've been proven to be right. One-hundred-percent correct," Trump said. "What's happening is disgraceful." Trump has long called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and has expressed openness to a registry of Muslims already in the country. A year ago, in a statement, Trump said he wanted a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." The proposal was sharply criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike. And later, Trump's senior aides and surrogates sought to soften the proposal, suggesting that Trump would support a ban on immigration only from countries that had been compromised by terrorism. But given an opportunity on Wednesday to clarify his remarks, Trump suggested that his plans stood as he had articulated them early in his campaign. The statement proposing a "complete" shutdown of Muslim immigration remains on Trump's website. And Trump has not clarified how exactly he would address the issue as president. In response to other questions from reporters outside Mar-a-Lago, Trump said that he had last spoken to President Barack Obama two days ago. He was also asked about his characterization of the Berlin attack as an attack on Christians. "ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad," Trump had said in a statement issued after the attack on Monday. On Wednesday, Trump appeared unfamiliar with the statement issued in his name. "Who said that?" Trump countered, challenging the reporter. "It's an attack on humanity. That's what it is. An attack on humanity, and it's got to be stopped." China foreign minister says US ties face new uncertainties Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Beijing, China. Reuters, Beijing : China-U.S. relations face new uncertainties but with mutual respect for core interests they will remain stable, China's foreign minister said, adding one individual will not impede ties, a likely reference to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. President Xi Jinping spoke with Trump soon after he won last month's election, but Beijing has been unsettled by Trump's subsequent call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, suggestions Trump may change U.S. policy towards self-ruled Taiwan, and Trump's threats to impose tariffs on Chinese imports. In an interview with the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily carried on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the Xi-Trump call was a positive sign for a smooth transition in Sino-U.S. ties. "Of course, going forward China-U.S. relations will face new complexities and uncertain factors," Wang said. "But 'thick mountains could not stop the river from flowing into the sea'," he added, quoting an ancient Chinese poem Xi had cited in June at a high-level China-U.S. forum, meaning all rivers have to travel a meandering course before getting to their final destination. "Only if China and the United States respect each and give consideration to other's core interests and key concerns can there be long-term, stable cooperation, and effect win-win mutual benefit," Wang said. "This is a historical trend that can't be altered by an individual's will, and is the correct direction for the development of China-U.S. ties," he added, without mentioning Trump by name. One of the priorities for next year is for a smooth transition in relations between the two countries to "open new cooperative prospects" and have a more stable, healthy framework for relations between the great powers, Wang said. The disputed South China Sea could also be an area of tension with the new Trump administration. China this week returned a U.S. underwater drone taken by one of its naval vessels in the South China Sea last week, an incident which prompted Trump to accuse China of stealing it. Wang said defending China's sovereignty was a "sacred mission" for China's diplomatic work. Aleppo evacuations resume after delays The Evacuees had to spend hours in freezing temperatures waiting in the buses to depart on Wednesday, as snow blanketed Aleppo. AFP, Aleppo : Evacuations from the last rebel-held pocket of Aleppo resumed on Wednesday despite heavy snowfall, clearing a path for Syria's army to take full control of the devastated city. The evacuations - which have seen thousands withdraw from the one-time opposition stronghold of east Aleppo - faced delays earlier on Wednesday, leaving hundreds hungry and cold waiting to escape. But Syrian state television reported that after a 24-hour delay, 20 buses carrying "armed men and their families" had left for rebel territory to the west of the city. Ahmad al-Dbis, who heads a team of doctors and volunteers coordinating evacuations, said a convoy of 20 buses had transported 1,500 people out of the last rebel pocket of Aleppo, including 20 wounded. The evacuations were on the verge of being finished, according to Ahmad Qarra Ali of the powerful Ahrar al-Sham rebel group. "All the evacuations will be completed today, in several convoys," he said. At least 25,000 people have left rebel districts of Aleppo since opposition fighters agreed last week to withdraw after years of fighting, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is overseeing the operation. After seeing no movement on Wednesday morning, an AFP correspondent saw buses arriving one after the other in the afternoon in Ramussa, the government-held district of southern Aleppo through which evacuation convoys have been passing. The evacuees had spent hours in freezing temperatures waiting in the buses to depart, as snow blanketed Aleppo and swirled through its crumbled buildings. "The buses are not heated. The passengers, including women, children and elderly people, are suffering from the cold. They don't have food or water," said doctor Dbis. Robert Mardini, the regional head of the ICRC, called for evacuations to resume, saying on Twitter that "weather conditions are harsh and people are exhausted". It was unclear how many civilians remained inside east Aleppo, though Dbis said there were "a few thousand" who were still hoping to leave. The delays on Wednesday appeared to be connected with a parallel evacuation of residents taking place in the villages of Fuaa and Kafraya in north-western Syria. The two Shia-majority villages are under siege by the rebels, who are mainly Sunni Muslims. Shia-dominated Iran, another key Assad ally, was reported to have insisted on the evacuations of Fuaa and Kafraya for the Aleppo withdrawal to go ahead. The evacuation of Aleppo's rebel sector is seen as a pivotal moment in a war that has killed more than 310,000 people and triggered a major humanitarian and refugee crisis. As well as handing a major victory to Assad, it has given fresh energy to international efforts to end the conflict. Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed on Tuesday to guarantee Syria peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire in the country, laying down their claim as the main powerbrokers in the conflict. In a joint statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Aleppo evacuation should finish within "one or two days". Repeated diplomatic attempts - including several rounds of peace talks in Geneva - have failed to resolve Syria's conflict, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene new negotiations in Geneva in February. KISHOREGANJ: A view exchange meeting on UZGP under UNDP was held at DC\'s Conference Room with DC Md Azimuddin Biswas as Chief Guest and DDLG Md. Zahid Islam presided over the meeting yesterday. Bankers' role vital to promote SME business BSS, Rajshahi : Senior bankers and business leaders at a discussion here mentioned that substantial and sustainable promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is very vital for bolstering the country's economy. They viewed both the public and private banking sector and other authorized financial institutions should take the responsibility of successful development of entrepreneurship and SME business. The observations came in the inaugural session of a two-day workshop styled "Financial Literacy for SME Bankers" held at conference hall of local office of Bangladesh Bank (BB) in Rajshahi on Thursday. A large number of senior officers from both public and private banks in the region participated in the workshop. SME Foundation organized the workshop with the thrust of familiarizing the participants with the nature and process of entrepreneurship development particularly SME entrepreneurship and its business. Managing Director of SME Foundation Shafiqul Islam and BB Executive Director Zinnatul Bakeya addressed the session as chief and special guests respectively with BB General Manager Asim Kumar Mazumder in the chair. General Manager of SME Foundation Shaheen Anwar, President of Bangladesh Silk Industries Owners Association Liakat Ali, President of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Md Muniruzzaaman and local unit president of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry Prof Rojety Naznin also spoke on the occasion. Chief Guest Shafiqul Islam asked the bankers to give more emphasis towards development of entrepreneurship through SME financing to accelerate the grassroots economic position. Narrating enormous significance of more development of entrepreneurships and increased financing to the SME sector they also asked them to boost credit-flow to the sector. He said the SME sector can play an effective role in economic progress, employment generation and poverty reduction. If the SMEs are properly financed, the nation would be benefited, he added. In this regard, he asked the bankers to expedite the SME credit program through intensifying motivational, awareness building and monitoring activities to make the program a total success. The training also discussed elaborately the techniques of monitoring and recovery of SME credit along with the operational aspects of SME financing. Digital ICT Fair-2016 kicks off in city Economic Reporter : The Digital ICT Fair-2016 (winter) began on Thursday at Computer City Centre with the slogan "Cyber Security: The only way to fly". Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed inaugurated the six-day fair at a function, a press release said. Computer City centre Owners Association is organizing the fair aiming to popularize local hardware brands at both local and international levels. Director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Abu Motaleb, President of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Mostafa Jabbar and President of Bangladesh Computer Samity Ali Ashraf, among others, addressed the function. What are Richa`s plans for her birthday? Richa Chadha is in Delhi busy shooting for Fukrey Returns which is one of the most awaited sequels of 2017. This gorgeous actress is going to add one more amazing year to her life, this month on the 18th as she turns 30. As we all know she has been always the one who supports the right cause, she has always been supporting NGO's for animals also lately we read that she helped the rescued sex workers to get a better home and better life. On her special day that is 18th December, Richa is going to plant trees and make sure she motivates people to do the same. Appeal for help City Desk : Begum Amina Bhuiya, (60), who hails from Begumganj Upazila of Noakhali district and mother of Habibur Rahman, a press worker in a national daily, is suffering from Kidney diseases for long times. She is currently receiving treatment at Women Medical College and Hospital at Uttara in the Medicine Ward Bed No. 11. Her both kidneys are not functioning and require huge money to continue her treatment. Her husband is jobless and the family lives on her only son's small earning. The helpless family is passing a critical time. Her son made appeal to generous people and charitable organizations for help them continue her treatment. Contact: Syed Habibur Rahman Habib, Accounts No. 0200002490253, Agrani Bank, Hatkhola Branch, Dhaka. Mobile & bKash - 01718522938. Strike in garment sector must end before it spreads WORKERS unrest in the garment sector is only spreading to more factories although it still remains contained in Ashulia industrial belt in the outskirt of the capital. Latest disclosure said at least 80 garment factories have put their shutter closed as of Thursday as against 55 in the previous day rendering over 250,000 workers out of jobs. Many fear that the detention of garment workers' leader Mushrefa Mishu from the Jatiya Press Club last afternoon as she appeared for a press conference to clear workers' demands may make the situation further volatile. Unrest may spread in other industrial areas if the owners of garment factories and the government don't change the confrontational course; which includes use of police power and preemptive closure of factories and cases against many garment workers by name and unnamed accused. As per media reports garment workers resorted to agitation within the factories from last week demanding higher wages and some other trade union rights; which now exist in limited capacity under pressure of buyers and other international organizations. It is not true as the owners claim that they don't know their demands. What is likely to be at stake is that once they will recognize their demands, they will be forced to open bargain to meet their demands; which they actually don't want now fearing escalation in the cost of production and a decline in profits. But in our view instead of refusing, industry leaders must engage them in talks to avoid bigger industrial chaos. Many believe the government leaders instead of protecting garment factory owners may do a good job working as mediator. All know it well that cost of living has escalated, particularly impacting the lives of the lower wage groups. The government can't also avoid its accountability in causing inordinate rise in the cost of living. The present move to raise gas tariff and cost of water and electricity is bound to raise the cost of production by another round to force the common people and the industry to bear the load while serious questions have been raised from knowledgeable quarters on justification of such tariff hike. In fact uncapped greed for revenue and high corruption and inefficiency in the government are pushing the authorities to periodic rise in utility prices without looking ways for reducing expenditure waste and corruption to reduce government spending. In our view the government is undermining the business environment and low cost living opportunity of people rising tariffs and taxes. Garment workers are agitating now; rights groups have threatened strikes next week to protest gas price hikes. It is true that using police power the government will be able to keep people off the streets as it is doing at Ashulia, but it is not a solution. Only an accountable government may be sensible to keep cost of doing business low down to keep peace in the society. Flight chaos hits HSIA Emergency Biman aircraft landing disrupts schedule: Incoming planes diverted to Kolkata and Ctg airports: Untold sufferings to passengers A team of CTTC police arrested seven top Biman officials from the city\'s different areas on Wednesday night over technical glitch in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina\'s flight following their recent suspension. Special Correspondent : The Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport [HSIA], the lone airport in Dhaka mainly used for civilian passengers, witnessed a chaotic situation on Thursday due to disruption in flight schedule following the emergency landing of a Biman aircraft. The situation occurred when a flight of Bangladesh Biman, coming from Muscat and destined for Chittagong, made an emergency landing blocking the main runway resulting from cracks in one of its rear wheels, officials told The New Nation. Hundreds of passengers of domestic and international routes had to suffer tremendous problem while schedule of several flights were altered by the authorities apparently to re-adjust the timetable. At the same time, tension prevailed among the friends and relatives of passengers, who went to the airport to welcome or see-off their near and dear ones, seeing unconventional flying of aircrafts in the sky being prohibited from landing in the blocked runway. Couples of domestic and international planes had to roam over the HSIA for not getting clearance from the airport authorities. Some planes landed in the adjacent Chittagong and Kolkata airports. They had to make alternate landing in the nearby airports after they faced fuel shortage due to additional flying in the sky more than one hour. The flight of Qatar Airways [flight-640] coming from Dallas via Doha was scheduled to land at 10:10 am at HSIA. But it had to alter its destination and landed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. It again returned to Dhaka at 3:00pm. At about 9:45am, the Biman aircraft [flight BG122] carrying over 149 passengers along with seven crews made the emergency landing at HSIA bursting its second rear wheel on the concrete runway. Its first rear wheel was ruptured immediately after took off from Oman. The panic stricken passengers, however, were disembarked apparently without any injury. The Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh [CAAB] managed to clear the runway pulling out the aircraft after two and a half hours disruption. The airport activities, particularly take-off and landing of the aircrafts, were closed during the aforesaid period. The normal flight activities were resumed at about 12: 30pm. The Biman authorities last night formed a four-member inquiry committee headed by Deputy Chief of Flight Safety Captain AN Ahmed to find out the reason behind the incident, General Manager [public relations] of Bangladesh Biman Shakil Meraj said. Director of HSIA Group Captain Kazi Iqbal Karim said that the flight of Bangladesh Biman made emergency landing following "technical fault". "One of the rear wheels [left side] of Boeing 738 was cracked just after it took-off from Muscat, the capital of Oman, at about 4:48am. It was bound for Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport [SAIA]. But its wheel burst just after it spread wings," he said. Significantly, the incident took place at a time when the national flag carrier Biman has been facing widespread criticism following the emergency landing of the VVIP plane in Turkmenistan carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on November 27. Manager of SAIA Wing Commander Riajul Kabir said: "Due to shut down of flight operation at HSIA, a number of aircrafts, including one of US Bangla Airlines and another of Regent Airways, returned back to SAIA after takeoff from there." On December 12, another Myanmar-bound aircraft of Bangladesh Biman was compelled to return Dhaka due to technical fault. Later, it started journey again after repairing engine making a delay for six hours. Meanwhile, the members of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of Police on Thursday arrested seven Biman officials in connection with a case filed over the glitch in Prime Minister's flight. The arrested were identified as Biman's Chief Engineer [Production] Debesh Chowdhury, Chief Engineer [Inspection and Quality Control] SA Siddique, Chief Engineer [NCC] Billal Hossain, and engineers Lutfar Rahman, Samiul Haque, Milon Chandra Biswas and Zakir Hossain. Deputy Commission of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Masudur Rahman said they were nabbed on Wednesday late night from different parts of the city. Two other suspects in the case, junior technical officer Md Siddiqur Rahman and engineering official SM Rokonuzzaman, were sent to jail after they surrender to court yesterday. Big victory for Ivy 58 percent vote cast Staff Reporter : The ruling Awami League (AL)-backed mayoral candidate Dr Selina Hayat Ivy clinched a resounding victory again over the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Shakhawat Hossain Khan in yesterday's election to the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC). In the prestigious battle of the ballot, Ivy bagged 174,602 votes while Shakhwat 96,700 votes at 174 centres in the NCC poll, Returning Officer Nuruzzaman Talukder unofficially confirmed the results. A total of 273,500 voters out of 474,931 cast their votes to elect one mayor and 36 councillors in the NCC's 27 wards. Of the voters, 241, 514 are males and 237,878 females. The voters franchised their voting rights at 1,304 booths under 174 polling centres. The percentage of vote was 58 percent. The AL has finally stormed the citadel of the opposition BNP through a decisive victory for its candidate at the NCC mayoral ballot. It is the country's first city corporation election that was held along the political party line. The NCC poll saw a good voters' turnout. The NCC Election was in a free, fair and peaceful manner as well as in festive mood. The voting began at 8:00am continued till at 4:00pm without any break. In the first mayoral elections in 2011, Ivy ran and won against then AL-backed Shamim Osman by around one lakh votes as an independent candidate. The BNP-backed candidate Khandaker Taimur Alam had withdrawn at the eleventh hour. Both the AL and BNP high commands desperately tried to secure a win in the NCC polls to revitalise their grassroots leaders and workers. A total of 191 candidates contested for 37 posts and of them seven contenders were for the mayoral post and 156 contested in 27 wards while 38 are for nine women reserved seats. The other mayoral party candidates are Islami Oikya Jote-backed Mufti Ezharul Islam with "minar", Mahbubur Rahman Ismail of Bangladesh Biplobi Workers Party with "spade", Islami Andolon-backed Mufti Masum Billah with "hand fan", Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidate Kamal Pradhan with "umbrella" and Kalyan Party's Rashed Ferdous with "wrist watch". The Kalyan Party and LDP candidates, however, announced their withdrawal from the race ahead of the polling. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on Thursday said the election to NCC was held in a free and fair manner due to proper support of the candidates and their followers. The CEC came up with the remark while addressing a post-election press conference at the Election Commission after the end of voting at 4:00pm. Huge law enforcers were deployed in the city to ward off any untoward incident, he said, adding nine EC officials were sent to each ward to observe the election. He said two major candidates AL-backed incumbent mayor Ivy Rahman and BNP-nominee Shakhawat Hossain Khan expressed their satisfaction over the polls environment. Ivy and Shakhawat cast their votes at their respective voting centres. Shakhawat cast his vote at Adrasha School of Jamatola area at about 8.20am. Our Narayanganj Correspondent adds: Narayanganj's police super Mainul Haq said law enforcement agencies brought the town under a security blanket calling in elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and coastguard alongside police to enforce a sharp vigil during the polling. "No untoward incident took place in the NCC areas during the election time," he added. Suspended Biman officials placed on remand Court Correspondent : The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka on Thursday placed seven officials of Biman Bangladesh Airlines on a seven-day remand each in the case filed for alleged technical glitch in the plane carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Magistrate Snigdha Rani Chakraborty of the CMM Court passed the order after hearing on the 10 days' remand plea a Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit inspector, who produced the seven accused to court. The seven accused persons : Samiul Haque, Lutfor Rahman, Milon Chandra Biswas, Zakir Hossain, Debesh Chowdhury- Chief Engineer (Production), SA Siddique-Chief Engineer (Quality Assurance) and Billal Hossain- Principal Engineer. Earlier, the police arrested them two days after the case was lodged. Meanwhile, two fugitives officials of the Biman- engineer Rokonuzzaman and junior technician Siddiqur Rahman surrendered to a Dhaka court on Thursday afternoon and they were sent to the jail rejecting their bail petitions. The authorities lodged the case with Airport Police Station of the capital Tuesday night against nine of their suspended officials. The Boeing-777, carrying the Prime Minister on her way to Budapest of Hungary on November 27 had to made emergency landing at Turkmenistan's Ashgabat International Airport sensing low pressure of oil in the engine of the plane. Three probe committees were formed by the Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry in connection with the incident of November 28. Proves of theses committees found that the VVIP plane made the emergency landing at Ashgabat International Airport of Turkmenistan after a loose nut caused leakage of engine oil that lowered the oil pressure of engine No. 1 of the Boeing 777-300ER plane. EU calls to form independent EC Staff Reporter : The European Union (EU) has called upon Bangladesh to form an independent Election Commission (EC) to ensure participation of all political parties in the next general elections. "The EU encouraged Bangladesh in forming an independent, impartial, non-partisan and highly-qualified Election Commission to hold the next general elections in a fully participatory way," according to a press release on Wednesday. The press release was issued after the EU and Bangladesh held their biennial meeting of the Sub-group on Good Governance and Human Rights in the framework of the EU-Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement in Brussels. Both sides consider human rights to be a cornerstone of their bilateral relations, as recognised by the Cooperation Agreement, it said. It also expressed concerns on extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, the death penalty, freedom of association and freedom of expression, and overall on shrinking space for civil society. The EU also raised the situation of minorities, child labour and domestic violence. The Principal Advisor for gender issues and UNSCR 1325, Mara Marinaki, offered the EU's support to Bangladesh on developing its Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. This offer was welcomed by Bangladesh, the release read. Recognising the long-standing solidarity of Bangladesh with those fleeing violence in Myanmar, the EU urged Bangladesh not to deport them or turn them back, but to provide assistance and protection until the situation stabilises and their safe return can be ensured, thus contributing to the stability of the region. These issues will be further discussed at the EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission, to be held in Brussels in the first half of 2017. The EU delegation was led by Veronica Cody, Head of Division Regional Affairs, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan in the European External Action Service (EEAS). The Bangladeshi delegation was led by Mohammad Shahidul Haque, Secretary, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and it included representatives from various Ministries. Mitu`s father, husband again interrogated Staff Reporter : After quizzing former Superintendent of Police (SP) Babul Akhter in connection with his wife Mahmuda Khatun Mitu's murder, Police grilled his father-in-law Mosharraf Hossain on Thursday. Investigation Officer of the case and Additional Deputy Police Commissioner of the Detective Branch of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Md Kamruzzaman questioned Mosharraf Hossain at the CMP office. Kamruzzaman, who is also the ADC (South) of CMP interrogated Mosharraf Hossain for four hours from 10:30am. Former Chittagong SP Babul Akhter reached Chittagong to testify in the case on December 15. Maintaining much secrecy, the investigation officer arranged the interview on the day. The IO quizzed him for three hours at the CMP Headquarters. But Babul Akhter refrained from answering most of the questions. Sometimes he said he did not know anything and sometimes he burst into tears. Mahmuda Khatun Mitu was stabbed and then shot dead in the Chittagong city's GEC crossing area on June 5. About the murder, Babul Akhter filed a case against three unidentified men with Panchlaish Police Station. He mentioned in the complaint of the case that he conducted raids against the militants from time to time when he was Additional Deputy Police Commissioner of the Detective Branch of CMP. He also arrested many militants with arms and bullets. In view of it, the militants might have killed his wife in revenge. After receiving promotion as police super, Babul Akhter joined the Police Headquarters in Dhaka in June last. He resigned from job voluntarily. Most militant `gurus` still untraced Md Joynal Abedin Khan : Many 'gurus' (masterminds) behind the terror attacks at different places of the country including most dreadful carnage in city's Gulshan Cafe still remain untraced. The militant outfit new Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh (new-JMB) carried out attacks in city's Gulshan Cafe and different places in the country killing free thinkers, teachers, priests, police officials and foreigners. "At least 25 to 30 masterminds were involved in the terror attacks. Of them four masterminds were killed during police raids in capital Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Gaibandha districts. But most of them still remain untraced," an official of police headquarters preferring not to be named told The New Nation. However, Home Minister, Inspector General of Police and several intelligence officials claimed that the masterminds have already been identified and many of them were killed during law enforcers' raids. All the militant outfit masterminds have already been brought under the surveillance, thy claimed. The terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital's Gulshan Diplomatic enclave left 29 people mostly foreigners killed, including two police officials on July 1 this year. As a few number of militants surrendered to the law enforcers and some other missing youths returned to their families, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the era of militant outfit ended. On August 28, the 'mastermind' of the Gulshan cafe attack, Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, and two other militants, Iqbal and Manik were killed in Narayanganj. "At least five masterminds, including Tamim Chowdhury and Iqbal, were killed in different raids and rest of the organizers still traceless," DMP sources said. We have primarily suspected that the all mastermind militants will have arrested in ongoing raids, they said. Meanwhile, Shafiul Islam Don was arrested during Sholakia attack and killed in gunfight with RAB in Mymensingh, and Rakibul Hasan Regan was arrested in Kallyanpur raid. The listed militants Nurul Islam alias Marzan, Asim Azwad Abdullah alias Asif, Abu Yusuf Mohammad alias Bangalee, Abul Kashem alias Boro Hujur, Razib Gandhi alias Shubhash alias Jahangir, Mamunur Rashis alias Ripon, Shariful Islam Khalid, Commander Manik, Commander Iqbal, Commander Mamun, Junayed Hasan alias Khan, Shakib alias Master, Mia alias Badal, Sagar alias Bagha, Akash, Azadul alias Kabiraj, and Chocklet are on the run. According to Indian National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Talha Sheikh, Kawsar, Nasirullah alias Shahadat alias Sohel Mahfuj alias Bhagne, and Sheikh Rahmat Ullah alias Sazid and Yousuf are the planners of militant activates in Bangladesh. Police have no idea about their whereabouts. On the other hand, the dens are situated in city's Rupnagar, Pallabi Sector-14, Mohammadpur's Nobodoy Housing, Basila, Kamrangir Chor, Badda's Satarkul Road, DIT Housing, Banasree Residential Area, Jatrabari's Shahid Faruque Road, Demra's Sarulia, Tangra, Baro Bhangarpool, Dakkhinkhan's Sardar Para, Kawla, Uttarkhan's Mausaid, Old Dhaka's Nazimuddin Raod, Loharpool, and Chankharpool. But they changed the address after presence of the watch of law enforcing agencies. Monirul Islam, Chief of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, said that law enforcers have gathered information about 30 militant dens and these were watched of cops. The militants have no capacity to conduct any attack on new spots as law enforcers are remain on high alert about them, he said. "We don't know who are the masterminds behind the Gulshan and others attacks. We are searching for evidence and the possible masterminds of the terror attacks. We are trying to arrest of different militant masterminds," the CTTC added. Mohammad Sanwar Hossein, Addional Deputy Commissioner of CTTC, said, "We are confirmed that some masterminds have already been killed in police raids. We are investigating the militants' strategy and policy that how and in what way they carry out terror activities." "Time has not come yet to say the JMB has been destroyed. However, we could say we have the control over the militant operations right now," the ADC said. "The youths who went into hiding or went missing are returning," he said while inaugurating the Fire Service and Civil Defense Week at Mirpur in city. On October 1, Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque said militancy would never get any space in the law enforcers took them under control. Power generation up, distribution poor Anisul Islam Noor : The government sign deals to generate power or import from India and Bhutan though distribution capacity is poor or unsmart, the experts said. According to data of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) actual power consumption was 5451 MW in the day hours on December 21 while it was raised 7324MW in evening peak hours. Recently Power Division celebrate "Alok Utsob" on the occasion of power generation capacity reached 15,000 MW. "If we observed the chart of power distribution and generation, a big gave is seen there, what does mean by it? It means there is wrong planning," talking with The New Nation on Thursday Professor Shamsul Alam said. The government signed so many deals with different local and foreign farms arguing increase the power generation and celebrating 15000 MW electricity generation capacity but actual generation is half of the figure, he said. Many industries in Dhaka and Chittagong can not go to production due to lack of electricity connection, he said. He asked the government why huge of generation capacity is sit idle ignoring the demand of electricity both in the household and industrial sector, Shamsul Alam said. Professor Anu Muhammad said, the government is interested to sign deals with three Indian firms to build an offshore LNG terminal and two power plants and import 1,600MW of electricity from the neighbouring country. He kept question that the government has to prove first the distribution level in line of power generation capacity before signing further deal. Rising dependency on private sector for power generation professor Anu Muhammad also said that awarding power projects to private sector for pleasuring a quarter of group will bring disaster in the country's power sector in future. However, the government is determined to signed deals soon with three Indian company for building an LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal and a 750-MW capacity re-gasified LNG-based combined cycle power plant (CCPP) by Reliance Power Ltd, importing 1,600MW electricity to be generated from the Adani-owned coal-fired power plant in India's Jharkhand and setting up a 225-MW gas-fired power plant by Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital Company Limited, a subsidiary of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, in Bhola involving several billion US dollars. The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) and state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) are now busy preparing relevant documents before putting them on the table for signing during the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit which is slated for February, a senior MPEMR official The documents include the draft of power purchase agreement (PPA) and implementation agreement (IA) and land lease agreement (LLA), he said. Awarding of the power plants to foreign firms through inking deals in any foreign country would be the first of its kind for Bangladesh. "We are now working to finalise the draft deals," BPDB Chairman Khaled Mahmood. All these projects are expected to be awarded under Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provisions) Act 2010, which provides for awarding contracts avoiding tenders and indemnifies officials concerned against prosecution for making decisions. Indian firms are going to ink the deals without offering any bid bond against the projects, officials said. The BPDB, the country's lone buyer of electricity from producers, would purchase electricity from the power plants to be owned by the Indian firms, sources said. The BPDB had inked separate Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with Indian Reliance Power Ltd and Adani Power Ltd during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka in June 2015. US widens sanctions against Russia Dialogue with US frozen, Trump might be more constructive Tass, Washington : The United States broadened the sanction list against Russia related to developments in Ukraine, the US Treasury Department said in its statement on Tuesday. Seven individuals, several dozens of organizations and two vessels under the Russian flag were included into the list. Nine regional units of Russian gas producer Novatek are now in the sanction list. Furthermore, Crimean Ports, Crimean Railways, Stroiproekt Institute, Transflot, and others are in the hit list as well. Marshal Zhukov and Stalingrad, two vessels bearing the Russian flag and subjected to sanctions, belong to Transflot company. The US Treasury Department made an update for Russia's Glavgosexpertiza in its sanction list of legal entities and individuals. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department published General License 11 "Authorizing Certain Transactions With FAU Glavgosekspertiza Rossii." "This general license authorizes certain transactions that are ordinarily incident and necessary to requesting, contracting for, paying for, receiving, or utilizing a project design review or permit from FAU Glavgosekspertiza Rossii's office(s) in the Russian Federation," the document said. Glavgosexpertiza Rossii hit by sanctions on September 1, 2016 is the leading Russian institution dealing with expert reviews of design documents and findings of engineering surveys. Sanctions against four construction and transport companies are introduced "because they operate in the Crimea region," the document says. Institut Stroiproekt is working on the construction of highway segments for the Kerch Bridge project, the Treasury Department said. "The main purpose of the planned highway is to provide transport links between the Crimean peninsula and mainland Russian Federation," the document reports. Karst LLC "was subcontracted to make foundational piling and supports for the Kerch Bridge", the authority said. Crimean Railway and Crimean Ports are also in the sanction list. Restrictive measures against four other companies [Transpetrochart, Trans-Flot, Solid and RusChemTrade - TASS] were introduced "because they materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, OJSC Sovfracht" earlier hit by sanctions, the US Treasury Department said. Under the document, seven Russians were added to the list of sanctions, imposed on Russia over its stance regarding the conflict in Ukraine and reunification with Crimea. Six of those individuals - Kirill Kovalchuk, Dmitri Lebedev, Dmitri Mansurov, Mikhail Klishin, Oleg Minaev, and Mikhail Dedov - were put on the list of sanctions for "acting for or on behalf of and providing financial, material, or technological support to Bank Rossiya, ABR Management, or Sobinbank," the US Treasury said in a statement. These companies were added to the list of sanctions between 2014 and 2016. The seventh individual, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, was designated for "having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, senior officials of the Russian Federation," the US Treasury said. "Prigozhin has extensive business dealings with the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense, and a company with significant ties to him holds a contract to build a military base near the Russian Federation border with Ukraine," the statement reads. The blacklist of sectoral sanctions was expanded to include "a number of subsidiaries of the Russian Agricultural Bank and Novatek as being 50% or more owned by their respective parent entities." The two companies fell under the US sanctions in 2014. Moscow reserves the right to choose the time, venue and form of counter-moves to US sanctions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Tass Tuesday, commenting on the move. "We will be expanding our lists, we will see how we can respond asymmetrically. We reserve the right to choose the timing, the venue and form of counter-moves the way that will suit us, and the way it will be relevant to our own priorities in the American direction," he said. The United States and the European Union introduced sanctions against Russia in view of developments in Ukraine and reunification of Crimea with Russia. Sanctions were repeatedly extended and renewed. Mean while, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday dialogue with the United States was frozen at most levels but that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump might have a more constructive attitude towards Russia. "We're not wearing rose-tinted glasses, we have no illusions about any breakthroughs but hope for a more constructive approach," Peskov said. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was examining how it would approach the incoming administration when it takes office on Jan. 20. "We are of course actively working on a constructive agenda for our relations (with the United States) after the arrival of the new administration," Ryabkov was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying. He said the world was undergoing its most stormy period for decades. "Processes of such complexity are intertwined, and the appearance of contradictory and conflicting (national) interests sometimes takes on extremely harsh forms," he said. Pry, Ebtedayee terminal exams results Dec 29 UNB, Dhaka : The results of Primary and Ebtedayee terminal examinations 2016 will be published on December 29 next. Primary and Mass Education Minister advocate Mostafizur Rahman will hand over copies of the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 10:45 am on that day, Public Relations Officer of Primary and Mass Education Ministry Rabindranath Roy told UNB. Later, Mostafizur Rahman will publish the results formally at a press conference at the Secretariat at 1pm, he said. The results of the Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations will also be published on the same day. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid will hand over copies of the results of the JSC and JDC to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 10 am on that day. This year's Primary and Ebtedayee terminal examinations were held from November 17 to 27 while the JSC and JDC examinations were held from November 1 to November 17. PM to open dot bangla domain on Dec 31 BSS, Dhaka : The much-awaited dot bangla domain would be unlocked for the people on December 31. "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given her consent to inaugurate the dot bangla domain on December 31 at a ceremony at Ganabhaban," Posts and Telecommunications Division Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury told BSS yesterday. Later, the domain would be distributed among the people, he added. State-owned Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL), the assigned organization to handle the domain, has completed preparations to start distribution of dot bangla domain among the users after it has been officially allotted to Bangladesh on October 4 after a long process. After getting the right, state minister for posts and telecommunications Tarana Halim had said that they want to unlock it for the people in the month of victory, as the country attained independence on December 16. Officials said, the BTCL would call for application for the domain. They said customer could complete all procedures for .bangla through online while registration fee would be received using state-owned mobile phone operator Teletalk. The International Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICAAN) has officially allotted the dot bangla (.bangla) internet domain to Bangladesh. The ICANN sent a letter to the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology informing the decision on October 4. Indian state West Bengal and Sierra Leone, one of whose official languages is Bangla, had also applied for the internationalized domain name (IDN) label-dot bangla. You might have also seen a viral video of the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey that quickly spread through the Internet worldwide.Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty police officer in Ankara on December 19 when the ambassador was giving a speech at an art gallery. The shooter managed to pretend himself as his official bodyguard and later shot to death by Turkish special forces.After this shocking incident, Apple has been asked to help unlock an iPhone 4S recovered from the shooter, which could again spark up battle similar to the one between Apple and the FBI earlier this year.Turkish and Russian authorities have asked Apple to help them bypass the PIN code on an iPhone 4S, which, the authorities believe, could assist them to investigate killer's links to various terrorist organizations.Apple is expected to refuse the request, but according to MacReports and other local media, the Russian government is reportedly sending a team of experts to Turkey to help authorities unlock the iPhone.In Apple vs. FBI case , Apple declined to help the FBI unlock an iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, saying that any backdoor it developed would eventually end up falling into the wrong hands.The FBI reportedly got outside help to unlock the iPhone, for which the agency paid almost $1.3 Million to a group of hackers to unlock that device but found nothing that could help them in the investigation.The man who killed the Russian ambassador on Monday was later identified as 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altntas, an off-duty police officer who used his police ID to gain access to the Ankara art gallery where Karlov was giving a speech.During the assassination, the shooter shouted "Don't forget Aleppo," and according to both Russian and Turkish authorities, the assassination was designed to destabilize the relationship between the two countries. Median weekly earnings of $630 in 2015 represent 76.1 percent of the $828 median weekly earnings of male counterparts. In 2015, Louisiana women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of $630 or 76.1 percent of the $828 median weekly earnings of their male counterparts, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Dec. 20. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the 2015 Louisiana womens to mens earnings ratio fell from 2014, down 1.4 percentage points. Nationwide, women earned $726 per week or 81.1 percent of the $895 median for men. In Louisiana, the ratio of womens to mens earnings trended upward from 1997 to 2005 before declining to a series low of 65 percent in 2009. The ratio reached a series high of 77.5 percent in 2014 before declining to 76.1 percent in 2015. Despite the latest decline, the general trend has been upward since the 2009 series low, and the 2015 womens to mens earnings ratio was the second highest level since the series began in 1997. Read the full report here. On Jan. 25, high school students from across Acadiana will explore different career paths, visit with local companies and realize the importance of a good education at the 2017 Career Connections. In January, high school students from across Acadiana will explore different career paths, visit with local companies and realize the importance of a good education at the 2017 Career Connections. Now in its 18th year, Career Connections invites approximately 4,000 studentsincluding public, private and homeschooled studentsfrom Lafayette, Iberia, St. Martin, and Vermilion parishes to discover a multitude of careers that are available to them. Its an event for 10th Grade students that allows them to explore a wide variety of careers from professional to technical that they might be interested in, says Debbie Burkheiser, chairperson for the event. It gives them a way to see how what theyre learning in school can apply in real life. Past years of the expo have featured more than 90 career booths for students to explore. Some of the booths include both professional and technical careers in the areas of engineering and technology, business and finance, health and human services, and arts and humanities. Our number one goal is to get as many different kinds of businesses in there so that the kids can have a lot of different options, says Burkheiser. So were always searching for a wide variety of businesses to highlight a wide variety of careers. And once students have had a chance to explore their various career options, they can then visit another section of the Cajundome Convention Center called the Reality Store, which is being coordinated for the expo by the United Way, that allows students to shop for a months worth of living expenses to better prepare them for life after they begin their career paths. About 200 community volunteers come in and work with the students to help them figure out how to best manage their financial resources and prepare them for their eventual home life with categories including housing, transportation, leisure and entertainment, family life, and the money tree. It gives them a real good reality of what it costs to live, says Burkheiser. So, those two elements combined is a powerful learning experience for them. Businesses are needed to participate in this event in all career fields. In past years, students have specifically asked for more companies in careers such as dentists, plumbers, physicians, veterinarians, sociologists, psychologists and automotive technicians. Sponsors, which include IND Media, are also needed to help cover event expenses and assist governmental and nonprofit agencies with booth fees. Surveys from past years have found that students have a better understanding of their likely career paths, and students who participated in the event were more likely to graduate from high school. The 2017 Career Connections expo will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the Cajundome Convention Center. Donations to the event are welcome. For more information on Career Connections including how interested businesses and volunteers can take part, visit www.Lafayette.org/CareerConnections or email [email protected] A subsidiary of the Evangeline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America purchased McGees Landing, a move that will turn the Henderson levee property into a magnet for scouting adventure and educational activities for decades to come. Louisiana Swamp Base's Ben Pierce, left, David Allemond of McGee's Landing, scout exec Art Hawkins and Louisiana Swamp Base's Gary McGoffin Photo by Robin May Louisiana Swamp Base has purchased McGees Landing Restaurant & Basin Tours in a move the new owners envision will turn the Henderson levee property into a magnet for Boy Scouts adventure and educational activities for decades to come. Louisiana Swamp Base, incorporated in late 2014, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Evangeline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, according to Ben Pierce, Swamp Bases executive director. Each year Swamp Base focuses on improving the quality and experience of the Atchafalaya Swamp through environmental stewardship efforts and high adventure programs that instill pride and ownership in the area by allowing youth to experience the swamp firsthand, reads the Louisiana Swamp Base website. Gary McGoffin, secretary for Louisiana Swamp Base, says the project has its roots in a long-range planning process that began during his tenure as president of the Evangeline Area Council. In 2010, the Council made a 100-year commitment to annually immerse thousands of youth in the Atchafalaya Basin, McGoffin says. Our goal was to revitalize scouting in the region, and we identified high adventure as a path to differentiate scouting from other youth activities. The Atchafalaya Basin was the natural setting for that. The council hit upon the idea of creating an operating endowment that would enable it to put its money to work on capital investments as well as cash flow-generating ideas. Were going to have a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) lab and a STEM camp to enable young people to engage with nature, McGoffin says. Mike DeHart, chair of the Louisiana Swamp Base board, says the organization has been working on securing a spot like McGees Landing for five years. For Swamp Base, this catapults us from a program that serves 2,000 scouts per year into a national treasure, DeHart says. We will be able to get scouts on the water here from across the globe. For Scouting, it elevates our program on par with Philmont and camps in Galveston and the Florida Keys, DeHart continues. Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico operates a high adventure program. Galveston is home to the Sea Scouts Base programs. The Florida National High Adventure Sea Base program is located at mile marker 73.8 on the Overseas Highway that links Key West to the Florida Peninsula. DeHart envisions the Louisiana Swamp Base High Adventure Treks developing the kind of draw those facilities have. DeHart says the sale of McGees Landing by owners David and Peggy Allemond of Washington, La., closed Tuesday. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Pierce tells The IND that David Allemond, who is staying on as tour manager and is also providing consulting services through the transition, had fond memories of scouting in his youth and was receptive to the idea of selling the facility and ground to Louisiana Swamp Base. What a legacy to leave, Pierce says of the Allemonds. Theyre selling to a good cause that is going to promote positive uses of the property by giving scouts and others access and exposure to the area. There is no better setting for our program than that spot on the levee in Henderson. Louisiana Swamp Bases High Adventure Treks have brought 1,000 or more Boy Scouts into the Basin on six-day, six-night, 61.6-mile canoe treks through the western side of the Basin. Trek 2, which will start in 2017, will cover 75 miles. Pierce says public access to the Basin from the landing will continue, as will swamp tours. He adds that Louisiana Swamp Base also plans to have a restaurant component, noting that while the existing McGee's restaurant has already been closed for renovations, the swamp tours and airboat tours are still operating. The facilities built by Louisiana Swamp Base will be universally accessible, Pierce and DeHart say, to enable people with physical challenges to experience the swamp. Since we began our High Adventure Trek program in 2013, we havent had a facility, Pierce says. We used dormitories at UL Lafayette and rented the equipment we needed. Thats about to change. Pierce says plans are to construct a 40,000-square-foot conference and lodging facility on the McGees Landing property. He estimates the cost for the building and other site enhancements to be about $30 million. DeHart says Louisiana Swamp Base will begin a capital campaign to raise the needed money in 2017. The Evangeline Area Council is one of approximately 280 regional councils affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America across the country. At the end of the day, DeHart says, until we knew the spot where we could base our program, no one could understand the vision. Now weve got the spot. People will be able to understand the vision. McGoffin says the facility will operate year-round and, he believes, will help the swamp. Were going to be creating a broadly based constituency for the Atchafalaya Swamp that will help protect and preserve it for years to come, McGoffin notes. *****5-Stars on Amazon Kindle and on Goodreads GmCw=s600"/> Paris, TX (75460) Today Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. By AM Thursday, December 22, 2016 Share Tweet Share Share Email Kazakhstans main independent trade union confederation is fighting for its life, as a court reviews a justice ministry bid to have it shut down. The legal onslaught on union organisation comes after a four-year drive against opposition political parties and independent media. Nevertheless, the workers movement is not beaten: strikes, even where organised outside the law, are forcing employers and state authorities alike to back off. Kazakhstans main independent trade union confederation is fighting for its life, as a court reviews a justice ministry bid to have it shut down.The legal onslaught on union organisation comes after a four-year drive against opposition political parties and independent media. Nevertheless, the workers movement is not beaten: strikes, even where organised outside the law, are forcing employers and state authorities alike to back off. Workers at Emir Oil, Kazakhstan, display a banner protesting at the legal attack on independent trade unions. Photo by KNPRK. The Justice Ministrys case against the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (KNPRK) opened in Shymkent, in the south of the country, on 5 December. The ministry is also urging the liquidation of industrial affiliate organisations representing mine workers, medical staff and domestic workers. The KNPRK (formerly the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, KSPK) is the largest grouping of industrial and local union organisations outside the yellow state-linked Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (FPRK). In October it affiliated to the International Trade Union Confederation, which has The Justice Ministrys case has been brought under the 2014 trade union law, which imposes requirements for registration that are almost impossible to meet. Before the law was introduced, Kazakhstan had 896 trade union organisations, but only 163 survived the registration procedure, Larisa Kharkova, president of the KNPRK, told Fergana that the Justice Ministry had refused to register the confederations regional branches, without which the national organisation is in a legal no-mans-land. The union had been refused registration 25 times in the last 18 months, she said: The Justice Ministrys case against the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (KNPRK) opened in Shymkent, in the south of the country, on 5 December.The ministry is also urging the liquidation of industrial affiliate organisations representing mine workers, medical staff and domestic workers. The KNPRK (formerly the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, KSPK) is the largest grouping of industrial and local union organisations outside the yellow state-linked Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (FPRK).In October it affiliated to the International Trade Union Confederation, which has joined a worldwide protest campaign against the repression. A recent report by Human Rights Watch also helps , explaining the governments attempt to strangle union organisation in detail. If you want to protest, you could sign the petition launched by LabourStart The Justice Ministrys case has been brought under the 2014 trade union law, which imposes requirements for registration that are almost impossible to meet. Before the law was introduced, Kazakhstan had 896 trade union organisations, but only 163 survived the registration procedure, the independent web site Fergana.ru reported Larisa Kharkova, president of the KNPRK, told Fergana that the Justice Ministry had refused to register the confederations regional branches, without which the national organisation is in a legal no-mans-land. The union had been refused registration 25 times in the last 18 months, she said: We are up against a terrible situation: the closure of trade unions by the state. First the repressive trade union law was passed, which breached our rights and all the international conventions. The law required all trade unions to re-register [with the justice ministry], revise its rules and statutes and in a six-month period affiliate to an industrial or national structure. We did all of that. But then the ministry of justice, instead of registering our affiliates, started issuing writs for the cancellation of state registration. Nurbek Kushakbaev, president of the KNPRK-affiliated Industrial Union of Workers in the Fuel-Energy Complex in Mangistau region in western Kazakhstan, where most of the oil and gas industry is based, described the spiders web of bureaucratic tricks used to prevent organisations from registering. He told Fergana: In our region its the affiliates of the KNPRK that are prevented from registering. When they find out that a local organisation has been opened with our help and in the future could become a member organisation, they find any reasons or excuses not to register it. A simple answer: they take one document out of the packet [of documents to be submitted], and say that it is missing. Sometimes they argue about the grammar [used when the forms are filled in]. Probably they have been instructed [by the authorities] not to register us, and they are just obeying orders. Officials of the state-linked FPRK actively finger genuine union activists, Kushakbaev said. He gave the example of Kairakbai Zhanabekov, head of the FPRKs Mangistau organisation, who wrote to the district prosecutor,calling for a case to be brought against two militants of the independent union Aktau, Mukhtar Ubetov and Kenzhegali Suyeyuov. His complaint was that they support strikes, rallies and hunger strikes by oil workers and work in non-registered organisations. Workers at Kazstroiservis during their successful protest action. Photo by KNPRK On 5 October, Burgylau, a drilling contractor that works for the national oil company Kazmunaigaz, The Burgylau workers had demanded, first, that the company switch to a salary calculation system used by Kazmunaigaz, which they reckoned would raise their take-home pay, and, second, the reinstatement of their shop-floor union representative Sadaukas (Saken) Bekkaliyev, who had been sacked after a campaign of intimidation against him. Burgylau agreed to support Bekkaliyev in an appeal against a conviction for theft of company property that had led to his dismissal, paving the way for his reinstatement. It was the second time Bekkaliyev had been sacked. He Burgylau has been hit hard by the fall in oil prices, which has led to well-drilling being slowed. The drilling rate dropped by 40% last year and will fall another 50%, deputy energy minister Aset Magauov has been quoted as saying. An earlier strike, in July, against cuts in pay rates and hours of work, had been supported by several hundred of the workers, Fergana.ru reported. Workers at Kazstroiservis, an oilfield service company, at Fort Shevchenko in western Kazakhstan, also forced management to back down after a two-day action on 19-20 November. The workers, organised in the local trade union Tupkaragan, went on hunger strike at their workplace and then Kazakhstan has been shaken by social movements outside the workplace, too, this year. In May On Friday, the Kazakh workers movement will mark the fifth anniversary of the notorious police shootings of oil workers at Zhanaozen. Last weekend, a commemoration meal to honour the victims was held at Tenge, near Zhanaozen. Relatives of those killed attended, and a camel and three sheep were slaughtered in accordance with custom, The government clampdown on unions smacks of desperation. The price of oil, exports of which are a huge chunk of Kazakhstans wealth, is down; the economy in recession; and, despite the measures against unions, strikes flare up quite often in the oil industry and elsewhere.On 5 October, Burgylau, a drilling contractor that works for the national oil company Kazmunaigaz, caved in to workers demands after a six-day strike by 2300 of its employees. It was the latest round of industrial conflict in Zhanaozen, the oil town in Mangistau where in 2011 a police massacre of strikers ended with at least 16 dead and 60 injured.The Burgylau workers had demanded, first, that the company switch to a salary calculation system used by Kazmunaigaz, which they reckoned would raise their take-home pay, and, second, the reinstatement of their shop-floor union representative Sadaukas (Saken) Bekkaliyev, who had been sacked after a campaign of intimidation against him.Burgylau agreed to support Bekkaliyev in an appeal against a conviction for theft of company property that had led to his dismissal, paving the way for his reinstatement.It was the second time Bekkaliyev had been sacked. He told EurasiaNet.org that the workers wanted assurances that our constitutional rights will be defended, that public organisations and trade unions will be able to work, and that no-one will hinder them.Burgylau has been hit hard by the fall in oil prices, which has led to well-drilling being slowed. The drilling rate dropped by 40% last year and will fall another 50%, deputy energy minister Aset Magauov has been quoted as saying. An earlier strike, in July, against cuts in pay rates and hours of work, had been supported by several hundred of the workers, Fergana.ru reported.Workers at Kazstroiservis, an oilfield service company, at Fort Shevchenko in western Kazakhstan, also forced management to back down after a two-day action on 19-20 November. The workers, organised in the local trade union Tupkaragan, went on hunger strike at their workplace and then demonstrated silently in the town square after their shift.Kazakhstan has been shaken by social movements outside the workplace, too, this year. In May demonstrations erupted against changes to the land ownership laws, bringing tens of thousands of people on to the streets. Last month the regime took its revenge on two activists, Maks Bokaev and Talgat Ayan, who were jailed for five years each for inciting social discord and other political offences.On Friday, the Kazakh workers movement will mark the fifth anniversary of the notorious police shootings of oil workers at Zhanaozen.Last weekend, a commemoration meal to honour the victims was held at Tenge, near Zhanaozen. Relatives of those killed attended, and a camel and three sheep were slaughtered in accordance with custom, Sania Toyken reported on Radio Azattyk The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. The deadline to submit art to the 17th Annual For Kids Sake Art Auction is almost here. Student artists are invited to donate art to the fundraiser by Friday, Dec. 30. Selected art will be professionally framed and displayed in the art auction from March 28 through April 28 at the Longbranch Cafe & Bakery. During the auction, patrons will place silent bids on the donated art pieces. All proceeds benefit For Kids Sake, a nonprofit based in Carbondale that supports over 4,000 students and 550 orphans in Bangladesh, according to a news release from For Kids' Sake. All donated art must be two-dimensional and unframed. For Kids' Sake will notify all of the artists whose artworks are selected. These artists will be publicly recognized at the auction. All selected artwork will be considered a donation, and all unselected artwork can be returned to the artists. Artists can drop off or mail artworks to: For Kids Sake, 100 E. Jackson St., Suite C, Carbondale, IL 62901. Artists may also email a .jpg image of their art to info@forkidssake.net. For more information, call 618-529-5044 or email info@forkidssake.net. The Southern Shawnee Community College's annual Young Writers Competition, which encourages local high school students to submit their own nonfiction, fiction, and poetry pieces for the chance to win monetary prizes, is accepting entries now through Feb. 14. The high school writing competition is divided into two divisions: the ninth- and 10th-grade division and 11th- and 12th-grade division. A first, second and third place will be awarded in both divisions for each of the three categories. Entry forms and writing contest guidelines are available online at www.shawneecc.edu/highschoolwritingcontest.asp. Entry packets should be directed to Dr. Ryan Thornsberry, Shawnee Community College, 8364 Shawnee College Road, Ullin, IL 62992. For more information, contact Dr. Ryan Thornsberry at 618-634-3329 or ryant@shawneecc.edu. The Southern ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois is preparing to relinquish his role after spending 16 years in elected office and a quarter-century in federal government. Kirk lost in the Nov. 8 election to Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth. After relinquishing his role he plans to split his time between Highland Park and Washington, D.C, the Daily Herald reported. The Republican senator said he hopes to find a position with a board or organization advancing issues he cares about, such as security in Israel, treatment for stroke victims or the Export-Import Bank. Kirk also added that he is planning a business trip to China, for officials to develop better relationships with the Chinese. Since first being elected to represent the 10th Congressional District in 2000 Kirk said he doesn't regret running as an independent, moderate Republican. "I had hoped to create middle ground based on social moderation and spending moderation, which is increasingly necessary for the future of the country," said Kirk. He also said after his loss in the 2016 general election he doesn't regret criticizing the now President-elect Donald Trump throughout his campaign. He acknowledged that the national Republican Party didn't support his campaign. Kirk mentioned some of his proudest moments in office included "carrying the mantle of (the late Illinois Republican Sen.) Everett Dirksen by being a (proponent of) marriage equality, of the employment nondiscrimination act." Kirk hopes to be remembered as a careful, incremental legislator, a bipartisan lawmaker. "Someone who was in the end not judged by the heat of his rhetoric but by the effectiveness of his actions," he said. CARBONDALE Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has tried to be a voice of voiceless people and a defender of defenseless people throughout his decade-long term, the diplomat told audiences Wednesday in the SIU Student Center Ballrooms. In his final public lecture as secretary-general, Ban discussed challenges facing the world today and what he has learned during his time in office. The talk co-sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and the United Nations Association-USA Southern Illinois Chapter marked Bans first visit to Southern Illinois University Carbondale, although the university had twice invited him to campus in the past. I believe he chose Southern Illinois (for his final public appearance) because of our strong reputation as a national research university and our rich history of embracing international education, which dates back to 1947, just two years after the founding of the United Nations, Interim Chancellor Brad Colwell said before the lecture. We are extremely proud to enroll students from more than 100 nations each year. During his introductory remarks, Colwell announced that SIU is now a member of the United Nations Academic Impact Program, an initiative launched by the secretary-general in 2010 that connects higher-education institutions with the U.N. Im very glad to be in a place where global citizenship is a part of the schools identity, and where diversity is in the campus DNA, Ban said. The South Korean political leader leaves office at the end of the month and will be succeeded by Antonio Guterres. Im counting the days, Ban joked. Ban, who has served as secretary-general since 2007, said his visit to SIU comes at a time of worldwide transition and uncertainty. For the first time in history, the U.N. and U.S. leadership are changing simultaneously; the U.S. presidential term is four or eight years, and the U.N. secretary-general term is five or 10 years. The world is also undergoing a transition in every sense. We are becoming more urban as more people live in cities. We are becoming younger, with the largest generation of youth the world has ever known, Ban said. Ban said he had served during a decade of turmoil, having watched the world suffer the biggest financial collapse since the Great Depression along with a staggering refugee crisis. There are currently more people in need of humanitarian aid than any time since the end of World War II, and at least 130 million people need daily life-sustaining support by the UN. The past decade has also seen political polarization and shocking crimes against civilians, Ban said. Even in peacetime, basic human decency often seems in short supply, as people look and talk past each other. These challenges have been arduous and complicated as any we have seen in the United Nations history, Ban said. The conflict in Syria has defied the efforts of some of the worlds most experienced mediators, Ban said. I continue to stress that there is no military solution. There is only an inclusive political solution, he said. He described the situation in Aleppo as a synonym to hell, and noted that just a few days ago, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution to deploy United Nations monitors to ensure safe evacuation of civilians. There are fires still burning in Yemen, Mali and South Sudan, where tens of thousands of people have been displaced, the secretary-general said. Despite ongoing global crises, there are gains to report, he said. In the past 10 years, the U.N. successfully ended peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone and will soon do the same in Liberia; it has also helped ensure democratic elections in Guinea and Myanmar. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Progress, adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in 2015, is another recent achievement. The plan contains 17 sustainable development goals to create a healthier, more prosperous world and ensure that the planet remains inhabitable. Ban said he also draws hope from the inroads made in combating climate change. The Paris climate change agreement, signed by 194 countries, aims to restrict greenhouse gas emissions and limit the rise of global average temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. We must make sure that whether it is a Republican administration, Democratic administration, whoevers in power, in the United States and elsewhere, this promise must be kept and fully implemented, Ban said. Ban stressed the importance of leading by example when it comes to sustainability issues. I have devoted all my passion, time and energy to make sure that world leaders move in the right direction. If I did not lead by example, I would not have any convincing power, he said. Ban said we need to de-carbonize industrial operations and focus on developing sustainable energies like wind and solar. Citizens should stay engaged and tell elected officials that they should lead by example in lowering greenhouse gas emissions, Ban said. Even in the universities, there are many areas where you can make sure you dont make (many) greenhouse gas emissions and you use sustainable energy. Can you promise? Ban asked. He was met with applause. Ban was scheduled to visit the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield after his lecture, and said he draws hope from the spirit that resides right here in Southern Illinois. One can draw a straight line from the principles President Lincoln defended to those that animate the United Nations charter. Lincoln was a heroic force for equality, integration and reconciliation, he said. He urged students and young people to become global citizens by looking beyond the United States. Just remember that youre a family member of this world, one world, where we have to live together peacefully, equal to everybody. That can be done only when you have a global citizenship, a global vision. Particularly young people, you have a dynamic passion. I will do this, I will become this. That passion is very good. With a person without passion, you cannot make anything. But if your passion is not accompanied with compassion for others, then you dont know where this passion will go, Ban said. In a question-and-answer session following the lecture, Ban told moderator Jak Tichenor that he would not be alive if not for the U.N. He was just six years old when the Korean War broke out. When I was poor, the United Nations brought food. They fed us. When I really wanted to study they brought textbooks, and milk, and water, and clothes. So I am a child of the United Nations, he said. Asked about the future of agricultural production, Ban said we need to work toward minimizing food waste in rich countries like the U.S. Alee Quick Local news editor Alee Quick is the local news editor for The Southern. Follow Alee Quick Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his final public address as U.N. chief, asked the hundreds packed into SIUC's student center ballrooms Wednesday to act as global citizens, and to encourage leaders to keep the promises made at the Paris climate conference earlier this year, which aims to control global climate change. Carbondale may seem a strange place for Bans final address at the head of the U.N. Why would Ban come here? To our university, to our town? Deep in the heart of flyover country, where the Midwest meets Appalachia and coal miners are local heroes, this is the part of the country that denounced globalization when it went for Donald Trump. Sure, all of Illinois electors cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton on Monday, but this part of the state, the part thats home to SIU, voted for nationalism and coal when it voted for Trump Ban stressed global community-building and the importance of fighting climate change in his talk. Trump picked Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma's attorney general, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. According to The Associated Press, Pruitt "sued the EPA over plans to limit carbon emissions from coal-powered power plants." In a town called Carbondale, a name that makes the importance of coal to the regions economy plain, Ban stressed the importance of sustainable energy on our path into the future. Climate change is very real, he said, adding it is caused by human behavior. Unless we de-carbonize operations, we have no hope, he said. Mayors from many Southern Illinois towns, along with several state representatives, occupied the first few rows in Bans audience. He addressed them directly, asking them to promise to lead by example and invest in sustainable energy to fight climate change. Southern Illinois representatives have to be pro-coal. Many of the people Ban addressed have blamed regulations like the one Pruitt sued the EPA over for stifling the coal industry and killing jobs. Trump vowed to renegotiate or terminate NAFTA, a trade deal that he blames for the loss of U.S. jobs, and has said the U.S. would withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership under his leadership. Trump ran on an anti-immigrant platform, promising to build a large border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and pledging to ban foreign Muslims from entering the country. Ban pointed out in his speech that SIUC is home to students from more than 100 countries. Looking around me in the ballroom, I saw Chinese characters on the smartphones of students sitting in front of me, and a woman in a hijab a couple of rows up. Global citizenship is part of SIUs identity, Ban said, just after Interim Chancellor Brad Colwell had announced that SIUC joined the U.N.s Academic Impact, which connects higher learning institutions to one another and to the U.N. to work together in pursuit of the U.N.s sustainable development goals. National boundaries do not have meaning in this transformative global age, Ban said. We are living in a very small, small world. We are family members of one small world. Modern technology has indeed made the world small. And its too late to undo the worlds virtual shrinking. Its easier than ever to physically travel the globe. The internet has brought the entire world into our homes, offices and phones. Its too late now to simply retreat into our own borders and slam the doors. The backlash against economic globalization realized in Trump's election is understandable. But there's more to the world community than economic deals. Forget where you are coming from, and think about that you are a member of a family, a family member of this world, one world, Ban said. Addressing students in particular, Ban asked, will you reach out your helping hand? Mongolia expressed regret over the negative impact caused by the Dalai Lama's visit, and China hopes the country has learned a lesson in respecting China's sovereignty, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday. Mongolia should keep its promise, respect China's core interests and make efforts to improve the China-Mongolia relationship, Hua said. "China's stance on Tibet is firm and clear," she told a regular news conference. The Dalai Lama, a political exile with ambitions to split the Tibet autonomous region from China under the cloak of religion, visited Mongolia from Nov 18 to 23. China voiced strong dissatisfaction over the visit. On Tuesday, Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil said the Dalai Lama will not be allowed to visit in the future, even in the name of religion. Even though the Dalai Lama visited Mongolia via religious channels, the consequences of the visit went beyond religion and became a problem for Mongolia's relations with China, Munkh-Orgil said. Mongolia firmly supports the one-China policy, and deems Tibet an inalienable part of China, he said, adding that Tibet is a domestic matter for China. In late November, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China urged Mongolia to recognize the separatist nature of the Dalai Lama clique and take effective measures to remove the negative impacts of the visit to avoid disturbing China-Mongolia relations. In the first three quarters of this year, Mongolia exported $2.74 billion in goods to China, accounting for 82.26 percent of the country's total export volume, according to China's embassy in Mongolia. The country's trade surplus with China was $1.92 billion in the same period, it said. Last month, Beijing imposed new tariffs on commodity shipments between China and Mongolia, according to Al-Jazeera. China closed a key border crossing nearly a week after the visit of the Dalai Lama, the report said. "All parties will pay more attention to China's warnings and take the warnings into consideration," said Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China. anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 12/22/2016 page3) Four Claflin University students died in a head-on collision in October, leaving the university mourning the loss and remembering their lives. Keeron McElveen,18, of Kingstree; Darrell Pendergrass, 21, of Society Hill; Melvin Jackson Jr., 21, of Chester; and Jamarius Kel'Shawn Bruce, 19, of Darlington died after the car they were traveling in collided with another vehicle on Oct. 13. The collision occurred as Jackson was driving south on Interstate 77 in Richland County. His vehicle crossed the median and traveled into the northbound side, colliding with a Toyota Sequoia, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Jackson, Pendergrass and McElveen died at the scene. Bruce was transported to Palmetto Health Richland hospital, where he later died. Gernardo Cato, a freshman from Goose Creek, was the sole survivor of the crash. The university provided counseling services for students after the accident and the chapel remained open for reflection and prayer. The accident was followed by a prayer service and a memorial service for the students at the W.V. Middleton Fine Arts Center. President Henry N. Tisdale offered words to help students reflect on the value of every day. "It just reminds us all we are not promised tomorrow. Let us continue to draw together, especially in times like this, he said. Tisdale told students to live every day with a purpose. "So if you're waiting for tomorrow, why not do what you need to do today?" he said. Later that month, the university made good on Tisdales words about not losing precious days. Claflin went forward with an observance marking the universitys progress. Officials announced that the university exceeded the $100 million goal of the Imagine the Possibilities Capital Campaign launched in 2011, raising in excess of $105.2 million. As a result of the campaign, Claflin supported numerous achievements and campus improvements such as: Doubling the number of endowed scholarships from 100 to more than 200. Endowing three professorships and one academic department chairmanship. Increasing funding for scholarships for high-achieving high school seniors. Purchasing two nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers. Securing campus-wide Wi-Fi. Renovating buildings. Constructing a new chapel. Establishing the online program in 2014. The money helped Claflin expand learning and research opportunities like those that brought the four young scholars to the university. An Orangeburg County deputy was fired after he allegedly crashed his patrol vehicle while driving under the influence in Richland County. Devrinn Washington, 30, of Columbia, was charged with DUI by the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said Washington was immediately terminated after the sheriff learned of the charge. However, while the OCSO fully supports the S.C. Highway Patrol in its investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further as the investigation is ongoing, OCSO spokesman Richard Walker said. The patrol vehicle Washington was driving suffered minor damage, Walker said. The front bumper valance is cracked. The single-vehicle accident happened on Garners Ferry Road around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, according to Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. David Jones. Washington was traveling west on Garners Ferry Road, near the intersection of Trotter Road, when he ran off the right shoulder of the road into a ditch and struck a tree, Jones said. The initial call for help came into dispatchers reporting that a subject was passed out behind the wheel, he said. Jones said the trooper who responded to the scene could smell an odor of alcohol coming from (Washingtons) person. A trooper arrested Washington and transported him to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. Law enforcement officers asked Washington to submit a breath sample, but he refused, Jones said. He was booked and then released on a $992 personal recognizance bond. Washington did not suffer any injuries during the crash. Hes scheduled to appear in traffic court for the charge at 1 p.m. on Jan. 5. DENMARK -- Jim Harrisons work lives on not just through his art, but the love he had for his rural hometown. Harrison died June 18 at the age of 80. He is being remembered as a person who loved Denmark and significantly contributed to its fabric and character. Not only did Bamberg County lose a human being, but we lost a friend of all people of Bamberg County. Mr. Harrison spent the majority of his life trying to promote Bamberg and the City of Denmark and make it better. The biggest impact has not been just losing him as a person and entrepreneur, but we lost a great champion of Bamberg County, County Councilman Trent Kinard said. He was a well-known artist throughout not only the local area, but the entire Southeast and nation. His death left a void and we obviously lost a person that could express himself with not only art, but though storytelling as he did with some of his books, Kinard said. Harrison received a number of local, state and national awards, including the Order of the Palmetto in 2008. The recognition is the state's highest civilian honor. He was just somebody who invested in the community. He invested not only in Denmark, but all of Bamberg County. By losing that, its been an impact, Kinard said. He noted that Harrison was instrumental in helping secure funds for Denmarks downtown revitalization project. Denmark Mayor Gerald Wright said, He contributed in a very significant way to the character of Denmark. And, of course, weve got a park downtown thats named after him. So he was a big presence. A number of the buildings downtown belong to him, and all of the businesses that were operating in them are still operating. So I dont see that theres been any change in that respect, the mayor said. Wright said, He had been involved in the tourism effort along the Heritage Corridor. Some of those things, I guess, will not be effective immediately, but later Im sure his absence will be felt. In 2014, the General Assembly named the intersection of U.S. Highways 321 and 78 the "Harrison Crossroad." Harrisons art gallery is situated at that intersection in downtown Denmark. Jim Harrison Gallery General Manager Teri Harrell said business is going well. Of course, we miss Jim and it makes a big difference not having him here. Our online sales have picked up a good bit. We dont have quite as many people coming in here as we used to have, but we still do have people that just come because they admire the work, Harrell said. We have a lot of those, and we have our regular customers that still come. Harrell said the gallerys prints signed by Jim Harrison are limited and are going fast. I still have some original paintings and things he drew remarques on. They were a little colored sketch on the painting. Those are special and cost a little bit more than the others. Weve been selling a lot of the big gamecock, which was one of the last things he did. Weve sold a lot of those for Christmas presents this year, she said. Harrell said Harrison had several projects in mind to help enhance local tourism, including his Denmark Coca-Cola Sign Project, which would have included Coca-Cola outdoor advertisements and wall bulletins that visitors and residents could view and study on an easy walking tour. Harrell said, That would have been a great project for Denmark. The town had his heart. He always had ideas, and he was very persistent about getting things done. Harrisons love for the Coca-Cola trademark began as a teen when he served as an apprentice to a sign painter. They painted Coca-Cola advertisements on the sides of barns and stores. He ended up getting his own contract with the beverage company to do what he always called the Coca-Cola paintings. Harrell said she hopes to host local artists work at the gallery as has been done in the past to generate more activity. I hope that maybe we can get this going starting in January or February. Wed like to get people who really hadnt had their stuff out before, new people, but it takes some doing. But that would be good for the community, she said. Even if youre not in the market for the art, the gallery is a great place to go for a field trip to learn about things. Jim has got an interesting story when you talk about the Coca-Cola logo. I get a lot of churches and schools on field trips, and they can look around and see and hear Jims story, Harrell said. I think people enjoy coming and seeing this town. Small towns are full of good people. Two longtime Bamberg County physicians known for being passionate about the practice of medicine died within two days of each other this week. Dr. Herbert "Herb" Abraham Moskow of Denmark, who practiced family medicine in Bamberg County from 1968 until his retirement in 2010, passed away on Monday. Then on Tuesday, Bamberg lost its longtime physician Dr. Michael "Mike" C. Watson, who retired in 2001 after nearly 50 years of service to the community. Both Moskow and Watson were beloved figures in The T&D Region, where they worked long hours to improve the health of their patients. Medical 'visionary' An advocate for the rural poor, Watson, a 1953 alumnus of the Medical College of South Carolina, was one of the state's most celebrated physicians. In the 2001-2002 legislative session, the S.C. Senate adopted a resolution recognizing his "caring attitude, work ethic and dedication to the medical profession." Watson was responsible for many history-making "firsts" in the medical field in the state and the nation. In 1969, he established the first comprehensive, rural hypertension clinic in the Southeast. In 1975, he established the longest running nurse midwifery service in the state, and in 1989, he established the first HIV/AIDS clinic in a South Carolina health department. In addition, Watson was a founding member of the Tri-County Drug & Alcohol Abuse Commission in 1972 and went on to help start the regions only adolescent inpatient drug and alcohol treatment program. He was the first recipient of the Bamberg County Citizen of the Year Award in 1975, and he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian honor, in 2002 for his work in HIV/AIDS prevention by then-Gov. Jim Hodges. Over the years, Watson proved to be a medical visionary time and time again. In 1974 when three of the four obstetricians in Orangeburg either left, retired or chose to stop practicing obstetrics -- leaving only Dr. Hugh Mole -- Watson took the lead in finding a solution. In a 2002 interview with The Times and Democrat, Watson said, "The midwives were the answer to our prayers." He started the Nurse Midwife Clinic in Bamberg in 1975 with three practitioners -- Alice Griffith, Suzanne Robert and Sister Bernadette Ferrell. "We saw a decrease in the (infant) death rate from 40 per 1,000 to four per 1,000 in the first two years or so," Watson said in The T&D interview. Certified Nurse Midwife Leigh Wood, who worked with Watson from 1982 to 2001, said he helped advance midwifery in the area, providing certified nurse midwives with opportunities and acceptance they had "always just dreamed of." "He was truly a most wonderful man," Wood said through tears Wednesday afternoon. "Dr. Watson lived his faith; he had a very deep faith. He endeavored to walk that path every day of his life. He was genuinely a wonderful human being." As a member of Bamberg's Trinity United Methodist Church, Watson helped create the after-school Bamberg Shalom Zone in partnership with Mount Carmel United Methodist Church, transforming a former illicit drug house into a community resource. He also founded the Volunteers in Mission program, which provides one- to two-week volunteer mission service for laypersons both in the U.S. and around the world. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers have participated as lay missionaries for the United Methodist Church through this program. Watson often said he considered his medical mission work his most significant life's work. He helped set up a pipeline to bring in a new doctor to the island of Anguilla every two weeks for six months. In Haiti, Watson identified a possible solution to the high infant mortality rate, leading to the inoculation of 65,000 women against tetanus and sparing their unborn babies from the illness. 'God-given privilege' Dr. Herb A. Moskow shared Watson's passion for the practice of medicine. In an interview in The Times and Democrat in 2002, he said, "I always wanted to be a doctor. Practicing medicine is both work and pleasure for me." Born in Chadburn, North Carolina, to a farmer's daughter and an immigrant store owner, Moskow attended The Citadel as a pre-med student, planning to become a family physician. National Guard duty during the Korean War and then marriage ended his college studies. "We lived in Andrews, and I opened and ran a menswear store until I was 29 years old. With a wife and children to support, I resumed my studies to become a doctor at Erskine College. I arranged my classes so that I could work a shift at the mill in Abbeville to support my family while I studied for my pre-med degree," Moskow said in The T&D interview. He then attended the Medical College of South Carolina and the Medical College in Columbus, Georgia, for his family practice residency. Moskow practiced in Denmark from 1968 until 1991 when his doctors recommended he retire because of health problems. Six months later, in 1992, Dr. Marion Dwight called and asked him to cover his practice for him while he took a short vacation. Moskow continued to work with Dwight until his permanent retirement in 2010. In the 2002 interview, Moskow said he had always believed that the practice of medicine was "a God-given privilege." "I just didn't really know who God was until 1981 when I was born again. I love the practice of medicine and don't plan to retire until I am not able to practice." In that same interview, Dr. Dwight's wife, Annette, said Moskow "has meant so much to our practice. His patients love him." Moskow's funeral was held Wednesday morning at Bethel Park United Methodist Church in Denmark. Burial was at Andrews Memorial Cemetery in Andrews. Moskow is survived by his wife, Ettre "Vee" Rogers Moskow; his five children, including one who is a physician; three stepchildren and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Final arrangements for Watson were still pending late Wednesday evening. Watson is survived by his wife, Mary Carolyn Tatum Watson; six children, including three who are physicians; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Political and cultural commentary from the perspective of radical common sense. Opposition to the AMERICAN BIPOLARCHY and ideological fanaticism in all forms. Don't take our word for anything: figure it out for yourself. By Jacek Rostowski British Prime Minister Theresa May reportedly needed some time to compose herself in a recent meeting with her presumed ally Angela Merkel. The German Chancellor categorically rejected Mays proposal to do a side deal on European Union nationals living in Britain before the United Kingdom officially triggers Brexit negotiations by invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon. After an initial phase of post-referendum arrogance and euphoria, it has become increasingly obvious that Mays government completely misread the likely EU response to a British exit from the bloc. It now seems likely that the UK will continue to stagger from failure to failure at an accelerating pace. Mays dilemma stems from the fact that the Leave coalition, while sharing certain conservative values, comprises two incompatible factions: mostly middle-class, affluent pensioners who want to leave the EU because they think it is too bureaucratic and protectionist; and mostly working-class voters who want to leave because they favor more protectionism. Clearly, there is no form of Brexit or post-Brexit Britain that will satisfy both groups. This explains Mays desperation to push Brexit through as quickly as possible. She wants to get out before voters realize that the Leave campaign sold them a false bill of goods, including the promise that they could keep all of the benefits of EU membership, particularly full access to the European single market, without having to allow free movement of labor. Moreover, although May was in the Remain camp during the referendum campaign, she realizes that, as Prime Minister, she will be held responsible for any failures in the Brexit negotiations. She also knows that she cannot possibly succeed politically, because the media will always spotlight defeats, while hardly noticing wins. That gives her every reason not to define her goals, and then to declare whatever deal she secures a victory. Paradoxically, while the Conservative Party leadership has decided to represent the incoherent Leave coalition, no one is speaking for the 48% of voters who sided with Remain, except for the Liberal-Democratic Party, which has minimal influence in Parliament. This is even more surprising when one considers two deep structural factors that will cut short Leaves continued political dominance in the medium term. For starters, a significant cohort of Leave voters tends to be politically disengaged. Leave won by a margin of 1.2 million votes, one million of which were cast by people who did not vote in the 2015 general election that furnished David Cameron and the Conservatives with undivided power. These disengaged voters will likely not participate in future elections, though they might mobilize for a second EU referendum, if one were to be held. Second, the Leave camp has an age problem: my own rough estimate suggests that, every year, Leave-voter deaths will exceed those of Remain voters by 150,000, while new Remain voters entering the electorate will surpass those of Leave by 150,000 (after adjusting for differential turnout between young and old). This generational dynamic alone will tip the balance in Remains favor by about 300,000 voters each year, and it will eliminate Leaves majority by 2020. Shortly after the referendum, I asked a former senior Tory official why no respectable politicians wanted to represent Remain voters. No one in Britain (either Remain or Leave) really cares about the EU, he replied. But while that may have been true in July, it is not true now, as indicated by both sides passionate response to the result itself, and then again to the recent Supreme Court decision affirming Parliaments role in triggering Article 50. Equally telling were the last two parliamentary by-election results: pro-Remain liberals overturned a 23,000-vote Conservative majority in Richmond Park, London, while the UK Independence Party which favors a hard Brexit made gains in Sleaford and North Hykeham, in the east of England. As Lord Ashcrofts fascinating exit poll following the Brexit referendum shows, Leave and Remain voters attitudes differ on almost everything, from the death penalty to environmental conservation. And anyone reading the two sides increasingly heated online interactions can see that they heartily despise each other. There is now a profound divide what British politicians call deep blue water between Remains growing constituency and Leaves diminishing one. This will be the defining split in British politics for at least a generation. And yet the vast majority of practicing politicians are on the declining side of this divide, where the supply of leaders far exceeds demand for them. The UK is approaching a fundamental political realignment, for which the current government is totally unprepared. It will come probably quite suddenly as soon as enough people recognize that May has, through little fault of her own, inevitably failed to get the best deal for Britain. As the economist Herbert Stein famously observed, If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. So Mays government might last until May, but not much longer. -- Copyright: Project Syndicate: Theresa Mays Brexit problem By Nigar Abbasova Azerbaijani and Iranian businessmen will come together in Baku for a forum to be organized by Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) on December 27. The event will bring together Iranian entrepreneurs, engaged in the spheres of agriculture, food industry, light industry, pharmaceuticals, transport, logistics, tourism, ICT, construction, production of building materials, and auto spare parts. Business forum and business meetings bear huge importance for the enhancement of the relations between the entrepreneurs of the two countries and provision of the information about investment environment, business climate and ongoing large-scale projects. Iranian companies have so far invested some $2.6 billion, while some $145 million fell to a share of non-oil sector. Some 450 companies with Iranian capital are operating in Azerbaijan. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $175 million in January-November 2016, with some $130.13 million accounting for import from Iran. By Azertac The tragedy of the estimated one million plus Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees who are the ongoing victims of the ArmenianAzerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has been highlighted in the Christmas recess debate in the Westminster Parliament. Speaking just prior to the Christmas adjournment, Bob Blackman MP (Conservative, Harrow East), Chair, Azerbaijan All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) commented: The conflict there has been going on for far too long. It is a forgotten conflict, and unfortunately the position with Armenia, Russia and their allies has not helped the overall situation. This year, the APPG for Azerbaijan went to see one of the camps that have been set up for these people. They are suffering very greatly through no fault of their own. It is time that human rights and shared values were restored to that part of the world. The statement came in the wake of a trip to Azerbaijan by the APPG members in August. The visit, supported by TEAS, was led by Bob Blackman, and comprised a cross-party delegation from both sides of the House, including Vice-Chairs Mark Menzies MP, Baroness Manzoor, Lord Kilclooney and Group Secretary, Roger Godsiff MP. Eight members of the APPG also recently attended the Five Roads Back Home exhibition of IDP portraits by legendary photographer Philipp Rathmer, which took place at the Old Truman Brewery in London. By Azernews By Amina Nazarli Baku hosted another round of political consultations between the Azerbaijani and Turkish Foreign Ministries. Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov and Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey Umit Yalc?n represented the consultation, Azertac reported. Khalafov and Yalcin highlighted rapidly developing overall relations between the two countries, emphasizing that these ties exist at the level of international organizations that accommodates the interests of both sides. They also noted that the phrase one nation, two states by national leader Heydar Aliyev is a symbol of Azerbaijani-Turkish brotherhood and friendship that is based upon national, historical, and cultural roots. The officials also expressed satisfaction with the cooperation in the formats of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia, and Azerbaijan-Turkey-Turkmenistan, noting that it would make a significant contribution to the development of regional cooperation. The deputy FMs stressed the importance of continuing bilateral support and joint multilateral activities between the two countries. The sides stressed the necessity of intensifying joint efforts towards the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty in line with the norms and principles of international law. Problems in the Middle East, the fight against international terrorism, resolution of regional conflicts, neighborhood policy were also in the focus of the meeting. Earlier, the Turkish diplomat was received by Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who stressed the importance of multiplying joint efforts in the fight against terrorism. Yalcin, in turn, expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan for the resolute position with regard to the recent events in Turkey. Turkey became the first state to recognize Azerbaijan, which declared its independence in 1991. The Azerbaijan-Turkey relations are multifaceted and at strategic level. Intense high level contacts are the main driving main force of the bilateral relations. Visiting each others countries immediately after assuming the office or in the wake of developments with symbolic importance became a tradition. With the aim of further strengthening bilateral relations, the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSC) mechanism was established in 2010 at the Presidential level. The Council was convened five times so far and the last round was held this March in Ankara. Turkey contributes to efforts aimed at the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijans territorial integrity and sovereignty through peaceful means. By Azernews By Nigar Abbasova The Islamic Republic of Iran and Kazakhstan discussed bilateral ties and cooperation in a number of spheres, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Astana for talks with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev. The end of Irans international diplomatic isolation, which was due to longstanding sanctions against the Islamic country, opened up wide opportunities for the country to cooperate with the Central Asian region. In Astana, Rouhani expressed gratitude to Nazarbayev for his contribution to the achievement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA/nuclear deal) between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries (China, France, Russia, the UK, the US plus Germany). I would like to thank you for effective cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in the sphere of atomic power use for peaceful purposes, Rouhani said to Nazarbayev. The president also emphasized Kazakhstans continuing support to the Islamic Republic in the international and regional formats. Nazarbayev, in turn, said that Iran is not only a close neighbor of Kazakhstan in the region but also a reliable partner. We have never broken our ties even when sanctions were imposed against Iran. We have held two rounds of negotiations regarding the nuclear program and we have made a passive contribution to the solution of this problem, he said. The Kazakh leader underlined that the scope of the Kazakh-Iranian dialogue has a systemic character, while the main goal is to promote friendly ties between the two nations. He added that the negotiations focused on the ways of strengthening partnership in the trade-economic sphere and several priority areas of interaction were defined, Kazinform reported. Within the official visit, the two countries signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and cooperation agreements, including those on facilitation of reciprocal tourist travels, labor and social welfare, cooperation in the Caspian Sea shipping industry, and on cooperation between the Central Bank of Iran and the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Mining sphere The two countries also intend to establish effective interaction in the sphere of mining metallurgy. The Kazakh president said that Iran is keen on conducting geological exploration of Kazakhstan territory, adding said that the countries may establish effective interaction in ore-mining metallurgy. Karaganda region has already started developing a copper deposit together with Iranian companies. Iranian side is interested in conducting geological exploration of Kazakhstan territory and we back this proposal, he said. The mining industry in Kazakhstan is planned to grow in value, reaching $30 billion by 2017. The country possesses the second largest uranium, chromium, lead, and zinc reserves, as well as the third largest manganese deposits and ranks in top 5 for copper reserves. Transport sphere One of the main objectives of the two countries is joint usage and development of the enormous potential of both in transit and logistics sphere. In this regard, the two countries signed an agreement to establish a joint dual-modal transportation company that could lead to the creation of a new transport corridor connecting Irans southern ports to the upper parts of Central Asia - and even possibly Russia and China. The agreement is meant to facilitate sea transportation in the Caspian Sea, cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in ports and terminals issues, and connect Irans southern ports to Kazakhstan as well as other Central Asian countries, Irans IRNA news agency reported. The two countries enjoy good transport cooperation. Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railroad has already turned into an effective transport and communication system in the region connecting Kazakhstan and Iran as well as other countries with the Gulf States. Simplified visa regime The sides also agreed to begin work on simplification of a visa regime and stimulation of tourist flow. Nazarbayev mentioned that direct flight between Almaty and Tehran was launched following his visit to Iran, while the volume of traffic stands at some 65 percent. Moreover, the countries also plan to launch flights en route Astana-Tehran in the short run. The heads of states agreed to strengthen political interaction of the two countries within such international organizations as the UN, Organization of Islamic Cooperation,. Iran is the first country among the Muslim states that recognized independence of Kazakhstan. Bilateral trade stood at $635 million in 2015, the figure that both Kazakhstan and Iran hope to boost up to $1 billion. Over the last fiscal year (ended March 20) the Islamic Republic imported goods worth at $87 million from Kazakhstan and exported goods worth at $137 million to Kazakhstan, according to Iranian Customs Administration. A collection of CDs featuring the documentary films on Azerbaijan was released in Los Angeles. Five new documentary films were included to the collection under the title of Pearls of Azerbaijan. The initiative was carried out by Azerbaijans Consulate General in Los Angeles. The films are Azerbaijan: Land of Hope & Inspiration; Cultural & Natural History of Azerbaijan; Baku: Jewel of the Caspian; Jews of Azerbaijan: A Model for Muslim-Jewish Coexistence; and Christian & Muslim Villages of Azerbaijan. Produced in Los Angeles this year, the documentaries provide information about Azerbaijans rich and colorful culture, history, traditions, beautiful nature and tourism opportunities; they highlight the steady development of Azerbaijan as an independent nation since 1991, and the countrys positive multiculturalism and successful model of multi-faith tolerance and harmony, which allow for Muslims, Christians, Jews and representatives of other faiths to continue to live together in peace and mutual respect. Supported jointly by Azerbaijans Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Consulate General in Los Angeles, the documentaries were filmed and produced by Los Angeles-based ECONEWS Television and Radio Series, and released this year. ECONEWS is a three-times EMMY-nominated weekly series that has produced over 600 environmental television shows since 1984, and 2000 Environmental Directions Radio shows since 1977, becoming the longest-running environmental program in the United States. ECONEWS is a United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Laureate. ECONEWS shows have also received awards in the Hometown USA Video Festival, AVEDA U. S. Environmental Film Festival and other film festivals. ECONEWS Host Nancy Pearlman and her crew visited Azerbaijan to film the documentary shows in both Baku and various regions of Azerbaijan. The films have already been aired by over 50 television stations located in 21 U.S. states, including California, reaching 19 million homes. Some of the films have been screened in Los Angeles, Idyllwild (CA) as well as at Texas universities. More presentations and screenings are underway. Full versions of the films can be watched here: Azerbaijan: Land of Hope & Inspiration https://youtu.be/tocsUq0TRfE?t=33s Baku: Jewel of the Caspian - https://youtu.be/QkaB6X1PNfU?t=26s Christian & Muslim Villages of Azerbaijan - https://youtu.be/7xmLwXE_VUc?t=27s Jews of Azerbaijan: A Model for Muslim-Jewish Coexistence - https://youtu.be/Yci6bcH4PqQ?t=25s Cultural & Natural History of Azerbaijan - https://youtu.be/IgpAj1USwDE?t=25s Trailer of all five films combined - https://youtu.be/lQO6PYFmHIM Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has approved the emirates budget with Dh47.3 billion ($12.8 billion) expenditure, up from Dh46.1 billion in 2016. The increase of three per cent reflects the expansion of the Government of Dubai and its determination to support the local economy, said Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh, director general, Department of Finance for the Government of Dubai. The 2017 budget was adopted with a deficit of Dh2.5 billion, representing 0.6 per cent of the GDP of the emirate, added Al Saleh. The deficit resulted from the reclassification of the budget and the 27 per cent increase in infrastructure expenditure. Projected government revenues for 2017 The restructuring of the budget and the new classification of entities resulted in a decrease in projected revenue figures for the fiscal year 2017 compared to 2016. However, comparing revenue items for 2017 with 2016 make it obvious that the government expects an increase in fees revenues by six per cent. This is due to the economic growth of the emirate and the growth achieved in sectors such as tourism and retail. The government fees represent 76 per cent of government revenues, while tax and customs revenues represent the percentage of 16 per cent. Oil revenues were limited to only six per cent of total government revenues. Two per cent of total government revenues will be coming from government investment returns, as a vital contribution to supporting economic growth. Projected expenditures for 2017 The budget has allocated resources for 3,500 new job opportunities. The allocation of salaries and wages represents 33 per cent of total expenditures, while general, administrative, grants and support expenditures represents 47 per cent of the total expenditures. Infrastructure allocation has increased by 27 per cent from what has been allocated for the fiscal year 2016, to reach 17 per cent of total government expenditure, reflecting the emirate's concern for the gradual implementation of the Expo 2020 projects, in order to achieve Dubai Plan 2021 targets. On the other hand, Dubai has managed to achieve financial sustainability by achieving an operating surplus of Dh2.9 billion, highlighting the emirates ability to finance all operational expenditures and achieve a surplus without the need for oil revenues. The expenditure on Social Development Sector including health, education, housing and community development areas represents 34 per cent of the total expenditure of the budget. The governments concern for the Security, Justice and safety has been affirmed by allocating 21 per cent of the total expenditure to support this sector, develop it, and make it able to play its vital role professionally and proactively. TradeArabia News Service Azizi Developments, a leading UAE-based real estate developer with a global reach into international markets, has announced plans to launch 50 new projects comprising a mix of residential, commercial and retail space in 2017. The announcement of such a high number of projects, ahead of the festive season and the New Year, demonstrates the confidence that Azizi has in Dubais property and real estate market, it said. The launch adds to the companys impressive portfolio, involving 20 different UAE-based projects valued at around Dh7.3 billion ($1.98 billion). The 2017 project plan is in line with the overall group strategy to invest in solid markets which have proven depth and stability, said a top official. Farhad Azizi, the chief executive of Azizi Developments, said: "The rapid development of local infrastructure shows the full commitment of the Dubai government to its delivery of announced plans." The Dubai Water Canal, inaugurated on November 9, is a recent example of the governments commitment to plan for Expo 2020, noted Azizi. "The government systems are in place to encourage development from a micro perspective. When evaluated at the macro level, we are finding that currencies are in our favour; in addition, the new government changes in the US and Europe are directing investments towards this region," he stated. "This launch not only reflects our success but showcases Dubais booming real estate market," said Azizi. Azizi Developments currently has 15 projects in Al Furjan, two in the Palm and the first in Dubai Healthcare City. The companys flagship project is Azizi Mina Hotel Apartments, which represents the citys ambitious outlook and luxurious lifestyle. Valued at Dh750 million ($204 million), the 178-unit project is situated in a prime location on the crescent of the Palm Jumeirah. Azizi's confidence in the market derives from evaluations of deficits, trade balances and other consumer indicators. "The 50 new projects to be developed in various areas in Dubai are currently in the land acquisition, permit application and design stages," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Oman-based Al Sedrah Real Estate has announced the launch of Lotus Complex, the company's debut project at Ras Al Hamra in the Qurm region of the sultanate, said a report. A luxury residential project, Lotus is the first contribution made by Al Sedrah Real Estate in the real estate development sector in Oman. The high-end customised project is situated in one of the most attractive and strategic locations. It has 110 apartments of which 40 are one-bedroom units, 65 two-bedroom and the rest three-bedroom units, reported the Times of Oman. The residential complex is a five-floor project, in which the ground floor will host many restaurants, shopping centres and a mini mall. There will be underground two-floor parking for tenants and visitors, it Work on the luxury residential project is progressing well and on track for delivery within the next two years, said the report. The Omani developer has launched an attractive payment scheme for those keen on investing in this luxury residential project, it stated. Under this scheme, the buyer will hand over 10 per cent of total value on booking and the remaining amount will be paid through quarterly instalments of 15 per cent of the total value. To make more funding options available, Al Sedrah has signed a number of agreements with local banks to provide the loans for the buyers, it added.stated. It is one of the groups ambitious projects to support the luxury residential projects segment that will offer all aspects of a modern lifestyle and comfort, said the report citing a top official. "Lotus is an initiative by Al Sedrah, which has a long history of great projects, such as Inter City Hotel at Salalah; and other big projects in Muscat and other regions all over Oman," Sheikh Salim bin Ahmad Al Ghazali, chairman of Golden Group of Companies, was quoted as saying in the report. Future projects including the Mercure Hotel in al Khuwair, Rotana Hotel in Salalah and Marina Al Duqm. Gulfood 2017, the worlds largest food and hospitality event, will feature a new show format to optimise product sourcing and investment potential when it opens at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) in February. To increase accessibility and trading potential, Gulfood 2017 will focus on finished food and beverages and highlight eight of the biggest commodity trading sectors with dedicated halls organised by Beverages; Dairy; Fats & Oils; Health, Wellness & Free-From; Pulses, Grains & Cereals; Meat & Poultry; Power Brands and World Food. Trixie Loh Mirmand, senior vice president, Exhibitions & Events Management, DWTC, said: Not only will Gulfoods new sectorised format allow visitors to get straight to business assessing quality and benchmarking price in their respective segments, but it will also lead to deeper market insights and trend awareness through focused consultation with the right experts in one place. The sectorisation of Gulfood comes amid growing global sales across the eight show components. Global beverage sales are forecast to achieve year-on-year growth of 3.9 per cent in 2016 according to online market data and research portal, Statistica.com; the international dairy industry will shake-off the excess milk production and sluggish demand of recent years to post a slow recovery from 2017 onwards predicts IMARC Group; while the global fats and oils market is projected to reach a value of $247.78 billion by 2021 cites Markets&Markets.com. In addition to boosting travel, tourism and trade across the emirate, we expect the new sectorised format at Gulfood 2017 to generate billions of dirhams in legacy trading throughout the year and further enhance Dubais status as one of the worlds primary food trade re-export hubs, added Loh Mirmand. The emirate is already the worlds biggest re-exporter of rice, coffee and tea, and Gulfood opens the door to international food industry professionals to learn more about the recent infrastructure and mega project developments such as Dubai Wholesale City that will further transform the emirates strategic potential as a re-export hub for the global food industry. As part of this major re-alignment global buyers will discover more than 1,000 new-to-show food and beverage producers. With space already completely sold-out to exhibitors, Februarys event will span more than 1,000,000 sq ft of indoor exhibition space and purpose-built temporary structures that welcome a wave of new product innovations and services in-line with consumer demand both regionally and internationally. As a key example, Halal World Food will further cement its standing as the worlds largest annual Halal food sourcing trade show through the new sectorised format. As international visitors continue to source a wide range of halal products for domestic markets, the vast majority of Halal-certified products at Gulfood will be showcased in a dedicated Meat & Poultry zone. This will enable buyers to easily locate and appraise produce relevant to their needs, whilst also acquiring granular insight into investment opportunities entering the Halal sector throughout the world. Loh Mirmand continued: Returning to Gulfood for a third consecutive year, Halal World Food aligns perfectly with Dubais objective to become a global Islamic economic capital. As one of Gulfoods fastest-growing components, we are committed to making Halal World Food accessible and convenient for the many thousands of buyers eager to explore innovative sourcing options in this increasingly lucrative sub-sector. Gulfood 2017will feature 120 national pavilions including first-time participants from as far afield as Malta, Finland and Slovakia. The show will also see hundreds of international heads of state, ministers, government officials and scores of national trade associations eager to ink lucrative bi-lateral trade agreements among tens of thousands of anticipated visitors. Gulfood 2017 will host more than 5,000 local, regional and international companies from 120 countries displaying hundreds of thousands of finished food and beverage products. In addition to its significantly expanded sourcing opportunities, one of Gulfoods undisputed draws is the annual Emirates Culinary Guild International Salon Culinaire the worlds largest single-entry chef competition. The Salon Culinaire will raise the profiles of more than 1,000 of the regions top professional chefs, pastry chefs, cooks and bakers for a series of competitions evaluated by a panel of renowned experts mandated by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) to judge culinary events across the globe. Elsewhere, the eighth edition of the Gulfood Innovation Awards will recognise best-in-class excellence and innovation across the regions food and drink industry. Divided into 20 categories, the highly-prestigious event is judged by an international panel of independent industry experts, with winners to be announced during the industry-renowned gala ceremony that is hosted alongside the exhibition. Gulfood 2017, which runs from February 26 to March 1, is a trade event open strictly to business and trade visitors. TradeArabia News Service Axis Communications and Canon have introduced seven new models in the Canon network camera range for its customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and North America. The new range is part of the recently announced marketing and sales framework initiative between the two companies, said a statement. Starting in EMEA from September 1 and in North America from October 1, Axis Communications has assumed responsibility for the marketing and sales of Canons entire network video product portfolio in these regions, it said. Under this new framework, Axis today complements its portfolio of industry leading security solutions by introducing seven new Canon network cameras, it added. The cameras include the VB-S30VE, a compact outdoor mini PTZ dome camera, and the VB-H761LVE, an outdoor fixed box camera with 20 times zoom and IR illumination. The majority of the new models are designed for outdoor surveillance and they all offer HDTV 1080p resolution in full frame rate. The new models include: VB-H761LVE outdoor, vandal-resistant fixed camera for tough conditions, offering 20x zoom and built-in infrared illumination. Perfect for industry, critical infrastructure and commercial buildings when it is necessary to zoom in on objects and incidents from a distance. VB-H760VE outdoor, vandal-resistant fixed camera for tough conditions, with a 20x zoom lens. Suitable for education, industry and critical infrastructure facilities. VB-H751LE outdoor fixed camera offering 2.4x zoom and built-in infrared illumination. Intended for monitoring of commercial buildings, warehouses and critical infrastructure, even in complete darkness. VB-H651VE outdoor, vandal-resistant fixed dome camera for tough conditions, providing Pan-Tilt-Rotate-Zoom (PTRZ) functionality and ultra-wide lens. Intended for outdoor monitoring of retail locations, commercial and bank buildings. VB-S30VE outdoor, vandal-resistant compact mini PTZ dome camera with built-in microphone and PTZ functionality including 3.5x zoom. Perfect for discreet monitoring of areas such as retail, education and warehouses, and where there is a requirement to change viewing angle and zoom in on activity. VB-S800VE outdoor, vandal-resistant compact fixed dome camera with built-in microphone. Suitable for discreet surveillance within retail, banking and education. VB-S910F indoor, compact fixed camera with 3.5x zoom and built-in microphone. Intended for discreet monitoring of indoor areas within for example retail, education and banking. The new cameras are planned to be available in the first quarter of 2017 through Axis distribution channels in EMEA and North America. In the Japanese market and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, Canon products will be available through existing Canon distribution channels, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, operator and manager of the Emirate's commercial and community ports as well as Khalifa Industrial Zone, recently held its 3rd Annual Fire, Safety and Emergency Preparedness Campaign. The event was held over three days, in coordination with its strategic partners, Medeor Hospital, Firex, Concorde, OHSEC for Training and Consultant, CEC, Al Masood Company and Uruguay Company, said a statement. The campaign was run under the slogan Fire is Everyones Fight, and it gave all port users -including employees, contractors, warehouse users and tenants- the opportunity to learn about basic fire safety and potential fire hazards at workplace, home and their accommodation, it said. The employees were trained by professional fire officers in extinguishing a fire, using specialised fire extinguishing training aid, it added. Building on the success of previous campaigns, was initiated in line with Abu Dhabi Ports mission and vision to raise fire safety awareness among all port users. Warehouse users and employees at Abu Dhabi Ports are now well equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to ensure fire prevention. The event also included basic firefighting, first aid training, practical CPR simulation, health and safety training. The attendees were given a chance do free dental and medical check-up offered by Medeor hospital to measure blood pressure, sugar levels and optometry. Additionally, the event featured booths from different fire safety equipment vendors and HSE training companies who were on hand to talk about their new range of products, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Huawei, a leading global ICT solutions provider, has been honoured with the Best Strategic Supplier Award by Etisalat UAE. Huawei secured the top spot at the inaugural Etisalat Strategic Suppliers Conference, held at the Rosewood Hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The event promoted better understanding and mutual benefit within the ICT ecosystem, while recognizing the key telecom suppliers in the region. In order to determine the winner of the Best Strategy Supplier, Etisalat evaluated suppliers on several crucial sets of criteria, like quality and performance of work; overall cost competitiveness and added value; how they approached innovation and partnership; and capability to follow clause compliance. For years now, Etisalat and Huawei have worked together on leading projects that span beyond the building of crucial ICT infrastructure in the region. Just this year Etisalat and Huawei partnered up to successfully trial 10Gbps service that will enable users to experience the fastest broadband speed available in the region today; one of several key projects. Under the current partnership framework, Huawei is committed to collaborating with Etisalat on launching innovative technologies and services. Needless to say, this is a proud moment for the entire Middle East team, said Poundss Peng, president of Etisalat Global Key Account, Huawei ME. Ranked number one in 2015, based on a comprehensive evaluation, this is the direct result of the close partnership between Etisalat and Huawei over the years, and the hard work from both teams. TradeArabia News Service Taj Dubai, a luxurious hotel in the UAE emirate, has welcomed Ranjit Phillipose as its new general manager. Phillipose joins the team with an impressive hospitality record of more than 20 years progressive experience in luxury hotels across five countries and three continents, across diverse cultures and economies. An Indian-born British national, Phillipose started his journey in 1993 with the iconic Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces in Chennai (India). Quickly rising through the ranks, Ranjit moved to St. James' Court, A Taj Hotel, London where he worked for six years. Ranjit subsequently moved to the US to work with Taj Hotels in New York and Boston where he took charge as director of rooms and hotel manager respectively, and also had the opening of Taj Campton Place San Francisco under his purview. Phillipose's achievements include being at the helm of eight hotel openings and rebranding projects including three hotels in the US, 51 Buckingham Gate London, Taj Exotica Resort and Spa Mauritius, Taj Dennis Island Seychelles, Taj Wellington Mews Mumbai and the $50m+ restoration project of the Taj Groups fourth Heritage Palace Taj Falaknuma Palace. His expertise lies in bringing the essence of the Taj brand and blending rich Indian heritage with local culture and an international flavour. I am delighted to join the team at Taj Dubai, and am honoured to have been given this opportunity to lead the groups first luxury property in the Middle East. It is indeed an exciting time for the hotel and the company with its vast expansion plans, and I look forward to driving the hotel and further strengthening its position in a highly competitive landscape, said Phillipose. Through his career, Phillipose has a proven record of success at leading, providing the vision, strategies and leadership required to translate conceptual business models into specific growth strategies, expand market share, increase revenues and improve PBT. His most recent achievement has been hosting the Brics Summit at Taj Exotica Goa an annual international relations conference attended by the heads of state for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Ranjit's greatest satisfaction comes from seeing his team members grow and prosper, which benefits them as well as the company, the hotel said in a statement. - TradeArabia News Service Wyomings unemployment rate fell in November for the fourth consecutive month, though it remained higher than the rate one year earlier, the Department of Workforce Services announced this week. The jobless rate in Wyoming fell from 5.1 percent in October to 4.9 percent in November. The rate in November 2015 was 4.3 percent. The numbers are the latest indication that Wyomings economic decline has found its floor, but there remains little evidence of significant growth. The largest decrease in unemployment came in Campbell County, where hundreds were laid off from Gillette-area coal mines in the spring. The unemployment rate in Campbell County fell to 5.9 percent in November from 6.3 percent in October. Teton County has been consistently insulated from the statewide economic downturn due to its tourism-based economy, and it continued to defy wider trends in November. Teton was one of just five counties where unemployment nearly doubled last month from 3.1 percent in October to 5.6 percent in November, as the summer tourist had ended and the ski season had not begun, the DWS report said. While the states unemployment numbers may be falling, Wyomings actual workforce out of which employment is measured has dropped by 2,191 workers since 2015. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday showed that Wyomings population fell by 1,054 from July 2015 to July 2016. It was the first decrease in the states population since 1990. November unemployment was lowest in Niobrara and Albany counties, at 2.6 percent, and highest in Natrona County at 6 percent. Wyomings statewide unemployment rate remained slightly higher than the national average of 4.6 percent. A report released Wednesday by the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information explored the states economic conditions through September and noted a boost in oil and natural gas exploration resulting from rebounding prices. There were 18 oil and gas rigs in Wyoming as of Dec. 16, up from as few as seven during the summer months. These signs indicate stabilization in the energy industry, although at a greatly reduced level, the report said. At the current Casper City Councils final meeting, several members railed against what they called an unfair portrayal of their work in the media. The newspapers role is not really to report the news its to make headlines, said vice mayor Steve Cathey, armed with a stack of clippings from the Star-Tribune. The news media will destroy good government, he said. Cathey was unseated by former police chief Chris Walsh in his Ward 3 race, but it wasnt only departing council members who said their work had been given short shrift in news articles and on social media. It may not always be reflected by whats written in the paper, or the sensationalism thats out there, but this council really came together, said council member Ray Pacheco, who has two years remaining in his term. The criticism was centered on two claims. The first, reflected by Pacheco, is that the media wants to hype coverage of Casper and fails to cover the routine business of government. During the prior council meeting Kenyne Humphrey, who will also return to council, pre-emptively criticized the media for not covering a vote to amend work on a sewer line fix. An article on the issue ran in the Star-Tribune this week. Its not going to make a story because theres no crazy drama to it, Humphrey said. Hopefully the public knows we focus on city services, and Im sorry that doesnt make an exciting story. A second criticism is that media coverage of council and public opinion has unfairly found fault in both discord and harmony among council members. Will Casper's next city council be more assertive? Casper City Councils emphasis on unity over open disagreement may be coming to an end as fo The previous council was chastised for two years... for being dysfunctional, always bickering, always complaining, always fighting, Cathey said. Now we are being chastised for moving to civil discourse. The newspaper has noted in several articles that after a tumultuous period of council relations ended in an ongoing lawsuit between former city councilman and a former city manager, council members led by mayor Daniel Sandoval have touted a close working relationship with one another, city manager V.H. McDonald and city staff. Council members largely deferred to McDonald after the Star-Tribune reported that fire chief Ken King had told a subordinate to destroy evidence, and members deemed the complaints of several women, who spoke to council about the police departments response to sexual assault reports, closed after police chief Jim Wetzel spoke at a council work session. Cathey said that despite the Star-Tribunes editorial board, which is separate from the newsroom, endorsing five of the six incumbents running for reelection, coverage of council since the election has done nothing but trash council and the city administration. Thats wrong, Cathey said. Cathey specifically referenced an article about the women who spoke at council about sexual assault and also said reporters were not familiar with documents they were writing about. After the meeting, Cathey said that he made his comments during council so that the Star-Tribune could not censor them. Sandoval, who was unseated by Amanda Huckabay, read a statement criticizing voters shortly after the election. He mostly refrained from joining Cathey and Pachecos media criticism Tuesday. Casper mayor criticizes voters after losing seat Sporting a Panama suit and a thick coat of stubble, Casper Mayor Daniel Sandoval railed agai I was going to bash on the media, Sandoval said. I was going to make some good points. But I decided nope, not that important. Four new council members Walsh, Huckabay, Jesse Morgan and Todd Murphy will begin their terms on January 3. The departing members are Cathey, Sandoval, Wayne Heili and Scott Miller. A Casper man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 16 felonies for allegedly molesting a teenage girl for at least two months and raping a woman with whom he had a relationship in 2010. Samson Dean Emerson, 34, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Natrona County District Court to seven counts of first-degree sex abuse of a minor, seven counts of incest, one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of third-degree sexual assault. Emerson previously pleaded guilty in March 2002 to a charge of indecent liberties with a minor. He was sentenced to two and a half to four years in prison and finished probation in November 2005. The Natrona County Sheriffs Office began investigating Emerson in September when a girl, who was born in 2003, reported that Emerson had sexually assaulted her by inappropriately touching her genitals, according to court documents. The girl and Emerson are related. The girl told investigators that Emerson had sexually assaulted her 10 to 15 times in her Bar Nunn home while her parents were gone. Emerson assaulted the girl while they watched movies or television, the documents state. The girl said Emerson once locked her in a bathroom in the house with him and insisted that she show him her genitals. The girl refused and crouched so that he could not pull down her pants, according to the documents. Emerson used force on multiple occasions to keep the girl from moving or pushing his hands away, the documents say. During the investigation, deputies spoke with a woman who was previously in a relationship with Emerson. The woman said that Emerson had attacked her in September 2010 and knocked her unconscious when he struck her at the base of her skull, the documents say. When she woke, she found Emerson on top of her and having sex with her unconscious body. According to Wyoming law, it is a felony to have sex with a person who is physically helpless and has not given consent. The woman went to the hospital for the injuries from the attack and spoke with two Casper police officers. She said she was too uncomfortable to tell the two officers about the rape. The woman also said she didnt want the humiliation of having a sexual assault examination, according to the documents. According to a 2014 study by the U.S. Department of Justice, only about a third of victims of rape and sexual assault report the crime to law enforcement. Among other reasons, many victims choose not to report because they fear revenge from their attacker or they believe law enforcement wouldnt do anything to help them, according to a different Department of Justice study. During a November interview with investigators, Emerson said that he had an attraction to younger people but would never do anything to the girl, the documents show. He told the investigator that he had knocked the woman unconscious in 2010 but denied having sex with her afterward. Investigators also used a polygraph examination to determine whether Emerson was lying. When they asked if he had sexually assaulted the girl, Emerson said he hadnt, but the test showed that Emerson used a high level of deception when he answered the questions, the documents say. Emerson remained in jail Wednesday and his $250,000 bond was continued from the Natrona County Circuit Court. If convicted, Emerson faces up to 50 years in prison for the first-degree sexual assault charge, up to 50 years for each sexual abuse of a minor charge, a maximum of 15 years for each incest charge and a maximum of 15 years for the third-degree sexual assault charge. A new housing development along Fairgrounds Road that will be accessible to seniors and the disabled was approved Tuesday by Casper City Council. Councilwoman Kenyne Humphrey said the development, by Grimshaw Investments of Sheridan, was in line with the citys efforts to promote housing options for seniors. Your project is exciting, Humphrey told developer Stephen Grimshaw. The citys Senior Services Study Update released last spring noted that many senior citizens wanted to stay in their homes for as long as possible. About 32 percent of Natrona County households are home to someone at least 60 years old, and 4,000 of these residents live alone. The study recommended that the city encourage housing that is accessible to mobility-impaired residents. Grimshaw said that his plans for the Fairgrounds Housing Addition call for 20 twin-home units similar to duplexes that are each 1,200-square-foot units located on one level and barrier free. They all have front porches on them. Theyre all very neighborhood friendly, Grimshaw said. The planned development is on an empty lot on the corner of Fairgrounds Road and Casper Street, just north of Guadalajara Restaurant. Grimshaw said he had owned the property for about 15 years and finally settled on an appropriate use. Grimshaw said that about 40 percent of the residents in a similar development he built in Sheridan are seniors and that they have been happy with the housing. I just ran into one of the ladies who is 97 years old, and she just loves it, he said. Its very conducive to aging populations. Grimshaw added that the units would be affordable, though he did not specify a price. Mayor Daniel Sandoval said developing housing thats accessible to people who have trouble climbing stairs was smart business. If youre going to build homes, a really good business model is to have everything on one level, Sandoval said. Thats the wave of the future, man. Council held a public hearing on the development Tuesday because the Planning and Zoning Commission could not decide whether to grant a block-length exemption for the project. City code prohibits any residential block from being longer than 750 feet out of concern for traffic flow and to create multiple entry and exit points in the case of an emergency or road blockage. The Fairgrounds Housing Addition has a block that is 818 feet long. Grimshaw proposed building a pedestrian pathway through the block. The property to the east of the long block is owned by the Natrona County School District. It is unclear whether the site would be sold and how it would be developed. Grimshaw said that made it difficult to know where a road through the block should be put. Wed lose a full two lots, Grimshaw said. Its not something that Id prefer to do, especially going to nowhere. Councilman Charlie Powell was hesitant to allow the exemption for fear of setting a precedent but was willing to support it because the projects merit. This is a piece of property thats been sitting vacant for many years, Powell said. This is an example of infill development and increasing housing stock. Council unanimously approved Grimshaws plan to place a pedestrian walkway running through the block rather than a street. Grimshaw said engineering on the project would begin immediately. As local governments find themselves increasingly strapped for cash during the economic downturn, the Wyoming Association of Municipalities is trying to end the states collection of an administrative fee that added up to $5.8 million last year. The state charges a 1 percent fee when it processes local sales tax revenue, but it isnt used for processing the revenue. Instead, the money simply goes to the states general fund. Local governments receive 31 percent of sales and use tax collected in the state based on their population. The administrative fee is charged as 1 percent of that amount sent to local governments. The municipalities associations deputy director, Laurie Heath, told Casper City Council last week that Wyoming Department of Revenue Director Dan Noble said he would have no objection to ending the administrative fee since it doesnt help fund his offices work processing local tax receipts. Dan Noble, again, was like, You can have it, Heath said. Noble says thats not quite right. What I said was, if the Legislature chooses to (remove the fee), that its really an issue of taking money from the state general fund and directing it back to local government, Noble said. Noble said that while his department did not directly receive the 1 percent fee, the states general fund covers the costs for all state departments including revenue. (Removing the fee) leaves less money in the state general fund, so it isnt something without consequences, he said. But Heath said the point is that a fee earmarked to cover the Department of Revenues costs associated with processing local taxes should either go directly toward administrative costs or be returned to the local level. The relevant section of the Wyoming tax code says that while the 1 percent fee is directed to the general fund, it is intended to defray the costs of collecting the tax and administrative expenses incident thereto. Its not being used as statutorily as it was written or defined, Heath said. Regardless of how the administrative fee revenue is spent, Casper city councilman Bob Hopkins said that it was unfair that the state charged the fee as a percentage of local tax revenue since there should be no more administrative cost to processing $1 million compared to $10 million. Were paying a disproportionate share, Hopkins said, pointing to Caspers especially large local tax collection compared with smaller towns. The 1 percent fee is applied both to regular sales and use tax collections as well as 1-cent taxes approved by local voters above the 4 percent statewide sales tax. Casper City Manager V.H. McDonald said that the money would help the citys budget. Its a small number, but every little bit would help if the state doesnt need it, McDonald said. Heath said that WAM had not yet drafted a bill for the Legislature to consider but that one was in the works. I hope you win that one, Hopkins told Heath. She believed legislators would be open to returning the 1 percent fee to local governments. I think it is a popular idea to help resupply some of the municipal funding, Heath said. Rep. Kendell Kroeker, R-Evansville, announced his resignation in an email to fellow lawmakers on Thursday. (M)y business has encountered some unexpected circumstances that require me to be present, so I am unable to take the time off for the upcoming legislative session, Kroeker wrote. Kroeker owns Casper Mountain Motorsports. The legislative session begins Jan. 10 and is scheduled to last through March. He defeated Democrat Brett Governanti in the November election for House District 35 with 75 percent of the vote. Natrona County Republican Party Chairwoman Bonnie Foster had not yet spoken to Kroeker, but said she had replied to his email to lawmakers and thanked him for his service. She added that she is prepared to begin the process of selecting Kroekers replacement. Once the governors office is informed of a legislators resignation, the state party will be contacted. It will instruct elected precinctmen and precinctwomen to choose three candidates to forward to the county party commission, which selects the replacement from those options. Im sure well see the good group of candidates we usually do, Foster said. The governors spokesman, David Bush, could not immediately confirm Thursday afternoon if Gov. Matt Meads office had received Kroekers resignation. Kroeker did not respond to voicemail messages left for him Thursday afternoon. State Republican chairman Matt Micheli said he was unaware that Kroeker had told fellow legislators that he was resigning. Thats a surprise to me, he said. But Micheli added that Kroeker could have put his official resignation letter in the mail yesterday or today and that it had yet to make it to the governor. Both Micheli and Foster were confident that a replacement could be sworn in before the legislative session begins in January. Kroeker, who took office in 2011, has a staunchly conservative record in the Legislature. Kroeker sponsored a bill allowing open firearms in government buildings and supported the repeal of gun-free zones in the state. He also voted to allow firing squads as a method of capital punishment in Wyoming. On other issues Kroeker was more libertarian. He opposed a bill banning powdered alcohol and sought to reform Wyomings civil asset forfeiture laws. CHEYENNE A half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich found at the scene led Wyoming police to arrest a burglary suspect. Zachery Munoz has pleaded not guilty to three counts of burglary. Cheyenne police say someone on three separate occasions in September stole power tools and equipment from a business. In the first case, police say they found a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the scene. They dubbed the suspect the "PB&J burglar." Police say subsequent DNA testing done at the Wyoming State Crime Lab linked 26-year-old Munoz to the sandwich. He entered a plea earlier this month, and his trial is scheduled for February. A Muslim student at NYU says some Trump supporters pulled off her hijab and yelled epithets at her on a bus, then admits it was all a lie. Its disgusting and unacceptable. But Muslim women in Aleppo are being raped. Feminists are freaking out because Texas passed a law requiring clinics and hospitals to respectfully bury the remains of babies who have been aborted. Its disgusting and unsurprising from abortion-rights militants. But babies are being massacred in Aleppo. Donald Trump attacks the CIA for suggesting that Russians hacked into the DNC emails, thereby influencing our domestic political processes even though he himself invited them to hack into Hillarys 30,000 emails during the campaign. Its disgusting and typical of a man who said Vladimir Putin was doing a great job. But the Russians are helping the Syrian government murder innocent civilians. The world is ending in Aleppo. The flames are engulfing its streets, the bullets are tearing through the bodies of its remaining inhabitants, the earth is groaning under the weight of its new corpses, the air is filled with the screams of its dying. And we look away, until we are forced to face the reality, a reality show that doesnt have tidy, self-contained episodes and beautiful, botoxed faces and faux-tragedies like broken engagements. We look, for the few moments or days that we care to devote to the tragedy unfolding on our watch, and then move on to the next sound bite. Is Alec Baldwin on SNL this week? Will Kanye be fitted for a straitjacket? Did Angelina get full custody of the rest of the kids she forgot to adopt from Ethiopia? Im disgusted. Aleppo, the place that Gary Johnson couldnt locate on a map, is dying. And history is repeating itself. When the Armenians were exterminated by Turkey at the turn of the last century, the world pretended it wasnt happening. The Turks still deny it. Syria will do the same with Aleppo. Then, when the Jews were being eliminated from Western Europe, Felix Frankfurter urged Franklin Roosevelt to act. The American government didnt want to jump into the conflict, and until Pearl Harbor, essentially closed its eyes to the genocidal wave across the Atlantic. Neville Chamberlain extolled peace in our time. And the smell of burning rose from Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen and Treblinka. Never again, we said. But again the horror came, in Cambodia, in Srebrenica, in Rwanda. Now Aleppo is disintegrating before our eyes. The beautiful ancient minarets, the bustling market squares, the neighborhoods where people raised their children, lived their lives, are gone. The streets are filled with blood and smoke, and screams and people running to unknown destinations, but certain danger. There was a brief ceasefire between the Syrian government and the rebels, and it collapsed as quickly as it was brokered. Innocent civilians were killed in their homes and during evacuations. Another was brokered in the middle of last week, and that also will collapse if the past is prologue. I deal with immigrants from that part of the world in my legal practice, but I meet the lucky ones who escaped before the massacres began. The others are still there in Aleppo, which is dying. Please, America, stop worrying about becoming great again. Stop trying to recount an election that is completed, sealed, served up and over. Stop pointing fingers across the aisle, stop caring about idiots who lie about hate crimes, stop listening to the pundits on cable news screeching about who met with Trump and what they had for lunch. The average American cannot make a difference, cannot become a medic and treat the injured, cannot provide housing for the homeless, cannot bring sanity and stability to a city on the edge of the abyss, cannot force our government to finally, do the right thing. But we can have the grace to pay attention to the dismantling of civilization this time around, and let our Syrian brothers and sisters know that they are seen, felt, heard. We owe this, in the name of one million Armenians, six million Jews, two million Cambodians, 7,000 Bosnian Muslims, and 800,000 Rwandans. On Dec. 14, Wyoming Legislatures subcommittee of the Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee held a public committee meeting in Cheyenne. The meeting was to address a proposed amendment to Wyomings constitution on management of federal lands in the unlikely scenario that the federal government transferred those lands to the state in the future. The room was overflowing with Wyomingites who opposed the transfer of public lands and the proposed amendment. Those in attendance expected the opportunity to express why the amendment should not move out of committee. However, they soon discovered otherwise. Subcommittee chairman Rep. Tim Stubson from Casper opened the meeting by explaining that the amendment had already moved out of committee and that this Cheyenne meeting would be used only to refine its wording (which legal experts in the room considered ambiguous, imprecise and unworthy of a constitutional amendment). Those in attendance were in the uncomfortable position of suggesting wording for a constitutional amendment that a) that they opposed and b) had become public so suddenly that they barely had an opportunity to engage with it. Sen. Larry Hicks from Baggs then apologized for the hastiness of the amendments introduction and movement as well as their failure to include the public in the process. We are grateful for Hicks' apology, but it is too little, too late. PHOENIX Ruling it doesnt violate the state constitution, a judge declined Wednesday to block the voter-approved law that requires Arizona employers to pay their workers at least $10 an hour beginning Jan. 1. In a setback for business interests, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley rebuffed their arguments that Proposition 206 legally should have been split into two separate measures, one to raise the minimum hourly wage in steps it will reach $12 by 2020 and the other to require that employers give workers at least three days of paid personal leave. The judge said the requirement for separate ballot measures applies only to constitutional provisions. By contrast, Proposition 206 simply amends statute. Even if that were not the case, the judge said, raising wages and providing paid time off are sufficiently interrelated issues. Kiley also said there was no merit to the claim the initiative violates a constitutional provision requiring any voter-approved measure to have a dedicated source of revenues to cover any costs to the state. There is no direct hit to the state budget, as its employees are exempt from the initiative. Officials of the Arizona Health Care Containment System, the states Medicaid program, say the agency is required by federal law to maintain a network of private contractors for nursing home and in-home care. Several such contractors who now pay workers less than $10 an hour have said they may be forced out of business without additional state dollars. AHCCCS officials say the only way to prevent that is to raise reimbursement rates. The judge countered that the initiative doesnt force AHCCCS to increase pay to contractors. He also pointed out that Arizona law and the contracts with Medicaid specify the state does not have to spend money it doesnt have. Kiley acknowledged that allowing the new minimum wage to take effect might cause some hardship on the state and the contractors who may have to lay off workers. But he said it would be even more unfair to workers at the bottom of the pay scale those who can now be paid as little as $8.05 an hour to block even temporarily the higher wages from kicking in as scheduled. Granting the plaintiffs requested relief would delay the pay raise promised to low-wage employees, many of whom struggle on a daily basis to make ends meet, the judge wrote. In the courts view, delaying the promised pay raise would impose a significant hardship on low-wage workers that could not be fully remedied by the payment of back wages at some point in the future if the preliminary injunction were later vacated. Kileys ruling is unlikely to be the last word. Business interests that filed suit against the measure, led by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the owners of the Valle Luna restaurant chain, still can ask the Arizona Supreme Court to intercede until the end of the year. Chamber spokesman Garrick Taylor said options are being discussed with attorneys. Foes also could still challenge the law at a full-blown trial, which would not likely occur for months. We still believe in the merits of the arguments we presented, Taylor said Wednesday. We are troubled by the constitutionality of Proposition 206. Tomas Robles, who chairs the group that campaigned for the initiative, said he was pleased with Wednesdays ruling but dismayed by the prospect of months of new legal battles. Im very disgusted and ashamed of the Arizona Chamber and the Valle Luna restaurants and anyone who claims to care about Arizona families, he said. They are trying to ruin a lot of the hope that a lot of families are going to have for next year, right around the holidays. Robles also said of the legal challenge: Its kind of funny how businesses dont have money to pay workers supposedly, from the chambers point of view, but they have hundreds of thousands of dollars for legal fees. There is much more at stake than the amount being spent on lawyers. Robles said during the campaign that about 770,000 Arizona workers are currently being paid less than $10 an hour. Even assuming they make a current wage of $9, that means at least a dollar an hour raise. Multiply that by the number of hours a year for a full-time worker and the difference comes out to more than $1.4 billion. Robles acknowledged the higher costs for businesses. But theyre also going to reap the reward of people who will be able to spend that money at their businesses, like weve seen at other places where the minimum wage has been hiked, he said. Kileys ruling also is a victory for Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who sent Assistant Attorney General Charles Grubbe to court to defend the voter-approved law. Brnovich said Wednesday if the case goes on he will continue to do my job which is to fight for the will of Arizona voters and uphold the rule of law. That has put him somewhat at odds with fellow Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. Ducey opposed the initiative and his agencies like AHCCCS provided evidence used by lawyers to challenge the initiative. Duceys only comment on Wednesdays ruling, through press aide Daniel Scarpinato, was that the state will continue to follow the law. Principal's letter about flag Dear MHS Parent/Guardian: I am writing to you to share a new development on our campus. As happens in any community, there are times when we must enact standards regarding issues where individual actions affect the well-being of the members of the greater community. Over the past month we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of students and staff sharing concerns and students feeling unsafe as a result of the Confederate flag on the Marana High School campus. We have also had parents calling and expressing their concerns. We have a wonderful community of students and families who come from diverse backgrounds, and with diversity comes many opinions about the messages conveyed by symbols and other forms of speech in our nation and world. From the differing parties, I have heard messages of support for the presence of the flag and messages urging me to remove it from the campus. There are advocates on each side of this issue who have passionate feelings. I want to be clear that as a public school that serves this diverse community, we are not making judgements about the validity of either side; however, we are absolutely responsible to do what is in the best interest of protecting student safety and the well-being of all students. When an element of student speech, whether by symbolic representation or explicit utterance, presents a significant potential for disruption to the education of students and the work of the adults on campus, we are responsible to address the situation. To that end, we concluded, that the display and possession of the Confederate Flag poses a reasonable barrier to feelings of safety and sense of well-being for a large number of our students and staff. As a result, we worked in consultation with legal counsel to ensure we proceeded appropriately. In an effort to keep all students safe, a new rule has been put in place to eliminate this potential disruption on the Marana High School campus. As of Dec 13, the Confederate flag will only be displayed on campus as part of classroom curriculum. This action represents our efforts to provide a safe and supportive educational environment for all students, with recognition that the Confederate Flag, as a symbol, represents many things. We have a responsibility to teach critical thinking skills necessary as part of our citizenship. To that end, I want to make clear that the Confederate flag is not banned from the academic perspective of our educational efforts. The role of the Confederacy and the symbolic role that the Confederate flag occupies in our discourse as a society is important, and will continue to be present in our curriculum. Thank you for your ongoing support of our outstanding Tigers and your partnership with our great school. Sincerely, Dr. David Mandel Principal Marana High School Pamela Smith points out her trailers broken windows, busted out by thieves, and the edges of the bathtub, separating from the wall. The ground below the trailer is visible through holes in the bathroom floor, the heater doesnt work and a wobbly set of stairs leading to the trailer door appears ready to collapse, she said. She didnt have a written lease in October when she moved in to the mobile home park at 110 E. Prince Road, but she said the park manager promised he would make repairs. Smith said she was lucky she could afford to move out a few weeks ago, after the trailer was burglarized and the promised repairs never happened. Her neighbors arent so fortunate, she said. People moving into places like this wont stand up for themselves, said Smith, who said she is on disability because of mental illness and lingering problems related to a broken femur. Its a quick-fix for putting a roof over your head. Substandard housing is too often the standard in Arizonas mobile home parks, housing advocates say. State and local officials are trying to improve the parks and hold irresponsible landlords accountable, without inadvertently putting more low-income residents in the streets. Some cities and towns are getting more restrictive on these parks, said Val Iverson, executive director of the Arizona Housing Alliance, a nonprofit working to expand access to affordable housing. But I think wed rather have someone living in a dumpy trailer than on the street. The Arizona Housing Alliance has launched a mobile home working group including advocates, local governments and owners of mobile home parks focused on improving the states aging mobile homes, which comprised about 10 percent of occupied housing in Arizona as of the 2010 Census. Many of the oldest trailer parks in Arizona are either in disrepair or are being redeveloped into other uses, said Susan Brenton, executive director of Manufactured Housing Communities of Arizona, a lobbying group for mobile home park owners. Thats unfortunate because the parks are a major source of housing for low-income Arizonans, and modern zoning codes can make it hard to open new parks, she said. Cities and counties have to look at the issue of, do we really want these older mobile home parks to go away or not? she said. This is affordable housing. If we close down that park, what is going to happen to these people? Local housing assistance is stretched thin: Tucsons Section 8 housing-voucher program, which subsidizes rent for low-income people, has a wait list of more than 18,600 families, said Sally Stang, director of the citys Housing and Community Development Department. The mobile home working groups initial recommendations, compiled in a September report, include: Start tracking problematic mobile home park properties, and help fund county assessors offices to electronically store data collected through the rental property registration law, which requires landlords to register their rental properties. Offer displaced mobile home park residents the same type of housing counseling and financial assistance provided to those who lost homes to foreclosure. When a park shuts down, owners should seek out other mobile home parks with vacant spaces where displaced residents could go. Increase access to the state relocation fund, which provides safety-net funding to poor tenants displaced when a park shuts down. The fund currently only helps people who own their trailer and rent the space below it; it doesnt apply to those who rent both the trailer and the space. Create a consumer guide, in English and Spanish, to help landlords and tenants better understand mobile home law. Boost the number of mobile home parks owned cooperatively by park residents. WEAK CODE ENFORCEMENT While some municipalities are cracking down on trailer parks, advocates for the poor in Tucson say code enforcement is still too weak here. Lax or underfunded enforcement allows problems to persist in aging mobile home parks and in other low-cost housing especially in Pima County. The county has intentionally adopted a limited set of property maintenance codes to avoid the cost of enforcing the code inside occupied residential properties. That means renters living in unsafe or uninhabitable units cant just call up a county inspector to force repairs of hazardous conditions inside their homes they would have to take their landlords to court. Government should not pass the burden of code enforcement onto low-income, vulnerable tenants who may not have the time or resources to engage in a lengthy court case, said Beverly Parker, attorney for Southern Arizona Legal Aid. Many cant afford the expense, are afraid of retaliation or dont know their rights as tenants, and so they tend to keep quiet, she said. In 2014, after the Star reported on the lack of code enforcement in the county, Pima County Developmental Services which oversees code enforcement wrote a budget proposal to expand the code to cover occupied housing, starting in fiscal year 2016. The cost would have been $269,000, but County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry did not include it in his recommended budget, said Carmine DeBonis, department director. LOCAL ISSUES Vulnerable mobile home buyers need more support in ensuring the trailer theyve purchased or rented is decent and safe, said Marcos Ysmael, program manager for the Pima County Housing Center. The center is part of the Arizona Housing Alliances mobile home working group and will help implement the groups recommendations locally. A lot of times these folks are in desperate situations. They dont have resources and time to do a thorough inspection of the unit, and some problems youre only going to see when it rains, for example, he said. Prince Road Park is owned by Todd Kroepel of Talazera Holding Group LLC, who lives in Southern California and referred questions to the parks local manager, Don Knitter. Knitter said he made a mistake in renting the trailer to Smith in such poor condition, but he said Smith was supposed to make the repairs. The previous park owner was negligent, resulting in widespread maintenance issues, said Knitter, who took over the park in August. Keeping up with maintenance is especially tough when tenants dont quickly report issues like water damage that only worsen over time, he said. At the trailer park, Im cleaning up a mess left by someone else, he said. Were doing our best to make it livable and safe and compliant. UNLICENSED SELLERS Pima County officials added plans to improve distressed mobile home parks to the countys long-term plan, called Pima Prospers, following the Stars reporting on the issue, said Carla Blackwell, deputy director of Pima County Development Services department. At the top of the agenda: The department is trying to crack down on people who are relocating trailers built before 1976 before U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development construction standards were established without proper paperwork, Blackwell said. Those older, and potentially dangerous, trailers require permits to move and an inspection to prove theyve been brought up to livable standards, Blackwell said. The requirement aims to stop landlords from moving decrepit trailers from a defunct park to another location where they can continue to rent or sell them, she said. Other systemic issues need attention, including the power landlords wield over mobile home tenants who are scared of having an eviction on their record, which can make it nearly impossible to find decent housing, said Parker of Southern Arizona Legal Aid. Stronger protections for tenants in eviction court could help, she said. During eviction proceedings, held in the justice courts, tenants often show up without a lawyer and their cases are usually decided within minutes. Some unscrupulous trailer park owners run rent-to-own scams, offering tenants the option to pay extra each month toward purchasing their trailer. But before the trailer is paid off, the sellers find a pretext to evict the tenant, in order to re-sell the trailer and make more money on it. Often the trailers theyre selling are only worth a fraction of the price theyre charging, Parker said. In other cases, tenants pay off the trailer, only to find the seller never actually held title to it because it was abandoned by the previous owner. Among the Arizona Housing Alliances recommendations: Make it easier for new buyers to immediately acquire proper title to their trailer, so unscrupulous sellers cant find a way to take them back, and impose penalties on sellers who deal in mobile homes without titles. Brenton emphasized that in Arizona, the vast majority of the parks are well-run. Most of what youre going to read about in newspapers and hear about on TV are bad issues, she said. Everyone has to realize, we are the most affordable type of living thats unsubsidized. On December 19, the Florida Bulldog, an online news publication, released an October 2012 FBI document, revealing that the Bureau's investigation into Saudi support for the September 11, 2001 terrorists continued for at least a decade after the Joint Congressional Inquiry completed their report and eight years after the 9/11 Commission report partially exonerated the Saudi regime. Attorneys for the Florida publication filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in Federal Court earlier this year, to obtain records relating to the Bureau's internal 9/11 Review Commission. That internal review commission, chaired by former Reagan Administration Attorney General Edwin Meese, denied that there were new leads on the 9/11 attack, the worst terrorist assault on U.S. territory in history, and sought to discredit an FBI memo citing a second Sarasota, Florida Saudi businessman with close dealings with the Royal Family, who hosted lead hijacker Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 terrorists, and who fled the United States weeks before the attacks. As part of the Court-ordered document release, the FBI turned over a heavily redacted copy of an FBI "Updates and Initiatives" report dated October 5, 2012 (which was not scheduled to be declassified until December 31, 2037). That document showed that the FBI was still actively investigating leads on 9/11 co-conspirators, and that at least two individuals had been identified as collaborators of two of the hijackers who lived in San Diego for more than a year, prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. At least one of those newly identified individuals was working on behalf of Saudi intelligence agents Osama Basnan and Omar al-Bayoumi, and was assigned to assist hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi in their "day-to-day" activities. Basnan and al-Bayoumi were subjects of the recently declassified 28-page chapter from the original December 2002 Joint Inquiry Report, which was suppressed by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama until July of this year. The two Saudi spies were paid at least $50,000 by then-Saudi Ambassador to the United States Prince Bandar bin-Sultan, and one of the pair received regular monthly "salary and expense" payments from a Saudi Ministry of Defense and Aviation contractor. Although the names of many of the newly identified contacts with the San Diego terrorists were blacked out of the document, two names were released, because both have criminal ties. Osama "Sam" Mustafa owned a gas station near San Diego, where hijacker al-Hazmi worked in 2000. Mustafa was already a subject of FBI terrorism investigations prior to that time frame, and in 2012, Mustafa was arrested in Tampa, Florida on charges he was part of a $17 million tax fraud scheme. Convicted a year later, Mustafa skipped out on a bond and remains a fugitive to this day. He was sentenced ultimately to 20 years in prison. The other individual, Mohdar Abdullah, was identified in the FBI document as one of two people assigned by al-Bayoumi on February 4, 2000 to assist the two San Diego-based hijackers in their daily lives. Abdullah, the FBI report explained, "played a key role in facilitating the daily lives aned assisting future Flight 77 hijackers." Abdullah was arrested by the FBI on September 19, 2011 and deported on immigration fraud charges. While in detention awaiting deportation, according to the FBI document, "he bragged to two fellow inmates that he assisted the hijackers. The FBI and SDNY have debriefed these individuals." The heavily redacted FBI four-page memo, which is one of an estimated 1,100 documents to be released to the Florida Bulldog under the FOIA suit, referenced investigations still underway in Copenhagen, Denmark; London, England; and New York City. Members of Congress are continuing to work with former U.S. Senator and Florida Governor Bob Graham on pursuing full release of all of the still-classified materials relating to 9/11. Graham told the Bulldog that "This [document] has never been disclosed before and it's to the contrary of everything the FBI has produced so far that has indicated that 9/11 is history. It's interesting that it took them 11 years to get there, and a FOIA to get this information to the public." While the newly released document shows that the FBI continued to develop new leads on the network of support for the hijackers more than a decade after the attacks, and it reinforced leads first contained in the long-suppressed 28 pages, detailing possible Saudi regime backing for the terrorists, it more importantly suggests that U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies will be under renewed pressure to make full disclosure--no matter how it impacts on the already strained U.S.-Saudi relationship. http://www.floridabulldog.org/2016/12/new-documents-show-u-s-investigated-support-network-911-hijackers-in-2012/ Discovery channel is offering an internship, for an individual to travel to five countries over 4 weeks and document their adventure online. Do you love travel? Are you a pro at documenting your adventures? Keen to see the world for free? Then you just may be our Discovery Intern! Discovery Networks is giving one lucky person the opportunity to score the ultimate internship and a once-in-a-lifetime overseas adventure. When it comes to uncovering stories about the unique and diverse world we live in, Discovery is a trailblazer. At its core, the company is dedicated to satisfying curiosity and our Discovery Intern will put this into action. Were looking for someone who is adventurous, creative and loves to travel, and is armed with the skills to tell the story of a place through images, words and videos. Our Discovery Intern will set off on a four-week global adventure, hitting five countries to tour amazing destinations and blog about the trip on Discovery Channels social media channels and soon-to-be launched blog, Heaps Of Stuff. Travelling to Singapore, London, Iceland, New York and Italy, the Discovery Intern will visit some of Discoverys overseas headquarters and document their journey. If you think you have what it takes to be the inaugural Discovery Intern, then show us (along with the rest of Australia) why youre the best person for the job at discoverychannel.com.au now. To enter, simply upload your best photo from a place youve discovered on your travels, at home or anywhere in the world. Capture your sense of adventure, flaunt your talent for taking a great pic and push your creativity to its limit. Just make sure you submit before Round 1 closes on Friday, 13 January 2017. Discovery will then choose 50 finalists who will be up for a public vote to determine who progresses to the next round. The winner will be announced on Friday, 3 March 2017. Discovery is the worlds #1 pay-TV programmer reaching nearly 3 billion cumulative subscribers in more than 220 countries and territories and is dedicated globally to satisfying curiosity by offering high quality, brand defining television moments and this is your chance to be a part of our team. Full T&Cs are on the website. Get snapping for your chance to win the adventure of a lifetime! discoverychannel.com.au Help India! By Abdul Hannan Siwani Nadvi for TwoCircles.net As the age of research work, quality education and divine power that had been empowering Muslims to face the challenges of every era moved out from them all over the world, another tendency has grown very rapidly among Muslims. It is the tendency to push the blame on the Ulema, holding them accountable for every failure, pointing fingers towards some specific Islamic laws, declaring the syllabus being taught in Madrasas and religious institutions as outdated and terming Madrasas as a symbol of old age which is seen especially in the Muslim community in India. Support TwoCircles The Sachar Commission report makes the air clear about Madrasas the percentage of Muslims who approach Madrasas for education is only 4, even the financial condition of Madrasas, teachers and students who study there is not much better. As it is known to all Muslims, Madrasas, except for some, have no good infrastructure due to very bad financial conditions as they are run solely by donations from Muslims. In such an atmosphere, is it just to expect the 4% to solve all the problems of Muslims, the problems being plenty? Laziness, dullness, distancing themselves from hard work, selecting short-cut ways to make money, wasting time in watching films and TV programs, or taking part in unnecessary works and making themselves busy in nonsense subjects, or trying to get awards and fame by making comments against the Ulema indeed all these paved the way for majority of Muslims to put the Ulema on target so that the latter can cover their failure and no one would blame them for the deteriorating situation of Muslims in India. Pushing the blame on Ulema and pointing the finger towards Madrasas is a very easy task, but conceding our own faults and mistakes is very hard work for most of us. Do we forget what our behavior with the Ulema and Madrasas are? How do the Madrasa people get donations and how do they collect it from every Muslim so that they can arrange a free education to poor Muslims in Madrasas? Is collecting donations an easy work? When the representatives of Madrasas knock the doors of Muslim homes and ask some donation for Madrasas, during the month of Ramzan or in normal days, what do most of us do? Why do we misbehave with them? Why do we treat them as if they were beggars? Even my own personal experience is very harsh; very few people treat them with respect and dignity, most of us close the door before them, some of us make excuses. Some of us ask them to come after two hours and when the representatives come after two hours, they are said there is nobody in the home and asked to come the next day. When these representatives come again, we do not open the door, or they are told from the window to go away and never to come. Some of us tell them we are against Madrasas, hence we will not give any donation. And if some agree to pay the donation, they give just 10 rupees or 5 rupees or 20 or 30 rupees. And these representatives of Madrasas, despite this misbehavior, go from door to door, room to room, house to house, knock every door to collect 5 or 10 or 20 or 50 rupees. Some of us drive them off, some of us use abusive language against them, some advise them to leave the Madrasas, some of us say to them you cheat the people but no one asks them, please come in my home, have a tea, have some cold water, or please have lunch with us today or tomorrow. Most of us throw hundreds of questions on them for giving just 10 or 20 rupees, such as where are you from? Who are you? Give details of the madrasa, etc. And at last, unwillingly, grudgingly and resentfully we agree to give a mere 10 or 20 rupees; while thousands rupees are being spent in purchasing an item just because our children like it. Students of a Delhi madrasa. This is the harsh reality of Muslims behavior with the representatives of Madrasas. We feel hesitation in donating just 10 or 20 rupees, while a particular class in the Muslim community always blames the Ulema, targets Madrasas and its education system. This class always demands computer education to be taught there. Can anyone let me know how much the cost of one computer is? How many people have gifted even one computer to any Madrasa? If anyone gives computer or funds to Madrasas, in return he wants to be listed as one among the members of the Madrasa and wants to interfere in the Madrasas education system. I ask the common Muslim how much he pays for the education of his one child in an English school. It may be Rs 5000 or Rs 6000 per month; however, the cost of education of a Madrasa student for one year exceeds no more than Rs 5000. Madrasas themselves bear the cost of books, breakfast, dinner and lunch and so on; no one goes there to ask the officials of Madrasas how they arrange meals every day for hundreds and thousands of their students. We want high-class and well-rounded graduates to come out from the Madrasas. We, however, face trouble in giving a mere 10 or 20 rupees as donation. A family can spend thousands rupees just for the happiness of their children; a family can purchase puppets, video games, CD players, and so on and on but when donating a few rupees they think these Madrasa people have made them bankrupt and penniless. Same is the situation of Imams in our country. An Imam is paid Rs 2000 or Rs 3000 normally, and it may come to Rs 5000 if the Masjid is big. Most of the Masjids are being run by donations and with the help of Muslims. Sometimes, the Masjid administration faces difficulties in giving even this salary to the Imam; how do we expect the Imam to sustain his family with such a small amount? No doubt, there are hundreds and thousands of Muslims whose donation, help and sacrifices are helping the owners of Madrasas to run these institutions without a hope of prize or award. I would like to say, the Ulema have besieged themselves within the boundaries of Madrasas and religious education only. Rest of the field is left free for the entire Muslim community. Why are they not trying their luck in these fields? The Muslim community is in need of good doctors, engineers, scientists, architects and so on. When it has been made clear that only 4% or less than 4% go to Madarasas for education, what about the rest 96%? There are many rich Muslims, and there are hundreds of scholars, professors and others whose salary and monthly income is more than one lakh and who have great respect, relations and sources within and outside the community. Why are they not trying to build another university? Why cant a network of schools and universities be deployed across the country? In these 63 years, the Ulema established a network of Madrasas throughout the country, collecting one rupee and two rupees and suffering a lot of difficulties. Then why cant these powerful leaders gift any new university to Indian Muslims? First we have to change our attitude, our behavior and our manner. Change our minds and be ready to make sacrifices; nothing will change if we continue to blame the Ulema and madrasas. Differences and oppositions have a place in every community, but in the Muslim community it is being used as a tool to escape from discharging the responsibilities. If every Muslim does his own work, I think no one can stop them from arriving at a higher position in the world. If every professional Muslim does his work in his field well he will see the result in just a few years. The society will be changed and Muslims will shine, if only they do this. In this society in which voices arise against the Ulema and Madrasas, we can see that two small children, who were living in slum areas and were from poor families, won the Oscar awards and found no problem in achieving these goals. How did this happen? Muslims have to think about it hundreds and thousands of times. Many times, we saw in Delhi, non-Muslim boys and girls from very poor families reading, studying and finishing their home work sitting on small broken beds beside the road, where there were noises and crowds of rikshaw-pullers and passersby. In spite of all this, and under the heat of the sun, these boys and girls were busy studying. Can Muslims take a lesson from them instead of blaming the Ulema and Madrasas? I would like to say to all Indian Muslims that their problems could be put to an end within just a few years if every Muslim decided to play a pivotal role in building the community and the country. Help India! By TCN News Mumbai: A group of Muslim NGOs are castigating the Congress-led UPA government in the centre for its inactiveness in regard to Assams ethnic violence and Muslim genocide in Myanmar. They strongly condemned violence in any part of the world, appealed for peace and urged the Indian Govt. to act urgently to control the month-long ethnic violence in Assam in a press conference today at Mumbais Marathi Patrakar Sangh. Support TwoCircles Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi, general secretary All India Ulama Council, Maulana Burhanuddin Qasmi, director Markazul Maarif Education and Research Centre, Dr Azimuddin, president Movement for Human Welfare, Mr. Farid Shaikh, president Mumbai Aman Committee, Maulana Ejaz Khashmiri, Maulana Anis Ashrafi and Mr. Dawood Khan addressed the press meet and criticized the United Nations Organization and Amnesty International for their failure in controlling the genocide in Myanmar. The leaders were also critical on the role of media which is deliberately playing down the tow ongoing planned mass-killing of minority Muslim in India and Myanmar. Some media houses are even propagating for the oppressors, they charged. The social and educational NGO leaders have charged that the Congress-led Assam state government is involved in the recent violence because BPF former BLT (Bodo Libration Tiger a terrorist outfit) is the coalition partner in the Assam government with two ministerial berths. They demanded that the autonomy given to BTAD (Bodo Territorial Autonomous Districts) must be revoked with urgent affect because in the 4 BTAD districts Bodos are only 30 percent of the total population, Muslim are 60 percent and 10 percent others. It is unjust, inhuman that the majority of the population be deprived of their basic rights, they said. The leading NGO members have shown their anxiety over Buddhist religious leader Dalai Lama and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyis silence in regard to ongoing mass- murders in Myanmar. They termed the duos campaign for peace and democracy as hypocritically selective acts when it comes to speak for oppressed Muslims in Myanmar. According to some media report 35 thousand innocent Muslims are already killed including 12 thousand children. It is just unbearable, they said, India being the leading member of SAARC and G-20 countries must play its role in bringing the culprits of Myanmar genocide to the International Court of Justice, the Muslim religious leader have urged. The leading Muslim NGOs of Mumbai have called for a mass agitation against Assam ethnic cleansing and Myanmar holocaust in Mumbais Azad Maidan on Monday 13th August from 1 pm onwards. They urged all other humanitarian NGOs and public to take the call positively and registered their protest against the crimes against humanity being committed in Assam and Myanmar. By all means we stand by the oppressed people, they said. Help India! By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net Hyderabad: Protesting with violence as it happened in Mumbai last week and Lucknow & Allahabad yesterday is not going to help Muslims of Assam and Myanmar. Hyderabadi Muslims found a better way of helping those in need. Support TwoCircles Young Muslim students waited outside mosques, colleges and hotels with seriousness on their faces and a hope of positive response, holding a banner and a donation box appealing for contribution to the relief fund meant for oppressed Muslims of riot hit Assam and Myanmar. SIO volunteers with banners. Student Islamic organization of India (Hyderabad division) has started this fund raising program yesterday which has received a good response here. Awareness for the relief work donation program was generated through SMSs, social networking sites and mosques. Relief fund banners were erected in different parts of the city, which made an emotional appeal to the Muslim community for financial help for the Muslim victims of the conflict ridden Assam and Myanmar, it reads, This Eid, lets not forget our oppressed brothers, lets share our love. Come join hands to help them. Our help is there hope!!! These fund rising activity was divided between different units of SIO Hyderabad, Amberpet unit of SIO have received 40,000 rupees on the first day of its relief fund collection initiative. The enthusiastic response of Muslims towards this relief drive for Assam and Myanmar Muslims could be make out by the collection of the donation counter at Masjid-e-Azizia located in Mehdipatnam locality which reportedly registered donations up to 4 lakh rupees. Nearly 4 lakh Muslims have been displaced and 80 had been killed in Assam riots, and the situation for Muslims in Burma is more heinous then Assam. SIO relief fund for Assam and Burma Muslims is a part of all India level donation campaign started by Jamat-e-Islami hind to help Muslims of Assam and Myanmar financially. Counters for the relief fund will be open till Ramzan to collect more contributions even in the form of Zakat and fitra. Any one in Hyderabad interested in contributing to the relief fund may contact, SIO Hyderabad at 9550927413 and 9985581340. Help India! By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net Acting on a report filed by the local police, the district administration of Allahabad has cancelled arms license of muscleman turned politician and Samajwadi Party candidate from Kanpur Cantt Atiq Ahmed. Support TwoCircles Arms license of his three associates too have been cancelled. The action was taken following FIR against Atiq and his associates over their involvement in alleged assault incident in an educational institute. District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar has cancelled the license for a pistol and a rifle registered in the name of Atiq. Arms license of his associates too have been cancelled. The list includes Imran whose double barrel gun license has been cancelled. Revolver of Rafatullah and one rifle and double barrel gun registered in the name of Kamlesh Singh has also been cancelled. Besides this police has also sent report of cancelling arms license of Javed and Isa Mohammadboth of them possess a rifle each. Meanwhile district administration of Kanpur has given permission to Atiq Ahmed to hold a public meeting today. Atiq is contesting as SP candidate from Kanpur Cantt. He has appealed to his supporters for not bringing any arms during the meeting. Meanwhile Allahabad has arrested two persons in the violence at educational institute involving Atiq Ahmed. Case has been registered against 65 persons including Atiq. Atiq has however denied his involvement in any assault at the institute. Help India! By TwoCirlces.net Staff Reporter Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Education Minister has intervened in the incident, where a Dalit student was ragged so bad that his kidneys were damaged at Nattakom Government Polytechnic College in Kottayam district. Minister C Raveendranath on Tuesday ordered a probe into the ragging incident and asked the director of Technical Education to review the probe and take steps to ensure justice for the victim. Support TwoCircles The issue was brought to light when Avinash, a 22-year old dalit student from Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur district, was hospitalised on December 17 following ragging. A gang of senior students brutally ragged him on December 2. The seniors undressed the first year student and made him take push-ups on December 2. According to a complaint filed by Avinashs father Sivadasan with Changanassery police, the accused forcibly fed his son with liquor mixed substances after six hours long ragging. When Avinash came home, he was taken to the Mother Hospital, Thrissur, with ailments on his kidney.He was put on dialysis after doctors diagnosed him with kidney damage. The complainant had urged the police to take case under the Kerala prohibition of ragging Act 1998 and SC/ST atrocities Act. Meanwhile, nine students have been arrested in connection with the case and have been remanded in police custody. Changanassery police told Twocircles that they were sent to Kottayam sub jail and were interrogated by the police team. Help India! Patna : Communal tension gripped a village in Bihars Vaishali district on Thursday after an alleged honour killing of a 20-year-old boy. The boy, Veerchand, was found dead in Sarma village early on Thursday morning, police said, adding that the preliminary investigation suggests the boy was killed over an affair with a girl from a different community. Support TwoCircles His body was recovered from behind the girls house. The girl and her father have been arrested, police said. We have started an investigation into the case and deployed additional security forces from neighbouring police stations in the village to maintain peace, Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said. According to reports, a mob pelted stones at police and the girls house, creating panic in the village. In view of the tension, District Magistrate Rachna Patil and SP Rakesh Kumar have been camping in the village. Heavy police deployment has been made in and around the village to avoid any untoward incident. Tension prevails between two communities in the village but under-control, a local police official said. According to villagers, the victim was seen in the village on Wednesday evening. Born in Alaska and raised in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, thousands tons of salmons have reached the domestic market this year. The salmons in Xinjiang first became famous at the fifth China-Eurasian Expo, which was held from Sept 20 to 25 in Urumqi. The expo attracted representatives from 57 countries and six international organizations. Xinjiang Tianyun company imported the fish eggs from Alaska, and bred them at the Kashi River basin in Ili, near the Tianshan Mountains. About three million adult salmons, each weighing about 3.5 kilograms, are at the farm area more than 1,000 meters above the sea level. Ding Yaying, deputy general manager of Xinjiang Tianyun, said the salmons imported from Norway and Chile dominated domestic market, but it took about seven days for the imported fish to reach ports, and several more days to arrive in cities. The salmons in Xinjiang can reach domestic market quicker and fresher, and further, and the price is only about one-third of the imported ones, Ding said. More than 40 tons have already been transported to Shanghai by December 20. China Southern Airlines, one of the largest airlines in China, took charge of transporting the salmons to large cities. Lu Qinghong, a manager of the airlines, said the planes carrying salmons take off from Yining airport at 11 pm and arrive in Shanghai, about 4,500 kilometers away, within 15 hours. Currently, the salmons are mainly sold in Shanghai and some in Beijing. Syria - Most of the world can not imagine sending their 7-year-old daughter to commit suicide. In fact, anyone would talk our children out of such a sad task. That is not the case for two moderate rebel parents in the world of terrorism. Two proud Islamic parents prepared their daughter to strap a bomb on and blow up a Syrian police station. As sad as this sounds, it is not a unique situation in Syria. The disturbing footage on the video shows a Muslim woman kissing her daughters goodbye. The little girls appear to be seeking love from their mother. But all they receive is instructions to blow up the police station. The bombing As the little girls entered the police station, they appeared lost. No adult can just turn a blind eye to lost children. As the adult officers crowded around the adorable little girls, the bombs were detonated. According to Metro news, the bombs strapped to the girl's chest were detonated remotely. After the blast, carnage filled the place where the police station once stood. The man in the video, reported to be the dad, could be heard instructing them on how to pull off the atrocity. In the background, all that can be seen is a black and white Islamic flag. The same flag that al-Queda uses. This is nothing new in Syria As reports come in year round, we find that 50% of all suicide bombings are pulled off by innocent children. The reason; no one usually suspects innocent kids. In the human mind, there is nothing more innocent than a child, so this is why they use the children, experts say. The children easily buy into the idea. According to Islamic experts, a martyr is praised in heaven. When the family member commits a suicide bombing, their family is sure to go to heaven, according to Islam. According to the Jihadi Watch website, Islamic scholars do not even call it suicide. They call it dying for the cause of Allah. And not only that, according to experts, they are given 72 virgins. If this ideology is true, then we can expect more of these attacks in the future. US President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a USA Thank You Tour event in Mobile, Alabama, US, December 17, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] US President Barack Obama's eight-year term will end in January. He has rewritten history by becoming the first African American president of the United States, but he will leave behind a mixed legacy. The positives first. Obama led the US through the global financial crisis, creating new jobs and helping revive the country's economy. Under his leadership, the US agreed with China to reduce their respective carbon emissions. The two countries also worked together to clinch the Paris Agreement on climate change last year. And with the "Clean Power Plan", the US raised its energy efficiency levels, reduced oil imports, and started developing clean energy rapidly. As a nationwide healthcare reform, his Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare) has considerably reduced the number of people without medical insurance cover. High on the agenda of Obama's second term were legalizing same-sex marriage, promoting equality in education, and immigration reform. He has succeeded on one front, as gay marriage has been legalized in 50 states. And he has tried to delay repatriating 5 million illegal immigrants and grant them work permits. To give meaning to his diplomatic and counter-terrorism moves, Obama withdrew US combat troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 and from Afghanistan by October 2014. And on May 2, 2011, US forces eventually shot dead Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. Thanks partly to Obama's efforts, the ice was broken between the US and Cuba, with Washington and Havana upgrading their respective "interests sections" in each other's capitals to embassies in July, 2015. And on March 20, 2016, Obama became the first US president to visit Cuba in 88 years. In 2015, the US led successful negotiations for a nuclear deal aimed at preventing Iran from making nuclear weapons, and when Iran complied this year, Washington lifted part of the sanctions on Teheran, which breathed some life into the nearly four-decade-old frozen bilateral relations. But Iran is the only silver lining in Obama's Asia policy. He shifted the focus of US diplomacy from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific, epitomized by his "pivot" to Asia strategy. As part of its "smart power diplomacy", the Obama administration tacitly fueled the "Arab Spring", which has left many countries, especially Syria and Libya, in tatters and resulted in a massive power vacuum in the Middle East and played a key role in the emergence of the Islamic State group. In the Asia-Pacific, Obama's "pivot" strategy, instead of bringing about stability and prosperity, has intensified differences among the region's countries and heightened tensions. To allow the US to dictate trade and economic terms in the Asia-Pacific, Obama proposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which now is all but dead as US president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to scrap it on his first day in office. Eight years ago, Obama entered the White House with the promise of change. But he has managed to change little in the US, as attacks on blacks have increased, with many blacks falling victims to police bullets. He has failed to change the country's gun culture, too. And although he raised the minimum wage and took initiatives to help the poor and needy, the gap between the rich and poor in the US has widened. His healthcare reform is indeed a welcome move, but given the loopholes in and economic burden of Obamacare and, more importantly president-elect Donald Trump's aversion to it, the future of the scheme looks uncertain. It is difficult to guess the fate of even the good policies Obama has implemented once Trump is sworn in as US president next month. Trump has already said he wants to "Make America Great Again" and put "America First" by reversing Obama's domestic and foreign policies. And with billionaires and retired generals in his team, it is difficult to say what kind of change Trump will bring to the US and the world. The author is a senior fellow at the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and managing editor of The Chinese Journal of American Studies. By An Baijie in Beijing and Chen Weihua in Washington | China Daily USA | Updated: 2016-12-22 12:25 One of Taiwan's three African allies cut its "diplomatic ties" with the island, and observers predicted more such defeats if Taiwan continues to challenge the one-China principle. The African island nation of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe announced on Tuesday that it had broken its "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan. Currently, 21 countries and governments, mainly small nations and islands in Latin America, Oceania and Africa, rely heavily on economic aid from Taiwan and hold such ties with the island. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that China welcomed the decision by Sao Tome and Principe, since the one-China policy is widely recognized around the world. China praised the move and welcomed the African country to "return to the right track of the one-China principle", she said, adding that the principle is related to China's core interests and is the political foundation for China's friendly ties with other countries. Sao Tome and Principe, which achieved independence from Portugal in 1975, is the second-smallest African country after Seychelles. The nation established a diplomatic relationship with China in July 1975, but Beijing cut the relationship in 1997 after the African island country announced that it would establish "diplomatic ties" with Taipei. In Washington on Wednesday, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the US has a deep and abiding interest in cross-Straits stability. "We believe that dialogue between the two sides has enabled peace, stability, and development in recent years," he said. "We urge all concerned parties to engage in a productive dialogue that supports cross-Straits stability and to avoid destabilizing moves, but obviously, this is a decision that Sao Tome and Principe have to speak to," Kirby told the daily briefing. Asked by Taiwan reporters whether the new situation is a change of status quo and a move by the Chinese mainland to isolate Taiwan, Kirby repeated that "this is a question for Sao Tome and Principe to speak to, not for the United States." "I've already said what our policy is with respect to cross-Straits relations and stability, and that hasn't changed and this is for them to speak to," he said. The break of ties announced on Tuesday occurs amid cross-Straits tension following Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's congratulatory call to US president-elect Donald Trump on Dec 2. The phone call broke four decades of Sino-US diplomatic precedent. If Tsai continues to challenge the one-China principle, Taiwan will face tougher punishment from the mainland, with the island's ability to participate in international activities further squeezed, said Wang Hailiang, a researcher of Taiwan studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Wang said that many countries have vowed to cut ties with Taipei in exchange for building diplomatic ties with China. However, Beijing has shown restraint on the issue in recent years as Taiwan authorities led by Ma Ying-jeou maintained peaceful development with the mainland on the basis of the one-China principle. "Now it's the right time for China to take those countries' offers into consideration," he said, adding that Taiwan authorities led by Tsai will be snubbed by more countries because the island's authorities are seeking to change the status quo across the Straits, which could lead to regional instability. In March, Beijing resumed diplomatic ties at ambassador level with Gambia, the West African country that cut "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan in 2013. Jin Yong, deputy head of the school of foreign studies at Communication University of China, said that the mainland has more cards to play if Tsai refuses to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which endorsed the one-China principle. For example, Beijing could make diplomatic efforts to bar Taipei's participation in international activities, Jin said. In September, the International Civil Aviation Organization, which operates under the framework of the United Nations, did not invite Taiwan to participate in its assembly in Canada, because the current Taiwan authorities have refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus. Contact the writers and chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com Jim Karygiannis is pleased that the Toronto City Council passed his motion to recognize the Nanjing Massacre on Dec 15. The motion, moved by Karygiannis, councillor for Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt, and seconded by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam on Dec 5, reads as follows: City Council re-affirms its recognition of the Nanjing Massacre and honours the memory of the men, women and children who were massacred. "I want to thank Councillor Wong-Tam for seconding the motion and the mayor and my fellow councillors for passing this motion," said Karygiannis. "Council has recognized the Imperial Japanese Army launched a six-week campaign which saw an estimated 300,000 people, including young children, tortured, raped and murdered." During the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggressions (1937-1945), on Dec 13, 1937, the Japanese invaders captured Nanjing. Over the following six weeks, they conducted a massacre where an estimated 300,000 people, including young children, were tortured, raped and murdered. "This dark period in history is seldom discussed, yet the legacy of these atrocities lives on in the memories of survivors and it continues to have a deeply-felt impact in many Asian societies, including Toronto's diverse Asian communities," Karygiannis stated in the motion. Councillor Wong-Tam said the vote is ultimately another step toward peace and reconciliation, "not just because Toronto has the largest Chinese-Canadian population in the country, but because it was the right course of action and most Canadian thing to do". "It is important to remember these moments in our shared history," Karygiannis said. "We must remember those who suffered and perished. We must teach our children the violence faced by their ancestors and others. It is only by remembering and teaching the young that we can ensure that these atrocities never happen again." Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Shaun Chen also made a statement on the Nanjing Massacre on Dec 12 at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. "Seventy-nine years ago tomorrow, one of the darkest moments in human history began. Over a six-week period, innocent civilians were raped and killed in China's then capital city of Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War," Chen stated. "Here in Canada, I salute the work of Toronto ALPHA for their efforts to shine light on this forgotten history. Through education, we can teach future generations to never repeat the atrocities of the past, and we will never forget." Toronto's school board passed a unanimous motion encouraging the teaching of the atrocities of the Nanking Massacre and Japanese Military Sexual Slavery in their schools in 2008. renai@chinadailyusa.com While some have claimed the recent elections heralded the death of conservatives and the tea party, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper does not share their enthusiasm, and is asking outside gun control groups to stay out if a third state recall election occurs against another anti-Second Amendment lawmaker. In September, state residents organized a grassroots recall against a pair of Democratic state senators who voted in favor of several party-line votes over a series of gun-control bills that were among the strictest in the nation. Displaying their outrage, citizens in Pueblo and Colorado Springs launched a first-ever recall election against Senate president John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron. The recall was the first in the states history. Recognizing the ramifications politicians being recalled would have on future attempts to restrict firearms ownership, gun control groups sprang into action, spending large sums of money to support the legislators targeted for recall. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg personally donated $350,000 to Taxpayers for Responsible Government; an issue committee that attempted to help the legislators retain their seats was formed by Julie Wells, a Democratic fundraiser from Kentucky. Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad contributed $250,000 to Wells organization, which then gave $420,000 to the two defense committees. The Washington, D.C.-based Sixteen Thirty Fund gave $35,000 to help Giron fight the recall while Citizens for Integrity and Mainstream Colorado, both Denver-based organizations donated $20,000 and $15,000 respectively. Additionally, the American Federation of State, Federal and Municipal Employees union, based in Washington, D.C., contributed $3,500. However, the gun control groups did not get a good return on their investment. In September, voters voted to recall the pair, leaving Democrats with a slim, one vote majority in the state senate. However, even that lead could evaporate as residents are now attempting a third recall. When the idea for the recalls first began, among the legislators targeted for recall was Evie Hudak, a two-term Democrat in a suburban district north of Denver. However, gun rights citizens initially decided against a recall against Hudak, fearing that three simultaneous campaigns would dilute their grassroots resources too much, choosing instead to focus on Morse and Giron, who they felt were more vulnerable. Residents have until Dec. 3 to collect 18,900 signatures in order to initiate a recall election against Hudak. If Hudak were to befall the fate of her colleagues, the senate would swing back to a Republican majority, which would be able to prevent a repeat of the last legislative session where a host of liberal causes became law on issues including civil unions, abortion, and gun control. While Hickenlooper would prefer the recall not take place at all, if it does there is something else he wants to prevent from repeating itself. The Democratic governor has asked Bloomberg and other outside gun control groups to sit this one out if Hudak were to face the voters in a recall. Colorado is a state that people like to be themselves and solve their own problems, the Democratic governor said in an interview with Capital Download, USA TODAYs weekly video newsmaker series. They dont really like outside organizations meddling in their affairs, and maybe the NRA gets a pass on that. But (it is) probably not a bad idea for gun-control groups to stay out of the Hudaks recall if enough signatures are gathered. During the Virginia governors race, Bloomberg spent $1.1 million to help Democrat Terry McAuliffe squeak out a victory against conservative Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli. McAuliffe has called for an assault weapons ban, long a goal of Bloomberg in the state and nationally. While the expenditures were able to help McAuliffe achieve victory, it was far closer than expected, with his winning by only three percentage points. The Libertarian candidate received 7 percent of the vote, much of which would have probably gone to Cuccinelli, who would have won the election. Following the recall of Mores and Giron, legislators have been skittish about pushing gun control legislation for fear of a similar thing happening to them. I think there are a lot of indications that lawmakers are quaking in their boots over the Colorado recall, Erich Pratt, director of communications for Gun Owners of America said. It was time for another wake up call. We had one in 1994 and again 2000 where Lieberman said it was the gun issue that cost them the election. It seems as if every few years ago the Democrats need to have some of their scalps nailed to the wall to remind them that this is a losing issue despite what the pollsters say. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who was a House member representing Newtown at the time of the Sandy Hook shooting said, The results of the recall were not good news. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md) said while speaking at POLITICOs Morning Money Breakfast in Washington following the shooting at the Naval Yard in Washington DC that he expected the shooting to renew the discussions over gun control, but he believed the recall elections in Colorado would prevent any new gun control measures from being enacted. It does not bode well for asking people to vote for legislation similar to that which went down in the Senate just a few months ago, he said. If voters were to achieve a third victory against a gun control legislator, it would further set back the issue for advocates. [yop_poll id=2] Thanks for the correction, Larry! In private, AIADMK spokespersons say that the raid on Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao might be aimed at weakening the AIADMK, and demotivating the party from selecting/electing J Jayalalithaa's confidante, Sasikala Natarajan, as her successor -- first as party head then possibly in the government, says N Sathiya Moorthy. The recent income tax raid on incumbent Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao has flagged more questions than answers. Earlier there was the well-published raids on sand mining baron Shekar Reddy and his associate Srinivasulu, both of whom had contract dealings with the Tamil Nadu government over the past several years, It is for the taxman to say if the two raids were connected. On Tuesday, when the taxman began raids in the residence of Rao, the Central Bureau of Investigation, reportedly acting on a report from the Income-Tax Department, based on earlier raids, arrested Reddy and his assoicate. A local court remanded them to judicial custody. The state government suspended Rao on Thursday and appointed Dr Girija Vaidyanathan as chief secretary. This is only the second instance in which central agencies have launched raids against incumbent officials of state governments. Last December, the CBI raided the office and residence of Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance was in power in both instances. In the case of Rao, it is unclear if the state government was taken into confidence at the appropriate levels. In the normal course, such intimation/information would go to the chief secretary, but when the chief secretary is the target-person, the question arises if Chief Minister O Panneerselvam should have been kept in the loop -- beyond possibly Acting Governor C Vidyasagar Rao. There is, of course, the question of secrecy involved in such raids. But the question arises if the elected chief minister of a state should not be trusted with a 'secret' of the kind. Apart from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that such raids were an 'affront' on the nations federal principles, the raid on Rao (as different from that on businessman Reddy) raises some pertinent constitutional/procedural questions of some consequence. News reports claimed that the taxmen had not informed the state government ahead of the raids in Rao's residence and office. As the head of the state administration, Rao, or anyone else in his place, could have kept sensitive government records/documents for perusal in either of the places. Should the raiding party be given access to all files in search of documents that they might be looking for, is a question. This includes documents, and notes that the chief secretary might have stored in his computer(s) or hard disks. Going by reports, the taxmen commissioned the services of the Central Reserve Police Force for security duty, both at Rao's residence and offices -- the latter located in the state government secretariat at Fort St George. In this case again, it is not known if the CRPF had acquired prior permission/requisition from the state government. This comes weeks after Mamata had charged the Centre with despatching the army to man check-posts in the state without prior requisition from the latter, or intimation from the former. The West Bengal controversy, however, died its natural death. The inconvenient and uncomforting possibilities of the future could involve a reversal of roles, anywhere across the country. Since independence, the Centre and various state governments have followed healthy procedures of sharing information, when the agencies of one of them acting against serving officials, or at times even ministers or legislators, of the other. The then BJP-NDA government protested when the then All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam state government led by J Jayalalithaa arrested two senior Union ministers, 'Murasoli' Maran and T R Baalu, both belonging to the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in August 2001. The incident happened when they were protesting the midnight arrest of DMK supremo and former chief minister M Karunanidhi. Speaking for the Centre at the time was the present-day Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He was the Union law minister at the time. Clearly, neither the Centre nor Jaitley at the time, challenged the arrest per se. They were concerned that the Union of India had not been kept duly informed when the two ministers were arrested -- and for a long time after. Meanwhile, Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Pon Radhakrishnan have since denied that the Modi government was anyway directly involved in the 'Rao raid'. Sitharaman's family hails from Tamil Nadu while Radhakrishnan, who is also a minister of state, is the BJP member of the Lok Sabha from the southern-most Kanyakumari constituency. DMK Leader of the Opposition M K Stalin has called the tax-raid on an incumbent chief secretary a 'humiliation' for Tamil Nadu. Other political party leaders like Pattali Makkal Katchi's Ramadoss and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi's Thol Thirumavalavan too have reacted in a similar vein. Ruling AIADMK spokespersons, speaking haltingly and selectively to the local media, if at all, have sought to distance the 'Rao raid' with the party or the government. In private, however, they say that it all might be aimed at weakening the AIADMK, and demotivating the party from selecting/electing Jayalalithaas confidante, Sasikala Natarajan, as her successor -- first as party head then possibly in the government. They also ask why such raids were not conduced when Jayalalithaa was around, as some of the details involved in the raids might have dated back to those days. Coming as it did only a day after Panneerselvam's meeting Prime Minister Modi for the first time after assuming office, any lack of clarity with regard to the office of the chief secretary could well dislocate the post-Vardah cyclone relief work in Chennai. There can be no two opinions that the state administration has been working on a war-footing and anyone visiting the city less than a week after the cyclone-havoc would have believed that this was the place where Vardah had felled a hundred thousand trees and thousands of electricity poles and destroyed hundreds of transformers, homes and small businesses. Unlike in the days of predecessor AIADMK chief ministers, MGR and Jayalalithaa, the incumbent was on the scene every day, and his ministers too had the freedom to do their own work, visit worst-hit sites -- and more so, talk to the media. This 'whiff of fresh air' being breathed in into the state administration (it was always the case whenever the rival DMK was in power) has begun endearing the Panneerselvam's leadership to the city's population at large, and possibly over the head of the AIADMK second-line, from within Chennai and outside. It is not unlikely that the DMK, which 'won back' a majority of the assembly constituencies in Greater Chennai from the AIADMK rival after a gap in the May 2016 polls, would now feel as comfortable about winning the Chennai corporation elections, whenever held. As may be recalled, local bodies elections across the state were put off (only months after the assembly polls) two weeks before they were due when the Madras High Court passed orders to the effect, and admitted a petition alleging irregularities involving the State Election Commission (set up under the Constitution's 74th and 75th Amendments). Coming as they did after the poll-time raids in the office/residence of some businessmen identified with senior AIADMK ministers in May, there is a general public acceptance of the need for cleansing the states politics of the widely-held belief of large-scale, big-time corruption and nepotism. Neither the DMK (remember, the 2-G scam, Airtel-Maxis case, etc) nor AIADMK ministers barring Jayalalithaa (who did not have a family) have not escaped either of the charges, at their own respective levels. Such allegations have not escaped Sasikala and her family members either. If nothing else, Sasikala has been a co-accused in most of the corruption cases in which Jayalalithaa ultimately got a court-ordered acquittal. The most important of them all, the 'wealth case', is pending the Supreme Courts verdict. With Jayalalithaa, the first accused not alive, the court's decision could still be awaited for the legal and constitutional clarifications on the fate of co-accused, who were not 'public servants' in the context of the Prevention of Corruption Act. This is more so in an era where judicial activism, combined with executive initiatives and parliamentary legislation, are all aiming to wipe out corruption from the nation's public life. The immediate and the medium-term question, however, relates to the possible impact of such central action like the Reddy and Rao 'raids' on the popularity of the ruling BJP at the Centre in general and the party's 'anti-graft mascot' in PM Modi in a 'Dravidian' Tamil Nadu without Jayalalithaa on the one hand, and ageing-and-ailing Karunanidhi on the other. The temptation would be to assume that the BJP, especially with the Congress still on a losing wicket in the state and the two communist parties becoming almost irrelevant to electoral politics, has a vacuum to fill in the first place, and ability to do so. While on paper, it looks a real possibility, the Congress experience of the post-1967 electoral history of Tamil Nadu has other tales to tell. If nothing else, the exit of veteran Congress leader K Kamaraj in the midst of Indira Gandhi's Emergency, for instance, had not been provided for in the latter's calculations for creating a 'Tamil Nadu without the Dravidian polity'. Such imponderables galore in the state, and political pundits have found them too hot to handle whenever they struck. More importantly, leaders like Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa in particular, and their parties otherwise, have sailed through the politico-electoral storms of the Emergency and the post-Rajiv Gandhi electoral rout (for the DMK) and the post-MGR split and the 1991 poll debacle (in the case of the AIADMK). As the results of the 2016 elections, the two parties have only become stronger in the years that followed. The ranks of the 'undecided' swing-voters in the decades since the early nineties have only come down drastically from a high near-50 per cent, to a negligible 10 per cent or so, which anyway had been there in the state almost from the first general elections in 1952. That way, the two parties have shown that while leaders and their charisma did matter, in deciding especially the victory margins, the parties have learnt to stand on their own legs, fight each others -- and fight outsiders, too, all at the same time! IMAGE: Policemen guard the main entrance of Tamil Nadu State Secretariat during the raid at the chamber of Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao, who came under the I-T scanner in Chennai on Wednesday. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is Director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday sought a report from the Indian ambassador in Norway on the allegations made by an Indian couple that the Norwegian authorities have taken away their five-year-old child on frivolous complaint of abuse. I have asked the Indian ambassador in Norway to send me a report, Swaraj tweeted. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Jolly had written to her and the Indian ambassador in Norway after the couple sought his help in getting back the custody of their child. Meanwhile, MEA officials said, Our embassy officials in Oslo have spoken to the boys father Anil Kumar Sharma and extended full support. However, Sharma informed the mission that he has hired a lawyer to represent him in the case. When contacted, Norwegian embassy spokesperson said, The embassy became aware of this case yesterday evening. We have asked relevant authorities in Norway to provide us with further information, and are awaiting their response. In his letter to Indian Ambassador Debraj Pradhan, Jolly had raised concern on forcible custody of the boy Aryan by Child Welfare Department of Norway on baseless and fabricated complaint in Oslo on December 13. Sharma is a member of Overseas Friends of BJP. Jolly said he has received a call from a senior MEA official saying that help will be given to the Indian couple. This is the third case since 2011 when children have been taken away from their Indian-origin parents by the authorities in Norway on the grounds of abuse. In 2011, a three-year-old and a one-year-old were separated from their parents, prompting the then United Progressive Alliance government to take up the issue with Norway. The Norwegian court later allowed the children to be reunited with their parents. In December 2012, an Indian couple was jailed on charges of ill treatment of their children, 7 and 2 years. Later, they were sent to their grandparents in Hyderabad. Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. PM attends conference on building Vietnams agricultural industry__Photo: Internet , , , , , , , , Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has decided to grant a credit package of VND 50-60 trillion for development of hi-tech agriculture with the most favorable and transparent lending mechanism.The PM made the announcement at a conference on building Vietnams agricultural industry that took place in Ho Chi Minh City on December 18.He said the country had three significant advantages: an organic, clean and hi-tech agriculture, information technology and tourism.He praised the countrys aspiration to build a modern, multi-functional and internationally competitive agriculture and to become one of the worlds leading agricultural nations and a hi-tech agricultural product supply center.Whatever the region, scale and nature are, every Vietnamese farmer is encouraged to apply high technologies to agricultural production, affirmed the governmental leader.As it had signed 12 Free Trade Agreements and was a member of the World Trade Organization, Vietnam should build up technical barriers in line with regulations and its commitments to protect domestic agricultural products, said Phuc.He emphasized the necessity to amend Article 193 of the Land Law on conditions for receiving the transfer, contribution as capital or rent of agricultural land use rights to implement investment projects on non-agricultural production or business and Circular No. 23 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on land for agricultural development.The PM said the Government was considering the pilot establishment of a bank on land fund and a land use rights market in order to raise the land use efficiency.It is necessary to set up agricultural insurance funds, peasant support funds and agricultural enterprises, Phuc said.The PM assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to review and finalize an open and sustainable hi-tech agriculture master plan with preferential policies for hi-tech agricultural zones.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was requested to remove obstacles and facilitate land and field accumulation, adopt policies for farmers capital contribution to enterprises in the form of land use rights value and improve land-related incentives for investment in the field.The Ministry of Industry and Trade was demanded to step up trade promotion activities for home-made agricultural products on both domestic and foreign markets and strive for higher export turnover of high-quality agricultural products.The Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Vietnam were asked to introduce a better credit investment mechanism for high-tech agricultural development. Fuhua Co Ltd of Taiwan (mainland China) on Wednesday commenced the construction of 17 workshops for rent in the Binh Xuyen 2 Industrial Park in northern Vinh Phuc Province. In 2015, the provincial management board of industrial parks licensed the firm to invest US$28.5 million in a 29-workshop project covering a total area of 18.8ha in the Binh Xuyen 2 Industrial Park. As a wholly foreign-owned firm, Fuhua specialises in building industrial workshops for sale or for rent and repairing workshops and other architectural works. The first phase of building 12 workshops was completed in July 2015 and 11 of them have been sold and leased, contributing VN86.2 billion to the localitys budget. Yao Zi Yan, Fuhua general director, said in this second phase, his firm will pour over $10 million into constructing 17 facilities, towards meeting the increasing demand of businesses. These workshops are scheduled to be completed and put into use by the end of March next year. According to the provincial management board, industrial parks in Vinh Phuc attracted 19 new foreign-invested projects in the last 11 months. The local authorities have recently granted an investment certificate to Japans Sumitomo Corporation to develop infrastructure of the 213ha Thang Long Vinh Phuc industrial park, which is expected to attract 79 investment projects from Japan, with total registered capital of $1.5 billion. In a bid to lure more investment, the province has paid heed to improving local business climate, attracting resources for development while building essential infrastructure and enhancing vocational training quality. Mapping out the plan for urban development and facilitating administrative procedures for investors are also being given top priority. Further, the province has held talks with FDI businesses to promptly tackle their difficulties. VNS HA NOI Mozambique wants to learn from Viet Nams experience in developing the cashew industry, IlidioAfonso Jose Bande, director of the Mozambique National Cashew Institute (INCAJU), said at a recent workshop. The workshop on bilateral co-operation in the cashew industry was organised on Tuesday by the Vietnamese Embassy in Mozambique, INCAJU, Mozambiques Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Cashew Industry Association (AICAJU). It also drew representatives from AICAJU member businesses, cashew growing provinces, such as Gaza, Nampula, Zambezia and Cabo Delgado, and Vietnamese entrepreneurs. INCAJUs director said cashew plays an important role in Mozambiques agricultural development and food security strategy. He expressed admiration at the considerable development of Viet Nams cashew industry. Mozambique wants Viet Nam to transfer technology and help train personnel in the field, he said, calling on Vietnamese businesses to grow and invest in cashew processing lines to help his country boost exports. Briefing participants about Viet Nams cashew industry, Vietnamese Ambassador to Mozambique Nguyen Van Trung emphasised that it was only after more than 15 years did Viet Nam become the No 1 cashew nut exporter in the world, with in-depth experience and advanced techniques in planting, harvesting and processing cashew. More and more Vietnamese enterprises are interested in the cashew industry in Mozambique and seek partnership and investment opportunities there, he noted. He asked Vietnamese firms to point out obstacles to their business in the African nation and asked local authorised agencies to tackle the problems and facilitate operations, thereby contributing to the local cashew industrys expansion. During the time of the Portuguese colonialism, Mozambique was the largest cashew grower and exporter in Africa, with output of over 200,000 tonnes per year between 1973 and 1975. Its government has approved a master plan for the cashew industrys development until 2020, targeted at turning cashew into one of the countrys key exports in the near future. However, the country is facing certain difficulties due to a lack of modern planting and processing technologies and cashew products low quality. Its annual cashew output, currently, is just some 100,000 tonnes, with productivity of under one tonne per hectare. Less than 50 per cent of the output is shipped abroad. During the workshop, Vietnamese and Mozambique cashew companies discussed the local legal framework for raw cashew shipment, co-operation in cashew planting and investment in processing. Participants also visited some cashew factories and had a working session with Mozambiques Ministry of Industry and Trade to solve issues facing Vietnamese firms in exporting raw cashew to Viet Nam. VNS HA NOI The number of newly-established firms set a record in 2016, reflecting improvement in business confidence, following the Governments efforts to boost reform. The latest statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that 110,000 new firms were established this year, increasing by more than 16 per cent over the same period last year, also hitting the 100,000 milestone for the first time. Total registered capital of new firms rose by a whopping 48 per cent. Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment ang Huy ong told vtv.vn that these figures proved that businesses felt more confident in the business climate of Viet Nam. ong said greater efforts were, however, still needed to improve the business and investment climate, which would remain a priority of the Government. Viet Nam embarked on a thorough process of improving business climate and national competitiveness in 2014 with the issuance of Government Resolution 19/NQ-CP. The Government has set a goal of having at least one million firms with efficient operation by 2020. The Government is also promoting the entrepreneurship spirit and making Viet Nam a promising startup nation, part of the effort to develop the private economic sector, which has been defined as the driver for socio-economic growth. A law on supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises is being drafted. Currently, there are more than 500,000 firms in Viet Nam, of which some 97 per cent are small and medium sized. VNS Many sectors have built long-term development plans, but after a period of implementing those plans, they must adjust them to be suitable with reality. Experts from the construction, coal and garment industries speak to a Vietnam News Agency reporter about adjustments in those industries development plans. Le Van Toi Le Van Toi, former head of the Ministry of Constructions Building Material Department: Viet Nam has abundant resources for cement production, with a limestone output of 12.5 billion tonnes. Now, the capacity of the domestic cement industry has increased by 20-25 per cent against local demand. Many opinions said that the domestic consumption of cement has grown but the cement industry should consider exports as a longterm plan to reduce oversupply of 20 million tonnes of cement per year. The development plan of Viet Nams cement industry during 2011-20 and towards 2030, approved by the Government with Decision 1488/Q-TTg in 2011, has supported the efficient development of the industry from 2011 until now. However, after five years of implementation, the Prime Minister has agreed to take 14 cement projects with small capacities of around 910,000 tonnes of cement a year out of the plan, delay development of nine other projects and slowdown investment for seven other projects. Therefore, with directions from the Government, the Ministry of Construction has been building the development plan of Viet Nams cement industry during 2017-25 and towards to 2035 to replace the plan under Decision 1488. The target of the new plan was to follow socio-economic development, supply and demand of cement on the local market, and actual development of cement projects under the development plan. Especially, the ministry would adjust and supplement lists of projects ensuring feasibility as well as review and adjust the schedule of developing projects under the plan to balance supply and demand. The renovation of the development plan for the cement industry must pay attention to efficiency and sustainability as well as avoid wasting resources and exporting cement at any price. At present, some foreign investors have planned to buy modern cement factories in Viet Nam to produce cement for their home markets. They would take advantage of tax, such as export and value added tax, for cheap products, meanwhile, they wouldnt have to use resources in their countries and also avoid pollution from cement production. So, the cement industry needs to have specific targets that are suitable with the long-term development strategy, including domestic consumption and export. Nguyen Van Bien Nguyen Van Bien, deputy general director of Viet Nam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV): The development plan of Viet Nams coal industry for 2020 and towards 2030 has been approved by the Prime Minister with Decision 60/Q-TTg in 2012 to target coal output of 55-58 million tonnes in 2015, 60-65 million tonnes in 2020, 66-70 million tonnes in 2025 and more than 75 million in 2030. But, difficulties in production meant the industrys coal output reached only 37.6 million tonnes and consumption stood at 35.5 million in 2015, missing the target. Therefore, the development plan was adjusted to be suitable with the reality of the market. Accordingly, the target was reduced, with coal output at 41-44 million tonnes in 2016, 51-54 million tonnes in 2020 and 55-57 million tonnes in 2030. Development of the coal industry under the renewed plan would meet the demand of the domestic market, make efficiently use of coal and save coal resources. In addition, the industry would reduce coal exports and focus on the export of coal that the nation has little demand for. The coal industry has faced the most difficult period over the past 10 years. This year, coal output was expected to drop by 3 million tonnes against 2015. At present, with limited resources and a reduction in coal prices in domestic and global markets, the TKV would inspect domestic coal reserves to ensure sustainable development in the future. The group would develop and apply advanced technologies for exploration, exploitation, processing and use of coal as well as reduction of losses during coal mining. Vu uc Giang Vu uc Giang, chairman of Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association: According to the development plant of Viet Nams textile and garment industry by 2020 towards 2030, the textile and garment industry was slated to reach US$20 billion in export value in 2015, but the industry hit an export value of $27.5 billion in 2015 and expected to reach $29 billion for this year. In the five years from 2010 to 2015, the industry held a growth rate of export value at 15 per cent per year. The target in export value was much lower than the figures in reality and the development plant was not suitable with the real development of the industry. Therefore, the association has proposed the Government and related ministries and sectors to review the development plan for the garment industry by 2020 to support local textile and garment enterprises in taking opportunities as well as overcoming challenges from free trade agreements. The adjustment of the plan should be effective until 2025, and towards 2040. The association has suggested the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to build development plans for the industry, including a development plan on industrial zones. Many small textile and garment firms have not been concentrated in specialised zones for the textile and garment sector, which led to difficulties in the management and treatment of waste water. This factor is related to the industrys sustainable development and protection of the environment. Renovation of the development plan for the textile and garment industry by 2020 and towards 2030 is necessary because the industry expects to enjoy many advantages in development over the next 10 years. VNS by Luong Thu Huong Making handmade goods like unique jewelry from UV resin is popular in Japan. Vietnamese can now share the experience by attending a do-it-yourself workshop in HCM City. Established in April by Japanese Yuko Nishimura, Kawaii DIY lab & shop has become a favourite destination for many, especially women, seeking to get inspired and create their own stylish UV resin jewelries. UV resin jewelry can be made at home if one has enough material and access to the internet, said Thach Thao, a workshop participant. However, I still enjoy attending Nishimuras workshop. Besides having all the necessary equipment, she has inspired my creativity. I think attending the workshop is better than learning this hobby from the internet. Moreover, I have a chance to meet and make friends with people having the same interest, she added. Making jewelry from UV resin is also Nishimuras favourite hobby, which she taught herself by using the internet and books. Yuko visited Viet Nam for the first time four years ago, and the affection for the country and the hospitability of the local people led her to set up her own business here. The Vietnamese are very studious. What takes me by surprise is that despite the lack of materials for DIY classes in Viet Nam, many people still know how to make things. They have studied and gained much knowledge via the internet. I knew that my workshop, which offers material and equipments, would attract many participants, Nishimura said. She brings all the necessary materials, including UV resin, LED lamp, stickers and frames from Japan. Its not difficult to make one piece of UV resin jewelry, but patience is needed. First, the resin is poured into the frame, and then decorative items like dried flowers or stickers are added. After that, the maker adjusts the layout as he/she wishes before using the LED lamp to harden the resin in about 30 seconds. The whole process is repeated until the frame has been filled up with five or six layers of resin, on average, she explained. At first, the participants might have a lot of questions, like which colours to use or how to arrange the pattern, but each final product is unique. No piece looks alike. Each one is different in its pattern or space among patterns. It is very hard to make two similar pieces, Nishimurasaid. In addition to creating unique jewelry, one can also make cute objects for decorations like flowers from UV resin. Currently, Nishimura is working as a photographer for brand names in Japan. Besides the jewellery workshop, she is also organising photography classes in which she shares her experience and tips on taking photos with iPhones. Everyone can easily own a smart phone nowadays to capture moments we accidentally encounter in life; however, few people are aware of the proper shooting angle or lighting. Thats how I came up with the idea for the class, she said. A good camera is not as important as the direction of the light. Understanding this, we can also take beautiful pictures with an iPhone. After attending the class, many realise that taking photos with a smart phone is not just a matter of clicking. If the photographer stands at a wrong angle, the 1.65m person in the photo can look 1.45m, said Thanh Thuy, a student in the class. The class also gives us tips on posing in front of the camera to look more photogenic. Kawaii DIY lab & shop is also offering other popular Japanese hobbies, including making photo albums, felt dolls and basic nail-tending. Im planning to expand my workshop by adding more classes and instructors to create more chances for Vietnamese to experience Japanese culture and services. I hope that will help to bring the two countries closer together, Nishimura said. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam and Cambodia on Wednesday issued a Joint Statement on the occasion of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sens official visit to Viet Nam. The following is the full text of the Statement. 1. At the invitation of Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, led a high Cambodian delegation to pay an official visit to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam from 20-21 December 2016. During his visit to Viet Nam, Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen held a talk with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, paid courtesy calls on General Secretary of the Party Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and State President Tran ai Quang, met with National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, laid wreaths at the Memorial of National Heroes and Martyrs and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and visited HCM City and ong Nai province. Also on this occasion, the two prime ministers witnessed the signing ceremony of three cooperative agreements, namely (1) Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Kingdom of Cambodia, (2) Treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Kingdom of Cambodia, and (3) Agreement on Bilateral Co-operation between the Committee for Ethnic Minorities of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Ministry of Cult and Religion of the Kingdom of Cambodia. 2. In the atmosphere of friendship, mutual understanding and trust, leaders of the two countries had in-depth discussion on the friendship and comprehensive co-operation between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Kingdom of Cambodia and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interests of the two countries. Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen praised Viet Nams remarkable progresses in renovation, national building and development and wished Vietnamese people success in industrialisation and modernisation under the leadership of the Communist Party and State of Viet Nam. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other leaders of Viet Nam highly praised the important achievements that the Cambodian people had attained, under the wise reign of His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni and under the leadership of the Senate, National Assembly and Royal Government of Cambodia led by Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen, in the national construction and development which has brought about political and social stability, growing economic development as well as increasingly enhanced the position and role of the Kingdom of Cambodia in the region and the world. On this occasion, Vietnamese leaders sincerely wished Cambodia great success in organising communal elections in 2017 and parliamentary elections in 2018 and in continuing to build a peaceful and prosperous Kingdom of Cambodia. 3. The two sides noted with satisfaction the advancement of friendship and comprehensive co-operation between Viet Nam and Cambodia over the past period, offering practical benefits for both peoples. Viet Nam emphasised that it always attaches great importance to the strong affection, valuable support and assistance that His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Norodom Sihanouk Preah Borom Ratanak Kaudh the late King Father of Cambodia, His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, the leaders and people of Cambodia extended to the people of Viet Nam in the struggle for national independence in the past as well as in the present national building and development. Cambodia expressed its profound gratitude for the strong support and assistance that the generations of Vietnamese leaders and people have accorded to Cambodia in the past and at present, affirming that the Cambodian people will always keep in mind the assistance of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers in cooperation with Cambodian people to liberate Cambodia from Khmer Rouge genocidal regime in 1979. 4. The two sides agreed that strengthening and advancing the friendship and cooperation between Viet Nam and Cambodia is of crucial importance for both nations. They committed to continually consolidate and promote the bilateral relations under the motto good neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive co-operation, long-lasting stability. They also pledged to fully observe the principles stated in the Viet NamCambodia Joint Statements in 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016; to respect independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in each others internal affairs; to ensure ones territory is not used by hostile forces to menace the others security; and to settle problems arising between the two countries by peaceful means. 5. The two sides agreed to increase high-level meetings, contacts and the exchange of delegations at all levels and encourage people-to-people contacts, especially between provinces in border areas. The two sides accentuated the importance of educating their people about the nations traditional friendship and mutual assistance. 6. The two sides also agreed to work together in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Viet Nam Cambodia diplomatic relations (24 June 1967 24 June 2017), thus enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples, especially between the young generations and tasked the two foreign ministries to prepare the commemoration. 7. The two sides highly valued co-operative agreements in various fields signed and agreed to instruct relevant ministries and institutions to coordinate with each other in adjusting related mechanisms to seek effective measures to raise the bilateral trade turnover to the set goal of US$5 billion in the coming years. 8. The two sides reaffirmed their respect for and full implementation of the border delimitation treaties and relevant border agreements concluded by the two States. They highly commended the efforts of the Joint Commission on Land Border Demarcation for having accomplished over 83 per cent of the land border demarcation and marker plantation workload over the past time on the basis of the border delimitation treaties between the two countries. Building upon those achievements, the two sides were determined to find once-and-for-all solutions to the remaining border segments for an earlier completion of land border demarcation and marker plantation and to finalise the relevant demarcation dossiers as soon as possible with a view to building a borderline of peace, stability, friendship, co-operation and sustainable development. 9. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other Vietnamese leaders thanked Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen and other Cambodian leaders and authorities at various levels for providing assistance to the Vietnamese residents in Cambodia over the past time. In the spirit of friendly neighborliness between the two countries, they hope Cambodia would continue to take appropriate measures in ensuring the legitimate rights of Vietnamese residents, equally treated as other foreign residents in Cambodia in conformity with laws and regulations of Cambodia, therefore contributing to the consolidation and enhancement of the traditional friendship between the two peoples. 10. The two sides applauded their fine cooperation in multilateral fora inthe past, especially the mutual support for each others candidacy for important international organizations of the United Nations. Given the growing complexities in the regional and global context, the two sides agreed to increase co-ordination, information sharing and mutual support in multilateral fora, especially ASEAN. 11. The two sides underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security in the South China Sea, settling disputes by peaceful means, exercising self-restraint, refraining from the threat or use of force in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The two sides are committed to join efforts for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC). 12. The two sides also pledged to continue working closely together and with other members in the frameworks of the Mekong River Commission, the Lancang-Mekong co-operation and other Mekong co-operation frameworks in order to ensure sustainable use and management of water resources in the Mekong River Basin in consistence with international practices as well as harmonise the interests of riverine countries with the goal of sustainable development in the region. 13. The two sides highly valued the positive outcomes and significantly profound meaning of the official visit to Viet Nam by Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen, considering as an important event, which was positively conducive to the advancement of the solidarity, traditional friendship, comprehensive co-operation and sustainable growth between Viet Nam and Cambodia. 14. Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his sincere gratitude for the warm welcome and hospitality that the leaders and people of Viet Nam had extended to high delegation of Cambodia during the entire visit. 15. On this occasion, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, kindly invited His Excellency Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to attend the 26th World Economic Forum on ASEAN, hosted by Cambodia in 2017 and to pay an official visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2017. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gratefully accepted the invitation. VNS President Tran ai Quang yesterday offered condolences to his German counterpart Joachim Gauck over the heavy loss of human life after the truck attack in Berlin. EPA/VNA Photo HA NOI President Tran ai Quang yesterday offered condolences to his German counterpart Joachim Gauck over the heavy loss of human life after the truck attack in Berlin. The same day, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also sent a message of sympathy to Chancellor Angela Merkel. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh extended condolences to German Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeier over the incident. The truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday killed 12 people and injured nearly 50 others. VNS HCM CITY The HCM City Peoples Committee has submitted to the municipal Peoples Council a list of 880 projects that require around 7,000ha of land to be acquired. The proposals came from the citys 24 districts, and include 293 projects which began last year requiring nearly 1,360ha and 198 new projects with 1,932ha. Under the 2013 Land Law, acquisition of land for public projects must be approved by local peoples councils, according to a Peoples Committee official. These may be State offices, parks, squares, monuments and memorial steles, public works at local levels, local infrastructure facilities, new urban areas, residential areas in new rural zones, industrial complexes, or agricultural, seafood, aqua and forestry production and processing zones. Most projects requiring land now are major ones like road and canal repair and upgrade works, clearing slums along canals and construction of schools and hospitals. Addressing a municipal Peoples Council meeting early this month, a representative of the HCM Citys Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said land compensation for most of these projects has been paid slowly, resulting in tardy progress. Disagreement over prices is the main reason for the tardiness, he said. The delays have meant the lands are acquired in bits and pieces, which has hindered work on infrastructure, he said. Meanwhile, a number of investors have complained that tortuous investment procedures, including pre-feasibility studies and environmental impact assessment studies, result in cost overruns and missed opportunities. Delayed projects Project delays, many of them for decades, have been a big problem plaguing the city. According to figures from the Peoples Committee, construction has yet to start at 405 of 1,200 current projects. Hoang Minh Tri, deputy head of the HCM Citys Institute for Development, said investors lack of capacity is the main cause for the delays. Development of the Hoang Hai Residential Area in Hoc Mon District, for instance, has been delayed by the investors low financial and management capability. The director of the citys Department of Construction, Tran Trong Tuan, said to resolve these problems delayed projects were often taken away from the investors. To protect the interests of secondary investors, authorities would not cancel the projects but instead look for others to replace the original investors, he said. A mechanism would be set up to punish investors who fail to keep their commitments, and families affected by these projects would be encouraged to sue them, he said. In early December, nearly 700 families in Section E of Tan Thuan Urban Area filed a suit against the Tan Thuan Industrial Promotion Co. Ltd., the supposed developer of the South Sai Gon Urban Area, which has been delayed since 1992. The Binh Chanh District Peoples Committee has instructed the Peoples Committee of An Phu Tay Commune to support these families. VNS HCM CITY The anti-smuggling police on Tuesday busted a gang that allegedly smuggled large volumes of electronic equipment and parts from China to HCM City. The Ministry of Public Securitys Anti-smuggling and Investigation Department (C74) worked with HCM Citys Market Management Division to crack the case after nearly three months of investigation. Officers seized many consignments of electronic stuff from Phat at 1, a shop in District 11. The goods included used electronic products and mobile phone and computer parts with labels showing they were made in China, Malaysia and the US. They were valued at VN5 billion (US$220,000), according to the police. The alleged gang leader, Vo Van Hien, 36, from the central province of Quang Ngai, failed to produce invoices or documents for the equipment and parts. He admitted to the police that the goods were usually smuggled from China to HCM City before being classified and sold wholesale to eastern, Mekong Delta and Central Highlands provinces. The police said the gangs smuggled products have dominated the southern market for many years. Hien also rented a sprawling warehouse measuring thousands of square metres at the Sai Gon Railway Corporation to store the goods before they were packaged and sold. The police said a nexus with some local officials had enabled the gang to operate undetected for a long time. They are expanding the investigation and looking for others possibly involved with the gang. VNS HCM CITY A new, hi-tech shrimp breeding model that generates electricity via biogas and deals effectively with sludge is being piloted in Ben Tre Province. The project, being carried out by Japanese and Vietnamese scientists in the Mekong Delta province, deploys the closed-cycle shrimp farm model, where sludge and other organic waste from shrimp ponds are mixed and put in a methane fermentation facility to produce biogas, which is desulfurized to create electricity. The bioelectricity is supplied to a new aeration and air diffuser system in shrimp breeding, said Professor Takuya Kitaoka of Kyushu University. The waste produced during the production of biogas is sent to a carbonization facility to produce charcoal, which is a soil improvement agent, boosting cultivation, he added. Another new aspect of the model is that it uses a new aeration and air diffuser system which diffusers air from the ponds bottom to its surface. This replaces the propellers currently used to create oxygen, but this is confined to the surface. The piloted model is part of a project to promote sustainable development of rural areas by effective utilisation of bio-waste with highly efficient fuel cell technology. The project is carried out under the Japanese governments programme of science and technology research partnership for sustainable development. It uses non-refundable official development assistance from the Japanese government through the Japan International Co-operation Agency. The project is carried out by several Vietnamese universities and institutes including the Institute for Nanotechnology-Viet Nam National University HCM City, the Kyushu University and other Japanese companies. It has a total funding of more than US$3.6 million. It is expected to run for 60 months, from April 2015 to May 2020. The model was first tested in a lab in Japan. The Vietnamese institutes staff have received training in Japan, and a lab was set up in Viet Nam in September. Nguyen Van Buoi, deputy head of the Ben Tre Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Viet Nam News that the province has 35,000 hectares of shrimp farms this year, producing 45,000 tonnes of crustaceans. The province aims to apply hi-tech in shrimp breeding to increase output and ensure stable growth, Buoi said. Development of shrimp farming needs to go along with environmental protection, he said, adding: The Japanese hi-tech shrimp breeding model suits the provinces development trend. It also introduces a technology for more effective waste treatment, he said. Several shrimp farms that do not have areas to hold sludge after harvesting often discharge it into nearby canals, causing water pollution, Buoi said. Moreover, sludge at several other farms are just stored and not treated to use for the next crop, which can lead to the development of potential pathogens for shrimps, he added. If the pilot project is successful, the province will expand it to other farms, and other provinces in the Mekong Region can follow, he said. Associate Prof ang Mau Chien, who heads the Institute for Nanotechnology-Viet Nam National University HCM City, said they are planning to carry out the new model for fish breeding as well. VNS Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen uc am called on businesses, individuals and the community to join the Government in enhancing social protection. Photo vov.vn HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen uc am called on businesses, individuals and the community to join the Government in enhancing social protection. am, who is also head of the National Steering Committee that oversees the implementation of Governments Resolution 70/NQ-CP dated 2012 a Government Action Programme for social protection, said on Tuesday that mechanisms and policies were needed to better engage non-State resources in social protection activities. He suggested a mechanism in which businesses, individuals and the community could raise funds and manage donations to the poor, those in vulnerable groups like the unemployed, or charity activities. In June, 2012, for the first time, the Party Central Committee issued a resolution relating to social policies for the period 2012-20. The move affirmed the special attention from the Party and State for the sector for sustainable development in all stages of national growth. In November 2012, the Government issued Resolution 70/NQ-CP to specialise the Partys resolution. Resolution 70 assigned the main tasks to ministries, agencies, localities, organisations and individuals, focusing on developing an effective scheme for the search and collection of martyrs remains, diversifying forms of social insurance, working on amendments and supplements to the supporting policies for households living near the poverty line, and implementing social security numbers for all citizens. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs reported that this year, the remains of 1,688 martyrs were collected. Out of 8.8 million revolutionary contributors nationwide, about 1.4 million contributors and their families received monthly aid from State. Almost 92,000 contributors got housing support. The Government spent VN15 trillion (US$659 million) offering monthly aid and free healthcare insurance cards. About 14 million people including poor people and those from ethnic groups or disadvantaged areas and 1.8 million people from near-poor households received the free health insurance cards. By this month, about 1.5 million workers were assisted in education and employment. The number of social insurance participants increased by 13.1 million people, or 1.96 per cent higher than that of last year. This means 24.19 per cent of Viet Nams labour force participates in social insurance. Regarding poverty reduction, 826,000 poor and near-poor households and 21,000 students received preferential loans worth over VN27.3 trillion ($1.2 billion). More than 10,000 families in rural areas and 12,000 poor households in flood-prone areas nationwide were helped to build houses. By the end of this year, the country expects a poverty rate of less than nine per cent, about 1.3 -1.5 per cent lower than that of last year. However, poverty rates in remote disadvantaged areas are still high with some localities seeing more than half of their population living under poverty line. Deputy minister of Labour, Nguyen Trong am, said that the countrys unemployment rate remained at 2.34 per cent but it saw high rate of college graduates unable to find jobs. He said that job training activities in rural areas were ineffective because of the modest number of job categories, few applications of new technologies and hi-tech farming. Attending the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister am, other representatives from ministries and agencies complained about the shortage of funding and improper co-operation among State agencies and non-State ones in social protection activities. VNS In box: Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed to authorise the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to submit a plan to present Lunar New Year gifts to people who made contributions to the national revolution to President Tran ai Quang for his approval. Under the plan, gifts worth VN400,000 and VN200,000 each will be presented to those who participated in revolutionary activities up to the August Revolution (August 19, 1945), Heroic Mothers, Hero of the Peoples Armed Forces, Labour Heroes during the Resistance War, and fallen soldiers relatives. War invalids and sick soldiers, and veterans affected by toxic chemicals would also benefit from the presents. Total expenditure for the gifts is estimated to be worth over VN431 billion ($18.9 million) Last year, the Government spent VN437 billion ($19.2 million) on giving Tet presents to about two million revolutionary devotees. VNS A NANG The central city will decide whether to build a tunnel through the Han River in its last technical meeting later this month. The citys Party Secretary and Chairman of the Peoples Council, Nguyen Xuan Anh, said at the year-end press conference yesterday that the tunnel plan has been under the citys scrutiny since 2015. The citys party leadership and Peoples Council agreed on the tunnel plan in a meeting last month. Members of the citys party committee all had agreed on the tunnel project after discussions and consideration in three 2016 meeting. The 6-lane tunnel will help meet increasing transport demand while not destroying the architecture of the Han River, Anh said. The construction of the tunnel will anticipate an inlfux of motor vehicles into the city, an increasing population and speedy urbanisation, he said. Anh said the city will review funding, design and technology. As scheduled, the 1.3km tunnel project--of which 900m will go under the river--will be built with an investment capital of VN4.1 trillion (US$181 million). It will be the first traffic route under the Han River and a landmark tourism hub in central Viet Nam. Chairman of the citys peoples committee, Huynh uc Tho, said traffic has doubled in five years, while the city often approves three or four construction licenses for hotels, apartments and tourism property in Son Tra district daily. Tho said the tunnel is not the only solution to ease traffic overload, but its a measure for the citys future development with a population of 3 million and a 30 per cent growth in tourism. He said the project must ensure the architecture, utility and commuter safety and protect the rivers banks and space. Last year, Bridge&Tunnel Consultants (BRITEC), who was assigned to develop some key tunnels in Viet Nam by the transport ministry, proposed the 6-lane tunnel in a Nang beginning at ong a-Tran Phu junction in Hai Chau district and ending on Van on street in Son Tra district. Concerns However, some experts voiced anxiety about BRITECs plan at a seminar on the citys 20-year urban development on December 17th. Deputy head of the Party Central Committees Organisation Commission, Tran Van Minh said on his Facebook that the city should reconsider the tunnels construction plan, funds and maintenance for future development. Architect Hoang Su, former head of a Nangs planning and construction Institute, said the city should not build a tunnel or a bridge at the position. He said the city should expand current two-lane Han Swing Bridge in connection with the busy Tran Phu-Le Duan junction. Su said at the seminar that the tunnel is not a perfect solution for the citys future traffic, and building a bridge is cheaper and easier. Tran Dan, deputy chairman of Road and Bridge Science and Technology Association of Viet Nam, agreed with the tunnel project, but he said the tunnel plan should reduce its entrance slope to 3 per cent from 4 per cent. He said the tunnel design in shape of Z, which limits land clearance cost, will be tough for trucks and container trucks traveling with high slope and bend. He suggested the tunnel should be redesigned on a straight axis with reduced slope. Deputy chairman of HCM Citys Road and Bridge Association, Ha Ngoc Truong said the construction of the tunnel should be carefully reviewed. Its not urgent. The city should eye the traffic connection between the tunnel and other underground projects Metro, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), monorail or mass public transport routes, Truong said at the seminar. Director of the citys transport department, Le Van Trung said the tunnel aims to ease traffic congestion at junctions in Son Tra and Hai Chau districts, while it does not destroy the Han Rivers architect and limit boat traveling. Currently, a Nang has built six major bridges including Thuan Phuoc, the Han Swing Bridge, Rong (Dragon), Tran Thi Ly, Tuyen Son and Nguyen Tri Phuong, and an old 1960s-built Nguyen Van Troi Bridge. The city started construction of a road tunnel at the junction of Le Duan and Tran Phu and plans to build another road tunnel at the busiest roundabouts: ien Bien Phu, Nguyen Tri Phuong and Le o. In 2005, the city put into operation of the Hai Van road tunnel on national Highway No. 1 and plans to build another tunnel route. Last year, the city put into operation a three-level rail and road flyover at Hue Junction to alleviate congestion. In 2013, the citys Rong (Dragon) Bridge, spanning the Han River, claimed the American Council of Engineering Companies Diamond Award for structural systems. a Nang has invested much in urban development in order to make it the largest city in the central region--and with aims to make it a green city by 2025--with funds from the World Bank In 2013, the Bank agreed to provide $202 million for a $272-million sustainable development project to help improve the citys Bus Rapid Transit network, build new roads, and revamp the existing drainage system. World Bank also funded a five-year priority infrastructure project by covering 70 per cent of the total investment of $218.4 million in 2008 to 2013. VNS HA NOI Head of Government Office Mai Tien Dung asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) to quickly decide and announce the disciplinary measures against responsible individuals and organisations in the Formosa environmental incident earlier this year. He made these claims at a meeting between the Prime Ministers task force and the ministry to review the latters implementation of Government-assigned tasks relating to the spill. According to the minister, also head of the task force, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested MoNRE to examine and assess the responsibility of oganisations and individuals involved in permitting the Taiwanese-owned Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company to discharge wastewater, those involved in the discharge itself and those responsible for approving the environmental impact assessment report of the Formosa project . In the recent working session of the 14th National Assembly (NA), environmental minister Tran Hong Ha promised alongside members of both the NA and Government to impose punishment on responsible organisations and persons and make the information public. Not keeping the promise is unacceptable," he said. I request that the minister report the progress of the job. Keeping it waiting too long to be done will adversely affect the Governments command on the issue, Minister Dung said. In response, Minister Ha said the ministry had carried out the job right after the incident occurred. He added that the ministry is co-operating with the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission to define violations and will impose disciplinary measures based on the conclusion of the inspection team. We are urging to speed up the process. After receiving the Politburos opinions on collective and personal responsibilities, we will give further consideration, Ha said. Minister Dung also urged MoNRE to accelerate the project of building a sea water monitoring and warning system along the central coast. In addition, he asked the ministry to focus on compensating for damages of organisations and individuals and fishery-related issues. MoNRE Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa said the ministry has established an expert team and co-operated with international experts to carry out the project. However, it takes time, because the project is carried out in many provinces and requires careful checks and considerations to ensure the ability of localities to implement, manage and maintain the project after completion, she said. The ministry also had to reduce the scale of investment, as it failed to mobilise enough capital for the project as its initial goals, she said. As for the inspection of waste discharge from enterprises, Minister Ha said the ministry had checked 336 enterprises which have more than 500 cum of waste discharge. If we strictly adhere to the law, 90 per cent of enterprises fail to completely meet regulations. In fact, we are still unable to control wastewater, waste air and solid waste, especially at industrial complex and traditional trade villages, he said. The ministry is compiling a report to the Government on this issue to have an overview on the current environmental situation. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has imposed an administrative fine of VN16 million (US$9,522) on 16 labour export businesses for violating regulations governing their activities. Inspectors from the ministry inspected 79 enterprises, following a request from the Government Inspectorate, which found that a number of enterprises, engaged in sending Vietnamese workers overseas, were suspecting of collecting money illegally. Inspectors found various violations, including workers being sent overseas for work without registering with the ministrys Department of Overseas Labour, enterprises taking undue advantage of their operation to collect fees illegally and not organising training classes for the workers as required by the department. The highest penalty was imposed on Hai Phong Tourism Oil Service Joint Stock Company, which had its licence revoked, while others were ordered to suspend their operation for a period of 3-9 months. During the suspension period, these companies are not permitted to sign or register labour supply contracts or recruit, train and send workers overseas for work. VNS Low-cost carrier Vietjet Air has launched direct flights between a Lat and Chinas Wuhan city, with the first flight carrying more than 200 passengers landing at Lien Khuong Airport last Sunday, the director of the Lam ong Province Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism said. Nguyen Thi Nguyen said the new service is expected to bring more foreign visitors to Lam ong. The number of Chinese visitors to the Central Highlands province is expected to increase by 10-12 per cent to 250,000 this year. Located 1,500 metres above sea level, a Lat was ranked fourth this year in a top 10 list of rising destinations in Asia by popular travel booking site TripAdvisor. In January the New York Times newspaper also recommended a Lat as one of the 52 places to visit in 2016, describing it as an agricultural El Dorado with unique scenes of pine forests, locally grown avocados and artichoke tea. VNS TOKYO Prime Minister Shinzo Abes cabinet on Thursday approved Japans biggest annual defence budget in the face of North Koreas nuclear and missile threats and a territorial row with China. The Cabinet approved 5.13 trillion yen (US$43.6 billion) in defence spending for the fiscal year starting in April, up 1.4 per cent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year. It marks the fifth straight annual increase and reflects Abes attempt to build up Japans military, which since World War II has been constitutionally limited to self defence. Abe, who is pushing revisions to the constitution, strongly backed new security laws that took effect this year making it possible for Japanese troops fight abroad for the first time since the end of the war. Japan is on constant alert against neighbouring North Korea which has conducted two underground nuclear tests and more than 20 missile launches this year. Under the new budget, the ministry aims to beef up Japans ballistic missile defences, allocating funds for a new interceptor missile under joint development with the United States. Also reflected in the spending is Tokyos determination to defend uninhabited islets in the East China Sea -- administered by Japan as the Senkakus but claimed by China as the Diaoyus. The ministry said it has allocated funds for increased monitoring operations and to maintain mastery of the air and sea to counter attacks against what it euphemistically described as "island areas" - a reference to the disputed territory. Separately, the Japan Coast Guard will increase security around the islands by allocating a record 210 billion yen, which includes two new patrol ships and the hiring of 200 more personnel. In August, Tokyo lodged more than two dozen protests through diplomatic channels claiming that Chinese coast guard vessels had repeatedly violated its territorial waters around the disputed islands. Also in August, Abe appointed Tomomi Inada, a close confidante with staunchly nationalist views, as his new defence minister. She has in the past been a frequent visitor to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, which South Korea and China criticise as a symbol of Japanese militarism. Japan has been boosting defence ties with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations, some of which have their own disputes with Beijing in the East Sea (South China Sea). The defence budget earmarks funds to dispatch extra personnel to the Philippines and Viet Nam to increase gathering and sharing of information. Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the East Sea, dismissing rival partial claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours. It also opposes any intervention by Japan. Sixth in a series of stories on this years 20 under 40 winners. WAVERLY Zak Montgomery considers himself fortunate. Actually, he describes it as hitting the academic jackpot. Thats because his wife, Sarah, was hired as assistant professor of elementary education at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, and a short time later, Zak landed a position as assistant professor of Spanish at Wartburg College. For a married couple engaged in a job search to land tenured teaching positions just 18 miles apart, it really is the jackpot. Theyre both wonderful and lively campuses and good fits, said Montgomery, who teaches Spanish language, Hispanic culture and cinema, and Luso-Brazilian culture courses at Wartburg. Montgomery admits he was both surprised and humbled to be chosen as a recipient for 20 Under 40 honors. I felt like I wasnt worthy of this recognition, but its awesome, he said. Wartburg College President Darrel Colson nominated Montgomery for the recognition, observing that Montgomery has been an essential member of the Wartburg College faculty since 2008. Thanks to expertise and leadership, the college has been successful in its efforts to recruit and retain Latino/a students. Once in the community, Zak serves as a mentor and offers them a second family to spend time with during breaks and holidays if they are unable to return to their families, Colson said. While at Wartburg College, Montgomery has developed a new community-based service-learning Spanish course, Latinos in the United States. Through the course, students work alongside Latinos in the area on issues of mutual importance and participate in the American Dream Project, a collaboration between Wartburg students, UNI and sixth-graders at Waterloos George Washington Carver Academy, including many Latino English language learners. This kind of experience is important for students. For many Wartburg students, this is the first time theyve had long and intensive involvement with people who culturally are very different from themselves. Its an eye-opening experience, Montgomery explained. Students always are so surprised at how much they can learn from a 10-year-old kid. I have them write about the American dream at the beginning of the semester, and by semesters end, they can see how interaction with middle-school students has made them see the American Dream in a more nuanced way and also realize their biases, he said. Results of the course were the foundation for an academic paper co-authored by Zak and Sarah Montgomery and published in a 2014 issue of Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education. In addition to translating forms from English to Spanish for the Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity, Wartburg students also organized after-school programs at Carver and the YWCA. Montgomery leads cultural immersion study trips to Wartburg West urban studies program in Denver, Colo., and to Mexico. He is co-founder of the annual Midwest Undergraduate Conference in the Humanities and serves as chair of Wartburgs Multicultural and Diversity Studies Committee. In 2014, he was one of 10 national finalists for the Earnest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement. Montgomery earned his bachelor of arts in economics and business degree at Kalamazoo College in Michigan and his master of arts in Hispanic literature and doctorate in Portuguese literature at Indiana University in Bloomington. He and his wife have two young children. Learning is a life-changing experience and rewarding for all parties involved, Montgomery said. One of the most powerful things happened this past spring when a former student emailed me to say how important their practical experience had been and how often they refer back to it. Those testimonials are why I do what I do. CHARLES CITY Four people including two children were taken to hospitals following a crash in Charles City on Tuesday afternoon. Heather Meyer, 52, of Bassett, and Mary Jane Schmitz, 11, and Anthony Schmitz, 44, both of Ionia, were taken to St. Marys Hospital-Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for treatment, according to the Iowa State Patrol. Miley Schmitz, 10, of Ionia, was taken to Floyd County Medical Center. The two-vehicle crash happened about 4:50 p.m. on U.S. Highway 18 west of Commercial Avenue. According to troopers, Anthony Schmitz was driving a Buick Terraza west on Highway 18 when the vehicle allegedly crossed the center line and collided head on with Meyers eastbound GMC Denali. In addition to the State Patrol, crews with Charles City Police, Floyd County Sheriffs Office, Charles City Fire and American Medical Response Ambulance Service assisted at the scene. Man gets prison term for meth CHARLES CITY A Charles City man was sentenced this week to more than 10 years in federal prison on a methamphetamine charge. Mark Allen Ackley Jr., 27, pleaded guilty in August in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Ackley conspired with others between 2014 and Oct. 21, 2015, to distribute five grams or more of pure methamphetamine, according to court documents. He was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system. Ackley also was ordered to serve five years of supervised release after his prison term ends and to pay a $100 special assessment. Sex offender arrested in Elgin ELGIN The Fayette County Sheriffs Office has filed charges on Keith M. Taylor, 53, for failing to register as a sex offender for the third time, a class D Felony. An investigation showed Taylor moved to Elgin on Dec. 5 and failed to register within the five-day limit under Iowa law. On Tuesday at about 9 p.m., a Fayette County deputy arrested Taylor at his residence in Elgin. Taylor had a valid warrant for his arrest for failure to register and provide false information (second offense). Body identified in Plainfield PLAINFIELD Two months after remains were found in a field northeast of Plainfield, Bremer County law enforcement has officially identified them as belonging to Cloris Mehmen. Mehmen, 76, of Plainfield, was reported missing in July. An extensive search was conducted by public safety officials and hundreds of volunteers on the ground, by air and on water. Human remains were found by area farmers picking corn Oct. 19. The remains were transported to the Iowa State Medical Examiners Office for autopsy and identification. The body was found about a half-mile from Mehmens home. She suffered from Alzheimers and dementia and was last seen July 5. Cop criticized on car search WATERLOO A Waterloo police officer who last week was honored for heroism is facing criticism over a warrantless vehicle search in which he seized a loaded gun. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that officer Mark Nissens 2014 search was unreasonable. It overturned Ezekiel Phillips conviction for illegally carrying weapons, ruling the evidence inadmissible. Nissen and another officer approached Phillips parked car because it was playing loud music. Phillips was standing outside, and Nissen saw a vehicle passenger try to conceal something inside. Nissen drew his Taser and handcuffed the passenger. After seeing an alcoholic beverage in the car, officers searched it and discovered a loaded revolver. The court says the search wasnt allowed because there was no driver and the vehicle wasnt moving. The city recently paid $170,000 to settle cases in which Nissen slammed a teenager and stunned a man at a late-night party. The city faces another lawsuit in which Nissen shot a man outside a nightclub. Police Chief Daniel Trelka has defended Nissen as an active officer who patrols high-crime areas. Nissen is still recuperating from injuries he received in November when he reportedly stopped a drunken driver going the wrong way on a highway. He was honored Dec. 14 with a medal of valor. Trelka said he was contacted by a motorist on U.S. Highway 20 behind Nissens squad car when the suspects pick-up truck collided head-on with Nissens vehicle. The person commented that he felt Officer Nissen was beyond being a hero, for if Officer Nissen had not done what he did in stopping the suspect vehicle, this person would have been one of the next vehicles meeting the suspect vehicle, Trelka said. The crash happened early Nov. 29. Authorities in Grundy County to the west of Waterloo had received several reports of a driver traveling east in the westbound lanes of Highway 20 around 4:30 a.m. Grout to host Royal Tea event WATERLOO The Grout Museum Districts Snowden House, 306 Washington St., will be hosting a Royal Tea from 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 14. People can discover what it takes to be a prince, princess or knight, create a coat of arms and other crafts, partake in a quest and enjoy treats and a low tea. Cost is $8 for members, and $10 for non-members. To register, go to www.gmdistrict.org/calendar. Hearsts film series continues CEDAR FALLS The Hearst Center will conclude its MGM musical series with Singin in the Rain on Tuesday. The 1952 film will be shown at 7 p.m. in Mae Latta Hall. Admission is free and no tickets are required. The Hearsts film series is sponsored by Far Reach. During January, the Hearst will screen five Winters Tales, including Love Actually and The Ice Storm. The Hearst Center is at 304 W. Seerley Blvd. Blood drive set in Denver Jan. 6 DENVER A blood drive for Denver and Readlyn will take place from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 6 at Denver Community Center, 100 Washington St. To schedule an appointment, go to at lifeservebloodcenter.org or call (800) 287-4903. Jaycees gets new leaders CEDAR FALLS Jordan Shanks, who works in business development at ACES in Cedar Falls, will serve as president of the Cedar Valley Jaycees for the next year. Shanks served on the board previously as the director of membership. The board leadership is rounded out by chairman and 2016 president Jacob Delegardelle, schedule planner at John Deere; secretary Annie Galbraith, attorney at Iowa Legal Aid; and treasurer Ryan Troyna, commercial AG banking at MidWestOne Bank. The 2017 department leaders include Cristy Steffen, VP of marketing, CIEP promotions and admissions specialist at the University of Northern Iowa; Emily Hanson, director of marketing, executive director of the Waterloo Schools Foundation; Jesse Meehan, VP of membership, investment adviser at Financial Decisions Group; Kelsey Motley, director of membership, business development manager at Learfield Sports; Jason Luders, VP of management, partner at Shaw Financial Services; Carl Stessman, director of management, digital marketing manager at Dan Deery Toyota; Blake Bishop, VP of individual development, associate at Financial Decisions; Joslyn Sailer, director of individual development, attorney and mediator at Sailer Law; Katie Orlando, VP of community development, CEO at Big Brother Big Sisters; and Mark Seda, director of community development, attorney at Clark, Butler, Walsh and Hamann. More information on the Jaycees can be found at www.cedarvalleyjaycees.org or by contacting Shanks at 830-6510. DUNDEE The Iowa Court of Appeals has sent back the sentence of a Cedar Rapids woman who was convicted in a 2013 crash that killed a 13-year-old girl in Dundee. Amber Rae Rutherford, 34, was driving her three children and a childs friend back from camping at Backbone State Park when her vehicle crashed into a steep ditch. The impact threw Rutherford and one of her children from the vehicle. The friend, 13-year-old Chloe Estes of Cedar Rapids, died, and her children suffered serious injuries, according to court records. The vehicle had been traveling about 90 mph at the time of the crash, and tests found Rutherford had methamphetamine and benzodiazepine in her system, and she he a blood-alcohol level of .168, court records state. In January 2016, Rutherford pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle through reckless driving, and child endangerment causing serious and bodily injury. She was given a combination of consecutive and concurrent prison sentences totaling up to 20 years in prison. She challenged the punishment, and in a decision issued Wednesday, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that the district court judge failed to outline the reasons behind the consecutive time when handing down the sentence. The Iowa Court of Appeals remanded the case back to district court to determine of the sentences should be consecutive or concurrent and to provide reasons behind the sentencing decision. INDEPENDENCE -- The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Buchanan County Jail inmate who was accused of exposing himself to a female jail guard in 2015. Jamie Lee Cole, of Quasqueton, had argued that state had insufficient evidence to back the guilty verdict on charges of indecent exposure. He said there was no evidence that the correctional officer was offended by his conduct and no evidence that he would have known his conduct was offensive. Prosecutors said the officer saw Cole on his cell bunk naked during a night check, and he was pleasuring himself in full view of her in May 2015. In a ruling filed Wednesday, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed Cole's conviction. The court noted that at trial, the jail administrator testified that inmates usually try to be discreet with such conduct, but Cole was acting differently by being naked on his bunk knowing the officer would be coming up the stair and by looking right at her as he continued. Cole, 34, is currently serving time at the Newton Correctional Facility. CHARLES CITY -- A Charles City man who was given a suspended two-year prison sentence for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse had his guilty plea and sentence vacated Wednesday. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that the case against Barry J. Holden Jr., 32, be sent back to Floyd County District Court for further proceedings because his lawyer did not inform him before his guilty plea of the correct amount of time he would spend on probation. Holden pleaded guilty in 2015. He was put on probation for two years, concurrent with the probation he was already serving in another case, and ordered to register as a sex offender. Once his probation ended he was to be under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections for 10 years as part of the special sentencing provisions for sex offenders. Holden claimed that when he entered his plea, he did not understand he would be on probation for two years. He stated he believed the probation for the assault with intent to commit sexual abuse conviction would end at the same time as his probation in the other case, which was slated to end in a few weeks. Holden originally was charged with felony counts of first-degree burglary, third-degree sexual abuse and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse resulting in bodily injury. He allegedly committed those crimes on July 4-5, 2013, in the 800 block of C Street in Charles City, according to court records. The third-degree sexual abuse charge was dismissed in exchange for Holden pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. The burglary charge was dismissed by the state due to lack of sufficient evidence to proceed. RIDGEWAY -- A Winneshiek County man was jailed following a burglary investigation Thursday. The Winneshiek County Sheriffs Office conducted two search warrants. As a result of these warrants several stolen firearms as well as several other items from past burglaries were recovered. Ronald Harrison, 22, of Ridgeway, was charged with third-degree burglary and possession of stolen property. The warrants were executed as a part of a lengthy ongoing investigation, and this case still remain under investigation, deputies said. No further details were released. The Winneshiek County Sheriffs Office was assisted by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Decorah Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, the Winneshiek County Attorneys Office and the Winneshiek County Ambulance. DECORAH Representatives of Alliant Energy met with members of the Decorah City Councils utility committee Monday night to discuss the topic of a local electric utility. Alliants 25-year franchise with the city expires in 2018 and during a recent discussion about its renewal, citizens expressed interest in the city having its own electric utility. The last city allowed by the Iowa Utilities Board to municipalize was Aurelia in 1975, said Brad Morgan, regional director of operations at Alliant Energy. Since then, a number of other cities have completed feasibility studies and almost all have decided to remain with their utility provider, he said, adding Alliant has had a 100-year relationship with Decorah. In 2008, five communities spent $600,000 studying the feasibility of establishing a municipal electric utility that was turned down by the IUB a decision that was upheld in district court, Morgan said. He said the IUB based its denial due to a wide range of cost factors, retail service access and reliability, electric rate forecast, purchase power costs, potential transmission impacts and operation and maintenance expenses for new utilities. Alliants franchise with the city expires May 31, 2018. An exploratory group of Decorah area citizens is looking into the feasibility of establishing a municipal electric utility and has requested the opportunity to talk about possible options, including a renewal with Alliant for only five years instead of a 25-year commitment. Our standard is a 25-year agreement, Morgan said. WAVERLY A group of Waverly-Shell Rock High School students is prompting their school district to explore solar energy. The freshman students, who were working on a group project for an Earth science class, found the possibility too feasible to let go once their project was completed. Personally, I didnt think this project would go so far, said Celina Feldhake. Now, I think its actually a possibility. The class was tasked by their teacher Laura Walter to study the carbon cycle and explore ways the school district can reduce carbon emissions. One group examined driving habits of students, teachers and district officials. Another examined whether buying foods locally would affect the districts carbon footprint, and a third group studied the possibility of solar panels on district facilities. The group investigating solar energy found so much potential the students didnt want to end their involvement after their project deadline, they said. One of the first clues it could be feasible for Waverly-Shell Rock facilities was learning about various districts that have already done so. We thought if Marble Rock ... can do it, why not us? said Elisabeth Cashen. The students talked with district officials, including Mike Kalvig, district business manager, and Darryl Wiltse, district transportation director. Feldhake said Kalvig was helpful and knowledgeable. Its been brought up before, she said. He kind of knew the path we were taking and how to look at solar energy. Wiltse suggested the bus barn, which has open skies, would be a good location for panels, Feldhake added. Some structures wouldnt support solar panels, the group learned. The bus garage would be a good test, Jeremy Chaplin said, adding installation there isnt likely to disrupt day-to-day district operations. Feldhake said she would like to see installation somewhere higher profile like the entrance to the high school or as a canopy to the teachers parking lot. Realizing they can find a solution to a problem teaches a valuable lesson not every student receives, Walter said. For some students its been a really powerful experience, she said. That is one of the schools goals, said David Cox, school principal. Were trying to make learning meaningful to them and actually impact the community and their own lives, Cox said. Students said they realize they are in a for a long process. Feldhake said shes learned the group has to convince the board of directors and perhaps help identify funding sources. If it comes down to it, this is something we could pass the torch to other students after us, Chaplin said. Knowing it wont happen overnight hasnt dimmed the students outlook for a solar future for the district. It has potential to get there, said Bex Bednarik. We learned that. WATERLOO A professional engineer with a consulting background has been tapped to lead the Waterloo Water Works. Matt Mahler, a project engineer with Snyder and Associates Inc. in Ankeny, was appointed by the Water Works board of trustees Wednesday to replace retiring general manager Dennis Clark. The 30-year-old Minnesota native has been working for the civil engineering consulting firm since graduating from Iowa State University in 2008. His roles at Snyder included planning, designing and overseeing construction of municipal drinking water projects. Board member Scott Wienands called Mahler a sharp young guy who will hit the ground running at the public utility. One of the things that stood out is that he carries a (professional engineer) license and has extensive background working with water treatment systems, Wienands said. We have several projects coming up where were going to need that expertise. Mahler said he became familiar with the Waterloo Water Works while working as a consultant on local projects, including designing water mains for the reconstruction of U.S. Highway 63. Ive had meetings with Dennis Clark and the team, and the culture at the Water Works seems like a great fit for me, Mahler said. Its really a collaborative culture there with a lot of teamwork and seems like a great place to work. Mahler also said he likes the idea of moving from the private sector to the public drinking water industry. Youre one degree closer to being in public service, he said. Its a way to have a big impact on the quality of life of a community. Clark, who has served as general manager for the past 12 years, is retiring in June. Mahler is expected to start working Jan. 17, providing a period where the incoming and outgoing general managers can work together. Mahlers bachelors degree from ISU is in civil engineering. He is a member of the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation. The trustees set the annual salary at $125,000. Familiarity doesnt always breed contempt. Not if its a familiarity with Christmas. While America and much of the world are focusing attention on the coming of the new president, little attention is paid to a gift not even the worlds richest person could pay for and which is even today not received by many to whom it is offered. The year 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. A look back at one of the greatest sermons ever preached about Christmas by the man credited with splitting Christianity from the dominant Roman Catholic Church seems appropriate. Martin Luthers understanding of what we euphemistically call the real meaning of Christmas was absolute. After underscoring the humble backgrounds of Mary and Joseph and noting how rich travelers stayed in far better surroundings than the stable the two who would become the worlds most famous couple were forced to occupy, Luther commented: See, this is the first picture with which Christ puts the world to shame and exposes all it does and knows. It shows that the worlds greatest wisdom is foolishness, her best actions are wrong and her greatest treasures are misfortunes. Such a notion should humble a politician, even a president, if that were possible. And yet too many among us put more faith in princes and kings in the false hope he (or she) can deliver us, instead of the One who really can. Luther strips away any notion of dignity or honor, which we commercially idealize in manufactured Nativity scenes when he says of Mary and Joseph: They had neither money nor influence to secure a room in the inn, hence they were obliged to lodge in a stable. O world, how stupid! O man, how blind thou art! But the birth itself is still more pitiful. There was no one to take pity on this young wife, who was for the first time to give birth to a child; no one to take to heart her condition that she, a stranger, did not have the least thing a mother needs in a birth-night. There she is without any preparation, without either light or fire, alone in the darkness, without any one offering her service as is customary for women to do at such times. In the polar opposite of what humankind longs for in fame, riches and honor, Luther speaks of the lowly shepherds to whom the initial announcement of this unique birth was communicated: Behold how very richly God honors those who are despised of men, and that very gladly. Here you see that his eyes look into the depths of humility, as is written, He sitteth above the cherubim and looketh into the depths. Nor could the angels find princes or valiant men to whom to communicate the good news; but only unlearned laymen, the most humble people upon earth. Could they not have addressed the high priests, who it was supposed knew so much concerning God and the angels? No, God chose poor shepherds, who, though they were of low esteem in the sight of men, were in heaven regarded as worthy of such great grace and honor. Next month, we will inaugurate another U.S. president. Pomp, ceremony and considerable ego will be on display. Two thousand years ago there was another inauguration of sorts, one whose goal is out of reach of the smartest political leader. That One had and has the power to transform lives and fit them for another world. It is a world, according to the baby born in Bethlehem of Judea who became a man and Savior to billions worldwide, that will unlike this world and the little it offers never pass away. Q: What is Sunny Layne, who used to be on KWWL, doing now? A: Layne lives in Arizona now. On Facebook, she describes herself as a journalist, professional speaker and writer and blogs at www.SunnyLayne.com about helping people look on the Bright Side of life. Q: It looks like a beam is falling off the Park Avenue bridge downtown. Is that safe? A: Waterloo City Engineer Eric Thorson said the city has been aware for years of the minor brace which is falling off. Engineers have reviewed the situation and determined the brace doesnt affect the bridge structurally. The only reason the brace has not been cut off already is due to the expense. Q: President-elect Trump vowed he would investigate three million fraudulent voters. What is he doing about that? A: An investigation seems unlikely. Neither Trump nor his transition team have provided any evidence of voter fraud. In court filings to block recount efforts in Michigan and Pennsylvania, attorneys for the president-elect argued there was no evidence of voter fraud. The Trump campaigns filing in Michigan states: All available evidence suggests the 2016 election was not tainted by fraud or mistake. Q: When will Operation Threshold receive its round of funding? A: Operation Threshold receives funding on a variety of different cycles. The agency has funders that pay bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and annually. If the question is referring to financial assistance that Operation Threshold provides, that also varies. Starting in late November or early December, the agency receives funding for the LIHEAP program monthly usually through May. It receives state disaster assistance on a two-week cycle. Other crisis assistance primarily is received monthly and quarterly, depending upon the source. If the caller has a question about funding for a specific program through Operation Threshold, you might want to contact the agency directly. Q: How long will the city of Cedar Falls continue to use Diamond Daves parking lot as an access road? A: Cedar Falls Public Safety Director Jeff Olson responds: I assume the caller is referring to Famous Daves (on University Avenue). All frontage roads are open near that restaurant and routes are available to all businesses without driving through parking lots of other businesses. If the caller is having trouble finding a route to a business they may call the city at 273-8600 for help. Q: Is the city of Cedar Falls also contributing $20,000 to the Hartman Reserve Nature Centers addition like Waterloo is? A: Jennifer Rodenbeck, director of finance and business operations with the city of Cedar Falls, replies: The city of Cedar Falls awarded the Friends of Hartman Reserve a $7,230 health trust fund grant. This was approved by City Council through the fiscal year 2017 budget process. Via this blog (about which I know very little besides what you see) a partial update on Timo Miller's situation came through on November 30. For some reason I missed it, despite a comment in my own thread (apologies), and just saw it recently. Since then I've been trying to find out a little more still, but since that doesn't seem to be happening, here's what I have: Someone named Carl (apparently in the Mennonite community) has been attending Timo's various hearings and has posted updates that he knows are going to be made public. Timo has obtained a plea bargain. He pled guilty to one federal charge for helping Lisa and Isabella, and the other has been dropped. His sentencing hearing is on March 23, and the judge appears sympathetic and has a fair bit of discretion. I've been unable to discover just how much discretion the judge has, partly because I don't know what charge he pled guilty to, so it would be difficult to look up the sentencing guidelines. Could he be sentenced to time served? (If time in the Nicaraguan dungeon is counted, this will be about eight months already by March 23.) I'm guessing his family doesn't expect that, since both the fundraising page and this comment suggest that his wife and children are planning to return to the U.S. and try to find a place to live near the prison where he is sentenced to serve his term. Considering that Kenneth Miller got a sentence of 27 months for helping Lisa and Isabella when he did not have a plea deal, it seems not unreasonable to hope that Timothy Miller's sentence will be less than that. By the way, a couple of bits of perfidy of the U.S. government in dealing with Timo Miller: First, they went back on their agreement not to prosecute him in consideration of his cooperation back in 2011. Their excuse was that he went back to Nicaragua and didn't return to testify in person in Ken Miller's trial. This was apparently because his wife was having a baby in Nicaragua. He had already provided a videotaped deposition that was used at Ken Miller's trial. Second, they engaged in some kind of shenanigans to get the Nicaraguans to arrest Timo this past summer, even though there is no extradition agreement. Timothy's wife was told by "sources" in Nicaragua that this was done by "someone's" putting out a false claim that he was wanted on child pornography charges! These guys don't play by the Marquess of Queensberry rules. It makes me feel like the Mennonites should be the ones who have an excuse for refusing to stand for the National Anthem. But I bet anything they stand anyway. P.S. Carl's report says the following, The early part of the day was spent in private discussion among the attorneys and Timo. During that time, Timo had a special opportunity for some very positive personal interaction with the lead prosecutor and expressed his love and goodwill for him and his desire for the well being of his soul. 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Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1) US architecture practice Allied Works Architecture has completed its new mega interlocking National Music Centre (NMC) in Canada-the new building will serve as the new home and state-of-the-art cultural centre of Canada with its giant-monolithic body. The new building's program includes performance hall, recording facility, broadcast studio, live music venue and museumthe first facility of its kind in North America and the first to be dedicated to music in Canada in all of its forms. Located in Calgary, Alberta, at the site of the legendary blues club in the historic King Edward Hotel, Studio Bell connects visitors with Canadas rich musical history through live performances, exhibitions, and interactive education programs. Studio Bell lobby. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann Local audiences have been able to preview the new center through a phased launch of exhibitions and programs beginning in July, culminating in the institutions programmatic and architectural completion this month. Marking Allied Works most ambitious building project to date, Studio Bell rises in nine, interlocking towers, clad in glazed terra cotta. Its subtly curved design references acoustic vessels, while allowing for sweeping views of the Stampede Park, Bow River and surrounding cityscape. The project encompasses 14,000 square-metre (160,000-square-feet) of new construction, including a 300-seat performance hall and 2,000 square-metre (22,000-square-feet) of exhibition space. 300-seat performance hall with flexible seating and movable acoustic wall. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann The masonry building of the 'King Eddy' has been fully refurbished and integrated within the NMCs program in Studio Bells west block, which features a radio station, recording studios, media center, Artists-in-Residence spaces, and education classrooms. ''The design for Studio Bell has been a truly collaborative process, and it has been thrilling to see our vision come to life, said NMC President and CEO Andrew Mosker. Visitors in exhibition spaces at Studio Bell. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann ''With the completion of Studio Bell, the NMC is poised to become one of Canadas most significant national institutions, inspiring new ?generations of musicians and music lovers and catalyzing the redevelopment Calgarys East Village as a core urban district.'' ''In its many diverse spaces, Studio Bell echoes the variety of musical performance,'' said AWA Principal Brad Cloepfil. Studio Bell lobby. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann ''Uniting audience and performer, student and teacher, the building creates instances of immersion, when the visitor is transported from daily life, and moments of transition between spaces, providing an opportunity for quiet contemplation. In our designs, we seek to create transformational spaces. For the National Music Centre, Studio Bells nine towers are modeled by gravity and acoustics, and together create a silent and powerful instrument that emanates music and light,'' he added. Detail of exterior of Studio Bell. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann Entering Studio Bells East Block, visitors are welcomed into a central lobby that opens upward through the buildings five levels. In the lobby, interactive exhibitions and live performances provide visitors with an introduction to the buildings many resources. Two helical staircases flank the lobby and fill the interstitial space between the towers. The main performance hall overlooks the lobby from the second floor, and serves as the buildings programmatic and structural center. With flexible seating and a movable acoustic wall, the 4,000-square-foot, 300-seat space can be closed for more intimate performances or opened fully to the lobby and circulation spaces to fill the entire building with music. View looking up from performance hall. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann Exhibition galleriescalled 'stages' to reflect NMCs music festivalthemed visitor experienceare spread across Studio Bells five floors, showcasing highlights from NMCs collection of over 2,000 musical instruments, artifacts, and artist memorabilia, which span more than 450 years of technology and innovation. Each stage is envisioned as a place for interaction, appreciation and performance, where Canadas music storypast, present and futurecan be further explored, encouraging visitors to engage in an ever-evolving discussion around music. Between each is a pause of space that allows the visitor to reflect and reconnect to the building and prepare for the next encounter. East Village Skybridge connecting Studio Bell and the King Edward Hotel. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann Visitors begin their journey on the first floor with Canada Music Square, a live music performance space and a drop-in zone, where digital interactives provide an overview of the centers attractions. The iconic Rolling Stones Mobile recording studio, a seminal and iconic piece of music technology, is situated in the buildings West Block and will be activated as part of the Centres artist residency program. View between exhibition vessels. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann The second floor of Studio Bell is a mosaic of Canadas music history and identity, and a celebration of the countrys diversity. Including the groundbreaking stories that have defined music in Canadastories about inventors, industry pioneers, broadcasters, musicians and morethis level illustrates how Canadas identity is reflected through music. Using both interactive elements and collection highlights, the third level stages explore the physiological and emotional dimensions of music and its power to affect our mood and environment. The fourth floor offers visitors opportunities to play different instruments through a range of interactive displayswhere professional or novice music-makers can create. Interstitial space between towers. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann Ascending to the fifth floor, visitors arrive at 'the Cloud' lounge, an open space that invites reflection and offers stunning views of the interior space. The fifth floor is also home to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame Collection, and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. To the east, a large special exhibition space can be adapted to house traveling exhibits, workshops, and group performances. To the west, the East Village Skybridge spans 4th Avenue SE and connects back to the King Edward Hotel, binding the institution together. Allied Works Architecture is currently working on National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio-is expected to be opened in Spring 2018, United States Embassy, Mozambique in Maputo, Mozambique-is expected to be opened in Fall 2018 and Theory Design Studios in New York. Top image: Exterior of Studio Bell, the new home of the National Music Centre. Courtesy Allied Works Architecture. Image Jeremy Bittermann > via Allied Works Architecture Staying out of debt is easier said than done, I know. However, its something you can do, and its something you should be practicing everyday. As Christians, we are in this world, but we are NANCHANG - Four people were finally acquitted of murder, rape and robbery on Thursday, 13 years after being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. Huang Zhiqiang, Fang Chunping, Cheng Fagen and Cheng Lihe were sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Jingdezhen city in July 2003 for murder, rape and robbery on May 23, 2000 in Leping city, in Central China's Jiangxi province. Following a retrial on Nov 30, Jiangxi Higher People's Court ruled Thursday that the facts were unclear, the evidence insufficient, and the authenticity and legitimacy of their confessions in doubt. The appeal process has been continuing since 2003. A retrial at the same court upheld the death sentences in November 2004, and the provincial higher court sentenced them to death with a two-year reprieve in May 2006. After Thursday's verdict, Xia Keqin, vice president of Jiangxi higher court, made an apology to the four and informed them of their right to state compensation. Dec 22, 2016 | By Tess With 2016 coming to a close, we at 3Ders are looking forward to the new year, as it is sure to bring many new and exciting innovations within the expansive field of 3D printing. Already, with just about a week left of 2016, companies and institutions from around the globe are preparing for new projects and undertakings in the new year. The European Defence Agency (EDA) for instance, has just announced it is launching a new defence-related Additive Manufacturing project. Announced at an EDA kick-off meeting on December 21st, the newly launched 3D printing initiative will be geared towards exploring and establishing the ways in which additive manufacturing can benefit and be used for defense applications. In other industries, such as aerospace, automotive, energy, medical, and manufacturing (to name but a few), weve already seen many of the ways 3D printing has had a positive impacthelping to speed up prototyping cycles, cutting down on material and production costs, and even allowing for more complex parts to be produced. Within the defense industry as well, 3D printing has already begun to make an impact as companies such as Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Department of Defense adopting additive manufacturing for certain applications. Now, as the EDA sets off to explore how 3D printing could benefit them, we can only ascertain that the manufacturing technology will become more established in the field. In fact, the EDA Research & Technology domain has initiated a report called the Additive Manufacturing Feasibility Study & Technology Demonstration, which aims to educate and promote how 3D printing can be applied in the military and defense context. Ultimately, the EDA hopes the study will help to implement additive manufacturing technologies for various applications in the field. EDA kick-off meeting As part of the project, the EDA will first study how additive manufacturing could fit in to the defense industry. According to the EDAs website, this work will summarise the state of the art ability of relevant AM technologies, identify existing R&T and manufacturing capabilities in Europe, and determine areas where further R&T activities should be carried out. The next phase in the initiative will be to go beyond just studying the technologys potentials and actually putting them into practice with a tech demonstration. This part of the project will consist of deploying a 3D printer to Zaragoza, Spain as part of the EDA Sponsored Airlift Exercise. This more hands-on test will allow the EDA to determine more concretely how AM technologies could be used in a defense context. The results from the project will then be presented to high-ranking military staff members to promote 3D printing for certain applications. The additive manufacturing project itself will be carried out by EDA contractors, the Fundacion Prodintec research center, and the defense industry MBDA France. Together they will work on not only studying the ways in which 3D printing can be used for defense, but also strengthening the links between research activities, industrial development, and the Armed Forces. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: The People wrote at 12/24/2016 4:42:10 AM:Explore Peace on Earth instead! Dec 22, 2016 | By Julia Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Chicago-based fashion designer Laura Thapthimkuna has just unveiled her newest creation: the Vortex Dress, a stunning galaxy-inspired piece made entirely through 3D printing. Thapthimkunas fascination with outer space, the galaxy, and black holes informed the designer-turned-design-engineers garment, which she has been working on for over a year. Earlier design pieces included a 3D printed necklace and several heavily sci-fi laden works. The Vortex Dress, though, marks the makers first attempt at fashioning an entirely 3D printed outfit. I kind of had a eureka moment, Thapthimkuna explained, because ever since I started designing I kept trying to create really structural shapes that were very difficult through traditional means of using fabric and tailoring, and I wanted to try my hand at something new. Back in September of 2015, the designer launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project, which proved successful. Now, after more than 12 months of work, she is extremely pleased with the results, which she plans to exhibit in fashion shoots and galleries. Laura Thapthimkuna Thapthimkuna admits that she didnt expect the process to be quite so painstaking. I had to kind of surrender myself to the process since all the challenges I was facing were for the first time. There was definitely a learning curve, she said. Beyond the difficulties of 3D printing an entire dress for the first time, Thapthimkunas concept contained its own set of challenges. I would say one unique thing about the print is its size, which was also a challenge because I had to anticipate weight distribution and center of gravity, she noted. Thapthimkuna began the process by sketching out different ideas stemming from layered, biomorphic funnel-type shapes. The 2D sketches were then rendered into printable 3D design files using 3D modeling programs ZBrush and Maya. For her large scale 3D print, the designer used a high-resolution, structurally rigid, paintable resin material. The print was finished in a slick coat of black paint. According to Thapthimkuna, the Vortex Dress would be impossible to make without the advantages of 3D printing. I used 3D printing to create this design because I couldnt see any other way of creating it. Also, it was a great opportunity to design my first fully 3D-printed garment, she said. In addition to mastering the technical challenges of the work, the maker found that she had to re-think how she approached fashion design. Learning to let go of the notion that I have to do everything myself was challenging for me initially. As an artist Ive always done everything myself from start to finish, [but] with 3D printing I need to work with others and let them interpret my vision to an extent, which turned out to be very rewarding in the end, she explained. Thapthimkuna said she found the experience of collaborating with others from outside mediums very intriguing. 3D printing adds the value of innovation by showing whats possible when going outside of my comfort zone as a designer. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Omri Boehm in the New York Times: For weeks now, Jewish communities across America have been troubled by an awkward phenomenon. Donald J. Trump, a ruthless politician trafficking in anti-Semitic tropes, has been elected to become the next president, and he has appointed as his chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, a prominent figure of the alt-right, a movement that promotes white nationalism, anti-Semitism, racism and misogyny. Though Bannon himself has expressed zero tolerance for such views, his past actions suggest otherwise; as the executive chairman of Breitbart News for the past four years, he provided the countrys most powerful media platform for the movement and its ideologies. Still, neither the United States most powerful Jewish organizations nor Israeli leaders have taken a clear stance against the appointment. In fact, they have embraced it. Immediately after Trump appointed Bannon, the Zionist Organization of America prepared to welcome him at its annual gala dinner, where he was to meet Naftali Bennett, Israels minister of education, and Danny Danon, the countrys ambassador to the United Nations. (Bannon didnt show up.) Ron Dermer, Israels ambassador in Washington, publicly announced that he was looking forward to working with the entire Trump administration, including Bannon. And Alan Dershowitz, the outspoken Harvard emeritus professor of law who regularly denounces non-Zionists as anti-Semitic, preferred in this case to turn not against Bannon, but against his critics. It is not legitimate to call somebody an anti-Semite because you might disagree with their politics, he pointed out. More here. Ben Panko in Smithsonian: Harvard researcher Sarah Coseo Markt and her colleagues were dining on steamed asparagus with Hollandaise sauce at a Swedish scientific meeting when they came across a critical research question. Asparagus, as you might know, has a reputation for imparting a sharp, sulfuric smell to people's urine shortly after they eat it. Later that evening, Markt and her supervisor, Harvard University epidemiologist Lorelei Mucci, experienced that truism firsthand. But surprisingly, several of their companions said they had experienced no unusual bathroom odor. Why not? After returning to Boston, the pair decided to investigate the conundrum further. Luckily for them, they had access to surveys collected every two years by Harvard from thousands of men and women of European-American backgrounds. For the 2010 surveys, Markt and her colleagues added a question asking people to rate the following sentence: After eating asparagus, you notice a strong characteristic odor in your urine. Roughly 60 percent of the nearly 7,000 men and women surveyed said they had asparagus pee anosmia, or the lack of ability to smell asparagus-influenced urine. The diligent researchers then pinpointed the specific cluster of genes that controlled this ability, by comparing the genomes of the people surveyed to whether or not they were able to smell the asparagus-y urine. They found that a difference in 871 nucleotidesthe letters that make up a DNA strandon Chromosome 1 appeared to control whether or not one could enjoy the smell after a meal of asparagus. Markts research, cheerfully titled Sniffing out significant 'Pee Values': genome-wide association study of asparagus anosmia, ended up in this weeks issue of The British Medical Journal (BMJ), becoming part of a hallowed end-of-year tradition. More here. How to watch, what to know about South Dakota State at Northern Iowa First cannabis harvest expected within 90 days of cultivation start-up United Greeneries Commences Cannabis Cultivation Perth, Dec 22, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MMJ PhytoTech Limited ( ASX:MMJ ) ("MMJ" or "the Company") is pleased to advise that its Canadian-based subsidiary, United Greeneries Ltd ("UG") has commenced cannabis growing operations at its state-of-the-art Duncan Facility. - Cannabis cultivation underway at world-class Duncan Facility following securing of all required starter materials - First cannabis harvest expected within 90 days of cultivation start-up - MMJ to provide Canadian consumers with access to one of the largest cannabis catalogues available via simultaneous cultivation of multiple strains - Duncan Facility expansion strategy targeting ultimate production of circa 60,000kg of cannabis to supply the soon to be legalised Canadian recreational market The commencement of cultivation follows the recent securing of an Import Permit from Health Canada ("HC") and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ("CFIA"), allowing for the importation of 1kg of cannabis seeds. As previously advised, UG will undertake the staged expansion of the Duncan Facility, with initial earmarked production of circa 7,500kg of cannabis by the end of 2018, following the facility's first full year of production. UG plans to then rapidly scale up the production capacity of the Duncan Facility to circa 60,000kg. MMJ PhytoTech's Managing Director, Andreas Gedeon, commented: "We are very pleased to have commenced growing operations at our Duncan Facility, as it represents a significant milestone towards becoming a low-cost, large-scale cannabis producer in the Canadian market. We expect to receive the first harvest from Duncan in Q1 2017, with the aim of scaling up production next year in order to penetrate both the existing medicinal and soon to be legalised recreational markets, which will have a combined estimated value of C$8-9 billion per annum by 2024. We look forward to providing our shareholders with further corporate and operational updates in the near-term." About MMJ Group Holdings Ltd MMJ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:MMJ) is a global cannabis investment company. MMJ owns a portfolio of minority investments and aims to invest across the full range of emerging cannabis-related sectors including healthcare, technology, infrastructure, logistics, processing, cultivation, equipment and retail. For MMJ's latest investor presentation and news, please visit: https://www.mmjphytotech.com.au/investors/ Lekki Lagos, February 1st 2019. Rilla Web Hosting, one of the top players in domain registration and web hosting has announces its full ... Digital is the new normal, and when it comes to recognising excellence in the work done in the digital space, the area expands to embrace the Real Awards for Real Achievers. Adgully in association with ad:tech are proud to announce the first edition of DIGIXX an industry awards event to honour the best of the best work done in Digital Marketing and Advertising. The DIGIXX Awards are scheduled during the ad:tech conference and exhibition, to be held at the Leela Ambience Gurgaon on March 9 and 10, 2017. Entries for the Awards will open on January 1, 2017, with January 31, 2017 as the cut-off date. The judging process will take place in February by an esteemed jury panel comprising of industry leaders. Commenting on the launch of DIGIXX, Jaswant, Country MD at Comexposium India, says, ad:tech has been bringing together marketing, technology and media communities to share new ways of thinking. The 7th edition of ad:tech is well timed to harness the enthusiasm for the kind of tech innovation in the area of marketing and advertising owing to an exponential rise of the digital sector in India over the past few years. DIGIXX Awards are in line with our objective to celebrate excellence, innovation and creativity. We are happy to associate with Adgully for this unique property. Bijoya Ghosh, Founder, Adgully, sees DIGIXX as the fruition of her long association with the advertising and media industry, which needs a true representation in terms of recognition of excellence. She says, Adgully has been diligently reporting on the developments, trends and news from the advertising and media industry for eight years now in an unbiased manner. Looking at the swift inroads made by digital in this industry and how it is taking over major marketing and communications strategies, we felt the need to introduce an awards event that would be a true representation of the work that is emerging. Hence, the launch of DIGIXX. DIGIXX will recognize excellence across categories designed to highlight work in every sphere of the digital communication spectrum. Marks first acquisition in the U.S. for Thailands leading integrated foods business Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CPF or the Company) today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Bellisio Foods Inc. (Bellisio) from Centre Partners Management LLC (Centre Partners). CPF has acquired all of the outstanding interests in Bellisio from Centre Partners for total consideration of USD 1,075 million. The transaction brings together one of Americas largest and fastest-growing frozen food companies with Thailands leading and most successful integrated foods business. Bellisio manufactures and distributes single-serve frozen entrees under the Michelinas, Atkins, Boston Market, Chilis, EatingWell, and Eat! brands, as well as co-manufactures private label and food service products. CPF is the leading agro-industrial and food conglomerate in the Asia-Pacific region with a strong focus on nutrition. The Company operates in both the livestock (swine, broilers, layers, and ducks) and aquaculture (shrimp and fish) businesses. The vertically integrated businesses incorporate the manufacturing of animal feed, animal breeding and animal farming; meat processing, the manufacturing of semi-cooked meat and fully-cooked meat; food products and ready meal products, as well as the meat and food retailer and restaurant businesses. We are extremely excited about this partnership with CPF and the potential it has to drive a next phase of significant growth for Bellisio, said Joel Conner, chairman and CEO of Bellisio. CPF is a company with whom we share the same values and commitment to quality and innovation. This transaction represents a breakthrough for CPF into the worlds largest food market and is a significant milestone in our journey towards becoming the kitchen of the world, said Adirek Sripratak, CEO of CPF. Joel and his team have built Bellisio into a strong business with a number of respected brands we are looking forward to working together to further grow and enhance Bellisios business. Through the partnership, we will gain access to the North American market, enabling us to create an enhanced offering for U.S. consumers as well as generate greater value for shareholders. We are gratified with the tremendous results that Bellisio achieved over the last five years behind the management team led by Joel Conner. We believe that CP Foods is an ideal partner for Bellisio as it enters its next phase of growth, said Bruce Pollack, Managing Partner of Centre Partners. The existing management team and wider employee base will remain in place following the shift in ownership, with Bellisio continuing to be strongly committed to its existing customers and suppliers as well as Minneapolis, where it will continue to be headquartered, and all regions where it has operations. About CP Foods Charoen Pokphand Foods is one of the leading producers, processors and exporters of meat in South-East Asia and one of the worlds leading manufacturer of animal feed. A member of the DJSI, the company manages a number of animal feed plants and produces feed for poultry, swine, shrimp, fish, as well as home pets (cats and dogs). Headquartered in Thailand, the Company also has business operations in Belgium, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Vietnam. Tracing its roots to 1921 in Thailand, today CP Foods has investments and operations in 14 countries and sells its products in over 30 countries worldwide with annual turnover of US$14bn. About Bellisio Bellisio Foods, Inc. is one of Americas largest and fastest growing frozen food companies with a rich 26-year history of providing quality, innovative food tailored to consumer tastes and lifestyles. Based in Minneapolis, Bellisio Foods produces more than 400 products spanning a wide variety of frozen food categories, including single and multi-serve entrees, snacks, side dishes, and specialty sauces. Bellisio markets these products under its Michelinas and Eat! brands, as well as under licensed brands Boston Market, Chilis, EatingWell, and Atkins. The company also co- manufactures private label, retail and foodservice products. For more information, visit www.bellisiofoods.com. About Centre Partners Founded in 1986, Centre Partners is a leading middle-market private equity firm focusing on the consumer and healthcare sectors, with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Centre has invested over $2 billion of equity capital in more than 75 transactions since its inception. Centre seeks to partner with founders and management teams to build exceptional businesses. Centre Partners provides management teams access to its unique resources, which includes an extended network of experienced and proven operating executives. Additional information is available at www.centrepartners.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005355/en/ CP Foods: For enquiries within Thailand: Ms. Punninee Nanthapanich, +662-625-7385 punninee@cpf.co.th or For enquiries outside Thailand: Mr. David Ashton, +852 60101163 dashton@brunswickgroup.com or Bellisio Foods: Ms. Margot McManus, +1 612-501-2838 MMcManus@bellisiofoods.com or Centre Partners: Mark Semer, 212-521-4800 or Ross Lovern Kekst, 212-521-4800 OpenMedia applauds Canadian telecom regulator ruling that all Canadians must have access to high-speed Internet, setting a positive example for the rest of the world VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Canada's telecom regulator has just ruled that all Canadians must have access to reliable, world-class mobile and residential Internet services, no matter where they live. The historic decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) means that Canada has now joined a small handful of nations including the U.S., Israel, Finland, Malta, Spain, and Switzerland that define high-speed Internet as a basic service for all. OpenMedia, which led a nearly 50,000-strong citizen movement for Internet as a basic service, describes today's decision as truly historic. The ruling will be a game-changer for rural and underserved communities across Canada where Internet access is either unavailable or unaffordable, in part because of Canada's rugged geography and low population density. OpenMedia says the ruling will set a great example for other nations considering how best to ensure all their citizens can get connected. "Canadians asked for universal Internet access, support for rural communities, world-class speeds, unlimited data options, and minimum guarantees for the quality of their Internet. Today, we won it all - and there's no reason why other nations across the world can't do the same," said Josh Tabish, campaigns director for OpenMedia, which led a nearly 50,000-strong citizen movement for Internet as a basic service. Tabish continued: "Countries all over the world face many of the same challenges as Canada, especially when it comes to delivering reliable, high-speed Internet to rural and remote communities. These challenges can be surmounted, but it will take real political will to do so. I believe today's ruling will inspire people across the globe and help pressure decision-makers to do the right thing and ensure all their citizens can benefit from what the Internet can offer." Key points from today's CRTC decision, and the accompanying national broadband strategy: 100% of Canadians must have access to reliable, world-class mobile and fixed Internet services. New network speed targets of 50 Mbps download speed and 10 Mbps upload speed, and the ability to subscribe to a fixed Internet package with an unlimited data option. In the U.S., the FCC defines "broadband" as 25 Mbps download and just 3 Mbps upload. The decision includes: Internet access defined as a basic service, access to world-class speeds, options for unlimited data packages, and a level playing field for rural and remote Canadians. Canadians from coast to coast to coast must have access to high-speed mobile and residential Internet connections. To fund this, the CRTC will redistribute hundreds of millions of dollars from telecommunications company revenues over the coming years. Going forward, rural, remote, and urban communities must be able to access Internet speeds five times as fast as the U.S. minimum (10/1), and the fastest 4G/LTE mobile networks available. Finally, the CRTC issued a new report outlining the imperative for a National Broadband Strategy and what the federal government should consider when building it. OpenMedia's community-driven submission to the CRTC argued that these new rules should not hinder industry, but should instead promote investment, competition, and openness. Nearly 50,000 Canadians asked the CRTC to ensure affordable, world-class broadband for all at UnblockCanada.ca About OpenMedia OpenMedia works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free. We create community-driven campaigns to engage, educate, and empower people to safeguard the Internet. JOHANNESBURG, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internet of Things is the next big wave in technology, with major repercussions for Africans. By connecting everyday devices to the Internet, the Internet of Things opens up a host of new opportunities and challenges for companies, governments and consumers. The IoT has the potential to solve many of the issues the African continent is currently facing. And many African countries have already embarked on the IoT journey. Healthcare providers in Ethiopia are monitoring the health status of outpatients to better adjust treatment. Intelligent traffic lights in Nairobi are helping ease traffic congestion. Utility providers in South Africa are using load-limiting smart meters that can warn residents ahead of imminent controlled outages. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), satellite imagery, DNA analysis and apps are being used as part of conservation efforts - by predicting poaching attempts and monitoring wildlife. The potential is limitless. As technology advances and encroaches upon most people's day-to-day lives in some shape or form, people can expect more IoT enabled solutions that address the unique issues facing Africa. There is no question: the IoT is coming to Africa and African businesses cannot ignore it. IoT Forum Africa 2017 will bring together senior IT executives, service providers, developers and CxOs from diverse fields, with representation from healthcare, manufacturing, energy, utilities, rail, transport and retail to name a few. Keynotes and interactive sessions will focus on carefully selected topics such as: The IoT Revolution: From "Things" to business outcomes Deploying an IoT solution. A strategic overview for decision makers Creating a sustainable framework for IoT Integration Creating value from connecting "things" and assessing the commercial feasibility and monetization of IoT IoT, Big Data & the City: A standards perspective Reinventing IT security to support IoT How will IoT remake your industry? In what ways can IoT improve efficiency, enable innovation and drive real business transformation? Speakers have already been confirmed from Dangote Industries Limited, Woolworths, Aon South Africa, FNB Fiduciary, Discovery Limited, Barclays Africa Group, FastNet, Kenya Bankers Association and McAfee amongst others. Join Africa's largest IoT event and take part in insightful discussions at IoT Forum Africa 2017 For more information about this conference, visit: www.iotforumafrica.com. Media Contact: Vee Lidzhade Tel: 0110260982 Email: events@itnewsafrica.com SOURCE IoT Forum Africa 2017 HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Ted Dallas announced that Pennsylvania was awarded a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) demonstration grant by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The commonwealth is one of eight states selected out of 24 applicants to receive the grant. While the ultimate amount of additional funds received is dependent on the usage of the CCBHC program, DHS estimates it could be an additional $10 million in federal funding. The federal grant encourages states to adopt innovative approaches in the delivery of community-based behavioral health services. According to SAMHSA, the demonstration is part of a comprehensive effort to integrate behavioral health with physical health care, increase consistent use of evidence-based practices, and improve access to high-quality care for people with mental health and substance use disorders. DHS will receive an enhanced federal matching rate on the payments to the CCBHCs, made through either the behavioral health managed care plans or the Fee-For-Service program. The funding is used to provide for improved access to high-quality behavioral health care, which is patient and family driven, delivered using evidence-based practices and takes into consideration the needs of the whole person. "This grant is one of the most significant investments in community behavioral health in decades and has the potential to transform the way these services are delivered in the commonwealth," said Dallas. "We are committed to providing Pennsylvanians with access to high-quality services in their communities and look forward to improving the way individuals with mental health and substance abuse disorders receive help." DHS was previously awarded an $886K planning grant used to certify CCHBCs, solicit input from stakeholders, and establish prospective payment systems for demonstration reimbursable services. As a result of that planning work, the department selected the following 10 CCBHC locations, set to implement in July 2017: Berks Counseling Center, Berks County Cen Clear Child Services, Clearfield County Cen Clear Punxsy, Jefferson County Community Council Health Systems, Philadelphia County NHS Human Services, Delaware County Northeast Treatment Centers, Philadelphia County Pittsburgh Mercy, Allegheny County Resources for Human Development, Montgomery County Safe Harbor Behavioral Health of UPMC Hamot, Erie County The Guidance Center, McKean County These CCBHCs will: enhance access to behavioral health services for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries, help individuals with mental health and substance use disorders obtain the health care they need to maintain their health and well-being, allow individuals to have access to a wide array of services at one location, and remove the barriers that too often exist across physical and behavioral health systems. The award is made possible through Section 223 of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, as part of a comprehensive effort to integrate behavioral health with physical health care. For more information on the Section 223 Demonstration Program for CCBHCs visit http://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid-chip-program-information/by-topics/financing-and-reimbursement/223-demonstration-for-ccbhc.html. Media Contact: Rachel Kostelac, 717.425.7606 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pennsylvania-awarded-innovative-behavioral-health-grant-300383192.html SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Human Services WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued today a royal decree outlining Saudi Arabia's 2017 budget. The 2017 budget is estimated to reach SAR 890 billion ($237.3), an 8 percent increase from 2016, and is projected to reflect a record 33 percent decrease in the Kingdom's national deficit. "Our economy is firm and it has sufficient strength to cope with the current economic and financial challenges," said King Salman. "We have sought through this budget and its programs to improve the efficiency of capital and operational expenditures in the state, strengthen the situation of public finances, enhance their sustainability, give priority to developmental and service projects and programs that serve citizens directly, contribute to activating the role of the private sector and increase its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product." In reaching these goals, the 2017 budget expenditures will focus primarily on the following key sectors: Education: SAR 200 billion ( $53.3 billion ); This covers public education, higher education and training. ( ); This covers public education, higher education and training. Military: SAR 191 billion ( $51 billion ); This will support and expand the Kingdom's military capabilities. ( ); This will support and expand the Kingdom's military capabilities. Economic Resources and General Programs: SAR 155 billion ( $41.3 billion ); Among the key projects included is the expansion of the Grand Mosque. ( ); Among the key projects included is the expansion of the Grand Mosque. Health and Social Development: SAR 120 billion ( $32 billion ); This will enable the construction and subsequent equipping of healthcare centers. 38 new hospitals are already in the process of being built. SAR 120 billion ( ); This will enable the construction and subsequent equipping of healthcare centers. 38 new hospitals are already in the process of being built. Security and Regional Administration: SAR 97 billion ( $25.8 billion ); The establishment of naval bases for border guards will be among the new projects this budget will facilitate. ( ); The establishment of naval bases for border guards will be among the new projects this budget will facilitate. Municipality Services: SAR 55 billion ( $14.6 billion ); This includes the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and municipalities. ( ); This includes the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and municipalities. Infrastructure and Transport: SAR 52 billion ( $13.8 billion ); This will go toward building roads, ports, railway, airports, postal services and developing industrial cities. ( ); This will go toward building roads, ports, railway, airports, postal services and developing industrial cities. National Transformation Plan: SAR 42 billion ( $1.1 billion ); This will cover the costs of the NTP initiatives in 2017. ( ); This will cover the costs of the NTP initiatives in 2017. Public Administration: SAR 27 billion ( $72 billion ); This includes projects, programs and 46 new initiatives. Revenue is projected to reach SAR 692 billion ($184.5 billion) in 2017, a 31 percent increase from initial projections. Oil revenues are expected to increase by 46 percent, and non-oil revenues are estimated to grow by 6.5 percent. Moreover, the budget deficit is expected to reach SAR 198 billion in 2017, reflecting 7.7 percent of the GDP. Combined, these efforts will move the Kingdom closer to its Vision 2030 goal of balancing the budget by 2020. Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20 and ranks as the 29th most competitive economy in the world, according to World Economic Forum's 2016-2017 Global Competitiveness Report. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/saudi-arabia-issues-2017-budget-projects-major-deficit-reduction-300383228.html SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office ZURICH, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Sequana Medical AG ("Sequana Medical" or the "Company") announces with great sadness, the sudden death of its Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Noel L. Johnson, Ph. D. Dr. Johnson founded the Company in 2006 and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since then. Noel originated the idea of a fully implantable battery-powered pump for the management of refractory ascites (chronic fluid build-up in the abdomen), a frequent complication of late-stage liver disease and certain cancers. He led the team to bring the alfapump system to market and the system has been implanted in over 400 patients. The Board and all employees are greatly saddened by Noel's passing, and indebted to Noel for his boundless energy and dedication, and significant contribution to Sequana Medical. Throughout his time with Sequana Medical, Noel was dedicated to improving the quality of life of patients living with this debilitating disease. The availability of the alfapump system for refractory ascites patients in Europe is due in great part of Noel's hard work and commitment. The Board's thoughts are with Noel's family at this difficult time. Noel had, prior to his passing, together with the board started the process of succession to hand over the role of CEO to Ian Crosbie. Noel would have remained involved both as an advisor and as a member of the board. Mr. Crosbie joined the Company in July 2016 as Chief Financial Officer. Contacts: Sequana Medical Laura Schneider Marketing & Communications Associate +41 44 403 55 96 laura.schneider@sequanamedical.com ENDS Note to Editors About Sequana Medical: Sequana Medical is a commercial stage medical device company and the leader in the active transport of fluids within the body. Our first product, the alfapump system, is a fully implantable, transcutaneously charged, battery-powered pump for the management of refractory ascites (chronic fluid build-up in the abdomen) due to liver cirrhosis or malignant ascites with a life expectancy of 6 months or less. The alfa pump System is one of the first real alternatives to large-volume paracentesis, a lengthy, invasive and painful procedure that can require weekly hospital visits for drainage of excess fluid. By moving ascites to the bladder, where the body can eliminate it naturally through urination, the alfapump system prevents fluid build-up and its possible complications, improving patient quality of life and nutrition, and potentially reducing hospital visits and healthcare costs. Our DirectLink Technology allows clinicians to receive pump performance information and more effectively manage patients treated by the alfa pump system. The alfa pump has received the CE Mark and is commercially available in 14 countries. The alfapump system is currently under evaluation in the US under an IDE study. The Company is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland and our investors include NeoMed Management, VI Partners, Biomed Invest, Capricorn Health Tech, Entrepreneur's Fund and Life Science Partners. For further information, please visit http://www.sequanamedical.com. Regulatory News: On December 21, 2016, the Caisse des Depots and Veolia (Paris:VIE) finalized the Transdev Group (Transdev) shareholder reorganization agreement, including Veolias withdrawal from Transdev, in association with the draft agreement announced on July 29, 2016. The first step of the agreement, in which the Caisse des Depots was to acquire 20% of Transdevs capital for 220 million, has been completed. As a result of this transaction, the Caisse des Depots now holds 70% of Transdevs capital and takes exclusive control of Transdev, while Veolia retains, on a transitional basis, 30% of Transdevs capital. About Caisse des Depots Group Caisse des Depots and its subsidiaries together form a State-owned group that is a long-term investor serving France's public interest and local and regional economic development. This role was reaffirmed by the French Law on modernisation of the economy of 4 August 2008. The Group has renowned expertise in managing public service mandates and it has earmarked four priority sectors for creating jobs and partnering industrial development and innovation: business development, the energy transition, housing, and infrastructure and mobility. http://www.caissedesdepots.fr About Veolia Veolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With over 174 000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them. In 2015, the Veolia group supplied 100 million people with drinking water and 63 million people with wastewater service, produced 63 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 42.9 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of 25 billion in 2015. www.veolia.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161221005870/en/ Groupe Caisse des Depots Media Relations : +33 1 58 50 40 00 56 rue de Lille 75007 Paris @CaissedesDepots or Veolia Environnement Press relations Laurent Obadia - Sandrine Guendoul + 33 1 85 57 42 16 sandrine.guendoul@veolia.com or Analysts & investors Ronald Wasylec - + 33 1 85 57 84 76 Ariane de Lamaze - + 33 1 85 57 84 80 Terri Powers (USA) - + 1-630-218-1627 When Lt. Col. Karl Fruendts four children were younger, they had a family tradition of tracking Santa on his Christmas Eve journey around the globe on NORAD Tracks Santa. The children have outgrown the Santa Tracker, but Fruendt now helps others experience his familys tradition by lending his time and voice talent to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)-led service. Fruendt, who is now an Individual Mobilization Augmentee assigned to U.S. Northern Command as a joint logistics planner at NORAD, moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2011 when he took a new Active Guard Reserve position there. He first volunteered to support the NORAD Tracks Santa in 2012, which relies on about 1,500 volunteers every year. The logistics officer told the NORAD Tracks Santa public affairs team he could help by operating a booth outside official holiday concerts at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He did five events the first year, handing out tchotchkes and promotional materials touting the service. He continued in 2013 but was also invited on-stage during the musical performances to narrate the history of NORAD Tracks Santa. Fruednt would tell of how the program began by accident, in 1955, when an advertising misprint in a Colorado Springs newspaper directed children to call the Continental Air Defense Commands operations center for information on Santa. Instead of sending them away, Col. Harry Shoup, who came to be known as the Santa Colonel, had his operators find the location of Santa Claus and report to each child who phoned in that night. Following Fruendts monologue, Santa would come out and visit with the children. The Reservist has continued doing this every year since. When his AGR tour ended in 2015, he transferred from the Air National Guard to the Air Force Reserves Individual Reserve program doing essentially the same job he was doing as an AGR Guardsman. IMAs are Air Force Reservists assigned to backfill positions at active-component organizations. Unlike Traditional Reservists, who drill on a monthly basis, IMAs work with their active-duty units to create a custom work schedule. This arrangement offers greater flexibility for members who need to balance other demands on their time or who have a desire to pursue goals like education or a civilian career. IMAs can also support the active component on full-time, active-duty orders. These factors, along with the job vacancy, brought Fruendt to the IMA program. His assignment allows him to continue his support to NORAD on a full-time basis, provides additional flexibility in his personal life and also allows him to support NORAD Tracks Santa during the holidays. When the media team was looking for voice talent to support the Santa Tracker website, Fruendt was a natural choice. According to 1st Lt. Lauren Hill, from the NORAD Public Affairs office, Fruendt is always willing to help out. Since arriving on station, he has become the voice of NORAD/USNORTHCOM, often narrating official events, and always willing to support NORAD Tracks Santa. The trained broadcaster, who spent 10 years in radio and television news in Topeka, Kansas, has a crisp, smooth delivery, and just a hint of a Midwestern accent. He also served as an enlisted motion media specialist (the predecessor to combat camera) with the Kansas Air National Guard from 1989 until he commissioned as a public affairs officer in 1997. Armed with those credentials, Fruendt entered the NORAD public affairs offices recording studio in 2014 to cut audio tracks for a number of video clips used on the Santa Tracker website. Since then, hes recorded the audio for all of the English-language clips used by the Santa Tracker website, about 20 in total, and is always willing to update the voice track as scripts change. The videos and voiceovers are just a small piece of the NORAD Tracks Santa operation, though. Hill, who is also the volunteer coordinator for NORAD Tracks Santa, said the organization is run by NORAD and supported by pro-bono donations from 51 companies and charities which donate everything from web and app development time to hardware, like the computers in their call center. That call center opens at 4 a.m. (MST) on Christmas Eve and will have as many as 164 volunteers working at any given time. Hill will cycle almost 1,600 volunteers through the center during the 24-hours of Dec. 24. Last year the center received more than 100 calls a minute from all over the globe, while the website received 22 million hits in 2015. For his part, Fruendt is happy to play his role in the overall operation. When I was given the opportunity to tell the story of NORAD Tracks Santa, I couldnt have been happier and I am proud to have the chance to help carry on the tradition of the last 60 years, he said. In ongoing efforts to size and shape the force to current and future requirements, Air Force officials explained why the service needs to grow to 350,000 active-duty Airmen over the next seven years. The need to increase the end strength comes from the recognition that the Air Force is out of balance with ongoing and projected global demands for airpower, senior officials explained. The risk of manpower shortage is masked and placed on the backs of Airmen, said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein. Because if you go back and look at the data and the way we measure readiness, did we taxi? Yes. Did we launch? Yes. Did we make the deployed destination and accomplish the mission? Yes. Whats masked is the fact that the shortage of people has fundamentally changed the way we do business in terms of the operational risk day to day. If sequestration caps are removed and additional funding becomes available, the Air Force will consider growing to 350,000 active-duty Airmen during the next seven years. The service is currently on track to grow to 321,000 by the end of 2017, and 324,000 in the following years. The erosion of readiness started decades ago, but has been exacerbated by sequestration and a continuous high operations tempo, explained Air Force officials. Throughout the last 10 years, the Air Force made steep cuts in overall end strength, especially in the combat air forces. The Air Force has balanced risk across the force while maintaining the agility, flexibility and readiness to engage a full range of contingencies, senior leaders said. Additional manning is needed not just to meet air requirements, but to support the joint fight, Goldfein said. So when you look through the lens of growth in the United States military, we look through a joint lens and through that lens we see that the Air Force is always a part of every mission. Therefore, you can't have growth in one without growth in the Air Force." Officials explained the Air Force must continue to grow the force to address key capability gaps and recover and sustain a stronger force for today's missions in the nuclear, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, maintenance and support career fields. It must also continue to resource growing remotely piloted aircraft and cyber mission requirements. As part of the Fiscal Year 2017 budget request, the service plans to grow the active duty force to approximately 321,000 Airmen by 2018. Additional funding from Congress would be necessary for this growth, but details would have to be prioritized during future budgets submissions, officials said. While the Air Force acknowledges the demand for more Airmen, officials also commented that it will take time to recruit, access and train additional Airmen. This is not something you can do immediately, Goldfein said. Its actually something youve got to do over time. This is something we would build over the next seven years in a steady climb. Ultimately, the Air Force wants to reduce stress on Airmen and ensure we have enough people to support the joint fight and accomplish the missions the nation requires, said Air Force officials. Seventeen people have been killed in clashes between DR Congo police and members of a cult that believes the end of President Joseph Kabilas mandate will usher in the apocalypse, a regional governor said. Bienvenu Esimba, governor of DR Congos northwestern Mongala province, said the clashes broke out Wednesday in the provincial capital Lisala when members of the sect burned dozens of houses and attacked a market before launching an assault on local electoral commission offices. The toll from the clashes is 14 militiamen from the political-religious cult and three dead police officers, Esimba told. A local Catholic priest confirmed that cult members had launched the attack. DR Congo is mired in political crisis two days after Kabilas second and final term in office had been due to end on December 20, with no indications that he is planning to step down. Esimba said the cult members, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, had burned 47 houses and attacked the offices of the electoral commission because they judged the institution to be useless. Troops had to step in to neutralize the guru Wami-Nene during the three hours of violence until midday on Wednesday, he said, adding that security forces had acted in legitimate defence. The situation was calm by this morning, Esimba said. Lisala lies on the Congo River deep in the rainforest, some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) northeast of the capital Kinshasa. The Madhya Pradesh Police and Punjab Police busted two fake currency notes rackets arrested many persons from both the state for printing fake Rs. 2,000 new notes and printer from them. The kingpin of the racket is at large. The police seized from the trio fake Rs. 100 and Rs. 500 notes worth Rs. 13,900. The accused were booked under Section 489 of IPC and further investigations are underway, said Ashish, Superintendent of Police, Gwalior. This is the second alleged racket exposed by the MP police in three days which was printing new currency notes. Earlier on Saturday, two people were arrested from Burhar town of Shahdol district for allegedly printing fake Rs. 2,000 notes at a pathology lab. In Gwalior, the police stumbled upon the alleged racket during a routine vehicular check in Hazira area on Tuesday. A man, identified as Ashutosh, was purchasing cigarettes with a 500 note at a roadside shop. The shopkeeper got suspicious about the note and called the police who were checking vehicles. When Ashutosh was grilled, he broke down and admitted being part of the racket, involving two others. In another case, Mohali police arrested accused in the case of recovery of Rs. 42 lakh in fake currency notes. The accused has been identified as Vinod Kumar, the driver of the three accused arrested earlier. SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said, Vinod dealt with clients and brought the material for printing new currency notes. During interrogation, it was found that the accused had duped six persons so far. People who exchanged their money are yet to be identified. They were trying to dodge the income tax department while disposing off money under the table, police sources said. The accused arrested previously include Abhinav Verma, a 21-year-old engineering graduate of Chitkara University and a resident of Dhakoli, who, incidentally, developed sensors for the blind at the Indian Science Congress in 2015, Suman Nagpal, 54, a property dealer from Ludhiana and Vishakha Verma, 23, a resident of Kapurthala who is doing MBA from Manipur. National Farmers Day is celebrated on 23rd December. It is the birthday of Former Prime Minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh. Charan Singh, the Jat icon belonged to a peasant family, which made him relate himself with the problems of the farmers. Consequently, he did his best to support them. He was a son of the soil and his efforts towards the improvement of an Indian farmer are unparalleled. He played a major role in shaping and implementing some crucial laws like the Zamindari Abolition Act (1952), Consolidation of Holdings Act of 1953, and the Imposition of Ceilings on Land Holdings Act of 1960. He also introduced an Agricultural Produce Market Bill for the welfare of the farmers. Singh worked very hard for the development of farmers. Charan Singh will always be remembered as Kisanon Ke Neta or farmers leader. India is basically an agricultural-dependent nation with nearly half of its population residing in villages. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy that contributes to the overall economic growth of the country and determines the standard of life for more than 50% of the Indian population. It employs more than half of the Indian population. Though, there was a time when approximately 75% of the Indian population was dependent on agriculture for earning their livelihood. Charan Singh contributed a lot to improve the condition of Indian farmers by understanding the real problems of farmers and he did his best to help them. His passionate appeal and magnetic persona united all the farmers against the moneylenders and landlords. He was also a very effective writer and penned his thoughts on farmers and their problems and solutions. He served as the Prime Minister of India from 28 July 1979 until 14 January 1980. According to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, the total of number of suicides committed by farmers for agrarian reasons in the last three years stands more than 3500. Farmers distress is financial and the impending struggles. Suicide committed by them is a national phenomenon though most cases go unreported. Farm suicides, whether owing to purely agricultural reasons like crop failure, or the complex pressures on an Indian farmer, must be tackled seriously on the basis of a comprehensive examination of the causative factors, and the context. Farmers who feed us toil in the sun and rain all days of the year, but reap little benefits. They are least respected in society that eats their fruits. Lack of proper understanding of the need to grow crops sustainably will push farmers into a vicious circle of debts, heavy use of fertilisers, water mismanagement, low productivity and thus more debts for the next cycle. Agriculture has always been a high risk business in our country and crop failure is very common because it very much depends upon nature. Agricultural credit and farm mechanisation for small and marginal farmers will continue to be difficult unless pooling of farm resources and/or a joint usage of farm technology is employed. Today, banks are willing to lend money to a village consortium which can be utilised to boost farm productivity, employ sustainable farming methods, reduce over dependence on fertilisers and thus solve many problems. What is needed is safe but remunerative farming. We need to think of organic farming and avoidance of large scale wastage of agricultural productions. Creation of good surface irrigation and maintenance of tank systems so as to improve underground storage and remunerative prices are the most important. (The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.) Mortar fire killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in the battleground Iraqi city of Mosul, the United Nations said on Thursday. According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queuing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire, Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in a statement. Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents that also wounded up to 40 people, Grande said. People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked, she said, adding: The killing of civilians and aid workers violates every humanitarian principle. Iraqi forces launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul, the countrys last city held by the Islamic State jihadist group, and have retaken areas on its eastern side. But the battle during which more than 100,000 people have been displaced, with many times that number still believed to be inside the city is far from over. The UN announcement came a day after Human Rights Watch said that IS was indiscriminately attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the jihadists in Mosul. Residents said (IS) members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were unbelievers and therefore valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces, the rights group said. The jihadists have targeted civilians with mortars, explosives and gunfire, HRW said. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and highlighted NDA governments failure in addressing a wide range of issues and said that the Prime Minister did not answer his questions, but mocked him. Gandhi said, Yesterday, I had asked the Prime Minister 2-3 questions on corruption, but instead of answering those questions he mocked me. He can mock me as much as he wants but he must give answers to the youth of this country. Everyday our farmers are committing suicide, we went to the PM with these problems, but the PM did not say even one word. How many black money holders have been put in jail by Modiji? Not even one. He instead made Modi (lalit) and Mallya run away, Rahul added. Earlier on Thursday, Modi mocked Rahul, saying he is happy that the young leader has learnt to deliver public speeches. Now that their young leader (Rahul Gandhi) has spoken, we have seen what the earthquake is all about. I am happy that the Congress vice president has learnt to deliver public speeches, said Modi. The Prime Minister also hit out at the Opposition, saying he never thought political leaders will support corruption. Notes ban is a big cleanliness drive and people are supporting our drive. But the Opposition is siding with corruption. I had never thought some political leaders would have the audacity to stand with the corrupt, said the Prime Minister. The ruckus by Opposition in Parliament over note ban is like the cover fire that Pakistan gives to terrorists. When they say large parts of India did not get access to education, whose report card are they giving? questioned Modi. Modi also hit out at the former PM, saying poverty is Manmohan Singhs legacy. Manmohan Singhs image is clean, but scams happened under his tenure, said Modi. The Prime Minister, who was on his first tour of his Lok Sabha constituency after Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes were demonetized on November 8, was speaking at a function organised inside the Banaras Hindu University campus. The government of Tamil Nadu on Thursday removed states Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, a day after his residence and offices were raided by the Income Tax (IT) officials. He has been replaced by senior bureaucrat Girija Vaidhyanathan. Mr. Raos home in citys posh Anna Nagar locality, his office and several other locations were searched for nearly 24 hours. The homes of his son Vivek Rao and some relatives in Chennai and Chittoor in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh were also raided. The state government directed that Girija Vaidyanathan will also hold full additional charge of the post of Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioner for Administrative Reforms. I-T department on Wednesday raided the residence of Rao in Chennais Annanagar. Informed sources said the searches of Raos residence and office were linked to the earlier IT raids on the residence of arrested businessmen J. Shekhar Reddy, who allegedly has business links with Raos son Vivek. J Sekhar Reddy was arrested on Wednesday in a case related to unaccounted money and tax evasion. Income Tax officials claim to have recovered nearly Rs. 30 lakh in cash and five kilograms of gold during raids. Income tax raids on most premises belonging to former Tamil Nadu chief secretary Rama Mohana Rao, his son and others in Chennai, Bengaluru and Chittoor that began on Wednesday were completed in the early hours of Thursday. However, raids were continuing at the offices of Raos son P Vivek Rao in Chennai on Thursday, a senior income tax investigation official said. Vivek has six companies. Three companies are situated on the third floor of a building on the Chamiers Road at Nandanam. We are surveying the three companies Virtu Technologies India, Blue Ocean P&A Services and Trans Earth Logistics since Wednesday evening. We need to check some more documents in those offices. The survey might be completed by this evening, the official said. Handpicked for the top job by the former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, Mr Rao superseded 17 IAS officers to become the top bureaucrat, but Rao had seemed to come off in poor light as significant seizures were made at the home of his kin at least Rs 30 lakh cash and 5 kg gold. As many as 13 premises belonging to the chief secretary, his son and relatives in Nellore and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and in Karnataka were searched leading to more seizure of cash and gold across south India. Vaidyanathan, a 1981-batch IAS officer, is currently the Commissioner of Land Administration in the rank of additional chief secretary. She has earlier served as the Health Secretary from 2011-2012 during the tenure of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Vaidyanathan has held numerous positions overseeing departments in health, education, agriculture, transportation and state planning. She completed graduate studies in physics, chemistry and mathematics. WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2016 - Peter Navarro, an outspoken critic of China and U.S. trade policy who advised President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign, will lead a newly established National Trade Council in the White House. Navarros criticism of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other aspects of trade policy is in line with Trumps nominee for commerce secretary, private-equity investor Wilbur Ross, who a transition spokesman said this week would play a major role in directing Trumps trade agenda. A statement issued by the Trump transition team said that Navarro's council would work with other federal agencies to assess U.S. manufacturing capabilities and the defense industrial base and lead Trumps Buy America, Hire America program to ensure the President-elects promise is fulfilled in government procurement and projects ranging from infrastructure to national defense. 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 of Navaro. "He has presciently documented the harms inflicted by globalism on American workers, and laid out a path forward to restore our middle class. He will fulfill an essential role in my administration as a trade advisor. Navarro, who teaches economics at the University of California, Irvine, is the author of Death by China, a book strongly critical of the Asian nation. The former Democrat ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1996 and spoke at the Democratic national convention that year. In a joint Wall Street Journal op-ed on Oct. 25, Navarro and Ross pushed back at critics of Trumps trade policy who said he was risking a trade war. This is an alarmist misread of the bargaining table in trade negotiations. "Most of Americas $766 billion annual trade deficit in goods is with a few countries, all of which need our markets far more than we need theirs, including China, Germany, Japan, Mexico and South Korea. Navarro and Ross argued that a 10 percent change in the mix of U.S. international trade could eliminate that deficit, through smart, tough negotiations. As the biggest market in the world, we have all the leverage. No one makes better deals than Mr. Trump." In a Foreign Policy article on the eve of the election, Navarro and another Trump adviser, Alexander Gray, said Trump would never again sacrifice the U.S. economy on the altar of foreign policy by entering into bad trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement, allowing China into the World Trade Organization, and passing the proposed TPP. USDA economists have warned that Trumps election has introduced an element of uncertainty for U.S. agricultural exports because of the importance of China and Mexico to American farmers. Like what you see on the Agri-Pulse website? See even more ag, rural policy and energy news when you sign up for a four-week free trial Agri-Pulse subscription. China is expected to be the top foreign market for U.S. agriculture in fiscal 2017, followed by Canada and Mexico. China alone is expected to import $21.8 billion in U.S. commodities, including 60 percent of U.S. soybean exports. Agribusiness interests have been at least somewhat encouraged by Trump's selection of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to be ambassador to China. Trump has yet to name a U.S. Trade Representative, although at least three people are believed to be under consideration, including Jovita Carranza, a former deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration who now runs a business consulting firm, the JCR Group. Trump also has interviewed two members of his USTR transition team, former steel executive Dan DiMicco and Robert Lighthizer, a trade lawyer who was a deputy U.S. trade representative during the Reagan administration. Lighthizer specializes in anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases. Trump spokesman Jason Miller said Tuesday that there was no plan to merge USTR into Commerce but that there were still details about the relationship between the two agencies to work out. USTR would continue to have its normal functions, Miller said, but Ross will ultimately direct much of the administration's trade policy at the direction of President-elect Trump. One former top official at USTR under a GOP administration said that the agency is being downgraded, and may be downgraded a very long way. #30 Syria's Christians: Targeted for Elimination A burnt-out Syrian church displays a memorial banner to civilians killed in an attack. ( Tim Bauer) A taxi exits the shattered city of Aleppo just before dawn. Moving in convoy for protection, it carries a young widow, her twin daughters and elderly parents on the most momentous journey of their lives. They have prayed for safe travel at the Melkite Catholic church of St George, lighting candles beneath a painting of the Madonna and Child. Now they abandon their home in hope of finding refuge in Australia. Aleen Baliozian's daughters Vany and Varty were infants when their father Shiraz died of a brain haemorrhage. By the time the girls turned eight, in 2014, their mostly Christian neighbourhood in west Aleppo had been under siege by Islamist militias for two years. Streets were cratered by mortar fire, hospitals begged for blood and death notices littered the walls. Aleen resolved to escape the city and the war when the twins witnessed "hell cannons" -- modified gas bottles packed with shrapnel -- tear up a roadway and strike their school. "We are not going to die. We will survive," she reassured the terrified girls. "God be with you," say the soldiers. Aleen is the niece of the late Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Sydney-based Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church. If the family can get to Australia, they will be among relatives and a diaspora bound by a tradition of mutual aid stemming from the Armenian Genocide a century ago. But first they must reach Beirut to begin the uncertain process of applying for visas to Australia. Jihadist fighters have cut the highway to the Lebanese border, forcing the convoy to take a long backroads detour. They risk ambush as they cross territory that frequently changes hands. "God be with you," say the soldiers who wave them through the sandbagged checkpoints, but a wrong turn could lead them away from government lines. Aleen removes her crucifix necklace and produces headscarves for herself and her mother, Wehanouch. Aleen knows rebels will be hostile to any uncovered woman they encounter. Clockwise from top left: A defaced icon in a church in Syria; Aleen Baliozian with daughters Vany and Varty in Sydney; a memorial to civilians on a burnt-out Syrian church; Vany and Varty celebrate Christmas in Sydney; the Armenian Apostolic Church in Chatswood, Sydney. ( Tim Bauer) It takes 18 hours to reach Beirut. That night a thunderstorm wakes Vany and Varty. "Mum, they are here, they are bombing," they scream. Aleen takes the girls to the balcony. "Look, it's only a storm. We are not in Syria, we are safe now." In Beirut the family gets lucky; they are granted visas in just four months and are soon on a flight to Sydney. Today, at their comfortable home in Sydney's northwest, the family sketch out their new lives. Wehanouch, a former school principal, and her husband Boghas, previously a veterinarian, are both in their sixties and volunteer with the Armenian Relief Society. Wehanouch tells how fighting left her isolated in her Aleppo apartment, within range of jihadist snipers. "I could hear them shouting Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)," she says. She opened a window one morning to see the severed head of a pro-government sheikh hanging from the minaret of a mosque across the street. Wehanouch calmly relates such horrors, but wipes away tears when the discussion turns to her "beautiful life" before the war. "We were so sad to leave," she says. A burnt-out church in Maloula, Syria. ( Tim Bauer) Aleen -- a school supervisor in Aleppo -- now works as a receptionist at an Armenian school, Galstaun College. It has waived tuition fees for about 40 Syrian refugee children including Vany and Varty. They are bright girls who appear to share their mother's confidence. "It took time to get them out of their fear; it was hard," Aleen says. In Aleppo, weeks-long power and water cuts forced the family to draw tainted water from a disused churchyard well. The girls shared Aleen's bed to stay warm through freezing winters. Even so, Vany misses her old bedroom. Varty misses the dolls she left behind. The battle for Aleppo, once Syria's biggest city, tilted in the government's favour in the months since the Baliozians left. The army of President Bashar al-Assad controls all roads into the city. During the week of our interview, it is the jihadist-occupied eastern sector that's under siege and intense bombardment, with hundreds of civilian casualties reported. Anti-government militia still inflict losses on loyalist districts; Aleen is shocked to learn of the slaughter of three of her former students in a mortar strike while out shopping. "Christians are better off in Syria than anywhere else in the Middle East. Other than Lebanon, this is the only country in the region where a Christian can really feel the equal of a Muslim." So said Yohanna Ibrahim, Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, before he was abducted by unidentified armed men in April 2013, the third year of the war. There is still no indication whether Archbishop Yohanna and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Boulos Yazigi, abducted at the same time, are alive or dead. Muslims and Christians have lived together in Syria for 14 centuries. It's a rare example of a Middle Eastern country that does not recognise Islam as the state religion. The nation offers a model that goes beyond religious co-existence. Syria's Grand Mufti, a Sunni, preaches in the Christian cathedrals of Damascus and invites bishops to speak at his mosque. State television headlines government leaders of diverse faiths attending Christmas and Easter mass. Baptist pastor Samir Yacco in Dweila, Syria. ( Tim Bauer) "This is a country that is heterogeneous culturally -- not just ethnically or religiously.... It's actually a country that has somehow invented the notion of multiculturalism, and lived with it for a very long time," writes Nasser Rabbat, director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Consider the interlocked jumble of creeds and ethnicities at risk of being torn apart in Syria. Sunni Muslim Arabs account for more than 60 per cent of the population. They live alongside Sunni Kurds, Kurdish-speaking Yazidis and syncretic offshoots of Shiite Islam such as the Druze, Ismailis and Alawites. Christians, an estimated 8 to 10 per cent of the pre-war population, are divided into four streams of Orthodoxy (Greek, Armenian, Syrian and Chaldean/Assyrian/Syriac) plus Catholic versions of each. Maronites and Protestant denominations add to the mix. Furthermore, Christianity is ethnically mixed with services in Arabic, Armenian and dialects of Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Such diversity challenges simplistic, sectarian-based analysis of the conflict. Certainly the fractured armed insurgency is entirely Sunni and pledged to impose versions of sharia law. The president it strives to overthrow, Bashar al-Assad, is an Alawite at the head of what is often labelled an "Alawite regime". Yet some of Assad's top ministers and security chiefs are Sunnis and his army is mostly Sunni -- while being the only Arab military with several Christians serving as generals. Since war broke out in 2011 the Christian population has suffered catastrophic collapse: from 1.25 million to less than 500,000, according to ADF International, a religious freedom advocacy group. In neighbouring Iraq only 200,000 Christians remain from a population of 1.4 million in the 1980s, says Australian theologian Elizabeth Kendal, director of advocacy for Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom. "A civilisation that predates Islam is in the process of being rubbed out. They are being targeted for elimination under the cover of conflict," she warns. The Baliozian family joined the exodus not only to escape violence and privation; they also feared persecution by Sunni Muslim extremists responsible for a wave of kidnappings and executions, along with the destruction of churches. "Before the war there was no discrimination between Muslims and Christians, between Armenians and Arabs," says Boghas, who worked in a veterinary laboratory in Aleppo. "We all worked together." "At Christmas they would say to me, 'Merry Christmas' and at Eid I would wish them 'Eid Mubarak' (Blessed Eid)." But when rebels moved into the area they told him, "You are the only Christian left here. If you don't leave, we will kill you." In districts outside government control, Christians not killed or forced to convert to Islam have been stripped of their rights and property and forced to pay a 'jizya' (poll tax) in return for 'protection'. In opposition-controlled Idlib province, bordering Aleppo, "Schools have been segregated, women forced to wear veils, and posters of Osama bin Laden hung on the walls... No religious minorities remain in rebel-held Syria," writes US academic Joshua Landis, a leading expert on Syria. Aleen says bluntly: "If the government loses this war, the Christians in Syria have no future." In September 2015, then Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced Australia would resettle 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees in addition to the regular humanitarian intake of almost 14,000 that year. "Our focus will be on families and women and children, especially of persecuted minorities," Abbott said. That brought immediate condemnation from Islamic community leaders such as Ahmed Kilani, founder of the website Muslim Village. Prioritising minority groups amounted to "bigoted fear-mongering" and "a betrayal of the true Australian spirit," Kilani said. The extra 12,000 refugees are arriving under a Special Humanitarian Program, which allows family members in Australia to nominate relatives for a visa without registering with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). That's a departure from the regular humanitarian intake based on UNHCR referrals. UNHCR officials seeking to keep control over the process have criticised the government for wanting to preference minority groups. Resistance to government policy has reportedly also come from Immigration Department bureaucrats. The Abbott policy opened up differences among Christians, too. Days after the former PM's announcement, Abbott and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton met with resettlement service providers and religious and ethnic leaders in Canberra. They included Rahal Dergham, chaplain to the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney's Syrian and Iraqi community. He was dismayed to hear Christian leaders speak against preference for minorities. "We from the eastern churches were shocked," Syria-born Dergham says. "I don't really care if I speak bluntly. It's been a wound to all of us since we left that meeting." Dergham says a representative of Iraqi Shi'a Muslims spoke in favour of recognising "the unique suffering of Christians and Yazidis" but the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop Philip Freier, and a representative of the (Catholic) St Vincent de Paul Society, opposed the plan. "They said you must bring everyone who is suffering from this war regardless of their religion," Dergham says. Archbishop Freier did not reply to questions on the issue. However he co-signed a National Council of Churches letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in October lamenting the "slow progress" in resettling refugees from the Middle East and expressing "particular concern" for persecuted Christians. Sydney's Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher has explicitly called for Christians and other minority groups to be given priority. Elizabeth Kendal works with faith groups such as the Australian Christian Lobby to urge the government to take more Christian refugees. She's critical of the 'low-key' response from most Australian churches to persecution of Middle Eastern Christians. "The whole culture of Australian churches in relation to the persecuted church generally borders on disinterest. There can even be a hostile response to anyone who challenges their comfortable attitude," Kendal says. The Syriac Catholic church sent Rahal Dergham to Australia eight years ago, when Syria was still peaceful. He's quietly spoken and outwardly calm, but cannot hide his frustration at his inability to help fellow believers -- including family members uprooted by massacre and exile. "Most of my village (near Hama in central Syria) were Christians," he says. "They fled abroad after rebels butchered 500 people, mostly Alawites, in the neighbouring village. My parents' house was hit three times by rockets and only my sister in law is left there." Dergham's five brothers are scattered across four continents. One has been waiting with his invalid mother in Beirut since they applied for refugee visas in February 2015. His father, a local government official, joined them in October after escaping a suicide-bomber attack on his office in Hama. "When I ask Australian Immigration for news on their application they say, 'Please don't contact us because you are only delaying the process.'" Dergham agrees the war has brought suffering to Syrians of all religions including the Sunni majority. But, he argues, "Sunnis can hope to survive in rebel-held areas if they keep a low profile and obey sharia law. That's not an option for Christians or Alawis or Druze." By early November 2016, Australia had issued visas to 9,513 of the additional 12,000 refugees the government committed to resettle a year earlier. The Department of Immigration has not made public a breakdown of visa numbers by religion and did not provide one on request from SBS. However, Peter Dutton insists the Cabinet decision taken in the dying days of the Abbott government still stands: "My sense is there will be a very high proportion of persecuted minorities including Christians in the 12,000," he said in September. Relying on the UNHCR to refer refugee applicants has caused controversy in the US and Britain, too. In March 2016, US Secretary of State John Kerry declared that Islamic State was carrying out genocide against Christians and other minorities. Yet in the following nine months, Christians accounted for just 0.58 per cent of Syrian refugees resettled in the US. Yazidis made up only 0.18 per cent. "They (the UNHCR) appear to be filtering Christians out," complained one congressman. Legislation before Congress would allow Syrians from religious minorities to circumvent the UN process and apply directly to the US government to be fast-tracked as victims of genocide. The Barnabas Aid church group in Britain has called that country's similarly low minority intake "a scandal of historic proportions". Before war intervened, the Monastery of the Cherubim on a mountain peak north of Damascus was the scene of a nightly pilgrimage. As the supposed burial place of Abel, slain brother of Cain, the site drew Muslims as well as Christians to evening services conducted by Greek Orthodox priests. Once home to a dozen monks, the monastery near the town of Saidnaya was almost deserted when I stopped there in the winter of 2015. A monk, father Dahdal Nektarios, fetched coffee and explained the monastery had been attacked by rebels who blew down its iron gates before the army drove them off. Though the immediate danger had passed, three soldiers remained on watch near a giant statue of Jesus -- a gift from the Russian Orthodox Church. Abdul Karim Mohammed was a farmer from Homs and a Sunni. Mahmoud Shaaban, an Alawite from Tartous, had been a Pepsi-Cola salesman. The third guard, Dia Abu Sitteh, a Saidnaya Christian, quit his job as a truck driver in Dubai and rushed home when he heard the town was threatened. "I can't be safe and happy over there when this holy place is in danger," he said. "A lot of us came home from the Emirates when the fighting got close to Saidnaya." Another stay-put Christian I met in Syria has an Australian connection. Baptist pastor Samir Yacco studied at Sydney Bible Baptist College in the eighties and befriended Melbourne Anglican priest Andrew Lake when he served as a missionary in Syria. Lake's congregation, in the Melbourne suburb of Mentone, has sent funds to assist Yacco's charity work in Dweila, a Damascus suburb declared by the Catholic church to be the site of the conversion of the Apostle Paul. Speaking via Skype, Yacco says an influx of destitute refugees from Aleppo is straining the resources of his poor parish. "We hand out food and medicine parcels and we're building a bigger church hall to accommodate a new wave of Christians," he says. "In their minds we are not their final destination, just a stepping stone to another place, like Australia. I'm sad they want to leave Syria, but I don't have any alternative for them. I can't guarantee their safety or a future for their children." He is not encouraged by recent military gains over the jihadists. "Optimism is not like the stock market -- up today and down tomorrow. Optimism will come when people honestly and diligently work for coexistence and I don't see that." Yacco's wife and children live in the United States, but he intends to stay in Syria. "Like Noah, I'll be the last to enter the ark." Andrew Lake wants Australian churches to do more to help Christians who choose to remain in the Middle East. "It's an Australian trait to think that the best thing you can do for someone is to bring them to Australia. But Middle Eastern churches have a long view of history and a strong sense of identity. We need to pay more attention to what Christian leaders in the Middle East are saying because we don't always know best." At the end of August, the three Christian Patriarchs of Damascus -- John X, Ignatius Aphrem II, and Gregorius III -- appealed to Western governments to lift economic sanctions which had "deepened the suffering of the Syrian people". A recently leaked United Nations report reveals that sanctions block access to medicines and medical devices, food, fuel, water pumps, spare parts for power plants, and more. The US and EU embargo supported by Australia imposes "some of the most complicated and far-reaching sanctions regimes ever imposed" and is exceptionally harsh "regarding provision of humanitarian aid," the report says. Rahal Dergham agrees that "sanctions have killed a lot of Syrians" -- including by preventing pharmaceutical manufacturers from buying materials and equipment. "In Syria medical treatment is free, but medicines for heart disease, diabetes and cancer are not available unless you can afford to pay dearly for smuggled products." Sanctions are a major cause of the population outflow from Syria, according to the Christian-focused Australian Syrian Charity which helps newly arrived refugees. Its treasurer, Sydney doctor Antoine Barich, claims the West sanctions food and medicine for ordinary Syrians in order to turn the population against the government. "It's stupid, because more people will flee and head for Europe and Australia," Barich says. "And the sanctions are not working as intended because most people would still prefer to live under the government rather than the opposition." The head of the Syriac Catholic Church, Ignatius Joseph III, has accused Western governments of betraying Middle Eastern Christians via multi-billion-dollar support for Syrian rebels and allied foreign jihadists. Western actions toward Syria have shocked Christians across the region, says Elizabeth Kendall. "They believed the so-called Christian West would help them, or at least would never harm them by arming, training and funding Islamic militants," she says. "The shock and heartache of Middle Eastern Christians, as it dawns on them the extent to which the West has betrayed and abandoned them, has been for me the most painful thing." Middle East Gulf carrier Etihad Airways has announced a range of job cuts and "controlled restructuring" amid speculation that its investment strategy in European airlines looks set for review. Reuters news agency, quoting "company and industry sources", reported that Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is "seeking an exit" from the investments. In tandem with this speculation, there have been numerous press reports that the architect of Etihads business model, chief executive James Hogan, may step down next year. "We do not comment on unsubstantiated rumours in the marketplace," Etihad said in a statement. On the airlines restructuring, the spokesperson added: "Etihad Airways is operating in an increasingly competitive landscape, against a backdrop of weakened global economic conditions. "To ensure we remain agile and competitive in this environment, we constantly explore and pursue new ways of driving productivity and improving efficiency so that we can continue to deliver on our mandate and vision. This involves an ongoing process of organisational reviews and restructuring in different parts of the business in order to reduce costs and improve productivity and revenue." The spokesperson continued: "By undertaking a process of managed, controlled restructuring we are able to protect the business while at the same time continuing to invest in its future growth and progress. The restructuring will also result in a measured reduction of headcount in some parts of the business. "We will do this in a fair, structured and transparent way while keeping a clear focus on operating the airline with the highest levels of safety, serving our guests and delivering the world-class service for which we are known. "Etihad Airways is committed to supporting its staff through this restructuring and we aim to maximise redeployment opportunities within the group. At each stage of the process we will ensure that open and transparent information is available to all staff involved." Etihad, the UAE national carrier, conducted a long-term investment programme to take equity stakes in airberlin, Alitalia and Air Serbia as a way to expand its European network but, said Reuters, "losses have mounted with Air Berlin and Alitalia failing to turn a profit". Last week saw a wet-lease agreement announced between Lufthansa Group and airberlin, in which Etihad Aviation Group indirectly holds a 29% stake. Lufthansas point-to-point carrier Eurowings and Austrian Airlines, a Lufthansa Group airline, signed an agreement to wet lease 38 aircraft from airberlin, of which 33 aircraft will be operated for the Eurowings Group, and an additional five aircraft are to be flown for Austrian Airlines. The agreement has a six years term and becomes effective from February 2017 subject to any regulatory requirements. Etihad Cargo, utilising the parent companys bellyhold capacity on passenger aircraft, is also a substantial freighter operator with four Airbus A330Fs, three Boeing 777Fs and three Boeing 747Fs in its fleet, according to its website. In mid-November, Etihad Cargo launched three B777 freighter services from Europe, out of East Midlands and Stansted airports in the UK and from Copenhagen in Denmark. Etihad Cargo carried more freight in October than in any other month in its history, flying a total of 53,785 tonnes. Share this story December 22, 2016 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the stakes for Turkeys military incursion in Syria, better known as Operation Euphrates Shield. At this critical time when there are attempts to restructure the world and our region, if we stop, we will find ourselves facing Sevres conditions, he said in a speech Dec. 22. For the Turkish president, a proactive approach to regional and global affairs (especially in Syria) is the only thing that could forestall doom. Erdogans comments play on a traumatic memory for Turks, the Treaty of Sevres. Signed after World War I between the defeated Ottoman Empire and victorious allies Britain, France and their partners as a peace treaty, Sevres aimed to dismember the remainder of Ottoman lands (most of them with a majority-Turkish population) and establish Western spheres of influence. Turkey managed to secure its present-day borders with the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 after a two-year war under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Although Erdogan has often gotten into trouble for suggesting that Turkey might extend its borders beyond those provisioned in the Lausanne Treaty (possibly at the expense of Syria and Iraq), the Turkish president repeated similar points in his Dec. 22 speech. He said, We are a nation that still lives with the sorrows of what we lost at Lausanne. To speak frankly, Turkey is going through its greatest struggle since the War of Independence. This is a struggle [to preserve] a single nation, a single homeland, a single state. Erdogan gave his speech as reports came in that 16 Turkish soldiers had been killed in al-Bab during the Turkish militarys joint operation with its Free Syrian Army (FSA) allies to capture the Islamic State-held town. More than 80 Turkish soldiers are reportedly wounded, nine of them critically. Al-Bab is critical for Ankaras objectives. The town is at the crossroads between the Kurdish cantons of Afrin in the northwest and Jazeera and Kobani to the northeast, and Turkey does not want to see them link up. To the southwest of al-Bab lies Aleppo, which is likely to come under the Syrian regimes full control in the near future. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Turkish military and the FSA are bent on putting this strategic prize under their control and gaining the upper hand against the Syrian regime and Syrian Kurdish groups. That, however, may be easier said than done. According to Umit Ozdag, an opposition politician formerly with the Nationalist Action Party, Turkish military units in Syria are facing serious logistical problems. Ozdag, the son of a retired military officer with well-established networks in Turkeys armed forces, said at a parliamentary press conference that acquaintances told him that some soldiers in Syria do not yet have winter tents or portable heaters. Likewise, Ozdag said food supplies and clean water are not easy to come by, and some troops who have been in Syria have not taken a proper shower since Operation Euphrates Shield commenced in August. If Erdogan, who likes to underline his role as commander-in-chief of Turkeys armed forces on every occasion, is going to ask his people and his army for sacrifices, he could serve his countrys interests best by seeing that his troops are well-provisioned especially those fighting at the front lines. December 21, 2016 ERBIL, Iraq On Dec. 14, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) rejected the federal budget for 2017. The governments statement read, The budget does not serve the KRG, and stressed its refusal to abide by the budget, describing it as a serious political conspiracy against the KRG. The Iraqi parliament had voted on the federal budget on Dec. 7 amid intense disputes between the Kurdish parliamentary blocs. The parliament approved the proposals submitted by four Kurdish blocs Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Gorran (Movement for Change), the Kurdistan Islamic Group and the Kurdistan Islamic Union to include specific clauses obliging Baghdad to deliver the KRGs share of the budget, amounting to 17% of the total actual spending of the budget. In exchange, the KRG would be required to export 550,000 barrels of Kirkuk oil and KRG oil every day, exclusively through Iraqs State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). After the vote, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) withdrew from the session because the demand it had officially made through the KRG, to reconsider the budgets articles about the KRG, had not been taken into account. This disagreement is an extension of the deep-rooted division between the political parties in the KRG over the presidency and political partnership issues. As a result of this conflict, the KRG parliament has been disrupted and the political process has been paralyzed for more than a year now. It is safe to say that there are two visions when it comes to managing the KRG. The KDP aims to achieve a kind of sovereignty in terms of selling Kurdish oil itself, and it aspires to become politically independent after achieving economic independence. However, the other four parties that voted in favor of the budget tend to believe that dealing with Baghdad to export oil through SOMO would be a solution to pay the employees salaries, without giving much attention to political or economic independence, which reflects a lack of trust between them and the KDP. After voting on the budget, Aram Sheikh Mohammed, the deputy parliament speaker, along with the four Kurdish blocs praised the changes in the final version of the budget and the gains they achieved in the budget, describing them as a major accomplishment that serves the Kurds and ensures the salaries of employees and the peshmerga forces. However, KDP members noted that the budget was unacceptable and harms the Kurds interests. In the same context, the KRG announced its rejection of the proposal submitted by the four blocs, noting that it will not abide by the budgets provisions because it does not serve the people of the KRG. After this long tug-of-war, the KRGs presidency issued a statement Dec. 8 calling on the Kurdish blocs in Baghdad to meet with the KRG premiership in order to discuss this issue, noting that the paragraph about the peshmerga [allocations of their salaries] was vague, and this whole issue should be thoroughly studied in order to serve the people of the KRG. But will these blocs respond to the call of the KRG presidency, as they do not recognize the legitimacy of the KRG president to begin with? Is the atmosphere in Baghdad creating more tension among Kurds in the KRG? Al-Monitor contacted Mohammed Ali, the head of the Movement for Changes political division, and asked him about the likeliness of the meeting being held. Ali questioned the seriousness of the call and said, First, had the KDP been keen on the Kurdish unity, they would not have abandoned Baghdad. Second, before calling for a meeting, the KRG government rejected the budget when they should have taken a step back. Amid this negative atmosphere, I do not see any suitable platform for the meeting. On the other hand, deputy head of the KDP in the parliament Tariq Rasheed told Al-Monitor, Our bloc withdrew as an objection to an expression in the fifth paragraph of Article 9, which vaguely refers to the peshmerga forces dues, knowing that these forces are constitutionally recognized. Also, these forces are battling IS [the Islamic State] in an area stretching more than 1,000 kilometers [621 miles], but [the parliament] unfortunately decided to set a budget for the Iraqi army and the Popular Mobilization Units and opted to leave the peshmerga on the sidelines. When our observations were not taken into account, we opted for boycott a patriotic stance that had to be taken. Asked if they might respond to the meeting, he said, The Movement for Change and the Kurdistan Islamic Group are not likely to respond, and the PUK will thus opt for silence. Asked about the Islamic Group's position on the same subject, member of parliament Zana Saeed told Al-Monitor, The KDP is now going through a serious crisis alone, particularly in its relationship with the PUK, which was an integral partner in the KDP policies, but things have changed. They are supposed to wake up rather than garner secondary forces around themselves. Former member of parliament Aso Karim told Al-Monitor, The actions of the Movement for Change and its allies are aimed at placing further pressure on the KDP, and these actions go in line with the conflict between [former Prime Minister Nouri al-] Maliki and [Prime Minister Haider al-] Abadi. As a sign of the KDPs disregard for the pressure placed by the four parties through the federal budget, an annual conference for the KRG oil and gas was held in London on Dec. 5 with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources. This shows that despite the increasing crises it is facing, the KDP is proceeding with its current policies toward further autonomy. As such, the possibility of these blocs responding to President Massoud Barzanis call is very weak. While the Movement for Change sees in Baghdad an appropriate body to increase pressure on the KDP, it is pursuing a random policy based on reactions rather than a national strategy. Not only does this pose a risk to the KDP, but to the Movement for Change and the Kurdish cause as a whole. December 21, 2016 Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz pledged on Dec. 14 that his government would seek US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights during the Donald Trump administration. His statement came in the wake of recent bolder-than-usual Israeli attacks against Syrian and Hezbollah interests. On Dec. 7, the Israeli army targeted the Syrian heartland, hitting the Mazzeh air base with several surface-to-surface missiles. The base, southwest of Damascus, is home to Syrian air force intelligence headquarters. Another strike was reported later that same night, targeting Hezbollah sites near the Syrian capital, in the Zabadani area. The airstrikes were the second within a week in Syria attributed to Israel. Another attack had been reported Nov. 30, on an arms convoy near Damascus. International media suggested that Israel had hit the convoy because it was transferring weapons to Hezbollah, which is currently engaged in the Syrian war in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces. The strikes are indicative of the long-running covert war between Hezbollah and Israel. Avi Melamed, an Israeli affairs expert at the Eisenhower Institute in Washington, told Al-Monitor that the repeated Israeli attacks shed light on Israels main priorities in Syria. He observed, Israel has made it clear that it wont accept Hezbollah's attempts to acquire what is defined by Israel as balance breaking weapons, such as weapons of mass destruction, advanced ground-to-air missiles, etc. After the Nov. 30 attack, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, addressing a gathering of European Union representatives, stated that Israeli governments have always sought to protect our sovereignty, and we are trying to prevent the smuggling of advanced weapons, military equipment and weapons of mass destruction from Syria to Hezbollah. Libermans statement was a rare claim of responsibility by Israel for attacks on Syrian soil. Israel wont tolerate attacks being launched from Syrian territory on its home turf, including the Golan Heights, or allow Iran to establish and operate a new military front against Israel on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, Melamed explained. Gen. Amin Hoteit, a Lebanese military expert, shared Melamed's opinion, telling Al-Monitor that Israels red lines in Syria are two-pronged. Israel wont allow the emergence of a resistance movement in the Golan area similar to what took place in Lebanon, he said. It also wont tolerate attacks on Israel from the Syrian border areas. Israel ended its occupation of south Lebanon in 2000 after a yearslong war of attrition with Hezbollah. Hoteit explained that these red lines have determined the nature of Israel's military operations in Syria, which he said have been of three types. The first type of strike is a simple show of force by Israel to maintain balance of power, he said. Since the beginning of the war in Syria, at least six strikes of this type have been conducted in the Damascus area, targeting alleged Hezbollah interests without leading to any losses in the organization. The second type is defensive strikes targeting key Hezbollah figures. In December 2015, Syrian reports claimed that Israel had killed Samir Kuntar, who spent decades in an Israeli prison on terrorism charges, using surface-to-surface missiles fired from Israel. In January 2015, Jihad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's commander on the Golan and son of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, was killed in Quneitra. Also killed in the strike were commander Mohammad Issa, Iranian commander on the Golan Abu Ali al-Tabtabai and Ismail al-Ashhab. It was believed that Hezbollah had been training militiamen and Syrian government forces somewhere in the area of the strikes. The third type of operation involves Israeli secret missions targeting key figures and resources. These have been kept under the radar by Syria and Hezbollah as well as Israel. I believe that several operations have targeted areas of Damascus and Tartous, without being reported, Hoteit said. Hezbollah has remained mum about the recent Israeli operations. The organization had replied in restrained fashion to previous strikes, the boldest retaliation without a doubt following Mughniyehs killing, when it targeted an Israeli border patrol with an improvised explosive device, killing two soldiers in the Shebaa Farms area. Hezbollah has been stretched thin in Syria, where it is believed to have deployed more than 7,000 fighters on multiple fronts since the beginning of the war, according to sources speaking on condition of anonymity. Opening a new front with Israel does not seem to be a priority for the organization, which is focusing for now on buttressing the Assad regime, an important ally. Given the current conditions prevailing in Syria and Lebanon and taking into consideration the interests and factors involved, the likelihood of a massive Israeli-Hezbollah confrontation in the foreseeable future appears to be low, Melamed assessed. According to Hoteit, the elements that could lead to a military operation against Hezbollah appear to be missing. The guarantee of a successful mission, the possibility to strike and more importantly to translate a victory on the political scene are not available on the Israeli side, he explained. The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel thus appears to be contained for the moment, despite the recent escalation by Israel, putting the prospects of an all-out war on hold for the near future. December 21, 2016 It was my first visit to Amona, although not my first one to a West Bank outpost. They all look pretty much the same. The road to these officially unsanctioned outposts usually goes through a large settlement. Therefore, in local speak, the outposts are simply add-ons to the main settlement. Every large settlement has an unauthorized add-on. The settlement of Itamar, for example, has Har Gideon and Givat Arnon. Elon Moreh has Havat Skali. Yitzhar has Mitzpe Yitzhar and Givat Tkuma. The list goes on and on. All in all, there are some 120 unsanctioned settlements to which successive Israeli governments have turned a blind eye or given an approving wink and nod. All this holds true for Amona. The road to the outpost that has stirred up a major political and diplomatic storm goes through the older and larger settlement of Ofra. A small, handwritten sign points toward an adjacent hill. After leaving the settlement, one drives along a narrow road only recently paved or upgraded. The road is strewn with dozens of tires dispersed by young, radical, right-wing Israelis known as hilltop youth, ready to be ignited if the government tries to carry out a forced eviction of the outpost. For now, a deal has been struck for the 40 families at the outpost to leave in return for significant financial compensation and a promise that a replacement settlement will be built for them elsewhere. Most of the hilltop youth are going home, but a few dozen remain seated on knapsacks and rolled up sleeping bags next to the Ofra bus station, promising to return at short notice if the threat of destruction, as they call the court-ordered outpost evacuation, is renewed. Eli, a resident of the settlement of Kdumim who asked that his full name not be used, told Al-Monitor that the night before, on Dec. 19, all the volunteers held a farewell party to celebrate their success, which is how they described the compromise with the government. There was dancing throughout the night till daybreak, he said. It warms the heart and soul to see everyone, the best and brightest, mobilizing with such love for a sacred cause, for the people of Israel. As far as these supporters of a Greater Land of Israel are concerned, they proved to the world that any evacuation from the Land of Israel, even from a small outpost of 40 families, would not go down well. They are right. The State of Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gave in to their demands. Suffice it to see the sycophantic video in which Netanyahu implores them to respect the law and declares that his government is committed to the settlements. Netanyahu worked day and night trying to appease the 40 families and avert their forced eviction. The Amona battle headquarters responded to Netanyahus imploring message by stating, Were not looking for sympathy or condolences. When I want something I get it, you said, and you proved it too. It is in your power to prevent the desecration and save Amona. But if, God forbid, you fail, we will stand here with thousands of others and lead a non\violent, democratic grassroots protest. I asked Ariel, a youth from the settlement of Beit El sitting at the bus station, When you say democratic and nonviolent, what do you mean? He explained that the intent was to forcibly resist the eviction but without attacking the soldiers who carry it out. The threat of a forced eviction was lifted after the Israeli government approved an allocation of NIS 130 million ($34 million) to compensate the Amona families and build an alternative settlement for them once suitable land is found. As I was talking to the hilltop youth in Ofra on Dec. 20, the state was petitioning the Supreme Court for an additional delay of the outposts eviction. The states attorneys said in their request that the evacuation plan had been derailed after a Palestinian man filed an objection to the establishment of the new settlement on the plot of land where Israel plans to build 24 housing units for the evacuees of Amona. The man claimed to have links to the land through relatives in Jordan. The Amona trailer homes sit on a hilltop overlooking the entire district of Samaria, all the way to the Mediterranean coastal plain. The lights of the Israeli Big Apple, Tel Aviv, are visible at night. A handwritten sign at the overlook proclaims Amona forever. It is hard to understand how a handful of prefabs on a hilltop above Ofra have become a symbol of Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Amonas evacuation, whether forced or peaceful, is no threat to the settlement enterprise. A drive along the eastern mountain ridge and western Samaria is ample proof of the enterprises firm grounding. Israeli leaders are unlikely to be able to uproot it, ever. Wide roads have been paved along the mountain route from Jerusalem through the settlement town of Maale Adumim to the settlements of Maale Michmash, Beit El and Ariel. The settlers state is a wide expanse of territory into which successive Israeli governments have poured tremendous resources to establish a foothold and prevent any possibility of a territorial compromise leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu pledged his governments continued commitment to the settlement movement in his clip to Amona residents. Clearly, Netanyahu meant it far more than he meant a recently reiterated commitment to the principle of two states for two people. Considering the efforts and resources the prime minister has invested in pacifying 40 families, it is hard to see him evicting hundreds of thousands of others to make way for a Palestinian state. Why is the battle for Amona so important? I asked Eli from Kdumim. If you vacate one settlement in the Land of Israel, its a precedent, he responded. If even a single trailer home is destroyed, its a dangerous precedent. Its sacrilege. Its a calamity. Nonetheless, I said. Agreement has been reached on vacating Amona. Yes, he concurred. But in its stead there will be many other Amonas. Amona forever and ever more. In the evening, one of the outpost prefabs filled up with dozens of little children, dancing on mattresses and singing songs, under the watchful eye of a counselor. These kids were born in the outpost, and its the only world they know. On the outside of the prefab, written in red, stood The entire Land of Israel is ours and in green letters the words Absentees' Property equals waiver, meaning that Palestinians who fled, leaving their lands behind, have no right to reclaim their land. The Amona settlers agreed to leave, but they did not give up. They carried the day, not just in terms of monetary compensation, which they seem to regard as virtually inconsequential. They won the fight over Israels character and future. They will call the shots. They will lead, and the government of Israel and its leader will say Amen. December 21, 2016 WASHINGTON The Barack Obama administration and European allies are trying to buy time for the Iran nuclear deal, working to resolve any technical ambiguities in the accord and trying to make the case to the emerging Donald Trump team that the deal is working and renegotiating it is not a viable option. The nuclear deal is a decent deal it works, a European diplomat, speaking not for attribution, said Dec. 14, conveying the message European governments have conveyed to US interlocutors in recent weeks. When issues come up technical ambiguities in the agreement, for instance we are able to resolve them. As of today, the deal is implemented in the correct manner. Why would we want to disregard something that can give peace a chance? the diplomat said. If the US walks out, it may well be alone, the diplomat added. If the failure of the deal is because of the US, it should not expect the Europeans to do the same. While the Obama administration increasingly thinks it is unlikely, if not inconceivable, that the Trump administration comes in and rips up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it worries about other scenarios that could strain the year-old nuclear accord and derail years of effort to put US-Iran relations on a less confrontational footing. Paradoxically, trying to renegotiate the deal to strengthen it could cause the erosion of the international consensus that undergirds it. In its final weeks, the outgoing Obama administration is trying to leave the Iran deal in healthy condition. It is working to resolve any technical ambiguities, mostly resulting from differing interpretations of the text of the landmark deal, a senior US official said. It has also sought to soothe Iranian anger over the renewal last week of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), which Obama pointedly did not sign when it passed into law Dec. 14 after the Senate voted 99 to 0 in favor of renewing the legislation. Secretary of State John Kerry also called Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Dec. 15 to say he had signed waivers of relevant sanctions under the ISA. Zarif still demanded the Joint Commission meet to discuss what Iran has publicly said they consider to be a violation of the JCPOA. I have communicated to Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif and to our P5+1 counterparts that while the existing waivers are unaffected by the extension of ISA's sunset and do not need to be renewed at this time, I have done so today to ensure maximum clarity and convey to all stakeholders that the United States will continue to uphold our commitments under the JCPOA, Kerry said in a Dec. 15 statement. The eight-nation Joint Commission overseeing implementation of the nuclear accord is due to meet Jan. 10 in Vienna, 10 days before Trumps inauguration. Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano visited Iran last weekend, publicly expressing confidence that Iran is abiding by its JCPOA commitments, while privately conveying messages to ensure Iran does not test any limits on ambiguities in the deal as the new US administration comes in. We are satisfied with the implementation of the [agreement], and hope that this process will continue, Amano told reporters in Iran on Dec. 18. Iran has been committed to its engagement so far and this is important. Russia with which Trump has said he wants to pursue better relations has also weighed in forcefully in favor of preserving the landmark nuclear deal. It would be unforgivable if a deal over Iran's nuclear program was lost, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Dec. 15, while expressing disappointment with renewal of the US sanctions legislation. We dont know how much strain the JCPOA is under as a direct consequence of the US election, said a senior US administration official, speaking not for attribution. The scenario that is perhaps least likely is that the new administration outright tears up the deal, which would invite a crisis it doesnt need, the senior official said. The new Trump administration may feel pressure to fix the deal or signal that it will be strictly enforcing the deal for the first time. But he considers the tear up scenario highly unlikely, the US official said, with the caveat, unless the Iranians do something so provocative, it creates a firestorm and pushes the administration into a massive snapback. Trying to fix the deal is a more likely scenario: The paradox is that in an attempt to strengthen the deal, it will cause its erosion. The next administration might be convinced to build outside pressure to bring the Iranians to the table to fix certain things the length of the deal, for instance. They may cause the deal to collapse by poking the Iranians over and over again until they pull out. This could happen with legislation that reimposes secondary sanctions under some new justification arms shipments to the Houthis or bags of cash to Hezbollah or ballistic missile tests, for instance. The Iranians could argue that is a reimposition of nuclear sanctions. The Iranians may not immediately pull out, but play the victim to try drive a wedge between the United States and the Europeans, Russians and Chinese, the senior US official said. The Iranians might urge the Europeans to ignore the secondary sanctions and dare the Trump administration to start a trade war. In the interim, the Iranians might push the outer limits of the deal, creeping past some limits. Another concern: The deal could erode if the Trump administration just does not focus on it, not pushing back on overzealous congressional legislation, for instance. The nuclear deal could also become collateral damage to the Trump administrations expressed desire to push back on Iranian destabilizing activities in the region. Confrontations in the Strait of Hormuz could trigger an action-reaction spiral that could take on a dynamic of its own and could become hard to contain. While the Trump administration may not set out to kill the JCPOA off the bat, They are not invested in it at all, former Obama administration nuclear negotiator Richard Nephew said. My biggest fear is they push back on Iran on regional issues, the Iranians respond by walking back from the JCPOA or do things that call into question the JCPOA, [and] then we are on an escalatory path that we cant control. Bottom line: I still think it is in a lot of trouble, Nephew, now with Columbia University, told Al-Monitor. I will be surprised if the JCPOA survives the [Trump] administration. All the signals I am hearing from the people advising the Trump administration are that they are not saying kill it on Day One. They understand that is damaging, Nephew said. The Trump administration may leave it in place, then go after them [Iran] hard on regional issues. That is what I think they [Trump administration officials] will probably do, Nephew said, adding, however, that he does not rule out that US officials might try to renegotiate the nuclear provisions. Either one of those clamping down on regional stuff or trying to renegotiate the nuclear provisions is going to put a lot of strain on the JCPOA. Figuring out who speaks authoritatively for the Trump administration on Iran policy may also be challenging given the differing expressed views of Trumps emerging Cabinet, with Secretary of Defense nominee James Mattis having said the nuclear deal should stay, while Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn has expressed hostility to Iran and told interlocutors he wants a comprehensive policy for the Islamic Republic. While their recent interactions suggest a chill, Kerry and Zarif have forged a functional communication channel that has been useful to head off crises, such as when Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps detained US sailors who had inadvertently crossed into Iranian waters in January. Kerry contacted Zarif, who was able to get the sailors released within 24 hours. While Kerry can hand off phone numbers and email addresses to his successor, it is not clear who can speak authoritatively for the Trump administration on Iran policy, Nephew said. I think ultimately on this, Kerry will leave [Trumps secretary of state nominee Rex] Tillerson with a notepad full of telephone numbers, Nephew said. The ops people at State still have capacity to reach out and touch Zarif. He added, The real issue is will they have the authority to speak on behalf of the Trump administration on Iran policy for an administration that looks like it will be torn in four different directions. We [the Obama administration] had a lot of cohesion, and even we screwed up from time to time, Nephew said. These guys are going to be siloed. There are eight different visions that are potentially on the table here, and they are all to some degree mutually exclusive. December 22, 2016 A police spokesman in Riyadh announced Dec. 12 the arrest of a young Saudi woman, Malak al-Shehri, for violating Saudi regulations by taking off her abaya a loose-fitting full-length robe in a public place, and openly revealing her relations with young men. The girl was held at the women's prison as a preliminary measure before being transferred to the public prosecution office and the Investigation Commission affiliated with the Ministry of Interior. On Nov. 28, Shehri, 21, had posted on her Twitter account which she deleted after being fiercely attacked by conservatives that she would go out the next morning wearing a skirt with a stylish jacket, and start her day with breakfast at McDonald's and then coffee and cigarettes with a male friend. The next day, Shehri headed to al-Tahliya Street in Riyadh, without wearing her abaya, and posted a photo of herself on Twitter. This provoked the wrath of the Riyadh Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which submitted a request to police to arrest Shehri on charges of public disobedience. After the news of Shehris detention became public, social media activists launched a Twitter campaign called #FreeMalakAlshehri. Manal Massoud al-Sharif, a Saudi writer and information security consultant, expressed solidarity with Shehri and posted on Dec. 13 her own photo without the abaya at Najma Beach resort, in Ras Tanura in eastern Saudi Arabia, a gated Saudi Aramco employee compound that is not subject to the country's conservative rules. Sharif wrote on her Twitter account Dec. 16, The [female] German defense minister visited Saudi Arabia and was not wearing the abaya. She was not arrested, arguing that this shows double standards by Saudi religious institutions, including the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in applying the Sharia provisions on citizens only, while exempting princesses, expatriates and foreign visitors. Sharifs tweet aimed at pointing out that Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had hosted the German female minister on Dec. 8 and shook hands with her, although she refused to cover her hair and wear the abaya. In a related context, the Saudi Ministry of Education also announced that it had opened an investigation after video footage went viral on social media. The video was shot by the father of a female student, showing his daughter coming out of her school in Sabiya province in southern Saudi Arabia on Dec. 7 without her abaya after the school's female principal, Mudhisha Hamlan, had confiscated the abayas of a number of students to punish them for wearing indecent, tight or colored abayas instead of the traditional black and loose-fitting robe. Hamlan told Rotana channel Dec. 9, The girls violated official regulations at a girls' school. State-sanctioned religious scholars in Saudi Arabia, most prominently among them Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah al-Sheikh, are usually appointed by royal decree. They continue to insist on their traditional doctrinal views that women should be covered and should not mingle or shake hands with men. Salih ibn Fawzan ibn Abdullah al-Fawzan, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars and the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fatwas, insists that women should wear loose-fitting dress covering their entire bodies. The Saudi monarchy, however, is often ignoring its religious establishments views and fatwas on women affairs. For instance, it has appointed women to positions that traditionally were limited to men. On Aug. 1, Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan was named as the head of the women's section at the General Authority for Sports, and has appeared in the media, along with other Saudi women, without covering her face and hair on several occasions. Also, the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced in January 2015 a vacancy for the posts of diplomatic secretary and attache for women, which require the female official to travel and shake hands with foreign men. The Wahhabi establishment has monitored the lives of Saudis to make sure that they are committed to the Salafi method since the first Saudi state was established in 1744. In addition, it has managed the affairs related to the education of women since 1960, under the supervision of Mohammed bin Ibrahim al-Sheikh, the grandson of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia at the time. It was only in 2002 that the education of boys and girls was integrated in a single ministry. The Wahhabi establishment also opposed the appointment of women at the Shura Council. Sheikh Saleh al-Lahidan, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars denied on Sept. 30, 2011, that senior scholars were consulted by the monarchy or approved that women be present at the Shura Council. Yet, it now seems that this establishment has become more realistic and understanding of Riyadhs new inclinations. Oddly, the Wahhabi establishment has become more caring about women's rights and their participation in public life. This was evident in a Bloomberg interview with the Saudi deputy crown prince, who also is the chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, in April. The deputy crown prince was reported as saying, We believe women have rights in Islam that they have yet to obtain, which reveals his determination to grant Saudi women all their rights. Al-Monitor asked Haifa, a young Saudi woman sitting with her friend at a Starbucks coffee shop in Jeddah, in western Saudi Arabia, about the rights that Saudi women are seeking to obtain, and whether abandoning the hijab is part of their rights and freedom. The young woman, a student at the College of Medicine, said on condition her last name not be used that a woman should be entitled to wear what she wants, as long as her outfit does not offend public morals. Haifa added, Women have the right to a stringent law that provides for a specific punishment against harassment. Mingling with men in public places and changing the shape and color of the hijab or abaya is no longer our primary cause. Saudi women now aspire to obtain the right to drive cars. We will keep fighting until our demands are met and until women can assume the post of a minister in the government. We also want to be able to choose who will represent us in an elected parliament. Our cause is not limited to black abayas imposed by the appointed Shura Council. Most Saudi officials in political and religious authorities declare their support for women's rights, whether those provided for by Islam or by man-made laws. All of them declare their support for women's participation in public life, but the difference in the interpretation of the concept of rights between the political and religious spheres makes the Saudi womens mission to get their rights more difficult, which may be pushing some women to take bold steps that could embarrass the authorities in Riyadh. December 21, 2016 On Dec. 14, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly declared national mobilization. Addressing muhktars (elected village and neighborhood headmen), Erdogan said, Henceforth, neither terrorists nor their supporters will have a minute of peace. He encouraged security forces not to hesitate to use their powers, while reiterating that Turkey cannot stay on the defensive but from now on will go on the offensive against terror organizations. The public could not figure out what to do with the idea of national mobilization, which Turkey had not experienced since the 1940s, the World War II era. On Dec.15, Erdogan elaborated that the national mobilization meant national solidarity. But Turkish mainstream media was already discussing what national mobilization entails. Why would Erdogan continue increasing the social pressure on the country given the distressing economic and political trends? For most Turks, mobilization means calling up army reserves and commandeering private buses and trucks for military service. Looking at the recent events in the country, we can detect a pattern of extreme rhetoric that puts Erdogans most recent words into perspective. After the twin bombings in Istanbul, Erdogan and his cohorts took it as a personal mission to save Aleppo. Hence, on Dec. 13, the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir organized a rally in Istanbul to protest against Russia. The Russian Consulate in Istanbul is located on the famous Istiklal Avenue, where thousands marched, chanting Allahu akbar" ("God is great"), The only path is martyrdom, Murderer Russia, get out of Turkey. This march provided an interesting insight into the complexities of the country. First, freedom of assembly and protest has become a contested right during the Erdogan era, and since the declaration of emergency rule July 21, it has become almost impossible to hold a gathering without police intervening. Yet the crowds that gathered in support of Aleppo on Dec. 13 marched peacefully without any interruption. This alone confirms that the Aleppo protest was condoned by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. If you read through Hizb ut-Tahrirs publications and their members Twitter timelines, you see that they are one of the harshest and most outspoken critics of Erdogans failed Syria policies. For example, on Dec. 13, Mahmut Kar, Hizb ut-Tahrirs media bureau chief, tweeted to the Turkish Foreign Ministry: You will celebrate this [evacuation from Aleppo] as if it was a victory, and your cronies will say Erdogan intervened so Aleppines were transported. I say it clearly you sold Aleppo out. The Turkish independent press, however, focused on another aspect of what the protesters were demanding to reinstate the caliphate. The photos clearly show gender-segregated groups and green as well as black flags of the caliphate. While the protesters were asking the armed forces to march into Aleppo to save the Muslim brothers, AKP parliamentarian Ahmet Conkar viewed this march as a humanitarian sentiment. He argued that this protest would have a positive impact on Turkish-Russian relations. None of the AKP members provided comments about the demands of different Islamists groups, and Hizb ut-Tahrir, on the caliphate. On the same evening, there was another protest in support of Aleppo in the Uskudar district of Istanbul. Aykut Erdogdu, a parliamentarian from the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, shared a video on Twitter that showed an official Uskudar municipality minibus making the following announcement on loud speakers: In order to end the bloody, shameful days of Egypt, Syria and Iraq, we must establish Islamic unity as soon as possible and choose our caliph. Unless we obey Gods orders to unite, the Islamic world will suffer from occupation, blood, tears and hardship. The video ended as the unknown preacher defied Zionists, infidels and imperialists and crowds continuously replied Amen. In this minute-long video, not one person seems to challenge the statement. Yet once Erdogdu shared the video with a comment This is unconstitutional, there was a public uproar on social media. The Uskudar municipality was pressured to make a public statement on Dec. 15 that the announcement was not associated with them, because they had rented out the municipalitys minibus to a private person, declining any sort of responsibility. Another incident that disillusioned the Turkish opposition was a series of tweets from research assistant and doctoral student Abdulkadir Sen from Marmara University in Istanbul. Sen tweeted as the Syrian armed forces were declaring victory in Aleppo that anyone who supports the Syrian armed forces or Alevis are awaiting murder in Turkey. Speaking in historical metaphors of centuries of Alevi persecution during Ottoman times, he wrote, If the Syrian resistance fails, everyone [in Turkey] will have to live with sectarian murderer descendants of Shah Ismail [revered as a spiritual guide by Alevis]. Everyone should prepare for that. Given the harsh criticism, first Sen changed his Twitter handle, then it was announced that he was put on academic suspension to investigate the allegations. Islamists were up in arms about the decision. The background of this case also poses quite interesting questions for the AKP. The Turkish public is no stranger to Sen, as he appears on both government-funded and pro-government channels frequently. Also, Sen is the brother of Ibrahim Sen, the first Turkish detainee at Guantanamo Bay. Sen himself has been taken into custody on suspicion of being a member of al-Qaeda in 2014. But still he managed to land a position at a government university, which requires diligent criminal background checks. How could this be possible without the approval of AKP bureaucracy? This was a frequently asked question on the few social media platforms still open to Turks. Immediate reactions to these events can be seen on Dec. 15, when the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) headquarters was attacked. Currently 14 out of 59 HDP parliamentarians are in jail, either detained or arrested. In addition, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP), which controls 41 municipalities out of 102 municipalities in the southeast, has been taken over by the government. Tens of elected mayors and municipal officers from the BDP are in custody. In short, the HDP Turkey's third-largest party is out of the political game, both on the local and national levels. Except for some social media outbursts, the Turkish public is rather quietly watching all of this unfold, as the state of emergency turns into an ambiguous form of national mobilization. Maybe one picture explains the case better than a thousand words: An elementary school teacher posted on his Facebook page his classroom pictures from the Basaksehir district in Istanbul. One was particularly worrisome, where students held nooses. The students, following the lead of their teacher, were calling for the much-debated capital punishment as final justice for traitors. These photos were indeed a shocking reflection of all the ultranationalistic and hate-mongering rhetoric pumped into the public after the July 15 coup attempt. On Dec. 15 in a last-ditch effort, Alevi associations, Kurds, secular and other marginalized groups in Turkey initiated a hashtag #OHALdeAleviyiz to show their solidarity with the Alevis against the proposed caliphate. OHAL is an acronym for emergency law in Turkey, and it is a homonym, and the second meaning is in that case. Hence, the hashtag reads, In that case, we are Alevis and also During emergency law, we are Alevis. Hashtags seem to be the only method the fragile opposition has to hold on to hope in Turkey. There are more examples indicating Turkeys fast movement toward an Islamist system, no longer necessarily led by the AKP, but just tolerated and encouraged. The AKP has championed radicalization, masculinization and Islamization so much so that the unintended consequence is now the populist demand to reinstate the caliphate in Turkey. These Islamist and ultranationalistic groups, which are indeed contradictory on the theoretical spectrum, but work in tandem currently in Turkey, are the only opposition who can write, speak and protest freely in Turkey. What is ahead then for Turkey? With the rhetoric of national mobilization, more visible violence is expected against leftists, foreigners, Alevis, Kurds, gays and women. December 21, 2016 Turkey was dizzy with the twin bombings that rocked the city center of Istanbul on Dec. 11 and took 45 lives. Before recovering from that trauma, the country was shaken again in less than a week with another terror attack. This time the target was off-duty soldiers in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri. Fourteen people were killed and some 55 wounded. Although fingers were pointed at the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the outlawed group did not formally claim responsibility for the attacks. However, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), widely seen as an offshoot of the PKK, did claim responsibility. It is not difficult to assume from the remarks of Murat Karayilan, the PKKs military head, that the Kurdish insurgent organization at least endorses both bombings. Karayilan blamed Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the attacks, accusing it of resuming the fight between Turkish government forces and Kurdish militants. The Commando Brigade in Kayseri is the one that committed most of the massacres in Kurdistan that tortured the Kurdish people in Hakkari and Cizre! Karayilan told the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency in an apparent endorsement of the attacks. In the meantime, an increasingly demoralized society was shaken by a third terror attack, where the Russian ambassador to Ankara was assassinated. A young policeman who was a member of a rapid deployment unit which is supposed to provide security to officials and foreign diplomats shot Andrei Karlov to death. Karlov is the first Russian ambassador to be killed in a NATO-member country. According to footage that went viral on social media, the assassin first shouted Allahu akbar (God is great) and recited lines from the Quran in Arabic, then said, Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria! Everyone who has taken part in this oppression will one by one pay for it. Turkish authorities, without losing a beat, turned to what has become their common measure after every terror incident and blocked Twitter and ordered a media blackout on the issue. This was followed by cliche statements where government officials condemned the terror and said that terrorism could not divert Turkey from its course and that the criminals will be severely punished, and so forth. Officials were quick to declare that the killing of the Russian ambassador was a provocation aiming at undermining the increasing cooperation and good relations between the two countries. Whoever committed the two terror acts in Istanbul and Kayseri and whatever the reason behind the assassination of the ambassador, there is no doubt that Syria is the major source of mounting terror in Turkey. Right after the Istanbul bombing, and at the time of the attack in Kayseri, I was in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq at a conference that gathered high-level Kurdish officials and international figures, including Bernard Kouchner, the former French foreign minister, Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, and Peter Galbraith, whom many consider to be the most experienced American expert on the Kurds. The days I spent in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq coincided with the fall of Aleppo to the Syrian regime under the intense Russian bombardment of the eastern part of the city where the rebels had their last pockets of resistance. For the international Middle East experts, the outcome of the Aleppo campaign is brief and simple: The Syrian war was mostly about the western part of the country, and the war has effectively been ended by the fall of Aleppo and has been won by the regime. Naturally, this doesnt mean that the Syria question is resolved. For a solution, one has to wait and see what sort of path President-elect Donald Trump will follow. Kurdish experts had a bit more elaborate view concerning the Aleppo campaign and its conclusion, saying what has been achieved in Aleppo is an outcome of a deal reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Under this alleged deal, Turkey was to effectively cease its support to the rebels, preventing them from putting up strong resistance to Russia, Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah and the regime forces that were about to complete the siege of eastern Aleppo. In turn, Russia was to turn a blind eye to Turkish military moves to capture al-Bab, the strategically located Syrian town to the east of Aleppo; this would deal a lasting blow to Kurdish aspirations to link the cantons in northern Syria controlled by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Protection Units (YPG). Some Kurdish leaders defined the deal between Turkey and Russia as Aleppo for al-Bab. This means that Turkey would withdraw its support from rebels in eastern Aleppo and Russia would accept Turkeys entry to al-Bab, which is still under the control of the Islamic State. According to my Kurdish sources, Russian acquiescence to the Turkish takeover of al-Bab is conditional: After Turkey prevents the emergence of a Kurdish corridor in northern Syria, it would hand over al-Bab to the Syrian regime. In Kurds' eyes, Erdogans sell-out of Aleppo is in return for a Russian green light to Turkeys free hand in dealing with the Syrian Kurds. This first sounded to me more like a theory than a fact on the ground, but only four days later, it was interesting to read the following lines by Max Fisher in the New York Times: The two countries appeared to settle on an unofficial deal: Turkey would drop its support for certain rebels who threatened Russian interests in Syria, and Russia would drop its support for Syrian Kurdish groups. Fisher said Aaron Stein of the Atlantic Council called the arrangement Aleppo for Al Bab: Russia and Mr. [Bashar al-] Assad would take Aleppo, while Turkish-allied militias would take the strategically located town of Al Bab.' If the return of Aleppo to the regime really has a backdrop of a Russia-Turkey deal, this could worry the Syrian Kurds more than ever. With an unpredictable Trump to take the helm in Washington within a month and because of their quasi-hostile relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government in next-door Iraq, Syrian Kurds might be the biggest loser in the period to come. There are some in the region who see the escalation of violence in Turkey in terms of redressing the balance of power in Syria. In this regard, Turkey is chosen as the weakest of the involved actors of the Syrian equation. Turkeys weakness is apparently manifested by its growing dependence on Russia. It appears that the assassination of the Russian ambassador, more than impairing the relationship, may be pushing an embarrassed Turkey more into the Russian fold, at least in the short term. This situation Turkey finds itself in is, more than anything else, of Turkeys own making. A European ambassador in Baghdad shared his astonishment about Erdogans policy in Syria with me. It is unbelievable and inconceivable that Turkey is waging a war on multiple fronts in Syria and expecting to defeat all three [foes] the Assad regime, Daesh [Islamic State] and the Kurds relying on its rapprochement with Russia. It is an unwinnable war. It is impossible, he said. It seems that this impossible war, with its many fronts being waged simultaneously, has invited the violence generated in Syria into Turkey. As much as Turkey is getting into the Syrian swamp, the Syrian spillover into Turkey could turn into a flood. Alabama Theatre car tag.jpg The Alabama Theatre in Birmingham, Ala., is offering this specialty car tag to its supporters for $50 above their normal tag renewal fees. Proceeds will help pay for the theater's ongoing preservation work and for programming. (Image courtesy of the Alabama Theatre) Another classic Christmas movie series comes to a close tonight when the Alabama Theatre shows the Chevy Chase holiday chestnut "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" to yet another sold-out crowd. But you don't have until Christmas comes around again next year to show your love for the historic Birmingham theatre, which turns 89 years old this Monday, Dec. 26. Birmingham Landmarks, which owns and operates the theater, is encouraging its supporters to sign up for Alabama Theatre specialty car tags, proceeds from the sales of which will help pay for the continued preservation and general upkeep of the theater. The tag, designed by Yellowhammer Creative, features the words "Alabama Theatre" at the top and the nickname "Showcase of the South" at the bottom, with an image of the theater's marquee along the left-hand side. "There is this great moment of civic pride going on in Birmingham right now, and having the Alabama Theatre marquee on your car is a great way to show that pride," Glenny Brock, the outreach coordinator for Birmingham Landmarks said in an interview with AL.com. "It's an extremely effective way for people to support us." Motorists pay $50 above their regular tag renewal fees for the specialty tags, and $41.25 of that will go to the Alabama Theatre to pay for preservation work, programming costs and operational expenses, Brock said. "The Alabama Theatre has more than 6,000 light bulbs, so sometimes our power bill is kind of radical," Brock said. "But we are able to do these things because of the tremendous support from the community, and the tag is just another piece of that." Before one of the Christmas movies at the Alabama Theatre, house organist Gary Jones encourages patrons to show their love for the theater by purchasing a specialty car tag. (Photo by Glenny Brock) The Alabama Department of Revenue will begin issuing the tags after the Alabama Theatre reaches its goal of 1,000 commitments. The deadline to reach that goal is Oct. 31, 2017. You do not have to wait until your tag renewal date to commit to purchasing one of the specialty tags. "They will not make one tag until we have reached our commitment goal," Brock said. "We could have selected to have 250 tags be our goal, but we chose 1,000. "We have a year to do it," she added. "We feel optimistic we can reach that goal. We feel like 1,000 is doable for us." To purchase a specialty tag, go to the Alabama Department of Revenue Motor Vehicle Division's commitment to purchase license plate portal, and click on the "Individual Application" tab. At the top of the next page, click on the second tab that says "11/1/2016 to 10/31/2017," and the Alabama Theatre tag application will appear at the top. Or, to make it easier, just go here. "The main thing that I have been emphasizing to people is that you don't have to wait until your renewal month to make a commitment to get your tag," Brock said. "As soon as they start making the tags, you will get it in the mail. And if we don't make our goal, the revenue department is going to give you your money back." This year, more than 25,000 people will have attended the Alabama Theatre's annual Holiday Film Series, which has featured favorites such as "A Christmas Story," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Elf" and "Christmas Vacation." All but one or two of the 14 evening screenings have been sellouts, Brock said. "We don't know our final attendance number yet," she said. "Last year was the biggest we've had, and I'm sure this year will be even bigger." burg1.jpg Heflin police say this person is wanted in a burglary investigation Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. (Heflin police) Heflin police have released two images in a burglary investigation. Chief A.J. Benefield said the two people shown in the images taken from security cameras, were in the area of Alabama 9 and Interstate 20 at exit 199 sometime since Tuesday. Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Stacey Hendrix at (256) 463-2291. Alabama legislators in 2017 will consider taking away a judge's authority to impose the death penalty despite a jury's vote to spare the defendant's life. Two legislators - Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Montgomery, and Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa - in the past week pre-filed bills that would do away with judicial override, a practice that has come under increased scrutiny this year. Brewbaker said the idea for his bill came when Florida re-wrote its death penalty law after the U.S. Supreme Court in January ruled that state's judicial override practice was unconstitutional. Alabama also was left as the only state allowing judicial override after the Delaware Supreme Court in August ruled its death penalty law was unconstitutional. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and prosecutors have argued that Alabama's judicial override law isn't the same as Florida's former law. But critics have said that while there may be some distinctions, the plain language of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling makes it clear that juries, not judges, should decide whether to impose the death penalty. "The Supreme Court of the United States has made it very clear they do not like this practice," Brewbaker said. "There's just no reason to wait for the Supreme Court to force our hand," he said. Brewbaker said that death penalty sentencing should be in the hands of jurors. The jury comes from the communities where the crime occurs and they are trusted to determine the guilt or innocence of a defendant, he said. "If they (jurors) are wise enough to determine guilt or innocence, then we should leave it up to them to determine whether the person should pay the ultimate penalty," Brewbaker said. Brewbaker pre-filed Senate Bill 16 for the upcoming session of the legislature that begins Feb. 7. If the bill were enacted, it would make the jury's sentence final and no longer just "advisory." "Where the jury has returned a verdict of death, the court shall sentence the defendant to death. Where a sentence of death is not returned by the jury, the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole," Brewbaker's bill states. Under current Alabama law after a jury unanimously convicts a person of capital murder, a sentence hearing is held and the jury decides in an "advisory" verdict whether the defendant should be sentenced to death or life without parole. At least 10 of 12 jurors must vote in favor of death, otherwise it's a life without parole recommendation. A judge can override the jury's recommendation for life and impose death. The judge also can override the jury's recommendation for death and impose life, which in Alabama hasn't happened often. A group of 101 lawyers and law professors from around Alabama earlier this month asked Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley to remove 34 inmates from death row who had judges override jury recommendations for life without parole. There are currently 184 on Alabama Death Row. England's bill is almost identical to the one filed by Brewbaker. But in addition to eliminating judicial override, England's bill also calls for requiring the jury's sentence be unanimous when recommending death rather than allowing a 10-2 majority. "I think it is inevitable that our sentencing scheme is going to be overturned," England, who is a lawyer, said Thursday. By the legislature acting now it could save Alabama hundreds of thousands of dollars on fighting litigation when ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the state's judicial override practice unconstitutional, England said. Non-unanimous jury sentencing verdicts also need to be halted, because Alabama is also the only state to allow that practice after the state supreme courts in Florida and Delaware also this year scrapped that practice in those states, England said. Brewbaker said a judge in Alabama has more authority over life or death than sentencing in marijuana trafficking cases. The mandatory minimum sentence for trafficking a kilo or more of marijuana is three years, Brewbaker said. "We don't think they (judges) are able to impose the correct sentence in a low-level trafficking case but we will let them override a jury in a capital case. It just doesn't make any sense," he said. Alabama State Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, has been submitting bills since 2006 to get the practice of judicial overrides halted. He said one time a bill got out of the judiciary committee but it never got anywhere after that. "I'm glad he's introducing it," Sanders said of Brewbaker's bill that's identical to one he introduced last year. "If he can get it through I would be proud. That would correct a bad situation ... After all it is about correcting an injustice." Juries should have the dominant say in sentencing, Sanders said. "One person should not be able to override them and impose death," he said. Sanders noted the people serving on death row who had a judge, not a jury, agree they should be there. "I not only think that is unfair. I think it is unconstitutional," he said. Sanders and Brewbaker believe 2017 could be the best shot yet in getting judicial override halted in Alabama. Brewbaker said for those, including law enforcement, who want to keep the death penalty in Alabama, they should support getting rid of judicial override before the courts do something. "I think they (legislators) realize that probably the biggest threat to the Alabama death penalty statute is this issue of overrides," he said. Brewbaker, Sanders, England, and Sen. Cam Ward, chair of the senate's judiciary committee, said he believes getting rid of judicial override could generate more interest among legislators than it did in years past. "I think there's a very good chance there will be some movement on that bill this session," he said. "That one provision (judicial override) makes us an outlier and we need to address that," Ward said. Updated with comments from England at 10 a.m. Dec. 22, 2016 MANILA - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a two-day official visit to the Philippines next month, Philippine diplomatic sources said on Thursday. The sources said Abe, accompanied by a business delegation, will visit Manila and Davao City, the home city of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, on Jan. 12 and 13. Abe will discuss bilateral cooperation and regional issues with President Duterte during the visit. Both leaders will have a closed-door meeting together with cabinet officials on how to improve trade and relationship between the two countries, the sources said. Duterte made a three-day state visit to Japan last October. The Japanese Air Force One, an aircraft operated by Japan Self Defense Force, landed in Davao City International Airport last Tuesday, apparently on a test run. The aircraft, a Boeing 747, is used by the Japanese government to transport the prime minister, emperor, and other high-ranking government officials. Philippines' Foreign Affairs Department has yet to officially announce Abe's visit. New programme has also exposed the profound needs of some of the countrys most vulnerable children. Amman After a busy art session, the classroom at Ammans al-Hussain Social Institution buzzed with energy, as children dashed around to clean up supplies, admire their paintings and pose in the decorated masks they designed. These young artists have come a long way over the past few months. Aged between six and 12, the children recently completed an art therapy programme the first of its kind designed to aid Jordans orphans. The weekly sessions of painting, gluing and building provided an atmosphere of organised chaos, during which they filled canvases with the anxieties and hopes that might otherwise be difficult to express. Its like regular therapy, except you use art as a medium, art therapist and programme founder Shireen Yaish told Al Jazeera. Its great for those who find it difficult to verbalise things its about making the unconscious conscious, in a way. My job is to make people understand what theyre making. As the weeks progressed, the children participating in this programme run by the Kaynouna Art Therapy Centre came out of their shells and developed great enthusiasm for their artwork, Yaish said. Supported by the al-Aman Fund for the Future of Orphans and the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, the programme also exposed the profound needs of some of Jordans most vulnerable children. The paintings make their struggles visible. In the final session, Azd* created a striking blue-and-yellow scene in which a girl leaves a house while a boy looks on in fright. The figure is his sister, Salma, who has just turned 12 and is set to leave the Hussain institution a move that will separate the siblings, who have long relied on only each other. The pair moved to the home after their mother fled from their abusive father and remarried, and they are already separated from their seven other siblings. Being split up again would be devastating, they said. [The children in my classes] dont have parents that will teach them love and continuity; they dont have siblings to offer support, Yaish said, noting that low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and feelings of neglect and abandonment are among the psychological consequences. While art is an outlet to help to deal with such feelings, it is not enough: Its not just making them feel better. Something needs to be done. Ibrahim al-Ahmad, general manager of the Aman fund, said that the government had made significant investments in childrens homes in recent years, noting that the state of support was improving. There are currently 18 childrens homes in Jordan, overseen by the state but run by both government and private institutions. One of the big problems is that children are moved regularly, according to their age, Ahmad said. Theres a lack of stability, and its confusing for the children when the replacement mother gets changed four or five times. The long-term challenges of Jordans orphanage system are also addressed during the art therapy sessions. While the children paint, the women who care for them as foster mothers participate in similar classes. At the Hussain institution, these women are charged with caring for up to 10 children at a time, 24 hours a day. Lamia*, who has worked at the centre for three years, is honest about the toll. She expects to continue to work at the centre for years to come, but remains frustrated at what she calls a lack of training and support that the foster mothers receive. Its so difficult when you become attached to the kids, then they leave, Lamia explained. So we dont want to be attached, but we want to give all that we can give. Were with them 24 hours, and its really stressful. During the final class of the art therapy programme, Lamia showed off the works that she created over the course of several months, inspired by the theme selfie. In her first painting, two clumsy flowers are topped with a black sky. In the second, the scene is green and blue, with trees, flowers, a human figure and a house. It has more life and hope, Yaish said. In another session, a group of girls between the ages of 18 and 23 created art around the same theme. Having grown up in care homes, they have produced work that reflects the challenges that have shaped their lives. In one piece, canvas stick figures are surrounded by words signifying stress and anxiety; another shows a spiral, unravelling through changing colours. I wanted to show my life changing, Maha* explained. Its kind of upside down, though because when you want to do something, it always goes wrong. When these young women presented their work to the class, some spoke about being bullied while growing up in an orphanage, or of struggling to find work, or about feelings of abandonment. In a society as family-centric as Jordan, surviving without the support of a conventional home is tough. Just to be an orphan living in an orphans centre is a challenge, Ahmad said. On leaving, he noted, orphans still face problems such as prejudice in applying for jobs or renting apartments, and struggling to get ahead without the boost of family links. Its cultural. In Jordan, family is the most important thing. Participants in the art therapy programme, meanwhile, remain cautiously optimistic about their uncertain futures. I see what these children are going through, and I see the youth, and I see what happens. What were doing is helping the children, youth and mothers to grow up and become healthier adults, Yaish said. Speaking to Maha as the young woman presented her painting, Yaish said: Your past has affected you in a way that makes you feel like you dont want to change your future. And the past is going to affect us today and tomorrow, too. But wheres it going to end? Whatever youre going to do, its only going to come from you. *Names have been changed to protect the anonymity of the women and children involved. Colombo, Sri Lanka HD Nanayakkara still remembers how his heart sank when he was told their project was cancelled. It would have set a Guinness World Record as the tallest Christmas tree ever erected standing at a towering 100 metres. The metal, cone-shaped skeleton was to be dressed with green mesh and adorned with an estimated one million red, gold, blue and silver hand-painted pine cones, lit up with some 800,000 twinkling LED lights. A spectacular 20-foot-tall star weighing some 60 kilogrammes would have been placed on top. There was even going to be a 20-foot-long Santa Claus figure on a sledge complete with reindeer right alongside it. The foundations had already been laid; the trunk and the first ring were complete. The giant star lay forlornly propped up near a pile of discarded pine cones. The rest of the tree lay in pieces around the site overlooking the Indian Ocean. Galle Face is one of Colombos most popular promenades, and people from all over the island of Sri Lanka had been expected to come and admire the tree. A wasteful expenditure? Forty-three-year-old Nanayakkara is a prime mover driver for the Sri Lanka Port Authority, and he and a rotating team of 150 other employees have already been at work on this project since August. A small band of workers from the port had first proposed the idea to Arjuna Ranatunga, the countrys minister of ports and shipping. Now many, including the port engineers who had offered structural advice, have chosen to work overtime on building the tree for no pay. We knew even if we cancelled the project at that time, no money would have been saved, Nanayakkara told Al Jazeera. All the parts were complete; it was only our work left. The news of the cancellation came during the first week of December: A reported comment by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, had condemned the project as a wasteful expenditure. The cardinals lack of enthusiasm for Christmas trees was already well-known: In 2015, an archdiocesan bulletin asked local priests to abstain from erecting Christmas trees inside their churches as it had no significance to the Sacred Liturgy. When I heard the news I was upset and asked them to stop building straight away, Ranatunga said. I am a Buddhist, but since the main leader in the Christian community in Sri Lanka was unhappy, we just had to stop it. When the ministry made the announcement at a press conference, Nanayakkara broke down in front of the cameras. It did not help the situation that the initial cost estimates reported in the press were confused early reports pegged the cost at around $13.4m, but then in a statement Mangala P Gunasekara, Ranatungas coordinating secretary clarified that the cost was closer to $80,600. Ranatunga later told Al Jazeera that the government would only release the official cost after the tree was erected, adding that expenses were being met entirely by sponsors and through donations from individuals not by the state. Luckily the prime minister [Ranil Wickramasinghe] and the finance minister [Ravi Karunanayake] went and saw Cardinal Ranjith, and after that, we got the green light to go head, says Ranatunga. The Cardinal would never tell anybody they could not put up a Christmas tree. No one has to ask him for permission. This has been interpreted in the wrong way, Reverend Edmond Thilakaratne, the archdiocesan director of social communications, told Al Jazeera. What Cardinal Ranjith reiterates is that as we celebrate Christmas, we must always be mindful of the poor and the needy. I think it was just a misunderstanding, says Ranatunga, explaining that his administration wants to promote interreligious harmony, which includes finding ways like this to celebrate key festivals of all the islands various faiths. He believes this project has resonated with people and says there are so many donations coming in that they are considering redirecting any surplus to the presidents National Kidney Fund for patients with chronic kidney disease. IN PICTURES: The Chinese city where its Christmas every day A symbol of unity Sponsors have been lining up to support the effort. Multilac, a local paint company, is supplying the 3,000 litres of paint needed to cover the pine cones. We are Muslim, but we still wanted to support what we think is a wonderful initiative that is about unity. For everyone who comes to see the tree, this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Sri Lanka is a very tiny country, but that we can do this is a source of pride for us, a member of the company owners family told Al Jazeera. With the project now back on, Nanayakkara and his team are putting in long hours to have it ready for Christmas, often working from 7am to 1am. The 45-tonne structure which will utilise an estimated 30 tonnes of iron piping and over 2,500 metres of mesh is being assembled in parts. A crane was used to winch the lowest and largest ring into place, but now, the men are using a pulley and rope system to lift individual sections, each weighing some 800kg. The tree is so tall that there was some concern that the stiff breeze coming in from over the ocean could tip it over but Nanayakkara says that he himself designed a system of nuts and bolts in the foundation that would keep it standing straight. The group of port workers building it are of many different faiths in fact, only seven or eight of the 150 are Christians, but Nanayakkara says that is the point. He is himself a staunch Buddhist, but he wants the tree to stand as a symbol of unity. I want to show the world that in Sri Lanka, we are good human beings and that there doesnt have to be ethnic divisions between us, he says earnestly. Nanayakkara thinks such an experience cannot be bought and sees his part in it as a contribution to his country a kind of legacy that will outlive him. People think there is some money for us in this, but that is not the case. We have no ulterior motives. Our only objective is to complete the tree. Professor in Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at Qatar Foundations Hamad Bin Khalifa University and an Honorary Professor of the University of York Since December 15 an agreement brokered between Russia, Iran and rebel fighters to evacuate besieged communities in eastern Aleppo and the villages of Foua and Kefraya has been under way, albeit faltering at times owing to infringements of the deal. While the humanitarian crisis of Aleppo is rightly under the international spotlight, the wisdom of the evacuation deal has largely gone unquestioned. This is unfortunate because in many ways the uprooting of Aleppos residents to Idlib is a case of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Moving Aleppans to an already stressed area The evacuation of Aleppans will inevitably lead to their displacement in temporary shelters where they are more vulnerable away from their home environment and families. Idlib province is already struggling to meet the basic needs of its residents under the governance of deeply divided rebel groups. The transfer of 50,000 internally displaced persons could overwhelm local coping capacities, leaving both local residents and the newly displaced increasingly dependent upon the humanitarian system, while they both remain at the mercy of the regime and its allies as they make up their mind as to their next move. An International Rescue Committee spokesperson last week said that escaping Aleppo doesnt mean escaping the war. After witnessing the ferocity of attacks on civilians in Aleppo, we are very concerned that the sieges and barrel bombs will follow the thousands who arrive in Idlib. Given that the international community has failed to stand with Aleppo at its time of need, there is no basis for thinking that civilians caught in the crossfire of renewed attempts by Russia and the Assad regime will fare any better. To turn the concept of evacuation for safety into a full-scale eviction of an entire community is totally unacceptable. While rebels faced a choice in accepting or rejecting a deal, the same is not true for residents of eastern Aleppo, some of whom at least are reported to favour remaining in their homes. by This is made all the more so considering that the international community increasingly sees Bashar al-Assad as the lesser evil in the face of the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front) which dominates much of Idlib province. A European diplomat is quoted as saying that fighters had a choice between surviving for a few weeks in Idlib or dying in Aleppo. By extension, civilians evacuated to Idlib face the same prospect of buying time at the cost of their evacuation. Yet this stark warning presents a false dichotomy. There are other destinations that should have been explored for evacuees. Turkey has constructed camps for the internally displaced near its border within northern Syria, yet is allowing in only those in urgent need of medical treatment. The depravity of the situation calls on Turkey and other neighbouring states to act unilaterally to provide safe haven to displaced Aleppans. Meanwhile, the international community should have stood by the position where the evacuation is made to neutralise eastern Aleppo by offering safe passage to fighters and their immediate families, leaving their arms and ability to pose a threat behind. OPINION: The Palestinisation of the Syrian people Ideally this would have been accompanied by a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the forces of the Assad regime and its allies respect international law as they enter the east of the city. To turn the concept of evacuation for safety into a full-scale eviction of an entire community is totally unacceptable. While rebels faced a choice in accepting or rejecting a deal, the same is not true for residents of eastern Aleppo, some of whom at least are reported to favour remaining in their homes. How should Russia weigh in? Taking civilians out of eastern Aleppo will diminish the likelihood of their eventual return to their homes. The evacuation and subsequent destruction in 2006 of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon led to a protracted displacement under which residents are still returning to their homes a decade later. Given that this double displacement occurred in a relatively stable context with high international support, the chances of a return to eastern Aleppo are vanishingly small. It is worse now because the fate of Aleppos residents is tied to the destiny of other communities that will go through a similar ethno-sectarian uprooting. The Iranian intervention to tie the evacuation to the fate of Foua and Kefraya has complicated matters where there was an existing balance between the two villages and Madaya and Zabadani based on a gentlemans agreement between Hezbollah and the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. OPINION: From the rubble of Aleppo, ISIL rises If anything, this shows that although Russia seems to have focused its mind on reaching a solution that meets its own objectives and has finally reached an understanding with Turkey, it has clearly underestimated the deviousness of the deep state in Iran, which hides behind excuses that it cannot control all of its militia on the ground. The Russians must tread carefully because where the war is fought on land and not in the air they will inevitably have less control over the situation. The United Nations Security Councils resolution that was unanimously accepted on December 19, establishing a monitoring mission, is a welcome development, albeit several weeks too late. Russia should now seek to play a proactive role in the monitoring to protect civilians and uphold its reputation in the region. Sultan Barakat is the director of Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. Sansom Milton is a senior research fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. The exposed roots of Zionism in anti-Semitism are now a matter of factual evidence for the whole world to see. What is the deadliest weapon at the disposal of the Israeli settler colony? No, it is not the 200-plus nuclear weapons that are all, according to former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, aimed at Iran nor is it whatever other weapons of mass destruction it can continue to procure over the next 10 years and beyond with the $38bn US taxpayers dollars that Barack Obama took away from hungry children in the US and sent with a lovely Hallmark greetings card to Benjamin Netanyahu. The deadliest weapon at the disposal of Israel is not a weapon of mass destruction, of which it has plenty. It is in fact a weapon of mass deception that has long been at its disposal: the charge of anti-Semitism that its legion of propaganda officers readily level against anyone daring to question the armed robbery of Palestine. Anti-Semitism was and remains a quintessentially European and by extension US-based white supremacist disease, with horrid manifestations from pogroms through the Crusades down to the Holocaust. No other people anywhere else in the world ever heard of this disease or perpetrated such heinous crimes against humanity as the Nazis did. But the Zionist propaganda machinery continues indiscriminately to throw this vile charge at anyone remotely critical of Israel. Now, believe it or not, of all people, Donald Trump, even before taking office, has just taken that deadly weapon away from Israel. You may wonder how? Who is Stephen Bannon? The appointment of Stephen Bannon by Trump as a chief adviser to his White House is a momentous development that for ever robs Israel of its deadliest ideological weapon: charging and seeking to silence its critics with the nasty stigma of anti-Semitism. As has been thoroughly documented, Bannon, a white supremacist and anti-Semite Zionist, the chief architect of a sensational news outlet for like-minded bigots and a loud and unconditional supporter of Israel, is now the chief strategist (propaganda officer) for Trump in his soon-to-be up-and-about White House. Bannon is the mastermind behind a fringe but loud and pestiferous neo-Nazi outfit that calls itself alt-right. Led by a young man named Richard Spencer, it is being groomed as the propaganda Stormtroopers of the next president of the United States, an organised gang of trolls set in motion with a quick tweet from their leader in the Oval Office. As soon as the fully documented charges of anti-Semitism against Bannon became public knowledge, the Zionist cabal rose to defend him, arguing, as Robert Mackey has summarised in The Intercept, that he cannot possibly be an anti-Semite, as his ex-wife told a court, since the site he ran until August strongly supports Israel and its far-right, nationalist government. This assertion belied the fact that, again as Mackey put it, he had made Breitbart a space for pro-Israel writers and anti-Semitic readers. If you think this a jarring phrase, you have been sold the lie that Zionism is against anti-Semitism. It is not. Quite to the contrary: It banks and thrives on it. Put simply, the ZOA is defending anti-Semites against the expressed concerns of Jewish people, in order to safeguard the insatiable appetite of Zionism for land theft in Palestine. by The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) first condemned Bannon as anti-Semitic, but soon the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) countered ADL and pronounced Bannon and Breitbart innocent of any such charges, citing the strong Zionism of the accused as evidence. ADL backed down and downgraded Bannons anti-Semitism. The fact that this notorious Zionist has frightened the American Jewish community, however, and quite rightly so, is now fully documented. When the ZOA endorsed Bannon, it was flooded with phone calls and faced an enormous backlash for its enthusiastic defence of Bannon by people objecting to this reckless act. We did not survive the Holocaust, people objected. We did not found the State of Israel, just so that less than two generations later we could cozy up to neo-Nazis. Put simply, the ZOA is defending anti-Semites against the expressed concerns of Jewish people, in order to safeguard the insatiable appetite of Zionism for land theft in Palestine. Responsible observers were of course crystal-clear about their assessments of Bannons anti-Semitism: Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, for example, speaking for The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism held Bannon responsible for running a platform for anti-Semitism, racism, misogyny and xenophobia. OPINION: Stephen Bannon and the old/new anti-Semitism Jessica Rosenblum, vice president of communications at the NGO J-Street, also said it is completely appropriate to apply the term anti-Semite to people like Bannon who routinely aid and stand with white supremacists in demonising Jews and other religious and ethnic minorities. Even more to the point, Rabbi Jack Moline, President of Interfaith Alliance, told The Huffington Post: A person can absolutely be pro-Israel and anti-Semitic at the same time. Moline identifies as both a Jew and Zionist. But he cautioned that it was dangerous to conflate these two identities. Meanwhile Naomi Zeveloff of Forward wrote a detailed piece with the title How Bannon and Breitbart News Can Be Pro-Israel and Anti-Semitic at the Same Time. The article adds: There is actually little correlation between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, according to Steven M Cohen, a sociologist at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Many people who dislike Jews like Israel and many people who are critical towards Israel are affectionate towards Jews. All these bold, responsible, principled, and clear pronouncements finally poured on to the streets of New York when 500 Jewish protesters, according to Haaretz, managed to scare Bannon away from a pro-Israel Gala held by ZOA. Before Bannon: Trump himself The concerted efforts of Zionist Americans, led by ZOA, notwithstanding the traumatic impact of Trumps victory for the Jewish communities, are undeniable: Trumps election triggers old nightmares for Holocaust survivors in America, as Haaretz wrote. The dramatic increase in anti-Semitism and hate crimes since election day is a horrifying flashback for veteran Jewish Americans. As one says, I lived through one Hitler, I dont want to live through another.' Trump, of course, did not have to wait to get elected to expose his pro-Israeli, anti-Semitic proclivities, evident in an infamous ad that traffics in conspiracies of control and destruction identified with classical anti-Semitism, leading to the obvious admission that being Pro-Israel is not incompatible with peddling negative Jewish stereotypes. Even more empathically, as Ian Buruma put it in The New York Times, The last ad of the Trump campaign attacked what Joseph Stalin used to call rootless cosmopolitans in a particularly insidious manner. Incendiary references to a global power structure that was robbing honest working people of their wealth were illustrated by pictures of George Soros, Janet Yellen and Lloyd Blankfein. Perhaps not every Trump supporter realised that all three are Jewish. But those who did cannot have missed the implications. Any shadow of doubt about Trump actively partaking in anti-Semitic sentiments and tropes was cleared from the start. His campaign had staged his anti-Semitism chapter and verse, or as David Remnick put it succinctly in the New Yorker: Trump began his campaign declaring Mexican immigrants to be rapists; he closed it with an anti-Semitic ad evoking The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. As early as July 2016, Trumps use of anti-Semitic tropes signalling Hillary Clintons support was fully on display when he tweeted a graphic critical of Hillary Clinton that featured a six-pointed star, a pile of cash and the words most corrupt candidate ever. OPINION: The prospect of the US as a banana republic None of these facts had, however, dissuaded Sheldon Adelson, a staunch Zionist supporter of Israel, to write an opinion piece for The Washington Post enthusiastically endorsing Donald Trump, or contributing millions of dollars to his campaign. Nor indeed had any such incontrovertible fact of Trump freely trafficking in anti-Semitic sentiments prevented the chief Israeli lobby AIPAC members giving him repeated standing ovations and thunderous applause when he went to their gatherings to pledge allegiance to Israel. The exposed roots of Zionism in anti-Semitism are now a matter of factual evidence for the whole world to see as it is liberating for an entire generation of principled and progressive Jewish activists who have now in full force joined other emancipatory movements around the US and indeed around the globe to which they will lend an entire history of their noble struggles against racism, anti-Semitism, and bigotry, and from which they will learn the emerging terms of a defiant moral agency beyond any disabling identity politics. Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. YouTube star Adam Saleh says he was forced off New York-bound plane with a friend after speaking Arabic on the phone. Delta Air Lines removed a Muslim American social media star and his friend from a New York-bound plane in London, but the airline and the two passengers have given conflicting accounts of the incident. In a statement early on Thursday, after Delta Flight 1 landed in New York, Delta said Adam Saleh and his friend Slim Albaher were removed because they sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behaviour, including shouting. The airline said its information was based on statements collected from the flight crew and other passengers. Saleh posted video of the incident on Wednesday to his Twitter feed, though it was unclear what took place before the recording started. Delta airlines kicked us out for speaking Arabic to my mom on a plane, Saleh tweeted. By the time of publishing, a recorded clip he posted had been shared more than 750,000 times. Were getting kicked out because we spoke a different language, Adam Saleh says in the clip. This is 2016. Delta airlines are kicking us out because we spoke a different language. Addressing one of his fellow passengers, he can be seen saying: I spoke a word [of Arabic], and you said you feel uncomfortable? Real talk: Adam Saleh is obnoxious and I wouldn't be surprised if it is a prank BUT that doesn't discount this happening on the daily. Sailor Mer(Kaye)ry (@gildedspine) December 21, 2016 Saleh said that they were later placed on another flight, having been re-checked by security. Saleh is a YouTube star, with more than 1.5 million subscribers. Many of his videos feature him carrying out practical jokes. Saleh to visit lawyer The airline said it had launched a review to understand what happened. If Adam Saleh was on a plane pranking just hours after a terrorist attack in Berlin, he deserved to be kicked off. Rasha Al Aqeedi (@RashaAlAqeedi) December 21, 2016 In a final message before taking off, Saleh told his 257,000 Twitter followers that he would be visiting his lawyer when he arrives in New York, apparently over the incident that had just taken place. Several people have been removed from planes over the past two years. READ MORE: Muslims ordered off plane after ISIL accusation In August, Delta removed a Muslim couple travelling from Paris to Cincinnati after a member of staff complained of feeling uncomfortable with them on board. Also in August, British Muslim siblings were removed from an easyJet plane travelling from London to Naples after fellow passengers accused them of being members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group. In November 2015, an American Muslim cited Islamophobia after being removed from a Lufthansa plane from Newark Liberty International Airport to Istanbul for further questioning. https://twitter.com/HIMANSHU/status/811592339403788288 Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American Relations, told Al Jazeera that the civil rights group was reaching out to all parties to investigate Wednesdays incident involving Saleh. Were very concerned about reports of this kind. If the allegations are true, they fit a pattern of these kinds of incidents over the years, he said. He said everybody just needs to use their common sense when it comes to security. Despite world events, the world is a diverse place where people speak different languages, wear different attire and look different. Thats not justification for removing someone from a plane. Additional reporting by Anealla Safdar: @anealla Tunisian suspect of Christmas market attack planned burglary to raise cash and buy weapons, German prosecutors say. Germany has launched a Europe-wide manhunt for a violent and armed Tunisian man, saying he is a suspect in Mondays Christmas market attack in Berlin. But authorities are under fire after it emerged that the 24-year-old Anis Amri, a rejected asylum seeker, was potentially dangerous and already under investigation. The interior minister of Germanys most-populous North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing a serious act of violence against the state. Berlin prosecutors said Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, possibly to carry out an attack. On Thursday, Germanys interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said that Amris fingerprints were found inside the cabin of the truck that ploughed through the market, killing 12 and injuring dozens, adding that there was a high probability that the suspect is the perpetrator. READ MORE: Berlin attack Community spirit and resilience prevail After keeping tabs on him from March until September this year, authorities failed to find evidence of the robbery plot, and the surveillance was stopped. Jaeger said Amri appeared to have arrived in Germany in July 2015 and his asylum application had been rejected. He seemed to have used different names and had mainly lived in Berlin since February, but was recently in NRW, Jaeger added. On Wednesday, police searched a refugee centre in Emmerich, western Germany, where Amri stayed a few months ago, as well as two apartments in Berlin, local media reported. The prosecutors are also offering a 100,000 ($104,000) reward for information leading to Amris arrest and warning he could be violent and armed. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsibility for Mondays Berlin attack, Germanys deadliest in recent years. Germany has boosted security measures following the carnage, beefing up the police presence at train stations, airports and at its borders with Poland and France. READ MORE: Suspect in Berlin Christmas market attack released In Tunisia, Amris family expressed disbelief on hearing that he was wanted across Europe. Im in shock, and cant believe its him who committed this crime, his brother Abdelkader Amri told AFP news agency If hes guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists, we have no dealings with terrorists, he added. The apparent security failings in the case triggered fresh criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkels liberal refugee policy, which has seen over a million people arrive since last year. Even within the chancellors own CDU party, voices of dissent are growing louder. Nationwide, there are a large number of refugees about whom we dont know where theyre from or what their names are. And thats a potential major security issue, said CDU member Klaus Bouillon, the interior minister of Saarland state. Al Jazeeras Dominic Kane, reporting from the Christmas market in Berlin, said there was still a sense of shock in the area following the partial reopening of the market. General Assembly adopts resolution to establish team that will collect and preserve evidence of rights abuses in Syria. The United Nations General Assembly has voted to establish a special team to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence as well as to prepare cases on war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the conflict in Syria. The General Assembly adopted a Liechtenstein-drafted resolution to establish the independent team with 105 in favour, 15 against and 52 abstentions. The team will work in coordination with the UN Syria Commission of Inquiry. Liechtensteins UN Ambassador Christian Wenaweser told the General Assembly before the vote: We have postponed any meaningful action on accountability too often and for too long. He said inaction has sent the signal that committing war crimes and crimes against humanity is a strategy that is condoned and has no consequences. The special team will prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over these crimes. READ MORE: Syrias Civil War Explained The UN resolution calls on all states, parties to the conflict, and civil society groups to provide any information and documentation to the team. The establishment of such a mechanism is a flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a UN member state, Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told the General Assembly before the vote. Earlier this month, Jaafari was found to have used a photo from Fallujah, Iraq, to support his claim that Syrian government troops were helping civilians in Aleppo. Syrian allies Russia and Iran also spoke against the resolution. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria was established by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in 2011 to investigate possible war crimes. The Commission of Inquiry, which says it has a confidential list of suspects on all sides who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, has repeatedly called for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Russia and China vetoed an effort by Western powers to refer the conflict in Syria to The Hague-based court in 2014. A crackdown by Assad on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 led to civil war and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq. Half of Syrias 22 million people have been uprooted and more than 400,000 killed. Church appeals for resolution as tensions rise over President Kabilas refusal to step down from power. The Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has appealed for a resolution to the ongoing political standoff over the future of current President Joseph Kabila. The call by the church comes after 34 people were reportedly killed and 45 others wounded in clashes between police and protesters who took to the streets to protest against Kabilas refusal to step down from power. The protests took place in Kinshasa and the eastern city of Lubumbashi. Kabilas second term officially ended on Tuesday. He is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term but under a controversial recent constitutional court order, he may stay on until a successor is chosen. Our wish is to end before Christmas, said Episcopal Conference (CENCO) chairman Monsignor Marcel Utembi. If the political and civil society actors do not reach a compromise by then CENCO will draw the consequences. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged the government and opposition to work constructively to reach a deal. The UN backs the CENCO-facilitated dialogue. So far the mainstream opposition has called for peaceful resistance from the countrys 70 million people, pinning its hopes on a deal at the negotiating table. Al Jazeeras Mohammed Adow, reporting from the Congolese capital Kinshasa, said officials have been widely criticised for the heavy-handed nature of their crackdown on protesters. African response On Tuesday, the South African government expressed concern about the current situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and condemned any outbreak of violence. These incidences threaten the hard-won democratic gains made by the DRC through the past two elections, the department of international relations and corporation said in a statement. But in what Kabilas opponents dubbed a provocation, a new government was announced overnight on Monday, headed by Samy Badibanga. The freshly appointed cabinet is part of an October deal struck between the ruling party and tiny fringe opposition groups, enabling Kabila to remain in office pending elections in April 2018. The main opposition bloc headed by 84-year-old Etienne Tshisekedi rejects the plan. It wants elections next year along with a pledge that Kabila will not stand. Maman Sambo Sidikou, the head of the UN mission in Congo, had voiced alarm on Tuesday about a wave of arrests of opposition leaders, rights campaigners and journalists since December 16. Similar concerns were raised by Ida Sawyer, Central Africa director of Human Rights Watch in a blog published on the watchdogs website. Can another civil war be avoided in Democratic Republic of Congo? In a YouTube video, Tshisekedi launched a solemn appeal to the Congolese people to no longer recognise the authority of Mr Joseph Kabila, to the international community to no longer deal with Joseph Kabila in the name of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He urged people to peacefully resist the coup detat. The message was not available in DRC, where authorities have since Sunday imposed strict controls on social media networks. According to Sawyer, authorities had blocked the signals for the Congolese news outlets seen to be close to the opposition, including Canal Congo TV (CCTV) and Radio Liberte Kinshasa, on Monday. The signal for Radio France Internationale (RFI), the most important international news outlet in Congo, has been blocked in Kinshasa since November 5, Sawyer said. The president has been in office since his father Laurent Kabilas assassination in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and again in 2011. Two decades ago, the country collapsed into the deadliest conflict in modern African history. Its two wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s dragged in at least six African armies and left more than three million dead. Rodrigo Duterte called a top UN official an idiot and joker for urging murder investigations be launched against him after the Philippines president admitted to personally killing criminals while he was mayor of Davao City. Zeid Raad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday said Philippine judicial authorities should probe Dutertes accounts of having carried out killings. This guy [Zeid] is ever the joker or crazy, Duterte said during a televised speech on Thursday, and repeatedly called him stupid. READ MORE: UN pushes for murder probe into Rodrigo Duterte You UN officials, sitting there on your asses, we pay you your salaries. You idiot, do not tell me what to do Who gave you the right? Philippines VP Robredo resigns over differences with Duterte Duterte told businessmen last week that as mayor he killed criminals on the streets, and later admitted shooting dead three men involved in a kidnapping case during a police gunfight in the late 1980s. Zeid said investigations should also be opened into deadly anti-drug campaigns in Davao when Duterte was mayor, as well as the shocking number of deaths during the current nationwide campaign. More than 6,000 people have been killed as part of Dutertes crackdown, one third by police and the rest still officially under investigation. Duterte says the shootings by police were in self-defence. Please shut up because your brain is lacking there, he told Zeid. Go back to school. You United Nations, you do not know diplomacy. You do not know how to behave to be an employee of the United Nations. You do not talk to me like that, you son of a bitch, he added. Independent watchdog probe Meanwhile, the Philippines independent rights watchdog said on Thursday it will investigate Dutertes boasts that he killed criminals years ago. Philippine Commission on Human Rights chief Jose Gascon said he had formed a team of investigators to look into the alleged killings. Law enforcement agencies must investigate as a matter of course any information that suggests that a crime may have been committed with the view to ensuring that perpetrators are ultimately held accountable -should the evidence warrant it, Gascon said in a statement. Duterte also on Thursday threatened to whack the Philippines money laundering council, a regulatory body headed by the central bank governor, accusing its officials of corruption and failing to do their job. The Philippines president, who is given to incendiary language, demanded that members of the central banks Anti-Money Laundering Council resign for failing to provide him an unspecified assessment report. Ill count one to three and if you dont resign, I will treat you as a drug addict, he said. Better prepare there because Ill give you a whack. But you are all, you are all corrupt, he said in a speech after signing the 2017 national budget. Author accused of violating public modesty leaves Cairo jail early but will face court again in January. An Egyptian author walked out of a Cairo police station on Thursday after a court suspended his two-year prison sentence pending review of his appeal on obscenity charges. The year-long case of Ahmed Naji, after a magazine published a sexually explicit excerpt of his novel, The Use of Life, has drawn international condemnation and accusations of a crackdown on freedom of expression. Prosecutors said Naji violated public modesty. It was seen as part of a larger crackdown on civil rights in Egypt under the rule of army chief-turned-President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Surrounded by his friends, Naji was rushed into a car with tinted windows and made no comments to reporters. Writing on Twitter, Ramy Yacoub, deputy director of The Tahrir Institute for the Middle East, said Naji opted not to be photographed once he left the police station and he would drive him home safely. OPINION: Yes, Ahmed Naji is a novelist Naji was initially acquitted, but prosecutors appealed and a higher court in February sentenced him to two years in prison. A court on January 1 will either decide to order another trial or send Naji back to prison. Cairo-based literary critic Marcia Lynx Qualey told Al Jazeera: Najis imprisonment, like the closure of the Karama libraries, is terrible evidence of the narrowing space for public laughter, creativity, art, reading. As we pass the days until his appeal, we must continue to demand the space for his freedom. In November, two Al Karama community libraries in Cairo, founded by human rights activist Gamal Eid, were closed by authorities. Separately, UN says mortar fire targeting aid distribution kills four relief workers and seven civilians in 48 hours. Three suicide car bombs driven by ISIL fighters killed at least 15 civilians and eight Iraqi policemen on Thursday in an eastern suburb of Mosul, a military statement said. The attacks targeted Kokjali, a suburb that authorities said they had retaken from ISIL almost two months ago. A military spokesman told Reuters news agency the vehicle bombs went off in a market. Meanwhile, mortar fire killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in the war-torn city of Mosul, the United Nations said on Thursday. READ MORE: Battle for Mosul I miss everything there Iraqi forces launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul the countrys last city held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and have retaken part of its eastern edge. But these areas are still exposed to deadly artillery attacks, suicide vehicle bombings, and sporadic gunfire. According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queueing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire, Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in a statement. Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents which also wounded as many as 40 people, she said. Mahmud al-Sorchi, a spokesman for volunteer fighters from Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, said mortar fire killed aid workers from a local organisation called Faz3a. The UNs Damian Rance told Al Jazeera it was still unknown who targeted the aid workers and civilians. But he said ISIL combatants retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they were retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction. I do not think we will ever know for certain which party fired the mortar rounds on Thursday, said Rance, a UN communications officer based in Mosul. READ MORE: Battle for Mosul ISILs innocent victims However, given that Iraqi forces have not been using artillery in Mosul city, and given that it is likely that the mortar rounds came from probable ISIL-held locations, the probability that the mortar rounds were fired by ISIL is high. Mosuls civilians are increasingly being caught in the crossfire, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Wednesday. More than 100,000 people have been displaced since the battle for the key city began more than two months ago, but the Iraqi government has encouraged civilians to stay in their homes if possible. This keeps the number of people fleeing from reaching the catastrophic proportions estimated by some aid organisations before the Mosul operation began, but also exposes civilians to significantly more danger than they would face if they moved to camps. Ahmad al-Kharoubi, 19, killed during protest against home demolition by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian teen during clashes that erupted when soldiers arrived to demolish the home of an alleged attacker. Soldiers opened fire on a crowd and fatally hit Ahmad al-Kharoubi, a 19-year-old Palestinian, during clashes with youth before dawn on Thursday in occupied East Jerusalems Kafr Aqab neighbourhood. Including Kharoubi, the Al-Haq human rights organisation has documented the killing of at least 107 Palestinians by Israeli security forces or settlers. Perpetrators include soldiers (regular and so-called border police), settlers, police, settlement guards, settler escorts, private security company personnel, light train guards, undercover units and municipality guards, Al-Haqs Tahseen Elayyan told Al Jazeera. An Israeli army spokesperson said the soldiers were sent to raze the home of Misbah Abu Sbeih, a 39-year-old Palestinian who was killed by Israeli security forces after he carried out a drive-by shooting on a police station in East Jerusalem, leaving an Israeli woman and a police officer dead. During the activity, suspects shot and hurled improvised explosive devices at Israeli forces, the spokesperson told Al Jazeera. In response to the threat, forces fired towards the suspect throwing an IED, resulting in his death. At least nine Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinian assailants between January and October of this year, according to United Nations statistics. Impunity is continuing Al-Haqs Elayyan argued Israeli soldiers and settlers who kill Palestinians are rarely held accountable. Impunity is continuing, he said, pointing to the case of Israel Shomer, an Israeli soldier who was acquitted after he shot dead 17-year-old Muhammad al-Kusbeh near a military checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah in 2015. According to the Israeli rights group Yesh Dins most recent statistics, only 3.5 percent of legal complaints about Israeli soldiers harming or killing Palestinians led to an indictment in 2014. We believe that the Israeli judicial system is not impartial when it comes to the rights of the Palestinians, Elayyan added. This system is part of the occupation enterprise in general. The goal of these so-called investigations is to shield perpetrators. READ MORE: Israels Jordan Valley regulation discriminatory The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented the destruction of at least 986 Palestinian-owned structures between January and October of this year. At least 1,501 people were displaced during that period. In addition to Syrian and Lebanese land, Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the besieged Gaza Strip since the 1967 Middle East war. More than half a million Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements considered illegal under international law throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli rights group BTselem. No attention on their actions Ibrahim Abrash, a writer and political analyst, said the wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen resulted in the international community paying little attention to Israels killing of Palestinians and settlement expansions in 2016. Israel has it easy now with no attention on their actions, he told Al Jazeera. The Palestinian Authoritys attempts to hold Israel accountable in the International Criminal Court have not produced results, he explained. READ MORE: How settlement businesses sustain Israeli occupation Theres no Palestinian strategy to face Israel, and they are focused on internal problems within and between Hamas and Fatah, he said, referring to the two largest Palestinian political parties. Abrash, who is based in Gaza, said he expects the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States to usher in a new period of relations between Israel and the US. The Trump stage will be very hard on Palestinians, he said, citing the president-elects decision to appoint right-wing lawyer and pro-settlement figure David Friedman as ambassador to the US. All of this says that Washington is not a neutral broker between the two sides in peace talks. In September, US President Barack Obama signed an agreement to give Israel $38bn in military aid despite public spats between Obama and right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Between 2009 and 2014, settlements were expanded by at least 23 percent. Follow Patrick Strickland on Twitter: @P_Strickland_ Egypt withdraws draft resolution that demands an end to Israeli settlements after Donald Trump weighs in. Hours before it was due to take place, the UN Security Council on Thursday postponed a vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its settlement activities as president-elect Donald Trump weighed in and said the United States should veto the measure. Egypt requested the delay to allow time for consultations, but no new time or date for the vote was scheduled. Diplomats suggested it could happen on Friday. Every member of the Security Council was ready to vote at 3pm, a western diplomat told Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity. Egypt has delayed the vote following an intense Israeli lobbying campaign against them. Trump: US should veto UN Israel settlement resolution Al Jazeeras Mike Hanna, reporting from the United Nations headquarters in New York, said: We did speak to the president of the Security Council, the Spanish representative, who said that the decision to postpone the vote was deeply unfortunate. Hanna added that US diplomats did not comment as to whether they would have voted for the resolution. Egypt circulated the draft late on Wednesday and a vote was initially scheduled for Thursday. The move prompted immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the US to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the US in 2011, and it remained unclear whether Washington would take a different approach this time, possibly abstaining to allow the measure to pass, but without US support. READ MORE: Palestinian Bedouins live the Nakba every day Trump, who campaigned on a promise to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital, said in a statement that Washington should use its veto to block the resolution. The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed, the Republican said in a statement released hours ahead of the scheduled vote. As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations, he said. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis, Trump added. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel. The UN maintains that the settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas Israel occupied in a 1967 war. Israel disputes that settlements are illegal and says their final status should be determined in any future talks on Palestinian statehood. Some in the Israeli government view Trumps victory as an opportunity to expand settlements. Trump has chosen as ambassador to Israel the hardliner and settlement-supporting David Friedman, a man who has said Washington will not pressure Israel to curtail settlement building in the occupied West Bank. No legal validity The draft resolution demands Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. It states Israeli settlements have no legal validity and are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution, which would see an independent state of Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. The text stresses that halting settlements was essential for salvaging the two-state solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground. READ MORE: Palestinians in Israel strike over home demolitions UN diplomats have for weeks speculated as to whether the administration of President Barack Obama would decide to refrain from using its veto to defend its closest ally in the Middle East. Obamas administration has expressed mounting anger over Israeli settlement policy, and speculation has grown he could launch a final initiative before leaving. While Turkey has blamed the Gulen network for the assassination, Moscow has warned against rushing to conclusions. President Vladimir Putin bade farewell to Andrey Karlov at a packed memorial ceremony in Moscow for the diplomat who was assassinated in Turkey by an off-duty policeman. Dozens of colleagues and relatives attended the ceremony on Thursday for Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey whose death was labelled by Moscow as an act of terror, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the perpetrator was a member of Fethullah Gulens group behind the aborted July coup. Putin laid red roses at the foot of Karlovs coffin and spoke with his relatives, but left the ceremony without making a statement. READ MORE: Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov shot dead in Ankara Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised the deceased envoy, who was 62, and paid his respects to his mother Maria, widow Marina and son Gennady, also a diplomat, as the ambassadors body lay in state in a flower-decked coffin. We are saying goodbye to our friend Andrey Karlov who became a victim of a malicious, vile terrorist attack while in the line of duty, Lavrov said at the ceremony held in the foreign ministry headquarters. We will never forget Andrey. A religious service was later held at Moscows Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill before the ambassador was laid to rest at a cemetery. In terrifying scenes captured on photo and video, 22-year-old policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas shot the ambassador nine times in the back on Monday while he was delivering a speech at an exhibition of photographs of Russia in Ankara. The ambassador fell to the ground and later died in hospital. The assailant, who was off-duty and managed to circumvent the metal detectors by flashing his police credentials, shouted Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) and Dont forget Aleppo after targeting Karlov and was himself killed in a subsequent shootout with Turkish guards. Killers relatives released Altintas had no prior criminal record but Turkish authorities have moved to link the murder with Gulen, a former Erdogan ally now living in self-imposed exile in the United States, whom Ankara previously blamed for orchestrating the July coup. Pro-government press had reported that police discovered pro-Gulen literature belonging to Altintas. Erdogan went as far as to say the killer was a member of the FETO [Fethullah Terror Organisation]. Gulen has denied involvement in both the coup and the envoys assassination, and Moscow has also refrained from assigning blame. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against rushing to conclusions before the investigation is complete. READ MORE: Ankara assassination tests Turkey-Russia ties A group of Russian investigators has been working on the probe in Turkey since Tuesday. Turkish prosecutors on Thursday said they have released six relatives of Altintas who were detained for questioning in the wake of the attack. Thirteen people were arrested in the murder probe and police were looking for 120 people, authorities said. Russia has bestowed a prestigious Hero of Russia honour on Karlov posthumously. Saudi Arabias budget deficit shrank to $79bn in 2016 well below a record $98bn in 2015. Saudi Arabia says it has successfully cut into its huge state budget deficit this year and will increase government spending in 2017 to boost flagging economic growth. The deficit shrank to $79bn in 2016. That was well below a record $98bn in 2015, and below the governments projection in its original 2016 budget plan of a deficit of $87bn. Our economy, thank God, is sturdy and it has enough strength to cope with the current economic and financial challenges, King Salman said on Thursday in a nationally televised address to introduce the budget for 2017. Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to meet domestic demand The financial challenges for Saudi Arabia stem largely from the fall in the global price of oil over the past two-and-a-half years. It is not yet been announced how the 2016 deficit stacks up as a percentage of the economy. It was 15 percent of GDP in 2015. The drop in the deficit is nonetheless likely to reassure international investors worried about Saudi Arabias ability to cope with an era of cheap oil. The riyal came under speculative pressure this year, but currency jitters have eased in recent months. The 2017 budget sends a clear message that the deficit is falling faster than expected and investment is gradually returning, said John Sfakianakis, director of economic research at Gulf Research Centre in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia, which has fought a costly war in Yemen for nearly two years, projects a drop in 2017 military spending. A cabinet statement on the budget said defence spending would reach $51bn in 2017 but gave no details. That is almost 11 percent lower than the figure that Riyadh said it expected to spend in the 2016 budget. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported in April that Riyadhs military outlays grew by 5.7 percent last year to $87.2bn making it the worlds third-largest military spender. Oil alliance: A new era for oil? Riyadh slashed spending on infrastructure and perks for civil servants to get its finances under control. For the first time in years, it kept its spending below its original budget projection in 2016; actual spending was $220bn compared with a projection of $224bn. Revenues came in slightly higher than expected at $141bn instead of $137bn as the government raised cash with steps such as higher municipal and visa fees. In its 2017 budget plan, Riyadh said it would increase spending to $237bn from the $224bn originally projected for 2016. But next years deficit will shrink further to $53bn because of higher oil prices and non-oil revenues, the government said. Oil revenues are projected to increase 46 percent in 2017 thats a massive jump. The budget appears to assume much higher oil prices than current prices, said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. READ MORE: Saudi Arabia agrees on plan to cut reliance on oil Economic growth slowed to 1.4 percent in 2016, far below the average of 4 percent in the past decade, as austerity measures hurt consumers income and deterred private companies from investing even though their investment is vital to diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil in the long term. By increasing state spending on infrastructure, the 2017 budget aims to support economic growth, while a new system of cash payments to poorer citizens will offset the impact on them as the government gradually raises domestic energy prices to reduce its subsidy burden, the finance ministry said. It gave no details of the planned subsidy cuts. State Department backs Afghanistans investigation into accusations of torture and sex abuse by Abdul Rashid Dostum. The United States has vowed to support an investigation into allegations that Afghanistans vice president sexually assaulted and tortured a rival in the face of mounting criticism from western allies and activists over a pervasive culture of impunity. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former warlord who has a catalogue of war crimes attached to his name, is accused of abducting Ahmad Ishchi last month during a traditional game of Buzkashi, or polo with an animal carcass, in northern Jowzjan province. Dostum allegedly kept Ishchi hostage in his private compound for five days, where he was said to be tortured and sodomised. Were obviously deeply disturbed by his unlawful detention and reported mistreatment by Vice President Dostam, John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said in a press briefing in Washington DC. President [Ashraf] Ghani has called for an investigation into this and we support him in that effort. We certainly welcome the release of Mr Ishchi. Ashraf Ghanis gamble with butcher of Kabul Afghanistan launched an investigation into the allegations saying it will be carried out neutrally and independently. Officials are scrambling to gather evidence after the United States, European Union, Australia, and Canada on Tuesday joined the chorus of calls for a thorough probe. Ishchi has undergone a medical examination since his release earlier this month at the American airbase in Bagram, north of Kabul, local media reported. Dostum has denied the allegations, but his office said he would cooperate with any investigation. It added, however, it prefers to resolve the matter by the traditional mediation of tribal elders rather than through conventional courts. Unlikely alliance in Afghan presidential poll Observers are sceptical that the government will sack or bring charges against Dostum, who has survived all previous allegations of abuse. He is too powerful to be sacked or tried in court, Kabul-based analyst Ahmad Saeedi told AFP news agency. The president is under pressure to take action, but he [Dostum] has a lot of support and influence, which the government cannot take lightly. Despite his human rights record, Dostum was invited to join the National Unity Government in 2014 in a bid by President Ghani to attract the support of his mostly ethnic Uzbek constituency. The latest controversy has again drawn attention to how Afghan warlords and strongmen operate with impunity, hobbling western-backed efforts to restore peace and rebuild the nation after decades of conflict. After weeks of heavy fighting, Damascus announces complete victory in the battle to retake eastern Aleppo from rebels. The Syrian army announced the countrys second city Aleppo has been fully recaptured from rebel fighters, the governments biggest victory in the nearly six-year civil war. The last group of rebels and their families holed up in a small enclave in eastern Aleppo were evacuated on Thursday, under a deal that gives the army and its allies full control of the ancient city after years of fighting. Thanks to the blood of our heroic martyrs, the heroic deeds and sacrifices of our armed forces and the allied forces, and the steadfastness of our people, the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announces the return of security and stability to Aleppo, said a military statement read by an army general on state television. OPINION: Aleppo The guilt, the resentment, the indifference The statement said the victory in Aleppo is a strategic transformation and a turning point in the war on terrorism and a deadly blow to the terrorist project and its supporters. It is a further incentive, it added, to go on fighting to eradicate terrorism and restore security and stability to every span of the homeland. It represents a momentous victory for President Bashar al-Assad and a crushing defeat for Syrias opposition. Western Aleppo erupted in celebratory gunfire seen on Syrian TV, which showed uniformed soldiers and civilians shouting slogans in support of Assad. The ancient city of Aleppo had been divided into rebel and government parts since 2012. The announcement came shortly after state television reported that the last convoy carrying rebels and civilians had left eastern Aleppo. The last four buses carrying terrorists and their families arrived in Ramussa, a district south of Aleppo controlled by government forces, the channel said. Rebel evacuations were set in motion last week after Syrias opposition agreed to surrender its last footholds in eastern Aleppo. Since then, some 35,000 fighters and civilians have been bussed out, according to the United Nations. Ahmed Qorra Ali, an official with the rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, confirmed: The last convoy has left the rebel-controlled area. READ MORE: Four evacuees killed, convoy sent back to east Aleppo Earlier, the Red Cross said more than 4,000 fighters had left rebel-held areas of the city in the last stages of the evacuation. Rebel forces agreed to withdraw from the bastion after a month-long army offensive that drove them from more than 90 percent of their former territory. The evacuation agreement was brokered by Russia, which launched air strikes in support of Assads regime last year, and Turkey, which has supported some rebel groups. The loss of east Aleppo is the biggest blow to Syrias rebel movement since fighting started in March 2011. More than 310,000 people have been killed since then. It puts the government in control of the countrys five main cities: Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Damascus, and Latakia. The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran, state news agency SANA quoted President Assad as saying before the army announcement on Thursday. The Syrian governments recapture of Aleppo is a major turning point in the Syrian civil war with potentially powerful political repercussions. On the political level, this is a great loss, Yasser al-Youssef of the Nureddin al-Zinki rebel group told AFP news agency. For the revolution, it is a period of retreat and a difficult turning point. Referring to Assads closest allies, Ali of the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group said: Aleppo is now under the occupation of Russia and Iran. Movement of buses out of Syrian city resumes after harsh weather and obstacles disrupted effort on Wednesday. Thousands of civilians and fighters are still waiting to be evacuated from the last rebel bastion in Aleppo city but difficulties including harsh weather are complicating the final phase of the operation, a rebel spokesman said. On Wednesday, bad weather and the poor condition of some cars appeared to have slowed the operation which has already brought out thousands of others since late last week. Vehicles were still streaming out of eastern Aleppo on Thursday morning after an evacuation overnight monitored by the United Nations, a UN official in Syria said. In addition to the obstacles disrupting the departure of the last group, rebels and Iranian-backed militias were blaming the other for the delays. Ahmed Kara Ali, the spokesman for the rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, which is involved in the negotiations, told Reuters news agency that large numbers were left but that it was difficult to estimate how many remained, beyond it being in the thousands. Foua and Kefraya The evacuation is still ongoing, monitors are still on site. About 300 private vehicles left overnight and this morning, the UN official said. A rebel contact inside Aleppo said that the evacuation operation is continuing and has not ended. So far, about 25,000 people have been evacuated from Aleppo, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Another UN official said 750 people had so far been evacuated from Foua and Kefraya. Aid workers have said the evacuation is likely to end on Thursday. OPINION: Aleppans to Idlib Out of the frying pan into the fire The International Committee of the Red Cross, which is assisting in the evacuation, reported that dozens of buses and smaller vehicles were expected to carry the remaining people out. We expect today to be the last convoys. The operation will continue all day long and during the night. If it goes smoothly the evacuation will end tonight, said Ingy Sedky, the ICRCs spokeswoman in Syria. Ahmad al-Dbis, who heads a team of doctors and volunteers coordinating evacuations, said around 400 vehicles, including trucks and cars, had arrived overnight in Khan al-Assal, the staging ground where evacuees from Aleppo arrive after leaving the city. From there, most have headed for territory to the west of the city still under the control of Syrian rebels. President Bashar al-Assads government is waiting for the end of the evacuations so it can declare the completion of the offensive to recapture the one-time rebel stronghold. Vowing to return Al Jazeeras Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Gaziantep, said hundreds were crammed on board the buses on Wednesday while food and water was also in short supply. But some, he added, were vowing to return when things settled down. The final remaining pocket of east Aleppo will be in the hands of President Assad any day now, marking his most significant victory since the uprising against his rule began in 2011, he said. As the government prepares to fly its flag above the bombed-out area, many residents and fighters are vowing to return. Syrias conflict started as a largely unarmed uprising against President Assads rule but quickly turned into a full-scale civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands. Attempts to negotiate a lasting ceasefire have failed time and again. Peter Navarro, who accuses Asian superpower of wreaking havoc on US economy, described as visionary by new president. President-elect Donald Trump has picked Peter Navarro an economist known for his extreme anti-China stance who has accused the Asian superpower of waging an economic war against the United States to head a trade policy council inside the White House. Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has written a number of books and made a film describing China, the worlds second-largest economy, as a threat to the US economy. Many fear his appointment could further destabilise political and trade relations between the two global powers. Trump reveals new controversial cabinet nominees In a recent statement, Trumps transitional team praised Navarro, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who advised Trump during the presidential election campaign, as a visionary economist. It said Navarro would develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores. The Harvard-educated economist has blamed Beijing for the destruction of both US factories and peoples lives by flooding the US with contaminated, defective and cancerous exports. He has also accused China of being behind the theft of US intellectual property. In a 2012 documentary based on his book Death by China: How America lost its manufacturing base, Navarro said China was responsible for the loss of 57,000 US factories and 25 million jobs. OPINION: Donald Trumps cabinet bodes ill for the planet While Trump in the statement extolled the clarity of Navarros arguments and the thoroughness of his research, few other economists have endorsed Navarros ideas. Marcus Noland, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, likened a tax and trade paper written by Navarro and Wilbur Ross, who has been named as Trumps commerce secretary, to the type of magical thinking best reserved for fictional realities for what he said was its flawed economic analysis. Trump, a Republican, made trade a centerpiece of his presidential campaign and railed against what he said were bad deals the United States had made with other countries. He has threatened to hit Mexico and China with high tariffs once he takes office on January 20. Chinas foreign minister on Thursday warned ties with the US will probably see new complications and the only way to maintain a stable relationship is by respecting each others core interests. OPINION: Trump era has Beijing on edge Foreign Minister Wang Yis remarks appeared to underscore that Chinas position on Taiwan is non-negotiable, weeks after Trump suggested he could re-evaluate US policy on the status of Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province. China seriously concerned over Trumps stand Wang told the state-run Peoples Daily he will strive to boost cooperation with the US but foresaw new, complicated and uncertain factors affecting bilateral relations under the Trump administration. China complained after Trump said the United States does not necessarily have to stick to its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of one China, questioning nearly four decades of policy. Navarro has also suggested a stepped-up engagement with Taiwan, including assistance with a submarine development programme. He argued that Washington should stop referring to the one China policy, but stopped short of suggesting it should recognise Taipei. There is no need to unnecessarily poke the Panda, said Navarro. US currently has an estimated arsenal of about 7,000 nuclear warheads, second only to Russia with a few hundred more. Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are both calling for their countries to strengthen their nuclear arsenals. At an annual end-of-year meeting with defence chiefs on Thursday, Putin said Russias military can overpower any potential foe, but it should build up its nuclear capability. Putin who has said Trump confirmed to him that he is willing to mend ties between the two countries said bolstering the nuclear arsenal should be a chief objective for 2017. We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems, the Russian leader said. US accelerates troop deployment to Poland and Baltics Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability. He said the nation must do so until the rest of the world as he put it comes to its senses regarding nuclear weapons. Trumps transition website says that he will modernise the nations nuclear arsenal so it will remain an effective deterrent. The United States currently has an estimated arsenal of about 7,000 nuclear warheads, second only to Russia, which has a few hundred more. During the next decade, US ballistic missile submarines, bombers, and land-based missiles the three legs of the nuclear triad are expected to reach the end of their useful lives. Maintaining and modernising the arsenal is expected to cost at about $1 trillion over 30 years. The open talk of ramping up nuclear capabilities reminiscent of Cold War pledges marks a jarring departure from the stance of President Barack Obama, who in a famous speech in Prague in 2009 called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Russia moves nuclear-capable missiles to NATO doorstep Laicie Heeley, a nuclear expert at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan anti-nuclear proliferation think-tank in Washington, told AFP news agency it was reckless for Trump to tweet on the topic without offering details. To make such a loaded statement without context or follow-up is irresponsible at best, she said. We could be talking about a return to the Cold War here, when the threat of a nuclear catastrophe was very real. Russian rhetoric is already moving in that direction. It wouldnt take a lot to bring us back there. With hours until UNSC vote, US president-elect says measure halting settlements would be unfair to all Israelis. Hours before the United Nations Security Council was to vote on a draft resolution demanding Israel halts settlement activities in occupied Palestinian territories, President-elect Donald Trump urged the US to veto the measure. Egypt on Wednesday circulated the draft calling on Israel to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. The vote was scheduled for 3pm (20:00 GMT) on Thursday. The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed, Trump said in a statement on Thursday. As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations, he said. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis, Trump added. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier tweeted a similar message. The US should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday, he wrote. READ MORE: UNSC to vote on ending Israeli settlement activity A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel. The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. Israel disputes that settlements are illegal and says their final status should be determined in any future talks on Palestinian statehood. The UN maintains settlements are illegal and has repeatedly called on Israel to halt them, but there has been a surge in construction over the past months. READ MORE: Israel to build 500 new settler homes in East Jerusalem A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said US President Barack Obama should push for the resolution to pass before leaving office. The Israeli government is violating international law; by doing so it is undermining the whole status of Israel, he told Al Jazeera. If there is somebody to be blamed, it is the Israeli government I do hope that President Obama will listen to us and at least allow this resolution to pass. He has failed us in the past. He promised he would ask Israel to stop settlement activities and he failed to do so for eight years. No legal validity Wednesdays draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law. It also states that Israeli settlements are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution that would see an independent state of Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. The text stresses that halting settlements was essential for salvaging the two-state solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground. UN diplomats see the resolution as a final chance for council action on the Middle East before Trump succeeds Obama on January 20. We do know that there is a great deal of anger in the [US] administration at, frankly, the utter lack of progress on Middle East peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians over the last eight years, said Al Jazeeras Shihab Rattansi, reporting from Washington DC. The Obama administration police has been clear that while they have policy differences, they feel that any Security Council resolution would be unhelpful for what they still call a peace process. Well have to wait and see, Rattansi added. The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on a draft resolution that would demand Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. Egypt circulated the draft late on Wednesday and a vote was scheduled for 3pm (20:00 GMT) on Thursday. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel. The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. Israel disputes that settlements are illegal and says their final status should be determined in any future talks on Palestinian statehood. The UN maintains that settlements are illegal and has repeatedly called on Israel to halt them, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. A similar resolution was vetoed by the US in 2011. The US should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday. Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) December 22, 2016 Wednesdays draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law. It also states that Israeli settlements are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution that would see an independent state of Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. The text stresses that halting settlements was essential for salvaging the two-state solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground. UN diplomats see the resolution as a final chance for council action on the Middle East before Republican President-elect Donald Trump succeeds Democrat Obama on January 20. OPINION: How Barack Obama failed to stop Israeli settlements Trump has signalled that he would support Israel in a number of critical areas and not pressure it to engage in talks with the Palestinians. Obamas administration, however, has been highly critical of Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. In October, the US joined the European Union, the UN and Russia in calling for a halt to the settlements in a report released by the so-called diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East. The report was to serve as the basis for reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process which has been comatose since a US initiative collapsed in April 2014. The Quartet report said at least 570,000 Israelis were living in the settlements. UN votes to set up panel to investigate atrocities committed during nearly six years of war that have devastated Syria. The UN General Assembly has voted to set up a panel to look into war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the nearly six-year-old Syrian war. There has been no shortage of evidence of crimes carried out in Syria during the bloody conflict both by the government and opposition fighters. In no other conflict have so many atrocities been so widely seen and shared on television and social media. More than half the population has been driven out of their homes, and nearly 400,000 people killed. Residents have remained under siege and heavy bombardment for months at a time. Children have starved after being denied food aid and health workers have struggled to treat victims of chemical weapon attacks. But despite the world watching, the atrocities have continued with seeming impunity. So will the United Nations be able to hold those responsible to account, and will anyone be convicted under international law? Presenter: Richelle Carey Guests: Rodney Dixon An international lawyer with experience in several international criminal courts Ole Solvang Deputy Director of the emergencies division at Human Rights Watch Sharif Nashashibi Award-winning journalist and Middle East analyst An investigation into the origins and ideology of the rebel group and its bloody rise. Filmmaker: Xavier Muntz Since 2010, people in northeastern Nigeria have lived in constant fear of being attacked. In the past years, Nigerias rebel group Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked schools, churches, mosques and markets, but state institutions such as police stations and military facilities have remained primary targets. The group provoked global outrage in April 2014 when they kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria. The kidnapping received global condemnation and sparked the solidarity campaign #BringBackOurGirls. In August 2016, Boko Haram split into two factions after long-time leader Abubakar Shekau rejected an attempt by ISILs Abu Musab al-Barnawi to replace him. Al-Barnawi is believed to be the son of late Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf and used to be Boko Harams spokesman. Sporadic fighting broke out between the two factions, one headed by Shekau and the other by al-Barnawi and some believe that the division could break the spine of the Nigerian rebel group. Since the start of the insurgency, the violence has resulted in more than 32,000 deaths and over two million people displaced. But how did Boko Haram emerge and rise to power? What motivates them and why do they continue to thrive? This documentary explores the origins and ideology of the rebel group and its bloody rise to power. Mohammed Yusuf and the origins of Boko Haram Boko Haram, also known as Jamaat ahl al-sunna li-dawa wa-l-qital, was established in 2002 in the town of Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, by 32-year-old Mohammed Yusuf. Yusuf set up his own mosque in a run-down neighbourhood ... People were intrigued ... There was a lot of curiosity in this radical rejection of the Nigerian state ... It was packed with people ... Yusuf fed the orphans and the street children. It became more than just a mosque. by Marc-Antoine Perouse de Monclos, professor at the French Institute of Geopolitics With the return of democracy in 1999, Nigerians hoped for an end to widespread corruption within the elite and for fairer distribution of wealth. To bring an end to corruption in politics, the Muslim majority in the north of the country wanted to see Islamic law applied more strictly. And Boko Haram took advantage of this popular demand. He [Yusuf] was quite a gifted preacher who became very popular because he was a good orator. And above all, he was a political preacher. It was that which spoke to his followers, the people of Borno. He talked a lot about lies because for him, the politicians were liars, says Elodie Apard, French Research Institute for Africa. Yusufs message quickly resonated with people in the Borno region where the level of poverty was as high as 69 percent in 2011. Nigeria is the leading economic power in Africa, but more than half of its population lives below the poverty line. Plagued by corruption, which is endemic among Nigerias elite, politicians have gradually lost the trust of the people. Poor people identified with this [Yusufs] discourse because they were promised paradise. They promised an Islamic state with Shariah, which is a form of social justice. Then the rich would no longer siphon off public money. They joined this group because they believed it would improve their lives through the more rigorous practice of Islam, explains Marc-Antoine Perouse de Montclos, professor at the French Institute of Geopolitics. READ MORE: The women who love Boko Haram Nigerian authorities were increasingly concerned about the growing popularity of Boko Haram and Mohammed Yusufs influence on the people. Yusufs sermons were clearly against the state and were very violent in tone. Although Yusuf was not engaged in an armed struggle against the state, his discourse was contributing to it which was disturbing to the authorities. He was widely followed and really very popular. He became a threat, Apard says. In June 2009, a federal government task force stopped a group of Boko Haram members riding motorbikes as part of a funeral procession. The task force sought to enforce a law that required to wearing of helmets, but they refused to comply, and police officers opened fire on them. In a sermon that followed, Yusuf said that if the military was capable of killing people during a funeral, they had no respect for anything. They can come and kill you even if you are doing nothing. He said: Now you have shown yourselves, youve killed us en masse, the next time you show yourselves, we will be ready. We will be prepared for you and when you come you will see. Then you will see what you are up against,' says Apard. The battle of Maiduguri and the death of Mohammed Yusuf Who is Abubakar Shekau? Abubakar Shekau became the leader of Nigerian insurgent group, Boko Haram, in July 2009, after the groups founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was allegedly killed in police custody. According to experts, Shekau has neither the charismatic streak nor the rhetorical skills of Yusuf, but he has an intense ideological commitment and ruthlessness. Since he took power, Boko Haram has become more radical and violent. Under his leadership, the insurgency has spread to neighbouring countries, killed more than 20,000 people and driven more than 2.2 million from their homes. Shekaus age is unknown, but he is believed to be in his 40s. He was born in Nigerias northeastern state of Yobe. He studied theology under local clerics in the Mafoni area of Maiduguri, then attended Borno State College of Legal and Islamic Studies for higher studies on Islam. He is believed to speak four languages, Arabic, Hausa, Fula and his native Kanuri. According to analysts, he is a loner and communicates with Boko Haram members through a few select confidants. The group communicates and claims responsibility for attacks by posting video or audio messages of its leader. The Nigerian military has announced Shekaus death several times, but he has always reappeared alive on video. In March 2015, Shekau switched allegiance from al-Qaeda to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and declared that Boko Haram be known as the ISILs West Africa Province. In August 2016, ISIL, also known as ISIS, announced Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the groups new leader, prompting a message from Shekau challenging the announcement of his replacement. Boko Haram has now split into two factions one loyal to Shekau and the other to Barnawi. The outpouring of emotion triggered by the shooting provoked real tension among the followers of the group. The sermons of Mohammed Yusuf were fierce, but behind the scenes the leader of Boko Haram urged caution. His position, however, became untenable. The hardliners of the movement, led by Abubakar Shekau, called for immediate revenge. Bishop Naga Mohammed recalls the time in Maiduguri after the shooting: This time, it was terrible. The Boko Haram held the city at stake for almost a week. That was the genesis. We dont know what had happened anyway, but later on they turned the town upside down. There was no Christians, there was no Muslims. Mosques attacked, churches attacked, all the civil societies have been attacked. The army intervened and according to Professor Perouse de Montclos there was a r eport by the government of Borno which was never published saying that 1,000 people were killed most of them civilians. The tension escalated and a full-scale military operation was undertaken in just a few days. Some Boko Haram members died, some escaped, and Yusuf was arrested. While in jail, he was asked to reveal the name of his right hand, and he named Abubakar Shekau. He didnt know he was going to die at that moment, he knew he was in a bad position. But Yusuf had been arrested several times before. He did not know that he would be shot 10 minutes later in the street, says Apard. Once arrested Yosuf had the right to been taken to court, but the government had given the order to shoot him. Yusuf was the dove of Boko Haram. Once he was killed, you have killed the dove. You have killed the structuring element of the group, which would disintegrate into small autonomous cells and clandestine groups. The vultures immediately took power after his extrajudicial execution in 2009, says Perouse de Montclos. The armys role as a recruiter for Boko Haram After the death of Mohammed Yusuf, the survivors of the battle of Maiduguri gathered in Niger to prepare their revenge. In July 2010, Boko Haram launched their first attacks in the state of Borno. Their target group was initially security forces and bad Muslims, corrupt Muslims who were in government. It was not the Christians. But in 2010, Christian minorities were targeted with planned attacks, says Perouse de Montclos. The attacks against Christians provoked a widespread outpouring of emotion in the country. This added to the targeted murders of security forces, traditional leaders and politicians considered to be corrupt by the group. After Boko Haram carried out a suicide attack on the headquarters of the national police in Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan was forced to send the army to the northeast, but it was an army that was ill-prepared and poorly educated. These people came with ignorance.... they perceived that everybody was Muslim. And if you are Muslim you are supporting Boko Haram, even though you are not supporting Boko Haram openly. So the army treated civilians the same as they treated Boko Haram. by Fulan Nasrullah, Boko Haram insider The soldiers sent to fight in Borno did not speak the local languages, so when they said Hands up, the people did not understand and didnt raise their hands. They shot at the crowd. Every time there was an attack against the military, there were acts of revenge Action. Reaction. So if the attack started in a certain neighbourhood, they would burn that neighbourhood This built the legend of Boko Haram and people wanted to join the group not because they followed the ideas but because they were afraid of the repression by the military The army has played a big role as a recruiter for Boko Haram, says Perouse de Montclos. In May 2013, President Jonathan declared a state of emergency. Boko Harams territorial expansion The summer of 2014 marked Boko Harams year of territorial expansion. The group seized several towns in the northeast of the country and the Nigerian army was on the verge of defeat. In the south of the state of Borno, Boko Haram took the town of Gwoza without any resistance. Fear was imposed in the areas controlled by Boko Haram and the purging of what they called bad Muslims and the hunting of Christians continued and got worse. What is happening is not a jihad, its genocide. What are your objectives? What do you want to achieve? Its a faithless Muslim organisation engaged in carnage. And then unfortunately the media and the people took it as Islam, but theres no Islam there, says Adam Muhammad Ajiri, professor of Islamic studies, University of Maiduguri. The civilians who fled the fighting and the massacres crowded into camps in the region. More than two million people, forcibly displaced, have lost almost everything and most of them are severely traumatised. Technical defeat: They wont kill the ideology As Boko Haram continued to advance, France at the request of then Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan organised a summit to discuss security in the region. An international military coalition was formed and the armies of neighbouring Chad and Niger now had the right to pursue into Nigerian territory. After several months of fierce fighting, the coalition managed to drive Boko Haram from the large cities in the state of Borno. In December 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, the new Nigerian president, declared that Boko Haram technically defeated. Even though Boko Haram has suffered many military setbacks against the international coalition, the group still threatens isolated villages in the region challenging the claim of victory by the Nigerian military. They may crush the movement, but they wont kill the ideology, which is based on the gap between the rich and the poor in Nigeria. The ideology it brought, that Yusuf started, can spread everywhere. Even if the movement has been crushed, maybe in two or three years time we will have to see what they do and where it will re-emerge, says Apard. English News Joint efforts needed to counter terrorism globally Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 22 Decembre 2016 Terrorism is a common threat to all human beings, which means it is the common task for each country to fight against terrorism. But in fact, some countries have adopted double-standards toward anti-terrorism, or even mixed their hidden agendas in the process. They sometimes even pocketed extra benefits by using counter-terrorism as a tool. By Zhong Sheng from Peoples Daily The successive terrorist attacks in Turkey and Germany on Monday have spurred worldwide condemnation of the violent acts of terrorism. Once again, people have realized the necessity to join hands to fight terrorism. So far, the motivations behind the incidents are not quite clear, but the occurrence of such cases does reflect the changed situation in international anti-terrorism work. With 2016 coming to an end, terrorism has shown signs of globalization, localization, fragmentation and online operation. The two major terrorist groups, ISIS and Al Quaeda, compete with each other in terrorist attacks, resulting in an increase in worldwide terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the international anti-terrorism work is held back by power politics by major countries, especially the disagreement between the US and Russia, thus preventing the formation of a joint force to crack down on terrorism. The assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey reminded people of the terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012, which caused the death of the US ambassador. The US and Russia have huge differences on several regional agendas since the turmoil broke out in West Asia and North Africa, but both of them have had to deal with this common challenge. It was regrettable that over the past years, the common challenge didnt encourage their anti-terrorism cooperation. Not long ago, the Middle East witnessed two major battles: One was the Mosul attack started by Iraqi government, and the other was the Aleppo battle participated by Syrian government forces with the support of Russia. Both of them have something to do with counter-terrorism. Both ISIS in Mosul and al-Nusra Front occupying Aleppo are terrorist groups listed by the UN, but the Western countries have adopted different attitudes toward the two wars. On the one hand, they supported the Mosul battle and sent reinforcements to crack down on terrorism in a hope to make up for their reputation damage caused by the Iraq war; on the other hand, they tried to stop Aleppo battle by defending the al-Nusra Front. They even accused Russia and Syria of undermining humanitarianism. Though many Western governments condemned the attack soon after the assassination of the Russian Ambassador, some media still showed their bias against Russia by emphasizing in their reports that the incident was related to Russias support for Assad government and bombing of Syrian civilians. Terrorism is a common threat to all human beings, which means it is the common task for each country to fight against terrorism. But in fact, some countries have adopted double-standards toward anti-terrorism, or even mixed their hidden agendas in the process. They sometimes even pocketed extra benefits by using counter-terrorism as a tool. It will lead to catastrophic consequences if each country only focuses on their petty schemes in facing this global threat. Both Russia and Western countries are victims of the two attacks. The Western countries and Russia have divergences on a series of issues in Syria and Middle East, but the terrorists have launched indiscriminate attacks on them. It proves that no one alone can win against extremism and terrorism. It is imperative and necessary for all the stakeholders to put aside their differences and join hands to maintain world stability. Historian Niall Ferguson, when talking about the fear of terrorism, wrote that the demons described by Dostoevsky would return to the world after the short peace. Looking into the future, the key to global counter-terrorism cooperation lies in the Syrian and Iraqi crisis since one priority is to stop the terrorists from rebuilding bases in the two states. At the same time, the world has to curb the spread of terrorism mindset, stay alert against the lonely wolf attacks, and increase efforts to solve religious confrontations and geopolitical competition that tend to be manipulated by terrorist groups. In order to prevent demons, all of the nations should come together to fight against terrorism. Dans la meme rubrique : < > China enhances efforts to promote biodiversity conservation China stress its commitment to push ahead peace and development for humanity at 20th CPC National Congress CPC's governance experience is worth learning from Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) While the fraud at Wells Fargo is troubling in every aspect, it points to a larger problem: How were thousands of employees able to open bogus accounts, and in some cases transfer money out of real consumer accounts, all without the consumer being involved? To paraphrase the movie "Cool Hand Luke," what we have here is a failure to authenticate. As widely reported in September, Wells Fargo employees submitted applications for more than half a million consumer credit card accounts and 1.5 million deposit accounts, unbeknownst to the consumers whose names were associated with these accounts. In some cases bank employees went as far as to create fake email addresses and PINs. It was more than an annoyance for consumers they racked up delinquency fees and their credit records were damaged in many cases. The employees were incentivized to open the accounts to hit numbers so they would receive bonuses, or at least keep their jobs. Wells Fargo has fired 5,300 employees related to the behavior and was fined $185 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and ordered to issue $5 million in refunds to customers. Less appreciated is the problem that in addition to motivation, the employees were given the means to commit fraud. They had enough access to consumers' personal information to open the accounts full name, date of birth, Social Security number, address, etc. to pass a single, knowledge-based factor of authentication. Had Wells Fargo simply complied with Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council guidelines on multifactor authentication across all channels, there would have been substantially less fraud. Setting up a new account requires consent. Consent requires a customer interaction. The guidance makes it clear that two factors of authentication should be used for each interaction. We know the bank did not comply because if it had, a consumer would have needed to be involved on each account opening. Banking requires at least two separate factors of authentication (asking two knowledge questions is not two separate factors). The first factor is something you know, for example a Social Security number. By itself, this is easy to beat. The second factor can be something you own, such as a driver's license, debit card, computer or mobile device. This is very hard to beat. Alternatively, that second factor could be something you are i.e., a biometric such as a voice or fingerprint. This is also hard to beat. Beating two authentication factors on thousands of accounts without tripping an internal auditing system? Impossible. While the Wells Fargo fraud was perpetrated by insiders who had access to consumer data, that doesn't limit the failure. With the preponderance of data breaches the last few years, many consumers have personal information floating around on the dark web available for purchase. It's more important than ever that our federally insured banking institutions comply with regulatory authentication guidance. It's well past time that strong adherence to authentication rules, as well as the enforcement of those rules, became the new normal. Not only will that protect the consumer but it will protect financial institutions from threats both inside and outside. Don Thibeau is the chairman and president of the Open Identity Exchange, a global trade group focused on identity authentication that promotes collaboration among competing firms to build trust in digital transactions. In the wake of the Wells Fargo cross-sale scandal, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has requested that large and regional banks disclose their sales and incentive compensation practices. It's likely the OCC's so-called horizontal sweep will identify other banks with similar violations. In fact, the regulator may already have a pipeline of firms it is investigating for similar violations. The episode has sparked public outrage toward Wells that may seep into the industry at large, and the OCC's scrutiny may unveil additional banks engaged in potentially fraudulent activity. But in addition to all that, the scandal reflects increased accountability of individuals who violate regulations, particularly compliance officers who are responsible for a bank's adherence to consumer regulations. Already, we've seen the chief executive of Wells Fargo resign. We may see more naming of names as regulators around the world are zeroing in on individual accountability. Banks don't break laws it's the people who work for them who violate the rules. A prime example of this shift toward individual accountability is Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates' 2015 memo. The so-called Yates memo states that corporations must identify all individuals involved in or responsible for the misconduct at issue regardless of their position, status or seniority to receive credit for cooperating in an investigation. While the memo was not written specifically about banking institutions, it certainly applies to fraud investigations like the Wells Fargo case. In the end, scandals like the Wells Fargo one raise questions about the role of bank risk and compliance officers. With sales incentives having driven five years of phony accounts, and the bank having quietly fired 5,300 employees, observers have inevitably asked, "Why didn't the risk and compliance officers stop this?" In an environment of heightened risk from individual accountability, risk and compliance officers should follow these three principles to prevent and detect similar occurrences within their own firm: Take inventory. Gain a clear, companywide understanding of which business units have sales performance incentive plans. Perform a review of your sales incentive compensation programs, taking note of cross-sale goals and objectives. Review related policies, procedures and training materials to ensure they provide controls and guidance to prevent individuals from engaging in criminal violations. Review any prior audit reports, exam results, and risk and control assessments for these units. Identify and follow up with any matters requiring attention or management responses. Review whistleblower hotline calls and employee records for staff terminated for cause. Finally, consider sending letters to new account owners to confirm validity. Gain a clear, companywide understanding of which business units have sales performance incentive plans. Perform a review of your sales incentive compensation programs, taking note of cross-sale goals and objectives. Review related policies, procedures and training materials to ensure they provide controls and guidance to prevent individuals from engaging in criminal violations. Review any prior audit reports, exam results, and risk and control assessments for these units. Identify and follow up with any matters requiring attention or management responses. Review whistleblower hotline calls and employee records for staff terminated for cause. Finally, consider sending letters to new account owners to confirm validity. Respond to red flags. A compliance officer should constantly look for red flags that indicate something unsavory is happening within their organization. A good way to start is by checking customer complaints for any evidence of accounts being opened without customer consent. Compliance officers should also review business units with employee sales incentive plans for cross-selling and check actual results of cross selling against program goals for anomalies. Finally, identify business units where financial results appear to conflict with the unit's risk rating. For example, a low-risk unit inexplicably generating 30% profits should raise alarms. A compliance officer should constantly look for red flags that indicate something unsavory is happening within their organization. A good way to start is by checking customer complaints for any evidence of accounts being opened without customer consent. Compliance officers should also review business units with employee sales incentive plans for cross-selling and check actual results of cross selling against program goals for anomalies. Finally, identify business units where financial results appear to conflict with the unit's risk rating. For example, a low-risk unit inexplicably generating 30% profits should raise alarms. Protect yourself by documenting everything. Risk and compliance officers must keep accurate and verifiable records. Often, keeping evidence of the decision-making process can be challenging. If you've ever performed incident management or root cause analysis, you know determining individual accountability can be daunting. All too often, roles, responsibilities and procedures are not clearly documented or acknowledged. Accurate records of "who did what and when" are often left to memory, which tends to fade fast. Individual accountability means that no bank employees are free from scrutiny, especially risk and compliance professionals. Based on the Yates memo, there will likely be additional fallout not just for Wells Fargo, but also for other banks. Mark Kalen is worldwide director of product strategy and marketing for financial services at Intralinks. First Midwest Bancorp in Itasca, Ill., has hired the former chief financial officer of Fulton Financial, about two weeks after he announced his resignation from the Lancaster, Pa., company. Patrick Barrett was named to succeed Paul Clemens as CFO of the $12 billion-asset parent of First Midwest Bank and its holding company, according to a news release Wednesday. Clemens' appointment takes effect Jan. 5. Barrett, 52, submitted his resignation from the $19 billion-asset Fulton Financial on Dec. 5, according to a regulatory filing issued on Dec. 6. Fulton Financial said in the disclosure that Barrett resigned to join another firm, which it did not identify in the document. Barrett had been CFO at Fulton Financial since 2014. Fulton Financial named its chief operating officer, Philmer Rohrbaugh, as interim CFO until a full-time replacement is hired. Clemens, who has worked at First Midwest for the past 10 years, announced his plan to retire earlier this year. He will remain with First Midwest until mid-2017 to assist with Barrett's transition and with the pending acquisition of the $2.4 billion-asset Standard Bank & Trust in Hickory Hills, Ill. Jaxport CEO Eric Green said the $23.5 million grant marks a milestone in our initiatives to build the port of the future and move cargo in the most efficient and eco-friendly way possible. Islam is not the problem, proclaims the Left. And if you say otherwise, youre a racist, even though Muslim is not a race. Yet a fact remains: virtually all the worlds terrorists today claim Islamic motivations. So if Islam (belief) is not the problem, are we then left with a genetic explanation for this violence? Is there something inherent in the groups generally embracing Islam Arabs, Persians, Indonesians, Punjabis, etc. that would account for it? And, hey, Im just asking; its the liberals who profess ideas suggesting this possibility. Consider: When analyzing WWII and Germany, few claim the problem was Germans, but Nazism. When looking at 1917 Russia, we dont say the problem was Russians, but Marxism. So fill in the blank: when evaluating the Muslim world and its violence, do we assume the problem is the people or _____? Then there are other explanations for Muslim violence, all of which amount to Islamsplainin. Poverty is one, but the Muslim world is not uniquely poor. There are many millions of poor Catholics in South America, Africa and elsewhere; and hundreds of millions of poor Hindus in India. Yet they arent committing terrorist acts. And Osama bin Laden was worth $125 million. Another excuse is U.S. meddling in Muslim nations affairs; our taking Israels side in the Mideast is always Exhibit A. But theres simply no good correlation between American interventionism and Muslim violence. Many nations and regions, such as Nigeria, Kashmir, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Mali, have problems with Islamic terrorism in the absence of a Yankee hand. In fact, it isnt unusual for Muslim nations to occupy 8 spots on a list of the worlds 10 most dangerous countries (examples found here and here). It also isnt unusual for a non-Muslim nation in the top 10 to be a country such as North Korea or Central African Republic, the latter of which is 15 percent Muslim. This is no surprise, mind you, if were to believe a comprehensive German study of 45,000 youths that was reported in 2010. It found that while increasing religiosity among the Christian youths made them less violent, increasing religiosity among the Muslim youths actually made them more violent. When evaluating Islam and seeking to understand such phenomena, a simple but important point is never made. Christians may use as a guide for behavior, What would Jesus do? (WWJD); likewise, Muslims view Mohammed as a role model, considering him the Perfect Man. But there is a difference. Ive heard leftists diminish Jesus, saying things such as He wasnt divine, He never existed, we dont know anything about Him, He had brothers and that He was married. What Ive never heard them say it might have been uttered but is rare enough to have eluded my ears is that He wasnt a good man. This is why instead of condemning Jesus, un-Christian movements will often seek to co-opt His story for their own purposes, as the Nazis did with their so-called Positive Christianity. Thats how unassailable Jesus is as a model for behavior. What of Mohammed? He was a warlord who launched close to 30 military campaigns, many of which he led himself. He was a caravan raider (a bandit) and captured, traded in and owned slaves (note: will liberals suggest slave-owning Mohammed be diminished, as they have sought to erase our founders memory?). He ordered massacres, used torture and had dissidents assassinated. He was a polygamist and made it lawful for masters to have sexual relations with their female captives. Mohammad also wasnt very fond of dogs, an attitude begetting their mistreatment in the Islamic world (warning: last three links are disturbing). One could quip here, if the dog is mans best friend and Mohammad hated dogs, was he really part of the family of man? But, in fairness and as Ill acknowledge, as with Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan or Tamerlane, Mohammad was largely a man of his time and place. And Id be happy to let him rest in peace and put his memory to bed except for one thing: more than a billion people worldwide wont. This brings us to that seldom heard point. If someone said Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan or Tamerlane was the Perfect Man and used him as his role model, would you turn your back on that person? Its not just the freedom from guilt by association phenomenon, where, as Hollywood does, people are made to have an affinity for a character for the purposes getting them to accept what hes associated with (e.g., homosexuality). Nor is it akin to admiration for George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, which would wisely be tempered with the knowledge that they were, like everyone else, humans with flaws. For there simply is no room for criticism of a Perfect Man, no way to say Alright, Ill take the good he did and run with it and ignore the bad. If a perfect man does something, it cannot be bad. So is it fair to say that in the Islamic world, spreading religion by the sword, murder, rape and slavery have the sanction of a perceived embodiment of perfection? If much of the Islamic world appears mired in a medieval mentality, it could be because theyre modeling after a medieval man. Yet what mainly plagues us is not Muslims enslavement to misbegotten ideas, but our own. For example, many Westerners cannot open their minds to the possibility that any religion could be a destructive force because theyre in the grip of a destructive force themselves: Religious Equivalence Doctrine, which holds as dogma that all faiths are morally equal. Some may say a solution to this is, as they put it, to realize Islam is not a religion. I hope these people will read the following with an open mind, because I believe this is a misguided notion that itself is dangerous. The idea is thought to have utility: declassify Islam as a religion and rob it of First Amendment protection. Yet how much good would this do? The amendment also guarantees freedom of speech and allows even secular beliefs such as Nazism and Marxism to be promoted. All the proposal could really do is remove Islams tax-free status. The idea is destructive, too, because it appears predicated on the assumption that a religion would have to be good or prescriptive of peace. (In reality, many if not most religions in history, such as that of the human-sacrificing Aztecs, dont meet that standard.) Yet this notion strays mighty close to Religious Equivalence Doctrine, which is corruptive because since different faiths espouse different values, not all faiths can be equal unless all values are. This is moral relativism, which has some serious implications. For example, what differentiates different ideologies is also that they espouse different values. Yet if all values were equal, we couldnt say that conservatism was any better than Nazism or Marxism. We rightly dont believe this, of course, and we should apply the same standard to religion. To wit: religion isnt bad, but there is bad religion. In other words, if we refuse to make qualitative distinctions among religions any group of religions it implies that qualitative differences among values or value sets dont exist. This would mean tolerance could be no better than intolerance, Christianity no better than Islam, and good will toward men no better than jihad. Delving deeper, however, the truth is that, in the most important sense, the secular/religious distinction is a false one. Consider: If God exists, is it more significant that we label belief in Him religious or that its true? If Marxism is essentially a lie, is it more significant that we label it secular or that its untrue? The most important distinction, the only one that really matters, is the true and the untrue. (Note: because weve lost sight of this, our courts now essentially say that Christianity cannot be in government schools but Marxism can. Ponder that.) In the final analysis, people believe things. Some of those things are good and some of those things are bad. Some awfully bad things are believed by a large number of people today. If we want to survive, wed better recognize what those things are and who promotes them and act accordingly. Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com The cold tundra of Minnesota was a foreboding land to early settlers. French fur traders came to the bountiful lakes of the Northern Territory in search of hides and pelts. German and Norwegian farmers came for some of the richest farmland in the world. Flour mills in Minneapolis hired Irish and Polish workers and iron ore mines on the great Mesabi Range brought in Swedish and Eastern European immigrants. Today, many immigrants come from Mexico and Central America. They work in restaurants, at summer farms, and on roofing and construction sites. Programmers from India and Asia work in the many high-tech jobs the Twin Cities provide. Except for the proud Native American tribes, some of whom have become very wealthy from casino gambling revenues, all citizens of Minnesota are or were descendants of immigrants. And, as you may have heard, Minnesota has the largest Somali population outside of Africa. Like many immigrants, no doubt, most came for new opportunity and jobs. Many also have come for some of the most generous welfare benefits in the nation. Aided by many charities, notably Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Charities, and American Refugee Committee, Somali immigrants have transformed the face of Minnesota, not only in major cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul but in many outstate mid-size cities such as St. Cloud and Wilmar. The exact number of the Somali community in Minnesota is a matter of dispute. Minnesota officials put the number somewhere between 30 to 40 thousand. Those in the Somali community put the number much higher. With many Somali refugees from other states moving to Minnesota, one of the highest birth rates of any immigrant group in America, and numerous efforts made to resettle family members still in Somalia or in neighboring refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, the real number of Somalis in Minnesota is probably closer, or soon will be, to 100,000. With the influx of tens of thousands of Somalis have come numerous mosques and, of course, Islam. I grew up on the Eastside of Minneapolis. Full of historic Catholic Churches and many Polish and Eastern European surnames and delis, I don't recall a single mosque in the neighborhood. Now, in my neighborhood alone, I count at least a half dozen. Anecdotal evidence no doubt, but with 95 to 99 percent of Somalis identifying as Muslim, a building boom of mosques and Islamic Centers has occurred all over the City of Lakes and the North Star State. Good liberals praise the "increased diversity" of Minnesota and are quick to decry any real concerns as "Islamophobia". In 2015, Mark Dayton, bleeding heart governor of Minnesota, told a group of longtime residents in St. Cloud after recent problems between white and Somali students at schools in the area, that if they didn't like the new reality of tens of thousands of Muslim immigrants they should "find another state." Great. Minnesota is a welcoming state, except for those who have been here all their lives. The Fifth Congressional district of Minnesota, anchored by the entire city of Minneapolis, has been represented by Keith Ellison for over a decade. Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress is seeking to run the DNC. Despite past ties to the Nation of Islam, Ellison is easily reelected every two years and has risen in national Democratic circles. In addition to Ellison, Minneapolis has elected Somalis to the city council and state legislature. This is not the Scandinavian and German enclave Minneapolis and much of Minnesota used to be. With the largest concentration of Somalis in America, the local news is often full of stories about terrorist recruitment. Dozens of young Somali men have left Minnesota to fight with Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda-sponsored group in Somalia. Six men were recently tried here in federal court for attempting to join ISIS. A knife-wielding man in St. Cloud attacked numerous people at a mall, stopping to cordially ask before stabbing if any were Muslim. Denying that Islamic extremists exist in the Somali community is like denying Minnesota winters are cold. Yet, the nonstop flow of Somali refugees continues. It is time for a pause Minnesotans need a break. Our charity is exhausted, our Minnesota Nice worn out. Apart from terrorism, the state's social services have been greatly stressed. Public housing has long waiting lists, Section 8 apartments are full, welfare rolls have grown significantly and the number of refugees with dangerous and costly diseases like TB is substantial. Acknowledging real problems with refugees and real problems with Islamic terrorism is not racism or fear mongering, it is common sense. For decades, liberal Europe encouraged Muslim immigration and turned a blind eye to radical clerics and segregated "no go zones". I am afraid the same reality has happened in Minnesota. Entire neighborhoods in Minneapolis, such as Cedar Riverside, dominated by low-income public housing high rises, are almost entirely Somali. Integration and assimilation have not occurred the way we were told by charities and Somali activists. A permanent, aggrieved underclass of Muslims ripe for radicalization is now the reality in the heartland of America. The parallels to France and other nations in Europe is both real and concerning. Numerous mass casualty attacks have now led many nations, including France, Belgium, and Germany, to reconsider their open border and immigration policies. Attacks in San Bernardino, Orlando, St. Cloud, and Columbus should lead us to do the same. There is a real threat from radical Sunni Islam that cannot be ignored. I do not see Orthodox Jews flying airplanes into buildings. I do not see many Indian Hindu immigrants asking people their religion before stabbing them. And I do not recall many Mexicans pledging allegiance to a foreign religious group before killing dozens at a nightclub. We ignore reality when we refuse to acknowledge radical Islam for what it is... a grave and existential threat to America's national security. We need common sense when it comes to immigration, not just compassion. Condemning radical Islam is not to condemn the entire religion. Years ago, many Catholics viewed attacks on pedophile priests as an attack on their religion. As a lifelong Catholic, a graduate of America's oldest Jesuit college (Georgetown University) and having a sister who is a Dominican nun, I will admit that I often dismissed claims of clergy sexual abuse as attacks on the Church and legitimate grievances against grandstanding bishops as "anti-Catholic rhetoric." I was wrong. There was a real problem in the Catholic clergy and a harmful defensiveness amongst Catholic bishops and protective laity. Denying the problem made it worse. Attacking those who told the truth ended up hurting the faithful, not helping them. Muslims who refuse to acknowledge radical Islam and the terrorism it breeds are only hurting the vast majority of Muslims who want peace. We are a nation of immigrants. The frozen north of Minnesota was transformed into a productive, innovative, and enterprising territory because of immigrants. There is a reason companies like 3M, Medtronic, General Mills, and Cargill have prospered here. Minnesota is responsible for countless inventions, everything from toasters to thermostats to supercomputers and Black Box recording devices to cortisone, pacemakers and Scotch tape were invented here. We welcome and help people from all backgrounds and faiths. Minnesota has been especially generous in this regard. That is a good thing. However, being a nation of immigrants does not mean we are a nation of idiots. We need a pause on immigration from countries that produce terrorists. We need a better system to vet and deport people who want to harm us and hate our way of life. We need an immigration system that considers the community that is already here instead of forcing tens of thousands of refugees on good but limited people. We need an immigration system that protects great states like Minnesota and realizes the true nature of radical Islam, not an immigration system that harbors terrorists and pushes liberal fantasies over common sense. Cain Pence (no known relation to Vice President Mike Pence) is a Minneapolis based writer. Mr. Pence is a graduate of Georgetown University and has traveled extensively throughout all 50 states. His writings have appeared in numerous publications including The Hill, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Minneapolis Post and others. He can be reached at caino@cainpence.com. On December 19th, I felt like the gladiator walking into the lions den as we took our seats in the gallery of the Washington State Electoral College in Olympia. Always uber-liberal, the states Birkenstock babes and dudes came out in force, to witness the Democratic vote. Protestors rallied and grumbled on the steps to the capitol rotunda in their show of force against Donald Trump. As a former Democrat I find it glaringly obvious that radical identity politics doesnt serve most mainstream Americans. The crossing over is unacceptably uncomfortable to those of us who grew up with the message of John F. Kennedy and the common cause of freedom he espoused for all Americans. Meanwhile, inside the chamber, Secretary of State, Kim Wyman (R) stepped up to the podium, clearly feeling out of her element. Perhaps this was her first Electoral College count or her nervousness was a product of her party affiliation. Launching forward, she introduced the chairman of the electors, Julie Johnson; but as an afterthought, she quickly backed up to lead the chamber in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Johnson again took the podium and requested an elder of the Puyallup tribe give the blessing. It was a wonderful cultural moment when he honored the four directions with a flute melody, blessing the room and the body. After the final count, eight out of twelve remained true to the Clinton camp, but four of them rammed forward an agenda against the Electoral College. Four faithless electors took center stage to cast their votes -- three for Colin Powell, and one for Faith Spotted Eagle, organizer of the Dakota Pipeline protest. While the votes were counted, spokeswoman Johnson invited each elector to speak about themselves. This was where I found their philosophical makeup to be most interesting. Three electors were Native American. Predictably their views tilted away from the government establishment toward Earth issues and opposing cultural thought. The rest were comprised of young people who felt socially oppressed on some level. A Hispanic woman spoke first and urged citizens to read history and understand how our government really works, implying that improvement was needed. Three electors were African American and spoke on their views of being electors. Next, a person wearing a floral print dress stated he/she represented the transgendered community and joked about how he/she almost missed the vote due to a late train from Seattle. Another young woman with a bald head mentioned that she was a terminal cancer patient, and cited how another stricken friend had spoken with Clinton at length about curing cancer. Her main point was that she felt Trump would not be in favor of curing cancer. An American Muslim woman stood up next to tell how she felt about being an elector and the honor she felt in doing so. Lastly, the cofounder of the Hamilton Electors spoke about how he felt the Electoral College was an antiquated concept and hoped to see it abolished before he was called to participate again. As social justice warriors, the body of twelve seemed deeply antagonistic toward the concept of being electors at all. In the end, they all agreed that by the 2020 election, it was their sincere hope that the Electoral College would be extinct. Doing her duty, the Secretary of State is currently conferring with the attorney general to punish the faithless four who chose to go against the law of the electoral body. Its time we stood our ground as ordinary citizens in making sure that the Electoral College survives. In my view, these young people have an incomplete understanding of the system, and fail to see the value in representing the entire United States as a whole. They need to take a step back in history to understand why the Founders designed this unique system truly controlled by We the People and not the party who was beaten fair and square. Insular in their views, they demonstrate just how ignorant and self-absorbed our society has become toward the well-being of all Americans. I would encourage citizens to contact their state legislators and demand laws be strengthened to prevent faithless electors from overturning the will of the people, and the Electoral College. As a proud grateful American who happens to be black, what I am about to say is sure to cause me to be called ugly names and the black community yelling, Off with his head! Frankly, I do not care. God calls Christians to be salt rather than surrendering to evil groupthink. I saw a TV commercial for the NAACP Image Awards in which a group of black youths on stage had clinched fists raised in the black power pose. The camera cut to multimillionaire black celebs like Spike Lee in the audience smiling approvingly. I thought, here we go again, another generation of black youths taught to view themselves as victims and hate their country. The NAACP Image Awards is all about keeping the grievance industry alive and well. I watched segments of the 47th NAACP Image Awards show on YouTube. Sure enough, I was correct. In his acceptance speech, John Legend despicably furthered the lie that cops routinely abuse and murder blacks. The audience erupted in enthusiastic agreement. Well, I am sorry, folks. But Legend's statement is a lie from the pits of hell which paints a bulls-eye on the backs of America's brave men and women in blue. Stats confirm that 93% of black homicide victims are killed by other blacks. So no, I could not have sat in that hall and cheered along with black multimillionaires, selling lies that infect the minds of black youths who are blessed to be born in the greatest land of opportunity on the planet. In essence, the blacks in that hall betrayed their people. The vast majority of blacks in that hall achieved success following the Republican formula for success: education, hard work, striving, and achieving excellence while making responsible choices. Shouldn't that have been the theme of the 47th NAACP Image Awards rather than the Democrats' tired old black-vote-winning lie that whitey is out to get you and is responsible for all your problems? It sickens me, folks. So no, I would not have been welcomed in that hall which is fine with me. As a matter of fact, I have spoken and performed my American Tea Party Anthem song at over 500 Tea Party rallies on 14 national bus tours. I feel more at home with my white brothers and sisters at those rallies than I ever would at the NAACP (View Yourself as a Victim/Hate America) Awards. Insidiously, Leftist media successfully branded the Tea Party racist in the minds of many. In reality, I met salt-of-the-earth good people who love their country at Tea Party rallies. They simply opposed Obama driving America off the cliff into socialist/progressive hell. In his speech, John Legend said we are still fighting for freedom. The audience erupted with applause. Again, I scratched my hand. What the heck are these black elites talking about? A black man has been running the country for the past eight years. And yet, the speakers and even a rap music production number spoke of America as if it was 1950 rather than 2016. Let's consider the absurd notion that blacks are still not free in America. Why hasn't Obama fixed it after eight years? According to the Left's grievance industry, nothing ever gets fixed or better. Folks, this absurd narrative from the Left is not good. It is divisive, destructive and evil. Why do so few in the black community see that furthering the Left's lie that America has it in for blacks discourages and ultimately harms blacks? Meanwhile, John Legend's net worth is $20 million. Spike Lee, another promoter of the Democrats' America sucks for blacks lie, is worth $40 million. That hall was filled with mega-wealthy black celebs enthusiastically supporting the slander of police and trashing of the country which has blessed them beyond their wildest dreams. Did I mention that blacks are only 12% of the U.S. population? Therefore, white America made those ungrateful blacks rich. This is another obvious truth that I will be called names for daring to say out loud. Okay, so we are to assume that the purpose of the NAACP Image Awards is to inspire blacks. Did any speaker address epidemic school dropouts -- over 70% out-of-wedlock births/fatherless households, black genocide numbers of abortions and record-breaking black on black homicides? No. The so-called awards show was all about promoting the lie that blacks are still victims of racist white America and murderous cops. Disgusting. Meanwhile, these rich black operatives of the grievance industry (Leftists) claim to be huge advocates for black empowerment. In reality, they are saying, don't do what we did to become rich. Stick with voting for Democrats who will give you free phones, food stamps, and just enough to survive to ensure that you show up at voting booths every four years. Y'all don't have to worry about us rich blacks or Democrats confronting you with the huge elephant in the black community's living room; killin' each other, droppin' out of school; aborting yourselves into extinction and the vast majority of your kids raised without fathers. All that is fine with us as long as y'all keep votin' for Democrats. We'll just keep saying every issue plaguing black Americans is the fault of whitey and this freaking racist country. Y'all down with that? Peace! Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American Chairman: The Conservative Campaign Committee http://www.lloydmarcus.com/ President-Elect Trumps meeting with the chief executive of Air Force One primary contractor Boeing went exactly as I predicted on December 8. The PEOTUS has set the stage for a symbolically important drama that instructs other government contractors, especially defense, that a new sheriff is in town, and cost is now a serous consideration that will be closely monitored. And for the voters, the lesson is already clear and will be dramatized vividly in the second and third acts to follow. The days of wasteful spending enriching insiders are over. Watch this video from the Associated Press, featuring Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg leaving from his meeting with Trump at Mar a Lago, and fully endorsing Trumps initiative to cut costs from the Air Force One project: As I outlined almost 2 weeks ago, the project can be brought in under budget and ahead of schedule by following Trumps established pattern of behavior in past triumphs in particular his Wollman Rink achievement in quickly and economically completing a job that the New York City government was unable to handle competently: Trump wants to use the basic approach he used when he saved the foundering Wollman Rink project in Central Park. Instead of the advanced technology chosen by the citys officials (Freon circulated in expensive and fragile copper pipe in the name of energy savings), Trump brought in much cheaper established technologies (circulating brine) that used a little more energy but were reliable. Trump also got the advice and help of the best people in the business of building ice rinks. Trump brought in the project in four months and 25% under budget, not the two years the city had planned for its next attempt to finish the rink six years after it had been closed for renovations. The new Air Force One is incomparably more complex than an ice rink, but Trumps approach to the cost and completion issues of advanced technologies is likely to draw on the pattern of action he displayed at Wollman. I would assume that Trumps people who review the contract and negotiate with Boeing are going to want to hear the arguments against using more established technologies that are off-the-shelf or cost-effective modifications of existing components and systems. There may be ways of redefining capabilities that are currently demanded. For instance, the specifications for this Air Force One reportedly demanded four engines in the name of reliability. But the new-generation high-thrust engines are so reliable that old restrictions on twin-engine flight are disappearing. Twin-engine airliners routinely fly over vast empty oceans many times a day. The era of four-engine airliners is closing, with the 747-8i and Airbus 380 both languishing as their backlogs shrink. There would be no economic advantage in substituting a Boeing 77W or 787-10 for the 747 frame, since the four-holers are available and are being discounted in order to move the metal, as they say in the industry. But there may well be other specifications that safely could be relaxed. If the Trump administration follows this approach of using more existing systems and weighting cost and speed more heavily than seems to have been the case to date, it could set up a great long-term story: bringing in the new-generation Air Force One not just on time and on budget, but ahead of the old schedule for substantially less money. If this is the approach taken, expect Trump to highlight every step of the process, perhaps even visiting the Assembly Building to thank the workers building the plane and providing irresistible images. (snip) This dramatic storyline of Air Force One is exactly what is needed to change the behavior of Pentagon weapons buyers. They need to weigh costs more heavily into the equation and eschew all the fun of pushing the state-of-the-art. New procedures and other changes from above are one thing, but getting buy-in from the operating staff is important. The Air Force One model could become a very valuable tool in changing the culture of weapons procurement. In addressing military culture, which values leadership by example, Trumps use of the presidents private craft as the example of how to wring out costs is sheer genius. If this all plays out as predicted here, The Air Force One Story will be far more than a personal media stunt; it will serve as an effective tool of reform of our military. I expect the scenario to play out exactly as I described it. Mr. Muilenburg is already playing out Act One a scripted by Donald Trump, the master of reality television. One of lifes great mysteries is the fact that people with high intelligence scores are so often stupid not just stupid, but breathtakingly so. I have seen it in my personal and professional life, as I am sure that you have also. Examples abound. Here is just one. I once worked for an organization that was obviously failing. A concerned high-ranking person asked me if I had noticed any problems in the company. I listed several, all of them significant. He then gave me a blank stare and said something to the effect of Good, Im glad to see there are no problems and walked away. Here is a more serious one one you also, no doubt, have noticed. For decades now, Islamic radicalism has been a dominant factor in worldwide terrorism. It is so blatantly obvious that no one, we would think, could possibly have missed it. Yet seemingly intelligent people steadfastly refuse absolutely refuse to acknowledge that fact. Absurd excuses are made for cold-blooded murderers who ruthlessly kill and maim innocent children, women, and men, and who do so not only without remorse, but with glee. Barack Obama has suggested that the problem stems from unemployment among young Arab men. Others blame oppression by Israelis. Western imperialism is cast as the villain. How about the Crusades? By blaming everyone except the terrorists themselves, it then became logical, in a distorted way, to import young Arab men by the hundreds of thousands into Europe, and by the many thousands into the United States. Once they got here, the reasoning went, they would adopt Western values and peacefully prosper by doing so. As the imported terrorists began racking up their macabre toll of murders, rapes, and other violent crimes, one would think this would have had some impact upon those who imported them, a decent sense of regret. No. Instead, the woman who almost became the U.S. president had vowed to import even more of them. More! Angela Merkel of Germany did in fact import about a million into the nation she leads, and at long last, the German people are beginning to take some notice, despite the attempts of their government to conceal the rape statistics, which skyrocketed after the mass immigration. The German government response: German women should dress more modestly. My thought: Perhaps they should wear burkas, and never go out of the house without a male relative. After all, thats what they do in Mecca, isnt it? The theory seems to have been that imported Arabs would adopt Western values, and assimilate into Western culture, as have immigrant Asians and Africans. Are Arabs at all different? Of course they are. You and I know that. When we see news video of throngs of Arab men ranting in the streets of London, demanding that sharia law be imposed, it becomes obvious that assimilation is the last thing these people desire. Instead, they insist that we must submit ourselves to their way of life and, by extension, death. We finally have an incoming president who recognizes the obvious, and is unafraid to give voice to those of us who also notice it. Like us, he has been ridiculed and vilified for mentioning it. We expect him to act decisively and swiftly to end the inexplicable stupidity, the madness, by which our previous leaders got so many of us killed. For the first time in years, I am optimistic. This Christmas, there are feminists torturously misinterpreting iconic holiday songs in an effort to suggest that the threat of pneumonia, meddlesome maiden aunts, and the promise of another cigarette is all that is required to convince a female to surrender her virtue to a pushy male suitor. For the rest of us, Christmas or no Christmas, one naked corpse without a head and genitals is all that is needed to convey a clear message. For instance, take the body of the headless unemployed roofer, from McAlester, Oklahoma, discovered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. That castrated corpse, the one without the head, belonged to Clifford Miller. Miller wont be home for Christmas this year because the 42-year-olds moldering remains were discovered quartered and scattered around a Walmart parking lot. The divorced father of three children, one of whom died in a car accident, left his family two months ago to seek out work in New Mexico. Homicide detectives are unsure whether or not decapitation was the cause of Cliffords death, but they believe that his body was dumped there after he was murdered. Speaking on behalf of Millers oldest daughter and ex-wife, Chandel Fults, the dead mans ex-sister-in-law, said she was unsure why the longtime employee of a roofing company was in Albuquerque looking for work. However, what is known is that Miller had a less than stellar work portfolio. According to criminal records, in the past, the unemployed roofer was charged with multiple misdemeanors and felony possession of marijuana, and in the 1990s, he had spent time cultivating marijuana. Fults said this about her ex-brother-in-law: I dont see him as a person that this could actually happen to. He was goofy; he wasnt into drugs or anything. He was a good guy. After all, everyone knows that just like goofy teenage murderers who chop off heads for cartel drug lords, individuals who spend years cultivating and selling marijuana are usually good guys who are not into drugs. And while no arrests have been made in Cliffords death thus far, Albuquerque Police Department public information officer Fred Duran didnt want to speculate whether [Cliffords murder] was related to a cartel or just a random incident. So, in other words, Fred doesnt know whether marijuana grower/pothead Miller was executed and mutilated by a drug cartel operative. However, Vox general interest news site contributor Emily Crockett does seem pretty sure that the Christmas song Baby, Its Cold Outside is a little rapey? This brings the discussion back around to how, while people shopped for LED Christmas lights, a headless, ball-less corpse ended up in a Walmart parking lot, which, in some circles, is a clear sign that a drug cartel hit was likely responsible for Clifford Millers death. Remember Edgar Jimenez Lugo, aka El Ponchis? Lugo is now a 20-year-old former cartel member who, at 14 years of age, spent his time traveling back and forth from San Diego to Mexico committing drug-war decapitations and genital dismemberments. American-born El Ponchis, which translated means The Cloaked One, earned $3,000 per hit removing heads and surgically renovating crotches, after which he and his sister dug unmarked graves and buried mutilated remains. The contract killer murdered his first victim at 11 years old. At 14, while on the run from authorities, the U.S. anchor baby went to Mexico, where he killed a student, a university cook, a gas station attendant, and a small business owner. Then, after decapitating his victims and detaching their manhood from their nether regions, Edgar strung the four disfigured bodies from a bridge in Cuernavaca, a tourist destination just south of Mexico City. Finally, after he was captured in 2010, the slithery El Ponchis was incarcerated and then set free in 2013, one week shy of serving three years. Guadalupe Valencia, a San Diego criminal defense attorney with extensive experience in immigration and extradition proceedings, said that after his release, the boy faced zero obstacles coming back into the United States. At the time, Valencia explained that [Edgar] can come live here when he turns 18 without any supervision. The US cant do anything, and Mexico cannot do anything[.] ... He wasnt charged with conspiracy in the US. So, after being detained for a few years in a juvenile detention center in the central Mexican state of Morelos, El Ponchis has spent the last three Christmases a free man. Since 2013, the impish little cutthroat has been happily roaming the streets of America doing the jobs that ex-assassins, born into violent households, to drug-addicted illegal immigrant parents, are more than happy to do. Thats why, in hopes of possibly procuring a vintage CD of Dean Martin singing that rapey Christmas song Baby, Its Cold Outside, theres no telling whether or not Edgar was in Walmart at the same time Clifford Miller was perhaps trying to infiltrate the New Mexico marijuana market. Either way, if Cliffords head and crotch had an unfortunate holiday encounter with a machete, then so be it. This year, there are more pressing issues to address, such as parsing an old Christmas song some people believe suggests that to avoid cold weather, America women will succumb to nonconsensual sex. Jeannie hosts a blog at www.jeannie-ology.com. In light of the terrible crimes against humanity in Berlin, Germany, and Ankara, Turkey, let's review some of the basic bedrock facts about Islamic violence. Let's first begin with a startling fact. All the verses (except one) in the Quran about qital (war, fighting, slaughter, killing) can be explained and limited by their historical context. Even the famous so-called Sword Verse in Chapter 9:5 (see it four Sunni translations) can be dismissed as applying only to pagans in Muhammad's day who supposedly broke a treaty with him. Like it or not, believe it or not, many Muslim scholars of a more moderate persuasion speak of these limiting historical contexts over and over again. However, there is one verse that cannot be limited by its historical context because it is open-ended. Chapter 9:29 is about Muhammad's military campaign to Tabuk (today in northern Saudi Arabia). He had heard a rumor that the Byzantines were gathering an army of 200,000, and he rode up north to meet them with his own qitalists of 20,000 to 30,000. But his prophetic powers did not work, because the rumor was false; no army materialized. Not all was lost. On his journey south, he met Jewish and Christian tribes, who must have been impressed to see such numbers. At that time he got a "revelation," so convenient for his political and military agenda, that said he could exact tribute, or the jizya tax, from these tribes. Here is the verse in a translation by Hilali and Khan (see it in three other Sunni translations), with parenthetical points they added for clarity: Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allah, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. The verb "fight" is in the imperative or command from qatala, which is much more narrow than jihad. It means slaughter, fight, kill, and wage war. (In fact, ironically, Chapter 47 can be titled either "Muhammad" or "Qital.") The weakness in the term "jihad" is that nearly every time it is used in the Quran, it really does mean "struggle" and encompasses all of life, from a struggle against one's own soul to imposing Islamic finances on a society. (One of my students was actually named Johnny Jihad, which was an honor for him. The struggle!) Yes, sometimes it does mean military warfare, but of course the Islamic left, like Egyptian Sayyid Qutb, one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, more broadly translated "jihad" into and from Marxism, which advocated the "struggle." It would be clearer for our defense and offense if we stopped using "jihad" and instead picked up the term "qital" when a violent act is committed. Of course "jihad" will never go out of fashion because it elevates the struggle in Muslim eyes. But qital and qitalist are more accurate than jihad or jihadist, in much the same way that "war" and "warrior" are more accurate than "struggle" or "struggler" in a context of violence. Thus, the most dangerous verse in the Quran is 9:29, because it is continuous and admits of no expiration date. The violent military war (qital) will continue for as long as Islam is alive and radicals keep reading that verse. Jews and Christians need to be aware that they are the verse's unending targets today and tomorrow. It staggers belief that the politicians around the Western world refuse to acknowledge this unpleasant truth. James Arlandson's website is Live as Free People where he has posted Qital (Warfare) Verses in the Quran, All the Jihad Verses in the Quran, and Islamic Martyrdom: The Economy of Death in the Quran. In the late 1990s, amidst rising poverty and with four million residents on the verge of famine, the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to spend hundreds of million dollars on three grandiose projects in a bid to bolster his Islamic credentials and preserve his tyrannical legacy. Only one was completed. The Umm al-Ma'arik mosque Umm al-Ma'arik meaning "Mother of All Battles" was designed to commemorate the First Gulf War of 1991-92, and at the same time, serve as a personal tribute to Saddam himself. The huge blue-and-white mosque, completed in April 2001, just in time for the ten-year anniversary of the Gulf War, is full of subtle and some not-so-subtle references to the war and Saddam. The unfinished Al-Rahman mosque in Baghdad. Photo credit: www.skyscrapercity.com The mosques four towering minarets is said to resemble the barrel of Kalashnikov rifles, while the four inner minarets are shaped like Scud missiles sitting on launch pads. The Kalashnikov-like minarets stand 43 meters tall that signify the 43 days of conflict with the US that occurred during Operation Desert Storm. The inner minarets, that look like Scud missiles, are 37 meters tall that represent the year of Saddam's birth, 1937. The central dome of the mosque is set in the middle of a reflecting pool of water shaped like the Arab world, in which is a 25-feet wide mosaic representation of Saddam's thumbprint with an inset magnified version of his initials, made from gold. The pools 28 fountains, the four inner minarets and their 37-meter height taken together represent the date of the megalomaniac leaders birth 28 April 1937. The most chilling link to Saddam can be found inside the mosque. Encased in glass cases are 605 pages of the Koran that the dictator had written, according to Iraqi propaganda, with his own blood. The custodian of these pages say that Saddam had donated 24 liters of blood over a period of three years that was mixed with ink and preservatives and put on paper by a Iraqi calligraphy artist. The western media is dismissive of this dubious and unverifiable claim, pointing out that the blood could easily have been of his victims instead. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein, in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the mosque was taken over by Sunni Muslims and renamed Umm al-Qura ("Mother of All Cities") mosque. Umm al-Ma'arik mosque. The four outer minarets look like Scud missiles on launch pad. Photo credit: SPC Jeffrey Allan Backowski II/Wikimedia Umm al-Ma'arik mosque. The inner minarets is said to look like the barrel of Kalashnikov rifles. Photo credit: amjedshmr/Panoramio Umm al-Ma'arik mosque. Photo credit: Omar al-Tikriti/Panoramio Umm al-Ma'arik mosque. Photo credit: zeyadtr2/Panoramio Iraqi Imams view the 605-page Koran written in Saddam Hussein's own blood at Umm al-Maarik mosque in Baghdad. Photo credit: Scott Peterson/Getty Images Saddams other two mosques couldnt be completed on time. One of these mosques, the "Great Saddam Mosque", was supposed to be the third biggest in the world after those of Mecca and Medina. It would have been a replica of the Umm al-Ma'arik mosque, but five times larger. Its dome would have been 60 meters high and 300 meters across. Surrounding the mosque there would have been eight towers, each 200 meters tall. Construction of this mosque didnt progress much when the Gulf War broke out. By then, only a few columns had been erected. The unfinished mosque will now be redesigned into a parliament building. The third and the last of Saddams follies is the Al-Rahman mosque, meaning "The Most Merciful mosque. Located near the old racecourse, this massive mosque has an uncompleted central dome still open to the sky, surrounded by eight smaller domes, each featuring eight even smaller domes integrated in their walls. Giant metal cranes hang motionless over the half-built structure as if the mosque is still in construction. The mosque has been in this state of abandon since 2003. Related reading: Al-Shaheed Monument, Baghdad Al-Rahman mosque. Photo credit: www.skyscrapercity.com Al-Rahman mosque. Photo credit: www.skyscrapercity.com Al-Rahman mosque. Photo credit: www.skyscrapercity.com Al-Rahman mosque. Photo credit: Omar Chatriwala/Flickr Sources: Independent / Guardian / Global Security / Guardian / Telegraph / Wikipedia / Wikipedia Three U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortresses returned to Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, Dec. 21, 2016, after executing 15 sorties near Australia and in the South China Sea in conjunction with forces from U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. European Command and Australia in support of U.S. Strategic Commands bomber assurance and deterrence mission. During the Dec. 3 to 18 deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific, the B-52s integrated with B-1B Lancers assigned to U.S. PACOMs Continuous Bomber Presence mission at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for joint and combined operations. "These strategic bomber missions, especially when integrated, provide unparalleled training opportunities for our forces to work together in a joint environment, strengthening our capabilities and ensuring our ability to prepare for contingencies and rapidly respond to crises," said Brig. Gen. Dirk D. Smith, Pacific Air Forces Director of Air and Cyberspace Operations. "This deployment also allowed for greater collaboration between the U.S. and Australia, where we exercised and improved our combined combat capabilities." Also during this deployment, the B-52s joined other U.S. forces and Australian military partners to conduct exercise Phoenix Black, offering coalition training opportunities and enhancing interoperability. U.S. and Australian military partnerships are critical to the peace and stability of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, said Maj. Patrick Applegate, Pacific Air Forces bomber operations deputy chief. As key allies, these exercises provide us with a unique opportunity to work together in a training environment before we work together operationally. Forces who participated include the B-52Hs, B-1Bs, F-15C Eagles, KC-135 Stratotankers, C-5 Galaxies, C-17 Globemaster IIIs, E-3 Sentry, RC-135 Rivet Joints as well as U.S. Army and Marine Corps ground parties with attached Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, and Royal Australian Air Forces F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and JTACs, encompassing more than 70 sorties. Not only did this deployment provide the B-52s opportunities to work with allies and familiarize aircrew with airbases and operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, but it also enabled crews to maintain a high state of readiness and proficiency through joint training. After military exercises with the Australians, the B-52s teamed up with other U.S. forces to conduct joint operations in the South China Sea. U.S. forces conduct routine training operations within the international air and maritime passages in the South China Sea, said Maj. Ryan Simpson, Pacific Air Forces bomber operations chief. Our joint and Pacific partners recognize the importance this area serves as the global commons which connects the Pacific and Indian Oceans. These operations create unique opportunities for our partners in the Pacific to integrate with a joint force of bombers, tankers and other assets within the theater. The routine small force training sortie included a B-52H, two B-1Bs, four F-15Cs and the USS Mustin, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer currently assigned to U.S. Pacific Fleet. Seven tanker aircraft operating from several forward operating locations supported the mission. This operation showcased the U.S. Air Forces unparalleled combat capability and precision, said Capt. Chandler Anderson, 34th Bomb Squadron assistant flight commander and airborne mission commander. From a B-1 pilots perspective, we mission planned simulated standoff weapons, were the overall airborne mission lead, and coordinated with all the other assets using only a rapidly deployable expeditionary communication suite planning environment on the flightline, thousands of miles away from our counterparts. We truly validated the B-1s ability to operate outside of Andersen AFB. Our participation, along with the B-52s, F-15Cs, RC-135, and USS Mustin, enabled us to practice tactics in the South China Sea that offered many valuable lessons learned that will make us even more lethal in combat. These joint engagements as well as operations with our Australian ally are representative of the shared commitment to global security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens. Earlier this month Googles self-driving car arm branched out of the companys X labs to become a direct subsidiary of Alphabet, called Waymo. The new company is led by CEO John Krafcik and will operate independently under Alphabets umbrella. As for Waymos objectives, its been previously reported that the company intends to launch a (self-driving) ride-sharing service with Fiat Chrysler, and according to an even newer report, Waymo is also currently in talks with Honda for plans on developing self-driving vehicles. Before Googles self-driving car branch became Waymo, news broke that the company intends to rethink its approach towards the concept of self-driving vehicles, and supply its autonomous driving technology to existing car manufacturers as opposed to creating a full self-driving experience. This was later confirmed by the news that Waymo and Fiat Chrysler are working on a ride-sharing service, and sure enough, Waymo CEO John Krafcik recently claimed that his company expects to eventually utilize self-driving technology for operating ride-hailing networks. Fast forward to yesterday and Waymo has revealed that it is now in talks for a partnership with Honda. Assuming that the two companies will collaborate, Honda is expected to supply Waymo with an unspecified number of vehicles for retrofitting with self-driving technology. It also remains to be seen where these vehicles will be used, but its interesting to note that Honda is not entirely new to the self-driving car game. Earlier in June this year, Honda unveiled not only a series of self-driving car prototypes in Concord, California, but also its own test track for self-driving vehicles. Its also interesting to note that, previously, Googles self-driving car branch hasnt had a lot of success in finding partners in the automotive industry. Reportedly, so far carmakers have been reluctant towards a partnership with Google to avoid losing their brands to the Californian giant, but it would appear that car manufacturers might be more open to collaborations now that Waymo intends to supply self-driving technologies to other companies as opposed to building a full autonomous experience. At the moment, Waymo is testing its self-driving cars in four cities in the United States, including Mountain View, California; Kirkland, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona; and Austin, Texas. A writer for Linux Journal, Charles Fisher, has blasted the new Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet, model number BNTV450, for shipping with ADUPS software. This device has a temptingly low price of $50 and this might make it an affordable Christmas gift. However, Fisher warns against this because of the ADUPS software. Why is this important? Because ADUPS software is able to read all data on the device and transmit it to a remote server. And by all data on the device this really does mean what it says: anything on the device can be bundled up and transmitted to a remote server. ADUPS can transmit this data without the user knowing that it is happening. According to Fisher, devices containing the ADUPS software should be considered compromised. Even if the software is not activated at the time of shipping, should the ADUPS application be triggered, this would happen without any user intervention. If ADUPS seems familiar, this is because it is the same application that was included with the BLU R1 HD smartphone and it also caused a fuss, because for the BLU device the software was sending information back to a Chinese server. In the case of the BLU R1 HD device, a software update removed the application but before then, customers could disable the ADUPS app. In the case of the new $50 Barnes & Noble tablet, this is not currently possible. What exactly is ADUPS? It is described as a Chinese Android firmware provisioning company, which specialises in collecting Android device and user data, installing hostile applications and taking control of device firmware. ADUPS website explains that the software is capable of pushing apps to devices, data mining, unique package checking and mobile advertising services. The director of research at Kryptowire, Azzedine Benameur, explained that a device running ADUPS should be considered to be permanently compromised and come with a disclosure explaining owners can expect zero privacy or control while using it. ADUPS is installed on the device as a fully privileged OS component and as such is not detected by traditional malware scanners. Interestingly enough, Google has blacklisted the ADUPS agent in the Android Compatibility Test Suite (CTS). This means that ROMs containing the code should not also contain Googles services, such as the Google Play Store. However, Fisher states that one of the reasons why ADUPS is included on the BNTV450 is because the chipset designer, MediaTek, have protected the ADUPS code from the Google security scan. For the Barnes & Noble BNTV450, what does this mean? This particular $50 tablet has been conceived rather differently compared with previous devices. The 7.0-inch tablet is manufactured by Shenzhen Jingwah IT and is based around the MediaTek MT8163 chipset, which is a quad core, 64-bit entry level System-on-Chip. Previous Barnes & Noble tablets have been based around either the Texas Instruments OMAP or Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets and runs a lightly modified version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. At this time, Barnes & Noble have not released a statement so we do not know if they are to update devices by removing the code. Meanwhile, a complaint has been opened with the Federal Trade Commission. Virtual Reality has really come into its own this year with a handful of new devices that hit the market, and for anyone that hasnt already picked up a VR headset of their own, with Christmas coming up just around the corner there is a good chance that you may still wake up on Christmas morning to find one under the tree nestled amongst all the other presents, wrapped up nice and neat. While VR has been around since before 2016, the market has really picked up this year thanks to the likes of Google, Sony, HTC, and Oculus, providing interested consumers with some heavy-hitting and exciting hardware. As a quick look back at whats happened in the world of VR so far this year, Oculus kicked things off with the launch of the Rift headset early on, releasing in late March, boasting a decent amount of games to go along with what could be considered the lower level of the high-end VR headset options, coming in with a price of $599. The Oculus Rift was followed by the HTC Vive in the first week of April, which also launched with a fair amount of games to begin with, although it currently sits at the high end of the pricing scale at $799. With the launch of HTCs Vive out of the way, the VR market fell a little bit silent for a while until Sony launched their PlayStation VR. Releasing in the middle of October, followed by a launch of Googles Daydream View headset in early November, both Sony and Google released their options for VR just in time for the Holidays, making sure that plenty of consumers have the ability to scoop one up for someone special as a gift. Of course, while not a major launch as it was more of a redesign, Samsung also launched their new version of the Gear VR with some subtle refinements, a new color, and an overall better user experience. Now that weve recapped the big stuff to happen in VR this past year, lets look at what people could potentially receive as VR gifts. Oculus Rift Advertisement Once a lone company and now a technology owned by Facebook, Oculus has been in the hearts and minds of VR enthusiasts for a while. Transforming from early builds into the sleek, polished looking headset that it is today. When it comes to the big guns in the VR department, the Oculus Rift is the less expensive of the two, with the other being the HTC Vive. For a cool $599, or $798 if youre wanting to spring for the added Oculus Touch controllers, the Rift is your ticket to high-grade virtual reality experiences that are sure to delight. Of course, those costs dont include the compatible PC price. With a healthy and growing list of games that you can find on both Oculus own store as well as on Steam, there is really nothing not to like here, and although the it doesnt have the snazzy sensors and camera on the front to sense the things around you in the room, it has the added benefit of built-in audio so you dont have to add one more device into the mix when using it, which is definitely a benefit over the Vive. HTC Vive While the HTC Vive certainly comes in at a more noticeably expensive price, theres a reason for it, and its a good one. The HTC Vive is a VR experience unlike any other as it provides you with a way to move around the room like not other headset can provide. While its not recommended that you gallivant around the house while playing your favorite game, after the room is set up properly with the included sensors, you can move around freely within a set space to as not to feel too confined, yet without breaking the feeling of immersion. The HTC Vive comes in at $799 for the headset, but its not just the added sensors and camera technology that are integrated that are cause for the higher price, it also comes with two paddle controllers, a set of earbuds, a link box, and two base stations to get the room setup where youll be using it. With all of that bundled in, its about equal with the cost of the Oculus Rift when you include the two Oculus Touch controllers. Advertisement Sony PlayStation VR If youre a console gamer, and specifically in the PlayStation 4 camp, then Sonys PlayStation VR is your best option for getting the most out of virtual reality. It comes in at the cheapest cost between it and the two headsets above, with a starting price of $399 for the headset alone, or $499 for the bundle which also comes with the headset as well as the PlayStation camera and two PlayStation Move controllers. Of course youll need the PlayStation 4 as well, and that comes with DUALSHOCK 4 controller which will still allow you to play if you prefer them to the Move controllers. If you dont have the PlayStation camera already though, youre likely better off just getting the bundle. PSVR doesnt quite have as many games as the Rift and the Vive, but it does have some excellent options available such as the VR content coming to the recently release Final Fantasy XV, and you can play Resident Evil 7 in VR all the way through if you like, and if you can stomach it. Youll also find the Batman: Arkham VR, as well as a host of other games at your fingertips, all in an ecosystem that youre familiar with. Daydream View Advertisement If youd like to be more mobile, theres no doubt that Googles Daydream View is the best option here. There are a few phones which are compatible with the headset, and it has the shortest list of games, but its much cheaper than any of the other three options as Google is only asking a price of $79 here. That said, you will need at least another $650 if youre going with the 32GB version of the Google Pixel, which is one of three compatible devices that currently support Daydream. Still, its a lot less expensive than the Oculus Rift and a gaming PC, and you can take the experience with you wherever you go. Plus, it now comes in three colors, and has a nifty little controller that is easy to use as well as easy to store thanks to Googles ingenious design team. If you havent already picked one up, you can grab one at the Google Store in either Crimson, Snow, or Slate. Samsung Gear VR (Newest Version) Samsungs latest iteration of the Gear VR is in close comparison to the Daydream View, although it is backed by the Oculus software and the platform has been out longer, so there is admittedly more content available here. It might be limited to Samsung Galaxy device compatibility, but at the moment there are more Galaxy devices that work with the Gear VR than there are Daydream compatible devices that work with the Daydream View. Samsung has refined the design just a touch here with this version of the headset, and it comes in a new darker color instead of the white that Samsung used for the first two versions. It also comes in at $79.99 just like the Daydream View, so the cost for the headset itself is just the same, and provides an exciting experience too. Earlier this year, the Canadian tech giant BlackBerry closed its hardware division responsible for smartphone research and development. However, despite the fact that the Ontario-based company will no longer be making its own hardware, the firm still has a lot of faith in the BlackBerry brand as a whole. As a result, BlackBerry decided to continue the practice of licensing its brand to third-party manufacturers. After debuting the DTEK50, a revamped version of the Alcatel Idol 4 made by the Alcatel-owned TCL, the company went on to introduce the DTEK60, a more premium follow-up to the said device manufactured by the same firm. Today, Alcatels Guangdong-based subsidiary announced a new era of its partnership with BlackBerry. In a short press release published a few hours ago, TCL revealed that it will be showcasing new BlackBerry-branded devices at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The new BlackBerry lineup has been described as a part of the evolutionary first in the mobile industry which TCL is planning to unveil at CES 2017. The wording of the announcement implies that TCL believes the BlackBerry brand is still strong enough to help the Chinese company establish a stronger foothold in the US market. Namely, the press release reveals how TCL will soon be providing a major update about its transition to a tier one portfolio brand. While ambitious announcements are far from a rare occurrence in official press releases, whats important here is that TCL placed the BlackBerry brand at the center of its ambitions. So, it seems likely that at least one BlackBerry flagship will debut at CES 2017. Furthermore, weve recently heard rumors of a mid-range BlackBerry Android smartphone boasting a physical QWERTY keyboard, so thats another thing to look forward to next month. Seeing how TCLs latest release specifically talks about the company going where no other handset manufacturer has gone before, its possible that TCL will reveal something even more innovative than just a BlackBerry-branded QWERTY device. In any case, as CES 2017 will take place in Las Vegas from January 5 to 8, it shouldnt be long before we find out what BlackBerry and TCL have in store next. Nokia is suing Apple over patent infringement in both the U.S. and in Europe. The Finnish company took to their blog today to announce the news. Nokia states that there are multiple complaints involved and that the lawsuit in Europe was specifically filed with the Regional Courts in Germany, but also in three separate cities in the country including Munich, Mannheim, and Dusseldorf. In the U.S., Nokia has so far only filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas, but they plan to open more complaints in more jurisdictions and are currently in the process of working to do just that. They did not however, mention which districts those would be, just that they have plans to do so. In regards to the technology, Nokia is filing complaints over Apples infringement and use of patents regarding technology in displays, video coding, antennas, software, user interface, and chipsets. Nokia has not gone into specifics just yet on what features or hardware in Apple products are infringing on these technologies, or which Apple products are the ones in relation to the complaints, although its likely that theyre referring to the iPhone or iPad. That being said, Nokias lawsuit seems to be covering multiple Apple devices as the technology seems to span a wide range, and they do mention that the technology patents are being used in many of Apples products. According to Nokia, Apple had licensed some technologies used in their products back in 2011, and Nokia was attempting to come to an agreement to have them license remaining technologies that were allegedly being used by Apple. They mention that since that time they have been unsuccessful in getting Apple to reach an agreement over the patent licensing which has led to the lawsuit that is now being filed. In total there are 32 different patents that Nokia states Apple is allegedly infringing upon. In addition to this new lawsuit with Nokia, Apple has been in court with another big-name brand throughout the years Samsung. The two tech giants have been battling over patent infringement and most recently with the Supreme Court, who ruled that the case was to be moved back to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Google is currently under a lot of pressure from the European Union and its individual members. In addition to defending itself in three separate antitrust cases, the Mountain View-based tech giant also isnt making any friends on the Old Continent by using rather aggressive means of tax avoidance. Earlier this year, the companys Spanish office was raided in a tax investigation, after a similar measure was already taken against the firms Paris office. The French Finance Minister Michel Sapin and many other politicians throughout Europe are adamant to pressure Google into paying more taxes, especially after the Alphabet-owned company managed to strike a controversial tax deal with authorities in the United Kingdom. Despite this increasing political pressure, Google is seemingly willing to continue with these practices as the companys representatives are quick to point out the fact that tax avoidance isnt illegal. Now, several regulatory filings in the Netherlands recently shed some new light on Googles tax structure and related policies. As reported by Bloomberg, the Mountain View-based company managed to avoid $3.6 billion in taxes in 2015 by using a shell company in Bermuda. More specifically, the firms Dutch subsidiary Google Netherlands Holdings BV reportedly transferred $15.5 billion to the said shell company last year, thus saving $3.6 billion in taxes. Thats a 40% increase in comparison to what the Alphabet-owned Internet firm was transferring to Bermuda in 2014, which indicates that Google is gradually becoming more aggressive when it comes to avoiding taxes. This information was revealed in several documents that Googles Dutch subsidiary filed with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce earlier this month. Interestingly enough, despite being founded 12 years ago, the Amsterdam-based firm still has no employees, and regulators are obviously less than thrilled with the fact that Google is using it to move revenue to offshore accounts. This controversial tax structure is commonly referred to as a Dutch sandwich or a Double Irish, and as things stand right now, European regulators have no legal means of effectively stopping it seeing how what Google is doing isnt illegal. It remains to be seen whether the company will continue employing these techniques if the President-elect Donald Trump decides to go through with the tax reform he previously discussed. Namely, Trumps original idea was to allow US companies to bring back foreign profits at a universal tax rate of 10%, which would encourage Google and other companies currently avoiding foreign taxes to bring back more revenue to their home country. Samsung is the one to look to for breakthroughs in mobile chip manufacturing, as a rule of thumb in the industry. SK Hynix, a division of Hyundai, never seems to be far behind, of course. Samsungs latest silicon first is no exception. They just announced the first 8GB RAM chip for mobile devices a couple of months ago, and SK Hynix is already there with their own version. The way these things normally play out is that the companies begin their planning phase around the same time, and Samsung finishes manufacturing first due to their massive manpower, which makes for a more diverse product lineup between competitors; since the competition is trying their darndest to beat Samsung out the gate or at least not lose too much ground, they cant really wait to see what Samsung pushes out and then simply copy it. The first 8GB mobile RAM chip, of Samsung pedigree, runs at 4.26 gigahertz and is manufactured on a 10 nanometer process. Hynixs version is a bit lower-spec, which means you will be likely to find it in cheaper devices like Chinese phones and quasi-flagships aimed at subverting the bigger players. Hynixs chip is made on a 21 nanometer process, which means its a bit less power efficient and gives off more heat. It also runs at a lower clock speed, being about 3.73 gigahertz. The chip is made up of four 2GB modules, with a respectable bandwidth of 29.8 gigabytes per second. While its not the best RAM chip out there, make no mistake; the thing is blazing fast, and any device its featured in will have to feature some pretty awesome components for the RAM to be the bottleneck. For budget manufacturers like Hynix, performance that gets out of a devices way and fails to bottleneck is a pretty respectable goal. Hynixs chip may play second banana to Samsungs, just as Hynix plays second banana to Samsung as a chipmaker, but its a fairly close second banana in this case. The Hynix chip also has an ultra low voltage variant thats due to ship out in the first quarter of 2017, while manufacturers and hobbyists can get their paws on Hynixs standard 8GB RAM mobile chip right now. Verizon is currently the top wireless carrier in the United States, and for good reason. Theyve created a reputation for themselves as having the top network in the United States, and Verizon makes sure to tell the public that this is no exaggeration. Their very aggressive advertising campaigns can certainly be credited with at least some part of their reputation and thus their high subscriber count, and new data from iSpot.TV helps to back up that claim. According to iSpot.TV, Verizons advertising led digital ad engagement in the US carrier market for the period between November 15 and December 15. On top of advertising their network, one of Verizons biggest pushes this season has been their exclusive contract to sell Googles Pixel devices to their customers. While the unlocked phones can work with any carrier, only Verizon customers can get the phone directly through their carrier, eliminating the need to wait for it to come in the mail, apply for credit through Google or a reseller, or pay the bill for the phone separately from their wireless bill. Verizons advertising campaign harps heavily on their exclusive deal in such wording that theyve even managed to convince some of the public that going to Verizon is the only way to get a Pixel. This has gone on to such a point that T-Mobile and Sprint have taken action to raise awareness of the fact that the Pixel can work on their networks. The other carriers put up a valiant effort, but couldnt quite catch up to the momentum of Big Red, who managed to claim a whopping 53.4% of all the digital engagements to be had for the industry during the sample period. Their top commercial was Quadruplets, an advertisement for a special promotional bundle deal on the Pixel. Sprint took second place in digital engagement for the period, scoring 20.3% with ads featuring Verizons old iconic pitchman, Paul Marcarelli. T-Mobiles maverick Uncarrier spirit may be wearing thin with some consumers, but they still managed to net 11.9%, while their MetroPCS arm nabbed 4.7%. AT&T was essentially left in the dust, getting only 4.2% of the total digital engagement for the period. Answers Africa is one of a kind platform created for Africans both locally and in the diaspora and those seeking for more in-depth information about Africa. We have always focused on creating the highest quality informational contents right from the beginning. We share the most relevant information on the latest and trending news, events, people, and places in Africa. We produce contents across various categories including Politics, People, Love and Romance, Nature, Entertainment, Technology and pretty much everything else that Africans may find relevant. We aim to answer the most relevant questions about Africa in areas of entertainment, famous people, emerging technologies while we also engage with various distribution capabilities to connect with Africans in need of information who rely on our website to keep in touch with the world that is changing so fast. 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The couple, who began dating in 2013 and have a son named York Banks Asla, has decided to end what everybody taught was the perfect relationship. Neither person has come out to give a reason for the breakup, but what is obvious right now is that ... What to Note About Dr Terry Dubrows Qualifications, TV Works and Marriage to Heather Kent In the realm of people that we expect to see regularly on our screens, medical doctors are closer to the bottom of the list. Aside from the fact that their work has little correlation with TV, they are presumably too busy to pursue life as TV personalities. Yet, a few of them have usurped this ... Jessica Goch Bio: 5 Things You Didnt Know About Ninjas Wife Jessica Goch is the Schofield-born American Social Media Influencer who has worked as a model but is now better known as a host and interviewer of prominent Electronic sports celebrities at popular gaming events/tournaments. The screen queen also serves as the manager of her famous husband Ninja aka Tyler Blevins whose exploits on Twitch and Fortnite has ... CNNs Chris Cuomo Biography Wife, Family & Net worth Chris Cuomo needs no elaborate introduction as he has starred graced many prominent Television cable networks and his voice has been heard through acknowledged radio shows. He is a television journalist and Lawyer who has previously worked for ABC News as Chief law and justice correspondent as well as a co-anchor on 20/20. If you still ... Neil deGrasse Tyson Family, Religion & Net Worth Neil deGrasse Tyson is a distinguished American astrophysicist and author who has been able to achieve so much after falling in love with astronomy at the age of 9. He has since attended and become an alumnus of prestigious universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and also recorded numerous achievements in his field of ... Is Simon Cowell Gay? Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend and Why is He Famous? Simon Cowell is a well-known talent show judge, TV producer, entrepreneur and one of the most popular TV personalities that Britain has ever produced. In conjunction with his company, Syco, Cowell is the brain behind hugely successful talent hunt shows such as The X-Factor UK, The X-Factor US, Britains Got Talent, Americas Got Talent and ... Everything To Know About Joanna Gaines Life With Chip Gaines, Their Business Pursuits and Kids Joanna Gaines and her husband Chip Gaines became celebrities after their television show Fixer Upper began airing back in 2013. The show which was about home renovation and decoration ran for about 6 seasons with a total of 79 episodes before the couple bade farewell to it in April 2018. Apart from their appearances on ... Who Is Larry The Cable Guy? What To Know About His Wife And Net Worth Larry the Cable Guy is a self-professed country kid renowned for his trademark Southern accent and sensational catchphrase Git-R-Done! 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The Ups and Downs of Erin Mcpikes Journalism Career and Other Facts About Her Personal Life Erin McPike is a journalist working for the Independent Journal Review (IJR) as a White House Correspondent but she gained widespread recognition for her coverage of general news. Whether its breaking news or some mainstream story, McPike has a reputation of baring the facts. As a journalist, her work as a White House Correspondent for Independent ... Bert Kreischer Is Married To LeeAnn Kreischer With 2 Kids Meet His Family Those familiar with Bert Kreischer mainly have the image of a large-bellied party man whose college life inspired the National Lampoon film, Van Wilder. It is an image that one would not naturally associate with a wholesome family. The standup comedian still maintains his wild party animal image on stage. But, back at home, he is ... 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This Is Everything You Should Know About Caroline Heldman, Her Career Portfolio and Other Facts Love it or hate it, there is no escaping the fact that feminism has come to stay in our world. The movement has continued to garner momentum over the years and this is due to the sustained push by several women, and even men, including the likes of Caroline Heldman. A Professor of Politics at ... Understanding The Enigma That Is Gavin McInnes, The Controversies He Has Stirred and All About His Wife Gavin McInnes is a polemical English-born writer and TV personality, who is best known for his racist and fascist ideologies, as well as his co-ownership of Vice Media and Vice Magazine. He is also an actor a Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he delivers a speech during an awarding ceremony for outstanding Filipinos and organizations overseas, at the Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines, Dec 19, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] MANILA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday signed into law 3.35-trillion-peso ($67.02 billion) "People's Budget" for next year, the first under his presidency. At a signing ceremony in Malacanang, the presidential palace, Duterte said Republic Act No 10924 or the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2017 was "pro-people, pro-investment, pro-growth, and pro-development thrust of the government". The 2017 budget, so far the biggest annual budget assembled, empowers government agencies by funding expanded and improved social services that will lift Filipinos out of poverty, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said. The Department of Education receives the highest allocation worth 544.1 billion pesos ($11.09 billion), Duterte said. The Department of Social Welfare and Development is granted 128.3 billion pesos ($2.57 billion), a significant portion of which is for the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program and monthly rice subsidy for impoverished households. The Department of Health is given a sizable allocation of 96.3 billion pesos ($1.93 billion) to provide the marginalized sector with new and modernized health facilities and expanded health services. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) receives 148 billion pesos ($2.96 billion) budget for 2017 to assist in the country's efforts against illegal drugs, construct new jail facilities, and increase the allowance for prisoners. Duterte has declared an all-out war against illegal drugs, with the Philippine National Police, which is under the DILG, leading the campaign. Duterte noted the budget allocation for the Department of National Defense amounted to 137.2 billion pesos ($2.74 billion) for territorial defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program, and security and stability services. The president thanked both the Senate and the House of Representatives "for ensuring the careful scrutiny and prompt approval of the national budget". Berlin suspect Anis Amri: the devious jihadi who left his ID papers at the scene Anis Amri is the man wanted in connection with the massacre at a Berlin Christmas market. The Sun says he was freed three times by German police this year alone. The 24-year-old Tunisian was under covert surveillance months before the horror in Berlin. Now the police want to survey him as close quarters. Anyone who knows where Anis Amri is can earn 85,000 by telling the police. (The reward is 100,000.) We then get a few facts. Amri arrived in Europe in 2012, landing by boat in Italy and posing as a minor. In June 2015 he arrived in Germany. In April 2016 he was refused asylum. The Germans wanted to send him back to Tunisia but the Tunisians said they had no idea if he was one of theirs. Amri had no papers. The Times manages to establish Amris roots by speaking to his family in Tunisia. Speaking to The Times yesterday from Kairouan, Tunisia, Amris father said that his son had been a violent, drug-taking adolescent. He was jailed for four years in Italy for setting fire to a migrant reception centre before arriving in Germany in February. When did he arrive in Germany, was it February or April? The Press seem unsure. The Express says hes 23. The Express and Mail says he arrived in Germany in July 2015. The Mail says hes 24 in one report and in another thats hes 23. Today is Anis Amris birthday. Hes now 24. The Times adds: Expulsion orders had been issued but the Italian and German governments could not deport him until Tunisia confirmed his identity and granted him a passport, which was finally issued yesterday. Scheduled to be sent packing, Amri struck? Well, thats the allegation. The Mirror says Amri the worlds most wanted man could have been injured with the Polish driver whose lorry he allegedly stole. It is believed that Lukasz Urban, 37, fought with the terrorist as the vehicle began to plough into the Breitscheidplatz market in west Berlin, says the Times. Mr Urban was found dead in the cab, having been stabbed and shot. Really? The men were fighting as the truck ploughed into shoppers? And how do we come to know Amri? The Guardian notes: German authorities said they had found Amris identity card under the drivers seat of the truck he allegedly drove into a crowd of people at the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market. Does that strike anyone as odd? A devious known criminal left his ID paper by the seat of the vehicle that murdered so many? When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldnt believe my eyes. Im in shock, and cant believe its him who committed this crime, Amris brother Abdelkader Amri tells AFP. But if hes guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists we have no dealings with terrorists. His sister Najoua Amri adds: He never made us feel there was anything wrong. We were in touch through Facebook and he was always smiling and cheerful. I was the first to see his picture and it came as a total shock. I cant believe my brother could do such a thing. The Guardian says Amri has links with the radical Salafist Abu Walaa, alias Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A, a 32-year-old Iraqi Isis supporter known as the preacher without a face, who was arrested in the northern town of Hildesheim in November and known Turkish Islamic fundamentalist, Hasan C, 50 and with Boban S, a hate preacher from Dortmund. According to an anti-terror investigator speaking on condition of anonymity to German media, Amri had sought accomplices for a terror attack in early 2016, and had shown an interest in weapons. Despite authorities being made aware that he wanted to buy a pistol, there were apparently no attempts to take him into custody. Such are the facts. Paul Sorene Posted: 22nd, December 2016 | In: Broadsheets, Reviews, Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink Idiots lock up innocent woman for possessing small amount of marijuana 22 years ago To Chicago, where Latasha Eatman has been jailed for 49 days for something she didnt do. CBS News reports that Eatman was arrested in 1993 on minor marijuana possession charges. Her punishment was to complete a period of community service. But Eatman was unable to comply because the facility to which shed been detailed was closed and full whenever she turned up. And she turned up on numerous occasions. Eventually a judge excused her from probation. Fast forward to 2016 and police looking for shops selling contraband cigarettes spot Eatman and run her name through the computer. The machine flags up an outstanding warrant for failure to complete community service. On the strength of the shoddy data and poor admin, police arrest Eatman and locked her up. After ten days in prison, the mother of a six-year-old is brought before the Beak. She tells him what happened and of the previous ruling. But this judge calls her a liar. He orders that Eatman is slammed back in prison and held without bond. For 29 days she remains in choky. By chance, one Cara Smith, a chief officer at the Cook County Sheriffs Office, is running an audit of first-time offenders locked up in their jail. The authorities realise their error. Whoops! One day later, Eatman is released. And how was your day? Spotter: Reason Karen Strike Posted: 22nd, December 2016 | In: Reviews, Strange But True Comment | TrackBack | Permalink The war on Christians and Christmas: Trump v the New York Times and UVA Donald Trump thinks the attack on a Berlin Christmas market was an assault on Christianity. Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday, says Trump. ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the massacre. Its a group not famed for its tolerance of other religions. So why did it choose to murder people at a Christmas market? The New York Times says there is no war on Christmas and, therefore, Christian belief is not in peril. The greeting Happy Holidays has been in use as a Christmas greeting for more than 100 years. But it has grown in popularity in recent decades as people have tried to be inclusive and sensitive to those of other faiths and the nonreligious. Do you say happy holidays at Eid or Diwali? Not everyone opts for coercion at the point of a sabre. Tim Black notes: to defend the freedom of those Christians today who refuse to endorse same-sex marriage, or who believe that a heterosexual couple provides the best environment to raise a child, does not entail defending the beliefs themselves; rather, it entails defending peoples right to hold and practise those beliefs where, as Tom Paine had it, their practice doesnt disturb public order as established by the law. In the West Christians are criminalised and placed on the wrong side of history for expressing their heartfelt beliefs. Coercion has replaced reason. Trump, the Times and IS each espouse their monocular view of religious intolerance. Liam Stack ends his NY Times article by stating: It should be noted that Jews, Muslims and others who do not celebrate Christmas often say they are not offended by a hearty Merry Christmas. Who asked them and why were they asked? As the pollsters look for offence, Campus Reform asked students at the University of Virginia if they find Christmas offensive enough to want it banned. ,,m Paul Sorene Posted: 22nd, December 2016 | In: Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink (ANSA) - Rome, December 21 - A Tunisian national wanted in Germany in connection with Monday's lorry attack on a Berlin street market was deported from Italy after being incarcerated here for four years, investigative sources said. The suspect named as Anis Amri left Italy for Germany instead of being deported back to his homeland, because Tunisian authorities failed to legally recognize him as one of their own in time. German police has arrested four people during an anti-terror operation connected with the Berlin market attack. The operation was conducted on Thursday morning in Emmerich am Rhein, the Sun reports. Some 100 police officers including special unit members were deployed, a police spokesman was quoted as saying by the DPA news agency. No further information has been provided on the operation. Police on Wednesday afternoon were deployed around the center where the fugitive wanted for the Berlin lorry attack, Anis Amri, had been living for a time. ( (ANSAmed) - Rome - The government on Thursday confirmed that Italian woman Fabrizia Di Lorenzo was one of the people killed in Monday's attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. "Italy remembers Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, an exemplary citizen killed by terrorists," Premier Paolo Gentiloni said via Twitter after Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano confirmed that the 31-year-old was dead. "The country joins in the pain of the family". Di Lorenzo's cell phone was found at the scene of the attack, where a truck ploughed into the busy market at high speed, killing 12 people and injuring many others. Her death of the native of the central Italian town of Sulmona was confirmed after DNA tests although her family had already said they held out little hope of seeing her alive again. Di Lorenzo had lived and worked in the German capital for several years. President Sergio Mattarella expressed his sorrow too. "The news that Fabrizia Di Lorenzo has been identified among the victims of the Berlin massacre confirms our worst fears of the last few days," said Mattarella. "The pain at her death is great. Once again one of our young compatriots has been the victim of the senseless, execrable violence of terrorism. "I express the solidarity and closeness of the whole country to Fabrizia's parents and brother". Another young Italian woman, 28-year-old Valeria Solesin, was among the 130 victims of the November 2015 attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan met with Georgian Premier Giorgi Kvirikashvili in Tbilisi on December 21. The high level of friendly relations between the two countries was stressed at the meeting. Issues of strengthening partnership in defense and regional security were discussed. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the MoD Armenia, highly assessing the cooperation between the two states in different spheres and stressing the necessity to develop the relations, the sides emphasized the importance of ensuring peace and security in the region as a key prerequisite for the sustainable development of the regional states. On the same day Defense Minister Sargsyan met with Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II. Armenian-Georgian friendly relations were the topic of the discussion. The sides referred to the opportunities of strengthening the relations between the two friendly peoples by cooperation based on universal values. Vigen Sargsyan expressed gratitude to Ilia II for the cordial reception. In the evening of December 21 the Defense Minister of Armeia met with Armenian and Georgian media representatives and detailed on the meetings and negotiations. Berlin prosecutors confirm four arrests, media Suspects had contacts with Amri, jailed in Italy for 4 years (ANSA) - Berlin, December 22 - Four people who had contacts with the Tunisian fugitive wanted in connection with Monday's Berlin lorry attack have been arrested, the general State attorney's office was quoted as saying by local media on Thursday. Prosecutors did not provide further details on the police operation early Thursday that the led to the arrests. A Europe-wide manhunt is underway to look for Anis Amri, the Tunisian national wanted for Monday's attack on a Christmas market in Berlin which left 12 dead and 49 injured. Investigative sources said the man was jailed in Italy for four years. Anis, 24, reportedly arrived in Italy in 2011 and was detained at Palermo's Ucciardone prison after he was arrested in Catania for taking part in an arson attack and for issuing threats and causing bodily harm and damages. After serving a four-year term, he left Italy for Germany instead of being deported back to his homeland because Tunisian authorities did not recognize him as a national in time. He is believed to have arrived in Germany in September 2015 and his first and only known place of residence so far is the refugee center in Emmerich am Rhein in North-Rhine Westphalia at the border with the Netherlands raided by police in the early hours of Thursday. - BERLIN - Police early on Thursday raided a refugee center in Emmerich am Rhein in North Rhine-Westphalia at the border with the Netherlands as a Europe-wide manhunt is underway to look for the Tunisian man wanted for the Berlin Christmas market attack. Four people have been arrested. The operation took place in the early hours of the morning and reportedly lasted for about an hour. Some 100 police officers including special unit members were deployed, a police spokesman was quoted as saying by the DPA news agency. No further information has been provided on the operation. Police on Wednesday afternoon were deployed around the center where the fugitive wanted for the Berlin lorry attack, Anis Amri, had been living for a time. (ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, DECEMBER 22 - At least 40,000 people have been evacuated from Aleppo, Turkish Premier Binali Yildirim said Thursday morning. Before the latest transfers, Ankara has set the number of evacuees at 37,500. According to Turkish authorities, 182 were more seriously injured and they were treated at Turkish hospitals near the border. Among them were at least 15 people who did not survive. (ANSAmed) Syria: Russia, 35,000 militants killed 18.000 raids 66,000 tons of explosives detonated in Aleppo (ANSAmed) - MOSCOW, DECEMBER 22 - Since the start of the military operation in Syria, Russian air forces have carried out 18,000 raids with 71,000 strikes against ''terrorist'' objectives, killing 35,000 militants, including 204 commanders and destroying 1,500 vehicles, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. Shoigu added that Russian mine clearers have detonated 66,000 tons of explosives. The minister went on to say that the operation carried out in Syria has ''allowed to reach a series of geo-political targets'', citing significant damage to international terror organizations in Syria and beyond, that financial sources had been struck, that the ''failure of the Syrian State'' had been prevented, along with a ''series of revolutions'' in the Middle East and Africa. (ANSAmed) (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV - Israeli Premier Benyamin Netanyahu on Thursday told Christians that ''the land of Israel is the land of our common heritage''. ''I also know that this is under attack'', the premier said in a message to wish Christians in Israel and the world a merry Christmas, noting that ''the forces of intolerance and barbarism that attack all religions strike Christians with particular vehemence''. ''We are with you'', he went on to say. ''I am proud of the fact that Israel is the only place in the Middle East in which the Christian community not only survives but prospers, and this is no coincidence'', he noted, citing ''our attachment in favor of religious freedom, our heritage and our common future''. (ANSAmed) UN vote on Israeli settlements postponed Egypt withdraws draft, after receiving instructions from Cairo (ANSAmed) - NEW YORK, 22 DIC - A United Nations Security Council vote on a draft resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements has been postponed, potentially indefinitely. Egypt had tabled the proposal and it was the Egyptian delegation that withdrew it, after receiving instructions from Cairo. President elect Donal Trump had asked the current administration to veto the proposal. (ANSAmed) YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Government approved the draft agreement on the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union, reports Armenpress. President of the State Revenue Committee Vardan Harutyunyan said it is an inter-state agreement including the EAEU member states. The major goal of adopting the Customs Code is to ensure a common customs regulation that includes the transportation of goods through the EAEU customs border, the rules and conditions of using those goods within the EAEU customs space or beyond its borders, import of goods to the EAEU customs space, export of those goods from the EAEU customs space, temporary maintenance and other functions, Harutyunyan said. Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan attached importance to the document and said it was born quite difficultly. It must be maximally adapted to our existing laws and make their access available. Our free economic zone on Irans border has also been fixed in the Customs Code, the PM said, adding that the EAEU states agreed to put a restriction on the field. The EAEU Customs Code is comprised of 9 sections, 61 chapters and 464 articles. If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. The 4th joint session with the participation of the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the Russian State Dumas Committee on CIS affairs, Eurasian Integration and Compatriots Affairs is being held in Yerevan, reports Armenpress. Within the framework of the session, the economic cooperation prospects within the Eurasian union, the existing cooperation development opportunities, as well as other integration and economic issues will be discussed. Regional security and stability issues related to the Armenian-Russian military-political and military-technical cooperation are included in the session agenda. Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Artak Zakaryan said they will discuss issues of concerns of the both sides and will try to find solutions as a result of the session. We are discussing the issue very much that we entered the EAEU, but it seems that our business doesnt feel that activeness and impact. We are going to hold a discussion on these issues. The concrete result that we expect is the cooperation in the security field. Issues are raised over the current situation in the South Caucasus both among the Armenian public and the Russian political circles, there is a need of regular clarifications since Azerbaijan continuously is spreading fake propaganda, unconstructive approaches within the Russian political circles. Within the framework of the second issue, we must present our approaches on cooperation, we will talk about threats and challenges, Zakaryan said. Leonid Kalashnikov, chairman of the Dumas committee of CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Compatriots Affairs, stated that a lot of works must be done with international organizations in the cooperation field. There is really a lot of things to talk about on this issue, how to support each other on a number of issues. This completely relates to Russia since an attempt is made to bring a sanction regime, but the West fails sometimes in many issues. We must discuss issues related to increasing the cooperation effectiveness with the international organizations, he said. CFM is unique in that it is the only engine manufacturer to gain dual original certification from both agencies, rather than one lead agency issuing a type certification and the second agency validating that certification. This reflects CFMs 50/50 design and production structure between parent companies GE and Safran, which has been so successful for more than 40 years. It has been an incredible year for the LEAP program, culminating in the certification of the third model in this engine family, said Allen Paxson, executive vice president for CFM. Everyone, from the project and engineering teams to manufacturing and our suppliers, has done an incredible job of keeping this program on schedule and building an engine that is delivering everything that we have promised. The LEAP engine was officially launched in December 2009 when COMAC selected the LEAP-1C as the sole Western powerplant for its 150-passenger C919 airplane. The engine incorporates a unique fully integrated propulsion system (IPS). It has been a real pleasure working in close coordination with COMAC on this program, said Francois Bastin, executive vice president for CFM. The LEAP-1C is the only model for which CFM provides a totally integrated propulsion system that includes the engine, nacelle, and thrust reverser. The IPS, along with the pylon developed by COMAC, were all designed in conjunction with each other. As a result, the LEAP-1C features improved aerodynamics, lower weight, and easier maintenance. We think that our customers are going to be pleased with the airplane/engine combination. The LEAP-1C thrust reverser was developed by Nexcelle, a joint venture between Safran Nacelles and GE Aviations Middle River Aircraft Systems (MRAS). In addition to the IPS, the LEAP-1C engine features some of the industrys most advanced technologies, including 3-D woven carbon fiber composite fan blades and fan case; a unique debris rejection system; 4th generation three dimensional aerodynamic designs; the Twin-Annular, Pre-Swirl (TAPS) combustor featuring additively manufactured fuel nozzles; ceramics matrix composite shrouds in the high-pressure turbine; and titanium aluminide (Ti-Al) blades in the low-pressure turbine. The first LEAP-1C engine successfully completed a flight test program in late 2014 on a modified 747 flying testbed at GE facilities in Victorville, California. In November 2015, the first C919 rolled out at COMAC facilities in Shanghai. More recently, COMAC successfully started the engines for the first time in early November 2016, running them for 10 minutes at ground idle power at the companys Shanghai Pudong International Airport facility. The LEAP engines currently in commercial service are providing operators with double-digit improvements in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to todays best CFM engine, along with dramatic reductions in engine noise and exhaust gaseous emissions. All this technology brings with it CFMs legendary reliability and low maintenance costs. Since joining Embraer earlier in 2016, Meijer has already demonstrated strong values and leadership coupled with deep market knowledge, which will be key in his new role, supporting the teams leading our sales campaigns throughout the world, said Slattery. Prior to joining Embraer, in April 2016, Meijer spent 15 years at KLM on the engineering, technical services and fleet development aspects of the company. His last role was Managing Director of KLM UK Engineering Limited. Meijer has a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Delft University of Technology and also holds an Executive MBA from Purdue University. The agreement will see Etihad Airways placing its EY code on Montenegro Airlines flights between Belgrade and two destinations in Montenegro its capital Podgorica and the attractive town of Tivat on the Adriatic coast. Montenegro Airlines will, in return, enhance access to Etihad Airways' network by placing its YM code on the airline's daily flights between Belgrade and Abu Dhabi. The agreement will offer Montenegro Airlines passengers greater convenience and flexibility of travel to the UAE and beyond via the Serbian capital, and contribute to an increased inflow of business and leisure travellers to Montenegro. Gregory Kaldahl, Etihad Airways senior vice president Network, said: We are pleased to sign a codeshare agreement with Montenegro Airlines, which is advantageous for both our airlines and guests. Travellers in Montenegro can now reach our Abu Dhabi hub with a convenient one-stop connection in Belgrade, from where they can access key destinations in our global network with greater ease. In turn, Etihad Airways will expand its travel offer to Montenegro, an increasingly popular business and tourism destination. Daliborka Pejovic, president of the board of directors of Montenegro Airlines, said: "For us at Montenegro Airlines it is clear that such forms of collaboration with Etihad Airways, a global leader in the aviation industry, are very important for our airline and our country. The codeshare agreement will strengthen our connections to Etihad's network and consequently enhance the global profile of Montenegro Airlines. As a result, travellers from across the world will now be able to access Montenegro with greater ease and convenience, which will contribute to our inbound tourism figures, a vital component of our national economy." YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. With support from Argentinean-Armenian donors, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has launched the third phase of its increasingly popular greenhouse program in Armenias Tavush Province, the Fund told Armenpress. Greenhouses, each with a total area of 100 square meters, are being built for 57 farming families in the villages of Voskevan, Artsvaberd, Koti, Nerkin Tsaghkavan, Berdavan, Aygehovit, Koghb, Zorakan, Ditavan, and Kirants. Two additional greenhouses are being constructed in the village of Khachardzan, with the financial support of the Hayastan All-Armenian Funds Australian affiliate. As part of the project, the beneficiary families will also receive seedlings and be provided with technical consultation. Maraim Zenjirjian, the project coordinator, says that beneficiaries are selected through a lottery process and must assume a portion of the greenhouse-construction cost. The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has received 100 applications after announcing the launch of the programs third phase. Each greenhouse costs US $5,400, of which $400 is covered by the beneficiary. Year by year, the number of those who wish to become greenhouse owners increases considerably which is a great testament to the success of the program, Zenjirjian says. Greenhouses have helped significantly boost farming throughout Tavush while providing families with a stable source of income. As a result of the first and second phases of the program, 43 families in the villages of Ditavan, Kirants, Baghanis, Aygehovit, Vazashen, Gandzakar, and Khachardzan now own and operate their own greenhouses. The UAE has selected the new GlobalEye, which combines the Global 6000 with a powerful new extended-range radar, to meet its airborne surveillance/early warning requirements. It has also chosen a new iteration of the Swordfish maritime patrol aircraft, again based on the Global 6000, which promise to challenge the Boeing P-8 Poseidon as the high-end solution of choice for the maritime patrol and anti-submarine role. For many years, Saabs special mission offerings tended to be based on its own platforms the Saab 340 and the Saab 2000. This trend was interrupted when Brazil, Greece and Mexico opted to buy the Saab Erieye airborne early warning system and radar integrated on the Embraer EMB-145, which offered superior speed and altitude performance over the Saab 2000, with similar range. Though there is still a healthy demand for special missions versions of the Saab 2000 (and even of the older Saab 340), the company increasingly found that some potential customers had a preference for new-build platforms currently in production, rather than using conversions of older surplus airliner types. Saab was able to win an order for Saab 340-based Erieye airborne early warning aircraft to meet an interim UAE requirement, but its then definitive Saab 2000-based Erieye failed to be selected to meet the long-term requirement. Pitched against the Boeing 737 AEW&C and Northrop Grummans E-2D Hawkeye, the Saab 2000 Erieye was a serious contender, but it took the new GlobalEye, combining an enhanced swing-role surveillance system derivative of the Erieye with the Global 6000, to clinch the deal. It would be a mistake to view the GlobalEye as being merely an enhanced Erieye on a new platform. Though it is derived from the original Erieye radar, Erieye ER has a 70% greater detection range than the previous sensor, thanks to new processing hardware and software and the use of new gallium nitride (GaN) transmit/receive modules. Saab claims that range is horizon limited. The new radar can also detect, identify and track the most challenging targets, including cruise missiles, small unmanned air vehicles and hovering helicopters. And the GlobalEye is a multi-role, swing-role surveillance platform that genuinely operates in all domains simultaneously providing airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), maritime surveillance and land surveillance. GlobalEye is able to do this because the Erieye ER offers synthetic aperture radar and ground moving target indication modes to locate and track land targets, while the combination of a belly-mounted Selex Galileo SeaSpray 7500E maritime search radar and a FLIR Systems Star Safire 380HD electro-optical/infrared sensor provides a formidable capability against even the smallest surface targets, including submarine periscopes, rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) and jet skis. GlobalEye offers a formidable surface surveillance capability and can usefully augment dedicated maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft. But there are aspects of that mission that the GlobalEye cannot accomplish, and for these, Saab offers a dedicated maritime patrol solution in the shape of the Swordfish Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), which adds the ability to search for targets in the underwater domain, and the high-end capability of actually prosecuting attacks against underwater targets. With 600 submarines in service, and with many of these being smaller, faster and harder to detect, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is a key capability area for high-end MPAs, together with maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), anti-piracy, search-and-rescue, and command and control. ASW is very much a Saab strength, not least thanks to its ownership of Kockums AB, the naval shipbuilder responsible for Swedens innovative A26 submarine. Traditional high-end ASW platforms carried lots of sensors, lots of sonobuoys, lots of weapons and 12-13 operators, and were complex and expensive to maintain. Today, ASW platforms can take advantage of greater automation and navigational accuracy and use smaller, lighter sensors that are easier to integrate and to use, and that require less power and less cooling. All of this means that the ASW mission can be undertaken by smaller aircraft with fewer crew. Saab believes that its latest MPA, based on the Global 6000, offers a compelling alternative to the Boeing P-8 Poseidon as a true high-end ASW platform. The Global 6000-based Swordfish uses the same basic mission system as the earlier Saab 2000 Swordfish, but with four or five sensor operators (the rival P-8 carries five), and with an expanded weapons capability. It carries up to four MU-90 or equivalent torpedoes (one fewer than the P-8) and what Saab coyly refers to as a significant payload of sonobuoys, though it does point out that, unlike the P-8, its MPA is not limited to carrying A-sized buoys, but can also use smaller F- and G-sized buoys. With a payload of upwards of 1.5 tonnes, it can be seen that the Swordfish can probably carry something close to the P-8s maximum load of 126 buoys. Moreover, the Swordfish uses two single-shot gravity launchers (one of which can be pressurised) and two 10-shot rotary launchers. The Boeing 737-based P-8 is optimised to hunt and engage submarines from medium level dropping torpedoes that are equipped with wing kits (based on those fitted to the JDAM glide bomb) and guidance systems. By contrast, the Swordfish does ASW the old fashioned way, descending to low level to drop patterns of sonobuoys with greater accuracy and precision than is possible from higher altitude. The aircraft can then climb to monitor the resulting signals, and descend again, if necessary, to put torpedoes into the water. Saabs Gary Shand, the companys director marketing and sales, airborne ISR and a former RAF Nimrod acoustics operator, said: ASW is still a low-level game. He explained that maintaining the security of a pattern of sonobuoys was fundamental. Lose contact on a single buoy and it may be game over, he said. The Swordfish has real persistence and is able to remain on station, 1,000nm out from base, for eight-and-a-half hours, with a SAR payload on the middle stations, or for five-and-a-half hours carrying four torpedoes. The P-8 endurance is given as four hours, 1,200nm out from base. Saab claims that the Global 6000-based Swordfish will cost two-thirds of the acquisition cost of a P-8, with 50% lower life cycle costs over its 30 year lifespan. The aircraft also has a small logistical footprint and uses laptop-based support systems. It will, its makers claim, be able to deploy for up to four nights without any ground crew. The Global 6000-based Swordfish shares considerable commonality with the GlobalEye, so Saab does not plan to build a demonstrator or prototype. Instead, production aircraft could be delivered within 36-42 months of a contract award, depending on the exact configuration. The Swordfish mission system is platform agnostic, and, for customers who cannot afford to invest in the Global 6000, or who require slightly less capability, it is offered on the Saab 340 and Saab 2000, and now also on the Bombardier Q400. This could have fuel tanks scabbed on to the fuselage sides, boosting endurance to about four-and-a-half hours, 1,000nm from base, and the aircraft could carry a pair of torpedoes, rather than the four carried by the Global-based Swordfish. Its still a high-end solution, Shand averred, with slightly less endurance as a compromise. Saab claims there has been a lot of interest in the higher market segment, where the Global 6000 Swordfish is pitched against the Boeing P-8 and Kawasaki P-1 as a potential replacement for the many elderly P-3 Orions and Atlantics now in service. There has, apparently, been more interest in the Global 6000-based Swordfish than in the Q400-based solution, and Saab is in active discussions with a number of potential customers in every major continent. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will repay the VAT debt within the framework of the supplies of the defense loan from Russia. The decision was adopted during the December 22 Cabinet meeting, which was presented by deputy defense minister Ara Nazaryan. For this purpose the Government will allocate 3,256,367.4 AMD (equivalent to 428,469.4 Rubles). The purpose of the loan is equipping the Armed Forces with engineering and automobile hardware. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic on December 22 convened a plenary session, press service of the Parliament told Armenpress. NKR Finance Minister Spartak Tevosyan presented the draft law on the NKR 2017 state budget to the Parliament and stated that after the previous plenary session, 2 factions and one MP submitted 26 issues to the NKR Government. 20 of those issues are repeated, over which the government didnt change its view, and the remaining issues were sent to the parliament. The changes made in the preliminary option of the budget were also submitted, Spartak Tevosyan said. He said as a result of the proposals the articles related to the civil protection, the maintenance of public order, healthcare were changed. Thus, as a result of all changes, the budget expenses increased by 185 million 244 thousand AMD and the total money of the 2017 state budget comprised 94 billion 432 million AMD. The NKR Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan delivered a speech at the plenary session by expressing gratitude to the MPs for the constructive discussions and apologized for not adopting certain proposals. If we are not accepting the proposals, comments and criticism, please, correctly assess since the important is the goal that we have achieved together with you. Our goal is GDP, economic growth, and the budget is the result of it, the NKR PM said. The NKR Parliament adopted the law on the NKR 2017 state budget, with 27 votes in favor and 3 against. A number of laws were also discussed and approved during the session. Concluding the session the NKR Parliament Speaker said by this session the sitting is not closed taking into account the existence of certain bills in the agenda, as well as the fact of sending the draft Constitution by the NKR President to the parliament. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Lieutenant General Hayk S. Kotanjian - D.Sc. (Political Science, Russia), Professor (Armenia), Distinguished Visiting Member of Faculty at the National Defense University (USA), Visiting Scholar at the Harvard National Security Program, Full Elected Member of Russian Academy of Military Sciences, Member of CSTO Academic-Expert Board, Head of the National Defense Research University, delivered a speech at the joint session of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the Russian State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Compatriots Affairs in Yerevan on December 22. Armenpress presents his full speech: Armenias Balanced Foreign Policy as a Strategic Opportunity to create a Platform for Establishing a Dialogue between Russia and The US Dear Co-Chairs, Dear Colleagues, Since the date of its independence in 1991, the cornerstone of Armenias security policy has been its balance, as well as the desire to establish partnerships both with neighboring states and with extra-regional power centers. This choice reflects the geostrategic realities and the geopolitical imperatives for the independent Armenian state to effectively carry out its activities and be the guarantor of sustainable development and security of 11 million Armenians of the Republic of Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and the Diaspora. At the same time, the immutability of this balance under all hardships that have arisen in relations between its allies and partners, primarily between Russia and the US, merits a mention. I have the honor to highlight that Armenia is Russias strategic ally, the bilateral security relations with which Armenia complements through strategic cooperation with it and other states in a multilateral format within the framework of the CSTO. The current stage of the Armenian-Russian military and military-technical cooperation is characterized by high dynamics due to the attention of the Heads of our fraternal states in this sphere of interstate relations. In this sense, the Armenian-Russian Business Forum of 2013 held in Gyumri with the participation of the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan became a momentous event. The Forum was preceded by the visit of the Presidents to the 102nd Russian Military Base with the discussion of its military-technical modernization tasks and improvement of service efficiency. In my opinion, the solution of these problems, under the creation of the Joint Group of Troops (Forces) of the Armenian and Russian Armed Forces, lends considerable urgency to the concerned discussion of the project of establishing an Armenian-Russian defense industry complex in Gyumri between the Armenian and Russian sides. In so doing, it is advisable to calculate the diversified scale of this complex in such a way that it, along with the 102nd Bases modernization tasks, becomes a platform for forging military-technical business cooperation between Russia and the states bordering with Armenia with an access to the traditional for Russia arms markets located there. At the same time, the creation of jobs in Gyumri would become a factor in improving the demographic situation in the city of the 102nd Bases deployment and strengthen the social ties of the local Armenian population with the military personnel of the Russian Military Base. In his yesterdays interview to the Russian media, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan emphasized the importance of the systemic deployment of a joint military-industrial enterprise in relation to the modernization of the 102nd Base in Gyumri. As a start-up phase of this defense industry project, it is expedient to consider the establishment of the Armenian-Russian enterprise for the repair and maintenance of arms and military equipment of the 102nd Russian Military Base in Shirak Region. As for staffing solutions to these problems, it would be logical for this Armenian-Russian defense industry enterprise to provide for the establishment of its own multisectoral technical college. The agreements on the trade-economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation between Armenias Shirak Region and the regions of Ulyanovsk and Rostov of Russia can serve as an international legal basis for this[1]. A special role in solving this strategically important task in pursuance of the Agreement On Cooperation in the Trade-Economic, Scientific-Technical, and Cultural Spheres between the Administrations of Shirak Region and Ulyanovsk Region: 15.09.2009[2] can play the developed defense industry complex of Ulyanovsk Region, where the share of defense industry enterprises in the total production of the region is about 80%. The importance of engaging Rostov Region in the phased deployment of this military-industrial enterprise of regional significance is due to the fact that the Command of the North Caucasus Military District, responsible for directing the activities of the military base in Gyumri, is situated in Rostov. In our view, adding a special section dedicated to the prospects of military-technical and defense industry cooperation to the agendas of regional forums may become an important impetus for the sustainable economic, military-technical and social development of the regions of both states. Judging by the innovative orientation of the new Government of the Republic of Armenia, this will make the Armenian-Russian cooperation in creating a multisectoral military-industrial enterprise in Gyumri one of its strategic priorities. As was mentioned above, pursuing its strategic security interests in the balance of orientation in relation to Moscow, Washington, and Brussels, Armenia, along with its cooperation with the Russian Federation and the CSTO, efficiently collaborates with such Euro-Atlantic power centers as the US, NATO and the European Union. From 2005 on, Armenia has been effectively implementing the NATO Individual Partnership Action Plans, targeted at the advancement of defense security reforms. Our state also increases its involvement in the system of international security through participating in peacekeeping operations in Iraq, Kosovo, and now also in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Mali. In this context, the 25-year-old strategic partnership with the United States is of particular significance for Armenia. Being one of the main donors for the Republic of Armenia, the US plays a key role in the process of implementing structural reforms targeted at the modernization of the public administration system, taking effective measures in human rights protection and fight against corruption, thus making a significant contribution to the development of the independent statehood of Armenia. The participation of both the US and Russia together with France in maintaining consensus regarding the principles of the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh Conflict is of special importance. In view of the above said and the confrontation in US-Russian relations, typical of the past few years, it should be noted that it significantly limits Armenias resources for implementing a balanced foreign policy. In this sense, the rapprochement between Russia and the United States stems from strategic interests of Armenias national security. We believe that the long-term balance of strategic alliance between Armenia and Russia and that of the strategic partnership between Armenia and the United States provides an opportunity to consider Armenia as a mutually acceptable platform for establishing dialogue between Russia and the United States. Establishing a platform for dialogue between Russia and the United States gains particular importance in the period of specification of the strategic priorities of Moscow and Washington before the newly-elected US President takes the office. In this sense, the Armenian academic platform for consultation and exchange of messages for the US-Russian dialogue can be used not only in the discussion of current bilateral relations, but also the issues of strategic caliber relating to the global and regional security dynamics. The experience of successful academic and expert forums held by our Institute for National Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Defense with the participation of leading representatives of such security schools as MGIMO University (Moscow State Institute of International Relations) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Harvard University, the US National Defense University, the British Chatham House, University of Jerusalem, Istanbul University Kadir Has among others, speaks in support of this assessment of Armenias role in establishing the US-Russian dialog. An evidence of the liability of the Institute for National Strategic Studies in supporting the Republic of Armenias role in building academic-expert platforms on strategic issues of international security is its recent participation in the process of strategic review of the UN Peacekeeping Strategy with the discussion of the results of that review at the Strategic Forum we organized in Yerevan. And the Strategic Forum in 2015 was a starting platform for promoting this peacekeeping cooperation on academic-expert level, when, after the reunification of the Crimea with Russia in an acute phase of Russias relations with the West we were able to unite security experts both from Russia and other CSTO member states, as well as from the US and other NATO member states around the same table in Yerevan, for dialogue and exchange of messages. Let me express confidence in the importance of continuing the Republic of Armenias mission in general, as well as represented by its leading state analytical center for national and international security problems the National Defense Research University as an academic-expert platform in establishing consultations and dialogue between Armenias ally Russia, and its partner the United States. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan handed over the keys from new apartments to the families of the two fallen police officers Gagik Mkrtchyan and Yuri Tepanosyan who were killed during the July police precinct assault. At the suggestion of the President and mediation of the Police Chief, the City Council unanimously decided to provide apartments to the families of the fallen officers, Mayor Margaryan said and assured the City Hall will continue to support the families of fallen police officers within its powers. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan must bear responsibility for the April war, Turkey also has its share of responsibility, Director of the Institute of CIS countries Konstantin Zatulin told reporters in Yerevan, reports Armenpress. A sad event occurred in April this year when Azerbaijan decided to violate the status quo and the ceasefire regime. The four-day war seriously destabilized the situation. As for current situation, the continuous shots, I think those reflect the fact that there is still no settlement in Nagorno Karabakh. My personal opinion is that Nagorno Karabakh cannot be returned to being as part of Azerbaijan, Zatulin said. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. The Airbus company and Iran's civil aviation carrier Iran Air signed on Thursday the final contract for the purchase of 100 passenger planes, Armenpress reports, citing IRNA, Airbus announced on its website on Thursday. Calling the hefty contract as historical, the Europe-based multinational passenger plane producer said that according to the agreement between the company and the Iran Air, Iran can securely purchase 46 planes from the A320 family class, 38 planes from the A330 family class and 16 A350 XWBs. The first batch of the passenger aircrafts are expected to be delivered to the Islamic Republic of Iran in early 2017. Iran Air Managing Director Farhad Parvaresh and Airbus Managing Director Fabrice Bregier signed the new contract, the report said. In the signing ceremony, Airbus managing director said that the general contract between the Airbus and the Iran Air encompasses issues like pilot trainings and the air traffic management. Best Travel Products and Services Would you like to submit an article in the Travel category or any of the sub-category below? Click here to submit your article. Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us. The dealer, Nancy Wiener, has sold illicit Asian objects to Sothebys and Christies auction houses, according to the criminal complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court. The case is likely to revive questions about the auction houses due diligence procedures before they sell antiquities. Understanding Media garnered a few mainstream print reviews upon publication, but McLuhans break came in early 1965, when a pair of San Francisco prospectors one, Gerald Feigen, a physician, the other, Howard Gossage, an ad-agency executive discovered McLuhan and promptly arranged to visit the Canadian in Toronto. Feigen and Gossage were self-fashioned avant-gardists, using profits from their business consulting firm for genius scouting; the doctor read Understanding Media and alerted his partner. Together they plotted a full-fledged publicity rollout, starting with cocktail parties in New York City with media and publishing figures. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenias economic results for 2016 will be positive, Minister of Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan told reporters after the Cabinet session, stating that a significant growth has been recorded in the industrial sector, reports Armenpress. Based on the 2016 results, the growth of industry will comprise 6-7%. There is a growth also in the export and investments sector. We can speak about this more concrete when summarizing the year, the Minister said. In January-October, 2016, the economic activity rate increased by 0.4%. During the same period the export from Armenia was 698 billion AMD which is an increase of 20% compared to the same period of 2015. Air National Guard Lincoln Info - Source Link Air National Guard from Lincoln, Nebraska is categorized as International Affairs and National Security, the company specializes in National Security. For more information about Air National Guard's offer, please visit our office on 2420 W Butler Ave in Lincoln, NE, or just call: 4023091110. Company info Address: 2420 W Butler Ave, Lincoln, NE 68524 State: Nebraska (NE), Lancaster County Category: International Affairs and National Security National Security Contact info Contact: Colonel Adams - Manager Phone: 4023091110 Update: Great commentary from Justin at Sitsshow Blog Read here for more info... http://sitsshow.blogspot.com/2016/12/kent-dunn-chem-trails-being-sprayed-today-out-of-lincoln-ne-they-cannot-hide-402-309-1110-public-law-105-855-says-us-gov-can-spray-chemical-weapons-on-usa-citizens.html **************************************************************************December 21, 2016Kent Dunn today gives an intelligence report that chemtrail operations are taking place over Lincoln, Nebraska and North Carolina. Kent specifically fingers that chemtrail operations are being conducted by the Air National Guard in Lincoln Nebraska. Kent urges everyone to call the number, which is the contact information for the Air National Guard in Lincoln Nebraska. Kent Dunn requests that you voice your concern about chemtrails and that you do not consent to their continued spraying of toxic substances.Doing a more in depth search about the Air National Guard brings up the following information. It appears that the Nebraska Air National Guard: 155th Air Refueling Wing may be part of these chemtrail operations which has them listed at the same airport. You can take a look at the address on Google Maps and see a satellite view of this location. You get a clear view of the possible chemtrail/military planes stationed at the Air National Guard. Below is a screenshot of the airport that may be allowing chemtrail activity according to Kent Dunn.Nebraska Air National Guard does have its own website address here http://www.155arw.ang.af.mil/Kent Dunn continues to report about the law used to allow the continued spraying of chemtrails. The law is referred to as law 105-85 November 18th 1997 which allows the military to legally spray USA citizens with toxins without our consent. The full law can be read at the following link.... https://chemtrailsplanet.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/public-law-105-85-allows-chemtrails.pdf Here is another video in which Kent Dunn informs the public of the chemtrail law 105-85.For people who still do not know about geoengineering or chemtrails, it is recommended to watch the documentary called. I have embedded the documentary below for your convenience. This documentary is backed by science, eye witnesses, and investigative journalism.It is a sad state of affairs when we are still dealing with people who do not care about humanity and continue to spray the skies of the world with toxic substances. I personally see chemtrail operations on a continued basis and it still amazes me that these military pilots continue to support these destructive programs. These are crimes against humanity and if Kent Dunn's intel is true, this is a good starting point for humanity to protest.Again, the phone number provided by Kent Dunn is 402-309-1110, so we can peacefully protest and let our voices be heard. They are now on notice that the public is aware of their hidden agenda. The total number of votes polled against the proposal was 5.75 crore, accounting for 17.5 per cent of non-promoters. New Delhi: Tata Steel on Thursday said its independent director Nusli Wadia has been removed from the company's board, with 90.8 per cent of shareholders present at yesterday's EGM voting in favour of his ouster. In a regulatory filing, the company said out of its total shares of 97.12 crore, 62.54 crore votes were polled, which translate into 64.4 per cent. "Total vote in favour of the resolution was 56.79 crore, i.e. 90.80 per cent, and total vote against the motion was 5.75 crore, i.e. 9.20 per cent," it said. "The motion (was) carried in favour of the resolution with overwhelming majority way beyond a special resolution hurdle of 75 per cent, even though this motion was an ordinary resolution requiring simple majority," the company added. The promoter and promoter firms held 30.45 crore shares in the company, of which 29.59 crore voted. It further said the total number of votes polled by non-promoter shareholders was 32.95 crore, of which 27.20 crore, that is 82.5 per cent, was in favour of the resolution. The total number of votes polled against the proposal was 5.75 crore, accounting for 17.5 per cent of non-promoters. The company claimed that even if the promoter votes were excluded, the voting result showed an overwhelming majority (3/4th) in favour of the resolution. Institutional investors held a total of 42.64 crore shares out of which 31.99 crore, which is 75 per cent, were polled. As much as 26.39 crore of institutional shares, which is 82.5 per cent, voted in favour of Wadia's removal, Tata Steel said. The share of institutional shares which polled against the resolution was 5.60 crore, that is 17.5 per cent. As for retail shareholders, the company said that out of a total of 24.02 crore shares, 96.14 lakh voted, with 81.21 lakh (84.4 per cent) in favour and 15 lakh (15.6 per cent) against. "Both institutional and retail voted on a similar pattern with significant majority well beyond the 3/4th majority mark in all categories," the company said. Wadia had stayed away from yesterday's EGM, saying it was stage-managed. Last week, he filed a Rs 3,000-crore defamation suit against Ratan Tata, Tata Sons and some of its directors. He flied the case in the Bombay High Court following the move by Tata Sons to remove him from the board of the three companies. Wadia had denied allegations by Tata Sons that he was acting in concert with ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry. Besides, he has refuted claims that he was "galvanising" independent directors and mobilising opinion, forcing disruptions and issuing statements" which were contrary to the interest of the companies as "totally baseless and completely unsubstantiated". Uganda, Egypt agree to make River Nile a highway to Mediterranean Sea to stem import, export costs Rwanda and Egypt heads of state have agreed on a plan to make the River Nile a transportation highway to the Mediterranean Sea to reduce import-export costs. Ugandas President Museveni said at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries that the alternative route on River Nile, which has its source in Uganda, would go up to Egypt's northern Alexandria seaport city. The port handles about 80 per cent of Egypt's imports and exports. "We are, however, looking at the security problems in South Sudan and Sudan and see how they can be solved," Mr Museveni said, referring to a meltdown in Uganda's northern neighbour triggered by political stalemate between President Salva Kiir and his former Vice-turned-rebel leader Riek Machar. President Museveni said they will work with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), an African Union economic development initiative, to "use this free highway to the Mediterranean sea". There has been a row between Egypt and countries that share River Nile over the usage of the Nile waters. Egypt, basing on a 1929 agreement it signed with the British colonialists, insists to continue with veto rights over how other Nile basin countries should use the Nile waters. But Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Burundi opposed this old colonial agreement and decided on a new agreement that Egypt declined to sign. There has also been growing dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt over the former's construction of the $4 billion, 6000 Megawatt Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile planned to be operational by next year. In the memorandum signed between Uganda and Egypt yesterday, Egypt committed to invest in beef, solar energy and livestock industry. There were no specifics on expected amount of capital inflow or the timeline for the investment. "I encourage Egyptian private sector to invest in Uganda's livestock and energy sector,"Gen al-sisi said. The two leaders formed a Joint Permanent Commission that will implement all these investment plans. On arrival at State House Entebbe, President Fattah al-Sisi and his host first held a tete-a-tete before going for bilateral talks attended by ministers. However, a dramatic scuffle between the two presidential guards preceded the calm and collected diplomatic engagement. The push and shove began after more than required number of the visiting leader's escorts wanted to access the meeting room. It is customary for host countries to manage security of a foreign leader and it is unclear why guards of the Egyptian president yesterday felt the pressing need to take care of his security themselves. In the melee, President Museveni's guards outsmarted their Egyptian counterparts, blocking entry to those not authorised. President Museveni will, on invitation by his counterpart, visit Egypt early next year. www.nepad.org YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis visit to Armenia is very important in terms of giving new impetus to the Armenian-Iranian relations, Expert on Iranian studies Vardan Voskanyan told a press conference in Armenpress. This visit justified all our expectations. If we consider the general framework of the issues discussed during the visit, it includes in it political, economic and cultural components. A project that has great regional significance became obvious which is the establishment of corridor connecting the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea. The two sides held talks over this issue and expressed their readiness on the creation of that corridor. Irans President expressed such readiness for several times, Vardan Voskanyan said. He stated that the establishment of the corridor can have not only economic, but also political significance for us. From geopolitical perspective Armenia will improve its positions. To carry out such regional project will enable for our country to successfully overcome the Azerbaijani-Turkish blockade. It is important to state that in this context there were reactions from Azerbaijan, from Turkey as well. Even the Azerbaijani MFAs official commented on this issue which at least could be strange if we do not consider the fact that Azerbaijan is competing with Armenia in terms of developing the relations with Iran. However, Iran stated that Armenia is the stable and reliable way which the Iranian side will seek to use aimed at ensuring its own exit towards the North, the expert said. As for the issue that the Iranian Presidents visit to Armenia was a counterbalance to the Israeli PMs visit to Baku, the expert said the visit dates coincided, however, it is incorrect to link one with another. Armenia and Iran have their own agenda and are guided with it. Iran and Armenia are building their relations for the benefit of the two countries, rather than against any state, he said. Mistry's counsel tells company law panel that price sensitive info was leaked with parties that violated insider trading norms. Mumbai: Cyrus Mistry, who has taken to the legal route to get his complaints against Tata Sons heard, on Thursday told the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that he was ousted as chairman as he wanted to expose and investigate malpractice at the tea-to-chemicals conglomerate Tata Group, CNBC-TV18 reported. Mistrys counsel told the tribunal that no video recording of October 24 board meeting was done and, the lawyer added, Mistry wanted to bring up the malpractice issue in the very same meeting. For the uninitiated, Mistry was removed unceremoniously as chairman of the Tata Sons, since then he has been at loggerheads with Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata who according to Mistry was instrumental in his ouster. His lawyer also told the panel that price sensitive information was shared with parties that violated the insider trading norms. Cyrus Mistry on Tuesday approached the National Company Law Tribunal under section 241 of the Companies Act for alleged oppression and mismanagement at Tata Sons. The counsel representing Mistry informed the tribunal that his client wants to file petition to bring to the fore various "acts of oppression at Tata Sons". Tata Sons counsel refuted claims made by Mistry and sought from the tribunal 15 days' time to file a reply to all his allegations. The counsel also requested the NCLT to dismiss all the cases brought up against Tata Group. It was also reported that their relationship was one of the reasons for Sushant's break-up with Ankita Lokhande. Rumours of two actors working together on the same film getting into a relationship are common in the film industry. Kriti Sanon and Sushant Singh Rajput, who had started shooting for Dinesh Vijan's Raabta, had also become a part of such stories. It was also reported that their relationship was one of the reasons for Sushant's break-up with Ankita Lokhande. Both the actors had denied the rumours and once the shooting was completed, the rumours calmed down for some time. However, they resurfaced again when Sushant and Kriti sat together during an awards show. Later, it was also reported that the couple got cozy and were dirty dancing at Manish Malhotras 50th birthday bash. When asked about these fresh reports, Kriti told Mumbai Mirror, Apparently somebody has even posted a video, please check that out. It has me whispering something in his ears and that's about it. If that's called dirty dancing then your definition of the term is completely wrong. She denies reports of dating Sushant again, saying, Rumors are a part of this industry and being an outsider, you realise that much later. She, however, goes on to praise Sushant, Over time, I have realised that it's important to have a really good actor in front of you because then your scenes become much better. There are really good actors and then there are very few who do their homework well. Sushant's process is very different from mine and that makes it interesting. He's not from a filmi background either so there's that common ground between us too. Raabta was earlier set to be released on Valentines Day but has been postponed to June. About the reason for the delay, she said, We wanted a solo release. Also, certain portions required VFX work, which will take time, and since it's Dino's (Dinesh Vijan) directorial debut, he wants to give it his best. Kriti will also be seen in Bareily Ki Barfi next. In a series of tweets, Kapoor vented out at the naysayers, often dropping the f bomb to silence them. Mumbai: Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali khan welcomed a new arrival in their life, a son, on December 20. While the Pataudi and Kapoor households are on cloud nine with the new member, social media critics have not taken a liking to Saif and Kareena's choice of name and have accused them of many things, encouraging tyranny and brutality being some of them. The ever-judgmental Twitterati has even accused the star couple of being a jihadi. It may not be humanly possible for Saif and Kareena to defend their choice since both of them are not on social media, not that they ought to, but that does not mean the families will sit in a corner and suffer the virtual torture in silence. Rishi Kapoor, who is also Kareenas uncle, did not let the Twitterati get away with their insensitive comments and uncalled for criticism towards the baby. An irate Kapoor Sr went on a rampage on Twitter. But, the Kapoor & Sons star being the forthright person that he is, did not stop at this subtle remark. He replied to anyone and everyone who has denounced the name saying that it is the parents wish and that nobody has the right to comment on it. In a series of tweets, Kapoor vented out at the naysayers, often dropping the f bomb to silence them. For the uninitiated, Taimur is the name of a 14th century tyrant who was notorious for resorting to evil means like genocide and was also highly oppressive by nature. Ironically, the word Taimur means iron and has nothing to do with brutality of any form. Modi was speaking after laying foundation for Mahamana Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking after laying foundation for Mahamana Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, took a potshot at Rahul Gandhi for his earthquake remark. Ek yuva neta hain, abhi bhaashan seekh rahe hain. Jab se unhone bolna seekha hai, meri khushi ka koi paar nahin (There is a young politician, he has now begun learning the art of speaking. I have been very happy ever since he started speaking), Modi said. Naa bolte toh bada bhukamp aajata, aur desh ko kitna bada bhukamp jhelna padta ki desh 10 saal tak ubhar na pata. (A huge earthquake would have hit India if he hadnt spoken and it would have taken 10 years for the nation to recover from it), he said. Lekin achha hua bolna shuru kar diya, toh pata chal raha hai bhukamp ki sambhaavna bachhi hi nahin. (Good that he spoke, now we know there is no possibility of an earthquake), the Prime Minister said while mocking the Congress Vice-President. Rahul had earlier this month warned of an earthquake if he speaks on demonetisation in Parliament and claimed that the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes was the biggest scam in the history of India. The Prime Minister also hit out at the Opposition, saying he never thought political leaders will support corruption. Notes ban is a big cleanliness drive and people are supporting our drive. But the Opposition is siding with corruption. I had never thought some political leaders would have the audacity to stand with the corrupt, he said. The Prime Minister also attacked Pakistan in his speech and said: To infiltrate militants into India, Pakistan resorts to firing along the border. The militants sneak into the Indian side of the border as soon as the Indian soldiers retaliate to the firing by Pakistan. Stringent security measures were in place across the city in view of his visit. The prime minister also interacted with booth-level BJP workers of his parliamentary constituency. He is also scheduled to take part in a cultural festival, flag off a Trade Facilitation Centre and Crafts Museum, and launch schemes, programmes of Textiles Ministry. Modi arrived in Varanasi around 10:30 am. According to Senior Superintendent of Police Nitin Tiwari, more than 5,000 security personnel have been pressed into service to ensure fool-proof security arrangements during the nearly five-hour-long period the Prime Minister is likely to spend in the city. He said 12 SP rank officials, 17 Additional SPs and 42 Deputy SPs would be supervising constables of state police and Provincial Armed Constabulary besides jawans from central paramilitary forces who have been deployed in every nook and corner of the city. The security arrangements have been put in place in consultation with the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) which is directly responsible for the Prime Minister?s security. An SPG team has been camping in the city since Sunday and regularly inspecting the venues of functions to be attended by the Prime Minister besides holding meetings with administrative officials here in connection with security arrangements. Heavy restrictions have been imposed on vehicular traffic which will remain in place until the Prime Ministers departure which is scheduled at around 3 pm. Barricades have been placed at nearly 400 spots across the city. At the sprawling Diesel Locomotive Works premises, where will interact with party workers, the overhead water tank has been converted into a temporary watch tower with nearly a dozen policemen perched atop. Sniffer dogs and bomb disposal squad had surveyed the ground where the function is to be held. This is the Prime Minister's first visit to his Lok Sabha constituency since demonetisation which is expected to become a major issue in the upcoming assembly polls in view of the inconvenience caused to people from all walks of life due to shortage of currency. Notably, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, one of the most vehement critics of the move who had also unsuccessfully contested against Modi from here in the 2014 general elections had held a rally in the city earlier this month attacking the government on the issue. The Modi government as well as the BJP have been countering the criticisms from opposition parties asserting that it was a bold step taken with a view to eliminating black money and the menace of counterfeit currency. 'Najeeb Jung would be returning to his first love, which is, academics,' said a statement issued by his office. Delhi Governor Lt Governor Najeeb Jung submitted his resignation letter to the NDA government on Thursday. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: In a sudden move, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday resigned amid a protracted bitter confrontation with the AAP government. Without citing reasons, Jung's office said he has submitted his resignation to the Centre. 65-year-old Jung, a former IAS officer, had assumed charge of Lt Governor of Delhi on July 9, 2013. "Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has submitted his resignation to the Government of India. He thanks the Prime Minister for all the help and cooperation he received during his tenure," the LG's office said in a statement. The reason behind his surprise decision is not immediately known. "Jung also thanked the people of Delhi for all their support and affection, especially during the one year of President's Rule in Delhi, when he got unstinted support from them and which in turn helped run the administration in Delhi smoothly and effortlessly," the statement said. Jung also thanked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his association in the last two years. "Jung would be returning back to his first love, which is, academics," said his office. Arvind Kejriwal described his resignation as a surprise even as the AAP took a jibe at the LG, saying he worked under the "influence" of the Narendra Modi dispensation. The AAP also questioned whether the power tussle between the Centre and Delhi government will continue even after the appointment of a new LG. Kejriwal said Jung's resignation is a surprise to him and wished him for his future endeavours. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, despite the "sweet bitter" experience, the AAP government and Jung did a good job in Delhi. "Good wishes to Najeeb Jung for his future endeavour. God should give some good sense to them who controlled him. Will the war continue even after Jung's (exit)?" Delhi minister Kapil Mishra said. The nurse kept the baby close to heater to extort money from her parents. The newborn suffered mild burn injuries on face and is admitted to a hospital. (Representational image) Jaipur: In a shocking case, an auxiliary nurse midwife of a government dispensary allegedly kept a newborn girl close to a heater to force her family to give Rs 300 in Churu district. The baby suffered mild burn injuries on her face. Later, the ANM was removed and put under the awaiting posting orders ( APO ) while three others were shifted to another ward after the matter came to light. "Maya delivered a baby girl on Monday in the health centre. Soon after the normal delivery, ANM Neetu Gurjar put the baby close to a heater and demanded Rs 300 as 'Badhai'. "Her grandmother opposed but the ANM did not agree to give the baby to her mother," SHO Kotwali police station Bhagwan Sahay Meena said. Later to get the newborn, her grandmother gave the ANM Rs 300 and Rs 200 to another nurse, he said, adding, the newborn suffered mild burn injuries on face and is admitted to a hospital. The newborn's father Lalchand Prajapat lodged a complaint against the ANM and another nurse. On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was registered under section 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 166B (public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of IPC on Tuesday. After the mater came to light, Rajasthan Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf ordered a departmental inquiry and put Neetu under the awaiting posting orders ( APO ) status. She was shifted to Medical Directorate, Jaipur while three staff nurse Mukesh Devi, ANMs Jamuna and Pushpa Darji - were shifted to another ward. On the direction of the minister, a four-member committee of doctors has been constituted which will probe the matter and submit its report by December 26, according to an official of the Medical and Health Department. Najeeb Jung said he had resigned as he wanted to return to academics, that was his first love. New Delhi: Delhis lieutenant governor (L-G) Najeeb Jung resigned from his post in a sudden move on Thursday, ending a 42-month eventful tenure, mostly marked by a bitter power struggle with the AAP government that frequently derailed governance in the national capital. His resignation 18 months before his five-year tenure was to end in 2018 caught many, including the Delhi chief minister and the Union home secretary, by surprise. The 65-year-old said he wanted to return to academics, his first love. Mr Jung thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his help and cooperation and CM Arvind Kejriwal for his association. A brief statement issued by his office also said: Mr Jung also thanks the people of Delhi for all their support and affection Soon after Mr Jung put in his papers, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari met Union home minister Rajnath Singh. In Delhi, the L-G reports to the Union ministry, and exercises control over law and order, land and transfer and posting of senior bureaucrats. The L-G has had to reverse several decisions taken by the Delhi government, saying he had not been consulted. The AAP has maintained that Delhis elected government should have a greater say in governance matters. It moved the Delhi high court, which said in August that the L-G was the citys administrative boss. The Supreme Court, which is hearing the case now, said about a week ago that the Delhi government should have some powers to be able to function. The court listed the matter for final disposal on January 18. Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said that the L-G met him two days ago but did not give any indication that he would quit. Later in the evening, Mr Mehrishi held a meeting with Delhis chief secretary M.M. Kutty. Mr Kejriwal said the decision had surprised him. His deputy Manish Sisodia said, Despite several bitter-sweet experienceswe have worked very well for Delhi with Jung. Both extended their best wishes to Mr Jung. While speculation was rife that Mr Jung could be elevated with a posting at the Centre, one of his close aides told this newspaper that after working for 45 years he wanted to spend time with his family. The Congress said that the Centre must explain why Mr Jung was unceremoniously removed, and whether it was done to bring someone to the top administrative post who is ideologically close to the RSS. Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta however claimed that Mr Jung had expressed his displeasure with the Kejriwal government on Wednesday. He was upset with the AAP government stalling work. But we did not foresee this (his resignation). He told us that he was going on a weeklong leave. Delhi needed him, he said. Sources however said that Mr Jungs resignation had nothing to do with his acrimonious relationship with the AAP government, and he had been contemplating to quit for the last few months. A 1973-batch IAS officer, Mr Jung assumed charge as Delhis L-G in 2013. He was then was serving as Jamia Millia Universitys vice-chancellor. He ran the city single-handedly for nearly one year after the AAP government quit in February, 2014. NC, separatists say move will change states demographic character. Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir governments recent decision to issue nativity and identity certificates to about 150,000 refugees from erstwhile West Pakistan is snowballing into a major controversy with separatists and mainstream Opposition National Conference (NC) accusing chief minister Mehbooba Mufti of implementing the RSSs agenda in the state. The move, they have alleged, is aimed at changing the Muslim-majority character of Jammu and Kashmir. Both the separatists and the NC and some other likeminded parties and civil society groups also maintain that issuing domicile certificates to the refugees goes against the state subject law in force here since 1927. The separatists have, while terming it a part of the RSS agenda, called for holding protests on Friday and threatened to go beyond it unless the government withdraws the decision. The Pakistan government too has stepped in, accusing India of settling non-Kashmiris in the state in an attempt to change its demographic composition. Pakistans foreign office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said at his weekly press briefing in Islamabad, Reportedly, the PDP-BJP regime, in violation of UNSC resolutions, has started issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu. The move is part of the regimes nefarious designs to change the demographic composition of the territory. He added, This act of bringing material change in the disputed territory of J&K is a blatant violation of the UNSC resolutions on Kashmir. Kashmiris hope that the international community and relevant international organisations will call India to the account. But the J&K authorities have clarified that no domicile but only nativity/identity certificates are being issued to the refugees to help them in seeking employment in the Central government departments and also avail various welfare schemes sponsored by it and that the document will not entitle a person to buy immovable property in J&K, which only a permanent resident can do. Nevertheless, observers say the move could be seized by the separatists and the Opposition to create a difficult situation for the PDP-BJP, which has just come out of a worst crisis triggered by the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani. Also, peace that returned after witnessing a five-month turbulence could become a casualty again. J&Ks education minister and government spokes-person, Naeem Akhtar, has not ruled out such possibility. It is a deliberate attempt to destabilise the situation and hit the political and economic interests of the people, he said. Paradoxically, some BJP leaders in Jammu have quickly tried to gain some political mileage by publicly boasting that issuing nativity/identity certificates to the refugees is a prelude to make them permanent resident of the state. But while doing that they have only helped the governments detractors in spreading the notion that the move is aimed at changing the demographics of the state. In 1947-48, as many 5,764 families moved in Jammu and Kashmir after leaving their homes and hearth in erstwhile West Pakistan. They chose mainly the areas falling in close proximity to the border with Pakistan from Kathua to Akhnor in Jammu region as their new home but only to face numerous problems in absence of domicile tag. Today, their population has risen to 1.5lakh (19,960 families). They have been asking for domicile right and a special package for rehabilitation in the state, besides a host of other benefits and also the right to vote and contest state Assembly elections, allotment of land, special recruitment, right to education in technical/professional institutions and, with half of them being dalits, issuance of SC/OBC certificates. At present, these refugees are citizens of India and do have the right to vote in Lok Sabha elections. However, they do not enjoy voting rights to the state Assembly and local bodies. The government has confirmed that the refugees are being issued nativity/identity certificates after receiving directions from Union home ministry in August. These certificates, officials said, clearly mention that the person is a West Pakistan refugee, who has been living in J&K after the Partition but is not a resident of the state. Labha Ram Gandhi, leader of West Pakistan Refugees Action Comm-ittee, termed the nativity/identity certificates only little helpful. A false and contrived impression is being created regarding the change of status of the West Pakistan Refugees (WPR), said Mr Akhtar. He added, A misleading campaign is launched to create an impression that the government is changing the status of the WPR and that they are being provided domicile certificates. He said the refugees who settled in the state in the aftermath of the Partition include those from PoK and erstwhile West Pak. While the refugees from PoK have the status of the permanent residents of the state, those from West Pakistan are not entitled to permanent residence as they are not the domiciles of j&K, he said. These refugees cant apply for any job within the State, because of being non-state subjects and in order to facilitate them to get jobs in paramilitary forces and other Central government establishments, the government has issued them Identity Certificates which is in the same format as exists in the voter list for the Parliamentary polls, he said. Mr. Akhtar added, Issuance of Identity Certificates does in no way change the status of the West Pakistan refugees and they continue to be the non-state subjects. But unfortunately, earlier this year also controversies were stirred and public passions raised deliberately on tenuous issues like Pandit colonies and ex-servicemen colonies which ended up with a long spell of disorder and violence in Kashmir resulting in loss of so many precious lives, injuries, destruction of public and private properties, breakdown of academic system, torching of schools, ruining of economy and complete halting of developmental process. He said that now when the situation has started improving in Kashmir with academic, tourism, developmental and economic activities slowly picking up again, speculative reports are being passed around about the change of status of the West Pakistan r to create confusion and once again fuel disquiet. He urged the people not to give credence to such unsubstantiated and disingenuous reports. Meanwhile, Independent MLA and leader of regional Awami Itehad Party (AIP) Sheikh Abdur Rasheed and his supporters were on Thursday detained as they tried to march along the streets of Srinagar in protest against the government move. Talking to reporters before being detained, Mr. Rasheed said the government decision to grant domicile certificates to West Pakistan refugees was totally unacceptable to us. He alleged that Mehbooba Mufti led government was behaving as a proxy and extension of the BJP government in Delhi. He said, Time has come for Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to break this alliance (with BJP) and go to people once again (to seek votes). The AIP said that, at least, eight of its workers were injured in the scuffle and while being dragged from the scene by police. Later, Mr. Rasheed said, Despite the fact that the issue is a desperate attack to change the Muslim character of the State, the decision would affect the rights of Dogras in Jammu region as well. He announced to begin a 48-hour sit-in outside the Chief Ministers Srinagar residence on Friday to remind her that she cant run away by justifying every shameless disastrous act. In the evening after being released from a Kothi Bagh police station here, he was re-arrested by the police as he confronted a group of VHPs national leaders and activists currently on a visit of the Valley at Mushtaq Press Enclave here. As the two sides came face-to-face, Mr. Rasheed accused the VHP of meddling in Kashmir. You are killers of Kashmiris and there is no place for you here, he shouted at them. The AIP in a statement termed it as a surprise and swift move and said that about two dozen activists led by Mr. Rasheed took the VHP national leaders hostage for about half an hour when they were addressing media. Those who demolished Babri Masjid, massacred Muslims in India, want to change demography of Jammu and Kashmir and make India a Hindu Rashtra have no place in Kashmir, he was quoted as saying. PM mocks Congress leader, who says answers needed on graft charges. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with UP BJP President Keshav Prasad Maurya and party leaders during BJP Karyakarta Sammelan in Varanasi at DLW Ground in Varanasi. (Photo: PTI) Lucknow/New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, saying he has learnt to speak, but does not think before speaking, unwittingly admitting to the failure of his partys reign. Mr Modis remarks at a party event in Varanasi prompted the Opposition leader who while addressing a rally in the states Baharich launched a fresh scathing attack against the PM. Make fun of me as much as you want, but respond to charges of personal corruption, Mr Gandhi said. Barbs flew thick and fly in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, a day after the Congress leader accused the PM of taking money from the Sahara and Birla groups when he was Gujarats chief minister, a charge the ruling BJP has strongly refuted. The PM did not respond to Mr Gandhis charges, but used his wit to attack him. They have a young leader who is just learning to give speechesthere is no limit to my happiness. In 2009, you couldnt even tell what is inside this packet and what is not. Now we are finding out, said the PM. There is no chance of an earthquake now that he has spoken. We can be rest assured that there is no danger of the natural calamity in sight, said Mr Modi during his first visit to his constituency Varanasi after demonetisation. Mr Gandhi had claimed last week that there would be an earthquake if he was allowed to speak in Parliament as he had proof about Modis personal corruption. Ahead of next years elections in UP, stakes are getting bigger and the state has become the main political battleground. Failing to find a face for the polls, the BJP is now relying completely on Mr Modi. Even as the Congress seems to be lagging behind, Mr Gandhi is addressing rallies across the state to garner support for his party. The Congress vice-president, who has emerged as the target of the BJPs ridicule, recited a Mirza Ghalib couplet: Har ek baat pe kehte ho tum, ki tu kya hai, tumhi kaho ki ye andaaz-e-guftugu kya hai (On every utterance of mine, you say what are you. You tell me what is this way of talking). Mr Gandhi himself minced no words in attacking the PM. You sucked the money from the poor to feed the rich who owe Rs 8 lakh crores to banks Modiji first tell us what was there in the ten packets from Sahara, he said at the Baharich rally. Mr Modi earlier hit out at Mr Gandhis assertion that the governments plans for a digital economy would fail because of a low literacy rate in the country. I hope he does not say that I had indulged in some sort of black magic to make those who knew how to read and write illiterate, Mr Modi quipped, drawing laughter and applause from BJP workers. He said that a cleanliness campaign in the economy had been launched and the stink raised during the cleaning of garbage was what the country was feeling, referring to his move last month to recall high-value bills to fight black money and fake currency. The PM also slammed the Opposition for stalling Parliament over demonetisation, and went on to liken it to the cover fire given by Pakistans forces to help terrorists in infiltration. In a rare attack on former PM Manmohan Singh, Mr Modi said that he should not have cited Indias dismal state to oppose plans for a cashless economy as he has been in the core team of those in charge of the economy since the 1970s. Now is this his report card or mine? Whose legacy am I dealing with? he asked. Problem-solving skills are seen to increase by nearly 10 percent in the first semester but decreases drastically after that Research shows that students are not learning as much and soon new methods will have to be used to make problem-solving skills better. (Photo: Pixabay) In a bid to help students, a recent study shows that traditional university lectures may not be building the skills students are hoping to acquire and their future employers have come to expect.The study has been published online in the journal of Higher Education. Problem solving was defined as person's capacity to use their brain power to resolve a real, cross-disciplinary situation in which a solution was not immediately obvious.The findings showed that traditional university lectures may not be building the skills students are hoping to acquire and their future employers have come to expect. "There is strong evidence that different methods of teaching can heavily influence the development of problem-solving skills," said study author Andis Klegeris from University Of British Columbia Okanagan Campus in Canada. "It does not appear that the traditional, lecture-style of information delivery is well suited to helping students build those skills," Klegeris added. The team of researchers developed a testing system to measure the problem-solving abilities of students in various stages of their undergraduate degrees.They adapted a test used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), so that students could be assessed in 15 minutes. The test was written by nearly 1,000 students at various stages of their undergraduate degree, with one problem-solving test given at the beginning of first semester and the other at semester's end.The study concluded that only first-year students saw significant improvements in their problem-solving abilities. Their data shows that while freshman students see their problem-solving skills increase by nearly 10 percent in their first semester, students in the majority of disciplines experience little-to-no improvement in all the semesters that follow. "As problem-solving is becoming an increasingly sought-after skill, it is likely post-secondary institutions will need to adapt their teaching styles to ensure students are able to better participate in a skill-based economy," says another researchers Heather Hurren. "If they haven't already, professors will need to move from traditional lectures and expectations of memorisation to approaches that see small groups of students actively discover knowledge on their own," Hurren added. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Tigran Sargsyan and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on December 22 discussed the Supreme Eurasian Economic Councils session agenda in Astana. The session will be held on December 26 in St. Petersburg, the EEC press service told Armenpress. The Eurasian Economic Commission together with the EAEU member states has prepared a number of important documents on the further development of the Eurasian integration. They are going to be discussed in the upcoming session. Issues related to the joint coordination of transportation policy, customs legislation, formation of common energy market are included in the session agenda. Tigran Sargsyan informed Nursultan Nazarbayev on the current situation of the issues that will be discussed by the heads of states. In Morocco during Hanukkah, revellers indulge in orange or anise flavoured doughnuts. In Mongolia, the Buddhists celebrate the lunar New Year (Tsagan Sar) by snacking in ul boov, a tower made from Shoe-sole shaped cakes. Some quirky, some funthese customs will remind you how the festivals are all about feeling happy and positive. In Puerto Rico, locals do the parrandas where they go door to door singing to wake their unsuspecting friends. After a small party at each stop, the owner of the house joins the brigade too. In Ukraine, following a folklore, the residents decorate their trees with webs to welcome good luck in the New Year. In Spain at midnight on New Years its a tradition to eat 12 grapes one with each chime to ensure 12 months of happiness and luck ahead. In Morocco during Hanukkah, revellers indulge in orange or anise flavoured doughnuts. In Mongolia, the Buddhists celebrate the lunar New Year (Tsagan Sar) by snacking in ul boov, a tower made from Shoe-sole shaped cakes. In Finland, small tin horseshoes are melted for fortune telling. The liquid tin is poured into a bucket of cold water where it freezes. The new shapes are interpreted to predict the coming year. In Philippines, round foods which symbolise coins are eaten. They usher in prosperity. Source: www.mentalfloss.com The car project would also be proposed to IIT-Delhi to be developed into a functional prototype. Nandini Sharma and Kabir Arora, Class 11 students of Amity International School, Pushp Vihar, bagged the innovation award on Wednesday after a two-month-long science competition on the topic Mitigating Air Pollution in Delhi. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: With the air quality dipping and the national capital in perpetual pollution crisis, two Delhi students have come up with the concept of a self-sustainable car that runs using electromagnetic induction to help tackle the health hazard. Nandini Sharma and Kabir Arora, Class 11 students of Amity International School, Pushp Vihar, bagged the innovation award on Wednesday after a two-month-long science competition on the topic Mitigating Air Pollution in Delhi. The self-sustainable car, a non-polluting, zero carbon footprint simulation concept that uses electromagnetic induction, was among several projects created by students from various schools in and around Delhi. In the event, jointly organised by United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan, Sonalika Group of Companies, National Progressive Schools Conference and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, students from other schools also bagged prizes in different categories. The car project would also be proposed to IIT-Delhi to be developed into a functional prototype. Speaking at the award ceremony, JNU rector Chintamani Mohapatra said that Delhi was not fighting pollution adequately. The focus is just on old vehicles and its emissions, but not on the number of vehicles an average family has, he added. The future of Delhi residents is bleak unless there is a co-operation between government and stakeholders to fight the war against pollution, he added. The ED raided multiple locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, among others based on intelligence gathered by the agency. Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a Kolkata-based businessman here in connection with alleged coversion of over Rs 25 crore in old currency in new notes as part of its probe under money laundering laws after demonetisation. Officials identified the businessman as Paras M Lodha and said he was arrested by the agency here late yesterday here after he was questioned in the case. They said he was first intercepted by its sleuths at the Mumbai airport yesterday, based on a look out circular, while he was reportedly trying to fly out. They said the agency arrested him "in connection with conversion of more than Rs 25 crore of old notes to new notes in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases." ED will produce Lodha in a court here to obtain his further custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). While the Reddy case pertains to Chennai where the Income Tax department has made the biggest detection of unaccounted income of over Rs 142 crore, the Delhi Police and the I-T seized Rs 13.5 crore from a law firm here. The firm belongs to lawyer Rohit Tandon. Reddy was yesterday arrested by the CBI. Officials said the multiple agencies working on these two high-profile cases, involving high ranking individuals, are joining dots of the investigations to prepare a water tight case against those who have either hoarded or generated black funds in the wake of the currency scrap of November 8 by the government. The prisoners and their relatives usually bribe the staff and ensure that the devices get into the hands of the inmates. Prison staff due to the lenient security checks they have to undergo unlike other visitors usually smuggles mobile phones in. (Representational Image) Mumbai: Ramesh Kamble, Nashik Jail Superintendent, who inspected the jail last week found 11 prisoners serving life sentence in the jail using cell phones. According to Mr Kamble, the inspection was based on suspicion and yielded eight mobile phone handsets from different barracks and some of the prisoners were also caught while talking over the phones. It was then decided to shift the prisoners to Pune and Navi Mumbai jails. Mr Kamble further added that, following the inspection and seizure; Inspector General of Police (Prisons) Rajendra Dhamane had also paid a two-day visit to the Nashik Road Central Jail and inspected the jail barracks. Prison staff due to the lenient security checks they have to undergo unlike other visitors usually smuggles mobile phones in. The prisoners and their relatives usually bribe the staff and ensure that the devices get into the hands of the inmates. Mr Kamble said that while five prisoners were shifted to Pune Central Jail, six others were shifted to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai on Monday. He however did not disclose whether the phone calls made by the prisoners would be probed or an inquiry would be held into how the devices found their way in the prison. Also, in November 10 handsets had been seized from a jail in Chennai in a similar surprise check. Union as well as state government ministers are expected to be present at the event. Mumbai: Railway minister Suresh Prabhu will inaugurate the newly-constructed suburban station Ram Mandir on Thursday. The inauguration for the station between Goregaon and Jogeshwari stations is scheduled to begin at 4 pm. Union as well as state government ministers are expected to be present at the event. Only slow suburban services would halt at this station in the Down and Up directions, on platforms 3 and 4 respectively, on Thursday. The first train to halt at Ram Mandir station in the Down direction will be BO 90801, leaving Churchgate at 5.11 pm and reaching Ram Mandir at 6 pm. In the UP direction, the first train would be BO 90830, which will depart from Borivali at 5.57 pm and reach Ram Mandir station at 6.10 pm. On the Churchgate-Andheri and Churchgate-Borivali section, all semi-fast and fast trains will not halt at Ram Mandir station. The new station has been constructed between Jogeshwari and Goregaon as there was a long-standing demand for construction of a suburban station between these two stations. Ram Mandir station has four platforms in total, which will cater to train services on the slow and Harbour corridors. The total number of suburban stations between Churchgate and Dahanu Road will increase to 37 in number after the opening of Ram Mandir station. Ram Mandir station will help decongest both Jogeshwari as well as Goregaon stations and will be a big boon for the residents of nearby localities. Passengers are requested to take note of the arrangements made at the station, said Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relations officer, Western Railway. The station was constructed at a cost of Rs 32 crore, and work on it was started way back in 2006. An official said, The biggest advantage of this station is that Jogeshwari would be decongested with a decrease in commuter footfall and there will thus be less frenzy than, say, today. This station would also help de-congest traffic by providing direct connectivity to commercial hubs in the east, including Oracle Financial Services, Oberoi Mall, Sadhana Industrial Estate and Nirlon Knowledge Park. A source from customs informed The Asian Age that, taking currency above worth Rs 25,000 out of India is illegal. Mumbai: Officials from the Air Intelligence unit of Customs (AIU) on Thursday morning seized Rs 28 lakh in new notes of Rs 2000 notes from a passenger identified as Ashraf Unichiram Vettil, (30) an Indian resident, who was heading to Dubai, from Chhatrapati Shivaji International (CSI) airport. Officials have recovered Rs 28,000 from his check-in baggage. Vettil had camouflaged the notes by putting items like plastic toys and tissue papers which was recovered from his check-in baggage, said a senior AIU officer. Ms Rama Mathew, commissioner of customs at CSI airport, said, The currency was seized under the impression that the passenger was smuggling it out of India. She further added, It was seized under customs act 1962, and FEMA (export and import of currency) 2000 Act. A source from customs informed The Asian Age that, taking currency above worth Rs 25,000 out of India is illegal and once it gets seized and the passenger have to pay a penalty. A senior official from AIU informed that further investigation in the case is on. The official said, The passenger in his statement informed that the currency belongs to someone named Siddique and he was carrying it for a monetary profit of Rs 20,000. Our investigation revealed that Siddique had also lured him by offering him free air tickets to Dubai, said the official. AIU sources informed the newspaper that since the currency crisis is on, the cases of people bringing old notes to India to get them exchanged is on rise and recently they had intercepted one passenger who had arrived with almost Rs 2 lakh in the form of old notes at the city airport. David Goodall has produced more than 100 research papers in an ecology career spanning 70 years. Melbourne: A 102-year-old Australian ecologist, the countrys oldest working scientist, has won a battle to keep working on campus at an Australian university. Dr David Goodall was ordered to work from home next year after his presence at Western Australias Edith Cowan University was deemed a safety risk. But the university has now found an alternative workspace. Australias oldest working scientist, Goodall has produced more than 100 research papers in an ecology career spanning 70 years. He is currently an unpaid honorary research associate. After two decades at Edith Cowan University, Goodall was told in August to pack up his office when staff raised concerns about his safety. It was another setback for the ecologist, who was recently forced to give up theatre when his declining vision prevented him from driving to rehearsals. The university confirmed better office space has been found at a campus closer to Goodalls residence. I am pleased we have found a solution that will ensure David can continue to be based at ECU, vice-chancellor Steve Chapman told the BBC. Goodall said he was grateful the university was able to accommodate him. I hope to continue with some useful work in my field in so far as my eyesight permits, he told the ABC. But I still think the emphasis on safety was unnecessary, the centenarian scientist added. Quite a year for them superstars, wasn't it?! Mumbai: Bollywood has often been criticised for doling out the most mediocre and under-utilising of roles and scripts to its talented actors; the actors themselves receiving flak for accepting them and voluntarily shying away from trying challenges. However, 2016 saw the creme de la creme of Bollywood cruise out of their comfort zones and venture into territories hitherto unexplored. They received accolades, veneration and acknowledgement they very much deserved. So we have listed the top 7 knockout male performances of 2016, in Bollywood, to once again revere their phenomenal performances. Aamir Khan (Dangal): The most recent and probably the most radical of the lot, Aamir Khan pushed the aching boundaries of physical strenuosity and Indian film superstardom, by doing the biopic of former wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who trained his daughters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari to Commonwealth glory. So credible was his act that not once did we see the inimitable traits and quirks of the superstar, every Indian household has come to be used to. The actor has improved by nautical miles and rendered himself a serious contender for every single forthcoming awards ceremony. But not one for the trophy, is he? Sushant Singh Rajput (MS Dhoni: The Untold Story): The wild card shocker of the year, Sushant Singh Rajput got so much into the skin of the Indian ODI skipper, that had it not been for their slightly different physicality, they would as well have been indistinguishable, a la Val Kilmer-Jim Morrison from Oliver Stone's 'The Doors'. The actor captured Dhoni's body language to the T, emulated his optimal physical fitness and even created a near twin impression of his hook stroke, the helicopter shot. Sushant elevated the film to such epic stature that the Neeraj Pandey directorial is counted amongst the best biopics the country has produced till date. Amitabh Bachchan (Te3n/Pink): The cinematic supremo of the country has been re-inventing and challenging the phenomenal actor in him, so much so that filmmakers like R. Balki (Shamitabh) and Shoojit Sircar (Piku) have been writing screenplays just meant for him. The year saw three such films featuring him, namely Bejoy Nambiar's 'Wazir,' Ribhu Dasgupta's 'Te3n' and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's 'Pink'. While he delivered superlative performances in all three, particularly stirring were his acts as the distressed grandfather in 'Te3n' and the bipolar lawyer seeking justice in 'Pink'. Though the latter, saw the actor win unprecedented acclaim from critics and audiences alike, much like the film itself, it was his very real, very underplayed performance in 'Te3n,' that wins the cake. His emotional gash was the audience's own, so was his vendetta. The film one of Bachchan's very few under-appreciated performances, easily worthy to be crowned amongst his best three yet, if not the best itself. Manoj Bajpayee (Aligarh): Manoj Bajpayee's acting credentials have never been questioned, having ruled the Indian arthouse diaspora for the longest time, alongside peers like Irrfan Khan. However, not being one to take it easy, the actor portrayed the unsolicitedly disgraced homosexual professor Ramchadra Siras of the Aligarh university, in Hansal Mehta's 'Aligarh'. So measured, nuanced and sombrely heart-breaking was his performance, that one couldn't be blamed for being fooled into believing the pain and melancholy being presented on-screen wasn't the actor's very own. Shah Rukh Khan (Fan/Dear Zindagi): The King of Bollywood had come under a lot of scrutiny and widespread criticism for his recent choice of films (Read Chennai Express, Happy New Year, Dilwale), with most skeptics writing him off for his apparent irreverence of the audience's legitimate expectations. But then came Maneesh Sharma's 'Fan,' a film which was inherently constructed to challenge the actor in him. The film, albeit with its flaws, brought back the actor in Shah Rukh Khan to such thriving life, that we were able to distinguish the superstar on reel and the superstar that he is, despite the two having been written in congruence. However, it was the actor's sociopathically vengeful 'fan' act that really pushed the realm, with SRK delivering, inarguably his career-best, though tragically under-appreciated. With time, the performance might get its well-deserved due. Later that year, he gleefully played second fiddle to Alia Bhatt in Gauri Shinde's 'Dear Zindagi,' delivering a stellar, measured act as a quirky therapist with an uncharacteristic take on life and the challenges it poses. Apart from being an endearing film with phenomenal performances from its collective star-cast, what it really did announce was Shah Rukh Khan's sensational second coming. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Raman Raghav 2.0): Ever since Sujoy Ghosh made 'Kahaani,' Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been charming the audience with every single film, so much so that, his massive fan-base has been re-visiting his zillion other minor roles prior to the stardom he achieved post Anurag Kashyap's 'Gangs of Wasseypur' films. This year, Anurag returned to making content-driven films on minuscule, calculated budgets, post the debacle that his 'Bombay Velvet' was. The maverick filmmaker came out with 'Raman Raghav 2.0,' starring Nawaz and 'Masaan' fame Vicky Kaushal as the eponymous duo. Though the response to the film was diametrically polarised, Nawaz' psychopathic serial killer act was universally appreciated. So zany and borderline intimidating was he despite of his humble frame that one might greet his real life humility with flabbergasted disbelief. Shahid Kapoor (Udta Punjab): Shahid Kapoor had swept most awards that season, with Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Haider,' but followed it up with the disastrous 'Shaandaar'. However, what came next was the positively scandalous 'Udta Punjab,' by Abhishek Chaubey. The film, a blunt take on Punjab's escalating drug crises had an ensemble as its puppets, in Kareena Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh, Alia Bhatt and Shahid. The actor portrayed a drug addicted rockstar with such conviction that was it not for Alia Bhatt's mind-numbing performance, and the content of the film itself, the film would have been reminisced for the longest time for the star himself. The actor transformed physically, reformed linguistically and gave his everything to the role, which eventually led to a doper's agonising conundrum being accurately translated onto the big-screen. Apart from these seven, we believe Jim Sarbh's delectably antagonistic debut in 'Neerja,' Randeep Hooda's titular excellence in 'Sarbjit,' Naseeruddin Shah's expectedly charming dramatisation in 'Waiting' and Ranbir Kapoor's lovelorn musician suffering eternally in the trauma of unrequited love in 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' also deserve a special mention. Quite a year for them superstars, wasn't it?! uioiuewtwetwfdhdshffdsgfdsgwtetewtdfgfdhertrytr The veteran star died on December 17 at his home in Sherman Oaks, after battling Parkinsons disease. Los Angeles: Gordon Hunt, who directed hundreds of cartoons for TV as well as sitcoms including Mad About You, which starred his daughter and Oscar-winner Helen Hunt, has passed away. He was 87. The veteran star died on December 17 at his home in Sherman Oaks, after battling Parkinsons disease, Helen confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter. He was a master of reinvention, a journeyman artist. He knew and taught that the work doesnt always find you. You need to create and re-create the work every day, Helen said. Starting in the early 1980s, Hunt, who had served for years as the casting director at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, spent about a decade at the famed animation house Hanna-Barbera. He went on to work as the recording director on cartoons featuring The Smurfs, Richie Rich, The Jetsons, Super Friends, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and many others. In the 1990s, Hunt transitioned to network sitcoms and directed 31 episodes of NBCs Mad About You. He won a Directors Guild of America Award award in 1996 for helming an installment of the acclaimed series that featured Carl Reiner reprising his role as Alan Brady from The Dick Van Dyke Show. He also worked on numerous video games including Pandemonium, the God of War series, Lair, Final Fantasy XIV, Blur, the Legacy of Kain series and Uncharted. He is survived by his wife B J Ward, a voice actress, daughters Helen and Colleen Morrison, grandchildren Makena Lei Gordon Carnahan, Emmett Carnahan and Lizze Gordon and siblings Peter and George Hunt. Honda Motor Co said on Wednesday it had entered into formal talks with Alphabet Inc's new self-driving division Waymo to add self-driving technology to its vehicles, marking the second potential customer for the automation software. The move comes just one week after Google spun off its self-driving unit into its own company named "Waymo" with a mandate to strike partnerships with automakers and others and commercialize the research it has been developing for over seven years. The potential deal illustrates how automakers faced with the high costs of developing the new technology in-house are separating into those betting on developing it alone, such as Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co, and those turning to partnerships with suppliers to spread the costs. Honda's announcement marks Google's second potential tie-up with an automaker over its self-driving technology. The first came in May, when the technology giant signed a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to incorporate the tech into the carmaker's minivans. Unlike cash-strapped Fiat Chrysler, however, Honda has already committed its own resources to autonomous driving, and it said on Tuesday those efforts would continue. While Honda has been less vocal about its plans for self-driving cars than larger rivals like Toyota Motor Corp, the Japanese automaker showed off a self-driving prototype in June it has been testing in Northern California. The carmaker foresees full autonomy on highways by 2020. "In addition to these on-going (in-house) efforts, this technical collaboration with Waymo could allow Honda R&D to explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to market," Honda said in a statement. Honda said, as part of the collaboration talks, it could provide Waymo with vehicles modified to accommodate Waymo software, such as Fiat Chrysler has done with its Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Were a deal to be signed, Honda said its engineers in Silicon Valley and Tochigi, Japan would work closely with Waymo engineers. A Waymo representative said the company was "looking forward to exploring opportunities to collaborate with Honda to advance fully self-driving technology and make our roads safer." YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Turkish warplanes committed a new massacre in the city of al-Bab northeast of Aleppo city, claiming the lives of 24 civilians and injuring scores others, Armenpress reports, citing Syrian SANA. Local and media sources said that Turkish warplanes targeted on Thursday the residential neighborhoods of al-Bab city, killing 24 persons, among them 7 children and 10 women, and injuring tens others. The sources added that many are still missing under the rubble of the collapsed residential buildings due to the violent raids, which makes the toll of martyrs and wounded persons likely to rise. Nokia announced today it is suing Apple in German and US courts for patent infringement, claiming the US tech giant was using Nokia technology in "many" products without paying for it. Finnish Nokia, once the world's top mobile phone maker, said the two companies had signed a licensing agreement in 2011, and since then "Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products." "After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights," Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Nokia's patent business, said in a statement. The complaints, filed in three German cities and a district court in Texas, concern 32 patents for innovations related to displays, user interface, software, antennae, chipsets and video coding. Nokia said it was preparing further legal action elsewhere. Nokia was the world's leading mobile phone maker from 1998 until 2011 when it bet on Microsoft's Windows mobile platform, which proved to be a flop. Analysts say the company failed to grasp the growing importance of smartphone apps compared to hardware. It sold its unprofitable handset unit in 2014 for some USD 7.2 billion to Microsoft, which dropped the Nokia name from its Lumia smartphone handsets. Meanwhile Nokia has concentrated on developing its mobile network equipment business by acquiring its French-American rival Alcatel-Lucent. Including its 2013 full acquisition of joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia said the three companies united represent more than 115 billion euros of R&D investment, with a massive portfolio of tens of thousands of patents. The 2011 licensing deal followed years of clashes with Apple, which has also sparred with main rival Samsung over patent claims. At the time, Apple cut the deal to settle 46 separate complaints Nokia had lodged against it for violation of intellectual property. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria made the allegations at the weekly press briefing in Islamabad. Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday accused India of settling non-Kashmiris in Jammu in an attempt to change the demographic composition of the region. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria made the allegations at the weekly press briefing in Islamabad. "Reportedly, PDP-BJP regime...in violation of UNSC Resolutions, has started issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu region. The move is part of the regime's nefarious designs to change the demographic composition of the territory," he said. "This act of bringing material change in the disputed territory of Jammu & Kashmir is a blatant violation of UNSC Resolutions on Kashmir. Kashmiris have hopes that international community and relevant international organizations will call India to the account," he alleged. He said that at an International European Kashmir Conference in Denmark in November, representatives of 500 political and social organisations and NGOs adopted a declaration, inter alia, seeking release of arrested people. Japanese unit of Amnesty International has raised concerns that the programme for Syrians virtually excluded pregnant women. Tokyo: A Japanese programme aimed at accepting a small number of refugees from Syria promised on Wednesday to remove language from documents which implied that pregnant women were not welcome to apply. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced in May that immigration-shy Japan, with a population of at least 127 million, would accept up to 150 Syrian students over five years from 2017. Mr Abe separately pledged at a refugee summit hosted by US President Barack Obama in September that Japan was also prepared to warmly welcome family members of the students. But the Japanese unit of Amnesty International has raised concerns that the programme for Syrians virtually excluded pregnant women. As advertised, the programme titled Japanese Initiative for the future of Syrian Refugees has several requirements for applicants. Originally, it included the line, Pregnant applicants are not recommended to apply, according to Amnesty and the governments Japan International Cooperation Agency, which manages the programme. Later, it was changed to read, Before the application, pregnant applicants are advised to consider carefully potential risk of health and life issues of mother and foetus. JICA spokesman Satoshi Murakami, however, said late on Wednesday that the organisation would remove the clause as it was creating misunderstanding. UN rights chief calls for independent probe into the Davao murders. Manila: The Philippines said on Wednesday that President Rodrigo Dutertes killing of three people in the 1980s was part of a police operation, after the UN rights chief urged Manila to investigate him for murder. In speeches last week, Mr Duterte recounted how in 1988, in the first of his several terms as mayor of Davao, he and local police ambushed and killed three suspected kidnappers. UN rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein said in a statement on Tuesday that Mr Dutertes killings, by his own admission, clearly constitute murder and Philippines judicial authorities must launch a murder investigation. Mr Dutertes spokesman Ernesto Abella said on Wednesday Zeids comments were nothing more than his opinion. Again, let me just remind one and all, that the incident referred to by the President was actually covered by media and it was (a) legitimate police action, Mr Abella added. He did not address Mr Dutertes possession and discharge of a firearm. Mr Duterte has said he routinely carried a gun during his early years as Mayor of Davao to protect himself in a high-crime environment. He has not said if the weapon used in the ambush was licensed. He won the presidential election by a landslide in May largely on a vow to kill 100,000 criminals to stop the countrys slide into a narco-state. According to the UN, at least 6,100 people have been killed since Mr Duterte took office in late June. Zeid called for credible and independent investigations to be immediately reopened into the Davao killings. And he demanded similar probes into the shocking number of killings that have occurred across the country since Mr Duterte became President. Pak PM said the Army influenced the civilian government to drop the charges against him. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has clarified that he did not strike any deal with former Army chief Raheel Sharif to remove a travel ban on ex-dictator Pervez Musharraf. A prime ministerial spokesman denied any kind of deal with Raheel Sharif and claimed that nothing of the sort happened to allow Musharraf to leave the country. Mr Musharraf earlier alleged that Raheel Sharif had helped him in leaving Pakistan. He said the Army influenced the civilian government to drop the charges against him. The former military ruler also said that it was Raheel Sharif who asked the government to stop any kind of pressuring tactics on the judges. He said that the government stopped pressuring the judges over the charges brought against him after Raheel Sharifs involvement in the case, adding that all the cases against him were political. Iqbal said the report focused on identifying the people responsible for the incident. Islamabad: Former Pakistan Supreme Court judge Justice Javed Iqbal who headed the Abbottabad commission set up to conduct a probe after Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was eliminated in a covert operation by American troopers has called for the report to be made public and its recommendations implemented. Unfortunately, a routine has been made to establish commissions after every incident and then put the findings of the report on the shelf, due to which, there is an impression that commissions are made to pass time so that the public would forget the incident. The report of the Abbottabad commission must (also) be lying on some shelf, the Dawn quoted Mr Iqbal as saying at a senate meet chaired by PPP senator Rehman Malik. Mr Iqbal said the report focused on identifying the people responsible for the incident. He said that personalities responsible for the incident had been identified in the report and actions had been suggested. However, if necessary, some of its parts could be left classified, he added. As I am under oath, I cannot reveal the names of those persons. Only the government can reveal the names, he said. After Bin Laden was reportedly killed by the American forces in a surgical strike on a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, questions surfaced as to whether he was deliberately kept in Abbottabad near a training centre of the armed forces. The government then formed a panel to hold an inquiry into the incident. Other members of the panel were Abbas Khan, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi and retired Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmed. Though the inquiry was completed three years ago, the report was never made public. One version of the report was leaked by an international media group in 2013. In July 2013, Mr Qazi informed the senate committee on defence that the leaked report was the first draft and not the final version submitted to the Prime Minister. The final copy is said to be a watered-down version of the leaked draft that was highly critical of the armed forces, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence, not only for its failures, but also for stymieing the growth of civilian intelligence organisations. The case is now being considered by the Constitutional Court, which has 180 days to rule on the validity of the impeachment. Seoul: South Koreas scandal-hit president was Thursday asked to clarify the mystery surrounding her whereabouts at the time of the disastrous 2014 ferry sinking, as the Constitutional Court opened her impeachment hearing. Parliament voted to impeach Park Geun-Hye earlier this month over a corruption scandal in which she allegedly colluded with a friend to strong-arm donations from large conglomerates to two dubious foundations. She is also accused of ordering aides to leak state documents to friend Choi Soon-Sil, who has no official title, and allowing her to meddle in state affairs including the appointment of top officials. The case is now being considered by the Constitutional Court, which has 180 days to rule on the validity of the impeachment. Justice Lee Jin-Sung rejected an apparent attempt by Ms Geun-Hyes lawyers to stall the hearing, instead launching into questions over where she was in the aftermath of the Sewol ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead. Nawaz advised Mr Zardari to keep Pakistan Peoples Party matters in his own hands instead of handing over the power to son Bilawal Bhutto. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said that he welcomed former President Asif Ali Zardaris return from exile. Mr Zardari is expected to return home after one and a half years exile on Friday. He advised Mr Zardari to keep Pakistan Peoples Party matters in his own hands instead of handing over the power to son Bilawal Bhutto. Frankly, I am happy on his return. He should come and take over the reins of his party, Mr Sharif said while talking to reporters on his way back from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said that with Mr Zardaris return, positive politics would get a boost in the country. The Prime Minister said he was in favour of political affinity and mentioned the Charter of Democracy signed along with PPP. The visit was filmed and snapped on smartphones by a handful of customers who were in the shop at the time. Vatican City: Pope Francis was the toast of social media on Wednesday after successfully completing his latest mission: popping out of the Vatican to buy himself some new footwear. To the barely containable delight of his many fans in cyberspace, the 80-year-old Pontiff visited a pharmacy near the Holy See on Tuesday to pick up a pair of the orthopaedic shoes he wears to offset the pain caused by chronic sciatica. The visit was filmed and snapped on smartphones by a handful of customers who were in the shop at the time and later uploaded images to social media. A selection of pictures was posted on a Facebook page described as belonging to Rome barmaid Martina Duarte with the caption: A Tuesday with the Pope... My love I am incredibly proud of you! Most of the online comments were similarly breathless in tone, admirers appearing to share Duartes amazement at the sight of the worlds 1.2 billion Catholics doing his own shopping, posing for pictures and blessing a crucifix belonging to one of the shops staff. One commenter on Italian daily La Repubblicas site called for Pope Francis to be immediately installed as the new mayor of Rome, while another simply noted, presumably with a disbelieving shake of the head: The greatness of this man! It was not the first time the former Jorge Bergoglio has created a sensation by leaving his modest lodgings in the St Martha boarding house to get essential supplies. There was similar excitement in September 2015, when he was spotted at his optician near the Spanish Steps in Romes historic centre. That, in turn, recalled the general stupefaction around the time of his election in 2013 when it emerged that he not only carried his own briefcase, but also paid his own hotel bills. I would expect us to be able to negotiate a deal in the two-year period, says Theresa May. London: Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday said she was planning to negotiate both Brexit and Britains future relationship with the EU by 2019 but a transition period may be required after that. Appearing before a parliamentary committee, Ms May said companies and government might require time to adjust, in her first comments explicitly evoking a possible transition arrangement to ease Britains EU departure. I would expect us to be able to negotiate a deal in the two-year period. But it may be the case that there may be some practical aspects that require a period of implementation thereafter, she said. Finance minister Philip Hammond has said such a deal could be helpful to manage the adjustment between where we are now, as full members of the European Union, and where we get to in the future. It would tend towards a smoother transition and would run less risks of disruption including, crucially, risks to financial stability which must be a fairly real concern, he said last week. Speaking at a summit of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in November, Ms May had alluded to a transition deal saying: We dont want a cliff-edge. CBI president Paul Drechsler at the same conference said: Businesses are inevitably considering the cliff-edge scenario a sudden and overnight transformation in trading conditions. A report by business lobby group CBI on Wednesday called for a barrier-free relationship with our largest, closest and most important trading partner. David E. Young's books on half price sale | Main | Disgruntled progressives stocking up on guns Electoral College nonsense from the NY Times The editorial's author(s) apparently can't be bothered to do a little research before writing that the Electoral College was a concession to the slave states: "The Electoral College, which is written into the Constitution, is more than just a vestige of the founding era; it is a living symbol of America's original sin. When slavery was the law of the land, a direct popular vote would have disadvantaged the Southern states, with their large disenfranchised populations. Counting those men and women as three-fifths of a white person, as the Constitution originally did, gave the slave states more electoral votes." The EC was a concession to small (in population) states. If we go back to the Census of 1790 to see which those were, just counting while males above the age of 16, the largest state was Virginia, with 110,000 of them. That was just about equal to the COMBINED populations of the same class of persons in Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, and Delaware. North and South Carolina each had such populations larger than Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Delaware, taken individually. The only small southern states were Kentucky and Georgia, which were on the western edge and growing. It was widely assumed that this would continue, since the southern states could expand into good farm land to their west, while the midwest, still unexplored, was thought to be too cold for farming. So the Electoral College was a concession to the small states, the great bulk of whom were located in the northeast, not the south. by Jangma Gam Mgr Raymond Sumlut Gam, bishop of Bhamo, describes how Jesus birth is experienced where civil war rages on the border with China. The Church and Caritas are present in refugee camps. Material aid, spiritual nourishment and the Eucharist quench the thirst of the faithful. Bhamo (AsiaNews) Mgr Raymond Sumlut Gam is the bishop of Bhamo, a diocese located in Kachin State in northern Myanmar (Burma), a few kilometres from the border with China. For the past four months, the diocese has been caught up in the civil war between the Kachin and the central government". Scores of people have ended up in refugee camps, but the Church will never abandon them." We go wherever they want to go to, the prelate said. Government troops have been pushing into the area carrying out air strikes and ground assaults against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), causing countless deaths. At least 27,000 people, mostly Christians, are holed up in refugee camps that are increasingly close to the fighting, forced to seek safer places. Despite the tragic situation, the faithful want to celebrate Christmas with joy. Your Excellency, how many priests will visit refugee camps to celebrate Christmas Mass? Two priests went to the camps on the border between Myanmar and China on 19 December. On 28 December, I will personally go to the Hpun Lum Yang camp to celebrate 25 years of service of a catechist. In addition, we usually send priests three times a year (Christmas, Easter and the Holy Cross feast) to refugee camps to show our spiritual closeness and solidarity. How do you prepare for Christmas in these camps? There are many things to organise; we have to clean, decorate and cook. Priests focus on inner spiritual preparation, and administer confession to the faithful. Our diocesan believers give much value to the sacrament of confession; without it, they are sad during Mass. People who lead rich and comfortable lives can get excited for the material and external aspects of Christmas. Displaced people, who have experienced the harshness of life, give value to spiritual nourishment and the Eucharist during Christmas. This is the how people in refugee camps welcome Christmas. All 27,000 displaced people of the diocese are Christians, 4,500 Catholic. We know that conditions in refugee camps are very hard, and that UN aid is blocked by government troops. What Christmas message does the Church have for people who live in distress? According to the Gospel, the angel brought two messages to the shepherds. The first was "do not be afraid"; the second was the Saviour is born today." Sometimes people appreciate more the second message and focus on the coming of the Saviour. The first message is linked to todays hard times, and sometimes people ignore it. But "do not be afraid" is the first message, and this year I want to emphasise this. I want people to know that "God is with them". If we accept this message and hold it in our heart, we will be ready to sacrifice ourselves. The faithful who live in a tragic situation have the opportunity to prove the truth of this message. Gods message is addressed to people of good will to keep Gods peace in Him, and if they do so, they can be at peace even at death. How does the Church and Caritas Bhamo provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced who have to move to safer areas? The Church focuses on pastoral care and guidance. Those who run refuge camps decide when and where displaced people have to travel. When they decide to leave, the Church accompanies them and assists them during the journey. To meet the basic needs of the displaced, Caritas is always ready to provide humanitarian assistance. The Church will always be faithful. As a Church we cannot make decisions for the displaced. We go wherever they want to go to. Catechists also always stay with the refugees. A fine example of such closeness is Mun-Ko where the priest and the nuns themselves have become refugees in a camp under the control of the Chinese government. Although the Church in China is not strong, we try to assist refugees across the border as well. What is your message to the faithful inside and outside Myanmar? Prayer is the most powerful weapon. I call on everyone to pray. Many members of Myanmars ethnic minorities have sought refuge in foreign countries and I call on them to intercede with their governments to help our country find peace. Instead of cursing people on the internet, we need to reach out with a message of love to those who do not want to listen. Material donations to refugee camps are also important. Meanwhile, as time went by, international support for displaced Kachin has diminished because organisations have turned their attention to more urgent problems. Baghdad (AsiaNews) - Among the concerns raised by the wars in Syria and Iraq and, more generally, in the Middle East that also end up targeting civilians and children, the Christmas "recalls the importance and extreme need for peace ", says Chaldean Patriarch Raphael Louis Sako in his Christmas message to the faithful sent to AsiaNews. When the spirit of revenge and anger "disappears from our hearts," adds the prelate, really feel "the spirit of Christmas, which is charity and joy." The story of Jesus Christ, Mar Sako warns, "is the story of God incarnated for our sake, and to be with us, so that we may be free and happy". It is an opportunity "to offer a new life and a better future", as also noted the same Pope Francis urging Christians to be agents of peace and to put an end to all conflicts. The country and the entire Middle East region are prey to wars, bombings, divisions that are likely to trigger an atmosphere of permanent conflict. Then there is also the drama of refugees from Mosul and the Nineveh plain, waiting to return to their homes and lands, looted by jihadists of the Islamic State. The Patriarch calls for efforts towards an "authentic and harmonious agreement" for national reconciliation in the country, both at "central government level and regional level of the Kurdistan authorities". Here, then, that political leaders, institutional and religious are called to "build a strong civil state", that can revolutionize the educational system, which in many cases is itself a harbinger of a fundamentalist ideology. Added to this is the fight against "tribal mentality" which fosters "revenge" to heal the disagreements, replacing it with a "culture of openness" that is based on human and true moral values and integrated in society on which it is based. For Christmas and New Year, he continues the Chaldean primate, "I invite you to intensify your prayers" for an end to violence and suffering. "I would like to express on this occasion - says the prelate - my gratitude to all who have opened their arms to help displaced people and alleviate their suffering, particularly the Kurdish regional government, charitable organizations linked to the Church and civil society . I also want to thank the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga and all components of the country that are used for the liberation of the lands occupied by the Islamic State ". Finally, the Chaldean patriarch encourages the faithful to engage in "humanitarian, educational, social, health and political" activities, to contribute to the "spreading of tolerance, cooperation, mutual respect, in a context of unity and pluralism". "I assure you - Mar Sako concludes his Christmas message - that our Church will spare no effort to cooperate with Muslim religious leaders, civil society, organizations and all people of good will to support this promising project." Perhaps for the first time, a statement by the Holy See on the Chinese Church and episcopal ordinations is met and judged without anger and without word about Chinas traditional stance on the "autonomy" of the Christian communities vis-a-vis the Vatican. Vatican City (AsiaNews) China used surprisingly mild tones in reaction to a statement made a few days ago by the Vatican Press Office, said a Vatican official who chose to remain anonymous. The latter was referring to comments made by Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The statement in question by Vatican Press Office director Greg Burke concerns the position of the Holy See regarding the episcopal ordinations in Chengdu and Xichang where Mgr She Shiyin, the unlawful and excommunicated bishop of Leshan, intervened thanks to police force. The statement also dealt with the upcoming Assembly of Chinese Catholic Representatives, set in Beijing for 26-30 December. It said implicitly that the Assembly is incompatible with Catholic doctrine, but the Vatican reserved the right to "make a judgment based on proven facts." Many bishops were coerced into participating in the last Assembly. The Holy See was hoping to see some "positive signals" from the government to to place their trust in the dialogue between the civil authorities and the Holy See and to hope for a future of unity and harmony without violations of religious freedom. During the weekly press conference yesterday in Beijing, some journalists asked Hua Chunying what "positive signals" might "improve [the] relationship with the Vatican." The response was very polite. " The Chinese government upholds a consistent and clear principle in handling relations with the Vatican, Ms Hua said. The Chinese side is always sincere about improving relations with the Vatican, and has been working relentlessly to that end. We would like to work with the Vatican toward the shared goal and push for new progress in improving bilateral relations and promoting constructive dialogues. The Vatican source notes that perhaps this is the first time that an indication from the Holy See on the Church in China is met without "furious expressions of anger " and without reiterating the typical stereotypes of the government's vision of the Church, centred on the principles of episcopal "autonomy", "self-election" and "self-ordination". The issue of relations with Taiwan was also not mentioned. "We hope that this is a sign of improvement," said the source. Still, some Chinese clergymen note that the surprisingly mild tone of Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman is perhaps an attempt by China not to open a new front of tension in relations with other countries. by mons. John Barwa* The Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar released his Christmas message. Although the memory of the 2008 anti-Christian persecutions is still alive, the faith has become stronger. Odisha Christians have been blessed with countless graces: 2016 has seen a growth in vocations. Bhubaneshwar (AsiaNews) For Christmas, Mgr John Barwa, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, and the Christians of his diocese hope for a peaceful and joyful Christmas in conflict-torn Odisha (Orissa). Despite the hardships and the still vivid memory of the anti-Christian pogrom, 2016 saw an increase in vocations, improved education and greater solidarity among Christian denominations. The outgoing year was also blessed with Mother Teresas canonisation. In Odisha, she was honoured with a street named after her. Here is the archbishops Christmas message. Christmas speaks of the incredible mystery and majesty of Gods love and hope for humanity who came to earth in the form of a baby, destined to die for sin and reconcile people to him. Christmas celebrates this long prophesied incarnation, historical fact, a salvific event and the universal truth. Let the Child Jesus be born in our hearts to make us happy, so that we can make others happy. Eight years ago, during this time, our communities in Kandhamal had to go through the burning furnace of communal violence, a horrific holocaust, with dignity and nobility, with stoicism and serenity and sacrificed their lives and liberties unparalleled in the history of Odisha. However, we must draw our strength from Jesus Christ, Our Lord and have faith in the words of St. Tertullian, a Second Century Father of the Church, The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. 2016 ends with a Big THANK YOU to Our Lord for His immense favours and innumerable graces showered on our Archdiocese, especially in the wake of the announcement by Holy Father Francis as the Great Jubilee Year of Mercy. During this year we witnessed an expanded evangelization, increased vocations to Priesthood and Religious life, extended school education, enlarged Churches and related institutions and greater inter-denominational solidarity. Most important, all our efforts coincided and culminated in the canonization of Mother Teresa to Holy Sainthood, following which the Satyanagar-Bomikhal Road was officially inaugurated as St. Mother Teresa Road by Honble Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha. Accordingly, I find, in God, there is endless kindness and inexhaustible compassion and we must pray that in difficult moments we might not despair, nor become despondent, but with great courage, conviction and confidence surrender ourselves unhesitantly to His Holy Will, which itself is His Love and Mercy. The call of the hour and the challenges for us during the year, however, are enlarged youth engagement in spiritual exercises, greater unity inside and ecumenism among the churches, in interactive discourses, social services and devout worships, through community dynamics, that would provide us ample opportunities to live in the Lord. During these times of social contradictions, development disparities, ethical devaluations and consumeristic proclivities, I wish you all, a Prayerful and Joyful Christmas and a Secure and Sustainable New Year amidst harmony and dignity. I also pray that 2017 will be a great stepping stone for rising high in the ladder of holiness, happiness, peace and prosperity for your families, friends, relatives and neighbours, clergy and the laity, old and the young, rich and poor, healthy and sick, men and women, nay, everyone in Odisha, without distinction of caste or creed, religion or faith. May our lord bless you all so that we may be a blessing to all others of the state of Odisha, India and the world!!! May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the gladness of Christmas give you hope, and the warmth of Christmas grant you love!!! * Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Air pollution in China, especially in the industrialized north, affects at least one third of all deaths in the country. Dust particles in the air are a larger threat to health than smoking. This is according to an international scientific study monitoring 74 cities. In the last three days in China smog has affected about half a billion people, in an area of about one seventh of the country. Hundreds of flights were canceled at airports; the use of private cars prohibited; highways closed, hospitals crowded with people suffering from breathing problems. The Nanjing University School of Environment has published the results of his studies in the November issue of the international journal Science of the Total Environment. Scholars have verified it as the cause of death in 74 cities in China in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai-Hangzhou) and in the Pearl River Delta (Shenzhen- Zhuhai). They have noted that from about 3.03 million deaths in 2013, at least 31.8% are linked to pollution from PM 2.5, particulate matter, which is damaging to health. Baoding, Shijiazhuang and Handan, Hebei, are the cities with the highest air pollution in China. Each have notched up more than 30 thousand deaths linked to smog in 2013. The Proper Execution Of The First Kiss Make Your First Kiss Unforgettable By Following This Simple Advice The Dating Nerd is a shadowy figure whose whereabouts and identifying details remain unknown. What we do know is that he is really, really good at dating. Hes been on more dates than you can shake a lengthy bar tab at, and hes here to help the average guy step his dating game up a notch or several. RELATED: How To Kiss A Girl The Question Hi Dating Nerd, I've been seeing this girl for a while. Which is to say, we met through some friends, hit it off chatting on Facebook, and went on a few dates. We've got great flirting chemistry and I'm almost certain she wants me to kiss her. But I've just been kind of losing my nerve when the time comes and we still haven't kissed yet. I'm worried that if we go on one more cute date that ends without a hot make-out she's just going to move on. What are your first-kiss tips??? I need to figure this out! - Kiss Klutz The Answer Hi Kiss Klutz, The question of how you should put your face all over your lovers face for the very first time is a philosophical question that has echoed throughout the ages. Because this is such an important moment. Its when all the physical barriers come crashing down. Its when you first say, hey, I dont care that there are tiny deposits of half-dissolved Doritos lurking back somewhere in your gross mouth, Im going in there anyway. This is that most romantic moment when the potential instantly becomes actual, and you probably get a boner. So, reader, I proudly announce that I will now resolve this question for all time. Executing the first kiss is simple. Walk your lucky lady down a cobblestone path under the full moon. If there are no cobblestone paths nearby, fly her to Portugal first. In advance, hire a tiny man, who will sprinkle rose petals from the top of a nearby building. When one of the rose petals falls on your lovers face, shell say, What the hell is that? Say, A rose petal pretty romantic, dont you think? In the confused silence that follows, stick your tongue down her throat with as much enthusiasm as you can possibly muster. Im kidding, of course. Dont do any of that. The only truly important thing about the first kiss is that you actually do it, boldly and with as little hesitation as possible. Everything else is absolutely secondary. What are you afraid of? That shell give you the cheek? Well, thats fine. Now you know. She doesnt want to kiss you this is important information that you have to find out eventually. Too bad for her. Go home, cry if you must, then Tinder your heart out until you have another opportunity. Shell want you or she wont. Probably, shell have spent much of the first date figuring out whether youre attractive and/or whether youre a crazy ax-murderer. Shes already decided whether youre getting in there. Your approach wont change that. Unless you attempt the first kiss in a way thats absolutely bizarre, like maybe swooping in after emerging from bathroom with clown makeup on, any of the details of the moment what you say before, the angle of your chin, whether you have gross wine lips from the classy red wine youve been drinking wont matter a bit. If you had a great first date, screwing up the first kiss is actually pretty difficult. Example. One time I was out on a date with someone who was too good for me. (Or, thats what I thought. Subject for another time: too good for me is a nonsense idea that paralyzes the minds of many good men. Anyway.) So I was petrified. But drinks had gone well, and I was walking her home, through a big fluffy snowstorm. She was giggling melodiously which was tremendous news. If you can make somebody laugh, they probably want you to make them do other things, too. But, as we were standing on the street corner, a wave of idiocy-inducing anxiety took me over. I felt like if I didnt kiss her immediately, the moment would pass forever. So I grabbed her head and we began kissing passionately. (Passionately is the word youre legally required to describe kissing with.) After a second, she pulled back, and said, Uh, dude, youre hurting my ear. Yep. In my state of wonder, I was so oblivious that I was feverishly manhandling the side of her head. Afterwards, she texted me Thanks for the great date, and the ear massage. She gave me sh*t about it for weeks. It became a cute running joke, and we kept dating. RELATED: 8 Things Not To Forget Before Your Date (Most Guys Won't Remember All Of Them) There are all sorts of good first kisses. One of my favorite relationships started when we kissed on a misty night in a forest after we broke into an old theater and waltzed on a darkened stage. Another one started when we were on LSD in a crappy coffee place. Every first kiss has its own sort of magic each one is its own kind of story. Let that be a lesson to you. (Just to be clear, the lesson isnt that you should grasp wildly at the head of your love interest, or do LSD. What it means is that you should take courage and just do it. Take your mouth and put it on there.) Do you know how many pretty women Ive heard ranting about how they were on a great date with some really cool guy who concluded the date by calling them buddy and awkwardly hugging them? Enough that I know that its a society-wide problem, especially among men who are sensitive enough to write a dating advice columnist. Lots of interesting, thoughtful dudes are a little too thoughtful about what they should do with women. Please: less thinking, more doing. Speaking of which dont wait until youre absolutely confident. You wont ever be absolutely confident about any particular first kiss, especially if its one you really want. As many smarter people than me have said before, courage isnt about not feeling nervous, its about saying to your nervous system, Shut up, Ive got work to do. RELATED: How To Get Rid Of A Hickey If you actually, need it spelled out for you, then I have a tried, tested and true method thats dead-easy. If your date went at all well you know, if she made prolonged eye contact, if she at any point suppressed a silly grin then, when youre saying goodbye, say Well, Im gonna kiss you now. Then do it. This sounds dorky. It is. But it gets the job done. Oh, one last small piece of advice: Dont ever, ever, ever say thank you for a first kiss. As much as you might feel like shes charitably granted your desperate wishes by planting her lips on your ugly mug, thats not something she needs to know. Keep your mouth shut, or open, as the case may be. Think you could use some dating help, too? Email the Dating Nerd at [email protected]. People Are Having Sleepovers In IKEA And The Company Would Like Them To Stop Trending News: People Are Staging IKEA Sleepovers And The Company Is Mad At Them Long Story Short IKEA is asking people to stop having illicit and potentially illegal overnight sleepovers in their stores. The Swedish furniture company has said it will consider them trespassers and prosecute them. Long Story IKEA a place where you can make your affordable (and unpronounceable) bed, but you're apparently not allowed to sleep in it. Or so seems to be the case with a weird new phenomenon of teenagers staging overnight sleepovers inside the Swedish furniture purveyor. The weird trend started last summer in Belgium, when two teenagers hid in a closet until closing time and snuck out once everyone had left. The pair filmed themselves having all sorts of fun in the deserted store and sneaking out without being seen. They naturally posted the video on YouTube. TWO IDIOTS AT NIGHT IN IKEA has since been viewed 1.9 million times. Unfortunately for IKEA, the stunt has inspired at least 10 other incidents, with the company saying there have been incidents in the United States, Canada, the UK, Belgium (again), the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Japan and Australia. Following an attempt over the weekend in the Swedish city of Jonkoping by two 14-year-old girls, IKEA execs have made it clear theyve had it up to here with these obnoxious kids and their dumb stunts. Those caught staying in the stores overnight will be considered trespassers and prosecuted, said a company spokesperson. The company says it cant guarantee anyones safety and besides, the fun of staying in one of their stores overnight is overrated. This, despite having held a public sleepover in Australia as part of a publicity stunt in partnership with Airbnb. According to the Guardian, the firm said the opportunity promised guests a truly unusual experience, where the Ikea bedroom displays will be transformed into a quirky accommodation option. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question By complaining about this publicly, is IKEA unwittingly inspiring others to hide in their stores and record their adventures too? Drop This Fact The Belgian duo that originated the prank told the Washington Post that they did it for a joke and that we were glad they wouldn't sue us. We don't want to have trouble with Ikea. We just want to spread the message: Life is like one big, huge movie. It better be interesting. STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 21, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: In response to a question which said whether the resumption of military operations is possible in the region or not, the Minister stated: The resumption of military conflict with Azerbaijan is possible. A trilateral format (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh) agreement over ceasefire was signed in 1994. Unfortunately, Baku torpedoes the peace process within more than 20 years since 1994. Moreover, all efforts of the international community, in the face of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs aimed at finding ways for conflict settlement are being consistently failed. The Defense Minister stated that in early April of this year Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military adventure against Nagorno Karabakh which resulted in a fiasco. We are constructing our work on the presumption that resumption of military operations is possible. Moreover, it is quite obvious that the possible escalation of the conflict is not beneficial for Armenia and other regional countries. Yerevan, being as the guarantor of the NKRs security, will have to be involved in the clash if there is so. At the same time it is understandable that the resumption of war will become a serious threat for the entire South Caucasus, Vigen Sargsyan said. Free newsletter Subscribe to our FREE newsletter service and well keep you up-to-date with the latest breaking news, cutting edge opinion, and expert analysis affecting both your business and the industry as whole. Please enter your email address below and click on Sign Up for daily newsletters from Australasian Lawyer. Litigation is expected to lead an increase in legal hires in 2017, recruiter Robert Half says.A survey in the US reveals that a quarter of lawyers say their law firms or companies will be expanding the legal team in the coming year, however this intention is lower than it was 6 months ago (31 per cent).More than half of lawyers are intending to maintain staffing levels or fill vacated positions while none said the plan was to cut numbers.The report reveals that 68 per cent of lawyers say finding skilled legal professionals was a challenge and around a third said that flexible working is the key to retaining talent, aside from compensation packages.Commercial litigation, insurance defence and employment were named as the leading areas for job opportunities in 2017.The protection of legal privilege was a factor in the decision of the European Court to rule against the British governments ability to intercept electronic communications.The Investigatory Powers Act dubbed the snoopers charter was introduced as a tool in the battle against terrorism and other serious crimes; however, the Law Society in England & Wales had argued that it could have serious implications for legal privilege.The EUs top court says that mass interception of email and other communications is illegal under EU law and only targeted interception can be justified.Law Society president Robert Bourns commented that the ruling helps protect a fundamental component of the relationship between lawyer and client."Today's ruling from the European Court strongly supports the need to protect sensitive information such as legally privileged material, which is private information belonging to the client, and to ensure it is accessed only when absolutely necessary, with robust and independent oversight, he said.The exodus from King & Wood Mallesons in Europe continues with teams reportedly joining Reed Smith, Covington & Burling and Macfarlanes Litigation head Craig Pollack and partner Louise Freeman are off to Covington & Burling, The Lawyer reports, while former senior partner Stephen Kon and three other partners have gone to Macfarlanes.Meanwhile, Legal Business says that Reed Smith is the home to most of KWM Europes financial regulation team and other partners are finding new homes at K&L Gates and Orrick.Social media firms allowed terrorist propaganda which led to the death of 49 people in Orlando according to a lawsuit filed in the US.Families of some of the victims say that Facebook, Twitter and Google knowingly and recklessly provided the terrorist group ISIS with accounts to use its social networks as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds, and attracting new recruits.Fox News reports that the lawsuit alleges that the defendants know that their networks are being used for illegal activity and are therefore knowingly and recklessly allowing the activity.A similar lawsuit earlier this year against Twitter was dismissed by a Californian court. When the two sedans are placed on the asphalt, the two cylinders separating them (more on that below) are of lesser importance, with their speedometer readings taking center stage.The piece of footage below, which comes from Automobile Magazine, allows us to see an acceleration battle involving the pair of four-doors. Yes, this isn't a proper drag race, with the cars having sprinted on separate occasions. However, the clip still allows us to get a proper idea on what happens when, for instance, the Polestar-massaged S60 and the new S4 meet, with their drivers being in a hurry.A supercharger - this device seems to be an interesting connection between the two. For one thing, the new incarnation of the Audi S4 saw the warm German sedan giving up its famous blown 3.0-liter V6 in favor of a turbocharged V6 using the same displacement value.As for the S60 Polestar, this dropped its turbo-fed 3.0-liter straight-six, which made room for a 2.0-liter four-pot, with the unit mixing a supercharger and a turbocharger under the twin-charge banner.The Swedish model packs 367 hp and a peak torque of 347 lb-ft, while the Ingolstadt vehicle delivers 345 hp and 368 lb-ft. The two pack identical setups further down the power line, as we're dealing with eight-speed automatic trannies and standard all-wheel-drive.The two are completely different in terms of availability, though. While the 2017 Audi S4 is the free-for-all kind of purchase, Volvo only plans to produce 1,500 units of the 2017 S60 Polestar. The Swedes might have a different view on this, though, since the said number means the production was doubled compared to the previous model year... The entire responsibility for the April hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh falls upon the Azerbaijani leadership, a Russian politician said today, highlighting the repeated calls for reaching an exclusively peaceful settlement of the Armenian Azerbaijani conflict. December 22, 2016, 14:13 Azerbaijan responsible for Karabakh blitzkrieg Russian politician STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: We are aware that the tragic events, which happened in April, were due to the ceasefire breaches by Azerbaijan. The ceasefire regime was violated in the past too, but never at such paces, Konstantin Zatulin, the director of the CIS Institute, told Tert.am, calling for efforts to ease the anti-Russian sentiments dominating the Armenian society after the four-day war. Zatlin said he is absolutely confident that the Armenian-Russian strategic alliance remains deep and comprehensive after the past months' development. This year alone, the joint anti-air defense agreement was signed between Armenia and the Russian Federation; Russia for the first time ever handed over [the short-range ballistic missile] Iskander to another state, i.e. Armenia, he noted. Speaking of conflict settlement scenarios, Zatulin ruled out the possibility of declaring Nagorno-Karabakh part of Azerbaijan. Soviet Azerbaijan no longer exists as a distinct [geographic] unit. As for the regions surrounding Nagorno-Karbakh, they must be returned to Azerbaijan, he added. A Japanese-designed powered by German engineering sounds like the wet dream of every car buyer... or the worst nightmare, depending on how you look at it. Of course, that's what the Supra is going to be like, and there's no comparing the two.But the odd thing is that the Corolla is not one car, but many. The Japanse model is smaller, and the European and US models have different designs. What's more, the Auris is called a Corolla in some markets.Previous reports said that Toyota had a whole lineup of mills planned for its famous sedan named after the Spanish word for crown: a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder petrol, the 8NR-FTS 1.2 turbocharged petrol, 1.8L VVT-i petrol engine along with a 1.5L Hybrid powertrain as well. Presumably, that last one is for the Japanese.We are going to go out on a limb and suggest Toyota isn't going to use the 2-liter turbo from the MINI JCW. It's not cool enough for them. Instead, the 2-liter diesel would be a much better fit. Most European buyers of the Corolla are older gentlemen who value reliability and space.Even though Toyota keep saying that it's okay with using just hybrids, sales might be suffering in particular markets. BMW already supplies 2-liter diesels for the Verso and Avensis.It might also be worth pointing out how many engines Renault-Nissan shares with Mercedes . There's the 2-liter turbo in nearly every Infiniti model, the 1.5-liter dCi found in the A-Class and its sister cars with plans to expand the partnership.As emissions regulations are getting tougher, it's rumored that Audi will not develop another big V8 and Land Rover is going back to using BMW engines too. We're dealing with a $100,000 mid-engined Porsche that has received a $20,000 aftermarket bonus and is not aspiring to the unofficial accolade we dropped in the title above. But is the spiced-up sportscar really worth the tuning effort?Well, at least according to the conclusions delivered in the Matt Farah clip at the bottom of the page, the answer is a big, fat "yes".The YouTuber takes the unofficial GT4 RS for a quick canyon spin (we're not sure what happened when the cameras were off, though), with Sharwerks specialist riding shotgun - the two get to discuss the tech bits of the thing, which are simply delicious.In a totally unsurprising mention, we'll let you know that our favorite part of the changes the tuner introduce has to do with the gearing and we won't drop any more spoilers here, as we don't want to ruin the fun of the video.We'll remind you the idea of gifting a GT4 with an RS badge doesn't just come from Sharkwerks. For instance, we've also seen a German Cayman GT4 owner pulling a somewhat similar stunt, with the man lapping the Green Hell out of the Nurburgring earlier this year while testing his massaged Porscha.And while we're talking naturaly aspirated flat-six Caymans , we'll remind you that Zuffenhausen has confirmed this layout will stick around despite the 718 mid-cycle boost introducing the mid-engined models of the German automaker to the turbo-four realm. But this is another story for another time. SUV HP AMG Named Dartz Prombon Black Alligator 2K17, it was released ahead of Christmas , if you have run out of last-minute gift ideas. It will be an armoredfitted with an engine that develops 1,600, which is more than the regular versions of the Prombon . Evidently, a 1,600 HP engine was not enough for Dartz, so this car also comes with alligator leather, which is probably extremely expensive.Dartz even wrote a press release to accompany its latest creation, but it forgot to mention any other technical specifications. Instead, the company rambled about Lenin, a rap battle, and a presumed link between the two.You can read the press release attached to this story to see what we are referencing. Before you click that, make sure you are sitting down, because it will amuse you to tears.Other options for the interior of the Dartz Prombon include crocodile leather, python skin, shark skin, sheepskin floor mats, ostrich hide, and stingray skin. All of the elements mentioned above can be colored in any shade desired by the client, for an unspecified price.You already know that Dartz Prombon is based on the 2016 Mercedes-GLS 63, which comes with a 5.5-liter twin turbo V8 unit. Customers can specify it with various power levels, which range from stock to 1,600 HP. The maximum torque available from that motor in Dartz specification is 1,500 Nm (1,106 lb-ft), which is more than enough to tow a truck and a trailer filled with cargo.Volkswagens Touareg once managed to pull an airplane with less power and less torque, so this model should not struggle to tow an aircraft, because everyone knows it can do it without hesitation. Expect to see the Prombon Black Alligator driven by extremely wealthy people starting with the middle of 2016. At this point, some of our readers are probably wondering what Waymo is, so we will do a quick recap so that everybody is on the same page. The idea with Waymo is that it is an independent company of Alphabet Inc. , and it makes self-driving technology. In turn, Alphabet Inc. is an independent company that was started by Google.Waymo currently uses the vehicles that were first showcased by Google as its self-driving cars , but the technology is the same. The main difference is that the name behind the product has been changed, but that has not affected the result in any way.With the link between Waymo, Alphabet, and Google clarified as best as we could imagine, lets talk about Hondas latest deal with them. The press release published by the Japanese brand refers to the start of formal discussions, which is a fancy term for both parties admitting that their engineers are talking about working together, and that a contract has probably been formulated by now. Honda wants to know more about Waymos fully autonomous cars (who doesnt, right?), and they are curious as to how they could integrate that technology into their models. The technology integration part refers to software, self-driving sensors, software, and computing platform.In other words, Honda wants to know how complicated and how expensive it will be for them to make self-driving cars with self-driving car tech developed by Waymo.If the engineers of both parties get along, and the corresponding managers have an agreement on their hands, Honda will enter a formal agreement with Waymo, which will lead to driverless cars from this automaker that features technology that was initially developed by Google . The engineering teams of both parties will work in Silicon Valley, Mountain View, Novi (Michigan), and Tochigi (Japan). According to a recent article in The Korean Times , insider sources say the Hyundai Creta, ix25 and Kia KX3 are behind a massive sales surge. Between January and October this year, global demand has risen by a massive 70.4%, from 147,252 to 250,944 units.There appear to be two hubs of growth, China, and India, both suggesting that Korea plays an increasingly small role for the Hyundai and Kia brands.The same report claims that in India alone, Hyundai made 114,831 Creta SUVs, represeting an increase of 235% over the previous year. From there, they are exported to parts of Asia and Latin America. After local production started, the Creta also became Russia's 5th most popular car.China has the Hyundai ix25 , which looks just like the Creta. It managed 84,152 sales in the 10-month period we discussed. However, there's a sister car called the Kia KX3 , which looks like a baby Sportage. It managed 51,353 units."The small-size SUV market is expected to expand in emerging economies," said a Hyundai Motor official. "We will introduce the Creta SUV to Brazil next year."The company's efforts have been largely focused on the markets mentioned above. However, Hyundai is currently developing another crossover based on the platform of the new i20 hatchback. It should debut next year and target Europe. But so far, both Korean brands have stayed away from the subcompact market in Amerca due to its lack of profitability.It's amazing to think that two companies with such a wide array of sedans and hatchbacks are mainly relying on crossovers for sales now. Meanwhile, Skoda has about four times as many deliveries with a handful of cars. SUV Indeed, more and more manufacturers are showing up for the event in Las Vegas , with some even deciding to skip the North American International Auto Show altogether when faced with the choice between the two.Cars and technology have always been interconnected, but never as tightly as during these past few years. The amount of computing power found in our vehicles is impressive, and the number of silicon chips inside a vehicle is only going to grow.At this year's Paris Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz presented the world its strategy for the future. Like all things these days, it had to have a name. Daimler went for the acronym CASE, which stands for Connected, Autonomous, Shared & Service, and Electric Drive. Thinking about Tesla's master plan, it seems like all companies are headed in the same direction, they just have different names for their programs."Our notion of mobility will change more dramatically in the next five to ten years than in the preceding 50," said Ola Kallenius, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and, from January 2017, responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. "Our CASE strategy will help us to shape the future of mobility. The objective is to make the car a platform for future mobility concepts and a space that offers a digital experience. The car of the future must be networked, autonomous, emissions-free and deliver the possibility of shared mobility."Apart from two concept vehicles - the Generation EQ electricand the Vision Van - the Mercedes-Benz stand will also feature a mysterious section called "Fit&Healthy," which the brand says "will provide a vision of how society's growing health consciousness can be intelligently combined with future mobility." That's probably another way of saying "this is how we'll keep our customers from getting fat because they won't even have to walk to and from the car in a car park." Or something.Mercedes-Benz promises a lot of interesting talks on hot topics such as artificial intelligence or ways of making vehicles talk to a smart home, with the discussions also transmitted live on www.facebook.com/MercedesBenz. Established in 1948, Honda started with motorcycles. After the 1949 D-Type, Honda leveled up to the status of worlds largest motorcycle manufacturer by 1964. With plenty of money in the bag from its two-wheeled division, Soichiro had another idea: Hey, wouldnt it be neat if we double the amount of wheels? And so the company did in 1963 with something called the T360.The little truck at the left of the featured image? That, dear reader, is genesis. Six years after the T360 mini-truck started to roll off the assembly line in Saitama, Japan, Honda opened its first overseas plant in Taiwan. By 1978, cumulative worldwide production of cars and trucks reached 5 million vehicles. Not bad at all for a division that was then 15 years old.In December 2016, just before Christmas comes into its own, Honda celebrates 53 years and six months since it introduced the T360 mini-truck, and boy how things have changed since then. With 100 million automobiles to its name and 34 automobile production plants on five continents, its crystal clear that things can only go forward for the Japanese automaker.Takahiro Hachigo, president and chief executive officer of Honda Motor, is chuffed to bits by this milestone. The passion of our company founder who wanted to help people in their daily lives and pursue the joy of driving has been inherited by Honda associates as the original starting point of Honda automobile manufacturing, he said. Striving to meet the next 100 million customers, Honda will continue delivering increasingly attractive products. AMG The GT C Roadster seen here was spotted in Stuttgart and it's no secret that we're dealing with a factory car here. It's not unusual for fresh models to rack up extra testing miles after their public debut.In this case, the final development steps mean we get to see the Affalterbach monster in its winter car role - as those of you following our supercar stories know, this year seems to have brought a new cold seasons trend, with more and more YouTubers urging supercar owners to avoid confining their go-fast machines to their garages for the winter.And the "C" part of the Roadster's name means there are plenty of new aspects to enjoy, as the newcomer borrows multiple tech goodies from the Nurburgring-taming Mercedes-GT R, such as the rear-wheel-steering system.The extra equipment adds around 140 lbs (65 kg) to the mass of the supercar and we have to keep this in mind when talking about the extra muscle the GT C packs compared to the non-C model.While the latter sees its twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 gifting the driver's right foot with 469 hp (make that 476 PS), the fresh model sees the output jumping to 549 hp (557 PS). In the maximum torque department, things go from 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) delivered between 1,700 and 5,000 rpm to 502 lb-ft (680 Nm) between 1,900 and 5,750 rpm.We'll get to hear more from the Mercedes-AMG GT C next year, this time in coupe form - we recently showed you the 2018 GT C Edition 50 spyshots, with the fully naked supercar being just one of the birthday cakes AMG is preparing for its 2017 half-century anniversary. The state officials said "wait a minute," and requested the ride-hailing company to hold its project until it gets the all-clear from the DMV. Continuing its childish behavior, Uber clung to a bit of semantics in the DMV's definition of what constitutes an autonomous car, saying their vehicles did not fit into that category, despite advertising them as self-driving.We forgot to mention that the reaction from the Department of Motor Vehicles came after a dashcam footage showed one of Uber's Volvo XC90 SUVs running a red light just as a pedestrian was preparing to cross. This happened just hours after the mobility company had announced the launch of its program.Yesterday, another piece of information regarding Uber's experiment transpired. It appears the company was well aware its cars had a problem detecting bicycles on bike lanes as they were making right-hand turns, but decided to go ahead as scheduled and come up with a solution on the go.After failing to convince Uber what it was doing was illegal, the California DMV met today with representatives of the company and the Attorney General's office. The meeting was held behind closed doors, but its outcome was Uber's decision to take its toys and go play somewhere else. And it's not like the company came to this conclusion on its own: the DMV had to revoke the registrations of the self-driving XC90s.The state officials made it very clear that they will support Uber in acquiring the permits should it decide to apply, but the company acted like a spoiled child and refused to comply with the laws. In its statement, though, it made sure to mention it wasn't leaving California for good."We have stopped our self-driving pilot in California as the DMV has revoked the registrations for our self-driving cars. Were now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules."That means Uber will now take its fleet of red light- and bicyclist-ignoring SUVs and try to find another city to terrorize. We hear Michigan just passed a law allowing self-driving cars to test on public roads. Uber must have heard that too. NATO Auditor General was found dead in Belgium. The body of Yves Chandelon was found in the city of Andenne, in 140 kilometers from the place of his work and 100 km from Lens where he lived. December 22, 2016, 15:59 NATO Auditor General found dead in Belgium STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: According to local mass media, the auditor committed suicide. He was found with shot in the head. However, the family doesn't believe in the suicide version, Life reported. Three unites of weapon have been registered on the 60-year-old man. However, an unregistered weapon was found next to his body, Belg24 reported. NATO Auditor General Yves Chandelon, in particular, dealt with counteraction against terrorism financing issues. Shortly before death he reported he was receiving strange calls. Photo of E-450 cutaway van courtesy of Ford. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has certified Landi Renzo's dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion of Ford's 2017 model year E-450 cutaway van, the vehicle modifier announced. Landi Renzo has been producing a dedicated CNG version of the vehicle that's powered by a 6.8L V-10 heavy-duty engine (HLDRE06.8B10) since the 2014 model year under Ford's Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM) program. The modified vehicle retains its factory warrany. Landi Renzo will now turn its attention toward gaining approval from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to offer the vehicle to fleets in that state. Landi Renzo has established a ship-through partnership with Ford. PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards addresses a Dec. 12 public forum about the state's proposed policy on autonomous vehicle testing. Screen shot courtesy of PennDOT. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will continue accepting public feedback on the states proposed guidelines for autonomous vehicle testing until a Jan. 12 deadline, according to the agency. These proposed guidelines, developed by a special task force, were the subject of an online public meeting on Dec. 12. The task forces recommendations include requiring that highly automated test vehicles be capable of recording data that can be used to investigate crashes involving the cars and to ensure that PennDOT has access to the data. PennDOT would also be able to collect data on total miles traveled, total hours of operation, and fleet size. Additionally, the proposed guidelines state that PennDOT must be notified before any test vehicle is used without an operator in fully self-driving mode, and testers must certify that cybersecurity protections are in place for all autonomous vehicles being tested. Platooning would generally be restricted to two commercial vehicles or three passenger vehicles, according to the proposed guidelines. Testers would have the option to request to use more autonomous vehicles in platooning, but PennDOT could ask for a safety demonstration first before granting authorization. Autonomous and connected vehicles will change transportation and could bring benefits of safer travel and greater ease of mobility for all if rules are in place to ensure passenger and pedestrian safety, said PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards. This guidance shows Pennsylvanias understanding of public concerns and our commitment to being a leader in the research and testing of these technologies in ways that are both safe and innovative. But some automakers and technology companies are concerned that a patchwork of disparate state regulations could ultimately hinder autonomous vehicle development and testing. Earlier this month, industry lobbying group Global Automakers released a statement expressing such worries. The U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Automated Vehicle Policy provides clear rules for states, and cautions against enacting new laws or regulations that could slow the technology development and inhibit innovation, said Damon Porter, director of state government affairs for Global Automakers. The Pennsylvania Autonomous Vehicle Policy Task Force policy recommendations could establish a precedent for other states to adopt their own, differing requirements for vehicle testing, leading to a patchwork of different state-by-state requirements. A flexible regulatory approach that encourages innovation will help spur the development and deployment of technologies that will save lives, enhance mobility and increase vehicle efficiency. To download the task forces full policy recommendations, click here. To view video of the Dec. 12 online public meeting, click here. To submit comments to PennDOT about the proposed autonomous vehicle policy, click here. New ride-hailing app Gawana will have an invite-only launch in Rwanda during the first quarter of 2017, according to a report by Disrupt Africa. Gawana means take part in Swahili. This concept of ride-sharing already takes place on an informal level: cars will stop at the bus station before departing on their journey to pick up stranded travelers in need of a ride, Darcy Dwyer, co-founder of Gawana, told Disrupt Africa. Dwyer says that long distance ride-hailing has great potential in East Africa since the bus system is often unreliable and inefficient. Gawana is looking to expand to Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, with the plan of expanding throughout Eastern and Southern Africa, according to the report. Click here for the full Disrupt Africa report. The cause of the deadly crash of an Eastern Air Lines Boeing 727 into one of Bolivias highest mountains nearly 32 years ago remains a mystery. But the investigation appears to have been revived with the recent retrieval of flight data recorders from the wreckage. ABC News reported Wednesday that the National Transportation Safety Board and the Bolivian government have arranged to examine pieces of a recorder found earlier this year by two American mountain climbers. The two men from Boston, who have been interested in exploring the fate of missing aircraft, climbed Mount Illimani, Bolivias second highest, in the spring and found what turned out to be pieces of voice and flight data recorders. The devices had remained missing, along with other evidence, amid the sprawling wreckage of the jet due to the elevation of the terrain, which peaks at more than 21,000 feet. Eastern Air Lines Flight 980, flying a multi-leg route from Paraguay to Miami with a stop in Bolivia, crashed into Mount Illimani at about 19,600 feet on New Years Day 1985. All 29 people on board were killed. The aircraft had been on an initial descent into La Paz but left its route and flew into the mountain. The NTSB and other investigators were at the site following the crash but were unable to retrieve human remains or much by way of evidence due to the harsh conditions and deep snow. Iran has repeatedly refused to sell long-range missiles to Azerbaijan, a pro-government Azerbaijani lawmaker said late on Tuesday as he dismissed Iranian criticism of his countrys close ties with Israel. Israel plays an important role in creating Azerbaijans defense industry and providing it with modern weapons, whereas Iran has responded negatively to Azerbaijans repeated requests for the sale of long-range missiles, Elman Nasirov told the APA news agency. Azerbaijans close ties with Israel can serve as a model for other Muslim countries, he said. They have a bilateral character and do not harm ties with other states. Nasirov, who also runs a state think-tank in Azerbaijan, did not specify the type of Iranian missiles that were sought by Baku. The Azerbaijani government seems keen to offset the recent acquisition by Armenia of sophisticated Russian Iskander missiles. The missiles have significantly strengthened Yerevans ability to strike oil and gas installations and other strategic targets in Azerbaijan in the event of a renewed war for Karabakh. Nasirovs comments came in response to Iranian officials angry reaction to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's recent visit to Azerbaijan. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman reportedly said on Monday that the Azerbaijani government should not have hosted Netanyahu. He accused Israel of seeking to spread discord among Islamic states. Iranian officials have also criticized Azerbaijani-Israeli intergovernmental contacts in the past. Azerbaijani pro-government politicians dismissed the criticism, pointing to Irans close rapport with Armenia. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani underscored those ties with his official visit to Yerevan on Wednesday. He called for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. News reports quoted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as saying after his December 13 talks with Netanyahu that Azerbaijan has signed about $5 billion worth of defense contracts with Israel over the past decade. The Azerbaijani army used some of its Israeli-made weapons, notably attack drones, during the April 2016 fighting in Karabakh. Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian on Thursday described as a significant anti-corruption measure a new Armenian law that criminalizes illegal enrichment of high-ranking state officials. Armenias government pushed the law through the parliament last week as part of a tougher fight against corruption declared by it. The measure will apply to some 600 officials, including ministers and judges, who were already legally obliged to declare their assets to a special state commission. They will now have to also substantiate the origin of their assets if those exceed their annual salaries by at least 5 million drams ($10,500). They would risk up to 6 six years in prison in case of failing to do so. Some Armenian opposition politicians have voiced skepticism over the new legislation, saying that it will not make life harder for corrupt officials. They also question the governments commitment to the rule of law. I think its wrong and even dishonest to speak of the absence of political will, Hovannisian told a news conference. I am convinced that the criminalization of illegal enrichment will have a huge significance in terms or preventing and deterring [illegal] practices. If someone says that they forgot to file an [income and asset] declaration, there will now be criminal liability for that as well, Hovannisian said. One of the arguments made by critics is that the law will not prevent corrupt officials from registering their assets in the name of their distant relatives or friends. Hovannisian acknowledged this fact but said that it is practically impossible to extend the anti-corruption measure to all individuals related or connected otherwise to senior state officials. That could amount to a human rights violation, she said. Imagine that you have a distant relative holding a senior position. Do you think you should have to submit an income declaration just because of that? Many senior Armenian officials are believed to be well-to-do individuals despite their relatively modest salaries. The veracity of their income declarations filed with the State Commission for the Ethics of High-Ranking Officials has long been questioned by anti-corruption activists and media. Prime Minister Karen Karapetians cabinet pledged to criminalize illegal enrichment in its policy program approved by the National Assembly in October. The program promises more efforts to eliminate the biggest obstacle to the development of the state: favoritism, embezzlements, bribery and other manifestations of corruption. 22 December 2016 10:33 (UTC+04:00) Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 35 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on December 22. The Azerbaijani army positions located in Farahli village and the nameless heights of the Qazakh district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located in Shavarshavan village of the Noyemberyan district and the nameless heights of the Ijevan district of Armenia. Moreover, the Azerbaijani army positions also took fire from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Yusifjanli village of the Aghdam district, Kuropatkino village of the Khojavand district, Ashagi Seyidahmadli, Horadiz villages of the Fizuli district, as well as from the positions located on nameless heights of the Goranboy, Tartar, Khojavand, Fuzuli and Jabrayil districts. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Within the framework of his visit to Estonia, Armenias new ambassador to this country, Tigran Mkrtchyanwhose diplomatic residence is in the Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius, on Wednesday met with Speaker Eiki Nestor of the Riigikogu, the parliament of Estonia, News.am reports. December 22, 2016, 15:47 Armenia ambassador to Estonia presents Azerbaijan aggression against Karabakh STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: Ambassador Mkrtchyan presented to the Estonian parliament leader the several promising domains of cooperation between the two countries. Speaker Nestor, for his part, underscored the development of cooperation with Armenia, also within the framework of the Eastern Partnership program of the European Union (EU). On the same day, the Armenian ambassador also met with chairman of the Riigikogu Foreign Affairs Committee, Marko Mihkelson. Ambassador Mkrtchyan briefed his interlocutor on the consequences of the military actions which Azerbaijan had unleashed against Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), in early April, as well as on Azerbaijans destructive demeanor within international platforms. In addition, they underscored the need to further intensify bilateral parliamentary cooperation. Subsequently, Tigran Mkrtchyan met with Estonian Foreign Ministry representatives, led by director of the ministrys Division for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Martin Roger. Ambassador Mkrtchyan gave his interlocutors some details on Azerbaijans aforesaid military aggression against Artsakh, and on Bakus continued destructive conduct as well as anti-Armenian propaganda and rhetoric. The parties also reflected on the ongoing negotiations around a new Armenia-EU Framework Agreement. Roger, in turn, noted that Estonia supports the continued process toward EU-Armenia visa liberalization. At the ensuing talk, the interlocutors conferred on several regional and international matters. 22 December 2016 15:12 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Despite the attempts of the Armenian government to save the countrys economy from the chaos, which in fact are just simulation of work, everything is getting worse. It is no surprise that the economic activity index in Armenia made up just 0.6 percent for 11 months of the current year. Moreover, the countrys National Statistic Services data shows that this indicator dropped by 5 percent in November as compared to October. The decrease touched a number of sectors of the Armenian economy. Thus, in January-November the gross agricultural product declined by 6.1 percent, the volume of construction dropped by 10.9 percent, while electricity production by 6.4. Some improvement was observed in industrial production (6.8 percent) and trade turnover (8 percent). However, this is not enough to revive the whole economy of Armenia. The countrys economic activity has been decreasing since July, although the Armenian officials expected growth in their statements earlier made in the year. In the first quarter the economic activity was 8.7 percent, but in the first half of the year this figure dropped to 4.4 percent, and in January-October down to just 0,4 percent. As a result, Armenia ends the year with almost no growth, while the budget expects at least a 2.2 percent increase. All these economic problems cannot but affect the ordinary Armenians. No wonder a quarter of those born in Armenia moved abroad in search of a better life. The data was provided in the recent research by Pew Research Center. The study, which used the data of the United Nations for 2015, revealed that nine countries have lost a fifth or more of their population and Armenia is one of them. According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the permanent population of the country made up 2,993,900 people on October 1, 2016. Meanwhile, this figure was 2,998,600 people in early 2016. Thus, for just ten months of this year Armenia again lost considerable part of its people almost 5,000 people. Taking into account the huge economic problems, Armenians will not rush back to the Motherland in the years to come. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00) By Jacek Rostowski British Prime Minister Theresa May reportedly needed some time to compose herself in a recent meeting with her presumed ally Angela Merkel. The German Chancellor categorically rejected Mays proposal to do a side deal on European Union nationals living in Britain before the United Kingdom officially triggers Brexit negotiations by invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon. After an initial phase of post-referendum arrogance and euphoria, it has become increasingly obvious that Mays government completely misread the likely EU response to a British exit from the bloc. It now seems likely that the UK will continue to stagger from failure to failure at an accelerating pace. Mays dilemma stems from the fact that the Leave coalition, while sharing certain conservative values, comprises two incompatible factions: mostly middle-class, affluent pensioners who want to leave the EU because they think it is too bureaucratic and protectionist; and mostly working-class voters who want to leave because they favor more protectionism. Clearly, there is no form of Brexit or post-Brexit Britain that will satisfy both groups. This explains Mays desperation to push Brexit through as quickly as possible. She wants to get out before voters realize that the Leave campaign sold them a false bill of goods, including the promise that they could keep all of the benefits of EU membership, particularly full access to the European single market, without having to allow free movement of labor. Moreover, although May was in the Remain camp during the referendum campaign, she realizes that, as Prime Minister, she will be held responsible for any failures in the Brexit negotiations. She also knows that she cannot possibly succeed politically, because the media will always spotlight defeats, while hardly noticing wins. That gives her every reason not to define her goals, and then to declare whatever deal she secures a victory. Paradoxically, while the Conservative Party leadership has decided to represent the incoherent Leave coalition, no one is speaking for the 48% of voters who sided with Remain, except for the Liberal-Democratic Party, which has minimal influence in Parliament. This is even more surprising when one considers two deep structural factors that will cut short Leaves continued political dominance in the medium term. For starters, a significant cohort of Leave voters tends to be politically disengaged. Leave won by a margin of 1.2 million votes, one million of which were cast by people who did not vote in the 2015 general election that furnished David Cameron and the Conservatives with undivided power. These disengaged voters will likely not participate in future elections, though they might mobilize for a second EU referendum, if one were to be held. Second, the Leave camp has an age problem: my own rough estimate suggests that, every year, Leave-voter deaths will exceed those of Remain voters by 150,000, while new Remain voters entering the electorate will surpass those of Leave by 150,000 (after adjusting for differential turnout between young and old). This generational dynamic alone will tip the balance in Remains favor by about 300,000 voters each year, and it will eliminate Leaves majority by 2020. Shortly after the referendum, I asked a former senior Tory official why no respectable politicians wanted to represent Remain voters. No one in Britain (either Remain or Leave) really cares about the EU, he replied. But while that may have been true in July, it is not true now, as indicated by both sides passionate response to the result itself, and then again to the recent Supreme Court decision affirming Parliaments role in triggering Article 50. Equally telling were the last two parliamentary by-election results: pro-Remain liberals overturned a 23,000-vote Conservative majority in Richmond Park, London, while the UK Independence Party which favors a hard Brexit made gains in Sleaford and North Hykeham, in the east of England. As Lord Ashcrofts fascinating exit poll following the Brexit referendum shows, Leave and Remain voters attitudes differ on almost everything, from the death penalty to environmental conservation. And anyone reading the two sides increasingly heated online interactions can see that they heartily despise each other. There is now a profound divide what British politicians call deep blue water between Remains growing constituency and Leaves diminishing one. This will be the defining split in British politics for at least a generation. And yet the vast majority of practicing politicians are on the declining side of this divide, where the supply of leaders far exceeds demand for them. The UK is approaching a fundamental political realignment, for which the current government is totally unprepared. It will come probably quite suddenly as soon as enough people recognize that May has, through little fault of her own, inevitably failed to get the best deal for Britain. As the economist Herbert Stein famously observed, If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. So Mays government might last until May, but not much longer. -- Copyright: Project Syndicate: Theresa Mays Brexit problem --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 11:11 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova The government of Cuba is eager to see Azerbaijani investors in the country and provide advantageous conditions for their business. Cubas newly-appointed ambassador to Baku Alfredo Nieves Portuondo told Trend that the country is ready to provide investment protection, ensuring that the made investments will not be lost. In March 2014, a law on foreign investments entered into force in Cuba. Moreover, the country announced creation of a free economic zone. The law opens up more opportunities for the investments in the country, and favorable conditions are created for this, he said. The new law adopted in Cuba slashed taxes on profits from 30 percent to 15 percent and gave new investors eight years of exemption from paying taxes. Under the law, investment is allowed in all economic sectors, including utilities, administrative concessions, real estate (purchase, sale and leasing of houses and offices), hotel management and professional services. Moreover, the law also provides for investments in stocks and other securities or bonds. The envoy went on saying that it is necessary to identify areas that may be of interest to Azerbaijani investors, mentioning that Azerbaijan can also offer Cuba a lot of areas for cooperation. He said that tourism sphere can surely become one of the important directions of cooperation, adding that tourism industry of Cuba is one of the developed in the world. He mentioned that some 2.5-3 million tourists visit Cuba every year and Cubas tourism industry is also open to Azerbaijani investments. He added that the country is ready to accept Azerbaijani entrepreneurs, who are willing to invest in the Cuban tourism sector. The diplomat noted that there are different ways to invest in the tourism sector of Cuba, in particular via direct Azerbaijani investments, creation of joint ventures or with the participation of a third country, mentioning that Azerbaijani investors can participate in such projects as the construction of hotels, shopping centers in the tourist areas, the development of the restaurant business, the delivery of food and other products for the tourism sector. He added that the launch of direct air traffic between Istanbul and Havana by the Turkish Airlines can also open good opportunities for Azerbaijani tourists and businessmen. Azerbaijani travel companies can take advantage of the opening of the direct flight from Istanbul to Havana to increase the growth in tourist traffic between Azerbaijan and Cuba, the ambassador said. He also noted that in the future, the Cuban national airline may enter into an agreement with the Azerbaijan Airlines on the opening of air traffic between the two countries. Azerbaijan and Cuba may also organize joint flights from Baku to Havana via Istanbul, and this issue has already been discussed with the national airline of Cuba, he said. The sector is expected to boom further in Cuba over coming years. Revenues from tourism in Cuba rose 15 percent in the first half of 2016 compared with the same period last year. The government of the country envisages boosting the number of visitors to over 10 million in 2030. The diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Cuba were established on March 27, 1992. Eight documents covering various fields have been signed since then. --- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 11:47 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates discussed perspectives of the development of the bilateral relations, as Bakus Ambassador to the UAE Dashgin Shikarov met the country`s deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who praised political relations between the two countries. The diplomat also noted that the reciprocal visits gave a push to further development of ties between the two countries. Shikarov highlighted the socio-political developments after the country gained its state independence. The ambassador provided an insight into the cause and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the sides exchanged views on the current state of the conflict. In turn, Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan stressed the role of the reciprocal visits in development of bilateral cooperation. The Deputy Premier also invited the Azerbaijani sides to participate in the international defense exhibition ADEX 2017 to be held in Abu-Dhabi. Azerbaijan and UAE enjoy fruitful cooperation in various fields and their mutual relations are developing both in the political, economic and cultural fields with ascending line. The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. The trade turnover between the UAE and Azerbaijan in January-August amounted to $55.66 million, and this is 35.4 percent more than during the eight months of 2015, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee. Recently, the two countries agreed to establish a joint investment fund to facilitate the implementation of joint investment in mutually beneficial projects. It is important to carry out investments in the areas that stimulate the growth of mutual investments and increase trade, particularly in agriculture, food processing, logistics and transport systems. Starting November 10, 2015, citizens of the UAE has visited Azerbaijan on a simplified procedure. They can obtain entry visa, valid for 30 days stay, at any international airport in Azerbaijan. Now, Azerbaijan is holding negotiations to introduce a visa-free regime for citizens of both the UAE and Azerbaijan. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 16:23 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova Azerbaijan is interested in attracting Polish investments in its economy and deepening business relations with the Central European country. The issue was high on agenda during 7-th gathering of the Azerbaijan-Poland Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation in Warsaw on December 19-20. Azerbaijans Energy Minister Natig Aliyev, addressing the event, invited Polish entrepreneurs to invest in Azerbaijan, and provided an insight into business and investment opportunities in the country. The minter outlined priority areas for Polish investments that include agriculture, tourism, oil and chemical industry, and techno parks. Aliyev, who is also a co-chair of the commission informed the Polish side about economic potential of the country, and large international and regional projects implemented in the country, particularly North-South Project, East-West Transport Corridor and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. During his visit, the minister held meetings with Polish co-chair of the Commission, Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski and other officials. A number of bilateral business meetings were also held within the gathering of the Commission. SOCAR Trading, the biggest supplier of Azeri Light crude oil in the world, and Polish Lotos Oil Company reached an agreement on the transshipment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG propane and butane) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) within the meeting. The agreement envisages deliveries of crude oil to Poland, as well as supplies of LPG and LNG to marine terminals in Gdansk. Moreover, SOCAR representatives held discussions on Sarmatia project with Polish counterparts. Participants of Sarmatia are the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation Ltd (GOGC), Ukrainian UkrTransNafta, Polish Przedsiebiorstwo Eksploatacji Rurociagow Naftowych Przyjazn SA and Lithuanian AB Klaipedos Nafta. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Poland amounted to $55.76 million in January September 2016, with some $51.31 million falling to a share of import of Polish production. --- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 15:42 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova Azerbaijani and Iranian businessmen will come together in Baku for a forum to be organized by Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) on December 27. The event will bring together Iranian entrepreneurs, engaged in the spheres of agriculture, food industry, light industry, pharmaceuticals, transport, logistics, tourism, ICT, construction, production of building materials, and auto spare parts. Business forum and business meetings bear huge importance for the enhancement of the relations between the entrepreneurs of the two countries and provision of the information about investment environment, business climate and ongoing large-scale projects. Iranian companies have so far invested some $1.2 billion, while some $145 million fell to a share of non-oil sector. Some 450 companies with Iranian capital are operating in Azerbaijan. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $175 million in January-November 2016, with some $130.13 million accounting for import from Iran. --- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 12:05 (UTC+04:00) YARAT Contemporary Art Space presents the experimental performance YOU DONT UNDERSTAND ME of the three artists Vusal Rahim, Vugar Guliyev, Aysel Amirova and the theater group ADO in the frames of ARTIM Project. The experimental performance will run at ARTIM Project Space until December 30 YOU DONT UNDERSTAND ME is an experiment that aims to encourage visitors to understand the meaning of the works from the artists point of view by entering into the shoes of the other instead of treating the works as a subject of observation. The project consists of the cooperation by three artists with the theatre group ADO who worked together on a participatory performance. This shoe-shifting experiment seeks to take out our selves from our comfortable, known position taking the risk to step out into the unknown and changing the angle of our usual view. The project is accompanied by a brochure that includes quotes of a social media discussion related to understanding contemporary art and a psychological article investigating in the question why we want to be understood. Vusal Rahim explores the imagery of Michelangelos Pieta that depicts Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus. In the video work Pieta the artist becomes himself the subject taking the position of the Madonna of Sorrow holding in one video a male and in the other a female a naked body on his knees. Only their faces are covered with a red mask marking the transition from the material (mask) to the spiritual world (nakedness). Their bodies retain a poem by Jalil Javanshir talking about pain and grief of a dying person. By juxtaposing life and death, the spiritual and material, male and female Vusal Rahims Pieta not only becomes a visual portrayal of existential human suffering but also raises questions on the religious and social construction of gender. Vugar Guliyevs installation consists of a room with shiny thorns throwing shadows on the walls. The visitor is invited to explore the room and dive into its dark atmosphere. The point of departure for the artist constituted prisons cells or torture chambers, however, meant to be a reflection of each persons own connection to the emotional state of fear made visible in the reflecting material. The thorns are not only the origin of anxiety but also related to triangles and their meaning in Egypt mythology such as sunrays symbolizing the sun god Ra. Thus the artist turns the chamber of darkness into a chamber of light. The artist Aysel Amirova connects her work to the hypothetical concept of two people sharing the same vocabulary although one persons subjective, conscious experience (Qualia) might be systematically different to the other. However the work not only talks of multiple experiences of the world but also about misplaced priorities. Getting on the top of the golden pyramid when there is nowhere else to aim we may realize that all our lives we have been climbing onto false pyramids. We have been running away from our fears to accomplish all we longed for. We strum our medals although deep inside we know we were deceived. The peak becomes upside down and we are going to the other way. All this happens some time and again, especially when we are amid of distorted mirrors. This is how reality works, soon or late everything tends to turn into its opposite. Vusal Rahim was born in 1987 in Ganja, Azerbaijan. In 2011 he graduated from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts from the department of Theater and Decorative Design. His works include a wide range of medias such as painting, video, photography and sculptures exploring topics such as body, gender and social structures. Aside from Azerbaijan his works have been featured in Russia, USA, Georgia and France. Vugar Guliev was born in 1984 in Baku, Azerbaijan. He graduated from the College of Arts of Asim Asimsade in 2003 in Baku. Mainly working in the genre of figurative painting his works capture moments of oneiric elements inspired by mythological and psychological subjects. His works have been shown in exhibitions in Azerbaijan as well as in Korea, Germany and France. Aysel Amirova was born 1991 in Baku in a family of artists in the third generation. She studied graphic design at the University of Culture and Art, Baku. At the same time she was studying batik and ceramic techniques at the Princess school of traditional art in Baku. Since her childhood she was interested in art, photography and poetry. The artist participated in local as well in exhibitions abroad. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 11:03 (UTC+04:00) A collection of CDs featuring the documentary films on Azerbaijan was released in Los Angeles. Five new documentary films were included to the collection under the title of Pearls of Azerbaijan. The initiative was carried out by Azerbaijans Consulate General in Los Angeles. The films are Azerbaijan: Land of Hope & Inspiration; Cultural & Natural History of Azerbaijan; Baku: Jewel of the Caspian; Jews of Azerbaijan: A Model for Muslim-Jewish Coexistence; and Christian & Muslim Villages of Azerbaijan. Produced in Los Angeles this year, the documentaries provide information about Azerbaijans rich and colorful culture, history, traditions, beautiful nature and tourism opportunities; they highlight the steady development of Azerbaijan as an independent nation since 1991, and the countrys positive multiculturalism and successful model of multi-faith tolerance and harmony, which allow for Muslims, Christians, Jews and representatives of other faiths to continue to live together in peace and mutual respect. Supported jointly by Azerbaijans Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Consulate General in Los Angeles, the documentaries were filmed and produced by Los Angeles-based ECONEWS Television and Radio Series, and released this year. ECONEWS is a three-times EMMY-nominated weekly series that has produced over 600 environmental television shows since 1984, and 2000 Environmental Directions Radio shows since 1977, becoming the longest-running environmental program in the United States. ECONEWS is a United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Laureate. ECONEWS shows have also received awards in the Hometown USA Video Festival, AVEDA U. S. Environmental Film Festival and other film festivals. ECONEWS Host Nancy Pearlman and her crew visited Azerbaijan to film the documentary shows in both Baku and various regions of Azerbaijan. The films have already been aired by over 50 television stations located in 21 U.S. states, including California, reaching 19 million homes. Some of the films have been screened in Los Angeles, Idyllwild (CA) as well as at Texas universities. More presentations and screenings are underway. Full versions of the films can be watched here: Azerbaijan: Land of Hope & Inspiration https://youtu.be/tocsUq0TRfE?t=33s Baku: Jewel of the Caspian - https://youtu.be/QkaB6X1PNfU?t=26s Christian & Muslim Villages of Azerbaijan - https://youtu.be/7xmLwXE_VUc?t=27s Jews of Azerbaijan: A Model for Muslim-Jewish Coexistence - https://youtu.be/Yci6bcH4PqQ?t=25s Cultural & Natural History of Azerbaijan - https://youtu.be/IgpAj1USwDE?t=25s Trailer of all five films combined - https://youtu.be/lQO6PYFmHIM -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 15:57 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli An exhibition dedicated to Azerbaijan`s modern architecture was organized in Florence, Italy. Co-organized by the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation, Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction, the event brought together the country`s Ambassador to Italy Mammad Ahmadzade, Rector of the University Gulchohra Mammadova, founder and director of the Foundation Paolo Del Bianco, as well as public and art figures, Azertac reported. Founder of the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation Paolo Del Bianco highlighted the importance of the exhibition. On Azerbaijan's rich cultural heritage, unique samples of architecture, Del Bianco said this exhibition was another way of demonstration of the country's culture to Italian public. In turn, Ahmadzade provided an insight into rich cultural heritage of Azerbaijan, as well as its historical traditions, multicultural model, socio-economic development, infrastructure projects. On importance of the exhibition, the diplomat said these samples create an imagination about the projects carried out in the country. Rector Mammadova, for her part, highlighted the history of relations between the University and the Foundation. The rector also spoke about steadily developing infrastructure projects implemented in the country. The event featured a presentation about modern samples of architecture of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, a beautiful corner of the South Caucasus, surprises everyone with its beauty and antiquity. Today, along with the historic buildings, many modern buildings decorate the countrys cities. The capital city Baku is the place where a national theatre, the first in Muslim East, lifted the curtain, the first opera was performed, the first Azerbaijan newspaper was published, the first Azerbaijan library was opened. The ancient architectural monuments of Baku are the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Old City Historical-Architectural Reserve and the Maiden's Tower and Gobustan National Park, which is famous for the ancient rock drawings and was included to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. For the last years, Baku has changed its look very quickly. More futuristic buildings appeared in the center of the city. Baku is expecting to be even more charming, since large-scale projects are expected to be realized, stimulating the development of a number of industrial sectors. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 10:53 (UTC+04:00) The tragedy of over one million Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, who are the ongoing victims of the ArmenianAzerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, has been highlighted in the Christmas recess debate in the Westminster Parliament, Azertac reported. Speaking just prior to the Christmas adjournment, MP Bob Blackman commented: The conflict there has been going on for far too long. It is a forgotten conflict, and unfortunately the position with Armenia, Russia and their allies has not helped the overall situation. This year, the APPG for Azerbaijan went to see one of the camps that have been set up for these people. They are suffering very greatly through no fault of their own. It is time that human rights and shared values were restored to that part of the world. The statement came in the wake of a trip to Azerbaijan by the Azerbaijan All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) members in August. The visit, supported by TEAS, was led by Bob Blackman, and comprised a cross-party delegation from both sides of the House, including Vice-Chairs Mark Menzies MP, Baroness Manzoor, Lord Kilclooney and Group Secretary, Roger Godsiff MP. Eight members of the APPG also recently attended the Five Roads Back Home exhibition of IDP portraits by legendary photographer Philipp Rathmer, which took place at the Old Truman Brewery in London. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz This is intended to be the first in a series of childrens books and I expect the design will be refined as Rebecca masters the CreateSpace medium. Rebecca has simply dropped her illustrations into each page with the words underneath. With a bit of effort the illustrations and text in such a format could be merged for a more interesting effect. THE largest template of the online self-publishing company CreateSpace is about A4 size and this is what Rebecca Duckworth has used for her new book about a sulphur-crested cockatoo called Timbaloo. The Legend of Timbaloo the Clever Cockatoo by Rebecca Duckworth, CreateSpace, 2016, ISBN: 978-1539774792, 30 pages, US$15.00 (AU$20.40/K47.60) plus postage. Available from Amazon here Those comments should not detract from this book, which is well-written and has attractive and attention-grabbing illustrations. It also has enough quirkiness to appeal to 8 10 year old Papua New Guinean children. Timbaloo the clever cockatoo chases a band of loggers out of the forest using his ability to mimic human voices and machinery. Young readers will enjoy this humorous escapade as the loggers run away in a panic thinking a tree is about to fall on them. Rebecca was born in Papua New Guinea, growing up in the Western Highlands, and now lives in San Diego, California in the USA. Like many of us, she has fond memories of PNG, especially of the people and the wonderful rainforests. She says she will always remember PNG and value the influence it had in developing my greater understanding of the world. Rebecca is a passionate advocate for the environment and is concerned about the unfettered exploitation of the forests in PNG and the impact of this on people and animals. The cost of the book might be prohibitive for most Papua New Guinean parents and teachers, which is a shame. With the cost of postage it will probably be about K60 a copy, well beyond most family budgets. Hopefully it will end up in a few libraries. Maybe Buk Bilong Pikininni will pick it up. 22 December 2016 11:24 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan`s Parliamentary Speaker Ogtay Asadov met his Kyrgyz counterpart Chynybay Tursunbekov, who visited the country to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the headquarters of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA), on December 21. Asadov, speaking about the activity of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries, said the Organization opened new stage in inter-parliamentary ties, Azertac reported. The speaker stressed the importance of preserving cultural heritage of the Turkic-speaking nations for development of the Turkish civilization. Asadov said Azerbaijan attached great importance to strengthening and deepening relations with Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz Speaker further was informed about political-economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan. Asadov stressed the role of cultural-humanitarian ties in Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz bonds. The sides spoke about the activity of the friendship groups operating in both countries` Parliaments. The sides also touched upon the current state of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Tursunbekov, in turn, said they attached particular importance to relations with Azerbaijan`s Parliament. Earlier this day, Asadov met his Kazakh counterpart Nurlan Nigmatulin who also visited the country to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the headquarters of the TURKPA. The sides stressed the importance of the reciprocal visits in terms of further strengthening cooperation between the two countries. Asadov described boosting bonds between the two countries within TurkPA as positive. On Azerbaijan`s bridge role between Europe and Asia, the speaker said these bonds have deep ancient roots. Asadov touched upon developing relations between the Parliaments of both countries, and praised the activity of friendship groups. Nigmatulin, in turn, praised the efforts of the heads of the states of both countries in deepening relations. TURKPA was established on November 21, 2008, according to anagreement signed by the heads of parliaments of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey in the "Dolmabakhche Saray" located in Istanbul city of Turkey. In 2009, the first plenary session of TURKPA was held in Baku. The TURKPA Regulations, Articles of Secretariat, Baku Declaration, and Statement regarding the permanent accommodation of the Secretariat in Baku city were adopted at the plenary session. The TURKPA chairmanship is annually handed over from one country to another by means of rotation in English alphabetical order. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 12:38 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Iranian and Kazakh officials signed five memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on the sidelines of a meeting between the visiting Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana Dec. 22, Iran's state-run IRINN TV reported. The signed documents include MOU for animal quarantine, a document for cooperation in the field of shipping in the Caspian Sea, a MoU on facilitating tourism, a cooperation document between the Central Bank of Iran and the National Bank of Kazakhstan for boosting mutual trade and a MoU on cooperation in the field of labour and social security. Rouhani, who is on a tour to three regional countries, arrived in Kazakhstan on Dec. 21. He was officially welcomed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Asian country's presidential palace in Astana on Dec. 22 morning. According to Iranian Customs Administration, over the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2016) the Islamic Republic imported goods worth at $87 million from Kazakhstan. Meanwhile Iran exported goods worth at $137 million to Kazakhstan. The two sides are determined to increase their volume of trade turnover to $1 billion per year. During a visit of Kazakh president to Iran earlier in April 2016, Tehran and Astana agreed on a total of 66 documents on cooperation between the two countries. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 13:20 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Baku hosted another round of political consultations between the Azerbaijani and Turkish Foreign Ministries. Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov and Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey Umit Yalcn represented the consultation, Azertac reported. Khalafov and Yalcin highlighted rapidly developing overall relations between the two countries, emphasizing that these ties exist at the level of international organizations that accommodates the interests of both sides. They also noted that the phrase one nation, two states by national leader Heydar Aliyev is a symbol of Azerbaijani-Turkish brotherhood and friendship that is based upon national, historical, and cultural roots. The officials also expressed satisfaction with the cooperation in the formats of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia, and Azerbaijan-Turkey-Turkmenistan, noting that it would make a significant contribution to the development of regional cooperation. The deputy FMs stressed the importance of continuing bilateral support and joint multilateral activities between the two countries. The sides stressed the necessity of intensifying joint efforts towards the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty in line with the norms and principles of international law. Problems in the Middle East, the fight against international terrorism, resolution of regional conflicts, neighborhood policy were also in the focus of the meeting. Earlier, the Turkish diplomat was received by Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who stressed the importance of multiplying joint efforts in the fight against terrorism. Yalcin, in turn, expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan for the resolute position with regard to the recent events in Turkey. Turkey became the first state to recognize Azerbaijan, which declared its independence in 1991. The Azerbaijan-Turkey relations are multifaceted and at strategic level. Intense high level contacts are the main driving main force of the bilateral relations. Visiting each others countries immediately after assuming the office or in the wake of developments with symbolic importance became a tradition. With the aim of further strengthening bilateral relations, the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSC) mechanism was established in 2010 at the Presidential level. The Council was convened five times so far and the last round was held this March in Ankara. Turkey contributes to efforts aimed at the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijans territorial integrity and sovereignty through peaceful means. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 23 December 2016 12:50 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Baku, an extraordinary and impressive capital city of Azerbaijan, today is known far beyond the region thanks to its fairy beauty and sustainable development. Incredible construction boom of the recent years in Baku, also known as the City of Winds, amazes many by new hotels, office buildings, skyscrapers, sporting complexes and museums of modern art. The city is quickly rejuvenated and the population of Baku may reach four million people by 2035. Director of the Baku State Planning Institute Ilgar Isbatov announced about this while talking to reporters on December 22 during the presentation of the Plan of Zoning & Land Use (General Plan) of Baku. According to the Plan, the population of Greater Baku by 2035 will amount to 3,911,250 people, 3,498,250 of whom will live directly in Baku and 413,000 people in Absheron. The total number of employed population of the capital will increase from 1.2 million to 1.77 million. Some 1.42 million of them will be engaged in the services sector, while 260,000 people in industry, and 88,500 people in agriculture. In accordance with the Plan, which covers an area of about 248 hectares, Baku and Absheron will be divided into nine zones - South, North, East, Central, and five peripheral zones. Each area will have its own center. The Plan covers issues of accommodation and organization of employment in the city, creation of new recreation areas, as well as prospects for further development of Baku," he said, adding that overall, the cost of the plan on using and zoning the territory of Baku is estimated to be 283.97 billion manats ($158 billion). Moreover, under the Plan, Baku's Mashtaga settlement is going to turn to Silent City. Isbatov further said that to reduce the load on the central part of the city, it is planned to move part of the load to Alat settlement. "In perspective, the Plan involves accommodation of over 200,000 people in Alat until 2035. Measures for decentralization will be undertaken in other areas, as well," he said. The Alat settlement will be turned into a large transport center with reconstructed railway network. Moreover, new university, hospitals, large shopping area, as well as vocational education institutions specializing in the field of trade will also appear here. Another considerable change regarding the Absheron Peninsula will be second passenger airport, which is planned to be built in Alat. "Until 2035, the capacity of the Baku International Airport will fully meet the increasing passenger traffic, but, given the development of tourism and the creation of Alat Free Trade Zone, we believe that there is a need to construct another international airport," he said. Experts believe that creation of FTZ in Azerbaijan around the Baku International Sea Trade Port in Alat settlement is a project with a great future, as it's good opportunity for attracting cargo traffic and investments to Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani government and Dubai Port World (DP World), one of the worlds major port operators, signed an agreement on provision of consulting services for the creation of the free trade zone in Alat. Isbatov also talked about another giant plan, envisaging the construction of second international bus terminal in Baku. We offered construction of another international bus terminal, to be located in Lokbatan settlement, to ease up traffic flows in the northern entrance to the capital [Baku], he said. This bus terminal will be designed to receive buses coming from the South. One international bus terminal complex is currently operating in Baku and it provides 13 international and 44 domestic routes. The plan also stipulates constructing a recreational center near Boyuk Shor in Zig, Azerbaijan's second largest lake and the largest lake in the Absheron Peninsula. Another stage in the plan is construction of universities in the outskirts of the capital. The changes will also concern Baku Metro, so the length of the underground lines will increase almost fourfold by 2035. The total length of subway lines will increase from 37.8 kilometers to 145 kilometers covering different settlement of Baku. Currently, Baku Metro has three lines and 25 metro stations, while the plan provides for the construction of 51 new stations by 2030. Chair of the State Committee for Urban Planning & Architecture Abbas Alasgarov, in turn, stated that the Plan is a continuation of the previously-made Plan of Greater Baku Regional Development. "This is a planning document with scale of 1:10000. The project is aimed at interagency coordination," he stated. Alasgarov added that the Plan of Zoning and Land Use of Baku was made given the prospects of future development of the capital until 2035. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 10:28 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Fourteen Turkish servicemen were killed and 33 wounded during the Shield of Euphrates operation in northern Syria, Milliyet newspaper reported. Turkish Army has said that 138 IS terrorists were killed and many others were wounded in Syria's Al-Bab region within the Operation Euphrates Shield Wednesday. n Aug. 24 morning, the Turkish Air Force, with the support of the coalition aircraft, launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo. The operation was dubbed the Shield of the Euphrates. Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives. Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The IS, YPG and PYD are the most active terrorist groups in Syria. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 13:38 (UTC+04:00) By Trend: The international rating agency Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Kazakh Tsesnabank (TSB) to 'B' from 'B+' and affirmed the Long-Term IDRs of Kazakhstans Kazkommertsbank (KKB), Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan (HB), ATF Bank, Bank Centercredit (BCC), and Subsidiary Bank Sberbank of Russia JSC (SBK), the rating agency reported Dec. 22. The Outlooks are Stable. Fitch has also affirmed one of HB's domestic subsidiaries, JSC Halyk Finance (HF) with a Stable Outlook and maintained its other, Altyn Bank JSC (AB), on Rating Watch Positive (RWP). The banks' Long-Term IDRs are driven by their Viability Ratings (VRs), except SBK whose Long-Term IDRs reflect Fitch's view of potential support from its parent, Sberbank of Russia (SBR; BBB-/Stable), Fitch said. HALYK BANK OF KAZAKHSTAN The affirmation of HB's Long-Term IDRs at 'BB' and VR at 'bb' reflects its strong franchise, solid profitability and capitalisation. The bank's liquidity cushion is large and refinancing risks are limited, in Fitch's view. At the same time, the elevated levels of HB's problem and potentially problematic loans as well as the broader scope of risks inherent in Kazakhstan's operating environment still constrain HB's ratings. According to Fitch, HB retains the strongest loss absorption capacity among large Kazakh banks due to its solid pre-impairment profitability and a large buffer of core capital. HB's liquidity is also the strongest among the peers given its liquid assets of 35 percent of liabilities at end-3Q16 compared with the Eurobond repayments in 2017 of only $0.6 billion or 5 percent of liabilities. KAZKOMMERTSBANK The affirmation of KKB's 'CCC' Long-term IDR and 'ccc' VR reflects Fitch's view of the bank's significant distressed assets and modest loss absorption capacity. Positively, KKB's ratings factor in its recent track record of foreign debt repayments in a relatively stressful environment, and its sufficient liquidity relative to the Eurobond payments forthcoming in 2017. Fitch's view of the weak asset quality is driven by KKB's large loan exposure to BTA, its former subsidiary currently operating as a distressed asset manager, equalling half of KKB's loans or 6x FCC at end-1H16. Fitch expects only modest cash recoveries from this portfolio in the foreseeable future despite the exposure being reported as performing. Fitch views positively the bank's extensive track record of repayments on senior and subordinated Eurobonds, including $ 0.2 billion subordinated notes and $ 0.4 billion senior Eurobonds during 2016. The November paydown reduced KKB's liquidity but Fitch believes it remains adequate relative to 2017's Eurobond repayments. KKB's high funding concentration and instability of one of its largest depositors are moderately negative. TSESNABANK The downgrades of TSB's Long-Term IDRs to 'B' from 'B+' and its VR to 'b' from 'b+' are driven by Fitch's view of the bank's deteriorating asset quality and profitability while its capitalisation remains only moderate. Positively, TSB's ratings consider its recently improved liquidity and the record of it accessing financing from quasi-state sources and state-controlled companies. BANK CENTERCREDIT The affirmation of BCC's Long-Term IDRs at 'B' and VR at 'b' reflects the bank's still significant problem loans, modest capitalisation, and moderate performance. The ratings benefit to a degree from BCC's lower than peers' foreign currency lending (mostly already recognised as impaired), stable and improving domestic deposits base and its improved liquidity position. ATF BANK The affirmation of ATF's Long-Term IDRs at 'B-' and VR at 'b-' reflects the bank's persistently weak asset quality, low capitalisation and only modest core profitability. Fitch believes ATF is also exposed to relatively high liquidity risks considering the possible deposit outflows, partially mitigated by its currently large liquidity cushion. SB SBERBANK OF RUSSIA The affirmation of SBK's 'BB+' Long-term IDRs and '3' Support Rating reflects Fitch's view of the moderate probability of potential support from the parent bank based on the strategic importance of the CIS region for SBR and the small size of SBK relative to its parent. The affirmation of SBK's VR reflects Fitch's view that its credit profile is still consistent with the 'b+' level, mainly thanks to the ordinary benefits of support from SBR as well as still decent core profitability and comfortable liquidity, despite the recent continued weakening of asset quality and capitalisation. ALTYN BANK The RWP on AB's 'BB' IDRs and 'A+(kaz) 'National Long-Term rating reflects the upside potential for these ratings from an acquisition of a 60% equity stake in the bank by China Citic Bank (CCB; BBB/Stable) in 2017. Fitch also expects that AB would be supported, if needed, by HB, which currently owns 100% of AB's ordinary shares. HB signed a memorandum of understanding with CCB in November 2016. HALYK FINANCE HF's 'BB' Long-term IDRs are aligned with the ratings of its parent as Fitch considers HF a core subsidiary of HB. This opinion is based on HF's prominent market positions in investment banking and brokerage services to domestic clients and significant potential reputational risks for HB should its subsidiary default on obligations. HF's moderate size at 1% of HB's total assets at end-3Q16, and its healthy balance sheet make it relatively easy to support. Fitch's baseline SRF for domestic systemically important banks at 'B-' reflects the agency's view that large-scale capital support would be unlikely to be forthcoming for any Kazakh commercial banks, given the history of defaults by systemic banks and other institutions, the rating agency said. Nevertheless, Fitch expects most banks in Kazakhstan to continue benefiting from liquidity and other financial assistance provided by the state and quasi-state sources. HB's SRF of 'B' and SR of '4' reflects its exceptionally high systemic importance, based on its large 17% deposit market share and by far the largest regional branch network, which in addition to its solid political connections make moderate state support possible. KKB's 'No Floor' SRF is based on Fitch's expectations that support from the Kazakh authorities in the amount sufficient to address the bank's large asset quality and capitalisation problems without senior creditors facing losses remains unreliable. SRFs of 'No Floor' and SRs at '5' of TSB, ATF and BCC reflect these bank's moderate market shares, from 6 to 9 percent of system deposits at end-3Q16 and, therefore, these banks' non-systemic status. The VR-driven Long-Term IDRs would mainly be sensitive to changes in the banks' asset quality and capitalisation parameters. Significant liquidity deterioration and weakening of core profitability would be negative. The Long-Term IDRs of SBK and HF would likely change in tandem with the ratings of their respective parents. AB's ratings could be upgraded upon its acquisition by CCB which may take more than six months to complete. Debt ratings would change with their respective anchor ratings. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 December 2016 17:09 (UTC+04:00) By Dalga Khatinoglu Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis visit to Kazakhstan on December 22 ended without any energy deal. A source in Irans Oil Ministry told Trend that no talks were scheduled to be held about oil and gas issues with Kazakhstan. However, several major energy projects have been negotiated between two Caspian littoral nations in the last several months: refinery and power plant construction projects as well as oil swap. Of course, Rouhani said in Kazakhstan that both Iran and Kazakhstan are oil and gas exporters and can cooperate in this sector. We can receive Kazakh oil in Caspian Sea and deliver the same amount of oil to Persian Gulf, Iranian president said Dec. 22. Oil swap Iran is preparing to resume oil swap with Caspian littoral states. The capacity of storage facilities in Iran's Neka port on the Caspian shore is being increased to about 2.5 million barrels per day (mb/d), director of Iran's North Oil Terminal Hamid Reza Shahdoust said previously. Currently 3 of 9 oil storage facilities are being maintained to be ready to intake 120-130 thousand b/d of Caspian oil and only the tankers with 5-7 tons capacity can arrive in Neka. Meanwhile, Pirouz Mousavi, the managing director of Iranian Oil Terminals Company told Mehr news agency in November 2015 that Russia and Kazakhstan have expressed readiness to resume crude oil swap with Iran. The imported crude oil from the Caspian states is to be refined at Tehran and Tabriz oil refineries in northern Iran which will lead to saving costs of transferring oil from southern Iran to the mentioned refineries. The oil swap project reportedly saves Iran costs of carrying 500,000 bpd of oil from south to north of the country. Tehran will deliver an equivalent amount of the imported oil to potential buyers in the Persian Gulf ports. Under oil swap agreements, which started in 1997 and were in place for over 12 years, Iran received crude oil of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in its northern port of Neka on the Caspian coast and delivered an equal volume to the clients of the same countries in Persian Gulf. Tehran would receive a transit fee from Caspian states as well. The overall revenue obtained by Iran from 1997 to 2009 has been estimated at about $880 million. Refinery and power plant projects Irans power and water equipment and services export company SUNIR signed a deal with Kazakhstans Eurasia Invest Group with $600 million worth in April 2016 to build one wind and two thermal plants in Kazakhstan in 18 months. The wind power station will have 50 megawatts (MW) capacity and thermal power plants - 250 MW each. Iran also announced in June 2016 that two nations have planned to build a joint venture oil refinery in Amirabad Port, on the Caspian Sea shore. It was projected to refine Kazakh oil and then export to other countries. 22 December 2016 18:03 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova The Islamic Republic of Iran and Kazakhstan discussed bilateral ties and cooperation in a number of spheres, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Astana for talks with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev. The end of Irans international diplomatic isolation, which was due to longstanding sanctions against the Islamic country, opened up wide opportunities for the country to cooperate with the Central Asian region. In Astana, Rouhani expressed gratitude to Nazarbayev for his contribution to the achievement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA/nuclear deal) between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries (China, France, Russia, the UK, the US plus Germany). I would like to thank you for effective cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in the sphere of atomic power use for peaceful purposes, Rouhani said to Nazarbayev. The president also emphasized Kazakhstans continuing support to the Islamic Republic in the international and regional formats. Nazarbayev, in turn, said that Iran is not only a close neighbor of Kazakhstan in the region but also a reliable partner. We have never broken our ties even when sanctions were imposed against Iran. We have held two rounds of negotiations regarding the nuclear program and we have made a passive contribution to the solution of this problem, he said. The Kazakh leader underlined that the scope of the Kazakh-Iranian dialogue has a systemic character, while the main goal is to promote friendly ties between the two nations. He added that the negotiations focused on the ways of strengthening partnership in the trade-economic sphere and several priority areas of interaction were defined, Kazinform reported. Within the official visit, the two countries signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and cooperation agreements, including those on facilitation of reciprocal tourist travels, labor and social welfare, cooperation in the Caspian Sea shipping industry, and on cooperation between the Central Bank of Iran and the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Mining sphere The two countries also intend to establish effective interaction in the sphere of mining metallurgy. The Kazakh president said that Iran is keen on conducting geological exploration of Kazakhstan territory, adding said that the countries may establish effective interaction in ore-mining metallurgy. Karaganda region has already started developing a copper deposit together with Iranian companies. Iranian side is interested in conducting geological exploration of Kazakhstan territory and we back this proposal, he said. The mining industry in Kazakhstan is planned to grow in value, reaching $30 billion by 2017. The country possesses the second largest uranium, chromium, lead, and zinc reserves, as well as the third largest manganese deposits and ranks in top 5 for copper reserves. Transport sphere One of the main objectives of the two countries is joint usage and development of the enormous potential of both in transit and logistics sphere. In this regard, the two countries signed an agreement to establish a joint dual-modal transportation company that could lead to the creation of a new transport corridor connecting Irans southern ports to the upper parts of Central Asia - and even possibly Russia and China. The agreement is meant to facilitate sea transportation in the Caspian Sea, cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in ports and terminals issues, and connect Irans southern ports to Kazakhstan as well as other Central Asian countries, Irans IRNA news agency reported. The two countries enjoy good transport cooperation. Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railroad has already turned into an effective transport and communication system in the region connecting Kazakhstan and Iran as well as other countries with the Gulf States. Simplified visa regime The sides also agreed to begin work on simplification of a visa regime and stimulation of tourist flow. Nazarbayev mentioned that direct flight between Almaty and Tehran was launched following his visit to Iran, while the volume of traffic stands at some 65 percent. Moreover, the countries also plan to launch flights en route Astana-Tehran in the short run. The heads of states agreed to strengthen political interaction of the two countries within such international organizations as the UN, Organization of Islamic Cooperation,. Iran is the first country among the Muslim states that recognized independence of Kazakhstan. Bilateral trade stood at $635 million in 2015, the figure that both Kazakhstan and Iran hope to boost up to $1 billion. Over the last fiscal year (ended March 20) the Islamic Republic imported goods worth at $87 million from Kazakhstan and exported goods worth at $137 million to Kazakhstan, according to Iranian Customs Administration. --- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The December shooting by police of an unarmed 73-year-old man, which sparked outrage and calls for a federal investigation, has been ruled wit Minorities Vital for Syrian Conflict Solution Inclusion of Syrian Kurds in any forthcoming international talks on the Syrian conflict resolution is crucial for reaching a realistic settlement, David Vergili, a representative of the European Syriac Union in Brussels, told Sputnik on Wednesday. The international community has backed a number of rounds of negotiations between Damascus and numerous Syrian opposition groups in order to settle the ongoing political process in the country. The Russian side has repeatedly called for participation of the Kurdish representatives in such talks, however none of them have been invited to the intra-Syrian negotiations yet. "Participation of Kurds and other components of Syria as like Syriac Christian people, to the international meetings and negotiations is vital in order find common and realistic solution for Syria," the member of the alliance of different Assyrian/Syriac political and cultural organizations in Europe said. Vergili added that although Ankara had been sidelining Kurds from participating in the Geneva talks, "neither Kurdish nor Syrian Democratic Forces posed any threat to Turkey since the beginning of Syrian crisis." The latest round of intra-Syrian talks, aimed at finding a compromise on the Syrian post-war governance structure, was held in Geneva from April 13 to 27 and ended with no major results. On Monday, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he intended to convene negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition in Geneva on February 8. Santa Claus now resides at one of climate changes front lines. This week, we learned that the temperature data for November shows yet another record-breaking month, and that we are likely to experience the warmest year since we began to keep records in the 1800s. Especially unusual has been the temperature and sea ice in the Arctic. First, the sea ice recovery (usually arctic sea ice reaches its lowest point in early fall) stalled. It remained at its summer levels for far longer than usual. Seven of the first eleven months of 2016 have set respective records for lowest sea ice levels. During winter, the Arctic has no sunlight and generally sees average temperatures around minus 30. But there are ways the temperature can rise without the sun, and when the ocean is not covered by ice, it can radiate heat. This has a couple impacts: First, the less sea ice there is during the summer, the more difficult it will be for the ice to recover in winter. Second, the temperatures in the Arctic play a big role in the Earths jet streams, and when the Arctic temperature changes, the result may be more "extreme" winter weather for places such as New York. This specific phenomena has led portions of the northern United States to experience cold snaps earlier this month. At the time of writing this, winter temperatures in the Arctic are expected to rise above freezing for the second winter in a row. Temperatures in the Arctic are predicted to be around 20 degrees Celsius (36 Fahrenheit) higher than usual. These warm temperatures are another example of positive feedback loops. As we lose more sea ice in the Arctic, the temperatures there rise. As the temperatures rise, we lose more sea ice, and so on. It is a troubling snowball effect, and one of many earth systems that can accelerate the climate change that humans have caused. There is some good news, and because of the holidays, I will pay special attention to that. First, President Obama has moved to ban offshore oil drilling in the Arctic and other areas of the United States. This is great news, because, quite simply, at some point we are going to have to stop consuming oil if we are going to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The concern that President-elect Trump might overturn this is a valid one but the law President Obama used makes his ban particularly difficult for subsequent presidents to overturn. The other good news is that it would seem our incoming president and his appointments are in the minority. A recent study found that there is an increasing consensus among Americans regarding climate change. A Yale and George Mason University Study of registered American voters found that 70 percent believe the United States should participate in international agreements to fight global warming. Only one of eight registered voters thought the U.S. should not do so. Seventy percent of voters supported limiting carbon dioxide emissions. As we have discussed in past Eco Talks, one means of addressing climate change is to create a tax on greenhouse gas emissions, and 80 percent of the study respondents supported using a carbon tax to fund improvements to U.S. infrastructure. This is all good news, as is the rapidly dropping cost of renewable electricity. Green energy is becoming increasingly economically competitive. But a bit of good news is no cause for complacency. The sea ice is just one example of an earth system that may already be entering into a positive feedback loop that could be difficult for humans to stop even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow. And despite increasing use of green energy, we still continue not to decrease, but to increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. And there are still active, concerted efforts to undermine action on climate change. Rick Perry, Trumps pick for energy secretary, has praised a "think tank" by the name of Texas Public Policy Foundation, which has opposed climate change action under a guise of nonbias. But some investigation shows that, as is rather typical, organizations such as TPPF often have clear funding sources that include donations from fossil fuel companies. In this case, TPPF has been funded by a company that also owns British Gas. Other donors included Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Similar organizations are often used to prop up flimsy opinions on climate change. In closing, we must reject cynical attempts to undermine science, and build together on the positive actions addressing this economic, environmental and societal threat. For more resources, as always, check out climate.nasa.gov and climatechange.cornell.edu. AUBURN Changes are coming to off-hour arraignments in Cayuga County and across New York state after legislation signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to take effect at the end of February. Currently, local town and municipal judges answer their phone any time of day to conduct an arraignment on felony, misdemeanor or violation charges. Except for in the city of Auburn, defense attorneys are usually not called for those arraignments after hours, said Ray Lockwood, president of the Cayuga County Magistrates Association. A defense attorney will be assigned for future court appearances, but during that initial setting of bail and bond that sometimes occurs on the weekends or at 2 a.m. there's usually just a judge present. But with new legislation on the county's doorstep, all arraignments, even outside of county and city court, will be required to have a defense attorney present no matter what the time. Lockwood said the District Attorney's Office is not required to be present for these arraignments, but it could be. District Attorney Jon Budelmann could not be immediately reached for comment. "The courts in New York State have ruled that you are entitled to an attorney at your arraignment, and we've been ignoring that," said Executive Director of the Assigned Counsel Program Lloyd Hoskins. "Now this kind of forces the issue that we have to look at it, and we have to develop a plan on how we're going to implement it." Hoskins said some benefits to the legislation could be potentially lower bail set for defendants or more people released and trusted to return for their court appearances. But what concerns Hoskins and Lockwood is how this mandate will fit Cayuga County, and how it will be funded. "I believe it's going to be costly," Hoskins said. "The governor signed the bill, but I don't see any money behind it. It's another unfunded impact on the county." Lockwood pointed out that with Cayuga County about 75 miles long, should there be an arraignment in Locke and one in Sterling, the travel and availability of defense attorneys could get tricky, too. "The big issue here is you've got only so many sheriff's deputies and state police on the streets in Cayuga County at any given time," Lockwood said. "If they have a defendant that's been arrested for a felony of some sort, for example, let's say they're in the town of Conquest or one of the towns at the far end of the county, and the lawyer that's on call is at the other end of the county. You're going to have a judge, the defendant and the trooper tied up." The county Magistrates Association will ultimately decide on a plan, but Hoskins and Lockwood mentioned a few ideas being considered. For example, there may be one town court on call for a certain day of the week so all arraignments could take place in one location. There could be a few courts spaced across the county to be on call. Or, arraignments could take place at Auburn City Court or at the Cayuga County Jail. None of those options have been decided upon, Lockwood said, but the association hopes to have a program in place soon. In the meantime, the association, the Assigned Counsel Program, the District Attorney's Office and the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office are all in discussions about how best to move forward. Lockwood said he's taking a survey of town justices to see about how many arraignments they conduct per month, and how many of those may be during off hours, too. He hopes that will help estimate the costs and help inform what strategy may be best. Sheriff David Gould said he has also been exploring new electronic equipment that may allow judges to hold video arraignments. But a lot, he said, is "up in the air." "It's going to be a law," Gould said. "Regardless of when it happens, it is going to happen. We're trying to jump ahead and make sure everyone in the county is working together. We are all working together to make sure we are doing it right." A Wayne County man has been arrested after allegedly breaking his 5-month-old child's leg, according to the New York State Police. Jared A. Deboard, 21, of Lyons, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree assault, a class D felony, and endangering the welfare of a child. The charges stem from an incident that allegedly occurred on Monday while Deboard was caring for the infant. State police said Deboard yanked on the child's leg and fractured the baby's femur. Authorities say the injury wasn't discovered until the next day when the child's mother, who was unaware of Deboard's alleged actions, noticed the baby was in pain. The baby was taken to Sodus Pediatrics, which discovered the injury. The child was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester for treatment and is recovering, police said. Deboard was arranged in Lyons Town Court and remanded to the Wayne County Jail on $5,000 bail or $10,000 bond. A two-month drug investigation in Polk County ended with six suspects arrested, 6.7 pounds of methamphetamine, $39,000 and five firearms seized. 6 arrested, 6.7 pounds of meth seized in Polk Sheriff's Office conducted 2-month investigation "Don't be fooled by those who would have you believe drug traffickers are somehow minor, non-violent offenders," Sheriff Grady Judd said. Judd said the drug suspect, Ignacio Munoz-Delgado, was armed with two AR-15s, a shotgun and two rifles. He has a previous arrest on cocaine trafficking charges in 2009, Judd said. According to Judd, Munoz was in the country illegally and after serving a short prison sentence was deported back to Mexico in 2010. He returned to the U.S. "Now he's dealing in methamphetamine. Lots of it. We know meth is one of the most destructive illegal drugs on the streets in Central Florida," Judd said. Judd said of the 1,176 commutations during the Obama administration, 211 included firearms charges. Munoz faces multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges. SEMPRONIUS Three men have admitted to possessing more than 13 pounds of marijuana in a major grow operation in the town of Sempronius. Cole Dorward, 27, of 2819 Route 11 Apt. 1, Lafayette; Charles "CJ" Bush, 33, of 3215 Pompey Center Road, Manlius; and Joseph Bean, 32, of 607 Darlington Road, Syracuse, each pleaded guilty to felony first-degree criminal possession of marijuana in Cayuga County criminal court Thursday before Judge Thomas Leone. In August, each of the men were arrested and charged with two felonies first-degree criminal possession of marijuana and fourth-degree conspiracy and misdemeanor unlicensed growing of cannabis. Still, Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann allowed them to plead to the first felony charge in full satisfaction of the indictment. According to Budelmann, in September 2015, the trio was caught growing 118 marijuana plants in five different locations near Bear Swamp State Forest. The plants were up to 7 feet tall and weighed over 13 pounds dried and preened, Budelmann said. And at $2,000 a pound, the marijuana was estimated to be worth more than $26,000. "It was the purpose of this conspiracy to grow, harvest, process and ultimately sell marijuana in large quantities," the indictment stated. "These three defendants' role was to procure the starter plants, plant them, tend them and harvest them." In court Thursday, Dorward, Bush and Bean all admitted to helping tend the plants for a fourth man, 27-year-old Karl Klein III, of 102 Swan Ave. in Syracuse. Klein has also been charged with criminal possession and unlawful growing of marijuana. "We were helping Karl with his marijuana grow business," Bean told Leone. As the plants were growing on state land, Budelmann said several state and local police agencies were involved in the investigation, including New York State Police, state Forest Rangers and the Community Narcotics Enforcement Team. Dorward and Bush both face a maximum of 5 1/2 years in prison while Bean could face up to eight years in prison due to a prior drunk driving conviction. However, Leone agreed to sentence all three defendants to five years probation with the possibility of community service. Dorward, Bush and Bean are scheduled to be sentenced March 16. As the newspaper industry evolves and becomes much more of a multi-platform news industry, it's important for us to keep a close on the demographics of our readers. At the heart of the print circulation losses the industry experienced over the past decade and a half has been the stark reality that print newspaper readership has skewed to an older audience. And as older readers pass away, there have been far fewer younger people picking up the habit of reading a print newspaper. For many years, this translated into a major disconnect between newspapers and a younger generation of readers. But with the efforts newspapers have put into developing digital products in recent times, we're seeing some encouraging trends. As I've noted before, overall newspaper audience is as big as it's ever been when you consider readership across all platforms. And now data is showing an important development for the future: young readers are coming back to newspaper content, as long as they can get it when and how they want it. A study by Nielsen Scarborough released this fall found that 169 million adults in the U.S. read a newspaper product in a month, translating into a 69-percent reach of the population. That's a huge chunk of the market that any media company would love to have. What excites me more about the Nielsen Scarborough data, though, is that younger readers are increasingly connecting with us. People ages 21 to 34 account for 25 percent of the American population and 24 percent of newspaper readership in a month. "Based on the shift in age of the newspaper reader, its clear that the newspaper industrys adoption of digital distribution has allowed it to reach adults of all ages," Nielsen wrote in a press release with the study. It concluded with this: "Theres no doubt that the newspaper industry has seen its fair share of change and evolution over the past decade or so, some of which has resulted in a loss of confidence from agencies, marketers and even researchers. But based on the recent Nielsen Scarborough survey, its clear that newspapers remain a thriving and viable medium, and they continue to engage a larger portion of younger, affluent readers." Schools are an integral part of communities, and the strong response to education stories we publish in our market reflects that fact. Unfortunately, we've been without a full-time education reporter for a good portion of the past year. Our small staff has done admirable work keeping tabs on the districts in our area, but there's no doubt that there's been more to do. That's why I'm thrilled to announce the newest member of our newsroom, Kelly Rocheleau, who started this week on the education beat. Kelly and his fiancee have moved to Auburn from Michigan, and they're excited about getting to know the community. If you have story suggestions for Kelly or just want to say welcome, send him an email at kelly.rocheleau@lee.net, a call at (315) 282-2244 or follow him on Twitter @kellyrocheleau. We, the entire central New York state legislative delegation, want to thank all of those who attended our community forum on Route 81 on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at Henninger High School. Contrary to the belief of some, Central New Yorkers are far from a consensus on the best alternative for the Route 81 project. However, there is a consensus among us that the solution has to be a regional one that not only is good for the city of Syracuse, but also for the people and businesses in the surrounding towns, villages, and counties. From day one of the discussions about the Route 81 project, the Department of Transportation emphasized the need to reach a consensus. We believe that there is a way to accomplish this, but it requires compromise. Presently, there are two options that the DOT has decided to be sent on to the next phase of the process a new viaduct and a community grid (boulevard). We believe that a third option must be included, namely, the community grid together with a north-south Route 81 thoroughfare in the form of a 1.2 mile depressed highway (which currently exists on the north side of the city) or a tunnel generally along the same footprint of current Route 81. Central New Yorkers will be living with the new Route 81 configuration for the next 70 years, so we have to do it right. As a result, were calling on the DOT to include this compromise option in its environmental impact report, scheduled to be released next month, which we believe would address virtually all of the concerns of residents throughout the entire region. If the report cannot be so modified in time to meet the planned January release date, then it should be postponed until this compromise plan is included. After all, its taken four years to get to this point, so a delay of a few more weeks is very reasonable to get this major project right. John A. DeFrancisco David J. Valesky William B. Magnarelli Patty A. Ritchie Robert C. Oaks Gary D. Finch William A. Barclay Albert A. Stirpe, Jr. Pamela J. Hunter DeFrancisco, Valesky and Ritchie are state senators; Magnarelli, Oaks, Finch, Barclay, Stirpe and Hunter are members of the state Assembly. President-elect Donald Trump's personal physician Harold Bornstein, MD, sat down with STAT to discuss President-elect Trump's health and the state of the ACA, among other topics. Here are five things to note: 1. Dr. Bornstein said there wasn't anything riveting to share concerning President-elect Trump's health and that it did not occur to him that he would be the oldest president. He told STAT, "If something happens to him, then it happens to him. That's why we have a vice president and a speaker of the House and a whole line of people. They can just keep dying." 2. Dr. Bornstein went on to say he hasn't found anything wrong with President-elect Trump aside from that fact that he is slightly overweight. 3. Dr. Bornstein and President-elect Trump's relationship extends beyond the typical physician-provider relationship, with Dr. Bornstein telling STAT, "There's no barrier where the patients end and our personal lives begin." STAT reports that Dr. Bornstein and his spouse have had dinner at the president-elect's house in Florida. 4. Dr. Bornstein father, Jacob Bornstein, MD, was also a physician who practiced in Manhattan. 5. Dr. Bornstein said President Barack's Obama health law is harming physicians and patients alike, saying, "Everybody got punished: the rates went up, the services went down, the deductibles went way up." A recent data breach affected 381,534 current and former members of Seattle-based Community Health Plan of Washington, The Seattle Times reports. The nonprofit organization, which provides insurance to Washington's Medicaid members, began informing affected individuals Dec. 21. The patient information exposed in the breach includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers and health claims information. It does not include health providers' notes on patients. Community Health Plan of Washington COO Marilee McGuire said there is not yet evidence of harm to members. Community Health Plan of Washington first found evidence of the breach Nov. 7, when an unknown person left a voicemail with the organization. The caller allegedly said there was a weakness in the computer network of the organization that assists Community Health Plan of Washington with technical services. That organization is a subsidiary of NTT Data. After receiving the voicemail, Community Health Plan of Washington hired a forensic investigator, who confirmed the breach Nov. 30. Community Health Plan of Washington has set up a call center for members with questions. It is also offering affected individuals a year of free credit monitoring provided by Kroll, a cybersecurity firm. More articles on health IT: Fitbits and the future of health IT: 4 questions with Dr. David Weinstock 19 hospitals, health systems seeking Cerner, Meditech, Epic talent CMS: 171k Medicare physicians will have 3% MU payment adjustments next year Black Book's end-of-year survey of C-suite executives revealed nine healthcare IT trends to keep an eye on in the new year. Overall, the survey showed 82 percent of CIOs, 91 percent of CFOs and 83 percent of CEOs believe it is time to improve their organization's technology. Here are the nine trends to watch for in what Black Book calls "the new year of uncertainty." 1. Technology budgets will remain flat and purchases in the second quarter will be based on existing business needs. Approximately 77 percent of hospital IT purchasers surveyed believe the first two quarters of 2017 will see slow IT spending and staffing. 2. Electronic data warehouses will become more of a priority. Ninety percent of CIOs surveyed said they'll likely address their organization's data warehousing and storage issues during the first two quarters of 2017. Eighty-one percent of CIOs plan to begin restructuring their databases in the new year. 3. Enterprise resource planning systems will become more important again. While 85 percent of hospitals with less than 200 beds said they've underinvested in ERP systems, 93 percent of CFOs said price transparency and improved value-based care initiatives can't be accomplished without ERP. 4. Fiscally stable providers are will spend even more on interoperability while less stable systems will not. Around 88 percent of CIOs of hospitals with more than 100 beds and decreasing margins said they won't take on interoperability measures due to decreased funding. 5. Providers will wait to improve their cyber defense until larger systems experience cyber attacks. Ninety-five percent of hospitals with more than 200 beds are bracing for data breaches in 2017. 6. The hype around the cloud will die down. Of the CIOs surveyed, approximately 55 percent feel self-assured in their organization's cloud application strategies. Still, 83 percent of healthcare enterprises haven't invested in cloud storage for disaster recovery, and 64 percent of hospital IT leaders who have invested in a disaster recovery plan don't understand what it covers. 7. There will be an intensified focus on front-end office functions and RCM outsourcing will increase. Approximately 82 percent of CFOs of hospitals with less than 300 beds plan on reworking their RCM strategies in the first two quarters of 2017. 8. Finding skilled healthcare technology staff will continue to be a challenge. Although almost 66 percent of survey respondents claimed they don't expect IT staffing levels to change in the new year, CIOs continue to reach out to recruiters and offer competitive salaries for IT employees. 9. While an interest in precision medicine persists, few healthcare organizations have plans to invest in precision medicine initiatives next year. Black Book claims organizations should focus on addressing the first eight trends before focusing on precision medicine initiatives. More articles on health IT: Patient flow command centers, artificial intelligence and more: GE Healthcare's chief digital officer on the future of digital care ONC releases 2017 Interoperability Standards Advisory Survey: State medical boards identify telemedicine as top regulatory issue of 2016 WASHINGTON -- Volkswagen Group has agreed to a $1 billion settlement to fix or buy back another 80,000 polluting U.S. diesel vehicles as the automaker on Tuesday took new steps to put its emissions cheating scandal behind it. The settlement deal covered luxury VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles with 3.0-liter engines, meaning Volkswagen has now agreed to spend as much as $17.5 billion in the U.S. to resolve claims over polluting diesels from owners as well as federal and state regulators. But the world's No. 2 automaker still faces the possibility of spending billions of dollars more to resolve a U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation and federal and state environmental claims. The agreement, settling part of litigation brought against VW by federal and California regulators, "is another important step forward in our efforts to make things right for our customers," Hinrich Woebcken, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said in a statement. Volkswagen also agreed to boost electric vehicle efforts in California as part of the settlement and faces additional costs as it works to finalize an agreement to provide substantial compensation to the owners of the 3.0-liter vehicles. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer announced the settlement during a hearing in San Francisco. Breyer in October approved VW's earlier settlement worth about $15 billion with regulators and the U.S. owners of 475,000 polluting diesel vehicles with smaller 2.0-liter engines, including an offer to buy back all of the cars. Breyer on Tuesday also said German engineering company Robert Bosch GmbH, which produced the software for the VW diesels, has agreed in principle to settle civil allegations made by U.S. diesel vehicle owners. The company confirmed it had reached the agreement, but declined to discuss specifics. Reuters reported on Monday that the settlement was expected to be worth more than $300 million. VW admitted in September 2015 to installing secret software known as "defeat devices" in 475,000 U.S. 2.0-liter diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests and make them appear cleaner in testing than they really were. In reality, the vehicles emitted up to 40 times the legally allowable pollution levels. The company later admitted to also using "defeat devices" in the 3.0-liter vehicles. The 80,000 3.0-liter U.S. vehicles had an undeclared auxiliary emissions system that allowed the vehicles to emit up to nine times allowable limits. The scandal hurt VW's global business and reputation, and led to the ouster of longtime CEO Martin Winterkorn. Cynthia Giles, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assistant administrator, estimated that the costs of buybacks, fixes and diesel offsets agreed to by VW amounted to about $1 billion. The Justice Department said VW agreed to contribute another $225 million to a fund to offset excess diesel emissions. Volkswagen on Monday also agreed to spend up to $1.6 billion to buy back up to 105,000 polluting 2.0-liter vehicles in Canada. Electric vehicles in Calif. California said in a separate court filing that Volkswagen agreed to add by 2020 at least three additional electric vehicles, including an SUV, in California and must sell an average of 5,000 electric vehicles annually. Volkswagen also agreed to pay California's state air board $25 million, the state said. VW reached the new deal on vehicle fixes and buybacks with the Justice Department, EPA and California state officials. Under the deal, VW will buy back or fix 20,000 of the 3.0-liter diesels and fix another 60,000. The automaker still must get U.S. regulatory approval for those fixes. The judge still must give final approval to the deal. The buyback offer is for about 20,000 2009-2012 Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7 diesel models. If VW had been forced to buyback all of the vehicles it could have added billions of dollars to the company's costs. California Air Resources Board executive officer Richard Corey said the settlement shows "cheaters will be caught and held accountable." Breyer said owners of 3.0-liter vehicles would receive "substantial compensation" for getting their vehicles fixed or repaired, but said there were some remaining issues to be resolved, and set a another hearing for Thursday for an update. "The settlement marks another significant step in holding Volkswagen accountable for cheating Americans out of the promise of cleaner air by selling vehicles equipped with defeat devices," U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Cruden said. But he added: "This is not the last step." He declined to say if the administration would reach a settlement before President Barack Obama leaves office on Jan. 20. Volkswagen Group's U.S. sales are down 5.5 percent this year as it has been barred from selling all U.S. diesels since late 2015. The company has said it is undecided if it will eventually resume diesel sales. Bosch statement Meanwhile, Bosch acknowledged in a statement it supplied the electronic engine control units for VW's tainted diesel engines, but the German company didn't disclose terms of its settlement, pending court approval. "By joining the settlement process, Bosch neither acknowledges the facts as alleged by the plaintiffs nor does Bosch accept any liability," the statement said. "Upon careful consideration of all relevant aspects in this case, Bosch decided to enter the agreement in principle announced by the judge today. "The agreement in principle concerns only private claims. As it has done since allegations were first made, Bosch will continue to cooperate comprehensively with the investigating authorities in Germany and in other countries." After starting a job at his father's automobile repair business during the holidays, Lawrence Clark Jr. on Dec. 20 donated $500 all of the earnings from his first paycheck along with two bags of toys to the patients of La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago. Mr. Clark, 20, who has cerebral palsy, received care at the hospital on an inpatient and outpatient basis for most of his childhood. "To see the smile on the kids' faces when you walk in with a bunch of toys, it made me feel really good," Mr. Clark, of suburban Calumet City, Ill., told DNA Info. "The hospital has done a lot for me, and that's why I'm able to be where I'm at today." Mr. Clark's generosity elicited kind words from La Rabida President and CEO Brenda Wolf. "All of us at La Rabida are so struck by Lawrence's compassion for children with special needs," said Ms. Wolf, according to the report. "But those who know Lawrence know this is exactly the type of young man he is. His giving spirit is beyond appreciated at La Rabida, and we are honored that he chose to give back to our patients in such a special way." A graduate of Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City, Mr. Clark is currently working toward an associates degree in automotive technology from Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Ill., and plans to eventually take over his father's business, Buick Automotive, according to DNA Info. His current work there involves picking up and delivering parts, driving an adaptive vehicle with his hands, as well as running diagnostic check on cars for repairs. Mr. Clark came up with the idea to donate the money and presents "to show the kids that you should never give up," according to the report. He said he expects to continue this giving tradition every holiday season. Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa., agreed to rehire six former employees who were fired in late 2013, early 2014 for refusing to get flu shots due to their religious beliefs, reports GoErie.com. The agreement came on Tuesday as part of a settlement for a lawsuit filed on behalf of the workers by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September. Per the settlement, Saint Vincent must offer to reinstate each individual to their former job, providing the same pay and benefits. The Erie, Pa.-based hospital must also shell out $300,000 in back pay and compensatory damages according to the report. The commission alleged Saint Vincent violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it fired the six employees for refusing flu shots after the hospital implemented a mandatory flu vaccination policy for employees. The group contends the hospital did not honor the employees' religious exemptions, yet granted medical exemptions to 14 other workers, according to the report. "The consent decree filed this week between the EEOC and Saint Vincent Hospital does not constitute any admission of violations by Saint Vincent or a finding on the merits of the case," said Dan Laurent, a spokesman for Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network Saint Vincent's parent organization in an email to GoErie.com. "Although we have vigorously and respectfully disagreed with the EEOC's position and characterization of how employee claims outlined in this lawsuit were handled by the hospital, we have reached a resolution of the matter in the interest of avoiding the expense, delay and burden of further litigation on all parties." More articles on human capital and risk: Hospitals and unions: 11 recent conflicts, agreements Union files NLRB complaint against Pomona Valley Hospital over quality concerns 6 healthcare organizations adding jobs The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating whether the former administrators of Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.-based Hutcheson Medical Center defrauded employees of their retirement and healthcare benefits, according to the Times Free Press. Hutcheson Medical Center filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2014. Without enough cash flow to support itself, the hospital closed Dec. 4, 2015. However, after securing a buyer, the hospital was able to reopen just three weeks later under new ownership. The Department of Labor's criminal inquiry focuses on whether Hutcheson's former administrators defrauded employees. Hutcheson was self-insured and employees paid the company every two weeks for their benefits. However, the hospital allegedly failed to pay employees' healthcare claims. In a court document filed in September, Hutcheson's bankruptcy trustee estimated the unpaid claims had reached $2.8 million, according to the report. In a recently issued subpoena, the Department of Labor requested Hutcheson's bankruptcy trustee meet with an investigator and asked for various documents, including records of payments to former executives, severance packages, bonuses and board of directors meeting minutes. The subpoena also confirmed the Department of Labor is investigating whether the hospital defrauded employees of retirement benefits, according to the report. More articles on healthcare industry lawsuits: Ousted CEO sues Broward Health 5 latest healthcare industry lawsuits Judge halts fetal burial rules in Texas EOS imaging is improving the treatment experience for surgeons and patients through their 2D/3D imaging technology and imaged-based solutions for musculoskeletal pathologies and orthopedic surgical care. "We've been targeting the bone imaging market with equipment that reduces the radiation dose compared to other modern technologies," says Marie Meynadier, PhD, CEO and founder of EOS imaging, headquartered in France. "This is particularly important in pediatrics where our Micro Dose protocol minimizes radiation even further than our standard, low dose exams." Dr. Meynadier started EOS imaging in the early 2000s, with the company installing its first EOS systems in North America and Europe in 2008. The company leveraged scientific research on radiation detection and other technologies to create solutions that addressed numerous needs in skeletal imaging like the ability to capture the full body in a weight-bearing position at low dose of radiation, and to generate 3D anatomical models. "Before our equipment, surgeons often only had 2D images of their patients," Dr. Meynadier explains, "Important 3D measurements like torsion and rotation were not available from X-rays. Our 3D models, data sets and planning solutions replace guessing with accurate, realistic simulations." EOS exams simultaneously capture frontal and lateral 2D images of the patient's entire body or region of interest. Then EOS' propriety software can be used to reconstruct a 3D model of their spine and/or lower limbs. The results allow surgeons to better understand a patient's pathology and make decisions for customized treatment plans. "EOS images and models are very powerful because thousands of anatomical parameters of the patient are embedded within," Dr. Meynadier says. "This complete patient dataset helps the surgeon decide what needs to be done and how. Being able to plan in 3D avoids surprises and allows all surgeons to enter the OR with confidence." EOS offers 3D surgical planning solutions for the spine, hip and knee for a more complete understanding of a patient's anatomy and the ability to select the size and position of implants pre-operatively. "Our technology delivers value to the physician by providing precise measurements and a way to engage the patient in a visual understanding of their condition and treatment options," says Dr. Meynadier. In November, EOS received FDA 510(k) clearance to market its kneeEOS 3D surgical planning software in the United States. Like the other EOSapps, the online software is based on EOS images and patient-specific data. When the surgeon launches the planning, they begin with an initial proposal of implant size and position. As they adapt the plan, they have real-time feedback on how the changes will affect relevant clinical parameters which can help them ensure everything is optimal prior to the procedure. "Implant selection can now be based on a particular patient's anatomy, potential risks and lifestyle goals," Dr. Meynadier says. "EOSapps offer surgeons a new way to plan as close to reality as possible." Since the companys first installation in 2008, EOS Imaging has grown to close to 200 sites spanning the globe. Here are eight things for spinal surgeons to know for Dec. 22, 2016. 4 neurosurgery market drivers through 2020 Technavio analysts identified the major drivers of growth in the neurosurgery market, which will likely grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9 percent between 2016 and 2020. Here are the top four market drivers: more neurological disorder cases; technological advancements; demand for minimally invasive surgeries; and awareness of innovative products. Orthopedic surgeons donate $928k to Dr. Tom Price over 12-year period Tom Price, MD, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for HHS secretary, has received a large portion of funding from medical specialists. From 2004 to 2016, orthopedic surgeons provided Dr. Price $926,639. Anesthesiologists are the next biggest contributors, donating $256,888 during the aforementioned time frame. Dr. Said Osman to open Advanced Spine Endoscopy and Pain Institute in January Said G. Osman, MD, is opening Advanced Spine Endoscopy and Pain Institute in Frederick, Md., on Jan. 16, 2017. Because of growing demand for minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgeries from patients in the Frederick, Washington, Carroll, Howard and Montgomery Counties, Dr. Osman decided to open a new practice location. Minimally invasive vs. open TLIF spine surgery A study presented at the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Global Forum in 2014 compared minimally invasive and open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion at two levels. Minimally invasive and open procedures had comparable operative time, and no postoperative drainage. The minimally invasive patients underwent a longer fluoroscopic time and less intraoperative blood loss. The MIS patients also needed less morphine. CMS broadens participation in APMs for orthopedic, cardiac care CMS is allowing more physicians to participate in Medicare's advanced alternative payment models for hip procedures, femur procedures, bypass surgery and heart attack care. CMS requires hospitals in the affected geographic areas to participate in the new models. However, participation is voluntary for physicians. Starting July 1, 2017, the models will operate for five years. North America leads global non-fusion spinal devices market The global non-fusion spinal devices market is expected to grow between 2015 and 2025. An aging population, increasing number of obesity cases and rising demand for minimally invasive procedures will spur market growth. North America accounts for the largest market share, due to about 50 percent of the U.S. population over 40 years of age experiencing degenerative disc disease. 10th patient enrolled in INSPIRE study Cambridge, Mass.-based InVivo Therapeutics enrolled a new patient into its INSPIRE study, which tests the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold's efficacy and safety for complete thoracic AIS A spinal cord injury. Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolinas Medical Center enrolled the patient. This patient marks the 10th patient enrolled and in follow up. The INSPIRE is designed to enroll 20 patients. Stavros Vizirgianakis to lead Misonix as new president, CEO Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Misonix named Stavros G. Vizirgianakis the new president and CEO, effective immediately. Since Sept. 2, 2016, Mr. Vizirgianakis has been serving as Misonix's interim CEO. He has served as a Misonix board member since May 2013. A Co Down businesswoman claims she has taken the stress out of Christmas with a gift-finding service. Founder Denise Robinson from Holywood describes Shop Brownie Points as "a gift service for men who do not know what women want". Prices start at 100, but Denise said you did not have to break the bank to find the perfect present. She told how most of her clients were men at a loss as to what to buy their partners for birthdays, Valentine's Day or Christmas. She does the hard work of picking products such as scented candles and perfumes from high-end brand Jo Malone. "The best gifts are things the person would like or need, but would never want to spend the money on," Denise said. "Everyone loves silk nightwear, jewellery, Jo Malone and experiences like a shopping day trip where we will also arrange lunch, and maybe if she's into beauty a treatment would be nice - things like that." But Denise warned men never to never buy clothes as a gift. "They're too personal and everyone's taste is different," she added. "What I like, another person might not, and you've got to get the size right." Denise came up with the business idea when a male friend asked for help finding a present for his wife. She said: "I picked a few options and he called me afterwards and said, 'You've earned me serious Brownie points', and that was it - I knew there was a business in it. "There are so many people who really want to give something personal and meaningful, but struggle to know what. I've always been good at buying for others." The Republics planning board has approved the construction of overhead pylons in the south Planning approval by authorities in the Republic for the southern part of the North-South Interconnector is good news for business in Northern Ireland, it has been claimed. An Bord Pleanala yesterday approved an application by EirGrid, which operates electricity infrastructure in the Republic, for the construction of the overhead pylons in southern border counties. If also approved in Northern Ireland the line will start at a substation in south Tyrone before running into counties Armagh, Monaghan, Cavan and Meath. The approval of an application by EirGrid's counterpart, the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI), is subject to a public inquiry in February. Business organisations here said the Republic's approval was good news and have said the interconnector could help guarantee future security of supply for electricity users, replacing ageing infrastructure on both sides of the border. Roger Pollen, head of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: "The North-South Interconnector is vital to providing the security of electricity supply required beyond 2021 as well as reducing stiflingly high energy bills." Christopher Morrow, head of policy at the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the Republic's move made a positive decision at February's planning inquiry more urgent than ever. "Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry has for a long time highlighted the North-South Interconnector as one of the key infrastructure projects that will benefit our members. "The interconnector is vital to ensure the effective operation of an efficient all-island electricity market, to exert downward pressure on electricity prices for business and domestic consumers throughout Northern Ireland, and to utilise renewable energy resources." But residents of parts of Northern Ireland where the interconnector will be located have hit out at the decision. Safe Electricity Armagh and Tyrone (SEAT) has said there are health risks with an overhead connector and have instead campaigned for an underground link-up. The organisation said around 6,500 people had signed a petition opposing the overhead line. A spokesman said: "SEAT completely understands the need for a better energy supply and the importance of a reliable service for Northern Ireland, but it must be safe. "We want to make it clear that SEAT is not opposing the interconnector itself. "We, along with all the landowners and affected residents on the proposed route, are however vehemently opposed to the use of a dangerous, very high voltage overhead interconnector. "SEAT instead proposes undergrounding the cable to reduce health and numerous other risks - it's the responsible and efficient alternative. "We are calling on the decision-makers to scrutinise the need for the overhead interconnector and start to raise more questions about why we are not having an open debate about the new technologies that are being rapidly developed in other parts of the world." Robin McCormick, general manager of SONI, said the An Bord Pleanala decision marked "significant progress" for the project. "The North-South Interconnector is undoubtedly the most important infrastructure scheme on the island today and will help deliver very real benefits to domestic and commercial customers," he said. "While this decision is encouraging, at SONI our focus remains on the planning process in Northern Ireland. "We are putting every effort into our preparations for the public inquiry, which is due to begin in Armagh in February." As well as George Best Belfast City Airport, the deal also includes East Surrey Pipelines. George Best Belfast City Airport has been sold as part of a package of UK and European assets. EISER Finance Ltd is selling the assets to 3i funds, managed by 3i Investments plc. Its understood the sale will have no impact on the day-to-day running of the airport. As well as George Best Belfast City Airport, the deal also includes gas transporter and electricity network East Surrey Pipelines. EISER Global Infrastructure Fund (EGIF) is also selling assets in Italy and Spain as part of the deal, which is worth an undisclosed sum. The sale is the latest in a string of big deals affecting Northern Ireland businesses this year. This week, Thompson Aero Seating was sold to Chinese state-owned business AVIC. The first six months of the year also saw the completion of the sale of TV broadcaster UTV Ltd to ITV and the sale of the radio stations in UTV Media plc, which rebranded as Wireless Group, to News Corp. Online bike accessories retailer Chain Reaction Cycles was taken over by rival Wiggle. Hollywood superstar Susan Sarandon has joined in the praise for a Northern Ireland schoolgirl whose version of the Leonard Cohen classic Hallelujah has stunned audiences around the world. Kayla Rogers, a pupil at Killard House School in Co Down, led the choir's performance for its carol concert at First Newtownards Presbyterian. Many of those in attendance were said to be left in tears by Kayleigh's inspiring voice. The 10-year-old has difficulty learning literacy and numeracy and is normally very shy. When the video, filmed by Billy McAuley, was uploaded to social networks it quickly spread around the world notching up over 100,000 views. So popular has the performance been it has made headlines across the world. And on Thursday Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon added to the praise in a tweet. In Collateral Beauty, a grieving father withdraws from the world, and in his anger and desperation he writes three letters - to Love, Time and Death. They, in turn, appear and confront him. It might seem a grim subject matter for Christmas, but Will Smith, who plays the central character Howard, believes its message is ultimately life-affirming. "The idea of Collateral Beauty is being awake and actually looking and feeling and experiencing whatever is happening," says the 48-year-old star. "No matter how dark or difficult the circumstance is, there's always collateral beauty. There's always a thread of light that you grab onto, and it leads you out of the darkness." Shortly before shooting the film, Smith's father was diagnosed with cancer and died in November. "The idea of fate, I do think there is a magical way that things tend to happen," says the Philadelphia-born actor. "For me, working on this particular story, dealing with a character who's experiencing a loss and then for me dealing with the loss of my father, there was a certain synchronicity that was powerful. This was the most transformative project personally I've ever worked on." And he means it. "To be able to look at loss this clearly, it was so powerful," he continues. "I think what I came away with is much more clarity. "A lot of the BS got pushed out of my life, a lot of things that may have been important and serious to me before Collateral Beauty have sort of washed away." Comparisons have already been made to the 1946 classic It's A Wonderful Life, where an angel shows a depressed man what life would've been like if he never existed, and Smith reveals it was used as a reference. "We wanted a little bit of heaviness, but to cut it slightly with the fun and the comedy of the story. We'll have to see what people think. We create, and hope for the best." The film's directed by David Frankel, whose previous credits include the likes of The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me. "There are so many ideas here, especially loss and death, that we're all so terrified of and we resist talking about them," says the 57-year-old film-maker. "Grief can drive you mad and can isolate you completely from the world and somehow life has to be restored. That's a powerful topic we all have to deal with." He was "full of admiration" for leading man Smith. "I think what amazed me was not so much any sense of suffering on his part, but the joy he brought to the set every day," explains Frankel. "He's just the most joyful human being on the planet and he spreads that around to the actors, to the crew and to the thousands of people who follow us around the streets of New York." Shooting in one of the world's busiest cities wasn't Frankel's biggest challenge - "the shoot itself went really smoothly," he says - it was "getting the tone right". "Getting the mix of humour and drama was a lot of trial and error," he admits. But it was a challenge the actors were keen to participate in. "Helen (Mirren) loves acting so much and it was fun to work with someone who would say, 'Let's do it again, let's do it again'," Frankel says of the Academy Award-winning actress, who appears as Death in the movie (Keira Knightley and Jacob Latimore tackle the roles of Love and Time). Mirren (71) admits she was "absolutely insulted" when asked to play the Grim Reaper. "Is this a hint of some sort?" she teases, laughing. "But it was good because it made me think about it (death), actually. As you get older, you do obviously have it more and more in your life, so it's something you have to incorporate into your living life." She was keen to make her character "as alive as possible". "That was my major note to myself," says London-born Mirren, who was attracted to the role for a combination of reasons. "First of all, it was the script. It wasn't like anything I'd read before. And then hearing about the casting and, absolutely, the opportunity to work with someone like Will was fantastic. "But really the thing that nudged me was knowing David Frankel was going to direct it. I thought if anyone could get the tone right, it would be him." Edward Norton, who plays Whit, a close friend and colleague of Howard's (Kate Winslet and Michael Pena also feature), confesses he had initial reservations about the movie. "Only because someone called me and said: 'There's a holiday movie we're going to do'. I was like, 'Were you calling a different Edward?'" he exclaims, grinning. "But when I read it, I thought it actually was very unexpected. It had a lot of wisdom in it that I thought was very poignant." Like Smith, he believes it's the right time for such a movie. "At the end of year, when you mark the passage of time, you tend to get reflective about whether the balances in your life are the way you want them," says 47-year-old Norton. "You never know if you're going to be able to make the chemistry of something work, but I thought it was worth taking a crack at something that's trying to balance a meditation on death with something that's uplifting." Naomie Harris (40), who stars as grief counsellor Madeleine, reveals the project has made her reassess her life. "I'm someone who's very goal-orientated, so I never really enjoyed the journey of life that much," she admits. "Playing Madeleine actually made me realise I need to spend more time enjoying the journey, and appreciating what is, rather than what might come. "Madeleine has an incredible ability to see the gift in life, to see the collateral beauty in everything, and it made me stop and analyse and realise that even in those times of my life when I felt like awful things had happened, I think they taught me incredible lessons. "This movie's precisely the message we need at Christmas time, which is, life is fragile," Harris concludes. "It's incredibly beautiful and we never know when our time is up, so let's celebrate the time we do have, be with our loved ones and be as incredibly loving as we can." Collateral Beauty is released on Boxing Day Teachers' union INTO has voted in favour of strike action in Northern Ireland due to an ongoing pay dispute. Members of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, the largest teachers' union in Ireland, voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in January. The union, which has 7,000 members across Northern Ireland, said that 95 percent voted in favour of short strike action in Thursday's ballot. Seamus Hanna, chairman of INTO's Northern Committee, said: "INTO has taken every possible measure to avoid the closure of schools. "We constructively entered into talks to find a just and reasonable pay deal but this was met with an imposed award which provides no salary increase for teachers for the year 2015/16 and an imposed 1 per cent for 2016/17. "Teachers remain the only group within education to be denied any increase for 2015/16. "It needs to be made clear that Minister Peter Weir MLA has subsequently attempted to confuse the public by presenting a contractual salary entitlement paid to just nine per cent of young teachers as a pay increase for all teachers. "Despite the sincerity of our efforts all attempts to find a just settlement and avoid the closure of schools have now failed. "The INTO is now directed by our members to engage in both, half day strike action and, in action short of strike, which will include non co-operation with the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI). "Action short of strike, involving the ETI, will commence on January 6, 2017 and will involve INTO members withdrawing all co-operation with the ETI. This action will be followed up with a series of half day strikes - the first of which will take place on January 18, 2017 with future dates to be confirmed." Read more Read More Gerry Murphy, the union's Northern Secretary said: "The INTO is now mandated by its members to engage in a programme of action that is aimed at securing a just and fair pay settlement for our members. "We will continue to remain available to engage meaningfully with the education Employing Authorities and the minister. "The ball is in their court." The vote comes as members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) in Northern Ireland - one of the smaller unions - voted by almost 70% against walkouts following disagreements over pay. Members of the NASUWT engaged in strike action at schools across Belfast and Newtownabbey last month, which caused some schools to close and sparked general confusion among parents. The union has threatened more strikes in other areas of Northern Ireland in the new year. In October all teaching unions in Northern Ireland rejected an offer that would have seen their pay frozen last year and a rise of 1% for 2016-17. In the ATL ballot, 32.5% of valid ballot papers were returned. Just 30.5% of these voted for strike action, with 69.5% voting against. ATL members did, however, vote for industrial action short of striking. Some 83.9% voted yes, and 16.1% voted no. ATL director in Northern Ireland Mark Langhammer said although members did not vote to strike they remained frustrated at the pay stand-off. "ATL is traditionally moderate, reflective and reasonable," he said of the union, which has a relatively small membership of 3,260 here. "We have had one strike day in 130 years. The outcome of our balloting process is in line with our internal polling and expectations." He added: "Teachers in Northern Ireland are paid 16% below the OECD average. Since the pay freeze in 2010-11 teachers' pay, in real terms, has reduced significantly." ATL's industrial action will be announced to employers to take effect in the new year and will include complete non co-operation with the Education and Training Inspectorate, and refusal to undertake needless accountability, bureaucracy and administration, the exact nature of which is to be determined at individual school level. ATL has indicated members will cease the planned action when teachers are awarded a 1% cost of living rise for 2015-16, a multi-year pay deal to the end of the Assembly mandate is agreed, and when there is an independent professional arbitration panel as the end-point of the ETI's complaints system. Education Minister Peter Weir has previously urged the NASUWT to call off its planned strike, saying it will be "detrimental" to pupils and union members. He also claimed the teaching unions had initially sought an annual pay rise of 8.23%, including increments, before reducing their demands to 3%. He added there was no more money in his budget to increase teachers' pay. The backlog of unpaid fines in Northern Ireland is now almost double the level of penalties issued just this year, according to a damning report from Northern Ireland's official auditor. A total of almost 20m worth of fines and penalties have not been paid in Northern Ireland. In a report to the Assembly, Comptroller and Auditor General Kieran Donnelly described it as "exceptionally high". The figures highlight how non-payment of fines remains a major problem two years after Stormont's spending watchdog called for an urgent review of the situation. The unpaid fines include the financial penalties imposed by the Courts, PSNI and Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA). Mr Donnelly said: "At 19.8m, the level of outstanding fines is exceptionally high when viewed against the fines issued in 2015-16 of 11.4m. "The amount of outstanding fines is reduced in the accounts by 10.9m (55%) that is judged to be irrecoverable." He said it "is the highest amount of bad debt recorded" since the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) began publishing the figures in 2011. Currently, the PSNI collects unpaid fines. A civilianised fine collection and enforcement service should be operational by the end of 2016-17. But Mr Donnelly said that delays in implementing new measures "undermine the credibility of the justice system in using fines as a means to deter crime". He added: "It is important that the new fine collection and enforcement service is implemented." Last month the Belfast Telegraph revealed that the highest total is in the Belfast Court Division, where almost 6.4m is owed. In January 2015 a report by the Assembly's Public Accounts Committee found that 19m was owed in court fines and penalties. Assembly Members heard that 6.5m was unlikely to be recovered. The report called for urgent reform of how financial penalties were collected. Police at the scene of the stabbing at Belfasts Christmas Market last night A man was last night fighting for his life after a horror stabbing in front of thousands of revellers at Belfast's Christmas Market. Stunned visitors told of their fear that they had been caught up in a terrorist incident after the recent lorry attack on a crowd at a Berlin Christmas Market that killed 12 people. Onlookers described the panic as families were evacuated from the market. The victim, aged in his 40s, was knifed as festive revellers enjoyed a night out. It is believed he was stabbed at around 7.45pm just outside the main gates of City Hall. A spokeswoman for Belfast Health Trust last night described the man's condition as critical. The victim was treated at the scene by an emergency ambulance crew before he was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital. Some of those who fled the scene said people began to panic when they spotted PSNI officers at the scene. "No-one would tell us what was happening, security staff just kept saying we had to leave," one onlooker said. "We then saw lots of police coming in to the markets and moving us all out. They wouldn't tell us what was going on so we started to panic thinking it was terrorist-related. I kept thinking about Berlin and knew we had to get out of there. "We were so scared." A massive security operation swung into action as police sealed off the entire market area. Police are not ruling out that it was a sectarian motive. One eyewitness, Lyra McKee, told the Belfast Telegraph: "I just walked round out of the side gate at City Hall and there was a crowd and a police cordon across the front of City Hall. "The man looked in his 40s, from the little I could see of him. "Someone told me she saw a knife sticking out of him. "This is the last night of the Christmas market, there were children here that had to see this. It was horrible. "I think after Berlin, people seemed a bit more panicked, because of the location obviously. "Kids were panicking asking was it terrorist-related. For 13 and 14-year-olds asking that was heartbreaking." Another eyewitness, Joan McKinley, said: "The man was slumped against one of the stalls and he appeared to be unconscious. We saw blood on the pavement further down from where he was and we realised it was serious." Another witness said: "He was leaning over and was very grey and we didn't think he was drunk. There was a steward with him and three other stewards came rushing out to help." Belfast Lord Mayor Brian Kingston said he was appalled by news of the attack. "Such violence on our streets is always abhorrent but it is doubly so at this time when people are celebrating with friends and family as we look forward to Christmas," he said. Reacting to the news, DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly tweeted: "Awful news coming through on what should have been a fun, enjoyable night for the many thousands in Belfast tonight." PSNI Inspector Duncan McBain appealed for anyone with information to contact detectives at Musgrave police station. A man accused of using knives and forks to cut a stab victim about the face and neck must spend Christmas in custody, a High Court judge ruled today. Darren Caskey was refused bail amid claims that he inflicted the injuries to a man in Larne, Co Antrim in a row over a woman. The 44-year-old, of Centenary House in Belfast, faces charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and possessing an offensive weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence. It was claimed that the victim met Caskey and his girlfriend on a train to Larne on November 12. Prosecution counsel Kate McKay said he walked the woman back to an address at Ferris Avenue after believing the couple had fallen out. She claimed Caskey then arrived at the property and accused the man of going with his girlfriend. Mrs McKay alleged: "The applicant pulled knives and forks from the kitchen drawer and attacked him, cutting him about the face and neck." The victim sustained several cuts and gashes before returning to his home and calling police, the court heard. Officers arrested Caskey after forcing their way into the Ferris Avenue property. He denied carrying out the attack, claiming that the other man had started to self-harm while in his house. Richard McConkey, defending, argued that there had been a delay in providing a statement of complaint. Stressing the charges were denied, he contended: "There's a degree of doubt about whether this case will ultimately result in a conviction." However, Mr Justic Colton pointed out that Caskey had breached an order imposed previously prohibiting any contact with his girlfriend. Refusing bail, he said: "I think there is merit in the Crown suggestion of a risk of re-offending." Police are investigating after device was thrown at house in Colinbrook Park area of Dunmurry A pipe bomb exploded after being thrown at a house in the Colinbrook Park area of Poleglass Dunmurry in west Belfast. No-one was hurt in the incident but a window sustained damage as a result of shrapnel hitting it. Police said: "At approximately 3am on Thursday, the front window pane of a residential premises was smashed due to a device being thrown into the area of Colinbrook Park, Dunmurry." Police asked anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the Colinbrook Park area between 2.30am and 3.00am to contact Detectives at Reactive and Organised Crime at Musgrave on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 215 22/12/16. "Alternatively, if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers and speak to them anonymously on 0800 555 111." The father of a teenager killed by a drink-driver in Belfast has said "the message is not getting through" after the PSNI revealed an increase in motorists arrested during their Christmas crackdown. Police said some people caught under new legislation that allows random checks were so drunk they could barely stand. Peter Dolan - whose son Enda was killed as he was walking to his student accommodation in 2014 - said the consequences of drink-driving are horrific, adding that his family were living a "daily nightmare". The Co Tyrone man's comments come as hundreds of motorists in Northern Ireland were arrested in the last three weeks on suspicion of being over the limit as part of a PSNI crackdown on drink-driving. A total of 241 motorists were arrested between November 24 and December 18 - up 1.7% compared with the same period last year. They include motorists who were unfit to drive, or who were unable or refused to give a sample. Mr Dolan, from Killyclogher, said that tougher sentences need to be handed out to motorists convicted of drink-driving. "It seems as if the message is not getting through to people and it's not surprising because there's no deterrent for anyone who drives under the influence," he said. "We have been campaigning this past 12 months for an increase in drink-driving and dangerous driving sentences. The consequences of drink-driving has been horrific for us. But people are not taking heed of the situation and that does not surprise me. "I would tell people they need to think twice - get a taxi, a lift or some other way because we are now victims. Our son was horrifically and tragically killed and it is not a nice place to be. It has hit our local community and it has wide ranging consequences. We are paying the price. "It's too selfish to take a chance, they need to think again. "It's people's perception - but the bottom line is if you take a drink, leave the car at home. The message needs to be clear - don't take a chance because the consequences are horrific. "We miss Enda terribly, there's an empty seat at the Christmas table now. It's unspeakable pain and for a lot of people it does not bear thinking about. "We are living a nightmare and we have to try and get on with it as best we can. It has changed our lives dramatically and not for the better, but it's something we have to live with. Enda was an innocent pedestrian walking on the footpath and he was horrifically mowed down. That's what we have to live with." This is the first year police have been able to carry out random vehicle checks thanks to new legislation introduced on November 24. "Northern Ireland is the first place in the UK to get this legislation," Chief Inspector Diane Pennington said. "It means we no longer have to just suspect alcohol in a driver or that they have committed a traffic offence, which were previously the reasons why we could give them a breath test. "Now we can put in place vehicle checkpoints and breathalyse every driver at that checkpoint." In the first week of the campaign there was a 45% spike in arrests for drink-driving compared with last year. However, in subsequent weeks the numbers have been lower. "We are taking this as good news," Chief Inspector Pennington added. "We think people are listening to our message and they are aware that there is a very strong likelihood they are going to be stopped." A total of 700 vehicle checkpoints were put in place across Northern Ireland over the last three weeks and checks will continue right up until the end of the Christmas period. "There will be officers out there on all days at the checkpoints," she said. "So if people are out there drinking and driving, they can expect to be stopped and they can expect to be caught." She called on drivers to be vigilant over the festive period. "What I would say to people is: we're all very good at planning our night out - who we're going out with, where we're going and what we're wearing. But sometimes we forget to plan how we are getting home. And there is no doubt that some of the drink-drivers we detect have ended up in that situation." George Best Belfast City Airport is being sold A deal to sell George Best Belfast City Airport has been agreed. Owners Eiser Finance are selling it to 3i Investments. The airport in east Belfast was last disposed of in 2008 for 132 million by Spanish construction firm Ferrovial. A statement from Eiser said: "The portfolio sale includes all of EGIF's UK assets, comprising Belfast City Airport and East Surrey Pipelines." It said the transaction was expected to be completed during the first three months of next year, subject to European Commission approval. The airport is awaiting a planning decision on whether a seats-for-sale restriction can be removed. It's popular services include British Airways' link to Heathrow and a range of UK regional airports through Flybe. The number of departure seats it can sell in a year is capped at two million. No sale price has been disclosed. Lagan Valley MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson believes more Catholics are turning out to vote for the DUP - because of the party's stance on social issues such as abortion. In an interview in today's The Irish Catholic, Mr Donaldson claimed many of the DUP's core values resonated with all sections of society. Asked if he had any hard evidence of Catholics actually voting for his party, he said: "Yes, in the recent Assembly elections I met Catholics in the Lisburn area who were very clear about this on the doorstep. "They said: 'Jeffrey, we are a Catholic family and all of us are voting for the DUP because we support the stance you take on social issues'. They said they were voting for the DUP for the first time. "How significant this is I am not so sure, but I know it is there and it is growing." During the interview he offered his "personal view" of Pope Francis' trip to Ireland in 2018, which will see the pontiff crossing the border to visit Northern Ireland. The Pope will be in Dublin for the World Meeting of Families in what will be the first papal visit since John Paul II's historic trip in 1979. He is expected to travel over the border, something John Paul II was unable to do 37 years ago due to fears about his security at a time of heightened tensions during the Troubles. Acknowledging that "there are people who have different views on this", Mr Donaldson said of Pope Francis' visit in 2018: "The fact is there are hundreds of thousands of people who live in Northern Ireland who are of the Roman Catholic faith and the Pope is the leader of their Church. "And therefore I think that if the Pope is visiting members of his Church in Northern Ireland, are we suggesting that he should be banned from Northern Ireland?" He added: "I don't think we would want to send out a message which says that the leader of a certain denomination is not welcome here. "There are issues of doctrine that I would disagree with the Pope on, but it doesn't mean that I want to ban him from visiting my country." In the candid interview with the newspaper, Mr Donaldson spoke of the "challenging times we live in", and how dialogue with people of different traditions could help foster a more united society. "We live in changing and challenging times and I believe it is important that we encourage dialogue and better understanding between people who represent the different traditions in Northern Ireland and across these islands. "As a unionist and Presbyterian with a strong Christian faith, it is important to me that my neighbours who are Catholic understand where I am coming from on the social and political issues that confront us at this time, and vice versa. "We need to have such a dialogue, in order to identify where there is common ground on these issues and to explore how we can work together more effectively to promote the values that are important to us. "That does not require us to compromise on our core beliefs." Lawyers for the family of Real IRA man Kieran Doherty have said they are "deeply concerned" after the state attempted to hold a hearing into his death behind closed doors. Coroner Brian Sherrard ruled the unusual closed session be allowed after he was told that to disclose details on documents posed a risk to life. But a later intervention by counsel for the next of kin means further legal discussions are set to take place in an attempt to resolve the differences. Mr Doherty's body was found dumped in Braehead Road in Londonderry on February 24 2010. The 31-year-old had been stripped and bound before he was shot dead. The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the attack. Doherty family lawyer Paul Pierce said: "We have come here today for a further preliminary inquiry on this matter, to be told moments before this was to commence that the Crown Solicitor's Office on behalf of the Secretary of State and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) wanted to go into closed hearing. "As we have seen, there were three hours of discussion back and forward, much of which we were not involved in at all, but it was only on the basis of our objections to those closed hearings taking place that the matter has resolved itself today; the normal process for the consideration of documents and redactions will be carried out as it normally is. "We are deeply concerned about the way in which the state is approaching these cases by attempting to have closed session hearings and exclude the next of kin and their legal representatives." Counsel for the PSNI told Belfast Coroner's Court that disclosing some information could present a risk to life and sought the closed session to discuss the concerns. But family barrister Fiona Doherty said there had been issues about transparency in the case. She added: "The tendency to go into closed session we say should normally be resisted unless there is a very good basis and lines of authority for that." Coroner Mr Sherrard "reluctantly" ruled the hearing go into private session because of concerns the right to life could be endangered. But the hearing was adjourned to allow further legal discussions. At the conclusion of those discussions the court was told that further redacted material would be supplied to the coroner and the process should allow the family to receive it and make submissions on the omissions. In the weeks before his death, Mr Doherty claimed MI5 attempted to recruit him as an agent and members of his family have raised concerns the UK security services could have played a role in his death. At a previous preliminary hearing, the court was told of significant discord over the level of redaction on five files of papers between legal teams representing the police and next of kin. Further documents may need to be blacked out, barrister for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Peter Coll added. He said he intended to make submissions during a closed session touching on whether the documents can be replaced. Under the European Convention of Human Rights the state is under an obligation to avoid endangering life or privacy - the two concerns behind Thursday's legal arguments - and Mr Coll said the working out of these issues was not a new process in Northern Ireland. But this would have been a second closed hearing from a separate one already planned and Ms Doherty said it came as a surprise to her and she had not an opportunity to consult with Mr Doherty's family. "We are slightly concerned that the court should not be seen willy nilly to be going into closed session. "It is highly unusual for this process to take place without us being aware of this material that is the subject of the closed session without having an opportunity to see it in redacted form." She said the court could not take anything approaching evidence on the main issues in closed session. Mr Sherrard asked: "If these are matter which one party is saying have potential to give rise to right to life issues is it not incumbent on the court in the first instance to deal with these matters in a private manner?" He added: "Reluctantly I will hear these arguments in closed session." The case is due to be mentioned again openly next month. A woman who sexually abused two teenage boys has been jailed for 28 months. As 40-year-old Bernadette McKibben was led out of Craigavon Crown Court dock in handcuffs, a relative of one victim told her to "enjoy Christmas in jail Bernie", while others clapped and cheered. Outside the court the mother of one of the victims said she didn't feel the sentence was long enough, but added: "I am satisfied in knowing that we will be having Christmas dinner as a family but she'll be having hers in jail." At an earlier hearing married mother-of-four McKibben, whose address is subject to a court-imposed reporting restriction, pleaded guilty to five sex offences relating to the inappropriate touching, sex acts and full sex with two schoolboys on dates between September 2013 and May 2014. During sentencing yesterday, Judge Patrick Lynch QC revealed the offences came to light when the mother of a victim went to use the family laptop and discovered messages after her son had left his Facebook profile open. The boys, who were just 14 years old, gave video recorded interviews with the police in which they disclosed how McKibben "started texting them both, talking dirty and saying she wanted to have sex with them". One of the boys told police the messages began in a normal way but soon became sexualised and "continued until they were discovered". The court heard how McKibben let herself into the home of one of the victims through the back door before performing a sex act on him. Arrested and interviewed, McKibben accepted there had been what she described as "sexual banter", but she denied sexual activity. In further interviews she claimed she couldn't remember sending sexually explicit messages. The judge said it was clear from reports that the victims had been "profoundly affected", with a loss of trust, loss of self-confidence and emotional turmoil. In contrast, however, Judge Lynch revealed that in psychological reports submitted on behalf of McKibben "she doesn't accept her responsibility despite pleading guilty". The judge said he concluded that McKibben did not pose a significant risk of causing serious harm to others, but that in an effort to protect the public he was imposing a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order. McKibben is barred from social media, having unsupervised contact with children, contacting her victims or their families, beginning a new relationship without disclosing the fact that she's a child abuser, and from having any internet device that doesn't store her web history. The judge ordered McKibben to spend 28 months in jail and the same period under supervised licence. In addition, McKibben was ordered to sign the police sex offenders register for the rest of her life and barred from working with children. Over 1 billion a year is now being spent on DLA in Northern Ireland The cost of Northern Ireland's Disability Living Allowance has risen by 25% in the last five years, new figures reveal. Over 1 billion a year is now being spent on DLA. That is up more than 200m from the 2011/12 figure of 800m. The details were released by Communities Minister Paul Givan after enquiries from UUP MLA Andy Allen. This summer the transition began from DLA to the new system of Personal Independence Payments (PIP). Figures on the uptake won't be available until next year. Earlier this month the Department for Communities revealed that in August 2016, 214,260 people here were claiming DLA, 7,000 more than the previous year. In the 12 months to April this year the total spend was 1,003,786,000. DUP MP Gregory Campbell has previously said he's convinced the increasing figures show DLA fraud is on the rise. Others like the charity Disability Action argue factors like higher levels of deprivation compared to the rest of the UK and increased awareness of the benefits available explain the increase. Mr Allen said he wanted to get a baseline figure for social security benefits this year before the switch from DLA to PIP. He said he feared the change would see those in genuine need penalised. "From case work in my office, I detect a clear trend of people having awards decreased under PIP, but cannot say this definitely until the official figures are released," he said. "I have also asked how many DLA applications were made, rejected, and granted each year since 2006, broken down by age and constituency." He added: "I do have a concern that vulnerable, disabled people - genuine cases - may be penalised under the migration from DLA to PIP, and will be monitoring this issue closely in the months to come." SDLP communities spokeswoman and North Belfast MLA Nichola Mallon said more needed to be done to tackle the causes of ill-health in Northern Ireland. "The rise in uptake of DLA is a result of a number of factors. Northern Ireland has higher levels of disability, including mental ill-health," she said. "The Department for Communities has also invested significant effort in raising awareness and promoting benefit uptake to ensure people get the benefits they are entitled to. "While it is understandable that attention would be drawn to these figures, they simply give us a snapshot of the effects of having higher levels of disability here. "Much more attention should be given to tackling the causes of ill-health and reducing the growing health inequalities in our society." In total, more than 5bn in social security benefits was paid out in Northern Ireland in 2015/16 (5,764,8484), 700m more than in 2011/12. The top expense remained the retirement pension at over 2bn, an increase of 366m since 2011/12. Speaker Robin Newton during the RHI debate in the Assembly. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press Sinn Fein has said Robin Newton's position as Speaker of the Assembly is untenable. It comes after the DUP MLA faced intense criticism over his handling of business at a special sitting of the Assembly on Monday. Question have been asked as to if he set a precedent by allowing Arlene Foster to make a statement as First Minister without the consent of deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. His critics have accused him of undermining the joint nature of The Executive Office and in turn the Good Friday Agreement. In response Mr Newton blamed the Executive office saying it was responsible for how minister acted and he was responsible for ensuring house rules were followed. Read More The Opposition has called for the speaker to relinquish his position. Thursday saw Sinn Fein say his position was "untenable". Following talks with Alliance over the RHI scandal, Caral Ni Chuilin said: "We discussed the position of the Speaker following Mondays shambolic and partisan proceedings in the Assembly. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Deputy First Minster Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein addresses media into the Great Hall accompanied by party colleagues at Parliament Buildings in Stormont, Belfast, as First Minister Arlene Foster faced a vote of no confidence in her leadership at the devolved Assembly as the fall out from a botched green energy scheme intensifies PA Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. The SDLP group addresses the Press Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and his Sinn Fein party colleagues arrive in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Jonathan Bell arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Jonathan Bell arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. UUP leader Mike Nesbitt and his party arrive in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and his Sinn Fein party colleagues arrive in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and his Sinn Fein party colleagues arrive in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. He has undermined the integrity and the impartiality of the Speakers office and Sinn Fein believes his position is untenable. A teachers' union has voted by a large majority against strike action, it can be revealed. Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) in Northern Ireland - one of the smaller unions - voted by almost 70% against walkouts following disagreements with the Education Authority over pay. The vote comes after members of the NASUWT engaged in strike action at schools across Belfast and Newtownabbey last month, which caused some schools to close and sparked general confusion among parents. The union has threatened more strikes in other areas of Northern Ireland in the new year. In October all teaching unions in Northern Ireland rejected an offer that would have seen their pay frozen last year and a rise of 1% for 2016-17. Three other teachers' unions - ATL, UTU and INTO - announced their intention to ballot members over strike action. The outcome of the INTO and UTU ballots are expected to be announced today. In the ATL ballot, 32.5% of valid ballot papers were returned. Just 30.5% of these voted for strike action, with 69.5% voting against. ATL members did, however, vote for industrial action short of striking. Some 83.9% voted yes, and 16.1% voted no. ATL director in Northern Ireland Mark Langhammer said although members did not vote to strike they remained frustrated at the pay stand-off. "ATL is traditionally moderate, reflective and reasonable," he said of the union, which has a relatively small membership of 3,260 here. "We have had one strike day in 130 years. The outcome of our balloting process is in line with our internal polling and expectations." He added: "Teachers in Northern Ireland are paid 16% below the OECD average. Since the pay freeze in 2010-11 teachers' pay, in real terms, has reduced significantly." ATL's industrial action will be announced to employers to take effect in the new year and will include complete non co-operation with the Education and Training Inspectorate, and refusal to undertake needless accountability, bureaucracy and administration, the exact nature of which is to be determined at individual school level. ATL has indicated members will cease the planned action when teachers are awarded a 1% cost of living rise for 2015-16, a multi-year pay deal to the end of the Assembly mandate is agreed, and when there is an independent professional arbitration panel as the end-point of the ETI's complaints system. Education Minister Peter Weir has previously urged the NASUWT to call off its planned strike, saying it will be "detrimental" to pupils and union members. He also claimed the teaching unions had initially sought an annual pay rise of 8.23%, including increments, before reducing their demands to 3%. He added there was no more money in his budget to increase teachers' pay. Darah Forker (22) of Millview Manor, Dungannon, is accused of punching and biting his ex-partner, threatening to kill her and "rampaging" through her home causing a large amount of damage A man accused of a brutal domestic violence incident has been refused bail after trying to contact the victim while remanded in custody. The incident, which was accepted by the defence as "volatile", was said to have occurred in the presence of a 15-month-old baby. Darah Forker (22) of Millview Manor, Dungannon, is accused of punching and biting his ex-partner, threatening to kill her and "rampaging" through her home causing a large amount of damage. He is also accused of attacking his mother when she arrived to try to calm him down. It is claimed she was beaten and kicked as she lay on the floor blocking Forker's access to the bathroom, where his ex-partner had locked herself with her baby son. Forker appeared at Dungannon Magistrates Court by video-link seeking bail for release. The incident is alleged to have happened just before 6am on December 9, when police received a 999 call. On arrival officers found the woman in a terrified state. The victim explained Forker had consumed a litre of vodka and rang about 1.30am, but she told him to stay away. Despite this he arrived at around 2am and proceeded to punch the victim repeatedly to the head and bite her leg as she lay on her bed with the baby beside her. A judge refused bail after a detective told the court Forker had twice attempted to phone his ex-partner from prison after he was remanded in custody on December 10. Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie has appealed to the "good DUP members" in the Assembly to "have a quiet word" with Arlene Foster to encourage her to stand aside for the investigation into the Renewable Heating Incentive scandal. After a week of mounting pressures on the First Minister, the Assembly Speaker and the institutions themselves, the decorated war hero has called for Mrs Foster to stand aside "so that we can work to regain credibility". "There are good DUP MLAs," he told the Belfast Telegraph, "and they know she is dragging the country down. "The First Minister needs to show the moral courage and put the country first and those in the DUP that know it need to quietly - there does not need to be a fanfare - say to her to stand aside. "It is not about her losing her job. It is about her allowing an investigation and getting this mess sorted out. We need to restore credibility and quickly." Mrs Foster has faced mounting questions over her role in the Renewable Heating Incentive scheme and its flawed inception. Under RHI, businesses were able to make significantly more money than they were paying out - an estimated 1.60 for every 1 spent on fuel - which encouraged many to generate unneeded heat and still make a profit. Claims of abuse include a farmer set to pocket around 1m over the next 20 years for heating an empty shed. It is predicted to cost the Northern Ireland taxpayer 400million. On Monday, a special sitting of the Assembly descended into farce when Speaker Robin Newton allowed First Minister Arlene Foster to address the chamber to make a statement on the scheme without the deputy First Minister's consent. The DUP leader addressed a chamber devoid of MLAs from any other party bar her own. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Deputy First Minster Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein addresses media into the Great Hall accompanied by party colleagues at Parliament Buildings in Stormont, Belfast, as First Minister Arlene Foster faced a vote of no confidence in her leadership at the devolved Assembly as the fall out from a botched green energy scheme intensifies PA Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. The SDLP group addresses the Press Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and his Sinn Fein party colleagues arrive in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Jonathan Bell arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Jonathan Bell arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. UUP leader Mike Nesbitt and his party arrive in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and his Sinn Fein party colleagues arrive in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 19th December 2016 Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and his Sinn Fein party colleagues arrive in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stormont recalled over Renewable Heat Initiative Scheme. First Minister Arlene Foster arrives in the Great Hall before heading into the Assembly Chamber. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye. Questions have been raised as to if a precedent has been set by allowing one minister to make a statement without the authority of the other in the joint office. The Speaker, however, rejected this saying he ensured the rules of the house were followed and no precedent had been set. Mrs Foster, who survived a subsequent vote of no confidence, has always stood over her actions as Enterprise Minister when the scheme was devised and implemented. Mr Beattie added: "Confidence and credibility in the devolved institutions are at stake - and it is incredibility disturbing. "When Gerry Adams has the audacity to tell you to stand down, it shows you have allowed him the moral high ground. "The DUP has handed the trump card to the Sinn Fein. They will decide what happens now, if the institutions collapse. And she needs to wrestle back the initiative." Prior to the scandals of recent weeks, Mr Beattie said he thought the Assembly had been "going well". "Government was strong," he continued, "ok I didn't like the direction they were going in but they were united. "It was nearly normalised politics. We have an Opposition that is new and learning, but holding them to account. "And in the last four weeks it has shown itself to be an iceberg. All the issues are beneath the surface. "They are not talking, they are not sharing and they are all in their ministry silos. "And this does not serve the country or its individuals well." He added: "I took a pay cut to become an MLA - it's not about money, prestige or sitting on the hill with certain people. "It's about helping the people of Upper Bann for me, and then wider for all the people of Northern Ireland. "And if they don't have faith in the institutions then they are being undermined. "And that really drags me down." Theresa May will make her first official visit to the Irish capital next month. The Prime Minister is to hold a summit with Taoiseach Enda Kenny about the UK's exit from the European Union. Mr Kenny confirmed yesterday that Mrs May would come to Dublin towards the end of January to discuss the issues surrounding Brexit. High on the agenda will be its implications for the future of the relationship between the UK and Ireland. Ms May failed to rule out a change in status for Irish people living in the UK when she answered questions on Brexit earlier this week. She appeared to link their future with that of UK citizens living in EU countries. Responding, Mr Kenny pointed out that the rights of Irish citizens in Britain had been acquired over "a very long period". "The common travel area is not just for social reasons and travel reasons, but is also for work opportunities," he said. The Taoiseach explained that Mrs May had spoken of how she wanted the question of the rights of British citizens living in the EU to be dealt with early in Brexit negotiations. "That is separate from the traditional rights and relationship that Ireland has with the UK and they with us," he added. Mr Kenny outlined what he has already agreed in principle with Ms May - that there will be no return to a 'hard' border and "no derogation from the benefits of the Common Travel Area". He said: "These are very important principles that have been built up between Britain and Ireland for a very, very long time indeed." Mr Kenny added that he hoped the Prime Minister's looming visit would provide "greater clarity... as to the position that Britain are moving towards in terms of the kind of relationship they want to have with the European Union after Article 50 is triggered". News of the visit was announced as it was revealed that Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida was also set to visit Ireland next month in the first such trip for 25 years. The Prince of Wales recorded Thought For The Day at Clarence House The Prince of Wales has warned about the growing danger of religious persecution in his Thought For The Day radio broadcast. In a pre-recorded message for the popular BBC Radio 4 feature, Charles likened the threat facing religious groups around the globe to the "dark days of the 1930s". He said in the broadcast: "We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. "All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s. "I was born in 1948, just after the end of World War Two, in which my parents' generation had fought and died in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. "That nearly 70 years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past." Thought For The Day is a feature on Today, BBC Radio 4's flagship current affairs and news programme. It has a religious theme and reflects a wide range of faiths. In recent years, Charles has met many Syrian and Iraqi Christians who have been forced to flee their homes following the rise of Islamic State, and heard the stories of Britons whose relatives in the two nations have been persecuted. He began his broadcast by describing a recent discussion with a Jesuit priest from Syria who told the Prince that he thought it possible there would be no Christians in Iraq within five years. Charles said in the broadcast: "The scale of religious persecution around the world is not widely appreciated. Nor is it limited to Christians in the troubled regions of the Middle East. "A recent report suggests that attacks are increasing on Yazidis, Jews, Ahmadis, Baha'is and many other minority faiths. And in some countries even more insidious forms of extremism have recently surfaced, which aim to eliminate all types of religious diversity." The Prince went on: "Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same - to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God." He also delivered Thought For The Day in May 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of VE Day and he gave the radio broadcast again in January 2000 at the start of the new millennium. A giant Christmas card depicting a traditional nativity in the Middle East with a modern drone flying overhead was turned away from Downing Street The Government has been accused by campaigners of being "schizophrenic" in its handling of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Medical charity Doctors of the World made the comments after being turned away from Downing Street with a giant version of a Christmas card they had hoped to deliver to Theresa May. The massive festive greeting, which depicts a traditional nativity image in the Middle East with a modern drone flying overhead, was aimed at stirring the Prime Minister into committing support to civilians caught up in the country's bloody civil war. Their intervention comes as a mass evacuation continues of the formerly besieged eastern area of Aleppo, which has bore the brunt of intense aerial bombardments from the Syrian government and Russian forces in recent months. Representatives of the charity, which helps provide healthcare to some of the world's most desperate areas, claimed they were told at the gates of Downing Street they should instead try to post the card. Executive director Leigh Daynes told the Press Association: "On the one hand, the UK Government's response is schizophrenic. "The UK Government is the second-largest bilateral donor to the humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis, which is a good and welcome thing. "But on the other hand, the entire international community is paralysed by the lack of political action to solve the Syria crisis once and for all - and that's where the Prime Minister needs to step up." He called on Mrs May to assert pressure on the UN Security Council for the opening of air corridors to facilitate aid drops to inaccessible parts of Syria and for the deployment of monitors across the country. The organisation is selling smaller versions of the "Star of Bedlam" cards as part of fundraising drive to provide assistance to those fleeing countries ravaged by wars. Inside the bespoke version addressed to the Prime Minister, it read: "Dear Theresa May, join the world in seeing the realities in the Middle East this Xmas." Tens of thousands of civilians and fighters have been bussed out of the former rebel strongholds in Aleppo during the past week, as President Bashar Assad's forces prepared to assume full control of the city for the first time in four years. Mr Daynes said: "Aleppo is not the only besieged area inside of Syria. There are many other places which are in desperate, dire need which are not reached by the UN and international humanitarian organisations." A Government spokesman said: "Britain remains at the forefront of humanitarian efforts in Syria. We have committed 2.3bn, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. "And we have sought to reduce the suffering with every diplomatic lever at our command including at the UN Security Council. "At every opportunity we have pressed the Russians to hold the regime to its commitments to allow humanitarian access to those in need." The damaged front of the Canberra office of the Australian Christian Lobby after a van slammed into it (Belinda Merhab/AAP/via AP) A van carrying gas cylinders has exploded outside the headquarters of a Christian lobbying group in Australia's capital, leaving the driver critically injured. Police said there did not appear to be any political or religious motivations behind the incident in Canberra on Wednesday night. The driver, a 35-year-old Australian man, was the only person injured in the explosion, which seriously damaged the van and blew out windows in the two-storey building, Australian Capital Territory police said. The driver ignited several gas cylinders that were inside the van, causing the explosion, Deputy Chief Police Officer Mark Walters said. He then walked to a hospital, where he was in a critical condition with serious burns. Police have not released his name, saying only that he was not previously known to the authorities. "As a result of our conversations with the man, we have been able to establish that his actions were not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated," Mr Walters said. He declined to elaborate on why they have ruled out any sort of political motive, and would not say whether the man had any connection to the Australian Christian Lobby, a conservative advocacy group. An investigation into what prompted him to ignite the cylinders was under way, Mr Walters said. The head of the Australian Christian Lobby said his group had received anonymous threats over the past year because of its opposition to gay marriage and equality for transgender students. "I don't know the motivation of last night's attack, but the context of what I see here is in the context of multiple death threats and threats of violence that my staff have endured over the course of this year," managing director Lyle Shelton said. The group has locked the building for most of this year after never doing so for at least eight years, Mr Shelton said, calling the incident a "truly shocking situation". Police said they were investigating the threats against the group. The van was removed from the scene early on Thursday morning. AP Right around the world carols and Christian hymns are sung as part of the Christmas celebrations. They are sung in churches and in schools, they are sung by adults and children, they are sung by choirs and congregations, they are sung by Protestants and Roman Catholics and they are played by Salvation Army bands. Of all the carols that are sung and there are many one of the best known is Away In A Manger. Less well-known is the fact that it has a particular connection with Ulster. Many of us learned it when we were children and it has been sung by generations of kids since the words first appeared in print in November 1883 in an American magazine. It appeared in another magazine in May 1884 and then, in 1885, in the Little Childrens Book For Schools and Families, which was published by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America. The second magazine suggested that it be sung to the tune of Home Sweet Home, and the 1885 book suggested the old tune St Kilda. Since then several tunes have been written for the hymn, but the best-known is undoubtedly Cradle Song, which was written in 1891 by William James Kirkpatrick (1838-1921), a teacher, musician, hymn writer and fife major in the Union Army during the American Civil War. If you refer to most internet sources, they state that he was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, in 1838. Indeed, that has now been repeated and reprinted in many books. But is it correct? And was he born in America? The name Kirkpatrick is obviously Scottish and so his family were probably emigrants from Scotland, or Ulster, to America. But where was William J Kirkpatrick born America, Ulster or Scotland? When the Scottish author and hymn writer David Johnstone Beattie (1881-1964) wrote The Romance Of Sacred Song in 1931 he stated that Kirkpatrick was born in Ireland in 1838, and when he was yet a child his parents emigrated to America and settled in Pennsylvania. But was Beattie right in what he said? And, if Kirkpatrick was born in Ireland, where was he born? The answer seems to be that he was born in 1838 in the parish of Errigal Keerogue in Co Tyrone and his parents were Thompson Kirkpatrick (1795-1867) and his wife Elizabeth Storey (1805-1881), who were both Ulster-Scots. The only significant settlement in the parish was Ballygawley, which was then a small village on the main road from Dublin to Londonderry. Later the Kirkpatrick family emigrated from Londonderry on board the ship William And James and they landed in Philadelphia on August 5, 1840. The ships passenger list records his father and mother and three children, two of them teenagers and one who was born on the ship. However, several other children in the family, including William, are not listed. One explanation is that the parents wanted to have a settled home in America before they brought the smaller children out to face a new life in a new land. The Kirkpatricks lived for some time in Duncannon in Pennsylvania and then, in the spring of 1854, William moved to Philadelphia, where he devoted his life to music and especially writing the words and tunes for gospel songs and hymns. He wrote many great tunes, and the one that he wrote for Away In A Manger is certainly not his greatest, but it is simple, singable and especially suitable for children. It is also immensely popular of that there can be no doubt. Kirkpatrick is one of the often unrecognised figures of Ulsters cultural history, but one that really deserves to be recognised and remembered. So, perhaps this year when Away In A Manger is sung in churches and schools, especially here in Ulster, there is an opportunity to mention that the tune was written by an Ulster-Scot and a man with a wonderful God-given talent. Moreover, a man who was but one of the many Ulster folk who provided some of our best-known hymns. The Christmas story has become synonymous with the date, December 25. Whether youre listening to carols or looking at nativity scene imagery, the idea that Christmas is His birthday is everywhere. But what has become popular belief isnt exactly true to history. The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke are the only two accounts of Jesus birth in the New Testament, and both gospels show different angles of the story. Luke begins in Nazareth and Matthew focuses solely on events in Bethlehem. Both arent particularly detailed in terms of a calendar date, which makes determining Jesus birthday quite tough. The writers of the gospels rarely tell you when things happened and the time of year. "The Bible does not specify a date or a month when Jesus was born." We Know That Shepherds Were in the Fields Watching Their Flocks at the Time of Jesus Birth The Bible does not specify a date or a month when Jesus was born. There are many different theories as to why Christmas is celebrated on December 25. A very early Christian tradition said that the day when Mary was told that she would have a very special baby, Jesus (called the Annunciation) was on March 25 and its still celebrated on the day. Nine months after that date is December 25. Others believe Christmas is celebrated on this day because it was already popular in ancient religious celebrations as the birthday of the sun. The Winter Solstice and the ancient festival day celebrating the return of the sun Saturnalia and Dies Natalis Solis Invicti took place in December around this date. While December 25 was popularized as the date for Christmas, it was not because Jesus was born on that day. If you take a close look at Scripture, it indicates that this is an unlikely date for Christs birth. Although its not impossible, it seems unlikely that Jesus was really born on December 25. Here are several key reasons. Scripture tells us that, [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night (Luke 2:7-8). But shepherds were not in the fields during December. Lukes account suggests that Jesus may have been born in summer or early fall. In December, Judea is cold and rainy, so it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night. The weather would not have permitted shepherds watching over their flocks in the field at night. Jesus Parents Came to Bethlehem to Register in a Roman Census The census or enrollment which according to Luke 2:1 was the occasion of the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem where Jesus was born, is connected with a decree of Augustus, embracing the Greek-Roman world. Luke carefully distinguishes the census at the time of Jesus birth as first, in a series of enrollments connected wither with Quirinius or with the imperial policy inaugurated by the decree of Augustus. Because temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor conditions, the census was not taken in winter. This time of year didnt permit it. Winter Would Be a Difficult Time For Mary to Travel Mary was traveling the long distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem which was about 70 miles. Winter would likely be an especially difficult time for a pregnant Mary to travel such a long distance. The world of Mary and Joseph was a difficult and dangerous place, one whose harsh conditions were not fully chronicled in the Gospel accounts of their travails. Writers of the gospels of Matthew and Luke are so laconic about the [Nativity] event because they assume the reader would know what it was like, said James F. Strange, a New Testament and biblical archaeology professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa. We have no idea how difficult it was. Strange estimates that Joseph and Mary likely would have traveled only 10 miles a day because of Marys impending delivery. The time of year that Jesus was born continues to be a huge subject of debate, particularly the month of Jesus birth. Many biblical scholars believe Scripture points to the fall of the year as the most likely time of Jesus birth. In 2008, astronomer Dave Reneke argued that Jesus was born in the summer. Reneke told New Scientist the Star of Bethlehem may have been Venus and Jupiter coming together to form a bright light in the sky. Using computer models, Reneke determined that this rare event occurred on June 17, in the year 2 B.C. Other researchers have claimed that a similar conjunction, one between Saturn and Jupiter occurred in October of 7 B.B., making Jesus an autumn baby. Theologians have also suggested that Jesus was born in the spring, based on the biblical narrative that shepherds were watching over their flocks in the fields on the night of Jesus birth something they would have done in the spring, not the winter. The Bible nowhere points to Jesus being born in mid-winter. Unfortunately, nobody really knows exactly when Jesus was born. The main focus of the New Testament writers is not the date of Jesus birth, but that God the Father has sent His son at just the right time in all of history to accomplish His saving purposes and thus fulfill His promise. The apostle Paul proclaimed, When the set time had dully come, God sent His son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship (Galatians 4:4-5). And we read in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the news of God. The time has come, He said. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news! (Matthew 1:14-15). While it is interesting to know Jesus birth from a historical perspective, it is theologically irrelevant and holds very little importance when looking at the bigger picture. It is less important that we know when it happened and more important that we know that it happened and why it happened. The Bible is clear on this. More on Christ's birth: How Old Was Joseph When Jesus Was Born? 5 Greatest Myths About Jesus Christ's Birth 7 Things You Didn't Know About Jesus' Birth Lesli White is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth with a Bachelors degree in Mass Communications and a concentration in print and online journalism. In college, she took a number of religious studies courses and harnessed her talent for storytelling. White has a rich faith background. Her father, a Lutheran pastor and life coach was a big influence in her faith life, helping her to see the value of sharing the message of Christ with others. She has served in the church from an early age. Some of these roles include assisting ministry, mutual ministry, worship and music ministry and church council. Assyrian Fighter Killed in Raqqa Operation The Syriac Military Council (SMC) on Wednesday announced the death of their member Hauro Hani, during the Euphrates Wrath Operation for Raqqa. David Vergili, a representative for the European Syriac Union, told ARA News that the fighter joined the SMC a few months ago to participate in the anti-ISIS battle for Raqqa led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) "to protect the region from jihadist forces". "Hauro Hani was always proud to be part of SMC and fighting for his people with his comrades. SMC joined Raqqa operation as a part of SDF forces to protect and liberate the region from ISIS and other radical groups," Vergili said. "The SMC's participation in the operation is in line with previous achievements of SDF, namely in Shaddadi, al-Hawl and Manbij," the Syriac official told ARA News. "SMC believes that defeating and removing jihadist forces from the region is the only vital solution for the population and to the Democratic Self-Administration project which was founded by the main components of the area," Vergili stated. The SMC joined the Euphrates Wrath Operation on 6 November 2016. "Our forces are a part of the Raqqa liberation campaign the Euphrates Wrath Operation," the group said in November. "As Syriac-Assyrian Christians, we work with our Kurdish and Arab allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces to liberate Raqqa," the SMC leadership said. "The fight against terrorism is a fight for the existence of our Syriac-Assyrian people and we cannot rest until this fight is won," it said. "We ask therefore the international community to support us and all Syrian Democratic Forces." The SMC is the military wing of the Syriac Union Party led by Ishow Gowriye, which is part of the local self-administrations set up by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its allies in northern Syria, also known as Rojava. Moreover, the party has its own police wing called Sutoro that mans checkpoints in the cities within the canton administrations of Hasakah. The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), Women's Protection Units (YPJ), Syriac Military Council, Raqqa Revolutionaries Battalion and Tel Abyad Revolutionary Brigade are participating in Euphrates Wrath. In addition to these local fighters, foreign soldiers from a half-dozen nations are participating, either as YPG volunteers or under the auspices of the US-led coalition. As the dust settles on the Electoral College vote, Flagstaff cant be blamed for worrying over how the city and the Grand Canyon region will fare under a Trump presidency. This is, after all, a Democratic city with a capital D the margin for Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 was nearly 2 to 1. If political payback plays any role among the special interests that pull the levers inside the Beltway, it could be a long four years for Flagstaff. The gun lobby already looks askance at cities like Flagstaff that wont take military hardware and want to bar guns from libraries and college classrooms. Immigration hard-liners have Flagstaff on their list unfairly or not of so-called sanctuary cities. And the city hasnt played ball to date with business interests opposed to a Grand Canyon watershed monument or a uranium mining moratorium. We have to hope, however, that the Trump team and the GOP majority will govern by what they see as the merits of an issue. At least that gives the city and its own lobbyists a chance to make their case. From what weve learned so far, the gaps are wide on everything from climate change to higher education funding. We can only ask that the appropriations and rulemaking processes be as free from back-door deals and pork barrel politics as possible. Flagstaff likes to pride itself on a kind of rugged independence from the Republican politics that dominate the State House. When state funding for public education lags, FUSD passes a 15 percent budget override and community leaders launch a STEM initiative in the schools. When forest thinning funds are slow in coming, Flagstaff voters approve $10 million to do it themselves on a speeded-up timetable. On the other hand, Flagstaff, with its clean air economy tied to the Grand Canyon and public lands, would be particularly sensitive to swings in federal policy. We saw this when the federal budget impasse shut down the Grand Canyon for more than two weeks. Solar subsidies, haze reduction rules and increased federal funding for NASA and other science-based agencies with local ties have been hallmarks of the Obama administration but might not survive under Trump. At the least, Flagstaff should prepare for a different kind of federalism that inserts more business considerations alongside resource protection. Now that the electors have spoken, the next step is for the Trump cabinet to be confirmed. Given the nontraditional backgrounds of some nominees, wed expect vigorous questioning, even from Republicans. U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is well-qualified to vet candidates, and we think his call to convene a special select and bipartisan committee to look into FBI and CIA evidence of Russian interference in the election is justified. Fair and impartial elections are one of Americas bedrock values, and if they become tainted, the U.S. brand of democracy loses much of its prestige around the world. Flagstaff and the county supervisors four of whom are Democrats -- can assume a defensive crouch and wait until the midterm elections to see if the political tide in Congress might be turned. Wed advise full engagement, however, the better to at least get to know the players and their positions. No one is expecting agreement, much less consensus. But a politics of resentment and confrontation hasnt done anyone much good in the past eight years or during the presidential campaign. Its time to model grownup behavior, and Flagstaff can lead the parade. Please Donate In order to maintain this blog I have to pay for its upkeep including a hosting company, support services, virus and other malicious hackers. If you appreciate what I write please make a donation. Racist PayPal Tries to Close Down My Blog As you can see from this article PayPal have removed my blog. I would therefore ask people to make any future donations to the following: Name of Account: Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers Centre Account No: 04094107 Sort Code: 09-01-50 Reference: Web donations More than a 1,000 children born to Thai parents most of whom fled from or migrated without proper papers from Thailands insurgency-wracked Deep South are living in Malaysia as stateless people, a former rebel leader told BenarNews. This week, an official in charge of an agency that administers the Deep South traveled to the neighboring Malaysian state of Kelantan for talks with the Thai consul-general on how to help these stateless boys and girls, as well as their parents, gain access to basic rights including health care and schooling. Suphanat Sirantawineti, secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center (SBPAC), spoke to reporters after meeting with Paitoon Songkaeo, Thailands consul-general in the state capital of Kota Bharu, on Tuesday. Initially, SBPAC and the Thai consulate in Kota Bharu will organize a mobile team to be able to provide assistance to Thai groups in Malaysia. SBPAC will be bringing public health and medical teams from Thailand to give [these people] public health services, he said. Suphanat said the services would be free to Thais living and working in Malaysia. Many come from impoverished backgrounds and some have children who were born in Malaysia but are undocumented because their births have not been registered anywhere. He did not say how many undocumented Thai expats were living Malaysia, but he said some were fugitives from justice. Some have been linked to national security cases and some have warrants out for their arrest. Some believed that they were going to be charged, and fled to Malaysia, he said. As a result, we have a situation in which their children and family members are not able to access health care, education and other services, Suphanat added. The SBPAC is an inter-department agency that oversees development and civilian affairs for some 1.7 million people in the conflict-riddled Deep South, a predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region where a decades-long separatist insurgency has claimed nearly 7,000 lives since 2004. Beside free medical checkups, the mobile teams would offer Thai workers the opportunity to register for work permits so they could stay in Malaysia legally, according to Paitoon. The consulate-general makes three road trips a year to visit Thai communities working throughout Malaysia. We provide a wide range of services, from passports to issuing birth certificates to Thai children born in Malaysia, Paitoon said. Will help strengthen trust Ma-ae Sa-a (alias Haji Sama-ae Thanam), a former leader of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), one of the insurgent groups in the Deep South, praised the effort by the SBPAC to help solve the problem. This is a good thing. This initiative will help strengthen trust, Ma-ae said. He said he had compiled a survey of Thais living in Malaysia which showed that there were over a thousand stateless children and youths there, telling BenarNews that he had handed a list of these people to Thai officials. Ma-ae said the reasons for not properly documenting children include that some parents had been working legally but did not take time off to register the birth, while others were working illegally or were fleeing legal charges, and did not wish to take any risks by showing up at government agencies to register their childs birth. Ma-ae was released from a Thai prison last year after serving 18 years on charges of treason. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. 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Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. Im intimately acquainted with tough love. Anyone who has worked with me has received tough love; anyone I have worked for has been required to offer it. My wife knows that tough love is the only way to really get through to me. There is a sixth love language everyone and its called tough. One of the central themes of the book of Jonah is tough love. Jonah doesn't understand the love God offers Jonahs enemies. And God loves Jonah, despite Jonah not knowing how to love his enemies or his God. Love is written all over the book. Yet, love as a verbor even as a nounis absent from this little book among the Minor Prophets. Love in the book of Jonah is like Santa at Christmas. Everyone knows what he representshe doesnt have to say anything at all. He can feel like a cliche fat man in a suit, but he can also warm your heartespecially when Michael Buble sings about him. The key to seeing the love in Jonah is first to read it closely, second to really understand its genre and context, and third to realize whats not there. What is absent in this book? A VERY CLOSE READING OF JONAH Jonah is foremost poetic narrative. Its narrative full or irony, parallels, and absurdities. As readers of Jonah, we often interpret it like historical narrative without acknowledging the creativity of the narrator. This does not mean that the book of Jonah is fiction, but its narrative is certainly creative. You could think of Jonah as a dark comedy; its meant to illustrate points of truth through strange scenes. A part of your brain when reading Jonah should be saying, Not computing. And its those points you should especially pay attention to. In this regard, the book of Jonah can be read through a top 5 worst events lists: #1) The worst prophet gets a message and runs; #2) The worst boat ride ever; #3) The worst prayer ever delivered from the belly of a fish; #4) The worst sermon ever delivered; and #5) The worst response to God. In this top 5 worst events list, we also see five deeply profound ideas about love. THE WORST PROPHET RUNS The book of Jonah opens with a bang, dropping you straight into an ongoing story. The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord (>Jonah 1:13 NIV). In the time of Jonah, Nineveh was one of the four major metropolis cities of Assyria. Jonah lived during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel (who reigned circa 786746 BC; this is according to 2 Kings 14:25). If you were any other nation at this time, you would have hated Assyriathey were known for their cruelty in warfare. And the patron deity of Nineveh itself, where God called Jonah to go, was a goddess of love and war. Rather than go to enemy territory, Jonah heads to Israels ally, in Phoeniciaprobably aboard a Phoenician ship. Jonah could have stayed where he was, but instead makes a conscious decision to go to the opposite side of the known world. So why does he leave? Its unclear exactly why, but it could be rooted in him not understanding that Yahweh is a God of the entire world, not just Israel. Yahweh is not limited to geography like the other gods worshipped in the ancient Near East. Jonah is running away from his responsibilities. He is a prophet on the run. God desired Jonah to preach a message of tough love to Assyria. And the fact that he is sent to preach at all shows Gods love: God is giving them a chance to change their ways. Love, then, is a powerful answer to hate and violencein both the ancient Near East and today. God loved Nineveh, despite Nineveh's evil. And we will find out in this narrative that love is also the answer to the hate in Jonahs heart. THE WORST BOAT RIDE EVER Once at sea, a storm hits Jonahs boat and everyone panics (>Jonah 1:45). This is a surprise, since Jonah is likely on a Phoenician shipand the Phoenicians were known for their seamanship. Jonahs trip to Spainwhich is where he is headingis not going so well for him or for others. This storm is deeply frightening. Through a little divination by casting lots, the sailors determine that Jonah is responsible. And after a bit of dialog and the sailors trying to make land once more, they toss him in the sea (>Jonah 1:616). Is there a message of love here? Perhaps, God could have destroyed the boat, killing Jonah and all the men aboard. But he doesnt. There is mercythe sea calms after Jonah hits the water and a great fish is sent to swallow Jonah (>Jonah 1:1517). We know this to be the case because the narrator makes it clear: Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17). In parallel, Jonah 4:68 likewise emphasizes Gods providencemaking this a recurring theme throughout the book. God mercifully saves, despite the actions of Jonah. But he also does not hesitate to change the circumstances to accomplish his purposes. This is tough love. THE WORST PRAYER EVER Once in the belly of the great fish, Jonah offers a prayer of thanksgiving (Jonah 2). In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry (Jonah 2:2 NIV). Statements like these are common in Thanksgiving psalms (compare Psalm 18:6). This is odd because Jonah is still in the belly of the fishhe hasnt been delivered from the realm of the dead yet. From a genre standpoint, Jonahs prayer sounds familiar. There are many parallel prayers in other passages. Thanksgiving prayers were common in Israelmany of them are recorded in the book of Psalms and the Dead Sea Scrolls uncovered additional documents based in the Thanksgiving genre. Jonahs thanksgiving could be genuine and show his faith. He could be genuinely grateful and believe that God will do all the things that he says in his prayer. He could believe in his full deliverance so much that he is proclaiming it like it already has happened. Or Jonah could be simply following the religious customs of his time without any personal change of heart. This view is rooted in whats missing here: an admission of guilt or sin and repentance. Jonah is praising God for his rescue through thanksgiving, but he is not admitting why he ended up in the belly of the fish to begin with. Furthermore, Jonah is saying he will return to the temple, not go to Nineveh (Jonah 2:4, 7). He even makes a vow in his prayer, but what vow is he referencing (Jonah 2:9)? He has made God no guarantees that he will obey and go to Nineveh. Yet, God again shows Jonah love. Despite Jonahs contriteness, God shows him love by preserving his life and taking him back to dry land (Jonah 2:10). THE WORST SERMON EVER DELIVERED Upon dry land, God sends word to Jonah again: Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you (Jonah 3:2 NIV). Jonah then delivers what could be described as the worst prophetic sermon ever: Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown (Jonah 3:4 NIV). What? Thats it. Imagine saying to a congregation, Forty days and youre going to be overthrown and then just walking off stage. There is nothing here about Yahweh at all. Jonahs message here is ambiguous. The word often translated as overthrown or destroyed can also be translated as changed or turned. If the people repent, they will be changed. If the people dont repent, their city will be destroyed. Amazingly, the people repent and begin to fastand the king gets on board and commands this be done (Jonah 3:59). Jonahs message of repentance to Nineveh was simple and it workeddespite Jonah's faults. Love is seen in how God uses it to turn the hearts of the people. Love is also seen in Gods great mercy against the violent people of Assyria: When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened (Jonah 3:10 NIV). THE WORST RESPONSE TO GOD Jonah cant tolerate this response from God. Despite all the mercy he has personally received, he cannot imagine a world where God loves the people of Nineveh. [Jonah] prayed to the Lord, Isnt this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live (Jonah 4:23 NIV). Now that he is alive, out of the belly of the fish, Jonah demands to die. He is probably being sarcastic, but its still clear that he does not understand the God he serves (Jonah 4:13). When those who once hated Jonah are filled with love for his God, he does not respond with love himself. Instead, he wishes they were dead. I love Gods response: Is it right for you to be angry? (Jonah 4:4 NIV). He questions Jonahs very ethics. Jonah feels righteous, but God essentially asks him, Reallyare you sure about your position? In this region, it could have easily been 120 degrees, so Jonah builds a shelter and God helps by sending Jonah a plant to shade his head (Jonah 4:56). But a worm comes along and eats the plant, at the command of Godthere is a metaphor here (Jonah 4:78). The point of the metaphor: Why be disappointed about things you have no control overespecially for that which you did not earn? Jonah required more convincing than Nineveh. Thus, God loves him the tough way. But Jonah is tough toohe still demands to die. God responds gently, Is it right for you to be angry about the plant? (Jonah 4:9). But this doesnt change Jonahs mind. So God has to explain it: You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their leftand also many animals? (Jonah 4:1011 NIV). Jonah is exclusive about his love. It belongs to his people, from his God, for those whom he loves. Jesus directly commented on this problem, saying: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:3236 NIV). And that is the end of the article. Is there anything more to say than that? First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain. Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that. And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details. If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For Immediate Release, December 21, 2016 Contact: Michael Robinson, (575) 313-7017, michaelr@biologicaldiversity.org Diana Hadley (505) 795-1591, information@northernjaguarproject.org Report Advises Trump on Survival Needs of Jaguars, Nine Other Endangered Species SILVER CITY, N.M. As President-elect Trump prepares to take over the executive branch, the Washington, D.C.-based Endangered Species Coalition today released a Top 10 list of endangered wildlife in need of strong protective measures. The report, Removing the Walls to Recovery: Top 10 Species Priorities for a New Administration, highlights the most significant threats to vanishing species ranging from elephants to corals and including jaguars, directly threatened by border walls. The jaguar, the largest cat native to the western hemisphere, once roamed throughout much of the continental United States before disappearing due to the clearing of forests and draining of wetlands, along with hunting for pelts and to protect livestock. Currently the northernmost breeding population of jaguars is struggling to survive approximately 120 miles south of the international boundary, in the foothills of the Sierra Madres in Sonora, Mexico. The Northern Jaguar Project and Naturalia, on the Northern Jaguar Reserve, protect 115,000 acres in this area. Individual jaguars roaming the Southwest including one spotted for the first time in Arizona in recent weeks come from this area since extirpation of the last breeding population in the United States in the 1960s. This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released for public comment a draft recovery plan for the jaguar. Extending the border wall from its present length of about 300 miles would halt jaguar recovery in our country and could doom jaguars in Mexico as well, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, which, along with the Northern Jaguar Project, nominated the jaguar to be part of todays report. To find mates theyre not related to, jaguars must be allowed to once again expand into historic habitats in the United States. The report urges the president-elect to abandon plans to further wall off the southern border and instead make existing barriers more wildlife friendly. In Sonora, the Northern Jaguar Project has had considerable success conserving jaguars during the last decade through an innovative program in which ranchers surrounding the reserve agree to protect carnivores and other wildlife, said Diana Hadley of the Northern Jaguar Project. During the past 12 years, 50 individual jaguars have been captured on automatic cameras, indicating that thoughtful, collaborative conservation measures can make a real difference. Other species highlighted in todays report include the Joshua tree, elkhorn coral, greater sage grouse, yellow-faced bee, Snake River chinook salmon and African elephants each of whose fates will be greatly influenced by actions taken in the new administration. Our native fish, plants and wildlife are critically valuable and part of the legacy we leave for future generations of Americans, said Leda Huta, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. We hope the next administration takes seriously its responsibility to protect endangered species and habitat. The remaining species featured in the report are the bald cypress tree, wolf and vaquita, a small Mexican porpoise on the brink of extinction. Endangered Species Coalition member groups nominated wildlife species for the report. A committee of distinguished scientists reviewed the nominations and decided which species should be included in the final report. The full report, along with links to photos and additional species information can be viewed and downloaded from the website, http://removingthewallstorecovery.org. For Immediate Release, December 21, 2016 Contact: Collette Adkins, Center for Biological Diversity, (651) 955-3821, cadkins@biologicaldiversity.org Bethany Cotton, WildEarth Guardians, (406) 414-7227, bcotton@wildearthguardians.org Rachel Querry, The Humane Society of the United States, (301) 258-8255, rquerry@humanesociety.org Lawsuit Launched to Save Lynx, Wolves, Condors, Other Endangered Animals From Deadly Pesticides Used to Kill Predators WASHINGTON Conservation and animal-welfare groups today filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect imperiled mammals and birds from two deadly pesticides used to kill coyotes and other predators. The suit seeks common-sense mitigation measures to prevent exposure of the poisons to nontarget predatory and scavenging animals, including grizzly bears, Canada lynx, wolves and California condors. We hope our lawsuit spurs reform of these barbaric tactics used to poison wildlife, said Collette Adkins, an attorney and biologist at the Center. These dangerous pesticides need to be banned, but until then, they shouldnt be used where they risk killing wolves and other endangered wildlife. The EPA has registered the pesticides at issue sodium cyanide and Compound 1080 for use by Wildlife Services, the predator-control arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as by state predator-control agencies in South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and Texas. M-44 devices propel lethal doses of sodium cyanide into the mouths of animals lured by bait, while Compound 1080 is used in livestock protection collars strapped onto the necks of sheep and goats that often graze on public lands. The collars contain bladders filled with liquid poison intended to kill coyotes. These indiscriminate poisons pose enormous risks to native wildlife, domestic dogs and all of us who use our public lands, said Bethany Cotton, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. It is long past time that we end both the misguided scapegoating of carnivores and the use of these deadly poisons. These pesticides pose the highest risk for endangered wildlife capable of triggering the devices, such as grizzly bears and wolves. Secondary exposure through Compound 1080-poisoned carcasses can also kill imperiled scavengers like California condors, bald eagles and spotted owls. According to data compiled by Wildlife Services, M-44 devices last year killed 13,860 native animals, mostly coyotes and foxes. In 2015 the devices poisoned nearly 385 nontarget animals, including a wolf, opossums, raccoons, skunks and family pets. The EPA considers both of these toxicants Category 1 poisons the most deadly. The use of these horrific, indiscriminate pesticides by taxpayer-funded federal and state agencies must end immediately, said Anna Frostic, senior wildlife attorney at The Humane Society of the United States. These agencies cannot prioritize the mass slaughter of wildlife ahead of their legal obligation to protect endangered species as theyve done here. Impacts of these pesticides on endangered wildlife have not been analyzed since the Service prepared a biological opinion in 1993. The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians, The Humane Society of the United States and the Fund for Animals, should spur the Service to recommend additional measures to protect endangered wildlife, such as restricting use of the pesticides where the endangered animals live. It can be tough to be a vegetarian. You have to work harder than everyone else to make sure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, when its time to take a Ex-Apple CEO, John Sculley, recently warned finance companies that they should plan for radical change or prepare for obsolescence. He went on to say that financial incumbents were "...in a race for their lives - and that the race was a sprint." If you think this sounds like fighting talk, you would be right, and the revolution is threatening more than just the finance sector. The move towards digital has been on the agenda of the big consulting firms for years now. But many business leaders still seem to think of digitalisation simply in terms of moving business processes into the cloud and converting material from analogue to digital. Starting with semantics Perhaps starting with semantics is important if we want to better understand both the challenge and the opportunity. Digitising something would be transforming traditionally analogue material into a binary representation to produce the same outcome. Wikipedia concisely defines it: Strictly speaking, digitising simply means the conversion of analogue source material into a numerical format. Digitalisation, meanwhile, is all about the benefits of shifting to a digital mindset. Gartner describes it as: The use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business. True digitalisation means understanding how your customers are engaging in a digital world and then shifting your own processes to meet them on the platforms they are using and through the mediums on which they are engaging.The mobile phone serves as one of the best examples of this evolution. Ignoring your biggest market is suicide Earlier this year, a Bank of America survey showed that almost 40% of millennials (age 18 to 34) engaged more with their smartphones than they did with their significant others, parents, friends, co-workers and even children. Just two months before these survey results were released, the US census showed that millennials are now the largest living population group in the country, surpassing baby boomers (ages 51 to 69). To ignore the needs of your biggest market would be business suicide. In South Africa, our younger generation (ages 15 to 34 according Stats SA) make up 36% of our population. And, while the high cost of data may limit the amount of time spent on their phones, the propensity to use messaging platforms as their communication method of choice is just as high. What we have is a failure to communicate Consumers have become spoiled; we are used to being able to immediately access information on the fly and in real-time. We are not used to waiting to have our problems solved. We have become accustomed to our digital lives where we can book our travel, pay our accounts, and communicate with our family in distant lands immediately, and via our phones. More importantly, we absolutely hate the endless loop of soul-destroying frustration when dealing with call centres and clumsy IVR systems. And yet, when it comes to many big businesses, we are forced into engagements that reduce us to a number in a queue, as we are funnelled through an impersonal system with amnesia hardcoded into its core. In far too many enterprise call centres, customers are expected to verify details and authenticate themselves on multiple occasions as they are passed from agent to agent, waiting for someone to solve their problem or answer their query. Its as if businesses are trying to digitise their consumers! Customer intelligence consulting firm, Walker, believes that by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Research company, McKinsey, meanwhile has said that customers who are used to operating in a digital world are demanding a radical overhaul of business processes. Intuitive interfaces, around-the-clock availability, real-time fulfillment, personalised treatment, global consistency, and zero errors this is the world to which customers have become increasingly accustomed Companies hoping to remain relevant in a digital world while still using traditional channels will have to resource their customer service divisions to handle the deluge of digital queries. This is neither practical nor possible. The sheer volume of queries, requests and comments will require a front-office which meets the customer of the platform of their choosing. The days of forcing customers to use specific platforms is simply bad business practice. Bridging the gap Companies which are looking to tap into the opportunities of digitalisation should start by understanding their customers better. A thorough analysis of their customer, including how they interact, where they can be found, and how they want to be engaged with should be conducted a digital gap analysis is required. In keeping with the true meaning of the word "digitalisation", companies should be seizing the opportunity to change their processes. They should look carefully at their workflows and, if necessary overhaul them. More often than not it is the operational processes and the flow of data which, if not shifted to suit the consumer, will lead to poor customer experience. Digitalisation offers companies the opportunity to truly delight their customers and it doesnt require the daunting experience of ripping and replacing systems, or sinking capex into expensive proprietary builds. Far too often companies will decide, or be advised, that to engage with a digital consumer requires a custom-built app. Building a user experience True customer service is about building a user experience. This will not only allow your company to better engage with your end-user, but also nurture relationships with them which will translate into brand loyalty. Whats more, by creating a digital front office, you can drive efficiencies into your business which will significantly boost your sustainability and your bottom line. John Sculley was not being unduly dramatic when he issued his warning. The fight for survival in a digital world will be won by companies who understand what their customers want and who are smart enough give it to them via the device they are most connected to their phones. Those who dont will simply become collateral damage in the digital revolution. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said new whistle-blower "evidence" that emerged on Tuesday bolsters its "fraud, racketeering, corruption and abuse of power" case against the SABC. The activist group said it had laid charges against controversial executive Hlaudi Motsoeneng, members of the SABC board and executive managers in Brixton last Thursday. Motsoeneng. Image via SA Breaking News One of the matters "being procurement irregularities and a contract with Vision View Production CC, pertaining to the upgrading of two television studios," Outa said in a statement. It was reported that an initial tender process for the refurbishment was allegedly nixed by Motsoeneng, and the tender worth more than R40m was awarded to Vision View. Staff who objected to the process were reportedly suspended. "The information we received prior to our charges laid last week was substantive and sufficient for the case to be opened. However, today's input from the whistle-blower - who shared his input with many organisations - provides additional information which we will use to supplement last week's charges," Outa internal legal counsel Lerissa Govender said. "We will ensure that Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng and others responsible will be held accountable for the contract in favour of Vision View Productions, as this was a gross contravention of due process and done without the requisite authorisation." The tender process can be suspended only by the board. Source: BDpro The Board of directors of AFP, a global news agency, has just met to adopt the budget and approve the revitalisation and business development plan for 2017-2021. The chairman and CEO Emmanuel Hoog presented a business development plan focusing on two priorities: video and corporate. AFP will also build up its range of live products in line with its objective of being, now more than ever, the real time news agency. Business prospects indicate a nearly 1% increase of the agencys revenues over 2016 forecasts (excluding resources from the French government), which represents a return to 2015 levels, despite the generally unfavourable economic context. Carline Bon-Ami via 123RF This performance is made possible by video, which is continuing its trajectory of 17% annual growth begun in 2010, as well as by corporate sales (including sport), which the Agency expects to grow by 15% in 2017. At the same time, the French government has increased AFPs subsidy by 5m over the amount granted in the 2016 Finance Act. The government thus reaffirms its support for AFP in 2017 and confirms the strategic and priority character of the missions of general interest devolved upon AFP, while complying with European regulations. With a one percent rise, operating costs will remain very contained. Allocation of resources will prioritise the strategic development initiatives, above all video and sport. AFP will also pursue its efforts on the management side, reorganising the information systems, sales, administrative and financial departments to strengthen its management and increase efficiency. The 2017 budget presents a forecast operating margin of 15.1m and a balanced net result. In 2017, this budget will allow AFP to: Develop worldwide IP (internet) video transmission and improve satellite coverage Complete the IRIS programme, the agencys multimedia production and editing tool Set up a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool to give impetus to the 2017-2021 Revitalisation and Business Development Plan Business development plan objectives The growth of the agencys revenues will be based on the implementation of a business development plan, whose broad outlines were unanimously approved by the board of directors. This plans five objectives are to: JD Group, the home of stores such as Incredible Connection and Russels, has been able to create a virtual store with relatively less overhead costs compared to a traditional retail store, through the launch of offline-to-online (O2O) commerce in South Africa. In June 2016, WeChat introduced South African consumers to the first O2O campaign. Launched in partnership with Stuff Magazine and Incredible Connection, the campaign allowed readers to buy goods straight from the magazine pages and have the items delivered to their doorstep. This campaign yielded incredible results and opened up new opportunities for O2O mCommerce in the country. According to JD Group strategic projects executive, Christo Viljoen, over 2 000 tech products were sold. Items such as Xiaomi cellphones and Apple MacBook sold out in less than five days of the magazine hitting the shelf. In the past 10 years, retail has transformed from analogue to digital. At JD Group, we have embraced it and have used it to create a seamless shopping experience. The power of O2O commerce is how it has changed the customer journey for the better. This was evident with the high-volume of products sold through the magazine. It was clear our customers loved the experience, Viljoen adds. The launch of WeChat Wallet has made it easier for the young and unbanked to transact online. Customers do not need a chip and pin enabled card to use WeChat Wallet. Users can visit their nearest Pick n Pay and Boxer EasyPay pay point to load their WeChat Wallets with money to transact. The success of the O2O campaign is largely due to the ability of O2O to target audiences and close the gap between the offline discovery of products and online commerce. Through the campaign, we were able to sell tech products straight from a magazine that reaches and speaks to tech enthusiasts. We are making every day easier for our customers and our partners, says WeChat Africa CEO, Brett Loubser. Due to the success of the campaign, WeChat, along with Incredible Connection and Stuff Magazine, has extended the campaign for three more months. As one of South Africas leading IT retailers, Incredible Connection is proud to be part of launching this new transactional platform and experience to the South African consumer. We have seen an amazing reaction from consumers with these offers. Customers have been willing and open to accept and transact with this new type of commerce, says Incredible Connection CEO, Stefan Marnewick. In the January 2017 issue of Stuff Magazine, high-end tech products including the DJI Phantom 4 Drone, Apple MacBook Air 13" 128 GB and Tom Tom Spark 3 Cardio and Music GPS Fitness watch will be sold at greatly reduced prices. Learn more about the campaign in this Stuff Magazine case study: The benefits of online shopping far outweigh conventional shopping methods. However, there are very real security threats associated with online shopping. Businesses and consumers must pay attention to security alerts, with regards to cyber security. Cyber security is the frame of technologies, designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorised access, says Damian Michael, MD at iNNOVO Networks. As more businesses and consumers use the internet to purchase goods, cyber criminals are finding new ways to break into businesses, by bypassing their firewalls. These include easy phishing attacks, where cyber thieves will blast realistic-looking spam emails to business employees pretending to be banks or other legal institutions. Businesses are often poorly prepared to defend themselves against a cyber-attack. The best way to approach your summer holidays is with a clear mind entering the upcoming holiday season with the peace of mind, knowing that your business and business data is safe and secure and can be found (by only you) where you left it when arriving back in the New Year. Both businesses and consumers need to know how to protect their organisations from cyber threats in the digital age. He has the following tips. Protect your network and back up your data Make sure that your Internet connection is secured with a firewall, router and password. If you have clients or guests that may want to use your wireless connection, create a second password for those users. You do not want anyone who is not authorised to have the same access as you and your employees. Prepare your employees Creating strong policies and best practices for employees is going to be one of the most important lines of defence for your networks security. Provide education and support for your employees on ongoing threats so they can help protect your business against potential risks. Test your security Arranging for a professional assessment of your security can be a very simple way to identify the areas where you need to improve. Such an assessment will involve an expert firm performing various forms of tests to confirm your level of exposure and may include automated probing of your online connections, simulated social engineering attacks and other strategies. Encrypt your data The information stored on your systems, including local or cloud storage, can be encrypted so that only authorised parties can read it. This approach in itself does not prevent the information being intercepted, but the information will be scrambled and unreadable without the required decryption keys, similar to a password. For more information, go to www.innovonet.co.za. The world's largest soft-drink maker, Coca-Cola, is to buy multinational beverage and brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev's 54.5% stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), including the South African operation, for $3.15bn, AB InBev announced on Wednesday. The deal includes CCBAs operations in Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ghana, Mayotte and Comoros. In addition, the companies had reached an agreement for Coca-Cola to buy AB InBevs interest in bottling operations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, El Salvador and Honduras for an undisclosed amount, AB InBev said in a statement. Coca-Cola planned to hold all the territories temporarily until they could be refranchised to other partners, the company said. It said the transactions were subject to the relevant regulatory and minority approvals and were expected to close by the end of 2017. When power goes out in the rural town of Soroti in eastern Uganda, store manager Hussein Samsudin can only hope it won't go on so long it spoils his fresh goods. Source: Eren Renewable Energy Another shop owner, Richard Otekat, has to pay a neighbour hourly to use his generator during blackouts as he can't afford to buy one himself, while others simply go without. However residents of the town, surrounded by thatched huts, rivers and grasslands, hope a new solar plant will bring an end to their electricity woes. Seeking new energy sources The $19m, 33-acre solar plant -- the first of its kind in East Africa -- can produce 10MW of power that is fed into Uganda's national power grid. The project is crucial as Uganda seeks new ways to bring electricity to the 80% of its 40 million-strong population that does not have access to power. "We are an agricultural economy, the majority live in rural areas," said Ziria Tibalwa Waako, acting head of the national electricity regulator, Uganda Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA). She said the main source of energy available to most Ugandans is firewood, while others use charcoal and gas, as electricity is just too expensive at around 15 US cents a unit. It is hoped the introduction of power from the solar plant into the national electricity grid -- fed by hydro power and independently run diesel generators -- will bring the price down. "Power is costly. It eats into our profit margin," Otekat said. "Unfortunately when power is not there for like six hours that is an automatic loss we are expecting," said fellow shop manager Samsudin, tired of melting ice-cream and meat going off. Where the sun is brighter "The plant will provide clean, low-carbon, sustainable electricity to 40,000 homes, schools and businesses in the area," said Christophe Fleurence, vice president of Eren Renewable Energy, one of two private companies operating the plant, funded by EU partners. He said that Soroti, some 300km from Kampala, was "where the sun is brighter than anywhere in Uganda." Uganda has one of the lowest electrification rates in Africa, according to Climatescope, the clean energy country competitiveness index. While the solar plant could ensure businessmen like Samsudin and Otekat have a more steady power supply, those who aren't yet connected to the national grid or cannot afford electricity at all, are unlikely to benefit soon. And the wait for electricity can prove dangerous. "People use firewood to light their houses because kerosene is very expensive to some households. We had cases of people's homes burnt especially as they slept or when left unattended to," said local official Edward Esegu. Cheapest form of new electricity Many African nations, and developing nations elsewhere in the world, are taking the lead in renewable energies by turning to solar as a first step in their power arsenal. Climatescope said that clean energy investment had doubled from 2014 to 2015 to reach $5,2bn in the 58 emerging markets it surveys. And Bloomberg New Energy Finance released data last week showing that solar had surpassed wind in becoming the cheapest form of new electricity. Aside from Uganda, Senegal, Mauritania, Rwanda and Kenya are among the sub-Saharan African nations investing in large-scale solar projects. Kenya is building a 55MW solar plant and Rwanda is working on an 8,5MW solar plant. Investing in mini grids Meanwhile, consumers who don't want to wait for the government to provide them with energy often buy small solar panels to power their own homes and businesses. "People walked two or more kilometres to charge phones at a fee but slowly some have bought smaller solar panels," said Esegu. While Uganda is hoping to triple its generation capacity in the next three years, switching on two other solar plants, Waako said it is smaller, mini-grids that are more affordable to power up the most far-flung villages. "We recognise that the extension of the grid to the rural poor is not financially viable because of the sparse nature of our population," she said. Robert Otala, 50, gave up some of his land for the solar plant, and now lives 300 metres from the shiny panels soaking up the sun. "It is good. It has come to develop the area," he said. However he is one of several who will be unable to access the power from the plant, as he is not connected to the national electricity grid. Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa has approved the rezoning of the Tsitsikamma Marine Protected Area (MPA) to allow limited fishing by members of local communities. The Tsitsikamma National Park Marine Protected Area Declaration Notice was published in Government Gazette 40510 while the regulations were published in Government Gazette 40511 on Monday, 19 December. The publications were made in terms of section 22A of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003. The regulations grant permission for local communities to fish 20% of the coastline in three areas of the MPA. The rezoning follows an extensive public participation process, including extended engagements with local communities, the Department of Environmental Affairs said. The public participation process included consideration of the socio-economic circumstances of the area concerned as well as the biological resources of the area. The objectives of the rezoning include, inter alia, marine biodiversity conservation and direct (reasonable access to the MPA and its biological resources) and indirect (socio-economic opportunities, such as, local jobs and tourism development) community benefits. Whilst no-take MPAs are effective in achieving protection of marine resources and biodiversity, by definition they exclude reasonable access for the local communities to marine resources, the department said. Members of the local communities around the Tsitsikamma Marine Protected Area have been excluded from fishing in the protected area to increasing degrees since 1975. The regulations seek to provide equitable access to marine resources for local communities. Africa's skills revolution has put more young people in institutions of higher education, which will translate into a workforce that will grow and modernise the continental economy. The skills revolution means that our young people should be educated and skilled in science, technology engineering and maths Todays economy needs these skills. We should not deny education to any child at any level because of poverty, African Union Commission chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said on Monday. She was speaking at the State of the Continent Address in Durban. The address comes only weeks before she bows out as chair of the AU commission after four years at the helm. Dlamini Zuma chose not to seek a second term, which means AU member states have to choose her replacement when they sit for their January summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dlamini Zuma said the skills revolution will, however, only succeed through investment in education targeting these scarce skills. She singled out Ethiopia as one of the countries on the continent that is increasing its tertiary education investment by focusing 70% of its efforts on science, mathematics and engineering. She called on other countries on the continent to follow the Ethiopian example of investing in education to reverse the trend of poor access to higher education. The AU, Dlamini Zuma said, has started harmonising the education sector across the continent, with 200 universities participating. Nurturing agriculture The Commissioner called on countries to take charge of their own resources and use them to industrialise their economies. She said the AU has put in place a programme to encourage more young people to study agriculture. Taking charge of agriculture would also help address the disparity between rich and poor Africans and will make countries self-reliant. Africa has an abundance of mineral resources, its people land, oil and gas, and a diverse ecosystem Yet, the paradox is that Africans are poor. If we look at the 48 least developed countries of the world, 34 are on the African continent, she said, adding that it was for this reason that the AU introduced Agenda 2063. Agenda 2063 Introduced in 2014, Agenda 2063 is a roadmap for Africas socio-economic framework that is meant to eradicate poverty, deliver sustainable development, and promote continent-wide integration and political unity based on the ideas of Pan-Africanism. The plan also aspires to deliver a democratic and just Africa, where citizens of the continent enjoy peace and security. It promises to have dialogue-centred conflict prevention and resolution, with an ambitious pledge of silencing all guns by 2020. Agenda 2063 has already been integrated into over 25 member states national development plans. Dlamini Zuma said now is the time that Africa needs to unite more than before. Its even more important now to integrate. With globalisation and technology, [the world has become] a global village. It has now become much smaller. The economic shocks and booms affects us all. Diseases such as Aids, Ebola, Zika virus know no borders. The imperative for integration is even more [urgent] so that we can address these challenges together. Continental integration She encouraged countries to allow for free movement of African citizens on the continent, saying it would be more advantageous. We are developing a comprehensive protocol of free movement and we are hoping it will be signed by 2018, with the hope that more countries will open their borders. Currently, the AU has in place the 30-day visa offered by African States to Africans. The AU, Dlamini Zuma said, will also continue to lead the integration process, with the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as the main agents for the implementation of regional agreements. Already three RECs formed an integrated market covering 26 countries in eastern and southern Africa through the Tripartite Free Trade Area. The Tripartite Free Trade Area is formed by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It is expected to increase intra-regional trade and deepen integration through improved investment flows and enhanced competition. On peace and security, Dlamini Zuma said the continent is on track to silencing the guns by 2020, although there are still challenges in countries like Central African Republic, DRC and South Sudan, among others. The AU will continue to play a key role part in these countries to bring about peace. Meanwhile, Dlamini Zuma was bestowed a Humanitarian Award for Leadership for her work by Communications Minister Faith Muthambi. Standard Bank recently launched The Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation in recognition of the relatively young South African population getting ready to enter the workforce. Arguably, the most powerful economic facilitator in its history, if properly supported and nurtured, this valuable demographic could move the South African economy forward into prosperity. Born of the community component of Tutuwa, the non-profit Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation will assist in driving positive youth development in South Africa by focusing on three main theme areas. They are: Early childhood development; Contributing towards a more effective schooling system; and Driving work opportunities for the youth. The above areas, according to newly appointed CEO of The Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation, Zanele Twala, deal with the most urgent needs in the South African economy and society. The role that The Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation seeks to play is that of a partner to other non-profit organisations operating in the target areas, says Twala. We plan to fund interventions that have been proven to work, leverage current and emerging resources, as well as promote the formation and coordination of knowledge-sharing and networks. This will ensure that existing interventions are more effective, Twala continues. Like most countries in Africa, we are experiencing a youth bulge; the phenomenon of a high number of young people compared to a countrys ageing population, says Twala. Ensuring sustainability To ensure sustainable success, the foundation is guided by an experienced team of businessmen and women, all of whom have experience in finance, law or philanthropy. In addition to Twala, the team includes former deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Johannesburg, Mpho Letlape as chairperson of The Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation; CEO of Standard Bank Group Limited, Sim Tshabalala; former financial director of Standard Bank Group Limited, Simon Ridley; chair of the Independent Philanthropy Association of South Africa, Sarah Rennie; and CEO and founder of Heritage Capital, Philile Maphumulo. The Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation was created for our youth, for their future, and for the future of South Africa. By collaborating and partnering with dedicated individuals and organisations, we will maximise the economic and social impact of our countrys youthful population to the benefit of all, says Twala. The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) plans to achieve a "balanced funding portfolio with fuel tax-based revenue and toll income", its newly appointed chairperson Skhumbuzo Macozoma said this week. The new inclusive approach was welcomed by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), which has consistently argued that general taxation and, in particular, the fuel levy, was the best way to fund the upgrade of urban freeways. Macozoma said Sanral would explore "progressive strategies to pursue partnerships with the private sector and civil society to ensure successful national road infrastructure development in the medium to long term." Outa said this was a "welcome departure" from the adversarial approach of former Sanral CEO Nazir Alli. Macozoma said Sanral would engage with provincial and municipal governments to ensure that road infrastructure planning was integrated and that Sanral's programmes contributed to regional and local social and economic development. Partnerships with the private sector and civil society would bring certainty with regard to Sanral's borrowing plans and its capital project pipeline, he said. He warned that deferred investment in maintenance and new roads construction projects would raise costs exponentially in future - the maintenance backlog alone already stands at R197bn, he said. Source: BDpro NEW DELHI: Cyrus Mistry, the ousted former chairman of Indian conglomerate Tata, took his battle against former employer Tata Sons to court Tuesday, one of his spokesmen said. Mistry filed a suit against Tata Sons in the National Company Law Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that hears corporate grievances, a day after he resigned from all of the Tata Group's listed companies. The allegations listed in his petition include the oppression of minority shareholders and mismanagement of the company, Adnan Syed, a spokesman for Mistry, told AFP. Tata said in a statement it was in consultation with its lawyers and would contest the allegations. The latest move comes after Mistry said Monday that he had "decided to shift this campaign to a larger platform" as he resigned from the boards of six publicly listed companies, including car maker Tata Motors and steel giant Tata Steel. Mistry, 50, has been engaged in a bitter public battle with company patriarch Ratan Tata since he was sacked in October as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of India's most famous family conglomerate - the $103 billion steel-to-salt Tata Group. The move, which shocked India's business world, saw 78-year-old Tata, who led the group for more than two decades, reassert his authority over the sprawling conglomerate, including taking interim charge until a successor is found. The pair have traded daily ugly barbs since Mistry's ouster, plunging the group into bitter infighting with directors firmly placed in either camp. Mistry was last week stripped of his directorships of IT giant Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Industries and Tata Teleservices. He was due to be booted off the boards of Indian Hotels Ltd, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals this week before he resigned. Source: AFP South Africa has responded to New Zealand's new visa requirements for its citizens by imposing the same on Kiwi visitors. The tit-for-tat decision, announced by home affairs minister, Malusi Gigaba, was largely regarded as a "knee-jerk reaction" by some industry players. But Gigaba was adamant South Africa had made the right decision, saying the country would continue to apply both the principles of reciprocity and national interest in determining the extent it offered concessions to citizens of countries that impose visa requirements. New Zealand citizens visiting SA will be required to apply for a visa as of January 16 next year. The New Zealand government introduced visa requirements on 21 November, citing the number of SA visitors who overstayed the three-month visa waiver visit and fraudulent documentation. It also cited the number using the waiver to visit family or friends rather than for business or tourism purposes. Immigration New Zealand GM, Peter Elms said at the time the changes would bring requirements in line with Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. Visa fees will remain low, while all other decisions on reciprocal visa requirements would be made considering broader national interests, Gigaba said. "We have further noted that in recent times, a number of countries have imposed visa restrictions on South African passport holders. And in the past, we have not reciprocated due to reasons including tourism considerations." For example, SA had not imposed visa restrictions on UK nationals after that country ended its dispensation for South African nationals in 2009. Gigaba said that blanket restrictions were not imposed due to high tourist numbers from the UK. According to Statistics SA in 2015 there were 19,436 tourists from New Zealand, out of a total of 2,9moverseas visitors. In the same year, Statistics New Zealand reported 17,008 visitors from SA - out of a total 448,800 international visitors. Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg will play host to a dedicated Internet of Things conference from 29 to 30 March 2017. IoT Forum Africa 2017 will bring together senior IT executives, service providers, developers and CxOs from diverse fields, with representation from healthcare, manufacturing, energy, utilities, rail, transport and retail to name a few. Ferli Achirulli via 123RF "The Internet of Things is the next big wave in technology, with major repercussions for Africans. By connecting everyday devices to the internet, the Internet of Things opens up a host of new opportunities and challenges for companies, governments and consumers. The IoT has the potential to solve many of the issues the African continent is currently facing," said the organisers in a press release. Many African countries have already embarked on the IoT journey. Healthcare providers in Ethiopia are monitoring the health status of outpatients to better adjust treatment. Intelligent traffic lights in Nairobi are helping ease traffic congestion. Utility providers in South Africa are using load-limiting smart meters that can warn residents ahead of imminent controlled outages. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), satellite imagery, DNA analysis and apps are being used as part of conservation efforts by predicting poaching attempts and monitoring wildlife. "The potential is limitless. As technology advances and encroaches upon most peoples day-to-day lives in some shape or form, people can expect more IoT enabled solutions that address the unique issues facing Africa." Focus areas Keynotes and interactive sessions will focus on topics such as: The IoT revolution: From things to business outcomes Deploying an IoT solution. A strategic overview for decision makers Creating a sustainable framework for IoT Integration Creating value from connecting things and assessing the commercial feasibility and monetisation of IoT IoT, Big Data and the city: A standards perspective Reinventing IT security to support IoT How will IoT remake your industry? In what ways can IoT improve efficiency, enable innovation and drive real business transformation? Speakers have been confirmed from Dangote Industries Limited, Woolworths, Aon South Africa, FNB Fiduciary, Discovery Limited, Barclays Africa Group, FastNet, Kenya Bankers Association and McAfee amongst others. For more information about this conference, visit: www.iotforumafrica.com. HELSINKI, FINLAND: Nokia announced on Wednesday, 22 December 2016, it is suing Apple in German and US courts for patent infringement, claiming the US tech giant was using Nokia technology in "many" products without paying for it. Hermann via Pixabay Finnish Nokia, once the world's top mobile phone maker, said the two companies had signed a licensing agreement in 2011, and since then "Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products." "After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights," Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Nokia's patent business, said in a statement. The complaints, filed in three German cities and a district court in Texas, concern 32 patents for innovations related to displays, user interface, software, antennae, chipsets and video coding. Nokia said it was preparing further legal action elsewhere. Nokia was the world's leading mobile phone maker from 1998 until 2011 when it bet on Microsoft's Windows mobile platform, which proved to be a flop. Analysts say the company failed to grasp the growing importance of smartphone apps compared to hardware. It sold its unprofitable handset unit in 2014 for some $7.2 billion to Microsoft, which dropped the Nokia name from its Lumia smartphone handsets. Meanwhile Nokia has concentrated on developing its mobile network equipment business by acquiring its French-American rival Alcatel-Lucent. Including its 2013 full acquisition of joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia said the three companies united represent more than 115 billion euros of R&D investment, with a massive portfolio of tens of thousands of patents. The 2011 licensing deal followed years of clashes with Apple, which has also sparred with main rival Samsung over patent claims. At the time, Apple cut the deal to settle 46 separate complaints Nokia had lodged against it for violation of intellectual property. Source: AFP Snack times are my best times - those informal get togethers that end up being the best memories. Snack times can either be stressful and expensive or, with a little bit of clever shopping and cupboard stocking, most enjoyable. I thought it would be a good idea to give you a peep into my festive stock cupboard. I intend to have a relaxing, stress-free holiday and I want you to enjoy the same. Here is a list of things I stock up with. I know it will help you. This festive season I am stocking up on Bedouin Cream Cheese Labneh. If you stay in the Western Cape or are holidaying in the Western Cape, you should do the same. It can transform Snack Times into feasts. Bedouin products are now available at all Checkers stores in the Western Cape. If you cannot get your hands on labneh, you can replace it with feta cheese. I used phyllo pastry for both these snacks and it cannot be easier. Labneh Triangles Makes 18 Ingredients 6 sheets phyllo pastry 45 ml butter melted 1 jar Bedouin Cream Cheese Labneh I used garlic flavor 125 g sundried tomato pesto black or white sesame seeds Method Lay one sheet of phyllo pastry on a work surface, paint with melted butter and place another sheet on top. Make two more two-layered sheets. Now cut each two layers in six even strips, cutting on the long side. So you will have 18 even strips. Mix the labneh and sundried tomato pesto in a small bowl. Place a teaspoon of the labneh filling in one corner and fold the corner over to form a triangle. Keep folding as if you are folding a samoosa. Place on a baking sheet, freeze and keep until needed. When you are ready to bake the pastry triangles, preheat the oven to 180 C. Place the triangles on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Scatter a few sesame seeds over the top. www.my-easy-cooking.com Volkswagen officially inaugurated its production facility in Kenya yesterday, forging ahead with the regionalisation of its global automobile business. Together with the President of Kenya, H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, Dr Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, was present when the first locally produced Polo Vivo rolled off the production line. Kenya president Uhuru Kenyatta and Dr Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, preparing to drive the first Polo Vivo built in Kenya off the assembly line. With the complete knock-down (CKD) production of the car model in the sub-Saharan region, Volkswagen says it is stepping up its commitment to Africa. "This is a key step in the development of new opportunity markets with the right products, local partners and training in the region." African strategy At the inauguration, Diess underlined Kenyas key role within the Volkswagen brands Africa strategy: Volkswagen is strengthening the production region of Africa and providing additional impetus for the further regionalisation of the brand as a reliable and responsible partner. This is symbolised by the first Polo Vivo produced a car from Africa for Africa. Diess also said: Here in Kenya, we will be producing cars that bear comparison with European quality standards. This is why we are opting for training and local skills in automobile production. In addition to vehicle production, Volkswagen will be offering Kenyan customers a comprehensive package including a manufacturers guarantee as well as a maintenance and service plan. Financing schemes will be developed together with local banks in order to allow individual mobility and to provide Volkswagen with the impetus it needs for its re-entry to the Kenyan market. President Kenyatta said: A few months ago, this was only a dream. Now Volkswagens investment in Kenya has become reality. This is further proof of my governments determination to strengthen the production location of Nairobi and to forge ahead with the industrialisation of the nation. The joint project implemented together with DT Dobie in Thika near to the Kenyan capital Nairobi is Volkswagens third production plant in Africa, together with one plant in South Africa and one in Nigeria. In the initial phase, annual production of up to 1,000 vehicles is planned. In the long term, it will be possible to produce up to 5,000 units per year at the plant of Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM). The assembly facility is flexibly designed and offers the possibility of investigating the production of further models in the event of positive developments in the new car market. In addition, the Volkswagen Group recently announced plans to start vehicle production in Algeria. Sustainable training For the start of production at Thika, the employees are being trained by Volkswagen Group South Africa to ensure that all vehicles have constant high quality levels. Volkswagen is also investigating possible approaches for the establishment of a sustainable, practically oriented training initiative. Apart from school or academic training, young people are also to receive practical training in order to improve their employment prospects in the region as a whole. According to the carmaker, Kenya is an opportunity market in Africa. The country has an outstanding position within the region of East Africa and has the most powerful economy in the East African Community (EAC) with a GDP of about $63 billion. In addition, Kenya is a key transit country for trade throughout East Africa. The good economic relations between Kenya and Germany are also being continuously and strategically expanded by the governments concerned. This is not the manufacturer's first market entry into Kenya; Volkswagen already assembled the Beetle in the country in the 1960s. The brand is now returning to Kenya with its first model, the Polo Vivo. LUXEMBOURG: The EU's top court on Wednesday, 21 December 2016, overturned a lower tribunal's decision to quash a European trade deal with Morocco, ruling against a group seeking independence for the Western Sahara. Morocco suspended links with Brussels early this year after the General Court of the EU, the bloc's second highest court, annulled the deal on the grounds that it illegally applied to the Western Sahara, which faces an independence fight from the Front Polisario. But in its verdict, the EU Court of Justice said it "dismisses the action for annulment brought by the Front Polisario against the Council's decision to conclude the Liberalisation Agreement." The European Council, which groups the 28 member states, appears set to go ahead to reinstate the trade agreement, though the court did not explicitly say so. The Polisario Front, a group which seeks independence for the Western Sahara, had challenged the 2012 trade deal. The EU in turn appealed against the decision to overturn the pact. Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony now controlled by Morocco. The top court ruled: "Having concluded that the Liberalisation Agreement does not apply to the territory of Western Sahara, the Court sets aside the judgment of the General Court." Source: AFP Cellphone and smartphone usage is one of South Africa's great development success stories. Mobile telecommunications and smartphones have enabled many African countries to leapfrog into the digital and information age. Before the proliferation of mobile networks, most South Africans did not have internet access, or even telephones. Today, consumers have a choice between five cellphone network operators and access to data has become the norm and is even seen by some as a necessity. Luke Muller South Africa has the highest percentage of smartphone ownership in Africa. In less than two decades, more than a third of adults and almost half of 18 to 34 year olds own one. Mobile data, therefore, is widely used and the adoption of instant messaging services, social media and other mobile apps has increased data demand. The network operators offer a variety of data packages. The price of a 1GB prepaid data bundle ranges from R99 to R160 in South Africa. When comparing the price of data bundles, the differences in services offered should be considered. Some consumers are prepared to pay a premium for better network coverage, data speed, customer care and convenience. Compared to other technologies, smartphone usage is still in relative infancy, but growing as network access increases and real data prices fall. However, some feel that the rate of progress is not rapid enough. A data must fall campaign is calling for lower mobile data pricing as a human right. The #datamustfall advocates have argued that this has been achieved in other countries. The comparisons they proffer are made without references to specific networks or consideration for cross-country differences. When focusing on each country's largest network operator, by popularity, a different picture emerges. In Nigeria, 2,000 Naira (R92) will buy you 3.5 GB of prepaid data on the MTN network. However, 4G coverage is almost completely limited to the centre of three urban areas. Relative prices have also been lowered by massive Nigerian currency depreciation. The Naira has nearly halved in value, relative to the Rand, since early 2016. A comparison with Airtel India shows that 1GB of data will cost 259 Rupees (R55), but again 4G coverage is limited to the centre of large urban areas. Nigerian and Indian network operators also have the benefit of high population densities. Telecom towers are most efficiently grouped in areas with the most potential to reach people. Sprawling populations require more infrastructure to reach the same number of people. Numerous other factors influence data prices, including licences, regulatory fees, taxes, staff wages, and energy costs. What the #datamustfall crusaders may also have overlooked are the countries with similar or higher data costs. A 1GB bundle will cost you 7.50 Pounds (R135) from the EE network in the UK or 10 Euros (R155) from Orange in France. Operators in other countries face different regulatory environments, competition and customer needs. If companies are making high profits, new entrants will be enticed into the market, driving prices down naturally. By imposing price regulations, you immediately remove the ability of companies to compete or release innovative new services at a higher price. There will also be unintended consequences for fixed-line, or wireless broadband providers, who could lose business and market share. Even internet cafes could be put out of business. Operators should be allowed to compete fairly and to continue offering a variety of services at prices they see fit. This ensures that they will continue to evolve, innovate and meet the needs of customers. Over time, the real price of data has been falling, network speeds have increased, and subscriber numbers have rocketed. All of this has been achieved, and will continue to be achieved, without pricing interference by regulators. #dataisfalling The upcoming outdoor agricultural show, Agritech Expo Tanzania, is taking place in Arusha from 26-27 January 2017. jacqueline macou via Pixabay The inaugural farming B2B platform, which already enjoys strong support by the farming community, will not only gather farmers from commercial to emerging and small scale, but also key officials from regional governments, agro associations, NGOs, aid, development and research agencies; agro dealers, traders and retailers; suppliers, consultants and technical experts as well as venture capitalists, investors and bankers. The role of private sector is recognised in the agricultural policy, strategies and programmes, says David Nyange, policy advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Tanzania, a supporting partner of the upcoming expo. As industrialisation is at the top of the current development agenda, the technologies that will be displayed at the expo have potential to play a great role toward the commercialisation of agriculture which is necessary for ensuring sustainable supply of raw materials to the industry. Other host partners for the event are the Agriculture Council of Tanzania (ACT), the Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA), the Southern Agricultural Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) and the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in Arusha. Global farming equipment leader John Deere and its distributor in the country, LonAgro Tanzania, are gold sponsors for the event. Lukas Botha, md, LonAgro Tanzania, says, From land and seed bed preparation, through to crop care and harvesting, the company in Tanzania has the complete solution. The horticultural sector is an awakening giant, says Harald Peeters, MD Tanzania of the vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan Q-Sem, a bronze sponsor at Agritech Expo. Tanzania has plenty of land, enough water and year round sunlight. I am looking forward to an expo which raises the awareness of the government to the fact that the private sector is a partner in development, creating thousands of jobs, educating workers and building the nation. Other agri suppliers that have already confirmed their presence at the event include Afrivet, Ford, CMC Automobiles, Hughes Motors, Maji, HortiPro, Irrico, Rivulis, AMDT, FNB, Lindsay Africa, Balton, Kibo Seed, Neptun Boot and TFSC. Agritech Expo success story The success story of the outdoor agricultural show, Agritech Expo, which is about to expand to Tanzania, started in the Zambian agri-hub of Chisamba three years ago and has been a tremendous boost for that countrys farming sector. The inaugural Agritech Expo Tanzania transitioned from the Agribusiness Congress conference that has taken place in Dar es Salaam for the last three years. Agritech Expo Zambia in 2016 drew a record-breaking attendance of 17,605 visitors and 160 exhibitors over 70,000 sqm of space. The three-day expo also featured two international pavilions, from Germany and Zimbabwe, welcomed two agriculture ministers from Zambia and the Czech Republic and the Zambian President Edgar Lungu officially opened the show. We at John Deere have been attending and exhibiting at this event since its inception three years ago and are pleased to see the progress that the organisers are making in growing this event and reaching all those concerned with agriculture from government to small scale farmers, says Kevin Lesser, global marketing director, John Deere, Kenya. We fully support the direction of growth intended for this event in Tanzania. We look forward to next years event. For more information, go to www.agritechexpotanzania.com. The West African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAIPEC) has announced its steering committee, which will guide the content of over 25 business, technical and special focus sessions, featuring more than 75 prominent industry speakers and representatives from both the regional and international oil and gas community. The conference is hosted by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) and will take place from 21-23 February 2017 at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos. It will promote Nigerian expertise and key projects throughout West Africa, whilst supporting the development of major new collaborations for the benefit of the regions petroleum economy. WAIPEC Steering Committee Steering committee representatives Ademola Adeyemi- Bero, MD, First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company and chairman, Nigerian Independent Oil Companies Austin Ojunekwu Avuru, CEO, SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Bank Anthony Okoroafor, chairman, PETAN Bayo Ojulari, MD, The Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) Emeka Ene, PETAN Geoff Onuoha, vice chairman, PETAN Ahmadu-Kida Musa, deputy MD, Total Exploration and Production Ranti Omole, chairman, conferences committee PETAN Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, executive secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Mazadu Bako, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Okoroafor explains, PETAN has put together a panel of representatives from both public and private exploration, production and services companies their expertise together ensuring a programme that presents an invaluable insight for all stakeholders and participants in WAIPEC 2017. WAIPEC is the only oil and gas event to be held fully in partnership with Nigeria's petroleum industry and the 10 committee members, alongside PETAN, will draw on their global resources to ensure that the event delivers to the needs of all stakeholders in Nigeria and through the region. Running alongside the conference is an exhibition, projected to attract more than 200 exhibiting companies and 6,000 visiting professionals from West Africa, Europe, Americas and Asia. For more information, go to www.WAIPEC.com. Can be used as meeting place for hearings, workshops, discussions, training, workspace, events, presentations, demonstrations, brainstorming, strategic planning space based in Cape Town. Seats 18 comfortably around three round tables of six each. Room configuration is flexible Can hire in additional chairs if required Inclusive of: Air-conditioning, flat screen monitor, data projector available to rent (extra), Wi-Fi, flipchart stands and rails, variable lighting, comfortable, modern, stylish seating, standard set-up: round tables; other options available, i.e. school rooms or board rooms. Standard package - R20 per person -Arrival - morning and afternoon refreshments - includes: water/tea/coffee/biscuits Treat package - R40 to R50 per person -Arrival - morning and afternoon refreshments - includes: water/tea/coffee/juice/biscuits/pastries/muffins/table sweets Lunch package - R25 per person -Standard package plus in-room lunch, including ordering take aways, cutlery, crockery and cleaning (actual take away food order cost not included) Monday to Friday from 07.00 till 18.00 (not open on weekends or evenings) Full day: R1,095. - eight hours Half day: R765 - four hours Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. Supermarket sales of Christmas cakes and puddings and many other festive favourites are currently trailing last years. Britains major supermarkets* sold 20.2m worth of festive cakes and puds in the week ending 17 December, which was 12% lower than in the same period a year ago, according to data from retail analysts IRI. A key reason for this years lower figures was the day Christmas has fallen in the calendar, said IRI strategic insight director Tim Eales, adding he expected strong grocery sales this week. We expect to see a massive week immediately before Christmas, with seven shopping days as against only five last year, since our weeks end on a Saturday, he told British Baker. Cakes and puds have nonetheless been trading considerably behind the overall grocery market, which was down 3.7% year on year to 1,889.6m in the week to 17 December. Sales of goods classified by IRI as Christmas baking products including flour, sugar and sweeteners, and dried fruit are down 6% year on year at 21.8m, while frozen desserts and ice cream are down 7.9% at 16m. Only one of the Christmas product categories monitored by IRI decorations, cards and wrap was performing ahead of last year, with sales up 11.2% year on year to 31.3m. Earlier this month, research and training charity IGD reported results of a study that found more than half of shoppers (53%) had already bought food and grocery items for Christmas by mid-November, and that six in 10 (63%) of those early shoppers expected to use up and replace at least some of the festive items already purchased. IGD also said it expected the UK grocery market to grow 1.2% over the Christmas period. * Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose, Iceland, Marks & Spencer and Ocado. High street sandwich chain Subway has opened its 10th store in an East of England Co-op shop. The new Subway store in Norwich has created 11 new jobs and will offer customers a wide range of subs and flatbreads. Since opening its first non-traditional (off-high street) store in the region, Subway said it has created more than 90 jobs for local residents, with further development planned for next year. Brendan Smith, head of retail operations for the East of England Co-op, said the new store marked a milestone for the Subway brand. It has enabled us to create more jobs for local people, he said. Partnering with the Subway brand has enhanced our offering to customers and we look forward to exploring further opportunities in the New Year. Liam Dalgarno, regional development agent for Subway, worked with the East of England Co-op on the opening. He said: We are very excited to be opening another store in the partnership, which also marks the 750th non-traditional Subway store in the UK and Ireland. This month, Subway appointed Peter Dowding as the country director for the UK and Ireland. A Beatrice man accused of driving drunk down the wrong side of the street, leading to a crash, is facing a driving under the influence charge. Around five witnesses told police that Wayne Hurd, 70, was driving a green Chevrolet S-10 pickup west on Court Street through downtown shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday. The truck was seen jumping the curb in the area between The Rail bar and Gage County Historical Society. After crossing the West Court Street bridge, Hurd drove down the center lane, but didnt turn. Hes accused of eventually crossing into the lane of oncoming traffic, facing two oncoming vehicles. He crossed over into the eastbound lane, said Beatrice Police officer Kris Gill. The eastbound vehicle swerved to the left and the vehicle behind them swerved right into the parking lot. When she swerved to the left it appears that (Hurd) also turned into their passenger side, striking them. The vehicle Hurd crashed into near the intersection of West Court and Bluff streets was a Chevrolet Tracker driven by a Washington, Kans. woman. The woman didnt require a medical transport and Hurd refused medical treatment. He also refused a breath test, and Gill said he was placed under arrest for refusing to submit a preliminary breath test and driving under the influence. Traffic on Court Street was rerouted for around an hour while police and Beatrice Fire and Rescue workers cleaned the scene. Archived Results for Thursday, December 22nd, 2016 Older Page 1 After closed meeting, board says it may reconvene to unveil legal strategy toward measure shifting powers to superintendent of public instruction The State Board of Education on Tuesday convened a special meeting to discuss the constitutionality of House Bill 17 , but members adjourned without saying what they talked about or revealing their next move, if they have one.The substance of the meeting was held in closed session.H.B. 17, which Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law late Monday, presents a constitutional dilemma to the SBE, which is locked in a debate over whether to take legal action against the legislation, which would expand the powers of Mark Johnson, North Carolina's new school superintendent and head of the Department of Public Instruction.While much of the media focus on H.B. 17 has centered around provisions limiting the governor's power to appoint agency officials and trustees to University of North Carolina campuses, the portion of the law dealing with K-12 education may be the most problematic constitutionally The law overhauls the role of the superintendent, stripping the SBE of much authority while expanding Johnson's administrative role. Such legislation is unconstitutional and may merit legal action, SBE members said Dec. 15, after the law was introduced.wrote SBE Chairman Bill Cobey in an official statement.But while Cobey and Collins push for court action, other board members remain divided on the issue. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a member of the SBE, presided over the Senate when the bill passed.The SBE will continue to debate its next move, Cobey wrote in a statement, which it released about an hour after Tuesday's meeting.he said.Cobey declined to speak with the press after the closed meeting. Before exiting the public area to confer in private, members told the press they would return to adjourn in open session, but they ultimately ended the meeting in a separate conference room. They left the door cracked for media members to hear the final proceedings, which were barely audible.Under Article IX of the N.C. Constitution, the SBE's role is toThe superintendent isH.B. 17 shifts many supervisory duties to the superintendent. For example, the legislation allows Johnson to hire and fire SBE staffers. It also allows him to select the SBE's local superintendent and student advisers, a task now left to the governor. Johnson defeated incumbent Democrat June Atkinson in November.A portion of the legislation allows Johnson to appoint the new superintendent of North Carolina's Achievement School District and would not need SBE approval.The bill, introduced in the state House on Dec. 14, has stirred more controversy during an already contentious special session at the state legislature, Cobey told Carolina Journal during a Dec. 15 interview, before the board's closed session meeting.Cobey said.Cobey doesn't disagree with all aspects of the legislation, but he finds much of it problematic, especially a provision that allows the superintendent, rather than the SBE, to select staffers that will serve the state board, he said.Cobey said.North Carolina's constitution says the SBEBut the SBE is on strong footing to challenge the constitutionality of the bill, Cobey said.he concluded.This isn't the first tangle between the SBE and the DPI, says Terry Stoops, director of education studies at the John Locke Foundation. In 1995, the legislature, alongside Gov. Jim Hunt, passed Session Law 1995-72, a bill that enhanced the state board's power over the superintendent and DPI.H.B. 17 essentially reverses course on that legislation, shifting responsibility back to the superintendent, he added.In another legal clash in 2009, Superintendent June Atkinson sued former Gov. Bev Perdue after Perdue tried to transfer administrative power from Atkinson to then-SBE Chairman Bill Harrison, for whom Perdue created the position of chief executive officer of DPI.Harrison held both positions briefly. But Atkinson, with the help of former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, took Perdue to Superior Court and won. Harrison stepped down from the CEO slot while remaining chairman of the state board. The controversy ended when Perdue chose not to appeal the court decision.Orr, who now represents the SBE on the North Carolina Rules Review Commission, declined to comment on H.B. 17, but he told CJ that Atkinson's case does not set precedent for the current situation, as the superintendent was contesting regulatory and statutory authority, not constitutional compliance.Orr said.Ultimately, Stoops said, H.B. 17 digs a tough road for Johnson, who hasn't moved into his DPI office but already has placed himself at odds with the state board.he said. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Concerned by the drug and alcohol use in her community, a 17-year-old Birdtail Sioux First Nation girl offered her community a wake-up call last week. Coming in the form of an open letter she sent to her communitys leadership, the wake-up call accomplished what it set out to do by grabbing everyones attention, Chief Ken Chalmers said, expressing pride for the youths initiative. Chalmers said that he met with the youth prior to her writing the letter, as well as afterward and confirmed that her words were well-received by the community at large. It was a fortuitous time for the letter to have come in, arriving near the one-year anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canadas final report, which was delivered on Dec. 15, 2015. The report and its 94 calls to action proposes a path to help Canadians heal from the multi-generational, residential-school-system impacts a system the report describes as a form of cultural genocide. The youths letter highlights many of the things these 94 calls to action pushes for, including a closing of the indigenous education gap and the fostering of a greater sense of indigenous identity and pride. Often we dont feel good about ourselves and we dont try as hard as we could, the letter reads. We need help from our parents and other community leaders to inspire and empower us to achieve all that we can. Right now, too many adults in the community are drinking and doing drugs, the letter reads. They are gambling and playing bingo too much, and we feel like you are ignoring us. While Chalmers said that the drug and alcohol users cited in the letter comprise a minority of his communitys population, he clarified that there is a very real drug and alcohol problem at Birdtail Sioux First Nation. Thankfully, a year after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canadas final report was released, he said that there is now a greater hope for the future than there has been in a long time. The hope is there, but as a community and as a First Nation we have to deal with these things ourselves, and I think the government of Canada understands what the lack of funding over 200 years did in creating these problems in taking away our warriors ability to look after their women and children and look after their family, he said. That has been a constant historical theme, in taking back that pride to our men and women. Birdtail Sioux First Nation is far from alone in facing these challenges, Chalmers said a sentiment those working with indigenous organizations in Brandon support. Brandon Friendship Centre aboriginal healing and wellness counsellor co-ordinator Nellie Kopitz looks at the 94 calls to action as central to improving the health outcome gap that exists between aboriginal Canadians and the general population. While only points 18 through 24 deal with health directly, its a multifaceted issue she said warrants the holistic approach of all 94 calls to action. Its difficult to say how many of these 94 calls to action have been followed through with among the various agencies that operate in Brandon, but the Brandon Friendship Centre is seeking to find out. Kopitz said that the plan on hosting a conference in 2018 to determine what has been followed through with and which recommendations merit greater follow-through, among other things. As for health and addictions issues in general, Kopitz points to No. 22 in the list of calls to action as a highlight. It reads: We call upon those who can effect change within the Canadian health-care system to recognize the value of Aboriginal healing practices and use them in the treatment of Aboriginal patients in collaboration with Aboriginal healers and Elders where requested by Aboriginal patients. Brandon doesnt have an aboriginal youth counsellor, so thats one gap that should be filled, Kopitz said, noting that theres always more to be done in bridging the cultural gaps that currently exist in our society. While there are still gaps in Brandon, aboriginal community co-ordinator Jason Gobeil said that the city is still ahead of many Canadian communities. The Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples Council, which he works under, has been working with the City of Brandon since 2010, which predates the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. While they have similar goals related to community inclusivity, mutual understanding and cultural respect, Gobeil considers both efforts valuable and complementary. Were putting a lot of those efforts into motion right now, Gobeil said. Taking call to action No. 57 to heart, the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples Council offered indigenous awareness training to almost 100 City of Brandon employees and members of a couple dozen community organizations and stakeholder groups last month. No. 57 urges all levels of government to provide education to public servants on aboriginal people on various levels, with such public education an ongoing effort of the organization. This effort is far from alone when it comes to ongoing efforts in Brandon to follow through with not only the 94 calls to action, but also other community-based initiatives, Gobeil said. I think thats a message that needs to be brought up, is that reconciliation isnt done overnight, he explained. Were non-stop looking at what we can be doing. And much more needs to be done, Southern Chiefs Organization Grand Chief Terrance Nelson said. Recent years have seen the incarceration rates of indigenous people increase within the Canadian justice system, he said, listing additional statistics around employment levels that havent boded well for indigenous people. While these statistics offer little room for optimism, he points to the recent actions of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett as nudging his expectations up a notch. Both politicians appear eager to move things forward with the nations indigenous population, he said, affirming that there have been some recent positive news items, such as last weeks announcement of the Manitoba First Nations School System. I think that Minister Bennett and Trudeau are moving as fast as they can, but I also think that its incumbent on First Nations to implement some of the things that we need to do, he said. At Birdtail Sioux First Nation, Chalmers said that a key to his community addressing its problems is economic development. While theres a role in reconciliation for everyone, Chalmers said that one of his key takeaways from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canadas final report was its insistence that problems must be dealt with at a community level. Our economic development program is geared to our men and women to have pride in themselves, he said. We have to dedicate ourselves and we have to do this ourselves. Chalmers has joined his communitys leadership in working toward an eight-bedroom foster care home called Circle of Care, which would bring children in government care back to their home community in a healthy environment. Moving forward, as a people, is a community effort, Gobeil said, noting that its neither an overnight task or an effort that any one individual or organization can take on alone. Itll probably be a lifetime of work, Kopitz said, adding that the massive, national effort of reconciliation can feel overwhelming at times. Sometimes its hard to measure progress, but sometimes just hearing someone say, Im doing better, thank you, you know that thats progress. tclarke@brandonsun.com Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB Imagine by John Lennon Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today... Aha-ah... Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion, too Imagine all the people Living life in peace... You... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one I wrote a version of this column in the summer of 2013 as a blog. I'd heard John Lennon's Imagine on the radio and was unable to get the tune and the sentiment out of my head. After our divisive and rancorous 2016 presidential election and the ensuing sometimes destructive protests, I thought of it again. Add to that situation the never-ending conflicts in the Middle East and the violence that occurs all too often in the name of religion, and I can't help but think how sad it is that Lennon's lyrics, written in 1971, are nowhere near a reality some 40 years later.I hadn't realized, until I googled the song, that it had been recorded for the end credits at the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics, nor that it has been, since 2005, played "just before the New Year's Times Square Ball drops in New York City."As I sit here writing, I'm humming the tune and reflecting on Wikipedia's description of Lennon's song: "The best-selling single of his solo career, its lyrics encourage the listener to imagine a world at peace, without the divisiveness and barriers of borders, religions and nationalities, and to consider the possibility that the focus of humanity should be living a life unattached to material possessions."To be sure, war and violence in the name of race, creed, religion, nationality and just plain greed have been going on since the dawn of time. I suppose this long, sad history doesn't give us reason to believe things will change, but thankfully, that doesn't stop most of us from continuing to "imagine" they might . Despite the political and other differences that get top billing on the nightly news, I'd like to think we can all hit the pause button and come together to wish each other, our country and the world a happy and peaceful New Year.Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident now happily retired from a corporate career in communications. Find her book, "The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday," on her website at. Contact her at Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Ambulance fees will be reduced across Manitoba effective Jan. 1, the province announced Wednesday. For Prairie Mountain Health, the fee will be reduced from $530 to $475, while also eliminating the $3-per-kilometre fee. People have told us ambulance fees in Manitoba are too high and we have heard these concerns, said Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen. We are taking the first steps to reduce ambulance fees and help make this important service more affordable for Manitobans. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Ambulances, fire trucks and other Brandon Fire and Emergency Services vehicles sit parked in the garage at the Brandon No.1 Firehall on 19th Street North on Wednesday evening. On Wednesday, the province announced that ambulance fees would drop throughout the province in 2017. Ambulance bills will drop to either $475 or a pre-existing base fee from the service provider, whichever is lower. This announcement stems from a campaign promise made by the Progressive Conservatives last March, to cut ambulance fees by 50 per cent. Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living has formed a working group with representatives from regional health authorities to meet this goal by 2020. PMH CEO Penny Gilson said the region is supportive of this change to reduce fees to the general public. In particular those who dont have any insurance coverage, and I would say particularly in rural Manitoba, where sometimes youre having to travel longer distances to access emergency departments, Gilson said. We certainly want people to not hesitate to call for an ambulance if they feel they are experiencing an emergency, and then they can get active care en route to an emergency department. The estimated cost to implement this first phase of the fee reduction is approximately $2 million, according to the province. Final costs will depend on the number of ambulance fees billed to Manitoba. Weve had a commitment from the province to fund the difference to us, the revenue we would have generated from user fees, Gilson said. Basically theyre saying theyre reducing the cost to the general public, but ultimately dont want service reduced. Ambulance services are outside the scope of the Canada Health Act and costs are the responsibility of the patient in jurisdictions across the country. Land ambulance services are delivered by a combination of providers in Manitoba, including regional health authorities and other service providers including municipalities or First Nations communities. Ambulance fees vary by the regional health authority, community or municipality offering the service and are used to offset the costs of operations, states a provincial press release. Fees to clients represent approximately 50 per cent of the cost of operations, with the remainder of costs subsidized by the province and other organizations. The province already provides coverage for certain ambulance services including inter-facility transfers, the Northern Patient Transportation Program, helicopter transportation requiring critical care within a 250-kilometre radius of Winnipeg, Lifeflight Air Ambulance program, which provides specialized inter-facility transport for critically ill or injured Manitoba residents who live further than 200 kilometres from Winnipeg. Gilson said PMH will continue working with the province toward the ultimate goal of a 50 per cent reduction, and explains it will be a gradual process. The way ambulance fees have been structured over time in Manitoba, there are different structures put in place, so its not as simple as it seems to just simply reduce a fee when you had some areas charging base fees plus other types of surcharges, she said. Its not a simple exercise to just reduce the fees unilaterally across the board. Its going to take some work to implement that. jaustin@brandonsun.com Twitter: @jillianaustin Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A group of Westman agricultural leaders are stepping forward to entice a multimillion-dollar soybean processing plant to the region. Ray Redfern, president of Redfern Farm Services, says a soybean crushing facility is imperative within Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the northern United States to accommodate the crop, which has rapidly grown to become the third-highest-acreage crop in Manitoba. The questions concerning a soybean processing facility are where and when it will be built, not why. Ill almost assure you that there wont be a second plant, said Redfern, chairperson of the newly formed Westman Opportunities Group. If one services this market, the die is cast. Redfern said agriculture companies, community development organizations and local municipalities are mobilizing to encourage companies to build the plant in southwestern Manitoba, instead of elsewhere. The local group will not own or operate the plant, but instead will advertise southwestern Manitoba as a suitable home. I think in Westman we can do a more professional job than waiting for something to happen, Redfern said. After provincial, regional and civic leaders met in November to lay the groundwork, Westman Opportunities Group held a series of formal meetings Dec. 14-16 to discuss its strategy for attracting a soybean crushing facility. In partnership with the Brandon Economic Development Corporation, which provided modest seed money, according to Redfern, a consulting group was hired. The companys detailed plan, which should be finished by late January, will inform future planning, which may eventually include pursuing companies like Cargill or ADM. No processors have officially expressed an interest in building a plant locally. More than 1.6 million acres of soybeans, a record, were planted in Manitoba this year, which is significantly higher than 100,000 acres in 2005. Sixty-nine per cent of Manitobas soybeans were planted in western Manitoba, Redfern said. Most of the crop is shipped out of province. Redfern heard anecdotal estimates that only about three per cent of locally grown soybeans are processed in Manitoba. A soybean crushing plant in Westman would be a boon to local hog producers like HyLife and Maple Leaf, which currently import significant amounts of soybean meal. It seems evident to us that whatever growth might occur in the hog industry in Manitoba would likely be oriented toward western Manitoba, Redfern said. The group also believes Westman is an attractive location because Brandon is emerging as a central hub for soy production. The region also offers a good rail/road network, industrial lands for development and an agriculture-oriented workforce. The groups interest for a local plant is buoyed by a feasibility study, released last year, which found the province has sufficient soybean acreage, production and market demand to support a processing plant. Benefits the report cited include easier access to market, the ability to bypass uneven rail freight and the capacity to generate freight savings and better soybean prices. The study, funded in part by the federal and provincial government, determined a soybean crushing facility would be economically viable, based on the growth of Manitobas soybean acreage and the demand for soybean meal in the western Canadian livestock industry. It is estimated soybean acreage in Western Canada where there are currently no large-scale soybean crushing facilities could quadruple over the next decade. While the growth of Canadian soybean production from 2004 to 2014 has doubled, Manitoba experienced a six-fold increase, previously accounting for 1.1 per cent of the countrys soybean in 2004 and 15 per cent a decade later. ifroese@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ianfroese I have optimism that Roy Cooper will enact positive change for the State, and offer quality leadership. I am unsure of how a Roy Cooper governance will impact North Carolina. I am concerned with the direction which Roy Cooper will lead our State. Who is Roy Cooper? Hillary told me to vote for Ray Cooper. 45 total vote(s) What's your Opinion? Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This is my last column of 2016 and I look forward to writing in your Thursday edition of The Brandon Sun once again starting mid-January. Hard to believe the new year is just 10 days away, and Christmas is Saturday, or Sunday depending on when you celebrate. And today at school, its Christmas for the teachers. And boy, is it Christmas! Gone are the days when teachers would get an apple or a homemade jar of head cheese, bathtub slip stickers, or a smoked turkey leg. While some parents show their appreciation today with a simple gift card or automotive air freshener, the one-per centers are thinking bigger. In fact, some teachers arent getting apples anymore, some are actually getting Rolexes. Submitted Morning Mess columnist Tyler Glen says it is hard to believe the new year is just 10 days away, and Christmas is Saturday, or Sunday depending on when you celebrate. And today at school, its Christmas for the teachers. And boy, is it Christmas! Gone are the days when teachers would get an apple or a homemade jar of head cheese, bathtub slip stickers, or a smoked turkey leg. While some parents show their appreciation today with a simple gift card or automotive air freshener, the one-per centers are thinking bigger. In fact, some teachers arent getting apples anymore, some are actually getting Rolexes. In some major U.S. cities, some parents have shelled out hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for teacher presents, especially in private schools. Lauren, a mom from New York says she was forced to chip in $100 to buy her two-year-olds teacher an Hermes scarf that typically costs between $400 and $1,000. Laura, another New York mom, says her friend actually gave her sons teacher a Rolex. It was a cheap one, probably $3,000, she explains. These poor teachers, how much do they make a year $50,000? These poor people. For the record, teachers salaries in NYC range from $54,000 to $85,000. Some parents are getting pretty creative with their gifts, too. Several plastic surgeons say theyve seen an increase in gift certificates purchased for teachers, with values ranging from $2,500 to $5,000. Nothing says thanks for teaching my kid like a gift card for a nose job or a facelift. A recent survey of parents found coffee or tea was the most popular Christmas gift for teachers, followed by chocolate and handmade presents. Twelve per cent go for alcohol, while eight per cent of parents get creative themselves. I think the booze is a fine idea, if its wrapped discreetly. The more misbehaved your child has been this fall, the bigger the bottle should be. Make it chocolate and wine and your childs teacher just might think you are the worlds greatest parent. Only one per cent of gifts bought had the classic Worlds Best Teacher or similar logo plastered across them. While I remember giving music teachers and Sunday school teachers gifts at Christmas, I cant say I remember giving my school teachers gifts. And thats something I would have remembered. After all, being the creative person I am, I would have somehow tried to be part of that process, in picking the perfect gift that would flatter, impress and gain favour with the teacher I had tortured, driven mad and brought to tears several times the previous few months. Now unlike in New York, the Alabama Ethics Commission became the only state, according to national Public Radio, that put a price limit on teachers gifts. Up until a recent change this fall, in Alabama no parent was allowed to give a teacher a gift of more than $25. Gifts to teachers were to include things like homemade cookies, fruit baskets, coffee mugs, and books of a nominal value, to advice against parents using gifts to sway a teacher to act in their childs favour. Oh bah humbug. If little Johnny needs to get into a certain private school, and his Grade 8 marks depend on that, theres no reason a parent shouldnt thank his teacher with an all-expense-paid trip to Jamaica with his spouse. And a car to get him to the airport. Whats wrong with that? Actually teachers dont want most of that stuff, according to a preferences poll hosted by ChristmasGiftsforTeachers .com, a majority of teachers said they would rather not receive a coffee mug, decorative or homemade item, but would rather get gift cards, classroom supplies, books or other items that can help alleviate the expense of supplying a classroom. The teachers polled also agreed with the commissions modest price range; with most saying $15 is an appropriate amount of money to spend on gifts for them. Heres what our listeners were saying about teacher gifts: Sharon Are they bribing the teachers? Nelle I did a tin of cookies! Michelle I do is a bag of chocolates to the staff that really help me to succeed at my education. Desirae My daughter made a snow globe for her teacher out of a spaghetti sauce jar. Jolene Well to each their own. If they want and can afford to, why not?! Just hope they realize a box of chocolates can come with just as much appreciation as a shiny new necklace. Judging someone based on how expensive their gift is no different than judging someone on how inexpensive their gift is! Meghan I think most teachers feel awkward accepting expensive gifts. I worked with a teacher last year who told me that a $50 Tims card shed gotten was too much. Kathryn Making sure your children are rested, fed, on time and with their homework completed is a great gift for the teacher all year. Samantha We do boxes of chocolates. Its simple but thoughtful. Traci When my daughter was in Grade 1-8, the whole class each chipped in $2 at Christmas and at year end. This way the teacher got one big gift instead of a bunch of little ones. We usually got a flower basket or gift card for a nice restaurant. This way the whole class gave a gift and no one was left out. The teachers always appreciated it. Buffy Appreciating a teacher isnt in the gift its how you make her/him feel about taking care of and helping your child every day of the year. Tracy I made my daughters teachers homemade scarves. They both loved them. Didnt cost a lot, just time to make them. We usually dont spend a lot, most years I try to make at least part of it. Jessica A box of Pot Of Gold chocolates. A time-honoured tradition that I will be continuing with my kid/s. Kelly Ann I did little gift bags with a candle, some chocolate and a magnet that had a quote on it my kids teachers loved them :) Tara The best gifts are cards of thank you. Heres the good news: If youre reading this paper and its before 3:35 p.m., theres still time to get a quick gift card, stop at the grocery for cookies, or pull into your favourite office supply store for some classroom odds and ends. Or you can simply walk into class today and offer a handshake, or a hug, and heartfelt thanks. Because while most want to give at this time of year, not everyone can, and thats OK. But if the teacher or postman or hairdresser or dog groomer in your life is important to you, stop and tell them. From the heart. Because often kind words can be one of the greatest gifts of all. JOKE THIS WEEK On the last day before the Christmas break, all the children brought presents for their teacher. The florists son handed the teacher a gift. She held up the box and said, I bet its some flowers! Thats right! shouted the little boy. Then the candy store owners daughter handed the teacher a gift. She held up the box and said, I bet its some chocolates!" Thats right! shouted the little girl. The next gift was from the liquor store owners son. The teacher held up the box and saw that it was leaking. She touched a drop with her finger and tasted it. Is it wine? she asked. No, the boy answered. The teacher touched another drop to her tongue. Is it champagne? she asked. No, the boy answered. What is it? she said. A puppy! Birthdays Marianne Wood Kathy Murray Blelloch Nancy Stinton Ashlee Ritchie Kimberly Stendall Debbie and Michael Zuke Tyler Glen is a radio DJ on Star-FM. He writes a weekly column for the Brandon Sun. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/12/2016 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. There are so many controversial policies these days it is hard to keep track. Oil and pipelines and tarsands and so forth for instance. Just the other day OPEC which I understand is Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and a couple of other oil-saturated countries announced it is cutting back production by one million barrels a day. The price of oil promptly rose. At about the same time, the Canadian government announced its decisions on three controversial proposed pipelines. The Northern Gateway one, which was planned to snake over to Prince Rupert through the Great Bear Rain Forest, was scotched. Good thing, too. Ive been there and seen those cute white bears running around, and I would hate to see them turned black. The other two were approved. Line 3 meanders through Manitoba among other places, to deliver oil to the United States, where global warming is only a myth anyway. The other is the Kinder Morgan that will transgress the mountains and end up at Burnaby (read Vancouver). These pipelines are expected to increase Canadas oil production by one million barrels a day. Does that mean that our increase will cancel OPECs decrease so that world production remains the same? No harm, no foul, sort of thing. Except that I had the impression that the fouling is getting out of control and the idea was to invent something better. The idea of piping even more oil to the coast, I hear, is so it can pour directly into tankers which will take it to new Asian markets and make us all rich. Last I heard, Asia was part of the global referred to in global warming. As a matter of fact, now that Beijing has disappeared in smog, China is seriously into solar and wind energy and desperately trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Does China know something we dont know? Environmental protesters at pipeline sites say, Leave the oil in the ground! Sounds good to me. But not until after I can afford an electric car and there is somewhere to plug it in. Maureen Schwanke Arrow River A veteran reddit user got a nice surprise recently when she received a present from Snoop Dogg for Christmas. The North Alabama woman has been taking part in the Reddit-run Secret Santa scheme for three years and enjoyed sending gifts to complete strangers and recieving them from same. But this year, her Secret Santa was far from unknown. When she opened her gift she found a note signed by Snoop Dogg along with a Snoop Dogg Millionaire T-Shirt, some Snoop slippers, a little drone and some socks. The note said: What Up Erin, Merry Xmizzle to you and your fam! Even a Bo$$ ladylike you need to kick back and relax sometimes. Hope you like these goodies I chose for you. Keep ya head ip and stay on you grind in 2017. Your Santa Snoop Dogg Awh! What a nice message! The group behind the occupation of Apollo House in Dublin want the Housing Minister Simon Coveney to visit the site. Yesterday the High Court granted an injunction to the receivers of the NAMA owned building, ordering homeless campaigners who have been occupying it, to vacate by January 11. Spokesperson for 'Home Sweet Home' is Rosi Leonard: "It's now a symbol of a national people's housing movement, people no longer taking the excuse from Government that we are dealing with this in due course, we are dealing with this in due course. "NAMA saying they are wiping their hands of responsibility of it, Government saying that they are doing the best they can. "None of that. We have now lit a spark to put people first." Meanwhile, The Peter McVerry Trust will today open the final 25 beds promised for the Ellis Quay Hostel, in Dublin 7. It brings the unit to its full capacity of 70 beds before Christmas, after opening on December 9. The Trust's CEO Pat Doyle says the new service offers high quality, safe and secure accommodation with professional experienced staff: "Two weeks ago we opened a service on Ellis Quay. "We got great support from the public and the media on that, people were genuinely delighted to see something positive happening. "The builder has been working his way out of the building and we have put in more and more beds as it has gone on. "I'm delighted to say we have hit capacity so the last 25 beds will be in by lunchtime today." Irish Ferries has cancelled a number of crossings between Dublin and Holyhead this Friday because of 'adverse weather conditions for the Irish Sea'. The 'Swift' and 'Oscar Wilde' services are affected, but the company says customers will be accommodated on other ferries during December 23rd and 24th. Comedian Brendan O'Carroll and his family have donated 2,800 Christmas dinners to St Vincent de Paul. The Mrs Brown's Boys creator made a substantial donation to the charity. It will allow SVP to provide 2,800 families in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow with Christmas dinners. The charity says it will have dealt with 65,000 calls for help in the region by the end of the year. Liam Casey, President of the SVP East Region said "We have seen an increase in requests for food this year and these vouchers will make a huge difference to many families." Tom Campbell Power plays are seldom pretty. Republicans have the political power in our state, but just because you have power doesn't mean you have to use it. The wise and judicious use of power has become as rare as the proverbial hen's tooth.The overreach of the legislature in stripping the Executive Branch of power was wrong, just as it was wrong when Democrats did it when they ran state government. I, among many, am on record for having opposed power grabs then, and am equally opposed to them today.What is mystifying is why Pat McCrory, who sued the legislature and won in court when lawmakers overstepped their authority, should sign the recently passed legislation into law. McCrory had three options. He could have vetoed the bills and would have been compelled to called lawmakers back into session to possibly override his veto. They would likely have done so, but at least he could leave office attempting to uphold the balance of powers our founders envisioned. He could have done nothing, neither signing the bills into law nor vetoing them, in which case the legislation would have sat for the requisite 30 days before automatically becoming law. During that time period a new governor would have been sworn into office and it is certain Roy Cooper would have vetoed the bills. His veto would most likely have been overridden, but McCrory's legacy in opposition to weakening the executive branch would have been consistent.By signing these bills quickly into law the governor took the easiest way out, just as when he signed HB2 into law. We've heard all kinds of explanations why he lost his job, but no one will convince me that HB2 wasn't the tipping point with many voters.Despite the rhetoric we heard coming from the legislative building last week, the power of North Carolina's governor is and has been among the weakest among the states. We finally allowed our chief executive the power of the veto to help balance the scales vis-a-vis the legislative branch, but there can be little doubt, whether right or just correct, The General Assembly has more power.Look for more lawsuits to come, especially a challenge to the stripping of the duties and responsibilities of the State Board of Education. Article IX, Section 4 (2) of our Constitution says,It further says,It will be interesting to see how the courts view the recent actions, but our current legislature doesn't have a good record in court decisions.As stated earlier, power grabs are never pretty. The recently passed legislation makes legislative leaders look like a bunch of power hungry, sore-tailed losers. As a lifelong North Carolinian I have always hoped those in power would thoughtfully and judiciously use it to the betterment of all.Our Republican legislature has done some good things since taking control of government. This, however, was not their finest hour. At least 1,000 government laptops, computers and data sticks have been reported lost or stolen since the general election, according to official figures. Equipment went missing from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) at an average rate of more than one a day, according to records obtained under Freedom of Information (FoI) laws. Overall, the losses across government are likely to be much higher as a number of departments used legal technicalities to refuse to release the information. Campaigners said the reasons being used by Whitehall to avoid answering the FoI requests were "stretching credibility to well beyond its snapping point". Most of the departments that did disclose information about missing items refused to say if they contained sensitive or confidential information. The MoD recorded 759 laptops and computers as being lost and 32 stolen as well as 328 lost CDs, DVDs and USBs up to October, records released under the Freedom of Information Act revealed. It has launched a probe into the losses, suggesting a suspected accountancy error could lead to a significant reduction in the figures. The Department of Work and Pensions, which administers the state pension and a range of benefits to more than 22 million people, reported 42 missing laptops or computers and eight USBs up to August. DWP officials said most of the losses and thefts "occurred in home/office break-ins and whilst travelling" and all its laptops are encrypted. The newly created department, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), had six laptops lost or stolen since it was set up in July. Figures released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs showed 12 laptops were missing while seven were recorded as lost or stolen by the Department for Transport. The Treasury recorded eight missing laptops and one missing memory stick since the general election but one of the computers was recovered. At the Department for International Development, one laptop was lost and 26 were stolen, including one that contained sensitive information. The Home Office would only point to figures for 2015 showing it recorded one lost laptop and two stolen ones, adding that it would not release later figures because they were planned for publication at some point in the future. A number of departments refused to give details about the number of losses and thefts by using a clause of the FoI Act to claim the information is exempt from disclosure. They said releasing the numbers or revealing whether lost or stolen equipment contained sensitive information would be useful to criminals. The Department for Culture, Media and Support (DCMS) and the Department for Education (DfE), along with the Ministry of Justice, Department for Communities and Local Government, Department of Health and Cabinet Office used the exemption. DfE officials refused to even say if the department held records about missing equipment, claiming that confirming such information "could encourage continued theft". The DCMS said it could not reveal whether any sensitive information had been lost because it could be "useful information to an adversary". Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said: "They are stretching credibility to well beyond its snapping point with some of these answers. "The fact the Ministry of Defence felt able to answer makes it very implausible that these civilian departments cannot." He added: "The fact they are using very similar language in the responses suggests there has been a memo go round telling them to reply in similar terms." Mr Frankel said the DfE's refusal to even acknowledge if it held the information was "complete nonsense". "They have had a common sense by-pass here," he added. An MoD spokeswoman said: "The MoD treats information security as a top priority. All incidents of equipment going missing or stolen are thoroughly investigated and may result in disciplinary action. "The MoD promotes a culture where security is the responsibility of all staff and personnel are required to report all security incidents. This can result in figures appearing higher than comparable organisations." Authorities across Europe are hunting a Tunisian man suspected of killing 12 people by driving a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, as one of his brothers urged him to surrender. German authorities have issued a wanted notice for Anis Amri and offered a reward of up to 100,000 for information leading to the 24-year-old's arrest - warning that he could be "violent and armed". One of Amri's brothers has urged him to turn himself in. Abdelkader Amri said: "I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it." He said Amri may have been radicalised in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. German media reported several locations were searched overnight, including a house in Dortmund and a refugee home in Emmerich on the Dutch border. Federal authorities have so far declined to comment. Nearly three days after the attack which left 48 other people injured, the market in the centre of the German capital has reopened, with concrete blocks in place at the roadside to provide extra security. Organisers decided to reopen the market without party music or bright lighting, and Berliners and visitors have laid candles and flowers at the site in tribute. The manhunt for Amri prompted police in Denmark to search a Sweden-bound ferry in the port of Grenaa after receiving tips that someone resembling Amri had been spotted, but officers said they found nothing indicating his presence. An Israeli woman, Dalia Elyakim, has been identified as one of the 12 killed when a truck ploughed into the market in central Berlin on Monday evening, Israeli officials confirmed. German officials had deemed Amri, who arrived in the country last year, a potential threat long before the attack - and even kept him under covert surveillance for six months this year before halting the operation. They had been trying to deport him after his asylum application was rejected in July but were unable to do so because he lacked valid identity papers, and Tunisia initially denied that he was a citizen. A document belonging to Amri, who according to authorities has used at least six different names and three different nationalities, was found in the cab of the truck. Family members of Amri, speaking from his hometown of Oueslatia in central Tunisia, were shaken to learn that he was a suspect. Amri left Tunisia years ago for Europe but had been in regular contact with his brothers via Facebook and phone. AP China's foreign minister has warned that ties with the US will likely see new complications, and that the only way to maintain a stable relationship is by respecting each other's "core interests". Wang Yi's remarks appeared to underscore that China's position on Taiwan is non-negotiable, weeks after US president-elect Donald Trump suggested that he could re-evaluate US policy on the status of Taiwan. The funeral for the murdered Russian Ambassador to Turkey will be held in Moscow later. Mourners have already been paying their respects to Andrei Karlov at the Foreign Ministry this morning. NEW YORK: Taylor Swift on Tuesday announced she was returning to touring, getting back on the road for the first... "It's difficult for some military parents at Fort Bragg, N.C., and other bases nationwide, to find in-network specialists for their children with autism and that's due, in part, to the way federal officials changed health insurance plan reimbursements earlier this year, according to a group of U.S. senators. North Carolina's Thom Tillis has joined the group of senators in a bipartisan call for Congress to reverse the reimbursement cuts via additional funding for the U.S. Department of Defense." (McClatchy, 10/5/16) Establish high performance military-civilian integrated healthy delivery systems, which would foster innovation in military treatment facilities, enhance operational medical force readiness, and improve access to specialized medical care. Require the Secretary of Defense to enter into centrally-managed, performance-based contracts with private sector entities to improve the delivery of health care services at military treatment facilities with limited ability to provide services such as primary care or expanded-hours urgent care. Set the stage for memoranda of agreements between the Department of Defense and institution of higher education that offer degrees in allopathic or osteopathic medicine, which could help improve and sustain operational medical force readiness and possibly serve as a productive recruiting grounds for new military physicians. Contact: Daniel Keylin Daniel Keylin daniel_keylin@tillis.senate.gov WASHINGTON, D.C. Over the last two years, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has worked across the aisle to advance policies that support and benefit military families, including expanding job opportunities for military spouses and promoting commonsense reforms to improve the quality and delivery of health care for servicemembers and their families.Senators Tillis and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have been working together to help stop reductions to TRICARE's reimbursement rates for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to beneficiaries diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD.)In March 2016, Tillis and Gillibrand urged the Defense Secretary to delay the new rates until after completion of the Demonstration program to protect ABA therapy access for over 26,000 children of military personnel and retirees. The following month, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) moved forward with adjusting TRICARE reimbursement rates for ABA therapy to beneficiaries diagnosed with ASD. Although metropolitan areas saw an increase in reimbursement rates, military bases mostly located in suburban or rural areas saw drastic cuts and substantial decreases.The FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act includes a Tillis-Gillibrand provision that would address issues with reimbursement rates for the TRICARE Autism Care Demonstration program to ensure access to care for all military dependents with ASD.Senator Tillis secured several provisions in the FY2017 NDAA that would reform TRICARE by increasing collaboration between the military and private sector. TRICARE is the military health plan for servicemembers, military retirees, and their families.Tillis' provisions would:Senator Tillis secured an amendment in the FY2017 NDAA that would close the two-year time limit loophole for military spouses who move from base to base and seek federal employment on that base. Tillis' amendment will have an immediate impact on the quality of life for military spouses and their families.Currently, a military spouse only has two years to invoke the military spouse preference from the date of the service member's permanent change of station orders, which are issued well in advance of a military family arriving at a new duty station. Combined with the demands of raising children, adjusting to new surroundings, and the actual availability of federal jobs, many military spouses have missed consideration for employment or have had job offers withdrawn because they lost eligibility.Senator Tillis worked with the communities of Fayetteville and Jacksonville and the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure that U.S. military personnel who are deployed outside the U.S. and are living on or off a military installation outside the U.S. are counted as residents of the state where they live and sleep most of the time. Previously, the Census counted deployed servicemembers as residents of states they lived in at the time they originally enlisted for service.The changes to the 2020 census mean that all soldiers, airmen and Marines from North Carolina's military installations will be counted in the decennial census as residents of the state, regardless of whether or not they are deployed abroad.Since many federal tax dollars are proportional to population, North Carolina would benefit from additional Department of Education, transportation, and agriculture funding as a result of an increased population in the 2020 census. CAIRO: Global events may temporarily affect Egypts wheat supply but the country can adjust to them, Egypts... ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates energy minister said on Monday that OPEC+ is keen on providing the world with... PARIS: People with monkeypox can spread the virus up to four days before symptoms appear, with more than half of... Award-winning playwright Adam R. Burnett performs a show inspired by Dolly Parton and Salvador Dali. Award-winning NYC/ABQ-based playwright Adam R. Burnett will bring his solo performance work The Dolly Dali Show!to Albuquerque for a one night engagement at Tricklock Performance Lab on December 22 at 8pm. The Dolly Dali Show! is a art-history/country-music/sea-fantasia/gender-f*ck performance work that is part monologue, part magic act, part drag show, part karaoke, and part clown. Inspired by the personas of Dolly Parton and Salvador Dali, playwright Burnett has crafted an absurd and immersive performance work that joyfully asks: can we change the way we tell our stories? Careening into the soupy politics of gender, narrative, climate change, and community, this new work intends to equally delight and enlist the presence of the spectator. Written in the weeks folowing the election, this urgent work is currently on an equally urgent national tour. As a playwright Adams work has been presented across the globe from New Orleans to NYC to Vilnius, Lithuania. Currently splitting his time between NYC and Albuquerque, he is the artistic director of Buran Theatre and his original plays include Magic Bullets, Nightmares: a demonstration of the sublime, Poshlost Saudades!, and Mammoth. Adams next major work, T.B. SHEETS, will premiere off-Broadway at the A.R.T./NY Gural Theatre in May 2017. "On Thursday, North Carolina's Sen. Thom Tillis filed legislation that requires the secretary of the Army to submit a report on plans to extend the Pope runway and whether or not it's a top priority. Unless it does rank high in the Army's to-do list, it may not be funded. Given the Pentagon's renewed emphasis on preparation for rapid response by U.S. forces, and Fort Bragg's unique responsibility in that area, we can't imagine why a longer runway wouldn't be the highest of priorities." (Fayetteville Observer, Editorial, 4/28/16) "The Air Force's initial failure to meet Fort Bragg's jump-training needs set off a firestorm in Congress, led by Sen. Thom Tillis, who has pushed hard for Air Force accountability and improved performance. Less than two months ago, Tillis told us that, 'we've got a readiness problem' because the Air Force wasn't meeting Bragg's jump-training needs." (Fayetteville Observer, Editorial, 8/16/16) "U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis toured Cherry Point on Wednesday afternoon and later met with base supporters, telling them the base's infrastructure 'needs to be updated.' ...Tillis said he is excited about the economic prospect of the arrival of F-35B squadrons at Cherry Point, scheduled to begin in 2022 or 2023. 'North Carolina can play a very important role with what we're doing down here at Cherry Point already,' said Tillis. The senator mentioned his support for the location of a new F-35B lift fan facility at Fleet Readiness Center East at Cherry Point." (Havelock News, 6/2/16) Contact: Daniel Keylin Daniel Keylin daniel_keylin@tillis.senate.gov WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has used his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee over the last two years to champion North Carolina's military installations - including Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson - and has advanced initiatives that reaffirm North Carolina's status as the nation's tip of the spear.Senator Tillis secured a provision in the FY2017 NDAA that would require the Secretary of the Army, in coordination with the Commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, to submit a report to the Senate outlining plans to extend the runway Pope Airfield and to indicate whether such project is a priority for the Army.The runway at Pope Airfield is currently too short to accommodate fully fueled and fully loaded C-17 and C-5 airlifts, forcing the airlifts to be refueled in South Carolina or Newfoundland at a taxpayer cost of $17,000 per hour.Fort Bragg leaders have previously requested that the runway at Pope Airfield be extended to accommodate the airlift requirements of America's Global Response Force, whose mission is to have the units of the XVIII Airborne Corps anywhere in the world within 48 hours' notice. Prior to the latest round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), extending the Pope Runway was the Air Mobility Command's number one airfield project and the United States Air Force's number two project for funding.Senator Tillis led the opposition to the Pentagon's short-sighted and strategically flawed decision to dismantle the 440th Airlift Wing and remove the C-130H presence at Fort Bragg, which has been vital to the training and readiness of the XVIII Airborne.Senator Tillis has made it clear he intends to continue to hold the Pentagon accountable for failing to meet the training needs of the Global Response Force, and he will continue to work on options to ensure that the future of Fort Bragg includes a C-130 presence.Tillis secured funding last year for a new security fence at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point to set the stage for major infrastructure improvements to the base. Cherry Point is the largest airfield in the Marine Corps and is slated to begin receiving the F-35 B Joint Strike Fighter, the replacement for the AV8-B Harrier, before the end of the decade.Senator Tillis also received a commitment from the F-35 Joint Program Office that the F-35 Lift Fan Repair Facility, vital to the maintenance of the vertical take-off and landing capabilities of the F-35, will be housed at Cherry Point.Senator Tillis secured a provision in the FY2016 omnibus that stopped the planned transfer of 24 AG-64 Apache helicopters from the N.C. National Guard in Raleigh to the regular Army. Tillis' provision helped save roughly 400 North Carolina jobs, and most importantly stopped a plan that would have undermined the combat prowess of the Army Guard, the nation's first line of defense.Last year, the Air Force announced a preliminary decision to establish a new KC-46A Pegasus Air Refueling Squadron at Goldsboro's Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Senators Tillis and Burr secured funding for the construction of an air traffic control tower in the FY2016 omnibus. The control tower will provide the needed safety for the squadron of tankers, which are expected at Seymour Johnson by 2019. A Comanchero bikie will spend Christmas in jail after he was brought to court accused of drug trafficking and blackmailing a drug dealer. Police say Alex Bourne, 29, had approached the dealer at his home on December 7, introduced himself as a bikie and accused the dealer of "putting a dint in our pockets". Bourne allegedly said if he was going to sell drugs, then he could only do so for the Comancheros. Bourne told the man he had been planning to tie him up and stick a gun in his mouth, and the only reason Bourne spoke to him instead was because of the man's CCTV cameras, court documents say. Bourne allegedly demanded $10,000 from the dealer, a payment for earlier drug deals the man had made in Comancheros territory. The dealer, who feared for his safety if he didn't comply, then handed to Bourne $1100 and an ounce of MDMA, police say. Gliding along the footpath to work in your very own Segway will be possible in 2017 after new regulations are introduced to permit their use on ACT paths and roads. Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury announced the changes following the publication of the 2016 Segway Review Report and with a bicycle hat strapped on, demonstrated the ease of using the electric vehicle. Justice and Consumer Affairs Minister Shane Rattenbury announces new road rules for private and commercial Segway use. Credit:Elesa Kurtz "Segways will generally be treated as pedestrians with some additional requirements placed on them, such as wearing an approved bicycle helmet and having lights, reflectors and a bell or other warning devices fitted to the Segway," he said. "The findings of the review showed that that there is no reasonable basis for prohibiting Segways from being used on footpaths and shared paths in the ACT." Greater Western Sydney will not pursue legal action after it was handed a $100,000 fine and a penalty of 1000 draft points, having been found guilty by the AFL for "conduct unbecoming" over the Lachie Whitfield case. The Giants were not stripped of specific draft picks but instead were docked points, understood to be the equivalent of about pick 15. They had faced the loss of selections 15 and 37. Lachie Whitfield was handed a six-month ban. Credit:Getty Images This means that if they were to finish fourth next season, as they had this year, their draft selection No.15, worth 1112 points, would slip to No.63 (112 points). The AFL Commission subcommittee of chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, former Swans player Jason Ball and businessman Paul Bassat heard submissions from the Giants and AFL legal counsel Jeff Gleeson on Thursday. All portable ethanol burners will be taken off Canberra shelves after their sale was temporarily banned pending a probe by the Australian consumer watchdog. The ACT government announced the 60-day interim ban on the sale of the decorative burners, after serious concerns about their safety were raised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. A 28-year-old Perth woman suffered serious burns after using a portable ethanol burner. Credit:Consumer Protection WA WA, NSW and Victoria had already banned the burners after it was revealed more than 100 people had been injured through their use since 2010. A 28-year-old Perth woman had skin "falling" off her face and hands after she suffered serious burns at a friend's party in the suburb of Safety Bay two months ago. Mr. Elliott Graham Singleton of Washington, NC transitioned from this life into heaven being embraced through grace Friday December 9, 2016. He was 23 years old.A memorial service of his life will be held 2:00 pm Monday December 26, 2016 at the home of his grandparents, John "Frankie" & Linda Singleton, Sandy Acres Farm, 5437 Clarks Neck Road, creek side at the end of the farm. All are invited to celebrate and remember the life of Elliott.Elliott was born at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville, North Carolina on May 30, 1993. Elliott attended D.H. Conley High School in 2011 where he graduated early. He went on to further his education. Elliott obtained an Associates College Transfer Degree in 2013. He was a student at NC State where he studied Political Law in the year of 2014.Elliott loved animals (especially goats) and all types of music. Children were drawn to him for his enthusiasm and kind heart. Elliott had a thirst for knowledge and loved to debate issues with his family.Elliott is survived by his beautiful and loving family: his father John F. Singleton, Jr., his beloved mother Lisa W. Singleton, his dearest sister Amanda Beth Singleton, paternal grandparents - John F. Singleton, Sr. (Frankie) and Linda F. Singleton, maternal grandparents - Thomas R. White, Jr. & Charlotte L. White, paternal great grandmother - Mildred R. Haddock (age 94) maternal great grandmother - Edith M. White (age 98), many cousins including J.T. Pilgreen and Rob Thompson (he was especially close to Erin Squires and her husband Gary Squires). He also had a special relationship with his Aunt Starla Thompson and Aunt Crystal Oden. He had a special love for his goat - Abby and his cat - Fat Boy. He was preceded in death by two uncles, Randy White and Ronnie Thompson.Memorials may be made to www.nami.org/donate or mail to NAMI, P. O. Box 62596, Baltimore, MD 21264. Please list deceased name with donation. Please no flowers.You may address condolences to the family by visiting www.paulfuneralhome.com Paul Funeral Home & Crematory of Washington is honored to serve the Singleton family. The corporate watchdog has started legal action against Westpac and its subsidiary BT Funds Management for breaching the "best interests" obligation and providing financial advice when they were not permitted to do so. BT rejected the interpretation, saying consumers would have known they were only getting general advice. ASIC alleges BT Financial telephone sales staff provided personal finance advice, but it rejects this interpretation of the calls. Credit:Jim Rice BT Financial Group chief executive, Brad Cooper, said this will be an important test case for the industry. "More and more we are finding people want to have a natural and practical conversation without having to pay for comprehensive personal advice," he said through a statement. People have been attempting to catch crocodiles using baited lines to boost their social media cred - only to catch the attention of Queensland authorities instead. In the past two months, three reports have been received by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection of people trying to catch crocodiles with baited lines. A man is recovering in hospital after a crocodile attack at Innisfail. Credit:Paul Rovere Environment Minister Steven Miles said EHP was investigating the incidents in the Douglas, Hinchinbrook and Whitsunday shires. "In each instance, the size of the baits used and the places they were found clearly suggests that crocodiles are being targeted," Dr Miles said. A leading former Queensland union official has been formally charged and two Mirvac officials, a year after royal commission on union corruption recommended charges be laid. The Heydon royal commission last year recommended former CFMEU state president David Hanna, Mirvac director Adam Moore and Mirvac contractor Mathew McAllum be charged over work done, allegedly free of charge, on Mr Hanna's home at Cornubia, south of Brisbane. Former trade union boss Dave Hanna during last year's royal commission. Credit:AAP On Friday, the Queensland Trade Union Joint Police Taskforce, consisting of Queensland and federal police officers, arrested and charged the three men with secret commission offences. "Police will allege that a 52-year-old Shailer Park man colluded with a 53-year-old man from Ephraim Island (Gold Coast) and a 41-year-old man from Seven Hills in 2012 and 2013 to organise construction work on his personal residence in Brisbane," police said in a statement. A former police officer who became a courier for a high-level criminal syndicate was addicted to ice, a drug being used in epidemic proportions, a judge has said. David Cameron Lister, who quit the force in January, was on Thursday sentenced to at least 18 months in jail. He was given a substantial discount on his sentence after he gave significant help to investigators on the workings of the cartel for which he was a courier. David Lister leaves court earlier this year after his arrest. Credit:Luis Ascui The 37-year-old had pleaded guilty to trafficking ice, cultivating cannabis, possessing drugs and illicit access of police intelligence. He was arrested at Townsville airport in April with almost half a kilogram of ice in a backpack. It was one of four trips the father of two made to Queensland for the syndicate this year. Apart from the final venture, the trips required Lister to ferry tens of thousands of dollars in cash from the group's Townsville contact, alleged trafficker Andrew Harrison, to alleged syndicate head Jarrod Hennig in Melbourne. A man has been taken to hospital with stab wounds after a brawl outside a pub near Dandenong, in Melbourne's south-east. Police said there was a brawl outside the pub, on the Princes Highway at Doveton, about 6.10pm on Thursday. A police spokeswoman said one man stabbed another, and was arrested by police. Paramedics took the injured man, who had upper-body wounds, to The Alfred hospital in a stable condition. In an old housing estate in Meadow Heights, police have cordoned off a small cul-de-sac where investigators carried out a raid on Thursday evening. It's understood the raid took place in a converted garage attached to a home at the end of Manna Court. A neighbour, who declined to be named, said he noticed police cars descend on the area at about 10pm on Thursday. "At first i thought it was a party," he said. The working-class suburb in Melbourne's north is home to a number of refugee families and the neighbour said he was annoyed that the alleged plot would shed Muslims in a bad light. "So if we could separate the Muslim from the terrorism that would be great, " he said. "In the past we have been called wogs and then that phased out. Then terrorism has brought the racism back." "We just need to be vigilant and peaceful. We should all help each other out and get these thugs out." Police have located three young siblings who were missing from the Mornington Peninsula for a month. A Victoria Police spokesman confirmed Riley, 4, Dakota, 2, and 11-month-old Koby were found safe and well on Friday. Found: (from left) Riley, Koby and Dakota Twyford. Police earlier held concerns for the siblings who were last seen in Carrum in late November. They believed the children were with their parents Jye Twyford, 25, and Ashley Bound, 24. An artist's sketch of Abdullah Chaarani, appearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court. Credit:Joe Benke Hamza Abbas, 21, of Flemington, later appeared in court wearing a grey t-shirt, and with a long beard. He was supported in court by four women. Lawyer Jessie Smith, acting for the men, told the court Mr Abbas was vulnerable in custody because of his age, and the nature of the charges levelled against him. Hamza Abbas "He does have some soft tissue damage from the arrest to his face, and I ask that he be tended to by a nurse," Ms Smith said. She said Mr Abbas also had injuries to his back, hip and shoulder sustained in his arrest. Two women believed to be friends or family of the accused terrorists leave Melbourne Magistrates Court. Credit:Eddie Jim Ahmed Mohamed, a 24-year-old from Meadow Heights, was the third to appear in court. Mr Mohamed smiled at the women in court and one, wearing a niqab, began to cry and was supported by the other women. Women believed to be friends or family of the accused terrorists leave Melbourne Magistrates Court. Credit:Eddie Jim Ms Smith said Mr Mohamed had a pre-existing back injury and required prescription medication for his injury. All three men were remanded in custody without applying for bail and were scheduled to face court again on April 28. A woman speaking to police in Meadow Heights. Credit:Penny Stephens A fourth man, a 22-year-old from Broadmeadows, faced an out-of-sessions hearing on Friday evening. He was remanded to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Saturday morning. Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton with Premier Daniel Andrews, right, and Police Minister Lisa Neville, left. Another of those arrested was Zakaria Dabboussi, an IT worker from Gladstone Park. He was later released without charge. There were seven arrested in total after police stopped what police chief commissioner Graham Ashton said was a potential multi-mode attack at Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and St Paul's Cathedral. Police said Flinders St Station was a target of the planned attack. Credit:Pat Scala A 20-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man, both from Meadow Heights, were released without charge. Do you know more? Email scoop@theage.com.au The city has its attractions but it has also been the focus of planned terrorist attacks that were foiled. Credit:Scott Barbour Mr Ashton earlier said the attack, using "explosive devices" was "mostly likely" set to be carried out on Christmas Day. Apart from explosives, police also suspect guns and knives may have been used. Police said the suspects were "self-radicalised" but inspired by Islamic State. Turnbull: Substantial terror plot Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the planned attack was "one of the most substantial terrorist plots that have been disrupted in recent years". In strong words condemning the plot, Mr Turnbull said: "What these criminals seek to do is kill us but they also seek to frighten us, to get us to abandon our Australian way of life. "They want to divide Australians. We will not let them succeed. "I want to thank the men and women of the police in Victoria, the Australian Federal Police and ASIO and other agencies for their work in thwarting this terrorist activity, which was an Islamist terrorist plot inspired - as the Victorian police commissioner just observed a moment ago - by Daesh or ISIL," Mr Turnbull said in a press conference. He outlined that 12 major plots had now been disrupted since September 2014, when the terror threat level was raised to "probable", and 57 people charged as a result of 25 counter-terrorism operations. The level of threat remains the same. "This news will be of great concern to all Australians. We are approaching the Christmas season, a time when we come together in peace and love, with our families. We congregate in public places for Christmas, for New Year's Eve. It is a time of happiness and joy. "These terrorists sought to disrupt it. They have been thwarted. They are in custody. They are no longer a threat to Australians' security." Homes raided in Melbourne's north west Police said these men were Australian-born and in their 20s - except for one Egyptian-born man. Police said some had a Lebanese background. Chief Commissioner Ashton said police executed search warrants in Flemington, Meadow Heights, Dallas, Campbellfield and Gladstone Park overnight as part of Operation Kastleholm. The counter-terrorism operation also involved Australian Federal Police and ASIO. "These individuals have been persons of interest for some period of time," he said. "They're people we have been concerned about for a period of time." He said intelligence led police to step-up their investigation in the past fortnight. Surveillance of the suspects conducting reconnaissance at Federation Square lead them to believe the area was the intended target. "If this had gone under guard, this would have been a significant attack," Mr Ashton said. Mr Ashton said the raids had neutralised any terrorist threat to the city on Christmas Day. The raid found evidence an improvised explosive device was being constructed. "The attack had the potential to cause significant community harm," Mr Ashton said. "The community should be concerned but should be reassured that we have got on top of this particular issue. "The sort of threats that were presented really try to want us to cower before terrorism, but this is a clear example of where we don't cower before terrorism. We get on, we get out and enjoy Christmas, enjoy our new year." 'Separate the Muslim from terrorism' In an old housing estate in Meadow Heights, police have cordoned off a small cul-de-sac where investigators carried out a raid on Thursday evening. It's understood the raid took place in a converted garage attached to a home at the end of Manna Court. A neighbour, who declined to be named, said he noticed police cars descend on the area at about 10pm on Thursday. The working-class suburb north of Melbourne is home to a number of refugee families and the neighbour said he was annoyed that the alleged plot would shed Muslims in a bad light. "So if we could separate the Muslim from the terrorism that would be great, " he said. "In the past we have been called wogs and then that phased out. Then terrorism has brought the racism back. "We just need to be vigilant and peaceful. We should all help each other out and get these thugs out." Claims of excessive force The Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations has released a statement alleging "excessive force" and "intimidation" was used by police conducting the raids. "It's the same every time, there is an alleged plot and the raids are conducted in such a manner that the families are victimised and traumatised," said FAIR executive director Kuranda Seyit. "The police will refer this to the Professional Standards Review Committee and we will never hear anything more about the impact that these raids have on the women and children who live in the homes of these alleged offenders. "We condemn any act or preparation of an act of violence, however, our organisation's role is to keep Australia fair and to maintain a balanced and sensible approach to fighting terrorism, without trampling on our human rights or sacrificing our civil liberties in the process." It is understood Islamic leaders were being briefed by police on Friday. Islamic Friendship Association of Australia treasurer Keysar Trad said it was disappointing a few people were hearing a message that had "nothing to do with being a Muslim". "Our religion is meant to promote the security and safety of everybody," Mr Trad said. "We have to be thankful for the authorities that have been able to act quickly and, while we don't know the full details of the matter, I would much rather they err on the side of caution." Islamic Council of Victoria President Mohamed Mohideen said: "We condemn any form of attack." St Paul's Cathedral unshaken St Paul's Cathedral featured in an Islamic State propaganda video released last month. The footage, released on November 7, contained confronting images of beheadings, corpses and missiles in the Middle East, before a shot of Melbourne's cityscape appears. The scene is followed by a blast at a mosque and then images of Melbourne Airport and St Paul's, on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in the CBD. Melbourne was the only Australian city to feature in the 20-minute video, titled The Impenetrable Fortress. Services will proceed at St Paul's Cathedral as planned over Christmas. Very Reverend Dr Andreas Loewe, the Anglican Dean of Melbourne and St Paul's, urged Victorians tempted to point fingers to instead think of peace. "St Paul's is one of Melbourne's most iconic religious buildings, a symbol of faith in our city and we work very hard to promote a degree of reconciliation between different faith communities in our city," Dr Loewe said. "I believe this may well cast fears in peoples' hearts and minds and may well also point the finger at particular groups and I would want to encourage the people of Melbourne to enjoy their Christmas celebrations and to promote the values that Christmas stands for. "I would encourage people to celebrate Christmas wholeheartedly, confidently and with great joy and particularly at this time giving thanks for our police and those working tirelessly to keep us safe." Police numbers bolstered at events Extra police will be at major events in coming weeks including the Boxing Day test and Carols by Candlelight. Premier Daniel Andrews said the work of authorities had stopped a very serious matter and that there would be increased police presence at large gatherings. "These threats are not notional they are very real right across our city and our state," Mr Andrews said. "Victorians should go about their business; this is a very special time of the year." In an environment in which "we cannot mitigate all risk," the Prime Minister also called on people to keep their eyes open and "speak up" if they see or hear anything suspicious, urging them to report it to the national security hotline. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the arrests were concerning but echoed calls for Australians to enjoy the Christmas season as they normally would. "The few extremists in our community who would wish to disrupt the Australian way of life, they win when we give up." Federation Square venue managers shocked Federation Square venue managers have said they were shocked to learn the tourist hotspot was a target. Beer Deluxe venue manager James Curran said he felt "distressed" when he first heard the news. "Especially that it was planned for Christmas," he said. Mr Curran said he was expecting the day's trade to be quieter than usual as many CBD businesses had closed for the year. He said no one had called to cancel bookings. Elizabeth Velevski, manager of Federation Square restaurant Arintji, said she was "worried and concerned". "Everyone is living on the edge at the moment," she said. A staff member from Taxi Restaurant said staff arrived at work in shock. Loading A tenant who suffered a severe electric shock when he touched a live light fitting is suing the landlords and real estate agent, accusing them of not undertaking a $90 repair job despite a visit from an electrician. Michael Jack, 50, says he suffers constant headaches and speech and cognitive impairment following the incident, which happened on February 25 last year. Michael Jack in hospital after the electric shock. His wife says he is a "completely different person" unable to perform simple tasks. According to a writ filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday, an electrician visited the Rosebud home where Mr Jack and his wife, Clair, lived in early November 2014 after they requested that a fan be fixed because it was dangling and appeared unsafe. Berlin: The suspect in the Berlin terrorist attack was overheard by German intelligence offering to carry out a "suicide attack" several months ago, it was claimed on Thursday. However, no order was given to arrest Anis Amri and investigators wrote him off as an "errand boy". A surveillance team monitoring a well-known extremist preacher intercepted a call from Amri in which he made the offer, according to the highly respected Spiegel magazine. It was claimed last night that Amri had been seen entering a Berlin mosque that had been under police surveillance in the hours after the attack. Big Sky Economic Development reversed its support of a local option sales tax authority for the 2017 legislative session after criticism from Yellowstone County commissioners, who control the agencys budget. During its Dec. 8 meeting, Big Skys board, in a divided vote, walked back its earlier decision to support the local option tax authority that would give local governments the authority to ask voters to impose a sales tax up to 3 percent. That vote to remain neutral came after Yellowstone County Commissioners John Ostlund and Jim Reno raised concerns during Big Skys November meeting. Both commissioners have spoken against tax increases in the past. On Wednesday, Ostlund said he recognizes that Big Sky is an independent entity with its own board, but questioned whether it should weigh in on the local option. I just wonder if its prudent for them to take a tax policy decision thats contrary to the county commissioners, he said. The reversal is a blow to supporters of the local option authority, who were already facing an uphill battle in Helena when the biennial session begins Jan. 2. The proposal has failed to gain much traction in the Legislature in previous years. To come in at this late stage, after years of support of this item, its unnerving," said leading supporter John Brewer, president of the Billings Chamber of Commerce. "Its unfortunate that the commissioners look at this body as an extension of the government. When the board feels like theyre there representing the business community, not the needs of the commissioners. Brewer is a non-voting member of the Big Sky board. Big Sky Economic Development is the areas largest business-recruitment agency. It is funded through property taxes, federal grants, membership fees and other sources. Board members are appointed by Yellowstone County commissioners. The public arm of the group, Big Sky Economic Development Authority, received $1.3 million from public mill levies this year, about 49 percent of its total annual revenue. County commissioners control mill levy rates. In October, board members unanimously approved Big Skys legislative agenda, including supporting the local option tax authority. However, the meeting was held off-site at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel without proper public notice, so a revote was scheduled, said Steve Arveschoug, director of Big Sky Economic Development. Arveschoug noted that Big Sky has supported the local tax authority for the past three legislative sessions. The local option authority would help recruit more jobs and businesses to the area, he said. Youve got to find another tool if you want to get the most for your community. We cant rely on Helena or Washington, D.C., to write us a check, he said. He added that the agency would revisit the matter if a bill is introduced in the Legislature. Yellowstone County commissioners have not taken a formal position on the local option tax authority, though Ostlund and the outgoing Reno, both Republicans, have spoken against it. The third commissioner, Democrat Robyn Driscoll, said she would support expanding the resort tax to include cities like Billings and some concepts of the local option. She added that commissioners should not formally endorse until a bill is drafted in the Legislature. Denis Pitman, the Republican who will replace Reno next week, did not return a message Wednesday. Brewer said the chamber hasnt found a sponsor for a bill but is talking to several lawmakers. Two years ago, the local option authority never came to a vote because no sponsor was ever found. Gov. Steve Bullock, whose signature would be required for the bill, hasnt endorsed the local option, saying hed need to see the legislation first. The local option authority has gained supporters, including the Billings City Council, which voted 6-5 Dec. 12 to endorse. Other cities and entities statewide, including the Bozeman City Council, have also endorsed the local option authority. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Someone seems to be trying to drive a wedge between Kensingtons Muslims and their neighbors by amending signs posted along Church Avenue that read We love our Muslim neighbors with ones that say We love our infidel neighbors and describes such residents as filthy creatures that pollute their bodies with alcohol and pork. Local leaders think the new placards were probably some bigots attempt to make the areas large Bangladeshi community look bad, but say if they were put there by a Muslim, they will find out and turn them in to police. This is not what we want. I cant tell you 100 percent its someone who isnt Muslim, but its possibly someone from the outside whos trying to make us look bad, said Community Board 12 member and long-time Kensington resident Mamnunul Haq. If the person is Muslim, any legal action thats possible the person will face. The new signs were gone by Wednesday afternoon, but Haq plans to report then to the 66th Precinct and hopes officers there will be able to track down surveillance footage that show the signs as theyre being posted he said. Other residents are positive it will reveal the culprit is no follower of Muhammad. I read it and laughed, said Kensingtonian John Caminiti, who spotted one of the signs Tuesday night, and says he heard about several others. Obviously someone put it up whos not a Muslim. The We love our Muslim neighbors signs written in English, Arabic, and Bengali appeared along the thoroughfare following Donald Trumps election victory, which has many residents worried theyll be deported or persecuted because of their faith under the new administration. Caminiti says he has seen lots of support from non-Muslim residents towards their Islam-practising neighbors in the period since the election especially online. Social-media wise, Ive only seen really positive stuff, he said. But this is also not the only recent instance of hatred in the neighborhood a vandal scrawled F Allah in permanent marker in the Fort Hamilton Parkway subway station earlier this month. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams The girls are back in town! The city has finally replaced the Miss Brooklyn and Miss Manhattan statues that graced the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge for the first half of the 20th century unveiling rotating, light-up replicas at Flatbush Avenue and Tillary Street on Wednesday morning, as first reported by the New York Times. New Yorks master builder Robert Moses banished the iconic sculptures in the 1960s because he thought they only got in the way of traffic, said the artist behind the new effigies, but today we rightfully put such public artworks up on a pedestal in this case, literally! Robert Moses saw those sculptures as being an impediment to progress, and the new urban plan is thinking that art is something that would create or enhance an area, said Brian Tolle. Ive been getting e-mails from people who live in the area and are saying, Yay theyre here, Im so happy, theyre beautiful. Like the original idols now housed at the Brooklyn Museum chilled out Miss Brooklyn is depicted next to a tree and a child reading a book, while the more hoighty-toighty Miss Manhattan sits with her foot on a chest next to a peacock. But there are also some big differences the first editions are granite and sat on either side of the once-grand entrance to the bridge, while the new iterations are cast in a gleaming white acrylic and are located on top of a 24-foot pillar sticking out of a median, where they slowly spin around and emanate light at night. In a troubling development, that means the figures sometimes look toward Manhattan, where they were previously posed permanently in the correct position with their backs turned on the outer borough. Its no surprise then that some patriotic Brookylnites are unsure what to make of these new versions one said its yet to be seen whether theyre great works of art or just gimmicks. This may prove to just be one of those stupid things or it could be kind of exciting, fun, and entertaining for the community Im hoping its the latter, said Otis Pearsall, a Brooklyn Heights preservationist who sat on a panel that originally approved the project. The $450,000 project has been in the works for a decade, but was held up waiting for the necessary city approval to install the statues in the middle of heavily-congested thoroughfare, according to Tolle. That location is one of the most complicated locations around, he said. The new iterations have been in storage for the past two years, waiting for reconstruction of the gateway to the bridge to finish. But the delays ended up working in the projects favor, because in the meantime, people invented better-looking, longer-lasting light bulbs and acrylic materials than Tolle had originally planned on using. Because we had so many years, different technologies have come into common usage, he said. Sometimes things that take a long time benefit from having a long time. Local business group the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership will maintain the statues, a task that will involve periodically scrubbing them with soap and water, and replacing the motors every five years and the lights every 40,000 hours, the artist said. Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill @cngl ocal.com or by calling (718) 2602511. Follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill World Series collides with TNF: Both feature Philly, Houston teams Thursday will mark the seventh time a World Series game and NFL game involving teams from the same two cities will play on the same day. BELFIELD, N.D. A federal agency has ordered Belle Fourche Pipeline to improve leak detection, remediate any pipeline in unstable land areas and take other steps to protect the environment following an oil spill in a Little Missouri River tributary. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action order to Belle Fourche, part of True Companies of Wyoming, stemming from its investigation into the spill discovered Dec. 5 by a landowner northwest of Belfield. The company has estimated the spill released about 4,200 barrels, or 176,400 gallons, of oil. The spill contaminated about 4 miles of Ash Coulee Creek. The cause of the spill is still under investigation. The pipeline break occurred on a hillside that is slumping, which is part of the investigation. The proposed corrective action order requires Belle Fourche to take several steps prior to restarting the pipeline, including: Conduct daily aerial patrols of the affected segment of pipeline for the next 14 days, including the use of an infrared camera to locate any areas of potential oil leaks. Complete testing and analysis of the failed section of pipe within 90 days and submit a root cause failure analysis within 120 days. Conduct a risk assessment of steep slopes along the 58-mile pipeline route to determine if slope movement could damage the pipeline. Install leak detection equipment within six months, with a high priority placed on areas associated with the Little Missouri River and other water crossings more than 100 feet wide. Review the effectiveness of the companys emergency response as related to the failure. Failure to comply with the order could result in civil penalties. Yardley Friends Meeting at 65 N. Main Street in Yardley will host the documentary Organic Roots on Friday, November 18 at 7 p.m. Join director Al Johnson for a showing of this film followed by a discussion of the last 50 years of this movement. Organic foods are part of our life today and a tool in our concern for... Companies can hire UB students and have their salaries paid, too Rachel Killion, an intern in UBs Career Experience Program at Dimien, a company in the UB Technology Incubator. Credit: Douglas Levere, University at Buffalo. We want the companies to learn how great our students are, and to have that long-term onsite interview with the hope that they hire them at the end BUFFALO, N.Y. Hire a University at Buffalo student to work in your company part-time, and have their salaries paid by UBs New York State Centers of Excellence. Too good to be true, right? Thats the reaction Sandra Small, PhD, gets from companies. Small, a science education manager at the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS), has to convince some firms that its true. Theres no hitch. The students undergraduate or graduate are no cost labor for those companies that have appropriate jobs for them. The idea behind the Career Experience Program is to let students see the breadth of opportunities in Western New York, and to let companies see the quality and talent of UB students. We want the companies to learn how great our students are, and to have that long-term onsite interview with the hope that they hire them at the end, Small said. We also want to give our students an opportunity to learn about the companies in our region. A quarter of the students get hired Life sciences and advanced manufacturing companies are eligible, but the types of jobs they can offer are wide open. In addition to science and engineering students, others from the business school and elsewhere have helped with accounting, marketing, information technology, web design and other business needs. The program was designed to accept 20 life sciences companies and 20 materials science and advanced manufacturing firms, and that number has been growing. Since its inception four years ago, the program has expanded to 44 companies offering 54 positions this spring semester. Companies do the interviewing and hiring of students, who are paid $13 an hour for 144 to 180 hours of work per semester, which is 12 to 15 hours weekly. Some companies supplement the school subsidy so students can work more hours. Since the program started, 25 percent of the students have been hired either full or part time. Students can apply for the program more than once, but they are not allowed to work for the same company more than once. At ZeptoMetrix, a biosciences company on Main Street in Buffalo, students hired from the program have surpassed expectations. The three students weve had have been amazing, said Kelly Cycon, director of the companys virology department. Theyve learned so quickly. Theyve picked up things in a couple of weeks. ZeptoMetrix works with dangerous viruses and bacteria, so superb laboratory techniques are a must. Were training them how to pipette, how to work in a hood, how to work in a biosafety cabinet safely. They learn how to garb up to work in a bio-level 3 lab space, Cycon said. Securing an internship is not easy. The number of resumes that come in has increased exponentially. We started with a handful, and that grew to maybe 10 last year, and this year we received more than 30, Cycon said. Sharing and spreading knowledge The program is offered only in the spring semester. Companies are recruited in early September by CBLS and UBs New York State Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics. The next call for companies to submit postings will be early September 2017. Information will be here: www.buffalo.edu/bioinformatics. The burden of training a part-time employee can keep some companies from participating. Other barriers can be a vague job description that could be a warning sign the job would not be valuable to a student. Companies need to submit postings with clear goals, Small said. We want the students to learn. Companies may submit more than one posting for consideration, but as the popularity has grown, most companies have been limited to only one student. The value of the program can reach beyond the experience the students receive. As Cycon sees it, its about sharing and spreading knowledge. I always believe that science is a torch that needs to be passed on. You cant learn it from a book. You need a mentor to really teach you things, she said. And on the flip side its a great opportunity for the people in my department to have a chance to interact with these college kids and to impart their knowledge and teach them. It kind of works both ways. Campus News Weber named vice president for student life As vice president for student life, Scott Weber will lead more than 20 units dedicated to providing UBs 29,500 students with the support and resources they need to thrive at the university and beyond. Photo: Douglas Levere By JOHN DELLACONTRADA With Scotts knowledge of UBs academic and student life enterprises, his leadership acumen and incredible enthusiasm for all things UB, I believe our student life organization will continue to thrive and innovate under Scotts direction. A. Scott Weber has been named UBs vice president for student life after a very successful tenure as the universitys vice provost and dean of undergraduate education and, more recently, as senior vice provost for academic affairs. The announcement was made today by President Satish K. Tripathi, who cited Webers deep commitment to the university and UB students for the past 33 years. Webers appointment is effective Jan. 3. I am very excited that Scott will be leading our student life organization. With Scotts knowledge of UBs academic and student life enterprises, his leadership acumen and incredible enthusiasm for all things UB, I believe our student life organization will continue to thrive and innovate under Scotts direction, Tripathi said. As vice president for student life, Weber will lead more than 20 units at the university, each dedicated to providing UBs 29,500 students with the support and resources they need to thrive at the university and beyond. These include Campus Dining and Shops, Student Unions, Career Services, Student Health Services, Campus Living, Off-Campus Student Services, Veteran Services and Orientation, and Transition and Parent Programs. Accessibility Resources, Judicial Affairs and Student Advocacy, the Intercultural and Diversity Center, Wellness Education Services, and Fraternity and Sorority Life, are among other student activities and programs. I am humbled and honored to be asked by President Tripathi to serve in this new university role, Weber said. My whole career has focused on the student experience from enrollment through graduation and beyond, whether in the classroom, the laboratory or campus life. This new opportunity allows me to further expand my commitment to our students. While I certainly will miss my work and colleagues in academic affairs, I look forward to building on the successful partnerships that already exist between these units and across campus. Over the past six years as UBs vice provost and dean of undergraduate education and senior vice provost for academic affairs, Weber has provided leadership for academic service units and programs that support the academic experience across all levels of the university, including student enrollment, retention and success, undergraduate education and curriculum, graduate education, pedagogical innovation and student-focused communications. He has initiated or led successful innovations designed to enhance the academic experiences of students across the university, including formation and launch of UB Curriculum, the universitys new general education program, and creation and implementation of Finish in 4, the universitys nationally acclaimed program to help students earn their degrees in four years. Through the Finish in 4 program and prior university efforts, UBs four-year graduation rate has increased by more than 20 points over the past 10 years. Weber also established a new enrollment management division, which resulted in development of UBs winter session, record freshman enrollment and greater awareness of enrollment issues across campus. He revitalized and rebranded pedagogical innovation and assessment efforts through development of the Center for Educational Innovation and implementation of a university-wide course evaluation platform, and championed efforts to reimagine the delivery of high-impact undergraduate courses. Expansion of the Educational Opportunity Program, Honors College and the Undergraduate Academies also occurred under Webers leadership, and he directed university efforts to establish the Blackstone LaunchPad for enhancement of student and faculty business startups. Weber has helped lead transformational initiatives aimed at providing a better learning environment and greater service for all students, including the recently opened first phase of the Heart of the Campus on the third floor of the Silverman library and the launch of UBs student information system, HUB, in 2011. As chair of the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering from 2005-10, Weber guided the establishment of UBs transportation engineering program and the departments rise in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. His work in these areas and initiatives generated a sense pride and energy among UB students, faculty and staff in the department, Tripathi noted. Weber joined the UB faculty in 1983 and has been named professor of the year twice by the UB student chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. His teaching has focused on environmental engineering, with a specialization in process analysis and design for soil and water bioremediation. His research efforts are directed toward biodegradation of chemicals in water and soil, particularly pharmaceuticals, and the reclamation of environmentally impacted sites known as brownfields. Weber received his BS in civil engineering in 1977 and an MS in sanitary engineering in 1978 from Virginia Tech. In 1983 he earned a PhD in civil engineering from the University of California, Davis. Bank employee admits role in scheme that targeted South Jersey cash Feds say call-center workers took customers' ID and account information, then used that to take their cash. WILLISTON, N.D. North Dakota employment experts predict demands for oil field workers will only become more intense in 2017. The state's core oil-producing counties, including Williams, McKenzie, Divide and Mountrail, have about 1,300 job openings across all sectors. It's unclear if President-elect Donald Trump's administration moves are having a direct effect on hiring plans in the industry, but it is boosting optimism for many of the oil and gas producing companies. "I think there is a tremendous amount of guarded optimism," Alan Olson, spokesman for Montana Petroleum Association, said. "And it is a chance, there again, to make hay while the sun shines and take advantage of where prices are going and see what we can do." But he said companies should be prepared, in case there is a turnaround. Cindy Sanford at the Job Service North Dakota office in Williston said the largest uptick is for hydraulic fracturing crews, which average between 45 and 65 people per crew. Sanford said recruiters from two large oil field services companies, Schlumberger and Oil States, stopped by the Job Service office this week. Joe Erickson, CEO of E & M Services, said his company is among those currently seeking experienced help. Erickson's company recently put together programs to pair inexperienced workers with mentors in the oil field to train up any new hires that have less experience. "We have been hiring well over a couple months now," Erickson said. "So we have definitely seen an influx of work coming our way." A recent U.S. Geological Survey study estimates that the Wolfcamp formation in West Texas' Permian Basin contains 20 billion barrels of oil, and other associated liquids like natural gas. The estimate is three times the 2013 estimate U.S. Geological Survey prepared on the Bakken and Three Forks, making North Dakota's shale play the second largest in the nation, behind the Permian. WATFORD CITY, N.D. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued serious safety violations to three companies after an investigation into a flash fire at a North Dakota oil well site last June that killed one worker and severely burned three others near Watford City. OSHA issued citations to the wells operator, XTO Energy, and the two servicing companies, Most Wanted Well Service and Sherwood Enterprises, following the investigation of the June 18 incident. Investigators determined that the employers failed to maintain well control, which resulted in the release of hydrocarbons causing an explosion and subsequent flash fire. Johnny Stassinos, 52, Rock Springs, Wyo., died from his injuries after falling during the incident. Three other workers, Daniel Montes, 28, Fruita, Colo., Richard Maheu, 27, Rock Springs, and Justin Pyle, 40, Grand Junction, Colo., were injured. Employers who are directly involved in well servicing operations must coordinate their actions to ensure well control is maintained at all times. Failing to do so can result in catastrophic consequences such as this case where one man lost his life and three others suffered debilitating burns, said Eric Brooks, OSHAs area director in Bismarck. Communication between the host employer and all contractors is critical in working safely at any site. OSHA also found that Most Wanted Well Service failed to provide flame retardant clothing to employees exposed to flash fire hazards. The employees for the servicing company wore non-flame retardant rain gear as their outermost layer on the day of the incident, the OSHA citation states. OSHA proposes $24,942 in fines for Most Wanted Well Service, based in Rock Springs. XTO Energy, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, and Sherwood Enterprise, Big Piney, Wyo., each face a proposed fine of $12,471. The companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA or contest the findings. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. Japanese telco had another active year as one of the continents most prolific investors. From seed stage to series F, funded startups in ride-hailing, virtual reality, real estate, and more. A leading Indian hotel firm, Mfar Group of Hotels will invest $150 million to develop a high end resort for well heeled tourists in Maldives. The Mfar Group of Hotels, which has around 700 rooms altogether in India and Oman, has acquired an island for building the resort. "We have just acquired an island measuring six hectares in land area, and we have the permission to reclaim land up to 30 hectares. We got the land on a 15-year lease from the government," P Mohammed Ali, owner of the firm, told the Times of Oman newspaper. Ali said Maldives has a great potential for hotel and tourism industry and provides opportunities for investment in the financial, infrastructure and tourism sectors. The resort will be a combination of villas on the land as well as villas built on stilts in the lagoon. The shareholders of Tata Steel on Wednesday voted on the proposal to oust Nusli Wadia, an independent director on its board, following a request from Tata Sons, the companys principal shareholder. National Company Law Tribunal on Thursday refused to hear the plea for interim relief of Cyrus Investments company pending disposal of a petition filed by family-owned of Cyrus Mistry, the ousted Chairman of Tata Sons, alleging bad practices, oppression and mismanagement in the holding company. A division bench of NCLT comprising B S V Prasad Kumar (Member-Judicial) and V Nallasenapathy (Member-Technical) decided to finally hear the petition filed by Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Corporation Ltd, on January 31 and February 1 next year, saying it would not consider granting interim relief now or entertain interim proceedings. The bench asked Respondent no 11, Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, to file a reply to the petition within a week from today (December 22). It also directed Tata Sons and other respondents to file a reply within 15 days, after Mistry files a reply. They have been asked to respond to Mistry's reply and the petition. The NCLT directed the petitioner to file a rejoinder a fortnight thereafter. The bench made it clear that instead of hearing the parties on the point of interim relief, it would hear the matter expeditiously and give an order in about a month. With the consent of the parties, it then fixed January 31 and February 1 next year for hearing the matter and deciding expeditiously. The NCLT also asked the parties to argue first on the maintainability of the petition and then on the merits. Mistry's family-owned had moved the NCLT under sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act that deals with relief in case of oppression and powers of the tribunal to act in such cases, respectively. Mistry, who was removed as the Chairman of Tata Sons, continues to be on the board of the holding company. Mistry's family holds over 18 per cent in Tata Sons while Tata Trusts headed by Ratan Tata, the newly appointed interim Chairman, has a 66 per cent stake. The petition, argued by senior counsel A Sundaram, urged the tribunal to direct Tata Sons and its Interim Chairman Ratan Tata not to remove Cyrus Mistry from the board of the holding company and other Tata Group companies until the petition is finally heard and disposed of. Does creativity grow best when the noise of the world is shut out? A group of Central Catholic High School students and their teacher, Lisa Fine, are about to find out. The 24-Hour Art Challenge on Dec. 28 and 29 at Central will bring together 40 art and video students for a 24-hour lock-in at the school over Christmas break. Being at school over the long holiday break may not appeal to all students, but the art students that Fine hand-picked for the challenge are pretty excited. Each artist is paired with a videographer, who will work under the director of Central history teacher Shane Fairbanks. While 20 students are painting and drawing, the other 20 students will chronicle the story of how a piece of art is born. The videos are an interesting component to the project. Seldom do we get the chance to see and hear the story of a work of art. The public will get the chance to view and buy the student artwork during the Feb. 3 ArtWalk at Clark Marten Photography, 2606 Montana Ave. Each piece will be paired with an iPad featuring a video chronicling the creative process. The project will also be featured in an exhibit at the Yellowstone Art Museum in 2017. Its the perfect mix of creative students, innovative art teacher, and a supportive local business. In fact, Rudi Marten, of Clark Marten, is the one who came up with the idea. Marten said he read about a 24-hour photography challenge where established photographers were given 24 hours to shoot an iconic photo. He had worked with Fine on photo projects and knew her to be a dynamic teacher who might embrace this new project. Did she ever. Ive been in the district for 16 years. They're getting used to my wild and crazy ideas, Fine said. Marten is working at getting the frames together and plans to mount them before the show so there will be a big reveal during ArtWalk. The library will be turned into a sleeping room and parents and others are asked to bring snacks and meals for the students. Let everyone know about this challenge so they can support you, Fine told her students. James Standish, a junior at Central, wants to be an animator because he enjoys drawing faces with exaggerated expressions. Hes excited about developing his piece without distractions. Mentally, you can get into the track when you have this much time, Standish said. Isaac Trafton, also a junior, will video Standish's efforts. "I plan to give him ideas if he needs them. Sometimes students might have a mental block," Trafton said. Students will be given 24 X 30 inch heavyweight paper to embellish. Art supplies will be provided and students are assigned an area in the school they can turn into their studio for the night. There was talk of energy drinks and coffee to help them stay awake, but mostly the students are relying on friends. Brittany Curtiss, a senior, said her friend, Niccole Hamwey, a junior, will help her with inspiration while she videos Curtiss at work. I usually draw animals, but I dont know what Im doing yet, Curtiss said. If I get stuck, shell help me out. It's an interesting challenge that may only work for the young or the artistic. But imagine what we could all accomplish if we were given 24 uninterrupted hours. Private equity firm has made a final close of $415 million in its third round of funding. The PE firm, which invested in 23 across India, Indonesia and Malaysia, from its last two funds has added two new geographies and two coverage sectors for the new fund. Anand Narayan, Senior Managing Director, Advisors India, which advises in its investments in India and South Asia, has confirmed the development adding that it took about a year to raise the money from the LPs. With this Creador has cumulatively raised about $900 million in about 5 years across three funds. "This successful performance is a testament to Creadors focussed approach in its target geographies and strong value creation for its LPs. The third fund took about a year, which was reasonably a good achievement at the current environment," he adds. Creador has backed such as City Union Bank, Somany Ceramics, Vectus Industries and others. Unlike its peers, Creador has been returning to the LPs more often with good track record (returns), says an industry analyst. Is premium economy becoming a trouble for Vistara? The board of Tata Sons, the largest stakeholder in the airline, certainly feels so and have even asked the airline management to discontinue the service if it proves to be unviable. The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a notice of impleadment to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, on a petition moved earlier by Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd. challenging a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendation to impose a Rs 1,050 crore penalty on the telecom major for failures to provide points of inter-connection with other mobile service providers. The October 21 TRAI recommendation to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for levy of the Rs 50 crore penalty in each of the 21 circles, comes on the backdrop of a complaint made by Ltd. alleging Vodafone's refusal to comply with license conditions as prescribed. Following the complaint, the telecom company had been issued a show cause notice for non-compliance on September 27 and asked to respond to it within 10 days. Monday, October 24, is a day former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry is unlikely to forget. The minutes of that days board meeting, which were included in Cyrus Mistrys petition submitted to the National Company Law Tribunal, throw light on Mistrys ouster. The governments proposal to add stents to Schedule-1 of the Drug Price Control Order has not been received well by multinational manufacturers. Shareholders of Tata Motors gathered today to vote on the resolution seeking the removal of the companys independent director Nusli Wadia at the extraordinary general meeting, a day after over 90% voted in favour of his ouster from Tata Steel. Leading telecom player said it would extend its SuperNet 4G network to 2,400 towns nationwide by March 2017. In the next one month, the telecom operator aims to make its 4G mobile services available in 17 circles across the country, which account for 90 per cent of its service revenue. A woman, posing as a police inspector, and his male associate have been arrested for allegedly looting Rs 2 crore belonging a diamond jeweller, police said today. The complainant, Kamal Kultiya, told police that he had given Rs 2 crore in for exchange to his landlord Mukesh Garg that was taken from him at Pitampura by three persons, including a woman who posed as a police inspector, on December 8. Garg said the woman posing as police inspector in plainclothes and her accomplices intercepted him and accused him of carrying black money and took the bag containing and threatened him. A case was registered at Maurya Enclave police station and an investigation was launched. Police managed to arrest the accused Dipak Goyal and recovered Rs 15 lakh of the money from his Pitampura house, DCP (North West) Milind Dumbere said. His female accomplice Ratna Behl was arrested at his instance. A pistol and five live cartridges were recovered from her. Efforts are being made to arrest other accused in the case, he added. Helena writer Brian DAmbrosio, author of the new book Shot in Montana, picks his Top 5 movies filmed in Montana: 1. Northfork, a 2003 film by Mark and Michael Polish, was shot in the Glasgow area and includes iconic views of the Fork Peck Dam. DAmbrosio called the film a visionary epic set that goes deeper than constructing a dam and displacing a Montana town. Its got angels, the death of a family and a cemetery being moved. There are so many parables in it and gorgeous shots of Fort Peck Dam. Its the most visually interesting film. 2. The 2013 film, Winter in the Blood, transposes the late Montana author James Welchs book into a story fit for the big screen. It is directed by Alex and Andrew Smith, Montana natives who grew up living near James and Lois Welch. DAmbrosio points out that Welchs book is so popular it has never been out of print because the story is so authentic. 3. The 1971 film, Evel Knievel, features George Hamilton in the title role. After portraying the larger-than-life Knievel, Hamilton dubbed the Butte native the father of extreme sports. To see George Hamilton portray Knievel with Butte in the background thats a treasure, DAmbrosio said. 4. The 1992 drama A River Runs Through It, starring Brad Pitt and directed by Robert Redford, is as iconic as any film could possibly be, DAmbrosio said. Many fly fishing guides have had requests from clients to go to spots on the river so they could look at where Brad Pitts character cast his fly line in the film. 5. Damnation Alley, a post-apocalyptic World War III story with exploding cockroaches and other epic scenes, was shot in Lakeside and Bigfork in 1976. Flathead Lake fills the part of New Yorks shore where the surviving souls are saved. The $7.2 million budget for the film, including assembling a 12-foot-all-terrain Landmaster." It gives you the chance to see a 20,000-pound Tonka truck driving across a frozen pond, DAmbrosio said. In an amazing never-ever action, the CBI arrested a former Chief of Air Staff, S P Tyagi, on December 9, and remanded him to judicial custody. This astonishing development has shocked most people especially those who have proudly worn, or are, putting on this countrys uniform. The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a Kolkata-based businessman in connection with alleged coversion of over Rs 25 crore in old currency in new notes as part of its probe under money laundering laws after demonetisation. Officials identified the businessman as Paras M Lodha and said he was arrested by the agency late Wednesday night after he was questioned in the case. They said he was first intercepted by its sleuths at the Mumbai airport yesterday, based on a look out circular, while he was reportedly trying to fly out. They said the agency arrested him "in connection with conversion of more than Rs 25 crore of old notes to new notes in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases." ED will produce Lodha in a court to obtain his further custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). While the Reddy case pertains to Chennai where the Income Tax department has made the biggest detection of unaccounted income of over Rs 142 crore, the Delhi Police and the I-T seized Rs 13.5 crore from a law firm here. The firm belongs to lawyer Rohit Tandon. Reddy was yesterday arrested by the CBI. Officials said the multiple agencies working on these two high-profile cases, involving high ranking individuals, are joining dots of the investigations to prepare a water tight case against those who have either hoarded or generated black funds in the wake of the currency scrap of November 8 by the government. The Economic Enforcement (ED) on Thursday attached assets to the tune of Rs 1,250 crore, including eight hotels and a Rolls Royce luxury car, in connection with its money laundering probe in the case where thousands of people were allegedly cheated in West Bengal and Odisha. Officials said the agency issued a provisional attachment order for seizing hotels of the group located in Jaipur (Rajasthan), Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Panaji (Goa), Haridwar (Uttarakhand), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Silchar (Assam) and Kolkata (two hotels) and a fleet of a dozen cars which included a Rs 5-crore worth Rolls Royce. "The deed value of the attached assets is about Rs 465 crore but the market value of the same is Rs 1,250 crore. The attachment order has been issued," they added. The agency had registered a criminal FIR against the firm, its Chairman Gautam Kundu and others in 2014 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Kundu was last year arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from here and he is currently in judicial custody. The agency has earlier issued four attachment orders in this case for assets worth over Rs 500 crore and separate ED charge sheets have been filed in courts in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. An attachment order under PMLA laws is aimed to deprive the accused from getting benefits of their ill-gotten wealth. It had, hence, registered a criminal FIR against the firm and its owners in 2014 under PMLA. The ED, under criminal provisions of the PMLA, had earlier attached 2,631 bank accounts of the Rose Valley group containing Rs 295 crore. The group had allegedly floated a total of 27 companies for running the alleged chit fund operations out of which only half-a-dozen were active. It is alleged that the firm had floated the scheme by promising inflated returns on investments between 8 and 27 per cent to gullible investors in various states. The company had allegedly promised astronomical returns to depositors on land properties and assets and bookings done in the real estate sector. It is alleged that the company had made "cross investments" in its various sister firms to suppress its liabilities towards investors. SEBI had probed the company before ED and CBI registered cases against the group. The ED has pegged the total volume of the alleged irregularities at Rs 15,000 crore. CRPF personnel being deployed outside the Anna Nagar, the residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao who had come under I-T scanner in Chennai (Photo: PTI) China's official media on Thursday warned India against using the Dalai Lama "card", saying New Delhi should stop behaving like a "spoilt kid" and learn lessons from how China handled Donald Trump after the US President-elect challenged 'One-China' policy. "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world.' India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is shortsighted," an article in the state-run Global Times said. It said India "should draw some lessons from the recent interactions between Beijing and Trump over Taiwan." "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent countermeasures, and must have understood that China's bottom line- sovereign integrity and unity- is untouchable," the paper said. While the article did not elaborate on counter measures, China besides protesting to Trump over his phone call to the Taiwanese President and his comments questioning One-China policy, also seized an "unmanned underwater vehicle" in the disputed South China Sea, the first such incident in the area. The drone was returned subsequently after protests from US and Trump, an incident seen as an attempt by China to flex its muscles ahead of the President-elect taking over office next month. The drone operated by a US survey vessel in the South China Sea was seized by a Chinese navy ship. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage?," the article sounding strident in it tone and tenor said, referring to India going to Mongolia's assistance by granting USD one billion aid after Beijing imposed a blockade in retaliation to Ulaanbaatar hosting Dalai Lama last month despite China protests. The Mongolian Ambassador to India had sought New Delhi's help to overcome China's counter measures. However, the Mongolian government has given in and pledged that it will never invite Dalai Lama again. Congress Vice President on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking kickbacks of Rs 65 crore from corporate houses during his stint as Chief Minister of Gujarat and demanded an independent inquiry into the charge. The BJP denied the allegation, terming it as an attempt to divert attention from the AgustaWestland probe in which the names of Congress leaders and the "family" were surfacing, while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought a Supreme Court-monitored probe and the Congress said Modi should get a fair probe undertaken into the charge. Addressing a public rally in north Gujarat, Modi's home district, Gandhi said: "It is on the records of the Income Tax department that Modi received money from the Sahara Group nine times in six months (in 2013-14)." Rolling out dates when Modi allegedly received money from the Sahara Group (Rs 5 crore seven times and Rs 2.5 crore twice), he said: "The Income Tax Department has this record from the Sahara Group's diary for the last two and a half years and has recommended an inquiry. "Narendra Modiji, tell us whether this allegation is true or not, order an independent investigation into this and come clean. You have made the entire country stand in queues for days. Now speak the truth," Gandhi said to applause by the huge crowd. "This is not all. There is one more record of the Birla Group (with the Income Tax Department). 'Gujarat CM (to be paid) Rs 25 crore, Rs 12 crore paid, the rest?' This is what is written there. According to Gandhi, the kickbacks became known after an Income Tax raid on November 22, 2014 on the Sahara group when their records were seized, he said. Gandhi said there were entries which showed that on October 30, 2013, Rs 2.5 crore was given to Modi, on November 12, Rs 5 crore, on November 27, Rs 2.5 crore and on November 29, another Rs 5 crore was handed over to him. The allegations levelled by Gandhi were earlier taken to the Supreme Court by noted advocate Prashant Bhushan. Kejriwal, who has also been making the same allegations at public rallies, sought a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the charges. He also asked Modi to resign until he was cleared of the charges -- like veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani did in 1996 after being linked to a Hawala scandal. Kejriwal said he was the first to expose the bribery in the Delhi assembly on November 15 this year and had since been doing so at one public rally after another across the country. He said the Supreme Court should take suo moto cognizance of the matter and set up a "fully independent" Special Investigation Team (SIT) with all powers to probe the charges against Modi. Flashing what he claimed were Income Tax department papers, including four volumes of an Appraisal Report, Kejriwal said one of the corporate houses paid Modi Rs 40 crore in instalments. Documents seized in the premises of another corporate house showed that a part of a Rs 25 crore bribe was given to Modi, he said. "The nation has been betrayed," Kejriwal said in New Delhi, referring to how Modi led the BJP to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on the promise of fighting corruption by the Congress. "But they turned out to be more corrupt than the Congress," he said. Hours after Gandhi made the allegation, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress leader was "frustrated" by repeated electoral losses. "I condemn the shameful, baseless allegations of . People will never believe it," he said. Citing the Agusta Westland scam, he said that Gandhi was trying to divert attention from the case that recently returned to the limelight following a report in a daily. "Names of Congress leaders are surfacing in the AgustaWestland scam. His family's name has surfaced in the scam in Italy, and investigation is on here in India as well. "He has given this statement to divert attention from the scam," Prasad added. Within an hour of the BJP press conference, Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the BJP was "perturbed" and that "they did not answer whether or not Modi took money". He sought a probe, but added: "CBI cannot probe the Prime Minister." While not demanding Modi's resignation directly, Surjewala cited the example of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who had resigned when the office of profit issue came up in 2006, and Advani resigning following allegations of his involvement in the infamous Hawala scam. --IANS bns/vd/dg Union Home Minister on Thursday came down heavily on the governments of Manipur and Nagaland for failing to resolve the economic blockade on the Highway-2, which has throttled the supply of essential goods to the two states. In a scathing letter to Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, said the state government had taken no steps to ensure that the NH-2 is kept open or at least movement of convoy is made despite MHA officials being in constant touch with state officials. "As you are well aware, 'law and order' is a subject which falls under the state government by virtue of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution. Government of India can only assist the state government, in case such assistance is required and asked for. MHA has responded to the request for deployment of extra forces in Manipur to assist state forces and 30 convoys have been made available to the state government for this purpose," the letter read. "For the sake of people of Manipur, I call upon you to discharge these constitutional obligations with utmost promptness, while reiterating Government of India's commitment to support your forces in keeping NH-2 open," it added. Similarly, in a strongly worded letter to Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang, said, "There have been some reports of the NSF calling for blockage of vehicles even in the portion of NH2 which passes through Nagaland." "I would request you to ensure that there is no disturbance of movement of vehicles going through your state, to enable supplies to pass safely through your state," it added. Having hit a seemingly dead-end in the Rs 13,860 crore of undisclosed income case, Income Tax (I-T) department is planning to file a police complaint against Ahmedabad-based real estate dealer who had declared the amount under income disclosure scheme (IDS) in late September this year. I-T officials stated that the department had not been able to gather any authentic information from Shah who has not been co-operating with it in the evidence. On May 16, the day the J Jayalalithaa assumed office in Tamil Nadus capital after returning to power in 2011, was appointed secretary in the Chief Ministers Office. Santosh Bavash, 30, said he knew about the Internet. Ive heard it tells you about the future, he told IndiaSpend when we spoke to the short and thin labourer, from the village of Gyanpura, in the western district of Dhar, in Madhya Pradesh (MP), one of Indias poorest states. After the withdrawal of Rs 14 lakh crore86% by value of Indian currency in circulationthe government has pushed for digital payments to counter the lack of notes in the economy. Of the 28 tribals IndiaSpend met in a state with more tribals than any other, all but two had a bank account (92.8%), 17 had a personal cell phone and knew how to use it (60.7), six owned an ATM card and knew how to use it (21.4%), and two knew about the Internet (7.1%), an indication of the the gulf between Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of a digital or cashless economy and the reality in Indias most disadvantaged areas. India has 104 million tribals, 8.6% of the total population. MP has 14.69% of Indias tribal population (15.3 million). Tribals have lower access to banking services, lower income, education levels, and health outcomes than the rest of the population, according to data from Census 2011, and the socio-economic caste census. Source: Census 2011 Why tribals are more unprepared than other Indians for the cashless era A small group of men and women sat on a raised platform, as a child played on a makeshift swing hanging from a tree. To one side lay farmland, to the other, houses. This was the village of Footiya, in the MP district of Jhabua, along the border with Gujarat. Footiya is inhabited predominantly by adivasis, or tribals, and does not have a post office, a cooperative or commercial bank, an ATM, or a public phone booth, according to information from Census 2011. Zumla (he uses only one name), a tall, well-built man with a white moustache, also sat under the tree. He said he had had a bank account for years now, but rarely used it because he had little money to deposit into the account, and because going to a bank took very long. It takes him an hour to walk to the nearest bank branch, about 6 km from the village, he said. I am anguthachaap, Zumla, a Bhil tribal with a white turban, added in Hindi, using the term for a thumb impression, a sign of illiteracy. I use a chequebook (he meant passbook) to put in money and take out money, but I dont know how to use an ATM, said Zumla, dressed in a grey shirt paired with a white dhoti tied above the knees. If I cant read, how do I know what buttons to press? The district of Jhabuaover 91% of all households here are classified as scheduled tribe, the term in the Indian constitution for tribalshas one of the lowest rural literacy levels in the state. Less than half of the population in the district (40.1%), and less than one third of the women (29.8%), in rural areas is literate, according to 2011 Census data. HELENA A divide between officials in different divisions of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks likely contributed to the termination of the state parks administrators employment Tuesday, the chairman of the board that oversees Montana State Parks said. An email sent to FWP staff Tuesday said State Parks Administrator Chas Van Genderen is no longer employed by the department, effective immediately, the Associated Press reported. The email's author, FWP chief of staff Paul Sihler, wrote that Van Genderen's departure after eight years is a personnel issue and he will not comment on it, according to the AP. On Wednesday, Montana State Parks and Recreation Board Chairman Tom Towe said the decision to part ways was not mutual, and he heaped praise on Van Genderen. I can say this, Chas was terminated. He didnt leave on his own free will, Towe said. Im very disappointed because Chas knew the park business extremely well. He knows the parks and he knows Montana and he was probably the most dynamic parks director weve ever had. The board's Vice Chair Mary Sexton said she appreciated Van Genderens leadership and dedication, but she declined to discuss the personnel matter further. Towe believes the termination likely came out of long-running and well-documented friction between the Parks Division and the often higher-profile fish and wildlife divisions of FWP, but emphasized that he was not privy to specific grievances presented as part of Tuesdays termination. Ive worked very closely with the board, and we were very much aware of the schism in the department, he said. If theres anything wrong with Chas, it may be that he pushes parks too hard. FWP Director Jeff Hagener told the Independent Record in 2014 that generating funding for parks is often challenging, as access to outdoor recreation is plentiful in the state. Its been a discussion over the years, asking if parks gets its due with so many issues going on with hunting and fishing, he said. Hagener is retiring from FWP this year. A new director has not been announced. Van Genderen has been outspoken about challenges stemming from a lack of funding for state parks, compared to other states. He also spearheaded a new strategic plan, which includes ongoing analysis of prioritizing funding for premier parks such as Lewis and Clark Caverns and Makoshika. Exploring shifting funding from lesser-known parks and looking at potentially putting some state parks into county or city ownership has been controversial but necessary, Van Genderen has said, to develop a sustainable parks system. Montana State Parks has looked at ways to split with or become more independent of FWP. Ideas that have been floated in recent years include a move to the Department of Commerce or attaching State Parks to FWP for administrative purposes. Towe said discussions and analysis among Montana State Parks, FWP and the governors office ultimately kept the board from pursuing those moves. But Rep. Bradley Hamlett, D-Cascade, is introducing a bill this session that would put the board in charge of hiring the parks administrator, instead of the FWP director. Hamlett said he was not asked by FWP to bring the legislation, and the bill is a product of his own observations in dealing with the department. I think parks and fish and wildlife have separate missions, and they would both be better if they were more independent, he said. Fish and wildlife needs to concentrate on fish and wildlife, and parks needs to concentrate on getting people into the outdoors. Towe said he likes and has had a good working relationship with both Van Genderen and Hagener. Hagener was appointed in 2000 as director under Gov. Judy Martz. In 2009, Gov. Brian Schweitzer dismissed him and appointed Joe Maurier to head the department. Gov. Steve Bullock brought Hagener back in 2012. Van Genderen moved to the head of State Parks under Maurier, and Towe believes that divide has never been fully repaired. Why a few days before the director says hes retiring he chooses to do this that bothers me and Im very concerned about this, Towe said, adding that he is hopeful a new director will consider rehiring Van Genderen. Attempts to contact Van Genderen were not successful. FWP spokesman Ron Aasheim said any decisions about moving Montana State Parks to another department would have to be made by the Legislature, and that he could not discuss matters pertaining to personnel. Bullock also declined to comment on Van Genderen in a meeting with the Missoulian editorial board Wednesday, saying it was a personnel matter. On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withdrew its previous directive that required deposits above Rs 5,000 in old currency notes be justified to two bank officers. To understand the impact of this move, Business Standard spoke to the HARVINDER SINGH, general secretary of the All India Bank Officers Confederation. Raw materials like cotton, iron ore and copper, long a hallmark of Indian exports to neighbouring China has come under increasing scrutiny as both governments, as well as exporters, try to shift exports towards value-added products in a bid to cap growing trade deficit. While Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier said that exports' focus should shift from raw materials, her ministry has identified key sectors such as hardware, electronics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, auto components, to realign and boost exports. The I-T department today said it had carried out at least 43 search and survey operations across Gujarat post-demonetisation and unearthed as well as assets worth Rs 73.09 crore, including new currency of Rs 3.53 crore. According to Director General of Investigations, I-T, Gujarat, P C Mody, as many as 30 searches and 13 surveys were carried out in different parts of the state after the Centre scrapped high value currency notes on November 8. "During our searches we have seized cash as well as assets worth Rs 22.93 crore, including Rs 3.53 crore in new currency. During our survey operations, people have admitted of an unaccounted income of Rs 50.16 crore," said Mody at press conference here today. The senior I-T official also informed the reporters that the department today visited Memnagar branch of a private bank to verify information related to transactions being done using dummy accounts. "We only did verification upon receiving an input that transactions were made using some suspected dummy bank accounts. We have collected some documents from the bank. Further investigation is still on," said Mody. Commenting on the issue of Mahesh Shah, who had declared Rs 13,860 crore under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) and then claimed that the cash declared by him belonged to others, Mody said he will be called again for questioning. "We will call him again for questioning. I want to assure you that whatever action as per the law deserves to be taken will be taken," said Mody. Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Gujarat, B D Gupta told reporters that Shah along with his Chartered Accountant Tehmul Sethna may face criminal proceedings for misleading the department. "As of now, he has not revealed any names. We may file a complaint against Shah and his CA under IPC for filing false declaration. We have submitted a report to higher authorities in this regard. You will be informed very soon about our next step," Gupta told reporters at the I-T headquarter here. 67-year-old Shah, a property dealer, shot into limelight after he declared Rs 13,860 crore under IDS which closed on September 30. Later, Shah claimed that he was used a 'front' by some persons in declaring that money. Shah was supposed to pay Rs 1,560 crore as the first installment on the . Though November 30 was the last date, he failed to deposit the money, prompting officials to cancel his declaration and start an inquiry. J Sekhar Reddy, arrested on Wednesday after the seizure of Rs 134.5 crore in cash and 177 kilo in gold bars from his possession by income tax officials in Tamil Nadu 10 days earlier, was little known to the outside world until sworn in as a member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) board on May 2, 2015. As the government pushes for cashless transactions in the agri-economy, so far, over 213,000 farmers have activated mobile banking accounts and about 81,000 farmers are now using e-wallet across India. The government hopes that the numbers would double in the next one to two months. In an aggressive speech, with oodles of sarcasm thrown in, more reminiscent of his election campaign speeches in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister today equated opponents of note ban of trying to shield the corrupt, just as Pakistan starts firing on Indian border posts to distract Indian Army so that infiltrators can sneak into Jammu and Kashmir under its cover. Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel will now appear before the parliamentary standing committee on finance on January 18, 2017 to brief the parliamentarians on the impact of . It seems like a battle of numbers between the Reserve Bank of India and the world of digital cash players. While the RBI numbers suggest a decline in digital transactions after demonetisation, digital wallet and payment companies argue that the central bank has failed to capture the full universe. Facing intense criticism, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday withdrew rules that required bank customers to make deposits of above Rs 5,000 in old currency notes at one go and only after satisfying officials with reasons for not doing so earlier. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, comprising the Union finance minister and state representatives, mainly their finance ministers, cleared most of the draft model Bill on Thursday. Overseeing 12 years of work on such controversial and passionately debated issues as grizzly bears, wolves and bison has worn Jeff Hagener down. Last month, Hagener told Gov. Steve Bullock that he was retiring as Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks director, having served under three governors. His last day in office was Monday. Jeff will certainly be missed, Bullock said. Hes been great. Next to the governor, his is the most difficult job in the state, said Bruce Farling, executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited. Montanans are passionate about this stuff. Bullock praised Hagener's work on sage grouse, expanding hunting and working on delisting of grizzly bears. Were currently in the process of trying to fill Jeffs extremely large shoes, Bullock said. Montana-born Hagener, a 62-year-old Havre native, was first appointed to the FWP directors position by Republican Gov. Judy Martz in 2001. He had been working at what was then the state lands department. When Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, took office in 2005, he kept Hagener on for four years before replacing him with Joe Maurier, the governors college roommate. Maurier reorganized the department and, with Schweitzers guidance, moved to acquire more land as public access to private property declined. The large land purchases some of which were clouded by accusations of favoritism led to sour relations with Eastern Montana legislators and landowners. Maurier was a disaster, said Sen. John Brenden, R-Scobey, a frequent critic of FWP. They were running FWP out of the governors office. Brenden said FWPs relations with some landowners was so bad during the Maurier era that many were considering locking out public hunters in protest. Greedy, minority sporting groups were screwing it up for general hunters, Brenden said, but Hagener has helped rebuild some trust. When I would differ with Jeff, it was in a professional way, Brenden said. I have a lot of admiration for Jeff Hagener. Hagener acknowledged that sportsmen and women are much more divided than when he was a youngster growing up on the Hi-Line. Now there are so many competing groups, he said. That division among sporting interests can make it more difficult for the Fish and Wildlife Commission to rule, Hagener said. Interlude After his ouster from the Schweitzer administration, Hagener worked for various nonprofit groups including the American Prairie Foundation and the Montana Wildlife Federation. When Steve Bullock won the governors race in 2012, Hagener was brought back to the directors office to try and rebuild trust with landowners as well as increase morale within the agency. "Jeff returned to FWP to pretty much patch together a reorganization project that may have had good intentions but in the end didnt work," said Tom Palmer, retired FWP information manager, in an email. "He aimed first to rebuild relationships and he maintained an open-door policy with his employees and the public like no other Ive seen." Even though hed only been gone for four years, Hagener said the department was fundamentally different. What was really obvious to me when I came back was that two thirds of the employees were new, he said. With so many new folks working for the agency, Hagener and his staff initiated a new effort called 15 & Forward. The resulting document is meant to be the foundation on which the agency establishes priorities, programs and services for the next 10-plus years. "People dont really care how smart you are in that kind of position," Palmer said. "They want to know that you care and Jeff Hageners concern for Montana, these unique resources, the folks who managed them and the folks who depended on making a living off the land was palpable. Hes good man who I was proud to work for." Lifespan Those who know Hagener credit his open-door policy, fairness and willingness to hear opposing views as his strengths all traits that likely helped him survive 12 years as director. On a national level, 3.2 years is the lifespan of directors, Hagener said. And there are a few people in other states that were 25-year veterans, so they are holding the average up. Such experience likely helped him get fee increases passed to shore up FWPs budget, as well as push the state toward a sage grouse management plan to avoid the birds listing as an endangered species. If Montana hadnt come on board it would have shifted the tide, Hagener said of the controversial sage grouse issue. Although his diplomacy didnt work when trying to align Montana with Idaho and Wyoming on wolf management when the big canines were delisted from the Endangered Species Act, he said the states have been able to stand together on grizzly bears, which are in the process of being delisted. The future Looking ahead, Hagener said although changes to management of Yellowstone bison have been made he doesnt know if that controversial issue, which draws national attention, will ever be fully resolved. Tribes may drive that discussion more as they work to build bison herds, the most recent being the Blackfeet Indians along the northern Rocky Mountain Front. I wouldnt mind seeing the grizzly bear being totally delisted, Hagener said, but he added that, because of litigation, it will be a long time before it occurs. His successor is likely to be challenged by invasive species and wildlife diseases, Hagener predicted everything from zebra and quagga mussels to chronic wasting disease. Another area that will test the next director is finding funding for animals that arent game species, a problem that many states face. Locating money to keep state parks adequately financed will also be a challenge, he said. Where funding will come from, your guess is as good as mine, Hagener said. Montanans like to think residents shouldnt pay that much. He noted Montana State Parks got no traction at all when it showed that surrounding states pay more for park management. So there are a lot of trials a new director will face. Hagener, on the other hand, is looking forward to having some time off to visit his son in New Mexico. After 33 years in state employment he has no plans to seek another job anytime soon, although hes been contacted about consulting. Im mulling those things over, he said. But maybe Ill just want to stay in Montana and hunt and fish. While the amount of money in Jan Dhan accounts post demonetisation has started tapering, there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of zero balance accounts during the period. The Obama administration on Thursday said it would formally scrap a post-9/11 registry for immigrant men from predominantly Muslim countries. The move comes a day after president-elect Donald Trump reiterated his plan to ban entry of Muslims to the US. The registry, known as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), was shown to be ineffective and had not been used since 2011. NSEERS will be dismantled through a published regulation in the Federal Register called a final rule. However scrapping NSEERS is unlikely to prevent Trump from implementing his campaign promises. But he would have to bring in a new notification in this regard. NSEERS was used to register and track mostly Arab and Muslim non-citizens and Obama suspended the registry in 2011, said Muslim Public Affairs Council. Senator Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said the NSEERS program was proven ineffective and ended years ago, and those dead-letter regulations served no purpose. "Taking them off the books still sends a powerful message. These regulations symbolized an ineffective program based on religious and ethnic profiling, rather than individualised suspicion - a program based on fear, rather than reason," he said. "That has no place in this great country, under any administration," Leahy said. Congresswoman Barbara Lee said Obama has taken a huge step to protect civil liberties and "block Trump's hateful" Muslim registry. Last month, nearly 200 organisations and more than 50 members of the Congress had called on the outgoing president to rescind the existing NSEERS structure before he leaves the White House. Several civil liberties organisations including ACLU delivered over 280,000 petition signatures to Obama to repeal the program. New York State Attorney General Eric wrote a letter to Obama asking him to dismantle the NSEERS program on the basis of its unconstitutionality. California State Senator Ricardo Lara introduced a bill that would bar state agencies from providing information to the federal government for the purposes of creating a Muslim database. The Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed the decision. "Registering and tracking Muslim visitors to the United States is not only discriminatory but a tremendous waste of our nation's national security resources," said CAIR Government Affairs director Robert McCaw. visited a Gurdwara in Southall to discuss the importance of tackling hate crime against Sikhs, amid reports of increased after the Brexit vote. Rudd met Sikh leaders, community groups, local charities and the Sikh Council UK at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Southall, London and discussed work underway to bring the community together to beat hatred. "The Sikh community plays an important role in the diverse Britain that works for everyone and I was delighted to visit the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara and hear about the important work taking place to unite the community," she said. "Hate crime has absolutely no place in our society and it is vital we protect those who follow this peaceful religion. That is why I've made over 3 million pounds available to protect places of worship and for community projects to combat hatred, and I'd urge all Gurdwaras and Sikh groups to consider whether this funding could help them," Rudd added. Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara plays an important role in the Government's Near Neighbours programme, which brings together people from different faiths and backgrounds in diverse areas so they can work together to improve their communities, she noted. "The Sikh Council UK welcomes the visit by the Home Secretary to a landmark Gurdwara in the heart of a diverse community. This was a great opportunity to see first-hand the Sikh ethos of self help and community cohesion in action," Sikh Council UK Secretary General Gurmel Singh said. "The Home Secretary's commitment towards tackling hate crime and improving community cohesion is acknowledged, and the role faith can play in modern Britain is very well received by the community," he said. The Home Secretary's latest engagement with the Sikh community comes after she co-hosted a roundtable for faith representatives with the Communities Secretary last month, with attendees including the Sikh Council and Lord Singh CBE from the Network of Sikh Organisations. The Home Secretary published the Hate Crime Action Plan in July, which included measures to combat racial and religious hate crime. Alongside action to encourage greater reporting and tougher sentences, she announced 2.4 million pounds that places of worship which are at risk of, or which have been victims of, hate crime can apply for to fund security measures such as CCTV or fences. The UK has witnessed a "horrible spike" in in London following Britain's referendum in June in favour of an exit from the European Union. UK Home Office figures released in October showed racist or religious abuse incidents recorded by police in England and Wales jumped 41 per cent in the month after the UK voted to quit the EU. There has been significant suspicion in Australia and elsewhere on the wealth of particular business people, investors and companies from . Theres always the suggestion that there is something unacceptable about it, whether it be tax evasion, corruption money, stolen money and illegitimate or illegal business ventures. US policy is unlikely to undergo any radical change under the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. "We are not expecting to solve all the problems. We are not expecting America to suddenly decide not to expand NATO or to bring NATO military infrastructure closer to our borders," Russian media quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying in an interview with the Mir TV channel. He added that Moscow also did not expect Washington to suddenly lift economic sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and alleged involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. However, Peskov added that Trump's statements about the necessity to jointly fight terrorism was in line with Moscow's position. Peskov said the dialogue between Moscow and Washington's outgoing administration of Barack Obama was minimal, practically "frozen at all levels". The US on Tuesday slapped additional sanctions on eight more entities and seven Russian citizens it said were linked to the conflict in Ukraine. Bumper kharif harvests on better technology driven farm practices have pulled down prices below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in most mandis across India. Favourable climatic condition led by normal rainfalls this monsoon season helped boost acreage and yield this year after two consecutive seasons of drought. Advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, has said that there are 364 Pakistanis imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Replying to a question in the Senate, he said these jails include Riyadh, Jubail, Buridah, Dammam, Khober and Oniza, reports the Dawn. Aziz added that the embassy of Pakistan is extending all possible assistance to Pakistani prisoners in jails and deportation centers in the Kingdom. "Embassy has sought consular access for the detainees, to inquire about their welfare and extended to them all possible assistance and has also forwarded clemency requests from their relatives to the Royal Court," he said. The advisor said that the Saudi government provided translator's to the accused during the investigation process and proceedings in the courts. "In serious offences, lawyers are provided on the government's expenses," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) African island nation Sao Tome and Principe has announced that it has cut its "diplomatic" ties with Taiwan and acknowledged sovereignty of the People's Republic of China. People's Daily has termed it as a first setback to Taiwan "diplomacy" after President Tsai Ing-wen's phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump. Sao Tome is the first country to break "diplomatic" relations with Taiwan since Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen took office. The Chinese mainland immediately gave positive feedback as Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that China welcomed the decision by Sao Tome and Principe since the one-China policy is widely recognized around the . People's Daily said the diplomatic break is not accidental but is obviously a punishment for Tsai's refusal to recognize the 1992 Consensus and other provocations against the one-China policy. Meanwhile, the Taiwan authorities cited Sao Tome's request for enormous aid for the diplomatic cut off. According to local media reports, Sao Tome asked for USD 210 million from Taiwan as the country has long been providing aid to the small and poor countries with which it has "diplomatic" ties. People's Daily said that Tsai's rejection of recognizing the 1992 Consensus is a reckless move as Taiwan is just the size of a province and it cannot compete economically or diplomatically with the mainland. The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) push for Taiwan independence will herald Taiwan's "diplomatic" suicide, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The German Police has offered a reward of up to 1,00,000 euros ( about USD 104,000) for information about the whereabouts of a 24-year-old Tunisia native in connection with the Christmas market attack in Berlin. Anis Amri is being sought in Monday's truck attack, which left 12 people dead and 48 injured at Breitsheidplatz, reports CNN. According to the German authorities Amri may be "violent and armed" and had been in contact with radical Islamist groups. "If you see this person that we are seeking, inform the police. Please do not put yourself in danger because this person could be violent and armed!" said a wanted notice issued on Wednesday by the German federal prosecutor's office. Before Amri was publicly named, Ralf Jaeger, Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, has said the suspect was known to German security services as someone in contact with radical Islamist groups and had been assessed as posing a risk. A German security official said the suspect had been arrested in August with forged documents in the southern German town of Friedrichshafen, on his way to Italy, but a judge released him. The suspect also came onto the radar of German police because he was looking for a gun, the official said. His asylum request was refused this year and deportation was attempted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dateline: Poland Londons Daily Mail reports on the case of a 25-year-old Polish man who died after consuming too much vodka, woke up in the morgue hours later and went back to the bar for round two. The man, identified by Polish media only as Kamil, was allegedly indulging in his favorite spirit in the southwestern town of Kamienna Gora. After overindulging at a local pub, the man went outside and collapsed from cardiac arrest. Several people called for help and tried to revive him. Kamil was reportedly taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. His body was moved to the morgue and placed in a refrigerated drawer. Later that day a guard at the hospital heard strange noises coming from the refrigerated room. I was sure it was a burglary. Young people sometimes break into the morgue, the guard told Polish media. But the sounds came from the refrigerators. With shaking hands, I opened the doors, and there I found a naked corpse who asked me for a blanket. Police were called and doctors once again examined the man, who now seemed much less dead. After the medical checkup, Kamil asked to be released. On the way home he allegedly stopped off at the pub to continue drinking with his friends. Dateline: Ghana Ghanaian authorities say they have busted a fake US embassy in the capital city of Accraafter it spent a mere 10 years issuing passports. Until it was shut down earlier this year, the embassy was housed in a two-story pink building with a corrugated iron roof. According to Al Jazeera, a US flag flew outside the building and a portrait of President Barack Obama hung inside. However, it was not operated by the United States government, but by figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney practicing immigration and criminal law, the US State Department said in a statement released earlier this month. Turkish citizens, who spoke both English and Dutch, posed as consular officers and staffed the facility, which had allegedly been operating for about a decade. The crime ring issued fraudulently obtained but legitimate US visas and false identification documents, including birth certificates, at a cost of $6,000 each. When the ersatz embassy was raided, authorities recovered authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and Schengen Area (European) visas and 150 passports from 10 different countries. 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 government statement said. According to Al Jazeera, the fake embassy was open three mornings a week and did not accept walk-in appointments. Dateline: Pennsylvania Jamal Goodwin, 25, is accused of robbing a bank outside Philadelphia and leaving behind a staggeringly large chain of clues for police to follow. According to the district attorney, Goodwin checked himself out of a Chester County drug-and-alcohol rehab center on Monday, Dec. 12, took a cab to the Malvern Federal Savings Banklocated some 25 miles west of Philadelphiahanded the teller a note and disappeared with more than $5,000 worth of stolen cash. Unfortunately, Goodwin wrote his note demanding all the money and saying he had a firearm on the back of his rehab discharge papers. Goodwin then left the bank with $5,110 and got back into the cab to escape. The teller he robbed was able to tell police he left in a Main Line Taxi Co. cab. After exiting the cab at his home in Philadelphia, Goodwin apparently left behind a gym bag with $2,700 in it. The bag had a tag with Goodwins name written on it. In addition, the robber forgot his wallet, which contained his drivers license and an identification card. Also in the car were two sweatshirts, which a bank teller identified as the ones the robber was wearing. On top of all that, Goodwin left his discharge papers from the Malvern Institute with all his information and roughly a quarter page torn away. That missing quarter page later turned out to match exactly the piece of paper given to the teller at the Malvern Federal Savings Bank. Police were able to talk to the driver of the Main Line Taxi Co. cab, who told them exactly where he took Goodwin. Goodwin was arrested on Tuesday. At the time of his arrest, he was found to be in possession of heroin, cocaine and about $1,000 of the banks money. He has been charged with robbery, theft and related charges. MISSOULA Ian Scott Barclay, 29, of Deer Lodge, was sentenced Wednesday for conspiring to distribute drugs into Montana State Prison and paying bribes to a prison worker. Barclay was given 92 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, and a $200 special assessment by Chief United States District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen. Barclay conspired to distribute controlled substances methamphetamine and Suboxone into the prison and paying bribes to Erin Bernhardt for her role in the scheme. The charges were part of a scheme where Bernhardt, an employee in the prison laundry, smuggled the controlled substances into Barclay at the prison in exchange for bribes. The crimes occurred between April and August 2015. The court previously sentenced Bernhardt to 14 months imprisonment for her role in the conspiracy and another member of the conspiracy, Cordero Robert Metzker, to three years imprisonment for his role in the scheme. Two other defendants Rachel Ross and Lauren Hoskins have pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and will be sentenced in the near future. The charges against Barclay are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspector, the Montana Department of Corrections-Division of Investigations, Montana State Prison Warden Leroy Kirkegard and his staff, and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations. Criminal Chief Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Thaggard and Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Starnes prosecuted the case. To ensure the commercial efficacy and efficiency of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan would need to lift its exports, boost its productivity, and give a large spur to private enterprise. An article appearing in the Dawn says, "In reality, to properly afford the CPEC projects that are being undertaken, the country (Pakistan) will need to lift its exports, boost its productivity, and give a large spur to private enterprise to get the wheels of domestic investment moving again." It further states that while the government has already announced that loans are being taken under CPEC projects and will be repaid at two per cent interest spread over 20 to 25 years, what is not being revealed is the fact that "more than two-thirds of the money committed for the 'early harvest' projects is actually on commercial terms." The article states, "Of the total USD 28 billion that has or has to come under the 'early harvest' projects, a full USD 19 billion is in the form of foreign direct investment on commercial terms and even the agreement signed in November 2013 between the governments of China and Pakistan that created this raft of investments mentions that these will follow "market principles". "In those project documents that are publicly available, the debt services terms are seven to eight percent, with many of them pegged to six-month Libor and include Sinosure, which is the fee for reinsurance of all loans that Chinese banks require all foreign borrowers to have.Then there is the equity portion. Most of the projects coming in as direct investment, have a debt-to-equity ratio of around 80:20, or in some cases 75:25. And in most cases, return on equity (ROE) is guaranteed at either 17 percent or 20 percent. The question that therefore arises is that if USD19 billion is coming in as investment on commercial terms, and 80 percent of that is debt with the remaining as equity, what is the size of the outflow as debt service and return on equityan discern? The article in the Dawn reveals that hypothetically speaking if debt service outflows are estimated to be about USD one billion and the return on equity is estimated to be USD 646 million and return on equity is kept at 17 percent. And a sum of USD 1.9 billion is kept as repayment of principal, the annual net outflow would be to the tune of USD 3.546 billion once commercial operations of the CPEC begin. In fiscal 2016, Pakistan's total interest outflows (on government borrowing alone) was USD 1.1billion, and therefore, according to the article in the Dawn, it is difficult to visualize how CPEC investments will be booked "as technically they will not be on government account and each project will earn its own money and service its own obligations, whether to its creditors or its sponsors, from its own cash flow." Government debt figures are direct loans, whereas CPEC-related investment would be an investment against a loan. The article warns that both will place a burden on foreign exchange reserves, which will need to increase correspondingly if proper benefit from CPEC projects is to be extracted. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are both warning that for the country to carry its external debt burden, exports need to increase rapidly and that there is also a need to bridge payment gaps when it comes to taking short-term loans from foreign banks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Researchers in the United States have found that local experiences and temperatures drive belief or non-belief of people in climate change. The study, published in the Journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that Americans' belief that the earth is warming is related to the frequency of weather-related events they experience, suggesting that local changes in their climate influence their acceptance of this worldwide phenomenon. "One of the greatest challenges to communicating scientific findings about climate change is the cognitive disconnect between local and global events," said study's co-author Michael Mann from George Washington University in the US. "It is easy to assume that what you experience at home must be happening elsewhere," Mann added. They researchers found that Americans who experience more record highs than lows in temperature are more likely to believe the earth is warming. Conversely, Americans who live in areas that have experienced record low temperatures, such as southern portions of Ohio and the Mississippi River basins, are more skeptical that the earth is warming. The study notes that part of this dichotomy may be because of the early terminology used to describe climate change that suggested the earth was simply warming - not changing in innumerable but measurable ways. This might have led residents living in areas that experienced an unusually cold winter to doubt that climate change is occurring. "Who do Americans trust about climate change; scientists or themselves?" said lead study author Robert Kaufmann. "For many Americans, the answer seems to be themselves," Kaufmann added. The researchers also found that a recent period of lower-than-average temperatures offset the effect of a long warming period, further supporting their findings that people's belief in climate change is local and experiential. The scientists noted the importance of differentiating between weather, the temperatures of a relatively short period of time such as a season and climate, the average temperatures over a period of 25 or 30 years. Emphasizing the difference between weather and climate may help scientists more effectively communicate about climate change. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Income tax officials on Thursday conducted a raid at Mahim Enterprises in Assam's Nagaon. The officials recovered old and new currency worth over Rs 2 crores. Earlier in day, Rs 28 lakh in new Rs 2000 notes was seized from a passenger, going to Dubai, at Mumbai Airport. Raids are being carried out across the country by the Income Tax Department in the wake of the burgeoning fake currency racket post demonetisation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has warned that the Afghan leadership's anti-Pakistan diatribe on 'enemy's soil' could jeopardise the friendly relationship between the two neighbouring countries. He made the remarks on Wednesday during his first visit to the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham, reports the Dawn. "The Afghan leadership should refrain from levelling baseless allegations of abetting terrorism and harbouring militant organisations while speaking at our enemy's soil," he said, in an apparent reference to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani's recent remarks against Pakistan during the Heart of Asia Conference in India. Nisar said that Pakistan had provided shelter and every possible help to millions of Afghans for more than 30 years and would continue to support the Afghan government for rebuilding the war-ravaged country. The Minister added that the federal government had also allocated Rs70 billion to raise a new border force for effectively monitoring the 2,000km border with Afghanistan, implementing the border management policy and preventing suspected elements from entering Pakistan from Afghanistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday said that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's allegation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an act of childishness based on inconclusive evidence as remarked by the Supreme Court. "Rahul Gandhi can also speak, but in reality he has no factual evidence to back himself. The Supreme Court ruled earlier in this matter that the appeal against then chief minister (Narendra Modi) lacks sufficient evidence and that is why the case could not be taken up. He is bringing the same matter and that is why his act is childish," he said. "They have changed stands so many times which reflect childishness. Before the Winter Session, we convened an all-party meeting which was Rahul Gandhi's proposal that the opposition would not discuss anything unless demonetisation is debated. We accepted their proposal," he added. The Congress vice-president yesterday accused Prime Minister Modi of having taken money from Sahara and Birla groups when he was chief minister of Gujarat and demanded an independent inquiry into the matter. Gandhi made this assertion in Prime Minister Modi's native district Mehsana in Gujarat just days after he said that he had proof of "personal corruption" against the latter. Gandhi alleged that the Sahara Group had paid Rs 40 crore while the Birla Group had paid Rs 12 crore to Prime Minister Modi, claiming his charges were based on documents recovered during raids on the companies by the income-tax department. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Regretting its decisions to allow Dalai Lama to visit the country, Mongolia has promised not to invite him again. This comes as the recent trip by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader prompted protests from China and a suspension of talks on a major loan. The implication of Dalai Lama's visit has gone beyond religion, and bilateral ties between Mongolia and China have been affected, the local media quoted Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil as saying on Tuesday. A source close to the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Orgil's statement was an apology to the Chinese government, reports the Global Times. Mongolia is making efforts to bring bilateral ties back on the right track by restoring dialogue between the two sides, said Munkh-Orgil, adding that his country has resolutely stuck to the one-China policy and acknowledges that Tibet is an inseparable part of China. Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, said on Wednesday that China attaches great importance to Mongolia's clear attitude, adding that Mongolia shall learn a lesson from this Tibet-related affair and respect the core interests of China. The Mongolian Foreign Minister also said last month the Dalai Lama's visit was purely religious in nature, and the Mongolian Government had no role in the invitation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Google on Thursday announced its collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Development to make information about thousands of public toilets in India's National Capital Region and Madhya Pradesh available on the Google Maps. It will add locations, addresses and opening hours of over four thousand communal and public restrooms to Maps, aiming to provide easy access to information to people in India and help improve sanitation. With over four thousand listings covering Delhi NCR including Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, Bhopal and Indore in Madhya Pradesh - Indians and visitors alike will now be able to easily find the nearest public toilet on Google Maps both on the mobile app as well as on desktop. This service will be accessible to users both in English and Hindi language. "When you search for "public toilet" on Google Maps in an area where the service is available, you'll see a list of restrooms near you, including the respective address and opening hours. For instance, if you're traveling on the national highway eight in Gurugram, locating a public toilet can be challenging and most often the only option is going to nearby restaurants and cafes. Having this information handy can make things much easier," said Product Manager Google Maps, Sanket Gupta. Improving sanitation is an important cornerstone of the government's Swachh Bharat campaign for a clean India. This includes making information about existing sanitation facilities easily accessible to people. The Ministry of Urban Development plans to continue to provide information about public restrooms for more cities. Google is beginning to roll out these new local listings on Google Maps today, and they will be available to users both on desktop and Google Maps for Mobile (Android, iOS). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation of Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Hospital and a Centenary Super Specialty Hospital at Benaras Hindu University (BHU) campus in Varanasi today. During his day-long visit to the city, the Prime Minister will also lay the foundation of an ESI hospital at Varanasi. The new ESI hospital will have 150 beds. He will also lay the foundation of a BRS health and Research Centre. Prime Minister Modi will also take part in the ongoing Rashtriya Sankriti Mahotasava being organized at the BHU campus by the Ministry of Culture. The Prime Minister will also visit Kabir Nagar area and will inspect the work of underground electric cabling. The project is being implemented in the city under Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS). He will also inaugurate Trade Facility Centre and Craft Museum. Later, in the afternoon, Prime Minister Modi will meet party workers and address the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) booth level workers meet at DLW ground. The meeting is going to be significant in view of forthcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. In view of Prime Minister's visit to his constituency elaborate security arrangements have been made in the city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) described Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "honesty as pure as the Ganga" and his "integrity as unquestionable", the Party on Thursday said the Prime Minister's credibility is at the stake, and therefore was a need for him to inform the nation how he had accepted Rs 24 crore and Rs 40 crore from Birla and Sahara respectively. "We will tell the BJP please don't be distracted, don't be angry and don't be annoyed; the Prime Minister should just tell us whether he had accepted Rs 24 crores and Rs 40 crores from Birla and Sahara, respectively, or not, because his name figured in documents. Respected Modiji, the country is changing and that is why it is asking questions. The credibility of the Prime Minister is at the stake," media in-charge Randeep Surjewala told ANI. Attacking the Prime Minister, he said the Modi used to say "na khaunga na khane dunga (neither will eat nor will allow others to eat)"; but now "the income tax department has papers for the past 30 months and the I-T department has said the papers merit a probe under Section 31 of the Income Tax Act, then will Modiji conduct a probe; have Enforcement Directorate, CBI and I-T department ever called Modiji and asked him whether he had accepted the money or not?" Surjewala said the country wants answers to these questions. "If Modiji is honest and has not accepted the money, he should come before the country and say that he has not accepted the money from Birla and Sahara and he is ready for any probe. An unbiased probe will bring the truth to the fore," he added. Stating that there is a "wave of change in the entire nation" and Modiji's policies were exposed as demonetisation has brought the country to a standstill, Surjewala said, "The type of questions are being raised on his (PM) credibility, it is clear from that that the responsibility of cleanliness of the Ganga of rests on Rahulji and all the opposition parties. People are asking questions and the nation is changing, and thus, Modiji should give to the point answer." Addressing a rally at Mehsana in Gujarat, vice president Rahul Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of receiving money from Sahara and Birla groups as Gujarat Chief Minister in 2013. The BJP, however, rejected the allegations saying that the Supreme Court had observed that there is no basis for such allegations. Terming the allegations "baseless", Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said they are aimed at diverting attention from the alleged involvement of Congressmen in VVIP chopper scam. Prasad said the Congress' history is linked with corruption, while wondering why Gandhi did not raise voice against the previous UPA government's scams. Describing Prime Minister's honesty is as pure as the river Ganga, he said Narendra Modi's integrity is unquestionable. President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday conveyed his greetings and felicitations to Japanese Emperor Akihito on his birthday which is on December 23. The President has said, "On behalf of the government and the people of India as well as on my own behalf, I would like to convey warm greetings and felicitations on the occasion of your Majesty's Birthday." President Mukherjee said that India and Japan enjoy traditionally warm and friendly relations. "Our 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership' builds upon our civilizational links and shared heritage of Hindu-Buddhist thought and philosophy. As vibrant democracies and two large Asian economies, we are working together to address contemporary issues and to advance the cause of peace, progress and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region," he added. President Mukherjee expressed confidence between Indo-Japan cooperation in diverse sectors which would further strengthen the bilateral relationship. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday took a jibe at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is now competing with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal just to be relevant in the media. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli also took potshots at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav for backing Gandhi. "Look at the jungle raj earlier in Lalu Yadav's regime and its return now. If he supports Rahul Gandhi then Rahul should think about it. Whether this is the kind of support he relishes because his politics has also undertaken a turn," said Kohli. "He is now trying to be the new Kejriwal, any kind of allegation, nothing to do with evidence, no substantiation. Just make an allegation and be relevant in the media. His competition with Kejriwal is as who will occupy the top spot of this kind of politics. He is happy with Lalu Yadav's support on his issues then it is good for him," he said. Another BJP leader Sambit Patra also mocked Gandhi, saying the latter is making desperate attempts to become the supreme power within the Congress Party. "One has to remember that the Supreme Court is supreme and Rahul Gandhi is smaller than that. Rahul Gandhi is maybe trying to become the supreme power within the Congress Party (and) even in that he has not succeeded," Patra said. "The Supreme Court has categorically observed that the papers provided by him are not authentic. The people of this country are intelligent, they know the Supreme Court is to be respected and not Rahul Gandhi," he added. Earlier in the day, the RJD chief backed Gandhi's assertion that corporates paid crores as bribes to Prime Minister Modi in 2013-14 and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the same. Lalu told ANI that Prime Minister Modi, who is now completely trapped, owes an explanation to the nation. "Rahul Gandhi has alleged Aditya Birla and Sahara Group had given Rs. 40 crores to Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister is completely trapped and now he will have to give an explanation. If any BJP spokesperson comes up with justification on his behalf then that would be unfair," he added. The RJD chief further stated that the Congress vice-president wouldn't have made such allegations against the Prime Minister without any proof. "Without proof, Rahul Gandhi won't say this...or any leader won't accuse the Prime Minister of this. It proves that the Prime Minister was involved in corruption. I demand a Supreme Court-monitored probe in this regard," he added. Speaking in Gujarat's Mehsana yesterday, Gandhi alleged that in the records with the Income Tax, there were notings of Sahara officials' claims that they paid Prime Minister Modi nine times between October 2013 and February 2014 and that the total amount was Rs. 40 crore. He also alleged that according to documents with the IT department, the Birla Group too paid Rs. 12 crore to the Prime Minister. Seeking an independent inquiry, Gandhi said that he was raising the issue "on behalf of the country". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for saying that his fight is against corruption, alleging that he being a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) propagandist was an expert in turning a lie into truth and was now trying to become Raja Harishchandra. "The Prime Minister became the Prime Minister with the help of black money. If one sees the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the extravagance with which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaigned for it, sets an example like never before. He is trying to become Raja Harishchandra, but people won't accept him. He has been an RSS propagandist, and he is an expert in turning a lie into truth and vice-versa," Nationalist Congress Party leader Tariq Anwar told ANI. Reacting to Prime Minister Modi's Pakistan analogy on opposition, using same method as the neighbouring country, Anwar said this has always been the last weapon of the Prime Minister. "This is the last weapon of Prime Minister. During elections, when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister, he used to say that their fight is with General Musharraf. He did not use to name the opposition parties. He always used to say that celebrations will be made in Pakistan if the opposition loses here," said Anwar. Anwar also opined that whatever former prime minister Manmohan Singh said about the problems related to demonetisation were genuine, and Prime Minister Modi's claims of making India a cashless economy is only an illusion. "Manmohan Singh only pointed out the ground reality but Narendra Modi ji is talking something which is far from reality... He rightly said that no country in this world is cashless. All the developed countries do use cash. Talking about the country to make cashless in such a situation, is nothing but a phantasm," he said. Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi launched a scathing attack on Manmohan Singh, saying that the problems pointed out by the latter related to demonetisation are actually the loopholes which existed during his regime. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Thursday dubbed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's allegation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ridiculous and said it exposes the anxiety of the grand old party. "Rahul Gandhi is putting allegations against the Prime Minister on an issue which has already been termed as baseless by the Supreme Court," Rudy said. A day after the Congress vice-president accused him of receiving crores in kickbacks as the Gujarat Chief Minister, Prime Minister Modi today taunted the former and said that he is "learning how to speak". "They have a youth leader; he is learning how to give speeches. Since the time he has learnt to speak, my happiness has no limits," he jocularly said at an event in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Speaking in Gujarat's Mehsana yesterday, Gandhi alleged that in the records with the Income Tax, there were notings of Sahara officials' claims that they paid Prime Minister Modi nine times between October 2013 and February 2014 and that the total amount was Rs. 40 crore. He also alleged that according to documents with the IT department, the Birla Group too paid Rs. 12 crore to the Prime Minister. Seeking an independent inquiry, Gandhi said that he was raising the issue "on behalf of the country". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed happiness about the return of Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman and former President Asif Ali Zardari. "I am actually very happy that Zardari is returning to Pakistan," Geo News quoted Sharif, as saying on the sidelines of his visit to Bosnia. He said Zardari will keep control of PPP in his hands. The former president is scheduled to arrive in Karachi tomorrow. "Alhamdulillah (Thank God) it went well, it could have gone better," said Sharif responding to a journalists question on how did the year 2016 go for him. He asserted that Pakistan would perform better if everybody performs his duties. Asking that what did the people who had a seven-point agenda do? The Prime Minister said his government had worked for the people. Sharif said nine-months of the country were wasted due to the protests and despite that the government will solve the problem of load-shedding by 2018. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Party on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is an expert in giving false statements, should introspect rather than come up with baseless assertions quoting dialogues of Hindi films. Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad told ANI that Prime Minister Modi should talk about the government's policies instead of criticising his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh. "He has only been given speeches in the last two and a half years and not given any report card," he said. Hariprasad also criticised the Prime Minister over his assertion that those opposing the demonetisation drive "are like Pakistan", saying the latter is coming up with baseless rhetorics in the wake of the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. "He is saying we are following Pakistan's strategy...after coming back from Pakistan, he himself was following their strategy. He is talking about corruption and black money...till now only Rs. 3,000 crore black money has been seized...what about the rest? He is an expert in giving false statements," said Hariprasad. "The elections in Uttar Pradesh is approaching and that is why he is quoting dialogues of Hindi films," he added. Another Congress leader PL Punia took on the Prime Minister for his jibe directed at party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, saying the ruling party is extremely worried with the manner in which the latter has been raising his voice for cause. "The sweetest voice after 2009 is of Rahul Gandhi and the youth, labourers and farmers are liking it. Only the BJP and Prime Minister are disliking it. The BJP and the Prime Minister are worried with the way Rahul Gandhi is raising his voice for the nation," he told ANI in Bahraich. Punia further said the Prime Minister, who sits on a respectable position, must not drag the army in politics. "If he politicises the relation with Pakistan then it is very much unfortunate for the nation. I would advise the Prime Minister not to drag the army jawans in politics," he said. A day after the Congress vice-president accused him of receiving crores in kickbacks as the Gujarat Chief Minister, Prime Minister Modi today taunted the former and said that he is "learning how to speak". "They have a youth leader; he is learning how to give speeches. Since the time he has learnt to speak, my happiness has no limits," he jocularly said at an event in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. "There would have been an earthquake had he not spoken... good that he has started speaking, we now know that there's no chance of an earthquake," he added. Silencing his critics, the Prime Minister in an apparent reference to those questioning his government's demonetisation drive said that he never imagined politicians would "stand with the corrupt". "The commotion created in Parliament is like the 'cover fire' that Pakistan uses to ensure terrorists infiltrate into India. Similarly, the ruckus in Parliament lets cheats get away," he said while referring to Parliament's just-concluded Winter Session. Prime Minister Modi also criticized the opposition for "protesting everything." "Our army makes us proud but some people have questions even on their bravery. Is it good to view institutions like this?" he said. The Prime Minister also cornered his predecessor for his disagreement over demonetisation, saying the latter by doing so is exposing his own misdeeds. "(Congress) PM Manmohan Singh said that 'in a country where 50 percent of people are poor what can things like technology do?' Now tell me, was he giving his own report card or mine? Whose legacy is this 50 percent poverty?" he asked. With effect from 19 December 2016 Coal India announced that Ministry of Coal vide office order dated 19 December 2016 has appointed C. K. Dey, Director(Finance), CIL on the Board of CMPDIL one of the Subsidiary companies of Coal India and Shekhar Saran, Director (Tech.), CIL (Addl. charge) on the Board of BCCL one of the Subsidiary companies of Coal India as a part time Director with immediate effect and until further orders vice N. Kumar, Ex-Director(Tech.), CIL. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least seven Pakistani nationals were killed in a rocket attack on a cargo ship off the Yemen coast, Geo News reported on Thursday. "All the crew members were Pakistani nationals and an officer, identified as Kabir, is said to have saved his life by jumping off the vessel as it started sinking after catching fire." The ship MV Joya was heading to Dubai from Egypt when it came under attack in Yemeni waters. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. --IANS ahm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As 2016 comes to a close, it was the second full year in the onward march of Telangana, which appears to be making rapid strides in different sectors despite being the youngest of India's 29 states. With political stability, no law and order challenges and a good monsoon, it was a smooth year for the revenue-surplus state. Carved out of Andhra Pradesh on June 2, 2014, Telangana has already attracted national attention for some of the initiatives taken over the last two-and-a-half years. It claims to be the No.1 state in the country in welfare with an annual expenditure of Rs 30,000 crore ($4.5 billion) on various schemes. The flagship programmes of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government include Mission Kakatiya, aimed at restoring over 46,000 tanks at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore in five years. With good rains this season, the scheme seems to be yielding good results. After restoration of 8,000 tanks in the last fiscal, the government has taken up revival of 9,000 tanks during the current financial year that ends on March 31, 2017. Another ambitious programme is Mission Bhagiratha, a water grid to provide piped drinking water to every household. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first phase of the project on his maiden visit to Telangana in August. The Rs 42,000 crore project involves laying 150,000 km of pipelines and the government plans to lay optic fibre cable along the pipelines to provide broadband connectivity to every house to achieve its vision of a digital Telangana. The leader of the Telangana movement, K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) had always highlighted the injustice to the region in the undivided state in the irrigation sector. It was no wonder that, after assuming office as the first Chief Minister, he embarked on some massive irrigation projects to utilise the state's full share of the Krishna and Godavari river waters. To pave the way for building projects across the Godavari, Telangana this year signed an agreement with Maharashtra to end inter-state disputes. However, problems remain with Andhra Pradesh and upper riparian states Karnataka and Maharashtra over sharing the Krishna river's waters. Setting aside all apprehensions raised in some quarters at the time of the state's formation, Telangana overcame an electricity shortage. It launched some major power projects at an estimated cost of Rs 90,000 crore which are expected to add about 20,000 MW by the end of 2018 to the state's current 4,365 MW capacity. Capital Hyderabad continues to drive Telangana's growth. The information technology hub attracted some big- ticket investments during the year with tech giant Apple opening a new office. Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the city in May to launch a map development centre that will create 4,000 jobs. KCR's son and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao is elated that Hyderabad is now home to four of the top five most-valued tech companies' largest offices outside the US. Microsoft, Google and Amazon are the other three companies. In March this year, e-commerce giant Amazon began work on the facility, which is expected to be ready in 2019 and can house thousands of employees. Hyderabad was placed on the start-up map late last year with the launch of T-Hub, billed as the country's biggest technology incubator. It now plans to launch the second phase of T-Hub. The city achieved a 13.26 percent growth in IT exports at Rs 75,070 crore in 2015-16. It created a little over 35,000 new jobs during the year, taking the total workforce to 407,385. The IT Minister pointed out that IT exports were Rs 57,000 crore when Telangana was born. Telangana also earned accolades for launching a new industrial policy, giving investors the right to timely clearance of their proposals. Under the new policy, the state has so far cleared 2,929 proposals involving investment of Rs 49,463 crore with a direct employment potential for 195,000. Officials say 1,138 industries have commenced production. The initiatives helped the state jointly top with Andhra Pradesh in "Ease of Doing Business" index during 2016. This was a huge jump for Telangana, which was at the 13th position last year. The year also witnessed the Telangana map being redrawn with re-organisation of districts. The number of districts went up from 10 to 31. Notwithstanding criticism in some quarters for creating too many districts, KCR defended it on the ground that this will improve governance and enable better targeting of welfare schemes. (Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in) --IANS ms/vm/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday resigned and said he will return to academics, "his first love". In a brief statement, Jung thanked both Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, with whom he had been locked in a turf battle for months. "He thanks the Prime Minister for all help and cooperation he received during his tenure as the Lt. Governor," the statement said. Jung became the Lt Governor on July 9, 2013 when a Congress-led coalition was in office. The Modi government retained him even as it replaced most Governors in the states. "He also thanks the Chief Minister of Delhi for his association in the last two years," the statement said. Jung thanked the people of Delhi too for "their support and affection, especially during the one year's President Rule" leading to the assembly elections that led to a AAP victory in February 2015. A former IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre and a former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, Jung gave no reason for his sudden decision to step down. Jung's tenure was marked by a sharp escalation in tensions between his office, which reported to the central government, and the Aam Aadmi Party government of Kejriwal. --IANS ruwa-am/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that it arrested hawala trader Paras Mal Lodha here for converting over Rs 25 crore in old notes linked to businessman J. Shekhar Reddy and lawyer Rohit Tandon into new currency. The Kolkata-based businessman was arrested on Wednesday night after hours of questioning by the ED officials. "We had called Lodha on Wednesday for questioning him over the conversion of more than Rs 25 crores of old notes to new currency in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases. He was arrested late Wednesday night," an ED official said. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested former Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD) Board Member and industrialist J. Sekhar Reddy and two others from Chennai for money laundering. The Income Tax (IT) department recently seized 177 kg of gold and cash totalling Rs 96 crore in old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and Rs 34 crore in new currency from Reddy and two others. Reddy, a contractor, had reportedly executed a lot of work for the Tamil Nadu government. In connection with the case, IT officials raided at 12 locations on Wednesday and ended it on Thursday at the house of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao. The raids began on Wednesday morning and continued all night with the recovery of cash in new currency. Rao's office in the state secretariat and other places connected to him, his son and others were raided. Earlier on Thursday, the ED officials had carried out raids at state cooperative bank of Kannur, Kozhikode and Thrissur and CBI in Kollam and Malappuram. --IANS rak/ksk/vm (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A search for a missing person who authorities suspect fell into the Yellowstone River near Columbus was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday, according to the Stillwater County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office cited thick ice and difficult search conditions as reasons for stopping the search. It will resume when the weather warms, said Crystal Arnold, a sheriff's office employee who was the incident commander for the initial search effort. "We're having difficulty even getting underwater equipment down there to visibly see anything, and when we do get it down there, all we're seeing is ice," Arnold said. In some places the ice is as thick as 2 feet and Arnold said that ice stretching up to 15 feet from the river bank at the beginning of the search now extends 30 to 40 feet into the river from the banks. The search began Dec. 13 after a bicycle was found near the river along with footprints that led to the river but not back. Someone later reported hearing a scream near the river the night before, said Tammie Mullikin, a Stillwater County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. Before winter weather postponed the search Friday, search dogs had shown interest in a frozen portion of the river at Itch-Kep-Pe Park near where the person is believed to have gone into the water. On Wednesday, the ice shelf "was searched to the extent that conditions allowed," but there were no signs of the missing person, according to the press release written by Undersheriff Charles "Chip" Kem. The search was joined by a Two Bear Air search and rescue helicopter from Kalispell and a Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputy with an underwater remote-controlled camera, the release says. Arnold said an extensive air search was conducted for about four miles from the suspected entry point of the missing person, and a lap along the river down to Park City was also taken. The water was very clear, leading searchers to believe they would have spotted the person if they were not somewhere under the ice, Arnold said. Ice flow and weather conditions will continue to be monitored, and search efforts will continue under improved conditions, Arnold said. "It being Montana, we could get a week of 40 degree weather, and that will bring down the ice levels considerably," she said. Japanese car manufacturer Honda has begun negotiations with Waymo, a Google subsidiary that builds self-driven vehicles, to collaborate on developing the technology further, the company said on Thursday. Honda R&D (research and development subsidiary of Honda Motor Co) will integrate sensors and software developed by Waymo into its vehicles, which will join Waymo's fleet currently being tested across four cities in the US, according to the company. Honda plans to introduce the vehicles with automated driving capabilities on highways around the year 2020 and hopes this technical collaboration will allow it "to explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to the market", Efe news reported. The US collaboration will allow Honda an edge over its competitors Toyota and Nissan who are also developing the same technology. Waymo, so far known as Google's self-driving car project, announced on December 13 that it would work as an independent company and has already spent years developing this technology that is touted as the future of the industry. Waymo completed the first fully self-driven car ride in October 2015 on highways and public roads of Austin in the US and since then has covered a distance of 2 million miles of automated rides. The company is already collaborating with the Fiat Chrysler group for using self-driving technology in 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans, ready to roll out on US roads in the next few months. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian origin truck driver carrying packages for the Christmas season has been killed after his vehicle hit a mini van and overturned on a California highway, according to media reports. Ravikesh Kumar was driving the box truck for the postal service and FeEx from Sacramento to San Jose when he met with the accident at Danville, about 45 km from San Francisco, early on Monday morning. "The young Sacramento man behind the wheel was being paid to be a Santa of sorts when a crash took his life, but loved ones say his generous spirit made Kumar very much like the jolliest elf all year round," Fox40 TV said. Kumar had immigrated to the US from Fiji and his wife had only recently joined him here, according to Fox40 TV. "He was always taking care of his family," his uncle Jitendra Ram told the TV station. "If you needed help, he's always there for everybody." "We send our condolences to that family," US Postal Service spokesperson Gus Ruiz told the East Bay Times. "It's unfortunate that it happens any time of the year but there could not be a worse time of year." According to Ruiz, the truck carried FedEx mail that was to be delivered at their destination by the postal service under an arrangement between the two organisations. --IANS al/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Kerala minister on Thursday slammed raids conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at five district cooperative banks, saying these were not carried out with good intentions. The raids were carried out on Wednesday in Kollam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Thrissur districts. "This is nothing but politically motivated and began ever since the demonetisation process set in, and what happened yesterday (Wednesday) is an extension of that," state Minister for Cooperatives Kadakampally Surendran told reporters here. "This is a targeted move to destroy the cooperative movement in the state. The state government has already made its stand clear that it will cooperate with the agencies." Since the demonetisation drive began on November 8, the primary cooperative banks in the state have come under strong attack from various Kerala state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. They have alleged that these banks do not require the "Know Your Customer (KYC)" banking norm and were filled with unaccounted money of the top leaders of the traditional rival fronts -- the Congress- led UDF and the CPI-M-led LDF. Sources said that following the daylong raids, the officials have stumbled upon sizeable deposits that have not followed the KYC guidelines. The cooperative banking sector in Kerala is a three-tier system, with about 1,600 primary cooperative banks attached to 14 district banks, which are further linked to the apex Kerala State Cooperative Bank (KSCB). The total deposits in these cooperative banks are around Rs 1.27 lakh crore. The trouble started for the sector when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withdrew the permission to the cooperative banks to accept the spiked Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes. Meanwhile, all banks after the raids have been asked to provide the details of all high value transactions that have taken place in the past two months. CPI-M State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Thursday said that the reason to target the cooperative banks is to help the new generation banks. --IANS sg/ksk/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to spent Rs 15 crore to beautify the Jawaharbagh Park in Mathura, where 28 persons, including two police officers, were killed in a gun battle in June. An official said that the Akhilesh Yadav government decided to revamp the park on the lines of the famous Ram Manohar Lohia Park here. "To erase bad memories, officials have prepared a road map that includes massive plantation, a nursery, indoor sporting activities, recreation facilities and a kids park," the official told IANS. Members of the Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Viacharik Satyagrah Sanstha led by Ram Briksha Yadav, a self-styled godman, owing allegiance to the Jai Gurudev sect, had encroached upon the park illegally for nearly two years. On June 2, when police tried to evict them after a court order, Ram Yadav's supporters opened fire on the police teams, killing an inspector and a superintendent of police (SP). --IANS md/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel is likely to be called by the Parliamentary Committee of Finance for a briefing on demonetisation next month, informed sources said on Thursday. Patel was initially to make his submission to the panel on Thursday. But the panel felt they first needed to interview officials from the Finance Ministry. Patel is likely to be called on January 18, the sources said. "It was communicated to the RBI Governor on Wednesday that we will call him later. The committee will interview officials from the Finance Ministry and others first," a member of the panel told IANS. On Thursday, the panel had interaction with economic experts. "Next, we will be calling officials from the Finance Ministry and CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes)," the member said. The panel is expected to seek clarity from the RBI on the quantum of money that was in circulation in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination when the demonetisation was announced on November 8 and the liquidity supplied since then. --IANS ao/sm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia firmly denies the allegations on enabling the use of doping by the country's athletes, but will cooperate with the international organisations in fighting it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. In July 2016, World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) independent commission headed by Richard McLaren introduced a report based on the investigation results, in which Russia was accused of running a state-wide doping programme, and urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to consider a blanket ban on the entire Russian team. The second part of the report was released on December 9. The report claimed that more than 1,000 Russian athletes were involved in doping manipulations or benefitted from them. The names of the athletes were not disclosed. "We strongly reject these allegations, at the same time, the president stressed the necessity to fully cooperate with the international organisations to clarify the situation and work out a new effective (system) on prevention of the use of doping," Peskov told reporters. --IANS sam/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Last seen donning the director's hat with 2010 Tamil thriller "Easan", actor-filmmaker Sasikumar says he will return to helming when the time is right and won't succumb to the pressure of the industry and his peers. "Every time I meet the press, I'm asked when I plan to return to direction. A lot of my well-wishers in the industry too ask the same question. I don't buck to the pressure of all these people because I know I'll direct when the time is right," Sasikumar told IANS. He says he can't let the pressure of his peers influence him. "I can't make a film because someone wants me to. I will decide when I want to direct, and I'm waiting for the right time. It might be next year or the one after that. I have two scripts ready but I'm not quite sure which one to choose first to direct," he said. Sasikumar's Tamil comedy-drama "Balle Vellaiya Theva", in which he has played the lead, is slated for release on Friday. --IANS hp/nv/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two YouTube stars were removed from a Delta Air Lines flight in London on Wednesday following complaints by other passengers of them speaking in Arabic, the media reported on Thursday. Adam Saleh was returning home to New York after a world tour when he was removed from the flight after his co-passengers expressed discomfort with the two Muslim Americans' presence. Saleh told the BBC that he was asked to get off the London-New York flight after he spoke to his mother in Arabic on the phone. Saleh, 23, a filmmaker from Manhattan, and his friend Slim Albaher, 22, from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, said they were asked by the captain to off-load the flight at Heathrow Airport. Their British co-passengers were alarmed as they conversed in Arabic with each other following the phone call. The news was met on social media with anger at the airline industry, but also skepticism, though passengers who were on the plane when it landed in New York corroborated the story, the New York Times reported. Saleh has more than two million subscribers on YouTube, and has a history of perpetuating video hoaxes and pranks, some of them aimed at exposing stereotypes about Muslims. In his latest YouTube video, posted earlier this month, he pretended to smuggle himself onto a plane in a suitcase. In a phone interview to the New York Times from Heathrow before he and Albaher boarded a later flight, Saleh said this was not a stunt. "The only thing I can say is, I would never film a phone video," he said. His video camera was in his luggage. --IANS in/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Democratic Alliances intention to bootstrap India into the top 50 nations in the World Banks Doing Business rankings is praiseworthy for a regime that views corporate investment as central to its job-creating agenda. Its constructive response to Indias disappointing 2016 ranking of 130 out of 190 countries, an advance of just one rank from 2015, has been to explore practical options to improve the business climate, chiefly by leveraging information technology to streamline systems and processes such as the IceGate e-commerce platform to facilitate improved trading across borders. As a means of reducing discretionary intervention by the countrys famously obstructive bureaucracy, this is an unexceptionable route to choose. For all that, the government will discover that its efforts may be good optics for the global investment community but will have limited impact because more than half the variables that are assessed for this ranking are not entirely within its control. Three of the 10 criteria that the World Bank uses are in the hands of the states and three others involve intervention by the judiciary. The drug intervention program set to launch next month in Yellowstone County is Montanas best shot at slowing the explosive growth in our prison population. The brainchild of County Attorney Scott Twito, the Yellowstone County Drug Intervention Program can be a model for other counties. The aim is to address the drug addiction of low-level, first-time offenders. Successfully treating addiction in the community is much more cost effective than having offenders sit in our jail or prisons. Twito is presenting a better way to deal with the drug offenders. After months of planning and meetings, the intervention program is starting with crucial participation from the Montana Public Defenders Office and the Montana Department of Corrections. A key component of this diversion program will be the pretrial risk assessment provided through Yellowstone County Justice Court, thanks to an effort led by Justice of the Peace David Carter and funded by the Yellowstone County Commission. That type of screening is considered a best practice in states that have actually reduced their prison populations in recent years. Its one recommendation of the Montana Commission on Sentencing. The commission met over the legislative interim and hammered out a dozen bills that will be introduced in the 2017 session. Sen. Cynthia Wolken, D-Missoula, who chaired the commission, will sponsor Senate Bill 59 that establishes pretrial risk assessment and deferred prosecution grant programs." Wolken also has introduced Senate Bill 60, which requires the Department of Corrections to train staff to do risk assessments. Other bills propose revisions in sentencing laws. The aim of all this legislation is to ensure that offenders who are violent or at high risk of re-offending are incarcerated while low-risk, nonviolent drug offenders get addiction treatment and jobs. 500 meth arrests We call on Sen.-elect Margie MacDonald, who served on the commission, and the entire Yellowstone County delegation to actively support commission legislation to reform the states criminal justice system. No county has more at stake than we do as the largest population center. Last year, Yellowstone County logged more than 500 arrests on methamphetamine charges alone. If Montana continues its present trend, the number of people in the corrections system will increase 14 percent to 2,981 inmates by 2023, according to a study conducted by the Council of State Governments Justice Center. That increase will require at least $55 million in new operations spending, not counting the cost of constructing more prison space. The policies recommended by the Commission on Sentencing are projected to reduce the need for new cell space, averting an estimated $82 million in taxpayer costs over the next six years. Random drug testing Nearly three-fourths of offenders who get incarcerated in Montana have failed at probation with the majority having committed new drug or property crimes. The drug intervention program proposed in Yellowstone County targets that high rate of recidivism. In the current system, the slow pace of cases often means that a drug offender gets charged with a new offense before sentencing on the first one. The root of the problem is addiction, and that doesnt resolve without treatment and ongoing accountability, including random drug testing all features of the new intervention program. The alternative is to keep doing what Montana has been doing: sending more and more people to prison, keeping our jails and prisons full and spending more tax dollars on incarceration. We applaud Twito and the other county and state officials who are supporting this drug intervention program. Not everyone who goes through it will stay in recovery, but the savings for each one who does will be tremendous. Yellowstone County is starting with a small program that can screen up to four people a week. State support will be critical to sustain this effort long term and to expand it to intervene with all low-level drug offenders. A day after coming under the scanner of the Income Tax department, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao was replaced by the state Government after demand for his immediate removal grew among ruling AIADMK's rivals- the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). Biju Janata Dal member of Parliament (MP) Jay Panda announced that he would forgo part of his November and December salaryhe did not mention how much that would be and the amount cannot be calculated nowto atone for the 92 hours lost during the current session of the (Parliaments lower house), the least productive among 10 sessions since 2014, official data show. Winter session of Parlmt ends after passing the disabilities bill. Phew! As usual, i'll be returning salary proportional to time wasted/lost Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) December 16, 2016 With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections a little over a month away, political discourse plummeted on Thursday with Prime Minister (PM) and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi trading charges and ridiculing each other. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Thursday described the resignation of Lt Governor a "surprise" move while his deputy Manish Sisodia said working with him was a "bitter-sweet" experience, but the AAP government and Jung did a "good job in Delhi together." Kejriwal and Sisodia spoke to Jung over phone and wished him luck for his future. The Delhi Chief Minister said it was "good" working with him. "Jung's resignation is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours," Kejriwal tweeted. The Deputy CM said, "I spoke to him (Jung) who told me he was feeling tired and wanted to work for education. During the 49-day regime as well, we had bitter-sweet experience with him. In health, education, electricity, we and the L-G worked together." "Despite all the bitter-sweet experiences, I can say that together with we have good job for Delhi," he tweeted. On being asked about names of Puducherry's Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and former Delhi police chief B S Bassi doing the rounds for the post of the Delhi L-G, Sisodia said it is prerogative of Centre to depute Lt Governor. "We want cooperation from the Centre. We will fight for the people's interest if there is no cooperation from the Centre," he said. However, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party slammed Jung, saying he worked under the "influence" of the Modi dispensation. "Good wishes to for his future endeavour. God should give some good sense to them who controlled him. Will the war continue even after Jung's (exit)?" Delhi minister Kapil Mishra said. Senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas termed Jung's tenure "disgraceful". Vishwas alleged the L-G troubled the Delhi government at the behest of Modi dispensation and took a jibe saying Jung would get a "better posting". "The Modi government promotes its people. We hope, he gets a better posting after this. I am unhappy that his tenure was disgraceful. Now that he has gone, good luck to him. "Najeeb Jung's behaviour was not his. He was under the influence of someone. We hope the next L-G gives priority to issues concerning people and does not work under anyone's influence," Vishwas said. In a sudden move, Jung today resigned amid a bitter confrontation with the AAP government. Without citing reasons, Jung's office said he has submitted his resignation to the Centre. 65-year-old Jung, a former IAS officer, had assumed charge of Lt Governor of Delhi on July 9, 2013. (Reopens DEL 61) Kejriwal also said he was looking to work together with the next Lt Governor. "Let's see who will be appointed now. I hope to work together with the next LG for Delhi's development," he told reporters here. China's e-commerce giant Alibaba has rejected US allegations that it sells counterfeit goods, saying the Washington's move to put it back on a blacklist of its "notorious markets" could be influenced by the "current political climate" in America. Questioning the US move, Alibaba Group President Michael Evans said he was "disappointed" by the decision and wondered whether it was "based on actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate." US President-elect Donald Trump had, during his campaign, repeatedly accused Chinese firms of stealing intellectual property. The US has again labeled Alibaba Group Holding Ltd as one of the world's largest destinations for fake goods, a major embarrassment for a Chinese e-commerce giant trying to shake off its reputation as a haven for counterfeiters. The US Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) yesterday restored Alibaba to its annual Notorious Markets blacklist, four years after the Chinese company managed to get out of it. "We are very disappointed by the USTR's decision" to include Alibaba's Taobao unit on the list "which ignores the real work Alibaba has done against counterfeiters," Evans, said in a statement. The agency warned last December that Alibaba needed to do better if it wished to avoid the designation reserved for websites and markets where there is large-scale copyright infringement. Reacting to the US move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media briefing here today that US and China should resolve trade issues in a responsible way through bilateral talks without resorting such measures. "The nature of China US trade relations is mutually beneficial. We hope that such relations can develop in a sound way, which is beneficial to both the countries. If there is difficulty or issue we should resole them in a responsible way," she said, adding that both countries should level the playing fields for the commercial firms from each other's countries. Alibaba was taken off the list four years ago, but US authorities say the firm's online platform Taobao is used to sell "high levels" of fake goods. The Chinese online retailer and its market place Taobao have long been accused of being a platform for counterfeit goods. Taobao said earlier this year it had tightened controls on its sale of luxury goods, requiring sellers to show proof of authenticity. In May though, Alibaba was suspended from the International Anti Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) watchdog over piracy concerns, the BBC reported. More than 250 members, including Gucci America and Michael Kors, had threatened that they would leave the IACC in protest at Alibaba's membership. Alibaba - by far China's biggest online retailer - floated on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014 and broke records by raising USD 25 billion. Alibaba created record on Singles Day last month by selling goods worth about USD 18 billion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a shocking case, an auxiliary nurse midwife of a government dispensary allegedly kept a newborn girl close to a heater to force her family to give Rs 300 in Churu district. The baby suffered mild burn injuries on her face. Later, the ANM was removed and put under the awaiting posting orders (APO) while three others were shifted to another ward after the matter came to light. "Maya delivered a baby girl on Monday in the health centre. Soon after the normal delivery, ANM Neetu Gurjar put the baby close to a heater and demanded Rs 300 as 'Badhai'. "Her grandmother opposed but the ANM did not agree to give the baby to her mother," SHO Kotwali police station Bhagwan Sahay Meena said. Later to get the newborn, her grandmother gave the ANM Rs 300 and Rs 200 to another nurse, he said, adding, the newborn suffered mild burn injuries on face and is admitted to a hospital. The newborn's father Lalchand Prajapat lodged a complaint against the ANM and another nurse. On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was registered under section 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 166B (public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of IPC on Tuesday. After the mater came to light, Rajasthan Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf ordered a departmental inquiry and put Neetu under the awaiting posting orders (APO) status. She was shifted to Medical Directorate ,Jaipur while three staff nurse - Mukesh Devi, ANMs Jamuna and Pushpa Darji - were shifted to another ward. On the direction of the minister, a four-member committee of doctors has been constituted which will probe the matter and submit its report by December 26, according to an official of the Medical and Health Department. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In his career spanning nearly two decades, Manoj Bajpayee has bagged several awards but the actor says they don't come with a promise of giving more work but to recognise true talent. At the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) held recently, Manoj bagged the 'Best Performance award' for his role as Professor Siras in "Aligarh". The actor says more than having an industry-based award show, there is a need to have an award show in the country which recognises talent from across Asia. "We should have an award show like this in India where films from Asia are watched and rewarded. Awards don't give you work, but its a moment where you recognise (talent). Even getting a nomination at a platform like this is nothing short of an award," Manoj told reporters last night. The 47-year-old actor was speaking at a special party hosted to celebrate many accolades for "Aligarh", including his latest award. Directed by Hansal Mehta, the film is set in the city of Aligarh and revolves around professor Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, a sensitive Marathi language professor, who loses his job and is ostracised for his sexual orientation. Manoj sunk his teeth into the role of a gay, lonely man, who finds himself defenceless in the face of prejudice. The actor says he is grateful to Mehta for giving him the film which is still touring several festival circuits. "We never thought the journey of Aligarh, which began in February, will continue for so long. It is still being shown at several countries and being praised... It was Hansal's vision and I can't tell you how thankful I am to Hansal for giving me this role." On the work front, Manoj is excited to team up with his "Satya" director Ram Gopal Varma after nearly 14 years in the forthcoming "Sarkaar 3". "I have a special appearance in 'Naam Shabana'. Apart from this, I have Ramu's film, in which he has directed me after many years. I am very happy for that. I have a special appearance in Sarkaar 3," the actor said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accusing the Commissionerate police of acting in a partisan manner by not saving the BJP activists from BJD attacks during a rally, Odisha BJP leaders today gheraoed the police headquarters here. The agitating BJP leaders handed over a memorandum addressed to the State DGP, as Additional DG (law and order) Satyajit Mohanty received the memorandum on behalf of DGP K B Singh. "The DGP will examine the BJP leaders' petition," Mohanty said. Hundreds of BJP activists led by senior party leaders came to the police headquarters in a rally from Netaji Museum holding placards, banners and shouting slogans and gheraoed the office of the DGP. A minor scuffle ensued between BJP activists and police when the former tried to go inside the police headquarters breaking twin barricades. Around 12 platoons (1 platoon comprises 30 personnel) of force were deployed to avert any untoward incident. Criticising the Commissionerate police, BJP leaders alleged that while Wednesday's dawn to dusk Bhubaneswar bandh, called by the party, was passing off incident-free, the Bhubaneswar police acted as mute spectators when some ruling BJD activists held "counter" rallies and confronted the BJP picketers. "The Bhubaneswar police were responsible for Wednesday's attack on us by BJD", they alleged. Demanding action against the erring policemen and the BJD activists for the incident, appropriate police action against Bhubaneswar Mayor Anant Narayan Jena over the sex videotape issue and a proper probe into the mysterious death of an engineering student of Bhubaneswar, a delegation of BJP leaders submitted the memorandum. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President-elect Donald Trump has met CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, days after he slammed the two major defence manufacturers for high cost of replacement of the Air Force One presidential plane and fighter jets programmes. After the meeting, both the CEOs Dennis Muilenburg of Boeing and Marillyn Hewson of Lockheed appeared to have addressed the concerns of the President-elect. "We're going to get it done for less than that (USD 4 billion), and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens," Muilenburg told reporters after his meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He was responding to a question on Trump's criticism of Boeing manufacturing Air-Force One at an exorbitant cost. "I was able to give the President-elect my personal commitment on behalf of the Boeing Company. This is a business that's important to us. We work on Air Force One because it's important to our country and we're going to make sure that he gets the best capability and that it's done affordably," he said. In a statement, Hewson said he had a productive meeting with Trump. "I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we've made in bringing the costs down. The F-35 is a critical programme to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our US military and our allies," he said. Trump had earlier slammed Lockheed for the spiraling cost of F-35 fighter jet programme. The Boeing CEO said the meeting went great. "Very productive, and really encouraged by the dialogue. Good, open discussion. And we're all focused on the same thing here, we're going to make sure that we give our warfighters the best capability in the world and that we do it in a way that is affordable for our taxpayers," he said. Muilenburg said he and Trump talked about Air Force One. Boeing, he said is working with the White House on its timeline. "We have an active 747 production line and we're eager to get started on the programme. We haven't actually started the build of the airplane yet, but once we finalise the requirements and make sure that it's affordable we'll launch on building the aircraft. We've got a hot production line and we're ready to go," Muilenburg said. Later in his interaction with reporters, Trump described the F-35 programme as very expensive. "Trying to bring costs down-costs. Primarily the F-35, trying to get the costs down. A programme that is very, very expensive," Trump told reporters in response to a question. Asked whether he secured any concessions from Hewson. "We're just beginning, it's a dance. It's a little bit of a dance. But we're going to get the costs down and we're going to get it done beautifully," he said. Trump also met with a group of senior Pentagon officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's defence ministry has lost more than 700 laptops and computers over 18 months, according to latest figures. A total of 759 laptops and computers were lost and an additional 32 were stolen between the May 2015 election and October 2016, records released by the Press Association show. A further 328 CDs, DVDs and USBs were lost by the defence ministry over the same period, according to the data requested under Britain's Freedom of Information Act. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said information security is "a top priority" and all incidents of missing equipment are "thoroughly investigated". "The MoD promotes a culture where security is the responsibility of all staff and personnel are required to report all security incidents. This can result in figures appearing higher than comparable organisations," a spokeswoman said. Overall at least 1,000 government laptops, computers and USBs have been reported lost or stolen since May 2015. The Department of Work and Pensions reported 42 missing encrypted laptops or computers and eight USBs up to August, saying most of the losses and thefts either ocurred during break-ins or while the user was travelling. Other government departments to respond to the request include the Treasury, which recorded eight missing laptops, one of which was recovered, and one missing memory stick. One ministry created less than six months ago by Prime Minister Theresa May -- the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy -- said six laptops have already been lost or stolen since July. A further 49 laptops were recorded missing by other government departments, although the overall figure could be much higher as many ministries refused to release their figures. They include the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health, which all claimed releasing such information would be useful to criminals. Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, criticised their response: "The fact the Ministry of Defence felt able to answer makes it very implausible that these civilian departments cannot" do the same. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Retired Navy SEAL Rob ONeill, who says he fired the shot that killed terrorist Osama bin Laden, is not interested in replacing Montana congressman Ryan Zinke, President-elect Donald Trumps pick for secretary of the Interior. ONeills name surfaced this week as a potential Republican candidate to replace Zinke, also a former SEAL. The Butte natives publicist told The Gazette on Wednesday that ONeill isnt interested. Rob considers Rep. Zinke a mentor and friend and greatly respects his service to our country and to Montana. And while Rob is very honored to be mentioned to replace him, he is not considering a run at this time, said Rhonda Bentz. ONeill is a popular public speaker, sharing his message about transforming the Navy SEAL experience into winning strategies. He also has a branded clothing line called Fix Yourself. ONeills focus is helping veterans and their families through financial support and career transition services. As Montanas political parties gear up for a special election to replace Rep. Ryan Zinke, people interested in running as independents are turning to Montanas secretary of state for advice. Zinke, a Republican, is President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior. If confirmed by the Senate, Zinke will resign his House seat, triggering a special election within 85 to 100 days later. That resignation could come as early as January or February. Major political parties will round up their central committee members of nominating conventions to select candidates. Secretary of State spokeswoman Emily Dean said her office has been giving instructions to would-be candidates interested in skipping the nominating conventions staged by major parties. Anyone interested in running as an independent must gather the signatures of 14,268 registered Montana voters. The required number is equal to 5 percent of Zinkes total vote in the 2016 election, in which the incumbent defeated Democratic challenger Denise Juneau. Independent candidates must register with the Secretary of States office before gathering signatures, Dean said. Signature gathering may start at any time. The special election will include absentee ballots. A burning van has hit the headquarters of an Australian Christian lobby group, with the organisation's head saying the group had received death threats this year. The incident yesterday comes days after a truck drove into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. Australian police refused to confirm whether the Wednesday night collision in Canberra was terror-related. Australian Christian Lobby's managing director Lyle Shelton tweeted pictures of the burnt-out white vehicle and said he was "shocked that this could happen in Australia". "A vehicle has rammed our office in Canberra and exploded. All staff are safe. I do not know the condition of the driver. Prayers appreciated," he said. Media reports said the vehicle was carrying gas bottles, although police would not confirm this. "ACT policing responded to an incident last night where a vehicle collided with a building," Australian Capital Territory Police told AFP. "The driver was the only person injured in the collision. Investigations are ongoing." As dawn broke in Canberra, television pictures showed damage to both floors of the building, with broken windows and oil and debris strewn in the car park. The ACL lobbies for Christian principles and ethics reforms in parliament, campaigning against gay marriage as well as other issues. "Obviously we don't know the motives of the person who drove this van, but we have received a number of death threats and threats of violence over the course of this year that we have reported to police," Shelton told reporters. "This is an attack on free speech in Australia, which I am deeply shocked about and never thought I would see in my lifetime." According to the ABC, earlier this week a vehicle burst into flames after being rammed into a building just a few kilometres from yesterday's incident in what was believed to be an arson attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cambodian officials have seized 1.5 tonnes of illegal ivory and animal parts hidden in a timber shipment from Mozambique that was destined for China, a wildlife charity and an official said today. The huge haul -- one of the largest seizures in Cambodia this year -- highlights the Southeast Asian nation's key role in a lucrative and ecologically disastrous illegal wildlife trade primarily fuelled by Chinese demand. According to Wildlife Alliance, a Cambodia-based conservation group which helps authorities track smugglers, customs officials made the bust while searching some shipping containers last Friday on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Hidden behind rare timber logs, they found 1.3 tonnes of African elephant tusks, 10 cheetah skulls, 82 kilograms (180 pounds) of animal bones and 137 kilograms of pangolin scales. "This is a huge case with too many dead elephants. We should be seeking justice for these animals," Kdov Nuch, customs director at Kandal dry port where the interception was conducted, said in the statement. The shipping company on the manifest was the same one involved in a bust in Vietnam in late October in which nearly a tonne of ivory was discovered. Wildlife Alliance said the chief suspect is a Vietnamese national at large who is known for being a key smuggler, but did not name the individual. Un Vannarith, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh forestry administration cantonment, confirmed the seizure to AFP, but declined to elaborate any further. Pictures released by Wildlife Alliance from the raid showed customs officers standing behind hundreds of elephant tusks stacked on wooden palettes and bags filled with pangolin scales. Demand for animal parts, especially in China and Vietnam, has decimated the populations of many rare species and is a major scourge for Africa's already pressured elephants and rhinos. The reclusive pangolin has become the most trafficked mammal on Earth due to soaring demand in Asia for their scales for traditional medicine and their flesh, considered a delicacy. The scales -- like rhino horn -- are nothing more than keratin, the same substance that makes up finger nails. Yet both are falsely touted as a cure for multiple ailments, including cancer, among some practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The University of Chicago today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Telecom Sector Skill Council of India (TSSC) for devising training programmes focused on advanced telecom and digital skills. "Under the memorandum of understanding, UChicago will help TSSC, a public-private partnership focused on capacity building in the Indian telecom sector, create training programmes focused on advanced telecom and digital skills," the university said in a statement. As a knowledge partner, The University of Chicago will help create targeted educational tools for TSSC trainers. "In turn, the trainers will train students and professionals who belong to the vast TSSC network, within and outside of India. Currently, TSSC has a strong reach in India, Taiwan, Australia and United Kingdom," it added. The MoU was inked in the presence of Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, P P Chaudhary. "...There is a mind-set shift in Indians from being technology users to becoming technology creators...We must ensure that the fruits of this revolution (digital revolution) reach citizens even at the bottom of the pyramid," Chaudhary said. The Indian telecom sector employs close to 2.8 million people directly and almost another seven million indirectly, making it one of the largest employment generating sectors. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The famous chikankari and zardozi business in this city has taken a beating following demonetisation, weavers complain. The usually over-crowded markets like Ameenabad and Chowk are witnessing much less footfall for past one and a half month. Ameenabad and Chowk are the hub of chikan clothes while Hazratganj has many grand showrooms. Zardozi workers are mainly found in the area between Akbari gate and Gol darwaja in the walled city. While chikankari is a traditional embroidery style from Lucknow believed to have been introduced by Noor Jahan, the wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir, weavers use gold and silver threads in zardozi work. Lucknow zardozi products are manufactured in areas in Lucknow and six surrounding districts of Barabanki, Unnao, Sitapur, Rae Bareli, Hardoi and Amethi. B K Rastogi, owner of the over six-decades-old 'Bhagwat and Sons' shop at Chowk area, says sales have dropped by 40 per cent due to demonetisation. "Seventy per cent of contractual workers are struggling and there are difficulties in circulation. The worst affected are kaarigars (weavers) who are not getting enough work. We supply to cities like Mumbai and Delhi but there is around 40 per cent drop in sales," Rastogi told PTI. "The process of chikankari includes designing, engraving, block printing, embroidery, washing and finishing and for every step we hire kaarigars who are paid in cash. It is difficult for businessmen as there is a withdrawal limit post demonetisation. We can't pay them through Paytm or cards," he adds. Zafar Ali, who has been handling his ancestral zardozi business at Shahi Shafakhana Chowk, says the note ban has made their lives very difficult. "There are 12-13 kaarigars working on daily wages here. We purchase raw material in cash and it is difficult now due to lack of cash. Normally we get orders from big showrooms but there are not enough orders these days. Forget about profit, it is getting harder even to retrieve the cost," he adds. Ali says now nobody in his family is willing to take up this business. "Zardozi is an art but we don't have many artisans nowadays. Not many kaarigars are left in the city now and my family is not unwilling to take this business forward," he rues. The owner of Kailash Chikans at Bhootnath Market in Indirapuram is only hoping that business gets back on track soon. "Though this (demonetisation) decision was taken in the interest of country's economy, it has affected our business adversely. We are now praying that things become normal," he says. Another attraction of Lucknow which no one likes to miss when on a visit to the city is Tunday Kababi at Ameenabad. The over-a-century-old outlet which serves mouth-watering galawati kebabs is also witnessing reduced footfall since November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation decision. "We don't use Paytm and since out shop is situated at the basement, there is problem with the mobile network. We deal in cash only and the biggest issue is change. On normal days, our outlet remains crowded but now there has been a drastic drop in footfall," says Mohammad Usman, the owner of the outlet. The BJP's dream of 'Congress Mukt Bharat' is just a distant dream to achieve, Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh Ninong Ering said here today. While interacting with members of Arunachal Youth Congress (AUC), the Congress MP exhorted all youths to work with dedication, commitment and loyalty, which, according to him, would bring the party back to power. A party release quoting him said, Congress is the oldest and largest political party in the country and served the people from its core since independence. Speaking on the issue of demonetisation, the MP said, "Unplanned declaration of demonetisation by the Modi Government was a dictatorial decision and anti-national." "It is the farmers, working class, middle class and business communities who are suffering the most because of demonetisation. Many have even lost their lives," Ering alleged. "Demonetisation is nothing but a political decision keeping in mind the approaching Assembly elections in some states next year" Ering said. Meanwhile, APYC vice president Jikke Tako submitted a two-point memorandum to the MP for maintenance of office of the APYC and to take up with the appropriate authority the case of Haa Tama, who died in Jaipur, Rajasthan, allegedly after being thrown from a 3-storied building. Ering assured to look into the demands at the earliest and also assured to take up Tama's case for speedy delivery of justice, the communique said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Disgraced former Israeli President Moshe Katsav, serving a seven-year jail term for rape and obstruction of justice, has been released from prison after serving five years imprisonment, evoking strong criticism from women's organisation and left-wing politicians. Katsav, 71, who served as Israel's eighth President from 2000 to 2007, was convicted in December, 2010 of raping and sexually assaulting a former employee at the Tourism Ministry. He was also found guilty of sexually harassing two other women at the President's official residence while serving in office and assaulting one of them. Katsav's imprisonment in May 2011 also included a conviction for obstruction of justice. Katsavwas freed yesterday after the State Prosecutor's Office dropped its objections and said it would not appeal against the parole board's recommendations allowing to free him. "There's no doubt among the committee members that the prisoner has undergone a change," the parole board wrote in the decision. "This is in light of the remarks he expressed to the committee members in the current hearing, unlike the things he said in the past two hearings", the statement further said. Under the terms of his release, Katsav isforbidden to work in positions where he has authority over women and cannot give interviews. He will be also under house arrest daily between 10 PM and 6 AM for the next two years. Left-wing Meretz party lawmakers, Zehava Galon, Michal Rozin and Tamar Zandberg, called the parole board's decision "cowardly and tainted", saying Katsav "used his political power in order to rape and now he is exploiting this same political power in order to receive early release". Katsav held a series of Cabinet posts before being elected President in 2000. The charges against him forced him to resign in 2007, two weeks before his term was to end. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four construction workers were buried alive when loose earth caved in on them while they were working in a 20-foot deep pit at a worksite in Ballattimattarm near Coonoor, about 28 km from here today, police said. Five persons were working in the pit dug for construction of a new building when suddenly the loose soil fell on them at around 10.30 AM. While one Kanagaraj (50) was rescued with minor injuries by his colleagues, four others identified as Pratap (18), Arumugham (48), Karthikeyan (26) and Kamaraj (50) are still buried under the soil, they added. The District Collector P Shankar and Superintendent of Police Muraliramba are monitoring the rescue operations being carried out jointly by police and fire and rescue services personnel. The personnel are working hard to remove the soil and rescue the four workers trapped inside, police said, adding Kanagaraj has been admitted to a government hospital in Coonoor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) France and Britain are pushing the UN Security Council to ban the sale of helicopters to Syria and to impose the first sanctions over the use of chemical weapons in the five-year war. A draft resolution obtained by AFP yesterday calls for asset freezes and travel bans against four Syrian officials and 10 entities including a Syrian research center tied to chemical weapons development. Diplomats however said the measure is certain to be vetoed by Russia, Syria's ally, which has blocked council action on Syria with six vetoes so far. A vote at the council is expected as early as next week. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that several units of the Syrian army had used toxic weapons against three villages in northern Syria in 2014 and 2015. It was the first time an international probe blamed President Bashar Al-Assad's forces after years of denial from Damascus. Government helicopters flying from two regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, the panel's latest report said. Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia. British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said there must be "significant measures" to follow up on the panel's findings and called for sanctions. "We'll be pursuing that with our council colleagues and circulating a draft shortly," he told reporters. Russia however has said that the report's findings are "inconclusive" and not strong enough to warrant sanctions. Under the proposed measure, the council would demand that all UN member-states "prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer" to the Syrian military and government of "any helicopters, or related materiel including spare parts." A UN committee that oversees a sanctions blacklist for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State would also be tasked with adding names of those responsible for a mustard gas attack in Syria in 2015. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gambia's top court has said it was adjourning until January 10 a case filed by strongman Yahya Jammeh, who is seeking to annul the results of the country's presidential elections. The Supreme Court, presided by Nigerian-born Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, ordered the adjournment because the chief defendant -- the country's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) -- had not been summonsed to attend. Jammeh, in power for 22 years, was defeated by opposition candidate Adama Barrow in the December 1 poll. Barrow's inauguration is due to take place on January 19. Jammeh initially accepted the result but then reversed position a week later, stoking international concerns about the future of the tiny west African country. His complaint to the court is about alleged irregularities in the ballot count by the IEC and charges that in one region his supporters were intimidated. Jammeh's lawyer, Edward Gomez, informed the court that the IEC had not been served with a summons by Jammeh, the plaintiff. As a result, Gomez argued, it was in the interest of justice to give time for the IEC to receive the papers requiring it to attend. "In view of the case that the Independent Electoral Commission is not served, I hereby order that the case is adjourned till 10 January," Judge Fagbenle announced. Gomez told reporters afterwards: "Going to court is a right and is a process, and nobody should deny a party that right. "That is all we are saying and at the end of the day it is the ruling of the court that matters. And I believe we will all abide by it and respect it." Experts say Jammeh has bought time for his bid to stay in office by taking his appeal to a court that has lain dormant since May 2015 and whose judges had been fired under Jammeh's orders save Fagbenle. Court sources said six foreign judges, excluding Fagbenle, have now been appointed by Jammeh to serve on the Supreme Court. Out of the total seven judges, five would hear the petition. If a review of the decision is sought by one of the parties, the case would then be considered by the full seven-member panel, the sources said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is feeling happy that his film "Freaky Ali" has been released in Pakistan. Movie houses in Pakistan recently began screening Indian films, over two months after film exhibitors and theatre owners suspended them amidst Indo-Pak tensions following Uri terror attack and cross-border firing incidents. 'Freaky Ali', a romantic comedy of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Arbaaz Khan and Amy Jackson, which was released in September, is the first film being screened in the Pakistani cinemas after the film exhibitors and cinema owners lifted the self-imposed suspension on Indian movies' screening. When asked about it, Nawazuddin told reporters here that, "It's a happy that the film is releasing there. Our collection will increase, so it's good." The actor was speaking at a special party hosted to celebrate the many accolades of "Aligarh", including Manoj Bajpayee's 'Best performance award' at 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA). At the award show held recently, Nawazuddin received a Special Mention in the Best Performance category for his role in Anurag Kashyap's "Raman Raghav 2.0." The 42-year-old actor says there are some films which get tremendous acclaim at international awards but are not able to do that well commercially, and feels it is something which will change with time. "There are certain films which get a lot of acclaim outside, including 'Raman Raghav 2.0' which got me an award too. So some films are appreciated a lot outside but unfortunately here (it may not work). But it'll happen, it will take time," he said. Nawazuddin will be next seen in Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Raees", scheduled to release in January next year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BUTTE Officials say an autopsy will be performed on a Montana State Prison inmate who died at a hospital in Missoula. The cause of 54-year-old Carey Edwards' death has not yet been determined. Prison spokeswoman Amy Barton wouldn't say why Edwards was sent to St. Patrick Hospital, where he died Monday, other than specifying it was for a medical emergency. Edwards was an Oregon inmate who had been housed at the Montana prison since 2000 as an Interstate Compact Transfer. He was serving a life sentence after being convicted of murder in Multnomah County, Oregon, in 1989. In a setback to the state government, Jammu and Kashmir High Court has quashed its order of compulsory retirement of six officials under its policy of weeding out the so called "deadwood". Justice Alok Aradhe set aside the June order of compulsorily retirement and directed the state to reinstate the petitioners and award all consequential benefits, within a period of one month. Justice Aradhe delivered the verdict yesterday afterhearing a battery of lawyers who had argued for the petitionersyesterday, whereas Senior Additional Advocate General (AAG) Seema Shekhar appeared for the state. As many as 29 petitions were listed and six were heard at length and decided by the court which quashed the government's compulsorily retirement order of the employees. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government's plan to more than double the share of natural gas in India's energy mix to 15 per cent would necessitate investments of at least Rs 65,000 crore just to augment gas import and pipeline infrastructure, a report said. Research said if the share of gas in India's energy mix has to rise to 10 per cent by 2020, it would mean a doubling of gas consumption to over 100 billion cubic meter (BCM) from current levels. But given that domestic gas production is limited, demand for imported LNG would surge three-fold to 65 BCM, or over 50 million tonnes. Collaterally, to import this LNG, India's regasification capacity will have to increase to 60 million tonnes compared with 25 million tonnes now. Research said its analysis shows that would entail investments of Rs 30,000-35,000 crore. And for all that gas to be consumed, 9,000 km of pipelines would have to be laid in east and south India, which would cost another Rs 25,000- 30,000 crore. The move to promote gas usage is in line with the commitment made at the Paris meeting on climate change (called the Conference of Parties 21, or COP 21), to reduce the carbon intensity of India's GDP by a third from 0.37 kg per capita of GDP in 2005, Research said in a statement. Renewables are likely to be the key driver, with the government targeting 175 GW of renewable power by 2022. Gas, though a relatively cleaner fuel than coal and other liquid fuels, continues to be a higher cost option, which restricts its usage. Weak pricing power of end-users further limits usage in the power and urea sectors. "The government's ambitious plan to more than double the share of natural gas in India's energy mix -- from 6.5 per cent in 2015 to 15 per cent over the medium term -- would necessitate investments of at least Rs 65,000 crore (nearly USD 10 billion) just to augment infrastructure for gas import and for laying pipelines," it said. Energy mix refers to the proportion of various fuels in overall energy consumption. Crisil Research said to ramp up gas usage, LNG import and pipeline infrastructure needs to be expanded significantly. In particular, government financial support is necessary to revive stalled pipeline projects in east and south India, which have been dogged by viability worries stemming from subdued demand growth. It believes that given the gas production constraints, low cost-competitiveness of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and under-developed infrastructure, meeting this ambitious target will be an onerous task, and will require significant push by the government through policies and incentives. Additionally, gas consumption by the power sector needs to rise significantly if the energy mix goal is to be met. A 44-year-old Indian national has been arrested from the Tribhuvan International Airport here for possessing banned Indian currency worth Rs 363,500. Police arrested Thupten Gelek when he was about to leave for New Delhi of India from Kathmandu on an Indigo Airlines flight (6E032). He was carrying 210 notes of Rs 1,000 denominations and 307 notes of Rs 500 denomination. Police found the notes hidden inside a suitcase during a security check. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 had announced the ban on banknotes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian national was detained and produced before a local court in New Jersey today on charges of abusive sexual contact on a plane from Mumbai to Newark, federal prosecutors said. Facing a maximum sentence of two years and a fine of up to USD 250,000, Ganesh Parkar, 40, made an initial appearance in a federal court in New Jersey and was detained. According to the complaint, the incident happened on December 21, on board an Air India flight AI191 from Mumbai to Newark. During the flight, Parkar moved from his ticketed seat in the business class section of the plane to economy class and sat next to a female passenger seated in a centre row. When the woman fell asleep, Parkar placed his hand on her private parts without her consent, the complaint alleges. The unidentified woman did not know Parkar and engaged in only limited conversation with the defendant during the flight. After the incident, Parkar was moved back to his original seat. During the remainder of the flight, Parkar wrote two short notes to the victim in which apologized for a "moment's stupidity" and stated "I acknowledge I was stupid". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 26-year-old Indian-origin truck driver has been killed after the lorry, carrying Christmas packages, flipped over in the US state of California. Ravikesh Kumar was driving the two-axle box truck when the crash happened around 3:20 AM on Tuesday on southbound interstate road. The truck crashed into a minivan abandoned on the right shoulder, turned over and hit a large metal pole, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials said. He was trapped in the truck's cab after the crash. When crews got him out, Kumar was taken to a Walnut Creek hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, the official said. The truck carrying hundreds of packages of the US Postal Service (USPS), many of them wrapped for Christmas, spilled all over the freeway. A scooter, a Lego set, art kits and a coffee maker were among the many items strewn around the wreckage of the truck, NBC Bay Area reported. Kumar worked for a private company carrying FedEx mail headed to a San Jose postal facility for residents in the area, said Gus Ruiz, a USPS spokesman. Postal Service employees were sifting through the packages that had been on the truck to ensure that undamaged parcels reach their destinations, Ruiz said. The cause of the crash is under investigation, but officials said it doesn't appear that drugs or alcohol were a factor. Kumar's wife had just been able to immigrate from their homeland of Fiji to the US, the report said. For Kumar's friends and family, who are all involved in the trucking business themselves, all this has driven them to the intersection of grief and great perspective. "It's just a reminder for everybody you know...Who's driving a truck out there or driving a car...To be cautious this holiday season and, just to take care," said his uncle. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India is on track to cement its position next year as a source of safe, effective and quality medicines at affordable prices, but a "growing trust deficit" with the government and regulatory headwinds can pose a serious roadblock to this journey. The USD 32-billion generic-driven Indian pharma industry is eyeing a sea of opportunities as global demand for safe and quality drugs rises, especially in developed economies such as the US, the EU and Japan. Apart from the trust deficit that was in full display in the year passing by, compliance with regulatory norms, particularly with USFDA, continues to be the proverbial Achilles heel for home-grown companies. "The sector will continue to grow and become a major player in the world market as a source of safe, effective, quality medicines at affordable prices," Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) Secretary General Dilip G Shah told PTI. His optimism stems from "greater acceptance of Indian generics as safe and effective medicines". Demographic pressure in the developed countries has made them limit their health expenditure, Shah said. Industry body Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) has hailed the government's move to introduce regulatory amendments to relax clinical trial guidelines and upgrade rules for good manufacturing practices (GMPs). These are "in the interest of patient safety and help put India on the global research map", OPPI DG Kanchana T K said. "The sector faces two major issues in the domestic market, viz. Growing trust deficit between the industry and the government and breakdown of meaningful dialogue between the two," Shah remarked. Asked about the challenges facing the industry, he said "(it's) the government's suo motu actions that could compromise India's IPR regime and hurt generics and absence of shared vision". While future looks rosy albeit with challenges, a lookback at 2016 is a pointer to the bitter pills that the industry swallowed during the year. In March, the government banned 344 fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs, making pharma firms see red, which termed the decision "arbitrary, unfair and a letdown" and approached the Delhi High Court. "Maximum litigation with pricing and drug regulators is the high point of 2016," Shah said when asked to sum up the events of the year. "In the last one year, over 400 companies had to go to courts to resolve their grievances relating to pricing and drug regulatory decisions." In a relief to the industry, the high court set aside the government's decision, saying the step was taken in a "haphazard manner" without consulting statutory bodies as mandated under the law and such drugs cannot be banned for any reason other than posing risk to consumers or having no therapeutic value or justification. The temporary ban impacted sales of many companies though. "Driven by volume, the industry has managed to report double-digit growth in the 12 months ended November 2016. However, it is unlikely to maintain that for 2016-17," Shah added. The year also saw the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixing ceiling prices of drug formulations used for treatment of various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, bacterial infections and hypertension, among others. On the reforms front, the government allowed up to 74 per cent foreign direct investment in the existing pharmaceutical companies through the automatic route with an aim to promote the sector. Earlier, 100 per cent FDI was permitted through government approval. The move assumed significance as FDI in the existing pharma firms has been a contentious issue as concerns have been raised over takeover of Indian companies by foreign giants that could hamper availability of low-cost medicines. The change in FDI regulation was followed by in-bound multi-million dollar deals. In the largest acquisition of an Indian pharma company by a Chinese firm, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co agreed to buy Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma for about USD 1.26 billion (nearly Rs 8,500 crore). Likewise, last month, the US-based Baxter International forged a definitive agreement to acquire Claris Injectables, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Claris Lifesciences, for approximately USD 625 million (Rs 4,237 crore). Not to be left behind, Indian companies went full throttle with their global expansion strategy through acquisitions. Notable among them is Piramal Enterprises which announced that it would acquire US-based contract development and manufacturing firm Ash Stevens for up to USD 52.95 million (over Rs 350 crore). Strides Shasun also signed a pact to acquire Perrigo API India for Rs 100 crore. But the worrying point is compliance issues faced by domestic firms vis-a-vis foreign health regulators. Drugmakers such as Aurobindo Pharma, Alembic Pharma, Glenmark and Sun Pharma had their facilities inspected by USFDA and were asked to comply with the regulator's good manufacturing guidelines. Some other firms such as Ipca Labs, Sri Krishna Pharmaceuticals and Wockhardt too received USFDA rap over manufacturing practices. In 2016, seven Indian pharma players, including Aurobindo, Emcure, Hetero Labs, Laurus Labs, Lupin and Zydus Cadila, signed licensing pact with the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to produce HIV and hepatitis C drugs. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today described the resignation of Lt Governor as a surprise even as the AAP took a jibe at the LG, saying he worked under the "influence" of the Narendra Modi dispensation. The AAP also questioned whether the power tussle between the Centre and Delhi government will continue even after the appointment of a new LG. Kejriwal said Jung's resignation is a surprise to him and wished him for his future endeavours. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, despite the "sweet bitter" experience, the AAP government and Jung did a good job in Delhi. "Good wishes to for his future endeavour. God should give some good sense to them who controlled him. Will the war continue even after Jung's (exit)?" Delhi minister Kapil Mishra said. Senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas termed Jung's tenure "disgraceful". Vishwas alleged that the LG troubled the Delhi government at the behest of Modi dispensation, but took a jibe saying Jung would get a better posting. "Modi government promotes its people. We hope, he gets a better posting after this. I am unhappy that his tenure was disgraceful. Now that he has gone, good luck to him. "Najeeb Jung's behaviour was not his. He was under the influence of someone. We hope the next LG gives priority to issues concerning people and does not work under anyone's influence," Vishwas said. In a sudden move, Jung today resigned amid a bitter confrontation with the AAP government. Without citing reasons, Jung's office said he has submitted his resignation to the Centre. 65-year-old Jung, a former IAS officer, had assumed charge of Lt Governor of Delhi on July 9, 2013. German authorities were under fire on Thursday after it emerged that the prime suspect in Berlin's deadly truck attack, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker, was known as a potentially dangerous jihadist. German prosecutors have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Anis Amri, offering a 100,000-euro ($1,04,000) reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he "could be violent and armed". Asylum office papers believed to belong to Amri, alleged to have links to the radical Islamist scene, were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that rammed through a crowded Christmas market in on Monday, killing 11. The twelfth victim, the hijacked truck's Polish driver, was found shot in the cab. Police on Wednesday searched a refugee centre in Emmerich, western Germany, where Amri stayed a few months ago, as well as two apartments in Berlin, the media reported. But, as the Europe-wide manhunt intensified, questions were also raised about how the suspect had been able to avoid arrest and deportation despite being on the radar of several security agencies. "The authorities had him in their crosshairs and he still managed to vanish," said Der Spiegel weekly on its website. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung criticised police for wasting time focusing on a Pakistani suspect immediately after the truck assault, in what turned out to be a false lead. "It took a while before the federal police turned to Amri as a suspect," it said. The attack, Germany's deadliest in recent years, has been claimed by the Islamic State group. Twenty-four people remain in hospital, 14 of whom were seriously injured. Germany has boosted security measures following the carnage, beefing up the police presence at train stations, airports and at its borders with Poland and France. In a revelation likely to stoke public anger, German officials said they had already been investigating Amri, suspecting he was planning an attack. The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing "a serious act of violence against the state". prosecutors said separately that Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, "possibly to carry out an attack". But, after keeping tabs on him from March until September this year they failed to find evidence of the plot, learning only that Amri was a small-time drug dealer, and the surveillance was stopped. Distressed by the economic blockade that has crippled her home state Manipur, five-time world champion boxer and Rajya Sabha MP M C Mary Kom has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and resolve the crisis. The blockade has been imposed by United Naga Council to protest the state government's decision to form seven new districts. The UNC claims the districts in the Naga-dominated hill areas will affect land holdings of Naga tribes settled in these areas. The blockade which has surpassed 50 days now has crippled normal life in Manipur with scarcity of essential goods being a major concern apart form violence. In a letter to Modi, Mary Kom, an Olympic bronze-medallist, urged him to try and resolve the issue at the earliest. "It is to bring to your notice that the state of Manipur is going through the toughest of time with unrest situation. The whole section of communities, both in hills and valley, residing in Manipur are suffering due to the economic blockade and counter-blockade and have now turned into ugly consequences of greater destruction and if not intervened in time, there are possibilities of untoward happenings and the people are so insecure," she wrote. "Irrespective of the causes and reasons, I strongly recommend and request you to consider this prevailing situation in Manipur a serious matter and kindly intervene at the earliest for peaceful solution and the state be brought back to normalcy. This act will remain a great achievement and the people will remain in owe towards your kind intervention," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Meghalaya government today sought financial assistance from the Centre for setting up of AYUSH Directorate in the state to promote alternative medicines. The goverment also asked the Centre for reservation of at least 18 seats for local indigenous students at the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy (NEIAH) which was officially inaugurated today. "It (directorate) will also help in improving the quality of teachers of various AYUSH systems, ensuring affordable AYUSH services and drugs which are safe...", Health Minister Roshan Warjri said at the inaugural address of the NEIAH held at Mawdiangdiang. The Minister also sought assistance to implement the various projects taken up by Meghalaya State Medicinal Plants Board (MSMPB), which according to her will only promote alternative medicines. The Board currently handles matters related to policy formulation, coordination of various agencies dealing with medicinal plants, local health traditions, sustained availability of medicinal plants, validation and certification issues and conservation and preservation of medicinal plants in the state. The Health Minister also asked the Centre to consider and reserve a minimum of 18 seats (9 homeopathy and 9 ayurveda) out of 100 seat, on par with seats allotted by NEIGHRIMS for the MBBS to local indigenous population in Meghalaya. "This will help overcome the language barrier and make the people fully understand and accept the significance of AYUSH system of treatment," she said. Stating that in the last two decades the alternative system of medicines and treatments have gained popularity to a great extent particularly in homoeopathy, ayurvedic and yoga and naturopathy. "However, in absence of an AYUSH medical institute and college in the state the students have been deprived of the facility to pursue this line of study, since the state quota has very limited seats". The Minister also submitted a memorandum to the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) AYUSH, Shripad Yessa Naik during the inauguration of NEIAH. Among other proposals of the state government includes approval for setting up of 50 bedded AYUSH hospitals and wellness centres in all the 11 districts in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Some brought photos of their missing loved ones to the Mexican fireworks market where a series of explosions killed at least 33 people, while others who had already claimed their dead began to mourn their loss. Friends and relatives of Ernesto Ornelas, 67, gathered in the narrow street in front of his house in the Mexico City suburb of Naucalpan late Wednesday to pray, sing and mourn his loss in the deadly blasts, whose cause has still not been determined. Authorities in Mexico State said the death toll could rise further because 12 people were listed as missing and some body parts were found at the scene of Tuesday's tragedy in the San Pablito fireworks market in the city of Tultepec. Ornelas had been shopping for fireworks with his son Cesar Ornelas and his 15-year-old grandson Francisco when the explosions occurred. They became separated in their dash to escape. Cesar and Francisco suffered minor injuries and only later saw Ernesto, bleeding from his head and with his clothing burned, loaded into an ambulance. After learning which hospital he'd been taken to they were told he had died of a head injury, Cesar Ornelas said Wednesday. "We don't know if it was from a fall or if a flying rock hit him." Investigators were focusing their attention on ignored safety measures that led to vendors displaying fireworks outside their concrete stalls in the passageways that divided the sellers. The passageways were supposed to prevent exactly the sort of devastating chain reaction that occurred. Juana Antolina Hernandez, who has run a stand for 22 years in San Pablito next to one operated by her parents, escaped the market in a mad dash when the explosions began. On Wednesday, she was one of the disconsolate residents waiting outside a local morgue. "I can't find my father, and my mother is very badly burned," said Hernandez, 49. "I am waiting here for them to tell me if my father is here, but up to this point, nothing." Of the 33 dead, the state listed 10 as unidentified. In some cases, the bodies were so badly burned that DNA identification will be necessary. San Pablito was especially well stocked for the holidays and bustling with hundreds of shoppers when the blast reduced the market to a stark expanse of ash, rubble and the scorched metal. Dramatic video of the explosion showed a towering plume of smoke that was lit up by a staccato of bangs and flashes of light, the third such incident to ravage the market on the northern outskirts of Mexico's capital since 2005. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a conglomerate of leaders of 14 major churches in Mizoram, today appealed to the state government not to observe 'Good Governance Day' on Christmas. The Centre's decision to observe 'Good Governance Day' on December 25 is one of the most important religious day of Christians, according to a statement issued by the committee. "It is extremely unfortunate that the Centre declared December 25 as 'Good Governance Day' which will surely inconvenience many people and disturb Christmas day celebrations," it said. The MKHC has understood that December 25 is declared as 'Good Governance Day' as it coincides with the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the statement said, adding it is a sacred day for the Christians. It also appealed the state government to appoint another day as Good Governance Day and not organise any official function that could disturb the Christmas day celebrations. The MKHC had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make alternative arrangements so that the sentiment of the Christian community in the region is not hurt, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mortar fire killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in the battleground Iraqi city of Mosul, the United Nations said today. "According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queuing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire," Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in a statement. "Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents" that also wounded up to 40 people, Grande said. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," she said, adding: "The killing of civilians and aid workers violates every humanitarian principle." Iraqi forces launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul, the country's last city held by the Islamic State jihadist group, and have retaken areas on its eastern side. But the battle - during which more than 100,000 people have been displaced, with many times that number still believed to be inside the city - is far from over. The UN announcement came a day after Human Rights Watch said that IS was "indiscriminately" attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the jihadists in Mosul. "Residents said (IS) members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were 'unbelievers' and therefore valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces," the rights group said. The jihadists have targeted civilians with mortars, explosives and gunfire, HRW said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Odisha Chief Minister was on Thursday left air-borne in a chopper for about 45 minutes, following which an executive engineer in Koraput district was suspended on charges of dereliction in his duty. After completing his programme at Jeypore, Patnaik left for Kotpad at 12.40 pm and was scheduled to arrive at 12.55 pm but he could not land until 1.35 pm at Kotpad, a senior state official said. The Public Works Department - entrusted to prepare the helipad for landing of the Chief Minister's chopper - had to provide the details of the location, including the latitude, longitude and altitude, but could not provide timely information to the pilot resulting in the delay, the official said. The pilot kept scouting for the location and the chief minister remained mid-air for 45 minutes, the official added. Following the development, the Executive Engineer of Jeypore division was placed under suspension, Works Department Secretary Nalin Kanta Pradhan said. The official's name was not given. Earlier, at Jeypore the chief minister had reiterated his government's commitment for tribal development. "Even though the Centre stopped the special KBK fund, to ensure that development work is not hampered in this region, my government launched Biju KBK fund to strengthen infrastructure like road, electricity and safe drinking water at villages. Obstacles to development of the region will not be tolerated," Patnaik said in his address in a bid to woo the tribal votes. "All round development of tribals is the priority of my government and several steps have been taken in this regard. To increase tribal female literacy rate, capacity of hostels in tribal residential schools are being increased," he added. The Chief Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various projects, including a 100-bedded tribal girls hostel, mini-stadium, sub-stations, bus terminal. He also affirmed there will no crunch of funds in the state's (Kalahandi Balangir Koraput) KBK districts. A prominent New York antiquities dealer has been accused of selling stolen artifacts from international smugglers by creating sham documents to hide their history in a scheme that prosecutors said dates back to 1999. Nancy Wiener was arrested yesterday on charges of criminal possession of stolen property and conspiracy, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office. Prosecutors said she and several co-conspirators have been trafficking in illegal antiquities since at least 1999. "(The) defendant used a laundering process that included restoration services to hide damage from illegal excavations, straw purchases at auction houses to create sham ownership histories, and the creation of false provenance to predate international laws of patrimony prohibiting the exportation of looted antiquities," according to the complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court. Her lawyer, Georges Lederman, told The New York Times his client "surrendered voluntarily." ''We are examining the charges and will respond at the appropriate time," Lederman added. Wiener and her mother, who died in 2011, have been well-known dealers of Indian and Southeast Asian art in New York for decades. Some of their top clients have been Jacqueline Kennedy, John D. Rockefeller III and Igor Stravinsky. When Wiener's mother died, prosecutors said she inherited hundreds of illicit items at their gallery and arraigned inaccurate ownership histories. She consigned 360 lots to Christie's, which auctioned them off for USD 12.8 million. In another example, prosecutors said Wiener purchased a stolen bronze Buddha from Southeast Asia and had a restorer erase shovel marks and other signs of looting before displaying it in her gallery, where authorities seized it during a raid in March. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Odisha was in the in 2016 mostly for wrong reasons like Japanese Encephalitis claiming over 100 lives, malnutrition killing infants, a sex scandal, water war with Chhattisgarh, farmers' woes et al. The Naveen Patnaik government faced embarrassing moments as the story of Dana Majhi, a poor tribal who had to walk over 10 km carrying his wife's body on his shoulder from a government hospital in backward Kalahandi district after being denied a hearse in August, made international . As the poor healthcare sector in the state stood exposed, financial help poured in from many quarters for 45-year-old Majhi, whose wife had died of TB at the hospital, while an educational institute offered free education to his three daughters in Bhubaneswar. The BJD government was under attack throughout the year as many other issues including death of 25 people in a hospital fire in Bhubaneswar, high infant and maternal mortality rates, corruption and power crisis armed Opposition Congress and BJP with enough ammo. In the words of state Odisha Congress chief Prasad Harichandan and BJP state president Basant Panda, the BJD government failed on all fronts and healthcare, education, and law and order machinery collapsed. On its part, BJD, which is in its fourth term in power, accused the Centre of neglecting the state by slashing funds and claimed that its government is ably handling all issues. The Opposition claimed that healthcare crumbled in the state saying more than 100 children died due to Japanese Encephalitis in tribal-dominated Malkangiri district in a span of about two months. The disease rapidly spread and six of the seven blocks of the district were badly hit. The state government also drew flak following the death of at least 19 infants due to alleged malnutrition at Nagada village in mineral-rich Jajpur district within a short span during June-July. Another tragedy which evoked widespread condemnation and outcry was the killing of five civilians, including three tribals and a child, in alleged firing by security forces on July 8 at Gumudumaha in Kandhamal district. While Patnaik, who holds the home portfolio, came under sharp attack for the incident, politicians made a beeline to the nondescript village alleging highhandedness. Rattled by brickbats from many quarters, the state government ordered a probe by a special investigation team (SIT). Yet another act of BJD government which drew severe criticism from many spheres was its handling of Mahanadi river water issue with neighbouring Chhattisgarh. BJD was up in arms demanding stoppage of construction of dams and barrages in upper reaches of Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh saying the projects would drastically reduce water flow into Odisha, hitting hard agricultural, industrial and other activities. Though the state government claimed it was kept in the dark about the projects over the river, considered as the lifeline of Odisha, Opposition parties lashed out at it saying it was well aware of the plans chalked out by Chhattisgarh way back in 2000. Odisha finally approached the Centre in November for formation of a dispute tribunal to resolve Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh. The Opposition Congress, however, criticised the state government for "delaying" its approach for setting up a tribunal to resolve Mahanadi water dispute. In another jolt to the ruling BJD, four of its MLAs, including a woman, were shown purportedly demanding hefty kickbacks to facilitate setting up of industrial projects in their respective areas in a sting operation aired by a channel in August, triggering bitter attack from Opposition parties which termed the expose as a tip of the iceberg. Patnaik ordered a probe by the anti-corruption vigilance wing into the whole episode. The year saw one of the worst fire tragedies in the state in October when a blaze in a private hospital here claimed at least 25 lives, caused mostly by suffocation and asphyxiation. With the mishap exposing poor fire safety measures in medical facilities, irregularities in of granting licences and slack monitoring, senior BJD leader Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak had to resign as the Health Minister, while the owner and some senior officials of the hospital, run by a prominent group of educational institutions, were also arrested. In what was termed as a sign of lawlessness by BJP, BJD supporters including some legislators allegedly pelted stones at the motorcade of Union ministers Santosh Gangwar and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti when they were proceeding to attend a rally at Bargarh, marking completion of two years of NDA government. While some vehicles were damaged in the attack, BJD activists also allegedly ransacked a saree show room in the city, where Gangwar was scheduled to meet weavers. "If union ministers are not safe, the state government and chief minister should ponder whether common people can live peacefully here," was Gangwar's reaction. Rowdyism in BJD also came to fore when a ruling party legislator and activists allegedly thrashed BJP supporters for showing black flags to two state ministers in Boudh district in July. The same MLA, Prashant Jagdev, later allegedly assaulted the Bolagarh Tehsildar. While OAS Officers Association was up in arms over the issue, Opposition parties accused the chief minister of shielding the BJD MLA. Left-wing extremism continued to pose serious threat in many areas where violence was perpetrated at intervals. The state government was slammed for delay in appointment of a Lokayukta, chairman of State Human Rights Commission, Police Compliant Authority and Security Commission. Industrial scenario remained gloomy amid tardy and sluggish progress despite the state's claim of attracting crores of rupees of investments as many mega projects failed to make headway. As the year drew to a close, the state was rocked by a sex video clip which went viral on social media as Bhubaneswar Mayor Anant Narayan Jena, who is also a BJD general secretary, was dragged into the controversy amid allegation that he featured in it. The issue took a new twist as it was further alleged that the video clip was linked to the death of an engineering student in May. Pakistan, the world's third most prolific executioner, is set to hang an elderly paralysed murder convict following the rejection of his mercy appeal by the President. Khan Iqbal, who is in his 80s, was arrested in a murder case on August 1, 1996, and was convicted and sentenced to death by the lower courts. Iqbal is lodged in Adiala jail of garrison city of Rawalpindi where he will be sent to the gallows on Saturday, Dawn reported. "After the sessions court issued his black warrants, the jail authorities have asked his family to meet the convict on Friday at Adiala jail," it said. The convict's son Bilal Khan has said that since his father is in his 80s and had been paralysed during imprisonment, he had been trying to reach a settlement with the family of the person murdered by his father. He claimed that his father had been at home until last year but was directed to report to the jail after the family of the deceased complained to the sessions court. He said his father had been in Kohat jail until 2013 when, somehow, he managed to flee while being shifted to another jail. However, he did not disclose how his father remained at home for three years. The military courts were set up in Pakistan to expedite the trial process for terror-related offences following the December 2014 Taliban's massacre at an army-run school in Peshawar in which over 150 people, mostly school children, were killed. Following the attack, the government lifted the moratorium on the death penalty and the Parliament passed the 21st amendment which established military courts. According to an official of the Executive Director of Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), over 400 persons have been executed in two years. Pakistan has refused to stop hangings despite mounting criticism by the human rights groups, the UN and the EU against implementation of death penalty. There are about 8,000 death row prisoners in Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to decongest the roads, the government may allow registration of vehicles only after production of availability certificate to the authorities. Speaking at an event in New Delhi, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu also said that in future, permission would not be given for any construction unless it has a provision for toilets. "In future, it would be mandated (that) no permission would be given to any construction without a toilet... No car or vehicle should be registered without adequate availability certificate," Naidu, the union urban development minister, said. Underlining he was "very keen" to put in place such riders for vehicles' registration, Naidu said that his ministry was in discussions with Surface Transport Ministry in this regard. "I am holding discussions with Nitin Gadkari and also sensitising the states. We are moving in that direction (to get such a mechanism implemented)," he said. Earlier, he also launched 'Google toilet locator' that would help people search toilets in Delhi-NCR as well as Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. The minister said the Google platform offers over 6,200 public toilet locations, including their availability in shopping malls, hospitals, bus and train stations, petrol pumps and metro stations. Naidu said the objective of achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) status for cities and towns entails not only construction of toilets but also ensuring the regular usage. Urban Development Ministry has partnered with Google and August Communications to provide the location of toilets on Google Maps Platform. "We have already collated community and public toilet data in 5 cities of NCR (Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida) and two cities from MP (Indore and Bhopal). In fact, the Delhi-NCR region alone has more than 5,100 toilets listed," he said. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths have seized Rs 1.34 crore in new Rs 2,000 denomination besides foreign currencies from a gang of five persons at the airport here, today. Acting on specific input that a gang was involved in smuggling of foreign exchange out of India, the DRI Chennai zone officials intercepted five persons outside the Anna International airport here in the wee hours of Thursday, an official release said. During a search of the baggage carried by the gang, it was found containing Rs 1.34 crore in new currency of Rs 2,000 notes and foreign currencies of over USD 7,000 (equivalent to Rs 4.76 lakh), which were seized, the release said. "Further investigation is on," it said. Yesterday, the DRI officials had seized 12 lakh foreign cigarettes, worth Rs 1.63 crore, that arrived at V O Chidambaranar Port in Tuticorin, by a container from United Arab Emirates. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WATFORD CITY The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued serious safety violations to three companies after an investigation into a June flash fire at an oil well site near Watford City, which killed one worker and severely burned three others. Following its investigation of the June 18 incident, OSHA issued citations to the wells operator, XTO Energy, and the two servicing companies, Most Wanted Well Service and Sherwood Enterprises. Investigators determined that the employers failed to maintain well control, resulting in a release of hydrocarbons that caused the explosion and subsequent flash fire. Johnny Stassinos, 52, of Rock Springs, Wyo., died from his injuries after falling during the incident. Three other workers were injured: Richard Maheu, 27, also of Rock Springs; Daniel Montes, 28, of Fruita, Colo.; and Justin Pyle, 40, of Grand Junction, Colo. Employers who are directly involved in well servicing operations must coordinate their actions to ensure well control is maintained at all times. Failing to do so can result in catastrophic consequences such as this case where one man lost his life and three others suffered debilitating burns, said Eric Brooks, OSHAs area director in Bismarck. Communication between the host employer and all contractors is critical in working safely at any site. OSHA also found that Most Wanted Well Service failed to provide flame -retardant clothing to employees exposed to flash fire hazards. Workers for the servicing company were wearing non-flame-retardant rain gear as their outermost layer on the day of the incident, the OSHA citation states. OSHA proposes $24,942 in fines for Most Wanted Well Service, based in Rock Springs. XTO Energy, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, and Sherwood Enterprise, based in Big Piney, Wyo., each face a proposed fine of $12,471. The companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA or contest the findings. Russia will supply Serbia with fighter jets, tanks and combat vehicles, a move that potentially strengthens Moscow's influence in the Balkans. The six MiG-29 fighter jets, 30 T-72 tanks and 30 combat vehicles come from Russia's weapons reserves. The jets will need immediate overhaul after delivery in March, which will cost between 180-230 million euros (between USD 188-240 million.) Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who secured the deal during his visit to Russia yesterday, said the Russian "donation" will "dramatically" boost his country's defense capability. Most of Serbia's neighbors are NATO members. Vucic said Serbia will remain militarily neutral despite the new weaponry from Russia. "The sky over Serbia will be absolutely safe," Vucic said. "That means we will have an advantage over those who would perhaps think of threatening Serbia in the future. We are not threatening anyone." Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has been sliding toward traditional Slavic ally Russia. The arms deal comes amid growing tensions between Serbia and neighboring Croatia, a NATO and EU member, and intensified Russian efforts to prevent the Balkans aligning further with the West. Many in Serbia are hostile toward NATO because of its bombing of the country in 1999 over a bloody government crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, something both Serbia and Russia reject. Serbia's labor minister Aleksandar Vulin said the arms deal with Russia is "historic." "Since the NATO aggression, we were never safer," Vulin said. "Now we will be able to defend our territories. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday bade farewell to Andrei Karlov at a packed memorial ceremony in Moscow for the diplomat who was assassinated in Turkey by an off-duty policeman. Dozens of colleagues and relatives attended the ceremony for Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey whose death was labelled by Moscow as an act of terror while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the perpetrator was a member of Fethullah Gulen's group behind the aborted July coup. Putin laid red roses at the foot of Karlov's coffin and spoke with his relatives but left the ceremony without making a statement. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the deceased envoy, who was 62, and paid his respects to his mother Maria, widow Marina and son Gennady, also a diplomat, as the ambassador's body lay in state in a flower-decked coffin. "We are saying goodbye to our friend Andrei Karlov who became a victim of a malicious, vile terrorist attack while in the line of duty," Lavrov said at the ceremony held in the foreign ministry headquarters. "We will never forget Andrei." A religious service was later expected to be held at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill before the ambassador is laid to rest at a cemetery. In terrifying scenes captured on photo and video, 22-year-old policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas shot the ambassador nine times in the back on Monday while he was delivering a speech at an exhibition of photographs of Russia in Ankara. The ambassador fell to the ground and later died in hospital. The assailant, who was off-duty and managed to circumvent the metal detectors by flashing his police credentials, shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and "Don't forget Aleppo" after targeting Karlov and was himself killed in a subsequent shootout with Turkish guards. A group of Russian investigators has been working on the probe in Turkey since Tuesday. Turkish prosecutors today said they have released six relatives of Altintas who were detained for questioning in the wake of the attack. Thirteen people were arrested in the murder probe and police were looking for 120 people, authorities said. Russia has bestowed a prestigious Hero of Russia honour on Karlov posthumously, while his alma mater MGIMO Institute of Relations has initiated a scholarship in his name. Karlov studied Korean and Japanese as he trained for his diplomatic career and worked for many years in North Korea, including as ambassador between 2001 and 2007. He has served as envoy to Turkey since 2013. Shiv Sainiks today took out a protest march to Manpada police station in Dombivali demanding immediate arrest of those responsible for shooting dead the driver of a real estate developer yesterday. The protesters marched to the police station which falls under Kalyan divison along with the ambulance carrying the body of Vicky Sharma. They squatted infront of the police station, demanded arrest of the alleged accused and refused to leave till they were arrested, said police. The Shiv Sainiks were led by MLA Subash Bhoir and Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) Mayor Rajendra Deolekar. Two unindentified persons had opened fire at builder Amit Patil in Shil Katai Naka yesterday. Patil was saved in the incident after Sharma covered him but the latter was badly injured and died while being treated at a hospital. Immediately after the incident Thane Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde rushed to Dombivali and directed policemen to carry on a thorough probe. Additional policemen have been summoned to avert any untoward incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Industry captains in Singapore are keen to invest in energy, infrastructure, urban development, construction, engineering and healthcare sectors as they look towards Jharkhand as the next investment destination, a press release said. Beginning a three-day investment promotion in Singapore by a 12-member high-level delegation headed by Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and comprising government officials and business leaders, the delegation successfully organised a roadshow today with more than 80 companies participating in it, the release said. Addressing investors, Das highlighted that Jharkhand has reached a spurt point for next level of business and industrial growth, adding the envisaged growth was supported by availability of abundant raw materials, qualified and skilled human resource, conducive industrial and business policies and supportive leadership. He emphasised that today Jharkhand was the most investment ready state with a clear vision and well chalked out roadmap to take the economic leadership in India. Explaining that the state government in its thrust to facilitate investment and increase user convenience was taking multiple initiatives to improve Ease of Doing Business in the state, Das put forth his idea of governance, which believes in less government and more governance, the release said. The CM articulated that the state government was stable and aggressively working to make Jharkhand prosperous. He invited the business community in Singapore to participate in the 'Momentum Jharkhand' Global Investors' Summit-2017 to be held in February 2017. State Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma said investment in the state was getting momentum and the logo 'Flying elephant' was a symbol of its strength. Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Secretary, Department of Industries, Mines and Geology, made a detailed multi-sectoral presentation on investment opportunities in Jharkhand, the release said. Javed Ashraf, High Commissioner of India in Singapore commended the CM for the initiatives and reforms undertaken by his government to improve business environment in the state and appreciated the commitment and will power of Das to take Jharkhand in the fast forward development process, it said. The chief minister along with his team met the delegation from IE Singapore led by Benjamin Yap, Group Director and discussed investment opportunities. After the meeting, Yap said it was fruitful and confirmed his satisfaction for the potential offered by Jharkhand. He said IE Singapore, through its member business conglomerates, would explore various sectors like Smart cities, IT, urban development and energy for investment options in Jharkhand, the release said. The delegation met representatives of the Singapore Economic Development Board and discussed their structure and development model and ways to implement a similar model in Jharkhand. More than 20 members of BIJHAR (Bihar Jharkhand Association) also met Das and Verma and discussed investment opportunities in Jharkhand. Key participants include STMicroelectronics, leaves + oats Pte ltd, SMF, Strategic Capital Global, Fitch Ratings, SICCI, GMR International, OEM, P&P, Universal Navigation, IS Container Pte Ltd and several others, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at nearby Tirumala here. On arrival at the ancient shrine, Wickremesinghe and his wife Maitree were accorded a traditional welcome by the temple priests and functionaries, who later conducted them to the sanctum sanctorum of the 2000-year-old shrine, Chadalawada Krishnamurthy, Chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) told PTI. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister and his wife together made an offering in the hundi (offering box) of the shrine, where they spent over 20 minutes, he said. He was accompanied by Lankan ministers D M Swaminathan, Palani Digambaram and other officials during his 15-hour spiritual visit here. After offering worship, Wickremesinghe was honoured with a sacred silk cloth besides the holy laddu prasadam and Theertham (celestial water) in a tiny bottle, while the priests, amid chanting vedic hymns, blessed him at the sprawling Rangamandapam in the temple, the Chairman said. Wickremesinghe flew in to the Renigunta airport, 20 km from here, by a special chopper from Chennai on Wednesday evening and drove straight to the sacred hills. After an overnight stay, the Lankan PM paid obeisance to Lord Venkateswara this morning and immediately left for Chennai to fly back to Sri Lanka, he said. The last visit of Wickremesinghe to the temple in his capacity as Prime Minister was in 2002. Tight security arrangements were put in place here and at the airport. (REOPENS MDS1) Later, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister told reporters that he visited the temple to seek the Lord's blessings for "reconciliation, for the government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena, for development and prosperity of our people (and) for strengthening the relationship between our two countries," i.E, India and Sri Lanka. Wickremesinghe, however, did not respond to queries on the fishermen issue. He then left for Colombo from Chennai. Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, is to visit Guatemala next month amid US-China tensions spurred by US president-elect Donald's Trump speaking by telephone with the Asian leader and threating to snub Beijing's "One China" policy. Guatemala's foreign ministry confirmed the visit, to take place January 11-12, just a week before Trump takes office on January 20. The Central American country is among just 21 nations in the world that defy China's stance to recognise Taiwan as a sovereign country. It said Tsai's visit was to "strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation." Her trip was also to take in Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. China views Taiwan as a renegade province and fiercely opposes diplomatic recognition of it as a country. Beijing has asked the United States to prevent Tsai flying through US airspace on her way to Central America. Some reports suggest she could stop in New York to speak with Trump's entourage. Washington's adherence to the "One China" policy has been questioned by Trump, who suggested he could use recognition of the island as a bargaining chip to extract trade deals from Beijing. "I don't know why we have to be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," he told Fox earlier this month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Afghan police say gunmen have stormed the home of a lawmaker in the capital, killing eight people and leaving the parliamentarian wounded after he jumped from the roof to escape. The Taliban claimed the attack, which began late yesterday, saying they targeted a meeting of military officials. Police officer Sadiq Muradi says the gunmen attacked the house of Mir Wali, a lawmaker from the restive southern Helmand province. They battled his guards for several hours, eventually killing eight people, including family members, friends and members of his security detail. Three attackers were killed. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 2016 ended as a year of grief for people of Tamil Nadu who lost their popular leader J Jayalalithaa, who had only seven months ago led her party to a comprehensive successive second victory in the Assembly polls. Cyclone Vardah hitting hard and a series of protests and sporadic violence on the Cauvery issue stretching over a month were among the other key events that the state witnessed this year. As the ruling AIADMK is trying to find its feet in both party affairs and governance with the passing away of Jayalalithaa, main Opposition DMK is on a wait-and-watch mode though it continues to take up key issues like Cauvery and Jallikattu to keep the political pot boiling. DMK treasurer M K Stalin became the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly for the first time, and his party won 89 seats. Cyclone Vardah hit the state was like deja vu, reminding the sufferings of 2015's heavy rains during the corresponding period. Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release Rs 22,573 crore as cyclone aid. Jayalalithaa swung into action from day one after being sworn in May as chief minister for the sixth time by implementing a slew of measures. Waiver of crop loans for farmers, increase in gold allocation for women beneficiaries and closure of 500 Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) liquor outlets were among the measures aimed at fulfilling her electoral promises. Ever since Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation on September 22, till her passing away on December 5, the state remained on tenterhooks with medical bulletins appearing on and off on her health status. Mass prayers in places of worship across Tamil Nadu by AIADMK workers and supporters became a regular feature. The entrance area to Apollo Hospital where she underwent treatment became a makeshift prayer ground and across the state, milk pot prayer processions and tonsuring of head by partymen were often seen. For DMK workers, repeated hospitalisation of its nonagenarian leader Karunanidhi due to illness caused anxiety though he is now on the path of recovery, according to Kauvery Hospital where he is getting treated. With the passing away of Jayalalithaa, AIADMK leaders wanted her aide V K Sasikala to lead the party, with more functionaries voicing their support to her to ascend the seat of governance as chief minister as well. Though Tamil Nadu's legal battle to get Cauvery waters for standing crops continues, the issue witnessed a series of heightened protests and sporadic violence in the state during September and October. Such protests, spanning several weeks, had an adverse impact on the common people especially in the districts bordering Karnataka including Krishnagiri. A bandh supported by farmers outfits and opposition parties was held and a cadre belonging to Nam Thamizhar Katchi died after setting himself ablaze. People walking several kilometres from Hosur (Tamil Nadu) to reach Bengaluru, or to return to the state from Karnataka towns became everyday stories. As violence took a serious turn in September in Karnataka with the torching of 30 buses in Bengaluru of a private operator from Tamil Nadu, the situation turned for worse. Bus services, truck transport got shut completely for weeks together and inter-state borders were even sealed. Cauvery issue also gained much political traction during September and a divide erupted among political parties over it. Though Jayalalithaa had already resumed the legal battle in Supreme Court for Cauvery waters before being admitted to hospital on September 22, the issue was taken up in a big way by main opposition DMK to target the AIADMK regime. Weeks preceding the November polls, the DMK stepped up pressure on the government to convene a special House session and convene an-all party meeting and held a rally on the issue in Tamil Nadu's hub of Cauvery delta at Thanjavur. Later, it held an "all-party meeting" which drew flak from ruling AIADMK and other parties like BJP. Leading to a further divide among parties on Cauvery issue, while DMK MPs separately called on President Pranab Mukherjee, AIADMK MPs marched to the Prime Minister's Office and submitted a memorandum seeking action. Comparatively, though Opposition parties gave lesser attention to bypolls as only ruling parties have won in such polls in Tamil Nadu in the past decades, DMK took the polls for Thanjavur and Aravakkurichi and the bypoll to Thirupparankundram quite seriously. DMK treasurer Stalin extensively toured all the poll bound areas and taunted the ruling regime with his pet "the government is non-functional" barb. The ruling party won comfortably in all the three constituencies. With Tamil Nadu government deciding to implement the Food Security Act, it was cited by DMK treasurer Stalin as beginning of an "U-turn" by Tamil Nadu government in view of the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa. He said such schemes which were opposed vehemently by Jayalalithaa were now allegedly being given concurrence by the state government after her hospitalisation. He even accused the Centre of "intimidating" the state over such issues. In August, a train heist stunned Tamil Nadu in which Rs 5.78 crore was stolen by breaking open the roof of a parcel van attached to the Salem-Chennai Express. In October, two of the SIMI activists wanted by Tamil Nadu police in connection with the 2014 May train blast case in Chennai (in which a techie was killed) were among the eight killed in an encounter in Bhopal bringing curtains down in the two-year-old case. Arrest of Dawood Suleiman, the kingpin behind the al Qaeda inspired module "Base Movement" responsible for blasts in court complexes in South India and his associates including N Abbas Ali of Madurai was a major breakthrough for the NIA in Tamil Nadu. The Telangana government is examining a proposal of implementing a sub-plan for the welfare of backward classes, a state minister said here today. Replying to query in the Legislative Assembly, Backward Classes Welfare Minister Jogu Ramanna said the proposal of making a sub-plan for backward classes is being considered by the state government. The sub-plan is made to ensure that funds are used for the welfare of the community in different areas. Sub-plans were made for Scheduled Classes and Scheduled Tribes during the previous Congress government in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. In his reply, the minister also said the state government has formed a Backward Classes Commission to study problems of weaker sections for their empowerment. The government introduced a new scheme - 'Mahatma Jyotiba Phule BC Overseas Vidya Nidhi' - for the benefit of students belonging to Backward Classes for pursuing higher studies abroad from 2016-17, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : The Chennai Angels, comprising successful entrepreneurs and industrialists, has invested Rs 1.10 crore in the city-based start-up, E-Vegetailing Pvt Ltd, as part of its plans to build a farmer network and ramp up procurement points. Aspire Systems, CEO and Co-Founder, Gowri Shankar Subramanian led the investment on behalf of The Chennai Angels, a press release here said today. E-Vegetailing engaged in selling farm fresh vegetables, would utilise the investments to build its farmer network, increase procurement points among others. E-Vegetailing established in 2014 retails around 10,000 kilograms of vegetables a day, in and around Chennai district. "This capital will help us scale up our business and simultaneously enhance our farm-to-door solution," E-Vegetailing, Founder-CEO, Edwin Rajamohan said. "We will be growing the business with a multi-pronged approach, increase customer base, expand into various verticals and scale up procurement from 10,000 kgs per day to 50,000 kgs," he said. The investment from The Chennai Angels was the first round of capital received by E-Vegetailing since inception. "E-Vegetailing has the potential to forge a strong and productive relationship with farmers to further our common focus on increasing efficiencies in the farm-to-fork supply chain and in creating a technology enabled business," Aspire Systems, Co-Founder, Gowri Shankar Subramanian said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BELFIELD -- A federal agency has ordered Belle Fourche Pipeline to improve leak detection, remediate any pipeline in unstable land areas and take other steps to protect the environment following an oil spill that contaminated a Little Missouri River tributary. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action order to Belle Fourche, part of True Cos. of Wyoming, stemming from its investigation into the spill discovered Dec. 5 by a landowner northwest of Belfield. Although the cause of the spill is still under investigation, one theory is its related to unstable conditions in the rugged Badlands terrain. The hillside where the pipeline break occurred is slumping and there are other indications of ground movement, which may have caused the pipeline to experience compressive or bending forces within the slope failure, PHMSA said in the order. The agency identified a 58-mile segment of the oil pipeline that traverses similar topography and ordered the company to conduct a risk assessment. The oil pipeline under investigation was built in the 1980s, but its believed the segment that failed was installed in 2013, the agency said. The company also must evaluate other segments that were installed using the same method. The pipeline leak spilled about 4,200 barrels, or 176,400 gallons, of oil and contaminated 4 miles of Ash Coulee Creek. More than 1,900 barrels, or 79,800 gallons, of oil has been recovered with cleanup efforts still ongoing, said Wendy Owen, spokeswoman for True Cos. Crews are skimming oil off the creek and doing some controlled burns, said Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager for the North Dakota Department of Health. The spill was not detected by monitoring equipment on the pipeline. PHMSA inspections in 2004 and 2009 showed that portions of the Belle Fourches pipeline system lacked accurate or timely leak-detection systems, the agency said. The corrective order requires Belle Fourche to install leak detection equipment within six months, with a high priority placed on areas associated with the Little Missouri River and other water crossings more than 100 feet wide. A 19-mile segment of the pipeline has been isolated and shut down. The corrective action order requires Belle Fourche to take several additional steps prior to restarting the pipeline: Conduct daily aerial patrols of the affected segment of pipeline for the next 14 days, including the use of an infrared camera to locate any areas of potential oil leaks. Complete testing and analysis of the failed section of pipe within 90 days and submit a root cause failure analysis within 120 days. Conduct an in-line inspection of the pipeline with a tool capable to detecting stress caused by ground movement. Review the effectiveness of the companys emergency response as related to the failure. The company can contest the order. Failure to comply could result in civil penalties. PHMSA also noted that this pipeline falls under the same corrective action order the agency issued in January 2015 to True Cos. following the oil spill in the Yellowstone River that temporarily contaminated the water supply for Glendive, Mont. The agency said the response plan submitted under that order was deemed to be inadequate. Owen said the company had received the order Wednesday afternoon, but she didnt have a comment because it was still being reviewed. She noted that some of the measures in the order were already being addressed by the company. A geotechnical survey of the hillside was conducted on Monday and crews are waiting on the results to determine whether its safe to excavate the broken pipeline. A PHMSA inspector is expected to be on-site for the excavation. The Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota has urged regulators to provide strong oversight of True Cos., citing a track record of spills and environmental incidents. Were relieved to see PHMSA mandate immediate corrective actions, but its disappointing to learn that the True Cos. apparently still havent fully complied with the order issued following the Yellowstone spill, said spokesman Kevin Pranis. The North Dakota Oil and Gas Division, the North Dakota Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency also are investigating the incident. The Calcutta High Court today extended interim bail to suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh in connection with cases over his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. A division bench comprising justices Ashim Kumar Roy and M M Banerjee extended bail Ghosh till January 10, 2017, while fixing the next date for hearing on January six next. The bench had set free Ghosh on interim bail on October five following his incarceration for more than two years in connection with criminal cases lodged against him. The bench had granted bail to Ghosh, who headed the Saradha Group's media business, on two sureties of Rs one lakh each. Ghosh was arrested on November 23, 2013 by Bidhannagar Police after the Saradha scam broke out in April that year. Ghosh was suspended by the Trinamool Congress in September, 2013, which had given him the Rajya Sabha ticket, for anti-party activities after he had started making allegations of involvement of some party leaders in the scam. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April, 2012. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President-elect Donald Trump has created a new trade body within the White House that would report directly to him and roped in an economist and a billionaire both known for their anti-China stance for his economic team. The formation of the White House National Trade Council further demonstrates Trump's determination to make American manufacturing "great" again and to provide every American with the opportunity to work in a decent job at a decent wage, the presidential transition team said. The council would be headed by economist and University of California-Irvin Professor Peter Navarro, who would serve as Assistant to the President and Director of Trade and Industrial Policy, the team said in a statement. Professor Peter Navarro will head the Council and serve as Assistant to the President and Director of Trade and Industrial Policy (Photo: Bloomberg) According to the transition team, the mission of the National Trade Council will be to advise the President on innovative strategies in trade negotiations, coordinate with other agencies to assess US manufacturing capabilities and the defence industrial base, and help match unemployed American workers with new opportunities in the skilled manufacturing sector. Later in the day, Trump announced to appoint billionaire investor Carl Icahn to serve as a special advisor on issues related to regulatory reform. Icahn was one of Trump's earliest supporters, and his intimate knowledge of what businesses need to grow and thrive makes him a trusted voice in developing President-elect's 'America First' economic agenda, the media statement said. "Icahn will be a leader in helping American entrepreneurs shed job-killing regulations that stifle economic growth," it said. In a report, The Wall Street said the announcements "offer clues about how Trump will attempt to flesh out his distinct economic agenda that fuses traditional Republican principles of lower taxes and regulation" with a more populist approach on trade, immigration and manufacturing. Trump appointed billionaire investor Carl Icahn to serve as special advisor on issues related to regulatory reform (Photo:Reuters) "In the early 1990s, Icahn came to Trump's rescue as his casino business was failing. Today, Trump made Icahn the regulatory czar of his administration," he said. "The corrupt nature of this arrangement cannot be understated. Voters who wanted Trump to drain the swamp just got another face full of mud," he added. A 21-year-woman was allegedly drugged and raped by two men in southwest Delhi's Dwarka, following which the accused were arrested, police said today. The accused have been identified Sunil (26) and Himmat(22), DCP(Southwest) Surender Kumar said. The woman claimed that she was brought forcefully from Gurgaon to a flat in southwest Delhi last night where the accused drugged raped her, they said. The flat is rented by Nitin, Sunil's driver. Nitin was out of town when Himmat and Sunil allegedly took the girl there. The incident came to light while the girl was trying to escape from the flat and fell from the window into the shaft and sustained severe injuries. While trying to prevent her from escaping, Himmat also fell from the window, police said, adding Sunil had gone out when this happened. Hearing the duo's cries, the neighbours made a PCR call alleging that some thieves were hiding in the shaft. The girl sustained severe back injuries and was taken to DDU Hospital from where she was referred to Safdarjung Hospital where her condition is stated to be stable, they said. After gaining consciousness, she told police that the duo raped her after she lost consciousness upon being drugged. The accused were arrested after the woman's medical examination was conducted, police said. On the other hand, the accused claimed she came with them willingly and that they didn't kidnap her. They said Sunil had gone out to get some food while Himmat and the girl were drinking in the flat. They claimed that Sunil and the woman were standing near the window when they lost balance and fell, they said. Himmat hails from Mahendragarh in Haryana and had come to Delhi around 15-20 days back to work with Sunil, whose cars were earlier plying for Uber, a police official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UN Security Council has delayed a contentious vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt settlements as President-elect Donald Trump weighed in and said the United States should veto the measure. Egypt requested that the vote be postponed, one day after submitting the draft text to the council, a move that triggered immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a US veto to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained unclear whether Washington would shift stance this time, possibly abstaining to allow the measure to pass, although without US support. "Israelis deeply appreciate one of the great pillars of the US-Israel alliance: the willingness over many years of the United States to stand up in the UN and veto anti-Israel resolutions," Netanyahu said. "I hope the US won't abandon this policy." Israel launched a frantic lobbying effort to pressure Egypt to drop the bid and reached out to its supporters in the United States and at the Security Council for support. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said his government was deploying "diplomatic efforts on all fronts to ensure that this disgraceful resolution will not pass in the Security Council." A UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, dubbed the Israeli lobbying a "diplomatic World War III" and a senior Security Council diplomat suggested that the motion could be buried indefinitely. "There was a window of opportunity. Whether that window is still there is really not clear," said a Western diplomat. Trump, who campaigned on a promise to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, bluntly said Washington should use its veto to block the resolution. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," he said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis." Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said Trump's call for a veto was in response to pressure from the Israeli prime minister. "He is acting on behalf of Netanyahu," he said. Trump has chosen as ambassador to Israel the hardliner David Friedman, who has said Washington will not pressure Israel to curtail settlement building in the occupied West Bank. No new timeframe was announced for the vote, which had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Arab ambassadors held an emergency meeting at the United Nations to press Egypt to move ahead with a vote but an Arab League committee decided after meeting in Cairo to continue talks on the fate of the motion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States has denied an Israeli claim that US-supplied armoured vehicles seen being operated by Hezbollah in Syria had been given to the Islamist militia by Lebanon's official army. Last month, footage emerged of Hezbollah fighters operating M113 armored personnel carriers in Syria, where the militia -- blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organization -- is fighting in support of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Yesterday, a senior Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity said Israel believes these vehicles were drawn from stocks supplied by Washington to the Lebanese Armed Forces. But, in Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said US officials have investigated and do not believe that Lebanon has violated its agreement not to transfer on US-supplied equipment. "When this allegation was raised in November, the Department of Defense did a structural analysis of the armored personnel carriers in question at that time and concluded that these vehicles were not from the Lebanese Armed Forces. Our assessment remains the same now," Kirby told AFP. "As we noted when this first came up, the Lebanese Armed Forces stated publicly that the vehicles depicted online were never part of their equipment roster," he added. "The LAF fully complies with end use monitoring requirements, continues to have an exemplary track record with US equipment and remains a valued partner in the fight against ISIL and other extremists," he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. The United States supplies Lebanon's official army with arms on condition they are for official use and would be obliged to review military ties if it were proved the APCs ended up in Hezbollah's hands. Pentagon spokesman Gordon Trowbridge told AFP that Hezbollah does indeed have a "small number" of M113 armored personnel carriers in its inventory. "They've had them for a number of years," Trowbridge said. "They could have come from a variety of sources because it's a relatively common vehicle in the region." Neither US spokesman said where Hezbollah's M113s might have come from if not from the Lebanese army. But last month some officials noted that Hezbollah is thought to have captured armored vehicles from the defunct South Lebanon Army, an Israeli-backed Christian militia that collapsed in 2000. Earlier, the anonymous Israeli military official had told reporters that Israeli intelligence had "recognised these specific APCs... As those given by the US to Lebanon". He said new information had been shared with the United States "a few weeks ago" but did not specify how many armored personnel carriers were involved. Israel fought a devastating war with the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah in 2006, and closely monitors the group's activities. More recently, the Iranian-funded Lebanese Shiite movement has been fighting alongside Assad's forces in Syria's civil war. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States has played down Russian reports that already tense ties between the old foes have plunged to chilly new lows. The State Department denied a Kremlin claim that communications are frozen, noting that Secretary of State John Kerry had called his Russian counterpart as recently as Tuesday. The Pentagon also noted that on the same day Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the claim, its officers had held a video conference with Russian commanders on how to stay out of each other's way in Syria. "Practically all levels of dialogue with the United States are frozen," Peskov told Mir TV, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. "We don't communicate with one another. Or we do so minimally," he added, causing surprise in Washington. "I don't know exactly what to make of that comment," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "Obviously, we don't agree and have issues with Russia on a variety of issues, but dialogue has not been broken." Kirby said Kerry had spoken to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday by telephone to hear about talks Russia had hosted with Iran and Turkey to seek a solution to the crisis in Syria. "Look, there's a lot of issues where dialogue and communications between the United States and Russia remain important, and for our part, we remain committed to that dialogue and that communication," Kirby said. "It doesn't mean that we're always going to agree and it doesn't mean that there's not going to be tensions. But as far as we're concerned, communications are not frozen and dialogue is still happening. Differences are still being discussed, debated." Russia finds itself locked in its worst standoff with the West since the Cold War over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, the conflict in Ukraine and lingering disagreement about the conflict in Syria. US President Barack Obama's administration on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining sanctions on Moscow over Crimea with new financial restrictions on Russian businessmen and companies. The Russian foreign ministry said it "regretted" the new sanctions. The White House this month also pointed to direct involvement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in cyber attacks designed to impact the US election. The upcoming presidency of Donald Trump raises questions over the future of US policy toward Russia given his apparently softer line on Putin. Putin himself has reiterated Moscow's readiness to work with the Trump administration once the president-elect takes office in January, stressing the importance of normalizing the countries' relations. Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company today said the US health regulator has not approved its new drug application for Xelpros, a preservative-free eye drop. "The company has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from USFDA for the new drug application (NDA) for Xelpros," Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) said in a BSE filing. A CRL is a communication from USFDA that informs companies that an application cannot be approved in its present form. It further said, "The CRL references the recent inspection of the Sun Pharmaceutical Industries' Halol manufacturing site by USFDA and indicates that satisfactory resolution of deficiencies identified during the inspection is required before final approval of Xelpros". Last year, SPARC had licensed the product to a subsidiary of Sun Pharma, it added. Earlier this month, Sun Pharma said the US health regulator had made nine observations after the completion of inspection of its Halol facility in Gujarat. The company is preparing responses to the observations, which will be submitted to USFDA within 15 business days. Sun Pharma had been earlier issued a warning letter by USFDA for its Halol facility in December 2015. The letter followed inspection in September 2014 by FDA inspectors. The company has been making efforts to make the Halol plant CGMP (current good manufacturing practices)-compliant again. The stock of Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company was trading 3.50 per cent higher at Rs 318.15 on BSE. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A youth here today hurled a pamphlet at the cavalcade of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while he was touring his Lok Sabha constituency, sending security personnel into a tizzy. The incident took place around noon in Kabir Nagar locality of the ancient temple town where the PM had paid a brief visit to inspect the laying of underground electricity cables and installation of heritage streetlights and special lighting arrangements for heritage buildings. Hundreds of people were standing on both sides of the otherwise busy road which had been cordoned-off in view of the VVIP movement in the city. One of the onlookers, who appeared to be in his 20s and wearing a muffler wrapped around his head like a turban, threw the pamphlet in the direction of the fleet while it was passing through. Alarmed policemen, rushed to catch hold of him but he managed to flee. Screenshots of the pamphlet became viral on the social media in which the person has described himself as "Abhinav Tripathi, a social worker" and asked PM Modi to "acknowledge that your visit to Kashi is being opposed". Tripathi had alleged "harassment of poor residents of Kashi at the hands of bank officials, lack of action against criminals controlling temples, mosques, churches and gurudwaras, appointment of people with dubious character to key posts by the Vice Chancellor of Benares Hindu University and no jobs for the youth here despite announcement of schemes worth billions among others". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Electronic security systems maker Zicom Electronic Security Systems today said its 'Make Your City Safe' (MYCS) initiative will be launched in nine more cities over the next six months to nine months. After Mumbai and Pune, Zicom today rolled out 'Make Your City Safe' initiative in Hyderabad, which will offer a broad spectrum of services including installation and maintenance of CCTV surveillance featuring 24 x 7 video monitoring service by trained professionals at 'Zicom Command Centre' (in Mumbai). 'MYSC' will be launched in nine more cities including Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Nashik over the next six to nine months, Zicom Electronic Security Managing Director Pramoud V Rao told reporters here. 'MYCS' is a social SaaS initiative by Zicom that aims to make housing societies/ hospitals / educational institutes more secure by equipping them with high quality CCTVs that requires "zero investment, zero management", he said. "Users need not pay anything more than a nominal fee even lesser than the salary of the monthly security guards while Zicom provides all end-to-end security solutions," Rao claimed. Zicom, with the help of IoT, will do remote system health check of the CCTV Surveillance System through its 'Zicom Command Centre', he added. "We provide remote managed services with three tiers of security like hardware, remote monitoring and remote response all built into a holistic end-to-end security solutions. "With over 4,500 housing societies under the MYCS banner in Mumbai, we have kept a target of 2,000-3,000 buildings in Hyderabad in the first year, which we are confident of achieving," Rao added. On the ongoing Community CCTV project here, Rao said they are in talks with Hyderabad Police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Xi Jinping said China's approach to regulating its red-hot property market will include financial, fiscal, tax, land, and regulatory measures as Beijing looks to develop a long-term mechanism for an industry prone to speculation. China's home prices rose at the fastest pace on record in November. Prices are rising by more than 20 per cent annually in many major cities, making housing increasingly unaffordable for the middle class. "The country should accurately understand the residential feature of housing and form a housing mechanism that serves both purchase and rental purposes and meets housing demands of a new urban population," Xi said on Wednesday, according to comments carried on state media Xinhua after a meeting in Beijing. will strictly limit credit flowing into property speculation in 2017 and restrain property bubbles and prevent price volatility, the country's top leaders said at a key economic meeting last week. The government has highlighted the need for a well-developed rental market as people are priced out of owning a home. has for years mulled an annual property tax, though little progress has been made since a limited tax was implemented in Shanghai and Chongqing in 2011. In November the finance minister at the time said was actively pushing forward reforms on property taxes. Xi said the market will play the leading role in meeting varied housing demand, while the government will satisfy basic housing demand. said on Thursday its plan to raise on the market 5 billion euros ($5.2 billion) in capital by the end of the year had failed, paving the way for a state bailout of Italy's third-largest bank. Political sources said new Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is ready to call a cabinet meeting within hours to approve a decree authorising the bank's third bailout since 2009. Parliament on Wednesday had allowed the Rome government to borrow up to an extra 20 billion euros to prop up failing banks, starting with the Tuscan lender that for years has been at the forefront of Italy's banking woes. "The capital increase ... was not successful," the bank said after it managed to raise just 2 billion euros in capital from a debt-to-equity conversion offer. Junior bondholders who had tendered their debt in the swap will receive it back. No fees will be paid to advisers JPMorgan and Mediobanca as well as other banks that unsuccessfully sought to place new shares in Monte dei Paschi and worked on a now collapsed bad loan sale. A share offer that ended on Thursday met with no demand partly due to rising political risks in Italy after a December 4 referendum unseated the reformist government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. An Italian daily said the bailout plan could take two to three months, starting with a government guarantee of Monte dei Paschi's own borrowings to ensure it does not run out of cash. The bank has been bleeding deposits heavily and on Wednesday it said its liquidity could run out after four months. Only days earlier it had estimated it would last for 11 months. Its failure would shake the foundations of Italy's banking industry, the euro zone's fourth largest and home to a third of the bloc's bad debts. But also a state bailout carries risks due to EU rules that require private investors to suffer losses before taxpayer funds can be tapped, a politically explosive issue given 40,000 retail investors hold bonds in Monte dei Paschi. The world's oldest bank, worth just 440 million euros after losing 90 per cent of its market value this year, has been laid low by ill-judged acquisitions and mismanagement. It is saddled with the largest proportion of bad debts among Italian lenders compared to its capital. After burning through 8 billion euros of capital raised in 2014-2015 it needed more money to cover losses from a planned 27 billion euro bad loan sale demanded by the European Central Bank. The plan engineered by JPMorgan hinged on a 1 billion euro investment by Qatar's investment authority. Confirming an earlier Reuters report, the bank said late on Wednesday it had failed to secure an anchor investor and this had discouraged other potential buyers. For the state to step in, Monte dei Paschi needs to force at least some of its creditors to convert their bonds into equity. Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has said the impact on retail savers would be "absolutely minimised or inexistent." Ordinary Italians have already suffered billions of euros of losses due to a string of bank crises after a harsh recession weakened the country's lenders exposing the damages wrecked by crony lending and inefficient management. Other banks also need to strengthen their balance sheets, including Banca Popolare Di Vicenza, Veneto Banca and Banca Carige. If the government uses all the 20 billion euros it is authorised to spend on the banking sector, it will worsen the country's already difficult debt position. Italy's debt stands at some 133 per cent of gross domestic product -- second only to Greece in the euro zone. A further 20 billion euro of debt will push the ratio above 134 per cent. Exfinity Venture Partners, an information technology (IT) venture capital firm, has made a final close of its second fund, named Exfinity Technology Fund-Series II, with a corpus of Rs 300 crore. It is now fully subscribed and investors include technology heads, industrialists, family offices and wealthy individuals. Its first fund had raised Rs 125 crore. Exfinity backs business to business companies, mainly in the US-India corridor. Its investments are predominantly focused on emerging areas in IT, such as cloud, analytics, artificial intelligence, etc. V Balakrishnan, chairman, Exfinity Venture Partners, said: Our fund thesis of investing in deep tech product/IP companies in the enterprise technology space resonated well with our investors. We received strong commitments from high quality marquee investors, resulting in the increase of our fund size to Rs 300 crores from the initial planned size of Rs 250 crores. Our deal flow is proprietary and we have strong conviction about the approach we are taking that is manifested in our fund thesis. Exfinity Venture Partners was incorporated in October 2013 and is based in Bengaluru. As part of a post-demonetisation gift, the government could increase spending for the coming financial year in health, education, women & child development and related social sector schemes by 10-12 per cent, Business Standard has learnt. Commercial Feature is a Business Standard Digital Marketing Initiative. The Editorial/Content team at Business Standard has not contributed to writing or editing these articles. For further information, please write to assist@bsmail.in The minimum wage is the lowest allowed employee pay rate. It differs by state and sometimes city. Federal minimum wage laws determine acceptable wages, overtime pay and exemptions to both. Minimum wage jobs generally require employees to serve or constantly interact with customers. This article is for small business owners and human resources professionals who have or will have employees and are looking to learn the minimum wage laws they must obey. When hiring new employees, one of the most important decisions a small business owner has to make is how much to pay them. When you set pay rates, especially for hourly employees, you need to know the laws regarding how much they have to be paid. Federal and state minimum wage laws impose a baseline for how much you have to pay your employees. These laws dont prevent you from paying employees more than the minimum wage, but from paying less than it. What is minimum wage? The minimum wage is the lowest rate at which you can pay your employees. It is a violation of the law to pay employees at rates below the minimum wage. Currently, the federal minimum wage for nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour. Besides the federal minimum wage, each state has its own minimum wage and in some cases, a citys minimum wage law may differ from state law. If your company operates in a location with multiple minimum wage laws, you must pay your employees at least the highest of all these minimum wages. Key takeaway: Minimum wage is the lowest legal employee pay rate, and it differs by state and sometimes city. What types of jobs usually get paid minimum wage? As the name indicates, minimum wage is the very least you must pay your employees if you can pay more, then you almost always should. That said, certain jobs usually earn minimum wage or just slightly above it, such as these: Basic care services for children, people with illnesses or disabilities, and elderly patients Non-supervisory janitors and cleaners Delivery drivers and shipping employees for non-major shipping companies Food service and restaurant employees Storefront cashiers Ticket attendants at movie theaters, amusement parks and other entertainment spaces Farmworkers Beauty salon employees Almost all jobs that earn minimum wage are paid hourly rather than on an annual salary basis. In general, employers pay salaried employees at rates higher than the minimum wage. Key takeaway: Almost all minimum wage jobs are roles in which the employee provides a service to clients and customers or directly interacts with them every day. How does the minimum wage law work? Minimum wage laws are intended to foster an acceptable standard of living for all working people. They were introduced to stimulate the economy following the Great Depression, and today they serve to protect employees, though their provisions have changed considerably since the 1930s. In the near-century since they were established, federal and state minimum wage laws have often diverged. Federal minimum wage law The federal minimum wage law is part of the Fair Labor Standards Act. According to the FLSA, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour for all qualified employees. The FLSA also includes provisions for overtime law (the minimum wages you must pay employees who work overtime), overtime exemptions and minimum wage exemptions. Federal overtime law Under the FLSA, employers must pay all nonexempt employees additional wages for overtime. Nonexempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek are entitled to overtime rates of at least 1.5 times their usual wages. (Note that weekend work doesnt automatically count as overtime; its only overtime if the employee works more than 40 hours in a workweek, regardless of the days.) Federal overtime law exemptions Not all employees are entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA. There are six major FLSA overtime exemptions: 1. Some commission-based employees who work in these types of retail or service jobs: Auto, trailer, truck, boat, farm implement or aircraft sales Parts clerks and mechanics whom non-manufacturing companies hire to improve automobiles, trucks or farm implements before completion of a sale 2. All employees whose work fits one of these descriptions: Jobs with railroads or air carriers Taxi drivers Some motor carrier employees Seamen stationed on American vessels Local delivery employees paid on approved trip-rate plans 3. Some nonmetropolitan broadcasting stations announcers, news editors and chief engineers 4. Domestic service employees who live in their employers home 5. Movie theater employees 6. Farmworkers The Department of Labor also lists partial overtime pay exemptions that may apply if your company is in the agricultural, petroleum, healthcare or public service sectors. Federal minimum wage exemptions Some U.S. employees are exempt from federal minimum wage requirements. All these employees are also exempt from the FLSAs overtime pay requirements. Executive, administrative and professional employees Outside sales employees Some employees in computer-related fields Seasonal amusement or recreational employees Some employees of small newspapers Seamen stationed on foreign vessels Fishing employees Newspaper delivery employees Farmworkers whose employers used fewer than 500 man-days of farm labor in any quarter of the previous calendar year Casual babysitters Employees who work as companions to elderly or infirm people Employers should be particularly aware of the first of these groups, since most desk jobs fall into the executive, administrative and professional employees realm. If youve never heard of paying overtime to startup employees, this categorys inclusion on the minimum wage and overtime exemptions list explains why. Of course, if you offer these employees salaries even close to just the minimum wage, theyll likely look elsewhere for work. State minimum wage law As an employer, you dont just have to follow federal minimum wage laws. You must also comply with your states minimum wage laws and, occasionally, local municipal minimum wage laws. To complicate matters, no two states have the same minimum wage laws. A handful of states Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee have no minimum wage laws. In those states, the minimum wage defaults to federal law. In Georgia and Wyoming, the state minimum wage is lower than the federal minimum wage. However, as mentioned earlier, in any region with more than one minimum wage law, employers must pay at least the highest minimum wage requirement. Thus, the federal minimum wage applies in Georgia and Wyoming. Other states have minimum wages significantly higher than the federal minimum wage, such as Washington states $13.50, Californias $13 and Massachusetts $12.75 per hour. Both California and Massachusetts have passed laws determining that the state minimum wage will gradually increase to $15 per hour more than double the federal minimum wage. Many other states have also established schedules for future minimum wage increases. Some cities have already mandated a $15 hourly minimum wage. This is true in New York City, where the state minimum wage is currently $11.80 (and will increase to $12.50 on Dec. 31, 2020). This attests to a key facet of state minimum wage laws: If your city mandates a higher minimum wage than your state, the city law supersedes the state law. [Need a payroll service to ensure you pay your employees the proper amount? Check out our recommendations for the best online payroll services.] Key takeaway: Federal minimum wage laws encompass wages, overtime pay and exemptions to both. Some states and cities mandate higher wages than the federal minimum. How does the federal minimum wage increase? Federal minimum wage increases are determined by a congressional vote. In 2019, a bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour passed in the House of Representatives, but it has not yet been taken up in the Senate. Should it pass there too, the president will have to sign it, and it will become law sometime thereafter. If the bill currently awaiting Senate deliberation does ultimately pass, it would supersede all states current minimum wage laws. Key takeaway: Congress controls federal minimum wage increases. A bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 is awaiting Senate approval. Anil Ambani-run Reliance Communications (RCom) on Wednesday announced that it has signed binding agreements with Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure and institutional partners to sell its tower business for an upfront cash payment of Rs 11,000 crore. RCom will also receive B Class non-voting shares in the tower company, providing 49 per cent future economic upside from the business based on certain conditions, the company said in a statement. RCom will utilise the cash proceeds solely to reduce debt, it said. The tower business will be demerged into a separate company, to be 100 per cent owned and independently managed by Brookfield Infrastructure. However, Anil Ambani-promoted RCom, and brother Mukesh Ambani's 4G telecom venture Reliance Jio will continue as major long-term tenants of the tower company. The deal represents one of the largest investment by an overseas financial investor in the infrastructure sector in India. RCom expects significant future value creation based on growth in tenancies from accelerating data consumption, the statement added. Giving details, RCom said the combination of its wireless business with Aircel and monetisation of tower operations will together reduce the company's debt by Rs 31,000 crore ($4.6 billion), or nearly 70 per cent. RCom will continue to hold 50 per cent stake in Aircel JV and 49 per cent upside in tower business to be monetised at an appropriate time to further reduce debt significantly, it added. Reliance Communications also said that monetisation of towers is a major step forward in its deleveraging and asset light strategy for future growth transactions, subject to stipulated approvals. RCom had in mid-October announced the signing of a non-binding term sheet with Brookfield Infrastructure Group for sale of the nationwide tower assets and related infrastructure. RCom is selling assets to reduce debt and aims to turn net debt-free by 2017. R-Com is the most indebted mobile phone service provider in India with approximately Rs 42,000 crore debt. Fitch Ratings had downgraded credit rating of Reliance Communications saying that it feels that ongoing joint venture plan of the company with Aircel and proposal to sell stake in its mobile tower arm will be negative for creditors. However, RCOM was trading 9 per cent higher at Rs 38.05 on the BSE after the company announced the signing of binding agreements with Brookfield Infrastructure. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's crackdown on the cash economy has shattered the consensus needed for a new national sales tax, plunging his boldest reform into limbo and threatening to entrench an economic slowdown. Modi's government already had its work cut out to finalise a deal with 29 states to launch a Goods and Services Tax (GST) on April 1 that would transform Asia's third largest economy into a single market for the first time. But his decision to scrap 86 percent of the cash in circulation, in a bid to purge the economy of illicit "black money", has caused huge disruption. A slump in business activity stemming from the cash crunch has caused the revenue of state governments, which collect value-added tax on goods and other duties, to slump by 25-40 percent. The states won't risk another setback by rushing the sales tax into force. "The investment and economic environment in the country is in bad shape," said West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who earlier head a panel tasked with building a consensus on the GST. "How is the country going to absorb the dual shock of GST and demonetisation?" It took Modi more than two years to forge a political compromise on the tax in August. Now, demonetisation "has created a trust deficit," said Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac. "After this, I am not going to sit and compromise. They don't deserve it." Left in the lurch Failure to break the deadlock could tip India into a fiscal crisis: The GST would need to come into effect by mid-September, when the old system of indirect taxation is due to lapse. The lingering uncertainty is worrying companies needing to understand financial implications of the new tax. "With so many vital details still missing, they are feeling left in the lurch," said Saloni Roy, a senior director at Deloitte. Modi's shock move last month to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was aimed at India's shadow economy. But the ensuing cash crunch has caused job losses, disrupted supply chains and slowed construction activity. With cash shortages showing no signs of abating, some economists are calling for emergency stimulus to cushion the economy against the impact of demonetisation. To make up for their losses, states are seeking compensation and will press their case at a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday and Friday with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He has already agreed to cover states' revenue losses for five years after the GST's launch, but further concessions would narrow his room for manoeuvre in his annual budget presented in February. One top finance ministry official dismissed demands for compensation for demonetisation as unreasonable. But states are adamant. "They have brought it upon us," V. Narayanasamy, chief minister of Puducherry, told Reuters. "Now they must pay for our loss." Counting Costs The quibble is not just over lost revenue. Some states worry about the social and political costs of demonetisation. Take Kerala, where credit cooperatives that farmers and retired government workers rely on cannot swap old bills or issue fresh notes. The state alleges this has encouraged commercial banks to scout for their deposits, sparking a "run" on them. Odhisa's chief minister has written to Modi, saying curbs imposed on primary agriculture societies were making it difficult for farmers to access crop loans and procurement payments. With the states smarting, they have hardened their stance on how to collect the new GST, which will have federal and state elements. They want sole control over businesses with annual turnover of 15 million rupees ($220,000) and so-called "dual control" over bigger firms. Jaitley opposes this, fearing tax collectors could end up at cross purposes. "We reached this far because states were willing to compromise," said Isaac, Kerala's finance minister, told Reuters. "If they want the GST, they will have to now concede to the states." A total of 65 hotel properties, totalling a record of more than 800 million between them sold in Ireland during the last year, according to statistics released by Commercial property consultants, CBRE Ireland. This compares to 710 million in 63 sales in Ireland last year. In addition to the high volume of asset sales in 2016 totalling more than 800 million between them, a number of hotels around the country also traded as part of loan portfolios during the last 12 months. The volume of hotel sales activity in 2017 is expected to ease somewhat compared to the record sales volumes of the last two years. Lisa Keogh from the hotel division at CBRE Ireland says, "This was a phenomenal result boosted in no small part by the sale of some well-known Dublin hotel properties such as The Gresham Hotel, the Doubletree by Hilton and the Lifestyle Collection (The Spencer, Morgan and Beacon hotels) as well as high-profile provincial hotels including Lyrath Estate in Kilkenny and Farnham Hotel in Cavan." Source: www.businessworld.ie New data released today by the Banking and Payments Federation (BPFI) shows that the value of mortgage approvals surged by 61% year on year (yoy) in November. This follows growth of 29% yoy in October and takes the growth in the three months to November to a new high of 43% yoy. A combination of higher volume growth (+46% yoy) and average loan sizes (+13% yoy) contributed to the growth in the total value of loans approved in November. The fastest growing component was first-time buyers (FTB), which increased by 70% yoy in November. There was also impressive growth in the value approvals for mover-purchasers (+62% yoy) and investors (+28% yoy). Remortgaging (+46% yoy) and mortgage top-ups (+14% yoy) also grew in November. According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "The latest mortgage approval trends bode well for housing activity in Ireland in 2017. We are forecasting growth of 19% in mortgage drawdowns in 2017. Recent approval trends suggest that this forecast might prove to be conservative." Source: www.businessworld.ie Irish telecoms and broadband provider, Pure Telecom have announced that they have fundraised 85,000 for childrens charity, Make-A-Wish Ireland. Over the past seven years, the Irish telco has been raising money on behalf of Make-A-Wish Ireland through various fundraising activities. Make-A-Wish has been Pure Telecoms chosen charity partner since 2009. The telecoms provider has involved both staff and customers in its fundraising efforts. Over the years, members of the companys 50-plus staff base have gone skydiving, held office Olympics and raised money through activities such as cake sales all in aid of Make-A-Wish Ireland. Founded in 1980, Make-A-Wish aims to grant the wishes of children living with life-threatening illnesses and provide respite from the routine of hospitals, doctors and treatment. Since coming to Ireland in 1992, the charity has granted the wishes of more than 1,900 children. Receiving no government funding, it relies entirely on voluntary contributions to continue its work. CEO at Make-A-Wish Ireland, Susan ODwyer said, "Were delighted and extremely grateful to the team at Pure Telecom for their incredible support over the last number of years. It is a significant donation and without contributions like this we simply wouldnt be able to grant the wishes of seriously ill children all over Ireland." She added, "It has been fantastic to work with Pure Telecom on this initiative for such a long time, and we encourage companies throughout Ireland to do their bit to support charities whose work they feel passionately about." Source: www.businessworld.ie Eric Williams Photography Hats off to our firefighters. At their Dec. 19 regular meeting, Albuquerque City Councilors gave accolades and a standing ovation to the many firefighters who battled the Carlisle Condominium blaze last month. At least 40 firefighters with 15 trucks, pumpers and other firefighting apparatus kept the massive inferno from taking out other nearby residences, businesses and buildings including a historic church. The luxury condominium complex, located at Central and Carlisle, in the heart of Nob Hill, was under construction when an alleged serial arsonist lit a fire resulting in more than $9 million in damages. Kenny Hinkes, the developer behind the luxury condo project, has already begun the rebuilding process. Shameful Numbers State Auditor Tim Keller delivered some shameful news in person. Auditor Keller said after doing a statewide audit of unprocessed sexual assault kits, New Mexico is the worst state in the nation, per capita, for its backlog of 5,302 unprocessed kits going back 28 years. Each kit is important, each kit is a victim, Keller said. Albuquerque had 3,948 untested kits as of December 31, 2015. New Mexicos number is about 100 more per capita than Michigan, the second worst state. The number of kits that need testing continues to rise daily as the city tries to keep up with the new kits sent into evidence each day. Sexual assault is alarmingly high in our state: Statistically, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 20 men have been sexually assaulted as some point in their lives. In 83 percent of these cases, the victim reportedly knew the offender. Keller said that APD has no plan to end the backlog, but he encouraged the Council to pursue all avenues of funding to get money to clear the backlog and administer a sustainable process. He said it will take about $6 millionor $1.2 million allocated over five yearsto clear the backlog. The average cost per kit to process ranges from $1,000 to $1,500, Keller also reported. Meanwhile, Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry and a representative from the Albuquerque police crime lab defended the citys lack of plan. It is a troubling issue, Perry said. There are 400,000 untested rape kits nationally. Perry reminded the Council that the crime lab has to keep up with current high priority cases as well as try to handle the backlog. We need to decide what resources and funding we are going to put towards the back log, Perry said. Connie Monahan, statewide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner coordinator said, Nothing is getting done. We need accountability, this is unacceptable. APD Commander Jeff McDonald also gave a brief update on what the department is doing to address the problem. McDonald said they are applying for several grants, have changed training protocols and are working through the bid process so APD can send some of the kits to out-of-state labs. He said there should be some progress within three months. Back Log Band-Aid Councilors consequently introduced a measure that will outline how Albuquerque will prioritize and resolve the backlog of untested sexual assault evidence kits. The bill says a multi-jurisdiction board will work together to not only outline a plan but to track progress. The bill says all new sexual assault kits shall be analyzed within three months of submission. There is a provision to look at creating a scholarship, student loan pay-off or other incentive program to increase the number of students at Central New Mexico Community College completing crime lab degree programs. Legislative funding initiatives and the assertive pursuit of federal grants aim to help eliminate the nationwide embarrassment. Councilor Diane Gibson said accountability at the Albuquerque police crime lab is key and so is the opportunity for improvement. The bill will be taken up at the Jan. 4 meeting. Rescue Help Albuquerque Fire Department Station 4 will soon get a new rescue unit. In 2013, Station 4located near Fourth Street and I-40had to give up its rescue truck to Fire Station 17 to help with an equipment shortage on the West Side. But things can get rough in Station 4s district which takes in a good stretch of I-40, along with servicing a number of homeless and behavioral health service centers located in and around Downtown. This busy area of the city requires a dedicated rescue unit at the station. The Council approved a new vehicle on Monday. The new truck should be here mid-January. Budget Woes City Budget Officer Gerald Romero got grilled over a projected revenue shortfall of at least $6 million. Romero said the shortfall is due to lower than expected gross receipts taxes which are collected from businesses for goods and services sold. Councilor Ken Sanchez was alone in his idea of a tax increase or other revenue enhancements. Mayor Richard Berrys minions told the Council to chill and not add any new costs if possible for the next couple months until city bean counters get a better idea of the shortfall. Closed Doors Finally, councilors went into executive session to discuss pending litigation in two casesSeymour v. City of Albuquerque and Healthy Workforce ABQ, et al v. The City Of Albuquerque, et al. Upon their return to the Council chambers, they promised that they only talked about the above items. And with that, Council President Isaac Benton ended the meeting and said, Best wishes for a happy holiday for everyone. A razor-wired barricade with a snow-swept, forbidding appearance between the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and Mandan could be dismantled if it turns out a bridge is undamaged from the Dakota Access Pipeline protest. The Backwater Bridge spanning Cantapeta Creek was closed Oct. 27 during a sweep of pipeline protesters and after a vehicle was set on fire, smoldering for hours on the north end. Thursday, the State Highway Department cleared snow off the bridge decking, ground off the pavement and drilled cores of concrete to determine whether theres any structural damage from the fire. It has been less than a month since an armed police guard was pulled back from the bridge location. Work started at about 9 a.m., observed by the Department of Transportation and by officials from Standing Rock, but bridge engineer John Ketterling said it could be a month before the lab analysis is done, even with an accompanying rush order. If its not stable, the next steps for repairs, the timeframe is unknown, Ketterling said. What we want to know is if its affected the load-carrying capacity of the beams. Despite the unknowns, Scott Davis, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, said the work to get the bridge reopened is a good step. It follows months of tension between the pipeline protesters camped less than one-half mile away and Morton County Sheriff Department-led law enforcement. The conflict centered around construction of the pipeline, which protesters say could pollute the tribes drinking water and harm sacred sites. The closed bridge and lack of access to N.D. Highway 1806 going north from the reservation has been an inconvenience and a symbol of a situation thats been hard to cross on all sides. Weve had damaged relations and a damaged bridge. The damage to the bridge is temporary, and today were here to begin fixing it, and, in the comings days, weeks and months, we can work on fixing our relations, Davis said. This is a bridge of peace and relationships. Continued talks, like one this week between Gov. Doug Burgum and Standing Rock tribal officials, will help, according to Davis. Well find more ways to deescalate, he said. The bridge separates the pipeline route and the Oceti Sakowin camp, occupied by as many as 10,000 people at the peak of the protest activities. Frank White Bull, tribal councilman, said about 700 to 900 people remain at the camp, going from tent to tent and other dwellings around the encampment. White Bull said he was pleased to see work at the bridge. I think its a step forward for normalcy, a cooperative effort with the state and a plus for us and the community, said White Bull, adding the roadblocks by law enforcement earlier in the protest were less controversial. Once they closed the bridge, thats when everybody got offended. Ron His Horse Is Thunder, a former tribal chairman, said a reopened bridge will finally get people off the detour on N.D. Highway 6 and back onto a highway with quicker access for emergency and commercial traffic. His Horse Is Thunder said hes hopeful the bridge doesnt need to be torn apart for repairs and add to the extended inconvenience. He said he supports the ongoing presence of people in the protest camps. I think there still should be a presence to remind people. Im glad theyre here, he said. Facebook Inc said on Wednesday that government requests for user account data rose 27% in the first half of 2016 compared to the second half of last year, with U.S. law enforcement agencies topping the list. Government requests for account data globally rose to 59,229 from 46,710 and more than half contained a non-disclosure order that prohibited the social networking website from notifying users. Requests for content restriction, the number of items restricted for violating local laws, decreased by 83% from the second half of 2015, Facebook said in a blog post. The Paris attacks in November last year elevated the number of content restriction requests. Facebook for the first time provided information about government requests to preserve relevant user account information. The company received 38,675 preservation requests for 67,129 accounts. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie A West Jordan man says he survived two days stuck in his car without food in an isolated part of Southeast Idaho by building a fire in an abandoned farmhouse. 77-year old Paul Meiling said Wednesday that he was able to listen to the radio in his truck while he was stuck. I could get radio contact, obviously, he said outside his home, and I turned on the station I could find. It seemed like the only song that would play is Ill Be Home for Christmas, which was positive and negative. Meiling was reported missing when he didnt return from a trip to deliver books to Idaho State University in Pocatello. He says he got stuck after driving down a snowy side road on the way home. He decided to visit Daniels Reservoir, a place he described as a favorite summertime fishing spot. I got high centered, and actually got out of it once, he explained. I put down some tarps and things for some aggressive traction. But when I got high centered on it, why I had to spend the night, or two, or three, or four, or five or more. Meiling said he stayed warm in abandoned farmhouses and on Wednesday morning walked until he could get reception to call his son. Until that moment, he had some concerns for his safety. You can not not consider it. The temperatures were in the teens, maybe, he said. While there was gas left in the vehicle you dont know how long that will last, try to preserve that. That is why I went into these houses to try to build a fire. Family members say he was dehydrated but otherwise healthy when he was found near Arimo, Idaho. Bannock County, Idaho, Sheriff Lorin Nielsen told media that Meiling was lucky but warned people to heed forecasts of storms in the mountains. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) represents the single largest tax change since Indias independence and it will eliminate multiple tax regimes and consolidate them into a single tax regime. The following taxes will be eliminated and replaced with the GST: Value Added Tax / Central Sales Tax Service Tax Central Excise Figure 1: Multiple Indirect Taxed Subsumed to GST Many of the indirect taxes in India are Value Added Taxes, which is a common form of indirect tax used in all major economies except for the United States and Saudi Arabia. The present indirect tax landscape contains many different indirect taxes with differing applications for example, Central Excise applies to the manufacture of goods across India but VAT applies to the sale and distribution of goods within a state. Thus, businesses must follow different rules for each tax regime, which leads to mistakes, errors and penalties. The inability to cross-utilize credits between tax regimes leads to under-utilization of input tax credits which in turn will drive up costs. Similarly, as the tax regimes are not integrated this creates a cascading effect where taxes get built into the cost of goods. The GST has been in development for years and its design reflects Indias federal nature with portions for the state and central governments. The data exchange requirements are a nod to reducing the amount of tax evasion and tax fraud in India, and rewarding tax payers to be accurate and timely with tax amounts and compliances. The GST creates a single set of rules for when to tax, where to tax, how to tax. The unification of the tax regime will lead to a situation where India has a single market as opposed to multiple regional markets where interstate trade is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Figure 2: Inter State Transaction The GST will have the following rates:0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% As well there are exemptions and a luxury cess will be levied so the possible number of treatments are much higher under the GST. The GST is a destination-based tax and interstate transactions will attract the IGST while intrastate transactions will attract CGST and SGST. Depending on what you sell and buy, the GST can mean the rules for determining that tax are more complicated for example in the case of services where tax rules vary by both the type of service and the nature of the recipient. Or very similar the sale of goods sold in a state is still taxed in that state like under the old regime. While some aspects of the GST will lead to less work in terms of tracking rates and following notifications there is a large increase in the amount of data which will need to be collected, submitted, reconciled, and analyzed on a continuous basis. The GST requires monthly compliance for most taxpayers and for the first time they will require national reporting of goods and services transactional data. Suppliers will need to upload their transactional data for their sales along with providing invoices to purchasers. Purchasers will need to ensure the data which is uploaded matches the purchase information they have on their invoices in the purchase register. This complex set of checks will ensure that input tax credits are taken correctly and fairly and there is a reduction in the amount of tax credits which are fraudulently taken. The other goal of this exercise is to increase the input tax credits taken by allowing the cross-utilization of credits for businesses which purchase goods and services and report data accurately and on time. enComply is a solution to manage the compliance and workflow obligations under the GST, which includes the requirements to register businesses, prepare returns and collaborate across organizations or with tax partners. enComply can help your business consolidate all communications and notices to and from government agencies in a single location and this can be displayed on a dashboard which can help you keep track of where you are in the tax processing lifecycle. Any organization filing GST returns will need to be able to manage, manipulate and transform data to be successful in the GST. Consider the following for each invoice uploaded to the GSTN the following data must be provided: Date Value Place of Supply Reverse Charge Provisional Assessment Then per line the following information must be provided: Type of transaction HSN or SAC Transaction Value Tax rates (IGST, SGST, CGST) Tax Amount (IGST, SGST, CGST) All the information relevant to the transactions are uploaded to the GSTN and then reconciled against data you receive from your vendor. Businesses need a solution that can transforms data, execute rules against data, transform data and reconcile data. In a single month, a business could have to manipulate thousands of pieces of data to complete its filing obligations and this has to be done in a short period of time. Under the GST, all outward transactions are uploaded into the GSTN by the 10th of the following month, the inward transactions by the 15th and the returns filed on the 20th. Even with processes in place upstream to improve tax data quality, a solution with powerful processing power and scale is necessary. Even the smallest business with 300 transactions a month could be looking to reconcile and match thousands of pieces of data. enComply is powered by a world-class GRC platform which provides you the connections you need to the GSTN to upload and reconcile data. enComply ensures data quality through predefined rules so you are uploaded acceptable data to the GSTN that counterparties can you use for their compliance obligations. The platform underlying enComply gives any business the ability to have enterprise level power but at a reasonable cost because our platform is on the cloud and multitenant by design. This saves you money and time by not having to invest in infrastructure and maintain it. enComply allows you to quickly file your returns and allows your partners to collaborate to file returns. This eliminates the endless exchange of emails, phone calls and spreadsheets because your data lives in a single place. Now you have a solution, which matches the unitary nature of the GST: enComply https://www.encomply.com/ This is the blog of Dr Caitlin Green FSA. It features posts on my main academic research foci alongside other topics that I'm currently working on, including drafts of papers, ideas and similarthese are usually identifiable by the presence of footnotes. You're free to cite these drafts if they are of interest, and are reminded that academic blogs are indeed citable under most citation systems. In addition, the current site also houses posts relating to my personal interests, including long-distance trade, migration and contacts; landscape and coastal history; early literature and legends; and the history, archaeology, place-names and legends of Lincolnshire and Cornwall. For further details of this website & how to contact me, please see the ' About ' page or @caitlinrgreen on Twitter. THAILANDE :: Bangkog, Funny Money: Alleged Dollar Counterfeiting Ring Busted in Bang Kapi :: THAILAND Police conducted a sting operation that led to the arrest of four Thais and one foreign national, along with the seizure of counterfeiting materials and equipment they suspect may be linked to other such operations in the kingdom. We got reports of a large amount of counterfeit dollars, so we worked together with the U.S. Secret Service to find them, said Maj. Nattapol Rattanamongkolsak from the Crime Suppression Division. Though the U.S. Secret Service is mostly known for protecting American heads of state and their families, it is also tasked with investigating counterfeiting. Those arrested Wednesday morning were Tatchanan Kuns, 48, Panisra Techaisradech, 47, Kittipong Yanawanthanapong, 43, Natchapattarapong Yaempradit, 55, and Jean Jules Tenker, 45 of Cameroon. Officers also seized 1,534 counterfeit $100 bills, forged documents, mobile phones and chemicals used for producing the fake cash. After the counterfeit ring was traced to Bang Kapi, police placed an order for 10,000 $100 dollar bills at 1,100 baht each. They set up the buy to go down at a Makro store in the same area. Cameroonian suspect Jean Jules Tenker was arrested Wednesday morning on suspicion of counterfeiting U.S. currency. At the meetup, Maj. Nattapol said that Tatchanan and Tenker brought the counterfeit notes in liquor boxes, at which point they were arrested. Police then arrested Panisra and Kittipong at the restaurant of a nearby hotel who were waiting for the deal to be completed. The four arrested reportedly told police they acquired the bills from Natchapattarapong, who they said is known in the counterfeiting world as Ajarn Toang because he is a university professor in the northeast. Nattapol said police then asked Panisra to order more bills from Natchapattarapong, who was arrested when he came to the hotel to deliver them Wednesday night. Police found the counterfeiting equipment in his apartment in the Khlong Chan area. Police display counterfeited U.S. dollars seized from a suspected forgery ring on Wednesday in Bangkoks Bang Kapi district. Police said the suspects confessed to counterfeiting U.S. dollars for many years. Natchapattarapong was their link to international counterfeiting gangs due to his English-language skills. All four will be charged with counterfeiting. We believe the ajarn still has links to other counterfeiting rings in the country, Nattapol said Thursday. We will continue investigating. Khaosod English Election is far from over. Democrats should forget about the polls. Though police have dismissed political motivation in the incident, for some it would evoke memories of cars smashing into the gates of the US Embassy, the Prime Minister's Lodge and the front doors of Parliament House. Your digital subscription includes access to content from all our websites in your region. Access unlimited news content and The Canberra Times app. Premium subscribers also enjoy interactive puzzles and access to the digital version of our print edition - Today's Paper. A recipient of the Public Service Medal for her work on Medicare reforms, Ms Huxtable will take on the role she has been acting in since the departure of her predecessor Jane Halton earlier this year. A lot has happened since my last blog post more than seven months ago. In the fall I made several trips - in October to Wyoming for the annual meeting of ... 3 years ago The move is the first disposal in recent times by the acquisitive Altice group, which in the past two years has bought French mobile operator SFR; Cablevision, now called Optimum, and Suddenlink in the US; Portugal Telecom; and Oranges Dominican Republic business. No reason has been given for the deal, which some see as indicating that Altice wants to focus on its larger operations. The business it is selling is called Coditel Brabant, but it also uses the SFR BeLux brand. Liberty Global is buying the operation, subject to regulatory approval, via its majority-owned Telenet subsidiary in Belgium. John Porter, Telenet CEO, said: We are very pleased with the acquisition of SFR BeLux as it would enable Telenet to extend its geographical footprint and offer approximately 90,000 customers in Belgium and 15,000 customers in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg the high-quality services for which our company has already won acclaim. Telenet specialises in the supply of broadband internet, fixed and mobile telephone services and cable television to customers throughout Flanders and Brussels. In 2015it agreed to buy Base, the Belgian mobile operator, from KPN for 1.325 billion. That deal was completed in February 2016. Telenet said that the acquisition means it will extend its cable footprint beyond the current Flemish and Brussels coverage areas to parts of Wallonia and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, while covering roughly two-thirds of the Brussels footprint post this acquisition. Following the Base acquisition that was concluded in the beginning of the year, we have entered a new phase of growth and this acquisition is a next, very important step in this strategy, said Porter. Our ambition is to have the best networks fixed and mobile and the best services landline and mobile telephony, high-speed internet, digital TV in Belgium. We are also very delighted to be able to launch our great services in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on our own network. Telenet said it intends to finance the acquisition through a combination of existing cash and cash equivalents and available liquidity under its revolving credit facilities. It plans to invest 12 million in 2017-18 on the newly acquired networks beyond the current capex plans. Liberty Global owns a number of operations across Europe, including Virgin Media in the UK and Ireland, and Cable & Wireless Communications in central America and the Caribbean. The court says that the businesses, owned by the Harrison Companies, swapped customers from one to another without their knowledge or informed consent, and were then subject to unjustified demands for payment of early termination or cancellation fees. The court will decide on penalties by 10 February 2017, after consulting with those affected. Sure Telecom, of Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, is not related to the Batelco subsidiaries in Guernsey, Jersey and other places. The court also found the sole director of the Harrison Companies, James Lee Harrison, was involved in the unconscionable conduct. In making this finding, Justice Mark Moshinsky stated: I do not think there is any doubt that Mr Harrison was well aware of each of the elements of the system of conduct or pattern of behaviour He was aware that the transfers involved, at best, a lack of transparency or, at worst, trickery or deception, vis-a-vis customers. The court found that the companies were restructured between 2013 and 2015 in part to avoid regulatory sanctions and unpaid debts to regulators. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) welcomed the move. This outcome sends a clear message to companies and directors that they cannot avoid their obligations under the Australian consumer law by corporate restructures which involve transferring customers without their consent, said chairman Rod Sims. Harrisons businesses have incurred the wrath of regulators before. A year ago the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that SoleNet which had changed its name to Comms Service Ops had breached the countrys telecoms consumer protection code on 24 occasions by misrepresenting the nature of its calls to consumers; making misleading and inaccurate assertions; and omitting key information. The sole director was also the sole director of Sure Telecom, which itself clocked up multiple breaches of the code in 2014, said Chris Chapman, chair of ACMA, in December 2015. Wheres the Coverage? UN Head Admits Anti-Israel Bias | Main | Reuters Reduces Israeli Ties to West Bank to Biblical Claim Only December 21, 2016 CAMERA Featured Letter-Writer After CAMERA researchers highlighted the fact that an AFP reporter doubles as a Fatah politician, one of our letter-writers, Daniel H. Trigoboff, Ph.D., sent the following letter to AFP: To The Editor, A central policy of Agence France-Presse reads, "Truth, impartiality and plurality are Agence France-Presses golden rules. These values guarantee rigorous, verified news, free from political or commercial influence." Unfortunately in your employment of Nasser Abu Baker, you are in violation of your own policy. This is because in addition to reporting on Palestinian affairs for you, he was a candidate for the Fatah Council, and leads a campaign to boycott Israel. Therefore the chances his reports will be impartial and free from political bias are precisely zero. This has been reflected in numerous slanted, inaccurate, and anti-Israel falsehoods in his articles for AFP on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Abu Baker has also advocated boycotting Israeli reporters, in inflammatory propaganda which has compromised their safety. As a result few Israeli reporters have safe access to Palestinian areas, which are therefore insufficiently covered in the media. Employing Abu Baker as your reporter makes a mockery of AFP policy, and contaminates AFP news coverage with fanatical anti-Israel bias. The French Resistance journalists who founded AFP in 1944, in service of journalism uncontaminated by tyranny, would surely disapprove of Abu Baker's status in your organization. So will anyone else who values even a shred of journalistic ethics. Daniel H. Trigoboff, Ph.D. Posted by kabe at December 21, 2016 07:04 PM 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 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. According to reports and a proposal sent by the Union Health Ministry to the Medical Council of India, Indian students will foreign MBBS or medical degree need not take-up entrance exam to work in India. Bringing in a good news to many students with a foreign medical degree, this move has been taken by the Union Health Ministry to overcome the shortage of doctors in the country. On a rough scale, India is short of six lakhs trained doctors. To practice in India, students with a foreign MBBS degree from China, Russia, Nepal south-east Asian and Eastern European countries in were supposed to clear the Foreign Medical Graduates Examinations. FMGE is one of the toughest entrance test of its kind. According to data from the MCI, since 2002 about 29,968 students have appeared for the foreign medical examination and only 3,610 have cleared the examination. Dr G. Srinivas, president of Telangana Junior Doctor's Association thinks the new measure is unfair. He says, that the medical education in foreign countries let alone experience is minimal, while the teaching standards are very different and are not on par with Indian standards. Why do Indian students opt fo study medicine abroad? Owing to the unfair means in the division of seats in private medical colleges and the exhuberent fee charges for the seats here are the major reasons that many students opt for medical education outside India. What is FMGE? The FMGE (Foreign Medical Graduates Examination) is also known as Medical Council of India Screening Test. It is an examination conducted by the National Board of Examination (NBE) which is a licensure examination to practice medicine in India. BMW Group announced the opening of a new development center, dedicated in working on their autonomous driving technology, in Unterschleissheim near Munich. The German company plans to launch the iNext model in 2021 a self-driving, all-electric and fully connected BMW. In order to make it a reality, BMW is combining its development expertise in vehicle connectivity and automated driving at the new campus which upon completion will employ more than 2,000 people on the next steps towards fully autonomous driving, from software development to road testing. The road to fully-automated driving is an opportunity for Germanys automobile manufacturing base, says Klaus Frohlich, member of BMW Groups Board of Management. The decision to develop and road-test these vehicles in the Munich area illustrates how the BMW Group and the whole region can benefit from this shift in the automotive industry. BMW will start bringing its experts together in Unterschleissheim from mid 2017. In order to succeed, we are establishing new forms of collaboration under project i 2.0, with small teams of specialists for rapid response and collaboration across the company, as well as a high level of individual decision-making authority, explains Frohlich. This means that the new work structures will allow software developers to take the code they have just written across the way for testing in an actual vehicle. We are combining the advantages of a start-up, such as flexibility and speed, with those of an established company, like process security and industrialisation expertise, adds the Development head. BMW Group aims to start testing self-driving prototypes on public, urban roads in Munich as early as 2017. PHOTO GALLERY While our eyes are fixed on Detroit, on the other side of the world, Japans burgeoning automotive industry is gearing up for another show: the Tokyo Auto Salon, set to take place the second weekend of the new year. And Daihatsu, for its part, isnt just bringing one concept car to showcase its bringing eleven. Not to be confused with the principal Tokyo Motor Show that takes place every other fall, the Tokyo Auto Salon is a tuner expo Japans equivalent, in short, to the SEMA show in Las Vegas or the Essen Motor Show in Germany. So like any other JDM automaker, Daihatsus lineup is based on existing production models. Only each has been thoroughly modified along one of four lines. The largest and potentially most exciting of the displays that Toyotas little brother has in store is dubbed Sporza. It includes versions of the Copen roadster, Boon hatchback, and the Thor and Move Canbus mini-wagons all done up in red and black with gold wheels. The Grand Custom takes a more refined approach to customizing the Thor, Tanto, and Move each of the three tall boxes rendered in dark shades of black and grey, with blue wheels, trim, and accent lighting. Fans of retro styling will be more enticed by the Beach Cruising series that takes the Canbus and Boon back to another time, with light blue paint, wood trim, and chrome wheels. Finally the Cross Field versons of the Cast Activa and Wake take a more outdoorsy approach, with their green paintjobs and orange accents that would make any fan of the Subaru Crosstrek feel right at home albeit in much smaller form. Its a staggering array of concepts from such a small automaker of small automobiles, and if youre not heading to Tokyo for the show, you can check them each out in the photo gallery below. Photo Gallery As Ford gets into the holiday spirit, its employees at the Craiova plant, in Romania, temporarily stopped assembling real cars to collect and wrap toys. These will be sent to orphanages and hospitals across Europe, after being selected to play secret Santa by the Michigan-based company. Watching the toys come down the line is an amazing sight, and the employees really get into the spirit of things by dressing up as Santas helpers. Its important that we, as a company, give back to the wider community and this is a great way to make that happen, said Ford of Europes Manufacturing Vice President, Linda Cash. However, Fords Romanian facility, which normally puts together the B-Max and 1.0-liter EcoBoost engines, is not alone in this quest, as the employees are supported by other plants that operate under the Blue Oval, in Germany, Spain and UK. This year, the UK factory made blankets for the annual Crisis at Christmas program, which assists homeless charities in London. VIDEO Hyundai Motor America has fired CEO Dave Zuckowski with immediate effect, replacing him with General Councel Jerry Flannery whos named interim CEO until a successor is chosen. Zuckowski, who joined Hyundai as U.S. sales chief in 2007, was shown the exit after failing to meet internal sales objectives according to AutoNews. We appreciate Daves decade of service to Hyundai, especially his leadership as president and CEO, which has made us a stronger organization, Flannery said in an official statement. I look forward to working closely with our dealers, affiliates, senior management and our talented and hard-working employees across the country to realize Hyundais full potential. The company struggled to maintain its momentum its pace after falling gasoline prices led customers away from Hyundais small cars and towards to bigger crossovers and SUVs, areas where the company has little power and also faced supply shortages. U.S. sales of Hyundai, including the Genesis brand, hit a record 761,710 units in 2015, a 5 percent increase over the previous year but the growth rates were down from the double-digit figures the company achieved in 2010 and 2011. Hyundai Motor America said that they will begin immediately the search for Zuchowskis successor. PHOTO GALLERY The Feldberg region, in Germanys Black Forest mountains, is a tourist magnet that attracts more than 9 million visitors annually, and given its nature, its imperative that there is a proper search and rescue team in place. Estimated to participate in up to 600 emergency rescue operations each year, the local mountain rescue service now has a potent off-roader, with enough versatility to cope with just about everything at their disposal in the form of a Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 4000. Delivered by the automakers Special Trucks division as a loan, the vehicle, which was nicknamed The Rock, can seat up to seven people and still has enough space to store all the necessary rescue materials in modules that are loaded in trolleys to equip it as soon as possible. Depending on the emergency situation, the rugged Merc can be fitted with tents equipped for providing first-aid to victims, and avalanche and flood modules, in addition to the emergency lights and cablecar and illumination modules. The Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 4000 has a wheelbase of 3,850 mm, frame torsion of up to 600 mm when driving off-road, approach and departure angles of 44 degrees at the front and 51 degrees at the rear, ramp angle of 34 degrees, and climbing ability of 45 degrees. There is also a lateral inclination angle of up to 38 degrees and a maximum fording depth of 1.20 meters. Power is provided by a 218 horsepower four-cylinder diesel engine, which pushes the output to an all-wheel drive system. Upon receiving the keys from the Head of Sales in Germany for Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks, Karsten Fuchs, the Managing Director of the Baden-Wurttemberg mountain rescue service, Lutz Scherer, said: Emergency operations in difficult terrain are always particularly challenging for the rescue services and their materials. We are therefore very grateful that Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks is providing us with this Unimog. The vehicle is absolutely perfect for our specific requirements and it will help us to help victims in a much more appropriate way. PHOTO GALLERY Children learn from cartoons so its an excellent way to incorporate culture, said Abban as he sat in a sparsely furnished office surrounded by wooden cutouts of characters from his animated series. We translate our shows into the local languages so that everyone can enjoy them; this ensures that our culture isnt overshadowed by foreign productions. The money he earned from his pharmacy largely funded Abbans initial short film. Now, Parables has become self sufficient by taking on advertising jobs that have made further creative ventures possible and have exposed a larger, more mature audience to animation as a medium of communication. Abbans parents pressured him into going to college for medicine, although his passion has always been animation. His parents reluctance to allow him to study what he loved came from the stigma that cartoons are a childish form of media and that there is no possibility to earn a living in the industry. After finishing a few commercial jobs for the government, Abban noticed that the Ghanaian public was shifting its views toward animation. The real-life media landscape has become a little monotonous and boring, he said as he put the finishing touches on a new storyboard on his laptop. Animation gives you the ability to exaggerate points and make people fall in love with characters and concepts. People are beginning to see that this is an art medium and an industry that can grow to compete with other styles of media and communication. Learning Animation With Limited Resources The Ghanaian government has provided would-be animators with a few schools where they can pursue the craft as a career. The National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI), Ghanas premier media arts university, offers a four-year animation degree. Founded in 1978, the university has historically struggled to receive funding and has seen little to no infrastructure development since its establishment. Students are only taught broad principles and theories, leaving the task of learning how to use software up to the individual. Once theyve completed the first two years, students will have a background in animating, directing, editing, photography, and sound engineering, said Anthony Mensah, 39, NAFTIs head of design. Thats how they survive out there, we give them the skills to be as marketable as possible in the media industry. Although NAFTI tries to impart a wide skillset, it is notorious for providing minimal resources to students. It does not have an in-house computer lab with industry-standard software to aid students who do not have the financial means to purchase additional equipment or software. The quality of your work depends on the depth of your pockets, said Najilau Dramundu, 22, a rising senior in NAFTIs animation program. Earlier this summer, Dramundu lived and breathed Adobe Animate, an animation program she used to complete her junior year project, a five-minute clip of an American ballad. Coupled with Ramadan fasting, the last few weeks of her third year were anything but pleasant. However, Dramundu is enamored by the creative and technical skills that animation melds together and the freedom the medium gives her to express her ideas. The hard work isnt discouraging her. Im obsessed with the idea of being able to manipulate events in your own way, she said as she settled into a rickety chair in NAFTIs outdoor cafeteria. Animation is fascinatingits like youre God, you can create whatever you want whenever you want. Dramundu wants to do more than preserve Ghanaian culture with her work. She hopes to address body image issues that are being exasperated by social media and are affecting the younger generation in her hometown, Tamale, in the northern part of the country. Strong Creative Voices NAFTI has produced socially conscious artists that are known to push the envelope. The most obvious example is Francis Yushau Brown, who declined to disclose his age, one of Ghanas most decorated animators. With his unique blend of 2D and 3D animation, he has had his work shown at the Klik! Amsterdam Animation Festival, and has snagged honors from both the Ghana Movie Awards and Africa International Film Festival. Brown, the CEO of AnimaxFYB Studios, an Accra-based animation studio, began working for a graphic design company straight out of high school and proceeded to attend NAFTI. During his time at the university, he produced three short films that garnered both local and international acclaim. During his fourth year, he produced Agorkoli, which detailed the migration of the Ewe people away from a tyrant king in the eastern region of Ghana. His works have tackled various other social and political issues and have completely altered the way his audience perceives animation. Although he produced his most notable pieces while attending NAFTI, Brown has since grown critical of the school. There is a lot of bureaucracy that is killing the spirit, he said. VIDEO ABOVE: A recent piece produced by AnimaxFYB that encouraged a peaceful transfer of power in the recent Ghana presidential election. He sees a future where individuals are the ones driving animation forward in Ghana instead of relying on government institutions. Brown has started developing an internship program for AnimaxFYB Studios that would allow hopefuls to apply through the studios social media platforms. I have a strong feeling that social network groups will be the ones to really drive modern film schools in Africa, Brown said. People who didnt have the opportunity to attend school in this industry are now able to learn something free online. I see social media groups as really being the ones to step it up. Building a Community Deboh Adeaga, 38, has created one of the groups that Brown believes could be the future. Adeaga, known as Sen, is the founder of Animation West Africa Network, a Facebook group that serves as a forum for anyone involved in animation or computer graphics in the region. Since its inception, the group has amassed over 3,000 members and is steadily growing. Anyone that is part of the community can post a screenshot of their progress on a 3D-model or an animation clip to get feedback on their work. Adeaga, who is originally from Nigeria, received a degree in accounting in 1998 and following a year of compulsory national service, traveled to South Africa to intern at Triggerfish Studios, which has since evolved into an African cg powerhouse. While at Triggerfish, Adeaga was able to take part in the production of two major 3D-animated features. In 2010, after working with Triggerfish for a few years he decided to pursue a Masters degree in information management and help expand the industry he loved in West Africa. What led me into this was realizing that I had exposure that most of the people out there dont have, said Adeaga, over a Skype call. They might have all the skills, but no exposure and that is really what matters, to be able to become a team player and practically use the skills you need to succeed in the field. So I thought why not create something that will help us come together and see what we can achieve? Animation West Africa has fostered a healthy forum community, however, the groups collaborative efforts to finish a project have been bedeviled by a plethora of issues, mostly stemming from a lack of funds. A crowdfunding campaign was created for Animation West Africa in October of 2015, but it has only received a few hundred pounds. VIDEO ABOVE: A showreel of recent animation work by members of Animation West Africa includes work by animators in both Ghana and Nigeria . Adeaga wrote the script to a short film tentatively titled, Road End. The unfinished project would depict a boy torn between getting home on time or helping a stranger in need. Adeaga received an influx of positive responses from the group at the start, but commitment and organizational problems arose almost immediately. Animators on Animation West Africa seem to lose interest quickly when there is no money to be made. Adeaga hopes that Road End will be completed soon. He believes that once Animation West Africa clears its first hurdle as a team, future projects will become easier. Everything Im doing is out of love for the field and to support a local industry to the point where enough attention is focused on us that we will be able to stand on our own, said Adeaga. Combining all of the angles of the community is a lot of effort on my part, because I also need to sustain myself and my family, but Ill keep doing what I have to do. Passion Will Win The Day The West African animation industry is still in its development stages. Institutions and individuals are grappling with the challenges that come with treading in uncharted waters. While this confusion might act as a deterrent to some, those who have embraced animation plan to leave their mark on the art form. I dont have any reservations about going into the industry, said Dramundu as she adjusted her teal headscarf. Its the same thing in school, other people dont study like I study. They dont draw like I draw. They dont tell stories like I tell stories. Everyone has their own techniques. So there is definitely a place out there for me. Dear Colleagues, I am writing to let you know that Mireille has decided to return to focusing solely on producing and will be transitioning out of her executive role as Co-President as we wrap up both Boss Baby and Captain Underpants in the new year. Bonnie will remain President, with full oversight of development and production for the feature animation group. As we are all fortunate to know firsthand, Mireille is an incredibly passionate and talented filmmaker who has contributed to the DreamWorks Animation legacy. She has shepherded a successful slate of films during her tenure at the studio, including the Madagascar franchise, of which she will continue to be involved as a producer. I want to personally thank both Mireille and Bonnie for their guidance and stewardship during this time of transition. As we close out 2016, we are energized for the New Year and looking forward to accomplishing great things together in 2017. Donna Castanet is counting down the top stories of 2016. We'll count down the top 10 to Dec. 31 and feature our newsmaker of the year on Jan. 1. Today is No. 10 a transit strike that caused chaos and uncertainty for those who rely on buses. Public transit in the Central Okanagan screeched to a halt this year. Transit workers hit the picket lines Nov. 10, creating a transportation nightmare for many. None of our drivers wanted to be on strike it's not that we wanted to strike, it's just that we had no choice, one driver told Castanet. Those in Kelowna, Lake Country, West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and Peachland who rely on public transit scrambled for alternate transportation. I am a senior with no transportation options other than transit, said Les Beaven. To pick up groceries and prescriptions, I am going to try and go retro and hitchhike. I hope the public that have cars will help out during this terrible time and help us. With nowhere else to go, they turned to the City of Kelowna for help, inundating councillors with pleas for help But the city said it had little control over the situation. Mobility for our residents is a necessity, but Kelowna City Council does not have the authority to deem transit an essential service, nor can it order drivers back to work or appoint a mediator, said Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran. However, the city was credited with helping to bring about a deal after the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1722 voted on Nov. 23 to accept First Canadas offer. Just over 60 per cent of striking employees agreed to the offer from operator First Canada with 108 saying yes and 69 saying no. The details of the contract have not been disclosed, but wage equality for different sized buses was reportedly a main part of the deal. A one per cent raise in the first year, followed by a 0.75 per cent raise the following year was also reportedly included. The contract will remain in effect until 2019. We'll be back at this again in 2 1/2 years, one driver said. Photo: Darren Handschuh Talk about coming through in a big way. Last week, Lisa Anderson with the Upper Room Mission, was stressed out about a backpack program that was falling way behind expectations. The goal was to collect 300 backpacks that would be handed out at the annual Christmas dinner this Friday, but as of last week, only 50 had been donated. Then the floodgates opened and the number of donated backpacks swelled to almost 700. It was a little bit concerning at first, Anderson admitted. I was like, 'Oh man, what are we going to do?' But when businesses and church groups started donating backpacks by the dozens, Anderson knew the annual Christmas program had been saved. What she didn't expect was the volume of backpacks that contain basic items such as toiletries and other goods. Anderson said they are expecting between 250 - 300 people at the Yuletide dinner, and each guest will get a backpack. We're also going to give some to other agencies as well, such as Teen Junction, she said. We will save the extra ones to be handed out throughout the year. The Christmas dinner starts at 4 p.m. Friday and Anderson said everyone is welcome. The number of callouts for Vernon Search and Rescue almost doubled in 2016. As of Dec. 16, there had been 77 calls for search volunteers to find or rescue snowmobilers, hikers, fishermen, hunters, missing seniors and missing children, said Leigh Pearson, Search and Rescue manager. Our normal, yearly average is about 39 to 42 so we're virtually about double our normal call volume, said Pearson. I think more people are going out into the back country, getting more adventurous, (and) our helicopter winch rescue program has contributed to that because we are being called by other groups within our region to assist because of that capability. We're the only ones that do it. A winch rescue is usually dramatic. For example, the winch rescue team extracted two snowmobilers from a deep gully in the Shuswap last January after they had been out in the cold for two days. While most calls are within the Penticton to Revelstoke area, the chopper team sometimes travels to the Kootenays or to the north to find missing or injured people. While Pearson said some people may be taking risks, many are just relying too much on electronic gizmos such as cell phones, spot beacons and GPS. While they are wonderful tools, Pearson said they can fail and then the person is lost. They don't have that background knowledge of how to use a map and compass...which can literally save your life. Pearson said people should be prepared when heading into the back country or planning a long journey. When I say be prepared, have extra food, extra water is a big one, extra clothing, a means to build shelter, something to light fire with just common sense, said Pearson. Tell someone where you are going, when you expect to be back. Are you going hunting, are you going fishing, are you just going for a hike? "That can make a difference on how we approach the search. Photo: The Canadian Press A man charged with taking journalist Amanda Lindhout hostage in Somalia is slated to face trial by judge alone next October. Three weeks have been set aside for the trial of Ali Omar Ader, which will come more than two years after he was arrested and over nine years after the abduction. Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were seized by masked gunmen near strife-scarred Mogadishu in August 2008. Both were released on Nov. 25, 2009. Ader, a Somalian national, faces a criminal charge of hostage-taking for his purported role as a negotiator. He was arrested by the RCMP in Ottawa in June 2015. The Mounties said Ader, 39, had been in town for a few days but the national police force has not publicly confirmed how he arrived in Canada. At the time, RCMP Asst. Commissioner James Malizia said successfully prosecuting such a case "depends on a certain level of discretion." Pre-trial motions in the case are scheduled for early April. However, federal authorities have opted for a direct indictment, meaning there will be no preliminary inquiry. The national prosecution service is saying little about the proceedings. However, in general, there are many reasons why a direct indictment may be preferable, including cases in which the age, health or other circumstances of witnesses would make it difficult for them to testify more than once. Samir Adam, an Ottawa lawyer representing Ader, declined to discuss the case or his client. Lindhout, 35, has published a best-selling memoir of her 460 days as a prisoner in which she revealed being assaulted in captivity. A Hollywood film of her story is in development. The native of Red Deer, Alta., has established the Global Enrichment Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering leadership in Somalia through educational and community-based programs. In recent years she has also written articles and given speeches focusing on forgiveness, compassion, social responsibility and determination. Photo: The Canadian Press Adoptions are up, euthanasia is down and the number of homeless pets in Canada's animal shelters is lower, according to a report by the Canadian Federation of Humane Socieites. Overall, there were more than 82,000 cats and 35,000 dogs taken into Canadian shelters in 2015, according to a report released by the organization last week. Barbara Cartwright, the CEO of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, said the country's shelter system has taken a more proactive approach to reducing numbers of homeless cats and dogs. "In the past it was reactive, taking the animals in as fast as you can and turn them out as fast as you can," Cartwright said. The charity collected 2015 data by sending out surveys to 170 humane societies and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelters across the country and 89 of those responded. But, the report said, the data represents "only a fraction of homeless companion animals in Canada." It doesn't capture private shelters, rescue and foster groups and municipal animal shelters. Still, it's the only comprehensive study of the country's animal shelter system, Cartwright said. "While the proportion of stray dogs remained the same, the proportion of cats taken in as stray has been declining in recent years," the report said. "Rather than accepting any surrendered cat at any time, appointments are scheduled to take in surrendered cats when the shelter's capacity permits in," the report reads. "It is now understood to be a better practice to allow healthy, unowned outdoor cats to remain in their home location where they are thriving." And, the report said, more than 90 per cent of shelters say they don't allow an animal to leave its care without being spayed our neutered more than 58,000 cats and dogs in 2015 to help control the pet population. Adoption rates are up with 48 per cent of dogs and 57 per cent of cats adopted in 2015 the highest level observed for cats in the two decades the charity has been collecting data. There are fewer animals being killed at shelters. Euthanasia rates for cats were down: 21 per cent of cats taken in were destroyed in 2015, down from 27 per cent the year before and 54 per cent in 2008. Euthanasia rates for dogs increased slightly in 2015 from the year before to more than 10 per cent of dogs taken in. Overall, 15,341 cats and 2,820 dogs were euthanized last year. Photo: The Canadian Press As Justin Trudeau's first full year as prime minister comes to a close, downtown roads in the nation's capital are clogged with snow and construction. It's an apt metaphor for the increasingly tough slogging Trudeau's Liberal government has experienced since the heady days last fall, when the fledgling prime minister was winning raves for appointing the first gender-equal cabinet, handing out winter parkas to newly arrived Syrian refugees, being greeted like a rock star by screaming fans and boldly declaring "Canada is back" on the international stage. He's been slowly building on his campaign promises to construct a cleaner, fairer, more prosperous, progressive and compassionate Canada, but it's been a bumpy ride with some unanticipated roadblocks along the way. Here's a look at the high and low points of Trudeau's year: Jan. 19, 2016: The government names members of a new independent advisory board that is to recommend non-partisan nominees for the Senate. The board's work is the key to Trudeau's plan to repair the Senate's tattered reputation in the wake of the expenses scandal and to restore the upper house's intended role as an independent chamber of sober second thought. March 3, 2016: Trudeau and premiers agree to the "Vancouver Declaration" on climate change, which includes a commitment to putting a price on carbon pollution. The agreement papers over deep divisions on the issue, leaving the details to be hammered out over the next eight months. March 10, 2016: Trudeau is feted in Washington with the first state dinner for a Canadian prime minister in 19 years. The "bromance" between Trudeau and President Barack Obama blossoms. March 18, 2016: The transformation of the Senate begins in earnest with the appointment of seven independent senators, all of whom were recommended by Trudeau's new advisory board. He follows that up in October with 21 more appointments, making independent senators for the first time the largest group in the upper house. March 22, 2016: Finance Minister Bill Morneau brings down the Trudeau government's inaugural budget. It delivers on campaign promises to invest billions in infrastructure to spur economic growth, create a new, more generous child benefit, cut taxes for middle-income earners and hike taxes for the wealthiest one per cent. But it also abandons Trudeau's promises to run deficits of no more than $10 billion in each of the first three years of his mandate, produce a balanced budget in the fourth year and keep the debt-to-GDP ratio on the decline each and every year. The budget projects deficits for at least five years, totalling $113 billion, including almost $30 billion this year alone. Morneau shifts to predicting a lower debt-to-GDP ratio over the course of the mandate. April 14, 2016: The government introduces a bill in response to the 2015 landmark Supreme Court ruling that struck down the ban on medical assistance in dying. Bill C-14 would allow assisted dying only for consenting adults "in an advance stage of irreversible decline' from a serious, incurable disease, illness or disability and for whom a natural death is "reasonably foreseeable." May 18, 2016: The House of Commons devolves into chaos after Trudeau grows impatient with NDP stalling tactics to delay a vote on a government motion that would have given the Liberals unprecedented control over Commons proceedings. Trudeau marches across the aisle, grabs the arm of Conservative whip Gordon Brown and, in the process, accidentally elbows NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the chest. Trudeau apologizes repeatedly and profusely. The motion is ultimately withdrawn. June 2, 2016: Trudeau admits his government botched the launch of its promised electoral reform initiative by insisting on Liberal control over the all-party committee that is to recommend alternatives to Canada's first-past-the-post voting system. He frankly concedes his government was behaving too much like the previous Conservative government, which Liberals had roundly condemned for using its majority to impose changes to election laws. He agrees to give up the Liberal majority on the committee. Sept. 20, 2016: Trudeau addresses the United Nations, urging political leaders to avoid exploiting fear and anxiety and to focus instead on things that unite people, such as promoting economic growth and job creation. The speech is part of an effort to rebrand Canada as a constructive partner of the UN, after years of thinly veiled disdain by the Harper government. Trudeau wants Canada to win a seat on the UN Security Council in 2020. Sept. 27, 2016: In its first major energy policy decision, the Trudeau government approves construction of the Pacific NorthWest LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal near Prince Rupert, B.C. and the associated pipeline, subject to conditions to mitigate its environmental impact. The decision angers some First Nations leaders and environmentalists who oppose the project. Oct. 3, 2016: Trudeau announces that the federal government will unilaterally impose a price on carbon pollution a floor price of $10 a tonne starting in 2018 and increasing to $50 a tonne by 2022 in provinces and territories that fail to adopt their own carbon pricing plan. All revenue from the federal pricing regime is to be returned to the provinces or territories in which it is generated. Oct. 30, 2016: Trudeau flies to Brussels to sign a Canada-European Union free trade deal, seven years in the making. Only a week earlier, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, known as CETA, had seemed doomed by the Belgian region of Wallonia's objections, prompting International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland to walk out of talks. October 2016: Trudeau begins to take heat over so-called cash-for-access fundraisers where donors pay up to $1,500 to rub shoulders with the prime minister or one of his ministers. The events appear to contradict Trudeau's own guidelines for ethical conduct, which stipulate that there should be no preferential access or appearance of preferential access in exchange for political donations. Nov. 22, 2016: The government announces it will purchase 18 Super Hornet jet fighters as a stop-gap measure while it launches an open competition to find a permanent replacement for Canada's aging CF-18 fleet, a process that could take up to five years. Trudeau had promised during the 2015 election that a Liberal government would scrap the Conservatives' plan to purchase costly F-35 stealth fighters. Nov. 29, 2016: Trudeau signs off on two major pipeline projects to move Alberta's oil sands crude to tide water: Kinder Morgan's deeply controversial Trans Mountain line through suburban Vancouver and Enbridge's proposed replacement of Line 3, a 50-year-old pipeline from Alberta to the United States. Dec. 1, 2016: The opposition-dominated special committee on electoral reform recommends the government design a proportional voting system and hold a national referendum to gauge support for it. Liberal members of the committee recommend Trudeau abandon his promise to reform the electoral system by the next election in October 2019, saying there's no consensus among Canadians and not enough time to make such a radical change. Dec. 13, 2016: A federal task force on legalization and regulation of marijuana recommends storefront and mail-order sales to people 18 and older, with personal growing limits of four plants per person and a 30-gram limit on personal possession. The government has promised legislation in the spring. Dec. 19, 2016: A meeting with provincial and territorial health and finance ministers ends in acrimony after Finance Minister Bill Morneau rejects demands that the annual federal health transfer to the provinces continue to increase at a rate of six per cent per year. He pulls his offer 3.5 per cent annual increase in the transfer, plus $11.5 billion over 10 years in targeted funding for home care and mental health off the table, reverting to his original plan of a three per cent escalator plus an undetermined amount for home care and mental health for provinces that choose to strike a bilateral deal. Premiers renew calls for a first ministers' meeting on the issue. Photo: The Canadian Press Gord Downie's spirited fight with terminal brain cancer struck a chord with Canadians in 2016. His widespread impact on Canadian culture, and advocacy for aboriginals, has inspired news editors and directors across the country to name him the Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year. Downie pulled in 39 per cent of the votes in the annual survey, marking the first time in the Newsmaker's 70-year history that an entertainer has been selected for the title. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came in second, garnering 27 per cent of the votes. Fort McMurray fire Chief Darby Allen and four-time Olympic medallist Penny Oleksiak tied with 12 per cent each. It was in May that Downie shocked the country by revealing he had incurable cancer but still wanted to go on tour with his band, the Tragically Hip. In August, on the last night of the tour, Downie took a moment during the televised concert to campaign for aboriginal people in Canada's North. Less than a month later, he lifted the veil on "Secret Path," a solo multimedia project that recounts the life of 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 after running away from a residential school. Earlier this month, an emotional Downie was recognized during the Assembly of First Nations special assembly in Gatineau, Que., and was anointed the "Man Who Walks Among the Stars." Photo: The Canadian Press It's Sunday afternoon and Toronto's Centre for Social Innovation is packed full of marijuana enthusiasts perusing tables of goods. Everything from marijuana-infused barbecue sauce to medicated body rubs is available at Green Market, where artisans peddle their various craft cannabis products. Such events, which sell to patients and casual users alike, operate within a foggy regulatory environment. Selling marijuana is illegal unless you are a large-scale producer licensed under Health Canada's medical marijuana regime. However, licensed producers are only permitted to sell dried cannabis flower and oils, in spite of a Supreme Court ruling last year that said Canadians have a right to access medical marijuana in all of its forms. "We only carry products that are inaccessible in the current legal medical program," says Lisa Campbell, Green Market co-founder and a marijuana consultant at Mobile Revolutions. "So for patients we are the only place they can find edibles it's not available from any licensed producer." The year ahead is expected to be a pivotal one for Canada's burgeoning marijuana industry, as the federal government is planning to table legislation in the spring that will lay out the ground rules for a legal, recreational market. "Canada will be the first G7 nation, in 2017, to legalize, regulate and restrict access to recreational cannabis," says Brendan Kennedy, president of B.C.-based marijuana producer Tilray. "The eyes of the world are on Canada, and it's extremely important for Canada to get this right." There's also a lot of money to be made in marijuana. A report published by consultancy firm Deloitte in October estimates that legalizing recreational use of the drug could ignite a $22.6 billion industry in Canada. That figure includes sales of marijuana products as well as ancillaries such as security, transportation and testing labs. "The real money is in recreational marijuana," says Jay Currie, author of the book, "Start & Run a Marijuana Dispensary or Pot Shop: Wherever it is Legal." "So these guys who've got millions and millions of bucks invested in candy factories that have been turned into grow-ops really want to make sure that they have a big bite on the recreational side." Currie is referring to Tweed, which is housed in a former Hershey Chocolate factory in Smiths Falls, Ont., southwest of Ottawa. The marijuana production company is a subsidiary of Canopy Growth, and with a market value of roughly $1 billion, it is the largest publicly traded marijuana company in the country. While licensed producers ramp up their production facilities in preparation for an anticipated surge in demand, boutique cannabis companies are also eager for a slice of the pot pie. "I personally would like to see something like what they've done in California, where they have 17 different types of licences you can get, including microprocessing, which is probably the category that most small businesses would fall under," says Christa Schadt. Schadt founded Bliss, a company that makes marijuana-infused lubricants, while dealing with the symptoms of menopause. Photo: Getty Images Once again North Okanagan residents have lit up Vernon Jubilee Hospital with donations. With just a few days to go until Christmas, the VJH Foundations Light a Bulb campaign has reached $245,527 of its $250,000 goal. We are very excited to be so close to our goal and will continue to raise funds throughout the month, said Kevin Arbuckle, campaign chairperson. Our community is exceptionally generous, with several of our supporters increasing their donation amounts to help us out this year. Funds raised from Light a Bulb will purchase high-definition camera heads and control units for VJH operating rooms which will enable surgeons to perform keyhole surgeries for faster healing due to smaller incisions, less pain and less chance of infection. The technology also provides improved visualization in the surgical field with brighter images in dark areas of the body, particularly in ear, nose and throat surgeries. The foundation office will be closed December 27 and 28 for the holidays, however, donors can contribute online or mail cheques to VJH Foundation, 2101-32nd Street, Vernon, B.C. V1T 5L2. Donors can also call 250-558-1362 during regular office hours, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Photo: File photo Conservation officers in southeastern British Columbia say they handled far fewer wildlife complaints in 2016, compared with previous years. Sgt. Denny Chretien, with the Conservation Officer Service, says complaints about habituated deer, black bears and grizzly bears have dropped steadily in the East Kootenay region over the past four years. He says that translates to fewer animals that had to be shot because of repeated conflicts with humans. Chretien says fewer than 15 bears had to be killed in the East Kootenay this year. That compares with 52 shot between May and November in 2015. He's hopeful the reduced number signals that bears are relying on food from natural sources rather than from the garbage. Photo: Contributed The seventh annual JCI Vernon Alternative Gift Fair brought 11 organizations together to offer holiday shoppers the opportunity to give gifts that keep on giving. The event raised $4,700 with the money being distributed to area charitable organizations including the Upper Room Mission, Okangan Rail Trail, Zimbabwe Project and others. At the fair, participants were able to donate to charitable organizations on behalf of their loved ones. It was great to see so many people come out to support local charitable groups. We had families attend to help teach their children about giving back and donors who found out about new charitable groups by attending the gift fair, said Deryk Ellison, co-chairperson of the JCI Vernon - 2016 Alternative Gift Fair. This years event featured a few returning charities as well as a few first time participants. I feel a lot of people as well as myself had the opportunity to learn more about these local and international charities and what kind of impact they are making in the community, said Ellison. Photo: DriveBC UPDATE: 10:55 a.m. The road is now open to single-lane alternating traffic. ORIGINAL: 10:35 a.m. Highway 3 is closed in both directions 12 kilomteres west of Creston because of a crash. DriveBC says an assessment is in progress. There is no detour. 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Regarded as council's financial watchdog, Spiers is launching an e-petition calling for an end to the federal tax. The petition reads: Whereas: The B.C. government instituted a carbon tax in 2008 and the Federal government GST tax (currently at 5%) is still being charged on this Carbon tax; We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to eliminate the GST being charged on this or any other future Carbon Tax enacted by the Provinces or Territories. Spiers has won the backing of North Okanagan Shuswap MP Mel Arnold, even though the practice began during a Conservative adminstration. The petition is being reviewed by the Clerk of Petitions in Ottawa before going online. The carbon tax is supposed to be revenue neutral and it is in this province, but about $63 million is pimped off the top by the federal government and has been for the last eight years, said Spiers. We're talking big bucks. The councillor's blog has B.C. budget figures showing $1.27 billion was expected to be generated from the provincial carbon tax over the 2016/17 financial year. It is subject to the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST). This (money) is coming from people who heat their homes and drive their cars. No more tax on a tax, Spiers stated on his blog. Once the petition goes online, it must garner at least 500 signatures before it can be presented to the House of Commons. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has expressed an interest in following its progress, Spiers said. Photo: Contributed Sticking to international targets for global temperature increases could have a major benefits for fisheries around the world, say researchers in British Columbia. A new study from the University of British Columbia finds potential fish catches would be six million metric tons per year higher if the global temperature goes up by just 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared with a jump of 3.5 C. The Paris agreement the latest international deal on mitigating the effects of climate change aims to limit the average global temperature increase by a maximum of two degrees by 2050. Experts have predicted if the status quo remains, the Earth's temperature would rise by at least three degrees. There's a "strong relationship" between climbing temperatures and dropping fish stocks because as waters warm, fish either migrate to find cooler environments or die off, said William Cheung, the study's lead author and an associate professor at the university's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. Fish stocks are already declining around the world and the numbers will drop even more substantially if global temperatures warm by more than 1.5 C, Cheung said, noting tropical waters around countries like Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are especially sensitive. "It means instead of a slowly decreasing catch as we get warmer and warmer in the tropical area, once we move past 1.5 to two degrees Celsius, the impacts will accelerate really rapidly," he said. "It is a good idea to achieve the Paris agreement to avoid the rapid impacts beyond that." The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, estimates there would be 40 per cent more fisheries catches in the Indo-Pacific region at a 1.5 C increase compared with the 3.5 C bump. The Indo-Pacific is made up of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. A higher jump in temperature could see more fish in the Arctic region, Cheung said, but the change would also see melted sea ice and increased pressures on the area's current fisheries operations, including indigenous fishermen. Photo: Contributed British Columbia's health minister says he's disappointed New Brunswick negotiated what appears to be a side deal on health care funding with the federal government after the provinces and territories rejected an offer from Ottawa earlier this week. Terry Lake accuses the federal government of employing divide and conquer tactics in an attempt to break a stand the provinces and territories took on increased transfer money for health care. Lake says he doesn't believe the federal government when it says four or five other provinces are looking at their own side agreements because the provinces he spoke with today say they won't budge. He says federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and Finance Minister Bill Morneau are being disingenuous when they say the provinces and territories are walking away from more health funding. Lake says the provinces and territories estimate the federal share of funding for health care would drop under what was being offered. Lake says B.C. will not negotiate a separate health deal with the federal government. On Monday, the provinces and territories rejected a federal offer that would have poured an additional $25 billion over the next five years into health care, with money tagged specifically for mental health and home care. The offer included boosting health transfer payments to provinces by 3.5 per cent a year, plus another $11.5 billion over 10 years for home care, mental health services and innovation. A record number of people passed through the Kelowna International Airport this year. Airport director Sam Samaddar says there are a number of reasons that the airport saw about 1.7 million passengers. "The ski industry brings so many people through the city. They want to experience our champagne powder," he said. "We saw that continue to grow through the summer and we are seeing record traffic, of course, in the winter as well." In 2015, the airport saw 1.6 million passengers. With the significant increase this year, Samaddar expects to see a growth of people passing through in 2017. "We expect to see a growth of about three per cent in this coming year," he said. The reason for this increase, he says, is in large part due to the development with the partnership between airline stakeholders services through Vancouver and Toronto. "The weaker Canadian dollar has caused Canadians to travel east-west as opposed to north-south," Samaddar adds. Photo: Contributed British Columbia's Court of Appeal says a judge did not make an error in law when he found that a man charged with trafficking marijuana in Vancouver was unlawfully arrested. Eugenio Alfonso Bahamonde was acquitted of one charge each of trafficking and possession of marijuana after a provincial court judge ruled he was unlawfully arrested in November 2012 and that evidence seized by the RCMP from his vehicle after his arrest was inadmissible. In its appeal, the Crown argued, among other things, that the trial judge erred in assessing the sufficiency of a constable's grounds for making the arrest. The trial judge took issue with different parts of his testimony, including that the officer attempted to impress the court by suggesting he could lip read and that he detected the odour of marijuana on Bahamonde after his arrest when no other officers made that observation. The judge ruled that the unreliability of the officer's evidence meant the search of Bahamonde's vehicle was a breach of his charter rights. A three-judge panel of the appeal court unanimously dismissed the Crown's appeal. In its decision released Thursday, the court says "although the trial judge was overly critical" of the constable "and erred in addressing aspects of the evidence, the errors were not such as to undermine the judges overall assessment of the reliability" of his evidence. Photo: Contributed UPDATE: 4:59p.m. Highway 1 has now been fully reopened. UPDATE: 4:00 p.m. Highway 1 has reopened near Field but the going is slow following a collision. Drive BC reports single lane alternating traffic on the highway, four kilometres west of Field. Motorists are being advised Highway 1 is closed near Field because of an accident. DriveBC is reporting the Trans-Canada is closed in both directions four kilometres west of the community. No detour is available, and an assessment of the situation is in progress. Photo: SPCA A man found guilty of neglecting horses in his care will be sentenced next year. Armstrong resident Gary Roberts, 70, will learn his fate on March 15, 2017 in a Vernon provincial court room. On Monday, Justice Mark Takahashi found Roberts guilty of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal and failing to provide necessities of life for an animal. The animals were in terrible condition, said Takahashi during his ruling in Vernon provincial court, referring to expert testimony that several of the horses were extremely emaciated. Takahashi acquitted Roberts on a single charge of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm saying it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt a threat was directed at anyone in specific. The Gautier Police Department reported the following incidents from: Wednesday, Dec. 14 Tolbert Junior McKensie, 40, Moss Point, was arrested on outstanding warrants for suspended driver's license and speeding. Burglaries were reported at 3144 Soundview Drive, 1409 U.S. 90, 8605 Martin Bluff Road, 4500 Highway 57 and 5500 Claresholm St. Accidents were reported on Bonita Road, Gautier-Vancleave Road and U.S. 90. A complaint was reported at 6300 East Lake Road. Thursday, Dec. 15 An assault was reported at 2848 Gardendale Ave. Accidents were reported at 3000 Oak St., 4404 Gautier-Vancleave Road and U.S. 90. Dwight Cronier, 43, Gautier, was arrested for possession of Schedule III, IV and V drugs and also on outstanding warrants for false identification and contempt of court. Haley Jewell Turnage, 32, Gautier, was arrested for possession of marijuana first offense, possession of paraphernalia, public profanity, public drunk and disorderly conduct and on an outstanding warrant for contempt of court. A burglary was reported at 7939 Narcissus Drive. Friday, Dec. 16 Demonica Latrice Rogers, 40, Gautier, was arrested on outstanding warrants for improper equipment and no insurance. Jacob Scott Coleman, 24, Gautier, was arrested on an outstanding warrant through Jackson County Sheriff's Office. Accidents were reported on Gautier-Vancleave Road and U.S. 90. and 2209 Lewis Gate Drive. Thefts were reported at 1900 Ridgelawn and 5612 Wellington Drive. An incident was reported at 1600 Indian Point. John Roger Haynes, 32, Gautier, was arrested for driving under the influence. A domestic dispute was reported at 3323 Breakwater Drive. A burglary was reported at 3602 Norcrest Drive. Saturday, Dec. 17 Alexander Chance Weaver, 21, Ocean Springs, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for felony credit card fraud. Natalie Susanne Rohr, 28, Gautier, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for uttering forgery. An incident was reported at 2117 Graycliffe Drive. Malicious Mischief was reported at 2449 Northbrook Drive. An auto theft was reported at 1409 U.S. 90. An incident was reported at 413 River Oaks Drive. An accident was reported at 2209 Lewis Gate Drive. Sunday, Dec. 18 Kristina Yvette Broughton, 28, Pascagoula, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for felony child endangerment. Paracelsus Ward Smothers, 21, Biloxi, was arrested on outstanding warrants for speeding, no insurance, no driver's license and possession of marijuana first offense. Garin Lee Gore, 29, Ocean Springs, was arrested for driving under the influence first offense. Larry Dean Turk, 45, Pascagoula, was arrested for public drunk. Accidents were reported at 3224 Breakwater Drive and 3330 U.S. 90. Monday, Dec. 19 Carlos O. Nazario Marin, 30, Gautier was arrested on outstanding warrants for possession of marijuana, improper equipment, suspended driver's license and no insurance. Guy Allen Gamblin, 50, Gautier, was arrested for malicious mischief. Antonio Depaul Mitchell, 29, Gautier, was arrested on outstanding warrants for no insurance and suspended driver's license. James David Rivers Jr., 53, Gautier, was arrested on outstanding warrants for no driver's license and contempt of court. Accidents were reported at 3110 U.S. 90, Dolphin Drive and on Martin Bluff Road. A hit and run was reported on U.S. 90. Summer Lynne Norman, 19, Gautier, was arrested on an outstanding warrant through Hancock County. Justin Blake Miller, 36, Vancleave, was arrested on outstanding warrants for careless driving, suspended driver's license and no insurance. Brandon Lee Burbage, 30, Gautier, was arrested on an outstanding warrant through the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Tuesday, Dec. 20 Terry Michael Verrett, 56, Pascagoula, was arrested for driving under the influence first offense and careless driving. Durea Forehand, 24, Gautier, was arrested for public drunk, possession of paraphernalia and disorderly conduct. An accident was reported at 3001 U.S. 90. An officer reported a traffic stop on U.S. 90. Last weekend, President-elect Donald Trump visited Mobile as part of his "Thank You" tour across the country. In August, the Mississippi Press spoke with Moss Point native , who chairs the Department of African-American Studies at Princeton University and who penned a column for TIME titled, "My Democratic Problem With Voting for Hillary Clinton." Glaude is an award-winning author and columnist who occasionally appears on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," and recently, "Democracy Now." The country is now in a transition period from President Barack Obama's final days in office to the ushering in of a new Trump administration. The Mississippi Press followed up with Glaude for perspective regarding the campaign, asking him whether he voted for Clinton, and asking what he thinks a Trump presidency will look like. Q. So our first time around, we discussed your unwillingness to vote for Hillary Clinton. Did you hold true to that on Nov. 8? Also, which candidate best exhibited the qualities that you wanted to see in the next president? Glaude: I did not vote for Hillary Clinton. I followed the strategic blank-out because I am in a blue state (New Jersey). I could vote my conscience, and I did, and she carried New Jersey. I followed through. I left the presidential ballot blank, and I voted down ballot. Of the candidates that were present in the primaries, all of the folks who ran for the presidency, I thought Bernie Sanders was perhaps the person most closely aligned with my positions and what I thought the country needs at this present moment. I honestly believe Bernie Sanders would've trounced Donald Trump. Q: So we now know that Donald J. Trump is the president-elect. What do you think about his winning and did you think he could win? And what do you think about his appointments to his Cabinet so far? Glaude: I didn't think he would win. I didn't quite understand the depths of certain folks' commitment to an old idea of what America is. I think I completely misread what a certain segment of the country was capable of and what they were willing to tolerate. So I was surprised, like most pundits and intellectuals about his election. In regards to his Cabinet, his appointments actually reflect how he is going to govern -- policy is personnel. When you look at the billionaires he has nominated such as the CEO of Exxon Mobile as the secretary of state, and former Goldman Sachs partner Steve Mnuchin as secretary of the treasury, you can see a certain level of crony capitalism beginning to form. When you look at the people he is nominating, people who are suing the Environmental Protection Agency, you see people whose ideology is aimed at dismantling the fundamental safety net of the public good that goes beyond the individual pursuit of self-interests. So what I think we are about to experience is crude crony capitalism at its worst. Dr. Ben Carson actually said out loud that efforts to enforce provisions of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 amounted to socialism. And he's going to be over Housing and Urban Development. (Note: As Glaude talks about Carson's views, he chuckles.) Q. You have discussed the lack of solutions that Clinton offered for black and brown communities in this country. On the campaign trail, Trump offered no solutions either and still got a percentage of the black vote and also the Hispanic vote. How do you think Trump received those votes from minority communities? Glaude: The exit poll data is not very clear about those numbers yet -- some people are contesting the numbers for the Hispanic vote -- we know that 90-plus percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton, and eight percent of black men voted for Donald Trump, which means he actually surpassed Mitt Romney's level. I think that reflects a couple of things: There are obviously some black conservatives who agree with Trump. I think it reflects black conservative Christians who supported Trump. And I think it reflects a deep, deep aversion toward Hillary Clinton or 'Clinton-ism' and I think this could be applied to the Hispanic vote as well. You have fifth-generation Hispanics in Texas and you have conservative Catholics, and you have people who just aren't going to vote for Clinton. But you have to flip it. You have to say among African American men, 87 percent of black men voted for Clinton. When you look at those figures with regard to the Hispanic votes, the vast majority of Latino Americans voted for Hillary Clinton. So if you look at these numbers you ask, "What happened?", but here is where we must keep our eyes on the prize. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than 3 million votes. Obama won the election in 2012 with 38 percent of white people voting for him. Trump didn't get any more votes than Mitt Romney did. What he did was split that difference with the Electoral College -- the majority of Americans reject Trump-ism, but we kind of read it as it will rule the day, that's not true and that is not what happened. Q. Democrats no longer have control of the House or Senate. How does the party revive itself after this loss at the White House and how does it get back to representing every day working people? Glaude: I think it has to look for examples and I believe the best example is to look at what is going on in North Carolina. You have the removal of a Republican governor, but a House still ran by conservatives who want to strip Governor-elect Roy Cooper, a Democrat, of his authority to govern the way he sees fit. In my book, "Democracy in Black," I point to grassroots organizers that are at the front lines of Democratic change and revolution. What we see in North Carolina even though Trump won the state, are voter suppression efforts that targeted black voters in particular, which helped Trump win Carolina. When you look down ballot, they actually got rid of the Republican Governor McCory -- they flipped the Supreme Court -- they got rid of the attorney general. With their loss of their Republican governor, they respond with trying to strip the powers away from the Democratic incoming governor. On the national level, Republicans want Democrats to be magnanimous, but at the state level, you can clearly see what they are doing. If you want to see what a rigged election looks like, all you have to do is simply take a look at North Carolina and how they are responding. This is what their commitment to democracy actually looks like on the ground. The National Democratic Party needs to see examples such as North Carolina. If they do so, they will see cross communities. These communities are comprised of white, black, brown, and LGBTQ standing alongside undocumented workers, standing alongside teachers, standing alongside prison reformers, the list goes on. What you see is a grassroots coalition that fundamentally transformed the state and they did it with the full knowledge that Koch money was everywhere in North Carolina. I think if the Democratic Party is going to re-imagine itself in the face of this defeat, they're going to have to shake loose the stranglehold of corporate money and begin to represent every day, ordinary people. Q: Even before Trump was nominated as the president-elect, hate crimes were happening inside and outside of his rallies. What does a Trump presidency look like in your eyes and do you think we'll see an influx of hate crimes happen the next four years under his presidency? Glaude: The Southern Poverty Law Center released a study saying that since the election, there have been over 900-plus hate crimes reported with the language of Trump as its justification. I think this is the last gasp of a white America. I think we should be poised to see many fringe and not-so-fringe groups using the presence of Trump in the White House as justification for their hate as a license for them to act on that hate. If you don't expect that, then you are naive. In regards to a Trump presidency, particularly when you think about the fact that he nominated Jeff Sessions from Alabama as the attorney general will change the legal landscape of what it means for us to protest and what it means for folks to challenge this hate head on. That hate, meaning the extreme-ism that has just been elected as the president of the United States. And again, I think the best example of this is North Carolina. Rev. William Barber told me once, "If you wanna know what a Trump presidency is going to look like, just come to North Carolina." We've experienced it with Governor McCory. He gutted education, he refused healthcare, and numerous things that could be documented through his tenure. I expect we have some really difficult days ahead, brother. Q. You have spoken to people of color's allegiance to the Democratic Party in consistently promising the party their vote. Conversation around Trump and Clinton this election centered on the "lesser of two evils." Some people decided not to vote for either and instead voted for Jill Stein, the representative for the Green Party. In the next four years, do you foresee a growth in a new party that represents the interests of all Americans? Glaude: I do know this, if the Democratic Party refuses to engage in the soul-searching that it needs to engage in in order to represent the most vulnerable in this country, we will begin to see a third thrust, one might say. Whether it takes the form of a national party or not, what we are going to see is independent local politics taking on much more of a role on the national scene. This is really important because local isn't local anymore -- things can go viral pretty quickly. The local is already linked up to all of these vast networks so what happens in Moss Point, Mississippi can have a bearing on what happens in Washington, D.C. if it's at the scale. So what I think is important is that if the Democratic Party fails to understand that it has turned its back on working people -- if it capitulates to the demand to give up notions of identity politics, which is so stupid in my mind -- the critique as if arguing for equal pay for women is identity politics --as in saying that police shouldn't kill black and brown people -- is identity politics is blasphemous. These are matters of justice that can only be talked about in relation to the specific people who are catching the hell. If the Democratic Party capitulates to the status quo and tries to go further right in an effort to appeal to the mythical median white voter, then it has sealed its fate and we will see this third thrust. I don't know what form it is going to take, but I do know it is going to take a much more radical and much more democratic form. Pakistan: industry demands anti-dumping duty in Iranian cement 22 December 2016 All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) Chairman, Sayeed Tariq Saigol, has urged the government to support the cement industry by placing an anti-dumping duty on Iranian cement and decreasing taxes to make the domestic product more affordable to consumers. Such changes would increase cement demand and result in capacity enhancement, creating more job opportunities. He pointed out that the cement industry was among the highest contributors to the national exchequer over the last four years and has paid PKR189bn (US$1.8bn) in taxes. The contribution has more than doubled from PKR39bn in 2012-13 to PKR83bn in 2015-16. The industry posted growth in these years, with dispatches rising to 38.87Mt from 33.43Mt in 2012-13. The growth in government collection is mostly due to the increase in duties and taxes by more than 60 per cent to PKR2492/t. He said that there is a strong need to reduce duties and taxes to bring down prices, which would also help industry to grow as it is playing a vital role in the development of the country. Export While there has been a strong growth in cement dispatches, a continuous decline in exports has been reported over the last few years. The country exported 8.57Mt of cement in 2012-13 which has dropped about 46 per cent to 5.87Mt in 2015-16. However, the rise in local consumption helped the industry to stay afloat. Mr Saigol attributes the decline in exports to increased input costs such as fuel prices as well as the introduction of barriers by export destinations. South Africa introduced an anti-dumping duty to protect its local industry while the tariff in India is around 19 per cent to discourage imports. Such obstacles make it difficult for Pakistan to compete with other exporting countries which have lower input costs. Published under Windows Server Support Comes to Kubernetes Editors note: this post is part of a series of in-depth articles on what's new in Kubernetes 1.5 Extending on the theme of giving users choice, Kubernetes 1.5 release includes the support for Windows Servers. WIth more than 80% of enterprise apps running Java on Linux or .Net on Windows, Kubernetes is previewing capabilities that extends its reach to the mass majority of enterprise workloads. The new Kubernetes Windows Server 2016 and Windows Container support includes public preview with the following features: Containerized Multiplatform Applications - Applications developed in operating system neutral languages like Go and .NET Core were previously impossible to orchestrate between Linux and Windows. Now, with support for Windows Server 2016 in Kubernetes, such applications can be deployed on both Windows Server as well as Linux, giving the developer choice of the operating system runtime. This capability has been desired by customers for almost two decades. Support for Both Windows Server Containers and Hyper-V Containers - There are two types of containers in Windows Server 2016. Windows Containers is similar to Docker containers on Linux, and uses kernel sharing. The other, called Hyper-V Containers, is more lightweight than a virtual machine while at the same time offering greater isolation, its own copy of the kernel, and direct memory assignment. Kubernetes can orchestrate both these types of containers. Expanded Ecosystem of Applications - One of the key drivers of introducing Windows Server support in Kubernetes is to expand the ecosystem of applications supported by Kubernetes: IIS, .NET, Windows Services, ASP.NET, .NET Core, are some of the application types that can now be orchestrated by Kubernetes, running inside a container on Windows Server. Coverage for Heterogeneous Data Centers - Organizations already use Kubernetes to host tens of thousands of application instances across Global 2000 and Fortune 500. This will allow them to expand Kubernetes to the large footprint of Windows Server. The process to bring Windows Server to Kubernetes has been a truly multi-vendor effort and championed by the Windows Special Interest Group (SIG) - Apprenda, Google, Red Hat and Microsoft were all involved in bringing Kubernetes to Windows Server. On the community effort to bring Kubernetes to Windows Server, Taylor Brown, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft stated that This new Kubernetes community work furthers Windows Server container support options for popular orchestrators, reinforcing Microsofts commitment to choice and flexibility for both Windows and Linux ecosystems. Guidance for Current Usage | Where to use Windows Server support? | Right now organizations should start testing Kubernetes on Windows Server and provide feedback. Most organizations take months to set up hardened production environments and general availability should be available in next few releases of Kubernetes. | | What works? | Most of the Kubernetes constructs, such as Pods, Services, Labels, etc. work with Windows Containers. | | What doesnt work yet? | Pod abstraction is not same due to networking namespaces. Net result is that Windows containers in a single POD cannot communicate over localhost. Linux containers can share networking stack by placing them in the same network namespace. DNS capabilities are not fully implemented UDP is not supported inside a container | | When will it be ready for all production workloads (general availability)? | The goal is to refine the networking and other areas that need work to get Kubernetes users a production version of Windows Server 2016 - including with Windows Nano Server and Windows Server Core installation options - support in the next couple releases. | Technical Demo Roadmap Support for Windows Server-based containers is in alpha release mode for Kubernetes 1.5, but the community is not stopping there. Customers want enterprise hardened container scheduling and management for their entire tech portfolio. That has to include full parity of features among Linux and Windows Server in production. The Windows Server SIG will deliver that parity within the next one or two releases of Kubernetes through a few key areas of investment: Networking - the SIG will continue working side by side with Microsoft to enhance the networking backbone of Windows Server Containers, specifically around lighting up container mode networking and native network overlay support for container endpoints. - the SIG will continue working side by side with Microsoft to enhance the networking backbone of Windows Server Containers, specifically around lighting up container mode networking and native network overlay support for container endpoints. OOBE - Improving the setup, deployment, and diagnostics for a Windows Server node, including the ability to deploy to any cloud (Azure, AWS, GCP) - Improving the setup, deployment, and diagnostics for a Windows Server node, including the ability to deploy to any cloud (Azure, AWS, GCP) Runtime Operations - the SIG will play a key part in defining the monitoring interface of the Container Runtime Interface (CRI), leveraging it to provide deep insight and monitoring for Windows Server-based containers Get Started To get started with Kubernetes on Windows Server 2016, please visit the GitHub guide for more details. If you want to help with Windows Server support, then please connect with the Windows Server SIG or connect directly with Michael Michael, the SIG lead, on GitHub. --Michael Michael, Senior Director of Product Management, Apprenda | | | Kubernetes on Windows Server 2016 Architecture | We have lost a true lesbian pioneer in the passing of Leslie Cohen. Whether opening the first upscale lesbian club Sahara in NYC in 1976 ... Finalists for the 2017 national superintendent of the year award were announced today by AASA, the School Superintendents Association. The finalists are Barbara Jenkins of the Orange County, Fla., schools; Stewart McDonald of the Kodiak Island Borough school district in Kodiak, Alaska; James Merrill of the Wake County, N.C., schools; and Matthew Utterback of the North Clackamas schools in Milwaukie, Ore. Jenkins has led the Orange County school system since 2012. During her tenure, the district won the 2014 Broad Prize for Urban Education. McDonald will leave his job in June after serving 24 years in his Alaska district, including the last eight as superintendent. He tendered his resignation this past summer, but plans to continue working in education in the state. Merrill was hired as Wake Countys superintendent in 2013. Statewide recognition for his work is a common occurence: he was honored in 2005 as North Carolinas superintendent of the year when he led the Alamance-Burlington school system and Virginias superintendent of the year in 2013 as chief of the Virginia Beach city schools, the Raleigh News and Observer reports. Utterback has led the North Clackamas schools since 2012. The Oregonian reports that under his leadership, the districts graduation rate and test scores went from mediocre to near-tops among large Oregon districts, even as tighter-than-average budgetary straits posed huge challenges. The finalists were selected as winners in their individual states contests for superintendent of the year. The national winner will be announced at AASAs annual conference in March in New Orleans. A $10,000 college scholarship will be presented in the name of the winner to a student in the high school from which that superintendent graduated, or the school now serving the same area. AASA selected Thomas Tucker , the superintendent of Princeton City schools in Cincinnati, Ohio, as its 2016 Superintendent of the Year. Images: 1. Barbara Jenkins of the Orange County school district in Orlando, Fla. 2. Stewart McDonald of the Kodiak Island Borough school district in Kodiak, Alaska; 3. James Merrill of the Wake County, N.C., schools 4. Matthew Utterback of the North Clackamas schools in Milwaukie, Ore. Image source: AASA, the School Superintendents Association A promised repeal of North Carolinas controversial state law that limits restroom access for transgender students in public schools failed Wednesday evening. HB2 is an expansive law that prohibits local anti-discrimination ordinances. It also requires public buidings, including public schools, to restrict restroom access by a persons sex at birth, even if it differs from the gender they identify with. The Obama administration has said such restrictions violate the federal sex discrimination protections in Title IX. After calling a special session to repeal the law, a planned compromise unraveled, and lawmakers adjourned with the law intact. That means public debate over the divisive law, including several suits and counter suits between the state and the U.S. Department of Justice, will continue. Governor-elect Roy Cooper, a Democrat, announced plans to repeal the law earlier this week. Lawmakers agreed to strike the law on the condition that Charlotte repealed a local anti-discrimination ordinance that inspired lawmakers to pass HB2 in a whirlwind special session in the spring. The Charlotte City Council originally repealed only portions of the ordinance Tuesday, but called an emergency meeting to strike the whole thing Wednesday out of concern the compromise would fail at the state legislature. This was our best chance, a frustrated Cooper said in a press conference after the legislature adjourned. It cannot be our last chance. Regardless of the fate of HB2, the federal interpretation of Title IX as it relates to transgender students is before several federal courts. And the U.S. Supreme Court is schedule to hear a case centered on the issue next year. President-elect Donald Trump has not said how his administration will handle the issue, but transgender student advocates are anxious that a reversal in federal interpretation of Title IX by his socially conservative cabinet picks may unravel progress theyve made on the issue in recent years. Student protesters showed up to support HB2s repeal Wednesday. NC students Miguel Rodriguez and Hunter Schafer at the #NCGA urging lawmakers to repeal #HB2 @wunc pic.twitter.com/speSXqCRfC -- Jess Clark (@jessclarkNC) December 21, 2016 The Senate has adjourned. Crowd begins to chant "shame" as we leave the chamber #RepealHB2 pic.twitter.com/Qp52xqmT2R -- NC NAACP (@ncnaacp) December 22, 2016 Related reading on transgender students: Follow @evieblad on Twitter or subscribe to Rules for Engagement to get blog posts delivered directly to your inbox. A group of parents in Davenport, Iowa, are suing state lawmakers over what they call an unfair and discriminatory funding formula that they say has left several of the states rural and urban school districts shortchanged. The formula, one of the longest-standing in the nation, places caps on how much districts can spend. Iowa is one of just five states that, until this week, had not been sued over the legality of its funding formula. The class-action lawsuit was filed Dec. 19 in the Scott County district court on behalf of all parents in the state that receive up to $175 less per student according to the states funding formula, said Cathy Cartee, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs. Nothing else seemed to be working, Cartee said. For the last several years, Davenport has tried to do whats right and go through the proper channels to change the disparities. We have good reason for suing them. The formula violates basic constitutional rights for all of these students. The lawsuit was filed just days after the state sanctioned Arthur Tate, the Davenport superintendent who decided earlier this year to illegally pull $2.7million from his savings account, the amount of money he says the district would have gotten had the state had a fair funding formula. Tate risks losing his superintendent license. I profiled him last year shortly after his school board approved his controversial budget. Reached by phone this week, Tate said he doesnt regret his actions. I certainly believe that our students have been disadvantaged over the years, said Tate. I knew from the beginning that the possibility of me losing my license existed. Ive worked all my life in two professions, and I have worked honorably for both of those. Right now, today, if I wasnt spending the money, they still would be undersrved. Read the full complaint below. And read the lawsuit here: Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics. Many people know that the United States has for years performed very poorly on the OECDs PISA comparative survey of national student performance of 15-year-olds. However, Massachusetts has participated in the last two surveys, and, in this last one, emerged as a star performer, scoring in the top ranks worldwide. In this blog, I analyze that performance, offering some explanations for Massachusetts success, suggesting some opportunities the state might have to do even better and explaining why I think that other states need to look hard at Massachusetts but also other top performing countries as well. With a raw score of 529, Massachusetts would have had the sixth highest raw score in the world in science if it were a country and no other sub-jurisdictions were on the list. Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec in Canada did better, so it would be ninth on a list that included the sub-jurisdictions. But, when looking at these results in terms of the statistical significance of the differences between scores, only Singapore did better. Massachusetts scored 527 in reading, the second highest after Singapore if the state was a country, fifth highest if the sub-jurisdictions taking PISA are included. No jurisdictions scores exceeded Massachusetts if the standard is statistical significance. Eight were similar. Mathematics was a different story. Its average score was 500, the twenty-first highest in the world if it were a country and no other sub-jurisdictions were on the list. If other sub-jurisdictions were included, it would rank thirty-fourth. If statistical significance is the standard, though, only eleven national systems scored higher, while 19 systems were not significantly different. One of the most interesting aspects of the data is what they say about Massachusetts drive to close the achievement gap. Between the 2012 PISA assessment and the 2015 assessment, schools with 50 to 75 percent of their enrollment eligible for free and reduced price lunch went from average scores of 481 to 505 in science, 488 to 506 in reading and 465 to 478 in mathematics. Schools enrolling even higher proportions of disadvantaged students did not improve much, but this record is nonetheless very impressive. So what has enabled Massachusetts to reach the top of the worlds education league tables? Our analysis of the strategies used by the top performers for years is summed up here . We called Mitch Chester, Massachusetts Commissioner of Education, to see whether that analysis captures the distinguishing features of that states successful reforms. It turns out that it does. So, lets review the bidding. Governance and vision According to our analysis, successful reforms are coherent, supported by a wide and deep coalition, grounded in a broad commitment to build a high-wage, high value-added economy, pursued over the long haul by changing administrations and implemented by government agencies working together and not at cross-purposes. All those things are true in the Massachusetts case. The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 provided the economic and educational vision and the broad-based political coalition needed to get there. That coalition kept the vision alive even as the governors office changed parties. The Deval Patrick administration made basic changes in the governance structure for education, creating a unified structure to replace a highly fractionated one. Support for young children and their families Massachusetts was the first in the nation to bring early childhood services under one roof, in 2005, with the creation of the Department of Early Education and Care to better coordinate services and expand access. The state committed itself to working toward universal preschool, free community college for early childhood educators and new curriculum and standards for birth to age three programs. It established an Early Childhood Educator Scholarship program, built strong professional development programs for early childhood educators and created a career ladder for early childhood workers. Commissioner Chester told us that the fiscal challenges that came with the Great Recession made it impossible to achieve the levels of access that the state had aimed for on the schedule originally envisioned, but did not dent the commitment it made to focus on improving the quality of services and personnel in this key arena. More resources for disadvantaged students who need them the most, so that all students can reach high standards Massachusetts spent $13,546 in 2013 per pupil, adjusted for regional cost differences, the 12th highest in the nation. More important, it uses a pupil-weighted funding formula that adds substantial sums to the base for specific characteristics of students such as English language learners, low-income and special education. This additional funding for disadvantaged students is among the highest in the country. Thats what makes the system both fair and effective. Overall, Massachusetts spends 7.3 percent more state and local dollars on each student in a low-income district than in a high-income district. That figure is 14.8 percent when federal funding is included, eighth highest among the states. We have also observed that the worlds top performers work hard to assign more and better teachers to schools serving high proportions of disadvantaged students. Here, too, Massachusetts does what the top-performing education systems do. Powerful, coherent instructional systems coupled with clear gateways This, of course, is what Massachusetts is best known for. Back in the 1990s, as the standards movement got underway, many states set low standards, hoping to strengthen them over time. Wrong strategy. Massachusetts benchmarked the standards used by the worlds top-performing countries, set its own standards there, assumed that Massachusetts students could meet them, and then gave their educators the time and support they needed. They developed assessments that matched the standards not only by setting high passing marks, but, much more important, in their demands for mastery of the underlying conceptual structure of the subject matter. Most other states set lower standards, required much shallower mastery, provided much less support to teachers, gave them less time to figure out how to teach to the new standards and backed off in the face of widespread belief that poor and minority students would not be able to perform at the required levels (which, of course, did not prove to be the case in Massachusetts). This is not what the top-performing countries do, nor is it what Massachusetts did. By 2014, 88 percent of the states tenth graders were passing their demanding high school assessment, required for graduation, one of the most rigorous in the country. A new version of that exam is now being constructed, intended to incorporate the best features of the old MCAS exam and the more technologically advanced PARCC exam. High-quality teachers and leaders All of the top performers have built their systems on the assumption that top performance requires highly capable teachers who are treated as professionals. Massachusetts ditched the undemanding Praxis tests used by many states to assess beginning teachers mastery of subject matter and built their own tests set to a much higher standard, using them to ratchet up significantly their standard for teacher licensure. That set of tests is widely regarded as the most challenging in the country. The pass rate for the required special subject tests was only 64 percent in the most recent administration. Among private institutions that prepare teachers in Massachusetts, Lesley University prepares the most. Lesley requires students to declare education as a double major with the other major being the subject the candidate plans to teach. Lesleys Masters program requires teachers to complete 75 hours in the field under a trained mentor, followed by a full semester in the classroom, assuming progressively greater responsibility. The state requires that newly hired teachers be mentored for one year following certification. From the beginning, the state has recognized that good teachers who are poorly led do not stay in teaching very long. It is with some pride that I note that Dave Driscoll, state commissioner of education when the Massachusetts Education Reform Act was being implemented, turned to our National Institute for School Leaderships Executive Development Program to train principals all over the state, giving them the skills they needed to support their faculties properly as the whole complex program of reforms was rolled out statewide. The NISL leadership development curriculum is designed to help leaders at all levels of the system implement comprehensive school improvement agendas of the kind that Massachusetts had embraced. Teacher leadership and professional work environments This may be the arena in which Massachusetts is farthest behind the top performers. However, the state seems to have set the stage for important progress in this area. State law requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to take over districts that are performing below acceptable levels and gives the department considerable powers in those districts, above and beyond those typically enjoyed by the local school boards. In the case of Lawrence, the historic mill town on the Merrimack River, the state chose to use those powers to implement a form of teacher career ladder which, while less aggressive than those in some of the most advanced countries and even some other states, still lays down a marker for one of the most important features of school organization and management in the top-performing countries, well-developed career ladders for teachers and school leaders. Initially opposed by the local teachers union, it was, Commissioner Chester told us, later embraced as they came to understand how such career ladder systems can be used to create schools in which teachers are treated as high-status professionals. A high-quality career and technical education system Though Massachusetts is most widely known for ratcheting up academic standards, it should also be known for creating one of the strongest systems of secondary career and technical education in the nation. But it is now reaching beyond that achievement to partner with the Pathways to Prosperity Project, run by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Jobs for the Future, intended to bring to the United States many of the key features of the best career and technical education systems in the world, including opportunities for students to serve as paid apprentices for employers offering state of the art equipment, processes and technical staff. Like all the top-performing countries that are strong in this arena, Massachusetts sees career and technical education not as a home for students who do not do well on academics, but as an opportunity for students who do well on academics to learn in an applied setting. Academic achievement in Massachusetts is not an option. It is the goal for all students. Here is the really interesting thing about Massachusetts: Consider first the states advantages. It is one of the wealthiest states in the union. Its parents are among the best-educated in the nation and the world. It is home to a remarkable collection of first-rate universities and research and development organizations. This does not explain its achievements. After all, other states are in the same class in each of these dimensions and are far behind Massachusetts in measured student achievement. Massachusetts got way out front because of the specific policy measures it adopted and the way implementation of those measures was managed, as I have shown. But other countries have gotten to the same plateau without those advantages, some starting their journey in deep poverty amid great conflict. States that look at the Massachusetts example as unattainable need to look at other places that have done just as well without its advantages and then go back to Massachusetts to look again through new glasses. But the otherno less interestingthing about Massachusetts is how much room it has to grow, to get even better, by adapting features of other top systems that it has not yet implemented or implemented widely. These include but are by no means limited to requiring elementary school teachers to specialize in either mathematics and science or English and social studies (which I believe could all by itself substantially close the gap with other nations in mathematics performance), limiting enrollments in teacher education programs to research universities, implementing advanced forms of career ladders for teachers and principals statewide, creating a statewide apprenticeship system and fully implementing the early childhood programs it envisioned years ago. The aim should be to get better and better. It is what Singapore has done year after year. One gets the sense talking to Commissioner Chester that this is exactly where he wants to go. Creative Campaigns Hope to Curb Holiday Drunk Driving It's fine to celebrate the holidays with a little drink, but no one wants a drunk driver ruining their holiday celebrations. And cops know better than most how dangerous drinking and driving can be. Perhaps that's why they crack down on DUIs during the holiday season and they're getting especially creative this year. Here's a look at three unique ideas for keeping drunk drivers off the roads this year. Deifying the DD "We made a very tactical turn this year," Kurt Erickson of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program told WTKR in Norfolk, Virginia. "[We're trying to] emphasize the positivity and the beauty of a designated driver." WRAP partnered with the Virginia State Police to release a series of ads as part of its Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign, showing how "beautiful" it is to get a sober ride home from the bar. "Once There's Drinking, There's No More Thinking." "If it weren't for alcohol and drugs, we could almost shut down the trauma center," said Jackson Memorial Hospital's Dr. Nicholas Namias during a press conference in Miami. Namias spoke as part of a campaign to raise awareness for holiday DUIs, as one piece of partnership between the hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the Florida Highway Patrol. Highway patrol officers even staged recreations of a rollover accident, complete with crash dummies being ejected from the vehicle. There's an App for That Students and professors from Worcester Polytechnic Institute are hoping an innovative new app will keep drunk drivers off the road. AlcoGait can measure your sober way of walking as a baseline, then measure how much you're staggering after a few drinks. Enough swaying and a warning will pop up on your phone letting you know you're buzzed. No word on whether the app will automatically hail you a ride home as well. Related Resources: More Public Officials Charged in Wake of Flint Water Crisis Four more public officials are facing criminal charges due to the scandal over the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, discovered in mid-2014. These four new defendants bring the number of people charged with a crime in a relation to the scandal up to 13. The four officials include two former state emergency managers, Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, and two Flint city water plant officials, Howard Croft and Daugherty Johnson. The two state employees are facing felony charges that could land them each 20-year prison sentences. The state level employees are the highest level officials charged thus far in the scandal. Both Earley and Ambrose reported directly to the state governor. The charges stem from knowingly endangering the public and failing to protect the public from the health hazard. The two water plant officials also face serious felony charges as well for conspiring with Earley and Ambrose. The Flint Water Crisis While Flint, Michigan was experiencing severe financial trouble, the city's water source was changed in order to save money. Unfortunately, the new water source could not be properly treated, which resulted in very high levels of lead in the water, which is very bad for people. Even after the people of Flint spoke up, nothing was done until the crisis reached the national media. By that time, many residents had become literally sick. While much of problem has been remediated, there are still many Flint residents who are unable to get potable drinking water. What makes the Flint water crisis a scandal is the fact that those in charge knew that there was a problem, and did not act. Earley had received emails in 2015 from the county health department that the bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease was flourishing in the water. Despite this information, and more, Earley and other officials publicly stated the water was safe. Related Resources: Google's Confidentiality Policies Are Illegal, Lawsuit Claims We've heard of running a tight ship in the office, and it's only natural to want to protect your company secrets. But an internal "spying program" that encourages employees to snitch on possible leakers? Prohibitions on writing about potentially illegal activities, even to in-house counsel? And a ban on writing "a novel about someone working at a tech company in Silicon Valley" without prior approval? That might be taking office secrecy a bit too far, Google. While it's not too surprising the tech giant wants to keep a firm grasp on its proprietary information, what may be a shock is that much of what Google was doing violated labor laws. No Search Results California statutes protect employees who talk about workplace conditions and potential violations inside the company from retribution or retaliation. A new lawsuit claims Google's internal confidentiality policies violate that law by classifying "everything at Google" as confidential information, the discussion of which could get you fired. "Google's motto is 'don't be evil,'" the lawsuit points out. "Google's illegal confidentiality agreements and policies fail this test." The employee who brought the suit, filed under the alias "John Doe," was apparently falsely accused of leaking company secrets himself and claims the company's overly restrictive confidentiality policies are "intended to control Google's former and current employees, limit competition, infringe on constitutional rights, and prevent the disclosure and reporting of misconduct." If the suit is successful, California would collect 75 percent of any judgment, with the rest going to the company's 65,000 employees. With the number of alleged violations in the suit hitting double digits, Google is looking at a maximum fine that could reach $3.8 billion. Googling Yourself In general, spying on your employees isn't illegal, as long as you have a legitimate business purpose in the surveillance and either employees consent or you monitor them in the ordinary course of business. Before setting up your own employee surveillance system, you might want to consult an experienced employment attorney. Related Resources: Low-Ranking VA Hospital Sued for Wrongful Death When USA Today published leaked rankings of Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers, the VA hospital in Nashville was at the bottom of the list in quality of care. Now that hospital is at the center of a wrongful death suit after a 26-year-old veteran died from a treatable condition. Aaron Merritt was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the Nashville VA Medical Center in January 2014, and died less than ten months later after doctors failed to monitor his reaction to prescribed medication. Merritt's parents are now suing the hospital and the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System for negligence in their son's death. "The System Let Him Down" "We always accepted we might get a knock at the door," Merritt's mother, Carol, told The Tennessean, "that something might happen. But when he got back safely, we never thought we'd get a call in this way. I think the system let him down. He trusted them." Specifically, Merritt trusted them to keep an eye on his blood cell counts because of a condition that suppressed his immune system, leaving him more susceptible to side effects from the colitis medicine. The drug manufacturer and medical journals recommended blood work every two weeks for patients with Merritt's condition. But despite at least one doctor recommending frequent monitoring, Merritt's blood count was checked just once. His condition worsened and he checked in to the VA emergency room, but by then his blood counts were so low he became critically ill and died in October 2014. "No One Ever Followed Through" "After prescribing the medication to Aaron, the VA physicians only ordered one blood [count] in a span of nearly six months," said Frank Thacher, the Merritt family's attorney. "Sadly, the physicians noted in the medical records that they needed to be getting more frequent blood work, but no one ever followed through on it." Doctors who prescribe the wrong medication, or fail to adequately account for or monitor possible side effects of a medication can be held liable for resulting injuries and death. If a doctor's level of care for a patient fell below the standard set by similar doctors, he or she may be guilty of medical malpractice. Related Resources: Washington, DC Passes Nation's Most Generous Paid-Family-Leave Law In our nation's capital, private sector employees, particularly those in low-paid hourly jobs, should be rejoicing as D.C.'s Council voted to approve the nation's most generous paid-family-leave law. Under the new law, private sector employees, both full and part time, will now be entitled to eight weeks of paid time off after the birth of a child, as well as six weeks to care for a sick family member, and two weeks of sick leave for the worker. The new law does not apply to federal or district government employees. The paid family leave provides for employees to receive up to $1,000 per week from the city, which is provided for by a payroll tax that employers will be required to pay. It is unclear, however, whether these benefits will supplement, replace, or just be in addition to those provided by private employers. Unfortunately, the new program is not expected to roll out until 2019, and much work still needs to be done to finalize the program. Controversy Over Payroll Tax Local small and large business owners were able to come together against the law passing. However, the less than 1% payroll tax is likely to have a more dramatic effect on large, rather than small employers. This is largely due to the fact that large employers tend to already have some sort of paid maternity leave policy in place, and the new law just increases their costs to provide the policy. Additionally, large employers will bear the brunt of the payroll tax, particularly for high wage workers, of which D.C. has plenty. Small employers are expected to benefit from the new law as it will allow employees to benefit from being able to take paid paternal leave. Benefits for Non-D.C. Residents Another criticism the new law is facing is that nearly two-thirds of the district's workers don't actually live in the district. Opponents of the new law assert that the majority of the $250 million in taxes that will be collected from D.C. businesses as part of the new law is going to be used to benefit non-D.C. residents. If you're curious about whether your state requires or provides for similar leave, FindLaw can help. Related Resources: Mayor Rahm Emanuel, left, talks with 1871 CEO Howard Tullman at Social Media Week Chicago in 2014. Emanuel used his private email to correspond with tech leaders such as Tullman. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) Technology leaders used Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's private email to send complaints, praise and brags in the past several years, documents released late Wednesday showed. Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs including Howard Tullman , CEO of tech hub 1871; Brad Keywell , CEO of Chicago-based Uptake and managing partner of Lightbank; and Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen used the personal email address to contact Emanuel and his aides. Advertisement The emails also included cameos from global tech figures such as Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook chief operating officer; Marc Benioff, Salesforce founder and CEO; and Jack Ma, Alibaba founder and executive chairman Also making appearances: Al Goldstein , CEO of Avant; Joe Mansueto, Morningstar founder and CEO; Glen Tullman , an investor and entrepreneur; and Amy Francetic , then CEO of the Clean Energy Trust. Advertisement Jai Shekhawat was among the recipients of an Oct. 11 email promoting the city during the World Series. Largely missing are discussions of tech topics including the Cloud Tax and other senders one might expect, including Mark Tebbe , chairman of Chicago Next, the mayor's tech council. "I chose not to use it. You know what the 'e' of 'email' stands for? Evidence," Tebbe said. "I actually like talking to people, and talking face-to-face with people. I do have Rahm's private email and I've had it for the whole time. But I choose not to send things on it." Tebbe said he used official emails for city business, or if he anticipated that Emanuel would delegate something, he would deal directly with an aide. "Some people use this opportunity of having this email as a way of feeling they have an ability to privately rant about something or sway something. I just don't see that to ever be the case," Tebbe said. "I actually like things in context and as part of an overall communication, not just a snippet or snap judgment reply." Emanuel's attorneys turned over 2,700 pages of private emails related to city business following separate lawsuits by the Chicago Tribune and the Better Government Association. The news organizations sued Emanuel for private emails and text messages they said contained official business. In settling the BGA lawsuit, Emanuel agreed to turn over emails that his personal attorney determined were government-related in nature. The Tribune lawsuit is ongoing. The emails released Wednesday are posted on the Chicago Tribune website and can be searched here. Advertisement aelahi@chicagotribune.com Twitter @aminamania Carle Foundation Hospital is seen Monday, May 2, 2016, in Urbana, Ill. The Illinois Supreme Court case on the law that exempts many non-for-profit hospitals from paying property taxes involves the city of Urbana and the Carle Foundation Hospital. The case is scheduled for oral arguments Jan. 12. (Robin Scholz / AP) A 2012 law that exempts many hospitals from having to pay property taxes is constitutional, a state appellate court ruled Thursday. The ruling, which upheld a lower court's decision, comes just weeks before the Illinois Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a different case about the same issue. Advertisement The law was meant to clarify what Illinois not-for-profit hospitals must do to get tax exemptions. For a not-for-profit hospital to be considered tax-exempt, the value of its charitable services must be equal to or greater than its estimated tax liability. It's an issue that Illinois hospitals and municipalities fighting over precious dollars are watching closely. Some say many not-for-profit hospitals operate more like for-profit businesses and should have to pay taxes. Meanwhile, hospitals argue they need the exemptions to provide the best care possible. Advertisement Danny Chun, a spokesman for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, which was a defendant in the case, said the decision reaffirms the association's "belief that the law is a clear, fair and constitutional approach to charitable property tax exemption for Illinois hospitals." But Edward Joyce, an attorney for Constance Oswald, the Cook County property taxpayer who brought the suit, called the ruling "ridiculous." Oswald said in a court filing that her property tax bills increased because of exemptions under the law. "The state of Illinois is bankrupt," Joyce said. "The idea of giving rich hospitals a free ride on property taxes and sales taxes is total nonsense." Joyce said Oswald will appeal the ruling. The Illinois Supreme Court case, which is scheduled for oral arguments Jan. 12, involves the city of Urbana and the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. That case moved to the state Supreme Court after a state appeals court ruled the law unconstitutional in January 2016. lschencker@chicagotribune.com Twitter @lschencker A group of savvy businesses are figuring out what cubicle dwellers already know: It can be tough to duck out of work for routine medical appointments. So providers are bringing the office to them. The latest to set its sights on the Chicago market is 2020 On-site, a Boston company that recently expanded into Chicago with a 34-foot RV tricked out to offer eye exams outside employers' offices. Advertisement The company tapped Chicago for expansion because the city has a lot of midsize employers and many people have long commutes and are looking to ways to save time, said 2020 On-site founder and CEO Howard Bornstein. "So many things have gotten more simple in our life. There's Uber, there's iPhones, there's Grubhub for food delivery," said Bornstein, who started the company two years ago. "But for most people, health care and preventative health has actually gotten more complicated. If you're a working parent, taking half a day on a Saturday to go to the eye doctor is not a fun activity." Advertisement Bornstein, a former growth and venture investor at Bain Capital Ventures, doesn't have a background in optometry but started the company out of frustration with what he saw as the inconveniences of eye exams. He launched the company with backing from investors including Lee Linden, formerly of Facebook, and several people from Bain, among others. Bornstein's company is not the first organization to offer mobile eye exams, and other mobile providers offering services like mammography, dentistry and preventive care already target employers across the country, said Elizabeth Wallace, executive director of the Mobile Health Clinics Association. Such services are expanding as a way to improve employee morale, retain employees and keep them from missing work to attend appointments, she said. Here's how 2020 On-site works: Companies schedule a day for the RV to visit. Employees can then sign up for 15- to 20-minute appointments and fill out their patient forms online ahead of time. When it's an employee's turn, he or she walks into the RV gleaming with sleek white laminate for an eye exam, a prescription and potentially the purchase of glasses or contacts. So far, 2020 On-site has not been charging Chicago-area employers for the RV visits, but eventually companies will have to pay about $520 to $4,020 for the service. Patients pay copay fees similar to what they'd expect at a traditional optometrist. Bornstein said 2020 On-site already has about 300 corporate clients total in Atlanta, Chicago and the Boston area, where it's based. Breaking Business As it happens When business news breaks, be the first to know. > Flexera Software invited the RV to pull up to its office in Itasca earlier this year. About 25 of the company's 150 employees in that location took part. "Employees don't have time to go to the eye doctor, and they lose out on their benefits," said Jennifer Johnson, a senior compensation and benefits analyst at Flexera. Advertisement She said it was a good way to engage employees and raise awareness about their benefits plus it might mean less time away from the office for workers who might otherwise schedule appointments for work hours. Still, Johnson said she's not sure Flexera would use the service again if it had to pay. In that case, she said, it might just be better to let employees leave early to go to their own eye doctors. Larry Boress, president and CEO of the Midwest Business Group on Health, said he can see how companies might want to turn to a mobile eye care service. Most Chicago-area employers, even those with their own on-site health clinics for employees, don't typically offer vision services at work, he said. "Sometimes, (employees) don't want to take the time at home or on weekends for their own health, but if they have something at their work they can get to within 15 to 20 minutes and there's no cost barrier to them, they're going to take advantage," Boress said. lschencker@chicagotribune.com Twitter @lschencker Brad Schneider arrives to cheers and applauds as he celebrates at his victory party at the Northbrook Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) As the start of a new year is on the horizon, the Deerfield Review looks back on the top local stories of 2016. Restaurants old an new Advertisement Kevin's Place, a fixture in downtown Deerfield since 2005, closed in February. Three former employees reopened the restaurant under its previous Cherry Pit name in early May. "We jumped in right away, thinking this was the best option for us," Carmen Vargas, one of the new owners said in May. "The (closing) was sad for us. We wouldn't see the customers we know. We wouldn't see the people we know. We would be lost outside the market. We know people in Deerfield, Highland Park and Riverwoods." Advertisement Trax Tavern and Grill, a meeting place for community members for more than 15 years, closed Dec. 15. Former manager and longtime employee Robbie Cohn is part of the ownership group that will open the space as a new eatery called The Warehouse in March. Cohn said he was sad about Trax closing but excited over his new opportunity. He made it clear some things will be the same at The Warehouse, but it is not a carbon copy. "This is not going to be Trax. We'll be like Trax but we're not Trax," Cohn said earlier this month. Portillo's, which examined two sites in the village for more than two years, opened Nov. 15 to a large crowd of diners. First planning to build a new eatery at 700 Lake Cook Road in 2014, Portillo's walked away from the site. A location at Deerbrook Mall was considered before the chain returned to the original location. "I'm very excited," Mayor Harriet Rosenthal said in an Oct. 31 story when she learned about the opening date. "We worked real hard for this addition to Deerfield. We know it is a good use for the site. People in the community never stopped asking me about it." Deerfield Road construction After drivers adjusted to nearly 10 months of two-lane traffic on Deerfield Road between the Highland Park village limit and the Metra underpass in downtown Deerfield, the roadway fully reopened to four-lane traffic this month. Advertisement Beside the headaches for motorists, the $18.2 million project that was 80 percent funded with a federal grant, hit a pair of major snags along the way. The first came in June when the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass a budget causing a delay of several weeks until a stopgap measure was approved. "We had to plan like we were going to shut down," said David Fitzgerald, Deerfield's management analyst in a July 18 Deerfield Review story. "The equipment had to be brought back so the work could get going again." A second problem arose later in the summer when workers discovered the gas main under the Metra viaduct was not deep enough and North Shore Gas had to lay another one. With elongated shifts and weekend work, Assistant Village Manager Andrew Lichterman said the project was put back on schedule. Schneider Regains 10th Congressional District Seat Rep.-Elect Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield) will return to the U.S. House of Representatives after defeating Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) in the November 8 general election. The Dold-Schneider race was the third between the two in the last three Congressional elections. Dold first won the seat in 2010 in a tight race, but lost it to Schneider two years later in another squeaker. Dold reclaimed the seat in 2014 with a narrow win. Advertisement Though happy with his victory on election night, Schneider tempered his remarks as he alluded to President-elect Donald Trump. "This was not the night we expected," Schneider said on election night. "Tonight's victory here in this room is a very bright spot in an otherwise dark evening. But it makes this victory all that more important." Deerfield H.S. loses a principal, gains a Superintendent After spending less than a year as Deerfield High School's principal starting July 1, 2015, Christopher Dignam found a new job in February when he was named superintendent of Township High School District 113 overseeing both Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools. Dignam came to Deerfield after serving as principal of Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago for three years. As soon as the district promoted Dignam it launched a search to replace him. That search led back to Lane Tech. Kathryn Anderson, who succeeded Dignam as Lane Tech's principal, was named his successor at Deerfield June 6. Dignam said at the time his previous work with Anderson was going to help him transition into his new job. Advertisement "I know Kathryn is an individual I can trust," Dignam said in July. "I know there will be a smooth transition for administrators, teachers, staff and students. That's important as I begin to oversee both schools." Deerfield Park District changes Jeff Nehila became the executive director of the Deerfield Park District this month replacing Rick Julison, who retires Dec. 31 after a 27-year career with the district. Nehila was head of the Grayslake Community Park District since 2010 and was the executive director of the Round Lake Area Park District for eight years before that. He said he found ways to make those communities' recreational facilities appeal to more members of the community and hopes to do the same thing in Deerfield. Northwest Quadrant gains approval It took nearly six months of negotiations between village officials, representatives of the park district and leaders of the First Presbyterian Church before the Northwest Quadrant Master Plan became a reality in October. Advertisement Bounded by Waukegan Road, Deerfield Road, railroad tracks and Hazel Avenue, the quadrant borders much of the village's public core, including Village Hall, the Deerfield Public Library, Jewett Park and the Jewett Park Community Center. The purpose of the plan is to provide a broad outline for future planning and changes to the area, according to village officials in a Sept. 12 Deerfield Review story. Chalk up orange juice as another casualty of the war on sugary beverages. Sales of orange juice, a onetime breakfast staple, have declined precipitously as less-sugary green drinks have taken a big chunk of its shelf space. "Americans drank less orange juice in 2015 than in any year since Nielsen began collecting data in 2002," The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year. The decline is due mostly to the fact that it's packed with sugar, albeit natural sugar. PepsiCo, owner of Tropicana, has lined up a marketing campaign to boost the 70-year-old brand with millennials. The beverage giant this month began buying native advertising space with Ashton Kutcher's "A Plus" digital news site which espouses positive news in hopes of making millennials learn to love its OJ. The site has 11.5 million unique monthly visitors, according to a September news release. The native content series, called "Morning Spark," includes videos promoting OJ as a feel-good morning beverage and positive way to start the day. Kutcher's pull is helping with his network of celebrities. The video has been shared on Facebook by Adam Levine, Robin Thicke and Lil Wayne. Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, has no problem with Pepsi trying to make a 8-ounce glass part of millennials' daily constitutional. "They are trying to sell orange juice, " said Nestle. "That's their job." Although she recommends a real orange over the processed juice, "an 8-ounce glass of orange juice is just fine. When I was growing up, we had 6-ounce juice glasses. It took care of your need for really important vitamins." Nestle, who is not known for her soft spot when it comes to Big Beverage, gave the Purchase, N.Y.-based food, snack and beverage company a nod. "Pepsi has pledged to put real money into advertising its healthier products. Let's give them credit for doing that in this case." Pepsi said OJ is a nutritious eye-opener, with vitamin C, essential potassium and folic acid, crucial to women of childbearing age. But David Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, cautioned consumers before they jump on the orange juice express. "Fruit juice and whole fruit are not the same," Ludwig said. "We need to be encouraging whole fruits while limiting consumption of concentrated or processed sugars. And most commercial fruit juices are in that (processed sugars) category." "This campaign flies in the face of national recommendations to increase consumption of whole foods and limit highly processed carbohydrates. Commercial fruit juices clearly fall into that second category." Why did Pepsi pick millennials? Upside. The company's research shows there is tremendous room for growth among the 75 million members in the demographic, which is considered ages 18 through 34. "Millennials no longer consider OJ a breakfast staple and could really live with or without it," according to research by the Florida Department of Citrus. "That is why creating an emotional and cultural connection to orange juice is so important to the brand." Pepsi is hoping its feel-good campaign creates a connection with OJ that is nonexistent. "Millennials are less likely than non-millennials to feel badly if they could no longer drink 100 percent orange juice (take it or leave it attitude)," according to citrus research. It's still not going to be easy. "Millennials are obsessed with health," said Gabrielle Bosche, a strategist who consults with companies on how to reach younger consumers. "Unless it's cold-pressed and organic, this generation isn't interested in juice. "Juice companies that thrive with this generation have packaging that makes it look local, tout the health benefits and understand that it is about what the brand represents (rather) than what the product actually is." Kimberly Sausman, nurse and lactation consultant for Methodist Hospital Northlake in Gary, shows the refrigerator where donated breast milk is stored prior to shipment to The Milk Bank in Indianapolis. (Nancy Coltun Webster / Post-Tribune) Six insulated shipping boxes filled with 7,993 ounces of breast milk donated by local mothers to feed premature babies are stacked on a dolly at Fagen Pharmacy, 3401 Calumet Ave., Valparaiso. The breast milk will be sent to The Milk Bank in Indianapolis, according to Leslie Durbin, a medical equipment specialist for Fagen. The pharmacy is one of three Milk Depots, or breast milk drop-off locations in Lake County, with the others being Crown Point Obstetrics and Gynecology, 800 W. Burrell Drive, and Gary Methodist Hospital, 600 Grant St. Advertisement To put the ounces in perspective, a newborn premature infant may be fed as little as one milliliter (1 ml) every one to six hours, according to Terri Hendrickson, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse at Gary Methodist Hospital. "The bowels are the last thing ready to go," as babies develop, Hendrickson said. "If we start feeding with breast milk, we have less bowel sickness. We start in tiny amounts. We increase that as the baby tolerates it." Advertisement Doctors will prescribe donor breast milk for infants when a mother's own milk is not available, either because she may not be producing enough or may be too sick to provide any. In Indiana, those prescriptions are filled by The Milk Bank, a member of The Human Milk Banking Association of North America. "We have a priority system. NICU [neo-natal intensive care} is priority. There may be a reason why a baby might need supplementation. (For example), the baby is not tolerating formula," said Sarah Long, clinical coordinator and lactation consultant for The Milk Bank. Though Methodist Hospital does not currently provide donated breast milk to its NICU babies, it has taken a first step by instituting a Milk Depot, said Kimberly Sausman, hospital nurse and lactation consultant. "We met with The Milk Bank because we're trying to encourage the donation of breast milk for our NICU setting and it involved becoming a donation site," Sausman said. "In our population that delivers at Methodist, we see a lot of sick moms and we see a lot of sick babies. These are at-risk babies." That has drawn the attention of The Milk Bank. "Northwest Indiana is high on our radar because we know the infant mortality rates are higher there," Long said. "In the State of Indiana, our infant mortality rate is about 7 percent and that is significantly high compared with the rest of the country." Lavawn Souther, nurse and lactation consultant, oversees the Milk Depot at Crown Point Obstetrics and Gynecology, which she set up in 2014. "I saw the need for donor milk, because so many babies in NICU would be better off with breast milk," she said. Advertisement Women who choose to donate their oversupply of breast milk must be screened. "The process is easy. I'm here to walk the donor through the entire process," said Lauren Duncan, donor mother coordinator for The Milk Bank. Once a mom calls The Milk Bank and undergoes a quick phone screen, she is sent a packet with paperwork and instructions for a blood draw to test for disease. "All of the milk is vigorously screened and then distributed to wherever the need is," said Long. "Our Milk Depots are drop-off points. They operate as a receiving and delivery hub. This milk is only screened by us. We know the donor and medical history. The mom goes to drop off the milk and the depot receives the milk into a freezer and they call us when the freezer is full. It is a one-stop for the mom." Duncan said moms are asked to donate 100 ounces by the time their babies turn 2, Duncan said. That amount is not difficult for many mothers, Souther said. "I have moms who have donated 2,000 ounces," she said. Advertisement Once the milk arrives in Indianapolis, The Milk Bank pasteurizes and bottles it, Duncan said. The Milk Bank and its depots have a Bereavement Donation program for mothers of babies who have died. It provides an opportunity for those moms to work through their grief by donating their breast milk. The program is personal for Duncan, who became a breast milk donor after her son, Michael, born at 24 weeks' gestation, died after one month. "I was left with 700 ounces of milk that I had pumped over the course of his short life," she said. "A friend of mine donated a few years previously. I really do think, by donating my milk in his memory, it was a huge part of my healing. It has given me purpose. "Now, I have a healthy 4-year-old girl and she's such a gift. By donating after my son's loss, it put me on this path to what I'm doing. Helping other grieving moms work through their grief has been healing for me." The need is constant. Advertisement "We always need donor milk," Souther said. "I do a lot of promotion for it. Sometimes my freezer is overflowing and sometimes it is empty. The biggest thing any mom who donates is literally saving a baby's life. It is one of my passions. Helping moms with breast feeding and helping these critically ill babies with anything we can do." Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. To donate Call The Milk Bank at 1-877-829-7470. President Barack Obama walks alongside senior advisor Valerie Jarrett to Marine One prior to departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington D.C. on Oct. 7, 2016, as Obama traveled to Chicago for the weekend. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON Chicago's Valerie Jarrett has played a unique role in the Obama administration. She was both a senior adviser to the president throughout his eight-year administration it is extremely rare for White House staffers to stay for the duration and a close friend of both Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. The three have been allies and confidantes for 25 years, leading Jarrett to sometimes be called their "first friend." Advertisement On Wednesday, with less than a month to go before the Obamas leave the White House, Jarrett reflected on the past eight years while giving few clues about what her future holds. Jarrett spoke from Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood, where she is spending Christmas with her 88-year-old mother, Barbara, whose residence is a short walk from the Obamas' Chicago home. Advertisement She said that after the Obamas leave the White House she plans to relax and get reacquainted with relatives. She said she had no firm professional plans but expects to "roam" between Chicago, Washington and perhaps two or three other places. "We'll see," Jarrett said. "I haven't made any firm plans on what I'm going to do next." The president and the first lady have said they will stay in the capital until their younger daughter Sasha, 15, graduates high school in 2019. Jarrett's only child, Laura Jarrett, became a Washington-based reporter for CNN last September, so the capital still will have a "big tug," she said. Jarrett, who is known to be circumspect, said she has not "made any decisions whatsoever" about whether she'll run for office herself some day. "I have not given it a moment's thought." Nor would she say whether she plans to write a memoir. "You're asking me questions I haven't even considered yet, so we'll see. We'll see. We'll see what I have an appetite for," Jarrett said. Jarrett, who celebrated her 60th birthday last month, figures to have no shortage of job offers after leaving the White House, and also could hit the lecture circuit. For now she's finishing official business, citing a recent national summit for the White House's My Brother's Keeper initiative, which aims to empower boys and young men of color. "I'm not allowing myself the luxury of focusing on the future until Jan. 20," she said, "and then I will." Advertisement In Chicago, Jarrett worked under Mayors Harold Washington and Richard M. Daley. She said the "rough and tumble" politics of Chicago was "nothing" compared with what she saw in the capital, pointing to Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell's upfront desire to see President Obama fail and the entrenched special interests with a "political and financial interest" in maintaining the status quo. The "lowest point by far" of her tenure was the 2012 massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. "I remember it like it was yesterday," said Jarrett, who recently attended a memorial to mark the event's fourth anniversary. As a mother, she was pained, while the attack also brought back memories of a personal tragedy from 46 years ago, when her grandfather James E. Bowman was murdered during a robbery attempt in his Washington dental office. The fatal shooting took place just before Christmas in 1970. She said she regrets there was no congressional action on gun control in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. Jarrett said the high points of her White House years include the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal. She said she's lost count of the times Congress has voted unsuccessfully to repeal Obamacare but has yet to see a replacement measure that keeps intact its key provisions. She said she won't prejudge what Trump will do about the ACA but hopes he retains the goal of seeing that all Americans have affordable insurance. Advertisement As to other key achievements of the Obama White House, she cited the Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage and the repeal of the ban to let gays and lesbians serve openly in the military. When the high court ruled on gay marriage in 2015, she was in a meeting and an aide slipped her a note: "We won." Jarrett said she ran down to the Oval Office, but found Obama was not there. Chief of staff Denis McDonough asked Jarrett if she had called him. "Oh, good point," she replied, reaching the president as he was preparing the eulogy for Clementa Pinckney, the pastor slain in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. "I had the honor of telling him we had won that case," she said. Not long after that, the president, Jarrett and others were off to Charleston, where she recalls Obama's eulogy in which he led the congregation in singing "Amazing Grace." They were back in Washington before dusk and on the North Portico of the White House, watching the sun come down and seeing the Executive Mansion bathed in a rainbow of colored lights to mark the Supreme Court decision. "Extraordinary," she said, crediting White House staffer Jeff Tiller with proposing the light display. Advertisement During her long tenure, some took to calling Jarrett the "Night Stalker" since she could visit with the Obamas in the family's private quarters at the end of the day. There was occasional in-fighting with colleagues, including Rahm Emanuel, Chicago's mayor and Obama's first chief of staff. Jarrett downplayed her disputes with Emanuel, saying they had a "very comfortable relationship" and were "direct" with one another. After he departed the White House, they continued to engage after he became mayor and in her role as director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Jarrett said she'll miss the "high platform" from which "we have tried to be forces for good and bending that arc of the moral universe closer to justice." She said she won't miss the coarseness of the dialogue on social media. "I think we can do better than that. It is unnecessarily harsh and oftentimes personal," she said. Trump's victory was "shocking," Jarrett said. She said she has met Trump once, back in 2011 when he attended (and was lampooned by speakers at) the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner. The two recognized each other. "He couldn't have been more gracious and said nice things and I told him it was a pleasure to meet him," she said. "It was a very brief encounter." If she has any fears about what his administration will bring, she's characteristically tight-lipped. Instead she recalls how diligent President George W. Bush and his aides were in preparing Obama for his transition. Obama's White House, which stood firm for Democrat Hillary Clinton, is following suit to assist Trump with his transition, she said. Advertisement Mystery, for now, may shroud Jarrett's next steps. But she is unequivocal about her loyalty to her boss. Asked if she will work on behalf of the future Obama Presidential Center on the South Side, she said: "I will help President Obama for the rest of my life in any way I can, including (at) his center." kskiba@chicagotribune.com Twitter @KatherineSkiba You can now dance for Chickenjoy in Mayfair. Jollibee, the Filipino fast-food chain that had fans lining up reportedly for 10 hours at the Skokie location when it opened over the summer , welcomed its first location in Chicago proper this morning. Doors opened at 6:30 a.m., though the chain didnt start serving its signature fried chicken until 7 a.m. The first 300 people in line who made a minimum $25 purchase received a plushie of the restaurant's mascot, an anthropomorphized jolly bee. The store will close at 10 p.m. today. While the new location is in the same building as Filipino market Seafood City, the two businesses are not affiliated. The Chicago location has no drive-through window, and there is no phone yet, said Skokie Jollibee supervisor Cora Reina. What does Reina recommend to Jollibee newbies? The chicken, she said, referring to the popular fried chicken called Chickenjoy on Jollibee's menu. Two of the most popular dishes at Jollibee, which can be ordered separate or together, are the Chickenjoy fried chicken and spaghetti. (Mike Isaacs / Pioneer Press) Reina also recommended the peach mango pie, the sweet Filipino-style spaghetti with sliced hot dogs, and the rice noodles known as palabok, called Fiesta Noodles on the menu, and garnished with shrimp, pork cracklings, garlic sauce and egg. You can now order in advance at both locations, with a few limitations: You must make a $50 minimum purchase and pay in the store. A treat for your friends and family in for the holidays, perhaps? Or just $50 worth of Chickenjoy for yourself we won't judge. Jollibee, 5033 N. Elston Ave., no phone yet lchu@chicagotribune.com Twitter @louisachu Whiskey and other brown spirits make a better pairing with chocolate than red wine. Here a whiskey from Chicago-based distiller Koval is matched with truffles from Vosges Haut Chocolat, also made locally. (Michelle Kanaar / Chicago Tribune) Chocolate? Good. Wine? Even better. But together? Not for me. Before you head to the comment section or Twitter to tell me I'm a hack, hear me out. Advertisement While chocolate companies, large-scale wine brands and pop culture rom-coms try to sell you on the romantic idea of wine and chocolate pairings whether for Valentine's Day or general gift giving beverage experts tend to agree: Still wine typically fails as a dance partner for chocolate. "I'm not sure why everyone is always trying to pair chocolate with red wine, other than the fact that everyone loves red wine and chocolate," says Los Angeles-based sommelier Whitney Adams. "It's rare that I enjoy wine with my chocolate." Adams says to step away from dry red wines zins, cabs, pinots and instead reach for other categories, namely dessert or fortified wines like port or Madeira. Advertisement "Madeira is like a slightly sweet, salty and nutty hug in a glass," says Adams. "I'd reach for some Rare Wine Co. Madeira for a special treat." Chocolate, by nature, is bitter. Like wine, it also contains tannins, the astringent compound found in red wines that cause your gums and cheeks to dry out. Pairing a wine also typically higher in acid with bitter chocolate just throws your palate out of whack. Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > "There's nothing wrong with eating chocolate and wine, but if you're going for a specific pairing and a great experience, dry reds are just jarring and clashing," says Michael Matonte, manager of Vin Chicago and an advanced sommelier. "You want a little sweetness. A little bit of Lambrusco can be quite nice with chocolate." Lambrusco, a sparkling red wine style from Italy, tends to have a fine bubble and fruitier profile, lending a soft cleansing of the palate between bites of richer chocolate. For Katrina Markoff, chocolate expert and founder of Vosges Haut Chocolat, the wine and chocolate pairing should be much more nuanced. In fact, her company trains employees in perfect chocolate and beverage pairings with a 100-page tasting guide just for this purpose. "Wine and chocolate are often diametrically opposed in flavors, so the trick is to look at the whole experience," says Markoff. Known for incorporating ingredients like fennel pollen, paprika, star anise and horseradish into her chocolates, Markoff suggests "pulling out flavors from the chocolate that can be mirrored in the wine." If the chocolate is already very sweet, a dessert wine can be too much an eau de vie, or fruit brandy, is the way to go. The higher acid in the brandy provides balance and lift. If you insist on red wine with a dark chocolate, at least avoid tannic styles. "Go for something juicier," she says. Try California merlot or Australian shiraz. Personally, I take a different tack: Brown spirits like whiskey and rum. Sure, the buzz doesn't hurt, but the alcohol also has more body, coating the tongue from the chocolate's tannins. Additionally, a brown spirit's spicy and caramel flavors lend themselves well to the darker, earthy flavors of chocolate. If you've read this far and still disagree fine. Far be it for me to prevent your enjoyment of two of God's great culinary gifts. I just want you to know: There's a better way. jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @joeybear85 Open space advocate Juanita Irizarry of Friends of the Parks; architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang; and Carol Ross Barney of Ross Barney Architects reflect on their year. (Chicago Tribune) Hillary Clinton didn't crack the glass ceiling at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but 2016 proved to be a standout year for women in another male-dominated field: Chicago architecture. Architect Jeanne Gang completed three exceptional projects, including the dramatic Writers Theatre in Glencoe, and saw construction begin on her 98-story Vista Tower, the condo and hotel high-rise that will be Chicago's third-tallest skyscraper upon its expected completion in 2020. Advertisement Architect Carol Ross Barney finished the latest extension of Chicago's downtown Riverwalk, an urbane pedestrian and bike promenade that she co-designed with Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Mass. MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR Advertisement Open-space advocate Juanita Irizarry, executive director of Friends of the Parks, led the successful fight against George Lucas' planned narrative art museum on the lakefront, dealing a major setback to the "Star Wars" creator and the project's biggest political backer, Mayor Rahm Emanuel. This years Chicagoans of the Year in architecture are Juanita Irizarry, from left, of Friends of the Parks; Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang; and Carol Ross Barney of Ross Barney Architects. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) What unites these achievements? Probably the fact that gender, in the end, had little to do with them. In other words, the three Chicagoans of the Year succeeded not as women architects or women advocates but as architects and advocates who happen to be women. That constitutes progress and a departure from the still-gloomy bigger picture: U.S. women architects are typically paid less than their male counterparts. They are often forced to choose between career advancement and raising children. And they are underrepresented in leadership roles, especially at big corporate firms. "It's not easy for women, even today," said Barney, president of Chicago's Ross Barney Architects and the first president of Chicago Women in Architecture. "Women have more power now than they did. On the other hand, if you do a statistical analysis of it, women are lacking in the halls of power in every endeavor." In the past, women architects have been regarded as helpmates rather than heroines. Consider the early 20th century architect Marion Mahony Griffin, the first woman registered to practice architecture in Illinois, who was featured in an exhibition this year at the Elmhurst History Museum. Despite extraordinary talent, including brilliant drawings for Frank Lloyd Wright, Mahony Griffin was hindered by a world that was not ready for women architects and, consequently, she left few completed works. Things had improved only slightly by the 1950s when Chicago architect Gertrude Kerbis designed the dining hall for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's futuristic U.S. Air Force Academy campus in Colorado Springs, Colo. Kerbis, who died in June at 89, took pride in the structure, although she found it amusing that she, a woman, was assigned to shape the campus building associated with the kitchen. "Gertrude Kerbis used to tell that she made it easier for me," said Barney. "Her theory was that everybody bumps the ceiling up a couple of inches." Today, women hold several of Chicago's top architecture jobs: Zoe Ryan, the Art Institute of Chicago's chief curator of architecture and design; Lynn Osmond, president of the Chicago Architecture Foundation; Sarah Herda, director of the Graham Foundation; and Bonnie McDonald, president of Landmarks Illinois. And Gang has become one of the city's most celebrated architects. Advertisement In typical thoughtful fashion, Gang, a MacArthur "genius grant" winner, turned around a question about the barriers women still face in architecture. "One of the barriers is that we are constantly asked about being women architects, as if that's the only thing that defines us," she said. "I just trained myself to not let it bother me. Sometimes, the men in our office notice (sexist behavior) more than I do." Yet barriers remain. Notwithstanding Gang's acclaimed Aqua Tower, for example, few women get the chance to design high-rises, creating a vicious circle where lack of experience breeds a lack of opportunity. "Hiring a firm that's run by a women is pretty risky," Barney said. "It's not because they've failed in the past. It's because there is no past." While Irizarry follows a trail blazed by Friends of the Parks' longtime Executive Director Erma Tranter, she acknowledges facing other challenges: There are few other Latinas in the field of city planning. And she stands 4 feet 11 inches tall and looks much younger than her 48 years. MEET ALL OF THE TRIBUNE'S CHICAGOANS OF THE YEAR Advertisement "My stature and my age or people's sense of my age is often a bigger barrier than gender," she said. "They don't take me seriously or I have to prove myself." She doesn't to prove herself now, not after facing down Emanuel in the Lucas fight. "I always imagine that there's a dart board with my picture on it in the mayor's office," Irizarry said. Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic. bkamin@chicagotribune.com Twitter @BlairKamin Advertisement RELATED STORIES: Celebrating a rousing year, from public spaces to preservation Closed Sessions: Chicago artists of the year Pharez Whitted: Inspiring young lives through jazz 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) Alex Fruchter and Mike Kolar of Closed Sessions reflect on what the year meant for them and their label. (Chicago Tribune) Chicago hip-hop isn't just ascending in popularity, it's drawing attention for the way it goes about its business. Artists from Chance the Rapper to Jamila Woods are earning international notice with a grass-roots approach, rather than relying on the big multinational companies that used to control the on-and-off switch for success. MEET ALL OF THE TRIBUNE'S CHICAGOANS OF THE YEAR Advertisement Now the pipeline has become a series of streams, none more important in Chicago than Closed Sessions, the record label and management company run by Alex Fruchter and Mike Kolar. Their business collaboration has become a symbol of the city's hip-hop renaissance. The ripple that began more than a decade ago with Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco has turned into a wave of notable releases in recent years. Closed Sessions has been at the forefront, with releases this year from Woods (her multifaceted debut "HEAVN"), Evanston rapper Kweku Collins ("Nat Love") and Chicago-born, Minneapolis-based DJ-producer BoatHouse ("Hibernation"), among others. Alex Fruchter, left, and Michael Kolar run the record label and management company Closed Sessions, which has been at the forefront of the citys hip-hop renaissance. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) Fruchter and Kolar have become key players in helping build and maintain an infrastructure for Chicago hip-hop. Fruchter is a DJ, concert promoter, faculty member at Columbia College and former hip-hop fanzine editor and tastemaker. Kolar has been a recording engineer in Chicago for two decades and owner of SoundScape Studios, which has hosted sessions by dozens of national (M.I.A., Bun B, FKA Twigs) and local acts (Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, BJ the Chicago Kid). Advertisement The two joined forces in 2008 and the next year put out a 14-track album, "Closed Sessions Vol. 1." Fruchter's talent-scout skills and Kolar's acumen as a studio engineer gave the label immediate cachet and ensured a level of quality control that wasn't always the case in previous Chicago-based hip-hop labels. Closed Sessions focuses on local up-and-comers, and it signs acts who strive for longevity and credibility rather than quick hits and instant success. Their releases rarely hew to commercial formula but instead underline what makes each artist's vision unique: BoatHouse's forays into trip-hop and acid house; Woods' fondness for indie rock and playground rhymes. MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR For Fruchter and Kolar, it's all about building a framework that enables an artistic community to thrive. "Our goal in starting was to be a premier hip-hop label for Chicago," Fruchter told the Tribune earlier this year. "The community has to be central in that goal. The labels we fell in love with as kids, they didn't just put out music. They had an anchor community they served to define for a specific time period and location." Greg Kot is a Tribune critic. greg@gregkot.com Twitter @gregkot Advertisement RELATED STORIES: Greg Kot's top concerts of 2016 Greg Kot's top albums of 2016 Greg Kot's 12 best local albums of 2016 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) I can't remember the last time I was more frustrated than with the ending of the first season of "The OA," a new Netflix series from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the talented filmmakers who have collaborated on "Sound of My Voice" and "The East." The pair - who co-write their projects, in which Marling stars and which Batmanglij directs - excel at creating eerie scenarios that ask characters and viewers to confront what they believe and why. And for a while in "The OA," they do the same thing. Advertisement The series follows Prairie Johnson (Marling), a blind violinist who has been missing for seven years and reappears when she's caught on cellphone video jumping off a bridge. When she returns home to her parents, Nancy and Abel (Alice Krige and Scott Wilson), she's somehow regained her sight. And she begins to gather a small group of high school students (Patrick Gibson, Brendan Meyer, Brandon Perea and Ian Alexander) and an algebra teacher (Phyllis Smith) to tell them a story. It begins with a near-death experience that took her sight in childhood and the loss of the Russian oligarch father she adored, and continues through her adoption by Nancy and Abel, the lies that Dr. Hunter Hap (a typically excellent Jason Isaacs) told her to lure her into the basement where he trapped her and a number of other young people, and the macabre experiments he did on them - killing and resurrecting them over and over again - in an attempt to document what comes after death. Advertisement In the midst of all the elements of modern dance, reinterpretations of 1990s pop and enigmatic images that are a hallmark of Marling and Batmanglij's collaborations, "The OA" seems, for a time, like it's joining a number of recent works that have challenged the narratives of swift and convenient recovery from trauma that are more wishful thinking for the people who deal with survivors of trauma than the realities of the survivors themselves. Emma Donoghue's novel "Room," and the Academy Award-winning movie adaptation of it starring Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, found a new perspective by telling the story of Jack (Tremblay), a child born as the result of his kidnapped mother's rape by her captor and who had never lived anywhere except their prison. "Room" celebrated Ma's (Larson) resilience and never flinched in its depiction of what Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) had done to her. But it also suggested that the room that was a grim cell for Ma could also be Jack's beloved home, and that after they were rescued, the process of acclimating to the life they should have lived would be long and hard - so hard that at times it seemed impossible. The swift recovery that would have been convenient for Ma's parents (Joan Allen and William H. Macy), who want to be able to celebrate her return, is another burden for her to carry. "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's Netflix sitcom about a woman (Ellie Kemper) who tries to start her life over in New York City after being rescued from an underground bunker, might have been candy-colored, just like Kimmy's preferred clothing hues (to a certain extent, her taste froze at the age she was kidnapped). As she tried to navigate a huge city, Kimmy was scammed, confused and misunderstood, as well as embraced and, to a certain extent, exploited for glamorous proximity to her trauma. She could muster the cheer and enthusiasm that eluded Ma in "Room," but the outward normalcy served as a shield that protected Kimmy both from the possibility that other people would discover her past and from the prospect of confronting her own most disturbing feelings. Before veering off into its ludicrous conclusion, "The OA" sometimes seemed as if it was taking sharp aim at the sorts of stories people want survivors to tell. In one scene, Prairie's mother, Nancy (Krige), becomes hysterical about her silence about her experiences. She wants to know whether Prairie was raped, beaten, kept in a cage; she craves the pornographic details of her daughter's suffering, though she believes she already knows what happens. The ugly fantasy of sexual violence that Nancy imagines is far more mundane than the tale Prairie's been spinning. And when the students and teacher to whom Prairie's been telling her story discover a series of books that lead them to wonder whether her fantastical narrative of captivity is a fabrication, they're torn between doubt and a desire to hang on to the faith that gave them a strange little community. By refusing to tell us what's true, "The OA" turns our focus to what Nancy and Prairie's followers want to believe happened to her, and why they might want it. For Nancy, imagining that Prairie was raped and confined gives form to the void that's consuming her mind: Knowing is better than not knowing, and if something awful happened to Prairie, Nancy grasps for familiar kinds of awfulness. Prairie's followers, by contrast, want to believe that something transcendent and meaningful came from her suffering, and that the knowledge she obtained can give their lives meaning in turn. Taking these ideas through to some end, or even simply ending on a more ambiguous note, as Marling and Batmanglij's 2011 movie "Sound of My Voice" did, would have left viewers of "The OA" in an uncomfortable and powerful place, questioning what we demand from people who have experienced trauma. Instead, "The OA" did one of the most tasteless things I've seen a television show attempt in some time, and it's not even revitalizing; it's just shocking tastelessness. A school shooter, that distinctly American menace, arrives at the high school, automatic weapon in hand. And though they first cower under cafeteria tables, Prairie's followers cast off their doubts about her story and her teachings and begin to perform a sequence of gestures she's told them will open a portal to another dimension. Their actions don't exactly perform miracles, but they do distract the shooter long enough for a cafeteria worker to tackle him, though Prairie is shot in the process. Advertisement The failure of her "technology," contrasted with the instinct that led her to run to the school, seems designed to use a particularly traumatic kind of violence to sow cliff-hanging doubt about whether Prairie's story and claims to great power are true. But in casting off one kind of violence for another, and doing so for cheap effect, "The OA" effectively quits not only on the characters who were trapped with Prairie, who may or may not be real, but also on its best, most disturbing idea about violence and its aftermath. RELATED STORIES: Netflix's 'The OA' and the hypnotic allure of weird TV Trailer, release date revealed for 'secret' Netflix series 'The OA' Where does 'Westworld' go from here? And other questions about the season finale It is hard to imagine a stranger year than 2016. Who would believe 2016 if you'd described it to someone before it happened? What does fiction have to say when our nonfiction world feels so surreal? I intend for my annual Biblioracle Book Awards to be fun, a celebration of my favorite reads of the year in all of their individual, idiosyncratic glory. Last week, in Part I of the awards, I managed the task, but in preparing Part II, my enthusiasm broke down. At this moment, I am hardened, bound to get a more serious point across. I have only one award left to give before we turn the page on 2016: The Biblioracle Book of the Year. This time, it's a tie between "High Dive" by Jonathan Lee and "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead. Advertisement I have written about my admiration for both these books previously, but looking at them in the context of this very strange year, and a forbidding 2017, I see these novels as not merely good, but vital. These are works that may help us see more clearly as we navigate through our cultural turbulence. "High Dive" is the overtly political novel of the two, as it explores the events surrounding a real-life assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher at a Brighton resort hotel in 1984. Lee invents around the history, conjuring Dan, a young IRA operative who's tasked with planting the bomb meant to kill the prime minister. As the book unfolds, Lee shows us what drives their plot: the discontent and dislocation of people without economic hope, and who are demonized and attacked by their neighbors. The Irish "Troubles" are not directly analogous to U.S. politics, but the urge toward violence and hatred toward others with whom we should share so much feels freshly relevant. Advertisement "The Underground Railroad" is Colson Whitehead's reckoning with our country's original sin, one we continue to pay for, but also one too many refuse to believe remains a stain on our ideals. As we follow our heroine, the runaway Cora, journeying toward freedom, we see the violence visited on black bodies in the name of righteousness, a legacy that continues to this day. But it is Whitehead's story of Ridgeway, the slave catcher, that should most unsettle us. The son of a blacksmith, Ridgeway finds his purpose. His father "made tools"; the son "retrieved them." Ridgeway becomes a man who owns "three fine coats" and laments when he can't use violence to practice his trade. Finding Cora, the daughter of a previous slave who escaped him, becomes his obsession and his undoing. In denying the humanity of others, he destroys his own. We have been failing to see all citizens as fully human since our earliest days. We have elected a man who appealed to and emboldened the worst elements of our society. His victory is part of a continuum, not a sudden reversal of progress. Perhaps these books can help us see more clearly the damage we collectively carry. John Warner's most recent book is "Tough Day for the Army." Book recommendations from the Biblioracle John Warner tells you what to read next based on the last five books you've read Advertisement 1. "Rabbit at Rest" by John Updike 2. "The Nix" by Nathan Hill 3. "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry 4. "Straight Man" by Richard Russo 5. "Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders" by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton Jack P., Chicago Advertisement "Atlas Obscura" would get my "coffee table book of the year" award. In the other books, I see an impulse toward characters wrestling with different approaches to manhood as well as a bent toward comedy, which brings to mind the very funny and profane "Home Land" by Sam Lipsyte 1. "Truly Madly Guilty" by Liane Moriarty 2. "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins 3. "Night School" by Lee Child 4. "The Andy Cohen Diaries" by Andy Cohen 5. "11/22/63" by Stephen King Advertisement Laura P., Chicago Can't do much better for suspense than Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. "The Trespasser" is the latest installment. 1. "Commonwealth" by Ann Patchett 2. "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi 3. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry 4. "Lab Girl" by Hope Jahren Advertisement 5. "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett Lisa T., Naperville For my last recommendation of 2016, I'm going with a novel that asks us to consider questions of faith and life's meaning. I found it to be a balm. "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson. What should you read? For a recommendation, send a list of the last five books you read to printersrow@chicagotribune.com. Write "Biblioracle" in the subject line. Reunification Ride brings incarcerated women and their children together at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Ill. Moms Karena Edwards, Shakyla Mullen and Carmelita Hall talk about what it means to see their kids during the holidays. (Video courtesy of Illinois Department of Central Management Services) (Chicago Tribune) Camille Kershaw's daughter has been behind bars for more than a decade now, but that doesn't make spending the holidays without her any easier. "It's extremely, extremely depressing," she says. "You don't even know you're depressed until it hits you as an adult, and then you have to seek out and get some help." Advertisement Kershaw's daughter, Jimille Brown, is serving a 43-year sentence after being convicted on charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking, armed robbery and first-degree murder in connection with the 2005 murder of cabdriver Abimbola Ogunniyi. The 49-year-old Kershaw, a cook for Chicago Public Schools, takes care of Brown's daughter, Imani, who was born not long after Brown was incarcerated. Advertisement "I've had guardianship of her since they allowed me to get her," she says. As difficult as the holidays can be on Kershaw, she says, they're even harder on Imani because, unlike her classmates, she can't celebrate with her mom. "It's extremely hard because Imani doesn't like to really celebrate (the holidays) because when she goes to functions, she'll see other kids with their parents," Kershaw says. "They're like 'Imani, where are your parents?' And she'll just tell them, 'They're on vacation,' and then she'll just walk away." Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 14 PetsMart donated over 100 stuffed animals to the kids for the ride. Here's Imani, Jimille Brown's daughter, with her stuffed Tiger. (Sarah-Ji) Because she's looking after Imani, Kershaw says, she's too often focused more on Imani's mental well-being and how she's handling being without her mom around the holidays than her own happiness. "You don't even know that it's hit you, because you're so worried about the child and how it's going to affect them that you forget about yourself," she says. "Then when you find yourself at work I'm a cook at CPS I see other kids and their parents, and you break down. You wash your face, and you come out, and it'll be like, 'What's wrong?' 'Nothing, I'm fine,' and all the time you're really not. Then you get home, and you pray. It's hard, and it's getting harder." That's a sentiment echoed by Pearl Mullen, whose daughter, Shakyla Mullen, has spent the past three years behind bars. "It's not like having a Christmas, really," she says. "It's just there. It's heartbreaking not to have your family for the holidays. You've got to keep the hope when you don't have your family and knowing it's going to be OK." And for about three hours on Saturday afternoon, it was OK. Advertisement Kershaw and Mullen were among dozens who boarded buses in the parking lot of the Home Depot at 200 W. 87th St. on a cold and dreary Saturday morning, those buses taking them 170 miles southwest on Interstate 55 to see their loved ones at the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Ill. The trip is part of the Reunification Ride program, which gives people like Kershaw a chance to see loved ones who are incarcerated far from their homes that they might not otherwise have. The Reunification Ride is sponsored by Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration, and Nehemiah Trinity Rising. "I can't wait to see her and hug her," Kershaw said of her daughter as she spoke with a reporter on the bus before taking off. "We don't get to go unless the bus goes, so this is it." Despite being inside a prison, Mullen says, the visit provides a much-needed sense of normalcy around the holiday season for families who will feel the void of their loved ones' absence on Christmas Day. "Me and her children (Shakyla has two sons) forget that she's in a facility," Mullen says. "It's actually like being in our house, and we're all having fun until they say it's time to go. That's an awesome feeling. Everything is forgotten for those three hours." The joy, however short-lived on that Saturday, is evident in a video of the reunification provided by the state of Illinois. "We made it! We're heeeeeeeeere!" Advertisement Mothers are reunited with their children, exchanging hugs and kisses and laughter, one woman styling her daughter's hair, another playing a game with her son, making up for the kind of time you lose when you find yourself behind bars. "We really, really, really, really, really miss you. We're waiting for you to come home. Now, she's getting bigger." For a moment, there's holiday cheer in a place you'd least expect to find it. "You want your mommy to come home for Christmas," a woman dressed in a Santa suit asks, and a child on her lap nods in the affirmative. Karena Edwards sat next to her young daughter Karon Scott, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to put into words what she was feeling. Edwards has been behind bars since 2012, serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery after she and her husband, Charles, carried out a three-month crime spree. Advertisement It's been years, but Scott says she's hanging on to happier Christmas memories of time spent with her mom. "I miss her being at home, opening gifts at one o'clock in the morning." Scott says, as tears well up in her mother's eyes beside her. "It means a lot, just to get to spend time with her and my mom, even though it's only for a few hours," Edwards adds. "It means so much to me just to have them with me right before Christmas." Inmates and their families aren't the only ones feeling the strain of the holidays. Mary Ellen Mastrorilli, an associate professor at Boston University Metropolitan College who spent more than two decades working in correctional facilities, says the holidays are also hard on prison staff. "Quite frankly, it can be depressing working inside a prison during the holidays," she says. "Corrections officers (who are working) are away from their families. This is particularly tough on new officers who have young children and don't have the seniority to get the day off from work." Advertisement It is with that in mind that staff and outside volunteers are trying to bring some Christmas cheer to places where it would ordinarily be hard to find. Volunteers sing Christmas carols with detainees at the Lake County jail in Waukegan. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) William Kinville, deputy chief of the Lake County Jail, says during the holidays, volunteers from local churches come into the prison and sing Christmas carols to the inmates. "You'd be surprised at the participation that you get (from inmates)," he says. "During that time, we authorize (volunteers) to bring in baked goods for the inmates, mostly cookies." Kinville says the prison will also throw a Christmas party for officers to help buoy their spirits. Other organizations are focused on making sure the children of inmates don't feel left out this holiday season when their friends are receiving gifts. James Ackerman, president and CEO of nonprofit prison ministry Prison Fellowship, says his organization will deliver gifts to more than 300,000 children who have a parent behind bars this year through its Angel Tree program. Advertisement "The majority of Angel Tree is facilitated through individuals who, on a particular Sunday, select an angel off a Christmas tree in their church and agree, in selecting that angel, to go purchase a Christmas gift on behalf of that child," he says. "The churches then coordinate to then have the children and the families come to the church to receive those gifts or go out into the community and deliver the gifts personally." It's a process that begins long before the holidays. Ackerman says, each summer, Prison Fellowship volunteers head to correctional facilities across the country to speak to those who are incarcerated. Parents who will spend the holidays behind bars give volunteers the names and ages of their children as well as the type of gift they would like to receive. Parents also include a special message to their child. Tashauna Edwards, 26, says she benefited from the Angel Tree program when she was growing up and her father was behind bars. That small gesture, the simple giving of a Christmas gift with a message from a parent, goes a long way during what can be a stressful time of year for a child. "It reminded me that I shouldn't forget him," she says. "That helped me to remember that my dad still cares; he still loves me. That was most important, not the gift but being able to hear from him and talk to him. Him giving a gift reminded me that he's still there loving me from a distance." Ackerman spent 12 years volunteering with Prison Fellowship before taking over as CEO of the organization this past summer. He says something as simple as sending a card to a friend or family member who is behind bars can make a world of difference this time of year. Advertisement "Prisoners are often the most marginalized people in society because they're largely forgotten about," he says. "The dignity of receiving a notice or a visit or a Christmas card that says we care about you and you matter to us is very, very significant." "We feel left out or unable to meaningfully participate in celebratory fashion in freedom with our loved ones," wrote Eric Watkins, an inmate at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Ill., in a letter about what it is like to spend the holidays in prison. This Christmas is set to be the last one Shakyla Mullen will spend behind bars. She is scheduled to be paroled Jan. 16, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. While the past few Christmases have been dreary without her, Pearl says she can't wait until this time next year. "Oh, it's going to be joyful," she says, laughing. "I hope we can have a Christmas in the Bahamas, not Chicago. It's going to be like Christmas every day having her out from behind bars." Matt Lindner is a freelancer. Advertisement RELATED STORIES: 7 million books and counting: One mans fight for literacy among citys at-risk kids 10 people I met in 2016 who give me hope for 2017 Makeup goes beyond vanity for trans women, cancer patients and violence survivors Obviously, that carved rhino horn for sale at a foreign marketplace should not come home with you. Nor should the leopard skin, the narwhal tusk and the whale meat. But what about the queen conch from your Caribbean holiday or the caviar from the London airport duty-free shop? Not so obvious, is it? Travelers - and that special subgroup of shoppers who travel - need know which wildlife items are permitted into the States and which ones are banned. The exotic animal test is unreliable. Many less toothy animals, birds, reptiles, plants, fish and shells are legally protected. Choose your souvenirs unwisely and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could confiscate your purchases upon your return. Advertisement The issue has implications beyond simply wasting money. Wildlife trafficking threatens the sustainability and survival of hundreds of species worldwide. Many nefarious individuals and groups, such as poachers, corrupt government officials and organized crime syndicates, benefit from these illegal sales. Buying that $4 tortoise ring doesn't seem so innocent anymore. "There is no way the general consumer has any way of knowing how it was obtained," said Ann-Marie Holmes, a senior wildlife inspector with the agency. Advertisement An array of state, federal and international laws regulates the wildlife trade. One of the most prominent accords is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which counts nearly every country as a member. Species listed under CITES Appendix I are the most at-risk, and the treaty has placed a near-total ban on commercial goods exploiting these animals. Members of this club include sea turtles, cheetahs, tigers and black rhinos. There is more wiggle room with species categorized under Appendix II and Appendix III, as long as the traveler obtains the proper permit or certificate. For instance, under the personal baggage exemption rule, you can carry a "reasonable" amount of an item. But some species are not eligible for this exemption and not all countries recognize it. Wildlife protection experts advise travelers to familiarize themselves with the laws before upcoming trips. Start with the service's "Traveling to the Caribbean" and "Tips for Travelers," and the International Fund for Animal Welfare's "Stopping the Illegal Wildlife Trade." Sample advise: Under the heading "Please Don't Buy," IFAW urges people to avoid handbags, shoes, watch straps and belts made of reptile skins. For any lingering questions, contact the Fish and Wildlife Service office at your return port. Of course, much of the thrill of shopping involves spontaneous discoveries. Before you departed for Australia, you probably didn't know how great the Crocodile Dundee hat would look on your head. Reputable retailers should know the legal status and origin of the wildlife items they are selling and provide you with a document to present at customs. Unfortunately, employees might not always be well-versed in the laws governing their clothing, crafts or jewelry. But that won't stop them from attaching a price tag to the object. "Just because it's for sale," Holmes said, "doesn't mean it's legal." To avoid the risk, the agent offers a simple solution: "Don't buy wildlife. Buy a magnet, buy a T-shirt." To learn from other travelers' mistakes, here are some examples of banned items that are now the property of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Crocodile Dundee leather hat with saltwater crocodile hide and teeth Advertisement Where you can buy it: Australia Why it is regulated: All crocodile species fall under CITES I or II; some species are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Threats include illegal hunting, international trade in skins and habitat loss. When it is permitted: Personal baggage exemption Hermes Birkin bag made of American alligator hide Where you can buy it: Paris, Milan, London and other cities with a luxury retail market Why it is regulated: CITES II. Threats include hunting, illegal trade, habitat loss and pollution. Advertisement When it is permitted: Personal baggage exemption Queen conch shell Where you can buy it: Caribbean, Latin America Why it is regulated: CITES II. Threatened from overfishing for conch meat and bait and the sale of shells in the tourist trade When it is permitted: Personal baggage exemption for up to three shells Hair accessory carved from hawksbill shell and a taxidermic hawksbill Advertisement Where you can buy them: Mexico, Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, Africa Why they are regulated: All sea turtle species are listed under CITES I and are considered threatened or endangered under the ESA. Threats include illegal trade in meat, eggs and skins, habitat loss, pollution, and tourists and lights disturbing nesting habitats. When they are permitted: Items certified as "pre-convention" (predates the CITES listing) may be eligible for CITES permits. Items certified as "pre-act" (before ESA listing) or antique items (older than 100 years) may be exempt. Shahtoosh/ring shawl made of Tibetan antelope hair Where you can buy it: India, Switzerland and high-end stores in fashion capitals. If you can pull the fine wool scarf through a ring, it is likely a shahtoosh, not a pashmina. Why it is regulated: CITES I; endangered under the ESA. Threats include poaching for the animals' shorter guard-hairs. Advertisement When it is permitted: Same requirements as sea turtles Caviar from sturgeon or paddlefish Where you can buy it: Airport duty-free shops, global gourmet food markets Why it is regulated: All sturgeon and paddlefish species are categorized as CITES I or II, and some species are listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. Threats include overfishing for meat and roe for the caviar trade, habitat loss and pollution. The illegal caviar trade is often associated with transnational organized crime. When it is permitted: Personal baggage exemption for up to 125 grams (small tin), unless derived from species banned under the ESA Drum head made of monitor lizard skin and decorated with cowrie shells Advertisement Where you can buy it: Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, sub-Saharan Africa Why it is regulated: All monitor lizard species fall under CITES II. Threats include the live pet trade, harvesting for meat and skins, and habitat loss. When it is permitted: Personal baggage exemption Red coral necklace Where you can buy it: Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, Pacific islands, Asia Why it is regulated: CITES III. Threats include overharvesting for the aquarium and jewelry trade, illegal collection or destruction by recreational divers, habitat degradation, rising ocean temperatures and pollution. Advertisement When it is permitted: Personal baggage exemption RELATED STORIES: Shifting visa fees can make travel to Vietnam confusing, costly Germany celebrates the bicycle's bicentennial Downers Grove man may be the most traveled person in the world Howard Tullman, right, offered Mayor Rahm Emanuel a dog from the PAWS Chicago shelter in 2011, according to emails the Emanuel administration released Dec. 22, 2016. The mayor turned the offer down. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) It's a cliche of lazy Hollywood scriptwriters: If you want to make someone look like a nice guy, have him pet a dog. And yet Mayor Rahm Emanuel who has worked hard to give himself a more cuddly persona has so far turned down the offer of a warm puppy, according to his pal, 1871 CEO Howard Tullman. Advertisement Buried among the trove of emails released by Emanuel's lawyers Wednesday is a note Tullman sent the mayor in July 2011, offering him a "Chocolate Lab puppy" from the PAWS Chicago shelter and the chance to go to a Cubs game with Larry King. "No thanks to Larry King," Emanuel replied. "Is the dog pure-bred?" Advertisement Howard and Judy Tullman with PAWS dogs Manolo and Manoela at the PAWS Fur Ball at the Drake Hotel on Nov. 18, 2016. (James C. Svehla for the Tribune) Though the Labrador, was, indeed, pure-bred, Emanuel felt it was not the right time, Tullman told Chicago Inc. on Thursday. But "we continue to lobby him to get a dog," Tullman said, adding that his wife, Judy, is an active supporter of PAWS and that the Tullmans have three dogs, "all mutts." kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews Indiana is one of many GOP-led states that assume that the poor performance of schools in poor neighborhoods is the fault of bad teaching and not, say, systemic poverty, the absence of funds raised by rich parents, hunger, mass incarceration and so teachers are offered bonuses for "improving" their students' outcomes, which generally means their standardized test scores (since presumptively bad teachers can't be trusted to evaluate their students' qualitative improvements). The state has confiscated $40M of the overall educational budget, and allocated it to bonuses for teachers who preside over high-achieving classes. This year, the biggest payouts will go to schools teaching the richest kids in the state, while schools for poor kids will get little-to-none of the payouts. The biggest winner in the giveaway are the Carmel Clay Schools, where 9% of kids qualify for free or subsidized lunches, where the teachers will get $2422 each. The Indianapolis district the largest in the state will give each teacher a $128.40 bonus. When we lived in London, our daughter went to a school where she was one of two children who didn't qualify for the free school meals. In theory, this school received the same funding as other state schools even a little more, thanks to some grants but in practice, it was broke. How broke? Her Year One class took a field trip to St Paul's Cathedral: they all rode the London bus system for free to the cathedral, walked a circuit around it, and went home. There was no money to pay for admission and no money in the parents' pockets to contribute to such a thing. The annual bake-sale raised 70. Now we live in a much more homogenous middle-class neighborhood in Burbank, and last year, the school sent us a note thanking us for helping to raise $180,000 in supplemental funds through voluntary donations, tickets to school events, raffle tickets, etc. The parents here aren't rich, but they can afford to chip in and it shows. The teachers at both schools are objectively excellent (my parent, both pedagogists who oversee doctoral candidates in Ed.D. programs, confirmed my view on this), but the teachers at the Burbank school preside over classes where the kids get a wide variety of extracurricular enrichment, from music and art programs to maker labs and after-school activities. Of course teacher quality contributes to student outcomes, but it is one of many factors, and even if you believe that teachers are the most important factor, taking $2250 away from the teachers in the poorest districts and giving it to the teachers in the richest districts is no way to motivate the best and brightest teachers to devote their energies to the kids who need it the most. Carmel Clay Schools, where just 9 percent of their 16,000 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, will get the most $2.4 million or roughly $2,422 per teacher. Another well-off Indianapolis suburban district, Zionsville Community Schools, where fewer than 5 percent of students qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program, will receive about $2,240 per teacher. Meanwhile, Indianapolis, the state's largest district will receive just around $330,875, or $128.40 per educator. So teachers in those wealthy suburban districts will get bonuses nearly 20 times larger than effective and highly effective educators in Indianapolis. Indiana State Teachers Association President Teresa Meredith calls it a "flawed" system. "While educators at well-resourced schools performed well and received a much-deserved bonus, the educators teaching in some of the most challenging districts where socioeconomic factors can negatively impact student and school performance, were left out," she said in a statement. "We need high-quality educators to teach at our most-challenged schools, and this distribution of bonuses certainly won't compel them to do so." Teacher Performance Grants [DOE/Indiana] Teachers in Wealthy Districts Get Bulk of Indiana's Performance Payouts [Emmanuel Felton/Edweek] (via Naked Capitalism) Mayor Rahm Emanuel, left, and Gov. Bruce Rauner attend the opening of Google's new office space in Chicago's West Loop in December 2015. The two men are longtime friends. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) Cast your mind back, way, way back into the murky past, to October 2011. Pat Quinn was the governor of Illinois, and Adele was just about to displace Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" from the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with "Someone Like You." Advertisement And somewhere in the city, Mayor Rahm Emanuel sat down at a computer and composed a note to a special friend. "I love you a lot," Emanuel wrote in the Oct. 12, 2011, email to an upset Bruce Rauner. Advertisement "I am giving a tax break to the hotel industry. Giving McCormick one million in new money... Thanks for all the help." But the mayor's assurances weren't enough to placate Rauner, who was still running his private equity firm GTCR at the time and also was chairman of Choose Chicago, the not-for-profit that serves as the city's convention and tourism bureau. "We've got to start communicating better than this," Rauner wrote, sounding a little like a wounded spouse. "Not sure how you guys could hike hotel tax and not tell me makes us all look bad." The emails sent to and from a private email account Emanuel acknowledges he used for city business were released Wednesday as part of a settlement with the Better Government Association, which sued the mayor for access to the public records. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > They reinforce the impression that, behind their more recent public displays of enmity, the Democrat mayor and the Republican governor have a long-standing bond. The tiff over hotel taxes, after all, came just a year after Emanuel was famously photographed alongside Rauner on vacation in Montana, carrying a bottle of red from the wine club Rauner reportedly paid as much as $150,000 to join. And the quarrel appears to have been a brief interlude amid the dozens of emails the two exchanged, in which Rauner griped about the power of the Chicago Teachers Union and the unions at McCormick Place, and arranged private meetings with the mayor. Emanuel has over the last year publicly clashed with Rauner over the state budget crisis, declining to say this past summer whether they were still friends, though the pair seemed comfortable in each other's company on a trip to Rome to see Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich elevated to cardinal last month. Advertisement Asked Thursday whether Emanuel still loves Rauner a lot, the mayor's spokesman Adam Collins said, "The mayor's feelings about the governor, his policies and his failure to lead the state have been well-documented." kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews House Speaker Michael Madigan has had the political leverage in the state for decades. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) If only Illinois taxpayers were just a bunch of stupid frogs, as in that old wives' tale. If taxpayers were frogs, they'd sit calmly in that warm stockpot forged over the decades by Democratic boss Mike Madigan, with the temperature rising all around them. Advertisement They'd sit. And they'd never jump out. Frogs wouldn't read stories from that U.S. census report about taxpayers fleeing Illinois in record numbers, with Illinois losing more residents than any other state. Advertisement And they wouldn't be particularly interested in reading columns and editorials about the despotic politics in Illinois that led to all that red budget ink and crippling pension debt. Your average frog wouldn't know that Madigan has had the political leverage in Illinois for decades. And they wouldn't much care that he serves the big, hungry and connected mouths in Illinois, the mouths that can call reporters and get their stories out about why they need more, before they sit down to eat. Frogs don't know about any of that because frogs can't read. So they don't talk to reporters about pension debt and budget deficits. Frogs don't trade votes for tax dollars as do the powerful public employee unions. Who cares what frogs think? They don't even golf. What frogs do best, though, besides eating flies, is float. And they float just fine. So they bob in the warming water in Boss Madigan's pot, their legs dangling, in the way of all frogs. And before the frogs know it, they're simmering, and their frog meat is tender and flaky and sweet, so the big hungry mouths that do much of the political talking can get their fill. At least that's how the old wives' tale works. I'm told it doesn't work in reality, but in Illinois it's worked this way for years. Advertisement Happily, taxpayers aren't frogs. They have feet and they're running and jumping out of Illinois, aren't they? According to that new U.S. Census Bureau report, Illinois has lost more residents than any other state for the third year in a row. The state's population, at 12.8 million, is the lowest it's been in a decade. And all this comes as the state can't pay its bills, as the pension obligation debt from the Madigan-friendly public employees unions and the red ink from the budget deficit strangle economic growth. But there is more bad news. More than 114,000 people fled Illinois last year. Others have moved in to replace some of those who've fled. And there's a big difference between the refugees and the newcomers. According to the fiscally conservative Illinois Policy Institute, the people who are leaving have more income than the people who are coming. There's an income differential of $3 billion to $4 billion a year. Advertisement Michael Lucci, an analyst with the institute, has been studying the economics of population changes in Illinois for years. "What's not being especially discussed is that we're not only in the midst of population drop to other states, but we're also in the midst of wealth flight," Lucci said. "What about those who remain? It's like a cable company losing its customers to competitors," Lucci said. "The cable company responds by raising its rates on existing customers. And that adds to the pressure on those who stay." And who pays? Take a guess. Illinois is past the tipping point. With the state's finances and politics in such bad shape, with Democrats and their handmaidens the trial lawyers controlling things, private businesses aren't eager to invest in Illinois. Young people chase jobs to other states. And the parents of those young people who are leaving? Advertisement They grumble about the cold, yes, but if the kids were sticking close, many would stay, to watch their grandchildren, to help keep their families close and strong. That won't be found in the statistics and government reports. But it is found in human nature. So when the kids leave town, looking for economic opportunity elsewhere and make their lives, say, in Texas or Tennessee, their parents think, "What the hell are we doing here? Why not go where it's warm? Why not go where bullets don't fly across the expressways?" So they go, taking their tax revenue with them, and the state of Illinois loses even more. The state's largest employer is government. And those who work for government might mind tax increases and so on, but they know it's all coming back to them. That's why public-sector unions support Democrats, their political partners who have the hands that feed them tax money. And those who don't work for government? They think, "What am I doing here?" Advertisement Boss Madigan is beholden to the public-sector unions. Gov. Bruce Rauner appealed to the private sector. Yet he seems to be talking past many of those voters, unable or unwilling to connect with the worries and concerns of the people who put him in office. The pressure mounts, the unions want to get paid and heat is applied through property tax increases. The public unions and the Democrats have great access to the media, which dutifully report their worries and concerns, and often they are cast as victims of the political process and of Republicans. And private-sector taxpayers? They don't have such access. They're not the ones howling in the budget stories. They're not considered victims. They're not considered at all. If they're considered, they're considered as props, as the people who pay, to keep the rest of it going. And the water begins to boil. Listen to "The Chicago Way" podcast -- with John Kass and Jeff Carlin -- here: http://wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/category/thechicagoway. Advertisement jskass@chicagotribune.com Twitter @John_Kass Bria of River Oaks nursing facility In Burnham on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016. Social workers Kenneth Allen and Olufunmibi Ogunyipe are suing Bria of River Oaks nursing home, alleging they were fired when they refused to fabricate medical records to cover up abuse at the facility. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) Morris Esformes owns four Illinois properties that house nursing homes now operated by close relatives. From 2013 to 2015, these homes paid Esformes' property firms a total of $24.6 million in rent, as well as $660,000 in administrative and clerical fees, Illinois government records show. State inspectors found numerous violations in the homes during the three years since 2013. Advertisement Esformes' nephew, Avrum Weinfeld, who now serves as CEO of the four facilities, said the payments to Esformes' companies were proper and the homes are currently in compliance with state regulations. In recent years, Weinfeld said, "We put a tremendous amount of dollars into upgrading these facilities. Our passion is to help people." Advertisement Here are the homes and issues cited by state inspectors: Bria of Forest Edge, 8001 S. Western Ave., Chicago: In 2015, the facility was cited after a nursing assistant punched a resident in the face, sending the resident to the hospital with a broken nose and other injuries. A second employee was fired the same year after throwing a food tray at a resident and punching that person in the face twice. In 2013, facility staff failed to properly report a third incident in which a staff member assaulted a resident, leaving the person with a split lip that required stitches. Inspectors also cited the facility for failing to closely monitor a resident complaining of chest pains, who later died. Inspectors found the facility kitchen was filthy, rooms were missing pillowcases and bedsheets were dirty or soiled, and the building was infested with flies, gnats and mice. Bria of Chicago Heights, 120 W. 26th St., South Chicago Heights: In 2015, the facility was cited after three staff members failed to report immediately that a nurse's aide had yelled at and struck a resident who was trying to get out of bed. In the same survey, the facility was cited for failing to conduct fingerprint background checks on two new employees prior to their start date, as well as for filth. Baseboards in rooms were brown and black with debris, windows were covered in dust, curtains were stained and the nursing home's patio was littered with cigarette butts. Lake Park Center, 919 Washington Park, Waukegan: In 2014, the facility was cited for failing to report to state authorities at least two instances when residents hit or abused fellow residents. In addition, the nursing home failed to properly report injuries to residents; one person suffering from shortness of breath was eventually hospitalized and found to have fractured ribs. The facility also did not notify the state that a resident was found with a large bruise on the arm. Shower stalls had black stains and cracked and missing tiles, and paint was peeling from walls. Residents complained of hair in their food. Bria of River Oaks, 14500 S. Manistee Ave., Burnham: In several inspections from 2012 to 2015, the facility was cited for failing to properly investigate or immediately report to authorities an alleged incident of patient-on-patient sexual abuse, suspected assaults on residents and other problems. The facility also failed to repair loose ceiling panels, broken furniture, chipped paint, cracked floor tiles and water-stained ceilings. Some bathrooms had no warm running water, and air vents had a layer of dark lint. Social workers Kenneth Allen, left, and Olufunmibi Ogunyipe stand outside of Bria of River Oaks nursing facility In Burnham on Nov. 23, 2016. Allen and Ogunyipe are suing the nursing home, alleging they were fired when they refused to fabricate medical records to cover up abuse at the facility. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) Two social workers allege they were fired from a suburban nursing home after refusing to fabricate medical records related to incidents of patient abuse, according to their pending lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court. Some of their patient-abuse allegations were investigated separately by the Illinois Department of Public Health, which cited the facility for safety breaches, government records show. Advertisement Once called Burnham Healthcare but now known as Bria of River Oaks, the 309-bed home serves geriatric and bed-bound patients alongside younger adults with mental illness, substance abusers and convicted felons. "There was no structure. It was dangerous," one of the social workers, Kenneth Allen, told the Tribune in an interview. Advertisement Avrum Weinfeld, CEO of the nursing home, declined to comment on specific incidents but called the allegations made by social workers in the lawsuit and in Tribune interviews baseless. Weinfeld told the Tribune that administrators never attempted to mislead state inspectors. "There was no directive (to alter records), nor was there any proof of that," Weinfeld said. "Nothing has been proven and nothing will be proven." The unadorned three-story brick building in Burnham has withstood years of state citations for violence, patient neglect and filth. Last year it received $16.5 million from Medicaid and Medicare while reporting $1.38 million in profits. Records show that some of those federal health-care dollars went to Weinfeld's uncle, nursing home magnate Morris Esformes, whose son and close business partner, Philip Esformes, is being held without bond in a Miami federal detention cell on charges that he orchestrated a $1 billion Medicaid kickback scheme in Florida. Morris and Philip Esformes in 2012 sold the Burnham home and three other Chicago-area facilities to companies run by Weinfeld and Weinfeld's brother-in-law, Daniel Weiss, but those homes continued to pay consulting and real estate fees to companies managed by Morris Esformes, state records show. The Burnham facility faced allegations of violence both before and after that sale. The Chicago Tribune's 2009 "Compromised Care" investigation revealed the death of Thomas Donovan, who used a wheelchair. Donovan died in the home after a fellow resident allegedly beat Donovan, 63, with a chair. Preliminary Burnham police reports list 16 alleged assaults and batteries inside the facility since 2013, as well as two criminal sexual assault reports. None of those cases resulted in a prosecution, those records show. The civil court allegations made by Allen and Olufunmibi Ogunyipe date to 2011 and continue into 2013, after Weinfeld took over. Paid roughly $13 per hour, the two social workers shared a second-floor office and each handled a caseload of 35 patients, according to court records and their interviews with the Tribune. Among the accusations in their lawsuit, filed last year: Advertisement Allen alleges that a supervisor told him to falsify the medical chart of a female resident who was hospitalized in 2012 with facial bruises and black eyes. Allen said he believes the woman was beaten by a fellow resident, but he was told to write that she had fallen. A state inspection report later found that the facility failed to properly investigate her family's complaint that she was assaulted. Allen alleges that after he documented a resident's rape complaint, a supervisor ripped Allen's report out of the medical file and tore it up. The state health department inspection concluded the facility had failed to thoroughly investigate the sexual assault allegation and to notify authorities. Ogunyipe alleges that, in the case of a 60-year-old resident who had repeatedly requested a discharge, a supervisor told him in 2013 to write up medical notes falsely stating that Ogunyipe had tried repeatedly to transfer the man but couldn't find a program with an open bed. A state health department inspection cited the facility for failing to assist the resident's request for a discharge. About four days after that incident in summer 2013, Ogunyipe was terminated, records show. The facility alleged in its answer to the pending lawsuit that he failed to complete job duties and abandoned his post during work hours. Ogunyipe, initially hired as a security guard, started working at Burnham in 2009. Allen worked at the facility from February to November 2012. The facility said Allen was not rehired in the transition of operational control from the Esformeses to their relatives. In the lawsuit, Ogunyipe alleges that a supervisor tried to deceive state inspectors by removing disheveled residents who might trigger state scrutiny because they appeared neglected. Advertisement A supervisor gave him $30 to $50 to take the residents out of the building, buy them cigarettes, feed them at a McDonald's and claim they were going on a field trip, saying: "They can't be in the building," the suit states. The facility denied the allegation in court papers. Ogunyipe said in an interview that the administration wanted to conceal residents with untrimmed hair and soiled clothes because "you would know that they were not being cared for." He also told the Tribune he witnessed fellow guards entice physically aggressive residents back to their rooms with a cigarette or snack, then punish them. "They would just close the door and boom, boom, boom! Deal with the resident. Beat him up. Spit on his face and then walk out, close the door," Ogunyipe said. In an interview, Weinfeld said: "Making up these kinds of allegations is horrible. We categorically say, no, those things did not happen." The allegation about guards punishing residents is not mentioned in the lawsuit. Advertisement A 2012 state inspection report said two residents alleged guards beat or roughed them up in separate incidents. The report says that at least one guard at the home was fired as a result. State inspectors have cited the facility for abuse-related incidents after Ogunyipe and Allen were terminated. In 2014, a male resident entered a woman's room and exposed himself, saying, "I got to have that," then jumped on her bed, according to a state inspection report. She fought off the man and he was subsequently arrested, the state report said. The report said the facility could provide "no written evidence" that it immediately notified the state of the incident as required when residents are in jeopardy of harm. That year the facility also failed to properly investigate or report altercations in which one resident suffered a black eye and another had an abrasion on his nose, state inspections say. Amid these allegations of violence came citations for loose and peeling floor tiles, brown-stained ceiling panels and a buildup of dirt, dust and grime around air vents. "It would be nice to have a dresser that is not missing a drawer," a longtime resident told a state inspector in July 2015. The inspector also reported that a bathroom shared by four residents "had a strong urine odor. The lights to the bathroom did not work and the tiles were cracked and in disrepair. The surrounding tile around the toilet area had a thick encrusted layer of unidentifiable stains." Advertisement In a corridor, the inspector noted an exposed, rusted ceiling pipe wrapped with an incontinence pad. Weinfeld said these citations came amid repairs following a 2015 fire and added that his team has improved facility conditions by raising workers' wages, reducing the number of aggressive residents and investing "tremendous amounts of dollars" in upgrades and refurbishments. "Today, you'd see a calmer place," he said. "It is a different building." The home also switched to an electronic record-keeping system that can identify workers who try to alter or backdate records, he said. Weinfeld worked his way up through the Esformes organization starting in 2001, serving as a registered agent and financial officer of their Chicago-area facilities before he teamed up with Weiss to purchase the four former Esformes homes. According to state records, the Esformeses continued to manage a company that kept title to the home's underlying real estate after they sold the Burnham operation to Weinfeld's firm. That company drew $7.5 million in rent payments during the three years from 2013 through 2015, the records show. Advertisement But Weinfeld, who is a registered agent of the Esformes' real estate company, said he erroneously listed Philip Esformes as a manager of the firm in records he filed with the state. He said the company is managed by Morris Esformes. Philip Esformes sold his interest in the company in 2012 and does not take a share of the rent, Weinfeld told the Tribune. "It was an oversight," Weinfeld said of the records. Morris Esformes' attorney Harvey Tettlebaum said the rent payments were proper and standard for the industry. Two of Morris Esformes' companies separately received $275,000 in consulting and administrative fees from the Burnham home in those three years, state records show. Weinfeld told the Tribune he bought one of those companies last year and stopped using the other. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The rent and back office expenses paid to the Esformes companies were necessary to patient care, Weinfeld added. "We're cognizant of the fact that it's taxpayer dollars," Weinfeld said. "It is a fair use of the money." Weinfeld holds a 1.5 percent ownership interest in Harmony Health Center, one of the Miami-area facilities named in Philip Esformes' alleged kickback and fraud scheme, according to Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reports. Weinfeld said he is a "silent partner" who has no role in that facility's operations. Advertisement Federal prosecutors allege that Philip Esformes shuttled disabled patients through two dozen of the Esformeses' Florida facilities, billing the government for services never delivered. The Justice Department says it is the largest health-care fraud case against an individual in U.S. history. Morris Esformes, who co-owns several of the Florida homes named in the indictment, has not been charged in the case. "Philip Esformes continues to strenuously assert his innocence," his attorney Michael Pasano told the Tribune. "He is fighting these charges and looking to clear his name and the reputation of his nursing homes, which he insists deliver high-quality care." dyjackson@chicagotribune.com gmarx@chicagotribune.com Twitter @poolcar4, @garyjmarx Save Jacele Johnson, then age 4, was shot in the head in the 7000 block of South Justine Street shortly before 8 p.m. May 22, 2015. Johnson is shown with her father, Marcel Johnson. (Provided by family) Five-year-old Jacele Johnson doesn't remember the moment a bullet struck her in the head as a volley of bullets showered the car she was sitting in with an older cousin that May evening in 2015. In the year-and-a-half since the shooting, as the girl continued to undergo therapy for a traumatic brain injury, Chicago police have been looking for two gunmen who opened fire on the vehicle, parked on an Englewood street outside a prom party. On Thursday, officials announced charges against a 32-year-old man in the case. Advertisement Michael Clark, 32, already in federal custody on unrelated drug charges, made his first court appearance Thursday on state charges tied to the shooting. Earlier this month, he was quietly indicted by a Cook County grand jury on three counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting that injured Jacele, her 17-year-old cousin and a 15-year-old girl, police said. That May 22, little Jacele was inside the car parked in the 7000 block of South Justine Street playing with her cousin, Romare Wilson, when the two gunmen inside a passing vehicle opened fire, striking the cousin and a second teen, police said. Police suspect that Clark, a member of the "S-Dub" faction of the Gangster Disciples street gang, fired on the vehicle because he'd seen it driven by gang rivals related to the girl earlier in the day. Advertisement News of the criminal indictment came as a relief to the girl's mother, but it's taken a toll on the entire family, who moved in the wake of the shooting. "Mentally, it's a struggle. We're all traumatized," Jacele's mother, Trennetta Gresham, told the Tribune from her home in Minnesota. While the playful little girl astonished her doctors at Comer Children's Hospital with her quick recovery, her young family has had a slower time adjusting to life after they their lives were rocked by violence. The girl has almost daily nightmares of being attacked and shot, creating sleepless nights for her mother, who also works and goes to school to earn a degree in accounting. For that reason, the girl also sees a counselor to sort through her feelings. "She always gets up in the middle of the night crying out like 'Please don't kill me! Please don't shoot me!'" Gresham said. "She's waking up in cold sweats crying. And I'm putting her back to sleep for 30 minutes, an hour, (and) she's waking back up. I asked someone who's been shot, does this go on forever? How do I get past this?" The shooting has also scarred her two older children. Her 9-year-old daughter remains scared of being outside at night or inside a car, while her 12-year-old son has become "overprotective of his entire family," lashing out at school to defend his sisters from any bullying they encounter from classmates curious about his little sister's injury. Doctors were unable to remove the bullet that fractured her skull and she endures physical therapy four times a week to regain the use of her right side. Doctors replaced her fractured skull with a prosthesis. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Gresham also finds herself coping with the loneliness of being away from her family, who still lives in Englewood, where she'd spent most of her formative years. Advertisement "(Being in Minnesota is) OK, but it's nothing like being at home and able to be around my family," she said. "I think it's harder that I have to deal with everything alone because it's only me and my kids. The only help that I have to deal with this drama is therapy and case managers and things like that. It's always a part of me who wants to come home. It's not like I'm running away from what happened it's still home for me." But the 31-year-old mother said she has gained strength by her child's recovery, saying the little girl's smile and strong personality has gotten her through her toughest days. "She's very strong, she had to urge to want more. I could have never been this strong," Gresham said. "Sometimes she lifts me up when I cry, because I get emotional a lot when we go to therapy. And she'll be like 'Mom, it's OK. I'm fine.' "She's been my biggest strength through this all and motivation. She motivates me so much because I couldn't have done it. Me personally, I probably would have gave up a long time ago." wlee@chicagotribune.com Twitter: @MidNoirCowboy It's a shiny Christmas present for some residents near O'Hare International Airport, a lump of coal for others. The six-month "fly quiet" plan for rotating nighttime flights in and out of O'Hare, intended to spread out noise around the northwest suburbs and North Side of the city, ends Dec. 25. Advertisement That will mean some relief for suburbs like Des Plaines, which has heard more nighttime noise as a result of the plan, but a return to a despised status quo for areas just west of the airport like Schiller Park or east in some Chicago neighborhoods. The test, which makes greater use of diagonal runways, was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration in July. "It's not going to be the best Christmas gift for our residents," said Bensenville Village Manager Evan Summers. "We think it's been a great success for our residents as well as the region." Advertisement "I don't want to see it end," agreed Schiller Park Mayor Barbara Piltaver. "We have some good nights. It's nice to have a reprieve every now and then." But Des Plaines Ald. Malcolm Chester said he has received multiple complaints from residents about the test plan, which has meant more low-flying landings at night. "We also get landing lights, which can light up a house," Chester said. "Some people have complained about vibrations in their houses. It's hard for people to sleep." Under the test, runways picked for nighttime air travel changed from week to week for example, an east-west runway would be used one week, then a diagonal runway for the next, then back to east-west, with adjustments made depending on weather and other factors. The end of the test will be followed by an evaluation by the Chicago Department of Aviation, to be submitted to the FAA, according to Mount Prospect Mayor Arlene Juracek, chair of the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission. The commission, made up of municipalities and school districts around the airport, approved a version of the test plan in May. "The whole intent for this was to do a test, evaluate it, and then put into place whatever the results of the evaluation dictate, which we'd like to do as quickly as possible," Juracek said. She said she had "no idea" when the plan, however it is modified, would resume. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Summers said there would be two meetings with the noise commission in January, then a meeting with an ad hoc committee on "fly quiet" on Feb. 8 to discuss the test. He hopes for a spring adoption of a permanent plan. Residents of communities around the airport have complained for decades about jet noise from O'Hare disrupting sleep and making it tough to talk in their backyards. Complaints shot up dramatically in recent years after the city began shifting traffic from the older diagonal runways to new parallel east-west runways, which concentrate more traffic over the North Side of the city and the western suburbs. Advertisement The city got more than 4 million noise complaints in 2015 and is on track to have about 5 million in 2016, with nearly 4.4 million complaints through October. Even if the plan is adopted permanently, it will have to change once the 14R/32L diagonal runway, which runs northwest to southeast, is decommissioned in late 2018. The decommissioning of the runway means that planes won't be able to use that runway to spread traffic northwest and southeast of the airport, putting more traffic on east-west runways. The airport will be adding another east-west runway, 9 Center, in 2020. mwisniewski@tribpub.com Twitter @marywizchicago WASHINGTON Ex.-Rep. Aaron Schock, who stands accused of 24 felonies on allegations he misused campaign cash and taxpayer dollars, wants his criminal trial moved to July. The request is in a motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield. Schock's lawyers cited the complexity of the case, saying the government plans to call 100 witnesses at trial and beforehand. The government also plans to turn over about 10 terabytes of data that underpin the indictment, the motion said. Advertisement Schock pleaded not guilty to the charges on Dec. 12 and U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough set a trial date of Feb. 7, though defense attorneys suggested a date in August because of the large volume of material to review. The judge said then that she was open to delaying the trial as needed. Schock, 35, is a Peoria Republican who quit Congress in disgrace in 2015. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Illinois capital on Nov. 10. Advertisement Defense lawyers used the motion asking for a trial delay to criticize the indictment, saying it "alleges several schemes and makes novel use of several rules and statutes in support of its allegations." Schock entered Congress in 2009 and resigned amid a barrage of unflattering news reports about his questionable spending, far-flung travel and the "Downton Abbey"-style makeover of his Washington office. He has been indicted on charges wire fraud, mail fraud, theft of government funds, making false statements, filing false reports with federal election officials and filing false tax returns. kskiba@chicagotribune.com Twitter @KatherineSkiba Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller, left, stands at the position of attention during the award ceremony for Lance Cpl. Duncan Harris, automotive maintenance technician, at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, on Aug. 21, 2016. Harris was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for saving a child from drowning. (Cpl. Samantha Draughon) Duncan Harris said he's often asked if he feels like a hero after he and another man helped pull a drowning boy from the ocean. "To me, it's just one of those things," said Harris, 23, of Buffalo Grove. "When it happened, I acted." Advertisement While Harris, a Marine reservist, isn't quick to call himself a hero, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission thought the title was fitting when it named him a recipient of the Carnegie medal, an honor for those who risk their lives to save others. Peter Pontzer, 51, of Fairfax, Va., the other man who worked with Harris to save the boy, also will receive a medal, along with 19 others, the commission announced this week. Advertisement Harris recalled that he was vacationing with family and his girlfriend in Emerald Isle, N.C., when, just after dinner on July 28, 2015, they heard a group of kids screaming on the beach. Harris kicked off his sandals, emptied his pockets and ran down to the shore before he knew what was going on, he said. The teens on the beach, who turned out to be from a church group, told him a 13-year-old had been swept away by the current. "Without even thinking, I entered the water," Harris said. As he was swimming, Pontzer, another vacationer who did not know Harris, grabbed a life buoy and also swam toward the boy. Harris and Pontzer fought high waves as they swam but eventually located the boy, Harris said. "He was in shock, floating on his back," said Harris, who estimated they were 200 to 300 yards from shore. The men started leading the boy back, but he told them he couldn't hold onto the buoy, and Harris had to carry him while swimming, Harris said. Once safely on the beach, the men learned a second boy also was struggling in the water. Harris said Pontzer immediately went back in, while Harris helped paramedics and other rescuers to load jet skis in the water. Advertisement The other boy made it back to shore but later died, Harris said. The 13-year-old who Harris and Pontzer saved was taken to a hospital and recovered. Harris also was treated at the hospital because he had ingested too much salt water, he said. Pontzer was treated for an ankle break that occurred as he was running down the beach, he said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Like Harris, Pontzer, an administrative judge, said he acted spontaneously in providing assistance. Harris, a claim specialist for a Lake Zurich construction company, said he was surprised to receive the Carnegie Medal; he found out last week as he was about to board a flight home from a deployment in Honduras. Harris is a lance corporal and mechanic in the Marine Corps Forces Reserve, which separately awarded him a Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions in saving the unidentified boy in North Carolina. Pontzer also said he was surprised and honored, "but I'd like to think most people would do the same thing." The Carnegie Medal was established in 1904 by steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired by two miners who gave their lives to save others during a mining disaster outside Pittsburgh, said Eric Zahren, executive director of the commission. Advertisement Since then, nearly 10,000 people have received the medal, according to the commission. kthayer@chicagotribune.com Twitter: @knthayer Four people convicted of charges stemming from the kidnapping and torture of two New York college students have been sentenced to prison. The two men and two women were convicted last month of kidnapping two male University of Rochester students in December 2015. The victims, both from the Chicago area, were reported missing Dec. 5, 2015, hours after they were last seen near the university's campus. The incident ended the next day, when police determined they were being held in a house four miles away and sent in a SWAT team to rescue them. Prosecutors say the victims, who were beaten, sexually assaulted and held against their will inside a Rochester house for 40 hours, were mistakenly targeted for retribution for a drug-related robbery. One of them was shot. Lydell Strickland was sentenced to 155 years to life, according to prosecutors. David Alcaraz-Ubiles was sentenced to 15 years to run consecutively with a 15-year sentence he's serving for another crime. Inalia Rolldan and Ruth Lora were sentenced to seven years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. Five others charged in the case have taken plea deals. After a nearly 33-year run as an assistant Cook County state's attorney, Michael Gerber was sworn in as a Cook County subcircuit court judge by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke on Dec. 22, 2016. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) Michael Gerber has spent nearly 33 years as a prosecutor in Cook County, so Thursday, at age 71, he moved onto the next phase of his life. That's not retirement. Gerber fulfilled what he called a lifelong dream of becoming a judge. Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke swore in Gerber to Cook County's 13th judicial subcircuit, where he was appointed to fill a vacancy by the departure of Judge Jeffrey Lawrence. Advertisement "Some people think that when you get older, you'll be on a bench feeding pigeons in the park," Gerber said. "That's not the bench I had in mind." For Gerber, said to be the longest-serving of all current Cook County prosecutors, the judgeship caps a legal career in which he has prosecuted street gang members, arsonists and murderers. Advertisement A product of Chicago's North Side, Gerber attended Mather High School, then Roosevelt University and graduated from DePaul University Law School in 1979, working in private practice with his uncle, Martin S. Gerber. In 1981, he joined the Cook County public defender's office, but in 1984, he said, he switched sides. Admired by colleagues and defense attorneys, Gerber is unusual in his talents, said Maria McCarthy, supervisor of the state's attorney's office at the Rolling Meadows courthouse, where Gerber worked for 25 years. "Mike's a rarity in that he's a great trial lawyer, and if you've ever seen him with the victims in his cases, you know he has great compassion for them," McCarthy said. "We will miss him." Jim Mullenix, a former Cook County assistant public defender, worked with Gerber in that office "way back in the Stone Age," Mullenix said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Since then, the two "bumped heads in a number of tough trials," Mullenix said, many of them death-penalty murder cases before Illinois did away with capital punishment. "He's a hardworking veteran who has practiced for almost 40 years," Mullenix said. "The people of Cook County will be well-served." Lawrence, whom Gerber replaces, had been retained by voters in the past despite a lack of recommendations from some bar groups. He resigned in July, according to a state Supreme Court news release. Advertisement Gerber has previously run unsuccessfully for a judgeship in the 13th subcircuit. Gerber, who has taught business law at Northeastern Illinois University for many years, is known for his sense of humor and said he did a short stint with Second City performing improv before becoming a lawyer. Still, Mullenix said, "There will be no funny business in his courtroom." George Houde is a freelance reporter. We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Here are a few facts that every employer should know or, at the very least, desperately need to hear. First, more than four out of five workers feel that corporate culture READ THE REST Quesola Mimms in a 2011 photo taken for a Tribune story when she was a Dyett High School student. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) The death of a 20-year-old woman whose severed head was found in the McKinley Park Lagoon in September has officially been declared a homicide, authorities said. The cause of death for Quesola Mimms is homicide by unspecified means and the manner of her death is homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Her remains were found Sept. 23. Advertisement Mimms left the home she shared with her mother Sept. 21, a few days before she was to report for her first shift at a new job at a Chicago factory, a family spokesman said. She never showed up for the job and she wasn't heard from again. Advertisement On Sept. 23, a severed head was found in a plastic bag in the McKinley Park Lagoon, at South Damen Avenue and West 37th Street. The medical examiner's office confirmed what her family had long suspected: It was Mimms. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The remains were identified as those of Mimms, 20, of the 700 block of East 105th Place, about two months after a maintenance worker discovered the bag as he was cleaning the lagoon. Mimms was a young mother who left behind an 18-month-old daughter, said her grandmother, Dorothy Mimms. "Well, we're doing as best as we can," she said Wednesday. She described her granddaughter as outgoing and religious, of the Baptist faith. "She was kind, she loved people," Dorothy Mimms said. In September, days after the discovery was made, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said divers from the police marine unit planned "grid searches" in the lagoon, similar to a search in September 2015 for the remains of 2-year-old Kyrian Knox, whose dismembered body was found in the Garfield Park Lagoon on the West Side. City workers drained the lagoon in an attempt to ensure no other human remains had been dumped there, Guglielmi said at the time. The rest of Mimms' body has not been recovered, officials said. Demonstrators hold a vigil outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home Dec. 21, 2016, to decry the violence in the city that has tallied over 700 shooting deaths this year. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) Relatives of people who have lost their lives to violence were joined by community and faith leaders from across the city Wednesday night in a vigil to decry the more than 700 people killed in Chicago this year and call on the city to invest in policies aimed at curbing the mayhem. About 50 people gathered at the American Indian Center in Uptown to denounce Mayor Rahm Emanuel's policies on affordable housing, mental health services, police accountability and education. Three black coffins stood at the front of the center's auditorium underneath a slideshow displaying the names of more than 700 homicide victims. Advertisement One of the speakers, Camiella Williams, 29, said she has lost many friends and family members to gun violence. "I am broken. Words cannot describe my pain," she said. Advertisement Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 Demonstrators, including family members of victims of violence, hold hands in solidarity at the American Indian Center in Chicago on Dec. 21, 2016, before marching five blocks to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's house to protest the violent deaths of more than 700 people in Chicago this year. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) Williams and several other speakers, including Black Lives Matter Chicago activist Kofi Ademola Xola, called on Emanuel to hold police accountable for shootings and to fund education, create affordable housing and establish mental health clinics. After the speeches, the crowd marched in a silent procession to Emanuel's home in Ravenswood. They laid the coffins side by side on a snowy patch in front of the mayor's house and placed white flowers and small electronic candles on top. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The demonstrators then prayed and took turns speaking to demand change. "This is genocide being committed against us. Making sure we don't have jobs, education, mental health care, that is to show that we are colonized. We are still fighting for our lives," Ademola Xola said. The activists called on Emanuel "to make 2017 a year where he prioritizes investments in public services and the accountability of public institutions." The vigil and march was organized by the Chicago Housing Initiative, the Civilian Police Accountability Council, Black Lives Matter Chicago, the Mental Health Movement and teachers from Chicago Public Schools. Earlier this month, Chicago exceeded 700 homicides in a single calendar year for the first time in nearly two decades, according to police department records. nmoreno@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @nereidamorenos Karen Alexia Palma said she was fired from her job as a health educator in Texas after she refused to teach patients about contraception, saying doing so violates her religious beliefs. (First Liberty Institute ) A former Texas health-center worker said she was fired and discriminated against after refusing to teach patients about contraceptive practices that, she says, violate her religious beliefs. Karen Alexia Palma, a devout Catholic, filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Wednesday, nearly six months after she was fired by Legacy Community Health in Houston. Advertisement As part of her job as a health educator, Palma taught a family planning class three times a month. For a year and a half, she said, Legacy Community Health had been willing to accommodate her religious beliefs by allowing her to play a 20-minute video about birth control instead of personally talking about it with patients. A registered nurse also was on-site to answer questions patients might have about contraceptives, she said. "The religious accommodation was very small, and it did not increase the work of other employees at Legacy, nor did it cause hardship upon my employer," Palma said in documents. "Moreover, it did not affect the vast majority of what I did as health educator." Advertisement But in June, after a change in management, she said she was told she had to begin teaching patients about contraceptives and was also ordered to attend mandatory training at a Planned Parenthood location. Palma said she refused to do so, saying in the EEOC complaint that birth control "disrupts the natural beauty of how God designed our bodies to work." "My Catholic faith teaches me that contraception is wrong," Palma told The Washington Post. "I cannot teach a class that violates my religious beliefs. I will always put my faith first." Palma said she was told she was fired after raising concerns during a meeting in late June. She left the company in early July and is now being represented by the First Liberty Institute, which advocates on behalf of religious freedoms. In a statement, Legacy Community Health spokesman Kevin Nix said "we dispute the allegations made in the EEOC filing by Karen Palma and are reviewing her personnel file." "Legacy's mission is to serve the health care needs of our community, regardless of a patient's ability to pay and without judgment," the statement said. "We also respect and value diversity in our staff, which extends to matters of faith." Amy Leonard, vice president of public health services, said in a June 29 email to Palma that "sometimes employees may need to put aside their own personal beliefs or views to meet the job requirements." Palma's job responsibilities, Leonard wrote, included not just playing a video, but also openly discussing family planning practices with patients. Advertisement Diana Dean, Legacy's vice president of human resources, said in an email sent the next day that since Palma wasn't comfortable meeting her job expectations, she could no longer continue to work as an educator for the organization. "We respect your choices and as such we want to assist you in transitioning to another position in or outside of Legacy," Dean wrote, adding later: "We value the work that you have done teaching other health education topics and we hope that assisting you in this way will enable you to make a positive transition." Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at the First Liberty Institute, said Palma's termination had nothing to do with her job performance. Citing a recent Supreme Court ruling, he said an employer can't discriminate against someone based on that person's religious beliefs. In the 2015, the court held that Abercrombie & Fitch could not refuse to hire an applicant if the reason was to avoid accommodating a religious practice. The clothing company was sued for not hiring a Muslim teenager who was wearing a hijab. Abercrombie claimed the company does not allow head coverings. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the June 2015 ruling that an employer "may not make an applicant's religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions." Advertisement Scalia added that "an employer who acts with the motive of avoiding accommodation" may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act "even if he has no more than an unsubstantiated suspicion that accommodation would be needed." Employees, Dys said, shouldn't be "put to the choice of choosing between their faith and their job." The law, he said, requires employers to accommodate an employee's religious beliefs, as long as doing so doesn't pose undue hardship on a company or organization. In Palma's case, she asked her employer to continue a "very simple" accommodation that wouldn't impact the company or the vast majority of her duties, Dys said. Palma said another employee had volunteered to substitute for her so that she wouldn't have to discuss contraceptives with patients, but new management refused to work with her in figuring out other alternative accommodations, she said. "I hope Legacy can see that what they did was wrong and never ask anybody else to violate their religious beliefs or their faith," Palma told The Post. The 32-year-old said her deep-seated faith grew out of her childhood. Advertisement Born in Guatemala, she was raised by her grandparents after her mother left her there when she was only six months old. When she was 5, Palma's mother brought her to the United States. She lived in Indiana with her mother and stepfather. "From the age of 5 until I was 15 years old, I suffered both verbal and physical abuse from my mother," she wrote in the complaint. "This was one of the most difficult times in my life, and it was bearable only because I was introduced to Catholicism." As a teen, she thought of suicide, she said; but her faith kept her from killing herself. Eventually, she returned to Guatemala, where she lived with her biological father. A U.S. citizen, she was able to come back to the country at age 20. In 2012, she graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor's degree in health promotion. She worked as a patient care technician for the Harris County Hospital District for six years before getting a job as a health promotion coordinator at Legacy in 2013. She was later promoted and became a health educator, working with patients with chronic illnesses. She taught classes on different topics, including diabetes, high blood pressure, breast-feeding and general nutrition. Advertisement Palma said she now works as a health educator at Bee Busy Wellness Center in Houston. Police in Michigan on Wednesday debunked a Muslim student's allegation that was widely cited as an example of a spike in anti-Muslim incidents in the wake of Donald Trump's presidential victory. The woman reported in mid-November that a man approached her near the University of Michigan campus and threatened to set her on fire if she didn't remove her hijab. The Ann Arbor Police Department said in a statement that "following a thorough investigation, detectives have determined the incident in question did not occur." Advertisement Michigan's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said at the time that the reported incident was "just the latest anti-Muslim incident" since Trump's Nov. 8 win. On Wednesday, after police released their findings, CAIR's national spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, said the apparently false report shouldn't be used to discredit what he called the "many, many incidents of anti-Muslim hate." Advertisement But he also stood by assertions that the number of actual threats against Muslim rose after Election Day. "If you have a spike in reports, you will have some increase in false reports," he said. After a report of the alleged Nov. 11 incident, the university issued a crime alert that said the woman took off her hijab and left the area. And police said the suspect was a white man with an "unkempt appearance" and "intoxicated with slurred speech." The FBI and police at the University of Michigan also aided in the investigation. The evidence disproving that the incident occurred, police said, included surveillance footage and what investigators said were the victim's inconsistent accounts. The student was not named by police or by CAIR. The police statement said results of the investigation would be forwarded to a county prosecutor's office, suggesting charges against the student are at least a possibility. Associated Press Rosalyn O'Cherony was a professor of Spanish at Northeastern Illinois University for more than 20 years whose path in life was altered by world events. She had planned to get a law degree but many law schools closed during World War II and instead she took a job with the U.S. State Department, which posted her to Cuba. She met and married a Cuban man, and the couple left the island for Chicago in 1956 to get away from growing political instability ahead of Castro's 1959 revolution. Advertisement O'Cherony, 94, died of ovarian cancer on Dec. 11 in Westminster Place in Evanston, according to her daughter, Frances Archer. Archer said that for most of her life her mother lived within blocks of NEIU in the city's North Park neighborhood. She was born Rosalyn Krantzler in the small Pennsylvania coal mining town of Beaverdale, where her daughter said she was president of her senior class in high school. She went on to Pennsylvania State University in the town of State College, earning a bachelor's degree in political science and Spanish. Advertisement "She had to take a foreign language and chose Spanish," said her daughter, of the choice that would become such an important part of O'Cherony's life. She had hoped to go to law school, but found many law schools were closed during World War II. Instead, in the fall of 1944, she took a secretarial position with the U.S. Department of State in Washington. Three months later she was offered the opportunity to go to Havana as the assistant to the cultural attache in the U.S. embassy there. She later told family members the job might have gone to a man but for the wartime manpower shortage. Not long after arriving in Cuba, she was asked to fill in for the attache as the instructor in an evening English class for Cuban professionals. One of the students was a Cuban pediatrician, Dr. Domingo O'Cherony. The two married in 1947. She later managed a scientific and educational exchange program fostering interaction between Cuba and the United States. Faced with a transfer to the U.S. embassy in Paris, she quit and became a teacher and administrator with the Cuban-American Cultural Institute in Havana and also helped provide guidance to Cuban young people applying for admission to U.S. schools and camp programs. In 1956, O'Cherony and her husband moved to Chicago, planning to eventually return to Cuba, her daughter said. "But the political situation was already unstable." The couple chose Chicago, her daughter said, because the state had more amenable licensing laws for foreign physicians. While her husband began an internship at the now-closed Michael Reese Hospital, O'Cherony worked briefly in hospital administration before starting to teach Spanish, first for a year in a Chicago public school and then at what is now Northeastern Illinois University. Advertisement O'Cherony began teaching there in 1961 and was head of the school's department of foreign languages when she retired in 1984. While teaching, she received both a master's degree and a doctorate in Spanish at Northwestern University, her daughter said. She was also awarded several fellowships and was a co-recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for improving foreign language instruction in urban schools. Elaine Winer was taking a required language course in 1969 when she took a class with O'Cherony, whom she credits with launching her on a career in teaching. "I started my career in Spanish because of Dr. O'Cherony," said Winer, who retired from Deerfield High School after 25 years of teaching Spanish. "She turned me on to Spanish." Winer, who now teaches Spanish classes for adults, called O'Cherony a pioneer in making the language come alive for her students. That included bringing in props like sombreros to reinforce vocabulary and trips to the professor's home to sample Spanish food and to speak Spanish with her Cuban-born husband. "She really mentored me throughout my career," Winer said. Advertisement Liesl Downey, Northeastern's vice president of institutional advancement, said O'Cherony, who received the school's presidential award for outstanding performance as a professor, stayed in touch after her retirement. "She came back a lot, swam at the pool (here) and attended concerts and lectures," Downey said. Frances Archer said that her mother swam three times a week until three months before she died. In retirement, she was also an avid theatergoer and enjoyed movies and travel. Winer called her former teacher warm and caring and said she gave Winer some simple advice. "Keep it light, keep it fun, keep it real." Other survivors include another daughter, Diane; sisters Ruth Weinstein and Jeannette Krantzler; three grandchildren; and one great-grandson. Her husband died in 2009. Advertisement A celebration of her life is planned for early 2017. Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter. In the presidential campaign, no issue separated Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton more starkly than abortion. He promised to ban it after 20 weeks and appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. She vowed to protect "the right to safe and legal abortions" against all challenges. With Republicans in control of Congress and most state governments, expect numerous battles on this front. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a relative moderate in the GOP presidential primaries, just signed a bill largely banning the procedure after the 20-week mark of a pregnancy, with no exception for cases of rape or incest. Seventeen other states have similar laws, two of which have been struck down by federal courts. Advertisement But pro-life people shouldn't get their hopes too high. Trump would need at least one more Supreme Court vacancy (besides the one left by Antonin Scalia's death) to have any hope of reversing Roe and his arrival in the White House will provide reason enough for every liberal justice to stay. Nor would the demise of Roe mean a nationwide ban on abortion. It would only allow states to make their own decisions. In that event, it would most likely remain legal in some 20 states, including California, New York, Illinois, Florida and Washington. Women in states with abortion bans could travel to those places or Canada to end their pregnancies. Activist groups would help poor women do so. Advertisement Medicines that induce abortion would surely be available on the black market, as recreational drugs are. As in the days before Roe, some women would seek out medical professionals providing illegal abortions or even try to self-induce, despite the risks. If the goal is to reduce the number of abortions, legal restrictions are of minimal value. By raising the cost and effort required for women to end their pregnancies, such laws would prevent some from doing so. But the reduction would most likely be small. Making much difference in abortion rates requires a different approach. Abortion is an intractable issue because it involves an irreconcilable conflict between two supreme values: protection of life on one side and personal freedom and physical autonomy on the other. But it's not impossible to uphold both. Clinton was onto something when she said in 2008 that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare and by 'rare,' I mean rare." What is needed is a recognition by pro-choice people that there is something awful about destroying a fetus and a recognition by pro-life people that there is something terrible about depriving a woman of control of her body. Such understanding might impel the two sides to look for ways to prevent both horrors. Katie Watson, a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, notes that "45 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned and 42 percent of unplanned pregnancies are terminated with abortions." One obvious way to bring down the abortion rate is to give women ready access to contraception. This, alas, is where the Republican Party's concern for life collides with its contempt for Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act mandates that health insurance providers, including Medicaid, offer 18 types of birth control, from the pill to sterilization, at no cost to the patient. Repealing that rule would almost certainly mean more pregnancies terminated. We know contraception can curb abortion. Between 2008 and 2011, reports the Guttmacher Institute, the unintended pregnancy rate dropped by 12 percent and the abortion rate fell by 13 percent. Behind the declines was the growing use of long-acting contraceptives (intrauterine devices and implants), which are exceptionally reliable. How reliable? "Comparable to tubal ligation," says Watson. Republican politicians want not only to scrap Obamacare but also to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood which provides birth control to some 3.5 million people each year. It's understandable that pro-life advocates don't want tax money used for abortions. But that's already forbidden. Advertisement The money from Washington pays for reproductive services and other health care, most of it to Medicaid recipients. The money it gets for these services, contrary to myth, doesn't subsidize abortions any more than the money you spend on bread at the grocery subsidizes its wine sales. What it does is expand use of birth control. Facilitating access to contraception promises to sharply curtail the loss of fetal life without forcing unwilling women into childbirth. Politicians can make abortion illegal. The better goal is to make it unnecessary. Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/chapman. schapman@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SteveChapman13 A new year always brings a sense of renewal, rebirth. It's a chance to brush off the slights and patch up the scrapes. But 2016 didn't leave just a small scratch. Oh no, this year cut deep and it won't be easy to put behind us. We slogged our way through a long, bitter election season; watched in horror as terrorist attacks unfolded in Brussels, Istanbul, Nice, Orlando, Berlin; felt powerless as the number of shooting death victims in Chicago climbed heights not seen in 20 years. Advertisement All of this, when taken together with personal failures, losses and setbacks, has left us wary and winded, searching for a glimmer of goodness in year that seemed so determined to be bad. We could use a little uplifting news. Advertisement So tell us, readers: What made 2016 a good or wonderful, fantastic, marvelous, glorious year for you? What were you proud of? What did you accomplish? We want to know by Dec. 26. Email a short letter about your year to ctc-comment@chicagotribune.com. Include your name and city. We will publish a selection of responses in Perspective. A member of the Chicago Police Department works the scene of a shooting on the 3100 block of South Irving Park Road on Dec. 18, 2016. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) Last weekend were you shopping, wrapping? Enduring cold and snow to gather with family and friends? Or maybe preparing for Hanukkah? Pausing to light candles as you observed the Fourth Sunday of Advent? While you were thinking about holy days and holidays, others on the lawless streets of this metropolis were mulling other questions: where best to get even, how best to answer a slight, when best to light up a foe with blazing bullets. Over that weekend, criminals shot 40 people in Chicago. Nine of them died. In one 24-hour stretch, bullets perforated three clusters of four or more victims each. Advertisement Remarkable but not extraordinary. With more than a week to go in 2016, Chicago's shooting toll is almost 50 percent higher than last year's; the homicide toll is up about 60 percent. And now, the start of Hanukkah and the weekend of Christmas a time for many religious Chicagoans to celebrate the liberation of a temple, or the birth of a child. Clerics are preparing for their hectic schedules. So are police officers, paramedics, emergency room staffers and morticians. A grudge soaked in alcohol, maybe the warmer weather, perhaps a raucous party, cabin fever, a close encounter that ends in a sweaty trigger-pull guess the provocation that will push the first metal round through the first folds of skin. Advertisement This is where we'd like to write a fat passage about how seriously Chicago's elected officials take the carnage on their watch, about all they're doing in their respective fiefs to respond. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson certainly takes the carnage seriously. He speaks often about people who wind up on the business end of a bullet. He speaks, too, about the crime-ravaged neighborhoods where law-abiding citizens wonder who'll be the next youngster to fall neighborhoods that many residents have fled, often to Chicago's suburbs. Most Chicago legislators and aldermen, though, are in hiding. They know what's happening in their districts or wards, yet take no ownership except to complain that they want more cops in their neighborhoods. Don't we all. A few politicians, including state Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, are on the case. Raoul, with encouragement from Johnson, has pledged to introduce legislation that would lengthen sentences for repeat gun offenders. We've long supported that, proposing that for every casket of an innocent who is buried, a casket should be transported to the steps of the Illinois Capitol and neatly stacked in a pyramid until lawmakers act. But we also remember what happened the last time a proposal comparable to Raoul's briefly had traction. That was in autumn 2013 a bill backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and then-Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez. The bill failed because African-American lawmakers were concerned that increased incarceration would hurt their communities. Speaker Michael Madigan adjourned the House to avoid a potentially fiery debate pitting black and Latino lawmakers against mostly white Chicago-area and Downstate lawmakers. That would have exposed philosophical fissures among Madigan's Democrats. In a companion commentary piece the Tribune is publishing today, Raoul and three other Chicago-area lawmakers explain the legislation they'll push in 2017. We hope the General Assembly will follow through this time. And the feckless aldermen? We've written of their assets their local prominence, their bully pulpits, their resources that should be focused on building stronger anti-crime efforts in their respective wards. The aldermen are uniquely positioned to help rebuild trust between civilians and police officers. We've urged aldermen to step forward instead of pointing fingers anywhere but at themselves. And we draw their wrath when we ask them three questions: Have you insisted that parents in your ward search their dwellings for guns? Have you organized your constituents, block by block, to occupy hot intersections? Have you demanded that your constituents cooperate with law enforcement to help stop the bloodshed? Advertisement There's a reason you haven't read about Chicago aldermen crusading on this brief agenda in their wards. It's easier for them to curse the violence than to risk alienating some voters by calling more attention to it. So as these holy days and holidays approach, think about Chicago's rising gunplay this year. Think about the rising toll of victims. Think about the pols you haven't seen campaigning, week upon week, to disrupt the pattern. Think, too, about Christmas weekend, and wait for the answer to this question: How many more Chicagoans will die by the bullet? Canadian "kinder, gentler" Prime Minister Justin Trudeau loves the oil industry, just like his mean old predecessor, the petro-Tory Stephen Harper: not only has he approved two new pipelines for Canada's worst-in-class tar sands oil, he's also expressed his eagerness to work with Donald Trump to reinstate plans for the Keystone XL pipeline, which will bring Canada's planet-busting tar sands oil to US ports for processing and export. In what must be the most amazing coincidence of the century, Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, ex-CEO of Exxonmobil, also likes this, because Exxon holds "substantial interests" in the tar sands and the pipeline. Exxon, along with its subsidiary Imperial Oil, owns both the Kearl Oil Sands Project and Cold Lake tar sands production facilities, and a 25 percent stake in the tar sands production company Syncrude. According to Bloomberg, Trump's team has shown interest in getting rid of the Executive Order which created the presidential permit process altogether, which President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry used in November 2015 to axe the pipeline. On the campaign trail and during his post-election "Victory Tour," Trump has pledged to rescind all of Obama's Executive Orders. Unsurprisingly, Tillerson has stated his support for Keystone XL, as well. Canada's Trudeau Plans to Work with Trump Admin to Approve Keystone XL, Pump Exxon-owned Tar Sands into U.S. [Steve Horn/Desmog] (via Naked Capitalism) (Image: Justin Trudeau promotional photo, Jean-Marc Carisse, CC-BY; Oil Covering a Beach Black Sea Oil Spill 11/12/07, Marine Photobank, CC-BY) East Aurora School District 131 officials are looking to add new security cameras and upgrade existing devices at East Aurora High School. The security discussion comes at a time when five high school students and two adults were arrested within about two weeks for a stabbing, a fire and a fight that district officials said were unrelated. Beatrice Reyes Childress, assistant superintendent for educational services, said the discussion about cameras was an "ongoing topic" and was not reignited by the recent incidents. The cameras are mainly designed to increase visibility in the building of about 3,800 students, she said. Advertisement "In a building this large, having the cameras and having visibility is important because it also helps us identify areas that we may need some support in," she said. "At any given time, you can shift your staff, your resources around to make sure that our areas in the building are covered and safe." In total, the district is looking to add about 18 cameras to the school in several locations, including some that focus on doors into and out of the building, and updating the existing 56 cameras, Childress recently told the school board. In later phases, which could come in future years, the district plans to focus on a new portion of the high school that has not yet been built and other parts of the building, and work on the district's middle schools and elementary schools. Advertisement The first portion of the project the roughly 18 new cameras and upgrades could be complete by Jan. 30. Childress declined to give an estimated cost for that portion of the project because the district was still collecting quotes, but she said the district is estimating it will come in under budget. Childress said the topic has come into focus now largely because of administrative changes and the hiring of a chief information and chief technology officer who has expertise in the area. "Administratively, we all agree that there is a need," she said. In the weeks before the camera plan was presented to the school board, two East Aurora students were stabbed and injured during a fight across from the school, and two other students were later charged with attempted murder. About two weeks later, a trash can fire described as "suspicious" burned in a school bathroom and a student was later charged with damaging state-supported property. The same day the fire occurred, a fight involving two students, a dean, a school resource officer and two other adults left the dean and the officer injured. The two students and two other adults were charged with aggravated battery and mob action. After the stabbing, Melinda Thomas, a teacher and union representative at East Aurora High School, told the school board during a meeting that cameras have been a concern for years, and the lack of cameras might prevent faculty from knowing when students leave without permission or when kids let people into the building. She said the students involved in the fight and stabbing left school early. "Administration did an admirable job to ensure safety, but how safe can we really be if we can't monitor who comes in and out of our buildings?" she said. School Board President Annette Johnson said the cameras would have been installed regardless of recent events. Other efforts to work with high-schoolers, such as a mentoring group, were also already in the works, she said. Advertisement "We've been addressing many things, but it just seems like we're having a tough time right now," she said. Childress said the school staff was responsive in all three incidents, and she did not know whether additional cameras would have stopped any of them earlier. Instead, the cameras would help identify students who might leave during the day and serve as a deterrent because students would know they are being watched, she said. During the recent incidents, teachers took accurate attendance so officials were able to determine who left and when they left, Childress said. She said administrators were talking with staff, teachers and students about how to make the school safer. Administrators are discussing new recommendations, but she declined to comment on specifics about the recommendations until administrators discuss them with staff. East Aurora High School Principal Marina Kosak has also been talking with students in the cafeteria and other small groups and encouraging them to talk with a staff member if they see or hear anything that concerns them, Childress said. Staff also debriefed the students involved in the three incidents, but Childress said she could not point to any common factors that contributed to all three events. Both Childress and district spokesman Tom Jackson highlighted that a majority of students in the building were not involved in the recent events. Advertisement "Kids are always going to be kids, and when you've got 3,800 kids in a building, by and large, most of them are going to be really good, doing great things and following rules and making great choices," Jackson said. "But you will always have a handful of incidents you're going to have to deal with. You can do everything in your power to prepare for them and be able to respond to them in an effective way." sfreishtat@tribpub.com Twitter @srfreish The students at Circle Center Grade School in Yorkville got a lesson in kindness that had little to do with the holiday season and everything to do with a courageous little second-grader, Grace Peterson, whose brilliant smile could melt even Elsa's glacier-encased kingdom. (Chicago Tribune) Dressed mostly in pink just days before red-suited St. Nick's scheduled visit, the students at Circle Center Grade School in Yorkville got a lesson in kindness that had little to do with the holiday season and everything to do with a courageous little second-grader whose brilliant smile could melt even Elsa's glacier-encased kingdom. And in fact, the platinum-haired heroine of Disney's "Frozen" was on hand Tuesday, along with two real-life pageant winners, when 8-year-old Grace Peterson was crowned Princess for a Day by her school and community. Advertisement Grace was born with Down syndrome, along with a host of medical complications affecting her heart, intestines and other organs that have resulted in dozens of hospital stays over the years from surgery two days after birth to connect intestines to her stomach, to open-heart surgery at 3 months old, to emergency surgery last week for ostomy complications. "We always know there are going to be bad days and good days," said her father, Chris Peterson. "But we've just learned to take one day at a time." Advertisement Yet, according to those who love her, Grace is a shining star in their lives, never complaining and always eager to help others, as are her parents, who, because of medical expenses and their daughter's health care needs, have never been able to go on a family vacation. Even when Grace was in the hospital last week, her mom, Catie Peterson, was still concerned about getting their gifts to the school for Circle Center's Giving Tree, said Principal Gina Isabelli. "That's just the kind of people they are." Grace, who had just gotten out of the hospital Sunday, wasn't quite sure what to make of all the attention showering her on this first day back at school at least at first. As soon as Elsa also known as Amanda Ostby, of Newark walked through the lunchroom door, the surprised little girl ran and gave her a hug. But then she turned shy, concentrating on her favorite meal salad and grilled cheese sandwich even when Mrs. Illinois Crystal Cavey, of Plano, and Miss Ultimate Child Model for Tiara Magazine, 8-year-old Sydney Slavin, of Oswego, joined the noon party. But after changing into a sparkly black-and-red holiday dress a gift from her teacher Melinda Graham Grace began rewarding her fans with a few more of those awesome smiles, as she and her entourage piled into an awaiting white limo that whisked them off to the Fun Kuts 4 Kids salon in Oswego. After she and big sister Emily, who turns 10 in January, received fancy braided and bowed hairdos worthy of a palace ball, the limo found its way to an ice-cream shop where all occupants ordered what else a frozen dessert. Then the big-time festivities began. Back at the school, in a crowded gymnasium that included over 400 students in kindergarten and first, second and third grades, Rich Johnson of Simply Music in Aurora began playing again, what else "Let it Go," from "Frozen," while Grace and company made their grand entrance. As the audience erupted into cheers and applause and, yes, quite a few tears the guest of honor, once more overwhelmed, retreated into mom's protective embrace. But only for a moment. With a little encouragement from her parents, Grace slowly turned to face her adoring fans, giving them a princesslike wave and that melt-anything smile. Advertisement After Mrs. Illinois placed a crown on the little girl's head, a video was played that featured many of her family and classmates telling Grace why she is so special to them. When I'm sad you make me happy because you make me laugh you have taught us about hope and strength you are a joy to have in my life ... The idea for this kindness campaign came from Circle Center parent T.J. Hodges, who's made a name for himself organizing these sort of "good deed days" in honor of his late mother, Linda. And the staff could think of no one more deserving than Grace, said Isabelli, who described her second-grader as "too funny always positive" and "with a naughty streak" that makes her "a little firecracker." "She loves to learn and loves to hang out with the kids," as well as "in the office, where she'll help whenever she can," added Isabelli. And no matter how rough things are going for the Petersons, her parents are always doing the same thing, putting others first and expecting nothing in return. That's why, toward the end of the assembly, the Petersons got their own surprise: In addition to receiving a giant gift basket, they were presented with a check for more than $2,300 in addition to a week's stay at a Naples, Fla., condo so the family can finally take that first vacation. Advertisement "It was overwhelming. I was holding back tears the entire time," said Catie Peterson, an assistant principal at Drauden Point Middle School in Plainfield. The fun wasn't over once that big check was passed. As the DJ started the music again, most of those 400-plus students and more than a few teachers began showing off their best dance moves, turning the gym floor into a sea of pink, thanks to T-shirts that read "Dream Big for Grace" on the front and "Create Kindness" on the back all part of the fundraising effort. And all part of a lesson beneficial to young and old alike. "It's important these kids see students in the school who, like them, might be struggling," said Isabelli, "and for them to see that even the smallest acts of kindness can make a difference." Of course, this event was no small feat, as it was obvious many moving parts had to come together on this afternoon of surprises. Staff began working on it in early November, said the principal, with even those who did not have Grace in their classroom taking on active roles. "It really was a partnership," Isabelli said, "between students and staff and parents and the community." Advertisement For the Peterson family, watching the day unfold only confirmed that, despite their daughter's disabilities and medical obstacles, she's "been embraced" by her schoolmates, Catie Peterson said, and "treated like every other kid." Except on the afternoon she was crowned a princess. "I'm so glad," Isabelli said, "that Grace got her special day." dcrosby@tribpub.com Entertainment / Music by Staff Reporter Andy Muridzo a rising contemporary musician is now polishing his work to release his thrilling third album to be out sometime in March 2017.The young musician surprised many with his second album "Ngarizhambe" that improved his ratings, with music fans warmly embracing several songs, which have since become hit tracks.He has become a force to reckon with, as promoters in and outside the country jostle for his signature. The yet to be named album will have 15 tracks.He said he was working hard to have a better album than 'Ngarizhambe'. He said Maselo is the producer of the album that will be released in March.Muridzo said he was not at liberty to divulge information about collaborations though The Herald Review understands he is considering Nigerian star Davido."We have done several collaborations with other artistes and they have been successful and in that regard we will be working on something with other musicians," he said.His fortunes took for the better in 2014 when he met Jah Prayzah at a United Methodist Church service where the lanky musician offered him help to pursue a career in music.Andy communicated with Jah Prayzah, after he had completed his secondary education and had relocated to Harare."Jah Prayzah was happy that I decided to venture into music full time. I have to be honest he did everything for my recording of my first album called 'Pakubuda Kwezuva'," he said.As he reflected how his journey started the young musician says hard work was the only way to stardom. A 20-year-old Harare woman was reportedly sexually assaulted by a neighbour on their way home after she was ordered to relieve herself and later dragged to a lodge and abused.The woman, according to the court says 35 year old Tinashe Rufasha, of Eastview fondling and inserting his fingers into her privates.That was after her father had asked Rufasha to drive her home.According to prosecutor Sebastian Mutizirwa, on December 3 at around 4pm, Rufasha was asked by his neighbour to drive his daughter home and he agreed.While on their way, Rufasha suddenly diverted his route and drove to a lodge located in Hillside where he asked the woman to relieve herself.It was at that point on her way to the toilet that Rufasha grabbed and dragged her into a room.Rufasha started fondling the woman's breasts before he inserted his fingers into her privates, the court heard.She managed to push Rufasha away and stormed out of the room but Rufasha quickly followed her and asked her to get into his car.He pleaded with her not to reveal the ordeal to anyone.She later told her father who took the matter to the police.Rufasha was then arrested and taken to court charged with aggravated indecent assault.He was remanded out of custody to January 11 next year for routine remand. News / National by Stephen Jakes A political commentator Vince Musewe has said by the look of things change is becoming more imminent than before due to the deteriorating situation in the country.He said its very easy to be pessimistic especially given the rate of economic decline and the seemingly directionless politics and the lull in the activism that all excited people in the second half of this year."I don't want to be pessimistic but choose to believe that the only thing that's constant is change and we must all embrace it. 2017 should be an eventful year as the country goes into its seasonal political activity as elections draw near," he said."On my mind is the question of what should we do differently to cause the results that we want? I am certainly looking forward to a closer working relationship with politicians community and civic leaders business leaders and social movements to chart an economic transformational blue print that we must sell to Zimbabweans so they can vote in their millions especially the youth. I also intend to launch a re-invent Zimbabwe campaign where we must imagine more and dream bigger and differently to change our language and expectations about the future."He said the nation is blessed because it is endowed with skilled personnel who are peaceful and are now stronger."We can create the Zimbabwe we all want. Wishing all my followers an awesome mental break despite the economy. The only thing exciting about the future is that we can dare to invent it! God bless Zimbabwe and it's people," he said. Li Yizhong, co-chairman of the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance (BRICA), speaks at the Conference of the China Council of BRICA, held in Beijing on Dec 21, 2016. [Photo/China Daily] An alliance of industry and business associations from countries and regions covered by China's Belt and Road Initative expects to play a bigger role in the initiative. At a conference held in Beijing on Wednesday, alliance co-chairman Li Yizhong said they would actively encourage members to participate in the initiative, facilitate information sharing and matching of projects, and link the initiative with the Made in China 2025 strategy. Membership of the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance, or BRICA, founded in June this year, includes 23 industrial or business associations from 22 countries and region, representing 2.3 million enterprises. Li said the China Council of BRICA, as a branch of BRICA, must make good use of its service system and provide guidance for Chinese companies in their bid to go global. It should also identify synergies between various parties and innovate the model of cooperation, Li added. The Belt and Road Initiative, launched by China in October 2013, has made fruitful achievements and been positively received by related countries. Foreign direct investment by Chinese companies in 53 countries within the Belt and Road area reached $13.35 billion between January to November, accounting for 8.3 percent of the total FDI, according to the Ministry of Commerce. During the first 11 months, the value of contracts awarded to Chinese companies in 61 countries along the Belt and Road reached $100.36 billion. Commercial counselor of the Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce Han Yong highlighted the complex situation of overseas investment and warned against homogenous completion of contracted projects. In order to help companies find appropriate and trustworthy projects, meet their demand for professional services and help them overcome language barriers, a Belt and Road cloud platform was released at the conference. The platform, developed by Brlinked (Beijing) Information and Technology, can certify enterprises and projects with its standardized certification system and provide counseling, legal, insurance and financing services, as well as language services. More than 300 business leaders, experts and scholars attended the conference. The principal of a middle school in Anyang city, Henan province, was suspended on Wednesday after making 480 students take an exam outside in thick smog. According to Anyang Education Commission, Feng Jisheng, head teacher at No 1 Middle School in Linqi town, failed to heed official requests for all primary and middle schools to suspend classes on Monday due to severe air pollution. Instead, he made students sit in the schoolyard for at least 4 hours on Monday afternoon, despite an Air Quality Index reading of 500, a level which is officially classed as hazardous, the commission said. One parent, surnamed Yan, said the students struggled to write papers in poor visibility. "It made me worry about my child, and it should be stopped," he said. Anyang is among 24 cities in northern and central regions that have issued red alerts, the highest level in the government's air pollution control system, in the past week. The alerts bring with them restrictions on vehicle usage and industrial production, as well as suggestions for the public to remain indoors. Liang Dawei, director of publicity for Linzhou county, confirmed on Wednesday that Feng received the pollution warnings, "because the education system has formed a quick and convenient way to spread such information via fax, telephone and WeChat". However, Liang indicated that Feng is unlikely to face any further penalty. What he did was wrong, "but I think he made the decision to go ahead with the exam as planned because, after all, improving scores is important for Chinese students". Some also backed Feng's decision. Du Li, an Anyang resident who took his exams on the playground about 20 years ago, said, "It's a traditional way to avoid cheatingteachers walk on the playground to invigilate." But others voiced concerns about health risks, such as Sun Dazhi, 40, a parent in Anyang, who said, "The scores are important, but without health, there is nothing." Nationwide, air pollution is improving, according to official data. Residents in six provinces, including Henan and Hebei, and Beijing and Tianjin are expected to be able to breathe clean air from Thursday, when a cold front is forecast to move pollutants southward, the National Meteorological Center said on Wednesday. The heaviest-ever smog with the longest duration has brought air pollution up to alarmingly high levels in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, where the AQI remained at or above the hazardous upper limit of 500 for 63 hours until 8 am on Wednesday. The air quality is forecast to worsen again on Saturday causing a smoggy Christmas weekend, but conditions are set to improve on Monday, the center said. You are here: Home A court in Beijing on Wednesday rejected the appeal of a former lawmaker who illegally built a basement which caved in, causing the road and surrounding buildings to collapse on Jan. 24, 2015. Li Baojun, a former lawmaker from east China's Jiangsu Province, was sentenced to five years in prison by Xicheng District People's Court in August, and Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court upheld the conviction. Li hired an unlicensed contractor to dig an 18-meter-deep basement in his courtyard in Xicheng District without permission. When the structure supporting his basement collapsed on Jan. 24, 2015, the road and houses nearby were damaged, causing direct economic losses of more than 5.83 million yuan (about 900,000 U.S. dollars). The case also highlighted the practice of illegal construction across the national capital city. Li was arrested on Feb. 10, 2015. Lu Zufu, director of the construction company, was sentenced to three and half years in prison by Xicheng District People's Court. After the ruling, Li and Lu appealed to Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court. You are here: Home Charter business flights started at Yongxing airport in Sansha City, Hainan Province, on Thursday. A passenger plane took off at Meilan Airport in Haikou, the provincial capital, and landed at the airport on Yongxing Island, one of the Xisha islands and the city's administrative base, at 10:20 a.m. Thursday. The plane is scheduled to fly back to Haikou Thursday afternoon. Starting Thursday, Yongxing airport will have a daily return charter business flight from Haikou to improve the work and living conditions of the city's public servants and stationed soldiers. The expansion of Yongxing airport was completed in May. It obtained a certificate for civilian use in December and now serves both military and civilian purposes. Sansha City was officially established in 2012 to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands, and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea. News / National by Staff Reporter The Construction of new city and Parliament building in Mount Hampden is fast taking shape with one of the developers saying they were through with major works on housing developments around the area.Harare Provincial affairs minister Miriam Chikukwa toured the area on Monday to assess progress at the site.Delatfin chief executive officer, Felix Munyaradzi told the delegation that they were through with construction of roads for the new city around the area."We are done with all the roads in terms of all the major works and what remains is to tar the roads. So it is our hope that next year we will be tarring the roads. We are pushing towards the new Parliament site. Our task here is to put roads, sewer and electricity and we started in 2014," said Munyaradzi.He said they were determined to develop the area consistent with Government's economic blue print Zim-Asset cluster on infrastructure provision."We feel encouraged by the coming of Minister Chikukwa to assess our work. We are geared to compliment Government programmes," said Munyaradzi.Minister Chikukwa said she was pleased with the progress at the site."Some people had condemned the area saying how on earth was Government constructing Parliament building in a bushy area. With these housing developments and infrastructure provision going on, our detractors will have to reconsider what they have been saying," said Minister Chikukwa.She said there was need to provide facilities such as shopping malls, hotels and schools so that people would not go back to other places in search of such services."More than 3 000 people will be settled here. As Government we will push that residential areas are also for low income earners. We will discuss with developers that they consider low income earners as well through provision of longer term facilities to buy residential stands around this area," said Minister Chikukwa.As minister responsible for Harare, said Minister Chikukwa, she was excited by developments. Minister Chikukwa was accompanied by political leadership for Harare Province led by Zanu-PF provincial political commissar Shadreck Mashayamombe.Mashayamombe, who is also Harare South Member of Parliament, said as local political leaders they were encouraged that Government was moving towards transforming the area into world class status given massive infrastructure developments taking place."We are happy Harare is growing and this will go a long way in decongesting the city," said Mashayamombe. China is set to build a multi-million dollar state-of-the-art new Parliament building on a grant as bi-lateral relations between Harare and Beijing continue to deepen.The new metropolitan is part of a grand strategy to decongest Harare, which was originally tailored for a smaller population but now has over 2,1 million people. Designed in the mould of South Africa's Sandton in Johannesburg, the city will accommodate Government ministries, Parliament, residential areas, shopping malls, hotels and industries.A plan for the $140 million Parliament complex has already been drawn up. Flash Some 44 militants were killed after Afghan army, police and intelligence agency personnel launched wide-scale operations against militants' hideouts within the past 24 hours, said the Defense Ministry on Wednesday. Up to 43 militants were also wounded during the operations in nine of Afghanistan's 34 provinces within the period, the ministry said in a statement. In one operation, 19 Taliban militants had been killed and 15 wounded when the joint troops raided their bunkers on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, capital of the restive southern Helmand province. In neighboring Uruzgan province, some 10 militants were killed and 12 wounded as the joint forces raided Taliban hideouts in Shah Mansoor, a village outside the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, according to the statement. Helmand and Uruzgan provinces have been the scene of heavy clashes over the past couple of months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the government forces there. The remaining casualties on the side of militants took place in countryside. Supported by the army's artillery and warplanes, the troops also found weapons and defused dozens of landmines during the raids, the statement said without disclosing whether there were any casualties on security forces. The Taliban militant group has yet to make comments. Flash Four Turkish soldiers were killed and another 15 were wounded Wednesday during clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants in Northern Syria's al-Bab region, Turkish General Staff stated. Turkish soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded on December 17 in a suicide car bombing blamed on Kurdish militants targeting off-duty conscripts, the latest in a string of attacks to rock Turkey in recent months. [Photo/Xinhua] Turkish General Staff also said 15 soldiers are being treated at hospitals inside Turkey and one of the wounded soldiers was in critical condition, adding that clashes with militants in the region were ongoing. The Turkish military said that over 40 IS terrorists were "neutralized" and 24 IS positions were also hit by Turkish warplanes in the Al-Bab area. Turkish military often used the word "neutralized" to imply the terrorists in question were captured, heavily wounded or killed. On Aug. 24, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against both IS and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). Turkey regards the YPG and the PYD as terrorist organizations due to their links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). You are here: Home Flash The last rebel convoy starts leaving eastern Aleppo city through Ramouseh crossing Thursday, which the operation may last three hours max, military source told Xinhua. Xinhua reporters at the site saw the convoys leaving, some rebels have carried light rifles. Res Crescent ambulances are still at the bridge of Ramouseh, observing the evacuation. "The evacuation of rebels is in its last stage and expected to finish within three hours if nothing happened," the source said. A Syrian soldier at the site was holding a Syrian flag waiting for going up on a high building to raise it and celebrate after the last rebel leaves. The evacuation of rebels and their families started last Thursday, as part of a Russian Turkish-deal to end the rebels presence in eastern Aleppo after the army took over 99 percent of the rebel-held areas. Flash Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki affirmed Thursday that a draft resolution against Israeli settlement construction will be submitted to the UN Security Council. Malki told Xinhua that the consultations have been completed and the draft has been deposited in blue color to Spain, which is the current chair of the UN Security Council. "We have requested a special session to look into the draft resolution and we are now awaiting the response of the Council chairmanship to confirm the date," said the minister. He expressed hope that the resolution would be adopted unanimously and overcome the veto for the first time, highlighting that the draft formation was based on the two state solution. He added that several amendments were included in the latest draft based on the deliberations with the Security Council member states, and particularly with the permanent members who enjoy the veto power. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the U.S. to veto the resolution to abort it, according to the Israeli public radio. The Arab Quartet convened in Cairo last Monday and formed a new three-way committee to contact UNSC member states to know their final responses regarding the draft resolution against Israeli settlements. The issue of settlement is considered one of the most complicated issues between Palestinians and Israel. Where to find non-partisan ballot information Thank you for your non-biased bullet points explaining the three state ballot proposals in "A look at the three state... Kautman-Jones endorses Davis Please support Meredith Davis in her re-election to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners - 8th District. I have had... Radio Free Asia 2016-12-21 Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan are preparing to try a top lawyer on subversion and public order charges, amid an ongoing crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists nationwide. The case of Xie Yang has now been transferred from the state prosecutors office to the No. 2 Intermediate Peoples Court in the provincial capital Changsha, paving the way for his trial for incitement to disrupt public order and subvert state power, his wife told RFA on Wednesday. Neither I nor the lawyer had any verbal or written notification from them, Xies wife Chen Guiqiu said. It wasnt until I called the Changsha prosecutors case management department myself to ask whether the case had gone to the court that they told me it had. It was sent to the court on Dec. 16, she said. European diplomats visit the parents of detained rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong at their home in Xinyang city, Henan province, Dec. 19, 2016. RFA Xie was detained in a nationwide police operation targeting more than 300 rights lawyers, law firm staff and activists that began with the detention of lawyers at the Beijing Fengrui law firm on July 9, 2015. Chen tried to hire lawyer Lin Qilei to defend Xie, but the authorities refused to acknowledge his status as Xies lawyer. Lin said Xie had been illegally kidnapped, subjected to enforced disappearance and tortured while in detention, and that the authorities have failed to follow due process throughout his case. In most cases, they should inform the lawyer when a case goes to court, even if they dont inform the family, Lin said. These kinds of cases are ignoring due process, and just using the law as a means of repressing these people, he said. They havent implemented any of the rules involving the clients right to meet with their lawyer. Diplomats visit family Top rights attorney Jiang Tianyong was also detained last month in Changsha after visiting Chen in a bid to support the family, and is now under criminal detention on suspicion of revealing state secrets overseas and using another persons ID card. Jiang had been under constant police surveillance, and his wife said he had likely used a friends ID in a bid to evade detection by the authorities when buying a ticket to return to Beijing on Nov. 21. On Monday, his elderly parents received a visit from European diplomats at their home in Xinyang city, Henan province, rights lawyer Shang Baojun told RFA. There is a lot of concern among diplomatic officials [about Jiang] because he had a lot of dealings with foreign embassy officials, Shang said. There were diplomats from France and Germany among them, he said. Officials from the Dutch, Swiss and Swedish embassies also visited the Jiang family, reports said. Sixteen lawyers remain in detention More than 300 lawyers, law firm staff, rights activists and relatives were detained, questioned, or placed under surveillance or other restrictions since the crackdown began. At least 16 remain in criminal detention on subversion charges, while four have been handed jail terms of up to seven years, according to the Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. Many others have been denied access to lawyers, and to family visits. The majority of the victims of the July 9, 2015 crackdown have been denied permission to meet with lawyers hired for them by their families, artist Zhang Xiao, who is documenting the crackdown, told RFA. Reports are emerging that Xie Yang has been subjected to beatings, burnings with lit cigarettes, while Jiang Tianyong has [previously] been tortured, Zhang said. I think that if the authorities arent allowing the detainees to see lawyers, then there are definitely shenanigans going on behind the scenes, whether its torture, extreme duress, threats to their family members, lies or whatever, he said. He said he would continue to use art to highlight the ill-treatment of lawyers and activists during the crackdown. Reported by Xin Lin for RFAs Mandarin Service, and by Ng Yik-tung and Goh Fung for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. ChinaAid Media Team Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985 Email: [email protected] For more information, click here News.com.au | Dec. 22, 2016 A Malaysia Airlines flight travelling from London to Kuala Lumpur was forced to turn around due to technical problems. Flight MH1 took off from the English capital bound for Malaysia before running into trouble over Germany. The flight has returned to Heathrow Airport four hours after it departed. Malaysia Airlines released a statement on the incident shortly before the Airbus A380-800 landed back in London. [UPDATE] MH1 from London to Kuala Lumpur experienced a technical defect on one of its A380 doors while inflight. - https://t.co/miceK1wpoe - Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) December 22, 2016 Malaysia Airlines flight MH1/ 21 December that departed London-Heathrow for Kuala Lumpur last night experienced a technical defect on one of its Airbus A380 doors while inflight over Germany. The noise and vibration from the door was of no immediate risk. The aircraft is due to land in London Heathrow and will be evaluated by engineering staff and Airbus technical staff. In the interest of passenger safety, the flight captain decided to return to Heathrow Airport. MH1 is serviced daily by the Airbus A380-800. Safety at all times is Malaysia Airlines' number one priority. The airline will update customers as further news is available. According to reports the plane turned west near Budapest. The A80 then dumped fuel over the North Sea as a precaution. Malaysia Airlines said the plane would be evaluated by engineering and Airbus technical staff to ascertain the cause of the incident. The news comes as Malaysia Airlines continues to face ongoing fallout from missing flight MH370. Investigators hunting the Malaysia Airlines flight, which vanished in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board, have been searching a 46,000-square mile area west of Australia. This week they admitted the plane probably crashed to the north of their Indian Ocean search zone. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau used new evidence from ocean drift modelling and analysis of satellite communications with the aircraft and washed-up debris to determine the new location. Flight MH370 was en route to Beijing from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The current search ends next month with no funding yet agreed for further efforts. China Aviation Daily | Dec. 22, 2016 BOC Aviation Limited is pleased to announce that it has signed a purchase-and-leaseback agreement with Qatar Airways for six new Airbus A350 twin-aisle aircraft, all of which are scheduled for delivery in 2017. "We are excited to support Qatar Airways' fleet expansion plans with this popular new technology widebody aircraft from Airbus, which adds to our fleet of in-demand aircraft on long-term leases," said Robert Martin, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BOC Aviation. "This incremental capital expenditure is in line with our current strategy to grow our fleet through disciplined investment." Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: "We are pleased to work with BOC Aviation on securing this transaction, which will result in growing our A350 fleet, the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world, for which Qatar Airways was the global launch customer." Contributed by BOC Aviation Restoration work is underway in Beijing's Nanluoguxiang earlier this month. [Photo by Sun Yue/For China Daily] Beijing will restore 1,500 hutongnarrow alleywaysto their traditional style over the next four years, the city management commission announced on Wednesday. Luo Hongyi, head of the city government's environmental construction planning division, said illegal stores built in hutong inside the Second Ring Road will be removed, as unapproved constructions have had a negative influence on the city's traditional style. "We aim to restore the traditional feel of hutong by 2020," he said. Over the past decade, many people have demolished walls of siheyuantraditional courtyard residencesto build facades for barber shops, restaurants or stores, Luo said, adding that they often occupy narrow hutong, causing safety and sanitary concerns. Hutong and siheyuan are considered tourist attractions for those interested in traditional Beijing culture. However, officials said tearing down walls without approval has been commonplace. "We found more than 500 examples of such development in Dongsi subdistrict, which is about the size of the Forbidden City," said Ruan Jun, an official with Dongcheng district's city management division. "About 140 have been sealed since early August and restoration is underway." Luo added that "there are at least 20 subdistricts within the Second Ring Road, and historians have been consulted to ascertain the target outlook of restoration work". This is one key measure Beijing is taking to promote conservation and restoration of traditional architecture in the historical heart of the city. Other approaches include relocating electricity cables underground, as well as employing property management companies, according to Wu Yamei, deputy director of the city's environment construction office. According to Beijing Youth Daily, the number of shops in Nanluoguxiangan 800-meter-long hutong and tourist attraction known for its food and souvenir shopshas been cut by one-third to 154. A detailed guidance on standards, including layout, height, outlook and material, has been released to regulate the architectural style of the area. Liang Shuang contributed to this story. Beijing sees blue sky after days of smog. [Photo/IC] After choking in haze for nearly a week, people in north China can now take a deep breath, at least until the smog returns. The heavy smog that blanketed north China in the past week moved southward from Thursday morning thanks to a cold front, according to the National Meteorological Center. Residents in six provinces, including Henan and Hebei, Beijing and Tianjin, are expected to breathe clean air. With smog dispersed, thick fog is set to envelop several provinces, including Hebei, Henan and Shandong, on Thursday morning. Since Friday, vast regions in northern, central and eastern China have faced severe smog, dubbed the most serious since autumn in terms of area affected and severity. The smog shrouded 1.88 million square kilometers, around one fifth of the country's territory, on Tuesday, and 90 cities reported heavy pollution that day, said the Ministry of Environmental Protection. In Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, the Air Quality Index remained at or above the hazardous upper limit of 500 for 63 hour as of 8 am Wednesday. The reading at one monitoring station in the city exceeded 1,000 at 1 pm Monday. Emergency measures were implemented in response to the hazardous level of pollution. Industrial production and construction sites were suspended, cars were ordered to run on alternate days, and kindergartens and schools were suspended in smog-hit areas. The haze also disrupted public transport, with expressways closed and flights canceled due to poor visibility. Some steelmakers in Hebei province have been blamed for emitting massive amounts of pollutants and resuming the operation after inspection teams sent by the Ministry of Environmental Protection left. The MEP has urged local governments to punish these enterprises and carry out corrective measures. Vehicle exhaust plays a major role in large cities' air pollution, said experts. Xie Shaodong, an environmental professor at Peking University, told Beijing Morning Post that the reasons behind smog differ among regions. In large cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, the exhaust of vehicles contribute the most to air pollution, while industrial production and energy sector also play important roles. He Kebin, head of the School of Environment at Tsinghua University, said that the pollution level in Beijing has seen a drop over the last three years, with the average concentration of PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns, declining from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 69 micrograms per cubic meter so far this year. The air quality is forecast to worsen again on Saturday, but conditions are set to improve on Monday, said the National Meteorological Center. Shanghai-based food giant Bright Food Group Co denied on Wednesday that any deal had been reached to sell its majority stake in popular UK cereal brand Weetabix. A Reuters report claimed that the firm was looking to sell its 60 percent holding, which is valued at around 1 billion pounds ($1.24 billion) Bright Food said that no such deal was taking place at the moment and declined to comment further. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Weetabix, who requested anonymity, told China Daily that it was "business as usual" and the company does not comment on rumor or speculation. Reuters, citing "unidentified sources", said a sales process could start in January because Bright Food struggled to crack China's market where most people prefer local hot and savory meals, such as rice or congee, for breakfast. The majority of Weetabix's sales came from the United Kingdom, where it is the second-largest cereal brand behind world leader Kellogg's. Bright Food bought a controlling 60 percent stake in the British brand in 2012 in a deal worth 1.2 billion pounds from private equity firm Lion Capital. At the time, the acquisition was the biggest by a Chinese company in the global food and drinks sector and the Chinese firm said it wanted to invest in the long-term development of the brand in Asia. The news of a potential sale came after workers voted to go on strike in a dispute over shifts. Thomas Wu, a Shanghai-based partner of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, said: "At the beginning, Bright Food bought Weetabix aiming to expand its European market and bring the well-known brand with the launch of localized products to attract more Chinese consumers, but I didn't see any change it has made yet." He said: "We cannot say it is a failed acquisition as the company hardly tried to make use of Weetabix's fame and reputation to expand the market out of the UK." A Chinese doctor talks with family members of a young patient as he examines him with a Type-b Ultrasonic Diagnostic Instrument at a hospital in Beijing, September 11 2013. [Photo/IC] New guidelines to provide greater comprehensive medical care nationwide and to deepen reform to cover urban and rural residents alike with universal healthcare were approved on Wednesday by a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang. Both guidelines are part of the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). Healthcare remains one of the government's top concerns. Li has stressed repeatedly that "health is the root of people's happiness", and he has often reiterated the importance of medical reform. According to the guideline, greater efforts will be made in major disease control and treatment. The government will encourage a greater focus on prevention of major chronic diseases as well as major contagious and mental illnesses. The government will also boost medical competence in lower-tier cities and regions and encourage a wider allocation of medical resources. Additionally, approval procedures for new and urgently needed medicines will be simplified, and more incentives will be provided to families with two children. The guideline on deepening medical reform, also approved on Wednesday, aims to fully establish a comprehensive system for public medical services, healthcare and medical insurance. "In terms of medical reform, we need to concentrate on areas that people are most concerned about, and work harder in reducing high quality medical resources concentration in major cities, and make them more available to the public," Premier Li said. The guidelines target the most urgent needs of patients and will improve the country's medical services if they can be properly carried out, said Chen Yuming, a professor of public health at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. Additionally, integration of regional medical reimbursement is important so migrants can have more bills reimbursed when they are treated somewhere other than their hometowns, Chen said. To bridge the disparity in services between major hospitals and those in less-developed areas, an incentive system should be introduced to encourage doctors to go to less-developed areas and stay there by raising their income and showing greater respect, Chen said. A man helps a farmer in Lutong county, Zhejiang province, use financial-services provided by Ant Financial under Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [Photo provided to China Daily] Ant Financial Services Group, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's financial-services affiliate, has ramped up its expansion in rural financewith the company announcing on Tuesday that it will provide so-called acquaintance-based loan services, big data-based online loan services and supply chain financing for the rural population in China. Acquaintance-based loan services is a new model created by Ant Financial for rural financing, in which it screens loan applicants with little or no conventional credit history by talking to their offline business partners, customers and even other people in the villages. Ant Financial said the move accords with a company strategy to boost economic growth in rural areas and the Hangzhou-based internet finance major has set an ambitious goal to lend about one trillion yuan ($143.89 billion) to rural customers in the next three years. Working with 100 leading agricultural enterprises, the company said it would offer payment, credit, insurance and other financial services in 1,000 counties in China over the next three years. Yuan Leiming, vice-president of Ant Financial, said the company is willing to support China's agricultural transformation and upgrading. "Agriculture is in urgent need of a huge amount of investment. As progress moves forward in other industrial sectors, we should better support the development of agriculture," said Yuan. Analysts said the initiative can be a turning point for the agricultural sector. "There are huge opportunities for China's rural and agricultural development. And finance will play a substantial role in promoting the process," said Bei Duoguang, president of the Chinese Academy of Financial Inclusion at Renmin University of China. "In the future we should not build a completely new financial system, but to help the current system to become a financial inclusion system," Bei added. According to a white paper released by China's State Council Information Office in October, by the end of 2015, China still had 832 impoverished counties and the number of rural poor reached 55.75 million. Qin Weiming, deputy director general of the department of finance at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that rural finance would help promote agricultural modernization. "With the positive policy from the government and the enthusiasm of related organizations, it is the best time for all parties to reach a common consensus and then solve rural problems," Qin said. In the past two years, the Ministry of Agriculture worked with Ant Financial to directly connect new farming operators with insurance institutions through an internet platform. They plan to add more functions to the system, such as providing agricultural policies. The company also announced on Tuesday that it has become the second-largest shareholder of CFPA Microfinance Management Co Ltd, one of China's biggest microfinance players. And it will establish a joint venture company with China United Insurance Holding Co Ltd, providing integrated financial services for growers and cultivators at leading agriculture enterprises in the mainland. DUBAI - The world's biggest airport duty free retailer said on Wednesday that it is hoping for a growing influx of visitors from China. Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the government-owned Dubai Duty Free (DDF), told Xinhua that as Chinese travelers make up 3.6 percent of all travelers passing through Dubai International Airport and Dubai's second hub Al-Maktoum International Airport, Chinese passengers stand for nine percent of the total spending at DDF. He said this is why DDF provides special offers and services for travelers from around the world, especially China. As many as 450,000 Chinese tourists visited Dubai last year, and projections indicate that this number will rise to 650,000 in the next two years, he said. "DDF has signed an agreement with China UnionPay, so Chinese visitors can use their bank payment cards when they check at DDF shops," he said. He said 10 to 15 years ago, DDF did not employ Chinese nationals. "But today, 570 out of 5,900 staff are Chinese nationals in order to provide sales service in Mandarin." DDF will continue to organize special sales events with discounts for Chinese customers during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays from the end of January till the beginning of February 2017, he said. In 2015, the DDF group generated sales revenues worth about $1.9 billion. SINGAPORE - "Singapore plays a pivotal role in building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and over 20 forums themed on the Belt and Road Initiative have been held here in 2016, which highlights all walks of life in Singapore attach great importance to the initiative with forward thinking," said Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Chen Xiaodong in a forum focused on educational exchange between the two countries in December. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in 2013, it has got off to a good start, producing important early-harvest in various fields. It's estimated that China has signed agreements on jointly building the Belt and Road with 40 countries and international organizations and concluded production capacity cooperation agreements with 20 countries. "The Belt and Road Initiative is making solid progress and demonstrating bright prospects. Asian countries are the main participants and beneficiaries of Belt and Road cooperation," said President of the China Public Diplomacy Association Li Zhaoxing at Singapore Regional Business Forum 2016 in August. Organized by Singapore Business Federation (SBF), Singapore Regional Business Forum 2016 themed on "21st century Maritime Silk Road" has convened about 500 representatives in the regions, setting up a platform for business leaders and industry experts to share insights on regional connectivity, infrastructure, finance, ICT and people-to-people linkages in the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. In his keynote speech, Li Zhaoxing, former foreign minister of China, stressed that the Belt and Road Initiative is not a solo for China itself, but a chorus performed by all countries along the road. "The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is about trade, commerce and cultural interaction, which leads to thriving business, free flow of people and cultural integration," said Li. During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Singapore in November 2015, the two countries have agreed to enhance cooperation in areas such as financial services, aviation, logistics, information and technologies. In January 2016, Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI), a pace-setting project, was officially launched in Chongqing Municipality in southwest China. A series of cooperation has been carrying out based on the third government-to-government project this year. SBF Chairman Teo Siong Seng said the CCI will be a demonstration project for the Belt and Road Initiative under the theme of "modern connectivity and modern services," enabling synergistic flow in goods, capital and people. Focused on the Belt and Road Initiative, pragmatic cooperation has been propelled between Singapore and China. In early March, Lianhe Zaobao, the Chinese flagship newspaper of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), and SBF officially launched a portal dedicated to the initiative. The portal presents the latest developments, news, business opportunities, analyses, commentaries and a calendar of activities related to the initiative to its audience. In April, China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to provide S$30 billion ($21 billion) of financing services to support enterprises on infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. CCB also signed a MOU with Singapore Exchange (SGX) on the development of the capital market in Singapore. In addition, Singapore branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) in September agreed to extend up 50 billion yuan ($35 billion) to member companies of SBF in project financing and other professional services for infrastructure investments under the Belt and Road Initiative. Similarly, ICBC signed a MOU with Surbana Jurong to strengthen collaboration with a full suite of comprehensive financial and engineering expertise for major urban and infrastructure projects related to the initiative. Chairman of Surbana Jurong Liew Mun Leong said the group is optimistic about the vast infrastructure opportunities in Asia brought up by the Belt and Road initiative. ICBC also agreed to promote Singapore's capital markets and support Chinese companies looking to list equities or bonds on SGX, with a focus on real estate investment trusts (REITs) and offshore renminbi bonds. In a word, China-Singapore cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative has deepened in 2016. Just as Chief Executive Officer of IE Singapore Lee Ark Boon has said, as the regional infrastructure hub, Singapore's know-how and networks with China and Southeast Asia give Singapore-based companies a further advantage on projects under the initiative, and such cooperation will catalyze projects in physical and infoComm infrastructure and improve connectivity. MANILA - China's increased progress in structural reform will enable Beijing to achieve its annual growth target in the coming years, a senior economist with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said. Zhuang Juzhong, deputy chief economist at the ADB, made the comments Tuesday in an interview with Xinhua. He noted that China has made "very encouraging" progress in phasing out excess capacity. Phasing out excess industrial capacity properly was made a clear priority by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in the government work report this March. In November, Li announced at a State Council's executive meeting that China has met this year's target of retiring 45 million tons of steel and 250 million tons of coal production capacity, meeting both goals ahead of schedule. China's just-concluded Central Economic Work Conference has further highlighted the importance of the continued structural reform, Zhuang noted. In the conference, while making stability as the basic tone for next year's economic planning, China has pledged to push for "substantial progress" in supply-side structural reform. China's economy expanded 6.9 percent year on year in 2015, the slowest in a quarter of a century, weighed down by a property market downturn, falling trade and weak factory activity. The Chinese government has been making great efforts to shift the economy from the previous mainstay of exports and investment toward services and consumer spending. China's 13th five-year plan on national economy (2016-2020) aims to keep medium-high growth in the next five years. By 2020, the size of China's economy is expected to exceed 90 trillion yuan ($13.8 trillion), compared with 67.7 trillion yuan in 2015. The challenges facing China's economy can be counteracted, the expert said, stressing that China has the potential to achieve its targeted average annual economic growth which is set at above 6.5 percent in the next five years. BEIJING - Beijing First Intermediate People's Court announced Thursday that it is hearing a high-profile peer-to-peer (P2P) fraud case involving tens of billions of yuan. Investigations suggest that Ezubao, an online peer-to-peer lending platform, has cheated members of the public out of nearly 60 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) through fake investment projects advertized on its website from June 2014 to December 2015. The company reportedly defaulted on loans worth more than 38 billion yuan. Beijing People's Procuratorate on Dec 15 filed charges of fraudulent fund-raising against Ezubao's parent companies, Yucheng Holdings and Yucheng Global, and ten people. A further 16 individuals were charged with illegally absorbing public deposits. The defendants were also charged with smuggling precious metals, illegally possessing weapons and undocumented border-crossing. BEIJING - China's banking watchdog has approved the launch of two private banks, in Beijing and East China's Jiangsu province, to better serve the real economy and help finance small enterprises. In a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Wednesday night, Suning Commerce Group, a major Chinese home appliance retailer, said it had received the green light from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to set up its bank in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu. Suning has a 30 percent stake in the bank. Meanwhile, shareholders of Zhongguancun Bank said the bank had received regulatory approval. Zhongguancun Bank has a registered capital of 4 billion yuan ($576 million) and will be established by 11 listed companies in six months. Yonyou Network Technology Co Ltd is the largest shareholder, with a 29.8 percent stake. Both banks will provide financial services, mainly to individual clients and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The commission approved the setting up of five private banks on a trial basis in March 2014, in a bid to further open up the banking sector to domestic and foreign capital. Earlier this year, the banking regulator approved Chongqing-based Fumin Bank, Sichuan-based Xiwang Bank and Fujian-based Huatong Bank. BEIJING - The World Bank has approved a $100 million loan to create income-boosting opportunities for poor farmers in China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The project will support the establishment of farmer cooperatives and partnerships with agricultural businesses and rural tourism, according to the Beijing office of the World Bank. Farmer cooperatives play an important role in the agricultural industry, enabling farmers to engage with a rapidly changing food market, improve production efficiency, adopt new technologies and standardize production, said Paavo Eliste, the World Bank lead agriculture economist and team leader for the project. About 64,000 households are expected to benefit from the project, the World Bank said. A worker maintains electricity transmission lines in Liuzhou, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo/China Daily] The central government has selected State-owned enterprises in seven sectors to pilot mixed ownership reform, including petroleum, railway, aviation, telecoms and defense, according to an Economic Information Daily report. It is the latest move from the authorities to invigorate the country's SOEs. Tentative schemes for the first batch of mixed ownership reform pilots are now under deliberation and awaiting final approval, with four of the pilot projects already approved. The country's aviation and power giantsChina Eastern, China Unicom, China Southern Power Grid, Harbin Electric Corp, China Nuclear E&C Group and China State Shipbuilding Corpmake up the lion's share of the first batch of pilot projects, according to the National Development and Reform Commission and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. All of these SOEs are monopolies, said Li Jin, head of the China Equipment Management Institute. "Mixed ownership could help prioritize the companies' management and encourage property rights diversification while encouraging more private capital to invest in SOEs." Mixed ownership will help link these companies more closely with their shareholders, and the companies will thus act in their own best interests, he added. The central authorities stressed the significance of mixed ownership for SOEs at the recent Central Economic Work Conference, where senior officials gathered to map out priorities for the coming year. According to Liu He, deputy head of the NDRC, mixed ownership pilots play the role of an icebreaker in SOE reform, while urging SOEs to improve their management through market-oriented reform. Sectors including electricity, crude oil, natural gas, railway, civil aviation, telecoms and defense should be key areas for reform, he said. Sinopec Group is already planning to cooperate with private companies in sales of refined oil. China National Petroleum Corporation also said earlier it would allow private companies to hold a stake in its oil exploration businesses. It said on Wednesday that it had implemented guidelines on reforms for a market-oriented economy and mixed ownership, to help "prioritize capital and the business structure while ensuring the maintenance and appreciation of State-owned assets". CNPC Chairman Wang Yilin said mixed ownership is a significant breakthrough and will be a basic principle for the company. Stocks of some SOEs jumped on Thursday, with China State Shipbuilding Corp rising 2.45 percent to 29.66 yuan ($4.27) and China Nuclear E&C Group climbing 5.81 percent. A woman tries an Alibaba VR device during a shopping spree in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. [Photo/China Daily] E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has hit out at a US decision to label it a haven for counterfeits, indicating that the move may have been politically motivated. The world's top online retailer said on Thursday it was "very disappointed" by the decision to be restored to the list of "Notorious Markets", after the US Office of the Trade Representative cited a high level of alleged piracy and counterfeiting. "We are very disappointed by the USTR's decision to include Taobao on its 'Notorious Markets' list, which ignores the real work Alibaba has done against counterfeits," Alibaba President Michael Evans said. In 2016 alone, Taobao, the customer-to-customer platform, has removed more than double the number of infringing product listings than it did in 2015, Evans said. "Our results speak for themselves. Unfortunately, the USTR's decision leads us to question whether it acted based on the actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate," Evans said. Alibaba said in a statement that the list will not dampen its fight against the fake. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "The two countries should provide a fair and impartial trade environment for the activities of each other's companies." The "Notorious Markets" list is under the auspices of the annual Special 301 process where Washington identifies trade barriers due to infringements of intellectual property rights, according to Catter Hu, a partner at Shanghai Jiehua Law Firm. "While the report mainly targets companies and does not necessarily reflect Washington's view on respective countries, it's likely to dampen Alibaba's reputation in the US, where it has been trying to build up ties with retailers," Hu said. However, this year's review also included a call for the Chinese government to take stronger measures on IPR reforms, a clear sign that political considerations are getting in the way of business, said Zhao Ping, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce. Despite all of its efforts, the company finds itself listed along with 10 other Chinese websites and bricks-and-mortar markets in the list, dealing a further blow to its overseas expansion, according to Yang Yaqiong, a senior analyst at Beijing-based Analysys. "It's more politics than anything else. If you read through the report, you see a rather negative tone toward the Chinese market at large," said Yang. Wang Qingyun in Beijing contributed to this story. Visitors look at a Forever brand bicycle during an international bike expo in Shanghai. [Photo/China Daily] Chinese bicycle brand Forever, which has a history of 76 years, has joined the bicycle-sharing scheme in the Internet Plus era by launching cooperation with U-Bicycle. "Forever bicycles will appear in the U-Bicycle fleet from the first quarter of next year," said Yu Yi, founder and CEO of U-Bicycle. Compared with its peers' unified color to identify their brands, Forever bikes under the U-Bicycle plan are the green Halley and MARS models for men and the pink MARS for women, Yu said. "Forever's high quality, sufficient supply, as well as its eight years of experience in running public bicycle rental have laid a solid foundation for the cooperation," said Yu. Bearing the logo of the Chinese characters Yongjiu (literally meaning forever) in the shape of a man riding a bicycle, Forever-brand bicycles have a history of 76 years, and its products used to be the most sought after means of transport for most Chinese people. But when cars became more and more affordable, the brand was largely forgotten. As early as 2008, Shanghai-based Forever became the nation's first public bicycle operator. To date, it has about 80,000 bicycles for hire across the city. But without the backing of modern technology, users have to go through a very complicated process before hiring these bicycles. In the meantime, the bikes have very limited places to park, because they have to be locked at specially designated places. As a result of the linkup between U-Bicycle and Forever, users only need to scan the QR code and pay a 298 yuan ($42) deposit before unlocking the bikes. Users whose rating by Sesame Credit, an internet credit agency under Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's affiliate Ant Financial Service Group, is above 650 points can use the bikes without paying a deposit. In spite of the existence of Mobike, ofo bike and Xiaoming Bike on the market, Yu said he believed China's bike-sharing market is far from saturated. Taking Shanghai as an example, there are between 150,000 and 200,000 such bikes available at the moment, much less than the actual demand of around 1 million, said Yu. U-Bicycle is scheduled to launch 2.8 million bikes for hire in 52 cities across China next year, with between 100,000 and 200,000 in Shanghai. Decision returns Sao Tome and Principe to 'right track' on one-China principle, Beijing says One of Taiwan's three African allies cut its "diplomatic ties" with the island, and observers predicted more such defeats if Taiwan continues to challenge the one-China principle. The African island nation of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe announced on Tuesday that it had broken its "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan. Currently, 21 countries and governments, mainly small nations and islands in Latin America, Oceania and Africa, rely heavily on economic aid from Taiwan and hold such ties with the island. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that China welcomed the decision by Sao Tome and Principe, since the one-China policy is widely recognized around the world. China praised the move and welcomed the African country to "return to the right track of the one-China principle", she said, adding that the principle is related to China's core interests and is the political foundation for China's friendly ties with other countries. Sao Tome and Principe, which achieved independence from Portugal in 1975, is the second-smallest African country after Seychelles. It established a diplomatic relationship with China in July 1975, but Beijing cut the relationship in 1997 after the African island country announced that it would establish "diplomatic ties" with Taipei. The break of ties announced on Tuesday occurs amid cross-Straits tension following Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's congratulatory call to US president-elect Donald Trump on Dec 2. The phone call broke four decades of Sino-US diplomatic precedent. If Tsai continues to challenge the one-China principle, Taiwan will face tougher punishment from the mainland, with the island's ability to participate in international activities further squeezed, said Wang Hailiang, a researcher of Taiwan studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Wang said that many countries have vowed to cut ties with Taipei in exchange for building diplomatic ties with China. However, Beijing has shown restraint on the issue in recent years when Taiwan authorities led by Ma Ying-jeou maintained peaceful development with the mainland on the basis of the one-China principle. "Now it's the right time for China to take those countries' offers into consideration," he said, adding that Taiwan authorities led by Tsai will be snubbed by more countries because the island's authorities are seeking to change the status quo across the Straits, which could lead to regional instability. In March, Beijing resumed diplomatic ties at ambassador level with Gambia, the West African country that cut "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan in 2013. Jin Yong, deputy head of the School of Foreign Studies at Communication University of China, said that the mainland has more cards to play if Tsai refuses to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which endorsed the one-China principle. For example, Beijing could make diplomatic efforts to bar Taipei's participation in international activities, Jin said. In September, the International Civil Aviation Organization, which operates under the framework of the United Nations, did not invite Taiwan to participate in its assembly in Canada, because the current Taiwan authorities have refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus. Workers in their 30s and 40s seeking more senior roles are turning to business school Middle-aged workers looking for a career boost account for almost half of those in China applying for graduate management education, a global survey has found. The vast majority of Chinese candidates are aged 35 to 45, have reached middle management and want to take the next step up, according to a report by the Graduate Management Admission Council, an international nonprofit organization based in the United States, and market researcher Ipsos. This motivation differs from the overall result, in which the largest proportion of respondents, 27 percent, said they had pursued business school as a way to gain more respect from colleagues. Other reasonsto explore the world, be recognized for their expertise, start their own business, take their career to the next level, improve their socio-economic status or take a break from workhad a fairly equal share of about 12 percent. The council, which said the survey was the first to gauge the motivation behind business school students, polled 6,000 people in 15 countries who have sought to enroll in graduate management education programs in the past two years, including more than 1,400 on the Chinese mainland. The survey found that the typical trigger for those wanting to take their careers to the next level and apply for such an education in China is that they want to apply for a job, but lack the required skills or degree, or they have an issue at work such as not getting promoted or receiving negative performance reviews. "They aspire to have more control of their career development and to become successful, but they think that to rise further, they may need a postgraduate management degree, such as an MBA or master's degree," said Yolanda Kwok, Greater China regional director for the council, which represents 216 business schools across the world. Pan Zheng, 29, who is in an MBA program at Shanghai International Studies University, said most of his fellow students are middle-level workers in their companies who want a competitive edge. "Generally speaking, the younger generation has a better education level, so those in their 30s and 40s have to make up for the deficiency if they want to climb the career ladder," he said. "Another reason that they pursue such education is that it offers new knowledge of business management, which they've never touched upon, despite gaining significant experience in their professional fields." Li Yuanyuan, MBA director of marketing, admissions and career services at China Europe International Business School, attributed the particularity of Chinese graduate management education seekers to the macro environment of the country's economic development. "Though slowing down, China's economy still boasts plenty of emerging industries, with great job opportunities for young people. Usually, the time between graduating and reaching 40 years old is prime time for developing one's career," Li said. Zhou Haiwang, deputy director of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Population and Development, said the particularity is also because college education in China is less position-relevant. "For example, in Singapore, graduates from certain university majors will be employed in corresponding management positions in banks. But in China, college graduates usually start their careers from the grassroots level," Zhou said. Kwok anticipates a significant growth in the number of graduate management education pursuers who have entrepreneurial plans and need the skills to put their ideas into practice. "We'll witness the number of such candidates increasing within three to five years as the government encourages entrepreneurship," she said. Yang Boya Two Chinese teachers have, for the first time, been named on the top-50 shortlist for the annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize, a prestigious international award. Ronnie Cheng, headmaster of the Diocesan Boys' School in Hong Kong, and Yang Boya, a psychology teacher at The Affiliated Middle School of Kunming Teachers College in Yunnan province, were picked from more than 20,000 nominations and applications from 179 countries by the London-based foundation. Now in its third year, the Global Teacher Prize was created to recognize exceptional teachers who make outstanding contributions to the profession. The winner will receive $1 million. Yang, 28, said she was surprised by her nomination. "It was so surreal because of my age. I thought I was too young to be in the category, so I kept rereading the email saying I've been selected." She added: "The freedom of teaching and the creativity in exchanging ideas with my students is why I got into this job. I also come from a family of teachers, as both my parents are in the profession." "As a psychologist as well as a teacher, I support and counsel some students who need someone to talk to," Yang said. "Afterward, some tell me they feel much better for talking to someone or tell me that I am a huge support for them." Ronnie Cheng created an award-winning, world No 1-ranked male choir. Many of his students have gone on to become professional musicians. Cheng also set up the Diocesan Boys' School Foundation to support underprivileged students with financial or medical difficulties. The top 50 shortlisted teachers will be reduced to 10 candidates by a prize committee that will be announced in February, with a winner chosen in March. China's offer of arms and boats worth $14 million to be provided free to the Philippines, according to media reports, is the latest sign that the two countries are boosting cooperation following Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's visit to China in October, experts said. Philippine Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday that Beijing has offered to provide the small arms and fast boats to Manila to assist Duterte's fight against drugs and terrorism, Reuters reported. Another $500 million in a long-term soft loan will be available for other equipment, the report said. Lorenzana was quoted as saying they hope to receive the Chinese arms by the second quarter of 2017. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that China understands and supports the Duterte government's policy of cracking down on drug crimes. "The two countries' related departments are currently undertaking cooperation in areas such as information sharing, technical equipment, joint drug enforcement and drug rehabilitation," Hua told a daily news conference, without confirming the media reports. "China is willing to continue to offer, within its capability, support and help for Philippine anti-drug activities." The United States has been a longtime provider of secondhand weaponry to the Philippines. But Reuters reported that Washington halted the sale of 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines over opposition to aspects of the anti-drug campaign initiated by Duterte after he took office on June 30. After the sale of weapons was halted by the US, Duterte said he might turn to China and Russia for arms. Li Jinming, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at Xiamen University, said the offer is the latest practical act since the overall improvement in bilateral ties. "It not only shows Beijing's support for Duterte's anti-drug activities, but also its willingness to put the repaired relationship on a good path," he said. The China-Philippine relationship hit turbulence after the previous Philippine government, under Duterte predecessor Benigno Aquino III, launched a unilateral arbitration case against Beijing to challenge its sovereignty over the South China Sea. Chen Qinghong, a researcher in Southeast Asian and Philippine studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Research, said the two countries have continued to expand cooperation. "To boost comprehensive and robust cooperation in various areas, including security and military affairs, will help to enhance mutual trust and positive interaction in the future," he said. Porn Star Tasha Reign Talks Sex And Her Favorite Co-Stars Adult Star Tasha Reign Talks About Her Favorite Co-Stars & Her First Group Love Experience The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. Welcome to Just The Tip, AskMen's weekly series where we interview the greatest adult entertainers to get their sex tips and understand why they are so successful. Call it the tip of the iceberg, if you will. This week, we had the pleasure of speaking to the beautiful Tasha Reign: How did you decide on your porn star name? Great question! I used to dance at a gentleman's club called "Silver Reign" and I thought it was a powerful sounding name. The definition of reign: hold royal office; rule as king or queen. Also Tasha was sexy and my friends and mom said it was cute too, so it all just came together! Where can our readers follow you online? They can follow me on twitter @tashareign and Instagram (because someone swindled my name) @tashareigndotcom, also on my personal site www.TashaReign.com. Love my hair & makeup by @thenickihunter for @elegantangelxxx ? #makeup #la #model #shoot A photo posted by Tasha Reign (@tashareigndotcom) on Dec 5, 2016 at 10:51am PST Who is *your* favorite porn star? (male or female) My favorite adult film stars are Jesse Jane, Riley Steele, and Jessica Drake. Sorry I cannot choose just one; they are all so great! What's your best porn memory/experience? Ahhh I have so many. My best porn experiences have been derived from traveling. Especially to New Zealand I love the rain forest and beaches there, Hobbiton and all the magic that that country has to offer! What sex lesson do you wish porn co-stars knew? Interesting question. My porn co-stars know more about sex than any "civilian" I have ever hooked up with. That is because sex is our craft! However, sometimes the male talent can be a little rough and they are so well endowed that it's important to communicate to them your likes and dislikes in advance! Because sometimes I want to lay in bed and be a #koala ? #bear with @garysantosphoto #babe #ballerina #tbt full photos from this set on tashareign.com A photo posted by Tasha Reign (@tashareigndotcom) on Dec 1, 2016 at 5:05pm PST What porn move did you wish regular guys knew? I wish regular men knew how important going down on women was. It is key in maintaining a relationship with me duh. Also, I wish they could last longer and treat sex as a priority and a sanctified event, and not just a way to cum! What is the most important foreplay move for you? I love a great massage. Any man I have dated knows that five minutes into a massage I am ready to go but I am usually ready to go already :) What is your favorite sex toy? I love my Hitachi too much, some would say. I have heard the funniest stories about boyfriends of actresses locking their plug to their girlfriend's hitachi because she was to addicted to it. It can be a numbing feeling for sure. One day I will give it up... one day... What's on your bucket list? Next month, Elegant Angel is shooting my very first gangbang! With all my favorite performers. The content will be in my movie Hard Reign 2 and on my site www.tashareign.com. I am beyond excited. It has been on my bucket list forever! Finally, anything to promote? I would like to promote happiness, gratitude, love, and goodness... but other than that, check out my weekly articles on Galore and my new radio show. RELATED: Check Out Tasha Reign's Exclusive Web Store Here #TGIF am I right?! ??????#Reigndeer schools out! A photo posted by Tasha Reign (@tashareigndotcom) on Nov 11, 2016 at 12:05pm PST A photo posted by Tasha Reign (@tashareigndotcom) on Oct 30, 2016 at 11:32pm PDT AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use. China will build 10 innovation demonstration zones during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), according to a newly published development plan. The State Council Information Office held a news conference on Wednesday, at which Xu Nanping, vice-minister of science and technology, gave a brief introduction to the Development Plan for China's Innovation Demonstration Zones in response to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The agenda was formed by all 193 members of the United Nations at a summit in September last year, with the goal of ending poverty and promoting shared economic prosperity, social development and environmental protection worldwide by 2030. President Xi Jinping attended the UN summit and adopted the agenda on behalf of China. China released a national plan for the implementation of the agenda a year later. "This new development plan on innovation demonstration zones is an embodiment of China's actions to honor its commitments," Xu said. "Building innovation demonstration zones can stimulate the vitality of innovation in social development and environmental protection, as well as bring new momentum to economic growth and promote the coordinated development of the economy, society and environment," he said. Xu used the example of straw utilization to illustrate the importance of innovation in both economic and social development. "We have more than 800 million tons of straw at our disposal, which could either be new food resources or garbage, depending on the way we use it. That is where innovation demonstration zones can play an important role in connecting global innovation strengths and local governments to create systematic solutions," he said. Qiu Xiaoqi, Chinese ambassador to Mexico, wrote in an article that China has taken the lead in sustainable development, from adopting the UN agenda to releasing an implementation plan, earlier this year. Heavy smog in many cities in China has resulted in a massive delay in courier services from major express delivery companies. According to a preliminary estimate of Alibaba's logistics affiliate, Cainiao.com, about 40 to 50 million items would be delayed due to traffic controls implemented during the latest surge of smog. The company said on Wednesday that traffic controls have been imposed on highways in a number of provinces, especially in Hebei province, and that most highways from Hebei to Beijing were closed. Parcels delivered to or from the two regions and surrounding areas would be delayed by up to one day. It said the affected areas include Tianjin municipality and the provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. Most other courier services also posted notices on their websites announcing possible delays. SF Express, one of China's leading delivery companies, said on Tuesday that deliveries are estimated to be delayed by between half a day and two days as highways were closed and flights were canceled in many regions including Beijing and Tianjin municipalities as well as Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. Yunda Express also announced possible delays for deliveries in Beijing, Tianjin and most cities in Hebei province. Ma Qinghui, a courier working for STO Express, said all parcels weighing more than 3 kilograms will not be sent out immediately after they are collected from clients due to smog related traffic problems. Any parcel under 3 kg will be sent out normally, he said. A courier working for Best Express said he is working as usual. "My company handed out masks for everybody. We collect items for delivery as usual and send them to the destinations as usual," he said, preferring not to be identified. Hou Liangyi, a food courier working for Baidu's food delivery service, Waimai, said that food delivery in the city is unaffected. According to Global Times, five lawyers in China have filed three separate lawsuits against the governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province for allegedly failing to combat air pollution in the region. The lawyers, Cheng Hai and Xu Wensheng from Beijing; Lu Tingge and Li Weida from Hebei; and Ma Wei from Tianjin claim the three respective local governments have not performed their duties in combating air pollution, and demanded State compensation in addition to 9,999 yuan ($1,440) for mental suffering as well as for air filter masks, the report said. Contact the writers at zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn and hewei@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 12/22/2016 page5) Zhang Yuanchao (C) and his classmates at a middle school in Huizhou, Guangdong province, Dec 22, 2016. [Photo/VCG] Zhang Yuanchao, a 15-year-old boy in Guangdong province who suffers from cerebral palsy, receives help from his generous classmates every day. Zhang used to travel to Shenzhen and Guangzhou to undergo rehabilitation treatment. He wasn't able to walk until he was 6 years old. After turning 8, he finally began to attend school like other kids. His school performance was strong, and he began to livestream himself playing online games in July, attracting more than 2,300 fans. Since being admitted to a local middle school in September, Zhang has received extra help and attention from his classmates.Almost all 45 students in his class have lent him a hand at one time or another. Some help him to the restroom; some keep him company during breaks; some carry his schoolbag on the way to the classroom. According to his classmates, Zhang is a delightful companion to all. Zhang's mother expressed relief and gratitude for the efforts made by the students and teachers at Zhang's school. Premier Li Keqiang extended his condolences on Wednesday in a telegraph to German Chancellor Angela Merkel following the Christmas market terror attack in Berlin. The premier said he was shocked by the deadly terrorist attack on Monday that claimed the lives of 12 people and injured 49 others. On behalf of the Chinese government, Li expressed his sincere condolences to the victims' families and expressed his wishes that those injured would make a speedy and full recovery. China firmly supports Germany's endeavors to fight terrorism and safeguard its national security, the premier said. China is also willing to work with Germany and the international community to safeguard peace and security by strengthening cooperation in this field, he added. The atrocity took place on Monday night when a lorry ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin. The IS-linked Amaq news agency said "a soldier of the Islamic State" carried out the atrocity. The prime suspect remains at large. The attack came at a sensitive time for Merkel who is running for a fourth term in 2017 but has been criticized, by some, over her decision to open the country's borders to refugees. A senior public procurator has reiterated Guangdong province's zero tolerance approach to corruption after 46 prefecture-level Party and government officials were investigated in the first 11 months of this year. Yang Guangbo, deputy director of Guangdong High People's Procuratorate's anti-corruption division, said public procurators across the province will continue to spare no efforts in fighting corruption at all levels. "Even though we have already achieved much, public procurators will never lower their vigilance to ensure the clean and honest operation of government," he told a news conference in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, on Thursday afternoon. According to Yang, the province's public procurators investigated 1,309 major corruption cases involving 202 county-level or higher Party and government officials between January and November. "More than 69.42 million yuan ($10 million) worth of economic losses was retrieved and turned over to the treasury after the suspects were investigated," he said. Senior Party and government officials to be investigated for corruption in Guangdong this year include Li Qing, former director-general of Guangdong provincial environmental protection department, Jiang Wenfu, former Party chief of Guangdong Medical University, and Xie Liang, former deputy general manager of Guangdong Rising Assets Management Co. Li was investigated in April on suspicion of accepting bribes valued at more than 22 million yuan from 2004 to 2012, and has now been transferred to Shenzhen Intermediate Peoples' Court for prosecution. Jiang was investigated in May on suspicion of taking bribes valued at more than 2 million yuan, while in office and will be prosecuted by Foshan Intermediate People's Court. Xie, meanwhile, is accused of embezzling more than 21 million yuan in public funds and taking bribes worth more than 500,000 yuan between 2009 and 2014. A court in Zhongshan has yet to pass a verdict on the latter case after a public hearing was organized on Sept 22. Russia, Turkey and Iran cast themselves as the essential dealmakers in Syria on Tuesday, saying at a meeting in Moscow that their cooperation could pave the way for a future settlement in Syria. The meeting of foreign and defense ministers reflected a shared interest in brokering a compromise. The talks come a day after the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, but Moscow and Ankara vowed that the attack wouldn't hurt their rapprochement. A chartered flight carrying the body of Karlov landed in Moscow on Tuesday. Moon Hong-nam, a pastry chef in Seoul, needs at least 15,000 eggs a day to bake cakes, but after South Korea's worst outbreak of bird flu and a surge in the prices of eggs, he is considering changing his menu. "We can ride it out through Christmas with what (supplies) we have secured," said Moon, who works at the LeSCARGOT bakery in the city. "But if (bird flu) continues until January, we will have to raise prices inevitably and make bakery items that do not need eggs." About 20 million birds, nearly a quarter of South Korea's poultry stock, have been culled to control the outbreak. Most of the birds culled are egg-laying hens. Richard Taylor (center) demonstrates how to turn an audience member into a Hobbit character within 30 minutes. [Photo provided to China Daily] When Sun Lijun visited Wellington-based Weta Workshop in New Zealand 10 years ago, he was impressed by a prop of a sophisticated bow that felt like a real metal bow. The visit thus has pushed the vice-president of Beijing Film Academy to work actively on film-related joint projects of China and New Zealand. In the past few years, the Beijing academy has sent students to work and get trained at Weta Workshop every year. The workshop is known for its productions of props, weapons, makeup and visual effects for film franchises like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Sun says China is short of such kind of talent in its film market. The situation in China is that they spend a lot on buying software and systems from Hollywood, but few are able to make full use of them, resulting in a big waste and little change for China's film production. At the opening of a visual arts show on Dec 13, in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province, Sun and his peers launched a project to cooperate with the New Zealand company. Every year, they will send some young Chinese eager to study the craft at Weta Workshop, and fund their works. Richard Taylor, the owner of Weta Workshop, says he has been in China doing manufacturing for Chinese movies for eight years. "We want to work for more Chinese movies," says Taylor, adding that his team also has worked with the People's Liberation Army Academy of Arts since President Xi Jinping visited New Zealand in 2014. Chinese art troupe perform traditional dance of the Dai ethnic group in Vientiane, Laos, Dec 19, 2016. [Photo/Chinaculture.org] A cultural art troupe from Southwest China's Yunnan province brought their unique culture to Laos through dazzling dancing, acrobatic and magic shows on Monday. The elaborately choreographed show was performed at the Lao National Culture Hall in Vientiane, attended by over 1,000 audience members. It was organized by the Laos Cultural Center and the Yunnan provincial culture department. Visitors get a close look at the characters from fantasy films at the show The Future of the Visual Arts in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to China Daily] An exhibition unveils the secrets behind Oscar-winning special effects, Deng Zhangyu reports from Wuzhen, Zhejiang. Welcome to the fantasy land where characters from "Middle Earth", such as the wizard Gandalf, the Elf prince and the Hobbit Gollum, break into an ancient water town in East China, together with Dr Grordbort, with lots of ray guns from the future world. An ongoing show, The Future of the Visual Arts, in the small town of Wuzhen in Zhejiang province, presents the magical world of The Lord of The Rings, a sci-fi film franchise, set in a landscape with a history of 1,300 years. It's aimed to inspire Chinese young people engaged in the visual effects of the film industry, according to its organizers, the Weta Workshop in New Zealand and 421 Studio in China. Large sculptures Weta Workshop designed for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are displayed at a silk factory that has been transformed into an art zone since 2014. The show continues through May. Gandalf the Grey stands at the entrance of the water town, with colorful lanterns glittering above his head. In the distance, Smaug, a powerful dragon from The Hobbit films, looks into wooden houses inhabited not by those from the "Middle Earth" but the local Chinese. "It's a good clash with the environment," Richard Taylor, co-founder of Weta Workshop, says of the contrast between the futurist exhibits and the old-world charm of Wuzhen. Visitors look at a painting by Nathan Slate Joseph at Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Singapore [Photo/Courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery] If you want to be a successful art dealer in 2016, forget sitting in your gallery waiting for customers to come in and instead embrace a global, connected strategy. That's the key message from entrepreneur Sundaram Tagore, whose galleries in New York, Singapore and Hong Kong showcase contemporary art from around the world. For Tagore, a global strategy means following art fairs from continent to continent, riding the rising wave of online sales, offering an increasingly eclectic range of international art and artists, staging pop-up exhibitions in major capitals and turning the traditional gallery visit into a lifestyle experience. With the critical art fair season going into full swing, he's about to embark on a frenetic travel schedule that will take him to Miami, Singapore, Palm Beach, New York, Dubai and finally Hong Kong for the 2017 Art Basel fair, to be held from March 23 to 25. New York has been home for Tagore since he completed his art studies and joined the bohemian art scene in the city's Soho district of the 1980s, befriending leading post-war art figures including Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg. Tagore opened his first Soho gallery in 2000 Rauschenberg threw a party to celebrate and he already looks back on it as a distant era. "The art world back then was located in a physical space," he recalls. "If you had an art gallery, as a gallerist you sat in the gallery and waited for a client to come in." So how has the art market changed? "As the world has flattened especially in the context of how the art market functions people from New York travel to Hong Kong during auction and art fair season, and vice versa. Mainland Chinese collectors will end up in Miami and at European art fairs," explains Tagore. "The easiest way to consume art is through art fairs or online, so the old school brick-and-mortar type of gallery can't be your only point of access. The internet has become a very important dissemination and consumption channel. You have to have an understanding of how people view and buy art, which these days includes phones and tablets." It's a view backed up by the numbers. Art sales totalled $63.8 billion globally in 2015, down 7 per cent from 2014, according to a report published earlier this year by The European Fine Art Foundation. However, online sales bucked the trend and rose by 7 per cent, reaching almost $5 billion. Technology is also set to impact how people view and buy art. "If we mount an exhibition in New York, thanks to virtual reality a collector will be able to walk through the gallery anywhere else in the world," says Tagore. "It will allow collectors to make a much better judgment in buying a particular piece because they will be able to 'walk' around it and look at it from all angles." Tagore also says the old days of monocultural offerings are over. "You are no longer showing artists from just one country but from 18, 20, 30 different countries if you are a big enough gallery." He also believes that galleries today must offer a full lifestyle experience, including conferences, lectures, visits to working artists' studios and art tours to different parts of the world. "Galleries must take on a multifaceted role as the bricks-and-mortar role changes and dissolves, they must take up a new position." Increasing globalisation has also revealed marked differences in how artists work. "A lot of artists in the West, for instance, are very interested in producing paintings. But in Asia and some of the emerging markets, or with developing artists, they tend to produce installations and other forms of art that require manufacturing," he says. "Collectors' tastes have evolved we get a new set of eyes every 20 years and art has lost its definition as something you put on the wall." However the market adapts to changing tastes and technologies, Tagore says there is one fundamental principle that shouldn't be forgotten. "It is of paramount importance that we can come face to face with a work of art and have that chemical, primal reaction. That way, we can directly experience what the artist intended." Models for Eve show off the brand's new collections with embroidery patterns inspired from ethnic Miao works in Jidao village, Guizhou province. [Photo provided to China Daily] Chinese fashion brand Eve takes inspiration from the Miao group to add a rare touch to its products. This, in turn, is helping an old tradition survive. Sun Yuanqing reports. Tucked away in the mountains, Jidao village is a three-hour drive from Guiyang, the provincial capital of Guizhou province. Here, the ethnic Miao people maintain their traditional lifestyle. They live in wooden houses, preserve meat in early winter and hold gatherings at the riverside to remember their ancestors every year. On the face of it, all this might seem to have no connection with high fashion, but the community has been a source of inspiration for many designers and fashion houses, including fashion brand Eve. The Chinese brand recently made a trip to the village to make an advertising campaign for its 2017 spring/summer collection, which features Miao embroidery. Inspired by the sea, the collection features shades of blue on its suits, sweaters and coats. A smattering of embroidery adorns the classic suit silhouette. The women's collection includes sleek qipao (traditional Chinese women's dress) and dresses that highlight nature-inspired embroidery. While traditional Miao embroidery is intricate, Wu Chaohui, creative director of Eve's menswear line, says the brand has simplified it to cater to customers' modern-day needs. "Traditional Miao embroidery is usually very rich and exaggerated, while modern menswear is understated. So we try to use it (the embroidery) in a selective, moderated way," he says. "We want to revive this heritage by offering it to an urban clientele, and we hope this tradition will live on." A delegation of 20 teachers and students from the Third Middle School of Russia Novosibirsk Science City visited Karamay from Nov 26 to Dec 3. Its the third time that that middle school has sent a delegation to Karamay to facilitate educational exchanges since it established sister schools with Karamay Sixth Middle School in 2010. During the one-week exchange, Russian students partnered with local students from Karamay Sixth Middle School. They attended music, art and PE classes, and visited the Karamay Youth Center of Science and Education to get a general understanding of Chinese martial arts, paper-cutting and technologies. Students from the Third Middle School of Russia Novosibirsk Science City learn paper-cutting with students from Karamay Sixth Middle School during their visit to the Karamay Youth Center of Science and Education. [Photo/kelamayi.com.cn] Maksim, a student from the Third Middle School of Russia Novosibirsk Science City, said he used to take Chinese lessons at the Russian Confucius Institute and was keen to learn more of the language and culture. Im so excited to attend classes with so many Chinese friends. It helps me improve my Chinese and learn more Chinese culture. And I like this city so much and people here are quite friendly. I hope I can have more chances to study here, he said. According to an educational cooperation agreement between Karamay education bureau and Russia Novosibirsk education bureau, schools including Karamay Sixth Middle School, the Third Middle School of Russia Novosibirsk Science City and the Fifth Middle School of Russia Novosibirsk Iskitim City will send delegations of teachers and students to sister schools for friendly exchanges. Edited by Jacob Hooson Beijing has warmly welcomed Sao Tome and Principe's decision to sever "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan, praising the West Africa country for returning to the correct path of recognizing one China. Since the move means there are now only 21 countries and governments still maintaining official ties with the island, and it signals another blow for the pro-independence maneuverings of the Democratic Progressive Party on the island, it is not surprising that the DPP has bemoaned the move. Unlike her predecessor, Kuomintang leader Ma Ying-jeou, who recognized the 1992 Consensus on the principle of one China, DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen has tried to avoid acknowledging the agreement there is only one China. This obscurantism has strained cross-Straits ties and limited the room for any meaningful exchanges between the two sides. And while claiming to support the status quo that existed under her predecessor, the phone call she and US president-elect Donald Trump engineered as a petty political gambit to challenge the principle of one China, has shown there can be no doubting this is not the case. It is unwise for Tsai to try and cling to the shirttail of the president-in-waiting's pre-office attempts to gain an upper hand in his country's dealings with Beijing, since Trump said he fully understands the situation. The unsolicited comment by a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday that France is committed to the principle of the unity of China and its stance is "constant and unambiguous" shows countries realize one China is not something that can be used as a bargaining chip to gain benefits from Beijing. Indeed, the principle of one China was acknowledged by the United Nations in 1971 in Resolution 2758, which recognized the People's Republic of China as "the only legitimate representative of China". That has now become the prevailing consensus worldwide. Over the years, Beijing has demonstrated ample goodwill to Taipei, in the form of trade and economic deals, and cross-Straits exchanges. It has never tried to block the island's access to any international organization whose membership requires no statehood. After all, people in Taiwan and the mainland are "brothers connected by flesh even if our bones are broken". But all this has been made possible by the island upholding the principle there is only one China. Those remaining 21 countries and governments still maintaining official ties with the island should follow the advice French Foreign Minister Jean Marc Ayrault offered Trump, and show more "responsibility" to the true and accepted principle of one China. A woman talks with a salesman at a property market fair in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.[Photo/China Daily] The real estate markets in China's major cities are showing signs of cooling down, as indicated by the housing price data recently published by the National Bureau of Statistics. Such a positive trend is the result of the strict regulatory measures adopted since late September. However, it is still an uphill task for the government to really realize the target that "houses are built for inhabitation, not for speculation", which the central government stressed at the just-concluded Central Economic Work Conference. Whether the regulatory measures adopted by the authorities will check realty speculation remains to be seen. Considering land sales have long remained a major source of fiscal revenue for local governments, they usually have an ambivalent approach toward real estate regulations that reduce the demand for land and thus they are reluctant to take substantial measures to crack down on housing prices as that may result in a decline in their land sale revenues. Therefore, the central government should consider how to strike a balance among the different interest groups in order to ensure rational real estate markets, and it should push for the establishment of a complete registry of properties nationwide to identify who owns them and identify uninhabited houses so as to implement a property tax system targeted at real estate speculation. At the same time, the financial deleveraging campaign for the property sector should be substantially advanced to ensure no speculative funds flow to the real estate market and fuel irrational price rises. An unnamed gunman gestures after shooting the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, at a photo gallery in Ankara, Turkey, Dec 19, 2016. [Photo/IC] On Monday, a Turkish policeman shot dead Russia's ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov. Both Moscow and Ankara condemned Karlov's assassination, saying the act was an attempt to thwart efforts to repair bilateral ties, which had been strained because of the two countries' support for opposing sides in the Syrian civil war. Despite being condemned by the United States and the United Nations, the assassination partly reflects the tense relations between Russia and the West. That Turkey being a NATO member and part of the United States-led campaign against the Islamic State group have further complicated the Russia-West ties. This year has been bumpy for Russia-West relations. In his televised state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow hopes to normalize ties with Washington and is ready to jointly tackle global challenges such as terrorism if its interests are respected. But relations between Russia and the West have remained tense since the Crimea crisis in 2014. There is good news, though, as Russia-Japan relations are beginning to thaw even though no major breakthroughs have been achieved. Besides, some European Union member states have hinted at improving relations with Russia after having followed the US to impose harsh economic sanctions on Moscow. And with Donald Trump being sworn in as the US president next month, one can expect US-Russia relations, if not West-Russia relations, to improve, even if partly, as Trump has said he wants better ties with Moscow. This is not the first time Putin has said he hopes to improve relations with the US, and by default with the West. Putin's diplomatic gesture has a lot to do with the new geopolitical landscape following the United Kingdom's vote to break away from the EU, Trump's victory in the US presidential election and the rise of right-wing politicians in the EU. Traditionally, it has been easier for Russia to deal with a Republican-led US administration while Democratic presidents like Barack Obama have tended to act tough with Moscow. So one can hope Trump, as US president, will possibly improve US-Russia ties, but disparities over the two countries' core interests will remain. It is too early to say what will be impact of the rise of right-wing forces in Europe on Russia-EU ties. Admittedly, the opposition parties in Italy and Austria, which now have a greater chance of winning the impending leadership elections in the two countries, have professed interest in improving relations with Russia, many Europeans are yet to accept Crimea's inclusion into Russia, a region which they say belongs to Ukraine. The clash between Russia and the West is rooted in their different ideologies and cultures. The two sides have contrasting views on the world order. Considering Russia to be the losing side in the Cold War, the West has denied it a decisive say in making international rules, while Russia demands to be treated as equal to the US when it comes to global affairs. A possible change in Russia-West ties could also help ease Russia-NATO tensions, which have escalated as a result of the Ukraine crisis. On its part, Russia should be motivated to move closer to the EU while seeking to improve its ties with the US, because it is more dependent on the EU market, technologies and funds than the other way round, and Russia-EU cooperation is likely to generate more pragmatic, tangible benefits for Moscow. The author is deputy director of the Center for Russian Studies at the East China Normal University in Shanghai. The article is an excerpt from his interview with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng. CAI MENG/CHINA DAILY In the six months since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the impact on EU's economy has been barely noticeable. A small dip in economy-wide confidence in July and August quickly reversed, and a modest recovery across the region has continued uninterrupted. Looking forward, indicators of activity even suggest that business activity is picking up. However, economic and political risks are likely to intensify next year, once the UK government formally begins the process of withdrawing from the EU. In the UK, the Brexit negotiations will generate uncertainty about the short- and medium-term economic outlook for the country. Combined with a sharp rise in costs stemming from the pound's depreciation in 2016, this is likely to result in a slump in domestic demand and a slowdown in the pace of economic growth in 2017. For Europe, the projected economic slowdown in the UK will undermine export revenue in countries with the largest trade exposures, notably Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Cyprus. Most other EU countries have modest trade ties with the UK, but those with foreign direct investment in the UK or close links to its banking sector may also be adversely affected, including Cyprus, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Greece and Spain. Overall, the short-term economic fallout from Brexit will be modest for the EU. The UK's departure from the EU will exacerbate weaknesses that have been holding back the region's economic recovery in recent years, particularly as EU leaders turn their attention away from domestic issues, such as reform efforts, and focus on negotiations with the UK. But the political ramifications for the EU of Brexit have the potential to be much greater. The Brexit process will get under way at a time of heightened political risks in the EU, providing the backdrop to important popular votes in which anti-establishment forces are challenging the mainstream political parties. In the Netherlands parliamentary elections in March, the far-right Freedom Party of Geert Wilders is expected to do well, potentially becoming one of the largest parties in parliament, although it is unlikely to be part of the next government. Although we (at The Economist Intelligence Unit) do not think far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen will win France's presidential election in 2017, the risk of this outcome has increased significantly. Even in Germany, where populism has been a less potent force than elsewhere on the continent, support for the far-right Alternative for Germany has surged over the past 18 months and the party is on course to win enough votes in the federal election in September/October 2017 to gain seats in the Bundestag. In Britain's EU referendum, the majority of voters defied the political establishment by opting to leave the EU. The Brexit vote could embolden populist challenges across the EU, where similar factors are driving voter disaffection with the political elite. It is clear that Britain is not alone in this respect. Britain may always have had one foot in and one foot out of the EU and Euroskepticism has been around a lot longer, but it has become increasingly clear in recent years that voter disaffection across the European continent is being driven by declining trust in government institutions, parties and politicians and a growing gap between the values espoused by political elites and large swathes of the electorate. This disaffection is directed not only against national political elites, but increasingly against the EU's supranational institutions. The Brexit vote has now opened the door to Euroskeptic politicians in the EU to ask their electorates to consider life outside the EU. Demand in other European countries for referendums on EU membership may increase next year. For China, the political and economic fallout of Brexit will be relatively small in 2017. Bilateral trade ties with the UK are minuscule, accounting for only 2 percent of China's total external trade. The EU is China's largest export market, but we expect only a limited impact on demand in the region from a projected economic slowdown in the UK. China's investment ties with the UK are stronger than its trade ties, especially in the UK's property market. The pound's depreciation since the vote has also shaken assumptions about long-term UK investments in fields such as infrastructure, which was earlier seen as offering stable, dependable returns. The UK has been one of the main proponents of closer trade ties between the EU and China, and so the loss of the UK as a supportive voice for China within the EU could be a blow for Beijing. However, the Brexit vote and populist tumult across the EU will add to the bloc's difficulty in forming a united front on any given policy, which may offer China opportunities to advance its own policy preferences. Whatever the opportunities the splits within EU offer, the underlying message for China seems to be negative. As in the United States, the mood is turning against globalization in the EU. In the end, that is going to be damaging for China as it seeks access to export markets and opportunities for outbound investments. The author is an analyst for Europe at The Economist Intelligence Unit. A worker at a steel company in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, in January 2015.[Photo/China Daily] Editor's Note: This week we are presenting a year-end review of the global economy, China's economy, society and diplomacy, and the international situation. Today, four researchers review the international situation and give their predictions for next year. Shock waves generated by "black swan" events have been and are still being felt by the world. Targeted against the West-led globalization, they started with the United Kingdom voting to break away from the European Union, and helped Donald Trump to win the United States presidential election in November. Recently, the Republic of Korea parliament voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye, marking a turning point in the country's politics and fueling concerns that the "only certainties are uncertainties" in today's world. The world is in consistent transition, a process that may continue into the 2030s, even the 2040s, according to the 2010 Global Strategic Trends issued by the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Center of the UK. The major challenges facing the economies across the world include climate change, increasing population, resource shortage, and the shifting of power from the West to the East. More important, the West-led globalization seems to be going downhill. Western powers like the US and the UK are no longer able to provide enough public goods to the international community, nor can the emerging economies immediately fill the void. That, to some extent, has caused turbulence across economies. The extensive use of mass media, too, has dealt a blow to the authority of governments and mainstream elite values. From a middle-term perspective, the dominance of neo-liberalism in the post-Cold War era is responsible for many of today's problems. It has not just widened the income gap in a number of economies but also led to high unemployment in the manufacturing sector of Western countries because of excessive outsourcing. As such, Brexit, bitter and counterproductive as it might be, represents the will of many anti-elite voters who are worried about more than just the refugee crisis in Europe. Even after eight years, the world has not overcome the impact of the global financial crisis. And that has contributed to people's resentment against globalization. The rise of populism in some advanced economies and opposition to globalization have a lot to do with the shrinking middle class and rising unemployment among youths. Despite the global financial crisis, many governments refused to accept the disconnect between international economic and political situations and thus didn't even try to reform their institutions to meet the challenges of economic globalization. The West's arduous efforts to promote "universal values" and Western democracy have, in fact, backfired. The privileged few in the US have managed to tighten their grip on the country's wealth and power, misleading the underdogs to oppose globalization and wrongly make China the scapegoat for the US' economic woes. The EU has been struggling to tide over the financial and sovereignty debt crises, and to solve the political and social problems created by the influx of refugees from the Middle East. And the fact that the EU has been hit hard by terrorism in the past few years has cast a shadow over the fate of globalization. It is thus clear that in these trying circumstances, the world needs a more inclusive, balanced and open economic globalization, as proposed by China and other emerging economies. The author is a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China. South Koreans hold candles during a rally against President Park Geun-Hye on a main street in Seoul, South Korea, 26 November 2016. [Agencies] Transfer in South Korea of presidential power from the ruling bloc to the opposition is expected to cause a dramatic change in the country's diplomacy and policy toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), experts here said. "Depending on who is elected in (next) presidential election, (South) Korea's foreign policy will obviously get different (in consequence)," Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday. Moon Jae-in, former chairman of the biggest opposition Minjoo Party who is now the frontrunner in recent presidential polls, is forecast to consider the re-opening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex if he is elected, the expert on security and diplomacy said. The inter-Korean factory park in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong was unilaterally shut down by South Korea in retaliation for Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January and the launch in February of a long-range rocket, which Seoul saw as a disguised test of a long-range missile. Moon is former chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun who had inherited a "sunshine policy," or rapprochement approach to its northern neighbor, from his predecessor late President Kim Dae-jung. Both Roh and Kim held summit talks with late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il. South Korean President Park Geun-hye and his predecessor President Lee Myung-bak adopted a so-called "strategic patience" on the DPRK's nuclear issue, which had done little to encourage Pyongyang to return to a dialogue table and had used pressures and sanctions alone. Early presidential race is expected to come as President Park was impeached on Dec. 9 in the parliament with an overwhelming support. The constitutional court has up to 180 days to deliberate, and a presidential election must be held within 60 days if the impeachment is justified. The transfer of power to the opposition bloc could bring about not a few alterations in the country's foreign and security policies as ruling and opposition parties approach those issues from different perspectives. If the ruling bloc wins back the presidency, there would be no big transformation in South Korea's DPRK policy, said the research fellow who forecast the inter-Korean relations would be a big issue in the upcoming presidential race. Conservative voters here traditionally favor a hard-line policy toward the DPRK, while liberal voters tend to support the sunshine policy to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula and increase exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas. The opposition bloc, the expert said, has made out its case for the re-examination or the stop of the deployment of a U.S. missile shield in South Korean soil, the signing of the military intelligence pact with Japan and the agreement with Japan on comfort women victims. He advised the next South Korean administration to consider both positions of China opposing to the THAAD deployment as well as of the United States and Japan which are concerned about the re-examination of their agreements with South Korea. Under the Park Geun-hye administration, Seoul and Washington announced their plan in July to install one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in southeastern South Korea by the end of next year despite strong oppositions from China and Russia. South Korea signed the accord with Japan on Nov. 23 to exchange military intelligence on the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs despite strong objections here to such deal with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe-led cabinet which has yet to apologize for past brutalities during its 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Seoul also reached a "final and irreversible" agreement last December with Tokyo on the victims of comfort women, a euphemism for Korean women who were lured or forced into sexual slavery for the Imperial Japan's military brothels before and during the World War . The frail comfort women victims and advocate groups have held a rally every Wednesday in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul to protest against the agreement and demand Japan's sincere apology and its acknowledgement of legal responsibility. Dr. Mark Greeven, Associate Professor at the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy Department of Zhejiang University, was attending a conference. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Editors Note: In a long-ranging interview with China Daily website, Dr. Mark Greeven, Associate Professor at the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy Department of Zhejiang University, School of Management, discussed advantages and challenges faced by Chinese companies going abroad. He suggested that Chinese companies exploring foreign markets need to adapt their business models to local business environments. As the One Belt One Road initiative rolls out, many Chinese corporations are stepping up to co-finance, invest or contract projects with local companies along the Silk Road, while investors tend to be more worried about localizing projects and financial risks. Could you give some suggestions to Chinese companies to deal with this? We are talking about investment and companies, and it actually depends on what kind of investment. While the public-private partnerships (PPP) have raised the most interest along One Belt One Road, most of the investors are governments or business owners, entrepreneurs, rather than venture capital or private equity investors. Chinese private risk capital is just starting to go abroad and invest into markets like US, Israel, Western Europe and India. I think the most important question is whether they have developed a comprehensive understanding of the local market. Many countries along the One Belt One Road Initiative are relatively unknown and unfamiliar, especially considering the fact that many Chinese companies and investors have limited experience to begin with. They need to understand the local market better, collaborate with local partners, such as local companies, governments or investors, with a purpose to further mitigate business and financial risks. Chinese investors, particularly government or business owners, should be careful in choosing projects. So its important thinking less about making money quickly, but more about long-term gains, especially considering the significant differences compared to doing business in China. You've said in the past that Chinese companies are held back by their general business approach. Many Chinese tech business models are built around an ecosystem of companies, products and technologies. These ecosystems are mostly localized, giving room for speed, flexibility and experimentation. But the challenge is then trying to build them abroad. How can companies adjust their strategies and explore mature markets in western countries? These business approaches of Chinese internet companies such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi and LeEco, are working well in China because they are developed right from and for the Chinese market. Once these companies go abroad, they must also adapt to the foreign business environment, just like foreign companies need to adapt to the Chinese market. There are basically two approaches. They could also use the current way to build an ecosystem, but build it abroad, maybe by merger and acquisition, investment, partnership, collaboration. The example could be LeEco. They have recently expanded their US operations, while at the same time they are also facing challenges. Of course, it is possible to build a similar ecosystem outside of China, but it is not easy and carries considerable risk. For instance, Alibaba has met many other competing ecosystems in the US and Europe, like Amazon, Google and Apple. Alternatively, these internet companies could change their business model. They may start their foreign expansion slower, in a step-by-step approach, like Huawei and Haier, to build up the company, mostly via green field investments and deeper understanding of the local market. This strategic approach is more organic and less aggressive with more strategic control of the operation abroad but at the same time it is much slower. Generally speaking, exploring mature markets may not be as fast as in China and Chinese companies, including internet companies, should be aware of the wide diversity of European markets and consumer behavior, let alone other markets. You've also noted that western customers tend to hold negative views on Chinese products, could you analyze the reasons behind this phenomenon? Three decades ago, Chinese products did not have a good reputation for quality. While recently the quality of Chinese products is improving, many western consumers have not yet recognized that because many of these products do not have a Chinese brand (or recognition thereof) yet, as the majority is still an Original Equipment Manufacturer. It is companies like Huawei and Lenovo that are changing this impression. Secondly, Chinese companies are not particularly good at overseas public relations and communications compared to foreign companies. Chinese companies should better understand the local market, channels and media to improve their brand position and market visibility in an often already saturated local market. The 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos is about to be held. As a scholar from the Netherlands, what topics should be the focus? Chinese leaders will be there, what role do you expect China to play in the global economy next year? Let me put it in this way, Chinese people know more about the world than the rest of the world knows about China. I think one topic that should be discussed during the World Economic Forum should be how China could better connect with the world, how to make more people understand Chinese companies and products, Chinese business models, to further promote economic collaboration, to further promote innovation across the countries. The second topic may be the financial markets. One concern of European countries is that we need a stable RMB. Another concern is the property bubble in the Chinese real estate market, accompanied by domestic control of money flows and easing of foreign investment inflow as we have seen in the last months. At the same time, RMB internationalization and Chinese overseas investment, although growing, appear to be increasingly controlled and constrained by the Chinese government, which may not be a bad thing for Chinas domestic market. But this of course is also of great interest for Europe, especially in the currently unstable global markets. Perhaps this discussion should also be about the presidency of Trump and Sino-US relations. Editors Note: In an interview with China Daily website, Dr. Mark Greeven, Associate Professor at the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy Department of Zhejiang University, School of Management, discussed advantages and challenges faced by foreign companies exploring the Chinese market. He suggests foreign entrepreneurs need to better understand Chinese customers and strengthen connection with various stakeholders and local community. Youve done fruitful work on innovation and entrepreneurship, how do you rate the environment for innovation and entrepreneurship in China compared to other countries? Dr. Mark Greeven[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] I think it is very good. Firstly, the support of the Chinese government is rather extensive, from incubators to subsidies, and a lot of supportive measures to facilitate entrepreneurship and innovation. However, there is much more that makes China a great place for entrepreneurs, including foreign entrepreneurs. Secondly, the wide availability of money in the market, especially venture capital and private equity. In particular, Chinese private risk capital has started to mature and professionalize in the last five years. Thirdly, the Chinese (consumer) market is large and growing. This means that entrepreneurs have possibilities to scale their business. It is a very particular advantage that the Chinese market has; business has room to grow more than in many other countries. Fourthly, the policy and regulation is still changing and upgrading, which may mean new opportunities. Industries like internet finance, digital health and cross border e-commerce, are not fully regulated yet. So it is a good living laboratory for entrepreneurs to try out their business ideas. At the same time, when businesses grow up and industries mature, a better regulated environment in terms of consistency and clarity is desired. Lastly, Chinas environment for entrepreneurship is quite facilitative of building business ecosystems and external partnerships with stakeholders. . It is relatively easy for entrepreneurs to find other partners, resources and investors; especially in cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. In your view, what are the key factors in a foreigner successfully starting a business in China and how can the obstacles be tackled? I do research on foreign entrepreneurs in Shanghai, and also mentor in an incubator to help foreign entrepreneurs to start and grow business in China. I think the first key obstacle for them is to understand Chinese customers, to understand what they really want. The second obstacle is to understand their local competitors; they usually underestimate the competition brought by Chinese companies. The third obstacle is to understand the regulations, the inconsistency and changes of policy. For foreign entrepreneurs, it may take longer to get used to it, while at the start, it may bring challenges especially in certain industries. The fourth obstacle is connecting to local Chinese entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the ecosystem. They often stick to their own foreign community. If they could try to interact more with the local community of Chinese entrepreneurs, they can probably better understand local Chinese customers, competitors and regulations. China is able to develop and produce best civilian helicopters, designer says. China conducted the maiden flight of a new utility helicopter on Tuesday morning in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, which designers said indicates the nation has become a top developer of civilian helicopters. The silver AC352 made a 10-minute flight as hundreds of government and military officials, researchers and workers as well as representatives from Airbus Helicopters watched at Harbin Aircraft Industry Group, a manufacturer of the helicopter. As China's first 7-metric-ton class helicopter, the AC352 was codeveloped by Avicopter, parent company of Harbin Aircraft Industry, and Airbus Helicopters, starting in 2006. The two sides expect to sell about 800 to 1,000 AC352s - which Airbus Helicopters refers to as H175 - over the coming 20 years, with the profit from sales to be split equally, Avicopter officials said. The helicopter has a maximum takeoff weight of 7.5 tons and a cruise speed of 280 kilometers per hour, while its flight range is at least 1,000 km, according to Avicopter. Avicopter said the AC352 is one of the most comfortable and eco-friendly medium-sized helicopters in the world, adding that in addition to two pilots, the helicopter can transport up to 16 passengers. Lu Weijian, chief designer of the AC352 at Avicopter, said his company is responsible for a lot of the helicopter's major components, such as the main rotor and flight control system. "This shows that China is now able to develop and produce the best civilian helicopters," he told reporters after the maiden flight ceremony. "We cooperated with our European partner on this project because both sides believed that such collaboration would make full use of our capabilities, and reduce business and technology risks." Yang Guangchao, project manager of the AC352 at Avicopter, said that Western helicopter giants such as Airbus Helicopters are willing to work with China because it has become a strong player in the helicopter industry. Cao Shengli, general manager of Harbin Aircraft Industry, said the AC352 can carry out multiple operations, such as offshore transport, search and rescue, police patrol and medical air services. He added that the helicopter will be delivered to domestic users around 2018. The European model, the H175, made its maiden flight in December 2009 in France and was certified in January 2014 by the European Aviation Safety Agency. It started to be delivered to buyers in December 2014, according to Airbus Helicopters. However, some technological issues related to the Chinese version's engine resulted in a delay in its test flight, Yang said. The Peninsula Hong Kong - Rolls-Royce Fleet (Night) [Photo/Courtesy of The Peninsula Hotels] "Although we are one of the oldest hotel companies in the world, we don't feel old. We wanted to do something fun and show the heritage of the countries where we're based." Indelibly associated with its fleet of trademark green Rolls-Royces, Hong Kong's highly venerated The Peninsula Hotels group has been breaking with tradition of late by offering guests rides in everything from a bespoke tuk-tuk to its very first Tesla. The man responsible for the change of gear is a genial Londoner, Martin Oxley, who has been in charge of The Peninsula's car fleet for more than 20 years. In the fast-moving and competitive hotel business, The Peninsula, with its 15 Rolls-Royces, still stands alone as the "grand old lady" of Hong Kong hotels. But the group has steadily expanded into new markets and its car fleet is reflecting the changing times all while injecting an element of fun. An undated handout composite made available by German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) on 21 December 2016 shows suspect Anis Amri who is searched for in connection to the 19 December Berlin attacks. [Photo/IC] BERLIN/DUESSELDORF - German police are looking for an asylum-seeker from Tunisia after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of a truck that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market and killed 12 people, officials and security sources said on Wednesday. The federal prosecutor's office offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($104,000) for information leading to the capture of the suspect, whom it identified as 24-year-old Anis Amri. "Beware: He could be violent and armed!" the prosecutor's office said in a statement, in which it described Amri as 1.78 metres (5'8") tall, with black hair and brown eyes. German police commandos raided two apartments in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg late on Wednesday but did not find Amri, Die Welt newspaper reported, citing investigators. Amri's father and security sources told Tunisia's Radio Mosaique that he had left Tunisia seven years ago as an illegal immigrant and had spent time in prison in Italy. In Duesseldorf, Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), said the Tunisian appeared to have arrived in Germany in July 2015 and his asylum application had been rejected. He seemed to have used different names and had been identified by security agencies as being in contact with an Islamist network. He had mainly lived in Berlin since February, but was recently in NRW, Jaeger added. After being turned down for asylum, the man should have been deported but could not be returned to Tunisia because his documents were missing, he said. "Tunisia at first denied that this person was its citizen," said Jaeger, adding that German authorities started the process of getting new identity papers in August 2016. "The papers weren't issued for a long time. They arrived today." A general view shows damage in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria December 13, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] ALEPPO - A Syrian military source told Xinhua Wednesday that the rebel evacuation from eastern Aleppo city in northern Syria is ongoing, as an official at the International Committee of the Red Cross said 30,000 civilians have been evacuated from that part of the city. The rebel evacuation is ongoing till the last rebel leaves eastern Aleppo, said the military source, adding that the army will declare the city free of rebels when the last rebel leaves. The evacuation is part of a deal concluded recently between Russia and Turkey. It included the evacuation of civilians from the Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa, which are besieged by the rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib. It came as the Syrian army was on a crushing offensive against the rebel-held part of Aleppo, which resulted in wresting back control over 99 percent of eastern Aleppo. The evacuation operation has been ongoing since last Thursday, and the rebels were leaving in buses and cars through the Ramouseh crossing south of Aleppo toward rebel-held areas in the southwestern countryside of Aleppo. Meanwhile, Inji Sidki, a Syria-based official at the ICRC, told Xinhua that 30,000 civilians, including those with medical conditions, have been evacuated from eastern Aleppo since last Thursday. She said that the last hospital in eastern Aleppo has become empty, adding that all patients have been evacuated, along with other people in need of urgent medical help. Jim Karygiannis is pleased that the Toronto City Council passed his motion to recognize the Nanjing Massacre on Dec 15. The motion, moved by Karygiannis, councillor for Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt, and seconded by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam on Dec 5, reads as follows: City Council re-affirms its recognition of the Nanjing Massacre and honours the memory of the men, women and children who were massacred. "I want to thank Councillor Wong-Tam for seconding the motion and the mayor and my fellow councillors for passing this motion," said Karygiannis. "Council has recognized the Imperial Japanese Army launched a six-week campaign which saw an estimated 300,000 people, including young children, tortured, raped and murdered." During the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945), on Dec 13, 1937, the Japanese invaders captured Nanjing, the capital city of the Republic of China. Over the following six weeks, they conducted a massacre where an estimated 300,000 people, including young children, were tortured, raped and murdered. "This dark period in history is seldom discussed, yet the legacy of these atrocities lives on in the memories of survivors and it continues to have a deeply-felt impact in many Asian societies, including Toronto's diverse Asian communities," Karygiannis stated in the motion. Councillor Wong-Tam said the vote is ultimately another step toward peace and reconciliation, "not just because Toronto has the largest Chinese-Canadian population in the country, but because it was the right course of action and most Canadian thing to do". "It is important to remember these moments in our shared history," Karygiannis said. "We must remember those who suffered and perished. We must teach our children the violence faced by their ancestors and others. It is only by remembering and teaching the young that we can ensure that these atrocities never happen again." Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Shaun Chen also made a statement on the Nanjing Massacre on Dec 12 at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. "Seventy-nine years ago tomorrow, one of the darkest moments in human history began. Over a six-week period, innocent civilians were raped and killed in China's then capital city of Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War," Chen stated. "Here in Canada, I salute the work of Toronto ALPHA for their efforts to shine light on this forgotten history. Through education, we can teach future generations to never repeat the atrocities of the past, and we will never forget." The Toronto District School Board, the largest school board in North America, passed a unanimous motion encouraging the teaching of the atrocities of the Nanking Massacre and Japanese Military Sexual Slavery in their schools in 2008. MEXICO CITY - The death toll from Tuesday's explosion at a fireworks market near Mexico City climbed to 32, authorities said on Wednesday. The blast at the San Pablito Fireworks Market in Tultepec, in the central State of Mexico, destroyed Mexico's biggest market of its kind during the busy holiday season, just days before Christmas. At a press conference, state government secretary Jose Manzur said the earlier death toll of 26 rose after six of the injured died in the hospital. Some 46 people remain hospitalized with severe burns and other injuries, and arrangements were being made to fly some of the 13 heavily burnt to a specialized hospital in Galveston, of the Texas state of the United States. "Of the five patients we hope to send, one of them, Pamela, has burns on 90 percent of her body and they are trying to stabilize her (condition), but a plane is on standby," said Manzur. Later, the official posted on Twitter that another patient, Juan Carlos, was being flown to the U.S. hospital. The state authorities have pledged to pay for the related medical treatment and funerals. Another 12 people are missing in the fireworks explosion. Rescue teams are still combing the rubble while consulting hospitals where they may have been taken for treatment, Manzur said. The blast nearly destroyed all of the 305 businesses at the market, an area of more than a hectare. Dozens of military troops and police officers have been stationed around the site since Wednesday, as investigators searched the site. There have been people coming to look for missing family members. One of them, Ruben Martinez, said he was searching for his grandmother Eva Baez and his uncle Yazmani Gonzalez, both of whom went out to buy fireworks. British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi in London on Tuesday. [Photo/Agencies] China and the UK have built a solid base on which to continue the "golden era" of their relations in 2017, be it through cultural, economic or trade bonds. True, the tone may be slightly different under Prime Minister Theresa May's administration, compared to the way things were handled under her predecessor, David Cameron, and his avidly pro-China Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Cameron and Osborne did not continue in their roles after losing the referendum about the UK's continued membership of the European Union back in June, and May, who had held the demanding post of Home Secretary under Cameron for six years, took over. Cameron, who famously took President Xi Jinping to his local pub for fish and chips and a pint during the latter's state visit in October 2015, was eager to encourage a better relationship with China, with his political ally and sidekick Osborne active in promoting relations. Just on Tuesday British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson met with visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi in London as part of the 8th China-UK Strategic Dialogue, and they reaffirmed their commitment to the "golden era". Yang went on to meet both May and Chancellor Philip Hammond, another sign that the ever-closer ties between the two countries continues. May is known to be a cautious politician and it was entirely in character for her to take time to bring herself up to speed on such a thorny issue as a French-designed nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset, southwest England, which will carry significant Chinese investment. In the event, the deal passed scrutinyseen by many as a triumph for May's policy as much as China's patient and mature "take your time" attitude. May has indicated the government-backed Northern Powerhouse Partnership, which aims to bring industry and services to Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield, will continue to have government backing. China has also said it supports the idea and there's already huge Chinese infrastructure investment around Manchester Airport, as well as long-term plans to invest in Sheffield. Increasingly, as Britain nears the planned date in March when Brexit is triggered, all eyes will be on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement, which Britain says it favors as a matter of priority. Britain has been unable to strike a deal with China because of its membership of the EU, and the chances of an FTA between China and the EU seem ever remote. Finally, there's the Trump card. The new US president-elect seems intent on picking fights with China. No such tension exists between the UK and China. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying reiterated on Thursday China's opposition to the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in the Republic of Korea, saying that China will take necessary measures to safeguard its security interests. Hua made the remarks in a daily news conference in Beijing after Michael Flynn, whom US president-elect Donald Trump has designated as his national security adviser, commented on the deployment, by the US, of the missile defense system. Flynn was quoted by media outlets in the Republic of Korea as saying on Tuesday that the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is the right decision and shows the firmness of the US-ROK alliance. Hua reiterated that the deployment will seriously damage the regional strategic balance as well as strategic security interests of regional countries including China, and is against the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. "We again urge relevant parties to acknowledge China's reasonable concerns and stop the process of the deployment," Hua said. Trump said during the US presidential election campaign that US allies, Japan and the ROK, should play a greater role in their own defense and suggested that he would be willing to withdraw US troops from the two countries. US president-elect Donald Trump named Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on trade with China, to head the newly formed White House National Trade Council, the transition team said on Wednesday. Navarro, 67, is a professor at University of California, Irvine, who advised Trump during the campaign. His book Death by China: How America Lost Its Manufacturing Base was made into a documentary film. In response to reports of Navarro's appointment, the Foreign Ministry said Beijing is paying close attention to Trump's transition team and the possible direction of policy. "China and the US have broad common interests. It is the only correct choice for the two countries to cooperate," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing. "We hope the US works with China to maintain the healthy, stable development of ties, including business and trade ties." The choice is seen as a prelude to a potential slowdown in US investment in China, according to several Chinese experts, who also cautioned that a trade war could ensue. Chai Yongzhi, a researcher at the Beijing-based China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said Navarro might persuade US companies to slow their investment in China by offering them more attractive terms for investing domestically. "With Navarro's nomination, it won't be easy for China to gain market economy status as stipulated by the World Trade Organization anytime soon," Chai said. In an opinion piece in Foreign Policy magazine in November, Navarro and another Trump adviser, Alexander Gray, reiterated the president-elect's opposition to major trade deals. "Trump will never again sacrifice the US economy on the altar of foreign policy by entering into bad trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement, allowing China into the World Trade Organization and passing the proposed TPP," Navarro and Gray wrote. "These deals only weaken our manufacturing base and ability to defend ourselves and our allies." China has been one of the fastest-growing markets for US exports, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Bilateral trade between China and the US has reached $558.39 billion, making China the largest trade partner for the US, replacing Canada. The US was China's top export market and fourth-largest import market. Yu Jianlong, secretary-general of the China Chamber of International Commerce, said that with the trade surplus, the country doesn't want a trade war with the new US administration. "However, if the US keeps imposing inadequate trade remedy investigations on Chinese products, the country would have no choice but to confront the challenge," Yu said. Tu Xinquan, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said he believed that escalation of trade frictions between China and the US would come at a much heavier cost to US companies than to Chinese ones. Since US companies have invested a great deal in China, they will want to avoid a trade war to ensure the well-being of their business, Tu said. Prisoners have taken control of part of a wing at a prison in Kent with between 60 and 80 inmates involved, according to a BBC report on Dec 22. The Prison Officers Association (POA) said there was an "ongoing disturbance" at the category B training prison HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey. The Prison Service said it was dealing with "an incident" contained to a landing on the jail's A Wing. POA chairman Mike Rolfe said the extent of the disturbance was unclear but fires had been lit. A Prison Service spokesperson said: "The Prison Service is dealing with an incident involving 60 prisoners at HMP Swaleside. "The incident is contained to one landing on A Wing. The rest of the prison is secure with all prisoners in locked in cells." The BBC's Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the disturbance had now been contained but prisoners were refusing to go back into their cells. He said at least 60 and possibly as many as 80 inmates were involved. Specially trained guards known as "Tornado" squads have been deployed to Swaleside, the Prison Service said. The squads were also used to quell a riot last week when inmates rioted for more than 12 hours at Birmingham prison. Prisoners set fires, stole keys to residential areas from a guard and one inmate was seriously injured. Up to 240 prisoners were moved following the riot, but the Ministry of Justice has not commented on whether any were shipped to Swaleside. The prison has a capacity of about 1,100 inmates serving terms of more than four years. The category B facility gives inmates access to education and training. An HM Inspectorate of Prisons report in July described the prison as "dangerous" and found levels of violence were "far too high", with many of the incidents classed as serious. Volunteer teachers at training conference. [Photo provided to China Daily] Gao Xinpei arrived in Britain three months ago to teach Mandarin to students at primary and secondary schools and soon realized the classroom experience in the UK is unlike the one back home. "I had to learn how to manage class behavior," she said. "It is totally different to China and I couldn't get used to it at first." The 25-year-old was sharing her experiences at a teacher training conference in London. "Some of the behavior was very hard to handle and they would talk a lot in class and refuse to focus. It is so unlike pupils in China." Gao is part of an effort to increase the number of people in the UK able to speak the language. This year, the UK government introduced a 10 million pound scheme to get more than 5,000 secondary school students fluent in Mandarin by 2020. It has been launched at 15 secondary schools where pupils will study for eight hours a week for four years. China's teaching methods are intensive, with long days and the kind of discipline Westerners consider strict. British-style teaching allows students to share perspectives, express opinions and raise questions. "I play games and activities with the primary school children," Gao said. "I need to use teaching methods that keep the students interested and engaged while learning Chinese. If I just spoke at them all day, the children would get bored." Training programs such as one she spoke at from the London Confucius Institute help volunteer teachers from China learn about integrating into UK schools. Around 200 Chinese-language teachers are working in schools across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Guo Yayan, 24, has been teaching Mandarin for a year and a half. "At first, students would ask me questions like, 'do Chinese people eat dog?' and 'why do Chinese families only have one child?' These questions made me uncomfortable But now I am able to let the pupils know about Chinese culture," Guo said. "Students in the UK are very competitive, very active and they want to express themselves." And the teachers are also applying some Chinese methods. Gao Xinpei said: "I go into the classroom and say in Chinese 'class is in session' and the children will stand up and say 'hello teacher' also in Chinese. It's not something they usually do in class." The educators said they are learning to take the best from both systems. (Photo : YouTube Screenshot) An 18th century imperial seal believed to be owned by Emperor Qianlong has been sold to an auction in Paris for $22 million. Advertisement An 18th-century imperial seal belonging to Emperor Qianlong was sold at Paris for 21 million ($22 million) on Wednesday (Dec. 14) to an unknown Chinese collector. The imperial seal was reportedly crafted during the period of the Qianlong dynasty (1736-1795). It belongs to Emperor Qianlong who ruled China with great power for six decades and is one of the longest serving emperors in the country's history. Emperor Qianlong is also an avid art collector who signs his work with seals. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "This seal was used to sign paintings by Emperor Qianlong himself, along with calligraphy," Alice Jossot, an art specialist at the Drouot Auction House, said. "The markings underneath the seal reiterate the famous saying: 'Emperor Qianlong's paint brush', meaning everything he had painted or written himself," she added. The seal was originally acquired by a young French naval doctor who visited China in the 19th century. The seal remained with his family ever since, the Drouot house explained. The palm-sized seal is made of red and white steatite mineral rock and is adorned with nine dragons that symbolize masculinity and imperial authority. The auction house said that the number nine symbolizes the maximum figure in Chinese cosmology. Drouot said Qianlong has around 1,800 seals made but 700 of which have disappeared and a thousand more are kept by Chinas Palace Museum in Beijings Forbidden City, according to BBC News. Drouot Auction House said the previous record for an auctioned seal was 14 million ($14.6 million). Advertisement TagsEmperor Qianlong, Paris, Drouot Auction House, Imperial Seal, Imperial Seal Sold, Qianlong Dynasty, History of China (Photo : Getty Images) The "Road of Arabia Expo" showcases some sculptures and statues that represent the history of Saudi Arabia. Advertisement The 'Road of Arabia Expo', an exhibition of Saudi Arabian artifacts, has come to the Asian market for the first time after it landed in the National Museum of China in Beijing on Tuesday. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The exhibition, which is expected to continue until March 19 next year, will showcase over 466 archeological pieces that highlight the history of Saudi Arabia, from the Stone Age to Pre-Islamic and Islamic and even to the current modern state. Presiding over the occasion, President of the Commission for Tourism and National Heritage of Saudi Arabia, Prince Sultan Bin Salman, explained that the event was a forum for the two countries to establish a link in cultures, as reported by Saudi Gazette. "The purpose of this exhibition is to brief the people of China on some of the highlights of Saudi Arabia," Salaman said. "Saudi Arabia is not only an oil exporter but a nation based on rich legacy and civilization." Luo Shugang, the Chinese Minister of Culture, and Saudi Aramco Vice President Nasser A. Al-Nafisee also attended the exhibit. "Our historically close ties extend to our common aspirations in connection to the Silk Road Economic Belt," Al-Nafisee said. "But also, the overall development of the Chinese and Saudi people who are our most precious resource." The artifacts were acquired from the National Museum in Riyadh, King Saud University Museum, among other museums, according to Al-Nafisee. Most of the items displayed in Beijing are being showcased outside of Saudi Arabia for the first time, CCTV noted. Items vary from ornate pottery and monumental statues to jewelries worn by a young girl buried some 300 years ago. Beijing is the first stop of the exhibition's Asian leg and the 11th after being held across four European countries and five US cities. Advertisement Tagschina, Saudi Arabia, Road of Arabia, tourism (Photo : Getty Images) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia and the US do not communicate or only do so minimally. Advertisement Russian media is reporting that nearly all communication channels between Kremlin and the United States are frozen. Although Russia did not expect the incoming President Donald Trump administration to reject NATO enlargement, to which Moscow is strongly opposed, almost all of its communication channels with the United States are closed, Russian media reported. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "Almost every level of dialogue with the United States is frozen. We don't communicate with one another, or we do so minimally," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Last month, Trump backtracked on several statements he made during his campaign when he had said that NATO was obsolete and has poor value to the US. In his new stance, Trump said that he was strongly committed to the alliance. The revelations came after several strongly worded public statements by US politicians including President Barack Obama, the FBI, and the CIA said that they were convinced that Russia was behind the hacking of Hillary Clinton's emails during the presidential campaigns. On Tuesday, former Republican presidential candidate John McCain said that Russia's involvement in the hacking campaign against the US was a threat to democracy in its current form. McCain, who is also the Senator for Arizona, warned that an "unraveling of the world order" could be imminent. He also criticized "the absolute failure of the American leadership" to improve ties with Russia. Russia President Vladimir Putin has been a huge critic of NATO, especially after Moscow announced that it would expand its deployment of surface-to-air missiles nearer to Europe. "Why are we reacting to NATO expansion so emotionally?" Putin asked at the time. "We are concerned by NATOs decision making." "What should we do? We have, therefore, to take countermeasures, which means to target with our missile systems the facilities, that, in our opinion, start posing a threat to us," Putin said. Asked if he expects Putin to seek re-election in 2018, Peskov said he does not know. "Everyone's heads are aching because of work and with projects and nobody is thinking or talking about elections," Peskov claimed. Many analysts are however of the opinion that Putin will seek another term in office. Advertisement TagsKremlin, Vladimir Putin, NATO, donald trump (Photo : Getty Images) Russia said it will respond with its own measures to the new sanctions imposed by the US. Advertisement Russia has warned on Wednesday that it will take adequate measures after the US increased sanctions on Russian citizens and organizations in response to the 2014 annexation of the Crimea. Those targeted by the latest sanctions are six bankers, as well as Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is known as Kremlin's caterer and has close links to Russia's defense ministry. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement When Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014, asset freezes and travel bans were imposed by the US and EU on individuals and companies linked to Russian elites. Several other casualties were added to the list a few months later. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not elaborate on what new measures Russia intends to take. Russia imposed a food import ban on European countries as retaliation in 2014. "We can only once again express regret and misunderstanding over this destructive persistence of our U.S colleagues. We believe this damages bilateral relations," Peskov said on Wednesday. Hours earlier, the US Treasury revealed that it would target six top officials at Bank Rossiya and its affiliates ABR Management and Sobibank. One of the executives is Kirill Kovalchuk, the nephew of Bank Rossiya's biggest shareholder Yuri Kovalchuk, who is known as Russia's President Vladimir Putin's personal banker. Several construction and transport companies linked by the US treasury to Crimea have also been hit with sanctions. It is however not clear whether the US sanctions on Russia will continue to be imposed ater President-elect Donald Trump moves into office. When quizzed on the sanctions, Reince Preibus, who has been picked by Trump as the White House chief of staff, said that "as far as where the product goes next, you just have to wait and see." The EU has not added more names to its list of sanctions. But EU leaders agreed that sanctions against Russia should be extended for another six months, although some member states such as Italy and Slovakia want the measures eased. Advertisement TagsRussia, US, Russian sanctions (Photo : Getty Images) Goldman Sachs warned that the yuan may be headed for recording its steepest decline in more than 20 years. Advertisement According to a research report released by Goldman Sachs, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) liquidated $1.1 trillion worth of foreign currency reserves since August previous year. This amount more than doubles the $540 billion figure reported by the PBOC for the period between August 2015 and November 2016. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Goldman Sachs computed the figures using data released by the State Authority on Foreign Exchange. The team said, "Since June, this data has continued to suggest significantly larger [foreign exchange] sales by the PBOC than is implied by FX reserve data [the gap is about $25 billion a month on average in the last several months]." Goldman Sachs has also issued a warning that the yuan may be headed for recording its steepest decline in more than 20 years. China saw $69.2 billion worth of currency exodus in November, while the average rate since June hovered around $50 billion a month. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange reported that an equivalent of $33.6 billion exited China through yuan payments in November, up from $29 billion figure in October. This marks the consecutive 14th month in a row for a net outflow of capital through payments in yuan. China's foreign exchange showed its declined to $555 billion in November. The domestic currency also indicated signs of weakness as last week's yuan plunged to its lowest level in over eight years. It is likely that the currency will end the year approximate 6.5 percent lower and will mark the biggest annual decline in the currency value since 1994. Chinese authorities are taking several steps including close monitoring of outward fund transfers to curb the flow of the capital out of the country. Advertisement TagsGoldman sachs, people's bank of china, State Authority on Foreign Exchange (Photo : Getty Images) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's government is under the spotlight after the murder of a journalist. Advertisement A provincial newspaper publisher in the Philippines was shot dead after writing an article that alleged that there was official negligence over the recent discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory. This is the first killing of a journalist since President Rodrigo Duterte's government initiated a violent war on drugs. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) condemned Monday's cold blood murder of Larry Que, a publisher of a news site on the island of Catanduanes. The NUJP said it had "challenged" Duterte to find the killers and urged to utilize the task force he set up to protect journalists. In October, Duterte signed an administrative order creating a task force for ministers, police, defense, and justice officials to protect the media. The task force was also ordered to investigate attacks on media personnel and create an oversight watchdog to scrutinize probes. "We call on this administration to walk the talk and prove its professed respect for press freedom, not only by quickly resolving these brazen attacks on press freedom but, just as importantly, by ending its penchant of falsely blaming media for deliberately misinterpreting its often inconsistent and incoherent messages," the NUJP said. The journalist union said that Que had run the new publication, Catanduanes News Now, for only two weeks before he was shot in the head outside his place of work. According to the NUJP, Que's article claimed that local officials were negligent when an illegal laboratory was set up to produce "shabu," a methamphetamine, that Duterte has vowed to destroy, along with anyone found producing or selling it. The Philippines has one of the most liberal media environments in Asia, which is also one of the most dangerous for journalists. Many journalists have been killed in the country in the past 30 years. And investigations of the killings have often been inconclusive. Advertisement TagsRodrigo Duterte, Philippines (Photo : Getty Images) Elderly patient. Advertisement Female doctors apparently do better than male doctors in treating elderly patients, and if male doctors were as good as females, this improved care by male doctors could wind up saving 32,000 lives a year. A study of 1.5 million hospital visits published in the magazine JAMA Internal Medicine showed that a month after patients were hospitalized, there was a small but significant difference in the likelihood they were still alive, or had to be readmitted to the hospital depending on the gender of the doctor that cared for them. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The four year-long study, however, can't prove the gender of the physician was the determining factor, but it did make multiple efforts to rule out other explanations. The estimate that 32,000 patients' lives could be saved in the Medicare population in the United States alone is about equal to the number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents each year. "If we had a treatment that lowered mortality by 0.4 percentage points or half a percentage point, that is a treatment we would use widely. We would think of that as a clinically important treatment we want to use for our patients," said Ashish Jha, professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. Many previous studies have suggested women doctor and male doctors practice medicine differently. Women doctors are more likely to follow clinical guidelines and counsel patients on preventive care. Women doctors are also communicate more than men. The study found that patients treated by a female doctor had less than half of a percentage point difference in the likelihood they would die within a month of their hospitalization. There was a similar drop in patients having to go back to the hospital over that month. These aren't large differences. Jha said that major health policies aimed at decreasing mortality in hospitals and increasing patient safety resulted in a similar drop in mortality over a decade. Advertisement Tagsfemale doctors, male doctors, more lives saved, JAMA Internal Medicine, Ashish Jha (Photo : Getty Images) Peter Navarro, who is the author of several anti-Chinese books, will be heading the newly formed National Trade Council (NTC). Advertisement In another apparent blow to Sino-China relationship, Donald Trump has now appointed a well known anti-Chinese critic as the head of a new national trade body. Peter Navarro, who is the author of several anti-Chinese books, will be heading the newly formed National Trade Council (NTC). The council will oversee the US' trade and industrial policies. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The renowned Harvard economist was one of the influential advisors in Mr. Trump's team during his election campaign. He is believed to be the main architect behind Trump's hawkish campaign against China's trade practices. The U.S. president-elect called China a "currency manipulator" and "job thief" during his highly charged and proactive election campaign. Peter Navarro a Celebrated Hawkish Chinese Author Navarro has unleashed a barrage of tirades against China in several of his anti-Chinese books. These books include Death by China & Crouching Tiger and What China's Militarism Means for the World. In these books, Navarro maintains that the U.S. must adopt an aggressive stance against China if it wants to win the ongoing economic war against the communist nation. Trump's official transition team has described Navarro as a "visionary economist," who would bring several economic benefits to America including shrinking of trade deficit, expanding economic growth, and stopping the exodus of jobs. Trump's Recent Salvos Against China The appointment of Peter Navarro is seen as an extension of Trump's recent tirade against China, which was a hallmark of his month-long election campaign. A few weeks ago, Trump sent shockwaves across China by accepting a phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Trump became the first U.S. president-elect in several decades to accept a phone call from a Taiwanese president, breaking the diplomatic protocol. Almost a week later, Trump again tested the patience of the Chinese leadership by questioning the American government's commitment to the "One China" policy. He suggested that the U.S. must use the "One China" policy as bargaining chip. Advertisement TagsPeter Navarro, donald trump, china, China and U.S., Trump China (Photo : Getty Images) Honda and Alphabet are reportedly in talks to collaboratively develop autonomous cars. Advertisement Japanese auto manufacturer Honda recently said that the company is currently in negotiations with Google's parent company Alphabet to provide vehicles for Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving car division, as part of its development efforts. The talks between Honda and Alphabet came in just a week after Waymo became an independent company. Earlier this week, Waymo announced that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has already completed the construction of 100 Pacifica minivans to be used in the company's development of self-driving cars, according to Bloomberg. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Honda's decision to open up talks with Alphabet highlights how traditional car makers are integrating their business into tech firms, especially when it comes to the development of autonomous driving technology. Experts believe that developing an in-house autonomous driving division will require a lot of resources, which is why companies like Honda have instead worked with notable tech companies like Google in order to spread the cost of development. In an interview with Reuters, Honda spokesman Teruhiko Tatebe said, "There's only so much technology a company can develop while focusing on one specific approach. By approaching it from multiple angles it's possible to come up with new innovations quicker." Companies like Waymo are well-versed when it comes to autonomous driving and artificial intelligence. However, Waymo has no experience when it comes to car manufacturing, hence the decision to tie-up with traditional carmakers like Fiat Chrysler and now Honda. Aside from providing cars for Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology, Honda is also looking forward to develop a cooperation between the two companies' engineering department. Advertisement TagsHonda, Alphabet, waymo, Self-Driving Car, self-driving car technology, autonomous car, Google (Photo : US Army) U.S. soldier about to launch a Raven. Advertisement Obsolete and old aerial drones supplied by the United States to the Ukrainian Armed Forces have proved so disappointing in the battlefields of eastern Ukraine the Ukrainians have pilloried them as being next to useless. The drone in question is the AeroVironment RQ-11B Raven, a small hand-launched remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle or SUAV. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement It entered service with the U.S. military in 2006 and is still deployed by the U.S. Army at company level. The 1.9 kg Raven is one of the most widely produced military drones worldwide, with over 19,000 having been supplied to customers. The problem with the drones delivered to Ukraine is they operate analog electronic equipment easily jammed and hacked by Russian electronic warfare countermeasures. The Ukrainians are so frustrated with the continuing failures of the Raven that some military officials want the drones returned to the U.S. "From the beginning, it was the wrong decision to use these drones in our (war)," said Natan Chazin, an adviser to Ukraine's military and an expert in drone warfare. The Ravens were delivered to Ukraine as part of U.S. security assistance. Ukraine hoped the Raven would be an effective lightweight and portable reconnaissance drone used widely on the battlefield. That hasn't been the case, however. Russian countermeasures soon negated the reconnaissance capabilities of the Ravens. The Ukrainian Air Force told media the Ravens supplied it have a fatal drawback: their video feeds and data, which are in analog format, can easily be jammed by Russians and their separatist allies. U.S. officials that want to remain anonymous admitted Russia's electronic warfare capabilities were far more sophisticated than expected. Asked about Ukraine's reaction to the Ravens, one official said it took a lot of time for the drones to reach Ukraine, and that by then "they were much less effective than they would have liked, than we would have liked. Interestingly, the U.S. Army still uses Ravens but is using the new digital versions instead of the old analog versions flown by the Ukrainian armed forces. Ukraine distributed the Ravens across its armed services. Advertisement TagsUkraine, AeroVironment RQ-11B Raven, Ukrainian Air Force, Russia, electronic countermeasures Chris Floyd Published: 20 December 2016 Hits: 17507 The end result of every Islamist terror attack (or even alleged Islamist terror attack) is: 1. Heightened authoritarian powers for governments. 2. Demonization of law-abiding Muslims. 3. More money for war-profiteers, since more war is always the ultimate response. None of these outcomes advance the attackers cause in any way save one: more repression, demonization and war can lead to more radicalisation of the people being repressed, demonized and bombed. Thus the responses, which are always the same, always reward the perpetrators of these atrocities by giving them the only thing they can get from the attacks: recruitment tools. So what are we supposed to do then? comes the angry cry. Well, one thing we could do to begin breaking this deadly cycle is to quit living in a dreamworld and recognize what the actual policies of our governments are, what our governments are actually doing, and the actual consequences of these actual events. We have to be done with the childish notion that our greatness and goodness is forever being assaulted out of the blue by motiveless monsters who dont appreciate how greatly good we really are. The taking of innocent lives is an abominable evil. It is never justified. It is not justified when sectarian extremists strike at the West; it is not justified when Western nations take innocent lives, on a mass scale, in Muslim countries. But from our side, there is not even the slightest chance of breaking this deadly cycle if we do not acknowledge the realities of what we have done and what we are doing in the world. Knowledge is the only way out of this impasse if there is a way out of it. We could see that the policy of destroying whole nations in military actions based on false pretenses or deliberately exaggerated threats, as in Iraq and Libya, spreads ruin, chaos, violence, extremism, refugees and weapons rippling through many other lands, destabilizing them in their turn. We could acknowledge the plain and incontrovertible fact that one main cause of the spread of violent Islamic extremism has been our own support covert and overt for groups who push this doctrine, when it suits our own geopolitical purpose. This has happened over and over such as the support for the violent retrograde sectarian extremists in Afghanistan, whom we called freedom fighters when it suited our purpose. It happened in Libya, where, once again, we armed and supported violent extremist groups while pretending they were secular moderates fight for Jeffersonian principles of liberty and freedom. It is happening in Syria, where we are arming, funding and bombing on behalf of some of the most virulent sectarian extremists on earth, including al Qaeda, while, again, pretending they are secular moderates. It is happening in Yemen, where for the 15 months, the U.S. government has been directly aiding the religious extremists of Saudi Arabia in a vicious war and murderous blockade that has cleared the way for the resurgence of al Qaeda, just as it had almost been wiped out in that country. We could acknowledge the plain and incontrovertible fact that these deliberately chosen policies chosen as the means to pursue various geopolitical and economic goals, none of which have anything to do with freedom or liberty or human rights have resulted in waves of refugees flooding into countries unprepared for them. They have resulted in further radicalization and repression both in the West and in many Muslim lands, straining and tearing at civic structures, particularly in the latter. We could acknowledge the plain and incontrovertible fact that as long as our governments pursue the agenda of advancing and maintaining economic and political dominion in the world by whatever means necessary then the fallout, the blowback from these policies will continue. It is striking how our savants can recognize this in regard to other countries, but never our own. The assassination of the Russian ambassador in Turkey this week was immediately described as blowback or revenge for Russian actions in Syria. You see, said American pundits and politicians, if you go meddling in the affairs of other countries for your own selfish political ends, this is what happens! You radicalize people and then they come after you! The very clear implication and sometimes stated assertion is that the Russians are reaping the whirlwind of their military intervention in the Middle East. The very same principle applies to Western interventions. But as we all know, one is not allowed to say this. Because of the goodness of our greatness, our interventions are always pure. It is only other countries that pursue amoral policies for their own aggrandizement. If they are met with a violent response to these policies, its only what they deserve. But if this happens to us, then we are innocent lambs lost in an unfair world. We are floating in an anxious cloud of learned helplessness, wilful ignorance and historical amnesia. Knowledge is the only way out of this impasse if there is a way out. Beginning in the late Seventies, we actively, deliberately helped build, fund and arm a global network of violent sectarian extremists in order to bedevil the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. We did this: we laid the base (or, in Arabic, "al Qaeda") of global jihad, along the lines of Saudi religious extremism. We stoked this jihad network for more than a decade until every single vestige of secular society was destroyed in Afghanistan and the Taliban took over. We worked with and made a hero of Osama bin Laden (whose family had long-standing business ties in America, including with the Bush family). He was written up in American newspapers as a freedom fighter in Afghanistan who had put down his guns and turned his hand to good works in Sudan. We further stoked radicalization in the region when we intervened in a border dispute between Iraq (which we had supported for years, despite its brutal dictator) and Kuwait, whose royal rulers were longtime business partners of the Bush family. (Our former ally, bin Laden, was angered by the presence of U.S. infidel soldiers on Saudi soil; he, like the Americans, wanted to see the secular government of Iraq overthrown, but he had wanted it done by Muslim forces. So he turned against his American partners.) We shattered Iraq, imposed sanctions on it which our own leaders acknowledged killed more than half a million children. Finally, in 2003, when the country was not just on its knees but face down in the dirt, we bravely invaded again, citing the presence of weapons of mass destruction which our governments knew were not there, having been given full evidence of their destruction by the man who destroyed them Saddams son-in-law (as reported by Newsweek long before the 2003 war) and also having found no trace of weapons or a weapons program in years of UN inspections, including a full-scale, wide-open inspection just before the war. It is very odd that most Americans believed and apparently still believe there would be no consequences from this morally insane and strategically stupid policy. No consequence for killing up to a million innocent people (according to the UK governments method of casualty assessment). No consequence for sending millions of refugees flooding into Syria, a country already greatly strained by a prolonged drought which had wrought massive social upheaval. No consequences for creating a chaos in Iraq where the global jihad movement we helped build poured in and flourished as never before. But there were consequences, of course. Chief among them was the resurgence of al Qaeda and the creation of ISIS, which had its origins in those highly effective schools for radicalization: the American military prison camps in Iraq, with their strenuous interrogations (as at Abu Ghraib) and their massive sweeps gathering in thousands of innocent people and letting them languish. Syria cracked further under the strain of dealing with millions of Iraqi refugees and continuing drought. Protests arose, response was harsh, and suddenly the country was awash with money and weapons for a full-scale revolt, with thousands of fighters from the global jihad network flooding in. ISIS gained strength in Syria then moved against Iraq. The United States deliberately refrained from helping Iraq stop ISIS in this early period; Obama openly told Tom Friedman in an interview that the US held back because it wanted to put pressure on Iraq to get rid of its prime minister, a longtime US ally who had become insufficiently obedient. [The actual quote: "The reason, the president added, 'that we did not just start taking a bunch of airstrikes all across Iraq as soon as ISIL came in was because that would have taken the pressure off of [Prime Minister Nuri Kamal] al-Maliki.'"] So ISIS rolled across Syria and Iraq, capturing oil fields and huge weapons caches, spreading terror and repression with its Saudi-style extremism. When the Iraqis finally obeyed Washington and changed its government with ISIS not far from Baghdad then the United States intervened. But only in Iraq; it was content for ISIS to keep raging and growing in Syria, where the US was directly intervening with arms and training for the rebels. Most of the weapons ended up in the hands of the extremist groups who had come to lead the revolt, with the stated hope of establishing extremist sectarian rule in Syria. And on it goes. ISIS began striking in the West (or claiming to be behind every act of violence perpetrated by a Muslim in the West). The aforementioned ultimate response to terrorism military escalation followed, with the US and France and Britain finally attacking ISIS directly in Syria, not just Iraq. The United States was now fighting alongside al Qaeda, as an email from a top aide to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton clearly stated in 2012: AQ is on our side in Syria. Russia, citing the need to fight terrorism, also intervened, on the side of the Syrian government. Turkey intervened. The Kurds, whod borne much of the brunt of the ISIS surge, intervened The country was (and is) being raked over by dozens of armed groups and standing armies, and the most powerful air forces in the world. Yet people continue to think there will be no consequences from this maelstrom of violently clashing geopolitical interests, sectarian strife and human despair not just in Syria but across the globe, in all the lands being shaken and shattered by the War on Terror and its reverberations. Where are these refugees coming from? Why should they flee their homes? Why are people being radicalized? Why do they hate us? Why do they [or rather, an extremely small number of them] attack us? Cant they see we are good? Our president won a Nobel Peace Prize; hes cool and competent and rational and scandal-free; surely the policies hes pursued and continued from his predecessor must be the right thing to do! Why is all this happening? Again, this is essentially the level of understanding one sees across the board in the political and media establishments, and in the public at large. Of course, once Trump takes power, liberals and progressives might again start to see how dangerous and pernicious our policies are and how the principles of blowback which they now loudly point to in the killing of the Russian ambassador also apply to us. Or perhaps even this belated understanding (which will be temporary in any case, lasting only until a Democrat is in the Oval Office again) is too much to hope for. Given the present hysterical atmosphere, progressives may well just blame Putin (and his puppet, Trump) for everything that happens, and make no effort at all to see the reality of what our own bipartisan policies have wrought: a future of strife, fear, strain, division, insecurity and unfreedom for our own children and the rest of the world. There is no chance whatsoever that the cack-handed cretins and bloated billionaires Trump is bringing to power will approach this situation with any wisdom or understanding. Of course, there is an outside chance that the kakistocracy will be pulling itself in so many different directions that its Terror War machinations might not be as efficient or rapid as they have been under Bush and Obama and would have been under Clinton. (And none of these worthies have shown any wisdom and understanding either; theyve all kept implementing or touting the same deadly intervention-blowback cycle.) But make no mistake; Trump and his Whole Sick Crew share the dominion agenda that has held iron sway in Washington since the end of the Second World War. And they are even more unrestrained in their dedication to authoritarianism, demonization and militarization. Meanwhile, our media continue to manufacture the cloud of unknowing that engulfs us, perpetuating the myth of the greatness of our goodness with their contextless sensationalism in slavering pursuit of ratings and profits, their historical amnesia (even of events within the past few years, or months), the baseless credence they perpetually show to every anonymous emission from the security services or top officials. Thus in the space of a few months, al Qaeda goes from being one of the most evil organizations in history to a brave band of Syrian freedom fighters (as noted here earlier this week). Except, of course, when they are not relevant to the geopolitical agenda in this or that particular area at this or that particular time: say, in Libya or Somalia at the moment, or Egypt, or Europe, where they can still be portrayed as evil incarnate. The global jihad movement that the United States actively fostered under Presidents Carter and Reagan in Afghanistan has since splintered into various factions and new groupings beyond any central control; but these factions and groupings are still being used either overtly or covertly, wittingly or unwittingly by Western governments to advance amoral geopolitical goals of political dominance and economic profit whenever necessary. This is what we have been doing in the Middle East and elsewhere for many years, for decades. This is what Bush actually did, this is what Obama has actually been doing, this is what Trump will do. These are the policies, these are the goals. It is demonstrably untrue that these policies are being carried out to advance the cause of human freedom or democracy or even national security. These policies have demonstrably made Western nations less secure. Western nations have demonstrably allied themselves with viciously repressive sectarian regimes like Saudi Arabia, with brutal authoritarians like Mubarak and Sisi (and Saddam Hussein for many years). Western nations have demonstrably allied with and/or used as proxies some of the most repellent, freedom-hating sectarian groups on earth. Western nations have demonstrably destroyed society after society in the strategic oil regions, creating hellstorms of chaos where extremists thrive while millions of innocent people are driven from their homes. Without a clearer understanding of these realities and facts, there will be no change. Liberals and progressives will go on hash-tagging the name of the latest atrocity site. Theyll go on supporting candidates who support the Terror War, who repeat the deadly corrosive myth that America is great because America is good regardless of Americas actual actions in the world and their actual consequences. Theyll go on believing the ever-changing storylines in the serious media, where al Qaeda and related extremists shape-shift back and forth from freedom fighters to evil demons and back to freedom fighters again. They will keep failing to emulate the bravery of dissidents they laud in other lands down through history women and men who stared the evils of their own systems in the face and refused to look away, to rationalize or succumb to the barrage of myths and propaganda meant to silence them. And nothing will change. No wait, thats not true. Something will change. In fact, as we can see before our very eyes with each passing day, everything will change, is already changing for the worse. On December 11th, a suicide bomber killed at least 25 worshippers and injured 49 more during Sunday Mass at St. Peters Coptic Church in Cairo. The attack was only the latest in a series of outrages committed against Egypts native Christian community. Less than three weeks ago, I told you on BreakPoint about a series of attacks in Minya, which is 150 miles south of the Egyptian capital. Those attacks were described as part of a disturbing wave of [Islamist] radicalism that has emerged after the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. This time, it was ISIS who claimed responsibility for the atrocity which was, they said, part of its war on polytheism, the Islamic epithet for Christian belief in the Trinity. ISIS has promised more of the same. In a masterpiece of obtusenessor is it just invincible ignorance?the New York Times said that the attack suggested that ISIS was prepared to single out Egyptian Christians much as it did minority Shiites in countries like Iraq and Syria. Uh well, notice who was missing from the Times list of targetsIraqi and Syrian Christians, not to mention Yazidis and other religious minorities. For its part, the Egyptian government was quick to focus attention on what it saw as the real outrage: criticism by groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for its failure to protect Egyptian Christians from these kinds of attacks. A Foreign Ministry spokesman accused human rights groups of demonstrating an unacceptable tolerance to terrorism. Now if youre thinking Wait . . . what?well, welcome to the world of our Egyptian brethren. Copts have been, at best, second-class citizens since the 1952 coup that created the modern Egyptian state. Repression, discrimination, and violence have all been part and parcel of their existence. While the Egyptian government obviously didnt attack the worshippers at St. Peters or attack Christians in Minya, the Egyptian government is largely indifferent to the fate of its Christian citizens. Actually, its even worse than that. Mistreating Copts was the way that Egypts rulers, including the present one, have burnished their Islamic identity. And, until recently, virtually no one, especially in the West, said boo! about it. The sad truth is that Copts had to start dying in significant numbers for anyone to take notice, and that anyone includes their brethren in the West. That was then, so what about now? Historically, the treatment of Christian minorities, in Egypt or elsewhere, has never figured prominently in American foreign policy. This is a bipartisan failing. And if its going to change, we must take the lead. The outgoing administration was rightly criticized by Christians for its failure to address the issue. The incoming one is thought to be more receptive to our concerns. The fate of our brethren in places like Egypt and the rest of the Middle East is a good place to test our hypothesis. In the aftermath of the American election, there were reports that the Egyptian government was gratified by the results, believing that the new administration would provide Egypt more assistance in its fight against the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS. Mind you, Egypt already receives nearly $1.5 billion in military and economic aid from the U. S. And that means this: If the Trump administration says, You need to do more to protect Coptic Christians, the Egyptian government will have to listen. Never forget, our first appeal on behalf of our Coptic brethren needs to be made on our knees. And after you pray, let President-elect Trump know how you feel. How? I hear he checks Facebook and Twitter. And pretty soon, hell have a White House address. BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions. John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview. Publication date: December 22, 2016 North Carolina lawmakers have failed to vote to repeal the states bathroom law on Wednesday evening after the governor-elect announced on Monday that a special session would be called to repeal it. The House voted on Wednesday evening 58 to 45 to adjourn the session without having reached an agreement to repeal the law, according to the Los Angeles Times. The state law, House Bill 2, mandated people to use restrooms in accordance with their birth genders, which the outgoing governor Pat McCrory said was implemented for protection of women and children. Governor-elect Roy Cooper had expressed his opposition to the law throughout the campaign, blaming it for loss of jobs from the state and boycotts from several music bands and businesses. The bathroom law was passed after a non-discrimination ordinance was passed in Charlotte, compelling businesses to allow people use bathrooms based on their gender identities. HB2 was signed into law in March, thereby nullifying the Charlotte ordinance. The Charlotte City Council met together on December 19th and repealed the city ordinance with expectations that HB2 would be repealed as well. There was an agreement among everybody. Thats why we called a special session, Cooper was quoted as saying by CNN. They said they had the votes as long as we had the Democrats. We got the Charlotte City Council to take this step, something they didnt particularly want to take What happened is they broke the deal. Meanwhile, some lawmakers said that Charlotte City Council did not hold its end of the deal to repeal the entire ordinance. Instead, they only repealed the part regarding access to restrooms, according to a WBTV report. The HB2 bill had been expected to be repealed by December 31st. Council members have said that if that does not happen, the ordinance will not be taken back. Now that lawmakers have failed to reach an agreement on repealing HB2, the law will remain in the state. North Carolinas legislators will meet again in January 11 for the General Assembly, but it is uncertain whether talks of repealing will resume then. New Hope Church, a Korean immigrant church located in Maryland, gave $18,000 to Korean American Food for the Hungry International (KAFHI), a donation which will be used to provide aid to victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. The nation suffered a significant earthquake in 2010 during which some 220,000 died and 300,000 were injured, but it experienced yet another trial as Hurricane Matthew swept through the nation even before it completely healed from the earthquake. Upon hearing the news, New Hope Church decided to raise funds to help those in Haiti, despite the fact that the church had planned to remodel its sanctuary in the near future. Church members held a yard sale to fundraise, and the funds will be used to restore villages in the southwestern area of the country, and to provide food, water, and medical supplies. Even now, there are countless refugees and orphans who are yearning to receive warm love, said Rev. Seung Ho Chung of KAFHI. In East Africa, Syria, Indonesia, and other areas, women and children are groaning and awaiting a helping hand in the midst of war and disaster. As thousands continue to evacuate Aleppoonce Syrias most populous city and home to one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle EastAmerican support for refugees is dwindling. American Christians are less responsive to the Syrian crisis than they were a year ago, according to a World Vision survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs. Fewer committed Christians said they had taken action on behalf of refugees in the past two years. In 2016, 38 percent said they had been involved, down from 44 percent the year before. The number of committed Christians praying for Syrian refugees dropped by more than a third this year, down to 19 percent. Its disappointing to see Americas heart closing to refugees. This is not the compassionate and generous nation I know we truly are, said Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, which launched a Christmas solidarity campaign called #Candle4Syria. And its shocking that Christians, ... 1 In October, I visited a Syrian refugee family who was recently resettled through World Relief. I went with friends and looked forward to getting to know the family and having our kids play together. When I opened the car door, the Syrian father, Nader, scooped up my one-year-old son, David, who started crying immediately. Feeling undeterred, Nader hugged him warmly, bounced him up and down, and went inside his home to get a toy bicycle for him to play with. In that moment, Nader endeared himself to my family and meIve never seen an older man so comfortable and affectionate with a child not his own. Nader is a Syrian political refugee who arrived in the United States in early September. He came with his wife, Ramya and their four children, all of whom gladly share toys with my son whenever we spend time together. (Their girls, in fact, often think David is a little doll whom they pick up and carry around, much to his initial horror, then delight.) The Kassab* familys kind, calm exterior masks their inner turmoil and pain. They come from an area in Syria called Daara, known as the cradle of the revolutionthe place where protests sparked the beginning of the Syrian uprising of 2011. After a water tank behind their house was bombed and part of their home was damaged, Nader and his family fled from Daara into Jordan. Although Syria used to be the second-largest host country to refugees, its now the country that produces the largest number of refugees. It is, in fact, the crucible of the worlds worst migration crisis. This divisive election year has made it easy for some Americans to make generalizations about immigrants like the Kassabs. As someone who works for World Relief, ... 1 Evangelical Seminary in Minnesota Squashes BBB's Attempt to Restrict its Religious Freedom America's first Better Business Bureau, Better Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota, found guilty of defamation and publishing false statement with malice Contact: Rev. Philip Jegede, COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn., Dec. 22, 2016 / NCTS now seeks help in the form of tax-deductible donations from brothers and sisters in Christ this Christmas season to enable it to survive the financial strain from the lawsuit and to assist the seminary in preparing to appeal for punitive damages against the BBB. Such legal motions are necessary to clearly signal to BBB affiliates nationwide not to start forming the habit of accusing pastors of disparaging other professionals should pastors preach from their pulpits what the better business bureau may not like, said Rev. Philip Jegede, President of North Central Theological Seminary. Among several documents requested by the BBB from NCTS was a request that NCTS furnish a third party to prove the validity of its religious belief that counseling in the name of God, as implied on NCTS's website, is superior than counseling provided by secular physiologists and that NCTS must modify its religious belief, should it fail to provide third-party validity of such claim, said Rev. Jegede. In a forceful letter in response to the BBB's request, NCTS told the BBB that it was out of line in demanding that an evangelical seminary modify its religious beliefs and that not even the U.S. government, under the Constitution, has the audacity to tell a religious organization to modify its religious beliefs. According to Jegede, the NCTS would rather double down on its religious belief that Christian counseling by pastors with the resources and training to transform the soul according to scripture is superior than secular counseling. Upon receiving NCTS's response on April 21, 2016, the BBB immediately changed NCTS's A-plus rating to an F, claiming that NCTS never responded to its request, despite the fact that NCTS did respond. Due to the F rating and other statements that the BBB posted on its website to the effect that NCTS was being sued, not that NCTS was suing the BBB, and due to BBB's defamation and false statements, enrollment in NCTS in the United States has plummeted to nearly zero, said Jegede. After spending several thousands of dollars in legal fees to save NCTS from destruction by the BBB's malicious actions and with plummeting US enrollment, which financially supports the subsidized scholarship program enabling aspiring indigent African pastors to attend NCTS nearly free of charge, NCTS faces a dire financial situation. Without donations from evangelical brothers and sisters in Christ across the United States or other caring parties, NCTS may not survive, despite its legal victory against the BBB on December 21, 2016, said Jegede. Jegede, a naturalized US citizen of African descent and trained accountant-turned-evangelist, was commanded by his Dad before his death to become the next Billy Graham. Realizing that he personally did not have what it takes to become the next Graham, Jegede founded NCTS to train thousands of pastors around the world in the hope that from among its students, the next Graham would one day arise. Jegede now fights for the survival of the seminary he founded. When every lawyer in Minnesota whom NCTS contacted for representation declined to represent the seminary, citing the near impossibility of winning defamatory cases against the BBB anywhere in the United States, Craig Greenberg and the main attorney in the case, James T. Smith of Huffman, Usem, Crawford, & Greenberg of Minneapolis, Minnesota, took the case out of compassion for the seminary's survival. Jegede quoted a statement from James T. Smith to him as NCTS president, "BBB treated the seminary extremely unfairly; I will fight your fight." Contact/Donations North Central Theological Seminary 4111 Central Avenue NE North Building Suite 203 Columbia Heights, MN 55421 Tel# 651-263-1128 Attorney Contact: James T. Smith Hoffman, Usem, Crawford, & Greenberg 5101 Olson Memorial Highway Ste 1000 Minneapolis, MN 55422 Tel: 763-545-2720 Share Tweet Contact: Rev. Philip Jegede, North Central Theological Seminary , 651-263-1228COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn., Dec. 22, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- North Central Theological Seminary (NCTS), an online evangelical seminary in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, chalked up one for American evangelicals by securing a jury verdict at the Dakota County Courthouse in Hastings, Minnesota, case #19HA-CV-16-1718 against the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Minnesota and North Dakota, America's first BBB, led by CEO and President Dana Badgerow.NCTS now seeks help in the form of tax-deductible donations from brothers and sisters in Christ this Christmas season to enable it to survive the financial strain from the lawsuit and to assist the seminary in preparing to appeal for punitive damages against the BBB. Such legal motions are necessary to clearly signal to BBB affiliates nationwide not to start forming the habit of accusing pastors of disparaging other professionals should pastors preach from their pulpits what the better business bureau may not like, said Rev. Philip Jegede, President of North Central Theological Seminary.Among several documents requested by the BBB from NCTS was a request that NCTS furnish a third party to prove the validity of its religious belief that counseling in the name of God, as implied on NCTS's website, is superior than counseling provided by secular physiologists and that NCTS must modify its religious belief, should it fail to provide third-party validity of such claim, said Rev. Jegede.In a forceful letter in response to the BBB's request, NCTS told the BBB that it was out of line in demanding that an evangelical seminary modify its religious beliefs and that not even the U.S. government, under the Constitution, has the audacity to tell a religious organization to modify its religious beliefs. According to Jegede, the NCTS would rather double down on its religious belief that Christian counseling by pastors with the resources and training to transform the soul according to scripture is superior than secular counseling.Upon receiving NCTS's response on April 21, 2016, the BBB immediately changed NCTS's A-plus rating to an F, claiming that NCTS never responded to its request, despite the fact that NCTS did respond. Due to the F rating and other statements that the BBB posted on its website to the effect that NCTS was being sued, not that NCTS was suing the BBB, and due to BBB's defamation and false statements, enrollment in NCTS in the United States has plummeted to nearly zero, said Jegede.After spending several thousands of dollars in legal fees to save NCTS from destruction by the BBB's malicious actions and with plummeting US enrollment, which financially supports the subsidized scholarship program enabling aspiring indigent African pastors to attend NCTS nearly free of charge, NCTS faces a dire financial situation. Without donations from evangelical brothers and sisters in Christ across the United States or other caring parties, NCTS may not survive, despite its legal victory against the BBB on December 21, 2016, said Jegede.Jegede, a naturalized US citizen of African descent and trained accountant-turned-evangelist, was commanded by his Dad before his death to become the next Billy Graham. Realizing that he personally did not have what it takes to become the next Graham, Jegede founded NCTS to train thousands of pastors around the world in the hope that from among its students, the next Graham would one day arise. Jegede now fights for the survival of the seminary he founded.When every lawyer in Minnesota whom NCTS contacted for representation declined to represent the seminary, citing the near impossibility of winning defamatory cases against the BBB anywhere in the United States, Craig Greenberg and the main attorney in the case, James T. Smith of Huffman, Usem, Crawford, & Greenberg of Minneapolis, Minnesota, took the case out of compassion for the seminary's survival. Jegede quoted a statement from James T. Smith to him as NCTS president, "BBB treated the seminary extremely unfairly; I will fight your fight."Contact/DonationsNorth Central Theological Seminary4111 Central Avenue NE North Building Suite 203Columbia Heights, MN 55421Tel# 651-263-1128Attorney Contact:James T. SmithHoffman, Usem, Crawford, & Greenberg5101 Olson Memorial Highway Ste 1000Minneapolis, MN 55422Tel: 763-545-2720 Australia Calls World to Greet New Year with Prayer Contact: Warwick Marsh, +61-418-225-212; Pat Steele, +61-433-006-934 UNANDERRA, Australia, Dec. 22, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- Australia Christian prayer leaders invite their brothers and sisters in Christ, prayer groups, prayer networks and churches to join with them all over the world to pray at sunrise on New Year's Day 2017 at a public location such as a hill, lookout or landmark in your city or town. See 2017 short promo video: www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=LSTHRAixKOQ Pat Steele, a prayer and worship leader in Wollongong Australia, said, "We encourage you to pray the Lord's Prayer together aloud as the sun rises and make a declaration that Jesus Christ is Lord of your life, your family, your region and your nation. At your location you might like to include praise and worship, prayers and scripture readings. You could even take communion, shine a torch or light a candle and fellowship together as you pray. You can pray for up to 30 minutes or longer. It is up to you." Warwick Marsh, coordinator for Australia's National Day of Prayer & Fasting said, "During this time of prayer we want to thank God for our respective nations and pray for revival and transformation, that God will bring healing to our land as it says in 2 Chronicles 7:14. We want to pray for our government and church leaders. We also want to pray for the next generation of young prayer leaders and evangelists to arise. Let us all pray for a great proclamation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in our own nation and all around the world." Marsh continued, "In declaring Jesus Christ as Lord at this worldwide Sunrise Prayer Relay we are circling the globe with prayer, praise and worship and surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ for the glory of God. Psalms 113:3 says, 'From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.' Use the prayer resources on the website and social media and register your location at: www.sunriseprayerrelay.org Our hope and prayer is that with your help, this worldwide Prayer Relay will go viral." Share photos and videos from your location on social media. Use the hashtag: #sunriseprayerrelay Website: www.sunriseprayerelay.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/sunriseprayerrelay Instagram: www.instagram.com/sunriseprayerrelay Longer Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FybiSXxbl6Q Contact: Warwick Marsh 61 418225 212 or Pat Steele 61 433 006 934 Share Tweet home World Catholic church denounces Philippine president's plan to execute five to six convicts daily Catholic church leaders in the Philippines has described President Rodrigo Duterte's plan to execute five to six criminals daily as "barbaric." Duterte has made it a legislative priority to restore the death penalty since he took office in June. It was abolished in 2006 due to fierce opposition from the Catholic Church. "There was death penalty before but nothing happened. Return that to me and I would do it every day: five or six (criminals). That's for real," the Philippine president said on Saturday, according to AFP. An official from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said that the Church is "totally opposed" to the president's plan. "The Philippines will be viewed as very barbaric," Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of CBCP's public affairs office, told AFP. "It's going to make the Philippines the capital of death penalty in the world," he added. Before Duterte assumed office, he vowed to introduce executions by hanging and said that he did not want to waste bullets. He claimed that snapping the spinal cord was more humane than a firing squad. The president suggested that the death penalty is a matter of retribution and not as a means to deter crime. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the human rights chief of the U.N., wrote a letter to the Philippine congress this month to warn them that reviving the death penalty would violate the country's international obligations. Duterte insisted on Saturday that the death penalty is necessary in order to fight the drug scourge which he said was "destroying" the country. Some of the president's aides have dismissed his statements as hyperbole, but some human rights advocates are concerned about his remarks. "Setting a quota for executions is just too much. One death is too much because we are talking about lives," Amnesty International Philippines vice chairman Romeo Cabarde told AFP. Secillano said that bishops are planning to attend the congressional debates next month and discourage lawmakers from voting in favor of the death penalty. More than 2,000 people have died at the hands of the police since the drug war was launched in July. Almost 4,000 more people were killed by unidentified gunmen, according to Phelim Kine, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division. A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations revealed that 78 percent of Filipinos are afraid that they or someone in their family would become victims of extrajudicial killings. The study indicated that a majority supports the war on drugs, but as many as 71 percent said that it was "very important" for the police to keep the drug suspects alive. home World Egypt church bombing death toll rises to 27 with death of 10-year-old child The death toll of the bombing at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Cairo last week has risen to 27 after a 10-year-old Egyptian girl died from her injuries. Maggie Moemen, who suffered injuries in her brain and lungs, has been in a coma in El Galaa military hospital since the attack on Dec. 11. Due to her critical condition, she was transferred to El Demerdash hospital in Cairo, where she died on Tuesday morning. According to a report from Egyptian Streets, Moemen's mother, Nermine, survived the attack, but she was also injured. Her sister, Mira, was outside the church when the bomb exploded and did not sustain any injury. The church bombing is seen as the deadliest attack on Egyptian civilians in recent years. Many of those who were killed and injured in the attack were women and children. The health ministry said that 17 people are still in the hospital, three of whom are in serious condition. Twenty-five people died on the day of the explosion. The 26th victim, 70-year-old Odette Saleh Mikhail, died at Demerdash Hospital on Friday. The day after the attack, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi identified the suicide bomber as 22-year-old Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa. A state funeral was held for the victims on Monday, and the president declared three days of mourning. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber by his pseudonym, Abu Abdallah al-Masri. The interior ministry said that four people, including a woman, were arrested in connection to the attack. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Cathedral in Cairo to demand the dismissal of Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, the interior minister. Christians believe that the attacks against them are not being thoroughly investigated. The Coptic Orthodox Church said that the celebrations for the Coptic Christmas on Jan. 7 will push ahead despite the attack. "The church said goodbye to its martyrs with honour. We only feel bad for those whose hearts are filled with hatred," the church said in a statement. "Regardless of the formality of celebrations, it is important to mark the day that spreads messages of love among the sons of this country," it added. home US Franklin Graham leads thousands in prayer at Donald Trump's 'Thank You Tour' Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, was one of the speakers at the final stop of the Republican Party's "Thank You Tour" last Saturday. During the event, which was held at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, Graham led a crowd of around 20,000 supporters in a prayer for President-elect Donald Trump and the United States. In a message posted on Facebook the following day, Graham also encouraged everyone, including those who did not vote for Trump, to pray for the new president. "Donald Trump will become our president in just over a month, and he needs our prayers for wisdom as he puts together his administration. I encourage everyoneawhether you voted for President-elect Trump or notato come together and pray for him. God hears and works through the prayers of His people," his message on Facebook partly reads. At the "Thank You Tour" stop in Alabama, Trump took the opportunity to publicly acknowledge the evangelical leader's role in his victory at the precincts. "I want to thank so many great people, but having Franklin Graham, who was so instrumental, we won so big, with evangelical Christians, we won so big," the President-elect said. Prior to the November U.S. elections, Graham went on a Decision America Tour, which was aimed at getting Christians to cast their vote, though he was careful not to endorse a specific candidate during the campaign period. Graham has been vocal in supporting Trump since the conclusion of the elections. Last month, Graham told Christian Today that there was "no question" that it was God's will that Trump emerged victorious in the recently held elections. He shared that Trump's election as the new U.S. president came at just the right time. He said, "When we see Christianity being attacked worldwide, not just by militant Muslims but by secularism, it's refreshing to have a leader who is willing to defend the Christian faith." home World German police begin search for suspect of Christmas market attack as ISIS claims responsibility The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack on a Christmas market in Berlin while the German police continue their search for the suspect who drove a truck through the crowd on Monday, killing 12 people and injuring 48. In a statement published by the Amaq news agency, ISIS said that the attacker "is a soldier of the Islamic State" who "carried out the attack in response to calls for targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition." The announcement from the terror group came after German prosecutors stated that they just released a man who was initially suspected of driving the truck. The man, who is said to be a Pakistani citizen, was arrested on Monday based on a description of a suspect who fled from the vehicle. German authorities have named the new suspect as Anis Amri, a 23-year-old Tunisian refugee, after his ID was found under the seat of the truck, according to Mail Online. He came to Germany earlier this year and obtained a temporary permission to stay while his asylum application was still pending. Security sources warned that Amri has received weapons training abroad and that he is probably armed and "highly dangerous." The suspect is reportedly a follower of Abu Walla, who is believed to be a leading figure in the Jihadi movement in Germany. Walla was arrested in Hildesheim last month for recruiting radicals on behalf of ISIS. Prosecutors said that his network recruited and provided logistical support for local volunteers who were headed for Syria. Amri was apparently arrested recently for grievous bodily harm, but he vanished before he could be charged. Authorities believe that the blood that was found in the truck's cab was his, and they assume that he may be badly injured. Berlin mayor Michael Mueller said that police presence has been increased, and other measures have been taken to find the suspect quickly. However, he noted that there are limits to increasing security, given the number of public spaces and events. "It wouldn't be our free and open life any more if we escalated security measures so much that people worry about going anywhere, that there are strict entry checks," said the mayor. "We don't want that. It must be appropriate and goal-oriented," he added. home World ISIS releases list of Russian embassies in bid to incite more attacks The Islamic State has released a document containing addresses and contact information of Russian embassies in a bid to provoke more attacks against officials. The Russian embassies listed in the document include the offices in Kampala, Uganda; Tehran, Iran; Baku, Azerbaijan and Tirana, Albania. Apart from listing the locations of the embassies, the terrorist group also called on its supporters to carry out more attacks. The list came after the assassination of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, while he was delivering a speech at an art gallery in Ankara on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an increase in his security detail at home and abroad following the attack, The Sun reported. "I ask the special services to take additional measures to ensure security inside Russia and outside, to raise the security of Russian institutions and employees abroad," said Putin as reported by The Sun. "And I ask you through channels of partnership to strengthen your work with the intelligence agencies of other states," he added. Putin also asked his top diplomat and spy chiefs to consider boosting the security for Russian diplomats around the world. The Kremlin has sent investigators to Turkey to look into Karlov's murder. The gunman was identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, a 22-year-old policeman. He reportedly shouted, "Don't forget Aleppo" and "Allahu Akbar" a Arabic for "God is greatest" a as he shot the ambassador. Eleven more people were arrested in relation to the killing. Mail Online reported that the pro-government media in Turkey has linked Altintas to the Fethullah Gulen movement, the group that is accused of instigating the failed coup in July. Altintas was also apparently a part of the presidential bodyguard in the weeks following the failed coup. Fethullah Gulen, the exiled Turkish cleric blamed for orchestrating the coup, has denounced the assassination as a "terrorist act" and said that he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the tragedy. Putin said that Karlov's murder is a "provocation aimed at undermining the improvement and normalisation of Russian-Turkish relations as well as undermining the peace process in Syria promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in solving this conflict in Syria." home World Jailed Vietnamese pastor kept in solitary confinement and fed with contaminated food A Vietnamese Lutheran pastor, who was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment for fighting for religious freedom, was recently sent to another prison facility where he is kept in solitary confinement. Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, who was previously held in Phuoc Prison in Binh Duong, has been transferred to Xuan Loc Prison in Dong Nai province, UCA news reported. His wife, Tran Thi Hong, was informed by the prison officials that he was relocated and that he was not allowed to call his family because he would not admit to his crimes. Chinh, 50, was charged in 2011 with undermining national solidarity under Article 87 of the Vietnam penal code. Since his incarceration, he has been moved three times and was not allowed to contact his family, even when his mother died. Hong said that she was eventually allowed to see Chinh through a glass window, and she was able to talk to him for 45 minutes. "He is kept in a cell that is away from others, and given food through a small window two times a day," she told UCA news. "Prison officers have taken away all his belongings including a copy of the Bible. They also didn't allow him to get food, medicine and clothes from me," she added. Chinh and other religious prisoners went on a hunger strike in August to demand equal treatment with other prisoners and be allowed to call their families for five minutes a month. The pastor was accused of leading the participants of the strike. The religious prisoners were reportedly fed with contaminated food. According to a report from Vietnam Human Rights Defenders, tiny glass particles and copper wire were mixed with the food. The water reportedly had a strange smell, which suggested that it may be intentionally contaminated with toxic chemical substances. Moreover, prison officials allegedly encourage other prisoners to beat the prisoners of conscience who object to inhumane treatment in the facility. Hong said that the other prisoners' demands were met, but Chinh was transferred to Xuan Loc as punishment. "He is in poor health, he suffers high blood pressure and has severe sinusitis," she said, adding, "I fear that he is too weak to complete the rest of his sentence." Vietnam is currently ranked on the Open Doors World Watch List as the 20th most difficult place to live in as a Christian. The 14th National Assembly recently passed the nation's first Law on Belief and Religion to protect religious freedom, but there are concerns that the legislation still allows excessive state interference in the affairs of religious organizations. home Tech Jesus' birthplace in Bethlehem featured in video immersive virtual tour Just in time for Christmas, Jesus' birthplace is captured in a new 360-degree video, giving people from all over the world a chance to see the holy site, which is believed to be housed in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. In the film, virtual tour guide Danny Herman, also known as "Danny the Digger," showcases the shrine and points at the exact spot where Jesus is believed to have been born. "This block is marking the very spot of his delivery," says Herman in the footage. Director and producer Pearry Teo, as reported by MailOnline, emphasizes that the site of the real-life nativity scene is important not only because it hosted the birth of Jesus Christ, which is the foundation of Christianity, but also because it is one of the oldest among the major holy sites in the world. Teo says, "I believe in keeping Tradition alive by sharing with people the wonders of the world, its rich history and to open the eyes of those who may never have a chance to visit Israel and The Holy Land." The director adds that the video is not only for Christians but for anyone who is interested in architecture, geography, and history. He also says that one need not be a Christian to be touched by the place, sharing that even Muslims visit the shrine. The immersive film is part of the Bible VR series, an effort to feature the bible using 360 video and virtual reality. The Church of Nativity is located 10 kilometers south of Jerusalem. The shrine is currently being managed based on the "Status Quo of the Holy Places," which is being jointly carried out by the Greek Orthodox Church, the custody of the Holy Land, and the Armenian Patriarchate. An advisory committee formed by the Palestinian President is also currently in place. home US More than $43,000 in donations pour in for injured teen working at Chick-Fil-A to feed the homeless A crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $43,000 for an 18-year-old Chick-Fil-A employee who went to work despite his injuries in order to earn money to help the homeless. Jakeem Tyler, from Avon, Indiana, became an inspiration to many after Chick-Fil-A customer Cameron Nelson shared a photo of him working at the restaurant chain wearing a neck brace and an arm sling. In a Facebook post dated Dec. 8, Nelson informed Chick-Fil-A about Tyler's situation. "The line for the drive-thru was pretty long, so I decided to go inside. When I entered, I saw a gentleman behind your cash register, who was working with a neck brace and a sling. For anyone to work in those conditions is commendable, but it's amazing for someone in his generation to have that type of work ethic," he wrote. When Nelson asked Tyler about his injuries, the employee revealed that he was involved in a car accident days earlier. Tyler said that he was working because he needed the money, and he wanted to use his earnings to feed the homeless this Christmas. Tyler, who works at the branch on Rockville Road in Indianapolis, said in an interview with WKRN that he was still stiff and sore when he came into work that day. "This man Cameron comes in, who I never saw in my life, he asked me why I'm working and I was like I'm working to feed the homeless and just to pay bills like a young teen does," he said. Tyler said that Nelson wanted to help him, so he gave Nelson his name and contact info. Nelson told Chick-Fil-A on Facebook about his plans to help the teenager and asked if the company was willing to match the donations or sponsor Tyler's organization. The company issued a statement praising the teenager's work ethic and said that it will support Tyler's efforts to serve the homeless. Tyler, an aspiring evangelist, credits his parents for his passion for helping the homeless. He said that he would like to travel around the world, spread the Gospel, and work with young teens with leadership. The GoFundMe page launched by Nelson has exceeded its goal of $2,500. More than 1,700 people have donated $43,000 in just 11 days. home World Philippine president Duterte says he might 'go to hell' for killings Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday that there is a possibility that he would go to Hell for the gravity of his sins, including personally killing several people. Duterte, who has only been in office for less than six months, said such during the 2016 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas. He shared with the audience that he has been paying for his past wrongdoings, adding, "I know somehow that I was repaying my debts to God for doing something sometimes wrong, but you know just as killing." Last week, while delivering a speech to an audience of businessmen at the presidential palace, the president admitted to personally shooting at suspected criminals when he was mayor of the city of Davao. "In Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys (police) that if I can do it why can't you," Duterte said, after talking about the rampant killing of suspected drug criminals because of the government's war against drugs. "And I'd go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around, and I would just patrol the streets, looking for trouble also. I was really looking for a confrontation so I could kill," the 72-year-old president said. Duterte's administration has received heavy criticism from world leaders and human rights groups. Since he assumed office in late June, police have claimed killing 2,086 individuals in drug-bust operations, local media company ABS-CBN reports. In addition, authorities are investigating more than 3,000 cases of suspected drug criminals killed under murky circumstances. Some eyewitnesses report the presence of masked vigilantes who are killing suspected drug users and pushers in their own homes. Amid outcry from human rights groups, Duterte has maintained that police officers are shooting suspects in self-defense, while the other killings are perpetrated by gangsters. During the election campaign period, Duterte's staunch anti-drug stance made him stand out from the competition. In his first State of the Nation Address, Duterte claimed that statistics from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) pegs that number of drug addicts in the country two to three years ago at three million, and he said it is possible that the number had since risen to 3.7 million. An article published by a group of students from the University of the Philippines on Rappler, however, highlights that the claim was inconsistent with figures from the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), which put the number of drug users in the country at 1.3 million in 2012, based on a study that it conducted with the Philippine Normal University. home World Sudan allegedly delays trial of two pastors to avoid releasing them The trial of two pastors and two other men are allegedly being delayed by Sudanese officials because there is not enough evidence for a conviction and the authorities do not want to set them free. Rev. Kwa Shamaal and Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor were arrested on Dec. 18, 2015 and charged with multiple crimes including spying and inciting hatred against the government. Czech aid worker Petr Jasek and Abdulmonem Abdumawla of Darfur were also charged along with the two pastors. The trial has been repeatedly postponed, and the judges were said to be out of the country during the scheduled hearings, Morning Star News reported. A Khartoum church leader, who chose to remain anonymous, told Morning Star News that the government is being pressured by Islamists to delay the acquittal and release of the four men. "There is nothing serious in the case up to this point. They have brought more than three witnesses, and there is still not any evidence," the church leader said. The two pastors were accused of trying to tarnish the image of the government by collecting information about the persecution of Christians in the Nuba Mountains. Abdumawla was arrested in December 2015 after he raised money to help his friend, Ali Omer, who suffered burn injuries during a student demonstration. Jasek was also arrested that same month for "tarnishing Sudan's image" by documenting persecution. He was also charged with waging war against the state because he supposedly gave money to "some individuals," allegedly including some rebel fighters, in South Kordofan in 2012. Defense attorney Muhanad Nur said that the charges against the four Christians are groundless. "Statements of the prosecutor indicate that there were no bases for all the charges brought against them," Nur told Morning Star News. Sources have revealed that family members are being prohibited by the police from visiting the accused. The case of the four Christians has caught the attention of some foreign diplomats and international rights groups after their story broke out last year. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) initiated a campaign calling for the release of Shamal and Tawor. The petition has gathered over 92,000 signatures since it was launched earlier this month. 6 Books From 2016 Every Christian Needs To Read Here are six books you may have missed over the past year, which will enrich and deepen your spiritual and cultural walk... Henri Nouwen: Love, Henri Letters On The Spiritual Life Nouwen was a giant of 20th Century spiritual writing. His was a rare gift taking deep spiritual insights and presenting them for the general reader. As an academic, he satisfied the intellectually curious, but as a pastor, he always had his eye on reaching ordinary people. This year saw the publication of a selection of his personal correspondence, which has been painstaking edited and compiled over a number of years. Nouwen was a faithful correspondent of people he knew and those he didn't who sought his counsel from a distance. This extraordinary book brings together some of the themes his reliance on the story of the Prodigal Son, his insight that above all we are beloved of God which made him just as popular with protestants and evangelicals as he was with his fellow Roman Catholics. NT Wright: The Day The Revolution Began It would be a highly unusual year that passed without a new book from Tom Wright, and 2016 didn't disappoint. The Day The Revolution Began brings together the world-renowned New Testament theologian's thoughts on the crucifixion and its significance for a wide audience. Wright argues that we've undersold the significance of the cross (and the resurrection) by making it simply about getting rid of our personal sin and putting us right with God. The Anglican Bishop suggests that is only a part of the picture instead we need to understand the cross as, "not only to absolve us of our sins; it was actually the beginning of a revolution commissioning the Christian faithful to a new vocation a royal priesthood responsible for restoring and reconciling all of God s creation". Though not un-controversial, Wright's work has been incredibly influential on evangelical thought and this book is set to be no different. Sarah Bessey: Out Of Sorts Canadian bestselling author Bessey is one of a number of evangelical writers who've been on a journey of faith in recent years. Along with the likes of Rachel Held Evans, Mike McHargue, Rob Bell and others, she explores the advantages and disadvantages of her upbringing and what faith looks like when you leave behind some of the certainties of evangelical commitment. Out Of Sorts is a book which deals with all of this, but instead of preaching the certainty of newly found positions, Bessey tells stories in her trademark compelling way. She says, "It's about Jesus and why I love him and follow him. It's about church and church people and why both make me crazy but why I can't seem to quit either. It's about embracing a faith which evolves and the stuff I used to think about God but I don't think anymore." Marilynne Robinson: The Givenness Of Things A collection of essays, The Givenness Of Things is Marilynne Robinson's latest offering, in a career that has seen her lauded by critics both Christian and atheist. The Guardian described it as an, "impassioned and erudite defence of Christianity mak[ing] an interesting antithesis to the Richard Dawkins-inspired new atheism that has dominated in recent years". Robinson, friend and interlocutor of President Obama, is a purveyor of a thoughtful faith. Though she may be easy to categorise as 'liberal' she resists easy labels. "I defer to no one," she writes, "in my love for America and for Christianity. I have devoted my life to the study of both of them". It's hard to disagree. Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between The World And Me From one of the most influential writers in the world right now, Between The World And Me is a look at the current state of race relations in America. This book isn't written from a Christian point of view, but it is vital reading for Christians of any colour who want to grasp how deeply the divide still runs especially in the year of Donald Trump's election. Attending to the division in American society will surely be one of the most important tasks of the Church both black and white in the 21st Century, let alone 2017. For that reason alone this book is worth reading. Nick Spencer: The Evolution Of The West How did Christianity contribute to the development of the western world as we know it? And what impacts are so significant that we take them for granted rather than noticing them? Nick Spencer tackles these questions and more in this highly readable book, which follows on from his earlier work, Freedom and Order: History, Politics and the English Bible. Spencer's case is clear Christianity has not been without its faults, by any stretch. Yet many of the bedrocks of our society, from welfare provision to democracy to the rule of law, are based in the Christian faith. Archbishop Of Canterbury Condemns Christian Persecution In Letter To Churches Around The World The Archbishop of Cantebury Justin Welby has released his Christmas Letter addressed to churches across the world. In it, he laments the Christian persecution and suffering seen in the last year, but also celebrates the unity of the Church and the call to live in hope as Christians serve the most needy. He said of minority groups, Christian or otherwise, who have been targeted: "These are acts not only of terror but of genocide; criminal acts for which the international community must bring those guilty to account. Yet although so vulnerable and often forgotten and marginalised, our brothers and sisters are being courageous in the Lord. Indeed, 'God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong' (1 Corinthians 1.27)." He recalled a trip to Pakistan in November, where he visited Christian communities who have suffered intense persecution in recent years. "Such attacks are not only designed to inflict appalling suffering but also to sow fear in the heart of Christian, and other minority communities," Welby said. "During the visit I spoke with some of the survivors of these attacks, and I was deeply moved and humbled by their extraordinary courage in continuing to be faithful witnesses of Jesus. They spoke of knowing now more than ever that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. "In many parts of our troubled, uncertain world, Christian minority communities along with other minorities are being similarly targeted. In some places, this is motivated by a desire to eradicate the indigenous Christian presence completely." He added that: "In other places conflict and corruption have become so normal that the world forgets the suffering of the poor." He called the Church not to be "bystanders afar off" but to stand alongside those who suffer and work for change. Echoing previous emphases on evangelism and social justice, Welby insisted on the need for proclamation of the gospel in word and in deed, and a rejection of lukewarm complacency. He wrote: "In many countries there is no persecution but there is apathy and complacency which leads us, in the striking words of Pope Francis, to be practical atheists." Welby called the Church to stand with the poor and the vulnerable, writing that: "The measure of a Christ-like community is the extent to which it holds the vulnerable and marginalised of the world at the centre of its life." Although the Anglican Communion is increasingly divided on certain issues, Welby celebrated "a strong sense of the unity of Christians." After what has been a difficult year for many, he emphasised the importance of Christians "sowing hope" in the world, particularly during the festive season which is a clebration of the dawning of God's light on the world. Concluding, Welby said: "In our common celebration of the light of Jesus coming into the world, may we then encourage and build up one other, and so may the Church in every place, united in suffering and in hope, shine with his light and act with his strength, today." Ashers: 'Gay Cake' Case Cannot Be Referred To Supreme Court Ashers Bakery's case cannot be referred to the Supreme Court, senior judges ruled on Wednesday. Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan rejected Northern Ireland's Attorney General attempt to take the case to the highest UK court. John Larkin QC's effort to use his powers under devolution rules came after lawyers were refused leave to appeal last week. But the decision leaves the door open for the McArthur family to petition directly for a hearing in London a move they are looking into. The Christian baking company was found to have unlawfully discriminated against Gareth Lee, an LGBT rights campaigner, by refusing to bake him a cake with the slogan "Support Gay Marriage". The bakery, run by the McArthur family, refunded Lee but last year a county court ruled they had breached equality laws. The decision was later upheld at Belfast's Court of Appeal but there were suggestions the family's lawyers would seek to take the case on to the UK's Supreme Court. The McArthurs insisted their problem was with the message on the cake, not Lee's orientation. But Lee said their decision made him feel a lesser person. Larkin backed Ashers' case and argued it would be wrong to force them to express a political view that conflicted with their faith. But his attempt to use his powers to ask the Supreme Court to rule on the issue was turned down because his bid came too late. "We do not consider there are exceptional circumstances in this case which require us to re-open proceedings," Sir Declan said according to the Belfast Newsletter. Baroness Cox: Rich Nigerian Churches Should Do More To Help Boko Haram Victims Christians in the south of Nigeria are failing to help persecuted fellow believers in the north, according to a veteran humanitarian campaigner. The Boko Haram Islamist insurgency has left around 20,000 dead and caused massive disruption in northern Nigeria and surrounding countries, with around 2.6 million people displaced. Baroness Cox, who has made numerous aid missions to the country, told World Watch Monitor: "My personal view is that many of those churches are immensely wealthy and I would hope they could do more to help those who are suffering in the north, particularly the internally displaced people who are left. "They could work with churches [in the north] who know the needs to reach those most in need. "From a Christian point of view, St Paul said that where one part of the Body of Christ suffers, we all suffer. There is an obligation to help our Christian brothers and sisters." Lady Cox said that southern churches sent occasional consignments of aid, but a tribal rather than national outlook often prevailed resulting in a "disconnect at every level" between Christians in the north and those in the south. She also said Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is failing to adequately respond to the increasingly frequent attacks by groups of armed Fulani herdsmen on Christian villages and leaders in the country's Middle Belt. She suggested that the lack of "robust reprisals" could be linked to him being an ethnic Fulani. Nigeria's Federal Government has pledged to establish cattle ranches to resolve the frequent clashes between herdsmen and farmers, which President Buhari has attributed to "poverty, injustice and the lack of job opportunities". Other analysts cite climate change and desertification as factors. However, researchers such as Open Doors' Yonas Dembele says the attacks amount to the ethnic cleansing of Christians. Lady Cox said the attacks by Fulani herdsmen were "deeply disturbing" and had an ideological aspect because eye-witnesses reported them shouting "Allahu Akbar" as they carried out their attacks. She said the herdsmen passed through the Sharia-run states in the north without carrying out attacks. She suggested Boko Haram might have a role in training them, adding: "There's a lot of concern [the cleansing by Fulani militias is] an extension of the Islamisation of Nigeria." Bishop Appeals For Cash To Make Refugees Welcome In Winchester It is now one year since the first refugee family was found a new home in Hampshire. Since then, homes have been found for families in Winchester, Baskingstoke, Lymington, Eastleigh and Andover. And among those offering the most practical help to these families are volunteers from churches thoughout the area. Now the Bishop of Winchester Tim Dakin has launched a special Christmas appeal to raise funds for further resettlement of refugees in his diocese. The funds raised will go to the British Red Cross, which is working with Hampshire County Council to help refugees with legal and language support, food, clothing and other needs. Volunteers from Churches Together in Winchester are also helping the council work with the refugees, such as with shopping and translation. Bishop Dakin said: "At Christmas, it is natural to focus on our families and loved ones but, as Christians called to reach out to our near and distant neighbours to be prophetic global citizens, it is important that we think of people who are less fortunate than ourselves. "Over the last two years, many people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of global conflicts, and as a diocese, I want us to continue to offer them support. I hope people living in Hampshire and Dorset will give generously to the British Red Cross this Christmas." He has already raised nearly 1,500 towards his 10,000 target on JustGiving. In an interview with BBC Radio Solent, Bishop Dakin said the refugees were in a "very vulnerable situation". He added: "What I'm asking local parishes to do is to give so that we can give to the Red Cross." Church Of Scotland Encourages Worshippers To Attend 'Virtual Church' On Christmas Day Amid Severe Storms Christians in Scotland have been advised to attend online "virtual services" on Christmas Day due to dangerous storm activity expected on Sunday. Scotland faces storms of speeds of 50-60mph in its southern/central belt, up to and beyond 80mph in the far north. Senior Kirk officials are suggesting that congregations who are therefore unable to travel instead access a Christmas Day service online. The online platform is already in use by some congregations, whereby the traditional church service is streamed live online. Now the Church of Scotland expects its largest online audiences for live-streamed services on the 25 December. The Sunday Herald spoke to the Rev Neil Glover, minister at Flemington Hallside Parish Church in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, who said: "If for any reason people are unable to attend, many of our churches now make their services available online. "So there will still be an opportunity to feel part of a church congregation at this special time of year." The new form of Christmas service could mark a shift in how families experience the festive season. Glover added: "It could even be a great chance for the less 'tech-minded' members of the family to ask their loved ones to help find an online service for them on their phone or tablet and share it together." The Church of Scotland told Christian Today that "increasing numbers" have been using the online platform, though no official figures on its use currently exist. On Christmas Day, "more churches than ever before" are set to stream online or put their services online via Youtube, Soundcloud, Facebook and other services. Parishes like St Andrew's in Bo'ness, St Andrew's in Abroath, and Luss Parish Church in Loch Lomond are already keen cultivators of online service streaming. Martin's Memorial Church in the Isle of Lewis emphasises how one can now visit Church "from the comfort of your own home". The Rev Albert Bogle runs Sanctuary First, a Pioneer Ministry of online outreach which hopes to "develop an authentic caring worshipping community online," and become "a worshipping congregation of the Church of Scotland on the internet". Fears Grow Over Religious Freedom Restrictions In Vietnam Religious freedom in Vietnam is at risk of deteriorating under the government's new Law on Belief and Religion, a senior bishop told officials on Monday. Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Kham, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam, was speaking at a meeting between government officials and representatives from religious groups, the National Catholic Reporter reports. This law, which passed on November 18 and will take effect in 2018, "fails to properly care about and satisfy people's needs of religious activities," Kham said. "From our views, some negative issues still remain in relationships between the government and religions." Christian persecution charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) previously warned that the new legislation does not conform to international standards on freedom of religion or belief. "The text of the law has been revised numerous times. Some improvements to the draft were made during the revision process, possibly in response to the feedback offered by religious communities. However, these improvements, and the inclusion of basic guarantees of the right to freedom of religion or belief, were undermined by onerous registration requirements and excessive State interference in the internal affairs of religious organisations," CSW said. Vietnam's constitution guarantees freedom of religion in principle, but the Communist government tightly controls independent religious practice. According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), it represses "individuals and religious groups it views as challenging its authority", including independent Buddhists, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, and Christians. A number of advocates for religious freedom remain imprisoned in the country and authorities have "moved decisively" in recent years to restrict freedom of expression and religion even further, the USCIRF says. Religious groups have to formally register with the government, but are routinely denied. The Hmong Protestants have experienced particular persecution in the last few years, and Vietnam has been named a 'country of particular concern' every year by the USCIRF since 2001. CSW has urged the Vietnamese government to ensure that registration is not a pre-requisite for the exercise of freedom of religion or belief. The UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief previously made a similar request. Of the 93.4 million Vietnamese, more than half identifies with Buddhism. Roman Catholics make up seven per cent, Cao Dai between 2.5 and four per cent; Hoa Hao, 1.5 to three per cent; and Protestants, one to two per cent. Iraqi Christians Driven Out By ISIS Return To Worship In Desecrated Church As members of St George's Church in Bartella entered their church for the first time since ISIS was driven out, they immediately began to worship. As they crossed the threshold to see utter devastation crosses broken, windows smashed and the charred remains of the alter they began to sing, which turned to prayer. Later, they wept. Bartella lies just nine miles from Mosul ISIS' last stronghold in Iraq, and the subject of a major offensive to reclaim territory from the jihadist group. More than 100,000 people have now fled the city as the battle intensifies, and Christian international relief organisation Samaritan's Purse is working on the front lines to serve those in the midst of crisis. Partners are on the ground in the refugee camps and outside of them; providing food for 30,000 families a day along with emergency shelters and blankets. Because although villages like Bartella have now been liberated from Islamic State, it remains unsafe for them to return home. Executive director of Samaritan's Purse, Simon Barrington, just returned from a visit to Bartella. In an interview with Christian Today, he described visiting the St George's Church with its priest, Father Benham, and four sisters of the congregation. "As we walked through the door of the church, it was incredible," Barrington said. "I was very moved to see their response. They immediately started singing, then started to pray, and then started to cry in that order. It was their first time back in that place of worship no one had worshipped there for two years and their immediate response among the ashes and the debris, with broken crosses and a noose hanging from the gates of the church, was to worship God." Barrington said he asked the Iraqis what they were singing. "We were singing songs of hope," they replied. "We were praying to God to rebuild this church, and to come back here and recreate this Christian community." ISIS overran Bartella on 6 August 2014, and 5,000 families were forced to flee with just three hours' notice. In October this year the Iraqi army reclaimed the village, but devastation remains in the jihadis' wake. It's described as a ghost town; many buildings have been completely flattened and those that remain have been burnt out and looted. Other churches, too, have been destroyed. The Mart Shmony Syriac Orthodox Church in Bartella is left charred by a fire. When church leaders returned, inside the church pews were overturned, and hymn books and Bibles had been torn apart and thrown on the floor. According to the Telegraph's Josie Ensor, graffiti scrawled on the walls of the church read: "Our God is higher than the cross". Across Bartella, some explosive devices have yet to be defused, making it impossible for residents to return home. And yet, church leaders have pledged to return and rebuild the village. "I was amazed by their determination and commitment to the people of Barterlla and the surrounding region; of their commitment to be a continued witness in that area," Barrington said of Father Benham and the nuns. "There are huge risks for them in doing that, but they were very determined." Some Iraqi Christians have said they are too afraid to return home after years of sectarian tension, but Barrington said Father Benham's determination to return home was a "prophetic statement" to the wider community. "It was leaders going back in and saying we will face up to this pain and hurt, to this devastation, and we will lead people through," he said. "There's a deep sense of community people don't want to return until the churches function because church is at the heart of their community. Father Benham and the leaders of his congregation said once churches are rebuilt, the people will return." Samaritan's Purse is currently appealing for medical staff for its new Emergency Field Hospital on the Nineveh Plain, east of Mosul. For more information, click here. Peace On Earth This Christmas? Five Places That Need Your Prayers Many of us are about to make long journeys to be with family and friends for the Christmas season. The final decorations are going up and the presents are being wrapped. The food is beginning to be cooked and all seems well with the world. Even as we gather and, rightly, celebrate the birth of Jesus, we should remember the parts of the world where there will be little peace and good will. There are conflicts raging both in full view of the Western media and those which are much less well-known. Our fellow Christians in many countries find themselves in places where it's difficult to be a believer. 2,000 years on from the birth of Christ, there are countries north and south, east and west who won't allow their citizens to worship freely this Christmas. Here are some places to pray for and think about while we gather with our loved ones this festive season... Yemen The small Gulf state of Yemen has been in turmoil since an uprising began there in 2011. In the last two years, violence has intensified and external influences have poured fuel onto the conflict. The Shia Houthi rebels have been accused of a series of human rights abuses. They are allegedly being supported by the Iranian regime. On the other side, a coalition of Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia has been attacking the Houthis. There are numerous reports of civilians being killed and injured by this action. Britain and America are reported to have been providing support to the Saudis. The scale of devastation in Yemen has led to the Disasters Emergency Committee launching an appeal to prevent the worst of the impact chronic food shortages and a lack of medical supplies. Israel-Palestine Our thoughts turn at this time of year to Bethlehem. The West Bank town is home to a decreasing number of Christians, as the Israel/Palestine conflict rumbles on. Although both sides (and the Obama administration) have made the right statements about seeking peace, a two-state solution seems further off than ever. None of the major stumbling blocks to a deal (Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the future of Palestinian refugees, the status of Jerusalem) show any sign of being resolved. South Sudan When South Sudan became the newest country in the world in 2011 there was much optimism. Since the country descended into civil war in 2013, that optimism has been replaced with heavy hearts. A political dispute between the President and Vice President erupted into violence on the streets. With over a quarter of a million people now killed in the conflict, you'd think the country would be a focus of the world's attention, but the story rarely makes the headlines. The future looks bleak for South Sudan after a period of relative calm was brought to an end earlier this year with renewed fighting and bloodshed. Burma/Myanmar Hopes were high that Burma would enter a period of progress and increasing freedom when long-term political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in 2010 and the Burmese military junta was officially dissolved. However, the transition to a more open form of government has not been without significant problems. Aung San Suu Kyi herself has been criticized for failing to speak out against persecution faced by the Rohingya minority. In addition, violence against Christians is said to be on the rise according to Open Doors. Venzuela The ongoing political and social turmoil in Venezuela seems to be reaching crisis proportions. The BBC reports that for ordinary Venezuelans, "salaries are losing value by the minute, and... [they] have to queue for hours to buy basic foodstuffs that they can scarcely afford." The Venezuelan government has blamed US interference for its economic problems while critics of the Maduro administration blame government policy. The Independent says, "Venezuelan parents are giving up their children to survive as the South American country's suffers with a catastrophic economic crisis." Another stark picture comes from a Reuters report which says, "Women from Venezuela are crossing the border in droves and selling their hair in a Colombian border town in order to afford scarce basic necessities such as food." So, as we gather around the Christmas meal table, we should remember these places. We should pray for churches which minister in these countries with varying degrees of freedom. Most of all we should pray for the swift realization of the angels' proclamation to the Shepherd's near Bethlehem... "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Prince Charles Hits Out Against Religious Persecution Prince Charles has hit out against religious persecution around the world and spoken about "Our Lord Jesus Christ" in an unprecedented appearance on the Thought for the Day slot on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The Prince of Wales framed his passage around a meeting with a Jesuit priest from Syria who gave him "a graphic account of what life is like for those Christians he was forced to leave behind". The heir to the throne, who has frequently spoken out about persecution against Christians in the Middle East and given undisclosed sums to the charity Aid to the Church in Need, said: "Clearly for such people religious freedom is a daily stark choice between life and death. The scale of religious persecution around the world is not widely appreciated, nor is it limited to Christians in the troubled regions of the Middle East. A recent report suggests that attacks are increasing on Yazidis, Jews, Ahmadis, Baha'is and many other minority faiths, and in some countries even more insidious forms of religious extremism have recently surfaced which aim to eliminate all types of religious diversity." Prince Charles went on to compare the violent religious persecution of today with the horrors of the Second World War. "We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world, that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s," he said. "I was born in 1948, just after the end of World War II, in which my parents' generation had fought, and died, in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. That nearly 70 years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution is to me beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past." The prince, who has faced criticism from Christian traditionalists in the past for describing himself as "defender of faith" rather than "defender of the faith", pointedly referred in the context of the Holy Family fleeing persecution to "Our Lord Jesus Christ" in what was his most public declaration of his own Christian faith to date. He went on, however, to talk about the Prophet Mohammed as well. He said: "Normally, at Christmas we think of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder though if this year we might remember how the story of the Nativity unfolds, with the fleeing of the Holy Family to escape violent persecution. And we might also remember that when the Prophet Mohammed migrated from Mecca to Medina, he did so because he too was seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship. Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same: to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out the peaceful response to the Love of God." The full text of Prince Charles's Thought for the Day is below: In London recently I met a Jesuit priest from Syria. He gave me a graphic account of what life is like for those Christians he was forced to leave behind. He told me of mass kidnappings in parts of Syria and Iraq and how he feared that Christians would be driven en masse out of lands described in the Bible. He thought it quite possible there would be no Christians in Iraq within five years. Clearly for such people religious freedom is a daily stark choice between life and death. The scale of religious persecution around the world is not widely appreciated, nor is it limited to Christians in the troubled regions of the Middle East. A recent report suggests that attacks are increasing on Yazidis, Jews, Ahmadis, Baha'is and many other minority faiths, and in some countries even more insidious forms of religious extremism have recently surfaced which aim to eliminate all types of religious diversity. We are also struggling to capture the immensity of the ripple effect of such persecution. According to the United Nations, 5.8 million more people abandoned their homes in 2015 than the year before, bringing the annual total to a staggering 65.3 million. That is almost equivalent to the entire population of the United Kingdom. And the suffering doesn't end when they arrive seeking refuge in the foreign land. We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world, that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s. I was born in 1948, just after the end of World War II, in which my parents' generation had fought, and died, in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. That nearly 70 years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution is to me beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past. Normally, at Christmas we think of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder though if this year we might remember how the story of the Nativity unfolds, with the fleeing of the Holy Family to escape violent persecution. And we might also remember that when the Prophet Mohammed migrated from Mecca to Medina, he did so because he too was seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship. Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same: to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out the peaceful response to the Love of God. That's what I saw when attending the consecration of a Syriac Orthodox Cathedral in London recently. Here were a people persecuted for their religion in their own country, but finding refuge in another land, and freedom to practise their faith according to their conscience. It is an example to inspire us all this Christmas time. Prophecies Of Doom Circulate In Italy After Failed Miracle Of Saint's Blood Fears of more earthquakes in Italy, cholera and other prophecies of doom circulated on social media after the blood of San Gennaro failed to liquefy. Gennaro, whose name is often rendered as St Januarius, lived in the third century and is the patron saint of Naples. He is believed to have been a victim of the Roman emperor Diocletian's Christian persecution. At his death, it is said, some of his blood was collected by an onlooker and is to this day stored in Naples cathedral in a glass ampoule. The saint is celebrated three times a year at prayers, services and other events which surround the hoped-for "miracle of liquefaction". When Pope Francis visited the cathedral in March last year, clergy said they observed the dry blood begin to turn liquid. The blood was said to have "half liquefied". The three official liquefaction dates are in May, September and December but it does also liquefy for some Popes, although not all, when they visit the cathedral. This month on the third annual date for the miracle, there were no signs of liquefaction. December 16 is the day Napolitans remember the eruption of Vesuvius in 1631 and the intervention of San Gennaro to stop the lava before it entered the city. The faithful waited for a few days as the miracle often occurs in the days after the celebrations, but there have been no signs that it will occur this December. According to the Naples edition of Repubblica, the faithful are often left disappointed by the last miracle of the year. "Nobody in the Curia makes a big deal," the paper said. Something did at first seemed to change in the substance of the blood, and the clergy seemed confident, but in the end there was no change. Thousands of Catholics had flocked to the cathedral to witness the phenomenon. But La Stampa reported that clergy became resigned to nothing happened and closed the casket. Abbot Vincenzo De Gregorio said: "We must not think about disasters and calamities. We are men of faith, and we must continue to pray." He said the blood seemed to start to liquify but then coagulated again, "a strange thing". He could not report its true "dissolution". The failure of the miracle is linked in the minds of faithful Italians to adversity. It failed in September 1939 and 1940, the dates of the beginning of World War II and Italy's entry into the war, in September 1943 during the Nazi occupation, in 1973 when Naples was hit by a cholera epidemic and in 1980, the year of a terrible earthquake in Irpinia, south Italy. Catholics must now wait until next May to witness the miracle again. De Gregorio emphasised that the real treasures were the ones of faith and martyrdom: "The blood has been preserved as a sign of martyrdom and thus of a faith that goes beyond human logic. This is the Treasure of San Gennaro, the real treasure." In spite of his reassuring words, prophecies of doom were quick to circulate on social media: Don't panic, but San Genarro's blood didn't liquify this year. Last 3 times it happened: earthquake, cholera, Nazishttps://t.co/iVihylh3vt Linguavert (@linguavert) December 19, 2016 "We must not think of disasters and calamities. We are men of faith and we must pray," https://t.co/M0w0F66zcz Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) December 19, 2016 Rare Bowl From Just Before Time Of Christ Dug Up In Ancient Heart Of Jerusalem A stone bowl engraved with a rare Hebrew inscription and found in a car park in Jerusalem has created a new mystery: Who was Hyrcanus? The Israel Antiquities Authority found the bowl with the inscription "Hyrcanus" in the Givati Parking Lot currently being excavated at the City of David. The dig is one of the largest taking place in Jerusalem. The city is an ancient settlement in the Jerusalem Walls National Park believed to be the original urban heart of Jerusalem. The bowl dates from the Hasmonean period, the century that preceded the Herodian dynasty, which ran from 37 BCE and witnessed the birth of Christ. The engraving, "Hyrcanus", was a common name at that time and was also name of two of the leaders of the Hasmonean dynasty Researchers said in a press release: "This is one of the earliest examples of the appearance of chalk vessels in Jerusalem. In the past, these vessels were widely used mainly by Jews because they ensured ritual purity." Dr Doron Ben-Ami of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Professor Esther Eshel of Bar-Ilan University said: "This is one of the earliest examples of chalk vessels to appear in Jerusalem. These stone vessels were extensively used by Jews because they were considered vessels that cannot become ritually unclean." The bowl was discovered beneath the foundations of a "miqwe", part of a complex of water installations that were used for ritual bathing. The excavations, sponsored by the Ir David Foundation, have so far uncovered a wealth of artifacts from different periods. Those with writing on them always excite special interest and scholars are now debating whether Hyrcanus, was a high-ranking individual or just an ordinary citizen. Ben-Ami and Eshel added: "We know of two personages from this period who had this name: John Hyrcanus, who was the grandson of Matityahu the Hasmonean and ruled Judea from 135104 BCE, and John Hyrcanus II, who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus and Salome Alexandra. However, it is not possible to determine if the bowl belonged specifically to either of them." About a year ago the remains of the Greek Seleucid Akra or fortress were exposed in the same dig. This was the famous fortress built by Antiochus IV Epiphanes to control the city and monitor the activity in the Temple, which was eventually conquered by the Hasmoneans. The bowl was found a short distance from where the remains of the Akra were dug up. Why We're Giving Our Home As A Christmas Present To Refugees Soon we will mark the birth of the world's most famous refugee. Two thousand years after Jesus, Mary and Joseph were forced to flee from King Herod into Egypt, the UN Refugee Agency reports that 65.3 million people have been forced from their homes by modern oppressors, disasters and war. It's a figure larger than the entire population of the UK (though less than a quarter of one percent lives in Britain). Christmas is one of the most holy moments of the Christian calendar. This year, we wanted to mark the birth of Jesus in a different way. And so we've decided to give the gift of a home to a handful of those people who have had to leave family and friends behind and who have found themselves homeless on our streets. We currently live in a Christian community in Birmingham and felt that the money we have saved over a number of years would be best spent offering a home for people in the greatest need. We've provided the house to refugee homelessness charity Hope Projects as a home where people can live while they seek sanctuary. Our friends and family have helped us to raise money to support the people living in the house who will not be able to work or claim social security benefits and to make sure the bills are covered. This decision is a means of practicing our faith this Christmas. The call to 'welcome the stranger' is deeply embedded in Christianity, weaving through the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus. Pope Francis has also called for European Christians to show mercy to refugees, setting an example himself by welcoming a number of families into his home. When we decided to follow this example, it was because we considered that the home would be a practical means of support. But it's also a demonstration of solidarity a word that is so critical at these moments. Our basic humanity, as well as the call to "do unto others what you would have them do unto you", demand that we stand side by side with people who have been forced to leave their own communities. These are people who have suffered colossal losses, of family members, homes, livelihoods, ways of life: all the securities we take for granted. Like the Holy Family, they've fled in fear for their lives, escaping by foot across foreign soil, or entrusting their lives to the waves when the sea offered greater 'security' than the land. Upon reaching the shore, they've been greeted with bureaucracy and barbed wire. Surely, we retain the capacity to afford these human beings with their God-given dignity? Most people agree. That's why there has been such a groundswell of compassion from those of us geography has blessed with greater fortune. We've seen this in our own working lives. On a tangible level, Catholics across the country have donated millions of pounds to CAFOD which Matthew works for helping people in the Middle East and beyond who have fled from their homes in Syria and elsewhere in the region. Here at home, volunteers at St Chad's Sanctuary where Steph works have given the gift of time to provide practical support and English classes to people seeking asylum. People have shown solidarity in other ways, too. More than 25,000 parishioners and pupils have written moving messages of hope which are being shared with refugees in the UK, in Europe and further afield. Thousands of pilgrims have prayed on 'walks of witness', carrying a 'Lampedusa cross' made from the driftwood of refugee boats on the Italian island. We consider ourselves lucky. Other people, through no fault of their own, have not enjoyed the same fortune. A house for refugees is our particular way of marking Christmas. As we celebrate Jesus's birth, let us pray that in the year ahead we can all support people following in the Holy Family's footsteps. Donate to CAFOD's Refugee Crisis Appeal at cafod.org.uk/refugees and Hope Projects' Christmas Appeal at hope-projects.org.uk This year, hungry Southeast Texans welcomed dozens of new dining options, as existing businesses expanded and new ones set up shop in the Golden Triangle. Among the regional staples that opened locations in new cities were Woogie's in downtown Beaumont, Boutte's Boudin in Lumberton and J&J's Wings and Seafood in Orange and Beaumont. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Christmas, as anyone with fingers clawing at wrapping paper understands, is the celebration of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. While Christmas needs no further introduction, a legend surrounding St. Nicholas, who became Santa Claus, occupied a parallel track. When you pare away the myths, you're left with what amounts to coercion - of the positive type - to reward good behavior. A collection of 10 iterations of Santa Claus is on display at the Calder Woods retirement center's library, acquired and donated by one of its residents, Evelyn Lord, who once served as mayor of Beaumont. The collection, created by Carleen Faucett and Jane Covington over the course of 10 years - one Claus per year - is perhaps one of seven in the hands of private collectors. The makers kept a set for each of them and the rest went to "subscribers," Lord said. "In western civilization, it seems a necessity to have a figure who rewards the good," Lord said. As a girl growing up in Boston, Lord remembers receiving a lump of coal a time or two in the toe of the stocking she hung by the chimney with care. That helps to explain the figure of "Black Peter," a fearsome-looking traveling companion of the good Mr. Claus. Black Peter kept the record books. And he had a quiver full of switches for the bad children. His record book was titled "Das Kinder Verboten," which loosely translated means, "No soup for you." Ancient Russia had its version in a figure called "Father Ice," whose power to withhold reward from the bad-behaving is cold. Really cold cold. "Father Ice turned a screaming girl into a pillar of ice," reads a small pamphlet with Lord's Father Ice figure. The medieval Santa Claus, from the early 12th century, notes that St. Nicholas had been a saint for 300 years and a legend for 600 years previously. He had the ability to fly, akin to the power of Odin, the Norse god. It is along one of those parallel tracks that the pagan mixed in with the birth of Jesus and his redemption for mankind on the cross in Jerusalem. There is no consensus of what Saint Nicholas might have looked like, but scholars place him somewhere in Asia Minor, the area of the seat of the Byzantine empire. Another figure, this time of a woman, is La Befana, who rose in Italy. Her legend is that she was invited by the wise men to witness the birth of Jesus, but she was reluctant, claiming she still had cleaning chores, which is why she is shown with a broom. La Befana soon realized what she missed and to make up for it, she took gifts of fruit to children. Lord, who last week turned 90, remembers an early Christmas when her parents surprised her with a big doll she wanted and her brother got a fire engine he could ride. When the gift wrap was pulled away, there was the doll, seated in the fire engine. "We both got what we wanted," she said. Lord's collection even includes a Mongol-Asian Santa Claus, who was brought to the East by the explorer Marco Polo in the early 14th century to the region ruled by Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis. The Chinese Revolt in the late 14th century put an end to Santa in the East. Kris Kringle is there, courtesy of the Germans and the name comes from Christkringl, the Christ Child. On Christmas Day, Lord said she will be content to sit with her cat, Chloe. She will join the rest of her Calder Woods community for lunch and her collection will be on display, each adorned in rich vestments, until early January and then back they go to their place of safety until next Christmas. "Adults understand Christmas," she said. "You need a mythical figure to reach a child." DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/DWallach Dear Abby: My nephew, "Logan," is a sophomore in high school. He is a bright kid who is on the autism spectrum. He is very high-functioning, even on a higher level than Asperger's. But the social struggles are still there. To this day, my sister refuses to tell Logan about his autism. She feels immense guilt and goes into panic mode every time I bring it up. She thinks he wouldn't be able to handle it. The kid knows something is wrong but doesn't know what. Can I tell him? Or if it's morally wrong to tell him, can I tell him when he is 18? I am a nurse, and I strongly believe everyone should know everything about their conditions, mental as well as physical. But it's tough with my nephew because he is still a minor. Can I Tell Him? Dear Can I Tell: Your sister may mean well, but keeping her son in the dark about why he is the way he is, is cruel. I agree that the boy should be told, but the person to persuade your sister to come clean would be your nephew's pediatrician because it appears she has tuned you out on that subject. He should have been getting counseling and/or therapy to help him deal with his social issues. If the conversation still hasn't happened by the time Logan turns 18, tell him then. He will probably be grateful to be able to put a label on what he's experiencing. Dear Abby: I'm a sophomore in high school, and I have become a fan of rap and electronic music. A lot of adults think rap is trash. I understand that it may cover some mature subjects like selling drugs, violence, sex and living in the 'hood. But I still find rap songs to be a pleasure to listen to. Am I wrong to enjoy rap music? This may sound irrational, but I know employers search social-media profiles. If I make the fact that I enjoy rap public, will they reject me? These are just thoughts that have crossed my mind, so I'm asking for some advice. Hip-Hop Fan in New Jersey Dear Fan: Many people enjoy listening to rap music without indulging in the lifestyle that's described - including, I have heard, some of the performers who write and perform it. If you like a particular genre of music, I see no reason why you can't continue to enjoy it. Although some employers check the internet profiles of prospective employees, I have never heard of an applicant being rejected for a job because of his taste in music. DearAbby.comDear AbbyP.O. Box 69440Los Angeles, CA 90069Universal Press Syndicate President-elect Donald Trump is considering former Texas A&M University President Elsa Murano for agriculture secretary, the Trump transition team said Thursday. Her track record of running a major university really speaks for itself, Trump spokesman Jason Miller told reporters. He will meet with her next week, the Texas Tribune reported. Coldspring-Oakhurst Consolidated ISD celebrated Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 4 - 10. The purpose of this international celebration was to help students understand the opportunities available for technology careers, and to help teachers and administrators understand the importance of embedding skills that lead to the development of computer programming (coding) skills. For the fourth straight year, each COCISD campus participated in the "Hour of Code," an event designed to help students practice the problem solving skills and determination necessary to be successful at coding. The man who composed the music that helped make the "Star Wars" films a universal icon for the past 40 years told the press this week that he's never seen one of the films. Composer John Williams -- who has composed the music that propelled characters like Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Abraham Lincoln, Roy Neary, Kevin McCallister and others to extraordinary things told The London Mirror that hes never seen any of the space epics. OOPS: While at the movies, 'Star Wars' fan gets dumped via text criticizing his looks I let it go. I have not looked at the 'Star Wars' films and that's absolutely true," the composer said. "When I'm finished with a film, I've been living with it, we've been dubbing it, recording to it, and so on. You walk out of the studio and, 'Ah, it's finished.'" I'm not particularly proud of that, I have to say, but it's also part of the fact that I finished Star Wars now and I'm already working on Spielberg's new film and I don't want to listen to music or see films, Williams said. So now we know that the 84-year-old has already composed the music for next years "Star Wars: Episode VIII" due in December. The Steven Spielberg movie he is on the hook for is Ready Player One and the next Indiana Jones if it happens. Williams didnt do the music for Rogue One currently in theaters. The duties were handled by composer Michael Giacchino, who did a superb job of blending his new ideas with Williams sounds. WOOKIES FTW: 'Star Wars' and music: When pop stars use the Force Williams may have never sat down and watched the entire run of Star Wars films hes written music for, but hes likely seen all the biggest moments in the films while in the recording studio with an orchestra or working with the filmmakers in a screening room. You can see a glimpse of that process in a short segment recording during the post-production of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1998. Hes just never vegged out on a couch a whole weekend and finally seen the rise of Anakin Skywalker from a pod racer with a bowl haircut to the rise of Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. A Friendswood woman was allegedly assaulted by her ex-boyfriend, who then burglarized her home the following day twice before being busted with cocaine by police in another city. The ex-boyfriend, according to a Dec. 16 Friendswood Police Department incident report, was charged with family violence after injuring the woman. The ex-boyfriend also was charged for interfering with a 911 emergency call his ex-girlfriend tried to make during the alleged assault. The suspect, however, had fled the scene by the time law enforcement arrived. Police believe the suspect then broke into his ex-girlfriend's Friendswood home in the 800 block of Camelot Lane the following day. A friend of the homeowner called and informed her that the front door to her home was open. The homeowner parked in the driveway and waited for law enforcement to arrive, according to the incident report. A neighbor reported seeing a vehicle matching the homeowner's ex-boyfriend parked in the driveway earlier that day. The suspect is believed to have broken into the home a second time sometime between 8:30 p.m. Dec. 17 and 2:52 a.m. Dec. 18. According to police, someone forced their way into the home through the front door of the same assault victim's home on Camelot Lane. The burglary suspect then apparently decided to leave the showering running and the garage door open before leaving the premises. Police say the suspect appeared to have rummaged through the homeowner's dresser drawers, threw pool furniture into the home's swimming pool and vandalized Christmas decorations on display in the home's yard. The suspect didn't stop there. The 44-year-old resident of Alvin was arrested by Alvin law enforcement and charged with possession of a controlled substance cocaine at approximately 7:13 p.m. Dec. 18. After his arrest, the suspect also was served with warrants charging him with the prior assault and emergency call interference allegedly made Dec. 16. In other Friendswood crime news: Assault A 30-year-old Friendswood resident was charged with assaulting and injuring her girlfriend Dec. 14. Police responded to a disturbance at a residence in the 3100 block of Autumn Leaf Drive. The suspect is accused of injuring her girlfriend's lip. When the responding officer arrived, according to a police department incident report, the victim ran toward the officer with blood on her face, arms and foot. The suspect was on the phone when police arrived and was arrested. Burglary Three locked compartments on a work truck were forced open during a vehicle burglary in the 500 block of Bellmar Lane Dec. 16. The burglary occurred between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., according to an incident report. An Arc flash suit, face shield and tools were stolen. A vehicle was burglarized Dec. 16 at Leslie Landing Apartments located at 107 E. Willowick. According to an incident report, the vehicle was parked behind the apartment complex at midnight. At 5:55 a.m., a witness told police he was outside smoking when he noticed the camper hatch was open on his neighbor's truck. The witness said he walked over to the truck and noticed that several items were pulled out of the truck and sitting on the tailgate. The witness told police he could hear someone in the wooded area behind the rear parking lot of the apartment complex and said he then saw an unknown male exit the woods and sprint down East Spreading Oaks toward South Friendswood Drive. A drill, a bag of tools and a battery were stolen from the truck, according to the vehicle's owner. Two vehicle burglaries were reported Dec. 16 in the 5400 block of Appleblossom Lane. According to an incident report, both vehicles were left unlocked and parked in the street. The burglary occurred the night before. A fire-retardant work jacket was stolen out of one vehicle. A Strion Streamlight, a high-speed buffer and another Streamlight were stolen out of the second vehicle. Theft A doctor's prescription pad was reported stolen Dec. 13 from a doctor's office in the 200 block of East Edgewood Drive. The victim believe the pad was stolen sometime between 1:30 p.m. Dec. 1 and 1:45 p.m. Dec. 12. Sixty crates of bread were reported stolen Dec. 10. According to an incident report, a bread company dropped off crates of bread at the H-E-B store located at 701 W. Parkwood Avenue. Once the bread was off-loaded the crates were placed behind the H-E-B store. By the following morning, the crates were gone. Surveillance video shows a white box truck pulling up behind the store at 2:37 p.m. Dec. 11. Two men are shown getting out of the truck and loading up the bread crates. Fraud A Friendswood resident reported Dec. 12 that he submitted personal information in response to a job offer that he now believes was a scam. According to an incident report, the victim claims that he received several lucrative job offers from an overseas company. As a condition of the job offer, he had to apply to work in the United Kingdom, which required a $1,500 fee. He researched the company and became suspicious. He did not pay the $1,500 fee but made the police report because he submitted personal information on the application. A Friendswood woman reported Dec. 12 that a new Walmart credit card account was opened using her personal information. The woman told police the credit card account was opened Dec. 1 but the card had not yet been activated. The bank canceled the card and closed the account, according to police. Criminal Mischief On Dec. 18, residents of a home in the 3300 block of King George Lane reported the home's front window was broken out. The window was believed to have been broken sometime between Dec. 1 and Dec. 18. The windows are double-paned and a BB police believe to have caused the damage was found lodged between the double-panes. Narcotics A 32-year-old Alvin resident was charged Dec. 13 with possession of heroin, a controlled substance. The suspect was a passenger in a vehicle stopped in the 13900 block of Beamer Road. As the suspect exited the vehicle, she dropped the heroin on the ground. A 31-year-old League City man and a 25-year-old Friendswood man were charged Dec. 19 with possession of drug paraphernalia. The 31-year-old was driving in the 16700 block of Paint Rock Road after an officer witnessed him make an illegal turn and disregard a stop sign. After pulling the vehicle over, according to the responding police officer, several pairs of gloves and a metal cutting tool could be seen inside the suspect's vehicle. The officer asked the suspect if he had anything illegal inside the vehicle and he allegedly claimed that he didn't and provided the officer consent to search. During the search, the officer found a spoon with narcotic residue, several capped syringes and a cut straw with white residue, according to an incident report. The suspect's passenger was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Driving While Intoxicated A 53-year-old Friendswood resident was charged Dec. 18 with driving while intoxicated. The alleged drunken driver was involved in a minor traffic accident in the 400 block of W. Parkwood Avenue, according to a police report. The vehicle received damage to the front end of the vehicle and an air bag deployed. According to witnesses, the suspect was speeding, swerved into the left lane and hit a vehicle in front of him. The witness said the driver then swerved back and hit another vehicle. According to police, the suspect appeared to be drunk. Beer also was reportedly seen in the backseat of the suspect's vehicle. According to the incident report, the driver refused to take any field sobriety tests and refused a breath test. A blood draw warrant was signed by a judge and the suspect was taken to a hospital for a blood draw. Traffic A 35-year-old Galveston woman was charged Dec. 15 with no driver's license and possession of drug paraphernalia. The suspect was driving in the 17100 block of Blackhawk Boulevard with a suspended driver's license and outstanding Harris County Precinct 4 warrants for her arrest, according to a police report. Once in custody, the woman told the responding officer that she had a glass meth pipe in her purse. A resident was standing in his yard Dec. 17 in the 16200 block of Barcelona Drive when he told police a white Lexus SUV was backing down the roadway on the wrong side of the road. According to a police report, the vehicle hit a parked car and then sped off. The driver was a white male and there were several other occupants inside the vehicle. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Clear Brook High School teenager is busy this holiday season lacing ribbons through the tabs of soft-drink cans to make bracelets that Bay Area fifth-graders will sell to help send underprivileged children to a camp next summer. Morgan Summers, 16, chose Champions Kids Camp in Alvin as her platform as Miss Harris County's Outstanding Teen 2017 in the Miss America scholarship program. The daughter of Mark and Jennifer Summers of Pearland is a junior at Clear Brook. Previously, she was a science magnet program student at Seabrook Intermediate School, and she attended Weber Elementary on Blackhawk Road, which is where she learned to make the "soda bracelets." "That's when I was in fifth grade, and we raised $3,000 selling them," Summers said. Those students donated the money to Make-A-Wish Foundation. Now, she works with students at Weber on the bracelet project as a fund-raiser to benefit the Champions camp. "The cost to send one child to the camp is $500," she said. "Last year, in two short weeks, we raised $710 by selling the soda bracelets at Weber Elementary. Could you imagine if we sold them for four weeks this time?" It takes 20 tabs and two ribbons to make each bracelet, Summers said. "Last year, the fifth-graders at Weber Elementary made all the bracelets," she said, "but this year I am making them with the help of friends and family." Summers hopes to make at least 200 by Jan. 1 so the Weber students can begin selling them before school as soon as they return from Christmas break. Each bracelet is sold for $2. "They're a cool fashion statement," Summers said. "Every bracelet is different, with different colors and designs; so people really enjoy picking out the ones they want to wear." "We have been so happy to work with Morgan," Weber Principal Chery Chaney said. "She truly is an outstanding teen." Summers decided to make Champions the beneficiary of her most recent activism when she was invited to help with a pageant the camp offered its guests last year. "It was so much like a normal summer camp that I couldn't help but think of how expensive it was for hundreds of kids to be there, with go-carts, water slides, crafts, bunk beds and so much more," she said. "Here's the part that blew me away - each kid paid no money at all to be there, not a single cent." "These children are mostly poverty-level or near-poverty," said camp founder and president, Bill Nash, who lives in Fort Bend County. The week-long camp serves children ages 8-12 who have suffered from problems ranging from diseases to physical and sexual abuse. "When I volunteered, I was told I would be working with kids who had had rough spots in their lives," Summers said. "In my head, that meant their parents were divorced, they were bullied, things like that. What I learned is that the kids at the camp each had their own unimaginable story. My idea of a 'rough past' was so far from theirs that to this day I am still touched by every single person I met there." In addition to the young campers, Summers also met teenage mentors, who were former campers who returned to volunteer as servers on the food line and to help with various activities. The mentors are called "champs," so Summers titled her platform "Growing Up Champ." "Morgan started the bracelet-making project with elementary students before she was a titleholder," said her pageant director, Sheila Milner. "She's utilized the funds raised from the bracelets to give back to local charities that help our youth." Summers, who has studied dance since childhood, performed a contemporary dance to "Tomorrow" from the Broadway musical "Annie" when she won the title of Miss Harris County's Outstanding Teen last fall in a pageant at San Jacinto College in Pasadena. Next summer, she will compete in Richardson for the title of Miss Texas' Outstanding Teen. "Of course, I want to do well," she said, "but winning the state title would give me the opportunity to introduce this camp to communities all over Texas. This is a platform I want to take to schools as well as other groups and organizations that could be forever changed just as I have been." The titleholder's mother, who is a teacher's aide in special education classes in Clear Creek ISD, said, "Morgan was a shy little girl who wouldn't even ask a question. Now, she speaks publicly and she's the one who leads discussions." "That's an incredible young lady," said Nash. Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be reached at donmaines@att.net Photo by Jason Fochtman Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said he is fed up with what he believes are unethical practices by County Judge Craig Doyal, and made his stance known via a Commissioners Court vote Tuesday as well as comments afterward. Noack was the lone "nay" in a 4-1 vote approving a change order that added $385,000 to the county's $1.987 million contract with Halff Associates Inc. for work on the Texas 249 toll road project. The change order calls for additional services needed for the right-of-way acquisition assistance, storm drainage design and off-site detention pond analysis and design for the Texas 249 toll road project. The county originally awarded Halff the general engineering consultant contract on the Texas 249 toll road project in January 2015. According to Doyal, the Texas Department of Transportation changed its drainage requirements for road construction. Halff, he said, was able to develop a plan to use the current system and add an off-site detention pond to meet those new requirements on the section of road near the Montgomery-Harris County line resulting in big savings to the county. "The drainage pipes we have in there now are adequate if we just add some retention on some property we already own ... and not have to tear it out at a cost of $5 million," Doyal said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than replacing all that underground drainage out there. "To me, it makes perfectly good sense. I'll spend $385,000 to save $5 million any day." While Noack doesn't question Halff Associates' qualifications, he said due to Doyal's personal and business relationship with Bobby Adams, a vice president with Halff Associates, the county judge should recuse himself from the discussion and vote. Doyal and Adams are longtime friends who co-own Spring-based holdings company WS&G LLC. They started it in 2010 and are part-owners in another business venture. Doyal has been involved in every vote regarding Halff Associates' approximately a dozen contracts worth around $3 million since that time. "I've tried giving Doyal the benefit of the doubt and stayed quiet. I just can't any longer," Noack said. "I never expected Doyal to do the right thing; I've served with him for almost four years now. Integrity is often defined as doing what's right when no one is looking. If you can't do what is right when the public is watching, there's no telling what's done in the back room. Hence his current legal and ethical issues." "Whether his business with 'Bobby Jack' Adams is illegal or not isn't the point. Bobby Jack works for Halff. Doyal awards millions of dollars in contracts to Halff. Bobby Jack and Doyal have a business together. You do the math. It stinks. The public knows it stinks. But as usual, Doyal is blind to the fact that this is wrong." In addition to voting on all contracts for Halff, Doyal had not filed any conflict-of-interest disclosures with the county regarding his business relationship with Adams until last week, when Doyal filed 10 disclosure forms with the county Dec. 12 including his business partnership but did not file one regarding Halff Associates specifically. The Texas 249 project is being funded through a $10 million loan from Montgomery County to the Montgomery County Toll Road Authority. Doyal said he is not recusing himself from the vote on advice from the County Attorney's Office. And a January 2015 County Attorney's Office opinion supports the county judge's nondisclosure decision related to voting on contracts involving Halff Associates. "... under the facts you (Doyal) have given us, it does not appear that you have a substantial interest in Halff; therefore you may participate in a matter concerning a contract with Halff as if it were any other matter before commissioners court," County Attorney J D Lambright's office stated in its opinion. However, Lambright clarified the almost two-year-old opinion Wednesday night. "I think it's important to be very clear just what the January 2015 memo issued by my office said. As we stated at that time, based solely on 2 or 3 pages of information that was provided to my office, it appeared from a purely legal standpoint, the County Judge was not required to abstain from voting on matters involving the contract with Halff," Lambright stated in an email to The Courier. "Nonetheless, it is always the opinion of my office anytime an elected official has a question as to whether a conflict of interest may exist, I would err on the side of caution and disclose that potential conflict and abstain from voting to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Of course, it is then up to each elected official to decide how he or she proceeds." During Tuesday's Commissioner Court meeting in open session, Doyal also denied accusations that officials with Halff Associates are funding his legal defense regarding his criminal case on a charge of conspiring to circumvent the Texas Open Meeting Act regarding negotiations for the $280 million road bond passed by voters in November 2015. A grand jury also indicted Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark and political consultant Marc Davenport on the same charge. During the court's discussion on the Halff change order, Doyal asked James Baker, with Halff Associates, who was sitting at the back of the commissioners courtroom, how much money the company has paid to Doyal's attorney Rusty Hardin. While Baker said he "didn't have that number," Doyal said "none." Hardin told The Courier Wednesday he has not billed Doyal for his services. Doyal confirmed that when he receives that bill, he will use his campaign funds to pay for his defense as permitted by state law. Trial for Doyal, Clark, Riley and Davenport is scheduled for March 27. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A year and a half after possibly the most grueling ordeal of her life, Sandra Bland's mother has been made whole. At least in the legal sense. Geneva Reed-Veal and her representatives jointly recently received $1.9 million, the full balance of the federal wrongful death settlement with state and Waller County officials, said her attorney, Cannon Lambert, Sr. A portion of that money will go to her legal team in Chicago and San Antonio. Reed-Veal has remained somber in the days since the checks arrived--one for $1.8 million from Waller County and the other for $100,000 from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Lambert said. "I think she's just now coming to grips with the fact that she can finally start to turn the page but with the holidays, she's very reflective right now," he said. Bland, a 28-year-old black woman, was stopped by a Department of Public Safety Trooper on a rural road in Waller County on July 10, 2015, for allegedly changing lanes without using her blinker. She ended up in the county lockup for resisting arrest and was found asphyxiated in her jail cell three days later. Her death was ruled a suicide. Anti-racism activists cited her case as a glaring example of the disparate treatment of African Americans by law enforcement. The DPS Trooper who stopped Bland, Brian Encinia, lost his job and faces a misdemeanor perjury charge stemming from alleged conduct in the Bland case. Bland's mother sued Encinia and other law enforcement and jail officials for special, punitive and compensatory damages and emotional anguish, in a civil rights matter in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. The case went to mediation, shortly after depositions began last summer. A former guard made a statement under oath -- during his deposition -- that he falsified the jail records, indicating he had checked Bland's cell the morning of July 13, 2015, when, in reality, he didn't. In August, the parties hammered out a settlement, which included payments from DPS and Waller County that are covered by the respective entities' insurance policies. The jail agreed to implement safeguards, streamlining cell checks and adding video appointments with a doctor. The officials also said they would back legislation which would guard against black drivers getting stopped for trumped up pretexts. This effort has been spearheaded by state Rep. Garnet Coleman. GALVESTON The first child burned in the explosion of a fireworks market on the edge of Mexico City was expected to arrive in Galveston on Wednesday for treatment at the world-renowned burn center at Shriners Hospitals for Children. At least three other children are expected to be flown to Houston so they can be treated at the hospital, said Dr. David Herndon, chief of staff at the burn center. "We've received requests for the transfer of several patients. One is on the way now," Herndon said by phone as he boarded a plane in Washington, D.C., to return to Galveston to treat burn victims. "We've heard about four major burns of children that may be transferred to us," he said. TOWN'S HORROR: Mexicans mourn dead, look for relatives after fireworks blast Herndon said two doctors from Shriners were leaving Wednesday for Mexico City at the request of the Mexican government to assist in treating the numerous burn victims. Drs. Jong Lee and Karel Capek will assist Mexican burn doctors in giving primary care and assessing which victims can be moved to Galveston, Herndon said. A spokeswoman for Shriners declined to comment beyond a statement saying that Shriners Galveston will receive patients from the disaster and that Shriners burn care hospitals are on standby in Boston, Cincinnati and Northern California. Pioneering work Mexico has a number of burn centers, but the Shriners hospital in Galveston is known for its pioneering work in burn treatment. Herndon, who also is director of burn services at the University of Texas Medical Branch, wrote "Total Burn Care," a textbook on burn care used internationally. A chain-reaction explosion in Tultepec, Mexico, on Tuesday flattened a popular San Pablito fireworks market in Mexico State and killed at least 32 people, the Associated Press reported. The toll was expected to rise because some of the victims were burned beyond recognition and body parts were found at the scene. At least 46 people were hospitalized, five with life-threatening burns. At least 10 of the injured were children. JAW-DROPPING PHOTOS: The scene of the Mexican fireworks blast, one day later It was unclear Wednesday which victims were being moved to Galveston. Mexican officials told the AP that it was too early to identify a cause of the explosions, which blasted fireworks into the air in a spectacular but deadly display. At least 100 tons of fireworks were expected to be sold at the market, according to the city of Tultepec. Other deadly fires Two similar fires engulfed the San Pablito Market in 2005 and 2006, touching off chain-reaction explosions that leveled hundreds of stalls in each incident, the AP reported. Deadly fireworks explosions have also occurred elsewhere in Mexico: In 2002, a blast at a market in the Gulf Coast city of Veracruz killed 29; in 1999, 63 people died when an explosion of illegally stored fireworks destroyed part of the city of Celaya; in 1988, a fireworks blast in Mexico City's La Merced market killed at least 68; and in 2013, a rocket struck a truck loaded with fireworks in Tlaxcala state, killing 17 people. Two suspects have been collared in the case of the purloined postal truck, authorities said on Wednesday. The arrests come after some mail truck bandits jacked a USPS vehicle Monday afternoon in northern Harris County. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate One of Houston's wealthiest attorneys is fighting the release of court records that detail what some local defense lawyers say was special treatment from Harris County's outgoing district attorney. Prominent trial lawyer Tony Buzbee also is seeking to get his arrest erased from his record. District Attorney Devon Anderson dismissed Buzbee's drunken driving case on Dec. 9, saying he completed pretrial intervention, a form of probation typical for first-time driving-while-intoxicated suspects. What is not typical is that Buzbee did the usual year-long probation in just eight months. Nor is he observing the two-year waiting period usually mandated before seeking to have the case erased from his record. He filed for the expunction just days after Anderson personally signed the dismissal. EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT: Outgoing DA dismisses DWI for Buzbee "It appears to have been an under-the-table deal with Devon Anderson," said Tyler Flood, the president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyer's Association. "I already have clients calling me saying they want the 'Tony Buzbee deal.'" Flood and other defense lawyers have questioned the treatment Buzbee received from Anderson and the judge presiding over the case. Buzbee, responding by email from London, credited his attorneys. "I was not intoxicated," he wrote. "I vowed to fight the case, to audit the crime lab, to take my case to trial and prove my innocence, as well as prove a point." He said he hired good lawyers who found problems with the handling of his case, including alleged police harassment and missing police records from his arrest. "My lawyers suggested that rather than spend thousands on fighting the case, that I participate in a program where I would only have to not drive for a time, take an alcohol course, get evaluated for my proneness for re-offending and make a donation to MADD," he wrote. "Frankly, because a new DA was coming in, and my desire for closure, I took the deal offered. I did all the things the DA required, and I did them quickly." DA took personal interest He noted that he practices civil law not criminal law and said he was not familiar with the typical pretrial diversion program most DWI offenders go through. The case is unusual because Anderson personally signed the dismissal and said Buzbee completed all of the usual mandates. "Based on the circumstances of the case, this was the right thing to do," she said in a brief statement earlier this week. "He qualified for pretrial intervention and completed all of the requirements typically mandated for a first-offender DWI defendant." A request to the district attorney's office for a copy of the pretrial diversion contract, which outlines conditions and consequences of failing to meet those conditions, was sent to the office's general counsel, who said lawyers for Buzbee have objected to its release. Such contracts generally are publicly available. The office of general counsel said Buzbee's lawyers have informed it that they will seek an order from the Texas Attorney General's Office forcing the district attorney to withhold the contract. "I am told that what I did is called pretrial diversion," Buzbee wrote from overseas. "I don't know if the deal I reached with the DA is standard or not. I don't have a copy of it, but it is in writing. It has no prohibition regarding expunction. As I said, I fulfilled the requirements, and have put this all behind me." Questions on judge's role He said he had never met Anderson but credited her with "trying to maintain some professionalism after several individuals compromised my case and royally pissed me off." Another reason this case and its resolution is unusual is that the judge presiding over it is the only jurist in Harris County who does not allow pretrial diversions for DWI cases. County Court-at-Law Judge Bill Harmon is opposed to any DWI pretrial diversion program and often cites Harris County's record number of drunken-driving fatalities as the reason. When a DWI case eligible for the pretrial diversion program lands in his court, it is often transferred to a different court. That did not happen in Buzbee's case. Deal offered was unique Earlier this week, Harmon acknowledged that he signed the dismissal forms and said he had not approved any diversion for DWI suspects. He said he would continue to refuse to participate in the program. It's those inconsistencies that bother Flood and other members of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. "Our target is not Tony Buzbee. That's not what HCCLA is about. He hired good lawyers and got a good result," Flood said. "Our problem is the appearance of impropriety between the district attorney and the judge." The deal Buzbee was able to obtain from Anderson was extraordinary, Flood said. "He's the only person in the whole county who is not excluded from filing for an expunction immediately after his case is dismissed on a DWI on a pretrial intervention." Police are searching for a suspect wanted in the shooting death of a 27-year-old man Monday night at an apartment complex in southeast Houston. Lamar Cooks, 27, is charged with murder in the death of Arturo Ramirez about 8 p.m. outside at the Concord at Gulfgate Apartments at t 7120 Village Way, according to the Houston Police Department. A new video showing a Fort Worth mother and two family members being arrested by an officer they called to investigate the assault of their 7-year-old boy is drawing attention from across the country. Jacquelin Craig, the 46-year-old mother who called police, is seen explaining to the officer that a man choked her son after he refused to pick up a piece of paper he threw on the ground. WATCH: Thieves steal rifles from display shelf in Florida Bass Pro Shop "My son is 7 years old, you don't have the right to grab him or choke him," explains Craig in the video. After telling her story, the police officer asks, "Why don't you teach your son not to litter?" "It doesn't matter if he did or didn't, it doesn't give him the right to put his hands on him," said Craig. "Why not?" the officer responds. Shortly after, Craig grows more upset and eventually the conflict explodes into an ugly arrest. HOUSTON: Police searching for two men who robbed store in Pinehurst As the women are being put in the police car, a woman can be heard yelling that the incident is being broadcast on Facebook Live. The woman also yelled profanities at the officer. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Craig was charged with resisting arrest and had outstanding traffic warrants. Craig's daughter Hymond was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with public duty. By noon on Thursday the video had been viewed more than 1 million times. The Arlington Police Department is searching for two men believed to be connected to a woman killed after trying to selling personal items online in exchange for Christmas money. According to police, April Vancleave, 33, agreed to meet an online buyer near Target on Dec. 15. When the buyer didn't show, Vancleave returned to her apartment. The cellphone video shows a woman waiting for a cashier at a J.C. Penney store, shouting racist and discriminatory remarks at another customer who had apparently cut the line. In that moment, which was captured on camera at a store at Jefferson Mall in Louisville, the belligerent woman screamed at the accused line-cutter, who is apparently Hispanic, to "go back to wherever the f-- you come from, lady." "Hey, tell them to go back where they belong," she then told the cashier. "If they come here to live, then act like everybody else. Get in the back of the line like everybody else does - and be somebody. And that's the way I look at it." J.C. Penney and mall administrators said they are working to identify the woman seen screaming in the video, as well as the two women who were on the receiving end of her rant. "You're . . . nobodies," the woman told them. "Just because you come from another country, that don't make you nobody. You're nobody, as far as I'm concerned. Probably on welfare. The taxpayers probably paid for all that stuff." As the video went viral, Jefferson Mall administrators said in a statement that once the combative customer has been identified "she will be permanently banned from Jefferson Mall, per our Behavioral Code of Conduct." And J.C. Penney said in a statement that company officials were "deeply disturbed" by what they had seen in the clip that was recorded by a bystander and uploaded to Facebook. "We regret that innocent bystanders - both other customers and a JCPenney associate - were subjected to such discriminatory remarks," a company spokesman said in a statement to The Washington Post. "We absolutely do not tolerate this behavior in our stores, and are working with our associates to ensure any future incidents of this nature will be addressed quickly and appropriately." J.C. Penney is also "asking for the community's help in identifying the two women who were targeted for such remarks, as we would like to reimburse them for their entire purchase and offer a sincere apology for their experience." The video was posted Tuesday by Facebook user Renee Buckner, who said she made the video public "to expose this racism in America/Louisville." It was viewed more than 5 million times before Buckner apparently deleted the video Wednesday afternoon, along with her Facebook account. Buckner did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. But according to her since-deleted account of the incident, "this Hispanic lady was purchasing items and the transaction was almost complete, then her friend brings up some shirts to be added to her purchase instead of getting in line. And this lady went off!!!" She had warned that the video contained explicit language and added: "FYI. . .this wasn't the entire scene, people tried to let her know it was out of order, but she wasn't hearing that." The video started after the customer who became the target of the tirade apparently moved to the front of the line to join her friend - enraging the woman she cut off, who began shouting that the line "starts back there." "And it don't bother me if I say it, and I don't care if everybody hears me," the woman started to shout. "I think everybody here probably feels the same damn way I do." She went on, yelling profanities at the woman - prompting a cashier to admonish her, saying: "Watch your language." She continued, addressing the cashier, and then the crowd, insinuating that the two women she was yelling at were probably on welfare and that taxpayers were probably picking up the tab. "We probably paid for every bit of that stuff - you know that?" she said. "Probably all the food they get and everything else. I'm sorry, but that's the way I feel." One of the women she was yelling at then nodded. "That's OK, speak English," the ranter shouted in response. "You're in America. If you don't know it, learn it. And I'm sorry that I'm that way, but you all need to realize you're not the only ones around here." Buckner was shopping Tuesday evening when she stumbled upon the scene, a pastor who said he is speaking for Buckner told the Courier-Journal. The Rev. Timothy Findley, with the Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center in Louisville, said Buckner posted the footage on Facebook and was immediately overwhelmed by the response. "We all shared the same reaction: shock, disappointment, but not surprised," Findley told the newspaper. In her Facebook post, Buckner said that if people ignore racism, "it will never go away." "It's sad that we are still being subjected to racism in this country," she wrote in a subsequent (and since-deleted) post. "But what is even more sad is the fact that so many people don't know Christ. We wouldn't have so much hate, if more people had a relationship with Christ." Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said Wednesday on Twitter that he was "sad and disappointed" by what had occurred. "This is not who we are, and on behalf of our community, I apologize to the two women who were treated in such a horrible way," he wrote. "I hope this video prompts many discussions among families as they gather for the holidays this week. Discussions about basic human values, dignity and respect." "As a country of immigrants, we must understand we only move forward through peace, acceptance and embracing those who are different from us," Fischer continued. "These are basic American values protected in our Constitution, values embraced in this welcoming, compassionate community." Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell told the Courier-Journal that he the incident "could rise to the level of criminal conduct" if the two victims of the racist rant decide to take legal action. 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. Manitoba Outlines Immigration Strategy for 2017 and Beyond CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A The government of Manitoba has released a new Labour Market Strategy for immigration through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP). This province, located in central Canada, has been an increasingly popular destination for newcomers to Canada over recent years, principally due to plentiful job opportunities and a high standard of living. The new immigration strategy will aim to match nominees to priority labour market demands. Although it is expected that most nominees under the skilled worker categories will be nominated with a job offer, a portion will be nominated without a job offer; this latter group may then be matched to jobs upon arrival in the province. Why a new strategy? The new strategy comes only a few months after a change of government in Manitoba, with the Progressive Conservatives having taken office from the outgoing Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP) government in April. Manitobas Labour Market Projections for 20162022 indicate an ongoing need for immigrant skilled workers who have sector- and occupation-specific skills, as well as for entrepreneurs who can start businesses that will create local jobs. It is projected that over the coming years there will be 167,700 job openings from both expansion and replacement of existing labour, and about 25 percent of this demand will need to be filled by new immigrants. The sectors with the highest demand include sales and service, business and finance, trades and transportation, and health, and most job openings will require workers with the right training and skill sets. In its 2017 Immigration Levels Plan, the federal government provided increased immigration targets through the economic categories, and stated its aim to increase immigration levels even further over time. As a result, the government of Manitoba is confident that it can increase its share of nominations over the coming years. The province aims to improve the existing MPNP Expression of Interest system for skilled workers by connecting more with employers and providing a clearer pathway to permanent residence to international students, as well as foreign workers in Manitoba and overseas. The province aims to move the MPNP more towards a demand-driven model based on better labour market information and performance measurement. The MPNP in its current state The vast majority (98 percent) of all MPNP nominations issued last year were in the Skilled Worker categories. Of this 98 percent, 58 percent of those nominations were issued to foreign workers and 42 percent to international students who had graduated from a Designated Learning Institution in Manitoba. The remaining nominations were issued through the business categories. Over recent months, MPNP draws under the Skilled Workers Overseas sub-category have focused on candidates who were directly invited by the MPNP under a Strategic Recruitment Initiative. These initiatives include: Recruitment missions. These overseas employment/immigration fairs involve MPNP representatives interviewing foreign skilled workers and subsequently inviting them to apply after they have made a formal Expression of Interest (EOI) to the MPNP. Exploratory visits. The MPNP may invite people who have undertaken a pre-approved Exploratory Visit and passed an interview with a program official. Toward a future MPNP In its draft plan, the government of Manitoba has pinpointed a number of ways in which the MPNP may become more dynamic through a number of industry and education partnerships, as well as further segmentation of the provinces immigration allocation to allow for more targeted recruitment of newcomers. The province has provided the following blueprint for a future MPNP, beginning in 2017. The province notes that these figures are in the planning stage only, and the ultimate make-up of the program may become slightly different. Other changes to come in 2017 Currently, there is no government application processing fee for applicants who are invited to apply to the MPNP as a skilled worker. However, as of April, 2017 a non-refundable fee of $500 will be introduced, the proceeds of which the provincial government says will be used to help eliminate the existing backlog in applications. This fee will only be charged to candidates drawn from the Expression of Interest pool and invited to submit a complete application to the MPNP. The government states that it will then launch new nomination pathways and program improvements, outlined above, after April, 2017. Manitoba quick facts Provincial capital and largest city: Winnipeg Other cities: Brandon, Steinbach, Portage La Prairie, Thompson, Winkler, Selkirk, Dauphin, Morden (which has its own immigration initiative). Population: 1.3 million Languages: Province-wide, English is the main language used in all walks of everyday life, including in the home and commercially. There are some French-speaking communities, as well as Tagalog, German, Ukrainian, Chinese languages, and Algonquian languages spoken. Climate: There is a wide variation in seasonal temperatures across Manitoba, with warm to hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Temperatures and precipitation generally decrease from south to north and increase from east to west. According to Environment Canada, Manitoba ranked first for clearest skies year-round, and ranked second for clearest skies in the summer and for the sunniest province in the winter and spring. Major industries: The economy of Manitoba is a market economy based largely on natural resources. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the provinces economy. Other major industries include transportation, manufacturing, mining, forestry, energy, and tourism, and the provincial government has projected that employment in sales and service, business and finance, trades and transportation, and health is set to increase over the coming years. Employment rate: 94% Major attractions: There is plenty to do in Manitoba throughout the year. Trusted travel site Trip Advisor identified these as the top 10 attractions in Manitoba in 2016. Learn more about Manitoba. To find out if you are eligible for the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program, or any of the available Canadian immigration programs, please fill out a free online assessment today. 2016 CICNews All Rights Reserved This is the rarest of rare crimes. Its a crime that almost never happens. You can say that all you want, and yet, when you listen to it, it does make you look at the world differently, if just for a few days. Thats Madeleine Baran, a Minnesota-based investigative reporter at American Public Media. Baran has made a career of muckraking on the web and radio. Before APM, she spent six-and-half years at Minnesota Public Radio, where she documented a cover-up by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and won herself a Peabody; she exposed false Medical Examiner testimony and helped get a man out of prison; and detailed the faulty science at the St. Paul police department crime lab. The it to which she refers is In the Dark, her 9-part examination of the Jacob Wetterling police investigation. Wetterling was a 11-year-old boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota, who was abducted as he biked to the convenience store in October 1989. Nearly 27 years later, in September 2016, Danny Heinrich confessed to the abduction and murder, and led police to Wetterlings body. The podcast, recently named by The New York Times as one the years best, hasnt garnered the fame of Serialto which it is inevitably comparedbut it is, for my money, one of 2016s great achievements in investigative journalism. Baran investigated the investigators, and in doing so she not only exposed the shortcomings of the Stearns County Sheriffs Office, she also managed to uncover sources whose stories had never been told. That its so good is something of a miracle; remarkably, the series had to be rewritten, and in some instances reconceived, when a person of interest in the Wetterling case confessed. By then, a trailer for In the Dark had already been cut and released. Baran and I spoke by phone. *** Sign up for CJR 's daily email What gave you the idea to do this story; in particular, to investigate the investigation? Curiosity. I knew a bit about the case just from living here. When you move to Minnesota, people just start saying the name Jacob. Theres no last name, no context. People will say, Oh, I just always think of Jacob. Its hard to overstate how big of a story this has been in Minnesota and how connected people are to it. I really hadnt looked into it, so I just had the same generic idea that a lot of people had, which was circular reasoning: The case hasnt been solved because its unsolvable. But then I started to read about the case, just by chance, when I was working on a story about the coverup of the clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The Wetterling case was genuinely surprising because this crime had all these elements that usually point to it being solved: there are witnesses; police got there right away, and there werent a lot of places for the person who did it to go. It was puzzling. Eventually, I decided to test the story out, just do some initial research to see if this questionWhy hadnt the case been solved?had already been answered. I didnt know what the answer would be. At the end of Episode Nine, you say: The perfect crime is just an excuse for the failures of law enforcement, and we buy it, but really there are no perfect crimes. There are only failed investigations. That is unnerving, especially if you write about crime, because you assume a baseline of competence. Do journalists just have to be far more skeptical? In general, of course. If we cant prove something, we shouldnt write it. Or we should explain that we cant prove it. But for the most part, nothing should be taken for granted. In this case, you had what looked like a lot of detective work, and it was. The quantity of work was obvious. There were TV crews showing people working 20 hours, working nonstop. Investigators werent seeing their families. A lot of them were living away from home in hotels in the area. But some basic questions werent asked: Did you talk to the neighbors? Did you secure the crime scene? Instead of assuming that the problemif there is a problem with the casemight involve something really high-tech, we first checked the basics. I dont think that had been questioned much here, and it makes me wonder how many cases are similar to this onepresented as an unsolvable, epic mystery, with the most basic police work undone. At the beginning of Episode One, theres audio of a September 6 press conference at which it was announced that Danny Heinrich confessed to the abduction and murder. At the time of this press conferences, the podcast was essentially done, right? Yes. I started my reporting in the fall of 2015. I had done some initial reporting before it was revealed that Danny Heinrich had been arrested, which happened in late fall of 2015. In late July and early August of 2016, I did the final interviews, including with the sheriff, where I laid out what we had found. It was a couple weeks after my interview with the sheriff that Danny Heinrich confessed to the crime in court, which was the day of that news conference. At that point, we had already released a trailer of the podcast and a summary online. Wed said that we were going to ask, Why hasnt this case been solved? We were not, we said, going to solve the case. We had several episodes completely done. We were editing the later ones when he confessed. We had planned to be done, maybe mixing, maybe making some final edits to some later episodes. Instead the news overtook it, and us. That was a surprise, I take it. Yes, but we knew that it was possible. The hope was, if Heinrich did it, that he would confess because they had him on these federal child porn charges, and he might be motivated to get a good deal. We knew that his trial date was approaching. Id done a lot of backgrounding of Heinrich and a couple other people who I knew were at the top of the list of suspects. But before the confession, we hadnt really settled on how to use that information, because we werent going to say, Heres who did it. What if Heinrich hadnt done it? But when he confessed, wed already done all the work, so it was just a matter of figuring out how to use it and the significance of certain details based on what he said in court. Having to scramble to re-edit and re-envision the project must have been a pain in the ass. But on the upside, you were given a fair amount of clarity. We had a list of however many mistakes law enforcement had made, but which ones really mattered? Thats something we didnt know. To be able to say, Well, all these people who saw a blue car, that really mattered. To realize that, in fact, Dan Rassier had seen the abductors car, was significant. He was a witness whod been turned into a suspect. We were able to incorporate a lot of the older material. And we could get rid of the stuff that we now knew wasnt significant. But it also helped us tell Dan Rassiers story. We believed he did not commit the crime, and we wanted to tell the story of his life being ruined without fueling speculation that he did it. That was something that weighed very heavily on us. To have that burden lifted, so that we could say, Look, hes a person whos been wronged, and you dont have to take our word for it that he did not do this, was a big relief as a journalist. At what point did you decide Danny Heinrich was the best suspect? We never decided that, actually. Because we were not trying to solve this case. Thats not why we were there. We felt that it was certainly possible that Danny Heinrich committed the crime. He had no alibi, and there were a couple other things, but there was no proof that he committed this crime, and we werent looking for it. It was definitely possible to me that he didnt do it because I didnt have access to all of the investigative file or to the complete list of other suspects. The one issue we really hadnt resolved was how to handle this guy. Before the confession, we knew that if we put him in the podcast and make a big deal out of him, that would imply something we dont mean to implythat we think he did it. On the other hand, how do we not include this? I imagine there a lot of lawyers involved, parsing the storys language. With all of our investigative work, we have a lawyer we work with. But with Heinrich, we were never going to say, Yeah, we think he did it. All the evidence points to it being him. Thats just not true. There was not very much evidence that we were aware of, one way or the other. In fact, the one episode we hadnt written before the confession was the story of Jared, the Paynesville boys, and Heinrich, because we were not sure if it was at all significant. Because if it wasnt Heinrich, does any of that matter [in the context of the failure to solve the Wetterling case]? No. We didnt even have a draft. We just were not sure what to make of it. Were Patty and Jerry reluctant to do this? Its obviously a painful thing to relive. They were very generous with their time. Their focus was finding their son, and Patty is very much a public figure. Shes ran for Congress. Shes a national advocate for child safety, so she talks to a lot of reporters about child safety, about her sons disappearance. I called Patty Wetterling very early and just said, Hi, this is who I am. Im thinking about reporting on this, before I was even going to report on it. And I asked if there was any reason why it would be a problem to investigate and report on this. She said, No, go for it. You talk about Jacobs life early in the story, literally from the womb. Oftentimes crime stories focus on the perpetrator at the expense of the victim. We thought that was important, and I think theres a way in which people become obsessed with elevating the criminal into some sort of fascinating truth teller. Its a convenient thing when the case doesnt get solved because they could say, Well, see, the criminals just too smart. Theres a danger of missing the harm in what actually happened. Thats why we opened the podcast with Jacob. When you were preparing for this story, how much of a premium you put on the old news stories? Because you didnt have access to trial transcripts and open case files to give you the skeleton of the narrative. There mustve been hundreds of disparate sources. That was perhaps the greatest single reporting challenge. Because it was an unsolved case, we could not get the case file. It wouldnt have all the answers, but thered be a structure of the investigation; this happened on that date, the names of the officers, etc. Instead, I read every single news story in Westlaw that had ever been written about the Wetterling case. Then, our associate producer, Natalie [Jablonski], found all archival radio stories and TV news stories. I interviewed the former police chief of St. Joseph, its a small town, and his wife said to me, Oh, Ive just been cleaning out all these old videos. She had taped of all the early Wetterling coveragethe first three weeksand was about to throw it out. There also was stuff the Wetterlings had in their basement that they had taped and thrown into some boxes in the crawl space. We looked for as much TV and radio coverage, and local radio coverage as we could find. Then we created a long list of people to interview, including all the former law enforcement who were still alive. In cases where they werent, was someone in their family still alive that could point us in the right direction of something? We talked to a lot of people who helped us construct the story from the outside of the file. How many people did you interview? Hundreds of people. We did a lot of reporting on stuff that we didnt really need just to make sure things were correct. We did a lot of interviews that we never put in the podcast. The reporting for it was full-time from fall of 2015 through the summer of 2016, with some additional reporting after the confession. But we felt that was the amount of time that was needed to understand it; if we werent going to commit to doing the right amount of reporting, we had no business doing this story. How did you learn about Jared Scheierl? Was that a matter of public record? The reason I ask is he sounds like hes telling his story for the first time. He had been out there and given some interviews by the time that we started reporting. But I am a big believer, with this type of long-form reporting, that even when you think someone has told a story before, you dont assume theyve told the best or complete story. So we did some very long interviews with some of the main people in our story. I know we got to parts of the story that hadnt been told before, and I think part of it was just a matter of taking the time to go through the story more slowly than they had before. One thing Jared said, which I felt was profound, was how he got others to tell their stories: You start with your own story. It made me wonder: how you got people to open up to you. Im pretty minimal in interviews. I think most people do want to tell their stories, and we just need to be good at listening. We were able to say, Hey, were going to be at this for a really long timemonths and monthsand so lets take our time with this. We got to know these people pretty well over the course of the reporting. How do you maintain your calm when people tell you about the worst thing to ever happen to them? Im always very conscious of the fact that Im not the person this happened to. Thats a boundary I am going to respect. Im not going to try to step on somebody elses grief. As difficult as this story might be for me to hear, it is the tiniest of tiniest compared to experiencing it. Thats how I think of it. This is my job. You are not there because this is something that happened to you. Youre there because this is a story that needs to be told, and this person is trusting you to tell it. Of course, you also dont want to seem callous either. You have to strike a balance. Thats true. I guess Im not reacting in the same way that I would if a friend told me this story. But I also wouldnt be reacting like, Next question, because thats not what Im thinking, either. You follow your own instinct as a reporter and as a human listening to a story of trauma. Im also a big believer in, Lets take a break. Try to be attuned to the dynamics of the interview and if its getting too intense. If its getting too intense for me, thats probably a sign that it might be very intense for the person whos actually experiencing it. But I think it would be a mistake to elevate my experience very much. Its tough, of course, but I could choose to not do this. This is a job, after all. A couple of weeks ago, Eli Saslow said, As Im reporting, Im always thinking about structure, meaning he is very conscious of what he needs as far as the narrative. This came to mind when you were with Dan Rassier, walking on his property, and you find police tape. Because it was perfect. Were you conscious in the moment, or at any moment during In the Dark, that something would make a really good scene? Or an I ascribing too much premeditation here? No, youre not. I wanted to go and see this for myself, just for the reporting, but we knew that it could be a really good scene, depending if we did find any crime scene tape. Also, what we wanted to capture was his world. This is where he likes to be, out in the woods, clearing brush. This is what he does. We knew that was a scene that we would want. I think about structure very early on in a story. I end up revising the structure a thousand times in a longer story, to the point where the beginning structures does not bare any resemblance to the end. You need to be thinking about what the story is and constantly challenging yourself. In the first episode, you have that wonderful metaphor of these ever-expanding circles. Is that something you came up with, or was that a law enforcement metaphor? No, that was my own view. Thats how I made sense of the crime. I thought of it as a circle from the very beginning when I just thought about it in my own mind. I talked to editors about it, and explained, Heres Jacob with the abductor. I draw a circle around it and then just imagine it expanding slowly that night, and thats why they have to respond so fast. When I visited the site [of the abduction], there was something about this moment in time, when the crime had just happened and everyone was arriving. 15 minutes ago, you could point to a specific spot and say, Thats where Jacob was. And 15 minutes later, he wasnt even that far away. I figured, Why not just share that image? Knowing what you know about the crime itself, if law enforcement had done everything right, would they have caught him? Would they have gotten to him in time to get Jacob alive? I dont know the answer to that. There was this wonderful symmetry in the first and last episodes. In Episode One, the sheriffs department in their announcement uses the word closure. Then, in the Update, the Wetterlings explicitly refute the idea. Seems like one of those wonderful symmetries that you couldnt possibly plan for. Right, although we did intentionally ask that. I did ask them about closure because that interview was after the confession and closure had been so much on the mind. Its what people were talking about. Its always interesting to me, the difference between the experience of the people involved and everyone else, like Jerry Wetterling says in an interview with me, Well, maybe its closure for some people. Maybe its closure for you. Maybe its closure for law enforcement, but its not closure for us. To that end, in Episode 9, you talk about the need for more transparency, to show people what actually is being done in investigations. Whats the balance to strike between that and necessary privacy, and between the needs of journalists and law enforcement, especially if the case is unsolved? That is a challenge because its not as though it makes sense to say, Well, why are all these case files closed? Because its a really bad idea to just be walking around with open case files for your unsolved crimes, as a general practice. Does the suspect want to find out how close they are to catching him? He could just go look at the records or have a friend do it and see when theyre planning to come question him. Clearly that is not a viable option. I talked to a bunch of experts in criminology about how there are no mandatory standards in how to proceed in a lot of these cases. You just have to imagine how things unfolded, because theres no [mandatory] checklist; Did we canvas the neighborhood? Did we secure the crime scene? In the Dark is so complicated. There are so many strands and locations and characters. What was your method for keeping all this straight? My method for organizing investigative reporting is pretty basic: Just put everything on a timeline. I just have a Word document that starts out on one page, Jacob Wetterling was born on this day, Jacob Wetterlings kidnapped on this day. And then, as I continue my reporting, that timeline grows and grows. The timeline encompasses everything. I put basic big-world or national or local news events on the timeline as well, so it starts to get more detailed. Maybe something happened on a particular day in 1985 and it was a huge news story, which would explain a great deal about how people reacted. Ill put major events. I think my timeline now for the Wetterling story is more than 400 pages, and it starts with Lewis and Clark exploring the area in the 1800s. Which is not something that was used, but I just wanted to have everything on there. Can you give me an example of how this was useful? The method of organizing a story was helpful when Heinrich confessed. All I had to do was just do a word search for Heinrich from my timeline. Every detail from the backgrounding of Heinrich was already there, so I could see him in relation to the Paynesville cases. He was on probation at the time. This is when he dropped out of high school. This is when something significant happened with the Wetterling family. I could just extract it, and it was in chronological order. The other thing Ill do is sketch or outline how the story will break down and just constantly revise that. We had a document that was revised constantly. Everything is scanned. Everything is organized in folders. All the audio is transcribed, and then at a certain point over the summer, we printed all our interview logs and put the papers into binders and then just disappeared off in our own little sections for a week to just read them. Whether it be the Wetterling investigation or the story of the archbishops, can you see a throughline in your work? Is there something that drives you, some commonality? My job as a reporter is to find out things that people would have most likely never known about otherwise. In terms of the content, a lot of my reporting has been about institutions that have a very particular type of culture that doesnt lend itself well to transparency and accountabilitythe Archdiocese, the sheriffs office. There are all kinds of things that they do not want you to know. My work as an investigative reporter is to find out facts that are being covered up but, through my reporting, answer the questions, What is it like inside this thing? Why is it this way? Reporters, I think, have to take a much more skeptical view of police investigations. But its one thing for somebody like you, whos got the time to take a granularly critical view of a case, but what about guys who are on the cop beat and have to file five stories a week? They probably, to some extent, take what the police say as Gospel because thats all theyve got time to do. Is it just a worthless beat, because they are not skeptical enough? I dont think its a worthless beat at all. Those are the people that know everybody in the police department, if theyre doing their job right. I had to learn all that stuff. I wasnt a journalist who reported on the Stearns County Sheriffs Office, so I was at a disadvantage going in. I didnt know any of these people. Ive been a general assignment reporter before, so I know what its like to be in a situation where you have half a day or an hour or 15 minutes to figure something out. Its challenging. I think that some of the questions are pretty basic, though, and not necessarily time consuming. For instance, Did you canvas the neighborhood? I dont know why we were the first people to reveal that, 27 years later. Its not a high-concept question. On the other hand, there were people doing really good reporting on that story in the early days. A really good reporter on a police beat knows a lot of people, but also has a variety of sources, so theyre not going to be shut out completely if they tell the truth. There will always be people who want the truth to be told. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Elon Green is a writer in Port Washington, New York. He's an editor at Longform. Find him on Twitter @ElonGreen. The former nanny of Pittsburgh Penguins player Chris Kunitz was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison for setting fire to her rental residence and then filing fraudulent insurance claims for the contents. The public defender for Andrea Forsythe, 28, unsuccessfully sought a term running concurrently to one shell receive next month for thefts from the Penguins player and other people for whom she worked as a nanny. She also was ordered to pay more than $179,000 restitution to the insurance companies that covered her losses in the June 23, 2014 fire in Sturgeon. In the other cases, Forsythe was convicted of numerous crimes and will be sentenced Jan. 3 by a judge in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Prosecutors say she stole $12,000 diamond earrings from Kunitzs home in 2013 and sold them to jewelry stores. The earrings were a birthday present for Kunitzs wife, Maureen. The theft charges filed by police in Collier Township, where Kunitz lives with his wife and their children, grew out of the arson and insurance fraud investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into the Sturgeon fire. Forsythe pleaded guilty in July to federal charges of malicious destruction of property by fire and wire fraud for burning the house, then filing fraudulent insurance claims for the contents, including some jewels she had allegedly stolen from another couple while also working as a nanny. The other couple told investigators that an 18-karat gold diamond necklace worth about $4,400 and a gold diamond stud earring worth more than $10,000 had been stolen from them. Appraisals of those jewels were then used by Forsythe to make the fraudulent insurance claims, federal authorities contend. As that investigation progressed, Forsythe eventually confessed to stealing the earrings from Maureen Kunitz. They were appraised at $11,900 when Kunitz bought them for his wifes birthday sometime before she noticed them missing in September 2013. Forsythe acknowledged stealing the diamond earrings from Maureen Kunitzs bedroom while the couple wasnt home, the Collier Township police complaint said. Forsythe then sold a loose diamond from one earring to a jewelry store for $2,542 and the other earring to a precious metals and jewelry store for $1,408.50. Forsythes federal public defender, Jay Finkelstein, in court documents blamed the thefts on Forsythes allegedly abusive home life as a child. Finkelstein has a blanket policy of not commenting to the media. U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon refused Finkelsteins request to allow Forsythes federal sentence to run concurrently to whatever sentence she receives next month saying the theft victims deserve their own justice, so to speak, and the court will not intervene here. However, the county judge could still order that sentence to run concurrent to the federal sentence. If that happens, Forsythe would get credit for serving both terms simultaneously, instead of serving them one after the other. Forsythes public defender in the Allegheny County theft case didnt immediately return a call for comment Tuesday. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Cars converted into stretch limousines often lack life-saving safety components such as side-impact air bags, reinforced rollover protection bars and accessible emergency exits, according to a special grand jury that looked into a limousine crash that killed four women leaving a New York winery. The 156-page report calling for better safety regulations for stretch limousines was obtained by The Associated Press before its release Tuesday. It examines some of the safety issues raised in the July 2015 crash, when a limousine leaving a winery in Cutchogue attempted to make a U-turn and was struck by a pickup truck. Limousines built in factories are already required to meet stringent safety regulations, but when cars are converted into limos, safety features are sometimes removed, leading to gaps in safety protocols, the grand jury wrote. The panel, convened by the Suffolk County district attorney, said that some limousine companies have falsified paperwork with the state Department of Motor Vehicles in order to avoid more stringent inspections required for buses, which under the law are any vehicles that can carry 11 or more passengers. The panel called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to assemble a task force on limousine safety and report its findings to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB said in September 2015 that it would investigate limousine crashes on a case-by-case basis. A spokeswoman for Cuomo and an NTSB spokesman didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The limousine involved in the 2015 crash on Long Island was originally built as a Lincoln Town car and was cut in half and then stretched to 120 inches to accommodate 10 occupants, the report said. Brittany M. Schulman, 23, of Smithtown; Lauren Baruch, 24, of Smithtown; Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park; and Amy R. Grabina, 23, of Commack, were killed in the crash. Four other women and the limo driver were hospitalized. Prosecutors have said that the limousine drivers view was blocked by a Jeep turning in front of him but that he failed to take any precaution or action to make sure he could safely enter the westbound traffic lanes and made a U-turn without stopping. A police accident reconstruction specialist found there wasnt enough space at the intersection for the limo to be able to make a proper U-turn, the report said. The limousine driver, Carlos Pino, and the driver of the pickup truck were arrested after the crash, though criminal charges against the limo driver were dismissed after a judge found there had been improper grand jury testimony in the case. Prosecutors have vowed to appeal the ruling. The pickup truck driver, Steven Romeo, has pleaded not guilty to drunken driving charges. A woman who was one of five people charged in a deadly Indianapolis, Ind., house explosion faces the possibility of up to 50 years in prison when shes sentenced Tuesday. A Marion County judge heard victim-impact testimony Monday during the first day of 51-year-old Monserrate Shirleys sentencing hearing. Shirley pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit arson in the November 2012 natural gas explosion that destroyed her home, killed a couple who lived next door and damaged or destroyed 80 homes. Prosecutors say Shirley, her ex-boyfriend, his half brother and two other people were involved in a plot to destroy Shirleys home to collect $300,000 in insurance money. Among those testifying Monday was Glenn Olvey, who lost his home to the explosion that killed Jennifer and John Longworth, who lived two doors down from Olveys home. That day not only changed me, it changed my children, it changed my wife, it changed everything, he told the packed courtroom. The explosion trapped Olvey, his wife and one of their two teenage daughters when their homes roof collapsed. WTHR-TV reports that Olvey told reporters after his testimony that he had tried to lock eyes with Shirley as he was leaving the stand. Olvey said he wanted to ask his former neighbor, How could you do something like this? Shirley will be sentenced Tuesday following additional testimony. She faces between a minimum 20-year suspended sentence with probation and a maximum 50-year prison term. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Wisconsin Supreme Court eliminates any doubt that there is no exception to the four-corners rule in duty to defend cases in Wisconsin. In a split decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Water Well Solutions Service Group, Inc. v. Consolidated Ins. Co., 2015 WI 54, 369 Wis.2d 607, 881 N.W.2d 285 (2016), reaffirmed the four-corners rule governing a liability insurers duty to defend in Wisconsin. The Court unambiguously reaffirmed the rule and confirmed in the majority opinion that there were no exceptions to the rule that would permit extrinsic evidence to create a duty to defend where no duty to defend otherwise existed. According to the majoritys view, the four-corners rule promoted certainty and avoided speculation over the underlying plaintiffs true allegation. A vigorous dissent by two Justices challenged the majority opinion both in principle and application. The dissent noted that Wisconsin was in a shrinking minority of jurisdictions clinging to a strict application of the four-corners rule and that Wisconsinites would be better served by a rule that recognized substance over form in allowing extrinsic evidence to inform the duty to defend decision. Federal investigators have concluded that a worker crushed to death by a machine at a Kentucky coal mine wasnt wearing an emergency shut-off device, and that his managers had not provided a way to securely attach it. Managers at Webster County Coals Dotiki Mine knew about the problem but didnt address it, potentially exposing the company to a higher fine, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported, citing a U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration report. Nathan Phillips, 36, was pinned to a wall while trying to move a continuous-mining machine in January. His transmitter, designed to turn off the machine if he got too close, had been on the floor of the mine for about a half-hour before he was killed, the report said. The company, which is controlled by Alliance Resource Partners LP, also failed to make sure miners didnt work or travel in the danger zone close to the 65-ton machines while they were being moved, MSHA said in the report. Operators stand nearby using remote-control devices to control the machine as it grinds out coal. The system is designed to activate a warning light and sound if the operator gets too close, but the foreman, Keith Brown II, and other miners said they were aware of earlier occasions when Phillips either dropped the transmitter or it had fallen out of the pouch while he was operating the machine, according to the report. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AKRON, Ohio - A man wanted for shooting three people in an Akron barbershop following an argument has been arrested. Robert Lash Rodgers, 24, was charged Dec. 9 with three counts of felonious assault and one count of having weapons under disability in connection with a shooting that injured three people at the R.P.'s Blade Academy Barbershop. He was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Thursday at an apartment on the 1300 block of Weathervane Lane in northwest Akron by the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, a news release from the task force says. Marshals received a tip that Rodgers was staying in the neighborhood, and he was spotted after hours of surveillance. The barbershop shooting happened about 11 a.m. Dec. 1 after a customer came into the shop and got into an argument with Rodgers, who was getting a haircut. Rodgers pulled out a gun and fired several shots, police said. The man arguing with Rodgers was seriously injured, police said. A 17-year-old boy was struck in the ankle by a stray bullet. A 49-year-old man was hit the shoulder. Both were treated for their injuries at Summa Akron City Hospital. Rodgers is scheduled to appear for arraignment 8 a.m. Friday. The Akron shooting was one of three high-profile Northeast Ohio barbershop shootings within the past two years. In November, one man was killed and another man was injured in a shooting at Skills Barbershop in Garfield Heights. No arrests have been made in that case. On Tuesday, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Joan Synenberg denied a jury's death penalty recommendation for Douglas Shine, who was convicted in a February 2015 triple killing at a Warrensville Heights barbershop. Shine was instead sentenced to life in prison. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- Beachwood Mayor Merle Gordon defended his recommendation of Capt. Gary Haba as the city's next police chief, saying Haba's accomplishments outweigh an internal investigation into his personal life and relationship with a fellow officer. City Council members on Monday approved Gordon's recommendation that Haba succeed current Chief Keith Winebrenner as head of the Beachwood Police Department on Feb. 2, 2017. Retired Beachwood police officer Roger Martin objected to the choice during the meeting, arguing that the internal affairs investigation calls Haba's judgment into question. Council members, Haba and Winebrenner took part in an hour-long, closed-door executive session before council voted 7-0 to appoint Haba. The 2010 internal affairs investigation focused on the relationship Haba, 44, had with another officer and an accusation by his ex-wife that he once threatened suicide, according to documents included in his personnel file. Both Haba and the officer were married at the time but separated from their spouses, Haba told investigators. The allegations resulted in him being placed on 10 days' paid administrative leave during the investigation. That investigation did not result in further discipline. Gordon said he and Haba discussed the investigation before the mayor made his recommendation. Haba was forthcoming and transparent during that discussion, Gordon said in a statement. "Nobody is perfect; Capt. Haba has acknowledged some unfortunate personal difficulties he faced many years ago," Gordon said. "He has moved past that in his life and those issues have been resolved." Haba said in a separate statement that he is proud of his record with the department and committed to serving as Beachwood's police chief. "The incidents that have been resurrected from many years ago were during a period of time in my life when I, like most people experience, was traversing through a series of personal tragedies and other stressful events," Haba said. "I have always been and will continue to be a successful and productive leader in this police department," he said. Documents included in the personnel file show the department expressed concerns that the relationship violated its code of ethics and standards of conduct as far back as Dec. 11, 2008. Former Chief Mark A. Sechrist also spoke to Haba on June 11, 2010, to express concern about the relationship. Sechrist warned Haba that he could be disciplined if someone filed a formal complaint, but Haba assured him it would not be an issue, records show. Weeks later, though, the officer's estranged husband filed a complaint against Haba. The husband provided phone records that showed Haba and the officer exchanged more than 3,800 calls and text messages over a two-month period, records show. "Your conduct has damaged the reputation of the Beachwood Police Department and this damage continued after you were formally notified that I would not accept further misconduct in that regard," Sechrist later wrote in in a letter reprimanding Haba. "Your actions after June 11 resulted in insubordination; you did not do what you were directed to do." Later that month, Haba's ex-wife called 911 to report that he'd threatened suicide during a phone call. But sheriff's deputies who responded to Haba's house in Ravenna Township determined that he was not a threat to himself or others. Both Haba and the officer were placed on paid leave while the department investigated their relationship and the Ravenna Township incident. The subsequent investigation focused on whether the officer used sick time to visit Haba at a training course in Columbus. Investigators later determined that while the officer did visit Haba in Columbus, she spent most of the time off visiting her sick mother in the hospital. But investigators interviewed officers who expressed concern that Haba had, on several occasions, called them sounding intoxicated. Haba was not on duty at those times, the officers said. Winebrenner -- a sergeant at the time -- also told investigators that he once sent Haba home after Haba came to work "noticeably impaired" by alcohol. Winebrenner, who did not provide a date for that incident, asked that investigators keep it confidential, records show. A sergeant who joined the night shift in 2010 also described it as a "shipwreck" when he arrived. That sergeant was assigned to the shift to share officer-in-charge duties with Haba. Investigators determined that Haba violated the department's code of ethics but did not recommend additional discipline. Investigators did, however, recommend moving him to a different shift where he could work under a lieutenant. "In general terms it is clear that Sgt. Haba's behavior away from the job has impacted his subordinates' ability to respect him," investigators wrote in their report. Performance reviews conducted after Haba moved to a daytime shift complimented his effectiveness as a supervisor. He earned a promotion to lieutenant on Sept. 24, 2012, and also achieved the rank of captain before being selected as the department's next chief. Police department supervisors on Friday released a letter in support of Haba. "We are very confident in Capt. Haba's ability to lead this department in the future," the supervisors said in the letter. "He possesses the necessary leadership skills, progressive thinking, knowledge about police work and insight that will continue to make this department successful in its mission to provide a sense of safety and security to this community." Haba joined the Beachwood Police Department in 1995 after receiving an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army. During his career he has been head of the department's field training program, bike patrol and honor guard; supervisor of the dispatch center; and a sniper for the SWAT team. He is a graduate of the Police Executive Leadership College and the FBI National Academy. The Jewish Federation of Cleveland selected him to go to Israel to receive anti-terrorism training. Haba's performance reviews describe him as a personable, hands-on supervisor who performs well in the field and in administrative roles. He received letters of commendation on several occasions, including after a June 12, 2010 hostage situation at a hair salon and an Aug. 22, 2008 domestic violence incident involving an armed man. If you would like to comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section. Operating a vehicle under the influence, Holly Drive: A Brook Park man, 38, was arrested at about 9:45 p.m. Dec. 16 after police found him asleep behind the steering wheel of a Toyota Camry parked on Holly. The man awoke and turned off the car's engine when police knocked on the car window. He smelled of alcohol and seemed confused, and failed field sobriety tests. Failure to stop after an accident, Prospect Street: A Strongsville man, 33, was cited at about 6:30 p.m. Dec. 17 after he drove from the scene of a collision that he caused. The man, driving a Chevrolet van, was stopped behind a Jeep Patriot on southbound Prospect at South Quarry Lane. The light was green but the Patriot's driver was waiting for northbound traffic to clear so that he could turn left onto South Quarry. The man grew impatient waiting so he drove off the right side of the road to maneuver around the Jeep. He ran his van into a utility pole. The man then drove back onto the road and his van rear-ended the Jeep. He drove away. Someone must have jotted down the man's license-plate number because police identified him and visited his home in Strongsville. They escorted the man to the police department. He was sober but didn't have vehicle insurance. Counterfeiting, Prospect Street: A manager at True North Shell, 20 Prospect Street, called police at about 1:30 p.m. Dec. 16 after finding a fake $100 bill in her cash drawer. Police inspected the bill and determined the paper was different than real money. Unlike real money, the bill did not contain a "security thread" and the "100" in the bottom right corner was not reflective. The manager said the store had recently taken in just one $100 bill. Police checked security video and saw a man using a $100 bill to buy a $6 pack of cigarettes. The cashier gave the man $94 in change. The manager recognized the man as a former customer who had previously stolen a bottle of alcohol from the store. The manager didn't call police at the time because she made the man pay for the alcohol the next time he came into the store. Police are now looking for the man. Theft, North Rocky River Drive: A license-plate tag was stolen between 4:30 p.m. Dec. 19 and 7 a.m. Dec. 20 from a sport-utility vehicle parked outside an apartment. Someone also rifled through the vehicle's interior but nothing was missing. Theft, Eastland Road: Four 35-inch Fierce Attitude tires and four 17-inch rims were stolen between 10 p.m. Dec. 15 and 8 a.m. Dec. 18 from a storage area in Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, 164 Eastland. The total estimated value of the tires and rims was $800. The victim said his storage area is inaccessible from outside the fairgrounds but there were no signs of forced entry. To comment on this post, please visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section. BRUNSWICK ---- Along with renewing its lease on operations at the Susan B. Hambley Nature Center at Brunswick Lake Park, the Medina County Park District has requested an expansion of its operational scope, to include management and operations of the entire 65 acres of the city park. City Parks and Recreation Director John Piepsny said he is in favor of the move. "They have operated the nature center for six years and it has been great," Piepsny said. "They have staffed it with a naturalist and assisted us in the completion of the trail around Brunswick Lake." If the transfer should take place, Brunswick Lake Park would become part of the Medina County Park system. But Piepsny said he feels this will be in the best interest of the city. "We would like to work together on a number of projects and have been in discussions with them about making a longer trail," he said. "We'd like to see the one-mile trail expanded to something like four miles and connect to Plum Creek." The possibility of this and more trails, along with the erection of a four-season shelter with indoor restrooms near the lake is also on the city's wish-list, Piepsny said. Plans in writing In a Dec. 12 city council committee of the whole meeting, Ward 2 Councilman Nick Hanek said he would like to see renderings of the county park district's "grand vision of what happens next." "I hope they can come back to us with a 'mini master plan,' specifically with what types of buildings and structures they would consider," Hanek said. "But I think we can work together." Hanek said that he too is excited about the possibility of trail extensions at Brunswick Lake Park and he does not feel transferring the park to the county in terms of its operations would be detrimental to the city. Neither Piepsny nor council members gave a specific date as to when they expect to receive word from the county about the request for a master plan. CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Representatives from the Future Heights organization recently made their pitch to City Council for establishing a community development corporation to provide a conduit for economic growth. The local nonprofit seeks $139,000 to set up the CDC, which would operate along the lines of the Shaker Heights Development Corp., One South Euclid, and Lakewood Alive. "The CDC's complement city government, are more flexible and if not more innovative, they can move quicker and apply for funding that cities are unable to obtain," said W. Dennis Keating, a semi-retired professor at Cleveland State's Levin College of Urban Affairs. A longtime Cleveland Heights resident, Keating told City Council Dec. 12 that CDC's are quasi-public entities but are not part of city government. There are several dozen CDC's in Cleveland neighborhoods that receive funding from the city, although Cleveland Heights Mayor Cheryl Stephens noted that the City of Cleveland receives $15-to-$20 million in its annual allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a result, Cleveland City Council members get $500,000 in Community Development Block Grants each year to distribute in their respective wards, Stephens added. As a smaller entitlement city, Cleveland Heights gets about $1.5 million a year in CDBG funding, from which Future Heights has received about $30,000 annually for the past two years. That's 10 percent of the roughly $300,000 that Cleveland Heights is allowed to allocate to local nonprofits. But with an anticipated budget carryover of at least $3 million into 2017, proponents believe that a CDC may be an idea whose time has come in Cleveland Heights. Councilman Michael Ungar noted that a local CDC has been under active review by the Master Plan Committee that is working on an update with Cuyahoga County officials. "I doubt that a CDC will come back as a low priority," said City Manager Tanisha Briley. A CDC has already been recommended by the Mayor's Economic Development Advisory Committee, as well as the Greater Cleveland Congregations' Cleveland Heights' Housing Issue Team. And at least some of the city's Special Improvement Districts (SID's), set up in three of the town's commercial areas, have gotten on board. "There are some things that SID's are just too small to do," said Deanna Bremer Fisher, Future Heights Executive Director. SID's are more of a funding mechanism for their specific neighborhoods -- Cedar-Lee, Cedar-Fairmount and Coventry -- and some areas don't even have a merchants' association. "We definitely have parts of town that could use a little more love," said Councilwoman Mary Dunbar. Formed in 1981 but never really activated, Keating noted that Shaker Heights Development Corp. was revived in 2012 with money turned over by the disbanding Fund for the Future organization. In 2015, Nick Fedor started as executive director of SHDC, coming over from Cleveland's Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, based in Gordon Square, to focus less on the new Van Aken District and more on the Chagrin-Lee corridor. This included taking over the management of the former Shaker LaunchHouse business accelerator earlier this year when the five-year lease was not renewed and organizers relocated to the I-271 corridor. It has since become The Dealership, based on its original occupant, Zalud Oldsmobile. Shaker City Council on Monday (Dec. 19) extended the repayment of a 2013 loan for about $27,000, due at the end of this year, out until 2020. Lakewood Alive and One South Euclid tend to focus more on housing initiatives. Mark Chupp, an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, told council he believes that Future Heights has grown into the role of a CDC. "This has been a long time coming," Chupp said. "Future Heights is already functioning as a CDC -- it just needs that person to run it, a community development specialist." One person currently handles community engagement, which includes overseeing an up-to-$500 neighborhood mini-grant program, similar to a One South Euclid initiative. Out of 13 mini-grants awarded through Future Heights, seven have gone to the Noble neighborhood, which city officials want to target for community development initiatives. Chupp also cited Future Heights behind-the-scenes work in assisting residents in their successful grassroots effort to block a bid by Circle K to build a gas station and carryout at Mayfield Road and Vandemar Street earlier this year. A lot of communication and marketing for the city is done through Future Heights' monthly publication, The Heights Observer, Chupp added. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Maple Heights man was arrested Wednesday and charged with selling a dose of heroin and fentanyl to a Brook Park man who died of an overdose earlier this month, according to the FBI. Marcus Womack Sr., 28, is charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. Agents said Womack, who has previous convictions for drug trafficking, sold heroin to James Pauley, 23, who was found dead Dec. 11 at his apartment on Donald Drive in Brook Park, according to a criminal complaint. An autopsy later showed that fentanyl killed Pauley. The complaint says police found a baggie with heroin residue next to Pauley's body. Womack's phone number was on Pauley's phone, and Pauley's girlfriend said Pauley and Womack spoke on the phone Dec. 9 and Dec. 10. Womack sold Pauley $80 worth of heroin, the complaint says. Pauley's housemate told police that she gave him Womack's phone number. The housemate also said her boyfriend bought heroin from Womack on Dec. 13 and overdosed, but did not die, the complaint says. The housemate showed a text message to police from Pauley on the day he died that said "911 I need help please," according to the complaint. A Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department informant bought a half gram of heroin for $80 from Womack on Tuesday, the complaint states. Womack made his initial appearance Thursday in front of Magistrate Judge Jonathan Greenberg. He is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Jeff Lazarus, Womack's federal public defender, declined to comment. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A divided Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday said that "functional life sentences" -- or sentences long enough that the inmate would likely not live to see his or her parole date -- were unconstitutional to impose on juveniles not convicted of homicide. The justices in a 4-3 decision overturned the 112-year sentence Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum imposed on Brandon Moore, a now 30-year-old inmate who went on a violent crime spree in 2001. Moore is not eligible for release until he is 92 years old. The justices said Moore's sentence was unconstitutional because it runs contrary to Graham v. Florida, a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said juveniles cannot be sentenced to life in prison without parole for crimes that are not homicides. Since Moore's release eligibility date is set for far beyond his life expectancy, Graham extends to Moore's sentence as well, and it violates Moore's constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment, wrote Ohio Justice Paul Pfeifer. "It does not take an entire lifetime for a juvenile offender to earn a first chance to demonstrate that he is not irredeemable," Pfeifer wrote. (You can read the full opinion here or at the bottom of this story.) The Ohio Supreme Court's opinion is in line with other state and federal decisions regarding harsh sentences for juveniles. The facts of Moore's case "do not engender a sense of sympathy for appellant," Pfeifer notes at the outset of the opinion. On Aug. 21, 2001, when Moore was 15, he robbed two people at gunpoint. Later that night, he ambushed a woman at Youngstown State University, ordering her into her car and robbing her as he drove her car. Another man, Chaz Bunch got into the car, and they raped the woman. Moore and Bunch were tried as adults and found guilty at trial. Krichbaum sentenced Moore to 141 years in prison, a sentence later reduced by 29 years. At a re-sentencing hearing, Krichbaum told Moore that he felt "you should never be released from the penitentiary," the Ohio Supreme Court opinion says. Pfeifer wrote the U.S. Supreme Court did not outright bar life sentences for juvenile offenders not convicted of homicide. Rather, it prohibits judges from making that decision when the juvenile is first sentenced. In other words, that decision should be made later, by a parole board or a judge, after the offender has served part of their sentence. Justices Sharon Kennedy, Terrence O'Donnell and Judith French dissented from the majority. French argued that Moore's appeal was not filed in a timely manner. Kennedy and O'Donnell also argued that Graham was distinguishable from Moore's case, as the Supreme Court "did not decide whether the imposition of consecutive, fixed-term prison sentences for multiple non-homicide offenses that result in a lengthy aggregate sentence violate the Eighth Amendment." The Ohio Supreme Court, in a separate decision, also ruled Thursday that mandatory transfers of juvenile criminal cases to adult courts are unconstitutional. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section. AKRON, Ohio -- A recent email addressed to Akron illustrator Matt Horak presented what some artists would consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The subject line read "Marvel gig ASAP," and the message represented the culmination of years of work on his part, getting his art out there and networking with fellow artists and editors. The email told Horak that iconic illustrator Steve Dillon was unable to finish the eighth issue of "The Punisher" -- the latest ongoing comic book series to star vigilante anti-hero Frank Castle, who fights crime under the "Punisher" name -- and Marvel wanted to know if he could finish the book in Dillon's place. The 41-year-old Horak replied with an enthusiastic "yes," agreeing to draw roughly half the issue. A short time after he finished, however, he learned that Dillon had tragically passed away, and Marvel needed Horak to illustrate the next four issues of "The Punisher." Horak, who has been drawing since he was 3 years old, creates art and writes a web comic title "Octo Skull" for his employer, Earthquaker Devices, which manufactures guitar pedals in a spartan warehouse near downtown Akron. His interest in comic books dates back decades -- he started drawing superheroes when he was 12 years old -- but in the past few years, he made a push to get his work noticed. "I've been going comic conventions and showing my artwork to writers and artists and editors and anyone who will look at it," he said. Marvel talent editor Rickey Purdin saw some of his drawings and was impressed enough to contact him when Marvel was in a bind and needed an artist. Horak sat down with a Cleveland.com reporter in his Akron studio on Thursday and explained how he draws "The Punisher." Marvel sends him a script with the storyline and dialogue for each issue. Horak said he reads through it twice to get a feel for the plot. On his second read-through, he'll scribble notes and doodles on the script to give himself an idea of what he wants the pages to look like. The next step is slightly bigger doodles on a piece of paper with the kind of panels you see on a comic book page. On those pages he says he "gets the pacing and the staging of everything." From there, Horak draws more detailed pictures inside larger panels on a separate page that "really nail down where everything is going to be (on the page) and what all the characters look like." An editor at Marvel then approves his work and the task of creating the final pages begins. He adds panels to a blank sheet of paper using Photoshop, and then draws the images in blue -- a color that won't show up when he scans the pages and sends them to Marvel -- so he has a precise idea of what the pictures will look like when they're complete. Finally, he puts ink to paper and produces black and white pages which are scanned and sent to Marvel so color and conversation bubbles can be added. When asked if he feels like he's hit the big time drawing an ongoing series for one of the two major comic book publishers, Horak says with a laugh, "That's what people keep telling me." He said he's been focusing on doing the work rather than reveling in the accomplishment. But he went on to describe the experience as "surreal." He is illustrating an iconic character that dates back to the early 1970s. Frank Castle might not be a household name, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a comic book fan who doesn't know his story. The character has starred in several movies and was recently given his own Netflix series. "I think there's a benefit that it took me this long to get me here," Horak said. "As a grown adult, I know that I still need to do the work. I still need to get the (pictures) drawn." Horak said his interest in comic books began when he read a Belgian comic series entitled "The Adventures of Tin Tin," as a young boy. The series follows a young journalist on his adventures throughout the world. "Besides newspaper strips and things like that, that was the first one I got into and really started to notice the artwork," he said. His enjoyment of "Tin Tin" eventually brought him to comic book stores were his interest in superhero comics grew. Works from artists like Art Adams and Mike Mignola, who are respectively known for their work on "X-Men" and "Hellboy" comic books, caught his eye and influenced his work. His family encouraged him to pursue art from a young age. Horak said. "My mom has drawings from when I was 3 years old," he said. "And she always really supported me in it." Horak took art classes at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, and drew comic books for projects at the University of Akron. His advice to aspiring comic artists is to practice their craft and draw comics as much as possible. There's little formal education for would-be comic book illustrators, but some of the great artists have how-to videos online. "If there's an artist you like, just Google him," Horak said. "Chances are they've written a blog post or they've put up a Youtube video that shows you how they do what they do." Getting your art out there can be as simple as setting up your own website, he added. And of course, networking doesn't hurt. The eighth issue of The Punisher series is on comic book store shelves now. achristmasstoryhouses.png Jason Middaugh, from Syracuse, New York, has created a Lego set which is a Lego version of the house with the beloved holiday movie. (L: Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer. R: Jason Middaugh.) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Clevelanders could have the A Christmas Story House in their living room, but first, they have to vote for it. Jason Middaugh, from Syracuse, New York, has created a Lego set which is a Lego version of the house from the beloved holiday movie. If 10,000 people vote for the set, which includes touches like a light-up leg lamp and bunny suit, then it can go for direct consideration for approval from Lego. Other sets, such as those inspired by "The Big Bang Theory" and "Ghostbusters" have been approved this way, Middaugh said. Middaugh has visited the A Christmas Story House in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood where the exterior shots were done for the film. The attraction has shared support for the Lego set on its Facebook page. We really love this Lego A Christmas Story themed prototype made by superfan Jason! It features The Old Man, a major... Posted by A Christmas Story House on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 The idea came while Middaugh was using his old Lego sets to create toys for his daughter, Jane. His wife urged him to think of an idea that he could submit to the company, and he settled upon "A Christmas Story." "(I asked myself) what would people want ... what would I want," he said. "It's such a iconic movie. It's one of those movies that defies logic, because every year it's become more popular somehow." All the bricks in the set are produced by Lego. The set would include replicas of the characters in the film. Middaugh said the set's planning required a few weeks of tinkering around and then about six months of acquiring the pieces. Middaugh said what sets his project apart are references like the leg lamp, which lights up thanks to a special Lego piece. The house also has a furnace in it, something that's discussed in the movie, but never seen on-screen. Vote for the set here. To vote for the set, users must sign up for a free Lego account. Votes only count through the Lego site, not through social media, though users can use their Google+, Facebook and Twitter to create logins. You can find out more about the project on Middaugh's Facebook page here. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Standing in silence and holding small, white-lit candles, about 150 people gathered at the West Side Catholic Center on Wednesday to remember the Greater Cleveland's homeless who died this year. The names of 103 homeless people who died were read aloud at the center on Lorain Avenue. The 2016 Homeless Memorial Day in Cleveland was similar to vigils that took place on the same day in 110 cities across the country. "We think that homeless people are largely forgotten during their lives, so at least we can honor them when they die," said Brian Davis, founder of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, which holds the event every year. "And we do that by reading their names every year." This year's number of deceased homeless in this area is nearly twice as many as the 56 the coalition counted last year and more than the 72 homeless deaths the year before. The coalition tracks the homeless deaths by using outreach teams that regularly visit homeless campsites in the city. "We are pretty good about getting information when a homeless person dies," Davis said before the vigil. "Unfortunately, this is the longest list in our 30-year history of the vigil," said Davis. "I think the opioid crisis has something to do with it. I think it has to do with more people overdosing." Opioid drug overdoses killed a record 2,590 Ohioans last year, accounting for 85 percent of all overdose deaths. Despite the gloomy news, Davis told attendees there's a reason to be hopeful. He said the homeless rate is improving both nationally and in Cleveland in some areas. A recent joint study by the United States Conference of Mayors and the National Coalition to End Homelessness showed homelessness among veterans has declined 39.8 percent since 2011 and 17.3 percent since last year. Cleveland also has a youth initiative that has reduced youth homelessness. But the news isn't good for all homeless sectors. "We have way more families than we had last year," said Davis. "We have a lot more women who are showing up at the shelters. And we have an overflow every single night at the men's shelter." Davis said the rising cost of housing is one factor that's leaving people homeless. A few days ago the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced nearly $95 million in continuing and new funds for Ohio communities and nonprofits that help people escape homelessness and find stable homes. The Senate Banking Committee, on which U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown serves as ranking member, has jurisdiction over HUD. "Home is life, and for too many Ohioans, we are failing," said Brown, who attended the vigil. "To honor their memory, we need to bring their stories, and this problem that is taking their lives, out of the shadows. I will continue fighting to secure resources needed to make life better for the people we serve. " The Northeast Ohio Coalition has a homeless memorial website listed by year. Go to neoch.org/in-memoriam. The 2016 names will be added sometime this weekend. McDonald's expands test of fresh-beef hamburgers An Illinois man questions the value in the "Extra Value Meals" at some Chicago-area McDonald's. (Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press file photo) CHICAGO, Illinois -- The "Extra Value Meal" prices at McDonald's restaurants in the Chicago area didn't seem like a bargain to one man, who is suing the franchises' owner for consumer fraud and deceptive practices. James Gertie of Des Plaines, Ill., says in the lawsuit that two cheeseburgers, a medium fries and a medium soda add up to $5.49 if purchased separately, but the "Extra Value Meal" cost for the same items is $5.90, the Chicago Tribune reports. The suit is filed against Karis Management Co. Inc., which operates McDonald's restaurants in nine Chicago-area cities. Gertie is seeking class-action status for this lawsuit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court. It does not name a dollar amount. "The reason that I am doing this is not about the 41 cents," Gertie tells the Chicago Daily Herald. "It's because of the principle. A value meal is supposed to be a cheaper price. That's the whole point of a 'value' meal. I believe in the principle of true advertising. If a company advertises something to be a value, then that is what it should be." Representatives from Karis Management did not comment on the lawsuit, reports say. Black Church Burned Mississippi "Vote Trump" is spray painted on the side of the fire-damaged Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville, Miss., after a fire on Nov. 1. (Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press file photo via AP) JACKSON, Mississippi -- A member of a predominantly black church is accused of setting it on fire and painting "Vote Trump" on the side in early November, reports say. Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, Miss., was arrested Wednesday and has been charged with one count of first-degree arson of a place of worship, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. McClinton has not yet been charged with a hate crime. "The charges that he received today, it was not a hate crime but we do not know if the federal government will pursue that as such because we do not have a motive yet," Kenya Collins, a spokesperson for the city of Greenville, Miss., where the church is located, tells the Clarion-Ledger. McClinton is being detained until his first court appearance. Warren Strain of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation declined to say what McClinton's motive might be, the Clarion-Ledger reports, because the investigation is still under way. "We do not believe it was politically motivated. There may have been some efforts to make it appear politically motivated," Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who is also the fire marshal, tells the Associated Press. The fire at Hopewell Baptist Church was set at about 9:15 p.m. on Nov. 1, CNN reports. While it was put out quickly, the words "Vote Trump" were found spray-painted on the side of the building. According to WJTV Channel 12, investigators are still trying to determine if McClinton was responsible for spray-painting the building. The Associated Press reports McClinton was released from prison in 2012 after serving eight years for armed robbery. Prior to that, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempted robbery. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Despite facing a lively Donald Trump-backed challenge to his leadership, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges still retains the support of some of the state's most influential politicians. Borges on Wednesday evening sent a message to members of the state party's central committee sharing the endorsements of Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, outgoing Ohio Senate President Keith Faber and incoming Senate President Larry Obhof. "Republicans in the Ohio legislature registered significant victories this November, adding to our record-setting majorities in the House and the Senate," reads a statement signed by the three men that was included with the message, a copy of which was obtained by cleveland.com. "It takes a team effort to make that happen, and Matt Borges played a major role in our success this cycle." The message also referenced endorsements from four of the state's 12 Republican members of congress -- Reps. Dave Joyce, Steve Stivers, Pat Tiberi and Mike Turner. And earlier Wednesday, a state party spokeswoman confidently said Borges has the necessary support from the 66-member state central committee to keep his job. He needs a simple majority to do so. The committee will meet on Jan. 6 to pick between Borges and Timken. State GOP committee members on Wednesday also heard from a group of influential GOP donors from Cleveland who are backing Borges' challenger, Jane Timken, an attorney and a member of a prominent GOP family from Stark County. The group who wrote that letter includes industrialist Ed Crawford, who served as Trump's state finance chair. Crawford told cleveland.com that a change in state party leadership is needed to help move on from the controversy of the campaign, and to help the state party mend fences with the Republican National Committee and the Trump administration. The struggle for control of the Ohio Republican Party can be viewed as a proxy battle between Trump, who cruised to a surprisingly large 8-point victory here, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a prominent Trump critic. After losing to Trump in the GOP presidential primary, Kasich conspicuously withheld his support from Trump, criticizing his divisive rhetoric and temperament, despite an earlier pledge to support his party's nominee. Borges is close to Kasich, while Trump's Ohio campaign director, Bob Paduchik, is among those trying to oust Borges. This week, Paduchik told central committee members that Trump supports Timken. Paduchik, who is expected to soon be elevated to a top leadership position with the Republican National Convention, accused Borges of undermining Trump's candidacy by making critical statements to the news media to advance a planned future bid for chairmanship of the national party. In an interview, Lucas County Republican Party Chairman Jon Stainbrook said Wednesday that after talking with Republican officials around the state, he firmly believes Borges will be re-elected. "Matt Borges will be soundly re-elected chairman on Jan. 6," he said. "He clearly has the votes." Cleveland.com reporter Jeremy Pelzer contributed to this story uticashale.jpg Marathon Petroleum's Canton refinery, seen in a June file photo, has been upgraded to increase its capacity and to handle Ohio's Utica shale light oil known as condensate. Ohio's oil and gas industry has persuaded state lawmakers to include a $264 million tax break in a lame-duck bill awaiting Gov. Kasich's signature. The proviso, adopted without sufficient review, should be vetoed, writes the editorial board. (John Funk, The Plain Dealer, File) Maybe Ohio oil and gas drillers do deserve an estimated $264 million in tax refunds from the state and localities. But the way the General Assembly agreed to that, tucking it into a lame-duck "Christmas-tree" Senate Bill 235 without sufficient openness on the whys and wherefores, or the fiscal consequences, means the proviso all but invites a veto from Republican Gov. John Kasich. At issue is whether oil and gas producers must pay sales and use tax on certain equipment. Ohio law has long exempted equipment used "directly" in producing oil and gas. But some producers claim the state has been trying to apply sales tax to equipment that's always been tax-exempt. So legislators acted to "clarify" the matter in SB 235 by broadening the definition to all equipment used in regulated production activities. They also authorized tax refunds, retroactive to June 30, 2010. The revenue loss from 2010 to 2016 could be $264 million, with local governments having to eat $49 million of that, the Taxation Department estimates. About our editorials Editorials express the view of the of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization. * Talk about the topic of this editorial in the comments below. * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions or comments about the editorial board to Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director for cleveland.com. Coincidentally or not, the Statehouse oil and gas lobby has stymied Kasich's bid to boost Ohio's pitifully low severance tax on oil and gas. The lobby now claims the state, in the last year or so, has aggressively interpreted Ohio law to shrink the industry's sales-tax exemptions - which is why it wants the clarification. The Taxation Department counters that there's nothing exceptional going on, except maybe that the increase in hydraulic fracturing for shale oil and gas "has attracted companies perhaps new to Ohio and its tax laws." Legislators are supposed to sort facts from anecdotes before they write laws. Legislators are also supposed to make sure that bills contain only one subject, as Ohio's Constitution requires. Instead, SB 235, which started in October 2015 as a bill dealing with the property tax, ended up this month including, besides the oil-and-gas tax "clarification," such subjects as jukeboxes; rock-climbing walls; a broadened ban on animals running at large to include all poultry, not just geese; and Ohio's unemployment compensation program. If oil and gas drillers have a legitimate tax beef, it deserves to be thoroughly reviewed by legislators in a stand-alone bill next year. Meanwhile, it appears Kasich can veto individual items in SB 235. If so, the oil-and-gas provision deserves one. Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Notification Settings (in blue) just below. Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (Andrew Harnik, AP Photo) President-elect Donald Trump won Ohio's 18 Electoral College votes on Monday. Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove met with Trump Tuesday. Bloomberg News reports that Cosgrove's in the running to head the Department of Veteran's Affairs. And proponents of the Affordable Care Act are defending the law. Read more in today's Ohio Politics Roundup. Ohio votes Trump (Again): Ohio's Electoral College on Monday handed President-elect Donald Trump the state's 18 electoral votes, cleveland.com reporter Jeremy Pelzer reports. "The 18 electors, meeting in the Ohio Senate chamber at noon, each cast their vote for Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence for vice president. There was little doubt they would do otherwise: all of the electors were nominated by the Trump campaign and appointed by the Ohio Republican Party's Central Committee in September," Pelzer writes. "Ohio's electors joined others from around the nation in casting their votes for president. Trump won the White House with 306 electoral votes, though Democratic rival Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2.8 million." About 100 protesters marched outside the Ohio Statehouse to encourage electors to change their votes. Vacation, interrupted: Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove altered his vacation plans on Tuesday to meet with Trump in Palm Beach, Fla., cleveland.com reporter Stephen Koff writes. Bloomberg News reports that Cosgrove is in the running to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. "That would make this a repeat performance of sorts for the Clinic executive, a heart surgeon and Vietnam veteran who heads one of the nation's leading medical centers, one he has expanded with an international footprint," Koff writes. "President Barack Obama spoke with Cosgrove in 2014 about heading VA, then in the midst of a scandal over long waits and cover-ups involving veterans who needed medical care. Cosgrove ultimately said no to the job." Borges strikes back: Borges sent his own message to members of the state GOP central committee on Wednesday, Tobias writes. The message included a statement from Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, outgoing Senate President Keith Faber and incoming Senate President Larry Obhof. "Republicans in the Ohio legislature registered significant victories this November, adding to our record-setting majorities in the House and the Senate," the statement read. "It takes a team effort to make that happen, and Matt Borges played a major role in our success this cycle." Borges' message also references his support from four of the state's 12 Republican members of congress: Reps. Dave Joyce, Steve Stivers, Pat Tiberi and Mike Turner. Advocating for the Affordable Care Act: Trump campaigned against the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Now Obamacare proponents are fighting back, citing data that shows decreases in the number of uninsured Americans, Koff reports. "The number of adults under age 65 without health coverage has dropped from 20 percent to 13 percent nationwide, according to an analysis released Wednesday," Koff writes. "In Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income adults as part of Obamacare, the share of residents without any health coverage fell from 16 percent to 9 percent. And the number of black Ohioans who lacked health insurance dropped from 22 percent in 2013 to 12 percent in 2015. "The pre- and post-Obamacare figures are part of a new report by the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that advocates for access to care for vulnerable populations. It used information from the U.S. Census Bureau and survey figures backed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government agencies," Koff reports. Corey Lewandowski, Barry Bennett open shop: The two GOP strategists with Ohio connections plan to open a new political consulting firm in Washington, D.C, cleveland.com reporter Jeremy Pelzer writes. "Lewandowski, Trump's ex-campaign manager, has direct access to the president-elect and helped arrange Trump's meeting with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim earlier this month. Lewandowski was an administrative assistant to Bob Ney, a now-disgraced former congressman from southeast Ohio, between 1997 and 2001," Pelzer writes. "Bennett, a longtime Ohio political operative, advised Trump and managed the presidential campaign of Ben Carson, Trump's pick for secretary of Housing and Urban Development." Trump weighs in on Ohio Republican Party leadership: Trump is backing a move to oust ORP Chairman Matt Borges, a top Ohio campaign official told the state GOP's central committee in an email Sunday, cleveland.com reporter Andrew Tobias writes. "Bob Paduchik, the director of Trump's wildly successful Ohio campaign, told state central committee members that Jane Timken, a member of a prominent Canton family of Republican donors who is challenging Borges, will provide the party with a needed change in leadership," Tobias reports. "President-elect Trump supports Jane Timken to be the next chairman of the ORP. He has directed me to assist her campaign and has offered his support as needed," Paduchik wrote in the email. Added pressure on Borges: A group of Northeast Ohio Republican donors put their support behind Jane Timken's bid to unseat Borges as the Ohio Republican Party Chairman, Tobias reports. "Ed Crawford is among the signatories of a letter, dated Dec. 20 and sent to Ohio Republican Party committee members, that publicly supports Borges' challenger, Jane Timken of Stark County," Tobias writes. "It says Timken is 'uniquely qualified' to unify the party, while alleging that Borges failed to fully support Trump's candidacy, and by doing so, could have cost him the election." Cleveland minimum wage fight: Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed a bill into law that bans Ohio communities from raising the local minimum wage beyond the state's minimum wage, Pelzer writes. The state rate is now set at $8.10 per hour. "State lawmakers passed the bill earlier this month at the request of Cleveland city officials and others, who sought to forestall a special election on the wage hike next May," Pelzer writes. "Raise Up Cleveland, the group sponsoring the proposal with the backing of the Service Employees International Union, had aimed to get a $15-per-hour minimum wage proposal on the Nov. 8 ballot. But Cleveland City Council held months of contentious hearings on the proposal, and the issue narrowly missed the ballot deadline, buying city officials and other opponents more time to try to quash the measure." Cuyahoga County Council politicking: Two established Republicans are competing to fill a soon-to-be empty seat on Cuyahoga County Council. "Outgoing State Rep. Nan Baker and Brad Lamb, a county Common Pleas Courts bailiff and political operative, have put their names in for the County Council District 1 seat, currently held by Dave Greenspan. Greenspan is resigning on Dec. 31 because he was elected last month to Baker's seat in the Ohio House of Representatives," cleveland.com reporter Andrew J. Tobias writes. "The Cuyahoga County Republican Party will meet at 6 p.m. on Jan. 2 at the Don Umerle Civic Center in Rocky River to choose between Baker and Lamb." Looking toward 2018: Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel enters the 2018 U.S. Senate race with an edge over his potential opponents: more people recognize his name, according to a new poll paid for by a conservative Washington, D.C.-based group. "While early polls are largely unreliable since most voters aren't following politics closely and haven't made up their minds, the Club for Growth poll shows Ohio Republicans know who Mandel is, and most have a favorable opinion of him," Tobias writes. "Meanwhile, many voters say they haven't heard of two other possible GOP Senate candidates, Columbus-area U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi and Lima State Rep. Matt Huffman." Not that surprising: The Club for Growth, a conservative Washington D.C. organization, endorsed Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel on Wednesday in his 2018 bid for the U.S. Senate. Club for Growth also endorsed Mandel in 2012. "Josh Mandel is a model of pro-growth fiscal conservatism in Ohio, and the Club for Growth PAC is proud to endorse him for U.S. Senate," Club for Growth PAC President David McIntosh said in a statement. "Josh's efforts to cut taxes at the state and local levels, his opposition to Obamacare expansion in Ohio, and his work to make the Buckeye State the best in the country for transparency in state spending all show the credentials of a proven economic conservative who will fight for taxpayers in Washington. Cleveland lobbying firm expands: Capitol Partners announced this week that it has hired two veteran lobbyists. Republican lobbyists Mike Caputo and Rebecca Kuhns are leaving McDonald Hopkins to join Capitol Partners. The move expands the firm, which opened an office in Playhouse Square earlier this year, to six lobbyists. President Matt Cox said the firm, which primarily lobbies the state government and has a second office in Columbus, now has the most lobbyists of any firm in Ohio. Cox and Cuyahoga County Republican Party Chair Rob Frost are among the firm's partners. Its clients include John Carroll University and Friends of Breakthrough Schools, the charter school network. Holiday hiatus: The Ohio Politics Roundup is taking a little holiday break. Look for a special weekly edition to catch up on what's been happening in politics. We'll be back to a daily schedule in the New Year. Happy holidays! Get Battleground Briefing, our FREE politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox: Sign up here. Tips or links? Send here. Follow along on Twitter: @_marykilpatrick CLEVELAND, Ohio - A Shaker Heights police pursuit that ended in Cleveland's Shaker Square Wednesday evening involved a suspect vehicle in a University Heights "bump-and-run" carjacking, police said. The University Heights carjacking happened Wednesday afternoon near Warrensville Center Road and Shaker Boulevard, Shaker Heights police said in a Wednesday night Facebook post. A car rear-ended the female victim's vehicle, and she exited her car to exchange information with the driver. While the suspect driver and the victim were speaking, a passenger from the suspect's car jumped into the victim's car and took off. The suspect driver also pulled away, police said. Shaker Heights police spotted the driver shortly after the carjacking and pursued the vehicle. The suspect's car crashed in Shaker Square, near Edwin's Restaurant. Two teens ran from the car and were arrested by Shaker Heights police after a foot chase, police said. They were taken to an area hospital for evaluation after the crash. Authorities continue to search for the initial female victim's vehicle. The "bump-and-run" method of carjacking has been commonly seen across Cleveland and East Side suburbs within the past month. At least two women had their vehicles stolen in this fashion in Cleveland Heights in late November, and two women had their vehicles stolen this way in Beachwood on Nov. 30. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. "Libyans must sort out their own framework, not the international community". "My opinion is that the country is running out of time. There is dangerous escalation and it is arriving at a point of no return", Bernardino Leon, UN special envoy to Libya, said during a press conference on Tuesday following talks with stakeholders. Libya is nearing the "point of no return" as warring factions struggle to agree on a political future for the country, a United Nations special envoy has warned. Bullet casing and damaged airplanes on the tarmac at Tripoli international airport after fighters from the Libyan Dawn coalition captured the airport from allies of rogue general Khalifa Haftar. Bernardino, a Spanish diplomat who took up the post in August, has repeatedly called on both sides to agree to a ceasefire. Despite the persistent fighting in the war-torn country and two rival governments jostling for control, oil production has recovered to 800,000 barrels per day from just 200,000 b/d earlier in the year. The internationally recognized government under Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni lost control of the capital Tripoli in August, and has taken refuge since in the Eastern city of Bayda. Read More'Keep us out of civil war': Libya's central bank On the ground, there was little sign of rapprochement as the rival political leaderships clash over who should govern.This week the Al-Thinni government vowed to set up a new state news agency after its original one, LANA, was taken over by the rebel authorities. Despite a recovery in oil production, and ambitious output targets of 1.5 million b/d by year-end, concerns about future disruptions loom large. "There are, however, nagging doubts over the sustainability of Libya's recovery because the country's political situation remains extremely unstable," the International Energy Agency warned in its Oil Market Report for October. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has also issued a gloomy outlook for the country, forecasting Monday a contraction of 19.8 percent, almost one fifth, in 2014. Some 96 percent of state revenues are derived from oil and gas production. The report added the authorities would need an oil price of $184 per barrel to balance the budget in 2015, higher than any of its peers in the Middle East and North Africa. A fiscal deficit of 52 percent of gross domestic product was expected for this year. Read MoreGoldman ordered to pay legal fees to Libyan fund Libya, home to the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, has already signaled its position on oil prices ahead of a crucial meeting on November 27 in Vienna. "I would like OPEC to cut production of at least half a million (bpd) as all studies indicate the need for that even before the fall in prices," Libya's OPEC governor Samir Kamal told Reuters last week. "The oversupply is about a million". Read MoreWhy OPEC's losing its ability to set oil prices At least six of the nine judges on the court, an independent body that specializes in matters of the South Korean constitution, must approve the motion within 180 days. Earlier on Thursday, parliamentcalled the National Assemblyheld a fifth round of inquiries in which only two out of 18 witnesses appeared. The Constitutional Court of Korea will begin hearings on a motion to impeach President Park Geun-Hye on Thursday, a process that could take up to six months despite demands by citizens for a speedier decision. But for frustrated citizens, who rallied against Park in recent mass demonstrations, 180 days is far too long of a waiting period. "Protestors don't want to be patient, they don't want to allow the court to go for that long. The people's will is that Park should resign immediately and that the Court should rule accordingly," Bruce Klinger, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told CNBC on Thursday. But that's unlikely to happen. The courts has indicated it may take up to the full six months because of the complicated nature of the case, which will further aggravate a public hungry for political justice and extend policy paralysis in government, Klinger noted. If Park is indeed ejected from office, presidential elections will be held within the next two months. The 64-year old was named as an accomplice in an influence-peddling scandal involving her friend Choi Soon Sil, but has denied any wrongdoing. The case has thrown the future of South Korea's leadership into question, and the longer presidential elections are postponed, the longer decision making and critical reforms are delayed. Moreover, the level of political infighting is only getting worse. The acting President, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, believes he has the full powers of a presidency but that's angered the opposition party in the National Assembly, who want him to step down immediately and limit his role to caretaker, Klinger said. Alibaba Group 's massive consumer-to-consumer website, Taobao, has been put back in the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office's 2016 blacklist of "notorious marketplaces", a move the Chinese tech giant suggested could be influenced by politics. Taobao was previously put on the USTR blacklist, which identifies companies known for the sale of counterfeit products and for violations of intellectual property rights, in 2011. It was removed from the list in 2012 after it made efforts to address concerns of intellectual property rights holders and committed to reduce the number of pirated and counterfeit goods on its website. However, right holders in the U.S. and elsewhere "continue to report serious challenges to reducing high levels of counterfeit and pirated goods on Taobao," USTR's report noted. Taobao joined 20 other websites on this year's USTR's Notorious Markets List, most of which offered streaming services. Check out which companies are making headlines after the bell on Thursday: Cintas shares fell in extended trade after the company reported earnings per share that missed analyst projections. The company posted earnings of $1.13 per share on $1.30 billion in revenue. Analysts had expected Cintas to report earnings of $1.15 per share on $1.29 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates. CEO Scott Farmer said in a statement, "This is our 13(th) consecutive quarter of year-over-year gross margin improvement. This, along with our industry leading organic sales growth, is a reflection of the significant opportunities that exist for us and of the great execution of our employees, whom we call partners." Shares of Cal-Maine Foods were higher in late trading after the company reported a quarterly loss of 48 cents a share on $254 million in revenue. Analysts had expected a loss per share of 48 cents on revenue of $263 million, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates. Despite what CEO Dolph Baker described as "extremely challenging market fundamentals in the egg industry," he said the company has been able to reduce feed and farm production costs, "even with higher capital expenditures for conversion and other improvement projects." Synergy Pharmaceutical shares gained in extended trade after the company reported positive results in clinical trials for its drug to treat patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. CEO Gary Jacob said the company is "very pleased with these results." Shares of Horizon Pharma gained after the company said it received notice that it will get a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its RAVICTI oral liquid, a treatment for chronic management of urea cycle disorders. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce could challenge President Barack Obama's move to put vast waters in the Arctic and elsewhere off-limits to oil and gas drilling, Christopher Guith, senior vice president of policy for the powerful pro-business group's Energy Institute, told CNBC. "It is absolutely accurate to say we're considering it," he said Thursday. However, legal action may not be necessary if congressional Republicans take up legislation to overturn Obama's action, Guith said. Spokesmen for Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young, both Alaska Republicans, said they are mulling such legislation, the Hill reported Thursday. On Tuesday, President Obama withdrew the bulk of the U.S.-controlled Arctic Ocean and parts of the Atlantic from future lease sales to energy companies, citing his authority under the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. U.S. Outer Continental Shelf While momentum had been building for Obama to block drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic throughout the year, the timing and details of the action were not known until this week. Guith said he expects a more serious discussion about a response to begin once people return from the Christmas holiday. "There's no rush right now. It's just trying to figure out sequentially what works best and what the bandwidth is," he said. "These sorts of decisions happen over long periods of time. It's more about getting the policy right than trying to rush to the courthouse." This would not be new ground for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In September, the chamber, along with other business groups, filed a lawsuit challenging an Obama administration rule that granted overtime pay to more workers. Zachary Quinn's project for his entrepreneurship course in college was so successful that he dropped out of college to run the business. The class project turned start-up, Love Your Melon, became a company with a mission: It sells hats, beanies and scarves and uses some of its profits to help children with cancer. Love Your Melon began with a "buy one, give one" model. For every hat sold, the company gave a hat to a child with cancer. But Quinn and his friend and co-founder Brian Keller sold so many hats that they had more hats to give away than there were kids with cancer in the entire country. Now, Love Your Melon donates 50 percent of net profits to partners. Love Your Melon co-founders Zachary Quinn and Brian Keller. Photo courtesy Love Your Melon Quinn and Keller were sophomores at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2012 when they had the idea to build the business. The first year, they did $61,000 in sales. They set up a table out in front of Quinn's parents' restaurant and peddled hats to passersby. "It was the first 200 hats we sold [when] we knew we had something big," Quinn says to CNBC. Whoever they talked to about the hats and their mission got excited. "Everybody lit up," says Quinn. "We sold out of the beanies in two days when our teachers didn't think we could do it in a whole semester." This year, the Minneapolis start-up, which has 11 employees, brought in $21 million in revenue. Next year its sales target is $50$60 million, an ambitious goal it hopes to meet by setting up partnerships with larger, big box retailers. Currently Love Your Melon apparel sells in select boutique retailers throughout the country, but most sales are online. All hats are made in the U.S.A. In the past four years, Love Your Melon has donated $1.5 million, or half of its profits, to fund cancer research initiatives. By the end of 2016, the company expects to have donated $2.5 million, says Quinn. The millennial founders have been able to have such remarkable success in such a short period of time thanks in large part to their savvy use of social media. Love Your Melon has active Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter profiles. It creates content for those channels every week and boasts impressive conversion rates, since a high percentage of individuals who see that content become customers. The company also heightens brand awareness by reaching back to college campuses and encouraging volunteer teams of students to visit hospitalized kids battling cancer. Love Your Melon Campus Crews arrive to children's hospitals dressed in superhero capes. More than 12,000 student volunteers across the country at 740 different educational institutions spread the Love Your Melon message. The start-up does three to four photo shoots a week. The company has also partnered with nonprofits and performers to help design one cancer-stricken child's dream bedroom, for example, and take another child to a private performance with her favorite musician. Documented and shared, these visuals can be very moving. Love Your Melon is a case study that Facebook touts as a stellar example of how to use social media successfully. "What I attribute it to is authenticity," says Quinn, now 24 years old. Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Alex Wong | Getty Images Palantir, the data-mining firm co-founded by tech billionaire and Trump transition adviser Peter Thiel, has provided largely secret assistance to the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) in operating a system that tracks and assesses immigrants and other travelers, according to public records. Known as the Analytical Framework for Intelligence, the system draws from a variety of federal, state, and local law enforcement databases that gather and analyze often-sensitive details about people, including biographical information, personal associations, travel itineraries, immigration records, and home and work addresses, as well as fingerprints, scars, tattoos, and other physical traits. CBP lends out access credentials for the Analytical Framework for Intelligence (AFI) to other law enforcement agencies, including the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's office of Enforcement and Removal Operations, the country's primary deportation force. Though little is understood by the public, the Palantir-linked system could represent a powerful and far-reaching tool in Trump's quest to limit migration into the country. More from The Verge: Artificial intelligence is going to make it easier than ever to fake images and video A Google employee is suing the company for being too confidential Apple AirPods review: wireless that wows, earbuds that don't "When Trump uses the term 'extreme vetting', AFI is the black-box system of profiling algorithms that he's talking about," says Edward Hasbrouck of the Identity Project, a civil liberties initiative that focuses on the rights of travelers. "This is what extreme vetting means." Dozens of heavily redacted references to Palantir appear in AFI documents that the Electronic Privacy Information Center obtained through a lawsuit. AFI was implemented in August 2012 as an analytical superstructure and search engine to overlay some of the government's largest databases of personal and travel information. According to a recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) oversight report, federal agents can use AFI for a broad range of purposes, such as enforcing immigration laws and assisting field agents "in preventing the illegal entry of people and goods" into the country. In a 2012 report, DHS highlights AFI's ability allow agents to search information across varied databases, but Hasbrouck emphasizes that AFI's most notable function might lay in what he says are top-secret algorithms that process personal data to assess travelers and would-be immigrants. This helps federal authorities determine a person's eligibility to travel into or even within the United States, Hasbrouck says. When Trump uses the term 'extreme vetting,' AFI is the black-box system of profiling algorithms that he's talking about. In its 2012 oversight report DHS touts AFI's various abilities to process data, which include "geospatial analysis" to help agents learn "about the location or type of location that is favorable for a particular activity," link analysis to "produce a social network representation of the data," and temporal analysis "that can be used to predict future activities." Since AFI's inception in 2012, the system appears to have expanded significantly. This past September, DHS issued a notice stating that AFI was no longer merely a scaffold allowing agents to search and analyze various separate databases. In order to increase its efficiency, AFI has become its very own database: the system has begun copying the volumes of information it accesses into its own servers, a development that DHS acknowledged "presents privacy challenges as its functionality relies on continuous replication of data." Hasbrouck isn't alone in his quest to learn more about AFI's risk calculations, which he says can come into play, for example, anytime a traveler seeks to board a commercial airliner in the United States. The alleged existence of these algorithms were of primary interest to attorneys for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a different privacy group, in filing a lawsuit last year against CBP for records detailing AFI. As a result of the still-ongoing suit, the border control agency has released several hundred pages of material on the system, but the records are so heavily redacted they provide little insight. AFI has become its very own database John Tran, an attorney with EPIC, says that one of the most troubling aspects of AFI and a motivation for his lawsuit is how little the public knows about the program. "AFI generates risk assessments for travellers," Tran said. "But we don't know how the scores are being generated and what the factors are. What if there's an error? Users should have an opportunity to correct the error, users should have an opportunity to understand what goes into generating the score." Yet the heavily blotted documents Tran obtained contain at least one notable feature: they make dozens of references to Palantir. The records show that Palantir has played an apparently important, although largely undisclosed, role in CBP's operation of AFI. It is evident from the redactions that the government has deemed most of Palantir's AFI-related functions too secret to reveal publicly. Even so, the records do provide some insight into the scope, if not the details, of Palantir's involvement with the intelligence system. "I don't think there's any way to read it other than that Palantir is certainly involved with AFI," said Tran. The documents, Tran said, suggest that Palantir has played an "active role in management and upkeep of the system." Classes labeled 'Palantir' occupy far more time than any other subject One slide shows that, in a two-and-a-half-day AFI training session, classes simply labeled "Palantir" occupy far more time than any other single subject spanning an entire day of the otherwise fragmented course. Another slide is fully blacked out under the title that reads "AFI: Palantir Quick Reference Card." In a federal filing, attorneys for CBP said that disclosure of information regarding this Palantir function would endanger the program's security and disrupt law enforcement investigations. "Palantir Quick Reference Card provides an overview of key elements, techniques which can be used by law enforcement officers and related keyboard shortcuts designed to assist in navigation of the Palantir application within AFI," the filing reads. "Disclosure of this information could enable unauthorized users to gain access to the system and alter, add, or delete information altogether, thus destroying the integrity of the system." Records accessible via the federal government's online contract database show that Palantir licenses were provided through the third-party firms Govplace, Akira Technologies, and All Points Logistics to CBP in three separate agreements between 2010 and 2013 that come out to nearly $1.5 million. Though the CBP contracts EPIC obtained do not contain visible references to Palantir, they do show agreements with Akira and All Points, among other firms, in which descriptions of the services provided are heavily redacted. Throughout the documents, Palantir is often described as being a separate entity from AFI but also an important component of its operation. "The CBP AFI and Palantir data are accessible to AFI users," reads one otherwise largely redacted passage. "AFI and Palantir are authorized to store/process sensitive but unclassified data and information." A portion of the AFI training manual obtained by EPIC. A portion of the AFI training manual obtained by EPIC. After it was reported last month that Peter Thiel, Palantir's co-founder, had joined Donald Trump's transition team, some observers expressed concern over potential conflicts of interest. Thiel's company has contracts with the Department of Justice, the Defense Department, and the Central Intelligence Agency, among other agencies. Fears over Thiel's potentially overlapping interests were heightened when, in response to media queries, Thiel declined to confirm that he had signed the Trump transition team's standard agreement requiring its members to step away from areas of the transition from which they could personally benefit. AFI is not the only link Thiel has to agencies that enforce immigration laws dear to Trump. Palantir also has a $34,650,000 contract with ICE to build and maintain an intelligence system called FALCON, which, like AFI, stores and analyzes information it receives from databases kept by various government agencies. FALCON is used by agents within ICE's Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an office that focuses mostly on serious cross-border criminal activity. The office has conducted some of the agency's most controversial immigration raids. In September, in Buffalo, New York, HSI agents raided several Mexican restaurants, resulting in the arrest of not only managers but also undocumented workers, some of whom were charged with criminal counts of "illegal re-entry," causing an outcry from immigrant advocates. Like the FALCON system, AFI can be applied to diverse areas of law enforcement, and it's unclear what exact restrictions exist on the tool's applications. CPB permits the tool to be used by a range of other enforcement agencies, including the US Coast Guard; US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which operates Obama's now-endangered Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to DHS, access to AFI has been given to ICE's main deportation force, the Enforcement and Removal Operations, for the purpose of administering "immigration laws and other laws enforced by ICE." NSEERS data is accessible within the Palantir-linked AFI system Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell: ConAgra Brands The food producer came in 4 cents a share above estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 49 cents per share. Revenue missed forecasts amid an overall slide in sales, which the company attributes to its ongoing effort to build a higher quality revenue base. Rite Aid The drugstore chain reported adjusted quarterly earnings of 2 cents per share, half of what analysts had expected. Rite Aid's revenue also fell short, although the company said its performance was solid amid a difficult environment created by the extended process involving its deal to be bought by . Nike The stock was added as a "Best Idea" at Guggenheim, which said it continues to see Nike as one of the strongest global brands and that revenue and gross margin expansion should take place in 2017. Hershey The chocolate maker naming chief operating officer Michele Buck as its new CEO. Current Chief Executive J.P. Bilbrey had said in October that he would be stepping down, but he will remain on the job until March and will remain as nonexecutive chairman. Micron Technology Micron posted adjusted quarterly profit of 32 cents per share, 4 cents a share above estimates. The chipmaker's revenue was essentially in line with forecasts. Micro also gave an upbeat current-quarter forecast, thanks to improved pricing for its memory chips and a more stable personal computer market. Anadarko Petroleum Anadarko struck a deal to sell natural gas fields and pipelines in Pennsylvania for $1.2 billion. The buyer is a unit of privately held Houston-based energy company Alta Resources. Bed Bath & Beyond The company missed estimates by 13 cents a share, with quarterly profit of 85 cents per share. The home goods retailer also saw revenue miss Street forecasts. The company is forecasting full-year earnings per share at the low end of its prior outlook. Online sales have been growing, but customer traffic at its stores has been falling. Baidu Baidu is considering an initial public offering in either the U.S. or Hong Kong for its video streaming site iQiyi.com, according to The Wall Street Journal. Such an offering could value the business at up to $5 billion, according to the paper. Alphabet The Google parent is in talks with for the automaker to supply vehicles for Alphabet's self-driving technology unit Waymo. Alphabet has already struck a partnership deal with . Yum Brands The restaurant chain operator declared its first dividend since the separation of its China business. It will pay a dividend of 30 cents per share, distributed February 3 to shareholders of record as of January 13. Alibaba Alibaba's Taobao consumer-to-consumer shopping website has been returned by the U.S. to its blacklist of "notorious marketplaces." The list consists of companies that the U.S. has determined sell counterfeit goods and violate intellectual property rights. Red Hat Red Hat reported adjusted quarterly profit of 61 cents per share, 3 cents a share above estimates. However, revenue was shy of forecasts for the provider of Linux software. Separately, the company announced the departure of Chief Financial Officer Frank Calderoni in late January to join an unnamed company as CEO. Calderoni had previously been CFO at . Before spring 2015, the number one concern in Europe was the economy. This has shifted rapidly and the top concerns today are "immigration" (48 percent) and "terrorism" (39 percent). This is what Europeans answered in the latest Eurobarometer, when asked what the two most important issues facing the EU and their own country are. The Dutch, French and Germans sound these concerns on both European and national level. This is what keeps them awake at night. These are the topics that are closest to their heart. In democracies, people point their leaders to the key topics they want to be addressed. Rightfully so. This means that politicians and policymakers must address these real concerns. By their very nature, immigration and terrorism are cross-border and need to be solved internationally. This is where European collaboration can show its benefits. Europe was able to curb the first wave of immigration over the course of 2015 and 2016. Immigration numbers went down dramatically. Terrorism is still a large concern, but European collaboration and information exchange can reduce the threat. The topics of immigration and terrorism, narrowly, and safety and security, broadly, bring back the essence of European collaboration. These were the core principles that started European cooperation 60 years ago. This is what people truly wanted. This has an emotional value. Fortunately, most people today have not known wars in Europe. Seventy years ago this was different. If you were a young European, you would have lost millions among your age group on the battlefield. The military graves across Europe show the tangible remains of hundreds of thousands of young French, Germans, American, British and soldiers of other nationalities. The debate will be again around the core values of Europe. Of course, we should stress the GDP per capital growth argument and better income distribution in the Netherlands, France and Germany versus the U.S. and U.K. But as people are emotional creatures, safety and security is what really matters to them most. This is what Europe has successfully delivered for many years. And this is being challenged at the moment. The elections in the founding members will be about who will be able to offer these basic needs again. And explain this in a crystal clear manner. Trump announced Wednesday that outspoken China critic and economist Peter Navarro will head a newly formed National Trade Council. Navarro has run for office as a Democrat. "The environment for the entire Trump administration on China is going to be much more challenging to negotiate and I don't think Trump has gotten his head around that yet," Ian Bremmer, president of consulting firm Eurasia Group, said on CNBC's " Squawk Alley ." Establishing a new U.S.-China relationship may be more difficult than President-elect Donald Trump expects, a prominent China watcher said Thursday. Bremmer said Navarro is a "smart and credible guy," a "real academic" and "not a crazy." Both Navarro and Trump agree on tough tactics such as labeling China a currency manipulator and opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership. "The problem is that [partnership] was the one thing that was a mechanism to get all of America's allies on board with U.S.-led trade as opposed to China-led trade," Bremmer said. "If you're going to tell America's allies that you're not going to give them this commitment, you're not going to follow through on what's most important for them for avoiding a China-led system and then you're beating up on China, you're going to end up with a lot of countries doing what the Philippines did under Obama, say the future is actually China, not the United States, I can't trust these guys," Bremmer said. He also pointed out that U.S. allies recognize that Trump will be up for re-election in a few years, while China will remain the same challenge in Asia for many years to come. "I'm less worried about a trade war. I'm worried more about ... backing into inadvertent escalation like you saw on Taiwan," Bremmer said. He added that the Chinese will likely retaliate tit for tat if the U.S. takes action against China, which might give Trump pause once he realizes the gravity of the situation. "I'm more worried about a potential conflict over Taiwan, over North Korea, where the stakes are a lot higher and, frankly, where Trump doesn't have capable people yet who are advising him," Bremmer said. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Also expected to play a major role in shaping U.S. trade policy is Trump's pick for Commerce secretary, billionaire Wilbur Ross. "Wilbur Ross is obviously an extremely capable fellow. I think he's one of the best appointments they've made so far," Bremmer said. The big financial decisions in life require both planning and, often, advice from professionals. However, people undergoing a divorce often go through the experience without either a safety net or an understanding of how much their lives will be affected by the decisions they make. "People think of buying a house or putting their kids through college as the big financial decisions in life, but the biggest financial decisions people make happen when they go through a divorce," said Carol Lee Roberts, general manager of the Institute of Divorce Financial Analysts. The IDFA oversees the Certified Divorce Financial Analysts designation for financial advisors. The divorce experience has broad and far-reaching consequences that affect the rest of an individual's life. It also has enough twists and turns that many financial advisors particularly those focused on female clients are getting CDFA training to help their clients through the experience. Image Source | Getty Images "A divorce is the largest financial transaction in most people's lives, and it's a chaotic time for them," said CDFA and certified financial planner Justin Reckers, CEO of Wellspring Divorce Advisors. "Most financial advisors don't have experience with divorce laws, and they aren't used to dealing with emotionally distraught clients." While divorce rates in the United States have been dropping over the last two decades, it is still estimated that between 40 percent and 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce. What's more, divorce is on the rise for Americans over the age of 50. In these so-called "gray divorces," the cost of mistakes in the process can be hard to recover from. "In gray divorces, people don't have 20 to 30 years to make up for errors," said Roberts. "The financial implications for these people are much higher." The implications of divorce are huge for anyone going through the experience. Here are five key things to keep in mind if you reach this crossroad. 1. Get help. Divorce is one of the most emotionally charged situations a person can experience, and when people are emotional, they make bad decisions. Getting professional help in order to avoid mistakes is crucial. Any financial advisors already shared by married couples initiating the divorce process likely will have to recuse themselves, as they can no longer work in both parties' best interests. More from FA Playbook: How one advisor calmed clients after Trump election win Can you afford to help your kids with college? How to survive a cybersecurity breach Women understand the importance of finding help. Avani Ramnani, CFP and director of financial planning and wealth management at Francis Financial, said about 90 percent of her divorce-related clients are women. In part, that's because women still tend to be more negatively affected by divorce, experiencing more significant decreases in their standard of living. "In general, women are more cautious and more concerned with preserving capital," said Ramnani. "We are seeking to work more with men, but they're less inclined to seek advice in financial matters relating to divorce." Bad mistake. 2. Insure the support payments. In most divorces where children are involved, one partner usually, but not always, the male provides child and or spousal support for the other. These support payments are essential for partners undertaking greater responsibility for children, particularly if they have not been earning income for a long period. "Get insurance to back those payments up," said Roberts at the IDFA. If a supporting partner dies, the payments may cease altogether if there is no insurance policy underlying them. For example, a $200,000 life insurance policy can backstop a 10-year settlement of $20,000 per year. Roberts also says that the receiving partner needs to own the policy so that the supporting partner can't change the beneficiary or stop paying premiums. "You can set it up so the beneficiary is irrevocable and [the supporting partner] is mandated to pay the premiums." 3. Pick your assets carefully. For a variety of reasons, the division of assets in a divorce is never as simple as it might seem. A detailed cost-benefit analysis of some assets versus others is crucial to avoiding problems down the road. "A property division might look equal but actually not be at all equitable," said Reckers of Wellspring Divorce Advisors. For example, if one partner takes the $1 million house, while the other takes $1 million in financial assets, the long-term financial implications could be very different for the two individuals. A common situation is the woman taking the family home and giving up the financial assets. That could result in major problems down the road. The more acrimonious the divorce, the more money is spent on attorneys and the more the pot is diminished. We try to help people understand that from the get-go. Avani Ramnani director of financial planning and wealth management at Francis Financial "Liquidity is a huge issue," said Francis Financial's Ramnani. "You could find yourself in a situation where you can't pay your bills and you're taking on the risk of the real estate market." Financial advisors can run projections on marital assets, taking into consideration factors such as liquidity, risk and taxes to give clients a clearer picture of a potential settlement. 4. Taxes, taxes, taxes. Often overlooked in a divorce settlement are the tax implications of the asset divisions. For example, $1 million of assets in a 401(k) plan is worth far less than the same amount in a taxable account. The former will ultimately be taxed at marginal income-tax rates when withdrawn in retirement, while the latter will face typically lower capital gains taxes. There are also major disparities in tax treatment of real estate assets vs. financial assets. Individuals don't pay tax on the first $250,000 in capital gains on a home, while couples get a $500,000 exemption. If the family home is a large and valuable property, the tax bill could ultimately be very high on the partner who takes the house. One solution is to agree to co-own the property for a certain length of time (i.e., until the children grow up) to avoid the tax hit. "Sometimes people going through a divorce can stand to co-own property for a period of time," said Reckers. John Watson didn't expect to stay with one company for over three decades, but that company made him an offer he couldn't refuse: That he would never have to be bored. In 1980, he joined Chevron as a financial analyst, held multiple supervisory positions and eventually became CEO and chairman. He's held that position since 2010. And, as Watson tells LinkedIn Executive Editor Daniel Roth, "every time I said, 'Well, gee, I wish I could do something else,' I was moved on to some other part of the company." A debt-for-equity swap offer had raised just over 2.4 billion euros for BMPS according to the Italian bank, however, this remains far short of its aim to gather 5 billion euros. The cash call offer for the bank ends on Thursday. The world's oldest bank announced late on Wednesday that it had failed to attract a major investor to commit 1 billion euros, which discouraged the wider investment community to bolster the lender. The result of which means BMPS is at the mercy of a state bailout, with any losses set to be forced onto bondholders. BMPS announced its 10.6 billion euro liquidity position would only last four months on Wednesday, a significant drop from 11 months it had previously forecast. Shares in the lender were suspended after falling 6.75 percent after Thursday's open though pared some of its losses to trade 0.67 percent lower by mid-morning. Should Italy's third largest bank admit defeat with its attempted rescue plan and ask Rome for assistance, the state bailout could take up to three months, according to a report from Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. The lender has been struggling for a long time yet its problems were exacerbated at the start of December as a consequence of political instability in the shape of Italy's referendum result. Citizens overwhelmingly rejected a package of constitutional reforms proposed by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on December 4 and with unexpected changes in government, investors appear to have become increasingly reluctant to contribute to the planned recapitalization process. Shortly after the referendum result, the European Central Bank blocked an attempt from the ailing lender to have its deadline extended in order to allow more time to find major investors and fulfill a 5 billion euro cash injection. "Here we are looking at an acceleration of the central bank's timing, particularly the European Central Bank, who rejected the request to delay until January 20 and what we have seen is probably the worst timing of all (for BMPS)," Gildas Surry, senior analyst at Axiom Alternative Investments told CNBC on Thursday. Shares of Lockheed Martin and Boeing made diverging moves in premarket trading Friday after President-elect Donald Trump tweeted about the companies. Trump said the "tremendous cost and cost overruns" of Lockheed Martin's F-35 program led him to asking Boeing to "price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet." @realDonaldTrump: Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet! Lockheed Martin shares fell about 2 percent, while Boeing shares were up 0.5 percent. Trump's tweet shaved off about $1.2 billion of Lockheed Martin's market value. "We have committed to working with the president-elect and his administration to provide the best capability, deliverability and affordability across all Boeing products and services to meet our national security needs," Boeing told CNBC in a statement. A spokesman for Lockheed Martin declined to comment to CNBC. The president-elect previously threatened to cancel the order for a new Air Force One from Boeing because of the costs. He's also criticized the price of Lockheed Martin's F-35 program before, which took as much as $4 billion off of the company's market value. The tweet comes after Trump met with the CEOs of both companies at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Wednesday. After meeting with the president-elect, Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson said she "appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we've made in bringing the costs down." A daily morning look at the financial stories you need to know to start the day. STOCKS/ECONOMY -Stock futures are a bit down as we await a bevy of key economic reports this morning. They include the final third quarter GDP revision, durable goods orders, weekly jobless claims, and personal income. We're still about 60 points shy of Dow 20,000. OIL/ENERGY -U.S. crude prices are down about half a percentage point to the $52 a barrel level. Gasoline prices rose another penny overnight to $2.26 a gallon , national average. TRUMP TRANSITION -President-elect Donald Trump met with the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin in Florida Wednesday afternoon. During the meeting, Trump got a promise from Boeing to cut the cost of replacing Air Force One. TRUMP TRANSITION (cont.) -Trump named famed activist investor and longtime ally Carl Icahn as his special advisor on securities rules . Icahn will help Trump choose whom to appoint to the SEC in an effort to reverse many Obama-era financial rules. Trump picked China critic Peter Navarro as the head of the new White House National Trade Council. -Several reports say the Trump team is indeed preparing a series of trade tariffs . TERROR/ DEFENSE -A manhunt is on all across Europe for the Tunisian migrant accused of committing the deadly truck ramming attack in Berlin Monday. It turns out he had been scheduled to be deported from Germany, but the process was delayed. EUROPEAN BANK WOES -Italy's government is set to bail out the world's oldest bank, Monti dei Pasci di Siena, with a last-ditch rescue fund. MOVING AMERICA -Uber has removed its self-driving cars from San Francisco roads. -Hyundai has fired the CEO of its U.S. division after disappointing sales. HIGHER ED -The number of foreign students attending Ivy League colleges is rising sharply, crowding out American applicants. Carl Icahn speaking at CNBC and Institutional Investor's Delivering Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016. David A. Grogan | CNBC Red Hat signage is displayed outside of the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Red Hat fell Thursday after the tech company reported disappointing revenue. The maker of the Linux computer operating system also announced that Frank Calderoni will step down from his position as chief financial officer, effective late January 2017, to accept the position of chief executive officer at another company. Red Hat posted third quarter revenue of $615 million, missing expectations of $618 million, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The company also said total deferred revenue or advance payments for products and services to be delivered in the future rose 15 percent to $1.7 billion at the end of the third quarter. Adjusted quarterly earnings per share of 61 cents did beat estimates of 58 cents a share. Investing in companies that lose money may sound counterintuitive. But one fund manager sees great bargains in select stocks that are reporting negative earnings numbers. Brian Lund, co-portfolio manager of the small-cap fund at ClearBridge Investments, points to three names in particular that fit this bill: sand manufacturer Hi-Crush, online education marketing platform 2U and drug manufacturer Ironwood Pharmaceuticals . "Our approach is to try to tease out, from the market price, exactly what the expectations are among investors for returns on capital, investments, growth, et cetera, for the company, and then using our own competitive strategy work, try to figure out how our expectations are different," Lund said Wednesday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." And in many cases, they are typically one of three kinds of companies: They are either investing back into themselves for future growth, are start-ups or are cyclically depressed. One name Lund recommends is Houston-based sand manufacturer Hi-Crush Partners, which provides sand for fracking operations. Lund said the company produces high-quality sand in a low-cost area but has suffered as the number of rigs in land-fracking operations has fallen in recent years. He sees growth potential as demand may begin to pick up. "So we think they're going to end up earning a lot more money in the future. They earned as much as $3 a few years ago and now it's trading under $20, so we think that's going to come back," Lund said. Hi-Crush in October reported a quarterly loss of 21 cents per share, missing analysts' expectations of a 16 cent loss. Another company Lund likes is 2U, a digital marketing platform for colleges' online degrees. The company has reported a loss of 47 cents in the 12 months through September, but Lund classifies it as a company investing for the future, as it went public just two years ago, and has high start-up costs. Lund sees growth potential, noting that when the platform locks in 10-year accounts with colleges, it makes a hefty percentage of the tuition that students then pay for those online degrees. "The more programs they win, the more money they lose, but the more valuable they are," he said. His third stock, Massachusetts-based drug manufacturer Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, posted a quarterly loss of 23 cents per share in November, beating analysts' estimates by a penny. It has posted a loss of 56 cents over the last 12 months through September, though has surged about 70 percent this year. For Chad Morganlander, a portfolio manager who seeks out value holdings, these companies wouldn't be prime for his portfolio. But he does see the value in investing in companies that could be classified as "undiscovered gems" with potential for growth once they invest in themselves. He pointed to Amazon as one company that faced criticism that it wasn't "making money for about 10 years." However, it was running a great business, and reinvesting back into it. "By deploying that capital, you had a tremendous amount of growth and a tremendous amount of shareholder value," he pointed out Wednesday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "Your choices will determine whether the United States helps to solve this problem, or whether we remain a major part of the problem itself." Scientific currency is not about money or power. It's about understanding. If you're a scientist, you are ultimately judged on whether you got the science right. The few scientific voices claiming that our planet is not warming did not get the science right. The same applies to the small number of voices claiming that human actions cannot and do not affect climate. Don't listen to such ignorant voices. As our country's recent history clearly illustrates, we can ill afford to take important decisions based on misinformation or poor intelligence. We all lose if that happens. Mr. President-elect, you have claimed publicly that "Nobody really knows" about the causes of climate change. That is incorrect. We know, beyond any reasonable doubt, that burning fossil fuels increases levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. We've measured these increases. We know that increasing greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere causes warming. We've measured warming of Earth's land surface, oceans, and atmosphere. Like it or not, our fingerprints are now on the climate system. We see these human fingerprints everywhere we look in temperature, rain, snow and ice, sea level, and dozens of other climate records. If we ignore this reality, the climate forecast is not good for us, and is particularly bad for future generations. Your choices will determine whether the United States helps to solve this problem, or whether we remain a major part of the problem itself. If you choose to remove the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, our country will be an international pariah. We will be publicly shamed and vilified. The rest of the civilized world will move on without us. The United States will not be the world's leader in solving climate change. We'll be a follower of other, smarter countries. We'll lose relevance, stature, and influence. Mr. President-elect, you promised throughout your campaign to "Make America great again." You cannot accomplish this goal if your administration embraces ignorance. You won't get to a "Great America" if you and your Cabinet appointees deny the hard scientific reality of human-caused planetary warming. You won't get there if you decide to remove us from the Paris Climate Agreement. America won't be great if you take us out of the international community of nations working to diminish climate risk. Millions of your fellow Americans are deeply concerned about climate change, and are looking to you for leadership. Your choice on Day 1 is clear. Leadership or denial. If it's the former, you'll have plenty of Americans willing to help you. If it's the latter, you'll have millions of powerful voices allied against you. Please choose wisely. Commentary by Ben Santer, who studies the nature and causes of climate change. His research has contributed to findings of a discernible human influence on global climate. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow. He was one of the four organizers of a letter signed by 376 National Academy members. The letter points out the negative consequences of a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCOpinion on Twitter. Perhaps there is one pricey Washington program President-elect Donald Trump does like. Just a few weeks after berating Boeing for its high-priced Air Force One replacement program and Lockheed Martin for it's even more pricey F-35 fighter jet, Trump tweeted out what sure looks like his support for what could be the priciest defense project of them all: Replacing the U.S. nuclear missile arsenal. The above statement hardly comes out of nowhere. First, the Air Force is starting the process of replacing America's Minuteman nuclear arsenal. More than 400 of those ICBMs, most built in the 1960s, now sit in missile silos across the U.S. And, not coincidentally, the three companies bidding to get the replacement contract are Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin. Of course, the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed just met with Trump in Florida yesterday. While Boeing came out of that meeting promising to keep the costs of replacing Air Force One below $4 billion, that's chickenfeed compared to the $60 billion to $86 billion estimated cost of replacing the Minuteman program. Was some kind of quid pro quo discussed in Mar a Lago Wednesday? Perhaps we'll never know, but if Boeing gets the contract that will be a prevailing suspicion for years to come. The Minuteman is just one part of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. President Obama has pledged to update the land-based Minuteman and also our submarine and bomber-based nuclear defenses at an estimated total cost of $1 trillion. In short, this update could end up becoming the costliest U.S. defense program of all time. And that is certainly saying something. As you'd might expect, there are those in Congress who are opposed to that cost and question the need for such an extensive update. Trump's tweet certainly didn't say anything about how he'd be willing to pay any price to keep our nuclear arsenal state of the art, but he did say our nuclear capability should be expanded. That's a far cry from the defense project penny-pinching Trump persona that emerged in his tweets and public comments during most of the transition process. This is the Trump who reminds us more of traditional Republican presidents, especially Ronald Reagan who used a U.S. defense buildup and European missile deployment to force the U.S.S.R. into an arms race that eventually brought the Soviet Union down. Or it could simply be that Trump wants to make a big show of cutting costs for programs he doesn't think are vital, like updating Air Force One, versus ones he thinks are more essential for our survival. With the F-35 program pretty much a done deal, Trump's focus on America's nuclear weapons is significant in terms of cost and the projection of U.S. military might. Throughout the election and transition period, Trump has tried to project an image of a leader who can increase American strength while staying fiscally conservative. Thursday's nuclear comments take what looks like a clear detour from the fiscal side of that image since Trump did not mention cost at all. But it may signal to everyone that when it comes to choosing strength or savings, Trump is likely to go with strength from here on out. Donald Trump unexpectedly tweeted about "greatly" strengthening and expanding America's nuclear capability Thursday, the first time he mentioned the weapons on the platform in more than a month. Trump tweet: The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why Trump brought up nuclear weapons. But two recent events may have moved the issue to the front of his mind. The president-elect on Wednesday met with the chief executives of Boeing and Lockheed Martin , companies bidding on the contract to replace the Minuteman nuclear arsenal. He also had a separate meeting with top military leaders. Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech Thursday in which he called for a modernization of Moscow's nuclear program. "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems," Putin said, according to a translation from AFP. Trump spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement to NBC News that "President-elect Trump was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes. He has also emphasized the need to improve and modernize our deterrent capability as a vital way to pursue peace through strength." Miller did not respond to a follow-up question asking whether that meant Trump was not, in fact, calling for more nuclear weapons. The original plan to fix Italian banks by using private investor cash could never work, according to one analyst. The window has officially closed for private investors to take part in any bailout of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) and after the bank admitted a lack of interest, the Italian government looks set to step in. Eric Lonergan, Fund Manager at M&G, said Thursday that the most efficient way of fixing the problem is by using the borrowing clout of government. "There is a very simple solution to the Italian banking problem. The Italian government can borrow at zero real, comes out and buys 50 percent of the non-performing loans and recovers the value over 20 years. "The notion that you are selling non-performing loans to the private sector, people like me who want a 20 or 30 percent rate of return, is completely inefficient," he said. Lonergan said the BMPS affair marked the first test of Europe's method of dealing with troubled banks and he considered the verdict "pretty damning". Small and mid-sized firms have been pulling deposits from BMPS as investors fret over losses that could be imposed on bondholders as part of a state rescue. CNBC has learned that the BMPS board will meet Thursday afternoon and then officially ask the Italian government for extraordinary support. Italy's parliament is ready for the request after it approved a 20 billion euro ($20.8 billion) aid package for its troubled lenders on Wednesday. Further, a cabinet meeting this evening in Rome is expected to agree a decree guaranteeing loans and bonds related to BMPS in a bid to diffuse the liquidity tension. watch now When it comes to the idea of getting tough on China, Donald Trump is looking more and more serious. On Wednesday, Trump announced the creation of the White House National Trade Council and said it would be headed by Peter Navarro, an outspoken China critic and author of "Death by China." "I think the big signal is Trump meant what he said when he said he was going to try to reconfigure the trade relationship with China," said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Navarro is sort of the font of ideas on how to analyze China." watch now Navarro argues that China practices a perverse form of capitalism that undermines the U.S. economy by working hand in hand with U.S. corporations against America's long-term interests. He says China helps individual U.S. companies in the short term by providing them with cheap workers. Over time, however, China picks off U.S. industry, jobs and know-how and uses them against the United States, says Navarro, who also argues that U.S. corporations pay money to Congress through lobbyists to make sure things stay the way they are. Finally, Navarro rejects the view held by optimists in the United States who believe that China will become more open and less authoritarian over time. Navarro, a Democrat, is a professor at the University of California-Irvine and has written commentary on China with Trump's pick for commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross. Trump has singled out Navarro's work as influencing his views on trade. The two look set to play a major role in determining Trump's trade policy, especially since the president-elect hasn't yet named a U.S. trade representative. Navarro did not respond to CNBC requests for comment. What other experts say about Navarro Especially with the rise of a more authoritarian Beijing under the leadership of Xi Jinping, a growing number of trade experts feel that the United States needs a more equitable relationship China though it's impossible to know if that viewpoint is in the majority. "I think we're headed into a very transactional period in the relationship [with China], and that's not necessarily a bad thing," said Charles Freeman III, managing director at Bower Group Asia and former assistant U.S. trade representative for China affairs. He said Navarro's "work has become more nuanced over the years, but has continued to maintain a perspective of winning and losing to China." CNN, citing several sources, reported late Wednesday that the Trump transition team is discussing the possibility of an early executive action imposing tariffs on foreign imports. There appears to be an ascendant school of thought among economists and political scientists from across the spectrum that a realignment between the United States and China of some still-undetermined sort may be desirable. "This situation is out of balance and needs to be corrected," said Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York. "I know [Navarro]. I've gone to events with him. He's not a crazy person. He does believe there's something deeply imbalanced." On the other hand, some experts point out that recreating the trade relationship with China is much more complicated than the incoming administration may appreciate. And China could "hit back on trade" and has already indicated a willingness to do so, Ian Bremmer, president of consulting and analysis firm Eurasia Group, told CNBC on Thursday. Potentially adding some nuance to Trump's trade policy is the selection of the governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad, as the U.S. ambassador to China. Branstad has called Xi a "long-time friend." Billionaire Carl Icahn, who has also been named to Trump's administration, is a strong free trade proponent. Is Wall Street missing something? The pound may have recovered from its post-Brexit lows, but it's set to face another round of Brexit heat, analysts said. In the wake of the U.K.'s late June vote to exit the European Union (EU), the pound tumbled to as low as $1.1450 in an October flash crash. But the currency recovered from those 30-year lows in the wake of Donald Trump's surprise U.S. election win, reaching levels above $1.27 in early December. That was up from levels under $1.24 before the election results, potentially on expectations that the president-elect could pursue a "fast-track" trade deal with the U.K. On Thursday at 3:23 p.m. HK/SIN, the pound was fetching $1.2361. But analysts at Nomura said in a note Wednesday that even current levels might be overly optimistic, noting that it's very difficult to determine what the market is pricing in, especially when no one yet knows what type of agreement the U.K. government will secure with the EU. Markets are speculating on a "hard, soft, flexi and transitional Brexit," Nomura notes. Among the issues which will determine whether the Brexit is hard, soft or in between will be whether the U.K. exits the EU's single market, whether free movement of people will be allowed and whether the U.K.'s financial players will retain "passporting rights" with the continent. Nomura noted that U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to issue a Brexit plan in a speech in the new year, although even that was expected to lack details. "Our concern is that the market is too complacent and optimistic in its Brexit pricing as U.K. asset pricing seems to suggest the market is moving away from a hard Brexit pricing, with little concrete reason," Nomura said. "It may be because market participants that were eligible to vote probably voted overwhelmingly to remain (in view of London's results)." St. Josephs Health has named Regina McGraw VP, chief compliance officer for the nonprofit regional health-care system. Photo provided by St. Josephs Health. SYRACUSE, N.Y. St. Josephs Health has appointed Regina McGraw as VP and chief compliance officer for the nonprofit regional health-care system. McGraw begins her new position on Jan. 3, Jamie Arnold, marketing and communications officer at St. Josephs Health, said in an email response to a BJNN inquiry. McGraw most recently served as a senior attorney at Syracusebased law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC. She takes over for Margaret Hall, who has been serving as interim compliance officer at St. Josephs Health, according to Arnold. Hall has served in the interim role since Amy Mallery Rhone left the organization in January 2016 for a new position. Rhone had previously served as St. Josephs chief integrity and compliance officer, according to her LinkedIn page. With McGraws hiring, Hall returns to her previous role as the organizations director of integrity and compliance. As chief compliance officer, McGraw will oversee the monitoring and reporting of all regulatory compliance programs within St. Josephs Health, the nonprofit said in a news release. Shell also provide strategic guidance to the board of trustees and senior-leadership team. McGraw will serve as the subject-matter expert on all policies and procedures associated with the general operation of a formal-compliance program, St. Josephs Health said. They include regulations associated with physician contracts, coding and billing, clinical-integration networks, and accountable-care organizations. She will also advise and consult with the St. Josephs Health CEO, along with senior leaders and physicians throughout the system to help St. Josephs and its parent company, Trinity Health, maintain compliance across the full continuum of care, the organization said. Regina is a health-care administration veteran with extensive knowledge of the industry gained from an impressive mix of clinical and legal experience which will be instrumental to the success of our hospital system, Kathryn Ruscitto, president and CEO of St. Josephs Health, said in the release. She will work closely with me and other members of my staff to help us maintain full compliance with our regulatory obligations and deliver on our mission to provide the best possible health-care services to our patients and advance the health of the communities we serve. Ruscitto plans to retire at the end of the year but will remain with St. Josephs Health to assist with the transition to the next president and CEO, which the organization should announced in early 2017, Arnold told BJNN. Background In her job at Bond, Schoeneck & King, McGraw provided general counsel for multiple health systems with hospitals and affiliated physician practices and multiple independent physician practices and facilities including ambulatory-surgery centers. Prior to joining Bond, Schoeneck & King, McGraw was a senior managing counsel at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, where she was an in-house, health-care attorney. McGraw also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S. Attorneys office, eastern district of Pennsylvania, where she was responsible for providing litigation-consulting support on health-care fraud and abuse matters for the U.S. government. In the early part of her legal career, McGraw was a medical-malpractice litigator and a legal nurse consultant. She is an attorney admitted to practice law in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey and a registered nurse licensed to practice in New York and Pennsylvania, according to St. Josephs. Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com Stars from the Netflix movie Coin Heist which fictionalizes a theft at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia accessed the facility's database for die production. Mold used to create dies for production of quarter dollars featured in the Netflix movie, "Coin Heist." Screen capture from trailer courtesy of Netflix; background image of Philadelphia Mint courtesy of U.S. Mint. A screen capture from the movie trailer shows what the movie purports is a stolen error coin, but that is a fictional piece that apparently incorporates design elements from various sources, including a 2004 Michigan quarter dollar. Netflix will debut an original movie Jan. 6, Coin Heist, that provides a fictional account of the planned theft of $10 million from the Philadelphia Mint. Internet Movie Database offers the following synopsis: United by dire circumstances, four unlikely allies from a Philadelphia prep school the hacker, the slacker, the athlete, and the perfect student band together to attempt the impossible: steal from the U.S. Mint. Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter The movie is directed by Emily Hagins, a screenwriter who also wrote the movies script based on a novel by author Elisa Ludwig. Todd Martin, deputy director for the U.S. Mints Office of Corporate Communications, said that: 1)?The Mint did not cooperate with the production of this film. 2)?No Mint production facilities were used. 3)?The Mint provided no footage of coin production. The premise for the heist is to make $10 million to offset the loss of school scholarships. The four students take a tour of what is purportedly the Philadelphia Mint and are informed about how lucrative error coins are. During the tour, a male adviser is arrested by Mint police. The quartet of students believe it will be an easy task to break into the Mint, strike untold numbers of counterfeit error coins using fake dies, and carry the coins out of the Mint because security is lax. The design of a quarter dollar illustrated in a trailer for the movie appears at first glance to be a Michigan quarter dollar, issued in 2004 as part of the 50 State Quarters Program. The design is shown hubbed into a mold, which is not how genuine dies are made. The MICHIGAN lettering at the top, with the 1837 date of statehood, is correct. The date for the year of issue is partially obscured, but still discernible as not 2004, more resembling 2016. The design elements of a fish enlarged above a scene of a fisherman in a stream do not appear on any U.S. quarter dollar. It looks like a 2012 Acadia National Park quarter dollar found in circulation, but this one, a San Francisco Mint issue, is sold at a premium by the U.S. Mint. The San Francisco Mint strikes quarter dollars in circulation quality, but not for circulation. They are offered at a premium above face value by the U.S. Mint as a numismatic product, for coin collectors. Making Moderns column from the Jan. 9, 2017, weekly issue of Coin World: In 2012, the U.S. Mint announced that they would begin production of America the Beautiful quarter dollars at the San Francisco Mint. Their composition and finish would be identical to coins struck at Philadelphia and Denver for circulation, except of course they would bear the S Mint mark. These coins, however, would not be released into circulation, nor would they be included in annual Uncirculated Mint sets. Instead they would be available only in 40-coin rolls and 100-coin bags. Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter This offering originally formed part of a celebration for the 75th anniversary of the San Francisco Mint. Initially, the Mint planned to make 1.4 million coins of each of the five 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters issues. The first five issues sold out, and the program continued. Circulation-quality San Francisco Mint quarter dollars have been offered for every quarter dollar issued since 2012. For recent issues, the Mint offers three product options to buyers of these San Francisco Mint quarter dollars: a 100-coin bag at $34.95, a 40-coin roll at $18.95, and a roll set that includes a 40-coin roll each from Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco at $46.95. The average mintage figures have dropped slightly, from 1.4 million coins per issue for 2012 and 2013 to just under 1.1 million coins in recent years. Reviewing Mint sales reports, it seems that the following product limits are in place: 5,000 of the 100-coin bags, 5,000 of the 40-coin rolls, and 10,000 of the three-Mint roll sets. When these product options are exhausted for an issue, that San Francisco Mint quarter dollar is declared sold out. Steady demand for these coins is likely sustained by collectors filling albums of America the Beautiful quarter dollars. A network that includes catalog marketers, eBay sellers and coin shops offers the San Francisco Mint quarter dollars singly or in sets at prices from about 85 cents to a couple of dollars each. While it may be frustrating that albums cant be completed from circulation, these coins are readily available and relatively affordable because of online sale venues. They are somewhat exotic in that they cant be found in circulation, and they are much scarcer than Philadelphia and Denver Mint issues, and even scarcer than the San Francisco Mint Proof issue. Not a bad deal for the price at all. Only four examples are known of the 1920-S gold sovereign, which was struck at the Sydney Mint in Australia, then a branch of the Royal Mint. Editor's note: this is the third part of a story about the British gold sovereign, which celebrates a milestone anniversary in 2017. Senior Editor Jeff Starck's story about the coin and its history appears in the January 2017 monthly Coin World. Though the sovereign is a chiefly British coin, the arc of the Empire means that many mints outside of the United Kingdom have struck the modern coin during its lifespan. The Melbourne, Perth and Sydney Mints in Australia, the Ottawa Mint in Canada, the Bombay and Calcutta Mints in India and Pretoria Mint in South Africa all left their mark, that is, Mint mark, on the sovereign. In several notable instances, this cooperation led to great rarities that are prized today. Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Though experts dont agree on the reasons, the 1916-C gold sovereign struck at Canadas Ottawa Mint is extremely rare. Though Canada had already adopted the $5 and $10 coins in 1912, the Ottawa Mint could still strike sovereigns if depositors requested the coins, though there was little demand for the pound in circulation. The Ottawa Mint struck 6,111 sovereigns in 1916 and an increasing number in subsequent years, until it stopped striking them after 1919. Sovereigns struck at the Ottawa Mint are identical to those struck in London except for a C Mint mark, designating their Canadian origin, above the date on the reverse. British gold sovereigns (denominated 1) struck at the Ottawa Mint between 1908 and 1919 occupy a controversial position in Canadian numismatics, according to W.K. Cross in Canadian Coins, Vol. One, Numismatic Issues 2011 (a catalog commonly called by the name of its original publisher, James Charlton). Some argue that these pieces are Canadian and must be collected as part of the Canadian series, while others claim that they are British and are separate from the decimal series of the Dominion of Canada. The 1916-C sovereign is the most elusive for sovereign collectors around the world. The stories about this rarity mystify the coin world. About the only thing known about the coin is how many were made. According to James A. Haxby, in Striking Impressions, the Royal Canadian Mint and Canadian Coinage (published in 1983), a small number of sovereigns, 6,111 in numbers, was struck in 1916. The number of survivors and the reasons for their scarcity remain unknown to the numismatic community. There is no debate, however, that they are rare, the key to the short series of Ottawa Mint sovereigns. Haxby wrote that fewer than 10 are known to exist today. Most of the original mintage apparently made its way to the U.S. Treasury where it was eventually melted down. Other experts have suggested as many as 29 examples are extant, with a high estimate of about 50 pieces. Cross, somewhat in line with Haxby, also offers a theory on the 1916-C sovereigns scarcity today: Most of the small mintage may have been melted, accounting for the rarity, although this is by no means an established fact. Another tale, a rumor, proffers that the mintage was lost at sea on its way to England during World War I, Cross wrote. The rumor isnt logical, though, because if there was to be a gold exchange between Canada and England in 1916, the gold needed only to be deposited with the New York Federal Reserve for the account of Great Britain, and not subjected to a perilous sea voyage during a time of war, Cross wrote. The truth may never be known, and it seems not to matter. When Geoff Bell Auctions offered an example in 2011, graded as Mint State 64 by Professional Coin Grading Service, the coin had an estimate of $50,000 to $60,000 Canadian, though it failed to sell. Another sovereign rarity, from the Sydney Mint, is often touted as the greatest gold rarity of the British Empire. Four examples of the 1920-S issue are known today, despite its having a recorded mintage of 360,000 piece (researchers believe that count includes 1919-dated pieces). Three different examples of the 1920-S sovereign appeared at auction in four years, concluding with the May 19, 2015, sale by St. Jamess Auctions of the reported finest known example for 480,000 ($753,211 U.S.), including 20 percent buyers fee. In 2012 another example of the 1920-S sovereign was sold as part of the Bentley Collection. Steve Hill (then of A.H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd.,) which conducted the Bentley auction, suggested that the 1920-S coins were made for some special event, but what that event was is not known today. The Bentley Collection piece (described as practically as struck) realized a hammer price of 780,000 ($1,261,520 in U.S. funds). The third example, from the George Collection and described as virtually as struck sold for 542,500 ($904,472 U.S.) in a March 2014 auction by St. Jamess Auctions. One of the four known examples is in a museum and two are now in private collections. Democrats call for Missouri gun legislation, say GOP has 'surrendered' House Democrats penned a letter to the Republican governor and next Speaker of the House in the wake of a St. Louis school shooting. A day after it was forced to halt self-driving car testing in California, Uber loaded its cars onto trucks on Thursday and shipped them to neighboring Arizona, where testing will continue with the support of that state. The cars were loaded onto trucks built by Otto, an Uber subsidiary developing self-driving trucks, and left San Francisco in the morning, Uber said in a statement. "Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck," the company said. "Well be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and were excited to have the support of Governor Ducey." Uber also released a series images to journalists of the cars on trucks leaving the city -- a very public rebuke to its home city and state. Uber Uber self-driving cars are loaded onto trucks to be shipped to Arizona on December 22, 2016, as the company was forced to curtail testing in San Francisco. The cars had been on San Francisco streets for just a week when they were forced to the curb. Since launching the self-driving trials last week, Uber has been in dispute with the state's Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV says Uber needs an autonomous car license to test the cars, but Uber contends the cars are little different from Tesla cars with advanced lane-keeping technology. At the end of last week, the state threatened legal action against Uber if it didn't remove its cars from public streets. On Wednesday, Uber was forced to end the service with the DMV withdrew the registrations for the cars. The images distributed by Uber on Thursday were notable in not showing the license plate area of the vehicles. Uber Uber self-driving cars are loaded onto trucks to be shipped to Arizona on December 22, 2016, as the company was forced to curtail testing in San Francisco. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey used Uber's decision to take a dig at California. "Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide open roads," he said in a statement. "While California puts the brakes on innovation and change with more bureaucracy and more regulation, Arizona is paving the way for new technology and new businesses." The California regulations Ducey refers to are hardly onerous, and licenses are cheap, but they do require companies submit an incident report each time a self-driving car is involved in an accident. The reports are published online and they sometimes generate negative publicity for the car developer. That's perhaps something Uber wanted to avoid. Arizona doesn't require any special licensing for self-driving cars and has no requirements for incident reports beyond what is expected in all road accidents, the state's DMV told IDG News Service. "In Arizona, autonomous vehicles have the same registration requirements as any other vehicle, and nothing in state law prevents testing autonomous vehicles," it said. Uber said on Wednesday that it remains "100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules." California's DMV said Uber has said it is interested in applying for a license to restart testing in the state. The report in todays Guardian of a legal challenge to the Governments latest consultation on Leveson shows the depths of the mire theyre in over press freedom. Amidst reports that ministers are planning to shelve both Leveson part two a new inquiry into the past conduct of newspapers and the controversial section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 concerning legal costs, an investigative website and some victims of press intrusion have sought judicial review of Karen Bradleys consultation. They claim that its unlawful because those measures were previously promised, and because the consultation document itself is biased. Hacked Off is, unsurprisingly, backing them up. All this serves to remind us that Brexit isnt the only area where Theresa Mays ministers must grapple with a shambles bequeathed them by David Camerons administration. She should find the courage to bring an end to this one. It isnt hard to see why the Government is hesitant. Under the processes set up to implement Leveson the Government isnt responsible for choosing the new regulator. Instead it is selected by the independent Press Recognition Panel, itself appointed by an independent process. Plenty of degrees of separation, intended to draw a clear distinction between the enlightened self-regulation decreed by Leveson and nasty, un-British state regulation. Unfortunately, the PRP went and spoiled the illusion by choosing an outfit called Impress as their designated self-regulator. If being voluntarily chosen by those subject to it is an important qualification for distinguishing self-regulation from state regulation, Impress doesnt qualify: no major UK title has joined it. Those who arent getting by without one such as the FT and the Guardian are mostly members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation, an actual self-regulator. Nor is it hard to see why, when Guido Fawkes ongoing, currently three-part investigation into Impress reveals it to be staffed by people with a clear agenda, rooted in a wearisomely familiar contempt for the right-wing popular press. It looks very much like a campaign group trying to set themselves up over the industry, and so unsurprisingly commands neither its respect nor its obedience. Such obstinacy on the part of the press is what Section 40 is intended to remedy. David Aaronovitch sums it up quite well in The Times (): It is, in essence, the stick that could be used to get newspapers and publications to sign up to the new state-approved press regulator, Impress. What it says is that any publication not agreeing to be regulated by Impress will be subject to the costs of a legal action even where it wins. Really. Thats what it says. If media organisations have their normal legal rights to fair treatment under the law suspended unless they submit to the authority of a politically-motivated outfit, that is the point at which all the pretty language about self-regulation ought to be set aside. This shambles has more to teach us than the value of a free press, important as that is, or the creeping judicialisation of our political process. It should also be taken as a clear demonstration of how damaging is the current trend towards shunting difficult decisions out of the political sphere. Leveson was set up during the height of the phone hacking scandal. Politicians wanted to be seen to be doing something, and calling for an independent inquiry managed both to look dynamic and avoid them having to come up with explicit proposals. So the task was delegated to a judge and his thoughts, once set out, treated as holy writ by people who dearly want state regulation of the press but were wary of arguing for it. The tendency for politicians to farm out difficult decisions is corrosive to democracy, for it creates the false impression that inherently political decisions have correct answers which can be impartially reached. It also creates a delay between an event and the policy reaction, which leaves us on the brink of implementing Levesons heavy-handed overreaction even as the polices finally collapses into complete ignominy with the clearing of the sole Sun journalist convicted by the 20 million Operation Elveden. Finally, such behaviour blurs the lines of democratic accountability for state policy by vesting huge amounts of power in people several degrees removed from the electorate i.e. independent. As Ive argued on this site previously, we need more accountability, not more independence, for those who wield powers delegated from the Government. The behaviour at the heart of the hacking scandal was already illegal, and has been punished, but Elvedens unmitigated failure demonstrates that it provides no case for a broader assault on the popular press at least, not one based on equal treatment under the law of the land. Impress is instead the vehicle by which the sort of people who make up independent panels can give weight to their distaste for behaviour which isnt illegal by people and institutions they dislike. Bradley should take a leaf out of the Remainers book. No law has been passed compelling her to press-gang (a telling historical meaning of Impress) our newspapers it is the will of Parliament only that she possess the bludgeon, not that she wield it. She has every right to leave the newspapers alone, and would be right to do so. The next EnVision Bus Read more [...] The Port of Cromarty Firth, Invergordon has welcomed more passengers from cruise ships in 2016 than any other port in Scotland, according to a press release. A total of 97,993 passengers visited the port this year, the highest number ever, and 9 percent higher than 2015. There was also the 1000th call at the port from a cruise ship, when the Koningsdam arrived. In addition were two calls from Disney Cruise Line and the Disney Magic. 2016 also brought the announcement of a proposed 25m investment in the development of a new berth specifically designed to accommodate the needs of tourists and the larger ships coming into Invergordon. Captain Dunderdale, Cruise Development Manager, Cruise Highlands Ltd, said: Being the port with the highest number of passengers in Scotland in 2016 is a fabulous achievement and rounds off a remarkable year. We were able to welcome nearly 19% of Scotlands 528,114 passengers this year. Worldwide, the cruise sector is the fastest growing area of travel and, for the tourist industry in the Highlands to continue to thrive, it is essential that ports like Invergordon are ready to welcome them. We are working with tour operators and tourist destinations to ensure that visitors to the Highlands have the best possible experience. Bob Buskie, Chief Executive of the Port of Cromarty Firth, said: As a deepwater port that is in close proximity to many of the Highlands most beautiful and historical locations, the Port of Cromarty Firth is the ideal location to grow and develop cruise tourism in Scotland. There are 73 new cruise liners currently being built throughout the world, many of which will accommodate more than 5000 passengers. The Port of Cromarty Firth is one of only three ports in Scotland that can accommodate ships of this size and, with more of them being built, it is essential for us to be able to receive them. Our investment and development plans will allow the Port to continue to introduce more people to the beauty and history of the Highlands. The Port Everglades Navigation Improvements Project has received federal authorization for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with deepening and widening the port's navigation channels as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act signed into law December 16, 2016, by President Barack Obama, according to a statement from the port. The project is currently in the preconstruction engineering and design phase, and can now proceed through the permitting and federal funding processes. The project is anticipated to create an estimated 2,200 construction jobs and nearly 1,500 permanent direct jobs locally resulting from additional cargo capacity. The Broward County Congressional Delegation joined local leaders today at Port Everglades to commend progress on the seaport's project. "My fellow commissioners and I want to thank our Congressional Delegation for their support in passing legislation that will allow two long-term Broward County water resource projects to move forward - the Port Everglades Navigation Improvements Project and the Central Everglades Planning Project," said Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief. "Both projects are vital for our community's well-being and economic stability." "This is a bi-partisan effort to make our navigation channels safer, globally competitive and environmentally progressive," said Port Everglades Chief Executive and Port Director Steven Cernak. "I applaud our Congressional Delegation for making this project a priority and recognizing the needs of our community." "The WIIN Act is a victory for South Florida's economy, giving the green light to federal funding for the Port Everglades expansion," said Congresswoman Lois Frankel. "This project means thousands of new good paying jobs for Floridians. It's a shining example of what we can accomplish when we work in a bipartisan manner across the public and private sectors, and local and state levels." "I am proud to have joined my colleagues in the South Florida delegation to support this vital legislation. The WIIN Act provides much-needed funding to deepen the Port, restore the Everglades' invaluable ecosystem, and ensure a safe source of clean, fresh water for our constituents," said Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. "It really is a huge win-win, pun intended, because the legislation also will create jobs for thousands of hard-working South Floridians." "After nearly 20 years of hard work, determination, and cooperation between our federal, state and local partners, I am pleased to see the Port Everglades expansion and deepening project moving forward," Congressman Alcee Hastings said. "This project will allow the Port, a vital economic driver in South Florida - seeing over three and a half million cruise ship passengers last year and nearly $30 billion in trade operations in 2016 - modernized to handle the challenges of the 21st Century. As the point of entry for the petroleum and jet fuel supply for South Florida, this project could not come at a more crucial time to support the new, larger post Panamax ships now traversing the recently widened Panama Canal. The ability to accommodate larger cruise and cargo ships means the Port will remain a dynamic economic engine in our region." As this tumultuous year comes to a close, here is a look back on some of the biggest stories we saw in the privacy field. Oddly, there is no central theme to these stories except, perhaps, for the recurring message that privacy is a near-constant concern in todays information economy. We started the year with the Apple v. FBI case dominating the headlines. The FBI sought Apples assistance in defeating a kill switch that would delete data on the phone of the San Bernardino killer after repeated incorrect passcode entries. Apple refused, citing a concern for the privacy of all Apple users. The debate spiraled into a broader argument regarding encryption and government access to private data. [ ALSO ON CSO: Privacy at what cost? Apple vs the US government ] Ultimately, the government withdrew their request after finding an alternative solution to accessing the phone. The issue has not fully gone away, though, with more and more technology companies adding end-to-end encryption to their products. It seems pretty clear that privacy features will become even more marketable in the coming year as customers demand that their data is protected from government access. Two of the biggest stories of 2016 involved Europe. First, we saw the Privacy Shield negotiations come to a successful conclusion. This agreement between the US and the European Union creates a data transfer bridge which allows companies to move data across the Atlantic while complying with tough EU data protection laws. Absent this agreement, companies were left with very few options for such transfers. [ RELATED: Tech companies like Privacy Shield but worry about legal challenges ] The deal is not without controversy, however, as privacy advocates on both sides of the pond have expressed concern over US governmental access to private sector data (see: Apple v. FBI). Indeed, the Privacy Shield has been challenged in European court and may encounter tough times ahead as European policy makers express skepticism over US privacy protections. Second, we saw a massive piece of privacy regulation emerge out of Europe in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR replaces the now-outdated EU Data Protection Directive from 1995, and creates a complex new framework of issues for companies around the world. It may spur a talent shortage as well with the IAPP estimating that over 75,000 data protection officers will be needed under a mandatory provision of the regulation (the IAPP currently has just under 27,000 members globally). Add to this significant challenges in implementing new consent standards for use of data, provisions for data erasure, and the right to be forgotten, and you have enough work to keep privacy pros gainfully employed for a long, long time. It is not hard to predict that the GDPR will be on the 2017 retrospective as well. On the operational and risk management side, we saw developments in privacy in 2016 as well. One of the more popular topics at privacy conferences was the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. This was a unique opportunity to see the interconnections between privacy and cybersecurity, and NIST should be commended for doing a comprehensive review and providing valuable tools for managing cyber risk, while protecting privacy. We also had some stories this year that suggested the challenges we will face with regards to privacy in the future. Pokemon GO exploded in the public eye over the summer and so did a debate about the privacy of augmented reality and location-based systems. Amazon Echo and Google Home raised issues of persistent monitoring in our homes. And autonomous cars portend many privacy issues ahead. In the US public sector, we also saw some impressive movement on privacy. The White House issued OMB Circular A-130, which creates mandatory privacy roles in every agency (more privacy professionals!) and requires a systematic approach to managing data and training government employees. We also saw the creation of the federal Privacy Council, an oversight body made up of privacy leadership across the government. Much remains to be seen as to how much of this will survive in the Trump administration, but it would be a shame to see such positive privacy steps walked back. Thats my list. It was another busy, busy year for privacy pros around the world. And it only seems to be getting busier and more complex as we head into 2017. Whats on your list for the top privacy stories of 2016? This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Just in case you thought Grubhub wasn't paying attention to your orders it was. The food ordering company recently released data on what, exactly, its customers have been ordering this year. Grubhub took a look at orders placed with its system from January to November 2016, comparing the statistics against the same months in 2015 and 2014 to sort out the food trends. Among the questions the company tried to answer with the data was to find the most popular dishes for the year and what was ordered the most in major cities. The company also tried to find correlations between cultural events of the year and what people were ordering that same day. While it's not entirely clear how the company equated the breakup of Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris with an uptick in orders of General Tso's shrimp and crab rangoon, other delivery-event links do seem to ring (mostly) true. For instance, the company reported a spike in hot dog orders in Chicago following the Cubs' World Series win, while Super Storm Jonas apparently inspired a 230 percent increase in tomato soup orders on the East Coast. And just when you thought you've been spending too much money on delivery, consider the person who earned the dubious "honor" of being Grubhub's best customer. The delivery service reported that one person placed 751 orders in 2016 ... a year that is not quite over yet. That works out to ordering from Grubhub about twice a day the stat should make you feel (somewhat) better about your own ordering habits. To see the most popular dishes delivered in 2016 (and what will become more popular in 2017), click through the gallery above. STRATFORD Two firefighters were injured late Wednesday night in a blaze that damaged a Huntington Road house. The fire was reported at 10:16 p.m. at a Huntington Road home. When firefighters arrived, they found a large volume of fire working its way through the first floor of the two-story, single family home, according to Deputy Fire Marshal Brian Lampart. A lieutenant and one firefighter were overcome by the fast-moving fire as they entered the front door, causing minor injuries that resulted in them being transported to a local hospital, Lambert said. Both the lieutenant and firefighter were released later in the evening after being treated. Under the command of Assistant Chief Camperlengo, firefighters were able to contain the fire to the first floor of the structure, but damaging smoke and heat throughout the home made it uninhabitable. The Bridgeport and Milford fire departments at the scene and provided town coverage for Startford during the fire. The Stratford Fire Marshals Office is investigating the cause of the fire. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT As a nurse, Linda Seaman has come to see pressure ulcers as a horrifying inevitability. The wounds, more commonly called bed sores, are injuries to the skin and underlying tissue, caused by prolonged pressure, usually associated with a long stay in a health care facility. According to the state Department of Public Health, pressure ulcers were the most common cause of unintentional injuries or deaths at hospitals in 2015, making up more than half of these incidents. For Seaman, who works at St. Vincents Medical Center, theyve become a part of life at the hospital. Pressure ulcers are so prevalent, and they are devastating to patients, she said. Thus, she was initially skeptical of a new device that purported to prevent pressure ulcers. Called TurnCare, it was developed by Dr. Rafael Squitieri, the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Vincents Medical Center. He, like Seaman, despaired of the frequency and severity of ulcers in patients he saw. The most common method of trying to prevent bedsores is by moving the patient. But this doesnt eliminate pressure, Squitieri said, it only shifts the pressure. My feeling was that the technology was pretty outdated, Squitieri said. Nothing new had really come along in 20 years. So, after five years and multiple attempts, he came up with TurnCare, a mat thats placed under the patient and basically levitates him or her off the bed at certain pressure points. It was tested on 400 patients at St. Vincents. Seaman was involved in the testing and, though she was leery of TurnCare at first, she was quickly impressed by how patients responded to the device. The patients loved it, she said. They said Well, thats different, which you dont hear too often. Most common injury In its 2016 adverse events report, the state Department of Public Health said there were 230 pressure ulcers at Connecticut health care facilities in 2015. The department also reported a total of 456 adverse events a category that includes falls, surgery on the wrong body part and other problems meaning that pressure ulcers made up more than half of the incidents. The good news is that pressure ulcers are declining. There were 245 in 2014 and 277 in 2013. However, they remain a major problem in Connecticut and nationwide. Each year, more than 2.5 million Americans develop pressure ulcers, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Pressure ulcers can cause serious, and sometimes life-threatening, infections. About 60,000 patients die as a result of pressure ulcers each year. The wounds are also a financial drain on the health care industry. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports said pressure ulcers cost $9.1 to $11.6 billion per year in the United States, and the cost of individual patient care ranges from $20,900 to $151,700 per pressure ulcer. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, Squitieri has seen many patients who need to spend long periods of time in hospital beds in the intensive care unit and are thus vulnerable to pressure sores. He said earlier methods dont work because they just redistribute pressure. TurnCare is different, as it inflates into a three-dimensional surface, lifting the patient up and dropping them down at different points. Instead of creating pressure or alternating pressure, we have created negative pressure, or a void, he said. Nurse tested and approved During the 400-patient trial at St. Vincents, there were five times fewer pressure ulcers on those being treated with TurnCare than with the current standard of care. Squitieri also did a treatment trial that showed using TurnCare reduced the patients length of stay by 61.5 percent, from 26 days to 9.8 days for patients with a Stage 2 pressure injury. The product is still fairly new, and not widely in use, though Squitieri said many hospitals in New England have expressed interest in it. Right now, its mostly being used in intensive care units, but Squitieri is looking to expanding its use. For Seaman, the product is a revelation, and one she hasnt just witnessed as a nurse. Last month, she was in the hospital twice with a serious illness, and specifically requested TurnCare. I was in a lot of pain severe pain in my back and lower extremities, she said. Not only did using TurnCare help prevent pressure ulcers, but it helped alleviate her pain to the point where I didnt need pain medication any more. Though its still early in TurnCares development, Seaman said this could be a much-needed turning point in protecting patients from pressure ulcers. It seems like patients are at risk as soon as they walk through our doors, she said. We need to prevent them. Donald J. Trump on Thursday picked Hope Hicks of Greenwich to be his strategic communications director when he becomes president next month. The 28-year-old was Trumps campaign communications chief for nearly a year and a half before their surprise Election Day victory. Giving her a White House job was much less of a surprise, since she has been on the transition team making big decisions on the personnel who will assist Trump. Hicks and three other veterans of Trumps campaign were named Thursday to West Wing communications jobs. Sean, Hope, Jason and Dan have been key members of my team during the campaign and transition, said Trump in a statement. I am excited they will be leading the team that will communicate my agenda that will Make America Great Again. Hicks will be merging Trumps budding legislative agenda with communications, presumably in coordination with Stephen Bannon, the former media executive who is Trumps chief strategist and senior counselor. Hicks declined to comment Thursday, in typical style for a discrete Trump gatekeeper known both as an enforcer who made campaign employees sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent leaks and a peacemaker who smoothed ruffled feathers within the Trump team to allow exiled reporters back on the campaign trail. She is the daughter of Paul Hicks, the managing director of a public relations firm, who from 2010 to 2015 ran the media and lobbying divisions of the National Football League. During the spring, when Trumps presidential run was starting to stack up failed GOP presidential contenders like cord wood, Hicks made the glaring mistake of sending an email with opposition-research on Hillary Clintons role in an Arkansas real estate venture called Whitewater, to a reporter for Politico, the online news organization, rather than the intended recipient: a Trump campaign worker with a similar name. In April she attended a Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol fundraising event that honored her father. That same day, she joined Trump on a helicopter shuttle from Manhattan to Waterbury and Bridgeport for rallies in advance of his statewide victory three days later in Connecticut's GOP primary. Also Thursday, Trump named Republican National Committee strategist Sean Spicer to become his press secretary. He also named Jason Miller and Dan Scavino to also serve as assistants. Miller will be communications director and Scavino will be social media director. Earlier in the day, Kellyanne Conway, Trumps winning campaign manager who has served as senior adviser during the transition, was given the title of counselor to the president when he takes office January 20. kdixon@ctpost.com; STRATFORD With the best of intentions, the Democratic Town Committee a few months back nearly doubled the number of people required to achieve a quorum. But in this zeal for inclusiveness and better representation, the Democrats soon realized that prying 45 people away from their families and TV sets for its often-tedious night meetings was easier said than done. Not long ago it took only 25 Democratic Town Committee members of meet the definition of a quorum. But in order to comply with the state Democrats rules, the local town committee began requiring that 45 members show up, out of a total membership of 101. We have been getting a quorum lately, said town committee chairwoman Stephanie Philips. But we often have to wait for one more person to walk in the door. So to make life a little easier, she said that a subcommittee is looking to pare the DTC down to about 90 members. This would mean that about 36, or about a two-fifths of the total, would be needed for a quorum, the minimum number required to conduct official business. It would still be one of the largest DTCs in the state, Philips said. This reduction in size would be done mostly through attrition, she said, as well as not allowing any new people to join for the time being. The committee meets once a month, usually in the Baldwin Center. Philips said that there are other changes being sought, too. One would change the regular meeting date from the first Monday to the fourth Thursday of the month. This is so we wont conflict with important meetings at Town Hall, she said, adding that these ideas will have to be discussed and approved by the committee and that most of them wouldnt take effect until early 2018. I have a lot of people who want to join the DTC, and Ive been telling them that we cant take them on as voting members right now, she said. But we can use people to help out with the campaigns and so forth. Another change being sought, she said, will be to drop the rule that automatically made elected Democrats DTC members. I know that there are some Democrats not happy with that change, but its something that the state Democrats now require just like the bigger quorum number, she said. All of the DTCs in the state struggle at times to get enough members to the meetings, Stratford included. You go from 25 to 45 and its a challenge. Although the town ranks 17th in size out of Connecticuts 169 municipalities, the Stratford DTC is one of the largest in the state. Party town committees often seem inaccessible and obtuse to most voters, but thats where decisions are made on who gets party endorsements and who does not. And a major party endorsement is all but required for any hope of winning an election. Were even bigger than Bridgeports DTC, which has about eighty members, Philips said. And having 101 members can get unwieldy and that number was even larger before. Looking ahead, the DTC has a busy agenda in the next few months. It will soon have to decide who it would like to have as a candidate for mayor, the 10 Town Council seats and other underticket slots. These decisions should be made by late spring, those familiar with the political scene say. The prize is the mayors seat, but one big unknown is whether Mayor John Harkins, a Republican, will decide to run again. A number of local politicians both Republicans and Democrats are holding off on deciding whether to run for mayor themselves until Harkins makes a decision. Philips said that shes considering a run for mayor, too. Ive been flattered by all of the support Ive been getting from people who want me to run, she said, adding that shes also curious as to whether Harkins will consider a third term. Harkins, Stratfords second mayor, won his second four-year term in 2013. He was a state representative serving the towns 120th House district prior to December 2009 when he replaced James Miron, a Democrat and Stratfords first-ever mayor. The town had a town manager government before 2005. As of last week there were 11,828 Democrats, 6,616 Republicans, 16,024 unaffiliated and 320 minor party voters in town. The Republican Town Committee has 80 members and 26 have to show up for a quorum, Town Hall officials say. Philips, a former town councilwoman, took the helm of the DTC in March 2016. jburgeson@ctpost.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Trumbulls Republican first selectman is using Connecticuts open-records law to compel four Democratic state senators to release their mileage reimbursement receipts totals he claims are being used to pad their state pensions. Tim Herbst filed a request under the state Freedom of Information Act on Tuesday with the states Office of Legislative Management for mileage reports dating to 2007 for Joseph Crisco Jr., a 24-year incumbent from Woodbridge who lost his re-election bid last month. The request seeks mileage totals for state Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, of Norwalk, longtime state Sen. Joan Hartley, of Waterbury, and retiring state Sen. Andrew Maynard, of Stonington, for comparative purposes. None of the senators named in the request, which was printed on town letterhead and sent from Herbsts town email account, represent Trumbull. Herbst, who narrowly lost his bid for state treasurer in 2014, said Connecticut cannot afford to let lawmakers pad their pensions. He cited a Moodys report that ranked Connecticut with the second-highest unfunded public pension liability in the nation and a projected $1.5 billion budget deficit over the next year. This kind of stuff is the reason why people do not trust politicians and have lost faith in their government, Herbst said. So when people use the term drain the swamp, this is the kind of stuff theyre talking about. Democrats immediately questioned the agenda of Herbst, who has his own political action committee called TIMPAC and is thought to have future ambitions beyond Trumbull. Is he running for governor or something like that? said Crisco, who pledged to comply with the records request. Counting the miles In addition to an annual base salary of $28,000, senators are entitled to $5,500 yearly for expenses and a travel allowance of 57.5 cents per mile. Lawmakers only get reimbursed for travel to the Capitol, a 100-mile round-trip for Crisco. My car has 300,000 miles on it, he said. Crisco said he received $10,977 in mileage reimbursement for 2014. He said he did not have a total for 2015. I dont think thats a very significant increase in your pension, he said. I consider this as my full-time job, and I come up here every day. All I know is Ive given my district 110 percent. Criscos gross pay for 2016 is $51,050, according to the state comptrollers office, which was unable to provide a further breakdown. The veteran lawmaker gets a modest pay pump for being the chief deputy president pro tempore of the Senate, as well as co-chairman of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee. Crisco recently submitted retirement paperwork, the comptrollers office confirmed. His pension payment calculation wont be available until late January. It will be based on Criscos years of service, his three highest earning years and what type of benefit he chooses, including spousal options. Since losing the election hes been going up (to Hartford) every single day, Herbst said of Crisco. I dont see the justification for doing that, other than to increase his pension. Thats just wrong. Duff accused Herbst of trying to score political points and said Trumbull taxpayers should be troubled that their first selectman is using town resources to promote a partisan agenda. Its obviously very interesting that he chose just Democrats, Duff said. We know that he has a thirst to be a political player statewide. So far, only Democrats When asked why he singled-out Democrats, Herbst said he first looked for senators with similar commutes and decided to include those traveling greater distances. Norwalk and Stonington are each about 70 miles from Hartford. Waterbury is about 30 miles from Hartford. Herbst said he could expand the scope of his records request to include Republicans. I dont want to accuse anyone of doing anything before doing my due diligence, Herbst said. Jim Tobin, founder and president of the Chicago-based Taxpayers United of America, said he was not familiar of any other states counting mileage reimbursements toward legislators pensions, but that pension sweeteners in the public sector are commonplace. Its an outrage, Tobin said. These people are lucky to have pensions at all, and their pensions are an outrage. In Trumbull, Herbst said he decided to forgo a pension and join a defined contribution retirement system, along with his appointees. He said if state lawmakers are going to ask state employees for concessions in the gloomy fiscal climate, the practice of padding pensions with mileage reimbursements should end. He said Democrats have blocked GOP efforts to do that in Hartford, where the Senate is now deadlocked 18-18 between the two parties. This underscores the average voters belief that the Hartford elite believe theyre above the rules, Herbst said. Duff said lawmakers have discussed pension reform on a bipartisan basis, including removing mileage from the calculation. Thats certainly his right to ask the question, Duff said. (But) the bottom line for me, it looks political. neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy The holiday season can be expensive, with the average American spending at least $800 in gifts, alone. Thats before youve even bought the turkey, hung your decorations or sent your Christmas cards. If you love this time of year, but want to offset some of the cost and ease the January bill hangover, why not make some extra cash this holiday season? Related: How One Seasonal Company Manages The Full Year Who knows, your effort might even turn into a viable business you can keep open all year. Check out these ideas for embracing the Christmas spirit without absorbing the cost: 1. Freelance Freelancing is one of my favorite ways to make some extra money for Christmas gifts, family vacations or anything you are looking to spend money on this holiday season. There are hundreds of websites you can visit to find freelance gigs, whether you are into writing, web development or more. Some of my favorites are Rat Race Rebellion, Elance, fiverr and even Amazons Mechanical Turk. All you need to do is go onto these sites to have access to the job offerings. The key to getting more ratings is to get more reviews for jobs you have done. 2. Blog When I started blogging, I had no clue what tools I should use to get more traffic to my site, what different on-page SEO tactics were or even what I could consistently write about. All you need to do is create useful information that helps your readers. Over time, your readers will subscribe to your blog and a percentage will convert into customers. Check out this guide to learn more about how to start a winning blog. 3. Sell Christmas trees. Whats it like buying a Christmas tree where you live? Does it take time, hassle and cost a lot of money? Not if youre lucky enough to live in New York. Christmas Tree Brooklyn was launched in 2012 by siblings Morgan and Dan Sevigny. They had a mission to ease the pain of buying a fresh Christmas tree for New Yorkers. The brothers analyzed the market and realized they could deliver a fresh Christmas tree to their customers doorsteps that was cheaper than that of their competition. The business has no high overheads. They operate online, which saves on rent. Those savings are passed on to customers. Related: Entrepreneurs Should Always Be Dabbling in Side Businesses. Here's Why. Think about where you live: Is there a way for you to improve on the traditional model there? 4. Provide decoration services These days, families and businesses alike spend a lot of time decorating for the holidays. You can help by creating a business to decorate for people who do not have the time, energy or experience to do it themselves. If you have a good sense of style, you can make your own decorations, decorate outdoors and indoors with lights, holiday plants, glitter balls and more. The Christmas Decorators began with a small idea to sell decorations for residential customers, but evolved into a thriving full service business. Not only do they sell decorations, but they take the hassle out of putting them up. Start your decorating business by catering to homes; and as you grow, you can expand your services to hotels, businesses and even shopping centers. You can make enough money during the holiday season to last you throughout the year, if you plan things carefully. 5. Get crafty Ever wanted to try your hand at decoupage, making fashion accessories, candles or pottery? Why not turn your hobby into a business before Christmas? With a small investment you can put your products in front of your customers through peer-to-peer platforms like eBay, Etsy and Amazon. You dont even need your own website, although a Facebook page to start with would be good. Check out Pink Rose Accessories for Christmas jewelry or Wood N Stitches for beautiful wooden decorations, to kick-start your creative juices. 6. Help people out The holidays are a busy time of year. One thing a lot of people lack is time. Set up your own service which lends a helping hand. You could try delivering last-minute party supplies on your own or join a site like Task Rabbit. An extra pair of hands will always come in handy; and, if youve got time on yours, you can use it to help people get things done. 7. Rent out a room One of the easiest way to make cash these days is by joining Airbnb or Wimdu and renting out a spare room or apartment. Make sure you clean it out, decorate it nicely and provide all modern comforts possible, such as WI-FI access. Dont have a spare apartment or room? How about renting your home while youre staying with the family over Christmas? That way, you'll be helping another family with their relatives visiting. The great thing about these sites is that you can decide to accept a guest or not, based on their profile. What's more, payment is guaranteed. Related: 25 Part-Time Business Ideas So, there it is: Take some of the pinch out of January by planning an extra source of income now. What starts as a way of covering the cost of the holidays might well be the stepping stone toward something big. Related: 7 Side Hustles to Make Some Extra Cash This Holiday Buying a Gift for Your Boss or Your Staff? Read This First. 10 Ways to Celebrate the Holidays and Minimize Legal Risk Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Connecticut Post readers have demonstrated the spirit of the Giving Fund with $18,890 in donations so far, helping to make this holiday season brighter for neighbors in need. The donations have gone to help all 40 people whose stories were presented on these pages, according to David Kennedy, chief executive officer of the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County. The Giving fund is a collaboration between the United Way, the Connecticut Post and LifeBridge Community Services, which each week during the holidays presents the stories of 10 more people or families who could use your help. All of the donations go directly to those in need. Overhead costs, including credit card fees, are covered by existing programs. The names below are changed, but the cases are real. Print readers can use the newspaper coupon or go to www.ctpost.com/givingfund and click on Donate to The Giving Fund. 140. Mallory has survived a horrific history of domestic violence, multiple miscarriages, and cancer. She and her bright, pre-teen daughter are trying to move to a safe neighborhood, but need help paying for the security deposit. Being able to live in peace would mean the world to them. A gift of $500 toward the deposit would tremendously alleviate their stress this holiday season. 141. Brianna, of Bridgeport, is a single mother of six boys, ages 1 to 13. Brianna spends much of her time taking care of the needs of her children while keeping up with daily household chores. She is actively looking for employment. She plans to postpone celebrating the holiday until after she has found a job. A gift of $400 would assist Brianna with providing each of her children a gift and a holiday meal for the family. 142. Kristin, of Bridgeport, is a single mother of two children. She was laid off, and remains unemployed despite an active and ongoing job search. In July, she and her children moved into public housing, and neighbors managed to find her some used household items. But shes still lacking basic household and hygiene products that would maker house feel like home for the family. With your contribution of $350.00, Kristin would be able to obtain basic need items to sustain the family until she becomes employed and is able to support her family. 143. Rena, of Bridgeport, is a single mother who lives with her 3 children and 2 grandchildren. Rena receives services from LifeBridge Community Services, including the Community Closet. She is unemployed and because of an administrative mix up, is having difficulty accessing her benefit income. A gift of $300 would help Rena provide a nice Christmas meal, a tree and some gifts for her family. 144. Martin and his Labradoodle dog face a critical housing crisis in Bridgeport. When he recently lost his job, his former employer withheld some pay, and Martin has filed a complaint with the Department of Labor. He has started a new job and is determined to bounce back, but the loss of income hurt, and he is facing eviction. Martin loves his dog but cant find a homeless shelter that will accept them both. A gift of $500 would help Martin get the shelter and stability necessary for him to succeed in his new job. 145. Beverly is a mother of four sons and a trauma survivor residing in a shelter in Bridgeport. She cares for everyone else and now needs some help caring for herself. She has found work and is trying to secure an apartment. As there is no longer a security deposit assistance program, she is struggling to come up with the deposit and first and last months rent to get started. A gift of $400 will help her to establish herself and provide for her sons this holiday season. 146. Sally, of Bridgeport, is a single mother of one kindergarten-aged daughter. She has been through many financial difficulties, is unemployed, and has been homeless since her child was born. She has applied to programs that would assist her and her daughter and is trying to get certified as a phlebotomist, which would help her gain an entry level job in a clinic. What she wants more than anything is to enroll her daughter in after-school activities. A gift of $350 would allow Sallys daughter to participate in taekwondo self-defense classes for the next three months. 147. Dean is a 21-year-old college student, born and raised in Bridgeport. He currently works two jobs. He uses some of his earning to help support his mother and younger brother; as well as to pay for potions of his semesters when he can. Dean is an A student, but struggles at times to get his work done at the school lab due to his work hours. He currently has a laptop that is broken, old and outdated; getting it fixed costs as much as a new one. A gift of $300 would assist Dean in purchasing a new laptop, so he can continue working toward his degree. 148. Amelia is a single mother of two young children. With LifeBridge's help, she made the brave decision to leave her abusive partner. But separating from her abuser has taken a toll on her and her children financially. She is behind on her utility bills and feeling overwhelmed with the upcoming holidays. A gift of $275 to pay her past-due electric bill would go a long way to giving this young family a warm and Happy New Year. 149. Scott, of Bridgeport, is a married father of one young child. A survivor of childhood of physical and sexual abuse, he struggled with depression and substance abuse. Scott is now two years sober with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, and is determined to succeed. Scott and his wife each currently have only part-time work. They really want to get a bicycle for their daughter this Christmas, but are barely making rent and have a number of bills looming. Scotts wife and daughter are recent immigrants, and this will be his daughters first Christmas in this country. A gift of $250 would help Mike and his wife pay some bills, and make this first Christmas a memorable one for their daughter. Personal branding can open up new doors and help you fulfill your dreams. By focusing on branding yourself properly, youll ensure that your reputation precedes you -- and youll be one step closer to the proverbial advice, Work until you no longer need to introduce yourself. But, what can you do if youre trying to promote your companys brand at the same time? Related: 22 Statistics That Prove the Value of Personal Branding Focusing on yourself can be a real challenge as an entrepreneur -- especially when your company is still young. The metaphorical blood, sweat and tears required to accomplish your goals may have resulted in your companys success, and you couldnt be more proud: The brand is your baby, and youre seeing it grow up. However, in much the same way as happens with child-rearing, you may lose yourself as you focus on the betterment of that which you care for. When youre a parent, this means leaving aside hobbies and personal time; when youre an entrepreneur, you'll likely lose track of your personal brand. But what you may not realize is that by developing your personal brand, youll open doors for your company as well. After all, what is a company but a group of people? And who wouldnt want to meet a famous CEO? Building a personal brand, just like a company brand, is not something you can do overnight, or over a weekend (unless youre very, very lucky and make news). However, with dedication and consistency, you too will be on your way to having the cachet of a Steve Jobs, Sheryl Sandberg or Tony Robbins. Heres how you start: Related: 5 Steps to Build Your Personal Brand Understand your current digital presence. If you havent recently, Google your name. This is most effectively done in an Incognito tab or equivalent (every browser has an option to search without cookies), so you can see what the true results are. Take note of what pops up. If you havent invested in much or any personal branding, its likely that youre going to get a mixed bag of people who have the same name as you, and your social media accounts. Depending on how your company page is structured, that should be near the top as well. I cannot emphasize this enough: Check all of the links on the front page. Make sure theres nothing embarrassing or questionable: embarrassing images, angry social updates and the like can be a deciding factor for investor interest. Enhance your personal and company sites. An easy step to take that has a big impact is to enhance the About page on your company. Make sure that the description of your site is clear, easy to read and engaging. Put into a prominent position on the page your headshot (which will show in image searches), including an appropriate alt-tag, along with your name, title and social media links. If you have a personal website -- which I suggest you create, if you haven't already -- ensure its simple and easy to read and includes your headshot, title, a link to your company and your social links, as well. This is a great place to host a personal blog, which will do wonders for your personal branding, and which well talk about more in a minute. Engage on social media. Make sure you talk frequently to others in your industry, your potential customers and the communities youre a part of. Posting to social media accounts often and thoughtfully is one of the best ways to get noticed quickly by thousands of people. Social media is the best place to show your personality, in a way that also advocates for your brand and mission, says Vick Tipnes, CEO of Blackstone Medical Services and, arguably, a master of Facebook personal branding. The persona that you put out on to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms will be easily viewed by thousands of people, but in a casual way," Tipnes has written. "You can -- and should -- be funny, but you can also speak more genuinely from the heart than you could in a professional setting. "Social media," Tipnes continues, "is essentially where your audience will come to get to know the real you; and by being entertaining, thoughtful and, at times, provocative, youll be able to gain attention organically. Get involved. Participating in the community means more than just engaging others in conversation. Its also important that you put yourself into the center of events. Start by physically going to networking events and summits for your industry. Once youre comfortable, volunteer to help out with a few. Then its time to start your own! Im not advising that you rent out a space and host a conference -- if you have the bandwidth and funds for that, more power to you. But do make a point of organizing excuses for those in your industry to get to know one other. For most, this means webinars, TweetChats and networking events (both on and offline), which can all be incredible ways to get to know new people, and even get you mentioned in publications. If youd like to up the ante further, consider hosting a virtual summit, something that an increasing number of entrepreneurs are doing, to great success. Become a thought leader. Another incredibly effective step you can take toward great personal branding is to become a thought leader. This means writing articles, developing content of all kinds and eventually booking speaking engagements to discuss happenings in your industry. By putting out high-quality, thought-provoking content that relates to your industry, youll develop your personal brand into a trusted source. If this is done correctly, youll eventually be asked your opinion by journalists and other entrepreneurs, and be sourced in articles as an expert. At that point, youll look back and be amazed that it all started with writing an effective blog. Personal branding can be difficult, but know that its an important step not only in your own success, but the success of your company. The way its done really does come down to participating -- in person and on social media, and by adding to conversations. Related: 10 Unconventional Ways to Build Your Personal Brand Become an expert in your field, care about your industrys success as a whole (not just your own and your brands), and help lift up those around you. Provide real value to your community, and youll have them clamoring to you for more every day. Related: Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved 11/3/2022 Flat Top Freddies Picks Kansas State +3 Home team, winning record, getting points, yes please. Kansas +4 Same story on the home dog. Kansas has a good coach and is due a win. ... more This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Donald Trump has had his share of troubles with charitable foundations, but now it appears his sons are getting in on the act, too. Trump's adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, are listed as directors of a Texas-based charity selling access to the president-elect in exchange for million-dollar donations to unnamed "conservation" charities, according to a report by the Center for Public Integrity. The charity, dubbed "Opening Day 2017," pitches an event set for Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration, and offers a private reception and photo for 16 guests with Donald Trump Sr. It also offers a multiple day hunting and fishing trip with the sons as well as tickets to events and other items. HIGH BIDS: Trump family sought to auction off coffee with Ivanka Trump A brochure first published by TMZ.com doesn't list the charities involved. The Center for Public Integrity lists the Trump sons, along with Dallas investor Gentry Beach and Tom Hicks Jr., the son of a Dallas billionaire, as the foundation's four directors. The event is being put on by the Opening Day Foundation, Walter Kinzie, chief executive officer of Encore Live, a Texas event management company hired to put on the event, told the Center for Public Integrity. There are a number of different individuals who are part of the foundation. Larry Noble, the general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan campaign reform organization, told the Center for Public Integrity that the charity is unsettling for multiple reasons, not the least of which is there's no disclosure as to where the money would go. TRUMP'S KIDS: Things to know about the president-elect's family Its really hard to identify all the problems when theyre so vague, he said. The report about the charity comes at a time when concern over Trump's potential conflicts of interest between his role as president, his business dealings and his family have been in the headlines. The family recently called off an effort to auction off coffee with Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump. It also comes on the heels of multiple reports about Trump's charity, The Donald J. Trump Foundation, which acknowledged to the IRS that it violated laws against "self dealing." Ask the people of Chad One of the most important cabinet posts is Secretary of State. Trumps choice for State is Exxons CEO Rex Tillerson. His deals in Chad, one of the poorest countries in the world, have made what might have improved the lives of Chads people, a sorry mess. In the 2000s, oil was discovered in Chad. The U.S. and the World Bank, hoping to stabilize Chad, brokered a deal that would use Chads new oil revenues for education, hospitals and infrastructure. A pipeline would be built from landlocked Chad to the ocean. The deal stipulated that none of this revenue could be used for weapons. Chads dictator threw out two of the three oil companies now in Chad. The one remaining was Exxon. Tillerson allowed Chad to forget the deal the U.S. and World Bank had fostered. Exxons revenues are streaming in. Instead of education for its people, Chads corrupt dictator has purchased a superabundance of weapons. Chads people are as poor as ever. Dorothy Blaustein Bridgeport French airline Air Caraibes starts flying to Santiago de Cuba French airline Air Caraibes started operating yesterday in this Cuban eastern city as part of the route Paris-Santiago de Cuba-Havana, with a weekly frequency. The passengers who opted for this destination will stay at Melia Santiago Hotel and Grand Hotel, in addition to private houses. Paula Vazquez, commercial specialist of the Tourism Ministry in this province, told ACN that France is among the three leading tourist sources of Cuba in recent years, showing a sustainable growth. So far this year, more than 13 400 vacationers have come from that European nation, which means an increase of over seven per cent with respect to the same period of 2015. This new opportunity is a positive contribution to the development of this Caribbean destination, with has historical, cultural, patrimonial and natural attractions, along with its beaches with have warm temperatures as if it were summer, Vazquez said. Last December 9th this French airline began its flights to Cuba, with the arrival in Havana. From now on the Paris-Havana connections will be made on Fridays while the one with a stopover in Santiago de Cuba will be on Tuesdays. The main French tour operators operating in Cuba and in particular in this eastern city are Sol Latino, Havanatour Paris, Vacances Air Transat (VAT), Thomas Cook France, Tui France and Cuba Passion. (acn) Turkish Airlines inaugural flight to Cuba arrives in Havana Turkish Airlines, the airline with more destinations in the world, opened its flights to Havana, where it will travel from Istanbul three times a week, operations it plans to perform on a daily basis in short term. At a press conference at the Melia Cohiba Hotel, Mehmet Buyukeksi, member of the company's board, explained that the purpose of increasing the frequency of travels responds to Cuba's geopolitical position and its growing business possibilities. We consider Havana very important within the destination network where we fly, said the representative of Turkish Airlines, which through this operation and the one carried out also on Tuesday to Caracas, Venezuela, amounts to 17 routes in the Americas. He emphasized that the new air connection will allow to increase the cultural, economic and collaboration relations between Turkey and Cuba. Buyukeksi said that in order to strengthen bilateral trade links in the coming months, a business trip will be organized to Cuba, old tradition of this airline when inaugurating a destination. Sonia Beltran, delegate of the Ministry of Tourism in Havana, noted that the start of flights from Istanbul will strengthen the bonds between both nations and will increase the arrival of visitors from other cities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She highlighted the preference of the Turkish vacationers towards Cuba, mainly for the combined products, cultural circuits and the enjoyment of the sun and the beach. The Turkish market, with great potential for the businessmen segment, has been gradually increasing its figures of visitors to Cuba, with 8.5 percent growth at the end of October, said Beltran. Created in 1993 with a fleet of five aircrafts, Turkish Airlines currently owns 334 planes flying to 295 points in the world and moving 60 million people. According to international polling firm Skytrax, in 2016 that Turkish company was chosen as the best airline in Europe for the sixth consecutive time. (acn) Jason Clayworth | jclayworth@dmreg.com Des Moines Register December 21, 2016 Calls to psychic hotlines, dozens of purchases for weight-loss supplements and hundreds of charges at convenience stores contributed to what a state investigative audit shows are more than $500,000 in either improper purchases, possible embezzlement and utility customer overbillings in the town of Delhi. That amount is equal to more than $1,000 for each of the 460 residents of the eastern Iowa town in Delaware County. Angela Josephine Billings, 42, the former Delhi City Clerk, was arrested by the Delaware County Sheriff's office on three felony theft charges about five hours after Tuesday's audit was publicly released. The charges cite the audit's findings. The audit was launched last year after Billings resigned to take another job. The new city clerk alerted other city officials of possible financial improprieties after discovering a city credit card that had previously been heavily used that the city council was unaware had existed. The audit identified $246,653 of improper payments that include nearly $90,000 on the city credit card and more than $60,000 in payroll to Billings. It also identified $6,700 of unbilled personal utilities to Billings residence and her ex-husbands business utility accounts that resulted after the meters had been turned off in 2007. The audit examined the citys financials during Billings employment with the city from March 2007 until January 2015. It additionally identified almost $257,000 in customer sewer utility overbillings due to a 160 percent monthly rate increase from $10 to $26 a month that began in 2010 and was not approved by the city council. American Bird Conservancy has petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to list the Oregon Vesper Sparrow as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In a letter sent to Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, ABC describes this subspecies of the Vesper Sparrow as highly imperiled and threatened with extinction throughout its range. The petition makes the case that the species warrants listing because of significant population declines and ongoing habitat loss and degradation, among other threats, and because it lacks adequate protection under existing regulatory mechanisms. Without ESA listing, the sparrows future looks grim. The current estimated population of the Oregon Vesper Sparrow is fewer than 3,000 birds, and Breeding Bird Survey data indicates a statistically significant population decline of more than five percent every year over the last 45 years. This migratory species has a restricted breeding range that historically included southwestern British Columbia, western Washington and Oregon, and northwestern California. Now, breeding populations have disappeared from British Columbia and California, along with numerous local breeding populations throughout the range. The species overwinters in California west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and south of San Francisco Bay, and historically it ranged into northwestern Baja California, Mexico. But wintering populations in Baja and southern parts of California have now disappeared. We are deeply concerned about the future of this bird, said Bob Altman, ABCs Pacific Northwest Conservation Officer. With so few birds remaining, many in small and isolated populations, the Oregon Vesper Sparrow needs the immediate protection and conservation focus made possible through ESA listing. Several primary threats are driving the sparrows decline: The continuing loss and degradation of its grassland and savannah habitats because of development, conversion of those habitats to intensive agriculture, and the encroachment of invasive shrubs, trees, and exotic grasses; Harmful or poorly timed land-use activities such as mowing, overgrazing, military training, and recreational use; and The vulnerability of small, isolated breeding groups of birds. Every year, more populations are being lost, and we are not seeing the establishment of new populations where habitat restoration has occurred, Mr. Altman said. Existing regulatory mechanisms do not provide the protection needed to prevent the Oregon Vesper Sparrow from continuing on its trajectory toward extinction. There are no Federal or State programs dedicated to its conservation, and only about 20 percent of the birds range-wide population occurs on public lands. Without ESA listing, this vulnerable species will continue to decline and is likely to disappear forever. NOTICE: The Hamilton County Registers Office did not publish this data. All information in the Registers Office is public information as set out in T.C.A. 10-7-503. For questions regarding this report, please call Chattanoogan.com at 423 266-2325. GI numbers, listed when street addresses are not available, refer to the location of transactions (book number and page number) in Hamilton County Register Office records. Civil War Gala to be held Saturday in Somerset The 14th annual Col. Robert Cummins Civil War Gala will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Somerset Church of the Brethren, 606 Berlin Plank Road in Somerset. Previous Next The Erlanger Health System Foundations will honor Drs. Manoo Bhakta and Nita Shumaker, and Olan and Norma Mills at the 14th annual Dinner of Distinction on Friday, Jan. 20, at The Chattanoogan.Officials said, "The 2017 honorees are being recognized for their enduring commitment to foster quality medical services to this community, as well as demonstrating unquestionable character and human compassion."Manoo Bhakta, MD, is board certified in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and has served as instructor and associate professor of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology for the University of Tennessee College of Medicine-Chattanooga for the past 30 years.He also served as chief of Pediatrics, medical director and is currently the director of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Childrens Hospital at Erlanger. Dr. Bhakta is the founder of the Erlangers Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, a clinic that provides comprehensive total care in pediatric hematology and oncology services with four pediatric oncologists and a wide range of support staff. As a principle investigator for the Childrens Oncology Group, a consortium of over 200 childrens hospitals actively participating in therapeutic and biologic research to advance cure and reduce late effects of cancer, Dr. Bhakta has been able to witness and participate in a medical progress with currently 85% of children once diagnosed with what was a catastrophic disease are now cured.Nita Shumaker, MD, is board certified in pediatrics and has served as clinical faculty for University of Tennessee College of Medicine-Chattanooga for the past 22 years. She also served in the United States Air Force for four years as captain/pediatrician. Dr. Shumaker has been named medical staff secretary, vice chief of staff, chief of staff, past chief of staff and board member for Erlanger Health System; secretary, chief of pediatrics and a member on the Quality Assurance Committee at Childrens Hospital; and a board member of Southside and Dodson Avenue Community Health Centers. She is currently a pediatrician for the Galen Medical Group, volunteers with Project Access and is president-elect for the Tennessee Medical Association."Norma and Olan Mills are both honorary chairs of the Childrens Hospital Believe Campaign and are being recognized with the third annual Gordon Street Distinguished Leadership Award for their extraordinary leadership and support to build a new childrens hospital," officials said.Olan Mills II served in the United States Army which included one year of duty in Korea as a helicopter pilot. Upon completion of his military service, he returned to Chattanooga to work at and later assume management of Olan Mills Studios. Mr. Mills served as chairman of the board of trustees of The McCallie School and a regent at the University of The South, chairman of The River City Company and The United Way as well as president of the Adult Education Council and the Boys Club of Chattanooga. He raised funds for the Tennessee Aquarium and was one of the Aquariums first board members. He also served on First Tennessee Bank and the Public Education Foundation boards.Norma Patteson Mills has been a long time supporter of Childrens Hospital since working at the first Childrens Hospital on Glenwood in the late 60s and early 70s. She was also on the Childrens Hospital Foundation when it began in 1986 until 2002. Mrs. Mills has served on other boards that include University of the South, Sweet Briar College, Grace Point Episcopal Camp and Retreat Center, Bright School, University to Tennessee Chattanooga Foundation, Hunter Museum, AIM Center, Tennessee River Gorge Trust and Young Womens Leadership Academy Foundation.The Jan. 20 event begins with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and program at 7 p.m. Table sponsorships are currently available at $1,500 per table. Individual tickets are now on sale for $100 per person.For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Jan Cooper at the Erlanger Health System Foundations at 423-778-3989 or Jan.Cooper@erlanger.org. The Prince of Wales will not be able to listen to the recording he made for the 50th anniversary of Radio 4s Just A Minute, which goes out on Sunday. HM insists that her Christmas luncheon is finished by 3pm so the family can watch her Christmas Day message. This means they sit down promptly at 1.15pm just when Prince Charless no-doubt-witty Radio 4 contribution is aired. Consideration was given to inviting Charles to take part in the show physically but my source explains: Whilst Gyles Brandreth might have played the preux chevalier (proud nobleman of low rank) and not challenged the heir to the throne on his repetitions, deviations and hesitations (a chief feature of the show) it was thought Paul Merton and other panellists may not have been so accommodating. The Prince of Wales will not be able to listen to the recording he made for the 50th anniversary of Radio 4s Just A Minute, which goes out on Sunday because the Queen insists they sit down for lunch at 1.15pm Dame Helen Mirren, 71, says it would be wonderful if women werent expected to wear make-up. Yet shes an ambassador (ie paid publicist) for the cosmetics giant LOreal, of which she has declared: I hope I can inspire other women towards greater confidence by making the most of their natural good looks. Clever dame, having it both ways. The royal corgis wont regret HMs postponement of her Sandringham visit. Theyre eclipsed there by the Queens much-loved black labradors, bred at the estate since Queen Alexandra established the kennels. The monarch can control them from a distance of up to 80 yards simply by hand signals, I am told. The corgis watch from the windows and have been known to take revenge by relieving themselves against the Christmas tree, says my source. Nairn-based actress Tilda Swinton The Nairn-based actress Tilda Swinton, pictured, emails her support to Asian-American comic and LGBT activist Margaret Cho over cinemas lack of diversity, writing: Im a Scottish woman of 55 who lives in the Highlands. Theres precious little projected on contemporary cinema screens that means a great deal to my life, if truth be told. And theres precious little about exotic Tildas cinematic life that means a great deal to the good folk of Nairn, either. My picture shows Tilda as an out-of-control alcoholic in the 2008 film Julia. The actress-turned-psychologist Pamela Stephenson, 67, who is to appear in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special this year, achieved third place on the show six years ago and says that it changed her life: Once initiated into the culture of Strictly, its very hard to get out. A rhinestone-covered mini-dress is normal daywear. Waist- plunging neckline? Near-bare a**e? No problem. Look out! actress-turned-psychologist Pamela Stephenson, 67, Is to appear in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special this year For parents Richard and Sarah Kent, their festive TV viewing has not been dominated by repeats - but by their three children. The trio who have all been bitten by the acting bug and have taken over television and stage at the same time. It's a busy household in Ilkley for George, 13, Henry, 11, and Matilda Kent, 4, who are emerging as a dynasty to watch out for and have surprised their parents with their shared passion for acting. 'There has been nothing in acting so it is a surprise as to where it has come from, but they have a knack for it and enjoy it,' their parents Richard and Sarah said. During the festive period George has appeared in ITV's Dark Angel; Matilda starred in the BBC's Christmas special of Last Tango in Halifax; and Henry is currently touring with the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Scroll down for video (L-R) Henry, 11, Matilda, 4, and George Kent, 13, have all been bitten by the acting bug and are emerging as a new dynasty George (right) appeared as William Robinson, the stepson of Mary Ann Cotton, played by Joanne Froggatt (left) in the ITV thriller Dark Angel Golden Globe winner Joanne Froggatt, comedian Jason Manford, Sir Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid and BAFTA winner Sarah Lancashire are just some of the names the children have already been lucky to work with. Their father Richard, who is an account director for a Californian software company and mother Sarah, a former gymnast are only too happy to support their children. They told the Yorkshire Evening Post about their delicate balancing act: 'It is hard work keeping up. 'George might be in London, Henry somewhere else and Matilda, but we really enjoy it and willing to help them in any way that we can.' The siblings are all members of the Scala School of Performing Arts in Horsforth, Leeds. Starring alongside Joanne Froggatt, who played Mary Ann Cotton in the thriller Dark Angel, George played her stepson William Robinson. The teen could also be set for stateside success in 2017, as the programme is set to air in America in May. Matilda (right next to Anne Reid) starred as Calamity in BBC programme Last Tango in Halifiax which aired its Christmas special earlier this week The youngster donned a fancy Santa hat in one scene where she spoke about her imaginary friend The teen already has an agent based in London and attends the Scala School of Performing Arts in Horsforth, Leeds The stage beckoned for 11-year-old Henry, who bagged himself a role in the touring musical production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Up until January 2017, he is starring as Jeremy Potts, the son of Caractus Potts who is played by comedian Jason Manford. The cast is full of familiar names including former EastEnders' actors Michelle Collins and Martin Kemp. Their youngest sister Matilda, who is just four, is not to be outdone by her older brothers. The siblings' parents have no idea where their love for acting has come from but are happy to support them in any way they can She wrapped up filming a role in BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax this year starring alongside Sarah Lancashire. The youngster appeared on screen in the Christmas special as Calamity, which also starred Sir Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid, and is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer. Advertisement From the steps of Christiansborg Palace to track-side at the 2016 Rio Olympics, 2016 has been a whirlwind of social engagements and royal duties for Princess Mary. The Australian-born royal, who is married to Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, kicked off 2016 with not one, but three New Year's receptions. On the arm of her husband sthe mother-of-four rang in 2016 in a floor-length navy sequinned gown, the Ruby Parure tiara, once owned by Frederik's grandmother Queen Ingrid, placed elegantly on her head. Here FEMAIL takes a look back at the mother-of-four's year in photos, from the red carpet to the Rio Olympics. Scroll down for video Year in review: Crown Princess Mary and Prince Frederik started the year at a New Year's reception at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Mary wearing a floor-length sequinned gown and Ruby Parure tiara Bold and bright: Mary's year in style has seen her embrace colour and prints, with a water-colour skirt in March (left), a yellow floral gown at a 70th birthday banquet in Stockholm, Sweden (centre) in April, and a plum gown in October (right) Fabulous in fascinators: Mary was a vision in red when photographed trackside at Royal Ascot in June (left), before donning an navy blue hat to attend the opening of Parliament at Christiansborg Palace in October (right) Greeting fans: Crown Princess Mary was welcomed by young fans at the opening of the new emergency hospital in Randers, Denmark in October. She wore a tweed trench coat and plum pumps for the occasion In May, the princess travelled to West Africa for a tour of country to raise awareness of sexual and reproductive health. And upon her return to Denmark, she sat front row at Copenhagen Fashion Week. Then in August, Mary and Frederik travelled to South America, where they cheered on the Danish Olympic team at the 2016 Rio Olympics. There Mary made headlines after declaring she would support the Australian Olympic team, but only if they were not competing against a Dane. Olympic fever: In August Mary travelled to Rio for the 2016 Olympics. She is pictured at the opening ceremony at Maracana Stadium Aussie Aussie Aussie: Mary and Frederik paid a visit to Australian athletes, with Mary saying she would support the Australian team as long as they were not competing against a Dane Street style: Mary wore a stunning printed skirt to attend a return dinner at The Hotel D'Angleterre in April (left), and a mustard trench coat to sit front row at Copenhagen Fashion Week in August (right) Raising awareness: In April this year Princess Mary travelled to West Africa where she raised awareness about the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls Tender moment: Mary and Frederik swept across the dance floor at a ball held at the Smithsonian Arts and Industry building in Washington, D.C, which they attended as part of their U.S business tour In September Mary again travelled abroad, visiting the U.S with Frederik as part of a business promotions campaign. There the royals shared a tender moment on the dance floor at a ball held at the Smithsonian Arts and Industry building in Washington, D.C. Mary, dressed in a strapless gown by Danish designer Julie Fagerholt Heartmade, swept across the dance floor in the arms of her husband, attracting the gaze of happy onlookers. When Mary met Nelly: The mother-of-four was photographed patting an elephant at a circus in September Grey hues: The Princess showed her elegant style in a series of soft grey dresses. From left to right she is pictured at Copenhagen Airport, Christiansborg Castle and an emergency hospital in Randers, Denmark Not without controversy: Crown Princess Mary wore a seal skin coat (centre) by the label Great Greenland while touring the country in August, prompting the animal activists group PETA to slam the royal for wearing fur Riding around: Princess Mary and her youngest daughter, Princess Josephine, rode their bikes in Graasten, Denmark, in July Red carpet glamour: Mary wore a cream trench coat dress to attend a lunch in Stockholm with Frederik in April (left), and a printed blue skirt on the red carpet at the Music Theatre in Holstebro, Denmark (right) Family affair: The Danish royal family - Mary, Frederik and their children Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine - attended a Christmas concert in December But the year has not been without controversy. In August Mary attracted the ire of Australian animal rights group PETA after wearing a seal-fur coat on a trip to Greenland. Wed all prefer to produce a groaning table of lovingly prepared, home-cooked delights over the festive season but the reality is that most of us simply dont have the time to slave over a hot stove for days on end. Unfortunately, the alternative using nothing but shop-bought, ready-made foods can feel a bit like a bit of a cop-out at such a special time of year. The answer? Simply fake it, say the experts, by giving ready-made food ingenious additions that make them seem home-made... Simply fake it, say the experts, by giving ready-made food ingenious additions that make them seem home-made... Cheats roast potatoes Frozen roast potatoes are the quick and easy option, but they do tend to look and taste shop bought. You can give your ready-made spuds a gourmet flourish however, by cooking them in Marmite, say the experts at Good Housekeeping. Just mix a teaspoon of the yeast extract into six tablespoons of oil heat the mixture up in a roasting tin until sizzling, then drop your frozen potatoes in. Coat the potatoes in the flavoured oil, turning and basting occasionally, then roast according to the instructions until golden brown and crispy. The saltiness and caramel colour of the yeast extract will give your roasties a delicious home-made look and flavour. The saltiness and caramel colour of the yeast extract will give your roasties a delicious home-made look and flavour Modify your mince pies Theres nothing nicer than a home-made mince pie, but they really are such a faff to make. You can give shop-bought pies a handmade feel, however, by gently prising off the lids with a vegetable knife, and popping in a small sliver of marzipan, according to Lucy Cufflin, cookbook author and founder of the Ginger Whisk cookery school in West London. Just before serving, warm the pies in the oven until the marzipan starts to melt, dust with icing sugar and impress your guests! This will also help to fill the tell-tale air gap many manufacturers leave between the lid and the filling to save on costs. For the adventurous, Lucy says a small piece of Stilton will work well here, too. Just before serving, warm the pies in the oven until the marzipan starts to melt, dust with icing sugar and impress your guests! Terrific turkey with a twist If you want to present a whole bird on your dining table this Christmas but you dont want any of the worries about basting the meat dont fill your turkey with stuffing, says food writer and broadcaster Stephanie Brookes. Stuffing a turkey will stop the heat of the oven penetrating the meat effectively and could stop it cooking evenly and safely. Her advice? Pop an unpeeled clementine or two in the cavity instead. The fruit will steam away happily, adding moisture and delicious citrussy flavour to the meat and helping it to cook through efficiently. DINE OUT Last year, Brits made 45pc more restaurant reservations for Christmas Day than in 2014 Advertisement Alternatively, you will ensure a juicy roast and an impressive home-made finish by placing your stuffing between the breast meat and the turkey skin instead, says Lucy Cufflin. Add 100g each of crushed walnuts and finely chopped dried apricots to a packet of ready-made stuffing mix. Make it up according to the instructions on the packet, then ease the stuffing under the skin starting at the wing end of the bird. Use latex gloves if youre squeamish, she advises. Or you could soak a piece of muslin (try Kilner jam-making muslin, 1.50, from johnlewis.com or butter muslin, 4, from hobbycraft.co.uk) in melted butter and lay it over the breast and legs of the bird. Cook as recommended, basting occasionally, and remove the muslin before serving. The meat will have a professional-looking crispy skin and taste amazing when its cut. Cook as recommended, basting occasionally, and remove the muslin before serving. The meat will have a professional-looking crispy skin and taste amazing when its cut Bready made Use a packet bread sauce mix but swap a third of the recommended amount of milk for single cream, says Lucy Cufflin. As it cooks, add a little grated of nutmeg and a knob of butter. Your guests will swear that you made it yourself from scratch. Fuss-free cabbage Do you love red cabbage, but dont have the time or patience to prepare it? While your turkey is cooking, simply pop some pre-cut wedges of red cabbage in a double layer of foil with a tablespoon of turkey juices and a teaspoon of cranberry jelly instead. Season well, then seal the foil packet and cook in the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes to an hour. Do you love red cabbage, but dont have the time or patience to prepare it? Dodges with Desserts No time to make custard? Take a tip from MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace and pour vanilla ice cream, loosened with a little hot milk, over your Christmas pudding. For those who arent keen on a traditional pud but still want a festive dessert, Lucy Cufflin recommends making up a shop- bought chocolate brownie mix and stirring in a couple of tablespoons of mincemeat. Cook for five minutes longer than recommended and serve with brandy butter. Counterfeit Canapes Its easy to elevate an ordinary pot of supermarket hummus into a festive-flavoured dip by stirring in a handful of crushed of walnuts, a few fresh thyme leaves and a dash of olive oil, says Cufflin. For delicious sticky sausages, she recommends covering a large pack of pre-cooked chipolatas with three dessertspoons of honey and a teaspoonful of English mustard. Mix well and leave to sit for a minimum of 10-15 minutes in your fridge. Cook them just before you need them at 180c until they look plump and sticky. Serve warm. For impressive roast beef treats, buy a bag of frozen, ready-made Yorkshire puddings. Cook them, then drop a slice of pastrami (salt beef) and a blob of horseradish sauce into the centre of each of the still-warm puddings. Delicious! Forget complicated cocktails with lots of different ingredients sparkling white wines such as prosecco and champagne can be dressed up quickly and easily to create bespoke party drinks Dress up those Drinks Forget complicated cocktails with lots of different ingredients sparkling white wines such as prosecco and champagne can be dressed up quickly and easily to create bespoke party drinks. Stephanie Brookes likes to keep a selection of fruit purees in the fridge (you can make your own by blending and sieving a tin of peaches or strawberries, or buy Funkin ready-made Cocktail purees from Waitrose, 7.99/1kg) so she can offer her guests a choice with their fizz. You could also try putting a sugar cube soaked in the liqueur of your choice in the bottom of the glass before you pour in the sparkling wine. Tiny stars cut from citrus peel with a cookie cutter and dropped into drinks will also give an instant, festive feel. Finishing touch ... A great garnish And if you cant resist the ready-mades? Anything that has come straight out of a packet can be given an instant, home-cooked feel with the right presentation, says Stephanie Brookes. And if you cant resist the ready-mades? Anything that has come straight out of a packet can be given an instant, home-cooked feel with the right presentation, says Stephanie Brookes Stalks of rosemary look like pine branches and, of course, are safe to eat. Use them with a scattering of bright red cranberries to give savoury dishes an instant Christmassy feel. Sprigs of holly pushed into, or on the side of dishes make everything look festive (cover the stalks with clingfilm if youre going to push the holly into food). To add Christmas magic to ready-made desserts and sweet treats, edible glitter, metallic food spray and icing sugar can all be found in the baking section of large supermarkets and are perfect for adding some instant glamour to simple and store-bought dishes, says Lucy Cufflin. Cut out a simple stencil a star or snowflake pattern is perfect for this time of year in a piece of paper, or use a doiley to spray or dust an attractive pattern on desserts and cakes. by Tami Bears of Artistic Photography by Tami for calendars benefiting good causes The bail bondsman from El Dorado Hills, California, is shot The bearded and burly California man who famously mastered the art of the 'dudeoir' shoot is back in time for the holidays. Joshua Varozza has become an online star for his periodic photo series that see him stripping down and striking sultry poses in themed shoots. So, when it came to the holiday season, he made sure his fans wouldn't be disappointed. This time, the bail bondsman from El Dorado Hills teamed up with MeUndies for a Christmas-themed shoot sure to get pulses racing. Heating things up: Joshua Varozza of El Dorado Hills, California, has released his latest set of 'dudeoir' images in time for Christmas Cheeky: The bail bondsman teamed up with MeUndies for the shoot, which will be compiled into a calendar Showing off: Joshua became a viral star earlier this year for his photo series that see him stripping down and striking poses And the fun is all for a good cause as proceeds from a resulting calendar will go towards Wheelers for the Wounded, a nonprofit organization that supports wounded veterans with outdoor activities and offroading. Some of the images feature Joshua ditching his shirt to be wrapped with Christmas lights, while holding a sign bearing season's greetings, while others see him cheekily peeking out of a pair of long johns. A bashful Santa Claus makes an appearance next to Joshua dressed as an elf in other shots from the series. He even shows off his patriotism by stripping down to just a pair of festive shorts and a Santa hat and posing in front of a giant American flag. The calendar, which was photographed by Tami Bears of Artistic Photography by Tami, is available for $20 online. Proud American: Joshua ditches his shirt for just a Santa hat and boxers in this image Looking up: The bearded Californian certainly isn't shy about showing some skin Getting tricky: Other photos feature a Santa Claus left in a bit of a tough spot by elf Joshua Bringing the heat: Joshua also dons a pair of long johns with an open trap door But this is just the latest time that the burly Californian has stripped off for the camera. Earlier this year, Joshua got in touch with his inner Baywatch babe for a series of hilarious photos showing him frolicking on a beach in lifeguard attire and even posing in a mermaid costume. After first going viral with an American flag-inspired 'dudeoir' shoot back in June, Joshua found himself back in front of the camera quickly with the follow-up beach shots. In the images, Joshua can be seen posing seductively in the sand, running through the waves, and showing off a hint of butt crack as part of the Dudeoir Beach Collection photo series. Lifeguard on duty: Joshua stripped down to his swim trunks for a cheeky Dudeoir Beach Collection photo series in the summer Merman: The bail bondsman also donned a mermaid costume complete with a gold leaf headband for the shoot Tami, who is also the woman behind his first God Bless America 'Dudeoir' Country Collection photo series, has been continually planning future shoots with Joshua, so she can use the images to create the calendars. Tami shared the new images on her Facebook page last week, writing: 'Just when you thought was summer was over ... The Dudeoir Beach Collection!' Joshua had two ocean-themed costumes for the shoot, and one was clearly Baywatch inspired. He proudly showed off his tattoos as he donned a white tank and red shorts, topping the look off with a matching visor and a lifeguard buoy. Amazing shots: Tami Bears of Artistic Photography by Tami is the woman behind Joshua's dudeoir shoots Getting cheeky: Joshua also posed topless, showing off a hint of butt crack while he frolicked through the waves Flaunting it: He happily showed off his tattoos and his burly beard while giving the camera a come-hither stare Different look: Joshua was all smiles while he was dressed as a mermaid on the beach Tami photographed him running through the waves with the wing breezing through his beard in addition snapping pictures of him posing seductively with the flotation device. Joshua also stripped down leaving on only his red shorts as he playfully waded through the waves. In another series of photos, Joshua remained shirtless, but he traded his shorts for a mermaid tail and his lifeguard visor for a gold leaf headband. The January exhibit at River Gallery will feature the art of Kimmy Cantrell. There will be an opening reception with Mr. Cantrell on Friday, Jan. 6, from 6:30-8 p.m. The snow date will be Jan. 7 from 2-4 p.m. The exhibit will include ceramic compositions which through the use of asymmetry challenge traditional definitions of beauty. With his striking ceramic faces, still-life, and nudes, the Georgia native reflects his life's experiences and recounts fond childhood memories. Why do some people gag at the taste, while others find them delicious? In Britain, we eat more of them than any other country in Europe Of all the food at Christmas, theres one thing that divides opinion Of all the food at Christmas, theres one thing that divides opinion the humble Brussels sprout. Just like Marmite, you either love them or loathe them. So why do some people gag at the taste, while others view them as a mouth-watering delicacy? Although they are a member of the cabbage family, sprouts are just that edible buds that grow on the thick stalk of the plant, between the stems. Its thought they were cultivated in the Middle East, and it was the Romans who brought them to Northern Europe, where they flourish in winter: some people think the cold weather makes them taste sweeter. Of all the food at Christmas, theres one thing that divides opinion the humble Brussels sprout. Just like Marmite, you either love them or loathe them In Britain, we eat more of them than any other country in Europe around 60 million-worth every year and a third of our consumption occurs in the festive season. A BITTER TASTE For some people, that bitter taste is enough to make them wince. Sprouts have a high level of sulphur-containing plant compounds called glucosinolates, which are also found in other bitter vegetables such as horseradish and mustard greens. Some love them but, for others, they taste unpalatably sour and this is down to genetic variations that influence how flavours are registered by our taste buds. When it comes to taste, a quarter of us have a variation of a gene known as TAS2R38 that means we can identify bitter toxic plant compounds far more acutely. Scientists say some people can even taste the bitter flavours about 60 times more strongly. In Britain, we eat more of them than any other country in Europe around 60 million-worth every year and a third of our consumption occurs in the festive season This gene mutation probably developed to help our ancestors avoid poisonous plants when they went foraging for foods. However, even if you have the gene, its still possible you may enjoy the bitter flavours, in the same way some people like strong coffee or malty beer. If you hate Brussels sprouts, think of it as a superpower which evolved to protect you. GENDER DIVIDE Theres a real gender divide around the festive dinner table and its not just whos done the most work. Women are more likely to hate sprouts because they have more sensitive taste buds than men. Whats more, 35 per cent of women are super-tasters who detect bitter tastes more intensely compared to 10 per cent of men. Taste researcher Carol Raithatha, of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, says there are theories that possibly women have evolved to be more sensitive to bitter tastes to be better at screening food during pregnancy and when sourcing food for feeding small children. Theres a real gender divide around the festive dinner table and its not just whos done the most work. Women are more likely to hate sprouts because they have more sensitive taste buds than men SLIMMING POWERS Theres an upside to hating sprouts youre less likely to be overweight. This is because if you are a super-taster, it wont just be Brussels sprouts you detest. You are likely to dislike very sweet flavours as well, according to researchers at Canadas McMaster University. They found that the Brussels sprout-hating women had the most extreme negative response to sugary foods. In a further study on women aged in their 40s, by scientists at New Jerseys Rutgers University, those who hated bitter foods such as sprouts were 20 per cent thinner. AGE MATTERS If sprouts make you gag now, its hard to imagine loving them in a few years time. But changes in the way we taste as we age means you will find them more palatable in later life. When we are babies, we have more taste buds that detect sweetness to encourage us to drink the mothers milk we need to grow. If sprouts make you gag now, its hard to imagine loving them in a few years time. But changes in the way we taste as we age means you will find them more palatable in later life We start off with about 10,000 taste buds, but over time, that number gradually drops. According to one study on women aged 21 to 84, by the University of Michigan, older women are more likely to prefer green vegetables and less likely to crave sweet foods. CHEFS SECRETS... To make sprouts more palatable, the easiest way is to add ingredients that will balance the bitter taste. Food scientist Barb Stuckey, author of Taste: Surprising Stories And Science About Why Food Tastes Good, says: Dont be ashamed to add anything sweet, such as honey or maple syrup, to bring it back into balance for you. Adding something a little sweet may be worth it to encourage you to eat more sprouts because the combination of complex plant compounds are believed to be effective at warding off cancer. Often, sprouts are maligned because they are simply not cooked correctly, adds Barb. Because theyre so firm, people assume you need to cook them to softness. Thats not the case, as their texture is so much more compelling when theyre al dente, she says. Adding something a little sweet may be worth it to encourage you to eat more sprouts because the combination of complex plant compounds are believed to be effective at warding off cancer In this months edition of Jamie Olivers magazine, the chef suggests tipping halved Brussels into a roasting tin, tossing them in a little olive oil, lemon zest and chilli flakes, then roasting them for 25 minutes, adding a sprinkling of Parmesan after 10 minutes. Meanwhile, TV chef Nigella Lawson recommends tossing halved sprouts into a cheesy wholewheat pasta bake or shredding them and stir-frying with rice and oriental flavours. TRY A GADGET You can buy a host of Brussels sprout gadgets. The top option is Chefn Twist & Sprout (7.99, lakeland.co.uk). Use it to core sprouts for steaming or roasting, or twist further to free the leaves for salads and stir fries. Meanwhile, Oxo Good Grips Mini Mandoline Slicer (12, johnlewis.com) is designed for shredding vegetables such as sprouts for stir-fries and salads. Theres something about the feel of lovely lingerie that seems to trigger a pathway right into my brain. Whether its the softness of lace, the sensuality of silk or even just the floral aroma of the gentle soap flakes I use to wash them, when I pick out the underwear Im going to wear each morning, I instantly forget my age and remember only that I am a woman. At this time of year, exquisite lace or delicate embroidery lifts the spirits, when its dreary outside and you feel swamped and frumpy beneath your winter clothes. What to buy yourself: Black lace body, 28, riverisland.com What I cant abide, though, is a man buying underwear as a Christmas gift. Frankly, its a nightmare. My passion for underwear was nearly killed off before it had begun when a boyfriend bought me a pink satin set in my youth (complete with suspender belt we were young). I have reddish hair and fair skin, so the colour made me look anaemic. As for the cut, well, it made my thighs look like those pale sausages the French call Boudin blanc. Glamour bra, 28, and Brazilian briefs, 15, debenhams.com Two-piece black and nude mesh bra, 14.99, and briefs, 7.99, newlook.com Longline bra, 30, by Freya at figleaves.com Briefs, 13, also by Freya at figleaves.com Then there was the saga of the pale-pink Jasper Conran knickers. Beautiful, yes, but again, entirely the wrong colour for me, so I never wore them. Men are always grumbling that the women in their lives dont want to wear the festive frilly fancies they buy, but is it any wonder? The truth is, they simply shouldnt bother. They never get the right size and, as for choosing styles that actually suit us? Forget it. They have absolutely no clue. Getting underwear right is particularly key the older you get. All too often, a woman turns 50 and decides her days of wearing sexy and life-affirming undies are behind her. She swaps the elegance of La Perla for something more comfortable from a supermarket, forgetting the wonderful sense of empowerment that comes from a day spent with a little piece of luxury resting against your skin. Not me. I may be 57, yet my love affair with luxurious lingerie has never faltered. My only proviso is that I always buy my own. Lace bra, 30, topshop.com Mini knickers, 10, also from topshop.com I must have spent some 16,000 on what I like to call my secret scaffolding over the years. Profligate? Not at all. Each bra and dainty pair of knickers represents a high- yield investment in my most important asset: me. My undies are the secret behind the self-assured image that I present to the rest of the world. Ive never been smaller than a size 12, but if Im wearing beautiful lingerie, then I feel good about myself. At my age, ladies tend to go one of two ways: they either let themselves slide completely, or they invest huge amounts of time and money in age-defying procedures. When girlfriends ask my secret for remaining youthful in my late 50s, I tell them that what they see is only how I feel. No amount of Botox or fillers would fill me with the same confidence that a gorgeous bra beneath my blouse does. Teal lace set, 15, asda.com/ george Obviously, a good fit is key, but dont rule out more intricate designs. In my experience, older women tend to steer clear of glamorous bras because they fear they will be uncomfortable, says Marie Truelove, owner of the London boutique Truelove Lingerie. But this is very far from the truth. Cup shape is vitally important because, as you age, you lose volume at the top of your breast, which can lead to a teardrop appearance. A balcony or sweetheart shape will provide support to the bust tissue, giving the appearance of more volume at the top. Traditionally, women gravitate towards a plunge style, says Rigby & Pellers chief lingerie stylist Kelly Dunmore. However, this is simply pushing the tissue you have closer together, which can be ageing, because it ends up looking wrinkled. For mature customers, she recommends high-waisted briefs, which are still fashionable but have the added benefit of providing support around the stomach area. For those who have shorter legs, I recommend a high-cut leg, adds Kelly. Get it right and your underwear becomes the best reminder that life is still to be embraced and enjoyed. Great lingerie is like a good and loyal friend: it gives unrelenting support, is your most intimate companion and boosts your confidence when you need it the most. A little girl who was left with just a single eyelash after undergoing aggressive chemotherapy to fight cancer has been told her tumour has gone. Seven-year-old Hayley Brown, from Melbourne, was diagnosed with cancer in June after doctors found a 5cm tumour growing inside her nose. Doctors said she needed eight months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to shrink the tumour. But six months later and just four days before Christmas, her father Andrew Brown said he was feeling relieved and announced the good news that her tumour had gone. Gone: Hayley (right, with her sister) has been told her tumour is gone after undergoing six months of aggressive chemotherapy Last one: Last month, Andrew Brown shared this heartbreaking picture of Hayley's last eyelash In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the father-of-four shared two X-rays side by side one from June and another that was taken that day from The Royal Childrens Hospital in Melbourne. The red X on the June picture is on a big grey area. That is the tumour, he wrote alongside the pictures. The red X on todays scan is on black which is how an empty nasal cavity is supposed to look. He added: Well done Hayley you little Warrior Princess, you rock. Now on to 12 months maintenance while you continue to kick cancer in the d***. The familys well-wishers responded with messages of support with many calling the news the best Christmas present. Best Christmas present ever, wrote Cathy Roth. Hayley is the star on top of the tree! So thrilled for you all. Progress: The picture on the right shows Hayley's tumour in June and left, an X-ray from Wednesday show it is gone Relieved: Father-of-four Andrew Brown shared the good news in a Facebook post Best present ever: Hayley is pictured with her sister on an outing together at Christmas Home for Christmas: Hayley is pictured with her mother Leia, father Andrew and her sister Having fun: Seven-year-old Hayley Brown, of Melbourne, is pictured playing with toys Anissa Engelmayer added: Exciting news for you all. What an amazing Christmas present you all could ever wish for! 'I'm still not sure how I feel about yesterday as I still haven't come to grips with the fact that this journey even started,' Mr Brown told Daily Mail Australia. 'Which is weird because this week marks six months since the journey began.' He added: 'I do know that the treatment she was on is now finished and her poor little body can now begin to repair itself. 'Hopefully she will start eating soon as the ulcers in her mouth should start to go.' Mr Brown said that on December 30, Hayley will start a 12-month maintenance treatment program, which involves gentler chemotherapy which shouldn't require overnight stays in hospital. Recovery: Hayley (above, before losing her eyelashes) was diagnosed with cancer in June Happy: The seven-year-old is pictured before undergoing aggressive chemotherapy Support: Comedian Andrew Brown has been taking part in fundraisers in his daughter's name 'I believe that (apart from those days) she will be fine for school, her hair will come back including her now world famous eyelashes,' he added. Early in November, Mr Brown, a Melbourne-based comedian, had shared a heart-breaking photograph of the one remaining eyelash on Hayleys eye after months of intensive treatment. That one last eyelash has been hanging on, on its own, for a few weeks now, he captioned the photo. But three weeks later, that too fell out. Since then, hes taken part in comedy fundraisers in his daughters name, although it was already something he participated in to help cancer sufferers. To help Mr Brown and his wife Leia with the costs linked to regular hospital visits, including fuel, parking, medicine, rent and bills, their friend Andrea Huggins set up a MyCause page for Hayley. Help: Friend Andrea Huggins set up a MyCause page to help the Brown family with costs Fundraising: On the MyCause page, she wrote: 'This is a time when the family needs its parents most and they may be unable to work' Every time I see that photo, I think "make a wish", its just so moving,' Mrs Huggins recently told Daily Mail Australia. 'Anything that can be done to help that beautiful family, we need to do.' On the MyCause page, she wrote: 'This is a time when the family needs its parents most and they may be unable to work. Bills will still come in and there will be additional costs of daily living so these funds will be used to help them however they need it most. Light at the end of the tunnel: At the end of the year, Hayley will begin a 12-month maintenance treatment program Japanese brides are giving traditional weddings a modern twist. A new trend has women re-styling kimonos in to strapless wedding gowns, the traditional long sleeves tied up in a large decorative bow. Rocket News 24 reported brides chose to wear kimonos gifted to them by their parents for their Coming of Age ceremony, held when a woman is 20 years old. Japanese brides are converting their traditional long-sleeved kimonos in to strapless wedding dresses The kimonos are converted in just 10 minutes by tying the sleeves in a bow on the back and turning the obi in to a bodice The formal kimonos, that symbolise when a woman is ready to marry, are converted in to strapless gowns in just 10 minutes by folding the fabric. Any alterations are easily reversible, with the sleeves simply folded down and tied at the back and the kimono's obi [sash] turned in to the bodice. The end result is a fitted gown with a full skirt that skims the floor. The trend comes as an increasing number of Japanese brides are incorporating western wedding traditions in to their big day The gowns combine a western-style dress with traditional kimono fabric The kimono gowns come as an increasing number of Japanese brides combine traditional weddings with western elements. Rocket News 24 reported the younger generation of brides were turning away from traditional long ceremonies. The converted kimonos are again a combination of traditions, with the classic cut of a western gown combined with the colourful print of a Japanese kimono. The Oriental Wasou said the wedding dress style helps preserve the history of the kimono Business The Oriental Wasou helps brides covert their kimonos for their big day. On their website they said long-sleeved kimonos are considered the most prestigious dress for young women, and the different patterns each have a different meaning. She has been enjoying a romantic trip to Paris during the run up to Christmas but Kelly Brook has caused controversy after sharing the details of her dinner. The model, 37, posted a photo on Tuesday of the city's Bateaux Mouche the model revealed that she had been enjoying a rather controversial meal. She captioned the photograph: 'Lovely Evening Drinking Red Wine and Eating Foie Gras on the Bateaux Mouche'. Scroll down for video Fans have slammed model Kelly Brook after she revealed that she had been enjoying foie gras during her trip to Paris Foie gras is made from the livers of ducks or geese fattened by force-feeding and is a typical French cuisine. The technique, known as gavage, dates back as far as 2500 BC when the ancient Egyptians kept birds for food and deliberately fattened them through force feeding. But the industry remains controversial with animal rights campaigners claiming feeding methods are cruel. The model posted a photo of the city's Bateaux Mouche the model revealed that she had been enjoying a rather controversial meal She captioned the photo revealing that she had been eating foie gras made by force feeding geese With this in mind it didn't take long for her followers to voice their opinion her choice in food. One user named kezcaves left in disbelief simply commented: 'Foie gras?' followed by a thumbs down emoji. Others too came forward to comment. User arctikette wrote: 'Foie gras sucks!!!!' and 3030tatts added: 'Foie gras???? Really?' It didn't take long for her followers to come forward to criticise Kelly's choice in dinner One follower named superfries1 posted a link to a YouTube video called 'force fed to death' which descrived in graphic detail the process of gavage One follower named superfries1 posted a link to a YouTube video called 'force fed to death' which descrived in graphic detail the process of gavage. They accompanied the video with a comment which read: 'Do you still like your foie gras?' Elisa Allen, Director PETA UK says that she believes the model was unaware of the process of making the food. Kelly has previously worked with Peta in a campaign protesting against the skinning of animals She told the MailOnline: 'We know Kelly Brook to have a big heart and to care about animals and we don't believe for a minute that she realized that to make foie gras, metal tubes are rammed down gentle birds' throats in order to force feed them until their livers swell up to 10 times their normal size, pressing against their lungs and making it hard for them even to breathe. 'We are informing Kelly of this and are sure that going forward, she'll choose to join the many other British beauties, including Kate Winslet and Twiggy, who've renounced this ugly industry.' While her choice in dinner might not flag her as an animal lover Kelly Brook has too previously worked with animal rights organisation Peta in a campaign against skinning animals. The model posed naked in 2011 to protest at how snakes, lizards and alligators and other exotic animals are skinned alive. Speaking about the issue at the time Kelly said: It makes my skin crawl to think about the violent ways snakes, lizards, alligators and other exotic creatures are raised and killed for boots, bags and belts. From the unexpected deaths of much-loved celebrities such as Prince to the ire felt by many over Brexit, it might feel as if there hasn't been much to smile about in 2016. But witty Twitter users have managed to provide some much-needed light relief with their hilarious takedowns of politicians and celebrities. Luckily we've had the quick wit of Brownjryan who spotted how much North Korean leader Kim Jong Un resembles a 'sassy NHS nurse' and Bplmurphy who likened Phil Collins to a disgruntled resident complaining about the bins to keep us entertained. Brownjryan was tickled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's attitude-heavy pose and so were his followers who liked his most more than 6,000 times Bplmurphy captured people's imagination after noticing that Phil Collin's looked like a disgruntled resident complaining to the local council Brexit provided plenty of fodder for quick minds, such as Mattadamkeay who shared a photo of a Britain shaped cloud, saying: 'Rare photo of the UK leaving the EU.' Joffley got his cats involved, tweeting a photo of them looking wide-eyed with their EU pet passports, saying: 'How do I tell them?' Aljwhite poked fun at Prince Philip's reputation for politically incorrect remarks, with a picture of him giving the Obamas a lift on their visit to Windsor Castle, with the caption: 'When you're in the back of the cab and the driver starts talking about immigrants.' Scroll down to relive some of the funniest and best observed tweets of 2016. F41rygirl imagined Theresa May and David Cameron summoning up the ghost of Margaret Thatcher ahead of her move into Downing Street Owen_1906 admired the confidence of a man buying a single red rose and a box of condoms at Lidl Not suitable for kids! Forest_fr1ends imagined these Sylvanian Families might be planning a crucifixion Bazlyons poked fun at Ronnie Wood and Paul Weller Thehappynut poked fun at a posted featuring an elderly lady, noting a resemblance to Paul McCartney Fred_Delicious wondered if his son was going to be up to the job of playing a child in his school Christmas play Joffley feared breaking the news of Brexit to his two cats who may face getting new pet passports A cloud in the shape of the UK, drifting across the sky provided much hilarity after the Brexit vote An unfortunately worded poster at Westfield shopping centre was heralded as a terrible name for perfume Well placed shop signs brought the Vanilla Ice hit Ice Ice Baby to mind for Jodyporter_ Kellyoxford's godson couldn't get over how much he resembles Prince George GeorgeCVO's ingenious method of keeping an eye on his garlic bread in the oven won him lots of admiration on Twitter When Joeheenan forgot his children needed a costume for World Book Day, a toaster and hairdryer provided the perfect solution Aljwhite used this photo of Prince Philip giving the Obamas a lift as the perfect opportunity to poke fun at the Duke's reputation for politically incorrect gaffes Susan was thrilled to hear Linzi Dear's lost pet had been found, but she failed to notice some crucial information Sarah Ferguson looked to be in high spirits on Wednesday night as she enjoyed a night on the town with friends in her ex-husband's car. The Duchess of York, 57, was spotted being ushered into Prince Andrew's green Range Rover by a mystery male in mock-croc brogues after leaving Mortons Restaurant Berkeley Square. Wrapped up against the winter chill in a blue military style blazer, the Duchess, affectionately named Fergie, looked suitably chic in a flared skirt and sheer black tights. Sarah Ferguson was spotted being ushered into Prince Andrew's green Range Rover in London on Wednesday night as she enjoyed a night on the town with friends Fergie, who was married to Prince Andrew from 1986 and 1996, has had a packed social calendar of late, having presented the twelfth annual British Curry Awards at London's Battersea Evolution on Monday, wearing a sari. The Duchess is no stranger to the red carpet and has been spotted rubbing shoulders with celebrities at a number of high-profile events in recent months. In November she joined her eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, 28 for a glittering charity gala in aid of the Gabrielle's Angel Foundation in New York. The Duchess of York was ushered into Prince Andrew's green Range Rover in London by a mystery male in mock-croc brogues Duchess of style! Sarah, affectionately named Fergie, looked suitably chic in a flared skirt and sheer black tights Busy woman! Fergie, who was married to Prince Andrew from 1986 and 1996, has had a packed social calendar of late Sarah, who is also mother to Eugenie, 26, is also a regular at Loulou's in Mayfair. Prince Andrew's ex recently revealed that she and her former husband have 'never really left each other' during an interview on Australian radio. The mother-of-two made the comments on the hosts Kyle and Jackie O show when the former asked if they would ever reunite. Sarah was seen smiling and waving after hopping into the green Range Rover on Wednesday Old flames: Prince Andrew's ex recently revealed that she and her former husband have 'never really left each other' during an interview on Australian radio. 'Do you think you and Andrew will get back together lilke the world wants Kourtney Kartdashian and Scott Disick to get back together?' he asked. 'Just, enough's enough. Just bite the bullet and sort it out.' Fergie enigmatically replied: 'I always think, "have we really?". We're divorced to each other right now. We've never really left each other.' The 66-year-old editor of Vogue Italia Franca Sozzani sadly passed away today after battling a year-long illness, leaving a lasting legacy behind her. Dedicated to making some of the most fascinating, boundary-pushing fashion spreads in Vogue history, Sozzani spent a record-breaking 28 years at the helm of the Italian fashion bible. Franca's only son, Francesco Carrozzini, 34, was reportedly by her side in Milan when she passed away. Scroll down for video Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani, 66, sadly passed away after battling a year-long illness Franca reportedly passed away with her son Franceso Carrozzini by her side. (Pictured) Attending the premiere of 'Franca: Chaos And Creation' during the 73rd Venice Film Festival in September Her illustrious career began with Vogue Bambini in 1976 after graduating in literature and philosophy at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. She was appointed editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia in 1988, around the same time as Anna Wintour was appointed editor of US Vogue. The American editor paid tribute to their three-decade long friendship in a touching tribute, revealing that the two didn't immediately become 'BFFs'. 'Franca and I found ourselves falling into a friendship that I am so happy and honoured to say sustained itself for 30 years,' she says today on Vogue's website. Editor-In-Chief of Vogue Anna Wintour (left) paid tribute to her close friend after her death. Franca is pictured with fashion designer Vera Wang (second left) and her son director and photographer Francesco Carrozzini 'Thats one thing that Franca taught me about friendship: Sometimes, you really have to earn it.' The Italian editor was known for pushing boundaries and was not opposed to controversy - finding herself at the centre of several such storms. The magazine was accused of glamorising domestic violence in 2014 with a horror film-inspired shoot, used a white model for a 'tribal' spread and also was critiqued for shoots with models including Stella Tennant and Karlie Kloss looking skinny. Franca was known for pushing boundaries and creating controversies within the fashion industry Many of Franca's longtime collaborators and friends paid tribute to her, including designer Marc Jacobs, photographer Mert Alas, New York Times fashion director Vanessa Friedman and fashion critic Cathy Horyn Another memorable issues of the magazine under her helm included 'The Black Issue' in 2008 - focusing solely on celebrating black women's beauty. Another significant issue Franca was known for was 2010's 'Makeover' an entire edition dedicated to the continuously growing phenomenon of plastic surgery. She was most recently honoured by the British Fashion Awards this year, who gave the editor the Swarovski Fashion Award For Positive Change. Some of her longtime collaborators paid tribute to her legacy, with famed photographer Mert Alas posting an image of her smiling face along with a caption which read: 'I'm so sad and speechless for the loss of this wonderful women[sic]. Bye bye Franca I will miss you.' Tess Holliday has never been one to shy away from exposing a bit of skin. But when staying in a themed hotel recently in California, she found that the one-size-fits-all robe in the room's closet left her showing a little bit more than she intended. The size 22 model found she couldn't close the robe around herself so, amused by the situation, snapped a selfie in a mirror to share the story with her followers. Scroll down for video Pointing it out: Tess Holliday, 31, found that the bathrobe at her California hotel didn't live up to the title one-size-fits-all A good time: Tess revealed that she and her family were staying in a cave-themed room in the run up to the holidays 'I'm so glad they had my size,' she wrote sarcastically on the photo before sharing it on Instagram. 'AMIRITE?!' she wrote in the image's caption, adding the hashtag: #onesizefitshardlyanyone. The model is celebrating the holiday season at the San Luis Obispo-based Madonna Inn, and sharing updates with her followers along the way. On Tuesday she posted an image of an adorable baby outfit bearing her son Bowie's name and revealing that the family were staying in a cave-themed room at the hotel. Bonding: Tess' husband Nick shared this photo of himself and the couple's baby son Bowie under the shower On the same day, Tess' husband Nick shared a sweet snap of himself and Bowie in the shower, writing: 'Cave showers with my favorite cromag.' The trip will finish off a busy month for Tess after she stripped down to her bra and underwear to strut down the runway during her first lingerie show at the beginning of December. While she is often the picture of confidence, she admitted that she was nervous to flaunt her figure six-months postpartum at the show. 'I've never been the kind of model that gets to be part of runway shows, especially lingerie because of my size and height but I did the damn thing,' she explained. Breaking boundaries: Tess stripped down to her bra and underwear and strut down the runway during her first lingerie show earlier this month Feeling liberated: The size 22 model took to Instagram after the show to share a photo of herself along with a candid message about her experience Stunning look: Tess did a twirl so she could show off her sheer Catherine D'Lish dressing gown 'My husband was cheering me on in the back and even though I was terrified, damn if it wasn't liberating!' she added. Tess later shared a stunning photo of herself showing off her sheer Catherine D'Lish dressing gown for the audience, explaining that she had participated in Buzzfeed's recreation of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The runway show featured women of all shapes, sizes, heights, and ethnicities, and Tess praised the event for its inclusion. 'It's full of diversity, the way VS shows should be,' Tess added. At the event, Tess told the cameras that she stepped out of her comfort zone when she agreed to walk in the show. 'Today what I hope to gain is a little bit of bravery. I definitely never walked a runway in my underwear ever because no one's given me an opportunity,' she admitted. 'I was definitely really nervous to show my stomach because I don't really ever show this much of my stomach especially because I have a five-and-a-half-month-old baby,' she said of the moment. 'But I felt like I was in good company and everyone was really supportive, so it was a really good experience.' A beloved teacher got a wonderful holiday surprise when a group of his students chipped in and bought him a pair of Vans months after he complimented one of their classmates sneakers. Taylor Kerby, a psychology teacher at Edgewood High School in West Covina, California, has captured the hearts of thousands after a student shared a video of his joyous reaction to the thoughtful gift on Twitter. 'He said he liked our classmate's Vans on the first day of school, so we pitched in and bought him his own pair,' Dyani Heredia, 17, explained when she posted the clip. So happy! Taylor Kerby was ecstatic when his students surprised him with a pair of classic red Vans sneakers during class Kerby is decked out in a holiday sweater vest as he sits on a stool and opens his gift in front of his students in the video that was shared on Monday. 'Oh my gosh,' he says as he pulls out one of the sneakers, and his students can't help but cheer in response to his excitement over the classic red, lace-up Vans. 'Guys, this is so sweet. I love them,' he gushes, while his students urge him to try them on and 'just be like Cinderella. His students get a kick out of the fact that he is wearing two different socks, and he notes he just doesn't 'have time for matching socks' Happy as can be: The psychology teacher at Edgewood High School in West Covina, California, immediately tried on the sneakers for his students Viral star: One of Kerby's student, Dyani Heredia, 17, shared a video of him opening his gift on Twitter, and it has been liked more than 139,000 times 'Merry Christmas Sixth Hour': Kerby gushed about how touched he was in a post he shared on Facebook 'They're so fun! Look at these. I am the coolest kid on the block right now,' he says while he happily puts on the shoes. At the beginning of the school year, Kerby complimented a student's Vans and said he wanted some for himself, and during the clip, it finally dawns on him that one of his pupils asked bout his shoe size for this specific reason. 'This is why you asked for my shoe size. I was weirded out,' he admits. There are plenty of 'awws' when he walks around the classroom with his new sneakers on, and it is clear that he is touched by his students' selfless gesture. Showing them off: The teacher is getting plenty of wear out of his new sneakers All smiles: Kerby is pictured with Dyani, Faye, and Olivia, the students who came up with the idea Strike a pose: Approximately 25 students from the class chipped in $2 each to buy Kerby the stylish kicks. he is pictured with his sixth period class Dyani told BuzzFeed that Kerby had complimented another student's Vans at the beginning of the school year, but when he noted that he wouldn't buy them for himself, her classmates, Faye and Olivia, suggested that they get the sneakers for him as a gift. Approximately 25 students from the class chipped in $2 each to buy Kerby the stylish kicks, and they presented them to him at the beginning of class, in which they typically start by sharing the good things that have happened to them. This was only Kerby's first year at the school, and he was surprised by the touching gesture and his viral stardom. Dyani's tweet with the video has been liked more than 139,000 times and retweeted by over 50,000 people Popular as can be: Thousands of people watched the video of Kerby opening his gift Getting attention: Vans' official Twitter account tweeted that Kerby's gift is 'epic' Proud of his pupils: Taylor agreed and noted that he teaches 'epic kids' Excited: Kerby hopes the video will inspire 'teachers to be better teachers, and people to be better people' Vans' official Twitter account even commented on the footage, writing: 'Whoa...that's epic!' Kerby agreed and noted that he teaches 'epic kids'. Its just some nerdy, weird dude opening shoes, and for some reason, 40,000 people are liking this,' Kerby said of the viral video. 'But if it inspires teachers to be better teachers, and people to be better people, then Im excited that its happening.' 10/31/2022 I could just scream! Have you ever thought that or even said it aloud? With this being the day for the annual Halloween observance, screaming seems to be the order of the day. Ghosts, goblins, ... more CONTRIBUTORS STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION 1.1 The definitions and rules of interpretation in this Clause apply in these Terms and Conditions. ANL means Associated Newspapers Limited, registered address, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT and registered company number 84121; Affiliates means in relation to a person, any direct or indirect parent undertaking or subsidiary undertaking from time to time of such person, or any other direct or indirect subsidiary undertakings from time to time of any parent undertaking of such person. An undertaking is a subsidiary undertaking of another undertaking (its parent undertaking) if that other undertaking, directly or indirectly, through one or more subsidiary undertakings: (a) holds 50% or more of the voting rights in the undertaking; or (b) it is a member of the undertaking and has the right to appoint or remove 50% or more of its board of directors or equivalent managing body; or (c) it is a member of the undertaking and controls alone, or pursuant to an agreement with other shareholders or members, 50% or more of the voting rights in the undertaking; or (d) has the right to exercise a dominant influence over it, for example by having the right to give directions with respect to its operating and financial policies, with which directions its directors are obliged to comply. Content means any and all text, Images, Videos, Lineage, audio or video material, recordings of moving images with or without sound, all stills, images, content, materials, information, data, software and executable code, in whatever medium or form supplied or made available by or on behalf of the Supplier in connection with these Terms and Conditions; Fees means the fees that we have agreed to pay the Supplier respect of the licence of the Content as set out in the self-generated Invoice; Images means any photos, print graphics, interactive or digital graphics or other still images; Intellectual Property Rights means all intellectual property rights wherever in the world arising, whether registered or unregistered (and including any application), including copyright, know-how, confidential information, trade secrets, business names and domain names, Marks, patents, petty patents, utility models, design rights, semi-conductor topography rights, database rights and all rights in the nature of unfair competition rights or rights to sue for passing off; Lineage means written content or text material accompanying the content supplied by Supplier; Licensed Media means: (a) any and all digital or electronic publications through any media or outlet and in any format now known or hereafter developed, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, any internet-based service, digital service, mobile service, product, platform, application (apps), intranet, webpage or website, and which in each case is owned or operated by ANL or any of its Affiliates from time to time including those which operates under the Mail Online, Mail, the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Mail Plus, Metro or This is Money brands, or any derivative of such brands, including, but not limited to the publications owned or operated by ANL and which are located at www.metro.co.uk, www.mailonline.co.uk, Mailonline.co.uk/au, www.dailymail.co.uk, www.dailymail.com and www.thisismoney.co.uk and any subsequent or additional URLs which may replace them from time to time; (b) any and all print publications through any media or outlet and in any format now known or hereafter developed which ANL operates including those under the Mail Online, Mail, the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Mail Plus, or Metro brands, or any derivative of such brands; (c) any of the above publications pages or articles (including its mobile versions) on any social media accounts or news aggregator websites from time to time (including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, MSN, Apple i news and Yahoo; and (d) any media player owned or operated by ANL or any of its Affiliates from time to time (with or without embedding functionality and whether incorporated in the publications set out above or in any third party sites, services, apps or publications). Marks means any and all trade marks, trade names, service marks, trade dress, logos, URLs, identifying slogans or other distinctive brand features of a party to these Terms and Conditions, whether or not registered; Supplier means the entity set out in the self-generated Invoice; and Video means a recording of moving images with or without sound supplied by Supplier. 2. GRANT OF LICENCE 2.1 Subject to these Terms and Conditions, the Supplier hereby grants to ANL and each of its Affiliates a non-exclusive (unless otherwise agreed), royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual licence to use, reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, display, edit and transmit the Content in connection with and through the Licensed Media and to make the same available to end users of the Licensed Media. 2.2 The Supplier, by granting the licence detailed in Clause 2.1, also grants ANL the express right to ANL and each of its Affiliates to grant a sub-licence to end users and readers of Licensed Media to the extent necessary for end users and readers to view and use the Content in accordance with the Licensed Medias terms of use from time to time. 2.3 The Supplier agrees that ANL shall be entitled to change, modify and edit the Content for technical or editorial purposes (including, without limitation, cropping or framing the Content). 2.4 ANL shall be entitled to reproduce the whole or any part of any Content in any secondary reproductions of Licensed Media (e.g. compilations, screen shots, stills, thumbnails) in order to promote or market the Content through any media or outlet and in any format now known or hereafter developed, including any and all print, digital and electronic publications. 2.5 If the Content includes Videos, ANL shall be entitled to embed, and enable, facilitate and support the embedding and organic sharing of Content by any end user of, all or any part of the Content through any media or outlet and in any format now known or hereafter developed, including without limitation, on any internet-based service, digital service, mobile service, product, platform, application (apps), intranet, webpage or website. ANL shall be entitled to manage, control and change the embedding functionality and settings of any of its media players from time to time as ANL shall determine in its sole discretion. 2.6 ANL agrees that it shall include the credit marked on the Images and Videos or notified by the Supplier on any use or reproduction of the Images and Videos. 2.7 Any inadvertent failure by ANL to accord the credit shall not constitute a breach of these Terms and Conditions by ANL provided that ANL uses its reasonable endeavours to remedy such failure that the Supplier makes ANL aware of, as soon as reasonably practicable and on a prospective basis only. For the avoidance of doubt, ANL will not be required to recall any print or other material already printed nor incur legal costs or expenses. 2.8 The Supplier hereby waives all moral rights in the Content to which the Supplier may be entitled under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (UK) or the Copyright Act 1968 (Australia) as amended from time to time (and under all similar legislation from time to time in force anywhere in the world) to the extent necessary for ANL to exploit the Content in the Licensed Media. 2.9 The Supplier hereby acknowledges and agrees that the Content may be copied or reproduced under separate licences or arrangements with NLA Media Access and all other such database aggregators and services. As such, the Supplier hereby grants to ANL all such licences and rights as are required in order to enable others to access, copy and reproduce all or part of the Licensed Media (whether via press cuttings or similar services) pursuant to those licences or arrangements, including the non-exclusive right to syndicate (including electronic syndication or syndication for use in electronic databases) or distribute the Licensed Media (containing the Content) to NLA Media Access and all other owners of such databases, databanks and services for storage, copying, republication and redistribution to third parties for further storage, copying, publication and distribution in any medium. 2.10 ANL will have the non-exclusive right to store the Content (whether or not the Content has been published by ANL) in any of its electronic databases and to allow access to the databases for research purposes. 3. MARKS 3.1 The Supplier acknowledges and agrees that ANL owns all right, title and interest in and to the Licensed Media and ANLs Marks. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall confer in the Supplier any right of ownership in the Licensed Media or ANLs Marks. 3.2 Supplier hereby grants to ANL a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty free licence to use, reproduce, display and transmit the Suppliers Marks solely for the purposes of performing its obligations under these Terms and Conditions, including in connection with the presentation of the Content within the Licensed Media. 4. FEES AND PAYMENT 4.1 In consideration of the provision of the Content by the Supplier, ANL shall pay the Fees which shall be all inclusive for the rights granted above (including syndication). 4.2 ANL will send Supplier a self-generated invoice (Invoice) reflecting the uses along with the payment of the Fee, no more than forty-five (45) days after the use. If the Supplier believes ANL has used Content that is not reflected in an Invoice, or for which payment was not made within forty-five (45) days after the use, the Supplier will promptly notify ANL: (a) via mailonlinecontributionqueries@dmgmedia.co.uk if the use relates to ANLs online digital publication and provide links to the URL(s) or scans of the pages where it believes its images have been used without payment; or (b) via accountspayable@dmgmedia.co.uk if the use relates to ANLs print publications and provide scans of the pages where it believes its images have been used without payment, Each of (a) and (b) a (Notification). If ANL accepts that Content has been used without timely payment of the Fee, it will pay the Fee within fifteen (15) business days of ANLs receipt of the Notification. 4.3 Payment shall be made direct to the bank account nominated in writing by the Supplier. 4.4 If a party fails to make any payment due to the other under these Terms and Conditions by the due date for payment (due date), then, without limiting the other party's remedies under these Terms and Conditions, the defaulting party may be required to pay interest on the overdue amount at the rate of 2% per annum above the Bank of England base rate from time to time. Such interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. The defaulting party shall pay the interest together with the overdue amount. This Clause shall not apply to payments that the non-paying party disputes in good faith. 4.5 If ANL disputes any invoice or other statement of monies due, ANL shall immediately notify the Supplier in writing. 4.6 ANL may, without limiting any other rights or remedies it may have, set off any amounts owed to it by the Supplier against any amounts payable by it to the Supplier. 4.7 All Fees are exclusive of VAT or GST, as applicable. 5. WARRANTIES AND INDEMNITIES 5.1 Each party to these Terms and Conditions represents and warrants to the other party that: (a) it has the full corporate right, power and authority to enter into these Terms and Conditions and to perform its obligations hereunder; (b) the execution of these Terms and Conditions by such party, and the performance by such party of its obligations and duties hereunder, do not and will not violate any agreement to which such party is a party or by which it is otherwise bound; (c) it shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations in relation to the performance by it of its obligations under these Terms and Conditions including but not limited to all applicable laws and regulations concerning bribery and corruption; and (d) when executed and delivered by such party, these Terms and Conditions will constitute legal, valid and binding obligations of such party, enforceable against such party in accordance with its terms. 5.2 The Supplier represents and warrants to ANL that: (a) it has sufficient rights in the Content to grant to ANL the right to use and disseminate such Content in accordance with the terms of these Terms and Conditions; (b) it has secured all third party permissions and releases necessary to grant to ANL the right to use and disseminate such Content in accordance with the terms of these Terms and Conditions; (c) it will take all reasonable precautions in accordance with generally recognised industry standards not to provide Content that contains any matter which is defamatory, libellous, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing, causes injury, invades privacy rights, or is otherwise actionable in any jurisdiction where the Content and/or the Licensed Media are directed; (d) the Content: (i) does not infringe any third party's Intellectual Property Rights; (ii) is created, compiled and published using reasonable care and skill and do not violate any law, statute, ordinance, rule, court order, code of practice or regulation (whether on a regulatory or statutory basis) or generally recognised industry standards, in each case in any jurisdiction where the Content and/or the Licensed Media are directed, including but not limited to the Editors Code of Practice issued by the Editors Code of Practice Committee in the UK, and where relevant the Statement of General Principles issued by the Australian Press Council from time to time; and (iii) does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancel bots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; (e) the only costs to be borne by ANL in respect of the use of the Content in the manner envisaged by these Terms and Conditions are the Fees and (with the exception of the Fees) it shall be responsible for all payments, fees, royalties, charges or otherwise due to all and any third parties arising out of the same; and (f) the Suppliers Marks do not infringe any third party's Intellectual Property Rights or other rights of any third party. 5.3 The Supplier shall indemnify and hold harmless and keep ANL (and each of its employees, directors and agents) fully and effectively indemnified from and against any and all losses, demands, claims, damages, costs, expenses (including consequential losses and loss of profit, legal costs and expenses and VAT or GST thereon) and liabilities suffered or incurred, directly or indirectly by ANL as a result of any breach by the Supplier of the warranties set out in Clauses 5.1 and 5.2. 5.4 Should any legal proceedings against ANL follow from the publication of any Content, then ANL or any other Affiliate shall be entitled, in its absolute discretion (but shall be under no obligation), to take such action as it shall deem fit, including without limitation, settling or defending such claim. The Supplier shall make itself available to assist ANL in every reasonable way possible and hereby acknowledges and agrees that it shall have no claim against ANL in any way relating to ANL's conduct of any such claim where ANL has used the Content in accordance with the terms of these Terms and Conditions. 6. LIMITATION OF REMEDIES AND LIABILITY 6.1 Nothing in this Clause 6 shall limit a partys liability for death or personal injury. 6.2 The liability of the Supplier shall not be limited in respect of a claim by ANL under Clause 5.3. 6.3 Subject to Clauses 6.1 and 6.2, the liability of ANL to Supplier in contract, tort, negligence, pre-contract or other representations or otherwise arising out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions or the performance or observance of its obligations under these Terms and Conditions shall be limited in aggregate to the aggregate Fees paid by ANL to the Supplier in the six months immediately preceding the incurring of such loss or damage. 6.4 ANL shall not be liable in contract, tort (including negligence), pre-contract or other representations (other than fraudulent misrepresentations) or otherwise arising out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions for: (a) any economic losses (including, without limitation, loss of revenues, profits, contracts, business or anticipated savings); and (b) any loss of goodwill or reputation; or (c) any special, indirect or consequential losses, in any case, whether or not such losses were within the contemplation of the Supplier at the date of these Terms and Conditions, or were suffered or incurred by that party arising out of or in connection with the provisions of these Terms and Conditions or any matter arising under these Terms and Conditions. The following clause 6.5 does not apply to, and shall have no effect in, Australia: 6.5 Except as set out in these Terms and Conditions, ANL excludes all conditions, terms, representations (other than fraudulent or negligent representations) and warranties relating to the subject matter hereof, whether imposed by statute or by operation of law or otherwise, that are not expressly stated herein, including without limitation, the implied warranties of satisfactory quality and fitness for a particular purpose. The following clause 6.6 applies to, and has effect in, Australia only: 6.6 Except as set out in these Terms and Conditions and to the extent permitted by law, ANL excludes all conditions, terms, representations (other than fraudulent or negligent representations) and warranties relating to the subject matter hereto. To the extent that ANLs liability for breach of an implied warranty or condition cannot be excluded by law, ANLs liability will be limited, at ANLs election, to the resupply of the services or the payment of the costs of the resupply of the services. 6.7 Each provision of this Clause 6 excluding or limiting liability shall be construed separately, applying and surviving even if for any reason one or other of these provisions is held inapplicable or unenforceable in any circumstances and shall remain in force notwithstanding the expiry or termination of these Terms and Conditions. 6.8 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in these Terms and Conditions, if ANL believes that any Content may create liability for ANL, ANL may remove such Content from the Licensed Media as ANL believes, in its sole discretion, is prudent or necessary to minimise or eliminate ANLs potential liability. 7. POST- TERMINATION RETENTION OF CONTENT 7.1 ANLs right to use the Content as contemplated hereunder is perpetual and shall survive the termination of these Terms and Conditions. 7.2 On expiry or termination of these Terms and Conditions for any reason, all provisions of these Terms and Conditions shall cease to have effect, except that any provision which can reasonably be inferred as continuing, including, but not limited to, the perpetual rights and licences granted under Clause 2.1, shall continue in full force and effect. 7.3 For the avoidance of doubt, neither the termination (for any reason) nor expiration of these Terms and Conditions shall require ANL to delete or destroy copies of, or remove from transmission or display, all or part of any Licensed Media containing Content in accordance with the terms of these Terms and Conditions. 8. GENERAL 8.1 Any notice required to be given under these Terms and Conditions shall be in writing and shall only be deemed to have been duly served if hand delivered or sent by first class recorded delivery within the United Kingdom and outside the United Kingdom by registered airmail and to the partys registered address and in the case of ANL to Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT with a copy to contracts@assocnews.co.uk 8.2 Any notice pursuant to Clause 8.1 shall be deemed to have been served: (a) if hand delivered, at the time of delivery; (b) if sent by post, two days after posting; and (c) if sent by airmail, seven days after posting. 8.3 Supplier shall not be entitled to assign the benefit and/or burden of these Terms and Conditions in whole or in part without the ANLs prior written consent. 8.4 Unless a signed and dated agreement exists between the parties, these Terms and Conditions contain the entire agreement between the parties relating to the subject matter covered and supersede any previous agreements, arrangements, written or oral, between the parties in relation to such matters. 8.5 The parties acknowledge that no standard terms and conditions sent to the Supplier by A&N Media Finance Services Limited (A&N) shall apply to these Terms and Conditions. Similarly, no terms or conditions endorsed upon, delivered with or contained in the Supplier's quotation, acknowledgement or acceptance of order, specification, invoice or similar document shall take effect in relation to the licence of Content under these Terms and Conditions and the Supplier waives any right which it otherwise might have to rely on such terms and conditions. 8.6 The parties acknowledge that ANL enters into these Terms and Conditions for the benefit of itself and each of its Affiliates. Any Affiliate from time to time may for its own benefit enforce in its own right any term of these Terms and Conditions subject to and in accordance with the provisions of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the terms of these Terms and Conditions may be varied, amended or modified or these Terms and Conditions may be suspended, cancelled or terminated by agreement in writing between the parties or may be rescinded, in each case without the consent of any such Affiliate. Except as provided in this Clause 8.6, a person who is not a party to these Terms and Conditions has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any terms of these Terms and Conditions but this Clause 8.6 does not affect a right or remedy of a third party which exists or is available apart from that Act. 8.7 If any provision (or part of a provision) of these Terms and Conditions is found by any court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, the other provisions shall remain in force. 8.8 If any invalid, unenforceable or illegal provision would be valid, enforceable or legal if some part of it were deleted, the provision shall apply with whatever modification is necessary to give effect to the commercial intention of the parties. 8.9 Each party shall do, sign, execute and deliver all deeds, documents, instruments and acts reasonably required of it by notice from the other party to carry out and give full effect to these Terms and Conditions and the rights and obligations of the parties under it. 8.10 Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall be construed as creating a partnership or joint venture of any kind between the parties or as constituting either party as the agent of the other party for any purpose whatsoever and neither party shall have the authority or power to bind the other party or to contract in the name of or create a liability against the other party in any way or for any purpose. 8.11 These Terms and Conditions and any disputes or claims arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England. 8.12 The parties irrevocably agree that the courts of England have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim that arises out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims). The following clause 8.13 shall have apply to, and have effect, in, Australia only: 8.13 The parties irrevocably agree that the courts of England have non-exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim that arises out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims). APPENDIX 1 Invoice format: The invoice for content licensed under this agreement must at a minimum include or be supplemented with the following information: Type of content claimed (video, words, pictures) Article IDs or links Video IDs for video invoices Title of caption Fee claimed if exclusively negotiated/applicable Please note that standard rates apply where exclusive rates have not been agreed. George Vine, a highly respected former Daily Mail foreign correspondent, has died aged 97. During his illustrious career Vine also worked for the North China Daily News, where he made headlines himself in 1949 when he was sentenced to execution by firing squad after running a story about the Red Army as Communism swept over China. He was spared after a diplomatic intervention. He was the Mails correspondent based in Bonn, Germany, for ten years from 1960, then reported from there for Reuters for another decade. He was decorated by the German government for services to journalism. Private Lives Of The Tudors by Tracy Borman (Hodder 25) Poor Prince Harry! No, not that one but one youve probably never heard of a Harry who, on New Years Day 1511 to lavish national rejoicing, was born to be King of England as the desperately wanted son of Henry VIII. Tragic: Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon and baby Harry, as seen in Channel 4s 2001 documentary Six Wives Of Henry VIII The lad was set up in his own palace with 44 male attendants plus dozens of nurses and cradle-rockers, only to die two months later. Private Lives Of The Tudors by Tracy Borman (Hodder 25) His infant death changed history. Just think if he had lived ... no six wives for his dad, just the one; no split with Rome; no Elizabeth I a completely different world, in fact. Thats how much public affairs were impacted by the private lives of Tudor monarchs the subject of this wonderfully researched and vividly written book, covering every intimate detail from codpieces to courtesans, and royal undershirts (changed daily) to flushing privies. Catherine of Aragon, the dead princes mother, was inconsolable but hardly surprised as she gave birth no fewer than six times in all (not to mention countless miscarriages) and only one child, Mary, survived. Producing babies was vital for the dynasty. Failure was not an option. Henry VIII genuinely loved his Spanish wife, but when she couldnt give him a son, the survival of the crown came first. She had to go. Next, please... Titanic by Jonathan Mayo (Short Books 8.99) Titanic by Jonathan Mayo (Short Books 8.99) HISTORY is riddled with irony. George Beedem, a cabin steward on a maiden-voyage luxury liner, wrote to his wife just before setting off across the Atlantic complaining that he had a rotten cold and couldnt do his job of cleaning properly because of a shortage of dusters. I wish the bally ship at the bottom of the sea, he told her. The ship was, of course, the Titanic, and poor Beedem was one of the 1,514 individuals who died after she hit an iceberg. Jonathan Mayo master of minute-by-minute reconstructions of major historical events brilliantly portrays the human drama of that tragic night, spell-binding the reader with tension even though we all know what the outcome will be. The power is in the detail. The millionaires on board with their secret mistresses, a fugitive father absconding from his wife with their two children, the professional gamblers planning to rip off wealthy passengers. Savour the last suppers filet mignon in first class, roast turkey in second, rabbit pie in steerage before look-out Frederick Fleet in the crows nest (without benefit of binoculars because theyd gone missing) spots a black object high above the water... it didnt seem very large and 46,000 tons of metal and wood collide with 500,000 tons of ice. The History Thieves by Ian Cobain (Portobello 20) The History Thieves by Ian Cobain (Portobello 20) NEARLY half a century ago, eminent Labour politician Dick Crossman observed that secretiveness is the real English disease and the chronic ailment of British government. He was dead right then, and dead right now, too. Those who rule our lives prefer to keep us in the dark on important matters and devise ever-more ingenious ways to ensure light does not break in. Guardian journalist Ian Cobain does a public service detailing precisely how and to what worrying extent secrets and lies have shaped the modern state. He exposes how past truths are hidden by the ruthless weeding of documents in official archives, ostensibly on security grounds but usually for no better reason than to save face or prevent recrimination. And present truths are equally obscured by the increasing use of in camera courts and secret tribunals in the administration of justice. Meanwhile a mass of private information about each and every one of us mounts up in secret data stores at GCHQ in Cheltenham, culled from the internet records of people all around the world. A mind-blowing 100 billion such pieces of data are grabbed every day and filed in a digital repository known as the Black Hole. And who will police this creepy new world? Cobains chilling book demonstrates how important the role of the journalist has always been in countering secrecy and in holding power to account. Its more vital now than ever. Mr Barrys War by Caroline Shenton (OUP 25) Mr Barrys War by Caroline Shenton (OUP 25) WHEN the old Houses of Parliament, a dilapidated complex of buildings going back to the Middle Ages, went up in flames in 1834 after a basement fire got out of hand, many onlookers cheered and cackled with pleasure. With MPs and peers as much in disrepute back in that era as they are these days, there was a sense of just deserts in the air, along with ash and the acrid smell. But one man in the crowd watching from Westminster Bridge spotted his opportunity. What a chance! exclaimed Charles Barry, an ambitious London architect with a reputation for a very distinctive Gothic style of public building. He saw off the submissions of 100 other architects to take charge of the re-building project and spent the next 24 years of his life battling all and sundry to make it happen. His stately Victorian masterpiece on the banks of the Thames is now tatty at the edges and barely fit for purpose. After 175 years of service, it is in desperate need of a serious 21st century overhaul. MPs will move out in 2023 for this to happen. All of which makes this account by Caroline Shenton, a former archivist at the Houses of Parliament, not only a fascinating read but a timely one, too. East West Street by Philippe Sands (Weidenfeld 20) East West Street by Philippe Sands (Weidenfeld 20) LEADING human rights lawyer Philippe Sands won this years Baillie Gifford (formerly the Samuel Johnson) prize for non-fiction with this intriguing story linking the lives of four individuals caught up in the Holocaust. One was his own Jewish grandfather, who had escaped the slaughter but died in 1993 leaving two old briefcases crammed with photographs, letters, passports and other clues begging to be followed. Sands set out to uncover his story, using all his forensic legal skills. The trail led him to his grandfathers home town of Lviv and to Hans Frank, the German Fuhrer of overrun Poland who ordered the round-up of Jews there. For this he went on trial at Nuremberg, where he claimed that personally hed never hurt a fly so shouldnt hang. Also at Nuremberg were two of the most eminent jurists of the age, both also Jews from Lviv whose own families were among the murdered millions. They were at loggerheads on a conundrum of international law thrown up by the Holocaust: was what the Nazis had done a criminal act against the Jews as individuals (and therefore a crime against humanity) or as a group (genocide)? It was an arcane legalistic point but an important one for future prosecutions in this area. Like a detective, Sands ties these four characters together, drawing in the strands until the evil Frank, his protestations of innocence rejected, dangles from the end of a rope. The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood (Cape 25) The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood (Cape 25) BETWEEN the First and Second World Wars, life for the upper classes in Britains several thousand country houses was grand, pampered and polished. It was also eye-wateringly bitchy. Take poor Margaret Greville, social-climbing daughter of a Scottish brewing magnate. She presided over posh Polesden Lacey but was derided in diaries as a fat slug filled with venom (by Harold Nicolson) and a galumphing, greedy snobbish old toad (Cecil Beaton). Winston Churchills aunt declared she would rather have an open sewer flowing through her drawing room than Mrs Greville round for tea. Oh dear! The sharp-tongued Dowager in Downton seems positively benign by comparison. This is just one story from a kaleidoscope of anecdotes and individuals compiled by Adrian Tinniswood in his compelling volume of social history, along with some expert analysis of, and insights into, a generation of toffs who survived the upheaval of one war, only to be overwhelmed by the second one 20 years later. Crusty old types, marooned in the past, maintained bathrooms werent necessary when there were still battalions of servants to run up and down stairs with jugs of hot water. The second war would put manpower at a premium and end that particular conceit. The Cultural Revolution 19621976 by Frank Dikotter (Bloomsbury 25) The Cultural Revolution 19621976 by Frank Dikotter (Bloomsbury 25) LIKE every politically aware Sixties student, I had my copy of Chairman Maos Little Red Book as a symbol of protest against well, we were never quite sure what, just against everything! But what we didnt realise as we posed in faux outrage was that, inspired by the same thoughts, young people in China were going on a deadly rampage. Appointing themselves Red Guards, they hounded so-called intellectuals to death, tortured their teachers, burned down libraries and churches. Love was decadent and sex taboo. Why? Because all such things were suddenly deemed bourgeois and reactionary, and Mao, under the slogans of To rebel is justified and Smash the old, was unleashing a reign of terror to eliminate them. In fact, the lecherous, chain-smoking old fraud was simply saving his own skin from his political enemies by creating chaos. Ideology was just an excuse. Mao, probably the greatest mass murderer of all time with the blood of 60 million on his hands, was stirring the pot again, regardless of consequence. Hong Kong professor Frank Dikotters previous book in his trilogy revealed in horrifying detail how Mao callously used famine to bring his nation to heel. It was an eye-opener and a page-turner. So too is this last book in the series as it counts the terrible cost of Maos self-serving doctrine of continuous revolution. The Making Of India by Kartar Lalvani (Bloomsbury 25) The Making Of India by Kartar Lalvani (Bloomsbury 25) Imperial Britain scuttled away from the Raj in 1948 with guilt-driven haste, made worse by an ill-handled partition of the country into India and Pakistan which descended into violence and cost millions of lives. The result was a legacy of recrimination. Two centuries of British rule were dismissed contemptuously as economic exploitation and racial arrogance, from which nothing good came. This book takes the opposite view, praising what Britain did for the subcontinent. Its significance is that the case is made by an Indian, Dr Kartar Lalvani, a Sikh, a successful businessman and a scholar in his spare time. He has amassed a Himalaya of evidence to re-balance the record and recognise the positive side of imperialism that has for so long been ignored. Britain did not loot India of its greatest riches; that had already been done by the Persians and Afghans. What the British brought to the table was stable and unified government, backed up by a professional civil service, judiciary, army and police force. They built railways, bridges, schools, hospitals, the very infrastructure of a modern state, and the effect was permanent. Britains remarkable contribution continues to underpin the worlds largest democracy in the 21st century, Dr Lalvani concludes. A paralysed dog with spinal injuries who learnt how to walk again can be seen running around in happiness in a video depicting his remarkable recovery. Street dog Sidney was found stranded beside the road in Rajasthan, unable to move and swarming with flies which were eating away at an enormous wound on his rear. He rescued by charity Animal Aid Unlimited, which found him unable to put any weight on his hind legs due to a spinal injury. Scroll down for video Sidney was found at the side of the road in Rajasthan, unable to move his two hind legs He also had an enormous wound on his rear, which is why flies were swarming round him as he lay stranded in the street but was taken to Animal Aid Unlimited's rescue centre in Udaipur He was taken to the charity's Udaipur sanctuary for treatment, but while his wounds began to heal, he remained lame. Every time he tried to walk, his hind legs gave way - and his rescuers feared that he may never get back on all four paws. A spokesperson for the charity said: 'We feared the worst. Paralysed and gravely wounded, this street dog's backside was covered with a swarm of flies. 'His hind legs were unable to move but his face was bright and alert - his spirit seemed trapped in his injured body and his sensitive eyes pleaded for help.' But as his wound began to heal, his rescuers grew increasingly concerned that the spinal injuries he had would not improve despite ongoing physiotherapy Every time poor Sidney tried to stand or walk, he would wobble and his hind legs would buckle 'After several weeks of treatment and wound healing, we began his physical therapy, gently massaging his legs and encouraging him with sunlight and cuddles. 'But whenever he tried to walk, his legs collapsed and we worried that he might not ever walk again. And then there came a breakthrough - Sidney started to gain strength in his legs and gradually started to learn how to walk again. The team at the rescue centre persevered, massaging Sidney's muscles every day and giving him physiotherapy But there was no improvement for weeks and they had grown worried that he might be permanently paralysed But determined Sidney didn't give up hope, and neither did they - and soon there was a breakthrough Before his rescuers knew it, the determined dog was bounding around the charity's sanctuary as if nothing had ever happened to him. 'This darling boy never gave up hope,' the Animal Aid Unlimited spokesperson added. Sidney's story has touched the hearts of thousands of people online - nearly 40,000 had viewed the video on the charity's Facebook page within just a few hours, with many hundreds more leaving emotional comments. Sidney started to improve and was eventually able to walk by himself unaided There's now now stopping him as he bounds around the Animal Aid Unlimited centre And he is clearly grateful to the team who rescued him, and can be seen running up to them for cuddles in his remarkable recovery video Animal Aid Unlimited - set up by Erika, Jim and Claire Abrams-Myers 15 years ago after the family relocated to India from Seattle - rescues thousands of animals from India's streets every year. About 50 dogs, 30 cows, 25 donkeys and five pigs who cannot be returned to the street live at its sanctuary where it also cares for some 200 animals under treatment for injuries and illnesses at any one time. Workers in the textile industry are among the biggest beneficiaries of the Centre's demonetisation move, Union minister Smriti Irani said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Mail Today Make in India Fashion Summit, she also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with making khadi 'cool' again. The event held in the Capital treated fashion enthusiasts to a day of stirring discussions as well as the latest buzz in couture and policy-making with star-studded panels comprising leading politicians and designers. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said that demonetisation would improve conditions for workers in the industry, who are often paid below the minimum wage 'Earlier the labourers used to complain about not getting their dues as decided and there was no record that showed whether they were getting at least the minimum wages,' said the Textiles Minister. 'This approach (digital payments) will ensure that each labourer gets the minimum wage. They will be getting their payment with transparency.' Irani revealed that her ministry is ensuring all stakeholders learn to use the digital platform for their transactions. The minister said a one-size-fits- all approach will not work in the Indian fashion world 'Whoever wants to be part of the transparent system has approached the government,' she said. 'We are helping workers open bank accounts and get Aadhaar cards with the help of the local administration.' The minister said a one-size-fits- all approach will not work in the Indian fashion world, as she made a strong pitch for vacuuming up the talent in the countryside and bringing it to the centre stage. Irani said that weavers and artisans 'deserved front row seats at fashion shows' and should be shown far more appreciation for their talents On being asked why politicians shy away from being associated with fashion shows and from taking a seat in the front row, Irani said: 'Weavers and artisans are the ones who deserve front seats at fashion shows. It is important for them to understand that they are not devoid of appreciation.' Talking about the employability of artisans, the BJP leader said after skill development, the placement has gone up to 75 per cent and the ministry also does a follow-up. Speaking on how style savvy she is, Irani said: 'I have never had a conscious decision making process when it comes to what to wear. In India you wear what you like. Designers and industry leaders spoke at the Mail Today event celebrating homegrown fashion 'Even as an actress, I never had a style quotient. I was happy with one mangalsutra.' The session entitled Reinventing Khadi - Fabric of the Future saw panelists dispelling various myths about the hand-spun cloth while also focusing on its road to the global platform. Khushboo Aggarwal, creative head at Ritu Beri Designs, explained that khadi is aptly named 'vichitra vastra' because it isn't just a fabric but a serious thought. 'Khadi has been neglected for years, but it's now fashionable because it's being blended with silks and cotton while retaining all its qualities, which gives it a global image,' she said. Union minister Kalraj Mishra said khadi has once again gained prominence among the masses just like it had during the Independence struggle. 'Prime Minister Narendra Modi felt the image of khadi was not being presented in the proper way. However, he encouraged people to buy khadi products. 'And it gives us so much satisfaction to see the faith people hold in this present government that today khadi has once again become a style statement,' he said. How India's big fat wedding industry has contributed to handloom also came into focus at the summit. 'It's now cool to go vintage. Different royalties in different parts of the country contribute to bridal wear today. No matter what happens, a Rajasthani bride will never wear a black lehenga,' said designer Ritu Kumar. Khadi is fashionable due to 'blend with silk and cotton' Leading textile industry figures spoke about the surge in the popularity of khadi and dispelled myths relating to the material at the Mail Today Fashion Summit on Wednesday. AK Garg, deputy director, marketing and exports (I/C), KVIC, and Khushboo Agarwal, creative head, Ritu Beri Designs, focused on the gradual climb of khadi on the global platform and benefits of the boom. Explaining that khadi was aptly termed 'vichitra vastra' because it isn't just fabric, but a 'serious thought', Agarwal said: 'Khadi has been neglected for years, but it's fashionable now because it's being blended with silk and cotton while retaining its qualities, which gives it a global image. Khushboo Agarwal (left) and AK Garg both spoke about the rising popularity of khadi 'We are using Indo-Western silhouettes, giving khadi a modern flavour while retaining the signature designs.' She dispelled myths associated with khadi that it can only be worn in summers, can only have cotton blends and was introduced by Gandhi. Pointing out that the khadi industry generates a huge number of employment, Garg said KVIC is taking multiple steps to promote the material. Shoppers perusing textiles products at a khadi market in New Delhi earlier this year 'We are providing lots of facilities to artisans, including setting up workshops for them at their native villages, besides coming up with other schemes such as providing them with Rs 1,200 per month for their child's education and Rs 25 lakh loan facility. 'We are also making sure that there are no middlemen involved in the payment procedure of artisans.' The duo said this support is encouraging youngsters to take up the art as a profession. The Great Indian Wedding session saw top designers Nikhil Mehra, Shantanu Mehra, Anju Modi and Ritu Kumar decoding what's trending among the modern brides. The industry leaders discussed how most wedding trousseaus are now going vintage and about the rising popularity of khadi in wedding wear, not just for the bride but the entire family. Stating that the Indian bride has changed over the years, and the selection of a bridal outfit is no longer a family matter, Nikhil said: 'Today, the Indian woman knows what she wants and makes the choice herself. Nikhil Mehra, Shantanu Mehra, Anju Modi and Ritu Kumar all spoke at the event 'She wants to feel sexy and many are opting for a vintage look with a contemporary twist. 'There is pure couture which comprises traditional Indian embroidery and then there is the contemporary version of couture, which comprises a great emphasis on the structure and a lot of drapes.' The designer also remarked that the next trend is going to be clothing for grooms. 'A lot of men are showing a keen interest in their wedding outfit, especially when it comes to handloom. The future of khadi is through the men of the industry.' The designers said the current trend was for vintage wedding attire with a modern twist Anita observed that the combination of unusual colours in a wedding trousseau is what is attracting the young, modern brides of today. 'We have gone back to the beautiful trend of saris and lehengas at weddings, which is the legacy of India. In a way, what weddings have done for the handloom industry is phenomenal. 'Because no matter what, most people opt for a royal, regal and classy look, which translates to khadi.' Shantanu pointed out that today, a wedding comprises four to five events and that means different attires for all the functions. The designers also spoke about the rising popularity of khadi in wedding wear 'While the bridal day almost always means a lehenga, a Sangeet could translate to a wardrobe comprising a gown or a constructed piece.' Ritu, a pioneer in wedding attire, also spoke about how the wedding industry has contributed to handloom and observed the current trend in the same. 'It's now cool to go vintage. Different royalties in different part of the country contribute to bridal wear today,' Ritu said. 'No matter what happens, a Rajasthani bride will never wear a black lehenga.' She also shared with the audience that Kareena Kapoor Khan's wedding outfit was her most difficult project to date. 'Sharmila Tagore asked me to design Kareena's Joda, which she got from her mother in law-the begum of Pataudi, who got it from her mother in law. Delhi's last six begging elephants which are taken all around the city seeking alms and showcased at farmhouses, opulent weddings and temple pujas are finally set to be rescued. Delhi's forest department is planning to confiscate and transport them to Central Zoo Authority (CZA)- approved elephant rehabilitation centres in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other neighbouring states. The move comes in response to a damning report from members of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and veterinary scientists who inspected the pachyderms in July 2016. Delhi's last six begging elephants which are taken all around the city seeking alms and showcased at farmhouses, opulent weddings and temple pujas are finally set to be rescued The ears of the elephants have been torn by an excessive use of the ankush stick It details malnutrition, overwork and abuse meted out to the large mammals, including a blind female. Their tusks have been cut without seeking permission from authorities when ivory is a valuable poaching article in the black market. Their ears are torn from excessive use of ankus (an iron stick used for taming) and feet pads are thin and cracked from standing on concrete floors and walking on hot metal roads. Also, the enclosures they are kept in at south Delhi's Sangam Vihar area are tiny dingy and unhygienic rooms with no proper drinking water or pool facility, the report says. The two bull elephants Hiragaj and Gangaram and the four females Moti, Chandni, Dhonmati and Yeon can often be seen parked under the ITO bridge. The inspection was commissioned by chief wildlife warden AK Shukla. Titled 'Welfare Assessment and Legal Compliance of Captive Asian Elephants (Elephant Maximus) in New Delhi', the report has been submitted to him recently. The animals have been kept on the banks of the Yamuna in the Capital for centuries. However, the changing environment of the city and mounting pressure from activists culminated in a Supreme Court judgement last year banning the exploitation of the pachyderms. Shukla told Mail Today: 'We are going to send show-cause notices to the elephant owners first. The 1961, Royal Tour to India, Queen Elizabeth II is pictured taking an elephant ride in the town of Banares 'If their response is non-satisfactory, we will seize the animals. 'However till then, we are being careful that they do not sell off the elephants while the lawful process is on.' Decorated elephants at the Tripunithura Temple. The temple elephants are decorated with gold plated caparisons (nettipattom), bells, and necklaces. The national Capital had a large number of domesticated elephants before and after Independence, mostly for providing royal rides, aiding construction and lifting heavy loads. In 2003, there were at least 22 pachyderms in private hands in the city. These are believed to have been acquired from the Sonpur fair in Bihar, which receives poached elephants from the forests of Assam. While earlier they were much in demand for various purposes, their utility in urban Delhi has considerably reduced now. 'The overall welfare of six captive elephants inspected in Delhi was found to be very poor. Moti is completely blind by right eye cause of which she is nervous, easily frightened and resists commands of her mahouts,' said animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi, who was part of the inspection committee. 'A bull elephant, Hiragaj, was found to be in musth (aggressive state) but there was no bull pen at Sangam Vihar where his master keeps him, to restrain it from causing damage to public property or lives. 'The same bull had been reportedly involved in attacks on people and property during musth on at least two instances.' Poor conditions: These elephants belong to several individual owners who work the elephants to earn a living for themselves and their families The ownership certificates found on three elephant owners were also illegitimate, the report states. They were issued in years not corresponding to when the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had allowed for the declaration of captive pachyderms. The elephant is a wild animal included in Schedule 1 of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972. There has been a recent crackdown on people riding elephants in India (pictured - The 1961, Royal Tour to India) Section 42 of the Act provides for certificate of ownership and requires ensuring that the owners have adequate facilities for housing, maintenance and their upkeep. Guidelines issued by Project Elephant of Government of India include ban on entry of elephants in municipal limits of cities. One of the elephant owners Mail Today met at ITO bridge, Abdul Hasan, said, 'We have been in possession of these elephants since our forefathers' time. 'We earn a meagre income from these elephants; they are our shauk (passion) and we take good care of them. It is unfair of the government to want to take them away.' The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is getting ready for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017. The ideological mentor of BJP has started holding district-level volunteers' meets to rally supporters, though with special focus on consolidating electoral reach within the Dalit communities of the state. While the RSS has been running several Dalit uplift programmes across the nation, including UP, the recent focus is backed by more gravity and assertion. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the ideological parent of ruling party BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also at one time of career served as a RSS pracharak. (file pic) As the political fabric of Uttar Pradesh is fractured along caste as well as religious lines, the party as well as the RSS is trying to offset the voting pattern of years past wherein the right-wing party has not found favour with the minorities. RSS sources also told Mail Today that while such meets are part of the usual social outreach exercise of the organisation, there are several other angles to them - those pertaining to organisational consolidation - which is why the meets have been called 'samanvaya baithaks' or coordination meetings. RSS sources told Mail Today that the Sangh was aggressively spreading the agenda of 'one village, one well, and one crematorium'. The RSS has started holding district-level volunteers' meets to rally supporters, though with special focus on consolidating electoral reach within UP's Dalit communities (file pic) 'This is nothing new, as we have been batting to bring about social change to this effect for long. 'But now we are aggressively pushing it at the ground level with more vigour and energy. The state is already divided among castes and religions and in such a scenario we need to consolidate the society,' said a senior RSS functionary. The BJP has already tried hard to appropriate Dalit icon Babasaheb BR Ambedkar during its Parivartan Yatras in which even the move to demonetise high-value notes was attributed to the vision of the Dalit leader as expressed in one of his books. 'These meetings are not a new phenomenon. Whenever a big occasion comes, there is all the more possibility to expand our social reach. 'We are also running a campaign to urge people to come out and vote. Who they vote for is a matter of their own choice and Indian voting system is through secret ballot. 'But we want that people must exercise their franchise irrespective of whether they vote for us or not. We call this campaign 'Pehle Matdaan, Phir Jalpaan' (first go vote and then have breakfast),' said Kripa Shankar, Kshetriya Prachar Pramukh in UP. The RSS has been running several Dalit uplift programmes across the nation, including UP, the recent focus is backed by more gravity and assertion (file pic) These meets are also aimed at managing the perception of BJP at the local level, both internally as well as externally, claimed RSS sources. 'These are coordination meetings at the local level for the local karyakartas and swayamsevaks, so that they can put in a concerted effort during the elections, though such meetings are held even during normal times. Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, saying he should be ready for punishment over his failed moved to ban the circulation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. Comparing PM Modi with Uncle Podger - a character in Jerome K Jerome classic Three Men in a Boat - Lalu demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe over Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's corruption charge against Modi. In an exclusive interview with India Today in Patna, Yadav said that Modi should be ready for any punishment that the people might reward him with, as his note ban move has failed miserably. Yadav said Modi should be ready for any punishment that the people might reward him with, as his note ban move has failed miserably Yadav said Prime Minister Modi must explain why he accepted bribe. He has declared that he will be holding a 'maharally' in Patna to expose Narendra Modi further. The RJD president said that the PM has destroyed the country's economy with this one move of demonetisation. Yadav said: 'He asked for 50 days from public. The deadline is coming to an end. 'He should get ready for punishment for the massive discomfort that he has caused to the common man.' The RJD president said that the PM has destroyed the country's economy with this one move of demonetisation The RJD leader added, 'India is not yet ready for the cashless economy that the Prime Minister is aiming for.' 'From farmers to small businessman and the common man in the country, all have been troubled by demonetisation,' Yadav said. On December 19, a terrorist ploughed a lorry into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and wounding a dozen others. On July 18, an Afghan teenager used an axe to launch attacks on a train in the German town of Wuerzburg. On July 22, a teenager of Iranian origin shot dead nine people in Munich. On July 24, a Syrian refugee killed a woman with a machete and another Syrian refugee exploded himself in the German town of Ansbach. Rescue workers at the scenes and the truck that crashed into a Christmas market, close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin Similar attacks have taken place in Western cities in recent years and in India too, such attacks have occurred; for example, jihadis cut off professor TJ Joseph's hand in Kerala in 2010. Religions Nations are nowadays invaded by ideas, not necessarily by military force. Recently, television debates about the use of pellet guns in Kashmir appeared more threatening to the cohesion of India than the actual terror threat from Pakistan. Similarly, immigrants arriving from Syria in Germany and other nations of European are the carriers of ideas, which run into conflict with the Western mores of conduct. In India, we might think that the problem is elsewhere. But exactly for religious reasons, this great nation was partitioned in 1947, a phenomenon worse than jihadism in the West. In case of the migrants from Syria arriving in Europe and the US, since most immigrants are Muslims, it is inevitable that they will carry some Islamist ideas that will come into conflict with the values of host countries. Although not all immigrants will take to violence, some of them will look at the cultural norms and values of host countries in negative terms. There is a risk that such immigrants may be radicalised by Islamic clerics in European mosques, by Arabic-language jihadi literature available to them, or by Islam-related websites promoted through Google and other search engines by Wahhabi groups based in the Middle East. A mourner places a candle on December 21, 2016 at a makeshift memorial near the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche In 1901, US President William McKinley was assassinated by a refugee who was inspired by a philosophy. Jihadism is a philosophy. Islam is a philosophy, a system of ideas, a type of politics, an ideology, a movement of ideas all rolled into one. Islamism is Islam's methodology. Jihadism is the weaponised version of Islamism. This methodology flourishes by multiple means, peacefully and violently. For example, on October 19, a political rally of Bahujan Samaj Party at Bahjoi in Uttar Pradesh, began with the recitation of Quran. Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Nadwatul Ulama of Lucknow and Darul Uloom Deoband. While it can be argued that terrorism has originated from all religions, the current wave of terror emanates from Islam. The phenomenon of self-radicalising jihadis is being seen as new but it is not. For several decades from the 1920s onwards, India witnessed self-radicalising jihadi attacks. The so-called lone wolf jihadis have come from all branches of Islam, including the Sufi school. For example, on August 8, 1936 Murid Hussain of Pakistani town Chakwal, who had offered baiy'a (oath of allegiance) to Sufi mystic Khwaja Abdul Aziz Chishti, procured a dagger and killed veterinary doctor Ram Gopal allegedly for naming an animal after the prophet. Hussain's radicalisation happened after Prophet Muhammad visited him in a dream. Conflict In understanding jihadism, the common mistake made by democracies is that they think of religion and politics as two different things. This distinction is not clear to Muslim minds, as Muslims are taught right from childhood to think of Islam as a complete way of life. Islam is not merely religion, but it is also a system of government that is now engaged in a conflict with democracy which is the accepted form of government for our age. This conflict worsened after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Even if the conflicts in the Middle East end, some form of this conflict between Islam and democracy will last but the violence ensuing from it can be minimised and managed. View of the truck that crashed that into a Christmas market killing 12 Debates At the end of World War II, democracies faced threat from the state-backed weaponised version of communism originating from the Soviet Union and its allies. In the early decades of the 21st century, democracies are facing a new threat from jihadism as well as its unarmed version known as Islamism, which has become acceptable at political rallies, or with regard to public debates about burqa, triple talaq and Sharia banking. The Chattanooga Public Librarys Passport Acceptance Program Manager Diane Moore has been chosen by the United States Department of State as the 2016 Passport Acceptance Agent of the Year.The Department of State sincerely appreciates your commitment to providing quality passport acceptance services to our mutual customers. Your dedication to effectively and efficiently managing the Passport Acceptance Program at the Chattanooga Public Library ensures a positive customer experience while maintaining the integrity of the passport application process, said Brenda S.Sprague with the US DOS in the award letter received by the library this week.The program, offered exclusively at the librarys downtown branch where Ms. Moore has been an employee for 21 years, is offered Monday through Saturday by appointment. I am thrilled to see Diane honored for her leadership with this successful program. Diane and her team deliver exceptional service to the people of Chattanooga and it is wonderful to see her work recognized on a national level, said Corinne Hill, executive director for the library.Ms. Moore has been managing the program since 2014 and has overseen an increase of nearly double the amount of passports processed through the downtown library. She also supervises the continual training of 14 library staff members who are certified passport acceptance agents, and hosts the branchs annual Passport Awareness Month each September. Ms. Sprague stated Ms. Moore has taken the initiative to promote passport acceptance services throughout the community and has built solid relationships with the Congressional District Offices and local business leaders.The librarys passport acceptance program processes an average of 300 passports each month in the busiest stretch between January and May. The program is also a successful revenue stream for the general operating fund of the library, now bringing in nearly $75,000 annually (FY 2015-16), officials said.Ms. Moore says protecting personally identifying information is critical to the success of the U.S. Passport program, and librarians and library staff have extensive training in this area. The State Department cares tremendously about the accuracy of the applications they receive from a Passport Acceptance Agency, and we have a reputation for attention to detail, she said.Libraries are a natural location for offering this service, according to Ms. Moore, since the trusted public space is conducive to accommodating busy and large families as well as individual schedules, offering extended hours, and a childrens department for restless young ones during the application process. We keep crayons and paper nearby too, Ms. Moore said.There are now over 200 libraries in the United States offering the service, according to Public Libraries Online, (May 2016). Full details on the Chattanooga Public Librarys Passport Acceptance Program are listed on the librarys website. Wincanton has won the contract to lease and fit Ikea's two new warehouses in London CONTRACT WIN Logistics group Wincanton has won the contract to lease and fit Ikea's two new warehouses in London. The AIM-listed company's shares rose on announcement of the four-year contract for the buildings covering more than 500,000 sq ft north and south of the Thames. STAKE SALE Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev is selling its 54.5 per cent stake in Africa's largest Coke bottler to the Coca-Cola company for 2.5billion. The Budweiser brewer, whose 79billion takeover of SABMiller was approved in September, needed to offload the business to get the merger past regulators. AB InBev has already agreed to sell SABMiller's Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime brands to Tokyo-based drinks company Asahi. SERVELEC SURGES Shares in technology firm Servelec soared more than 10 per cent after it won a contract to work on gas platforms in the North Sea. The software group, which provides control systems to large oil and gas companies, will work on the first gas platform by May next year. Alan Stubbs, chief executive of Servelec, said: 'The remote operations and monitoring system provided by Servelec will extend the operational life and viability of the platform for years to come.' FASHION ROLE Fashion retailer New Look has finally made Richard Collyer's interim chief finance officer role permanent. Collyer was filling in after former Tesco finance boss Mike Iddon left for Pets at Home. Collyer joined the company in 2008 and was previously group finance director. He has been performing the chief finance role on an interim basis since March 2016. CROWN OFFICES The Crown Estate is to press ahead with its 100million redevelopment of London's Duke's Court. The Royal Family's commercial property arm will create 35,000 sq ft of new office accommodation and 11,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space at the block on the corner of Duke Street and Jermyn Street. The plans have been designed by John McAslan and Partners and will be part of the Crown Estate's planned 500million investment programme. GUPTA SWOOPS Industrialist Sanjeev Gupta has bought a bank in a bid to create a major lender for manufacturing firms. He bought the unit from electronic billing company Tungsten Corporation for 30million and has named it Wyelands Bank. It will lend to the commodities, steel and engineering industries, which Gupta knows well through his conglomerate Liberty House. Chinese buyers have taken a 2.2billion stake in one of the world's largest computer networks, which is owned by Britain's richest family. A consortium of Asian investors has bought 49 per cent of Global Switch, owned by the Reuben brothers, David and Simon. It values the technology company at almost 4.5billion, and hands a bumper payday to the brothers who are worth around 13.1billion. Global Switch has giant warehouses where companies can store computer servers which hold information. Britain's richest brothers Simon, left, and David, right, Reuben, pictured here with Joan Collins have sold a 49% stake in Global Switch to a consortium of Asian investors These warehouses need to be secure as well as having good technology links, and are considered to be one of the UK's most important areas of the growing tech economy. But the deal has sparked concerns among senior politicians and security experts who had called on the Government to halt the deal when a potential tie-up was rumoured in September. It follows a growing trend of foreign investment in the UK which have led to concerns over China's stake in infrastructure such as the new Hinkley Point nuclear power station. There were fears of a potential threat from selling the data centres to the Chinese group, as they hold sensitive information for financial institutions, governments and telecoms groups. When the deal was first rumoured, concerned Labour peer Admiral Lord West, a former security minister, said: 'I have a nervousness about the Chinese getting more and more involved in large chunks of our digital infrastructure.' But yesterday Global Switch said the Chinese, along with its owner Aldersgate Investments a Reuben Brothers' company had agreed to restrict physical access to the sites. It said all its centres would comply with UK government national security guidance. As part of the deal, Global Switch has entered into a joint venture with the Chinese buyer Daily-Tech to build a new data centre in Shanghai. A former fund star has been jailed for 12 months after admitting insider trading. Mark Lyttleton, 45, used a phone registered in a fake name and passed tens of thousands of pounds of cash to a trader in handovers, Southwark Crown Court heard. He placed two illicit trades through a Panama company registered in his wife's name using secret information gleaned through his job as a top fund manager at BlackRock, the world's biggest investment firm. Guilty: Mark Lyttleton, 45, used a phone registered in a fake name and passed tens of thousands of pounds of cash to a trader in handovers In one case, he traded based on facts given to a colleague who had been on a corporate jolly, shooting in Scotland with the bosses of an oil firm. The father-of-two had already amassed a fortune legally and had risen to become a golden boy of the City. But when his fund stopped producing the stellar returns, he turned to placing illicit deals. Prosecutors said Lyttleton, who has since become a new age guru after visiting Singapore to learn secrets allegedly passed down from Himalayan masters, was driven by a feeling of his own power. Zoe Johnson QC said: 'What remains a mystery is why such a successful trader would descend into such criminality.' In November 2010, Lyttleton bought a Panama-registered company and listed his French wife Delphine, 40 as beneficial owner under her maiden name. The following February, the firm opened a trading account with Swiss business Banque Heritage. Lyttleton listed his wife Delphine as owner of a Panama-registered company he bought Trades were placed by asset manager Caldwell & Partners, masking Lyttleton's involvement. In 2011, a BlackRock manager was given inside information on Premier Oil's plans to acquire rival EnCore. After Lyttleton heard about it, he instructed Caldwell to buy 175,000 shares in EnCore and when the deal was made public, the share price rose and he sold the stock for a profit of 44,125. Around a month later, a Blackrock colleague attended a shooting weekend in Scotland organised by the board of Cairn Energy. Over dinner, the company's chairman Bill Gammell said that he was very optimistic about the results of oil drilling in Greenland. The BlackRock boss at the party told employees to put Cairn shares on a banned list in which trading was forbidden because the company had inside information. Lyttleton secretly bought 120 share options but after the share price didn't increase was left with a 10,000 loss. In April 2013, the authorities raided his 4.9million house in London and were able to show his phone was used to communicate with Caldwell before and after two trades were placed. Their search also turned up two other mobiles, one registered in a false name. Both had just one number stored in them, listed under the names George and Fred, and it rang through to Caldwell The Financial Conduct Authority's probe also uncovered secret meetings in which Lyttleton gave a trader from Caldwell thousands of pounds in cash. Before one lunch Lyttleton had withdrawn 60,000 to give to his contact. Mitigating, barrister Patrick Gibbs QC said Lyttleton was in 'mental freefall' at the time of the illegal trades. He said Lyttleton had been a star fund manager during the financial crisis, making money even as the financial system collapsed, but was losing clients. A teenage boy was nearly decapitated after his iPhone earphones wrapped around his throat and sliced deeply into his skin during a horrific motorbike crash. Bradley Willoughby, 16, was riding at his family's Ravenshoe farm in far north Queensland when he landed a jump awkwardly and damaged the bike's throttle. The landing jammed the throttle and flung Bradley directly into a barbed wire fence - badly breaking and dislocating his ankle and slashing open his stomach. Bradley Willoughby, 16, was riding at his family's Ravenshoe farm in far north Queensland when he landed a jump awkwardly and required immediate medical attention But the worst damage was done to his neck, with deep lacerations etched just centimetres from his trachea after his earphones latched onto the fence. Bradley's father had to rip the earphones out from the cut inside his throat. 'Bradley had his iPhone in his pocket and had his earphones in and as he's gone through the fence, the fence has grabbed the earphones and, because they were up inside his helmet, the barbed wire pulled the earphones straight across his throat,' Mrs Willoughby explained to the Cairns Post. 'No one realises but inside the headphone cord is fine copper wire which has cut through some of the muscle. He is very lucky he didn't cut his trachea. 'None of us thought earphones could be so dangerous. His father pulled the earphones out from inside the cut in his throat.' Bradley's (pictured) mother said he was a very capable motorbike rider, but never knew the danger of wearing headphones under a helmet until his accident But the worst damage was done to his neck, with deep lacerations etched just centimetres from his trachea after his earphones latched onto the fence Bradley required stitches and immediate surgery on his neck on Monday night following the accident Mrs Willoughby said at first she thought that her son was dying. Together with her husband she tried to keep Bradley calm as they waited for a Rescue 510 chopper to arrive and fly them to Cairns Hospital. Bradley stayed awake throughout the entire ordeal and required stitches for the cuts to his neck. Mrs Willoughby told Daily Mail Australia she never thought a pair of earphones could pose such a severe danger. 'You think they're just earphones, you can break them with your hands, cut them with a pair of scissors, you never think can do something like this,' she said. 'But under the right circumstances, with the right pressure they can.' The landing jammed the throttle and flung Bradley directly into a barbed wire fence - badly breaking and dislocating his ankle and slashing open his stomach Bradley required two large screws and a plate six inches long to stabilise the bones in his leg She said Bradley broke both his tibia and fibula in the accident, requiring two large screws and a plate six inches long to stabilise his bones. He has also endured two surgeries since the crash, one on his neck performed on Monday night and one on his leg on Wednesday. 'It'll be months of recovery,' Mrs Willoughby said. While it was a tough week for her family, Mrs Willoughby said she wanted something positive to come from the experience. She wanted others to be informed about the potential danger of earphones, so they did not have to learn the hard way, as her son did. 'Do not wear wired earphones under a motorbike helmet, it's potentially life threatening,' she said. A man and woman are facing child neglect charges after a sheriff's deputy found five malnourished children living in a car parked outside a Wal-Mart store. Donell Barron and Rikki Hart, both 34, were arrested Sunday outside the store in Greenacres, Florida, according to the Palm Beach Post. An arrest report says the deputy looked inside the Toyota after detecting a strong odor 'similar to that of homeless camps.' Barron told the deputy the family lost their home and lived in motels until they ran out of money two months ago. Scroll down for video Donell Barron (left) and Rikki Hart were arrested after five children were found living in a Toyota in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Florida He also told the deputy the kids bathed at a nearby park. The children are ages 14, 8, 6, 5 and 4. The police report blocked out the relationship between the couple and the children. Authorities say the children are underweight, but the 14-year-old boy's bones 'were clearly visible.' He reportedly only weighed five pounds more than his eight-year-old sibling and had unusually high blood pressure. An officer said he smelled a stench like a 'homeless camp' inside the car when he found the children, who were malnourished Deputies said the children only ate bread and salad once a day and had not seen a doctor in years. Unlike the children, the report said that the couple seemed healthy and clean. The pair had been evicted twice in the past five years from homes in Port St. Lucie in for failure to pay rent. The pair run a blog that purports to offer healthy eating services as well as a budget, saving and investment program The couple have a blog called Holistically Beautiful for 'those interested in a holistic and balanced lifestyle.' On the blog, Barron says he has a 'Master's Degree in Rehab Science/Substance Abuse' and Hart says she has her 'Bachelor's is [sic] Speech Communication and has a background in Banking, Dance Therapy, Childbirth Preparation.' Hart's LinkedIn page says she graduated from Clarion University in Pennsylvania. Barron reportedly told cops that he was Native American and 'is not property of the US or any corporation.' Despite their history of failure to pay rent, the couple offer a 'Money Matters Initiative Program' that offered recipients counseling on budgeting and investing. Video courtesy of CBS12 They also offer a program on eating healthy. Additionally, Hart says she is a doula. 'As a wife and a mother of 5 children, I understand the importance of having support while being pregnant and through the childbirth process,' she wrote on LinkedIn. The Department of Children and Families took custody of the children. The report doesn't say whether Baron and Hart have lawyers. George Cottrell, 22, faces up to 20 years in a US jail after he admitted to posing as a money launderer in a scam on the 'dark web' A former aide to Nigel Farage faces up to 20 years in a US jail after he admitted to posing as a money launderer in a 'dark web' scam, it was reported. George Cottrell, 22, was arrested and led away in handcuffs as he and the former Ukip leader got off a flight in Chicago in July. Cottrell, who used to run Mr Farage's private office, was initially charged with 21 felonies including attempted extortion, money laundering and fraud. Federal prosecutors have agreed to drop all but one count of wire fraud in exchange for his guilty plea, azcentral.com reported. Cottrell, whose former glamour model mother once dated Prince Charles, was accused of offering to launder money for drug traffickers after advertising his services on the 'dark web' websites that offer privacy because they cannot be traced and need special software to access, some of which are frequented by paedophiles, criminals, hackers and terrorists. But the 'drug traffickers' he dealt with were undercover FBI agents. According to azcentral.com, Cottrell said in his plea agreement: 'I falsely claimed that I would launder the criminal proceeds through my bank accounts for a fee. 'Rather than launder any of the money, though ... I intended to retain the money.' Cottrell, grandson of late Yorkshire landowner Lord Manton, was arrested in July as he and Mr Farage were returning from a series of engagements at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Court documents filed in the US alleged that Cottrell was offering money laundering services on the dark web using the alias 'Bill'. George Cottrell, 22, was arrested and led away in handcuffs as he and former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, pictured in New York last week, got off a flight in Chicago in July When contacted in 2014 by FBI agents pretending to be drug traffickers, he promised to launder their cash for a fee in 'complete anonymity and security' through his offshore accounts, the documents claim. Following a meeting with the undercover agents in Las Vegas, Cottrell arranged for them to send him 15,500, which he planned to pocket, the indictment alleged. He is alleged to have then attempted to blackmail the 'drug traffickers' by demanding 62,000 in the form of bitcoin a virtual online payment system saying he would alert the authorities if they refused. Cottrell was believed by associates to be worth 250million through a family trust fund and had been working for Mr Farage for free. Fiona Cottrell was the Penthouse 'pet of the month' in October 1973, pictured, under the pseudonym Frances Cannon, describing herself as 'daughter of a landowner' His mother, Fiona Cottrell, was the Penthouse 'pet of the month' in October 1973, under the pseudonym Frances Cannon, describing herself as 'daughter of a landowner'. The images were reprinted in the magazine in 1977 after she was linked romantically to Prince Charles. Cottrells uncle is Lord Hesketh, a colourful hereditary peer who set up a Formula One team in the 1970s and was a Tory minister under Baroness Thatcher. Cottrell initially was charged with 21 felonies, azcentral.com reported. In exchange for his guilty plea, federal prosecutors have agreed to drop all but one count of wire fraud. Her partially burned body was found on August 7 in a wooded area in Princeton Family members called for witnesses to come forward at a press Vanessa Marcotte was murdered while jogging near her mother's house in Princeton, Massachusetts, in August The family of a 27-year-old New York woman who was killed while out running near her mother's home in Massachusetts is establishing a foundation in her name and renewing a call for the public's help in solving the case. Vanessa Marcotte's partially burned body was found on August 7 in a wooded area in Princeton and no suspects have been named in the case as yet. Her uncle, Steven Therrien, at a church in the town, read an emotional statement on Wednesday urging people with any information to come forward to the police. 'It has been more than four months since Vanessa was tragically taken from us,' Therrien said. 'Not a day goes by that we don't reflect on the enormity of our loss. She had already achieved much but we know she had much more to do. Steven Therrien, at a church in Princeton, read an emotional statement on Wednesday urging people with any information to come forward to the police. Marcotte's parents can be seen on the right and aunt on the left 'She was a loving caring intelligent young women who had her whole life ahead of her.' Marcotte's parents, Rossana and John Marcotte, stood silent next to Therrien at the news conference holding back the tears. Her father held a banner that read 'Justice for Vanessa.' 'As Massachusetts State Police and Princeton police continue to investigate Vanessa's murder, we urge anyone with information to call the state police hot line at 508-453-7589,' Therrien added. Marcotte was working in New York City as an executive for Google at the time of her death. She was in Massachusetts visiting her mother (right) when she died Marcotte, a New York-based executive for Google, was visiting family in Princeton, Massachusetts, when she was strangled while out jogging. Her naked and burned body was found in the woods near her mother's home off Brooks Station Road. Witnesses saw the SUV parked on that road, near to where her body was found, around the time of the murder, a press release issued by District Attorney Joseph D. Early said in November. Marcotte was visiting her mother in Massachusetts when she ventured out from the family home for a jog at around 1pm. The location near Princeton where a parked SUV was seen at the time of the murder She failed to return hours later, sparking a police hunt which ended seven hours later in the discovery of her body. The Boston graduate had been sexually assaulted, set on fire and left in woodlands. Detectives believe she struggled with her attacker and left him injured. They appealed for information about anyone with fresh facial scratches or cuts. Investigators have received over hundreds of tips but no suspects have been named. Police said last month they were looking for a dark-colored SUV seen parked in the area. Elsewhere, Karina Vetrano, 30, was beaten, raped and strangled in Spring Creek Park near her home in Howard Beach, New York, on August 2. President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is looking to sell his newspaper, The New York Observer, according to a report. Sources told trade publication Women's Wear Daily that Ivanka's businessman husband is quietly shopping the newspaper around so he can concentrate on his political career and a potential move to Washington. It was unclear how much Kushner hopes to get in a sale. Kushner bought the newspaper for $10million in 2006, according to reports at the time. The Observer, however, has denied the report. Jared Kushner, who owns The New York Observer, is rumored to be shopping the paper around so he and wife Ivanka can concentrate on the Trump administration. He is picture with his wife and the president-elect's eldest daughter, Ivanka Sources tell Women's Wear Daily that Kushner is quietly looking to unload the paper, which recently stopped using its famous pink paper 'As one of the fastest-growing businesses in all of digital media, we are constantly being approached by potential investors and partners,' chief executive Joseph Meyer, who also happens to be Kushner's brother-in-law, told the magazine. Kushner may be selling the Observer to focus on his political career, according to the report. His wife, Ivanka Trump, is the president-elect's eldest daughter. Both he and his wife advised Trump during his successful presidential campaign. One possible suitor could be American Media Inc, owner of the National Enquirer, according to Women's Wear Daily. Trump's daughter, Ivanka, is said to be moving to the White House instead of Melania, and both she and her husband will act as advisers The National Enquirer published several articles during the election that seemed to buoy Trump - one of them being that alleged that Ted Cruzs father was connected to the assassination of President Kennedy, according to The New York Post. Another article focused on an alleged extra martial affair by Cruz. Neither story was true, said Women's Wear Daily, but Trump tweeted about both and mentioned them during his campaign stumps. Both the Enquirer and the Observer endorsed Trump. In November before the election, the Wall Street Journal published an article saying that it had seen documents showing that the National Enquirer had paid a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, $150,000 for her story of having an affair with Trump in 2006, while he was married to Melania. The tabloid then purportedly quashed the story - as a way of taking it out of circulation. AMI denied it was protecting Trump by buying McDougal's story of an affair with a married man it didn't name and said it does not pay 'people to kill damaging stories about Mr. Trump.' An award-winning Brisbane journalist has had his new book on the dissecting of human corpses pulped because publishers feared it would upset the families of the dead. Andrew McMillen wrote Skeleton School: Dissecting The Gift Of Body Donation after spending a year observing medical students at the University of Queensland's medical school. But despite it being one of the few institutions in the world that offers students the opportunity to study anatomy with real skeletons, Queensland University Press had a sudden change of heart about the book. The cover of the book Skeleton School: Dissecting The Gift Of Body Donation McMillen's book, which has been described as a 'beautiful' work of 'immersion journalism' was due on shelves this week until the publishers had a sudden change of heart. In a statement from the publisher it was made clear that Mr McMillen delivered the work which was intended to be his second book for UQP in 2016, but they decided not to publish it in the end. 'UQP regrets to advise that, through no fault of Mr McMillen, it is unable to publish Skeleton School,' Queensland University Press said. 'The University is now of the view that the publication of any book on the issue of the Body Donor Program, however sensitive, may upset some families and friends of participants in that program. Brisbane author Andrew McMillen 'There is no suggestion that this decision reflects in any way on the quality and standard of the book, which met the expectations of UQP. 'UQP is hopeful that it may have the opportunity to publish further works written by Mr McMillen.' According to a blurb for the book, McMillen, wanted to to 'share the stories of those who donate their bodies'. In it are descriptions of hide beetles stripping flesh from donated corpses, and of a medical school professor who enjoys telling 'dad-jokes' while dissecting the corpses. A beauty queen and part-time law student who claims she suffered third degree burns when police threw a 'flash' grenade during a drug raid has had her charges downgraded. Felicia D'Jamirze, 28, was sleeping inside her Susan River home, near Hervey Bay in Queensland, with her suspected bikie ex-boyfriend Dean O'Donnell, 35, in February when police raided the house. The former Miss Australia International and Miss Tourism Queen Australia was charged with 'ice' trafficking, but on Wednesday the two charges were downgraded to drug production in the Brisbane Supreme Court, The Courier Mail reported. Felicia D'Jamirze, 29, was sleeping inside her Susan River home, near Hervey Bay in Queensland in February when police raided the house She claims police threw a 'flash' grenade, leaving her with horrific third degree burns The police raid was conducted on a number of homes in the area and officers allegedly discovered 2kg of the drug ice, meth oil and steroids in the house where D'Jamirze and O'Donnell were sleeping. Police also allegedly uncovered seven high-powered illegal weapons and two silencers. O'Donnell was also charged with drug trafficking and weapons offences. D'Jamirze said she suffered horrific burns to her face and hands after a grenade exploded during the raid and she spent a number of weeks in hospital. She is continuing to recover in Sydney while on bail. The former Miss Australia International and Miss Tourism Queen Australia was charged with 'ice' trafficking, but on Wednesday the two charges were downgraded D'Jamirze said she suffered horrific burns to her face and hands after a grenade exploded during the raid and she spent a number of weeks recovering in hospital On Wednesday, the court heard the prosecution case was based on hidden cameras in the home. D'Jamirze's lawyer Chris Ford said it comes as no surprise to him the charges were downgraded. He said the make-up artist plans to sue the Queensland Police Service for damages. In February, Mr Ford told Daily Mail Australia police treated the raid like a 'military operation,' which was 'entirely unnecessary'. 'There was a high level of both physical and electronic surveillance. The police must have known my client was sleeping in a confined area when they tossed the stun grenade into her bedroom,' he said at the time. On Wednesday, the court heard the prosecution case was based on hidden cameras in the home Ooltewah High Schools Red Hots cheerleading squad gave a special Christmas performance for the residents at The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimers Center of Excellence, Collegedale. Under direction of Kristy Sussdorff, the young ladies dance routine put smiles on the seniors' faces throughout the memory care community. Morning Pointe seniors enjoy visits from local schools, volunteers and youth groups, embracing fun, intergenerational activities through the Meaningful Day program. They are proud to spread Christmas cheer and are a light in our community, Ms. Sussdorff said. Bacteria that live on the ocean floor has been found to cure half of all male prostate cancer sufferers in an experiment and could replace invasive surgery. A non-surgical treatment involved injecting a light-sensitive drug into the bloodsteam, which was then activated with a laser to destroy tumour tissue in the prostate. The drug, derived from bacteria at the bottom of the ocean, was used to treat 413 patients with low-risk prostate cancer, with 49 per cent of them going into remission. University College London dean of medical sciences Professor Mark Emberton says the finding could negate the need for surgery to remove prostates University College London dean of medical sciences Professor Mark Emberton, who led the research, described it as a major breakthrough that could spare prostate cancer sufferers from invasive surgery to remove their prostate. That finding would have been a help to Australian men who have undergone surgery to remove their prostate, including Sydney broadcaster Alan Jones and former deputy prime minister Wayne Swan. 'These results are excellent news for men with early localised prostate cancer, offering a treatment that can kill cancer without removing or destroying the prostate,' Professor Emberton told his university journal. Lasers have been proven to eliminate prostate cancer tumours by reacting to light-sensitive drugs derived from deep sea bacteria. (Stock image) Professor Mark Emberton has likened the successful results to breast cancer research which reduced the need for mastectomies HOW IT WORKS Vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy involves injecting light sensitive drug into the bloodstream. The drug used in procedure, WST11, is derived from bacteria at the bottom of the ocean. Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and Luxembourg-based biotechnology company STEBA Biotech developed the therapy. University College London led the trials. Advertisement 'This is truly a huge leap forward for prostate cancer treatment, which has previously lagged decades behind other solid cancers such as breast cancer.' Professor Emberton likened the finding to breast cancer research which reduced the need for mastectomies. 'In 1975 almost everyone with breast cancer was given a radical mastectomy, but since then treatments have steady improved and we now rarely need to remove the whole breast,' he said. 'In prostate cancer we are still commonly removing or irradiating the whole prostate, so the success of this new tissue-preserving treatment is welcome news indeed.' The findings were published in the Lancet Oncology medical journal. Luxembourg-based biotech company STEBA Biotech funded the research which uses light sensitive drugs and a laser to kill tumours (Animation of treatment pictured) Sydney radio 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones underwent surgery to remove his prostate in 2008 after a biopsy found he had cancer by his son Stephen as the coffin adorned with pink roses and white lilies was carried out Advertisement The grieving family of a young woman hit and killed by an alleged drunk driver has made an impassioned plea for people to 'think before you drink' over the Christmas period to spare themselves the same heartache. Nicole Lewanksi, 22, was farewelled by hundreds of mourners at a funeral in Macquarie Park, in Sydney's north-west, on Thursday - nine days after she was struck by a car as she crossed a road at Wolli Creek. During the service Nicole's brother Stephen pleaded with mourners not to drink and drive over the holiday period to avoid the sorrow his family was now going through. Hundreds of mourners have gathered to remember Nicole Lewanski - the 22-year-old librarian who was tragically killed while walking home from her 'dream job' Ms Lewanski's father Henry (pictured) was comforted by his son Stephen (left) as his daughter's coffin was carried to the hearse 'Alcohol will never make you more than you are - it only takes,' Mr Lewanski said. 'We are all part of the problem because we all accept it [drink driving] to be normal. 'These holidays please think before you drink.' Ms Lewanski was crossing the Princes Highway near Brodie Spark Drive in Wolli Creek, in Sydney's south, at 6pm on December 13 when police said she was struck by a utility which allegedly ran through a red light. Celebrant Susan Gavran reinforced the message not to drink and drive over Christmas. 'Nicole was taken from us far too soon and too cruelly,' she said. 'Let us all leave here today vowing that we'll never drink and drive. If you're going to drive then don't drink. 'Nicole would want us all to walk away today with this every thought - to not drink and drive.' Ms Lewanski's father Henry (second left) broke down in tears outside of the chapel just after the service for his daughter. He was joined by his son Stephen (left in coloured shirt) and daughter Christina (right) Mr Lewanski was supported by a loved one as he remembered his 22-year-old daughter Loved ones of Nicole Lewanski were seen carrying her white coffin adorned with pink roses from Camillia Chapel at Macquarie Park in Sydney's north on Thursday afternoon Nicole Lewanski, 22,was killed in an horrific accident in Wolli Creek on December 13 During the service Nicole's brother Stephen pleaded with mourners not to drink and drive over the holiday period to avoid the sorrow his family was now going through Ms Lewanski was remembered as social butterfly who made friends wherever she went. 'She was a young woman whose spirit shone brightly and who touched many people's lives,' Ms Gavran said. Ms Lewanski died from massive head and internal injuries despite the efforts of witnesses and emergency services at the scene. Her father, Henry Lewanski, earlier told Daily Mail Australia his daughter was in the prime of her life and had just begun a librarian internship at the University of Technology in Sydney. 'She is a beautiful girl, words can't describe how we are feeling right now,' Mr Lewanski said. 'People should be able to be safe in the street.' The young woman who has a twin sister Christina and older brother Stephen had only just moved from the family home to be closer to work. The young woman was crossing the Princes Highway in Wolli Creek, Sydney's south, last week when police said she was struck by an alleged drunk driver in a utility vehicle Ms Lewanski's father Henry (right) and mother Norelle (far left) were seen standing with family, including Nicole's twin sister Christina and brother Stephen Hundreds of mourners filled the grounds outside the chapel after the heartfelt service as the coffin was carried to the hearse 'Alcohol will never make you more than you are - it only takes,' Mr Lewanski said during the service Nicole Lewanksi, 22, was farewelled by hundreds of mourners at a funeral in Sydney on Thursday Mr Lewanski and Nicole's twin sister Christina were seen wiping their eyes as the service came to a close Heartbroken friends clutched tissues as they comforted each other outside the chapel A photograph of Ms Lewanski was seen on the screens surrounding the church on Thursday 'She was a young woman whose spirit shone brightly and who touched many people's lives,' Celebrant Susan Gavran said Flowers have been tied to the fence at the scene where the young librarian was hit The bright flowers were a stark contrast to the grey sky and bitumen 'She had just moved in with two of her friends, closer to the university,' Mr Lewanski said. Her brother, Steven, posted a heartfelt tribute to his sister on social media saying: 'Nicole's beautiful soul has shed this worldly vessel. 'Alcohol is a cancer upon humanity and we have absolutely no need for it,' he told Daily Mail Australia from his Wakeley home. 'It's a carcinogenic it ruins lives, it's poison.' Steven, a vegan, said he was 'proud' of his little sister who had just turned vegetarian. Ms Lewanski's brother posted this heart-felt message on social media following her death Patrick Nealon, 35, (pictured) refused to take a breath test at the scene, police said Ms Lewanski had just landed her dream job as a librarian at the University of Technology in Sydney 'She had just moved out of home six weeks ago, she landed her dream internship,' he said. 'Everything was coming up for her and it is such a shame it had to end like this.' Police arrested the driver of the ute, 35-year-old Patrick Nealon, at the scene. He was taken to Kogarah Police Station where he was charged with a range of driving offences including dangerous driving occasioning death. In Sutherland Local Court last Thursday, Nealon sat with his eyes down on the dock while his matter was briefly mentioned. He did not apply for bail. Australia's political climate could be on the brink of a shake-up after billionaire Gina Rinehart met with key members of US President Elect Donald Trump's team. The mining magnate together with conservative firebrand Cory Bernardi met Trump's team, sparking fears of a political split bankrolled by Ms Rinehart, The Australian reported. But Senator Bernardi was quick to dismiss suggestions he had any plans in motion to leave the Liberals, claiming it was all gossip. Billionaire Gina Rinehart (pictured) has met with key members of US President Elect Donald Trump's team But speculation of the South Australian senator's defecting have been rife in 2016, even prompting him to speak out in July - ruling out the possibility he would defect. But the senator has been outspoken on several issues since. He spoke out publicly against his government's handling of climate policies and also its consideration of an emissions intensity scheme for power generators. Last week he also said the major political parties were drifting apart from their voters. Billionaire Gina Rinehart has met with key members of US President Elect Donald Trump's team 'We will have to wait and see if it works or whether the erosion of faith has gone too far for the current system to be restored,' he wrote. The senator set up the Australian Conservatives movement after the July federation election to rival the left-wing protest and campaign group GetUp. The conservative group have since revealed more than 60,000 Australians signed up to its mailing list. It also said Australians should expect significant change in 2017, promising 'a number of important campaigns'. Former prime minister Tony Abbott backed Senator Bernardi's conservative movement in a tweet posted on Thursday. 'It's best for the Australian people to have a strong, cohesive and sound Liberal Party,' he said. Nationals MP George Christensen also sparked rumours of a split from his party. Senator Bernardi (left and right) set up the Australian Conservatives movement after the July federation election to rival the left-wing protest and campaign group GetUp Far right-wing Nationals MP George Christensen also sparked rumours of a split from his party He said satisfaction with democracy was at an all-time low and hoped 2017 'heralds a new way of doing things for the Turnbull government and for politics in general'. He said he had been urged to 'pull the pin on the government and go with another entity', but confirmed his allegiance to the National Party in a Facebook post on Thursday. 'I am loyal to Barnaby Joyce, loyal to the Nationals, and - most of all - loyal to local LNP members who selected me to be their candidate,' he said. The only State-approved regulator, called Impress, is hugely controversial and depends on money from the shamed ex-Formula One boss Max Mosley (pictured) Ministers have been warned by senior members of the House of Lords not to impose 'obviously unfair' new libel laws that would 'censor' the free Press. A government consultation is taking place on whether to implement Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act, which could force newspapers to pay libel costs even if they win a defamation case. In a Westminster debate, Lord Lester of Herne Hill said the legislation was 'obviously unfair' and was being pushed by the 'Hacked Off brigade'. The respected Liberal Democrat peer added: 'We have plenty of laws already that regulate the Press. We have criminal laws. We have civil laws.' Former Lord Speaker and independent crossbencher Baroness D'Souza also spoke against the move, saying: 'This would effectively censor the Press due to a justifiable fear of unsustainable costs.' Under Section 40, newspapers that refuse to sign up to a State-backed regulator ending 300 years of Press freedom would be forced to pay the costs in libel cases even if they won. The only State-approved regulator, called Impress, is hugely controversial and depends on money from the shamed ex-Formula One boss Max Mosley. Mr Mosley has been a vocal supporter of shackles on the Press since being exposed by the News of the World for taking part in a German-themed, S&M orgy with prostitutes. Most national and local newspapers, including the Daily Mail, are members of the independent regulator Ipso, which is entirely free of State control. The Government suggested that so-called Leveson Two the costly second stage of the controversial inquiry into Press ethics might never go ahead. Above, Lord Justice Leveson Former Supreme Court justice Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood said of the Ipso system: 'We are now in a reasonably good place.' The independent crossbencher added: 'My plea, therefore, is let things be, let well alone.' Conservative peer Lord Lexden said a recent independent assessment of Ipso had found the body to be 'independent, effective and largely compliant with the Leveson recommendations'. Lord Lexden said Ipso 'now constitutes a firmly established regulatory system'. Last month Culture Secretary Karen Bradley announced a review of whether the draconian new libel laws should be implemented. The Government also suggested that so-called Leveson Two the costly second stage of the controversial inquiry into Press ethics might never go ahead. Last month Culture Secretary Karen Bradley announced a review of whether the draconian new libel laws should be implemented Ordered in the wake of phone hacking by the now defunct News of the World, the inquiry and linked investigations have already cost the taxpayer nearly 50million. At the time, Mrs Bradley said much had changed since 2011 and it was important to consider if spending more taxpayers' money on stage two was still in the 'public interest'. In a statement to MPs, she said: 'The Government is determined that a balance is struck between Press freedom and the freedom of the individual. 'Those who are treated improperly must have redress. Likewise, politicians must not seek to muzzle the Press or prevent it doing legitimate work such as holding us to account.' In Tuesday night's debate, Labour peer Lord Lipsey was critical about the lack of progress made on implementing Leveson. He claimed that the Government had 'spat in Parliament's face' by refusing to introduce the legislation relating to costs, 'which means the Press has little or no incentive to join a regulator'. Seven years ago millionaire businessman Peter Morgan and his wife Helen proudly posed for their local newspaper alongside an historic windmill he had just restored. The 400,000 cost of the project, he said, was well worth it it had been as much a labour of love as a business investment. Helen used to play around the windmill as a child and it was a great opportunity to bring the land back into the family and restore it so others can enjoy it, the father-of-two added. A noble enough endeavour, but fast forward to 2015 and those words could hardly have rung more hollow. Millionaire businessman Peter Morgan (above), from South Wales, killed his escort girlfriend Georgina Symonds because he feared she was going to leave him and that she would blackmail him with explicit photographs and video Because by then Morgans marriage of more than 20 years was in ruins thanks to the fact that one of those enjoying the newly restored windmill was an escort with whom he was having a torrid affair. Having been shown by a friend how to hire prostitutes using his smartphone, the 54-year-old had developed an insatiable appetite for paid-for sex. One sex worker in particular was to become his obsession 25-year-old Georgina Symonds, a blonde burlesque dancer from Newport, South Wales. Last year, Morgan bought Miss Symonds a 70,000 red Ferrari with beige seats and a personalised number plate. A friend took a picture of her posing next to it in a matching red top and red heels Miss Symonds (above) initially boasted of her arrangement with Morgan. He wooed her, paying for her to have 8,000-worth of full body liposuction, giving her a 12,000 Range Rover and taking her on shopping trips to Karen Millen - but later, she wished him dead With a boyfriend and a five-year-old daughter, she made it brutally clear to Morgan that she was only interested in his money. And he did not disappoint. First he wooed her, paying for her to have 8,000-worth of full body liposuction, giving her a 12,000 Range Rover and taking her on shopping trips to Karen Millen. So far, so Pretty Woman. Then, following trysts in the windmill, he set her up in a bungalow he owned. She was paid a 10,000 monthly retainer to give up her other clients and only sleep with him. She took the money but had no intention of keeping to the other part of the deal. Morgan was found guilty of murder after strangling Ms Symonds at her bungalow in Llanmartin, south Wales And last year Morgan bought Miss Symonds a 70,000 red Ferrari with beige seats and a personalised number plate. A friend took a picture of her posing next to it in a matching red top and red heels. She then used the 10,000 a month to buy herself another Ferrari, but this time it was a convertible with dark seats. Meanwhile, Morgan blew more money on boys toys: a customised Harley-Davidson motorbike costing almost 10,000, a Porsche and, to top it all, a fire engine and working Scorpion tank that he would drive around dressed in Army fatigues. And, desperate to look his best, he lost two stone and had his teeth capped. But if Morgans millions meant that the scale of his midlife crisis would be more extravagant than others, so too would the fallout from it. He killed Miss Symonds because he feared she was going to leave him and that she would blackmail him with explicit photographs and video. One showed him having a threesome in his marital bed, while a video showed Miss Symonds and another escort engaging in sexual activity on farm machinery. Inevitably, others innocently caught up in the orbit of their twisted relationship would suffer terribly too. Miss Symonds left behind an orphaned daughter. The childs father, Miss Symonds on-off boyfriend, committed suicide in the midst of it all. Then there is Morgans family. His father David, 74, is a stalwart of the Welsh agricultural community, who was awarded an MBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list last year. He was also elected president of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, meeting David Cameron at the 2015 Royal Welsh Show. When Miss Symonds first started seeing Morgan, he took her to a windmill which he owned He attended much of the trial, watching on in tears at what had become of his oldest child. Morgan has brought shame on not just his family but also on his wifes family everyone who knew him is flabbergasted, said an associate. Its like a plot from a Hollywood B movie wealthy businessman becomes obsessed with a call girl then kills her. As Morgan wakes today facing at least 25 years behind bars he will have plenty of time to reflect on the extent of his downfall. Because this was a man who had the world at his feet a 20million fortune and happy family life all thrown away for a hopeless relationship with a woman little older than his daughters. But there is no doubt that Morgan did not fall into this way of life by accident. He chose it believing that he could control it. It was when he lost control that he snapped. Until that point he had used what he had been given in life to great effect. No scholar, Morgan left school at 16 without any qualifications. But he was eminently practical, and had always been fascinated by the workings of machinery. In many ways, the family business was made for him. His father ran a successful 300-acre farm at Usk in Monmouthshire, complete with hi-tech dairy and a poultry farm that produced more than a million chickens a year for McDonalds and Morrisons. Alongside the agricultural business was Morgans of Usk, the familys construction firm which employs 120 people. Morgan would work with his father until the age of 34. Morgan's father, David Morgan MBE (left), and his brother Andrew (right) seen attending court. David ran a successful 300-acre farm at Usk in Monmouthshire, complete with hi-tech dairy and a poultry farm that produced more than a million chickens a year for McDonalds and Morrisons. Morgan would work with his father until the age of 34 By then he had married his wife Helen, whose family were also substantial local farmers. They started seeing one another when he was 22 and she was just 19. Their first daughter, Sarah, was born in 1994, followed by Emma three years later. At much the same time he and Helen set up Morspan, a business that manufactures poultry buildings. The company did well, employing 50 people. As it prospered the couple bought a farm, knocked it down and re-built it as a family home. In 2005, the couple sold their business and used their already-substantial wealth to start developing other properties. One such project was Llancayo Windmill, near Usk, which Morgan would rent out for 4,000 a week. But as he approached his 50th birthday, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with his lot. It just hit me that life doesnt last for ever, is the way he would put it. He complained that his sex life with his wife had deteriorated and started to imagine a different life. The spark appeared to come from a visit to a lap dancing club in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in 2011. One of his friends explained to him how easy it was to buy sex online. The following month, he logged on to an adult services website and booked a 130-an-hour escort. They met at a flat next to Morrisons in Cardiff Bay. I would do it once a month, Morgan told the jury. I liked it because it was very unemotional and you didnt get attached. He made a point of seeing a different escort every time. But that all changed in May 2012 when he met Miss Symonds for the first time. I dont know what it was, but I just seemed to get on with her, he said. It was the first time I had been back to see one. With his wife on a weeks holiday, Morgan even paid Miss Symonds 1,000 to stay in the windmill. Initially, Morgan thought he could see Miss Symonds and keep his marriage going to have his cake and eat it as one of the psychiatrists who interviewed him ahead of his trial put it. But on Valentines Day 2013 his wife discovered he had been sending flowers to someone other than herself. She confronted him, but he refused to give up Miss Symonds. Georgina Symonds turned to working as an escort while living with the 'love of her life' Pete Deem. The work led her to meet Peter Morgan, whom she grew to hate As a compromise, instead of paying for her services, he gave her a series of elaborate gifts. But by January 2015 his marriage was effectively over. Morgan began paying Miss Symonds 10,000 per month on the condition she did not sleep with other clients. In March he moved out of the family home and into a renovated barn in Llanellen, near Abergavenny. This was no temporary separation. Moves were begun to divide the couples substantial assets down the middle. Then, in August, he moved Miss Symonds into a bungalow he owned in Llanmartin, Newport, where she was to live rent-free in exchange for a reduction of her monthly payments to just 7,000. At the same time she split from her boyfriend, Peter Deem. Miss Symonds regarded Morgan as her sugar daddy and duly gave him the nickname Rich Pete, to distinguish him from her boyfriend, whom she called Poor Pete. She made no bones about the fact that she was in it for the money. She told me she hated Rich Pete, her best friend, Alexy Butcher (or Sexy Lexy as she is known to friends) told the court. She would be vile towards him and to his face call him fat, small d***, orangutan, saggy t***. He never looked annoyed or p***** off with her. He would just take it. She wasnt very nice at all. Matters deteriorated further during the year after Miss Symonds was hit by a double tragedy. Her father committed suicide in March, after which, it is claimed, she started drinking heavily and taking cocaine. Then, in November, Mr Deem also killed himself. Heartbroken, Miss Symonds was quick to pin the blame on Morgan. She would ring me up and blame me saying she wished I was dead, she wished he had killed me before he killed himself, she hated me, Morgan would tell police. But rather than terminate the relationship, his obsession with her intensified. That same month he installed a listening device disguised as a plug adaptor in the bungalow, which he used to eavesdrop on her phone conversations. He wanted to keep an eye on her and ensure that she wasnt cheating on him. But she was, both with a Sky TV engineer and 34-year-old Thomas Ballinger, a friend of her former boyfriend. But it was the content of one of those bugged conversations that would appear to have finally caused Morgan to snap. On January 10 this year he overheard Miss Symonds telling Mr Ballinger that she planned to leave him once he granted her ownership of the property she was staying in. Morgan told the court: I can remember her saying she would do me over and I just assumed it was financially. I just couldnt believe it. I was numb. Devastated. I thought the do me over was financially, meaning blackmail. Morgan was aware that Miss Symonds had compromising sexually explicit photographs of him. Giving evidence, he claimed that she had fleeced other clients. When she died she had almost 120,000 in her bank account. Two days after listening to the call, Morgan went to the bungalow and strangled Miss Symonds with a piece of twine. The plan, he claimed, had been simply to frighten her. Then he placed her body in the boot of his Porsche and drove it to Beech Hill Farm near Usk where his wife and daughters lived and left it in an outbuilding. Morgan was questioned a day later, when he bluntly admitted strangling her, handing police keys to the farmhouse where he had laid her body, saying: Shes locked in the outhouse. He denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, saying he had Aspergers syndrome and had temporarily lost control. But the jury accepted the prosecutions case that he had carefully planned the cold-blooded killing. And that he was determined that if he could not have Miss Symonds then nor would anyone else. Seven West Media will launch an independent inquiry into allegations made by a former personal assistant who detailed her sordid affair with CEO Tim Worner. On Sunday, Amber Harrison, 37, sent out a media statement about her two-year affair with the married father-of-four and also claimed Mr Worner had relationships with four other women at the network, including a high profile actress and presenter. Seven West Media have denied Mr Worner had an affair with anyone other than Ms Harrison and said they will launch an independent inquiry to 'allay any concerns' shareholders might have. 'The Board has determined it prudent to commission a further independent inquiry to establish all of the facts so as to confirm that all necessary matters have been and were taken into account,' a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange read. Seven West Media will launch an independent inquiry into allegations made by a former personal assistant who detailed her sordid affair with CEO Tim Worner (pictured in Manly on Wednesday) On Sunday, Amber Harrison, 37, (pictured) sent out a media statement detailing her two-year affair with the married father-of-four 'The Board will work quickly to appoint an appropriate independent expert to undertake the inquiry and to report back to the Board as soon as they deem it practical'. The statement, sent out on Monday at 9.19am, said the Board is continuing to 'support' Mr Worner and were made aware of the relationship with Ms Harrison in 2014. Seven West Media said the Board members have met on four occasions this week to deal with the explosive allegations, which include claims of drug use. The company's shares dropped by eight per cent, or $98 million, on Monday. The statement, sent out on Monday at 9.19am, said the Board is continuing to 'support' Mr Worner (pictured in Manly on Wednesday) Seven West Media said the Board members have met on four occasions this week to deal with the explosive allegations about Mr Worner (pictured with his wife Katrina), which include claims of drug use SEVEN WEST MEDIA STATEMENT The Board of Seven West Media Limited (SWM) takes allegations being published in relation to its CEO very seriously and has met on four occasions this week to consider the unfolding issues being raised. The Board continues to support the CEO, and the processes and decisions made based on the information at the time Ms Amber Harrison's credit card misuse, and subsequently the existence of her relationship with the CEO, was brought to the attention of the company two years ago. At the time, the Board appointed an independent accounting firm to establish the facts behind the misuse of Ms Harrisons corporate credit card and to produce a comprehensive report. It was this report that lead to Ms Harrison's termination and a settlement agreement being reached by the parties. However, to allay any concerns that our shareholders may have the Board has determined it prudent to commission a further independent inquiry to establish all of the facts so as to confirm that all necessary matters have been and were taken into account. The Board will work quickly to appoint an appropriate independent expert to undertake the inquiry and to report back to the Board as soon as they deem it practical. Advertisement On Wednesday morning, Mr Worner was seen for the first time since Ms Harrison detailed the 2012 affair. He grabbed a takeaway coffee in Manly after leaving his $9.5 million mansion on Sydney's Northern Beaches in his luxury Mercedes. Ms Harrison claims he also had affairs with four other women from the network, including a high profile actress and presenter, but when grilled about it in a board meeting with chairman Kerry Stokes, he denied the allegations. On Monday, the married father-of-four sat down for a brief meeting with 10 board members who asked him if he had been involved with other women besides Amber Harrison, 37, or whether he had 'done drugs in a work context'. Mr Worner, 55, reportedly denied both explosive claims and answered with a firm 'No,' The Daily Telegraph reported. Ms Harrison claims he also had affairs with four other women from the network, including a high profile actress and presenter, but Mr Worner and Seven have denied the allegations Ms Harrison claims the 'secret love' started in 2012 after she began exchanging sordid text messages with the married chief executive (pictured with his wife Katrina) The 37-year-old claims Mr Worner sent her a text message saying his performance 'was drug assisted' after one of their nights together. Ms Harrison claims the 'secret love' started in 2012 after she began exchanging sordid text messages with the married chief executive and they began meeting up for sex at her Sydney apartment. She claimed Mr Worner sent her messages saying he wanted to 'f*** her like a wild man'. , but they may still be in Logan area for missing toddler believed to have been taken by her father The search is on for a missing toddler believed to have been taken by her father in Brisbane. Images of 18-month-old Aubree Leigh Best and her father Jordan Best, 33, have been released to the public in a bid to locate the pair. Police said the girl's mother, Ashleigh Gibson, was 'desperate' to have her daughter returned after she was recently taken by her father from the Logan area, south of Brisbane. Police are searching for missing toddler Aubree Leigh Best (pictured) believed to have been taken by her father in Brisbane Images of 18-month-old Aubree Leigh Best and her father Jordan Best, 33, (pictured) have been released to the public in a bid to locate the pair The Federal Circuit Court of Australia issued a recovery order on December 15 authorising all the Australian Federal Police and the state and territory police forces to recover Aubree and to return her to her mother. 'The location of Jordan and Aubree is unknown,' the AFP said in a statement. 'They may be in the area of Logan although Jordan does have family interstate, in South Australia, and may have travelled.' Mr Best has dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion. He is about 175 centimetres tall with a slight build. Anyone with information on the pair's whereabouts is urged to call police. A Florida woman has tragically been found dead in a river after a night out celebrating her 21st birthday. The body of Carly Bowie was recovered from the Tomoka River around 3:20pm on Wednesday, as her pickup truck was found in the river about seven and a half miles south of her home in Halifax Plantation off Old Kings Road, the Daytona Beach News Journal reported. Her mother, Donna Bowie, said that her daughter disappeared after she celebrated her 21st birthday with some of her friends. Scroll down for video Heartbreaking: The body of Carly Bowie (above) was recovered from the Tomoka River on Wednesday after she disappeared while celebrating her 21st birthday the night before Authorities say her body was recovered on Wednesday around 3:20pm, as her pickup truck was found in the river about seven and a half miles south of her home in Halifax Plantation Police say the pickup truck was submerged in 10 feet of water, but the driver was not inside Donna said that her daughter was excited to see some of her old friends from Seabreeze High School the night she went out. Carly was last heard from around 5.15am when she called to inform them that she was about 10 minutes away from home. 'They were all at a friends house. It was a bunch of friends she had not seen since high school,' Donna told the newspaper. Carly had just started working at her family's flooring business. 'She was a fantastic young woman,' Donna said. 'This is a tragedy.' Police say that her pickup truck (above) failed to negotiate a curve before it crashed into a guardrail and bounced off the guard rail three times It then crossed the southbound lane and crashed over the wall of a bridge and landed in the river (above) Her mother, Donna Bowie, said that her daughter disappeared after she celebrated her 21st birthday with some of her friends. She called Carly's (above) death 'a tragedy' Police say that her pickup truck failed to negotiate a curve before it crashed into a guardrail and bounced off the guard rail three times. It then crossed the southbound lane and crashed over the wall of a bridge and landed in the river. Police say the pickup truck was submerged in 10 feet of water, but the driver was not inside. A number of agencies searched the water after the vehicle was reported to be in the river at 5.39am on Tuesday. Police believe the pickup truck was travelling 60mph in a 35mph zone when it failed to negotiate the curve. It's unclear if alcohol may have played a role in the accident, as an autopsy is likely to be performed. Ikea will pay $50million (40.5million) to the parents of three toddlers who were killed when the company's now recalled Malm dressers toppled onto them. 'We would never want other parents to have to experience what we have been forced to endure,' said Janet McGee of Apple Valley, Minnesota, whose 22-month-old son Ted died after a Malm dresser fell on him in February. 'This has been a tragic, heartbreaking season for us and our family, and no amount of money will make up for the loss of our sweet little boy,' she told Philly.com. Scroll down for video Tragic: Ted McGee (pictured left with mom Janet, and right) was killed in February when an Ikea Malm dresser fell on him. Janet says losing the 22-month-old was 'heartbreaking' All three of the children named in the suit had been killed by the Swedish company's Malm dressers, which could become top-heavy and fall over if not secured to walls. The company had previously offered kits to secure the dressers. They also ran an awareness campaign to show customers the potential dangers. Six months ago it made the unprecedented step of recalling 29 million dangerous dressers, millions of which were from the Malm range. Theodore 'Ted' McGee was killed when the tall, six-drawer Malm dresser bought by parents Jeremy and Janet fell on him in their home on February 22. Painful: Curran Collas (left, with mom Jackie Collas) and Camden Ellis (right), both two, were both killed by Malm dressers in 2014. Their families were awarded $50 million Wednesday Danger: Ikea released an awareness-raising video in 2015 featuring a Malm (pictured), which was liable to tip over, but it only recalled the items six months ago They had thought the boy was napping at the time and didn't realize an accident had occurred until it was too late, attorney Alan Feldman told Philly.com in April. 'They didn't hear the dresser fall,' he said. 'They didn't hear Ted scream.' Failed: The Malm range of dressers (one pictured) failed stability tests that put a 50lb weight on the open top drawer. But they were still sold because of a legal loophole In February 2014, two-year-old Curran Collas of West Chester, Pennsylvania, was killed when a six-drawer Malm dresser he was attempting to climb fell on top of him. And four months later another two-year-old, Camden Ellis of Snohomish, Washington, died after four days on a ventilator after a smaller, three-drawer version of the Malm dresser pinned him. All three children were named in the suit. The case sped to a close shortly after Ikea handed over documents that it had attempted to keep confidential. The company had previously refused Philadelphia Judge John Milton Younge's order to hand the documents over, which he said made him 'start to wonder' what they said. The contents of the documents won't be made public, however, and they will be handed back to Ikea - on the proviso that they not be destroyed. 'That was important to us and to the families,' said attorney Daniel Mann. 'In the event there are other children this happens to, their families to be able to see what we have seen.' All three families will divide the $50million settlement (40.5million) equally between them. The lawyers will be paid an undisclosed fee. Ikea has also agreed as part of the settlement to pay $50,000 to three children's hospitals in the names of the victims. The suit concluded six months after the company ordered a recall of 29 million Malm units. But that only came after sustained pressure by parent groups; despite the risks that the Malm posed, the company had previously declined a recall in favor of shipping out free 'restraint kits' to attach the drawers to walls. They also ran an awareness campaign in February 2015 showing a three-drawer Malm tipping over. Payout: Ikea also paid out $2.3m in 2009 to the parents of Katie Lambert (pictured) who was killed when a wardrobe fell on her in her bedroom But the McGee family, who bought their Malm in 2012, said they were unaware of the campaign. And only 300,000 restraint kits were shipped by May this year - just 1.1 percent of the 27 million units sold at that point. Unstable Ikea dressers have been linked to the deaths of seven children since 1989. Five of those were due to Malms. Also in May, consumer groups confirmed that the Malm dressers failed a standard consumer safety test, according to Philly.com. That test requires a dresser to remain stable with a 50-pound weight hung on an extended drawer even when tip restraints - which secure furniture to walls for stability - aren't used. However, a loophole in the law allows dangerous units to be sold so long as the company claims they only to be used when secured to a wall. In 2008, Ikea paid out $2.3 million to the family of Katie Elise Lambert, a three-year-old from Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. She was killed when an Ikea wardrobe fell on her in her bedroom. And in 2009 the company settled another case, in which a three-drawer dresser killed a three-year-old girl in Chula Vista, California, when it fell on her. It was settled for an undisclosed sum. As of 2012, Malm was Ikea's best-selling range, according to The Telegraph. A Muslim student made up allegations that a white man told her to remove her hijab or he would set it on fire, police have said. The attack near the University of Michigan campus in mid-November was cited as an example of a spike in hate crimes in the wake of Donald Trump's presidential victory. But police in Ann Arbor, Michigan, have debunked the allegations, and insist the confrontation never happened. Ibrahim Hooper (left), National Committee Director of CAIR, said that one false report shouldn't be used to discredit the 'many, many' reported hate crimes since Trump's election The university had put out a crime alert describing the alleged incident and suspect The Ann Arbor Police Department said in a statement that 'following a thorough investigation, detectives have determined the incident in question did not occur.' Michigan's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said at the time that the reported incident was 'just the latest anti-Muslim incident' since Trump's November 8 win. On Wednesday, after police released their findings, CAIR's national spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, said the apparently false report shouldn't be used to discredit what he called the 'many, many incidents of anti-Muslim hate.' But he also stood by assertions that the number of actual threats against Muslim rose after Election Day. 'If you have a spike in reports, you will have some increase in false reports,' he said. The incident had supposedly occurred on the 600 block of East William Street (pictured) near South State Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, between 5.30pm and 7pm The alleged incident was reported by a University of Michigan Student and a protest on campus was planned After a report of the alleged November 11 incident, the university issued a crime alert that said the woman took off her hijab and left the area. And police said the suspect was a white man in his 20s or 30s with an 'unkempt appearance' and 'intoxicated with slurred speech.' The incident was said to have occurred on the 600 block of East William Street near South State Street between 5.30pm and 7pm on November 11. The Southern Poverty Law Center said more than 200 incidents of 'election-related harassment and intimidation' had been reported in the three days after Donald Trump's victory The school's Muslim Students Association organized a protest that Saturday night in response to the supposed incident. The FBI and police at the University of Michigan also aided in the investigation. The evidence disproving that the incident occurred, police said, included surveillance footage and what investigators said were the victim's inconsistent accounts. The student was not named by police or by CAIR. The police statement said results of the investigation would be forwarded to a county prosecutor's office, suggesting charges against the student are at least a possibility. County unemployment rates for November 2016, released on Thursday, show the rates decreased in 81 counties, increased in 10, and remained the same in four. Specific county information for November is available online at: http://tn.gov/assets/entities/ labor/attachments/Labor_Force_ Estimates_-_November_2016.pdf . For the month of November, Davidson County has the states lowest major metropolitan rate at 3.5 percent, decreasing from 3.7 percent the previous month. Tennessees preliminary unemployment rate for November is 4.8 percent, unchanged from the previous months revised rate. The U.S. preliminary rate for November is 4.6 percent, decreasing three-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month. Aid payments to the most corrupt countries soared by almost 30 per cent last year, despite warnings much of the cash could be squandered, stolen or seized by terrorists. Britain gave a total of 1.3billion to the 20 most corrupt nations in 2015 up from just over 1billion the previous year figures reveal. Big winners included Afghanistan, where aid rose by more than 50 per cent to 300million, despite David Cameron describing the country this year as fantastically corrupt. Somalia, identified as the worst offender, received more than 120million, despite a review concluding there was a certain risk of aid money being diverted by terrorist groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State. Islamist Al-Shabaab fighters patrol on the outskirts of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, which has been identified as the worst offender for corruption but still received more than 120million in foreign aid The figures come as Theresa May faces calls to put vulnerable British people first by using part of the 12.2billion foreign aid budget to tackle the elderly care crisis instead. The Department for International Development (DfID) claims the rise in cash to corrupt states reflects the drive to focus aid on the most fragile nations. The respected campaign group Transparency International produces an annual table ranking countries by their level of corruption. All but one of the 20 most corrupt receive at least some British aid money, with several receiving tens of millions of pounds a year. Iraq saw funding rise 44.3 per cent in a year to 55.4million, South Sudans rose by a quarter to 208million, and Myanmar received a 55.4 per cent increase to almost 114million. Somalia is one of the biggest recipients despite being ranked the most corrupt. For years reports have warned aid is at risk of being taxed by terror groups such as Al Shabab. This month it emerged an internal risk register found a certain risk of funds being diverted by extremists. The huge rise in funding for Afghanistan is also likely to raise eyebrows given the countrys problem with corruption. Earlier this year, Mr Cameron was caught on camera telling the Queen Afghanistan and Nigeria were possibly the two most corrupt countries. Aid to Nigeria also rose, by 11 per cent to 263million. Pakistan, which has longstanding corruption problems, benefited from a 40.6 per cent increase in UK aid last year, receiving 374million. Government sources last night said the latest figures were skewed by a big increase in aid to Syria. But the total handed to corrupt countries would have increased sharply even without this. Tory MP Peter Bone, who is campaigning for the Government to scrap its aid target, described the scale of the increase as shocking. I think many people will be outraged to learn that we are sending more than 1billion a year to the worlds most corrupt countries and even more shocked to discover that the figure is going up, he said. By showering these countries with money we are effectively propping up some of the most corrupt and unpleasant regimes What is the point of sending ever more money to these countries if it is not reaching the people in need? John OConnell of the TaxPayers Alliance said: DfID has a poor record of delivering value for money [and] must work harder to make sure that this money does not end up in the wrong hands. Members of Somalia's Al Shabaab militant group parade during a demonstration to announce their integration with al Qaeda, in Elasha, south of the capital Mogadishu Ministers have faced mounting controversy over the Governments target to spend 0.7 per cent of Britains income on aid, regardless of need. David Cameron ordered DfID to spend half of the aid budget in so-called fragile states, arguing it would help stem the causes of war, terrorism and mass immigration. But the policy has come under fire again following the decision to allow town halls to hike council tax by up to 6 per cent to help pay for vital social care. Council bosses say they need an extra 1.3billion to fund the care sector, which faces an ageing population and budget cuts. A Canadian woman has been deported after trying to smuggle a cat into New Zealand inside her handbag. The woman failed to declare her pet, called Bella, as she arrived at Auckland Airport but admitted she was carrying the extra passenger when security staff tried to x-ray her bag. After the unusual discovery, the woman, who had flown 14 hours from Vancouver, was refused entry to New Zealand and was ordered onto the first flight home. A Canadian woman has been deported after trying to smuggle a cat (pictured) into New Zealand inside her handbag The passenger, who did inform biosecurity officials that she had dirty boots, claimed she had told authorities that she was planning to bring the cat when she bought her plane ticket. The woman failed to declare her pet as she arrived at Auckland Airport (file picture) But immigration officials claimed the woman was attempting a 'deliberate and very stupid attempt at smuggling'. Craig Hughes, from New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries, said: 'She was very reluctant to have the hand bag x-rayed, saying it had already been checked by our quarantine officers. 'She only revealed the cat after we insisted the bag will have to undergo further biosecurity checks.' Mr Hughes stressed that New Zealand, like Australia, has very strict laws on what can and cannot be imported. 'The passenger clearly decided those rules didn't apply to her,' he added. It is not clear how the cat was not spotted during security checks in Vancouver. A growing group of artists is hitting back against Ivanka Trump, with some even demanding the president-elect's daughter take their work down off her walls. A collection of New York artists have banded together to protest Donald Trump through his daughter, with a campaign called 'Dear Ivanka'. The colorful crusade was created by the Halt Action Group, which was founded by curator Alison Gingeras, dealer Bill Powers, Jonathan Horowitz, and a group of others associated with the art scene, Bloomberg reports. Scroll down for video Artists are demanding Ivanka Trump take their artwork down from her walls in a protest against her father 'Dear Ivanka, we need to talk about your dad,' the group's website reads. 'Racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and homophobia are not acceptable anywhereleast of all in the White House. 'Steve Bannon has no place in the White House. Jeff Sessions has no place in the White House. Talk of a Muslim registry has no place in the White House. 'Hate has no place in the White House. We refuse to "wait and see". We look to you as the voice of reason.' Ivanka Trump has posed for pictures in front of her art collection, including this painting by Philadelphia artist Alex Da Corte 'Dear @Ivankatrump please get my work off of your walls. I am embarrassed to be seen with you,' Da Corte (pictured) wrote to the president-elect's daughter Ivanka is seen standing in front of one of her many paintings, with two of her children - Joseph Frederick and Arabella Rose Ivanka (left, with her son, and right, dressed as Catwoman for Halloween) has been targeted by the group of artists who are worried about Donald Trump's presidency Other artists, many of whom have pieces in Ivanka's lavish apartment, have also chimed in on the issue. 'Dear @Ivankatrump please get my work off of your walls. I am embarrassed to be seen with you,' Philadelphia artist Alex Da Corte wrote on Instagram. Ivanka had posted a picture on her own social media of her standing next to a Da Corte piece. The Halt Action Group staged a rally on November 28 outside the Puck building in Manhattan - where Ivanka and Jared Kushner live. Da Corte, who called for Ivanka to take his paintings down in her apartment, took part in a protests outside her home with these signs About 500 people marched in the demonstration outside Ivanka and Jared Kushner's home on November 28 Demonstrators wrote cards explaining why they were concerned about Donald Trump, using the introduction, 'Dear Ivanka' About 500 people carried signs, chanted and held a candlelight vigil during the demonstration. In addition to the protest, the group collected cards from people explaining why they are concerned about the president-elect. 'I am a Muslim-American immigrant and I don't feel safe,' one card read. 'You're scaring the hell out of women,' another said. The messages people wrote to Ivanka as part of the campaign covered a range of issues, including: immigration, climate change, women's rights, and abortions 'Are you going to help anyone that doesn't look like you,' a card read. 'Your dad scares me... and so does your clothing range,' another person wrote. The Halt Action Group's Instagram account has more than 15,000 followers. Ivanka's Instagram is littered with pictures, many of which were taken inside her apartment, showing off her impressive art collection. DailyMail.com contacted the Halt Action Group for comment. A woman dying in agony from cancer was refused morphine in her final days because her health trust and council each claimed it was the others responsibility. Although the patient, named Gail, was under the care of both authorities, neither arranged the prescription, leaving her in unnecessary pain for almost a week. Her case is highlighted in a damning report which warns how vulnerable patients are falling through the cracks because of the social care crisis. A woman dying in agony from cancer was refused morphine in her final days because her health trust and council each claimed it was the others responsibility (file photo) It blames failings in care services and a lack of communication between hospitals and local councils. Among the other cases: - Parkinsons sufferer Winnie, 80, was forced to go to hospital by a council worker and nurses against her wishes where tests determined there was no medical need for her to be there; - Edna, 80, developed bed sores because staff failed to persist in treating her when she resisted care at a nursing home; - Ben, who was assessed as needing full-time support for a brain disorder, severe epilepsy and a learning disability, inexplicably had his support cut from five to three days a week; - Duncan, an elderly man with Huntingtons disease who had been admitted to hospital, was billed 8,500 after delays in the assessment process left him staying in residential care for a year longer than necessary; - Nine-year-old Dan, who has cerebral palsy and is nearly blind, missed out on full-time education, with school only one day a week, as there were insufficient staff to assist him. The joint report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman warns the health and social care system is too fragmented The joint report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman warns the health and social care system is too fragmented. It comes amid growing concerns about social care services run by local councils which are struggling to meet the needs of the ageing population. Last week the Government gave the green light for local authorities to raise council tax by 6 per cent to fund extra care. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged families to start saving for care in old age just as they do with pensions. Todays report highlights eight anonymous cases studies of patients failed by health and social care services. Their relatives complained to the ombudsmen who investigated the allegations and in some cases ordered authorities to pay out compensation. The most shocking example exposes how leukaemia sufferer Gail was denied morphine in her final week of life because her health trust and council both claimed it was not their responsibility. She was being looked after in a care home under supervision by local authority social services as well as a community health trust. But both refused to pay for the prescription. To make it easier for patients and families to complain about health and social care, the Government is setting up a single ombudsman to replace the two existing bodies. The cash lavished on the 20 most corrupt countries could have a massive impact on the creaking social care system if it was diverted to help people struggling in this country. The 1.3billion annual total would be enough to fund care home places for 34,435 people based on an average cost of 37,752 per year. Even the 292million increase from 2014 to 2015 in funding for corrupt regimes would have been enough to pay for a hot meal every day for a year for 210,000 people based on an average cost of 3.80 per meal. Advertisement Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said: A fragmented health and social care system means time and time again these services fail and vulnerable people fall through the cracks. 'For families who have gone through a confusing local complaints process, we have made it easier for them by setting up a joint team. Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: Health and social care services provide vital support for some of the most vulnerable people in the country. 'For people who rely on these services when things go wrong, the impact can be life-changing. 'It is therefore essential there is a clear and simple-to-navigate route to achieving redress when the worst happens. Jade Stevens, pictured, accused the Marie Stopes clinic in Maidstone, Kent of being like a beauty salon because it played loud music A mother who went for an abortion at a Marie Stopes clinic has told how it was more like a beauty parlour than a hospital. Jade Stevens said she was pressured by nurses into having the procedure and treated as if on a conveyor belt. The mother of three was unsure about her decision to terminate her pregnancy but said she was offered no support and was even accused of 'wasting their time' when she backed out. Miss Stevens, 37, came forward after Marie Stopes International, the second largest abortion provider in the country with 70 clinics, was accused of putting thousands of women at risk in a damning report this week by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission. Inspectors discovered that 2,600 incidents had been reported in one year and many nurses lacked proper training. Miss Stevens, a single mother, went to one of the provider's clinics in Maidstone, Kent, in spring last year after unexpectedly discovering she was pregnant. The part-time waitress already had two children including a son with learning difficulties and feared she would be unable to cope. When she arrived she found there were old teenage and women's magazines lying about in the waiting room while loud music was played on the radio. She visited the clinic seven times before finally deciding not to go ahead as she was lying down on the operating table. She has since given birth to a daughter who is now 11 months old. She said: 'I went expecting sympathy, kindness and compassion and it was nothing like that. It was like a beauty parlour when you queue to have your waxing.' Miss Stevens also claims she did not once speak to a doctor and was offered no face to face counselling. 'I saw several nurses and explained my situation. I felt like they wanted me to have an abortion,' she said. 'The place was chock-a-block with people. It is all about money. They are not counselling people properly.' She added: 'It was like a conveyor belt. Some (women) were really upset, they were crying but there was no support for them.' And she said staff did not seem to care about the emotional ordeal the women were going through, adding: 'It was one in, and literally five minutes later, another one in. They were doing it so quickly.' Ms Stevens said the clinic, pictured, accused her of 'wasting their time' when she backed out of the abortion while on the operating table during her seventh visit to the centre A probe found 2,600 safety flaws at Marie Stopes abortion clinics across Britain The mother said she was vulnerable at the time and would have been left very depressed if she had gone through with the termination. Miss Stevens said: 'I didn't want any more children and I had recently split up with the father. I was very shocked to find out I was pregnant. I thought there was no way I could cope with another child. 'Part of me wanted to have an abortion and part didn't. When I told them I didn't want the abortion they accused me of wasting their time. I was ushered out of the door half-dressed and in tears.' Last night Miss Stevens said she was happy to have had her third child, adding: 'It is very challenging but I am glad I have got her.' Marie Stopes International carries out 70,000 terminations a year. But yesterday's Daily Mail reported how the CQC had exposed a catalogue of failings including that up to half of nurses had not been trained to do resuscitation. Doctors were going home and leaving women in the hands of nurses and healthcare assistants who would not know what to do in a medical emergency. And doctors were bulk signing batches of 60 consent forms when they should have considered each case carefully beforehand. Marie Stopes UK refused to comment on the specific case of Miss Stevens. A spokesman said: 'The CQC has publicly acknowledged that client feedback was positive across our centres and our staff provided a non-judgmental service and treated clients with dignity and respect. We are unable to comment further without more information. 'Since the inspections we've made considerable changes to our management, governance and assurance processes, including extensive training of staff and updating of policies. A grandmother thought Santa Claus really was coming to town when she spotted a cloud in the shape of Father Christmas. Cheryl Holland, 63, was looking out of her kitchen window when she saw the festive figure appear in the sky above. She quickly grabbed her camera and snapped the incredible cloud formation which clearly shows Santa's head, complete with his red hat and beard. A grandmother thought Santa Claus really was coming to town when she spotted a cloud in the shape of Father Christmas Mrs Holland said: 'I was just looking out of the window when I saw the face straight away. I recognised who it was straight away so I ran outside with my camera. 'I was worried I'd missed it but it hadn't changed at all. It looked just like Santa.' Mrs Holland, a self-confessed cloud enthusiast from Witham, Essex, posted the picture on Facebook where she was instantly praised on managing to catch a glimpse of Santa. She said: 'Everyone recognises him straight away. There's no doubt about it. It's amazing that it showed up so close to Christmas as well. I must have been good this year.' Cheryl Holland, 63, was looking out of her kitchen window when she saw the festive figure appear in the sky above. She posted the picture on Facebook where she was instantly praised on managing to catch a glimpse of Santa In the past, Mrs Holland, a retired charity mental health worker, has spotted various other cloud shapes including one she claims looked like a baby scan. council for the lack of decorations in their suburb A pensioner has been hard at work improving his local council's 'woeful attempt' at decorating a local shopping area with Christmas decorations. Eric, 78, from Mortdale, south of Sydney, has brought the Christmas spirit with him to the shopping village after the local the Georges River Council put up green poster boards around telegraph poles. Pictures of Eric walking around with his walking frame and sticking up festive decorations were uploaded to the I Grew Up in Mortdale Facebook page. Eric, 78, has walked around Mortdale, south of Sydney, in his walking frame and has posted up Christmas decorations The pensioner took it upon himself to improve the Georges River Council 'woeful attempt' decorating the area with 'flimsy' green poster boards He decided to take it upon himself to tape up more decorations after reading about other Georges River residents outraged at the lack of festive cheer. The caption read that Eric, who had recently suffered a heart attack, made a number of trips to a bargain shop to buy decorations to tape up around the streets of Mortdale. 'Eric the pensioner: 1 Georges River Council 0,' the post said. Mortdale residents had recently made the criticisms of the Georges River Council's lack of festive cheer with decorating their streets. 'There are a couple of bits of cardboard strapped to the bottom of a couple of telegraph poles. They are dog level. Dogs can pee on them,' Maree Miller from Penhurst said in a report by the St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. Another resident, Melanie Tong said: 'They do have a token wreath on the clock tower, and there are a few flimsy green posters/boards tied around the bottom of lights post which are pitiful. 'Quite frankly I think it's a real shame. The kids in the local area deserve better, as do us big kids!' Mortdale residents have criticised the Georges River Council effort for Christmas decorating. One woman said: 'Quite frankly I think it's a real shame. The kids in the local area deserve better, as do us big kids!' Many people on social media have praised Eric and his good deed. Some small businesses and the Mortdale RSL have even offered a free lunch to say thank you The reaction to Eric's crusade on social media was overwhelmingly positive at his effort. One man commented: 'Eric's a deadset champ. As for council, it's all about Chinese New Year and pretending that they are 'diverse and inclusive' and all that other left wing meaningless rubbish.' A woman wrote: 'You've gotta love and be proud of our senior citizens... they break through all the political correctness, and when a job needs to be done, they get in and do it.' Small businesses and the Mortdale RSL have even offered him a free lunch for his community spirit. A spokesperson from the Georges River Council said: Georges River Council has installed 21 Christmas banners on light poles around the City centre that say Merry Christmas in English and major community languages. They said council has also installed festive wreathes along main roads and at the Hurstville Transport Interchange. It takes an average Sydney couple more than eight years to scrape together a first home deposit. Saving $214,600 is becoming even more of a challenge in a city where median house prices are more than $1 million. A 20 per cent deposit for a home loan takes 8.4 years to achieve, a Bankwest study found. ' Young couples in NSW and especially Sydney are battling the most competitive property market in the nation thanks to property value growth exceeding wage growth,' Bankwest's executive general manager of retail Andrew Whitechurch said. Scroll down for video Laura O'Connor, 25, decided to buy her first home in Newcastle where property prices average $575,000 In Sydney, savings times are now approaching eight years for a couple to save a house deposit Sydney is Australia's more expensive city, where median house prices have climbed by 20.4 per cent since 2014 and by 46.8 per cent since 2010, the report said. Median house values rose above $1 million for the first time in 2015 and the removal of state government's first home owner grants, for established homes, has also made life more difficult for would-be borrowers. Sydney auctioneer Chad Pashut said rising property prices have pushed him out of the market. 'It's ridiculous to have to save for eight years,' Mr Pashut told the Daily Mail Australia. 'High prices are forcing so many young people out of Sydney. 'It's so sad that you can no longer live in the same city where your parents live.' Sydney born Chad Pashut, 26, dreamed of owning a home in Sydney but has moved his investments elsewhere Instead of trying to save in Sydney, Mr Pashut, 26, invested in a Brisbane apartment and is bidding on a property in Portugal. 'To buy in Sydney you need an income of at least $120,00 per year,' he said. 'It's so unattainable for someone my age. Instead I saved up, minimised my expenses, and put down a $45,000 deposit in Brisbane. 'To buy in you need to have a goal, and you need to make sacrifices.' The story is the same in Melbourne, with the average first-home buyer needing to save for 6.2 years, up slightly from 5.8 years in 2015. Couples in Hobart and Perth had the shortest waiting time at 3.8 years. The average Melbourne home buyer needs to save for 6.2 years to buy their first home If couples are thinking of getting into the property market, Mr Whitechurch recommends looking in rural and regional areas. 'Saving times in rural and regional areas have remained relatively stable and offer much quicker pathways on to the property ladder,' he said. Allied health professional Laura O'Connor, 25, started saving half her salary after finishing university and earlier this month, and bought her first home in Newcastle, two hours' drive north of Sydney. 'I started saving before most of friends did because it was a priority for me to own my own home', she told the Daily Mail Australia. Couples in Sydney are battling the nations most competitive property market, Bankwest's first time buyers report 'I made myself a budget so I knew exactly how much money I had and where it was going. 'That way I knew what was achievable for me, and I could see where I could make cutbacks.' Despite careful saving, it still took Ms Connor four years to save up the required 25 per cent deposit. The median price for a home in Newcastle is $575,000, figures from Domain show. The two young children were still fighting for The twins - aged 23 months - were rushed to hospital in a A pair of twins found submerged in a backyard pool continue to fight for their lives as their parents hope desperately for a Christmas miracle. Charli and Robbie Manago have been in a critical condition since their mother Fleur Manago pulled their lifeless bodies from the pool of their Kellyville Ridge home, in Sydney's north west, on Tuesday night. They stabilised overnight as their church, Our Lady of the Angels Primary School, in Kellyville - where the twin's siblings attend school - held a community rosary on Thursday night to pray for the babies swift recovery. Scroll down for video Charli (left) and Robbie Manago (middle) have stabilised overnight but are still fighting for their lives, as their parents desperately hope for a Christmas miracle 'Fleur messaged to say that it means so much to her to know that Robbie and Charli are in everyone's prayers,' the school's parent council said. The local church were inundated by members offering to help the family out and have organised to prepare meals as they sit by Charli and Robbie's bedside. The church group said they are still waiting to hear from the family to see how best they can provide support but have urged all their members to pray for the to children wake up so they can spend their second Christmas with their loved ones. 'Please continue to keep them all in your prayers. "When there are no words, God still hears",' the council wrote. Charli (right) and Robbie (left) Manago are fighting for their lives in hospital Paramedics and police loaded the two critical children into ambulances outside their Kellyville Ridge home on Tuesday night A friend of the family posted an emotional plea begging for the congregation to keep the young children in their thoughts, adding that she truly believes in the power of 'Christmas miracles'. 'At this blessed time of the Christmas season can we please pray and put every positive intention out to the universe to our Lord to bless these toddlers and give them the strength they need to recover,' she wrote. The children were transported to the Westmead Children's Hospital in a critical condition under police guard and were still fighting for their lives on Wednesday The two children were submerged in the pool when thier mother ripped them from the water 'I believe that the power of prayer can move mountains so please pray, meditate, light a candle, send positive affirmations or whatever your beliefs.' The twins' parents, Robert and Fleur Manago, are believed to have looked away from the pool momentarily when the two children slipped under the water's surface, according to police. The 23-month-old babies were not conscious as neighbours and paramedics performed CPR before they were rushed to the Westmead Children's Hospital where they remain in a critical but stable condition. 'I think those with children are very aware how quickly things can change,' Chief Inspector Garry Sims told the ABC on Wednesday. 'Whatever happens in seconds is a life-changing situation for the families, and you can't imagine the grief the family are going through.' Robert and Fluer Manago are believed to have looked away from the pool momentarily when the two children slipped under the water's surface, according to police Multiple police cars and ambulances responded to the call out on Tuesday night Ms Manago was the first to notice, with their father rushing to her side after hearing her screams for help. A concerned neighbour also raced over to check on the family and helped perform potentially life-saving CPR on the small children before paramedics arrived and took over. 'We just kept going and going until the paramedics arrived,' neighbour Michelle Skevington told Nine News on Wednesday. 'We may have saved those children's lives... I am not sure but I hope we have,' she added. Michelle Skevington (pictured) said she had only just done a CPR refresher course when she rushed over to the Manago household after she heard screaming coming from the back yard Paramedics rushed to a house in Kellyville Ridge (pictured) after the lifeless bodies of a brother and sister - aged 23 months - were pulled from a backyard pool Police confirmed both children were underwater when they were found. The children were pictured sitting atop Santa's lap ahead of Christmas Day last year with their four siblings. Another neighbour said news of the incident had rocked the community. 'Everybody was in shock because they are such lovely neighbours. They are very caring parents... it's really sad,' Elsae Susanto told Sunrise. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding how the children became submerged was launched on Tuesday night. Several officers could be seen at the home after nightfall, with some cordoning off the home with crime scene tape. The children were taken to hospital under a police guard in two separate ambulances A getaway car with 'cop hunter' painted on the bonnet has been used in a service station robbery. The thieves were captured on closed-circuit TV cameras shortly after 1pm on Wednesday with their provocative early 1990s Toyota Lexcen sedan. Their dark-blue car with no numberplates also had 'crime does not pay' and 'Merry Christmas' painted in white on the sides. This early 1990s Toyota Lexcen with 'cop hunter' sprayed on bonnet was used to rob a service station on the Bruce Highway The sedan was seen at a Bruce Highway service station in the town of Glenwood, on Queensland's Fraser Coast north of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. A man parked the car near petrol bowsers before another man wearing a balaclava got out, entered the Pacific Petroleum store and allegedly threatened two customers with a machete. He then ordered the shop assistant to find a bag and put cash into it before he fled into the getaway car, police allege. A man got out of the front seat of the blue getaway car parked next to a petrol bowser The male passenger was described as 175cm tall with a stocky build and was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and dark shorts. The driver was wearing a high-vis yellow long sleeved shirt and yellow motorcycle helmet. Their Toyota was a rebadged version of the VR-series Holden Commodore, which was sold in Australia between 1993 and 1995. The National Transportation Safety Board is planning on retrieving the remains of a black box belonging to an Eastern Airlines flight that crashed over 31 years ago, after two Americans found the flight recorder while climbing Bolivia's Mount Illimani in May. Bolivian officials have requested that the NTSB obtain the black box from flight 980 that crashed on January 1, 1985, killing all 29 people aboard, which included eight Americans, ABC News reported. Due to the inaccessibility of the crash site at the high altitude, several efforts to recover the flight recorders over the years ended unsuccessfully, the NTSB said. Scroll down for video Eastern Airlines Flight 980 crashed on January 1, 1985, killing all 29 people aboard, including eight Americans, when it smashed into Bolivia's Mount Illimani. Efforts in retrieving the wreckage (above) or flight recorders ended due to the dangerous factors on the mountain But back in May 2016, friends Dan Futrell (left) and Isaac Stoner (right) of Boston made it their mission to climb Mount Illimani to try and find the voice recorder from the flight The two men were successful and found the cockpit voice recorder after spending several days searching the huge debris field on the mountain But back in May 2016, friends Dan Futrell and Isaac Stoner of Boston made it their mission to climb Mount Illimani to try and find the voice recorders from the flight. 'People have been to the moon, people have been to the top of Everest, what does inaccessible mean?' Stoner said of taking on the task of climbing the mountain to get the recorder. The pair, who hadn't done anything like this prior and are not mountaineers, succeeded and found the remains of the box from the crash after searching a huge debris field for days at an elevation around 16,000 feet. In reaching the top, it took the men several hours to first hike to an abandoned mine, before it only took them about an hour to get to the debris field. 'The debris field was much, much larger than we anticipated,' Futrell said. 'It did seem like the goal of finding the flight recorders might be completely impossible.' Futrell, who found the first piece of the black box, said that it was 'cracked open like an egg.' Now, Bolivian officials want the NTSB to examine the black box and other items (above) they brought back from the doomed Eastern Airlines flight that crashed on its approach to the airport outside of La Paz The NTSB is planning on retrieving the remains of the black box from Futrell and Stoner (pictured together above with flight wreckage), but it remains unclear when that will happen Stoner said that he had expected the black box to be intact, and not in several pieces spread out across the mountain. The men said their 'eureka' moment happened at the end of their last day on the mountain when they found the voice recorders. Now, Bolivian officials want the NTSB to examine the black box from the doomed Eastern Airlines flight that crashed on its approach to the airport outside of La Paz and is considered to be the highest elevation plane crash. The nation where an accident occurs is in charge of any investigation, international regulations state. But after Futrell and Stoner found the box this spring and brought it back to the U.S., they claim their emails, phone calls and certified letters sent to the Bolivian Embassy in Washington were not returned. Now, hopefully decades of questions surrounding what happened on Eastern Airlines flight 980 will finally be answered. Above is wreckage the men found on Mount Illimani in May The NTSB offered its services to Bolivia after the discovery, but the federal agency needed approval from the country before proceeding in obtaining the boxes from the men. Capt. Edgar Chavez, the operations inspector at the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of Bolivia, told ABC News on December 1 that the Bolivian government is now permitting the NTSB to examine the evidence the men found. It's not clear when the evidence will be given to the NTSB, as the voice recorders are still with Futrell in Boston as of this week. Given the extreme conditions on Mount Illimani, many experts and airline officials have thought that finding the flight recorders was impossible. Cabinet ministers are clearly feeling the pressure to up their sartorial game ever since Theresa May posed in a pair of 995 Amanda Wakeley leather trousers. Yesterday Home Secretary Amber Rudd declared in the Register of Members interests that she has received a Hermes scarf from French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve. Rather than hand it over to her department, as is the custom with such gifts, she dug into her own pocket and shelled out 280 for it. Yesterday Home Secretary Amber Rudd declared in the Register of Members interests that she has received a Hermes scarf similar to the one pictured right from French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve Dame Joan Collins shares a quote from her late friend, much married Hollywood siren Zsa Zsa Gabor, who died this week and whom she remembers as such fun. Being jealous of a beautiful woman is not going to make you more beautiful. Great quote from the late witty Zsa Zsa Gabor, RIP. Could it be that the ever beautiful Joanie, whose evergreen looks are the envy of many, had herself in mind when recalling Zsa Zsas sentiment? Despite modelling for some of the worlds top fashion brands, including Burberry and Tommy Hilfiger, even Suki Waterhouse can fall prey to a sartorial faux pas. The 24-year-old ex-girlfriend of Hollywood star Bradley Cooper was spotted running on a beach in Barbados yesterday, during a family holiday, wearing a truly bizarre ensemble. It consisted of a 120 Hunza G neon-yellow swimming costume with a green frill attached to the waist teamed unflatteringly with white-and-blue striped shorts. The 24-year-old ex-girlfriend of Hollywood star Bradley Cooper was spotted running on a beach in Barbados yesterday wearing a 120 Hunza G neon-yellow swimming costume with a green frill attached to the waist teamed unflatteringly with white-and-blue striped shorts I dont like stuff clinging to my bum, she has said. I always want to know that I can run away down the street easily. I want my clothes to be alluring but not uber sexy. Mission accomplished. Even Sir Mick Jagger cant always get what he wants. The Rolling Stone, 73, arrived in Mustique this week to spend Christmas with assorted members of his family (although not, I gather, with his new-born son, Deveraux Octavian Basil, who is back home with his mother Melanie Hamrick, a 29-year-old ballerina). Trouble was that his bags did not accompany him, owing to an American Airlines mix-up at Miami airport. Immediately on the case was Mustiques head of security, Simon Humphrey, a former Met chief inspector, and two days later Sir Mick and his luggage are reunited. Alice In Wonderland actress Helena Bonham Carters year is ending on a happier note for her than it began, when, she explained, her split from U.S. director Tim Burton made her want to stick a tape marked Handle with care across her forehead. Now her company, Orlando Limited, has filed accounts recording that it holds 6.8 million in funds 300,000 more than in 2015. Her firm holds the bulk of its money in investments. A man in his 30s has been rushed to hospital after stepping on a stingray. The man was stung in Portsea on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, around 10 on Thursday morning, according to Ambulance Victoria. It is believed the sting ray's barb pierced his foot. He was treated by paramedics at the scene before being airlifted to Alfred hospital in serious condition. He is now in stable condition, paramedics said. A man in his 30s has been rushed to hospital after stepping on a stingray The man was stung in Portsea on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, around 10 on Thursday morning (pictured) Uber has been forced to remove its self-driving cars from San Francisco streets in a crackdown by state authorities. California regulators put a halt to the program because the company had not obtained a permit to test autonomous vehicles. The California Department of Motor Vehicles said on Wednesday it had revoked the registration of 16 Uber self-driving cars after a weeklong battle with the car company. The regulator demanded the firm get a permit to test its self-driving cars on public roads - but Uber didn't believe they needed one as their cars are not yet able to fully drive on their own. The move comes as 20 other companies, including Tesla and Ford, have obtained permits - but Uber said it was not obligated to do so. Uber Technologies Inc. has removed its self-driving cars from San Francisco streets after California regulators cracked down on the program because the company had not obtained a permit to test autonomous vehicles. The fleet is seen her in Pittsburgh in September 'We're now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules,' a spokeswoman said in a statement. The move comes after a week of talks between the ride-sharing company and state regulators failed. Uber maintains it does not need a permit because the cars are not sophisticated enough to continuously drive themselves, although the company promotes them as 'self-driving.' The DMV said the registrations for the vehicles were improperly issued, because they were not suitably marked as test vehicles. It invited Uber to seek a permit so their vehicles could operate legally in California an offer the company said it did not plan to accept. The ride-sharing company says the cars must constantly be monitored by a human driver trained to take control at any time, so do not fall under California's permitting requirements for 'autonomous vehicles.' Questioning the definition of an autonomous vehicle is the latest example of Uber testing legal boundaries. In recent years, the company has argued with authorities in California and elsewhere about checks on the criminal backgrounds of its drivers, and whether those drivers should be treated as contractors or employees. The California Department of Motor Vehicles said on Wednesday it revoked the registration of 16 Uber self-driving cars after a weeklong battle with the ride-services company. This is what one of the cars looked like during a demonstration in September San Francisco is Uber's second self-driving city; its first cars have been cruising around Pittsburgh since September. The testing lets Uber identify glitches and gives everyday people a chance to interact with the technology whether as a passenger, pedestrian or driver in another car. As its engineers improve the technology, Uber plans to bring self-driving cars to other cities. Operating without a permit arguably gives Uber a competitive advantage. Companies with one must report all crashes to the state, as well as every instance in which a person takes control during testing. All that information is public. Waymo, a self-driving company created by Google and an Uber rival with a state permit, has disclosed 29 accidents involving its vehicles on public streets since 2010. In Pittsburgh, Uber has not been required to release any information about crashes. Waymo CEO John Krafcik declined to discuss Uber specifically when asked last week about California's permitting requirements for testing self-driving cars. But, he said, 'if there is a competitor taking unnecessary risks, that could be a bad thing.' A roof mounted camera and radar system is shown on Uber's Ford Fusion self driving car It didn't take long for Uber's self-driving cars to draw unwanted attention in San Francisco. Several witnesses documented instances where Uber Volvos didn't stop for red lights. Uber said one incident in front of the city's Museum of Modern Art illustrated why its cars require constant monitoring by a human driver and therefore didn't need a state permit. San Francisco also has an active bicycle culture, and some of its leaders have criticized Uber for deploying cars that make right 'hook' turns across bike lanes at intersections. The executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition said that on a test ride Uber gave him before the launch, the car twice made such turns. Brian Wiedenmeier said he told Uber officials and they promised to fix it. He said he had heard reports of other such turns on the pilot project's first day, but not since. A knife-wielding 14-year-old shot by a campus police officer two weeks ago cut a classmate, then chased him through a crowd and advanced toward the officer before the shooting in a high school courtyard, Reno police said Wednesday. Reno detectives have interviewed more than 100 witnesses as the lead agency in an ongoing regional investigation into the December 7 officer-involved shooting, the city police department said in a statement Wednesday. 'Many details of this investigation have been corroborated by witnesses and cellphone videos of the incident which were taken by students,' the statement said. Logan Clark, the teen who was shot once in the chest by a Washoe County School District officer, last was reported in critical but stable condition at a Reno hospital. Scroll down for video The first picture of 14-year-old Logan Clark recovering in the hospital was revealed last week He was being treated after he was shot in the chest by a cop when he got into a fight at his Reno high school Witness video shows Logan brandishing two knives in a fight with another student at school moments before he was shot. Police now say he cut a classmate, then chased him through a crowd and advanced toward the officer before the shooting His lawyer, David Houston, said the special needs student had been beaten and bullied before. He said the Clark brought kitchen knives from home to defend himself against another anticipated attack. Reno police said for the first time Wednesday that the teen brought knives to Procter R. Hug High School in a working-class neighborhood on the city's north side in the days leading up to the shooting 'with the intent to initiate an altercation with another student.' That confrontation never materialized, but 'immediately preceding the shooting,' he was involved in an altercation with a different 14-year-old student, produced two knives 'and caused a minor cut' to his face, the statement said. Unwarranted? Logan's father has criticized the cop for shooting his son instead of finding other ways to subdue him 'The injured student attempted to retreat, but the 14-year-old pursued him through a crowd of students and faculty while swinging the knives,' Reno police said. A campus officer responding to the fight gave Clark multiple commands to drop the knives, but the teen 'disregarded his commands and advanced toward the officer while making challenging statements,' the statement said. 'The officer fired a single gunshot striking the 14-year-old and stopping the threat.' Houston, a prominent Reno defense attorney, said his office is continuing to investigate the incident. He said earlier that videos posted on social media suggested none of the students felt threatened by the teen with the knife and many appeared shocked when the officer opened fire. 'Half the student body is out there cheering them on,' Houston told AP last week. 'He'd been punched in the face and was running around screaming, 'Get away from me!' He was trying to extricate himself from a situation that had become like spectators in the Roman Colosseum.' Advertisement Horrifying photographs show a neglected calico cat named Hidey with matted fur forming 'dreadlocks' on her body. Images of the overweight feline, who belonged to an elderly man with Alzheimer's, were posted on Facebook Friday by the Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The post said: 'This poor cat was brought to our clinic yesterday after her elderly (owner) had to move to a nursing home. 'She suffered from severe matting (dreadlocks, really), the likes of which had been neglected for years.' Horrifying photographs show a neglected calico cat named Hidey with matted fur forming 'dreadlocks' on her body Hidey is pictured with her matted 'dreadlocks' in this shocking photograph A person is seen shaving off Hidey's matted fur as she lies on a table The Facebook post continued: 'Our Medical team shaved off the pounds of intertwined fur from her body &, needless to say, this cat is feeling so much better now! 'She will be cared for by a distant relative of her previous owner & finally have a chance at a happy & healthy life.' Paul Russel's 82-year-old distant male relative with Alzheimer's had relocated to a nursing home, The Dodo reported. Russel told the website: 'When they put him in the nursing home, I thought, 'Hey, he has a cat.' The house was still open, so I went down and left some food for the cat until we figured out what we're going to do. 'Then somebody mentioned that he had a second cat. So I started searching around, and suddenly this huge creature darts out from under the bed and runs down to the cellar, and I thought, 'What was that?'' Paul Russel's 82-year-old distant male relative with Alzheimer's had relocated to a nursing home. Russell checked on the man's cats and discovered Hidey had severely matted fur Hidey is seen in this image with her new look, showing much less fur on her body He recalled to the website: 'At first I thought it was a cat who had a blanket draped over her that she dragged down. But no it turned out to be Hidey. She hid down in the corner of the cellar. 'I'm down there with a flashlight looking it was almost like a horror movie. And I found her hunkering in the corner. Probably very scared. Probably in a lot of pain.' Two pounds of fur were shaved off Hidey's body, according to The Dodo, which said that her 82-year-old owner probably couldn't groom her. Caitlin Lasky with the Western PA Humane Society told the website: 'Hidey was really overweight, so that makes it harder for (cats) to groom themselves, and that's when you see matting happen.' The cat is now living with Paul Russell and his wife Jill. The Western PA Humane Society wrote on Facebook Tuesday: 'Hidey's new owners have told us she was originally hiding under the bed in her new home, but now is snuggled on a warm cat bed on an open floor' 'They (staff at the center) hadn't seen anything like that. Even looking online, I had a hard time finding anything similar, so it's definitely a unique case,' Lasky explained. She added that the vet team had to put Hidey under general anesthesia so they could safely shave off her dreadlocks and that the fur that had accumulated on the feline's body reached two pounds in weight. 'Lots of fur. It had to be years of matting for it to get that long. She was overweight as well.' Hidey, who is 14, and the elderly man's other cat, 17-year-old Siam, are now living with Russell and his wife Jill, according to PEOPLE. It is very likely that Russell's encounter and trip to the vet saved Hidey's life who got her name for her inclination to hide. The Russels also own two dogs and an additional three cats, the website said. The Western PA Humane Society wrote on Facebook Tuesday: 'Hidey's new owners have told us she was originally hiding under the bed in her new home, but now is snuggled on a warm cat bed on an open floor. The final moments before two Georgia police officers were shot dead while chasing a suspect have been captured on one of the slain cop's body camera. Americus Police officer Nicholas Smarr, 25, was killed after responding to a domestic disturbance call. It is alleged Minquell Kennedy Lembrick shot Smarr, along with his partner and best friend Jody Smith, 26. Smith died in hospital on December 8. Police believe he was shot near the Georgia Southwestern State University - where he was a campus officers - while trying to deliver first aid to his fallen friend. Scroll down for video The final moments of two Georgia police officers were shot dead while chasing a suspect have been captured on one of the slain cop's body cameras Smarr (right) was called to a domestic disturbance near Georgia Southwestern university, where Smith (left) was an officer. Smith provided backup but both were killed Lembrick, 32, shot and killed himself on December 8 after a manhunt and stand-off. On Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations released footage showing the moments leading up to the shooting, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. It shows Smarr approaching a house where Lembrick was, and opening the front door to see the 32-year-old stood at the other end of a hallway. Lembrick then raced out of the house and into the backyard, as Smarr and Smith gave chase. Minquell Kennedy Lembrick (left, in a previous mugshot, and right, in the body camera footage) was seen running away from the home being chased by Smarr The 25-year-old cop was gaining on the suspect as they ran out of the yard and into an alleyway, when shots were heard and the video stopped. The GBI redacted the remainder of the video and cited a state law that exempts it from having to release footage of someone dying, according to the Macon Telegraph. It comes after hundreds of mourners gather to farewell the cops earlier this month. A horse-drawn carriage led by an honor guard carried Smarr's casket, which was lined with an American flag, on December 11. Smarr was planning to propose to girlfriend Rachel Herrod (pictured with him) just days after he was killed Smarr's casket was seen covered with an American flag during a memorial service after the shooting A billboard for the two fallen officers was seen in Americus after the shooting on December 7 Smarr had been working to save up for a trip to Disney World so he could propose to his girlfriend, Rachel Harrod, it was revealed after his death. The couple had planned to fly to the holiday resort on the day that would become Smarr's funeral at the at Oak Grove Cemetery. A beloved family pet called 'Simba' has gone missing after, of all things, having his flight cancelled and getting lost in an airport. Neala Boyd from Nowra, New South Wales, entrusted two of her pet spoodles with animal freight company Dogtainers for their move to Toowoomba, Queensland. But unfortunately Simba never made it to his new home last Thursday, becoming lost as he waited to board his flight at the busy Sydney airport. Mrs Boyd told radio station 3AW the pooch had managed to escape his cage and run free through the terminal - and hasn't been seen since. Pet pooch Simba (pictured) has gone missing after getting lost inside Sydney airport while under the care of animal freight company Dogtainers. He was meant to be flying from Nowra to Toowoomba to move home along with his owner Neala Boyd 'The dogs were picked up in Nowra on Wednesday and traveled up to Sydney for the night,' she said. '(At the airport) Simba knocked over the drink bottle in his cage, so they had to open the cage to secure it because they can't fly without water and Simba has decided to push his way out and now he's loose in Sydney. 'He was just in the airport near Krispy Kreme donuts and he was last seen heading towards the Ibis Hotel in Sydney.' So far their have been multiple sightings of a dog fitting Simba's description, but Mrs Boyd said none have turned out to be their beloved Spoodle. While the search continues, the freight company has already taken the unusual step of promising to buy the family a new spoodle if they can't find it. But Mrs Boyd said that's little consolation, particularly to her devastated son. 'My son is 14, he has Asperger's and is really affected by this,' she said. Making it even harder for Mrs Boyd is the fact she's unable to join the search as she's busy moving her family following her husband's transfer within the ADF. Mrs Boyd (left) said she and her family were distraught at the loss of their beloved pet. Simba was last seen walking out of the Sydney airport terminal towards the Ibis Hotel. Dogtainers is continuing a search throughout the Sydney region for the four-year-old pup Mick Tabon, the managing director at Dogtainers told Daily Mail Australia they were continuing to search far and wide for the lost pooch. 'Were still out looking. Weve talked to the rangers, to the council, to the police, the local lost register for Sydney and weve got our guys looking morning, evenings and during the day,' he said. Nigel Edwards found $10,000 in a bag by the side of a road and tracked down the owner A man who found $10,000 on the side of the road did an honest deed just in time for Christmas. Nigel Edwards noticed a bag containing $100 notes, a wallet and a passport on Monday as he was driving with his daughter along a street in suburban Auckland. Setting a good example, the 58-year-old father picked up the bag on the side of Ranfurly Road in Epsom and took it home. Inside, he found New Zealand dollars, U.S. greenbacks and euros in a folder. 'I actually thought about it for a little while. I thought "nah, you've got to do the right thing",' he told the New Zealand Herald. After typing the owner's name into a Google search engine, he called her employer. The woman, who owned the bag, cried hysterically after being told of the bag discovery. Mr Edwards said she had been planning a trip to Europe to see her daughter for Christmas. The grateful woman's husband gave him a bottle of wine and some money after they visited his house to collect the money. Mr Edwards said he did not regret handing the money over. Ranfurly Road in the Auckland suburb of Epsom where the bag containing $10,000 was found 'If I had kept it, even though no one else would have known, I would have known,' he said. 'That would have bugged me for the rest of my life.' He had reported his find to police. A man working at a care facility has been charged for allegedly assaulting a severely disabled child. The carer, 34, was arrested by police at the Wollongong Police Station, south of Sydney on Thursday, following extensive investigations. Detectives from the state crime commands child abuse squad began investigations in November following reports the man assaulted the child, who is severely disabled and non-verbal. A man, 34, has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a nine-year-old child at a care facility (stock image) The court heard the man, verbally abused, threatened to cause harm and assaulted the boy on November 5 and 6. The man no longer works at the facility. He has since had his working with children check cancelled. The man was granted strict conditional bail and will face Wollongong Local Court on January 24. The teenager was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition The Gold Coast boy was pulled from the water and regained A young boy has been pulled unconscious from a pool on Queensland's Gold Coast. Paramedics were called to a home on Hope Island, a suburb on the Gold Coast, just after 10.15am on Thursday after reports a teenage boy had lost consciousness and was found floating in a backyard swimming pool. The boy regained consciousness before paramedics arrived and was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition. Paramedics were called to a home on Hope Island just after 10.15am following reports a teenage boy had lost consciousness and was found floating in a backyard swimming pool This comes only days after a set of twins - aged 23 months - were left fighting for their lives after being found submerged in a backyard pool in Sydney's north west. Paramedics have reportedly attended two near drownings on the Gold Coast in the last month - one involving a 13-year-old girl and another requiring a three-year-old boy to be rushed to hospital. Sophie Bombski, 10, was found floating face down in a public pool at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland at the end of February and later died from her injuries. Victoria recently implemented a new state-wide educational strategy to combat a rise in fatal drownings. The boy regained consciousness before paramedics arrived and was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition Children will need to learn how to swim a lap of an Olympic pool before the end of primary school to complete their studies under a ciruculum overhaul to be introduced by 2017. Young children and people suffering from diarrhoea have been warned keep away from to steer clear of swimming pools and water parks as a gastro stomach bug sweeps through New South Wales. A gastro infection causing diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea has caused 200 cases in December already. The rapid rise in cases of the infection has prompted the NSW health authorities to issue a warning in an attempt to prevent it from further spreading. NSW health authorities issue a warning to stay out of shared pools if infected, in an attempt to keep the illness at bay and prevent it from infecting too many people From 149 cases of the infection, more than half were detected in children 10-years-old or younger, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Health authorities have issued the warning urging people to stay out of shared swimming pools and water parks. The biggest outbreak of cryptosporidiois was recorded in Sydney in 1998, when there were more than 1000 confirmed cases. Sydney was forced to boil its drinking water because it was found to be infected with the pathogens cryptosporidium and giardia. From 149 cases of the infection, more than half were detected in children 10-years-old or younger The infection is caused by microscopic parasites that can live in the intestine of humans and animals, and is passed on by an infected person. People become infected when they come into contact with the feces of someone who's infected. It can be passed on through drinking contaminated water, swimming in contaminated water, and even having contact with someone who's infected. It can be passed on through drinking contaminated water, swimming in contaminated water, and even having contact with someone who's infected Parents of young children have been urged to keep them away from shared pools and water parks in NSW The Mayo Clinic also reports people with HIV or AIDS are more susceptible to contracting the illness, due to their compromised immune system. Symptoms of cryptosporidiosis include diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting and can last up to two weeks. NSW health authorities have urged people to avoid swimming pools for at least two weeks after signs of the illness vanish. A serious case of cryptosporidium was recorded in South Australia as recently as last year. Almost 400 people contracted the diarrhoea-inducing illness in December last year, which was the highest number of cases recorded in South Australia for eight years. The NSW health board is currently acting to prevent a recurrence mirroring last year's overwhelming outbreak. The parents of Florida man Chase Sherman (pictured) have filed a suit against two police officers and a medical technician who struggled with their son when he died after being tased 15 times The parents of a Florida man who died after Georgia sheriff's deputies repeatedly used stun guns on him filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against two deputies and an emergency medical technician who struggled with their son. The lawsuit filed by Kevin and Mary Ann Sherman says Coweta County sheriff's deputies Joshua Sepanski and Samuel Smith, as well as EMT Daniel Elliot, violated the civil rights of 32-year-old Chase Sherman, from Destin, Florida. The three used excessive force and failed to follow well-known law enforcement and emergency medical response guidelines that are meant to prevent in-custody deaths, the lawsuit alleges. Mary Ann Sherman, who called the police on her son on November 20, 2015, and told officers he was 'freaking out' after taking a synthetic drug, said Wednesday she wants the deputies and EMT to be held accountable. 'When I called 911 that night, I called them to help Chase, not to show up and torture him to death,' she said during a media conference, WXIA reports. 'Nobody deserves to be tased 15 times, to be suffocated.' Scroll down for video Mary Ann and Kevin Sherman (both pictured, speaking to reporters earlier this year) both spoke out on Wednesday after announcing the federal suit Chase's father, Kevin, also spoke on Wednesday, telling reporters: 'Our son begged for his life in the backseat of that car and these guys thought it was a game. 'They took his life while we were praying that they were going to get help for him to the hospital.' Video from the body cameras of Coweta County sheriff's deputies shows the two deputies struggling with Sherman in the back of an SUV until he's still and they later realize he's not breathing. An emergency medical technician is seen in the video leaning on Sherman on the floor of the SUV and is heard saying he has Sherman pinned down. The Shermans suit alleges police used excessive force on their 32-year-old son (pictured, during the fatal incident) Body camera footage from one of the officers shows Sherman being dragged out of the car. When he was on the ground, other cops surrounded him Two officers were seen appearing to high-five each other after the incident in November 2015 Sherman was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Nathan Lee, an attorney who represents the sheriff's office, said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation. County spokesman Tom Corker also declined to comment. Coweta County Sheriff's Office records show that one deputy's stun gun was used nine times in a two-minute span for a total of 47 seconds, including one use that lasted 17 seconds. 'Our son begged for his life in the backseat of that car and these guys thought it was a game,' Kevin Sherman, pictured with his wife Mary Ann, said on Wednesday Chase Sherman, 32, flipped out while driving through Georgia with his mother, father and girlfriend (pictured) on November 20 after taking a synethic drug days before The other deputy's stun gun was used six times in just over four minutes for a total of 29 seconds. Sherman's death certificate lists his death as a homicide and the cause as 'sudden death during an altercation with law enforcement with several trigger pulls of an electronic control device, prone positioning on the floor of a motor vehicle and compression of the torso by the body weight of another individual.' Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Peter Skandalakis said in October that while Sherman's death was tragic there was no criminal action, and he declined to prosecute. Details from Chase Sherman's death certificate, which were made available in March this year Chase Sherman, left, with his girlfriend, who was with him during the apparent psychotic breakdown that led to his death at the hands of Georgia sheriff's deputies Attorney Chris Stewart, who represents the Shermans, said they felt they were denied justice when Skandalakis declined to pursue charges. They've also called on U.S. Attorney John Horn in Atlanta to open a civil rights investigation. The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment Wednesday. Another of the Shermans' attorneys, Brian Spears, said the video is a key piece of evidence. A man has been charged after he allegedly attacked a woman wearing a hijab with a beer bottle because she 'did not wish him a Merry Christmas'. The victim was allegedly assaulted after an exchange of words with a man outside the Beeliar Village complex in Perth quickly escalated into a physical fight on Friday at 8.45pm. The woman said her headscarf came off during a scuffle, before the man ran off with it and dumped it near the shopping complex. On Thursday, police confirmed a 33-year-old was charged with common assault in circumstances of aggravation and will front Fremantle Magistrates Court on January 30. Scroll down for video A Muslim woman (pictured) has been hit with a beer bottle during an unprovoked attack outside a shopping centre in Perth The woman said she was walking into a Coles store when a man called out 'Merry Christmas' to her. She responded by saying 'happy holidays', to which the man apparently said 'no, Merry Christmas'. Then, he allegedly called her a 'f***ing Muslim c***' before smashing his beer bottle as she walked towards him, hitting her back and shoulders. 'I'm just sick of the abuse and it's not the first time this has happened,' the woman told Seven News. 'This time it's a glass, but what's it going to be next? It's disgusting.' The woman's headscarf came off during a scuffle, which occurred in front of the attacker's four daughters. The Muslim woman said he ran off with it and dumped it near the shopping complex. 'I said 'Shame on you doing this in front of your four daughters',' she told the West Australian. The mother-of-four stood up the alleged offender and was involved in a scuffle that saw her headscarf ripped from her head. She said she took a stand against the man for her 'Muslim sisters' 'It's just a bunch of cowards, but I'm sick of it, so I'm standing up for my Muslim sisters around the world,' the woman said in the wake of having the beer bottle (pictured) thrown at her 'Is this the example you're setting that you're beating up a woman like this? 'It's just a bunch of cowards, but I'm sick of it, so I'm standing up for my Muslim sisters around the world.' Witnesses reportedly came to the woman's aid before police visited her home later that evening. The woman reported the incident to the Islamophobia Register Australia and said she was proud of being dedicated to her religion. 'We're just normal people, we've got a religion to follow, we choose to wear the scarf and as a Muslim I'm proud of it - why the hell should I have to be ashamed of who I am?' she said. The woman was apparently attacked outside Coles at the Beeliar Village in Cockburn, Perth An ex-airline employee accused of causing a Virgin flight to abort its landing after making a hoax radio transmission to pilots has been granted bail. Paul Sant, 20, has been in custody since he was charged in November with making 16 hoax radio transmissions to aircraft and air traffic control. Sant, who is autistic and has Asperger's syndrome, was granted bail on Thursday on the condition he report daily to police, not go within two kilometres of an airport, adhere to a 9pm curfew and remain in the care of his parents. Victorian man granted bail under strict conditions after he was charged with with making 16 hoax radio transmissions to an aircraft and air traffic control. Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic granted bail under the strict conditions and noted Sant, from Melbourne's Rockbank, would most likely not be jailed if he was found guilty, Herald Sun reported. 'It's my very strong view that prison is not going to flow from these matters,' Ms Popovic said. Sant was also appointed case workers by the court in fear he lacked monitoring. 'This young man, with proper bail conditions, ought to be released, but there's just inadequate supervision,' she said. Sant is charged with one count of interference likely to endanger safety or cause loss or damage and four counts of endangering the safety of aircraft. A driver has filmed a terrifyingly huge dust storm in Western Australia after driving straight through it. Caitlin U'Ren powered through the cloud south of Hedland on Wednesday and filmed the towering mountain of dust after coming out the other side. She also took a set of majestic pictures showing the biblical cloud slowly rolling by. Dozens of motorists encountered the dust storm - which came as Cyclone Yvette approached the north-west coast. A driver has filmed a terrifyingly huge dust storm in Western Australia after driving straight through it The cyclone, which is currently brewing north-west of Port Hedland, is set to make landfall over the Christmas weekend. Exactly when and where the weather system will hit is not known, but residents have been warned to stay inside, close the curtains and stay away from the windows. People have also been told to unplug electrical appliances - including decorative lights on Christmas trees - if lightning strikes. Winds of up to 164km/h and heavy rain could cause flash flooding as the tropical storm sweeps ashore, it was reported. The storm is expected to be the worst since 2013, when category four cyclone Rusty hit the north west. Parts of north western Australia have seen 200mm of rain in recent days and the wet weather looks likely to continue over the festive period. Caitlin U'Ren powered through the cloud south of Hedland on Wednesday and filmed the towering mountain of dust after coming through the other side A young boy who allegedly had 200 bruises on his body when he died, had been 'unwell' for a number of days prior to his death. In July 2015, Curtis Powell, 10, died inside the south-east Brisbane home of his aunt and her de facto partner. Brisbane Magistrates Court heard on Thursday the boy was 'febrile' in the lead up to his death allegedly from pneumonia, the Courier Mail reported. In July 2015, at the age of just 10, Curtis Powell died inside the south-east Brisbane home of his aunt Jodie Maree Powell and her de facto partner James Colin Burnham. On Thursday, a day after Mrs Powell was refused bail, Mr Burnham was granted bail A day after Curtis' aunt Jodie Maree Powell, 43, was refused bail over his death, her de facto partner James Colin Burnham fronted the court for his bid on Thursday. In alleging that the boy's carers had 'at no time' sought medical help for him, police prosecutor Sergeant Josh Kelly pointed to how 'extremely uncommon' dying from pneumonia was. 'His illness was not a sudden, acute onset... but he was likely febrile and unwell for several days,' Sgt Kelly said. In objecting to Mr Burnham's bail bid, Sgt Kelly suggested it may be in the best interests of him to be behind bars, however his lawyer rejected those claims. Magistrate Bronwyn Springer subsequently freed him to return to the home he shared with Mrs Powell for 13 years and where Curtis died. Both Burnham - who the court heard considered himself Curtis' father - and Powell, are charged with manslaughter over the death of the boy, as well as child cruelty and interfering with a corpse. On Wednesday, Powell, a nurse of 16 years experience and Curtis' primary carer, was refused bail having allegedly failed to provide her nephew with the necessities of life. The Brisbane Supreme Court heard Curtis had not received any medical attention since September 2010 and had been substantially absent from school in the six months before his death. Some of the bruising on his body had also been consistent with restraints being used, the court heard. Defence lawyer Mal Harrison conceded the case against Powell was 'strong' and she could face at least eight years behind bars if found guilty of manslaughter. Burnham appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday and was released on bail over the death of Curtis, who the court heard he considered to be like a son (stock image) 'This is an allegation where she has failed miserably in her duties as carer,' Mr Harrison said. Justice John Bond denied Powell's application for bail on the grounds there was too great a risk she would interfere with witnesses in the case. Powell did not appear in the Brisbane Supreme Court when Justice Bond refused her application. Former NRL star Chad Robinson was found dead in the wreckage of a car at the bottom of a cliff more than three weeks after he vanished. The 36-year-old father-of-two, who played for the Parramatta Eels and Sydney Roosters, left his Kellyville home on November 26 without his phone or wallet. His disappearance prompted an extensive search, but on Thursday afternoon, electricity workers made the grim discovery of a body in Kenthurst, north of Sydney. The body was found in the crashed silver Subaru in bushland at the bottom of a gorge near the intersection of Marieba and Porters roads. Police say initial inquiries suggest there are no apparent suspicious circumstances but a post mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Scroll down for video NRL star Chad Robinson (left, with his sister Monique Brennan) has been found dead in a car A wrecked car where a body believed to be that of the former NRL player was found at the bottom of a cliff in Kenthurst, northwest Sydney on Thursday The body was found in the silver Subaru at the bottom of a gorge at 12.30pm on Thursday The 36-year-old was last seen in Beaumont Hills driving his silver Subaru Outback (pictured) The 36-year-old father-of-two left his home on November 26 without his phone or wallet The body is yet to be formally identified but his distraught family have confirmed the tragic news following the discovery. 'It's with a heavy heavy heart that we can confirm that Chad's body has been found this afternoon,' the post read on Thursday afternoon. 'There are no words for our whole families loss and especially his two beautiful kids. Thank you everyone one of you for your support the last few week. 'Brother you were the world to all of us, I can't imagine life without you, but you are free, fly high my beautiful brother.' Several rugby league stars have taken to social media to pay tribute to Robinson, including Beau Ryan and NRL chief executive officer Todd Greenberg. 'Rest easy Chad Robinson. Praying for his family and friends. Always remember, it ain't weak to speak,' Ryan wrote. 'On behalf of all of us at the @NRL we send our condolences to the family of Chad Robinson-Hug your families & always look out for each other,' Greenberg tweeted. The distraught family has issued a statement on Facebook following the discovery The body was found in the wreckage of the car in Kenthurst, northwest Sydney on Thursday The body was found in the silver Subaru at the bottom of a gorge at 12.30pm on Thursday The body was found in the car at the bottom of a gorge near the intersection of Marieba and Porters roads Police searching for Robinson scoured a lake at a recreational park at Rouse Hill on Wednesday His family (pictured his sister Monique Brennan at a media conference last month) have been desperately searching for him since he vanished from his home on November 26 The disappearance of Robinson was completely out of character, his brother previously said Robinson's brother Tim (pictured right) said his sibling's disappearance was 'out of character' Earlier this month, his brother Cronulla Sharks player Tim Robinson said the disappearance of his sibling was completely out of character. His family have been desperately searching for him since he left his home wearing only shorts and a t-shirt. His family and friends had pleaded on social media for anyone with information to come forward and police said they held 'grave concerns' for Robinson. Robinson was last seen in Beaumont Hills driving his silver Subaru Outback, with damage to its passenger side. Police searched through water at the park on Wednesday after Robinson vanished weeks ago His family had desperately searched for him since he left his home without his phone or wallet He played 159 rugby league matches for the Parramatta Eels and Sydney Roosters between 2000 and 2008. The former rugby league star played six seasons for the Eels and three for the Roosters, including in the 2003 and 2004 NRL Grand Finals. In 2009 he moved to London to play for the Harlequins but was released after one season because of a persistent knee injury. He retired and became an asset finance broker for United Financial Services, Brightside Money and KJ Cooper Financial Solutions in Sydney. His family and friends (Cronulla Sharks captain Paul Gallen pictured) had pleaded on social media for anyone with information to come forward and police said they held 'grave concerns' for the former NRL player Pauline Hanson has received a personalised jar of Vegemite emblazoned with the word 'halaal' for Christmas. The One Nation leader, who is one of Australia's most prominent anti-halal campaigners, couldn't help but share an image of the gift on social media. Ms Hanson wrote: 'This Christmas gift just arrived in the mail. #funnybecauseitistrue'. One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, was sent a personalised jar of Vegemite with the word 'halaal' The iconic Aussie spread is halal certified and Ms Hanson has previously pledged a boycott of the product. 'I find it offensive to think I'm buying an iconic brand like Vegemite or Cadbury that are now halal certified, so I've made my own decision to stop buying these products, and I am aware of many other Australian's following in my footsteps,' Ms Hanson said at the time. It seems Hanson was not the only person to receive a gift from the anonymous sender, as Labour senator Sam Dastyari was also sent a jar. The senator, who has publicly shown his support for halal snack packs, also shared his gift on social media and demanded that the gift-giver be found. Labor senator, Sam Dastyari, who has publicly shown his support for halal snack packs, also received a jar 'I need your help to track down the complete champion who sent me this so I can invite them around for Halal toast,' he wrote on Facebook. 'They got a jar of Vegemite with "Halaal" on it, they spelt Halal wrong and they sent a anniversary card at Christmas,' he said. The anonymous Christmas gift-giver would have purchased the jar through the Kmart website. A 102-year-old scientist has won his battle to continue his research on university campus after initially being kicked off amid concerns he was a safety risk. Ecologist David Goodall, who has been conducting research at Perth's Edith Cowan University for two decades, attended the campus at least four days every week to research and volunteer his time to supervise doctoral students. But Dr Goodall's time at the university campus came to an abrupt end in August when the Perth based university told the ecologist his 'general wellbeing on campus' was a concern and he would have to work from home. Dr David Goodall, 102, (pictured) an ecologist, is Australia's oldest practicing scientist When news broke of the proposed eviction from campus, there was public outcry. Dr Goodall wasn't pleased with the decision either, referring to it as 'unnecessary', according to the ABC. 'I prefer to be on campus because there are other people around and people who potentially are friends. I hope to continue with some useful work in my field insofar as my eyesight permits. But I still think the emphasis on safety was unnecessary,' he said. His displeasure with the decision paired with outcry from the Australian public, prompted the Edith Cowan University to re-think its decision. The university has now renewed Dr Goodall's position for another three years, even finding him a new office at the university's Mount Lawley campus to better suit his travel needs. Dr Goodall (pictured) has been conducting research at Perth's Edith Cowan University for two decades Dr Goodall's commute took 90 minutes to and from the university each day. He needed to catch two buses and a train, but even that did not deter the avid researcher as he aged. The university has now renewed Dr Goodall's position for another three years, even finding him a new office at the university's Mount Lawley campus The Edith Cowan University has now renewed Dr Goodall's position for another three years University vice-chancellor Professor Steve Chapman told ABC News the new office was very close to his home and it was always manned. 'It is better in many ways,' he said. Dr Goodall holds three doctorates, has published more than 130 scientific works, and has lived and worked in various corners of the world including Ghana, Britain and the US. He moved back to Australia in 1948 when he accepted a position at the University of Melbourne as a botany lecturer. The 102-year-old also has four children from three marriages. His daughter Karen Goodall-Smith said her father was a very intelligent man who was still very capable of working. She said his age shouldn't prevent him from continuing the work he loved, and supported his ongoing pursuit in ecology research. Chicago Top Cop To Import Rookie Training Program From NYPD By Stephen Gossett in News on Dec 22, 2016 7:59PM After recently visiting the NYPD, Superintendent Eddie Johnson is adapting one of that citys rookie-cop training methods for use here in Chicago, the top cop said on Wednesday. In hopes of bettering the fractious relationship between police and the public they patrol, the Chicago Police Department will unveil next month a pilot program that aims to have rookie officers meet people in their district prior to beginning their official assignment. The novice patrolmen will spend time visiting the area with community members for a week or so, Johnson said. I liked what I saw in New York, he added, quoted in the Sun-Times, referring to NYCs similar program. The announcement comes as Chicago is poised to wrap up the year with more than 750 homicides. Violent crime in 2016 has been so rampant in Chicago that, according to one recent study, its skewing the entire national average. At the same time, the department has faced criticism this year for assigning some of its least experienced officers to the citys most violent crime-prone districts. Fledgling officers are more likely to use deadly force compared to veteran officers, a BuzzFeed study determined last year. The pilot program is just the latest in a series of recent measures designed to improve police-community relations and decrease violent crime in the city, including an announced recommitment to community policing, the adding of 1000 additional police officers and a revamped use of force policy. The US is suffering from a dangerous shortfall in active members and needs 30,000 more on board to combat threats including Russia, China and ISIS, the Air Force chief of staff has warned. General David Goldfein says that the active duty Air Force needs to grow from 317,000 - its current size - to 350,000. It's currently planned to reach 321,000. 'We just got too small too fast and we've got to grow,' General David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, told USA Today on Wednesday. 'We're at a risk level I'm not comfortable with.' US Air Force chief of staff General David Goldfein has warned that the US needs to increase its active Air Force member numbers by 30,000 to combat threats around the world It would take five-to-six years to reach the highest level of militarization recommended by Goldfein, who is currently on a five-day tour of air bases around the country. But Goldfein, who says his tour has left him concerned about the state of the US Air Force, says that the increase is needed. It would also require an additional $3 billion a year on top of its existing $151 billion budget. The US military is increasingly stretched by a troubled - and troubling world. 'It seems like every two weeks we're responding to a crisis or event around the globe,' General Carlton Everhart, commander of the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, said. The Air Force is currently engaging ISIS in Syria (F-22 prior to Syrian mission pictured), where Russia is backing the anti-US president but could need to be deployed against China The Air Force is currently supplying weapons and ammunition to anti-ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria. But there are forces moving outside the Middle East that could need its attention. China has increased its presence in the South China Sea, claiming international waters, militarizing artificial islands and flying nuclear bombers around Taiwan. Tensions between those two countries have been particularly high of late, since President-elect Trump broke US protocol and spoke to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. And Russia has increased its presence in the Middle East, backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who opposes both ISIS and the US-friendly Syrian rebels. Suspected hacks by Russia on the Democratic party during the election also suggest an increasingly militant attitude. The US says it is baffled at the Kremlin's insistence that almost all communication channels between Russia and the United States are 'frozen.' Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that there had been a break in dialogue between the two countries, the RIA news agency reports. 'Almost every level of dialogue with the United States is frozen. We don't communicate with one another, or (if we do) we do so minimally,' Peskov is reported to have said in an interview to Mir TV. Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov, pictured left with Vladimir Putin, said communication channels between Russia and the U.S. were 'frozen' 'We don't communicate with one another, or (if we do) we do so minimally,' Peskov (above) is reported to have said in an interview to Mir TV 'Unfortunately, our bilateral relations are now accompanied by an extreme degree of distrust and these relations are in quite deplorable state.' The tensions are linked to the CIA and FBI linking Russia to the hacking of Hillary Clinton's emails during the US presidential election and sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Crimea. No one, however, seemed to have informed the US of this supposed break in communication. 'Dialogue has not been broken,' State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters, adding that Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on the phone Tuesday with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov after a meeting on Syria in Moscow, according to NBC News. 'It's difficult to know exactly what is meant by this comment, but diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues,' Kirby said earlier in a statement. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed openness to friendlier relations with Russia and Vladimir Putin has already heaped praise on him on more than one occasion The Pentagon also said it didn't get the memo, saying that it had just had a video conference with Russian officials about de-conflicting military flights in Syria. 'The video conference was the latest in a continuing dialogue with the Russian Defense Ministry under the memorandum of understanding for the safety of flight in Syria to ensure that each side continues to adhere to agreed-upon measures to mitigate incidents in the air,' said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. In the same interview, Peskov also said he did not know whether President Vladimir Putin would seek re-election in 2018. 'Everyone's heads are aching because of work and with projects and nobody is thinking or talking about elections,' Peskov said. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (pictured last week) told reporters on Wednesday that bilateral relations between Russian and US were now accompanied by a 'extreme degree of distrust The Russian government spokesman also added during his interview that the country did not expect the incoming US administration to reject NATO enlargement overnight. Putin heaped praise on president-elect Donald Trump on more than one occasion. He called him a 'clever man' and a 'brilliant and talented person' following Trump's election. Putin has spoken previously of his hope that Trump will help restore US-Russia relations Putin has spoken previously of his hope that Trump will help restore US-Russia relations and analysts said he was unlikely to want to dial up anti-Western rhetoric before the president-elect's inauguration in January. Trump's openness to friendlier relations with Russia is being linked to soaring Russian stock prices, CNN Money reports. Masaaki Imaeda appears at Campbelltown Local Court, where he was jailed for 18 months A pervert slumlord who set up an elaborate network of secret cameras to film his tenants having sex has been jailed. The labryinth of cameras set up by Masaaki Imaeda, 66, was uncovered in April when a young Japanese couple found a covert ceiling camera with a view of their bed. During sentencing at Campbelltown Local Court on Thursday, the multi-millionaire property tycoon was sentenced to 18-months in prison, reports News.com. Police documents have revealed the extent of the cameras in one of his secret sex dens which he used to secretly film young couples for his own gratification. A slumlord who set up an elaborate secret network of cameras to film his tenants having sex inside their bedrooms (pictured) has been jailed A shed (pictured) at the back of the property had a reclining chair which faced a large television, as well as laptops, cameras, recording equipment, USB sticks and SD cards Masaaki Imaeda was sentenced to 18-months in prison over the sordid network of cameras When police searched a shed at the back of the western Sydney sharehouse, which Imaeda also lived in, they found a reclining chair which faced a large television - as well as laptops, cameras, recording equipment, USB sticks and SD cards. Days after the young married couple moved in, the wife stumbled on an online post which warned Imaeda was known among Japanese students for installing hidden cameras in the bedrooms of his home. In one bedroom in the house, there was a camera hidden in a television and a camera disguised as a smoke alarm The six-bedroom sharehouse Imaeda rented out and had a network of secret cameras in His room (pictured) was detached from the house and had cables running through the floor up into the bedroom the couple were renting The husband then searched the room and found a hole in the ceiling, a camera connected to the ceiling light and a cable through the roof. Police examined the camera and found it was facing floor-length mirrors. It had a view of the entire bedroom. Imaeda pleaded guilty to three charges of install or use an optical device without consent, adapted to the fabric of a building, and three charges of observe a person in private without consent to obtain sexual arousal. Separately, Imaeda has pleaded guilty for renting out a shantytown in Alexandria, which caught fire in 2014. Some tenants managed to flee and another four were rescued. The tenants, mostly international students from Asia, all shared one portaloo. Imaeda will be sentenced at a later date for two counts of breaching the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act over the slums. Separately, Imaeda has pleaded guilty for renting out a shantytown in Alexandria, which caught fire in 2014 A run-down kitchen in the Alexandria shanty town that burnt down in 2014 An Israeli woman has become the first named victim of the Berlin lorry massacre, it has emerged. Dalia Elyakim, from Herzliya, Israel, was with her husband Rami as the truck rampaged through wooden stalls at the market on Monday night in an attack that claimed 12 lives. Rami is in hospital fighting for his life while the children of the couple, both in their 60s, have flown to Germany to be with their father. His wife has been confirmed dead this morning. Moshe Egoz, a longtime friend, described Dalia as a 'good soul.' He told Israeli Army Radio 'they loved to travel, especially around Christmas time.' He said he was following their trip to Berlin through her posts on Facebook. This afternoon it emerged that two US citizens are among the 48 people injured in the attack. Scroll down for video Dalia Elyakim (left), from Herzliya, Israel, was with her husband Rami (right) as the truck rampaged through wooden stalls at the market on Monday night in an attack that claimed 12 lives Inaki Ellakuria was visiting the market with some of his friends when his legs were crushed under the juggernaut Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, 31, has not been heard from since the atrocity, and it is understood her phone and metro pass were found at the scene A lorry was driven through the market at 40mph killing 12 and injuring dozens of others Truck driver Lukasz Urban was preparing to return home for Christmas when he was killed Department spokesman John Kirby provided no further information on the Americans, but added that the U.S. continues to work with German authorities to assist any other US citizens injured. It comes a Spanish student described the moment he was crushed by the lorry as it rampaged through the market at 40mph. Inaki Ellakuria was visiting the market with some of his friends when his legs were crushed under the juggernaut. The 21-year-old, studying economics in the city, tweeted: 'I heard the truck crashing against the first booth, I turned and (it was suddenly in my) face. 'It came fast, too fast to be driving off the road accidentally. It has swept me and ran over both of my legs.' At the scene, he said bystanders did their best to help victims, bringing water, cushions, blankets and warm clothing. Medics rushed him to hospital where he was treated for two broken bones in his left leg as well as a broken ankle and an injured hip. Twenty-four people remain in hospital, 14 of whom were seriously injured. An Italian woman has also been confirmed as being among the 12 victims of the Berlin lorry attack. Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, 31, had not been heard from since the atrocity, and it is understood her phone and metro pass were found at the scene. Lukasz Urban, the first victim of the attack, was stabbed and shot dead in the cabin of his truck A 100,000 euro reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of Anis Amri, suspected of carrying out the attack She is believed to have been living in the German capital and her family have reportedly flown there in the wake of the attack. Italy's Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said he was 'sharing the immense pain' of the family. Relatives have said Di Lorenzo was shopping for presents to bring for Christmas at her home town of Sulmona, in Italy's Apennine Mountains. Yesterday, the owner of a Polish trucking company said the driver who was the first victim of the attack was stabbed and shot dead in the cabin of his truck. Ariel Zurawski said German authorities asked him to identify the victim, Lukasz Urban, 37, from photos. Lukasz Wasik, the manager of the trucking company, described Mr Urban as a 'good, quiet and honest person' who was devoted to his work. On TVP, Poland's state broadcaster, Mr Wasik said: 'I believe he would not give up the vehicle and would defend it to the end if were attacked.' German authorities were under fire yesterday after it emerged that the prime suspect, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker, was known as a potentially dangerous jihadist Meanwhile, German authorities were under fire yesterday after it emerged that the prime suspect, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker, was known as a potentially dangerous jihadist. German prosecutors have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Anis Amri, offering a 100,000-euro (84,000) reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he 'could be violent and armed'. Asylum office papers believed to belong to Amri, alleged to have links to the radical Islamist scene, were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry . The twelfth victim, the hijacked truck's Polish driver, was found shot in the cab. Police on Wednesday searched a refugee centre in Emmerich, western Germany, where Amri stayed a few months ago, as well as two apartments in Berlin, the media reported. But as the Europe-wide manhunt intensified, questions were also raised about how the suspect had been able to avoid arrest and deportation despite being on the radar of several security agencies. 'The authorities had him in their crosshairs and he still managed to vanish,' said Der Spiegel weekly on its website. People walk along the Christmas Market which remained closed last night. Other Christmas markets in Berlin have reopened Horror 2016: These are all the terror attacks carried out on German soil in the past year, claiming the lives of 22 people The Sueddeutsche Zeitung criticised police for wasting time focusing on a Pakistani suspect immediately after the truck assault, in what turned out to be a false lead. 'It took a while before the federal police turned to Amri as a suspect,' it said. The attack, Germany's deadliest in recent years, has been claimed by ISIS. Germany has boosted security measures following the carnage, beefing up the police presence at train stations, airports and at its borders with Poland and France. In a revelation likely to stoke public anger, German officials said they had already been investigating Amri, suspecting he was planning an attack. The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing 'a serious act of violence against the state'. WHO IS ANIS AMRIS? Terror suspect Anis Amri, 24, was born in Tataouine, Tunisia in 1992. The desert town, close to the Libyan border, is a well-known ISIS stronghold. He is understood to have racked up a string of criminal offences - including violent car robberies - before illegally entering Europe with a group of Syrian refugees. A European arrest warrant issued for Amri indicates he uses six different aliases and has three different nationalities. Today Amri's father claimed his son left Tunisia seven years ago and first settled in Italy, where he reportedly spent four years in jail for burning down a school. German records show he arrived in Italy in 2012 and entered Germany last year. Since his arrival in Germany, Amri, who has a 100,000 reward on his head, has been arrested at least three times. A wanted notice for a Tunisian suspect in the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin says the man should be considered armed and dangerous In June German authorities reportedly tried to deport Amri after learning he was planning a 'serious act of violent subversion,' a source told the Washington Post. Amri is known to have attended German hate sermons by Abu Walaa, an ISIS recruiter who is in jail on remand after being arrested last month for radicalising young men for the terror group. Apparently Walaa wanted to send him to Syria. But he did not want to, preferring instead to formulate plans for an attack in Germany. A Facebook profile in his name shows 'likes' linked to Tunisian terror group Ansar al-Sharia, a Tunisian group with followers linked to extremists who murdered 22 at Tunis' Bardo Museum in March 2015 and then 39 tourists at a beach resort in Sousse. As recently as last month, German authorities raised concerns over Amri's alleged links to Islamic extremists. Advertisement Berlin prosecutors said separately that Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, 'possibly to carry out an attack'. But after keeping tabs on him from March until September this year they failed to find evidence of the plot, learning only that Amri was a small-time drug dealer, and the surveillance was stopped. In Tunisia, Amri's family expressed disbelief on hearing that Amri was wanted across Europe. 'I'm in shock, and can't believe it's him who committed this crime,' his brother Abdelkader Amri told AFP. But 'if he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists - we have no dealings with terrorists.' Amri left Tunisia after the 2011 revolution and lived in Italy for three years, a Tunisian security source told AFP. Italian media said he served time in prison there for setting fire to a school. He arrived in Germany in July 2015 but his application for asylum was rejected this June. His deportation, however, got caught up in red tape with Tunisia, which long denied he was a citizen. The apparent security failings in the case triggered fresh criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel's liberal refugee policy, which has seen over a million people arrive since last year. Police patrol a Christmas market in Berlin which has reopened following the terror attack on a separate attraction on Monday night Grief: Flowers and candles defy the terrorists as Germany looks for hope after yet another terrible terror attack The record influx has fuelled support for the nationalist anti-migrant AfD party, which has accused Merkel of endangering the country. But even within the chancellor's own CDU party voices of dissent are growing louder. 'Nationwide, there are a large number of refugees about whom we don't know where they're from or what their names are. And that's a potential major security issue,' said CDU member Klaus Bouillon, the interior minister of Saarland state. Germany had until now been spared the devastating jihadist carnage that has struck neighbouring France and Belgium. But it has suffered a spate of smaller attacks, including two attacks in July that left 15 people injured. Both were committed by asylum seekers and claimed by IS. The Berlin Christmas market carnage evoked memories of the July 14 truck assault in the French Riviera city of Nice, where 86 people were killed by a Tunisian IS-sympathiser. Christmas has come early for billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who was gifted with a branding iron on a tour one of Australia's largest beef producers. Australia's richest woman is the new principal owner and Chairman of S. Kidman & Co, which she and Chinese partners jointly acquired for $386.5 million. Ms Rinehart showed off a much trimmer figure as she visited the Kidman head office in Adelaide on Thursday for the first time, where the tycoon later attended the Kidman staff Christmas party. Christmas has come early for billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart (pictured), who was gifted with a branding iron on a tour one of Australia's largest beef producers Ms Rinehart said she hopes her new acquisition will offer some stability to the Kidman workers. 'It's been 18 months of uncertainty for the staff and I hope they are pleased they now have more certainty and a majority owner who values the Kidman legacy.' Ms Rinehart's grandfather, James Nicholas and Sidney Kidman owned businesses together nearly 100 years ago. 'I look forward to working with the team in Adelaide and the managers on the stations to understand their ideas to build the Kidman business and continually improve our quality and competitiveness,' Ms Rinehart said on Thursday. 'I'm especially looking forward, weather permitting, to my first visit to the Kidman stations, in January.' Ms Rinehart showed off a much trimmer figure as she visited the Kidman head office in Adelaide on Thursday for the first time Ms Rinehart said she hopes her new acquisition will offer some stability to the Kidman workers after 18 months of instability S. Kidman & Co managing director Greg Campbell described Ms Rinehart as an 'iconic Australian' and said he and the rest of the staff had been looking forward to meeting and welcoming the mining magnate. The billionaire showed off her slimmed-down figure in a white, lace-detailed dress, similar to the lavish outfit she wore to the Melbourne Cup a month ago. It was here Ms Rinehart took a tumble down a set of stairs at the Emirates Marquee. S. Kidman & Co managing director Greg Campbell described Ms Rinehart as an 'iconic Australian' (pictured here at the Emirates marquee on Melbourne Cup Day in November) The Australian mother charged with killing a Balinese police officer flashed a grim smile as she arrived at court on Thursday for her ongoing murder trial. Sara Connor, 46, and her toyboy British DJ boyfriend David Taylor, 34, both face a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail for the murder of policeman Wayan Sudarsa. Taylor has admitted to the brawl that led to Mr Sudarsa's death on August 17, but maintains he was acting in self defence and that Connor had no involvement. The couple will attend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services in jail together as their separate murder trials continue, the Herald Sun reported. Australian mother Sara Connor, 46, flashed a grim smile as she arrived at Denpasar Court on Thursday for her murder trial. She is accused of killing Balinese policeman Wayan Sudarsa David Taylor, 55, who is Connor's boyfriend, maintains the fight that led to Mr Sudarsa's death was self defence - and stressed that Connor had no involvement in the altercation Connor (pictured on Thursday) and Taylor will both attend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services in jail together as their separate murder trials continue Taylor told the publication that Connor was 'very sad' and struggling to cope with the conditions in Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison. 'Not very well, she (Connor) is very sad everyone is angry and saddened or upset but we will stand by each other throughout,' Taylor said. He again claimed Connor had no involvement in the killing. 'I hope that the truth will come out and the indictment clearly states that I was only acting in self-defence and Sara Connor had nothing to do with it, she shouldn't be involved.' 'Again I am extremely sorry and saddened towards the family, everyone involved in this case, especially the family of the victim.' Grim: Connor and Taylor are both facing charges of murder, fatal assault in company and assault causing death Taylor said Connor was 'very sad' and not coping well with the conditions in Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison (pictured waiting in holding cell for her trial to start on Thursday) Early last week Connor offered to pay Mr Sudarsa's family a 'donation' of AUD$2500. The battered body of Balinese police officer Wayan Sudarsa was discovered on Kuta Beach in the early hours of August 17 But the wife of murdered traffic officer Wayan Sudarsa - whose battered body was discovered on Kuta Beach - rejected the offer of a 'donation' from Connor, saying she wouldn't accept 'even a cent from her'. 'I want the court to give the maximum punishment that fits what she did, based on Indonesian laws. That's all Sir,' widow Ketut Arsini told Denpasar Court. The comments came after Connor read sections of a handwritten letter out to the court, in which she offered her condolences to Ms Arsini. 'I feel great pain when I remember the tragedy,' she scribbled in English on a sheet of paper. 'I came to Bali on this little holiday, to relax ... often I think, is it maybe destiny that wanted to change our lives so dramatically. 'I'm deeply sorry for you and your family now left alone without Mr Sudarsa to care for you and your children. You have been always in my prayers.' Ketut Arsini, the widow of Mr Sudarsa, rejected a AUD$25000 donation from Conor last week and instead asked the judge to hand out the 'maximum punishment' in line with Indonesian law Connor maintained her innocence in court last week - insisting that all she had tried to do was separate her boyfriend from Mr Sudarsa after the pair got into a fight Connor reiterated her innocence, saying all she had tried to do was separate her British boyfriend David Taylor and Mr Sudarsa after the pair got into a fight over her lost purse. Prosecutors allege Taylor became embroiled in a fatal fight with Mr Sudarsa after the British DJ confronted the police officer over the loss of his wallet. Taylor, the court has heard, hit Mr Sudarsa numerous times, including with a beer bottle. Before they were arrested on August 19, Connor and Taylor burnt their clothes and destroyed a number of Mr Sudarsa's personal belongings in an alleged bid to cover up evidence. Both are facing charges of murder, fatal assault in company and assault causing death. As part of the murder trial, Connor and Taylor were instructed to re-enact the events (pictured) that led to the death of the Indonesian traffic policeman Haphazardly put together using a bed sheet and milk trolley, this Santa's Grotto has generated plenty of festive amusement for shoppers visiting a Tesco store. It has been mocked for being 'grim' and 'depressing' in a post on Facebook, with one customer branding it 'Santa's grotty'. Some were critical of the Grotto for charging 2 to visit Father Christmas, thinking it was linked to Tesco, but the supermarket giant insisted this morning it was actually built by young volunteers from the police cadets. The shelter had left festive shoppers bemused after being put up outside a Tesco store in Leytonstone, East London, earlier this week. 'Depressing': Haphazardly put together using a bed sheet and milk trolley, this Santa's Grotto has generated plenty of festive amusement for shoppers visiting a Tesco store Hilarious: Customers have been mocking the attempt, branding the Grotto 'grim' and 'depressing', after a picture of one of Santa's outposts was posted on Facebook On Facebook, James Grimward wrote: 'That's where Christmas goes to die.' Nig Lovell added: 'Tescos Leytonstone - Santa's grotty.' A milk trolley stacked with presents can be seen inside the makeshift shelter, which sits in the store's covered entrance. Cat Hall-Jones, 25, spotted the Grotto on her way to buy a turkey for Christmas dinner. She said: 'At first I thought it was a shelter for the homeless over the festive period. 'Then I realised they were charging - it's so disappointing.' Boyfriend Joe Roberts posted the picture to a London community Facebook and said: 'Tesco, Leytonstone. Two pound? Nah, you're alright Santa.' Not impressed: One customer posted the picture above on to Facebook after visiting the store Reaction: James Grimward wrote on Facebook: 'That's where Christmas goes to die' (pictured) Another customer, Marie Petit, was also not impressed. She said: 'So I went to Tesco Leytonstone today in East London. I was quite amused to see such a miserable looking Santa's Grotto charging 2 to come and meet Santa. 'They used a bed sheet to make the grotto and had the presents on the same trolley that they use to move milk & newspapers. 'This was a really bad effort but also hilarious.' A Tesco spokesperson said: 'This Grotto has been built by young volunteers from the Police Cadets who are raising money for a number of charities. 'We are always happy to welcome charities and community groups into our stores and we'd like to thank the Police Cadets for all their efforts.' It is understood the appearance of the Grotto has been improved since the photos were taken. The cadets are raising money for Diabetes UK, British Heart Foundation, and a charity for individuals with a rare blood disorder. A shocking video has emerged of a man kicking a woman in the back and sending her flying onto the ground. Der Politiker shared a video appearing to be of a young man walking behind a man and a woman in a shopping centre. The young man selects the victim and runs up behind her, jumping in the air and kicking her squarely in the back. The young thug walks up behind the woman and launches himself at her, kicking her squarely in the back She falls forward, landing on her face on the hard floor. The man then runs away leaving her injured. Screams can be heard through the centre but it is not clear where these come from. It comes just days after a man was arrested for kicking a woman down a flight of stairs in Berlin. The man can be seen kicking the woman with great force and she falls flat on her face in the centre as he runs away CCTV footage showed a man kicking a woman down the steps in October, and after its release, the prime suspect, Svetoslav Stoykov, 27, fled to hide with relatives in Nice. He was caught when he decided to return to Berlin and was overheard speaking Bulgarian with his wife on a bus, at which point the police were called. A Moroccan man who German police believe is linked to the ringleader of last year's Paris attacks has been arrested. The suspect, who authorities have identified simply as Redouane S., was detained yesterday. The 24-year-old is accused of being a member of a cell that took orders from Belgian-Moroccan jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who led the November 2015 attacks in Paris, before being killed in a police raid. The suspect has been linked to last November's attacks in Paris, and is accused of finding safe houses to help killers prepare for attacks Redouane S. was tasked with locating safe houses in Turkey and Greece between October 2014 and early 2015 that were used as bases 'for the preparation of attacks', the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement. The suspect was allegedly also aware of Abaaoud's plans and preparations for an attack in the eastern Belgian city of Verviers, before the cell was dismantled in a deadly raid in January 2015. 'Even after his arrival in Germany in May 2015, he was in contact with the group around Abaaoud and was ready for further instructions," prosecutors said. A mother had told of her trauma after a carjacker sped away with her daughter in the back seat after attacking her as she went shopping. Faith Whittaker, from Lockyer Valley, Queensland, was going to the supermarket with her three children on Wednesday night when the terrifying attack took place. Ms Whittaker, 41, told Nine News that she was sitting in her black Ford Falcon sedan in a carpark around 7pm when a man ran up and grabbed her by the hair. Scroll down for video Faith Whittaker, 41, a mother-of-three, has told of her terror as a carjacker dragged her from her vehicle by her hair before speeding away with three-year-old daughter Amedy in the back Ms Whittakersaid she managed to grab daughter Imogen, nine, from the vehicle before the attacker drove away - but was unable to get to Amedy in time The mother said she was pulled out of the vehicle but managed to grab nine-year-old daughter Imogen from one of the seats. However, before she was able to get three-year-old Amedy out of her seat in the back, the thief sped away. Fortunately, her 12-year-old son was still in the supermarket at the time, and so avoided also being taken. Police said Ms Whittaker was 'traumatised' by the events, though Amedy was later discovered a couple of streets away by a pedestrian. Fortunately the carjacker dropped Amedy two streets away before continuing on his joyride, which left her Ford Falcon as a wreck The thief is believed to have dumped the child before getting back into the car, crashing it into a fence, and then driving away. The vehicle was eventually discovered in Rosewood, around a 25 minute drive away, on Thursday morning. Images show the car has been wrecked, with the front left headlight and wheel arch smashed and the wheel buckled up under the car at a right angle. The front bumper has also been ripped off and the numberplate is missing, presumably as the result of a heavy impact. You are here: Home Huang Lei (left) and Japanese director Yoji Yamada attend a Beijing event this month. Yoji Yamada has been familiar to Chinese fans for decades, but now the iconic Japanese director will see his latest work introduced to the country in a new way. What a Wonderful Family, Yamada's 2016 comedy, recently has been remade by Chinese filmmakers and will open at mainland theaters on April 28. The tale, featuring Yamada's trademark of vividly demonstrating family dynamics, centers on a family with three generations living under the same roof. When the pensioner grandfather plans to celebrate his 50th marriage anniversary, the grandmother stunningly asks for a divorce. The sudden chaos is followed by a series of comedic conflicts. When the 108-minute feature was screened at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival in June, many local viewers burst into tears and laughter. The reception impressed Gu Xiaodong, a veteran film producer, who was sitting next to Yamada inside a Shanghai cinema during the festival. Getting Yamada's permission to remake the film, Gu found Huang Lei, a well-known actor. Shot to fame by Chen Kaige's 1991 film Life on a String, Huang has starred in a number of hits, such as the recent TV series A Love for Separation, and Midnight Diner, a Chinese remake of the namesake Japanese series. But the upcoming comedy is his big-screen directorial debut in a career spanning 26 years. "I never thought I would direct a film, especial a remake of my idol," says Huang. The film's shooting ended earlier this month. He says Yamada, known to Chinese for the enduring Tora-san series, is an influential master studied by many Chinese cinema students. The 85-year-old Yamada's drama Nagasaki: Memories of My Son was selected as Japan's submission for foreign-language category for next year's Oscars. With 48 films produced over nearly 30 years, the Tora-san series is one of the longest franchises in the world's cinematic history. Yamada's The Yellow Handkerchief and A Distant Cry from Spring were among the earliest Japanese films introduced to China since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations in 1972. But for Huang, the biggest challenge was how to give a fresh tone to the original film. "I know many people have watched the film (Yamada's Wonderful Family), so the Chinese version will be hard-pressed to provide suspense or a twist," he says. But the cultural closeness between China and Japan makes Huang believe the film will easily resonate with locals. The remake is a four-generation story set in a hutong (alley) home in Beijing. In addition to Huang, the cast highlights Taiwan veteran Lee Li-chun and mainland actress Hai Qing. Many Russians choose such moonshine liquids as a cheaper alternative to vodka One of the victims was Vladimir Fokeev, 53, who suffered an agonising death 117 people in the city of Irkutsk have suffered the effects of methanol poisoning A state of emergency has been declared and more deaths are expected Vladimir Putin has proposed making legitimate alcohol cheaper in a bid to stop Russians drinking deadly bath essence in the hope of getting drunk. It comes as the death toll in Siberia from people drinking bath essence containing methanol rose to 71 Thursday, the Russian health ministry said. In an order published on the Kremlin website, the Russian President raised the possibility of changing excise duty tariffs on legitimate alcohol 'with the aim of reducing demand for fake alcohol.' A total of 117 people in the city of Irkutsk have suffered the effects of methanol poisoning since the weekend, '71 of whom have died,' said health ministry spokeswoman Tatiana Lebedeva, quoted by the Interfax news agency. A bottle of the hawthorn-scented bath liquid is held up outside an illegal distillery discovered by the police in Irkutsk. Several people have been detained after 52 deaths in the city Russia's President Vladimir Putin has raised the possibility of changing excise duty tariffs on legitimate alcohol 'with the aim of reducing demand for fake alcohol' The toll is up from 62 on Wednesday. HOW PUTIN WANTS TO TACKLE POISONING Putin wants the Government to present proposals on amendments to the law on taxes on alcohol in order to reduce demand for surrogate alcohol. An order published on the Kremlin website says the Government has also been ordered to bring in the following stricter measures: tougher regulations governing production and sale of alimentary alcohol-containing products, perfumes and cosmetics, household chemicals and personal-care products containing more than 25 percent of ethanol, and introduction of licences for these types of activity. tougher regulations governing retail trade of medicines containing ethanol for medical or veterinary use. introduction of compulsory marking of alcohol-containing products produced and sold in the Russian Federation. tougher penalties for legal violations and crimes related to production and sale of alcohol-containing products. Source: President of Russia Advertisement Authorities said the label on the hawthorn-flavoured bath essence clearly states that the liquid contains methanol, a toxic substance used in antifreeze. Impoverished drinkers in Russia often turn to cheap vodka substitutes such as perfumes and cleansers because they cost far less than legitimate alcoholic drinks. Such liquids usually contain drinkable ethanol, not methanol which is deadly even in small doses. Investigators have seized dozens of bottles of counterfeit bath lotion and detained 12 people suspected of producing and selling the bath essence. Putin on Wednesday ordered the government to introduce tougher laws by next July on the production and sale of perfumes, lotions and household cleaners containing alcohol as well as human and veterinary medicines. He also demanded compulsory labelling. In the Russian city of Irkutsk, earlier this week 29 people were in hospital after drinking bottles of the deadly concoction - which was sold for 40 roubles (52p) - many of whom were expected to die. They suffered 'rapid and agonising' deaths from methanol poisoning. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the deaths were a 'tragedy' that required 'very close attention'. A spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Irkutsk, Alexander Semyonov, said at least 57 people were known to have consumed the liquid, known as Boyaryshnik. Shocking: A nurse treats a man who was taken to hospital after drinking the 'bath lotion' in the Siberian city of Irkutsk They were a mixture of men and women, aged between 35 and 50. The Mayor of Irkutsk, Dmitry Berdnikov, has imposed a state of emergency in the city, pledging to 'uncover and punish the perpetrators'. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the widespread sale of the essence through vending machines, which takes place all over Russia, including in the capital Moscow, was 'an absolute disgrace'. In summer, Irkutsk - 2,600 miles from Moscow - is a bleak and remote city but in the bitterly cold Siberian winter it is a place that defies description. In this case the liquid they were consuming contained methanol, which metabolised into formaldehyde, then formic acid or formate salts, which are poisonous to the human central nervous system and lead to blindness, coma, and death. Vladimir Fokeev (pictured) was one of those who died after drinking the deadly liquid A man pours the hawthorn-scented infusion into a glass. The Russian government has warned people against drinking the liquid, which was selling for just 40 roubles (52p) A chief doctor Yevgeny Vygovsky caring for the victims said: 'They have heavy chemical poisoning. 'All of those who were brought to us were unconscious. Their central nervous system, internal organs are struck and the toxic shock was developing rapidly.' It was sold in street kiosks and other outlets in an Irkutsk suburb, say relatives of the victims. The drink was allegedly manufactured at an illegal distillery in Irkutsk. Andrey Kiselyov, a neighbour of Vladimir Fokeev, 53, who was killed by the poisonous alcohol, said: 'They sell it in every kiosk here for 70 roubles a small bottle . 'Of course, people drink it. Those who are stronger, drink it as it is, some mix it. It's not the first case. A patient lies in the intensive care unit at a hospital in Irkutsk, after consuming the mixture An ambulance outside a hospital in Irkutsk which has been treating the victims Bath lotion containing methanol or methyl alcohol. It is unknown if the victims consumed the drink knowing it was a bath lotion The Siberian city of Irkutsk has a population of just under 600,000 and in the winter temperatures can drop to -21 degrees Celsius 'People drink it and go crazy. It's mainly older people drinking it, 40-45 and older.' Fokeev's stepdaughter Ekaterina Dubrovskaya, said: 'He wasn't feeling well in the morning. 'I asked him what was happening. He said nothing. 'I left, went to the city centre with friends, returned home and he was already lying - all black. I called the ambulance. 'His daughter and I went to the hospital, they said he wasn't doing well. 'We got home and 40 minutes later received a phone call. They said he died.' She told how 'he always bought this Boyaryshnik' in a shop nearby. 'We persuaded him to choose vodka, but he insisted that it is more tasty and no head ache in the morning. 'He said the shop was checked by the authorities. He always bought there.' His widow Olga Dubrovskaya, 50, said: 'They used to sell this is transparent glass bottles, now it's purplish.' Germany is finding it 'almost impossible' to keep track of around 7,000 potential terror suspects in the country, a former British intelligence chief has warned. Richard Barrett, who was head of counter-terrorism at MI6, said the authorities were finding the number of 'live' cases unmanageable. The grim assessment came as German security services face difficult questions following the Berlin Christmas market massacre. Clean-up crews collect the wrecked remains of the Christmas market stand in Berlin after the lorry attack It has emerged that the suspect, Anis Amris, a lifelong criminal, should have been deported months ago. The 24-year-old, who has a 100,000 euro reward on his head, was under surveillance by German intelligence for several months following his arrival in the country in 2015. He had been arrested three times this year and his asylum application was rejected, but deportation papers were never served and he disappeared. The Tunisian radical was known to be a supporter of Islamic State and to have received weapons training. He also tried to recruit an accomplice for a terror plot which the authorities knew about but still remained at large. He was under investigation for planning a 'serious act of violence against the state' and counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about him last month. Reports suggest intelligence services might have even lost track of Amri as recently as just a few weeks ago after he went underground. The potentially fatal mistakes heaped further shame on the German security services, who wasted several hours questioning an innocent Pakistani asylum seeker in the aftermath of the truck rampage, which killed 12 shoppers and wounded 48. German police are in a desperate race to detain Amri, described as being probably armed and highly dangerous before any further terrorist attack. There were reports police had carried out raids on two addresses in Berlin last night but this was later denied by police. A senior foreign German politician today blamed the atrocity on 'institutional political correctness', arguing that Amri would not have been free to act if police had enforced the law. A wanted notice has been circulated to European police by the German authorities for Tunisian national Anis Amri Meanwhile a European arrest warrant issued for Amri reveals the fugitive has used at least six different aliases under three different nationalities. Photographs show how he has changed his appearance over the years. Mr Barrett, who was in a key role at MI6 when the September 11 attacks took place in 2001, said it was not surprising that some extremists slipped through the surveillance net. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there were 550 'really extreme potential terrorists on the books' in Germany. 'In addition to that though if you include all the Lander (local regions) in Germany they have about 7,000 live cases,' he said. 'As you can imagine, that is an almost impossible number to control. President Vladimir Putin on Thursday bade farewell to Andrei Karlov at a packed memorial ceremony in Moscow for the diplomat who was assassinated in Turkey by an off-duty policeman shouting 'Allahu Akbar' and 'Don't forget Aleppo'. Dozens of colleagues and relatives attended the ceremony for Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey whose death was labelled by Moscow as an act of terror while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the perpetrator was a member of Fethullah Gulen's group behind the aborted July coup. Putin laid red roses at the foot of Karlov's coffin and spoke with his relatives but left the ceremony without making a statement. Karlov's widow Marina kissed his head as he lay in the coffin. Russian President Vladimir Putin stands in front of Andrei Karlov's casket Marina Davydova Karlova (C), the widow of killed Andrei Karlov, and his mother Maria (R) pay their respects during the funeral ceremony. Marina kissed his head while he lay in the coffin Russia's President Vladimir Putin looked sorrowful as he attended a farewell ceremony for Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov Andrei Karlov's widow Marina (L) and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the funeral in Moscow on Thursday Karlov's body was lying in an open casket in the building's marble-clad lobby flanked by a uniformed honour guard Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the deceased envoy, who was 62, and paid his respects to his mother Maria, widow Marina and son Gennady, also a diplomat, as the ambassador's body lay in state in a flower-decked coffin. 'We are saying goodbye to our friend Andrei Karlov who became a victim of a malicious, vile terrorist attack while in the line of duty,' Lavrov said at the ceremony held in the foreign ministry headquarters. 'We will never forget Andrei.' Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, led a funeral service at Moscow's main Christ the Savior Cathedral. Kirill referred to Andrei Karlov as a "martyr." He told mourners that Karlov "will enter God's kingdom and he will receive the Lord's grace thanks to our prayers and his death as a martyr." Kirill and other clerics, all dressed in ceremonial white robes, led the service, which was expected to last for at least an hour before Karlov's body is taken to the cemetery. Pictures showed Karlov's body lying in an open casket in the building's marble-clad lobby flanked by a uniformed honour guard as mourners approached to lay flowers. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Marina, the widow of Andrei Karlov President Putin offers his condolences to Marina Davydova Karlova, the widow of the slain Russian Ambassador to Turkey Putin said earlier that he knew Karlov personally and the diplomat was 'very intelligent, gentle and kind man' Putin attends a farewell ceremony for Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov at the offices of the Russian Foreign Ministry The Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is pictured speaking at the gallery in Ankara moments before he was shot dead Turkish authorities have identified the assassin as Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, who had worked for Ankara's riot police Putin earlier signed an order posthumously bestowing the country's highest honour, Hero of the Russian Federation. 'The title was awarded to Mr Karlov posthumously for the fortitude and courage he displayed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Turkey and for his great contribution to conducting Russia's foreign policy,' said a Kremlin statement. Putin said that he knew Karlov personally and the diplomat was 'very intelligent, gentle and kind man.' Karlov was a Soviet-trained diplomat who worked in North and South Korea during the 1990s and 2000s and was sent to Turkey in 2013. His name was etched into a slab of pink marble on the wall of the Foreign Ministry along with the names of Russia's most illustrious diplomats. Proceedings will move to Moscow's gold-domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral later on Thursday where the head of the Russian Orthodox Church will lead a ceremony. This pictures shows the funeral service for Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral A photo of Karlov was placed in front of his coffin at the ceremony at the offices of the foreign ministry Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C) pays his last respects to Karlov Karlov's name was etched into a slab of pink marble on the wall of the Foreign Ministry along with the names of Russia's most illustrious diplomats Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the deceased envoy, who was 62, and paid his respects to his mother Maria, widow Marina and son Gennady, also a diplomat Turkish authorities have identified the assassin as Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, who had worked for Ankara's riot police. President Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the killing on the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, something Gulen denies. The Kremlin however has said it is too early to say who stood behind the murder. Russia has flown a team of investigators to Turkey to help with the investigation. Meanwhile, a former head of Turkish military intelligence has said Western secret services could have been behind the assassination. The extraordinary claim came from Ismail Hakki Pekin, who 'hinted that foreign intelligence services may have been somehow connected to the Russian official's death', said Kremlin-owned Sputnik news agency after interviewing the former Turkish military intelligence chief. 'Against the backdrop of growing tensions in relations with the West, Turkey began moving away from Western countries and closer to Russia,' Pekin was quoted as saying. Russian servicemen carry a coffin with the body of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov after a farewell ceremony at the offices of the Russian Foreign Ministry 'Realising this, the West and the US, which have traditionally considered Turkey to be within its sphere of influence, felt the need to provide Turkey with a 'warning'.' He complained: 'Turkey's territory is being used by the US, the UK, and France for their own purposes. 'The interests of those powers are so intertwined that it becomes very difficult to fully understand all the geopolitical intricacies.' But he also warned that under President Tayyip Recep Erdogan his country 'has become a springboard for uncontrolled activity of radical organisations and foreign terrorist groups. 'As a result, Turkey became the place where jihadists have been able to organise various provocations in the country's territories. 'Terrorist groups have been established - numerous radical structures, religious movements, which are used to plot terrorist acts.' The US has denied as 'absolutely ridiculous' any role in Karlov's assassination after the Ankara government linked killer Altintas to FETO, an alleged organisation linked to exiled Islamist preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is resident in the US. 'This man (Mevlut Mert Altintas) was a member of FETO and there's no need to cover the fact up,' said Erdogan. 'The place where he grew up and his latest status are all but indicative of this.' He added: 'It should be said openly members of that filthy organisation can still be found in the ranks of our police and in the Armed Forces.' The are contradictory reports as to whether Altintas had been fired from the police or was off-duty. The assassin's family were detained in the aftermath of the ambassador's shooting, but his father Esrafil, mother Hamidiye, sister Seher Ozeroglu, and other relatives have since been released. Advertisement Wire tap: Anis Amri, 24, pictured in a new video, offered himself up as a suicide bomber and was also learning how to make bombs, according to security sources The Tunisian asylum seeker on the run from police across Europe left his fingerprints on the steering wheel of the lorry used to murder 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market, it was revealed today. Anis Amri, 24, also left fingerprints on the door and his wallet under the driver's seat in the hijacked truck before it sent people flying like pins in Breitscheidplatz on Monday night. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said there is a 'high probability' that the chief suspect is 'really the perpetrator'. He said: 'In the cab fingerprints were found and there is additional evidence that support this', adding: 'It is all the more important that the search is successful as soon as possible.' Angela Merkel stood next to him as he made the announcement and said she was confident Amri would be arrested 'soon' - despite police and security services bungling the initial investigation. The Chancellor added she was 'proud of the calm response' to the Berlin attack. Police raided a mosque in Berlin tonight as they searched for Europe's most wanted man. Elite commando units hunting for Anis Amri, 24, blew up the front door, threw in stun grenades and witnesses reported hearing gunfire. The target was the 'Fussilet 33' association's building in Perleberger Strae in the south-east of the capital. Neighbouring flats are also being searched, according to German media. It was raided in 2015 over allegations they were raising money for extremists in Syria. An imam was put under investigation. This morning they raided properties across Germany, including a refugee centre, but have not found Europe's most wanted man. Today it was revealed Amri, who has a 100,000 euro bounty on his head, offered himself up as an ISIS suicide bomber and took a sinister video of himself walking the streets of the German capital. The 24-year-old, who has six aliases, three fake passports and repeatedly tried to change his appearance, was also learning how to make bombs and was barred from flying to America, US officials have revealed. One of his Facebook accounts only contains a picture of a lion - a key motif used by jihadists to symbolise honour and a single video of himself walking through the centre of Berlin in September. German media claim it could have been a reconnaissance video. Wire taps revealed that two months ago Amri had told a hate preacher that he was willing to blow himself up - and had also inquired about buying automatic weapons from a police informant. But German officers still did not believe they had enough evidence to arrest him, according to Spiegel. Scroll down for video Under pressure: German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has confirmed that Anis Amri was inside the truck hijacked from Polish driver Lukasz Urban. Angela Merkel (also left) believes there will be an arrest soon despite police and security services bungling the hunt for the main suspect Path to Germany: Amri fled Tunisia to avoid jail but was imprisoned in Italy for rioting in an immigration centre. He still managed to get to Germany after his release. He has been repeatedly arrested and watched by vanished two weeks ago A European arrest warrant from Germany, indicates that Anis Amri (pictured) has at times used six different aliases and three different nationalities. German police were tracking him for months amid fears he was involved in an earlier terrorist plot - but lost him before the Berlin Christmas market massacre Fresh start: The market decimated by the careering lorry on Monday has re-opened today - three days after 12 people died Visitors and police walk through the reopened Breitscheidplatz Christmas market only a short distance from where three days ago a truck wiped out 12 people A concrete block is lifted by a crane to secure the Christmas market next to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche ahead of its scheduled reopening today - critics said they should have been there already Security: Armed police patrol among people at the re-opened Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz as Germany remains on high alert Dortmund: Police made four arrests linked of associates linked to the suspect, who lived in the city when he came to Germany Berlin: A flat was also raided in the German capital by a commando squad - who blew up the front door, according to Bild, but the property was empty Emmerich: A shelter for asylum seekers was searched in eastern Germany, pictured, where one man was questioned An Israeli woman, Dalia Elyakim, and 31-year-old Fabrizia Di Lorenzo of Italy were among the 12 killed in the market attack, their countries said. Ms Di Lorenzo had lived and worked in Berlin for several years. Two Americans were among the wounded, US state department spokesman John Kirby said. Officers have been carrying out raids across Germany as the international manhunt continued for the failed Tunisian asylum seeker with German police under fire for a string of blunders that let him go free. Four men were arrested in Dortmund - where Amri once lived with a hate preacher. The men have reportedly had close contact with him in recent months. Extreme measures to capture prime suspect The 100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Anis Amri, the Tunisian prime suspect in Berlin's deadly truck attack, is a rarity in Europe. Rewards in recent years have been offered over war crimes, a political assassination and a far-left group's assault on the US embassy in Athens. One example is notorious Serbian war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic, who eluded arrest for 16 years, saw his bounty go up to 10 million euros ($14 million at the time) before he was finally arrested in May 2011 to face trial in The Hague. However, no-one cashed in on the reward, for the 'Butcher of Bosnia' was tracked down through intelligence work. By contrast, in the United States the practice is well entrenched, going back to the Wild West days of Jesse James and Billy the Kid. The highest reward ever offered by the FBI was $25 million for information leading to the capture of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, killed in a US Navy Seal raid in Pakistan in May 2011. The United States last Friday matched that figure for the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, more than doubling the $10 million originally on his head to $25 million. Advertisement A flat was also raided in Berlin, but was empty, and a shelter for asylum seekers was searched in Emmerich, eastern Germany, where one man was questioned. The 24-year-old, who has a 100,000 euro reward on his head, was under the surveillance of German intelligence for several months following his arrival in the country in 2015. He had been arrested three times this year and his asylum application was rejected - but deportation papers were never served and he disappeared. MailOnline can also reveal that he first dodged prison in his native Tunisia around five years ago after fleeing following a violent robbery. He was jailed for five years in absentia. He arrived in Italy in 2011 and pretended to be a child migrant - even though he was 19 - but then rioted inside his detention centre, which was set on fire. He was then jailed for four years. After his release Italy failed to deport him twice because Tunisia refused to take him back and he fled Italy for Germany, arriving in July 2015. He was under investigation for planning a 'serious act of violence against the state' and counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about him last month. Reports suggest intelligence services might have even lost track of Amri as recently as just a few weeks ago after he went underground. Relatives of prime suspect Anis Amri have urged him to turn himself in to police. Amri, who turned 24 today, is understood to have left Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising and spent time in Italy before entering Germany last year. His asylum claim was rejected and authorities identified him as a threat before the Berlin outrage. His brother Abdelkader Amri told the Associated Press: 'I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it.' His father Mustapha says his son must be punished if he was behind the atrocity and said he son was a drug-taking criminal. He told The Times: 'He dropped out of school and travelled to Italy; he was involved in a robbery and a case of burning down a school and camp. 'He spent four years in jail in Italy where he met extremist groups which attracted him. He drank with his friends, which led to his arrest several times. His name also came up in many court cases regarding his use of cannabis, robbery and violence.' Amri's family, who remain in Tunisia, were questioned by local police as his siblings condemned acts of terrorism, saying Amri 'deserves every condemnation' if he is guilty of the massacre. His father Mustapha is pictured above at his home in Oueslatia Family: Abdelkader Amri, the brother of 24-year-old Anis Amri, and his heartbroken mother Nourhane Amri poses with a portrait of her son Anis Amri German authorities have revealed there is a 100,000 euro (84,000) reward for information leading to his capture A market worker stands in front of a makeshift memorial near the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Protection: A workman helps to place a concrete barrier outside the Christmas market at Breitscheid square in Berlin Riot police detain a demonstrator during a vigil of right-wing groups in front of the CDU federal centre in Berlin. The protesters had been hitting out at German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the market attack Supporters of the far-left movement hold placards depicting a heart and a banner reading 'Berlin is better without Nazis' as they hold a demonstration A protester holds a sheet reading 'Death to Fascism' during an anti right-wing demonstration near the scene of the attack A steady stream of mourners have visited the scene of the atrocity, with many leaving flowers and candles on the ground A group of refugees from the Tempelhof emergency shelter were seen laying flowers near the site of the attack Manhunt: The ISIS killer behind Germany's worst terror attack since 1980 on Monday night has been given an 18 hour head start after police bungled the probe - Amri's blood may have been in the cab and believe the driver is injured On Monday night, the Tunisian radical - who has used six different aliases and three different nationalities - is believed to have driven a 40-tonne truck through a Christmas market, killing 12 and injuring dozens. Germany has 7,000 terror suspects and finds it 'impossible' to monitor them all Germany is finding it 'almost impossible' to keep track of around 7,000 potential terror suspects in the country, a former British intelligence chief has warned. Richard Barrett, who was head of counter-terrorism at MI6, said the authorities were finding the number of 'live' cases unmanageable. The grim assessment came as German security services face difficult questions following the Berlin Christmas market massacre. A European arrest warrant issued for Amri reveals the fugitive has used at least six different aliases under three different nationalities. Photographs show how he has changed his appearance over the years. Mr Barrett, who was in a key role at MI6 when the September 11 attacks took place in 2001, said it was not surprising that some extremists slipped through the surveillance net. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there were 550 'really extreme potential terrorists on the books' in Germany. 'In addition to that though if you include all the Lander (local regions) in Germany they have about 7,000 live cases,' he said. 'As you can imagine, that is an almost impossible number to control. He said the wider group of suspects were people who had 'come to attention in this context of radical extremism' and were 'worthy of investigation'. Advertisement German media are reporting that the fingerprints of Tunisian suspect Anis Amri have been found on the truck that was driven into a Christmas market in Berlin. Daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and broadcasters NDR and WDR reported Thursday that Amri's fingerprints were found on the driver's door of the Polish-registered truck. The daily Berliner Zeitung reported that his fingerprints were found on the steering wheel. It has since emerged that he was on the radar of US agencies who say Amri researched bomb-making online and was barred from flying to America having communicated with ISIS using the Telegram messaging service. Meanwhile, an Israeli woman, Dalia Elyakim, became the first named victim of the attack. She was standing with her husband Rami when the truck rammed into them. Last night it emerged that Amri also tried to recruit an accomplice for a terror plot which the authorities knew about but that he still remained at large. The potentially fatal mistakes heaped further shame on the German security services, who wasted several hours questioning an innocent Pakistani asylum seeker in the aftermath of the truck rampage, which killed 12 shoppers and wounded 48. German police are in a desperate race to detain Amri, described as being probably armed and 'highly dangerous' before any further terrorist attack. A senior foreign German politician today blamed the atrocity on 'institutional political correctness', arguing that Amri would not have been free to act if police had enforced the law. Meanwhile a European arrest warrant issued for Amri reveals the fugitive has used at least six different aliases under three different nationalities. Photographs show how he has changed his appearance over the years. Yesterday his family, who remain in Tunisia, were questioned by local police as his siblings condemned acts of terrorism, saying Amri 'deserves every condemnation' if he is guilty of the massacre. Amri became Europe's most wanted man after his identity papers were found in the footwell of the lorry used in the atrocity. Last night it emerged that Amri's application for asylum was turned down last summer because he did not possess the correct papers. But under a peculiarity of the German asylum system he was granted 'toleration' papers allowing him to stay temporarily, for unknown reasons. He was due to be deported before the end of the year. The German authorities were in touch with their Tunisian counterparts to get him a passport so he could be sent home. But Tunisia reportedly said it had no record of him being a citizen. The country has now been accused of delaying his extradition as it emerged new ID papers only arrived in Germany two days after the carnage. He was put on a danger list shortly after arriving in Germany in June last year, which meant authorities considered him prone to extreme violence. Yet just how much surveillance he was under remains unclear. CHANGING FACES OF PRIME SUSPECT ANIS AMRI A European arrest warrant issued for Amri reveals the fugitive has used at least six different aliases under three different nationalities. Here, four photographs show how he has changed his appearance over the years: Previous: Amri, who was born in the desert town of Tataouine in 1992 a well-known ISIS stronghold close to the Libyan border - was apparently recently arrested for GBH but vanished before he could be charged. He was also found with a fake passport A wanted notice for a Tunisian suspect in the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin says the man should be considered armed and dangerous Advertisement Germany's obsession with privacy let the Christmas market killer escape A near-total ban on CCTV in public spaces means that German police and security services have no live footage of the Christmas market massacre or the killer driver fleeing the scene, it was revealed today. Draconian German privacy rules mean filming in public places is largely prohibited - and this year politicians blocked attempts to install cameras on Berlin's main squares. It is a backlash against tyrannical control of the population by the Nazis and then state-sponsored surveillance by the Stasi in Cold War East Germany before the Berlin Wall fell. One German journalist told the Mail: 'Then, the state knew everything about you. As a result, the public now fears it knowing anything about you.' Police say it has gone too far and means that the driver of the truck who fled on foot from Breitscheidplatz square cannot be followed on camera. It even led to panicked officers arresting the wrong man, Pakistani asylum seeker Naveed Baluch, 23, who was seen jumping a red light nearby. Chancellor Angela Merkel has been at the vanguard of the privacy campaign and this year passed a law banning CCTV in offices to protect employees' rights. And long-established data regulations mean that cameras in public places - including Breitscheidplatz square where the terror took place on Monday - is rare. Only railway stations and public transport are exempt. In June Berlin's then interior minister tried to change local law to install CCTV where crime levels are highest, including the busy Alexanderplatz but it was sunk by local politicians. Police say they have been hindered by the lack of CCTV in the and have called for more cameras in the wake of the lorry attack. Bodo Pfalzgraf of the German police union said: 'We need better and more intelligent surveillance in public places, and Monday's tragedy has shown precisely why. 'We would know a lot more about the perpetrator by now if we had been allowed to install video cameras on Breitscheidplatz square. We couldn't have prevented the attack, but our investigation would be more advanced by now. CCTV can save lives'. Advertisement The German authorities watched Amri for several months this year to try to determine whether he had planned a robbery to fund the purchase of automatic weapons for a possible attack with accomplices. But the covert surveillance operation ceased after the security services could not prove their suspicions, a judicial source said. In July he was arrested for an unknown offence while travelling on a bus to Berlin, and was later charged with assault for a knife fight over drugs. In August he was arrested for possessing a fake Italian document, but again released. He had contact with preachers who promoted jihad among young German men who converted to Islam. According to media reports, Amri lived for a time with a hate preacher in Dortmund who is under arrest for his involvement with IS. He is also known to have attended hate sermons by Abu Walaa, now in custody after being arrested last month for radicalising young men. The so-called 'faceless preacher' delivered online video sermons with his back to the camera, often draped in a black hood and cloak. The preacher, who is believed to have three wives, had 25,000 Facebook followers and even offered his own app in 2014. Apparently Walaa had wanted to send Amri to Syria. But he did not want to, preferring instead to formulate plans for an attack in Germany. Another investigator said: 'Supposedly the evidence was not strong enough to arrest him.' A Facebook profile in his name shows 'likes' linked to Tunisian terror group Ansar al-Sharia, a Tunisian group with followers linked to extremists who murdered 22 at Tunis' Bardo Museum in March 2015 and then 39 tourists at a beach resort in Sousse. He was in contact with Islamist militants in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and was known to German security agencies, the state's Interior Minister Ralf Jaeger said. As the hunt for Europe's most wanted man continues, it was revealed that: Amri, who was born in the desert town of Tataouine in 1992 a well-known ISIS stronghold close to the Libyan border - is believed to have entered Europe through Italy with Syrian refugees. His father told Tunisia's Mosaique FM radio that his son left his homeland about seven years ago, spent four years in a prison in Italy after being accused in a fire at a school there then moved to Germany more than a year ago. Official records suggest he arrived in Italy in 2012 and there are reports that he posed as a minor to sneak his way in to the continent. Citing security officials, Mosaique FM said Amri had been convicted in absentia for aggravated theft with violence in Tunisia and sentenced to five years in prison. No dates were given. Tunisian anti-terror police interrogated Amri's relatives Wednesday in the central Tunisian town of Oueslatia. It is not known how many family members were present. One of his brothers said Amri deserves 'every condemnation' if he is guilty of the Christmas market massacre. Abdelkader Amri said the family 'rejects terrorism' and suggested they would cut ties with fugitive brother Anis Amri if he was found to be behind the atrocity. He said: 'When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm in shock, and can't believe it's him who committed this crime.' But, he added, 'if he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists - we have no dealings with terrorists'. Will the lorry killer strike again? Police and the security services are hunting the terrorist behind the Christmas market attack Candles, flowers ans wreathes have been laid near the spot where the lorry was driven in to crowds of people at the market Link? A Facebook profile in his name shows 'likes' linked to Tunisian terror group Ansar al-Sharia, a Tunisian group with followers linked to extremists who murdered 22 at Tunis' Bardo Museum in March 2015 and then 39 tourists at a beach resort in Sousse Speaking from his home in Tunisia, another brother, Walid, 30, revealed he had not heard from Anis in two weeks. Truck attacker was a troubled inmate in Italy Italian authorities say the Tunisian fugitive in the Berlin Christmas market truck attack was a problem inmate when he was in Italy. The Italian justice ministry on Thursday confirmed media reports that 24-year-old Anis Amri was repeatedly admonished and transferred among Sicilian prisons for bad conduct. Prison records say he bullied inmates and tried to spark insurrections. In all, Amri was held in six different prisons on Sicily, where he served three years for setting a fire at a refugee center and making threats, among other charges. But Italy apparently recorded no signs that Amri was becoming radicalized to embrace extremist violence. Amri reached Italy in 2011, along with tens of thousands of young Tunisian men who arrived by boat during the Arab Spring revolutions. Advertisement Truck driver Walid said Anis first left Tunisia for Italy in 2011 but 'always wanted to go on to Germany to find work. Three or for years later he managed that.' His brother added: 'He told me often that he couldn't find a flat In Germany and was sleeping here and there. But during our last contact two weeks ago he said everything was good with him. 'He comes from a family of nine children and always sent money back to us. I don't know where it came from. We live as a struggling family, we live a totally normal life.' He said he last communicated with his brother over Facebook two weeks ago and does not have a mobile number for the fugitive. 'We are as shocked as everyone else in the world,' he added. 'We have no contact to Isis. I only learned my brother was being hunted over Facebook. I am affected the same as everyone else by this news.' Sister Najoua said: 'I was the first to see his picture and it came as a total shock. I can't believe my brother could do such a thing. 'He never made us feel there was anything wrong. We were in touch through Facebook and he was always smiling and cheerful.' Despite an unfolding international manhunt the first pictures released of Amri in Germany showed his eyes deliberately covered, thought to be because of strict privacy laws there. Police are believed to have found blood in the truck's cab and now assume that the suspect may be badly injured. Squads of officers have been to every hospital in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg. They also arrested another unnamed suspect in connection with the terror attack but have since ruled him out. Amri was living in Berlin but a police operation is now underway in North Rhine-Westphalia - the industrial region of Germany containing Cologne, Dortmund and Bonn. His ID was issued on the town of Kleve close to the border with the Netherlands and Belgium. The atrocity could be a political disaster for Mrs Merkel, who will seek a historic fourth term as chancellor next year. She has staked much of her political capital on opening Germany's doors to refugees. TUNISIAN TRUCK SUSPECT'S DEPORTATION PAPERS ARRIVE TWO DAYS AFTER BERLIN TERROR ATTACK A German regional minister Wednesday accused Tunisia of delaying for months the extradition of a man now wanted over the Berlin market attack, saying required papers had only just arrived, two days after the carnage. The asylum request launched by the man hunted by police, identified by media as Anis Amri had been rejected in June, said Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state. 'But the man could not be deported because he had no valid travel documents,' said Jaeger. 'The procedure for drawing up a document in lieu of a passport was initiated in August, but Tunisia disputed the fact that this person was one of its nationals,' he added. Amri is the chief suspect in Monday's fatal truck attack in Berlin and a 100,000 reward has been offered for his immediate capture Only after a months-long wait - during which German security services investigated the man for a suspected attack plan - Tunisia came through with the papers, Jaeger told a press conference. Finally, the new Tunisian travel document 'arrived today' in Germany, two days after the Berlin Christmas market attack. Germany has repeatedly accused Tunisia and other Maghreb states of stalling on the repatriation of its nationals from Germany. The subject sparked tensions after the mass sexual assaults in the German city of Cologne, blamed largely on North African and Arab men, last New Year's Eve. Germany this year moved to declare Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco as so-called safe countries of origin, to raise the bar for asylum requests. But the bill has been stuck in the upper house for months over human rights concerns in those nations. Advertisement Too little too late? Berlin police install terrorist-proof concrete barriers around the Christmas market as it reopens today three days after 12 people were massacred in lorry attack Police have today used concrete barriers designed to stop terror attacks to surround the Berlin Christmas market struck by a deadly truck rampage. Stalls on Breitscheidplatz square opened again today three days after the 25-tonne lorry was used as a weapon to murder 12 and injure 48 more. Critics of the German authorities claimed the barriers should already have been there after the CIA and MI6 warned them that their Christmas markets were among the top targets for terrorists. The barriers can stop lorries even when they are travelling at high speeds. Security: Police have today used concrete barriers designed to stop terror attacks to surround the Berlin Christmas market struck by a deadly truck rampage New start: Stalls on Breitscheidplatz square opened again today three days after the 25-tonne lorry was used as a weapon to murder 12 and injure 48 more Powerful: The barriers can stop lorries even when they are travelling at high speeds People walk through the re-opened Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz square in Berlin Bomb scare halts underground and shuts shopping centre - and police raid a coach Police secures the area near the Schoenhauser Allee shopping mall in Berlin Berlin's underground system was halted after suspicious package was found. All trains wee suspended because of an item reported to police at Prenzlauer Berg in north-east of the city. The shopping centre next door was also closed as a precaution. Police are in Schonhauser Allee and traffic has been stopped. German police also searched a coach in the southwestern town of Heilbronn on Thursday, newspaper Heilbronner Stimme reported, adding that the search was apparently linked to the hunt for the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack. Stimme later tweeted that the all-clear had been given in Heilbronn and that a mix-up had led to the connection being made with the attack suspect. Advertisement The Berlin Christmas market reopened at 11am as the grieving city sought a return to normal life and police hunted for the prime suspect in the attack. The wooden huts selling mulled wine, sausages, toys and seasonal decorations are run by people who saw the horror unfold. But the section where the truck cut a bloody swathe through the market on Monday remains sealed off. The Berlin association of market vendors said the decision to reopen the market was not an easy one. 'We are still stunned and deeply shocked. Our thoughts are with the injured, the dead and their families,' the association's chairman Michael Roden said. 'In a situation like this it's very difficult to know what the right thing to do is.' The Berlin Christmas market reopened at 11am as the grieving city sought a return to normal life and police hunted for the prime suspect in the attack Twelve people were killed and 48 injured when a driver rammed a truck into the crowded market, crushing yuletide revellers and knocking over stalls and Christmas trees. Out of respect for the victims, Roden said the market on Berlin's central Breitscheidplatz would refrain from playing party music and keep garish lights turned off. Two memorial sites are planned where visitors can pay their respects, the association added. Christmas markets are a much-cherished annual tradition in Germany. In the wake of the attack, the authorities urged organisers across the country to keep their markets open, while beefing up security. Meanwhile, a European manhunt is under way for 24-year-old Anis Amri, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker who has been named as the main suspect in the attack after his asylum papers were found in the cab of the truck. WAS PETTY CRIMINAL RADICALISED IN A JAIL CELL? By Mario Ledwith, Emily Kent Smith and Emine Sinmaz for the Daily Mail As a teenager growing up in a poor part of Tunisia, Anis Amri spent his evenings chasing girls, drinking alcohol and indulging in petty thieving. He had apparently grown apart from the Muslim faith that played a central role in his childhood. But a scrape with the law after making the perilous journey to Europe aged 18 with a group of Syrian refugees saw him embrace religion once again. Relatives yesterday revealed how Europe's most wanted man began praying in a possible act of desperation as he spent four years in Italy largely locked up in jail. It was then that his journey into the dark world of extremism is thought to have begun, which led to him fraternising with notorious hate preachers. One of nine children, he grew up on an estate in the small town of Oueslatia in northern Tunisia's Kairouan province. Speaking from Tunisia yesterday, the fugitive's brother Walid insisted that his sibling was a 'calm and nice' man when he left for Europe in 2011 in search of work. But his behaviour apparently changed after he was jailed in Italy shortly after arriving the following year. 'We went to mosque when we were younger and then Anis started to drink alcohol when he was a teenager and he had girlfriends,' Walid said. 'My brother changed after he was released from the Italian prison. Before he was drinking and he had a girlfriend, but after he was released his life became secret. He told me when he was in Italy that he was praying again.' His lengthy spell in an Italian jail housing mafia bosses and gangsters was for smashing up a migrant centre. Amri, now 24, crossed the border into Germany in July 2015 following his release, and tried to maintain a low profile. He was known to German security officials, who were yesterday forced to reveal how a series of errors allowed him to slip through the net. He was arrested in Germany three times this year alone, local media reported. And despite being refused asylum in July, he was given temporary permission to stay until the end of the year. It is thought the hold-up was because Tunisian officials denied he was a citizen there. Documents proving that he was Tunisian only arrived in Germany yesterday. Amri went by at least six different names and claimed to be from both Egypt and Lebanon. One of his many German homes was an asylum centre in Emmerich, North Rhine-Westphalia, which was yesterday raided by police. His Facebook profile revealed links to Ansar al-Sharia, a Tunisian terror group connected to the 2015 Sousse beach attack that left 38 dead. He is also believed to have known Abu Walaa, an Iraqi fanatic known as 'the faceless preacher' as he has delivered video sermons with his back to the camera. Relatives said they had not heard from Amri for 15 days. Advertisement Carnage: The lorry used to kill a dozen people in Berlin on Monday night was towed away from the scene on Tuesday Horror 2016: These are all the terror attacks carried out on German soil in the past year, claiming the lives of 22 people 'Turn yourself in': Heartbroken Berlin terror suspect's Tunisian family make public call for him to give himself up as they say they will disown him The heartbroken family of the Berlin terror suspect have pleaded with him to give himself up to police and warned that they will disown him. Anis Amri, who turns 24 on Thursday, is the main suspect in the attack on the Christmas market in the German capital which killed 12 people and is now the subject of a international manhunt. He is originally from Tunisia but left seven years ago to travel Italy and it is thought he entered Germany just over a year ago. Amri's brother Abdelkader, who says he will disown his brother if it is proved he carried out the Berlin attack His other brother Walid, right, also weeps outside the family home in Tunisia and says the family will disown him Amri's mother Nourhane was also seen in front of the family home in the small town of Oueslatia Death toll could rise as the injured fight for their lives Berlin's state government has said 12 people are still being treated for severe injuries after Monday night's truck attack on a Christmas market, and that an unspecified number of them are still in critical condition. Another 14 people with less serious injuries were also still hospitalized, while 30 others have been discharged. Twelve people were killed in the attack. Berlin's state health ministry on Thursday raised the number of market attack victims treated in Berlin hospitals to 56, up from 48. It said some victims had reached hospitals on their own after the attack. Advertisement And today his family who still live in the small Tunisian town of Oueslatia appeared outside their home where they tearfully called for him to go the authorities. His brother Abdelkader told reporters: 'I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it. 'When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm in shock, and can't believe it's him who committed this crime. 'If he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists - we have no dealings with terrorists.' Meanwhile his sister Najoua added: 'I can't believe my brother could do such a thing.' He never made us feel there was anything wrong. We were in touch through Facebook and he was always smiling and cheerful.' It comes after his father Mustapha was also pictured outside his run-down shack of a home home in the small town of Oueslatia, where his wanted child Anis Amri grew up. He was pictured steering his horse and makeshift cart along the street before stopping to talk to his other son, Walid. It comes after Mr Amri told the Times that even before his son left for Italy, he had been in trouble with the law after turning to drugs and dropping out of school. He said: 'He was like all the other kids in the village, he went to primary school near here, and continued his secondary school in Kairouan but he dropped out due to poverty. 'He worked in farm fields and sometimes with street vendors. He drank with his friends, which led to his arrest several times. His name also came up in many court cases regarding his use of cannabis, robbery and violence.' British trucker raises 50,000 for family of murdered driver Yorkshire trucker Dave Duncan is raising money for the family of the Berlin victim A British truck driver has raised nearly 50,000 via crowdfunding for the family of the Polish driver found dead in the truck used in the attack on a Berlin Christmas market. Dave Duncan said on the website GoFundMe, where he created the campaign on Tuesday, that the story of 37-year-old Lukasz Urban had shocked him. 'Although I did not know Lukasz, the story of his untimely departure shocked and disgusted me. 'So, as a fellow trucker, I decided to reach out to the trucking community and beyond to help in some small way,' he said, signing off with the words 'RIP Lukasz... from the truckers of the UK and beyond'. According to the website, 3,400 people had made donations. Twelve people were killed when the Polish-registered articulated truck, laden with steel beams, slammed into a crowded holiday market late Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims. Urban, who worked for his cousin Ariel Zurawski's transport company in northern Poland, was found killed with a gunshot in the passenger seat. An autopsy indicated that the driver was still alive at the time of the attack, Bild newspaper reported. Advertisement Mr Amri stops to speak with his other son Walid. He has previously said how his son had run-ins with the law in Tunisia after he turned to drugs A picture reportedly showing the run-down house where Amri's family still live in Tunisia Meanwhile, Mosaique FM quoted Amri's father as saying that his son left Tunisia about seven years ago and spent four years in a prison in Italy after being accused in a fire at a school. He then moved to Germany more than a year ago. The father did not provide details and said he had no contact with his son, although his brothers did. He added: 'He called his siblings but never spoke to me, he never sent money, but he once sent a mobile phone and a box of chocolates with a Tunisian friend of his who lived in Italy.' Authorities have also confirmed that the suspect has a history of petty crime and drug dealing. Amri's asylum-office papers for a stay of deportation in Germany were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry, pictured, that cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd The aftermath of the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin which shows some of the stalls that have been destroyed Amri's asylum-office papers for a stay of deportation in Germany were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd. The warrant said the dark-haired, brown-eyed and possibly bearded suspect had used six false names as he dodged security services and mingled with radical Islamist preachers, some of whom are now in custody. He had already been in the cross-hairs of counter-terror agencies, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing 'a serious act of violence against the state,' said Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state. The Berlin prosecutors, who were in charge of the case, said Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary meant to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, 'possibly to carry out an attack'. Surveillance had then however shown that Amri was working as a small-time drug dealer in Berlin and once had a bar fight with another dealer, a statement said, adding that the surveillance had ceased in September. They will be the proud centrepiece on Christmas dinner tables up and down the country this weekend. And this is the strange moment they answered back to a man taunting them on the waddle to slaughter. A video has emerged of a gang of turkeys waddling their way to slaughter, with hundreds seen in a huge line walking along a path to their destination. The turkeys are marching in a long line to the slaughter house as they have reached adult size. They are whistled at as they go and they all respond in chorus The cameraman starts to whistle at the turkeys as they go past. Amazingly, the turkeys appear to respond, and every time he whistles, lots of them gobble back at him. It is not clear where the video was filmed. Male turkeys make the gobbling noise associated with the bird, while female turkeys make cluck and chirp like noises. Turkeys have many different types of calls and lots of the male turkeys in this video are gobbling back to the whistler, while the female turkeys cluck Turkeys have around 30 different ways of communicating which includes calls and non-verbal cues. They have a series of calls, including some which are locator calls meaning 'here I am where are you?'. Some male turkeys will respond to loud noises out of shock. One of four men involved in the gang rape of a Melbourne woman 34 years ago has finally been brought to justice after police linked his DNA to his crime. Elftherios Christoforidis was a 17-year-old apprentice panel beater when he and three other men abducted the woman from a St Kilda street in December 1982 as she tried to hail a taxi about 2am. The victim, aged 19 at the time, was dragged into a car and taken to a deserted spot where the four strangers took turns raping her before they pushed her out of the vehicle and left her in the dark. Elftherios Christoforidis will serve a minimum five years' jail for a 1982 gang rape. He was sentenced in Victoria County Court on Thursday Christoforidis, now 51, was jailed in the County Court on Thursday for seven years with a minimum term of five years. A jury had previously convicted him of abduction, false imprisonment, three counts of rape and aggravated rape. The investigation into the gang rape was abandoned early on because even though stains on the woman's dress underwent forensic tests in 1983 she was unable to identify her offenders. Three decades on, forensic experts re-tested the case and made a DNA match with Christoforidis, who by then had amassed a significant criminal history for unrelated matters. The victim, aged 19 at the time, was dragged into a car and taken to a deserted spot where the four strangers took turns raping her before they pushed her out of the vehicle. File photograph Investigators seized a notebook from Christoforidis' home in which he claimed to have been drunk and pushed into the crime. 'I was 17, the others 20,' he wrote. 'It was their car, I had no licence. 'They organised it. They were older than me. They pushed me to do it. They were known to do sexual assaults. 'I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 'I was the idiot that went third. I did not know the driver.' Judge Felicity Hampel said Christoforidis failed to protect the victim or try to stop the 'callous and degrading' assault. The victim, now 53, said in a statement she still suffered flashbacks that affected her relationships with men and sense of personal safety. She also carried a sense of shame, felt worthless and at fault, with investigating police at the time insensitive to her plight. Raghad Saddam Hussein has praised Donald Trump Saddam Hussein's daughter has praised Donald Trump for his 'high level of political sensibility' and his opposition to the war in Iraq. 'This man has just arrived to the leadership ... But from what is apparent, this man has a high level of political sensibility, that is vastly different than the one who preceded him,' Raghad Saddam Hussein told CNN in her first interview since her father's death ten years ago. The 48-year-old, who now lives in Jordan after fleeing Iraq in 2003, also welcomed the President-elect's opposition to the Iraq war. She said: 'He exposed the mistakes of the others, specifically in terms of Iraq, which means he is very aware of the mistakes made in Iraq and what happened to my father.' During his presidential campaign, Trump said he opposed the Iraq war, but he was previously supportive of the invasion in interviews before and after the conflict. During his presidential campaign, Trump (pictured at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday) said he opposed the Iraq war Saddam Hussein helps his daughter, Raghad, during a visit with family friends on the outskirts of Baghdad in this undated family photo Trump has also said that while Saddam Hussein 'was a bad guy,' he supported his efficient killing of 'terrorists'. Raghad said she blames the US for the chaos that still blighting Iraq, hopes that President-elect Donald Trump will be different from his predecessors, including then-president George W. Bush. Bush claimed that Saddam's execution in December 2006 'would not have been possible without the Iraqi people's determination to create a society governed by the rule of law.' However, following his death, Iraq descended into an decade of sectarianism and violence. Raghad said she was 'proud' of the way her father died, when he declined to wear a hood a he was hung for crimes against humanity on December 30, 2006. Raghad poses with her husband, Hussain Kamel, who was killed by Saddam Hussein's men when the couple returned to Iraq in 1996 'The details of his death are ugly and painful, but it's an honorable death,' she said. 'I don't think he would have gone in a death smaller than this. It was a death that brought pride to me, my children, my sisters and their children, to all those who love him and have a place for him in their heart.' Raghad also spoke about her relationship with her father, whose men were responsible for her husband's death. She married Hussein Kamel, a high-ranking military official who oversaw Iraq's buildup of missiles at the age of 15, while her sister Rana was married to his brother. Saddam Hussein, centre, poses with his family in Baghdad. His daughter Raghad is pictured top left, and his wife with his wife Sajida Toulfah is to his left. His son Uday, killed in July 2003, stands behind him Raghad Hussein is pictured here during an interview with the Al-Arabia station at a palace of Jordan's King Abdullah on August 1, 2003 in Amman, Jordan In 1995 they defected to Amman, Jordan, but less than a year later, Saddam Hussein convinced them to return to Iraq. Saddam Hussein speaks during the Anfal genocide trial in Baghdad in 2006 The Iraqi leader had promised them amnesty, but upon their their return, he ordered the men to divorce his daughters before having them killed. 'It was a very difficult time for me. I found myself stuck between two families, my father and brothers on one side, and my husband and children on the other,' Raghad said. 'I know this is hard for a normal family to understand. But all families of rulers are not average people and sometimes it's hard to understand the complexity of their lives.' Raghad became known for her impassioned defence of Saddam, appearing on television inviting the world's press into her home as she continued to defend her father - the man who, just seven years before, had had her husband killed. A Senegalese illegal immigrant has been convicted of murdering an American woman in her apartment in Florence, Italy after they met at a nightclub. Cheik Tidiane Diaw, 27, has been jailed for 30 years for murdering Ashley Olsen, 35, in her apartment on January 9 this year after they had sex. Olsen, from Summer Haven, Florida, was strangled and suffered several skull fractures. Her body was found by her boyfriend. Diaw, who had arrived in Italy from Senegal a few months earlier, admitted to police he and Olsen fought violently after a night of drugs and sex but denied strangling her and said he never intended to kill her. Cheik Tidiane Diaw (pictured, left) has been jailed for 30 years for murdering Ashley Olsen (right) in Florence in January this year Diaw told investigators they had fought when she tried to push him out of the apartment, fearing her boyfriend would be arriving. After being pushed against the door, Diaw responded by punching Olsen in the neck and then pushing her to the ground, where she hit her head. Police arrested Diaw after street surveillance cameras showed him walking with Olsen toward her home that night. His DNA was found on a cigarette butt and a condom in her apartment. Ashley Olsen's mother Paula (left) was on the verge of tears as the verdict was read out Diaw claimed he killed Ashley (right) when she tried to kick him out of her apartment after they had sex because she feared her boyfriend Federico Fiorentini (left) was about to return Prosecutors, who accepted the pair had consensual sex, had sought the maximum sentence of life in prison. Ashley had moved to Florence a few years ago and was active in the expatriate arts scene. Her father Walter is a professor at a local design institute. Just after her death, friends described Ashley as a vivacious and fun-loving character while her father voiced his heartbreak at losing 'a beautiful and creative young woman with a happy, exuberant and generous soul, who loved her life in Florence'. Ashley (pictured) was described as a 'happy, exuberant and generous soul' by her father A photograph of Ashley Olsen was placed on a table as the verdict came in Diaw holds his head in his hand after the verdict was read out. He faces 30 years in jail Walter Olsen and his ex-wife Paula issued a statement in February saying: 'If it is true, as the authorities declared during a press conference, that Ashley was under the influence of alcohol or other substances, then any type of sexual activity that she might have had that night was not consensual. 'She was not the kind of girl who would have consented, willingly,' they said. But the prosecutors accepted the pair had consensual sex. Ashley (pictured) was often to be seen strolling around Florence with her pet beagle (pictured) Mourners at her funeral in Florence's Santo Spirito basilica in January were shocked when an Italian bishop, Monsignor Giovanni Scanavino, said blamed her friends for not being 'sufficiently human and Christian' and failing to prevent her getting involved involved in the 'deadly tangle of alcohol and drugs'. Diaw, who plans to appeal, had arrived in Italy illegally and told investigators he was working odd jobs, handing out flyers for local nightclubs. The case attracted considerable international media attention and investigators were keen to avoid any repeat of the drawn-out saga that followed the 2007 killing of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, not far from Florence. Kercher's American flatmate Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend spent almost four years in prison for the crime before finally being acquitted last year by Italy's highest appeals court. Paula Olsen is comforted by her lawyer Michele Capecchi after the verdict Ashley Olsen's family originally claimed she must have been raped by Diaw but the prosecution accepted the pair had consensual sex Paula Olsen and her ex-husband Walter give their reaction to the verdict A young couple claim they were laughed at and branded poor by a McDonald's staff member after complaining about being overcharged 2.08 for their chicken selects. Tonicha Ward, 19, told of the 'embarrassing' moment her boyfriend Martin Stewart's card was declined when buying the meal at Kingstown McDonald's in Carlisle, Cumbria, on Saturday. As Mr Stewart, 20, tried to assure staff he had the cash to pay for it, a staff member allegedly replied saying: 'Well obviously not, you've got no money in it [the account].' 'Poverty shamed': Tonicha Ward, 19, and Martin Stewart say they were laughed at and branded poor by a McDonald's staff member after complaining about being overcharged 2.08 The duo paid on a different card but then realised their meal was wrong and asked to be reimbursed for the items they didn't order. They claim the member of staff turned to a colleague and said: 'These people can't afford their meal. They want it swapped. They are poor and they have no money.' However McDonald's claim their investigation found no evidence of the alleged incident and say they have reviewed CCTV. Miss Ward, from Alston in Cumbria said: 'I couldn't believe it and I still can't get my head around it. It was so embarrassing. She was so rude to us. 'She was talking down to us like we were stupid. It wasn't nice. 'We had just been shopping so I didn't want to pay that much and just got what I usually order. 'When I paid I noticed it was more expensive than usual but I just assumed the prices had gone up. After the couple left the restaurant Miss Ward explained what happened to her mother, Emma Tulip Ward (pictured together), 47, from Alston, in Cumbria, who was furious 'When my food arrived it was obviously wrong. Even though it wasn't a lot of difference I didn't want to spend that much. 'Martin asked to swap it and she was really abrupt. She said she didn't understand why I wanted my meal swapped. Then she walked away huffing and puffing. 'She walked behind the till and I heard her shout "these people can't afford their meal. They want it swapped. They are poor and they have no money", whilst laughing with her colleagues.' Miss Ward originally ordered a three chicken select meal with a Coca Cola, which costs 4.89, but was given five chicken selects with two large Coca Colas costing 6.97. The staff member eventually swapped the meal for what Ms Ward initially asked for but when the teenager requested a refund she claims all she was given was 1 rather than the 2.08 she was owed. Miss Ward, a hairdresser, said: 'I couldn't be bothered to ask for the rest I just wanted to leave. We sat down for around 15 minutes but we decided to go without even eating all of our food. 'Martin wanted to say something but I asked him not to. I just wanted to get out of there. 'It was so embarrassing. People were staring at us. We won't be going back.' After the couple left the restaurant Miss Ward explained what happened to her mother, Emma Tulip Ward, 47, from Alston, in Cumbria, who was furious. She said: 'I was disgusted when I was told. She's so embarrassed. I don't like things like that. It's terrible and really not nice. It was so embarrassing. People were staring at us. We won't be going back Tonicha Ward 'We will never go back. They do have money. They're not rich but they were watching their pennies. I thought it was really bad to do that. 'I don't want my daughter to go through something like that. It's more upsetting for me that it happened to her - I wouldn't be as bothered if it was me. 'They were so polite to them and they didn't want to make a fuss. Tonicha knows how to conduct herself. 'An apology from McDonald's would be nice. I was absolutely shocked when she told me. I couldn't believe it. 'You don't do things like that or speak to people in that way. 'I don't expect it from any company never mind a big one like McDonald's. 'Some people don't believe that it happened but I think if we were going to make something up we would pick a better subject to lie about. The couple were buying a meal at Kingstown McDonald's in Carlisle, Cumbria, on Saturday 'We've told other people and they were really shocked. My mum felt like going over there and giving them a piece of her mind.' Miss Ward's mother has made contact with McDonald's head office through email but has not yet been given an apology. A McDonald's spokesman said: 'We've conducted a thorough investigation into these allegations and have found no truth to the suggestion any disparaging comments were made by our restaurant team during this visit. A French airman who fell 18,000ft from a burning bomber on Christmas Eve over 70 years ago has recalled the mystery surrounding his miraculous survival. Andre Guedez was part of a crew flying Halifax Bombers from RAF Elvington near York when his plane was shot down by German anti-aircraft guns during a raid in Essen Mulheim in 1944. As the anniversary of his brush with death approaches, the 97-year-old has told how he fell from the bomber while unconscious and, amazingly, lived to tell the tale. Mr Guedez was on one of the two French Squadrons under RAF Bomber Command in 1944, and , before Christmas, he and his crewmates were looking forward to going on well-earned evening leave with their girlfriends. But all leave was suddenly cancelled and the then-24-year-old was sent on an urgent mission over Germany to help support the effort which became known as 'The Battle of the Bulge'. Andre Guedez (pictured, left, at home this year and, right, in his flying suit in 1944) fell, unconscious, from a burning bomber in the skies over Nazi Germany but survived They took off from Elvington at 11:31am on Christmas Eve in their lumbering, Halifax four-engine bomber, nicknamed 'L for Love', with other members of 347 'Tunisie' French squadron aircraft. Mr Guedez was in the mid-upper gunner position. After almost four hours flying, they were above Essen Mulheim, location of the huge Krupps armaments factory, when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire in the notoriously well-defended Ruhr Valley. He said: 'The Ruhr sky was, at that time, the most explosive place in the world. The Germans had more than 30,000 anti-aircraft batteries around their factories and towns. 'It was the industrial heart of the 3rd Reich, even though it was tottering at that time. On each incursion, especially at night, we were floodlit like in a parade, with continuous fire from anti-aircraft guns. We knew one in two aircraft might not come back, and until that day, I had been lucky.' Mr Guedez remembers that the first shell hit the inner port engine before a second shell cut the aircraft controls and he knew the plane 'was lost'. The men were ordered to jump but, in a gesture of bravado, Andre had thrown his parachute into a corner. By the time he found it in the burning plane, he was beginning to lose consciousness. Mr Guedez (top left) was one of a group of French airman who flew with the RAF during the war The group on a return to their old base. Mr Guedez says he and his flight engineer rang each other every Christmas Eve to remember that fateful night, until the other man's recent death His bomber was then hit a third time and he fell 18,000 through the gunfire, searchlights and debris. He remembers nothing until he woke up, sometime later, lying on desk in a office in Germany with an injured face and back. Explaining what he thinks happened, he said: 'I was scared, paralysed by the cold and the lack of oxygen. The Flight Engineer who was behind me pushed me out of the hatch into the open air. I must have opened my parachute instinctively, because the next second I was unconscious and don't remember anything. 'Opening my eyes, I saw kids with noses pasted to a window looking at me. An old German soldier, a poor guy who had been called-up, was looking after me.' The airman's first thoughts were for his English girlfriend waiting for him in York and how he could let her know he wouldn't be able to meet her in town that night. The men flew Halifax Bombers out of RAF Elvington near York at a time when France was occupied by the Nazis He said: 'We really were in clover at the station [RAF Elvington], cherished and pampered, and I said to myself the dream was over and there would be no Christmas that night by the fireplace. 'At that time the Germans were furious against the Allied airmen. The terrible bombings in Dresden, which caused the death of 45,000 people, were considered war crimes.' Mr Guedez was put in a civilian prison on the night of 24th December and later he found his Flight Engineer, Sgt Francois Duran, who had survived as well. As France was 'German Occupied territory', French airmen and soldiers fighting with the Allies were considered as traitors, and Mr Guedez learnt afterwards that they were the only two survivors out of the seven-man crew of Elvington's Halifax 'L for Love'. The others were shot as they parachuted to Earth or killed when the aircraft crashed in the outskirts of Dusseldorf at Wersten im Brucherbach. An RAF Halifax bomber over the Ruhr during a raid like that Mr Guedez took part in. File photo The Battle of the Bulge In the final months of 1944, Hitler, who was keen to take control of the crucial port of Antwerp, launched one of the Nazis' bloodiest offensives on the West. Taking U.S. forces by surprise, tens of thousands of German troops descended on Ardennes - a heavily forested region stretching through Luxembourg and Belgium. Thick winter fog plagued the Allied forces' efforts to destroy German strongholds, and with Nazi troops donning U.S. Army uniforms to sabotage communications between divisions by snapping phone lines, victory was unlikely. However, after depleting the German's armored tanks and resources, Western Allied forces triumphed. Total Allied casualties are estimated at 110,000 - making it the bloodiest battle for American troops in all of the Second World War. Advertisement Mr Guedez spent four and a half months as a prisoner in Germany and. during that time, he remembers being marched through the devastated German towns and cities. He said: 'We were eventually sent to a camp near Munich. Hitler had the crazy idea of setting up a prison of war camp in the Bavarian Alps. The Americans released us on 29th April 1945.' Both Mr Guedez and Francois Duran survived one of the Great Marches, as the Nazis moved prisoners of war away from the Russian front in the winter of early 1945. For 67 years, the pair telephoned each other every 24th December to remember the close friends they had lost that tragic night, until Mr Duran died in 2012. After the war, Mr Guedez continued in the French Air Force eventually becoming a Colonel. His youngest daughter Genevieve Monneris and his grandson Thomas Lesgoirres made several documentaries about the French Squadrons at Elvington, and in particular, a documentary about Andre's wartime experiences which won the prestigious Imperial War Museum London Film Festival in 2012. Genevieve also released a book, 'The French Squadrons' earlier this year. Mr Guedez recently spoke to staff at the Allied Air Forces Memorial & Yorkshire Air Museum to highlight the fact that those involved in the Second World War did not stop for the festive season. The crew would have faced a ferocious barrage when they flew over Germany. File photo Ian Reed, Director of the Allied Air Forces Memorial & Yorkshire Air Museum which is based on the former airfield, said: 'As each year passes, there are fewer and fewer veterans of the famous French Squadrons, and indeed all those of RAF Bomber Command, left with us. 'It is an honour to know him today and we are thankful that Andre Guedez is still going strong as we remember his incredible story, and give our thanks that because of people like him, Europe has seen the longest period of peace in modern history. We must never forget' New guidelines to provide greater comprehensive medical care nationwide and to deepen reform to cover urban and rural residents alike with universal healthcare were approved on Wednesday by a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang. Both guidelines are part of the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). Healthcare remains one of the government's top concerns. Li has stressed repeatedly that "health is the root of people's happiness", and he has often reiterated the importance of medical reform. According to the guideline, greater efforts will be made in major disease control and treatment. The government will encourage a greater focus on prevention of major chronic diseases as well as major contagious and mental illnesses. The government will also boost medical competence in lower-tier cities and regions and encourage a wider allocation of medical resources. Additionally, approval procedures for new and urgently needed medicines will be simplified, and more incentives will be provided to families with two children. The guideline on deepening medical reform, also approved on Wednesday, aims to fully establish a comprehensive system for public medical services, healthcare and medical insurance. "In terms of medical reform, we need to concentrate on areas that people are most concerned about, and work harder in reducing high quality medical resources concentration in major cities, and make them more available to the public," Premier Li said. The guidelines target the most urgent needs of patients and will improve the country's medical services if they can be properly carried out, said Chen Yuming, a professor of public health at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. Additionally, integration of regional medical reimbursement is important so migrants can have more bills reimbursed when they are treated somewhere other than their hometowns, Chen said. To bridge the disparity in services between major hospitals and those in less-developed areas, an incentive system should be introduced to encourage doctors to go to less-developed areas and stay there by raising their income and showing greater respect, Chen said. Airlines who empty their human waste tanks mid-flight over India could be fined following complaints that revolting excrement has been raining down on houses. Carriers who dump waste from their toilet tanks mid-air while travelling over the country will now face penalties of up to 50,000 rupees (597), in what has been dubbed 'environmental compensation'. Aircraft landing at airports in India will now be subject to random inspections, which will check if the toilet tanks have been cleared out before landing. If they have, the airline could be hit with the fine. Airlines who empty their human waste tanks mid-flight over India could be fined following complaints that revolting excrement has been raining down on houses The new legislation, which will be implemented by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India, comes after cases of human excrement being found on the exterior of houses close to Delhi airport. One resident, retired army officer Lt Gen Satwant Singh Dahiya, told the Hindustan Times that his home in the Vasant area of Delhi had been repeatedly splattered with excrement. He said: 'For over a week now, we found that walls and floors of our terrace are splattered with large patches of excreta dumped by aircraft flying in front of Palam airport at night. 'The last time it happened early in October, we had to spend 50,000 rupees to get the exterior painted.' An official from the Indian environment ministry went to inspect the house and confirmed there was traces of excrement on the walls but could not say where it had come from. According to the Federal Aviation Authority, they always investigate reports of human waste that has fallen from the sky and it almost always turns out to be bird droppings However, India's National Green Tribunal still instructed the aviation authorities to start implementing the fines, even though they opposed the penalties. The pointed out that waste from planes is held in a tank until the aircraft lands. The tank can only be emptied using an exterior lever. However, the DGCA admitted that it is possible for leaks from the tanks to occur. People regularly report having human waste fall on them for aircraft, including 'blue ice', which they believe is excrement that has been coloured blue by a chemical added to the toilet water and frozen at high altitudes. Nicola Sturgeon (pictured opening an SPCA centre in Glasgow yesterday) has demanded a 'bespoke' Brexit deal for Scotland Spain has flatly rejected Nicola Sturgeon's grand plan to keep Scotland in the EU single market even if the rest of the UK leaves. The First Minister laid out proposals this week to get a 'bespoke' Brexit deal - threatening a second independence referendum if Theresa May did not agree. But the prospect has been dealt a seemingly fatal blow by opposition from Madrid, which has been struggling to contain Catalonian separatism. Jorge Toledo, Spanish minister for the EU, said: 'If the UK leaves the single market, the whole UK will leave the single market. 'There is only one negotiator, the UK government.' Any Brexit deal will have to be signed off by all the other 27 member states, putting a huge obstacle in the path for Mrs Sturgeon. Setting out a list of demands to Mrs May this week, the SNP leader published a complicated series of ideas for protecting Scotland's place in Europe. She outlined two main Brexit options in the paper - titled Scotland's Place in Europe. The first option is to keep the whole of the UK in Europe's single market and customs union. The second, more complicated option would see Scotland stay in the single market with the rest of the UK outside, a scenario that raises the prospect of having to introduce a hard border. The First Minister also called for sweeping new powers over immigration, the environment, justice and agriculture to be handed to the Scottish Government, regardless of what form Brexit takes. Ms Sturgeon said her proposals represented a 'significant compromise' on her initial post-referendum demand for full independence. But she included a threat to hold a second independence referendum if her demand to keep Scotland in the single market is rejected by the Government or the 27 other EU member states. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy told a European Council meeting in June he would block any Brexit deal that might encourage the Catalans. 'If the UK goes, Scotland goes. The Spanish government is against negotiations with anyone apart from the UK government,' he said. Mrs Sturgeon's prospects are unlikely to have been helped by the warm welcome they received from Oriol Junqueras, the vice president of Catalonia. He said: 'The Scottish proposal shows that with political willingness everything is achievable. 'Europe will adapt itself to a "differential" result for Scotland if this is requested by the British and the Scottish.' A Christmas advert for world-famous illusionist Derren Brown's new ride at Thorpe Park has been barred from prime-time TV - because it's too scary. The trailer for Derren Brown's Ghost Ride Thorpe Park Resort, which features a demonic monster, was due to be aired between 6pm and 7pm on national television on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The promo, which has already been viewed over 15,000 times on Facebook, opens to the jingle of bells and a snowy countryside railway scene. A message on the screen appears and invites the viewer to count the number of white bunnies which are sat on the railway track. A message on the screen appears and invites the viewer to count the number of white bunnies (pictured) which are sat on the railway track But after 15 seconds, a giant demonic monster appears on the screen and screams right into the camera It says: 'Count all the Christmas bunnies as fast as you can. Look closely some are hidden...' The bunnies are sat on - or near - the track and viewers have just 15 seconds to count them before they get a scary surprise. The song has lyrics including 'Merry Christmas, everyone' and just 20 seconds in a giant demonic monster appears on the screen and screams right at the camera. Clearcast - who monitor ads for broadcast on the UK's main commercial channels - have said the advert couldn't be aired before the watershed because it's too shocking. A spokesman for Clearcast said they restrict ads pre-9pm which contain 'scenes of threat or horror.' He said: 'Advertisements that are suitable for older children but could distress younger children must be sensitively scheduled. 'We aim to achieve this by applying appropriate timing restrictions to specific ads to minimise the chances of children seeing them.' Marketing execs at Thorpe Park had hoped the advert for Derren Brown's Ghost Train, launching at the theme park in 2017, would whet the appetites of thrill-seekers over the holidays. But the advert has been barred from prime-time television because it was judged to be too scary Derren Brown's Ghost Ride (pictured) at Thorpe Park Resort in Surrey will be open in 2017 After seeing it on social media several people turned to Twitter to express their shock at the advert - @Gabbb3h said: 'FFS I JUST HAD A HEART ATTACK.' While @HBD-Real-Nimrod said: 'Imma just go and cry in a corner and never look at bunnies. Cool. (It's 19 btw).' And @mollie-mulheran said: 'that actually made me jump lol.' The advert pays homage to early viral videos which asked viewers to keep their eyes glued to the screen - prior to receiving a scare in the form of screaming pop-up faces. A spokeswoman for Thorpe Park Resort said: 'Christmas is a time for giving and we wanted to thank our guests with a special festive advert that addressed our thrill-seekers request for more scares in 2017. 'However plans to air our new promo for Derren Brown's Ghost Train on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have been changed due to advice that it may not be appropriate for audiences during this period. 'Every year guests are demanding bigger, better and scarier experiences, so in 2017 we are pushing the boundaries and dialling up the horror with Derren Brown's Ghost Train. ISIS fanatics 'groomed' the Tunisian migrant wanted over the Berlin market massacre while he was sleeping rough on the streets of Italy, MailOnline has learned. Terror suspect Anis Amri, 24, was sentenced to four years in prison for burning down a migrant reception centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa shortly after arriving in Europe. With nowhere to go after his release, ISIS recruiters offered him protection before convincing him to sneak into Germany as a Syrian refugee, a source within Tunisia's anti-terror police has revealed. The source told MailOnline: 'Whatever he decided to do in Germany was started while he was in Italy.' Blaze: It is alleged that Amri became radicalised while sleeping rough in Italy after he was released from jail in Palermo following his sentence for arson on Lampedusa in early 2011 Jail term: Amri fled Tunisia where he was facing a five year jail term for robbery. After his release from prison for his part in the migrant riots on Lampedusa in 2011, security sources in in Tunisia say he was radicalised by ISIS fanatics while he was sleeping rough in Italy Suspect: Authorities in Germany are offering a 100,000 reward to help capture Tunisian Amri, pictured, 24, accused of ploughing a 25-tonne lorry through Berlin's Christmas market Carnage: Amri is accused of causing mayhem on Monday when he allegedly drove a stolen truck into Christmas crowds in Berlin in which 12 people were killed and 48 were injured 'They gave him food and shelter and persuaded him to carry out a mission for them. It was in Italy that he was radicalised. 'He entered Germany posing as a Syrian refugee. He was a vulnerable young man and they showed kindness to him.' Germany police have offered a 100,000 reward for the capture of Amri, born in Tatouine in Tunisia, who is accused of ploughing a 25-tonne lorry into crowds of people at a festive market on Monday, killing 12. The Tunisian asylum seeker's brother told how he was brought up in a poor, but strict Muslim family in Tunisia. But as a teenager Amri began drinking and had a number of girlfriends, it is claimed. Arson: Amri Anis, the Tunisian asylum seeker wanted for the Berlin terror attack, was jailed for four years in 2011 for setting fire to a migrant centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa Riots: Amri is believed to have reached Lampedusa from Tunisia in March 2011 and was jailed for his involvement in disturbances and arson at the migrant centre two months later Burnt out shell: Amri was convicted of arson shortly after arriving in Italy for after a blaze on this migrant centre in Lampedusa, pictured, in September 2011 In 2011 he fled Tunisia to Europe to avoid being jailed for robbery and violence offences in his home country. Amri was sentenced to five years in prison in 2011 - but left the country before he could be jailed. He arrived illegally in Italy in early 2012 as a fugitive from justice. His father Mustapha said he was later jailed for arson in Italy when he burned down a migrant reception centre during a violent protest on the island of Lampedusa - the entry point into Europe for hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing north Africa and the Middle East. Amri was one of a number of migrants who set fire to their mattresses, which burned the migrant centre holding 1,200 refugees to the ground. Wanted: Having served four years in jail in Palermo, which also housed mafia bosses and gangsters, career criminal Amri, pictured, was freed four months early in May 2015 Radicalised: After reportedly being brainwashed by extremists while sleeping rough on the streets in Italy, Amri arrived in southern Germany in July 2015 - 18 months before Monday's tragedy pictured Suspect: German police suspect that Amri drove this truck into terrified crowds at the Christmas market. They are in a desperate race to detain him and have described him as being probably armed and 'highly dangerous' before any further terrorist attack Many refugees were given permission to travel freely through Europe but Amri was ordered to stay in the overcrowded camp because he claimed to be an unaccompanied minor, reported. Lampedusa's then-Mayor Bernardino De Rubeis claimed he had repeatedly warned the government that tensions between the migrants were reaching breaking point The fire, which destroyed three buildings, was reported to have been started by Tunisians, including Amri, who were ordered to return home after some were ordered to return to Tunisia. Amri, a lifelong criminal who who arrived in Germany that year, was released four months early from his four year sentence. He arrived in Germany in July 2015 and remained under the surveillance of the intelligence services for several months. He had been arrested three times this year and his asylum application was rejected, but deportation papers were never served and he disappeared. The Tunisian radical was known to be a supporter of Islamic State and to have received weapons training. He tried to recruit an accomplice for a terror plot - which the authorities knew about - but still remained at large. He was under investigation for planning a 'serious act of violence against the state' and counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about him last month. Brainwashed: While in Germany, Amri attended sermons by hate preacher Abu Walaa, an ISIS recruiter on remand in prison after his arrest for radicalising young men last month. Pictured: Mourners lay flowers for the dead at the scene of Monday's massacre Blunder: German police are now having to answer questions as to why Amri, who has used a string of aliases, was allowed to continue planning an attack when the surveillance operation was called off. Pictured: Flowers laid to remember those killed in the Berlin terror attack The potentially fatal mistakes heaped further shame on the German security services, who wasted several hours questioning an innocent Pakistani asylum seeker in the aftermath of the truck rampage, which killed 12 shoppers and wounded 48. German police are in a desperate race to detain Amri, described as being probably armed and 'highly dangerous' before any further terrorist attack. He is also known to have attended sermons by hate preacher Abu Walaa, an ISIS recruiter on remand in prison after his arrest for radicalising young men last month. But, in what appears to be an astonishing blunder, a surveillance operation on him was called off. Reports suggest intelligence services might have even lost track of Amri as recently as just a few weeks ago after he went underground. A European arrest warrant issued for Amri reveals the fugitive has used at least six different aliases under three different nationalities. A man charged with attempting to travel to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State has been jailed. Sydney labourer Amin Elmir tried to travel from Turkey to the conflict zone between April and June this year but ultimately failed, counter-terror officers allege. The 27-year-old was arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of making preparations to incursions into foreign countries - which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Amin Elmir (pictured with an unknown woman) is charged with attempting to travel to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State Elmir did not apply for bail during a brief appearance at Bankstown Local Court on Thursday and will stay in custody until March. He was charged with preparing for incursion into foreign countries to engage in hostile activities, which carries a maximum penalty of life behind bars. Mr Elmir tried to enter the conflict zone between April and June, a period when he was allegedly in contact with the 17-year-old boy who encouraged him to keep trying and attempting to help find a way in, reports Sydney Morning Herald. The 17-year-old, who was last month arrested and charged with terrorism and foreign incursion offences, and will now be charged for playing an 'active role' in encouraging Mr Elmir to commit his alleged crimes. Police have consistently warned people against travelling to conflict zones, Australian Federal Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Jennifer Hurst said on Thursday. 'We again want to emphasise that actively making plans to join groups in those areas is a criminal offence,' Ms Hurst said. The Sydney man tried to travel from Turkey to the conflict zone to fight alongside the terror group NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said in light of recent events at home and overseas, it was more important than ever for the community and police to work together. 'You are our eyes and ears. Help us to keep everyone safe,' Mr Murdoch said. Advertisement These are the heartwarming letters written by Princess Diana which described the tender, unbreakable bond between her two young sons - and the rebellious streak in an eight-year-old Prince Harry. As she raised the brothers the late princess revealed intimate moments of their family life between 1984 until 1993 in handwritten notes to Buckingham Palace Steward Cyril Dickman. One letter dated September 20, 1984, reads: 'William adores his little brother and spends the entire time swamping Harry with an endless supply of hugs and kisses, hardly letting the parents near!' Another dated October 17, 1992, notes how mischievous Prince Harry was: 'The boys are well and enjoying boarding school a lot, although Harry is constantly in trouble!' She also described how she and Prince Charles reacted to Harry's birth: 'The reaction to one tiny person's birth has totally overwhelmed us and I can hardly breathe for the mass of flowers that are arriving here!' And the messages show how the long-serving Buckingham Palace steward was evidently held in high esteem by the princess, as, in one poignant exchange, she confides in Mr Dickman about the death of her grandmother. This letter in 1992 details how a mischievous young Prince Harry finds himself 'constantly' in trouble at school September 20, 1984: 'William adores his little brother' - Princess Diana described how Prince William showered his little brother with kisses and thanked the steward for thinking of the family 'at this particularly happy time' A letter from Princess Diana to Cyril Dickman dated March 20, 1985 in which she wishes him a speedy recovery from his illness First day back at school: Princess Diana pictured taking Prince William (left) and Prince Harry (right) to school for the start of a new term on April 25, 1990 The letters, which are valued at 15,000, will be auctioned off in Cambridge on January 5. In the letter following Prince Harry's birth, Diana wrote warmly: 'This is just to say a big thank you, Cyril, for thinking of us at this particularly happy time, with lots of love from, Diana.' The fondness the princess had for Mr Dickman - who served as a palace steward for more than 50 years - was clear when she penned him a letter following the death of her grandmother, the Baroness Fermoy, in July 1993. She wrote: 'Thank you so much for your lovely letter concerning my Grandmother. 'Her death came as a great shock, but it has meant an enormous amount to receive messages of support such as yours. 'I often think of you and Mrs Dickman and hope that life is treating you kindly.' In 1993, Mr Dickman was advisor to Sir Anthony Hopkins for his role as a butler in the film The Remains of the Day. Diana mentioned his star turn in one of her letters to the palace steward, saying, 'I wait with interest to see the film'. Princess Diana also wished him a speedy recovery upon hearing he was ill in 1985, writing: 'I just wanted to write a quick note to say how very sorry I am to hear you are not feeling well. 'We missed you yesterday at Buckingham Palace.' The letter remarking on Prince Harry's behaviour was sent when he was a pupil at private Ludgrove School in Berkshire in 1993 and shows he had a rebellious streak at a young age. Nine years later aged 17 he was caught smoke cannabis in the grounds of Highgrove. He came under fire again in 2005 for wearing a Nazi uniform at a fancy dress party. July 18, 1993: The fondness the princess had for Mr Dickman - who served as a palace steward for more than 50 years - was clear when she penned him a letter following the death of her grandmother, the Baroness Fermoy, in July 1993 Diana wrote: 'Her death came as a great shock, but it has meant an enormous amount to receive messages of support such as yours' Other items in the auction include signed Christmas cards from Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Heartwarming letters written by Princess Diana described the tender bond between her two young sons (pictured on a trip to Thorpe Park in April, 1993) Mr Dickman started his career at Buckingham Palace watching out for fires on the roof during the Blitz. He retired at the age of 65 and was made a Freeman of the City of London. When he fell ill towards the end of his life, Prince Charles visited him at his home. He died aged 85 in 2012 and the letters were uncovered by his grandson who has now put them up for auction. Dylan Mander, a specialist at Cheffins' auction house where the item will go under the hammer, said: 'Cyril's grandson came in and said while he was going through everything he found all of these amazing letters from Princess Diana. 'The letters explained all different things - how Harry had been naughty at school and how Harry was adored by his brother who would not stop kissing him. 'It is incredibly rare to have letters from Princess Diana with such a personal touch to them. 'She would not have had friends in the sense we do so you could say Cyril Dickman was one of her closest friends.' Also included in the auction are signed Christmas cards from Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, slices of wedding cake from Royal weddings,photographs of the Royals including the Queen and Prince Philip in 1990, Diana and Charles as newlyweds and the Queen Mother. There are also custom-made Buckingham Palace cufflinks which come in a white box marked with Cyril Dickman's initials and a silver cigarette case. A porn film producer has been fired after busty star Nikki Benz claimed she was choked and stamped on despite yelling 'Cut!' repeatedly during a violent shoot. Benz said she begged Tony T to stop but was ignored as they filmed scenes for the website Brazzers. In an angry stream of tweets on Tuesday, 35-year-old Benz criticized the company for turning a blind eye to the abusive behavior. Nikki Benz (pictured) tweeted: 'I guess rape scenes are in now huh?' after accusing the director of ignoring her calls for the scene to end 'I guess rape scenes are in now huh?' she said in one of the tweets which have since caught the attention of porn fans around the world. Brazzers then issued a statement in which it said: ' As most of you already know, we do not produce content ourselves but commission producers to do so on our behalf. 'We understand that this particular scene was an unscripted scene with the artistic direction left open to the producers discretion.' She said director Tony T (above) ignored her pleas to stop. He has not commented on the claims It went on to say: 'Brazzers considers performers consent, boundaries and limits and safety to be fundamental and paramount issues and unequivocally stands for the respect of the performers. 'Brazzers does not condone nor does it tolerate conduct by producers that would jeopardize a performers security or well-being.' They said they would 'thoroughly investigate' the production and would 'take steps... to prevent the alleged behavior from occurring'. They added: 'Brazzers always reserves the right to reject any particular scene if it does not meet with its brand and image guidelines. Producers are aware of this and, we hope, are cognizant of that when shooting scenes for Brazzers. This particular type of scene would never meet our standards and would be rejected immediately.' TMZ reported that Brazzers had told them they had ended their association with Tony T. Benz (left during a shoot last week) said she repeatedly yelled 'Cut!' but was ignored. She is the official spokesperson for Brazzers, an online porn site which commissioned the shoot But they said his representative had told them he denied the allegations, was upset about Brazzers' actions and was confident his name would eventually be cleared. Details of the incident only emerged when the Canadian porn star tweeted she was not happy about the footage being released. She tweeted: 'I guess when I'm signing out and I tell you I'm not OK with the scene, you make me say I'm OK so I get paid. I guess rape scenes are in now huh?' Benz then uploaded screenshots of text messages exchanged between one of her friends and a Brazzers employee which described the alleged abuse. She also said it was the first time in her 13 years that she had gone into shock and cried on set. The 35-year-old actress said she was left in tears by the alleged abuse as she described it in a flurry of tweets In another exchange, the actress pleaded with someone who said they had 'reviewed the footage' and asked her to call them. 'Did you see the part where I said cut, where I said I'm not OK with this? Tony T did he leave that in? I said no.' On Tuesday night Brazzers tweeted: ' Hey Nikki Benz we're behind you and will never tolerate negative behavior towards stars by any 3rd party producer.' Tony T, who has appeared in several films himself, could not be reached by Dailymail.com. No criminal charges have been brought against Tony T. Benz was born in Mariupol in the Ukraine but emigrated to Canada, aged seven, and lives in Toronto. In 2014 she reportedly tried to run for Mayor of the city but was rejected because her driver's license had expired. Thousands of Tube workers will be on strike on January 9, the same day as Southern staff plan the start of a complete shut down of a major railway. The RMT announced the new strike action today following a ballot of members over what it claims are staff cuts. Tube workers will walk out for 24 hours from 6pm on January 8. The RMT and Aslef plan to shut down Southern Trains - used by 300,000 commuters - from January 9 to January 14. Many workers will be headed back to work for the first time in 2017 on Monday January 9. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling convened a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee to plot ways to break the next wave of strikes (file picture) Southern Trains run hundreds of routes across the south of England, including through Selhurst Park, pictured, used daily by around 300,000 commuters Announcing the Tube strike, RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: 'RMT will not stand by while safety is compromised on London Underground off the back of cash-led cuts to staffing levels that the union has warned would have a serious, lasting and corrosive impact for staff and passengers alike. 'That is why our members are taking this action. 'It has now also been shown that at management level there is agreement with the union that the cuts have been a disastrous mistake. 'With the constant overcrowding on stations and platforms, it is only a matter of time before there is a major tragedy if we don't act decisively. 'Our dispute is about taking action to haul back the cuts machine and put safety back at the top of the agenda.' Buses could be laid on to get children to school and commuters into the office to break a week-long strike by union workers on Southern trains. The hundreds of replacement services may be deployed by ministers scrambling to defeat the long-running action which has escalated so far the entire Southern network is being repeatedly shut down. WHO IS ON STRIKE WHEN? December 23: Cleaners on Great Western Railway December 31-January 2: Conductors on Southern Trains January 8-9: London Underground staff January 9-14: Conductors and Train drivers on Southern Rail Advertisement Hundreds of school children use the routes as well as around 300,000 commuters who head into central London each morning. Unions are plotting a week-long stoppage from January 9 - just days after schools return from the Christmas break. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling convened a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee yesterday to look at contingency plans. The Sun said a decision was taken to prioritise school pupils over commuters but a source told the paper: 'Chris Grayling has made it clear he wants to look at everything to beat this and help those affected.' Tory backbencher Alan Mak said hundreds of children in his Havant constituency rely on the Southern Trains to get to school. He told the paper: 'Trade union strikes are stopping school children getting to school. So any proposals to provide more buses would have my support. 'We can't let trade unions hold back our kids' education over who pushes a button.' Union barons including ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan, left, and RMT General Secretary Mick Cash, right, have pursued months of industrial action RMT LAUNCH NEW CHRISTMAS STRIKE ON GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY Yet another Christmas rail strike will begin tomorrow as workers who clean Great Western Railway trains walk out. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union employed by contractors Servest UK will walk out at 0559 on Friday until the same time on Christmas Eve. The workers will mount a picket line at London's Paddington station. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: 'GWR and Servest UK can bring an immediate resolution to this dispute by immediately addressing the issues over pay and other grievances and starting the process of bringing these workers back in house so that they are on the same terms and conditions as the rest of the staff.' Advertisement Southern conductors are currently due to launch the next wave of strike action from December 31 until January 2 - stopping many people from travelling into London to celebrate New Year. Conductors will be joined by drivers for a mammoth strike from January 9 until January 14 that is likely to completely close the Southern network. It was claimed today drivers are 'faking' faults on trains to disrupt services further when they are running. Every time a fault is reported, Southern is obliged to take it out of service for it to be investigated. But it has been claimed that many of the complaints made show no fault when investigated. Nick Herbert, the Tory MP for Arundel and South Downs, told the Telegraph: 'If claims are being falsified it is outrageous and the drivers have serious questions to answer. 'Their cynical political campaign is going too far and it is commuters who are bearing the brunt.' Industrial action is due to resume on new year's eve before another all out strike begins on January 9 Tory MP Alan Mak (file picture) said hundreds of children in his Havant constituency use trains to get to school A fresh row flared today after the company wrote to drivers saying it will never be able to secure agreement from their union to extend driver-only trains. Charles Horton, chief executive of Southern's owners Govia Thameslink Railway, said in the letter that the company wanted to press ahead with extending driver-only operation (DOO), which Aslef is opposed to. 'However, following the concordat between Aslef and the RMT in November 2015, it is clear to us that we will never be able to secure agreement from Aslef to extend DOO services, despite repeated attempts. 'The situation is therefore very difficult and it is why we have reluctantly taken the recent course of action. 'I can assure you the decision to extend DOO was not taken lightly or casually. 'GTR believes there are real benefits to our passengers by refocusing our conductors on customer service and revenue management, through the new OBS role. 'It is a really important role that we know our passengers value.' Commuters into London, including at Victoria Station on Monday, pictured, have been blighted by months of industrial action NOW THE TUBE FACES AN RMT STRIKE TOO Thousands of London Underground workers are to stage a 24-hour strike in the new year in a dispute over jobs. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) will walk out from 6pm on Sunday January 8. The unions are embroiled in a long-running dispute over job losses among station staff and ticket office closures. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: 'RMT will not stand by while safety is compromised on London Underground off the back of cash-led cuts to staffing levels that the union has warned would have a serious, lasting and corrosive impact for staff and passengers alike. 'That is why our members are taking this action. Advertisement Mr Horton said the company had offered not to extend DOO beyond existing plans on the GTR network for five years, without the agreement of Aslef. He called on drivers to 'encourage' Aslef to engage constructively with the company, adding that GTR will not halt its plans, or roll back what has already happened. Aslef leader Mick Whelan responded: 'This letter does nothing to address the substantive issues - and our serious concerns about passenger safety - but merely restates the company's entrenched position. 'Southern is saying this morning what it said last week at Acas and has been saying for the last seven months - that it is determined to forge ahead with a different system of working which it knows is inherently unsafe, because it cares more about profit than it does about the safety of passengers. Iris Corbett (pictured) wrote the letter, including questions about the famous city, the food, and its culture, after learning about France at school An eight-year-old girl who wrote a letter addressed to 'Somewhere in Paris, any house' was stunned when she received a reply - from the world famous Louvre. Iris Corbett wrote the note, including questions about the famous city, the food, and its culture, after learning about France at school. She became so determined to find out more about the country after the lesson ended she put pen to paper and wrote a letter directly to the capital city. Not knowing who to write to, Iris simply addressed the envelope to 'Somewhere in Paris, any house' and popped it in the post with a first class stamp six weeks ago. Incredibly, she received a letter two weeks ago from the world famous Louvre Museum thanking her for her interest. The letter answered each of Iris' questions - including if the Eiffel Tower was lit up every night - and even invited her to visit with her family next year. Iris, from West Bridgford, Nottingham, said: 'I really enjoyed learning about France at school and especially Paris. And she was stunned to receive a reply after sending the letter with just 'Somewhere in Paris, any house' on the front of the envelope 'I wanted to know more about their favourite food and the Eiffel Tower so wrote my questions out on paper and put it in an envelope. 'I didn't know who to address it to so just put "Somewhere in Paris, any house" and hoped it would be delivered somewhere. 'I didn't know if I would get a reply but was really happy when the Louvre wrote back. 'I can't wait to go to Paris and visit the places I have learned about.' IRIS ASKED THREE QUESTIONS: 1. What was it like when France lost against Portugal in the European Cup? Louvre answer: Well, we were a bit sad but you know, it's just a game! 2.Does the Eiffel Tower light up every night? Louvre answer: Yes, it does 3.What would you say was the most popular food in France? Louvre answer: .Coq au vin' is the national dish, but you can have all kind of meals in Paris Advertisement Iris decided to write her letter after her brother, Louis, six, let go of a balloon and her mother, Helena suggested it might end up in China. Iris asked three questions about the capital, including if the Eiffel Tower was lit up each night, what food was popular in France and how it felt after France's Euro 2016 final loss. Her father Steven, 47, a business development manager, said: 'It's because she would like to go to Paris but we can't afford it at the moment. 'She's also been studying Leonard da Vinci and the Mona Lisa at school. 'We thought we might as well let her send it so she wouldn't be late to school.' Mrs Corbett, 43, who works as an illustrator, added: 'Kids have these fantastic, creative ideas; you follow them through and nothing happens. 'I didn't expect anything back - I really didn't - we were so surprised and thrilled.' Her letter arrived at the Louvre museum and staff wrote back to her after being 'pleased' to receive her note The Louvre staff told Iris that after the Euro 2016 loss the French were 'a bit sad, but you know it's just a game'. They assured Iris that the Eiffel Tower is illuminated each night and informed her that the French national dish is coq au vin but 'you can have all kinds of meals in Paris'. They signed off by encouraging Iris to visit the artworks at the Louvre if she ever found herself in the city of love. Maverick right-wing senator Cory Bernardi is reportedly planning to leave the Coalition and form a radical Donald Trump-inspired party early in 2017. Nationals MP George Christensen has also warned that while he's loyal now, there would come a time when he could no longer stay in the party. Senator Bernardi and Gina Rinehart met key members of incoming US president Donald Trump's team, sparking fears of a split bankrolled by the mining magnate, The Australian reported on Thursday. Last month the South Australian senator described President-elect Trump's policy positions on Muslim immigration and border protection as 'absolutely mainstream'. Maverick right-wing senator Cory Bernardi is reportedly planning to leave the Coalition and form a radical Donald Trump-inspired party (pictured wearing hat for satirical TV segment) Last month the South Australian senator described President-elect Trump's policy positions on Muslim immigration and border protection as 'absolutely mainstream' Senator Bernardi has been outspoken about his support for US President-elect Trump, and said a 'part of him' felt validated when he won the election Speaking on ABC's 7.30 in November, Mr Bernardi said a 'part of him' had felt validated when Mr Trump won the US election. 'You know, because it was very unfashionable to support him,' he reasoned. 'I thought - he is the catalyst for change and that many of the issues that he has been targeted about and criticised for I think are absolutely mainstream.' 'You know, not having people that are undocumented or illegal in your country, I think, is entirely mainstream. Cutting taxes is mainstream. Protecting your borders is mainstream ... There's lessons for both our parties.' However, the conservative politician dismissed renewed suggestions he was poised to leave the Liberals as gossip and speculation. Nationals MP George Christensen has also warned that while he's loyal now, there would come a time when he could no longer stay in the party Senator Bernardi dismissed suggestions he was planning to leave the Liberals as gossip Government backbencher Luke Howarth said his message was for Senator Bernardi to stick with the Liberals. 'My advice to him would be: stay in the Liberal Party, keep advocating for the issues that you think are important to Australians and remain in the tent,' he told Sky News. 'We need you in the Liberal Party ... we're a diverse party and I think that's healthy.' Senator Bernardi set up the Australian Conservatives movement after the July federal election to rival the left-wing protest and campaigning group GetUp. A Christmas message on the conservative group's website says more than 60,000 Australians have signed up to its mailing list despite it operating with 'modest staff numbers and a bare bones website'. 'This is all set to change in 2017,' it says, promising a state-of-the-art website and 'a number of important campaigns'. Senator Bernardi set up the Australian Conservatives movement after the July federal election Former prime minister Tony Abbott responded with this tweet on Thursday afternoon Former prime minister Tony Abbott said Senator Bernardi was right to say it was best for the Australian people to have a 'strong, cohesive and sound Liberal Party'. 'To be strong & united, the Liberal Party cannot take the base for granted & must convincingly argue for its values & principles,' he wrote on Twitter. Acting opposition leader Penny Wong suspected the whole thing was 'just a little more attention seeking from Cory'. But she ultimately sheeted blame home to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 'He seems to have thought over this last year if he just does what some of the people on the hard-right of his party want, they'll leave him alone,' she told reporters in Adelaide. 'Well they're not going to leave him alone.' Government backbencher Eric Abetz said the Liberal Party was the 'natural home' for conservatives in Australian politics and he advocated for more conservative voices around the cabinet table. 'We do need to regroup, work harder to get back the confidence of the forgotten people of the body politic of Australia,' Senator Abetz said. 'At the moment, the polls aren't too flash and I think the government has got work to do.' Two Chinese teachers have, for the first time, been named on the top-50 shortlist for the annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize, a prestigious international award. Ronnie Cheng, headmaster of the Diocesan Boys' School in Hong Kong, and Yang Boya, a psychology teacher at The Affiliated Middle School of Kunming Teachers College in Yunnan province, were picked from more than 20,000 nominations and applications from 179 countries by the London-based foundation. Now in its third year, the Global Teacher Prize was created to recognize exceptional teachers who make outstanding contributions to the profession. The winner will receive $1 million. Yang, 28, said she was surprised by her nomination. "It was so surreal because of my age. I thought I was too young to be in the category, so I kept rereading the email saying I've been selected." She added: "The freedom of teaching and the creativity in exchanging ideas with my students is why I got into this job. I also come from a family of teachers, as both my parents are in the profession." "As a psychologist as well as a teacher, I support and counsel some students who need someone to talk to," Yang said. "Afterward, some tell me they feel much better for talking to someone or tell me that I am a huge support for them." Ronnie Cheng created an award-winning, world No 1-ranked male choir. Many of his students have gone on to become professional musicians. Cheng also set up the Diocesan Boys' School Foundation to support underprivileged students with financial or medical difficulties. The top 50 shortlisted teachers will be reduced to 10 candidates by a prize committee that will be announced in February, with a winner chosen in March. A violent brawl broke out between Elganainy and officers - two were hospitalized called the police who arrived at the house to check the situation Sherif Elganainy was aggressive towards his parents when questioned by them Mugshot of Sherif Elganainy with cuts and bruises obtained during the standoff with police A man described as a 'potential terrorist' equipped with materials of 'concern' in his bedroom has been arrested after becoming engaged in a vicious brawl with two deputies. Officers from Pasco County, Florida were called to Sherif Elganainy's home after he became violent towards his parents when they smelled an unusual substance permeating from his bedroom. When questioned by his mother over the smell on Wednesday morning Elganainy became aggressive. His father had to be admitted to hospital with a medical complaint, reports suggest he had breathed in too much of the smoke that was being emitted from his room. Elganainy's mother called a relative saying she was too scared to be alone with her son so didn't go to hospital with her husband, reported FOX 13. Scroll down for video An officer from Pasco Sheriff County Sheriff's Office outside the home of Sherif Elganainy after he injured two law enforcement personnel The relative called the police and officers descended into the Elganainy home. His mother told deputies about the domestic incident with her son, and her concern about things she found in his bedroom. Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said the suspect became violent towards the officers when he returned from hospital and entered the house. Nocco said Elganainy, 21, tried to disarm the policemen by removing their guns from their person. After a vicious struggle they managed to take him into custody, but one deputy came out with a broken hand and another suffered a head injury. They were both taken to the hospital. 'They were basically in a fight for their lives,' Sheriff Nocco explained during a news conference Wednesday evening. 'Don't put your hands on a Pasco deputy. Bad things will happen.' Elganainy was also taken to hospital. After the brawl officers found the same smell the mother reported and were in the process of filing for a search warrant. A previous mugshot of the suspect. A police vehicle can be seen on the left after arresting Elganainy The Hillsborough County Bomb Squad, Pasco Fire Rescue and Pasco Emergency Management were on the scene to help conduct the search. 'There are materials in there that give us concern,' Nocco said. 'His actions, statements that he's made, previous things that have occurred in this house, that have now been reported today to us, give us a lot of concern.' He faces two counts of domestic violence, one count of battery on a law enforcement officer and two counts of resistance with violence. In the past the man had been arrested in the past in Osceola County for domestic battery - strangulation, as well as having a 'lengthy' juvenile history, Nocco said. 'You look around the world, you see what happened in Germany, you see what happens across this country, across the world. Theresa May has urged Britons to enjoy their Christmas break and not be cowed by the terror threat. The Prime Minister said people should not be frightened by Monday night's terror attack in Berlin, when 12 people were killed and 48 injured by a lorry being driven into a Christmas market. A dozen terrorist attacks planned in Britain have been foiled since 2013 and the security services have stepped up armed patrols to reassure the public in the final run up to Christmas. The official terror threat in Britain is rated at 'severe', unchanging since Monday's attack. Theresa May, pictured on a visit to a homeless hostel yesterday, has urged Britons to enjoy their Christmas break and not be cowed by the terror threat Mrs May said: 'Of course our thoughts are with those who have been affected by the terrible attack that took place in Berlin but Londoners should go about their business as usual. 'They should enjoy this Christmas period. 'It is important, I think, that we send a very clear message that we will not be cowed by the terrorists that we will carry on with our lives as usual.' In an interview with Evening Standard, Mrs May said: 'The security services and the police are working day in and day out to keep us safe. 'They are often unsung heroes but they are actually doing a very good job. 'However, they have to be vigilant all the time and we should be very grateful for the work they do.' Armed patrols in London and across the country have been stepped up since Berlin's terror attack on Monday night, including outside Buckingham Palace (pictured) Armed police are patrolling Buckingham Palace today as security at tourist hotspots across the country is ramped up. New road closures have been put in place around the palace during the Changing of the Guard as security measures are stepped up across the capital. The Metropolitan Police said the closures, which will increase the no-drive zone around the Palace, were necessary to protect the thousands of spectators who flock to watch the ceremonial event, as well as the military personnel taking part. In Britain armed police have been patrolling markets in major cities and surrounding them with a ring of steel crash barriers to prevent a vehicle being used as a weapon. Armed police were on patrol (pictured foreground) during the regular changing of the guard at the Palace yesterday, pictured Richard Barrett, who was in a key role at MI6 when the September 11 attacks took place in 2001, warned it was not surprising that some extremists slipped through the surveillance net. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there were 550 'really extreme potential terrorists on the books' in Germany. 'In addition to that though if you include all the Lander (local regions) in Germany they have about 7,000 live cases,' he said. 'As you can imagine, that is an almost impossible number to control. The heartbroken family of the Berlin terror suspect have pleaded with him to give himself up to police and warned that they will disown him. Anis Amri, who turns 24 on Thursday, is the main suspect in the attack on the Christmas market in the German capital which killed 12 people and is now the subject of a international manhunt. He is originally from Tunisia but left seven years ago to travel Italy and it is thought he entered Germany just over a year ago. His family believe he may have been radicalised while in prison in Italy. Amri's brother Abdelkader, who says he will disown his brother if it is proved he carried out the Berlin attack His other brother Walid, right, also weeps outside the family home in Tunisia and says the family will disown him Both Walid, left, and Abdelkader, right, were pictured weeping as they talked to reporters outside the family home The family pose outside their home in the small town of Oueslatia and beg for Anis Amri to give himself up to police Mustapha and Nourhane Amri, the suspect's parents have also said they are shocked their son might be implicated in the attack And today his relatives who still live in the small Tunisian town of Oueslatia appeared outside their home where they tearfully called for him to go the authorities. His brother Abdelkader told reporters: 'I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it. 'When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm in shock, and can't believe it's him who committed this crime. 'If he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists - we have no dealings with terrorists.' Meanwhile his sister Najoua added: 'I can't believe my brother could do such a thing.' Amri, left, who turns 24 on Thursday, is the main suspect in the attack on the Christmas market in the German capital and is now the subject of a international manhunt. Pictured right is his mother Nourhane The family of Anis Amri sits around a portrait of him in their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia 'He never made us feel there was anything wrong. We were in touch through Facebook and he was always smiling and cheerful.' It comes after his father Mustapha was also pictured outside his run-down shack of a home in Oueslatia, where his wanted child Anis Amri grew up. He was pictured steering his horse and makeshift cart along the street before stopping to talk to his other son, Walid. It comes after Mr Amri told the Times that even before his son left for Italy, he had been in trouble with the law after turning to drugs and dropping out of school. He said: 'He was like all the other kids in the village, he went to primary school near here, and continued his secondary school in Kairouan but he dropped out due to poverty. Mustapha Amri, the father of Berlin truck attack suspect Anis Amri, who has been pictured outside his home in Tunisia today Mr Amri stops to speak with his other son Walid. He has previously said how his son had run-ins with the law in Tunisia after he turned to drugs Amri's father also said that his son left Tunisia about seven years ago and spent four years in a prison in Italy after being accused in a fire at a school 'He worked in farm fields and sometimes with street vendors. He drank with his friends, which led to his arrest several times. His name also came up in many court cases regarding his use of cannabis, robbery and violence.' Meanwhile, Mosaique FM quoted Amri's father as also saying that his son left Tunisia about seven years ago and spent four years in a prison in Italy after being accused in a fire at a school. He then moved to Germany more than a year ago. The father did not provide details and said he had no contact with his son, although his brothers did. A map showing the route that Amri took from leaving Tunisia to arriving in Berlin earlier this year He added: 'He called his siblings but never spoke to me, he never sent money, but he once sent a mobile phone and a box of chocolates with a Tunisian friend of his who lived in Italy.' Meanwhile, authorities have also confirmed that the suspect has a history of petty crime and drug dealing. Amri's asylum-office papers for a stay of deportation in Germany were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd. The warrant said the dark-haired, brown-eyed and possibly bearded suspect had used six false names as he dodged security services and mingled with radical Islamist preachers, some of whom are now in custody. Amri's asylum-office papers for a stay of deportation in Germany were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry, pictured, that cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd The aftermath of the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin which shows some of the stalls that have been destroyed He had already been in the cross-hairs of counter-terror agencies, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing 'a serious act of violence against the state,' said Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state. The Berlin prosecutors, who were in charge of the case, said Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary meant to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, 'possibly to carry out an attack'. A far-right leader in Germany knew the suspect in the Christmas market attack was a Tunisian just two hours after the attack - despite police initially arresting a Pakistani man, it has emerged. Lutz Bachmann, who fronts the anti-immigrant PEGIDA group, tweeted on Monday night that he had 'internal police information' about the nationality of the lorry driver who murdered 12 revellers in Berlin. At the time, police had announced the arrest of a Pakistani asylum seeker - it was only when he was released that Tunisian Anis Amri was publicly identified as the chief suspect. It comes as conspiracy theories surfaced online questioning how police missed the suspect's ID in the truck for 24 hours. Suspect: Amri made his way from Tunisia to Germany after entering Europe through Italy A far-right leader in Germany knew the suspect in the Christmas market attack was a Tunisian just two hours after the attack - despite police initially arresting a Pakistani man, it has emerged At the time, police had announced that their chief suspect was a Pakistani asylum seeker - it was only when he was released that they turned their attention to Tunisian Anis Amri Lutz Bachmann, who fronts the anti-immigrant PEGIDA group, tweeted on Monday night that he had 'internal police information' about the nationality of the lorry driver who murdered 12 revellers in Berlin When asked to explain how he knew this information, he wrote in a follow-up tweet: 'Just need the right connections and a whistleblower that is sick of the lies.' Controversial Bachmann tweeted his information on Monday night - before police officially confirmed that they were hunting a Tunisian suspect. He wrote: 'Internal info from the police leadership: The attacker is a Tunisian Muslim.' When asked to explain how he knew this information, he wrote in a follow-up tweet: 'Just need the right connections and a whistleblower that is sick of the lies.' Meanwhile, c onspiracy theorists have questioned the 'suspicious' discovery of the Berlin attack suspect's wallet in the lorry used to murder 12 people at a packed Christmas market. German police named Anis Amri as the chief suspect in the attack after finding his ID - apparently abandoned by the asylum seeker in the footwell of the truck as he fled the scene. Extreme measures to capture prime suspect The 100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Anis Amri, the Tunisian prime suspect in Berlin's deadly truck attack, is a rarity in Europe. Rewards in recent years have been offered over war crimes, a political assassination and a far-left group's assault on the US embassy in Athens. One example is notorious Serbian war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic, who eluded arrest for 16 years, saw his bounty go up to 10 million euros ($14 million at the time) before he was finally arrested in May 2011 to face trial in The Hague. However, no-one cashed in on the reward, for the 'Butcher of Bosnia' was tracked down through intelligence work. By contrast, in the United States the practice is well entrenched, going back to the Wild West days of Jesse James and Billy the Kid. The highest reward ever offered by the FBI was $25 million for information leading to the capture of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, killed in a US Navy Seal raid in Pakistan in May 2011. The United States last Friday matched that figure for the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, more than doubling the $10 million originally on his head to $25 million. Advertisement Controversial Lutz Bachmann (pictured) tweeted his information on Monday night - two days before police officially confirmed that they were hunting a Tunisian suspect Will the lorry killer strike again? Police and the security services are hunting the terrorist behind the Christmas market attack Conspiracy theories surfaced online with some questioning the 'convenient' discovery of the suspect's wallet - 24 hours after police had first scoured the truck Conspiracy theorists have questioned the 'suspicious' discovery of the Berlin attack suspect's wallet in the lorry used to murder 12 people at a packed Christmas market The discovery of the wallet was only made 24 hours after police had originally scoured the cab for clues and after wasting precious time questioning the wrong suspect Truck attacker was a troubled inmate in Italy Italian authorities say the Tunisian fugitive in the Berlin Christmas market truck attack was a problem inmate when he was in Italy. The Italian justice ministry on Thursday confirmed media reports that 24-year-old Anis Amri was repeatedly admonished and transferred among Sicilian prisons for bad conduct. Prison records say he bullied inmates and tried to spark insurrections. In all, Amri was held in six different prisons on Sicily, where he served three years for setting a fire at a refugee center and making threats, among other charges. But Italy apparently recorded no signs that Amri was becoming radicalized to embrace extremist violence. Amri reached Italy in 2011, along with tens of thousands of young Tunisian men who arrived by boat during the Arab Spring revolutions. Advertisement But the discovery was only made 24 hours after they had originally scoured the cab for clues and after wasting precious time questioning the wrong suspect - a Pakistani called Naved Baluch who had no blood on his clothes, no injuries and denied having anything to do with the bloodbath. Conspiracy theories have since appeared online questioning the situation. One wrote: 'Why would the driver of the truck that drove into the Berlin Christmas market leave his ID under the seat? Seems too convenient.' Another said: 'It seems suspicious to me that Berlin truck driver that killed people would leave his wallet in the truck as he fled the scene.' German police have been accused of a series of blunders in the investigation. They wasted valuable time having arrested the wrong man before realising the wallet of their chief suspect was in the truck. German police have been accused of a series of blunders in the investigation. Pictures show the market from above Mourning: A market worker looks at some of the tributes left at the scene of the atrocity Police launched a series of raids yesterday morning amid reports four people have been arrested The Christmas market reopened yesterday morning as the hunt for the attack suspect continued Death toll could rise as the injured fight for their lives Berlin's state government has said 12 people are still being treated for severe injuries after Monday night's truck attack on a Christmas market, and that an unspecified number of them are still in critical condition. Another 14 people with less serious injuries were also still hospitalized, while 30 others have been discharged. Twelve people were killed in the attack. Berlin's state health ministry on Thursday raised the number of market attack victims treated in Berlin hospitals to 56, up from 48. It said some victims had reached hospitals on their own after the attack. Advertisement They have also been accused of missing a number of opportunities after it emerged that Anis Amris, a lifelong criminal, should have been deported months ago. The 24-year-old, who has a 100,000 euro reward on his head, was under the surveillance of German intelligence for several months following his arrival in the country in 2015. He had been arrested three times this year and his asylum application was rejected, but deportation papers were never served and he disappeared. The Tunisian radical was known to be a supporter of Islamic State and to have received weapons training. He also tried to recruit an accomplice for a terror plot which the authorities knew about but still remained at large. He was under investigation for planning a 'serious act of violence against the state' and counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about him last month. Reports suggest intelligence services might have even lost track of Amri as recently as just a few weeks ago after he went underground. The potentially fatal mistakes heaped further shame on the German security services, who wasted several hours questioning an innocent Pakistani asylum seeker in the aftermath of the truck rampage, which killed 12 shoppers and wounded 48. Meanwhile, i nvestigators say they have found fingerprints of the Tunisian suspect on the door of the truck that ploughed through the crowds on Monday night, according to reports in Germany. The media did not name their source for the report about Amri's fingerprints and police declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. have lost swathes of land they once held ISIS have released a new propaganda video that appears to show suicide bombings filmed with a drone. The lengthy video, broadcast on ISIS media outlets on December 20, is a slickly produced attempt to claim they are not losing power in Iraq. The blasts were reportedly filmed in the country's desert countryside but it is not clear when they took place. A report by IHS Conflict Monitor in October 2016 said the jihadists had lost about 16 per cent of the land they held at the beginning of the year. However, experts have warned that although the IS group may be on the defensive in Syria and Iraq it now has thousands of foreign volunteer fighters who, once home again, will pose a major threat. The car bomb attacks appear to take place in compounds and on highways Western authorities estimate some 25,000 to 30,000 fighters drawn by the call to jihad have thronged to the IS group's self-proclaimed 'caliphate' in recent years. While some have died and others continue to wage war, a substantial number are returning to their home countries as IS loses ground under an onslaught by the US-led international coalition. 'The flow of foreign fighters from western countries has fallen from 2,000 to about nothing a month,' Albert Ford of the New America think tank told AFP. 'But that's only half the issue: What do you do about the 25,000 or 30,000 people that are in Syria or have been there that now want to go back? It's an issue that's not going to go away,' he said. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that the Islamic State group is 'indiscriminately' attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the jihadists in the Iraqi city of Mosul. ISIS drone footage appears to show blasts in the Iraqi countryside. It is not clear when it was filmed A smiling jihadi appears in the slickly produced propaganda video A blast goes off by a truck that appears to be carrying a tank along a highway A huge plume of smoke is pictured over the desert near a firey explosion A car drives into a compound and people are seen fleeing before it explodes Iraqi forces launched a massive operation to retake the last IS-held city in Iraq more than two months ago, and have pushed the jihadists out of several neighbourhoods on Mosul's eastern side. 'Fighters with the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) have indiscriminately attacked civilian areas in eastern Mosul with mortar rounds and explosives, and deliberately shot at fleeing residents,' HRW said. 'Residents said ISIS members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were 'unbelievers' and therefore valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces,' the rights group said. But Iraqi and US-led coalition forces seeking to oust IS from Mosul are also responsible for endangering civilians, HRW said. Some IS attacks occurred in places 'where Iraqi military forces had positioned soldiers inside homes or on residential rooftops in densely populated areas,' it said. And five witnesses described three separate strikes carried out by either Iraq or the coalition that targeted IS fighters but also killed civilians, HRW said. Police raided a mosque in Berlin tonight as they searched for Europe's most wanted man. Elite commando units hunting for Anis Amri, 24, blew up the front door, threw in stun grenades and witnesses reported hearing gunfire. The target was the 'Fussilet 33' association's building in Perleberger Strae in the south-east of the capital. Neighbouring flats are also being searched, according to German media. It was raided in 2015 over allegations they were raising money for extremists in Syria. An imam was put under investigation. This morning four associates of Amri were arrested as police raided addresses across the country. Target: Police raided a mosque in this Berlin street tonight as they searched for Europe's most wanted man Manhunt: Four known associates of terror suspect Anis Amri have been arrested in Germany as the search for Anis Amri intensified Unit: Armed policemen stand in front of a house in Dortmund, western Germany, where four men were held A shelter for asylum seekers was searched in Emmerich, eastern Germany, pictured, where one man was questioned French and German police conduct a control at the French-German border at the 'Le Pont de l'Europe' bridge in Strasbourg, France, to check vehicles and verify the identity of travellers Merkel hopes for 'quick arrest' of the Tunisian truck terror suspect German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced hope Thursday that the prime suspect in Berlin's deadly truck attack would be caught quickly, after it emerged that the Tunisian rejected asylum seeker was a known jihadist. In an act of defiance, Berliners flocked to the same Christmas market that witnessed the murder of 12 people on Monday, as it reopened for the first time in three days. Just as Merkel praised the country for not succumbing to fear in the wake of the attack, she insisted that authorities would manage to track down the alleged assailant. 'I am certain we will meet this test we are facing,' she said, voicing confidence for a 'hopefully quick arrest'. 'In the past few days I have been very proud of how calmly most people reacted to the situation.' Prosecutors have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri, offering a 100,000-euro ($104,000) reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he could be armed and dangerous. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the case against Amri was hardening, with his fingerprints found in the cab of the 40-tonne truck, as well as his temporary residence permit. The articulated lorry rammed through the crowd late Monday, killing 12. The twelfth victim, the hijacked truck's Polish driver, was found shot in the cab. Berliners returned Thursday to the market at the central Breitscheid square, leaving a sea of flowers and candles for the victims and signs reading 'Love Not Hate'. Advertisement The men were held in Dortmund - where Amri once lived with a hate preacher. The men have reportedly had close contact with him in recent months. A flat was also raided in Berlin, but was empty, and a shelter for asylum seekers was searched in Emmerich, eastern Germany, where one man was questioned. A major shopping centre in Berlin was also put on lockdown today after a suspicious package was found although this is understood to be unrelated to the hunt for Amri. A street was cordoned off and part of the underground closed. Trains are not running in Prenzlauer Berg and dozens of anti-terror cops have descended on the district after the security scare The border between Germany and France has checkpoints where police are searching cars. Anis Amri is the subject of an international manhunt after the attack left 12 dead and dozens injured. The 24-year-old apparently arrived in Germany in July last year having left his home country for Italy in 2011 after the Arab Spring uprisings. Policemen enter a home for asylum seekers in Emmerich, western Germany He applied for asylum in April and his claim was rejected in July, but he could not be deported because Tunisia initially claimed he was not a citizen and he did not have the correct papers to be repatriated, according to reports. A European Arrest Warrant was said to show he used six different names under three nationalities. After the manhunt was launched, reports emerged that Amri had been under surveillance earlier this year. He was monitored for more than six months by German authorities after they received a tip that he may have been planning a break-in to finance buying automatic weapons for an attack. But agencies stopped watching Amri in September after nothing was found to substantiate the original warning. The operation was reportedly halted after turning up nothing more than him dealing drugs in a Berlin park and getting involved in a bar brawl. However, officials said security agencies swapped counter-terrorism information about him as recently as November. Reports on Thursday claimed Amri served four years for arson in Italy before he entered Germany. One of his brothers was quoted by the Associated Press as suggesting that Amri may have been radicalised in prison in Italy. Earlier, German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said Amri was suspected of involvement in Monday's terrorist outrage but was not necessarily the man who drove the lorry into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital. His identity papers were found under the driver's seat of the lorry, Der Spiegel said. It has now been claimed his fingerprints were on the door. Anis Amri is the subject of an international manhunt after the attack left 12 dead and dozens injured. A European arrest warrant from Germany, indicates that Anis Amri (pictured) has at times used six different aliases and three different nationalities. German police were tracking him for months amid fears he was involved in an earlier terrorist plot - but lost him before the Berlin Christmas market massacre German authorities have revealed there is a 100,000 euro (84,000) reward for information leading to his capture Path to Germany: Amri fled Tunisia to avoid jail but was imprisoned in Italy for rioting in an immigration centre. He still managed to get to Germany after his release. He has been repeatedly arrested and watched by vanished two weeks ago The 24-year-old apparently arrived in Germany in July last year having left his home country for Italy in 2011 after the Arab Spring uprisings. He applied for asylum in April and his claim was rejected in July, but he could not be deported because Tunisia initially claimed he was not a citizen and he did not have the correct papers to be repatriated, according to reports. Death toll could rise as the injured fight for their lives Berlin's state government has said 12 people are still being treated for severe injuries after Monday night's truck attack on a Christmas market, and that an unspecified number of them are still in critical condition. Another 14 people with less serious injuries were also still hospitalized, while 30 others have been discharged. Twelve people were killed in the attack. Berlin's state health ministry on Thursday raised the number of market attack victims treated in Berlin hospitals to 56, up from 48. It said some victims had reached hospitals on their own after the attack. Advertisement A European Arrest Warrant was said to show he used six different names under three nationalities. After the manhunt was launched, reports emerged that Amri had been under surveillance earlier this year. He was monitored for more than six months by German authorities after they received a tip that he may have been planning a break-in to finance buying automatic weapons for an attack. But agencies stopped watching Amri in September after nothing was found to substantiate the original warning. The operation was reportedly halted after turning up nothing more than him dealing drugs in a Berlin park and getting involved in a bar brawl. However, officials said security agencies swapped counter-terrorism information about him as recently as November. Reports on Thursday claimed Amri served four years for arson in Italy before he entered Germany. One of his brothers was quoted by the Associated Press as suggesting that Amri may have been radicalised in prison in Italy. Earlier, German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said Amri was suspected of involvement in Monday's terrorist outrage but was not necessarily the man who drove the lorry into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital. Visitors and police walk through the reopened Breitscheidplatz Christmas market only a short distance from where three days ago a truck wiped out 12 people Fresh start: The market decimated by the careering lorry on Monday has re-opened today - three days after 12 people died A market worker stands in front of a makeshift memorial near the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church His identity papers were found under the driver's seat of the lorry, Der Spiegel said. The Berlin Christmas market reopened today as the grieving city sought a return to normal life and police hunted for the prime suspect in the attack. The wooden huts selling mulled wine, sausages, toys and seasonal decorations are run by people who saw the horror unfold. But the section where the truck cut a bloody swathe through the market on Monday remains sealed off. The Berlin association of market vendors said the decision to reopen the market was not an easy one. 'We are still stunned and deeply shocked. Our thoughts are with the injured, the dead and their families,' the association's chairman Michael Roden said. 'In a situation like this it's very difficult to know what the right thing to do is.' Vladimir Putin has demanded that Russia's nuclear arsenal is able penetrate every missile defence system, while military chiefs tested new drone tanks and reports emerge of an anti-satellite weapon being developed. The Russian President said the country must address any changes to the balance of power in the world, and stated it has shown its military capabilities in Syria. Putin told military chiefs in Moscow: 'We are now stronger than any potential aggressor.' He made the comment on a day when it was confirmed that he had been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for the second time, having missed out on the award in 2014. Footage has emerged of two unmanned tanks, one of which is designed as a kamikaze device, being tested outside Moscow. And reports in the US have sparked alarm over claims Putin's forces are developing an anti-satellite weapon. Scroll down for video Putin told military chiefs in Moscow: 'We are now stronger than any potential aggressor' Footage of the two unmanned tanks has been released, showing the weapons being tested outside Moscow yesterday He was put forward by the head of a French think-tank which focuses on geopolitics and government policies. Fabien Baussart, president of the French Centre for Political and International Relations (CFPA), said he had officially nominated the Russian President as he believes he is the only world leader truly trying to bring down the likes of ISIS. Putin was previously nominated by Russian advocacy group the International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation of Peoples of the World after he brokered a deal forcing the Syrian government to surrender chemical weapons without the use of force. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (pictured with Putin last year) said the military has 'tested 162 types of modern armaments' during the military campaign in Syria Both tanks are equipped with huge machine guns, and footage of them being tested has been released in Russia That year, the award was shared between Indian children's rights advocate Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousafzai. Addressing defence ministry chiefs in Moscow today, Putin said: ' We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems. 'We must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralising threats to our country.' Putin told his audience that Russias military had successfully shown its capabilities in Syria, stating: 'The Syrian army received considerable support, thanks to which it carried out several successful operations against militants.' Russia has flown an air campaign in Syria since September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad, and special operations officers are operating on the ground. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military has 'tested 162 types of modern armaments' during the military campaign in Syria, including its Sukhoi warplanes and MiG and Kamov helicopters. Putin has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for the second time for 'targeting terrorists head on' 'They have shown to be highly effective', he said. He said that 35,000 rebel fighters had been killed by Russian air strikes, and a chain of revolutions across the Middle East had been halted. UN AGREES TO INVESTIGATE WAR CRIMES COMMITTED IN SYRIA The UN General Assembly today agreed to set up a panel to gather evidence on war crimes in Syria, taking a first step toward prosecuting those responsible for atrocities in the nearly six-year war. A resolution on establishing the investigative mechanism was adopted in the 193-nation assembly by a vote of 105 to 15, with 52 abstentions. The panel will work closely with the UN Commission of Inquiry, which has submitted several reports detailing atrocities committed during the war that has killed more than 310,000 people. Civil society groups have also been compiling documents, lists of witnesses and video footage that could one day be used in a court of law. The measure prepared by Liechtenstein was co-sponsored by 58 countries including the United States, France, Britain, Italy and Germany as well as regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Russia, Syrias main ally, and China in 2014 blocked a request by the council that the International Criminal Court begin investigations of war crimes in Syria. Advertisement Shoigu said Russian aircraft had flown 18,800 sorties in Syria since the start of the Kremlins operation there last year, destroying 775 training camps, 405 sites where weapons were being made and killing 35,000 fighters. 'The chain of "colour revolutions" spreading across the Middle East and Africa has been broken,' Shoigu said. Russia's involvement in the Syria conflict is widely seen as having saved President Bashar al-Assads forces from defeat and as being crucial to their retaking full control of Aleppo. Shoigu also said Russias nuclear missile forces would next year be swelled by three extra units armed with modern weaponry and that the air force would receive five modernised strategic bombers. But Putin warned that while Russias military power had grown substantially, 'we had better not lose focus'. It comes as Putin was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for 'targeting terrorists head on'. The head of the French Centre for Political and International Relations (CFPA), Fabien Baussart, said he had officially nominated the Russian President as he believes he is the only world leader truly trying to bring down the likes of ISIS. He said: 'As the CFPA head, I officially proposed the candidacy by sending a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee saying that, in my opinion, President Vladimir Putin could get the Nobel Peace Prize as a reward for his peacemaking efforts.' He cited outgoing US President Barack Obama bagging the prize for his troop's work in Iraq and added that, in his opinion, recent airstrikes on the militant positions in Syria should not prevent Putin from being rewarded. He said he believes the controversial leader is 'promoting various peace initiatives' in his work to combat terror attacks by fighting the groups head on. Brett Lahr, 21, is accused of a parole violation after state police alleged he was driving under the influence A Pennsylvania man is in jail two months after he was paroled for his role in a rock-throwing on Interstate 80 that left an Ohio teacher with severe brain damage. Brett Lahr, 21, is accused of a parole violation after state police alleged he was driving under the influence. Lahr allegedly fell asleep behind the wheel and hit a utility pole last Friday night in Dauphin County in east-central Pennsylvania. He was paroled October 3 after serving 18 months for criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault stemming from the 2014 incident. Three others involved were also sentenced to prison: Dylan Lahr, 18, Tyler Porter, 19, and Keefer McGee, 18, who will serve respectively four and a half years years, 22 months and 11 months. Dylan and Brett Lahr are brothers. Sharon Budd was severely injured when a four-and-a-half-pound rock was thrown from an I-80 overpass and crashed through the windshield of her vehicle in July 2014. Lahr was paroled October 3 after serving 18 months for criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault stemming from the 2014 incident that left teacher Sharon Budd (pictured) severely injured Budd was a school teacher but has not been able to return to her profession since the incident, after which doctors had to piece together parts of her skull that had been smashed by the rock Budd and her husband Randy were passengers as their daughter Kaylee drove them through Pennsylvania, on Interstate 80 en route to see a show in New York, when the attack occurred. Budd, who is also a breast cancer survivor, has already undergone seven surgeries after the rock that crashed through the front windshield of her car destroyed much of her skull, part of her brain and one eye. Doctors used a piece of skull to create a bridge between her eyes and removed part of the intact parts of her skull to account for swelling. Three others involved were also sentenced to prison: Dylan Lahr (right), 18, Tyler Porter (left), 19, and Keefer McGee (center), 18, who will serve respectively four and a half years years, 22 months and 11 months Above, a scan shows how Sharon Budd's skull was shattered after she was hit by the rock Budd (left) and her husband Randy were passengers as their daughter Kaylee (right) drove them through Pennsylvania, on Interstate 80 en route to see a show in New York, when the attack occurred Randy, who had called the injuries 'a lifelong sentence for Sharon,' committed suicide in August. Authorities say the rock-throwing culminated a day of trouble-making that included shoplifting steaks, breaking a window in a neighbor's home and driving through a cornfield, causing damage. A truck driver also reported damage from a rock in that spot around the same time. Randy (pictured with Sharon), who had called the injuries 'a lifelong sentence for Sharon,' committed suicide in August In court, the final three defendants apologized to Sharon. Sharon Budd said she thought the sentencing judge 'would be just, and he was. Advertisement Each year, the city of Harbin in northern China becomes a magical ice kingdom. An entire frozen wonderland is created out of the ice which is collected from a nearby lake, carved up and lit to create a theme park made from ice. Visitors come from all over the country to experience the event which takes place in temperatures which fall below minus 30 degrees Celcius. Colourful: These stunning images were take on December 21 during the festival's soft opening phase Huge space of land: The total area of the incredible Harbin Ice Snow World is 800,000 square metres Spectacular: Some of the sculptures at the event tower over visitors - reaching up to 50 metres in height Lookalikes: Sculptors have recreated some landmarks such as Beijing's Temple of Heaven Some of the attractions were unveiled to visitors on December 21 as part of the soft opening with the official opening set to take place on January 5, 2017. The festival located in Heilongjiang province began in 1985. The theme for 2017's Harbin Snow and Ice Festival is 'Ice Snow Joy Ode, Meet in Harbin.' The grand opening ceremony will include a fireworks display and theatrical performances. The 2017 attraction covers around 800,000 square metres. It took some 330,000 cubic metres of ice and snow to create the wonderland. Over 10,000 workers helped to make the ice kingdom which also contains mazes, towers and slides. One slide is 340 metres long and contains LED lights inside the ice, reports Shanghai Daily. People walk between sculptures at the trial opening of the festival which officially opens on January 5 Works of art: The ice sculptures are filled with colourful lights that fill the sky at night time In these stunning photographs the festival's amazing sculptures are seen illuminated from the inside after night has fallen - with visitors meandering in between the impressive works. Those who attend the event can navigate the ice cities on foot or via the festival's horse and carriage rides. As well as walking around and marvelling in awe at the colourful creations, they can also zip down snowy slides or climb up the staircases of ice castles and investigate what's inside. Those who attend the event can navigate the ice cities on foot or via the festival's horse and carriage rides The main construction of Harbin Ice Snow World was completed last week and is currently on a trial opening Photo taken on December 21 shows the Ice Snow World in Harbin, northern China's Heilongjiang province A Swedish doctor nicknamed 'Dr Anal' because of his controversial massage techniques to cure ailments such as headaches could soon be allowed to work again. The medic was struck off in his homeland earlier this year, having previously been banned from practising in Denmark. But an administrative court in Stockholm has said the decision to withdraw his permit should not stand. The unnamed doctor was struck off in Sweden earlier this year, but an appeal has been upheld by an administrative court in Stockholm Newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports that the doctor, whose name has not been released, said an amendment to the Patient Safety Act in Sweden meant his appeal was accepted on a technicality. But Sweden's Medical Board of Responsibility (HSAN) has indicated it will pursue a case against him using another clause, The Local reports. The doctor said his unusual massages have been carried out on up to 1,000 patients, and described results as 'very good'. But HSAN disagrees, and said his treatment approach is 'dubious'. He was given a warning in 2003 for treating an elderly woman's headaches and back pain by massaging her anus - an action she described as 'an incredibly offensive encroachment'. After appealing to Stockholm County Court in 2008, he was allowed to continue to work despite multiple warnings. He lost his licence in Denmark last July after piercing a patient's lung while trying to inject anaesthetic. This prompted authorities in Sweden to revoke his licence. Officials also discovered he had been previously been fired for a job in Norway after being recognised from damning press coverage. He had been dismissed The Norwegian officials found he had already been dismissed in a different part of the country, after he made inappropriate jokes to a group of Norwegians mourning a death, the Local reports. Speaking at the time, the doctor claimed his dismissal was part of a 'witch hunt' against him. After being fired, he said he believed he was 'misunderstood'. 'I have a personality disorder, or rather a syndrome, a form of Asperger syndrome. 'Just like Bill Gates or Einstein, for example,' he told Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet. A recent school bullying incident in Shenzhen once again broke the hearts of many Chinese parents and shocked many netizens after a video released online showed students brutally beating a boy, even kicking him in the head, and slapping his face. The screenshot of the video shows a boy is brutally beaten by his classmates. [Photo:oeeee.com] According to the police investigation, the victim surnamed Xie, a student of Aiyi School, was battered by six classmates and two students from other schools. One of the attackers filmed the entire incident and uploaded it onto the internet. The police said the reason for fight is that two of the attackers, surnamed Yang and Yu, were suspended from school due to skipping classes and they suspected Xie is the one who reported them to their teacher. Some of the attackers even asked him for "protection fees" and threated him not to tell the school and his parents. Shenzhen police have punished and educated the eight students but did not detain them due to China's law of protection for minors (most of the attackers are under 16 years old). Meantime, the local educational department has also punished the school. The authorities decided to remove the school's two vice principals and the moral education director, and revoke the school's qualification for the evaluation of outstanding school for two years. Just weeks ago, an article titled "Say No to School Bullying" was widely circulated online. A mother of a 10-year-old student at a Beijing Primary School wrote that her son had been bullied by his schoolmates. The mother claimed her boy was humiliated by two other students in a toilet on November 24th. One bully allegedly blocked the toilet door while the other threw a garbage bin filled with used toilet paper and urine onto her son's head. The two boys laughed at her son and ran away after the incident, which reportedly lasted for less than a minute. But the school denied the incident was "bullying" or "violence" after its investigation. A statement from the school said the three students "have a normal relationship, and they communicated with each other normally both inside and outside the classroom." The statement added that "they may occasionally give one another nicknames but do not have obvious conflicts." The school statement sparked criticism from many internet users who believe the school did not attach importance to the bullying incident. Last week education authorities in Beijing's Haidian district sent psychologists to the school, providing counseling to students, teachers and parents for half a month. The Haidian district education department also vowed to improve the students' daily management rules and enact a team building scheme for the class where the bullying incident occurred. School bullying has become a serious issue in China as juvenile delinquents are getting younger and younger, and crimes linked to cyber abuse are on the rise. A survey by China Youth and Children Research Center (CYCRC) last year showed that school violence had escalated, and was marked with cruelty and randomness. Some experts suggested that the state legislature should lower the age of criminal liability, given some crimes committed by minors under 14 have already severely endangered and harmed society. To better tackle the problem of school bullying in China, Premier Li Keqiang in June penned a letter on how to best address the issue of campus violence, following a string of such incidents. The Chinese premier said "We should enhance laws and regulations to strengthen students' awareness of laws and rights, and resolutely put an end to behavior that disregards human dignity and lives." The Ministry of Education released new guiding principles on the prevention of bullying and violence among students on November 11th, demanding stronger prevention and punishment of bullying. -style fur, will remain reliant on their mother for up to two years The cubs,who are both still sporting Mohawk Advertisement Two rare cheetah cubs that are deemed vital to saving the endangered big cat species have made their first public appearance. Twin 13 week-old cubs Poppy and Winston ventured outside for the first time at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire where they are part of a breeding programme to boost numbers of the big cats. The pair, both still sporting Mohawk-style juvenile fur, made the most of their new found freedom as they were allowed outside under the supervision of their mother Wilma. Twin 13 week-old cubs Poppy and Winston ventured outside for the first time at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire The adorable siblings are part of a breeding programme to boost numbers of the big cats - now classified as an endangered species The pair, both still sporting Mohawk-style juvenile fur, made the most of their new found freedom as they were allowed outside under the supervision of their mother Wilma The cheetah is officially classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species which means it is likely to become endangered unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve. In 2008 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated there to be around 7,500-10,000 adult cheetahs in Africa and there are concerns the numbers have decreased significantly since then. Their keeper Eloise Kilbane said: 'It's amazing to see how fast they are developing and fascinating to watch their reactions to the outside world. 'Both of them were initially a little disconcerted by the wet grass and kept trying to wipe the water off their paws. Poppy also got a leaf stuck to her back and couldn't quite work out how to get it off. 'However it wasn't long before they were demonstrating the cheetah's famous turn of speed as they chased each other around. 'Both mum Wilma and dad Carl have very valuable genetics within the European population as they came to us from a captive breeding population in Pretoria, South Africa.' Their mum Wilma and dad Carl (pictured) have 'very valuable genetics' within the European population, having from a captive breeding population in Pretoria, South Africa Poppy explores: she and her brother will remain reliant on their mother for up to two years as they grow and develop Initially disconcerted by the wet grass, the cubs attempted to stop their paws from getting wet as they explored their territory Eloise added: 'This means Winston and Poppy are also genetically distinct from the vast majority of the cheetah within Europe, which means their birth is even more important.' Despite being the fastest developing member of the cat family, the cubs will remain reliant on their mother for up to two years. Cheetahs are the world's quickest land animals, capable of top speeds of 71 miles per hour. While running they can cover four strides in a second with each stride measuring up to eight metres. Boeker could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the rape charge Rape allegedly occurred at his home inside the prison walls on November 30 He is an assistant warden at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola Barrett Boeker, 34, was charged with second-degree rape on Tuesday A Louisiana assistant warden allegedly raped someone who was not an inmate inside the prison walls. Barrett Boeker, 34, was charged with one count of second-degree rape on Tuesday following the alleged attack at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. He is accused of assaulting the victim on November 30 at his home, which is located inside the prison grounds. Assistant prison warden Barrett Boeker, 34, was charged with one count of second-degree rape on Tuesday following the alleged attack at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola Arrest records shows Boeker lives on Falcon Road, which is in a small community in Angola inside the prison walls where some of the state penitentiary employees live, The Advocate reports. Boeker was off-duty at the time of the alleged attack. The assistant warden turned himself in after an arrest warrant was filed and was placed on administrative leave from the prison. He was being held at the West Feliciana Parish Sheriffs Office Jail and his bond was set at $200,000. The sheriff's office has not released any further details and would not confirm if the victim was male or female. Boeker has worked at Louisiana State Penitentiary since 2001 and earns a salary of $56,930. The rape allegedly occurred on November 30 at Boeker's home, which is located inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary grounds within a small community where some employees live He is one of 16 assistant wardens at Angola. If convicted of the rape charge, Boeker could face up to 40 years in jail. It comes after Louisiana State Penitentiary made headlines several times this year following accusations of wrongdoing. Former prison warden Burl Cain resigned in January amid questions raised by The Advocate about his business dealings. Two former prison guards were arrested earlier this month accused of stealing $160,000. A disabled teenager claims she was made to feel like 'cattle' after spending an hour-long train journey in the luggage compartment. Murrin Widley uses a wheelchair because she has spina bifida, a condition where the spine does not develop properly. The 16-year-old was looking forward to visiting Christmas markets in Edinburgh with her mother and brothers when Scotrail staff showed her to the luggage cage, her family said. Murrin Widley was looking forward to browsing Christmas markets in Edinburgh - but had a less than enjoyable journey there The 16-year-old and her family said they had to put up with this view for the journey Murrin was travelling with her mother Deborah and siblings Caleb, 12, and Lucas, one, on the train from Glenfarg, Perth and Kinross. Her mother claims that despite seats being 'available' the family had to sit in the luggage hold and pay full price - 21 - for their tickets. The 38-year-old said: 'A woman showed us in and a guy in an orange vest locked the doors behind us. 'It was an old floor, with cages around it so we could see others going to take their seats. 'There was no way you could squeeze a wheelchair through the corridor to get to the rest of the carriage and there were no safety grab rails or anything. 'It was a nightmare. We felt like cattle. 'I still paid full price for this which felt like a slap in the face. The irony is that we were on the train as part of a school project to plan a journey and Murrin had spent weeks planning a trip to the German markets.' The teenager uses a wheelchair because she has spina bifida, a condition where the spine does not develop properly Murrin's mother claims that, despite seats being 'available', the family still had to pay 21 for their tickets Murrin was travelling with her mother Deborah and siblings Caleb, 12, and Lucas, one, on the train from Glenfarg, Perth and Kinross Murrin's father, Scott, shared an image of his daughter on Scotrail's Facebook page with the comment: 'Stuck in the boxcar with a cage around her in a carriage built for zoo animals! Treated like a 2nd class citizen!' Scotrail replied: 'Hi Scott. Looks like you're on a loco-hauled train. We normally encourage wheelchair users to use a different train, but if it's necessary to travel at that time, this area is used.' The company added: 'if this happens to be the train that arrives when you are at the station, we would encourage you to wait for the next one (as it's not the nicest area to wait in), but if it's necessary to travel at that time, then I'm afraid this is the area that you are required to wait in. It's one of our older trains which hasn't been fully kitted out yet.' Deborah added: 'Scotrail's attitude to it has been flippant. Their attitude means that anyone with disabilities can't rely on them to commute or get to hospital appointments. 'Why should they have to change their day. She would have been left by herself on a cold, dark platform if I hadn't been there.' A ScotRail Alliance spokesperson said: 'No customers using wheelchairs should have been allowed to board this service, due to the lack of suitable accommodation for them. In this case, Murrin and her family should have been offered alternative transport to their destination. Michael D. Billings, 61, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for having sex with young girls in Peru A strip-club owning disgraced attorney has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for traveling nearly 40 times to have sex with underage girls in poverty-stricken portions of Latin America. Michael D. Billings, 61, pleaded guilty last year to traveling some 37 times to Iquitos, Peru, to have sex with young girls. Billings, who once owned two strips clubs, had traveled to foreign countries for at least a decade to have sex with children, court records show. The married ex-attorney had even 'introduced others to this practice,' federal Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange said. 'This man is a sexual deviant,' said federal prosecutor David Petermann in court, the Oklahoman reported. 'Something broke in this man a long time ago and the result is what we have here.' The FBI and its Peruvian counterpart identified at least three 16-year-old victims in their investigations. Two of the girls were twin sisters, who Billings had bragged were 'ripe,' 'breathtaking' and 'oozed sexuality, ' KFOR reported. Billings (pictured), who once owned two strips clubs, had traveled to foreign countries for at least a decades to have sex with children Billings would find the girls through pal Robert Pierce, who sent them messages on Facebook and asked for their ages. Pierce went to Peru some 30 times. He was so known in the place, Billings once bragged there would be 'people lined up' when he arrived. Billings compared it to 'the Beatles arriving at an airport with fans there to greet them,' records show. The men would buy the girls cheap gifts which were seen as a grand gesture in the poverty-stricken Iquitos, a poor city along the Amazon River known as a sex tourism spot. They had also gone on sex trips to Costa Rica, Mexico and Thailand, court records show. Prosecutors say Billings once bragged he could get a sex act for just $10, the Oklahoman reported. 'You could live like a Roman god on a budget in Iquitos,' Billings said, according to the newspaper. Billings would find the girls through pal Robert Pierce (pictured), who would reach out to young girls on Facebook. Pierce remains jailed and is yet to be sentenced Pierce was arrested in September 2013 after taking two young girls, ages 13 and 17, into his hotel room in Peru. Authorities found condoms, Viagra, candy, cash and extra small Victoria's Secret underwear, the Oklahoman reported. In court, Billings claimed he'd only had sex with one 16-year-old girl once and pleaded to have be sentenced to a just four years. 'I've made terrible choices,' said Billings, who has surrendered his law license, to The Oklahoman. 'I should have stayed home, been with my wife, been with my family, but I didn't,' added in court. 'Society has a right to be mad at me because I did wrong.' Billings appeared in court in a wheelchair Wednesday, claiming he could not use his legs because of an injury he received in jail. A New York couple who receive hundreds of letters addressed to Santa Claus from needy children every year have won the hearts of thousands by making sure none of the kids' requests go unanswered. Jim Glaub, 36, and Dylan Parker, 35, lived in an apartment on West 22nd Street in Manhattan for years before moving to London in 2014. In 2010 the married pair started receiving letters addressed to their apartment but meant for Santa Claus. Among them were heartbreaking requests from needy children asking for food, blankets and shoes with tear-jerking tales of how their family's couldn't afford a turkey on Christmas Day. Dumbfounded by why the children had chosen them to send their requests to, the pair felt compelled to answer the letters and began asking family, friends and social media strangers to help. Scroll down for video Jim Glaub and Dylan Parker answer the Christmas wishes of hundreds of children every year who send letters to Santa Claus to their old New York apartment Their efforts were captured in a film by Redglass Pictures and caught the attention of the New York Times. Since then they have made it their mission to answer the letters every year and this year have fulfilled 400. Most of the requests come from children in New York and ask for basic necessities like coats, blankets and food. Other letters asked for turkeys to eat on Christmas Day from children desperate to avoid going to a soup kitchen again. 'Santa I would be extremely grateful if you can send my brother something. He's 15. 'Please don't worry about me this year. I just want my brother to have a good Christmas. Our mom is not in our life. Our grandfather is raising us the best he can. 'My brother is taking things the hardest. Last year we ate a soup kitchen. Please Santa, not this year too,' one read. One child asked for diapers for their baby brother and described the 'rented room' he lives in with his family 'I was hoping you would keep in mind the homeless man under the bridge': Another heartbreaking request from a child Other letters came from desperate parents who hoped their wishes wouldn't go unanswered Some of the children asked for dolls and toys. Many signed their letters with 'I love you' Glaub shared photographs of the letters sent this year on Facebook to inspire others to help In 2010, the pair received between 300 and 400 letters from children (above) Another asked: 'Please Santa Claus grant my wish because my mom and dad doesn't have money to buy me clothes. 'I love you Santa Claus and God bless you.' Appearing in a film in 2010, the pair told how they felt a sudden responsibility to answer them. 'It's more emotional than I thought it would be. Even when they're not sad, the expectation or the anticipation of it makes me a little sad. 'If the letters are still there by Christmas morning, I'll feel incredibly guilty,' Parker said. 'How would you choose? We're the ones getting all of them.How do we choose? If you're going to do one you should do them all,' Glaub added. T he couple set up the Facebook page to share the requests with strangers. The page has now become a go-to online portal for well-wishers seeking good causes around Christmas time. Through their help and with the cooperation of Be An Elf, a charity which provides needy children with Christmas gifts, the couple has fulfilled all of the letters they received this year. The pair are now in talks with Tina Fey to turn their remarkable gesture into a movie. Announcing that all of the letters had been fulfilled last week, Glaub told Facebook friends: 'ALL THE LETTERS ARE FULFILLED! Close to 400 families will have an awesome Christmas! THIS WORLD IS SO GOOD! THANK YOU!!!' Glaub and Parker (above in 2010) couldn't bear the idea of leaving the requests unanswered The couple began buying gifts for some of the children and asked friends and family to contribute The pair admitted to finding themselves crying over some of the children's requests Earlier, he thanked strangers and loved ones for contributing to the cause. ' Incredible. I love my husband. I love my friends. I love that already, in the past hour, we've had over 60 requests to fulfill Santa letters from complete strangers. And thanks to the hundreds of people that already fulfilled a letter. BE THE LIGHT! I'm crying over here.' The apartment's new tenant has carried on the tradition and helps the pair organize the letters every year. They are still clueless as to why their apartment receives all the letters. ' We've considered there's an organization with a similar dress or if it's a scam. 'As it's progressed I've cared about that less and less and been more like, is there an expectation here? What do we need to do?' said Parker. The street is however steeped in Christmas tradition. Just five doors down from the couple's apartment is the townhouse where Clement Clarke Moore wrote 'The Night Before Christmas'. The pair are still none-the-wiser as to why the apartment on West 22nd Street (above) receives all the letter. Its new tenant is upholding the tradition of answering the letters and helps the pair organize them Glaub and Parker now live in London but work with US charities to keep the letter-answering going. They are in talks with Tina Fey to produce a movie about their kindhearted gesture With Christmas just days away, many Americans are probably more worried about last-minute shopping and finding parking at the mall then what's under the tree. But one Burger King in Florida has a plan for when you inevitably unwrap at least one present that you don't want to keep. You can exchange it for a Whopper, for free. Burger King's #WhopperExchange promotion is only happening at one store in the US, in Miami Beach, in addition to select locations in London and Brazil. One Burger King in Miami Beach, Florida is offering free Whopper burgers in exchange for unwanted gifts people received on Christmas this year But the fast food chain has pulled out all the stops for the promotion, with a special festive wrapper and a commercial to roll out the deal. The ad features different sets of hands opening some unwanted gifts - a pair of underwear and Crocs sandals among them - before trading them in for a hot burger. Burger King is opening the exchange from 10.30am to 5pm on December 26 and the unwanted gifts will be donated to charity Burger King is opening the exchange from 10.30am to 5pm on December 26 and the unwanted gifts will be donated to the Miami Children's Initiative. The gifts must be unused and the acceptability of the item will be determined by employees 'in their sole discretion', according to a Burger King spokesman. Exchanges will also be limited to a 'certain number of gifts', they added. For those who don't feel like trekking to Miami to get rid of another candle or pair of socks, Burger King has also set up an Instagram promotion. The first 100 people who post a photo of their unwanted presents with the hashtag #WhopperExchange will receive a free gift from the chain. Former NRL star Chad Robinson was an 'all or nothing' man who reportedly battled with life in retirement and the break-up of his marriage before vanishing last month. The 36-year-old father-of-two, who played for the Parramatta Eels and Sydney Roosters, left his home on November 26 barefoot and without his phone or wallet. His disappearance prompted an extensive search, but on Thursday afternoon, electricity workers made the grim discovery of a body in Kenthurst, north of Sydney. Robinson's body was found in the wreckage of his silver Subaru in bushland at the bottom of a gorge near the intersection of Marieba and Porters roads. According to the Daily Telegraph, Robinson experienced soaring highs and then agonising lows as he juggled the various struggles of life out of the spotlight. Scroll down for video NRL star Chad Robinson (left, with his sister Monique Brennan) has been found dead in a car Robinson's body was found in the mangled wreckage of his crashed silver Subaru in dense bushland at the bottom of a cliff in Kenthurst, northwest Sydney on Thursday The discovery of the car marked the end of a month-long extensive search. Robinson reportedly left his Kellyville home barefoot and without his wallet or phone on November 27 The publication reported that some of Robinson's friends were aware of his inner demons and struggles, but others had no idea. Friends reportedly invited him to events to connect with former rugby league players after his retirement in 2009, but they were unsure if it helped lift his spirits or not. The body is yet to be formally identified but his distraught family have confirmed the tragic news following the discovery. 'It's with a heavy heavy heart that we can confirm that Chad's body has been found this afternoon,' a post on the 'Lets Find Chad' page read on Thursday afternoon. 'There are no words for our whole families loss and especially his two beautiful kids. Thank you everyone one of you for your support the last few week. 'Brother you were the world to all of us, I can't imagine life without you, but you are free, fly high my beautiful brother.' According to the Daily Telegraph, the father-of-two (pictured with girlfriend Rani Morris) battled with the break-up of his marriage and life after rugby league Ms Morris was too emotional to speak to media when she visited the wreckage on Thursday The 36-year-old was last seen in Beaumont Hills driving his silver Subaru Outback (pictured) The distraught family has issued a statement on Facebook following the discovery Robinson's girlfriend Rani Morris - who regularly posted updates on social media begging her 'treasured, adored love' to come home - was too emotional to speak to media when she visited the wreckage on Thursday. Just hours before Robinson's body was found, Ms Morris posted the words of a famous poem by Persian scholar Rumi on her Facebook. Brother you were the world to all of us, I can't imagine life without you, but you are free, fly high my beautiful brother 'When I am with you, we stay up all night. When you're not here, I can't go to sleep. Praise God for those two insomnias! And the difference between them,' she wrote. Several rugby league stars have taken to social media to pay tribute to Robinson, including Beau Ryan and NRL chief executive officer Todd Greenberg. 'Rest easy Chad Robinson. Praying for his family and friends. Always remember, it ain't weak to speak,' Ryan wrote. 'On behalf of all of us at the @NRL we send our condolences to the family of Chad Robinson-Hug your families & always look out for each other,' Greenberg tweeted. According to the Daily Telegraph, some of Robinson's friends were aware of his inner demons and struggles - but others had no idea Robinson (left, with his sister Monique Brennan) reportedly experienced soaring highs and then agonising lows as he juggled the various struggles of life out of the spotlight Police searching for Robinson scoured a lake at a recreational park at Rouse Hill on Wednesday His family (pictured his sister Monique Brennan at a media conference last month) desperately searched for him since he vanished from his home on November 26 Earlier this month, his brother Cronulla Sharks player Tim Robinson said the disappearance of his sibling was completely out of character. His family had been desperately searching for him since he left his home wearing only shorts and a t-shirt. His family and friends had pleaded on social media for anyone with information to come forward and police said they held 'grave concerns' for Robinson. Robinson was last seen in Beaumont Hills driving his silver Subaru Outback, with damage to its passenger side. Robinson's brother Tim (pictured right) said his sibling's disappearance was 'out of character' Police searched through water at the park on Wednesday after Robinson vanished weeks ago His family had desperately searched for him since he left his home without his phone or wallet He played 159 rugby league matches for the Parramatta Eels and Sydney Roosters between 2000 and 2008. The former rugby league star played six seasons for the Eels and three for the Roosters, including in the 2003 and 2004 NRL Grand Finals. In 2009 he moved to London to play for the Harlequins but was released after one season because of a persistent knee injury. He retired and became an asset finance broker for United Financial Services, Brightside Money and KJ Cooper Financial Solutions in Sydney. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14. His family and friends (Cronulla Sharks captain Paul Gallen pictured) had pleaded on social media for anyone with information to come forward and police said they held 'grave concerns' for the former NRL player The body was found in the car at the bottom of a gorge near the intersection of Marieba and Porters roads The knife-mad killer who slashed country great Jean Shepard's granddaughter to death was a self-titled Satanist who rarely showered, couldn't find a job and styled his fingernails to look like claws. Travis Sanders, 21, even took a friend's treasured Bible and scrawled the number 666 - the mark of the devil - over several pages. And his teen love, 18-year-old Icie Sloan Hawkins, told him point blank that she thought he would end up killing her - but still stuck by him despite the disapproval of friends and family. The doomed relationship came to a tragic end in the early hours of Saturday morning when Sanders murdered Icie with a ten-inch Bowie knife before he was shot dead by her step-grandfather. Icie Sloan Hawkins (pictured), the granddaughter of singer Jean Shepard stood by her boyfriend 21-year-old Travis Sanders despite fearing he would kill her. In the early hours of Saturday morning, Sanders murdered Icie, 18, with a ten-inch Bowie knife Icie and Sanders started dating in April. In the months before her death, Icie started carrying a knife in fear she would have to use it in self defense against Sanders Icie had told her mom that she didn't love Sanders (left, and right with his dad) and planned on breaking up with him, but the relationship carried on 'Icie had wanted to break up with him for a while. She tried about three weeks ago,' Jordan Hammer, her best friend since middle school, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview. 'But he did the typical manipulative thing telling her they were perfect for each other and persuaded her not to. 'She even told him: 'I'm scared you are going to kill me', but he said he would never hurt her.' 'She showed me the message she sent him. She knew what he was capable of.' Both Hammer and the dead girl's family said Sanders took Icie's cellphone a few days before he killed her, and snapped it in half in a rage. 'I didn't know that was even possible,' said Bob Adams, her mother's fiance. Icie had known Sanders for several years and had dated his best friend, Sasha Kazanofski. When that ended, Sanders moved in. They started dating in April but it was clear that Sanders was much more into the relationship than Icie was. 'He seemed to be obsessed with her,' said Icie's mother, Velvet Sloan. 'She had told me he loved her - he absolutely adored her - but she didn't feel the same way about him. 'It had gotten stronger for her, they developed a close bond. She never told me she loved him, but she did start calling him her boyfriend.' Sanders even took Icie's best friend Jordan Hammer's bible and scrawled the number 666 - the mark of the devil - as well as several other drawings over several pages Icie learned over the summer that Sanders was a Satanist. Sanders' Facebook page features cartoon images of a cloaked man with a knife - POH from the Sword Art Online franchise - and of him smoking a bong Icie told her mother that she knew Sanders had problems and that she wanted to help him. Another image from Sander's Facebook shows him lying on the ground while giving a middle finger to the camera Sloan said she and her fiance took an instant dislike to Sanders when they first met him, and the longer the relationship went on the more they knew their first instincts had been right. 'I told her I didn't approve of him and didn't feel comfortable with him around,' Sloan said. 'He didn't seem to have anything going for him in his life. 'He was 21, no work and not in school, no car, he rode around on his bicycle. He didn't seem to have any direction at all and certainly no respect for us.' As the relationship blossomed, Velvet Sloan had even more cause for concern. 'In the summer we were in the swimming pool and Icie told me Travis was a Satanist and into devil worship,' she said. 'I said, 'Icie, come on, that's not a man you would want to be involved with'. But she said he has some problems and she was just trying to help him. 'She said people need other people to help them through things. I told her guys like that will end up killing you and she just looked at me and said: 'I know, I know.'' Another time they had gone swimming a knife fell out of Icie's shorts as she undressed. 'I asked her why she had it and she said it was to protect herself in case someone tries to jump her,' said Sloan But Adams said that wasn't the real reason she had the knife. 'They were into knifeplay,' he said. Adams said he kicked Sanders out of the house in Hendersonville, Tennessee, that he shares with Sloan on at least two occasions. Jordan Hammer (right, with Icie), Icie's best friend since middle school, says Sanders did not have a job or car, never showered and cut his fingernails into claws Hammer (left with Icie) said that Sanders was 'manipulating', and he told Icie that they were 'perfect for each other', despite Icie living in fear of her boyfriend. Hammer said Sanders took Icie's cellphone a few days before he killed her, and snapped it in half in a rage Icie's mother, Velvet Sloan (pictured with her daughter) said that Sanders was 'very smug' and that she was afraid of her daughter's boyfriend 'He was very disrespectful,' he said. 'He drunk a 30-year-old bottle of Macallan whisky I had had around for a few years.' 'Rather than apologize he just gave a sly look like it was funny,' added Sloan. 'He was very smug.' 'We locked our bedroom door when Icie was here because we knew he might come around. We had our security alarm on. I was scared of him,' she said. The second time he was told to leave, Sanders was even more menacing. 'He made it clear that this wasn't the end of it,' said Adams. 'He gave me that look - just dead eyes with that little smile that said I'm going to get you.' Icie also has a younger half-brother, named Reagan (pictured with Icie earlier this year) 'He was a punk,' added Adams. 'He would never look you in the eye, it's not like he was a kid who didn't know better; he was a young man. 'I believe he was a natural born killer. He was violent. Even the cops said if it hadn't been Icie it would have been someone else.' 'Icie was sweet, spiritual, pretty and smart. She spoke very well, she was interested in a lot of different things,' added Adams. 'Travis was 'dating up' quite a bit. 'He had had a lot of rejection in his life and she was the first female who had given him attention and he became obsessed.' During the last months of her life, Icie had gone to live with her famous grandmother Jean Shepard and Shepard's third husband Benny Birchfield in their two-story home at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in Hendersonville. Shepard, who died in September aged 82, was in the final stages of Parkinson's disease and Icie was helping the couple in any way she could. 'She was 18 so she wanted to have a little freedom,' said her mother. 'She was living in the finished basement.' It was in that basement that both Icie Sloan Hawkins and Travis Sanders died their violent deaths. Icie (left with her grandmother Jean Shepard in the '90s and right earlier this year), 18, was found with multiple stab wounds at the home of Shepard's third husband, Benny Birchfield Birchfield (above in 2011 with Jean Shepard) underwent surgery after he too was stabbed multiple times in the attack When Benny Birchfield came home around 3am on Saturday, he heard a commotion and went downstairs. There he found severely injured Icie lying on bloodstained sheets on her bed. As he went down the stairs Sanders lunged at him, cutting him severely about his face and neck. Birchfield, 79, managed to pull out his .38 caliber revolver and shot Sanders five times, killing him instantly. Icie died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. 'The detectives told us her fatal wound was on her left upper arm and he severed her artery after slitting her throat and there were multiple slashes to her face,' said Sloan. 'The funeral director wouldn't allow an open casket the wounds were so bad. It was a prolonged attack.' Jordan Hammer said that she had gone to the Birchfield house to see her friend about three weeks ago - only to find Sanders there with her. 'I called her out on it,' said Hammer. 'I said I thought you were breaking up and she said: 'But I love him.' 'I told her I was just really disappointed in her. But I think she really did love him. He could be very funny when he wanted to be.' Hammer described Sanders as 'a really weird dude'. Det Sgt Jim Vaughn(left) and Det Jeff Brewer (right) of Hendersonville, TN Police Department show the large Bowie knife used in the murder 'He clipped his fingernails to a sharp point,' Hammer said. 'He didn't bathe regularly, he stunk. 'I walked past him once and I thought 'ew!' Who wants to be with a guy with no job and no car and who stinks? 'She had got herself a job at Cracker Barrel before she went to live with her grandparents and she said that if he didn't get a job and get his life together she was going to break up with him, but it never happened. 'About the last time we spoke she told me he was going for an interview at a gas station. I asked her how he thought he was going to get hired with those fingernails and she told me he was going to trim them.' Hammer, 19, got really concerned when she left the couple in her car for a while. A few days later she reached for her Bible to read her devotional and found Satanic scrawlings on several pages. 'There was the 666 on one page and he had scribbled the letters EDC, that stands for something called the Evil Dudes Crew that he was into, and there was a grotesque face. 'They weren't on any specific passage, but on several different pages throughout the Bible.' Despite the disapproval of virtually everyone who knew her, Icie stuck by Sanders. 'I think she was attracted to the bad boy persona,' said Hammer. The home of Benny Birchfield. Benny Birchfield was married to Country star Jean Shepard who's granddaughter was Icie Hawkins. Birchfield shot Sanders in self defense after he was attacked in the home But a few days before her death she discovered that he had stolen $70 that she had saved up for Christmas presents. 'He used it to buy drugs,' said Hammer. 'I know he was on meth and acid and he smoked a lot of pot.' Det Sgt Jim Vaughn told DailyMail.com that Hendersonville Police are still awaiting the results of autopsies that would determine whether either Sanders or Icie had drugs in their system when they were killed. Police have closed the investigation saying they know that Sanders killed Icie, but they say they still do not know the motive. 'We pretty much have the who, what, when and where, but we don't have the why,' Vaughn told The Tennessean. Velvet Sloan said she believes one of two theories: 'He knew she had some Christmas money. Her grandfather had given her some money and maybe he had wanted that to purchase drugs. 'The other possibility is that she had told him it was over between them and he had the attitude that if I can't have you no-one else can.' Sloan now wants to start a foundation named for her daughter to help victims of teen-on-teen violence. 'There are domestic violence centers for women but nothing for teens,' she said. A Georgia woman has defied the odds by giving birth to naturally conceived quadruplets. Kortney Miller delivered her four babies early at 29 weeks at Piedmont Newnan Hospital in Georgia on Friday. Mrs Miller and her husband Justin welcomed their sons Brandon, Brayden and Bryant and daughter Kenleee within minutes of each other. There is only a one in 700,000 chance a woman will conceive quadruplets naturally. Boys Brandon, Brayden and Bryant and little girl Kenleee were born at 29 weeks at Piedmont Newnan Hospital in Georgia on Friday Mrs Miller said she was nervous until she heard all four babies cry given her scheduled cesarean was still a month away. 'I am doing so much better now that they are here,' she said. 'We are so excited and blessed to have four healthy babies.' The babies were delivered at 29 weeks and each weighed around three pounds. All four babies are currently being monitored in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. Kortney Miller, pictured with husband Justin and their son Bentlee, defied the odds by giving birth to naturally conceived quadruplets Multiples run in Mrs Miller's family but Brandon, Brayden, Bryant and Kenlee are the first ever quadruplets. Neonatologist Adegboyega Aderibigbe said the hospital was only given a few hours notice but the birth went smoothly. 'Things could not have gone better,' Aderibigbe said. 'Everyone knew what to expect. When the day arrived, we had a few hours' notice and everything went smoothly, thanks to the 'quad squad's' teamwork.' The hospital's 'quad squad' started planning for the babies' arrival months earlier when Mrs Miller was just 15 weeks along. The couple already have a four-year-old son Bentlee. The Culture Secretary vowed to protect the freedom of the press today as she hinted that draconian new libel rules will not go ahead in full. Karen Bradley stressed the press had done a 'fantastic' job for centuries ensuring that Britain was a 'thriving democracy'. And she pointedly refused to defend Section 40 of the Crime and Court Act 2013 - a hugely controversial provision which would leave news organisations paying potentially crippling legal costs for libel cases even if they win. Karen Bradley stressed that the press had done a 'fantastic' job for centuries ensure Britain was a 'thriving democracy' The government has launched a consultation on whether to activate the punitive measure for publications that refuse to sign up to the state-backed regulation system. The vast majority of UK news organisations have declined to join the state-backed regulation system. The only regulator recognised under the arrangements so far is IMPRESS - which was set up with funds from former F1 boss Max Mosley. Most newspapers are instead members of an independent regulator, called IPSO. WHAT MIGHT PARTIAL IMPLEMENTATION MEAN? Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has hinted at a 'partial' implementation of new laws on regulating the press. In the wake of the phone hacking scandal, the Government passed - but did not implement - new laws to dramatically toughen up the rules. It included a Royal Charter setting minimum, state-enforced, standards for what a press regulator should look like and do. Under the plan, publishers who signed up to a state-endorsed regulator would get new protections under libel laws and avoid new punitive punishments. Newspapers that refused to sign up faced paying legal costs for both sides even if they won a libel case. According to a Government consultation, partial implementation suggests those inside the approved regulator would gain the protection but those outside would not face the harsh new penalties. Currently, there are two press regulators - one backed by the state and one not. The first is Impress, part funded by Max Mosley, and has very few subscribers. An independent regulator, IPSO, is backed by most newspapers but has not applied for state approval. Advertisement It has adopted an independent editors' code but has not sought recognition from the state-backed regulation system. Ms Bradley said a decision on enacting the full system will be made after ministers analyse responses to the consultation - which closes in January. She also fuelled speculation that the government is looking for a way to drop Section 40 by pointing out that a 'partial' commencement was among the options. That would see organisations covered by a royal-charter approved regulator generally being excused paying legal costs for the other side even if they lose a libel case. But it would abandon the plan for other publications to face costs for their opponents in cases which they win. Asked about the proposal in a round of broadcast interviews today, Mrs Bradley dodged questions about whether she supported the plan. She said she wanted regulation that ensured the survival of a vibrant press while protecting the vulnerable from abuse. 'There are different views on what's the right thing to do now, to make sure we have the right press regulation,' Mrs Bradley said. 'What I'm keen to make sure is we have press regulation that works, to make sure victims of press intrusion can have access to justice, cheap justice, to make sure they can see justice being done. 'But also that we have a free press, that enables the press to do the job that they have done so fantastically over so many, many centuries to keep the government to account and make sure that we have the thriving democracy that we do have.' A cross-border road bridge that links China and Russia, the first of its kind on the trans-boundary river Heilongjiang, will begin construction on Dec. 24, according to China News Service. The bridge will connect the northeastern Chinese city of Heihe and the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk. Passenger and cargo volume across the border river are expected to reach 1.48 million people and 3.09 million tons by 2020, increasing by two and 10 times respectively, the report says. The idea of building the bridge was first proposed in 1988, but only began to materialize when the two local governments decided in 2013 to establish a joint venture company to finance the construction. The company will borrow money to finance the construction and pay the debt by charging a toll. The bridge will cost 2.47 billion yuan and is expected to be completed in October 2019. The 1,283 meter-long bridge, when fully operational, will increase connectivity between the two countries and increase the infrastructure of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Students from Seton Hall University say there was no An undated snapshot of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as newlyweds in Central Park in New York A group of New Jersey students say they have found remarkable evidence that suggests a convicted Soviet Union spy who was executed in the US was not an informer after all. American citizens Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953, during the height of cold war tensions, after they were found guilty of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Students from Seton Hall University School of Law Center for Policy & Research delved further into the issue and say the found that the case against Ethel, Julius' wife, was 'virtually non existent.' 'When we began, all of us assumed that Ethel could not have been executed with so little evidence,' Research Fellow and co-author of the report Elizabeth Mancuso said in a statement. 'By the end we all realized that her execution (and probably her conviction) was not the result of evidence but because of the prosecution's failed gamble against Julius.' 'The government's manipulation of familial relationships to secure a conviction is just as disturbing today as it should have been 60 years ago,' she added. The Seton Hall Law Center have based their claim on an internal FBI memo dating July 17, 1950 that admitted there was 'insufficient evidence' to arrest Ethel. While the students also discovered that in January 1951, an assistant attorney general informed a Congressional Committee that Julius Rosenberg was a 'tough nut to crack' and that authorities needed to 'severely threaten Ethel in order to make Julius cooperate. The center said this resulted in prosecutors focusing on trying to convict Ethel as a spy with 'continually evolving' witness statements. It is widely believed that Julius passed on military secrets to the NKVD (Russia's People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) including details on Lockheed's P-80 Shooting Star - the first US Jet Plane. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are shown in this 1951 file photo during their trial for espionage in New York 'I never wanted to re-litigate the case,' author of the report, Seton Hall Law Professor and Director of the Center for Policy & Research Mark Denbeaux told FoxNews.com. 'The point was to do what law students should learn to do: go back to the evidence and find out what is there then work our way back and see how it evolved.' Denbeaux went as far to say that the couple wouldn't have been executed if they were protestants and not Jewish. Ethel Rosenberg, center, convicted atomic spy, arrives at Sing Sing prison, Ossining, April 11, 1951, under sentence of death Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's sons hope that outgoing president Barak Obama will exonerate their mother in the last days of his office and hope this report will spur the decision. 'The report is supportive of the argument we've been making for over 40 years and I'm impressed with the work the law students have done,' son Michael Meeropol told FoxNews.com. President-elect Donald Trump's son Eric's foundation will not accept any new money, after saying he worries the donations could be perceived as buying access to his father. Eric Trump said Wednesday that it pained him to cease soliciting donations for his organization, which he says has raised more than $15million for children terminally ill with cancer. 'No new money will come into the ETF bank account,' the 32-year-old wrote in an email to the Washington Post. The Post then asked why the foundation was stopping taking money, and said he could instead step away from it and allow it to continue without him. 'No new money will come into the ETF bank account,' Eric Trump said of the foundation 'Maybe that's an option, but not one I have thought much about,' he replied. 'I will however think about your suggestion.' Andrew Joblon, a veteran board member with the charity, told the newspaper he was upset to be told the news by Eric. 'It is with great sadness that I type this because we have poured our heart and soul into this cause to help children with severe illness at one of the world's best institutions,' Joblon wrote in an email. 'The only ones losing here are the kids and that to me doesn't sit very well. Eric, or any of the board members have never leveraged business relationships for donations. 'When I spoke to Eric last night he reassured us that when his father was out of office we could resume our efforts for supporting the cause we have become so passionate about.' It comes after the foundation came under scrutiny recently after posting an online auction for coffee with his sister Ivanka. 'Fighting childhood cancer is a cause that has been central to my life since I was 21 years old,' Eric Trump told the Associated Press. Eric Trump (left) announced that he would no longer solicit donations for his foundation so as to avoid the appearance he is selling access to his father, President-elect Donald Trump Trump (seen here with a sick child) said on Wednesday that his foundation has raised over $15million for children who are terminally ill with cancer 'It's an extremely sad day when doing the right thing isn't the right thing. That said, raising awareness for the cause will be a lifelong mission for me.' Trump's foundation raised enough money over the last decade to fund a new intensive care unit at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, which provides free medical care for children. But criticism mounted after an invitation offered a hunting trip with Eric or his brother Donald Jr. in exchange for donations of $500,000 or $1 million to a new charity that Eric Trump supports. The opportunity to have coffee with Ivanka was also being auctioned off for as much as $50,000. The money was due to go to her brother Eric's foundation. Both the coffee and hunting ventures have been scuttled. The focus on the Eric Trump Foundation comes after Donald Trump relentlessly criticized his Democratic opponent for the White House, Hillary Clinton, for allegedly providing favors to donors to the Clinton Foundation while she was secretary of State. She has denied those allegations. The initial furor erupted last week when it was learned that Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were hosting a fundraiser the day after the inauguration titled 'Opening Day.' 'It's an extremely sad day when doing the right thing isn't the right thing,' Trump said. His foundation has funded a new intensive care unit at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee Donald Trump Jr. (left) and Eric Trump (right) had invited donors on a hunting excursion the day after their father's inauguration Eric and Donald Jr. are avid outdoorsmen who enjoy hunting. Here they are pictured with the carcass of a dead animal For $1million, the top package offers a photo opportunity with President Trump for up to 16 people and a multi-day hunting or fishing trip with one or both of the Trump sons. Along with the event full of rich donors, Toby Keith, Alabama and other 'surprise entertainers' will be performing at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC on Saturday, January 21. Opening Day is described as a chance to 'play a significant role' as the Trump family honors the billionaire's inauguration by celebrating 'the great American tradition of outdoor sporting, shooting, fishing and conservation.' The attire for the fundraiser is described as 'camouflage and cufflinks... jeans, boots and hats are welcome' and all proceeds will go to conservation charities. The Trump team also canceled a planned coffee date with Ivanka Trump that it auctioned off to the highest bidder (above) The invitation for the fundraiser was first obtained by TMZ. It was later learned that the donations to Opening Day would have gone to a newly formed non-profit known as Opening Day Foundation, which names Trump's two adult sons as directors. News of the Trump children's involvement in the non-profit was first reported by The Center for Public Integrity. The public backlash against the Trump family also forced the cancellation of an auction in which one lucky bidder would have been able to meet Ivanka Trump in person for coffee. Eric Trump canceled the coffee with Ivanka after The New York Times reported that some of the bidders were doing so to gain insight about the Trump administration. The auction had raised $70,000 before it was shut down, The Hill reported. Trump's children have played a prominent role in their father's campaign as well as his transition, raising questions among critics about perceived conflicts of interest. After his election victory, Ivanka Trump sat in on a meeting between her father and the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, at Trump Tower in New York. President-elect Donald Trump called for a veto of a UN resolution coming up for a vote today that urges an immediate halt to Israeli settlement construction, terming it 'extremely unfair.' 'As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations,' Trump said in a statement released by his transition. Trump said the resolution 'puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis.' The resolution is strongly opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a sign of potential concern by the Israeli government, Netanyahu tweeted about the resolution overnight. President-elect Donald Trump said a UN resolution calling for a halt to Israeli settlements 'puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis' 'The US should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday,' Netanyahu wrote at 3:28 AM local time. Trump met with Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, at Trump Tower after the election. Resolution language shared by the Egyptians in advance of the vote before the 15-member UN Security Council calls for Israel to 'immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.' The Obama administration has leaned on Israel to halt new settlement construction, which it considers an impediment to peace. But it has also kept up the longstanding U.S. tradition of trying to head off anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted about the resolution overnight in a sign of concern Netanyahu tweeted about the resolution overnight in Israel A general view shows the Israeli settlement of Har Homa in annexed east Jerusalem It wasn't immediately clear whether the administration planned to use the U.S. veto authority as a permanent member on the Security Council. Trump's selection to be the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, attorney and fundraiser David Friedman, has helped raise millions for a settlement in the West Bank, the Wall Street Journal reported. Trump's charity foundation has also contributed to the settlement, called Beit El. In a statement on Friedman's selection, the Trump transition said he would work from Jerusalem, another signal of a shift in U.S. policy under the new administration. Friedman, an attorney and campaign adviser, said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from 'from the U.S. embassy in Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem.' The U.S. embassy is in Tel Aviv. Trump himself has said he would move the embassy, and Friedman made no doubt about his feelings on the matter in a speech in Jerusalem days before the elections. Asbestos reports have risen sharply as NSW home renovations surge, officials say. In 2016, SafeWork NSW received almost twice as many reports of asbestos in residential and commercial construction sites as in 2012, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The government agency received 25,069 reports this year, as compared with 12,942 in 2012. In 2016, SafeWork NSW received almost twice as many reports of asbestos in residential and commercial construction sites as in 2012. Pictured, a Canberra construction site Asbestos can cause a number of health problems, most notably pleural plaques, asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma Requests for licensed asbestos removal in Sydney has increased by up to 64 per cent in parts of Sydney, the renovation website Hipages reported, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. In explaining the increase, Hipages pointed to a rise in home renovations. This year's dwelling approvals in NSW were at a historically high 74,600, more than double the amount of dwellings approved in 2011, the Treasury said in its half-yearly review, which was published last week. The majority of suburbs near Sydney saw over 1,000 building approvals each. The Sydney CBD alone had nearly 6,000 dwellings approved. Habib Chowdhury was the 'inside man' for the operation and was paid 50 a pop to sit English tests at Eden College in east London A fraudster at the centre of an 'industrial-scale' scam to fake English language tests for bogus students trying to extend their visas has been jailed for two and a half years. Habib Chowdhury, 32, was the 'inside man' for the operation and was paid 50 a pop to sit English tests at Eden College in east London - meaning he personally pocketed up to 4,000. The racket, exposed by a BBC Panorama documentary, involved 877 people who sat tests for the students, many of whom were barely able to speak English. To pass the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) student had to show competence in reading, listening, grammar and vocabulary in both oral and multiple choice exams. The BBC Panorama team uncovered the immigration fraud after sending two reporters into the centre in east London to sit tests. Students were apparently charged 500 for a 'guaranteed' pass and the proxy sitters, including Chowdhury, were paid 50 to sit each exam. Papers seized from the centre during the police investigation showed that hundreds of people had passed the tests using proxy exam sitters. The test centre also put students through a multiple-choice questionnaire - but the examiners simply read the answers to each question as they went along. Four other members of the conspiracy - Harinder Kumar, 31, Talal Chowdhury, 30, Shaheen Ahmed, 33, and Mohammad Hasan, 37 have already been jailed for a total of 24 years. Another six members of the gang are thought to have fled the country. Chowdhury gave evidence against his accomplices, but Southwark Crown Court this morning heard that his dishonesty in down playing his role may have hindered and not helped the prosecution. Fassiuddin Mohammad (pictured) is one of six members of the gang who are thought to have fled the country Dressed in a black coat and a read scarf, Chowdhury made no reaction, staring dead ahead as he was jailed for 30 months. He had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit breaches of immigration law between November 2012 and February 2014. Prosecutor David Walbank said: 'One of the sitters of the exams was this defendant, Mr Chowdhury. 'There were 877 sitters of bogus English tests during the period covered by this indictment, the 12 months of this conspiracy. 'This defendant received payment in relation to the tests, receiving 50 per exam and 100 per referral to the college, when working as an agent.' Chowdhury worked as an 'agent' for the educational consultancy firm Total Care, which later put students through the bogus exams at Eden College in Mile End, east London. Mathew Dance, representing Chowdhury, told the judge: 'He arrived in the UK in 2002 from Bangladesh, obtained various academic qualifications, and then British citizenship in 2003. 'He has provided assistance to the prosecution, and now fears potential reprisals, both here in his community in the UK, and at home in Bangladesh.' He urged Judge Joanna Korner QC to suspend the sentence.The BBC Panorama team uncovered the immigration fraud after sending two reporters into the centre in east London to sit tests A BBC Panorama team uncovered the immigration fraud after sending two reporters into the centre in east London to sit tests. Pictrued is Fassiuddin Mohammad pictured But she told Chowdhury: 'You played your part, as you accepted by your guilty plea at an earlier stage, in assisting or facilitating breaches of the Immigration Act by taking part in what was a systematic fraud of the UK Border Agency, designed to enable people already in the UK on student visas to stay. 'What you were doing was enabling students who were to here to obtain extensions to the visas when there were absolutely no basis for granting them because it was clear from the level of English shown by the two undercover BBC Panorama journalists that they could never have passed an English exam. 'It was a moot point how they arrived in this country to pursue academic study in the first place when they could not speak English. 'You are an educated man, fluent in English and your particular role was acting as a proxy to take exams on behalf of the students. 'Unless you persisted in engaging in this activity, the students would have no method of getting an extension to their visas. 'The sitting of others' exams was an integral part of this fraud and your role, clearly, was to bring students in, take money from them, and sit exams for them - which you did on at least 80 occasions. 'The Home Office doesn't have the facilities to check on every examination on every visa application. 'Although the students were already here, they monies that were taken were substantial monies they could ill afford. 'The other effect, is that other students with the relevant qualifications maybe be subject to unjustified suspicion.' She said that the fact Chowdhury's fraud was for money, was to help strangers rather than family, and that it involved planning and organisation meant he was more culpable. Edward Snowden celebrated Christmas early this week with an offbeat selfie depicting the former National Security Agency contractor happily feeding his dancer girlfriend some Kentucky Fried Chicken. The playful photo surfaced online on the eve of the release of a declassified congressional report, which claimed that Snowden has remained in contact with Russian intelligence services since he arrived in Moscow three years ago. The House intelligence committee made the report public on Thursday to provide what the panel's chairman called 'a fuller account of Edward Snowden's crimes and the reckless disregard he has shown for US national security.' Snowden lives in Moscow with his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills, under an asylum deal that was made after his leaks of classified information in 2013 triggered an international scandal over the reach of US spy operations. Love birds: Edward Snowden celebrated Christmas early with an odd selfie depicting the former NSA contractor happily feeding his dancer girlfriend some Kentucky Fried Chicken Holiday tradition: Snowden's better half, Lindsay Mills, provided some context to the intimate snapshot, explaining that the couple have adopted a Japanese tradition to eat KFC on Christmas The latest photo of the expatriate couple was uploaded Wednesday onto an Instagram account associated with Mills, who moved to Russia in 2014 to join her high-profile fugitive boyfriend. In the photo, Mills, dressed in a pink sweater, a red Santa hat and apparently no pants, is sitting on Snowden's lap on a couch with a KFC bucket in her hands. A beaming Snowden, sporting a fur-trimmed blue Santa hat, deposits a piece of deep-fried chicken into his girlfriends mouth. The intimate snapshot, which as of Thursday morning has drawn more than 2,000 likes, was accompanied by a caption providing some context to the unusual photo-op. The message read: 'Holidays are about traditions, laughter, and memories. This year we adopted the Japanese tradition of KFC Christmas chicken. And it brought out our silly side. The little connections that bring us all together are what make this time of year so magical. Whether you are celebrating old traditions or making new memories, we hope you all have a wonderful end to a wild year!' Mills joined Snowden in Moscow in 2014, about a year after his defection. On the left, the couple are pictured dressed as Carmen Sandiego and Waldo for Halloween. The photo on the right shows the pair vacationing No laughing matter: Meanwhile, on Thursday the House intelligence committee released portions of a report claiming that Snowden, seen here appearing on a live video feed last year, has remained in contact with Russian intelligence services for the past three years Mills appears to refer to the Japanese' well-documented obsession with the American fast-food treat dating back to 1974, when KFC launched a widely successful advertising campaign under the slogan Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii! translated into English as Kentucky for Christmas! according to Smithsonianmag.com Although Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan, it has become a tradition for people all across the country to celebrate the holiday with a KFC meal. Meanwhile in the US, the Pentagon has found 13 undisclosed 'high risk' security issues caused by Snowden's disclosure to media outlets of tens of thousands of the National Security Agency's most sensitive documents, according to the new material. If the Chinese or Russians obtained access to materials related to these issues, 'American troops will be at greater risk in any future conflict,' the report said. 'The committee remains concerned that more than three years after the start of the unauthorized disclosures, NSA, and the IC (Intelligence Community) as a whole, have not done enough to minimize the risk of another massive unauthorized disclosure,' the report said, according to Reuters. Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican who chairs the House intelligence committee, said it 'will take a long time to mitigate the damage' Snowden caused. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, also of California, said Snowden isn't a whistleblower as he and his defenders claim. 'Most of the material he stole had nothing to do with Americans' privacy, and its compromise has been of great value to America's adversaries and those who mean to do America harm,' Schiff said. Snowden responded to the disclosures in the report with a litany of tweets Thursday calling into question the House committee's findings, which he slammed as false and baseless. 'After three years of investigation and millions of dollars, they can present no evidence of harmful intent, foreign influence, or harm. Wow,' he wrote in one message. Regarding the allegation that he is still in contact with Russia's spy services, Snowden dismissed it by saying that 'everyone knows this is false.' He argued that the only thing the report has proven is that he was 'a pain in the ass to work with,' which he said was common among 'technologists.' 'Bottom line: this report's core claims are made without evidence, and are often contrary to both common sense and the public record,' Snowden stated. Fugitive: Snowden lives in Moscow with his dancer girlfriend, Lindsay Mills, under an asylum deal that was made after he leaked classified information in 2013 He concluded by saying: 'Final note: HPSCI's report admits I purged and abandoned hard drives rather than risk bringing them through Russia. Glad it's settled.' Release of the report comes as the intelligence community has accused Russia of interfering in the US presidential elections to help bring Donald Trump to power. Snowden's supporters have pressed President Barack Obama to pardon him before he leaves office next month. But the details in the intelligence committee's report, coupled with the intense focus on Russia's hacking of Democratic emails, could doom the push for a pardon. The buyer didn't arrive and after going back to her flat she was robbed and shot A mom was shot dead after arranging to sell her April Vancleave, 33, from Arlington, Texas and her six-year-old daughter Lily A mother was robbed and killed after she arranged to sell her old jewelry to a buyer she met online so she could raise money to buy Christmas presents. April Vancleave, 33, from Arlington, Texas found a buyer for her unwanted goods on an app called 5miles and family say she planned to put the money towards a gift for her six-year-old daughter Lily. The mother of one had scheduled to meet the buyer outside a Target store close to her house last week and went there during the day with her husband. However the proposed buyer didn't show up and Vancleave's husband dropped her off at their apartment and then left for work. Police say after her partner left she was robbed and shot dead in the parking lot of the apartment complex. 'A struggle ensued and she was robbed and murdered in the apartment complex,' said Sgt. Vincent Pewitt, with the Arlington Police Department. Vancleave's older brother Mark has been paying tribute to his deceased sister. 'She loved her baby and she had done the best she could for her,' he told KHOU. 'Everybody is in pretty bad shape,' Mark added. 'Her daughter is with the grandmother and I don't know that she's old enough to comprehend things as well as an adult. She's doing as good as she possibly could.' Police haven't confirmed whether Vancleave was targeted online and then followed home from the store, but her family believes that's the case. Selfie of April Vancleave. She wanted to sell hew jewelry to raise money for her daughter's Christmas present 'She had arranged a meeting point for these two guys and apparently they followed her home from the Starbucks that was in the Target,' her brother said. 'And that's where they shot her.' The Arlington Police Department has has released April Vancleave saying they might have information about Vancleave's murder. There's a $10,000 reward for members of the public for information that leads to an arrest or indictment in the case. Screen grab of the two people at the Target store police want to speak to in connection with the murder A statement from 5miles says the company takes the security of its patrons very seriously. A shocking new map shows how more than 33,000 homes have been destroyed in Aleppo since the war began almost six years ago. The map, which was created from satellite imagery obtained by the UN's Operational Satellite Applications Programme, also illustrates how total damage of residential buildings has increased over 150 per cent since May 2015. The Russian intervention in Syria, involving heavy bombardment, began in September 2015 after an official request by from President Assad for military help. The preliminary analysis, which has not yet been validated on the ground, was obtained using satellite imagery from the following dates: 18 September 2016, 01 May 2015, 26 April 2015, 23 May 2014, 23 September 2013, and 21 November 2010. UNOSAT identified a total of 33,521 damaged structures within the extent of the map. Scroll down for video The red zones in the heat map show 100 per cent destruction of residential buildings. Orange is 40 per cent and yellow is 20 per cent downwards. The damaged homes are compared with the total numbers of buildings found in 2009 satellite image, captured before the war began. More than 4,000 fighters left rebel-held areas of Aleppo, the Red Cross said Thursday, in the 'last stages' of an evacuation clearing the way for Syria's army to retake the city. A week into the rebel withdrawal from the east of Syria's second city, the evacuation of fighters and civilians from the one-time opposition stronghold appeared to be reaching its final hours. The loss of east Aleppo marks the biggest defeat for Syria's rebellion in more than five years of civil war and a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad, who on Thursday hailed his allies Moscow and Tehran. 'The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran,' state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying. Civilians from East Aleppo, which was under siege by Assad regime forces, wait for their evacuation at Amerriye region of Aleppo on December 20 Red Cross workers hold back desperate civilians from East Aleppo on December 20 An aerial view shows a convoy of buses and ambulances in Aleppo on December 15, waiting to evacuate civilians 'It is also a defeat for countries hostile to the Syrian people who used terrorism to achieve their interests,' Assad said after a meeting in Damascus with Hossein Jaberi Ansari, an Iranian deputy foreign minister. The evacuation effort has been hampered in recent days by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures -- leaving evacuees waiting in unheated buses for hours -- but aid workers said it had resumed in earnest. 'Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, in one of the last stages of the evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated in private cars, vans, and pick-ups from eastern Aleppo,' said Ingy Sedky, the spokeswoman in Syria for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She said about 34,000 people had left rebel areas of Aleppo under the evacuation plan, which the ICRC is assisting with. 'The bad weather, including heavy snow and wind, and the poor state of vehicles... mean things are moving much more slowly than expected,' Sedky said. 'The evacuation will continue for the entire day and night and most probably tomorrow (Friday). Thousands are still expected to be evacuated.' It was unclear who exactly remained to be evacuated or how many were either fighters or civilians. Russian air strikes in Syria have killed 35,000 rebel fighters and succeeded in halting a chain of revolutions in the Middle East, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed on Thursday. Buses are seen during an evacuation operation of Syrian rebel fighters and civilians from the remaining rebel-held pockets of eastern Aleppo towards rebel-held territory in the west of Aleppo's province Evacuation effort has been hampered in recent days by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures The evacuation of fighters and civilians from the one-time opposition stronghold appeared to be reaching its final hours on Thursday Speaking at a gathering of top military officials that appeared designed to showcase Russia's military achievements, Shoigu said Moscow's intervention had prevented the collapse of the Syrian state. 'We are now stronger than any potential aggressor,' President Vladimir Putin said at the same event at the Defence Ministry in Moscow. Shoigu said Russian aircraft had flown 18,800 sorties in Syria since the start of the Kremlin's operation there last year, destroying 725 training camps, 405 sites where weapons were being made and killing 35,000 fighters. 'The chain of 'colour revolutions' spreading across the Middle East and Africa has been broken,' Shoigu said. Russia's intervention in Syria is widely seen as having saved President Bashar al-Assad's forces from defeat and as being crucial to their retaking full control of Aleppo. Shoigu also said Russia's nuclear missile forces would next year be swelled by three extra units armed with modern weaponry and that the air force would receive five modernised strategic bombers. YouTuber Adam Saleh was escorted off a Delta flight from London to New York YouTuber Adam Saleh's fellow travelers have challenged his claims he was kicked off a Delta flight simply for speaking Arabic to his mother. Several passengers aboard the flight from London Heathrow to New York yesterday say the internet prankster had planned the stunt from the start. 'The entire thing was planned,' said Roderick J. Edens, who says his boyfriend was sitting in the seat directly in front of Saleh and his friend Slim Albaher. Scroll down for video YouTuber Adam Saleh's fellow travelers have challenged his claims he was kicked off a Delta flight simply for speaking Arabic to his mother 'He wasn't on the phone with his mom speaking Arabic,' he added, posting a picture of his boyfriend's boarding pass. 'He and his friends were shouting in Arabic with their fists balled up in the air. They were removed from the plane for being loud and disruptive.... then started filming claiming they were victims. 'These guys aren't victims....they are social media wh***s. Another passenger, named Anthony, posting on Reddit under the username Chain187, also accused Saleh, who has 1.6 million followers on YouTube, of lying about his experience on the flight. Anthony, who described himself as a mixed race passenger of Jamaican/ British decent, was sat just two rows away from Saleh and Albaher when he claims he heard them planning the stunt. YouTuber Adam Saleh's fellow travelers have challenged his claims he was kicked off a Delta flight simply for speaking Arabic to his mother 'Neither of them was on any phone call I could hear them talking in plain American English,' he posted on Reddit, along with a picture of his boarding pass. 'The YouTube guy was trying to get his friend to shout something in Arabic which he did a total of 4 times.' The passenger said said Albaher began loudly shouting the phrase across the plane until fellow travelers complained they were disturbing others. 'He shouted it across the plane and the first two times I thought he was shouting maybe a friend or something,' he said. 'A couple of passengers after the second time said they were making themselves and their young children uncomfortable and could they shut up. 'They told her to shut up and then he shouted it again and her husband started saying it to them. They were filming people's reactions on their phones, I assume for some comedy YouTube video but they were made to delete it.' Anthony says Saleh was ordered to delete the first footage by a flight attendant He began filming again, around ten to 15 minutes later, ' once he had been shouting racism.' The Reddit poster acknowledged that by the time Saleh began filming, people had begun shouting back at him to be quiet, 'but the point is they started it.' The 23-year-old rapper and YouTube star's account is vastly different. Adam Saleh, who has 1.6 million followers on the video site, was escorted off the flight from London to New York after the airline says more than 20 other passengers complained about him Saleh was sat with his friend Slim Albaher who was also kicked off the flight Saleh and his friend were marched off the flight and interviewed by police at the airport after the incident Saleh, from Manhattan, claims he and his friend were escorted off the flight to New York after an American female passenger heard him talking in another language and 'felt uncomfortable'. 'She was like, "Oh, my God, you need to speak English, I feel so uncomfortable," Saleh told NBC News. He added that a man, he suspected was her husband, then stood up and told his friend: 'You need to get chucked off the effing plane.' 'And it just turned into a whole chain reaction, like 10, 15 to 20 people got up, like, 'They need to get off, stuff happened in Germany, I don't feel comfortable here!'' he said. 'I speak to my mom on the phone every flight,' Saleh added to CBS News. 'She only speaks Arabic.' He later tweeted: We got kicked out of a @Delta airplane because I spoke Arabic to my mom on the phone and with my friend slim... WTFFFFFFFF please spread.' Other passengers aboard the plane have questioned Delta's actions following the incident. The Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, 51, - who acknowledged she only witnessed part of the disruption - told the New York Times that both Saleh and the passengers the prankster accused of racism should have been removed during the investigation. 'If you're going to investigate, how are you going to investigate one side of an altercation?' she asked. Passenger Chris Ashford, 47, added that the woman had 'overreacted.' 'She heard somebody speaking in Arabic and assumed the worst,' he said. However, Anthony says that the passengers speaking in defense of Saleh were not close enough to hear how the incident really began. They simply overheard Saleh 'shouting racism' after starting the row. 'When you shout racism if people only hear that word they will defend you, I probably would have if I had missed all of the start,' he said. 'I'm not saying those people were right but he was giving as good as he got and none of it was racist or against Islam.' Other passengers looked shocked and uncomfortable by the entire incident Saleh complained that some passengers had waved goodbye (pictured) as he was escorted off the plane He added that there were other people on the plane speaking Arabic and 'no-one said a word to her.' Soledad O'Brien, who had a friend on the same flight as Saleh, tweeted yesterday that 'A LOT still unclear' about the incident 'but apparently woman sitting near my friend tipped off flight attendants he was a youtube star known for pranks.' 'Also people on plane disputing call to mom,' she added. 'Some people really suffer from racism and he is exploiting that for YouTube views and media coverage,' Anthony said. 'He cause(sic) a problem, made it worse and then used racism to make himself look a hero.' Delta said in a statement yesterday that Saleh and Albaher were removed because they had been shouting and disrupting the cabin. The airline said more than 20 passengers had complained about them. 'The customers who were removed sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting. YOUTUBE PRANKSTER FAKED STREET ARREST OF MUSLIM... AND INFLAMED RACE RELATIONS Saleh apologized in 2014 after making a hoax video that falsely accused police of racism. He and friend Sheikh Akbar had claimed in a two-minute film titled Racial Profiling Experiment that they were singled out for abuse in New York because they were wearing traditional Islamic clothing. Hoax cideo: Saleh and friend Sheikh Akbar claimed in this two-minute film titled Racial Profiling Experiment that they were singled out for abuse in New York because they were wearing traditional Islamic clothing The video, below, showed the pair being shouted at by a 'policeman' as they walked past arguing, then were pushed against a wall and frisked. They claimed the 'officer' ignored them when they had the same argument in Western outfits. The video was picked up by media around the world as an example of police racism. The pranksters had to admit the hoax but their stunt angered American Muslims. Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said: 'Muslims are already under the microscope, and to do this just to gain some cheap publicity is totally unacceptable.' Advertisement 'This type of conduct is not welcome on any Delta flight. While one, according to media reports, is a known prankster who was video recorded and encouraged by his travelling companion, what is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees. 'It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority.' The New York internet star shot to fame through his prank channel, but has had to reveal that some of his biggest 'pranks' were actually staged. Saleh was even forced to make a grovelling apology over his most infamous hoax - the anti-police 'Racial Profiling Experiment' video - that claimed US officers had abused him over his religion. And just last week, he filmed a fake video of himself, supposedly flying to Sydney inside a suitcase. The footage was later debunked by Melbourne Airport. But in a statement, released after Saleh arrived back in New York yesterday, he insisted this time, it was real. Saleh later told the media that the video couldn't be fake, because they didn't have their official video camera on them. 'If we were doing a joke or a prank, we would have our official camera. We had our phone camera to pull out,' he told NBC News. He added that his friend later pulled out a professional camera afterward to film the aftermath. 'My life isn't a prank.' Despite the dramatic video, many have questioned the authenticity of the online prankster's claims 'Yes, we're pranksters, and it sounds like 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf', but today you can clearly see it's as real as it gets.' He also accused the airline of racism, adding: 'Delta has been called out previously for racial matters. What they did was wrong and we deserve to speak up about this and not let this happen again.' Video of Saleh being kicked off the plane, filmed by the YouTuber, has since been retweeted more than 800,000times. The video has been seen more than 400,000 times on his channel. During the footage, Saleh was seen confronting fallowing passengers, shouting: 'I spoke a word and you said you feel uncomfortable. Why are you guys doing that?' he yelled at the men behind him. 'Just because I spoke a different language. We spoke a different language on the plane and now we're getting kicked out. This is 2016. 'Delta Airlines are kicking us out because we spoke a different language. 'You guys are racist.' In another video, filmed in the airport, Saleh says the incident ' made me feel like I was a terrorist'. Saleh and his friend were marched off the flight and interviewed by police at the airport after the incident. However, neither were charged and they were both re-booked on another Delta flight home to New York City. A HISTORY OF ADAM SALEH'S PLANE STUNTS YouTube star Adam Saleh shot to fame by pulling online pranks, from his notoriously staged Racial Profiling Experiment to 'killer clown' pranks. But a favorite setting seems to be in airports and on planes, where he has filmed himself pulling 'pranks' seemingly aimed at sparking panic and fear, and others which would be downright illegal - if they weren't faked for views. JANUARY 13 2016 Saleh posted the video ' Arabs on a plane' in which he described how he was going to 'Arab fly' his friend, 'even though we are not going to an Arabic country'. In his 'Arabs on a plane' video, Saleh swapped his hat (left) for a Pakistani head scarf (right) to board the plane Once he boarded the plane, the 23-year-old swapped his his novelty beanie for a keffiyeh - a traditional scarf from Pakistan - which he wrapped round his head. 'Everyone looking at us thinking what the hell they wearing,' he said in the video. FEBRUARY 9 2016 Saleh pulled a similar stunt just one month later when he decided he would count down in Arabic while waiting for take-off on a flight from Chicago to Saudi Arabia. 'What would ever happen if we counted down on the plane, in Arabic?' His friend, who was on the flight with him, tried to dissuade him from doing the 'prank' which had the potential to spread panic and fear. 'No, bro, you wanna get kicked out bro,' his friend had replied. 'I can count down in Arabic,' Saleh retorted. 'It's asocial experiment, you know what I'm saying? He then began loudly counting down in Arabic, while his friend slouched down in his seat, covering his face with his hat. Despite the incendiary nature of the stunt, the only response they got was from a friendly passenger sitting behind who began chatting to the pair. FEBRUARY 9 2016 During that same video, titled 'Counting down in Arabic on a plane experiment!', Saleh had already decided to test the limits of airport security by trying to board a flight with a fake ID. The YouTube star, who was filming through Chicago's O'Hare Airport, admitted to camera that he'd acquired a fake ID in California and was planning to use it to get through security. 'I don't have my passport on me right now,' he said. ' I have this ID I have from California. It's not even a legit ID. It's a fake ID.' The stunt did not quite go as planned however, after the video cut to Saleh on the other side of airport security. 'They saw it and were like, look, this is fake ID and it's illegal to show it to government officials and the TSA so were going to call the police.' He said he was grilled by Chicago police who asked him to prove he was who he claimed to be, before he was finally allowed to board. DECEMBER 13 2016 On December 13, Saleh claimed that he flew from Melbourne to Sydney inside a suitcase (pictured) 'I'm Adam Saleh and I'm a professional idiot,' is how the prankster introduced himself during the video 'I sent myself to another country!!'. The footage made headlines after he claimed he'd squeezed into a tiny suitcase and illegally flew in the baggage hold from Melbourne to Sydney. Video showed Saleh's friends zipping him into a suitcase, wheeling him to the automated check-in area and paying the overweight fee, before the case disappeared down the conveyor belt. He can be heard saying: 'I am so scared, I don't know if I'm going to survive'. Saleh also had a camera inside the bag, and he could be seen sweating inside the tiny case. Melbourne Airport has since, thoroughly debunked the stunt as hoax, saying surveillance footage proves that Saleh boarded the flight normally. They also pointed to numerous flaws in the footage, including that Saleh would have exceed the maximum baggage weight. Melbourne Airport has since, thoroughly debunked the stunt as hoax Upon arrival in Sydney, Saleh climbed back into the suitcase, which his friends placed him on the luggage carousel before they filmed him climbing out of the bag, claiming he'd been there all along. 'While this video is clearly a publicity stunt, it promotes behaviors that are dangerous and life threatening,' Melbourne Airport warned. DECEMBER 21 Saleh films himself being ejected from a Delta Airlines flight from London Heathrow to New York. He claims he was kicked off 'after speaking Arabic to his mom' but many have questioned whether the move was yet another publicity stunt. Advertisement Saleh shot to fame on YouTube in 2012 as internet prankster, but many of his biggest pranks have since turned out to be fake. His most notorious hoax, the anti-police 'Racial Profiling Experiment', which was viewed more than 200,000 times, was so controversial it hit headlines worldwide. In the video, Saleh and a friend arguing in front of a cop while dressed in Western clothes. The cop just ignores them. Then the pair return in Islamic-style clothing and begin once more to argue in front of an uniformed police officer. This time they are shouted at, pinned against a wall and frisked. Saleh later admitted that the whole incident was staged, with an actor dressed as a policeman. It caused fury among Muslim groups in the US who decried it as a 'cheap publicity' stunt by Saleh and warned that it would lead to genuine harassment being dismissed in future. Last week, Saleh made headlines after he claimed he'd squeezed into a tiny suitcase and illegally flew in the baggage hold from Melbourne to Sydney. Saleh later posted several videos from London Heathrow airport expressing his shock at his treatment Saleh's videos sparked outrage online where thousands began tweeting to #BoycottDelta Video, posted on his channel, showed Saleh's friends zipping him into a suitcase, wheeling him to the automated check-in area and paying the overweight fee, before the case disappears down the conveyor belt. He can be heard saying: 'I am so scared, I don't know if I'm going to survive'. Melbourne Airport has since, thoroughly debunked the stunt as hoax, saying surveillance footage proves that Saleh boarded the flight normally. Upon arrival in Sydney, Saleh climbed back into the suitcase, which his friends placed him on the luggage carousel before they filmed him climbing out of the bag, claiming he'd been there all along. 'While this video is clearly a publicity stunt, it promotes behaviors that are dangerous and life threatening,' Melbourne Airport told news.com.au. Saleh has not commented on the airport's statement. DailyMail.com has reached out to Saleh for comment. Islamic State sympathizers are calling for attacks on Christian churches across Europe and North America. It is unclear what churches are included in the list (pictured: St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City) Islamic State sympathizers have called for attacks on Christian churches in North America and Europe over the holiday season, according to messages posted to online jihadist forums. In one posted on Wednesday, a participant in the pro-ISIS 'Secrets of Jihadis' social media group called 'for bloody celebrations in the Christian New Year,'Vocativ reported. The call to arms, posted in Arabic via the Telegram app, demanded lone-wolf attackers to 'turn the Christian New Year into a bloody horror movie,' according to the site. The post includes a publicly-available directory of churches in all 50 US states, Vocativ reported. Another sympathizer also calls for attacks on 'churches, well-known hotels, crowded coffee shops, streets, markets and public places,' according to the news website. It reportedly included a directory of potential locations in the US, Canada, France and the Netherlands, Vocativ reported. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Christmas market attack in Berlin that killed 12 people and left 48 injured. The killer is still being sought. It is not clear if the social media group includes ISIS leadership or terrorists. The Telegram group is reportedly frequented by sympathizers, but there is no evidence that actual members of the terrorists group are drawing targets based on the posts in the online community. Vocativ, which first reported news of the purported list, has published a number of articles based on messages on this group. In June, the website published a 'kill list' that it claimed included more than 8,000 names and addresses of potential targets in the United States. The list, which included the names of police officers, 'resulted in no known attacks,' Vocativ admitted. Another sympathizer also calls for attacks on 'churches, well-known hotels, crowded coffee shops, streets, markets and public places.' The list does not include specific targets. (Pictured: Sint Janskerk in the Netherlands) In New York City, police have said they are preparing to defend the city against any attempts at the city's Christmas markets. 'Immediately after the German incident, we looked at what we always do which is you take the targeting overseas, you put the New York overlay and say "what similar targets exist?"' said John Miller, NYPD's deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism. 'We quickly identified half a dozen of these Christmas markets in New York City (and) moved critical response command teams there, strategic response group teams. Miller said police will be operating with long guns, heavy weapons and high-profile vehicles to increase a 'sense of security' as people celebrate the holidays. 'What I say to all New Yorkers is what I say all the time,' NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill told reporters. 'We havethe NYPD has the capacity, especially working with our federal partners, to keep everybody safe. That's got to go beyond us, it can't just be the police, can't just be law enforcement. O'Neill added: 'If you're anywhere in the city and you see something that makes you uncomfortable, something that doesn't make you feel right, you know, be proactive. An Oklahoma woman has learned the hard way about the dangers of oversharing when she allegedly went on a police departments Facebook and essentially confessed to the crime with which shed been charged. Jessica Loveless, 23, a mother-of-one from Owasso, was arrested last Thursday on multiple charges, including possession of marijuana, driving under suspension without insurance and taxes due to the state. Loveless was released from jail later that day after posting $1,404 bond. Silence is golden: Jessica Loveless, 23, pictured left in her mugshot, has allegedly admitted to a drug crime in a Facebook post left on an Oklahoma police department's Facebook page Overshare much? A Facebook user by the name Jessica Loveless went on the Collinsville Police Department's page and left this indignant comment beneath Loveless' mugshot This week, Loveless' booking photo was shared on the Collinsville Police Department's Facebook page as part of the agency's Monday Morning Mugshot series. The next day, a Facebook user by the name Jessica Loveless went on the police department's page and left a sharply worded comment dripping with righteous indignation at her legal troubles. 'This is so messed up, every single one of those charges are going to be dropped. Those dirty, lazy [cops] , have nothing better to do then [sic] charge ME with a joint roach even though If I lived in a different state because I have epilepsy, I wouldn't of [sic] gotten in trouble.' Unexpected benefit: Police say Loveless, pictured above with her son, was the first person to have allegedly admitted to a crime since they have launched the Facebook mugshot series A short time later, Ms Loveless got her response in the form of a sarcastic post from the police department. 'The Collinsville Police Department highly supports our citizens' right to free speech,' the comment read. 'If anyone else would like to exercise their rights by coming on our Facebook page and admitting to the very crimes they were charged with, then please feel free to do so.' Capt Matt Burke, with the Collinsville Police Department, told the Owasso Reporter this marks the first time since the agency launched the mugshot project in June that someone left a comment admitting to a crime. Burke said Loveless self-incriminating outburst has been added to her case file and the district attorney has been made aware of it. If investigators are able to confirm that the comment indeed came from Jessica Loveless Facebook account and that she was the person who wrote those words, it might be admissible in court. Loveless, who has a young son, is due back before a judge next month. Sparks were ignited during the operation, but the man didn't suffer any injuries had to use heavy tools to cut the metal band off the 50-year-old man Firefighters in China had to use a disc-cutter to cut a ring off a man's genitals this week, according to Chinese media. The 50-year-old patient, from eastern China's Suqian city, claimed he had put the metal object on his manhood 'for fun' before going to bed. When he woke up the next day, the ring became firmly stuck on his penis. Firefighters in China had to use a disc-cutter to remove a steel ring from a man's penis The 50-year-old patient, unidentified, said he had put on the ring 'for fun' before going to bed According to JSTV, a local TV station of Jiangsu province, the Suqian fire brigade was informed of the incident at 1pm on December 20. Firefighters were alerted by doctors from Dong Feng Hospital that they had received a male patient who had got a steel ring stuck on his penis. The doctors described that the tip of the man's genitals had turned 'swollen' and 'purple'. After the firefighters arrived at the scene, they tried to remove the small object using a pair of large pliers. The firefighters failed to use a large pair of pliers to remove the ring but the ring was too thick In a video, which shows the process of the operation, a firefighter can be heard telling the man: 'If it hurts, tell us. Just relax.' As the firefighter started sawing, a medical staff member took out his mobile phone to record the bizarre scene, as it appears in the video. However, the ring was too thick and the rescue team had to seek alternatives. After discussion, the firefighters and doctors decided to use a disc-cutter to cut the ring Firefighters then used a massive disc-cutter in a bid to cut the ring. Sparks were ignited during the cutting process. Water was constantly poured to the man's genitals to avoid the ring from overheating. After around 20 minutes, the ring was taken off. The man, who remains unidentified, claimed that he had put the ring on his penis 'for fun' at the night of December 19. However, he struggled to get it off the next day, so he decided to make a visit to hospital. A key UKIP donor has sparked anger by suggesting Angela Merkel 'might as well' have been driving the lorry that ploughed through a Christmas market in Germany. Brexit figurehead Arron Banks made the controversial remark as populists across Europe rounded on the German chancellor over her open-doors immigration policy. Banks also said he was 'fed up with diplomacy' as he backed former UKIP leader Nigel Farage who said the attack that claimed 12 lives, was 'no surprise' and would be part of Merkel's 'legacy' During an exchange on Twitter, one user reminded the insurance tycoon that 'Merkel did not drive the lorry' to which he responded: 'She might as well have.' Brexit figurehead Arron Banks (left) made the controversial remark as populists across Europe rounded on the German chancellor (right) over her open-doors immigration policy Will the lorry killer strike again? Police and the security services are hunting the terrorist behind the Christmas market attack During an exchange on Twitter, one user reminded the insurance tycoon that 'Merkel did not drive the lorry' to which he responded: 'She might as well have' The comment sparked anger online with one Twitter user asking the 50-year-old: 'How do you sleep at night?' Merkel has been criticised over her decision to let in around a million migrants - many of them fleeing war-torn Syria - over the past two years. Populists and far-right groups across Europe have seized on the truck attack in Berlin as a way to criticise Germany's immigration policy - but key players have held back on jumping to conclusions as the investigation continues. A 23-year-old Pakistani asylum-seeker was arrested immediately after the incident on Monday after reportedly fleeing the scene but was released on Tuesday without charge. Police said on Wednesday they were now on a manhunt for a new suspect, identified as Tunisian Anis Amri who applied for asylum in April and had a temporary residence permit. Merkel's policy has been polarising, not just in Germany. On Wednesday Farage faced a backlash after linking the widower of British MP Jo Cox, who was assassinated by a neo-Nazi, to groups he labelled as 'extremists'. The row started on Tuesday when Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), blamed Monday's deadly truck attack in Berlin on German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A wanted notice for a Tunisian suspect in the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin says the man should be considered armed and dangerous An aerial view shows the recently re-opened Christmas Market on the Breitscheidplatz square at the landmark Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin 'Terrible news from Berlin but no surprise. Events like these will be the Merkel legacy,' he said following the arrest in the German capital of a Pakistani asylum-seeker who has since been released. Brendan Cox, who has called his wife's killing an 'act of terror', responded pointedly on Twitter saying: 'Blaming politicians for the actions of extremists? That's a slippery slope Nigel.' Asked about the retort in an interview on LBC radio, Farage responded by lashing out at Cox. 'He would know more about extremists than me, Mr Cox. He backs organisations like Hope Not Hate, who masquerade as being lovely and peaceful, but actually pursue violent and undemocratic means,' he said. Cox gave no response but tweeted a Taylor Swift song with the line: 'Haters gonna hate'. Tracy Brabin, who replaced Jo Cox as MP in her northern English constituency, tweeted: 'Beggars belief. A new low for Farage.' Hope Not Hate was one of three charities chosen by Brendan Cox to receive donations in memory of his wife, who was shot and stabbed to death by far-right extremist Thomas Mair a week before Britain's EU referendum in June. Horror 2016: These are all the terror attacks carried out on German soil in the past year, claiming the lives of 22 people Mair, who shouted 'Britain first' before killing the pro-EU MP, was last month sentenced to life in prison for the killing. Hope Note Hate, which aims to 'challenge and defeat the politics of hate and extremism within local communities', published a report last week about online hate speech following Cox's murder. It organises community meetings under the slogan #MoreInCommon, a phrase used by Cox in her maiden speech in parliament. The organisation has begun crowdfunding for legal action against Farage, urging him to retract or apologise for the statement against them. 'That Nigel Farage made his remarks in the context of a discussion about Jo Cox, who was so brutally murdered earlier this year, makes them all the more poisonous and hateful,' the group said on its website. Police said on Wednesday they were now on a manhunt for a new suspect, identified in German media as Tunisian Anis Amri Just hours after Monday's attack, far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders sharply blamed European leaders for admitting asylum-seekers into Europe. Police are pictured at the market Just hours after Monday's attack, far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders sharply blamed European leaders for admitting asylum-seekers into Europe. 'Merkel, (Dutch Prime Minister Mark) Rutte and all the other cowardly government leaders have allowed in Islamic terror and an asylum tsunami with their open borders policy,' he tweeted on Tuesday. Wilders, who heads the anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV), also tweeted a photo-shopped picture of Merkel with her hands, face and jacket spattered in blood. The image was not accompanied by any words, but implied she had blood on her hands for the attack. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Tuesday said the Berlin attack had been 'the last drop in the cup of patience' in Europe's migration crisis. Matthew Goodwin, a senior fellow at the Chatham House think tank, said attacks such as the one in Berlin represented a 'significant opportunity' for the 'radical right' to emphasise the issue of security. In Germany itself, the Islamophobic and anti-immigration populist party AfD wasted no time in laying the blame on Merkel 'Across much of Europe, the radical right is increasingly linking the migrant crisis to security,' alongside their traditional anti-elite and anti-immigration campaign messages, he said. Other populist forces have been more cautious, however. In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party steered clear of making the link between Merkel's policies and the attack. France's National Front leader Marine Le Pen also made no connection. But the National Front's deputy leader Florian Philippot told French TV that Islamic State group militants had infiltrated Europe along with migrants. 'When there are Islamist terrorists who infiltrate themselves in a massive influx, we have the duty to stop the influx,' he said, calling Merkel's open-doors policy for migrants 'irresponsible'. In Germany itself, the Islamophobic and anti-immigration populist party AfD wasted no time in laying the blame on Merkel. 'The milieu in which such acts can flourish has been negligently and systematically imported over the past year and a half,' the group's co-leader Frauke Petry said in a statement, in a clear reference to Merkel's decision to let in refugees. Yorkshire trucker Dave Duncan is raising money for the family of the Berlin victim A British truck driver has raised more than 50,000 for the family of the Polish driver found dead in the lorry used in the terror attack on a Berlin Christmas market. Dave Duncan, of Otley, West Yorkshire, said he was shocked by what happened to 37-year-old Lukasz Urban, who was attacked by a terrorist who then used his lorry to killed 12 people. He said: 'Although I did not know Lukasz, the story of his untimely departure shocked and disgusted me. 'So, as a fellow trucker, I decided to reach out to the trucking community and beyond to help in some small way.' More than 3,600 people have made donations to his GoFundMe campaign, raising over 52,000 in just two days. Mr Duncan added: 'No amount of money will bring Lukasz back, but hopefully it will help his family do what ever they need to do. 'I am working closely with gofundme support to make sure all funds reach Lukasz's family.' He said the money was from 'the truckers of the UK and beyond'. The Polish-registered articulated truck, laden with steel beams, slammed into a crowded marketplace in central Berlin on Monday, crushing victims. Lukasz Urban is believed to have fought with the Berlin Christmas market attacker He was killed and found in the truck which killed visitors to Berlin's Christmas market this week Urban, who worked for his cousin Ariel Zurawski's transport company in northern Poland, was found killed with a gunshot in the passenger seat. Zurawski described him as a 'good guy' and said his body showed signs of a struggle with the assailant or assailants including stab marks. 'One person would not have been able to overpower him,' Zurawski said of the heavyset relative he had grown up with. 'We could see injuries. His face was bloodied and swollen,' he told news channel TVN 24, referring to a photo he received from Polish police. An autopsy indicated that the driver was still alive at the time of the attack. German police are hunting for a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker identified as the prime suspect. The lorry was hijacked and used as a weapon in the latest ISIS-inspired attack in Europe Advertisement Early this morning hundreds of people crammed themselves into a warehouse as they attended one of the UK's largest poultry sales. Buyers and sellers from across the country flocked to York Auction Centre's Dressed Poultry Christmas Sale to pick up their oven-ready meat just in time for Christmas Day. More than 800 birds were sold at the auction, including turkeys, geese, pheasants, chickens, partridge and duck. It wasn't just butchers and wholesalers that attended the three-and-a-half-hour selling extravaganza. Savvy families avoiding supermarket checkout queues and people only wanting to tuck into the freshest of birds on Christmas day also squeezed into the hall to buy their perfect festive table centrepiece. However, you had to get up early to bag yourself a fresh bargain. The poultry reception opened at 7.00am and the entire thing was over by 10.30am. Crowds had a chance to peruse what was on offer before the meat was paraded by auctioneers and then sold off to the highest bidder. This was the auction house's second Christmas bird sale of the month. On December 19 long-legged poultry, giblets and all, was auctioned off for an average of around 3.82 per kg. Almost 350 bird were sold at the auction attended almost exclusively by butchers. Buyers and sellers from across the country flocked to York Auction Centre's Dressed Poultry Christmas Sale to pick up oven-ready meat just in time for Christmas Early this morning hundreds of people crammed themselves into a warehouse as they attended one of the UK's largest poultry sales of the year More than 800 birds were sold at the auction including turkeys, geese, pheasants, chickens, partridge and duck It wasn't just butchers and wholesalers that attended the three-and-a-half-hour selling extravaganza It wasn't just butchers and wholesalers that attended the three-and-a-half-hour selling extravaganza but those wanting to attend did have to get up early Savvy families avoiding the checkout queues and people only wanting to tuck into the freshest of birds on Christmas day also squeezed into the hall York Auction Centre opened the doors to the poultry reception at 7.00am and the entire thing was over by 10.30am Thrifty families and people only wanting to tuck into the freshest of birds on Christmas day also squeezed into the hall to buy their perfect festive food Do not touch: Buyers were given the chance to look what was on offer before the sale actually began After crowds had a chance to peruse what was on offer, the meat was paraded by auctioneers and then sold off to the highest bidder Imams in Indonesia have issued a fatwa banning Muslims from wearing Santa hats with reports coming in of police trying to enforce the edict. The Indonesian Ulema Council said it was 'haram' (forbidden) for Muslims to wear Christmas clothing, although it did not go so far as try to stop Christians from celebrating with festive wear. The fatwa, issued last week, also said the government should 'prevent, monitor, and punish' businesses who force Muslims to wear Christmas costumes. Santa hats are commonplace in many Western countries during the Christmas season but they are considered unislamic Hardline members of the Islam Defenders Front were even escorted by 200 police officers as they raided a shopping mall in the country's second largest city, Surabaya, to check if shops were putting pressure on staff to wear Santa's hats. But the head of Indonesia's police said they would take action against groups which used violence to enforce the fatwa. General Tito Karnavian said the edict was not a law he reprimanded police officers who circulated leaflets based on the edict. Surabaya police chief Colonel Muhammad Iqbal claimed his officers had only escorted the hardliners in order to prevent any violence. He said: 'Although it is a peaceful action, we keep guard to anticipate undesired things.' Although Islam is the religion of the majority of Indonesians, the country recognises five other faiths and has a large Christian minority. Indonesian anti-riot police take part in a roll call in Jakarta today as part of efforts to secure Christmas and New Year celebrations against the threat of attacks by Muslim extremists. Indonesia has a large Christian minority Christmas decorations are commonplace in shopping malls and offices during the festive season. Academic Azis Anwar Fachrudin, writing in the Jakarta Post, said: 'The Santa outfit is not a religious attribute, it is a capitalist attribute. 'It is difficult to make sense of the reasoning behind the fatwa.' The Islamic Defenders Front was the same group which was behind recent protests in the capital Jakarta against the city's Christian governor, who is on trial for blasphemy. for the holiday, meaning they will be spending 12 straight hours on the plane to JetBlue, and Lasner deleted his Twitter account soon after However one hour before that he wrote on Twitter: 'Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them' The man's husband, Matthew Lasner, later tweeted: 'My husband expressed his displeasure in a calm tone, JetBlue staff overheard, and they kicked us off' A fellow passenger said later that Ivanka told security and flight staff she did not want to make the incident a thing and have anyone removed from the flight Ivanka ignored him and tried to preoccupy her children with crayons while the man berated her He then began demanding to know why Ivanka was on the flight and not travelling on a private plane while she sat with her kids 'Your father is ruining the country,' said Dan Goldstein, a lawyer from Brooklyn, who had a child in his arms A Brooklyn lawyer confronted Ivanka Trump and said her father is 'ruining this country' while she was on a plane with her children. Dan Goldstein and his Hillary supporter husband Matthew Lasner were thrown off of the JetBlue flight from New York to San Francisco on Thursday when they accosted the future first daughter and started shouting at her. While holding a child in his arms Goldstein, 35, began screaming: 'Why is she on our flight. She should be flying private.' Ivanka paid as little attention as possible and tried to preoccupy her children with some crayons to diffuse the situation until the crew escorted him off the plane. Lasner, said that was not what happened however on Twitter, writing: 'My husband expressed his displeasure in a calm tone, JetBlue staff overheard, and they kicked us off the plane.' But just an hour prior to that Lasner wrote on Twitter: 'Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them. #banalityofevil' Lasner has been very vocal about his distaste for Trump on Twitter, writing shortly after the election about marching against the President-elect. Scroll down for video Out of line: A passenger on a JetBlue flight accosted Ivanka Trump on Thursday morning Different story: The man's husband, Matthew Lasner, later tweeted: 'My husband expressed his displeasure in a calm tone, JetBlue staff overheard, and they kicked us off' Contradiction: However one hour before that Lasner wrote on Twitter: 'Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them' Still mad: Dan Goldstein (left) demanded to know why he was being taken off the flight with Lasner (right) after incident He also posted a video when he marched in Chicago with the hashtags '#notmypresident' and '#weslay.' And he posted a photo on Instagram of himself with one of his protest signs, which read: 'RESIST! Autocracy. RISE UP!' Lasner also retweeted a man who wrote on Twitter: 'Dear @IvankaTrump + @JaredKushner, there are swastikas being painted across America by people who support your father. PLEASE SAY SOMETHING.' It does not end there either, as Lasner is not a fan of Ronald Reagan or George Bush Lasner posted a photo of a college student wearing an old Reagan / Bush shirt earlier this year without the young man's knowledge and then wrote: 'Seeing this walking out of @packercollegiate this morning made seriously ill. It's disgusting that teenagers might find this amusing. As far as I'm concerned it's hate speech. #idontheartthe80s' According to his biography on the Hunter College website, Lasner 'studies the history and theory of the U.S. built environment, with particular focus on housing, and the relationship between housing patterns and urban and suburban form.' He earned a PhD in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning at Harvards Graduate School of Design, a MS in urban and regional planning studies from the London School of Economics and his BA in urban studies at Columbia. Just before they took off, Lassner also took a photo of Ivanka sitting on the plane writing that they were kicked off for 'expressing displeasure about flying w/ Trumps.' And while Goldstein was happy to go after Ivanka ,and Lasner was eager to defend his actions, neither of the men confronted Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner, who was right next to her on the flight standing in the aisle the entire time. The plane was still boarding when the incident occurred, so the crew was able to get the two men and their child off the flight and avoid any further incident. Goldstein began saying to the crew as they escorted him off the plane: 'You're kicking me off for expressing my opinion?!!' It was after they were off the plane that Lasner then posted his tweets defending his husband and the photo of Ivanka sitting in her seat. Happier times: Ivanka was all smiles a few hours prior leaving her Park Avenue apartment (above) to head to the airport Those tweets were then deleted in less than an hour. An hour after that Lasner deleted his entire account. JetBlue released a statement on Thursday morning saying: 'The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If the crew determines that a customer is causing a conflict on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane, especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of escalation during flight.' Not a fan: Lasner has been very vocal about his distaste for Trump on Twitter, writing shortly after the election about marching against the President-elect It was then noted that Lasner and Goldsten were placed on the next available flight. Members of Secret Service were on the flight with the family, but did not intervene and instead chose to let the airline handle the issue. Marching on: He also posted a video when he marched in Chicago with the hashtags '#notmypresident' and '#weslay' There was a third account of what happened as well from Marc Scheff, the man who was sat in front of Ivanka and with his young son and seemed to be minding his own business when Lasner snapped his photo. He wrote: 'He didn't accost her directly. When he got on and saw her, sitting behind me, he said "oh my god. This is a nightmare" and was visibly shaking. 'He said, "They ruin the country now they ruin our flight!" (Context: Boarding and therefore the flight was delayed because they needed to get on first through some other way) 'He did not yell. He was also not what I would describe as calm. Agitated maybe. His husband behind him was very calm. His son is adorable and sharply dressed. 'When the JetBlue staff went back to speak to the man I overheard Ivanka say to them "I don't want to make this a thing." My assessment is that she was happy to let the man take his seat. Security made a different call.' Scheff later wrote: 'Honestly, if I was her security I would have made the same call. I don't _think_ the man was capable of violence, sure. But I would worry that he would leave his seat or cause a scene in some way. 'And his husband had tweeted that he planned on doing that. So, again you know my politics, but I would have made the same call here.' Scheff later added about Ivanka: 'She handled the situation calmly and with class.' The artist is married to actress Olivia Wilde's sister Chloe. Wilde was a vocal supporter of Clinton and opponent of Trump both before and after the election. Lots of anger: Lasner posted a photo of a college student wearing an old Reagan / Bush shirt and wrote: 'Seeing this walking out of @packercollegiate this morning made seriously ill. It's disgusting that teenagers might find this amusing. As far as I'm concerned it's hate speech' Ashley Brown's body was found in a trash site in Nashville The body of a missing 27-year-old woman who was reported missing in Nashville has been found on a trash site. Ashley Brown's corpse was located on Wednesday at 4:15 am on the site on Freightliner Drive, South Nashville by an employee. The young women, originally from Arizona, was last seen early Saturday morning as she left a friend's apartment after a night out. Brown and her friends on Saturday night looked at some Christmas lights in the city, went to a pub and with the rest of the group stayed around a friend's apartments until the morning. Brown, who had only been living in capital of Tennessee for a month, told her friends she was going to the store for something, but she never returned, according to WKRN. An autopsy will be conducted and detectives said they are to recreate the route of the trash truck, that brought her body to the facility, to aid the case. Her parents flew out to Nashville from Arizona on Monday after she failed to turn up for work. The trash site on Freightliner Drive in South Nashville where Brown's body was found. She had been out with friends last Friday and was reported missing on Saturday They're now making funeral arrangements and notifying family members of Brown's death. A Facebook page, Help find Ashley Brown, was created to help find her and a post says 'FBI, state troopers, and police' were involved in the search. A vigil will be held on Thursday at Centennial Park in her honor. 'I'm convinced that she didn't do this to herself. It's not like her and she has too much of a support system,' Aimee Clack, Brown's best friend, told WLOX. 'It seems like when she walked out the door she fell off the face of the earth,' Clack said. 'We're struggling with not knowing and not being able to contact whoever we need to contact to get her back. A couple from New York who fell in love with Britain and have run a guest house there for almost six years are facing deportation. Americans Russell and Ellen Felber, who run the popular Torridon Guest House in Inverness, have been told they have just one month to leave the UK. Mr Felber, 59, and his wife fell in love with Britain and visited every year before packing up their lives and moving to the Highlands on a three-year entrepreneur visa in 2011, which was later extended for another two years. Americans Russell and Ellen Felber (pictured) who run the popular Torridon Guest House in Inverness, have been told they have just one month to leave the UK They have invested 400,000 in their house, which was previously used as student accommodation, and have adorned the walls with Scottish pictures and tartan - but their application for permanent residency was refused in September due to an employment issue. They consulted solicitors, who are in the process of filing a legal case, but last Friday the Felbers received a letter from the Home Office telling them they have to leave in 30 days, despite legal action continuing. Mrs Felber, 53, says she spent days in hospital due to stress but is now recovering at home. 'When we applied for our two-year extension we were told we had to have two full-time employees for 12 months or one employee for two years, so we had one for two years and our extension was accepted,' Mr Felber said. Mr Felber (pictured) and his wife have run a guest house in Inverness for almost six years 'Now they are saying we are supposed to have another two people for 12 months but we can't find that anywhere in our paperwork. 'It says so in the application now, but there is nothing in the papers we filled out, we fit all the criteria for that. 'It was such a huge shock to us both and my wife collapsed, she hasn't been able to cope.' Solicitors told the Felbers they believe the deportation breaches their human rights and Inverness MP Drew Hendry has been lobbying the UK Home Office in their defence. Mr Felber pointed out that the couple contribute to the local tourism economy, as well as paying national insurance and taxes, and say they feel like part of the community. Before taking ill Mrs Felber was an active member of Inverness Cathedral's bell-ringing club and had been taking Gaelic lessons but is worried they will now need to give up the life they love. 'If you had asked me last week I would have had hope, but now it's hard to say,' said Mr Felber. 'I'm still clinging on to a bit of hope but my wife has lost it, she has given up.' Mr Hendry has requested an urgent meeting with immigration minister Robert Goodwill. 'I wrote to the immigration minister on the issue and was promised a reply but without a word, a letter arrived on their doorstep, among a pile of Christmas cards,' he said. 'I have requested an urgent meeting to discuss this, even if it is over the festive break, and have asked if he can halt the process. Mr Felber says the couple contribute to the local tourism economy, as well as paying national insurance and taxes 'It is outrageous, giving that kind of deadline, especially over Christmas, it is impossible. 'This is yet another case where a couple, working hard, being successful and adding to our community and local economy are being forced out of the Highlands by a ruthlessly dogmatic Home Office.' The Felbers now face a worrying festive period while accommodating guests due to arrive after Christmas. 'I'm trying to put a smiley face on for the guests who are already coming but we don't know what to do about people who want to book for next year,' Mr Felber said. 'We are already half booked for June, July and August next year, it is looking to be the busiest summer yet, but we don't even know if we will be here.' The guest house is popular with visitors and is often fully booked during the summer, attracting five star reviews on travel websites. Senior advisors to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign kept in touch by phone and email with a driver of the ill-fated, last-ditch effort to dump Donald Trump at the electoral college. The advisors kept tabs on Colorado elector Micheal Baca, who was helping try to persuade Republican members of the Electoral College to vote against Trump. The effort ultimately flamed out, although a handful of Clinton electors ultimately ended up voting for other people. Baca himself is facing prosecution for his decision to cast his vote for Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich rather than Clinton, notwithstanding a state law directing him to back Clinton and the oath he swore. Some members of the group Hamilton Electors had spoken of trying to engineer a victory for Kasich as an alternative to Trump, arguing that Trump was unfit for office despite his winning 306 electoral votes. Clinton beat Trump in the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri kept tabs on a leader of 'Hamilton Electors' through text messages that were revealed In one email following up to a call with Clinton advisor Jake Sullivan, Baca apologized for being overly urgent, in one of multiple internal emails obtained by Politico. 'Not at all! We all share a sense of urgency,' Sullivan wrote Baca. 'Look forward to being in touch.' Efforts to find a way to deny Trump his victory picked up after new reports about Russian hacking meant to boost Trump on December 12. Clinton campaign ahcirman John Podesta, the victim of a hack that put thousands of Clinton-related emails into the public domain, helped goad things on with a statement that said, 'Electors have a solemn responsibility under the Constitution and we support their efforts to have their questions addressed.' Baca and Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri exchanged text messages that indicated Palmieri's interest in being informed about the effort. Politico didn't reveal how it gained access to the emails, texts, and call logs. Electoral College electors (L-R) Sen. Polly Baca, Michael Baca (no relation) and Ann Knollman talk before taking the oath of office in the Governor's office at the State Capitol in Denver. Michael Baca is being prosecuting for violating his oath and casting his vote for Ohio Governor John Kasich Clinton aide Jake Sullivan, also communicated with Baca, according to an email chain that was revealed Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, who was the victim of a hacking effort the government believes came from the Russian government, called for electors to get a security briefing in advance of the vote 'I know I will have done everything I could to stop Trump but I am just a guy at the end of the day,' Baca wrote. 'Thank you so very much and I'll trust whatever happens was the right decision.' Palmieri, who vented about the type of campaign Trump ran at a post-election panel at Harvard, responded: 'I hear you. Are you doing a press conference today?' When Baca told her about an event he was planning on the matter, Palmieri asked him: ''What are you planning to say?' but didn't put in writing anything that revealed her own views. Podesta refused to get pinned down supporting the effort to deny a win to Trump at the Electoral College in his public comments, although he may have provided signals of encouragement merely by running through the possibilities. He told NBC's 'Meet the Press' the day before the vote: 'I assume that our electors are going to vote for Hillary Clinton. But the question is whether there are 37 Republican electors who think that either there are open questions or that Donald Trump, based on everything we know about him, is really unfit to be president of the United States. And if they do, then they'll throw it to the House of Representatives.' The effort ultimately tanked and more Democratic electors ended up voting against Hillary Clinton than Republicans bailed on Trump. Just two Republican electors voted against Trump, while eight snubbed Clinton by voting for someone else. Colorado officials replaced Baca when he attempted to vote for Kasich. There have been just 157 faithless electors in U.S. history. Micheal Baca casts his vote for vice president on his pen box after he was replaced by Celeste Landry of Boulder (on is right) as a Colorado member of the Electoral College Elector Rick Bennett shakes hands with a Trump supporter after casting his Electoral College ballot at the State House in Augusta, Maine Another Democratic elector in Washington cast his ballot for an American Indian activist named Faith Spotted Eagle, known for protesting against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Hours later in Hawaii, another protesting Democrat voted for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Trump's two Texas mutinies produced votes for Kasich and former Rep. Ron Paul. Three faithless Clinton electors from Washington State cast votes for former secretary of state Colin Powell. The Constitution doesn't bind electors, who are chosen by the voters, from voting for someone who didn't carry their state, although many states have passed legislation to bind them. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang whose economic policies had once given rise, in Western media and academia, to the term "Likonomics" is, perhaps, the most-watched head of the government today. The reason is that China's economy and economic health can, in large measure, determine the world's economic health; and, the state of China's markets set the tone for other markets. The reason is that China is the world's largest developing economy and also the world's second largest economy. The China-U.S. economic relationship is the world's most important one with consequences for the U.S., China as well as developed and developing countries. And, Premier Li is the man steering the Chinese economy. Although China owes its economic achievements to the overall decisions of the Communist Party of China and its Central Committee headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, Premier Li, on behalf of the State Council, is the steersman. He is responsible for building the economic policy framework and is its implementer-in-chief. Hence, the economic policies and performance of the government have come to be identified with him. Since he assumed office as Premier in 2013 and throughout 2016, Li's emphasis has been on sustaining the reforms and opening-up. In 2016, in every policy articulation at home and abroad, he has been driving home the message that it is reform that can yield policy dividends for the Chinese economy. Li is also a strong proponent of relying on market mechanisms, which his policies further advanced in the current year. 2016 is the first year of China's 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development. Li presented the draft at the Fourth Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress on March 5 and it was adopted on March 16, 2016. Briefing the Fourth Session on the main targets, tasks, and measures over the next five years, Li said the Plan's goal is to complete the building of a "moderately prosperous society" in all respects by 2020. It is designed to address serious issues such as unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable development; and, stresses the need to promote innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development. He spelled out the development policies, initiatives, and projects; and the six focus areas in the draft. In the succeeding months, Li followed up the briefing with a series of instructions on reforming state-owned enterprises. To bring state-owned enterprises back to health, he ensured that steps were initiated to make them leaner, weed out unprofitable capacity, and unleash market forces. In the aftermath of Brexit, with a view to boosting investor confidence, Li announced that China will not devalue the yuan for short-term advantage. He convinced investors to view China with a "calm and cool head" at a time of global uncertainty, and showed that Beijing can handle the problems such as the slow down, excess capacity and glut of capital goods facing its economy. In the first six months, Li kept the economy "basically stable" and on course to meet its major yearly targets. The second-quarter growth rate was close to the first quarter's 6.7 percent. His speech in the United Nations General Assembly in September was a reflection of China's economic policies being pursued in its external affairs, too. He warned against the rise of protectionism and assured that China will continue with its opening-up policy. In New York, Li assured that China will remain open to overseas investment and global trade. "Our door (of opening-up) will only open wider. We are resolute and steadfast in adhering to this development path," he said. This was significant in the context of Brexit and the then rising rhetoric against free trade led by the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. The result of his policies are evident in China's economy performing better than expected in the third quarter and its debt risks being kept under control. Officially announcing these last month, Li said in Macao on October 11: "China's economy in the third quarter not only extended growth momentum in the first half but showed many positive changes." According to a Reuters report, key economic indicators such as factory output, profits and investment, have rebounded, he said. More than 10 million new urban jobs were created in the first nine months, with the survey-based jobless rate falling below 5 percent in September, he said, while adding the economy still faces downward pressure. The report quoted Li as saying that China will be able to achieve its main economic targets this year and maintain medium- to high-speed growth. Shastri Ramachandaran is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/ShastriRamachandaran.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. A 'super drunk' driver sentenced to at least 20 years in jail over the death of a 21-year-old student sobbed in court as the victim's family addressed her. Morgan Rowley, 22, was jailed on Wednesday for the hit-and-run drunk driving death of Nicholas Heil in Kalamazoo, Michigan in May this year. Rowley cried repeatedly during the three-hour sentencing after the Western Michigan University student's family gave emotional statements revealing how much his death had impacted them. Morgan Rowley, 22, (pictured) sobbed in court as she was jailed on Wednesday for the hit-and-run drunk driving death of Nicholas Heil in Kalamazoo, Michigan in May this year Video courtesy of WWMT The victim's father Dan Heil put the young man's motorbike riding boots on display inside the courtroom saying they were a daily reminder of him, MLive.com reports. 'There isn't a day that goes by I don't wake up in the morning thinking this was all a big nightmare. But it's not. He's gone,' Mr Heil told the court. 'Every day that he's gone it's just a hole in my heart. To lose a child is the worst thing in the world and I was never prepared for this... It's just senseless. It shouldn't have happened.' One of Heil's three siblings, Jorri Smith, said she had developed anxiety since his death. 'Not only was his life taken away, but our entire family was ripped apart,' Smith said. Rowley was drunk when her Honda CR-V struck and killed Nicholas Heil, a Western Michigan University student, while he was out jogging on the night of May 11 Nicholas' father Dan Heil put the young man's motorbike riding boots on display inside the courtroom on Wednesday saying they were a daily reminder of him His mother Holly Heil told the court she could not forget seeing her son's bruised body and injured head following the accident and fears she will forget his face and smile 'We lost our brother, the parents we once knew, and so much more because of the selfish actions of one person.' His mother Holly Heil told the court she could not forget seeing her son's bruised body and injured head following the accident. 'I couldn't stop kissing him, hugged him, holding him and crying, and crying and crying some more,' Mrs Heil said. 'I live in the constant fear of forgetting his face, smile and voice.' Heil was out for a jog on the night of May 11 when Rowley's Honda CR-V struck and killed the mechanical engineering student. Police said Rowley had an alcohol blood reading of 0.21 percent, which is more than twice the legal limit. Police said Rowley had an alcohol blood reading of 0.21 percent, which is more than twice the legal limit, when she crashed into Heil in Kalamazoo, Michigan in May Nicholas Heil was a mechanical engineering student at the Western Michigan University Rowley told police she had been drinking at a bar before driving home. She claimed to be doing the speed limit when she crashed into Heil, but panicked and kept on driving back to her house. Rowley already had a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated. She sobbed as she apologized to Heil's family in court during her sentencing. 'I hate myself for what has happened. What I did was unforgivable,' Rowley said. 'I'm so sorry from the bottom of my heart. I'm just so sorry.' Heil's family asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence for Rowley. She was sentenced to 10 to 20 years for operating her vehicle at a high blood-alcohol content causing death and failing to stop at the scene of a fatal accident. A tongue-in-cheek Christmas menu produced by Ernest Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition team has emerged 108 years later. The document was printed while the men endured bone-chilling temperatures and a lack of food during the winter of 1908. Despite the harsh conditions, the team showed great stoicism to make a menu of dubious yet delicious-sounding fare they were supposedly going to indulge in for their boozy Christmas dinner. For starters, the team were to tuck into turtle soup with a drink of whisky followed by an entree of penguin patties and seal cutlets to be washed down with Champagne. 'Sledges at 12.30': A tongue-in-cheek Christmas menu produced by Ernest Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition team has emerged 108 years later. The document was printed while the men endured bone-chilling temperatures and a lack of food during the winter of 1908 Shackleton (second left, on board the Nimrod) took printing equipment on the expedition and encouraged the team to write essays, stories and poems to spare the men from boredom during the long winter nights at their remote base camp. Also pictured, Frank Wild (left), Eric Marshall (second right) and Jameson Adams The main meal was to be a joint of roast reindeer, black currant jelly, potatoes and green peas and two more glasses of whisky while the sweet was more whisky, plum pudding and mince pies. To finish off the hearty meal, they would have coffee, cigars, cigarettes and yet more whisky. Sledges rather than carriages were to be at 12.30am. While the made-up menu is based largely on fantasy, it does hint at some of the more unpleasant food the expedition team did have to consume, such as whale meat. The menu was found slipped in a rare copy of Aurora Australis - the first book published and printed on the Antarctic continent in 1908. Shackleton took printing equipment on the Nimrod Expedition and encouraged the team to write essays, stories and poems to spare the men from boredom during the long winter nights at their remote base camp. Ninety copies of Aurora Australis were printed off and the one now for sale belonged to chief engineer Harry Dunlop. The menu was found slipped in a rare copy of Aurora Australis - the first book published and printed on the Antarctic continent in 1908. Ninety copies of the book were printed off and the one now for sale belonged to chief engineer Harry Dunlop. Pictured left, Shackleton The book has been passed down through his family and is now being sold by a direct descendant for a pre-sale estimate of 35,000. The Nimrod Expedition's goal was to be the first to reach the South Pole. The mission failed but the men were hailed as heroes on their return because of their other feats. They carried out a great number of important experiments, went farther south than anyone had before and made the first ascent of Mount Erebus. The men who attempted to make the South Pole suffered from malnutrition and were stick thin by the time they returned. Matthew Haley, of auctioneers Bonhams which is selling the book and menu together, said: 'The menu leaf was tucked in at the back of the book. Above, members of the Nimrod Expedition. Three years later, Captain Robert Falcon Scott led the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole only to find they had been beaten to it by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen 'It has three holes down one side which suggests it was intended to be bound in but it wasn't. But it was printed at the same time and in the same way as Aurora Australis. 'I think the menu is fantastic and is very much tongue in cheek. It is a really fun thing.' The menu was printed in mid-winter in the Antarctic, which is in June rather than at Christmas time in the northern hemisphere. Mr Haley said: 'It was a mid-winter celebration. They were in the midst of winter and they probably felt as though they should be celebrating Christmas. It must have really played with their emotions. The Nimrod Expedition's goal was to be the first to reach the South Pole. The mission failed but the men were hailed as heroes on their return because of their other feats 'By transplanting Christmas to Antarctica probably gave themselves something to look forward to and to keep going. 'Some of the food was clearly made up but whether other parts such as seal cutlets were a joke, it is difficult to say. 'It was pretty unlikely they would have had mince pies. 'I think this was the men showing a stiff upper lip to keep their spirits up. 'The reason we are selling the two items together is that they come from the same source, the family of Henry Dunlop.' Three years after the Nimrod Expedition, Captain Robert Falcon Scott led the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole only to find they had been beaten to it by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. On their return journey, Scott and his four comrades all died from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold. Syrian national Hassan Kiko, who has been found guilty by the Supreme Court in Zurich on charges of rape and sexual coercion of the teenager An asylum seeker who broke out of jail after seducing a female prison guard has now been convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl. Syrian national Hassan Kiko has been found guilty by the Supreme Court in Switzerland's largest city of Zurich on charges of rape and sexual coercion of the teenager. A year ago the 28-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison, which the Supreme Court upheld this week. Kiko famously broke out of jail with the help of his female prison guard turned lover Angela Magdici, 32, in early February. The couple ran off to Italy where they posted videos of themselves saying that they loved each other shortly before they were tracked down and arrested at the end of March. He was not penalised for going on the run as judges found the break out was mainly the work of Magdici, who is now facing charges. She appeared in court alongside her lover this week, donning a headscarf after having converted to Islam, with the pair telling the judge that they plan to marry upon his release. The court heard how in November 2014, Kiko had lured his underage victim from a Swiss bar in the town of Schlieren before attacking her Kiko famously broke out of jail in earlu February with the help of his female prison guard turned lover Angela Magdici, 32, pictured The court heard how in November 2014, Kiko had lured his underage victim from a Swiss bar in the town of Schlieren. He urged her inside the car of a colleague where he then raped her. Judges were told the Syrian was a multiple offender and has two previous convictions for sexual assault. Kiko's lawyer Valentin Landmann said that while the Syrian in the past was 'rather sexually indiscriminate', he had now found the 'love of his life' under unusual circumstances and wants to move on. Magdici apperared in court alongside her lover this week, donning a headscarf after having converted to Islam Magdici's husband Vasile Magdici said that he noticed his wife had started learning the Koran which made him realise that she was cheating on him. He has since filed for divorce. Magdici is now facing charges for giving favours to the prisoner and aiding and organising his escape, and gross violations of traffic law. Iconic British fashion giant Aquascutum has been put up for sale for 97million. The label has been put on the stock market by Hong Kong-listed YGM Trading, which bought the ailing brand in 2012. It is believed a deal will be done by the end of March next year, with two buyers making a down payment of 4 million for exclusivity rights. Iconic British fashion giant Aquascutum, loved by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has been put up for sale for 100million After providing coats for soldiers in both world wars, the label's trenchcoats were worn on and off the screen by movie stars Humphrey Bogart (left) and Carey Grant (right) Aquascutum's iconic trench coats were loved by former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill, while they were also worn by the Queen Mother and film stars Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant. YGM's move marks another chapter in the label's turbulent recent past after Japanese firm Renown, took over in 1990. Harold Tillman, who also owned British fashion label Jaeger, attempted to revive the brand when he bought it with Belinda Earl in 2009. However, his tenure was ill-fated and he sold his shares to private equity firm Better Capital for 19.5million in 2012. Aquascutum was forced to close the doors on its Corby factory in Nottinghamshire and make 115 people redundant after collapsing into administration that year. Updating on its performance, YGM Trading said UK sales slid 15.8% for the six months to the end of September. Despite its illustrious history and upmarket clientele, the brand has endured turbulent times recently and closed its factory in Corby in 2012 (left, film star Sofia Loren wears an Aquascutum trenchcoat and right, a models dons one of the brands cropped trenches) Aquascutum (pictured, on the right) opened its first store in Regent Street, and was based there for 110 years Chinese textile giant Shandong Ruyi Group is said to be interested in snapping up the historic brand after buying French fashion house SMCP earlier this year, according to a report by Bloomberg. Aquascutum rose to prominence in the late 19th century when founder John Emary patented the first waterproof textile. It went on to supply trench coats to soldiers throughout the first and second world wars, while its wyncol fabric was used by explorer Edmund Hilary during his ascent to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. continue to sell clothes with slogans such as Blue Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter and that shouldn't be profiting off racial tensions in the US Move comes after a police group wrote to the store's CEO Walmart has pulled all its 'Bulletproof: Black Lives Matter' shirts after police complained they were offensive. The Fraternal Order of Police wrote to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon on Tuesday, complaining that the store should not aim to profit off racial tensions in the US. 'Commercializing our differences will not help our local police and communities to build greater trust and respect for one another Turning a buck on strained relationships will not contribute to the healing process,' said the national FOP's president, Chuck Canterbury. Walmart has pulled all its 'Bulletproof: Black Lives Matter' shirts after police deemed them 'offensive' 'This should be a time for joy, and no family who has lost a son or daughter, whether in the line of duty or in a tragic event, should have their pain turned into someone else's profit.' In response to the letter, Walmart issued a statement on Tuesday saying that it would pull all its merchandise which made reference to 'bulletproof' and 'Black Lives Matter' on the same shirt. The line, which was provided by third party supplier Old Glory, included hoodies, tank tops and t-shirts, which range from $16.95 to $36.95 for the sweatshirt. Each item is black with red lettering across it which states: 'Black Lives Matter. Bulletproof.' The line has since been removed from the Walmart website. The line, which was provided by third party supplier Old Glory, included hoodies, tank tops and t-shirts, which range from $16.95 to $36.95 for the sweatshirt Walmart issued a statement on Tuesday saying that it would pull all its merchandise which made reference to 'bulletproof' and 'Black Lives Matter' on the same shirt Walmart will continue to sell clothes with slogans such as Blue Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter. Chris Kappelman, the head buyer for supplier Old Glory, told the Washington Post that Walmart had not informed him before removing the clothing line. But out of respect for their customers, they had removed the 'Bulletproof' shirts from other third-party sites as well. 'We understand where the FOP stand and their point of view,' Morelli said. 'We didn't want to ruffle any feathers. Also, too, we support the police in different ways.' The Black Lives Matter movement, which began after the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, and has gathered pace with a slew of other police shootings of black men in subsequent years. The Fraternal Order of Police wrote to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon complaining that the megastore should not aim to profit off racial tensions in the US The movement, which has sparked protests across the country, states on its website that is an 'ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.' However, some in law enforcement see the protest movement as anti-police and a pro-cop Blue Lives Matter movement has begun in response. FOP Executive Director Jim Pasco said that while his organization doesn't oppose the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, or that slogan being printed on t-shirts, he was against the inflammatory use of 'bulletproof' alongside it - a direct reference to the police shootings. Donald Trump suggested during lunchtime Thursday that the country needed more nuclear weapons. 'The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes,' Trump tweeted from his Mar-a-Lago resort, just a day after meeting key Pentagon leaders, some of whom are charged with overseeing the nation's nukes. The comments come after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his own country needed more nuclear weapons. 'We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems,' Putin said in a speech recapping Russia's 2016 military activities. The United States has 7,100 nuclear weapons, while Russia has 7,300, according to the Arms Control Association, a U.S.-based nonpartisan group. Scroll down for video President-elect Donald Trump appeared to challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin by saying the U.S. should have more nukes 'until such time as the world comes to its senses' Donald Trump called for more nuclear weapons, following remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin that suggested a similar uptick in weaponry Trump's words are in sharp contrast to what President Obama hoped to be his own legacy lowering the number of nuclear weapons in the world. Within the first 90 days of Obama's administration, the young Democratic leader set goals for reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world speaking to a crowd in Pragues Hradcany Square. His aim, the Democrat said, was 'to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.' However, when the Washington Post examined his record seven years later, journalists found it mixed. Obama's Iran deal was a success, though politically problematic, with Republicans threatening its existence as the new administration comes on board. The president had convinced about a quarter of the countries with loose nuclear materials to move those off their soil. Additionally, along with Russia, Obama signed a new START treaty that included new weapons limits. But the president also proposed, as part of the fiscal 2017 budget, deep cuts to spending on programs to stop nuclear proliferation. On the flip side, military funding was left intact that allowed spending on a new generation of weapons. 'Presidents George W. Bush and Obama both noted during their campaigns that the United States and Russia are still postured on what they call a hair trigger,' former Sen. Sam Nunn told the Post in March 2016. He had previously sponsored Senate legislation that would get the United States to assist Russia in securing its nuclear materials. 'We still have the ability to destroy each other in 30 minutes to an hour's time,' Nunn said. 'Both of them said they would improve that, and as far as I can tell, neither has.' With these latest statements, it's more apparent that under new American leadership, neither will. Trump was criticized over the course of his campaign for being a foreign policy amateur. He shook up long held views on America's nuclear umbrella by saying on Fox News that Japan and South Korea should get nuclear weapons of their own, to defend themselves from the North Koreans who continually threaten U.S. allies in Asia. Trump later retracted that statement. In August, Trump's former buddy, television host Joe Scarborough revealed that the Republican nominee had asked a foreign policy expert why the United States couldn't use its nuclear weapons. 'Three times he asked at one point if we had them why can't we use them,' Scarborough said on his Morning Joe program. Trump's campaign smacked down the Scarborough anecdote as a lie. An ex-army chef who was caught with a pocket full of condoms while he waited for what he thought was an 11-year-old girl has been found guilty of child grooming. Connor Lane, 24, had previously sent explicit text messages to someone he met online, asking if she had 'big boobs' and 'how far she had been with a guy before,' a court heard. But the online profile had actually been set up by a paedophile hunters group called Internet Interceptors to ensnare potential child sex offenders on social networking site Tagged. Ex-army chef Connor Lane, who was caught with a pocket full of condoms while he waited for what he thought was an 11-year-old girl, has been found guilty of child grooming They confronted after he arranged a meeting at McDonald's in Chelmsford, Essex, and footage of the encounter shows Lane desperately trying to make excuses, claiming 'it was a joke'. When they searched him they found two condoms which he later claimed had been in his wallet for years, were out of date and he had no intention of using them. Lane, of Chelmsford, Essex was charged with attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, and Interceptors collected a catalogue of vile messages sent by Lane. d he planned only to take the young girl back to her home and did not believe that the account was owned by an 11-year-old girl. Basildon Crown Court heard that Lane swapped sexual messages with 'Jess H' over 10 days and Interceptors collected a catalogue of vile messages sent by Lane, who was stationed in Cyprus at the time. The army chef, who was stationed in Cyprus at the time, asked the girl 'would you kiss me and more babe,' then later sent her a message saying: 'Do you have boobs babe?' He also made various references to sexual acts as he arranged to meet her, suggesting 'grabbing her bum', to which the reply was 'no-one has ever done that to me before'. But when confronted by the Interceptors duo, he claimed that he had only planned to take her home and did not believe that the account belonged to an 11-year-old. Basildon Crown Court heard that Lane swapped sexual messages with 'Jess H' over 10 days and Interceptors collected a catalogue of vile messages sent by Lane Matthew Bagnell, prosecuting, said a founding member of Internet Interceptors had posed as the girl on the over-18s website. At a previous hearing, he said: 'The profile was given a picture and a profile age of 19 as Tagged is for over-18s. 'Having set up the profile, Internet Interceptors then monitored the profile and there came a point in time when Connor Lane engaged in a chat conversation with Jess. 'One of the first questions that he asked was how old Jess was and the response was that she was 11 years old. 'Thereafter the conversation fell into four categories, where Connor Lane tried to find out certain information: to establish her location, her willingness to meet him and what sexual activity she was willing to engage in should they meet.' During their 10-day chats Lane, who was stationed in Cyprus and on leave at the time, asked 'Jess' 'how far have you gone with a guy?' and 'would you meet me or am I too old?' The army chef, who was stationed in Cyprus at the time, asked the girl 'would you kiss me and more babe,' then later sent her a message saying: 'Do you have boobs babe?' The court heard Lane offered to 'show' her how to kiss a boy and asked 'what would your family say if you were meeting a 23-year-old?' The prosecution added that Lane told her to search on the internet to find out what a paedophile was. Lane said: 'I made a mistake. I'm sorry for what I have done but I knew I was never talking to an 11-year-old girl.' When interview by police he said: 'I was thinking that it was a fake. I was only messing during the whole thing. I thought it was a bloke to be honest. 'I wanted to make sure it was a fake profile and I went down to see for myself. It was me being stupid. Star Wars fans who once flocked to the Tunisian town of Tataouine - which was used as the model for Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine - have stayed stayed away in recent years due to the proximity of violent jihadists. Now, another name can be added to those who have lived there - Anis Amri, prime suspect in the Berlin massacre which left 12 people dead and 48 others injured after a truck ploughed through a Christmas market on Monday. The 24-year-old's hometown in north Africa is a well-known ISIS stronghold close to the Libyan border. Desert cliffs around Tataouine were once the backdrop for much of the 1977 movie classic, parts of which were filmed in the Arab state the year before. Scroll down for video Star Wars fans who once flocked to the Tunisian town of Tataouine - which was used as the model for Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine (pictured) - have stayed stayed away in recent years due to the proximity of violent jihadists Now, another name can be added to those who have lived in Tataouine - Anis Amri, prime suspect in the Berlin massacre which left 12 people dead and 48 others injured after a truck ploughed through a Christmas market on Monday It's still not known whether Amri had direct links to Islamic State, but the extremist group claimed responsibility for the Monday night truck attack. Above, tributes are laid at the scene Many jihadis have trained at ISIS camps in neighbouring Libya. Others have made their way to Syria and Iraq Despite its reputation, the struggling town on the fringes of the Sahara still draws a few diehard fans of the movie. Amri, now wanted throughout Europe, has six aliases, three nationalities and links to the same brand of Islamic extremism that has drawn at least 6,000 of his countrymen to jihadi networks. Many trained at IS camps in neighbouring Libya. Others made their way to Syria and Iraq. Amri is in grim company with other Tunisians claimed by the Islamic State group. One of them includes the man who mowed down 86 Bastille Day revellers in the southern French city of Nice last July and another who gunned down dozens of tourists on a beach in Tunisia. A Star Wars gathering during the first international meeting of the fans in Tozeur, southern Tunisia, in May 2014 Luke Skywalker's restored igloo home which was renovated by a group of Star Wars fans in 2012 It's still not known whether Amri had direct links to Islamic State, but the extremist group claimed responsibility for the Monday night truck attack in Berlin. Amri's wallet was found inside the cab of the truck, and German authorities on Wednesday issued a warrant for him, listing three different nationalities and six different names and birthdays that he presumably provided. His birthdate is officially listed in the warrant as December 22, 1992, according to a version obtained by The Associated Press. In a pair of photos, he has a sparse beard and no moustache. Tunisian anti-terror police interrogated Amri's relatives Wednesday in the central Tunisian town of Oueslatia, a spokesman, Sofiane Selliti, said. He did not say how many family members were present. Amri is in grim company with other Tunisians claimed by the Islamic State group. One of them includes Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel (left), the man who mowed down 86 Bastille Day revellers in the southern French city of Nice last July (right) and another who gunned down dozens of tourists on a beach in Tunisia Amri's father told Tunisia's Mosaique FM radio that his son left his homeland about seven years ago, spent four years in a prison in Italy after being accused in a fire at a school there then moved to Germany more than a year ago. The father said he had no contact with his son, although Amri's brothers did. Mosaique FM cited security officials as saying that Amri had been convicted in absentia for aggravated theft with violence in Tunisia and sentenced to five years in prison. No dates were given. After his prison time in Italy, Amri was ordered expelled, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. However, Tunisian authorities didn't finish all the paperwork in time, so Amri never was sent back to Tunisia. The suspect's family lives in poverty and his parents are divorced, according to Mosaique FM radio. State prosecutors in Berlin launched an investigation of Amri on March 14 following a tip from federal security agencies, who warned that he might be planning a break-in to finance the purchase of automatic weapons for use in a possible future attack. Surveillance showed that Amri did deal drugs in a notorious Berlin park and was involved in a bar brawl, but no evidence was found to substantiate the original warning. The surveillance measures were called off in September. Separately, Amri's asylum application was rejected in July. German authorities prepared to deport him but weren't able to do so because he didn't have valid identity papers. As for the Berlin attack, it's not the first time a suspect has discarded identifying documents in a vehicle. The attackers who carried out the 2015 massacre at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris did so, as did one of the November 13 attackers in Paris and the Tunisian truck attacker in Nice, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel. In all of those cases, the attackers were killed. 'It could be to kind of leave a trace and strengthen potential claims of responsibility,' Otso Iho, an analyst with IHS Jane's, said of the abandoned ID documents. Amarnath Amarasingam, a scholar at George Washington University's programme on extremism, says he believes Amri did have ties with the Islamic State group. 'The fact that ISIS took credit for the attack before the attacker was arrested signals to me that he was in direct communication with someone in ISIS,' he wrote in an email to the AP. 'We can probably expect a video or a statement from the attacker himself fairly soon.' Italy's teetering banking system could need almost 50billion to stave off collapse as its government prepares to rescue the worlds oldest lender. Ministers have already lined up a 17billion bailout package to keep the financial system afloat but fears are growing this may not be enough. It comes as Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the countrys third-largest bank, prepares for taxpayer support after failing in a last-effort to raise cash from the private sector. A view of the main facade of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the oldest bank in the world The firms board was set to meet last night amid speculation that a government rescue could take up to three months to complete. Earlier this week, Monte dei Paschi warned it only had enough cash to survive until mid-April. It had been trying to raise 4.2billion from the markets but managed less than half of this and the plan was left in tatters when Qatar, which was supposed to be the largest backer, walked away from the deal. There is now panic that the banks woes could be just the tip of the iceberg. Mihir Kapadia, founder of Sun Global Investments, said: If Monte dei Paschi fails, there are strong fears that its collapse could pull down much of the countrys bad debt-ridden banking sector with it. The Italian governments efforts cannot end with simple state support, but rather large-scale banking reforms and stringent policy measures are needed. Unless this is achieved a banking crisis looks almost inevitable. 'This is not just a threat to Italy, but for the larger Eurozone, the euro and the regions political future. Italys financial system is weighed down by 300billion of bad debt following years of stagnation after the financial crisis. Calculations by Bloomberg suggest the industry will need 47billion, with 26billion coming from the state. It dwarfs the 17billion which politicians have agreed to pump into endangered banks. Monte dei Paschi is presently the most at risk but another seven smaller lenders could also collapse. And even UniCredit, the nations largest bank and its only globally important one, is considered a risk by some. It last week announced plans to shut 1,000 branches, axe 14,000 jobs and raise 11billion from private investors in a bid to become safer. Experts said a rescue of Monte dei Paschi would be politically toxic. Earlier this week, Monte dei Paschi (pictured) warned it only had enough cash to survive until mid-April European Union rules on state aid mean that bondholders have to lose money in a so-called bail-in before the government is allowed to help. In most countries this would only affect large institutions but Italy is unusual because many pensioners hold bank debt. In the case of Monte dei Paschi, 40,000 ordinary savers have bonds worth 1.7bn and are likely to lose some or all of their cash. There is talk in Italy of a compensation scheme to refund these people but it is unclear how much wriggle room EU law allows. Analysts at Aberdeen Asset Management said the government rescue could be classed as precautionary because the bank has not yet failed and the government can claim to be acting early. In the case of Monte dei Paschi, 40,000 ordinary savers have bonds worth 1.7bn and are likely to lose some or all of their cash As a result, full state aid rules might not apply allowing a fudge which will protect the public from losses. The stakes are considered to be very high and an early challenge for new prime minister Paolo Gentiloni. His predecessor quit after losing a crunch referendum on constitutional reform, triggering a political crisis. Last year, one pensioner committed suicide when he lost his money after a round of bailouts. Ferdinando Giugliano, economics commentator for La Repubblica newspaper, said: There will be a number of people who will feel defrauded by this operation. A year ago, we saw widespread political discontent because of this decision. There were protests. The bank of Italy, the regulator, the government came under huge pressure. A New Jersey man accused of sexually abusing a woman on board a flight from India to Newark wrote her an apology note saying 'I was stupid', authorities said. Ganesh Parkar was arrested after touching down at Newark Airport on Wednesday for sexually assaulting the woman during the 14-hour flight. Prosecutors say the 40-year-old intentionally moved from his more expensive seat to sit beside the woman in an otherwise empty row in economy. The woman awoke several times during the flight to find her blanket had been pulled down, they say. She eventually woke up to find Parkar fondling her breast, according to police documents. Ganesh Parkar was arrested for moving from his business class seat on an Air India flight from Mumbai to Newark on Wednesday to grope a woman he didn't know in economy class Parkar, an Indian citizen living in Windsor, New Jersey, was ordered back to his seat by airline staff but sent the woman notes apologizing for his 'stupidity' before they landed. He demanded the crew let him speak with the victim, and when his request was denied, he instead wrote two notes to the woman apologizing and saying that he 'was stupid.' Parkar was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday afternoon charged with sexual abuse. In a police complaint obtained by DailyMail.com, an FBI agent described how Parkar targeted the woman after they boarded the Air India plane at Chattrapathi Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. ' Defendant Parkar's ticket seat was in the Business Class section. However, prior to take-off, defendant Parkar went to the Economy Class section of the flight and sat in an available seat in the center row near a female passenger,' agent Sean Lynch said. 'The remaining seats in the center row next to the victim were empty. Before take-off, defendant Parkar moved to the seat immediately adjacent to the victim.' The pair spoke briefly before the woman went to sleep, the complaint continued. 'At some point during the flight, the victim fell asleep. Some period of time later and while the aircraft was still in flight flying towards the US, the victim awoke to find that a blanket that she had placed over her body had been removed. The pair were travelling from Chattrapathi Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai (above) 'The victim re-positioned her blanket to cover her body and fell back asleep. 'A short while later, the victim woke up again, this time to find the blanket once again pulled down and defendant Parkar's right hand inside of her shirt and on her left breast.' The woman yelled: 'What the hell are you doing?', the complaint continued, before alerting flight attendants who escorted Parkar back to his seat. He begged them to allow him to talk to the woman before they landed but was refused. Before touching down in Newark, he then tried to send her several notes. Flash Patan Durbar Square at Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. [File photo by Chen Boyuan/China.org.cn] The Embassy of Nepal in China is keen on finding ways to promote tourism in China as the number of Chinese tourists to Nepal continues to decline. As of the end of November, the number of Chinese tourists to the landlocked, neighboring country in 2016 was 53,551, almost the same as last year (53,441), while a total of 128,707 Chinese more than twice of the recent two years went to Nepal in 2014. Leela Mani Paudyal, the ambassador of Nepal to China, attributed part of the reason to the massive earthquake in the country in 2015 and the blockade imposed by India in Nepal in September last year, which he believed took a toll on the flow of tourists to the country. The newly appointed ambassador is keen on finding ways to attract more Chinese tourists to his country, as he announced to a group of Chinese journalists in Beijing on Wednesday. The ambassador sought advice from Chinese media professionals on how to attract more tourists while also reassuring them that the post-quake Nepal is safe and convenient for travel. Located between China and India, Nepal is home to rich tourism resources, including a number of breathtaking mountains the worlds highest, Mount Everest, which lies between Nepal and China and unique Buddhist culture, as it is believed to be the birthplace of the Buddha. Currently direct flights are available from China to Nepal, from Chengdu, Kunming, Lhasa and Guangzhou, according to the ambassador. Nepal announced the exemption of visa fees for Chinese tourists this year in order to expand its Chinese tourism market. Two Whole Foods workers have sued the grocery chain for $200 million on accusations that it cheated employees out of bonuses. The lawsuit comes more than a week after Whole Foods fired nine store managers in the mid-Atlantic region under similar accusations of manipulating the supermarkets' bonus program to their benefit. The company was slapped with a federal class-action suit Tuesday that claims it 'engaged in a nationwide scheme to strip hard-working employees of earned bonuses in order to maximize their own profit,' court records show. Two Whole Foods workers have sued the grocery chain for $200 million on accusations that it cheated employees out of bonuses At the center of the lawsuit is the company's 'Gainsharing program,' through which it rewards parts of its surpluses to employees in departments that come under budget. In their lawsuit, ex-employee Michael Molock and current employee Randal Kuczor say that the company shifted labor costs between departments to avoid paying bonusesmaking it seem that departments with surplus didn't earn their bonuses. Molock and Kuczor, who worked at a Washington DC Whole Foods, also seek punitive damages and triple unpaid wages, court records show. The suit claims executives in the company were aware of the tactics. The alleged scheme affected 't least twenty thousand (potentially many more) past and present employees,' court records show. 'It is believes that this is a nationwide practice,'the suit added. Ex-employee Michael Molock (left) and current worker Randall Kuczor (right), who worked at a Washington DC Whole Foods, also seek punitive damages and triple unpaid wages Whole Foods did not immediately reply to a DailyMail.com request for comment on Thursday. 'We are still in the process of investigating the issues raised in the recently filed lawsuit and, as we do with any allegations affecting our Team Members and customers, we will continue to conduct a thorough inquiry,' company spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan told the Washington Post in a statement. 'Once our investigation is complete, we will take all necessary steps to correct any errors we identify.' Two weeks ago, Whole Foods supermarkets fired nine store managers after a company-wide investigation, spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said. The lawsuit comes more than a week after Whole Foods fired nine store managers in the mid-Atlantic region under similar accusations of manipulating the supermarkets' bonus program to their benefit The store found that nine managers at stores in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia engaged in a policy infraction that allowed the managers to benefit from a profit-sharing program at the expense of store employees. Buchanan said Whole Foods is still investigating exactly how much money is involved and plans to ensure that employees at the affected stores are compensated properly. The amounts involved, though, will not be material to the company's quarterly earnings. A violent brawl between two rival groups broke out in Sydney's city centre overnight, leaving one man with a head injuries and others bloodied. According to a witness, about 20 people started throwing punches on George Street just before midnight on Thursday after an argument escalated. Paramedics treated one man's injuries at the scene before taking him to hospital with a bandage around his head and police arrested three others. 'It was really violent and a few blokes had a fair bit of blood coming out of them,' witness Lachy said. Scroll down for video A violent brawl between two rival groups broke out in Sydney's city centre overnight with a number of shirtless men left bloodied According to a witness, about 20 people started throwing punches on George Street just before midnight on Thursday after an argument escalated Footage shows one man grabbing another by the back of his shirt and slamming him to the ground as another man punches him a number of times in the head 'A few of them ran off but yeah it looked fairly violent from what we could see'. Lachy said there were many bystanders as the fight escalated between the shirtless men and a group of women tried in vain to separate them. 'They were throwing a lot of punches and heaps of glass has been broken,' he said. Footage shows one man grabbing another by the back of his shirt and slamming him to the ground as another man punches him a number of times in the head. Others then run in to keep kicking the man and young women try to pull the men up from the ground. Paramedics treated one man's injuries at the scene before taking him to hospital with a bandage around his head and police arrested three others 'They were throwing a lot of punches and heaps of glass has been broken,' a witness said Lachy said there were many bystanders as the fight escalated between the shirtless men and a group of women tried in vain to separate them About seven men from one of the groups decide to take their shirts off during the fight The three men arrested by police were released from custody pending further inquiries early on Friday morning One man was seen talking with officers and detectives as he slumped against the wall after the fight About seven men from one of the groups decide to take their shirts off during the fight and can be seen discarding them on George Street and then continuing the scuffle on a flight of stairs. Police said one man was taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries and photos show him with a bandaged head in the back of an ambulance. The three men arrested by police were released from custody pending further inquiries early on Friday morning. Police said one man was taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries The brawl came to an end on a flight of stairs after police turned up 'It was really violent and a few blokes had a fair bit of blood coming out of them,' witness Lachy (pictured) said Police said one man was taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries and photos show him with a bandaged head in the back of an ambulance The best friend of a terminally ill Illinois mother has promised to adopt all four of her children when she dies. Sara Hankins, 36, was diagnosed with a terminal neurological disease - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS - about a year ago. When she recently started to progress to the final stage of her terminal diagnosis, the single mother started to worry about what would happen to her four children when she was gone. That's when her best friend Missy Armstrong decided to step in. Missy Armstrong, who is the best friend of terminally ill Illinois mother Sara Hankins, has promised to adopt all four of her children when she dies from a neurological disease Ms Armstrong, who is a 42-year-old single mother of two children herself, offered to adopt her friend's children and is now going through the legal processes. She will legally be able to adopt Ms Hankins' three youngest children Cayden, 11, Micah, 9, and Amara, 8. She has promised to also take in her 18-year-old daughter Alexis who is legally to old to adopt. 'The thought of where they would go was killing her more than the ALS was,' Ms Armstrong told People. 'It consumed her everyday thoughts because none of her family members were able to take in all four kids together. 'So I decided to step in. I knew in my heart this was the right thing to do, that this was how it was meant to be.' Cayden, 11, Amara, 8, Alexis, 18, and Micah, 9, will all be taken in and cared for by their mother's best friend Missy Armstrong when she dies Sara Hankins (second from left) is currently in hospice at her mother's house in Illinois. She is pictured here with her children, Missy Armstrong (second from right) and her son Kairee Ms Armstrong and Ms Hankins met in hairdressing school in Illinois 17 years ago. They have been inseparable ever since. The pair went on to work together at several jobs and were even present when each other's children were being born. Ms Armstrong said her own kids Kairee, 14, and Alexa, 22, have grown up alongside her best friend's children. 'When we met, she only had one daughter, Alexis, who was 2. Of course we stayed best friends through her other three,' she told Today. Alexis, Micah, Amara and Cayden Hankins will eventually move in with Missy Armstrong and her two children when their mother passes away Armstrong has also promised to take in Sara's 18-year-old daughter Alexis (pictured left with her mom) given she is to old to legally adopt 'She would grab her kids and come to my house, or I would grab my kids and go to her house. We were always together.' Ms Armstrong said it was an easy decision to take in her friend's children. 'I love them and I've known them their whole lives. I make a decent living. I have the support of her family,' she said. The two families are now trying to secure a five-bedroom house so Ms Armstrong can look after the six children. was sparked by tip from assistant principal An Alabama high school science teacher has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student. Courtney Wallace, 28, was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with one felony count of a school employee having sex with a student under the age of 19. Prosecutors say the Maryland native was also sending the underage victim photos. Her bond has been set at $30,000. Booked: Courtney Wallace (left and right), an Alabama teacher, has been booked into jail on a felony count of a school employee having sex with a student under the age of 19 Workplace: Wallace has taught science at Greensboro High School in Hale County Hale County District Attorney Michael Jackson characterized the case as a 'sad state of affairs', according to Tuscaloosa News. Wallace is employed as a science teacher at Greensboro High School in Hale County. The alleged affair involving the teacher and her student came to light on December 12 when an assistant principal at Greensboro contacted the teen's mother saying he had received information about Wallace and the 17-year-old boy, according to WBRC. School official then met with the mother, and the following day an investigation into the allegations was launched. The school's website lists Courtney Wallace as a science teacher. A native of Baltimore, Wallace has lived in Alabama for the past 12 years and earned a degree in biology from the University of Alabama. A day before her arrest, Wallace posted a meme on her Facebook page featuring a quote from Luke 6:27-28 that reads: 'bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.' She accompanied the Bible verse with a status update that declared: 'People want to steal you joy, Dont let them!!' Andrew Wright, 53, was jailed for 19 years after he was convicted of conspiring to import class A drugs from Germany A pilot nicknamed Biggles who imported 34 million worth of cocaine into Britain has been stripped of his assets and planes. Andrew Wright, 53, was jailed for 19 years after he was convicted of conspiring to import class A drugs from Germany. The pilot smuggled blocks of high purity cocaine into the country in his light Cessna aircraft. The narcotics were moved by Wrights' associate Jamie Williams, 39, who delivered it to drug lord Mark Dowling, 44. Dowling, described as a big fish, was jailed for 24 years, while his trusted lieutenant Williams was handed a 23-year sentence. The National Crime Agency (NCA) announced today that its team had seized and confiscated cash and assets worth 525,711 from the gang, including Wrights Cessna plane, sold at auction for 30,000. A BMW car used by Williams, sold at auction for 12,000 was also seized along with65,000 from a company linked to the group. Police officers recovered 106,000 and 17,500 in cash from Williams home , 13,000 from Dowlings home and 250,000 seized from two cash couriers convicted of money laundering. Wright was also ordered to pay a further 32,000, including proceeds from the sale of a second plane, and Dowling 17,000, following a confiscation hearing at the Old Bailey. The National Crime Agency seized and confiscated cash and assets including Wrights Cessna plane, sold at auction for 30,000 They have three months to pay the money or receive a further 18 months in jail. Wright used his business Skyviews R Us as a front for the international conspiracy, but was arrested after landing at Breighton Aerodrome, near his home - Toad Hall, in Selby, Yorkshire. Officers found four blocks of cocaine in the boot of his blue Porsche Cayenne while another 20 were recovered from his 65,000 airplane on 17 November 2014. The 34kg haul, with a street value of 4.25 million, was one of eight importations made by Wright over a three-month period. A total of 268kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of up to 33.5million, was brought into the country, which would amount to eight percent of the 3.4 tonnes seized in Britain in the year 2014 to 2015. Sentencing the gang, Judge Nicholas Cooke QC had described the figures as staggering, telling the conspirators: Importation on such a scale requires a severe deterrence. Mark Dowling (pictured left), 43, and his trusted lieutenant 38-year-old Jamie Williams (right) were handed stiff deterrent jail sentences Officers found four blocks of cocaine in the boot of Wright's blue Porsche Cayenne while another 20 were recovered from his 65,000 airplane on 17 November 2014 The court heard how a drugs ledger found at Dowlings home revealed Wright had been given the moniker Biggles, while other conspirators were dubbed Scouser,Skippy and Ginge. Prosecutor Daniel Robinson said Dowling made 3,300 per kilo, paying Wright 1,500 per kilo and Williams a 12,000-a-trip flat fee. He said: At one point, the conspirators had just shy of 2million at their disposal.' Before the flights back from Germany, Mr Williams travelled to mainland Europe. He picked up the drugs, probably in the Netherlands, before taking them by car to Germany where they were then loaded onto the plane. He then drove to England, to Selby, to pick them up before driving down to Essex to give the drugs to Dowling, who was in charge of the operation. Wrights barrister, Tom Gent, said his client became involved in the smuggling operation after his wife lost her son in a road traffic accident. The 34kg haul, with a street value of 4.25 million, was one of eight importations made by Wright over a three-month period A total of 268kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of up to 33.5million, was brought into the country He said: Its accepted by the Crown that for many years he and his wife owned a legitimate small business in aerial photography. He took his eye off that and ran into financial difficulties. He does not seek to dispute he had a vital role in this conspiracy. He has a specialist skill and common sense suggests that is why he was approached and that is why he became involved in this conspiracy. Dowling made so much money he was able to buy his girlfriend a 49,000 engagement ring. He was arrested while making a handover of 19.5kgs of cannabis to David Rowe, 57, in June last year. When Williams home was raided by police in May last year, officers found a stash of drugs, guns, cash and ammunition. The haul brought in by the gang would amount to eight per cent of the 3.4 tonnes seized in Britain in the year 2014 to 2015 Mick Maloney, from the he NCAs Border Policing Command, said: This crime group ran an organised operation, utilising the piloting skills of Andrew Wright to import large amounts of cocaine. With valuable help from our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police, North Yorkshire Police, Border Force and the authorities in Germany we have dismantled a significant criminal enterprise. Many of those involved in this kind of organised crime see prison as an occupational hazard. Their motivation is almost always financial, so it can hurt much more when we strip them of any kind of benefit from their criminality, be that money, property or other assets. Sex is off the menu this Christmas - at least in Los Angeles - and according to a leading expert it's all President-elect Donald Trump's fault. Sex therapist Kimberly Resnick Anderson claims Trump winning the presidency has led to a widespread loss of libido in the bedroom among her clients. Dubbing it 'The Trump Bedroom Backlash' Resnick Anderson says she has seen it time and again in her office. But she claims it is more widespread than just what she describes as the 'mecca for progressives and liberals'. The certified sex expert told DailyMail.com: 'Since Trump won a common complaint in my office is that women get more easily annoyed when their husbands or boyfriends initiate sex. He's not (getting) with her: These models suggest how the couples of Los Angeles are finding their intimate lives affected by liberal women's reaction to the new president Will thinks ever be great again? Donald Trump, who has been on a thank-you tour of his supporters, is blamed for women in Los Angeles going off sex 'There are so many women complaining about it, I dubbed it "The Trump Bedroom Backlash". 'One of my patients admitted, 'Since Trump won, the thought of having sex is unappealing to me. All I can picture is him boasting about exploiting womenIt makes me sick.' 'This sentiment rings throughout my office on a frequently increasing basis. 'Another patient lamented to me that since his wife discovered he was a Trump supporter, "she wants nothing to do with me in the bedroom. It's as if I am suddenly the enemy."' 'A couple sat in my office and she said, "If you support Trump in any way, shape or form, then we do not share core values. And if we do not share core values, it's hard to be sexually attracted to you."' Resnick Anderson first noticed the adverse effect the 70-year-old real estate tycoon was having on her clients' libido at the start of Trump's campaign. His victory, it appears, has made it even worse for the women of Los Angeles - although she claims to have heard similar stories from less liberal areas. She's a firestarter: Liberal women would not have been put off sex by the election of Hillary Clinton, who was hailed on stage by Jon Bon Jovi and Lady Gaga in the final hours of her failed campaign 'I practice in Los Angeles, a mecca for progressives and liberals,' she said. 'This may slant the issues clients bring to my office, but, rest assured, this phenomenon is plaguing women all across America.' Resnick Anderson suggested that the women were motivated by Trump's actions on the campaign trail, and especially the release of a tape of comments he made to then Access Hollywood host Billy Bush in which he was recorded saying: 'When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything Grab them by the p***y You can do anything.' 'I noticed a subtle downward trend in female sex drive throughout the entire 2016 presidential campaign,' she explained. 'The trend picked up steam when the Access Hollywood tape was released and since Trump won the election, it is a common complaint in my office.' Resnick Anderson - not a Trump supporter - claimed that the tape had 'triggered' sex assault victims. 'It is once again completely acceptable to openly judge a woman based on her looks, sexualize her role in the office, and 'grab her by the pussy. 'Trump's cavalier and dismissive reaction to the sexual assault described on the Access Hollywood tape as "locker room talk" was triggering for a large swath of American women. Get back to it: Resnick Anderson said: 'Sex is a healing, rejuvenating activity and might be just what you need to reconnect.' 'Many survivors of sexual assault felt "re-victimized" by his words. 'The misogyny displayed by Trump throughout his entire presidential bid, from the Rosie O'Donnell comments to the Megyn Kelly comments, has undermined the hard-fought progress to de-objectify women.' Resnick Anderson adds that beyond Trump's 'overt sexism' in his presidential run, she believes both liberal men and women are troubled. 'Serious concerns about basic civil rights have taken a toll on people's vitality, mood, and sense of the future,' she said. 'This general malaise can easily zap libido.' However, there may be hope for those married to liberals, with Resnick Anderson suggesting that rekindling life in the bedroom could help them over their feelings about Hillary Clinton's defeat. For women who have been put off sex by Trump, Resnick Anderson has this advice: 'If you are one of these women, it is important to talk about your feelings. 'And if you have unresolved trauma from actual sexual assault or sexual humiliation of any sort, find a qualified sex therapist to help you process the impact of that trauma on your femininity, sexual self esteem, overall outlook on men, and your current relationship. 'It is important to understand, however, that you may be unwittingly blaming your partner for other peoples' crimes. 'Unfortunately, many good and respectful men are bearing the brunt of this "Backlash". 'Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Sex is a healing, rejuvenating activity and might be just what you need to reconnect. Heavily armed police have foiled an 'ISIS-inspired' terror plot to attack multiple locations in Melbourne's CBD on Christmas Day, after raids across the city. Victoria's Joint Counter-Terrorism task force arrested seven people after executing five search warrants at homes in Melbourne's north and west, including Flemington, Meadow Heights, Dallas, Campbellfield and Gladstone Park, on Thursday and Friday. Four Australian men, aged between 21 and 26, and one Egyptian-born Australian citizen, were taken into police custody over their alleged involvement in preparing to commit a terrorist attack on Christmas Day. All five were known to police and had been under police surveillance for around two weeks, with police alleging they intended to target landmarks Federation Square, Flinders Street train station and St Paul's Cathedral with bombs, knives and guns. Abdullah Chaarani, 26, was the first of the group to appear in court on Friday and was charged with 'preparing for, or planning a terrorist attack'. Scroll down for video Heavily armed police have foiled a terror plot to attack multiple locations in Melbourne's CBD on Christmas Day after raids (pictured) across the city Police remained at a property in Meadow Heights on Friday following raids on Thursday night It will reportedly take weeks for police to collate all the information gathered in the raids Police have foiled a terror plot to attack iconic Melbourne locations including Melbourne's Flinders Street Station (pictured) on Christmas Day Federation Square (right) and St Paul's Cathedral (left) were also to be targeted Mr Chaarani did not make an application for bail and was remanded in custody. Wearing a black Adidas t-shirt and sporting a long beard, he looked calm as he stood handcuffed in the dock at the Melbourne Magistrates Court, The Age reports. It will reportedly take weeks for police to collate all the information gathered in the raids and Mr Chaarani's not due to reappear in court until next April. His court appearance came as IT worker Zakaria Dabboussi was named as another man taken into custody after police stormed his Gladstone Park home on Thursday. Police Chief Graham Ashton said he believed the 'multi mode' terror threat had been 'neutralised' following the coordinated anti-terror raids which uncovered an improvised explosive device. 'The attack had the potential to cause significant community harm,' he said. Zakaria Dabboussi was taken into custody when heavily armed police officers stormed his Gladstone Park home on Thursday Police said the men in custody were known to police and under close surveillance before the raids 'The community should be concerned but should be reassured that we have got on top of this particular issue.' He said police believed the alleged terrorists had planned to detonate an explosive device and attack bystanders with hand-held weapons. 'These are self-radicalised... (but they were) inspired by ISIS and ISIS propaganda,' Mr Ashton said. 'If this had got under our guard this would have been a significant attack.' He said there will be heightened security at holiday events over the next week, including the Boxing Day Test match and Christmas Carols concert, but assured the public there was no intelligence to suggest there were any other threats planned. A woman wearing a niqab chats with a police officer outside a home in Melbourne A woman approaches a group of police officers as they continue conducting a search warrant A man holds a young girl's hand as he approaches the police raids in Meadow Heights Four Australians and one Egyptian-born Australian citizen are in police custody and are expected to be charged for their alleged involvement in preparing to commit a terrorist attack Officers were still conducting a search of a home in Meadow Heights (pictured) on Friday Police Chief Graham Ashton and Premier Daniel Andrews said there had been seven arrests, with five expected to be charged with preparing a terror act Police Chief Graham Ashton (pictured) said he believed the 'multi mode' terror threat had been 'neutralised' A forensic investigation is still underway at a property in Meadow Heights where police are believed to have found 'the makings of an improvised explosive device' TERROR RAID ARRESTS Counter terrorism officers arrested six men and one woman during raids across Melbourne on Thursday night and Friday morning. A 20-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man, both from Meadow Heights, were released without charge. Four Australian men of Lebanese decent and an Australian citizen born in Egypt remain in custody. Police said charges relating to preparing a terror attack will be laid on: a 24-year-old Meadow Heights man a 26-year-old Dallas man a 22-year-old Campbellfield man a 21-year-old Flemington man a 21-year-old Gladstone Park man Advertisement Premier Daniel Andrews said condemned the terror attack, but urged Victorians not to consider it an 'act of faith'. 'What was being planned was not an act of faith, was not an act of religious observance, it was instead in its planning, an act of evil, a criminal act,' he said. 'All of us, particularly at this special time of the year, should remember and understand that our values, our multiculturalism, our diversity, is a great strength.' 'Perhaps our greatest strength, even when confronted by these sorts of challenges,' he added. He also thanked the 400 officers involved in the raids for their 'vigilance and absolute determination' as he urged Victorians to 'go about their business'. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull commended the counter-terrorism team for thwarting one of the 'most substantial terrorist plots' the nation has ever seen. He said 12 terrorist plots had be foiled and 57 people charged with terror offences since escalating Australia's threat level to probable in September 2014. Mr Turnbull urged Australians not to live in fear during the festive season and instead embrace the 'happiness and joy' the terrorists sought to disrupt. Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) said condemned the terror attack, but urged Victorians not to consider it an 'act of faith'. Seven people were arrested after police raided numerous properties across Melbourne's north west on Thursday night and Friday morning (pictured) Seven people were arrested after police executed search warrants at homes across Melbourne An apartment building in Melbourne's north is believed to have been targeted in the raids 'What these criminals seek to do is to kill, but they also seek to frighten us, to cower us into abandoning our Australian way of life,' Mr Turnbull said. 'They want to frighten and divide Australians. They want us to turn on each other. We will not let them succeed,' he added. Of the accused - a 24-year-old Meadow Heights man, a 22-year-old Cambellfield man, a 21-year-old Flemington man and a 21-year-old man from Gladstone Park - are yet to be charged. Mr Ashton said this will occur when they appear in court on Friday afternoon. Two others arrested during the raids, a 20-year-old woman and 26-year-old man, were released without charges. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull commended the counter-terrorism team for thwarting one of the 'most substantial terrorist plots' the nation has ever seen The Australian Federal Police, Victorian Police and ASIO were involved in the raids which started at around 8pm on Thursday and continued into Friday. Police in heavy body armour gathered in Broadmeadows on Thursday night before being deployed to suburbs across the city overnight. Quijada spent two nights in prison before being released on bond Carlos Quijada, 39, was arrested last week in Colorado Springs after he allegedly entered the apartment of Logan Pierce and wife Mikaela DiGiulio The Colorado landlord who was caught on camera having sex in his tenant's bed has been pictured in his mugshot as he faces trespassing charges. Carlos Quijada, 39, was arrested last week in Colorado Springs and spent two nights in prison after being accused of illegally entering the apartment of Logan Pierce and his wife Mikaela DiGiulio. He was released from custody on bond and was scheduled to appear in El Paso County Circuit Court on Thursday, TSG reports. A motion detection camera in Pierce's apartment at the Skyway Condominiums allegedly recorded Quijada and another man having sex on the couple's bed in late November. Pierce told KKTV at the time that he was shocked to get an alert on his phone that there was unusual activity in his home because both he and his wife were at work. 'I got a notification from one of the cameras on lunch the other day that it detected noise and it was strange because both of us work all day everyday,' he told the TV station. Scroll down for video A motion detection camera in Pierce's apartment at the Skyway Condominiums allegedly recorded Quijada and another man (pictured) having sex on the couple's bed in late November Of the incident, Pierce (pictured above with his wife) said: 'It was like a total violation of privacy. Just to have somebody to come in unannounced is enough, but ... then go forth with sleeping with somebody on your bed while you're not there. It was scary' 'I opened up the camera and kind of had to like quit the program and like restart it again because I didn't really believe what I saw.' When he reopened it for a second time, he realized the footage was indeed his landlord allegedly having sex on the married couple's bed. 'I guess the first thing that went through my mind was like complete and utter disbelief,' Pierce said. He immediately called his wife to tell her that they need to move and explained what happened. Pierce then called the local police, who issued an arrest warrant for Quijada for felony trespass and misdemeanor obscenity charges. Pierce said he was shocked to get an alert on his phone that there was unusual activity in his home, while both and his wife were at work. He looked at the camera feed from their bedroom and found Quijada (above) inside their apartment Pierce claims the footage shows his landlord (pictured) having sex on his and his wife's bed 'Landlords don't have the ability to go into tenant apartments and do whatever they want to do,' Lt. Howard Black with the Colorado Springs Police Department said. Though the couple's lease says that the landlord has the right to enter the apartment, Black says this case is felony trespassing. 'It was like a total violation of privacy. Just to have somebody to come in unannounced is enough, but ... then go forth with sleeping with somebody on your bed while you're not there. It was scary,' Pierce said. To make matters worse, Pierce said his landlord used his wife's wedding dress to clean up after. 'To see how upset she immediately got because she was the one that realized that's what that was and they just threw it back and now that's gone because the authorities took it for DNA evidence,' Pierce said. Pierce called police who have issued an arrest warrant for Quijada (above) on felony charges Hillary Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin were pictured together on Thursday for the first time since losing the presidential election. The pair chatted and Abedin smiled as they walked out of Clinton's office in the Midtown neighborhood of New York City. They had spent five hours inside the office before Abedin and an unidentified woman walked Clinton to a waiting vehicle and sent her on her way with a box of documents. The lengthy meeting came in the week of an uncomfortable reminded of the final crisis to hit Clinton's campaign, and Huma's role in it: the unsealing of an FBI search warrant looking for secret emails on Abedin's pervert estranged husband Anthony Weiner's laptop. Hillary Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin worked together inside the former presidential candidate's Midtown Manhattan office on Thursday The sighting marks the first time Clinton and Abedin have been seen together since Clinton's concession from the presidential election on November 9 - a sign that Clinton's loyalty remains unquestioned Abedin, donning a long jacket, and Clinton parted ways on Thursday afternoon after spending the morning together Clinton wore glasses and a floral top to the office, as she and Abedin spent five hours together The pair chatted and Abedin smiled as they walked out of Clinton's office in the Midtown neighborhood of New York City Clinton, her husband, Bill, and her aides have said that the FBI's announcement of the renewed probe into her secret email server was a crucial factor in her election loss. But the five-hour meeting shows that there is no bad blood between Clinton and Abedin over Weiner's role in the defeat. There have, however, been rumblings of discontent inside the Clinton camp over Abedin's continued presence at the loser's side. Campaign staffers told Vanity Fair earlier this month that they 'don't give a s***' about Abedin following Clinton's presidential loss. In the process of the Weiner probe, investigators found that the computer contained 'thousands' of emails sent and received by Abedin, according to the warrant request. Many Clinton staffers lashed out a Abedin after her boss's surprise loss to Donald Trump in the election. 'Maybe I'm just pissed off, but I really don't give a s*** about what happens to Huma Abedin to be honest with you,' one Clinton adviser told Vanity Fair. That person then added that they took issue with Abedin appearing on the rope line alongside Clinton when she greeted disappointed supporters after conceding the election to Trump. 'You're staff, O.K.? Staff is staff. You're not a principal.' Another Clinton insider also seemed to suggest that Abedin was getting a little too comfortable with the limelight. 'She was enjoying the red carpet and enjoying the photo spreads much too much in my opinion,' said the insider. 'She enjoyed being a celebrity too much.' Clinton paused by the vehicle's door to speak with Abedin before climbing inside the large van A third woman, who is unidentified, carried a box of files and documents to the car for Clinton Clinton and Abedin's meeting comes two weeks after campaign staffers told Vanity Fair that they 'don't give a s***' about Abedin following Clinton's presidential loss Abedin was often photographed at Clinton events, took selfies with supporters and was also featured in Vogue - wearing a designer outfit which the magazine noted was her own. The other problem with Abedin seems to be the resistance of those closest to Clinton to get her to change her ways during the election, despite her falling poll numbers. The insider said that some urged Clinton to do The View more to show her 'gregarious side', but she only appeared once on the program. What's more, the insider claims that Clinton's inner circle grew smaller and smaller as the election approached, while Trump's grew bigger and bigger. It is unclear now what Abedin will do, having worked for Clinton ever since she graduated from college. '[S]he's someone that will be sought after either personally or through business from many rich, very rich connected people. She'll do very well for herself,' said the insider. Despite bad blood among Clinton's campaign, she and Abedin smiled as they walked out of Clinton's Midtown office after spending approximately five hours inside. While Clinton and Abedin were together the day Clinton conceded on November 9, as well as at a farewell party for campaign staffers last two days later, Thursday marks the first time they were photographed together since before election results rolled in. Last week, Abedin asked a judge to allow her to review a search warrant the FBI used to gain access to emails related to Clinton's private server shortly before the election. In a letter filed in Manhattan federal court, Abedin said she was never provided a copy of the warrant, nor was her estranged husband, Weiner, whose computer contained the emails. The letter was filed as a federal judge considers whether to unseal the application for the search warrant, which was obtained after FBI Director James Comey informed Congress of newly discovered emails on October 28. The FBI seized the laptop owned by Weiner in October, in an unrelated investigation into sexual messages he exchanged with a 15-year-old girl. Abedin watched as Clinton climbed into the vehicle. This is the first time they've been pictured together since the presidential election Abedin stood nearby in the garage as the large Chevy vehicle prepped for departure from the office After Clinton drove off in the large vehicle, Abedin headed back upstairs to the Midtown office Where it all went wrong: DailyMail.com's revelations of Huma Abedin's estranged pervert husband Anthony Weiner's sexts to an underage girl led to an FBI probe - and the dramatic renewal of the email investigation. Its announcement by FBI boss James Comey is blamed by the Clintons and their aides for Trump's victory. Pervert Weiner is back in the apartment he shares with Abedin and their son Jordan after a stint in rehab for sex addiction. DailyMail.com broke the story last September: Weiner carried on a months-long online sexual relationship with the teen during which she claimed he asked her to dress up in 'school-girl' outfits for him on a video messaging application and pressed her to engage in 'rape fantasies'. Some senior Democrats claimed Comey might have broken the Hatch Act, which forbids federal officials from interfering in an election. Abedin's lawyers said she was unable to evaluate the issue as neither she nor Weiner was provided with the warrant itself, despite federal rules requiring authorities to provide a warrant to a person whose property was taken. Clinton used the private server while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Comey had recommended to the Justice Department in July that no criminal charges be brought against Clinton over her handling of classified information in the emails, although saying she and her colleagues were 'extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.' Only two days before the election, Comey disclosed the emails did nothing to change his earlier recommendation. Clinton and her husband have launched bitter attacks on Comey for the move - and her followers have been even more outspoken. Days after the defeat she told donors in a conference call: 'There are lots of reasons why an election like this is not successful, 'Our analysis is that Comeys letter raising doubts that were groundless, baseless, proven to be, stopped our momentum.' And this week a local newspaper near their Chappaqua, New York, home, reported that Bill Clinton had told shoppers at a bookshop:' James Comey cost her the election.' One particularly bitter intervention came this week from Brian Fallon, her former campaign spokesman, who launched a tirade against Comey for revealing the renewed probe. 'The unsealed filings regarding Huma's emails reveals Comey's intrusion on the election was as utterly unjustified as we suspected at time,' he tweeted. President-elect Donald Trump's showbiz savvy is extending to his cabinet picks. Portraying the future commander-in-chief as a casting director of sorts, the Washington Post suggested that Trump, the former star of The Apprentice reality show, is looking for 'the look' among his administration's nominees. Those who don't have a certain physical presence are being dismissed, sources claimed, using former ambassador John Bolton and the walrus-like mustache attached to his face as an example. 'Donald was not going to like that mustache,' one associate told the newspaper. 'I can't think of anyone that's really close to Donald that has a beard that he likes.' The Washington Post reported that former Ambassador John Bolton (left) may have been passed over for an administration job because Donald Trump doesn't like facial hair (right) A defiant John Bolton wrote on Twitter today that he wouldn't be listening to media naysayers suggesting he shave off his famed whiskers Bolton was among those Trump was looking at while shopping for a secretary of state. He ended up choosing ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who has no experience in government or politics, but a look dark eyebrows and grey hair that commands and says he means business. Trump also contemplated the dashingly handsome Mitt Romney, despite the fact that the 2012 GOP nominee labeled the billionaire a 'phony' and a 'fraud' over the course of the campaign and actively worked against his nomination. The Post suggested that South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who endorsed Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz before saying she'd support Trump, was selected along the same lines. Despite the fact that Haley has little diplomatic or foreign policy experience as a Southern governor, she'll be heading to the United Nations as an ambassador on behalf of Trump. Going for her is an interesting immigrant backstory and she adds diversity to the cabinet, as both a woman and an Indian-American. Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, retired Marine Gen. James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, has both a look one that resembles General George Patton and the actor who played Patton in a 1970 biopic and a nickname that Trump adores. 'You know hes known as "Mad Dog" Mattis, right? "Mad Dog" for a reason,' Trump told the New York Times. And Trump reportedly looked at a number of attractive women when looking for a press secretary, starting close to home with his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway. Instead Conway accepted, as of this morning, the role of 'counselor to the president,' which means she'll work alongside the communications team, but not necessarily be a part of it. A source close to the Trump transition noted that The Donald 'was not going to like that mustache,' attached to the face of former Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton Conservative talk show host and TV personality Laura Ingraham, along with Kimberly Guilfoyle and Monica Crowley, known to those who watch Fox News Channel, were also being considered. The president-elect eventually settled on Sean Spicer, formerly the Republican National Committee's communications boss, as his loyal and pitbull-ish demeanor attracted the billionaire. Trump's aides have reportedly come to terms with their overly visual boss, knowing that he'll knock off a candidate with a strong resume if that person doesn't fit the mold of what's in the president-elect's head. 'That's the language he speaks. He's very aesthetic,' a source told the Washington Post. 'You can come with somebody who is very much qualified for the job, but if they don't look the part, they're not going anywhere.' While some have complained about Bolton being excluded from a high-profile government job because of his 'stache, including the social media-savvy American Mustache Institute, which called the move Trump's 'most offensive yet,' calling Trump out for his 'orange face and spaghetti squash mane.' Bolton, today on Twitter, expressed confidence in his look. You are here: Home Flash China on Wednesday urged Mongolia to keep its promise not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit the landlocked country again. "China hopes Mongolia will learn lessons from the Dalai Lama's visit last month and respect China's core interests," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing. Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil on Tuesday expressed regret over the negative impact of the Dalai Lama's visit on Mongolia-China relations, saying the Mongolian government will not allow future visits, even in the name of religion, according to local media. "China attaches importance to the Mongolian foreign minister's explicit statement... China urges Mongolia to honor its commitment and make efforts to improve bilateral relations," Hua said. The Dalai Lama, a political exile with ambitions to split Tibet from Chinese territory under the guise of religion, paid a visit to Mongolia on Nov. 18-23. Tibet-related issues involve China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and are part of China's core interests, the spokesperson said, adding that China's stance on these issues is firm and clear. An ABC news anchor has been caught complaining about a technical glitch during a live bulletin after she failed to turn her mic off. During a sport report on ABC Queensland last night, Karina Carvalho was heard asking producers what went wrong after the audio did not sync up with the video. Viewers were left finding it difficult to hear the news package because Ms Carvalho was speaking over the top of it. Scroll down for video ABC news anchor Karina Carvalho has been caught complaining about a technical glitch during a live bulletin after she failed to turn her mic off Viewers were left finding it difficult to hear the news package because Ms Carvalho was speaking over the top of it Several people took to social media to complain about the mistake on the 6pm bulletin, the Courier Mail reported. 'Karina Carvalho [you] need to turn your microphone off during clips,' one woman tweeted. It was last Ms Carvalho's last broadcast of 2016, but she had time to re-record the segment for the news channel's website. It is not the first time the ABC presenter has been involved in a live TV mistake. The newsreader was caught out in August 2014 when she was caught on camera walking back and forth and fixing her hair. Ms Carvalho, who clearly did not expect to be going live at that moment, was seen muttering to a producer as she walked out of shot. The newsreader was caught out in August 2014 when she was caught on camera walking back and forth and fixing her hair Ms Carvalho was caught teasing her colleagues in another gaffe in December 2013 She was involved in another on-air gaffe in December 2013, when a broadcast began before she was ready. She was seen teasing her off-screen colleagues, saying: 'You would just insert your opinions.' Christmas came early for one 13-year-old Missouri teen, who shed tears of joy with her mother after finally getting her hearing back. Amanda Eshelman, of Ballwin, Missouri, knew there was nothing to lose when she agreed months ago to a cochlear implant surgery. She was deaf in her left ear, and was slowly losing hearing in her right. Amanda kept cranking up her aid higher and higher, but the sound was still getting softer and softer. Scroll down for video Amanda Eshelman burst into happy tears and gripped her mother's hand when she finally got her hearing back thanks to a cochlear implant surgery 'She would look at me and say, "I can't hear, Mom. I don't like this. I can't hear,'" Betsy Eshelman told TODAY. 'And we would go get tested and sure enough, the right side had gone down. So we could adjust the hearing aid but then later she would say 'I can't hear, Mom.'' 'It's hard for a mom to watch.' But Betsy burst into happy tears when, two weeks after the surgery, the implant was activated and Amanda immediately realized it had worked. She could hear the sound of the fan whirring, the lights above her buzzing. The teen's hands flew to her mouth as sounds filled her ears again, laughing and crying with happiness. 'Hi, baby,' her mother said, grabbing her hand as they both began to weep. 'I like it,' Amanda told her audiologist Amy Carlson. 'It's a lot better than I thought it was going to be.' 'That's so exciting!' Carlson said while another doctor asked: 'You hear anything else?' 'The lights make noise,' she said. 'I didn't know the lights make noise.' Amanda had missed out on many sounds due to her enlarged vestibular aqueducts, which caused her to go deaf in her left ear more than 10 years ago. As her right ear got weaker and weaker, it soon seemed like Amanda might lose her ability to hear completely. She began learning sign language, taking a class at school and watching YouTube videos that showed popular songs being signed. A specialist at the St Louis Children's Hospital told Amanda the implant might not work, but she figured it was worth a shot. 'What else am I supposed to do?' she said. 'Sit in my room and cry all day? I can't do that.' An electrode was implanted inside Amanda's inner left ear, which would then attach magnetically to a hot pink sound processor the teen picked to wear on her head. Amanda's parents Betsy and Ian Eshelman (pictured) took her to a specialist at the St Louis Children's Hospital who suggested the transplant, but said it might not work The electrode transmits electronic pulses that allow Amanda to pick up sounds electronically rather than acoustically, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch. Amanda's mother said they went into the surgery cautiously. 'They had said she hasn't heard on this (left) side for at least 10 years, we don't know if it will work, if her brain will be able to recognize these signals,' Eshelman said. 'So we were a little bit nervous, trying not to get our hopes up as we walked in.' Amanda was nervous, but she was also thinking excitedly about what she wanted to hear. She didn't know that waves on a beach made a sound and she wanted to hear the tingle of the bells on the socks she likes to wear on Christmas. 'I was very excited, but I was a little nervous that it wouldn't sound how I wanted it to sound, or it would be different than I thought it would be,' Amanda said of the implant. 'Then they turned it on and it was awesome.' Amanda was shocked by the strange new sounds when she came home. It was the first time she heard her cat purr, listened to the jingle of the bell on his collar. She will now work on retraining her brain so that it can focus on new sounds and block background noise. And Amanda is excited to hear the sounds she never even knew she was missing out on. 'Every day gets better,' she said. 'I didn't realize how quiet my world had become.' Henry Orenstein, 81, narrowly survived the Holocaust after Germany invaded his native Poland in 1939 Henry Orenstein is known to younger crowds these days as the 81-year-old man who invented the Transformers doll and who also popularized poker as a television event, turning it into a multi-billion dollar industry. What is less known is that decades before poker, Orenstein had gambled with his life on numerous occasions and won one of the few Polish Jews to have escaped the inferno of the Holocaust. Orenstein's story is all the more remarkable because of the unique perhaps even miraculous - trajectory his life took, according to Newsweek. Born in Poland in 1923, the young Henry grew up in an increasingly hostile environment for Jews. In his freshman year of high school, he earned straight As, but was denied top grade honors because the school would not award the prize to a Jewish student. After the German invasion of Russia in 1941, he and his father were desperate to find a hiding place so that the Nazis would not track them down, trading their money and possessions to local Poles for whatever shelter they would offer. In 1942, Orenstein and his family hid behind fake walls in the neighbors' homes as the Gestapo were liquidating their native town to take all the Jews to the gas chambers of Sobibor. After his parents were murdered and figuring he had nothing to lose, Henry had volunteered himself and his brothers as scientists and mathematicians for a special Nazi project, only to discover that it was a ruse created by German academics who used the 'experiment' as a front to avoid being drafted into the war. Orenstein's parents were murdered by the Nazis, and Orenstein himself survived three years in concentration camps. This archive photo from 1935 shows a Nazi rally in Berlin After surviving a 10-day death march, the war was over. Orenstein would immigrate to the United States in 1948. Within a span of a few decades, he would create some of the best-selling toys ever. In 1958, he came up with the idea for Betty the Beautiful Bride, a 30-inch doll with a white dress that sold at the time for $9.99. Orenstein immigrated to the United States in 1948, where he would make millions becoming the inventor of popular dolls and toys. He is the subject of Newsweek's cover story (above) Orenstein became a millionaire after he came up with the concept of 'grocery store dolls' knock-offs of the expensive dolls that were sold in department stores. He also came up with the idea to create a doll that had blinking eyes. Eventually, he would patent the idea, one of almost 100 patents that he owns to this day. Orenstein owns nearly 100 patents on toys and other inventions. He is most famous for creating the Transformers toys (above), spawning a multi-billion dollar brand Some of the most recognizable toys of the 60s and 70s were hit the Johnny Lightning racing cars, the Dawn doll, Suzy Homemaker appliances, and Zoomer Boomer trucks. At a toy fair, he noticed a toy car that turned into a plane whenever the front doors opened up. He pitched the idea of transforming toys to American toy giant Hasbro. 'Henry basically had a sense that Transformers was going to be something that would be transformational for the toy industry,' Hasbro CEO Alan Hassenfeld told Newsweek. 'To be able to take a car and, with a little bit of dexterity, change it into another toy, that was something magical.' The owner of a Toronto comic store plays with Transformers above. Orenstein got the idea for Transformers when he visited a fair and saw a toy car that turned into an airplane Orenstein was the driving force behind the Transformers, which were created in 1984. The toy line would spawn comic books, movies, television series, and lunch boxes. The Transformers movies alone have generated over $10billion since 2004, according to Newsweek. Orenstein would then leave his mark on poker. An avid poker player, Orenstein, who had made considerable money winning tournaments, was eager to think of ways to make watching poker on television more entertaining. Orenstein also revolutionized televised poker by inventing the poker table with an installed camera that lets the viewer see the cards players were holding. Here Orenstein is seen (right) with pro poker player Howard Lederer during the launch of Poker Superstars Tournament While watching a poker tournament on television in the mid-1990s, Orenstein thought of a way to make it more appealing to viewers show them which cards the players were holding. So he hired engineers to build a card table that had internal cameras which would show television audiences previously unseen cards. President-elect Donald Trump took his air war with defense contractor Lockheed Martin to another level Thursday with a tweet threatening the future of the costly F-35 aircraft. 'Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!' Trump wrote, mentioning the major defense contractor by name. The F/A-18 is made by rival Boeing, and is a mainstay of Naval aviation. The F-35 is to be a joint strike fighter capable of meeting the needs of multiple services, but has led to ballooning costs. Trump met with the heads of both contractors at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday, but his comments on how things went were distinctly different. The head of Boeing, Dennis Muilenburg, said the costs of producing a new Air Force One, which the firm has a contract to develop plans for, would be lowered. When Trump got asked about a separate meeting he held with the head of Lockheed, Marillyn Hewson, he responded: 'Well, we're going to see. We're going to see. Just beginning. It's a dance. You know, it's a little bit of a dance.' President-elect Donald Trump said the government would 'get costs down' on an Air Force One replacement as well as the F-35 fighter after meeting separately with the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Trump went after the F-35 in a tweet Thursday evening Then Trump added, without referencing any concessions by the manufacturer, 'But we're going to get the costs down and we're going to get it done beautifully.' Whereas Boeing's exec said he made a 'personal commitment' to lower costs allowing Trump to immediately demonstrate the utility of his unusual personal intervention into procurement negotiations Lockheed had briefed reporters on how it had already lowered costs following earlier missives from Trump. Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the F-35 program executive officer, defended the joint strike fighter program in a briefing this week. 'I have no doubt that given the controversy on the F-35 program over the years, that there's a perception that this program is out of control,' he said, Defense News reported. 'That's in the past. So, if given the opportunity, I would like to try and explain to the new administration that this is a vastly different program from 2011 on. I'll just lay the facts out on the table, and I'll let them make their own judgments,' he said. Bogdan told Business Insider flatly: 'This program is not out of control.' The F/A-18 was designed by McDonnell Douglass, which merged with Boeing. It is a mainstay of the Navy's air forces. In a statement following her meeting with Trump, Hewson defended the program. 'I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we've made in bringing the costs down,' she said. 'The F-35 is a critical program to our national security and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies.' 'We're gonna get down costs,' Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago after separately with meeting with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson. Muilenburg pledged to build a new Air Force One for 'less than' the $4 billion Trump says it will cost following his meeting with Trump, who has personally dialed up execs to try to impact manufacturing decisions since taking office. Trump had blasted Boeing this month for the $4.2 billion cost of a replacement for Air Force One a price tag the company now says it can beat, possibly by modifying some of the government's long list of specifications. 'We're going to get it done for less than that, and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens,' Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told reporters after a meeting with Trump. 'I think we're looking looking to cut a tremendous amount of money off the price,' Trump said of the Air Force One replacement. Asked whether he got concessions from Lockheed, Trump said: 'Well, we're going to see. We're going to see. Just beginning. It's a dance. You know, it's a little bit of a dance.' Then he added: 'But we're going to get the costs down and we're going to get it done beautifully.' Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg (L) is escorted out by Madeleine Westerhout (R) of the Republican National Committee (RNC) after a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago 'We're going to see': Trump was less definitive when asked whether he got concessions from Lockheed Martin over the costly F-35 program Air Force One, the president's 'mobile Oval Office,' boasts 4,000 square feet of space, classified communications gear, missile defenses and a surgical suite Trump set off a firestorm Tuesday morning by tweeting that the U.S. Air Force should 'cancel' its order for new Air Force One jets because of cost overruns at Boeing Trump praised his counterparts, saying, 'And these are great people. These are amazing people. I'm very impressed with them. And good negotiators, too.' He called the F-35, which has been called the most expensive arms program in history, 'a program that is very, very expensive.' Those meeting with Trump brought along visual aids. Pentagon brass toted plastic models of the sleek F-35 jet, which has drawn howls of protest on Capitol Hill from budget hawks like Senator John McCain of Arizona for its cost. Air Force Gen. Carlton D. Everhart II, the Commander of Air Mobility Command, walked into Mar-a-Lago carrying a binder on Air Force One. 'I was able to give the President-elect my personal commitment on behalf of the Boeing Company,' Muilenburg said after the meeting. 'This is a business that's important to us. We work on Air Force One because it's important to our country and we're going to make sure that he gets the best capability and that it's done affordably.' Trump also met with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, having blasted the firm's F-35 fighter jet as 'out of control.' MODEL OF EFFICIENCY: A Pentagon official brought along a model of the F-35 joint strike fighter Trump has said the planes that will replace the aging presidential aircraft, which won't be completed until 2024, would cost more than $4 billion, and DailyMail.com has revealed Pentagon documents showing a cost of $4.2 billion. The company currently has a $170 million contract to develop plans for the planes, which must meet a variety of security and defensive capabilities to meet government specifications. Trump went after Boeing with a Tweet on December 6, writing: '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!' Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg leaves after a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago Muilenburg said costs of the planes would be below $4 billion The company plans to produce two 747-8 planes on the 747 platform. Boeing said in response to Trump's tweets: ' We look forward to working with the on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the president at the best value for the American taxpayer.' Trump's online shots at Boeing and the F-35 had immediate effects on stock prices and caught the attention of all manner of government contractors. Muelenburg, who called Trump after the initial tweet, praised the president-elect Wednesday. 'We're all focused on the same thing here, we're going to make sure that we give our war fighters the best capability in the world and that we do it in a way that is affordable for our taxpayers, he said. 'And his business head set around that is excellent. It was a terrific conversation got a lot of respect for him. He's a good man. And he's doing the right thing.' Boeing is America's largest manufacturing exporter, so any effort that somehow resulted in the loss of contracts might run against Trump's vow to boost U.S. manufacturing jobs. Heart-warming images of a young boy leaning on a public bin to complete his homework in bitter winter have gone viral on Chinese social media. Nian Nian, a nine-year-old boy, was pictured studying while his food stall owner mother worked in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, reports Huanqiu, an affiliation with the People's Daily Online. Since the images were posted online on December 21, they have been widely shared on Chinese social media with many people vowing to visit his mother's roast potato stall. Heart-warming: Photos of the boy studying outside on a bin have gone viral online Dedicated: The boy's mother owns a sweet potato stand and he is often seen helping her These pictures were posted by Qingdao Daily onto Weibo with a report explaining the situation. According to the report, Nian Nian is often seen close to the Qingdao Taitung Hotel in the city using his spare time to study. Traders say that the boy is sensible and often helps his mother clean up and also take care of the food stall. The young boy's family are migrant workers from Henan and have been working in Qingdao for more than ten years. His mother, surnamed Zhang, runs a food stall selling roast sweet potatoes in winter. Upon seeing the images, many people on China's social media site Weibo have vowed to help the boy's family. One user wrote: 'Where is the store? I want to buy his sweet potato!' While another commented: 'All his suffering will transform into valuable experience in the future. I wish him all the best.' And another said: 'Who lives close by? Help me to buy his sweet potato!' A school principal in China has been suspended after images emerged of students at his school being forced to take their exams in thick smog. On December 20, 480 pupils from a middle school in Linzhou, central China, were made to take their tests, reports the People's Daily Online. It was confirmed that Anyang prefecture suspended the principal Feng Jisheng after he went ahead with plans to test the students despite the order to close the school from the county's education authorities. Scroll down for video Shocking: Students were forced to take their exams outside in the smog Following the pictures being shared online, the school's principal was suspended The People's Daily have confirmed that the principal has been suspended from his post. 480 pupils from a middle school in Linzhou, central China was made to take their tests. According to the local education commission, Feng Jisheng had failed to follow requests for the school to suspend classes on Monday due to poor smog. The images were reportedly taken by parents and show the children kneeling in front of wooden stools as they take their rest. Over the past few days, schools in Linzhou have been closed due to the heavy smog. Northern China has been blanketed by the poor air conditions with half a billion people affected. Flights were cancelled and people were ordered to stay indoors. According to Chinese media, there was also an increase in the number of children admitted to hospital with breathing conditions. Schools were closed during the red smog alert. Poor conditions: A Chinese street cleaner wore a facemask as he passed the CCTV building in Beijing, China, on December 20 Liaocheng, China: For the past week, northern China has been shrouded in thick heavy smog An aircraft lands at Beijing Capital International Airport on December 21 However this school did not close and chose to continue with plans to test the students. According to reports, visibility was down to two or three hundred metres at the time the images were taken. Reporters arrived at the scene in the afternoon and upon seeing them outside the school, teachers decided to cancel the exams and grant the students temporary leave. However one student told a reporter that they had already taken English and mathematics tests and they were due to take a physics exam in the afternoon. Northern China is choking in the worst bout of smog this year so far. Pictured above captures the smoke discharged from factories in Changchun yesterday China called for better coordination to cut emissions after heavy smog engulfed much of the northern part of the country. Pictured above captures the smoke discharged from factories in Changchun yesterday Impossible to see: Heavy smog shrouded Liaocheng, east China's Shandong province in China on December 20 The principal told reporters at the time that the test was organised on the 19th and teachers decided that as it had been pre-arranged, they would go ahead with it. Many people have taken to social media site Weibo to complain about the school's actions. One user wrote: 'Why does the school's principal still insist it's not serious? Is he blind?' While another commented: 'The students may not even be able to read the exam question.' And one user said: 'Even if you cheat, the teachers can't see it.' Poor visability: Friends wore face masks as they passed through Liaocheng in east China's Shandong province on December 20 A mother and her son wear face masks as they try to protect themselves from poor conditions in Liaocheng, China, on December 20 Every December brings new doomsday predictions for the year ahead, but claims 2017 could see the entire internet going down for a full 24 hours are possibly the most troubling yet. Instead of a meteor impact wiping out life on Earth or a new super virus spawning, this would be a horror entirely of mankind's own making. According to US technology security vendor LogRhythm, a cyber-attack of this scale next year isn't only possible, but extremely likely. Every December brings new doomsday predictions for the year ahead, but claims 2017 could see the entire internet going down for a full 24 hours are possibly the most troubling yet. Stock image WHAT IS A DDOS ATTACK? DDoS attacks are a primitive form of hacking using botnets - networks of computers that hackers bring under their control. They do this by getting users to inadvertently download software, typically by following a link in an email or agreeing to download a corrupted file. These botnets are then used to bombard the servers with simple requests for information carried out simultaneously, causing them to become overwhelmed and shut down. Advertisement 'In 2017, we're going to see it hit big sometime, somewhere,' LogRhytm's VP and chief information security officer, James Carder has said. This wouldn't just interrupt your evening's Netflix session or Facebook addiction either, but could have globally catastrophic consequences. 'If the internet goes down, financial markets will tank,' Carder added. With a global DDoS attack earlier this year having seen sites including Twitter, Reddit, Paypal, Netflix and Spotify knocked off the internet for hours at a time, Carder believes the signs are there an attack that would take down the entire internet. He told Business Insider cyber criminals are already working on something, stating they are 'testing missiles by shooting them into the ocean.' 'We saw the massive [distributed denial of service] against DynDNS just a couple of months ago,' he said. 'That DDoS attack took down sites like Twitter and Spotify for a few hours. We saw a similar DDoS hit Brian Krebs before the attack against Dyn. These were really just tests. 'If you can prove that you can take down massive sites and a large chunk of the US internet for a few hours, a 24-hour outage seems pretty easy to do.' The blogging site Tumblr was reportedly taken down by hackers for two hours yesterday evening. This image shows the page that users were faced with when they tried to access the site as it was down A BIG ATTACK COULD BE ON ITS WAY A few months ago, a DDoS attack took down sites like Twitter and Spotify for a few hours. A similar DDoS hit Brian Krebs before the attack against Dyn. This worrying forecast suggests another, bigger DDoS attack could be the tool hackers use to wipe the internet off the face of the planet, at least for a day. 'In 2017, we're going to see it hit big sometime, somewhere,' LogRhytm's VP and chief information security officer, James Carder said. Advertisement This worrying forecast suggests another, bigger DDoS attack could be the tool hackers use to wipe the internet off the face of the planet, at least for a day. DDoS attacks are a primitive form of hacking that use networks of computers called botnets which hackers take control of. Targeting Domain name servers (DNS), they let hackers get users and machines to inadvertently download software. This can be achieved by following a link in an email or getting a machine to agree to download a corrupted file, with even smart home gadgets able to be roped in. With servers unable to deal with the sheer weight of demand, they become overwhelmed and crash. 'Like many of our aging technologies, DNS wasn't built with security in mind,' David Gibson, VP of strategy and market development at Varonis said at the time of the recent attacks. 'Unfortunately, DNS is a foundation technology for the internet that allows people to connect to internet resources with human names rather than IP addresses (think of them as internet phone numbers), and when its vulnerabilities are exploited attackers can do a lot of damage computers don't know which 'phone number' to call when you want to connect to a particular site, like Hacker News. Nokia has filed a new set of patent lawsuits against Apple in Asia, Europe and the United States. Nokia Corp had said on Wednesday it was suing Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of violating 32 technology patents - and has now filed 40 patents suits in 11 countries. Nokia shares were down nearly 5 percent at 4.496 euros on Thursday as analysts warned a legal battle with Apple could hold up royalty payments that are vital to shoring up the Finnish company's profits. Scroll down for video Filed in courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich, and the Eastern District of Texas, it covers patents for displays, user interfaces, software, antennas, chipsets and video coding. Nokia's lawsuit stems from a disagreement between Apple and Nokia over licensing fees for Nokia's technology. Nokia claims that since agreeing to a license covering some patents in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers to license its technology, which it says are used in many of Apple's products. Following the acquisition of NSN in 2013 and Alcatel-Lucent in 2016, Nokia owns three valuable portfolios of intellectual property. 'Built on more than EUR 115 billion invested in R&D over the past twenty years, our tens of thousands of patents cover many important technologies used in smartphones, tablets, personal computers and similar devices,' the firm said. Since agreeing a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products. Apple sued Acacia Research Corp and Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc on Tuesday. It accused them of colluding with Nokia to extract and extort exorbitant revenues unfairly and anti competitively from Apple. The legal action by Nokia and iPhone maker Apple appear to mark a revival of the 'smartphone patent wars' that began five years ago, when Apple filed a series of patent infringement cases against Samsung Electronics around the world, with wins and losses on both sides. Nokia, once the world's dominant cellphone maker, missed out on the transition to smartphones triggered by Apple's introduction of the iPhone in 2007. The Finnish company sold its handset business to Microsoft (MSFT.O) two years ago, leaving it with its telecom network equipment business and a patent portfolio. But this year, Microsoft sold its Nokia feature phone business to a new company called HMD Global and Nokia agreed to a 10-year licensing deal with HMD, which continues to market low-cost Nokia phones and plans to introduce new Nokia smartphone models in 2017. BEST SELLING PHONES IN THE LAST 20 YEARS The Nokia 5110 with its changeable covers is thought to have sold more than 160 million 1996: Motorola StarTAC, one of the first flip phones sold 60 million 1998: Nokia 5110 with its changeable covers is thought to have sold more than 160 million 1999: One of the first phones without an antenna, the Nokia 3210 sold over 160 million units 2000: Sleeker Nokia 3310 with extra features sold more than 126 million handsets 2003: Cheap and durable Nokia 1100 sold more than 250 million units 2004: Nokia's 2600 offered one of the first set of desktop tools and sold more than 135 million units. 2005: Nokia 110 - popular in developing countries - sold more than 250 million. 2006: Part of the 'Ultrabasic series' the Nokia 1600 sold more than 130 units. 2007: With 360 hours of battery life on standby, the Nokia 1200 was snapped up 150 million times. 2008: Apple iPhone 3G: Over 12 million people bought Apple's second generation iPhone. 2009: Some 35 million people bought the faster follow-up, the 3GS. 2010: Nokia's 5230 with free amps sold 150 million units. One of the first phones without an antenna, the Nokia 3210 sold over 160 million units 2011: Apple's iPhone 4S sold 83 million units despite battery criticism. 2012: With quad core speed and a 4.8 inch screen, Samsung's Galaxy SII and SIII sold 40 million units. 2013: The follow-up handset, the Galaxy S4, sold 40 million units. 2014: The Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sold 74.5 million handsets - 34,000 an hour at peak. 2015: Tigermobiles predicts the iPhone 6S will be the best-selling handset of the year, with the Samsung Galaxy S6 close behind. Advertisement Nokia's lawsuits, filed in courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich, Germany and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, cover patents for displays, user interfaces, software, antennas, chipsets and video coding. Nokia claims that through its investments in research and development, it has contributed many fundamental technologies used in Apple's products. 'After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights,' Ilkka Rahnasto, head of patent business at Nokia, said in a statement. 'Since agreeing a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products. The astonishing difference in the cost per mile of flying to different locations around the world has been revealed, with some routes costing up to 10 times more than others. The research, by an online booking site, aimed to find the best value airline route and revealed that Glasgow to Belfast is the most expensive at 70p per mile and Manila to Vancouver offers the best value at 8.3p per mile. The findings also show that Spain is the best value route for Brits flying to Europe and Melbourne is the best value global flight destination from the UK. Out of 48 of the most popular European routes, the journey from the UK to Spain's Gran Canaria is the best bargain, costing flyers just 9.7p per mile To find the best and worst value routes, Kayak compared 150 of its most popular journeys including UK domestic flights, UK to Europe flights, UK to global destinations and other international routes The research was carried out by Kayak.co.uk, which found the best and worst value routes by comparing 150 of its most popular journeys, including UK domestic flights, UK to Europe flights, UK to global destinations and other international routes. When fliers head from the UK to Europe they are likely to encounter some of the biggest disparities in a flight's cost per mile, found the study. Out of 48 of the most popular European routes, Spain's Gran Canaria is the best bargain costing just 9.7p per mile. Not far behind, Luqa in Malta, Fuerteventura in Spain, Warsaw in Poland and Sofia in Bulgaria all cost around 10p per mile. However, the short hop from the UK to Dublin costs a staggering average fare of 43p per mile. Out of 50 top flight routes from the UK to global destinations the best value can be found on journeys to Melbourne, Australia, costing just 8.4p per mile The Asia-Pacific region offers the most attractive cost per mile for airline routes For anyone heading further afield, the Asia- Pacific region offers the most attractive cost per mile prices. Out of 50 top flight routes from the UK to global destinations the best value can be found on journeys to Melbourne, Australia, costing just 8.4p per mile. Bali, Indonesia, is second at 8.5p per mile and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, comes third at a reasonable 9p per mile. Globally, the cheapest route in world is a flight from Manila to Vancouver (pictured), which costs on average 8.3p per mile, according to Kayak This table shows the top five most cost-effective international routes per mile The most expensive long-haul destinations for travellers flying from the UK is to Lagos, Nigeria, which averaged out at 17p per mile. Each mile of the 3,407-mile trip costs fliers double the amount a journey to Melbourne would. Globally, the cheapest route in the world is a flight from Manila to Vancouver, which costs on average 8.3p per mile, according to Kayak. The most expensive global route is from Hong Kong to Seoul, South Korea, which racks up 19p per mile for 1,290 mile trip. Kayak also revealed that domestic UK flights offer the worst value on a cost-per-mile basis Kayak also revealed that domestic UK flights offer the worst value on a cost-per-mile basis. At a distance of just 96 miles the flight between Glasgow and Belfast costs travellers 70p per mile, making it the most expensive route in the study. For travel within the UK, Glasgow to London is the best value route at 16p per mile. But in context this is close to the average price per mile of a journey between the UK and Boston. Also offering reasonable value are flights from London to Inverness (at 18.5p per mile) and London to Belfast (at 19p per mile). Suzanne Perry, travel expert at Kayak, said: 'It is interesting to see that in some cases, travellers can pay nearly ten times as much per mile of air travel. 'However, longer journeys tend to offer better value for money. This is because when setting their total ticket prices, airlines have to take a lot more into account than just fuel costs, for example taxes and airport fees among other things, which have to be paid regardless of flight length. 'Competition and popularity also appear to have a significant impact. Traditionally, he would be anticipating Christmas Day with his two children, followed by a wedding anniversary with wife Billie Piper on New Year's Eve. But since his unexpected divorce from the actress, 34, this year, Laurence Fox, 38, is expecting to link up with fellow divorcees for the festive period as he spends the first one without sons Winston, eight, and four-year-old Eugene. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline on Thursday, the Lewis actor appeared to confirm a second split of 2016, this time with model Vogue Williams, saying they continue to be 'great mates.' Scroll down for video First Christmas alone: Laurence Fox says he'll be spending Christmas with fellow divorcees this year, after splitting from wife Billie Piper (here in November 2013) in 2016 He said: 'We're just really great mates. We have always just been good mates before [meeting on] Bear Grylls: Mission Survive and we continue to be really great mates. 'There's no other else really to say, but we're just great friends.' Sources told one newspaper last week that Vogue and Laurence had enjoyed a brief romance after 'bonding over both being single and coming out of high-profile relationships.' Vogue, who split from Westlife star Brian McFadden in 2015, and Laurence were spotting holding hands in November but it's claimed their romance fizzled out. New romance: Laurence has confirmed his split from model Vogue Williams (here together in November) insisting that there is no nothing more than friendship between them Separated: Vogue and Laurence are said to have bonded over the demise of their respective high profile relationships. She split from Westlife's Brian McFadden (here in April 2014) last year, while he went through a divorce this year Fizzled out: Reports last weekend suggest that the romance fizzled out but Laurence insists they're really 'great mates' A representative for Vogue Williams has also been contacted by MailOnline for comment. Laurence admits he's 'thrilled' to be putting a lid on 2016; a year which saw him end his marriage to Doctor Who star Billie - the mother of his children - after eight years. The couple married on December 31, 2007 and subsequently both had the date tattooed on their forearms during a drunken holiday in Mexico. With the tattoo now removed, the date will no doubt have a very different feeling for both. Lonely this Christmas: The actor (here in November 2014 with ex-wife Billie) has agreed to let sons Winston, eight, and four-year-old Eugene spend Christmas at their mother's this year Fading fast: Billie and Laurence wed on December 31, 2007 - a date they both got tattooed on their arms to commemorate - but now he says he never really like New Year's Eve anyway Loaded with a subtle dig at the occasion, Laurence said of this year's New Year's Eve plans: 'I've got a feeling it might be quite a quiet one for me... 'I've never really been a huge New Year's Eve fan so it isn't going to be the kind of celebration that it's been in the past. 'I haven't made any plans but I think I'll see friends, so it might be a bit like what it was back in "those" days.' They announced their 'amicable' split in March, but afterwards, Laurence admitted that the separation had 'derailed' him. As far as an update on the Christmas traditions, Laurence says he's 'made a deal with Santa' to let the presents come early for his sons. He explained: 'Santa has kindly agreed to come a day early this year, which is very kind of him. 'So he's coming on the 23rd because we've done a deal. Then, the kids are off to their mum's the next day. Fantastic Mr Fox: Laurence had the same tattoo of the date, which he's now had covered up The cover up: Laurence display a new fox tattoo - completely covering the date inking - in June, three months after he announced his separation from Billie 'It will be my first year without [the boys] so I'll have to check in with other divorced people. Perhaps I'll go down to my mum and dad's.' Laurence has previously said that his priorities switched primarily to parenting at the end of this year as he takes care of the children while Billie works on acting projects. A talented musician as well as an esteemed actor, Laurence has simultaneously been writing more music, since his 2016 record Holding Patterns was largely overshadowed by claims it deliberately scolded ex-wife Billie. He said: 'I'm still writing, it's always just been a bit like a diary to me. So it'll be a bit of a diary of the last year - really, really cheery stuff...' Christmas update: Laurence is lamenting his first Christmas without sons Winston, eight, and four-year-old Eugene Doing things a little differently: Laurence joked that Santa has agreed to come early this year as the children prepare to spend the festivities with mummy Adding: 'Anything horrible that happens like [a separation] - especially doing what we do - is going to draw speculation. 'You only have to listen to the album to understand what it's about - it's thoughts and reflections on everything but maybe a bit more hope and inspiration, next time.' In 2017, Laurence is due to complete filming on a project beside Hollywood heavyweights Sean Penn and Mel Gibson. Named The Professor And The Madman, it is a film about the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary. But before the year is up - and in the spirit of all things festive - Laurence has agreed to narrate a children's bedtime story, just in time for Christmas. Elmo's Christmas Tail, written by Tammy Johnston, was originally released as a book but is now accompanied by a short film, produced by Michael Barrett. Laurence said: 'It's a lovely story written by a friend of mine and she asked me, because she needed a nice, deep Christmas voice, to narrate it.' With music by Lorne Balfe, the short film has amassed 41,000 views in just over 48 hours. Elmo's Christmas Tail is available to buy on Amazon now In the festive spirit: Laurence has lent his voice to a new children's book, Elmo's Christmas Tail Flash Over half of U.S. military northern training area in southern Japan's Okinawa will be returned to Japanese control on Thursday, announced Japan and the United States on Wednesday. The U.S. will return to Japan about 4,000 hectares of land of the U.S. military training area on Okinawa's main island, announced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy. Kennedy said the land return "demonstrates our continuing commitment to reducing our impact on the citizens of Okinawa while maintaining our deterrence commitment to the entire nation of Japan." The handover of about 4,000 hectares at the site was agreed by Japan and the United States in 1996, with a prerequisite of the relocation of helipads in the training area. The construction of new helipads was completed in mid-December. The land return came as the U.S. military in Japan resumed use of its Osprey planes Monday afternoon, less than a week since a major accident occurred off Okinawa. Worried about safety, local people, however, want the U.S. aircrafts to keep grounded, while the local government has urged the central government to forbid the resumption of Osprey flight operations. Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga decided to absent himself from Thursday's land return ceremony and to attend a citizens' rally on Thursday to protest against central government's decision on the Osprey issue. The Japanese and U.S. governments have been seeking to move the Futenma base from Ginowan to the less-populated Henoko coastal area of Nago. However, the people of Okinawa, on safety concerns, have been demanding the Futenma base to be relocated outside the prefecture. He appeared on Channel Seven's Sunrise on Thursday, to talk about the upcoming Australian Open. But chat soon turned to Lleyton Hewitt's Christmas plans with wife Bec, 33, and their growing brood. The 35-year-old revealed to co-hosts David Koch and Edwina Bartholomew, that the famous family will 'have a traditional Aussie BBQ,' before adding that he's yet to arrange Santa photos with their three children. Scroll down for video 'We'll have a traditional Aussie BBQ': Lleyton Hewitt, 35, revealed on Thursday's Sunrise his family's Christmas plans, before adding that he and wife Bec, 33, are yet to arrange Santa photos with their three children '[My family and I are having] just a quiet Christmas,' Lleyton shared live on-air. 'The children are excited...we have a lot of fun with our family. We'll have a traditional Aussie BBQ as well. But the popular personality revealed on the breakfast program that he and wife Bec still need to arrange Santa photos for their three children Mia, 11, Cruz, eight, and Ava, six. 'We need to do that [Santa photos] in the next few days, the kids are excited,' Lleyton continued. Family fun: Lleyton [pictured with wife Bec, 33] revealed the famous couple are set to arrange Santa photos with their three 'excited' children in the coming days Offspring: Lleyton and Bec welcomed son Cruz, now eight, in 2008 Doting: Bec often shares precious snaps of her growing brood to Instagram, including a Birthday tribute to Mia (pictured) last month Earlier in the week, actress wife Bec was spotted arriving for the holidays in Lleyton's hometown of Adelaide with their three children. It's believed the famous clan will enjoy the Christmas period with Lleyton's extended family. Lleyton and Bec wed in a lavish ceremony at Sydney's Opera House in 2005 and welcomed their first child, Mia, later the same year. Son Cruz was born in 2008 and young Ava in 2010. She has claimed her split from billionaire businessman James Packer 'destroyed her reputation and cast her out of Australia'. And for the first time since the devastating break-up, Kate Fischer, now known as T'ziporah Malka, has spoken about her decent into near homelessness. She also told The Australian Women's Weekly the heartbreak was a turning point in her life, which led her to embrace Judaism and turn away from the spotlight. Scroll down for video Rise and fall: Former socialite Kate Fischer (L), now known as T'ziporah Malka (R), has spoken about her decline to near homelessness after her split from billionaire James Packer Speaking of her decline years after her split with James, T'ziporah said women have it particularly hard following a relationship breakdown or their careers fail. 'We're just faded flowers. We're not what society deems exciting anymore. We're washed up and no one cares,' she confessed. Despite keeping the couple's home after their 1998 split, T'ziporah claims that when she later moved into a Melbourne homeless shelter, her belongings included a single mattress, a fridge by the bed and a sofa pierced with cigarette burns. With nowhere else to go, the 43-year-old said she 'just sat there and cried' for three days, but explained it was better than sleeping on the streets. 'We're not what society deems exciting anymore': T'ziporah was engaged to billionaire James (L) but said she felt their 1998 split destroyed her reputation and cast her out of Australia T'ziporah fell into a depression after living a life of fame and luxury from age 13, when she won the Dolly Magazine Covergirl of the Year competition. She dropped out of high school at 15, and was already a millionaire by age 17 before becoming engaged to James Packer at 22. It was the devastating split that led T'ziporah to search for a career in LA where she was embezzled of millions and left completely broke. Rise to fame: T'ziporah fell into a depression after leading a life of fame and luxury from age 13 - when she won the Dolly Magazine Covergirl of the Year competition Losing her money forced T'ziporah to reinvent herself and 'grow up', something she explained was difficult to do in her late 30s. 'I had to go through it - having the crappy job and the car that doesn't always start... that teenage stage of being angry with everybody. 'But it's hard to do it in your late 30s because people expect more from you.' Forgotten: Leading a secret life as a carer for elderly psychiatric and dementia patients, T'ziporah was mostly forgotten and remained in the shadows until recently Leading a secret life as a carer for elderly psychiatric and dementia patients, T'ziporah was mostly forgotten and remained in the shadows until recently. After James' split with Mariah Carey, the forgotten 'It girl' was suddenly thrown back into the media spotlight - and describes the experience 'mortifying'. Trying to make the most of her resurrection, the former Hollywood actress said she wants to warn others that falling from grace can happen to anyone. She's not afraid to speak her mind on the Today show's 'The Mixed Grill' segment. And on Thursday, Lisa Wilkinson disapproved of an American couple's decision to hold a 'divorce party' together, saying: 'I really value the institution of marriage.' The 57-year-old's comments come after the journalist admitted to her own marriage struggles and husband Peter FitzSimons' heavy drinking. Scroll down for video 'I value the institution of marriage': Today host Lisa Wilkinson disapproved of a US couple who held a DIVORCE party after previously admitting to her own relationship struggles 'If they're happy [the American couple], it's got to be a good thing,' Lisa said on the breakfast TV program. '(But) I really value the institution of marriage. I hold it very dear. 'The fact that they kind of valued it so little that they can celebrate it in a way that's kind of...' she added, before trailing off. Candid: Lisa's comments were in reference to an American couple who had separated amicably and celebrated the end of their marriage with friends and family Lisa's comments were in reference to a US couple who had separated amicably and celebrated the end of their marriage with a 'divorce party'. In photos available online, the former lovers beamed for the camera, presumably joined by their friends and family. Another image also saw the ex-wife posing next to a car which said in pink writing across the screen: 'Just Divorced'. Friendly exes! In photos available online, the former lovers beamed for the camera That's a bit different! Another image also saw the ex-wife posing next to a car which said in pink writing across the screen: 'Just Divorced' This month, Lisa lifted the lid on her marriage struggles with her journalist husband Peter FitzSimons, 55, and his former habit of heavy drinking. In a rare interview published in the December issue of The Australian Women's Weekly, the mother-of-three described the toll Peter's drinking used to take on their relationship. 'He stopped caring when he had alcohol. He wouldn't care too much what he'd say to me, he'd be careless he might upset me - and it actually takes a lot to upset me,' she said. Opening up: Meanwhile in October, Lisa lifted the lid on her marriage struggles with her journalist husband Peter FitzSimons, 55, and his former habit of heavy drinking The article claimed that Lisa would often come home in the afternoon to find her husband sleeping off alcohol on the couch. 'He just wasn't the man I married,' she confessed of her husband, who has since cut out alcohol and lost a whopping 40kgs over a period of two years. Lisa and Peter married in 1992 and share three children together - daughter Billi, and two sons Jake and Louis. On Wednesday, celebrities descended on Universal Studios Hollywood to celebrate the reopening of its stop-motion animation exhibit. Among the families who attended the fete in honour of From Coraline To Kubo: A Magical LAIKA Experience in Los Angeles was Jaime King's. The 37-year-old was the picture of cheer as she waved for the cameras whilst standing alongside her husband Kyle Newman and their son James. A day out: Jaime King posed with her husband Kyle Newman and son James at a celebration Universal Studios Hollywood threw in honour of the reopening of their stop-motion animation exhibit From Coraline To Kubo: A Magical LAIKA Experience Her wavy blonde hair cascaded over a midnight blue knit jumper that draped about the Sin City actress' svelte fame. At the top's hem was a thicket of fringe that spilt over her tight faded jeans, which went a good way toward emphasising her enviably toned legs. The trousers were cut off slightly above the ankle, and the Hart Of Dixie star had completed her ensemble with a pair of white trainers. Meanwhile, the director she married nine years past had put on a stylish jumper with black bordering about its neckline, cuffs and hem. Casually chic: The actress wore a pair of raw edged jeans with a chunky knit sweater All smiles: As well as with her family, King got herself a photo with someone who'd dressed as the title character in the 2016 stop-motion feature Kubo and the Two Strings Everywhere else, an angular pewter grey and pearl grey pattern snaked all over the top the 40-year-old had selected that day. Gleaming black shoes matched his black trousers, and he cradled his four-year-old in his arms as the cameras snapped away. Little James has now got a one-year-old brother called Leo Thames Newman, born last July, but the younger sibling didn't appear to have turned up to this outing. Say cheese! Ali Landry and husband Alejandro Gomez Monteverde brought children Estela, Valentin and Marcelo Style: Ali rocked a casual look in a black sweater and stressed jeans, but paired it with some pretty snazzy navy and black suede ankle boots Decade on: The couple celebrated their ten-year anniversary earlier this year As well as with her family, King got herself a photo with someone who'd dressed as the title character in the 2016 stop-motion feature Kubo and the Two Strings. Among the other celebrities at the event was Ali Landry and husband Alejandro Gomez Monteverde who brought children Estela, Valentin and Marcelo. Ali rocked a casual look in a black sweater and stressed jeans, but paired it with some pretty snazzy navy and black suede ankle boots. A heavily pregnant Tori Spelling, also attended with her husband Dean McDermott, the four children they've already taken it upon themselves to have and Kubo. Entertaining the kids: Among the other celebrities at the event was a heavily pregnant Tori Spelling, who stood for photos with her husband Dean McDermott, their four children and Kubo Playing the mother of an adopted son in the critically-acclaimed new film Lion has hit home for Nicole Kidman. And the Oscar winner has gushed over the possibility of her eldest daughter Bella becoming a mother herself. The 49-year-old spoke to The Australian Women's Weekly about the idea of becoming a grandmother now that Bella, 24, is married. Scroll down for video Next generation: Nicole Kidman has gushed over the possibility of her eldest daughter Isabella becoming a mum herself. Pictured with ex-husband Tom Cruise, Bella and son Connor in 1996 The mother-of-four was particularly enthusiastic when asked about it. She exclaimed, 'I hope (it happens)! I'm not supposed to say that, am I?' 'My sister's friend, who is 43, just became a grandmother. My sister and I were saying, "Oh, she's so lucky!"' she added. Mum's the word! Playing the mother of an adopted son in new film Lion has admittedly hit home for the Oscar winner. Pictured with Connor and Bella at a NBA game in December 2005 The actress and her then-husband Tom Cruise adopted Isabella as a newborn in 1992 from a married Scientologist couple, after Nicole suffered an ectopic pregnancy. They then adopted son Connor, who was born in 1995. The high-profile couple were married from 1990 till 2001. Baby on the way? Nicole is open to the idea of becoming a grandmother now Isabella, 24, is married. Pictured in London at Maddox Gallery in February this year She later married country musician Keith Urban in June 2006. Their first daughter, Sunday Rose, was born in 2008 and they welcomed second daughter Faith Margaret via a surrogate in 2010. Nicole says the script for Lion touched her deeply as soon as she read it. 'Obviously I am an adoptive mother,' Nicole said about her role in new film Lion, 'so the strength of that relationship is what I related to' She described it as a 'love letter' to all four of her children. The Hollywood star said the real-life relationship of her character Sue Brierley with her adopted Indian son Saroo especially touched her. 'Obviously I am an adoptive mother,' she offered. 'So the strength of that relationship is what I related to.' Family ties: Her first daughter with Keith, Sunday Rose, was born in 2008 and they welcomed second daughter Faith Margaret via a surrogate in 2010 She's just wrapped filming her first stint as a judge for the eleventh season of The Voice over in the U.S. And over the last month, it's been reported Miley Cyrus, 24, may take up the role for the show's Australian version in season six. Speaking with Greg Burns and Zoe Sheridan on Nova 96.9FM's Summer Breakfast on Thursday, the show's co-host Sonia Kruger refused to deny the rumour. Scroll down for video Tight lipped: The Voice Australia host Sonia Kruger has refused to deny whether or not Miley Cyrus will be joining the show as a judge next year 'My favourite show I watch all year, the only show I watch religiously, is The Voice,' Zoe gushed to Sonia. She then asked about the mysterious fourth judge who will sit in the red swivel chair next to newly-announced judge Boy George as well as Seal and Delta Goodrem. 'I know the rumour is Miley Cyrus,' she said. 'Can you confirm or deny that?' New gig: The rumours come shortly after the international pop star wrapped filming her first stint as a judge for the eleventh season of The Voice over in the U.S With a very quick response, Sonia offered: 'I can't confirm or deny at this point.' 'So you're not denying it!' Zoe replied, to which Sonia answered, 'No'. 'That gives me hope that it could be,' said Zoe. 'She could be coming in like a wrecking ball and I'm so excited. Imagine Miley Cyrus and Boy George?' Keeping mum: With a very quick response, Sonia offered she 'cannot confirm or deny' if Miley will be the fourth judge for the next season of the show The radio host went on to compliment Sonia's wardrobe for the show. 'So much of it is smoke and mirrors,' the host replied. 'One night I was wearing something and we realised it needed a black choker. I made one out of my lanyard! 'You know your security pass you wear around your neck?' she continued. 'I literally made one out of a lanyard.' Miley joined her actor fiance Liam Hemsworth in Australia during last year's holiday season. She's rumoured to be heading there again for the Christmas weekend. Liam travelled to Nashville with her on Tuesday to spend time with her family. The festive season has a habit of bringing people back to their roots. And on Wednesday, actress Rebel Wilson arrived in Sydney in true Hollywood style. The 36-year-old was escorted through the international airport by Australian Federal Police. Scroll down for video Making an entrance! Rebel Wilson was escorted through Sydney international airport by Australian Federal Police on Wednesday as she arrived home for Christmas While keeping a low profile in dark sunglasses, the uniformed officials stood close behind her until she reached her vehicle. Despite the long journey home, Rebel managed to look stylish as she wore a black and black panelled dress that cut off at the knees. She paired the garment with shiny black ballet flats and a matching leather handbag. Back home safe: While keeping a low profile in dark sunglasses, the uniformed officials stood close behind her until she reached her vehicle. Rebel was born in Sydney, and raised in suburbs like Parramatta and Castle Hill. Her mother is respected Australian dog trainer Sue Bownds. She has two sisters, Liberty and Annachi, and a brother, Ryot. Chic: Despite the long journey home, Rebel managed to look stylish as she wore a black and black panelled dress that cut off at the knees Rebel got her big break in the SBS comedy series, Fat Pizza. She later shot to Hollywood fame thanks to her role as Brynn in blockbuster comedy Bridesmaids. This Real Housewives Of New York star sure knows how to look like the coolest mom in town. Bethenny Frankel took a very fashionably approach to school pick up as she swung by to meet daughter Bryn in New York Wednesday. The 46-year-old embraced a rocker vibe wearing chic black layers that were perfect for the winter cold. After school special: Bethenny Frankel rocked an edgy black look while picking up her daughter from school in New York Wednesday The Skinny Girl entrepreneur swung by her daughter's school in a pair of skinny black jeans with a loose-fit matching T-shirt and a cardigan with a draped collar. The mom of one then added a leather jacket with a rolled shearling-lined collar that helped keep the back of her neck warm. The reality star was too busy to even realize her cute leather Alexander Wang backpack was unzipped and open. The brunette finished off her look with a pair of heeled suede ankle boots. Dark duds: The Skinny Girl entrepreneur swung by her daughter's school in a pair of skinny black jeans with a loose-fit matching T-shirt and a cardigan with a draped collar Layered up: The mom of one then added a leather jacket with a rolled shearling-lined collar that helped keep the back of her neck warm Bethenny's slick all-black look and dark shades sharply contrasted daughter Bryn Hoppy's outfit. The six-year-old looked colorful and cute wearing a pink coat, purple boots and a fleece hat with sewn-in bunny ears. The mom and business boss is an expert of balancing between mom responsibilities and having a good time. New York minute: The Real Housewife was so busy she forgot to zip up her backpack Tuesday, the alcohol entrepreneur welcomed the holidays by inviting friends over to sip from a very special Skinny Girl ice sculpture. On Snapchat the star showed off the ice-made mega-bottle of her low calorie cocktail that came complete with a chilly spout to dispense holiday drinks. Never one to shy away from the camera, Bethenney sipped a drink straight from the spout before signing off the camera. Stevie Wonder finally had his street sign sealed and delivered. The Motown legend has had a street named after him in Detroit, Michigan. The 66-year-old beamed with pride at the unveiling ceremony, held near the spot the 25-time Grammy winner started his unrivaled career. Sign sealed, delivered: Stevie Wonder has had Detroit street named after him near the Motown Museum 'Many things that have happened in my lifetime, I never imagined those things would happen. Obviously, God knew and so I'm just very thankful,' he said. 'This is just an amazing moment, Im going to freeze this moment, and remember it forever.' Wonder, who has been blind since birth, then used the moment to call for unity in the state which last month voted for a Republican president for the first time in 28 years. 'Ive never seen none of you, so when I hear things about people not liking people because of the color of their skin, it is so absurd to me, so barbaric to me,' he said according to the Huffington Post. Thankful: 'Many things that have happened in my lifetime, I never imagined those things would happen. Obviously, God knew and so I'm just very thankful,' he said. Legend: Born in Saginaw, Michigan, he moved with his mother to Detroit when he was four, and was signed to Motown Records when he was just 11 'I just say to you in this city, even in this state that has now become, at this point, a red state - Im just keeping it real - dont let the color of the state define who you are,' he continued. 'Dont let negativity say this is what you are.' 'We are on a journey. When I think about this street, now being Stevie Wonder Avenue, I want all of us to walk down the street that leads us to a place of humanity and equality, of fairness and respect for each other.' Born in Saginaw, Michigan, he moved with his mother to Detroit when he was four, and was signed to Motown Records when he was just 11. Stellar career: He went on to have more than 30 US top ten hits, sell more than 100million records worldwide, and become the most decorated male solo artist in Grammy history He went on to have more than 30 US top ten hits, sell more than 100million records worldwide, and become the most decorated male solo artist in Grammy history. The Mowtown Museum - which was formerly the HQ of the record company - is just a mile away from the newly branded Stevie Wonder Ave. The same day of his street dedication, Stevie released a new music video - Faith - featuring Ariana Grande, from the soundtrack of Dreamworks' new animated film Sing. Busy: The same day of his street dedication, Stevie released a new music video - Faith - featuring Ariana Grande It was reported on Monday that her restaurant has been named in a lawsuit. But that didn't seem to bother Eva Longoria one bit as she hit the beach. The 41-year-old appeared a ppeared carefree and relaxed as she flaunted her impeccable figure while on vacation in Mexico. The former star of Desperate Housewives seemed to enjoy her vacation despite the fact that her Los Angeles restaurant was hit with a lawsuit earlier today. Scroll down for video Vacation mode: Eva Longoria appeared carefree and relaxed as she flaunted her impeccable figure while on vacation in Mexico Wednesday Toned and tanned: The 41-year-old Telenovela star appeared to be strutting her stuff dancing in the white sand in a white off-the-shoulder bikini The Telenovela star appeared to be strutting her stuff dancing in the white sand, totally embracing being in vacation mode. She showed off her tanned body in a off-the-shoulder white bikini with barely-there bottoms. The former Desperate Housewives star had her toned tummy on full display as she appeared to move her body to some festive music. She kept her face protected from the sun with a white fedora and large dark sunglasses, although she appeared to keep her dance moves confined to the shady part of her setup on the beach. Relaxing: She later took a break from dancing her heart out to chill on a beach lounger and take some cheeky selfies She later took a break from dancing her heart out to chill on a beach lounger and take some selfies. The star shaded her face with her hat, but still looked flawless as she showed off her makeup free face. The charitable star, who appears to be spending her vacation in a massive Mexican villa, changed into a white strapless top after returning from her day basking in the warm sun. She's clearly taking the time to enjoy her vacation and get her drink on, posting a photo with a 3 liter bottle of wine, while smiling cheekily to the camera. Enjoying the good life: She's clearly taking the time to enjoy her vacation and get her drink on, posting a photo with a 3 liter bottle of wine The actress is enjoying the good life on vacation in the midst of an impending lawsuit against her Hollywood restaurant Beso according to a new report from TMZ. Michael Paul Flores filed legal documents in Los Angeles claiming he'd been beaten up by a member of the eatery's security staff while attending a movie after-party in June. The actress has not been named in the lawsuit, according to the gossip site. The actress' restaurant Beso is being sued by Michael Paul Flores after he claims he was assaulted by a security staffer during a post-premiere party in June. Longoria is pictured arriving at the event for her movie Lowriders. The actress, 41, opened the Latin eatery on Hollywood Boulevard in 2008 According to TMZ Wednesday, Flores alleged he was struck him in the mouth, face and head multiple times before the assailant fled the joint, and that staff admitted his attacker worked there and was prone to violence. Flores was at Beso to party following the screening of the movie Lowriders that starred Longoria. According to the filing, Flores asserts that the restaurant should have been prepared for violence since the film 'dealt with the lowrider subculture of East Los Angeles.' He also claims producers hired actors for the movie from car clubs that had rival gang ties. Flash Buses carrying the last batches of rebels and their families continued to leave the last remaining rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo city in northern Syria on Wednesday, state TV reported. Altogether 21 buses, part of the 60 buses that entered on Tuesday, left through the Ramouseh crossing south of Aleppo toward the rebel-held town of Rashidien in the western countryside of the city on Wednesday, the report said. Xinhua reporters were at the site on Wednesday evening, witnessing the presence of ambulances from the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent, as well as Syrian and Russian soldiers at the inspection point, as each leaving bus get searched for weapons ahead of departure. Aside from the buses, some rebels and their families left by their personal cars, some were riding pickup trucks. The process for evacuating the last batch of rebels is expected to last through the night, amid the absence of government confirmation about the exact time of the end of evacuation. The evacuation is part of a deal concluded recently between Russia and Turkey. It includes the evacuation of civilians from the Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa, which are besieged by the rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib. Nearly 15,000 rebels and their families have so been evacuated from eastern Aleppo since the operation started last Thursday. The evacuation of the rebels from Aleppo and the civilians from the Shiite towns are designed to take place simultaneously, which explained the delay in the process. The move comes as the Syrian military forces and allied fighters have captured 99 percent of eastern Aleppo, as part of a wide-scale offensive to drive out the militants from the city. With the last evacuation of the rebels from eastern Aleppo, the Syrian army will be in control of the entire city, a victory seen as a new chapter of history, as President Bashar al-Assad recently said. There's a new housewife in town. New York has welcomed another member to its high-drama bubble in the form of troubled socialite Tinsley Mortimer. The 41-year-old has been seen filming scenes for the show, People revealed. Welcome to NY! Trouble socialite Tinsley Mortimer (pictured last month) was seen filming scenes for Real Housewives of New York and is said to be joining the cast for the ninth season Replacement: Tinsley will take the place of last season's newest cast member Jules Wainstein, who after filming wrapped got involved in a bitter divorce (seen here in September) Tinsley will take the place of last season's newest cast member Jules Wainstein, who after filming wrapped got involved in a bitter divorce. The socialite, who runs in the same circles as Ivanka Trump, is no stranger to high drama or reality TV. She's a former star of The CW's 2010 series High Society and was a designer creating a line of handbags and clothing in Japan for Samantha Thavasa. However, she was also known as one of the periods top party IT girls. Been there done that: The socialite, who runs in the same circles as Ivanka Trump, is no stranger to high drama or reality TV (pictured 2014) She's also had her fair share of legal issues. The 41-year-old was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, in April for allegedly trespassing at the home of her ex-boyfriend Alexander 'Nico' Fanjul. Police said found her crying hysterically in Fanjul's front yard after calling 911. The former Dior brand ambassador and fashionista allegedly called to ask police to help her retrieve her purse inside the residence, where the 30-year-old was allegedly holed up with a new girlfriend. Legal troubles: The 41-year-old was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, in April for allegedly trespassing at the home of her ex-boyfriend Alexander 'Nico' Fanjul Instead Mortimer ended up being charged with a misdemeanor trespassing because, according to the police report, she had been warned to stay away from the property in October. 'After multiple attempts to calm (Mortimer) down from screaming,' the report reads, she was handcuffed and placed under arrest. But she says she has since turned her life around. Drama, drama, drama: The cast of The Real Housewives of New York City will return for more drama in 2017 'You lose yourself, you get so caught up in this thing and this other world and this life,' she said of her life as a famous socialite. 'Being arrested saved my life, just giving me an opportunity to understand the good in my life,' she said in an interview with Harper's Bazaar earlier this year. The Real Housewives of New York City returns to Bravo for season nine in 2017. She loves modelling her incredible wardrobe on Instagram. But on Wednesday, it was Cara Santana's gorgeous complexion that she was proudly showing off. The 32-year-old Texas born actress went without a stitch of makeup while starring in a photo shoot in West Hollywood. Natural beauty: Cara Santana went without a stitch of makeup as she starred in a photo shoot in West Hollywood Clad in a beautiful frock with fringe and velvet floral accents, Cara looked absolutely radiant as she posed up a storm in front of the photographer. She wore her brunette locks down in loose curls, and finished off her camera-ready ensemble with stockings and boho chic ankle boots. Cara topped the look off at one point with a sexy and sophisticated grey coat, which she easily incorporated into the photo shoot. Slicking her hair back away from her face, Cara looked a complete natural in front of the camera. Sexy and sophisticated! Cara topped the look off at one point with a gorgeous grey coat, which she easily incorporated into the photo shoot Flower power! Clad in a beautiful frock with fringe and velvet floral accents, Cara looked absolutely radiant as she posed up a storm in front of the photographer It's uncertain exactly what Cara was modelling for, but it's the second time in just a few days she's been spotted starring in a photo shoot. Elsewhere in West Hollywood, Jesse's fiance Jesse Metcalfe was spotted keeping things comfortable in a stylish sweater and jeans. Jesse and Cara have been dating since 2009. In 2011, they briefly split but the dynamic duo quickly reconciled. Strike a pose: Slicking her hair back away from her face, the star looked a complete natural in front of the camera Hello gorgeous! Santana flashed a wide smile as she stepped out with her keys in hand They have been engaged since August of this year. California-born Jesse, 38, popped the question with an impressive 5.5 carat stone while on a 50-foot sailboat in New York's Hudson River. Speaking about their engagement, the Dallas star told Us Weekly back in August: 'Its been a long time coming, but we couldnt be happier.' These boots were made for posing! The actress stepped out in a pair of leather ankle boots She's one half of Australia's most talked about lesbian couples. And Megan Marx is coming out swinging in defense of her steamy Maxim cover with girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon. The former Bachelor contestants were named Couple Of The Year in the magazine's latest issue, which is on sale now. Scroll down for video Fighting back: The Bachelor's Megan Marx is coming out swinging in defense of her steamy Maxim cover with girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon As the magazine hit newsstands, Megan took to her Instagram to respond to claims the cover - which features her and Tiffany topless - 'fetishises lesbianism'. 'I want to note Tiffany and I aren't specifically trying to break down the mysogenstic (sic) attitudes of men,' she wrote. 'We are trying to increase the normalisation of desire and love in any form.' 'We are trying to increase the normalisation of desire and love in any form,' Megan said of her very public same-sex relationship with fellow Bachelor contestant Tiffany She then turned her attention another criticism being thrown at the girlfriends. 'Sometimes I forget that once upon a time, I was the religious nut with terrible and harmful ideas,' she confessed. 'Even though I am human and still learning, I have changed and grown - and that is due to non-pushy ideology slowly turning me to the light.' 'Even though I am human and still learning, I have changed and grown': Megan also spoke frankly about her religious past and how she has become more tolerant over time The health promotions officer, from Gerladton, WA, was married at 18, which she now calls a 'cavalier love'. She is open about how her relationship with Tiffany, 31, is her first with a woman and wants to learn more about the fight to for marriage equality in Australia. 'I want discourse to increase, not be shut down around why love should be the thrust of marriage (seems a no-brainer),' she explained. 'Some people have been fighting the fight I am new to for many years, and I want to respect that.' Breaking ground: Megan is open about how her relationship with Tiffany, 31, is her first with a woman and wants to learn more about the fight to for marriage equality in Australia 'Some people have been fighting the fight I am new to for many years, and I want to respect that,' she said on the push for equal rights for same sex couples 'Marriage equality has been, and continues to be, a big issue in 2016 especially in Australia,' Maxim's editor-in-chief Santi Pintado told Daily Mail Australia. 'Having Megan and Tiffany grace the latest cover of Maxim, as Couple of the Year for our special awards edition, is a salute to all things love,' he continued. 'We continue to live in the hope one day our government will embrace the normality of same-sex relationships and put this inability to legalise gay marriage to bed once and for all. The sooner, the better for all concerned.' She's been a TV soap star for more than two decades. But this Christmas, Home and Away's Lynne McGranger is trading the small screen for the stage, starring as the wicked queen in a Snow White pantomime in the UK. The Southport Theatre production is the latest in a series of annual British shows the actress has participated during Home and Away's annual break. Scroll down for video The 'witch' of Summer Bay! Home and Away's Lynne McGranger lands role in UK stage production of Snow White The 63-year-old actress told News Corp she is having the time of her life playing the evil stepmother in the fairy tale. 'Im having a ball,' she said. 'It is a great cast, amazing houses with 1000-plus people at most of the shows and great audience feedback.' The Southport Theatre production is the latest in a series of annual British shows the actress has participated during Home and Away's annual break For the stage role, she received top billing due to the soap's popularity in the UK. Lynne also told the Southport Visiter she relished the opportunity to play a role vastly different from Irene Roberts. 'They are massively different, but Im a big fan of that,' she said. 'They are massively different': The role is the opposite to her part on the popular TV soap 'I love performing on stage because theres no chance for a second take. 'You have that immediacy, that bond, with your audience. I love the instant feedback; whether its cheers or boos.' While known for her role on Home and Away, the TV star also had a notably stint on Dancing with the Stars in 2014. Olena Khamula only has one wish this holiday season, and that's to spend it on the beach working on her tan. The Bachelor star posed for a sexy Instagram snap on Thursday, while showing off her toned figure in a blue and white bikini. 'I'm Dreaming Of A BRONZE Christmas,' the model captioned the picture. Scroll down for video 'I'm Dreaming Of A BRONZE Christmas!' The Bachelor's Olena Khamula posed for a sexy Instagram snap at the beach on Thursday wearing in a skimpy bikini With any luck she won't be hitting the surf alone, as Olena debuted her boyfriend Rodney Maroun at a beauty launch in Sydney last month. They were previously spotted enjoying a romantic date in Bondi Beach, shortly after her appearance on The Bachelor. The make-up artist has been working hard on her body after gaining 10kg while filming the Network Ten dating show. Trimmed down: The make-up artist lost 10 kilos after leaving the Bachelor house 'I put on a lot of weight,' the Ukrainian beauty told NW Magazine, adding that she didn't even realise the weight gain. 'Somebody stole our scales in the house, so as soon as I got out, I was like, "Right, back on the scales!",' she explained. Olena explained she didn't keep active during filming, saying she spent a lot of time 'watching Netflix and eating popcorn'. 'Somebody stole our scales in the house!' Olena said she didn't even realise her weight gain. Pictured on The Bachelor with Richie Strahan She hit the ground running upon leaving the house and lost the 10kg she gained thanks to healthy eating and exercising four times a week. These days, the reality TV star is very active, not only enjoying beach escapes but also trying skydiving for the first time. Olena, 24, came third in the fourth season of The Bachelor. Zsa Zsa Gabor's widower has taken a television crew inside the home he shared with the late-star, but according to a former 'houseboy' the relationship was not as loving as it seemed. Gabor died on Sunday following a heart attack at the age of 99. Frederic Prinz von Anhalt took Inside Edition on a morbid tour of their lavish Bel-Air mansion, and even revealed how he gave his wife CPR in an attempt to save her, as well as what her final words were. Scroll down for video Just the two of us: Zsa Zsa Gabor's former 'houseboy' has revealed her relationship with her last husband was more a partnership than romantic, according to a Thursday report from Page Six, she and husband Frederic Prinz von Anhalt are pictured together here Behind closed doors: Frederic Prinz von Anhalt took Inside Edition on a tour of the lavish Bel-Air mansion he shared with Gabor 'I lifted her out, I put her (on the floor),' he said, according to the celebrity news outlet. 'The guy was on the phone and told me what to do. I had to press on her chest by her breast because she was still breathing.' Von Anhalt then said his 99-year-old wife's final words were, 'I love you.' 'It is very sad and it is a bad feeling,' he said. Inside look: The grieving husband took a reporter from the entertainment program around their home Morbid tour: von Anhalt revealed during the tour he gave his late-wife CPR in an attempt to save her But in a touching moment, the grieving husband explained how his late-wife perked up when a Christmas tree was placed in her room. He said Gabor smiled and squeezed his hand when she spotted the tree. 'Not only did she see it, she smelled it,' he said. However, it comes as former employee Aaron Tonken said Gabor and her husband led completely separate lives. Final words: He also told the program the last thing Gabor said to him was, 'I love you' 'They had separate lives': Anton Tonken - who lived in the couple's guest house while working for them in the late nineties - said they did not have a normal relationship, as the glamorous star and von Anhalt in LA back in August 2003 Tonken - who lived in the couple's guest house while working for them in the late nineties - told the New York Post the couple did not have a 'normal relationship'. 'He drove a beat-up Buick station wagon and she drove a Bentley,' he said. 'They slept in separate beds. It was not a normal relationship.' It also appears the former helping hand to Hollywood royalty may have an ax to grind, saying that he was forced to do 'everything' and claiming he was the couple's 'houseboy'. Legendary: Zsa Zsa Gabor died on Sunday following a heart attack; snapped in the mid-1950s What a beauty: The actress was thought to be 99 years old at the time of her death, with her year of birth most likely being 1917, reports Slate.com via the New York Times 'I had never been treated so badly in my life. [Anhalt] is very arrogant and doesnt have anything, and she was vicious and mean,' he explained to Page Six. Tonken claimed there were letters from ritzy stores on Rodeo Drive that told her not to come in as she would get dresses, wear them and return them. He added: 'If you didnt understand what she said, shed scream and yell, and he always threatened to sic the dogs on me.' Von Anhalt denied all of Tonken's claims, and said he was a disgruntled former employee who had been sacked by the couple. 'He lived with us for two days. He doesnt know any stories,' he told the Post. 'We told him to go because he was looking and doing everything else except tending to the garden. He got himself in big trouble. The law took care of him.' Classic: According to Slate.com, Zsa Zsa told columnist Hedda Hopper in 1952 that she was 29 years old; pictured in 1955 So glamorous: Zsa Zsa pictured in 1957 with her hotel heir Conrad 'Nicky' Hilton and actress Natalie Wood at Mike Romanoff's Restaurant Gabor, who married nine times throughout her lifetime, was thought to be 99 years old at the time of her death, with her year of birth listed as 1917. But the Hungarian star fueled the decades-long mystery surrounding her exact birth year, with dates ranging from 1917 all the way up to 1930, Slate reported. According to the website, Zsa Zsa told columnist Hedda Hopper in 1952 that she was 29 years old. That would make her year of birth as 1923. In 1982, the starlet sent a letter to the press about the mystery surrounding her age, along with her birth registration. Timeless: Zsa Zsa, who was born in Budapest, Hungary, wrote in the note: 'All the lies about my age have been driving me crazy;' seen in a photo taken in 1976 Zsa Zsa, who was born in Budapest, Hungary, wrote in the note: 'All the lies about my age have been driving me crazy.' The screen siren continued: 'Every time I read about myself I see I am a different age, usually older than I really am.' Adding: 'God knows I am old enough as it is, darling, without adding any years.' The Moulin Rouge actress' birth certificate she included in the note to the media had Feb. 6, 1928 as her date of birth. However, that birth year is highly unlikely because if it was true, it would mean she married her first husband - Burhan Belge - at the age of nine; the former flames wed in 1937 before divorcing in 1941. If 1928 was her year of birth was true, it would also mean that she was only eight years old when she was named Miss Hungary 1936. Her baby will not arrive in time to catch Santa this year. But Jenna Jameson and her bump still soaked up the atmosphere at Santa's Grotto at The Grove in LA on Wednesday. The 42-year-old former porn star was joined by fiance and daddy-to-be Lior Bitton. XXXmas shopping! Jenna Jameson and her bump soaked up the atmosphere at Santa's Grotto at The Grove in Los Anegles, California, on Wednesday Jenna looked cosy in a fitted grey tracksuit that highlighted baby number three's progress, who is not due for another four months. She finished her wintry look in a cute white knitted bobble beanie and spectacles, with her trademark blonde hair flowing about her shoulders. Keeping comfortable, the mom-to-be wore a pair of high top sneakers. Her handsome diamond dealer beau rocked white Adidas sneakers, jeans, black tee, leather jacket and a beanie of his own. Happy family: The 42-year-old former porn star was joined by fiance Lior Bitton Tight: Jenna looked cosy in a fitted grey tracksuit that highlighted baby number three's progress, who isn't due for another four months Cosy and comfy: She finished her wintry look in a cute white knitted bobble beanie and spectacles, with her trademark blonde hair flowing about her shoulders She already has twin seven-year-old boys - Jesse and Journey - with her UFC star ex-partner Tito Ortiz. Earlier in the day, Jenna supported her fellow adult entertainer Nikki Benz, who accused director Tony T of choked her and stomping on her head during a shoot for website Brazzers. 'You are a strong woman. Just know you have us all behind you,' Jameson said. Baby daddy: Her handsome diamond dealer beau rocked white Adidas sneakers, jeans, black tee, leather jacket and a beanie of his own Number three: She already has twin seven-year-old boys - Jesse and Journey - with her UFC star ex-partner Tito Ortiz United front: Earlier in the day, Jenna vocalised her support for her fellow adult entertainer Nikki Benz, who accused director Tony T of choked her and stomping on her head during a shoot for website Brazzers Jenna - who revealed in her autobiography that she was raped twice - said she was never raped on set, but knew people who had been. 'It's about time companies like Brazzers are called out on this terrible criminal behavior,' Jameson told FOX411. 'They like to turn the other cheek and act as if they are unaware, all the while benefiting from these rape scenes... I stand behind Nikki and will do anything in my power to change these practices in porn.' In the past month, she's been linked to real estate entrepreneur Drew Davison and Melbourne millionaire Geoffrey Edelsten. But The Block contestant Suzi Taylor denied the reports on Instagram last weekend, insisting that she is very much 'single'. Now the reality TV star appears to be spending time with her girlfriends, sharing an Instagram photo of a ladies' lunch on Thursday. Scroll down for video 'Lunching': The Block's Suzi Taylor enjoyed a ladies' lunch with a female friend on Thursday, after denying reports she is dating 73-year-old millionaire Geoffrey Edelsten 'Lunching with my girlfriend from Rocky,' Suzi captioned the selfie. The post comes after Suzi strongly denied reports she is in a relationship, telling Daily Mail Australia is 'very single'. She also took to Instagram to posted a collage featured photos of herself with three men she's been linked to recently. Going solo? The post comes after Suzi strongly denied reports she is in a relationship, telling Daily Mail Australia is 'very single'. Pictured at the 2015 Melbourne Cup Just friends? Suzi recently denied latest reports she was dating her friend, real estate entrepreneur Drew Davison (L) 'Last month I was apparently dating Luttsy....This week I was apparently dating Geoffrey....And now I'm apparently dating Drew....Who's Next??? Just have ur (sic) photo with me and apparently it'll be you,' the mother-of-three wrote. Suzi was recently linked to radio presenter David 'Luttsy' Lutteral, millionaire playboy Geoffrey Edelsten and real estate entrepreneur Drew Davison. Earlier this month, Geoffrey claimed he was dating Suzi after meeting at a party in Melbourne - but she quickly denied it. 'Just friends': Suzi emphatically denied dating 73-year-old millionaire Geoffrey Edelsten, despite his claims their romance made him feel 'euphoric' Geoffrey told News Corp he felt 'euphoric' around Suzi, who he described as a 'beautiful looking lady.' Within hours, Suzi told Daily Mail Australia: 'I met him at a soiree... I'm actually very friendly, we really hit it off! 'But we're just friends,' she concluded. 'We're just friends': Earlier this month, Geoffrey claimed he was dating Suzi after meeting at a party in Melbourne - but she said they're 'just friends' The following day, the Daily Telegraph published a report that Suzi had actually been dating Drew for about six months. The publication quoted Suzi as saying: 'Yes, I am dating someone special.' She also confirmed KIIS FM's Summer Fling she was dating someone, but later said she was single on Instagram. He's often spotted without a shirt on the beach of Summer Bay. But despite filming on Home and Away being wrapped up for the year, Opheus Pledger hasn't taken a break from flaunting his buff physique. The soap star was spotted cooling off at a Sydney beach showing off a considerably more bulked up frame. Scroll down for video Home and a whoah! Home and Away's Orpheus Pledger shows off his ripped chest and chiselled abs while escaping the summer heat at the beach Looking to escape the soaring temperatures, Orpheus headed to Rose Bay for a dip in the ocean. The 23-year-old, who plays aspiring doctor Mason Morgan on Home and Away, was already shirtless, showing off his tan complexion and six pack abs. Wearing a pair of worn green cargo shorts, the soap star carries his towel and a shopping back as he makes his way along the sand. Looking good: The 23-year-old, who plays aspiring doctor Mason Morgan on Home and Away, was already shirtless, showing off his tan complexion and six pack abs Time to change? Once he had found a spot to his liking, Orpheus spreads out his towel, putting his belongings on the sand next to it and changes into his swimmers Once he had found a spot to his liking, Orpheus spreads out his towel, putting his belongings on the sand next to it. The hunky actor then changes into a pair of black board shorts so he can get into the sea for a swim. Once in more appropriate water wear, the Home and Away hottie makes his way down to the water's edge. Beach time! Once in more appropriate water wear, the Home and Away hottie makes his way down to the water's edge The water's temperature seems immediately agreeable to the ripped TV star, as he dunks himself in the small beach waves. He first tests the water by sinking into the waves, before moving on to a more definite way of getting himself wet. Splashing himself in the face, Orpheus gets his hair drenched as he frolics freely in the ocean. Dipping in: He first tests the water by sinking into the waves, before moving on to a more definite way of getting himself wet One way to wake up: Splashing himself in the face, Orpheus gets his hair drenched as he frolics freely in the ocean Staying up to his knees in the pleasant water, the sexy soap star's ripped body is on full display as he takes in his surroundings. Running a hand through his damp hair, Orpheus shows off his bulging arm muscles, which are complemented by his equally ripped chest and stomach. His board shorts also cling to his body, showing off his toned legs that have no doubt been honed through many hours at the gym. Check out his abs: Staying up to his knees in the pleasant water, the sexy soap star's ripped body is on full display as he takes in his surroundings Accessorising: Also on display is a silver signet ring on Orpheus' right hand, which he wears into the calm ocean water Also on display is a silver signet ring on Orpheus' right hand, which he wears into the calm ocean water. The shirtless swimming look also shows off the actor's tattoos which cover his rippling biceps. After having his fill of fun in the sea, the actor makes his way out of the ocean up onto the sand where his towel waits. Had enough? After having his fill of fun in the sea, the actor makes his way out of the ocean up onto the sand where his towel waits Tat's cool! The shirtless swimming look also shows off the actor's tattoos which cover his rippling biceps The revealing display comes as the hunk previously spoke of his desire to look after his body. Last year Orpheus told The Daily Telegraph of the emphasis he puts into looking after his fitness and health. 'I care very much about the way I treat my body,' he said. 'I am very into nutrition and keeping fit and yes I have a heavy training regimen.' Margot Robbie married her longtime boyfriend Tom Ackerley in a secret wedding in Byron Bay last weekend. And it's been revealed the stunning Australian actress, 26, wore her mother's 30-year-old gown on her special day. A source told The Courier Mail the dress was altered by Gold Coast designer Casey Tanswell last week. In the family! The stunning Australian actress, 26, wore her mother's 30-year-old gown on her special day '(Tanswell) had been approached by a friend to do the alterations,' the source told the publication. 'She didn't know it was Margot until she turned up at her home for the fitting.' Pictured on the day, Margot was seen wearing the boho-inspired gown, which boasted floaty sleeves and fell loosely over her slender frame. Mumma's girl! Margot pictured with her mother Sarie Kessler Revealed: The dress was altered by Gold Coast designer Casey Tanswell last week. Above, Margot embraces her beau on the dance floor With her blonde hair curled around her face, she looked every inch the dazzling bride as she chatted to her young nephew. On Tuesday afternoon, Margot took to Instagram to flaunt her diamond ring and rose gold wedding band in a cheeky Instagram snap. She was seen sticking up her ring finger to the camera while kissing her beau in the background. Love at first sight: Margot and Tom met in 2013 on set of World War II drama Suite Francaise in France. Above, the pair are pictured at the Arizona Coyotes vs New York Rangers NHL match in New York in 2014 Jewellers who spoke to Daily Mail Australia estimated the gold ring to cost between $20,000 to $30,000, with a 1.5 carat pear-shaped diamond at its centre. On Monday, Woman's Day reported that Tom wanted to get married in his native UK, but gave up his dream for his lady, who has always wanted to say 'I do' Down Under. The magazine also claimed that the pair wrote their own vows for the ceremony. Margot and Tom met in 2013 on set of World War II drama Suite Francaise in France. She gave up her small-time job as a local news reporter in Tasmania to star on one of Australia's biggest reality shows, supposedly in a bid to find love. And on Thursday, almost two months after The Bachelorette finale aired, Georgia Love took to Instagram to gush about how her television fairy tale came true. Sharing a throwback photo from the series, the 28-year-old wrote: 'Six months ago today I slipped on this custom-made @jasongrech gown, got into a limo and embarked on the biggest adventure of my life.' Romance: Georgia Love took to social media on Thursday to gush about her romance with Lee Elliott She continued: 'Stepping out at what felt like my very own Disney castle, I met 16 incredible guys, each of whom went on to impact me and my life in some way or another. 'But most importantly and most memorably, that was the night I first locked eyes on the love of my life.' The brunette finished with the cringeworthy pun: 'The beginning of my happi-Lee ever after.' 'The beginning of my happi-Lee ever after,' wrote the 28-year-old Georgia found love with hunky mechanical plumber Lee Elliott on the second season of the popular Channel Ten reality series. In an emotional finale, she chose Lee over fan favourite Matty 'J' Johnson. Georgia and Lee are now preparing to move in together, and have hinted that marriage is in their future. 35-year-old Lee told BW magazine last week he was considering asking Georgia for her hand in marriage - but he wanted to do it the old fashioned way. 'I've got the right person... I am old school, I want to do it right,' he said, revealing he plans to ask her father, Dr Chris Love, for permission first. 'I will ask her dad for her hand in marriage and do something special', he said. Love Child star Sophie Hensser has tied the knot with long-term partner Danny Bloom in an intimate Byron Bay ceremony. And Sophie, 27, looked every bit the bridal beauty, as she celebrated marrying her love of six years in the beachside wedding. The newlywed couple were spotted at the Elements of Byron Bay Resort on Wednesday in the presence of friends and family. EXCLUSIVE: Love Child's Sophie Hensser married long-term partner Danny Bloom in beachside wedding at Elements of Byron Bay Resort In New South Wales on Wednesday The Australian actress stunned on her big day in an elegant off-the-shoulder wedding gown that hugged at her enviable figure. The happy couple appeared overjoyed at the ceremony, and received a warm applause when Danny was allowed to kiss the bride. Sophie leant in for the kiss as she held her boyfriends shoulder, while he wrapped his muscular arms around her slender waist for the romantic embrace. You may now kiss the bride! The happy couple appeared overjoyed at the ceremony, and received a warm applause when Danny gave his bride their first kiss as a married couple Welcome to the family: The pair posed with their respective families in a series of professional wedding photographs A vision in white! The Australian actress stunned on her big day in an elegant off-the-shoulder wedding gown that hugged at her enviable figure The gown, which had intricate floral and geometric patterned stitch work, had a minimal train that gathered at her feet. The former Saddle Club star wore her blond locks in an up 'do with a lavish floral headpiece atop her head. Elegantly matching her headwear were white and green floral bouquets held by herself and the bridal party. Stunning! Sophie looked every bit the bridal beauty, with flawless makeup application and a stylish braided up'do with a lavish floral headpiece atop her head Who's next? Sophie is believed to have had at least nine bridesmaids, after she posed with her party to throw her bouquet to the crowd Friends in the biz: It was revealed that one of her bridesmaids was Love Child co-star Harriet Dyer Style: While the bridesmaids all were allowed to choose their own nude or pink dresses, they all appeared to sport the same strappy nude heels and carry identical bouquets Sophie is believed to have had at least nine bridesmaids, after she posed with her party to throw her bouquet to the crowd. It was revealed that one of her bridesmaids was Love Child co-star Harriet Dyer. Harriet was seen in a coral spaghetti strap frock that flaunted her slight cleavage. Pretty in pink: Harriet was seen in a coral spaghetti strap frock that flaunted her slight cleavage Preparations: Sophie also appeared to let her hair down two weeks prior with her hens 'do, posting to Instagram in a 'Future Miss Bloom' sash and wore matching kimonos with her bridesmaids the day of her wedding 'I got a bride in a bath': During the wedding preparations, Harriett captioned a snap of the pair getting ready on Instagram in the bath The fellow actress opted for a stylish bun with a floral pin and a good coverage of makeup. While the bridesmaids all wore their own nude or pink dresses of choice, they all appeared to sport the same strappy nude heels and carry identical bouquets. During the wedding preparations, Harriett captioned a snap of the pair getting ready on Instagram: ' I got a bride in a bath. #prettygoodmates #mrandmrsbloom.' Sophie also appeared to let her hair down two weeks prior with her hens 'do, posting to Instagram in a 'Future Miss Bloom' sash. Traditions: The wedding appeared to have a Jewish service, with Danny himself wearing a Kippah (traditional Jewish head covering) for the duration of the ceremony The groom looked dapper in a navy blue suit on their big day, which he partnered with a white button-up dress T-shirt and black skinny tie. As the wedding appeared to be a traditional Jewish service, Danny also wore a kippah (traditional Jewish head covering) for the duration of the ceremony, only taking it off afterwards for photographs. Many guests were also seen wearing kippot as they approached the couple to congratulate them after they had sealed their nuptials. Congratulations! Danny and Sophie stood upon a wooden platform to say their vows, with guests watching on from seats on the grass below Blessing the bride: Many guests were also seen wearing kippot as they approached the couple to congratulate them after they had sealed their nuptials Location! The resort where the wedding occurred has been open to the public for less than a year and prides itself on outdoor weddings and events Unveiling: A photographer was there to capture their most intimate part of the ceremony, right before Danny pulled the veil off of Sophie's glowing face Charming! The groom looked dapper in a navy blue suit on their big day, which he partnered with a white button-up dress T-shirt and black skinny tie The resort where the wedding occurred has been open to the public for less than a year and prides itself on outdoor weddings and events. The site insists it can cater for up to 450 guests and showcases a variety of events and weddings previously held on the luscious green grass near the sand. It also showcases a wooden platform installed for weddings and events, which Danny and Sophie stood upon to say their vows. Honeymoon? It is yet to be known where the pair plan on heading for a romantic escape in the coming weeks Beautiful! The gown, which had intricate floral and geometric patterned stitch work, had a minimal train that gathered at her feet Last adjustments: Her mother, actress Wendy Stehlow, helped her fit into her wedding gown before she arrived at the venue After their official photographs were taken, it appeared the newlyweds took a moment for reflection, away from their guests. The couple were seen holding hands on the shoreline, before leaning in for a special kiss. It is yet to be known where the pair plan on honeymooning to. She's the quirky mother-of-one who is known for her hilarious social media commentary. And Sarah Harris took to Instagram on Thursday to share a post of her toddler son riding a miniature pony. The Studio 10 host helped balance one-year-old Paul on the white horse for the photograph, which she captioned cheekily with what she thought he was thinking. 'Get me off this weird dog!' Studio 10's Sarah Harris posts cute snap of her toddler son Paul riding a pony on Thursday to Instagram... but she comically recalls he wasn't too impressed While Sarah was sporting a massive grin, her son seemed somewhat unfazed by the experience. She captioned the post: 'Get me off this weird dog. - Paul.' Sarah appeared to cut a casual figure in jeans and a loose-fitted white T-shirt, while her adorable son wore checkered pants and a grey polo T-shirt. 'Don't even think about it, kiddo': Sarah Harris didn't disappoint fans this Wednesday when she took to Instagram with a cute photo of her toddler son Paul, one, standing precariously close to her picture-perfect Christmas tree Only a day earlier, she shared a comedic post of her toddler son standing precariously close to her picture-perfect Christmas tree. The image, taken by Sarah as she reclined on her couch, was captioned with: 'Don't even think about it, kiddo.' Earlier this month, Sarah celebrated her son's first birthday by sharing an adorable and humorous post to Instagram. The blonde TV personality commented how this time last year she was in labour with her son and how her life is 'infinitely better with him in it'. 'Happy first birthday Pauly': Sarah celebrated her son's first birthday with a sweet tribute to the tot on Instagram on Friday 'Bout this time last year I was sucking down happy gas between contractions and screaming at Tom that he was never going to touch me, ever, EVER again (sic). 'An hour later, my baby boy was born. My life is infinitely better with this smiley little man in it. Happy first birthday, Pauly,' she added. The picture posted to Sarah's Instagram sees her baby boy wearing a navy knit jumper, tiny polo shirt and banana patterned bucket hat while sitting in his stroller. The beaming one-year-old couldn't look happier in the picture posted by his doting mother. The apple of her eye: The blonde TV host often posts sweet pictures of her son on Instagram More time: Sarah is taking a break from her Studio 10 hosting gig over summer Doting dad: Sarah shares her son Paul (R) with her husband, Tom Ward (L), whom she married in 2014 Sarah shares her son Paul with her husband, Tom Ward, whom she married in 2014. Meanwhile, earlier this year the popular television host announced she was giving up her hosting duties for Bachelorette's Georgia over the summer. She marked the occasion by posting a selfie with Georgia in the studio. She wrote in an accompayning caption: 'When I saw first saw this gorgeous gal stumble down the stairs in a fancy gown - without spilling a drop of champagne! - on The Bachelorette, I thought, 'this bird is awesome'. Taking a break: Earlier this year the popular television host announced she was giving up her hosting duties for Bachelorette's Georgia over the summer They have just become a family of four, after welcoming a little boy in early December. But actress Mila Kunis was grabbing juice for three on Wednesday, already looking remarkably svelte in her skinny jeans during a solo outing in Studio City, California. Just this week, a representative for Mila, 33, denied 'insane' claims that the couple were already trying for a third baby, as they anticipate their first Christmas with the newborn. Scroll down for video In her stride: New mum Mila Kunis was spotted heading out for juice on Wednesday, as she made one of her first solo outings since the birth of her second child Relaxing back into the stride of new motherhood, Mila cut a casual figure in a jumper and jeans on Wednesday. She wore her hair long and loose, with minimal make-up needed to complement her striking, dark features. Her figure was a distinct contrast from a month ago when Mila looked like she was ready to pop under the strain of her burgeoning pregnancy belly. Juice for three: After expanding her family to four, the brunette was spotted hitting Jamba Juice for three soft drinks At the time, it was claimed that Ashton was 'doting on' on the mum-of-one and encouraging her to rest, but now the actress seemed to be gaining her independence back with an early trip to Jamba Juice. The couple were spotted for the first time since the birth on December 10, nine days after the birth. They were the picture of bliss and walked along hand-in-hand while chatting merrily to one another. Mila and Ashton, who are parents to two-year-old Wyatt, welcomed baby Dimitri at the start of December. Quite a contrast: Less than 30 days ago (here on November 29) the actress was ready to pop It's no surprise that the couple have roused suspicion, since Mila previously said she was desperate for her second baby as soon as they welcomed the first. More recently, Ashton said that he doesn't want Mila to 'cut him off' now that they have one of each; a boy and a girl. 'I was actually hoping for [our second child to be] a girl,' he told Seth Meyers in October. 'Because first of all, our first girl is unbelievable. But also I figured if we had a girl second, [Mila] might give me one more shot at having a boy and now I don't know! It's even money. She might cut me off! Their family feud reached a new high this week when Kris Jenner struck Blac Chyna off the invite list for the annual Kardashian-Jenner Christmas Eve extravaganza. And the momager, 61, made a not-so-suble dig at the former exotic dancer, 28 - the on-off girlfriend of son Rob Kardashian, 29, and mother of his baby daughter Dream, six weeks - as she stepped out in Calabasas on Wednesday. Heading out for a bite to eat with eldest daughter Kourtney, 37, Kris appeared to take aim at Blac Chyna as she rather pointedly flashed a clutch bag featuring a large, bright image of a snake at the waiting cameras. Scroll down for video Slithery: Kris Jenner made a not-so-subtle dig at Blac Chyna as she accessorised with a snake clutch bag for a lunch date in Calabasas, California, on Wednesday Calling someone out? The momager, 61, appeared to take aim at the former exotic dancer, 28, as she rather pointedly flashed the item at the cameras Perhaps just proud of her new $655 Gucci accessory, the PR maestro seemed very keen to put the reptilian bag on full display as she headed inside King Fish seafood eatery. The symbol of a snake is typically used to describe a person who may be considered sly, slithery of nature or a backstabber. In spite of the ongoing family turmoil surrounding her brood, matriarch Kris seemed in good spirits as she joined Kourtney and her children Mason, seven, Penelope, four, and Reign, two. The mother-of-six teamed her reptilian handbag with a simple black tee with gold lettering, black skinny jeans and a luxurious black fur coat. Kris accessorised with dark shades, in spite of it being a rainy day in Los Angeles, and bright red Timberland boots, while wearing her raven locks scraped back from her face. Snake behaviour: Perhaps just proud of her new $655 Gucci accessory, the PR maestro seemed very keen to put the reptilian bag on full display as she headed inside King Fish Family affair: Kris seemed in good spirits as she joined Kourtney and her children Mason, seven, Penelope, four, and Reign, two, for a bite to eat at the seafood eatery Baby mama: Blac Chyna has been dating Kris' only son Rob, 29, since January and is the mother of his six-week-old daughter, Dream The Keeping Up With The Kardashians executive producer was accompanied by a burly bodyguard - a marker of the increased security measures the family have had to take in the wake of Kim's gunpoint heist in Paris, France, in late September. Kris' appearance comes as it's claimed the family feud with Chyna has reached such a crescendo that she's no longer invited to the Kardashian Christmas party. A source told People magazine on Wednesday: 'Robs family is over Chyna. She is not invited to Kris' holiday party.' It's not known if sock entrepreneur Rob - the only boy of the brood - also intends to stay away from his mother's extravagant bash in protest, or if he'll show up without his fiancee. Your name's not down! Kris' appearance comes as it's claimed the family feud with Chyna has reached such a crescendo that she's no longer invited to the Kardashian Christmas party Cutie: The on-off couple welcomed daughter Dream into the world on November 10 While the reality TV clan is trying to keep Chyna at arm's length, they remain concerned about the future of baby Dream. In fact, Star reported in its new issue on Wednesday that momager Kris is willing to offer Chyna a pay off of $5 million to hand over custody of Dream to Rob and walk away from the family. 'Five million is about all Rob is worth, so Chyna would be smart to consider Kris' offer,' an insider told Star. 'Everyone knows she doesn't love him - she could cash out now and get on with her life.' The rift with Chyna, whose former fiance Tyga is in a long-term relationship with Rob's younger half-sister Kylie Jenner, 19, follows last weekend's explosive and very public fight between the couple. Warring: Family matriarch Kris is reportedly willing to offer Chyna a pay off of $5 million to hand over custody of Dream to Rob and walk away from the family Good timing: Rob and Chyna's knock-down row erupted just 24 hours before the broadcast of their Rob & Chyna Baby Special on E! on Sunday night Rob and Chyna's knock-down row erupted just 24 hours before the broadcast of their Rob & Chyna Baby Special on E! on Sunday night. But Rob insisted on social media that the dramatic spat wasn't about getting ratings for the E! reality show, which has just been renewed for a second season. Instead, he declared himself heartbroken that Chyna had upped sticks and left the home he'd been preparing for Christmas taking their baby daughter with her. It followed the leaking on Chyna's hacked Instagram account of text messages purporting to be between her and her lawyer about her desire to trademark the Kardashian name to make money from it. Messages were also allegedly leaked between the former exotic dancer and her BFF Treasure, in which she described her fiance as 'fat' and 'lazy'. Whirlwind romance: ob and Blac Chyna went public with their surprise relationship in January, announcing their engagement in April after just three months of dating 'Tis the season to be frosty: Kris is said to have struck Blac Chyna off the invite list for the annual Kardashian-Jenner Christmas Eve extravaganza (pictured with Khloe and Kim in 2015) The hacking incident followed an alcohol-fuelled outburst that was so intense, Rob needed help from his mother's boyfriend Corey Gamble to escape his lover's attack. Chyna 'was in a drunken rage' as she fought with Rob, and 'was punching him in his back and arms,' sources told E! News. But by Monday, the feuding couple had made up with Rob apologising via social media and stating he would seek help for his mental health issues. 'They are like oil and water,' a source tells the new issue of People. 'They're both so dramatic.' Keep it in the family: Chyna has a son King Cairo, four, with former fiance Tyga, 27, who has been dating Rob's youngest sister Kylie, 19, since 2015 The ex factor: The former couple split in 2014 after three years together 'And it's really sad for Dream,' the insider added. 'It's just not healthy for her parents to be constantly fighting.' Rob and Blac Chyna went public with their surprise relationship in January, announcing their engagement in April after just three months of dating. In May, the couple announced they were expecting their first child, and welcomed Dream Renee Kardashian into the world on November 10. Chyna - real name Angela Renee White - has a son King Cairo, four, with former fiance Tyga, 27. The couple split in 2014 after three years together and the rapper started dating Rob's youngest sister Kylie, 19, in 2015 - although it was many months before the pair officially confirmed their relationship. A rich history of dedicated activism showed no sign of abating with age on Wednesday afternoon as Jane Fonda celebrated her 78th birthday by protesting against the contentious Dakota Access Pipeline. The celebrated Hollywood veteran was joined by acting colleagues Lily Tomlin, Catherine Keener and Frances Fisher for a show of solidarity with the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, whose homes, water supply and way of life stand to be compromised by the 1,172 mile long underground oil pipeline. Marching through Los Angeles, the four actresses were accompanied by Native American tribesman Grey Wolf as they railed against Wells Fargo and Chase two of the 17 banks responsible for funding the divisive project with $2.5 billion in loans from an estimated overall cost of $3.78 billion. Scroll down for video A show of support: A rich history of dedicated activism showed no sign of abating with age on Wednesday afternoon as Jane Fonda celebrated her 78th birthday by protesting against the contentious Dakota Access Pipeline Wednesdays #bankexit rally was the culmination of a growing movement, launched across social media and promoted by stars including Susan Sarandon, whereby those against the project are encouraged to withdraw their money from affiliated banks and into local credit unions. Spearheading the event, Fonda was initializing plans to withdraw her own considerable fortune from Wells Fargo in protest against the pipeline and its threat to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. In keeping with the theme of the day she was also presented with a topical birthday cake, upon which the iconic promotional image of herself in 1968 film Barbarella was renamed Bankarella and embellished with an ironic shower of dollar bills. In good company: Fonda was joined by Native American tribesman Grey Wolf and actresses Lily Tomlin, Frances Fisher and Catherine Keener #bankexit is the latest in a long line of movements supported by the actress, who has consistently used her celebrity status to shine a light on causes close to her heart. In the mid-sixties Fonda began a lengthy campaign in opposition of the Vietnam War, eventually going on to form the anti-war roadshow Free The Army (FTA) with fellow actors Donald Sutherland and Fred Gardner. In 1972 the actress would also make a contentious visit to war-torn Hanoi, where she witnessed fist hand the destruction caused by US bombing in the area. Give peace a chance: Fonda was initializing plans to withdraw her own considerable fortune from DAPL investor Wells Fargo in protest against the pipeline and its threat to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation Quite a crowd: The #bankexit rally generated a large number of people opposed to the pipeline However her visit ended in controversy after she was pictures sitting astride a Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun - a move that earned the nickname 'Hanoi Jane.' During that time the actress was also thought to be a keen supporter of Resistance Inside the Army (RITA), whereby factions of American Serviceman were against to the idea of armed combat in south east Asia, after meeting a like-minded US army officer during a trip to Paris. Reflecting on that time, Fonda later said she harboured regrets about some of her actions during a 1988 interview with Barbara Walters. Special day: In keeping with the theme of the day she was also presented with a topical birthday cake, upon which the iconic promotional image of herself in 1968 film Barbarella was renamed Bankarella and embellished with an ironic shower of dollar bills Staunch advocate: #bankexit is the latest in a long line of movements supported by the actress, who has consistently used her celebrity status to shine a light on causes close to her heart Support us: Wednesdays #bankexit rally was the culmination of a growing movement, launched across social media and promoted by stars including Susan Sarandon, whereby those against the project are encouraged to withdraw their money from affiliated banks and into local credit unions 'I was trying to help end the killing and the war, but there were times when I was thoughtless and careless about it and I'm very sorry that I hurt them,' she said. 'I will go to my grave regretting the photograph of me in an anti-aircraft gun, which looks like I was trying to shoot at American planes. It hurt so many soldiers. It galvanized such hostility. It was the most horrible thing I could possibly have done. It was just thoughtless.' Over the years Fonda has also supported a range of feminist causes, while remaining fiercely opposed to Israeli-Palestinian hostilities and the Iraq wars, culminating in an appearance at a 2007 anti-war rally in Washington DC. Previously: In the mid-sixties Fonda began a lengthy campaign in opposition of the Vietnam War She's carved out a career as a swimwear designer off the back of her stint in Made In Chelsea. And who better to model her own designs than Kimberley Garner herself, posing for a sizzling swimwear shoot to showcase her latest line. The statuesque blonde displayed her toned and trim physique in an itsy bitsy red bikini before slipping into a coordinating one-piece. Scroll down for video Perfect pin-up: Who better to model her own designs than Kimberley Garner herself, posing for a sizzling swimwear shoot to showcase her latest line Kimberley's bronzed skin highlighted her well defined abs and tiny waist as she struck a seductive pose. The blonde bombshell gave her look a boho twist thanks to some quirky accessories. A red and gold ribbon headpiece adorned with giant bells fell behind one ear while a matching festive piece hung from a hook at the waist. Stunning: The statuesque blonde displayed her toned and trim physique in an itsy bitsy red bikini before slipping into a coordinating one-piece Continuing the festive theme, Kimberley jazzed up her ensemble with a plaid bow on one hip. The halterneck swimsuit featured a rather racy Brazilian cut, ensuring her pert posterior was on show. Kimberley's statement swimwear featured lace-up detailing at the bust and a gold lame stitching at the neck. Christmas chic: Continuing the festive theme, Kimberley jazzed up her ensemble with a plaid bow on one hip The starlet proudly ensures all the pieces in her collections are made in England and the Italian fabric is hand-cut in London - in a luxury touch to help her designs stand-out in the market. Speaking to MailOnline, she said: 'I designed this year's swimwear collection all around the Island, with tropical-inspired hand drawn prints. 'I wanted it to capture that balmy, relaxed feeling of being on holiday. 'It's really cool being a young designer and I love the creative process, from design to seeing the final product. This collection is my favourite yet.' When it comes to celebrating Christmas, Australian celebrities aren't skimping out on on the bells and whistles this year. From bauble explosions to understated elegance, merry-making red carpet regulars have been making sure to flaunt their festive spirit online by uploading photos of their Christmas trees. With just days to go before Santa comes to town, we're counting down our top celebrities who have made waves with their Christmas trees this season. Teresa Palmer Getting into the festive spirit! She may have been mere days away from giving birth to her second child, but Teresa Palmer was't scared to pose for a tree-decorating snap two weeks ago She may have been mere days away from giving birth to her second child, but Teresa Palmer was't scared to pose for a tree-decorating snap two weeks ago. The 30-year-old actress uploaded the festive photograph to her Instagram account, making sure to capture herself mid-way through festooning the tree with modest baubles. The tree, which appeared to be a natural pine, sported a rather wonky silhouette with several gaps throughout. Modest: The 30-year-old actress uploaded the festive photograph to her Instagram account, making sure to capture herself mid-way through festooning the tree with modest baubles It was dotted with a handful of yellow LED lights, while a white angel jutted from the top at a slight angle. In the foreground, Teresa's toddler Bodhi, two, seemed can be seen marvelling at his mother's efforts. Teresa has since welcomed her second child and will no doubt enjoy some quality time around the tree with her expanded brood. Bec Judd Stylish WAG Bec Judd made headlines earlier this month when she unveiled her unique Christmas tree, which she revealed was made from 'recycled branches'. Taking to Instagram earlier this month to flaunt the rather post-modern minimalist 'tree', Bec wrote: 'My husband almost breaks his back every year when he needs to get our tree out of storage.' The festive starlet added: 'It is soooooo heavy (this is just the top section) and made of recycled branches by @greghatton.' Festive or flop? Stylish WAG Bec Judd made headlines earlier this month when she unveiled her unique Christmas tree, which she revealed was made from 'recycled branches' She then revealed that the stylish decorations hanging from the structure's stacked logs were purchased from Country Road. The opaque baubles retail for $15 for a pack-of-four, while the semi-transparent ones are $8.95 each. She also added Blitzen Cones to the tree, which are $8.95 each, and a Noel Star for $9.95. Wood you look at that! Taking to Instagram earlier this month to flaunt the rather post-modern minimalist 'tree', Bec wrote: 'My husband almost breaks his back every year when he needs to get our tree out of storage' Kyal and Kara The Block couple Kyal and Kara Demmrich welcomed their first child Ziya Christopher in October. So it's no wonder the pair were excited to give their new tot his first taste of Christmas cheer this year. The crafty pair showcased their interior design prowess when it came to their Christmas tree decorations, with the pair uploading a photo of the festooned structure two weeks ago. Family festival: The Block couple Kyal and Kara Demmrich welcomed their first child Ziya Christopher in October, so it's no wonder the pair were excited to give their new tot his first taste of Christmas cheer this year Quirky and rustic, the fluffy pine tree was dotted with ply circle pendants and hanging wicker stars. In the caption, the pair wrote: T'hanks @_shartruese for the ply decorations - I was going to use them as gift tags but they're too pretty to part with lol.' '#SeasonToGive #JustNotTheSwingTags #ToowoonBay,' they added. Homely: Quirky and rustic, the fluffy pine tree was dotted with ply circle pendants and hanging wicker stars Jules Sebastian She's a professional fashion stylist and lifestyle guru. So it's no surprise Jules Sebastian, wife of Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian, pulled out all the stops when it came to decorating the family Christmas tree this year. Two weeks ago, the doting mother-of-two shared a photo of her sons, Hudson, four, and two-year-old Archer, helping her decorate the tree with foil-tone baubles. Glitzy: Jules Sebastian, wife of Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian, pulled out all the stops when it came to decorating the family Christmas tree this year Facing away from the camera, the cute children appeared to be wearing their pajamas as they gleefully strung the decorations onto low-hanging boughs. Jules kept her caption short and sweet, simply posting a series of Christmas tree and love heart emojis. Guy was quick to comment below the snap, writing: 'Almost home. I'm bummed I missed the tree!' 'I'm taking everything off tonight to redo tomorrow,' he joked. Getting everyone involved! Two weeks ago, the doting mother-of-two shared a photo of her sons, Hudson, four, and two-year-old Archer, helping her decorate the tree with foil-tone baubles Oops! Guy was quick to comment below the snap, writing: 'Almost home. I'm bummed I missed the tree!' David Campbell When it comes to Christmas at the Campbell household, pragmatism appears to be of utmost importance. David Campbell, Host of Today Extra, delighted fans last week when he shared a photo of his bauble-lade Christmas tree, as well as a protective baby-proof cage that surrounded its perimeter. 'The Christmas Tree is back and so is the baby cage to protect the tree from [baby emojis],' he quipped in the caption. Off limits! David Campbell, Host of Today Extra, delighted fans last week when he shared a photo of his bauble-lade Christmas tree, as well as a protective baby-proof cage that surrounded its perimeter Indeed, David is father to three young tots - Betty, Billy and Leo- who no doubt would have a ball dismantling the colourful tree if given the chance. The tree itself was a kaleidoscope of brightly-coloured baubles, twinkling stars, miniature gingerbread houses and Santa dolls, LED lights and cardboard cut-outs. A large yellow starr appeared to sit at the tree's crown. Not taking any chances: Indeed, David is father to three young tots - Betty, Billy and Leo- who no doubt would have a ball dismantling the colourful tree if given the chance Kyly Clarke Like David Campbell, WAG Kyly Clarke is no stranger to having adventurous hands crawling around the house in search of new toys. And the stylish candle-designer made sure to protect her and husband Michael's Christmas tree this year by placing baubles out of her one-year-old daughter Kelsey Lee's reach. Taking to Instagram with a photo with her snow-white faux pine tree, Kyly wrote: 'Mumma said this is our new style Xmas tree for a one year old!' Out of reach: Kyly Clarke de sure to protect her and husband Michael's Christmas tree this year by placing baubles out of her one-year-old daughter Kelsey Lee's reach In the caption, the Lyfestyled blogger wrote: 'And the tree is up!!!! Notice something?' Michael soon piped up with a comment underneath the cheeky image, writing: 'I hope that stocking is for me!' Despite the baby-proofing precautions, stylish Kyly managed to pull off an impressive-looking decorative design for the Christmas tree. It's white boughs were dotted with pearlescent baubles in graduating sizes, over-sized satin bows and a frosted white star at the crown. Don't forget about me! Michael soon piped up with a comment underneath the cheeky image, writing: 'I hope that stocking is for me!' Still chic: Despite the baby-proofing precautions, stylish Kyly managed to pull off an impressive-looking decorative design for the Christmas tree Sarah Harris In contrast, Studio 10 host Sarah Harris chose not to baby-proof her miniature Christmas tree, despite having her one-year-old son Paul running amok through the house. Instead, the comedic presenter opted for the old fashioned method of sternly telling off her cheeky son whenever he ventures too close to the immaculately-decorated tree. On Wednesday, Sarah took to Instagram with a cute photo of Paul standing precariously close to her dazzling tree. Out of bounds: In contrast, Studio 10 host Sarah Harris chose not to baby-proof her miniature Christmas tree, despite having her one-year-old son Paul running amok through the house The image, taken by Sarah as she reclined on her couch, was captioned with: 'Don't even think about it, kiddo.' She also used the hilarious hashtags: #stepawayfromthetree #bustingmybaubles and #lovesshinythings. Sarah and her family clearly spent time decorating the petite tree, which was elegantly festooned with baubles, tinsel and a star, all in glittering gold. All that glitters! Sarah and her family clearly spent time decorating the petite tree, which was elegantly festooned with baubles, tinsel and a star, all in glittering gold Cheyenne Tozzi Model and musician Cheyenne Tozzi wasn't shy to put on a gaudy display when it came to her Christmas tree decorations. The Australia's Next Top Model mentor showcased her family's enormous tree two weeks ago with a blinding video showcasing it's flashing lights and luminous white decorations. 'I love Christmas time', she wrote in the caption as she panned the camera around the blindingly lit-up lounge room. Not so subtle! Model and musician Cheyenne Tozzi wasn't shy to put on a gaudy display when it came to her Christmas tree decorations With backgrounds in Made In Chelsea and Geordie Shore, they're more like star-crossed lovers than a match made in heaven. But Charlotte Crosby, 26, has revealed all on her steamy rendezvous with posh TV hunk Alex Mytton, 25, after striking up a bond on MailOnline's Seriously Popular yacht in Cannes, this summer. Outspoken reality star Charlotte spilled all the details in a chat with Alex's close pal Jamie Laing for his new E4 chat show, In Bed With Jamie, due to air this Christmas. Scroll down for video Secret rendezvous: Charlotte Crosby (left) has let slip about her secret summer hook-up with Alex Mytton (right) after meeting at MailOnline's yacht party in Cannes Admitting that she shared a bed with TV hunk Alex, Charlotte revealed: 'There was a spoon, I'm sure there was. We were in bed a long time.' Turning coy on the subject, she concluded: 'There was a lot of spooning, because that's all that happened... We were definitely not naked.' Insiders told MailOnline that the duo were seen intimately whispering on the final night of the Cannes Lions festival, where they both attended a high profile yacht party attended by Jason Derulo, Blac Chyna and Amber Rose. 'They shared an instant chemistry,' the source revealed. 'It was obvious that they were going to hook-up, if they hadn't already.' Letting it slip: Charlotte revealed all the details to Alex's best friend Jamie Laing Having a laugh: The duo chatted about the hook up on Jamie's new show In Bed With Jamie Spilling secrets: She tried to deny the summer hook-up but onlookers spotted the chemistry between the pair Chat show king: Jamie has begun a new series of In Bed With Jamie At Christmas for E4 That night, the couple were said to have been seen leaving together, after sharing drinks with high profile attendees like superstar DJ Craig David. Alex's friend Jamie was just one of the guests joining Charlotte in Cannes last summer when the E4 cast gathered to film Made In Chelsea: South Of France. While Jamie was in the throes of a relationship with Frankie Gaff, Alex let slip that his relationship with Nicola Hughes had ended, during an interview with MailOnline. He therefore spent the summer single, before quickly striking up a relationship with Kate Moss' half sister Lottie in the autumn and they have just returned from a romantic first holiday in Barbados. Best of pals: The Made In Chelsea reality stars (from left, Sam Thompson, Jamie and Alex) were just some of the high profile guests on MailOnline's Seriously Popular yacht in Cannes this summer Party people: Jamie (second left) and the Made In Chelsea cast took Charlotte (second right) under their wing during a long, hot summer in South of France Charlotte on the other hand, was bouncing back from the tumultuous breakdown of her relationship with Geordie Shore co-star Gaz Beadle. News of her ectopic pregnancy had just gone mainstream the month before and the brunette was leaning on Alex's ex-girlfriend and mutual friend Binky Felstead for support, in Cannes. During the summer break, Alex and his MIC co-stars told MailOnline that they had taken Charlotte under their wing and made her an honourary castmember. Lost love: Charlotte was on the rebound from ex-boyfriend Gaz Beadle (here together in December) who she now says will never be faithful because he is a 'serial cheater' 'She can drink us under the table. We were just out last night, in fact,' Ollie Locke explained on the second night of MailOnline's annual yacht party. The Newcastle-born cast of MTV's Geordie Shore are notorious for hard-partying and heavy drinking. Charlotte concurred, boasting about their boozy nights out by saying: 'They're pretty big drinkers. Last night... it was pretty hardcore.' In Bed With Jamie At Christmas airs on E4 on December 26 at 10pm Summer of love: During an interview with MailOnline that June, Alex hinted that his relationship with co-star Nicola Hughes (here together in April) was over Her doe-eyed model sister Suki is undoubtedly the best-known member of the genetically-blessed Waterhouse gang. But Immy Waterhouse stole the spotlight for herself as she hit the beach during a festive family holiday in Barbados with her parents, Norman and Elizabeth, and siblings Suki, 24, Maddi, 17, and Charlie, 17, on Wednesday. Splashing in the sea as she went for a swim with her mother, the model, 22, showcased her toned figure in a pale blue tie-up bikini. Scroll down for video Going for a swimmy, Immy? Immy Waterhouse stole the spotlight as she hit the beach during a festive family holiday in Barbados in Wednesday The cover girl went make-up free to show off her naturally pretty features, and wore her long blonde locks hanging around her shoulders in loose tendrils. Immy sheltered her eyes from the Caribbean sun with a pair of oversized shades, and accessorised with a delicate gold pendant as she lapped up the rays. Showing where her daughters got their striking looks from, former nurse Elizabeth displayed her incredibly toned physique in a blue patterned bikini as she hit the beach in Bridgetown. Earlier in the day, Immy opted for a sportier look as she went for an early-morning run with Suki - the ex-girlfriend of Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper, 41 - and the girls' renowned plastic surgeon father, Norman. Model behaviour: The beauty, 22, showcased her toned figure in a pale blue tie-up bikini Fun in the sun: The cover girl went make-up free to show off her naturally pretty features, and wore her long blonde locks hanging around her shoulders in loose tendrils The model teamed a navy blue crop top with a pair of high-waisted shorts as she worked off any holiday excesses with a light jog. Immy - possibly with a little help from her big sister - has secured numerous modelling campaigns, magazine covers and acting roles over the past couple of years, including work for Dior and Tommy Hilfiger and a Tatler cover shoot. The model made her catwalk debut alongside Georgia May Jagger at London Fashion Week in February 2015. Suki has moved away from modelling in recent months after securing a number of film roles, most recently in The Bad Batch and Billionaire Boys Club. Mum's the word: Showing where her daughters got their striking looks from, former nurse Elizabeth displayed her incredibly toned physique in a blue patterned bikini Natural beauty: Immy sheltered her eyes from the Caribbean sun with a pair of oversized shades, and accessorised with a delicate gold pendant as she lapped up the rays She got it from her mama! Elizabeth and Immy seemed to be deep in conversation as they waded into the crystal clear waters The former Burberry beauty split from ex-boyfriend Bradley Cooper in March 2015, with the high-profile couple having dated for two years after meeting at the ELLE Style Awards in London in early 2013. The Oscar-nominated actor is now believed to be expecting his first child with Russian supermodel Irina Shayk, 30. The couple started dating in May 2015 after meeting at the Met Gala in New York City and Bradley moved into Irina's West Village apartment in November 2015. Although they are yet to publicly confirm their baby news, the catwalk queen unveiled a visible baby bump as she made her debut at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, last month. Working up a sweat: Earlier in the day, Immy opted for a sportier look as she went for an early-morning run on the beach Top of the crops: The model teamed a navy blue crop top with a pair of high-waisted shorts for her jog with sister Suki, 24, and renowned plastic surgeon father Norman She's the stunning blonde known for her Barbie doll beauty. But on Thursday, fans were subjected to a much scarier side of Sophie Monk after the star took to social media to pose in a terrifying face mask. The 37-year-old said that she was 'meant to be a deer,' but instead she resembled Leatherface from the 1974 horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Separated at birth? Sophie Monk wore a scary face mask on Thursday, which caused her to look like the mirror image of the murderous Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre She was joined in the selfie by her friend, famed nutritionist Lola Berry, who was sporting a Santa face mask. Unlike Sophie, Lola's mask made her look cute and friendly instead of scary. While the former Bardot babe happened to mirror Leatherface on this occasion, she recently opened up on her radio show about once being mistaken for a prostitute by police in America. Twosome: Sophie was joined by her friend, famed nutritionist Lola Berry, who looked less scary in her Santa face mask Bombshell: The 37-year-old is usually known for her stunning Barbie doll looks Explaining what happened, Sophie said she walked to get food early in the morning after being on set of a horror film, when she was approached by officers. 'One of the guys knocks the other and goes, "I've seen her around these streets mate," Sophie explained about being mistaken for a hooker. 'And I was like, NO!,' Sophie said, revealing she was offended they thought she was a sex worker. Mistaken identity: Sophie recently opened up on her radio show about once being mistaken for a prostitute by police in America 'That is not a compliment, not one bit, I don't care if I was a hot A-class prostitute,' she said with a laugh. The media personality - who has been in films including Date Movie - said she was trying to convince the policemen that she was an actress. 'I was like I'm going to have drop the old, "you know me off TV card," she laughed. It's the time of the year when the rich and famous jet off to exotic locations in search of some winter sun. And Stephanie Seymour was spotted holidaying in St. Barts with her family on Wednesday, strolling along with her daughter Lily, 12, and her husband Peter Brant, 69. The 48-year-old supermodel, whose career soared in the 90s, looked the picture of relaxation as she enjoyed some much needed downtime with her loved ones. Scroll down for video Family trip: Stephanie Seymour was spotted holidaying in St. Barts with her family on Wednesday, strolling along with her daughter Lily, 12, and her husband Peter Brant, 69 Stephanie - who also has sons Peter II and Harry with the billionaire - was dressed to impress in a flirty and feminine dress with pretty floral embroidery. The pleated skirt showed off her slender legs thanks to a semi-sheer material and she complemented the ensemble with embroidered flats. The beauty queen slung a wicker bag over one shoulder and styled her brunette locks in two plaits. Glamorous: Stephanie - who also has sons Peter II and Harry with the billionaire - was dressed to impress in a flirty and feminine dress with pretty floral embroidery Beach vibes: The pleated skirt showed off her slender legs thanks to a semi-sheer material and she complemented the ensemble with embroidered flats Long-term love: Stephanie and Peter tied the knot in July 1995 in Paris, but their union hasn't always been smooth-sailing She went hand-in-hand with her daughter Lily, who has clearly inherited her mother's passion for fashion. Stephanie and Peter tied the knot in July 1995 in Paris, but their union hasn't always been smooth-sailing. Seymour filed for divorce in March 2009 after 15 years of marriage, but by September 2010 they had called off their divorce. Mini me: She went hand-in-hand with her daughter Lily, who has clearly inherited her mother's passion for fashion Laid-back: The pair strolled along as they made the most of their winter break Family unit: Seymour filed for divorce in March 2009 after 15 years of marriage, but by September 2010 they had called off their divorce Legal woes: The holiday will no doubt come as a welcome break for Stephanie, who was forced to sign up to her second alcohol rehab program in February to avoid being fined or jailed for drunk driving The holiday will no doubt come as a welcome break for Stephanie, who was forced to sign up to her second alcohol rehab program in February to avoid being fined or jailed for drunk driving. The former Victoria's Secret model was charged with DUI on January 15 in Greenwich, Connecticut, after her Range Rover allegedly rolled backwards down a hill into a white Mercedes. Police responding to the scene said she smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, and took seven tries to find her ID in her bag. Seymour was later charged in connection with another incident that night. After weeks of investigation, police have concluded Seymour was the culprit who knocked over a utility pole. The pole was damaged and surrounded by pieces of a black Range Rover. DUI charge: The former Victoria's Secret model was charged with DUI on January 15 in Greenwich, Connecticut, after her Range Rover allegedly rolled backwards down a hill into a white Mercedes Moving on: Speaking outside court, her lawyer Phillip Russell told the Connecticut Post Seymour was 'embarrassed' He said at the time: 'She is not looking for any special treatment or preferential treatment of any kind' Speaking outside court, her lawyer Phillip Russell told the Connecticut Post Seymour was 'embarrassed'. He added: 'Ms. Seymour had a career in fashion, but in this instance she is just like 3,500 other motorists in Connecticut who have made a similar error. 'She is not looking for any special treatment or preferential treatment of any kind. 'Hopefully this will be the most uneventful DWI charge that this court has ever handled. 'Anyone facing this charge has to look at their personal habits and I think that is exactly what these habits are, they are personal and not something which bears public scrutiny.' Simple: The beauty queen slung a wicker bag over one shoulder and styled her brunette locks in two plaits Shop til you drop: The mother and daughter duo perused the boutiques together She recently changed her surname in both her private and professional life. But Jesinta Campbell says marrying Lance 'Buddy' Franklin has changed more than just her name. The model told The Daily Telegraph she had 'no expectation of anything changing', but their relationship had become infinitely stronger since tying the knot. Stronger than ever: Jesinta Franklin said she and her husband Buddy Franklin have enjoyed an even stronger relationship since getting married two months ago That's not to say the high-profile couple weren't already rock solid. Jesinta said while she and Buddy were already in a good place, their relationship was enjoying a new dimension. 'Obviously, we are already so close, but getting married creates an extra special bond between you and your partner,' she said. 'I did feel a shift in our relationship. I think it is a deepened love and support and respect for each other.' The 25-year-old married her AFL star husband in an intimate ceremony in the Blue Mountains just two months ago. Intimate: The pair married in a small ceremony in the Blue Mountains, where Jesinta wore two Vera Wang gowns Last week, she explained to Harper's Bazaar magazine why she took on his surname in both her professional and private life. 'Changing my name meant a lot to Buddy, and we are a team now: Team Franklin,' she said in an interview accompanying her cover shoot. 'When we have children, it will be really important,' Jesinta continued. She said some people have questioned how the decision will affect her career and 'branding' - but insists Buddy is her priority. 'I'm like, "What about the love of my life and the rest of my life?" she explained. 'What about the love of my life?' Jesinta claims some people have questioned how the decision will affect her career and 'branding' - but she insists Buddy is her priority 'When we have children, it will be really important': Jesinta spoke candidly about her relationship with Buddy in the latest edition of Harper's Bazaar On Thursday, Jesinta debuted her new handbag with monogram initials reading 'JF'. Earlier this month, her representatives confirmed she had officially dropped her maiden name professionally. IMG Models told Daily Mail Australia she will now be referred to as Jesinta Franklin in all future work. Franklin: On Thursday, Jesinta debuted her new handbag with monogram initials reading 'JF' She just celebrated her 38th birthday. And on Wednesday, Katie Holmes was spotted doing some last-minute holiday shopping just a few days before Christmas, which she will undoubtedly spend at her hometown in Ohio. The mother-of-one stopped by Westfield Topanga mall in Canoga Park, Los Angeles looking inconspicuous under a full-brimmed hat, though her untied shoes drew some attention. Watch your step: Katie Holmes, 38, was spotted doing some last minute shopping at Topanga Westfield mall in Canoga Park on Wednesday Leaving her car with the Nordstrom valet, the actress could be seen wearing white Adidas Stan Smith Originals sneakers with the laces undone. The Ray Donovan starlet wore a blue sweater and paired it with stone washed dark denim capri pants. She swept her brunette tresses into a low bun and opted for a demure look with a favorite khaki, full-brimmed hat. She hugged a chocolate brown leather shopper with studded embellishments to her as a festive valet donning a Santa hat grabbed her keys. Trusting: Leaving her car with the Nordstrom valet, the actress could be seen wearing white Adidas Stan Smith Originals sneakers with the laces undone Katie spent her birthday with the most important person in her life, 10-year-old daughter Suri. The mother-daughter duo posed for a sweet selfie during Sunday's bowling fun and celebrations, which Holmes posted to Instagram. 'Birthday vibes continued, so grateful today,' the starlet captioned with plenty of heart emoticons. Birthday vibes: Katie spent her birthday with the most important person in her life, 10-year-old daughter Suri According to a Sunday report from Us Weekly, the actress spent at least a portion of her birthday weekend with rumored beau Jamie Foxx. The weekly's source reported: 'Katie and Jamie took a private jet to Cabo on Friday morning from Van Nuys Airport. 'It was a quick trip in honor of Katie's birthday. It was only them and two pilots on the plane.' The site claims that the two headed to five-star hotel Las Ventanas Paraiso and that they stayed at one of the most private suites at the resort, which was separate from the other guests. Low-key lovers: Katie and Jamie Foxx, 49, have been rumored to be dating since 2013 Their insider added: 'They wanted to be very discreet and had everything delivered to their room and taken care of by a personal butler.' It seemed to be the romantic getaway for the pair rumored to be dating since 2013 as Us Weekly reports that 10-year-old Suri was not with them. Holmes' stars in her newest film All We Had which was released earlier this month. I am so excited to share my directorial debut with my hometown this Friday. I will be there for a q and a after thank u #maumeetheater for having me! #Toledo #family #film A photo posted by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Dec 20, 2016 at 4:40pm PST Her independent film and directorial debut were not received well, and was described as a 'middlebrow drama with no pretensions but also no depth,' by a film critic for Variety. Holmes will return to her hometown, Toledo, Ohio on Friday for a special screening of the film and a Q&A at the Maumee Indoor Theater. The Pennsylvania resident first appeared on the MTV series in 2010 at 15 - struggled with substance abuse in the past was arrested just a week prior after attempting to flee police Valerie Fairman was found dead on Wednesday after what is believed to be a drug overdose. The mother of one was just 23 and starred on MTV's hit show in 2010. Friends and family confirmed the reality star's death on social media Thursday. Scroll down for video Found dead: Valerie Fairman was found dead on Wednesday after what is believed to be a drug overdose. She leaves behind seven-year-old Nevaeh (seen her in an undated Twitter photo) Valerie leaves behind seven-year-old Nevaeh - Heaven spelled backwards - who was in the care of the late star's adoptive mom. Dailymail.com also understands that the former reality star was engaged, to local musician Russ Bosi. MTV, the network behind Valerie's show, also confirmed her passing in a statement: 'We are saddened by the news of Valerie Fairman's passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time.' The Ashley was the first to report the MTV star's death after numerous family members took to social media to express their grief. Rise to fame: The mother of one was just 23 and starred on MTV's hit show in 2010 (pictured) Struggled: While the cause of the 23-year-old's death has yet to be confirmed she has long battled substance related issues Valerie had long struggled with substance abuse issues. The 16 And Pregnant star's mother told TMZ that on Wednesday Valerie was at a friend's house in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, when her pal became concerned she had not returned from the bathroom. When the friend broke down the door, they found the 23-year-old unresponsive. Last photograph: Valerie was arrested last Wednesday by the Parkesburg Borough Police Department resisting arrest and providing false identification to law enforcement In audio of the paramedics dispatch, obtained by TMZ, EMS were sent to a possible 'cardiac arrest' and someone was doing CPR on scene. However, the dispatcher changed the call to a 'possible DOA [Dead On Arrival]'and told paramedics they would need containers for needles. While overdose is suspected, her exact cause of death will not be known until after an autopsy. Sad end: The 16 And Pregnant star's mother said on Wednesday Valerie was at a friend's house in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, when her pal became concerned she had not returned from the bathroom. When the friend broke down the door, they found the 23-year-old unresponsive Valerie has struggled with drugs for some time and despite a reported rehab stay, had also found herself in trouble with the law. In recent years, she had been arrested for assaulting her mother and prostitution. Last Wednesday, the 23-year-old was arrested for resisting arrest and making a false identification to law enforcement. Found love: Dailymail.com also understands that the former reality star was engaged, to local musician Russ Bosi Ups and downs: The couple (pictured last year) seem to have had a few breaks along the way after getting engaged in 2015 Dedicated: The producer had the reality star's name permanently inked on to himself According to the Parkesburg Borough Police Department, officers conducted a traffic stop and during the stop, Valerie provided a false name. When police officers questioned this and identified her as Valerie, officers said she attempted to flee on foot. 'After a brief foot pursuit, Valerie Fairman, of Oxford, was taken into custody for resisting arrest and providing false identification to law enforcement. Valerie was arraigned in front of the Honorable Nancy Gill and released on $1,500 unsecured bail,' the report concluded. Tough road: Valerie has struggled with drugs for some time and despite a reported rehab stay, had also found herself in trouble with the law. She is pictured in a 2015 mug shot after her arrest for prostitution Following her death, a woman identified as one of Valerie's sisters, took to Instagram to speak of her sad loss. 'My baby sister, my heart, my blood! Valerie you will forever be missed. I love you baby girl and I will always.' David Pryce - who has previously said he is Valerie's ex and also the uncle of her child's father - took to Facebook to tell people, especially those who sell drugs, to change their ways. So young: Valarie starred on MTV's 16 And Pregnant in 2010 after falling pregnant at just 15 to her then boyfriend Matt He wrote: 'I will always miss you Valerie and I am want to tell anyone who is selling s**t to people to stop. 'We have lost too many loved ones to what you are doing and I am going to start taking care of it.' Teen Mom stars - who were also on Valerie's second season of 16 And Pregnant - expressed their sadness after hearing news of her passing. Jenelle Evans, who has also struggled with drug dependency, tweeted: 'Oh my god. I just spoke to her a couple months ago and told her I'm proud of her and looks like she's doing good. Shocked stars:Teen Mom stars - who were also on Valerie's second season of 16 And Pregnant - including Chelsea Houska, now DeBoer, expressed their sadness after hearing the news In her shoes: Jenelle Evans, who has also struggled with drug dependency, had recently spoken to her 'This really upsets me... I told her to stay on track.' Chelsea Houska tweeted, 'How incredibly sad. My heart goes out to her daughter and family. ' Valarie starred on MTV's 16 And Pregnant in 2010 after falling pregnant at just 15 to her then boyfriend Matt. Their volatile relationship was followed during the second season of the series with Matt often claiming to not be the father of Valerie's daughter. The custody battle between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is getting even more contentious. The 53-year-old actor's legal team on Wednesday asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to seal the records of their six children, claiming that it violates their privacy, noting that information on the children's 'therapists and other mental health professionals' has already wound up in publication, NBC News reports. The Maleficent beauty, 41, 'appears to be determined to ignore even agreed upon standards relating to the children's best interest,' the actor's legal team said in court docs regarding the six kids: Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and twins Knox and Vivienne, eight. In the documents, Pitt's lawyer stated: '[Angelina] apparently has no self-regulating mechanism to preclude sensitive information from being placed in the public record, or she has other motives.' Scroll below for video Standing his ground: Brad Pitt, 53, said through his legal team that he wants his children's records sealed amid his custody battle with Angelina Jolie, 41. Pictured November Under fire: Jolie, according to Pitt's team in court docs, 'exposed the children by making public the names of their therapists and other mental health professionals' in the ongoing case Out of step: Pitt and Jolie remain at odds over the custody arrangement with their six kids The Academy Award-winning actress 'exposed the children by making public the names of their therapists and other mental health professionals,' Pitt's lawyers said; they added that Jolie released the information twice, adding, 'Although she had already made them public, she did it again.' It's the first time since Jolie's September 19 divorce filing in Los Angeles that Pitt has gone on the offensive against his estranged wife. At the time of the parting, the Allied actor said that 'what matters most now is the well-being of' the six children, adding, 'I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time.' The Fight Club star was exonerated in November by officials with the FBI and Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services amid accusations he was physically abusive to Maddox during a Europe-bound flight in September. Push back: Pitt's recent complaint marks the first time he's raised unsavory allegations toward his estranged spouse. The actor was snapped at last month's premiere of Allied in London Determined: Jolie 'wants what she wants' in the case 'and nothing is going to stop her,' an insider told In Touch Weekly of the A-list beauty The ongoing strife has caused tension in the household amid the holiday season, according to an In Touch Weekly report, as an insider said that the children were at odds because Maddox and Pax had 'no interest in seeing their dad' amid the tough time. 'Some of the girls are accusing their older brother of being responsible for their not seeing Brad either,' the source said. Another insider told the publication that some of the kids 'can't understand why they're being kept away' from Pitt. Pitt and Jolie - whose romance began filming 2005's Mr & Mrs. Smith, while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston - are due back in court next month for a hearing in the ongoing case. Better times: Jolie and daughters Shiloh and Zahara were snapped in NYC in November 2014 Under fire: Maddox was at odds with his sisters over the situation with Pitt, sources told the magazine He is requesting to share joint physical and legal custody of the six kids with Jolie, who wants sole physical custody, with Pitt receiving scheduled visits. Jolie - who currently retains temporary physical custody of the children - remains undaunted in her attempts to get sole custody of the kids in spite of her advisers have telling her it's an unlikely scenario, the source told the magazine. She's a regular fixture on the social scene in Los Angeles. But despite it being constantly on offer, Kate Beckinsale says she steers clear of alcohol and has never had an entire glass of anything alcoholic. The British beauty, 43, told January's Shape Magazine that having a drink has a negative effect on her so she avoids it. On the wagon: Kate Beckinsale says she steers clear of alcohol and has never had an entire glass of anything alcoholic 'I don't drink alcohol,' she told the publication, 'I feel [its effects] very quickly, so I've never actually had an entire glass of anything alcoholic.' The Love & Friendship star revealed the secrets of her enviable figure, which include five or six punishing works outs a week with a personal trainer ahead filming the fifth installment of Underworld franchise, Blood Wars. She explained she would rather exercise first thing: 'I basically wake up, eat breakfast, and then work out. I prefer to get it done in the morning. 'That said I don't naturally get up early. It would be much better for me if the entire world went to bed at 4 am and woke up at noon. But it doesn't, so I'm usually staggering around first thing.' Sticking to water: 'I don't drink alcohol,' she told the publication, 'I feel [its effects] very quickly, so I've never actually had an entire glass of anything alcoholic' (pictured with Evgeny Lebedev at The London Evening Standard British Film Awards at Claridge's Hotel on December 8) The SAG Award nominee said she has learned to appreciate breaking into a sweat during her hardcore workout regime. 'Hard-core workouts have really made a big difference in my life. I have a lot of internal energy, and intense exercise helps me channel that energy. 'I find balance by doing a workout that makes me pour sweat. I never was that girl before, but I am now,' she told the magazine. The mother-of-one explained how she stays in shape by changing up her exercise pattern. But coffee is good: The brunette in NYC shooting The Only Living Boy in October 'I do circuit training interspersed with brutal cardio, such as crazy things on a nonmotorized treadmill. 'That part is torture. But the thing I like about circuit training is that you're never doing one thing for very long. 'You get to the point where you almost can't bear it, and it changes to something else.' Lean lady: She explained she would rather exercise first thing: 'I basically wake up, eat breakfast, and then work out. I prefer to get it done in the morning.' Pictured December 12 Kate - born Kathrin - shares daughter Lily with her ex-partner Michael Sheen - and they will celebrate her 18th birthday next month. Last Thursday, Beckinsale and the 47-year-old Welshman embraced upon news their teen got into the university of her choice. The gorgeous brunette will next reprise her role as vampire death dealer Selene in Underworld: Blood Wars. She strenuously denied claims of that her third marriage was breaking down as recently as November. Though a string of unexpected outbursts and her promise to quit drinking has prompted one friend to suggest that Katie Price is reacting to more marital woes. Loose Women presenter Katie is said to be 'rebelling' against husband Kieran Hayler, much the same as she did during splits from husbands Peter Andre and Alex Reid. Scroll down for video Rebelling: Katie Price has been accused of rebelling against the men in her life, after a series of worrying outbursts 'It's the men again,' a friend told The Sun. 'It is very clear that something is deeply wrong in her marriage and so she is rebelling. 'This is what she always does. Look at what happened with [first husband] Peter and [second husband] Alex.' Katie's string of bad behaviour has raised many eyebrows and even led to Wednesday's declaration, live on Loose Women, that she would go sober for a year, from January. Something wrong? The model is (here with husband Kieran last month) has consistently denied having troubles in her third marriage but friends are saying it's the reason behind her rebellion Loved-up: Katie recently shared a smitten selfie with Kieran to mark their fourth anniversary In the last few days it has emerged that the chat show panelist was allegedly kicked out of a Scottish hotel, for bad behaviour after a paid appearance at a Glaswegian nightclub last Saturday. These reports come after Katie revealed that she spent an evening partying with the likes of Eddie Redmayne and David Cameron. Then on Wednesday, Katie was accused of dragging her 14-year-old disabled son Harvey into a foul-mouthed stage rant, during another personal appearance, in Derby, which was caught on video. Stay strong: The television personality has vowed to quit drinking after a string of incidents including being allegedly removed from a hotel and flashing her bare breasts The same night, video footage was released appearing to show Katie flashing her bare breasts at revellers in the toilets. Despite claims about her marital woes, Katie defied her critics by celebrating her four year anniversary with her husband Kieran, a week ago. The reality star posted a very loved-up selfie of her looking longingly into her former stripper partner's eyes as they celebrated the milestone. She simply captioned the Instagram: 'Four year anniversary!' Trouble with men: Her behaviour has been compared to the breakdown of her marriage to Peter Andre Rebellion: Katie is also said to have acted out during her split from second husband Alex Reid Last month, Katie insisted that she and Kieran were 100% together and very much in love, following claims that she shouted: 'My marriage is over, Ive got no friends, f*** it,' to a club full of revellers. The model doesn't seem to have ever fully recovered from the revelation that sex addict Kieran was cheating on her with two former friends in April 2014. Having previously admitted that it almost drove her to suicide, the mother-of-five recently told one newspaper that she wished Kieran could feel some of the 'indescribable' pain that she experienced at the time, referring to it as karma. Bad taste: Katie (here with ex-boyfriend Dane Bowers) says she is deeply insecure about men Katie explained in a later interview that she still felt deeply insecure when it came to men. She told The Mirror: 'I want to be loved for me, for my humour and personality. I have lots of love to give. I am quite needy. 'I am very insecure when it comes to men. I want them to bombard me but they have to do it in the right way - if they are too keen I am not interested.' The month before the split claims, Katie's marriage was dogged by claims that she'd met up with Geordie Shore admirer Scotty T at a hotel. Teen Mom OG stars have taken to Twitter to express their sadness about the tragic death of Valerie Fairman from a presumed drug overdose. The 23-year-old, who was just 15 when she starred on MTV reality show 16 And Pregnant, was found unresponsive in a pal's bathroom in Coatesville, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, according to TMZ. Jenelle Evans tweeted: 'Oh my god. I just spoke to her a couple months ago and told her I'm proud of her and looks like she's doing good.' Late lamented: Teen Mom OG stars have taken to twitter to express their grief about the suspected drugs death of 16 And Pregnant star Valerie Fairman at 23 on Wednesday She appeared with Valerie on the second season of the reality show. And Jenelle, who has also struggled with drug dependency, added: 'This really upsets me. I told her to stay on track.' The heart-broken star added: 'Don't take life for granted. Hold your children and love them close.' Chelsea Houska tweeted: 'How incredibly sad. My heart goes out to her daughter and family.' Amber Portwood retweeted the sad news, sharing it with her 444,000 followers. Pouring her heart out: Jenelle Evens, who showed off her baby bump at an MTV event in August, was shocked by the news, saying, 'Don't take life for granted' Social support: The Teen Mom OG star took to Twitter to talk about her late pal Farrah Abraham, Maci Bookout and Catelynn Lowell have yet to comment. The Ashley website was the first to report the MTV star's death after family members took to social media to express their grief. MTV, the network behind Valerie's show, also confirmed her passing in a statement: 'We are saddened by the news of Valerie Fairman's passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time.' 'How Incredibly sad': Teen Mom's Chelsea Houska, now DeBoer, also offered condolences Simple tribute: Amber Portwood retweeted The Ashley's stunning news Valerie had struggled with drugs for some time and despite a reported rehab stay, had also found herself in trouble with the law. In recent years, she had been arrested for assaulting her mother and prostitution. Last Wednesday, she was arrested for resisting arrest and making a false identification to law enforcement Valerie leaves seven-year-old daughter Nevaeh, whose name is heaven spelled backwards. Charlie Sheen tells a racist joke in the trailer for his big movie comeback. The teaser for Mad Families is the first on-screen glimpse of the HIV positive actor since he announced his diagnosis. The 51-year-old actor is seen in a lumberjack shirt, T-shirt and khaki shorts. Scroll down for video Comeback role: Charlie Sheen is seen in the trailer for Mad Families which is the first on-screen glimpse of the HIV positive actor since he announced his diagnosis The movie follows three families, one Hispanic, another black and the other white, who end up feuding when it turns out they have all booked the same camping space over the Fourth of July weekend. He is seen in character arguing with the other families in the group, as they decide to settle their feud by a series of challenges, including telling the best joke. The controversial Two And A Half Men star is as tactless as ever, in character., and with no consideration of offense, he goes straight in with a dated and racist jibe. Controversial: The actor tells a racist joke in the trailer for his big movie comeback The rest of the movie appears to be laden with gender stereotypes and scatological humour, so no doubt he will feel right at home. He sticks to what he is good at in the film, which he also executive produces, as he is playing a rather grumpy, man-child. It is considered to be his big comeback since announcing he is HIV Positive. Dressed for camping: The 51-year-old actor is seen in a lumberjack shirt, T-shirt and khaki shorts Playing to type: He sticks to what he is good at in the film, which he also executive produces, as he is playing a rather grumpy, man-child Fan favourite: It is considered to be his big comeback since announcing he is HIV Positive He revealed his starring role last month on Twitter, when he posted a picture alongside co-star Leah Rimini. King of Queens favourite Leah, 46, looked good for her age in a white T-shirt and blue jeans. Blundering buffoon Charlie, 51, originally wrote Lisa was his 'Missus,' before amending his Instagram caption to: 'Me and the Stepmom. #MadFamilies.' Right at home: The rest of the movie appears to be laden with gender stereotypes and scatological humour Room for three? The movie follows three families, one Hispanic, another black and the other white, who end up feuding when it turns out they have all booked the same camping space Charlie's back: It was written by comedian David Spade and Fred Wolf, with the latter directing He also revealed it will be debuting on January 12 on Crackle. Last month the Notorious ladies man was spotted puffing away on set while surrounded by a bevy of beauties as filming took place. In a creative piece of casting, which he no doubt approves of, it seems his on-screen lover may be glamour model Charlotte McKinney, while Victoria's Secret favourite Chanel Iman was also spotted on set. It was written by comedian David Spade and Fred Wolf, with the latter directing. The film will be released on Sony's Crackle streaming service. Hard-living Charlie has been working to turn his life around in recent months, and even celebrated his birthday with ex wife Denise Richards and their children back in September. Camping: Leah Rimini also stars in the movie, which will be streamed Gleeful: Naya Rivera is also in the show Bikini clad: The actor was surrounded by a bevy of beauties In the cubicle: There's no end of hilarious opportunities involving bodily functions The worst wins: The film will be released on Sony's Crackle streaming service It came after the father-of-five agreed to reduced child support payments with Denise and his other ex Brooke Mueller. Both women reportedly agreed to around $25,000 a month, nearly half of the $55,000 a month they had been previously been receiving to cover child-care costs. The Hot Shots star was the highest paid actor on television in 2010 when he commanded $1.8 million per episode of Two And A Half Men, before his contract was terminated amid drug and alcohol abuse and a public meltdown. After he announced his diagnosis in November last year, he said that opening up about his health issue was 'liberating'. Checked mates: He revealed his starring role last month on Twitter, when he posted a picture alongside co-star Leah Rimini He told Graham Norton: 'It was good to talk about it and what I had been dealing with. It was an opportunity to stop the self-loathing and the "why me" and be part of something genuinely important.' The Platoon favourite admitted to paying millions of dollars in hush money to blackmailers in an effort to keep his HIV status a secret. While the rest of the nation is cowering from the cold winter weather, Hawaiian inhabitants are still enjoying sunny days just a few days before Christmas. And resident Wedding Crasher Owen Wilson is no exception as he was spotted enjoying a leisurely bike ride with his two young boys in Maui on Wednesday. The 48-year-old actor was clad in shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of sandals as he chauffeured around two-year-old Finn Lindqvist Wilson on a beach cruiser. Luau for Christmas? Owen Wilson, 48, was spotted out with his two sons in Maui on Wednesday The Zoolander star was closely followed by his oldest, five-year-old Robert Ford Wilson, who is old enough to be riding his own bike. Owen shares Robert with ex girlfriend Jade Duell, a former air marshal. The A-lister split with Duell shortly after the birth of their son. Owen's younger son sweetly perched at the top of the beach cruiser, helping steer while dad pedaled. Father-son bonding: The Zoolander star was closely followed by his oldest, five-year-old Robert Ford Wilson, who is old enough to be riding his own bike Finn has a head full of platinum blonde hair that can be attributed both to his father and model mother's genes. Owen fathered Finn with personal trainer and friend Caroline Lindqvist. Though the parents dated several years earlier, the two were not dating nor planning on dating when they decided to have Finn. In 2014, the Swedish-born beauty told People magazine that she and Owen are just 'two close friends having a baby together.' Good genes: Finn has a head full of platinum blonde hair that can be attributed both to his father and model mother's genes The Internship actor has been known to keep a super low-key profile, especially since his suicide attempt in 2007. Though the actor seems to have fully recovered and is looking healthy and fit, apart from when filming or attending his film's premieres, he is rarely ever seen out. Next up for Wilson is his new film, Bastards. Wilson stars in the movie alongside Ed Helms, as the two play brothers whose mother - played by Glenn Close - admits to her sons that she's not sure who their father was. This sets the stage for a wild road trip as the men search for their real father. Looks like the financial aspects of their contentious divorce won't be wound up before Christmas. Johnny Depp's legal team has filed new court documents demanding Amber pay him $100,000 in sanctions, according to E! News on Thursday. The papers allege that Amber 'continues to needlessly litigate a case which has been settled, all while parading in front of the media in a desperate attempt to extend her 15 minutes of fame.' Still feuding: Johnny Depp, pictured with his now ex-wife Amber Heard in Los Angeles in January, has filed court papers demanding $100,000 in sanctions against her If the 30-year-old fails to pay Johnny's attorney's fees and costs as sanctions, the 53-year-old wants the money deducted from his next equalization payment. Amber's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, called The Pirates Of The Caribbean star's request 'laughable.' 'It is just another lame attempt by Mr. Depp and his team to not pay my client the money she is owed. Rocking out in Japan in November: The new documents filed by Johnny's legal team allege that Amber 'continues to needlessly litigate a case which has been settled, all while parading in front of the media in a desperate attempt to extend her 15 minutes of fame' 'We look forward to prevailing in court - and to getting sick children and women in need the money that Mr. Depp is denying them.' The divorce was settled in August, when Johnny agreed to a $7 million settlement, which Amber requested be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union and Children's Hospital Of Los Angeles. But last week Amber's legal team filed a Request For Order with the Los Angeles Superior Court in hopes of imposing the settlement and expediting Johnny's payment. Out and about: The new legal fracas comes after the 30-year-old - pictured at an event in October, left, and Glamour Woman Of The Year in November, both in LA - filed a demand for the payment he owes her amongst other things They claimed that Johnny had not complied with the court-allocated timeline of various mandates, including the division of personal property, shipping her belongings from his private island in the Bahamas, transferring a Range Rover into Amber's name and more. The new documents stated: 'Amber wants to maintain the media's attention and thereby preserve her own fleeting relevance, and Amber wants to secure a more favorable deal than she previously negotiated.' The couple, who met on the set of movie The Rum Diary in 2011, married on February 2015. She filed for divorce 15 months later, on May 23, amid claims that the Hollywood star had physically abused her. She found love with Lee Elliott on the most recent season of The Bachelorette Australia. But on Friday, Georgia Love confessed she feels like she's punching above her weight. 'I'm the reacher,' the 28-year-old told KIIS FM's Summer Fling co-hosts, Matty Acton and Sophie Monk. Scroll down for video 'I'm the reacher!' Georgia Love confessed she feels like she's punching above her weight when speaking about her relationship with Lee Elliott on Friday 'I'm that one,' Georgia revealed on-air, referring to someone who punches above their weight in a relationship. 'I'm the reacher,' she candidly continued. Georgia has been enjoying a blossoming relationship with mechanical plumber, Lee Elliott since wrapping filming for the reality TV series ended in August. 'I'm the reacher': The brunette told co-hosts Matty Acton and Sophie Monk that she's aware Lee, 35, is the more attractive one in the relationship Romance: Georgia took to social media on Thursday to gush about her romance with Lee Georgia's on-air comments come just hours after she took to Instagram to gush about her romance with Lee. Sharing a throwback photo from the series, the slender brunette wrote: 'Six months ago today I slipped on this custom-made @jasongrech gown, got into a limo and embarked on the biggest adventure of my life.' She continued: 'Stepping out at what felt like my very own Disney castle, I met 16 incredible guys, each of whom went on to impact me and my life in some way or another. 'But most importantly and most memorably, that was the night I first locked eyes on the love of my life.' Georgia finished with the pun: 'The beginning of my happi-Lee ever after.' Public: Georgia hasn't been shy in showing her affection for Lee, posting numerous snaps of the pair to social media Georgia found love with hunky mechanical plumber Lee Elliott on the second season of the popular Channel Ten reality series. In an emotional finale, she chose Lee over fan favourite Matty 'J' Johnson. Georgia and Lee are now preparing to move in together, and have hinted that marriage is in their future. 35-year-old Lee told BW magazine last week he was considering asking Georgia for her hand in marriage - but he wanted to do it the old fashioned way. 'I've got the right person...I am old school, I want to do it right,' he said, revealing he plans to ask her father, Dr Chris Love, for permission first. 'I will ask her dad for her hand in marriage and do something special,' he said. This Christmas, Scott Disick has the help of his very own helper elf. On Thursday, the 33-year-old reality star took his mini-me on a last-minute Christmas present shopping trip in Beverly Hills. The father-and-son duo were accompanied by Mason's uncle, Kanye West, 39, as they emerged from Burberry and Barneys New York. Scroll down for video Men of the Kardashian clan: Scott Disick, 33, and son Mason, aged seven, at Barneys New York in Beverly Hills on Thursday Mason rocked an athleisure-inspired look - made famous by his uncle West - consisting of light gray sweat pants, a graphic t-shirt, and black sneakers. The young boy made it his own by throwing on a star-studded black zip up jacket to shield himself from the unusually chilly Los Angeles morning. The rabble-rouser had a sly smirk on his face as he began to formulate a plan. Next, he formed his little hands into a make believe gun and pointed out, ready to (fake) shoot. His reality star father seemed unbothered and even used to his son's shenanigans. No Kourtney: Ms Kardashian was not along for the shopping trip Kourtney Kardashian's baby daddy looked well-groomed, his brown hair combed back and facial hair coiffed neatly. But when it came to his 'fit, the father-of-three was all about comfort as he stuck to his signature clean look of fitted pants, fresh sneakers, a t-shirt and zip-up or hoodie. Kourtney's on-again-off-again ex boyfriend wore black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt and a faded blue-gray zip-up hoodie. For shoes, he opted for a brand new pair of white kicks. Laid back: Kourtney's on-again-off-again ex boyfriend wore black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt and a faded blue-gray zip-up hoodie Looking sad: A somber Kanye followed behind the father-son team flanked by body guards His only accessory was a watch - likely out of his Rolex collection - poking out beneath the sleeve of his jacket. A somber Kanye followed behind the father-son team flanked by body guards. The rapper left Kim Kardashian and his two children at home to grab presents for the most important people in his life. It appears that all hands are on deck to help Kanye following his mental health break in mid-November that ended him at the UCLA Medical Center on psychiatric hold for sleep deprivation and exhaustion. The Kardashian clan may be encouraging their men to get the rapper out of the house more, as evidenced by his bro-date a day earlier catching a movie with his mother-in-law Kris Jenner's boyfriend, Corey Gamble. Where's the holiday cheer? The rapper left Kim Kardashian and his two children at home to grab presents for the most important people in his life All hands on deck: The family may be enlisting the help of Scott Disick and Corey Gamble to help Kanye get on his feet again According to Hollywood Life, Scott has 'been a rock' for Rob Kardashian as well during the tough week he's been having with the mother of his newborn Dream, Blac Chyna. And Corey was also there for the only Kardashian brother as he arrived just in time during Rob's physical fight with Chyna and was able to pull the mom-of-two off of him. Like father, like son: Mason, who just celebrated his seventh birthday with his brother Reign in a joint Fast And Furious themed birthday party, was just as stylish Mason, who just celebrated his seventh birthday with his brother Reign in a joint Fast And Furious themed birthday party, was just as stylish as his father for the outing. His seven-year-old lookalike walked ahead of his father looking as mischievous as he is adorable. Cougar life: Though Scott and Kourtney were spotted together earlier this week with the kids, the 37-year-old mother of three has been rumored to be dating other men Though Scott and Kourtney were spotted together earlier this week with the kids, the 37-year-old mother of three has been rumored to be dating other men. She was spotted leaving a Beverly Hills hotel with 23-year-old male model Younes Bendjima last weekend. Family, friends and fans have taken to social media in tribute of Vogue Italia's Franca Sozzani, who died age 66. Joining a long list of glitterati paying their respects are Australian models Shanina Shaik and Cheyenne Tozzi, as well as famed milliner Viktoria Novak. The trio were spotted taking to social media just hours after news broke of the tragedy, expressing their sorrow to see such an influential fashion icon pass away. Scroll down for video Beloved: Australian models and fashion designers have taken to social media to pay tribute to Vogue Italia's Franca Sozzani, who passed away, aged 66 A black and white photograph of Franca beaming was spotted on Shanina's Instagram and captioned: 'Rest In Peace Franca.' Fans showed their support with one commenting: 'What a woman.' Cheyenne simply wrote, 'Rip' adding the hash-tag: 'francasozzani' next to an image of the late Editor-in-Chief. Viktoria wrote a lengthy tribute next to a colour image of Franca which said: 'So sad to hear the loss of such a remarkable legendary woman. Tribute: Joining a long list of glitterati paying their respects to Franca were Australians Shanina Shaik (L), Cheyenne Tozzi (R) and famed milliner Viktoria Novak 'Remembering the remarkable Franca Sozzani, who passed away today. 'A true legend in the fashion community, the editor in chief of Vogue Italia stood at its helm for almost three decades. 'She will be missed,' she finished adding the hash-tags: 'RIP' and 'Vogue'. The news of Franca's death has hit celebrity friends across the globe. 'Franca was warm, clever and funny': Vogue's Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour (L) paid her respects to her friend of 30 years (R) in a heartfelt tribute on the magazine's website Kanye West, Paris Hilton and fashion label Marc Jacobs sent their respect online, meanwhile Naomi Watts and Madonna also paid their respects. Naomi wrote: 'Another legend lost.' Adding the hash tags, 'RIP', 'francasozzani', 'beautiful', 'woman'. Madonna also took to Instagram and wrote: 'R.I.P. Franca Sozzani!! A trail blazer and a True Rebel! 'You are loved and adored by so many! We will miss you. Respect and admiration!' Shocking: The news of Franca's death has hit celebrity friends across the globe with Kanye West (R), Paris Hilton (L) and fashion label Marc Jacobs sending their respect online On Thursday, Vogue Italia remembered Franca with a red heart next to her name on the cover of Thursday's online issue. Vogue's Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour paid her respects to her friend of 30 years in a heartfelt tribute on the magazine's website. When describing Franca, Anna wrote: 'In private, Franca was warm, clever, funny, and someone who could give the Sphinx a run for its money when it comes to keeping a confidence. 'She was also the hardest-working person I have known, and with an envy-inducing ease with multitasking. 'Another legend lost': Naomi Watts posted a picture with the Franca before posting her tribute to the late Fashion icon 'She made everything she worked on appear effortless, regardless of whether it was an event for several hundred; a whirlwind trip to Africa to support the continent's emerging designers; or the creation of yet another newsworthy, provocative, and utterly spellbinding issue of Italian.' Franca Sozzani rose to prominence after a 28 year success as the Editor-in-Chief for Vogue Italia. The much beloved fashion icon died on Thursday after a year long battle with illness. A van laden with gas cylinders has exploded outside the headquarters of an Australian Christian lobby group, but police Thursday said the blast was neither politically nor religiously motivated. Australian Christian Lobby's managing director Lyle Shelton tweeted pictures of the burnt-out white vehicle and said he was "shocked that this could happen in Australia". He added that the group this year received death threats for taking a stand against same-sex marriage, suggesting the incident could be linked. Scroll down for video Lyle Shelton, managing director at the Australian Christian Lobby inspects the damage after a burning van hit the group's headquarters in Canberra Sean Davey (AFP) But Australian Capital Territory police commander Mark Walters said the motive for the incident, in which only the driver was injured, remained unclear. "The driver appears to have ignited gas cylinders within the vehicle, causing an explosion which damaged the vehicle and building," he said. "Police spoke briefly with the man before he continued with treatment. Police were able to establish the mans actions were not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated." The driver, a 35-year-old Australian, walked to hospital after the blast and was in a critical condition with serious burns. Police plan to speak with him again as soon as they can. The blast comes days after a truck drove into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the Wednesday night collision in Canberra was not being treated as a terror attack. "At the moment (police) are not treating it as a terrorist incident and there's no ongoing safety issues for the community," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The building, which was vacant at the time, suffered damage including broken windows, with oil and debris strewn over the car park. - Won't be deterred - The ACL lobbies for Christian principles and ethics reforms in parliament, campaigning against gay marriage as well as a school programme that aims to reduce homophobic bullying. "My team, my staff have had to endure numerous death threats over the course of this year because of our advocacy on something as simple as marriage between a man and a woman," Shelton told reporters. He said the group was forced to cancel an event at a Sydney hotel in September following threats from same-sex marriage advocates. "I don't know the motivation of last night's attack but the context of what I see here is in the context of multiple death threats and threats of violence," he said, vowing not to be deterred. Alex Greenwich, co-chair of advocacy group Australian Marriage Equality, condemned the incident. "Thoughts and prayers are with everyone at the Australian Christian Lobby, shocking and saddening incident," he tweeted. Australia's parliament last month rejected a government proposal for a national vote on whether to legalise same-sex marriage. The Labor opposition said the plebiscite would have sparked harmful debate against the gay and lesbian community and demanded a direct vote in parliament instead. Currently, same-sex couples can have civil unions or register their relationships in most Australian states, but the government does not consider them married under national law. Police commander Walters said officers would investigate all previous threats to the Australian Christian Lobby, and reassured the community that "there is no threat to public safety". UN to set up panel for Syria war crimes cases The UN General Assembly on Wednesday agreed to set up a panel to gather evidence on war crimes in Syria, taking a first step toward prosecuting those responsible for atrocities in the nearly six-year war. A resolution on establishing the investigative mechanism was adopted in the 193-nation assembly by a vote of 105 to 15, with 52 abstentions. The panel will work closely with the UN Commission of Inquiry, which has submitted several reports detailing atrocities committed during the war that has killed more than 310,000 people. Rubble in Aleppo's Jdeideh neighbourhood on December 9, 2016 George Ourfalian (AFP/File) Civil society groups have also been compiling documents, lists of witnesses and video footage that could one day be used in a court of law. The measure prepared by Liechtenstein was co-sponsored by 58 countries including the United States, France, Britain, Italy and Germany as well as regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Addressing the assembly, Liechtenstein's Ambassador Christina Wenaweser said the resolution would address the Security Council's failure to ensure those responsible for serious crimes face justice. Russia, Syria's main ally, and China in 2014 blocked a request by the council that the International Criminal Court begin investigations of war crimes in Syria. "We are finally taking one meaningful step to meet the expectations that we have failed for such a long time," Wenaweser said. Syria's Ambassador Bashar Jafaari slammed the measure, saying it was contrary to the UN charter and a "flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a UN member-state." Russia, China and Iran were among the countries which opposed the measure. The resolution tasks the UN secretary-general to report within 20 days on the establishment of the new panel, which will be funded by the United Nations. It will set up an "international, impartial and independent mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes" in Syria since March 2011, when the conflict began. The panel will "collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses and prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings," according to the draft text. Human rights groups applauded the move. "By establishing the investigative mechanism, the General Assembly is helping pave the road to accountability after years of unchecked atrocities," said Balkees Jarrah, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. "Perpetrators now know that evidence of their misdeeds will be collected to hasten the day when they find themselves in the dock." The Netherlands, which also strongly supported the move, is offering expertise and a million euros to help get the database up and running, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said. The Netherlands is also hoping to organize an expert conference on the issue early in 2017 in The Hague - home to several international criminal tribunals. Even though a Russian veto has made it impossible for the International Criminal Court to investigate atrocities in Syria, "we need to properly define what has happened in order to avoid impunity," Koenders said. "In Cambodia, we saw it took 30 years before the perpetrators could be prosecuted," he said. "Hopefully it won't take so long for Syria. But eventually justice will be done." Men carrying babies make their way through rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the Salihin neighbourhood of Aleppo in September Ameer Alhalbi (AFP) Fonda calls on Trump to back native American protest Oscar-winning US actress and political activist Jane Fonda implored President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to get behind native Americans protesting over a controversial oil pipeline. The actress spoke out as she closed her account at the Hollywood branch of Wells Fargo in protest at the bank's investment in the Dakota Access Pipeline, the subject of a months-long protest by indigenous tribes. Asked by AFP what message she wanted to give the incoming president -- who reportedly owns a stake in the pipeline's operator Energy Transfer Partners -- she called on him to "honor the treaties that we have with the indigenous people." (R-L) Jane Fonda, Doloros Huerta and Lily Tomlin rally against Wells Fargo in solidarity with the people of Standing Rock in Hollywood, California, on December 21, 2016 TOMMASO BODDI (AFP) "We are guests on their land and we have never treated that reality with enough seriousness," said the "Barbarella" star and fitness guru, who was celebrating her 79th birthday. "They've been telling us for centuries how to live in relation to the land and we haven't paid attention, and now we're reaping what we've sown and it's about time we started listening." Fonda had called a somewhat unusual news conference in a dry cleaner's behind the bank, cutting a birthday cake decorated with lettering spelling "Bankarella" in tribute to her role in first husband Roger Vadim's 1968 erotic sci-fi romp. "They've never been asked to do a full environmental impact statement which is unthinkable given the amount of territory and water that they could damage," she told reporters. "I just don't want to be involved in a bank that has done such poor due diligence to have invested in a company that's as bad as this." The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is concerned about potential water pollution and says the pipeline's route endangers areas with sacred historic artifacts. The conflict between the Sioux and pipeline operators has galvanized North American native tribes and supporters, who have camped out in their thousands near the construction site, some since April. The standoff has prompted violent clashes with law enforcement, as well as sympathetic protests nationwide. The movement won a victory earlier this month when the army refused the project a permit to bury the pipeline under the Missouri River, the source of drinking water for the Sioux. But the decision could be reversed when Trump takes over the White House in January, and his transition spokesman said Monday the incoming administration was supportive of the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) oil pipeline, which would snake through four US states. Wells Fargo reportedly has $120 million in a $2.5 billion credit agreement alongside 16 other financial institutions funding the project. It told AFP it had invested $52 billion in environmentally sustainable businesses since 2012 and its various projects had produced 10 percent of all solar panel and wind energy generated in the US over the last year. France, Britain push for helicopter ban, sanctions on Syria France and Britain are pushing the UN Security Council to ban the sale of helicopters to Syria and to impose the first sanctions over the use of chemical weapons in the five-year war. A draft resolution obtained by AFP on Wednesday calls for asset freezes and travel bans against four Syrian officials and 10 entities including a Syrian research center tied to chemical weapons development. Diplomats however said the measure is certain to be vetoed by Russia, Syria's ally, which has blocked council action on Syria with six vetoes so far. Syrian rebels look at the wreckage of a Russian military transport helicopter shot down between Idlib province, and neighbouring Aleppo Mohamed al-Bakour (AFP/File) A vote at the council is expected as early as next week. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that several units of the Syrian army had used toxic weapons against three villages in northern Syria in 2014 and 2015. It was the first time an international probe blamed President Bashar Al-Assad's forces after years of denial from Damascus. Government helicopters flying from two regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, the panel's latest report said. Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia. British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said there must be "significant measures" to follow up on the panel's findings and called for sanctions. "We'll be pursuing that with our council colleagues and circulating a draft shortly," he told reporters. Russia however has said that the report's findings are "inconclusive" and not strong enough to warrant sanctions. Under the proposed measure, the council would demand that all UN member-states "prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer" to the Syrian military and government of "any helicopters, or related materiel including spare parts." A UN committee that oversees a sanctions blacklist for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State would also be tasked with adding names of those responsible for a mustard gas attack in Syria in 2015. The UN panel concluded that IS fighters were behind that attack. The mandate for the joint investigation was recently extended for another year to allow it to investigate chemical attacks that have been reported in Syria this year. Japan cabinet approves biggest defence budget Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet on Thursday approved Japan's biggest annual defence budget in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and a territorial row with China. The Cabinet approved 5.13 trillion yen ($43.6 billion) in defence spending for the fiscal year starting in April, up 1.4 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year. It marks the fifth straight annual increase and reflects the hawkish Abe's attempt to build up Japan's military, which since World War II has been constitutionally limited to self defence. Japan's biggest annual defence budget has been increased for the fifth year in a row KAZUHIRO NOGI (AFP/File) Abe, who is pushing revisions to the constitution, strongly backed new security laws that took effect this year making it possible for Japanese troops fight abroad for the first time since the end of the war. Japan is on constant alert against neighbouring North Korea which has conducted two underground nuclear tests and more than 20 missile launches this year. Under the new budget, the ministry aims to beef up Japan's ballistic missile defences, allocating funds for a new interceptor missile under joint development with the United States. Also reflected in the spending is Tokyo's determination to defend uninhabited islets in the East China Sea -- administered by Japan as the Senkakus but claimed by China as the Diaoyus. The ministry said it has allocated funds for increased monitoring operations and to maintain mastery of the air and sea to counter attacks against what it euphemistically described as "island areas" - a reference to the disputed territory. Separately, the Japan Coast Guard will increase security around the islands by allocating a record 210 billion yen, which includes two new patrol ships and the hiring of 200 more personnel. In August, Tokyo lodged more than two dozen protests through diplomatic channels claiming that Chinese coast guard vessels had repeatedly violated its territorial waters around the disputed islands. Also in August, Abe appointed Tomomi Inada, a close confidante with staunchly nationalist views, as his new defence minister. She has in the past been a frequent visitor to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, which South Korea and China criticise as a symbol of Japanese militarism. Japan has been boosting defence ties with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations, some of which have their own disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. The defence budget earmarks funds to dispatch extra personnel to the Philippines and Vietnam to increase gathering and sharing of information. Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, dismissing rival partial claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours. It also opposes any intervention by Japan. Kitty smuggler lets cat out of the bag in New Zealand A cat-crazy Canadian woman who tried to smuggle her pet into New Zealand in a handbag was immediately sent home after being caught at Auckland airport, officials said Thursday, criticising her "very stupid" attempt. Officials condemned the hapless bid to circumvent strict biosecurity laws after the woman arrived Wednesday on a 15-hour flight from Vancouver and declared only that she had dirty boots. She failed to mention the cat secreted in her bag, only revealing its existence when officials insisted it must be X-rayed. A Canadian woman was caught attempting to smuggle her cat into New Zealand -- both were put on the next flight home Handout (Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)/AFP) "Immigration officials refused the woman entry permission to the country. She was forced to return to Canada with her cat on the next available flight," The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) said. As a result, the woman missed out on visiting New Zealand but has a feline frequent flyer, which has travelled about 23,000 kilometres (14,300 miles) from Vancouver to Auckland and back. "We believe this was a deliberate and very stupid attempt at smuggling. There are strict biosecurity rules in place to stop imported cats and dogs from introducing pests and diseases into New Zealand," MPI added. US returns Alibaba website to counterfeits blacklist The United States put a division of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba back on a blacklist of "notorious markets" known for selling counterfeit goods and violating intellectual property rights. The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which removed Alibaba from its annual list four years ago, included the company's online platform Taobao in its latest release, saying it is not doing enough to curb sales of fake and pirated goods. "The Taobao.com e-commerce platform is an important concern due to the large volume of allegedly counterfeit and pirated goods available and the challenges right holders experience in removing and preventing illicit sales and offers of such goods," the agency said. China's Alibaba and its Taobao site has long been accused of providing a platform for the sale of counterfeit goods Mike Clarke (AFP/File) Although inclusion on the blacklist carries no penalties, it deals a blow to Alibaba's reputation after the company has struggled to improve its image and boost international sales. China's largest online retailer said it is "disappointed" by the decision, saying it has improved policing of the goods for sale on its platforms. "In 2016 alone, we proactively removed more than double the number of infringing product listings than in 2015," Alibaba Group president Michael Evans said in a statement. "The decision ignores the real work Alibaba has done to protect IP rights holders and assist law enforcement to bring counterfeiters to justice." He suggested the "current political climate" in the United States may have more to do with USTR's decision. In response to a question about the decision during regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she hoped that trade difficulties with the US can be solved "in a proper way through friendly consultations." "The two countries should provide a fair and impartial trade environment for the activities of each other's companies," she added. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly accused China of stealing intellectual property, part of what he calls the country's economic war against the United States. Alibaba and its Taobao site have long been accused of providing a platform for the sale of counterfeit goods. China rights website founder held over 'state secrets': Amnesty The founder of one of China's few websites dedicated to reporting human rights abuses has been formally arrested for "leaking state secrets", Amnesty International said Thursday -- the latest blow in a broad crackdown on activists. Huang Qi ran the website "64 Tianwang", named in part after the bloody June 4, 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protestors, for nearly two decades. Its headlines -- "Village Officials Stab Campaigner", "Gangsters Detain Protestor" -- are rarely seen in ordinary Chinese media, and the content is blocked on the mainland. Chinese dissident Huang Qi has been detained by police for the third time this year, according to Amnesty International FRED DUFOUR (AFP/File) The site was awarded the Reporters Without Borders (RSF)-TV5 Monde Press Freedom Prize in early November. Twelve years ago, he received RSF's "Cyber-Dissident Prize." Just weeks after receiving the most recent prize, Huang was detained by police in his hometown of Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, according to Amnesty -- his third detention this year. Last Friday, his family received official notice that he had been formally arrested for leaking state secrets to overseas entities, the campaign group said. It remained unclear whether he had access to a lawyer, Amnesty China researcher Patrick Poon told AFP, stating that Huang was "at risk of torture and other mistreatment". "He may have been targeted because of the international attention he and his website received" from the RSF prize, Poon said. Huang's arrest might also be intended as a warning to websites chronicling grassroots activism in advance of a controversial new law set to impose restrictions on foreign NGOs operating in China, which will come into force in January. The law gives police wide-ranging powers over overseas charities and bans them from recruiting members or raising funds in the country. "I'm quite worried that the government is trying to send a signal to organisations that they believe to have foreign links," said Poon, noting that authorities had detained Liu Feiyue, founder of the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website, around the same time as Huang. President Xi Jinping has overseen a wide-ranging clampdown on civil society since assuming power in 2012. But Huang's struggles to continue his work date even further back. In 2000 he was jailed for five years, the first ever Chinese "cyber-dissident" to be imprisoned for online activism. He was imprisoned again for a further three years in 2009 for reporting on low-quality school buildings that collapsed in a massive earthquake the previous year in Sichuan which claimed 87,000 lives. He had been physically abused while in jail, Huang told AFP during an interview last year, but stated that he nevertheless felt that authorities now appreciated his coverage, as the exposure of injustices committed by local officials dovetailed with an anti-corruption campaign also launched under Xi. Leading Bahrain activist grilled over Le Monde article Bahraini authorities say they have interrogated detained opposition leader Nabil Rajab for spreading "false information" in an article published in French daily Le Monde that accused Gulf monarchies of fomenting "extremism". Rajab, who already faces 15 years in jail for his criticism of Manama's main ally Saudi Arabia, was accused of making comments that "harm the interests" of Bahrain and other Gulf countries, the official BNA news agency said Thursday. It said the case had been transferred to the prosecutor's office and added that Rajab, a leading opposition activist and the founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, denied writing the article in question. Bahraini authorities accused detained opposition leader Nabil Rajab of harming the "interests" of Bahrain and other Gulf countries in an article in Le Monde MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH (AFP/File) A piece published by Le Monde on Tuesday attributed to Rajab denounced the Islamic State group and accused Gulf nations of failing to tackle the rise of its violent ideology. "Gulf states claim to be allies in the fight against extremism, but they are fuelling the crisis," the article said. Rajab was arrested in June for comments on Twitter that criticised Saudi Arabia's role in military operations in Yemen, according to Human Rights Watch. The court dealing with the case has repeatedly ordered that Rajab, 51, remain in custody despite recurring health problems for which he was briefly hospitalised in late June. The next hearing in that trial is scheduled for December 28. The Shiite activist has been detained several times since unrest in 2011 after security forces in the Sunni-ruled kingdom crushed protests calling for a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister. Rajab was pardoned last year in another case for health reasons. HRW on Thursday accused Bahrain of holding an engineer incommunicado for five weeks without access to his family or a lawyer. 'Jeopardy!' streak ends for cancer-stricken contestant Cindy Stowell captivated national attention for her six-game winning streak as a contestant on the popular US television quiz show "Jeopardy!" which ended on Wednesday. But she never got to see them broadcast on television. That's because the contestant was suffering from Stage 4 colon cancer when she recorded the episodes in August and September, pumped up with painkillers and at one point developing a fever that reduced her voice almost to a whisper. She died on December 5 at age 41, just over a week before the taped episodes began airing, after she pledged to donate her more than $123,000 in winnings to the Cancer Research Institute. Host Alex Trebek poses on the set of 'Jeopardy!' quiz show, at Sony Pictures in Culver City, California Frederick M. Brown (Getty/AFP/File) The show's host Alex Trebek ended Wednesday's show with a tribute. "For the past six Jeopardy! programs, you folks have been getting to know the talented champion, Cindy Stowell. Appearing on the show was the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition for that lady," he said. "What you did not know is that when we taped these programs with her a few weeks ago, she was suffering from Stage 4 cancer and sadly, on December 5, Cindy Stowell passed away. So from all of us here at Jeopardy!, our sincere condolences to her family and her friends." Stowell's run on the beloved 33-year-old show put her among the year's top performers. After she passed an online contestant test earlier this year, Stowell -- a science content developer from Austin, Texas -- wrote to a producer asking how long the audition process takes. "I just found out that I don't have too much longer to live," she said, according to the show's website. "The doctor's best guess is about 6 months." She showed up for the taping of her first episodes in August in Los Angeles under serious physical and mental impairment, The New York Times reported her boyfriend Jason Hess as saying. She felt nauseated with a fever and the painkillers she was taking delayed her reaction time, a key handicap on a show in which contestants must be first to push a button in order to give their answers. However, her opponents did not know about her condition, the show's website said. "Cindy's biggest fear going in was that she would get caught on minor pronunciation errors," Hess tweeted. Several days after filming the first four episodes, Stowell was hospitalized for a blood infection, the Times reported. During her last episode on Wednesday -- which was taped later in September -- she provided the correct answer to the final, potentially decisive question, about the closest country to the US mainland where cars drive on the left (answer: the Bahamas). However, she didn't wager enough money to beat to her challenger, Sam Scovill. Tributes have poured in from the show's loyal fans. 4,000 rebels leave Aleppo in 'last stages' of evacuation More than 4,000 fighters left rebel-held areas of Aleppo, the Red Cross said Thursday, in the "last stages" of an evacuation clearing the way for Syria's army to retake the city. A week into the rebel withdrawal from the east of Syria's second city, the evacuation of fighters and civilians from the one-time opposition stronghold appeared to be reaching its final hours. The loss of east Aleppo marks the biggest defeat for Syria's rebellion in more than five years of civil war and a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad, who on Thursday hailed his allies Moscow and Tehran. Syrian rebel fighters are evacuated from Aleppo towards rebel-held territory on December 22, 2016 YOUSSEF KARWASHAN (AFP) "The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran," state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying. The evacuation effort has been hampered in recent days by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures -- leaving evacuees waiting in unheated buses for hours -- but aid workers said it had resumed in earnest. "Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, in one of the last stages of the evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated in private cars, vans, and pick-ups from eastern Aleppo," said Ingy Sedky, the spokeswoman in Syria for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She said about 34,000 people had left rebel areas of Aleppo under the evacuation plan, which the ICRC is assisting with. - Evacuations 'probably' into Friday - The heavy snowfall from the day before, which blanketed Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, had stopped but was still slowing down the evacuations. "The bad weather, including heavy snow and wind, and the poor state of vehicles... mean things are moving much more slowly than expected," Sedky said. "The evacuation will continue for the entire day and night and most probably tomorrow (Friday). Thousands are still expected to be evacuated." It was unclear who exactly remained to be evacuated or how many were either fighters or civilians. The United Nations said it had deployed observers to monitor the final evacuations, under a Security Council resolution adopted on Monday. Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, said 31 staff had been assigned for monitoring at the crossing point at Ramussa, the government-held district of southern Aleppo through which evacuation convoys have been leaving. "It's been a very difficult night. The weather is really harsh, and people are leaving in hundreds of private vehicles at different levels of disrepair," he told AFP. Rebel forces, who seized control of east Aleppo in 2012, agreed to withdraw from the bastion after a month-long army offensive that drove them from more than 90 percent of their former territory. - Pivotal moment of war - The agreement was brokered by Russia, which launched air strikes in support of Assad's regime last year, and Turkey, which has supported some rebel groups. An AFP correspondent early on Thursday saw a convoy of about 20 pick-up trucks and cars carrying armed rebels pass through Ramussa. A few hours later another convoy of about 10 buses also left. An AFP journalist on Thursday also saw buses headed for Aleppo carrying residents who are being evacuated from rebel-besieged villages. As part of the Aleppo evacuation deal, it was agreed some residents would be allowed to leave Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority villages in northwestern Syria that are under siege by the Sunni Muslim rebels. About 1,000 people have been able to leave the villages in recent days. Sedky said the ICRC would "continue to escort hundreds of civilians" from the villages to Aleppo "throughout the day". The evacuation of Aleppo's rebel sector is a pivotal moment in a war that has killed more than 310,000 people and triggered a major humanitarian and refugee crisis. As well as a major strategic gain for Assad, the rebel withdrawal from Aleppo has given fresh impetus to international efforts to end the conflict. Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed this week to guarantee Syria peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire, laying down their claim as the main powerbrokers in the war. - Turkish air strikes - Repeated attempts at peace have failed, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene fresh talks in Geneva in February. Moscow's military intervention in support of Assad marked a major turning point in the war. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday the Russian air force has killed 35,000 fighters in Syria since it began in September last year. Turkey launched its own campaign in Syria in late August in support of pro-Ankara rebels, with the aim of ousting Islamic State group jihadists as well as Kurdish militia from areas near its border. Turkish air strikes killed at least 29 civilians including eight children Thursday in the IS-held town of Al-Bab, which Turkish forces have been seeking to capture for weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The raids came a day after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by jihadists around Al-Bab, in the country's biggest loss of the campaign so far. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed Thursday to press on, saying: "Turkey is in the midst of a great struggle -- our fight against terror continues both in our country and outside our borders." Syrian rebels evacuated from Aleppo drive through rebel-held territory near Rashidin, west of the embattled city, on December 22, 2016 Omar haj kadour (AFP) Syrian rebel fighters are evacuated from Aleppo towards rebel-held territory on December 22, 2016 YOUSSEF KARWASHAN (AFP) Syrian rebel fighters are evacuated from Aleppo towards rebel-held territory on December 22, 2016 GEORGE OURFALIAN (AFP) A civilian is loaded onto a bus by members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in Jibrin on December 22, 2016 GEORGE OURFALIAN (AFP) YouTube star says kicked off Delta flight for speaking Arabic A Yemeni-American YouTube star from New York called for a boycott of Delta Airlines after charging he was removed from one of its flights for speaking Arabic. Delta said Adam Saleh and his friend Slim Albaher were asked to leave the London-to-New York flight on Wednesday morning following an unspecified "disturbance." "We spoke a different language on the plane, and now we're getting kicked out," the 23-year-old prankster, who has more than 2.2 million YouTube followers, said in a video filmed as the incident unfolded, and posted on Twitter. Adam Saleh is calling for a boycott of Delta Airlines Barry Williams (Getty/Getty Images/AFP/File) Saleh said he had been talking to his mother on the phone when fellow passengers complained, and he was told to leave. "You guys are racists," he said. "I spoke a different language and you say you feel uncomfortable! I can't believe my eyes. We spoke a different language and now there are six white people against us bearded men." Several passengers could be seen voicing their support for Saleh, with one calling out the airline staff in protest, but others at the rear of the aircraft seemed to approve, waving him off and saying "Good Bye." After an hours-long delay involving more security checks, Saleh said he was finally able to board a flight to New York with a different airline -- and would head straight to see his lawyer. Saleh's video had been retweeted more than 700,000 times by Wednesday evening, and the hashtag #BoycottDelta -- which he included in a subsequent tweet -- was trending on Twitter. It was the latest of several cases in the past year in which passengers have run into trouble on American flights for speaking Arabic -- or in one case, for writing mathematical equations passengers mistook for Arabic. In a statement, the airline said crew and passenger statements after the incident indicated that Saleh and Albaher "sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting." "While one, according to media reports, is a known prankster who was video recorded and encouraged by his traveling companion, what is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees," it added. "It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority." Delta said earlier it was investigating allegations of discrimination. The airline declined to provide further comment when contacted by AFP. Last month, the company banned for life a man who had loudly expressed support for President-elect Donald Trump on a flight from Atlanta to Allentown, Pennsylvania. Saleh's YouTube site posts videos of hidden-camera scenarios and other pranks. "Yes we're pranksters and it sounds like the boy who cried wolf," he tweeted Wednesday night, "but today you can see its as real as it gets." Adam Saleh's Youtubevideo had been retweeted more than 700,000 times by Wednesday evening Justin Tallis (AFP/File) Mistry fires first legal salvo against India's Tata Lawyers for Cyrus Mistry, the ousted ex-chairman of Indian conglomerate Tata, on Thursday fired the opening salvo of a legal case pitting their client against company patriarch Ratan Tata. Advocate Gopal Mukherjee told the first hearing of a companies disputes tribunal that Mistry had been unfairly sacked as Tata boss in October because he had informed the board about alleged corporate malfeasance at the steel-to-salt giant. "Shareholders believed various acts of mismanagement within the Tata Group. Mistry was removed because he wanted to investigate these malpractices," Mukherjee said at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) hearing in Mumbai. Cyrus Mistry says he was illegally removed as chairman of Tata Sons Punit Paranjpe (AFP/File) Mistry claims that he was illegally removed as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the $103 billion Tata Group, at a board meeting on October 24. He says he was dismissed without adequate prior notice and at the behest of Ratan Tata, 78, who is back in the hot seat at India's biggest conglomerate after making way for Mistry in 2012. Mistry's dismissal shocked India's business community and saw Tata take interim charge of the sprawling conglomerate that he led for more than two decades. Tata, who was said to be unhappy with the direction that Mistry was taking India's most famous family conglomerate, claims the latter was fairly removed after losing the support of Tata Sons board members. The pair have been engaged in an unsavoury public battle since the ouster, releasing accusations and counter-accusations against each other almost daily, plunging the world-renowned group into turmoil. Mistry was last week stripped of his directorships of IT giant Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Industries and Tata Teleservices as Ratan Tata called for all operating companies to purge the 50-year-old from their boards. He was due to be booted off the boards of Indian Hotels Ltd, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals this week but resigned instead, promising to take his battle against his former employer to court. The tribunal instructed Mistry's counsel to provide detailed evidence of his claims to the court within a week. Tata Sons will then have seven days to file their response. The judge hopes to hold the final hearings on January 31 and February 1, 2017. "Tata Sons believes that the petition is not maintainable in law and the court will hear Tata Sons on this issue at the outset at the next hearing," the conglomerate said in a short statement after Thursday's proceedings. The launch of the Tata Tiago in Bangalore in April Manjunath Kiran (AFP/File) UN says east Aleppo observers on ground to monitor evacuation The UN said Thursday that it had deployed dozens of observers in east Aleppo to monitor the last stage of an evacuation, which is clearing the way for Syria's army to retake the city. "Thirty-one staff are now assigned for monitoring," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, told AFP, adding that the observers included both national and international staff members, and that some had been reassigned from other tasks. "They are all on the job right now," he said. UN Security Council delays vote on Israeli settlements The UN Security Council delayed a contentious vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt settlements as President-elect Donald Trump weighed in and said the United States should veto the measure. Egypt requested that the vote be postponed, one day after submitting the draft text to the council, a move that triggered immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a US veto to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained unclear whether Washington would shift stance this time, possibly abstaining to allow the measure to pass, although without US support. Israeli settlers block the entrance to the the settlement outpost of Amona, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Jack Guez (AFP) "Israelis deeply appreciate one of the great pillars of the US-Israel alliance: the willingness over many years of the United States to stand up in the UN and veto anti-Israel resolutions," Netanyahu said. "I hope the US won't abandon this policy." Israel launched a frantic lobbying effort to pressure Egypt to drop the bid and reached out to its supporters in the United States and at the Security Council for support. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said his government was deploying "diplomatic efforts on all fronts to ensure that this disgraceful resolution will not pass in the Security Council." A senior Security Council diplomat suggested the motion could be buried indefinitely. "There was a window of opportunity. Whether that window is still there is really not clear," said a Western diplomat. - Trump calls for US veto - Trump, who campaigned on a promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, bluntly said Washington should use its veto to block the resolution. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," he said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis." CNN reported that Israel reached out to Trump for help to pressure the Obama administration into vetoing the resolution. The network quoted a senior Israeli official as saying Israel "implored the White House not to go ahead and told them that if they did, we would have no choice but to reach out to President-elect Trump." "We did reach out to the president-elect and are deeply appreciative that he weighed in, which was not a simple thing to do," the official said, according to CNN. Trump called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to talk about the vote, CNN said, citing a diplomatic source. It said Trump called after Israel asked him to step in. Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said Trump's call for a veto was in response to pressure from the Israeli prime minister. "He is acting on behalf of Netanyahu," he said. Trump has chosen as ambassador to Israel the hardliner David Friedman, who has said Washington will not pressure Israel to curtail settlement building in the occupied West Bank. No new timeframe was announced for the vote, which had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Arab ambassadors held an emergency meeting at the United Nations to press Egypt to move ahead with a vote but an Arab League committee decided after meeting in Cairo to continue talks on the fate of the motion. Palestinian envoy Jamal al-Shobaki told reporters in Cairo that Egypt asked for more time and that there would be discussions over the next two days on the next step. Illustrating how the Egyptian decision caught Washington flat-footed, Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to make remarks laying out a vision for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Kerry spoke to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Wednesday and then, after the Egyptian decision, to Netanyahu on Thursday. President Barack Obama's administration has expressed mounting anger over the continued expansion of the Jewish outposts and speculation has grown that he could launch a final initiative before leaving. - Saving the two-state solution - Israeli settlements are seen as a major stumbling block to peace efforts, as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. The draft resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." It states that Israeli settlements have "no legal validity" and are "dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution" that would see an independent Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. The Middle East peace process has been comatose since a US initiative to re-launch peace talks collapsed in April 2014. France announced plans to host an international conference on January 15 to try to restart talks based on the two-state solution. US President-elect Donald Trump believe the United States should use its veto to block the United Nations resolution on Israeli settlements JIM WATSON (AFP/File) A Palestinian protestor in front of the Israeli settlement of Qadumim (Kedumim), near Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on December 9, 2016 Jaafar Ashtiyeh (AFP) Berlin attack suspect's family in shock In shock after he was named the prime suspect in the Berlin market attack, Anis Amri's brother said Thursday he fled Tunisia seeking a better life, but should hand himself in. "If he is listening to me, I tell him: 'Present yourself' (to the police), so the family can rest easier," Abdelkader Amri told reporters in the family's poor home village in eastern Tunisia. "If my brother is behind the attack, I say to him 'You dishonour us'," Abdelkader told AFP. Mustapha Amri (2nd left), the father of Anis Amri, with children Walid (left), Hanan (centre), and Abdelkader and his brother (right) in Oueslatia on December 22, 2016 Fethi Belaid (AFP/File) He spoke as his brother was on the run after Monday's attack on a Christmas market, when a large truck ploughed through a crowd, killing 11 people. A 12th victim, the hijacked truck's Polish driver, was found shot in the cab. Prosecutors in Germany have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Anis Amri, offering a 100,000 euro reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he "could be violent and armed". On Thursday, his brothers Walid and Abdelkader were still reeling at the news. Speaking outside their home in Oueslatia, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Kairouan, Abdelkader told AFP of his brother's departure from the North African country more than five years ago. The youngest of nine siblings, with divorced parents and in difficult social circumstances, Amri left the country illegally in March 2011 by sea for the Italian island of Lampedusa. He was fleeing a court conviction and a sentence of four years handed down in absentia for robbery and burglary, Abdelkader said. A security official in the area confirmed this information. - 'He had no future' - "Anis left to get away from misery -- he had no future in Tunisia and wanted at all costs to improve the family's financial situation. We live below the poverty line, like most families in Oueslatia," Abdelkader said, his eyes red. His brother Walid added: "He lived like all young people -- he drank, he didn't go to prayers or anything." Once in Italy, Anis Amri found himself in a detention centre along with other illegal migrants. But he soon found himself in trouble: he was sentenced to four years in jail for setting fire to a building, Abdelkader said. "In 2015 he had made it to Germany and was trying to sort himself out. He worked as an agricultural labourer and things like that," he said. "He'd contact us on Facebook, saying he wanted to come back to Tunisia but that he had to earn some money to buy his own car and start his own business." According to Walid, "10 days before the attack he told us he was counting on God to get him home in January." Abdelkader said their brother "was laughing and joking with us. There was no sign he had been radicalised. I'm sure he can't have done this, that's not why he emigrated. May God reveal the truth," he said before bursting into tears, remembering that Thursday was Anis's birthday. "I want to wish him happy birthday," he added. Outside the house, their red-faced mother urged curious onlookers to go away. "Please understand," she pleaded with them. "Leave us alone with our misfortune." - Risking 'the same fate' - On Thursday, the suspect's father Mustapha, as on any other day, was taking his cart around town looking for clients to transport their goods. "Look at my father with his cart, working at that age," Abdelkader told AFP. "Here in Oueslatia, if you don't work you die of hunger." His friend Faouzi could not contain his anger. "Tell (President) Beji Caid Essebsi to look after the country's young people!" he cried. "We've had enough of being ignored. We've rotted in prison! All the young people in Oueslatia risk the same fate as Anis," he warned. Monday's attack in the German capital was claimed by the Islamic State group, and according to a security official in Oueslatia, IS recruited the suspect in Italy. "These cursed sons who damage the country," headlined the French-language daily paper La Presse on Thursday. "There's no point in trying to hide the fact: every time a terrorist attack takes place in the world, the people of Tunisia hold their breath," it said. "Because many times a cursed son has been responsible for carrying out a major attack." Walid Anis believes in his brother's innocence, despite the belief in Germany that he carried out the attack. A temporary residence permit believed to belong to Amri was found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry, and Germany's interior minister said investigators had also found his fingerprints inside. "We denounce the accusations against my brother," Walid told AFP. "We know him well. He has done nothing!" Walid (centre) and Abdelkader (right) Amri talk to the media in front of their family house Fethi Belaid (AFP) Berlin suspect Simon MALFATTO, Laurence SAUBADU (AFP) Syria army, civilians reclaim ruined Aleppo streets Syrian troops strengthened their hold over Aleppo on Friday after retaking full control of the city, as residents anxious to return to their homes moved through its ruined streets. The army announced on Thursday it had recaptured the former rebel stronghold of east Aleppo following a landmark evacuation deal that saw thousands of opposition fighters and residents bussed out. It was the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad's forces in nearly six years of civil war and a major win for his foreign backers, with key ally Russia hailing the "very important" step. Syrian regime forces walk past destroyed buildings in the former rebel-held Ansari district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 23, 2016 after government forces retook control of the embattled city George Ourfalian (AFP) Braving the cold, war-weary residents crossed districts that had become dangerous front lines, eager to return to neighbourhoods they had not seen in years. Civilians wrapped in coats trekked through the cold, some rolling their belongings on wheelbarrows. "I came to check on my house, which I haven't seen in five years," resident Khaled al-Masri said. "I really hope my home wasn't badly damaged." The evacuation operation ended more than four years of fierce fighting in Aleppo, which had been divided between government forces in the west and rebels in the east since 2012. Opposition forces still control an area west of Aleppo and at least six civilians were killed Friday in the first rebel rocket fire on the city since it fell under government control, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Later Friday, air raids targeting rebel territory to the west of the city killed three fighters, the Britain-based monitor said. And near the ancient city of Palmyra, the Islamic State group killed 27 Syrian soldiers and allied militiamen in a series of attacks, the Observatory said. - 'Nothing left' - The evacuation agreement was brokered by rebel backer Turkey and regime supporter Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Assad Friday to congratulate him on the "liberation" of Aleppo, the Kremlin said. "This success was possible thanks to mutual efforts of all who came together in the fight with international terrorism in Syria," it said. Earlier, Putin hailed Aleppo's recapture, calling it a "very important part of the normalisation in Syria", saying the next step would be "conclusion of a ceasefire agreement on all of Syria's territory". The Kremlin also announced Putin had signed an order to expand Russia's naval facility in the Syrian city of Tartus, while Russian military police had been dispatched to recaptured parts of Aleppo. "We sent in a battalion of military police yesterday evening to maintain order in the liberated territories," Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said. On Friday morning, government fighters moved into Ansari, Al-Mashhad, and other neighbourhoods they had not entered since mid-2012. They searched for improvised explosive devices and mines, clearing buildings to prepare the way for civilians to return, the Observatory said. As they finished sweeping through the main streets, soldiers moved into the smaller alleyways to check for bombs, an AFP correspondent in one district said. In Bustan al-Qasr, a heavily damaged neighbourhood near Aleppo's famed Old City, bulldozers removed rubble from the streets. As the army moved through Al-Mayssar district, Umm Abdo, 42, said she had found her former home but it had been destroyed. "There's nothing left... but houses can be rebuilt," she said. Syria's war transformed Aleppo from the country's industrial hub to a worldwide symbol of bloodshed and devastation. The army on Thursday announced "the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists". - 'Toughest battles' - The regime victory came after state television said the last convoy of four buses carrying rebels and civilians had left east Aleppo and arrived in the government-controlled Ramussa district south of the city. The evacuation deal, overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent, put an end to a month-long offensive waged on Aleppo's east by pro-government forces. The assault was backed by pro-government militia, including powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. In a televised speech on Friday, Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah said the army's win in Aleppo put an end to any hopes Assad's regime would collapse. "After Aleppo, one can comfortably say that the goal of regime downfall has failed," Nasrallah said. The ICRC said the evacuation operation had seen 35,000 people bussed out of Aleppo and another 1,200 evacuated from Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority towns in northwest Syria besieged by rebels. Nearly six years in, the conflict has killed more than 310,000 people and displaced half of Syria's pre-war population. The army's win in Aleppo has put the spotlight on the role of powerbrokers Russia, Iran and Turkey, which agreed this week to guarantee new peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire. Repeated attempts at peace have failed, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene fresh talks in Geneva in February. Key dates in the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad Laurence SAUBADU, Thomas SAINT-CRICQ (AFP) Syrian rebel fighters, are evacuated from Aleppo towards rebel-held territory in the west of Aleppo's province on December 22, 2016 GEORGE OURFALIAN (AFP) Syria: five key dates Thomas SAINT-CRICQ (AFP) Syrians, who left the last rebel-held pockets of Syria's northen city of Aleppo, arrive on December 22, 2016 in the opposition-controlled Khan al-Assal region, west of the embattled city Baraa Al-Halabi (AFP) Grace Mugabe told to return property in diamond ring spat A Zimbabwean court has ordered President Robert Mugabe's wife to return three properties she seized from a local businessman in a messy dispute over a $1.35-million diamond ring, a lawyer said Thursday. Grace Mugabe was taken to court by Jamal Ahmed after she took over three of his properties, demanding that he repay the $1.35 million (1.3 million euros) she had paid for a diamond ring that she then decided she did not want. On Wednesday, Zimbabwe's High Court ordered Grace to vacate the properties she seized, Ahmed's lawyer Beatrice Mtwetwa said in a statement. Grace Mugabe (R) was taken to court by Jamal Ahmed after she took over three of his properties Jekesai Njikizana (AFP/File) According to court documents seen by AFP, Ahmed said Grace had made an order for the $1.35 million diamond ring in Dubai. She "placed an order for a diamond with my daughter in Dubai which she indicated her husband wanted to buy her for their anniversary," he said. The first lady "then refused to take delivery of the diamond and instead demanded a full refund." Ahmed, who is not currently in Zimbabwe, said he has received threats from officials from Zimbabwe's spy agency -- the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). "I have been threatened with harm if I return and it is necessary that I get some form of protection," court documents quoted him as saying. "If the respondents have a genuine cause of action against me, they have a right to take me to court ... without taking the law into their own hands." - 'Reign of terror' - Ahmed said the first lady was aware that his business had already incurred the costs of preparing the diamond for its sale. To avoid trouble the businessman offered to repay the money in instalments and has paid back $150,000 already, he said in court documents. He also claimed that Grace, together with her son, initiated "a reign of terror and harassment where I was verbally threatened, harassed, insulted and told that I could not do anything to them as they are in fact 'Zimbabwe'". "Threats of taking over my properties in Zimbabwe were also made," he added. This is not the first time Grace Mugabe has been involved in a controversial business deal. In 2011 she was caught in a spat over a $1-million truck deal with South African businessman Ping Sung Hsieh. Grace, 51, married Mugabe in 1996. Trump names party veteran Sean Spicer as press secretary Donald Trump Thursday tapped veteran Republican party strategist Sean Spicer to be White House press secretary, the mouthpiece of his administration, as he unveiled the top members of his presidential media team. Spicer is a familiar face in Washington, as the longtime chief spokesman of the Republican National Committee. Also named to top White House press posts were: Jason Miller, who was named director of communications; Dan Scavino, director of social media, and Hope Hicks, director of strategic communications. Sean Spicer (R) is named White House press secretary and Jason Miller (C) is named White House director of communications Drew Angerer (Getty/AFP/File) "Sean, Hope, Jason and Dan have been key members of my team during the campaign and transition," Trump said in a statement from his Mar-a-Lago estate in south Florida, where he is spending the Christmas holidays. "I am excited they will be leading the team that will communicate my agenda that will Make America Great Again," the president-elect said. The New York Times reported that Trump had hoped to persuade his former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway to at least share the press secretary podium -- but that she declined. US-based cleric Gulen again condemns Russian envoy's killing US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen on Thursday again condemned the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara, after Turkish authorities moved to link him with the murder. "I reiterate that I sincerely condemn the act of terror against the Russian ambassador," Gulen said according to English subtitles on a video published on YouTube. "I send my deepest condolences to all Russian people, especially to their leaders." The funeral ceremony in Moscow for Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov on December 22, 2016 Alexander NEMENOV (AFP) In terrifying scenes captured on photo and video, 22-year-old policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas shot Ambassador Andrei Karlov nine times in the back on Monday while he was delivering a speech at an exhibition of photographs of Russia in Ankara. Pro-government press have reported that police discovered pro-Gulen literature belonging to Altintas and sympathizers of the preacher in his circle. "While the assertion is wrong and irresponsible, it is not unexpected since Mr (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan blames Mr Gulen for any and all harm that besets Turkey," the Alliance for Shared Values, which supports Gulen, said in a statement. Gulen had first condemned the shooting late Monday. Ankara has also blamed Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, for orchestrating the attempted coup in July. Gulen has denied involvement in both the coup and the envoy's assassination, and Moscow has also refrained from assigning blame, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning against "rushing to conclusions" before the investigation is complete. After opening fire, the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greater") and "don't forget Aleppo," vowing that those responsible for events in Syria would be held accountable. With iron will and key allies, Syria's Assad defies expectations Written off by the West, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has defied all expectations of his downfall, thanks to his iron will but also his crucial alliances with Russia and Iran. Syria's army declared Thursday it has recaptured all of Aleppo, allowing the 51-year-old president to deal a potentially knock-out blow to the opposition forces that rose up against him in 2011. "The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran," state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying before the army announcement. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad giving an interview to Portugal's RTP state television on November 15, 2016 STRINGER (SANA/AFP/File) For nearly six years, Assad has been able to count on his bloodied but loyal armed forces, his powerful intelligence services and the support of many people in Syria terrified by the rise of jihadist forces such as the Islamic State group. His opponents, meanwhile, have often been deeply divided and disorganised, and received timid backing from Western and Arab Gulf allies unwilling to stand by their side militarily. Assad, analysts said, was able to survive because he never wavered in his deep belief that he had no choice but to fight on. "It has always been a struggle for life and death. There was no question of stopping this war. It was either win or lose," said Nikolaos van Dam, a former Dutch ambassador and Syria expert. "The regime has half a century of experience of how to stay in power. It has the support of the army and security services," he said. "Popular support is not that decisive, but comes among others from minorities that feel threatened by Islamists and jihadists." Having arrived in power in 2000 following the death of his father Hafez, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for 30 years, Assad was taken by surprise by the revolution. - Sure of 'ultimate victory' - Inspired by the Arab Spring movement sweeping the Middle East, opponents of Assad's rule rose up in a wave of protests across the country. Assad did not hesitate and the protests were violently suppressed, with the Syrian leader denouncing his opponents as either jihadists, foreign agents of a conspiracy concocted by the United States and Israel, or both. Opposition forces took up arms and many of the rebels were hailed in the West and Sunni Gulf Arab states -- long enemies of Assad's Shiite-linked regime -- as the vanguard of a democratic Syria. Still, despite some tentative efforts to provide arms and training to opposition forces, the revolution's backers never cracked Assad's conviction that he was going to win the war, analysts said. "Assad advisers maintained from the beginning that they were confident of success so long as the United States Air Force did not bomb Damascus or get involved in the war," said Joshua Landis, director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Even at the regime's worst moment, when his forces were driven in March 2015 from Idlib province, "Assad and his advisers brushed off their defeats as limited", Landis said. "They always projected a strong sense of self-assurance in their ultimate victory." Patience was vital, analysts said, with Assad -- no matter how isolated from the West -- willing to hold out for as long as it took to put down the rebellion. "He was from the same school as his father, and this school has always understood the importance of time, how to turn bad headwinds into good," said Waddah Abed Rabbo, editor-in-chief of Syria's influential Al-Watan daily newspaper. Still, the key to his victory, Abed Rabbo and others said, was the steadfast support Assad was able to count on from his foreign allies. "He never doubted his victory because he knew that his country had for decades nourished a solid strategic alliance with Russia, Iran and others," he said. - Old, strong alliances - Those alliances date back decades. The Soviet Union was a major supporter of Assad's father, and Syria's ruling elite -- hailing from the Alawite branch of Shiite Islam -- have long had close ties with Shiite-dominated Iran. "Syria's relations with its allies are old and founded on... interests that are still valid today," said Souhail Belhadj, a political scientist at the Geneva-based Institute of International and Development Studies. "The Syrian regime has always shown itself to be a loyal military, strategic, political, ideological and economic ally for as long as this alliance has lasted." In contrast, as Syria's war dragged on, the opposition saw its support dwindle away. The "Friends of Syria" group, formed in 2012 by Western and Gulf nations to support the rebellion, backed the National Coalition as the country's recognised opposition and imposed sanctions on the regime. But that support, analysts said, never went far enough. "The weakness of Assad's enemies has to a great extent been determined by insufficient support of the 'friends' of the Syrian opposition," van Dam said. Emboldened by his win in Aleppo, Assad now has little reason to make any concessions to the opposition. "He will rule much as he has in the past, using a combination of intimidation and patronage," Landis said. "We have seen that the Assads are unable to change the fundamental nature of the regime." Key dates in the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad Laurence SAUBADU, Thomas SAINT-CRICQ (AFP) Syrians living in Turkey hold signs during a protest against Russia, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime ally, in front of the Russian Embassy along Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul on December 17, 2016 OZAN KOSE (AFP/File) US sues Barclays over crisis-era mortgage securities The US Justice Department sued the British financial giant Barclays on Thursday, accusing the bank of massive fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities which contributed to the global financial crisis of 2008. Barclays was one of several major banks implicated in the crisis, along with Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Credit Suisse, that so far have not reached settlements with US authorities over their roles in the financial meltdown, causing jitters among investors. Thursday's move to sue in open court stood out, with the Justice Department choosing not to seek a mutually acceptable resolution, as it has in most cases when taking enforcement action against major financial institutions. Barclays was one of several major banks implicated in the global financial crisis of 2008 NIKLAS HALLE'N (AFP/File) In a statement, the bank said it would "vigorously defend" itself against the allegations. "Barclays rejects the claims made in the complaint," the statement said. "Barclays considers that the claims made in the complaint are disconnected from the facts." The government's complaint filed in federal court also named two former Barclays executives -- Paul Menefee, former head banker in charge of due diligence for Barclays so-called subprime, or higher risk, residential mortgage-backed securitizations, and John Carroll, who served as Barclays' head trader for subprime loan acquisitions. The Justice Department has faced stiff criticism for its perceived failure to hold senior executives to account following the financial crisis. No major figures have suffered criminal conviction. Federal prosecutors say that as part of the alleged scheme Barclays sold $31 billion in securities which packaged poor-quality subprime and Alt-A mortgages to investors around the world, more than half of which defaulted after Barclays deliberately and systematically lied to investors about the loans. "Investors who bought RMBS from Barclays, and who suffered catastrophic losses as a result, included individuals and institutions that form the backbone of our community," Robert Capers, the chief prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. Hope rises for DR Congo deal Hopes rose Thursday for a deal aimed at ending a dangerous crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a source with the Catholic church, which is overseeing the talks in the capital Kinshasa. "We are going to wrap up tonight," the source said. The talks are being presided by the Congo National Episcopal Conference, CENCO, which has previously urged a conclusion by Christmas. The DR Congo as been thrust into a potentially explosive crisis over the future of President Joseph Kabila Eduardo Soteras (AFP/File) "The agreement has to be signed tomorrow because the bishops have to be in their dioceses by Saturday at the latest," the source said, referring to Christmas Eve. The central African country of 70 million people has been thrust into a potentially explosive crisis over the future of President Joseph Kabila. Kabila, 45, has been been in office since his father Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and again in 2011, and his term in office officially ended on December 20. In November, he cut a power-sharing deal, appointing fringe opposition politician Samy Badibanga as prime minister -- a move that would effectively extend his term to at least late 2017. A working document being used at the talks, seen by AFP, sets out a plan for a "political transition" and the holding of presidential elections -- which should have been held this year -- in "late 2017." A so-called national transition council would be set up to ensure the agreement is carried out. Vast and resource-rich but poor and chronically unstable, DR Congo has never witnessed a democratic transfer of power following polls since independence from Belgium in 1960. Two decades ago, the country collapsed into the deadliest conflict in modern African history. Its two wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s dragged in at least six African armies and left more than three million dead. Its restive east remains a battleground for rival ethnic militia. The deadline for Kabila's official departure from office unleashed clashes that have left between 56 and 104 people dead, according to divergent tolls. In Aleppo, Assad supporters shout their joy after regime victory Thousands of people in western Aleppo took to the streets Thursday, rejoicing in the Syrian regime's operation to retake the eastern side of their city from rebels after a years-long battle. Celebratory gunfire began to erupt and crowds began to fill the streets as soon as the army announced the last rebels had left east Aleppo. The western side of the city had been under the control of President Bashar al-Assad's forces throughout the conflict, and also suffered heavy shelling and loss of life. Syrians celebrate on December 22, 2016 in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after the army said it has retaken full control of the country's second cityThe army said it has retaken full control of Syria's devastated second city Aleppo George OURFALIAN (AFP) "We've been waiting five years for this. We have suffered, what with the rebels, the water shortages and the power cuts," said Rana al-Salem, 29, as tears welled in her eyes and noise rose to a crescendo in the background. Cars crawled along, their drivers sounding their horns, and in city squares, children had the colours of the Syrian flag painted on their cheeks. Some carried portraits of Assad or the flags of Syria and Russia, whose air raids against the rebels were a turning point. "Our joy is immense. Life returned to Aleppo today," said lawyer Omar Halli, who predicted "victory over all of Syria". "God, Syria, Bashar are all we need," "Hey, hey, hey, Aleppo," "With our soul, our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for Syria!," some chanted. Some took selfies in the middle of the crowd, and others let off fireworks. "My mother swore that I would only get married in our house, in the Old City," a 26-year-old man who gave his name as Assaad, told AFP. "I am going to go back to our house and build another floor on it, and I'll be living there after my wedding," he vowed. Centuries old and studded with historic stone buildings, the Old City became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. But in the battle of Aleppo, the quarter was on the frontline, between the rebel-held east and regime-held west. In 2013, the UN agency placed it on its list of cultural heritage that was at risk. Aleppo, Syria's second city, was an economic powerhouse for the country before the war, and locally-born businessman Aly Akkam predicted it would rise once more. "Aleppo will bounce back even stronger," Akkam said, adding he planned to return to the Old City where he had a textile shop that he had to abandon. The loss of east Aleppo is the biggest blow to the rebel movement in Syria's nearly six-year conflict, which has killed more than 310,000 people. Wednesday's announcement came after a landmark evacuation deal that ended a month-long offensive by government forces and allied militia. The Latest: Angler's group responds to wildlife secretary NEW ORLEANS (AP) The Latest on resignation of Louisiana's secretary of wildlife and fisheries (all times local): 5:30 p.m. The head of a Louisiana anglers' group denies comments by the state's wildlife and fisheries secretary that the group is a major cause of problems in his department. Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana executive director David Cresson says it's insulting to suggest that the group's actions have been anything but professional and appropriate. Secretary Charlie Melancon made the comments in a resignation letter submitted Wednesday. The secretary questions nearly $3.4 million in contracts with the group over the past six years. Cresson says those contracts were for two very successful programs: one to build artificial reefs and one to tag fish. ___ 4:20 p.m. Louisiana's wildlife and fisheries secretary says people in his office have been sabotaging attempts to clean up its finances, and he's resigning Dec. 31 rather than in February. Charlie Melancon texted a copy of his resignation letter Wednesday to The Associated Press. It says that when he became secretary, he didn't realize he'd be taking on a troubled agency, and that those troubles continue. He says they're "driven largely" by a recreational anglers' group and people in the agency, though most employees are honest. Melancon has clashed with recreational fishermen, and been criticized for agency changes he pushed after auditors found shoddy financial management under the previous administration. He said last week that officials in Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration asked him to leave office in mid-February, and he had agreed. ___ Chicago mayor releases 1000s of emails from private accounts CHICAGO (AP) The city of Chicago released thousands of email messages from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's personal accounts on Wednesday as part of a settlement with a government watchdog organization. Emanuel's office said it was making public any messages pertaining to city business that were sent to and from Emanuel dating to 2011, when the former White House chief of staff took office. The disclosure followed years of wrangling between the Better Government Association and City Hall, which argued the messages didn't have to be made public. The watchdog group and the Chicago Tribune also sued the mayor, and two Cook County judges ruled against the city, saying emails sent on private devices aren't automatically exempt from disclosure laws. Andy Shaw, president and CEO of the Better Government Association, called it a "major step forward" but said "it's unfortunate that it took a lawsuit to produce the transparency we all deserve." "Use of private email accounts that hide the transaction of public business threatens to render meaningless the open records laws that allow citizens to hold their government accountable." he said. The debate over whether public business conducted on private devices and accounts should be subject to open records laws has grown in recent years with the explosion of technology such as smartphones. And Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton came under fire for using a private email server when she was secretary of state. Emanuel's office said a new policy would prohibit city employees from doing business on personal email accounts and require them to forward any work-related messages to their government account so they would be subject to public record searches. The mayor's private account will be reviewed quarterly and any messages pertaining to official business sent to the city. "The new standard we have set clarifies questions not just for me, but for all of Chicago's 30,000 employees," Emanuel said in an emailed statement. Chicago Tribune publisher and editor-in-chief Bruce Dold said in a Wednesday statement that the newspaper hadn't reached an agreement with the city to settle its September 2015 lawsuit. He noted the newspaper's "significant legal victory" this month when a Cook County judge ordered the city and Emanuel to provide an index of emails and text messages the mayor sent on personal devices. A prominent New York antiquities dealer has been accused of selling stolen artifacts from international smugglers by creating sham documents to hide their history in a scheme that prosecutors said dates back to 1999. Nancy Wiener was arrested Wednesday on charges of criminal possession of stolen property and conspiracy, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office. A raid on her gallery took place in March earlier this year. Prosecutors said she and several co-conspirators have been trafficking in illegal antiquities since at least 1999. Antiquities dealer Nancy Wiener, left, has been accused of selling stolen artifacts from international smugglers by creating sham documents to hide their history. Pictured right is a relief that was seized by authorities from her gallery '(The) defendant used a laundering process that included restoration services to hide damage from illegal excavations, straw purchases at auction houses to create sham ownership histories, and the creation of false provenance to predate international laws of patrimony prohibiting the exportation of looted antiquities,' according to the complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court. Her lawyer, Georges Lederman, told The New York Times his client 'surrendered voluntarily'. 'We are examining the charges and will respond at the appropriate time,' Lederman added. Wiener and her late mother have been well-known dealers of Indian and Southeast Asian art in New York for decades. Jacqueline Kennedy was one of their top clients Wiener and her mother, who died in 2011, have been well-known dealers of Indian and Southeast Asian art in New York for decades. Some of their top clients have been Jacqueline Kennedy, John D. Rockefeller III and Igor Stravinsky. When Wiener's mother died, prosecutors said she inherited hundreds of illicit items at their gallery and arraigned inaccurate ownership histories. She consigned 360 lots to Christie's, which auctioned them off for $12.8 million. In another example, prosecutors said Wiener purchased a stolen bronze Buddha from Southeast Asia and had a restorer erase shovel marks and other signs of looting before displaying it in her gallery, where authorities seized it during a raid in March. Wiener allegedly purchased the stolen Buddha for $500,000 and displayed it for sale for $1.5million, according to The New York Times. She allegedly had several Indian antiquities which were smuggled into the US by Subhash Kapoor, who authorities charged in New York with having more than 2,600 stolen goods with a $107.6million value, the newspaper's report said. Wiener posted $25,000 bail and has been released, The New York Times reported. The Nancy Wiener Gallery website says: 'Nancy Wiener has maintained the highest level of artistic integrity for nearly three decades. 'The gallery continues a legacy as a source of top quality Indian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan works of art, jewelery and decorative arts.' Proposed UN resolution demands end to Israeli settlements UNITED NATIONS (AP) Egypt circulated a draft U.N. resolution Wednesday night that demands a halt to Israeli settlement activities in Palestinian territory and declares that all existing settlements "have no legal validity" and are "a flagrant violation" of international law. The proposed resolution also stresses that "the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-state solution" which would see Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace. The Security Council scheduled a meeting at 3 p.m. EST Thursday to vote on the draft resolution. Much of the international community considers Israeli settlements illegal and backs the establishment of a Palestinian state, even though a deal appears to be increasingly complicated, in part because of the continued growth of settlements. But Egypt's call for a speedy vote leaves almost no time for negotiations among the 15 council members, and some language in the draft is highly likely to be unacceptable to the United States, Israel's closest ally and a veto-wielding council member. Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said the resolution "will do nothing to promote a diplomatic process, and will only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror." "We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," he said. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, has said a cessation of all Israeli settlement activities and an end to its nearly 50-year occupation of Palestinian territory are necessary for a comprehensive peace agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those terms saying negotiations should take place without conditions. In September, the international diplomatic "quartet" of Mideast peacemakers called for Israel and the Palestinians to take steps to resume stalled peace talks. But the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders remain wide, preventing any meaningful talks since 2009. The draft resolution calls for intensified and accelerated international and regional diplomatic efforts "aimed at achieving, without delay a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East." Mexican president pledges to rebuild fireworks market TULTEPEC, Mexico (AP) President Enrique Pena Nieto pledged on Thursday to help rebuild a fireworks market where explosions killed at least 35 people and reopen it next year, while a Roman Catholic church held funeral Masses throughout the day. Families packed Our Lady of Loreto Catholic Church in Tultepec in Mexico State, where chain-reaction blasts destroyed the country's best-known fireworks market Tuesday. Investigators have still not announced the cause of the tragedy, which was the third explosion at the market since 2005 and cast a pall over Mexico's Christmas season. Pena Nieto visited the injured in a hospital near Tultepec. But it was later at an anniversary ceremony for one of Mexico's independence heroes that the president spoke about the future of the San Pablito fireworks market. People accompany the coffin that contain the remains of Martina Almazan, a victim of the massive fireworks explosion, in Tultepec, Mexico, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. A downtown Tultepec Catholic church hosted funeral Masses throughout the day Thursday for victims of the massive fireworks explosion at the San Pablito Market on Tuesday, that killed more than 30 people. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) "We commit to support all of the artisans, the 300 vendors from this market, to recover or to support them so that they can restart their normal activities next year and we can achieve the reconstruction of that market," Pena Nieto said. Vendors have said that while they recognize the dangers of the fireworks market, it is their only way to make a living and they would return to work there. Safety measures were put in place after the previous two explosions at the market but were apparently ignored. Investigators were focusing their attention on reports that vendors displayed fireworks outside their concrete stalls in the passageways that were designed as safety buffers to prevent exactly the sort of devastating chain-reaction explosions that occurred. Refugio Leon, whose family ran seven stalls in the market, said vendors commonly stacked displays of bottle rockets and firecrackers outside their establishments in the passageways in violation of the rules. "Everybody did it," Leon said, speculating that it may have played a role in the rapid spread of the explosions. Video and photos of the stalls from previous years show concrete-block enclosures with open dirt passageways between them. Later photos show the passageways filling up with fireworks and awnings. Because it was the holiday season, the market was packed with fireworks and bustling with hundreds of shoppers when the blasts reduced the market to a stark expanse of ash, rubble and scorched metal. Dramatic video of the disaster showed a towering plume of smoke that was lit up by a staccato of bangs and flashes of light. On Dec. 12, the city of Tultepec had issued a statement calling San Pablito "the safest market in Latin America." It said 100 tons of fireworks were expected to be sold during the high season, which runs from August to New Year's. The city quoted Juan Ignacio Rodarte Cordero, director of the state's Fireworks Institute, as saying that "the stalls are perfectly designed and with sufficient space between them to avoid any chain of fires." City officials said the stalls were equipped with trained personnel, sand, shovels and fire extinguishers. But during a recent visit to the market, little of that safety equipment could be seen. And when Tuesday's explosions began, vendors and customers didn't have time to look for it or even, in many cases, to run. Deadly fireworks explosions have also occurred elsewhere in Mexico: In 2002, a blast at a market in the Gulf coast city of Veracruz killed 29; in 1999, 63 people died when an explosion of illegally stored fireworks destroyed part of the city of Celaya; in 1988, a fireworks blast in Mexico City's La Merced market killed at least 68; and in 2013 a rocket struck a truck loaded with fireworks for a religious procession in Tlaxcala state, killing 17 people. ___ Associated Press writer Maria Verza reported this story in Tultepec and AP writer Christopher Sherman reported from Naucalpan. A woman walks with a photo of Martina Almazan in front of the coffin that contain Almazans remains, in Tultepec, Mexico, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. A downtown Tultepec Catholic church hosted funeral Masses throughout the day Thursday for victims of the massive fireworks explosion at the San Pablito Market on Tuesday, that killed more than 30 people. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) A fireworks market lays in ruins one day after an explosion at the San Pablito Market in Tultepec on the outskirts of Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. The market was especially well stocked for the holidays and bustling with hundreds of shoppers when a powerful chain-reaction explosion ripped through its stalls Tuesday, killing and injuring dozens. (AP Photo/Christian Palma) Taliban attack home of Afghan lawmaker in capital, killing 8 KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Afghan police say gunmen have stormed the home of a lawmaker in the capital, killing eight people and leaving the parliamentarian wounded after he jumped from the roof to escape. The Taliban claimed the attack, which began late Wednesday, saying they targeted a meeting of military officials. Police officer Sadiq Muradi says the gunmen attacked the house of Mir Wali, a lawmaker from the restive southern Helmand province. They battled his guards for several hours, eventually killing eight people, including family members, friends and members of his security detail. Three attackers were killed. Afghan men inspect the remains of their belongings at a parliament member's house in the aftermath of gunmen attack at last night in western Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/ Rahmat Gul) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack. Afghan security forces patrol the site of attack on an Afghan parliament member's house in western Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/ Rahmat Gul) Afghan security forces patrol the site of attack on an Afghan parliament member's house in western Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/ Rahmat Gul) Afghan security forces patrol the site of attack on an Afghan parliament member's house in western Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/ Rahmat Gul) Afghan security forces patrol the site of attack on an Afghan parliament member's house in western Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/ Rahmat Gul) An Afghan policeman patrols the site of attack on an Afghan parliament members house in western Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/ Rahmat Gul) Under Israeli pressure, UN vote on settlements postponed JERUSALEM (AP) Under heavy Israeli pressure, Egypt on Thursday indefinitely postponed a planned U.N. vote on a proposed Security Council resolution that sought to condemn Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, diplomats and Western officials said, just a few hours before the vote was set to take place. The vote would have been one of the last opportunities for President Barack Obama to take a stand against Israeli settlement building after years of failed peace efforts, but doing so could re-ignite a dispute with a close ally in the waning days of his tenure. The delay also dealt a setback to repeated Palestinian efforts to censure Israel over its settlements. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had publicly urged the U.S. to veto the resolution, calling it bad for peace. "Peace will come not through U.N. resolutions, but only through direct negotiations between the parties," he said. President-elect Donald Trump had also urged Obama to block the measure, issuing a statement nearly identical to Netanyahu's. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said in a statement on Facebook. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis. The U.S., as a permanent member of the Security Council, has traditionally used its veto power to block resolutions condemning Israeli settlements, even though it sees them as an obstacle to a peace settlement. But in recent weeks, the Obama administration had been especially secretive about its deliberations, which included what one official described as an unannounced meeting between Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this month. The U.S. had been considering a highly unusual abstention, potentially rocking U.S.-Israeli relations, officials said, though they wouldn't say whether Obama had made a final decision. Egypt, the Arab representative to the Security Council, circulated the draft on Wednesday. Several diplomats and Western officials said the Egyptians postponed the vote due to pressure from the Israelis. Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, was meeting with Arab League diplomats to review the text. Diplomats said there was no time frame for when the vote may now occur and said it could be put off indefinitely. The diplomats and officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said Israeli diplomats had made the government's views clear "in various channels." The office of the U.N. spokesman later announced Thursday that the Security Council meeting has been postponed. The draft resolution, circulated by Egypt, demands that Israel stop settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and declares that all existing settlements "have no legal validity" and are "a flagrant violation" of international law. Ahmed Abu-Zeid, spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, told the SkyNewsArabia channel that "talks are still ongoing," on the draft resolution. He said the talks are taking place in New York and in Cairo at the Arab League headquarters, and that an "appropriate" decision will be taken, without elaboration. He didn't respond to phone calls. There was no immediate comment from the Palestinians. Israel has expressed concern that Obama, who has had an icy relationship with Netanyahu, would take an audacious step in his last weeks in office to revive the peace process, but U.S. officials have said he has nearly ruled out any major last-ditch effort to pressure Israel. A Security Council resolution would be more than symbolic since it carries the weight of international law. In the past, Obama has refused to endorse anti-Israel resolutions in the council, saying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved through negotiations. Robbie Sabel, professor of international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the resolution would have been "politically damaging" for Israel as it could have weakened its position when negotiating the settlement issue with the Palestinians. The U.S. and much of the international community consider Israel's settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem illegitimate and an obstacle to peace. Netanyahu rejects such claims, blaming the failure of peace efforts on the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel's Jewish identity. Trump's selection for ambassador to Israel David Friedman has long ties to Israel's settler movement. The Palestinians, and most of the international community, say that the growth in settlements is endangering the goal of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Netanyahu and Obama have repeatedly clashed over Israel's settlement policies. Trump, who takes office in less than a month, has indicated a more sympathetic approach to Israel and appointed an ambassador who has been a supporter of the settler movement. Nearly 600,000 Jewish settlers now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas the Palestinians want as part of their future state, along with the Gaza Strip. Israel captured those territories in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel annexed east Jerusalem, home to sensitive religious sites, in a move that is not internationally recognized, while the West Bank is divided between autonomous Palestinian zones and Israeli-controlled territory. Settlement construction has thrived under Obama's watch, despite his administration's constant condemnations, a sign of the limits of U.S. influence over its close ally. Obama has struggled to revive peace talks, which last collapsed in 2014. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Obama for more than a year had considered giving a major speech describing his vision for a future peace deal or, in a more aggressive step, supporting a U.N. resolution laying out parameters for such a deal. Although the goal would be to impart fresh urgency to the moribund peace process, either step would have been perceived as constraining Israel's negotiating hand while strengthening the Palestinians' argument on the world stage. A year-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has tapered off in recent months but not halted completely, has further imperiled any peace efforts. Earlier Thursday, the Israeli military said forces shot and killed a Palestinian who was lobbing an explosive device at troops carrying out an operation in east Jerusalem. The forces were demolishing the home of a Palestinian who carried out an October attack in Jerusalem that killed a police officer and a civilian. ___ Klapper reported from Washington. Syrian government takes full control of Aleppo after 4 years BEIRUT (AP) The Syrian government took full control of Aleppo on Thursday for the first time in four years after the last opposition fighters and civilians were bused out of war-ravaged eastern districts, sealing the end of the rebellion's most important stronghold. The evacuations ended a brutal chapter in Syria's nearly six-year civil war, allowing President Bashar Assad to regain full authority over the country's largest city and former commercial powerhouse. It marked his most significant victory since an uprising against his family's four-decade rule began in 2011. The announcement was made via an army statement broadcast on Syrian state TV shortly after the last four buses carrying fighters left through the Ramousseh crossing. In this image made from video, buses carrying evacuees and ambulances leave the Ramousseh crossing point in Aleppo, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. The Syrian government took full control of Aleppo on Thursday for the first time in four years after the last opposition fighters and civilians were bused out of war-ravaged eastern districts, sealing the end of the rebellion's most important stronghold. (AP Photo via AP Video) "Thanks to the blood of our heroic martyrs, the heroic deeds and sacrifices of our armed forces and the allied forces, and the steadfastness of our people, the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announces the return of security and stability to Aleppo," an army general said in the statement. Western Aleppo erupted in heavy celebratory gunfire, with Syrian TV showing uniformed soldiers and civilians shouting "Aleppo, Aleppo!" and "God, Syria and Bashar only!" "No more east and west, Aleppo is back for all Aleppans," said the Syrian TV correspondent, surrounded by people waving Syrian flags. For Syria's opposition, it was a crushing defeat that signaled the start of a new struggle to forge a way forward. Ahmad al-Khatib, an opposition media activist who left the city before the siege, said the fall of Aleppo was a date "we'll never forget and we will never forgive." "Let the world bear witness that Bashar Assad has killed and displaced and destroyed Aleppo, and he celebrates in his victory over the blood and offspring of Aleppo ... with the agreement of the Arab and Western nations," he posted on Twitter. The ancient city had been divided into rebel and government parts since 2012, when rebels from the countryside swept in and took hold of eastern districts. That set the stage for more than four years of brutal fighting and government bombardment that laid waste to those neighborhoods. The army statement said the victory in Aleppo is a "strategic transformation and a turning point in the war on terrorism and a deadly blow to the terrorist project and its supporters." It was a further incentive to keep fighting to "eradicate terrorism and restore security and stability to every span of the homeland," it added. Earlier in the day, Assad said his forces' achievements in Aleppo are a "major step on the road to wiping out terrorism" and ending the civil war. The rebel evacuations were set in motion after a months-long siege and Russian-backed military campaign. Years of resistance were stamped out in a relentless campaign over the past month that saw hospitals bombed, bodies left unburied and civilians killed by shells as they fled for safety. The campaign targeted all remaining hospitals, knocking them out of service. Medical and food supplies ran out and fighters were left demoralized and abandoned by their regional allies. Under a deal brokered by Russia and Turkey, tens of thousands of residents and fighters began evacuating to opposition-controlled areas in the surrounding countryside, a process that took a week. More than 35,000 fighters and civilians were bused out, according to the United Nations. The ICRC said in a statement that more than 4,000 additional fighters were evacuated in private cars, vans and trucks since Wednesday. The departure of the last convoy Thursday was a humiliating defeat for the opposition. The rebels' hold in Aleppo was a major point of pride, and at times the city seemed to be an invulnerable part of what was once a growing opposition-held patch of territory in the north. The divided northern city has paid dearly as a central theater of the war. In the past month alone, hundreds of civilians were killed by intense bombardment of rebel-held zones. A photo of 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh confused and covered in dust and blood as he sat in an ambulance after being rescued in August from the rubble of a building became a haunting image in the unforgiving struggle. ___ Associated Press writers Philip Issa and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed reporting. Syrians evacuated from the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo during the ceasefire arrive at a refugee camp in Rashidin, near Idlib, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia, Iran and Turkey are ready to act as guarantors in a peace deal between the Syrian government and the opposition. He spoke on Tuesday after a meeting of the three countries' foreign ministers in Moscow. (AP Photo) Obama helped bring back economy, restless voters chose Trump WASHINGTON (AP) He was a first-term senator-turned-president, a former law professor with little experience in economics or management. When he entered the White House he had one essential task: piece together the shards of a shattered U.S. economy. It wasn't smooth and it wasn't fast. But President Barack Obama will leave behind, by most measures, an economy far stronger than the one he inherited. Unemployment is 4.6 percent, a nine-year low. Stocks keep setting highs. An additional 20 million Americans have health insurance coverage. The nation has shifted toward cleaner energy sources: natural gas, wind and solar. Yet it's also an economy that left many people feeling neglected. Polling after the November election found that nearly two-thirds of voters described the economy as "not so good" or "poor." FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2009, file photo, President Barack Obama puts his hand to his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance at the 102nd Abraham Lincoln Association banquet in Springfield, Ill. He was a first-term senator-turned-president. A former law professor with little experience in economics or management. When he walked into the White House he had one, clear job: Piece together the shards of a shattered U.S. economy. It wasnt smooth and it wasnt fast, but Obama ultimately succeeded. Obama will leave behind an economy far stronger than the one he inherited by most measures. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) The costs of housing, college and prescription drugs kept outpacing paychecks. Job options had been dwindling for workers with only high school diplomas even before Obama took office, but the downturn and slow recovery magnified the pain of that trend. Many people gave up looking for work. Struggling rural towns never enjoyed the uplift that benefited major cities. Fueled in part by such challenges, voters chose to pass the presidency to Donald Trump, a Republican who had railed against a weak economy and promised to undo many of Obama's policies. The gap between the economy's overall health and Americans' lingering anxieties cuts to the heart of Obama's legacy. The president and his team took historic actions to pull the economy back from the brink. But those very steps failed to help swaths of America and turned many people against his policies, setting the stage for Trump's nationalist platform. "We saved the economy from a failing financial system, though we lost the country doing it," Obama's first treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, concluded in his 2014 memoirs. ___ Economic problems that had been simmering for decades started to boil with the Great Recession of 2007-2009. It suddenly became Obama's responsibility to address problems that were both immediate and generations in the making. Building on measures taken by George W. Bush's administration, Obama pumped $412 billion into teetering banks, troubled financial firms and the struggling automakers General Motors and Chrysler. The infusion was stigmatized for being a government bailout, though the money was ultimately repaid. Then there was the Recovery Act, known as the "stimulus," enacted less than a month after Obama took the oath of office in 2009. Administration estimates initially suggested that the $836 billion stimulus a mix of tax cuts, public investments and direct aid would prevent unemployment from rising above 8 percent. Those projections were faulty, based on economic figures that were later downgraded. The 8 percent unemployment projection ultimately became a political albatross as the rate peaked at 10 percent that October proof to some Republicans that the stimulus had failed. But there's little doubt the bill made an impact. The U.S. recovery was, and continues to be, stronger than in economies in Europe and Japan. Administration officials note that until the full force of the stimulus arrived, key U.S. economic measures were on the same trajectory as in the Great Depression. Even more polarizing was the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a major extension of the federal social safety net. It expanded Medicaid while imposing new regulations designed to support the middle class that allowed young adults to stay on parents' plans and created marketplaces for purchasing health insurance. Just 8.9 percent of Americans now lack health insurance a historic low, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. But critics complain that Obama's health care law brought bureaucratic headaches and burdensome costs. The average premium for plans under the health care law next year jumped 22 percent, an increase that will be offset somewhat by federal subsidies. The combination of all these acts fueled a conservative backlash that would propel dozens of Republicans into Congress, costing Democrats control of the House in 2010 and bringing Obama's economic agenda to a halt. The following years would be defined by deficit battles, budget cuts, standoffs over the debt and a compromise on tax cuts. The Obama team's efforts to boost growth through additional infrastructure spending and immigration reform were quashed by House Republicans. Throughout it all, while Americans became disillusioned by the bickering in Washington, Obama's economy slowly crept back. __ Yet the recovery remains uneven, so much so that Obama never took a full victory lap. The president has routinely followed his remarks about the healing economy with the caveat that more progress was needed. "Historians will remember President Obama for his rational, evidence-based approach," said Alan Krueger, a former economic adviser, "as opposed to the emotional, visceral style of the two presidents who will bookend his time in office." "A lesser president," Krueger added, would have "upended our economic system for short-term political gain." Obama often spoke with restraint and governed through policy, rather than whipping up public outrage against firms linked to the financial crisis. His administration preserved private contracts, even though those contracts rewarded huge bonuses to some of the bankers the government helped rescue. __ While voters returned Obama to the White House in 2012, there was a nagging sense of a system rigged against them a frustration that Trump tapped effectively. The Republican businessman barnstormed through rural white America, talking at a gut level to supporters whose communities felt left behind by the recovery. He promises to return manufacturing and mining jobs that most economists believe are long lost. Trump challenged the accuracy of the unemployment rate, since many Americans gave up searching for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed. He has promised major spending on infrastructure and tax cuts. He says he plans to eliminate regulations and repeal and replace Obama's health care law. "Trump's victory is very harmful to his legacy Obama understood that," said Stephen Moore, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who advised the Trump campaign. "It's why he campaigned so hard for Hillary Clinton." The White House acknowledges the disconnect between the economy's health and the public's beliefs about what the president achieved. But Jason Furman, chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, contended that voter pessimism about the economy is mostly about politics. He noted that consumer spending has helped support economic growth, a sign that Americans "are not behaving in a way that is consistent with massive amounts of anxiety about the future and uncertainty about whether they'll keep their jobs." "People have a big political prism that they use in interpreting economic information," Furman said. FILE - In this May 6, 2016, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the White House briefing room in Washington. He was a first-term senator-turned-president. A former law professor with little experience in economics or management. When he walked into the White House he had one, clear job: Piece together the shards of a shattered U.S. economy. It wasnt smooth and it wasnt fast, but Obama ultimately succeeded. Obama will leave behind an economy far stronger than the one he inherited by most measures. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2009, file photo, Vice President Joe Biden watches as President Barack Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act during a ceremony at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver. He was a first-term senator-turned-president. A former law professor with little experience in economics or management. When he walked into the White House he had one, clear job: Piece together the shards of a shattered U.S. economy. It wasnt smooth and it wasnt fast, but Obama ultimately succeeded. Obama will leave behind an economy far stronger than the one he inherited by most measures. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) South Korean court holds hearing on impeached president SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Korea's Constitutional Court on Thursday held its first preparatory hearing in the trial of impeached President Park Geun-hye, whom lawmakers voted to remove over an explosive corruption scandal that saw millions of people protest in past weeks. The court confirmed it will hear allegations that Park colluded with longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort money and favors from major South Korean companies and allowed Choi to interfere with government affairs from the shadows. The court also said it would review accusations in the impeachment bill that Park was responsible for media restrictions and government inaction during a 2014 ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people, mostly teenagers on a school trip. Chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the National Assembly Kwon Seong-Dong, Left, shakes hands with Lee Joong-Hwan, a lawyer representing South Korea's embattled President Park Geun-Hye, before a hearing on whether to confirm the president's impeachment at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. (Jung Yeon-Je/Pool Photo via AP) After discussions with Park's lawyers and with lawmakers, who are the prosecutors at her impeachment trial, the court decided to summon as witnesses Choi and two former presidential aides. Both were arrested earlier for allegedly helping Choi extort from companies and passing her confidential government information. The court has up to six months to decide whether Park should permanently step down or be reinstated. Her presidential powers are suspended until then, with the prime minister assuming the role of government caretaker. The next preparatory hearing in Park's trial is scheduled on Dec. 27. Lawmakers, who have been grilling key suspects to the scandal in weekly hearings broadcast on live TV, plan to take their hearings on Monday to two detention centers where Choi and the two former presidential aides are being held in a desperate effort to question them. The three suspects have refused to attend the hearings held at the National Assembly, citing health and other reasons. South Korea's opposition-controlled parliament voted to impeach the president on Dec. 9 as the scandal grew. The investigation has widened with a special prosecutor since Wednesday conducting raids at the offices of the national pension fund and trying to detain Choi's daughter, Yoora Chung, who is believed to be in Germany. Choi is suspected of exploiting her presidential ties to get Chung, an equestrian athlete, into an elite university despite questionable qualifications. Lee Jae-yong, the scion of Samsung, South Korea's largest business group, has apologized over the use of corporate funds to buy a horse for Chung, but denied that Samsung sought favors from Choi or Park's administration. After a request from the investigators, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said it will soon order Choi's daughter to hand in her passport. It will be invalidated if she does not return it, ministry's spokesman Cho June-hyuck said. An official from the investigation team led by special prosecutor Park Young-soo earlier said it had obtained a warrant to detain Chung and had asked for help from German prosecutors in finding Chung and obtaining evidence, such as financial transaction and phone records. A German prosecution official told South Korean media that Germany will cooperate with South Korean investigators. Samsung is under suspicion that it sponsored Choi in an effort to win government backing for a controversial merger between two affiliates last year that allowed Lee to further promote a father-to-son transfer of leadership and corporate wealth at the group. Lee's father, Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, has been hospitalized since suffering a heart attack in 2014. Samsung and other major companies gave a combined 77.4 billion won ($65 million) to two non-profit foundations Choi allegedly controlled and abused to expand her personal wealth. The National Pension Service, which was raided Wednesday, supported the merger between the two Samsung affiliates even though the fund's stake in one of the companies lost an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in value. Investigators also searched an office at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which governs the pension service. N. Korea says South committing 'terror' by luring defectors PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused South Korea of committing "political terror" by stepping up efforts to encourage defections by North Koreans overseas, especially diplomats. Ju Wang Hwan, a ministry official working in its Institute for Disarmament and Peace, said North Korean diplomats around the world have received emails with attachments containing articles that look like they are from North Korean state media. He said the articles have been changed to confuse and influence their intended readers by "viciously slandering our supreme leader and our socialist system." "This is clearly political terror, trying to cause social chaos and bloodshed inside a sovereign state," Ju said in an interview in Pyongyang. In this photo made from video, Ju Wang Hwan, Senior Researcher, Institute of Disarmament and Peace, North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs speaks during a media briefing, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused South Korea of committing "political terror" by stepping up efforts to encourage defections by North Koreans overseas, especially diplomats. (AP Photo) In a long statement released by North Korea's state news agency Thursday, the North's Foreign Ministry also accused South Korean agents of calling and following its diplomats in attempts to encourage them to defect. Jeong Joon-Hee, spokesman of Seoul's Unification Ministry, dismissed the North Korean claims as "groundless" and "distorted propaganda." Several high-profile North Korean defections have occurred this year. A group of North Korean women working at a restaurant in China defected in April, but Pyongyang authorities insisted they were abducted against their will. French foreign minister visits Lebanon in show of support BEIRUT (AP) The French foreign minister expressed support Thursday for Lebanon's efforts to battle terrorism and host refugees during a visit to Beirut. Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Saad Hariri that France will stand by Lebanon as it seeks to contain the fallout from the war in neighboring Syria. France is a strong supporter of Lebanon's army, which is fighting the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's Syrian branch in border areas. Both countries have been hit by a wave of terror attacks that killed scores of people over the past two years. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, arrives to meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, at the Government House in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. Ayrault is in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) Lebanon is also home to some 1.2 million refugees, around a quarter of the country's population. Ayrault said France has given Lebanon 105 million euros ($110 million) to help it cope with the influx. President Michel Aoun told Ayrault that the most suitable solution would be the eventual return of Syrian refugees to their home country. A statement issued by Aoun's office said Ayrault formally invited him to visit France, but did provide any further details. France, Lebanon's former colonial power, remains a major player in Lebanese politics. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, right, meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault at the Government House in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. Ayrault is in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, right, meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault at the Government House in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. Ayrault is in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) In this photo released by the Lebanese Government, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016. Ayrault is in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials. (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Government via AP) Seeing Berlin attacked, Nice relives truck rampage horror NICE, France (AP) The nightmares returned to Catherine Cocampo this week visions of a truck careening through crowds, leaving a trail of corpses behind it. Residents of the French Riviera city of Nice lived through that nightmare in July, and are reliving it this week following Monday's chillingly similar narrative in Berlin. Cocampo, a 57-year-old teacher, volunteered to give psychological support to victims after the truck attack on Nice's Bastille Day beach-side fireworks party, which killed 86 people. That attack was carried out by a Tunisian who claimed allegiance to Islamic State extremists. FILE - In this Sunday, July 17, 2016 file photo, a French flag stands among a floral tribute for the victims killed during a deadly attack, on the famed Boulevard des Anglais in Nice, southern France. Residents of the French Riviera city of Nice that lived through the truck rampage horror in July 2016, are reliving it this week following a chillingly similar narrative in Berlin. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File) "I lived again the scene the victims described to me ... I had a very bad night. Bad nightmares came back," she said after seeing the carnage from the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market Monday. Nice retiree Caroline Barbier can't bear to watch the Berlin news at all. "This brings back too many memories. We need time before we can go through all this" again, she said. A surge of visitors has come to a memorial site to pay respects to those killed in Nice following this week's attack in the German capital which killed 12. The site, a bandstand near the Promenade des Anglais, is covered in stuffed animals, notes and flags from around the world. A couple from nearby Cannes, Franck et Joelle Ribal, visited for the first time this week, prompted by the Berlin attack. "We are not safe anywhere. This happened in Berlin, in Nice, next in Cannes or in Turkey or anywhere else, we don't know," said Joelle Ribal, an entrepreneur. Security is tight at the Nice Christmas market, but that is not deterring many residents. "We force ourselves to go out, to show that we are not afraid. We have to continue to live despite of all this," said Pierre Tedeschi. Five months after the Nice attack, some of the injured are still recovering and many questions linger about the attacker, his motives and how many others might have been involved. Russia arms Serbia amid tensions with NATO BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Russia will supply Serbia with fighter jets, tanks and combat vehicles, a move that potentially strengthens Moscow's influence in the Balkans. The six MiG-29 fighter jets, 30 T-72 tanks and 30 combat vehicles come from Russia's weapons reserves. The jets will need immediate overhaul after delivery in March, which will cost between 180-230 million euros (between $188-240 million.) Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who secured the deal during his visit to Russia on Wednesday, said the Russian "donation" will "dramatically" boost his country's defense capability. Most of Serbia's neighbors are NATO members. Vucic said Serbia will remain militarily neutral despite the new weaponry from Russia. "The sky over Serbia will be absolutely safe," Vucic said. "That means we will have an advantage over those who would perhaps think of threatening Serbia in the future. We are not threatening anyone." Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has been sliding toward traditional Slavic ally Russia. The arms deal comes amid growing tensions between Serbia and neighboring Croatia, a NATO and EU member, and intensified Russian efforts to prevent the Balkans aligning further with the West. Many in Serbia are hostile toward NATO because of its bombing of the country in 1999 over a bloody government crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, something both Serbia and Russia reject. Serbia's labor minister Aleksandar Vulin said the arms deal with Russia is "historic." Moscow court convicts student for trying to reach Syria MOSCOW (AP) A Moscow court on Thursday sent a 20-year-old university student to prison for 4 1/2 years for trying to join Islamic State group fighters in Syria. The Moscow District Military Court ruled in an unusually harsh verdict that Varvara Karaulova, a student at the prestigious Moscow State University, was "preparing to join a terrorist organization." The judge rejected her pleas that she had no intention to fight in Syria. More than 3,000 Russians are believed to have traveled to Syria to fight alongside Islamic State militants. Most of them, unlike Karaulova, are men from predominantly Muslim regions. Varvara Karaulova, who was detained last year in Turkey as she was reportedly trying to cross the border into Syria, sits in a cage in the Moscow District Military Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. A Moscow court has sentenced a 20-year old university student to four and a half years in prison for trying to join Islamic State group fighters in Syria. (Andrey Nikerichev/Moscow news agency via AP) Russians convicted of fighting in Syria typically have been sentenced to two or three years in prison. In many cases they have received amnesties and entered rehabilitation programs aimed to help them return to their communities. Karaulova, a convert to Islam, insists that she fell in love with a man she met online and wanted to marry him in Syria. In her closing argument Wednesday the student apologized to her parents for what she called a "teenage rebellion" and said she cannot forgive herself. Karaulova was detained last year in Turkey reportedly while trying to cross the border into Syria after her father filed a missing person's report. Karaulova's lawyer Sergei Badamshin on Twitter posted a copy of an appeal the defense filed after the verdict. Ilya Novikov, another attorney representing Karaulova, said the verdict sets a bad precedent that could discourage parents from reporting possible militant recruitment of their children. 1 arrest in hunt for robbery suspect who shot Texas officer BRYAN, Texas (AP) One man has been arrested on multiple charges for a convenience store robbery in which a southeast Texas police officer was shot. Police in Bryan aren't saying if 31-year-old Rafeal Antione Ginn was the gunman in the early Thursday holdup. Among the charges he faces are aggravated robbery and attempting to take a weapon from a peace officer. The officer who was shot was wearing a ballistic vest and suffered minor injuries. He was treated at a hospital and released. Police have not released his name. Police say the robbery took place when a group of people entered the store and one pulled out a firearm. They took some money and fled. Pennsylvania man charged with stealing 'Toys for Tots' cash STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) A Pennsylvania man has been jailed on charges he stole a donation canister for Toys for Tots, among other items. Twenty-three-year-old Michael Moya, of East Stroudsburg, is also charged with stealing a four-wheeler from a Stroud Township home and tip jars from at least four Stroudsburg-area businesses. The Toys for Tots theft occurred Sunday at the Arlington Diner in Stroud Township. The canister contained about $400. 1 of 8 shot outside popular Puerto Rico restaurant dies SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) One of eight people recently shot outside a popular restaurant in Puerto Rico's capital has died. The father of Adolph Wolfgang Siemon Otero says on social media that his son died on Wednesday. Police had said Siemon was recently released on bond after being arrested on federal drug charges. The shooting occurred early Monday near El Rex in San Juan's Santurce neighborhood. It is a popular hangout that gets especially crowded on Wednesday and Sunday nights. Businesses in the area were hosting an outdoors festival to celebrate the holidays when the shooting occurred. Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira return to 'Today' as fill-ins NEW YORK (AP) Two of Matt Lauer's former "Today" show co-hosts Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira are returning to the show for a week each in January with Savannah Guthrie on maternity leave. Couric, who was "Today" host from 1989 to 2006, has returned for special occasions but this will be the first time in the anchor's role. In 2012, she spent a week as a fill-in co-host on the NBC show's bitter rival, ABC's "Good Morning America." Vieira worked alongside Lauer from 2006 to 2011. FILE - In this May 3, 2016, file photo, Katie Couric attends the LA premiere of her documentary "Under The Gun" in Beverly Hills, Calif. Two of Matt Lauer's former "Today" show co-hosts, Couric and Meredith Vieira, are returning to the show for a week each in January 2017 with Savannah Guthrie on maternity leave. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) "It's going to be fun," said Lauer on Thursday, describing it as a "walk down memory lane." He will mark his 20th year as host of the morning show in 2017. Couric will host on the week of Jan. 2, Vieira the week after, NBC said. Guthrie gave birth to a boy, Charles Max Feldman, on Dec. 8. She and her husband, Mike Feldman, already have a two-year-old daughter, Vale. The high-profile returns come at a key time in the network morning show competition. After several years of dominance by "Good Morning America," the two shows are now running neck-and-neck in viewership, with "Today" doing better among the valuable younger audience. "CBS This Morning" has also been doing well in the ratings. There's one walk down memory lane Lauer apparently won't be taking. While celebrating the returns of Couric and Vieira on Thursday, "Today" said nothing about Ann Curry. Her co-hosting stint with Lauer in 2011-12 ended disastrously, sending "Today" into a tailspin. Although Lauer received some heavy criticism during the presidential campaign for his questioning of Donald Trump at a forum, NBC considers him a valuable player. He recently signed a new contract that will keep him at "Today" into at least 2018. ___ This story has been corrected to show the Savannah Guthrie's son's name is Charles Max Feldman. The baby's first name was incorrect in an earlier version of this story. A guide to making holiday returns The holidays are a time for celebration and gifts, but not all presents hit the mark and returning them doesn't feel very festive. If you find yourself unhappy with a gift, you wouldn't be the only one. Nearly a quarter of the people responding to a 2015 holiday survey by shopping app Retale said they were likely to return or exchange at least one of the presents they received. A recent holiday shopping report by personal finance website NerdWallet found that clothing was the most commonly returned gift last year, at 14 percent. FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2013, file photo, Ally Belden, center, returns an item at Target in Summit Township, Pa. After a busy shopping season, holiday returns inevitably come next. Prepare yourself for gifts that miss the mark by learning the ins and outs of retail return policies. (Christopher Millette/Erie Times-News via AP, File) Many retailers allow people to exchange or return goods that didn't satisfy, but the policies often must be followed to a T. So here's what you should know about returning those holiday gifts you gave or received. "Read the fine print," says Narayanan Janakiraman, an assistant professor in marketing at the University of Texas at Arlington who writes about return policies. "Most of us know that the fine print has got all kinds of restrictions on what is qualified for a return." First, comb through the policy to see if your product is eligible for returns. Many retailers exclude certain categories, including clearance products, opened software and video games (usually eligible only for exchange), worn clothing and gift cards. For example, Best Buy won't accept returns on digital content and prepaid cards. Next, ensure you have all that's required for returns usually your receipt or gift receipt and all of the item parts and packaging in good condition. You may also have to pay a restocking fee. Then, decide the timing. Dec. 26 is predicted to be the second-busiest shopping day of 2016, according to research firm ShopperTrak, so taking something back that day may not be comfortable if you don't like crowds. For returns by mail, ensure that the package will reach the retailer before its deadline. And putting off a return can bring its own drawbacks. Many retailers have extended their holiday return policies to the middle or end of January, but not all items qualify for the longer time frame. One example is Amazon, which has widened its usual 30-day return period to Jan. 31 for holiday purchases, but some third-party sellers on the site may have different deadlines, so check policies carefully. Janakiraman says lenient return periods can be risky for consumers. The more time you have to make the return, the more likely you may be to buy something, but the less likely you may be to return an unsatisfactory present. "The more you procrastinate, and the more time you have it, the more you feel ownership of it," Janakiraman says. That means you may fail to return the gift. Mailing back returns is one convenient way to unload unwanted gifts, but it could come at a cost. Some retailers charge a return shipping fee for using their prepaid label and deduct the cost from your refund. That could make in-store returns more affordable. Another option is Happy Returns , a network of kiosk locations (called Return Bars) within select malls. Shoppers can take an online purchase to a Return Bar for an instant refund, rather than waiting to ship it back to the retailer to get one. But this service is currently available only for items purchased from a handful of lesser-known online retailers, including Tradesy and Eloquii. Some major outlets like Wal-Mart and Bloomingdale's allow consumers to return gifts that were bought online at a physical store location. If you decide to go to a store, take the receipt, a form of identification and the payment method used (such as a credit card) if you bought the gift. Ryan Koral of Michigan thought his local sporting goods store would be able to pull up his order via his credit card when he recently went to make a return within the policy period. But he was surprised that a receipt was required. The best he would get without a receipt was a store credit for the lowest discounted price of the item much less than the $50 purchase amount. Having a gift receipt doesn't ensure a monetary refund, especially at retailers such as Burlington Coat Factory and Bed Bath & Beyond , which offer merchandise credit to gift recipients on store returns. The key is to read the return policy before you do anything and then decide on your course of action early, Janakiraman says. Return policies generally are detailed online, but you may need to search the retailer's website for the fine print. _______ This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Email staff writer Courtney Jespersen: courtney@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @courtneynerd. RELATED LINKS Retale: Holiday returns survey http://www.retale.com/corporate/white-papers/survey-for-holiday-returns-exchanges-in-store-64-continues-to-beat-online-24/ NerdWallet: 2016 Consumer Holiday Shopping Report https://nerd.me/3-nerdwallet-shopping ShopperTrak: Black Friday predicted to be the busiest shopping day of 2016 Brazil's Petrobras to sell assets to France's Total SAO PAULO (AP) Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras says it will sell $2.2 billion worth of assets to French energy company Total S.A. Petrobras says in a statement on its website that the two companies signed an agreement for the sale on Wednesday. It says the deal includes Total's acquisition of stakes in two oil fields in the Santos Basin and in two thermal power plants in Bahia state. Petrobras will also have the option to buy a 20 percent stake in the Perdido Foldbelt field in the Gulf of Mexico owned by Total and Exxon Mobil Corp. Puerto Rico accused of damaging wetlands, fined $87K SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) A Puerto Rico government agency has been fined $87,000 after U.S. officials said it repeatedly ignored federal regulations aimed at protecting wetlands. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that Puerto Rico's Land Authority damaged some 60 acres (24 hectares) of wetlands and indirectly damaged another 100 acres (40 hectares) when it filled and cleared land along the island's southwest region and released sediment into the area. The EPA said the agency used excavators and other heavy equipment in 2013 and 2014 to dig up and clear wetlands in the coastal town of Guanica. Officials said the work was not authorized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as required. Argentina court indicts Bieber over attack on photographer BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) A court in Argentina has indicted Justin Bieber for allegedly sending his bodyguards to beat up a photographer and take his camera equipment outside a Buenos Aires nightclub three years ago. Court clerk Soledad Nieto confirmed the decision to the Associated Press on Thursday. She said Judge Alberto Banos did not issue an arrest warrant and the Canadian pop idol can appeal the court decision, which was signed Wednesday and surfaced late in the day. Argentine photographer Diego Pesoa alleges he was chased down and beaten on Nov. 9, 2013, by Bieber's bodyguards outside the INK nightclub, where the singer and his entourage partied during his South American tour. Pesoa also said the bodyguards took some of his camera equipment. FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2013 file photo, Canada's pop star Justin Bieber performs in concert during his Believe world tour in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A court in Argentina indicted Bieber on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016 for allegedly sending his bodyguards to beat up a photographer in Buenos Aires three years ago. (AP Photo/DyN, Pablo Molina, File) Pesoa's lawyer, Matias Morla, celebrated the judge's decision, saying that he had acted without being pressured by Bieber's fame, and instead "treated him like anyone else." Morla also said that the judge has ordered the preventive seizure of about $28,000 from Bieber to cover potential legal costs. To collect the money, Morla said he would ask the judge to request U.S. authorities to embargo some of Bieber's goods in Los Angeles. An email message sent to Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, was not immediately returned Thursday. Bieber apologized during his Argentina trip for defiling the national flag on stage and got into trouble with police elsewhere during the tour for allegedly spraying graffiti in Brazil and Colombia. In June, Bieber said on his Twitter account that he would like to play in Argentina on his Purpose Tour but "until the legal conditions change there I can't." Hundreds of his fans, known as "Beliebers," then marched in Buenos Aires carrying signs saying "Argentina Needs Justin" and "Right To Music," asking the judge to let the singer perform in Argentina. Bieber has not returned to answer questions about the alleged attack. His tour goes to Latin America in 2017 but there are no dates published for Argentina. __ The Latest: Man requests public defender in church burning JACKSON, Miss. (AP) The Latest on a man being charged in the burning of a Mississippi church (all times local): 11:12 a.m. A Mississippi man charged in the burning of an African-American church that was spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump" is requesting a public defender to represent him in court. This is a Mississippi Department of Public Safety provided undated state driver's license photograph of Andrew McClinton, of Leland, Miss., who was arrested by the Greenville Police Department, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016 in Greenville , Miss., in connection with the Nov. 1, 2016 fire at Greenville's Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church. McClinton, 45, has been charged with one count of first degree arson of a place of worship and is being held in the Washington County Detention Center, pending an initial appearance before the municipal court. (Mississippi Department of Public Safety via AP,) Andrew McClinton of Leland made an initial appearance Thursday in Greenville Municipal Court, a day after being charged with a felony: first-degree arson of a place of worship. Judge Michael Prewitt set bond at $250,000 for McClinton, who has previously served prison time in Mississippi for armed robbery. Greenville's assistant police chief, Michael Merchant, says paperwork was submitted for a public defender. McClinton remained in the Washington County jail. Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, which has an all-black congregation, burned Nov. 1, a week before the presidential election. The Hopewell bishop says the 45-year-old McClinton is a member of the church. ____ 3:40 a.m. The Mississippi fire marshal says investigators don't see politics as the motivation for the burning of an African-American church that was also spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump" a week before the presidential election. But Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who's also state fire marshal, says there are signs it may have been done to appear that way. A 45-year-old man who's a member of the church and has a prior criminal record was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree arson of a place of worship. Andrew McClinton of Leland, Mississippi, is scheduled to make an initial court appearance Thursday in Greenville the city where Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was burned and vandalized Nov. 1. Obama scraps registry for some immigrant men, mostly Muslims WASHINGTON (AP) The Obama administration on Thursday officially scrapped the last vestiges of a U.S. registration system for Muslim immigrants. If President-elect Donald Trump now wants to introduce an expanded version of the program, he will have to start from scratch. The post-9/11 registration program for immigrant men arriving mainly from the Islamic world hasn't been enforced since 2011. Although it never prohibited travel for men and boys from the more than 20 affected countries, including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Trump's suggestions about banning Muslim immigrants from the United States have led to fears that it could be reinstated and used for new and enhanced purposes. The decision to erase it from the books entirely marks one of President Barack Obama's last administrative actions on immigration and will at least slow any Trump effort to introduce even tougher requirements, as has been suggested by a top adviser. In this Nov. 20, 2016 photo, President-elect Donald Trump pauses for photographs as he greets Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The registration program is "not only obsolete," said Neema Hakim, spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, "its use would divert limited personnel and resources from more effective measures." The registration system started about a year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, requiring men and boys from a variety of mostly Middle Eastern countries to register with the federal government upon their arrival in the United States. Such people already in the country had to register with immigration authorities inside the U.S. Registration, which also applied to immigrants from North Korea, included fingerprints and photographs. People also were required to notify the government if they changed addresses. Trump has never publicly spoken about the program, but has made clear his desire to take a far tougher approach toward immigration than Obama. He and his advisers have suggested the rising terror threat in the United States, Europe and elsewhere is linked to insufficiently vetted refugees and immigrants arriving from predominantly Muslim countries. After a truck attack killed 12 in a Christmas market in Berlin this week, Trump told reporters, "You know my plans." Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Trump confidant on immigration, has been more explicit on his plans for the registry. Last month, he said he wanted to launch an updated system for all foreigners from "high-risk" areas. Meeting Trump in New York, Kobach carried a document labeled "Department of Homeland Security Kobach Strategic Plan for First 365 Days." It described a reboot of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System as the top priority. Kobach helped draft the program while working at the Justice Department under President George W. Bush. If Trump opts to restart NSEERS and create a new program, he will have to start from scratch with a process that includes notifying the public about his plans. That could delay a new effort by months. The program had been widely derided by civil libertarians as an effort to profile people based on race and religion. "With this action, the U.S. is on the right path to protect Muslim and Arab immigrants from discrimination," said Joanne Lin, the senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, which said the registry "didn't yield a single terrorism conviction in nearly a decade." When the Obama administration abandoned the system in April 2011, it said a newer data collection program would be sufficient to collect biometric information for all foreigners coming into the country. At the time, more than 80,000 foreigners were registered. ___ Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap __ A half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich found at the scene led Wyoming police to arrest a burglary suspect. Zachery Munoz has pleaded not guilty to three counts of burglary after police used DNA from the discarded snack to tie him to a series of break-ins, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported. Cheyenne police say someone on three separate occasions in September stole power tools and equipment from a business, 4 Rivers Equipment. In the first case, police say they found a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the scene. They dubbed the suspect the 'PB&J burglar'. A half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich found at a burglary scene lead Wyoming police to arrest 26-year-old Zachary Munoz, pictured Cheyenne police say someone on three separate occasions in September stole power tools and equipment from 4 Rivers Equipment (pictured) Police say subsequent DNA testing done at the Wyoming State Crime Lab linked 26-year-old Munoz to the sandwich. There were burglaries at 4 Rivers Equipment on September 2, September 10, and September 15, the newspaper reported. He entered a plea earlier this month, and his trial is scheduled for February. Munoz allegedly swiped tools worth nearly $7,5000 in the 4 Rivers Equipment burglaries, according to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. The Cheyenne Police Department said in a Wednesday Facebook post: 'Munoz was arrested and booked on November 21 on warrants for burglary in relation to breaking into 4 Rivers Equipment, 7917 Hutchins Dr., on three separate occasions, stealing power tools and equipment each time.' In the first case regarding 4 Rivers Equipment, police say they found a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the scene. They dubbed the suspect the 'PB&J burglar' (stock) Authorities also revealed that: 'On September 17, September 24, and October 1, JC Penney at Frontier Mall, 1400 Dell Range Boulevard, was broken into and had jewelry stolen from the store on each occasion. 'A coffee cup was left at the scene and sent to the Wyoming State Crime Lab (WSCL) for DNA analysis. 'After analyzing the evidence, the WSCL recently confirmed there is DNA evidence linking Munoz to the burglaries at JC Penney.' Cheyenne police said on Facebook: 'Munoz was also arrested on October 4, after he was observed by Cheyenne Police Department officers behind Sportsman's Warehouse with burglar tools in his possession.' Munoz is charged in that case with burglary tool possession and attempted burglary, with a trial scheduled for February, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported. Berlin attack victims included Israeli, Pole and Italian BERLIN (AP) Twelve people were killed and dozens were injured Monday when a truck smashed into a Berlin Christmas market. German authorities have described it as a terror attack most likely perpetrated by a Tunisian with ties to Islamic extremists. Authorities say six of the dead identified so far came from Germany, one each from Poland, Italy and Israel. Here are portraits of the three victims named publicly. ___ A small flag of Israel is pictured between candles and flowers after the reopening of the Christmas market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016 three days after a truck ran into the crowded market and killed several people. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) Fabrizia Di Lorenzo was shopping for Christmas presents to take home to her family in Italy when the attack happened. The 31-year-old had lived in Berlin for several years and planned to return home Thursday to Sulmona, a town in the Apennine Mountains. Friends and neighbors recalled how it was clear from an early age that her world would expand far beyond the tranquil medieval town, known as the birthplace of the poet Ovid. Di Lorenzo was part of what's known in Italy as the "Erasmus generation" who study abroad in Europe, often remaining in other countries to look for work. Fluent in French, English, German and her native Italian, Di Lorenzo studied in Rome, Bologna, Milan and Berlin, where she returned in 2013. She worked for engineering firm Bosch and later for a transport company. ___ Dalia Elyakim was on holiday with her husband Rami, who was in a serious but stable condition after the attack. Elyakim, from the central Israeli city of Herzliya, was described by longtime friend Moshe Egoz as a "good soul." Egoz told Israeli Army Radio that the couple in their 60s "loved to travel, especially around Christmas time" and had been posting updates about their trip on Facebook. ___ Lukasz Urban was meant to deliver steel beams to Berlin until his truck was hijacked. The 37-year-old from Poland was found shot dead on the passenger seat and authorities believe he fought to the end against the hijacker. Ariel Zurawski, his cousin and the owner of the trucking company, said Urban attempted to make his delivery Monday morning but was told to come back the following day. Urban is survived by his wife and teenage son. ____ Inquiry says Snowden in contact with Russia's spy services WASHINGTON (AP) Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden remains in contact with Russian intelligence services, according to a bipartisan congressional report released at a time when Russia is considered a top national security concern. The two-year inquiry focused on Snowden's 2013 leak of classified U.S. material about America's surveillance programs. It concluded that Snowden compromised national security by these disclosures and is avoiding prosecution while living in a country that is considered one of the top U.S. adversaries. In recent months, U.S. intelligence agencies have been outspoken about their beliefs that Russia actively interfered in the U.S. political process by hacking into private email accounts. The report sends a strong message to President Barack Obama during his final days in office: Do not pardon Edward Snowden. FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2015 file photo, Edward Snowden appears on a live video feed broadcast from Moscow at an event sponsored by ACLU Hawaii in Honolulu. A declassified report on a congressional investigation into Edward Snowden says the former National Security Agency contractor has remained in contact with Russian intelligence services since he arrived in Moscow three years ago. The House Intelligence committee released the report Thursday. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File) Obama has not offered any indication that he is considering pardoning Snowden for the leaks that embarrassed the U.S. and angered allies. Lisa Monaco, Obama's adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism, said last year that Snowden "should come home to the United States and be judged by a jury of his peers not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime." However, there has been a push by privacy advocacy groups to pardon the former NSA contractor who they herald as a whistleblower for leaking documents that disclosed the extent of the data the U.S. collects on Americans in its efforts to fight terrorism. After the disclosures, Obama reined in some of the surveillance authorities and put in place additional measures to provide more transparency to the classified programs. The House intelligence committee released the report to provide what the panel's chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., called "a fuller account of Edward Snowden's crimes and the reckless disregard he has shown for U.S. national security." The 33-page unclassified report pointed to statements in June 2016 by the deputy chairman of the defense and security committee in the Russian parliament's upper house, who asserted that "Snowden did share intelligence" with the Russian government. The report said, "Since Snowden's arrival in Moscow, he has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services." The following sentence was redacted, and there is nothing in the unclassified report that explains why the committee believes Snowden is still sharing intelligence with the Russians. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said Snowden isn't a whistleblower as he and his defenders claim. "Most of the material he stole had nothing to do with Americans' privacy, and its compromise has been of great value to America's adversaries and those who mean to do America harm," Schiff said. Ben Wizner, Snowden's lawyer, dismissed the report and insisted that Snowden acted to inform the public. "The House committee spent three years and millions of dollars in a failed attempt to discredit Edward Snowden, whose actions led to the most significant intelligence reforms in a generation," Wizner said. "The report wholly ignores Snowden's repeated and courageous criticism of Russian surveillance and censorship laws. It combines demonstrable falsehoods with deceptive inferences to paint an entirely fictional portrait of an American whistleblower." One of the programs that came under great scrutiny is set to expire in a year, and it will be a top priority for the House committee, among others in Congress, to get it renewed. Under that program, the NSA sweeps up communications of non-Americans outside the U.S., and it can also capture the domestic communications of any American in contact with the terror suspect, even if those contacts have nothing to do with terrorism. The resulting sweeps are likely to have included emails and other data from tens of thousands of Americans over the past decade, experts have said. Three years ago, Snowden revealed U.S. government efforts to hack into the data pipelines used by U.S. companies to serve customers overseas. The programs collected the telephone metadata records of millions of Americans and examined emails from overseas. Snowden fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia to avoid prosecution. ___ The Latest: Lawyer: Teen's behavior was a cry for help FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) The Latest on a Utah teen accused of firing a gun into a junior high before being stopped by his parents (all times local): 1 p.m. The lawyer for a 15-year-old boy accused of firing a shotgun into the ceiling of a junior high classroom says the incident was a cry for help. Defense attorney Lindsay Jarvis told reporters Thursday that the teen is undergoing a mental health evaluation. Jarvis says she'll fight a request by prosecutors to try the boy as an adult. A judge has not yet ruled on the request. The teen made a brief appearance in juvenile court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to five theft and firearms charges. Police say his parents were concerned about him the morning of Dec. 1 and followed him to school in Bountiful, about 11 miles north of Salt Lake City, after discovering guns missing from their home. No one was hurt. The Associated Press is not naming the boy because of his age. ___ 11:15 a.m. A Utah teenager accused of firing a shotgun into the ceiling of a junior high classroom before being disarmed by his parents has pleaded not guilty to five theft and firearms charges. The 15-year-old boy made a brief appearance in a Farmington juvenile courtroom Thursday morning, sitting between his parents and his lawyer. Defense attorney Lindsay Jarvis told Judge Janice Frost her client wanted to enter a denial of all charges, the equivalent of not guilty pleas in juvenile court. Police say his parents were concerned about him the morning of Dec. 1 and followed him to school in Bountiful, about 11 miles north of Salt Lake City, after discovering a shotgun and handgun missing from their home. USS Arizona Memorial to close as leaders of US, Japan visit HONOLULU (AP) The National Park Service says it will close the USS Arizona Memorial and the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center to the public during a visit by President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe will be the first Japanese prime minister to visit the memorial that honors sailors and Marines killed in the 1941 attack by Japan. An Abe predecessor visited Pearl Harbor in 1951 before the memorial was built. The memorial will be closed Tuesday for the visit. The Park Service says people with reservations that day will be contacted about rescheduling. In addition, new arrangements can be made Monday or Wednesday at the ticket counter. Australia police: Christmas Day bomb plot foiled, 5 detained CANBERRA, Australia (AP) Police in Australia have detained five men suspected of planning a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in the heart of the country's second-largest city, officials said Friday. The suspects had been inspired by the Islamic State group and planned attacks on Melbourne's Flinders Street train station, neighboring Federation Square and St. Paul's Cathedral, Victoria state Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said. The arrests came after a truck smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing 12 people. A manhunt is underway for the person behind that attack, which prompted increases in security around the world. Police accompany a woman as they attend the scene where a house was raided at Meadow Heights in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Dec. 23, 2016. Police in Australia detained five suspects who were allegedly planning a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in the heart of the country's second largest city, officials said Friday. (Julian Smith/AAP Image via AP) Two of seven people initially arrested in raids Thursday night and Friday morning in Melbourne a 26-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were released without being charged, police said. Five men between the ages 21 and 26 remained in custody and would be charged later Friday with preparing a terrorist attack. They were not identified but police said four were born in Australia and the fifth was Egyptian-born with Egyptian and Australian citizenship. Police had been watching the alleged plotters for some time, and believed they were preparing to use explosives, knives and a gun, Ashton said. Police believed the threat had been neutralized through the raids on five Melbourne premises, he said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: "This is one of the most substantial terrorist plots that have been disrupted over the last several years." "Islamist terrorism is a global challenge that affects us all. But we must not be cowed by the terrorists," Turnbull told reporter. "We will continue to go about our lives as we always have. What these criminals seek to do is to kill. But they also seek to frighten us, to cow us into abandoning our Australian way of life. They want to frighten Australians. They want to divide Australians. They want us to turn on each other. We will not let them succeed," he added. Since Australia's terrorist threat level was elevated in September 2014, the government says there have been four extremist attacks and 12 plots foiled by police. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said the plotters had moved very quickly from a plan to develop a capability to attack. "In terms of events that we have seen over the past few years in Australia, this certainly concerns me more than any other event that I've seen," Colvin said. "We believe that we have removed the bulk of this particular cell, this group," he said. Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said there will be extra police on the streets of Melbourne on Christmas Day to make the public feel safe. About 400 police officers were involved in the raids. Wisconsin panel OKs investigation into John Doe leaks MADISON, Wis. (AP) The Wisconsin Assembly has authorized Attorney General Brad Schimel to investigate how evidence collected during a secret investigation into Republican Gov. Scott Walker's campaign was leaked to a newspaper. The Guardian US in September published hundreds of sealed documents from the so-called John Doe investigation, which was shut down by conservative state Supreme Court justices in 2015. The Assembly Organizational Committee voted 5-3 on Wednesday to allow Schimel to investigate the leaks. The "no" votes all came from Democrats. Minority Leader Peter Barca, who sits on the committee, issued a statement saying Schimel should focus on potential legal violations described in the documents. "It is hard to understand why Republicans would focus solely on the leak and not the potential crimes," Barca said. Schimel, a Republican, asked the state Supreme Court in October to appoint a special master to look into the leak. The high court refused in November, saying it's up to the executive branch to investigate. Schimel said earlier this month that he would likely seat a grand jury to investigate. State Justice Department Johnny Koremenos said in an email that Schimel had "reviewed and accepted the authorization" but did not say what might happen next. Asked for a response to Barca's statement, Koremenos said only that the agency will investigate all violations of the law. He did not elaborate. Wisconsin law allows the attorney general to appear as a party in a civil or criminal matter at the request of the governor or one legislative house. A group of prosecutors led by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, a Democrat, launched the John Doe probe to determine whether Walker's 2012 recall campaign illegally coordinated with outside conservative groups. The state Supreme Court said in its ruling halting the probe that such coordination is legal as long as it doesn't become express advocacy, a political term for advertising that specifically asks voters to defeat or elect a candidate. The leaked documents showed how Walker's top campaign adviser was coordinating with the group Club for Growth on how to spend the millions Walker was raising to help himself and Republican senators win 2011 and 2012 recall campaigns. The Guardian also reported the documents showed a leading manufacturer of lead that was once used in paint was among a host of corporate leaders who donated to Club for Growth. Democrats launched the recalls out of anger over Walker's signature law that limited public unions' collective bargaining rights. ___ Bayern Munich will head into 2017 with a three-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga after thrashing title rivals RB Leipzig 3-0 in their last game before the winter break. Bayern dominated the top-of-the-table clash at the Allianz Arena to put their nearest rivals in their place. Thiago Alcantara, Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski supplied the goals, all within the first 45 minutes, as Carlo Ancelottis first six months in charge ended with the champions in their habitual position. Robert Lewandowski scores from the penalty spot for Bayern Munich Leipzig had Emil Forsberg sent off as they were beaten for only the second time since earning promotion to Germanys top flight. Their advantage over third place was cut to six points by Hertha Berlin, who celebrated a 2-0 win over bottom-placed Darmstadt. Marvin Plattenhardt and Salomon Kalou scored in the capital as the Old Lady climbed three places above Eintracht Frankfurt, Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund. .@AModeste15 & @lewy_official get one goal apiece to tighten the top scorer race! Will it be enough to catch @Aubameyang7? #Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/LqcV0ucWPt Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) December 21, 2016 Hoffenheim may have dropped one position, but they remain one of only two clubs in Europes top five leagues, together with Real Madrid, to get through to the winter break without losing a single game. They were denied victory over Werder Bremen by a late Serge Gnabry equaliser, which cancelled out Sandro Wagners opener at the Rhein-Neckar Arena. Elsewhere on Wednesday, Cologne and Bayer Leverkusen shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Anthony Modeste and Wendell scoring the goals, while Freiburg moved up to eighth with a 2-1 win at struggling Ingolstadt. Prison officers have rejected an improved pay deal in a fresh blow to the Government as it attempts to tackle the jails safety crisis. Earlier this month union leaders endorsed the package, which included a reduction in the retirement age of up to three years for guards. But the Prison Officers Association said on Thursday that its membership had overwhelmingly rejected the offer. (Paul Faith/PA) The POA urged the Government to return to the negotiating table to address members concerns. General secretary Steve Gillan said: In the ballot return 65.7% of our members rejected their offer, with 33.7% in favour along with 0.6% spoilt votes. I urge Government not to ignore the views of our members. The development is a new headache for Justice Secretary Liz Truss during a turbulent period for the prisons estate. The Ministry of Justice expressed disappointment that the proposals had not been accepted. A spokeswoman said: Progress has been made on health and safety grounds and we will continue to hold talks with the POA. The Justice Secretary intends to meet with the leadership in the new year. As the Justice Secretary has made clear, she has huge respect for prison officers and is committed to making prisons places of safety and reform. Under the proposals, prison officers were to be allowed to retire at 65 three years ahead of the current state pension age, at no cost to them and with full pension benefits. Uniformed staff were to receive consolidated pay rises of between 0.5% and 1% for each of the next three years, on top of usual performance-related pay increases. They also stood to receive a recognition and retention package totalling 1,000. Details of the offer emerged after thousands of staff walked out in protest over health and safety concerns amid claims the system was in meltdown. Concerns over the state of jails in England and Wales have been mounting for months and intensified last week when a riot erupted at HMP Birmingham. It was the third serious disturbance in less than two months and raised fears of further disruption. A riot broke out at HMP Birmingham last week. (Joe Giddens/PA) Ms Truss has announced a wide-ranging package of reforms to address the issues, including a recruitment drive to add 2,500 staff and mandatory drug testing across the estate. Earlier two former home secretaries and an ex-deputy prime minister called for the number of prisoners in England and Wales to be cut by almost a half. Ken Clarke, Jacqui Smith and Nick Clegg urged the Government to curb the escalating prison population in a letter published in The Times. But Lord Howard, another former home secretary, stood by his mantra that prison works. In parallel with the rise in the prison population since I was home secretary, we have seen a completely unprecedented and consistent fall in crime, he told BBC Radio 4s World At One. If the prison population was halved as is suggested by Nick Clegg and his colleagues that would pose significant risks to the community, we would see a reversal of that fall in crime which we have experienced for over two decades. But he added: There may well be people in prison at the moment who could be released without causing any significant risk to the public. Im not saying that everyone who is in prison now needs to be there. The MoJ said the prison population has remained relatively stable since 2010. The Prince of Wales has warned about the growing danger of religious persecution in his Thought For The Day radio broadcast. In a pre-recorded message for the popular BBC Radio 4 feature, Charles likened the threat facing religious groups around the globe to the dark days of the 1930s. He said in the broadcast: We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. The Prince of Wales. "Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same: to value and respect the other person" - The Prince of Wales' TFTD pic.twitter.com/qUIeWar7cC BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) December 22, 2016 All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s. I was born in 1948, just after the end of World War Two, in which my parents generation had fought and died in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. That nearly 70 years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past. Prince Charles on #thoughtfortheday - very serious, thoughtful reflection on the dangers of religious persecution & the echoes of the 30s https://t.co/j3gUBMECz3 Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) December 22, 2016 Thought For The Day is a feature on Today, BBC Radio 4s flagship current affairs and news programme. It has a religious theme and reflects a wide range of faiths. In recent years, Charles has met many Syrian and Iraqi Christians who have been forced to flee their homes following the rise of Islamic State, and heard the stories of Britons whose relatives in the two nations have been persecuted. He began his broadcast by describing a recent discussion with a Jesuit priest from Syria who told the Prince that he thought it possible there would be no Christians in Iraq within five years. Prince Charles rather good at #thoughtfortheday. The first one on for a long time to use it to say something useful. Tim Walker (@ThatTimWalker) December 22, 2016 Charles said in the broadcast: The scale of religious persecution around the world is not widely appreciated. Nor is it limited to Christians in the troubled regions of the Middle East. A recent report suggests that attacks are increasing on Yazidis, Jews, Ahmadis, Bahais and many other minority faiths. And in some countries even more insidious forms of extremism have recently surfaced, which aim to eliminate all types of religious diversity. The Prince went on: Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God. Thousands of London Underground workers are to stage a 24-hour strike in the new year in a dispute over jobs. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) will walk out from 6pm on Sunday January 8. The unions are embroiled in a long-running dispute over job losses among station staff and ticket office closures. (Yui Mok/PA) RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: RMT will not stand by while safety is compromised on London Underground off the back of cash-led cuts to staffing levels that the union has warned would have a serious, lasting and corrosive impact for staff and passengers alike. That is why our members are taking this action. RMT members on the London Underground stations see day in and day out the toxic impact of the job cuts programme and they are reporting back that it is horrific. It has now also been shown that at management level there is agreement with the union that the cuts have been a disastrous mistake. With the constant overcrowding on stations and platforms, it is only a matter of time before there is a major tragedy if we dont act decisively. Our dispute is about taking action to haul back the cuts machine and put safety back at the top of the agenda. TSSA general secretary, Manuel Cortes, has hit out at London Underground. (Rick Findler/PA) TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: Whilst talks at Acas have seen LU concede they do need to re-employ more staff on our Tube, they are so far unwilling to give the assurance that they will restore adequately safe staffing levels to make our Tube safe again. Our members are fed up of being made scapegoats for passenger frustrations with the new and failing ticket-vending machines, they are fed up of being pressured into overtime to try to cover up the misguided decision to cull over 800 jobs, and they are fed up of being fearful at work. The recent bomb incident at Greenwich North revealed the huge holes that now exist in the security and evacuation procedures because of the Tory-driven cuts. Our members have been very optimistic that a new Labour regime in City Hall would be more fair-minded than Boris Johnson but they have become disillusioned with the failure so far to apply a speedy solution to a problem everyone is now prepared to admit exists. (Yui Mok/PA) The TSSA said its members are being subjected to increased threats and abuse since the programme of ticket office closures started. Steve Griffiths, chief operating officer for London Underground, said: We have always committed to reviewing our new staffing model with the trade unions during its first year. Following talks we are recruiting additional staff for stations and believe this will help us to provide a better service for our customers. US president-elect Donald Trump has said America must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability. Mr Trump tweeted that the US must bolster its arsenal until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes. The tweet comes a day after he met with several military procurement officers to discuss defence budgets, including Lt Gen Jack Weinstein, the deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration for the Air Force. During the election campaign, Mr Trump had suggested that the US should expand its arsenal and mused that the world would be better off if other countries, including Japan and South Korea, had nuclear capabilities. Mr Trumps transition website has said he recognises the uniquely catastrophic threats posed by nuclear weapons and cyberattacks, adding that he will modernise the nuclear arsenal to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent. Donald Trump Beyond that, Mr Trump has offered few specifics, either as a candidate or during the transition. His vanquished campaign rival Hillary Clinton repeatedly cast the Republican as too erratic and unpredictable to have control of the nations nuclear arsenal. Ten former nuclear missile launch operators also wrote that Mr Trump lacks the temperament, judgment and diplomatic skill to avoid nuclear war. "If his closest advisors dont trust him to tweet, why would any of us trust him with the nuclear codes? @POTUS on Trump Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 8, 2016 The president-elect spent the day at his private estate in South Florida, where he has met advisers and interviewing potential Cabinet nominees. He is also hiring more White House staff, announcing that campaign manager Kellyanne Conway will join him in the West Wing as a counsellor. Ms Conway, a longtime Republican pollster, is widely credited with helping guide him to victory. She also is a frequent guest on television news programmes. Mr Trump called Ms Conway a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda. The president-elect has spent part of the week discussing national security issues, including the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Germany. He called the violence an attack on humanity and appeared to suggest a willingness to move ahead with his campaign pledge to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from coming to the United States. Mr Trump proposed the Muslim ban during the Republican primary campaign, drawing sharp criticism from both parties. During the general election, he shifted his rhetoric to focus on temporarily halting immigration from an unspecified list of countries with ties to terrorism, though he did not disavow the Muslim ban, which is still prominently displayed on his campaign website. The president-elect, when asked if the attack in Berlin would cause him to evaluate the proposed ban or a possible registry of Muslims in the United States, said: You know my plans. All along, Ive been proven to be right, 100% correct. Donald Trump He added whats happening is disgraceful, and deemed the violence an attack on humanity which has got to be stopped. A transition spokesman said later that Mr Trumps plans might upset those with their heads stuck in the politically correct sand. Petra Kvitova will spend Christmas at home as she is due to leave hospital on Friday following surgery on a hand injury sustained in a knife attack. The 26-year-old, a two-time Wimbledon champion, suffered serious injuries to her racket-holding left hand in an assault by an intruder at her apartment in the Czech Republic on Tuesday. Kvitova faces a lengthy rehabilitation process but she received positive news from her surgeon, who told her she had a chance of resuming playing in six months after the operation went without complications. Petra Kvitova Wishing @Petra_Kvitova a speedy recovery We can't wait to see you back on court again--> https://t.co/McDXjKAK7W pic.twitter.com/Pf96p6QVG5 wta (@WTA) December 21, 2016 And in a further boost her spokesperson confirmed she will be discharged from hospital on Friday to spend the festive period recuperating with her family. Before doing so, the world number 11 will hold a press conference in Prague. Kvitova said she was shaken but fortunate to be alive after the attack and underwent surgery lasting nearly four hours. The intruder posed as a utilities man seeking to read a meter to gain access to the apartment in Prostejov, Press Association Sport understands, before a struggle ensued. Police in Australia have detained five suspects who were allegedly planning a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in the heart of the countrys second largest city. The suspects had been inspired by the Islamic State group and planned attacks on Melbournes Flinders Street railway station, neighbouring Federation Square and St Pauls Cathedral, Victoria state Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said. The arrests came after a truck smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing 12 people. Two of seven people initially arrested in raids on Thursday night and Friday morning in Melbourne - a 26-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman - were released without being charged. Flinders Street Station, Melbourne Five men between ages 21 and 26 remained in custody. They were not identified but police said four were born in Australia and the fifth was Egyptian-born with Egyptian and Australian citizenship. Police had been watching the alleged plotters for some time, and believed they were preparing to use explosives and other weapons, Mr Ashton said. The authorities believed the threat to Melbourne had been neutralised by the raids and the arrests, he said. Mr Ashton said police had gathered evidence in the raids that the plotters were planning to use explosives in their attack. We gathered the makings of an improvised explosive device, he said. He added: Certainly (there was the) potential for quite a number of people to be injured or killed in this attack. About 400 police officers were involved in the raids. Mr Ashton described those arrested as self-radicalised and inspired by Islamic State propaganda. Observatory says Assad controls Aleppo, U.N. official says evacuations ongoing BEIRUT, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took control of Aleppo city on Wednesday after the last batch of fighters was evacuated, but a U.N. official and rebels said evacuations were not yet completed. Evacuations from the east of the city were continuing on Wednesday evening, a U.N. official in Syria told Reuters. A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army rebel alliance, Osama Abu Zaid, they would carry on into the night and had been slowed by bad weather. He was speaking to the al-Arabiya al-Hadath news channel from the Turkey-Syria border. Two other rebel officials also said the evacuation process was not complete. One said there were around 2,000 fighters and civilians still waiting to be transported out of the city, although it was difficult to gauge numbers. An aid worker told Reuters that completion of the evacuation aboard buses was expected to be "imminent". Mississippi officials arrest church member in 'Vote Trump' arson case Dec 21 (Reuters) - An man who was a member of a historic black church in Mississippi that was burned and spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump," has been arrested in the case, authorities said on Wednesday. The Greenville church was set ablaze a week before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election, leading officials initially to view it as a politically motivated hate crime. Andrew McClinton, 45, was charged with arson of a place of worship for the fire at the Hopewell Baptist Church, said Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. McClinton, who is African-American, was a member of the church, said Kenya Collins, a spokeswoman for the city of Greenville. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is part of the Public Safety Department, did not say what led authorities to McClinton or speculate about his motive. Mississippi State Fire Marshal Mike Chaney said in an interview: "At this point we do not believe it was a politically motivated crime though it appears there were attempts to make it look politically motivated." He said McClinton was still being interviewed on Wednesday afternoon and that details about his motivation would likely emerge soon. Chaney, who also serves as the state's insurance commissioner, said the arson was not believed to be insurance-related. Mississippi correctional officials said on Wednesday that McClinton served eight years in state prison, from 2004 to 2012, for armed robbery in Lee County in the eastern part of the state. Greenville, where McClinton lived, is near the Mississippi River about 85 miles north of Vicksburg. Black churches in the U.S. South have long been a base of support for the Democratic Party, so the attack and the language supporting Republican nominee Donald Trump were taken as political statements. During the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Southern black churches were often targets for arson and bombings by white supremacists. Mongolia says Dalai Lama won't be invited again ULAANBAATAR, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama will not be invited to Mongolia again, the Mongolian foreign minister has said, after the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's trip there last month angered China, which considers him a dangerous separatist. The Dalai Lama is cherished as a spiritual leader in predominantly Buddhist Mongolia but Beijing was infuriated, postponing meetings with Mongolian officials and imposing new fees on commodity shipments. "Under this current government, the Dalai Lama will not be invited to Mongolia, even for religious reasons," Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil told the Mongolian newspaper Unuudur on Tuesday. The Mongolian Foreign Ministry confirmed the comments to Reuters late on Wednesday. Asked about the remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China "attached great importance" to his clear stance. China "hopes the Mongolian side can really learn the lessons from this incident, earnestly respect China's core interests, abide by its promises and work hard to promote the improvement of China-Mongolia ties", she said. Mongolia has previously said that the Dalai Lama's trip had nothing to do with the government and that he had been invited by Mongolian Buddhists. While in Mongolia, the Dalai Lama said he would visit U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. In 2006, China briefly cancelled flights between Beijing and Ulaanbaatar after the Dalai Lama visited Mongolia. Beijing frequently expresses its anger with countries that host the Nobel Peace Prize-winning monk, who fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against the Chinese. China regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, although he says he merely seeks genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland, which Communist Chinese troops "peacefully liberated" in 1950. Copper drifts as trade volumes dwindle ahead of holiday By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - London copper edged back towards one-month lows hit earlier this week on Thursday as the upcoming Christmas holidays drained markets of liquidity and direction. The tone in wider markets was subdued. Asian shares struggled, taking their cues from a lacklustre day on Wall Street as investors locked in gains ahead of the break while China soothed worries of a year-end liquidity crunch. At least one Chinese state lender provided liquidity support worth several billion yuan to fund management firms via short-term lending tools on Wednesday, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. "Trading is slowly grinding to a halt ahead of the upcoming Christmas break and we expect more of the same through year-end," said analyst Ed Meir of INTL FCSTONE in a report. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange slipped by 0.3 percent to $5,498 a tonne by 0325 GMT. Prices fell to the lowest since Nov. 21 on Monday at $5,459 a tonne but are still up about 17 percent this year after demand surpassed expectations. Profit-taking pulled down two of the year's top performing metals, with LME zinc and LME lead easing around 1 percent, and trimming the year's gains to 60 percent and 20 percent respectively. In news, China's zinc smelters are accepting record low fees to produce metal amid a shortage of ore, while winter mine closures are likely to force plants to cut output early next year, industry sources said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a small Canadian miner is confident Donald Trump's U.S. presidential win will let it proceed with an application for a copper and gold mine in Alaska that has been stalled almost three years by environmental regulators aiming to protect the world's biggest sockeye salmon fishery. Zambia will scrap a plan to impose a 7.5 percent import duty on copper concentrates from Jan. 1, Finance Minister Felix Mutati said on Wednesday. Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) copper slipped 0.9 percent to 44,750 yuan ($6,442) a tonne. ShFE zinc , nickel and lead all fell around 1.5 percent. U.S. home resales unexpectedly rose in November, reaching their highest level in nearly 10 years, likely as buyers rushed into the market to lock in mortgage rates in anticipation of further increases in borrowing costs. PRICES Three month LME copper Most active ShFE copper Three month LME aluminium Most active ShFE aluminium Three month LME zinc Most active ShFE zinc Three month LME lead Most active ShFE lead Three month LME nickel Most active ShFE nickel Three month LME tin Russia says yuan bond a priority but no issuance timetable set By Samuel Shen and Matthew Miller SHANGHAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Russia and China have not set a timetable for the issuance of a benchmark Russian treasury bond denominated in yuan, as both sides continue to discuss technical and regulatory issues, a Russian finance ministry official said on Thursday. "It's a priority project now," Artem Sharibzhanov, an official in the Ministry of Finance's Department of Public Debt and Sovereign Financial Assets, told Reuters. Sharibzhanov was in Shanghai attending a cross-border investment forum hosted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Moscow Exchange to promote closer ties between Chinese and Russian capital markets. CITIC Securities and Galaxy Securities signed memorandums of understanding with the Moscow Exchange on the sidelines of that event, in deals that will see Chinese brokerages providing access for their clients to Russian securities traded in Moscow. The deal also could provide assistance for Chinese companies that want to list their securities on the Moscow bourse. Wang Yuan, a Moscow Exchange supervisory board member, said the cooperation agreements are part of an effort to build financial infrastructure. Russia has sought to deepen ties with China since relations with the West soured over the Ukraine conflict in 2014. U.S. and European Union sanctions and a collapse in global oil prices have hurt the Russian economy and starved it of much-needed foreign investment. As part of those efforts, Russia has said it wants to raise the equivalent of $1 billion by issuing OFZ government bonds in Russia denominated in Chinese yuan. It initially hoped to issue the yuan bonds this year, but the issue is now more likely early next year. Troubled Indonesian insurer Bumiputera in uphill battle to find white knight By Eveline Danubrata and Cindy Silviana JAKARTA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities seeking to shore up troubled life insurer Bumiputera have had little luck in finding a strategic investor and engineering a backdoor listing, increasing the likelihood that some form of state aid may have to be considered. Despite restructuring under the stewardship of Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) since 2013, the century-old firm still has liabilities of around 20 trillion rupiah ($1.5 billion), more than assets worth 13-14 trillion rupiah, according to its statutory manager. Pressure on Bumiputera, formally known as Asuransi Jiwa Bersama Bumiputera 1912, has begun to mount with plans for its backdoor listing marred by confusion while there has been no sign that approaches to foreign insurers are paying off. Failure to resolve problems for a firm with 6.7 million policyholders - many of them civil servants - could also pour cold water on growth prospects for Indonesia's underdeveloped life insurance sector, where foreign companies have bought stakes in domestic firms in the last few years. "A potential government bailout, maybe in part if there should be some other solutions, might have to be seriously considered," said Peter Meyer, services committee chair at the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia and who has around 30 years of experience in Indonesia's insurance industry. Financial authorities stress they are doing their utmost to make sure Bumiputera's woes are resolved without government funds, scarred in part by the public furore that erupted over a taxpayer bailout of lender Bank Century in 2008. "We are trying our best such that not a single cent has to come from the government to overcome this," Adhie Massardi, Bumiputera's OJK-appointed statutory manager, told Reuters. But he also said state-owned enterprises including insurer PT Taspen have been sounded out about subscribing to a rights issue that will be part of the planned backdoor listing. Taspen is analysing Bumiputera's financial condition and business prospects but has not made a decision yet, investment director Iman Firmansyah told Reuters. Lucky Bayu Purnomo, an analyst at Danareksa Sekuritas, said he felt a government bailout may be a last resort. "The government had a bitter experience when it bailed out Bank Century for 6.7 trillion rupiah. It has to look for other ways of restructuring." FAILED APPROACH, CONFUSING PLANS Foreign companies approached by Bumiputera in the last few months include Hong Kong's FWD Group, the UK's Prudential Plc and South Korea's Hanwha Life Insurance Co Ltd , Massardi and Dumoly Pardede, an official at the regulator, told Reuters. FWD walked away from talks with Bumiputera mainly due to concerns about its liabilities, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. A FWD spokesman declined to comment while Massardi said he had no knowledge of FWD walking away. Prudential declined to comment, while a spokesman for Hanwha said there had been no contact from Indonesia about an investment and it was not considering any such investment. Bumiputera's muddled backdoor listing through Jakarta-listed textile materials trader PT Evergreen Invesco Tbk has also done little to bring investors on side. Evergreen, which plans to conduct a rights issue to acquire a holding company set up by Bumiputera, said in September it was seeking 30 trillion rupiah. It then lifted that to 40 trillion rupiah before cutting it this month to 10.3 trillion. Adding to the confusion, Evergreen said in its prospectus that the stand-by buyer for the offering was Bumiputera itself. Indonesia's capital market supervisor has since said new documents about the rights issue do not make mention of this. Originally slated for end-2016, the rights issue has been delayed until next year. Evergreen did not respond to several requests for comment made by phone and emails. California Supreme Court denies Manson follower's petition Dec 21 (Reuters) - The California Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday to hold a hearing in the parole case of Leslie Van Houten who, as a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, took part in one of the most notorious mass murders of the 20th century. California Governor Jerry Brown overturned a California Board of Parole recommendation to release Van Houten in July, saying she was an "unreasonable danger to society," four decades after she was convicted and sentenced to life for the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. In a petition to the state's Supreme Court, her attorney Rich Pfeiffer said Van Houten believed the governor did not have evidence that she remained a risk to the public, the City News Service in Los Angeles reported. The Supreme Court denied the petition for review, according to an entry on the court's online case database. Pfeiffer was not immediately available for comment. Manson, who is also serving a life sentence, directed Van Houten and his other mostly young, female followers - known as the Manson Family - to murder seven people in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war between whites and blacks. Van Houten was found guilty of the LaBianca murders in 1971 and sentenced to death, but that conviction and sentence were overturned on appeal. She was retried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1978. The La Biancas were stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Aug. 10, 1969, after which the killers used their blood to write "Rise", "Death to Pigs" and "Healter-Skelter", a misspelled reference to a Beatles song, on the walls and a refrigerator door. Among the victims of the Manson Family was actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski. She was stabbed 16 times by cult members. Four other people were stabbed or shot to death at Tate's home on Aug. 9, 1969, by Manson's followers, who scrawled the word "Pig" in blood on the front door before leaving. Van Houten was not involved in the Tate murders. Japan's Abe aims to send message of U.S. alliance strength at Pearl Harbor By Linda Sieg TOKYO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to use next week's visit to Pearl Harbor to send a message that the alliance between former foes Japan and the United States is firm and vital in an uncertain region. Abe's Dec. 27 visit with President Barack Obama comes 75 years after the attack that thrust the United States into World War Two - and less than four weeks before Donald Trump becomes president. When Obama in May made a historic visit to Hiroshima, target of the world's first atomic bombing, candidate Trump tweeted, "Does President Obama ever discuss the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor while he's in Japan? Thousands of American lives lost." Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano said "not just Abe, but the whole foreign policy community in Japan, is desperate to send a message not just to the world, but to President-elect Trump, that the U.S.-Japan alliance is strong and can only get stronger." Before the Nov. 8 election, Trump triggered concern with comments - since denied - on Japan possibly acquiring nuclear arms, demands to pay more to host U.S. forces or risk their withdrawal, and opposition to the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact. Abe last month became the first world leader to meet Trump after the election. Following their hastily-arranged meeting in New York, Abe called him a "trustworthy leader. The weaker yen triggered by the billionaire property magnate's election has given Japan's economy a fillip by making exports cheaper. And Softbank Group founder Masayoshi Son has visited Trump to pledge a $50 billion investment to create U.S. jobs. FRAYING TIES? Still, many Americans and Japanese worry future ties will fray. A December Gallup-Yomiuri newspaper poll showed 41 percent of Japanese think relations will worsen. Forty percent in the United States agreed, both up sharply from last year. The two nations, however, have largely put the war behind them and the alliance has tightened under Abe. "Our position is that the war is long over and Japan and the United States are now the strongest of allies," the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States said in a statement. In contrast, the wartime legacy still plagues Japan's relations with China and South Korea. "If Abe is looking for a symbolic gesture, he must go to Nanjing and to Korea to see 'comfort women'," said Andrew Horvat, a visiting professor at Josai International University. He was referring to Japanese troops' 1937 massacre of civilians in Nanjing and to women forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels. Abe will not apologise for the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 that killed more than 2,000 military personnel, a government spokesman has said, a step that would irk his conservative base. Nor did Obama apologise for the U.S. atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. The Pearl Harbor visit will "express the value of reconcilation between Japan and the United States", Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said this month. Poland - Factors to Watch Dec 22 Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 1 hour): POLITICAL CRISIS The European Commission will seek support from member states to block European funds for Poland as the Commission is concerned that the government in Warsaw is paralysing the Constitutional Tribunal, the Rzeczpospolita daily said. SWISS FRANC LOANS Poland's government plans to impose higher tax rate on bank assets denominated in foreign currencies, the Puls Biznesu daily said quoting an unnamed source in the finance ministry. WARSAW BOURSE Poland plans to provide financial support to help small and medium companies cover the initial costs related to share or debt issues, in an attempt to encourage more firms to raise capital via the stock exchange, Puls Biznesu said. ****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.**** Altice to sell SFR BeLux to Telenet for 400 mln euros PARIS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Altice, the parent of French telecoms firm SFR Group, said on Thursday it had agreed to sell its businesses in Belgium and Luxembourg to Telenet Group for an enterprise value of 400 million euros ($418 million). The Netherlands-based holding, controlled by Franco-Israeli tycoon Patrick Drahi, is focusing on its larger operations in France and the United States, where it is considering an initial public offering (IPO) of its subsidiary Altice USA. The sale of the businesses in Belgium and Luxembourg will be made on a cash and debt free basis. The deal is expected to receive approval from the Belgian antitrust authorities "within a few months," Telenet said in a separate statement. It said the businesses, dubbed SFR BeLux, will allow Telenet to extend its cable operations in Brussels and the southern Belgian region of Wallonia, with about 90,000 customers. It would also add some 15,000 customers in Luxembourg. Telenet, which is concentrated in the northern Belgian region of Flanders and parts of Brussels, said it expected to achieve 16 million euros of annual synergy benefits by 2021. The benefits would come from extending its base in Brussels, introduction of offers combining mobile, fixed telephony, internet and television, as well as business customer growth and cost savings. The deal values the businesses at 6.5 times estimated adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2016, with those benefits factored in. Telenet said it would finance the deal through existing cash and available liquidity under its revolving credit facilities, adding that its leverage ratio could rise to 3.6, which is within its financial covenants. Vehicles still leaving Aleppo after overnight evacuation -U.N. in Syria By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Vehicles were still streaming out of eastern Aleppo on Thursday morning after an evacuation overnight monitored by the U.N., a United Nations official in Syria told Reuters on Thursday. Snow, bad weather and the poor condition of some cars appeared to have slowed the operation on Wednesday in east Aleppo, where only a small number of rebels are still waiting to leave under an agreement with the Syrian government. "The evacuation is still ongoing, monitors are still on site. About 300 private vehicles left overnight and this morning," the U.N. official said. A rebel contact inside Aleppo said that the "evacuation operation is continuing and has not ended". Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had appeared close to taking back control of Aleppo on Wednesday, but U.N. and rebel officials denied that an operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the city had been completed. About 30,000 people had been evacuated from Aleppo by Wednesday in a nearly week-long operation, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has led the convoy of buses and ambulances with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. In Geneva, ICRC spokeswoman Krista Armstrong told Reuters that the evacuation "will still take quite some time, possibly most of today (Thursday)". The civilian evacuees have been taken mainly to opposition-held western rural Aleppo and Idlib province. The last evacuees are believed to be fighters and their families. Nigerian ex-governor Ibori released from UK jail LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - James Ibori, a former Nigerian state governor jailed in Britain for corruption, has been released after serving the required time in prison. Ibori, who as governor of oil-producing Delta State from 1999 to 2007 became one of Nigeria's richest and most powerful men, was serving a 13-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering. As is normal under British procedures, Ibori had been due to be released from jail this month after serving half his sentence, taking into account pre-trial detention. Copper hits 1-month low as China metal imports drop in Nov By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - London copper slipped to its lowest in more than a month on Thursday after trade data showed some Chinese metal imports dropped sharply in November, speeding up book-squaring ahead of year-end holidays. China's imports of refined copper, zinc and nickel fell by double-digit percentages in November, although aluminium shipments into the world's top base metals producers jumped sharply, customs data showed on Thursday. That soured sentiment towards metals that were already slipping given profit-taking and a subdued tone in wider markets. Asian shares struggled, taking their cues from a lacklustre day on Wall Street as investors locked in gains ahead of the break, while China soothed worries of a year-end liquidity crunch. At least one Chinese state lender provided liquidity support worth several billion yuan to fund management firms via short-term lending tools on Wednesday, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. "Trading is slowly grinding to a halt ahead of the upcoming Christmas break and we expect more of the same through year-end," analyst Ed Meir of INTL FCSTONE said n a report. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had slipped 1.1 percent to $5,454.50 a tonne by 0723 GMT, having earlier its the lowest since Nov. 21 at $5,445.50 a tonne. Prices have still advanced some 16 percent this year after demand surpassed expectations. China's copper imports stood at 276,730 tonnes in November, slumping 22.86 percent from the same month a year earlier. Nickel imports lurched lower by 38.8 percent to 16,919 tonnes, zinc imports plunged 63.5 pct to 25,424 tonnes and tin imports tumbled 35.9 percent to 608 tonnes. The figures accelerated a slide already underway in steel-making ingredients, dragging on some of the year's top performing metals, with LME zinc and lead easing around 2 percent and LME nickel falling 1 percent. Meanwhile, China's zinc smelters are accepting record low fees to produce metal amid a shortage of ore, while winter mine closures are likely to force plants to cut output early next year, industry sources said on Wednesday. Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) copper slipped 1.6 percent to 44,430 yuan ($6,396) a tonne. Spot copper premiums in Shanghai bonded zone continue to slide lower to $60-$70 range as business quietens down into year-end, amid credit restriction from Chinese banks to traders, said broker Triland in a report. ShFE zinc dropped 2.2 percent and nickel eased 2.8 percent as China steel prices retreated due to caution over future closures after five days of heavy pollution. PRICES Three month LME copper Most active ShFE copper Three month LME aluminium Most active ShFE aluminium Three month LME zinc Most active ShFE zinc Three month LME lead Most active ShFE lead Three month LME nickel Most active ShFE nickel Three month LME tin Israel urges U.S. to veto U.N. resolution on halting settlements By Jeffrey Heller and Michelle Nichols JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Israel urged the United States on Thursday to veto a U.N. Security Council draft resolution calling for an immediate halt to settlement building on occupied land that Palestinians want for a state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to make the appeal, in a sign of concern that President Barack Obama might take a parting shot at a policy he has long opposed and a right-wing leader with whom he has had a rocky relationship. Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council is due to vote at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) on Thursday, diplomats said. It was unclear, they said, how the United States, which has protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. The resolution would demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem". The White House declined to comment. Some diplomats hope Obama will allow Security Council action by abstaining on the vote. Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office. Tweeting at 3:28 a.m., Netanyahu said the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday". Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He has already signalled a possible change in U.S. policy by appointing one his lawyers - a fundraiser for a major Israeli settlement - as Washington's new ambassador to Israel. In 2011, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the Palestinians refused a compromise offer from Washington. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, said on Israeli Army Radio: "In a few hours we will receive the answer from our American friends." "I hope very much it will be the same one we received in 2011 when the version was very similar to the one proposed now and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at the time, Susan Rice, vetoed it." The draft text says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law". It expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperilling the viability of a two-state solution". The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. Danon said nothing would change on the ground if the resolution passes. But he said it could spur Palestinians to seek international sanctions against Israel and impede any return to peace talks that collapsed in 2014. PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - Dec 22 MOSCOW, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. VEDOMOSTI www.vedomosti.ru - Danil Khachaturov, owner of leading Russian insurance provider Rosgosstrakh, is in talks on a merger with the financial group Otkritie which could lead to the formation of the biggest private financial group in Russia, the daily says. - Latvia's Integral Management Group is planning to invest up to 30 million euros into setting up a network of rehabilitation centres in Russia, an area of medical services that is not developed. KOMMERSANT www.kommersant.ru - The government could allow non-state oil producer Lukoil to develop a small offshore field in the Baltic Sea in 2017, the daily says, citing sources. - Fishing holding company Gidrostroy which is closely linked to Sakhalin Governor Alexander Verkhovsky is acquiring a big fishing and fish processing company, Preobrazhenskaya Trawl Fleet Base. The deal worth $450 million could become the biggest in recent times on Russia's fishing market, the daily says. IZVESTIA www.izvestia.ru - The Far East Development Ministry has worked out new guidelines for the improvement of the demographic situation in the region by 2030. The measures under the new strategy will ensure the growth of the local population to 7 million from the current 6.2 million people, the daily says. - Russia will appeal to the new U.S. administration to help return Russian citizen Victor Bout, who is serving a 25-year jail sentence for illegal arms trading, according to Bout's lawyer. Hong Kong stocks fall as commodities slump and mainland weakness drag Dec 22 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks fell on Thursday, dragged by declines in steel and coal price as well as weakness in mainland companies listed in the city. The Hang Seng index fell 0.8 percent, to 21,636.20, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.4 percent, to 9,200.24 points. Overall, trading was thin as many investors have already departed for the weekend's Christmas break. Nearly all sectors retreated at the close, with an index tracking energy shares the biggest decliner, down around 1.7 percent on Thursday, after commodity price tumbled. The benchmark rebar futures contract lost more than 4 percent while coke, made from coking coal, dropped more than 6 percent. Poland's KGHM expects copper price rise to lift overseas prospects By Agnieszka Barteczko WARSAW, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Poland's KGHM, one of the world's biggest copper producers, expects the price to rise in the mid and long term and boost the prospects for its overseas assets, the firm's chief executive officer said. Expectations of stronger global economic and demand growth have helped copper rise around 17 percent since mid October. "We are happy about this of course, but one should not jump to conclusions," Radoslaw Domagalski-Labedzki, who became CEO at the end of October, told Reuters, adding that average prices were forecast to be "minimally higher" in 2017. "We also assume that in the mid and long term copper prices will rise, although it is difficult to prejudge now on the durability of the rising trend," he said. Supplies of copper from 2018 onwards are expected to shrink due to declining ore grades, capex cuts and no new major finds. KGHM itself sees its annual copper production in the coming years at close to a 2015 level of 749,000 tonnes, the CEO said, adding that safety would be a priority after an earth tremor killed eight miners in November. OPTIMISTIC Domagalski-Labedzki, a former deputy economy minister in the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) government, wants to streamline KGHM's foreign assets, which weigh on its results. The state-run and Poland-focused company invested overseas for the first time in 2011 when it bought Canada's Quadra FNX, for C$2.87 billion ($2.14 billion), the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Polish company. KGHM gained control over Chile's Sierra Gorda copper mine in a move designed to help it become a global player. But this expansion has since been questioned by PiS, which was elected at the end of last year, and KGHM put its oversees assets under review and will decide what to do with them by the end of the first quarter of 2017. However, the CEO has signalled that a potential asset sale is the least likely outcome. "The preferred scenario is the one which will result in improving effectiveness and achieving a return on the investment. We focus on business development and an asset sale is not a pro-development action," Domagalski-Labedzki said. "KGHM management expects a significant improvement in Sierra Gorda costs and production as soon as next year. If we are helped by the macro environment, then I think that we can be optimistic about the coming years," he added. KGHM also wants to tap foreign markets as a provider of mining services and could, with other Polish firms, develop coal mines in countries like Iran or Kazakhstan, the CEO said. Ex-BSI banker jailed for 30 months in 1MDB-linked case By Fathin Ungku SINGAPORE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A Singapore court jailed a former wealth manager for Swiss bank BSI for 30 months on Thursday on charges of perverting the course of justice in a case linked to a money-laundering investigation involving Malaysian fund 1MDB. Prosecutors said Yeo Jiawei, the third BSI banker sentenced in the city-state this year, urged witnesses to lie to police and destroy evidence during the investigation of illicitly transferred funds linked to the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). "There was planning and premeditation for the commission of the offence," District Judge Ng Peng Hong said. Prosecutors said Yeo, 33, played a central role in the illicit movement of S$23.9 million ($16.54 million) of 1MDB-linked funds both while he was working at the now defunct BSI Bank Singapore, and afterwards. Yeo repeatedly denied any wrongdoing during the month-long trial. Defence lawyer Philip Fong told Reuters Yeo was "seriously considering appealing the conviction and sentence". Singapore authorities have called the 1MDB-linked investigation the most complex, sophisticated and largest money laundering case they have handled. Singapore's central bank in May ordered the closure of the operations in Singapore of the Swiss private bank and asked the Attorney General's Chambers to investigate six members of its senior management and staff. Two other former BSI staffers have been convicted and sentenced on charges stemming from the money-laundering investigation linked to 1MDB. Switzerland has begun criminal proceedings against the bank, in the biggest international crackdown on financial entities dealing with 1MDB. Yeo is facing another seven separate charges, including money laundering, cheating and forgery, which the prosecution said he would be tried for next year. Prosecutors have said he "could face more charges". Founded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who previously chaired its advisory board, 1MDB is the subject of money laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland, Singapore and the United States. French formin says conditions favourable to supply weapons to Lebanese army BEIRUT, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Conditions to implement a multi-billion dollar contract to supply Saudi-financed French weapons to Lebanon are now favourable after the formation of a new government in Beirut, France's foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Thursday. Speaking in the Lebanese capital after meeting President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, Ayrault said it was also more important than ever that the new authorities keep up dialogue with Saudi Arabia and Iran to ensure the country was not dragged into the Syrian conflict. "The conditions are favorable," Ayrault told reporters during a visit after the formation of the new government on Sunday. "The sun is shining again on Lebanon." Saudi Arabia suspended a $3 billion programme to supply the Lebanese army with French-made weapons in February, citing concern about the influence on interim Beirut authorities of the powerful Shi'ite muslim movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran. Financed by Riyadh, the equipment was to be supplied by France to bolster the army in its fight against jihadi groups. Ayrault said he and Aoun would soon travel to Saudi Arabia to discuss the contract and wider ties. "Everything must be done to keep Lebanon out of the Syria conflict," Ayrault said. "We want Lebanon to keep dialogue with all its regional neighbours, including Saudi Arabia and Iran." In the Syrian conflict, Iran backs the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight with Saudi-backed Sunni muslim rebels. Lawmakers urge UK govt to help end 'horrendous crisis' in South Sudan By Lin Taylor LONDON, Dec 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The British government must take urgent action to help end the "horrendous crisis" in South Sudan, where men have been castrated in fighting and women have drowned hiding from militias, UK lawmakers said in an open letter on Wednesday. Africa's newest nation plunged into civil war in December 2013 after a long-running feud between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, exploded into violence, much of it along ethnic lines. The pair signed a shaky peace deal last year, but fighting has continued forcing more than 1.1 million people to flee in the biggest cross-border exodus from any central African conflict since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. "All sides ... have been complicit in the killing or castration of men and boys," wrote Stephen Twigg, chair of the International Development Committee, a parliamentary watchdog. "These are horrendous acts of violence added to a litany of other sexual and gender based violence, already endemic in South Sudan." Addressing his letter to the Department of International Development (DFID) and the Foreign Office, Twigg said he was shocked at the "alarming numbers" of civilians displaced or who have fled to neighbouring countries because of the violence. "Women with their babies drowning on their backs, hiding in the swamps as militia go past. That fear is so desperate that they are hiding underwater," he wrote, quoting an Oxfam humanitarian advisor. DFID said it had this year pledged 103 million pounds ($127.06 million) to provide food, water and health services to more than 500,000 South Sudanese. "The world is not looking the other way whilst the people of South Sudan suffer," a DFID spokesperson said in a statement to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In an opinion piece published on a government website on Wednesday, Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood called the leadership in South Sudan an "abject failure". "The international community expects them to do all that they can to stop the violence and get the peace process back on track," Ellwood wrote after his first visit to South Sudan. "There can be no military solution to the current crisis. A political agreement, difficult as this is to achieve and make work, is the only viable way forward." The International Development Committee urged the UK government to help establish a U.N. force in the region, and to push the humanitarian crisis up the international agenda. On Monday, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he feared genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action was taken. Last week, the head of a U.N. human rights commission called for the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force across South Sudan to stop a "Rwanda-like" genocide, and a court to be set up to prosecute atrocities. Some 800,000 people were killed in the Rwandan genocide by Hutu extremist militiamen from country's biggest ethnic group. ($1 = 0.8106 pounds) Aid workers killed in mortar attacks in Mosul, U.N. says ERBIL, Iraq, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed by mortar fire this week during aid distribution in Mosul, the United Nations said, as the campaign to retake the city from Islamic State continued to make slow and punishing progress. On Thursday, three vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) claimed by Islamic State went off in Kokjali, an eastern suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago. At least two civilians were killed and 20 others wounded, including soldiers, according to local police, a health official and a witness. The death toll was expected to rise. Amaq news agency, which supports Islamic State, said in a statement circulated online that suicide bombers had targeted the army. A U.N. statement on the two separate mortar attacks this week that killed aid workers and wounded about 40 people said indiscriminate shelling violated international law. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," said Lise Grande, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. "All parties to the conflict - all parties - have an obligation to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians survive and receive the assistance they need." She did not assign blame for the attacks, but Islamic State militants retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they are retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction. The U.S.-backed assault on Mosul, the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq, was launched by a 100,000-strong alliance of local forces on Oct. 17. It has become the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Elite army forces have captured a quarter of the city but the advance has faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants even in areas thought to be cleared. Sao Tome broke with Taiwan owing to importance of China as partner-PM SAO TOME, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Sao Tome and Principe Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada said on Thursday that breaking relations with Taiwan was the correct decision given China's importance as a strategic partner and the need to improve the lives of Sao Tomeans. ("It) was the most correct decision for Sao Tome and Principe," he told journalists in Sao Tome, the capital. "We have our program and we have a commitment to the people to improve their living conditions." He said China was "a very important strategic relationship ... the second biggest economy in the world and permanent member of the (U.N.) Security Council". Pakistani authorities seize heroin worth $1.6 million from plane By Syed Raza Hassan KARACHI, Pakistan, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have seized heroin worth an estimated $1.6 million hidden on board a Saudi Arabia-bound aircraft operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), a customs official said on Thursday. The packets of heroin were found in a compartment normally used for stowing trolleys, said Zahid Khokhar, a senior customs official based in Karachi where the seizure was made. "To be exact the seized quantity is 16.7 kg (36.8 lb) estimated to worth around Rs170 million ($1.62 million)," Khokar said. "So far no arrest has been made. Today we will examine the CCTV footage and interview the people accordingly." The plane was due to fly to the city of Jeddah. In August, authorities arrested 12 employees of cash-strapped PIA following the discovery of six kg of heroin on board a Dubai-bound plane. Sao Tome broke with Taiwan owing to importance of China as partner - PM SAO TOME, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Sao Tome and Principe Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada said on Thursday that breaking relations with Taiwan was the correct decision given China's importance as a strategic partner and the need to improve the lives of Sao Tomeans. ("It) was the most correct decision for Sao Tome and Principe," he told journalists in Sao Tome, the capital. "We have our program and we have a commitment to the people to improve their living conditions." He said China was "a very important strategic relationship ... the second biggest economy in the world and permanent member of the (U.N.) Security Council". China on Thursday dismissed accusations from Taiwan that it had engaged in "dollar diplomacy" to get Sao Tome and Principe to ditch its ties with the self-ruled island, saying a petty Taiwan was besmirching its good name. The tiny West African state's decision this week has angered Taiwan, which says the move will not help its already strained relations with China. Taiwan says China took advantage of Sao Tome's financial woes to push its "one China" principle that states Taiwan is part of China and ineligible for diplomatic recognition. It said Taiwan would not exchange cash for diplomatic favors. Brussels welcomes progress in EU-Swiss relations after immigration law BRUSSELS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday welcomed progress in relations between the EU and Switzerland after Bern avoided a clash with Brussels by passing an immigration law that does not impose outright quotas. The law aims to curb immigration by giving local people first crack at job opportunities, but does not introduce quotas, as Swiss voters had demanded in a 2014 referendum. That appeased Brussels, which is unwilling to compromise on the free movement of people - a principle underpinning Swiss access to the EU's single market of 500 million. Following a meeting of the EU-Switzerland Joint Committee on Thursday, the EU executive said in a statement that the balance achieved in the Swiss law "should make it possible to preserve the integrity of the contractual commitments between the European Union and Switzerland". But the Commission said it wanted more clarity and guarantees on access to information about job vacancies and the rights of cross-border commuters. "The Commission will closely monitor the implementation of this solution. 2017 could be a milestone in the development of closer relations between the European Union and Switzerland, with a view to enhancing still further the vitality of our area of freedom - of all forms of freedom - to the benefit of all our citizens," Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said. The Swiss law says that at times of economic upheaval, employers in sectors or regions with above-average unemployment rates must inform local job centres of vacancies and obtain the names of job seekers. Migrant in Italy gets 30-year sentence for murder of U.S. woman FLORENCE, Italy, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A Senegalese migrant was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday for the murder of Ashley Olsen, a U.S. woman who was killed in the Tuscan city of Florence in January. Diaw Cheik Tidianee, 27, was arrested by police on Jan. 14, five days after Olsen's body was found dead in her apartment. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled and also had two fractures to her skull. Florence prosecutors said Tidianee had met the 35-year-old Olsen in a local nightclub and that the two had consensual sex in her home under the influence of alcohol, and possibly drugs, before he killed her. He denied murdering her, telling investigators that he had pushed her and that she had hit her head when she fell over. Olsen came from Florida and had been living in Florence for three years before her death. Friends said she had moved to Italy to join her father Walter Olsen, who was teaching in the city. The case attracted considerable international media attention and investigators were keen to avoid any repeat of the drawn-out saga that followed the 2007 killing of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, not far from Florence. Women fall victim to violence in Mexico's decade-old war on drugs By Stephen Woodman MEXICO CITY, Dec 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Denisse Velasco has been suffering from acute anxiety since spring, when she narrowly escaped being abducted from a busy street in Guadalajara, Mexico. She was waiting at a bus stop one morning when a man jumped out of a taxi and tried to force her inside. Velasco suspects it was a drug trafficker intent on kidnapping her for ransom. "The same thing could happen again in any moment," Velasco told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "I walk different routes every day to make sure I'm not followed." Velasco's story is far from uncommon in Mexico, where violence against women has risen dramatically since the government declared war on organized drug trafficking 10 years ago. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched the hard-line war on drug cartels in December 2006, heavily increasing the role of the military to enforce the law-and-order regime. More than 170,000 killings have been reported since the crackdown commenced. The offensive splintered trafficking gangs, creating dozens of new ones. It also aggravated territorial disputes and made Mexico more violent, experts say, with women increasingly the victims. Murders of women have risen by 84 percent to 2,383 last year from 1,298 in 2006, according to government statistics. The death toll for women has been particularly high in the key battlegrounds of Jalisco, Guerrero and Mexico states. Guadalajara, the site of Velasco's attack, is the capital of Jalisco, where authorities say 1,171 girls and women went missing in 2015. The Mexican government acknowledges the link between its war on drugs and violence against women. "There's a strong correlation between the rise in violent deaths of women and the strategy to combat organized crime," said Pablo Navarrete Gutierrez, legal affairs coordinator for the National Institute of Women (Inmujeres), a government agency charged with tackling gender violence and discrimination. "From 2012, we started to see a slight decrease in homicides of women, but the number is nevertheless worrying. This is a serious problem." "MISOGYNISTIC VIOLENCE" The violence has resonated through the community as a whole, said Maria Guadalupe Ramos Ponce, a coordinator for the Committee of Women's Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. "The drug war has normalized misogynistic violence," Ramos Ponce said. The violence has grown more gruesome toward women as well, with torture and dismemberment more common, she said. "It is not just that they take their lives. It is how they take their lives," Ramos Ponce said, noting the body and decapitated head of an unidentified woman was found on the side of a Jalisco highway earlier this month. Since the war on drugs began, kidnappings and extortion have become commonplace, and Human Rights Watch has accused Mexican security officials of violating human rights through killings, torture and disappearances. The newer drug traffickers are more willing to target innocent victims, using kidnapping and human trafficking as threats and weapons, experts say. "The rules of engagement have changed, and killing a rival's family members has become common practice," said Angelica de la Pena Gomez, a senator for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and president of the Senate's Human Rights Commission. POVERTY Extreme violence is particularly prevalent in impoverished areas. Mexico's 10 poorest states each had at least 60 femicides last year, compared with a national average of 49. Most analysts agree that the nation's anti-drug strategy has exacerbated poverty, in turn worsening violence against women. For example, anti-drug fumigation programs destroy the only income available to many opium poppy and marijuana farmers and kill nearby food crops as well. Poverty in Mexico rose to more than 53 percent in 2014, up from 49 percent in 2008, according to the World Bank, the second highest increase in Latin America after Venezuela. Poverty is often linked to abusive relationships as men resort to violence as an outlet for frustration. "People will displace their aggression," said Jane Wood, a forensic psychologist at Britain's Kent University. "Female partners are often targeted." MASS ARRESTS Security forces engaged in the drug war are guilty as well of violence against women, according to Amnesty International which released a report in June saying police and armed forces routinely abused female prisoners, with almost total impunity. "The current approach to public security sees women as expendable parts," said Madeleine Penman, Amnesty's Mexico researcher. "Authorities themselves often subject women to mass arrests in order to inflate their figures." Such women are often accused of crimes without any evidence. Of the 100 women interviewed for Amnesty's report, 93 said they were hit or beaten while under arrest and 33 said they had been raped in custody. Mexico's defense secretary apologized in April after a leaked video showed soldiers and police suffocating a female suspect with a plastic bag. Penman said she welcomed the apology but said it falls far short. U.S. charges Virginia man with trying to aid Islamic State NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors charged a Virginia man on Thursday with attempting to aid Islamic State, including by trying to buy weapons for the militant group and posting support on social media for attacks. Lionel Williams, 26, was arrested in Suffolk, Virginia, on Wednesday, and made his initial appearance in federal court in Norfolk on Thursday, according to court filings. Since March 2014, the U.S. Justice Department has charged more than 100 people with Islamic State-related crimes. Williams pledged allegiance to Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in a Facebook post in March 2016, when he declared that it was "time for me to take a stand," authorities said in court papers. An informant and an undercover federal agent began communicating with Williams, who eventually contributed money to what he believed would be a fund to help buy military equipment for Islamic State, according to authorities. Williams also expressed support for attacks on civilian targets, prosecutors said. Authorities said Williams purchased an assault rifle online on Dec. 3, 2015, the day after a couple killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, in a mass shooting that was apparently inspired by foreign militants. In court papers, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent said comments that Williams made earlier this week about going to heaven appeared to suggest he "was moving closer to committing an attack that would result in his death." GRAINS-Soybeans hit new 1-month low as rains head for Argentina By Tom Polansek CHICAGO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures fell to a new one-month low below $10 a bushel on Thursday as forecasts for rain in Argentina dampened concerns about dryness hurting production there. Losses also hit other agricultural markets with corn and wheat futures approaching three-week lows and soybean oil setting a four-week low. Rains in dry areas of Argentina, a major exporter, pressured soybeans as traders projected South America will stay on track to produce a bumper harvest that will compete with U.S. exports. Earlier this month, dryness in Argentina fuelled worries about planting problems, and soybean futures prices rose on hopes for increased demand. During the next five days, central Argentina will receive "timely and beneficial rain," said Kevin Van Trump, chief executive of U.S. consultancy Farm Direction. Front-month January soybeans closed down 12-1/4 cents at $9.94-1/2 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade after trading to their lowest price since Nov. 18. It was the first day the contract dropped below $10 in a month. Most-active March soybeans fell 13 cents to $10.04 a bushel. The contract traded as low as $10.03, its lowest since Nov. 18. "The rains up ahead for Argentina are the prime issue," said Rich Nelson, chief strategist for Illinois-based broker Allendale. Export demand for U.S. soybeans has been solid, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture reporting weekly sales at 1.8 million tonnes. That was above analysts' expectations for 1.1 to 1.4 million. U.S. corn export sales also topped expectations while wheat sales barely missed analysts' estimates amid stiff competition for business from other nations with ample supplies. "U.S. export activity is insufficient to justify a rebound and in the other countries in the Northern hemisphere, conditions of the crops are good," consultancy Agritel said in a note. In South America, Argentina's agriculture ministry raised its projection for the country's 2016/17 wheat crop to 15.7 million tonnes from a previous estimate of 14.9 million. Most active March wheat futures shed 2-1/2 cents to $3.97 a bushel after they hit their lowest since Dec. 2. March corn futures ended unchanged at $3.47-1/4 a bushel after slipping to $3.46, its lowest since Dec. 2. Blackstone in talks to buy stake in Energy Transfer assets By Lauren Hirsch and Divya Grover Dec 22 (Reuters) - Private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP is in talks to buy a stake in assets owned by Energy Transfer Partners LP, the company building the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Blackstone is discussing joining the deal with Jamie Welch, who previously served as chief financial officer of ETP parent Energy Transfer Equity LP. The deal is expected to be valued at about $5 billion or more, the Wall Street Journal, who first reported the proposed deals, said earlier on Thursday. Blackstone declined to comment while Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The source requested anonymity because the conversations are not public. It could not be immediately determined whether the stake would support the Dakota Access pipeline, which has been the subject of protests for months because its route runs adjacent Native American land in North Dakota. Protesters have argued that the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) project would damage sacred lands and could contaminate the tribe's water source. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers earlier this month rejected an application for the pipeline to tunnel under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River. Energy Transfer Partners responded in a joint statement with partner Sunoco Logistics Partners, with whom it announced it would combine earlier this month, that it does not intend to reroute the line and called the Obama administration's decision a "political action." U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who until June had a stake in ETP, has said he is in favor of the pipeline project. Blackstone Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman was recently picked by Trump to chair a panel of business leaders who will give him advice. Schwarzman has said he expects to see a "very substantial reversal of regulations of all types," for the financial sector in the wake of Trump's election. WTO rules against Indonesia in food import barriers case GENEVA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel ruled against Indonesia on Thursday in twin cases brought by New Zealand and the United States against its import restrictions on food and animal products including beef and poultry. All 18 of Jakarta's measures affecting imported horticulture, animals and animal products were prohibited under WTO rules dating to its predecessor body, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or GATT, the panel said. The import restrictions cover products such as apples, grapes, potatoes, onions, flowers, juice, dried fruit, cattle, chicken and beef, the U.S. trade office said in March 2015 when challenging the measures. New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay on Friday welcomed the ruling, saying the restrictions were estimated to have cost the country's beef sector up to NZ$1 billion ($690.20 million). "This is an important result for New Zealand's agricultural exporters - and for trade fairness," McClay said in a statement. The arbitrators urged Indonesia to bring its measures into conformity. All sides have 60 days to appeal any of the findings. Indonesia will file an appeal against the WTO ruling, the country's trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita told reporters in Jakarta on Friday. He added that the country has already implemented a "deregulation package", without giving further details. A stock of 5,424 sets of kitchen apparels with printed images of the Buddha was seized today by the Customs in a container in transshipment, Customs Spokesman Dharmasena Kahandawa said. He said the kitchen apparel sets were found during the Customs checking on several other goods from India. Each set included an apron, two oven gloves and a table serviette in 904 cartons, he said. The stock was detected while the container was opened for unloading some other items in Sri Lanka. The shipment had arrived from Tuticorin (Thoothukudi) few days ago and the ship was travelling to Slovenia, in the Central Europe via Sri Lanka. The cargo arrived at the BQ4 warehouse of the Colombo Port on December 2 and the shipment arrived on SS St. John Ark. Officials said investigations would be done and relevant actions would be taken by the Customs He said the Sri Lanka Customs would inform to the Indian Customs to conduct an inquiry and to stop such items that hurt the sentiments on any religion. After the investigation Customs will hand over the consignment to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, he said. (Chaturanga Pradeep) A stock of illicit foreign liquor worth approximately Rs.1 million was seized by the Special Task Force and officials of the Excise Department during a raid conducted in Colombo this evening. Acting on a tip-off received by the Special Narcotic Unit of the Finance Ministry, the STF and the Excise Department recovered 108 bottles of foreign liquor at Jawatte Road in Colombo 5 while they were being transported in a hybrid car. Head of the Unit Wing Commander Ravi Jayasinghe said a suspect was taken into custody along with the consignment of liquor. He said the liquor was smuggled into the country without paying the government tax. It was revealed that the suspect was transporting liquor that was to be distributed in the Kaduwela area. Excise official said the suspect would be produced in the Maligakanda Magistrate's Court today. The Excise Department is conducting further investigations into the smuggling operation. (Darshana Sanjeewa) Video by Darshana Sanjeewa Pix by Kushan Pathiraja The controversial Development (Special Provisions) Bill, was rejected by a majority of members in the Uva Provincial Council today. UPC Chairman A.M. Buddhadasa had informed the members that Uva Province Governor had sent the Development (Special Provisions) Bill to the Council to seek their opinion. Councils Opposition Leader R.M. Ratnayake, Udara Soyza (UPFA), R.M. Jayawardane (JVP) Samantha Widyaratne (JVP), Upali Samaraweera (Agriculture Minister), Sudarshana Denipitiya expressed their views on the Bill. Nine UPFA members, including two PC ministers, two members of the Ceylon Working Congress and two JVP members voted against the bill while nine UNP members voted in favour. Uva Chief Minister Chamara Sampath Dasanayake abstained from voting. The Colombo Municipal Council in collaboration with the Road Development Authority would soon to introduce separate lanes for commuter buses within the city limits, the Finance Ministry said today. Budget 2017 has proposed a mechanism to streamline public bus service within city limits. Under this mechanism separate lanes will be introduced for the buses, Minister Ravi Karunanayake said in a statement. In addition, priority has been given by Budget 2017 to ease road traffic congestion in Colombo. The Minister said that an alternative system should also be introduced soon as an additional number of vehicles were daily put into public roads. Minister said plans were already afoot to launch the construction of two new roads- one between the New Kelani Bridge and Athurugiriya and, the second between the Kelani Bridge and Colombo Port in next year. The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), at the launch of its Facebook page, stressed that the media including social media had a critical role to play in educating the masses today. Addressing the function to mark the event, party chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris said his party would fight both politically and legally against the planned move by the government to muzzle the web media. He said such a move would contravene the right to freedom of expression guaranteed in the Constitution under Article 14. We will resist the move politically. At the same time, we will move the Supreme Court against it, he said. Two other university academics - Jagath Wellawatte of the Colombo University and Mahinda Pathirane of the Sabaragamuwa University- addressed the function. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had also congratulated the new party on the occasion.(Kelum Bandara) If the go-to liberal argument against Narendra Modi is comparing him to Adolf Hitler, then the right-wing equivalent of that, definitely, is calling anyone (even slightly) critical of Modi or the government, a Pakistani. But what was, till now, a stupid argument used by Twitter trolls when bombarded with facts, suddenly became part of a legitimate conversation when, wait for it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used it at an event in Varanasi, the PM's parliamentary constituency, on Thursday, December 22. Speaking at an event in Varanasi's Benaras Hindu University (BHU), Modi said that note ban detractors are acting like Pakistan. Parties opposing demonetisation like Pakistan's cover fire to terrorists: Modihttps://t.co/O1x4ew6y5q India Today (@IndiaToday) December 22, 2016 "The commotion created in Parliament is like the 'cover fire' that Pakistan uses to ensure terrorists infiltrate into India. Similarly, the ruckus in Parliament lets cheats get away," said the prime minster over the Oppositions demand to discuss Modis demonetisation drive at the just-concluded winter Parliament session. Modis argument, though hardly a new one, is one that is scary when one thinks about BJPs reaction to any form of criticism. Anyone who disagrees with the supreme leader, or any one of his grand schemes, is the enemy of the state, and when that enemy is Pakistan, one really cant rule out the possibility of a surgical strike, can they? Speaking at an event in Varanasi's Benaras Hindu University, Modi said that note ban detractors are acting like Pakistan. [Photo: DailyO] What is interesting is that since November 8, when Modi introduced his grand plan to "curb black money", with the demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 legal tenders, he has faced a huge amount of criticism from his opposition, reputed economists, the media and even the general public. And while initially, he managed to steer clear of that with promises of results, this monumental failure of an economic scheme has led him to rapidly shift goalposts. His black money initiative was hijacked midway, by dreams of a Digital India. The lack of any headway with that pipe dream too, seems to be making the Modi government nervous. And the daily dose of changing rules for demonetisation is a proof of this nervousness. And even if one can forgive this trial and error method of implementing economic policies, rejecting criticism in general is a new low in the governments train-wreck of a coping mechanism, with far too many setbacks. Thanks to Modi legitimising the Pakistan argument, one can how see the national discourse on anything is heading towards a gigantic pile of trash. Not to mention, it really begs the question, if Modi or his cadre, (who were elected into power by a democratic mandate) really understand how a democracy functions, because in a truly functional democratic system, the government in power must answer the questions levelled by both the Opposition and a free and fair media. With politicians already using the Army as a straw-man for most arguments, calling critics Pakistani is pretty much, the signs of inevitable doom. The social media did not react nicely to Modis not-so-subtle contempt for his detractors, as is expected. If this is how the government reacts to well-reasoned criticism, one can only look towards a state like North Korea and pray that this nation is not heading there. A song for the BJP's unhealthy obsession: Dil Dil Pakistan, Jaan Jaan Pakistan https://t.co/zkzZd4TQUw https://t.co/kNo3BQ7yAN Amitabh Dubey (@dubeyamitabh) December 22, 2016 If you're not with us, you're against us. Warning: there's a place for people like you and it's right next to India. #BhaktsAssemble https://t.co/vjG0sCnwYy Anupam Gupta (@b50) December 22, 2016 Pakistan is the new Dog ate my homework. https://t.co/Z3uc7zwO4x amrtsh (@floydimus) December 22, 2016 Awww, someone's been inhaling the midnight oil while scraping the bottom of the barrel, looking for another excuse. https://t.co/w9DjEPFuub Overrated Outcast (@over_rated) December 22, 2016 Mark my words- When #DeMonetisationDisaster is over, the blame will be on Banks, RBI, Opp Parties, Media & not #Modihttps://t.co/SuLioXd0hL Akash Banerjee (@akashbanerjee) December 22, 2016 Not patting him on the back = being enemy of the country. okay then. https://t.co/K83Ri5vrCp Karnika Kohli (@KarnikaKohli) December 22, 2016 After economic strategy, PM also using political strategy from Whatsapp. https://t.co/ECGoojXzJR Tushar Abhichandani (@YawnOkPlease) December 22, 2016 Here we go again. https://t.co/LbW74cTJTl Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) December 22, 2016 *Stays back in the crease and defends like Misbah* https://t.co/xAm9Rf2Qut dorku (@Dorkstar) December 22, 2016 I think the honorable PM is missing the point of a democracy. Criticism is valid, important and essential. it isn't enemy action. https://t.co/qeHAD0lukS Harini Calamur (@calamur) December 22, 2016 Indians calling other Indians Pakistanis is not a phenomenon started by bhakts. It's started by head bhakt himself. https://t.co/Nm6rW1ItPx Nehr-who? (@threeinchfooll) December 22, 2016 Bas. Now that P word has been used. Argument khatam. It's perfect. https://t.co/5zVRvcvBZZ Devirupa Mitra (@DevirupaM) December 22, 2016 Best response Ive heard to the Go to Pakistan retort: Why? Do they have working ATMs over there? Tushar Kanwar (@2shar) December 22, 2016 Reports came through confirming that on December 19, snow fell on the largest hot desert in the world. An amateur photographer captured the unusual phenomena in Saharan desert town of Aln Sefra, Algeria. "Everyone was stunned to see snow falling in the desert; it is such a rare occurrence," Karlm Bouchetata told The Independent. "It looked amazing as the snow settled on the sand and made a great set of photos. The snow stayed for about a day and has now melted away," the photographer added. The said phenomenon did not last long as the snow melted after only a day but thanks to the photographer, everyone got a glimpse how the desert looks like covered in snow white flakes. It can be recalled that the last time snow fell on Sahara desert was in 1979. According to a report, studies suggest global warming may be a cyclical change brought on by the natural shift in the area's climate causing the snow occurrence. A University at Buffalo study published in May showed that climate change could lead to higher instances of snow in the Arctic, likely leading to Greenland's ice sheets to melt slower than initially thought. Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Canada, the United States, and the Asia Pacific region. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, Offshore, Canadian Manufacturing, U.S. Manufacturing, and Retail segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen and heavy oil in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. This segments Foster Creek, Christina Lake, Sunrise, and Tucker oil sands projects, as well as Lloydminster thermal and conventional heavy oil assets The Conventional segment holds assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, Clearwater, and Rainbow Lake operating in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as interests in various natural gas processing facilities. The offshore segment engages in the exploration and development activities. The Canadian Manufacturing segment includes the owned and operated Lloydminster upgrading and asphalt refining complex, which upgrades heavy oil and bitumen into synthetic crude oil, diesel fuel, asphalt, and other ancillary products, as well as owns and operates the Bruderheim crude-by-rail terminal and two ethanol plants. The U.S. Manufacturing segment comprises the refining of crude oil to produce diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, asphalt, and other products. The Retail segment consists of marketing of its own and third-party refined petroleum products through retail, commercial, and bulk petroleum outlets, as well as wholesale channels. Cenovus Energy Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. 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. General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chippewa Falls High Schools English department teachers have chosen several students of the month for December. Victoria Czech English teacher Roger Skifstad chose Victoria Czech, a senior, as a student of the month for her standout work in his science fiction and fantasy class this semester. She is a strong writer who always adds an element of her own voice to analysis of literature studied in class, he said. She can be counted on to share ideas aloud and her opinions are always well-supported. Czech, daughter of Mary and David Czech, plans to follow in her fathers footsteps and go to law school in Madison to pursue a career as an attorney. Shes also interested in journalism and business, and would consider studying marine biology. Outside of school, Czech has competed in volleyball, equestrian and track & field, and is a member of the Athena club. Elias Klein English teacher Molly Barnes chose Elias Klein as a December student of the month. Klein, son of Alicia and Steven Klein, is a junior in Barnes communications class. Klein exhibits a strong work ethic and sophisticated understanding of the material. He recently did a speech on how to play the viola, which he plays in the high school orchestra as well as for assisted living facilities. Though he enjoys English, his career goals and real passion lies in the field of biology, which he hopes to study in college. Eventually, hed like to work as a researcher or enter medical practice. Sydney Parkhurst The schools intermediate composition teacher, Karen Drydyk, chose junior Sydney Parkhurst as the English departments December student of the month. Parkhurst, daughter of Brandy Parkhurst and Jes Smith-Parkhurst, brings an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and excellence into the classroom, Drydyk said. Parkhurst can often be found writing outside of the classroom, and has a large bookshelf filled with books that range in topics from historical nonfiction to social issues. After high school, Parkhurst hopes to attend college and pursue a career in child protective services or education. When she is not writing, she can be found reading, drawing or taking care of her niece and nephew. Tyler Technologies, Inc. provides integrated information management solutions and services for the public sector. The company operates in three segments: Enterprise Software; Appraisal and Tax; and NIC. It offers financial management solutions, including modular fund accounting systems for government agencies or not-for-profit entities; utility billing systems for the billing and collection of metered and non-metered services; products to automate city and county functions, such as municipal courts, parking tickets, equipment and project costing, animal and business licenses, permits and inspections, code enforcement, citizen complaint tracking, ambulance billing, fleet maintenance, and cemetery records management; and student information and transportation solutions for K-12 schools. The company also provides a suite of judicial solutions comprising court case management, court and law enforcement, prosecutor, and supervision systems to handle multi-jurisdictional county or statewide implementations, and single county systems; public safety software solutions; systems and software to automate the appraisal and assessment of real and personal property, as well as tax applications for agencies that bill and collect taxes; planning, regulatory, and maintenance software solutions for public sector agencies; software applications to enhance and automate operations involving records and document management; and data and insights solutions. In addition, it offers software as a service arrangements and electronic document filing solutions for courts and law offices; software and hardware installation, data conversion, training, product modification, and maintenance and support services; and property appraisal outsourcing services for taxing jurisdictions. The company has a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services for cloud hosting services. Tyler Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas. The Sherwin-Williams Company develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells paints, coatings, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: The Americas Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group. The Americas Group segment offers architectural paints and coatings, and protective and marine products, as well as OEM product finishes and related products for architectural and industrial paint contractors, and do-it-yourself homeowners. The Consumer Brands Group segment supplies a portfolio of branded and private-label architectural paints, stains, varnishes, industrial products, wood finishes products, wood preservatives, applicators, corrosion inhibitors, aerosols, caulks, and adhesives to retailers and distributors. The Performance Coatings Group segment develops and sells industrial coatings for wood finishing and general industrial applications, automotive refinish products, protective and marine coatings, coil coatings, packaging coatings, and performance-based resins and colorants. It serves retailers, dealers, jobbers, licensees, and other third-party distributors through its branches and direct sales staff, as well as through outside sales representatives. The company has operations primarily in the North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As of February 17, 2022, it operated approximately 5,000 company-operated stores and facilities. The Sherwin-Williams Company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. PNM Resources, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides electricity and electric services in the United States. It operates through Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) and Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP) segments. The PNM segment engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The segment generates electricity using coal, natural gas and oil, nuclear fuel, solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had owned or leased facilities with a total net generation capacity of 2,168 megawatts; and owned 3,426 miles of electric transmission lines, 5,751 miles of distribution overhead lines, 5,765 miles of underground distribution lines, and 250 substations. The segment also owns and leases communication, office and other equipment, office space, vehicles, and real estate. The TNMP segment provides regulated transmission and distribution services. As of December 31, 2021, the segment owned 983 miles of overhead electric transmission lines, 7,297 miles of overhead distribution lines, 1,408 miles of underground distribution lines, and 113 substations. The segment also owns and leases vehicles, service facilities, and office locations throughout its service territory. The company serves approximately 806,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers and end-users of electricity in New Mexico and Texas. PNM Resources, Inc. was incorporated in 1882 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services. This segment serves consumer and small business customers through a network of branches, ATMs, call centers, and online and mobile banking channels. Its Corporate & Institutional Banking segment provides secured and unsecured loans, letters of credit, and equipment leases; cash and investment management services, receivables and disbursement management services, funds transfer services, international payment services, and access to online/mobile information management and reporting; foreign exchange, derivatives, fixed income, securities underwriting, loan syndications, and mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets advisory related services; and commercial loan servicing and technology solutions. It serves mid-sized and large corporations, and government and not-for-profit entities. The company's Asset Management Group segment offers investment and retirement planning, customized investment management, credit and cash management solutions, and trust management and administration services for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals, and their families; and multi-generational family planning services for ultra high net worth individuals and their families. It also provides outsourced chief investment officer, custody, private real estate, cash and fixed income client solutions, and fiduciary retirement advisory services for institutional clients. The company has 2,591 branches and 9,502 ATMs. The company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 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 The following companies are subsidiares of Thermo Fisher Scientific: 236 Perinton Parkway LLC, 27 Forge Parkway LLC, ABR--Affinity BioReagents, ACI Holdings Inc., ARG Services LLC, ASPEX Corporation, Abgene Inc., Abgene Limited, Acoustic Cytometry Systems Inc., AcroMetrix LLC, Acros Organics B.V.B.A., Advanced Biotechnologies Limited, Advanced Scientifics (ASI), Advanced Scientifics Inc., Advanced Scientifics International Inc., Affymetrix Biotech Participacoes Ltda., Affymetrix Biotech Shanghai Ltd, Affymetrix Inc, Affymetrix Japan K.K., Affymetrix Pte Ltd, Affymetrix UK Ltd, Afora S.A.U., Ahura Scientific, Alchematrix Inc., Alchematrix LLC, Alfa Aesar, Alfa Aesar (China) Chemical Co. Ltd., Alfa Aesar (Hong Kong) Limited, Allergon AB, Alphine Mountain Limited, Ambion Inc., Apogent Denmark ApS, Apogent Finance Company, Apogent Holding Company, Apogent Technologies Inc., Apogent Transition Corp., Apogent U.K. Limited, App-Tek International Pty Ltd, Applied Biosystems B.V., Applied Biosystems Finance B.V., Applied Biosystems International Inc., Applied Biosystems LLC, Applied Biosystems Taiwan LLC, Applied Biosystems Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Applied Biosystems de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Applied Scientific Corporation, Avances Cientificos de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Avocado Research Chemicals Limited, B.R.A.H.M.S. Biotech GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. UK Ltd, BAC BV, BAC IP BV, Barnstead Thermolyne LLC, Beijing Phadia Diagnostics Co Ltd, Bender MedSystems GmbH, BioTrove Corporation, BioTrove International Inc., Bioanalysis Labsystems S.A., Biochemical Sciences LLC, Biolab, BmT GmbH Laborprodukte, Bonsai Tecnologies - Sistemas para Biotecnologia e Industria Unipessoal Lda, Brammer Bio, Bumi-Sans Sendirian Berhad, CAC Limited, CB Diagnostics AB, CB Diagnostics Holding AB, CEPH International Corporation, CHK Holdings Inc., CRS Robotics, CTPS LLC, Capitol Scientific Products Inc., Capitol Vial Inc., Cellomics Inc., CellzDirect Inc., Cenduit GmbH, Cenduit LLC, Cezanne S.A.S., Chase Scientific Glass Inc., Chromacol Limited, Clintrak, Clintrak Clinical Labeling Services LLC, Clintrak Pharmaceutical Services LLC, Cohesive Technologies (UK) Limited, Cohesive Technologies Inc., Columbia Diagnostics Inc., Compendia Bioscience Inc., Comtest Limited, Consolidated Technologies Inc., Consultores Fisher Scientific Chile Ltd, Core Informatics, Core Informatics LLC, Core Informatics UK Ltd., D-finitive Technologies Inc., DCG Systems B.V., DCG Systems C.V., DCG Systems G.K., DCG Systems GmbH, DCG Systems Korea Ltd., DCG Systems LLC, DPI Newco LLC, DSM Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Dharmacon, Diagnostix Ltd., Dionex (China) Analytical Ltd, Dionex (Switzerland) AG, Dionex (UK) Limited, Dionex Austria GmbH, Dionex Benelux B.V., Dionex Brasil Instrumentos Cientificos Ltda, Dionex Canada Ltd., Dionex China Limited, Dionex Corporation, Dionex Denmark A/S, Dionex Holding GmbH, Dionex I LLC, Dionex Pty Ltd., Dionex S.A., Dionex S.p.A., Dionex Singapore Pte Ltd., Dionex Softron GmbH, Dionex Sweden AB, Distribution Solutions International Inc., Doe & Ingalls Investors Inc., Doe & Ingalls Limited, Doe & Ingalls Management LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties II LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties LLC, Doe & Ingalls of California Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Florida Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Maryland Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Massachusetts Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of North Carolina Operating LLC, Doublecape Holding Limited, Doublecape Limited, Drakeside Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Duke Scientific Corporation, Dynal Biotech Beijing Limited, EGS Gauging Ltd., EGS Gauging Technical Services Company, EP Scientific Products LLC, Ecochem N.V., EnviroEquip Pty Ltd, Epsom Glass Industries Limited, Equibio Limited, Erie Electroverre S.A., Erie Finance Limited, Erie LP Holding LLC, Erie Scientific Company of Puerto Rico, Erie Scientific Hungary Kft, Erie Scientific LLC, Erie U.K. Limited, Erie UK 1 Limited, Erie UK 2 Limited, Erie UK Holding Company, Erie UK Senior Holding Limited, European Laboratory Holdings Limited, Eutech Instruments Europe B.V., Eutech Instruments Pte Ltd., Eutech Instruments Sdn Bhd, Ever Ready Thermometer Co. Inc., FEI Asia Pacific Co. Ltd., FEI Australia Pty Ltd, FEI CPD B.V., FEI Company, FEI Company Japan Ltd., FEI Company of USA (S.E.A.) Pte Ltd., FEI Czech Republic s.r.o., FEI Deutschland GmbH, FEI EFA Inc., FEI EFA International Pte. Ltd., FEI Electron Optics B.V., FEI Electron Optics International B.V., FEI Europe B.V., FEI France SAS, FEI Global Holdings C.V., FEI Hong Kong Company Limited, FEI Houston Inc., FEI Italia Srl, FEI Korea Ltd., FEI Melbourne Pty Ltd., FEI Microscopy Solutions Ltd, FEI Munich GmbH, FEI Norway Holding AS, FEI SAS, FEI Saudi Arabia LLC, FEI Servicos de Nanotecnologia Ltda., FEI Technologies Inc., FEI Technology de Mexico S.A. de C.V., FEI Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., FEI Trondheim AS, FEI UK Ltd., FHP LLC, FRC Holding Inc. V, FS (Barbados) Capital Holdings Ltd., FS Casa Rocas Holdings LLC, FS Mexicana Holdings LLC, FSI Receivables Company LLC, FSII Sweden Holdings AB, FSII Sweden Holdings I AB, FSIR Holdings (UK) Limited, FSIR Holdings (US) Inc., FSUK Holdings Limited, FSWH Company LLC, FSWH II C.V., FSWH International Holdings LLC, Fermentas China Co. Ltd, Fermentas Inc., Fermentas International, Fermentas Sweden AB, Fermentas UK Limited, Fiberlite Centrifuge LLC, Finesse Scientific Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Finesse Solutions AG, Finesse Solutions Inc., Finnzymes Oy, Fisher Alder S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Asia Manufacturing Ventures Inc., Fisher Bermuda Holdings Limited, Fisher BioImage ApS, Fisher BioPharma Services (India) Private Limited, Fisher BioSciences Japan G.K., Fisher BioServices Inc., Fisher Bioblock Holding II SNC, Fisher CLP Holding Limited Partnership, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 1, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 2, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 3, Fisher Canada Limited Partnership, Fisher Chimica BVBA, Fisher Clinical Logistics LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services (Bristol) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Colombia) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Korea) Co. Ltd, Fisher Clinical Services (Mexico) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Peru) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services Colombia S.A.S., Fisher Clinical Services GmbH, Fisher Clinical Services Inc., Fisher Clinical Services Japan K.K., Fisher Clinical Services Latin America S.R.L., Fisher Clinical Services Limited Liability Company, Fisher Clinical Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Clinical Services Peru S.R.L, Fisher Clinical Services Pte Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services U.K. Limited, Fisher Emergo B.V., Fisher Germany Holdings GmbH, Fisher Hamilton China Inc., Fisher Hamilton Mexico LLC, Fisher Holdings ApS, Fisher Internet Minority Holdings L.L.C., Fisher Laboratory Products Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Fisher Luxembourg Danish Holdings SARL, Fisher Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Maybridge Holdings Limited, Fisher Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific (Austria) GmbH, Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Fisher Scientific (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific (SEA) Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific A/S, Fisher Scientific AG, Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Limited, Fisher Scientific Biotech Line ApS, Fisher Scientific Brazil Inc., Fisher Scientific Central America Inc., Fisher Scientific Chile Inc., Fisher Scientific Colombia Inc., Fisher Scientific Company, Fisher Scientific Company L.L.C., Fisher Scientific Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Fisher Scientific Europe Holdings B.V., Fisher Scientific GTF AB, Fisher Scientific Germany Beteiligungs GmbH, Fisher Scientific GmbH, Fisher Scientific Holding Company LLC, Fisher Scientific Holding HK Limited, Fisher Scientific Holding U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific Holdings (S) Pte Ltd, Fisher Scientific International LLC, Fisher Scientific Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Fisher Scientific Ireland Investments Unlimited, Fisher Scientific Ireland Limited, Fisher Scientific Japan Ltd., Fisher Scientific Jersey Island Limited, Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd, Fisher Scientific Latin America Inc., Fisher Scientific Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Fisher Scientific Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific Mexico Inc., Fisher Scientific Middle East and Africa Inc., Fisher Scientific Norway AS, Fisher Scientific Operating Company, Fisher Scientific Oxoid Holdings Ltd., Fisher Scientific Oy, Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific S.A.S., Fisher Scientific S.L., Fisher Scientific SPRL, Fisher Scientific The Hague I B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague II B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague III B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague IV B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague V B.V., Fisher Scientific U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company 2, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company Limited, Fisher Scientific Unipessoal Lda., Fisher Scientific Venezuela Inc., Fisher Scientific Worldwide (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Holdings I C.V., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Inc., Fisher Scientific de Mexico S.A., Fisher Scientific of the Netherlands B.V., Fisher Scientific spol. S.r.o, Fisher Servicios Clinicos (Chile) LLC, Fisher Servicios Clinicos Chile Ltda, Fisher WWD Holding L.L.C., Fisher Worldwide Distribution SPV, Fisher Worldwide Gene Distribution SPV, Flux Instruments, Fuji Partnership, G & M Procter Limited, G V Instruments Limited, GV Instruments Canada Ltd., GV Instruments Inc, Gatan Inc, General Scientific Company Sdn Bhd (M), Genomed molekularbiologische und diagnostische Produkte GmbH, Gerhard Menzel B.V. & Co. KG, Gold Cattle Standard Testing Labs Inc., Golden West Indemnity Company Limited, Goring Kerr Detection Limited, Greenville Service Company Inc., HENO GmbH i.L., Hangar 215 Inc., Helmet Securities Limited, Henogen, HighChem, HyClone International Trade (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Hybaid Limited, I.Q. (BIO) Limited, IDnostics AG, ILS Laboratories Scandinavia AB, Inel Inc., Inel SAS, InnaPhase Inc., InnaPhase Limited, IntegenX, Intrinsic BioProbes Inc., Intrinsic Bioprobes Inc., Invitrogen (Shanghai) Investment Co. Ltd., Invitrogen Argentina SA, Invitrogen BioServices India Private Limited, Invitrogen Europe Limited, Invitrogen Finance Corp., Invitrogen Holdings LLC, Invitrogen Holdings Ltd., Invitrogen Hong Kong Limited, Invitrogen IP Holdings Inc., Invitrogen Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ion Torrent Systems Inc., Ionalytics Corporation, JSC Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jouan LLC, Jouan Limited, Jouan SA, Kendro Containment & Services Limited, Kendro Laboratory Products Ltd, Kettlebrook Insurance Co. ltd., Keystone Scientific, KonTEM GmbH, Kyle Jordan Investments LLC, LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, LTC Tech South Africa PTY Ltd., La-Pha-Pack GmbH, Lab Vision (UK) Limited, Lab Vision Corporation, Lab-Chrom-Pack LLC, Lab-Line Instruments Inc., Labomex MBP S. de R. L. De C.V., Laboratoire Service International - L.S.I, Laboratory Management Systems Inc., Laboratory Specialties Proprietary Ltd., LambTrack Limited, Laser Analytical Systems Inc., Liberty Lane Investment LLC, Liberty Lane Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Life Sciences International (Poland) SP z O.O, Life Sciences International Holdings BV, Life Sciences International LLC, Life Sciences International Limited, Life Technologies AS, Life Technologies Australia PTY Ltd., Life Technologies BPD AB, Life Technologies BPD UK Limited, Life Technologies Brasil Comercio e Industria de Produtos para Biotecnologia Ltda, Life Technologies Chile SpA, Life Technologies Clinical Services Lab Inc., Life Technologies Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostic (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Europe B.V., Life Technologies Finance Ltd., Life Technologies Finland Oy, Life Technologies GmbH, Life Technologies Holdings PTE Ltd., Life Technologies Inc., Life Technologies International B.V., Life Technologies Japan Ltd., Life Technologies Korea LLC, Life Technologies Limited, Life Technologies Magyarorszag Kft, Life Technologies New Zealand Ltd., Life Technologies Norway Investments US LLC, Life Technologies Polska Sp z.o.o., Life Technologies SA, Life Technologies SAS, Life Technologies s.r.o, Linkage Biosciences Inc., Linkage Biosciences S.a.r.l., Loftus Furnace Company, Lomb Scientific, Lomb Scientific (Aust) Pty Limited, MTI-GlobalStem, Marketbase International Limited, Matrix MicroScience Inc., Matrix MicroScience Ltd., Matrix Technologies Corporation Limited, Matrix Technologies LLC, Maybridge Chemical Company Limited, Maybridge Chemical Holdings Limited, Maybridge Limited, Medical Analysis Systems Inc., Medical Analysis Systems International Inc., Medical Diagnostics Systems Inc., Metavac LLC, Microgenics Corporation, Microgenics Diagnostics Pty Limited, Microgenics GmbH, Microm International GmbH, Microm Laborgerate S.L.U, Molecular BioProducts Inc., Molecular Probes Inc., Molecular Transfer Inc., NAPCO Inc., NERL Diagnostics LLC, NOVODIRECT GmbH Labor- und Industrie- Megerate, Nalge (Europe) Limited, Nalge Nunc International (Monterrey) LLC, Nalge Nunc International Corporation, Nanjing WeiKangLe Trading Industrial Co Ltd, NanoDrop Technologies LLC, National Scientific Company, Navaho Acquisition Corp., Neomarkers Inc., New FS Holdings Inc., NewcoGen PE LLC, Nihon Dynal K.K., Niton Asia Limited, NovaWave Technologies Inc., Nunc A/S, ONIX Systems Inc., OXOID CZ s.r.o., Odyssey Holdings Corporation, Odyssey Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 1 S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 2 S.a r.l., Odyssey Venture Corporation, Omega Data Systems, One Lambda Inc, Onix Holdings Limited, Orme Scientific Limited, Owl Separation Systems LLC, Oxoid (ELY) Limited, Oxoid 2000 Limited, Oxoid AS, Oxoid Australia Pty. Limited, Oxoid Company, Oxoid Deutschland GmbH, Oxoid Holding SAS, Oxoid Holdings Limited, Oxoid Inc., Oxoid International Limited, Oxoid Investments GmbH, Oxoid Limited, Oxoid N.V., Oxoid New Zealand Limited, Oxoid Pension Trustees Limited, Oxoid Senior Holdings Limited, Oxoid UKH LLC, PAX - DSI Acquisition LLC, PE AG, Pacific Rim Far East Industries LLC, Pacific Rim Investment LLC, Panomics L.L.C., Panomics S.R.L., Patheon, Patheon API Inc., Patheon API Manufacturing Inc., Patheon API Services Inc., Patheon Austria GmbH & Co KG, Patheon B.V., Patheon Banner U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon Biologics (NJ) LLC, Patheon Biologics Australia Pty Ltd, Patheon Biologics B.V., Patheon Biologics LLC, Patheon Calculus Merger LLC, Patheon Cooperatief U.A., Patheon Development Services Inc., Patheon Finance LLC, Patheon France SAS, Patheon Holdings B.V., Patheon Holdings I B.V., Patheon Holdings II B.V., Patheon Holdings SAS, Patheon I B.V., Patheon I Holding GmbH, Patheon Inc., Patheon International AG, Patheon Italia S.p.A., Patheon KK, Patheon Life Science Products International GmbH, Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC, Patheon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Patheon Pharmaceuticals Services Inc., Patheon Puerto Rico Acquisitions Corporation, Patheon Puerto Rico Inc., Patheon Regensburg GmbH, Patheon Softgels B.V., Patheon Softgels Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings LLC, Patheon UK Limited, Patheon UK Pension Trustees Limited, Pelican Acquisition Corporation, Perbio Science (Canada) Company, Perbio Science AB, Perbio Science BVBA, Perbio Science France SAS, Perbio Science Inc., Perbio Science International Netherlands B.V., Perbio Science Invest AB, Perbio Science Nederland B.V., Perbio Science Projekt AB, Perbio Science Sweden Holdings AB, Perbio Science Switzerland SA, Perbio Science UK Limited, Phadia AB, Phadia Diagnosticos Ltda, Phadia GmbH, Phadia Holding AB, Phadia International Holdings C.V., Phadia Korea Co. Ltd, Phadia Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., Phadia Malta Holdings Limited, Phadia Oy, Phadia Real Property AB, Phadia Sweden AB, Phadia Taiwan Inc., Phadia US Inc., Phadia s.r.o., Pharmacaps Mexicana SA de CV, Phenom-World B.V., Phenom-World Holding B.V, Phenom-World Innovations B.V., Phinotex, Pierce Biotechnology Inc., Pierce Milwaukee Holding Corp., Pierce Milwaukee Inc., Polychromix, Power Sweden Holdings I AB, Power Sweden Holdings II AB, Power Sweden Holdings III Aktiebolag, Princeton Gamma-Tech Instruments LLC, Princeton Security Technologies, Prionics AG, Prionics Asia Ltd., Prionics Deutschland GmbH, Prionics France SAS, Prionics Italia S.r.l., Prionics Lelystad B.V., Prionics USA Inc., Priority Air Express LLC, Priority Air Express Pte. Ltd., Priority Air Express UK Limited, Priority Air Holdings Corp, Priority Solutions International, Promedica Pty Limited, Proxeon, Proxeon Biosystems ApS, Qiagen, REP GBP I-B Blocker Inc., Raymond A Lamb Limited, Remel Europe Limited, Remel Inc., Richard-Allan Scientific Company, Robbins Scientific LLC, Robocon Labor- und Industrieroboter Gesellschaft m.b.H, Rupprecht and Patashnick, Rupprecht and Patashnick (R&P), Russell pH Limited, S.C.I. du 10 rue Dugay Trouin, SCI Inno 92, STC Bio Manufacturing Inc., Samco Scientific (Monterrey) LLC, Samco Scientific LLC, Saroph Sweden AB, Schantz Road LLC, Seradyn Inc., Shanghai Life Technologies Biotechnology Co. Limited, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (C-I) Trading Co. Ltd, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (S) Trading Co. Ltd, Southern Trials (Pty) Ltd., Specialty (SMI) Inc., Spectra-Physics AB, Spectra-Physics Holdings Limited, Spectra-Physics Holdings USA LLC, Spectronex, Staten Island Cogeneration Corporation, Sterilin Limited, Stokes Bio Ltd., Sweden DIA (Sweden) AB, SwissAnalytic Group GmbH, Systems Manufacturing Corporation, TFLP LLC, TFS Breda B.V., TFS LLC, TFS Singapore HK Limited, TFSL Financing GP LLC, TFSL Senior GP Holdings 2 LLC, TK Partnership, TKA Wasseraufbereitungssysteme, TMOI Inc., TPI Real Estate Holdings LLC, TSP Holdings I LLC, TWX LLC, Technology Design Solutions Pty Ltd, Thermedics Detection de Argentina S.R.L, Thermo Allen Coding Limited, Thermo Asset Management Services Inc., Thermo BioAnalysis LLC, Thermo BioAnalysis Limited, Thermo BioSciences Holdings LLC, Thermo CIDTEC, Thermo CRS Holdings Ltd., Thermo CRS Ltd., Thermo Cambridge Limited, Thermo Cayman Holdings Ltd., Thermo Corporation, Thermo DMA Inc., Thermo Detection de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Dutch Holdings Limited Partnership, Thermo EGS Gauging LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings I LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings II LLC, Thermo Eberline LLC, Thermo Electron (Calgary) Limited, Thermo Electron (Chile) S.p.A., Thermo Electron (Karlsruhe) GmbH, Thermo Electron (Management Services) Limited, Thermo Electron (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Electron A/S, Thermo Electron Australia Pty Limited, Thermo Electron Export Inc., Thermo Electron Holdings SAS, Thermo Electron Industries, Thermo Electron LED GmbH, Thermo Electron LED S.A.S., Thermo Electron Limited, Thermo Electron Manufacturing Limited, Thermo Electron Metallurgical Services Inc., Thermo Electron North America LLC, Thermo Electron Pension Trust GmbH, Thermo Electron Puerto Rico Inc., Thermo Electron SAS, Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments LLC, Thermo Electron Sweden AB, Thermo Electron Sweden Forvaltning AB, Thermo Electron Weighing & Inspection Limited, Thermo Elemental Limited, Thermo Environmental Instruments LLC, Thermo Fast U.K. Limited, Thermo Finland Holdings LLC, Thermo Finland Holdings MT1 B.V., Thermo Finland Holdings MT2 B.V., Thermo Finnigan LLC, Thermo Finnigan Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Malta Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN-I) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (CN-II) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings I Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings II Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings 2) LLC, Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) II Limited, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Heysham) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Kandel) GmbH, Thermo Fisher CHK Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust II, Thermo Fisher Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Thermo Fisher Cyprus Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Detection Mexico LLC, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics (Ireland) Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AB, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AG, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Aps, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Austria GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics B.V., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics K.K., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics NV, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.L.U., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.p.A. , Thermo Fisher Diagnostics SAS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Thermo Fisher Eurobonds Ltd., Thermo Fisher Financial Services Inc., Thermo Fisher GP LLC, Thermo Fisher German Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Germany B.V., Thermo Fisher India Divestco Private Limited, Thermo Fisher India Holding B.V., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Thermo Fisher Israel Ltd., Thermo Fisher Production et Services SAS, Thermo Fisher Project Cyprus LLC, Thermo Fisher Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Asheville) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Australia) C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Barbados) Holdings Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Breda) Holding BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (CN) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China-HK) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (DE) Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Ecublens) SARL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance II) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Fuji) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Holding II) B.V. & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Johannesburg) (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mexico City) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Milwaukee) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mississauga) Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Monterrey) S. De R.L. De C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (NK) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) Austria Holding GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-I) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-II) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN1) UK Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) Dutch LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Praha) s.r.o., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) GmbH & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Schweiz) AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Instruments Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Suzhou) Instruments Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Thailand) Co. 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Ltd., ThermoLase LLC, ThermoSpectra Limited, Trek Diagnostic Systems LLC, Trek Diagnostic Systems Ltd., Trek Holding Company II Ltd., Trek Holding Company Ltd., Trex Medical Corporation, USB Corporation, Union Lab Supplies Limited, United Diagnostics Inc., VG Systems Limited, Westover Scientific Inc., ZAO PE Biosystems, eBioscience GmbH, eBioscience Ltd, eBioscience SAS, and picoSpin LLC. Read More Myrna Jean Kurth, 94, of Chippewa Falls died and peacefully went to be with her Lord Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, at Our House Memory Care, Chippewa Falls, while under the care of St. Josephs Hospice. She was born June 27, 1922, in Chippewa Falls to Ben and Ruby (Bunker) Meyer. She married William Franklin Kurth June 4, 1944, in Chippewa Falls. Myrna Jean graduated from Chippewa Falls High School in 1940, and was the Valedictorian of her class. She earned a bachelors degree in music education from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and specialized in piano and organ. Myrna Jean taught elementary music in New Lisbon for two years while Franklin served in the military. Upon his return, they settled back in Chippewa Falls. Myrna Jean was the organist and choir director at Zion United Methodist Church , Chippewa Falls, for 50 years. She also taught private piano and organ lessons. In addition to being a devoted wife to Franklin, Myrna Jean was a wonderful mother, unabashedly doting on her children and her grandchildren. She did everything she could for them, with time and with finances, graciously and always with encouragement. She was also passionate about music, and passed on that love of music to her children and countless students over the years. She also was very generous with her time as well as her money. When she wasnt teaching piano or directing the church choir she was often making music somewhere in the community, visiting care facilities, giving student recitals or accompanying countless junior and senior high school students at Solo & Ensemble Contests. The other huge part of her life was her Christian faith. She supported many different ministries, local and international, and often became personally involved with their varied endeavors. One of her biggest joys was to be able to attend religious workshops and conferences across the country, often calling upon Franklin to fire up the Cessna. She also was a faithful caretaker for her aging parents and for others in the community, even trying to help others in her assisted living home. Myrna Jean was just always busy! She was a lifelong member of her sorority Chi Omega, active in Marys Circle at Zion UMC, and a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and Red Hat Society. Myrna Jean is survived by her children, Leslie (Lowell) Koons of Pekin, Ill. and David (Sally) Kurth of Colorado Springs, Colo.; grandchildren, Jeremy (Meghan) Koons of Evanston, Ill., Tim (Katie) Koons of Martinsburg, W.V., Amanda (Adam) Berger of Denver, and Andrew (Courtney) Kurth of Colorado Springs; and great-grandchildren, Franklin Koons, Fiona Berger, Calli Kurth, and Cameron Kurth. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ben and Ruby Meyer; and husband, W. Franklin Kurth. A funeral service will be 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 29, at Zion United Methodist Church, 1102 Superior St., Chippewa Falls, with the Rev. Terri Koca officiating. Interment will be in Forest Hill Cemetery, Chippewa Falls. Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, at Pederson-Volker Funeral Chapel, Chippewa Falls, and 10 a.m. until the time of service Thursday at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Zion United Methodist Church. The family would like to thank the caretakers at Our House and especially Annette Shafer for their love, care, and concern for our loved one. Pederson-Volker Funeral Chapel & Cremation Services, Chippewa Falls, is serving the family. Visit pedersonvolker.com to express online condolences. The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation has awarded more than $1.2 million in grants for nonprofit agencies working to shape futures, strengthen systems and enrich the community. The foundation awarded a five-year, $500,000 grant to support prenatal care and maternity among African-Americans with financial support to the Sisters Keeper Doula Collective. CACF awarded a three-year, $283,000 award to be divided between three organizations: the Charlottesville Redevelopment & Housing Authority, Public Housing Association of Residents and the city of Charlottesville. The foundation also awarded more than $435,000 to 62 other nonprofits. A complete list is available at cacfonline.org. WASHINGTON Federal ethics experts for former Democratic and Republican administrations warned Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump is creating a major conflict of interest by allowing his Albemarle County vineyard to seek special temporary visas for foreign workers. Trump, who is president of the vineyard that applied earlier this month for H2 visas for six foreign workers, will soon run the U.S. government, which will determine whether to grant those visas. This is a powerful example of why Donald Trump needs to make a definitive break, not just with his operational interests but his ownership interests, by appointing an independent trustee to liquidate all that, said Norm Eisen, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution who was chief White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011. He called the situation a classic conflict of interest. If Trump wont divest himself of his businesses, he should make sure that none of his offices appointees have anything to say about these decisions, said Richard Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who was chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007 in the George W. Bush administration. Its critically important that these [types of requests] be handled by career employees in federal agencies who have civil service protections, Painter said. Anyone appointed by him should be required to recuse themselves. Its not required by law, but he should do it anyway. Trump Vineyard Estates LLC filed a request Dec. 2 with the Labor Department for six H2 visas, which permit U.S. employers to hire foreigners for seasonal jobs such as pruning grapevines, which is what the request said. The request was posted online by the Labor Department Wednesday. The workers are needed to prune the vines on the estate, the application said, and they would be paid $10.72 per hour for a 40-hour, six-day week. The jobs are anticipated to last from January to June. Trump, whose transition team and press office did not respond to requests for comment on the matter, consistently argued during the presidential campaign that the federal government should limit immigration in order to protect American jobs. The visas his business seeks do not allow workers to permanently reside in the U.S. About 8,800 temporary agricultural worker visas were requested nationwide in federal fiscal year 2016, Labor Department reports show, and about 8,300 were granted. Trump Winery has applied for 19 temporary visas for foreign workers in 2014, 2015 and earlier this year, as well, before the most recent request, according to federal records. In addition, he has sought to hire 513 foreign workers since 2013 for some of his other businesses, including for his Palm Beach home, Mar-a-Lago Club. Kerry Woolard, the Trump Winerys senior manager who signed the Labor request, did not respond to a request for comment. Although Trump, during a campaign event in May said of the winery, I own it 100 percent, no mortgage, no debt, the winerys website says it is a registered trade name of Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC and is not owned, managed or affiliated with Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their affiliates. Eric Trump, the son of the president-elect, is part of his fathers transition team and has been sitting in on meetings that his father has held with high-level technology leaders and others. The winery, however, is on land owned by Trump Vineyard Estates LLC. Trump reported in his campaigns federally required financial disclosure statement in May 2016 that he was president of that entity. RICHMOND The state has removed the director of Virginias only behavioral health hospital for children and adolescents. Dr. Jeffrey Aaron no longer is in charge of the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents in Staunton, said Meghan McGuire, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Aaron had worked at the center since 1999 and took over as director in May 2013. He will begin working for the central office of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services next month as a forensic programs consultant, McGuire said in an email. We value Dr. Aarons expertise, system knowledge and experience working with both juveniles and adults, and he has specialized in the areas of stress, trauma, forensic decision making, mitigation, and forensic evaluations, McGuire said. She would not comment on the sudden change in leadership, which was announced internally on Monday, citing her inability to discuss personnel matters. In his new role, Aaron will help with evaluations and consult with the Department of Juvenile Justice and juvenile detention centers to help address the behavioral health needs of juveniles in detention, among other duties, McGuire said. His new salary was not available, but he earned $114,331 in 2015, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch database of state employee salaries. The 48-bed hospital is the last remaining state institution for youth with behavioral health problems, but the facility has come under close scrutiny by state officials because of rising admissions and falling numbers of staff. A team of behavioral health specialists has been working closely with Commonwealth Center for six months to better align its practices with demand that peaks each year in late winter and early spring. At Commonwealth Center they would get overwhelmed in the winter, Interim Commissioner Jack Barber told the Times-Dispatch last week. Our goal this winter is that they not be overwhelmed. Part of the challenge is staffing because of high turnover among direct-care aides and nurses, who have become increasingly difficult to recruit and retain at all state facilities. The vacancy rate among aides at the facility was as high as 17.1 percent in March, according to data provided by the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. About 43 percent of registered nurse positions were vacant for most of the year, but the rate peaked in August at 52.4 percent. Were fighting that battle across the state, and were fighting it there, Barber said. We need to get more registered nurses into Commonwealth Center, he said. Theyre managing, but the numbers need to get better. The need for more qualified nurses is particularly critical at Commonwealth Center because they play a central role in the new business practices the state is trying to establish there. Licensed clinical nurses are responsible for all aspects of care on the units, said Deputy Commissioner Daniel Herr, who is directing the state team working with the center. The center also is down one psychiatrist with another, its clinical director, planning to leave for another job this winter. The state is interviewing two candidates now, but if it doesnt hire at least one of them by the clinical directors departure, that will be really difficult for us, Herr said. The new practices reflect the evolution of the center, formerly known as DeJarnette, from a facility that Barber said had operated almost like a residential treatment center. It has slowly evolved where its really an acute care facility right now, said Barber, a psychiatrist who served as director of neighboring Western State Hospital for many years. After the state closed units for children and adolescents at Central State Hospital near Petersburg and Southwest Virginia Mental Health Institute in Marion, the center in Staunton became the last resort for youth in need of institutional care. Herr said the state is trying to improve facility practices for assessing kids, treating them and preparing them for discharge. They were not as clear about that, Herr said. They worked at a more relaxed pace. The center also faces a special set of challenges because it houses youth who have been either convicted of or charged with crimes. It also admits an increasingly high number of children with autism or autism spectrum, now accounting for up to 30 percent of admissions, compared with 25 percent just three years ago. You need to get your business processes aligned with your mission, Barber said, and its got to move discharges along quicker. Vickie Coyner, assistant director of administration at CCCA, will serve as interim acting director for CCCA until Jan. 16, when Western State Hospitals director, Dr. Mary Clare Smith, will begin serving as acting director for CCCA. Smith will continue in this role until the CCCA director position is filled permanently. David Mawyer, assistant director of administration at Western State, will serve as the acting director of the facility until Smith returns. WILLIAMSBURG New research proves once again that feelings of gratitude improve a persons sense of well-being. The College of William & Mary said one of its psychology professors has published two papers showing the connection on a day-to-day level. Professor John Nezleks research found that adults in Poland experienced reduced stress if they recorded what theyre grateful for each day. A second-study using William & Mary students showed similar results on a day-to-day level. But daily gratitude didnt necessarily translate to well-being on a deeper level. That type of well-being involves understanding ones life and purpose in the world. Nevertheless, Nezlek said the positive effect of daily gratitude is reason enough to remember your blessings. home Tech iOS 10 jailbreak release date news, update: Will Pangu and Luca Todesco release iOS 10 jailbreaks soon? Apple users are already anticipating the release of the iOS 10 jailbreak, and Pangu and Luca Todesco might introduce it to the public soon. Meanwhile, a lower iOS version might be needed in order to use the jailbreak. The Chinese hacking group Pangu has been consistent in providing the public new jailbreaks whenever there are new iOS versions introduced by Apple for their devices. But their most recent releases are only repos a CoolStar Repo, Karen's Pineapple Repo, and F lux Repo a that, unfortunately, are only compatible with the iOS 9 and iOS 9.3.3. The CoolStar Repo allows the Apple user to tweak command lines, while Karen's Pineapple Repo enables the user to customize and have more flexibility with their apps. The F lux Repo can only be installed on a jailbroken iOS device, and its most promising feature is the ability to adjust the brightness and colors of the display according to the time of day. With regards to an iOS 10 jailbreak, University Herald reports that Pangu already has the software ready and that they are only waiting for an unfaltering update of the iOS 10.2. But because Pangu has been taking a long time to release the iOS jailbreak, doubts have been created if the hacker group really has the jailbreak ready. Another source for iOS jailbreaks is hacker Luca Todesco. There are reports saying that Todesco will soon release an iOS jailbreak of his own making. According to Valuewalk, Todesco shared on his Twitter account that Apple users who want to take advantage of his own version of the iOS jailbreak should stay on the iOS 10.1.1. This is because the iOS 10 jailbreak that Todesco has currently developed will not work on the iOS 10.2. It is advised that Apple users will have to make the downgrade as soon as they can because Apple is already facing out the iOS 10.1.1 versions. Is the federal Department of Education reneging on its promise to forgive certain student loans? The American Bar Association says so and its suing. At issue is a program initiated in 2007 under the Bush administration that would forgive loans for students who went into certain types of social service work. The goal was to encourage graduates to become teachers, social workers, public defenders or doctors in underserved rural areas a variety of helping professions in the public sector or through approved private charities. For lawyers and doctors, especially, the program was attractive. Students who go on to law school or medical school can incur heavy debts. Forgiving their federal student loans is a way to allow them to enter public service a career path that would be prohibitively expensive if they had to pay off large loans at the low rates of pay typical of such jobs. And although the program is referred to as debt forgiveness, in essence it is a kind of trade: In return for sacrificing high-income careers in favor of serving the public, graduates are relieved of the burden of federal loans. Of course, this is also the program that has come under intense criticism recently for costliness. Much of the problem has to do with the soaring cost of education, so the federal government is being asked to forgive far more in loans than was initially anticipated a burden on the public coffers. The Obama administration has tried to rein in the loan program to save federal money, and so the Department of Education has been recalibrating its eligibility requirements, including the types of jobs it says qualify as public service. Now, it would be one thing if the DOE simply said that, in the future, no more law graduates serving in this particular job or working for that particular agency would be approved for loan forgiveness although the ABA likely would dispute even that. But thats not what the DOE has done, according to the lawsuit. Instead, it has cut current participants out of the program by reclassifying their jobs. That means that young attorneys who opted for lower-paying public service posts right out of law school, on the understanding that they would not have to pay back federal loans, now suddenly find themselves on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts. Had they known this was coming, they might have chosen better-paying jobs and therefore be in a better position to comply with repayment. Its the retroactive nature of the cuts, as alleged by the ABA, that is especially reprehensible. Make the changes effective going forward, but dont penalize graduates who went into the program in good faith, based on the promise that their federal loans would be forgiven. Were seldom surprised when government goes back on its word but nonetheless incensed. The members of Team Jordan would like to thank everyone who contributed to our recent fundraiser on Dec. 1. Team Jordan, in collaboration with Rappahannock Rapidan Community Services, is a suicide prevention coalition committed to providing resources to those in need of immediate help and to assist survivors with individual or group support. Because of the generosity of many local businesses and individuals, this latest fundraising effort generated in excess of $18,000 to our outreach efforts to educate our community about reducing the risk of suicide. Your donations of time, monetary gifts, purchase of raffle tickets and other contributions mean Team Jordan and RRCSB can teach more people how to better recognize someone at risk, to learn where to get help and to offer the vital support surviving loved ones and friends need. Team Jordan also supports local youth groups working to strengthen children who are vulnerable to pressure, building their confidence and self-worth. We thank you and commend you for caring. There is nothing greater that one can do than to contribute to a communitys well-being, and your very generous help will certainly be felt by those who need it, when they need it most. With sincere gratitude and appreciation, Many cigars lay claim to being a full strength, full-bodied cigar and in some cases, Ive found the cigar to fall short in meeting those thresholds advertised. With the Saga Short Tales Tales of High Priming, there is no question this is a full strength, full-bodied cigarwhile Tales of High Priming delivers plenty of firepower, it does not sacrifice its flavors. Wrapper: Nicaraguan Binder: Indonesian Filler: U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf, Dominican (including Negrito) Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (De Los Reyes SA) Short Gordo: 4 x 58 Price: $8.49 Review: Saga Short Tales-Tales of High Priming Brand Appearances on Countdown: 1 (2016) Coming in at #17 is the Saga Short Tales-Tales of High Priming by De Los Reyes Cigars. Saga Short Tales is a new series from De Los Reyes Cigars. This is a series of shorter smokes with each installment having a different theme to it. The first installment, Tales of High Priming made its debut this year. As the name indicates, the theme of this cigar is the use of high priming tobacco resulting in one of the most powerful smokes ever to come out of the Dominican Republic. De Los Reyes Cigars is owned by the Reyes family in the Dominican Republic. Many know of the Reyes family through sixth generation cigar maker Augusto Reyes Sr,. The Reyes family has been involved in the tobacco growing and leaf brokerage business for over 160 years. Day to day operations of the company are run Reyes daughter Nirka. Saga Short Tales Tales of High Priming is the first cigar from the Saga brand to make the Cigar Coop Cigar of the Year Countdown. This cigar is made at the De Los Reyes factory in the Dominican Republic- which is no stranger to the Countdown as this is the third consecutive year this factory has landed a cigar on the Countdown (Debonaire and Indian Motorcycle Cigars which come out of that factory). The packaging for Tales of High Priming is designed in the form of a classic novel complete with a story of the cigar included. Given it is the first blend in the series, Tales of High Priming is dubbed Tomo I meaning Volume 1. The blend of the Saga Short Tales of High Primings incorporates high priming Corona tobaccos including U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf and Reyes-family grown Dominican tobaccos (including Dominican Negrito). In addition to the cigar utilizes an Indonesian binder to facilitate combustion of the high priming tobaccos in the filler. The cigar is finished with a Nicaraguan wrapper. The blend comes in one size a 4 x 58 Short Gordo. As mentioned, Tales of High Priming is a full strength, full-bodied cigar that easily is one of the most powerful cigars ever to come out of the Dominican Republic. While the strength level will definitely be felt on this cigar, its not at the expense of the flavor. The cigar delivers notes of cedar, generic wood, natural tobacco, black pepper, and a subtle black cherry note. Many times higher priming tobaccos have burn and combustion issues no such problems with the Tales of High Priming as it consistently scores consistently well in this area. Overall this short, powerhouse cigar delivered an excellent smoking experience. If you are looking for a box worthy cigar with plenty of firepower and flavor, you cant go wrong with Tales of High Prming. For details of the 2016 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2016 criteria. Photo Credits: Cigar Coop "...king of the hate left..."-- "As my friend Capper -- the best Wisconsin blogger ever -- says, there will be more. There's always more." - karoli "...the psychiatrically attuned Capper..."-- "This is really great of you! I'm so proud to know someone like you"-- "Capper, a reasonable (and maybe even likeable) Lefty..."-- "capper, the Sidney Freedman of the hate left..."-- "I love capper because, well, what's not to love. But I also hate capper for alerting me to nonsense like this."--- "Capper, you really have a knack for this kind of writing. Really."-- "Crap. I agree with capper. Can Armageddon be far behind?"-- "capper is right. OMG, did I actually say that?"-- The sales from retail operations grew by 127 per cent from 590,000 tons in financial year 2014/15 to 1.34 million tons in 2015-16. New Delhi: Essar Oil, India's largest private fuel retailer, plans to double the number of petrol pumps it has in the country to 5,600 in 12-18 months, the firm's Chairman Prashant Ruia said. The company, which operates a 20 million tons a year oil refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat, will invest Rs 1,200 crore in upgrade of certain units of the refinery to help boost margins by USD 1.5 per barrel. Essar Oil "has the largest private sector retail fuel network in India with over 2,800 operational outlets across the length and breadth of the country and over 2,800 at various stages of implementation to capitalise on the rising demand of transportation fuel", Ruia said in its latest annual report. The sales from retail operations grew by 127 per cent from 590,000 tons in financial year 2014/15 to 1.34 million tons in 2015-16. "This growth was mainly on account of expansion of company's retail network as well as the opportunity presented to the private players in the retail segment by deregulation of diesel prices, thereby linking the price of diesel to the global market," the annual report said. Ruia said Essar Oil has set new benchmark in the private sector retail sale network in just about two years. "You may recall that Essar Oil was the first private sector company in India to open a retail fuel outlet back in 2003. Since then, the company kept its network operation despite the turbulent times right up till 2014, close to the complete de-regulation," Ruia said. In October this year, the promoters signed pact to sell 98 per cent stake in Essar Oil to Russia's Rosneft and its partners for about USD 13 billion. "In line with Essar's philosophy to incubate, nurture, and scale up ideas to landmark valuations, the promoters decided to sell 98 per cent of your company stake to world's leading oil and gas companies," he said, adding that the deal will close within the current fiscal. Essar Oil CEO L K Gupta said the company is targeting to earn around USD 1.50 (per barrel of crude) incremental Gross Refinery Margin (GRM) as an outcome of its Rs 1,600 crore of investment in low cost and high margin projects. "The company has already invested Rs 400 crore during the shutdown of the refinery in September-October last year. Furthermore, Rs 1,200 crore shall be invested to make additional upgrades in the various refinery units over the next 2-3 years," he said. The company currently has 2,823 operational petrol pump and will add another 2,800 pumps in 12 to 18 months, he said adding Essar added 583 pumps or one-and-a-half pump every day, during 2015-16. "Our retail sales volume grew by almost 145 per cent to 1.6 million kilolitre during the year," he said. Mumbai: With the National Company Law Tribunal refusing any interim relief to ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus P Mistry, the company today said it believes the petition is not maintainable in law. In a statement, Tata Sons said the quasi-judicial body NCLT did not grant any interim reliefs. Removed abruptly on October 24 as chairman of the holding firm of over USD 100 billion salt-to-software group, Mistry had on Tuesday moved NCLT seeking superseding of the Tata Sons board and appointment of an administrator to manage it. Mistry's family holds over 18 per cent in Tata Sons while Tata Trusts headed by Ratan Tata, the newly appointed interim Chairman, has a 66 per cent stake. "The parties have been directed to file replies and rejoinders in a fixed time table in January, 2017. The Court also ordered the petitioner (Mistry family's investment firms) not to seek for any further interim reliefs in the subject matter," said the company statement. Tata Sons, it said, "believes that the petition is not maintainable in law and the court will hear Tata Sons on this issue at the outset at the next hearing". It said it would not state any further since the matter is sub-judice. The decision sucked 86 per cent of cash out of circulation, forcing millions of people to cut outlays and clog banks in search of money. New Delhi: The negative shock from India's ban on high-value banknotes will last until the end of March but improved growth next year should fully compensate for the loss, a top economic adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Reuters. Bibek Debroy, a member of the government's main policy think tank, said on Wednesday the "demonetisation" drive would improve the fiscal position and urged the government to spend any extra revenue on public investment. By outlawing all 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in the surprise Nov. 8 announcement, the government hoped people would deposit illicit or untaxed income into banks, boosting tax collection and incentivising the millions operating in the "shadow" economy to enter the formal economy. The decision sucked 86 per cent of cash out of circulation, forcing millions of people to cut outlays and clog banks in search of money, and leaving businesses struggling to pay wages. "There is certainly going to be a negative shock in Q3 and Q4 of 16/17, which should be compensated by a positive impact in 17/18," Debroy said in an interview, referring to the Indian fiscal year that runs until March. "A whole lot that was informal will become formal and a bit more organised," he added. "That is a positive externality in the slightly longer term." PAIN, THEN GAIN Most economists predict a short-term hit to economic growth from demonetisation, while the Reserve Bank of India has trimmed its growth forecast for the current fiscal year by half a percentage point to 7.1 per cent. Debroy, however, said it was impossible to quantify the impact, because the government does not yet know how much cash will come back into the system and what it would do with any extra tax revenue. Some economists have called for emergency fiscal stimulus to stave off a sharp slowdown, but Debroy said the government should instead focus on public investment. "I don't like the word fiscal stimulus even before Nov. 8 there was an issue about increasing investments, both private and public," he said. "What we are talking about is greater public investments in the form of creating assets. That requirement existed before November 8." Debroy said the political fallout from demonetisation meant the government was now unlikely to meet an April 1 deadline to finalise its crucial nationwide Goods and Services Tax - the largest taxation overhaul in independent India. He said Sept. 1 was a more reasonable target. Modi needs to clinch a deal with India's 29 states on the tax, but the last parliamentary session was a washout as the opposition and government squabbled over the impact of his cash crackdown. Debroy expects the next session, set to begin before the government presents its federal budget in early February, to be more productive, narrowing the risk that GST is further delayed. "We are all suffering from a bit of myopia because the last parliamentary session was a bit of a mess. It might well be that the budget session would be a bit more productive," he said. New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel will not appear on Thursday before parliament's finance committee to brief it on the government's decision to scrap high-value bank notes, the panel's chairman said on Wednesday. The panel will meet other experts to understand the impact of demonetisation before calling the RBI governor, Veerappa Moily told Reuters. He said Patel could be called to testify at its next meeting. Moily, a senior leader of the opposition Congress party, has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision six weeks ago to abolish 500 and 1000 rupee notes, voicing doubts it would succeed in reducing corruption or flush out untaxed "black cash". Patel is under fire from politicians and the general public over shortages of replacement currency and restrictions on depositing old notes that have caused long queues at banks and ATMs across India. Mumbai: The trailer of Shah Rukh Khans Raees released recently and went on to break numerous records in terms of the number of hits it garnered on social media. The first song 'Laila O Laila featuring Sunny Leone has added to the buzz related to the film. However, there seems to be some trouble for the makers of the film. Numerous reports of Shah Rukhs character in the film being based on late Gujarat-based liquor mafia 'don' Abdul Latif had been doing the rounds, but the makers had clarified that they werent true. But Latifs son Mustaq Shaikh believed that the portrayal was lopsided and had lodged a defamation suit worth Rs. 100 crores in April against the makers in the Gujarat High Court demanding a stay on the film. The court had directed Shaikh to watch the film before coming to a conclusion and he is now set to take legal action against the film after the release of the film. "I have watched the film's trailer, and what they (makers) say doesn't matter. It is clearly based on my father's life. I will wait till the matter is taken up in court again after the film's release," Shaikh told mid-day. Shaikhs legal team says that the makers had approached him regarding the details of his late father but are now not pleased with the depiction as they feel that have made Latif look like a goon and hence it is highly defamatory. Mushtaq's lawyer Harsh Gajjarsaid, "(Latif's) family was approached by the makers in 2014 to reveal details of his look and work. My client's family parted with the information with the faith that it wouldn't be commercialised. But the depiction looks lopsided. He [Latif] has been made to look like a gunda. None of the positive work he did, including winning the elections and helping people, has been highlighted." The facts have been manipulated to defame Latif. We are waiting to check if the family is credited [for sharing the information]. My client must be compensated for the damage caused to his family's reputation." Mushtaq's personal legal counsel, Ilyas Pathan, said, "Another major bone of contention is the depiction of Latif's wife. No hijab-wearing lady of Daryapuri has ever been caught for being involved in the liquor business. The local Muslim community has taken offense to the inappropriate depiction and intends to file a petition. Haraam ki cheezein dikha rahe ho jo ki sach nahin hai." Raees also stars Mahira Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui among others. Firoze Nadiadwalas Hera Pheri 3, the sequel to the 2006 hit comedy Phir Hera Pheri has been in the news for its many hiccups. Now we hear is that another venture by the same production house, Awara Pagal Deewana 2 has been scrapped too. A close source reveals, Nadiadwala was in talks with choreographer-turned-director Ahmed Khan to direct the sequel but now he has no funds to make the film and has dropped the idea. This follows the debacle of Hera Pheri 2. First it was Suniel Shetty who walked out of the film owing to the delay in its shoot schedule. Then it was Abhishek Bachchan who distanced himself from the project citing similar issues. We were the first one to inform you that work on the film has been stalled since the first half of 2015. In fact actors had completed shooting the first schedule of the film in early of 2015 in Dubai, but there has been no progress since. Ever since Kriti Sanon and Sushant Singh Rajput had started shooting for Dinesh Vijan's Raabta, there were rumours that the couple were in a relationship. It was also reported that their relationship was one of the reasons for Sushant's break-up with Ankita Lokhande. Both the actors had denied the rumours and once the shooting was completed, the rumours calmed down for some time. However, they resurfaced again when Sushant and Kriti sat together during an awards show. Later, it was also reported that the couple got cozy and were dirty dancing at Manish Malhotras 50th birthday bash. When asked about these fresh reports, Kriti told Mumbai Mirror, Apparently somebody has even posted a video, please check that out. It has me whispering something in his ears and that's about it. If that's called dirty dancing then your definition of the term is completely wrong. She denies reports of dating Sushant again, saying, Rumors are a part of this industry and being an outsider, you realise that much later. She, however, goes on to praise Sushant, Over time, I have realised that it's important to have a really good actor in front of you because then your scenes become much better. There are really good actors and then there are very few who do their homework well. Sushant's process is very different from mine and that makes it interesting. He's not from a filmi background either so there's that common ground between us too. Raabta was earlier set to be released on Valentines Day but has been postponed to June. About the reason for the delay, she said, We wanted a solo release. Also, certain portions required VFX work, which will take time, and since it's Dino's (Dinesh Vijan) directorial debut, he wants to give it his best. Kriti will also be seen in Bareily Ki Barfi next. SCHUYLER A district court judge declared a mistrial midway through the second day in the trial of a former Schuyler man accused of sexual assault and possessing nude photos of a then-13-year-old girl during an ongoing relationship in the summer of 2015. Colfax County District Court Judge Mary Gilbride ended the jury trial Dec. 15 after ruling that information brought up by Antonio Leon Simaj's counsel about the victim required that a mistrial be declared. The judge told the attorneys their pool of potential jurors was done with their one-year term. A status hearing has been set for Jan. 25 in the case. A new trial date would have to be scheduled by the district after the jury pool is refreshed, probably in February. If the trial is retried, Colfax County Attorney Denise Kracl said this week, it would have to start from scratch. The trial of Simaj, who later moved to Fremont, was within 16 days of reaching the 180-day limit for a speedy trial when proceedings got underway Dec. 14. The current jury pool will be released in the next few weeks. Now, the clock starts over on the 180 days, Kracl said. Simaj is charged with first-degree sexual assault, a Class II felony punishable by up to 50 years imprisonment. The defendant also faces two counts of possession of child pornography, Class IIA felonies that each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Court records describe a Colfax County Sheriffs Office investigation that got underway in November 2015 when the now 14-year-old victim reported a sexual assault during an interview at the Northeast Nebraska Child Advocacy Center in Norfolk. Sheriffs Investigator Ryan Andel wrote in his arrest statement the victim reported having sex with Simaj 10 to 20 times in the back seat of the defendants vehicle along Colfax County roads from August to October in 2015. The investigator wrote that Simaj admitted to one sexual encounter with the victim during a subsequent interview. Andel wrote that two nude images of the victim were stored on the defendants cellphone. Mumbai: While the Pataudi and Kapoor households are on cloud 9 upon the arrival of the latest member, Bebo and Saifs nawab Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi, social media critics have not taken a liking to Saifeenas choice of name and have accused them of many things, encouraging tyranny and brutality being some of them. The ever-judgmental Twitterati has even accused the star couple of being a jihadi. An angry fan wrote, Education, Name, Fame, Secularism, Democracy, Money doesn't change the mindset of a Jihadi. #TaimurAliKhanPataudi. It may not be humanly possible for Saif and Kareena to defend their choice since both of them are not on social media, not that they ought to, but that does not mean the families will sit in a corner and suffer the virtual torture in silence. Yesteryear actor, Rishi Kapoor, who is also Kareenas uncle, did not let the Twitterati get away with their insensitive comments and uncalled for criticism towards the baby. An irate Kapoor Sr tweeted, Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child, please? Mind your business, it's got nothing to do with you. Parents wish!" But, the Kapoor & Sons star being the forthright person that he is, did not stop at this subtle remark. He replied to anyone and everyone who has denounced the name saying that it is the parents wish and that nobody has the right to comment on it. In a series of tweets, kapoor vented out at the naysayers, often dropping the f bomb to silence them. For the uninitiated, Taimur is the name of a 14th century tyrant who was notorious for resorting to evil means like genocide and was also highly oppressive by nature. Ironically, the word Taimur means iron and has nothing to do with brutality of any form. Kareena gave birth to her son on December 20. Mumbai: Actor-comedian Jim Carrey has responded to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by his girlfriend Cathriona White's mother saying the STD allegations are irrelevant. The 54-year-old actor was accused of giving Cathriona prescription drugs and multiple sexually transmitted diseases leading up to her death in September 2015. In court documents Carrey points out that in two of Whites suicide notes, she wrote lovingly of him, describing him as family and makes no mention of Brigid Sweetman, her mother. "From the two suicide notes, it is indisputable that White looked to Carrey as the person she loved and trusted most, state the documents. He accuses Sweetman of suing him in an attempt to profit from her daughter's suicide. He calls the lawsuit a 'shakedown.' Carrey also disputed the claims that he went back on his agreement to pay for White's funeral costs. Sweetman's lawyer responded to the filing in a statement: "Jim Carrey has admitted he gave Ms White multiple sexually transmitted diseases and purposely lied to her." In a recent live chat with her fans on Twitter, the actress made an interesting revelation much to the excitement of fans. Talking about beau Naga Chaitanya, she revealed that when they went to watch her Tamil film Theri, the actor was in tears. He was watching the film sitting next to me and in the scene where I die, he was in tears! she revealed. Interestingly, Samantha has said on several occasions that the role Mithra is one of the most favourite roles in her career. The suspect had issued as many as 30 motor insurance policies for his clients as genuine and had used the said proceeds for his personal gain. Chennai: Oriental Insurance Companys official was booked by Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of wrongful gain of over Rs 19 lakh by way of selling forged policies to clients in Villupuram district, on Monday. The accused identified as A. Gnanaraj was working as administrative officer (marketing) at the branch office in Kallakurichi. The suspect had issued as many as 30 motor insurance policies for his clients as genuine and had used the said proceeds for his personal gain. Seven of such phony policies were issued to a private educational institution represented by its principal. A complaint was preferred by regional manager R. Balakumar with the ACB on December 14 and is based on the interim report filed by the firms vigilance probe. It was given to understand by our vigilance officer that Gnanaraj has issued fake policies by using PDF editor and Word document formats, read the complaint. The complaint also stated that the job profile of the suspect is to procure premiums in a manner so as to achieve balance portfolio with special emphasis on profitability. He will have to recruit a minimum of 10 new direct agents every year and has to mentor and nurture them besides achieving the target stipulated. Also procure the minimum amount of premium from rural areas and cover a minimum number of lives in (various) social sections. Apart from this, his responsibilities are to supervise Class 2 employees/ direct agents wherever needed and provide them guidance and monitor their performance. To provide service support for bancassurance (selling of life assurance and other insurance products and services by banking institutions). and other tied business as also timely submission of marketing returns, the complaint stated. There could be more such fake insurance policies to have been issued by the suspect is yet another apprehension made in the complaint. Chennai: The CBI on Wednesday arrested PWD contractor and former board member of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Sekhar Reddy and his business associate V. Srinivasulu under sections of criminal conspiracy, cheating and the Prevention of Corruption Act. They said they run a company, JSR Infra. On December 8, the I-T department raided Sekhar Reddys residences and other office premises. They were engaged in sand mining business since 2003 for PWD. They have 425 lorries and 180 poclains, which were hired for sand mining. They earn about Rs 25,000-30,000 from each lorry and Rs 19,500 from each poclain per day. They generate revenue of Rs 1.5 crore in cash across the state every day. The new currencies worth Rs 34 crore were daily hiring charges collection from lorries and poclains since demonetisation. In the last few years, their company's turnover touched Rs 125 crore and they were paying tax regularly and nothing unusual for Rs 34 crore business income found in hand. All the revenue has been reported and tax paid, they said. Meanwhile, CBI filed a petition seeking custody of the accused. The judge adjourned the bail petition and police custody petition to December 23. Coimbatore: A Manipuri migrant labourer was arrested on Thursday for allegedly raping and murdering an octogenarian woman at her house here three days back. The 85-year old woman was found dead in her house on December 19 with a cloth tied around her neck and two bangles missing from her person. Police said they zeroed in on one Mohammed Sameer Khan (24) in Gandhipuram area near the old woman's house and a team then fanned out across the city to nab him as he was not there. They said he was nabbed after he jumped from a flyover early Thursday morning on seeing a patrol team and got injured. Khan, who was admitted to the Government Hospital, told police he had arrived from Kerala on December 18 to attend the birthday celebrations of a friend. He reportedly confessed that he had entered the old woman's house in an inebriated state, raped and strangulated her to keep the crime a secret and also took away the bangles. After recovering the bangles, police remanded him to custody and he was later lodged in the central jail here. New Delhi: A photographer has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by a Delhi court on Thursday for raping a married woman and threatening to show the videos and photographs to her relatives incase she spoke about the incident. The court ruled against the 33-year-old-man saying it is clear that the convict had sexually assaulted her when she was living in her matrimonial home while her husband was working abroad. It also said that "she (victim) had separated from her husband due to the incident. Minor children of the woman have been separated from the company of their father as a result of the sexual assault committed upon her and the behaviour of the convict i.e. post incident," Additional Sessions Judge Shail Jain said. The court also rejected the man's argument that the woman had induced him by hugging him on karvachauth in her husband's absence, by saying that it showed the "trust and confidence" reposed by the woman on him, which he betrayed by sexually assaulting her. According to the prosecution, the woman and her family knew the man before the incident as he had worked for the family as a photographer. The convict had repeatedly contacted the woman after her marriage and used to call and threaten her if she refused to meet him. The prosecution also said that, in July 2011, the man had come to the victims matrimonial house when she was alone and raped her. He made a video of the incident which he used to threaten her with, if she disclosed the incident to anyone. It said the man had repeatedly raped the victim. When her husband returned to Delhi, he became suspicious, leading to a matrimonial dispute following which the woman was thrown out of the house. Apart from the sentence, the court had also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on the west Delhi resident Shambhu Jha. Out of the amount, Rs 20,000 compensation would be given to the victim. During the trial, the man had denied the allegations against him and claimed that he was implicated in the case. The court rejected the man's argument that there was an unexplained delay in lodging of the FIR in January 2013. Jaipur: The chairman, director and former chairman of the Alwar Urban Cooperative Bank, were among the five arrested by the Rajasthan Special Operation Group in Jaipur on Thursday, for allegedly embezzling over Rs. 16 crore. "The accused embezzled Rs 15.14 crore before demonetisation and also, through various means, exchanged their own Rs 97 lakh for new notes that was provided to the Alwar Urban Cooperative Bank for public use," said Additional Director General Umesh Mishra. The alleged mastermind Abhishek Joshi, 28, who holds no post in the bank and his father Ashok Joshi, the bank's director, were arrested, he added. Furthermore, Abhishek's younger brother Mridul Joshi who is the bank's chairman was also arrested, along with the bank's CEO Mahesh Mudgal and former chairman Omprakash Saini, Mishra said. "The Rs. 97 lakh exchanged by the accused was from the Rs. 1.38 crore in new currency notes given to the bank to facilitate exchange of demonetised banknotes being deposited by people," he said. Investigations started in the case after the Alwar Police seized Rs. 1.32 crore -- in denominations of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 2,000, Rs. 500, and Rs. 1,000 notes -- from stakeholders of the bank when they were taking the amount to Delhi from Alwar last month, the ADG said. "The Jaipur IG, suspecting a big scam, informed the SOG and the case was transferred to us. It was revealed that Rs. 16.11 crore was embezzled," he said. "The accused opened 92 fake accounts in the bank and Rs 8.28 crore were given to the fake account holders as loans. Abhishek, also in connivance with the bank manager, withdrew Rs 4.75 crore deposited in a public sector bank. However, there was no record of it being deposited with the cooperative bank. Another Rs 2.11 crore of the bank was transferred online to different accounts," the ADG said. "Abhishek had given a bribe of Rs. 1 crore to the bank's former chairman Omprakash Saini and its board members to quit so that Mridul could get elected as the bank's chairman in May, even though he was ineligible for the post," Mishra added. The ADG said Abhishek had also managed to get his family members into the bank's board so that funds could be siphoned-off easily. The matter is being probed and seizure is yet to be made by the Special Operation Group, he said. Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a Kolkata-based businessman here in connection with alleged conversion of over Rs 25 crore in old currency in new notes as part of its probe under money laundering laws after demonetisation. Officials identified the businessman as Paras M Lodha and said he was arrested by the agency here late yesterday here after he was questioned in the case. They said he was first intercepted by its sleuths at the Mumbai airport yesterday, based on a look out circular, while he was reportedly trying to fly out. They said the agency arrested him "in connection with conversion of more than Rs 25 crore of old notes to new notes in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases." ED will produce Lodha in a court here to obtain his further custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). While the Reddy case pertains to Chennai where the Income Tax department has made the biggest detection of unaccounted income of over Rs 142 crore, the Delhi Police and the I-T seized Rs 13.5 crore from a law firm here. The firm belongs to lawyer Rohit Tandon. Reddy was yesterday arrested by the CBI. Officials said the multiple agencies working on these two high-profile cases, involving high ranking individuals, are joining dots of the investigations to prepare a water tight case against those who have either hoarded or generated black funds in the wake of the currency scrap of November 8 by the government. Hyderabad: After achieving the goal of gudamba-free Hyderabad, the excise and prohibition department is concentrating on curbing ganja trade. Special teams have been formed to crush the ganja trade that had, till Friday, registered six cases. A study by Excise officials found that most of the ganja was coming from Dhoolpet and Nanakramguda. Assistant Excise superintendent N. Anji Reddy said the department had identified ganja peddlers in Dhoolpet. Whenever they got ganja supplies, the teams would raid them. Most of the ganja supplied in the city comes from Dhoolpet, he said. As the sale of ganja earns them more money, a few families which had stopped manufacturing gudamba had taken to peddling the narcotic. They used to get ganja from Araku, Chodavaram and other parts of the Visakhapatnam Agency areas. Mr. Anji Reddy estimated that about 100 kg of ganja was being sold in the city per day. We are concentrating on the transport of ganja to the city. A few families visit the Visakha Agency area to procure ganja and a few others get it from some middlemen, he said. Elaborate planning, efforts brought change Police and Excise officers said they had adopted a multi-pronged strategy to choke the illegal liquor business at Dhoolpet. They could not control the brewers directly due to resistance, mainly from women, Excise officials targeted their customers and sale points across the city. They also choked the supply points which used to provide jaggery for illicit brewing. The police pitched in to train unemployed youth for competitive exams in the police. According to officials, till a year ago women would normally re-start brewing illicit liquor after every rehabilitation drive. An officer said that out of around 1,500 families which used to make illicit liquor, every house had at least one woman who had lost her husband. The women brewed gudumba and their husbands supplied it to customers. They would ride their bikes so fast that many were killed in accidents. Rehabilitation cannot stop crime. All these days we tried to offer benefits for rehabilitation, which did not work. So we started striking at the root, a senior Excise officer said. A police officer at Mangalhat said they had drawn up plans for the unemployed youth after analysing their background. Around that time, in August last year, the notification was issued to recruit constables. We arranged a pre-recruitment training programme for around 400 youth from Dhoolpet. Soon, others joined and the number kept rising. As the exam was delayed, the training was conducted for more than a year, which included physical and other aspects, Mangalhat inspector R. Srinivas said. We are proud that about 400 candidates qualified in the test, and around 40 of them are from Dhoolpet and there are more than 10 girls, he said. LINCOLN -- Ask what lured him to Nebraska, and the state's new tourism director recounts two moments from a decade-ago stop in the Panhandle. One was watching a "monster" thunderstorm roll into the Scottsbluff area, John Ricks says. The other was feeling a rut in a rock along the Oregon Trail. "You sit there and ask, 'How many covered wagons had to go through to make a rut in a rock?'" Ricks, a longtime tourism booster and ad agency executive, says he'll bring an "unfamiliar eye" to Nebraska's travel promotion efforts. "What's that magic out there that we can use to draw people?" he said Wednesday. "I guarantee we'll find out new stuff here that's really exciting." The 67-year-old has traveled all over the world: He's an Army brat who was born in the Philippines, lived in Hawaii and Japan, went to school in Wisconsin, and has worked in travel marketing in that state and in Colorado. Most recently, he spent four years as assistant director of the Colorado Tourism Office. Nebraska tourism is a "challenger brand" by comparison, he says. "That's OK, because that just makes you hungrier." Ricks officially takes the reins at the Nebraska Tourism Commission on Jan. 9. His annual salary will be $102,000. He will lead an agency still shaken by a critical state audit earlier this year. Auditors revealed that the commission reimbursed alcohol purchases using government money and allowed the contract for the state's main tourism marketing campaign to be overrun by $4.4 million. Former Tourism Director Kathy McKillip, whose salary was $86,000, was fired in May as a result. The audit also stirred questions about lax oversight by the independent commission's nine-member board. Lawmakers are expected to consider changes to the board's makeup next year. State Sen. John Stinner of Gering has said he is working with state travel officials on a proposal to restructure the Tourism Commission so it more closely resembles the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, with members who reflect the state's diverse geography. Stinner also hopes to include representatives from outside the tourism industry. Stinner's effort was prompted by the audit as well as pre-existing concerns about how the commission was handling taxpayer money. Ricks said his experience with a "fairly similar" issue in Colorado helped prepare him to be a good financial steward, to communicate with the public and the travel industry, and to effectively measure performance of the state's tourism promotion efforts. "I'm personally thrilled that we have someone with such a great background excited about working here in Nebraska," said Todd Kirshenbaum, vice president of the Seward Area Chamber of Commerce and president of the Nebraska Travel Association. Kirshenbaum said Ricks' resume made him the obvious pick for the job. "The experience Mr. Ricks brings from work in Colorado, where tourism is a critical driver of the states economy, is a big victory for the Cornhusker state, said Brad Mellema, president of the Nebraska Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. Ricks' hiring followed a monthslong search process that included public interviews with four finalists, including two from Nebraska. Gov. Pete Ricketts commended the Tourism Commission for its hire. "I am hopeful that Ricks experience in state government and the tourism industry will bring new energy to Nebraska Tourism, so they can continue inviting the world to see how Nebraska is growing," the governor said. Ricks said his early goal will be learning more about Nebraska's tourism industry and what travel opportunities the state can offer. "I think the most important thing I can do, at least initially, is just listen." Hyderabad: Even as Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao is getting ready for the "mass housewarming ceremony" on December 23, when he will hand over 500 2-BHK homes to the poor in his two adopted villages in Medak district, those having no right to claim such housing are cornering 2-BHKs in the city. The first 2-BHK project of the state government was in IDH colony in the city in 2015. It was supposed to be the model 2-BHK colony for the poor. But is has become an embarrassment as people who are ineligible own some of the homes. The housing department which conducted surprise inspection of beneficiaries found that around 36 ineligible beneficiaries, mostly followers of ruling party leaders, have cornered the plots. The government had built 396 2-BHK homes for `50 crore after demolishing existing dilapidated buildings. However, 36 of the beneficiaries have not lost their homes, nor are they in any way connected to the locality. They rented out the flats to others which is against the rules. This has come as a big embarrassment for the TRS government and more so for the Chief Minister who has repeatedly boasted of the stringent norms to select beneficiaries and weed out the ineligible. In his first speech as CM in the Legislative Assembly in June 2014, the chief minister came down heavily on irregularities in Indiramma Housing scheme implemented during Cong-ress regime and vowed that he will ensure the benefits of TRS government's 2BHK scheme reach the eligible only. The IDH colony attracted national attention as it was the first time that any state government in the country had provided 2-BHKs houses for the poor for free, spending Rs 8 lakh per unit. The colony was even showcased during the GHMC elections in February 2016, and played a key role in the TRS sweeping the elections after promising that similar colonies would be built to house all the poor. What has shocked the government is that the ineligible owners secured their homes by claiming to be followers of various ministers. Housing minister A. Indrakaran Reddy said, The CM has ordered stringent action against the ineligible beneficiaries. They have been vacated and police cases booked against them. We are tightening the norms for selection process in the wake of irregularities. New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said the alleged corporate payouts to Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be probed by a Supreme Court-monitored team. At a press conference, AAP leader Ashish Khetan said Modi was trying to turn the issue into a dual between him and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi "If Modiji is as clean as the Ganga, then he should get it probed. PM should ask his lawyer to tell the Supreme Court that the government is ready for a probe into the matter by a team monitored by it," Khetan said. Khetan also sought to drag the Congress into the alleged payouts by Sahara and Birla groups dating back to the second term of the UPA government, claiming that a former Union Minister's name figures in the Income Tax appraisal report in the case. "There is an entry called Veerappa M and attached to it is a figure of Rs 2 crore. We do know that there was a minister of corporate affairs who has a strikingly similar name," he said. Mumbai: A special CBI court on Thursday allowed Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, one-day bail to perform the last rites of her father in Mumbai. Indrani will be escorted by police, the court directed, adding that she should restrain from talking to media during the visit. CBI had opposed her visit to Assam to conduct rituals following the death of her father Upendra Kumar Bora on December 15. In its reply to the court, CBI also annexed an e-mail written by Indrani's son Mikhail to the agency saying that he doesn't want her to visit Guwahati. Mikhail, an important witness in the case, has said that his grandfather had been bed-ridden for the last one year and he had been looking after both his grandparents for the last three years without any financial and mental support from Indrani. He has said that his grandparents had legally adopted him as their son and he has already commenced the rituals. "Indrani has been accused of murdering my elder sister Sheena Bora and ruining my family. Therefore, it is my utmost plea that I don't want Indrani to come to Guwahati and visit me as this will create chaos and unnecessary disturbance in my life due to media and other persons, and will hamper commencing post-death rituals of my grandfather," Mikhail said in the mail to CBI. In its reply to the court, the central agency has said that Indrani has filed the application in order to move out of jail and with the intention to influence prosecution witness as the trial is to commence shortly. It has also said that safety and security of Indrani is required to be looked into with regard to the proposed journey to Guwahati. "There is always a possibility that she may escape from the custody," CBI has said. It has also said that Indrani's mother Durga Rani died on October 1 last year, but Indrani mentioned in her plea that she died in November and this doesn't reflect Indrani's closeness with her parents. Special public prosecutors Bharat Badami and Kavita Patil told the court that the funeral was already over and Mikhail has conducted the rituals. "The Brahman bhojan (ritual) is kept on December 27, while priests can be called in jail and all the rituals can be performed in the prison itself," Badami told the court. However, Indrani's lawyer requested the court that if not Guwahati, she must be allowed to do the rituals in Nashik, Haridwar or Mumbai itself. "Indrani wants to mourn. When her mother passed away she was not told about it. She needs to observe mourning, perform Shradh and offer food to Brahmins," her lawyer said. The court is likely to pass order on her bail application tomorrow. The court is at present hearing arguments on framing of charges. Chennai: A day after Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Raos residence and office were raided by the Income Tax officials, his sons office was raided on Thursday morning. On Wednesday, Income Tax raids sent shock waves across the corridors of power as sleuths swooped down on the home of P. Rama Mohana Rao. I-T officials raided his house in Anna Nagar as well as his office at the secretariat. Handpicked for the top job by the former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, Mr Rao superseded 17 IAS officers to become the top babu, but Mr Rao had seemed to come off in poor light as significant seizures were made at the home of his kin at least Rs 30 lakh cash and 5 kg gold. As many as 13 premises belonging to the chief secretary, his son and relatives in Nellore and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and in Karnataka were searched leading to more seizure of cash and gold across south India. The raids, which began at the crack of dawn, at around 5.45 am, at Mr Raos residence in Anna Nagar and continued till late into the evening, were conducted in connection with suspected amassing of wealth disproportionate to the known sources of income and tax evasion. Mr Rao suffers the ignominy of being the first Chief Secretary of a state to be raided by the I-T department. Sources in I-T department said the raids on Mr Rao came after their interrogation of former TTD Board member Sekhar Reddy and seizure of Rs 131 crore cash and 177 kg gold from premises belonging to him two weeks back. Deccan Chronicle had on December 9 reported that Mr Reddy was linked to a top bureaucrat at the Fort St George and that Mr Reddy was his benami. Raos office at the Secretariat, the seat of power of the TN Government, was also not spared as I-T sleuths raided his chamber for close to five hours. New Delhi: Delhi Governor Lt Governor Najeeb Jung quit from his post and submitted his resignation letter to the Centre on Thursday. Najeeb Jung would be returning to his first love, which is, academics, said a statement issued by his office. A former Indian Administrative Services officer, Jung became the Lt Governor of Delhi in July 2013 and was at the helm of affairs when the Presidents rule was imposed in the national capital for a year. "Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has submitted his resignation to the Government of India. He thanks the Prime Minister for all the help and cooperation he received during his tenure," his office said in the statement. "Jung also thanked the people of Delhi for all their support and affection, especially during the one year of President's Rule in Delhi, when he got unstinted support from them and which in turn helped run the administration in Delhi smoothly and effortlessly," the statement added. During his two-year tenure, Jung had often been at loggerheads with the AAP government in Delhi on a range of issues including transfer and posting of bureaucrats and setting up of enquiry commissions. Despite his differences with the Aam Aadmi Party, Jung expressed his gratitude to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his association in the last two years. New Delhi: Former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, facing prosecution in coal scam cases, was put on trial on Thursday by a special court along with four others for alleged offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy in the JICPL case. Besides Gupta, Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar also framed charges against senior public servants K S Kropha and K C Samria, JAS Infrastructure Capital Pvt Ltd (JICPL) and its Director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal for the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 'Mahuagarhi Coal Block' in Jharkhand to a private firm. After the charges were framed, the accused pleaded not guilty and claimed trial in the case. The court has put up the matter for further hearing on April 17, 2017. While ordering to put the accused on trial, the court had on December 7, said, "The facts of the present case prima facie show that accused H C Gupta, K S Kropha and K C Samria entered into a criminal conspiracy with company M/s JICPL and its director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal so as to procure allotment of a coal block in favour of M/s JICPL". "The acts alleged against the accused public servants Gupta, Kropha and Samria are such that if questioned they cannot claim that they were acting in discharge of their official duties," the court had said. In a surprising move, the former Coal Secretary had on August 16, told the court that he intended to "face trial from inside the jail" and withdraw his personal bond to secure bail due to financial issues. However, he later withdrew his plea. The court said prima facie charges for alleged offences under sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act are made out against the accused. Around eight different charge sheets have been filed against Gupta and proceedings are going on individually. The Supreme Court had recently dismissed his plea seeking joint trial in all these cases. Some of the cases in which Gupta was summoned as accused by the court include those relating to alleged irregularities in allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block to accused firm Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL) and allocation of Moira and Madhujore (North and South) coal blocks in West Bengal's Raniganj area to Vikash Metal and Power Ltd. He is also accused in a case of alleged irregularities in the allotment of the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to two companies of Jindal group and allocation of Brahmapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to accused firm Pushp Steels and Mining Pvt Ltd (PSMPL). The court had on July 31 last year issued summons to the accused after taking cognisance of CBI's final report. The court had earlier refused to accept the probe agency's closure report filed in the case and had directed it to further investigate the matter. It had noted that it was prima facie clear that officers of the Ministry of Coal or the screening committee had acted in a manner which was "detrimental" to public interest and they had allowed JAS Infrastructure and Power Ltd (JIPL), now known as JICPL, to "misappropriate" nationalised natural resources. The agency had earlier filed a closure report in the case in which it had lodged an FIR against the firm, Jayaswal and others for alleged irregularities by JIPL in acquiring the coal block. The FIR was lodged on the allegation that the company had not disclosed to the Ministry of Coal that it was already in possession of a coal block. The personnel are working hard to remove the soil and rescue the four workers trapped inside, police said. (Photo: Representational Image) Udhagamandalam: Four construction workers were buried alive when loose earth caved in on them while they were working in a 20-foot deep pit at a worksite in Ballattimattarm near Coonoor, about 28 km from Udhagamandalam on Thursday, police said. Five persons were working in the pit dug for construction of a new building when suddenly the loose soil fell on them at around 10.30 am. While one Kanagaraj (50) was rescued with minor injuries by his colleagues, four others identified as Pratap (18), Arumugham (48), Karthikeyan (26) and Kamaraj (50) are still buried under the soil, they added. The District Collector P Shankar and Superintendent of Police Muraliramba are monitoring the rescue operations being carried out jointly by police and fire and rescue services personnel. The personnel are working hard to remove the soil and rescue the four workers trapped inside, police said, adding Kanagaraj has been admitted to a government hospital in Coonoor. Varanasi: A day after Congress vice president accused Prime Minister of taking money from Sahara and Birla groups, Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked Rahul Gandhi, saying he is happy that the young leader has learnt to deliver public speeches. Now that their young leader (Rahul Gandhi) has spoken, we have seen what the 'earthquake' is all about. I am happy that the Congress vice president has learnt to deliver public speeches, said Modi. The Prime Minister also hit out at the Opposition, saying he never thought political leaders will support corruption. Notes ban is a big cleanliness drive and people are supporting our drive. But the Opposition is siding with corruption. I had never thought some political leaders would have the audacity to stand with the corrupt, said the Prime Minister. The ruckus by Opposition in Parliament over note ban is like the cover fire that Pakistan gives to terrorists. When they say large parts of India did not get access to education, whose report card are they giving? questioned Modi. Modi also hit out at the former PM, saying poverty is Manmohan Singh's legacy. Manmohan Singhs image is clean, but scams happened under his tenure, said Modi. He further urged the youth to move towards online banking. Your mobile phones can be your banks and wallets. Modi was addressing a public meeting in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, after laying the foundation stone of Mahamana Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre. The Prime Minister also attacked Pakistan and said: To infiltrate militants into India, Pakistan resorts to firing along the border. The militants sneak into the Indian side of the border as soon as the Indian soldiers retaliate to the firing by Pakistan. Stringent security measures were in place across the city in view of his visit. The prime minister also interacted with booth-level BJP workers of his parliamentary constituency. He is also scheduled to take part in a cultural festival, flag off a Trade Facilitation Centre and Crafts Museum, and launch schemes, programmes of Textiles Ministry. Modi arrived in Varanasi around 10:30 am. According to Senior Superintendent of Police Nitin Tiwari, more than 5,000 security personnel have been pressed into service to ensure fool-proof security arrangements during the nearly five-hour-long period the Prime Minister is likely to spend in the city. He said 12 SP rank officials, 17 Additional SPs and 42 Deputy SPs would be supervising constables of state police and Provincial Armed Constabulary besides jawans from central paramilitary forces who have been deployed in every nook and corner of the city. The security arrangements have been put in place in consultation with the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) which is directly responsible for the Prime Minister?s security. An SPG team has been camping in the city since Sunday and regularly inspecting the venues of functions to be attended by the Prime Minister besides holding meetings with administrative officials here in connection with security arrangements. Heavy restrictions have been imposed on vehicular traffic which will remain in place until the Prime Ministers departure which is scheduled at around 3 pm. Barricades have been placed at nearly 400 spots across the city. At the sprawling Diesel Locomotive Works premises, where will interact with party workers, the overhead water tank has been converted into a temporary watch tower with nearly a dozen policemen perched atop. Sniffer dogs and bomb disposal squad had surveyed the ground where the function is to be held. This is the Prime Minister's first visit to his Lok Sabha constituency since demonetisation which is expected to become a major issue in the upcoming assembly polls in view of the inconvenience caused to people from all walks of life due to shortage of currency. Notably, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, one of the most vehement critics of the move who had also unsuccessfully contested against Modi from here in the 2014 general elections had held a rally in the city earlier this month attacking the government on the issue. The Modi government as well as the BJP have been countering the criticisms from opposition parties asserting that it was a bold step taken with a view to eliminating black money and the menace of counterfeit currency. Mediapersons and onlookers gather outside the residence of Rama Mohana Rao at Anna Nagar during I-T raids on Wednesday. (Photo: DC) Chennai: Income-Tax raids on Tamil Nadu chief secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao on Wednesday sent shock waves in the corridors of power across the country. I-T officials swooped on his Anna Nagar bungalow in the early hours while another large batch of officials began the raid at his office at the Secretariat in the Fort St. George, even taking away his two personal assistants (PAs) for more quizzing in the evening. Handpicked for the top job by the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who superseded 17 IAS officers to elevate the 1985 batch IAS officer to be the top babu, Rama Mohana Rao seemed to come off in poor light as significant seizures were made at the home of his kin at least Rs 30 lakh cash and 5 kgs gold. As many as 13 premises belonging to the chief secretary, his son in Tiruvanmiyur and relatives in Nellore and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and in Karnataka were searched leading to more seizure of cash and gold across south India. The raids, which began at the crack of dawn, at around 5.45 am, at Mr Raos residence in Anna Nagar and continued till late into the evening, appeared linked to the recent I-T raids and arrest of sand quarry dealer Sekhar Reddy and were conducted for suspected amassing of wealth disproportionate to the known sources of income and tax evasion. Mr Rao suffers the ignominy of being the first chief secretary of a state to be raided by the income tax department. Sources in I-T department said the raids on Mr Rao came after their interrogation of former TTD Board member Sekhar Reddy and seizure of Rs 131 crore cash and 177 kg gold from premises belonging to him two weeks back. DC had on December 9 reported that Mr Reddy was linked to a top bureaucrat at the Fort St George and that he was known to be his benami. Mr Raos office at the state secretariat, the seat of power of the Tamil Nadu Government, was also not spared as I-T sleuths raided his chamber for close to five hours. Later, two of his personal assistants at his office Sekar and Kumar were taken for questioning. Income tax officials were tight lipped about the seizure during the raids at Mr Raos residences, though sources said that Rs 30 lakh cash and gold 5 kg were seized from one of his relatives house. We were not expecting big seizure from his premises. But the searches were conducted based on documents and statements from Sekhar Reddy. Searches were the natural procedure we have to follow. These kinds of searches will help us to build up the case, an income tax official said. Srinagar: Independent legislator Sheikh Abdul Rashid and his supporters were on Thursday detained as he tried to lead a protest march against Jammu and Kashmir government's move to grant domicile certificates to West Pakistan Refugees. Rashid attempted to lead the march from Sher-i-Kashmir Park in Srinagar to Lal Chowk against the government decision. But as the protesters reached the GPO Srinagar, police swung into action and detained the independent legislator from north Kashmir's Langate constituency, along with his supporters, a spokesman of his Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) said. Talking to reporters before being detained, Rashid said the government decision to grant domicile certificates to West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) was "totally unacceptable to us". He alleged that the state government was behaving as a "proxy" and "extension" of the Union government in Delhi. "Time has come for Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to break this alliance (with BJP) and go to people once again (to seek votes)," he said. Rashid vowed to sit on a day-long "hunger strike" in front of chief minister's residence at Gupkar here to protest the government decision. The WPRs, settled in Jammu and Kashmir, are citizens of India and have the right to vote in parliamentary elections. However, they are not permanent residents of the state in terms of Jammu and Kashmir Constitution. They do not enjoy voting rights to the state assembly and local bodies. LINCOLN The state inspector general for child welfare is investigating child sexual abuse and exploitation of children in state-licensed facilities and the child welfare system, Julie Rogers announced Wednesday. Rogers said the investigation, prompted by an accumulation of 36 sexual abuse reports since July 2013, will show whether adequate steps are being taken by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to prevent and respond to abuse of youth in the states care. The sexual abuse or exploitation of children included youth placed in state-licensed facilities and group homes, and youth in foster homes and adopted from the child welfare system. The sexual abuse cases have been reported to law enforcement and investigated. Several examples in that time period include foster parents and state facility workers who have been prosecuted for sexual assault or failing to protect a child in their care. This year a 34-year-old Beatrice woman was sentenced to two years in prison for negligent child abuse after her boyfriend developed a sexual relationship with her 14-year-old foster child when he stayed at her house. A year ago, an Omaha foster father was convicted of two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child for impregnating his 13-year-old foster daughter. And in August a former therapist at Kearney's Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center was arrested for inappropriate sexual contact with a teen at the center. She resigned her position as a licensed provisional mental health practitioner shortly before she was arrested. The number of reports that came to the attention of Rogers' office rose to the level of needing to do a full investigation of the system and how the state protects these children and youth, she said. The assaults and exploitations have involved foster parents, adoptive parents of foster children, group home or facility staff, and other youths in the system. "These are horrific, or can be very horrific, situations, and there are numbers to show it's not just once in a great while," she said. "What we're doing right now is looking to see if the system has gaps or if the system can improve to further protect these kids from sexual victimization." She notified HHS and has asked for more data, and the office will begin to conduct interviews, gather and analyze data, and review all relevant information. The investigation will examine whether the state has enough safeguards to pick its caregivers, Rogers said. Taylor Gage, Gov. Pete Ricketts' spokesman, said Wednesday afternoon the well-being of the children in the states care is of paramount importance. "In every case, DHHS conducts a thorough review of reported abuse so we can improve protections for state wards, and we welcome the (Office of Inspector Generals) additional review and recommendations on how we can continue to improve Nebraskas child welfare system. HHS spokesman Russ Reno also said the care and well-being of children in the state's custody is of the utmost importance to the agency, which has an open relationship with the inspector general. Rogers' office receives all the department's critical incident reports and HHS has provided the requested data for the upcoming report, he said. HHS has been working on reducing the number of out-of-home placements and to make improvements, Reno said. Those improvements included the alternative response program, the new intensive family placement, and an assessment of services available to families. Early next year, the department will introduce new services aimed at keeping children in their homes, Reno said. "We look forward to continue working with (Rogers) and welcome the recommendations from the report," he said. Recommendations by the inspector general's office will be made public in September, as part of the inspector general's annual report. We know that children and youth in the states care both in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems are particularly vulnerable," Rogers said. "Many have already been victims of abuse or neglect, have experienced trauma, or both." The investigation will focus on better understanding when and why certain youth under the protection of the state are being sexually abused and victimized, she said. The purpose of the investigation is to identify areas for improvement and how Nebraska can better prevent and respond to abuse of these children, she said. Omaha Sen. Bob Krist, who has introduced bills aimed at inspector general position functions, said the investigation is exactly what lawmakers hoped Rogers' office would do, looking at data and digging to see what is creating any unsafe conditions for children. "One sexual abuse when we take freedoms away from youth and take them out of their homes is too many, let alone 36 in three years," he said. If it weren't for Rogers and the inspector general position, the sexual abuse issue might not be visible, he said. "Kudos to her for the great things she does in watching out for our youth," Krist said. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked for lie detector tests of nine suspects from the police before adjourning the case of the missing Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmed till January 23. In its status report, the police said the entire JNU campus was searched for two days by 560 officials and a dog squad in presence of Ahmed's mother and brother. The Delhi Police also had conducted a lie detector test on missing Ahmed's roommate Kazim on December 21. JNU students have criticised the Delhi Police over the delay in tracing Ahmed, who has been missing from the campus after allegedly being beaten up by a mob of 20 students comprising mostly ABVP members. Last month, JNUSU president Mohit Pandey had said that the police had not taken any action for finding Ahmed. He said, They have not followed the procedures and responsibilities. Those who had beaten him were not interrogated. Ahmed's family has also been critical of the police so far for not being able to locate him. Denying reports that Ahmed was taking anti-depressant medicines, his sister had earlier alleged that the police was trying to give a different angle to the case. "We hope the Delhi Police works on the right path to find him and not defame him. We have also requested for a CBI probe," she said. The Delhi Police had last month increased the reward from Rs. 2, 00,000 to 5, 00,000 for the person, who provides information about the missing JNU student. On October 14, Ahmed was allegedly slapped by an ABVP member canvassing for the hostel elections. The first year M.Sc Biotechnology student has been missing from the next day. Since then, the students along with Ahmed's family have been protesting at the campus against the alleged police inaction, demanding the arrest of ABVP members. A High-Level Committee (HLC), headed by the Home Minister, will soon take a call on the quantum of relief amount to be released to the state. (Photo: Representational Image) New Delhi: Expressing concern over the plight of drought-hit farmers in the state, the Karnataka government on Thursday demanded that the Centre expedite the process to announce a relief package of Rs 4,702 crore for the crop loss in the Kharif season this year. The state government has also sought a central relief of Rs 370 crore to help farmers whose crops were affected due to excessive rains in Bidar, Gulbarga and Yadgir districts. The issue was raised by Karnataka Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa and Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda at a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. They also sought the intervention of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar in the matter. Kumar is a BJP MP from South Bangalore. Briefing media, Thimmappa said, "We requested the Home Minister to expedite the process. We have asked it to soon announce the relief amount of Rs 4,702 crore for drought-hit farmers and Rs 370 crore for excessive rain-affected farmers." A High-Level Committee (HLC), headed by the Home Minister, will soon take a call on the quantum of relief amount to be released to the state, he said. The state agriculture minister said, "We have requested the central government to call a HLC meeting at the earliest because we want to give compensation to affected farmers in this year itself." The farm crisis has aggravated in the state. Farmers need to be compensated at the earliest as their rabi crops have also been hit due to a lack of rainfall, he noted. The state government has put in place real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS) for transferring drought relief funds to farmers' bank accounts directly, Gowda said. Since Rabi crops are also affected, he said more number of farmers are expected to take up the crop insurance policy under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Karnataka has been facing severe drought for the past six years. The drought in 2016-17 was the worst in 40 years. The state has declared 139 taluks out of 176 as drought-hit. The state had a normal monsoon rainfall in June-July this year, but it witnessed a prolonged dry spell in August, September and October affecting agriculture, power generation, ground water reacharge, drinking water supply and fodder availability. Bahraich: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mocking him a day after he accused him of receiving money from Sahara and Birla group when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister. Yesterday, I had asked the Prime Minister 2-3 questions on corruption, but instead of answering those questions he mocked me. He can mock me as much as he wants but he must give answers to the youth of this country, Rahul said at a rally in Bahraich. Earlier on Thursday, Modi mocked Rahul, saying he is happy that the young leader has learnt to deliver public speeches. Now that their young leader (Rahul Gandhi) has spoken, we have seen what the 'earthquake' is all about. I am happy that the Congress vice president has learnt to deliver public speeches, said Modi. The Prime Minister also hit out at the Opposition, saying he never thought political leaders will support corruption. Notes ban is a big cleanliness drive and people are supporting our drive. But the Opposition is siding with corruption. I had never thought some political leaders would have the audacity to stand with the corrupt, said the Prime Minister. The ruckus by Opposition in Parliament over note ban is like the cover fire that Pakistan gives to terrorists. When they say large parts of India did not get access to education, whose report card are they giving? questioned Modi. Modi also hit out at the former PM, saying poverty is Manmohan Singh's legacy. Manmohan Singhs image is clean, but scams happened under his tenure, said Modi. He further urged the youth to move towards online banking. Your mobile phones can be your banks and wallets. Modi was addressing a public meeting in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, after laying the foundation stone of Mahamana Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre. The Prime Minister also attacked Pakistan and said: To infiltrate militants into India, Pakistan resorts to firing along the border. The militants sneak into the Indian side of the border as soon as the Indian soldiers retaliate to the firing by Pakistan. Gwalior: A CRPF jawan from Madhya Pradesh was presented with a cheque of Rs four lakh for the bravery shown by him in a face-off with naxals in Chhattisgarh. The in-charge District Collector Shivraj Singh Verma on Wednesday handed over the cheque for the ex-gratia amount to CRPF jawan Manoj Singh. Officials said the amount was given to the jawan for the display of bravery during an encounter with naxalites in Sukma district of Chhatisgarh on March 11, 2015, in which he was injured seriously. The amount was handed over to the jawan at his Kakka Nagar residence in Gwalior. This financial assistance was provided from MP Chief Minister's Kargil Welfare fund. Crowd gathers outside chief secretary P. Rama Mohana Raos house in Chennai during the I-T raids on Wednesday. (Inset) Rama Mohana Rao (Photo: DC) Chennai: When P. Rama Mohana Rao was hand picked by the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for the post of chief secretary, he superseded nearly half-a-dozen senior officers to emerge as the favourite. And this is the second incident in the recent past where the chief secretarys post has come under the scanner. According to sources in the secretariat, the government, in both the cases of K. Gnanadesikan and P. Rama Mohana Rao, acted in haste in promoting them to the post of additional chief secretaries to ensure that they can be elevated to the top posts. After being relieved as chief secretary, Mr Gnanadesikan was placed under suspension pending an inquiry into certain charges allegedly linked to beach sand mining. Prior to becoming the chief secretary, Rao was the private secretary to the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the rank of additional chief secretary. When he was made the CS, the officer in cloud overtook five of his batch mates (1985 batch) and also superseded a dozen officers who joined the state dating back to 1981 to 1984. While Gnanadesikan, a 1982 batch officer overtook S. Skandan, C V. Shankar, Hemant Kumar Sinha and Leena Nair replacing no-nonsense Mohan Varghese Chunkanth, a soft spoken non-controversial officer who was transferred to Anna Institute of Management as its director, an insignificant post for an officer in the rank of chief secretary. Rama Mohana Rao overtook more seniors including K Shanmugham, V K Jeyakodi and a few officers now serving with the Centre as the department secretaries. It is very sad that an officer in the rank of chief secretary, who is also the state chief vigilance commissioner being raided for unaccounted cash and this is a disturbing trend in the state, former IAS officer M. G. Devasahayam said. As on date, three serving IAS officers including Gnanadesikan, Atul Anand and Rama Mohona Rao are facing tough times in terms of suspension and I-T raids. Raos meteoric rise raised eyebrows P. Rama Mohana Rao, State Chief Secretary, had a meteoric rise and even rose to the stature of being called shadow Chief Minister as he called the shots when ailing J. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the Apollo hospital here. Rama Mohana Raos rise in the corridors of power; his strong connection with those at the helm and how he was elevated to the position of Chief Secretary from being Secretary to the Chief Minister was indeed spectacular He served as Jayalalithaas Private Secretary I till mid-2016. On June 8, 2016, in a surprise move, he was elevated as Chief Secretary superseding about 17 seniors and replacing K. Gnanadesikan (since suspended), a fortnight after Jayalalithaas AIADMK assumed office. Mohana Rao, an MA in economics and M. Com in cost accountancy, hails from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. He commenced his career as Assistant Collector in 1987 and over the years held several positions in various other departments. He also holds full additional charge of Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioner for Administrative Reforms at present. Though he had never been on central service, Rao, it is said, is a deep thinker and an excellent analyst who made significant contributions during his service as an IAS officer. Rao to retire in Sept. 2017: Rao, who is retiring in September 2017, took sabbatical from IAS to pursue higher studies in United Kingdom. He did his MA in economics from the University of Manchester, UK. His mother tongue is Telugu, but he can fluently speak in English, Hindi and Tamil. Though he had never been on central service, Rao, it is said, is a deep thinker and an excellent analyst who made significant contributions during his service as an IAS officer. Agartala: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has ensured the safety of Hindus in the country, but a sense of security is yet to prevail among the minority community, Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy has said. "The minority Hindus are now safe in Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina took over as the Prime Minister of the country. She has taken safety and security measures for the Hindus who constitute only eight per cent of the population," Roy said during a discussion last night on his book, 'Ja Chhilo Amar Desh' (What my country used to be). "But, still a sense of insecurity prevails despite taking measures," Roy said. "I have written this book after extensive research, because no writer has so far properly depicted what prompted the Hindus to migrate to India (from then East Pakistan) after the partition in 1947," the Tripura Governor said. "All of them wrote about how they (migrants) struggled to settle down after migration, but they did not write about violation of human rights in the then East Pakistan and how land of Hindus were grabbed, houses torched and women molested," he said. Rameswaram: Fishermen in the Pamban area went on an indefinite boycott on Thursday, demanding the release of 50 fishermen who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in the last two months, for allegedly entering its waters illegally. Rameswaram Fishermen Association president P Sesuraja said the strike would continue until the release of the fishermen. They were arrested in separate incidents for allegedly poaching off the coast of Katchatheevu, Neduntheevu and Thalaimannar in the last two months. They also sought the release of 127 boats in the custody of the island nation. Meanwhile, about 300 fishermen from Pamban gathered near the bus terminus and staged a protest condemning the continuing arrests of the state's fishermen. The agitators raised slogans against the Lankan navy and the government for its actions, Sesuraja said. The fishermen urged the Central and state governments to take immediate steps for the release of the fishermen and their boats. The Sri Lankan navy had on Wednesday alone arrested 30 Tamil Nadu fishermen on charges of fishing in their waters. Hyderabad: The Telangana government is examining a proposal of implementing a sub-plan for the welfare of backward classes, a state minister said in Hyderabad on Thursday. Replying to query in the Legislative Assembly, Backward Classes Welfare Minister Jogu Ramanna said the proposal of making a sub-plan for backward classes is being considered by the state government. The sub-plan is made to ensure that funds are used for the welfare of the community in different areas. Sub-plans were made for Scheduled Classes and Scheduled Tribes during the previous Congress government in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. In his reply, the minister also said the state government has formed a Backward Classes Commission to study problems of weaker sections for their empowerment. The government introduced a new scheme, 'Mahatma Jyotiba Phule BC Overseas Vidya Nidhi' for the benefit of students belonging to Backward Classes for pursuing higher studies abroad from 2016-17, he said. Lucknow: Playing the caste card ahead of Assembly elections, the Akhilesh Yadav government on Thursday gave its assent to include 17 Other Backward Castes in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list. A Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav this morning cleared the proposal in this regard, officials said. The proposal, considered to be aimed at wooing the OBCs in the coming elections, will now be sent to the Centre for clearance, they said. The 17 sub-castes which the government wants included in the SC category are Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar and Machua. Earlier in March 2013, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly had passed a resolution asking the Centre to include 17 castes of the state into the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) category. In the resolution presented by Social Welfare Minister Avdhesh Prasad and passed by the voice vote in the House, it was stated that in a detailed study by UP SC/ST Research and Training Institute, these 17 castes have been found "deserving" to be included in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC). The Mulayam Singh Yadav government too had passed the resolution in the state Cabinet in February 2004 and had sent recommendation to the Centre for inclusion of these castes in SC list in December 2004. Later, Mulayam went ahead and issued a government order on October 10, 2005 giving SC benefits to these castes, which was, however, struck down by the High Court. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are likely to be held early next year. Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi at an event in Varanasi, a day after the latter accused him of receiving money from Sahara and Birla groups. While Modi did not directly respond to Rahuls accusations, he tore into the Congress leader with one jibe after another for claiming that he had information that could cause an earthquake. Its a good thing that he (Rahul Gandhi) has begun speaking, now we know that there is no scope of an earthquake, Modi said as the crowd broke into peals of laughter. #WATCH: "No chance of earthquake now that he has spoken", PM Modi takes a dig at Rahul Gandhi in Varanasi pic.twitter.com/mCULO7zhyA ANI (@ANI_news) December 22, 2016 The citizens of the country have understood him. He (Rahul) had said that in a country where 60% of the people are illiterate, how can Modi talk of online banking? You tell me, have I done some magic to make someone illiterate. That 60% of this country is illiterate, whose report card are you giving? Modi asked, suggesting that the previous Congress governments were responsible for the current state of affairs. For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser Income Tax sleuths and Border Security Force recovered more than Rs 2.50 crore in two separate raids. (Representational image) Guwahati: In the ongoing drive against black money, the Income Tax sleuths and Border Security Force recovered more than Rs 2.50 crore in two separate raids. The I-T sleuths which conducted a surprise raid in a shop in central Assams Nagaon district recovered Rs 2.30 crore including new currency. The raid was conducted in the Mahim store in Bor Bazaar area of Nagaon. Though the I-T sleuths were tight-lipped about the recovery, sources said that raid was conducted on the basis of specific intelligence input on existence of huge currency with the business house. Meanwhile, a special intelligence unit of the BSF seized Rs 29.73 lakh in new currency notes from two persons from Assam close to the international border with Bangladesh near Tura in Meghalaya on Wednesday. New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Kolkata-based businessman Parasmal Lodha from Delhi in connection with an alleged conversion of over Rs 25 crore in old currency into new notes. Sources said Lodha, a well-known businessman with interests in real estate and mining, was arrested in the Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases. While the Reddy case pertains to Chennai where the Income-Tax department has made the biggest detection of unaccounted income of over Rs 142 crore, the Delhi Police and the I-T department seized Rs 13.5 crore from a law firm here. The firm belongs to lawyer Rohit Tandon. Officials seized Rs 14 crore of which more than Rs 2.2 crore was found in new Rs 2,000 notes from the law firm. Investigation by the ED has revealed that the new currency was allegedly arranged and sent by Lodha. He has alleged links with several hawala operators in the country, sources said. Reddy was arrested by the CBI on Wednesday. Sources said Lodha was first intercepted by sleuths at the Mumbai airport on Wednesday, based on a lookout circular, while he was reportedly trying to fly out. He was brought back to Delhi by the ED and asked to join investigation. During interrogation, Lodha admitted that post-demonetisation he and his associates had converted old currency of around Rs 25 crore into new notes for a commission of 15-20 per cent, sources said. Later, a city court sent Lodha to seven days in EDs custody. The court was told by EDs prosecutor Vikas Garg that Lodha was required to unearth the money trail. Additional sessions judge Sanjiv Jain granted the custody. The ED, seeking 14 days of remand, said Lodhas interrogation was necessary to identify the names and details of international hawala operators involved in the matter and others who have committed the offence of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. They have been charged with conspiring to carry out Paris and Brussels-type attacks in the city using triacetone peroxide (TATP). Hyderabad: The National Investigation Agency on Thursday filed a chargesheet in a special court at Nampally against eight persons accused of being members of the ISIS. They have been charged with conspiring to carry out Paris and Brussels-type attacks in the city using triacetone peroxide (TATP). The eight have been accused of targeting personalities as well as planning to target public places such as the Inorbit Mall, IT companies, and religious sites, using TATP explosives which are very difficult to detect with scanners. The case was registered on June 20 based on the directions of the Union home ministry. The eight accused were arrested nine days later. The group called Jund Ul Khilafa Fi Bilad Al Hind (Army of Caliph from South India) has pledged bayah (allegiance) to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Bagdhadi, according to the NIA. NIA investigations established that the group communicated via Dark Net through the Tor browser, used encryption applications such as Orbot, Amn Al Mujahid (an encryption programme of the Al Fajr media centre), chat secure, Telegram and encrypted mails like Tutanota. Bomb lessons sent from Syria They deliberately used secure communication and encryption to evade monitoring by law enforcement agencies, the NIA has alleged in the chargesheet. The NIA said analysis of electronic devices seized from the accused revealed that they had got radicalised by watching videos of discourses and lectures of radical Islamic preachers such as Anwar Awlaki, Abdul Sami Qasmi, Meraj Rabbani, Tausif Ur Rehman, Jerjees Ansari and Zhakir Nai. They downloaded ISIS propaganda videos and the ISIS magazine Dabiq. The NIA seized two semi-automatic pistols with ammunition, a rifle with telescopic sight, practice shooting target boards, explosive-making precursor chemicals, digital exhibits and cash amounting to Rs 15 lakh. The NIA has alleged that chemicals suspected to be urea/ammonium nitrate powder and their mixture with sugar, as well as bottles containing mineral acid, acetone, and hydrogen peroxide, which are precursors for making deadly explosive substances, were found in the possession of the accused. TATP uses acetone and hydrogen peroxide. The NIA has alleged that the group was guided to prepare the explosives by an online handler identified as Shafi Armar alias Yousuf Al Hind, suspected to be based in Syria. The NIA has alleged that Ibrahim Yazdani and others visited Ajmer Shareef dargah in the second week of June. Ibrahim had worked in Saudi Arabia before returning to India. Police said the accused were in touch with not only Shafi Armar in Syria but also with others in the Gulf. The NIA analysed six laptops, about 40 mobile phones, 32 SIM cards, and a large number of hard disks, memory cards, pen drives, and digital tabs, which they have submitted as evidence. Sarat Barik of Kothasahi village in Odisha carries his fathers body on his shoulders due to the unavailability of hearse at the local health centre. BHUBANESWAR: Even as the infamous incident of Dana Majhi carrying the corpse of his wife on his shoulders in Odishas Kalahandi, due to his inability to afford conveyance, is yet to fade away, a similar heart-wrenching incident has come to the fore in Rajkanika block of Kendrapara district in the state. Reports on Thursday said Sarat Barik of Kothasahi village under Rajkanika block had to carry his father Rabi Narayan Bariks body on his shoulders due to the unavailability of a hearse or any other mode of transport at the community health centre (CHC), where the latter was admitted. The incident happened on Wednesday Sarats father was on Tuesday admitted to a local CHC due to jaundice. However, he died while undergoing treatment. As Sarat didnt have a single penny to arrange a transport to carry his fathers body back to the village, he requested the CHC authorities to help him. As there was no hearse facility, the hospital authorities expressed their inability to help. With no other options left, Sarat carried his fathers body on his shoulders for about one km and was later helped by his uncle. En route, a person helped Sarat by allowing the body to be carried on his bike to the village. Although the body of the deceased was kept on the verandah of the hospital for more than two hours, the health officer-in-charge of the CHC, however, said he was unaware of the incident I was at a meeting when the incident took place. There is no facility here for carrying corpses, said Dr Ajit Das, the health officer. SCs order last week directing all state governments not to allow bars near highways forced the officials to stop the approval process. (Photo: PTI) Hyderabad: The TS government has stopped giving approvals to new bars in the state following the recent Supreme Court directions banning liquor outlets along the highways. The TS government had invited applications for setting up 145 new bars, of which 88 were to be within GHMC limits. The government received nearly 310 applications. The state already has over 800 bars. In the scrutiny, it was found that almost all the applications received were close to highways. The government had issued notification on November 9 and the last date to submit applications was December 10. The government had planned to issue licences by this December-end to enable these new bars to start functioning from the New Year. However, SCs order last week directing all state governments not to allow bars near highways forced the officials to stop the approval process. Sources in the excise department said, We cannot go ahead with approvals at this stage since the SC issued specific instructions not to allow bars near highways. We have sought legal opinion on how to go forward on this issue. Till clarity comes from the law department, no fresh approvals will be given. The government is also clueless over how to relocate the existing bars and wine shops located near highways as per SC orders. This is because the licences issued to wine shops and bars two years ago are valid till August 2017 and October 2017, respectively. Owners of bars and wine shops say that the government must compensate them in case of relocation as they would suffer losses and not recover their licence fee. The patients are left with no choice than to opt for the network hospitals.(Representational image) Visakhapatnam: With the states health schemes and technology advancements driving the patients towards corporate hospitals, thousands of small hospitals and nursing homes are finding it difficult to remain in business. A majority of these hospitals, which stayed as a backbone of healthcare industry for decades, were not empanelled under the NTR Vaidya Seva (formerly Arogyasri). The Vaidya Seva mandates certain facilities, infrastructure and beds to empanel the hospital as a network hospital under the scheme. Not in a position to aggressively pump money into the infrastructure and a majority being single-speciality driven, the hospitals are struggling to get all the permissions to set up a hospital as it involves the same procedures applicable to the corporate hospitals. As these were left out of the purview of Vaidya Seva, the patients are left with no choice than to opt for the network hospitals. General secretary, Andhra Pradesh Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (APNA), Dr. P. Srinivas said that it was their long-pending demand before the government to include the 10-bed hospitals in the Vaidya Seva. What is the need for a small five-bed hospital to procure a fire NOC? We have to run from pillar to post to establish a hospital as it requires permissions from tens of departments under the Establishments Act. Earlier, these small hospitals used to serve under various health schemes. After the introduction of Arogyasri, the situation has changed. The APNA has been demanding the government to frame separate guidelines for the small hospitals, considering their medical services at very nominal prices. The state government has been charging various taxes from us on par with corporate hospitals. We cannot afford all these as we have been running the hospitals with a service motive. Co-chairman of the Doctors Cell of AP Congress Committee, Dr. A. Naga Radhakrishna, demanded the government to extend the NTR Vaidya Seva to small hospitals. These hospitals provide treatment at a cheaper price, which could save crores of rupees to the government. As there is no choice, the corporate hospitals are charging the maximum cap of Rs 2.5 lakh under NTR Vaidya Seva at the first visit itself. The scheme has lost its purpose due to no commitment on the part of government. We are ready to extend our suggestions if the government calls for an all-party meeting, Mr. Radhakrishna added. Hyderabad: Erravalli and Narasannapet, two tiny villages in the Gajwel Assembly constituency in Siddipet district, will turn model villages on Friday, when the villagers enter the 600 2BHK houses newly-constructed by the state government at a cost of Rs 5.5 lakh per dwelling. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who represents the constituency, has ordered several amenities for the two villages adopted by him. Apart from the 2BHK houses, cashless transactions will be the norm in these two villages after the 600 families perform Gruha Pravesam with the help of 600 priests, also arranged by the government. Mr Rao had taken a pledge 14 months ago to develop Erravalli and Narasannapet as model villages for the entire country. With the consent of the villagers, their old houses were demolished and the government constructed housing complexes in these villages, with all amenities. The villagers who vacated their premises had to bear with the vagaries of nature like extreme summer, rain and cold as they lived in temporary huts all these months. Now, not only will these families get new houses, but will also get one milch buffalo for each household, 20 country chicken, five fruit-bearing saplings per house, internal roads in colonies and villages, a community hall, sewerage lines, overhead water tanks, 24x7 drinking water supply, power, separate power substations besides Internet facility, LED bulbs and fans. All these facilities will be up and running by the time the villagers move in. Mr Rao will reach the villages on Friday morning and spend some time with the villagers besides participating in a function. Besides the above mentioned facilities, the Chief Minister will also announce a drip irrigation project for these two villages that will cover 3,000 acres. The cost will be borne by the government. Lucknow/New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, saying he has learnt to speak, but does not think before speaking, unwittingly admitting to the failure of his party's reign. Mr Modis remarks at a party event in Varanasi prompted the Opposition leader who, while addressing a rally in the states Bahraich launched a fresh scathing attack against the PM. Make fun of me as much as you want, but respond to charges of personal corruption, Mr Gandhi said. Barbs flew thick and fast in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, a day after the Congress leader accused the PM of taking money from the Sahara and Birla groups when he was Gujarats chief minister, a charge the ruling BJP has strongly refuted. The PM did not respond to Mr Gandhis charges, but used his wit to attack him. They have a young leader who is just learning to give speeches. There is no limit to my happiness. In 2009, you couldnt even tell what is inside this packet and what is not. Now we are finding out, said the PM. There is no chance of an earthquake now that he has spoken. We can be rest assured that there is no danger of the natural calamity in sight, said Mr Modi during his first visit to his constituency Varanasi after demonetisation. Mr Gandhi had claimed last week that there would be an earthquake if he was allowed to speak in Parliament as he had proof about Modi's personal corruption. Rahul, target of BJP ridicule Ahead of next years elections in UP, stakes are getting bigger and the state has become the main political battleground. Failing to find a face for the polls, the BJP is now relying completely on Mr Modi. Even as the Congress seems to be lagging behind, Mr Gandhi is addressing rallies across the state to garner support for his party. The Congress vice-president, who has emerged as the target of the BJPs ridicule, recited a Mirza Ghalib couplet: Har ek baat pe kehte ho tum, ki tu kya hai, tumhi kaho ki ye andaaz-e-guftugu kya hai (On every utterance of mine, you say what are you. You tell me what is this way of talking). Mr Gandhi himself minced no words in attacking the PM. You sucked the money from the poor to feed the rich who owe `8 lakh crores to banks Modiji first tell us what was there in the ten packets from Sahara, he said at the Baharich rally. Mr Modi earlier hit out at Mr Gandhis assertion that the governments plans for a digital economy would fail because of a low literacy rate in the country. I hope he does not say that I had indulged in some sort of black magic to make those who knew how to read and write illiterate, Mr Modi quipped, drawing laughter and applause from BJP workers. He said that a cleanliness campaign in the economy had been launched and the stink raised during the cleaning of garbage was what the country was feeling, referring to his move last month to recall high-value bills to fight black money and fake currency. The PM also slammed the Opposition for stalling Parliament over demonetisation, and went on to liken it to the cover fire given by Pakistan's forces to help terrorists in infiltration. In a rare attack on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr Modi said that he should not have cited India's dismal state to oppose plans for a cashless economy as he has been in the core team of those in charge of the economy since the 1970s. Now is this his report card or mine? Whose legacy am I dealing with? Dr Singhs image is clean but a number of major scams had taken place during his tenure, he said. Meanwhile, BJP leader Poonam Mahajan took a dig at Rahul Gandhi, saying he is a sleeping beauty, who is seen dozing off in Parliament whenever she attends it and asked him to wake up and stop singing the raga of demonetisation. The construction of the road started on November 26 and it has been completed this week. (Photo: Pixabay/Representational) Guwahati: Failing to get any response from the government after repeated requests, villagers of Boro Robi in Dima Hasao district of Assam have constructed a 6-km road on their own, connecting their isolated village to the world. After knocking at the administrations doors for years, the villagers approached social entrepreneur Aching Zeme seeking a solution. "The villagers had approached the government many times, but without any positive response. Then they came to me and requested if I could help them build a road on their own. Initially, I was little shocked as well as surprised to see their resolve. Witnessing their plight, I finally decided to do something," Zeme said. After the initial survey it was decided to construct the road to connect Boro Robi with Zaikang village which has a motorable road built under MGNREGA scheme. "The stretch is around six km. The villagers of Boro Robi had to cross a hill from Jatinga side. We decided to build the motorable road so that people can at least commute without any difficulty," Zeme said. The social worker had asked the village to contribute Rs 20,000 for the project before starting of the work. "I contributed Rs 60,000 personally and started work last month with an initial corpus of Rs 80,000. Our estimate to build the road was Rs 1.5 lakh. So we started seeking help from friends and well-wishers, who have donated Rs 40,000," Zeme said adding Rs 20,000 more are needed to pay vendors. Apart from various parts of the country, donations have poured in from abroad also, he informed. The construction of the road started on November 26 and it has been completed this week. About 30 villages in Dima Hasao have no road at all. "We have been approaching the government without any result. We will go again to the authority. If the government does nothing we will continue after Boro Robi," Zeme said. The situation is dismal too when it comes to electricity connection. Around 30 per cent of all the villages in the district, numbering around 25-30 villages, do not have electricity. "For the electric connection we have approached the government too. In a few villages some work regarding electrification have started in recent times," he added. A district administration spokesman said they were aware about the initiatives at local level. Kochi: Fr. Shibu Kuttiparichel, priest of Cheengery St. Marys Jacobite Syrian Church in Wayanad district on Wednesday proved that he is the good shepherd by donating one of his kidneys to a 29-year-old woman. The 39-year-old priest who is also an author and uses the proceedings from the sale of books for charitable purpose, donated his kidney to Kairunnissa, who lives with her husband and three-year-old daughter at Akalad, near Chavakad in Thrissur district. The kidney was harvested and transplanted into Kairunnissa at VPS Lakeshore here on Wednesday. Kairunnissa was selected as the recipient from those who were registered with the Kidney Federation of India founded by Fr. Davis Chiramel. The patient was suffering from kidney ailments for the past four years and underwent several rounds of dialysis in the past one-and-a-half years. Even as Kairunnissas 56-year-old mother, Shereefa, who lives in Kasaragod, was ready to donate one of her kidneys to daughter, it was not matching. Later, Fr. Shibu Kuttiparichels blood group was found matching. Fr. Shibu Kuttiparichel was inspired by Fr. Davis Chiramel who set an example by donating one of his kidneys. Both the donor and recipient are in good condition, according to the hospital. Fr. Shibu Kuttiparichel, who has been shifted to ICU, will be discharged after four days. Meanwhile, Kairunissa, who is also shifted to ICU, will remain there for five days and will be discharged after one week following medical examination. The harvesting and transplanting of kidney was held under a medical team, which included Dr. Abi Abraham M., director, nephrology and transplant services; Dr. George P. Abraham, transplant surgeon and Dr. Mohan A. Mathew, director-anesthesiology. Mumbai: While the CBI has been claiming that primary motive behind the murder of Sheena Bora was financial gain, her mother and prime accused in the case Indrani Mukerjea on Thursday told a court here that she wanted to donate 75 per cent of her property, and also her organs. Judge H S Mahajan of special CBI court is at present hearing arguments on framing of charges. After the day's proceedings ended, Indrani raised her hand and said she had two requests. "I am in jail for past 15 months and have seen the suffering (of fellow inmates). I don't need assets as I am leading a simple life and want to donate 75 per cent of my property," she said. When the judge said she did not need the court's permission to do so, she said she was making the request as she was in the court's custody. The judge then asked her to make an application. She said she wanted to donate half the property to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and the rest to an organisation working for women and children. In the second request, Indrani said she wanted to donate her organs. "I don't know what the judgement is going to be. I may be sent to the gallows or to life imprisonment or I will be acquitted. But I want to donate my organs," she said. The judge then asked her husband and former media baron Peter Mukerjea, arrested for allegedly being party to the murder conspiracy, if he too wanted to donate organs. "My organs are fine and I don't intend to donate them," Peter replied. Earlier Indrani had sought permission for publishing translation of 'Bhagavad Gita' which she said she had been doing in prison. According to CBI, Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai killed Sheena, Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, in April 2012. A large crowd gathered near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday as intelligence officials from the IT department intercepted a car used by four-member gang suspected to be involved in currency exchange. (Photo: DC) KOCHI: The Income Tax intelligence sleuths nabbed four persons, Denis, Binoy, Jijo and Lissy Sojan, an accused in the Nedumbasserry human trafficking case, from near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday in connection with a money laundering case. The IT sleuths laid the trap on a tip-off that some persons engaged in the exchange of the old currency notes for new currency were likely to transact business near the stadium. The four accused reached the spot in two separate vehicles and the IT officials first took Sojan and another person into custody. Two others fled from the spot and ran towards the stadium before the officials chased them and took them into custody. A cheque worth Rs 10 crore was found from their possession, but no cash was recovered. All were taken to the IT office for further interrogation. The officials were also probing whether the arrested have any links with the people held from Edappally on Wednesday with Rs 41 lakh in the new Rs 2,000 denomination currency. The four-member gang from Coimbatore was engaged in giving Rs 37.5 lakh of new currency in lieu of Rs 50 lakh worth old currency notes. They were released later after interrogation. Sojan was one of the accused in the case connected with sending girls to the countries in West Asia on fake job visas and forcing them to sex trade. New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi step down till his name is cleared of alleged charges of graft and sought a probe into the allegations by a Supreme Court monitored committee. The Supreme Court should take "suo motu" cognizance of the matter, Kejriwal told a press conference here, hours after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister had taken money from Sahara and Birla groups. Kejriwal, who had levelled similar charges against Modi in November in the Delhi Assembly, said the Congress was only "following" the Aam Aadmi Party in this regard and also in terming demonetisation as a "scam". "The Prime Minister should resign till his name is cleared of the charges. The matter should be probed by a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team. Agencies like CBI are in any case controlled by Modi and Amit Shah," Kejriwal said. The AAP chief said BJP patriarch LK Advani had set the "right example" by quitting when his name had surfaced in the Hawala scam. "Narendra Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister whose name has cropped up in raw print. This is a very grave matter but it is being suppressed and has been suppressed over the last two years by attaching officers of their convenience to the case," he said. Kejriwal wondered why the PM was "evading a probe" if he was innocent. The country has been "cheated against", he said. The Delhi Chief Minister said he will send the "Income Tax appraisal reports" in this regard to Prashant Bhushan who has filed a petition in the Supreme Court. These documents have not yet been submitted in the Court, Kejriwal said, displaying few voluminous reports. "We had raised the same issue on November 15 in the Delhi Assembly. It is good that whatever we are doing the Congress is following. We had termed demonetisation a scam, then a month later Rahul said the same thing and today he finally mustered the courage to raise this issue," he said. Kejriwal also sought to know the reason behind Rahul's delay in making the allegations after promising an announcement. "Was he trying to strike a bargain? Congress and BJP have setting. In fact, all the leaders who figure in the papers should be probed," Kejriwal said. New Delhi: Rebel AIADMK leader Sasikala Pushpa on Thursday threatened to contest the election for the post of General Secretary depending on what the Madras High Court says on her plea for maintaining status quo on the issue. "The decision to contest for the party's top post would be based on the High Court verdict tomorrow. I will contest just like any primary member has the right to contest," she said. Read: Sasikala Natarajan had tried to kill Jaya, says Rajya Sabha MP Pushpa Denying that the she has been expelled from AIADMK, Pushpa asserted that she still remains party MP. "If I was expelled I should have received letters after a proper enquiry. Even in Rajya Sabha records I still remain an AIADMK MP," she added. Talking about the "dissatisfaction" among the party cadres and the vacuum Jayalalitha had left, Pushpa said around 75 per cent of AIADMK cadres were not happy about demands being made for Sasikala Natarajan's elevation to the party's top position. "Sasikala Natarajan is not a primary member of the party. Amma had thrown her away from the party for "conspiracy"," Pushpa said. "Everyone knows her husband Natarajan and her family are compelling the cadres to stage a drama before people," she added. Commenting on the raid in state Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao's house, she said Jayalalitha would not have allowed such things to happen. Chennai: The year 2016 ended to be a year of grief for the people of Tamil Nadu as they lost their popular leader J Jayalalithaa, who had led her party to a comprehensive successive second victory in the Assembly polls only seven months ago. As the ruling AIADMK is trying to find its feet in both party affairs and governance post the death of its leader, main Opposition DMK is on a wait-and-watch mode though it continues to take up key issues like Cauvery and Jallikattu to keep the political pot boiling. DMK treasurer M K Stalin became the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly for the first time, and his party won 89 seats. The state also faced the wrath of Cyclone Vardah and a series of protests and sporadic violence on the Cauvery issue stretching over a month amidst other events this year. The state was left with a sense of deja vu as Cyclone Vardah ravaged its territory, eerily reminding people of the sufferings during the floods that happened last year in the same month. The trusty aide, O Panneerselvam who was chosen to be the Chief Minster after Jayalalithaa, has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release Rs 22,573 crore as cyclone aid. Ever since Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation on September 22, till her she passed away on December 5, the state remained on tenterhooks with medical bulletins appearing on and off on her health status. Mass prayers in places of worship across Tamil Nadu by AIADMK workers and supporters became a regular feature. The entrance area to Apollo Hospital where she underwent treatment became a makeshift prayer ground. Across the state, milk pot prayer processions and tonsuring of head by partymen were often seen. Jayalalithaa had swung into action from day one after being sworn in May as chief minister for the sixth time by implementing a slew of measures. Waiver of crop loans for farmers, increase in gold allocation for women beneficiaries and closure of 500 Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) liquor outlets were among the measures aimed at fulfilling her electoral promises. With the passing away of Jayalalithaa, AIADMK leaders wanted her aide Sasikala to lead the party, with more functionaries voicing their support for her to ascension the seat of governance as chief minister as well. For DMK workers, repeated hospitalisation of its nonagenarian leader Karunanidhi due to illness caused anxiety, though he is now on the path of recovery according to Kauvery Hospital where he is getting treated. Though Tamil Nadu's legal battle to get Cauvery waters for standing crops continues, the issue spurred a series of heightened protests and sporadic violence in the state during September and October. Such protests, spanning several weeks, had an adverse impact on the common people especially in districts bordering Karnataka including Krishnagiri. A bandh supported by farmers outfits and opposition parties was held and a cadre belonging to Nam Thamizhar Katchi died after he immolated himself. As the violence heightened in September in Karnataka with the torching of 30 buses in Bengaluru of a private operator from Tamil Nadu, the situation turned for worse. Stories of numerous people walking several kilometres from Hosur (Tamil Nadu) to reach Bengaluru, or to return to the state from Karnataka towns became normal news. Bus services and truck transports were shut completely for weeks together and inter-state borders were even sealed. The Cauvery issue also gained much political traction during September and dividing the political parties into factions. Though Jayalalithaa had already resumed the legal battle in Supreme Court for Cauvery waters before she was admitted, the issue was taken up in a big way by DMK to target the AIADMK regime. Weeks preceding the November polls, the DMK pressurised the government to convene a special House session and an-all party meeting. The party also held a rally on the issue in Tamil Nadu's hub of Cauvery delta at Thanjavur. Later, it held an "all-party meeting" which drew flak from ruling AIADMK and other parties like BJP. DMK MPs separately called on President Pranab Mukherjee while AIADMK MPs marched to the Prime Minister's Office and submitted a memorandum seeking action, causing the divide to deepen among parties on Cauvery issue. Conventionally, opposition parties pay lesser attention to by-polls since only the ruling party has won in such elections in TN in the past decades. However DMK, in contrast, DMK took the polls for Thanjavur and Aravakkurichi and the bypoll to Thirupparankundram quite seriously DMK treasurer Stalin extensively toured all the poll-bound areas and taunted the ruling regime with his "the government is non-functional" refrain. Nevertheless, the ruling party won comfortably in all the three constituencies. With Tamil Nadu government deciding to implement the Food Security Act, it was cited by DMK treasurer Stalin as beginning of an "U-turn" by Tamil Nadu government in view of the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa. He said such schemes that were opposed vehemently by Jayalalithaa were now allegedly being given concurrence by the state government after she was hospitalised. He even accused the Centre of "intimidating" the state over such issues. In August, a train heist stunned Tamil Nadu in which Rs 5.78 crore was stolen by breaking open the roof of a parcel van attached to the Salem-Chennai Express. In October, two of the SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) activists wanted by Tamil Nadu police in connection with the 2014 May train blast case in Chennai (in which a techie was killed) were among the eight killed in an encounter in Bhopal bringing curtains down on the two-year-old case. Arrest of Dawood Suleiman, the kingpin behind the Al Qaeda inspired module "Base Movement" and his associates including N Abbas Ali of Madurai, responsible for blasts in court complexes in South India was a major breakthrough for the NIA in Tamil Nadu. Is Manipur already a failed state? The main highway that leads to its capital Imphal has been blocked by groups of Naga agitators for nearly two months. As a retaliatory measure, some Imphal Valley-based Meitei (the majority community) organisations launched a counter-blockade, disrupting traffic to the Naga areas. Dozens of vehicles have been torched on the outskirts of Imphal. Petrol, sold in black, costs Rs 200 a litre. Rebels of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), despite the ongoing peace talks with New Delhi, have been stepping up violence, killing four policemen and injuring a dozen others in recent weeks. Besides, these rebels have decamped with 20 weapons from two paramilitary posts after overrunning them with rocket-propelled lethod bombs. In such a hopeless situation, the frequency of bandhs, roadblocks and insurgent violence gives rise to the question whether this part of the Northeast has a future. This time, the trigger appears to be the result of Machiavellian politics fuelled by possible electoral compulsions and ever-widening ethnic faultlines. In fact, this is election time in Manipur, a state of 2.7 million people, and the Congress government of chief minister Ibobi Singh, like any other ruling entity, is trying out all sorts of ideas to return to power. One such step was its decision in October to elevate Sadar Hills and Jiribam subdivisions into full-fledged districts. This angered the Nagas, particularly the United Naga Council (UNC), that is Manipurs apex Naga body, which said the decision should have been taken after due consultations with tribal organisations in the hill areas of the state. The Ibobi Singh government ignored the UNC opposition, saying the move was initiated for administrative convenience. The UNC responded by calling an indefinite economic blockade from November 1. The movement of essential items to the Valley came to a halt because the highways facing the blockade connected the state with the rest of India. Prices soared and normal life was hit. The situation worsened when on November 25 the authorities arrested two top leaders of the UNC for violent protests. The Congress government added fuel to the fire on December 9 with the announcement of five new districts being created Tengnoupal, Pherzawl, Noney, Kamjong and Kakching. The decision to bifurcate seven of Manipurs nine districts to create seven new districts worsened matters. In fact, five of the seven bifurcated districts are located in the hills and several of them are dominated by Nagas. The Naga groups say the Ibobi Singh government came up with the move to bifurcate the hill districts to create new districts without consulting them. Some see it as an attempt to divide the Naga people by merging their ancestral lands with non-Naga areas. What we are actually witnessing in Manipur is a turf war of sorts. The hill areas stretch over 20,098 sq km, where the population in last count (2011) was 10.93 lakhs. In contrast, the Imphal Valley comprises just 2,239 sq km, and the 2011 population in this stretch was put at 16.28 lakhs. So it is natural to some extent for Nagas to harbour doubts on whether there is any attempt by anyone to usurp territory from the hills or merge some territory with non-Naga areas. While the state government failed miserably to restore order, the BJP-led government at the Centre has remained a mute witness. The BJP, hoping to win control of Manipur this time, could even be smirking at the fate of the states Congress government over mounting trouble at this critical pre-poll juncture. True, law and order is a state subject, but the Centre is not expected to do nothing other than just watch the fun. New Delhis responsibility does not end in rushing 4,000 additional paramilitary troopers. After all, the fact remains that insurgent groups like NSCN-IM have already started fishing in troubled waters by targeting the symbols of governmental authority. It is possible that as a retaliatory move, Meitei insurgents too could join the ongoing turf war. Who, after all, can forget the crisis in 2001 when the Centres decision to extend the government-NSCN(IM) truce to areas outside Nagaland by including Manipur in its jurisdiction led to unprecedented protests by Meiteis. The decision to extend the ceasefire led to around 50,000 Meiteis taking to the streets in Imphal on June 18, 2001, with rampaging mob burning down the Manipur Legislative Assembly building and a dozen other government offices. Eighteen protesters were killed in police firing. Finally on July 24, 2001, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced that the ceasefire would once again be restricted only to the state of Nagaland, as has been the case ever since the NSCN-IM truce first came into force on August 1, 1997. That had eased the situation in the Imphal Valley. The Meitei protest was triggered by fears that extension of the ceasefire could well be the first step before parts of Manipur are sliced and merged into Nagaland as part of a possible deal with the NSCN-IM. Therefore, it would be naive to think that the ruling Congress in Manipur would not be aware of the sentiments of the states majority community ahead of the Assembly polls. Now, whether or not the move to bifurcate the Naga-dominated districts to create newer ones is part of a design to alter the demographic balance in those areas, as feared by the Nagas, will remain in the realm of speculation for quite some time. If, however, there is no serious initiative by the Centre to defuse the current crisis, the situation in Manipur could well snowball, and become unmanageable. The Tamil Nadu government acted by the book in naming a new chief secretary in place of P. Rama Mohana Rao, and picking the seniormost IAS officer in his place after the income-tax authorities raided his home, office and the premises of his close relatives. It is a comment on the way the state was run with a corrupt official who superseded at least 17 others in getting a plum post in which he could manipulate the sale of natural resources. His links to the deadly sand mafia, known to murder honest revenue officials to keep its shady business going, may just be the tip of the iceberg. The government of O. Panneerselvam must make this a turning point, and bring honest officials to the fore, like many sidelined because they wouldnt cooperate in fleecing the State for private gain. For all her good qualities in running a government that touched the lives of millions of the poor, its also a fact that J. Jayalalithaa allowed corruption to flourish in her rule. A kind of omerta law prevailed, with a martinet who brooked no criticism. An honest IAS officer had exposed the mindboggling sums denied to the states revenues in illegal granite mining, suggesting a pattern of politician-bureaucrat-businessmen nexus. The disclosure shocked the judiciary into corrective action. But its clear that not enough was done to check the slide of a well-administered state into a web of corruption. There are lessons to be learnt from what happened to the last two top officers who had vaulted over others in the state secretariat. China launched a satellite to monitor its greenhouse gas emissions early on Thursday, the latest step in efforts to cut its carbon footprint, the official Xinhua news agency said. The launch follows the United States joining China in formally ratifying the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions. It also comes as large sections of northern China have been shrouded in near-record levels of air pollution for most of the past week, disrupting flights, closing factories and schools, and forcing authorities to issue red alerts. China launched the satellite via a Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwestern Gobi Desert, Xinhua said. The 620 kg (1,370 lbs) satellite TanSat was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 km (435 miles) above the earth and will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, said Yin Zengshan, chief designer of TanSat at the Chinese Academy of Sciences micro-satellite research institute. The launch comes after an international study showed that world greenhouse gas emissions stayed flat for the third year in a row in 2016, thanks to falls in China. The satellite will provide China's policymakers with independent data for three years, the news agency said. TanSat will take readings of global carbon dioxide every 16 days, accurate to at least 4 parts per million. The rocket carrying TanSat also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring, the agency added. China is the third country after Japan and the United States to monitor greenhouse gases with its own satellite, the agency said. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. An unmanned aircraft that is part of Facebook's plan to send internet signals to remote parts of the world crash-landed in the Arizona desert over the summer because of strong winds, investigators said. The social media company's solar-powered aircraft, Aquila, crashed during its first test flight June 28 near Yuma, Arizona. Wind gusts were about twice as strong as the aircraft could handle and broke a wing, according to a final report from the National Transportation Safety Board that was released Friday. The wing was damaged when the aircraft was about 20 feet off the ground and flying at about 29 mph at the Yuma Proving Ground, a U.S. Army installation in southwestern Arizona. "The aircraft experienced significant deviations in pitch, roll and airspeed, consistent with turbulence during the final approach," the report said. The NTSB report says the test aircraft was "substantially damaged" by the wing's structural failure and the crash, but there were no injuries or damage on the ground. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a July 21 post that the flight was a success because of all the data collected. He didn't mention the crash. He has said the Silicon Valley-based the social network wants a fleet of high-flying aircraft to send internet signals to remote areas. The idea is that the aircraft would fly very slowly, using as little energy as possible to remain aloft for months at a time, Zuckerberg said in the post. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The lawsuit says the agreements violate state laws that provide that employers cannot bar workers from discussing their wages or disclosing information to government agencies. A Google Inc product manager has sued the company, accusing it of unlawfully prohibiting employees from sharing concerns with coworkers, shareholders or the press, and maintaining a "spying program" to prevent leaks. In the class action lawsuit filed on Tuesday in California state court in San Francisco, the employee, identified only as "John Doe," says Google's employment agreements are illegally broad and violate various state labour laws. The plaintiff says the confidentiality agreements that all Google employees are required to sign essentially bar workers from saying anything about the company, even to each other. The agreements define confidential information as "without limitation, any information in any form that relates to Google or Google's business that is not generally known," according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says the agreements violate state laws that provide that employers cannot bar workers from discussing their wages or disclosing information to government agencies. A spokesperson for Mountain View, California-based Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, said in a statement that the claims were "baseless," and said the agreements were designed to protect sensitive business information and not to bar employees from discussing working conditions. "We're very committed to an open internal culture, which means we frequently share with employees details of product launches and confidential business information," the spokesperson said. Google is facing similar claims from an unidentified employee in proceedings before the US National Labor Relations Board, which recently struck down confidentiality agreements and other employment contracts that could discourage workers from discussing concerns at T-Mobile USA Inc, DirectTV and a number of other companies. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff says that to enforce its policies, Google forces workers to spy on each other through a program called "Stopleaks" that requires them to report the disclosure of confidential information. Employees can be fired or sued for violating employment agreements or failing to report leaks, according to the lawsuit. "Google continues to insist that Googlers refrain from plainly communicating with others that Google is violating the law or endangering consumers," the complaint says. Plaintiffs in court cases are rarely allowed to proceed anonymously absent extraordinary circumstances. The Google worker says that being identified could harm his reputation at the company and his future job prospects. The plaintiff is seeking to represent all current and former Google employees who signed the agreements. The lawsuit says the company has about 65,000 workers. The case is Doe v. Google Inc, California Superior Court, San Francisco County, number not immediately available. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Robots have long been one of the worlds most favorite topics to debate on. Talking on the sidelines of Robotics and Automation for Humanitarian Applications (RAHA 2016), renowned roboticist and roboethicist Ronald Craig Arkin said that many people are concerned about the impact of robots on their personal lives and wonder whether it is for the betterment of the mankind or for the detriment of the mankind. He argued that robots can behave better than human beings in the battlefield if they are designed to comply with the international humanitarian law (IHL). It is possible for human beings to commit atrocity when they break down due to their anger, frustration and stress, said Mr. Arkin. However, robots can be built using software that makes them comply with the humanitarian laws. Currently working as a Regents Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Mr. Arkin said that robots can replace people working in dull, dirty and dangerous jobs. We can get people out of those jobs and retrain them for something else and put robots there, he added. The scientist spoke about the uses of robots in different sectors such as military, healthcare, mining and e-commerce among others. The robots have been a part of factory floor for decades now. Amazon has been using them in their warehouses. The Da Vinci Systems has developed little surgical robots that can assist physicians when they have micro tremors in the hands. It can also conduct operations and go through much smaller holes in the body than a human would have to do to remove something, said Mr. Arkin. He also revealed that his team is currently doing a research for using robots in agriculture. The farmers can have a bunch of robots scattered across the agricultural land to keep track of the water and know how well hydrated the plants are. It is called precision agriculture that can enable farmers to reduce the environmental damage and costs by not wasting water or spraying too much of pesticides, he explained. Mr. Arkin is also testing to see whether robots can help patients suffering from Parkinsons disease. The aim is to reduce the likelihood stigmatization which happens between patients and caregivers and if it succeeds, it will improve the quality of life, he said. The patients can use robots as their companions because the caregivers may lack empathy after a certain period of time. The professor said that there are some policy challenges that need to be addressed to leverage the full potential of robotics. Uber is causing a riot in San Francisco because they are not obeying law. However, the purpose is to reduce fatalities because people get drunk, angry, make mistakes and fall asleep while driving and driverless cars wont do that. People also say that every child that is born today will never drive a car, he added. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Yahoo Inc's secret scanning of customer emails at the behest of a US spy agency is part of a growing push by officials. Yahoo Inc's secret scanning of customer emails at the behest of a US spy agency is part of a growing push by officials to loosen constitutional protections Americans have against arbitrary governmental searches, according to legal documents and people briefed on closed court hearings. The order on Yahoo from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) last year resulted from the government's drive to change decades of interpretation of the US Constitution's Fourth Amendment right of people to be secure against "unreasonable searches and seizures," intelligence officials and others familiar with the strategy told Reuters. The unifying idea, they said, is to move the focus of US courts away from what makes something a distinct search and toward what is "reasonable" overall. The basis of the argument for change is that people are making much more digital data available about themselves to businesses, and that data can contain clues that would lead to authorities disrupting attacks in the United States or on US interests abroad. While it might technically count as a search if an automated program trawls through all the data, the thinking goes, there is no unreasonable harm unless a human being looks at the result of that search and orders more intrusive measures or an arrest, which even then could be reasonable. Civil liberties groups and some other legal experts said the attempt to expand the ability of law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to sift through vast amounts of online data, in some cases without a court order, was in conflict with the Fourth Amendment because many innocent messages are included in the initial sweep. "A lot of it is unrecognizable from a Fourth Amendment perspective," said Orin Kerr, a former federal prosecutor and Georgetown University Law School expert on surveillance. "It's not where the traditional Fourth Amendment law is." But the general counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Robert Litt, said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday that the legal interpretation needed to be adjusted because of technological changes. "Computerized scanning of communications in the same way that your email service provider scans looking for viruses - that should not be considered a search requiring a warrant for Fourth Amendment purposes," said Litt. He said he is leaving his post on Dec. 31 as the end of President Barack Obama's administration nears. DIGITAL SIGNATURE Reuters was unable to determine what data, if any, was handed over by Yahoo after its live email search. The search was first reported by Reuters on Oct. 4. Yahoo and the National Security Agency (NSA) declined to explain the basis for the order. The surveillance court, whose members are appointed by US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, oversees and approves the domestic pursuit of intelligence about foreign powers. While details of the Yahoo search are classified, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters it was aimed at isolating a digital signature for a single person or small team working for a foreign government frequently at odds with America. The ODNI is expected to disclose as soon as next month an estimated number of Americans whose electronic communications have been caught up in online surveillance programs intended for foreigners, US lawmakers said. The ODNI's expected disclosure is unlikely to cover such orders as the one to Yahoo but would encompass those under a different surveillance authority called section 702. That section allows the operation of two internet search programs, Prism and "upstream" collection, that were revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden more than three years ago. Prism gathers the messaging data of targets from Alphabet Inc's Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple among others. Upstream surveillance allows the NSA to copy web traffic to search data for certain terms called "selectors," such as email addresses, that are contained in the body of messages. ODNI's Litt said ordinary words are not used as selectors. The Fourth Amendment applies to the search and seizure of electronic devices as much as ordinary papers. Wiretaps and other surveillance in the internet age are now subject to litigation across the United States. But in the FISC, with rare exceptions, the judges hear only from the executive branch. Their rulings have been appealed only three times, each time going to a review board. Only the government is permitted to appeal from there, and so far it has never felt the need. PUBLIC LEGAL CHALLENGES The FISCs reasoning, though, is heading into public courts. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 5 cited FISC precedents in rejecting an appeal of an Oregon man who was convicted of plotting to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony after his emails were collected in another investigation. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are fighting the expansion of legalized surveillance in Congress and in courts. On Dec. 8, the ACLU argued in the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals that a lawsuit by Wikipedias parent group against the NSA should not have been dismissed by a lower court, which ruled that the nonprofit could not show it had been snooped on and that the government could keep details of the program secret. The concerns of civil libertarians and others have been heightened by President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of conservative Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas to be director of the CIA. Pompeo, writing in the Wall Street Journal in January, advocated expanding bulk collection of telephone calling records in pursuit of Islamic State and its sympathizers who could plan attacks on Americans. Pompeo said the records could be combined with "publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database." Yahoo's search went far beyond what would be required to monitor a single email account. The company agreed to create and then conceal a special program on its email servers that would check all correspondence for a specific string of bits. Trawling for selectors is known as "about" searching, when content is collected because it is about something of interest rather than because it was sent or received by an established target. It is frequently used by the NSA in its bulk upstream collection of international telecom traffic. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an appointed panel established by Congress as part of its post-9/11 expansion of intelligence authority, reported in 2014 that "about" searches "push the program close to the line of constitutional reasonableness." A glimpse of the new legal arguments came in a FISC proceeding last year held to review NSA and FBI annual surveillance targets and four sets of procedures for limiting the spread of information about Americans. Judge Thomas Hogan appointed Amy Jeffress, an attorney at Arnold and Porter and a former national security prosecutor, to weigh in, the first time that court had asked an outside privacy expert for advice before making a decision. Jeffress argued each search aimed at an American should be tested against the Fourth Amendment, while prosecutors said that only overall searching practice had to be evaluated for "reasonableness." Hogan agreed with the government, ruling that even though the Fourth Amendment was all but waived in the initial data gathering because foreigners were the targets, the voluminous data incidentally gathered on Americans could also be used to investigate drug deals or robberies. "While they are targeting foreign intelligence information, they are collecting broader information, and there needs to be strong protections for how that information is used apart from national security," Jeffress told Reuters. ODNI's Litt wrote in a February Yale Law Review article that the new approach was appropriate, in part because so much personal data is willingly shared by consumers with technology companies. Litt advocated for courts to evaluate "reasonableness" by looking at the entirety of the government's activity, including the degree of transparency. Litt told Reuters that he did not mean, however, that the same techniques in "about" searches should be pushed toward the more targeted searches at email providers such as Yahoo. Although speaking generally, he said: "My own personal approach to this is you should trade off broader collection authority for stricter use authority," so that more is taken in but less is acted upon. This position strikes some academics and participants in the process as a remarkable departure from what the highest legal authority in the land was thinking just two years ago. That was when the Supreme Court's Roberts wrote for a majority in declaring that mobile phones usually could not be searched without warrants. After prosecutors said they had protocols in place to protect phone privacy, Roberts wrote: "Probably a good idea, but the Founders did not fight a revolution to gain the right to government agency protocols." With little evidence that the Supreme Court agrees with the surveillance court, it remains possible it would reverse the trend. But a case would first need to make its way up there. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. United Nations: Outgoing UN chief Ban Ki-moon has asked India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue and exercise restraint as he maintained his concern over the increase in tensions between the two neighbours along the Line of Control in recent months. The Secretary-General, whose 10-year tenure at the world organisation's helm will end this month, has had a "very consistent position" on the situation in Kashmir, his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in United Nations on Wednesday in response to a question on tensions between India and Pakistan. "All I can say is the Secretary-General has had a very consistent position. One fact we expressed even just last month, which is to say that he is following with concern the increase in tensions along the Line of Control and that he urges the Governments of India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and encourages them to continue their efforts to resolve their differences peacefully and through dialogue," Haq said. When asked by a Pakistani reporter that the Secretary- General has been "very reluctant" throughout his term to talk about the Indian-Pakistan conflict, Haq said he disagrees with such assessment. "I would disagree with you on that. We've had statements, including on the situations between India and Pakistan and on specifically on Kashmir. There have been statements and notes to correspondents. The last one was just a few weeks back, so I would just refer you back to those," Haq said. In a statement issued last month, Ban had expressed deep concern about the "deterioration" of the situation along the Line of Control in Kashmir and called on all involved to prioritise the restoration of calm and stability in order to prevent any further escalation and loss of life. Ban has said that his good offices are available to India and Pakistan if "accepted by both sides". Throughout the year, Pakistan brought up the Kashmir issue at various UN fora but its attempts to internationalise the Kashmir issue did not find resonance among the rest of the 191 member states of the UN. Icahn, an early supporter of Trump's White House bid who has at times been outspoken about regulation, has already helped the transition team weigh candidates to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Photo: Youtube grab) Washington: Billionaire Carl Icahn will advise Donald Trump on rescinding what the activist investor called "excessive regulation" on US businesses, the president-elect's transition team announced on Wednesday. Icahn will serve as a special adviser, not a federal employee, and he will not have specific duties, Trump's team said in a statement. He will not take a salary, a transition aide said. The pick could draw scrutiny because Icahn, whose major investments include insurer American International Group and oil refining business CVR Energy, could help shape rules meant to police Wall Street and protect the environment. In the transition team statement released on Wednesday, Icahn said it was time to "break free of excessive regulation" and let businesses create jobs. Icahn, an early supporter of Trump's White House bid who has at times been outspoken about regulation, has already helped the transition team weigh candidates to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. He has held meetings at his New York City office, not far from Trump Tower but away from reporters staked out there, people familiar with the talks said. Current SEC Chair Mary Jo White will leave in January. Candidates to replace her have included former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins and Debra Wong Yang, a former federal prosecutor, a source familiar with the matter said. Over the years, Icahn's businesses have had occasional regulatory run-ins, according to disclosures with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He is a large investor in nutrition supplement maker Herbalife, which said at one time it was investigated by the SEC. "Voters who wanted Trump to drain the swamp just got another face full of mud," Democratic National Committee spokesman Eric Walker said in a statement, referring to Trump's pledge to clean up Washington. Icahn, who was once known as a corporate raider, said in a recent Reuters interview the 2010 Dodd-Frank banking law "went too far." He is a critic of the U.S. biofuels program that requires oil companies to use renewable fuels such as ethanol. "I do believe that, to some extent, we have gone overboard concerning the environment. But I leave that to the experts in that area," Icahn told CNN in a recent interview. Trump and Icahn share some history in the casino business. Icahn this year helped shutter the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resorts in Atlantic City, two years after buying it out of bankruptcy. The casino was once a prized part of Trump's empire. Syrian rebels look at the wreckage of a Russian military transport helicopter shot down between Idlib province, and neighbouring Aleppo. (Photo: AFP) United Nations: France and Britain are pushing the UN Security Council to ban the sale of helicopters to Syria and to impose the first sanctions over the use of chemical weapons in the five-year war. A draft resolution obtained by AFP on Wednesday calls for asset freezes and travel bans against four Syrian officials and 10 entities including a Syrian research center tied to chemical weapons development. Diplomats however said the measure is certain to be vetoed by Russia, Syria's ally, which has blocked council action on Syria with six vetoes so far. A vote at the council is expected as early as next week. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that several units of the Syrian army had used toxic weapons against three villages in northern Syria in 2014 and 2015. It was the first time an international probe blamed President Bashar Al-Assad's forces after years of denial from Damascus. Government helicopters flying from two regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, the panel's latest report said. Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia. British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said there must be "significant measures" to follow up on the panel's findings and called for sanctions. "We'll be pursuing that with our council colleagues and circulating a draft shortly," he told reporters. Russia however has said that the report's findings are "inconclusive" and not strong enough to warrant sanctions. Under the proposed measure, the council would demand that all UN member-states "prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer" to the Syrian military and government of "any helicopters, or related materiel including spare parts." A UN committee that oversees a sanctions blacklist for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State would also be tasked with adding names of those responsible for a mustard gas attack in Syria in 2015. The UN panel concluded that IS fighters were behind that attack. The mandate for the joint investigation was recently extended for another year to allow it to investigate chemical attacks that have been reported in Syria this year. The OPCW is investigating more than 20 alleged cases of use of toxic chemicals in Syria since August, the director general told AFP last month. The Panama Papers leak in April -- an unprecedented data dump -- triggered much of the outrage early in 2016. Panama City: From the Panama Papers to the impeachments of the presidents of Brazil and South Korea, 2016 was a year marked by corruption scandals, and by rising public outrage over graft. The question is, will that translate into a lasting demand for cleaner politics? "A new phenomenon" is being seen, said Jose Ugaz, a renowned Peruvian lawyer and the chairman of Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog, who expressed cautious optimism. "What we are facing today is very different to what we were facing 27 years ago," when Transparency International was founded, he said. "Around the world we are seeing this kind of corruption that affects the people -- and we are seeing a mobilisation of the people against it," he said. "I think it has been a difficult year -- but at the same time, it gives hope for the future." The Panama Papers leak in April -- an unprecedented data dump -- triggered much of the outrage early in 2016. Offshore companies used by many of the world are famous, wealthy or powerful, or kin or aides close to them, were exposed. Among them were the leaders, or relatives of the leaders, of Saudi Arabia, China, Malaysia, Syria, Pakistan, Argentina and Ukraine. Also implicated was a close friend of President Vladimir Putin, as well as current or former government officials in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East -- more than 140 politicians and public officials in all. The revelations forced Iceland's prime minister to resign and embarrassed Britain's then-prime minister David Cameron. China, although in the midst of an anti-corruption drive that has netted more than a million officials, suppressed the Panama Papers information relating to Xi's family in domestic media and online forums. That bolstered suspicions among observers that relatives of the Communist Party elite remained untouchable in the crackdown on graft. "There is a double standard," said Willy Lam, professor of politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "The publication of the Panama Papers reminds us of the rapid expansion and power of transparency," the head of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, told a London anti-corruption summit in May. He urged more transparency, stressing that "corruption is, quite simply, stealing from the poor." Trump issued a statement about the Berlin attack in which he said that ISIS and other Islamist terrorists "continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad." (Photo: AFP) Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday that attacks this week in Berlin and Ankara proved he was correct to propose curbing Muslim immigration to the United States. "What's going on is terrible, terrible," Trump told reporters, when asked about the truck attack that killed 12 people at a Christmas market in Berlin and the killing of Russia's ambassador to Turkey. ISIS claimed responsibility for the Berlin killings though US officials say they had seen no evidence that the terrorist group had directed the attack. The assassin in Turkey shouted about the war in Syria as he shot dead the envoy from Moscow, which aids Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels in that country's civil war. Trump was asked by reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, if Monday's violence would affect his consideration of a ban on Muslims entering the United States or of a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries. "You know my plans. All along, I've been proven to be right. 100 percent correct. What's happening is disgraceful," Trump said. At one point in his election campaign, Trump called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country as a means of fighting terrorism, drawing widespread criticism at home and abroad. He later rephrased this to propose temporarily suspending immigration from regions deemed as exporting terrorism and where safe vetting cannot be ensured. However US-born citizens, rather than immigrants, were involved in some of the main attacks in the United States in recent years, including the mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub in June. On Monday, Trump issued a statement about the Berlin attack in which he said that ISIS and other Islamist terrorists "continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad." But when asked about his reference to Christians, the president-elect on Wednesday appeared to soften his response: "It's an attack on humanity, and it's gotta be stopped." Current and former US officials had reacted with dismay to Trump's original language, saying it could inflame anti-Western sentiment among Muslims and erode cooperation from Muslim communities that they view as central to quashing such attacks. Trump has been critical of Obama, and of his Democratic rival in the November presidential election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for what he says is a reluctance to clearly name Islamist terrorism as a threat. It is a revolutionary step, that will transform India. It would propel India on the path of becoming a developed country in the years to come, an Indian-American said. (Photo: Representational Image) Washington: Commending the demonetisation move by the NDA government, a group of Indian-Americans have said that this would not only help eliminate corruption and fight terrorism, but also fast track digitization of economy. The Indian-Americans, participating in a panel discussion on demonetisation in Long Island New York, said demonetisation move was step that was "long due" and this would help them realise their dream of a "corruption-free, transparent and developed" India. "It is a revolutionary step, that will transform India. It would propel India on the path of becoming a developed country in the years to come," said Jagdish Sewhani, president of the American India Public Affairs Committee, which had organised the seminar on demonetisation. Not only the decision was daring and required a decisive leadership, but also the implementation in itself was a Himalayan task, he said. "Think about the scale of operation. 125 billion people and replacing more than 80 per cent of the currency at a notice of just four hours. Indian government has come out with flying colours in the monumental implementation of this decision," Sewhani said, adding no other country would have implemented it better. Referring to the opposition to demonetisation, Sewhani said surprisingly it is coming from those who earlier wanted the government to fight against corruption. Ajay Lodha, president of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (APPI), said the Indian-American doctors fully support the move. "This would help us realise our dream of a corruption-free India," he said, adding that he would convey the sentiments of Indian-American doctors in Bangalore next month where he would be attending the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. "We are happy that such a step has finally been taken," Lodha said. Dr Shashi Shah, president of the Association of Indians in America, said there is great enthusiasm among Indian Americans on the latest step being taken by the Prime Minister with regard to fight against corruption, demonetisation and digitisation of economy. Hamid, an executive at software firm Axact, was arrested on Monday, according to a statement by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. (Representational image) Washington: The executive of a Pakistani company was charged in a U.S. federal court on Wednesday for his part in an alleged $140 million "fake-diploma mill" scheme, the latest step in a global crackdown touched off by arrests in Pakistan last year. Umair Hamid, 30, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scam that impacted tens of thousands of consumers. Hamid, an executive at software firm Axact, was arrested on Monday, according to a statement by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Hamid's lawyer could not be immediately identified. An email sent to Axact seeking comment bounced back. Pakistan had asked U.S. authorities last year to help it investigate Axact, which had been suspected of earning millions of dollars from the sale of bogus university degrees online. Hamid resumed selling fake diplomas, duping U.S. consumers into paying upfront fees to enroll in fake high schools and colleges even after Pakistani authorities shut Axact down in May 2015, according to Bharara's statement. "Hamid allegedly took hefty upfront fees from young men and women seeking an education, leaving them with little more than useless pieces of paper," Bharara said. He was acquitted off all charges in 2008 after a DNA test was conducted. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab) Tennessee: A 61-year-old man from Tennessee, who was imprisoned for 31 years for a crime he didnt commit, had petitioned the state to offer him USD 1 million as compensation but has so far received only USD 75. According to a CNN report, Lawrence McKinney, who was 22 at the time, was accused of raping a Memphis woman at her home. The woman was raped by two intruders and McKinney was identified as one of them by her in the year 1977. He was convicted of rape and burglary charges in 1978 and sentenced to 115 years in jail. However he was acquitted off all charges in 2008 after a DNA test was conducted. He was given $75 check by the Tennessee Department of Corrections to restart his life. "Because I had no ID it took me three months before I was able to cash it", McKinney said. His request to the governor to exonerate him was denied by a 7-0 vote by the Tennessee Board of Parole, which makes recommendations to the governor, Bill Haslam. Melissa McDonald, spokesperson for the Tennessee Board of Parole said the board had taken into consideration all the documents related to the crime, conviction, subsequent appeals and information given by the petitioner but didnt find clear evidence of innocence and declined his request. However, Jack Lowery, one of McKinneys attorneys said that the parole board is not qualified to make these decisions. For the parole board to step in when many (of them) are not trained in the law is ridiculous, he added. McKinney had initially applied for the same in 2010 when Phil Bredsen was the governor but he never acted on the boards recommendation against exoneration. This is McKinneys second and last chance for exoneration. McKinney said, Although I've spent more than half of my life locked up for a crime I did not do, I am not bitter or angry at anyone, because I have found the Lord and married a good wife. All I ask is that I be treated right and fair for what has happened to me. I didn't do anything, and I just want to be treated right. Washington: A federal board responsible for protecting Americans against abuses by spy agencies is in disarray just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will have only two remaining members as of January 7 - and zero Democrats, even though it is required to operate as an independent, bipartisan agency. The vacancies mean it will lack the minimum three members required to conduct business and can work only on ongoing projects. Trump would have to nominate new members who would have to be confirmed by the Senate. The board was revitalized after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's disclosures on the scope of US spying in 2013. It notably concluded that the NSA's phone surveillance program was illegal. Since then, it has been crucial in ensuring members of Congress and the public have a window into the highly secretive and classified world of intelligence agencies. But it's unclear whether Trump will support robust intelligence oversight. During his campaign, Trump appeared to support strengthened intelligence overall and surveillance of mosques, but he's more recently expressed distrust of intelligence agencies. The Trump transition team didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Jim Dempsey, a Democrat, will leave the board January 3 because for months the Senate has not confirmed his re-nomination by President Barack Obama. And former US Judge Patricia Wald, the only other Democrat, informed the White House in December that she intends to retire effective January 7. The board also will lose its Executive Director, Sharon Bradford Franklin, who plans to step down before Trump's presidency, according to an individual with knowledge of the board's operations who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Already in limbo is a public oversight report on the use of a Reagan-era executive order that since 1981 has authorized sweeping powers by intelligence agencies like the NSA to spy even on innocent Americans abroad and never has been subject to meaningful oversight from Congress or courts. The senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein of California, has said her committee has not been able to sufficiently oversee programs operated under the order. The privacy panel's report on the order is stalled and there's no work being done on it, according to the individual, who has knowledge about the project's status. Some individual agency reports related to the order were expected to be completed before the board loses its quorum, the person said. Another review, of a 2014 presidential directive that details US signals-intelligence activities for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, is on track to be released before Jan. 20, the individual said. That review was requested by Obama. One of the board's two remaining Republicans, Rachel Brand, whose term officially expires in January, could continue through March. If Trump were to move forward with any board nomination, she may continue through the end of the year. Should Brand leave, Republican Elisebeth Collins would become the last board member; her term ends in January 2020. The oversight board was created by statute in 2007. Its members serve part-time and are required to be able to maintain a top-secret clearance. While lacking enforcement ability to impose its recommendations on the intelligence community, the board does have the "power of persuasion and invoking public concern about issues," said former board chairman David Medine, a Democrat who resigned a year early, in July, to work for a development organization. That power is significantly diminished without the minimum three members necessary to report findings to the public. The board's review of intelligence agencies' use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the NSA used to conduct bulk collection of domestic telephone records, concluded their program was illegal and should be shut down. That finding split along party lines with the Democrats in the majority. The review also drove passage of the USA Freedom Act, which went into effect in November 2015. It prevents the government's bulk collection of Americans' phone records and requires a request to a phone company first to be vetted by the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rather than an internal agency administrator. Congress has at various points, including in the 2017 intelligence budget bill, put in provisions to limit the board's authorities or constrain its spending. Senator Ron Wyden, Democratic-Oregon, said in an emailed statement that the panel's role as a government watchdog is "absolutely critical now." He said Congress needs to ensure the board functions as intended by defending its authority and making sure its new members are committed to independent oversight. The board contributes "important information to the public discourse and debate," said Neema Singh Guliani, legislative counsel with the ACLU. But if it can't do its job, maybe "we're in the same lack of oversight that led to the abuses of the past." Beijing: China's foreign minister on Thursday warned that ties with the US will likely see new complications and that the only way to maintain a stable relationship is by respecting each other's "core interests." Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks appeared to underscore that China's position on Taiwan is non-negotiable, weeks after President-elect Donald Trump suggested that he could re-evaluate US policy on the status of Taiwan. Wang told the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, he will strive to boost cooperation with the US but foresaw "new, complicated and uncertain factors affecting bilateral relations" under the Trump administration. China complained after Trump, in December, questioned a US policy that since 1979 has recognized Beijing as China's government and maintains only unofficial relations with Taiwan. The President-elect's comments on Taiwan, combined with accusations that China is manipulating its currency and threats of imposing hefty tariffs against Chinese imports, have rattled relations between the world's two largest economies. Trump's transition team announced Wednesday that Peter Navarro, a University of California, Irvine, economist who has accused China of effectively waging economic war against the United States, would head a trade policy council inside the White House. Still, US-China relations are generally trending toward stable cooperation and mutual benefit, Wang said. He quoted a Chinese poem - previously used by President Xi Jinping as a metaphor for US-China ties - depicting a river that flows inevitably, regardless of mountainous obstacles. Beijing regards the self-governing island as part of China. It has long used the "core interest" formulation to signal that its position on Taiwan will be upheld under any circumstances and any move by Taiwan toward formal independence could be met with military force. Beijing: China's official media on Thursday warned India against using the Dalai Lama "card", saying New Delhi should stop behaving like a "spoilt kid" and learn lessons from how China handled Donald Trump after the US President-elect challenged 'One-China' policy. "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world.' India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is shortsighted," an article in the state-run Global Times said. It said India "should draw some lessons from the recent interactions between Beijing and Trump over Taiwan." "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent countermeasures, and must have understood that China's bottom line - sovereign integrity and national unity - is untouchable," the paper said. While the article did not elaborate on counter measures, China besides protesting to Trump over his phone call to the Taiwanese President and his comments questioning One-China policy, also seized an "unmanned underwater vehicle" in the disputed South China Sea, the first such incident in the area. The drone was returned subsequently after protests from US and Mr Trump, an incident seen as an attempt by China to flex its muscles ahead of the President-elect taking over office in January. The drone operated by a US survey vessel in the South China Sea was seized by a Chinese navy ship. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage?," the article sounding strident in it tone and tenor said, referring to India going to Mongolia's assistance by granting $1 billion aid after Beijing imposed a blockade in retaliation to Ulaanbaatar hosting Dalai Lama in November despite China protests. The Mongolian Ambassador to India had sought New Delhi's help to overcome China's counter measures. However, the Mongolian government has given in and pledged that it will never invite Dalai Lama again. Blood stains are seen on the wall at a parliament member's house after a late night attack in western Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo: AP) Kabul: Afghan police say gunmen have stormed the home of a lawmaker in the capital, killing eight people and leaving the parliamentarian wounded after he jumped from the roof to escape. The Taliban claimed the attack, which began late on Wednesday, saying they targeted a meeting of military officials. Police officer Sadiq Muradi says the gunmen attacked the house of Mir Wali, a lawmaker from the restive southern Helmand province. They battled his guards for several hours, eventually killing eight people, including family members, friends and members of his security detail. Three attackers were killed. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack. Vladimir Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to the widow of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, Marina during a farewell ceremony at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow, Russia. (Photo: AP) Moscow: A US-based Muslim cleric on Thursday condemned the killing of Russia's envoy to Turkey and rejected accusations that his movement was behind the attack. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara earlier this week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has implicated Fethullah Gulen in the killing, saying the policeman had links to his movement. In a video address, Gulen accused the Turkish government of blaming and defaming his movement and suggested the government would facilitate other assassinations and blame them on his followers. Gulen said "it is not possible for them to convince the world of such accusations." Russia flew a team of 18 investigators and foreign ministry officials to Turkey to participate in the investigation. Foreign ministry officials and members of parliaments have gathered at the Russian foreign ministry's headquarters for a farewell ceremony. Diplomats and officials laid flowers at the open casket with an honorary guard standing by. "Those who raised a hand against Ambassador Karlov, who took his life will definitely fail in their attempts to stop Russia from cooperating with other countries including Turkey," Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. President Vladimir Putin arrived at the end of the ceremony, laid flowers at the casket, offered condolences to the ambassador's widow and left. Karlov's casket was then carried out of the foreign ministry's building and taken for a funeral service at Moscow's main Christ the Savior Cathedral. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said at the beginning of the service that the ambassador died a "martyr's death." Kirill and other clerics, all dressed in ceremonial white robes, took part in the service that is expected to last for at least an hour. Karlov will be laid to rest in Moscow later Thursday. The photo which was sent to European police authorities and obtained by AP on Wednesday shows Tunisian national Anis Amri who is wanted by German police for an alleged involvement in the Berlin Christmas market attack. (Photo: AP) Berlin: German police are looking for an asylum-seeker from Tunisia after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of a truck that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market and killed 12 people, officials and security sources said on Wednesday. The federal prosecutor's office offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($104,000) for information leading to the capture of the suspect, whom it identified as 24-year-old Anis Amri. "Beware: He could be violent and armed!" the prosecutor's office said in a statement, in which it described Amri as 1.78 metres (5'8") tall, with black hair and brown eyes. German police commandos raided two apartments in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg late on Wednesday but did not find Amri, Die Welt newspaper reported, citing investigators. Amri's father and security sources told Tunisia's Radio Mosaique that he had left Tunisia seven years ago as an illegal immigrant and had spent time in prison in Italy. In Duesseldorf, Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), said the Tunisian appeared to have arrived in Germany in July 2015 and his asylum application had been rejected. He seemed to have used different names and had been identified by security agencies as being in contact with an Islamist network. He had mainly lived in Berlin since February, but was recently in NRW, Jaeger added. After being turned down for asylum, the man should have been deported but could not be returned to Tunisia because his documents were missing, he said. "Tunisia at first denied that this person was its citizen," said Jaeger, adding that German authorities started the process of getting new identity papers in August 2016. "The papers weren't issued for a long time. They arrived today." A judicial source told Reuters that German authorities had observed Amri over a period this year to try to determine whether he had planned a robbery to fund the purchase of automatic weapons for a possible attack with accomplices. Authorities stopped their monitoring activities because they could not prove their suspicions, the source said. Questions The new details have added to a growing list of questions about whether security forces missed opportunities to prevent the attack, in which a 25-tonne truck mowed down shoppers and smashed through wooden huts selling gifts, mulled wine and sausages in the deadliest attack on German soil since 1980. Christmas markets have been a known potential target for Islamist militants since at least 2000, when authorities thwarted a plot to attack one in Strasbourg, France. And the modus operandi in Berlin was identical to that of a Bastille Day attack in the French city of Nice in July, when a Tunisian-born man rammed a lorry through a seaside crowd and killed 86 people. The market at the scene of Monday's attack, at the foot of the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, stayed shut on Wednesday, but more than 60 other Christmas markets across the German capital re-opened under tightened security. "We don't want to let the terrorists win. If everyone stays away, they are winning," said tourist Nicki Anning at the Gendarmenmarkt Square in central Berlin. Berlin authorities said 12 people seriously injured in Monday's attack were still being treated in hospital. The pre-Christmas carnage at a symbolic site - under the ruined spire of a church bombed in World War Two - has shocked Germans and prompted security reviews across Europe, already on high alert after attacks this year in Belgium and France. The possible - though unproven - involvement of a migrant or refugee has revived a bitter debate about security and immigration, with Chancellor Angela Merkel facing calls to clamp down after allowing more than a million newcomers into Germany in the past two years. Merkel, who will run for a fourth term next year, has said it would be particularly repugnant if a refugee seeking protection in Germany was the perpetrator. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump condemned the Berlin attack on Wednesday, blaming "Islamist terrorists (who) continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad". "It's an attack on humanity and it's gotta be stopped," he told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida. Police initially arrested a Pakistani asylum-seeker near the scene, but released him without charge on Tuesday. The Polish driver of the hijacked truck was found shot dead in the cabin of the vehicle. Bild newspaper said he had been alive until the attack took place. It also quoted an investigator as saying there must have been a struggle with the attacker, who may have been injured. ISIS claim Islamic State has claimed responsibility, as it did for the Nice attack. The Passauer Neue Presse newspaper quoted the head of the group of interior ministers from Germany's 16 federal states, Klaus Bouillon, as saying tougher security measures were needed. "We want to raise the police presence and strengthen the protection of Christmas markets. We will have more patrols. Officers will have machine guns. We want to make access to markets more difficult, with vehicles parked across them," Bouillon told the paper. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told German radio there was a higher risk of Islamist attacks because of the influx of migrants in the past two years, many of whom have fled conflicts in countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The task of tracking the suspects and the movements of the truck may be complicated by the relative scarcity of security cameras in public places in Germany, compared with countries such as Britain. The German cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft law to broaden video surveillance in public and commercial areas, a measure agreed by political parties last month after violent attacks and sexual assaults on women. State surveillance is a sensitive issue in Germany because of extensive snooping by the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany and by the Gestapo in the Nazi era. London: Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited a Gurdwara in Southall to discuss the importance of tackling hate crime against Sikhs, amid reports of increased hate crimes after the Brexit vote. Rudd met with Sikh leaders, community groups, local charities and the Sikh Council UK at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Southall, London and discussed about work underway to bring the community together to beat hatred. "The Sikh community plays an important role in the diverse Britain that works for everyone and I was delighted to visit the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara and hear about the important work taking place to unite the community," she said. "Hate crime has absolutely no place in our society and it is vital we protect those who follow this peaceful religion. That is why I've made over 3 million pounds available to protect places of worship and for community projects to combat hatred, and I'd urge all Gurdwaras and Sikh groups to consider whether this funding could help them," Rudd added. Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara plays an important role in the Government's Near Neighbours programme, which brings together people from different faiths and backgrounds in diverse areas so they can work together to improve their communities, she noted. "The Sikh Council UK welcomes the visit by the Home Secretary to a landmark Gurdwara in the heart of a diverse community. This was a great opportunity to see first-hand the Sikh ethos of self help and community cohesion in action," Sikh Council UK Secretary General Gurmel Singh said. "The Home Secretary's commitment towards tackling hate crime and improving community cohesion is acknowledged, and the role faith can play in modern Britain is very well received by the community," he said. The Home Secretary's latest engagement with the Sikh community comes after she co-hosted a roundtable for faith representatives with the Communities Secretary in November, with attendees including the Sikh Council and Lord Singh CBE from the Network of Sikh Organisations. The Home Secretary published the Hate Crime Action Plan in July, which included measures to combat racial and religious hate crime. Alongside action to encourage greater reporting and tougher sentences, she announced 2.4 million pounds that places of worship which are at risk of, or which have been victims of, hate crime can apply for to fund security measures such as CCTV or fences. The UK has witnessed a "horrible spike" in hate crimes in London following Britain's referendum in June in favour of an exit from the European Union. UK Home Office figures released in October showed racist or religious abuse incidents recorded by police in England and Wales jumped 41% in the month after the UK voted to quit the EU. Lawand Hamadamin had fled Iraq with his parents and brother last year. (Photo: Screengrab) London: A six-year-old disabled Iraqi asylum-seeker who is on Islamic state's hit list has pleaded to the UK government to allow him to stay in the country. According to a report in the Mirror, Lawand Hamadamin had fled Iraq with his parents and brother last year after the terror group announced that all disabled children should be killed by a lethal injection. As soon as the news about the execution spread, Hamadamin fled the country with his family and arrived in UK in September. He was placed at the Royal School for Deaf and Derby where he learnt sign language. However, his family has been asked to move to Germany within a week by January 9, 2017. Hamadamin's family had spent a year at a refugee camp in Dunkirk, France before they reached UK. The 37-year-old widow fled last month to Khazir camp, where she receives counselling from UNFPA, a United Nations agency focused on gender-based violence. (Photo: AP, Representational Image) Khazir, Iraq: One wrong word to an Islamic State fighter in Mosul last year was all it took to set in motion a harrowing chain of events for an Iraqi woman who became so traumatised that she trembled in fear even after escaping the groups control. The widowed mother was being vetted to receive a pension from the ultra-hardline Islamists a few months after they seized the northern city in 2014 and turned it into the Iraqi capital of their self-styled caliphate. I made the mistake of telling them my husband had been a victim of terrorism, she said in an interview on Tuesday at a government-run camp in Khazir, east of Mosul. One of them hit me and broke my teeth. Then they took me to a house and held me for three days. The jihadists locked her up in a filthy room with rats and bugs. She was blindfolded and her arms and legs were bound by chains as one of the men - or perhaps several, she couldnt tell - raped her over and over again, she said. Islamic State, which is putting up fierce resistance to a US-backed offensive to retake Mosul, the groups last major stronghold in Iraq, has been accused of massacre, enslavement and rape since it swept across large swathes of the countrys north and west in 2014. There was no way of verifying her story, but it reflected others experiences coming to light as civilians from the most populous city ever controlled by the jihadists emerge from their grip and grapple with 2-1/2 years of suffering. A 13-year-old girl who also spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity said her father had married her to a neighbour four years her senior who turned out to be with Islamic State. The slender adolescent now clutching a pink sequined purse said he had threatened to kill her and permitted his brothers to sexually assault her. After escaping Mosul a few weeks ago, she learned he had made it to a nearby camp and informed the authorities. They detained him, but the pair remain married. The 37-year-old widow fled last month to Khazir camp, where she receives counselling from UNFPA, a United Nations agency focused on gender-based violence. She asked that her name be withheld for fear of retribution and donned a face veil that revealed only her eyes. When Islamic State released her after the assault, the diminutive, round-faced woman returned home thinking her nightmare was over. She sent her two younger children - now 9 and 11 - to stay with relatives in the nearby Kurdish city of Erbil and planned to join them as soon as she could save enough money to smuggle herself and her eldest son. But a few weeks later she discovered she was pregnant with the child of one of her Islamic State tormentors. In addition to the trauma of being raped, she feared the stigma in Iraqs conservative society of an unmarried woman giving birth. Within two months she had rushed into marriage with a man who had agreed to adopt the child as his own. Die of hunger or get married They were forcing widows to get married. This was one of their rules: either die of hunger or get married, said the woman, who occasionally wept and fidgeted with her hands underneath a loose-fitting garment. Her new husband, though, also had a troubled past. An engineering student in his last year of university, he had been sentenced to death in connection with a crime of honour before Islamic State-seized Mosul. In jail, he befriended jihadists who helped him escape when the group routed government forces in 2014. Soon after the pair married, Islamic State gave the man an ultimatum: fight with us or we kill you. He yielded, and his new wife found herself back in the militants clutches. When her family living outside Mosul learned that she was now married to an Islamic State member, they severed all connections with her. Her late husbands brother took custody of her two young children and moved them to Baghdad, vowing never to let her see them again. When Iraqi forces reached her neighbourhood last month, she said, they detained her new husband to investigate his jihadist ties. She took her eldest son with her to the camp but left the baby, now just over a year old, with her new husbands second wife who remains in Mosul. His fate and that of hundreds or perhaps thousands of other children born to the jihadists remains unclear as the group loses much of its territory and its bid for statehood. They think this is the son of their father, they dont know the truth, the mother said of the second wifes family. The boy doesnt look like me. She has resolved never to return to Mosul, even if Islamic State is eliminated. I want to go somewhere far away where nobody knows me. The driver locked the woman after they had an argument. (Representational Image) Dubai: A 27-year-old Indian driver allegedly locked up two women inside his car when they refused to pay him fare on May 27 in Dubai, a trial court in the city was informed. The accused, however, denied the charges in the court. Khaleej Times reported that a Sri Lankan security guard was informed about the incident by a receptionist when he was on his shift at 4:30 am at a hotel. The guard said to the prosecutor that there were two women and one of them was locked inside the car. He found out that the driver had automatically locked the car with the woman inside. When asked about why he locked up the women, the driver replied that the women didnt pay him his fare of Dh20. The woman, however, told the guard that the money was not the problem. During the investigation, the women claimed that the driver rode for a short distance without starting the meter and then demanded a higher fare, which they refused to pay. The driver locked the woman after they had an argument. She then tried to click his picture in front of me with her mobile phone but he pretended he would slap her to scare her", the guard said. A statement of the trips made by driver showed that he drove from an apartment hotel to a pharmacy in Marina, lasting for about 7 minutes at a cost of Dh12. The next hearing is scheduled on January 10. Damascus: Days after a seven-year-old girl walked into a Damascus police station and blew it up, it has emerged that she was sent on the suicide mission by her jihadi parents who detonated her suicide vest from afar with a remote control. A video footage showing the young suicide bomber with her parents radicalising her is doing the rounds on the internet. In the video, the man asks one of the girls what she is going to do today to which she replies that she is going to carry out a suicide bombing in Damascus, Daily mail reports. He later asks one of his daughter, You are not going to be afraid because you are going to the heavens, right?, and she answers with a yes. In another video, their mother repeatedly hugged her daughters, Islam, 7 and Fatima, 9. A man behind the camera asked the woman why she is sending her young daughters to jihad. 'No one is young when it comes to jihad as every Muslim is supposed to participate in jihad, she replied. Both children said Allah Akbar on the mans request before he started his prayers. On December 16, the seven-year-old girl walked into Damascus police station. A police source told the Al-Watan , a daily newspaper, that the girl appeared lost and asked for the bathroom when the explosives went off. Three police officers were wounded in the explosion. It is still unclear which jihadist group was behind the attack. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed there had been a blast in Midan but said it could not specify the cause. Rehman was presented before a Cantonment magistrate who sentenced him to three-and-half-month imprisonment for living in Pakistan without a valid visa. (Photo: Representational Image/AFP) Lahore: An Indian national has been sentenced to over three months in jail by a local court for overstaying in Pakistan. Rehanur Rehman was arrested last week from Cantonment area of Lahore and a case was registered against him for staying in the country. His visa was reportedly expired in December second week. Rehman was on Wednesday presented before a Cantonment magistrate who sentenced him to three-and-half-month imprisonment for living in Pakistan without a valid visa. He will be deported back to India after he serves his sentence. Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday accused India of settling non-Kashmiris in Jammu in an attempt to change the demographic composition of the region. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria made the allegations at the weekly press briefing in Islamabad. "Reportedly, PDP-BJP regime...in violation of UNSC Resolutions, has started issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu region. The move is part of the regime's nefarious designs to change the demographic composition of the territory," he said. "This act of bringing material change in the disputed territory of Jammu & Kashmir is a blatant violation of UNSC Resolutions on Kashmir. Kashmiris have hopes that international community and relevant international organizations will call India to the account," he alleged. He said that at an International European Kashmir Conference in Denmark in November, representatives of 500 political and social organisations and NGOs adopted a declaration, inter alia, seeking release of arrested people. The assassination of Andrei Karlov, Russias envoy in Ankara, by a Turkish police officer has set alarm bells ringing in world capitals. Coming at a time when narrow nationalisms are surging and violence in and around Syria touching unprecedented levels, the assassination of the Russian envoy, it is feared, could ignite a geopolitical powder keg. Fortunately, the immediate responses of the Turkish and Russian governments to the killing have been mature. They have avoided turning on each other. Instead of blaming each other for the assassination, they have taken steps to prevent their recent rapprochement from collapsing. Although the assassins words during the attack Dont forget Aleppo, dont forget Syria appear to link Karlovs killing to Russias bombing of rebel-held districts in Aleppo and other parts of Syria, only a thorough probe will establish the motivation for the assassination. Instead of indulging in dangerous speculation, the Turkish government has played safe by choosing to downplay the Russian roots of the attack. It has described the assassination as aimed at derailing Russo-Turkish reconciliation. Its cautious response is likely to have doused Moscows anger over Turkeys failure to protect the Russian envoy. Ankaras approach has prevented a confrontation with Russia for now. This bodes well not only for Russo-Turkish bilateral relations but also the fragile situation in the region and beyond. Just hours after the assassination of the Russian envoy, an armed person opened fire outside the US embassy in Ankara. Fortunately, he was taken into custody before he could cause harm. Turkey has suffered over a dozen major terrorist attacks over the past year. These have claimed the lives of around 300 people. Flawed policies of its government are partly to blame. Brutal military campaigns against the Kurdish people have provoked Kurdish militias to strike back. But more importantly, the Recep Erdogan governments Islamisation policies have radicalised the Turkish youth, encouraging them to join the jihadists. Additionally, it had backed the anti-(Syrian president Bashar al) Assad militias in Syria. It is likely that Kar-lovs assassin was a product of these ill-conceived, destructive policies. While the Erdogan government has begun taking steps to correct these flawed policies, it has a long way to go. It may be acting against radicalism but the methods it has adopted are fuelling the problem. Erdogans use of coercion, contempt for democratic norms, processes and institutions, and elimination of political dissidents and rivals in the name of fighting terrorism has contributed to a growing number of youth taking up arms to fight his repressive regime. Several of them are joining hands with jihadists to do so. Turkeys fight against radicalism and terrorism will become more complicated if its government doesnt shake off its undemocratic mindset. The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a Kolkata-based businessman here in connection with alleged coversion of over Rs 25 crore in old currency in new notes as part of its probe under money laundering laws after demonetisation. Officials identified the businessman as Paras M Lodha and said he was arrested by the agency here late yesterday here after he was questioned in the case. They said he was first intercepted by its sleuths at the Mumbai airport yesterday, based on a look out circular, while he was reportedly trying to fly out. They said the agency arrested him "in connection with conversion of more than Rs 25 crore of old notes to new notes in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases." ED will produce Lodha in a court here to obtain his further custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). While the Reddy case pertains to Chennai where the Income Tax department has made the biggest detection of unaccounted income of over Rs 142 crore, the Delhi Police and the I-T seized Rs 13.5 crore from a law firm here. The firm belongs to lawyer Rohit Tandon. Reddy was yesterday arrested by the CBI. Officials said the multiple agencies working on these two high-profile cases, involving high ranking individuals, are joining dots of the investigations to prepare a water tight case against those who have either hoarded or generated black funds in the wake of the currency scrap of November 8 by the government. China's official media today warned India against using the Dalai Lama "card", saying New Delhi should stop behaving like a "spoilt kid" and learn lessons from how China handled Donald Trump after the US President-elect challenged 'One-China' policy. "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world.' India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is shortsighted," an article in the state-run Global Times said. It said India "should draw some lessons from the recent interactions between Beijing and Trump over Taiwan." "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent countermeasures, and must have understood that China's bottom line - sovereign integrity and national unity - is untouchable," the paper said. While the article did not elaborate on counter measures, China besides protesting to Trump over his phone call to the Taiwanese President and his comments questioning One-China policy, also seized an "unmanned underwater vehicle" in the disputed South China Sea, the first such incident in the area. The drone was returned subsequently after protests from US and Trump, an incident seen as an attempt by China to flex its muscles ahead of the President-elect taking over office next month. The drone operated by a US survey vessel in the South China Sea was seized by a Chinese navy ship. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage?," the article sounding strident in it tone and tenor said, referring to India going to Mongolia's assistance by granting USD one billion aid after Beijing imposed a blockade in retaliation to Ulaanbaatar hosting Dalai Lama last month despite China protests. The Mongolian Ambassador to India had sought New Delhi's help to overcome China's counter measures. However, the Mongolian government has given in and pledged that it will never invite Dalai Lama again. Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil said Tuesday that Mongolia will not allow the Dalai Lama to visit the country, even in the name of religion, "thus settling a one-month standoff between Mongolia and China", it said. "But a long lingering issue behind it all is how India should handle its relationship with the Dalai Lama," it said, referring to the Tibetan leader's presence at the opening session of Laureates and Leaders for Children Summit at President house presided over by President Pranab Mukherjee. China also objected to that saying India has went ahead with the invitation to Dalai Lama despite Chinas protests. External Affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup responded saying that "India's position is consistent. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a respected spiritual leader. It was a non political event which he attended." However, the article said "New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. President Mukherjee met with the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November." China earlier objected over India granting permission to the Dalai Lama and another Tibetan spiritual leader in exile Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje to Arunachal Pradesh. "After China initiated countermeasures, including cancelling investment talks and imposing additional tolls on Mongolian cargo passing through Chinese territory, the Mongolians later tried to seek support from India, hoping that by allying with China's competitor, Beijing would be forced to give in," the article said. "New Delhi expressed its concerns about Mongolia's well-being, and vaguely pledged to put into effect a credit line of USD one billion it promised to Mongolia in 2015. However, before India's bureaucrats could start, Ulaanbaatar caved in to the reality," it said. It said that India's "way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line. India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China." "India wants to disturb China's pace of development by taking advantage of China's national and international problems, most of which have nothing to do with India's national interests," it said. A combative Rahul Gandhi today hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mocking his yesterday's speech, saying he could make fun of him but needed to answer the charges of personal corruption levelled against him. At a 'jan aakrosh rally' in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Congress vice president told the Prime Minister that he could make fun of him as much as he can but should answer the questions raised by him. "The charges have not been levelled by me alone but by the youth of India who feel cheated as you had promised them jobs," an aggressive Rahul said. Waving sheets of paper which purportedly contained details of charges against Modi having allegedly accepted money from Sahara and Birla groups when he was Gujarat Chief Minister, the Congress vice president asked the Prime Minister to tell whether the documents were correct or not. Sticking to his guns, he alleged Modi as the Gujarat Chief Minister had taken Rs 40 crore from the Sahara group in nine instalments spread over six months in 2013 and 2014. Coming down hard against note ban, he insisted that the Prime Minister came out with the surprise decision not to help the poor but the "super rich 50 families of India". Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Rahul dubbed him as a "super event planner" who had made "perfect planning" to take the money from the poor to help the rich who owe as much as Rs 8 lakh crore to the banks. "Suck the money from the poor and feed the rich. Take the money from 99 per cent and give it to one per cent," he said adding that this was the essence of the note ban and not to weed out black money and help the poor as claimed by Modi. "I will repeat the same question to the PM...Congress wants to eradicate corruption and if the NDA initiates any step in this direction it will be extended full support but this note ban decision is not against corruption or black money. "Modiji said those standing in bank queues are thieves. Today, I saw people standing in front of the banks. Modiji they are not thieves but honest poor," he said, adding that there was not a single rich or "suited, booted" person who is seen on the Prime Minister's aircraft when he goes abroad, standing in the lines. Earlier, Rahul took to twitter to attack the Prime Minister. "Modiji first tell us what was contained in the ten packets from Sahara," the Congress Vice President tweeted in Hindi. Along with the tweet was posted a document purportedly with the Income Tax Department of nine entries from October 2013 to February 14 detailing "cash payments made to Modiji". His comments came close on the heels of the Prime Minister, at a function in Varanasi, ridiculing Rahul's remarks about creating an "earthquake" with accusations of corruption against him. Modi said he is happiest since the Congress leader has "learnt" to speak as he has unwittingly admitted the "failure" of his party's rule. "They have a young leader who is just learning to give speeches. Since the time he has learnt to speak, there is no limit to my happiness. In 2009, you couldn't even tell what is inside this packet and what is not. Now we are finding out," Modi said without naming Rahul. At a rally in Mehsana, home turf of Modi, Rahul had yesterday accused Modi of taking money from Sahara and Birla groups when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister. BJP had rejected the Congress leader's allegations as "baseless, shameful and mala fide". President Vladimir Putin today bade farewell to Andrei Karlov at a packed memorial ceremony in Moscow for the diplomat who was assassinated in Turkey by an off-duty policeman. Dozens of colleagues and relatives attended the ceremony for Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey whose death was labelled by Moscow as an act of terror while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the perpetrator was a member of Fethullah Gulen's group behind the aborted July coup. Putin laid red roses at the foot of Karlov's coffin and spoke with his relatives but left the ceremony without making a statement. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the deceased envoy, who was 62, and paid his respects to his mother Maria, widow Marina and son Gennady, also a diplomat, as the ambassador's body lay in state in a flower-decked coffin. "We are saying goodbye to our friend Andrei Karlov who became a victim of a malicious, vile terrorist attack while in the line of duty," Lavrov said at the ceremony held in the foreign ministry headquarters. "We will never forget Andrei." A religious service was later expected to be held at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill before the ambassador is laid to rest at a cemetery. In terrifying scenes captured on photo and video, 22-year-old policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas shot the ambassador nine times in the back on Monday while he was delivering a speech at an exhibition of photographs of Russia in Ankara. The ambassador fell to the ground and later died in hospital. The assailant, who was off-duty and managed to circumvent the metal detectors by flashing his police credentials, shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and "Don't forget Aleppo" after targeting Karlov and was himself killed in a subsequent shootout with Turkish guards. A group of Russian investigators has been working on the probe in Turkey since Tuesday. Turkish prosecutors today said they have released six relatives of Altintas who were detained for questioning in the wake of the attack. Thirteen people were arrested in the murder probe and police were looking for 120 people, authorities said. Russia has bestowed a prestigious Hero of Russia honour on Karlov posthumously, while his alma mater MGIMO Institute of International Relations has initiated a scholarship in his name. Karlov studied Korean and Japanese as he trained for his diplomatic career and worked for many years in North Korea, including as ambassador between 2001 and 2007. He has served as envoy to Turkey since 2013. Authorities across Europe scrambled today to track down a Tunisian man suspected of driving a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, as one of his brothers urged him to surrender. Nearly three days after the deadly attack that killed 12 people and injured 48 others, the market in the center of the German capital reopened, with concrete blocks in place at the roadside to provide extra security. Organizers at the market decided to ditch party music or bright lighting, and Berliners and visitors have laid candles and flowers at the site in tribute. German authorities issued a wanted notice for Anis Amri yesterday and offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros (USD 104,000) for information leading to the 24-year-old's arrest, warning that he could be "violent and armed." The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and broadcasters NDR and WDR reported Thursday that Amri's fingerprints were found on the driver's door of the Polish-registered truck that caused the mayhem Monday night. The daily Berliner Zeitung reported that his fingerprints were found on the truck's steering wheel. The reports did not name sources and German prosecutors refused to comment on them. One of Amri's brothers still in Tunisia, meanwhile, urged him to stop being a fugitive. "I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it," brother Abdelkader Amri told The Associated Press. He said Amri may have been radicalized in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Several locations across Germany were searched overnight, including a house in the Dortmund and a refugee home in Emmerich on the Dutch border, German media reported. The manhunt also prompted police in Denmark to search a Sweden-bound ferry in the port of Grenaa after receiving tips that someone resembling Amri had been spotted, but police said they found nothing indicating his presence. An Israeli woman, Dalia Elyakim, and 31-year-old Fabrizia Di Lorenzo of Italy were among the 12 killed in the Berlin market attack, their countries said. Di Lorenzo had lived and worked in Berlin for several years. German officials had deemed Amri, who arrived in the country last year, a potential threat long before the attack Monday and even kept him under covert surveillance for six months this year before halting the operation. They had been trying to deport him after his asylum application was rejected in July but were unable to do so because he lacked valid identity papers and Tunisia initially denied that he was a citizen. A document belonging to Amri, who according to authorities has used at least six different names and three different nationalities, was found in the cab of the market attack truck. As a last resort to recover more than Rs 5 crore misappropriated by Holy Cross Church former parish priest Fr Valerian Pinto between May 2008 and May 2015, the parishioners of Holy Cross Church at Cordel in Kulshekar staged a novel protest in front of Bishops House at Kodialbail on Thursday. As part of the protest, similar to Munnabhai style, about 50 parishioners of Cordel took part in a prayer service by wearing black T-shirts with other devotees between 6 pm and 7 pm and then sang Christmas Carols outside the Bishops House with lit candles and then handed over a greeting card to the Bishops representative as the Bishop was not at home. It may be noted here that DH had published a report in these columns on June 3, 2015, charging that crores of rupees were misappropriated by the then parish priest while implementing 21 projects during his tenure in the church. The projects included renovation of church, cemetary and park among others. Subsequently, Bishop Rev Dr Aloysius Paul DSouza had set up an enquiry commission headed by Bendur Parish Priest Fr Antony Serrao with members Fr Valerian DSouza (parish priest of Milagres church), Fr Joseph Martis (Rector of St Joseph Seminary and consultor to bishop), Fr Vincent Monteiro (consultor to bishop) and Fr Willliam Menezes (PRO of the diocese). Finance Committee of Cordel church appointed a fact-finding committee, comprising Bank of Maharashtra former chairman and managing director Allen C Pereira, KCCI former president Capt John Prasad Menezes, St Aloysius College PG Dean Prof Edmunk Frank, St Aloysius College former dean Prof Rolphie Mascanehas and Ladies Club Chairperson Wilma Pais among others. Quite interestingly, both the committees unearthed misappropriation to the tune of over Rs 5 crore. The priest had diverted the church funds to purchase land and had also transferred the funds to some individuals. Apology Meanwhile, in a surprise move, Fr Valerian Pinto in a hand written letter dated May 30, 2016, to the Bishop, claimed that he himself is solely responsible for the misappropriation. He even gave a cheque for Rs 4,89,000 which was not honoured due to insufficient funds (Subsequently, a criminal case has been filed at Mangaluru court). Later much to the embarassment of the bishop, Fr Valerian Pinto made a U-turn and wrote to the Vatican (Rome) charging that the Bishop is part of misappropriation. When queried, the Bishop said that though the priest had voluntarily given a letter of apology and offered to pay back the money according to his means, later on, he changed his stand and started saying that the apology was forced on him. After he changed his stand saying that apology was forced on him, he has started challenging my authority and refused to cooperate with me in settling this issue, the Bishop said and added that he is awaiting a reply from the Vatican. However, Parish Vice President Praveen Patrao said that when Fr Valerian himself has given apology six months ago, why is the Bishop not taking any action against the priest. If the Vatican has prevented the Bishop from taking action against the priest, let him (Bishop) reveal it, he said and added that the parishioners had to resort to silent protest as they have already explored all the possibilities and silent, but dignified protest was the last resort. Interestingly, there were hardly any youth among the protesters and most of them hold a high position in society. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, was on a two-day state visit to India on December 12 and 13. This was the first visit by an Indonesian president in the last six years and also the first bilateral talks since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Jokowi assumed office in 2014. While Vice-President Hamid Ansaris visit to Indonesia last year had emphasised Indias commitment to strengthen the relationship, Jokowis visit focused on imparting vigour and momentum to the strategic partnership and shaping convergences to act as a force of peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Historically, India and Indo-nesia have shared cultural and religious ties. They are two larg-est Asian secular, multi-religious democracies. They also have shared colonial experiences. Based on these linkages, then prime minister Jawaharlal Neh-ru and then president Sukarno laid the foundation for an enduring relationship between the two countries which was soon symbolised by the great success of the Bandung Asian-African conference in 1955. Over the years, the relationship has become all the more important in the fast changing the global and regional security-economic environment. Security cooperation is an important aspect of the bilateral ties between the two countries. For India, Indonesias strategic location is very vital in terms of its access to the entry points to Strait of Malacca, which is the main sea route between the Ind-ian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean besides linking major Asia economies including India, China, Japan and others. Cooperation with Indonesia would ensu-re freedom of navigation and sea communication as well as effectively tackling of issues of piracy and terrorism in the region. The Chinese assertive behaviour in the South China Sea and its focus on improving its naval prowess have also assumed importance for New Delhi to foster cooperation with Jakarta. For Indonesia, since President Wid-odo has focused on transforming Indonesia into a global maritime axis and as China continues to violate Indonesias Exclusive Economic Zone in the waters off Nathuna Island, he sees a big role for India to play here. It was precisely in this context that the two leaders recognised the importance of freedom of navigation and over flight on the high seas, unimpeded lawful commerce as well as resolving maritime disputes by peaceful means. The statement was an indirect reference to Chinas rejection of an international arbitration tribunal which had earlier this year ruled against China in a case with the Philippines about the Chinese fishermen landing in what the tribunal ruled was Filipino waters. While India and Indonesia had signed a defence agreement in 2001, which was upgraded to the level of a strategic partnership in 2005, during President Jokowis visit the two countries decided to include the Air Force officers for regular talks and increase defence ties. This will further enable the two countries to develop better understanding of each others military functioning and deepen defence cooperation. The two countries condem-ned the act of terrorism in all its forms, emphasising zero tolerance for acts of terror. In turn, alignment with Indonesia in the counter-terrorism area will help India to put pressure on Pakistan to rein in terrorist organisations operating on its soil. Free trade pact Economic and trade ties have significantly increased ever since the two countries signed a free trade agreement in 2010. In fact, Indonesia is Indias second largest trading partner in Asean, with many big Indian companies including the Tatas, Jindal Steel and Jindal Power and others having significant presence in that country. As Indonesia is the largest economy in the Asean states, India believes that closer ties with Indonesia would strengthen its stature in this organisation and also in the East Asia Summit, which is a group of Asean-led 17 countries. Cooperation with Indonesia is seen as an effort towards counterbalancing Chinas raising clout in the region. It is this context that during the visit, President Widodos consent for early implementation of India-Asean Free Trade Agreement in services and investment, and finalisation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is seen as an important step. However, at a time when one of the main aims of the Modi government to attract foreign interments East and South East Asian countries under Indias Act East policy, and the trade volume between the countries have reduced to $14 billion in 2015-16 from $19 billion in 2014-15, Widodos visit did not witness any significant move enhance the trade and economic ties, except the fact that the CEOs Forum would take in identifying new avenues of wider and deeper industry to industry engagement. No announcement was made to attract Indonesian companies to invest in India. While both leaders reiterating support for the Security Council and first direct flight between the two countries was started from Jakarta to Mumbai on December 12 to enhance people-to-people contacts between India and Indonesia, more concrete efforts need to be taken to realise the full potential of the relationship. (The writer is with the UGC Centre for Southern Asia Studies, Pondicherry University) The first job that Sherry Johnson, 56, lost to automation was at the local newspaper in Marietta, Georgia, where she fed paper into the printing machines and laid out pages. Later, she watched machines learn to do her jobs on a factory floor, and in inventory and filing. It actually kind of ticked me off because its like, How are we supposed to make a living? she said. She took a computer class at Goodwill, but it was too little too late. The 20- and 30-year-olds are more up to date on that stuff than we are because we didnt have that when we were growing up, said Johnson, who is now on disability and lives in a housing project in Jefferson City, Tennessee. Donald Trump told workers like Johnson that he would bring back their jobs by clamping down on trade, offshoring and immigration. But economists say the bigger threat has been something else: automation. Over the long haul, clearly automations been much more important its not even close, said Lawrence Katz, an economics professor at Harvard who studies labour and technological change. No candidate talked much about automation on the campaign trail. Technology is not as convenient a villain as China or Mexico, there is no clear way to stop it, and many of the technology companies are in the United States and benefit the country in many ways. Trump told a group of tech company leaders last Wednesday: We want you to keep going with the incredible innovation. Anything we can do to help this go along, were going to be there for you. Andrew F Puzder, Trumps pick for labour secretary and chief executive of CKE Restaurants, praised robot employees in an interview with Business Insider in March. Theyre always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, theres never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex or race discrimination case, he said. Globalisation is clearly responsible for some job loss, particularly trade with China during the 2000s, which led to the rapid loss of 2 million to 2.4 million net jobs, according to research by economists including Daron Acemoglu and David Autor of MIT. People who work in parts of the country most affected by imports generally have greater unemployment and reduced income for the rest of their lives, Autor found in a paper published in January. Still, over time, automation has had a far bigger effect than globalisation, and would have eventually eliminated those jobs anyway, he said in an interview. Some of it is globalisation, but a lot of it is we require many fewer workers to do the same amount of work, he said. Workers are basically supervisors of machines. When Greg Hayes, the chief executive of United Technologies, agreed to invest $16 million in one of its Carrier factories as part of a Trump deal to keep some jobs in Indiana instead of moving them to Mexico, he said the money would go toward automation. What that ultimately means is there will be fewer jobs, he said on CNBC. Take the steel industry. It lost 400,000 people, 75% of its workforce, between 1962 and 2005. But its shipments did not decline, according to a study published in the American Economic Review last year. The reason was a new technology called the minimill. Its effect remained strong even after controlling for management practices; job losses in the Midwest; international trade; and unionisation rates, found the authors of the study, Allan Collard-Wexler of Duke and Jan De Loecker of Princeton. Another analysis, from Ball State University, attributed roughly 13% of manufacturing job losses to trade and the rest to enhanced productivity because of automation. Apparel making was hit hardest by trade, it said, and computer and electronics manufacturing by technological advances. Over time, automation has generally gone well: As it has displaced jobs, it has created new ones. But some experts worry that this time could be different. Even as the economy has improved, jobs and wages for a large segment of workers particularly men without college degrees doing manual labour have not recovered. Even in the best case, automation leaves the first generation of workers it displaces in a lurch because they usually lack the skills to do new and more complex tasks, Acemoglu found in a paper published in May. Robert Stilwell, 35, of Evansville, Indiana, is one of them. He did not graduate from high school and worked in factories building parts for tools and cars, wrapping them up and loading them onto trucks. After being laid off, he got a job as a convenience store cashier, which pays far less. I used to have a really good job, and I liked the people I worked with until it got overtaken by a machine, and then I was let go, he said. Displaced by robots Dennis Kriebels last job was as a supervisor at an aluminium extrusion factory, where he had spent a decade punching out parts for cars and tractors. Then, about five years ago, he lost it to a robot. Everything we did, you could programme a robot to do it, said Kriebel, who is 55 and lives in Youngstown, Ohio. Since then, Kriebel has barely been scraping by doing odd jobs. Many of the new jobs at factories require technical skills, but he doesnt own a computer and doesnt want to. Labour economists see ways to ease the transition for workers displaced by robots. They include retraining programmes, stronger unions, more public-sector jobs, a higher minimum wage, a bigger earned-income tax credit and, for the next generation, more college degrees. Few are policies that Trump has said he will pursue. Just allowing the private market to automate without any support is a recipe for blaming immigrants and trade and other things, even when its the long impact of technology, said Katz, who was the Labour Departments chief economist under President Bill Clinton. Its not only manual labour: Computers are learning to do some white-collar and service-sector work, too. Existing technology could automate 45% of activities people are paid to do, according to a July report by McKinsey. Work that requires creativity, management of people or caregiving is least at risk. Johnson in Tennessee said her favourite and best-paying job, at $8.65 an hour, was at an animal shelter, caring for puppies. It was also the least likely to be done by a machine, she said: I would hope a computer couldnt do that, unless they like changing dirty papers and giving them love and attention. After the court verdict, Jung maintained that it was nobodys victory but a clarification that incorrect things will have to be corrected. Thereafter, he set up a committee headed by former CAG V K Shunglu to examine more than 400 files related to decisions taken by the Kejriwal government. In the past few days, Jung was preparing to send an expectedly adverse report against the AAP government to the Centre as a follow-up to the Shunglu Committee findings received earlier this month, sources said. Claiming that he held no personal grudge against Kejriwal despite his severe criticism, the former VC of Jamia Millia said: My DNA is such that I dont get affected by abusive language. Jungs exit may leave a vacuum in the citys decision-making machinery unless his successor is appointed promptly by the Centre. In the absence of an LG, proceedings in key court cases may get delayed, along with decisions on files related to services, land and public order. The Congress saw a suspicious deal between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kejriwal behind the sudden exit of Jung. We want to know the real reason behind the resignation. We would never allow an RSS nominee to succeed Jung to the constitutional post, said Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken. The Delhi BJP claimed that Jung resigned as he was upset with the AAP government for stalling works. Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said during a meeting on Wednesday that Jung told him that he was going on a week-long leave to Goa from December 25 to January 1. A day after the Anti-Corruption Branch filed a charge sheet against Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal over an alleged job scam, she reacted to Jungs exit by tweeting: Double win for DCW. Delhi women freed from Jung tyranny. Najeeb Jung resigned as the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi on Thursday, taking by surprise even Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who had accused him of acting as the Centres stooge and creating hurdles for his government.It is speculated that Jung, 65, a former bureaucrat, quit the post to make way for a new LG who could be chosen from among former Delhi police commissioner B S Bassi, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lt Gov Jagdish Mukhi and Puducherry Lt Gov Kiran Bedi.Jung may also be in line for the next vice presidents post in August 2017, according to sources. Kejriwal claimed that he did not see Jungs resignation coming. Sh Jungs resignation is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours, tweeted Kejriwal, after Raj Niwas issued a statement announcing Jungs resignation and his desire to return to academics.In Jharkhand capital Ranchi, Kejriwal told reporters that he wanted to know whether Jung was under any pressure to resign. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sources said the resignation could be linked to something allegedly incriminating related to Jungs role in the privatisation of the public sector Oil and Natural Gas Corporations Panna-Mukta oilfield that went to a consortium of Reliance-ONGC and British Gas.After quitting the IAS, Jung had joined Reliance Industries. On a number of occasions, Kejriwal had accused Jung, a 1973-batch IAS officer, of shielding former chief minister Sheila Dikshit and Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani in corruption cases filed by the AAP government.Jung, appointed on July 9, 2013, by the then Congress government at the Centre, served for over three years in Raj Niwas. Though there is no fixed tenure for an LG, there is an unstated convention of the Central government giving a maximum stint of three years or so to its nominee.The LGs exit is baffling as Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also claimed that Jung had given no indication two days ago when he had a meeting with him.Jungs resignation comes months after the Delhi High Courts decision upholding the primacy of his administrative powers over those of the AAP government and giving him the upper hand. The state government has made it mandatory for all private companies to pay for creche services used by their women contract employees. This is one of the 15 conditions laid down by the government for employing women contract labourers. Working women now set aside a part of their earnings to pay for the care of their children. The new rules are aimed at ensuring better working conditions for women. The government will have the power to cancel the licences of companies that breach any of these conditions. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) (Karnataka) Rules of 1974 has been amended. On December 19, the government issued a notification in this regard. All companies have to provide transport to the workplace and back, free of cost. They have to select the route to ensure women staff are picked up first and not dropped last. Companies have to set up a control room to monitor their vehicles, the December 19 notification states. Other rules Companies should thoroughly verify the background of drivers who pick up and drop women employees. They cannot disclose telephone numbers and addresses of women employees to unauthorised persons. Also, women should be hired on rotation. Companies must provide exclusive rooms, toilets and washing space for women and ensure their privacy. The Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) of Bihar has lodged a case of embezzlement of funds to the tune of Rs 9.75 crore against senior IAS officer S M Raju and 15 others, including a few middlemen. The funds were meant for granting scholarships to students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs). Raju had been posted as principal secretary, SC/ST welfare department, when the alleged misappropriation of funds took place. The case was lodged in the vigilance police station here against the 1991 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre and a native of Karnataka, presently a member of the Board of Revenue. This is the second occasion when Raju has been charged with corruption. Repatriated Earlier, he was apprehended in Karnataka in 2003 on the direction of the then Lokayukta Justice N Venkatachala for accepting bribe from a private college. Raju, who was then posted in Karnataka on inter-state deputation, was immediately repatriated from his home state to his parent cadre Bihar, on the recommendation of the Karnataka government. The scholarship amount was paid to institutes by furnishing fictitious names of students with the connivance of officials of the SC/ST welfare department. Also, the scholarship amount was shown to have been disbursed among fake students of institutes which never existed, sources said. Senior officials of private colleges in Visakhapatnam and Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) too have been named as accused as they have been found to be hand-in-glove in siphoning off funds in collusion with touts Abdul Qadir and Rajiv Saxena. The funds were meant for post-matriculation SC/ST students pursuing professional courses outside Bihar in 2013-14. The irregularities came to light when around 60 SC/ST students threatened mass suicide for non-payment of scholarships. The IAS officer was not available for comment. DSP rank officer A K Singh has been made the investigating officer in the case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested Kolkata-based businessman Parasmal Lodha for reportedly converting demonetised currency worth Rs 25 crore into new notes. A controversial figure, Lodha was an associate of Chennai-based industrialist J Shekhar Reddy, who was arrested on Wednesday over similar charges. While Shekhar and his associate K Srinivasalu were arrested on Wednesday from Chennai, Lodha was detained at Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Wednesday evening, and later arrested on Thursday. Following interrogation of some people arrested recently with a large cache of new notes, the authorities were informed that around Rs 13 crore seized from the office of advocate Rohit Tandon at New Delhis Greater Kailash belonged to Lodha. Even though Lodha lived in a plush mansion at the ultra-posh neighbourhood of Queens Park in south Kolkata, industry insiders said he maintained a low profile, particularly after he made an aggressive takeover bid of Peerless General Finance and Investment Company Limited in 1991. The Kolkata-based non-banking financial institution was the largest of its kind in India at the time. Besides having interests in real estate, mining, finance, restaurants and consultancy, Lodha remains one of Peerless largest shareholders and continues to hold a directorship in the company. In the early 1990s, Lodha faced allegations that he had threatened the life of Peerless chairman P C Sen, reportedly at the behest of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, to buy out majority shareholdings in the company. Insiders said that Lodha is known among Kolkatas business circles as extra floors Lodha for a tendency to flout building norms and add floors beyond sanction. This habit ran him into trouble after a deadly blaze at Stephen Court on central Kolkatas Park Street, which claimed 43 lives. The Bengaluru urban district authorities raided a few illegal filter sand units in Muglur village of Anekal taluk in the wee hours of Thursday and seized five trucks, five tractors and an earthmover. According to sources in Anekal taluk, there were complaints about rampant excavation of soil to make filter sand in Muglur village in the remote part of Sarjapur hobli. Since most of the work happened at night, the district authorities raided the place in the wee hours of Thursday. Truck drivers panicked at the sight of the raiding officials and fled. The taluk officials lodged a complaint at the Anekal police station. Police seized the vehicles and have begun investigations. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday turned to poetry to hit back at Narendra Modi, who mocked him over his claim that he had proof of personal corruption against the prime minister. I had simply sought answers from Modiji to two-three questions about corruption...he chose not to answer them...he instead mocked the answer seeker, Rahul said at a meeting in Baharaich, about 200 km from here. The Congress leader quoted a couplet of 19th century Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib to hit back at Modi, whom he called a super event planner. Har ek baat pe kehte ho tum ki tu kya hai...tum hi kaho ke ye andaz-e-guftagoo kya hai, (at everything I say, you reply by asking me who I am....tell me what kind of talk is this), Rahul said. The Congress leader said his questions to Modi were not personal, but were the questions of the people of the country. The poor, the farmers and the labourers of the country are asking these questions, he said. The question is whether the prime minister indulged in corruption or not...mock me as much as you like, but answer my question. I am repeating my questions once again, Rahul added. He said the prime minister had divided the nation into two parts. On one side are the super rich and on the other, the poor, he said. Rahul said he had sought to know about Modi from former Gujarat chief minister and Congress leader Shankar Singh Vaghela as they had worked together for several years. Vaghelaji told me that Modi is a super event planner, he added. The Congress has referred complaints against senior leader B Janardhana Poojary to the partys Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC). Poojary, a former Union minister and KPCC president has been criticising party leaders in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in particular. The 79-year-old Poojary is a known detractor of Siddaramaiah and has criticised his style of functioning on numerous occasions. Poojary found himself out in the cold when the Congress handed over the reins of the state to Siddaramaiah after the 2013 Assembly elections. Last week, Poojary slammed the chief minister over the delay in taking action against the then Excise minister H Y Meti, who was embroiled in a sex CD scandal. Recently, KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao submitted a report against Poojary to the All India Congress Committee. The DAC is chaired by former Defence minister A K Antony with senior leaders Motilal Vora and Sushilkumar Shinde as members. The committee will now discuss the case and submit its report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who will take the final decision. Meanwhile, Poojary denied reports that party high command has issued a notice to him. No representative from the high command has spoken to me over initiating any action against me, he said at a press conference in Mangaluru. The party may expel me but the ideology of Congress that is in my blood cannot be expelled, he said and stated that his father was also a true Congressman and had a great respect for the Nehru family. Even I respect the Nehru family a lot. If the party is to expel me, the very next moment I will start my fight against those who are responsible for my expulsion, he said. People who have migrated to Congress from other parties have been spoiling the image of the Congress. The chief minister has been killing the Congress. Earlier when he was in the JD(S), he had portrayed the Nehru family in a poor light, he remarked. The schoolchildren and the residents of HSR Layout and surrounding areas have launched a postcard campaign, demanding the state government to take steps to close down Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC). The students of over a dozen affected schools located close to the plant, along with citizen volunteers, are involved in the campaign. The RWAs of HSR Layout and other areas in the vicinity have distributed postcards to the children and the citizens, who were told to write about the problems faced by them due to the functioning of KCDC plant. In an attempt to highlight their plight, the campaign Right to breathe was chalked out by a union of the residents welfare associations of Kudlu Gate, Haralur, Haralukunte, Somasundarapalya and Parangipalya (KHHSP). Anis Padela, a resident of HSR Layout, said that they (KHHSP) have received over 3,000 postcards from the agitating citizens and the schoolchildren and another 2,000 are expected in a few days. The same would be forwarded to the chief minister by next week. About 25,000 people are affected due to the unscientific functioning of the plant. The campaign is against Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, KCDC and the Solid Waste Management Expert Committee. The committee had misled the high court and got the plant reopened in 2013, he said. This is one of the earliest KCDC plants in Bengaluru operating since 1975. It was shut down in 2008 following a protest by local residents. In October 2015, CM visited the plant and assured the residents of taking steps to address the problem. But, the assurance has remained just that. The foul smell emanating from the KCDC plant and the mosquito menace have made the lives of the residents miserable. The plant continues to be a threat to environment and citizens. This campaign is to remind the CM of our plight and of his promises, said Ravinder Banyal, member, KHHSP RWA. Congress MLC and chairperson of legislature committee on crimes against women and children, V S Ugrappa on Thursday sought police action against members of Swacha Brahmana Vedike, for trolling him on social media. Addressing the media in Bengaluru, Ugrappa said that members of the Vedike, who are also followers of Ramachandrapura Mutt seer Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swami, had attacked him for his recent remarks on the seer. On Tuesday, Ugrappa had given media statements on police inaction against the seer, who is facing sexual harassment charges by two women. A day later it was brought to his notice that he was being attacked on Facebook, reportedly by members of the Vedike. There are some 98 messages, where various members of the group have attacked me using extremely derogatory language. They have even issued a death threat to me on the forum. They have also attacked the committee, the Congress government, minorities and members of other communities, he said. He said that he would write to the chief minister and the home minister about the development. He has lodged a complaint at the Vidhana Soudha police station, seeking action against all members of the Vedike who have trolled him. He also said that if he or his family members are harmed in any manner, then the seer and his followers are to be blamed. The Archdiocese of Bangalore organised a Christmas get-together on Thursday evening for members of other faiths. They were enthralled by an extravaganza of choir songs, carols and plays depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. The get-together, held at the St Germain School in Fraser Town, was attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Cabinet colleagues K J George, Roshan Baig, K R Ramesh Kumar, MLA N A Haris and senior officials. In his Christmas and New Year message, Siddaramaiah said that the Congress government was the only government that had embraced members of all faiths by according them equal respect and ensuring their safety. Siddaramaiah, along with other dignitaries and guests, enjoyed Christmas carols, choir songs and plays that were performed by school and college students who represented the diocese. Members of a local church were part of the choir singing group while another group of African students sang carols and choir songs. Students from the Northeast and several students of St Germain School performed plays depicting stories from the Bible. Rajamma Chowda Reddy, who was involved in a Lokayukta trap case, is among 36 KAS officers proposed for promotion to the IAS cadre. Rajamma, who was the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) secretary, was trapped by the Lokayukta when she was reportedly accepting Rs 7 lakh bribe in May 2014. She is said to have sought Rs 10 lakh from two individuals to provide sites. The aggrieved parties had lodged a complaint against her with the Lokayukta. During the raid, she was said to be in possession of Rs 2.3 lakh cash at her office, Rs 44 lakh at her house, Rs 15 lakh worth jewellery and Rs 6 lakh worth savings certificates. She was in judicial custody for close to two months and later returned to government service. Kari Gowda, N Shivashankar, P Vasanth Kumar, B C Satish, H Basavarajendra, G C Vrushabendramurthy and K A Dayananda are among other KAS officers proposed for promotion. Sources in the state government said that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Centre has already given its approval to the list of officers proposed by the state for promotion. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is scheduled to hold a meeting on December 28 for clearing the list, the sources added. Sources said the government has included names of 1998, 1999 and 2004 batch KAS officers on the list though a petition challenging their promotion to IAS is still pending before the Karnataka High Court. Recruitment of KAS officers in 1998, 1999 and 2004 was mired in controversy with charges of malpractice in the examination. The CID had also conducted an investigation into the charges. This is the first time so many KAS officers are being promoted to IAS at one go. Promotions were not made in the past three years due to litigations. Promotion to IAS from the state civil service is done under the Indian Administrative Service (Appointment by Promotion) Regulations, 1955. From the DoPT, the list would have to be cleared by the Prime Ministers Office. Even the state governments opinion would be sought. The Advocates Association of Bengaluru (AAB) has expressed its displeasure over arbitrary elevation of nine advocates to the High Court of Karnataka. In a joint press release, president H C Shivaramu, office-bearers Puttegowda and H V Praveen Gowda have said that the selection had not been done on the basis of merit. They have said that adequate proportional representation to all sections of society had not been given in the selection. The association members felt that overwhelming representation to a particular community was writ large on the face of it. Candidates in place They stated that the candidates who have been earlier declined consideration for elevation, had found a place in the present proposal even though there were no subsequent mitigating factors or materials on record. They have said that the selection requires reconsideration in consultation with senior judges amongst others, in accordance with the dictum of the apex court. Two illegal hoardings that were erected on the campus of the state-run leprosy hospital on Magadi Road have attracted notices from the BBMP. In response, the hospital authorities have removed the hoardings. These hoardings, BBMP claims, were illegal and so, had asked the hospital authorities to cough up Rs 3.57 lakh as fine. According to officials in the department of health and family welfare, the notice was sent to them in August. The hospital authorities claimed that these hoardings were there for decades. These hoardings were not used for commercial advertisements. While one of them had a public message on HIV AIDS, the other was to educate people about female foeticide. These were used only to create public awareness. There are several other illegal hoardings in the city, with commercial advertisements, said the official. When DH visited the hospital, authorities said that they were served notices and following the advice by officials from the department of health, the hoardings had been removed. In a letter to the health department, BBMP had sought that a fine of Rs 1.52 lakh for the 12x8 feet hoarding be paid and Rs 2.03 for the 15x8 feet hoarding. Dr Ratan Khelkar, former commissioner of health, urged in a letter to the BBMP commissioner that the notice be taken back as there were no commercial advertisements on the hoardings. When contacted, BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said he had not received any reply from the health department. Anybody putting up any hoarding ought to take permission from the civic body and have to abide by the Palike bylaws. Behind The Scene Pictures Of Maya And Arjun's Romantic Proposal In Mauritius! When it comes to healthy living, knowledge is power. Read the latest articles on healthy living: Should People with Diabetes Follow a Gluten-Free Diet? No matter where you look, gluten-free versions of food can be found anywhere from pasta to chicken nuggets. Are these gluten-free versions healthier? Should people with diabetes follow a gluten-free diet? Eating Well How to Get Your Family Involved with Healthy Eating Check out these tips to get your family involved and excited about the healthy eating changes youre making in your life. Eating Well Get the facts on alcohol and diabetes Heres what you need to know about drinking and how to do it safely. Medication & Treatments How to lighten your load and take it easy if you live with diabetes Diabetes can be a lot to handle, but there are some simple ways to ease daily burdens. Mental Health Working out with video games Over the past decade or so, a number of developers have created video games designed to get players of all ages on their feet. Fitness How journaling might just improve your health if youre living with diabetes Journaling is more than just a trend. Research shows that it can be an effective tool to help people manage chronic health conditions like diabetes. Mental Health What to do when insurance switches your diabetes medications Learn about nonmedical switching by insurance companiesand what you can do about it. Medication & Treatments Nokia is making a smartphone comeback in 2017 With Apple yet to settle patent scores with Samsung, Nokia has sued the Cupertino-based company in Germany and the United States for infringing patents. Nokia says the lawsuit is based on Apple's disagreement over licensing fees. The Finnish company, which is staging a comeback in the smartphone business next year says similar actions will follow in the coming months. In a counteract, Apple filed an antitrust lawsuit against several entities claiming they are attempting to collect excessive fees for Nokia's patents. In its patent infringement complaint, Nokia says Apple has declined to start licensing deals for Finnish companys technology used in Apple products. "Through our sustained investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in today's mobile devices, including Apple products. After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights," said Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Patent Business at Nokia. Apple in its claim says Nokia transfered its patents to patent assertion entities in order to get out of FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) licensing deals. Nokia has filed lawsuits in the US District covering 32 patents which include technologies used in display, user interface, software, antenna, chipsets, and video coding. It is evident that Nokia is only asking Apple to agree for a cross-licensing deal but Apple seems to have reservation over agreements. With this new patent lawsuits, it is unclear whether we are looking at more such lawsuits to follow next year. Facebooks CEO Mark Zuckerberg loves coding. Thats very clear from his own post, and the recent reports surrounding his latest personal project - Jarvis. At the beginning of 2016, he had written a post on how his 2016 challenge was to build a simple, artificial intelligence algorithm to run basic operations at home. On December 19, he published a note on his 100 hours of coding through the year, which he spent building Jarvis. The naming is not a mere coincidence, and Zuckerbergs intention is somewhat similar to that of Tony Stark - build an assistant that, in the truest sense, will be an intelligent, highly personal virtual helper. Naturally, most of us have been quite excited about the recent development. After all, this is the very first time that someone so influential has picked up connected home gadgets, built an algorithm to connect them all, and teach notions of adaptation, personalisation and familiarity to it. But, what is all this excitement about, and what does this signify for the advancement and maturity of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things? In a demonstration of IBM's Watson AI in India, Sriram Raghavan of IBM Indias Research, stated, The Internet of Things is an equally pivotal factor, and the rise in awareness and enthusiasm surrounding IoT will be crucial in taking cognitive platforms to everyday households. How does Jarvis contribute to this, and will this really take AI and IoT forward? Whos Jarvis? Built by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Jarvis is reportedly an artificial intelligence algorithm that Zuckerberg himself has coded. He has used the vast expanse of Facebooks programming and language tools at his disposal, and has reportedly spent a cumulative duration of 100 hours in making it. He set about with the idea of building a structured algorithm that can read and receive simple instructions in voice or text, to control simple operations. For instance, switch on bedroom lights or pop up the toaster. The AI assistant can also learn personal music tastes to deliver customised playlists, recognise voices and even enable household appliances to execute certain chores. Pivotal to Jarvis mind is its server - the centerpiece of the information flow. On one hand were the interfaces from which tasks were fed to Jarvis. These included a text interface integrated into Facebooks Messenger app with a custom bot, built by Zuckerberg himself. The second was voice input, via a custom iOS application coded for Jarvis. The third was direct input of photographs and video feeds connected to Jarvis, for facial recognition. Jarvis: Not quite this, actually To execute tasks provided by the input interfaces, Jarvis intelligence depended on three AI systems - a natural language processing engine to understand context and improvisation instead of robotic, preset commands, a speech recognition engine to recognise and respond to voices contextually, and a face recognition engine that will read information off a storage vat. All of these three systems essentially work in tandem. The natural language processing engine was custom-built by using basic keywords, and then building on them. For instance, using the words bedroom, lights and dim gave a specific command to Jarvis - dim the lights of the bedroom. However, when two people in the same house are using the same assistant from the same interface to give similar commands, things may get more complicated since Jarvis would not know which bedroom is being specified, and instead do something it was not supposed to. This is where the voice engine and its recognition features kicked in. Zuckerberg, in his note, stresses heavily on the importance of context when it comes to an AI, and rightly so. It took more hours to teach his AI this, than any other aspect. As a result, and with more commands given to it, Jarvis gradually picked up context in a human way - understand who is giving a particular instruction and respond to that very persons own usage and preference history, rather than rely on generic commands. Music is understandably trickier for bots and AI This is one aspect that Zuckerberg particularly elucidated on by using music. For instance, play something light for him certainly meant something different in comparison to the same command given by his wife. Music is also trickier to be taught to an AI assistant, as unlike household chores, creative topics will always have more subjective responses. For this, Jarvis was taught to look at Zuckerbergs past listening history, most played tracks and more, and gauge the kind of music that he would like. The same goes for the other members of his house. Facial recognition was used by Zuckerberg in order to recognise those that visit his house. He fit multiple cameras on his doorway and connected them to his home network to give Jarvis a live feed. When anyone would reach his place, the multiple cameras would show various angles, and as a result, make it easier to get a direct view of the person on the door. This further allowed Jarvis to better recognise him or her by tallying with photographs and facial patterns of Zuckerbergs trusted contacts. While all of this, on paper, sounds fairly straightforward a network, it really isnt. The trick is to get all the relevant machines of a house to connect to the Internet. While the Internet of Things is on a definite rise, most of our household elements are still not connected to the Internet. Even the ones that are still have individual protocols and mechanisms, which mean that each speak a different language. This is the more difficult bit of the entire task, than getting the appliances to connect to the Internet. As a result, Jarvis is an AI-powered assistant that became a common platform - a standard protocol of sorts for everything thats connected and took instructions from the AI. This is a crucial bit of Zuckerbergs experiment, as this not only exhibited the limitations of the present realm of IoT, but also stressed on the need for a common platform for smart households and IoT to really flourish. We may have an individual, multi-speaker connected audio unit across multiple rooms, but that may still not recognise the voice and AI interface of your smartphone, which in all possibility will use a different interface. As a result, this would still require you to use different interfaces to access different appliances at home, completely belying the point of a connected home However, it is crucial to note that this is not exactly new. The likes of Amazon Echo and Google Home were made to be a similar smart home hub for all things connected. While they do not (yet) have the power to control every single appliance that you would use at home, these are very similar foundations that have been laid down to work with multiple nodes and connected devices in future. Jarvis is not a new invention per se, but is more of a refinement that works on creating a single platform for everything, without the need for different apps to control each. It is this very aspect that Mark Zuckerberg has addressed, and this is what Jarvis does for a living - connect the entire house, understand personal contexts, and somewhat recognise you to carry out personal tasks. Jarvis is, in a fascinatingly simplistic way, the forerunner to personal home AI assistants that our future will hold. Oh, and hes also Morgan Freeman. Voice v. Text Through all of this, Mark Zuckerberg has also addressed the need to consider the accuracy and purview of input methods. With the rise in personal assistants like Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant, we saw a definite rise in voice commands given out to search for basic (or even slightly complex) instructions. With a home AI network like Jarvis, voice input is crucial to how it would work. However voice input may not always be a feasible option when you are, for instance, in a meeting, or attempting to make your little child fall asleep. To give a verbal instruction, you would preferably be in or around a more personal environment, one that does not distract others. Voice commands also have the barrier of languages and accents, and engineering barriers like ample voice receptors, processors and (as would be required) translation engines for AI. "...a bildungsroman in terms of the way that present generation gadgets have been progressing." In such context, as Mark Zuckerberg very importantly highlighted, he found himself to be using text instructions more often than what he expected. Using text inputs from a specific interfaces allows for multiple things - eliminate the need for extensive audio receptors, clear vocal translation errors, use existing translation interfaces to carry out the commands, and makes operations proportionately convenient. Here, this is somewhat of a bildungsroman in terms of the way that present generation gadgets have been progressing. Take for instance the likes of Google Home and Amazon Echo, which are essentially voice-powered assistants doubling up as music players. The entire base of these connected speakers are built around the power and convenience of voice searches, and while there is a clear, positive push in terms of natural language search, the barriers still prevail. It is this very aspect that Zuckerberg has addressed with Jarvis - provide an equally proficient text interface for feeding commands to the AI, and see which seems more convenient. This also highlights how text is still more convenient - not just for the common user, but even for the chief of a company that connects a billion people in the world. Facebook, of course, is also attempting to push its AI bot integration via Messenger, so it also made strategic sense to use the in-house tool for the experiments face. The entire experiment, to sum up, also demonstrates how there are numerous limitations that still prevail in personal AI assistance space. The present state of IoT and AI From how we perceive the present-day world of technology, the realm of IoT works in tandem with AI, and vice-versa. The present state of the Internet of Things is such that most internet-enabled appliances work as standalone, connected devices, or within their own ecosystem. Each appliance (or the ecosystem to which it belongs have their own AI interface as well, and as a result, each speak languages of their own, complete with individual protocols, guidelines and restrictions. For instance, if you have Apples macOS and iOS-based gadgets at home, you would not be able to control the likes of Googles Home hub, Xiaomis Mi Air Purifier and Boses SoundLink connected music system all at once, from one platform. Some IoT devices, like the Mi Air Purifier, do not even have a voice interface, instead being powered by preset buttons and options from an Android application for its own ecosystem, which in turn makes it restricted by nature. What about security, Mark? IoT devices, right now, are being built to leverage the basic voice and AI functionalities available at commercial disposal. While AI does play a key part, the implementation is still that of first generation products, and as with most first generation products in technology, are essentially a show of how our future concept is shaping up. Most IoT products of today use (comparatively) simple Machine Learning algorithms, which lay down the foundation for more complicated operations. Zuckerbergs experiment, while not explicitly mentioning the boundaries in specific details, is proof of it. However, Jarvis and his proficiency is also proof of the fact that our laboratories are already home to more advanced systems, still kept away from commercial implementation for want of a common platform, or a more seamless and secure way to implement IoT and AI for home automation. Incidentally, his experiments have touched upon the progress of IoT and AI without taking in security threats in consideration. The risk of your personal network being hacked and your security being compromised does remain, but that, possibly, is a deeper topic to be discussed once we have the basic framework of a more complex IoT and AI network in place. The significance of it all It is all of this combined that makes Zuckerbergs Jarvis so significant. It shows how future networks can be proficient, addresses how voice may not entirely take over the world of smart technology, talks about the need for a common platform for IoT and AI devices to be built upon, and more. While there are multiple common platforms that can work within their own ecosystems and even cross-connect between operating systems, there is no one single platform that takes charge of all your connected applications from a singular app, taking over the need to have separate AI mechanisms in each. While Jarvis may not be a final blueprint for future home automation platforms, it is a very proficient platform to build upon. Theres predictably a long way to go before this technology makes its way to homes across the world, but until then, we get a glimpse into what can go right (or wrong) with smart technology taking over home appliances. Meanwhile Morgan Freeman played the voice of Jarvis in Zuckerbergs teasers of his own AI. Is it mere coincidence, or... Buy Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute Pro Cordless Vacuum Cleaner The Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute Pro is amongst the best cordless vacuum cleaners you can buy right now. The vacuum cleaner is powered by Dyson Digital Motor V10 and offers 60 minutes of power Click here to know more Advertisements Keywords Studios , which provides technical services to the video games industry, has acquired Sonox Audio Solutions from its founder, Francisco Barreras Benavente, in a deal that will strengthen its audio services. Sonox has three recording studios in Madrid and manages a well-established network of translators, voice actors, audio engineers and voice directors in Spain. It also works with partner studios in Mexico and Brazil to provide audio and localisation services for those territories. It already provides certain services to Keywords and the acquisition will enable the group to capture the margins on those services. Following the acquisition, Francisco Barreras Benavente and the Sonox management team will remain in the group. Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to be earnings-enhancing next year, Keywords will pay 500,000 in cash and issue the sellers 24,881 new ordinary shares in the company. Fulvio Sioli, Keywords Studios regional managing director for Europe, said: "Sonox has been working with Synthesis Iberia for some years and with a growing portfolio of leading game publishers as its clients. The merging of Sonox, Synthesis and Kite Team in Madrid presents a unique opportunity to establish clear leadership in this key market for games audio and text localisation. The facilities, talent and financial strength of our audio offering in Spain is truly unrivalled. At 1300 GMT, the shares were up 2.2% to 514p. As the week before Christmas comes to an end in London with confirmation of UK national growth data and a curtailed stock exchange session, though there's no rest for the wicked over on European and US stock markets. City traders and brokers can slope off at lunchtime, with the London Stock Exchange's closing bell ringing at 1230 GMT. This follows the final reading of the UK third-quarter gross domestic product number, which was first indicated by the Office for National Statistics as having grown 0.5% on the preceding quarter and 2.3% on last year. Most economists expect there to be no change announced on Friday but those who are still working will be looking at the finer details, including confirmation of the current account deficit and revisions to back-data from the start of 2015 after the ONS said earlier this month that it had unearthed an error in its balance of payments calculations. HSBC, for example, said it saw no reason to expect the number to be revised, though was looking for the release to provide more accurate data on the breakdown by expenditure. "Last months breakdown made the economic picture look quite rosy, with business investment growing and net exports contributing a generous 0.7pp. "There is some uncertainty around the Q3 current account deficit number, which will be published for the first time in this release." HSBC said while it was good news that the error had made the current account look bigger than it really is, the ONS also suggested that the Q3 trade deficit could be revised wider. "So those hoping for early evidence of rebalancing due to the weaker currency may be disappointed." Notable data elsewhere includes German consumer confidence in the morning, while Canadian GDP and US new home sales and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index arrive after most in London will have knocked off for the year. No corporate news of significance is scheduled, but there will still be a reasonable flow of small cap news and perhaps the odd profit warning or two will be slipped out or saved until even quieter times next week. Friday December 23 UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS GDP third-quarter, final (09:30) INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI), CMC Markets , Majestic Wine, Martin Currie Asia Unconstrained Trust , MS International, Record, Wynnstay Properties INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00) Consumer spending (FRA) (07:45) New Homes Sales (US) (15:00) U. of Michigan Confidence (US) (15:00) SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Keystone Inv Trust, Trans-Siberian Gold EGMS Novolipetsk Steel GDS (Reg S) AGMS Frontier IP Group, Mosman Oil and Gas Limited (DI) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Northern Venture Trust, Orchard Funding Group Dennis Muilenburg, the chief executive officer of plane-maker Boeing , said on Wednesday that he had spoken with US president-elect Donald Trump in order to assure him that the new Air Force One Fleet would cost less than $4bn. Trump has been critical of overspending on defence contracts, pointing out Boeing's costs as getting "out of control" in a tweet earlier this month. On Wednesday he invited the bosses of Boeing and Lockheed Martin to a meeting at his Mar-A-Lago resort on Friday, alongside senior figures from the Pentagon, to discuss defence spending. "We're going to get it done for less than that, and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens," Muilenburg told reporters after the meeting, according to Bloomberg. Lockheed also faced criticism from the president-elect this month regarding its spending related to its F35 Joint Strike Fighter weapon system, which is reported to cost $379bn. "We're trying to get costs down, costs," Trump said outside the resort after the meeting. "Primarily the F-35. That program is very, very expensive." Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson said that the Florida meeting was "productive", but refused to give any commitments about previous deals with the administration. "I had a productive meeting with President-elect Trump this afternoon," she said. "I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we've made in bringing the costs down. "The F-35 is a critical program to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies," she added. Ride hailing company Uber has been forced to withdraw 16 cars from the roads in San Francisco which were testing self-driving technology, after several reports of the vehicles ignoring red lights. Government regulations were given last week for Uber to remove the cars from the streets in California, but the company rejected the claims. On Wednesday however the Department of Motor Vehicles announced that it had revoked the registrations of the 16 vehicles, which had been filmed committing a variety of errors. Despite Uber's claims to the contrary, the body said it was necessary for such vehicles to have a special permit. "It was determined that the registrations were improperly issued for these vehicles because they were not properly marked as test vehicles," the DMV said. "Concurrently, the department invited Uber to seek a permit so their vehicles can operate legally in California." Uber responded to the decision by saying it intended to look to other states for testing the autonomous cars, but added that it remained focused on its operations in California. "We're now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules," its statement read. Channels of communication between Russia and the United States have been "frozen", according to a spokesperson for Russian president Vladimir Putin. A report from state news agency RIA suggested that Russian officials were unaware of Donald Trump's incoming administration's intention to oppose the enlargement of Nato, and that communication links between the two sides had broken down. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the agency that "almost every level of dialogue with the United States is frozen. We dont communicate with one another, or we do so minimally". Relations between the two superpowers have been strained further by reports from US intelligence bodies suggesting Moscow attempted to interfere with the American presidential elections in November. The ongoing conflict in Syria has added to tension between the sides. A spokesperson for the US state department said that Peskov's comments were false. "It's difficult to know exactly what is meant by this comment, but diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues," said John Kirby. "That we have significant differences with Moscow on some of these issues is well known, but there hasn't been a break in dialogue." European stocks were mixed on Thursday, with Italys in the red as investor confidence in a state bailout for the countrys third largest lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena wavered. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.31% to 359.45, France's CAC 40 was up 0.02% to 4,834.63, London's FTSE 100 was 0.32% firmer at 7,063.68, and Germanys DAX was down 0.11% to 11,456.10. Milans FTSE MIB was 049% lower at 19,121.26. Shares in beleaguered lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena fell 7.48% - over the past year it has lost 86% of its value. It failed to pull off a last-ditch rescue plan to secure an anchor investor for its offer of new shares, with the government expected to step in as early as Thursday. Italian daily Il sole 24 reported that the state rescue is likely to be carried out in different stages and will take two to three months to complete. On Wednesday, Italy's lower house of parliament and Senate approved a government request to borrow up to 20bn to underwrite the country's banking sector. The countrys other banks pushed higher - Banca Popolare di Milano was up 2.62%, Banco Popolare Societa Cooperativa was 2.45% firmer and UniCredit was up 0.64%. Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said: Risk appetite remains hampered by thinner holiday trading into Christmas as well as talk of a Monte dei Paschi bailout taking a whopping three months to complete, taking us well beyond a supposed 31 December deadline for shoring up Italy's knackered banks. An official announcement still eludes markets which understandably want clarity on the issue. FTSE helped by defensives - healthcare, consumer staples - rather than risky names - miners, banks. Oil prices were higher, with Brent crude up 0.96% to $54.99 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate adding 0.76% to $52.89. In corporate news, Swiss biotech group Actelion rose 4.14% after saying it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Johnson & Johnson regarding a possible strategic transaction. Legal & General nudged 0.22% higher after it poached Ernst & Young senior partner, Jeff Davies, to be its chief financial officer. Pay-TV broadcaster Sky was up 0.2% as Credit Suisse cut its rating on the stock to neutral from outperform following the offer from 21st Century Fox, but lifted its price target to 1,075p from 980p in line with the offer price. Broadcaster ITV edged up 0.91% following an upbeat research note by Macquarie. On the downside, Nokia slumped 4.91% after saying it has filed a number of lawsuits against Apple for the violation of technology patents. Stocks in London were set to open in the red on Thursday, taking their cue from a downbeat session in the US and mixed markets in Asia, as investors eyed a slew of US data releases. The FTSE 100 was called to open 21 points lower than Wednesdays close at 7,020. Think Markets Naeem Aslam said: Volume in the market is abating as traders get set for their holidays. This will be the general theme across the markets for the next few days. The momentum passed over by Wall Street wasn't much help for the Asian markets today as the Dow failed to reach that 20K mark. Markets over in Asia have also floated into red territory and this is having an impact over in Europe. We do not anticipate that it is of particular concern as it is normal for traders to book some profit before the holiday period. US initial jobless claims, Chicago Fed activity, durable goods and the third release of third-quarter gross domestic product are all due at 1330 GMT. Leading indicators, personal income and spending and the PCE deflator are at 1500 GMT. Investors in London were digesting the latest survey from GfK, which showed British consumers are downbeat about the economic prospects next year. GfKs monthly consumer sentiment index nudged up to -7 in December from -8 the month before but expectations for 2017 were at their weakest since just after the Brexit vote in June. In corporate news, Legal & General has poached Ernst & Young senior partner, Jeff Davies as its chief financial officer. He will start in the spring, replacing Mark Gregory, who will stay on until the end of August to ensure a smooth handover. Electra Private Equity announced the final results of its tender offer, which was first announced on 8 November, on Thursday, with the offer closing at 1800 GMT on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 firm said the strike price was 4,650p and a total of 1,987,768 ordinary shares were validly tendered under the offer. As a result, all valid tenders would be satisfied in full and the total consideration payable under the offer is 92.43m. Car dealership operator Inchcape has acquired a distribution business focused on Subaru cars and Hino commercial vehicles in South America for 234m cash. Covering Chile, Colombia, Peru and Argentina, the deal strengthens the FTSE 250 company's existing operations in the region and with the vehicle manufacturers, and is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year of ownership by a mid to high single digit percentage. 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. Subscriber content preview SEATTLE The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $58.1 million to 191 local projects to prevent homelessness in Washington. The awards are based on priorities identified by seven local Continuums of Care in Washington and provide housing and support services to homeless people, HUD said in a press release. . . . Actelion in exclusive negotiations with J&J after talks with Sanofi Swiss drugmaker Actelion said in a brief statement yesterday that it was conducting exclusive negotiations with US healthcare giant, Johnson and Johnson but there could be "no assurance any transaction would result from these discussions", declining to comment further. The talks were confirmed by J&J in a separate statement. According to commentators, the announcement could mean Sanofi, which had been actively pursuing Actelion could be left out in the cold. J&J had, a little over a week ago said it had ended discussions with Actelion. Sanofi had been looking to broaden its drug line-up as its key diabetes business came under pressure. Actelion's market value stood at 23.2 billion Swiss francs ($22.6 billion) at yesterday's closing price of 215 Swiss francs in Switzerland. US shares in Actelion were up 11 per cent after the announcement, while J&J shares were down 3.3 per cent at 1815 GMT. Actelion had told J&J before the initial talks collapsed last week of being confident of attracting an offer significantly higher than the approximately 250 Swiss francs per share the US company had offered, according to one person familiar with the matter. The person added that there were also disagreements about the proposed deal's structure. According to commentators, Actelion investors were said to be getting restless over the apparent failure of a deal with Sanofi, but its shares rose on Tuesday as word leaked of the progress in the talks between the two. But now Sanofi was on the sidelines and J&J was back in the reckoning. Sources had told Bloomberg that the contingent value right, or CVR, Sanofi had included in the deal was about $20 of the $275 price per Actelion share, amounting to a $2 billion bonus if certain pipeline drugs were as successful as Actelion CEO Jean-Paul Clozel suggested. South Korea's SK Hynix Inc said today it planned to invest 3.16 trillion won ($2.7 billion) at home, and in China to boost memory chip production, as it looked to capitalise on an industry-wide surge in demand. The bulk of investment by the No 2 memory maker in the world would go towards building a new plant to make NAND flash chips used for long-term data storage. Increased demand for mobile devices along with the adoption of SSD storage in personal computers and data servers had also prompted Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Toshiba Corp to hike spending on chip production. "In order to grow further, it is important to secure production facilities in advance to deal with NAND Flash market growth to be led by 3D NAND solutions," SK Hynix said in a statement. Around 2.2 trillion won would be spent on the new NAND chip plant to be located in South Korea, while another 950 billion won would go towards boosting DRAM capacity at its existing facilities at Wuxi, China. The strong demand for memory chips had also driven strong gains in share prices and increased chipmakers' earnings. SK Hynix shares were up around 49 per cent this year, on track to register their biggest gain since 2009. The company said it plans to invest in its chip plant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province from August next year to June 2019. ''The new chip plant in Cheongju will be a key base for SK hynix, which is preparing for the future, such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution,'' said SK hynix's CEO Park Sung-wook in a company statement released today. According to the market research firm IHS Technology, the global NAND flash market was expected to rise 44 per cent on average annually to hit 500 million gigabytes in 2020 from 82 million gigabytes last year. Independent Cllr. Micheal Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig and Thomas Pringle, independent TD, have welcomed news that the antenatal clinic in Dungloe Community hospital is to be restored. However, they said the campaign will not be complete until the gynaecology clinic is also restored to the Dungloe hospital. I am glad to see the antenatal clinic re-opening in Dungloe, Cllr. Mac Giolla Easbuig said, calling the move, a tribute to the campaign by GAN and the community that kept the pressure on Letterkenny University Hospital to make sure that the clinic was restored. The reality is that the community should never have been put in this situation and should not have had to fight to keep a service that they have always been entitled to, he said. Early this year, the Saolta University Health Care Group said that due to a staff shortage caused by sick leave, the antenatal clinic and gynaecological services at Dungloe Community Hospital had to be relocated temporarily to Letterkenny University Hospital. In the statement, a Saolta spokesperson said they appreciated it was a significant inconvenience to expectant mothers and other women who have been using the outreach service in Dungloe. Deputy Pringle said, The HSE need to accept that it will not always be feasible in a county the size of Donegal for patients to travel to Letterkenny for appointments and it makes more sense for the consultant to make one journey to Dungloe rather than many pregnant mothers travelling to the hospital. For too long we in west Donegal are being kept at the mercy of Letterkenny staffing issues, Deputy Pringle said. Cllr. Mac Giolla Easbuig said the campaign will not be finished until the gynaecology clinic is reopened in Dungloe as well. Gynaecology and antenatal clinics have always been held together in Dungloe and they should be reinstated together, he said. The Saolta University Health Care Group did not respond to a request for comment by the time of going to press. Traders in Donegal are reporting a downturn in Christmas trade, but a stabilisation of the value of sterling seems to have helped keep a lot of local shoppers in the county. The drop in value of sterling against the euro in the weeks after the UK vote to leave the EU had many traders concerned about its impact on Christmas. Traders are saying business is down on what was a very good Christmas last year, when the strength of sterling brought trade from across the border. However, a rally by sterling in recent weeks has helped ease concerns. The strength of the euro has seen many shoppers from Donegal head across the border though. Foyleside Shopping Centre in Derry has seen visits by Republic of Ireland registered cars increase by 30 per cent on the same time last year. Chief executive of the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce, Toni Forrester said trade has been steady in the run up to Christmas but down on last year. Obviously it will be busier this week and people are spending, but it is not as good as last year. But last year was exceptional. After a long period of flat times it was a real boom because of the exchange rate. But we feel we have kept the local people this year. Footfall may be down, but what shops are saying is that the spend per person is strong. In the Twin Towns, the Ballybofey and Stranorlar Chamber of Commerce say that while some traders have noticed a downturn, it has not been as bad as they feared. Committee member of the chamber and manager of Kavanaghs Supervalu in Ballybofey, Charlie Ferry, said there had been real concern about the exchange rate after the Brexit vote, but that has eased in the run in to Christmas as sterling stabilised. Sterling was a real concern, but it is sitting about 0.83.5 at the minute which is much better than we had envisaged. It was in around 0.90 at one point but it has stabilised and trade has been very, very good. There was a big sale in McElhinneys on December 8th. That started Christmas for the Twin towns and trade has been good since. Some traders say there has been a slight drop off but not as bad as they thought. They are trying to give a competitive exchange rate and we are pleasantly surprised. In Donegal town, vice chair of the Donegal Chamber and local butcher, Ernan McGettigan, said business has been quiet in general in the town but he was hopeful that shoppers would stay local in the last few days before Christmas. We have everything available that the large towns have and the same value, he said. When you come here you can get every gift you need and you can eat whatever you want. There is not a town this size that has such a large number of high quality places to eat. It is quieter than last year but the weather forecast is not good and we hope that will help keep people local because local traders need this. We wish people will think local and support local traders. It seems the sterling situation has sorted itself out which is good because when people get into the habit of going to Northern Ireland it is hard to get them out if it. The Foyleside Shopping Centre in Derry has seen trade from Donegal soar compared to a year ago due to the added value the euro has against sterling in recent months. Number plate scanners in the centres car parks show visits by Republic of Ireland registered cars have leapt by almost a third. Transactions with euro credit and debit cards and currency exchanges have all increased significantly, manager of the shopping centre, Fergal Rafferty said. He said the increase in shoppers from across the border has been noticeable for the last ten weeks. We have seen an uplift of 30 per cent from southern shoppers compared to last December. He said shoppers from Donegal are able to make savings of as much as 80 on some items in their stores and some shops are offering parity on the exchange rate. This time last year we had a different trend, many shoppers (from Derry) were going south because the exchange rate was 65 per cent on sterling. But here shoppers are very price savvy. The euro was up to 90 per cent at one stage so there is a clear saving to be made and many are able to get a better exchange rate on top of that again. The Colt badge is a long-running one within Mitsubishi both globally and here in Australia. The Ralliart tag, meanwhile, is a bit more obscure within the broader community, but held in high esteem in Mitsubishi circles. Mitsubishi's rally, rally-raid and other motorsport exploits over the years have often been conducted under the Ralliart umbrella. And, in a road-car sense, the locally developed Ralliart Magna which sold here between 2002 and 2004 is remembered fondly for its great handling and highly-tuned V6 engine. So what happens when you combine those two badges? You get the Colt Ralliart, a small hatchback with some pretty serious performance. How serious? Well, by modern hot-hatch standards, the Colt Ralliart was more warm hatch, but it was an interesting packaging exercise and while it will appeal most to those who love their Mitsubishis, it also has a broader audience. Namely, the buyer looking for an alternative to the performance-hatchback establishment. The big problem for the Colt Ralliart now is that it's kind of an obscure model. Never a really big seller, time hasn't helped that perception, and neither has the fact that the Colt was an upright, narrow sort of design to start with that didn't translate terribly well into a hot-hatch scenario. But that didn't mean Mitsubishi didn't take the model seriously and the attention to detail in the transformation from shopping cart to go kart is pretty impressive. Mitsubishi added about half as many welds again to the Ralliart's bodyshell to increase stiffness and strength and even went to the effort of using thicker metal in some critical areas. There were braces in numerous places and stronger dampers mounts, all of which raised the car's kerb weight by about 60kg to around 1130kg; still a relative lightweight. In the suspension department, the Ralliart was also beefed up with thicker suspension arms, stiffer bumps stops, thicker anti-roll bars and stiffer springs and dampers to make it handle more sportily. Even the steering ratio was changed to make the Ralliart change direction quicker, so the move was hardly the token, extra-decals-and-a-spoiler sort of effort some manufacturers seem to think will make a car suddenly sporty. The attention to detail continued under the bonnet where the standard Colt engine was replaced by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder with a turbocharger making 113kW. Again, in 2016, 113kW doesn't sound like a whole lot, but considering that low kerb mass, it gave the car plenty of poke.While the basic Colt that sold to commuters and uni students had a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine making 72kW, the addition of a turbocharger soon changed that.Torque also got a huge shot in the arm, almost doubling thanks to that turbocharger. But both power and torque were produced fairly high in the Ralliart's rev range, so you need to keep stirring it with the five-speed manual that was the only fitment. But drive it accordingly, and the Colt Ralliart could feel amazingly nimble and zippy, even if it still looked a bit too much like a parcel van. Speaking of appearances, Mitsubishi did the best it could with the Ralliart to turn it into something a little more spectacular looking. A body-kit, huge bonnet scoop for the intercooler, 16-inch alloy wheels and even wheel-arch flares all gave the thing some visual punch, but you can only do so much with something that starts as a box on wheels. Inside, the best thing about the Ralliart was a set of Recaro front seats very similar to the ones fitted to the vaunted Lancer Evo. It's almost worth the price of admission today for those seats. The Colt, like all Australian-delivered Mitsubishis back then, carried an excellent ten-year warranty on the driveline. Sadly, that wasn't transferable to subsequent owners and, since you'll be buying the thing second-hand, that makes you a 'subsequent'. So make sure everything mechanical is in good condition and that there's no damage underneath that suggests some off-piste excursions. The engine shouldn't be noisy or rattly and there should be absolutely no smoke form the tailpipe at any time. The oil should be brown and clear, rather than black and thick and make sure the gearbox changes gears cleanly and without any graunching noises, particularly the one-two and two-three shifts. Some owners have reported a problem where the engine management suddenly, and for no good reason, limits the engine revs to 4000rpm. This can usually be fixed simply by turning the ignition off and restarting the engine at which point the missing revs should be restored. A few recalls have dogged the Ralliart, starting with a particularly stupid one that should never have happened. Somehow, the compliance plate on some Ralliart Colts had the passenger capacity stamped as five when the car only had seat-belts for four. Who knows how that was missed. A second recall was to fix a batch of front-side windows with faulty attachment to the winder mechanism. In extreme cases the glass could dislodge, contact the door-latch mechanism and open the door. Not a good thing at speed. The Ralliart was also caught up in a third recall that affected a raft of Mitsubishi models and concerned a headlight switch that could fail, leaving the lights permanently on. Or off; it seemed to be the luck of the draw. Essentially, the Colt was designed to replace the old Mirage as a cheap and cheerful set of wheels. Ultimately, it never achieved the same popularity, mainly because it lacked the Mirage's cute looks. But the Ralliart was a different story and deserved more recognition than it ever received. Our rating: 3/5 Nuts and bolts Engine/s: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol Transmissions: five-speed manual Fuel economy (combined): 6.7L/100km Safety rating (courtesy of www.howsafeisyourcar.com.au): 1 star (based on used-car ratings) Likes: A point of difference in a sea of hot hatches. Real-world performance is good. Five-door layout doesn't hurt. Didn't attract the modifiers. Dislikes: Performance trails the very latest stuff. A bit obscure for some. Small interior. Beware one that has been used and abused. Competitors: VW Polo GTi The Polo GTi from this period was limited to a three-door layout. But it remains a great little car with a relatively large 1.8-litre engine. Like the Colt, no automatic option. 3.5/5 Renault Clio Sport A cracking two-litre engine in a tiny package made for huge fun. Brilliant handling and loads of character. Some are past their best now, though. 4/5 Peugeot 206 GTi From the same era, the 206 GTi got better as it aged but early cars were a real disappointment. Lacked punch and any real flair, despite pedigree. 2/5 What to pay (courtesy of Glass's Guide): Model Year New Now Ralliart 2006 $29,990 $3900 Ralliart 2007 $29,990 $4500 Ralliart 2008 $24,990 $6000 Ralliart 2009 $25,740 $7300 Ralliart 2010 $25,740 $8800 While the dream of a white Christmas is far from happening in the Philippines, the dream of a sparkly bright and colorful one is not impossible at all. If you want to see a Magical Field of Lights, where you can see a field of tulips dance into a 5-minute musical medley and be enchanted with its dreamy twinkling glittery lights. Then theres no other place to go but Nuvali in Laguna. This holiday season, Nuvali transforms into a first-of-its-kind holiday destination with the launch of Magical Field of Lights, the first lights and sounds show in Ayala Lands largest sustainable estate. The show will run every 30 minutes from 6:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. daily and will be o ngoing until January 8, 2017. Aside from the show, the field also features a variety of attractions such as the 50-meter long light tunnel, Christmas trees, and dandelion light installation. It will also be complemented with a Christmas fair that showcases traditional Filipino Christmas treats such as bibingka and puto bumbong. A variety of local goods perfect for gift-giving will also be available. This year, we are ecstatic to introduce a magical and one-of-a-kind holiday treat to the south, bringing Ayala Lands signature light and sound show to more cities and communities, said Jennifer Chua, Nuvali Marketing Manager. With the help of Estate Water, Qualimed Hospital, Amaia Steps Parkway, Ayala Malls Solenad and Nestle Kitkat, Nuvali brings to life a spectacular show for its residents, employees and visitors. Nuvali invites holiday guests to partake in the Christmas festivities including a visit to the Nuvali Christmas Bazaar at Ayala Malls Solenad which will feature unique local goods from Laguna. Solenad in Nuvali will also have a roster of crowd-drawing events including the Christkindl Market holiday village featuring traditional and modern gifts for sale from December 1 to 31 , and the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra concert on December 16. Xavier School Nuvali joins the Christmas celebration with Christmas in our Hearts: The MCN Lighting of the Christmas Star event happening on December 2. From sunup to sundown, the estate offers a wide range of activities for families and weekenders. With 50% of the development dedicated to green and open spaces, Nuvali features an off-road biking and running trails approximately 50 km in total length, a multi-functional lake, and a Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary. Seda Hotel in Nuvali offers a relaxing stay for guests opting for a Christmas staycation. Guests booked for December 24 can enjoy complimentary servings of puto bumbong or bibingka and two cups of hot chocolate. To get to Nuvali, private vehicles can pass through Mamplasan, Sta. Rosa, Eton-Greenfield, Silangan, or Canlubang exit along South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). Public transportation to Nuvali is available from major jump-offs such as Bonifacio Global City, and Balibago. Nuvali sits in the cities of Sta. Rosa, Calamba and Cabuyao in Laguna and features a diverse mix of residential and commercial developments. Stay gorgeous everyone! The following guest post was written by Ron Bieber, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO. You can sign up to receive legislative action alerts from the Michigan AFL-CIO HERE. You can also follow them at facebook.com/miaflcio, twitter.com/miaflcio, and twitter.com/ronbiebermi. Enjoy. Lame duck sessions are when bad bills happen to good people. Thats been true in Michigan after every major election since Rick Snyder took office. For lawmakers who lost their campaigns or are subject to term limits, lame duck offers one last chance to cast votes for highly controversial bills without having to face any immediate consequences at the ballot box. Thats exactly what happened in 2012, when Lansing Republicans ignored the will of the people by passing a new Emergency Manager law that was nearly identical to the one that had just been repealed by voters. The 2012 lame duck session was also when Republicans rammed through so-called right-to-work legislation. Unions organized a massive rally and put up a tough fight at the state capitol, but Republicans responded by locking the doors to the building, and using pepper spray on peaceful demonstrators. The bills passed without a single public hearing, and Governor Snyder signed the legislation behind closed doors. For working people, the 2012 lame duck was a truly shameful chapter in our states history. And after last Novembers election, it looked like Lansing Republicans were prepared to launch another all-out assault on the rights of working families. 2016 lame duck agenda targeted unions, voting rights Led by the billionaire DeVos family, Republicans in the legislature were ready to push through a 2016 lame duck agenda that was absolutely terrible for working people. They sought to: Eliminate pensions for new Michigan teachers and school employees, forcing billions in cuts to local schools. Cut health care benefits for retired police officers and firefighters, forcing them to pay more out-of-pocket due to the dangerous nature of their jobs. Slash over $400 million per year from the school aid fund to help pay for more corporate tax breaks. Ban unions from representing school employees, bus drivers, and nurses during normal business hours. Undermine the First Amendment rights of working people to speak up together at public demonstrations against employers that deny pay, cut wages, and send jobs overseas. Allow politicians to raise unlimited political contributions from billionaires and corporations for their political Super PACs. Create new barriers to voting that make it harder for senior citizens and people of color to vote in Michigan elections. These bills all posed a very serious threat to collective bargaining, free speech, and the right to vote and they all shared one overarching goal: to rig the economy to favor Republicans wealthy corporate campaign donors at the expense of regular working people. How labor fought back and won To fight back, a broad coalition of unions was formed to organize an aggressive lame duck strategy. For three straight weeks, lawmakers were bombarded with targeted messages everywhere we could reach them. Hundreds of frontline workers held face-to-face meetings with their lawmakers in Lansing. Volunteers made thousands of phone calls into legislators offices, routinely filling voicemail inboxes. Hundreds of handwritten letters were collected and delivered, along with a petition that received over 25,000 signatures. After weeks of hard work that included a large rally of police officers and firefighters in freezing temperatures on the capitol lawn, the legislature finally adjourned last Thursday without passing any of the bills we fought to defeat. Even better, we were able to pass important legislation that had strong support from Michigans unions, including: a bipartisan energy reform package that protects jobs and ensures safe and reliable energy; bills that lay the groundwork for new veterans homes to be built, and ensure a well-trained and professional workforce to care for our veterans; and legislation that ends the states so-called unemployment robofraud, which will help job seekers support their families while they get back on their feet. None of this was easy. Beating bad legislation is tough enough with Republicans in total control of state government, but passing bipartisan legislation is just as hard. It required unions that dont often collaborate on legislative issues to lock arms and work together every single day. It required union leaders and rank-and-file members to remain hyper-focused on the most pressing issues, while still being adaptable in a fast-moving environment at the state capitol. And it required constant pressure on legislators. The blueprint for battles to come Im not under any illusion that the bills we defeated in lame duck are dead. Far from it. Republican politicians including our new president, members of congress, and the legislature will keep working to rig the rules of our economy to favor their billionaire corporate donors at the expense of working people. Thats why we as progressives cant afford to waste any time or energy fighting amongst ourselves. If we want to build an economy that works for all of us, then the lesson we need to learn is that our strength lies in our solidarity. Because when we work together, when we stand up and fight together, and when we have each others backs, there is no one who can stop us. 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HO CHI - A damning new report on a major Korean owned apparel factory in Vietnam which produces garments for a dozen international clothing brands suggests the current factory auditing is simply not fit for purpose. The findings of the report indicate that more than 20 factory audits by leading brands such as Nike and their auditing companies throughout 2015 failed to protect workers from illegal labour practices and clear health and safety hazards. By Andrea Germanos Santa will likely be feeling toasty as he does his final checks on the naughty-or-nice list because temperatures at the North Pole on Thursday are forecast to be as much as 50 F above normal. Temperatures are expected to climb to near the freezing point of 32 F, computer models show. Zachary Labe, a doctoral student researching the Arctic at the University of California-Irvine, wrote on Twitter that the persistence and magnitude of above average Arctic temperatures continues to remain quite impressive. The Washington Post also noted: For the second year in a row in late December and for the second time in as many months, temperatures in the high Arctic will be freakishly high compared to normal. Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli explained that the current warming is being caused by a strong storm near Greenland pumping warm air north ahead of the storm center. Mashables science editor, Andrew Freedman, added: Record low levels of sea ice in the Arctic are also contributing to the record high temperatures, along with a weakened polar vortex that has pulled the most frigid air out of the Arctic and redistributed it into North America and Eurasia. North Pole an Insane 36 Degrees Warmer Than Normal as Region Hits Record Low Sea Ice Extent https://t.co/iERIRlNWJN @CarbonBrief EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) November 19, 2016 Indeed, last month Arctic sea ice extent hit a record low and the ice experienced a nearly unprecedented retreat that coincided with a period of remarkable warmth across the region, with air temperatures 30 F35 F above normal, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said. Today, very old ice is extremely rare in the Arctic. #Santa and the elves are preparing: https://t.co/JmSl46XV20 pic.twitter.com/P42V3ISJ2y NOAA Climate.gov (@NOAAClimate) December 18, 2016 In its latest Arctic Report Card, NOAA said last week that the average air temperatures for the region were unprecedented and that Arctic temperatures continue to increase at double the rate of the global temperature increase. NOAA: 'Arctic Warming at Least Twice as Fast as the Rest of the Planet' https://t.co/pBLFPR8W45 @MichaelEMann @YaleClimateComm EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) December 14, 2016 Rarely have we seen the Arctic show a clearer, stronger or more pronounced signal of persistent warming and its cascading effects on the environment than this year, added Jeremy Mathis, director of NOAAs Arctic Research Program. Meanwhile, Santas reindeer arent doing so well either. A new study finds that reindeer in Svalbard, an archipelago of Norway in the Arctic Ocean, are shrinking as a result of warming temperatures. Winter snows may now fall as rain, leaving a sheet of ice that blocks the plants the reindeer would normally be able to access by brushing off snow. That means the reindeer may starve or give birth to stunted carves, who in turn may produce stunted calves. Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams. (Photo: Romanian Orthodox Church / WCC)World Council of Churches meeting at the Caraiman Monastery in the southern Carpathian Mountains of Romania from June 18-23, at the invitation of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the dominant confession in the eastern European country. Romania is set to appoint Europe's first Muslim prime minister who will also be the nation's first woman in the leadership position following the nomination of a member of the country's little-known Tartar minority. Sevil Shhaideh, a 52-year-old member of the Tatar Muslim minority and a low-key former public administration minister, was proposed by her political mentor Liviu Dragnea, leader of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party (PSD). The PSD led by Dragnea took 45 per cent of the vote on election day Dec. 11, double any other party's share. After consultations Dec. 21, the party is to assemble a new government in coalition with a smaller liberal partner. But although Dragnea, is the party and would normally be appointed to become Prime Minister, he was found guilty of electoral fraud and given a two years' suspended sentence in April. He is not banned from politics and he remains hugely popular among his party's base. Incumbent President Klaus Iohannis was elected on an anti-corruption platform and has barred any candidate with a criminal record from becoming prime minister. "It's a surprising choice," said Sergiu Miscoiu, a professor of political science at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj, The New York Times reported. "People were expecting somebody controlled by Dragnea, but from the party's upper levels, not a relative newcomer." Of Romania's 21.5 million people only one percent are Muslims with some 82 percent Eastern Orthodox Christians. Shhaideh, is a former regional development minister and is married to a Syrian Alawite with property in the country. She was born in 1964. She graduated in 1987 from the Economic Planning and Cybernetics Faculty of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, later attending several foreign training courses including in the United States, before specializing in information systems management. She had her first political appointment in May 2012, when she was named Secretary of State with the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration before becoming the office's Minister in 2015, a position she held until November. Romania's parliament and President Iohannis still have to approve her appointment. Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o... News Date: 22/12/2016 NeoPhotonics sells its low speed transceiver products to China based APAT Optical communications component maker NeoPhotonics to sell its Access and Low Speed transceiver product assets to Shenzhen, China based APAT Optoelectronics Components Co., Ltd. The assets include the IP, inventory and fixed assets for NeoPhotonics PON products including GPON and GEPON transceiver products at up to 10G data rates, plus 10G and below telecom, bidirectional and specialty transceiver products. The total value is approximately $26.4 million, inclusive of post-closing payments under a Transition Services Agreement. NeoPhotonics said in 2015, and for the first 9 months of 2016, the Low Speed Business generated $92.8 million and $50.7 million in revenue, respectively, and gross profit of $16.7 million and $9.7 million, respectively. Net assets for the business were approximately $18.0 million as of September 30, 2016. Tim Jenks, NeoPhotonics Chief Executive Officer, said After a comprehensive evaluation of the alternatives available for the Low Speed Business, we believe this transaction will best benefit our shareholders, customers, and employees. This transaction underscores our objective to focus our efforts on growing high speed optical networking products and solutions based on our advanced hybrid photonic integration technology platform to meet customer demand. Jenks continued, We believe the Low Speed Business will benefit from APAT OE's expertise in Access and PON products while continuing to provide quality products, support and services to customers. We are excited to have the NeoPhotonics low speed product team join APAT, and look forward to having more products to sell to our largest customers as well as the opportunity this transaction creates for us to gain many new customers, commented Rex Gu, Founder and CEO of APAT OE. Tweet Follow @eeherald Last chance to post cards, Christmas presents It's the final chance for those sending Christmas cards and gifts by post to get their items in the mail. Today is the Isle of Man Post Office's last recommended day to post letters and cards to Isle of Man addresses. It's also the final day special delivery items will reach their destination in time for Christmas for Manx, UK and Channel Island addresses. Saturday guarantee special delivery and Parcel Force Saturday items can still be sent on Friday. Full details of all the services available can be found on the Post Office's website. Telstra is the first local ISP to block access to The Pirate Bay following Federal court's order last week. However some users have already found a workaround with which they are now able to bypass the block in mere seconds. Visitors to the 30-plus Pirate Bay domains listed in court documents are being met with a "Content Denied" message. However, Telstra has moved quickly to enact the court's order but has taken seemingly the most basic method of blocking, implementing what's known as a DNS block. The Federal Court last week has ordered internet service providers, including Telstra, Optus, TPG and iiNet, to take action saying, "reasonable steps to disable access", to five pirate websites within 15 days. The sites in the blocking order include The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt and SolarMovie. Following a case brought by rightsholders including Roadshow Films, Foxtel, Disney, Paramount, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox, more than fifty Internet service providers in Australia are now required to start blocking subscriber access to selected pirate sites. The court mentioned last week that Telstra had the option of using DNS blocking, or IP blocking, URL blocking, or "any alternative technical means" approved by the block's applicant. Telstra spokesman said that, "Online copyright infringement is a serious issue. Recent changes to Australia's Copyright Act (s115A) give the Federal Court the ability to order internet service providers (ISPs) to block overseas websites that are infringing, or facilitating the infringement of, copyright." Anyone visiting The Pirate Bay on Telstra's network is now met with a landing page explaining the block, but users are quickly configure their computer to use a different DNS address, like Google's or OpenDNS, which is owned by Cisco. Many users are choosing to configure their computers to use Google's DNS instead of Telstra's that simply means adding a few digits to a setting in Windows. You can also fix The Pirate Bay by following the instructions given below in the video. On 8 & 9 December, the EBS Science Workshop brought together 300 members of the ESRF scientific community from across the world. The two-day event was the opportunity for expert groups of users to discuss and openly exchange on the topics resulting from the call for Expressions of Interest (EoI) launched in 2015. The aim of the workshop is to identify the most impactful and scientifically promising projects that we can realise on the fantastic new source we are planning to install and start operating in 2020. Harald Reichert, ESRF Director of Research. In May 2016, following an analysis by user experts of the 48 EoI received, the ESRF Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) selected eight topics for upgraded beamlines and a number of major refurbishment projects. Draft conceptual design reports (CDR) were elaborated at the ESRF for potential new beamlines to be constructed within the EBS project. With the EBS workshop, the ESRF encouraged its scientific community to openly discuss and debate these CDRs and to further refine the scientific cases for the future orientation of the ESRFs new beamlines. The CDRs were presented to the user community on the second day of the event. The workshop is full of tremendous ideas, creativity, and passion. Theres a huge turnout from those people who already use synchrotron radiation in their science. But the interesting question is how this is going to evolve because these new beamlines will open up to new areas of science and reach into new communities. I think that in the future, once the idea has become more concrete, we will see an even wider community engaging with the ESRF. Andrew Harrison, CEO of Diamond Light Source (UK) and moderator of the EBS Science Workshop. The EBS Science Workshop will produce 8 consolidated CDRs that will be analysed together with the SAC in early spring 2017. A consolidated experimental floor plan with all the ESRF beamlines will result. It will be analysed and projects ranked by the SAC before being finally submitted to the ESRF Council for final approval in June 2017. The EBS science workshop is an important event in that it will contribute to the selection of the new beamlines. Its a unique opportunity to exchange with the community and, with the help of the expert groups, we hope to select the best projects for the future. Jean Susini, ESRF Director of Research. Participants of the workshop during a visit of beamline ID06. ESRF/C. Navarette A tremendous turnout from the ESRF scientific community. ESRF/C. Argoud The eight projects for upgraded beamlines CDR1: A dedicated XPCS/CXDI beamline for dynamics studies and advanced imaging of complex systems. The new instrument will allow to unveil many new phenomena such as hidden ordering and disordering sub-millisecond processes during phase separation, diffusion kinetics, nucleation and growth processes under external stimuli and complex environments, as well as in vivo imaging of bacteria under micro-fluidic devices CDR2: A beamline for hard X-ray diffraction microscopy, offering the opportunity to study bulk properties in mm-sized samples in 3D, using adapted tomographic techniques. The ability to directly characterize complex, multi-scale phenomena in situ is a key step towards formulating and validating multi-scale models that account for the entire heterogeneity of a material. CDR3: A high throughput large field phase-contrast tomography beamline. For materials research and engineering, biology for imaging large samples (60 cm 200 cm) on multiple scales: from the complete sample to sub-micrometre resolution imaging of selected regions, with a partial emphasis on automation and high throughput. CDR4: A surface science beamline to exploit the extremely high brilliance of the new source to investigate chemical and physical processes on solid and liquid interfaces by surface sensitive X-ray techniques. The proposed beamline will provide unique capabilities for the in-situ studies on interfaces and nano-objects and will open new possibilities to investigate the dynamics of fundamental and applied processes in several fields ranging from material science (catalysis, electrochemistry, 2D materials) to soft matter and biochemistry (biomimetic membranes, polymers) including buried interfaces. CDR5: An advanced high-flux nano-XRD beamline for science under extreme conditions. This high pressure X-ray diffraction beamline will take full advantage of the higher photon flux density and higher coherence of the new source. CDR6: A facility for dynamic compression studies. This facility will extend the applications of the recently approved high power laser facility. The new beamline will cater for single shot and fast time resolved XRD and imaging. CDR7: This project proposes to convert one branch of the energy dispersive XAS beamline ID24 to a scanning EXAFS beamline, providing optimal conditions for time-resolved and extreme conditions XAS. It will expand the capacity of the ESRF spectroscopy beamline portfolio to studies of highly dilute systems at extreme conditions and /or in time resolution. CDR8: ESRF-EBS will allow the delivery of Henderson Limit X-ray doses in microseconds using submicron focal spots. Synchrotron serial crystallography on micro- and nano-crystals, combined with room temperature data collection and time-resolved studies, will become routinely accessible techniques. Scotlands First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, yesterday (20 December) reminded that her country wanted to stay part of the European Unions single market after the United Kingdom leaves the bloc. Ms. Sturgeon is moreover determined to protect Scottish interests following the UKs Brexit. Yesterday (20 December), she published a paper with a list of demands that her country has. The top demand is that the whole country should remain in the EU and if the UK does leave, Scotland should still be part of the single market. We are determined to maintain Scotlands current position in the European single market, Ms. Sturgeon reiterated and further stressed that there has to be a way to effectively square the circle (between the two results). Will this be easy? No but I believe this is achievable. Ms. Sturgeon referred to the majority of Scottish voters who opted for staying in the EU in the Brexit referendum, which stood in a stark contrast to the UKs overall result saying no to the EU. First and foremost, this is about us trying to convince the UK that these are proposals worthy of being considered, she said and added that we believe our practical solutions are reasonable and in the best interests of Scotland, in a context that will be complex and unprecedented whatever the ultimate outcome. Ms. Sturgeon also said that a second referendum on Scottish independence remains on the table, arguing that Brexit is a problem not of Scotlands making. She also said that her country needed a major review of its devolution settlement and that power over immigration is very important to protect Scottish interests. Scotland seeks its own control of migration policy to support its ageing population and sparsely populated rural areas. A false and sentimental glow surrounds science in the minds of many outside the science world. A reverent belief in the purity of scientists, so tender and mild (except for those intelligent-design scoundrels), is a badge of membership for the enlightened. The cult of science all but denies that professionals in the field are human beings, subject to the familiar corruptions that go with money, power, and prestige. But then occasionally a scientist or other insider will come along and dash a pitcher of cold water on all that. A letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal by Professor Daniel Metz is thus refreshing. He replies to an op-ed by MIT president L. Rafael Reif, who laments what Reif sees as the underfunding of basic science. Interesting guy Metz retired as a professor of General Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and now races cars among other pursuits. Writes Dr. Metz: Mr. Reif ignores some facts associated with government funding of research, much of which is funded at universities. Nearly all government-sponsored projects are funded in response to a request for proposals (RFPs). The directions of funded research are thus established not by scientists, but by bureaucrats in the funding agencies. The bureaucrats are graduates of an old-boy network that rewards alumni, contacts, trendism and longevity, with proposal quality coming dead last. It is positively guaranteed that any big, new, government research initiative will send money to Palo Alto, Berkeley, Austin, Ann Arbor, Madison, Champaign and Cambridge. Government funding of university research has bastardized the definition of a professor. New assistant professors are quick to realize that actually teaching classes has nothing whatsoever to do with their desire for long-term success and tenure, and in fact teaching is a disincentive. Only bringing in outside research money counts. Universities have become addicted to the mothers milk of government funding. Any major research university could reduce its budget by 50% or more simply by requiring the faculty to actually teach a few classes now and then. Em. Prof. L. Daniel Metz Champaign, Ill. Indeed, the incestuous world of science grants is one of the best-kept secrets of the Federal Government. Billions of dollars are involved and Congressional oversight is unimpressive. Moreover, the system is so big that it effectively shapes research priorities of universities, rather than responding to them. The Federal Government controls and monopolizes science research, and the whole business is in the service of something quite other than the legendary disinterested search for truth. Addicted and engorged, Big Science isnt what most of the public pictures it to be. Professors dont so much profess they suck money as through a straw, thanks to a system that epitomizes the kinds of corruption we associate with government. Now give them more funding? Come to think of it, Rafael Reif is not exactly disinterested on the subject. Among all the reasons to doubt the authority of a scientific consensus on all matters, this would be one. Photo: MIT, Building 10, by Madcoverboy [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons. We recently shared news about humpback whales. Here are some new findings about another group of stars of Illustras film Living Waters: sea turtles. There are seven species of sea turtles in the world today, all beautifully designed and, sadly, all endangered. Consider first, appropriately, the enigma of origins. Fossils Do we see progression in the fossil record of sea turtles? No; according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the oldest ancestor of modern sea turtles was a sea turtle. Apparently they profited from global warming. Climatic warming during the mid-Cretaceous resulted in elevated sea levels and temperatures that, in turn, provided an abundance of new niches for marine turtles to invade, said Drew Gentry, a UAB biology doctoral student and the lead researcher on the project. Represented today by only seven living species, sea turtles were once one of the most diverse lineages of marine reptiles. Before the cataclysm that claimed the dinosaurs, there may have been dozens of specialized species of sea turtle living in different oceanic habitats around the world. This wont likely switch turtle conservationists in favor of anthropogenic climate change. It does seem a little bit dubious, though, to make evolutionary diversity a function of temperature. There is strong evidence which indicates freshwater turtles may have evolved to occupy marine environments at several points in the past, Gentry said. But most of those lineages went extinct, making the exact origins of living or true sea turtles somewhat of a mystery. Evolutionists can always concoct a just-so story to explain any observation. Not wanting to leave a mystery unsolved, UABs Gentry offers one: Data from C. acris tell us not only that marine turtles are capable of occupying specialized oceanic niches, but also that many of the sea turtles we know today may have gotten their evolutionary start as something similar to an oversized snapping turtle in what eventually became the southeastern United States. Phys.org tells about volunteers who found turtles on Cape Cod suffering from hypothermia and released them in warmer waters. Thats 54 cold-stunned turtles rescued this year, and 600 last year. If sea turtles are capable of occupying specialized oceanic niches, should humans be interfering with their evolution? Turtles and tortoises occupy the wettest and driest habitats on earth, yet we humans feel a need to help them out. Phys.org also tells about citizen scientists helping save Australian land turtles from extinction, despite the fact that A single female freshwater turtle may live more than 100 years and produce more than 2000 eggs in her lifetime. Apparently they arent evolving fast enough to outfox the red fox, introduced in the 1800s by humans. But evolution is clever. It evolved humans to do the job: Our computer models show that one harvest population may provide enough hatchling turtles to restore 25 other similar sized populations to pre-European turtle densities. Creating low cost turtle nurseries throughout the country will provide a way to out-fox the fox without a single poison bait or bullet. Presumably evolution is capable of creating beings that can use intelligent design to solve problems of their own making. The Tragedy of the Commons Human beings seem to be the only creatures on earth that willfully fall into the tragedy of the commons or that can use their minds to recognize the tragedy and try to avert it. Sea turtles would probably be thriving without bad human actors, who capture them for their eggs and meat and destroy their habitats. Consider the case in Indonesia. Still another article at Phys.org shows volunteers releasing sea turtle hatchlings onto a beach: A group of turtles scurried down a beach and glided into the sea, enjoying their newfound freedom after being cared for at an Indonesian conservation centre. The sea turtles were released by local tourists in Pariaman city, on western Sumatra island, in front of the Turtle Conservation Technical Operating Unit. [Emphasis added.] Its a curious case of humans protecting non-humans from other humans. Six of the worlds seven turtle species can be found in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that is home to a dizzying array of exotic wildlife. Almost all turtle species are endangered. Their eggs are considered a delicacy and they are also slaughtered for their meat, skin and shells. We see here another indication of human uniqueness: moral responsibility for the living world. Without it, nobody could claim the slaughter of turtles is wrong. It would just be survival of the fittest, and the turtles would lose the race. Hawksbills On the other side of the globe, Belize has good news: the hawksbill sea turtle, classed as critically endangered, is doing swimmingly well thanks to conservation efforts, reports Fox News. Once again, it was humans killing them off for their shells, meat, and eggs, but protection efforts at a reef offshore have borne fruit: The Wildlife Conservation Society says that the sea turtles rebound is an indication of the success of protection efforts in this large reef system. After snorkeling, catching, tagging, and releasing turtles for years, marine biologists estimate a thousand juveniles in the area, a model for other conservation programs. Phys.org has a picture of one marine scientist handling a hawksbill, and another photo of a turtle being hoisted onboard a ship for tagging. Stephen Dunbar, who appears in Living Waters, has been involved for years in conservation efforts of hawksbill sea turtles in nearby Honduras. Leatherbacks Leatherback sea turtles are the largest reptiles alive today. Take it from the Cornell Chronicle: Leatherbacks, the worlds largest reptiles, do not have hard shells like other turtles. Instead, they have a softer, leather-like shell. The turtles can weigh up to 1,500 pounds and are eating machines, as one can nosh daily on hundreds of pounds of its favorite meal jellyfish. Leatherback sea turtles and jellyfish are found throughout the worlds oceans, but the authors of this study think that these leatherbacks are likely enjoying a bountiful jellyfish supply in the Mozambique Channel. They hint at a further evolutionary conundrum: why would long-distance migration evolve? Endangered leatherback sea turtles are known for their open-ocean migratory nature and nomadic foraging habits traveling thousands of miles. But a Cornell naturalist and his colleagues have discovered an area along the Mozambique coast that the turtles have made their permanent home, according to a study published in Natures Scientific Reports. All that magnetic-field navigation equipment for nothing? One would think neo-Darwinism, stingy as it is, would stop here where life is good. Instead, some of the turtles ventured out 10,000 km toward the south Atlantic Ocean or into the Indian Ocean. The research news says nothing about evolution. Image credit: Drew Gentry, via University of Alabama at Birmingham. It is the time of year when would be expats look to the year ahead and dream of realising a move to a new country, with New Zealand likely to be one of the most popular countries under consideration.The latest official data shows that once again the number of people arriving in New Zealand continues to break records, with the data showing that in the 12 months to November 2016 there was an annual net gain of 70,400, higher than the October record. The annual net gain in migration came from an increase in migrant arrivals combined with a decrease in departures, said Statistics New Zealand population statistics manager Jo-Anne Skinner.Overall, migrant arrivals numbered 126,700 in the November 2016 year, a new annual record. A breakdown of the figures show that people arriving on work visas made up a third of all arrivals, suggesting that there are jobs in New Zealand for those who want to move to the country.The figures show that some 33% of those arriving in New Zealand, 41,200 people, did so with work visas, 19% or 24,600 were on student visas and 13% or 16,500 were on residence visas.Visitor arrivals numbered 333,600 in November 2016, setting a new November record and up 11% from November 2015. Year on year visitor arrivals hit a record 3.45 million, up 12% on November 2015.The data also shows that New Zealand residents set a new annual record of 2.58 million overseas trips in the November 2016 year, up 8% from the November 2015 year.Meanwhile, in November 2016, New Zealand residents made a record 208,400 trips overseas, up 14% from November 2015. Welcome to the News Release Wire Selection Control Panel. Instant News Wire From: American Evaluation Association (AEA) For Immediate Release: Dateline: Washington , DC Thursday, December 22, 2016 Staff from participating organizations sat together to brainstorm a way forward; we decided we could focus youth evaluation on questions relating to improving program design, youth engagement, and implementation. We ended up creating tables that allowed us to get practical: Evaluation questions |data sources | youth role in designing data collection tools | and youth role in collecting data to answer the questions. This seemingly-simple planning exercise was critical to move from a nice idea to an actionable evaluation activity. We are still working on making all steps as youth-led as possible stay tuned for a blog from one of our youth evaluators! RAD resource for those of us working in French-language contexts: See the chapter on youth-led evaluation in this practical toolkit for engaging youth in mental health issues. The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Youth Focused Evaluation TIG Week with our colleagues in the YFE AEA Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our YFE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the My name is Susan Igras, a Senior Advisor at the Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University whose work is mainly focused in Africa and Asia. One of our projects is operating in urban-poor areas of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Designed to evaluate scalable interventions that address social and normative factors that limit adolescent and youth choices and sexual/reproductive health outcomes, we are challenged with fitting youth engagement into the research and evaluation process. Everyone likes the idea, but how can you operationalize it without jeopardizing the externally-implemented research component?Staff from participating organizations sat together to brainstorm a way forward; we decided we could focus youth evaluation on questions relating to improving program design, youth engagement, and implementation. We ended up creating tables that allowed us to get practical:Evaluation questions |data sources | youth role in designing data collection tools | and youth role in collecting data to answer the questions.This seemingly-simple planning exercise was critical to move from a nice idea to an actionable evaluation activity. We are still working on making all steps as youth-led as possible stay tuned for a blog from one of our youth evaluators! for those of us working in French-language contexts: http://www.troussemj.ca/content/page-de-renvoi See the chapter on youth-led evaluation in this practical toolkit for engaging youth in mental health issues.The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Youth Focused Evaluation TIG Week with our colleagues in the YFE AEA Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our YFE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Frank Augstein /Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 2 MICHAEL MALONEY /SFC Show More Show Less Ikea has reached a tentative settlement to pay $50 million to three U.S. families whose young children were killed after the Swedish furniture companys furniture fell on them, lawyers for the families said Wednesday. The families of Curren Collas, Camden Ellis and Ted McGee, all around age 2, sued after the children were crushed to death by chests or dressers in Ikeas Malm line. They contended that the unsafe design of the furniture rendered them inherently unstable and easily tipped over and that Ikea had consistently refused to meet voluntary national safety standards for the stability of chests and dressers. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Another Texan has been added to the mix of candidates to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Susan Combs, a West Texas rancher who had tours as both state agriculture commissioner and Texas comptroller, met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence in Washington on Tuesday and has gotten the thumbs up from Mike Conaway, the Midland Republican who chairs the House Committee on Agriculture. Current state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller meanwhile remains in the running, with spokesman Mark Loeffler confirming that Miller has been in touch with Reince Priebus, the outgoing Republican National Committee chairman and Trumps appointed chief of staff, about setting a meeting for next week. Combs, who on Twitter touts herself as an advocate for being audacious, couldnt be more different from Miller considering she championed the removal of sugary snacks from Texas schools, a largely Democratic policy that wasnt popular with food companies or school districts that got a cut of vending sales. Miller tried to bring school vending machines back along with deep friers as a matter of local choice. Combs also supported Trump opponents in the primaries. Her term as comptroller was marred by the offices accidental release of personal information on 3.5 million Texans, a data breach said to be the largest in Texas history. Shes also attracted criticism for writing an erotic romance novel in 1990 about a relationship between an NSA analyst and a spy that the Washington Post called a bodice-ripper. Still, shes had some fiscal triumphs. Her website boasts shortening tax refund processing time by 78 percent, capturing nearly $600 million in uncollected sales taxes and cutting nearly $400 million in government purchasing through strategic sourcing and streamlined purchasing. South Texans remember her as agriculture commissioner who put up an aggressive fight for water rights in the early 2000s, when Mexico was hoarding more than its share of Rio Grande water. She was certainly as active as anybody, said Ray Prewett, former president of Texas Citrus Mutual and vice president of the Texas Vegetable Association. I recall a trip we made to Washington, D.C., with her and she did a great job. Conaway told Politico that Combs was a stunningly capable woman and that he has been working to put her name into consideration with the Trump transition team. He told the Texas Tribune the position is one that we on the Ag committee work the closest with, and shes someone Im comfortable (with). Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Who will lead the $140 billion-a-year agency remains one of the last remaining cabinet questions as Trump prepares his transition into the White House and several names have been swirling. Idaho Gov. C.L. Butch Otter, a former president at potato giant Simplot, was leading some of the speculation last week. Bill Flory of the Idaho Wheat Commission, a member of Trumps 64-member agricultural advisory committee, said in an interview that the septuagenarian Otter was an energetic and pro-trade leader who ran the state like business and would really complement the administration. North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, also has been seen as a serious contender, though her vetting rankled Trump supporters. While the move would open her Senate seat to a Republican likely bulking up the GOP lead in the narrowly controlled Senate Trumps win has in part been attributed to promises hed lead an administration that was friendlier to agriculture than under the current administration on issues such as federal regulation and foreign trade. 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 president-elect reportedly has vetted only two members of the advisory committee to lead the USDA, Nebraska cattleman Charles Herbster and former Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and Chuck Conner, the chief executive officer of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, are others whose names have come up. The USDA is a 100,000-employee agency that oversees the American farming industry but spends some 73 percent of its annual budget on nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps. For farmers and ranchers, the five-year, $1 trillion, farm bill Congress last passed in 2014 is a crucial policy-setting document that guides decision-making on what they plant and how much theyll make. Commodity prices have taken a deep dive since 2014, which has made moves such as the removal of cotton from the list of crops eligible for subsidies done to settle a trade dispute with Brazil potentially crushing. The outcry against federal regulations on food labeling and water oversight, among other issues, led many to rally behind Trump. The president-elects advisory committee also advised him to appoint an Environmental Protection Agency administrator that fully understands and embraces the complexity of agriculture and rural issues and an agriculture secretary who will defend American Agriculture against its critics, particularly those who have never grown or produced anything beyond a backyard tomato plant. Should either Combs or Miller be picked, they wouldnt be the only Lone Star State officials among Trumps cabinet nominees. Texans Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon, is Trumps choice for secretary of state and former Gov. Rick Perry has been tapped for secretary of energy. lbrezosky@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate There was a lot of change on the San Antonio theater scene this year. Magik Theatre founder Richard Rosen retired from the childrens theater; Frances Limoncelli is now the managing artistic director. George Green became head honcho at The Playhouse San Antonio. Jonathan Pennington opened the Roxie Theatre Co. And two ambitious smaller troupes, Viva Theatre Co. and Teatro Audaz, got off the ground, serving up a promising 48-hour play festival and a series of readings, respectively. Heres a look back at some of the best of the years productions: 14, AtticRep: The dance-driven piece, conceived and directed by Roberto Prestigiacomo, explored the world of the generation born in the wake of the 9-11 terror attacks. Thanks in part to Stefano Di Buduos gorgeous video elements, it was one of the most visually arresting shows of the year. All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, The Playhouse San Antonio: The powerful, deeply moving one-act recreated a remarkable historical event from World War I largely through beautifully rendered a cappella music. The Amish Project, AtticRep: Sarah Gise, a North East School of the Arts alum who is now a professional actress, came home to star in the piece, a series of monologues inspired by the real-life 2005 shooting at an Amish schoolhouse. Gise played all seven characters, deftly moving from one to the next in a bravura performance. Asking for Change at Jump-Start Performance Co. and Trash Tree at the Overtime Theater: Stephan Gaeth created these thought-provoking movement-based works, which dealt with homelessness and the environment, respectively. Creatures of the Night, Overtime Theater: Writer/director Emily Fitzgerald built a complete universe for this well-crafted tale in which detective Annabelle Valentine (Sarah Nixon Hemmi) tries to solve the murder of her partner while also coping with ghosts from her past. The Diary of Anne Frank, Sheldon Vexler Theatre: The deeply humane staging vividly captured the dynamics within that tiny annex where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis, as well as all that was lost when they were betrayed. The Diviners, Sheldon Vexler Theatre: The quietly marvelous production, directed with compassion by Dylan Brainard and Tami Kai, gracefully explored religion and small-town life during the Depression. Divas of Eastwood, Renaissance Guild: One of the buzziest shows of the year was this dazzling immersive revue diving into San Antonios history as part of the Chitlin Circuit, a segregation-era network of clubs for African-American entertainers and audiences. Fans, take note: The sequel, titled Watch Your Step The Men of Eastwood, premieres in January at the Little Carver Civic Center. The Foreigner, Sheldon Vexler Theatre: Larry Shues comedy about tolerance got a whiz-bang staging, including some gut-busting work from Jared Stephens and Roman Garcia. The Glass Menagerie, Cellar Theater of The Playhouse San Antonio: The bold staging, directed with clarity by Molly Cox, set Tennessee Williams classic memory play in a mental hospital. The approach not to mention terrific performances by Sam Mandelbaum, Gloria Sanchez-Molina, Maggie Tonra and Tyler Smith breathed thrilling new life into the piece. The House on Mango Street, Classic Theatre: The production, an adaptation of Sandra Cisneros novel that captured the flavor of her writing vividly, was Classics first completely sold-out show. Those who missed it will get another chance to see it: The production is being revived for a two-weekend run in April. Kinky Boots, Majestic Theatre: The much-anticipated San Antonio debut of the musical did not disappoint. The warm-hearted story of acceptance was a great beginning to the Broadway in San Antonio offerings for 2016. Locolobo, Overtime Theater: Jen Rushings nutso musical accurately billed as a punk rock Prometheus psych-wolf musical comedy was a welcome burst of supernatural silliness, compelete with a mad scientist (Jules Vaquera) developing a monsterizer, a Sweet Caroline sing-along and a first-rate band. The Marriage Play at Classic Theatre: Director Tim Hedgepeth, actors Andrew Thornton and Catherine Babbitt, a play by Edward Albee all the elements were in place for a stellar show. The independent production lived up to its promise. Memphis, Woodlawn Theatre: The musicals first local production, deftly directed by Rebecca Trinidad, was powered by rich performances and a first-rate band. Standouts included Marie Warren Bunch and Brian Hodges as a mixed-race couple fighting an uphill battle to make their relationship work as they navigate segregation inside and outside of the music business. My Name Was Dorian...Dorian Gray, Overtime Theater: Derek Berlins passion project which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in was a spellbinding adaptation of Oscar Wildes The Portrait of Dorian Gray. One Down, Overtime Theatre: Playwright Mike Pobletes moving and funny exploration of aging, dreams, loss and human connection boasted deeply felt performances by Benjamin Scharff and Yleanna Wooten. One Man, Two Guvnors, Sheldon Vexler Theatre: Every actor onstage was terrific, including the audience plant required for a bit of audience interaction that ended (intentionally) badly. But Joshua Goldberg owned it with a terrific turn as a crafty fellow trying to keep various scams running. School for Scandal, Classic Theatre: Director Diane Malones fresh staging belied the scripts age, presenting a laugh-out-loud 21st century take on the 18th century tale of gossip and treachery. The Seagull, Classic Theatre: Chekhovs tale of aging, regret and artistic passion was in excellent hands, thanks to director Allan S. Ross and his gifted cast. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Woodlawn Theatre: Roy Bumgarner and Sara Brookes, as the title character and his landlady, delivered sharply calibrated performances that were well-matched by everyone else on stage in director Rick Sanchezs fantastic staging. Tribes, Cellar Theater of The Playhouse San Antonio: Skillfully directed by John O'Neill, the piece featured a remarkable turn from Mark McCarver as a young deaf man struggling to find his place in the world and within his eternally squabbling family. Two Sisters and a Piano, Cellar Theater of The Playhouse San Antonio: The top-flight cast Maria Ibarra, Ailyn Duran, Victor Trevino and Paul Ramos delivered vivid turns in this tale about two women under house arrest in Havana in 1991. A Wolverine Walks into a Bar, Classic Theatre: Master storyteller Jaston Williams paid two welcome visits to Classic this year with his evening of well-crafted monologues in which barflies share stories from their lives. dlmartin@express-news.net WASHINGTON - The Navy is scrapping its decision to eliminate dozens of enlisted sailors job titles, including many that end in "man," after hitting an onslaught of opposition from the force. The decision to drop long-held traditional titles and instead refer to sailors by their rank was announced in September and signaled a sharp cultural shift for the Navy. Three months later, after hearing persistent complaints and questions from sailors around the world, Navy leaders are going back to the drawing board. Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said in a memo that modernizing the job ratings or titles was designed to give sailors more flexibility in training and assignments. Switching to names more understandable to the civilian world, Navy leaders argued, would make it easier to get jobs once sailors left the service. But after hearing angry feedback from thousands of sailors, Richardson said Navy leaders believe they can find a way to provide better job flexibility without dropping the titles. "We have learned from you, and so, effective immediately, all rating names are restored," he said. The memo will be publicly released at 8 a.m. Eastern time today, and sailors can expect to see correspondence from Navy leaders. Richardson outlined what he called a "course correction" in the memo, saying the Navy will continue to review ways to update the names. "Modernizing our industrial-age personnel system in order to provide sailors choice and flexibility still remains a priority for us," he said. "We will need to tackle the issue of managing rating names." The Navy called for a review of the titles in January, shortly after the Pentagon ordered that all combat jobs would now be open to women. The idea was to eliminate titles such as "chief yeoman," "corpsman" or "boatswain's mate" - titles steeped in tradition but difficult for the public to translate or understand. Under the plan, sailors would be known by their ranks, such as petty officer or chief. And job titles would be made more gender-neutral. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who pushed the plan, said at the time that he wanted titles to better convey the job a sailor is doing. For example, few civilians know what a hospital corpsman does, Mabus said in a June interview. A corpsman could be called a medic or an emergency medical technician, much like "messman" was previously changed to culinary specialist, he added. Sailors, however, protested the decision, launching a White House petition and gaining some support from Capitol Hill. They said that while they liked the idea of more flexibility, they wanted to hold onto their traditional titles. It's unclear now whether the move to make titles gender-neutral will continue. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Anselmo Castro, a U.S. Army World War II veteran, was posthumously awarded five medals Wednesday at a ceremony attended by dozens of his family members. Known as a deeply patriotic man, Castro died on Sept. 26. He never knew his children were working to get him the medals hed earned decades ago. Eddie Castro, one of Anselmos 20 children, was visiting with his father in July, after hed been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. The son said it was the first time he ever asked his father about the medals hed surely earned in the Army. Anselmo Castro told his son he didnt have any. Taken aback, Eddie Castro went to work figuring out how his father could be awarded what hed earned. Officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs told Eddie Castro that it could take up to two years to work through the process. So the Castros turned to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, who happens to be related to the family. The congressmans father is Anselmo Castros nephew. The family never told their patriarch that they were working on the matter. I wanted to surprise him, Eddie Castro said. I didnt want to get him excited for nothing. On Wednesday, family members accepted the five medals Anselmo Castro had earned: the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Honorable Service Lapel Button, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and Army of Occupation Medal. The congressman presented the medals as he read a citation about Anselmo Castros life, pointing out he was born in Pearson, a small town just northwest of Lytle, on May 25, 1922, and joined the Army on Nov. 30, 1942, when he was 20. He served 26 months in the European Theater. When he returned to the United States, he worked briefly in Civil Service at Camp Normoyle in San Antonio. Later, Cpl. Castro and his wife Estella purchased an old filling station in Lytle, Texas, that they converted into Castros Mexican Cafe, Castro read to delighted murmurs from the assembled family members. Later, the congressman added a personal note. This was very special to me, of course, because Anselmo was my fathers uncle, he said. So this makes me very proud. Anselmo and Estella Castro were married for 75 years and had 11 sons and nine daughters, 68 grandchildren, 101 great grandchildren, 41 great-great grandchildren, and two great-great-great grandchildren. Estella Castro died about three years ago, one of her sons said. It was clear that family members are still grieving over the loss of their patriarch and they were clearly moved by the weight of the moment of the posthumous awards. As Rep. Castro handed over a shadow box containing the medals to Anselmo Castros children, several of them shed tears and sniffled. His sons choked up when trying to explain the magnitude of the medals. I regret that hes not here to receive them, said son Raymond Castro, a Vietnam War veteran. I wish wed known about this before he passed. Daughter Berta Salinas said her father was proud of serving his country and that he was a hard worker who believed in providing for his family. jbaugh@express-news.net Twitter: @jbaugh This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The advertising gimmick at Legal Eats, the cafeteria in the basement of the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center downtown, is that the verdict is delicious. But the place has gone way beyond the salads and daily hot plates, the grab-and-go breakfast tacos, sandwiches and wraps of a busy courthouse eatery. Regulars and visitors stranded in the building by the wheels of justice can pick up toiletries, greeting cards, cellphone accessories and ornamental rocks and minerals. In other words, dont bite into that pecan praline-looking thing near the muffins its a desert rose, a selenite crystal formation, and itll break your teeth. The rock shop is near the cash registers. Theres a large display case full of fossils and crystals: carnelian, malachite, garnierite and labradorite. Nearby, large green and marbled onyx vases rest alongside amethyst cathedrals, striking natural purple distractions for those forced to while away their lives waiting to see if theyll get picked for a jury. Jury duty is one reason Legal Eats often is packed with customers from the morning hours until well after lunch. Jurors are summoned usually Monday through Thursday, except for those few exceptions, Chief Central Jury Bailiff Julieta R. Schultze said in an email. We normally get an average of 1,500-1,600 (potential) jurors a week. That kind of traffic is good news for Wael Suleiman, the restaurants owner, who leases the space from Bexar County. A lifelong rockhound, he has run Legal Eats since 2010 and decided about a year ago to add the more eclectic offerings to his menu. Its like a museum, Suleiman said. I love those things. Ive always collected fossils and stones. His love of fossils is evident, and soon, they will be embedded in new marble tabletops throughout the restaurant. People waiting to get called to a court must love them, too, because they can spend hours looking through the cafes nonfood offerings, Suleiman said. He recently sold an amethyst display for nearly $1,200 to someone attending a convention of judges. Because it can be inconvenient to haul around a 122-pound rock on your courthouse business, Suleiman will arrange delivery. Besides potential jurors, most of the customers on any given day are county employees. Its not unusual to see clerks, court coordinators, lawyers, assistant district attorneys, even elected officials wander in to order a salad or grab something from the refrigerated offerings: a sub, some sushi or dessert. I like it, said state District Judge Lorina Rummel, who has a favorite go-to salad of grilled chicken, almonds and cranberries over greens with Italian dressing. Its a quick lunch when I dont have time. But when it comes to the nonfood items, customers have made the crystals and fossils the best sellers, said Wafa Taha, a cafe manager. They like to touch and feel the crystals, she said. Its a specialty that Suleiman plans to expand. Taha said he will soon open a store at 301 E. Houston St. called Tresor, French for Treasure, where he can concentrate on fossils, vases, crystal formations and other gemstone items without food getting in the way. ezavala@express-news.net Twitter: @elizabeth2863 The family of a man killed in a 2014 hit-and-run filed a lawsuit Monday against the city of San Antonio, the San Antonio Police Department and Police Chief William McManus alleging the gross negligence of an SAPD officer led to 38-year-old Albert Gonzales death. The lawsuit claims Henry Castoreno was stalking Gonzales wife. After the couple called 911 on Dec. 17, 2014, an officer directed them to the parking lot of a Taco Cabana on the West Side, where the officer would meet them. When the family arrived, the officer wasnt there yet, according to the lawsuit. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Courtesy /Courtesy Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Courtesy /Courtesy Show More Show Less Political novice Justin Knight defeated veteran Bandera City Councilman Jim Hannah in a runoff election Tuesday that drew less than half the voter turnout of Nov. 8, when theyd each garnered 89 votes. The runoff was scheduled when neither candidate wanted to resolve the tie by flipping a coin or drawing lots. Interim Bandera County Elections Administator Dana Moeller conducted it at a projected cost to the city of $4,000 to $5,000. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The city filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the owners of a North Side mobile home park under scrutiny since October, when a dozen families were ordered to vacate the property because of malfunctioning septic tanks. The Bexar County district attorneys office is also investigating the Oak Hollow Mobile Home Parks owners, District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg said at a Wednesday news conference at City Hall. Were going to pursue every legal option there is to make sure the property owner is held accountable for the condition of his property in which tenants were living in filth, Nirenberg said. A little more than 40 families are still living at Oak Hollow, he said. The property, in the 6300 block of Prue Road, violates numerous city codes, according to City Attorney Andrew Segovia. The city is trying to get the property declared a public nuisance and the owners ordered to fix the various violations. This is the best medium, we think, to get what we hope is immediate action from the court, Segovia said. The lawsuit names San Man Inc. and Joseph and Mickey Mangione. Joseph Mangione is listed as the registered agent for San Man Inc. The lawsuit alleges that the septic systems were not permitted and were not maintained to minimum standards, the tanks were not licensed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the water lines and meters were not legally installed, the water pipelines were illegally installed above ground, and the owner told residents to drain water into the ground, which is also illegal. Nirenberg said soil at the park tested positive Monday for high levels of E. coli bacteria. Previous tests at the park showed there was no E. coli in the water. E. coli found in food or water is considered more dangerous than E. coli in soil, for which there are no standards to determine dangerous levels. Nirenberg said remaining residents are not in immediate danger but added we feel strongly these are not suitable conditions for families to be living in. The city first learned in late September that some of the parks septic tanks were overflowing, causing sewage to run over the ground, the councilman said. After an investigation, the city ordered 12 families living in the affected area to relocate. All but one family left, getting relocation assistance from the citys Department of Human Services. The city also ordered the owner to empty the septic tanks, which was done, Nirenberg said. The soil that tested positive for E. coli was in the area where the sewage had overflowed, he said. So far, no residents have reported getting sick. The city is doing additional tests on the soil and water at the park, with results expected in about 48 hours. If any E. Coli is found in the water, the city plans to issue notices to the remaining residents to immediately vacate the site. Nirenberg said Wednesday the city has learned Joe Mangione is asking those relocated families for back rent. In October, the city sent Mangione a cease-and-desist letter after residents received letters signed Management saying the city had condemned the park. That is not true. Joseph and Mickey Mangione could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Bexar Appraisal District records indicate Joseph Mangiones company, San Man Inc., has owned the property since at least 1998 but it was unclear when the company actually bought it. County clerk records tying the property to San Man date to 1978. The site of Oak Hollow Mobile Home Park and land across the street were recently included in an affordable housing bond proposal that will go to voters in May. Winter feeding is a very impactful practice for livestock producers utilizing cool season grasses in Appalachian, the Northeast and the Midwest regions. It can have an influence on livestock performance throughout the winter and well into the following spring. I will focus on the factors that cause hay nutrient degradation some can be lowered, others are just part of the transition from a fresh crop to a preserved feed source. Cool season grasses Most of us utilize cool season grasses and legumes in the hay and pasture fields in eastern Ohio. When cool season grasses sense cold, frost-producing temperatures, they tend to go dormant for the winter. Therefore, in order to maintain the use of grasses as a feed source for livestock, we preserve the grasses by drying them and baling them up for winter feeding another option is a dedicated pasture for stockpile grazing during the winter months. However, for long-term feeding, hay usage is one of the most popular methods of winter available feed. This is a great strategy because the grass just wont grow when the temperatures fall in the lower 30s for an extended amount of time. And the sun makes its appearance less and less as we transition into December to compound the problem for forage growth. An important thing to realize is that grass, much like vegetables, decrease in nutritional value when preserved. The key point to understand is that there will be a loss of dry matter (DM) and quality when making hay. Even if the most ideal conditions are met during the cutting, curing, and baling, processes the quality of the hay will be diminished compared to the starting grass/legume material. Forage harvest loss The forage harvest loss can be up to 25 percent of dry matter through mechanical harvesting alone. What this means is that hay will never be as abundant and nutrient-rich as the forage was at the point of cutting. When the grass is cut at 80 percent moisture, the grass is still chemically active and will utilize some of its stored sugars for metabolic activity as it dries. Not to mention that the microbes present will also assist in the breakdown of the cut material until the preservation conditions are met. On average you want to have hay preserved at less than 20 percent moisture. To be more specific: Small squares should be 20 percent or less; large round, 18 percent or less; and large squares, 16 percent. A forage test analysis will give you the percentage of moisture present in a bale. The approximate 2-3 days of curing the hay to bring that moisture level down as the plant is metabolizing energy and the microbes are breaking down the sugars and proteins, all contribute to the quality degradation and dry matter losses in creating the hay bale. Most of the nutrients will be preserved when the forages in the hay dry down to below 20 percent moisture, but there is still a slight loss even at storage. A good rule of thumb is that you should expect a 1 percent DM loss per 1 percent decrease of moisture even after baling. Soil test for quality To maximize the nutritional concentration of the forages used to make the hay, we need to maximize the grass quality at the start, and make the transition to the preserved state with the minimum amount of nutrient degradation. The quality of the hay that is stored in your barn right now or possibly covered out on the field, all began at harvest. A field that has sufficient nutrients for grass/legume production will maximize the quality of the starting material. To do this, a soil test is highly recommended so that the chemistry or pH of the soil is known. Knowing the actual pH and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of your soil will allow you to calculate the amount of lime or sulfur to apply to the land. Amending with the adequate amount of lime to raise the pH, or sulfur to lower it, will allow the forages to maximize the nutrients already available. Lucky for us, most soil testing laboratories will calculate this number and it will appear on our soil test results form. In my opinion, adjusting the pH of the soil is one of the most important interventions to improve crop growing conditions. This is usually done in the fall, but if the conditions are right can also be done late fall/early winter. Harvest time If adequate macronutrients are also available and your stand is full and weed free, chances are the quality of the starting forage is excellent if harvested at the proper time. Harvest time is very important because as the plant matures and progresses to the reproductive stage, the lignin content increases and that binds up digestible sugars and proteins. Lignin is a polymer compound that gives the plant rigidity and protection from pathogens. This compound can also get in the way of the carbohydrates/sugars and proteins stored in the plant that ruminant animals use as energy. These digestible nutrients and proteins are what is used for the total digestible nutrients (TDN) calculation of the forage. TDN is a good indicator of quality because it takes into account both the non-structural, digestible carbohydrates/sugars and the available protein of that forage available to the animal. Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) is a measure of the indigestible fiber in the feed. These components are: hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. Remember, lignin lowers quality; think of lignin as a cement that causes the cellulose and proteins to be bound up and unavailable for the animal as it digests the material in its rumen. Remember also that lignin increases as plants mature and especially when plants transition to a reproductive state (flowering). A high TDN and low NDF will usually provide a higher quality forage. Protein percentage Protein percentage is also important but remember that protein abundance and TDN are typically correlated. Take the following guidelines into consideration: A high quality hay forage will typically have a TDN of 55 percent or greater accompanied by a crude protein level of 12 percent or greater with an NDF value of 40 percent or less. A poor quality hay will typically have a TDN of 45 percent or lower and a crude protein level below 6 percent, with an NDF value of 60 percent or greater. Winter energy Winter time is unfortunately one of the most energy demanding times for livestock, and is also when forage quality is at its lowest in the hay bale due to the losses discussed above. That is why it is a good idea to understand what constitutes high and low quality forages to best decide the class of livestock and when to feed that livestock different qualities of hay for best management strategies. When temperatures are below 20 F, beef cattle even with a heavy winter coat will start shivering and expend more energy. This means that the animal will have a greater nutritional requirement for basic maintenance. When the animals coat is wet, that temperature can be as high as 60 F and induce shivering that will burn up more of the animals energy. It is also important to consider the body condition score (BCS) of the animal. As the BCS score of an animal increases it has greater insulation from the elements, consequently it will burn less energy for warmth. A higher quality forage will help maintain that animals weight during these critical temperatures. Body score and calving Research shows that a cow will come into heat sooner and be most fertile with a BCS of 5, 6 or 7. When beef cattle have a BCS of 4 or lower, they are more difficult to get bred. If a cow calves with a BCS score of 4 or lower, it could take up to 80 days or greater for her to go back into heat. Conversely, if she calves with a BCS of 6, she will likely come back into heat in approximately 50 days. This is important because the maintenance of that cow in the winter will increase the speed and likelihood of getting her rebred after calving. Once that cow has calved, her nutrient requirement will also increase due to the milk production, and putting weight on her will become even more difficult. That is why it is important to help a pregnant cow maintain condition during the winter, especially if she will calve in February or March. Tying it all together Livestock nutrition is at its highest demand in the winter, and that is typically when the forages used for feed (hay) are at their lowest quality. Using your higher quality hay on the class of livestock that have highest nutrient requirement during the winter months will give you an advantage in the spring, when it comes time to calve and have that cow rebred. That cow will potentially produce more milk and go back in heat faster with a good body condition score coming out of winter. Knowing the quality of the hay you have stored for the winter will allow you to manage your livestock and maintain their increased nutrient requirements during critical temperatures in the winter time, and also maintain a good BCS at calving. Most extension offices throughout the state have hay probes available to lend out to farmers. The Extension Educators in these offices will gladly show farmers how to use these tools. I have two in my office due to the increased trend of using forage analysis as a management tool on the farm. Again, forage analysis will allow you to optimize the nutrients fed to your animals; this in turn can lead to increased breeding success rates following the winter, hay-feeding season. COLUMBUS Farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin have another opportunity to obtain conservation financial assistance. The U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service is accepting applications until Jan. 20 for funding through the Tri-State Western Lake Erie Basin Phosphorus Reduction Initiative. The initiative is a partnership between NRCS and public, private, and non-profit organizations to protect water quality in the basin that includes portions of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. Eligible Financial assistance is available for Ohio livestock farmers to install nutrient management practices that allow for proper storage, timing, and placement of nutrients that will help livestock producers comply with Ohios new nutrient management laws. The Ohio portion of the Western Lake Erie Basin includes parts of Allen, Ashland, Auglaize, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Lorain, Lucas, Marion, Mercer, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot Counties. The Tri-State Western Lake Erie Basin Phosphorus Reduction Initiative is part of the NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program and is working to promote conservation to landowners and monitor the impact of conservation practices installed as part of the project. Apply Applications should be submitted at local USDA Service Centers. Applications received by Jan. 20 will be considered for fiscal year 2017 funding. Farmers are encouraged to begin the application process as soon as possible. For more information about conservation financial assistance available through the RCPP Tri-State Western Lake Erie Basin Phosphorus Reduction Initiative, visit the NRCS Ohio website and the RCPP signup documentation page. BALTIMORE, Ohio The Guernsey breed has deep roots in the Kohler family of Fairfield County and theres good reason to believe it has a bright future at their farm. Today, Jeremy Kohler and his father, Lee, milk about 60 Guernseys and 20 Holsteins. I grew up with them, said Jeremy, 36. I know a lot of the Guernsey breeders and I feel like Guernseys have the best temperament of any breed to work with. Jeremy and his wife, Hannah, have three children who are too young for most chores, but show an interest in the calves and riding in the combine with their father. Silas, 7, is the oldest, followed by Carrington, 3, and Shiloh, who is 1. Silas sometimes helps with the feeding, and all three take an interest in the calves. The fawn-white Guernsey breed is among the best for young children, because of its docile temperament and ease of handling. Its the same breed that was owned by settlers and early farmers, and, over time, the Guernsey became a bucolic image of American history. Family history But the Kohlers are into Guernseys for more than the image. They have been milking them for at least three generations, going back to Jeremys grandfather, Theodore, who started the familys registered herd in 1938. Jeremys wife did not grow up on a farm, but found the breed appealing. My wife thinks theyre the prettiest breed, even before she knew anything about dairy cattle, Jeremy said. Hannah grew up less than four miles from the Kohler farm, but the two went to different schools and didnt know each other. They met at a wedding, when Jeremy was serving as best man, and Hannah was a bridesmaid. Today, theyre continuing a family dairy legacy. Dairy legacy Guernseys dont produce as much milk as other breeds, like Holstein. But Guernsey milk is regarded for its quality it includes a higher level of beta carotene and omega 3, and the majority of Guernsey milk contains the protein beta casein A2, factors that are believed to be tied to better nutrition and digestibility. In 1981, Lee Kohler started the familys current farming operation north of Lancaster, near the town of Baltimore. A road sign bears the name Marodore Farm, formed by combining Lees parents names, Mary and Theodore. The cows are milked twice a day, and most of the work is done by the family. Keeping it simple Jeremy said he likes maintaining a smaller herd because they can manage it on their own. But on the flip side, thats also a challenge, because theyre not big enough to employ more help. I think it gets harder and harder all the time to be a small family dairy farm, Jeremy said. It just keeps trending more and more to the really large dairy farms. Even if the Kohlers were big enough to employ more help, theres the challenge of finding and training the right people. They (employees) dont have to know everything when they come to work, but they need to be willing to work, Lee said. Not everybody likes working on a dairy farm theres some grunt jobs that arent very glamorous. Being flexible The Kohlers have gotten used to the many jobs and hats a dairy farm requires. In 2015, Jeremy was named the National Outstanding Young Guernsey Farmer by the American Guernsey Association, and this year, the association presented Lee with its Distinguished Service award. Family friend and Guernsey producer Krista Richardson, of Wapakoneta, said Jeremy is knowledgeable about the breed, friendly and trustworthy. Jeremy carries on lessons that hes learned from working at his fathers side, she said. Richardson grew up showing cattle with Jeremy and now serves on the Ohio Guernsey Association board, and says the Kohlers are good breed ambassadors. The family that works together stays together, and you see that, she said. You can see the genuine sense of love and appreciation. Good genetics Blaine Crosser, dairy sire product manager and Guernsey sire analyst with Select Sires, said the Kohlers are focused on putting milk in the tank, but also on raising and selling good breeding stock. They have a very high reputation for integrity within the Guernsey circles, sending bulls into the AI system and doing some embryo sales, Crosser said. The Kohlers have some part-time help in the evenings, but do most of the work, including field work, on their own. They also raise their own heifer calves. Jeremy, his father and grandfather all graduated from Ohio State University, with Jeremy earning an animal sciences degree. Jeremy also attended the Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, and he said the mix of academic and hands-on education has paid off. Rewarding work Jeremy said the thing that keeps him in dairy farming even during tough economic times is his love of working with the cows, and seeing the results of a hard days work. I feel like its usually pretty rewarding work, he said. You can see the fruits of your labor pretty quickly. With a family history in dairy farming, it may have seemed natural that Jeremy would continue in that direction. But it also took some desire and passion, qualities he said are important for other young farmers. Youve got to love it to begin with, he said. This isnt a job you would want if you didnt love it wholeheartedly. They (young dairymen) have to be passionate about it and really like cows. HARRISBURG, Pa. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has placed four more counties on drought warning status following a meeting of the Commonwealth Drought Task Force. While recent precipitation over the past few weeks has helped dry conditions in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, the central part of the state still has persistent 90-day precipitation deficits of up to 4 inches from normal, as well as low groundwater and stream levels. Mifflin, Juniata, Snyder and Union Counties were moved from drought watch to drought warning status. Snyder has a precipitation deficit of 11 inches from normal over the past year. These four counties join Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, and Northampton, which have been on drought warning status since Nov. 3. Reduce usage DEP encourages residents in these counties to voluntarily reduce their water use by 10-15 percent. Counties on drought watch are Adams, Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Centre, Chester, Clinton, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Luzerne, Montgomery, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Wayne and York Counties. Residents are encouraged to reduce their nonessential water use by 5 percent. Drought watch and warning declarations in late fall/early winter, while not common, have occurred several times in the past decade, in 2011, 2010, and 2008. The Drought Task Force will meet next on Jan. 5. STATE COLLEGE, Pa. The first online production sale 12 Days Til Christmas Sale held by Penn State Universitys Department of Animal Science Dec. 13, grossed $62,350 on 15 live lots and three embryo lots. Sale Conducted through AngusLive.com, the nine bred heifers averaged $4,417 with the top bred heifer, Lot 2 P S Playmate 971 507, selling for $6,500. Six bred cows averaged $3,292 with the top bred cow, Lot 7 P S Miss Angus 541 250, selling for $5,000. The top embryo lot was Lot 16 which sold for $450 per embryo. Cattle were sold to farms in Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, and West Virginia. Wendall Landis, Beef and Sheep Complex Manager, said, the sale was a good opportunity to highlight the breeding program at Penn State and give students hands-on experience handling and marketing livestock.Landis added they hope to make the sale an annual event. Details For more information on the beef facilities, visit http://animalscience.psu.edu/facilities. COLUMBUS Grain farmers are facing another year of tight margins and near break-even prices but there some major wild cards that could make 2017 different. The biggest is the political transition, going from a Democrat to a Republican president, and one who is not afraid to shake things up. The changes that the Donald Trump Administration is planning will bring opportunities and challenges for American grain farmers, said Chris Novak, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association, during his speech Dec. 20 at the Ohio Grain Farmers Symposium in Columbus. The regulatory pendulum is swinging back toward realizing the challenges that were placing on businesses, he said. But voters still care about clean air and water, and taking care of the environment, Novak said, and having a strong national EPA is still important. We need reasonable, balanced, science-based regulations, even at the same time that were pushing for regulatory reform, he said. Sharp rhetoric Some of the things the president-elect has promised to do, like drain the swamp of lobbyists and career politicians, could be beneficial in some ways, and harmful in others. Novak said the NCGA, by nature, works with lobbyists who are trying to tell politicians in Washington, about the concerns of corn growers, and the need to increase demand. Draining the swamp too much could come at a cost, Novak said. During the campaign, Trump was adamantly opposed to trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which economists say would be good for agriculture. But corn growers are hopeful they can work with his administration, to find an agreeable compromise. We know that Trump does not dislike trade, said Chad Kemp, president of Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association. But we know that he thinks, as they stand now, some of the things arent written correctly. Commodity overview Looking ahead, the biggest potential for profit appears to be with soybeans, followed by corn, and then wheat. But those markets will do some shifting over the next few months as planting intentions are released, and as the new Administration takes office. During his market outlook presentation, OSU ag economist Matt Roberts said wheat is probably the least profitable of the three, with an oversupply and stagnant demand. Unless youre growing some type of specialty wheat, or for a special market, he said demand is not in your favor. If we want to see (wheat) prices really recover, we have to see some sort of a supply shock and the reality is theres not really one on the horizon, Roberts said. Corn acres appear more promising, according to the return-per-acre budget sheets that were released at the symposium by OSU ag economist Barry Ward. Returns to land (gross revenue minus all costs except land cost) for Ohio corn ranges from negative $37 to $116 per acre. Estimates for returns to total costs for Ohio corn in 2017 are negative for all three land classes evaluated. Supply and demand Year-after-year increases in corn yield and production have outpaced demand. There either has to be a new demand source, or we will see declining production, Roberts said. The biggest demand seems to be with soybeans, where demand is growing for soybean oil, as well as soybean meal, which is used in livestock feed. Roberts said he thinks the competitive advantage of soybeans could cause planted acres to surpass corn acres across the nation, over the next two to three years. Returns to land for Ohio soybeans are projected to range from $60-$230 per acre. Returns to total costs are projected to be negative for all three land capability classes studied. However, these figures are generally higher than corn projections. During an industry panel discussion, Ohio corn, wheat and soybean leaders discussed their opinions on things like water quality regulations and the Renewable Fuel Standard. Lake Erie Tadd Nicholson, executive director of Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association, said the decision by Michigan to declare its portion of Lake Erie impaired was politically motivated. Its not a plan to clean up Lake Erie, and in fact, theres already a better plan in place right now, he said, referring to a separate agreement between Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Canada, to achieve the 40 percent phosphorus reduction. Nicholson said Michigans decision is an invitation to the U.S. EPA, similar to what happened in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, which resulted in more stringent restrictions on farming. But at the same time, he said farmers need to continue to demonstrate that they can handle the situation and are making progress. Ethanol growth Nicholson said the Renewable Fuel Standard continues to be extremely solid policy, and said the volumes released by the EPA in November are something to be celebrated. Soybean farmers felt the volumes could have been higher for biodiesel, but were generally happy with the increases. In 2005, when the RFS originated, about 1.6 billion bushels of corn went into ethanol production, compared to 5.2 billion bushels today. Its a great rural success story, and we were all part of that process, said Keith Truckor, chairman of the Ohio Corn Checkoff. The next step in increasing ethanol demand, farmers said, is increasing the availability at the pump. The Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association continues to work at the state and national level, to increase options for biofuel at the pump. State commodity leaders are working directly with pump suppliers to make sure pumps are updated and installed with biofuel options, to hopefully spur more demand. NDSU Extension offers advice for conditioning too-dry soybeans Farmers may want to condition soybeans that were harvested at lower moisture contents. Wales' farming union NFU Cymru has given its New Year Message, saying 2016 will go down in the history books as a 'truly unprecedented' year for Wales. Stephen James, NFU Cymru President said Brexit has 'undoubtedly dominated' discussions following the decision by the UK public to leave the EU. We now have a unique opportunity to shape and develop policies that are fit for purpose, forward thinking and enable us to develop, grow and realise NFU Cymrus vision of a productive, progressive and profitable industry that will deliver jobs, growth and investment for Wales. We also have the opportunity to create a new regulatory landscape in Wales; a framework based on maintaining and enhancing our world leading standards based on evidence, science and voluntary measures, rather than immediately turning to the statute book. In the short term the single most important issue for Welsh agriculture is securing the best possible access to European markets, ensuring that our access is not fettered by tariffs and non-tariff barriers. 'Must deliver for Welsh agriculture' The NFU Cymru President said Wales' domestic markets must deliver for Welsh agriculture. He continued: As a Union we are committed to regular engagement with the major retailers and food buyers to ensure that Welsh food is front and centre on retail shelves and in the food service sector. I am pleased with our successes in 2016, on lamb in particular, but recognise that there is much more to do to improve relationships and deliver better returns across the entire supply chain. Bovine TB continues to cast a dark shadow over our cattle industry, with nearly 10,000 cattle slaughtered in Wales over the past 12 months, a dramatic rise of 35% over the previous 12 months. The concern and frustration amongst farmers is as palpable as I have ever seen it. Welsh Government cannot continue to push costs back to farmers without taking responsibility for the reservoir of disease in wildlife. 'Gov hasn't properly assessed NVZ impact' Mr James said a major threat for Welsh farmers is Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) designations. He continued: This hangs over all of Wales, we have questioned much of the evidence base behind these proposals and do not believe that Welsh Government has properly assessed the impact that designation will have on farming businesses and the wider rural economy. Our NVZ survey has shown that it will cost on average nearly 80,000 for those without sufficient slurry storage to achieve compliance with the directive. With three quarters of farmers surveyed willing to consider a voluntary approach to managing nitrate levels, we believe this is a great opportunity for Welsh Government to make use of the new legislative framework in Wales, offered by the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, to deliver an alternative approach rather than an unwieldly EU directive. Cash flow remains a big problem Mr James said cash flow has been a 'major issue' in 2016, largely due to delayed 2015 BPS payments and low milk prices. He said: However, I remain optimistic for our future, especially with good news from Rural Payments Wales (RPW) on this years BPS payments and improving milk prices. I am fortunate in my role to meet so many passionate, driven, farming families, investing for the long term in Welsh agriculture and I continue to be inspired by the next generation of farmers. I want to thank our members for their support throughout 2016 and a special thank you to those who provided their fields and big bales throughout Wales, to help promote our 'Its time to back Welsh farming' campaign in the summer. Most importantly I thank the public for their continued support and for those who back Welsh farming through choosing our produce in the supermarkets, butchers, local shops and when eating out. Farmers, the supply chain and government alike should all be extremely proud of our story and we should all be playing our part in promoting and selling our industry to Wales, the UK and the world. NFU Cymru will ensure that farming continues to deliver and plays a part in delivering for the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales. The crisis in dairy farming is nearly over, says EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan. And he says that this is in part due to more than one billion euros of EU support pumped into the industry over the last two years. "The good news is that for some months now we are seeing signs of recovery," said the Commissioner during a speech to the European Dairy Association (EDA) in Nice, France. He said that global demand was now picking up - most notably for butter and cheese. And he said, "The long-awaited reaction from the supply side finally materialised in the EU starting in June this year. This has translated into better dairy prices, which have substantially increased in the EU since May," he said. "Experts in the Milk Market Observatory (MMO) confirmed last week that prices for butter and cheese are expected to remain robust through early 2017. "This improvement is also reflected in better farm-gate milk prices - up 10 per cent from July to October. And these prices are expected to increase further through the end of the year." 'Recovery is guaranteed' However, now that prices were improving it was more important than ever for the dairy sector to remain "market oriented," he said. The EU was currently operating a milk production reduction scheme and exceptional adjustment aid, which should contain, to some extent, the expansion in production, he said. "As long as we produce what the market demands, recovery is guaranteed. None of us has any interest in risking the balance, which has been so difficult to achieve. Maintaining this balance requires an effort from all actors across the sector." He said that 58,000 dairy farmers across 27 member states had taken part in the milk production reduction scheme. "I am now looking for the same level of commitment from the industry. You know your clients and their needs. "I urge you to remain customer driven and produce what they require," he said. Difficult time Phil Hogan said that the dairy sector was of "massive strategic importance" for European agriculture and for the European Union's rural communities. "Anyone who knows rural Europe is well aware of this fact. As someone who grew up on a small dairy farm in Ireland, I understood this fact long before I began this job. "And restoring health and balance to the sector has been my priority since my first day as commissioner. "That is why I have done everything in my power to support the sector during this difficult time," he said. Michel Nalet, president of the EDA, had said that the crisis in dairy appeared to be close to the end. "I am cautiously optimistic that this is true," said the commissioner. "Now we must work together to continue this recovery, and do our best to make sure a crisis of this magnitude never happens again." 'Uptake has been massive' One of the measures taken by the European Union was an intervention scheme for skimmed milk powder (SMP). Towards the end of November Phil Hogan authorised the sale of some of these intervention stocks on the market. Just over 22,000 tonnes of SMT was put up for tender. The commissioner explained this decision to the EDA. "I believe the public intervention mechanism has played its role in stabilising markets and removing surpluses in an overwhelmingly imbalanced scenario. "This was done in full knowledge of the fact that this removal is temporary and the bought-in product has to find its way onto the market one day or another," he said. "Let me remind you that, in line with my full and consistent commitment to the sector, earlier this year I gave instructions on two occasions to increase the volumes under which public intervention of SMP takes place at fixed price. "This was a way to give certainty to the sector in general and to the dairy industry in particular. "The uptake has been massive, to the extent that some 30 per cent of one year of EU SMP production has been sold to public stocks. Member states have put forward some 600 million for buying that product. "Its true that it will be recovered once the product is sold, but until that moment arrives, the financial burden is not negligible. "Some of you may say that my recent decision to open the sales compromises the recovery taking place on the protein market. But I can tell you that, as long as butter and cheese prices remain remunerative, there is some margin for SMP to be more competitive on the world market. "And certainly there is no reason to think that such a move will prevent milk prices from reaching sustainable levels, especially given that quotations for other dairy products remain high." The commissioner warned that a "truly market-oriented policy" could not rely on large-scale commission action of this type in the future. "Instead, we must build the resilience of the sector so that it can cope with future shocks. I have taken strong action to lay these foundations, and today I am calling for your support to bring these important changes into force." Recommendations He said he had established a task force to find new and better solutions to restore balance to the food chain and strengthen the position of farmers. This task fore had produced a report. Amongst its recommendations was a call for new rules at EU level to cover certain unfair trading practices (UTPs), as well as the implementation of effective enforcement regimes in member states such as through the use of an adjudicator. Other recommendations included increasing market transparency, enhancing co-operation among farmers, facilitating farmers' access to finance and improving the take-up of risk management tools. He said he had also been travelling the world to find new markets for EU dairy products abroad. He had led delegations to Mexico, Colombia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia. The commissioner said that the European Commission would continue to stand by the dairy sector when required, but in an "efficient and market oriented" manner. Two further Scottish councils have now confirmed a ban on sky lanterns and helium balloons, following calls from concerned farmers. At the end of October, NFU Scotland wrote to the 24 local authorities in Scotland which had yet to put a ban in place. It called for councillors to consider the untold damage sky lanterns can cause. And since then, the union has received a response from councillors from nine local authorities two of which, Inverclyde Council and Fife Council, have now put a ban in place. Edinburgh City Council is expected to discuss motions put forward by two of its councillors; whilst West Lothian Council is putting together a policy to go to Full Council in the New Year. These councils join eight other Scottish local authorities - Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Falkirk, Highland, Perth and Kinross and Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands - which have already banned the release of sky lanterns and/or helium balloons. 'We welcome the bans' The lanterns, which are constructed from paper with a wire or wooden frame and contain a lighted candle, are a proven fire risk and can be a danger to animals. They pose a fire hazard to standing crops, stacks of hay and straw, woodland and farm buildings. If they land within crops grown to feed livestock, the frames risk being ingested causing great harm to livestock. However, there are still 20 councils in Scotland which have yet to take appropriate action, and the Union is urging them to get on board and follow suit in putting in place a ban to protect our countryside. Twenty five councils in England have already banned sky lanterns, and the majority of Wales 22 local authorities. NFU Scotland President Allan Bowie, commented: "We welcome the bans that have been put in place by Inverclyde Council and Fife Council in recent weeks and thank the councillors for taking this forward following our correspondence. "However, there is still a lot of work to do yet, as 20 other authorities have yet to consider to do so. 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. "Across the UK, there have been many reports now of fires started by lanterns and harm to the health of livestock when lanterns have landed in farmers fields and been eaten. There is a further risk to stock when grass is cut and ensiled for winter feed, and the wire is chopped up and subsequently contained in hay or silage. "We applaud the action already taken against sky lanterns by the 12 Scottish local authorities in Scotland and we urge other councils to take their responsibilities as seriously. We also ask members of the public to avoid the use of lanterns, and to understand the risks that these can pose and call on the councils who havent put bans in place to consider doing so." 'A mass landing of 28 sky lanterns' Beef and arable farming couple Tony and Sue Robinson from Coolham, West Sussex experienced a mass landing of 28 sky lanterns on their farm in 2013 and are urging people not to release them. They believe they were lucky to escape a fire, given many sky lanterns had landed alight, scorching the ground around them. Sue Robinson said: All we want is for people to be aware of what could happen and we hope we will dissuade people from releasing sky lanterns. If this had happened three weeks earlier, during the dry weather, we could have had a major fire here as many lanterns landed in fields that were earlier growing corn. By the burn marks, many were still alight on landing. One landed yards from our supplies of winter straw and feed for the cattle. The Government has announced 440million superfast broadband funding for the UK's 'hardest-to-reach' homes and businesses under a broadband rollout scheme. Funding has been unlocked to give more properties in rural areas of the UK the quick and reliable internet connections which are a vital part of modern life. The cash boost is a combination of efficiency savings and a clawback mechanism which re-invests money when people take up superfast connections installed by the Broadband Delivery UK project. New figures show around 1.5 million homes and businesses have now taken advantage and signed up for superfast connections in areas where Government has subsidised rollout. As a result, BT will be releasing 292 million for extra connections with 133 million already allocated to be spent in regions around the UK. Careful contract management by the Government, local authorities and BT has also saved more than 150 million across 44 projects as the first phase of rollout draws to a close. It means a total of 442 million can now be reinvested in taking superfast speeds to some of the most remote parts of the country. 'Crucial in cementing the digital divide' CLA Rural Business Adviser Dr Charles Trotman said it is 'entirely right' that BT Group, which is providing the additional cash, recycles money from the windfalls received from the programme back into the scheme. BT Group is both the main recipient of public money, provided to BT Openreach to fund the roll out of infrastructure, and is also the main commercial provider of internet services to homes and businesses once they are connected. So it is vital the Group is tightly regulated. Mr Trotman added: The next two years are crucial in cementing the end of the digital divide that continues to hold back the rural economy from fulfilling its potential. The legal imposition of a universal service obligation, as provided for in the Digital Economy Bill, can ensure that every home and business owner will no longer have to accept substandard connections. It is also essential for government and industry to embrace the range of technologies that could be used to deliver the best possible connections to tackle the final 5% of the most remote and difficult to connect homes. Providing communities with a voice and stake in how they are connected will be crucial to ensuring the right investments are made in this area. A pregnant sheep has been savaged in a suspected dog attack in Leicestershire, leading vets to put the sleep down due to the 'horrific injuries'. Police have shared graphic images of a sheep which had its jaw ripped off in a suspected dog attack. The ewe had to be put down after suffering horrific injuries in the attack which took place on a footpath off Little Lane, between Desford and Botcheston, over the weekend. Officers said it is highly likely the animal was pregnant with twins. PC Robert Cross of Hinckley police condemned the attack and appealed for information said: While these images are quite distressing, I make absolutely no apologies for posting this. This ewe was put to sleep today (Monday) due to her horrific injuries. Her lower jaw had been torn off in a dog attack at some point over the weekend on the footpath down Little Lane between Desford and Botcheston. Its highly likely that she was pregnant with twins. He added: This is not the first time that the farmer has suffered attacks on his livestock. Dogs worrying and attacking livestock is a real problem. I cant understand why you wouldnt put your dog on a lead around animals. Someone owns the dog responsible and knows about this. I would urge you to have the decency to contact me directly via email - Robert.cross@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk Quality Standard Mark English beef is being launched in top stores in Hong Kong in time for Christmas. The two pre-packed premium steak lines are listed in Park N Shop, Fusion, Taste and International stores in the territory and Macau and are available now. The launch is supported by publicity and PR. This launch comes after major successes for UK lamb, beef and pork products in 2016 with Hong Kong supermarket chains such as Welcome, Aeon and City Super. UK beef exports year to end of October are up 18% in value, making the territory the largest destination for UK beef outside the EU. Earlier this year, AHDB helped secure an expanded agreement to ship a wider range of British beef cuts to Hong Kong. This enabled the UK to export more boneless and bone-in beef cuts from cattle of all ages, including manufacturing beef, and help the UK build on its existing trade relationship with in the Far East. Jean-Pierre Garnier, the Head of Meat Exports for AHDB says: We are delighted with the level of retail interest for our products. Hong Kong is a very competitive market for meat and, at the top end, congested with offer from all over the world. Nonetheless, we offer a unique, grass-fed, tender and flavoursome product that is attracting a high premium against beef from other origins. The Hong Kong lamb market is smaller but we are leader at the top end of the market. Premium pork, sausages and pork pies have also strong and growing sales. AHDB is consistently investing in promotion in Hong Kong. In 2017, we are planning a large presence at the Hofex and Restaurant & Bar food shows as well as food service and retail promotions. AHDB is a statutory levy board, funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain. Its purpose is to equip levy payers with independent, evidence-based information and tools to grow, become more competitive and sustainable. Established in 2008 and classified as a Non-Departmental Public Body, it supports the following industries: meat and livestock (cattle, sheep and pigs) in England; horticulture, milk and potatoes in Great Britain; and cereals and oilseeds in the UK. AHDBs remit covers 75 per cent of total UK agricultural output. NFU Cymru Conference: Farmers need more help to 'weather current storms' At 1680, 1620 and 1561c/kg, 18.5, 19 and 19.5 micron respectively, Merino fleece finished the year with a 36-month price position of better than 98 per cent - that is, over the past three years the prices have only been higher less than 2pc of the time. "There is some anecdotal evidence that our directors are reporting from the medium to high rainfall zones that farmers are retaining older ewes as a strategy to slightly increase their flock numbers and director and sheep consultant Andrew Ritchie is certainly reporting from his client base, there is no evidence of breeding ewe decline. A Wellard statement, announced to the ASX, said the new heifers would be placed with local farmers to help build income and to improve the domestic supply of fresh milk to Sri Lankan citizens, reducing the country's reliance on expensive, imported milk powder. Warrenton, VA (20186) Today Clear early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Clear early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable. Where to eat and drink in the Fayetteville area this weekend A former construction company executive who worked in the Middle East was sentenced to prison Wednesday after a London jury convicted him of destroying evidence during an investigation into overseas bribery. Richard Kingston, 54, from South Wales, was jailed for a year for concealing, destroying, or otherwise disposing of two mobile phones. Kingston knew or suspected data on the phones would be relevant to an investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office, the SFO said. He formerly worked as a Managing Director of Sweett Group plc in the Middle East. Sweett pleaded guilty in December 2015 to failing to prevent bribery. It was ordered to pay a penalty of 2.25 million (about $2.8 million). A subsidiary, Cyril Sweett International Limited, bribed the vice chairman of AAAI to secure a contract to build the Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi owns part of AAAI. The SFO said the offenses occurred between December 2012 and December 2015. Kingston was arrested in December 2014 on suspicion of bribery. He was arrested again in June 2015 during a separate SFO investigation thats ongoing. Tom Payne, representing the SFO in court, told the jury that despite knowing about the SFOs investigation, Kingston destroyed mobile phones containing emails, texts, and Whatsapp messages pertinent to the SFO investigation. SFO General Counsel Alun Milford said in a statement Wednesday: Richard Kingston actively took steps to frustrate our inquiries into his involvement, and that of others, in the suspected payment of bribes. We will not hesitate to pursue those who may set out similarly to disrupt our investigations. ____ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. I am a serving police detective and have been in the job for almost 12 years. Whilst writing my book I was a single woman, completing my psychology degree and working full time in the Criminal Investigation Department. Rhiana Ramsay I spent 7 years living in France from ages 11 to 18 and then spent four and a half years in Thailand (specifically in Bangkok)studying, playing music, reading and working as an English teacher and writing for a magazine. I completed my education through distance learning. Whilst living abroad and after leaving French school without any qualifications, I took my GCSEs with the National Extension College and upon returning to the UK I studied with the Open University for my psychology degree. Im a self-taught musician and Im able to write music for both guitar and piano. Some of my favourite pieces to play include 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica and Sweet Child O'Mine by Guns 'n' Roses. These days I prefer creative writing as it provides me with the perfect opportunity to escape and have complete control of a story. I am still a huge fan of metal music though. I once won a jazz singing competition (despite not being a fan of jazz). I used to perform in numerous bands whilst living in Bangkok playing anything from jazz to pop and metal. I recently became a mother which presents a whole new set of challenges! As well as working in a busy CID department and trying to work on my second novel Im now a mother to my six and half month old son. Nap times really are a saving grace! I am a feminist in the sense that I do not believe gender should be a barrier to achievement or preclude anyone from doing anything they wish to do. I am bilingual after spending 7 years growing up in France and then working in Bangkok Im able to speak fluent French as well as a little Thai. I love hiking, running and being outdoors. Being with nature really helps me clear my mind and is a very therapeutic activity. Ive been running for over 11 years and have been hiking in some of the most beautiful places including the French Pyrenees and 'Gros Piton' mountain in St Lucia. Finally, I hate cooking. I once set my hair on fire when leaning over the gas hob. I had very long hair at the time and of course hair is very flammable! I also put my head inside a gas oven to see why it wasn't working (which really is not a very smart thing to do!) Because i wanted to cook a roast. The oven then ignited, creating a fire ball which engulfed my head! I was very lucky not to get burnt or gassed! ABOUT SWEET OBLIVION: Murder, intrigue, and sex combined with a shocking conclusive twist - Sweet Oblivion is the tense debut novel of Sussex writer and serving police detective, Rhiana Ramsey (pseudonym). Sweet Oblivion is out now and available from Amazon and at rhianaramsey.com (from 0.99 Kindle or6.99 paperback). Priyanka Chopra has become a force to reckon with in the international circuit. After wowing the global audience with her gritty act in the popular TV series 'Quantico', the actress is all set to make her Hollywood debut next year with 'Baywatch'. Her peer, Deepika Padukone, too is ready to make an impact in Hollywood. However, in stark contrast, very few actors from Bollywood have tried their luck in the international arena. In an interview to a daily, PeeCee was asked why her male counterparts don't try to prove their mettle on a global platform. The actress did not mince her words as she said that perhaps the male superstars don't try to do it in the first place. Then, she quickly added a rejoinder saying, "You need strength for that". Wonder how the reigning actors of Bollywood will take her comment. Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts On 4 December 2000, the General Assembly of the United Nations, taking into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world, proclaimed 18 December International Migrants Day. Some people living in Turkey are Migrants who have chosen to move to another country to retire, improve their lives, for family reunions, for education purposes or other reasons. Their decision to move here was a choice and not a necessity. Many are not so fortunate Refugees are persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution. Their situation is often so perilous and intolerable that they cross national borders to seek safety in nearby countries. There were 21.3 million of them worldwide at the end of 2015. For the second consecutive year, Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide, with 2.5 million people Source UNHCR Global Trends International Migrants day in Turkey On Monday 19th December a conference was held in Ankara to mark International Migrants Day. The conference was organised by the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM), part of the Turkish Ministry of the Interior. The event The first part of the evening was a meeting that was attended by officials from all over Turkey. Sebahattin Ozturk, the Deputy Minister of the Interior (Icisleri Bakanlg Bakan Yardmcs) and Attila Toros, the Director General (Goc Idaresi Genel Muduru) of the DGMM. gave speeches highlighting the work being done to welcome foreigners into Turkey and provide housing and support. Some of the Migrants attending were presented with gifts Sand artist (Kum sanatcs) Omer Faruk Elmas performed a thought provoking sand art show. Omer Faruk Elmas from fethiyetimes on Vimeo. The second part of the evening was an exhibition with stands from all over Turkey explaining how migrants have integrated into their local communities. Mugla Governorship (Mugla Valiligi) The Mugla Governorship had a stand with representatives from Mugla, Bodrum and Fethiye. There was information about the different areas of the region, samples of some of the local produce including oranges, honey and Turkish Delight (Lokum) as well as examples from the foreign residents of some the projects they are involved in within their communities. Some of the many other stands Migrants from many countries attended, either as part of the teams manning the stands or as attendees. It was an evening of information giving, meeting new people and sharing experiences. VIP visits The Protokol visited the stands, chatting and enjoying a moment of camaraderie with those who have chosen Turkey as their adopted home, as well as those who have found a refuge here after suffering intolerable hardships. The one thing that every Migrant, whatever their story, had in common was their happiness and thankfulness to be in Turkey. The Mugla team would like to thank Ekrem Aylanc and Recep Batu for their hospitality throughout the event Lastly We couldnt leave without giving you a glimpse of the wonderfully icy weather in Ankara Increasing skilled manpower in design and providing necessary apparel solutions to retailers can help the textile industry of Bangladesh to achieve its export target of $50 billion by 2021, said David Hasanat, chairman and CEO of Viyellatex Group. He also said that challenges faced by the RMG sector can be tackled using new technology, training and research. Bangladesh can also go beyond its export target, added Hasanat while addressing the roundtable on $50 billion export target and the role of Centre of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industry (CEBAI). It was organised by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in association with the CEBAI and International Labour Organization (ILO). It is important to provide garment solutions and supply all types of garment and apparel made in Bangladesh, said Hasanat. Increasing skilled manpower in design and providing necessary apparel solutions to retailers can help the textile industry of Bangladesh to achieve its export target of $50 billion by 2021, said David Hasanat, chairman and CEO of Viyellatex Group. He also said that challenges faced by the RMG sector can be tackled using new technology, training and research.# He also said that less than 1 per cent manufacturers in Bangladesh offer design support to buyers. Over 20,000 expatriate experts are taking over $5 billion from the country every year due to the shortage of skilled manpower. This amount is higher than the net profit of the local garment exporters, according to Hasanat. Occupational safety, gas and power supply, transportations, port services, market diversification and more also need to be addressed, added Hasanat. Bangladesh can expand its market by exporting garments to countries like India, China, Japan and South Korea, said Faruque Hassan, vice president, BGMEA. Hassan also said that the country should diversify its products. While trousers, shirts and t-shirts make up for 79 per cent of the total apparel exports per year, exports of suits, swimwear, sportswear and blazers have also been increasing. (KD) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Apex body of the Pakistan textile sector, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab unit, convened an emergency general body meeting to press the case for uniform energy prices across the country and remove the disparity. APTMA members from Faisalabad and Multan chapters also partook in the deliberations through a video link.There is a huge disparity of Rs 530 per million British thermal units (MMBTU), which can make the Punjab textile industry uncompetitive as against mills in other regions of the country, Pakistan media reports quoted APTMA Punjab chairman Syed Ali Ahsan as saying at the meeting. Apex body of the Pakistan textile sector, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab unit, convened an emergency general body meeting to press the case for uniform energy prices across the country and remove the disparity. APTMA members from Faisalabad and Multan chapters also partook in the deliberations through a video link. # The members however praised the Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif for his support to end disparity in gas prices in Punjab, when compared with other states.According to APTMA, the disparity arose as a result of the Economic Coordination Committees (ECC) decision to reduce price of natural gas price for the general industry from Rs 600 per MMBTU to Rs 400 per MMBTU. (AR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Sympatex Technologies will present its guaranteed green Sympatex membrane, which is produced in a completely climate neutral way at the upcoming ISPO 2017, which will be held February 5-8, 2017 in hall A1, booth 418. The material basis of the highly functional membrane is the Sympatex copolymer, a compound of polyester and polyether molecules.During the production, which follows specific Sympatex formulations, the company and its partner DSM have reduced the carbon footprint of the product. Sympatex Technologies will present its 'guaranteed green' Sympatex membrane, which is produced in a completely climate neutral way at the upcoming ISPO 2017, which will be held February 5-8, 2017 in hall A1, booth 418. The material basis of the highly functional membrane is the Sympatex copolymer, a compound of polyester and polyether molecules.# According to the German company, in order to eliminate any contribution to global warming, Sympatex will compensate the CO2 amount of its entire yearly membrane production starting from 2017, through respective climate protection certificates.Thus, Sympatex can compensate even the last remaining CO2 emissions that are released during the production of the membrane with the support of internationally certified climate protection projects, it said. (AR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Dulquer Salmaan, the young actor and his beautiful wife Amaal Sufiya are celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary today. Dulquer, who is in the USA for shooting, wished his better half in the most adorable way. The actor posted a special selfie with Amaal Sufiya on his Facebook page, along with a sweet note. Dulquer funnily asked his wife how she married a cartoon like him and apologised for not being with her on this special day. However, the actor's special anniversary note is going viral on social media and has already crossed 95K likes on Facebook. Dulquer Salmaan has once again proved that he is a total family man, much like his father Mammootty. Here are some interesting details about Dulquer Salmaan & Amaal Sufiya.... Who Is Amaal Sufiya? Amaal Sufiya, who hails from a North Indian Muslim family settled in Chennai, is an architect by profession. She, who is also an interior designer, is currently busy with the interior works of Fahadh Faasil and Nazriya Nazim's new apartment. Arranged Marriage It was Dulquer's mother Sulfath, who found Amaal for fim. Even though they knew each other through common friends, the couple officially met for the first time, in the presence of their families. Common Interests It was their deep attachment towards their families and love for travelling, that brought Dulquer Salmaan and Amaal Sufiya together. The couple tied the knot just before Dulquer made his acting debut. Nazriya's Best Friend Amaal, who once visited Dulquer in one of his films sets, developed a deep bonding with his co-star Nazriya. Now, she is the best friend of the young actress, from the industry. The Most Good-looking Couple Of Mollywood Dulquer Salmaan and Amaal Sufiya make a perfect pair with the extreme good looks and fashion statements. Amaal's public appearances have always been appreciated by the fashion police. Happy Wedding Anniversary Here we wish Dulquer Salmaan and Amaal Sufiya, a very happy wedding anniversary.... Dulquer's Facebook Post Here is the adorable anniversary message by Dulquer Salmaan, to his darling wife Amaal Sufiya..... Dulquer Salmaan and Amaal Sufiya entered wedlock on December 22nd, 2011 in a traditional ceremony. It was purely an arranged marriage for the couple, who was introduced to each other by Dulquer's mother Sulfath. Dulquer, on the other hand, in filming for the upcoming untitled Amal Neerad movie, which is slated to release for this Vishu. He will join the second schedule of Bejoy Nambiar's Solo, after completing the Amal Neerad project. Mexico Tourism Board supports continued protection of the country's biodiversity; launches new campaign celebrating its rich natural, cultural and gastronomical resources and offerings CANCUN, Mexico, Dec. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --The thirteenth annual Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, COP 13, was held in Cancun, Mexico December 2nd to the 17th. The objectives of the meeting, which took place in Mexico, were to find new and better solutions to protect local biodiversity, valuing its economic and social importance, as well as to find sustainable forms of interaction between the people and other species living in a given environment. Focusing on four sectors considered key to conserving the environment (agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism), it was also the setting for the launch of Mexico Tourism Board's new campaign focused on the country's biodiversity and its wealth in terms of nature, culture and gastronomy. "As global travel trends suggest, travelers are seeking destinations that are rich in biodiversity and sustainability. As the fourth most mega biodiverse country in the world, Mexico is the perfect place for those looking to immerse themselves in authentic cultural, culinary and nature-filled experiences. We believe that what travelers are looking for, lives in Mexico and this is the basis of our campaign," remarked Lourdes Berho, Mexico Tourism Board's CEO. In attendance at the COP 13 Conference were Ministers of Economy, Chief Executive Officers of socially responsible multi-national companies in the public and private sector, international banks that promote sustainable business and international financial institutions. Participants were tasked with finding long-term solutions and proposals for encouraging businesses that are respectful of biodiversity. Biodiversity is already a part of Mexico's identity and is recognized abroad as one of its most emblematic characteristics, as well as one of the primary reasons why tourists visit the country. This is because biological diversity has also been at the foundation of its culture, economic development, and welfare of its society. About Mexico as a mega-diverse country: Within the country's territory, visitors can encounter 564 species of mammals, more than 1,000 species of birds, 864 reptile species and 376 amphibians, in addition to over 23,000 types of plants. The richest states in terms of flora and fauna are Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Chiapas. Oaxaca has the largest number of combined flora and fauna species, however Chiapas is home to the greatest plant diversity with 8,248 registered species and shelters 35% of the country's vertebrates. As a result, all of these destinations offer ecotourism and adventure tourism experiences. Southern Mexico is especially relevant in terms of species wealth, since it is where two of the major regions of the planet meet. This is why the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is host to a mixture of fauna and flora from both North and South America, as well as animals that are native to this area. In the northern part of the country, Baja California and Baja California Sur are the states with the largest number of endemic plant species in Mexico. Additionally, more than 140 different species of marine life have been recorded in the Gulf of California, which is why thousands of visitors come from around the world each year to witness the arrival of the whales. A similar wealth of diversity can be found in the coral reefs of the Caribbean, which stretch over 120 miles. Finally, of all of the bird species that inhabit Mexico, 125 are endemic and 70% are located in the tropics, particularly in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Campeche and Quintana Roo. At the conclusion of this COP 13 meeting, Mexico reiterated its continued active engagement in finding significant solutions to protect its biodiversity. Mexico values its importance and drawing from this natural abundance, has created a unique and varied cuisine, as well as tourist experiences such as whale and bird-watching. It also offers ecotourism excursions to communities who share their traditions and their co-existence with local wildlife. The mega biodiverse attraction that Mexico offers both national and international tourists is a 360 experience in which one can observe native fauna up close, enjoy a wide variety of dishes derived from unique local products, as well as routes throughout the country comprised of ecosystems that offer mega-experiences and mega-travels, reflecting the campaign's slogan, 'what you are looking for, lives in Mexico.' Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/451798/Mexico_Tourism_Board_BioDiversity_Infographic_en.jpg Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/449489/Mexico_Logo.jpg OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/21/16 -- The Government of Canada remains committed to fair and reasonable negotiations with bargaining agents to reach agreements that are good for employees and fair for Canadians. The Government and the Association of Canadian Financial Officers (ACFO) have reached a tentative settlement that, if ratified, will apply to about 4,000 public service employees in the Financial Management (FI) bargaining unit. Employees of the FI group are primarily involved in the delivery and management of internal public service financial policies, programs, and services. With this most recent tentative settlement with ACFO, the Government of Canada has now concluded tentative settlements with bargaining agents representing over half of public service employees for which Treasury Board is the employer. The tentative settlement for the FI bargaining unit includes economic increases that are in line with what has been negotiated with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and the Canadian Association of Professional Employees. It also includes a framework to work towards modernizing the Government's sick leave system. Quote "Our government is committed to negotiating in good faith with public sector unions and to restore a culture of respect for Canada's public service. We are pleased to have reached this latest settlement with the Association of Canadian Financial Officers. We have made good progress in our recent negotiations but there is still important work to be done in the new year to conclude agreements with the remaining groups. We remain committed to reaching agreements in a way that is fair and respectful, allowing us to continue to focus on delivering on our agenda of good jobs and growth for the middle class." - The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board Follow us on Twitter: @TBS_Canada Contacts: Jean-Luc Ferland Press Secretary Office of the President of the Treasury Board 613-369-3163 Media Relations Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 613-369-9400 media@tbs-sct.gc.ca TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired) 613-369-9371 Regulatory News: Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement. UNITED COMPANY RUSAL PLC (Paris:RUSAL) (Paris:RUAL) (Incorporated under the laws of Jersey with limited liability) (Stock Code: 486) CONTINUING CONNECTED TRANSACTIONS REPAIR SERVICES Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated 2 July 2015, 30 December 2015, 12 January 2016, 5 February 2016, 30 March 2016, 20 May 2016, 5 July 2016, 2 September 2016, 13 September 2016 and 5 October 2016 in relation to the Previously Disclosed Repair Services Contracts. The Company announces that a member of the Group entered into an additional agreement with an associate of En+, pursuant to which the associate of En+ agreed to provide repair services to the member of the Group. THE REPAIR SERVICES CONTRACT Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated 2 July 2015, 30 December 2015, 12 January 2016, 5 February 2016, 30 March 2016, 20 May 2016, 5 July 2016, 2 September 2016, 13 September 2016 and 5 October 2016 in relation to the Previously Disclosed Repair Services Contracts. The Company announces that a member of the Group entered into an additional agreement with an associate of En+, pursuant to which the associate of En+ agreed to provide repair services to the member of the Group (the "Repair Services Contract"), details of which are set out below. Date of additional agreement Customer (member of the Group) Contractor (associate of En+) Term of additional agreement Repair services Estimated consideration payable for the year ending 31 December 2016 excluding VAT (USD) Payment terms Additional agreement dated 21 December 2016, which is an additional agreement to a Previously Disclosed Repair Services Contract dated 11 January 2016 Open Joint-Stock Company "RUSAL Bratsk Aluminium Smelter" Joint-Stock Company "Irkutskenergoremont" Up to 31 December 2016 Production equipment maintenance and repair services 17,143 (Note1) Within 40 calendar days after the signing of the performed works certificate based on an invoice Total estimated consideration payable for the year 17,143 Note: 1. The estimated consideration payable is calculated on the basis of labour cost which ranges from USD2.99 to USD3.52 per hour (excluding VAT). The consideration under the Repair Services Contract is to be paid in cash via wire transfer or set-off. THE ANNUAL AGGREGATE TRANSACTION AMOUNT The contract price payable under the Repair Services Contract has been determined with reference to the market price and on terms no less favourable than those prevailing in the Russian market for repair services of the same type and quality and those offered by the associates of En+ to independent third parties. The basis of calculation of payments under the Repair Services Contract is the price of contract offered by the associate of En+ which is based on the estimated costs (including labour costs and the necessary materials) for the repair works. The Company invited several organizations to take part in the tender in relation to the required repair services and chose the contractor offering the best terms and conditions (taking into account the price, quality offered by the contractor and availability of professionals with the required skill and experience) and then entered into the additional agreement with the chosen contractor. Based on the terms of the Repair Services Contract and the Previously Disclosed Repair Services Contracts, the annual aggregate transaction amount that is payable by the Group to the associates of En+ for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 is estimated to be approximately USD14.431 million. The annual aggregate transaction amount is estimated by the Directors based on the amount of repair services to be received and the contract price. THE AGGREGATION APPROACH Pursuant to Rule 14A.81 of the Listing Rules, the continuing connected transactions contemplated under the Repair Services Contract and the Previously Disclosed Repair Services Contracts should be aggregated, as they were entered into by the Group with the associates of the same group of connected persons who are parties connected or otherwise associated with one another, and the subject matter of each of the contracts relates to the receipt of repair and maintenance services by members of the Group. REASONS FOR AND BENEFITS OF THE TRANSACTIONS The Directors consider that the Repair Services Contract is for the benefit of the Company, as the contractor offered a competitive price. The Directors (including the independent non-executive Directors) consider that the Repair Services Contract has been negotiated on an arm's length basis and on normal commercial terms which are fair and reasonable and the transactions contemplated under the Repair Services Contract are in the ordinary and usual course of business of the Group and in the interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole. None of the Directors has a material interest in the transactions contemplated under the Repair Services Contract, save for Mr. Deripaska, Mr. Maxim Sokov, Ms. Olga Mashkovskaya and Ms. Gulzhan Moldazhanova, who are directors of En+, being the holding company of Joint-Stock Company "Irkutskenergoremont". Mr. Deripaska is also indirectly interested in more than 50% of the issued share capital of En+. Accordingly, Mr. Deripaska, Mr. Maxim Sokov, Ms. Olga Mashkovskaya and Ms. Gulzhan Moldazhanova did not vote on the Board resolution approving the Repair Services Contract. LISTING RULES IMPLICATIONS Joint-Stock Company "Irkutskenergoremont" is directly or indirectly held by En+ as to more than 30% of the issued share capital and is therefore an associate of En+ which is a substantial shareholder of the Company and thus is a connected person of the Company under the Listing Rules. The estimated annual aggregate transaction amount of the continuing connected transactions under the Repair Services Contract and the Previously Disclosed Repair Services Contracts for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 is more than 0.1% but less than 5% under the applicable percentage ratios. Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 14A.76 of the Listing Rules, the transactions contemplated under these contracts are only subject to the announcement requirements set out in Rules 14A.35 and 14A.68, the annual review requirements set out in Rules 14A.49, 14A.55 to 14A.59, 14A.71 and 14A.72 and the requirements set out in Rules 14A.34 and 14A.50 to 14A.54 of the Listing Rules. These transactions are exempt from the circular and the independent shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. Details of the Repair Services Contract and the Previously Disclosed Repair Services Contracts will be included in the next annual report and accounts of the Company in accordance with Rule 14A.71 of the Listing Rules where appropriate. PRINCIPAL BUSINESS ACTIVITIES The Company is principally engaged in the production and sale of aluminium, including alloys and value-added products, and alumina. Joint-Stock Company "Irkutskenergoremont" is principally engaged in activities for supporting of operability of thermal power plants. DEFINITIONS In this announcement, the following expressions have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires: "associate(s)" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "Board" the board of Directors. "Company" United Company RUSAL Plc, a limited liability company incorporated in Jersey, the shares of which are listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange. "connected person(s)" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "continuing connected transactions" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "Director(s)" the director(s) of the Company. "En+" En+ Group Limited, a company incorporated in Jersey, a substantial shareholder of the Company. "Group" the Company and its subsidiaries. "Listing Rules" the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange. "Mr. Deripaska" Mr. Oleg Deripaska, an executive Director. "percentage ratios" the percentage ratios under Rule 14.07 of the Listing Rules. "Previously Disclosed Repair Services Contracts" the repair services contracts between members of the Group and the associate of En+, pursuant to which the associate of En+ agreed to provide repair services to member of the Group during the year 2016, as disclosed in the announcements of the Company dated 2 July 2015, 30 December 2015, 12 January 2016, 5 February 2016, 30 March 2016, 20 May 2016, 5 July 2016, 2 September 2016, 13 September 2016 and 5 October 2016. "Stock Exchange" The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. "substantial shareholder" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "USD" United States dollars, the lawful currency of the United States of America. "VAT" value added tax. By Order of the Board of Directors of United Company RUSAL Plc Aby Wong Po Ying Company Secretary 22 December 2016 As at the date of this announcement, the executive Directors are Mr. Oleg Deripaska, Mr. Vladislav Soloviev and Mr. Siegfried Wolf, the non-executive Directors are Mr. Maxim Sokov, Mr. Dmitry Afanasiev, Mr. Ivan Glasenberg, Mr. Maksim Goldman, Ms. Gulzhan Moldazhanova, Mr. Daniel Lesin Wolfe, Ms. Olga Mashkovskaya, Ms. Ekaterina Nikitina and Mr. Marco Musetti, and the independent non-executive Directors are Mr. Matthias Warnig (Chairman), Mr. Philip Lader, Dr. Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Mr. Mark Garber, Mr. Dmitry Vasiliev and Mr. Bernard Zonneveld. All announcements and press releases published by the Company are available on its website under the links http://www.rusal.ru/en/investors/hkse/http://rusal.ru/investors/info/moex/ and http://www.rusal.ru/en/press-center/press-releases.aspx, respectively. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161221005463/en/ Contacts: United Company RUSAL Plc VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Power Metals Corp. ("Power " or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PWM)(FRANKFURT: OAA1) is pleased to announce the results of the laboratory analysis of the 606 soil samples over the 1.6 KM grid from its previously announced press release date December 7th, 2016. Lithium and Rubidium levels averaged higher than at the Brazil Lake deposit, in the same geological setting. A core drilling program of 28 holes in 2011 at Brazil Lake encountered Li2O as high as 7.7 percent in spodumene with average deposit drill intersection grades of 1.08 per cent (north pegmatite dike) and 1.39 per cent (south pegmatite dike). The company has attached pictures of the high-grade spodumene crystals at Brazil Lake on it's website at http://www.Powermetalscorp.com Power Metals CEO Johnathan More noted "The spodumene crystals at Brazil Lake bear close resemblance to those at Kings Mountain, North Carolina. North Carolina's Gaston and Cleveland Counties at one point contained more than 80 percent of the known reserves in the United States and produced over 50 percent of the world's estimated output of lithium. Those properties were the beginning of what is now the massive FMC Lithium Corp (Albermale)." The Company is highly encouraged with the results to date and is accelerating the commencement of the planned drill program to take place in early Q1, 2017. Case Lake At Case Lake, in preparation for its drill program also set for early Q1, 2017, the company has commenced a process of re-assay on approximately 500m of existing core from the 2010 drill program which includes highlights: -- 14.07 metres at 1.35 per cent Li2O; -- 9.2 metres at 1.98 per cent Li2O; -- 8.8 metres at 1.02 per cent Li2O; -- 4.4 metres at 1.49 per cent Li2O. Case Lake is host to three main dikes currently with the potential to host many more, including the untested northeast dike that sampled 2 percent Li2O (lithium oxide). The local geology of pegmatite dike swarms gives Case Lake the potential for large tonnage. Spodumene-rich pink pegmatites outcrop intermittently over at least 1,200m, representing 15 percent of the Main dike. Government geologic mapping indicates the presence of pegmatites over a strike length of in excess of 5km. John F. Wightman, MSc. (Geology), P.Eng., FGAC, a qualified person, prepared the disclosure reports related to this project. National Instrument 43-101 reports have not been prepared on this property. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the mineralization of the Case Lake or Larder River Properties, the payment of funds and incurring of expenditures toward exploration of such properties, and the earning of interests therein. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; and the results of current exploration and testing. 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. Specifically, there is no assurance the Company will be able to raise the necessary funds to make all the cash payments and incur all of the exploration expenditures required to earn an interest in any of the mineral properties described herein; that it will be able to verify past drill results; that it will determine the existence of any mineralization, resources or reserves within any of the properties, whether of lithium or any other metal or substance. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Contacts: Power Metals Corp. Johnathan More 646-661-0409 Toyota Motor Corporation Public Affairs Division Global Communications Department Tel: +81-3-3817-9926 INDIA, Dec 22, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) has entered into an agreement with World Resources Institute (WRI) to seek possible solutions in first- and last-mile connectivity to metro transit in Bengaluru, India.Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) with a population of around 12 million people has experienced rapid urban growth and development in part due to its status as the IT capital of India. This surge has powered the economy, but has also resulted in issues of congestion and limited access to mobility. To overcome these, the city has invested in a metro line within the city and currently aims to enhance its ridership.TMF and WRI want to improve accessibility to metro transit in Bengaluru and increase its usage through a process of research, capacity building, open collaboration, and testing. This would provide more Bengaluru citizens better ease of movement throughout the city.TMF and WRI will collaborate with various stakeholders in Bengaluru including the state government, public agencies, and Bengaluru's IT industry. They will develop a project called the Station Access & Mobility Program (STAMP), also referred to as the Bengaluru Mobility Project, which will run from December 2016 to March 2018.In the first year of the project, TMF and WRI will build a stakeholder network and invite them to identify practical and feasible solutions to first and last mile connectivity issues. They will propose these ideas through an open innovation challenge. TMF and WRI will support winning solutions and aim at scaling them in Bengaluru and other cities. After evaluating the results of the project, TMF will determine the scope of future activities in India.Shigeru Hayakawa, President of the TMF Secretariat and Senior Managing Officer, Member of the Board of Directors of Toyota Motor Corporation, said "TMF will make efforts in the Bengaluru Mobility Project to realize an ever better mobile society by identifying opportunities to integrate public and private mobility. We will do this in partnership with various stakeholders including the city government, NGOs, and IT entrepreneurs."Acknowledging complete support to the project, Mr. Shekar Viswanathan, Vice Chairman & Whole Time Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, "We welcome the initiative undertaken by Toyota Mobility Foundation and WRI in India. This collaborative effort to find possible solutions to improve access to mobility in Bengaluru will make the lives of citizens who face issues of congestion more comfortable. As safety leaders, we at Toyota are committed to ensuring a safer mobility experience in India. To supplement the activities of TMF and WRI, we at TKM will share our best practices with regard to road safety campaigns across India and extend necessary support to this program. Finally, we appreciate the support across all stakeholders in the city in taking this campaign forward."Mr. Amit Bhatt, Director -Integrated Transport, WRI India, observed, "Access to mass transit systems has often been a major issue in many Indian cities. If there is safe, efficient and seamless connectivity to and from the Metro stations, it will not only be used, but will also boost the ridership of these high capacity systems. To provide this access is our endeavor." Pawan Mulukutla, Urban Transport Expert, WRI India, added, "Bengaluru's Rs. 14,000 crore Metro system can be more effective if an efficient first and last mile connectivity is established providing access to a larger population. The last mile connectivity should provide safe access, offer good quality of services to the users and minimize environmental impact using technology as a key driver to achieve this."Find out more about Toyota Mobility Foundation at: www.toyotamobilityfoundation.orgAbout the Toyota Mobility FoundationThe Toyota Mobility Foundation was established in August 2014 to support the development of a more mobile society. The Foundation aims to support strong mobility systems while eliminating disparities in mobility. It utilizes Toyota's expertise in technology, safety, and the environment, working in partnership with universities, government, non-profit organizations, research institutions and other organizations to address mobility issues around the world. Programs include resolving urban transportation problems, expanding the utilization of personal mobility, and developing solutions for next generation mobility.About World Resources InstituteWorld Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research organization that spans more than 50 countries, with offices in Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States. Our more than 450 experts and staff work closely with leaders to turn big ideas into action to sustain our natural resources-the foundation of economic opportunity and human well-being.WRI India works closely with the government, businesses, civil society and other non-governmental organizations, to help solve the four most urgent challenges in India-rapid urbanization, the demand for energy, responding to climate change and the large-scale degradation of natural resources.About ToyotaSupported by people around the world, Toyota Motor Corporation (TSE: 7203; NYSE: TM), has endeavored since its establishment in 1937 to serve society by creating better products. As of the end of December 2013, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 52 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.Source: ToyotaContact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. DUBLIN, IRELAND -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: FO)(AIM: FOG)(ESM: FAC) is pleased to announce the completion of the extended production test on Amungee NW-1H by Origin Resources Limited ("Origin"), our Joint Venture partner. Extended production test ("EPT") summary: -- Initial production over the first 30 days averaged 1.11 MMscf/d -- 63 MMscf was produced over the 57 days of the EPT, at an average rate of 1.10 MMscf/d -- The final rate of the EPT was 1.07 MMscf/d -- Completed in line with a regulatory approved plan with no environmental incidents -- The EPT concludes the 2016 drilling programme -- A final discovery report is being prepared for submission to the DPIR in Q1 2017 Philip O'Quigley, CEO of Falcon, commented on the results: "The extended production test on Amungee NW-1H is a significant milestone in the exploration programme. This data, together with results obtained from the drilling program to date will be used in evaluating the contingent resource in the Beetaloo. "We look forward to updating the market in Q1 2017." This announcement has been reviewed by Dr. Gabor Bada, Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd's Head of Technical Operations. Dr. Bada obtained his geology degree at the Eotvos L. University in Budapest, Hungary and his PhD at the Vrije Aniversiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is a member of AAPG and EAGE. About Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd is an international oil & gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of conventional and unconventional oil and gas assets, with the current portfolio focused in Australia, South Africa and Hungary. Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd is incorporated in British Columbia, Canada and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with a technical team based in Budapest, Hungary. For further information on Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. please visit www.falconoilandgas.com. About Origin Energy Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) is the leading Australian integrated energy company with market leading positions in energy retailing (approximately 4.3 million customers), power generation (approximately 6,000 MW of capacity owned and contracted) and natural gas production (1,093 PJ of 2P reserves and annual production of 82 PJe). To match its leadership in the supply of green energy, Origin also aspires to be the number one renewables company in Australia. Through Australia Pacific LNG, its incorporated joint venture with ConocoPhillips and Sinopec, Origin is developing Australia's biggest CSG to LNG project based on the country's largest 2P CSG reserves base. www.originenergy.com.au Glossary of terms CSG Coal seam gas DPIR Northern Territory Government's Department of Primary Industry and Resources LNG Liquefied natural gas MW Megawatt MMscf million standard cubic feet MMscf/d million standard cubic feet per day Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information in this press release may constitute forward-looking information. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Such information may include, but is not limited to comments made with respect to the type, number, schedule, stimulating, testing and objectives of the wells to be drilled in the Beetaloo basin Australia, expected contributions of the partners, the prospectivity of the Middle Velkerri & Kyalla shale plays and the prospect of the exploration programme being brought to commerciality. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. Falcon assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to Falcon. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in Falcon's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com. Contacts: Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. Philip O'Quigley CEO +353 1 676 8702 +353 87 814 7042 Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. Anne Flynn CFO +353 1 676 9162 Davy (NOMAD & Broker) John Frain / Anthony Farrell +353 1 679 6363 ATLANTA (dpa-AFX) - Delta Air Lines, Inc. late Wednesday confirmed, in response to media reports, that it removed two passengers from a flight as they sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting. The passengers were on Delta Flight 1 New York-bound plane departing from London-Heathrow. Earlier in the day, Adam Saleh, An American social media celebrity famous for hoaxes, had posted a video to his Twitter feed accusing Delta Airlines of forcing him and a friend off the plane for speaking in Arabic on the phone. Delta had launched a review after the company announced in an earlier statement that two customers were removed from the flight after a disturbance in the cabin resulted in more than 20 customers expressing their discomfort. The company then said it takes all allegations of discrimination seriously and that it is gathering all of the facts before any conclusion. The customers were rebooked on another flight. In its latest statement, the company said, 'While one, according to media reports, is a known prankster who was video recorded and encouraged by his traveling companion, what is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees. It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority.' In the recorded clip, Saleh says that Delta airlines kicked them out because they spoke a different language. Saleh, who rose to fame for elaborate pranks, is a YouTube celebrity with more than 3 million collective YouTube subscribers on his vlogging channel and main account. He is known for videos of pranks that includes in-flight mayhem, and pranks on either Arab dress or language. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --JM has signed an agreement with Kungsleden to acquire land for 140 building rights. Production start-up is planned for Q2 2020. The deal is worth SEK 117m. Occupancy and payment are expected to be completed during first half of 2019. The land being acquired is currently part of the Stiernhielm 7 property. It is centrally located in Molndal, close to downtown Gothenburg. JM acquired Stiernhielm 6, an adjacent property, in 2013. With these acquisitions, it deemed possible to build a total of 225 residential units in apartment buildings. Work to produce a local plan is under way. The agreement is conditional upon the detail plan coming into legal force. The acquisition will be reported within the JM Residential Sweden business segment during first half of 2019. "We are looking forward to taking part in the development of Molndal's central areas. Through the acquisition, we are strengthening our position as one of the largest housing developers in the City of Molndal," says Martin Svahn, regional manager, JM West Region. CONTACT: This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/jm/r/jm-acquiring-land-for-residential-units-in-molndal--gothenburg,c2155364 The following files are available for download: 22 December 2016 THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. AUTHORISED PARTICIPANTS, MARKET MAKERS, BROKERS, NOMINEES, AND INTERMEDIARIES IN THE SECONDARY MARKET ARE REQUESTED TO ENSURE THAT THEIR CLIENTS ARE MADE AWARE OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS NOTICE. If you are in any doubt about the course of action to take in relation to this document, you should consult your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other professional advisor. If you have sold or transferred your Shares in the PowerShares Global Water UCITS ETF, PowerShares Global Clean Energy UCITS ETF, PowerShares Global Agriculture UCITS ETF and/or PowerShares Global Listed Private Equity UCITS ETF, please pass this document at once to the purchaser or transferee or to the stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected, for transmission to the purchaser or transferee as soon as possible. Please note that this notice has not been reviewed by the Central Bank of Ireland (the "Central Bank"). This notice may also be translated into other languages. Any such translation shall only contain the same information and have the same meaning as the English language notice. To the extent that there are any inconsistency between the English language notice and the notice in another language, the English language notice will prevail. If applicable, please contact your Paying Agent for a local language version of this notice. To: Shareholders of PowerShares Global Water UCITS ETF (ISIN: IE00B23D9026) PowerShares Global Clean Energy UCITS ETF (ISIN: IE00B23D9133) PowerShares Global Agriculture UCITS ETF (ISIN: IE00B3BQ0418) PowerShares Global Listed Private Equity UCITS ETF (ISIN: IE00B23D8Z06) (the "Funds") Re: Closure of the Funds Dear Shareholder, The Directors of Powershares Global Funds Ireland Public Limited Company (the "Company") wish to inform you of their decision to close the Funds with effect from 22 March 2017 (the "Closure Date") for the reasons set out below. Background to the Decision The Directors have discretion under the Company's articles of association and the prospectus to redeem all of the shares of a sub-fund of the Company (the "Shares") if the net asset value of that sub-fund is lower than USD350 million. The Directors, in consultation with Invesco Global Asset Management DAC (the "Manager"), have reviewed the Invesco PowerShares range and due to the size of the Funds and low levels of investor demand, have resolved to close the Funds in the best interests of shareholders. Procedure for Closure For primary market orders (Authorised Participants) You can redeem your Shares in the Funds at the next available opportunity and in any event on or before 4.00 p.m. (GMT) 16 March 2017 (the "Final Dealing Day"). The Final Dealing Day will be the last day on which applications for redemptions in the Funds in the primary market may be made. The last day on which applications for subscriptions in the Funds in the primary market may be made is 9 March 2017. For secondary market orders (on exchange, for NON Authorised Participants) The Funds will be de-listed from the stock exchanges on which they are listed and the last day of trading of the Funds on those stock exchanges will be 20 March 2017 (the "Final Trading Day"). As the Directors are keen to close the Funds in the most expedient and cost efficient manner, PLEASE NOTE THAT: if you have not sold your Shares in the Fund on or before the Final Trading Day and you remain registered as a shareholder in any of the Funds as at the Closure Date; OR if you have not validly applied for redemption of your Shares on or before the Final Dealing Day and you remain registered as a shareholder in any of the Funds as at the Closure Date, your Shares in the Fund will be compulsorily redeemed at the net asset value per Share as of the Closure Date and the net redemption proceeds will be sent to you in accordance with the redemption procedures set out in the prospectus. The expected settlement date is 5 April 2017. Please note that following this notice of closure and before the Closure Date, the Funds may experience significant redemptions and as a result the ability to meet the investment objective of each Fund may be compromised with a resulting increase of the tracking error in the Funds. All costs associated with the closure of the Funds will be borne by the Manager. All other normal operating and transaction costs will continue to be borne by the Funds and its shareholders. Further Information for the Secondary Market Investors The purchase and sale of the Shares of the Funds on the secondary market takes place through the relevant stock exchange via a member firm or stockbroker and is not a subscription or redemption of Shares with the Funds. Investors on the secondary market who wish to avoid having their Shares compulsorily redeemed should consider selling their Shares on a relevant stock exchange on or before the Final Trading Day. No proceeds resulting from any compulsory redemption of the Shares shall be payable by the Company directly to any persons other than those persons listed in the Company's register of shareholders as at the Closure Date. Please note that, investors buying and selling Shares through a broker or a market maker/Authorised Participant and/or investors who hold Shares through a nominee and/or clearing agent, may not appear in the Company's register of shareholders. Such investors should deal directly with the relevant broker, market maker/Authorised Participant, nominee or clearing agent (as relevant) in respect of their investment. Investors should contact their stockbroker, bank manager, legal adviser, accountant or other independent financial advisor if they have any questions regarding the implications of the closure of the Funds. You should seek tax advice if you are in any doubt regarding the tax implications of the closure of the Funds under the laws of your country of residence, domicile or incorporation. In addition, if you have any queries on the closure of the Funds, please do not hesitate to contact Invesco PowerShares on info@invescopowershares.net or 0044 (0) 20 7065 3897, or your usual Invesco PowerShares representative. TOKYO, Dec 22, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is pleased to announce plans for a new LNG carrier to be deployed to its Cameron LNG Project in the US. The vessel will be owned by Diamond LNG Shipping 3 Pte. Ltd. (DLS-3), a ship-owning joint venture formed between MC, Toho LNG Shipping Co., Ltd. (TLS)1, Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (THG) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK).In December 2015, MC entered into a Shipbuilding Contract with LNG builder MI LNG Company Limited2 and signed a Heads of Agreement for Time Charter Party with its wholly owned subsidiary, Diamond Gas International Pte. Ltd. for the building of the new vessel as part of its efforts to secure carriers to transport LNG produced at Cameron. MC set up DLS-3 as a wholly owned subsidiary in May 2016 to serve as the vessel's ship-owning company.At the time DLS-3 was established, however, there was an understanding among the partners that it would become a four-company joint venture incorporating Toho LNG Shipping, Tohoku Electric and NYK once approved by the relevant authorities and procedures for their equity participation were completed.MC invests in Cameron LNG through Japan LNG Investments LLC, a joint venture with NYK. LNG produced at Cameron is slated for sale to Toho Gas and Tohoku Electric through MC's Singapore-based energy business subsidiary, Diamond Gas International. The new vessel, scheduled for delivery in 2019, will be utilized to transport LNG to these two companies.MC will continue to strengthen its LNG carrier business through projects of this nature as part of its efforts to help ensure stable energy supplies to Japan and other markets.About Mitsubishi CorporationMitsubishi Corporation (MC; TSE: 8058) is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses across virtually every industry including industrial finance, energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, foods, and environmental business. MC's current activities are expanding far beyond its traditional trading operations as its diverse business ranges from natural resources development to investment in retail business, infrastructure, financial products and manufacturing of industrial goods. With over 200 bases of operations in approximately 80 countries worldwide and a network of over 500 group companies, MC employs a multinational workforce of nearly 60,000 people. For more information, please visit www.mitsubishicorp.com.Source: Mitsubishi CorporationContact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. 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. Please join me in welcoming Alison Klesman, a very talented astronomer, as Astronomys new associate editor. You will be seeing a great deal of Alisons work in the coming weeks and months within the magazine, on the website, and in some videos and other media to come. All of us at Astronomy are very proud to have her on board. Alison earned her bachelors degree in physics and masters degree in earth, atmospheric, and planetary science from MIT. During this time, she completed several years of research in the field of planetary science, working on research topics that ranged from comets and asteroids to the atmosphere of Pluto. After earning her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Florida for work surveying active galactic nuclei in massive galaxy clusters, Alison decided to pursue a career in professional writing as a web content writer for Student Experts, Inc. Many of her evenings were also spent as a star tour guide for visitors at Spencers Observatory, a small privately-owned observatory in Tucson, Arizona. Stay tuned. Geoswift, a leading provider of cross-border payment solutions between China and the rest of the world has adopted Thomson Reuters risk and compliance solutions Transaction Monitoring with Screening Deployed and World-Check. The selection demonstrates the organisation's ongoing commitment to ensure its business operations meet stringent regulatory frameworks and maintain world class regulatory standards. In recent years, the number of online payment transactions has increased significantly due to the ease of online payments. Together with fast-paced technology trends, this has given rise to a growing market of digital consumers. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, it is estimated that by 2020 ecommerce transaction volumes would reach RMB 43.8 trillion with an annual growth rate of about 15%.1 As a one-stop cross-border payment collection and settlement solutions to and from China, Geoswift is well positioned to meet the growing demands of China cross-border transactions in key industry segments such as ecommerce, tuition payments and travel. Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO of Geoswift said, "The selection of Thomson Reuters AML solutions provides us the world class capability to fully keep up with global banking standards required by our partners and customers. Most importantly, this investment will give our partners and customers assurance we put compliance and risk management a high priority factor in our service." Thomson Reuters Financial Risk business offers a suite of powerful detection, investigation and resolution tools for transaction monitoring and takes a scenario-driven, risk-based approach to the challenges presented by money laundering, fraud and market abuse. Transaction Monitoring with Screening Deployed provides a comprehensive global solution that enables Geoswift to process large volumes of transactions quickly and efficiently on a single platform. The solution uses pre-built risk scenarios to monitor transactions and identify and alert unusual patterns of customer activity that differ from normal or expected behaviour. Combined with World-Check, a source of intelligence on politically-exposed persons (PEPs) and heightened risk individuals and organizations globally, it uncovers and reports risk that may be hiding in customer account transaction based activity. Sanjeev Chatrath, Managing Director, Financial Risk, Asia Pacific at Thomson Reuters said, "As regulatory demands continue to weigh on financial institutions and corporations, organizations now more than ever need the tools, technology and operations that support customer due diligence leveraging smart platforms and quality data. We are delighted to collaborate with Geoswift to deliver the required screening solutions their business needs." The selection of Thomson Reuters solutions highlights Geoswift's continued commitment to building a robust regulatory infrastructure to support the growth of cross-border transactions to and from China while maintaining data integrity. To signify Geoswift's seriousness and responsibility in ensuring international compliance standards are embedded in their business operations, Geoswift has successfully implemented compliance training program for their employees across all offices globally. Geoswift aims to enhance their compliance and regulatory standards as it positions for further growth efficiently and ethically. About Geoswift Geoswift is an innovative payment technology company connecting China and the rest of the world. The company comprises the world's leading payment technology experts that have a deep understanding of the industry, technology, and global and China monetary policy. Geoswift provides clients with customised one-stop cross-border payment solutions to and from China. Geoswift is relied upon by the world's leading e-commerce companies, most prestigious universities and the largest brands in the travel industry to grow their businesses. Geoswift is an acquirer of UnionPay International in North America, and a long-term partner of many other leading financial institutions. It also maintains 19 currency exchange outlets throughout China. Geoswift is headquartered in Hong Kong with operating offices in Shanghai, London, Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco for strategic and regulatory functions. For more information visit, please visit www.geoswift.com or send in your queries to info@geoswift.com About Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of news and information for professional markets. Our customers rely on us to deliver the intelligence, technology and expertise they need to find trusted answers. The business has operated in more than 100 countries for more than 100 years. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, visit www.thomsonreuters.com 1 Press release, commercial performance in January-October; http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/article/newsrelease/press/201611/20161101880506.shtml View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005017/en/ Contacts: Cognito Prisita Menon Liz Asri geoswift.asia@cognitomedia.com VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Limited (A Guernsey closed-ended investment company with registered number 61765) (the "Company" or "VOF") RESULT of Annual General Meeting 22 December 2016 At the Annual General Meeting (the "AGM") of the Company held on Wednesday, 21 December 2016, Ordinary Resolutions 1 to 12 and the Extraordinary Resolution as outlined below were duly passed by a show of hands. Details of the proxy voting results are noted below and any vote withheld is not a vote in law and has not been counted in the votes for and against a resolution. Ordinary Resolution 1 "That the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Company for the year ended 30 June 2016 be and are hereby received." (76,952,765 votes in favour, 0 votes against, 0 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 2 "That the Directors' Remuneration Policy be received and adopted." (76,852,765 votes in favour, 100,000 votes against, 0 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 3 "That the Directors' Remuneration Report be received and adopted." (76,850,765 votes in favour, 100,000 votes against, 2,000 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 4 "That PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP be, and are re-elected as Auditor to the Company until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company." (74,197,577 votes in favour, 2,755,188 votes against, 2,000 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 5 "That the Board of Directors be authorised to determine the Auditor's remuneration." (74,216,842 votes in favour, 2,735,923 votes against, 2,000 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 6 "To re-elect Steven Bates following his retirement in accordance with Article 20.3 of the Articles of Incorporation of the Company as a Director of the Company." (76,952,765 votes in favour, 0 votes against, 0 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 7 "To re-elect Martin Adams following his retirement in accordance with Article 20.3 of the Articles of Incorporation of the Company as a Director of the Company." (76,185,982 votes in favour, 766,783 votes against, 0 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 8 "To re-elect Thuy Dam following her retirement in accordance with Article 20.3 of the Articles of Incorporation of the Company as a Director of the Company." (76,952,765 votes in favour, 0 votes against, 0 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 9 "To elect Huw Evans as a Director of the Company following his appointment on 27th May 2016 to hold office until the next Annual General Meeting." (76,952,765 votes in favour, 0 votes against, 0 votes withheld) Ordinary Resolution 10 "To receive and approve the Company's Dividend Policy as contained within the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Company for the year ended 30 June 2016." (76,952,765 votes in favour, 0 votes against, 0 votes withheld) Special Business: Ordinary Resolution 11 "That, the Company be generally and, subject as hereinafter appears, unconditionally authorised in accordance with section 315 of the Companies Law to make market acquisitions (within the meaning of section 316 of the Companies Law) of its issued Ordinary Shares, provided that: i. The maximum number of Ordinary Shares hereby authorised to be purchased shall be that number of Ordinary Shares up to 14.99 per cent. of the Company's issued Ordinary Shares (excluding Treasury Shares) in issue as at 21 December 2016; ii. The minimum price which may be paid for an Ordinary Share is US$0.01; iii. The maximum price which may be paid for an Ordinary Share will not exceed the higher of (a) 5 per cent. above the average of the middle market quotations (as derived from the Official List) for the 5 consecutive dealing days ending on the dealing day immediately preceding the date on which the purchase is made; and (b) the higher of the price quoted for the last independent trade and the highest current independent bid as stipulated by Article 3(2) of the EU Buy-back and Stabilisation Regulation (No. 1052 of 2016); iv. Any Ordinary Shares purchased may be cancelled or held in treasury; v. The authority hereby conferred shall expire at the conclusion of the Company's next Annual General Meeting, or, if earlier, on 21 March 2018 (unless previously renewed, revoked or varied by the Company by ordinary resolution) save that the Company may make a contract to acquire Ordinary Shares under this authority before its expiry which will or may be executed wholly or partly after its expiration and the Company may make an acquisition of Ordinary Shares pursuant to such a contract." (76,950,765 votes in favour, 2,000 votes against, 0 votes withheld) Special Business: Ordinary Resolution 12 "That the Directors of the Company be and are generally and unconditionally authorised to exercise all powers of the Company to issue Ordinary Shares up to a maximum number representing 10% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company, such authority to expire at the conclusion of the Company's next Annual General Meeting or, if earlier, on 21 March 2018 (save that the Company may prior to the expiry of such period make any offer or agreement which would or might require such Ordinary Shares to be issued after such expiry and the directors of the Company may issue such Ordinary Shares in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not expired)." (76,950,765 votes in favour, 0 votes against, 2,000 votes withheld) Special Business: Extraordinary Resolution 13 "That the pre-emption rights granted to Shareholders pursuant to Article 5.2 of the Articles of Incorporation of the Company shall not apply in respect of the issue of up to 10% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company, such authority to expire at the conclusion of the Company's next Annual General Meeting or, if earlier, on 21 March 2018 (save that the Company may prior to the expiry of such period make any offer or agreement which would or might require such Ordinary Shares to be issued (or sold from treasury) after such expiry and the directors of the Company may issue (or sell from treasury) such Ordinary Shares in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not expired), unless such resolution is previously revoked by the Company's shareholders by further Extraordinary Resolution." (72,583,950 votes in favour, 2,295 votes against, 4,366,520 votes withheld) Mike Gray did not put himself forward for re-election as a Director, deciding to retire after seven years on the Board. The Board wish to take this opportunity to thank Mr Gray for his long standing, diligent and distinguished service to the Company and wish him well in the future. Enquiries: Website: www.vof-fund.com Administrator and Company Secretary Franczeska Hanford / Martin Bourgaize Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited Tel: +44 1481 745001 Email: fk26@ntrs.com / meb16@ntrs.com Investor Relations Jonathan Viet Luu VinaCapital Investment Management Limited Tel: +84 8 3821 9930 Email: jonathan.luu@vinacapital.com Communications Joel Weiden VinaCapital Investment Management Limited Tel: +84 8 3821 9930 Email: joel.weiden@vinacapital.com Broker David Benda / Hugh Jonathan Numis Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7260 1000 Email: funds@numis.com LONDON, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Demand for a major new cultural initiative, launched by the Mayor, Sadiq Khan in September, and supported by BE OPEN foundation, has exceeded initial expectations with 20% more primary schools registering to take part than expected. 240 primary schools from across the capital have already registered for the London Curriculum, which is designed to bring their learning to life by using London as a giant classroom. This follows the highly successful pilot programme where teachers particularly liked the ability for pupils to explore an issue outside the classroom in their local area, as well as the rest of London. More new London Curriculum classroom and on-line materials will be released free of charge to primary schools in early 2017. The Mayor officially launched the new London Curriculum for primary schools at the London Curriculum Festival, which saw hundreds of pupils hitting the banks of the Thames and Potters Field, near City Hall, to get a taste of what the curriculum has to offer. Sadiq was joined by Russian philanthropist Yelena Baturina, whose BE OPEN Foundation is lead supporter of the Children's Festival and London Curriculum for Primary Schools, which is also supported by the Mayor's Fund for London, the Mayor's social mobility charity. Sadiq Khan said: "Our history and culture is a truly global one, so what better way for primary school children to learn, than directly from London's museums, art galleries and other fascinating institutions. Huge thanks to Yelena Baturina and BE OPEN - their incredible support for the London Curriculum truly shows that London is open, as ever, to ideas from around the world." Yelena Baturina, philanthropist and BE OPEN founder, said: "BE OPEN is proud to support this exciting initiative, which helps and encourages young people to explore the world around them through the very best that local cultural and heritage institutions have to offer. We believe that London Curriculum has huge potential, both on a national and international level, and we look forward to helping the project develop." The London Curriculum supports the new National Curriculum, while helping young Londoners to better understand and engage with their city. The London Curriculum aims to improve subject knowledge and skills by helping teachers bring subjects to life by making illustrative and inspiring connections to the city, its people, places and heritage. PUNE,India, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Air Handling Units Market by Application (Commercial, Residential), Type (Packaged, Modular, Custom), Capacity ( 5000 m3/h, 5001 - 15000 m3/h, 15001 - 30000 m3/h, 30001 - 50000 m3/h, 50001 m3/h), Region - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 12.91 Billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 5.7% from 2016 to 2026. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 100 market data Tables and 36 Figures spread through 150 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Air Handling Units Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/air-handling-units-market-84723052.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The increase in demand of air handling units from the application sectors such as commercial buildings, industries, hospitals, universities, data centers, laboratories, and server rooms is propelling the growth of this market. Custom air handling units is the fastest-growing type segment of the global air handling units market The custom air handling units segment is estimated to account for the second-largest share of the air handling units market in 2016, and is projected to be the fastest-growing type segment from 2016 to 2026. The growth is mainly attributed to the rising demand of custom air handling units from the commercial application sectors such as pharmaceutical industries, shopping malls, hospitals, and universities. Make an Inquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=84723052 15001 - 30000 m3/h capacity segment is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2026 The 15001 - 30000 m3/h capacity segment is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR in the air handling units market from 2016 to 2026. These are medium size air handling units which are used in commercial applications such as hospitals, shopping malls, commercial buildings, data centers, and laboratories. Due to the increasing awareness regarding the impacts of pollution on environment and human health, there is a high rise in the use of air handling units. Air handling units are not only used for cooling and heating purpose, but also for providing fresh air, humidification, and controlling relative humidity. These features contribute towards the growing demand of 15001 - 30000 m3/h capacity air handling units. Commercial is the fastest-growing application segment of the global air handling units market The commercial segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the Air Handling Units Market in 2016, and is projected to be the fastest-growing segment from 2016 to 2026. This growth can be attributed to the increased demand of air handling units in the commercial application sectors such as shopping malls, hospitals, universities, data centers, industries, cleanrooms, and server rooms. Purchase Report at http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Purchase/purchase_report1.asp?id=84723052 Asia-Pacific estimated to be the largest market for air handling units in 2016 Asia-Pacific is estimated to be the largest market for air handling units in 2016. This large share can be attributed to the growing demand for air handling units from the application sectors such as shopping malls, hospitals, universities, data centers, industries, cleanrooms, and server rooms in this region. Key players operational in the market include Daikin Industries, Ltd. (Japan), Carrier Corporation (U.S.), Trane Inc. (Ireland), Johnson Controls, Inc. (U.S.), GEA Group AG (Germany), Systemair AB (Sweden), Flakt Woods Group (Sweden), CIAT Group (France), Trox GmbH (Germany), and Lennox International Inc. (U.S.), among others. Subscribe Reports from Chemicals & Materials Domain http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact: Mr.Rohan Markets and Markets 701 Pike Street Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/chemical Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets HONG KONG, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontier Services Group Limited ("FSG" or the "Company") (SEHK: 00500), a leading security and logistics services company and Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China ("Ping An") reached a strategic framework agreement to develop innovative insurance products and services on 16 December, 2016. FSG and Ping An will focus on supporting clients operating along the One Belt One Road ("OBOR") region. The new offer will provide clients with innovative insurance products and services covering the unique risks associated with frontier markets. This framework agreement is the first for FSG's new Insurance Division. FSG will partner with leading insurance firms in China to bring clients customized insurance solutions. As a leading security services and logistics company, FSG's is uniquely positioned to change the reactive approach of firms operating in complex environments with comprehensive insurance products that help clients manage and mitigate risks. The new partnership will provide global insurance solutions to protect clients from all eventualities, minimize their impact and enable companies operating in support of the OBOR initiative. Erik Prince, the Chairman of Frontier Services Group said: "FSG's new framework agreement with Ping An marks the beginning of our Insurance Division. Ping An's reputation as a leading insurance company in China indicates the scale of the project and we are proud to be working with them. FSG protects our client's people, goods and equipment across air, sea and ground. Our new insurance division will now allow us to provide more comprehensive support." Dr. Dongyi Hua, the CEO of FSG commented: "The new Insurance Division allows FSG to better support our clients' One Belt One Road projects. These new insurance products will allow clients to manage risks allowing' them to focus on meeting their project milestones on time and under budget". David Whittingham, FSG's head of Corporate Development and Strategy also added: "FSG protects its clients' interests, allowing them to move people and material safely and efficiently across the most challenging terrains. Working with partners like Ping An will mean that we can now offer a more comprehensive service to our clients' One Belt One Road initiatives." Ends About Frontier Services Group Frontier Services Group Limited ("FSG") (SEHK: 00500) is a publicly listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with its headquarters in Hong Kong and offices in Beijing, Dubai, Nairobi, and Johannesburg. FSG supports businesses operating in frontier markets overcome complex security, logistics and operational challenges. From Asia to Africa, FSG helps transport and protect your people, goods and equipment across air, sea and ground. LONDON, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Sernova Corp. (TSX VENTURE: SVA)(OTCQB: SEOVF)(FRANKFURT: PSH), a clinical stage regenerative medicine company, is pleased to announce that Dr. Philip Toleikis, Sernova's President and CEO, will present an update on the company's corporate and business strategy at the 9th annual Biotech Showcase Conference in San Francisco, CA. This important conference brings together global industry leaders, emerging companies and key members of the pharmaceutical and investment community. "We are presenting Sernova's corporate and strategic regenerative medicine approach including details of our upcoming JDRF-sponsored Phase I/II clinical trial for patients with type 1 diabetes as well as product development advancements during the industry's largest conglomerate of annual healthcare conferences and arguably the most important healthcare investment symposia in the industry," remarked Dr. Philip Toleikis, President and CEO. "With Sernova anticipating upcoming release of information pertaining to its industry partnerships, and collaborations, this is an excellent opportunity to highlight the company's progress and future direction," added Dr. Toleikis. The presentation will occur January 10, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. at the Hilton San Francisco, Union Square, 333 O'Farrell St, Ballroom Level, Room 7. About Biotech Showcase Biotech Showcase is an investor and networking conference devoted to providing private and public biotechnology and life sciences companies with an opportunity to present to, and meet with, investors and potential partners in one place during the course of one of the industry's largest annual healthcare investor conferences. Investors and biopharmaceutical executives from around the world gather in San Francisco during this critical week which is widely viewed as setting the tone for the coming year. Biotech Showcase delegates include investors in private and public companies, sector analysts, bankers and industry professionals, as well as biopharmaceutical and life science company executives Now in its ninth year, Biotech Showcase is expected to attract upwards of 2,000 attendees. The meeting is being held January 9-11, 2017 in San Francisco, CA at the Hilton, San Francisco, Union Square. About Sernova Sernova Corp is a clinical stage regenerative medicine Company developing medical technologies for the treatment of chronic debilitating metabolic diseases such as diabetes, blood disorders including hemophilia and other diseases treated through replacement of proteins or hormones missing or in short supply within the body. Sernova is developing the Cell Pouch, an implantable medical device and therapeutic cells (donor, xenogeneic or stem cell derived therapeutic cells) which then release proteins and/or hormones as required. Forward-Looking Information This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Sernova believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, which include our beliefs about the functionality of the Cell Pouch and our cell technologies, are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Sernova's management on the date such statements were made. Sernova expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Sernova Corp. Philip Toleikis, Ph.D. President and CEO (604) 961-2939 philip.toleikis@sernova.com / info@sernova.com www.sernova.com Ray Matthews & Associates Suite 601-128 West Cordova Street Vancouver, BC V6B 0E6 (604) 818-7778 www.raymatthews.ca SEOUL (dpa-AFX) - Korean automaker Hyundai Motor has fired its US Chief Executive Officer Dave Zuchowski. Hyundai's American unit appointed Gerald Flannery as interim president and CEO, effective immediately. In a statement, the company said that Zuchowski will be leaving the company, and did not specify any reason for the termination. Meanwhile, reports stated that the ouster was for failing to meet internal sales objectives. The company also said a search for Zuchowski's replacement will begin immediately. Flannery has been with Hyundai since 1987, and is responsible for all legal matters in the U.S. He will retain his duties as Chief Legal and Safety Officer. Previously, Flannery was a senior attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at Ford Motor Co. In a statement, Flannery said, 'We appreciate Dave's decade of service to Hyundai, especially his leadership as president and CEO, which has made us a stronger organization. I look forward to working closely with our dealers, affiliates, senior management and our talented and hard-working employees across the country to realize Hyundai's full potential.' The company's previous US CEO John Krafcik was also exited in a surprising way and was replaced by Zuchowski. According to auto industry tracker Autodata, Hyundai brand vehicle sales were up 2.1% through November, outpacing industry-wide sales growth of 0.1%. However, the company, which has been relying heavily on less-profitable sales to fleet customers, reportedly has been struggling in a market dominated by sport-utility vehicles, crossovers and pickup trucks. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX: AUG)(OTCQX: GGTCF) ("Auryn" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an exploration update from it's Peruvian portfolio and further information about its proposed 2017 exploration plans. Peru Auryn has been active during Q4, 2016 on its Peruvian portfolio with extensive surface sampling undertaken on the Sombero and Huilacollo properties to advance these projects toward a drill ready stage. Auryn is also active in negotiations with various communities across the portfolio with good progress being made. Sombrero Project Surface exploration work at the Sombrero project focused on the southern half of the property where 773 meters of trenching, 405 rock chips and 311 soil samples were collected. The purpose of this work was to expand upon the previous limited rock chip geochemical sampling that returned significant gold and copper values in the mineralized skarn setting. Importantly, the footprint of the known mineralized system was expanded by the new discovery of a 300 by 350 meter zone of skarn mineralization in the southwest region of the claim area. Huilacollo Project Exploration work on the Huilacollo project focused on the southern half of the property. 1,259 talus fine samples were taken over an area of 3 by 4 kilometers where no previous reliable surficial geochemical sampling had occurred. In addition, 25 rock chip samples were taken in select areas with outcrop that demonstrated epithermal textures. The purpose of this work was to develop a geochemical picture over geophysical anomalies characterized by resistivity highs and chargeability lows that have the potential to host oxide gold mineralization. Banos del Indio Exploration plans are to undertake a property wide IP survey in Q1 of 2017 and to further delineate targets which will be followed by surface sampling programs with drilling expected to begin in Q4. Banos Del Indio is one of the largest untested alteration systems in the Andes and sits on the same north south structure of the epithermal belt in Southern Peru which is 10 kms north of the Huilacollo concessions. Curibaya Exploration work on the Curibaya project focused on follow-up work on anomalous gold and copper drainage basins identified in Auryn's 2016 stream sediment survey. Two high-level, multi-kilometer potentially porphyry style clay alteration systems have been identified in the southwest and northwest portions of the claims demonstrating that further follow-up work of soil and rock-chip sampling is warranted. Auryn 2017 Exploration Plans Auryn focused on capitalizing on the advancements achieved in a very successful 2016 field season. Targeting efforts have provided 17 high priority drill targets at the flagship Committee Bay gold project. The company has also been successful at assembling a world-class exploration portfolio with the additional acquisitions of the advanced Homestake Ridge project in the "Golden Triangle" of northwestern British Columbia and the Sombrero, Huilacollo and Banos del Indio projects in southern Peru. Auryn's global exploration plan in 2017 will be to aggressively drill all projects across its portfolio with the primary focus on new discoveries. The proposed drill plan for 2017 is to drill a total of 55,000 meters of which 25,000 meters will be drilled across 17 multi-kilometer long targets in the Committee Bay project, 15,000 meters across the Homestake Ridge project and another 15,000 meters across the Sombrero, Huilacollo, and Banos del Indio projects in southern Peru. Shawn Wallace, President and CEO, commented, "We are thrilled to have been able to acquire these high quality projects over the past 2 years. Each project provides a significant standalone opportunity for major discoveries while our portfolio approach significantly lowers Auryn's overall risk profile. 2017 will be a year where our technical and financial teams will capitalize on this foundation and execute our operational plan to realize the goal of value creation for all stakeholders and investors." Auryn has revised its portfolio video which is now available on our website, please visit: http://www.aurynresources.com/investors/video. About Auryn Auryn Resources is a technically driven junior mining exploration company focused on delivering shareholder value through project acquisition and development. The Company's management team is highly experienced with an impressive track record of success and has assembled an extensive technical team as well as a premier gold exploration portfolio. Auryn is focused on scalable high-grade gold deposits in established mining jurisdictions, which include the Committee Bay gold project located in Nunavut, the Homestake Ridge gold project in British Columbia and a portfolio of gold projects in southern Peru, through Corisur Peru SAC. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AURYN RESOURCES INC. Shawn Wallace, President and CEO of Auryn Resources Inc. Cautionary Statements The Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com. Contacts: Auryn Resources Inc. Jay Adelaar Manager of Investor Relations (778) 729-0600 Zaful has introduced an online community where users can share information and communicate with others LOS ANGELES, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The internet has been a major blessing for many companies across the world. It provided the opportunity to reach to more people in new and better ways through varying marketing methods. Interactive marketing is one such way; Zaful is employing this form of marketing to understand users' needs and choices and tailoring this information to their offerings. Zaful's emphasizes on low price fashion apparel and top quality brand and they are now using different interactive marketing strategies to interact and understand their users better. Connecting with Facebook through the Zaful website. When you visit the Zaful website and browse through the product detail page, there's a new Facebook Messenger icon, with this icon, customers can contact the online support team any time of the day and enquiries or questions can be resolved. If a customer is unable to get the answer he/she needs on the website, they can bring out the dialogue and get the support team to give them the answers they need. Zaful is using Facebook as a way to connect and interact with its users all over the world. Some other famous sites such as Sammydress and Rosegal have also taken a cue and are using Facebook to communicate and interact with their users, they do this by including the Facebook group entry in the product detail page. Interaction on the new Zaful-me Community On the website, there is a 'Z-ME' tab at the top right hand corner of the navigation bar that will take users to the Zaful-me community. They can also download the Zaful app to enjoy this experience as well. The Z-me community was created to get users interacting and sharing information about themselves, fashion and their experience shopping with Zaful. The Z-me community is an innovative concept that ensures Zaful can get a better understanding of user tastes as users get to share clothes pictures and outfit ideas and interact with other users in the process. About Zaful: Zaful is the leading online shop for some of the trendiest and exciting fashion apparel's today. Zaful's affordable collections of clothing showcase excellence in craftsmanship, desire to be trendy, provide exceptional quality and first-class customer service that will make any fashionista come back for more. TDC releases its financial calendar for 2017 as set out below.10 JanuaryStart of closed period prior to Financial Statements for 201625 JanuaryDeadline for the Company's shareholders to submit a written request to have a specific business included in the agenda for the Annual General Meeting on 9 March3 FebruaryFinancial Statements for 2016Annual Report 2016 (English version) public on www.tdcgroup.com24 FebruaryAnnual Report 2016 (Danish version) public on www.tdcgroup.com9 MarchAnnual General Meeting10 - 13 MarchThe shares are being traded without dividend14 MarchPayment of dividend10 AprilStart of closed period prior to Interim Financial Statements January - March 20175 MayInterim Financial Statements January - March 201710 JulyStart of closed period prior to Interim Financial Statements January - June 201710 AugustInterim Financial Statements January - June 20179 OctoberStart of closed period prior to Interim Financial Statements January - September 201731 OctoberInterim Financial Statements January - September 201731 DecemberEnd of fiscal year 2017Release of financial statements for the year and interim financial statements is expected at approximately 8:00 (CET) on the days referred to.The trading window for persons employed by the TDC Group and entered on TDC's insider list is four weeks from the release of financial statements for the year and interim financial statements.TDC A/S Teglholmsgade 1 0900 Copenhagen C DK-Denmark tdc.comAttachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=609414 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. Last week, Assistant Editor Brian Schmidt encouraged readers to brush up on the basics of photography by taking a photo course or picking up a guidebook. The post got me thinking about other ways to brush up and how looking to other photographers for inspiration can be just as important. Theres an end table in my living room where I keep a small collection of inspiration: railroad photography books that I often flip through when trying to come up with new ideas. Among them are the great volumes of railroad photography: Richard Steinheimers A Passion For Trains, O. Winston Links Life Along The Line and David Plowdens Requiem For Steam. Steinheimer, Link and Plowden are almost all guaranteed spots on the Mount Rushmore of railroad photographers. But they are not the only ones who have earned spots in my book collection. Right next to them is another favorite, Nicholas Morants Canadian Pacific. Morant was the CPs company photographer for 44 years and spent decades shooting the railroads most famous section between Banff, Alberta, and Field, British Columbia. Among his favorite locations was an s-curve along the Bow River east of Lake Louise. Morant returned to the spot so many times that it was soon named after him and today Parks Canada maintains an interpretive sign about the photographer. As a diehard CP fan (I gained an appreciation for the CP shooting it as a kid in Maine and Vermont), Morants Curve has always been high on my list of must see locations. So this summer, when my Uncle Dave and I were planning a weekend trip to the CP main, I knew I had to shoot a train at the curve. On the first morning of our trip, we were at Field shortly after dawn as an eastbound grain train got a new crew. As the grain train pulled out of town, the sun rose over the mountains and it appeared that the train might arrive at Morants Curve in perfect morning light. "This might actually happen!" I thought to myself as we chased the train east. After getting the train east of Field, my uncle and I decided to head straight for Lake Louise to make sure we got in position with plenty of time to spare. As I turned off the Trans-Canada Highway I again thought about how lucky we were; the sun was out and we had an eastbound running at the perfect time. "Nothing can stop us now," I excitedly declared as we turned on the Bow Valley Parkway just as a Parks Canada ranger was putting up a road lock and a sign that said "closed." "Ahhhh, what's going on?" I asked. "Oh, sorry, there's a bike race today so the road is closed to cars. You can drive it tomorrow though!" We did return the following day, but alas, there were no eastbound freights to help make that perfect picture. Instead, we got a going away shot of the Rocky Mountaineer on its journey west. Its not a bad shot in fact it remains one of my favorites from 2016 because it reinforces another lesson from the greats: persistence. Morant probably took hundreds of images at that curve east of Lake Louise and Im sure there were a few duds. But what made Morant, Steinheimer, Link and Plowden great was that they went back to the same locations time and time again until they got the shot just right. As we enter 2017, Im already looking at the calendar and planning a return to Morants Curve, in hopes of enjoying the view those bikers saw back in August. Here's hoping you're able to get back to some favorite locations in the New Year. TORONTO, ON -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Helix BioPharma Corp. (TSX: HBP) (FRANKFURT: HBP), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative drug candidates for the prevention and treatment of cancer, announces that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with ProMab Biotechnologies to develop cell based therapies. The LOI calls for both companies to complete a due diligence and establish a collaboration to develop chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CAR-T) for hematological malignances and solid tumours. The collaboration will seek to exploit Helix novel single-domain antibodies based CAR-T and ProMab's proprietary vector designs, antibodies library and cell based production know-how. "We are delighted to work with ProMab. I look forward to establish this collaboration and further our CAR-T program," said Dr. Sven Rohmann, Helix's Chief Executive Officer. About Helix BioPharma Corp. Helix BioPharma Corp. is an immuno-oncology company specializing in the field of cancer therapy. The company is actively developing innovative products for the prevention and treatment of cancer based on its proprietary technologies. Helix's product development initiatives include its novel L-DOS47 new drug candidate. Helix is currently listed on the TSX and FSE under the symbol "HBP." Cautionary Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including, without limitation, those relating to the potential of using camelid single domain antibody in making CAR-T for pancreatic cancer, the advancing of the Company's first CAR-T solid tumor candidate toward clinical testing, the building of a pipeline of therapeutic candidates for solid tumor using CAR-T technology, which may be identified by words including, without limitation, "believes", "will", "may", "anticipated", "intended", "build", "effective", "continuing progress" and other similar expressions, are intended to provide information about management's current plans and expectations. Although Helix believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated and no assurance can be given that these expectations will be realized, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, risks inherent in Helix's research and development activities and those risks and uncertainties affecting the Company, as more fully described in Helix's most recent Annual Information Form, including under the headings "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors", filed under Helix's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com (together, the "Helix Risk Factors"). Certain material factors, estimates or assumptions have been applied in making forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the safety and efficacy of L-DOS47; that sufficient financing will be obtained in a timely manner to allow the Company to continue operations and implement its clinical trials in the manner and on the timelines anticipated; the timely provision of services and supplies or other performance of contracts by third parties; future costs; the absence of any material changes in business strategy or plans; the timely receipt of required regulatory approvals and strategic partner support and that the factors described in the Helix Risk Factors will not cause the Company's actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. These cautionary statements qualify all such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements and information are based on the beliefs, assumptions, opinions and expectations of Helix's management on the date of this news release, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statement or information should those beliefs, assumptions, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances change, except as required by law. Investor Relations Helix BioPharma Corp. 21 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 1100 Toronto, Ontario, M4T 1L9 Tel: 416 925-3232 Email: ir@helixbiopharma.com INDIANAPOLIS, IN--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Scale Computing, the market leader in hyperconverged solutions for midsized companies, announced today that it has won the award for Best Midmarket Strategy during the Spring 2017 Midmarket CIO Forum, hosted by Boardroom Events April 9-11 at The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa in Savannah, Ga. Awards recognize vendors solving business challenges with impressive financial impacts, and highlight the best in technology and marketing collaboration in the midmarket. Scale Computing, which won the same award in Fall 2016, is a frequent recipient of industry awards for its support of midsized customers and dedication to providing the proper balance of capabilities and operating costs. "We're honored to help recognize these forward-thinking providers who support Boardroom Events' core mission of assisting executives on their professional journeys," said Charles Badoian, president of Boardroom Events. "These awards are a testament to their relevance, research and insights." "Scale's tagline, 'Virtualization Made Easy,' that's the key for me because we're not VMware experts," said Mike O'Neil, Director of IT at Dallas-based engineering and design firm Hydradyne. "I don't want to have a VM expert on staff doing nothing but that. With only four people, including myself, to support a 550-person organization, it's a big thing for us to be able to quickly and easily use Scale without having to have intense training and intense knowledge." "Boardroom Events has created a series of events and resources that not only serve the small to the midsized business community, they honor them as a backbone of our economy," said Jeff Ready, CEO, and co-founder of Scale Computing. "We are privileged to work within this market segment, which often is frustrated by the colossal inefficiency and cost structure of typical virtualized and hyperconverged infrastructures." Scale Computing's hyperconvergence platform replaces VMware, servers, and storage with a single, seamlessly integrated stack that dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of traditional systems. With no virtualization software to license and no external storage to buy, HC3 products lower out-of-pocket costs while radically simplifying the infrastructure needed to keep applications running. Scale Computing's products make the deployment and management of a highly available and scalable infrastructure as easy to manage as a single server. Boardroom Events (BE) Midmarket CIO Forum is an informative and social venue for IT executives and solution providers who are focused on technologies for the midmarket. BE produces best-in-class business development and networking experiences for leaders in the technology and marketing industry. Its team pioneered the concept of hosted boardroom meetings that bring together thought leaders from across the marketplace: midmarket technology and marketing executives, solution providers, and industry analysts. For more information, visit http://midmarketcioforum.boardroomevents.com. Follow us on Twitter -- See our Case Studies -- Connect with us on LinkedIn About Scale Computing Scale Computing is the industry leader in complete hyper-converged solutions with thousands of deployments spanning from the SMB to the distributed enterprise. Driven by patented technologies, HC3 systems install in minutes, can be expanded without downtime, self-heal from failures, and automatically optimize workloads to maximize price-performance. Media Contact: Scott Kline JPR Communications 818-798-1474 Scottk@jprcom.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- G4G Capital Corp. (TSX VENTURE: GGC) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has changed its name to "White Gold Corp." to better reflect its strategic focus on exploration in the White Gold District of the Yukon Territory. The Company's common shares are expected to commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the new ticker symbol (TSX VENTURE: WGO) at the opening of trading on December 23, 2016. As part of the rebranding, the Company has launched a new website to provide comprehensive information about the Company, its management team, properties and strategic partners. The new website www.whitegoldcorp.ca also includes interactive maps, media coverage and other matters of interest to investors and the public. The Company is also pleased to announce that it has exercised its option to acquire 100% of the 21 properties, comprising approximately 12,301 quartz claims located in the White Gold District of the Yukon Territory (the "Properties") from Shawn Ryan and Wildwood Exploration Inc. and has continued under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). About White Gold Corp. White Gold Corp. owns a portfolio of 12,301 quartz claims across 21 properties covering approximately 249,000 hectares representing approximately 30% of the Yukon's White Gold District. Preliminary exploration work has produced several highly prospective targets. The claim packages are bordered by sizable gold discoveries owned by majors including Kinross, Goldcorp and Western Copper & Gold. The Company has outlined an aggressive exploration plan to further explore its properties. For more information visit www.whitegoldcorp.ca. This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of the Company, the date upon which the Company's common shares commence trading under the symbol "WGO" on the TSX Venture Exchange and advancement of the Properties. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that such expectations will prove to be correct. All such forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. This information, however, is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from this forward-looking information include those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: White Gold Corp. David Schmidt Chief Financial Officer (604) 630-6889 WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures were lower Thursday morning amid lingering doubts about OPEC's commitment to curb supplies next year. Oil rallied toward $55 a barrel on OPEC's vow earlier this month, but has been unable to rise any further due to rumblings that member states are not fully on board with the Saudi-inspired plan. A stronger dollar has also weighed on oil prices. WTI light sweet crude for February was down 15 cents at $52.35 a barrel. However, natural gas futures have jumped the most in a year on expectations for a frigid U.S. winter. In the corporate sphere, Petroleo Brasileiro SA has agreed with France's Total SA to sell $2.2-billion (1.7 billion) worth of assets. Traders are weighing a flurry of mixed U.S. economic news. U.S. GDP growth was revised up to 3.5% rate in the third quarter, a better than expected result. However, looking at figures from November, weaker factory production dented Chicago Fed's national economic activity index, while U.S. durable goods orders fell for first time in five months in November. And initial jobless claims jumped by 21,000 to a six-month high. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Document Camera for Smart Classroom Market 2016-2020" report to their offering. The report forecasts the global document camera for smart classroom market to grow at a CAGR of 11.54% during the period 2016-2020. The report, Global Document Camera for Smart Classroom Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. One of latest trends in the market is increased IT funding in education sector. With the rising digitalization, the global education sector is set to observe deep changes in sharing information and knowledge. This has led many governments worldwide to focus on sharing the information and knowledge. For instance, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in collaboration with the US Department of Education, developed a digital textbook playbook launched in 2013 to assist K-12 educators and administrators in becoming acquainted with digital learning content and tools. It entails planning for connectivity in school and outside school, determining the IT infrastructure required, and supporting the required devices such as laptops. According to the report, one of the primary drivers in the market is horizontal learning support. In addition to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) streams, document cameras can be used to teach subjects like language and arts as well. The ability of document camera to support visual learning without relying on a PC, unlike a smart board is the most important factor driving this form of learning support. The technical specifications of document cameras allow easy readability of text in any font size due to the zoom feature. These features are extremely beneficial to teach topics that involve scanning granular details such as map locations, which otherwise is a tedious job for teachers and students. Thus, many educational institutions catering to K-12 and higher education are investing resources in procuring good quality document cameras. Key vendors: Elmo IPEVO Lumens Epson Key Topics Covered: Part 01: Executive summary Part 02: Scope of the report Part 03: Market research methodology Part 04: Introduction Part 05: Market landscape Part 06: Market overview Part 07: Market drivers Part 08: Impact of drivers Part 09: Market challenges Part 10: Impact of drivers and challenges Part 11: Market trends Part 12: Market segmentation by product Part 13: Geographical segmentation Part 14: Vendor landscape Part 15: Key vendor analysis Part 16: Other prominent vendors Part 17: Appendix For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rg528t/global_document 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 TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- LOGiQ Asset Management Inc. (formerly, Aston Hill Financial Inc.) (TSX: LGQ) ("LOGiQ") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to purchase certain Global Advisory agreements from Integra Capital Limited to form the foundation for its new Institutional Advisory Group. This agreement builds on LOGiQ's vision to be a fully-integrated and diversified investment management firm with complementary businesses in all facets of the investment management industry. As a result of this transaction, assets managed or advised by LOGiQ will grow to approximately $5.2 billion. Integra Capital Limited will continue to operate and expand its Integra Pooled Fund, Custom Solutions and OCIO business. Integra's Global Advisor platform has over $2.7 billion in advised assets and provides pension fund, charity and endowment clients with access to leading institutional money managers from around the globe. The Global Advisor platform has relationships with over 30 third-party investment managers, which ensures that its clients have exposure to highly-skilled investment managers in every conceivable asset class and style, including the burgeoning market for alternative investment vehicles. Steve Mantle, the former Head of Integra's Global Advisor platform and recognized industry veteran will lead the new LOGiQ Institutional Advisory Group and also participate in the leadership of the overall LOGiQ investment management team. Joe Canavan expressed, "We identified Integra Global Advisors as an engine of growth, adding one billion dollars of assets in 2016 alone. Steve and his team bring excellence in investment analytics and portfolio manager selection. They have quality relationships in the institutional global investment management business and access to some of the top portfolio managers in the world-some of whom will fit well as we expand our retail product offering." Graham Rennie, the President and CEO of Integra Capital Limited stated, "We are delighted that our Global Advisor team is joining LOGiQ, a dynamic and exciting new asset management firm headed up by Joe Canavan. This transaction will permit us to maintain our long term relationships with our Global advisor managers and enable us to focus on adding value to our Pooled Fund clients, our Custom Solutions clients and on our strategic alliance with Willis Towers Watson to provide Delegated Investment Solutions to Canadian institutional investors." Steve Mantle added, "LOGiQ's approach to the market and its vision of sophisticated open architecture solutions was a perfect home for us to continue to grow our institutional platform and provide our leading global investment managers a way to potentially offer their expertise to the Canadian retail investor." Key personnel from Integra Global Advisors have entered into employment agreements with LOGiQ to provide for a smooth transition and historical institutional knowledge. "Integra's Global Advisor relationships bring a unique and growing business model to the institutional market that will be well supported within LOGiQ," said Joe Canavan. About LOGiQ Asset Management Inc. LOGiQ Asset Management Inc. (logiqasset.com) is a diversified asset management company with a suite of retail mutual funds, closed end funds, hedge funds, segregated institutional funds and institutional advisory sales. The TSX has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein. Cautionary Statement This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained therein, and such statement are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. 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 information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Contacts: LOGiQ Asset Management Inc. Joe Canavan President and Chief Executive Officer (416) 583-2300 LOGiQ Asset Management Inc. Derek Slemko Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer (416) 583-2300 TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- EEStor Corporation (TSX VENTURE: ESU) ("EEStor" or the "Company") announced today that, as part of its annual compensation review and subject to regulatory approval, it has granted stock options to acquire an aggregate of 1,439,512 common shares to directors and officers of the Company under the Company's stock option plan. Each option is exercisable to acquire one common share at a price of $0.49. The options are all subject to vesting restrictions and expire five years from the date of grant. 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. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: EEStor Corporation Ian Clifford Chief Executive Officer 416-535-8395 ian.clifford@eestorcorp.com PARRISH, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Real Estate Contacts, Inc. (OTC: REAC) is pleased to inform shareholders that Roger Ford, President and CEO of Patriot Bioenergy Corporation and current employee of Real Estate Contacts, Inc., has been invited by Chinese officials to both chair and speak at the 2017 World Congress on Advanced Materials in XI'AN, China in June 2017. Congress organizers there have extended the distinct honor to Mr. Ford due to his company's work on the use of industrial hemp. Project leaders from over 40 countries will attend. Robert DeAngelis, President & CEO of Real Estate Contacts, Inc. stated, "What an honor and privilege to have Mr. Ford as part of our team. Great things are possible when you work as a team, and we have a strong team working together." "Mr. Ford has worked tirelessly over the past five years to position Patriot as a leader in Kentucky and the United States on the use of industrial hemp for a variety of applications, including advanced materials." Real Estate Contacts, Inc. and Patriot Bioenergy Corporation are currently moving forward on several fronts to build-out hemp related initiatives. We are planning several major announcements in the coming weeks related to our progress. Safe Harbor: This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in such statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and are not guarantees of future performance. We undertake no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements. Contact: Robert DeAngelis President & CEO 724-656-8886 contact@realestatecontacts.com LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Online Disruptive Technologies, Inc. (OTC PINK: ONDR) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that its majority owned Israeli subsidiary, Savicell Diagnostic Ltd. ("Savicell"TM), has received patent approval from the European patent offices effective as of Sep 8, 2016 Title: "METHODS OF MONITORING AND ANALYZING METABOLIC ACTIVITY PROFILES DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC USES OF SAME". The technology has now received intellectual property protection with a patent approved in the United States, China, Japan and Europe. Furthermore, the patent process is ongoing in several other countries. The Savicell platform is a blood test designed for the early detection of disease. It is a broad platform with applications for cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases. While our focus initially is on early diagnosis of disease, we believe our technology may have additional applications in drug response monitoring for therapies that impact immune response. Immunotherapy, both for treating cancer and autoimmune diseases, is an example where metabolic shift profiles could indicate response to drug treatment. Initially, Savicell is focused on the multibillion-dollar cancer diagnosis market. Savicell deploys Well-Shield technology, a Liquid ImmunoBiopsy diagnostic platform. In contrast to existing technologies that evaluate secretions of cancer cells, Well-Shield's ImmunoBiopsy platform receives data directly from the immune system. Importantly, Well-Shield is different in that it is a functional test measuring the metabolic activation profile of the immune system as an indicator of disease status. As an immune system test, it is inherently suited for early detection. Disease intrusion and cell malformation, including cancer, are first detected by the immune system, which energizes to rid the body of the malignancy. The initial immune response to disease is intricate, deploying different metabolic pathways and subtypes of cells. The Well-Shield technology is designed to detect and interpret these differential metabolic responses. The need for simpler and more efficient processes for cancer detection has incentivized some 38 companies in the USA to work on creating liquid biopsies. In a 2015 report, investment bank Piper Jaffray valued the potential market for liquid biopsies at $29 billion just in the United States. Savicell conducted additional tests with a promising cross-validation of 129 donors from our clinical study. This cohort includes 56 diseased donors, together with a control group of 73 age- and sex-matched healthy donors. This practice helps us control for sampling biases. Table 1 - Cross-validation (CV) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CV LOO 20F (95% CI) (95% CI) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sensitivity 92.9% 85.7% (81.1% - 96.6%) (80.6% - 90.8%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Specificity 76.7% 72.6% (70.6% - 82.8%) (66.1% - 79.1%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Positive predictive value 75.4% 70.6% (69.1% - 81.6%) (64.0% - 77.2%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Negative predictive value 93.3% 86.9% (89.7% - 96.9%) (82.0% - 91.8%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Accuracy 83.7% 78.3% (78.4% - 89.1%) (72.3% - 84.3%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ Count Age M/F ------------------------------------------------------------ Healthy 73 59.6 +/- 8.9 46/27 ------------------------------------------------------------ Lung-Cancer 56 66.5 +/- 10.3 33/23 ------------------------------------------------------------ Total 129 62.6 +/- 10.1 79/50 ------------------------------------------------------------ Cross-validation (CV) - we let the algorithm train on a large subset of labeled donors, and then let it make a prediction on a small subset of unlabeled donors that were not in the training set. This process is repeated several times until every donor in the cohort is given a prediction. We use several types of cross-validation: LOO - Leave one out - one donor is left out of the training set each iteration (total of n iterations), 20F - Stratified 20-fold CV - the cohort is split into 20 semi-equal-sized subsets; each subset, containing both sick and healthy donors, is left out once (total of 20 iterations). In addition, we run the algorithm once without cross-validation, meaning that the entire cohort is used for training and prediction. While we are pleased with these promising results, please note that results can change as we increase the cohort size. Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions based on current information and expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press release include that our technology is designed to be deployed for early detection of diseases; that our technology may have additional applications in drug response monitoring for therapies that impact immune response, that the Well-Shield technology is designed to detect and interpret differential metabolic responses; that Well-Shield could help reduce the majority of the false positive results and that the potential market for liquid biopsies is $29 billion in the USA alone.; and that we have patent protection on our technology. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in any of such statements due to various factors, including the risks and uncertainties inherent in drug and treatment discovery and development, which include, without limitation, the potential failure of development candidates to advance through clinical studies or demonstrate safety and efficacy in clinical testing; our ability to retain key employees; our ability to finance development; and our ability to satisfy the rigorous regulatory requirements for new medical procedures. Good results in small trials and among limited cases does not necessarily lead to the same good results for large numbers or in the general public. Competitors may develop better or cheaper alternatives to our products. Having patented technology does not guarantee that our patents may not be challenged, or that we may be infringing on the intellectual property of others. We may not be able to commercialize our product and even if we do, we may not realize any profit. The potential market may be much smaller than expected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and we undertake no obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or circumstances after today's date. Readers should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contacts: Giora Davidovits 978-289-9056 Info@savicell.com WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President-elect Donald Trump has announced that billionaire investor Carl Icahn will serve as his special advisor on issues relating to regulatory reform. 'Icahn was one of President-elect Trump's earliest supporters, and his intimate knowledge of what businesses need to grow and thrive makes him a trusted voice in developing President-elect Trump's America First economic agenda,' Trump's transition team said in a statement Wednesday. Icahn will be a leader in helping American entrepreneurs shed job-killing regulations that stifle economic growth, according to the transition team. He will not be serving as a federal employee, and his role will purely be advisory. 'He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies. His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable,' Trump said. Accepting the nomination, Icahn hinted at making regulatory reforms 'to break free of excessive regulation' and let US entrepreneurs create jobs and support communities. He blamed that under President Obama, America's business owners have been crippled by over $1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork. Over the course of six decades, Icahn has distinguished himself as one of America's most successful businessmen and influential investors. The New York City native formed Icahn & Co. in 1968, and held key positions in US companies such as Texaco, Philips Petroleum, Western Union, Time Warner, Motorola, Dell, Netflix, Apple, and eBay. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Santa Claus made a special stop in Carlisle Wednesday night. The Cumberland County Bar Associations Young Lawyers Division celebrated its seventh annual Adopt-A-Family program in conjunction with Safe Harbour and Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland and Perry Counties with gifts donated from attorneys within the bar association, pizza and, of course, Santa. We understand in our community there are those that cant have their own Christmas, said Paul Edger, chair of the CCBA Adopt-a-Family Committee. For Bryson Arnoldi and his mom, Stephanie Steinmuller, that meant something. Theyve been at Safe Harbour for about four months after losing everything, including their home, after they found her brother, Arnoldis uncle, dead last year. The family of two werent able to celebrate Christmas last year because of that, which would explain Steinmullers smile watching her son sit on Santas lap and telling him about the things he wanted for Christmas. He said he wanted action figures, his mom said. She got him nine this year. Scott Shewell, vice president for Community Relations and Development at Safe Harbour, said its important that people know that while sometimes lawyers get an undeserved bad rap for their profession, but here is twenty-something attorneys in the Young Lawyers Division, and they gathered countless gifts and other linens and toiletry donations for us. Theyre doing really wonderful things for those in need in the community, he said. Edger said this was the programs biggest year, with over 40 volunteers between judges, firms and attorneys involved. Its definitely rewarding, he said. I think for everybody, we work in all different types of law, but I think sometimes we dont get to work hands-on with the community. So its that reward knowing that we gave someone Christmas gifts and they couldnt afford it, or they cant give gifts to their children, so its that warm feeling that Christmas is all about. CINCINNATI, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- NLign Analytics, a division of Etegent Technologies, today announced that it has received the prestigious Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The award honors individuals responsible for outstanding technical accomplishments that further the vision of the Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program. The Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP) presented the award to NLign Analytics and its partner Northrup Grumman at the 2016 Defense Manufacturing Conference in Denver, Co. in recognition for their efforts to reduce Material Review Board (MRB) labor hours on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The two companies are working on an Air Force-sponsored project titled, "The Digital Thread for Material Review Board." The MRB engineering process addresses imperfections that occur during manufacturing of aerospace components. Based on the imperfections, engineers must decide if the components can be used as-is, repaired or scrapped. Northrup Grumman used NLign Analytics' patented 3D collection and visualization software to demonstrate a 33 percent reduction in MRB labor hours on the F-35 manufacturing line. "The Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award is a tremendous compliment to the teams at NLign Analytics and Northrup Grumman for their many hours of hard work on this project," said Tom Sharp, principal of NLign Analytics. "This award is validation of our technology and its ability to make MRB processes more efficient, and we appreciate that our name is associated with the great organizations and projects that received this award in previous years." NLign Analytics software improves multiple engineering processes by aligning data to 3D models and allowing for the data to be visualized, searched and trended in a 3D environment. Efficiency improvements are made possible by rendering vast amounts of process and repair data to 3D CAD models, allowing quick and accurate analysis in a familiar 3D environment. NLign analysis tools are currently saving the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and private sector companies millions of dollars each year by streamlining manufacturing and maintenance processes, improving first-pass yields, helping to monitor the health of aircraft fleets, and aiding root cause analysis; thus reducing overall program costs. Watch this video to learn more about NLign Analytics: http://www.nlign.com/about/video/. About NLign Analytics Founded in 2011, NLign Analytics is a division of Etegent Technologies, a high-tech, R&D-focused company conducting state-of-the-art research in automatic target recognition utilizing radar, LADAR, image, vibrometry and other data types; health monitoring of turbine engines and other assets; non-destructive inspection data management and mining; mechatronic product development; and other areas. Originally developed for the U.S. Air Force, NLign Analytics software platform uses an intuitive 3D environment to help composite manufacturers and maintenance organizations collect, organize, archive and analyze massive amounts of diverse data. For additional information, visit NLign.com. Media contact: Kevin Wilson Email Contact 513-898-1008 TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - U.S. forces returned nearly 10,000 acres of land they used as training area in Okinawa to the Japanese Government. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the land return is the largest since 1972, when the United States returned sovereignty over the island to Japan. U.S. forces captured the island from Japan in April 1945 in a costly battle. The return of land on Okinawa's Northern Training Area will reduce the footprint of U.S. forces on the Japanese island by 20 percent, the Pentagon said. U.S. forces returned title to the land during a ceremony hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his office in Tokyo. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and Air Force Lt. Gen. Jerry Martinez, the commander of U.S. Forces Japan, attended the ceremony. During the ceremony, Kennedy said the transfer marks a milestone in the U.S.-Japan alliance. 'This return will reduce our footprint in Okinawa by about 20 percent, and it is an important step in the Okinawa consolidation plan, which will eventually result in the transfer of 60 acres of land south of Kadena Air Base,' she said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. ABU DHABI, UAE, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), a leading higher education institution in the region, has received accreditation from the prestigious US-based Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology (ABET) for its Engineering Technology & Science programs. The HCT's Engineering Technology Bachelor programs in the majors of Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering have been accredited, in conjunction with the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ETAC). Engineering is one of the HCT's most popular programs with 6,138 male and female students, or about 26% of HCT's total student population, enrolled in the various majors this year. Dr Abdullatif Al Shamsi, HCT Vice Chancellor, said the national and international accreditation of its academic programs is a vital component of the strategic goals under its five-year, transformative HCT 2.0 initiative. The ABET accreditation reflected HCT's strategic directions and aspirations in innovative teaching and learning, as well as being aligned to Abu Dhabi Vision 2030. "With the ABET accreditation, HCT students, employers, and the society we serve can all be confident that our Engineering programs meet the quality standards thatproduce graduatesprepared to enter a global workforce. We are very proud of this key academic achievement, which will build on the history of excellence at the Higher Colleges of Technology," Dr Abdullatif Al Shamsi said. Dr Al Shamsi added that this international accreditation will reflect positively on the students by enhancing their confidence in their programmes of choice. "It will also benefit HCT alumni seeking employment in various UAE institutions, by increasing employment opportunities and boosting HCT's graduate employability percentage of 100 per cent by 2021," he said. He expressed his appreciation for the HCT's faculty and staff's keenness to implement these programmes in accordance with the international standards. Dr Gilbert Linne, HCT Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, said: "Congratulations and please accept my appreciation to all of you who have worked so hard to make this ABET accreditation occur and also to those of you who continue to work hard to improve HCT's Engineering programs. You should be proud of this important accomplishment." Founded in 1988 with four colleges, the HCT has grown to be the UAE's largest higher educational institutions, gaining a well-respected reputation for innovative learning. Over 23,000 students attend 17 modern, technology-oriented men's and women's campuses throughout the UAE. HCT offers a wide range of English-taught programs in the fields of Applied Communications, Business, Computer Information Science, Education & General Studies, Engineering Technology & Science, Foundations, Health Sciences and Arabic & Emirati Studies. These programs are all relevant to the UAE's fast growing economy and are designed in consultation with business and industry leaders to ensure that HCT students' skills are job-relevant and to the highest standards. The programs are constantly monitored to ensure they are at the cutting edge of industry standards and technological change. Visit http://www.hct.ac.ae . For more information or to arrange interviews contact: Paul Lancaster (HCT Communications Department) Mob: +971565011167; Email: plancaster@hct.ac.ae Octapharma is proud to announce that the company has made a charitable donation of 4.5 million units of its fourth generation, human cell-line derived recombinant factor VIII product, Nuwiq, to the World Federation of Hematology (WFH) Humanitarian Aid Program. The lack of access to care in developing countries is an urgent and important public health challenge. The aim of the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program is to provide consistent and predictable access to treatment for all. Through the donation of Nuwiq, Octapharma is helping to provide access to FVIII therapy in developing countries that may otherwise be unable to fully meet the treatment requirements of all patients. "The WFH is leading the effort to change the lack of access to treatment products for bleeding disorders in developing countries by providing consistent and predictable access to treatment for all," said Assad Haffar, WFH Director of Humanitarian Aid. "This donation of treatment products from Octapharma will help support the WFH in this important outreach." "For lasting change to occur in countries most in need, it is imperative that we all come together to support the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program," said Alain Weill, WFH President. "Treatment for all is truly the responsibility of all." Olaf Walter, Board Member at Octapharma, stated "The WFH Humanitarian Aid Program is an important initiative to provide access to care for people with haemophilia in the developing world. We are proud to contribute to the program as part of our ongoing mission to invest and make a difference in people's lives". About Haemophilia A Haemophilia A is an X-linked hereditary disorder caused by FVIII deficiency which if left untreated leads to haemorrhages in muscles and joints and consequently to arthropathy and severe morbidity. FVIII replacement prophylactic treatment reduces the number of bleeding episodes and the risk of permanent joint damage. This disorder affects one in every 5,000 to 10,000 men worldwide. Globally, 75% of haemophilia cases are left undiagnosed or untreated. About Octapharma Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines. As a family-owned company, Octapharma believes in investing to make a difference in people's lives and has been doing so since 1983; because it's in our blood. Octapharma employs approximately 6,400 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 105 countries with products across three therapeutic areas: Haematology (coagulation disorders) Immunotherapy (immune disorders) Critical care Octapharma owns five state-of-the-art production facilities in Austria, France, Germany, Sweden and Mexico. For more information visit www.octapharma.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005034/en/ Contacts: Octapharma AG International Business Unit- Haematology Olaf Walter Olaf.Walter@octapharma.com or Larisa Belyanskaya Larisa.Belyanskaya@octapharma.com Tel: +41 55 4512121 ORLANDO, FL--(Marketwired - December 22, 2016) - Pinnacle, one of the nation's leading multifamily management firms, has been named as one of Orlando Business Journal's Top Philanthropic Companies based on 2015 charitable contributions in central Florida. The firm was recognized among 50 other companies for its corporate-sanctioned giving and volunteer programs that stood out in the community. Pinnacle regularly commits unwavering support to nonprofit organizations by donating time, energy and resources. Last year, the company's Orlando team volunteered nearly 1,500 hours and donated over $11,000 at various local organizations to assist the sick, the hungry, our troops, educators, animals, our environment and so much more. "We cultivate a caring culture at Pinnacle and feel compelled to assist those in need," said Sally Milton, senior vice president of client reporting. "Our Orlando team believes wholeheartedly that the more you give, the more you receive so we make a concerted effort to do our part. We strive to make a difference by serving individuals and building partnerships." Over 4,000 Pinnacle team members are invited to participate in numerous charitable events throughout the year by giving back to local food pantries, emergency shelters, and various other national organizations. The company believes that volunteering not only creates a sense of belonging, accomplishment and satisfaction but it also had an enormous impact on the health and well-being of communities everywhere. As a company, Pinnacle encourages community service and applauds the continued efforts of its employees across the country for their selfless contributions. For a complete list of companies who were honored by the Orlando Business Journal, please click here. About Pinnacle Property Management Services, LLC Pinnacle Property Management Services, LLC, ("Pinnacle") is a privately held national real estate provider specializing in third party management of multifamily residential communities. As one of the nation's preferred third-party managers, Pinnacle's portfolio includes over 165,000 residential units and 2.5 million square feet of commercial assets. With the Corporate headquarters located in Dallas, Texas, Pinnacle has more than 4,000 employees located in 32 states. For more information, visit www.pinnacleliving.com. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/12/22/11G125915/Images/Group-94bf1f08c83cbef0a594c802ee19abd2.JPG MEDIA CONTACT Kerri Fulks (972) 499-6617 Kerri.Fulks@hck2.com DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Tractor Rental Market 2016-2020" report to their offering. The report forecasts the global tractor rental market to grow at a CAGR of 8.09% during the period 2016-2020. The report, Global Tractor Rental Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is increase in consolidation of fragmented land in Europe and the Americas. There has been a growing trend where the size of the land in the Americas and Europe is getting consolidated since the return from the larger farms is much greater than the smaller farms. Large companies such as Farm and ranch supply stores in the US, Monsanto, and Archer-Daniels Midland have started dominating the agricultural market. The consolidation of smaller farms to larger farms is attributed to the fact that large farm size rationalizes better financial returns than the smaller or mid-sized farms. According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is high labor wage. The labor wage in regions such as the Americas and Europe is already high, whereas APAC countries such as India and China are experiencing a rise in the minimum wage of laborers. As a result, it is difficult for farmers to employ more laborers in the market. Farmers are finding out ways of renting out tractors and other farm equipment in their agricultural field to fulfill the low employment of laborers in their fields. It can be inferred that increase in the wage of laborers is acting as a strong growth driver for this market. Key vendors: Pacific Rentals Sunbelt Rentals John Deere Key Topics Covered: Part 01: Executive summary Part 02: Scope of the report Part 03: Market research methodology Part 04: Introduction Part 05: Market landscape Part 06: Market segmentation by engine power Part 07: Geographical segmentation Part 08: Key leading countries Part 09: Market drivers Part 10: Impact of drivers Part 11: Market challenges Part 12: Impact of drivers and challenges Part 13: Market trends Part 14: Key vendor analysis Part 15: Appendix For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/srx42x/global_tractor 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 DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Healthcare Global Market Report 2017" report to their offering. The term healthcare refers to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease or illness, and other physical and mental impairments in humans and animals. The healthcare market provides products and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative or palliative care. Where is the largest and fastest growing market for healthcare? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The healthcare global market report answers all these questions and many more. The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider healthcare market, and compares it with other markets. Scope Markets covered: Healthcare Services, Pharmaceutical, Medical Equipment Companies mentioned: McKesson, UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, AmerisourceBergen, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Cardinal Health, Express Scripts Holdings, Anthem, Johnson & Johnson, Aetna and Others. Countries: Brazil , China , France , Germany , India , Italy , Japan , Spain , Russia , UK, USA . , , , , , , , , , UK, . Regions: Asia , Americas, Europe , Middle East & Africa , Oceania. , Americas, , & , Oceania. Time series: Five years historic and forecast. Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets, population, GDP, Healthcare Indicators Comparison, Number of Hospitals, Number of Hospital Beds. Data segmentations: country and regional historic and forecast data, market share of competitors, market segments. Key Topics Covered: 1. Healthcare Market Characteristics 2. Healthcare Market Size and Growth 3. Porters Five Force Model 4. PESTLE Analysis 5. Healthcare Market Segmentation 6. Healthcare Market Regional And Country Analysis 7. Global Healthcare Market Comparison with Macro Economic Factors 8. Healthcare Market Comparison With Macro Economic Factors Across Countries 9. Healthcare Indicators Comparison 10. Asia Healthcare Market 11. Europe Healthcare Market 12. Americas Healthcare Market 13. Middle East & Africa Healthcare Market 14. Oceania Healthcare Market 15. Healthcare Market Competitive Landscape 16. Healthcare Market Customer Information 17. Key Mergers And Acquisitions In The Healthcare Market 18. Appendix Companies Mentioned -McKesson - UnitedHealth Group - CVS Health - AmerisourceBergen - Walgreens Boots Alliance - Cardinal Health - Express Scripts Holdings - Anthem - Johnson & Johnson - Aetna - others. For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/km4wtv/healthcare_global 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 DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) Markets: Consumables, Systems/Hardware, Services" report to their offering. Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) Markets: Consumables, Systems/Hardware, Services examines the opportunity for cell-free DNA analysis instruments, consumables, kits, and related software. Current sales analysis and projections to 2021 are provided, as well as measurements of market growth; sales by product type; sales revenues of major competitors in the market; and geographic performance in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world. Intellectual Property Litigation in the cfDNA analysis market is discussed, as well as collaborations. Illumina and Thermo Fisher Scientific are among the manufacturers discussed in the report's competitor analysis. Market challenges and responses to these challenges are also presented Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1: Executive Summary NIPT, Oncology Leading Market Forward Sensitivity Benefits of dPCR, qPCR, NGS Challenges, Biological and Technologies Limitations Scope and Methodology Chapter 2: Introduction NIPT Companies, Others Shifting Strategies to Cancer Expanding Clinical Adoption Sustains High Growth Government Initiatives -- Cancer Moonshot, Blood Profiling Atlas Mergers, Acquisitions, Equity Investments Increasing China Becoming Major Player in Market Personalized, Proactive Medicine Gaining Momentum Expected Sequencer Platforms Stalled or Cancelled Significant Efforts in Automation, Miniaturization Regulatory Situation Unclear But Evolving Somewhat Chapter 3: cfDNA Analysis Products cfDNA Reagents, Consumables, and Kits cfDNA Systems and Software cfDNA NIPT Products and Services cfDNA in Oncology, Transplantation and Other Diseases cfDNA Other Products Recent Product/ Service Introductions Chapter 4: Market Analysis Revenues Forecast Market Size and Forecast cfDNA Clinical Diagnostics Market cfDNA Market by Region Revenues by Product Type Illumina Sequencing Revenues as Indicator Chapter 5: cfDNA Instruments and Consumables Competitive Analysis Chapter 6: Intellectual Property and Litigation Sequenom, Several NIPT Companies Fighting Ariosa Diagnostics (Roche) Files Suit Against Sequenom Natera Sues Sequenom; Sequenom Sues Natera Verinata Health and Stanford File Against Sequenom Verinata Health Against Ariosa and LabCorp Illumina Sues Ariosa Diagnostics for NIPT Test Illumina Sues Premaitha Health for NIPT Test Illumina Sues Premaitha and Ariosa Partners Sequenom and Illumina Settle and Pool Patents Sequenom Petitions Supreme Court Illumina Sues Qiagen for GeneReader System Illumina's Conflicts with Oxford Nanopore Enzo Biochem Brings Suit Against Numerous Companies Cell-Free DNA Markets RainDance Technologies Sues 10X Genomics 10X Genomics' Dispute with Bio-Rad Sequenom Shareholder Sues Over Price Capping Helicos' Patent Infringement Suit Against PacBio, Life Technologies, and Illumina Illumina's Two Lawsuits Against Complete Genomics for Infringement Life Technologies and Illumina Dispute Over Amplification on Solid Surfaces Enzo Biochem Disputes Sequencing Patents LabCorp's Esoterix Sues Life Technologies Genetic Technologies Sues Several Firms for Infringement of Haplotype Determination Technique Chapter 7: cfDNA Analysis Market Deals The Significant Collaborations Chapter 8: cfDNA Instruments and Consumables Market Corporate Profiles Agilent Technologies Bio-Rad F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Fluidigm Illumina Qiagen RainDance Technologies Thermo Fisher Scientific Chapter 9: Challenges and Strategic Recommendations For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hxnsjf/cellfree_dna 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 BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- The Association of National Numbering Agencies today announced that its membership has committed to 1 July 2017 as the date that the updated Classification of Financial Instruments standard (CFI -- ISO 10962:2015) and Financial Instrument Short Name standard (FISN -- ISO 18774:2015) will be adopted and allocated to financial instruments. The resolution was passed at the Extraordinary General Meeting held earlier this month in Bangkok, Thailand. The updated CFI and FISN codes will be assigned simultaneous with allocation of the International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) to new financial instruments. They will also be allocated to all currently active ISINs. "The expansion of the national numbering agencies (NNAs) work to add a new code, the FISN, and to apply the new CFI standard to new and existing ISINs is a momentous step forward in serving the global financial markets," said Dan Kuhnel, chairman of the ANNA board of directors. "Some NNAs have already accomplished this transition, and ANNA will continue to support all the NNAs in meeting this objective in a timely manner." Among the changes to the updated CFI are extended coverage of structured products and exchange traded derivatives, as well as the introduction of over-the-counter derivative contracts, including swaps, spot, forwards, strategies, and complex options. Already issued in tandem with the ISIN, the CFI is used globally to classify financial instruments through common descriptive terms that facilitate accurate asset-class groupings and eliminate the burdens of interpreting different national languages, standards and methods of product description. The FISN, a human-readable identifier identification code, will be issued globally with the ISIN for the first time. While ISO-standard and non-standard variants of the FISN are already used extensively in capital markets operations such as trading, investor reports and regulatory reporting, the provision of the ISO-standard FISN for all active ISINs will enable global consistency, increased efficiency and reduced operational risk in communications among financial firms and their clients. Both the CFI and the FISN are specified in various regulatory reporting mandates, including the impending MiFID II regulation in force in the European Union on 3 January 2018. In addition to the national numbering agencies, the global numbering agency for OTC derivatives -- the ANNA Derivatives Service Bureau -- will also automatically assign CFIs and FISNs along with ISINs for these product sets. About ANNA Established in 1992 by 22 founding numbering agencies, ANNA is the membership organization of national numbering agencies, which are operated by depositories, exchanges, government agencies, nationally central data vendors and other financial infrastructure organizations. ANNA also serves as the registration authority for the ISIN and FISN standards, under appointment by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Under ANNA's stewardship, the role of the ISIN in enabling global financial communications has been established worldwide. ISINs are issued today more than 200 jurisdictions worldwide. In addition, ANNA is developing the Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), a fully automated global numbering agency to meet the operational and regulatory requirements of the over-the-counter derivatives markets. The number of national numbering agencies and nations working to establish national numbering agencies continues to grow each year, now surpassing 120 jurisdictions globally. For information about ANNA, its members and activities, please visit anna-web.org. Contact: Kathleen Hawk for ANNA Email Contact +1 845 687-2222 JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - President-elect Donald Trump released a statement Thursday calling on President Barack Obama's administration to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate halt to Israeli settlement construction. 'As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations,' Trump said. Trump claimed that the resolution would put Israel in a very poor negotiating position and called it extremely unfair to all Israelis. A draft of the resolution being circulated by Egypt demands Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. The statement from Trump came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also urged the U.S. to veto the resolution in late-night post on Twitter. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has also voiced opposition to the resolution, which he claims only serves to 'to defame and delegitimize the democratic State of Israel.' 'This resolution will undermine peace and mutual cooperation by pushing the parties further away from direct negotiations,' Ryan said in a statement. Obama has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, although the U.S. has vetoed similar U.N. measures in the past. The White House has declined to comment on the current resolution, which is currently scheduled to come up for a vote at 3 pm ET. (Photo: Michael Vadon) Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. One person was taken to Penn State Hershey Medical Center following a motor vehicle crash involving a pedestrian in Hampden Township Thursday afternoon. At 12:17 p.m. Cumberland County 911 dispatched EMS to the 1200 block of Orrs Bridge Road near Lamp Post Lane in Hampden Township for a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. A man was walking across the bridge on the sidewalk when he was struck by a vehicle that drove onto the walkway from the northbound lane, according to Hampden Township Police Lt. Steven Shissler. The pedestrian was taken to Hershey Medical Center for a leg injury that was believed to be non-life threatening, Shissler said. The driver remained on scene and police are investigating why he left the road, leading to the crash. Fire police were called to close Carlisle Pike at Orrs Bridge Road after the crash. Anyone with information is asked to contact Hampden Township Police at 761-2609. Thursdays crash came just days after a woman and her two dogs were killed after being struck by a vehicle while walking near Camp Hill Bypass/Cumberland Boulevard in Camp Hill Tuesday night. A Newburg man was killed less than a week earlier when a vehicle struck him and fled the scene in Upper Mifflin Township, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Both of the fatal crashes occurred at night when visibility is lower. Shissler advised pedestrians who are out at night to wear light-colored clothing or something reflective to increase motorists ability to see them. Police believe the striking vehicle in the Upper Mifflin crash is a mid-1990s Honda Accord that sustained damage to the front passenger side bumper area and possibly the windshield. State police ask anyone with information to contact them at 717-249-2121. Its your obligation to stop anytime you hit anything, but especially if you hit an occupied vehicle or a pedestrian, Shissler said. Its just the right thing to do and (when the driver flees) the penalties are enhanced and increased when there are people involved and specifically with injuries. 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. DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Hotel and Hospitality Management Software 2016-2020" report to their offering. The report forecasts the global hotel and hospitality management software market to grow at a CAGR of 6.14% during the period 2016-2020. The report, Global Hotel and Hospitality Management Software Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is increased use of mobiles for hotel booking. Customers are ready to adopt and adapt to new technologies. With the increase in mobile bookings, smartphone usage, and dependency on mobile apps, the hoteliers can reduce manual work and enhance the user experience. The use of mobile devices in the hotel industry gives a sense of immediacy and improves the interaction between the guests and hotel owners and staff, thereby meeting the expectations of the customer. According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is increased need to reduce expenses and operational costs. In this competitive market, hotels are constantly trying to cut down their spending on expense processing by automating documentation handoffs. Mostly mid-to-small size hotels are focusing on increasing their revenue by controlling company spending. Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is frequent upgrades in technology. The continuous evolution of technology and customer expectations is increasing the need for frequent upgrades in technology. As a result, the hotel owners are reluctant to invest in hotel management software technology. In addition, the owners of the hotel, resorts, and spas invest in technology to stay ahead in the competitive market rather than to align to the hotel's strategic direction. Also, not all hotels derive value from technology investments. Key vendors: Oracle Infor Protel hotelsoftware Sabre Key Topics Covered: Part 01: Executive summary Part 02: Scope of the report Part 03: Market research methodology Part 04: Introduction Part 05: Market landscape Part 06: Architecture Part 07: Market developments Part 08: Market size and forecast Part 09: Market segmentation by deployment Part 10: Geographical segmentation Part 11: Product life cycle Part 12: Market drivers Part 13: Impact of drivers Part 14: Market challenges Part 15: Impact of drivers and challenges Part 16: Market trends Part 17: Impacts of trends Part 18: Buying criteria Part 19: Five forces analysis Part 20: Vendor landscape Part 21: Key vendor profiles Part 22: Appendix For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/tp55lx/global_hotel_and 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 TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Nutritional High International Inc. (the "Company" or "Nutritional High") (CSE: EAT)(CSE: EAT.CN)(OTCQB: SPLIF)(FRANKFURT: 2NU), is wishes to congratulate the Company's CEO Jim Frazier on receiving Doctors Goodwill Ambassador Awards from The Doctors' Goodwill Foundation in Titusville, FL. Doctors Goodwill Ambassador Awards are presented to individuals or organizations for their volunteerism in the local community. The Doctors Goodwill Foundation is a coalition of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, allied health workers, hospitals, healthcare agencies and area businesses, who have joined together to improve the health care system by offering continuing education credits and a venue to learn about new and innovative products and services. David Posner, Chairman of Nutritional High has commented - "On behalf of Nutritional High's board and management teams I would like to congratulate Jim on receiving this award. It is truly a pleasure to have Jim lead our executive team and we look forward to continuing working with him as Nutritional High enters the important new phase of its business." About Nutritional High International Inc. Nutritional High is focused on developing, manufacturing and distributing products and nationally recognized brands in the hemp and marijuana-infused products industries, including edibles and oil extracts for nutritional, medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively through licensed facilities in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law. For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Such statements include submission of the relevant documentation within the required timeframe and to the satisfaction of the relevant regulators, completing the acquisition of the applicable real estate and raising sufficient financing to complete the Company's business strategy. There is no certainty that any of these events will occur. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward- looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. Contacts: Nutritional High International Inc. Jim Frazier CEO 321-516-7171 jfrazier@nutritionalhigh.com Boom Capital Markets Inc. Steven Low (647) 620-5101 steve@boomcapitalmarkets.com www.boomcapitalmarkets.com MILAN, ITALY--(Marketwired - December 22, 2016) - TXT Retail, the innovative provider of end-to-end Merchandise Lifecycle Management solutions for retail, will host an Exhibitor Insights session at NRF 2017, the retail 'Big Show' on January 15-17 in New York. The session 'Building a Global Merchandising Organization Across 100 Countries' will be held on Monday, January 16th at 3pm and will feature the participation of TXT Retail experts, together with TXT customer Pandora, the jewelry manufacturer and retailer, known worldwide for its customizable bracelets, designer rings and necklaces. On stage: Robbie Cleijsen, Head of Merchandise Applications, Global IT, Pandora Peter Charness, SVP North America, Global Chief Marketing Officer, TXT Retail The session will discuss how Pandora successfully navigated the challenges of a global project to revamp its merchandise systems and processes while in a period of rapid growth and extreme change. Robbie Cleijsen will describe how they introduced a merchandising mindset and integrated the expertise of central and local teams to establish common practices and a single planning process across functions and geographies, based on TXT Retail technology. Peter Charness will also provide a quick review of some of the new practices in Assortment Management, adopted by leading Retailers as part of transformational projects that support their ability to attract and service customers anyway and anywhere they want to shop. "Pandora is at the forefront in planning and we are glad to assist their journey as they build a global merchandising organization," commented Peter Charness. "The TXT Retail solution allows our customers to be better and faster at the processes that make the difference: not only as it incorporates the sector best practices, becoming a clear reference for companies redesigning their processes, but its flexibility allows accommodating the peculiarities of each organization and their teams accelerating deployment and pace of adoption. This is key to tier-1 organizations and large scale projects such as Pandora's." Visit TXT Retail at booth #2771 and request your one-to-one meeting. About TXT Retail TXT Retail is the first mover and leading provider of End-to-End Merchandise Lifecycle Management solutions for the Luxury, Fashion and Specialty Retail sectors. The TXT Retail solution is based on a flexible platform, is easy to use and to adopt and encompasses the full spectrum of activities in planning, designing, buying, distributing and delivering assortments through every stage of their lifecycle. TXT Retail projects leverage the TXT AgileFit processes, best practices and reference applications, thus ensuring high quality and fast benefit generation. TXT Retail counts on more than 300 retail specialists and serves more than 300 customers worldwide, including leading global players such as adidas, Arcadia Group, Auchan, Bata, Build-a-Bear, Camper, Carphone Warehouse, Desigual, DFS, Dior, Furla, Geox, Guess, Ecco, Lacoste, Levi Strauss & Co., Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Monoprix, Miroglio, Moncler, Orsay, Pandora, Safilo, Sephora, Sonae, Starboard Cruise Services, Takko, Tesco, Tod's, Urban Outfitters. TXT Retail Global Headquarters are in Milan, Italy with offices in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. TXT Retail collaborates with selected specialized partners worldwide. TXT Retail is part of TXT e-solutions, a company listed on the Italian Stock Exchange (TXT.MI) www.txtretail.com Press Contact: Patrizia Calvia Product Marketing Manager patrizia.calvia@txtgroup.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Advantage Lithium Corp. (the "Company" or "Advantage Lithium") (TSX VENTURE: AAL) is pleased to announce that, as a result of its recent drilling and deal-making success, it has been added to the Solactive Lithium Index, which tracks the performance of the 25 largest listed companies whose main business operations are exploration, mining and/or investing in Lithium. The Company has also completed an international investor roadshow organized by its bankers for the purposes of the recently-announced financing. Following subsequent discussion with Orocobre, the Company has begun formulating plans for a fully-permitted five hole drill program at the Cauchari project, in Argentina, that could begin as early as February 2017. Cauchari hosts an inferred resource of 470,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE)(i) and 1.62 million tonnes of potash (KCL)(i) from the combined northern and southern resource (from 230 million cubic metres of brine at approx. 380 mg/l Li and 3,700 mg/l K and a large exploration target of 5.6mt to 0.25Mt of LCE and 19mt to 0.9 of KCL(1). Cauchari, in which the Company can earn a 75% interest, is located just 20 km from Orocobre's flagship Olaroz Lithium Production Facility. David Sidoo, CEO and President, of Advantage Lithium, commented: "We are very pleased to be recognized as one of the top 25 listed companies in the lithium sector. Our recently-announced agreement with one of Argentina's leading lithium producers, Orocobre, and our very successful drilling at Clayton NE in Nevada, has given us a tremendous platform to build on. We are currently in the planning stages of a fully-permitted, five hole drill program at the potential near-term production project at Cauchari that could begin in February 2017 and are excited about our growth prospects for 2017." "We also are planning to drill a further three permitted holes at Clayton NE in Nevada during Q1, 2017, in close proximity to our first three holes, as we continue towards developing a resource." Sidoo added. "We are extremely pleased with our 100% drilling success rate this project, which includes one of the deepest lithium-in-brine boreholes ever drilled in the Clayton Valley region." News Highlights -- Advantage Lithium added to the Solactive Lithium Index, which tracks the top 25 listed companies in the Lithium sector -- An international investor roadshow for the recently-announced financing, organized by the Company's bankers, has been completed -- Following discussion with Orocobre, planning has begun for a fully- permitted, five hole drill program, that could begin February 2017, at the Cauchari project, Argentina -- Further drilling planned at Clayton NE, Nevada, including three permitted holes in close proximity to the first three successful holes, to continue developing a resource AGM Results and Resolution to Approve New Control Person Arising from Orocobre Agreement. At the Company's annual and special meeting of shareholders held December 22nd 2016 Messrs. David Sidoo, Dev Randhawa, Ross McElroy, William Marsh and Callum Grant were elected as directors. The shareholders also passed all other resolutions including a resolution to approve the creation of a new Control Person as defined under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, arising from the agreement with Orocobre Limited ("Orocobre") whereby the Company will acquire certain lithium projects in Argentina through the issuance of common shares of the Company to Orocobre. Following the shareholders meeting the Board appointed the officers and the audit committee was established. Orocobre & Advantage Lithium Deal Highlights -- On November 23, 2016 the company signed an LOI with Orocobre Limited, one of Argentina's leading lithium producers, to acquire interests in a portfolio of six projects in Salta, Jujuy and Catamarca provinces comprising approx. 85,543 hectares -- Acquisition costs very low - on a per hectare basis, under $500/ha. Other companies have paid $700-$2000/ha for ground in Argentina -- Properties located in the Lithium Triangle of northern Argentina and benefit from power, infrastructure in the area -- All six properties acquired are strategically geologically located in the middle of salars -- All properties are 100% ownership except for Cauchari, where AAL can earn 75%. -- Orocobre, as the first mover in the lithium triangle, assembled this project portfolio on some of the most prospective salars in the region -- This transaction represents a true partnership, with Orocobre becoming the largest shareholder in Advantage and taking two seats on the board of directors -- Together, the companies intend to fast track development of Cauchari, while at the same time aggressively testing the potential of the broader portfolio -- Planning underway for a fully-permitted five hole drill program at Cauchari, as early as February, 2017 -- Cauchari benefits from proximity to Olaroz and access to Orocobre's experience in lithium development Further information about the company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com. (1) An exploration target is not a mineral resource. The potential quantity and grade of the exploration target is conceptual in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource in the volume where the Exploration Target is outlined. It is uncertain if further exploration drilling will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource in this volume. 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 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 of 470,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and 1.62 million tonnes of potash (KCL), and a large exploration target of 5.6mt to 0.25mt of LCE and 19mt to 0.9 of KCL. Cauchari is located just 20 km south Orocobre's flagship Olaroz Lithium 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, including 70% in Clayton NE. 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: 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 www.advantagelithium.com NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As a way to inspire the next generation of leaders in the Middle East, the Yale Young Global Scholars Program (YYGS) awarded ten high-achieving and financially deserving high school students from the Middle East a leadership award to attend its 2016 program. These Middle East Student Leadership Awards covered 100% of each student's tuition and all travel expenses to participate in the program, held for two weeks between June and August on the Yale University campus. Even more generous for 2017, YYGS has increased the number of scholarships, now offering 30 students from the Middle East an opportunity to join the program entirely for free. YYGS is an official program of Yale University, which is a leading university in the U.S. For eligibility information, visit globalscholars.yale.edu. Video - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/452031/Yale_Scholars.mp4 YYGS is an academic enrichment and leadership development program that brings exceptional students together from around the world for intensive two-week sessions on the Yale campus. The program fosters intellectual curiosity that inspires both local and global collaboration and aims to empower future world leaders. The program is characterized by the incredible diversity of its student body, and participants are connected by their insatiable curiosity, their outstanding reasoning skills, and most importantly, their desire to impact the world. "I do not have the words to thank everyone who made this journey to Yale from Jordan possible," said a recipient of the 2016 award. "This is the kind of generosity that inspired me to be where I am now, a counselor that helps in a Summer Enrichment Program for government school children. It is aimed at giving the opportunity of good education and focuses on teaching English to the less fortunate. I believe kindness is contagious, and your kindness motivated mine." Participant testimonies reflect the quality of the program, and illustrate the extent to which those students have grown, in the period of only two weeks. In order to be eligible for The Middle East Student Leadership Award, students must attend school in the Middle East region. They must also complete the scholarship portion of the online application. YYGS highly encourages all students, regardless of their ethnic and socioeconomic background, to apply for this life-changing opportunity. The application deadline is January 31, 2017. More information on how to apply, as well as a checklist of application requirements can be found on the program website: globalscholars.yale.edu/. CONTACT: Amy Shah, amy.shah@yale.edu WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Senator Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., signaled Thursday she is likely to remain in the Senate rather than join President-elect Donald Trump's administration. In an interview with local radio station KFGO, Heitkamp said staying in the Senate is 'likely' going to be the outcome. Heitkamp met with Trump earlier this month and was mentioned as a contender for Secretary of Energy or Interior, but the president-elect has subsequently announced other choices for those positions. While Heitkamp reportedly remains in the mix for Agriculture Secretary, Politico said she faces fierce resistance from Trump's rural advisers. 'I'm not saying 'never never,' but I will tell you that I'm very, very honored to serve the people of North Dakota and I hope that no matter what I do, that will always be my first priority,' Heitkamp told KFGO. If Heitkamp were to join the administration, her Senate seat would be filled by North Dakota's Republican Governor, although she is expected to face a tough re-election fight in 2018 even if she remains in the Senate. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- SEMAFO Inc. (TSX: SMF)(OMX: SMF) is pleased to announce the Council of Ministers of the Government of Burkina Faso has approved its mining permit application for the Natougou Gold Project. Receipt of the mining permit enables development of the Natougou Project to proceed on schedule. Construction activities are expected to begin in the coming weeks with the mobilisation of the bulk earthworks team on site. The first gold pour is expected in the second half of 2018. A key component of the Corporation's growth platform, the Natougou Project is located in southeastern Burkina Faso, some 320 kilometers from the capital of Ouagadougou. In February 2016, the Corporation announced a positive feasibility study(1) for Natougou, which confirmed the economic viability of an open-pit, carbon-in-pulp project giving an after-tax IRR of 48% at a gold price of US$1,100 per ounce. Initial capital expenditures are estimated at US$219 million, which includes US$42 million in pre-stripping expenditures and an US$18-million contingency. During the first three years, average annual production at Natougou is estimated at over 226,000 ounces at a total cash cost of US$283 per ounce and an all-in sustaining cost of US$374 per ounce. ( 1 ) For more details, refer to press release of February 25, 2016 or the NI 43-101 technical report for Natougou, which is filed on www.sedar.com and available at www.semafo.com About SEMAFO SEMAFO is a Canadian-based mining company with gold production and exploration activities in West Africa. The Corporation operates the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso, which includes the high-grade satellite deposits of Siou and Fofina,and is developing the advanced gold deposit of Natougou. SEMAFO's strategic focus is to maximize shareholder value by effectively managing its existing assets as well as pursuing organic and strategic growth opportunities. CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and accordingly, actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include words or expressions such as "on schedule", "expected", "coming", "initial", "estimated", "pursuing", "growth", "opportunities" and other similar words or expressions. Factors that could cause future results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include the ability of the Natougou Project to proceed on schedule, the ability to begin construction activities in the coming weeks, the ability to meet the initial capital expenditures budget of US$219 million, the ability to achieve a first gold pour in the second half of 2018, the ability to produce over 226,000 ounces at total cash cost of US$283 per ounce and all-in sustaining cost of US$374 per ounce during the first three years at Natougou, the accuracy of our assumption, the ability to execute on our strategic focus, fluctuation in the price of currencies, gold or operating costs, mining industry risks, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral reserves and resources, delays, political and social stability in Africa (including our ability to maintain or renew licenses and permits) and other risks described in SEMAFO's documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. You can find further information with respect to these and other risks in SEMAFO's 2015 Annual MD&A, as updated in the First, Second and Third Quarter MD&As, and other filings made with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. These documents are also available on our website at www.semafo.com. SEMAFO disclaims any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. The information in this release is subject to the disclosure requirements of SEMAFO under the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was publicly communicated on December 22, 2016 at 3:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. Contacts: Robert LaValliere Vice-President, Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations Cell: +1 (514) 240 2780 Robert.Lavalliere@semafo.com Ruth Hanna Analyst, Investor Relations Ruth.Hanna@semafo.com Tel. local & overseas: +1 (514) 744 4408 North America Toll-Free: 1 (888) 744 4408 www.semafo.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Claren Energy Corp. ("Claren") (TSX VENTURE: CEN)(OTCQX: CNENF) is pleased to announce that it has closed the final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing (see news release November 30, 2016) by issuing a total of 2,512,500 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.08 per Unit for gross proceeds of $201,000 (the "Financing"). In total, Claren has issued 27,559,000 Units for gross proceeds of $2,204,720 under the entire private placement financing. Each Unit is comprised of one common share of Claren and one common share purchase warrant ("Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share at $0.15 per share for a period of two years from the date of the issue. Claren will have the right to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants if, at any time, the average closing price of Claren's common shares is equal to or greater than $0.25 for 10 consecutive trading days. In the event of acceleration, the expiry date will be accelerated to a date that is 30 days after Claren issues a news release announcing that it has elected to exercise this acceleration right. The securities issued under this tranche of the financing will be subject to a hold period expiring on April 23, 2017 pursuant to applicable securities laws and the rules of the TSX Venture Exchange. Proceeds of the financing will be used to carry out Claren's Phase 2 Work Program on the Bobocu License, onshore Romania and for working capital purposes. "We would like to thank Haywood Securities, our existing and new shareholders for their support. We are excited by the progress of our ongoing drilling campaign in Romania, and look forward to releasing results in the near future," stated Henry Aldorf, Claren's Chairman and CEO. The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of Claren's securities in the United States. About Claren Energy Corp. Claren Energy Corp. is an oil and gas company with a right to acquire up to an eighty percent (80%) participating interest in the Bobocu License, Romania. Claren also has a 51.49% working interest in two onshore petroleum exploration licenses ("PELs"), being PEL 112 and PEL 444, including a 1.47% gross overriding royalty interest on the PELs, located on the western flank of the Cooper Eromanga Basin in the State of South Australia, Australia. Its common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "CEN" and on the OTC Markets Platform under the symbol "CNENF". This news release contains forward-looking information relating to Claren's intentions to conduct the drilling programs and other statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking information is subject to important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is currently expected, for example: risks related to oil and gas exploration, development, exploitation, production, marketing and transportation, loss of markets, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, competition from other producers, inability to retain drilling rigs and other services, reliance on key personnel, and insurance risks. Findings by other oil and gas issuers does not necessarily indicate that Claren will be successful in making such findings in Australia and Romania. In making such forward- looking statements, Claren has relied upon certain assumptions relating to geological settings, commodity prices, the stability of markets and currencies and the availability of capital to Claren in order to continue with the seismic and drilling programs. You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While Claren may elect to, Claren is under no obligation and does not undertake to update this information at any particular time, except as required by applicable securities law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Claren Energy Corp. Mark Lawson T: +1 647 775 8552 mark@clarenenergy.com Investor Relations T: +1 604 200 1039 info@clarenenergy.com www.clarenenergy.com CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Founders Advantage Capital Corp. (TSX VENTURE: FCF) (the "Corporation" or "FA Capital") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire a 52% majority interest (the "Transaction") in IMPACT Communications ("IMPACT") for a cash purchase price of $12.0 million, subject to closing adjustments. After completion of the Transaction, the current owner of IMPACT, Keith Kostek and certain of his affiliated entities (the "IMPACT Founders"), will retain a 48% interest in IMPACT and will continue to manage the day-to-day operations. Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions and is expected to close by March 31, 2017. IMPACT, based in Kelowna, British Columbia, manufactures and distributes two-way radio accessories in the land mobile radio industry under the tradename IMPACT Radio Accessories and indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Threat4 Ltd. IMPACT sells through over 1,000 dealers throughout North America, with its products being used in the field by some of the most recognized names in public safety, military, security, retail, and hospitality. Management anticipates IMPACT will have unaudited trailing twelve month EBITDA ("TTM EBITDA") of approximately $4.0 million on the closing date (see Non-IFRS Measures caution herein). More information about IMPACT can be found at www.impactcomms.com. Stephen Reid, Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, commented: "After reviewing over 200 potential investee entities across North America in 2016, we are delighted to find our third acquisition in Kelowna, BC. Keith and his team have built an excellent business based on product dependability and customer service. Given IMPACT's potential for growth through additional customers and exciting new products, along with their diverse and extensive customer list, we feel IMPACT is a perfect fit for our investment model." Keith Kostek, founder of IMPACT, commented: "I am delighted to be partnering with FA Capital, and look forward to working together in the next stage of IMPACT's growth. The FA team truly understands the unique aspects of an owner operated business, and their structure aligns well with my goals as a founder, and the changing needs of the business." The Transaction has been structured to provide the Corporation with 52% of after-tax annual cash distributions up to approximately $2.96 million (the "Annual Threshold") paid by IMPACT to its securityholders, with the IMPACT Founders receiving 48% of annual distributions up to such Annual Threshold. The final Annual Threshold will be determined based on the TTM EBITDA for IMPACT less anticipated annual income tax payments. All cash distributions by IMPACT to its securityholders will be subject to Board approval and may be adjusted from time to time to pursue expansion or capital initiatives or other corporate purposes. To the extent that any cash distributions paid in a year are in excess of the Annual Threshold, the IMPACT Founders will receive 65% of such excess distributions, with the Corporation receiving 35% of such excess distributions. In addition, with respect to any liquidity event, the net proceeds of disposition will be allocated amongst the Corporation and the IMPACT Founders based upon their security holdings and adjusted for certain growth in cash distributions received as at the date of the liquidity event. Following closing of the Transaction, IMPACT will have a combined board of directors consisting of Keith Kostek and two nominees of the Corporation. The Transaction will not be a "significant acquisition" for the Corporation as defined by applicable securities laws. The Corporation intends to fund the Transaction primarily through available borrowings under its existing credit facility, subject to lender approval, and expects to apply for an increase to such facilities to fund any additional amount required. As part of the Transaction, the Corporation has granted the IMPACT Founders the right to sell the Corporation an additional 22% of IMPACT for $5.1 million (the "Put Option"). The IMPACT Founders may elect to exercise the Put Option at any time between September 30, 2017 and March 31, 2018, provided the TTM EBITDA for IMPACT at the Put Option exercise date exceeds the TTM EBITDA for IMPACT as at the closing date for the initial Transaction. The Corporation has 90 days to complete such acquisition if the Put Option is exercised. In the event the Put Option is exercised, the Corporation would hold a 74% interest in IMPACT and the IMPACT Founders would hold a 26% interest. Further, in the event the Put Option is exercised, the Corporation would be entitled to 74% of annual cash distributions up to the Annual Threshold and 65% of annual distributions above the Annual Threshold (with the IMPACT Founders entitled to 26% of annual distributions up to the Annual Threshold and 35% of annual distributions above the Annual Threshold). Toronto-based WCM Capital acted as exclusive corporate finance advisor to IMPACT, arranging the Transaction with the Corporation (for more information visit www.wcmcapital.ca ). About IMPACT Communications IMPACT is a world leader in the design and manufacture of unique radio communication products for mission critical public safety, military, security, retail and hospitality applications. Headquartered in the city of Kelowna, in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, with a distribution center in Wilmington, North Carolina, Impact has grown to be one of the largest aftermarket brands in North America. About Founders Advantage Capital Corp. The Corporation is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange as an Investment Issuer (Tier 1) and employs a long-term investment approach. The Corporation has developed an investment approach to create long-term value for its shareholders and partner entrepreneurs (investees) by pursuing controlling interest acquisitions of cash flow positive, premium middle-market privately-held entities. The Corporation seeks to win mandates by appealing to the segment of the market which is not aligned with traditional private equity control, royalty monetizations or related structures. The Corporation's innovative platform offers disproportionate incentives (contractually) for growth in favour of our partner entrepreneurs. This unique platform is designed to appeal to entrepreneurs who believe in the growth of their businesses and who want the added ability to continue to manage the business with a long-term partner. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "FCF". For further information please refer to the Corporation's website at www.advantagecapital.ca. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Non-IFRS Measures EBITDA, or earnings before interest, income tax, depreciation and amortization, is a non-IFRS item as it does not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. Management uses EBITDA as a performance and valuation measure. EBITDA is not a substitute for, and should be used in conjunction with, IFRS financial measures. Other companies may calculate EBITDA differently and the Corporation cautions that EBITDA as calculated above may not be comparable to EBITDA as calculated by other issuers. Non-IFRS measures should not be considered in isolation or construed as alternatives to their most directly comparable measure calculated in accordance with IFRS, or other measures of financial performance calculated in accordance with IFRS. The Non-IFRS measures are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements in this document constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "will", "expect", "plan", "schedule", "intend", "propose", or similar words suggesting future outcomes or an outlook. Forward-looking information in this document includes, but is not limited to: -- completion of the Transaction on the terms set out herein; -- timing of closing of the Transaction; -- the anticipated TTM EBITDA for IMPACT; -- the Annual Threshold amount at the closing date; -- the Corporation funding the Transaction with available borrowings; -- the Corporation making application to increase its existing credit facility; and -- the return on investment for the Corporation in the event the Annual Threshold is achieved. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made with respect to the following matters, in addition to any other assumptions identified in this document: -- that the future performance of IMPACT will be consistent with past performance; -- that all closing conditions will be satisfied or waived; -- that the Corporation's lender will approve the Transaction; and -- that the parties will be able to successfully negotiate the definite agreements. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as the Corporation can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is based on expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Corporation and described in the forward-looking information. The material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: -- the failure to obtain necessary approvals and consents to complete the Transaction; -- the satisfaction or waiver of all closing conditions; -- the Transaction will not yield the anticipated benefits to the Corporation; and -- the risks and uncertainties applicable to the operation of IMPACT's business generally. The foregoing list of risks is not exhaustive. For more information relating to risks, see the section titled "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's current annual information form. The forward-looking information contained in this document is made as of the date hereof and, except as required by applicable securities law, the Corporation 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. Contacts: Founders Advantage Capital Corp. Stephen Reid Chief Executive Officer 403-540-5411 sreid@advantagecapital.ca Founders Advantage Capital Corp. Darren Prins Chief Financial Officer 403-455-2274 dprins@advantagecapital.ca Founders Advantage Capital Corp. James Bell Chief Operating Officer 403-455-2218 jbell@advantagecapital.ca www.advantagecapital.ca WINNIPEG, MB--(Marketwired - December 22, 2016) - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES 3D Signatures Inc. (TSX VENTURE: DXD) (the "Company" or "3DS") is pleased to announce, further to its news releases on November 17, 2016 and December 16, 2016, that it has issued a total of 215,300 units (the "Units") pursuant to the second tranche (the "Second Tranche") of its previously announced brokered private placement (the "Private Placement"). The Units were sold at a price per Unit of $0.75, for total gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $161,475. Each of the Units were sold pursuant to the partial exercise by the Agents (as defined below) of the over-allotment option. Units sold pursuant to the Second Tranche consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share until December 16, 2018 at an exercise price of $0.92 per Common Share. The Warrants are subject to an acceleration clause (the "Acceleration Clause") that allows the Company to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants in the event that, at any time after June 16, 2017, the closing price of the Company's Common Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") for a period of 20 consecutive trading days exceeds $1.35. Pursuant to the Acceleration Clause, the Company may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to that date that is 30 days following the date on which the Company sends notice to the holders of the Warrants of the new expiry date. The Second Tranche was brokered by a syndicate of agents led by Haywood Securities Inc., and including Canaccord Genuity Corp. and Mackie Research Capital Corporation (together, the "Agents"). In connection with the Second Tranche, the Company paid the Agents an aggregate cash commission of approximately $12,918, equal to eight per cent (8%) of the gross proceeds raised under the Second Tranche. The Company also issued to the Agents 17,224 broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants"), equal to eight per cent (8%) of the Units sold pursuant to the Second Tranche. Each Broker Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.75 until December 16, 2018. The terms of the Private Placement allow for the issuance of an additional tranche of up to a maximum of 597,082 Units, subject to approval by the Exchange and compliance with the time limits prescribed in its policies. The Company anticipates closing this tranche in late December 2016 or early January 2017. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Private Placement, including those proceeds raised pursuant to the Second Tranche, to fund clinical trials and for working capital and general corporate purposes. All securities issued pursuant to the Second Tranche are subject to a four month hold period expiring on April 23, 2017. Including the initial tranche of the Private Placement (the "First Tranche"), as a whole the Private Placement resulted in the issuance by the Company of a total of 5,402,918 Units for total gross proceeds of approximately $4,052,188. In connection with the Private Placement, the Company paid the Agents an aggregate cash commission of approximately $324,175, and issued 432,233 Broker Warrants to the Agents. 3DS is also pleased to announce it has retained Kilmer Lucas Inc. ("Kilmer Lucas") to provide it with Canadian and U.S. investor relations and strategic advisory services. Employing an "outsourced in-house" partnership model, Kilmer Lucas designs and executes customized IR programs for medical device, drug development, cell therapy, diagnostics and healthcare services companies. About Kilmer Lucas Kilmer Lucas is a healthcare-only investor relations and capital markets advisory company. It takes a holistic approach to building a customized IR strategy, that begins with a deep understanding of a company's corporate and financial goals. Kilmer Lucas seeks to leverage its longstanding relationships and strong track record to positively influence investor perceptions, maximize stock valuations and lower the cost of capital needed to fund its clients' growth. Kilmer Lucas also publishes its own popular healthcare investor news blog, BioTuesdays. To-date, BioTuesdays has profiled more than 350 life sciences companies, providing invaluable exposure for innovative technologies and compelling investment stories that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. More information about the firm can be found at www.kilmerlucas.com. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. About 3DS 3DS (TSX VENTURE: DXD) is a personalized medicine company with a proprietary software platform based on the three-dimensional analysis of chromosomal signatures. The technology is well developed and supported by 16 clinical studies on over 1,500 patients on 13 different cancers and Alzheimer's disease. Depending on the desired application, the technology can measure the stage of disease, rate of progression of disease, drug efficacy, and drug toxicity. The technology is designed to predict the course of disease and to personalize treatment for the individual patient. For more information, visit the Company's new website at http://www.3dsignatures.com. Forward-Looking Information This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forwarding looking wording such as "will", "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. In particular, the statements in this news release with respect to the expected use of the proceeds from the Private Placement, the completion of a subsequent tranche of the Private Placement, the technology of the Company and the business of the Company are forward-looking information. Although 3DS believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Risk factors and assumptions that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by forward-looking information include, among other things: the ability to obtain all required approvals; the state of the capital markets; market demand; technological changes that could impact the Company's existing products or the Company's ability to develop and commercialize future products; competition; existing governmental legislation and regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental legislation and regulations; the ability to manage operating expenses, which may adversely affect the Company's financial condition; the Company's ability to successfully maintain and enforce its intellectual property rights and defend third-party claims of infringement of their intellectual property rights; adverse results or unexpected delays in clinical trials; changes in legal, general economic and business conditions; and changes in the regulatory regime. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information, please contact: Hugh Rogers VP Corporate Finance 204-582-0922 investors@3dsignatures.com VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - December 22, 2016) -Almaden Minerals Ltd. ("Almaden" or "the Company") (TSX: AMM) (NYSE MKT: AAU) is pleased to announce further assay results from Almaden's ongoing exploration and development program at the Company's Tuligtic project, Mexico. Results reported today are from drill holes TU-16-477 to 481 drilled on sections 10+525 and 675 East. All holes intersected significant mineralisation and veining inside or immediately outside of the Amended PEA pit. The holes drilled to the north intersected the previously defined subvertical Ixtaca North vein zone as well as the new zones of veining. Highlights from these drillholes include the following intercepts: Hole TU-16-477 SECTION 10+525 EAST Az. 330, Dip -80 4.70 meters @ 3.13 g/t Au and 737.9 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone 3.95 meters @ 3.66 g/t Au and 379.0 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone Hole TU-16-478 SECTION 10+675 EAST Az. 330, Dip -35 10.08 meters @ 1.26 g/t Au and 24.3 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone Hole TU-16-479 SECTION 10+525 EAST Az. 330, Dip -70 8.50 meters @ 2.56 g/t Au and 357.0 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone 30.35 meters @ 1.92 g/t Au and 62.1 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone? 13.60 meters @ 3.62 g/t Au and 83.2 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone? Including 4.00 meters @ 10.24 g/t Au and 215.8 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone? Hole TU-16-480 SECTION 10+675 EAST Az. 330, Dip -27 0.50 meters @ 5.97 g/t Au and 617.0 g/t Ag New Vein Zone? 11.50 meters @ 0.41 g/t Au and 39.5 g/t Ag New Vein Zone? Hole TU-16-481 SECTION 10+525 EAST Az. 330, Dip -30 2.00 meters @ 1.55 g/t Au and 30.4 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone? Including 0.70 meters @ 1.11 g/t Au and 148.0 g/t Ag Ixtaca North Zone? www.moosemmc.com. KP is an international consulting firm and recognized leader in providing engineering and environmental services. KP's expertise has been applied to hundreds of surface and underground mining projects in all stages of development and a broad range of environmental settings. KP provides industry leading services in water and waste management, tailings disposal, heap leach pads, rock mechanics and environmental services, and has been recognized for innovative services that meet high standards of reliability, security and cost effectiveness. About the Ixtaca Drilling Program and the Ixtaca Zone The Ixtaca Zone is a blind discovery made by the Company in 2010 on claims staked by the Company. The deposit is an epithermal gold-silver deposit, mostly hosted by veins in carbonate units and crosscutting dykes ("basement rocks") with a minor component of disseminated mineralisation hosted in overlying volcanic rocks. The Ixtaca deposit is located in a developed part of Mexico in Puebla State, the location of significant manufacturing investments including Volkswagen and Audi plants. The deposit is accessed by paved road and is roughly 20 kilometres from an industrial park with rail service where significant manufacturers such as Kimberly Clarke have facilities. Any potential mining operation at Ixtaca would be located in an area previously logged or cleared with negligible to no current land usage. The Company has access to the entire project area and works closely with local officials and residents. The Company has employed roughly 70 people in its exploration program who live local to the Ixtaca deposit. For example, local employees have made up virtually all the drilling staff and have been trained on the job to operate the drill rigs being used at the project. The Company has implemented a comprehensive science based and objective community relations and education program for employees and all local stakeholders to transparently explain the exploration and development program underway as well as the potential impacts and benefits of any possible future mining operation at Ixtaca. The Company regards the local inhabitants to be major stakeholders in the Ixtaca deposit's future along with the Company's shareholders. Every effort is being made to create an open and clear dialogue with our stakeholders to ensure that any possible development scenarios that could evolve from the anticipated PFS are properly understood and communicated throughout the course of the Company's exploration and development program. To better explain the impacts of a mining operation at Ixtaca the Company has conducted numerous tours for local residents to third party operated mines in Mexico so that interested individuals can form their own opinions of mining based on first-hand experience. The Company invites all interested parties to visit www.almadenminerals.com to find out more about our community development, education and outreach programs. Technical Details of the Ixtaca Drilling Program The Main Ixtaca and Ixtaca North Zones of veining are interpreted to have a north-easterly trend. Holes to date suggest that the Main Ixtaca and Ixtaca North Zones are sub vertical with local variations. This interpretation suggests that true widths range from approximately 35% of intersected widths for a -70 degree hole to 94% of intersected widths for a -20 degree hole. The drilling completed to date has traced mineralisation over 1,000 meters along this northeast trend. The Chemalaco (Northeast Extension) Zone strikes roughly north-south (340 azimuth) and dips at 55 degrees to the west. This interpretation suggests that true widths range from approximately 82% of intersected widths for a -70 degree hole to 99% of intersected widths for a -40 degree hole. The orientations of the new vein zones intersected in the holes reported today are not well understood and true widths cannot be calculated at this time. Mr. Norm Dircks, P.Geo., a qualified person ("QP") under the meaning of NI 43-101, is the QP and project manager of Almaden's Ixtaca program and reviewed the technical information in this news release. The analyses reported were carried out at ALS Chemex Laboratories of North Vancouver using industry standard analytical techniques. For gold, samples are first analysed by fire assay and atomic absorption spectroscopy ("AAS"). Samples that return values greater than 10 g/t gold using this technique are then re-analysed by fire assay but with a gravimetric finish. Silver is first analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectroscopy ("ICP-AES"). Samples that return values greater than 100 g/t silver by ICP-AES are then re analysed by HF-HNO 3 -HCLO 4 digestion with HCL leach and ICP-AES finish. Of these samples those that return silver values greater than 1,500 g/t are further analysed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish. Intervals that returned assays below detection were assigned zero values. Blanks, field duplicates and certified standards were inserted into the sample stream as part of Almaden's quality assurance and control program which complies with National Instrument 43-101 requirements. Cautionary Note concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources This news release uses terms that comply with reporting standards in Canada and certain estimates are made in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes Canadian standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. These standards differ significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and mineral resource information contained herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by United States companies. This news release uses the terms "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" to comply with reporting standards in Canada. We advise United States investors that while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the SEC does not recognize them. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in such categories will ever be converted into mineral reserves under SEC definitions. These terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. Therefore, United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of the "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" or "inferred mineral resources" exist. In accordance with Canadian rules, estimates of "inferred mineral resources" cannot form the basis of pre-feasibility or other economic studies. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of the "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" or "inferred mineral resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. About Almaden Almaden Minerals Ltd. is a well-financed company which owns 100% of the Tuligtic project in Puebla State, Mexico, subject to a 2.0% NSR royalty held by Almadex Minerals Limited. Tuligtic covers the Ixtaca Gold-Silver Deposit, which was discovered by Almaden in 2010. On Behalf of the Board of Directors "Morgan Poliquin" Morgan J. Poliquin, Ph.D., P.Eng. President, CEO and Director Almaden Minerals Ltd. Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) nor the NYSE MKT have reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this news release which has been prepared by management. Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, certain information presented constitutes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, those with respect to potential expansion of mineralization, potential size of mineralized zone, and size and timing of exploration and development programs, estimated project capital and other project costs and the timing of submission and receipt and availability of regulatory approvals involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of Almaden to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks related to international operations and joint ventures, the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, uncertainty in the estimation of mineral resources, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, environmental risks and hazards, increased infrastructure and/or operating costs, labour and employment matters, and government regulation and permitting requirements as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Almaden's Annual Information form and Almaden's latest Form 20-F on file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. Although Almaden has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Almaden disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required pursuant to applicable securities laws. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/12/22/11G125981/Images/IXTACA_Plan_20Dec2016_Draft-e7d29e255c31b23f990ce0cbb077fd82.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/12/22/11G125981/Images/IXTACA_Section_10525_20Dec2016_Draft-b130a64c306d87e9ac580f51f532b719.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/12/22/11G125981/Images/IXTACA_Section_10675_20Dec2016_Draft-2074ad1dd619b3e796d4cc62ad405a69.jpg Contact Information: Almaden Minerals Ltd. Tel. 604.689.7644 Email: info@almadenminerals.com http://www.almadenminerals.com/ TORONTO, ON -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- WireIE, a wholesale network operator specialized in the deployment of MEF-Certified Carrier Ethernet networks to Canada's underserved markets, celebrates a year filled with big growth and marked successes. The WireIE Canadian national footprint now reaches from coast to coast, and the goal of increasing the scope of high availability, secure and reliable networks in underserved markets across Canada allowed WireIE to grow 20%, in partnership with its wholesale carriers, in 2016. Specifically, growth accelerated within the federal government, the oil and gas industry, ehealth, banking and several other industries. "The growth levels we've enjoyed in 2016 are almost unheard of in our industry," says Rob Barlow, WireIE CEO, "I've spoken with many industry executives, and they're consistently surprised when we mention our growth." WireIE grew internationally as well, with 25% of the company growth being driven through the Americas, and new projects in Argentina and the Caribbean increasing presence and global accolades. Others in the industry recognized WireIE's growth as well, as two awards were presented to the WireIE team. The first award came in May at the Global Telecom Business Innovation Awards. "We were thrilled to win this award. It recognized WireIE's innovative solutions for underserved and geographically disperse markets," says CEO, Rob Barlow. Europe was particularly good to WireIE this year, following up with another win in November. "In Paris, we were honoured with the Best North American Project award at Capacity Europe," says Barlow, adding, "It was our privilege to receive both of these awards." Both European events are well known in the industry, with Capacity Europe being one of the most established and well-regarded conferences in the telecom industry, attended by over 2000 executives from 80 countries. Both awards reaffirm WireIE's goal of creating a more connected world and enabling carrier partners to future-proof their networks. With increased presence on the global stage, last month Barlow was invited to speak on two CEO Roundtables in LA. The first entitled "IOT & The Data Center: Talking Cloud, Power and Performance," and then "IOT & Cybersecurity: Risks in the Supply Chain, Privacy and Defense." The Roundtables provided an opportunity for industry leaders to share their predictions for tech and telecom's future and to participate in casual Q&A discussion moderated by industry analysts and journalists. In light of the recent announcement from the CTRC, WireIE is pleased that the Government of Canada recognizes connection to the internet as a basic service. WireIE crossed a new threshold of total circuits that have been flipped on and connected in underserved markets in 2016, growth of which is set to continue expanding rapidly, in support of the Government's mandate in 2017. To learn more about WireIE, visit www.wireie.com. About WireIE WireIE is a Canadian telecommunications carrier, specialized in the deployment of MEF Certified Carrier Ethernet 2.0 networks to underserved markets. WireIE's proven network performance, backed by industry-leading SLAs, has established the carrier as the provider of choice for mission critical network requirements, across all industry verticals including Oil & Gas, Mining, Utilities, Healthcare, Financial, Retail and Public Sector. Unleash the potential with WireIE - visit www.wireie.com and follow us on Twitter @WireIE. For media inquiries, please contact: Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA) +1.866.6953629 Email Contact NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - December 22, 2016) - The Piacente Group, Inc. ("TPG"), a full-service, multinational investor relations consulting firm, today announced the appointment of investor relations veteran Ross Warner as Vice President. Based in TPG's Beijing office, Mr. Warner will be responsible for developing and implementing strategic investor relations programs for U.S.-listed Chinese companies and pre-IPO companies. Mr. Warner has been an active member in China's investor relations community for more than a decade. He has served U.S.-listed Chinese companies in multiple roles across all aspects of strategic investor relations programs. Prior to joining TPG, Mr. Warner served as the Investor Relations Officer of Xueda Education Co., Ltd. and was previously the Vice President of Investor Relations at hiSoft Technology International, Ltd. Brandi Piacente, Founder and President of The Piacente Group, said, "We have been expanding our China team to fulfill the growing needs for our investor relations programs. Over the last 12 years, we have delivered best-in-class investor relations services to China-based companies listed in the U.S., and we are pleased to extend our expertise to the next generation of entrepreneurs looking to navigate the IPO process and beyond. Ross has a proven ability to help Chinese companies optimize investor and analyst relationships, enhance capital markets communications and provide management teams with thoughtful counsel. Since joining TPG in July, Ross has proven to be a valuable addition to our team and further strengthens our capacity to provide superior investor relations services for our growing roster of clients in China." "As a leading provider of strategic investor relations solutions to U.S.-listed Chinese companies, TPG helps its clients maximize their value by expanding their shareholder base and executing customized marketing and communication strategies," said Mr. Warner. "I'm delighted to have joined such a talented team where I can utilize my extensive experience to help create compelling value propositions and increase investor community awareness for TPG's clients." About The Piacente Group TPG is a full-service investor relations and financial communications consulting firm with offices in New York, California, Beijing and Shanghai. Representing a balanced portfolio of U.S.- and China-based companies, TPG develops and implements strategic programs focused on broadening investment community sponsorship through best-practice execution. Value-driven communications, proactive and continuous outreach to Wall Street, targeted media relations and innovative social media methodologies work in concert to market TPG clients' securities before optimal investment audiences. Please visit The Piacente Group at www.tpg-ir.com, Facebook and LinkedIn. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tpgir. Contacts: The Piacente Group, Inc. Alan Wang +1 212-481-2050 alan@tpg-ir.com The Piacente Group, Inc. Jenny Cai +86 (10) 6535 0147 jc@tpg-ir.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- International Millennium Mining Corp. ("IMMC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: IMI)(FRANKFURT: L9J) is pleased to announce that further to its October 7 and December 1, 2016, news releases, the Company has received TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") conditional acceptance and has closed its non-brokered private placement financing of $1,231,250 (the "Offering"). Pursuant to the Offering, the Company has issued 5,405,000 common shares for gross proceeds of $270,250, and is retaining in trust $961,000. The private placement subscription from a foreign entity is being held in trust while Personal Information Form ("PIF") background searches are being completed by the Exchange. Following the satisfactory completion of the background searches and receipt of the Exchange's final acceptance, the remaining 19,220,000 shares will be issued for the proceeds of $961,000 held in trust by the Company. A total of 24,625,000 non-transferable warrants, to purchase 24,625,000 common shares at a price of $0.05 per share if exercised by June 29, 2019, are being issued with the close of offering and upon final acceptance by the Exchange. The shares issued pursuant to the Offering are subject to a four-month hold period expiring April 15, 2017. A cash finder's fee in the amount of $8,250 was paid, and 165,000 broker warrants were issued, to certain finders. Each broker warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company for a period of two years from the date of issuance of the warrants at an exercise price of $0.05 per share. Debt Settlement Closed Further to the Company's news releases of October 7 and December 1, 2016, the Company has issued 502,500 common shares at $0.05 per share to extinguish debt to a company with common officers. The shares are subject to a four-month hold period expiring April 7, 2017. The total issued and outstanding share balance for the Company is now 150,882,476. Royalty Purchase Pursuant to a Sale and Purchase Agreement, which includes an Option to Purchase Royalty Interest (the "Agreement"), announced on February 2, 2016, and the acquisition of one hundred percent (100%) undivided interest in the Nivloc, Nevada Silver Mine Property (the "Transaction"), announced on April 12, 2016, the Company is pleased to report that its wholly-owned subsidiary, International Millennium Mining Inc. ("IMMI"), has completed the acquisition of the two percent (2%) Net Smelter Returns royalty interest in the Nivloc claims (the "Royalty Interest") retained by Silver Reserve Corp., for a sum of US$120,000. International Millennium Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE: IMI) is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of precious metal deposits in the Americas, such as its Nivloc silver-gold project in southwest Nevada. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol: IMI and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol: L9J. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD John A. Versfelt, President and CEO Further information about the Company can be found on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). 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. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, potential mineral recovery processes and other business transactions timing. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Contacts: International Millennium Mining Corp. Mr. John Versfelt President & CEO 604-527-8135 604-527-9126 (FAX) info@immc.ca TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Americas Silver Corporation (TSX: USA)(OTCQX: USAPF) (the "Company") is pleased to report that shareholders have approved a special resolution for an amendment to the Company's articles and authorized a consolidation of the Company's outstanding common shares (the "Share Consolidation"). The resolution was approved by over 95% of votes cast at the meeting. The Share Consolidation is necessary to satisfy one of the outstanding listing requirements for the New York "NYSE MKT" Stock Exchange (the "NYSE MKT" or the "Exchange") of a share price of US$2.00 or greater. Further details are provided in the Company's management information circular dated November 10, 2016 (the "Circular"). Since early in the second quarter of 2016, Americas Silver has been studying the benefits of a listing on the Exchange. A number of the Company's silver-producing peers are either dual-listed on U.S. and Canadian stock exchanges, or solely-listed in the U.S. Such companies are shown to have a greater average daily trading volume, a greater number of U.S. retail investors, a significantly deeper pool of capital, and on average higher valuations, which collectively results in higher trading multiples and share prices when compared to their peers listed solely on a Canadian stock exchange. Completion and timing of a listing on the Exchange remains subject to the Board's discretion and the requirements of the Exchange but is currently targeted for January 2017. The Company will provide further updates in due course. Share Consolidation Ratio and Effect on Outstanding Common Shares and Convertible Securities The Company's Board has selected a Share Consolidation ratio of one post-consolidation common share for each 12 pre-consolidation common shares resulting in approximately 40,000,000 (39,540,409) post-consolidation common shares outstanding. This ratio was selected to allow for a buffer over the required initial share price for the Exchange in light of recent commodity price volatility. The effective date of the Share Consolidation is December 21, 2016 and post-consolidation common shares are expected to commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") on December 28, 2016. Registered Holders Registered holders of common shares were sent letters of transmittal for the Share Consolidation with the Circular. As the Share Consolidation is now effective, all registered shareholders should complete the letter of transmittal along with their existing share certificates surrendered for replacement share certificates representing post-consolidation common shares, to Computershare Investor Services Inc. in accordance with the instructions set forth in the letter of transmittal. Until surrendered, each existing share certificate will be deemed, for all purposes, to represent the number of common shares to which the holder thereof is entitled as a result of the Share Consolidation. Registered shareholders can obtain copies of the letter of transmittal by contacting Computershare Investor Services Inc. or by accessing it electronically under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or at http://www.americassilvercorp.com/s/specialmeeting.asp. Non-Registered Holders Shareholders who hold their shares through their broker or other intermediary and do not have actual share certificates registered in their name will not be required to complete and return a letter of transmittal. Any pre-consolidation common shares owned by such shareholders will automatically be adjusted as a result of the Share Consolidation to reflect the applicable number of post-consolidation common shares owned by them and no further action is required to be taken by such shareholders. Convertible Securities The exercise or conversion price and/or the number of common shares issuable under outstanding convertible securities, including stock options, warrants, rights or any other similar securities of the Company exercisable for, or convertible or exchangeable into, pre-consolidation common shares ("Convertible Securities") that has not been exercised or cancelled prior to the effective date of the implementation of the Share Consolidation will be proportionately adjusted pursuant to the terms thereof on the same exchange ratio described above and each holder of pre-consolidation Convertible Securities will become entitled to receive post-consolidation common shares pursuant to such adjusted terms, where required and subject to TSX approval. About Americas Silver Americas Silver Corporation is a silver mining company focused on growth in precious metals from its existing asset base and execution of targeted accretive acquisitions. Americas owns and operates the Cosala Operations in Sinaloa, Mexico and the Galena Mine Complex in Idaho, USA. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, the Company's expectations intentions, plans, assumptions and beliefs with respect to, among other things, a potential listing on the Exchange, the Cosala Operations and Galena Complex as well as the Company's financing efforts. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "goal", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "may", "assume" and "will" or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions, or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of the Company as of the date such information is provided and is 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 information. This includes the ability to develop and operate the Cosala and Galena properties, risks associated with the mining industry such as economic factors (including future commodity prices, currency fluctuations and energy prices), failure of plant, equipment, processes and transportation services to operate as anticipated, environmental risks (including ground conditions), government regulation, actual results of current exploration activities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, permitting timelines, capital expenditures, reclamation activities, social and political developments and other risks of the mining industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. By its nature, forward-looking information involves numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, and projections of various future events will not occur. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law. Contacts: For more information: Darren Blasutti President and CEO 416-848-9503 VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Eco Oro Minerals Corp. ("Eco Oro" or the "Company") (TSX: EOM) announces that it has been made aware that two shareholders of the Company have filed a petition in the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "Petition") against the Company, each of its directors (other than Kevin O'Halloran), Trexs Investments, LLC ("Trexs") and other parties seeking to, among other things, set aside and cancel the Investment Agreement between the Company and Trexs and the contingent value rights and convertible notes issued by the Company pursuant to that agreement. The Company has not yet been served with the Petition. The Company intends to defend the allegations set out in the Petition vigorously and to issue another press release when there is further information to report. Company Profile Eco Oro Minerals Corp. is a publicly-traded precious metals exploration and development company with a portfolio of projects in Colombia. Eco Oro has been focused on its wholly-owned, multi-million ounce Angostura gold-silver deposit, located in northeastern Colombia. For more information please visit the Company's website at www.eco-oro.com. The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking" within the meaning of Canadian and United States securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Petition and the Company's defense of the allegations in the Petition. Forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "in the event", "if", "believes", "asserts", "position", "intends", "envisages", "assumes", "recommends", "estimates", "approximate", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon the current belief, opinions and expectations of management that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant litigation, business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and other contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, uncertainties related to the Petition, the allegations set out in the Petition and litigation generally, as well as other risk factors set out under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Annual Information Form dated March 11, 2016, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Contacts: Jessica Klein Baretz+Brunelle +1-646-780-8828 jklein@baretzbrunelle.com OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- Department of Justice Canada The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today issued the following statement: "When I was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, I was given a mandate by the Prime Minister that was, and continues to be, ambitious. At that time, I welcomed the opportunity to meet the important goals outlined in my mandate letter. Today, I remain as committed as ever to achieving them. As we approach the end of 2016, I am proud to say that we rose to the challenge, fulfilling many of our commitments and making strong progress on the remaining priorities. The Prime Minister asked me to bring forward a number of important pieces of legislation and to ensure that our work demonstrates the greatest possible commitment to respecting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This year, Parliament passed historic legislation to allow eligible patients who are suffering intolerably, and for whom death has become reasonably foreseeable, to obtain medical assistance in dying. As ambassador of the Charter, I also introduced legislation to promote equality and fair treatment under the law for all Canadians, including a bill to protect individuals from discrimination and hate based on their gender identity or expression and a bill to remove discriminatory Criminal Code provisions surrounding consensual sexual activity. I worked with the Prime Minister to develop a new open and transparent process to filling vacancies at the Supreme Court of Canada with functionally bilingual candidates, which resulted in the appointment of the first Supreme Court Justice from Newfoundland and Labrador, Justice Malcolm Rowe. We also reformed the judicial appointments process for superior courts to ensure merit based appointments, and which will lead to appointments that better reflect the diversity of Canada. I am incredibly proud of what we have done and have committed to doing to renew and transform our relationship with Indigenous peoples. Reconciliation is critical to ensuring we live in a Canada where everyone's potential is realized. I was honoured to be part of Canada's unqualified endorsement of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in May. Now, the Government is undertaking a review of federal laws and policies that impact the rights of Indigenous peoples. I look forward to working with my Cabinet colleagues and in partnership and consultation with First Nations, Inuit, and the Metis Nation to translate the promise of section 35 and the rights set out in the UN Declaration into real benefits for communities. With support from my colleagues on the Cabinet Committee on Litigation Management, we began a comprehensive review of our litigation strategy to ensure the Government's position in court is consistent with the Charter, our commitments, and our values. Concrete examples of this litigation review include adopting a recognition of rights approach to litigation with Indigenous peoples; abandoning appeals in a number of Charter cases; and seeking to work collaboratively with litigants to explore policy and legislative changes. I have also embarked on the long-term, collaborative work of reforming our criminal justice system so that it better serves Canadians. We have held roundtable conversations across the country, where we heard diverse local, provincial, and territorial perspectives on current realities and on ways to improve the justice system. The transformation of the criminal justice system will be a key priority throughout my mandate. Next year promises to be an equally exciting and challenging year as we mark Canada's 150th anniversary, as well as the 35th anniversary of the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which together enshrine the rights and freedoms of all Canadians, including Indigenous peoples. As we prepare for these important milestones, it is time for all Canadians to envision the country Canada should be. I look forward to celebrating and continuing our work to promote respect for the rights and freedoms of all Canadians." Related Products -- Justice Highlights of 2016 Backgrounder Justice Highlights of 2016 Below is a list of key accomplishments for the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in 2016: Legislation Together with the Minister of Health, introduced and supported Parliament's enactment of legislation to allow eligible patients who are suffering intolerably and for whom death has become reasonably foreseeable to obtain medical assistance in dying. Introduced and supported the passage by the House of Commons of Bill C-16 to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act. This Bill is now before the Senate. Introduced legislation (Bill C-32) to amend the Criminal Code to repeal section 159 to remove discriminatory provisions surrounding consensual sexual activity. Introduced legislation to amend the federal victim surcharge provisions in the Criminal Code that unfairly burden the less fortunate. Judicial appointments process The Minister supported the Prime Minister in developing a new open and transparent process to filling vacancies at the Supreme Court of Canada with functionally bilingual candidates. This resulted in the appointment of the first Supreme Court Justice from Newfoundland and Labrador, Justice Malcolm Rowe. Reformed the judicial appointments process for superior courts to ensure merit based appointments through an open, transparent and accountable process that will promote diversity and gender balance in the judiciary and strengthen bilingual capacity. Changes include: -- introducing diversity and unconscious bias training for members of the judicial advisory committees who create the shortlist of judicial applicants, -- restoring the right of judicial members on the Judicial Advisory Committees (JACs) to vote -- re-introducing the "highly recommended" category, -- reconstituting the JACs - through an open and transparent process designed to ensure greater diversity, where members of the public can apply to be one of the Minister's nominees, -- providing for the collection and publishing of statistics and demographic information on both applicants for and appointments to judicial office to measure whether Canada is meeting its diversity goals, -- ensuring the selection process better assesses bilingual capacity, and -- requiring all applicants, including provincial court judges, to undergo the same assessment to ensure fairness in the application process. Judicial Appointments Filled 39 judicial vacancies, bringing the current national vacancy rate to 3.5 percent. Women represented 56 percent of the appointments, which included two members of visible minorities and three Indigenous people. Elevated four judges to courts of appeal. Appointed 22 Deputy Judges in the North. Appointed three Regional Senior Judges in Ontario. Review of Litigation Strategy The litigation review includes adopting a recognition of rights approach to litigation with Indigenous peoples; abandoning appeals in a number of Charter cases; and seeking to work collaboratively with litigants to explore policy and legislative changes. To end appeals and positions not consistent with the Government's commitments and values or the Charter, the Government: -- adopted, where possible, a more conciliatory approach to litigation with Indigenous peoples (ex. Haida, Ignace), -- intervened in Ktunaxa to outline the important interrelationship between freedom of religion and Indigenous rights, -- sought leave to Intervene in Nacho Nyak Dun v. Yukon to outline the government's principles and objectives in respecting the nation-to- nation relationship and reconciliation between governments and indigenous peoples. -- abandoned the appeal in Gariepy, a constitutional challenge to denial of right to an in-person hearing upon suspension of parole, -- abandoned the Niqab appeal (re. wearing of Niqab during citizenship ceremony), and -- abandoned the previous government's appeal of the federal government's obligation to cover refugee health care costs. The Prime Minister also established a Cabinet Committee on Litigation Management to address significant and cross-government policy issues, and ensure litigation instructions reflect the Government's policy direction, mandate and values. This Cabinet Committee will review litigation from many angles, including finance, policy and law, and will be an opportunity for the Minister's colleagues to provide input more broadly. Criminal Justice System Review & Reform: Conducted roundtables in eight of the thirteen provinces and territories to hear local practices and suggestions for improving the system. Announced funding over the next five years to advance victim services and access to justice for victims and their families. Increased funding for legal aid, with an additional $88 million over five years for criminal legal aid to the provinces and criminal and civil legal aid to the territories, with an additional $30 million ongoing after that. Increased funding for the Indigenous Courtwork Program by an additional $4 million per year to assist Indigenous people facing the criminal justice system. Nation-to Nation and Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples UNDRIP: Endorsed without qualification the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and prioritized the implementation of UNDRIP in Canada with the aim of building a true nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous peoples Launched, in collaboration with the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs and the Minister of Status of Women, a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Announced two new investments to increase support for Indigenous victims and survivors of crime and the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women: -- $11.67 million over three years for Family Information Liaison Units (FILUs) to be established within provincial and territorial victim services as "one-stop shops" for families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls seeking information about their loved ones -- $4.5 million over four years, in addition to an existing $1 million per year, to Indigenous organizations to provide community-based, trauma- informed assistance for families of missing or murdered Indigenous women to increase access to trauma or grief counselling, cultural ceremonies, workshops for families or local or regional family gatherings Delivered the Annual Reconciliation Lecture at the Australian National University, the first non-Australian to have done so. The Minister, along with her cabinet colleagues, will undertake a joint effort with Indigenous Peoples, aimed at de-colonializing Canada's laws and policies. Other important accomplishments: Together with the Ministers of Health and Public Safety, launched the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation, with a view to legalizing, strictly regulating, and restricting access to cannabis. On December 1, World AIDS Day, announced an effort to reduce stigma and discrimination against those living with HIV or AIDS by committing to work with the provinces and territories, affected communities and medical professionals to examine the criminal justice system's response to the non-disclosure of HIV status. Contacts: Valerie Gervais Press Secretary Office of the Minister of Justice 613-992-4621 Media Relations Office Department of Justice 613-957-4207 media@justice.gc.ca CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- TransAlta Corporation ("TransAlta" or the "Company") (TSX: TA)(NYSE: TAC) announced today that it has signed a Non-Utility Generator (NUG) Enhanced Dispatch Contract (the "New Contract") with the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (the "IESO") for its Mississauga Cogeneration Facility (the "Facility"). The New Contract will come into effect on January 1, 2017. In conjunction with the execution of the New Contract, TransAlta has agreed to terminate, effective December 31, 2016, the Facility's existing contract (the "Existing Contract") with the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation, which would have otherwise terminated in December 2018. The New Contract provides TransAlta a fixed monthly payment until December 31, 2018, with no delivery obligations and maintains TransAlta's operational flexibility to pursue opportunities for the Facility to meet power market needs in the Northeast, including Ontario. Additionally, the New Contract provides an immediate reduction in the Greenhouse Gas emissions in Ontario, and will reduce power costs for Ontario ratepayers. TransAlta has committed to working with the employees of the Facility during this transition. We expect the accounting for the New Contract and the termination of the Existing Contract will have no impact to 2016 earnings on a comparable basis as the transaction will be recognized in future periods as payments from the IESO are received. About TransAlta Corporation: TransAlta Corporation ("TransAlta") is a power generation and wholesale marketing company focused on creating long-term shareholder value. TransAlta maintains a low-to-moderate risk profile by operating a highly contracted portfolio of assets in Canada, the United States and Australia. TransAlta's focus is to efficiently operate wind, hydro, solar, natural gas and coal facilities in order to provide customers with a reliable, low-cost source of power. For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud contributor to the communities in which it works and lives. TransAlta has been recognized on CDP's Canadian Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), which includes Canada's top 20 leading companies reporting on climate change, and has been selected by Corporate Knights as one of Canada's Top 50 Best Corporate Citizens and is recognized globally for its leadership on sustainability and corporate responsibility standards by FTSE4Good. For more information about TransAlta, visit our web site at transalta.com, or follow us on Twitter @TransAlta. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. More particularly, and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements and information relating to: receipt of fixed monthly payments under the New Contract; the obligations of TransAlta under the New Contract; opportunities for the Facility to meet power market needs in the North East, including Ontario; reduction in the Greenhouse Gas emissions in Ontario and power costs for Ontario ratepayers; and the impact to 2016 earnings on a comparable basis. By their nature, forward-looking information requires us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that predictions and other forward-looking information will not prove to be accurate and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking information as a number of factors could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking information. Some of the factors that could cause such differences include: operational risks involving the Facility; the ability of the Company to satisfy the conditions to the New Contract; increased competition; and market conditions in the North East, including Ontario. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect TransAlta's expectations only as of the date of this news release. TransAlta disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Contacts: Investor Inquiries: TransAlta Corporation Jaeson Jaman Manager, Investor Relations 1-800-387-3598 in Canada and U.S. investor_relations@transalta.com Media Inquiries: TransAlta Corporation Stacey Hatcher Manager, Communications Toll-free media number: 1-855-255-9184 ta_media_relations@transalta.com WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - JetBlue airlines removed an unruly passenger after he verbally berated and jeered at Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President-elect Donald Trump. Ivanka was on a JetBlue flight leaving JFK with her family when a passenger started screaming, 'Your father is ruining the country.' The guy, who had his kid in his arms, continued to scream 'Why is she on our flight? She should be flying private,' according to a TMZ report. While being escorted out of the plane by JetBlue staff, the man screamed, 'You're kicking me off for expressing my opinion?!!' 'The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If the crew determines that a customer is causing conflict on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane, especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of escalation during flight,' the statement read. 'In this instance, our team worked to re-accommodate the party on the next available flight.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Joint approach by industry stakeholders to support new toxicological study on Potassium Sorbate and Sorbic Acid Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE), a global technology and specialty materials company, today announced it has initiated and will lead a Regulatory Consortium formed of Sorbate industry stakeholders and producers. The objective of the Regulatory Consortium is to conduct a toxicological study to generate new and robust scientific data on Potassium Sorbate and Sorbic Acid regarding the safety of the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for human consumption. As part of an ongoing review of food ingredients, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommended in July 2015 a temporary lowering of the ADI level of Sorbic Acid (E 200) and Potassium Sorbate (E 202) due to a lack of available scientific data. Celanese has been in an ongoing and constructive dialogue both with EFSA and the European Commission's Directorate General Health and Food Safety (DG Sante) to contribute to the review. To ensure that scientifically robust data is gathered, Celanese will partner with Wanglong Group Co. Ltd, Nantong Acetic Acid Chemical Co. Ltd, Shandong Kunda Biotechnology Co. Ltd, Jinneng Science Technology Co. Ltd, Daicel Corporation as Members; and Brenntag Holding GmbH, the Chile Prunes Association, the Union of European Beverages Association (UNESDA) and California Dried Plum Board as Associate Members to fund and carry out the Extended One-Generation Reproduction Toxicity Study. The study will be carried out by an independent UK-based laboratory and will last approximately 18 months. A final report will be issued on the study to EFSA for evaluation and DG Sante will be informed after its completion. About Sorbic Acid (E 200) and Potassium Sorbate (E 202) Celanese is a leading producer of Sorbic Acid (E 200) and Potassium Sorbate (E 202), preservatives that can be used in many common food and beverage products. Sorbic Acid (E 200) and Potassium Sorbate (E 202) have been subject to extensive scientific assessment and are considered safe. They are used globally in a wide variety of products and have been contributing to food safety and reduction of food waste for more than 50 years. About Celanese Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Our two complementary business cores, Acetyl Chain and Materials Solutions, use the full breadth of Celanese's global chemistry, technology and business expertise to create value for our customers and the corporation. As we partner with our customers to solve their most critical business needs, we strive to make a positive impact on our communities and the world through The Celanese Foundation. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,000 employees worldwide and had 2015 net sales of $5.7 billion. For more information about Celanese and our product offerings, visit www.celanese.com or our blog at www.celaneseblog.com All registered trademarks are owned by Celanese International Corporation or its affiliates. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005590/en/ Contacts: Celanese Corporation Investor Relations Surabhi Varshney, +1-972-443-3078 surabhi.varshney@celanese.com or Media Relations Global W. Travis Jacobsen, +1-972-443-3750 william.jacobsen@celanese.com or Media Relations Asia (Shanghai) Helen Zhang, +86 21 3861 9279 lan.zhang@celanese.com or Media Relations Europe (Germany) Jens Kurth, +49(0)69 45009 1574 j.kurth@celanese.com Azur Drones, a Boulogne-Billancourt, France-based video surveillance service which leverages drones, closed a 3.5m funding round. Backers were not disclosed. They included a French large industrial family. The company intends to use the funds to expand its reach and make acquisitions. Created in 2012 by Jean Gagneraud, President, Stephane Morelli, Directeur General Operations, Azur Drones is a market leader in civilian drone solutions specializing in data capture and processing, consulting, training and monitoring services. In details, the companys offering includes Azur DronesGuard (videoprotection), Bati Drones, Thermo Drones, TP Drones and Expert Drones. Azur Drones currently has 15 employees. FinSMEs 22/12/2016 Chestnote, an Antwerp, Belgium-based time-defying app, raised 650k in funding. Backers included Nova Reperta Holding, imec.istart and Martin Raeymakers. The company intends to use the funds to grow operations and expand into Europe and globally. Founded in 2015 by Tom Le Clef and Peter Wellens, Chestnote allows users to create a message, choose when and where messages unlock, send to friends and connect to channels. The app is available for free download for iOS and Android. FinSMEs 22/12/2016 PLEASE REMEMBER TO ORDER FROM AMAZON THOUGH FMF.CLICK ON ANY BOOK WE LIST TO GET TO AMAZON, AND THEN ORDER WHATEVER. thanxxx &amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;gt; 2ND EDITION!!! I hope to have some news soon about the 2nd edition of hole in my heart. Sorry for the delay! THANK YOU AND LEGAL NOTICE As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. THANK YOU TO ALL THE READERS WHO REMEMBER TO GO TO AMAZON VIA FIRST MOTHER FORUM. IT MATTERS NOT WHAT YOU PURCHASE. From the New York Times "Lorraine Dusky, a writer who relinquished a daughter as a young single mother in New York State in 1966, supports opening the records. She reported in her 2015 memoir that in the handful of states that offered women the opportunity to remove their names from original birth certificates, only a small fraction of women fewer than 1 percent chose to do so." -- Dont Keep Adopted People in the Dark by Gabrielle Glaser, June 19, 2018 From the New York Times "On FirstMotherForum.com, a blog that discusses issues among women who had given children up for adoption, Lorraine Dusky, one of the sites authors, praised the series (ABC's 10-episode Find My Family): 'Maybe this will be heard by people who think it is unloyal somehow for a person to search out his or her roots, parents, family, when it is a most natural desire of consciousness.' --Two Reality Shows Stir Publicity and Anger"--Dec. 6, 2009. This blog takes cookies. "It shouldn't take a miracle to find people you are related to by blood."--Jenn Gentlesk EMAIL US AT forumfirstmother@gmail.com Oregon court records available Instructions and forms for accessing adoption records are on the Oregon Judicial Department's website. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Material from First Mother Forum may be quoted as long as FMF is credited and with a link to original source here. Over 350 words, contact for permission: forumfirstmother@gmail.com. Swedish music producer Eric Prydz dedicated two of his recent shows in Los Angeles to an avid fan who passed away due to cancer a few days ago. Trance Hub reports that James Lillo, a fan, had requested Prydz last month to perform live in front of him for 'one last time' since Lillo was battling mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell carcinoma, a rare form of terminal cancer. However, before the show could take place, Lillo passed away after a one-year tough battle with the dreaded disease. In his fond memory, Prydz converted his show into a fundraiser and donated the money to Lillo's charity of choice, the Cancer Research Foundation, reports Dancing Astronaut. Bangin Beats quotes him as saying, "His battle and story have affected me deeply. Now more than ever I wish to play this event to raise money for his charity and honor his memory." Lillo received a huge response from his fan base in the City of Stars as he raised over $60,000 from the show. He broke the news on Twitter, expressing gratitude towards the fans: Thanks to all who bought tickets & donated for James. We raised $60K+ for Cancer Research Institute. I think we have all made a difference. pic.twitter.com/GMIFxsMHW3 Eric Prydz (@ericprydz) December 20, 2016 Bangin Beats reports that Prydz also debuted four tracks in the memory of Lillo. His fans named those four IDs after Lillo. James' closest friends also helped Prydz in coming up with the four tracks, in their small capacities. Trance Hub quotes Avery Weisfeld, the high school friend of Lillo, as saying, "It was honestly unbelievable, the best experience of my life. At one point after we met (Eric), we talked for a bit and he took us down to the stage. He started playing, with me and three friends in the booth, grabbed me and gave me the biggest hug and said this is for James'." Weisfeld adds that the show was "exactly as James would have wanted it." Prydz will be making his first appearance in February in India by headlining the fourth edition of electronic dance music (EDM) festival Vh1 Supersonic 2017 in Pune. A Yemeni-American YouTube star from New York, Adam Saleh, called for a boycott of Delta Airlines after charging he was removed from one of its flights on Wednesday for speaking Arabic. Delta said he was asked to leave the London to New York flight on Wednesday morning following an unspecified "disturbance." "We spoke a different language on the plane, and now we're getting kicked out," the 23-year-old prankster, who has more than 2.2 million YouTube followers, said in a video filmed as the incident unfolded, and posted on Twitter. We got kicked out of a @Delta airplane because I spoke Arabic to my mom on the phone and with my friend slim... WTFFFFFFFF please spread pic.twitter.com/P5dQCE0qos Adam Saleh (@omgAdamSaleh) December 21, 2016 Saleh said he had been talking to his mother on the phone when fellow passengers complained, and he was told to leave. "You guys are racists. I spoke a different language and you say you feel uncomfortable! I can't believe my eyes. We spoke a different language and now there are six white people against us bearded men." Several passengers could be seen voicing their support for Saleh, with one calling out the airline staff in protest, but others at the rear of the aircraft seemed to approve, waving him off and saying "Good Bye." After an hours-long delay involving more security checks, Saleh said he was finally able to board a flight to New York with a different airline and would head straight to see his lawyer. Three hours after it was posted, Saleh's video had been retweeted more than 200,000 times, and the hashtag #BoycottDelta which he included in a subsequent tweet was trending on Twitter. It was the latest of several cases in the past year in which passengers have run into trouble on American flights for speaking Arabic or in one case for writing mathematical equations that passengers mistook for Arabic. In a statement on the incident, the airline said it was investigating allegations of discrimination. "Two customers were removed from this flight and later rebooked after a disturbance in the cabin resulted in more than 20 customers expressing their discomfort," it said. "We're conducting a full review to understand what transpired. We are taking allegations of discrimination very seriously; our culture requires treating others with respect." Delta declined to provide further comment when contacted by AFP. Saleh is known for comic YouTube videos, including one showing him purportedly smuggling himself aboard an Australian commercial flight in a suitcase. Many people on social media pointed out how the video posted by Saleh does not show what happened before he was asked to deboard, as well as his record of carrying out pranks while on board airlines. @omgAdamSaleh @AAhronheim @Delta Maybe some context be nice? How do we know this legit? Video doesn't show the 'before'. Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 21, 2016 Don't let this guy fool you. He's twisting the truth for attention. Maybe he forget his other "pranks" on planes @omgAdamSaleh @Delta pic.twitter.com/F38Qk7Z9EK David Lee Orr (@DavidLeeOrr) December 21, 2016 Saleh told The New York Times that the incident was not a stunt. With inputs from agencies The government has a humongous task ahead driving transition into cashless economy as the public is forced to go cashless with inadequate infrastructure and security system in place. The lack of digital preparedness is already threatening to hit the consumption growth, data shows. The data released in a State Bank of India report shows that value per card transaction has declined though the volume of transactions has increased post the surprise demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8 November. India's largest bank has pointed out that the reason for the decline could be the woeful shortage of PoS machines in the country. India has 15.1 lakh such machines, while it would need another 20 lakh to meet the demands of cashless transition, according to the report. Another reason for the fall in transaction value is the general slowdown in spending as customers are holding on to whatever little cash they possess. If this trend continues, it is likely to hit the corporate earnings and in turn economic growth. "Despite Governments move to reduce the cash transactions in the economy, people are standing in queues to withdraw money from banks and ATMs. It is not easy to shift all the people to use digital mode in their day to day transaction, which may be due to a number of reasons like level of education, acceptability of technology, lack of infrastructure etc," the SBI report has said. The comment by the SBI should come as an eye-opener for the government and RBI officials, who have been insisting that enough cash is being dispensed to meet the demand from the customers. Forty-four days have passed after the demonetisation announcement. People are still thronging the ATMs and bank branches to withdraw cash. According to the RBI, from 10 November to 19 December, banks have given away Rs 5,92,613 crore worth notes to the public. The central bank has issued a total of 22.6 billion pieces of notes, of which 20.4 billion belonged to small denominations of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50 and Rs 100. As much as 2.2 billion were higher denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. However, the bank has not yet given the data on how many Rs 500 notes have been dispatched. The value of currency the RBI has released into the system is just about one-third of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore that was in circulation when the move was announced. This wide gap is the reason for the present cash crunch. What is making matters worse is the shortfall of PoS machines in the country. The SBI report notes that over the last 6 years the average withdrawal from an ATM was around Rs 3,000 in a month. The bank calculates that this would mean around Rs 8,000 crore is required per day for smooth functioning of ATMs. "This translates into Rs 3.7 lakh cash requirement per ATM per day to meet the customers requirements. This may be the amount of cash required for the daily transactions, a part of which needs to shift to digital," it notes. However, the immediate transaction value that needs to be shifted from ATM to other digital channels is a whopping Rs 46,000 crore per month, until the limit of Rs 2,500 at ATMs remains imposed, it said. By this calculation, the bank doesn't expect the government to withdraw the limit until January. However, that seems to be a very conservative estimate. Govt needs to step up In order to facilitate such a huge volume of transaction to digital, the government needs to step up. As the report notes, first and foremost a better ecosystem of incentives for the banks to deploy swipe machines has to be put in place. "Simultaneously, the objective of the government should be very quickly bring on-board new merchants, particularly small and marginal traders, grocery shops, etc. on digital platform," the report has noted. As noted earlier, India has just 15.1 lakh PoS machines. In order to shift over to cashless, there is a requirement of 20 lakh more - that is more than double. When will this be met is anybody's guess. Along with it, there is an urgent requirement to invest in IT security systems, which also needs to be incentivised by the government, says the report. This is a big challenge given the country has just been witness to one of the biggest ATM security breaches, in which lakhs of debit cards of various banks were compromised. The banks were then advising the customers to not use ATMs of other banks. Post the demonetisation which happened in a few weeks' time after the debit card scare, this advise, interestingly, suddenly saw a reversal with the government itself asking the public to go to any bank ATM that has cash to withdraw money. Clearly, in passing such an order to banks and customers, the government has just ignored the safety aspect completely. And that too at a time when the technological advance has rendered financial frauds boundary-less. In a survey of 309 top corporate executives in India, consultancy firm Deloitte found 70 percent of the respondents expected frauds to increase in the next two years. And the survey was held well before the demonetisation started - during 1 October to 30 November. Post the demonetisation, which has quickened the pace of transition to cashless, the possibility of frauds must have just increased. "SMEs are struggling to mitigate even well-known frauds such as bribery and corruption. Given the inherent limitations of these organisations, there is need for government intervention to help tackle fraud," said Rohit Mahajan, Deloitte India Head (Forensic - Financial Advisory), after releasing the sruvey resultes on Wednesday. According to him, the government start creating awareness about frauds and security systems among the small firms, which are all the more vulnerable to frauds. The government, however, seems to be busy changing rules on a daily basis and making unsubstantiated claims, ignoring the pain that the customers, banks and companies are going through. It is high time it pulled up its socks and dealt with the emerging situation which seems to be already spinning out of control at least in some pockets. The impact of demonetisation on agriculture is an indirect one. There are two cropping seasons in India. The monsoon crop, which is kharif, was in the midst of harvesting while the winter crop, or rabi, was in the first stages of sowing when the announcement was made. A good monsoon ensured that the kharif crop across all commodities was good, while the moisture retention meant that the rabi crop would follow suit. The demonetisation exercise began on 8 November, which was at the confluence of these two phenomena and had implications for both the activities. The kharif crop requires labour for harvesting and has to be supported by the logistics structures in the form of transportation and storage to the final selling point which is the mandi. As every link in this chain is almost entirely settled in cash, the absence of currency in the system has affected the overall post-harvest activity. Hence, while the harvest has been very good which will get reflected in the production numbers, the products have often been sold at a very low price thus affecting the incomes of farmers which in turn impacts spending power. The RBI did react to the situation once the impact was assessed and gave priority to the supply of cash to the rural areas with the limits being enhanced for these purposes. The problem was hence addressed to an extent. The rabi crop has gotten impacted to begin with due to the non-availability of currency to buy seeds and fertilizers. While the use of kisan cards is fairly satisfactory, a substantial part is still dealt with cash as the kharif income is used for purchase of seed for the second season. Second, the logistics support in rural India has come to a standstill as while the RBI intervention has led to an easier flow of cash to the farmers, the same has not happened for the support services. Transport operators in particular were affected. Third, employing labour for sowing has also been a challenge for crops like wheat, chana and mustard, which are the main rabi crops. This has raised some concern on the future prospects of the crop. The area under cultivation under rabi crops is higher at 519 lakh hectares compared with 490 lakh hectares at the same point last year. For all the three main crops, wheat, oilseeds and pulses, area under cultivation this year so far till 16 December has been higher and would not under normal circumstances provoke concern. However the non-availability of currency for these transactions has raised some apprehension even though the final sowing numbers would be better than last year. In particular wheat prospects have been monitored quite closely as it is expected that with the absence of rains in winter the progress of the crop will be affected. This in turn can affect the final output, which is a problem considering that private estimates have put the output for 2015-16 to be lower than 2014-15 thus leading to decline in stocks. The official numbers put 2015-16 output higher by 7 million tonnes though procurement was 5 million tonnes lower, which is unusual. This is one reason as to why the government has withdrawn the duty on import of wheat so that overall stocks are augmented. The farm sector was to witness a turnaround this year on account of a good monsoon with growth of around 5 percent expected after two years of drought. The story had been progressing according to plan but the distortion caused by demonetisation, which meant the drying up of cash in the rural economy, has cast a cloud over this optimal situation. While overall growth will definitely continue to be high at probably between 4-5 percent which is only marginally lower than expectation, the lower value of the crop due to lower prices for kharif output in case of pulses and horticulture would impact the income of farmers. It may also be pointed out that it was expected that the rural spending contribution to growth would be significant after two years of negative growth. Now, the cash crunch has compounded the problem as it has resulted in lower realisations for farmers as they have received lower prices on account of distress sale at the mandis. The implication is that there will be a hiatus between rural and urban spending and the lag can be one or two quarters. The demonetisation scheme has affected agriculture and linked activities not just in terms of affecting output at the margin, but also lowering potential income as this sector is almost fully cash driven. Until such time that the situation normalises, which will take between 3-6 months before cash is freely available, the farmers would be under stress. This will show not just in consumption demand for industrial goods but also linked activity like transport, packing, labour used in planting and harvesting. There would hence be a multiplier effect on income and consumption. The writer is chief economist, CARE Ratings. Views are personal. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi from ramparts of the Red Fort on 15 August, 2014 was by all measure the most ambitious financial scheme launched post Independence. Goalpost set up by the Prime Minister was simple: bring the entire unbanked population under formal banking net by opening at least one bank account for each household in the country. The initial target of opening 7.5 crore new accounts through regular brick-and-mortar branches was met before the deadline. In January 2015, in less than five months, 11.5 crore accounts were opened under Jan Dhan Yojana. The figures fetched the government Guinness Book of World Records entry for opening the maximum number of bank accounts in the shortest possible time. But along with this motivating figure, serious concerns were also raised over the non-operational or zero balance accounts. Out of the total 11.5 crore accounts opened only 28 percent were operational. At that time Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while speaking on the issue of zero-balance accounts, had said that direct benefit transfer would ensure that non-operational accounts will be made opeartive in coming times. That happened to a great extent. Although several accounts were made operational, the usage of core banking services were not instilled to a major extent among the people at large. As of now under the scheme 25.98 crore accounts were opened till 14 December. According to official statistics 100 percent household coverage in majority of the states have been achieved. Now consider this: According to an official data 23.22 percent of the accounts are still having zero balance. The problem with these large number of zero-balance accounts was mainly due to lack of constructive communication among bankers and its new clients. As stated by the vision document of the PMJDY the plan envisaged universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension facility. In addition, the beneficiaries would get RuPay Debit card having inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh. Another additional feature in the scheme was Rs 5,000 overdraft facility for Aadhar-linked accounts. The reason for the persisting existence of the zero-balance accounts is simple: people still lacked banking habits and the government and bankers to a greater extent stressed on additional benefits PMJDY provided in the form of accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5,000 overdraft facility. Talking to host of beneficiaries it became evident that in most of the cases they opened the bank account with an intention of getting additional benefits. Benefits being part of the formal banking structure was hardly a motivation in most of the cases. And to the greater extent it was in the manner in which bankers choose to motivate people for opening the bank accounts. In the post-demonetisation period the same lack of communication and miscommunication is creating confusion among people. And it is being accentuated by the repeated change in rules regarding deposit and withdrawal of the demonetised currency notes. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a circular on 19 December said in the remaining days of this month, one can make deposits in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in excess of Rs 5,000 only once per account and if anybody wants to deposit cash in the banned currency in excess of that amount, he will have to explain in the presence of at least two officers on why didn't he do it earlier. Even if the deposits are made in small amounts multiple times, and add up to the magic number of Rs 5,000, the person stands exposed to questions. A day after the RBI circular, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clarified that no questions will be asked if any amount of old currency is deposited in one go, but repeated deposits may provoke queries. The Business Standard report quoted Jaitley saying, If they go and deposit with bank any amount of currency no questions are going to be asked to them and therefore the 5,000 rupee limit does not apply to them if they go and deposit it once. But if they are going to go everyday and deposit some currency, same person, that gives rise to suspicion that where is he acquiring this currency from. In that event a person may have something to worry about. Therefore everyone is advised whatever old currency you have please go and deposit it now. In spite of this clarification in many places banks are refusing to accept any amount exceeding Rs 5000. A report published in Business Line states, Consumers across the country were complaining that banks were refusing to take deposits even after giving detailed explanations. The new rules say that banks should accept the demonetised notes in excess of 5,000 only once and that too after the depositor has been questioned by two officials Since the demonetisation banks across the country are defying the orders issued by the RBI. In many smaller towns and cities, banks were seen categorically rejecting the cheques even with the permissible Rs 24,000 withdrawal amount. Arbitrary rationing was a common place in banks. The exception that Rs 2.5 lakh could be withdrawn by the families organising a wedding, was in many cases not honoured by the banks. While the launch and successful meeting of set targets under PMJDY was commendable, mistaking it for a resilient and robust banking system was a fallacy that lays exposed in the current demonetisation process. In PMJDY the opening of crore accounts was made possible because largely people saw it as a dole out, where they did not have to incur any expenses. The fact that business correspondents (BC) and bank branches through camps and awareness drive reached out to people in large number that helped PMJDY achieve its target. But then the lack of communication between the bankers and their new found clients rendered the entire exercise futile to a greater extent as majority of the people were not using their accounts as reflected in the large number of zero-balance accounts. For any financial decision to succeed it is required that people understand its intent and its procedural implementation. In the current demonetisation drive while the intent is clear to any objective observer, it is its implementation that is creating confusion which in turn is getting accentuated due to lack of communication between bankers and its clients. Communicating in clear terms is the only way that post-demonetisation confusion can be tackled. Any miscommunication fails the very purpose of the most well-intentioned move as implementation of PMJDY proves. There seems to be no end in sight to the woes of private sector Axis Bank. According to a report in India Today, the bank's Ahmedabad branch has now been raided and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has put transactions worth Rs 89 crore under scanner. The raid was conducted at Mayamnagar branch of the bank and the ED scrutinised 19 accounts, the report said. According to I-T officials quoted in the report, these accounts, which allegedly have lax KYC compliance, saw Rs 89 crore worth of investment after the demonetisation announcement, and the amount was later transferred to beneficiary accounts. Four bank officials are also under the scanner, said the report. The bank had been in the news in the last few days after authorities found certain branches had opened fake accounts to help tax cheats to launder their ill-gotten wealth. The ED has already registered a money laundering case in the alleged forging of a customer's identity to conduct huge illegal transactions in the branch of Noida for conversion of black money into white post demonetisation. The individual, identified as N Paswan, in his complaint filed with the police has claimed that his identity has been forged and a current and a savings account was opened in his name in the said branch which was allegedly used to launder crores of rupees post demonetisation. The bank branch, in sector 51 of Noida, is also under scanner of the income tax department owing to alleged dubious transactions using shell companies. In the Noida case, the ED probe involves a laundering of Rs 60 crore. The officials of the agency had told PTI that they are probing more than two dozen accounts in the bank there which could have been used to perpetrate the crime of money laundering. The bank, according to a PTI report, had suspended 24 employees and 50 accounts after the I-T raids unearthed such illegal activities. "We are embarrassed that this has happened, but these are isolated incidents given that we have more than 3,000 branches and 50,000 employees.We have had many of our customers writing to us that the bank has done a great job and, therefore, it is disappointing that a handful of people have let us down," MD and CEO Shikha Sharma had told The Economic Times in an earlier interview. Intensifying its search to unearth black money post the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the enforcement directorate has arrested Kolkata-based businessman Paras M Lodha in connection with the alleged conversion of over Rs 25 crore in old currency to new notes. The agency arrested him in connection with conversion of more than Rs 25 crore of old notes to new notes in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases. While the Reddy case pertains to Chennai where the Income Tax department has made the biggest detection of unaccounted income of over Rs 142 crore, the Delhi Police and the I-T department seized Rs 13.5 crore from a law firm belonging to lawyer Rohit Tandon. So, exactly who is Parasmal Lodha? Here's a short profile of this Kolkata-based businessman. Lodha is a controversial Kolkata-based real estate developer, who also has interests in mining, finance, consultancy and restaurant firms. Lodha gained prominence after his aggressive takeover of Peerless General Finance and Investment Company Ltd, then India's largest non-banking financial institution, in 1991, The Indian Express report said. He is also alleged to have alleged links with dreaded fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. It was said that Dawood had asked Lodha to threaten Peerless Chairman and Managing Director P C Sen to sell his majority stake in the firm to Lodha, the IE report said. Being a real estate developer, Lodha has gained nicknames such as 'Extra floors Lodha' or 'Fiddler on the roof' for adding extra floors to an existing property. In 2010, Lodha's name emerged in the Kolkata's Stephen Court fire case in which 43 people had died. He was at large during the investigations, although he had denied playing any role in securing permission to build three additional floors illegally to the existing five of the building. Besides this, Lodha is currently the director of seven firms, which also include Peerless General Finance, and is registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Recently, Lodha's daughter Pallavi Lodha got married in a high-profile wedding with Rahul Jain, son of JK Jain, chairman & managing director of Fiem Group, an auto ancillary company with plants in India and abroad. The wedding was attended by several politicians. According to the Economic Times report, Dr Jain presented his daughter-in-law with a Rolls-Royce Ghost on their engagement day. With PTI inputs The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been on the receiving end of a lot of jokes and jibes after its numerous flip-flops on the demonetisation issue specifically the issue of depositing money over Rs 5,000. Perhaps it was deserved and perhaps it was undeserved. But what do we know? In fact, here at FP Special Forces headquarters, the closest we ever came to so much as a rudimentary understanding of economics was in 2010. A highly distinguished member of our Refreshments and Beverages Imbibers unit was in college back then. Yes, your curiosity about the Refreshments and Beverages Imbibers is palpable, and an explanation shall follow this little anecdote. Now, where were we? Ah yes, college. And it was there that on the first day, our highly distinguished member lost her way through the labyrinthine network of corridors in her equally distinguished college. As it turned out considering we've got a lot of ground to cover, we'll cut to the chase and spare you her anguish she found her way to the wrong lecture theatre and found herself sitting in on an Economics lecture. A lecture from which she, it must be noted, quickly fled because the suave young man sitting next to her, turned to her with a polite "Hai, dear". So, what is the Refreshments and Beverage Imbibers unit? While an entire 'all you need to know' or '10 things' piece about this squad could easily be wheeled out, the following will suffice: This crack team comprises connoisseurs of eats and drinks, whose only job is to select and ration out refreshments for the FP Special Forces team, while taking into account a variety of conditions like levels of hunger, exhaustion, laziness, frustration (when only a strong drink will do) and of course, climatic upheaval. But every so often, members of the Refreshments and Beverage Imbibers unit tend to get confused, disoriented and caught in two minds (most likely the result of imbibing too much of the liquid rations they're meant to ration) and take strange decisions, only to overturn them minutes later. A case in point was when the convenor of the Refreshments and Beverage Imbibers unit ordered hot coffee for all on a grotesquely sunny day, only to suddenly decide that tomato soup was a better idea. Just as the members of the FP Special Forces had begun to sip from their respective mugs, the convenor decided that slices of raw pumpkin were actually what they should be consuming. It went on and on like this for a while. Not that this has anything to do with the considerably more professionally-run RBI, mind you. But back to the matter at hand: What do we know about demonetisation, particularly the constantly changing conditions around depositing old notes in banks? Very little. Laughably little, in fact. And so we did what any accomplished journalists would and began a quest to seek out the answers. We planned on meeting RBI governor Urijit Patel to get the skinny on this whole thing. We planned to call on Dr Manmohan Singh to understand the situation. We even planned to organise a roundtable with Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, his predecessor P Chidambaram and economist extraordinaire Amartya Sen, with a view to broadcasting it on Facebook Live. Unfortunately, none of that came to fruition because we got sidetracked and sought our answers elsewhere: From the Toronto Zoo, to be precise. And from Da Mao the panda, to be even more precise. This happy fella was minding his own business, enjoying the snow and trying to work out how to deposit some money. Then this happened: This is the point at which our interest was piqued and out came the notepads and viciously-chewed ballpoint pens. It was soon after this plea that Da Mao discovered to his horror that if he wasn't a KYC-compliant customer, he would only be able to deposit an amount not exceeding Rs 50,000. Further, he would be questioned by two officials who would seek to know why the customer hasn't deposited the money yet. And that's when poor Da Mao was told that his black money was a problem and he'd only be allowed to deposit Rs 5,000. The beleaguered panda was distraught. It couldn't get much worse, he thought. But that's the problem with thinking like that, because things always find a way to go even more wrong. Frosty McMoney, as the snowman is known to his friends, dropped a bombshell on Da Mao: Now, he'd only be able to deposit money if he came into the bank wearing a hat. The panda should probably have maintained his composure, because very soon, the demands changed again: He could only deposit money if the hat was purple in colour. That was as much as Da Mao could take, because he simply could not take any more. It all got pretty hairy after that point, so we had to turn off the cameras and put away the notepads, but when Da Mao had calmed down, he received an epiphany. We're all relieved he's at peace now, particularly because he'd probably be apoplectic to learn that in the time it took him to chance upon his brainwave, the rules had changed again: The hat needs to be cyan now. By Tim Hepher | PARIS PARIS Airbus signed a firm contract on Thursday for the sale of 100 aircraft to Iran Air, as Tehran and Western companies race to re-open trade almost a year after sanctions against Iran were lifted.Airbus said the contract, which Iran flagged earlier this week, covered 46 Airbus A320 planes, 38 A330 planes and 16 A350 XWB aircraft, with deliveries due to begin in early 2017. The head of Iran Air was quoted on Sunday as saying the value of the contract would not be more than $10 billion. The deal, part of plans to renew the airline's decaying fleet, comes against a backdrop of criticism by conservatives in Washington and Tehran of last year's international agreement to allow such business after decades of sanctions.Airbus said the deal was subject to U.S. government Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) export licences, which were granted in September and November 2016. Sanctions were lifted in January but were followed by months of regulatory delays, and Iran has only just finalised a deal to buy 80 jets from Airbus' U.S. rival Boeing."This is a landmark agreement not only because it paves the way for Iran Air's fleet renewal," said Fabrice Bregier, Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our overall accord includes pilot training, airport operations and air traffic management so this agreement is also a significant first step in the overall modernisation of Iran's commercial aviation sector," added Bregier.The timetable suggests the first Airbus A321 could arrive before the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has opposed the deal to lift most sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities, and well ahead of Iranian presidential elections in May next year.That could provide a boost to the government of President Hassan Rouhani and allow Airbus to find a home for some jets abandoned or deferred by other customers due to economic problems in South America and elsewhere, analysts say. Airbus shares were down 0.8 percent in mid-session trading, with the stock up by around 1 percent since the start of 2016.In October, Airbus Group posted lower than expected third-quarter profits, although the company broadly maintained its full-year financial forecasts. (Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Maya Nikolaeva and Mark Potter) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Tom Arnold and Stanley Carvalho | DUBAI DUBAI Commerzbank has told customers in the Gulf it will no longer process their transactions in euros, four Gulf banking sources say, joining other big banks that cut such services after being fined for dealings with Iran.Major U.S. and European peers have been tightening risk controls in the region after U.S. regulators imposed billions of dollars of penalties on banks in recent years over lapses relating to money laundering and terror financing. The Gulf, as a close neighbour of Iran and Syria which are subject to U.S. sanctions, has come under close scrutiny from regulators at the same time as an oil price slump has made doing business in the region less profitable.While sanctions against Iran eased at the start of this year under a global nuclear deal, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has warned he would scrap the agreement, adding to banks' worries about the region.Commerzbank, which is partly owned by the German government, told clients in the region in recent weeks that it would no longer clear euro deals from Jan. 1 2017, say sources, citing concerns about "compliance".A spokesman for the bank said: "In individual countries, we ceased to offer certain transaction banking services."One of the bankers said he believed the German bank might allow exceptions for certain large low-risk clients.Commerzbank had been in the crosshairs of U.S. authorities. In March 2015, it agreed to pay $1.45 billion after a probe of its dealings with Iran and other sanctioned countries as well as a separate investigation into money laundering controls. It is one of several banks including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co, BNP Paribas and HSBC which have been fined in recent years by U.S. regulators, partly as a result of business in the Middle East. CONFIDENCE CRISIS The trend has left some Gulf banks and exchange houses struggling to get U.S. dollars and euros, the top two world currencies."Correspondent banks have been facing a confidence crisis when it comes to banks in the Middle East," says Samer Tamimi, chief executive of UAE-based United Arab Bank (UAB)."We used to use around 12 banks for clearing euros and now only 1 to 2 banks," said one of the sources, a senior Gulf banker, speaking on condition of anonymity.Clearing, which involves converting payments into dollars or euros, is central to trade. Commerzbank's move is significant because of its long-established presence in the region. Bankers said it is a key player in the financing of trade flowing between the European Union (EU) and the Gulf Cooperation Council, the EU's fifth largest trading partner with 155.5 billion euros ($162 billion) of goods traded in 2015. In the Gulf, very few banks are able to settle transactions in dollars directly. Lawyers warn that the challenge could harden in coming months because of the U.S. Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which makes it easier to pursue civil claims against a foreign state for acts of terrorism."Middle Eastern banks should expect increasingly close monitoring and scrutiny of their dollar clearing transactions," said Alex Lakatos, a partner in the Washington DC office of Mayer Brown.At the end of 2013, JPMorgan Chase & Co cut its correspondent banking relationship with 500 foreign lenders including Al Rajhi, Saudi Arabia's second largest bank, according to three people familiar with the matter. An Al Rajhi spokesman said: "The bank has not at any point been found guilty of any wrongdoing with regards to links to terrorism, or fined by any regulatory body for improper conduct."In the last few months, Citigroup and JPMorgan have told its correspondent banks in the region to stop doing business with money exchange houses or lose access to dollar clearing, according to sources. Such moves mean few regional banks are willing to do business with exchange houses, say sources. That leaves some fighting to survive as they struggle to access dollars.Exchange houses allow millions of expatriate workers to send money home. From Saudi Arabia alone, expatriates sent home 157 billion riyals ($42 billion)in 2015."We used to do 100 transactions a day and now that's come down to 30 or 20 as some of our dollar channels have closed," said P.M. Umamaheshwaran, who runs UAE-based money exchange business Aziz Exchange Co. "Our turnover was previously around 2 billion dirhams, but now it's in the millions."($1 = 0.9573 euros)($1 = 3.7507 riyals) (Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt; editing by John O'Donnell/Ruth Pitchford) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By David Gaffen | NEW YORK NEW YORK Oil prices rose in subdued trading on Thursday, supported by strong U.S. economic data and optimism that crude producers would abide by an agreement to limit output.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 settled up 46 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $52.95 a barrel. Brent futures LCOc1 for February delivery settled up 59 cents to $55.05, or 1.1 percent.Trading overall was quiet as desks were winding down for the holidays. Overall volume for front-month crude futures was about 350,000 contracts, less than two-thirds of the total daily average over the last 200 days, according to Thomson Reuters data.New orders for U.S.-made capital goods rose more than expected in November due to strong demand for machinery and primary metals, suggesting some of the oil-related drag on manufacturing was starting to fade. U.S. data also showed the economy grew faster than previously estimated in the third quarter, at the quickest pace in two years."Todays session was a bit of a pre-holiday snoozer, gaining some ground early and then sitting," said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures. "The fact is, the market may have a bit of a wait before we see any production data that gives us a read on OPEC and non-OPEC compliance with the announced production cuts." The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC oil producers reached a deal to cut output by almost 1.8 million bpd from Jan. 1. That has helped boost prices in recent weeks, though it will be some time before it is clear whether countries are sticking to those commitments."The announcements coming from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, and Russia are all encouraging signs that they will abide by the cut and hopefully other countries will follow suit," OPEC member Kuwait's oil minister Essam Abdul Mohsen Al-Marzouq told reporters. However, Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said it hoped to add 270,000 barrels per day (bpd) to national production after it confirmed on Tuesday that pipelines leading from the Sharara and El Feel fields had reopened. NOC said that Sharara output reached 58,000 bpd on Wednesday.U.S. crude stocks posted a surprise build last week, of 2.3 million barrels, compared with an expected decline of 2.5 million barrels, government data showed on Wednesday. (Additional reporting by Amina Ismail; editing by Richard Chang and Chizu Nomiyama) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Marwa Rashad and Andrew Torchia | RIYADH/DUBAI RIYADH/DUBAI Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it had succeeded in cutting a huge state budget deficit caused by low oil prices and would increase government spending in 2017 to support flagging economic growth.The announcement appeared likely to reassure global investors worried about the kingdom's ability to cope with shrunken oil revenues. The riyal came under speculative pressure this year but currency jitters have eased in recent months."The public finances havent improved on this scale since the early 1990s, following the end of the Gulf War," said Jason Tuvey, Middle East economist at London-based Capital Economics.Nevertheless, analysts said Saudi Arabia's outlook remained uncertain. Some parts of the 2017 budget plan - including a big jump in oil income projected next year - were not fully explained, and the economy is likely to face more pain in coming years as Riyadh struggles to eliminate the deficit entirely.The deficit shrank to 297 billion riyals ($79 billion) in 2016 from last year's record gap of 367 billion, which was a mammoth 15 percent of gross domestic product. The original 2016 budget plan had projected a deficit of 326 billion riyals.Riyadh slashed spending on infrastructure and perks for civil servants to get its finances under control. For the first time in years, it kept its spending below its original budget projection in 2016; actual spending was 825 billion riyals compared with a projection of 840 billion.Revenues were slightly higher than expected at 528 billion riyals instead of 514 billion as the government raised cash with steps such as higher municipal and visa fees.These austerity measures sapped consumers' income and deterred private companies from investing - even though their investment is vital to diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil in the long term. Economic growth slowed to 1.4 percent in 2016, far below the average of 4 percent in the past decade, the government said.NEXT YEAR The 2017 budget plan may help growth pick up. Riyadh plans to increase spending to 890 billion riyals from the 840 billion originally projected for 2016; spending on infrastructure is to rise 69 percent. Domestic fuel and electricity prices will rise by unspecified margins later this year as the government reduces its subsidy burden, but to protect the petrochemical industry, gas feedstock prices will not increase before 2019.To offset the impact of austerity on poorer citizens, the government will introduce a system of cash payments to them.At the same time, the government projected higher oil prices and non-oil revenues would help it shrink the deficit further next year to 198 billion riyals or 7.7 percent of GDP.Some doubts continue to overhang Saudi finances, however. The budget projected oil revenues would soar 46 percent to 480 billion riyals next year, even though Saudi Arabia has pledged to cut its output under a deal with OPEC and Brent oil, at $55 a barrel, is only 25 percent above its average price in 2016. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Riyadh had based its budget on a "conservative" scenario for oil prices, but did not reveal a specific price. Higher domestic energy prices will help bolster oil revenues, other officials said.Several economists estimated the budget assumed an average oil price within a range of about $47 to $55 a barrel.Another uncertainty is the effect on the economy of Riyadh's drive to reduce the deficit to zero by 2020. A 5 percent value-added tax is to be introduced in 2018, which could hit consumer spending significantly."It is feasible that the combination of expenditure reduction, new taxes, cutting of waste, privatisation plans etc. could allow Saudi to eliminate the budget deficit by 2020," said Nasser Saidi, president of consultancy Nasser Saidi and Associates in Dubai."However, this would require fiscal adjustment by some 2 or 3 percent (of GDP) per annum, which risks inducing a recession." (Additional reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh, Noah Browning, Tom Arnold and Alexander Cornwell in Dubai; Editing by Richard Balmforth) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called on Thursday for the country to expand its nuclear weapons capabilities until the world "comes to its senses" - a signal he may support costly efforts to modernize the aging U.S. nuclear arsenal.During the next decade, U.S. ballistic missile submarines, bombers, and land-based missiles - the three legs of the nuclear triad - are expected to reach the end of their useful lives.Maintaining and modernizing the arsenal is expected to cost at about $1 trillion dollars over 30 years, according to independent estimates. [nL2N1C21ED]"The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," Trump said in a post on Twitter. Trump, who is at his Florida resort for the Christmas holiday, gave no details about what prompted his tweet. Representatives for his transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Trump, who won election on Nov. 8 and takes office on Jan. 20, campaigned on a platform of building up the U.S. military, but also pledged to cut taxes and control federal spending. Trump met on Wednesday with a dozen Pentagon officials involved with defense acquisition programs, as well as the chief executives of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Boeing Co (BA.N), the country's two largest defense contractors. Trump said he talked with the CEOs about lowering costs for two high-profile programs: Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets and Boeing's replacement 744-8s for the presidential Air Force One plane. Defense stocks were little changed after Trump's tweet, but shares of small uranium miners including Uranium Resources Inc (URRE.O) and Uranium Energy Corp (UEC.A) rose sharply. [nL1N1EH15P] (Reporting by Melissa Fares in Palm Beach, Florida and Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Writing by Susan Heavey and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Karen Freifeld | NEW YORK NEW YORK The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday sued Barclays Plc (BARC.L) for fraud in the sale of mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis.Barclays repeatedly deceived investors about the quality of loans underlying tens of billions of dollars of mortgage securities between 2005 and 2007, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. district court in Brooklyn, New York.Barclays did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Barclays is among a number of European banks that have been under investigation for misconduct in the sale of mortgage securities, which contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are in negotiations over similar claims, sources have told Reuters. Major U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) have already paid tens of billions of dollars to settle with U.S. authorities over their pooling and sale of the securities. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Asif Karadia, a 51-year-old Pakistani national, was denied long-term visa extension by the Bombay High Court on Wednesday. Karadia, whose parents are India, is not a tourist in the country, but has been living in India for the last 49 years. According to Mumbai Mirror, Karadia was born in Karachi, and his mother is a naturalised Indian. Karadia had applied for an Indian passport in 2012, but the authorities rejected the application and asked Karadia to apply for a long term-visa. This was extended twice and it was valid till last December. Karadia, 51, could face deportation after having lived in the country for 49 years as the court said that it would not be able to decide on renewing his visa. Karadia's case has been postponed to 17 January and he has been denied interim relief by the division bench comprising of AS Oka and Anuja Prabhudesai. Abbas Karadia, his father, was quoted by Mumbai Mirror saying: We never thought this would become such a big issue...Asif has never been to Pakistan again and doesnt want citizenship of that country." An Asian Age report claims that the court rejected Karadia's application on grounds that Karadia did not have a Pakistani passport and a visa couldn't be issued without a passport. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the court ordered a probe into how the central government had been issuing Karadia long-term visas for so many years without Karadia possessing neither an Indian not a Pakistani passport. Karadia's father Abbas and his wife Zaibunnisa were born in India. Karadia's mother Zaibunnisa migrated to Pakistan with her family in 1947, therefore becoming a Pakistani national, but almost twenty years after that, she came back to India and married Abbas. Karadia was born in Karachi because his mother went to Pakistan for the delivery and at the time there was no system to issue a passport to the infant. Indian police often flout Supreme Court rules intended to prevent custodial deaths and routinely violate domestic and international laws around arrest and detention, says a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). At least 591 people died in police custody in India between 2010 and 2015, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, of which the authorities reported 97 custody deaths in 2015. The police records list only six as due to physical assault by police; 34 are listed as suicides, 11 as deaths due to illness, nine as natural deaths, and 12 as deaths during hospitalisation or treatment. While investigations were ordered by courts, human rights commissions, or other authorities in some cases, Human Rights Watch is not aware of a single case in which a police official was convicted for a custodial death between 2010 and 2015, the 114-page report, titled 'Bound by Brotherhood: Indias Failure to End Killings in Police Custody' and released on 19 December, states. It is based on interviews of more than 70 witnesses, family members of victims, lawyers, civil society activists, and journalists in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh, and the cities of New Delhi and Mumbai, and investigations into 17 custodial deaths between 2010 and 2015. It found that in each of the 17 cases investigated the police did not follow proper arrest procedures, making the suspect more vulnerable to abuse. Police abuses continue despite changes in laws and guidelines and the promise of police reforms since 1997, the international rights group says. The compliance with the six binding directives to the central and state governments to undertake police reforms as contained in the landmark Supreme Court decision of Prakash Singh versus Union of India remains low. According to government data, in the vast majority of cases investigated 67 of 97 deaths in custody in 2015 the police either failed to produce the suspects before a magistrate within 24 hours as required by law, or the suspects died within a day of being arrested. Supreme Court rules set out in the case of DK Basu versus West Bengal in 1997 and incorporated into the amended Code of Criminal Procedure call for the police to identify themselves clearly when making an arrest; prepare a memo of arrest with the date and time of arrest that is signed by an independent witness and countersigned by the arrested person; and ensure that next of kin are informed of the arrest and the place of detention. However, in practice, these rules have not prevented the worst of custodial abuses, the report argues. Moreover, although the law stipulates an inquiry into every custodial death by a judicial magistrate, these were conducted in only 31 of the 97 custodial deaths reported in 2015. In 26 cases, there was not even an autopsy of the deceased. Last year, police registered cases against fellow police officers in only 33 of the 97 custodial deaths. The Supreme Court has often said that bringing evidence against the police in case of custodial crimes is an uphill task because the police feel bound by their ties of brotherhood the report quotes Satyabrata Pal, a former member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). In some of the cases, inquiries are conducted by an executive magistrate who are part of the executive branch of government like the police and hence more susceptible to pressure instead of a judicial magistrate. The state relies on Section 197 (immunity from prosecution to all public officials for actions they undertake in carrying out their official duties unless the government approves the prosecution) heavily to protect the police officials, lawyer Trideep Pais told HRW. They are on the same side. Activists are concerned about NHRCs April 2010 notification to state governments that in cases of custodial deaths where no foul play was alleged, it was not mandatory for the inquiry to be conducted by a judicial magistrate because victims families are often unable to challenge police accounts of deaths in custody, HRW says. Though the NHRC established in 1993 has set guidelines for arrest and detention it remains beset with problems that limit its capacity to deal with custodial abuses. The investigation division of the NHRC that reviews cases of custodial deaths is composed of serving police officials who do not have additional human rights training and tend to protect their erring colleagues. The 2006 amended Protection of Human Rights Act remains problematic in certain aspects. The amended Act does not include lifting the one-year statute of limitations on NHRC investigations a time limit that has been termed as unrealistic by rights groups given the ignorance of many victims of their rights under the Act and the difficulties that face them in obtaining counsel. The national human rights body is still not authorised to investigate human rights violations by the armed forces and cannot independently make public their findings until the report is placed before Parliament. It is tightly controlled financially by the central government and reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs the same governmental department responsible for internal security, including police and other law and order officials, therefore undermining its independence, among other constraints of the NHRC listed by the HRW. India has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and signed the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment both of which prohibit torture and other ill-treatment by law enforcement authorities under international human rights law. The 2016 report has listed a number of recommendations addressed to the Indian Parliament, state and central government ministries, police, civil society organisations, foreign donors and general public, as listed by the international rights group. The last report on India was published in 2009 by HRW titled Broken System: Dysfunction, Abuse, and Impunity in the Indian Police. Chennai: 2016 ended as a year of grief for people of Tamil Nadu who lost their popular leader J Jayalalithaa, who had only seven months ago led her party to a comprehensive successive second victory in the Assembly polls. Cyclone Vardah hitting hard and a series of protests and sporadic violence on the Cauvery issue stretching over a month were among the other key events that the state witnessed this year. As the ruling AIADMK is trying to find its feet in both party affairs and governance with the passing away of Jayalalithaa, main Opposition DMK is on a wait-and-watch mode though it continues to take up key issues like Cauvery and Jallikattu to keep the political pot boiling. DMK treasurer MK Stalin became the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly for the first time, and his party won 89 seats. Cyclone Vardah hit the state was like deja vu, reminding the sufferings of 2015's heavy rains during the corresponding period. Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release Rs 22,573 crore as cyclone aid. Jayalalithaa swung into action from day one after being sworn in May as chief minister for the sixth time by implementing a slew of measures. Waiver of crop loans for farmers, increase in gold allocation for women beneficiaries and closure of 500 Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) liquor outlets were among the measures aimed at fulfilling her electoral promises. Ever since Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation on 22 September, till her passing away on 5 December, the state remained on tenterhooks with medical bulletins appearing on and off on her health status. Mass prayers in places of worship across Tamil Nadu by AIADMK workers and supporters became a regular feature. The entrance area to Apollo Hospital where she underwent treatment became a makeshift prayer ground and across the state, milk pot prayer processions and tonsuring of head by partymen were often seen. For DMK workers, repeated hospitalisation of its nonagenarian leader Karunanidhi due to illness caused anxiety though he is now on the path of recovery, according to Kauvery Hospital where he is getting treated. With the passing away of Jayalalithaa, AIADMK leaders wanted her aide VK Sasikala to lead the party, with more functionaries voicing their support to her to ascend the seat of governance as chief minister as well. Though Tamil Nadu's legal battle to get Cauvery waters for standing crops continues, the issue witnessed a series of heightened protests and sporadic violence in the state during September and October. Such protests, spanning several weeks, had an adverse impact on the common people especially in the districts bordering Karnataka including Krishnagiri. A bandh supported by farmers outfits and opposition parties was held and a cadre belonging to Nam Thamizhar Katchi died after setting himself ablaze. People walking several kilometres from Hosur (Tamil Nadu) to reach Bengaluru, or to return to the state from Karnataka towns became everyday stories. As violence took a serious turn in September in Karnataka with the torching of 30 buses in Bengaluru of a private operator from Tamil Nadu, the situation turned for worse. Bus services, truck transport got shut completely for weeks together and inter-state borders were even sealed. Cauvery issue also gained much political traction during September and a divide erupted among political parties over it. Though Jayalalithaa had already resumed the legal battle in Supreme Court for Cauvery waters before being admitted to hospital on 22 September, the issue was taken up in a big way by main opposition DMK to target the AIADMK regime. Weeks preceding the November polls, the DMK stepped up pressure on the government to convene a special House session and convene an-all party meeting and held a rally on the issue in Tamil Nadu's hub of Cauvery delta at Thanjavur. Later, it held an "all-party meeting" which drew flak from ruling AIADMK and other parties like BJP. Leading to a further divide among parties on Cauvery issue, while DMK MPs separately called on President Pranab Mukherjee, AIADMK MPs marched to the Prime Minister's Office and submitted a memorandum seeking action. Comparatively, though Opposition parties gave lesser attention to by-polls as only ruling parties have won in such polls in Tamil Nadu in the past decades, DMK took the polls for Thanjavur and Aravakkurichi and the bypoll to Thirupparankundram quite seriously. DMK treasurer Stalin extensively toured all the poll bound areas and taunted the ruling regime with his pet "the government is non-functional" barb. The ruling party won comfortably in all the three constituencies. With Tamil Nadu government deciding to implement the Food Security Act, it was cited by DMK treasurer Stalin as beginning of an "U-turn" by Tamil Nadu government in view of the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa. He said such schemes which were opposed vehemently by Jayalalithaa were now allegedly being given concurrence by the state government after her hospitalisation. He even accused the Centre of "intimidating" the state over such issues. In August, a train heist stunned Tamil Nadu in which Rs 5.78 crore was stolen by breaking open the roof of a parcel van attached to the Salem-Chennai Express. In October, two of the SIMI activists wanted by Tamil Nadu police in connection with the 2014 May train blast case in Chennai (in which a techie was killed) were among the eight killed in an encounter in Bhopal bringing curtains down in the two-year-old case. Arrest of Dawood Suleiman, the kingpin behind the al Qaeda inspired module "Base Movement" responsible for blasts in court complexes in South India and his associates including N Abbas Ali of Madurai was a major breakthrough for the NIA in Tamil Nadu. Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal smells a deep conspiracy in the chargesheet filed against her by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday, alleging irregularities in recruitment in the commission. This comes close on the heels of her proposed raid at the brothels on GB Road to locate girls trafficked in the red light area from across the country. On Thursday, we (DCW) will raid the brothels at GB Road to find out the trafficked girls and the culprits behind this trafficking. We have asked the municipal corporation of Delhi (MCD) to shut the hidden cells in the brothels. This chargesheet is a tool to intimidate us and prevent us from working, Maliwal told Firstpost. Maliwal is no stranger to such charges. Just three months ago (on 20 September), an FIR was filed by the ACB against her on the complaints made by her predecessor former DCW chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh that Maliwal appointed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) volunteers in plum posts without following due procedure. What the latest chargesheet is about The latest chargesheet was filed before the special ACB judge at Tis Hazari Court against Maliwal for the alleged offences under section 13 (criminal misconduct by public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. A chargesheet has been filed in the court in connection with alleged irregularities in the appointment of 85 AAP workers in the DCW. The ACB has taken up the probe on a complaint by former DCW chief, whereby she had claimed that 85 people got jobs 'without requisite credentials'. Why Maliwal smells a conspiracy There is a deep rooted conspiracy behind this chargesheet. Earlier, the ACB filed an FIR against me on the basis of a false charge. Now, the ACB has chargesheeted me because the commission asked the Delhi lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung why he didnt conduct any meetings with us during the past year. Its the first time that the Delhi High Court has given two notices to the L-G; so hes using the ACB as a tool to intimidate and scare us, claimed Maliwal. Maliwals counter-allegations - "Former DCW chief spent Rs 90 lakh in a single day, without showing any work against the spending. We gave a 128-page document of evidence to the ACB, but they didnt even file our complaint, forget an FIR." - "Barkha Shukla Singh, who was then a Congress MLA, dealt with only one case in her eight-year tenure; whereas we have handled nearly 12,000 cases." - "Singh had obliged those whom the then chief minister Sheila Dikshit had referred." - "Despite six rapes committed in Delhi per day, the lieutenant-governor didnt hold any meeting with the DCW." - "The lieutenant-governor appointed IAS officer Dilraj Kaur, secretary (Social Welfare and Women & Child Development) as DCWs member secretary this is unconstitutional, because theres already an officiating member secretary functioning in the commission. Kaur has stopped the salary payments of 90 staffers for the past three months." Maliwals clarification We followed the same procedure in appointing new volunteers, as followed by our predecessor. Nothing wrong has been done. Against the allocated budget of Rs 9 crore, weve spent only Rs 3.5 crore; but three audits have been conducted on us to find out whether there had been any misappropriation. Ive worked with utmost honesty and if charges of corruption even amounting to a single rupee is proved against me, Ill give up my life. What ACB chief says Weve chargesheeted her because she made illegal appointments in the commission. They have favoured AAP workers, ACB chief MK Meena reportedly told the media. The Bofors Scandal that rocked the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1987 brought to light the nefarious presence of middlemen in defence deals. It was a syndicate that brokered big defence deals, flaunted enviable contacts, and wielded immense influence in the corridors of power and bent the rules to its huge benefits. In April 2015, when income tax officials raided a house in a Delhis upscale Greater Kailash area, a new face from this intriguing world of 'defence dealers' came before the world. The man in question was Sanjay Bhandari, whose contact list stunned investigating agencies. According to a Hindustan Times report in 2014, after the BJP came to power, a top secret report of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) listed Bhandari as a close aide of (Robert) Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and mentioned that he was friends with the son of a former senior BJP leader. The same report states, Bhandaris contact list was so impressive that after the I-T raids, he could send word to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through two influential people to explore possibility of immunity in exchange of information. However, his request received a cold response and he went into a shell, deserted by his powerful friends, including cabinet ministers, senior intelligence officials, industrialists, senior judicial functionaries and power brokers. Now a less than two years into the investigation, Bhandari is feared to have fled the country. According to a report published in the New Indian Express, government sources are suspecting that Bhandari might have fled the country, ditching the investigating agencies. The report states: "Government sources suspect Bhandari might have reached London via Nepal, evading a look -out notice issued against him. Bhandari was earlier stopped from boarding a London-bound British Airways flight in June. He was charged under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) by Delhi Police in October after the Income Tax sleuths recovered confidential defence documents during the search operation on his premises in April" Bhandari, who like many of his professional confederates, led a luxurious shadow life and would have been under wraps, notwithstanding the bad timing of his shadow-world being exposed. In an article about Bhandari, Outlook wrote: "Bhandari was barely known to the public even though he led a five-star lifestyle and had a raft of VIP contacts, among them, as enforcement agencies claim, (Vadra), son-in-law of (Sonia). Bhandaris shadow world would have remained hidden were it not for a routine raid by income-tax officials on some Delhi-based hawala operators early this year. While probing a particular dealer, one entry was for Rs 116 crore, on behalf of a Delhi-based company. A probe into this company led them to Bhandari. On 26 April, Bhandaris offices and houses in Delhi were raided" The clout, reach, influence and access to the highest echelons of power that likes of Bhandari wield can be gauged from the fact of his alleged relation with the most powerful political family of the country. "The documents seized showed, had a range of high-level contacts, was in possession of classified documents from the defence ministry and also had properties in the UAE and London, as well as a Panama-based company. For the media, the focus remained largely on his Vadra link," stated the Outlook report. The extent of Bhandari's 'reach' can be assessed by the fact that "documents recovered from Bhandaris premises reveals that he made investment in two properties in Dubai and London using companies registered in tax haven countries". The agencies are likely to question individuals linked with Bhandari. As reported by the New Indian Express, Bhandari was in touch with some top guns of the country including a top officer of the finance ministry, who retired from the service last year. The report goes on to add that the probe that is underway has also put under the scanner ties between Bhandari, a French multinational called the Thales Group and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). While the escape of Bhandari has yet to be authenticated and rests in the realm of 'fear', it could prove to be a major embarrassment for the Centre and investigating agencies if these fears fructify and turn to reality. Given that in March this year, liquor baron Vijay Mallya fled to London causing much criticism to the government, Bhandari's escape can cause more problems for the government. The reason for the concern in the 'feared' fleeing of Bhandari lies the fact that his escape can derail the investigations into the kickback links between politicians, businessmen and the intermediaries running this illegal multi-million-dollar commission syndicate in the countrys defence sector. From Jawaharlal Nehru's historic "At the stroke of midnight" speech on India's independence day in 1947 to Narendra Modi's fiery "India will not bow before terrorism" address, Delhi's Red Fort has always been witness to the greatest moments in Indian history. It has borne the marks of time and watched centuries of change sweep through the country. But 16 years ago, it was on this day that the premises of the majestic fort were shaken up by gunshots, as Lashkar-e-Taiba militants shelled the military shelter inside the fort, killing two soldiers and one civilian. The assault and the conspiracy On a winter evening on 22 December, 2000, LeT militants sneaked into the Red Fort on the pretext of watching the light-and-sound show that retells the tale of the historic structure. According to a report in The Hindu, six militants, with their arms hidden under leather jackets, entered the Red Fort around 7 pm through the Lahore Gate, the main entrance to the historic structure. They headed to watch the show scheduled for 7:30 pm. However, they later sneaked into the military shelters under the cover of darkness and fog. According to another report in The Times of India, around 9 pm, the militants started firing indiscriminately on the guards of seventh battalion of Rajputana Rifles, killing two soldiers and a civilian guard. The militants then escaped through the Fort's rear wall. According to the report, the conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan and funded by top LeT operatives. The report further states that funds were transferred to terrorists through a Delhi-based hawala account operator, who was later nabbed by the Delhi police. The Hindu report states that the prime accused, Ashfaq Ahmed, set up his base in India and opened a computer centre in Gaffur market as a cover for his activities. He then contacted five other terrorists Abu Samal, Abu Sadd, Abu Sakhar, Billal and Haider, and set them up at a rented house in Delhi's Batla House area. The terrorists did a recce of the Red Fort, it being a prominent tourist spot. Ashfaq was later nabbed by the Delhi police based on some notes recovered from behind the Red Fort, according to the report. The militants, the report states, had come to India on the behest of Pakistan's intelligence wing ISI in 2000. The prime accused Ashfaq Ahmed, lodged at Tihar jail since 2000, came to India and married Rehmana Yousuf Farooqui, a girl of Indian origin. Rehmana was also arrested as she was reportedly in full knowledge of Ashfaq's plan and assisted him. Another militant was later killed in an encounter on 26 December. The legal battle The Delhi police, after conducting an enquiry in the matter, finally filed a chargesheet against Ashfaq and 21 others in February 2001. However, the special sessions court hearing the matter framed charges only against 11, including Ashfaq and Rehmana, according to a report in Hindustan Times. The court sentenced Ashfaq to death, while his four accomplices, including his wife, were give seven years in prison. Two more militants convicted in the case were given a life term. Ashfaq later approached the Delhi High Court against the verdict. The high court, however, upheld the lower court's verdict and ruled that life sentences should be awarded to Ashfaq for waging a war against the country and murdering three people. In a rare move, the Supreme Court put Ashfaq's death sentence on hold in April 2014, according to Live Mint. Ashfaq appealed in the apex court that he has already served 13 years in prison, and the death sentence awarded to him would therefore be akin to a double punishment for one crime. He also petitioned that he had been suffering mentally and physically due to the long delays in judicial proceedings. The apex court's move was deemed rare as it had, in August 2011, upheld the sentence awarded by the sessions court and termed the attack on Red Fort as a "brazen and arrogant assault to overawe India". However, the Supreme Court in January 2016, took cognisance of Ashfaq's appeal and has admitted his plea for a hearing. The Constitutional bench led by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, hearing the matter, emphasised the finality of the death sentence and agreed to an open court hearing on why his punishment should be reversed, according to a report in The Indian Express. As of now, Ashfaq is lodged at Tihar, and is awaiting the Supreme Court's order on his fate. Tamil Nadu's chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao was sacked from his post on Thursday following Income Tax Department's raids on his official residence in Chennai, reports said. Rao, who was appointed as the new chief secretary just six months ago in a major reshuffle, has been replaced by Girija Vaidyanathan, an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1981 batch, CNN-News18 said. #FLASH: Girija Vaidyanathan,IAS transferred and posted as Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Government in place of P Rama Mohana Rao pic.twitter.com/A1PDOZ6twf ANI (@ANI_news) December 22, 2016 Apart from taking on the role as chief secretary, Vaidyanathan will also hold full additional charge of vigilance commissioner and commissioner for administrative reforms, The Hindu said. Vaidyanathan was serving as the additional chief secretary and commissioner of land administration in Tamil Nadu, CNN-News18, said. However, according to The Hindu, she is just two and half years away from retirement. On Wednesday, the I-T Department had initiated raids on 13 premises including Rao's official residence in Chennai, his son, Vivek's house in the city, and that of his relatives in Andhra Pradesh. According to reports, the raids started at Rao's Annanagar residence in Chennai for 24 hours, during which the tax officials recovered Rs 30 lakh in new Rs 2,000 notes, five kilogrammes of gold and documents with details of undisclosed assets worth about Rs 5 crore, The Indian Express said. Income Tax officials conducted raids continued for 2nd day today at some locations & residence of #TamilNadu Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao pic.twitter.com/Mu8yazk8N5 All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) December 22, 2016 Reports also said that the raid was conducted based on information received from some road contractors who were detained for questioning based on previous raids. Rao was appointed chief secretary in June this year. Besieged by a concerted Oppositions attempt to corner him on the demonetisation issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his fiercest attack on the Opposition without mincing his words and defined the issue in ethical and emotional binary good versus evil. Quite aware of the reality that Varanasi is a place where religious idioms evoke more response than banal political jargon, Modi dramatically coined a new phrase "kaala mann" (black-hearted) for those opposing demonetisation. In his characteristic style, he said, "The whole exercise has revealed not only black money but the black hearts of a few." Modis "kaala mann" jibe was intended to convey an imagery of the Opposition determined to derail his project of cleansing India of vices like corruption. In what appears to be touch of uncanny demagoguery, Modi sought to demolish the Opposition by choosing his targets that ranged from former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former finance minister P Chidambaram and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi (referring to him through innuendos only). His attack became politically lethal with a combination of religious symbolism and flourish of Hindi idioms largely prevalent in the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh. In Varanasi, the constituency he represents in the Lok Sabha, Modi knows all too well that the mere mention of Lord Shiva evokes an emotive chord. And that was the precise reason he began his speech by waxing eloquent on sacredness and glory of the city considered to be one of the holiest place by Hindus. He invoked the blessings of Lord Shiva to carry his task many a times much to the delight of the audience in the Banaras Hindu Univesrity (BHU). The astute communicator that he is, Modi used the occasion to deftly focus his speech on the his recent political initiatives and effectively neutralised the criticism he has been facing from the Opposition. He carefully picked on Manmohan and explained to the audience that the former prime minister was a critical figure in Indias financial policy-making since 1972. Is he reading his own report card or mine? Modi asked, in order to establish direct connect with the audience while referring to Manmohans criticism of Modis drive at a 'less-cash' economy on account of the high poverty rate in India. He attacked Chidambaram too but reserved his most potent weapon of talking through innuendos for Rahul. He is learning to speak, he said while referring to the belligerence that the Gandhi scion has acquired of late. He frequently referred to Rahul Gandhis threat of triggering "earthquake" after his speech, Modi mockingly said that he had a sigh of relief ever since Rahul had begun speaking. "Now we know what exactly lies in this package that so far mystified us, he said in an apparently dismissive tone about Rahul Gandhi. Modi effectively defined the issue in an emotive binary good versus evil by carefully picking up metaphors. For instance, he compared the Oppositions attack on the government on the demonetisation issue as quite akin to the Pakistani Army providing covering fire to terrorists who sneak into Indian territories. Our army gets engaged with Pakistani army while terrorists get a chance to sneak in, he said. If this was not enough, he picked up another metaphor of a gang of pickpockets who mislead the police to carry out their operations. These metaphors may sound harsh but carry with them explicit meaning in the art of communication. In one stroke, Modi bracketed the Opposition, particularly those opposed to demonestisation, as "the Pakistani Army or a gang of pickpockets". This is bound to raise the hackles of the Opposition. Going by his 30-minute speech, Modi seemed to have deliberately chosen Varanasi to speak his mind on various issues. With the state Assembly election to be held shortly, Varanasi figures as a critical place in the politics of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The prime minister has launched a slew of projects that included a multi-speciality cancer hospital within the BHU to cater to patients of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. The fact that his eloquence got traction in the audience is reflective of Modis ability as an effective political communicator. 15:42 (ist) Rahul Gandhi's address a damp squib Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's speech, similar to his Mehsana address on Wednesday, said nothing new. Rahul quoted the same numbers, the same digits and raised the same points that he has been quoting since 8 November the day Modi government implemented demonetisation. Dubbing demonetisation as fire-bombing on citizens, Rahul on Wednesday had claimed the move by Modi was aimed at snatching money from the poor and giving it to the wealthy. Addressing a rally at Mehsana, Rahul had compared the hardships faced by people due to note ban with a World War-II tactic, called fire-bombing, wherein cities were destroyed through heavy bombing during nights. "During the WW-II, around 300 to 400 fighter planes used to drop large number of bombs on a city during night to destroy it within minutes. I want to tell Modiji he has done similar fire-bombing on India's downtrodden, poor people, farmers, women and middleclass citizens" he said. Rahul did the same thing in Bahraich on Thursday. Now sample this speech, which is again a copy of what the Congress vice-president said in Mehsana. In his Mehsana speech, Rahul alleged the central government "deliberately" stalled cash dispensation from banks and ATMs to keep it in the banks for at least six to seven months "so that banks can write off loans of rich families". According to Rahul, only 6 percent black money is in cash while 94 percent is in the form of real estate, gold, diamonds, or is parked in bank accounts abroad. He also claimed that one per people or 50 rich families, are holding that black money while remaining 99 per cent population are honest. "When people started demanding Rs 15 lakhs as promised during the Lok Sabha polls, Modiji came up with this gimmick, which he termed as surgical strike on corruption and black money. But, instead of targetting 94 percent black money, he targetted remaining 6 percent" said Rahul. "Modiji took his aim on those honest 99 percent, not those 1 percent rich people having that black money. This one per cent had defaulted on loans of Rs 8 lakh crore. Now, Modiji wants to write off those loans of 50 rich families. Modi will not touch them, because these 50 families helped him in becoming PM," he alleged. Netziv (Shemos 34:10) We need to explicate the manner of Divine Providence. There are two types which four. 1) there are two by means of ... My sefer Yad Moshe has been unavailable in seforim stores. However it was recently reprinted and shipped to New York There are two distrubu... Rashbam (Shemos 4:10): It is inconceivable that a prophet who spoke with G d face to face and received the Torah from Him should have a sp... Important!! email - yadmoshe@gmail.com Mumbai: Shiv Sena is facing its biggest political challenge in the form of friendly fire as its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party is increasingly owning the regional outfit's ideological influence Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. As the alliance with Shiv Sena isn't as healthy as before, the BJP in the last 26 months has quietly tried to usurp the monopoly that the regional party holds over the ideology of the 17th century Maratha king. In the Maharashtra Assembly election in 2014, the BJP openly and in fact successfully used the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji for electoral gains. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to lay the foundation of a Chhatrapati Shivaji statue in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, it is evident that the BJP has hijacked the influence of the Maratha king from Shiv Sena right under the nose of its supremo Uddhav Thackeray. The Shiv Sena chief is one of the invitees to the event. The BJP is already indicating that it has fulfilled one of its pre-poll promises made ahead of the last state poll. Ironically, the event which is organised by the Maharashtra government is fast turning out to be a BJP one. A whopping Rs 18 crore has already been spent on the publicity of the event by the state government. The state BJP is leaving no stone unturned to make the event a success with hoardings coming up at important places in all Maharashtra districts. "With campaigns starting in print, TV and social media soon, the cost would be more than Rs 18 crore," said a senior government official on condition of anonymity. BJP state president Raosaheb Danve reportedly gave instruction to all party MLAs and district presidents to let the people in their respective constituencies know that the state government has fulfilled the promise of a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial in the Arabian Sea. Talking to Firstpost, Mumbai BJP president and MLA Aashish Shelar said, "Well known art director Nitin Desai is busy in making the huge set on the theme of Shivaji's life. There will also be a film on Shivaji that would be screened at the BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex) where the Prime Minister will address a rally. Arrangement to accommodate over one lakh people is being done." "Security has been beefed up on the Prime Ministers route with the help of navy and other agencies. People who would be present at the BKC can watch the ceremony live," he said. Chief Minister Fadnavis on Tuesday said the planned statue of the Maratha warrior is the tallest memorial in the world. "I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making it possible. Well-known sculptor Ram Sutar is making the statue," he said. Names of those who would accompany Modi in the hovercraft to the bhoomi pujan venue has also been finalised. Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, Rajya Sabha MP from Kolhapur Sambhaji Raje Bhosle and a priest named Deodhar. In another hovercraft, PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil, Education Minister Vinod Tawde, MSRDC Minister Eknath Shinde, Industry Minister Subhash Desai, MP Arvind Sawant, MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha and MLC Vindayak Mete would travel to the inauguration site, sources told Firstpost. Vinayak Mete, who is the president of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial Samiti said that sand was collected from more than 50 forts and holy water from 50 rivers for the ceremony. The entry to the statue will be from Girgaum Chowpatty. In the next 100 days, there are elections in more than 10 municipal corporations including Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and in over 26 Zilla Parishads. "There is little doubt that the BJP will use the presence of the Prime Minister for maximum political mileage with Modi also scheduled to inaugurate two metro projects and the Sewri-Nhava Sheva Mumbai Trans Harbour Link. The BJP's campaign for the BMC polls would start on Saturday," said political analyst Abhay Deshpande. In a move that has taken everyone by surprise, Najeeb Jung resigned from his position as Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Jung, who replaced Tejendra Khanna as governor in 2013, had an ongoing tussle with the current chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, over jurisdictional powers, since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government came into power in 2015 on the back of a landslide victory. While on one hand Kejriwal and company might celebrate the resignation of someone they clearly couldnt see eye to eye with, there is also a case of considering the new alibi. For all the time that Kejriwal has been in power, he has used Jung as an alibi, or quoted him as the roadblock whose presence was the reason many of his indigenous plans failed to take off or performed poorly. Before becoming governor, Jung served as the 13th Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia. Contrary to his academic background, and calm persona, Jung had been involved in a long running dispute with Kejriwal. Often cited as being Prime Minister Narendra Modis man, Kejriwal regularly accused Jung of interfering in his offices work. The National Capital Territory of Delhi Act (1992) assigns Delhi special status as a Union Territory, the complexities from which had the chief minister and the governor at each others throat for almost the entire tenure that Jung was in office. Though he had 18 months still left to serve, Jungs resignation is set to raise eyebrows. Most questions will be targeted at the chief minister and the AAP, under whose persistent criticism Jung remained doggedly outspoken yet restricted. While any number of theories may be suggested, it has to be said that his tenuous relationship with the elected government for the capital region would be closest to an explanation. Appointed during Sheila Dikshit's regime, Jung was a healthy reputation as an academician, something he claimed is his first love and would love to return to, in his resignation addressed to the Centre. What is interesting is that this sudden step has a Catch-22 implication for the AAP. As Jung leaves, he not only vacates the governors chair, he also vacates what has been a pre-packaged excuse for the AAP's fallibilities. It is one thing to have a quiet bush to beat around, it is something else to have to plant a seed in the desert and hope it grows into something. What is also interesting to consider is the fact that on a day when Kejriwal might celebrate a small victory, Jungs resignation could act against him. In the run-up to the Punjab elections in particular, a governor resigning under pressure or out of protest does not send a positive signal about the Party looking to make inroads into alien political territories. Unlike Kejriwal, who made more noise than sense when he himself resigned from his first stint as the Delhi chief minister within 49 days, Jung went unexpectedly, yet quietly. In doing so he even thanked his nemesis, Kejriwal. It will be crucial how Kejriwal reacts to this development. A calm, respectful and courteous response would be ideal and probably in-line with how Jung has acted. But he could also go the ranting route and take the blame game into its after-life where he could blame Jung for diverting attention from the pressures of demonetisation that the Centre is having to handle. While that is a political tact, and a tempting one, Kejriwal would be well advised to hold on to his horses for this one, and consider the resignation in isolation, rather than the ardous and ugly political battle it has culminated in. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Varanasi on Thursday to lay the foundation stone at the Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre. We thought, why not have a cancer research institute here itself. Why should patients from here have to travel far for cancer treatment: PM PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 22, 2016 His visit came in the wake of scathing allegations against the prime minister levelled by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, and ahead of next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. While he sidestepped the accusations, Modi made a mockery of the Opposition, particularly former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former finance and home minister P Chidambaram and Rahul. However, it was a sombre Modi who began his address at the Banaras Hindu University by paying tribute to the foresight of Chanakya and stating the importance of art and culture in todays world. To save a human from becoming a robot, art and culture is needed, he said. It was around 10 minutes into his speech that the prime minister began to speak about the need for better healthcare in the country and a familiar smile flashed across his face. Switching swiftly from talking about the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan to demonetisation, Modi said, "You must have noticed these days that a major safai abhiyaan (cleanliness initiative) is underway in the country." "When you walk past a pile of garbage, a great stench emanates from it. But you know that once you walk past it, the smell will dissipate. However, it's when the garbage is being removed that the stench is so unbearable, it becomes impossible to walk past there. These days, you know only too well how strongly that stench is being felt," he said to rapturous applause. Alongside praising the resolve of Indian citizens to bear the brunt of all the inconveniences imposed by demonetisation, Modi turned his attention to the Opposition, to even more applause. "I took a lot of things into consideration (before announcing demonetisation), but one thing I wasnt able to factor in something I could never have imagined was that some of the country's politicians and political parties would bravely stand up for the dishonorable and corrupt," he said before drawing a headline-grabbing analogy: Comparing the Opposition's tactics in Parliament to Pakistan's tactics on the border. "When Pakistan wants to send infiltrators, it starts firing on the border. That way our army is kept occupied and they can sneak in. They get cover," explained Modi, "These days in Parliament, you must have seen the arguments. Its now that I understand who is really benefiting from all the disruptions." Training his guns on specific members of the Opposition, he said, "Our former prime minister (Manmohan) said, 'Its the need of the hour to bring change'. There was a time when silver coins were currency, now its paper money. And technology has enabled us to move forward and beyond all that. He (Manmohan) also said that in a country where 50 percent of the population is poor, you can't expect technology to be incorporated across the board. Was that (his allusion to poverty) a report card of his government or mine?" When they say large parts of India did not get access to education, whose report card are they giving: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 22, 2016 "I'm pleased hes providing a report card of his own government," said Modi before switching focus to Chidambaram and calling him out for apparently criticising the work done by his own government. But it was Rahul for whom the prime minister saved his best (or worst, depending on how you see it) remarks. "Yuva neta bhaashan dena seekh rahe hain (the young leader is learning how to give speeches)," mocked Modi, even imitating the Gandhi scion's style of gesturing during his own speeches: "Now that hes learned to speak and started to speak, my joy knows no end," grinned Modi, long having shed his sombre tone, and added, "In 2009, no one know what was in this packet. Now we know. If hed kept silent, thered have been a major earthquake one the country couldnt have recovered from in 10 years. But its good he started speaking, because we know that theres no possibility of an earthquake." With Rahul also in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, it'll be interesting to see what he has to say after the prime minister's latest salvo. The current slugfest between the BJP and the Congress over the Sahara and Birla diaries is a living embodiment of Rahat Indori's couplet: Jhooton ne jhooton se kaha hai, sach bolo (liars are asking liars to speak the truth). Since Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of accepting "Rs 40 crores from Sahara" at a rally in Gujarat's Mehsana, both parties have come up with arguments and allegations that make politics resemble the Ivy League of hypocrisy. Consider Rahul Gandhi's case first. After threatening to expose Modi in Parliament, bring about a quake, he has done a Kejriwal 2.0 by rehashing some of the allegations made by the Delhi chief minister in the state assembly. The papers he is quoting to attack Modi are a compilation of the who's who of Indian politics. Hidden in the Sahara files and the Birla papers are names of politicians from across the political spectrum, including those of Congress leaders, some UPA-era stalwarts and the then Delhi chief minister, now the party's face in Uttar Pradesh. There are some oblique references to the then minister of environment and forests Jayanti Natarajan too in the diaries. Gandhi's selective outrage perfectly qualifies as a case of the pot calling the kettle black. If Rahul Gandhi were really serious about a probe, he could have at least done an encore of his famous act of tearing up the legislation that UPA wanted passed to shield convicted politicians, allow them to contest polls. But, Rahul has performed the sorry spectacle of running with Sheila Dixit and hunting for Modi. The BJP's conceit, deceit and denials are even more shameful. In April, the ruling dispensation had launched a brutal assault on Congress leaders and former PM Manmohan Singh because their names appeared in several conversations between middlemen accused of influencing the AgustaWestland chopper deal. On the basis of the conversations not evidence that mentioned in the proceedings of an Italian court, the party had asked the Gandhis to come clean on the deal. Is the Sahara and Birla diaries case any different? The selective allegations made by both Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi against the prime minister are also based on papers that were seized by Income Tax officials during raids on these groups. The Sahara papers were seized by I-T officials in a raid on the corporate office of its chairman. The documents showed details of proposed and actual payments made allegedly to different people, with details of place and timing. These documents were made part of the probe after following the procedure laid out under the law. In short, they have official and legal sanctity. Similar documents with details of alleged payments were recovered from raids on CEO of the Aditya Birla group in 2013. So, why can't the BJP ask its leaders to do what it advised the Gandhis in the AgustaWestland case: Come clean, face a probe. Or is this a case of BJP being presumed innocence and the Congress being declared guilty without a probe? Remember also the BJP's double-standards in raking up the "J-tax" (alleged kickbacks to Jayanti Natarajan) during the 2014 election campaign based on entries in the Birla diaries and then laughing them off when the charges boomeranged on them. As Indori said: Ghar mein jhooton ki mandi lagi hai, darwaze pe likha hai sach bolo. In this concert of lies and hypocrisy, truth could be drowned, but not hidden. Everyone in India knows that politicians take donations (in unaccounted cash) for contesting elections. Huge chunks of this money come from the corporate sector under various pretexts but is divided up as contributions from individual donors. Any party that claims it fought the 2014 elections with legitimately collected and properly documented donations just knows the art of lying and fudging better than the other. In the hamam of political funding, every party is naked. By pointing fingers at each other, through selective allegations and charges of bribery, the Congress and the BJP are living another Indori couplet: Ungliya sab par na yu uthaya karo, kharch karne se pehle kuch kamaya karo. Though Rahul Gandhi is trying to kick up a storm his only option since he is on verge of political extinction it is unlikely to lead to a concrete result because his intentions are steeped in hypocrisy and subterfuge. It would just lead to some noise, allegations, counter-allegations and then would be forgotten. The BJP, would, of course brazen it out. Like it did when Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje faced allegations of impropriety in the Lalit Modi case. Like it did when it rode the storm on the Vyapam scam and resultant spate of suspicious deaths. Several years ago, when LK Advani's name appeared in the Jain hawala diaries, he quit parliament and returned only after his name was cleared by the Supreme Court. Over the past few decades, laws of morality in politics have undergone a drastic change. Instead of trying to be Ceaser's Wife, politicians now believe in the pragmatic philosophy of claiming innocence-till-proven-guilty. The BJP, once a party that talked of shuchita, pardarshita and asmita in public life, is defined more by pragmatism and opportunism, instead of morality and ideology. So, behold the spectacle of two liars fighting for truth. It is the defining feature of our polity. - : - , 55 Varanasi: Slamming Opposition for stalling Parliament over demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday likened it to the "cover fire" given by Pakistani forces to help terrorists in infiltration and mocked Rahul Gandhi for his "earthquake" remark, saying he has "learnt to speak". While attacking Rahul, he said the "young leader" of Congress does not think before speaking and had unwittingly admitted to the "failure" of his party's reign. On a brief tour of his Lok Sabha constituency, his first since announcing demonetisation on 8 November, Modi asserted that the note ban will expose not only the kala dhan (black money) but also the kale mann (ill-intentioned people). The prime minister, while addressing a function at Benaras Hindu University after launching some developmental projects for the poll-bound UP, said he had never thought that the Opposition parties would "side with the corrupt", a reference to the stalling of Parliament. "Many people say I had not taken account the consequences of this huge step (of demonetisation). In fact, the only thing that I could not take into account was the brazenness with which many political parties and leaders came to the rescue of the corrupt," he said. Charging the Opposition parties, who have been attacking the government over demonetisation, with "brazenly standing in support of the corrupt and the dishonest", Modi said it was like Pakistani forces provide "cover fire" at the border when "terrorists infiltrate into India". "Now I undersatand for whom the entire uproar was. They have a young leader who is just learning to give speeches. Since the time he has learnt to speak, there is no limit to my happiness," he said, mocking at 46-year-old Rahul. "In 2009, you couldn't even tell what is inside this packet and what is not. Now we are finding out," the PM said referring to Rahul without naming him. A day after Rahul accused him of taking money from Sahara and Birla groups when he was Gujarat chief minister, Modi said, "He (Rahul) had been going around threatening that when he speaks, there will be an earthquake. If he hadn't spoken, there could have been an earthquake. It would have been an earthquake that people would have had to deal with for 10 years. "There is no chance of an earthquake now that he has spoken. We can rest assured that there is no danger of the natural calamity in sight." The prime minister took potshots at Rahul for his assertion that payments through cards, online transfers etc. would face hurdles in the country due to low literacy levels, saying, "I hope he does not say that I had indulged in some sort of black magic to make illiterate those who knew how to read and write." "He never thinks before he speaks and he may not have realized that he has admitted the failure of the long reign of his own party," Modi said, adding his detractors have been forced "to admit, even if unwittingly, their failures". Appealing to people to bear the hardships caused by scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, he said a cleanliness campaign has been launched and the "stink" raised during cleaning of garbage which is scattered everywhere is the same that the country is feeling now. He also hit out at former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former finance minister P Chidambaram, saying their argument that promoting cashless economy was futile due to poverty, illiteracy and electricity not reaching villages in the country "exposes" their own report card. Taking a jibe at Manmohan Singh, Modi said poverty is his legacy and though his image is clean, a number of major scams had taken place during his tenure. Commenting on his predecessor's assertion in Parliament that a cashless economy was not feasible for the country where nearly 50 percent of people were poor, Modi said, "I wonder whether he (Singh) was giving his own report card by admitting the dismal situation." "After all, he has not just been the prime minister for two terms and a finance minister previously. Since the 1970s he has been holding key positions." Taking on Chidambaram over his assertion that online transactions could not find wide acceptance in India since nearly half of its villages were not even electrified, Modi said "whose faults is he pointing at. Did I uproot electric poles or snap cables in villages which had electricity". Calling himself Kashi ka bachcha (a child of Kashi, the name associated with Varanasi), Modi said, "I am, nonetheless, delighted to see that the power of this holy land has made me work and forced detractors to admit, even if unwittingly, their failures". Unfazed by Modi ridiculing his charge of personal corruption, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday stuck to his guns and Modi to tell what was contained in the "10 packets" allegedly given by the Sahara Group to him when he was the Gujarat chief minister. "Modiji first tell us what was contained in the ten packets from Sahara," the Congress vice-president tweeted in Hindi. The war of words between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi heated up on Thursday. The prime minister addressed several public meetings in Varanasi his Parliamentary Constituency while Rahul Gandhi held a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich. Rahul, during his Mehsana rally on Wednesday, alleged that Modi, as the Gujarat chief minister, took bribes from the Sahara Group and Birlas, following which Modi launched a scathing attack on the Gandhi scion and Congress party. Here are some quotes from Thursday's Modi and Rahul's rallies: Modi took potshots at Rahul's earthquake comment. During the Winter Session, Rahul had said that if he exposes the prime minister, there would be an earthquake. Comparing Opposition to Pakistan's cross-border firing, the prime minister slammed the Opposition for disrupting the proceedings of the Winter Session of Parliament. The prime minister mocked the Amethi MP's oratorical skills. The prime minister used the allegory of two pickpocketers to blame the Opposition for diverting attention from its various scams. Modi lashed out at the critics who slammed the drive towards making India a cashless economy. Rahul slammed the Modi government on demonetisation. Rahul also questioned the prime minister on his commitment to bring back black money stashed abroad. He also questioned the government's move to turn India into a cashless economy. Rahul hit back at his critics, and said he would continue with his fight for the common man. Will Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi succeed in unseating Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power by proving the latter corrupt? His diatribe against the prime minister on Thursday in Gujarat of all the places has not exactly caused an "earthquake" that he had threatened a few days ago, but his party workers, supporters and countless Modi-haters on social media have been overjoyed over his daring attack. One does not want to deal with the question whether there are merits or otherwise in Rahuls charges against Modi that he took money from the Sahara group and the Aditya Birla group as bribes when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, except mentioning the fact that the charges have been in the common domains for long, which none other than the Supreme Court of India has observed to be trivial while dealing with a public interest litigation on the subject by Advocate Prashant Bhushan (the court is about dismiss the case in the next hearing in January if concrete evidence is not cited). However, what is more important is that if Rahuls charges are taken to the logical conclusion then Congress chief ministers of the time, along with those belonging to some Opposition parties as well will also be held guilty as they had received similar bribes from the aforesaid companies; their names are mentioned in the same seized diaries that contain the words CM Gujarat. May be Rahul has more incriminating evidence against Modi that some Congress cheerleaders are claiming. But the germane point is whether it is a good political strategy to revive the fortunes of the Congress. From the point of view of its long-term interests, a Rahul-led Congress should work in a manner so that people vote for him , rather than "vote against Modi. In other words, he should work on why people should vote for him and the Congress, rather than on why people should vote against Modi and the BJP. But Rahul seems to prefer vote against Modi strategy. It is a part of this strategy that has made the Congress the junior-most partner in Bihar. It is a part of this strategy that is likely to make Congress a junior partner of the Samajwadi Party in the forthcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. It is part of this strategy that has virtually made Congress a junior partner of even the Trinamool Congress in opposing Modis demonetisation drive (see how West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has used the anti-demonetisation campaigns as an opportunity in projecting herself to be the national leader who could be the pivot around whom non-BJP parties could gather to present a combined fight against Modi in 2019). And it is a part of this very strategy that seems to have made Rahul following Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals trademark of accusing the opponents of corruption and irregularities without caring for evidence and established norms/procedures. In the process, Rahul seems to have ignored the Congress' record of fighting corruption in recent years. One is not mentioning here the plethora of corruption charges against the Congress during the 10-year rule of UPA (2004-14). What is being pointed out instead is the futility of the Congress' attempts in establishing corruption charges against the BJP leaders in recent years. One may mention here the much talked about Coffin Gate, Tehelka scandal and Purti scam. The Coffin Scam was a result of the faulty approach adopted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of Indias (CAG) report which alleged corruptions in the purchase of coffins for the dead soldiers during the Kargil war that took place in 1999 between India and Pakistan. According to the CAG, the Vajpayee government incurred a heavy loss of $1, 87,000 in the entire transaction. In this specific case, 500 caskets, each worth $2500, were purchased from Buitron and Baiza, a company based in the United States, rendering funeral services. The CAG presumed it to be 13 times the original amount. However, the ambassadors from both the countries India and the US had declared in writing that those caskets had a cost worth $2,768 each. But, when the issue was made into a scam by the Congress, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigated the case and filed a chargesheet against three Indian Army officers in August 2009. However, in December 2013, a special CBI court found no evidence and discharged all the accused. The case was closed. And this happened during the UPA regime itself. The Tehelka scam has been the most ludicrous in Indias history of scandals. A highly partisan and controversial journalist, claiming to be the representative of a non-existent defence firm, traps some officials in the name of procuring a non-existent weapon system and then generalises that the then defence minister George Fernandes and his staff are indulging in corruption, indicating that the proposed deal to buy Barak missiles for the Navy from Israel is one such incident that had witnessed kickbacks. In fact, such heat was generated in the process that the Congress party made the life of the then Vajpayee government miserable and boycotted Fernandes in Parliament. They, along with the partisan journalists, boycotted two commissions of inquiry that the Vajpayee government set up under two respected retired Supreme Court judges Justice SN Phukan and Justice Venkataswami. So much so that to a great extent the Congress under Sonia Gandhi won the elections in 2004 on the basis of the two scandals of Coffin Gate and Tehelka by successfully building the public perception over misleading and fabricated evidences against the government of the day. When the Congress-led UPA came to power in 2004, the two judicial commissions were dismissed by the government and everything was handed over for investigations to the CBI, which, in turn, filed a First Information Report (FIR) on 10 October, 2006. But again, nothing concrete emerged. On 24 December, 2013, after investigating for more than seven years, the CBI decided to close the matter as it did not find any evidence on the allegations. And the UPA government was very much there then. The Purti scam revolved around the Purti Power and Sugar Ltd (now Purti Group) that the BJP leader Nitin Gadkari, then PWD minister in Maharashtra, had floated in 1995. Apparently, in 2010 the company got a loan of Rs 1.64 billion from a firm which allegedly had obtained hefty road contracts under Gadkari's term as PWD minister. Gadkari's son Nikhil was allegedly a director with the company (IRB) at the time. Gadkari argued that there was nothing wrong in having contractors invest in one's firms, but Opposition leaders argued that all this suggests a quid pro quo for political favours granted by Gadkari. Accordingly, in 2013, the Income Tax Department discovered tax evasion by Purti and a judicial commission was set up to look into the charges. This was at a time when Gadkari was about to get his second term as the national president of the BJP. He had to quit the post, a development that suddenly brought Modi to the reckoning as BJPs prime ministerial candidate. But what happened? The judicial commission concluded that Gadkari had played no role or had no concern with the scam. And on May 13, 2014 the I-T department of Maharashtra cleared Gadkari's name and gave him a clean chit saying there is no enquiry/investigation presently pending. This allowed Gadkari to successfully contest the election to the Lok Sabha. In the process, two non-BJP leaders were made to eat the humble pie then Congress Union Minister Manish Tewari apologised to Gadkari on April 30, 2014, when he was dragged in to a defamation suit by the latter; Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did likewise subsequently in the Delhi High Court. In fact, many Congress leaders privately agree that but for this mishandling of Purti scam by the Congress leadership, Modi could not have become the prime minister, the argument being that a Gadkari-led BJP would not have allowed the then Gujarat chief minister to nurture a national dream. Be that as it may, the fact remains that leveling corruption charges against the political opponents has not exactly been a credible and rewarding political strategy for the Congress in recent years. And that being the case, Rahuls charges against Modi, that too seemingly on very weak evidence, may do the Congress more harm than good. I have often argued that India needs a strong Congress and a strong BJP as these are the two credible national parties in a large democracy such as ours. But the continuous poll-reversals of the Congress, be it national, state or local, suggests that the vote against Modi" strategy is not working for Rahul Gandhi. He has to change so that people will be tempted to vote for Congress. And he can bring about such a change, provided he allows the Congress to catapult its other bright and young leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Murali Deora, Sachin Pilot and Shashi Tharoor to big league politics, not the old and known sycophants who argue that the Congress cannot survive without the brand of Nehru-Gandhis. Who would have thought one day even Rahul Gandhi would start making some sense? But, O tempora, o mores, that day seems to be upon us. Mera Bharat badal raha hai! After being ridiculed and laughed at for almost more than a decade for practising shoot-and-scoot adventurism and rolling out one malapropism after another, the Congress vice-president is finally showing signs of some gravitas, heft and courage. And, there are emerging signs that people are listening to him, if not immediately buying his charges, allegations and theories. First, he dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his den in Gujarat's Mehsana. Buoyed by a crowd that would be huge by Gandhi's meagre standards, the Congress finally found some courage to attack Modi's image, target the Prime Minister's image of being beyond reproach and this decade's 'Mr Clean.' And then, in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, he stood up to the Prime Minister's taunts and replied with a lyrical riposte, asking Modi what was this style of conversation where the Prime Minister, instead of answering questions, was making fun of the rivals. Har ek baat pe kehte ho tum ki tu kya hai, Gandhi retorted quoting Ghalib. Gandhi's tirade against Modi may be an encore of similar charges by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and before that the allegations in lawyer Prashant Bhushan's plea in Supreme Court. But, the Congress leader, for a change, has managed to draw attention to his criticism of Modi. It is perhaps a sign of our changing times that in spite of rehashing old charges, Gandhi has been able to generate a bit of buzz in politics and heat up the media space. Whether Gandhi's charges carry some weight or not is for the courts to decide -- in case they agree to take Bhushan's petition seriously in the next hearing. But, politics is rarely decided by nuances and legal minutiae of charges of graft. Sometimes, in an ode to Goebbels-ism, if repeated often and with a certain amount of conviction, it acquires a life of its own. Who would know this better than the Congress V-P. His father Rajiv Gandhi lost his sheen, and later power, because his rivals led by VP Singh were able to convince Indian voters that the then prime minister's image of 'Mr Clean' was just a facade. With his oratorical skills and the classic subterfuge of telling people that he had in his pocket the names and account numbers of politicians who were dalaals of Bofors, Singh was able to turn 'Gali, gali main shor hai, Rajiv Gandhi chor hai' the theme of India's poll graffiti. Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra is another example of the old adage that in politics image is permanent, facts are temporary. It has been almost three years since the BJP won elections in Rajasthan, 30 months since Modi became prime minister and there has been absolutely no movement on the Vadra case. Yet, even though there has not been even a single chargesheet, leave alone a conviction or verdict of guilt, Vadra continues to remain synonymous with the entitlement-era politics of UPA. The point is this: In politics, facts do not matter. Once people start believing lies and half-truths, they turn into legends. And Gandhi is trying his best to make the use of half-truths and facts that the Sahara and Birla diaries have offered him on a platter. (Gandhi's selective outrage, as argued by Firstpost, of course smacks of hypocrisy. But that is a different story. One of the reasons Gandhi did not make any impact on the 2014 election was his inability to connect with voters. Back then, whatever he said was laughed away not just by his rivals but also the meagre audience that turned up for his rallies. His gaffes turned into national jokes, fodder for Twitter trends, cruel neologisms like Pappu-isms and hashtags like Amulbaby syndrome. Unfortunately for Gandhi, his caricaturisation as an upstart in politics coincided with the phenomenal rise of Modi, a master orator whose every word people took on face value. But, if Gandhi's recent spunk and the response to it are good indicators, things might be changing, even if infinitesimally. The reason is not difficult to fathom. The government's botched up demonetisation scheme, the pain, suffering it has caused, have made people reassess Modi, weigh his actions against his words, instead of taking them on face value. After almost three years of Modimania, where he was built up as an infallible visionary and development messiah, people are finally willing to see the PM as a mortal, take the right measure of his 56-inch chest. This is not to say that Gandhi has risen to the prime minister's stature. The difference between the two is still as wide as the first and top floors on Burz Khalifa, but both the protagonists have started journeying in opposite directions. Gandhi would be hoping their paths cross some day. But for that he would a lot of hard work, high amounts of political IQ and tonnes of luck. The BJP can, of course, continue to laugh him off as a "joke." But, it should be wary of the denouement of the strategy of mocking the critics. As Mahatma Gandhi said, first they ignore, then they laugh, then they fight, and then you win. So far the joke has been on Rahul Gandhi. But, since our polemics has turned poetic, the PM and his followers would do well to remember what contemporary poet Rahat Indori famously said: Unka anjaam tumhe yaad nahi hai shayad, Aur bhi log the jo khud ko khuda kahte the. Varanasi: With the crucial assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh just around the corner, the BJP's grass root level cadre in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency here shall be looking forward to receiving from him the mantra for electoral success on Thursday. Modi, who arrived Varanasi on Thursday morning will be interacting with nearly 20,000 booth-level party workers at the Diesel Locmotive Works (DLW) premises forms a major part of the Prime Minister's itinerary here. And considering Rahul Gandhi is also in UP, it is likely that Modi will counter the Congress vice-president's corruption allegations. Gandhi had alleged that Modi had received money from Sahara and Birla groups during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister. Modi's visit, which could be the last to his parliamentary constituency before the poll schedule is announced and the Model Code of Conduct comes into force, also includes flagging off of quite a few projects. These include laying of foundation stones for a cancer centre and a super-speciality hospital at the Benares Hindu University where Modi will also spend some time at the "Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav" (national cultural festival), a week-long event organised by the Union Ministry for Culture where artistes from across the country, some of them of international repute, have been performing. From BHU premises, Modi will leave for a brief tour of Kabir Nagar locality, named after the 17th century mystic and poet, and inspect underground cabling and heritage lighting work, which is being carried out as part of the IPDS (Integrated Power Development Scheme) and HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana) schemes. Thereafter the Prime Minister will reach DLW, where his political engagements will be preceded by laying of foundation stone for a 150-bed ESIC (Employee's State Insurance Corporation) super speciality hospital and inauguration of a trade facilitation centre and a crafts museum, besides launching of a number of schemes and projects under the Textiles Ministry. This would be Modi's first tour of his parliamentary constituency since demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, that has drawn much flak from the opposition as the shortage of currency caused inconvenience to traders, salaried groups, artisans and unskilled daily wage earners alike. The PM's message to the booth-level workers of the BJP, drawn from all five assembly segments falling under the Lok Sabha constituency, will set the tone for the party foot soldiers faced with a daunting task of holding their own in a state where politics has been dominated by two rival regional players the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. From being a force to reckon with in the state in the 1990s, thanks to the momentum generated by the Ramjanmabhoomi agitation, the BJP underwent a steep decline in the first decade of the century. However, expectations have been high since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when the party stunned all by putting up its best-ever performance, winning 71 out of the 78 seats it had contested in the state. The spectacular comeback owed much to Modi's decision to step out of Gujarat and contest from this eastern UP seat. The party's performance in the assembly polls in the state which is the most populous and hence sends the maximum number of MPs to the Lok Sabha will have a bearing on its future prospects on the national level. This will be Modi's ninth tour of Varanasi since he became the Prime Minister in May 2014. Significantly, Thursday's visit will also be his fifth since January this year. The increased frequency of his trips here is seen as one of the many efforts being made by the BJP to improve its tally in the 403-strong UP assembly where it has less than 50 MLAs. With inputs from PTI Kolkata: In a bid to corner the Trinamool Congress government on the issue of communal riots in West Bengal, the BJP will send a fact finding team comprising MPs and central leaders, to Dhulagarh in Howrah district, which had witnessed group clashes last week. The team, which will visit on 24 December, will submit its report to BJP National President Amit Shah. "A team of three MPs including party's Rajya Sabha MP Rupa Ganguly and state unit President Dilip Ghosh will go to Dhulagarh to see the ground level situation in the area on 24 December. "They will talk to locals and will also try to meet the Chief secretary of the state. Next day they will submit their complete report to Amit Shahji," BJP National Secretary Siddharth Nath Singh told PTI. Singh said the party will also approach the National Human Rights Commission and will also move the union Home Ministry regarding the recent communal riots in the state. Singh alleged that the minority wing leaders of Trinamool Congress were targeting members of one community, especially in six districts where BJP has grown. A week long clash between two groups was reported in Dhulagarh following a procession in the area on 13 November. Palm Beach: Denouncing the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Germany, President-elect Donald Trump renewed his vow to stop radical terror groups and appeared to suggest a willingness to move ahead with his campaign pledge to ban temporarily Muslim immigrants from coming to the United States. Trump proposed the Muslim ban during the Republican primary campaign, drawing sharp criticism from both parties. During the general election, he shifted his rhetoric to focus on temporarily halting immigration from an unspecified list of countries with ties to terrorism, though he did not disavow the Muslim ban, which is still prominently displayed on his campaign website. The president-elect, when asked Wednesday if the attack in Berlin would cause him to evaluate the proposed ban or a possible registry of Muslims in the United States, said "You know my plans. All along, I've been proven to be right, 100 percent correct." "What's happening is disgraceful," said Trump, who deemed the violence "an attack on humanity, and it's got to be stopped." A transition spokesman said later on Wednesday that Trump's plans "might upset those with their heads stuck in the politically correct sand." "President-elect Trump has been clear that we will suspend admission of those from countries with high terrorism rates and apply a strict vetting procedure for those seeking entry in order to protect American lives," spokesman Jason Miller said. But transition officials did not comment on whether Trump could also push for the overarching ban on Muslims. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for Monday's attack in Berlin that left 12 people dead and 48 injured. On Wednesday, German officials launched a Europe-wide manhunt for a "violent and armed" Tunisian man suspected in the killings. Trump, who addressed reporters for less than two minutes outside his palatial South Florida estate, said he has not spoken to President Barack Obama since the attack. Aides said that he received the classified presidential daily intelligence briefing on Wednesday and met with incoming White House national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump was spending the final days of 2016 huddled with advisers at Mar-a-Lago, his grand resort in Palm Beach. He also met Wednesday with the heads of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, companies with high-dollar government contracts that Trump has criticized. Boeing has a contract to build two new Air Force One planes and Lockheed Martin builds the F-35 fighter jet. Trump said of his meeting with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, "It's a little bit of a dance. We're trying to get costs down." Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of Boeing, said his company was committed to working with Trump to lower costs on the Air Force One project. The president-elect was also finalizing his senior White House team, wrapping up a decision-making process that has been dogged by infighting among rival factions within Trump's organisation. Some of Trump's original campaign aides have expressed concern to the president-elect himself that they are getting boxed out in favor of those more closely aligned with incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Among the early advisers who will not be joining Trump at the White House is Corey Lewandowski, his combative first campaign manager. But the operative won't be far away Lewandowski announced plans to start a political consulting firm with offices just a block away from the White House. Lewandowski oversaw Trump's campaign through the Republican primaries, but he clashed with the candidate's family and was fired. Still, he remained close to Trump, talking with him frequently and showing up occasionally at the president-elect's offices during the transition. Lewandowski said he was offered "multiple opportunities" to join the administration, though people with knowledge of the process said those opportunities did not include senior positions in the West Wing. The president-elect announced plans to hire economist Peter Navarro to run a new National Trade Council that will be housed in the White House. Navarro, author of Death by China, has endorsed a hard line approach toward relations with Beijing. In a statement, the Trump transition team said the creation of the council "demonstrates the president-elect's determination to make American manufacturing great again." Trump also named billionaire investor Carl Icahn as an adviser on regulatory reform, though the transition team said Icahn would not be serving as a federal government employee. Transition officials said additional announcements on White House jobs were expected this week. Meanwhile, Democrats were looking ahead to confirmation hearings for Trump's Cabinet picks, including Steve Mnuchin, his nominee to lead the Treasury Department. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown sent Mnuchin a letter Wednesday asking him to explain his involvement with OneWest, a bank that critics have called a "foreclosure machine." Washington: In another sign that he intends to shake up relations with China, President-elect Donald Trump named economist Peter Navarro to lead a newly created White House council on trade. The University of California-Irvine professor, who advised Trump during the campaign, has sharply criticised China's economic and military policies in books and videos. In addition to leading the new White House National Trade Council, Navarro will be director of trade and industrial policy. In a statement, the Trump transition team said the creation of the council "demonstrates the president-elect's determination to make American manufacturing great again." Trump says China's unfair trade practices are responsible for wiping out American factory jobs. US manufacturers have cut 5 million jobs since 2000. Trump has threatened to impose taxes on Chinese imports and to label China a "currency manipulator" for allegedly pushing its currency lower to give Chinese exporters a price advantage. Navarro, author of "Death By China," also endorses a hard line toward China. Navarro has dismissed warnings that imposing sanctions on China could trigger a destructive trade war if China retaliates by targeting US imports. He and Wilbur Ross an investment banker tapped to be Trump's Commerce secretary have argued that China and other US trade partners have more to lose in a trade conflict because they depend so much on the US market. Trump has already rattled US-China relations. Earlier this month, he broke protocol by taking a call from the president of Taiwan. China views Taiwan as a renegade province and considers any acknowledgement that it has its own head of state as a grave insult. Trump also said he did not feel bound by the longstanding "one-China" policy. Under that policy the United States recognises Beijing as the sole government of China and acknowledges its claim to Taiwan but regards the status of the self-governing island as unsettled. By Michelle Nichols and Jeffrey Heller | UNITED NATIONS/JERUSALEM UNITED NATIONS/JERUSALEM Egypt postponed a U.N. Security Council vote on Thursday on a resolution it proposed demanding an end to Israeli settlement building, diplomats said, after Israel's prime minister and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump urged Washington to veto it.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Egypt's U.N. mission to postpone the vote, which would have forced U.S. President Barack Obama to decide whether to shield Israel with a veto or, by abstaining, to register criticism of the building on occupied land that the Palestinians want for a state, diplomats said.In a sign that they feared Obama might abandon the United States' long-standing diplomatic protection for Israel at the United Nations, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the White House to veto the draft resolution.Sisi put off the vote after a request from Israel, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Egypt was the first Arab state to make peace with Israel.Any council member can propose a draft resolution. Council member Egypt worked with the Palestinians to draft the text.Netanyahu took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to make the appeal, in a sign of concern that Obama might take a parting shot at a policy he has long opposed and at a right-wing Israeli leader with whom he has had a rocky relationship.Hours later, Trump, posting on Twitter and Facebook, backed fellow conservative Netanyahu on one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the pursuit, effectively stalled since 2014, of a two-state solution."The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," Trump said."As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis."Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council had been due to vote at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday, diplomats said. It was unclear, they said, how the United States, which has protected Israel from U.N. action, would vote. The resolution would demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem".The draft text put forward by Egypt says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law".It also expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperilling the viability of a two-state solution". The White House declined comment. Some diplomats hoped Obama would allow Security Council action by abstaining on the vote.Israel's security cabinet was due to hold a special session at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) to discuss the issue. Israeli officials voiced concern that passage of the resolution would embolden the Palestinians to seek international sanctions against Israel. In Beirut, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters: "The continuation of settlements is completely weakening the situation on the ground and creating a lot of tension. It is taking away the prospect of a two-state solution. So this could reaffirm our disagreement with this policy." OBAMA CRITICAL OF SETTLEMENTS Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office in January.Netanyahu tweeted that the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday". Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. He has already signalled a possible change in U.S. policy by appointing one of his lawyers, a fundraiser for a major Israeli settlement, as Washington's ambassador to Israel.Netanyahu, for whom settlers are a key component of his electoral base, has said his government has been their greatest ally since the capture of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war.Some legislators in his right-wing Likud party have already suggested Israel declare sovereignty over the West Bank if the United States does not veto the resolution.That prospect seemed unlikely, but Netanyahu could opt to step up building in settlements as a sign of defiance of Obama and support for settlers.Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally. The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, John Irish travelling with French foreign minister, and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Tom Heneghan and James Dalgleish) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Michelle Nichols and Jeffrey Heller | UNITED NATIONS/JERUSALEM UNITED NATIONS/JERUSALEM Egypt postponed a U.N. Security Council vote on Thursday on a resolution it proposed demanding an end to Israeli settlement building, diplomats said, saying Cairo acted under pressure from Israel.A vote would have forced U.S. President Barack Obama to decide in his last month in office whether to shield Israel with a veto, or, by abstaining, to register criticism of the building on occupied land that the Palestinians want for a state.Obama has been considering whether to lay out parameters for a solution or to allow a critical resolution through the Security Council before he steps down in the hopes this might ultimately help to end the conflict.In a sign that they feared Obama might abandon the United States' long-standing diplomatic protection for Israel at the United Nations, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the White House to veto the draft resolution.President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, put off the vote because of pressure from Israel, diplomats said."Every member of the Security Council was ready to vote at 3 p.m.," said a Western diplomat on condition of anonymity. "Egypt has delayed the vote following an intense Israeli lobbying campaign against them."Any council member can propose a draft resolution. Council member Egypt worked with the Palestinians to draft the text. It was not clear whether a vote would be rescheduled. Diplomats said a final decision on whether to push ahead with the draft resolution would be made after a meeting of some Arab ministers in Cairo later on Thursday.CONSTRUCTIVE RELATIONS WITH TRUMP? Officials in Netanyahu's office spoke to Egyptian officials on Thursday about postponing the vote, an Israeli diplomat said.It was not clear what pressure Israel may have put on Egypt but there are several ways it could do so, including curtailing Israeli security cooperation in Egypt's fight against Islamist militants in the Sinai desert. An Egyptian diplomat suggested Cairo may have put off the vote in part to maintain good relations with the incoming Trump administration."We (Arab states) are all looking for a way to ensure constructive relations with this new administration. It's not clear if this (resolution) helps that, or if it might even hinder," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.Netanyahu took to Twitter in the dead of night in Israel to make the appeal for a veto, in a sign of concern that Obama might take a parting shot at a policy he has long opposed and at a right-wing Israeli leader with whom he has had strained ties.Hours later, Trump backed fellow conservative Netanyahu on one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the pursuit, effectively stalled since 2014, of a two-state solution.He said the resolution would put "Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis."Egypt circulated the draft Wednesday evening and the 15-member council had been due to vote at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday. It was unclear how the United States, which has protected Israel from U.N. Security Council action, would have voted.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had planned to make a speech to explain the U.S. stance on Thursday but cancelled it after the vote was postponed, a U.S. official said.The resolution would demand Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem".The draft text put forward by Egypt says the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law".It also expresses grave concern that continuing settlement activities "are dangerously imperilling the viability of a two-state solution". The White House declined comment. OBAMA CRITICAL OF SETTLEMENTS Obama's administration has been highly critical of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. U.S. officials said this month, however, the president was not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office in January.Netanyahu said the United States "should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday".Israel's far-right and settler leaders have been buoyed by the election of Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. He has already signalled a possible change in U.S. policy by appointing one of his lawyers, a fundraiser for a major Israeli settlement, as Washington's ambassador to Israel.Netanyahu, for whom settlers are a key component of his electoral base, has said his government has been their greatest ally since the capture of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war.Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally.The United States says continued Israeli settlement building lacks legitimacy, but has stopped short of adopting the position of many countries that it is illegal under international law. Some 570,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Lesley Wroughton and Susan Heavey in Washington, John Irish travelling with French foreign minister and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by James Dalgleish and Yara Bayoumy) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Islamabad: Pakistan has accused India of settling non-Kashmiris in the state in an attempt to change the demographic composition of the region. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria made the allegations at the weekly press briefing here on Thursday. "Reportedly, PDP-BJP regime, in violation of UNSC Resolutions, has started issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu. The move is part of the regime's nefarious designs to change the demographic composition of the territory," he said. "This act of bringing material change in the disputed territory of Jammu & Kashmir is a blatant violation of UNSC Resolutions on Kashmir. Kashmiris hope that the international community and relevant international organisations will call India to the account," he alleged. He said that at an International European Kashmir Conference in Denmark last month, representatives of 500 political and social organisations and NGOs adopted a declaration, inter alia, seeking release of arrested people. NEW YORK A New Jersey man groped a woman during a transcontinental flight and then apologised in a pair of notes in which he acknowledged his actions were "stupid," U.S. authorities said on Thursday.Ganesh Parkar, 40, of Windsor appeared in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday to face a charge of abusive sexual contact, one day after the female passenger was assaulted on an overnight Air India [AIN.UL] flight from Mumbai to Newark.Parkar had a business class seat but chose to sit in a middle seat next to the woman in economy class, prosecutors said.The woman fell asleep and later awakened to discover that her blanket had been pulled off her body, according to a criminal complaint. After replacing the blanket and going back to sleep, the woman again woke up to find Parkar's hand inside her shirt, prosecutors said. According to court documents, the woman yelled, "What the hell are you doing?" and crew members instructed Parkar to move back to his assigned seat.Parkar repeatedly asked flight attendants to allow him to speak to the woman but his requests were denied, prosecutors said. He wrote her two notes in which he apologised for a "moment's stupidity" and admitted he had been "stupid," according to the complaint. A defence lawyer for Parkar did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Parkar was released on $50,000 bond and ordered to remain under house arrest. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey fits into a long tradition of political violence in a country where the fallout from the Syrian war is deepening the chaos. Turkey's toxic combination of problems includes a Kurdish insurgency at home and state purges following a failed coup attempt in July, meaning the security situation will remain extremely tenuous for a while. While Russia and Turkey suspect the killer of Ambassador Andrei Karlov was part of a wider conspiracy, the Turkish government has come under scrutiny for its tolerance or sponsorship of Islamist rebel groups in Syria in recent years that may have indirectly radicalised some young Turks. "You have a blowback effect," said Halil Karaveli, a Sweden-based senior fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Silk Road Studies Program. He said a mix of hardline Turkish nationalism and Sunni Muslim fundamentalism had been prospering in some quarters in Turkey, creating the potential for homegrown violence. Whatever motivated gunman Mevlut Mert Altintas, an off-duty policeman killed by police after shooting Karlov at a photo exhibition in Ankara on Monday, has not been confirmed. He shouted religious phrases and appeared to condemn Russian bombardments of rebel-held neighborhoods of Syria's Aleppo city the shooting followed protests by Turks who criticised Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the movement of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for the assassination, while Russia has said conclusions should be left to the investigators. Gulen is already blamed for the failed military uprising in July that led to the imposition of a state of emergency, an extension in pre-trial detention, the arrest of around 38,000 people and the purging of more than 100,000 from government jobs. Turkey and Russia, which have endured difficult relations over the past year or so, described the killing as an attempt to disrupt an improving alliance that they hope will stabilise Syria and consolidate their influence there. The political calculations on Syria come as Turkey has endured regular bombings and other attacks, shaking the government of Erdogan even as he seeks to increase the power of his post by pushing for constitutional changes. Accused of authoritarian behavior, Erdogan triumphantly rallied supporters after the coup attempt, but the Russian ambassador's assassination embarrassed a nation gripped by some of its worst violence in decades. The turbulence has prompted comparisons with 1970s political unrest in Turkey that led to a 1980 military coup. Then, the deadly upheaval pitted Turkish left- and right-wing groups against each other, and the military eventually intervened in the name of restoring order, a move tainted by human rights abuses by the state. This time around, Turkey is grappling with Kurdish militant attacks, deploying troops in northern Syria to fight Kurds and the Islamic State group, and purging suspected followers of Gulen. Turkey has also been targeted by suspected IS extremists after it gave more robust support to the US-led war against the group. Turkey's tradition of political violence includes the last stages of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, according to Howard Eissenstat, an associate professor of Middle East history at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. "The breakdown of the (Kurdish) peace process, Erdogan's growing authoritarianism, and spillover from the Syrian civil war have all fed into this, as has the attempted coup and the government's attempt at popular mobilisation," Eissenstat wrote in an email. If Turkey's past assassinations or assassination attempts are anything to go by, questions will swirl around the fatal shooting of Karlov even if an investigation comes to a clear conclusion: Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who shot and wounded John Paul II in 1981, first said he acted alone. Later he suggested Bulgaria and the Soviet secret services masterminded the attack, and he also implicated Iran. Released in 2010, Agca once had links to a right-wing militant group in Turkey. In 2007, ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who received death threats because of comments about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in 1915, was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul. Two suspects, including the teenage shooter, were arrested and imprisoned, but allegations that there was a cover-up by security officials who ignored warnings that Dink would be targeted have dragged on in the courts for years. Last year, Tahir Elci, a Kurdish lawyer who headed the Diyarbakir Bar Association in southeast Turkey, was fatally shot while making a media announcement in front of a mosque. His killing has not been solved. Karlov's death is the latest shocking act of violence in Turkey, home to several million Syrian refugees and multiple security threats. "In a country that is destabilised in this way, and which is involved in a war on the other side of its border, the likelihood that things are going to get worse is quite significant," Karaveli said. More than 4,000 fighters left rebel-held areas of Aleppo, the Red Cross said Thursday, in the "last stages" of an evacuation clearing the way for Syria's army to retake the city. A week into the rebel withdrawal from the east of Syria's second city, the evacuation of fighters and civilians from the one-time opposition stronghold appeared to be reaching its final hours. The loss of east Aleppo marks the biggest defeat for Syria's rebellion in more than five years of civil war and a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad, who on Thursday hailed his allies Moscow and Tehran. "The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran," state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying. The evacuation effort has been hampered in recent days by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures -- leaving evacuees waiting in unheated buses for hours but aid workers said it had resumed in earnest. "Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, in one of the last stages of the evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated in private cars, vans, and pick-ups from eastern Aleppo," said Ingy Sedky, the spokeswoman in Syria for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She said about 34,000 people had left rebel areas of Aleppo under the evacuation plan, which the ICRC is assisting with. Evacuations 'probably' into Friday The heavy snowfall from the day before, which blanketed Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, had stopped but was still slowing down the evacuations. "The bad weather, including heavy snow and wind, and the poor state of vehicles... mean things are moving much more slowly than expected," Sedky said. "The evacuation will continue for the entire day and night and most probably tomorrow (Friday). Thousands are still expected to be evacuated." It was unclear who exactly remained to be evacuated or how many were either fighters or civilians. The United Nations said it had deployed observers to monitor the final evacuations, under a Security Council resolution adopted on Monday. Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, said 31 staff had been assigned for monitoring at the crossing point at Ramussa, the government-held district of southern Aleppo through which evacuation convoys have been leaving. "It's been a very difficult night. The weather is really harsh, and people are leaving in hundreds of private vehicles at different levels of disrepair," he told AFP. Rebel forces, who seized control of east Aleppo in 2012, agreed to withdraw from the bastion after a month-long army offensive that drove them from more than 90 percent of their former territory. Pivotal moment of war The agreement was brokered by Russia, which launched air strikes in support of Assad's regime last year, and Turkey, which has supported some rebel groups. An AFP correspondent early on Thursday saw a convoy of about 20 pick-up trucks and cars carrying armed rebels pass through Ramussa. A few hours later another convoy of about 10 buses also left. An AFP journalist on Thursday also saw buses headed for Aleppo carrying residents who are being evacuated from rebel-besieged villages. As part of the Aleppo evacuation deal, it was agreed some residents would be allowed to leave Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority villages in northwestern Syria that are under siege by the Sunni Muslim rebels. About 1,000 people have been able to leave the villages in recent days. Sedky said the ICRC would "continue to escort hundreds of civilians" from the villages to Aleppo "throughout the day". The evacuation of Aleppo's rebel sector is a pivotal moment in a war that has killed more than 310,000 people and triggered a major humanitarian and refugee crisis. As well as a major strategic gain for Assad, the rebel withdrawal from Aleppo has given fresh impetus to international efforts to end the conflict. Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed this week to guarantee Syria peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire, laying down their claim as the main powerbrokers in the war. Turkish air strikes Repeated attempts at peace have failed, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene fresh talks in Geneva in February. Moscow's military intervention in support of Assad marked a major turning point in the war. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday the Russian air force has killed 35,000 fighters in Syria since it began in September last year. Turkey launched its own campaign in Syria in late August in support of pro-Ankara rebels, with the aim of ousting Islamic State group jihadists as well as Kurdish militia from areas near its border. Turkish air strikes killed at least 29 civilians including eight children Thursday in the IS-held town of Al-Bab, which Turkish forces have been seeking to capture for weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The raids came a day after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by jihadists around Al-Bab, in the country's biggest loss of the campaign so far. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed Thursday to press on, saying: "Turkey is in the midst of a great struggle -- our fight against terror continues both in our country and outside our borders." PALM BEACH, Fla. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was set to meet on Wednesday with Dennis Muilenburg, the chief executive of Boeing Co (BA.N), and Marillyn Hewson, the CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), two defence contractors he has questioned over project costs, a transition official said. (Reporting by Melissa Fares; writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Michelle Martin and Michael Nienaber | BERLIN BERLIN Fingerprints from a Tunisian migrant have been found inside the truck that smashed through a Berlin Christmas market on Monday in an attack that killed 12 people, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said.A hunt is under way across Europe for Anis Amri, 24, as Germany reels from the worst attack on its soil since 1980."We can report today that we have new information that the suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," de Maiziere told reporters on Thursday."In the cab, in the driving cabin, fingerprints were found and there is additional evidence that supports this."Chancellor Angela Merkel, appearing alongside de Maiziere at the federal police office, said she hoped the perpetrator would be arrested soon.Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the truck mowed through a crowd of people and bulldozed wooden huts selling Christmas gifts and snacks beside a famous church in west Berlin.One of the victims was the Polish driver from whom the truck had been hijacked. His body, stabbed and shot, was found in the cab.Amri had been identified by security authorities as a potential threat and rejected for asylum, but authorities had not managed to deport him because of missing identity documents. The suspect involvement of a migrant - one of more than a million allowed into Germany in the past two years - has intensified political pressure on Merkel, who plans to seek a fourth term in elections next year.Armin Schuster of her Christian Democratic party told broadcaster NDR: "We need to send the signal: Only set off for Germany if you have a reason for asylum."The federal prosecutor's office said it would give a statement at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) on the state of the investigation. MARKET REOPENS Ringed by concrete bollards, the Berlin market reopened on Thursday, with candles, flowers and flags laid amid the small festive huts in tribute to those killed.Police in the western city of Dortmund arrested four people who had been in contact with Amri, media reports said, but a spokesman for the chief federal prosecutor denied that and said he would give no further details on the operation.Bild newspaper cited an anti-terrorism investigator as saying it was clear last spring that Amri was looking for accomplices for an attack and was interested in weapons. The paper said preliminary proceedings had been opened against him in March based on information he was planning a robbery to get money to buy automatic weapons and "possibly carry out an attack".In mid-2016, he spoke to two Islamic State fighters and Tunisian authorities listened in on their conversation before informing German authorities. Amri also offered himself as a suicide attacker on known Islamist chat sites, Bild said.Police started looking for him after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of the truck. Broadcaster rbb said the perpetrator lost both his wallet and mobile phone while running away from the attack site.Klaus Bouillon, head of the group of interior ministers from Germany's federal states, said militant Islamists often left behind identity documents -as had also happened in France - to steer public opinion against refugees, further inflaming tension.The attack has heightened security concerns across Europe in the approach to Christmas. In France, target of three major attacks in the last two years, security around festive markets was strengthened with concrete barriers, and troops were posted at some churches.The Italian Foreign Ministry said an Italian woman named Fabrizia Di Lorenzo was among the Berlin victims, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an Israeli woman called Dalia Elyakim had been identified among the dead. (Reporting by Paul Carrel, Joseph Nasr, Michelle Martin, Michael Nienaber, Thorsten Severin, Victoria Bryan in Berlin and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; additional reporting by Sabine Siebold in Mazar-i-Sharif,Afghanistan; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. LONDON Britain's Queen Elizabeth, 90, and her husband Prince Philip, 95, left Buckingham Palace by helicopter on Thursday, going ahead with their Christmas travel plans following a day's delay because both were suffering from heavy colds. Elizabeth, the world's longest-reigning living monarch, and Philip had originally been due to catch a train from London to their Sandringham country residence in Norfolk, eastern England, on Wednesday."I can confirm that The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have left Buckingham Palace and are traveling to Sandringham," said a palace spokesman on Thursday without giving further details. (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Stephen Addison) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. A round table held Wednesday at Farmington's Centene Center gave health care professionals, as well as representatives of hospitals and local businesses, an opportunity to discuss problems they are experiencing under the Affordable Care Act (aka as ACA or Obamacare), along with solutions they would like to see put into effect as it's expected that Congressional Republicans will push for the repeal of the controversial federal health care program this next year. The discussion was organized by Eighth District U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, a fiscally conservative Republican who has been highly critical of Obamacare during his time in Congress. With the election in November of Republican candidate Donald Trump as president of the United States and the GOP's control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate secured, it's generally assumed that Obamacare will sooner or later be replaced with another federal health care program. Opening the round table, Smith said, "We've been traveling for the last 42 months that I've been a member in Congress in this congressional district and the number one issue that's always came up is health care. The second has been jobs and the third is the economy. For so long we tried to address it in little pieces at a time, but it's not going to be little pieces at a time coming forward starting Jan. 3. In fact, when every other member of Congress was back home and the 114th Congress was recessed, the Ways & Means Committee on which I serve was called back by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Committee Chairman Kevin Brady just to work on tax reform and health care. "So, we've had a lot of discussions, but I called my staff and said I wanted to do six congressional round tables throughout the 8th District. This is the first one. We have three today. We have another one in Cape Girardeau and then Kennett. Tomorrow morning we start out in Poplar Bluff and then go on to West Plains and Rolla. We're hitting the six largest communities in our congressional district to get a background of what people's thoughts on health care are. I wanted health care professionals, I wanted families, I wanted small business owners. "I want to hear what you believe is good about Obamacare, what you believe is bad about Obamacare, what you believe should be changed in the health care system and what should not be changed. I can promise you one thing in the next six months of the year, there's going to be some legislation that deals with health care and there's going to be some significant changes. I want to be part of that discussion. As one of eight members of leadership it's pretty important that the values that we represent in the heartland of America are heard loud and clear." Parkland Health Center President Tom Karl was the first member of the round table to speak. "First of all, thanks for taking the time," he said. "We all appreciate you being here. I think for all of us, one thing that we have to recognize whenever we're talking about problems and related solutions is where the country is relative to the debt the deficit and the fact that health care is the biggest part of that puzzle. So, there isn't just an easy solution. It's not as if there's just money out there to be had. I think all of us have to couch our dreams and wishes in that regard. "I suppose that, if I were to leave one thought that I'd like to see us work on we the people would be mental health. I think that mental health is a societal problem that I think that we the people may have walked away from to a degree. I think we could provide better solutions. I think at a time of very limited funds available and very limited options, I do think there is a glaring opportunity." Several other healthcare representatives attending the round table brought up the issue of mental health, describing it as one of the most important yet overlooked medical issues in the country today. U.S. Tool President Bruce Williams offered his take on the nation's health care system from the standpoint of a business outside the health industry. "I think we all recognize that it's much easier to shoot holes in somebody else's program than to come up with a solution. We've had the pleasure for eight years of being able to complain about Obamacare and now most of us in this room and the Republican Party has the responsibility to fix it, so that's a little more difficult. I think it's great that you're having this get-together to find out what solutions will work because I think that was the missing element in Obamacare that it was crammed down everybody's throat. It was not a mutually agreed upon program. "That being said, I think we're all extremely blessed in this country, and particularly in this county, with having excellent health care and excellent health care professionals, hospitals and all that. We are very blessed. This has really put us in a position where we can really deliver to our employees and the residents of this county and this country really good health care. The problem is that it's expensive and I couldn't help but notice that I'm probably one of the few people here from industry. Many of you have employees. You're kind of on both sides you both provide health care and give health care but for us it's a huge cost and it's a very difficult to control cost. "I think that's the issue I'd like to talk about. I think that the distribution of health care with Obamacare is not the problem. The problem is the overall cost and I think we need to lower that. It's my view that tort reform needs to be a part of the overall solution because we want everybody to have health care and we want everybody to have good health care, but we also don't want to spend money on defensive medicine. I just think it's a huge problem. I'm going to quote my wife whose boss is here she works at the mental hospital and she says that a lot of her procedures and stuff like that, and x-rays and so on, are taken for defensive reasons to protect the state." Williams told the health care providers that he guessed that much of what they do in the way of treatment are done to protect themselves legally. "We're paying for that," he said. "My company has to pay for these defensive things. I always tell our employees each time we sign up, I say, 'When you go into your medical professional, they have to by default pick the safest approach to deliver health care. We want them to do that. We want them to be safe. We want to take no chances. We want you to get the best medical care, but keep in mind that we don't have another single I don't want to call you all vendors, because you're not vendors but we have vendors that we buy services from and we don't allow any of them to write their own purchase order, except physicians. "They're the only people who can say, you need this and you need that and we really don't question it and we probably shouldn't because we don't have the judgment, education and all that, but if we let all of our other vendors write their own purchase orders, we'd be out of business pretty quickly. I think the medical profession is in an awkward position where they have to defend and protect themselves and bring good health care. I think we need to bring them into a position where their primary focus is bringing good health care instead of protecting themselves from being sued." Among other topics raised, Congressman Smith and several others at the round table discussed the near-impossibility of patients being able to compare prices between different medical providers and the way this allows health care prices to go through the roof. There was also concerns brought up about the rising cost of pharmaceuticals including generic medicines and the increasing difficulty of rural hospitals to draw physicians, mental health workers and hospital administrators to smaller communities like those found in the 8th District. East Missouri Action Agency Executive Director Keri McCrorey expressed her fear that people who were able to afford health care coverage under Obamacare won't be able to do so if the program is repealed and something else less comprehensive is put in its place. "The EMAA has been enrolling folks in the ACA for probably five or six years now through Navigators," she said. "We've helped thousands of people access that system thousands of people who would never have received any kind of medical care prior to the ACA coming on board. The problem that we see is that there are a lack of providers, there is the Medicaid gap. East Missouri is typically serving a lower income population, so most of those qualify for Medicaid and then we have these folks who are in the gap, so we also expanded our services now to the folks who qualify for the ACA, which is a much larger income population than we have served in the past. "We have hundreds of stories where people being able to access medical care through the ACA has saved their lives, and if you want some of those stories, we can provide the stories to you. Families that never received health care before or got it through the emergency room if they received it. So, there is a good aspect to the ACA and I know there are problems and some of those things need to be fixed like cost control and pharmacy controls, but I agree with a lot of things that have been said here today. But from a long-term perspective on it, they have no knowledge of the medical field. We've tried to help them, educate them, on what plans are the best for them. They don't understand what co-pays are. They don't understand what deductibles are. They don't understand that they're going to have to pay those. We've tried to educate them because if you don't know it, you don't know it." Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the country to reinforce its military nuclear potential and praised the army's performance in its Syria campaign. In a speech that recapped military activities in 2016, Putin said the army's preparedness has "considerably increased" and called for continued improvement that would ensure it can "neutralise any military threat". "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems," the Kremlin strongman said. "We must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralising threats to our country." He said Russia's military had successfully demonstrated its capabilities in Syria, showcased its technology to potential arms buyers and helped the Syrian army make considerable advances. "The Syrian army received considerable support, thanks to which it carried out several successful operations against militants," he said. "The effective use of Russian weapons in Syria opens new possibilities for military-technical cooperation. We must take maximum advantage of this. We know there is interest in modern Russian weapons from foreign partners." Russia began its bombing campaign in Syria in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad, with its special forces also operating on the ground in the country. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military had used "162 types of modern armaments during the military campaign in Syria," including its Sukhoi warplanes and MiG and Kamov helicopters. "They have shown to be highly effective," he said. Shoigu produced figures for the entire campaign in Syria but did not mention any estimate of civilian casualties. Russian warplanes have "liquidated 725 training camps, 405 weapon factories and workshops, 1,500 pieces of terrorist equipment and 35,000 fighters, including 204 field commanders," he said. The Russian airforce has conducted a total of 18,800 sorties and carried out 71,000 strikes since the start of its campaign, Shoigu said. "In general, the operation has allowed (us) to solve several geopolitical problems," he said. "We have considerably damaged international terrorist organisations in Syria, stopped their expansion...(and) prevented the breakup of Syria." Russia is prioritising its Asian partners including India and China for arms sales, he added. 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 Sony, the pioneers of personal audio, have always had a fairly diverse portfolio of audio products that cater to all kinds of users. From the high-end headphones to basic budget models and everything between, Sony has also invested heavily into wireless audio products. The new MDR-XB50BS are the latest wireless earphones from the company and they represent a fantastic value for activity minded users. Weve spent some time with the product and heres what we thought. Design The Sony MDR-XB50BS are big earphones by every right. Yes, we understand the complexity of fitting a battery and wireless electronics into portable hardware but where the likes of Brainwavz can manage within a regular IEM form factor, the MDR-XB50BS looks like a giant piece of alien technology. The gigantic rounded rectangle or squat squircle design, however you may call it, feels like some one took an mp3 player straight from the early 2000s and strapped it to your head. Surprisingly though, the design works. With just a minor amount of fiddling, we were able to get a really good fit that stayed in the ear over the course of a 5 kilometer run. Additionally, the MDR-XB50BSs are of the old school variety where the two earpieces are connected to each other via a cable. This makes sense in an activity oriented device where even if an earpiece fall out, itll likely simply hang around your neck. Coming to the port selection and buttons, the right side earpiece is where youll find both the power button as well as the microUSB charging port. A light placed on the inside of the earpiece indicated charging and battery status. A volume rocker is also found here that lies along the bottom edge. We found this to be a little fiddly and it can take a couple of tries to successfully use this. The power button on the other hand is sufficiently raised and is very easy to find. The button even has a reasonable click to it and serves as a play / pause button too. What we didnt like much from a design perspective has to be the materials used here. The Sony MDR-XB50BS has a slightly rubberized coating perhaps to assist in achieving its IPX4 rating but this material ends up being a veritable dust and lint magnet. The earphones get dirty way too quickly especially if you plan to go out running in Delhi. For a relatively high-end activity focussed wireless earphone, the grimy look doesnt work all that well. Audio Quality As always our standard test bench of tracks includes the excellent post-rock album, Pirohia by Kerretta. We also referenced tracks like The Funeral of Hearts by His Infernal Majesty as well as Of The Night by Bastille, Monarchy of Roses by RHCP and Starboy by The Weeknd. An activity focussed user might rely on faster beats and bass drops to get pumped up so we added some tracks by Kendrick Lamar, Jidenna and Eminem to the mix as well. Lets start with the sound staging first. For activity focussed wireless monitors, these are not bad but generally the staging is fairly confined. You can just about make out separate instrumentation but dont expect a concert like experience while out on your run. The sound signature of the MDR-X50BS is very bass oriented. This takes a hit on audio quality if you are a fitness oriented audiophile but makes the right compromises for most people. The target audience of activity focussed earphones are gym goers who will mostly listen to fast beats and bass oriented tracks as we mentioned earlier. And in this regard, the earphones work admirably well. Unlike many bluetooth earphones, the bass drops are deep and the entire experience is very tight and controlled. The mids are less prominent because they get washed out by the heavy-handed bass section though we managed to play around with the equalizer to reduce this a bit and see definite gains in audio quality. Treble in the highs though definitely takes a hit. As weve repeatedly mentioned, the focus on extra bass has skewed the dynamic range towards the bottom end of the frequency graph. Dont expect crystal clear highs with crashing trebles and the usual accoutrements. Our review of the audio performance might sound a bit demoralising but we feel that the Sony MDR-X50BS achieves what it sets out to do. Volume levels here are above average for wireless hardware and in combination with the passive noise cancellation, they are able to cut out most noise from a gym floor. Connectivity & Battery Life Connectivity on the earphones is via bluetooth and you get built-in NFC for quick and painless pairing. Worth mentioning since a lot of wireless earphones struggle with this, the pairing process was seamless and there were absolutely no drop-outs even when we had our phone in our pants while out and about. Battery life is plenty good for wireless earphones and we easily achieved 6-7 hours of usage depending on the volume level used. This falls a bit short of Sonys claim of over 8 hours but as we said earlier, battery life is also highly dependent on the volume levels you chose. Charging is a fast process and it takes just shy of an hour to fully charge up. Conclusion The Sony MDR-X50BS are mighty fine activity focussed earphones that mix a utilitarian design that somehow manages to fit really well with audio quality that is tooled perfectly to appease the target audience. Far from audiophile grade monitors, these earphones are fun to listen to without causing fatigue, go loud enough and even deliver solid bass. We have a sneaking suspicion that this is exactly the sonic signature that Sony was aiming. The Sony MDR-X50BS is priced close to Rs. 5,000 and is a good enough value for money all things considered and especially due to that IPX4 rating. [Update] Paytm has shared more details about the bug that caused the removal of the iOS app from the Apple App Store. As per the company, millions of users have already updated their iOS app and our traffic on iOS is back to normal. Yesterday, iPhone users were taken aback when the Paytm app went missing from the Apple App Store. The popular digital payments wallet which has benefited a lot owing to the current demonetization situation has now been restored in the App Store. Paytm had mentioned in the company blog post that it has found bug in the iOS app and was therefore taking it down from the App Store. Several Paytm iOS app users were not able to pay as the app kept hanging following which they were logged out of the system preventing them from further accessing their account. Paytm users took to social media to complain about the service outage. The company also assured users that customer data and their money was safe. Paytm, which has over 170 million registered users witnessed huge traffic, with downloads growing by 200 percent within 24 hours of the demonetization announcement by the government. Nokia has filed a number of complaints against Apple in Germany and the US, alleging that Apple has infringed a number of Nokia patents. The Finnish company says the complaint includes 32 patents in suit across all of the actions, covering technologies such as display, user interface, software, antenna, chipsets and video coding. Nokia has filed these complaints with the Regional Courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich in Germany and the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company is in the process of filing further actions in other jurisdictions. Since agreeing a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apples products, Nokia said in a statement. Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Patent Business at Nokia, said Through our sustained investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in todays mobile devices, including Apple products. After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apples use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights. Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Samsung in its patent infringement case against Apple. Meanwhile, Apple has filed a major antitrust case against Acacia Research Corporation and thereby Nokia for the use of patent assertion entities to garner additional patent money. Source Around the world, you can find the products that Philip Morris International (PM -1.16%) sells. The Marlboro cigarette brand is an iconic presence across the globe, and Philip Morris has four primary segments that together span six continents. Yet in 2016, Philip Morris' weakest geographical location has been the one that's closest to its U.S. headquarters: its Latin American and Canada segment. Below, we'll take a closer look at how Philip Morris' operations in the Western Hemisphere have detracted from its overall performance. You can't go (close to) home again Before turning to Latin America and Canada specifically, it's useful to put the segment into perspective as part of Philip Morris International's global empire. In the first nine months of 2016, Philip Morris brought in $19.71 billion in revenue net of excise taxes and $8.45 billion in operating company income. In terms of sales, Philip Morris gets roughly equal contributions from Asia, the European Union, and its segment covering Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. From a profit perspective, Asia lags somewhat behind the company's two European segments, with the EU division having a slight lead over its Eastern European counterpart. By contrast, the Latin America and Canada segment is far smaller. It brings in barely a tenth of Philip Morris' net revenues, and it has been responsible for just over 7% of the overall company's operating company income during the first nine months of 2016. That is striking, given that Latin America and Canada have a combined population that isn't that much smaller than the entire European continent, and it shows some of the challenges that Philip Morris faces in dealing with the market. Moreover, Philip Morris has seen key operational metrics fall more precipitously from year-ago levels than in any other geographical segment. Revenue is down 12% from the first nine months of 2015, and operating company income has plunged by more than a fifth. Why is the Western Hemisphere holding Philip Morris back? The biggest problem that Philip Morris has had to deal with in 2016 with respect to Latin America and Canada is the impact of ongoing currency weakness. When you back out currency impacts, the region has actually been Philip Morris' strongest performer, with revenue gains of more than 6% and a similar boost in operating company income. In particular, the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso have weakened considerably since 2015, and the Argentine peso has been under considerable pressure throughout 2016. From a more fundamental standpoint, much of what Philip Morris has done in the Western Hemisphere has been promising. In Canada, shipment volume rose slightly to 7.47 billion units, and market share improved by more than half a percentage point to 38.3%. Mexico was even stronger, with a 7% jump in shipments to more than 18 billion units. In Mexico, Marlboro commands nearly half the market, having seen a full percentage point increase just this year. However, in South America, conditions haven't been as benign. In Argentina, a dramatic contraction in the total cigarette market was partially responsible for a 12% plunge in shipments to 20.4 billion units. Despite retaining a commanding market share of more than three-quarters, Philip Morris International saw that share drop by 1.5 percentage points, with key losses in premium brands like Marlboro and Philip Morris weighing particularly on performance. Only better results from the low-priced Chesterfield brand prevented a more extensive drop. Moreover, Philip Morris hasn't tapped into key economies in Latin America. Market share in Brazil and Colombia remains below 10%, and Brazil in particular is a huge untapped opportunity for the tobacco giant. Will Latin America and Canada improve for Philip Morris in 2017? It's hard to see currency-related risks dissipating much for Philip Morris' Western Hemisphere operations in 2017. The new Trump administration has already signaled an intent to rethink trade, and that could continue to keep investors uncertain about how new policies could affect sales and profits on exports. The moves Philip Morris has to make in local markets to stay competitive could hit its financial results further. However, if Philip Morris can keep emphasizing its fundamental strength in Canada and Mexico, it's possible that currency concerns will dissipate. That would likely result in the segment becoming a much more positive contributor to Philip Morris' performance in 2017. 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. A federal board responsible for protecting Americans against abuses by spy agencies is in disarray just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will have only two remaining members as of Jan. 7 and zero Democrats even though it is required to operate as an independent, bipartisan agency. The vacancies mean it will lack the minimum three members required to conduct business and can work only on ongoing projects. Trump would have to nominate new members, who would have to be confirmed by the Senate. The board was revitalized after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's disclosures on the scope of U.S. spying in 2013. It notably concluded that the NSA's phone surveillance program was illegal. Since then, it has been crucial in ensuring members of Congress and the public have a window into the highly secretive and classified world of intelligence agencies. But it's unclear if Trump will support robust intelligence oversight. During his campaign, Trump appeared to support strengthened intelligence overall and surveillance of mosques, but he's more recently expressed distrust of intelligence agencies. The Trump transition team didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Jim Dempsey, a Democrat, will leave the board Jan. 3 because for months the Senate has not confirmed his re-nomination by President Barack Obama. And former U.S. Judge Patricia Wald, the only other Democrat, informed the White House this month that she intends to retire effective Jan. 7. The board also will lose its executive director, Sharon Bradford Franklin, who plans to step down before Trump's presidency, according to an individual with knowledge of the board's operations who wasn't authorized to speak. Already in limbo is a public oversight report on the use of a Reagan-era executive order that since 1981 has authorized sweeping powers by intelligence agencies like the NSA to spy even on innocent Americans abroad and never has been subject to meaningful oversight from Congress or courts. The senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein of California, has said her committee has not been able to sufficiently oversee programs operated under the order. The privacy panel's report on the order is stalled and there's no work being done on it, according to the individual, who has knowledge about the project's status. Some individual agency reports related to the order were expected to be completed before the board loses its quorum, the person said. Another review, of a 2014 presidential directive that details U.S. signals-intelligence activities for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, is on track to be released before Jan. 20, the individual said. That review was requested by Obama. One of the board's two remaining Republicans, Rachel Brand, whose term officially expires in January, could continue through March. If Trump were to move forward with any board nomination, she may continue through the end of the year. Should Brand leave, Republican Elisebeth Collins would become the last board member; her term ends in January 2020. The oversight board was created by statute in 2007. Its members are part-time and required to be able to maintain a top-secret clearance. While lacking enforcement ability to impose its recommendations on the intelligence community, the board does have the "power of persuasion and invoking public concern about issues," said former board chairman David Medine, a Democrat who resigned a year early, in July, to work for a development organization. That power is significantly diminished without the minimum three members necessary to report findings to the public. The board's review of intelligence agencies' use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the NSA used to conduct bulk collection of domestic telephone records, concluded their program was illegal and should be shut down. That finding split along party lines with the Democrats in the majority. The review was also a driver for passage of the USA Freedom Act, which went into effect in November 2015. It prevents the government's bulk collection of Americans' phone records and requires a request to a phone company be first vetted by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rather than an internal agency administrator. Congress has at various points, including in the 2017 intelligence budget bill, put in provisions to limit the board's authorities or constrain its spending. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said in an emailed statement that the panel's role as a government watchdog is "absolutely critical now." He said Congress needs to ensure the board functions as intended by defending its authorities and making sure its new members are committed to independent oversight. The board contributes "important information to the public discourse and debate," said Neema Singh Guliani, legislative counsel with the ACLU. But if it can't do its job, maybe "we're in the same lack of oversight that led to the abuses of the past." ___ Follow Tami Abdollah on Twitter at https://twitter.com/latams Image source: Getty Images. Fresh off the news of the first OPEC production cut in eight years, oil stocks have been on a tear over the past few months. While caution is almost certainly warranted, the travails of the past two years do appear to be in the rearviewmirror for the oil and gas production industry. In fact, given OPEC's current devotion to increasing the price of a barrel of crude oil, 2017 might just be the year of an all-out turnaround. With this strong possibility in mind, we asked three Motley Fool contributors what stocks they're keen on heading into the new year. So, without further ado, here's why General Electric (NYSE: GE), Vermilion Energy (NYSE: VET), and Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL) are great picks, just in time for the holidays. The invisible oil giant Travis Hoium(General Electric):GE may not be the first name you think of when you hear "oil stock," but it's a huge player in the field. It has been building a huge energy business for years and recently merged its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) to form a company with $34 billion in revenue, 70,000 employees, and a presence in over 120 countries. Baker Hughes supplies everything from oil-drilling and production equipment to pipeline products and process equipment for refineries. It has a presence up and down the supply chain without being an oil producer itself. And I consider that an advantage in the volatile energy business. The pure energy play of these two companies is Baker Hughes, which owns 37.5% of the venture with GE. But by buying shares of GE you get a company in which nearly one-third of revenue will come from the oil and gas business, and there's exposure to more downstream products like jet engines, power plants, and commercial energy products. This gives investors a lot of exposure to oil's upside without taking the downside risk that comes with owning an oil explorer or downstream company. And with a 3% dividend yield to fall back on, GE provides a nice value and cash flow for investors who may have been burned by the energy industry in the past. This stock has it all Brian Feroldi(Vermilion Energy): Vermilion Energy might not be a household name, but it is a company that investors should learn to love. Since hitting the public markets 22 years ago, Vermillion has produced a total annualized return of 29%. Better still, it has paid out a stable or rising dividend for 13 years in a row. That's a track record of success that few other energy companies can claim. How has Vermilion pulled this off? At the core is the company's investing philosophy -- andshareholders have greatly benefited from its terrific execution. Unlike other energy producers, Vermilion has never been interested in buying proprieties in parts of the world that are prone to instability. Instead, the company invests only in developed counties like Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, and the U.S. This helps to keep production growing even during times of political upheaval. A great reason to buy Vermilion today is that its profits are about to soar. The company spent years investing in a major gas field off the coast of Ireland. This investment was a drag on results in the past, but it is now starting to pay off. The project produced its first gas at the end of 2015, and production has been ramping up ever since. When adding in the growth from the company's other fields, Vermilion's profits are poised to rise. Management is currently projecting that funds from operation will grow by23% next year, followed by another 11% boost in 2018. There's even more upside potential to these numbers if energy prices continue to rebound. While the company's shares have rebounded sharply along with the rest of the energy sector, I'd argue that they are still attractively priced. In addition, shares offer up a strong 4.5% dividend yield, which is paid out monthly. In total, Vermilion offers investors stability and a track record of success, growth, andincome. What more can you ask for from the oil patch? A low-cost producer Sean O'Reilly (Noble Energy):This company has just what investors need in a world where oil prices, despite being recently buoyed by an OPEC production cut, still remain some 50% below the highs of two years ago: low production costs. While Noble Energy's results did dip into the red in fiscal years 2015 and 2016 (as did those of practically every oil and gas producer, unaided by the reserve writedown requirements of the generally accepted accounting principles), the company remains the envy of many a peer. It is likely to increase its production some 6% this year, to approximately 425,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, all while being cash flow breakeven over the last 12 months, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence. Noble Energy has maintained an advantage over many a fellow producer because, while it does have some onshore production that has largely been shuttered in recent years, it remains to a great extent an offshore exploration and production player -- particularly off the U.S. Gulf Coast, in Africa, and in the Mediterranean Sea. While not nearly the size of industry whale ExxonMobil, Noble is a respectable global player. A recent contract to supply Jordan's National Electric Power Company with natural gas from its Mediterranean Leviathan field is proof of this. While Noble is expected to have a negative EPS result for FY 2016 and FY 2017, its ability to produce at a low cost while expanding its production makes it a strong consideration for any portfolio. Analysts expect Noble to generate well over $3 in EPS by the end of the decade, and, with shares trading hands at $40, it has a lot to offer investors looking for a great way to ring in the new year. 10 stocks we like better thanWal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and TomGardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter theyhave run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tomjust revealed what they believe are theten best stocksfor investors to buy right now and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- theythink these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click hereto learn about these picks! *StockAdvisor returns as of December 12, 2016The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned. Brian Feroldi owns shares of Vermilion Energy. Sean O'Reilly has no position in any stocks mentioned. Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of ExxonMobil. 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. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump extracted a promise from Boeing Co's chief executive on Wednesday that the cost of replacing Air Force One would not exceed $4 billion, his latest move to use the bully pulpit to pressure companies to help advance his economic agenda. Trump met with Dennis Muilenburg of Boeing and Marillyn Hewson, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp - two defense companies he has made an example of since his Nov. 8 election, sending defense shares tumbling with his complaints about projects he said are too expensive. He paraded the two CEOs in front of the cameras at the ornate front door of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending Christmas. "Trying to get the costs down, costs. Primarily the (Lockheed Martin) F-35, we're trying to get the cost down. It's a program that's very, very expensive," Trump told reporters after meeting with the CEOs and a dozen Pentagon officials involved with defense acquisition programs who he said were "good negotiators." Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has vowed to address government procurement costs as part of his industrial policy, which also includes taking a hard line on Chinese trade practices and renegotiating multilateral trade deals. Also on Wednesday, Trump named economist Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on China, to head up his White House team on industrial policy. He also appointed billionaire investor Carl Icahn as a special adviser on regulatory issues, and said Icahn would help him choose the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. 'PRODUCTIVE' MEETINGS Muilenburg, whose company was caught off guard by Trump's broadside earlier this month on the costs for replacing aging Air Force One planes, called his meeting "productive" and spoke admiringly of Trump's "business head-set." Trump has said Boeing's costs to build replacements for Air Force One aircraft - one of the most visible symbols of the U.S. presidency - are too high and urged the federal government in a tweet to "Cancel order!" "I think we're looking to cut a tremendous amount of money off the price," Trump said on Wednesday. The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House able to fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system. The company is currently under contract for $170 million to help develop plans for the planes. Trump has said the planes, which are in the early stages of development and are not expected to be ready until 2024, would cost more than $4 billion. "We're going to get it done for less than that, and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens," Muilenburg said, telling reporters he gave Trump a "personal commitment" that costs would not run out of control. Trump has publicly pushed other corporations to change tack, taking credit for forcing United Technologies Corp and Ford Motor Co to alter plans to outsource jobs abroad. Ford, however, said it had no plans to close any U.S. plants. Asked whether he had secured concessions from Lockheed Martin on its F-35 fighter jet program, which he has complained was "out of control," Trump said it was to soon to know. "It's a dance, you know, it's a little bit of a dance. But we're going to get the costs down and we're going to get it done beautifully," he told reporters. Lockheed Martin CEO Hewson, who left Mar-a-Lago without speaking to reporters, said in a statement that her meeting was "productive" and gave her the opportunity to talk about progress in cutting costs. "The F-35 is a critical program to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies," Hewson said. The costs of the F-35s, used by the Marine Corps and the Air Force, and by six countries, have escalated to an estimated $400 billion, prompting it to be described as the most expensive weapon system in history. Among the Defense Department officials who met with Trump was Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the F-35 program chief for the Pentagon. Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK) finalized its acquisition of trendy competitor Virgin America last week. This acquisition should provide a big boost to Alaska Air's earnings next year. Virgin America has earned a pre-tax profit of nearly $200 million over the past 12 months, whereas the annual cost of financing for the deal is less than $50 million. Alaska Air closed its acquisition of Virgin America last week. Image source: Alaska Airlines. However, in the long run, the main way that Alaska will benefit from this acquisition is through revenue synergies and new organic growth opportunities. In particular, Alaska Air's experience with using regional aircraft like Embraer's (NYSE: ERJ) E175 opens up lots of growth opportunities in San Francisco, Virgin America's main base. That could be worrisome for market leader United Continental (NYSE: UAL). Virgin America has a limited route map Virgin America is a fairly small airline by U.S. standards, with only 63 aircraft. Fifty-three of those planes are A320s with 146 to 149 seats. There is also a small subfleet of 10 119-seat A319s. As a result, Virgin America only serves 21 airports (representing 19 cities) from San Francisco. Furthermore, nearly all of its destinations are very large markets -- it lacks the smaller regional aircraft that it would need to be successful on many other routes. Even with this relatively limited footprint, Virgin America has been quite successful in competing against United Airlines in San Francisco. However, United is a behemoth. It operates about 275 daily flights to roughly 100 destinations from San Francisco. Virgin America's comparatively small scale complicates its efforts to gain share among business travelers. United Airlines is the dominant carrier in San Francisco. Image source: The Motley Fool. Alaska Air has a potential solution Unlike Virgin America, Alaska Air uses regional aircraft to supplement its mainline fleet. This allows it to serve a wider range of destinations from its hubs. In the past few years, Alaska Air's regional subsidiary Horizon Air has operated a fleet of more than 50 turboprops on short-haul regional routes. Alaska has also been relying increasingly on regional airline partner SkyWest to operate roomier Embraer E175 regional jets on so-called "long and thin" routes. By next spring, SkyWest will operate 20 E175s for Alaska Air, flying routes like Seattle-Milwaukee and Portland-St. Louis. The Embraer E175 appears to be working very well for Alaska. As a result, earlier this year, it ordered 30 E175s for Horizon Air to operate in-house, with another 33 options. Fifteen of these new planes will be used to replace turboprops; the rest will be used for growth. By deploying some of these E175s in San Francisco over the next few years, Alaska Air and Virgin America can build up their route network there in a way that wouldn't be possible with mainline aircraft. This will enable them to challenge United Continental on more routes than ever. Alaska Air begins to expand in San Francisco Alaska Air hasn't wasted any time in bringing new regional jet service to San Francisco. On the day that the merger closed, it announced three new nonstop routes from San Francisco. Two of those will use Embraer E175s. Starting next summer, Alaska Air will offer two daily roundtrips between San Francisco and Minneapolis using E175s. It will also offer four daily roundtrips between San Francisco and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. With these flight additions, Virgin America and Alaska will together serve 20 of the top 25 destinations from San Francisco. Alaska Air will open two new routes in San Francisco next year using the E175. Image source: Embraer. Both of these new routes have plenty of passenger traffic. However, as a new entrant, Alaska Air is likely to be more successful by starting with small planes, in order to offer multiple daily flights without flooding the market with capacity. As these routes mature in the coming years, they could potentially be upgauged to mainline aircraft. There are plenty of other routes from San Francisco for which the Embraer E175 would be an ideal aircraft, either for opening new markets or as a long-term solution. The more business routes that Alaska and Virgin America serve from San Francisco, the greater their chances of luring corporate accounts away from United Airlines with the promise of lower fares. In the next few years, the biggest constraint on adding new E175 flights is likely to be gate space. Fortunately, San Francisco International Airport recently started work on a terminal expansion project that will start to address overcrowding at the airport, enabling incremental growth by 2019 or 2020. Good news for Embraer? If Alaska Air's E175 regional jet operations in San Francisco perform well, the company could exercise many of its E175 purchase options in order to expand further. That would be very good for Embraer, which is in the midst of a tricky model transition. Embraer is already essentially sold out of production slots for 2017. It is scheduled to deliver the first next-generation E2 planes in early 2018, but the current-generation E175 will remain in production for at least three or four years beyond that. Unfortunately, Embraer doesn't have many E175 firm orders for 2018 and beyond as of now. Alaska Air could be a key source of incremental E175 orders for Embraer during the 2018-2021 transition period. Indeed, the E175 is uniquely suited to accelerating Alaska Air's growth in San Francisco, enabling it to expand into markets where Virgin America has historically been unable to compete. 10 stocks we like better than Alaska Air Group 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 Alaska Air Group 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 Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of Alaska Air Group and Embraer-Empresa Brasileira. The Motley Fool recommends Embraer-Empresa Brasileira. 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. When it comes to delinquent tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service doesn't tend to just sit back and let things go. Rather, it aims to go after its money, using whatever tools and legal options it has at its disposal. If you owe back taxes to the IRS, you might be tempted to enlist the help of one of the many tax settlement companies out there that promise to settle your debt. But while reducing your tax bill may seem appealing, the likelihood of these firms negotiating a successful settlement agreement is fairly low. And in some cases, the tax settlement companies you see advertising are nothing but outright scams. IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. Will the IRS settle your tax debt? The IRS has one goal when dealing with unpaid taxes: to get its money. As such, it's pretty rare for the agency to agree to a reduction in the total amount a taxpayer owes. Of course, there are always exceptions. Under specific circumstances, the IRS might agree to an offer in compromise (OIC) that settles your taxes if: There's a question or dispute regarding the total amount owed You're highly unlikely to repay your debt due to limited assets and income (or income potential) Repaying your taxes will constitute a severe economic hardship due to severe personal circumstances In other words, if you're near death or can prove that you have no assets and zero realistic ability to repay your debt now or in the future, then the IRS might let you off the hook, at least to an extent. But barring the utmost extremes, if you owe the IRS money, often the best you can hope for is an extension to repay what you owe. Tax settlement firms As the name implies, tax settlement firms negotiate on their clients' behalf to get their taxes reduced. Now before we start bashing these companies, let's get one thing straight: Many tax settlement firms are indeed legitimate, and many do employ successful strategies in reducing their clients' taxes. That said, there are plenty of tax settlement firms that are nothing but giant scams. What these firms will do is charge you an up-front fee for their services and then either disappear, or claim that they're working to resolve your tax issues when they're actually in no way qualified to do any such thing. So how can you, as a consumer, tell the difference? Tricky as it may be, you can protect yourself by looking out for the following red flags: A firm that guarantees a settlement A firm that promises results and takes your money without reviewing your financial situation first A firm that claims it can control or influence IRS decisions Avoiding a tax scam is similar to avoiding an investment scam. There's no such thing as a risk-free investment, so if someone comes to you and guarantees a whopping return with no downside, you can bet it's a con. Similarly, anytime a tax settlement company lures you in with promises it's in no position to keep, take it as a sign that you ought to run the other way. One thing to keep in mind is that some tax settlement firms may require an initial deposit before taking your case. While this might seem like a red flag, that's not always the case. As long as you're dealing with a licensed firm with good credentials (such as having established attorneys and accountants on staff) and no grand promises are being made, don't necessarily rule a company out because you need to put down a deposit. That said, if the idea of working with a tax settlement firm makes you wary, you may want to hire a lawyer instead. Either way, if you're hoping to settle your debt with the IRS, go into the process with limited expectations and don't be shocked if your balance ultimately isn't reduced. There's a very good chance you'll wind up owing whatever amount you failed to pay in the first place, so if your tax settlement firm or lawyer negotiates a reasonable payment plan on your behalf, be thankful for that leeway. The $15,834 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. U.S. chocolate maker Hershey named Chief Operating Officer Michele Buck as its chief executive and president, pinning its hopes on a company veteran to build on a recovery in demand in North America. Buck, whose appointment is effective March 1, will succeed John Bilbrey, who said in October he would retire as CEO and president. Buck, who joined Hershey in 2005, was the architect of the company's expansion into broader snacking categories and oversaw the acquisitions of Krave and barkThins brands, the company said on Wednesday. The maker of Hershey's Kisses, which rejected a $23 billion offer from Mondelez International in August, had said Bilbrey will continue as the non-executive chairman. Buck's promotion should not come as a surprise to investors, J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman wrote in a client note. Observers looking for deeper changes in Hershey's direction and/or culture probably were hoping for more of an outsider to take over, Goldman said. "The writing was on the wall when Ms. Buck was promoted to COO earlier this year." Hershey said in October consumers were beginning to spend a little bit more confidently than before, with the company introducing new products to overcome weak demand in North America due to changing consumer tastes and growing competition. Buck may also have to contend with the plans of the charitable trust that controls Hershey. The trust in July reached a major reform agreement with its overseer, the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. Up to Wednesday's close of $103.17, the stock had fallen 7.6 percent since Hershey rejected Mondelez's offer in August. Hershey shares were marginally down in extended trading. (Reporting by Aravind K and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta) The United States is resuming a trade fight with the European Union over barriers to American beef exports. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is threatening to bring back tariffs covering truffles, Roquefort cheese and other products to pressure the EU into ending a ban on U.S. beef treated with hormones. In 1998, the World Trade Organization ruled against the EU, and the U.S. imposed tariffs. When a compromise was reached in 2009, the U.S. suspended the tariffs. But the Americans say the deal hasn't worked. The two sides hoped to resolve the issue in a trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. But progress on that pact has stalled. So, the U.S. said, "it is now time to take action." Honda is Googling self-driving cars. The automaker is in discussions with Google parent Alphabets new autonomous car company Waymo to test its technology in Honda vehicles. Waymo recently added 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans fitted with its computers and sensors to its test fleet, which also includes Lexus SUVs and a two-seat pod-like car of its own design. If the deal goes through, Honda will work with the company to integrate the technology into its own, yet unidentified models, and deploy them in Waymos fleet. The move comes as Honda aims to bring robust autonomous features to its production vehicles by 2020. Honda suggests that the partnership with Waymo could accelerate its development of fully autonomous cars. Honda plans to unveil a boxy, autonomous electric concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, called the NeuV, which includes an artificial intelligence that allows it to understand and react to its passengers emotions with its own. ---------- Hands off! New Mercedes steers itself: Kim Kardashian West seems to slowly be getting back to her internet-breaking ways. While the reality star has been keeping a low profile after a tumultuous second half of the year that included her Paris robbery, as well as husband Kanye West's recent hospitalization, Kim's friend and makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic, took to her app on Tuesday, with some never-before-seen bathing suit snaps of his famous client. The shots were taken by photographer Nick Saglimbeni, with whom they frequently collaborated. Click here to see the photos "They were always so fun and had great energy. Nick is the nicest guy," Mario wrote. "We would glam, listen to music and shoot all day. Nick loved that signature look of ours. His lighting captured it so well." In the first pic, Kim wears only bottoms paired with a racy open-front leather jacket and boots, while in the second, the mom of two rocks a belly button-bearing white monokini. MORE: The 17 Biggest Kardashian Moments of 2016 Then on Wednesday, Mario shared some sweet photos of Kim showing off her silly side, posting close-ups of the Kimoji entrepreneur sticking her tongue out in one pic and striking a shut-eye pose in another. "Whenever I need a good laugh I go back and look at these," the makeup artist explained. "I always try to make her laugh when I take pics but my favorites are when she's yawning or dancing." Fingers crossed we'll be seeing more current photos rather than flashbacks soon. If there's one thing all Americans can count on in this crazy world, it's that a McDonald's Extra Value Meal will deliver exactly what it promises: extra value. Or so we thought. An Illinois bus driver is suing McDonald's and a local franchisee for tarnishing the Extra Value Meal name, reports the Daily Herald. James Gertie filed the lawsuit, which he hopes will go class action, Dec. 13 after realizing his $5.90 two-cheeseburger Extra Value Meal cost 41 cents more than just buying two cheeseburgers, fries, and a drink separately, according to the Cook County Record. "The reason that I am doing this is not about the 41 cents," Gertie tells the Daily Herald. "It's because of the principle." The lawsuit states Gertie bought a two-cheeseburger Extra Value Meal from at least five suburban Chicago McDonald's locations in October and November, and each time it was 41 cents more expensive than the a la carte option. He tells WLS-AM that he also went to 25 other McDonald's locations just to compare prices, finding that many were charging the exact same price for the two options. He doesn't think McDonald's should be able to get away with such blatant false advertising, with the lawsuit stating the meal deal is clearly "no value at all, let alone an extra value.'" Gertie is seeking reimbursement for all customers "overcharged" for the two-cheeseburger Extra Value Meal. Customers have also sued Chipotle over "300-calorie burrito." This article originally appeared on Newser: Man Sues McDonald's Over Extra Value Meal That Isn't Christmas came early for an expectant waitress in Arizona when she was gifted a very generous tip. Sarah Clark, a server at the Pita Jungle in Phoenix, is nine months pregnant and her fiance is scheduled to have knee surgery this week. On Saturday, a couple Clark had served before stopped by for a meal-- and left her a $900 tip on top of the $61.30 bill. The server says she was over the moon with gratitude I couldnt believe what I was looking at first because it was such a high amount $900 is a lot of money, Clark told CBS 5 KPHO in Phoenix. And it took a while for it to set in, and once it did, I cried for a little while. Clark will go on maternity leave in early January, and with her husband not working, she says the money is much needed. IHOP server says she received hateful receipt message from teen customers You always hear about these things happening, but you never expect to be the recipient of it, Clark said. The customer that left the tip, who is also pregnant, left a note on the receipt saying, This is Gods money He gave it to us so we could give it to you. God bless. I had talked to her in the past about my fiance being injured and him being out of work, and me taking leave, and I think it was just a really amazing token of generosity, Clark said. Here's a tip: South Carolina waitress alleges couple admonished her for working outside the home Clark has worked at the Pita Jungle for seven years, and says her customers have always been generous. I dont know if she really understands how much this is going to help us this season, Clark told KPHO. Me being on maternity leave and him being out of work [while recovering from the surgery], were not going to be making any income. So this is really going to help with rent and other bills and things like that. A Tennessee school nurse is being credited with saving the life of one of her students after the seventh-grader collapsed in the hallway from a blood clot near his brain stem on Friday, KREM.com reported. When Carrie Stephenson heard that Isiah Griffin had gotten sick, she initially thought it was a case of the stomach virus like three other students at West Bemis Middle School had dealt with that week. But when Stephenson saw the 14-year-olds eyes rolling to the back of his head and that his vomit didnt look normal, she sprang into action. She instructed another staff member to get the AED machine while telling another to call an ambulance. Stephenson checked Griffins pulse and monitored his breathing pattern while talking to him to keep him alert, KREM.com reported. I honestly thought he was fixin to die, Stephenson told KREM.com. Griffin was transported to Jackson General Hospital and then flown to Le Bonheur where his mother, Deborah, met them. Surgeons removed the blood clot and gave him a 50 percent chance of survival, but he woke up a few days later and has been showing good progress since, KREM.com reported. He will undergo physical therapy to help he regain strength and correct his walk. Her thinking and everything she did for him saved his life, I tell you what, Deborah told KREM.com. We couldve been planning a funeral, not planning a celebration. Believe me, she deserves the praise, baby. Stephenson said her training helped her to keep calm in the situation and that she hopes the incident encourages the district to have a full-time nurse in every schools building. Relatives of an 82-year-old Alzheimers patient were under the impression that only one beloved pet cat had to be looked after when the home was vacated, but a trip to check on the animal gave them quite a shock. Out from under a bed it darted, Paul Russell, the patients relative, told PEOPLE. At first I thought it was a cat that had a blanket on top of it. The next day I went into the creepy old cellar and it was hunkered in a corner. I thought, My God, this is a cat. What the Churchill, Pennsylvania, man had found was a 14-year-old cat, now called Hidey, that had grown too obese to groom itself. The result was years worth of matted fur that disguised the cats identity. Russell took Hidey and the cat he had known about previously, Siam, home to his wife Jill and they made an appointment with the Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center. The center shaved off Hideys matted fur and said the animal is an example of what can happen when pets of elderly relatives arent checked on frequently. The companionship of a pet can bring many positive benefits to the elderly, however, owning a pet is a large responsibility, Dan Rossi, CEO of the Animal Rescue League Shelter in the Western PA Humane Society, told PEOPLE. If a family member, friend or neighbor owns a pet, please help them to make sure there is a support system in place if/when mental faculties begin diminishing. Also, open door shelters such as Animal Rescue League Shelter and Western PA Humane Society do not turn any animal away if there are no other options for the pet. Siam and Hidey are returning home to the Russells where they join three other cats and two dogs. Russell told PEOPLE that Hidey is adjusting to living without pounds of extra matted fur. For the first couple of days she hid under the bed, he told PEOPLE. When you hold her, shes clearly shivering and nervous. Shes just starting to come out on her own now. A Massachusetts family is mourning the loss of their daughter who made headlines last week when she received a pair of donor lungs more than two years after being placed on the transplant list. Caitlin OHara, 33, died Tuesday after her health began declining rapidly post-surgery, her family said. OHara, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 2, was vocal about her battle with the illness and the need for more organ donation awareness. Her family kept the blog 9LivesNotes and vented their frustration about the long wait OHara had faced before she was matched with donor lungs. They told news outlets in Boston that in December 2014, OHara had become severely ill but hospitals near their home in Boston deemed her too fragile to put on a transplant list so they had to move to Pennsylvania, where she was being treated at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. If she had received these perfect lungs earlier, all would be different, her mom, Maryanne, wrote in a post Wednesday informing followers of OHaras death. She should never have ended up on life support with the score she had. The family had been informed of a donor Dec. 17 and OHara went into surgery the following day. Before being hospitalized this winter, OHara had been drafting a letter she planned to use to help raise awareness for other patients with cystic fibrosis who faced transplant issues. In spring of 2006 I was too healthy for a transplant, but I began the process at BHW [Brigham and Womens Hospital] at my doctors urging. BWH was one of the hospitals who transplanted cenocepacia patients like me along with UPMC, Cleveland Clinic, Due, and a handful of others. Better get started early was the thinking, so that when you get really sick, you are ready to be listed, she had written. I began the evaluation as an outpatient and completed a significant amount of its required tests. I continued to remain fairly stable in my health, OHara wrote. Then, in 2008, an administrative assistant from BWH called me, out of the blue, as I was getting ready for work, and told me they would no longer be able to offer me a spot for transplant because of my cenocepacia. In the letter OHara explained that she was removed from the list because due to a change in policy BWH was no longer going to be performing transplants on patients with cencocepacia. Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening condition causes thickened mucus to form in the lungs and other organs, causing lung damage and making breathing difficult, according to the American Lung Association. 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. A bipartisan group of moderate politicians come together to push for the largest immigration reform since the Reagan era legislation that provided a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. The second term president strongly supports the effort and will sign the bill if it passes both houses of Congress. Countering this endeavor are millions of Americans who believe that an amnesty bill without real enforcement would lead to the same mistake of the 1980s millions more undocumented immigrants streaming across the porous borders to take the place of those who gained citizenship. Sounds like the current state of affairs in America, doesn't it? Except the exact same events as recounted happened in 2007 with an amnesty bill pushed by John McCain and Ted Kennedy, with George Bush's approval. These amnesty advocates use peaceful, but increasingly disruptive methods of bringing attention to their agenda, in an attempt to move the country toward reform that would include a path to citizenship. Sooper Mexican The biggest difference between then and now is the presence of a mostly grassroots effort by groups advocating for what they call immigration rights a clever misnomer to blur the lines between legal and illegal immigration. In attempting to implement the lessons learned from the successful Civil Rights Movement of half a century ago, these amnesty advocates use peaceful, but increasingly disruptive methods of bringing attention to their agenda, in an attempt to move the country toward reform that would include a path to citizenship. The same desperation that would make someone make the long dangerous trek into America is the same animus that might coalesce into a more militant movement demanding amnesty at the least, and open borders at the worst. But this effort will fail if it continues to veer away from peaceful advocacy toward violent action, and it will fail because it misunderstands the nature of the American people. Americans are by their nature sympathetic and compassionate. If you read those words and scoff, then you will not be able to persuade Americans toward whatever political agenda you might have. And that's the problem with the militant amnesty agenda. Marisa Franco, organizer for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, when explaining the increased militancy, says, "the people will take power back into their own hands and set a true example of leadership that the Beltway will have to follow. The assumption of this sentiment is that immigration reform is stymied because of intransigence by politicians at the federal level, and the people actually want amnesty. If this were true, then more direct action could possibly force the political class to accept the popular will. What is actually the case is that many Americans support deportation, don't support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and more militancy will only further alienate them (intended) from greater acceptance. If anything, it's the politicians at the federal level who are pushing comprehensive immigration reform on an unwilling and disinterested populace. In this, they should look to a more proximate example the gay rights lobby. By deftly manipulating the image of gay marriage as merely demanding the right to establish a family, the thorny question of whether it is properly the province of the federal government to settle the issue is side-stepped. But it took a long period of garnering sympathetic allies in Hollywood, news media, and academia to achieve the unquestioned success of the gay rights lobby. By contrast, amnesty advocates seem to be impatient for reform despite the relative lack of urgency among Americans about immigration. Angrier, and more violent protests will only set back the movement as it continues to falsely accuse resistance to their efforts as motivated purely by racism or xenophobia. As long as the advocates for undocumented immigrants continue to believe their struggle is a Manichean war against malicious Americans, they won't make any advances toward actually persuading us that amnesty would be good for America. Which it isn't. Rumors that Raul Castro intended to implement significant economic reforms in 2008 sparked a renewed curiosity in U.S. business opportunities in Cuba. Many U.S. firms are even seeking legal advice to help them navigate U.S. sanctions against Cubas totalitarian regime in hopes of getting a head start on these rumored opportunities. Foreign investors are only allowed to do business with the Cuban government which takes at least a 50 percent stake in the company as a condition of doing business on the island. Rudy Mayor The most hopeful (or naive) observers predicted that Castro (the second) would adopt the China model with the Communist Party overseeing major economic liberalization. Yet, Cuba remains one of the most hostile and dangerous countries to do business in. Since the implementation of these so-called reforms, more foreign investors have left the island than flocked to Cuba. In 2000, there were 400 foreign companies operating in Cuba through minority joint ventures with the Castro regime. Since then, over half of all foreign companies have pulled out with only 190 remaining. In the last few years, foreign investors have seen over $1 billion in assets arbitrarily frozen in banks by the Cuban government. During this time, CEOs of various foreign companies have also been arrested with little if any due process. Cy Tokmakjian of Canadas Tokmakjian Group, for example, was arrested in September 2011 after his firm was raided and his assets confiscated in the typical communist fashion. Two years after the raid, Tokmakjian still sits in a Cuban cell and has yet to be charged with any crime. Similarly, Amado Fahkre and Stephen Purvis of Britains Coral Capital, both of whom had played a leading role in financing Cubas tourist industry, were accused of what the Cuban government called spying and revealing state secrets. After enduring a secret trial and serving 16 months in a Cuban jail, Purvis was allowed to return to London, but not before his business offices were shut down by the Cuban government. The multimillion dollar projects he invested in were similarly confiscated and transferred to a Chinese firm. Purvis admits that he was surprised his company was targeted, despite being financed by wealthy European investors and having a reputation as one of the best-established foreign companies on the island. The desire of U.S. businesses seeking to invest in a country with a track record as hostile to foreign investment as Cuba is not only bad business sense its absurd. It was in fact Cubas 1960 expropriation of U.S.-owned property valued at $9 billion (worth more than $50 billion today) that initially led to the U.S. embargo. Theyve done it before and they have clearly never stopped doing it. Of course, even more troubling than the financial risks associated with investing in Cuba is the way these investments are structured. Many law firms boast to prospective clients that Cuba is an untapped market of 12 million inhabitants with no mention that foreign investors are prohibited from doing business with private citizens. In fact, foreign investors are only allowed to do business with the Cuban government which takes at least a 50 percent stake in the company as a condition of doing business on the island. Equally troubling is that foreign investors cannot hire or pay workers directly. They must go through the Cuban government employment agency, which hand picks the workers. The investors then pay the Cuban government in hard currency for the workers, and the Cuban government pays the workers a fraction of their salary in worthless pesos while pocketing the difference in dollars. Buying into the myth of Cubas economic liberalization shows a profound lack of knowledge and a deep naivete about Cubas intentions. When asked whether he would invest in Cuba again, Purvis said Cubans just dont understand business yet. Perhaps it is this lack of understanding that leads to the blatant lack of respect for private enterprise, labor standards and norms displayed by the Cuban government. The dramatic scene in the skies over the Venezuelan jungle is more familiar in neighboring Colombia and Bolivia than in the nation ruled until March 2013 by the late-flamboyant anti-American president Hugo Chavez. A fighter jet, either one of the Bolivarian (Venezuelan) Armed Forces Russian-built Sukhol or one of its U.S.-built F-16 aircraft shooting down two light planes allegedly smuggling drugs. The head of Venezuelas Strategic Operational Center, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez later told his nation via state-owned television that the aircraft had been targeted only after all other means of persuasion had been exhausted. My inescapable, undeniable conclusion is that as long as marijuana and coca thrive in the welcoming climate and anarchy of the Amazon and the Andes, the campesinos will grow dope. Geraldo Rivera What struck me was the governments obvious pride of achievement in the shoot-down of the dopers. These are drug-trafficking mafias which intend to use our country as a platform for drug-distribution, trespassing our airspace, bragged the swaggering head of the National Anti-Drugs Agency, Alejandro Keleris Bucarito, after posting on Twitter pictures of one of the destroyed aircraft. Bearing in mind that the troubled region is the heartland of most of the worlds cocaine and much of its marijuana production, why is all this so unusual? Its because during President Hugo Chavez tumultuous reign, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was tossed out of his country, accused of spying and otherwise undermining his socialist regime. The melancholy thing is that all the law enforcement in the world cannot stop Latin American drug smuggling. This is a story I have been covering for over four decades. From the pot fields and drug labs of Mexico, Brazil and Central America to the Andean coca fields of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, I have dutifully chronicled the high-risk, ultra-expensive, super-dangerous War on Drugs. My inescapable, undeniable conclusion is that as long as marijuana and coca thrive in the welcoming climate and anarchy of the Amazon and the Andes, the campesinos will grow dope. And buccaneering smugglers will attempt to fly it to the voracious U.S. drug markets. The dopers will continue to corrupt and undermine local authorities, spread violence and mayhem, and they will succeed far more often than they fail, regardless of every effort to stop it, including Venezuelas newfound ambition to police its suddenly unfriendly skies. The nation of Uruguay to the south of Venezuela has a new and different idea to combat indigenous narcotics, which after all the deaths and disruption associated with the failed trillion dollar plus War on Drugs deserves attention. Essentially, Uruguay is saying "if you cant beat them, join them." Uruguay is set to become the first New World nation to completely legalize marijuana for recreational use. (As far as I can tell, North Korea is the only nation on earth that doesnt even classify pot as a drug. How progressive and weird is that?) Already passed by the lower house of Congress and expected to pass easily in the nations Senate, the law will create a system whereby registered consumers will be able to buy up to 40 grams of marijuana a month in drug stores. Thats about an ounce and a half or a chubby joint per day. The law also allows each home to cultivate up to six pot plants for personal use. With the urbane Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on the lovely Rio de la Plata set to become the Amsterdam of the Southern Hemisphere, isnt it time for all nations, including ours, to cop to the reality that almost everyone has at least tried marijuana once in their lives? How can the hard-nosed DEA continue to spend billions insisting that Latin American nations wage war on marijuana when the entire U.S. states of Washington and Colorado have laws similar to that bill in Uruguay? And in addition to those two states, there are 20 or more states which allow pot for medical purposes. Legal pot use is spreading faster than Obamacare. Stop throwing good money after bad. End the drug war. Viva Uruguay. There are many among us who do not study, savor or digest history of any sort much less American and/or Mexican history. Those people disregard history and prefer only to live today and look to the future. Take American Hispanics. They are ethnically centric as they should be, but in the process manage to not see the big picture and how they fit in in American politics. Numbers first: There are more people of Mexican heritage within sight of Los Angeles than all the Cubans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans in the U.S. combined. Fact: two thirds of all American Hispanics are of Mexican background. Will Mexican Americans be bought with government cash and goodies, or will they remember that Democrats invaded Mexico three times and never elected Mexican American Governor until a century after Republicans did? Raoul Lowery-Contreras Nonetheless, the media treats all such ethnic specific populations the same, despite longstanding political differences. Puerto Ricans as a rule can hardly understand the Mexican American; conversely, Mexican-background people dont know much about Cuban and Puerto Rican problems and views. There are no mariachi bands or rodeos in Puerto Rico, those are Mexican; there are no tacos, burritos, enchiladas or chile rellenos in Puerto Rico. They are Mexican and American where Mexican restaurants proliferate and Puerto Rican and Cuban do not. If someone says Boricua, Mexicans have no idea what that means. Some Puerto Ricans call themselves Boricuans trying to identify with native peoples who lived in Puerto Rico when Columbus discovered it. Nonetheless, because there are a couple of million Puerto Ricans in New York and other eastern cities and towns, many think they are the quintessential American Hispanic. Because there are many Cubans in Florida many think there are far more Cubans than there really are. Two thirds of American Hispanics are of Mexican background. That is why the Mexican American political future is absolutely essential to the American political process. How Mexican Americans vote may determine the future of the country. Let us be clear, voting habits of American Hispanics are totally predictable when one looks historically at the specific groups. Puerto Ricans are solidly Democrat, so are Dominicans in percentages (80-90 percent) that approach that of American blacks. Older Cubans are reliably Republican because Democrats they feel handed Cuba over to the Communists at the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961 that President Kennedy caused when he reneged on his promise of air support to American-trained Cubans. Younger Cubans with no memory of having been run out of Cuba have tended in recent years to vote Democrat, but the percentages are still 50-50. Mexican Americans have a long history of voting more Republican than Puerto Ricans and Dominicans who rarely have (Rudy Giuliani was one case). American political history is replete with Mexican American Republicans winning and holding high office decades before the first Democrat Mexican American won a statewide race. For example, Romualdo Pacheco, born a Mexican citizen in Mexican California, was first elected to the California State Senate in 1857 as a Republican. In 1861 Governor Leland Stanford appointed Senator Pacheco Brigadier General and Commanding Officer of the California Native Cavalry, a Union armed force that disarmed Confederate sympathizers in Southern California. Senator Pacheco was elected California State Treasurer in 1863 where he served until 1867. He returned to the State Senate. He was elected Lt. Governor in 1871 and served until he became governor when Governor Newton Booth was elected to the U.S. Senate. Republican Pacheco served as governor for a year. He ran for Congress in 1877 and defeated an incumbent by one vote. He served in Congress until his defeated opponent convinced his old House colleagues to accept him rather than Pacheco. Pacheco came back a year later and defeated the incumbent again. He served two terms. In 1890 Pacheco was appointed Ambassador to Central America and its various countries. Paralleling this California experience, Mexican American Donaciano Vigil was appointed the second Territorial Governor of New Mexico in 1847. Miguel Otero was appointed Territorial Governor in 1897 by Republican President McKinley and served until 1906. After New Mexico Became a state, Mexican American Republican Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazalo was elected Governor of New Mexico in 1919. He was elected United States Senator in 1928. Marco Rubio is the first Republican Cuban elected Senator with Florida also scoring a Spanish-descent Republican governor in Bob Martinez in 1987. No Puerto Rican has been elected Governor or Senator of any state. Given the Mexican American tradition of Republican politics dating back 138 years, one wonders why so many think that they will vote Democrat overwhelmingly in the future. Democrat President Woodrow Wilson invaded Mexico twice in 1914 and 1916. Democrat President Polk fomented war with Mexico in 1846 in order to steal California and the Southwest. Democrats appeal to Mexican Americans with food stamps, welfare and Obamacare. Will Mexican Americans be bought with government cash and goodies, or will they remember that Democrats invaded Mexico three times and never elected Mexican American Governor until a century after Republicans did? As I begin to write this column my heart wrestles mightily with my brain. There is nothing good to say about the state of our Union. I want desperately to look at this administration's performance in the same way the Obama apologists look at it, but unfortunately I can't. There is nothing this administration does that gives me hope. I was recently struck once again by the comment of a known Obama apologist, any time a criticism is launched at him or his administration. Lets face it, she said, "the reason why they don't like him is because he is black." I was befuddled; is she serious? We now know that millions of unsuspected Americans will have their current health care program cancelled, even though the President had promised up until three weeks ago, that they could keep their plan. Rosario Marin, Former U.S. Treasurer Maybe she has bought into that notion because its the easiest way out. Never mind the numerous disasters that he has presided over, that his signature accomplishment has been an unqualified catastrophe, or that America has lost credibility around the world since his taking office. I wont even discuss the stagnant economy or the fact that there has been a 70 percent increase in food stamp recipients since 2009. No, let's stop any argument by simply calling anyone who disagrees with the way he does his job a racist. There are numerous instances to show that the promised "most transparent administration" has been less than forthcoming. They have gone to great lengths to look at the American people in the eye knowing full well what was coming out of the President's mouth was not true. More On This... Aging in Office We now know that millions of unsuspected Americans will have their current health care program cancelled, even though the President had promised up until three weeks ago, that they could keep their plan. In addition, the President had said that the average family would save $2,500 a year; we have heard countless testimonies to the contrary. People are facing dramatic cost increases to their health insurance. He had said that people could keep their doctors. We know now that is impossible when you cannot even keep your current plan. And the worst tragi-comical untruth is that the rollout would be easy. No comment is necessary when Saturday Night Live has made so much fun of it. Even the cost of the program has been a farce. I definitely wonder and worry about how such a brilliant president can be such a poor manager, how can he be so out of touch. How many things happening right under his nose he doesn't know of? How many he is not made aware of? Worse yet, how many has he learned from the news at the same time as America has? I have to suspend disbelief to accept that narrative. Some of the most egregious instances of this claimed ignorance are the Benghazi threats, the Fast and Furious program, the IRS scandal, the problems with the healthcare rollout, and most recently the spying on some of our most significant allies and trading partners. Is our president so disengaged from day-to-day activities that all of these instances have taken place without his knowledge? Is it possible that in his political calculation the generosity of Americans is so significant that they will always give him the benefit of the doubt? The thin-skinned president needs an adoring crowd, a yes-sir cabinet that protects him from any criticism. But in the end they cannot protect him from himself. One thing is for sure: if he was the president of a real company, he would have been fired long ago. Im so angry I dont know whether to cry or scream. Why is Andy Lopez dead? One look at him reminds me how he could be my son, or yours. He could be any kid in America and he should be alive. Andy Lopez is a victim of our own exaggerated media-driven fears to which even grown men and women in uniform have succumbed. Lopez was a popular kid who deserves to be out playing with his friends today, doing what he seemed to love best pretending. Pretending! Werent we all once great pretenders? Isnt that what we get to do when were 13-year-old boys? The happy-go-lucky kid and his friends liked to play with pellet guns. Its a toy that looks like the real thing, but a toy nonetheless. Andy was careful to heed his fathers advice and not play near the street, so he stayed instead mostly in his house and in his own backyard when firing the plastic gun with friends. What was it about that moment that made the officers assume incorrectly that the boy with the toy gun posed an absolute and immediate danger? Was it the way he looked? Was it the way he turned or has it really more to do with the times we live in? Rick Sanchez However, a week ago, as he was walking along the sidewalk of his mostly middle class neighborhood, a sheriffs deputy cruiser pulled up behind him. Lopez was carrying his friends pellet gun, which he was going to return to him. By all indications, he was carrying the gun in a non-threatening manner. As he walked down the sidewalk in Santa Rosa, Calif., deputies say they called out to him twice to drop the gun, but Andy did not respond. It appears he either didnt hear or understand them, because when he finally did turn toward them police pumped seven bullets into his small frame. Amazingly, the entire incident took less than 10 seconds, according to the timeline now released by local police. It also shows that six seconds after that, deputies were calling for medical help for the boy with the plastic gun. He was probably already dead, but the officer who shot him, a 24-year veteran, said he believed Lopez was carrying an AK-47. As small groups of protestors gather to criticize the deputys actions, the FBI has decided to investigate the shooting. I hope they ask: What was it about that moment that made the officers assume incorrectly that the boy with the toy gun posed an absolute and immediate danger? Was it the way he looked? Was it the way he turned or has it really more to do with the times we live in? It is difficult if not impossible for us to imagine that 20 or 30 years ago, police would have responded as the deputies in Santa Rosa did last week. Could you imagine officers becoming afraid of us as kids playing with cap guns, no matter how real our weapons may have appeared? They wouldnt have been afraid. You know why? Because when we were growing up, police generally didnt fear us. So what has changed? Heres what Ive learned in talking to police, retired and in active duty, regarding this story. What police feared last week, no matter how ominous the plastic AK-47 may have appeared, wasnt the weapon. No, what they really feared was Lopez himself. They didnt really fear the gun, they feared the boy. You know why? Because of the visual imprint left in their head, and ours, by the infamous young shooters from the massacres in Columbine, Colorado, and more recently in Newtown, Conn. Though isolated incidents, to many if not most of us, these crazed child killers have become the new normal. Thats what the officers who shot little Andy Lopez likely saw not a boy with a toy gun, but rather another dangerously armed potential crazed child killer. Its a sign of the times thats enough to make us all want to cry and scream. Last week the Pew Research Center reported that three quarters of Hispanics living in the United States say their community needs a national leader, but roughly the same number either cannot name one or do not believe one exists. No one should be surprised that so few could agree on a national Hispanic leader. While Hispanics do share common values such as self-responsibility, hard work and love of country, the U.S. Hispanic population is diverse within itself. The culture, habits and traditions of Puerto Ricans in the Northeast are different from those of Cuban Americans in Florida or Mexican Americans in the Southwest. No one person can speak for all Hispanics, nor would it be in our interests as Hispanics to have just one spokesperson. The U.S. Hispanic population is diverse within itself. The culture, habits and traditions of Puerto Ricans in the Northeast are different from those of Cuban Americans in Florida or Mexican Americans in the Southwest. Alberto Gonzales, Former U.S. Attorney General However, many Hispanic families need help desperately as they struggle to deal with enormous challenges. We need champions who will fight for jobs, better education, greater financial security and safe neighborhoods. These advocates need not be Hispanic of course, but it has been my experience that there is an added layer of trust a bond between people and leaders who share experiences and a common heritage. Hispanics who hold positions of power are role models for Hispanic children whether they choose to be or not. A Hispanic serving on the Supreme Court or the board of a company, or one selected as Attorney General or corporate CEO, sends an unmistakable message of the power of opportunity that exists still today in America. Why is this important? It is important because projections of the future population growth in this country tell us that Hispanics are tomorrows workforce, tomorrows voters and, most likely, tomorrows leaders. So, how do we develop more Hispanic leaders? First, we nurture our Hispanic children, ensure they get a quality education, teach them the value of hard work and responsibility, demand a standard of excellence and high achievement, and train and prepare them to assume positions of leadership. Second, on election day, eligible Hispanics have to vote for the most qualified candidates who will advance their interests. Hopefully, over time, more and more of those candidates will be Hispanic. This is how America the land of immigrants develops new Hispanic leadership. Developing national Hispanic leadership is a desirable goal, but it is one that will take time to achieve. Leadership at the state and local level is more easily attainable, and I believe more important. For example, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval are making decisions today in their diversity-rich states that fundamentally directly affect the lives of thousands of Hispanics. However, even their ability to touch the lives of Hispanic families cannot match the impact of a single Hispanic role model within a family. Nothing would be more effective in developing productive Hispanic citizens of the future than preparing Hispanic parents today particularly fathers to be mentors to their children. If we are able to just do that, then inevitably we will see a new generation of national leaders for the Hispanic community. To say that institutional trust is fragile between the U.S. and Latin America is to understate the undeniable. Even before the world ever heard of NSA spying, after decades of armed intervention and engineered coups, most Latin nations did not trust the American behemoth any farther than they could throw the Empire State building. Historically, the distrust has been fueled by envy, anti-Yanqui hype and bitter shared history. From at least what President Grant labeled the "Wicked War" of 1846, which ripped the American Southwest from Mexico, and the Spanish-American War of 1898, where the prizes included Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines, there has been deep distrust of official Washington. Now comes the era of electronic surveillance, and the most effective anti-American propagandist since Che Guevara; its the bespectacled gringo named Edward Snowden. Geraldo Rivera The stereotype of Yankee imperialism was only deepened in the 20th century by our support of repressive dictators ranging from the Dominican Republic's Trujillo to Somoza of Nicaragua and Pinochet of Chile. Now comes the era of electronic surveillance, and the most effective anti-American propagandist since Che Guevara; its the bespectacled gringo named Edward Snowden. The nerdy leaker's latest revelations prove graphically that the National Security Agency has been trampling privacy rights all over Central and South America; going so far as to track the personal phone calls and emails of the presidents of Brazil and Mexico. Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino called NSA's Spy-palooza "an international crime ... It doesn't just violate international law, it violates international trust," he said in an interview with democracy.org, a popular left-wing blog. The foreign minister also disclosed how in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where Snowden's friend and ally WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has sought asylum, they found "a hidden microphone in the office of our ambassador." According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, which analyzed the classified documents leaked by Snowden, in 2010 NSA hacked into the email account of Mexican President Felipe Calderon. In an operation dubbed "Flat-liquid," access to Calderon's electronic communications gave our intelligence operatives "diplomatic, economic and leadership communications which continue to provide insight into Mexico's political system and internal stability." The documents analyzed by the German magazine also reveal an earlier NSA operation called "White-tamale" (I'm not making this up) which allowed the agency to access emails of high-ranking Mexican officials in the country's Public Security Secretariat, the agency that combats drug cartels and human trafficking. According to various press accounts, beginning in 2009, the operation produced 260 classified reports that facilitated "diplomatic talking points." In other words, since 2009 we've had the upper hand in bilateral negotiations between Mexico and the United States because we knew what their positions were before we even met with them. Further, Mexican newspapers allege the intelligence produced by NSA helped America gain a commercial advantage over Mexico in trade negotiations. One of the secret documents disclosed by Glenn Greenwald, Snowden's primary faucet states, "These TAO (Tailored Access Operations, designed to obtain secret information) ... are just the beginning, we intend to go much further against this important target." NSA spying on the current Mexican president Pena Nieto began when he was still campaigning for office in June 2012, according to Der Spiegel and Brazilian TV Globo, which has also been reporting the spying story aggressively. NSA harvested 85,489 text messages between Mexico's Pena Nieto and nine of his close associates in a single year, the outlets report. "This practice is unacceptable, illegal and against Mexican and international law," the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in its statement of outrage, adding, "In a relationship between neighbors and partners there is no place for the actions that allegedly took place." Of all our "neighbors and partners" none is as angry at us as Brazil, South America's largest and economically most important nation. The disclosure of surveillance by the United States of the personal emails and cell phone calls of President Dilma Rousseff has ignited a firestorm of protest that included the cancellation of President Rousseff's planned goodwill trip this year to the United States. And the Brazilians think we're doing it for the money. Globo alleges that economic espionage rather than U.S. national security was the primary motive for the surveillance. One high priority target, according to the reports, was the Brazilian oil giant, Petrobras. The Latino mother country, Spain, also discovered this week that our National Security Agency collected data on 60 million telephone calls in Spain. On Monday, the Spanish government summoned the American ambassador for an urgent parlay. After meeting with the Spanish foreign minister, U.S. Ambassador James Costos issued a statement acknowledging the widespread anger about our pervasive snooping, saying, "Ultimately, the United States needs to balance the important role these (spying) programs play in protecting our national security and protecting the security of our allies with legitimate privacy concerns." In response, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, the Spanish secretary of state, called on Washington to clarify "the reach of measures that, if proven to be true, are improper and unacceptable between partners and friendly countries." The Spanish prime minister was blunter. "Spying activities aren't proper among partner countries and allies." President Obama promised "an exhaustive investigation." With the United States preoccupied by the Obamacare debacle, and Mr. Snowden settled down in an I.T. job in Moscow, Americans aren't paying much attention to the NSA spying scandal right now. Rest assured, from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego in remotest southern Argentina, Latinos are focused on this latest chapter in the long, sad saga of El Hermano Mayor. Big Brother really is watching. The easiest part of the Affordable Care Act was supposed to be designing a user-friendly website that prompted millions to sign up for health insurance with just few clicks. To describe the launch as a colossal fiasco is putting it mildly. While many feel slighted with a glitchy website, the Latino community has been utterly dismissed. Thats because if you speak only Spanish, the Administration didnt even bother to fully rollout an ObamaCare website for you. Yet, something tells me they wont have any difficulties sending us the penalty notice for not signing up in Spanish. Its not enough to cite the flaws with the [Affordable Care Act] law; conservatives should offer something better, now, while we are still at a crossroads. David Laska Still, while much attention is currently being focused on the mutilation of a website, those of us who mistrust Washingtons growing control and power are most distressed about the damage Obamacares full implementation will do to the nations healthcare system. President Obama promised that his health reform plan would lower health costs, expand choice, and improve quality of care. Yet, as the program is unveiled piece by broken piece none of these promises are materializing. Americans are losing full-time employment, millions have been dropped from their employer insurance rolls, and many doctors wont participate. And worst of all, the care is not affordable. While a Bronze Plan the cheapest insurance available under the ACA will cost many families more than they are currently paying, they will have to cover 40 percent of their medical bills out of pocket through deductibles and co-payments up to as much as $12,700 per year for a family. Consider also that 65 percent of Hispanics are millennials, meaning they will pay much more for a product they dont need, didnt ask for and cannot afford. But its not enough to cite the flaws with the law; conservatives should offer something better, now, while we are still at a crossroads. To that end, real reform should build on the best of the current system, and go back to the American way of doing things. Medical care must put the customer first, and allow government a limited role. In replacing the presidents health law, Republicans and Democrats should work together on reforms that focus on three main principles: Empowering the individual consumer, encouraging a competitive marketplace, and providing for the truly needy. Empower the Individual Consumers True reform should empower individuals to make their own choices not limit options and mandate participation. Expanding Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) is a good first step. HSAs provide tax breaks to help people afford medical care, and to empower them to make their own health care choices instead of leaving governments or employers in charge. They also restore market incentives to control costs, through competition. Congress should also consider personal tax credits for buying health insurance. Right now employers get a tax break if they offer care to their workers. Why not allow ordinary Americans to take this credit if they choose so that they can purchase care if they are not satisfied with what their company may offer? Unlike the presidents health care law, this would build on the current system, while creating new options for those who want something different. Encourage a Competitive Marketplace Overregulation stifles the markets ability to provide innovative options, and arbitrary regulation leaves many with unmet demands. For example, right now, people may only buy insurance that meets the mandates set in their state of residence. This can make it extremely expensive for people in states with heavy regulations that protect powerful interest groups. We dont prevent people from going out-of-state to buy a car, or home appliances, or higher education. Why should insurance be any different? Tort reform must also be part of health care reform. Lawsuit abuse drives up the cost of health care, and doctors ultimately pass on the cost of frivolous litigation to their patients. Traditional tort standards for medical liability should be strictly enforced. Non-economic damages, such as compensation for pain and suffering should be limited and punitive damages should apply only in criminal proceedings. These reforms would ensure fair compensation for those hurt by doctors without inflating costs. In theory, health insurance exchanges expand choice and encourage competition. The Affordable Care Act, however, eliminates these positive effects by requiring all plans sold in exchanges to meet the same federal guidelines. Private exchanges allow trade associations, civic groups, and businesses of all sizes to offer their employees and members a wide range of alternatives. Provide for the Truly Needy There is a role for government in health care reform, but it should be limited to providing a safety net for the truly needy. On the state-level, high-risk pools for the uninsured should be expanded. Its important that health care reform help those who are currently unable to afford insurance. One way to do that without hurting the tens of millions who are happy with their health care is through the expansion of high-risk pools. Most states have these already. They provide coverage for those who cannot obtain insurance because of their health conditions, subsidizing the cost of policies through a tax on insurance companies or by general tax revenues. This is a better approach than forcing these individuals into the regular market and increasing costs for others. Lastly, it is essential that reform protects Medicare beneficiaries and improves Medicaid. Right now seniors have few options under Medicare, whose funding has been slashed to pay for the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid is even worse. The program is driving up the federal deficit, and offering extremely limited care with outcomes that are no better than going without insurance. It is shameful that low-income Americans are locked into this failing program. Ultimately, if we are to be a thriving and healthy society we must still be that country where entrepreneurs compete by constantly improving customer service, charging competitive prices, and innovating in order to achieve the trust and loyalty of their customer base. Putting government regulators in charge leaves too many Americans behind including those who speak Spanish, and the millions who are losing their policies. We need a better approach. It is early Sunday morning and hundreds of Hispanics are flocking to the streets of downtown Los Angeles. They are not attending a comprehensive immigration reform rally or a Latino music festival; they are getting geared up to exercise, not only their bodies but their minds. With green bottles in hand containing a daily nutritional regimen of shakes, aloe juice, or tea while others consume protein bars and all for the commitment to the parent company, Herbalife, and the many economic benefits they can collect if they become successful distributors. We cannot demonize successful business ventures and business models that provide income and entrepreneurship opportunities for our people, simply because not every person that gets involved succeeds. Rafael Fantauzzi It's the annual Herbalife Latin Extravaganza, a typical distributors conference in the likes of MillerCoors, IBM, Mary Kay, and McDonalds. Only difference is that Latinos run these conferences. Yes, Latinos are in charge. Why? Simple. Herbalife has succeeded at something that quite a few companies, and the Federal government for that manner, have failed, and that is to achieve real Hispanic inclusion. Hispanics make up at least 60 percent of Herbalifes direct selling workforce better known as distributors. Hispanic consumers and workers are an integral part of this industry. In a 2013 Second Quarter earnings report, Herbalife reported that its South and Central America volume grew 33 percent and Mexico reporting an 8 percent increase in year over year volume. North America, which includes Puerto Rico, reported an 11 percent volume increase during the same period. As President of the National Puerto Rican Coalition (NPRC) and a Board member of the Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility (HACR), I had been lobbied heavily by groups that portrayed Herbalife as pure monsters, who were taking advantage of innocent Latinos. Our organization was approached to discuss Herbalife and join a group that had already requested a full investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. At the epicenter of these allegations is well known hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, who bet that Herbalife stock would collapse if a federal investigation is launched. But I know there are always two sides to a story, so I requested a meeting with Herbalife corporate executives and its distributors. I wanted to confirm allegations that Herbalife was a pyramid scheme that preys on the Latino community. As a guest of the corporation, I was given an all "access pass" to a company culture that promotes self-improvement in order to achieve economic empowerment and nutritional wellness. Herbalife's culture might resemble a cult to some but to the people that I spoke to, Herbalife is not only a source of income but a source of work-life balance. Carla, a USC graduate from Los Angeles said, "I can do the business part-time or give it all I got and the outcome is the same, I'm gaining control of my life." But aside from this visit to Herbalife, I decided to do my research. Multi-level marketing companies are becoming more attractive to Hispanics with different educational backgrounds because of the lack of job opportunities or progress in the traditional marketplace. In addition, direct selling offers a unique flexibility for families that are juggling with the realities of life. But lets be honest, not everybody is caught up to be a salesperson. It is clear to all the people Ive spoken to that you reap your rewards if you work hard at selling and at building your down-line network, that is the foundation of American entrepreneurship. Im a firm believer that Hispanics are smart enough to ascertain risk. The big problem I see is that the critics of Herbalife and multi-level marketing companies are confusing business ventures with a welfare program. They assume that everyone must have equal outcomes, not just equal opportunity. If individuals want to become distributors/salesmen for these companies, their compensation and reward is based on the results of their effort. A worker that dedicated time and sweat and achieved high sales and promotions should be rewarded. His/her compensation should not be equal to that of an individual who did not put much effort or thought into this venture. Plain and simple, this is a business, not a charity. And if, as community advocates, we are going to demonize every company that rewards success over mediocrity, then we are not advocates for our communities, we are simply advocates of dependency and failure. And that is not the kind of future I want for my two girls. During my visit, I met a young man from Puerto Rico named Jonathan. Jonathan had worked in fast food and several other retail type jobs that required him to work long hours with very few opportunity for a promotion. Acknowledging that education was his way out, he became a registered nurse. After graduating he secured a job in the neonatal intensive care unit at a major hospital institution on the Island. But even with his education and the remarkable job, he had no quality of life. It was then that a family member exposed him to Herbalifes nutritional products and the chance to improve his financial outlook. Jonathan is now a very successful Herbalife distributor and is making a difference in other peoples lives. As the battle lines on this fight continue to be drawn, I encourage my colleagues, politicians, and the rest of corporate America to look closely at how multi-level marketing companies are transforming the emerging majority demographic of America, Hispanics. In our capitalistic system, there will always be winners and losers. Our organizations should be on the look-out for predators. But we cannot demonize successful business ventures and business models that provide income and entrepreneurship opportunities for our people, simply because not every person that gets involved succeeds. Let us allow our community to explore the capital system openly and trust that they know when to spot a limon. They came in behind me in the narrow alcove between the street entrance and the locked door that led into the four-story walkup apartment on East 7th Street between Avenues C and D. It was the late 1960s and this part of the Lower East Side of Manhattan aka Alphabet City was notorious as a festering cesspool of drug addicts and violent crime. Further west, toward the numbered avenues, the area was beginning a tentative gentrification that included a new neighborhood name heavy on hope and optimism. The shopkeepers, restaurateurs and the pot-smoking flower children moving in from the suburbs and from small towns across the country called it the East Village. Memories of the bad old days have faded, and after a generation, voters forgot. So now comes Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio; hes an old-style liberal Democrat whose campaign centered on a promise to unshackle a city straining under the yoke of police excess. Geraldo Rivera But over where I lived, in the building where the four junkies closed in behind me that night when I was coming home from classes in Brooklyn Law School, it was still the Lower East Side. And what was about to happen to me was something that happened in that neighborhood every day, all day and night, 24/7 a mugging. Open the door, said the one closest to me, a stoned, menacing Latino not from the neighborhood maybe a year or two younger than I was. He held the jagged edge of a broken bottle against the back of my neck, his colleagues crowding into the tiny alcove behind us. There was so little space they had to ease off to give me the room I needed to unlock the inner door. I lived on the first floor of the building. Knowing that if I let them into my apartment anything could happen, as I opened the door I bolted down the hallway, shouting to my landlady whose apartment was also on the first floor. Mrs. Hayes! Mrs. Hayes! Call 911! Call 911! There were just the two apartments per floor, the widow Mrs. Hayes on the left, mine on the right. I ran straight to a third doorway at the end of the hall, the mop closet, and tore it open searching frantically for something to defend myself with. There was only a mop, which I grabbed and turned to face my attackers. In the ensuing melee I never stopped calling to Mrs. Hayes to call the cops. The guy closest to me smashed what was left of his bottle over my forehead. His buddy smashed another bottle over the back of my head. Struggling and shouting after what seemed forever but was probably 15 or 30 seconds, they ran out, carrying with them my old battered briefcase filled only with law books. When they were gone for sure, I unlocked my apartment door, went inside and took a shower, picking the glass carefully out of the gaping wound in my forehead. Mrs. Hayes emerged tentatively after I was already out of the shower, assured me that she had called 911, and checked to see that all the glass had been picked out of the gash and the smaller wound in the back. The bored, unhurried cops from the 9th Precinct finally arrived around then. When I asked angrily what had taken them so long, they said they were busy, and advised me to get myself to Beth Israel Hospital on 17th and 2nd Avenue. Ironically, it was the hospital I was born in. I went and got the stitches needed to close the wounds, 36 in the front, eight in the back, the scar on my forehead is still visible 45 years later. Why do I tell this old story, almost quaint when you realize that aside from my mop the only weapons in the battle were the bottles used to crack open my head? Well, I could have told of my two decades in Alphabet City, like the four times my various apartments were burglarized or the numerous muggings, car vandalisms, robberies, murders or other scenes from Once Upon a Time in New York that Ive seen close-up, but you get the idea. This used to be the grittiest, most dangerous big city in the industrialized world. It is now the safest. What happened? How did we go from over 2,000 homicides a year to less than 400? For one thing junkies dont roam the streets like they did in those bad old days. The social safety net is more expansive and folks are not as desperate. Cops are more professional and responsive, some say aggressive, and the neighborhoods are not as raw. Beginning with Democratic mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins, and accelerating into the generation-long rule of Republican mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, this city became far less tolerant of criminals than it was in the days of those mean streets. Not only is the murder rate one-fifth what it was then; decent people have a reasonable expectation statistically, even in marginal neighborhoods, that they will never be the victims of violent crime. But memories of the bad old days have faded, and after a generation, voters forgot. So now comes Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio; hes an old-style liberal Democrat whose campaign centered on a promise to unshackle a city straining under the yoke of police excess. Vowing to undo the strict regimes of police commissioners like Bill Bratton, Bernie Kerik and especially Ray Kelly, de Blasio coasted to victory. In the rhetoric of his campaign, tactics like stop-and-frisk treated all minority men as potential suspects eroding civil rights and quality of life. Surrounded by his accomplished wife, Chirlane McCray, a woman who happens to be black and a former lesbian (it doesnt get any more New York), and two gorgeous children, daughter Chiara and Afro-wearing, teen heartthrob son Dante, de Blasio hammered home the message that his Republican predecessors only cared about protecting the fat cats. It helped that his opponent Joe Lhota came across as a bland bureaucrat whose anti-crime message seemed outdated fear-mongering. It worked. De Blasio won by historic margins, earning nearly three-quarters of the entire vote citywide; his landslide included 96 percent of black voters, which was more than a black candidate Bill Thompson got last time against Mayor Bloomberg in 2009, and 87 percent of Hispanics, which was more than Fernando Ferrer, a Puerto Rican candidate for mayor did in 2005. So what happens now? Candidate de Blasio said he would abolish stop-and-frisk, allow a federal monitor to be imposed on the NYPD, and through various pre-school and other social programs rewrite our economic Tale of Two Cities. It was obviously what most New Yorkers wanted to hear. His message resonated from the far corners of the five boroughs. He inspired and motivated this town like no one has done since the long ago days of Fiorello LaGuardia and the New Deal. God bless him. Now he has to govern a churning, wildly divergent world capital where 8 1/2 million restless souls compete for space, stuff and a leg up. Hopefully, Mayor De Blasio will get the point of my trip down memory lane. If people aren't safe in their homes and on their streets, nothing matters and nobody wins. The government is open. Washington is back at work. However, the bitter and partisan budget negotiations that resulted in a 16-day shutdown of the federal government are far from over. President Obama signed into law a temporary bipartisan deal approved by Congress that sets up the possibility of a new showdown to come early next year. Much is at stake for the Latino community, already taking the brunt of sequestration and previous budget cuts, but at last the government has finally re-opened and Congress can get back to work. Americans, including many Latinos, are tired of the partisan gridlock in Congress. The approval of Congress is at a new low in 40 years of polling. A mere 12 percent of Americans approve of Congress job performance, with 85 percent disapproving. The aftermath of the shutdown presents the President and Congress with a unique opportunity to put aside partisan differences and work together for the good of the country. This includes leadership on immigration and conservation issues. Comprehensive immigration legislation, passed by the U.S. Senate but currently stalled in the House of Representatives, would keep families together, uphold our values, promote economic growth and create a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living and working in the U.S. Business and labor leaders agree immigration is an economic issue. In fact, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bipartisan Senate-passed immigration bill would cut the deficit by $158 billion over the next decade. By acting on comprehensive immigration reform and conservation of Latino culture and heritage, the President and Congress would leave a legacy for generations to come. Mario Baeza In early October, U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia introduced H.R. 15, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. This legislation has garnered the support of 189 members of Congress, including the most recently U.S. Reps Jeff Denham (R-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and David Valadao (R-CA). In recent remarks, Speaker Boehner said immigration reform remains an important subject for Congress to address. Enough votes exist in the House to move immigration reform to the Presidents desk. Congressional leaders must exercise their leadership, allow for a vote and enact immigration reform this year. Leadership from the White House and Congress is also needed to conserve Latino cultural heritage. Last year, President Obama protected the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in California and the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in Northern New Mexico two places critical to Latino history and culture. Building on that success, the National Parks Service recently submitted recommendations to Congress to establish a new National Historical Park to honor Cesar E. Chavez. Despite the Latino communitys gains on Latino cultural heritage and conservation issues, much remains to be done. Only 3 percent of the 86,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places explicitly recognize and celebrate our countrys ethnically diverse cultures, including Latinos. As a community, we need to continue to protect the places where our history was made, like the historic Camino Real de Tierra Adentro in New Mexico, which could be preserved by President Obama as part of an Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. The National Park Service is encouraging the public to identify additional trails, neighborhoods, and national monuments and landmarks for connections to the Latino American past. We should seize the opportunity to celebrate our culture and heritage. Given the reported imbalance between the number of acres of public lands open to the public and those closed off for oil and gas development, we need to be mindful of protecting public lands where our families appreciate much-needed recreational opportunities. In his proclamation of National Hispanic Heritage Month 2013, President Obama said, I was proud to establish the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in honor of an American hero, a man who reminded us that every life has value, that together, those who recognize their common humanity have the power to shape a better world. As Cesar Chavezs example teaches us, we must never scale back our dreams. By acting on comprehensive immigration reform and conservation of Latino culture and heritage, the President and Congress would leave a legacy for generations to come. Its time for our leaders to work together and move our nation forward. Desperate to change the subject from the implosion of his healthcare bomb, President Obama has been meeting with religious and business leaders, urging them to lobby their local legislators to pass immigration reform. But hes preaching to the choir. Like the minister or priest who exhorts the faithful, his real target should be the sinner on the sidewalk outside the church. The sinners when it comes to immigration reform are House Republicans, and theyre not interested in another sermon from this president. Having expended his political capital in his Herculean effort to pass Obamacare without a single Republican vote, only to be humiliated by an atrocious health care website and a broken promise, our president is fresh out of clout. Conversely, House Republicans are licking their chops over the presidents self-inflicted wounds. Having forced him to admit his team screwed up on healthcare, they are in no mood to compromise on immigration reform. Right now, the reform bill strenuously negotiated and passed in the Senate has as much chance of passage in the House as the proposed increase in the federal minimum wage, namely zero. I want us to deal with this issue, but I want to deal with it in a common sense, step-by-step way, House Speaker John Boehner told reporters this week. In this case a step-by-step way means hell allow the House to increase border security and immigration enforcement, but as he also said, there is no way hes going to allow the House to vote on comprehensive reform. Ill make clear that we have no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate bill. No intention of ever going to conference on comprehensive immigration reform; never, ever. If you know any undocumented immigrants, please dont delude them or yourselves. The Republican House leadership will not even allow consideration of a bill to ease their dreadful purgatory, much less an actual vote. If meaningful reform legislation is impossible, what can we do? Long-term, supporters of reform must in 2016 wield the political muscle that was so evident in the 2009 and 2012 presidential elections that put Barack Obama in the White House and kept him there. The avalanche of Latino votes briefly got Republicans attention, but with most secure in their safe gerrymandered congressional districts, many GOP representatives either forgot or on balance dont care all that much. As I first said in 2007, when comprehensive immigration reform seemed imminent, only to be crushed, there will never be another Republican president unless and until their policies change. But until then, what is an advocate for the undocumented to do? Among other efforts, the shorter-term strategy must focus on the discretionary power of the president elected by Latinos to ease the plight of the undocumented. Like Mr. Obama has already done with the DREAMer kids, (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program), he can issue administrative orders to call off immigration agents and ease the rush to deport the kids parents. The other thing immigrant advocates can do is put pressure on State Houses and Governors Mansions. On Monday, Maryland became the 13th state to either issue or announce it will soon be issuing driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants; joining Connecticut, Utah, California, North Carolina, Illinois, Oregon, Colorado, Rhode Island, Nevada, Washington State, Washington D.C., New Mexico and Vermont. From the point of view of the immigrants, the advantages of drivers licenses are obvious, mobility and the ability to feed their families. As importantly, a driver's license makes an immigrant "a somebody," a real person with a height, weight, eye color, race and date of birth. It is a conveyance of dignity and identity for these strangers in this strange land. Of course, opponents of immigration reform object for some of those same reasons. Most say their opposition is based on the fear of fraud or terrorism, but those concerns are easily alleviated by captions and license labeling. The real, more enduring objection is the principle that a license "rewards illegality." Tell that to the pedestrian run over by an unlicensed, undocumented, uninsured driver. After a decade of trying, it is a gross disappointment that House Republicans are blocking immigration reform. We have to continue that struggle. But we can't keep fooling ourselves that reform will happen anytime soon. Right now, no amount of hunger strikes or petitions from McDonald's franchise owners or priests or rabbis will force the legislative agenda. The political and demographic tipping point is close. Lets continue fighting for comprehensive reform, but not be pollyana about it. It is not around the corner. Fight for your state to issue the undocumented a drivers licenses. There is dignity there, and a beginning. The rural community in the Texas Rio Grande Valley where Daniela lives has few options for health care. So when the mobile clinic that once visited her community stopped coming, services stopped with it. Because she was having breast pain, she managed to travel to a distant clinic for a mammogramno small feat given that transportation options are essentially nonexistentonly to find they didnt have a mammogram machine. Daniela was referred to a hospital, but she couldnt afford the $800 charge for the test. After a six-month wait, Daniela got an appointment at another clinic, but when she arrived, it no longer had the equipment. Without any other options for affordable care, shes simply enduring the pain. I dont even think about it, she says. I try to live with it. Rather than trampling the rights and health of women for political gain, Texas legislators should renew their commitment to womens health and take extra steps to protect Latinas because of the particularly significant barriers they face in accessing care. Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas & Nancy Northup A recent human rights investigation by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health has found that the deep cuts to family planning services enacted by Texas politicians in 2011has severely limitedand in cases like Danielas, completely eliminatedwomens access to cancer screenings, contraception, and other essential health care services. Our findings show a myriad of persistent barriers, such as immigration status, transportation, and a dearth of culturally competent care, are denying women across Texasparticularly those living in the Rio Grande Valleytheir fundamental human right to affordable reproductive health care. The toll on Texas Latinas, who make up 40 percent of women in the state, is undeniable. Texas Latinas report higher rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, and are more likely to die from cancer than Latinas nationally. Nearly half of Latinas of reproductive age in Texas are uninsured, many of them because they are barred from insurance programs due to immigration status. Also, Latinas are by far the most likely group of women in Texas to not have a personal doctor and to have foregone a doctors visit in the past year due to cost. Because of the struggles to access care, Latinas in Texas face higher rates of unintended pregnancy, cervical and breast cancer, and sexually transmitted infections. We hear story after story of the tough choices Latinas make for reproductive health care. One woman living in the Valley, Liria, told us women often go hungry to get contraception. Either they eat or buy birth control, but not both, she said. Rosa, another Texas Latina, shared how these barriers harm not just her own health, but also the well-being of her family. Rosa spent a year in chronic pain because she couldnt afford the medication to treat her uterine condition. (It) makes you feel like youre in the desert, a desert where theres no help. Adding insult to injury, Texas politicians havent stopped at just slashing funding for womens health care. These devastating impacts have been compounded by extreme measures aimed at restricting womens access to safe and legal abortion. Such measures have already forced more than a dozen reproductive health care providersincluding in the Valleyto immediately stop providing that service. Limiting access to safe abortion could not come at a worse time for communities experiencing a rise in unintended pregnancy as a result of funding cuts to family planning. Although the Texas legislature re-appropriated funds to womens preventive care in 2013, the repairing the damage done to womens reproductive health safety net will take years. Rather than trampling the rights and health of women for political gain, Texas legislators should renew their commitment to womens health and take extra steps to protect Latinas because of the particularly significant barriers they face in accessing care. Latinas and immigrant women across the state are uniting to support one another and protect the health of their sisters, aunts, daughters, and friends. Women like Lucy Felix, a National Latina Institute educator and advocate, who is training other Latinas to teach their communities about reproductive health, or Paula Saldana, who continues to educate Latinas about reproductive health on a voluntary basis after her paid position was eliminated, are driving the change. Earlier this year, a group of Latinas traveled to Austin from the Valley, some of them even risking detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to demand that their legislators protect the health of their sisters, aunts, daughters and friends. The consequences of this health care crisis facing Texas Latinas paints a bleak picture. But, its brave women like Daniela, Liria, Rosa, Lucy and Paula that foreshadow the future that is coming. A future where every Latina has the reproductive care she needs, for her own health, the health of her family, and the health of her community. These days its hard for D.C. politicians to reach bipartisan agreement but all now acknowledge that the Obamacare rollout has been disastrous. As a result, politicians who had supported Obamacare, like Congressman Pete Gallego [TX-23], are running for political cover by promising voters that a few more fixes are all thats needed to make this flawed law work. The truth is a few fixes arent enough. This isnt a surprise. Experts have seen this coming for years. There were plenty of warnings of the damage this law would do dating back to when it passed the Senate. Seniors opposed the $700 billion Medicare cut. Young people asked why they should have to pay more than their fair share, and why they should be forced to pay for coverage they didnt need or want. Union workers opposed the new tax that threatens their health care plans. Many said the subsidies were too small, and would leave workers paying through the nose for the more expensive insurance. Medical device manufacturers predicted the new tax on their products would kill jobs. Many were angry about special deals to win the votes of key Senators. The list goes on. The problems were so severe that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, I don't think it's possible to pass the Senate bill. But when she recognized this unworkable scheme was her only option, she forced it through anyway. The problems soon became apparent. Even the administration official in charge of the government-operated insurance exchange warned it might be a third-world experience and compared it to a plane crash. The Senate author of the bill said it might be a train wreck and the Government Accountability Office cautioned that the exchanges might not be ready. Back in 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services reported the law would cancel insurance for millions. But instead of confronting real problems, there have been an endless string of fixes. Pete Gallego needs to explain why he has rejected even these modest reforms to a law the administration called a plane crash and the Senate author called a train wreck. Daniel Garza The administration gave insurance subsidies to dozens of states without clear legal authority. The new Medicaid mandate was tossed when the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. The requirement that large employers offer insurance to workers was delayed. The Spanish-language enrollment site is now in limbo. Members of Congress and their staff were suddenly offered taxpayer subsidies to buy into the exchanges regardless of income something not authorized in the law. The small business exchange remains on hold. The latest fix is a partial grandfathering of some canceled plans which insurance companies say is unworkable. Now, the White House is considering bypassing the broken website and giving tax subsidies directly to insurers and even talking about a new insurance company bailout . This is a stunning change from a White House that vilified the insurers until it became clear their help was needed to save the law. Despite the string of unworkable problems, Pete Gallego supports the law. Earlier this year he said the Obamacare exchanges were something we can all support. He even voted against a bill to fund the U.S. government, delay for one year the tax penalty for not buying insurance that Washington approves, and repeal the special favor for Members of Congress. If that bill had been signed into law, it would have stopped the shutdown. Pete Gallego needs to explain why he has rejected even these modest reforms to a law the administration called a plane crash and the Senate author called a train wreck. If everyone realizes this was a mistake, why are Rep. Gallego and his colleagues in Washington tinkering with the problem instead of finding a real solution? Sadly, this law is a building on fire. The people of Texas are counting on their leaders to put it out not to sprinkle a little water. The LIBRE Initiative is expanding The Accountability Project multimedia campaign to Texas so people can understand not only the flaws of the law, but how to hold Washington politicians accountable for the suffering that this law is causing across the country. Running for political cover is just not an option. As the House of Representatives resumes its business and members return to their districts for the Thanksgiving holiday, the American people are asking, "What the heck have they been doing in our nation's capital this year?" Key pieces of legislation, such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and Comprehensive Immigration Reform, have passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support yet Speaker John Boehner refuses to bring up these bills for a vote in the House. The leader of one of the most unproductive Congressional sessions in history is headed to also become the person who blocked key civil rights legislation. Instead of taking this opportunity to become heroes for millions of Latino and millennial voters, the Republican House leadership has decided to stand for an agenda of family separation and employment discrimination. Felipe-Sosa Rodriguez I am one of the 11 million immigrants who stand to benefit from the pathway to citizenship contained within the Senate's immigration bill. I am also a gay man living in Florida one of the 33 states that allows workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The United States has historically endorsed and enforced unjust laws yet the work of grassroots leaders and the political will of those in Congress have always helped move the country forward in moments of great uncertainty. What else can we ask from our government but to protect our right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"? Every time a family is separated because of our broken immigration system or a worker loses their job because of who they are or who they love, our country fails to live up to its own promise. Our duty as people who love this country is to hold accountable the leaders who hinder the path for change in order to create a more perfect nation. Fifty years from today, our children will look back to 2013 and judge Speaker Boehner as the man who obstructed a key opportunity to end injustices against several communities including LGBTQ and immigrant families. More than 80 million millennials will soon be allowed to vote every year, over 600,000 Latino citizens turn 18. Speaker Boehners strategy of obstructionism will doom the chances for the Republican Party to win national races, both now and into the future. We know that the Republican Party will continue to use dirty tricks to suppress the right to vote of millions of Americans, but that strategy is not going to work forever. Demographics are changing the face of our nation we are watching a new majority rise into ascendancy. With John Boehner as the leader of the House, 2013 will go down in history as the beginning of the end of the Republican Party. Speaker Boehner has allowed for a loud minority of Tea Party representatives to steer our country off the rails. Not too long ago, the House tried to destroy the federal government by sending 800,000 federal workers home during the government shutdown and derailing our economy. Again and again, we see examples of his ineffectiveness, inability to control his members and complete disrespect for our country. We send representatives and elected leaders to Washington, DC, to deliver on issues that are relevant to our country. Instead of taking this opportunity to become heroes for millions of Latino and millennial voters, the Republican House leadership has decided to stand for an agenda of family separation and employment discrimination. Time and time again from immigration reform and employment discrimination to gun control and women's health, Speaker Boehner is blocking the progress of widely popular legislation. His reckless leadership will cause the Republican Party harm now and risks destroying the party in the future. The Constitution gives the President of the United States the power to appoint individuals to fill executive and judicial branch vacancies. The Senate is charged with providing advice and consent for most of these appointments. Historically, that duty has been discharged through a confirmation vote within a reasonable period following a nomination. Unfortunately, over the course of several recent administrations, a growing number of the presidents nominees either never receive a confirmation vote or have to endure a significant wait for a vote. The Senates failure to act has created judicial emergencies and left vacant key positions on the presidents executive branch team. Hopefully, this rule change will motivate the Senate to treat nominees fairly by providing confirmation votes within a reasonable period of time. Alberto Gonzales Last week, a majority of Senate Democrats voted in favor of the nuclear option to allow up-or-down votes on presidential nominees on a simple majority vote instead of the 60 votes required under the old Senate rules. Senate Democrats and the president insist this action was necessitated by the obstructionist tactics of Senate Republicans. As someone who witnessed firsthand the partisan obstruction by Democrats of President George W. Bushs nominees, this claim is just the latest example of Washington hypocrisy. Republicans, not surprisingly, have expressed outrage over the rule change. However, many fully expect Senate Republicans to set aside their indignation and take advantage of the rule change as soon as they control the Senate and have the opportunity to work with a Republican President. The Senate, of course, can govern itself in any manner it sees fit provided Senators discharge their obligations. The presidents job is to nominate good, qualified individuals to serve in his administration and in the judiciary. A great deal of care and energy is spent on every nomination. Once the president does his job, then it is the Senates turn to provide a hearing to evaluate the nominee and an up-or-down vote within a reasonable period. Elections have consequences and a president is entitled to have his team within the executive branch to help carry out his agenda, provided nominees are qualified by virtue of education and experience, and not disqualified because of background issues. Judicial nominees present different considerations. Judges are not appointed to represent or defend the president, nor to help carry out his agenda or vision for America. Federal judges are appointed to dispense justice under the law without bias. Furthermore, unlike executive branch appointments, a federal judicial appointment is for a life term. The decisions of judicial appointees extend well beyond the term of the president who appointed them, and can have serious long term consequences for litigants, society and the rule of law. Perhaps this is why the new rule leaves in place the established procedure as to Supreme Court appointments. The Supreme Court, however, hears relatively few cases every year. Consequently, much of our jurisprudence is shaped by the decisions of the courts of appeals. This is not to suggest the rule change is wrong and that the Senate should continue its same old dysfunctional ways with respect to judicial nominees. Quite the contrary, the current political gridlock has delayed justice, adversely affected the jurisprudence of this country and discouraged good people from serving in the judiciary. On the other hand, the rule change may make it easier for ideologues in the Senate to influence the president to place ideologues on the bench, and thus weaken the integrity and competence of our judiciary. Some commentators have warned that future Senate majorities may change the rules further to include Supreme Court nominees, and even legislation. This would fundamentally change the way the Senate has operated as an institution. Whether such changes would be good for the Senate and for the country in the long run is unknown. What is clear is that the old way of doing business was not working. Hopefully, this rule change will motivate the Senate to treat nominees fairly by providing confirmation votes within a reasonable period of time. Add one more delay to the list for the rollout of President Barack Obama's health care law. This time, it's a postponement of the launch of online enrollment tools in Spanish. The Spanish version of HealthCare.gov now provides basic information, but still doesn't allow users to apply for insurance coverage online. U.S. Health and Human Services spokeswoman Joanne Peters told The Associated Press on Tuesday the administration plans a quiet launch of the Spanish enrollment tools in early December without much advertising. That leaves Spanish speakers getting help by phone from bilingual call center operators or in person from bilingual enrollment counselors while they wait for an online option. An estimated 10.2 million uninsured Latinos may be eligible for coverage through the marketplace. Most of them speak English or are bilingual, but 3.7 million rely on Spanish. As recently as last week, the administration had told journalists the Spanish sign-up tools would be ready by the end of November. Hispanic groups had heard the same thing. Those groups have shouldered much of the burden of answering questions from Spanish speakers, hiring additional staff to answer phones and taking calls on Spanish language radio shows. "We want the English language Web page to be up and running and to be successful. Once we have that, then we want the Spanish language one to be up and running," said Jane Delgado of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health. "People are frustrated when they can't complete enrollment." But the administration was worried that launching the Spanish sign-ups would make the problems with the troubled HealthCare.gov website worse. The administration has pledged to get the site working for the vast majority of users by the end of this month. The December launch will allow Hispanic groups to give their thoughts on how the Spanish tools are working. "We think it's important to engage with key stakeholders and organizations in this process and get their feedback," Peters, the HHS spokeswoman, said. After the Spanish enrollment tools launch and Hispanic groups provide feedback, "We will ramp up our promotional efforts to drive Spanish speakers to CuidadoDeSalud.gov," the Spanish version of HealthCare.gov. Enrollment in the new health insurance marketplace is open until March 31. People who sign up by Dec. 23 can get coverage that starts on Jan. 1. "We still think it's an urgent issue that Latinos be enrolled. We are confronted with the fact that there are not the types of Spanish-language tools that would have facilitated that process," said Jennifer Ng'andu of the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy group. "That makes it even more crucial for the bilingual assisters to be a part of this process and to be a central part of the strategy." In Chicago, Luvia Quinones of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said Spanish speakers need in-person help from bilingual enrollment counselors more than a website in Spanish. "They don't need the Spanish version to be up and running," Quinones said. It's more important, she said, that they are able to sit side by side with someone who can answer their questions in Spanish and help them enroll. Hispanics are viewed as one of keys to the success of Obama's coverage expansion. It's not just that there's a need for health insurance among Latinos, but their relative youthfulness is seen as a plus for the law's new markets. About 30 percent of Latinos are uninsured, the highest rate of any ethnic group. But with a median age of 27, they are younger than the U.S. population as a whole. They are heavily represented in major states that the administration is targeting for enrollments, including California, Texas and Florida. And they're overwhelmingly likely to qualify for tax credits that would help make premiums more affordable. The administration's own marketing study found that Hispanics account for about 1 in 5 of the healthy and young, the health care overhaul's most desirable demographic. Overall, the healthy and young represent about half the nation's uninsured. They take health for granted, are sensitive to costs, and they have low motivation to enroll. But they're less expensive to insure, and their premiums can help offset the cost of care for older, sicker people. The goal of the Spanish version of the website was to provide an easy enrollment capability for the 17 percent of Latinos who prefer to use Spanish. As it turned out, the English-language website sputtered. But the Spanish version didn't even get off the ground. Prior to the Oct. 1 launch of HealthCare.gov, the administration had announced it was postponing Spanish-language sign-ups and other desirable features in an effort to focus on core functions. Although that strategy ultimately did not work, officials said they would not lose sight of having a Spanish-language capability as the underlying English website was repaired. People who live in the United States illegally aren't eligible for coverage under the law, but they must enroll any children born here or face a tax penalty. Quinones said it's a common fear among mixed status families that signing up their children for insurance will prompt an unwelcome visit from immigration authorities. Last month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced it would not use health insurance enrollment information for enforcement. Follow us on twitter.com/foxnewslatino Like us at facebook.com/foxnewslatino Hell yes, its a hate crime. I can hardly think of anything quite as hateful as knocking someone out just for the fun of it. Can you? No, its not a game; its a vicious crime that targets innocent people minding their own business when out of no where BANG! Yes, it does appear to be happening throughout the country. In New Jersey, Ralph Erick Santiago, 46, was walking near downtown Hoboken, when he was attacked. Three teenagers were stalking him. Their ambush was decidedly savage and deadly. To stamp out these acts of pure cowardice, police need to focus not just on the attackers, but on the videographers as well. Recording, instead of preventing these knockdown attacks is tantamount to aiding and abetting. Rick Sanchez Within seconds, the teens knocked Santiago to the ground with a blow to the back of the neck. It was so ferocious and so sudden, Santiagos head wedged between two posts in an iron fence. With his neck broken, Santiago was dead. In New York, a Syracuse man was knocked out and killed when he was assaulted by a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old. Police say the 13-year-old struck first, sucker punching 51-year-old Michael Daniels, but failing to knock him out. Thats when, according to police, the second boy finished the job with enough blows to the head to cause severe bleeding in the victims brain. Despite the viciousness of their attack, the boys each received only 18 months in jail. Similar cases have been reported in St. Louis, Missouri where police have set up a task force to target the young urbanites who are apparently responsible for the attacks. In Chicago, police acknowledge a string of attacks as well, which are sometimes referred to as polar bear hunting. What is polar bear hunting? Its described as an attack on a pre-selected white victim who is often elderly, which means its based on race which means it fits squarely under the definition of a hate crime. (Forty-five states have statutes that criminalize bias-motivated violence and allow prosecution of a crime perpetrated against a persons race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or disability). Finally, after much haranguing from those of us whove seen this trend in the making, one jurisdiction is calling it like it is. Brooklyn police are charging a 28-year-old knockout/polar bear attacker with a hate crime. Police say Amrit Marajh targeted an orthodox Jewish man around 2:45 a.m. Friday. Marajh is charged with both assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment as a hate crime. I say one down and one to go, because to stamp out these acts of pure cowardice, police need to focus not just on the attackers, but on the videographers as well. Recording, instead of preventing these knockdown attacks is tantamount to aiding and abetting. They are accomplices in what is a vicious and most dangerous so-called game. I say we turn their own videos against them, and charge them with what is clearly a crime of hate. The German-Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz wrote, War is the continuation of politics by other means. Conversely, when a war draws to a stalemate, yet the parties are still standing, it is quite possible that politics is the continuation of war by other means. As Colombia considers a peace treaty to end the insurgency of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (or FARC), it should concern itself by the prospect that the guerrillas might achieve at the negotiating table what they failed to obtain in 50-plus years of murder, kidnapping, assassination, sabotage and seemingly endless bloodshed. Still wedded to Marxist rhetoric, todays FARC runs one of the most sophisticated, and lucrative, drug producing and distribution networks in the world. Fernando Menendez Last time a Colombia government negotiated with the FARC the worlds oldest guerrilla insurgency ended up in control of a territory the size of Switzerland. Granted, at the time the FARC had over 15,000 armed soldiers and effectively ruled vast areas of the Colombian countryside. The result of the negotiation was to allow the FARC to build bases, prison camps for their hostages, airstrips and training facilities. Still wedded to Marxist rhetoric, todays FARC runs one of the most sophisticated, and lucrative, drug producing and distribution networks in the world. FARCs cocaine operations are said to be worth billions. A virtual state within a state, the FARC has seen Colombian presidents come and go. From 2002 to 2010, however, the government of President Alvaro Uribe increased its anti-FARC operations taking the fight to the guerrillas and denying them quarter. The result was to curtail the FARCs drug operations, disrupt their financial networks, destroy rearguard bases and decapitate its leadership core through a series of dramatic pinpoint attacks. After two terms, the Uribe government and his successor, then defense minister Juan Manuel Santos, had the FARC on the ropes. When Santos came into office, most analysts expected him to apply the finishing touches to the FARC. Instead, bloodied and partially decimated, the FARC put out feelers for negotiations. Santos, much to the dismay of Uribe and his supporters, held out an olive branch to the guerrillas and initiated talks in Havana, the center of the guerrillas political-diplomatic operations. Running for a second term, Santos has pledged to end the civil war. In part, Santos seeks to open Colombian mineral excavation to foreign investments, yet FARCs ability to harass and otherwise destabilize mining areas and blow up oil pipelines, has made this a highly risky proposition. The guerrillas, with less than 6,000 troops, still possess sufficient firepower to be dangerous, despite the Colombian armed forces superior capabilities. During the negotiations, the FARC has laid out two primary and overarching objectives. First and most importantly, seeking to avoid irrelevance, the FARC wants to insert itself into the Colombian political process. The guerrillas want political and constitutional guarantees, out of proportion to any electoral support they might gain, in order to play a role in shaping Colombias future. FARC leaders want amnesty for themselves and a seat at decision-making councils. So far, one point of agreement at the current talks calls for temporary special congressional districts where the FARC are strongest. In this they have the support of Venezuelas socialist government, a sponsor of the negotiations, which has long sought to undermine the power of its economically and militarily superior and U.S.-allied neighbor. For Venezuelas leaders the FARC is the Trojan horse inside Colombias gates. Second, the FARC has long sought to seize land through government-approved redistribution schemes. Redistribution would simply provide legal status to much of the land currently under FARC control. The negotiations have also yielded agreement to tackle deep poverty in the countryside. Santos hopes to have the negotiations completed and a treaty put to the nation as a referendum during legislative or presidential elections next year. Meanwhile, a FARC plot to murder former president Uribe and the attorney general among others was discovered on November 12th. This has hardened Uribes already harsh criticism of the negotiations with a group hes described as little saints the government wants to turn into a political party. This recent revelation has led analysts to conclude that the FARC is far from renouncing the means of war to achieve its political objectives. I'm a Catholic Latino, you know the type who's often described by politicians as a group they need to court or even admire because "we're very pro family." Patronizing nature of the assertion aside, it is generally accurate. I say generally because when it comes to these types of descriptions, there is no such thing as one size fits all, but we'll take it. As for me, yes it fits. I've married only once, to a woman I plan to be with until one of us passes on. We live in the suburbs where we are raising four kids. On weekends, we visit my parents or my brothers and very much consider ourselves "traditional," whatever that means. Speaking anthropologically, we've progressed and succeeded as a society by creating orderly relationships which are centered around a monogamous relationship. Rick Sanchez I express all of the above not to impress, but rather as an explainer to those of you, especially in the media, who find it difficult to understand us "Neanderthals" who bristle at the thought of constantly having to accept new lifestyles. The newest media push is, I guess, polyamorous relationships, which I've now witnessed being depicted on several specials and news reports as a reasonable alternative to traditional marriage. ABC news, for example, asks us to "have an open mind" and consider whether "they have a point." So what is the point of polyamory? It's essentially about loving not one person, but two, three, maybe four or five at once. Here, let me explain it as it was explained to me on the ABC News report. A man shares his bed with his wife and her girlfriend, who may also share it with her boyfriend and his boyfriend. I could go on, but I think you get the picture? As for kids? They'll be fine, after all, "it takes a village" right? Yep, that's what polyamors say they believe. And many of them, including some of their supporters in the media, tend to look at us traditionalists as troglodytes, you know "Neanderthals." But guess what, Professor Dean Snow of Penn State University says "the difference between being pair-bonded and non pair-bonded mating is a major watershed within primates. If a distinction is that Neanderthals weren't pair-bonded and modern humans were, that would be a major consideration in trying to figure out why modern humans out-competed Neanderthals in Europe." Hmmm! And why does he say that? Because a study by Emma Nelson of the University of Liverpool and team of researchers who combed through the literature on early humanlike primates found that Neanderthals were likely a promiscuous bunch who, like many primates alive today, probably lived in groups. Males may have likely either kept harems of female mates, or males and females each mated with multiple partners. In other words, speaking anthropologically, we've progressed and succeeded as a society by creating orderly relationships which are centered around a monogamous relationship. Again I say, hmmm! I present this research not to deny that I am in many ways a certain and admitted troglodyte, but rather to assert what few dare ask which is, "Who is the real Neanderthal?" President Obamas handshake of Cuban strongman Raul Castro at Nelson Mandelas funeral is no petty matter. Although some would argue that it was merely a polite gesture, it takes on added meaning when you examine the background of the two heads of state involved in the greeting. The leader of the free world extending his hand, and a cheerful salutation, to a brutal dictator who has personally carried out the execution of hundreds of so-called counter-revolutionaries, is deeply disturbing. It is also a slap in the face to the Cuban exile community and the millions of Cubans who continue to suffer under the repressive regime of the Castro brothers. As much as the White House would like you to think that the meeting with Raul Castro was unscripted, it most certainly wasnt. The world of modern diplomacy and modern security simply doesnt permit such chance meetings. You are left to wonder why President Obama chose to shake the hand of an unrepentant murderer. In the early years [Raul Castro] was directly responsible for the execution of hundreds of enemies of the state, many of them innocent individuals, summarily rounded up and shot merely on the basis of rumor or innuendo. Raul Mas Canosa Yes, a murderer. To understand the offense, one must understand a little more about Raul Castro, Fidels younger brother and his successor. While Fidel was healthy, Raul remained in the shadows, running the Cuban Armed Forces and maintaining a fairly modest profile. His low-key persona, however, was little more than an illusion. Raul Castro was an avid participant in the Cuban revolution. In the early years he was directly responsible for the execution of hundreds of enemies of the state, many of them innocent individuals, summarily rounded up and shot merely on the basis of rumor or innuendo. Rauls penchant (and even enthusiasm) for executions is well documented in Brian Latells masterful book After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castros Regime and Cubas Next Leader. In 1989, Raul Castro even participated in the betrayal and subsequent execution of a man many considered to be his best friend, General Arnaldo Ochoa. Ochoa had incurred the wrath of Rauls brother Fidel, who accused him of treason and set him up in a show trial worthy of Joseph Stalin. Raul sent him to his death, knowing better than to question his brothers judgment. Other senior government officials were also rounded up and shot. In addition to his role in executing hundreds of Cubans, Raul Castro has come very close to being indicted by the U.S. government for his involvement with Colombian drug traffickers (in 1993) and for his participation in the premeditated shoot down of the two Brothers to the Rescue civilian aircraft (in 1996). Three of the four men killed in the shoot down were U.S. citizens. Nevertheless, the President of the United States decides to shake the hand of a killer, a brutal dictator, and one of the last remaining despots of the 20th century. Unbelievable. And why was Raul Castro at Mandelas funeral? In the late 20th century, Cuba and the Soviet Union allied themselves with African nationalist movements throughout the continent, anxious to extend their communist ideology. Cuba even sent tens of thousands of troops to fight against South African forces that controlled parts of Angola and modern day Namibia. Western democracies, including the U.S., supported the status quo, more concerned with stopping Soviet and Cuban expansion than they were with ending apartheid. During that period of time, Nelson Mandela was a member of the South African Communist Party and supported violence and sabotage against the repressive and brutal South African government. He received assistance from the communists and openly admired Fidels Cuban revolution. Mandela even mimicked Fidels History will absolve me speech at his own trial for treason in 1964. The outcome landed him in prison. During Mandelas long incarceration, Cuba and the Soviet Union continued and even increased their support of nationalist revolutionary movements throughout Africa. Combined with increasing international condemnation, regime change ensued, including in South Africa. There is a popular expression that states: One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. The phrase has its origins in Gerald Seymours1975 thriller Harry's Game focusing on an Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassin and the British soldier sent to kill him. For South Africans, and for many others, Nelson Mandela was a freedom fighter. To his credit, Mr. Mandela never engaged in wholesale murder, vengeance and retribution. He adopted violence (in the form of sabotage against government installations) only after repeated attempts at peaceful change had failed. However, in the minds of many Cuban exiles, Nelson Mandela is no hero. Mr. Mandela sought and received the assistance of the Castro brothers in his struggle against apartheid. He praised their military intervention in Angola and Namibia. He continued to praise them and visited Cuba after his release from prison. For Cuban exiles, myself included, Nelson Mandela is a terrorist sympathizer. Moral clarity requires no confusion. And where does our President stand? Does he share Mandelas Machiavellian belief that the ends justify the means? Does he believe that the sins of the Castro brothers must be forgiven? Does he think that by shaking the hands of a murderer he can wipe away a half-century of crimes against the Cuban people? I hope and I pray that is not the case. Stop the presses! Oh dear! Every recent poll from AP, NBC, CBS, Quinnipiac, Pew, and Bloomberg says the same thing: the White House and his occupant have a major problem. The Presidents approval rating is the worst of his presidency. In one of these polls a whole 58 percent disapprove of his job! And a combined 50 percent say they are either disappointed or dissatisfied with the president, versus a combined 28 percent who are proud or satisfied. Most people are aware of Abraham Lincolns famous quote, You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Well it seems to me that according to all these polls, the majority of Americans are not willing to be fooled any longer. Every White House move is a calculated political exchange. Americans have realized it and they dont like it. Rosario Marin, Former U.S. Treasurer As the Presidents polling numbers continue on a steady decline, the series of excuses coming from the White House range from the depressed to the comical. A lot of the gloom and doom of these polls can be blamed on the disastrous roll-out of Obamacare. However, there is more to be read in here especially when the majority of Americans have yet to feel the negative economic impact of the Presidents signature accomplishment. The website will be fixed but then, Americans will have to deal with the loss of their plans, the loss of their doctors, and the higher costs of their healthcare. No amount of public relations stunts, feel-good conference calls or presidential speeches will be able to lower those costs, so they will not be able to turn around those poll numbers. Reality has hit the White House harder than the polls suggest. Point in fact: the hiring of John Podesta, the new savior of this administration, seen in some quarters as more of a panic measure than a calculated political move to steady a ship. If the most generous thing that can be said about him is that he is an old hand, then he has been at it long enough to recognize that this White House needs major surgery. It is possible Mr. Podesta might be able to have some impact and stop the bleeding. I dont know whether he will succeed, if in fact all of the same people who have been front and center in this White House continue to stay in their current positions. There are many of them whose political credentials are extensive, but few who have extensive governing credentials. Actually, that has been the main problem. Everything has been seen through a political lens. Every White House move is a calculated political exchange. Americans have realized it and they dont like it. The President has lost ground with all of his important constituents: independents, young people, and for crying out loud, even Latinos have soured on him. According to NBC, 42 percent said they approve of the Presidents performance as opposed to last year when nearly 75 percent of Hispanics approved of it. For Latinos it is not so much about Obamacare; it is worse than that. It is just plain disappointment. In recent days, there have been three deadly terrorist attacks in three different countries. In Jordan, ten people were killed (a Canadian woman among them) and 34 were wounded in an attack on a crusader castle which is a popular tourist destination. Seven of the dead were Jordanian security forces fighting to defeat the terrorists. The fight started in an apartment building after the landlord reported that the men had explosives. One policeman was killed there, and the four gunmen fled 30 miles to the castle, where there were tourists and where the terrorists could hide behind the thick walls. Only quick action by the Jordanian police saved a lot of other lives. In Turkey, a policeman killed the Russian Ambassador during the opening of an exhibit of Russian paintings. The attacker yelled that this was in revenge for Aleppo and shouted passages from a Hadith favored by Islamists. The terrorist-policeman was admitted to the exhibit by showing his security badge (much like in my novel Treason, in which security services secretly loyal to Islamic supremacists undermine American security). Also, in Turkey, a shot was fired outside the United States embassy in Ankara. The State Department has announced additional security precautions. In Berlin, an attacker drove a truck into a popular Christmas market next to the Berlin Zoo and killed twelve people while injuring about fifty others. Chancellor Merkel described it as an act of terror. These events are all reminders that while the American news media obsessed over a possible electoral college revolt which did not take place (Clinton actually lost more electors than Trump), the terrorists grew stronger and more widespread. The new Trump administration will have to develop a completely new strategy if we are to defeat those who want to destroy us. These three attacks in three different countries are reminders of the cancer that is growing. And of course, none of this includes the violence of Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Somalia. The world is becoming more dangerous as our media becomes more frivolous. A classroom assignment on Islam says one negative effect of the Crusades is that Christians are still treating Muslims harshly. I almost fell over, said Barbara Light. Click here for a free subscription to Todds newsletter: a Must-Read for Conservatives! Mrs. Light, of Westwood, New Jersey, was helping her 13-year-old daughter prepare for a World History test when she discovered some rather shocking lessons. The Christians harsh treatment of Muslims in the Holy Land led to bitterness that has lasted to the present, one worksheet stated. Another worksheet asks students to identify one negative effect of the Crusades that has continued to the present. The answer written on the worksheet the Christians harsh treatment of Muslims continues in the present day. In this day and age when so many bad things are happening to Christians all over the world they are basically saying Christians caused this, Mrs. Light told me. This is just too much. I reached out to the superintendent of the school district, but so far he has not returned my messages. Mrs. Light said the class has been studying Islam since the beginning of the school year. She said the students have also touched on Christianity and Judaism, but the lessons primarily revolve around the Islamic faith. It is indoctrination, she said. But Mrs. Light does not blame her daughters teacher for the Islamic-centric lessons. Its not really the teachers fault. This is what they are required to teach. They have no choice, she told me. Mrs. Light did the right thing. She got involved in her childs education. And when she saw something suspicious, she said something and contacted me. The good news is my daughter doesnt believe this, she said. But my problem is how many kids do believe? It should come as no surprise that our public schools have been turned into indoctrination centers for dangerous ideologies. I address this topic in my new book, The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again. The Islamic faith has been given accommodation in public schools while the Christian faith has been marginalized. I asked Dr. Emir Caner, the president of Truett-McConnell University to examine the lesson and offer his observations as a former Muslim who converted to Christianity. Here, Christians are once again blamed for the onset of violence by Muslims in the Holy Land, Caner told me. Forget the fact that it was the Muslim community, without provocation, that conquered Jerusalem from the Byzantines just a few years after Mohammeds death. That fact wasnt mentioned in the assignment. Forget the fact that Muslims killed Catholic pilgrims before the first crusade began, he said. That fact was not mentioned either. Forget the fact that it in modern history Muslims attacked the democratic state of Israel after the Jewish people were given the right to govern their land once again, he added. Those are what I like to call inconvenient truths, folks. Forget the fact that such violence is based on a traditional reading of the Koran, Caner went on to say. No, in the simplistic and skewed mind of a liberal educator, it must be Christians that are at fault, regardless of the evidence. In other words Christians if we get blown to smithereens, we have no one to blame but ourselves. The New York Times recently published an article purporting to trace the history of the War on Christmas. The article concludes that there is no evidence of an organized attack on Christmas in the United States, and expressed skepticism about the alleged liberal antagonism toward the holiday. As the author would tell it, Fox News host Bill OReilly stirred up the passions of his viewers based on a book written in 2005 by another Fox News host, John Gibson, entitled The War on Christmas. John Gibson interviewed me for that book, and I detailed the legal battles I and others had fought against Christmas censorship from the mid-1980s. I even wrote a book in 1987 on the topic that detailed ongoing efforts to suppress celebrating or observing the religious aspects of Christmas the birth of Jesus Christ. I can confidently say that the War on Christmas was not concocted by people at Fox News in 2005. It really happened. I know because I was there. Here are three ways the New York Times article got it wrong about the War on Christmas: 1. The War On Christmas is real, and started well before Fox News even existed Heres just one example. When I worked at Concerned Women for America, we litigated a case against the Seminole County, Florida School District in 1985 in which officials at the Tuscawilla Middle School removed the songs, Silent Night and Hanukkah Dance from the middle school choir concert on the objection of one parent. Officials at another school in the same district at a different school stopped a second grader, Olivia Myers, from passing out homemade Christmas cards to her classmates because they had a sticker of Jesus on them. At another middle school in the district, the PTA sponsored a contest to decorate classroom doors. The two students selected to create the art for one classroom door chose a nativity scene of Jesus birth, and the teacher ordered it removed because of perceived Establishment Clause concerns. Just before trial, we settled the case out of court with the school district changing its policy to allow school music programs to contain music that is religious in nature. It also allowed the school to use themes traditionally associated with a particular holiday season and to allow classroom displays of religious themes if they were not prompted by the teacher and contained nonreligious symbols. And the school paid some monetary damages to the students involved. I litigated this case. It was not made up by Fox News (which did not exist until 1996) or by anyone else. And this is not an isolated incident. The ACLU and its allies provoked many more examples of Christmas censorship with its lawsuits. 2. The ACLU filed numerous lawsuits to suppress public observances of Christmas Beginning in the 1970s, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed many lawsuits to stop Christmas observances in public schools, city halls, and other governmental entities. The New York Times quotes a carefully worded statement by an ACLU spokesperson that downplays the concerted efforts the ACLU and its allies engaged in to censor Christmas in public venues in the past. The ACLUs efforts were real and systematic. They created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation and disinformation about what the law said about Christmas. The ACLU has filed suit to keep school districts from singing religious Christmas carols. It has also filed suits to prevent the display of nativity scenes and other Christmas symbols like a Christmas tree and a menorah. The ACLU lost a major case it filed in 1980 to eliminate the singing of religious Christmas carols in public schools. A federal appeals court ruled that singing religious songs could have a legitimate pedagogical purpose in a public school. In fact, there is no court decision anywhere that says it is unconstitutional to sing religious songs, including Christmas carols, in public schools. Yet many people wrongly believe that. When I spoke about this topic, I would carry a copy of the court decision ruling against the ACLUs extreme views to show disbelieving audience members that it existed. In another case the ACLU lost, the Supreme Court upheld the citys use of the nativity scene because it also contained a number of secular Christmas symbols, such as Santas sleigh and carolers. However, the Supreme Court did declare in another ACLU lawsuit in 1989 that a nativity scene violates the Constitution, adding to the cultural zeitgeist that celebrating Christmas publicly was somehow inappropriate. So the ACLU conducted a litigation campaign to suppress the observance of Christmas in public schools and other government venues. Some of the cases succeeded, but many failed. And all of these cases occurred well before the existence of Fox News. These are just a few examples. 3. People resisted the War on Christmas because they knew firsthand it was real Fox News did not rile up gullible people to fight a war against Christmas that did not exist. This out-of-touch thinking by the New York Times assumes that most people who watch Fox News are easily manipulated. People responded to John Gibsons book and Bill OReillys protests against these efforts to suppress Christmas because they had experienced it firsthand. Many knew from their own experience that businesses, feeling that social pressure, began ordering their workers to say Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. That happened to me. In the early 2000s, I was flying on Continental Airlines in December. As we landed, the flight attendant wished us all, Happy Holidays over the intercom. As we disembarked, I asked the flight attendant if Continental Airlines would allow her to say, Merry Christmas to the passengers on the plane. Oh no, she said. I would be written up if I did that. Alliance Defending Freedom looked into this matter and others like it. We saw many such instances around the nation. We also learned that 92% of all Americans which includes many non-Christians celebrate Christmas. Even so, businesses who are free to have their employees wish people a Merry Christmas opted to suppress the greeting. Many public schools violated the freedom of speech rights of their students by censoring their Christmas art projects and Christmas carols. In 2003, the problem became so widespread that ADF formally launched an effort to combat the fear, intimidation and disinformation spread by the ACLU and its allies via these Christmas censorship lawsuits two years before John Gibson published his book. And weve had some success. The more extreme forms of Christmas censorship that we saw 10 and 20 years ago seem to be receding, due to the efforts by ADF and many others to bring a balanced, reasonable approach to the Christmas observances. People agreed with ADF and Fox News and others that the War on Christmas was real and wanted an end to hostilities. Our increasingly diverse nation tends to fragment unless we have common values or touch points that bring us together. A holiday that points us to love one another as God first loved us, and has us give generously to others is something many people think worthy of preserving and that everyone benefits by doing so. That is why so many people agreed to resist the efforts to suppress the religious aspects of Christmas. The New York Times missed this important aspect of this cultural phenomenon with its scoffing denial that Christmas censorship ever happened. So, next time the New York Times runs a piece like this, perhaps its author should talk to people who were actually in the fight, not just those who started it. Merry Christmas. Its been 70 years since the angel Clarence Odbody gave George Bailey a timeless gift in Its a Wonderful Life - the chance to see what the world would be like had he never been born. The plot and the premise of the perennial holiday favorite that every soul touches and impacts every life - resonates and endures seven decades later because deep down inside, many of us, if not all of us, sometimes wonder the same thing. Do our lives truly matter? Are we making a difference? In a world of over seven billion people, would our single life really be missed? Christmas is an ideal time to ponder our purpose and significance because for Christians, its the holiday we celebrate the birthday of the single greatest man who ever lived. Indeed, in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, were reminded that one life can not only change and save others but that one, seemingly ordinary life, can also change the world. This truth was made very real to me in the summer of 2005. Our lives and world - were turned upside down that July in the most wonderful of ways when Julianna chose my wife and me to adopt her son. She knew she could be a mother to Riley but wanted to give him what she knew she couldnt be - a father. Weve subsequently adopted two more boys Will and Alex but only because their birthmothers first chose life and then chose us. Being an adoptive father, Ive been drawn to stories of other adoptees, hoping to impress upon our boys that its the courageous decision of their respective birthmothers that has put them in a position to not only enjoy a good life but to make a difference in the lives of others. In doing so, I collected sixteen stories featuring people everyone would recognize. All of these individuals succeeded, not in spite of being adopted, but because of it. As I wrote, I pondered how different the world would be not only if they hadnt been born but especially if they had never been adopted. To be sure, your world and civilization itself - would look very different. How so? Just imagine life without Apple computers and iPhones. It was Paul Jobs, a mechanic in the middle of a burgeoning Silicon Valley, who taught his adoptive son, Steve, about marrying the the importance of excellence and design. It was the Jobs who introduced a young Steve to HP executives. If hed grown up differently, his sister once said, he might have become a mathematician. Then there was a woman named Anne Nancy Robbins who was adopted by a neurosurgeon in Chicago named Loyal Davis. When Nancy Davis arrived in Hollywood with her new name, she found work difficult to find. There was another Nancy Davis on the communist sympathizer list. The fledgling actress was encouraged to meet with the president of the Screen Actors Guild to help sort things out. Had Nancy never been adopted had she never changed her name - she never would have had any reason to meet Ronald Reagan. And without Nancy, most historians believe Mr. Reagan would never have been elected governor of California or the fortieth president of the United States. Each mans life touches so many other lives, said the second-class angel, Clarence, to a distraught and now convinced George Bailey. When he isnt around he leaves an awful big hole, doesnt he? We love the happy ending and we get it in the final minutes of the movie. George wants to live again and does. And after two-hundred years, Clarence finally earns his wings. Yet, as Christians, the very best news is that we already have ours. Each life matters - to all of us. And that makes this life and the next wonderful, indeed. The FBI has singled out Chinese-Americans as part of a controversial insider-threat reduction program that has sought to flag alleged efforts to manipulate polygraph tests, according to a leading national security defense attorney. "The government reacts with this sledgehammer instead of laser precision to determine who would be an insider threat which is very difficult to predict," said Mark Zaid, who has several clients with ongoing disputes involving intelligence agencies including the FBI. "They're sacrificing tons, dozens and dozens of Americans who're doing nothing but their jobs, and the FBI is one of the worst to do this." Zaid argues the program is flagging potentially innocent people based on a questionable standard. One of Zaid's clients -- who asked not to be identified for fear of further retaliation explained how it works. The client said, in their case, an evaluator alleged during a routine polygraph that the FBI employee had used "counter measures" to affect the accuracy of the test. The National Center for Biotechology Information describes "counter measures" as changes in behavior designed to manipulate the test results. They include the use of a "physical countermeasure (biting the tongue or pressing the toes to the floor) or a mental countermeasure (counting backward by 7) among others." Tom Mauriello, an adjunct lecturer and laboratory instructor for the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland, further explained that, No one in the polygraph community has really agreed on a specific definition, but I would say a countermeasure (CM) is the intentional manipulation of the polygraph subject's physiology by the subject with the explicit intent to distort their reactions. Agencies have sought to flag the use of counter measures amid the fear of an insider threat from China, in the wake of high-profile breaches including the compromise of more than 21 million records at the Office of Personnel Management. Mauriello said the greatest concern is security-clearance applicants "intentionally trying to beat the test in order to gain access to sensitive and classified information for purposes of espionage, etcetera. That is the person the process is trying to identify, not an overly nervous person who is just trying to pass the test." But critics suggest ordinary workers are getting caught up in the process. Zaid said once a government employee is accused of countermeasures, it becomes difficult to prove a negative. "All this device is doing is measuring your breathing, your heartrate, your galvanic sweat response. And it's determining based on that if you're telling the truth or not, he said. And it's determining are you telling the truth depending on where your physiological response falls." Mauriello said there is room for confusion. "It is my opinion that when a subject is being told that they are not passing their polygraph test, their attempt to try to help themselves is being labeled as them using countermeasures rather than them just trying to pass the test," he said. Asked if the tool is open to abuse, Mauriello emphasized, "I don't think there is any intentional abuse by anyone in the polygraph community in regards to this matter. They are trying to use the polygraph effectively for what it is, just an investigative tool. I believe it is a lack of collective understanding and definition of what a countermeasure is and maybe overzealous examiners looking for something that is not there." After being accused of using countermeasures, the federal employee who spoke with Fox News said they were placed on unpaid leave -- and with a suspended clearance, could not seek other work in the national security sector. Both Zaid and the employee said there is no timeline on when an appeal should be resolved. In the individual's case, the first level of review took more than a year. "You don't see any leadership inside the agencies or on the Hill to take a look at this. There's still thankfully a small number of cases," Zaid said. "They are on unpaid leave for two or three years. There's no voice for these people. When you look at it you have anything but utter disappointment and sadness and pathetic feelings for how our system works." Polygraphs are given every five years to most security-clearance holders. As a way to mitigate the risk, some employees are polygraphed on a more frequent basis due to factors such as birth outside the U.S., foreign-born parents, frequent overseas travel or financial trouble. Fox News was told that about 18 months ago, the FBI changed its procedures, and those accused of countermeasures were given the opportunity to take at least one more polygraph. Whether their clearance was suspended, and they were placed on unpaid leave, was decided on a case-by-case basis. Fox News asked the FBI for comment on the allegation that the review process was slow, and the use of countermeasures was too subjective. Fox News also asked the bureau if there is publicly available data to test whether Asian Americans are being wrongly singled out. The FBI did not provide data so the claim could not be tested. An FBI spokesperson told Fox News in a statement: All employees undergo a periodic reinvestigation to determine whether a persons continued access to classified information is clearly consistent with national security. The polygraph examination augments the FBI security process as one of many tools utilized when collecting information through investigation for making access eligibility determinations. Such determinations are not based solely on the result of a polygraph examination. With his client now in a second year of unpaid leave, Zaid said the issue appears much larger. "As much as we are supposed to be protecting these ethnic groups from discrimination," Zaid said, "once you start seeing that, you have to raise your eyebrows and ask are we racially profiling these individuals? The senator wept. It was the spring of 2005. And the late Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, implored his colleagues to reject the nomination of John Bolton to serve as President George W. Bushs ambassador to the United Nations. Many of my colleagues are not going to understand that his appointment is very, very important to our country, said Voinovich, choking back tears. At a strategic time when we need friends all over the world, we need somebody up there thats going to be able to get the job done. Voinovich toyed with a yellow marker as he tried to regain his composure. I dont want to take the risk, said Voinovich, his voice quivering. I came back here and ran for a second term because Im worried about my kids and my grandkids. Senators of the presidents party rarely oppose his key nominations. But thats what happened when Voinovich wavered on a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and ultimately sidelined Boltons nomination. The panel was poised to vote on the nomination and send Bolton along to the full Senate for confirmation. Ive heard enough today that I dont feel comfortable about voting for Mr. Bolton, Voinovich told his colleagues. Boltons reputation as an abusive human resources manager didnt ingratiate the nominee to Voinovich. Voinovichs contemporaneous opposition to Bolton in committee was enough. The panel halted its planned vote to send Boltons nomination directly to the Senate floor for confirmation. Republicans held a 10-8 advantage over Democrats on the committee. When they did vote, Voinovichs defection deadlocked the tally at 9-9. The panel advanced the nomination to the floor, but took the unusual move of doing so without fully endorsing Bolton. Hardly a recipe for easy confirmation. Still, Voinovichs opposition prompted weeks of inquiries into how Bolton comported himself with colleagues while working in the foreign policy community and at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Democrats saw an opportunity to go for the jugular. In those days, high-level nominations required a 60-vote procedural threshold to halt debate. The GOP-controlled Senate tried twice to send Bolton to a final confirmation vote. But Bolton could only hit 55 yeas on each of the procedural roll calls. Fifty-five votes was enough for confirmation. But not enough to break the filibuster. Boltons nomination was dead in the water. But when Congress adjourned for the month-long August recess, President Bush sidestepped the confirmation process for Bolton. The Constitution provides presidents the option to install figures in administration posts without the Senates advice and consent so long as the body is adjourned. Recess appointments only last until the end of the next session of Congress. Bolton went on to serve as the U.S.s representative to the United Nations, sans Senate confirmation. Months later, Voinovich came around and said Bolton had demonstrated an ability to work "multilaterally." So why bring this up? Voinovichs initial opposition to Bolton torpedoed an important administration nominee. And those who follow Senate history know the Voinovich-Bolton template could offer a glimpse into the confirmation process awaiting President-elect Trumps nomination of Rex Tillerson to serve as secretary of State. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., all expressed concerns about Tillersons business interests in Russia through ExxonMobil. The Russia question only looms larger now that there are serious questions about the level of interference in the election by Moscow. Tillerson may only need a simple majority after Democrats changed the rules, but that doesnt automatically mean a nomination is on a glide path to confirmation. Republicans will hold a narrow, 52-48 advantage in the Senate come January. That means if Democrats stick together and vote nay, Republicans can only lose one of their own to confirm Tillerson. The GOP can lose two on their side if Vice President-elect Pence breaks a tie. The Senate only rejected one Cabinet-level nominee outright in recent decades. President George. H.W. Bush nominated former Sen. John Tower, R-Texas, for Defense secretary in 1989. But the Senate turned down Towers nomination, 53-47. Senators expressed reservations over Towers relations with conservatives, allegations of alcohol abuse and womanizing. A number of Democrats raised serious questions about Tillersons nomination. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, is among them. But in a recent meeting with reporters, Coons also worried about the potential number two at State under Tillerson. Im equally concerned by rumors John Bolton may be nominated to be deputy secretary of State, said Coons. What happens if Tillersons nomination does implode? One school of thought now rattling around Capitol Hill is that Trump might then tap John Bolton for the job. But thats just congressional jawboning. First the Senate must deal with Tillerson. There will not be unanimous consent from the committee, said Coons. I cant prejudge what the body might do. And no one knew what Voinovich, the Foreign Relations Committee or the full Senate planned to do on Boltons nomination more than 11 years ago, either. Capitol Attitude is a weekly column written by members of the Fox News Capitol Hill team. Their articles take you inside the halls of Congress, and cover the spectrum of policy issues being introduced, debated and voted on there. One of the men who interrogated 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad told Fox News' "The Kelly File" Wednesday that political correctness "started that chain" that led to Monday night's truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market. "[It] was political correctness and their unwillingness to get this person out of their country who had no business being there because he didnt have the right paperwork to prove who he was," said Dr. James Mitchell, referring to Anis Amri. German authorities Wednesday named Amri as the suspect in the attack, which killed 12 people and injured 48 others, touching off a continent-wide manhunt. REPORT: GERMAN POLICE KNEW BERLIN ATTACK SUSPECT WOULD STRIKE Mitchell said that he and Mohammed, commonly known as KSM, had discussed the damaging potential of smaller, "lone-wolf"-style attacks more than a decade ago. Mitchell noted that Mohammed had been particularly struck by the terror caused by the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks. "For him, what surprised him was how much paralysis it caused given how few deaths were involved, few from his perspective," Mitchell told host Sandra Smith. "And what he said to me was our civil liberties and our openness and our willingness to be responsive to other peoples cultures ... were weaknesses and flaws that his God, Allah, had put into the American culture so that we could be defeated." Mitchell added that Mohammed believed that the easiest way to win what he called "the long battle to take over the world with Sharia law" was through "through immigration and by outbreeding non-Muslims." "He said that like-minded jihadi brothers would immigrate to Western democracies and to the United States, they would wrap themselves in our civil liberties for protection," Mitchell said, "they would support themselves in our welfare systems while they spread their jihadi message, and then, when the time was right, they would rise up and attack." In response to the terror threat, Mitchell called for the U.S. to restrict immigration from countries that promote terrorism, adopting President-elect Donald Trump's proposal from the recent election campaign. "I hope theres gonna be change," Mitchell said of Trump's election, "because heres the way political correctness works for a guy like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: It allows them to operate in our midst without being challenged. The Obama administration announced Thursday it is formally scrapping a once-mandatory registry for immigrant men from predominantly Muslim countries, amid speculation over whether the incoming Donald Trump administration may try to renew it. The U.S. already had stopped using the program in 2011. The original National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or NSEERs, launched about a year after 9/11, requiring men and boys from a variety of mostly Middle Eastern countries to register with the federal government upon their arrival in the U.S. Registration, which also applied to immigrants from North Korea, included fingerprints and photographs and a requirement to notify the government of any address changes. But after the Obama administration suspended the program in 2011, the Department of Homeland Security put out a notice Thursday officially removing what it called outdated regulations pertaining to the obsolete system. The notice stated: DHS ceased use of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program in 2011 after finding that the program was redundant, captured data manually that was already captured through automated systems, and no longer provided an increase in security in light of DHSs evolving assessment of the threat posed to the United States by international terrorism. The regulatory structure pertaining to NSEERS no longer provides a discernable public benefit as the program has been rendered obsolete. Accordingly, DHS is removing the special registration program regulations. The notice, though, comes amid growing international terror fears and Trump's suggestions that he could ban some Muslim immigrants from the United States. After a truck attack killed 12 in a Christmas market in Berlin this week, Trump told reporters, "You know my plans." While the registration program had been widely derided by civil libertarians as an effort to profile people based on race and religion, the international terror threat led to multiple calls for tougher policies during the Republican presidential primary race. Trump in particular made a far-reaching and controversial call to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from coming to the U.S., though he later shifted to focus on temporarily halting immigration from an unspecified list of countries with ties to terrorism. He also seemed, during the campaign, to open the door to a Muslim registry before backing off that idea to focus more on refugees. However, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Trump immigration adviser during the campaign, said last month that Trump should renew the DHS database. Meeting with Trump in New York, Kobach carried a document labeled "Department of Homeland Security Kobach Strategic Plan for First 365 Days." It listed an NSEERS reboot as the top priority. The document was visible in a photograph by The Associated Press. The list suggested the U.S. government "update and reintroduce" the program for all foreigners from "high-risk" areas. The president-elect, when asked Wednesday if the attack in Berlin would cause him to evaluate the proposed ban or a possible registry of Muslims in the United States, said "You know my plans. All along, I've been proven to be right, 100 percent correct." Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the president-elect's plans "might upset those with their heads stuck in the politically correct sand." He added that Trump has been firm on a plan to suspend admission to the U.S. for people "from countries with high terrorism rates" and subject some others to strict vetting. When the Obama administration abandoned the DHS system in April 2011, it said a newer data collection program would be sufficient to collect biometric information for all foreigners coming into the country. At the time, more than 80,000 foreigners were registered. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Call it a case of mixed-up metaphors -- but President-elect Donald Trump is renewing his vow to "drain the swamp" after key allies indicated the anti-corruption catch phrase was being ditched. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich initially had told NPR that Trump disclaims the phrase and now says it was cute, but he doesn't want to use it anymore. But Gingrich tweeted a video message on Thursday admitting he made a "big boo boo" and saying Trump has reminded him he still "intends to drain the swamp." Gingrich wrote, "I goofed. Draining the swamp is in." I goofed. Draining the swamp is in, @realDonaldTrump is going to do it, and the alligators should be worried. #DTS https://t.co/nCHs61gpve pic.twitter.com/OCO7eaSKvk Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 22, 2016 Trump also tweeted minutes earlier that "someone incorrectly stated" he wouldn't use the phrase. He sought to set the record straight. Trump's aides also said earlier he remains committed to his underlying swamp-draining policies, such as banning outgoing Trump transition and administration members from lobbying for five years. Trump also prohibits any lobbyists from joining his transition team or administration unless they de-register. "President-elect Trump's ethics reform policies are full speed ahead," transition spokesman Jason Miller said. "We're going to change the way business is done in Washington and start putting the American people first." At the same time, Corey Lewandowski, Trumps former campaign manager, indicated Thursday morning that other policy priorities are taking a front seat for the incoming administration. I think if you had to put them in a chronological order, drain the swamp is probably somewhere down at the bottom as opposed to getting tax reform done , making sure middle-class people have more jobs, making sure were renegotiating our bad trade deals, he told Fox & Friends. At the end of the day, its about the economy. Lewandowski's recent decision to open up a consulting shop just a block from the White House shows that insiders will continue to play a role in the Trump administration. Lewandowski, who was Trump's first campaign manager, and former Trump adviser Barry Bennett have formed a government relations and political consulting firm and are pitching their ties to Trump as they seek clients. The move drew some criticism. Meredith McGehee, chief of policy, programs and strategy at the government reform group Issue One, told the Associated Press the move is business as usual. Lewandowski defended his new role Thursday, telling Fox News he just wants to be helpful in advancing Trumps agenda to help the economy, while being a resource to corporations that want a fast answer and not a long maybe from the government. Im not going to be a lobbyist, he said. Lewandowski has been a fixture at Trump Tower in New York as the president-elect forms his administration. But because he never had an official transition title, he doesn't run afoul of Trump's ban on transition officials going on to lobby the government. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Kellyanne Conway, the indefatigable campaign operative who became the face of Donald Trump's successful presidential bid, has been named counselor to the president. Conway, who joined Trump's team as campaign manager in August, announced earlier this week on Fox News she was moving from her New Jersey home to Washington, signaling a pending position in the incoming Trump administration. Thursday's announcement from the transition team laid out her new role. TRUMP'S TEAM: WHO'S WHO IN PRESIDENT-ELECT'S CABINET, WHITE HOUSE "Kellyanne Conway has been a trusted advisor and strategist who played a crucial role in my victory," Trump said in a statement released Thursday morning. "She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message. I am pleased that she will be part of my senior team in the West Wing." Conway will work with senior administration officials to communicate and execute Trump's legislative priorities, the statement said. Conway told "Fox & Friends" on Thursday that she will be in the West Wing to "continue my service" to Trump. She said she had weighed a number of factors including her family in considering a job, but described the West Wing-in-waiting as family friendly, saying, "So I'm fine on that score." Calling the appointment "very humbling," she said: "It's difficult to pass that up. I know I've got his ear and his trust." In a written statement, Conway also said: "A Trump presidency will bring real change to Washington and to Americans across this great nation. 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, 49, has a law degree from George Washington University Law School and is founder and owner of The Polling Company, a polling and research firm. Thursday's announcement followed word Conway would relocate to the nation's capital. My family is going to move to Washington, D.C., and I will either stay outside and run the political super-structure, or I will go into the West Wing and take a position right next to the president, Conway had told Fox News Happening Now. Unlike positions on Trump's Cabinet, Conway's role is not subject to Senate confirmation. Gunmen stormed into a coastal village and killed 11 people, including five children, in violence blamed on a gang leader who has threatened widespread attacks. The assault sparked angry protests over rising crime in this impoverished country. The killings in Lusignan came hours after gunmen attacked police headquarters in the capital, firing indiscriminately and wounding two guards. Guyana, an English-speaking South American country, has struggled with violent crime fueled by drugs and gun trafficking, and is known as the site of the 1978 Jonestown mass-suicide and killings led by the American cult leader Jim Jones. Police and government officials say they suspect a criminal gang led by Rondell Rawlins is behind the violence. Rawlins accused security forces of kidnapping his pregnant 18-year-old girlfriend earlier this week and authorities said he threatened to carry out attacks until she is found. It was unclear why the gunmen chose Lusignan, a town 7 miles east of the capital where many of the men are usually away working to support their families. Raj Harrylall, whose two sons and wife were among the dead, sat in stunned silence in his bloodstained living room. He had returned to his village from working in Trinidad only hours after the assault on the town. "I don't know how he's going to make out," said Rickey Gurudat, his brother-in-law. "There's no one left in the house. Everyone got killed." Elsewhere in Lusignan, a town of whitewashed wooden homes, people gathered quietly in small groups, surveying bullet-scarred walls and kicked-in doors. Some erected tents for wakes. In the neighboring town of Mon Repos, the slayings prompted angry protests over the government's seeming inability to suppress gang violence in the country. At least 300 people flooded into the streets, burning tires, refrigerators and other debris and blocking the main roads. Some of the protesters vowed to form vigilante groups and avenge the killings. "We want justice!" they cried. "Government can't protect us! We want more police!" Mon Repos is usually a bustling marketplace on Saturdays, but everything was closed as irate villagers yelled at soldiers that began to arrive. "It is unthinkable that gunmen will break into your house with your family, put everyone to sit in a chair and kill them," said 50-year-old Karamchand Sukhu. On Wednesday night, suspected members of Rawlins' gang killed a Guyanese soldier during a gunbattle in Buxton, a village 2 miles from Lusignan. Authorities say Rawlins has been the leader of a gang associated with armed robberies since 2002. He is suspected of involvement in the April 2006 slaying of Agriculture Minister Satyadeo Sawh a murder that authorities said was aimed at destabilizing this former Dutch and British colony. There were no reports of arrests for the Lusignan killings, and President Bharrat Jagdeo urged neighborhood watch groups to report any leads to police. "(This) could not have been done by human beings but rather by animals," Jagdeo said ahead of meetings with security officials and the military. There were just over 100 people killed last year in the nation of about 770,000. Authorities blame much of the crime on the growing drug trade and gun smuggling. Drug trafficking accounts for an estimated 20 percent of Guyana's gross domestic product, according to the U.S. State Department. Guyana, on the northern coast of South America, is known to many abroad as the site of Jonestown, where American cult leader Jim Jones exhorted his followers to drink cyanide-laced grape punch in 1978. Babies were killed by squirting it into their mouths with syringes. Most adults were poisoned, some forcibly. Some were shot by cult security guards. Hours later, Jones and 912 of his followers were dead. The U.S. Armys upgraded M4A1 combat rifle is just the latest development in a category of weapons that American soldiers have carried since the countrys earliest days. Long Gun Beginnings Even before there was actually a "United States" there was what could arguably be considered the first true "American rifle." Known as the Pennsylvania rifle, the Kentucky rifle or simply the long rifle, it was designed for hunting and was characterized by an unusually long barrel, a unique development that was uncommon in the European rifles of the era. Military history consultant and former United States Marine Corps Captain Dale Dye told FoxNews.com that, in the flintlock era, the long gun was the first to have grooves in the barrel. "These grooves, or rifling, along with the longer barrel, made the guns much more accurate than the British Brown Bess musket," he said. HISTORY OF REMOTE WEAPONS IN PICTURES The long rifle wasn't ever produced in large enough numbers to truly make a difference during the American Revolution, but its use by sharpshooters such as members of Morgan's Riflemen at the 1777 Battle of Saratoga established the reputation of the American marksman. The first truly big leap forward in long gun design came with the Caliber .54, Model 1841 Rifle, which was the first to utilize a percussion ignition system. The Model 1841 is sometimes called the Mississippi Rifle due to its use by a Mississippi rifle regiment during the Mexican War between 1846 and 1848. The regiment was commanded by future Confederate States President Jefferson Davis. Davis, who served as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, also authorized the production of the .58 Caliber Musket, or Springfield Model 1861, the first rifled weapon to be produced for general issue by the U.S. Army. The Springfield Model 1861 would go on to be the most widely used U.S Army weapon during the Civil War. HISTORY OF THE 'JEEP' IN PICTURES The rest of the 19th century saw other innovations in rifle design including the Springfield Model 1873 "Trapdoor", a single shot weapon that was not without its problems, and later the Model 1896 Krag-Jorgensen, a reliable but underwhelming bolt action rifle. Truly American Rifles of the 20th Century The real change came with the Springfield Model 1903 an American take on a European classic. "The Springfield was patterned after the (German-made) Mauser action," said Dye. "It didn't have an overly deep magazine, but it was accurate to 800 yards and could be fitted with a scope and used as a sniper version." HISTORIC TANKS IN PICTURES The Springfield M1903 was the standard infantry rifle for all branches of the military during World War I, and was used widely during the early phases of World War II. It was replaced by what has been called one of the finest weapons of the 20th century, the M1 Garand, named after its inventor John Garand. "This was the first successful semi-automatic used by any military," Dye told FoxNews.com. "It is extremely rugged, extremely accurate." The M1 Garand, which will celebrate its 80th anniversary next year, was a significant improvement over the bolt action rifles of the day, which required that the weapon was manually cocked between each shot. HISTORIC AIRCRAFT CARRIERS IN PICTURES "This was really a game changer as it was semi-automatic and held eight rounds," R. Lee Ermey, better known as the "Gunny", former United States Marine Corps staff sergeant and host of the Outdoor Channel's Gunny Time, told FoxNews.com. "It could be argued it helped win World War II." After the war the military planners sought to find a one-size fits all rifle, and the result was the M14, which was actually developed to replace four different weapons systems that included the M1 rifle, the M1 Carbine, the M3 "Grease Gun" submachine gun, and the M1918 Browning Automatic Bar (BAR). The upsized M1 had its fans, including the Marine Corps, which still issued one to each platoon in the Vietnam War. "The M14 could hold its own against the bad guy gun, the AK-47," added Ermey. "The problem is that it went with a smaller round than the M1, so it lost some of its punch." HISTORIC BOMBERS IN PICTURES The M14 utilized the 7.62x51mm NATO round, or .308 caliber, which was too powerful for use in fully automatic mode as a replacement for a submachine gun, but yet too light to serve as a replacement for the BAR. In the end, however, the problem wasn't so much the gun, but rather the situation. "It was a little too late for the changing tactics of the conflict," said Dye. "The select fire didn't work out as well as planned. It had too heavy a cartridge for close-quarter fighting, and it made for a heavy weapon. While you are willing to trade weight for firepower, the rifle was not ideal for the situation in Vietnam." The irony is that the weapon that replaced the M14 proved not to be ideal at first either. The M16 had a rough baptism of fire, largely due to the fact that it was erroneously billed as self-cleaning and issued without cleaning kits. SHOT SHOW 2016 IN PICTURES "It had a turbulent introductory period," said Dye. "The problem for the M16 is that it was introduced while fighting was going on, and this didn't allow for the familiarization period that small arms really need. As a result it cost lives, and that is what you don't ever want to do." The other problem with the M16 was the fact that military planners switched the ammunition to one that produced more fouling, and this resulted in jams. The rifle, however, was refined with the M16A1 version. "The Americans don't have a good track record of backing up," Dye told FoxNews.com. "With the M16 this meant improving it and it proved to be a reliable weapon." AUSA 2016: TANKS, TRUCKS AND MORE TECH As the battlefield changed, the military adapted as well with the introduction of the M4 Carbine, a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2. This has replaced the M16 in most U.S. Army and Marine Corps combat units as the primary infantry weapon today. "Lightening the load has been the constant quest and the result is the slimmed down M16," said Dye. "Engagement tactics said we didn't need the long-range weapon for combat." The other refinement of the M4 has been its modular design, which allows it to be fitted with numerous accessories including bipods, laser pointers, telescopic sights and even grenade launchers. However, even in the M4A1 version the military may not have found the definitive rifle for the next battlefield. While the M4A1 may be more lethal at close range, there is still a need for taking out targets at distance. "The next challenge is going to be that long range rifle," said Dye. "This isn't about arming everyone with it, or even making it a sniper rifle, but there is a need for long range shooting and that is going to be the challenge to find the next great long range weapon for the U.S. Army." Seventeen masterpieces valued at 17 million euros ($17.7 million) were returned to Italy from Ukraine on Wednesday after being stolen by masked, armed robbers from a Verona art museum last year. Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, who traveled to Kiev to retrieve the paintings which included works by Rubens, Tintoretto and Mantegna said the possibility of ever recovering them once seem remote. Still, the paintings returned with little more than scratches after their long ordeal, according to an art expert. "It's an important day, because the works are all returning to Verona intact," Franceschini said. "It was an ugly story that became a beautiful story." INSIDE LEONARDO DA VINCI'S SECRET VINEYARD Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko handed over the paintings to Franceschini in a ceremony in Kiev, saying "the theft of masterpiece paintings is akin to stealing part of the city's heart." The paintings, wrapped in plastic bags, were recovered in May by Ukrainian border guards who intercepted them on a small island on the Dniester River during an attempt to smuggle them into Moldova. They were stolen in November 2015 when three armed robbers entered the Castelvecchio Museum, located in a medieval castle, at closing time just before the alarm system was activated. The robbers calmly removed the paintings before escaping in a security guard's car. A guard at the museum, Pasquale Silvestri Riccardi, was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison earlier this month. Five others were also convicted, including Riccardi's Moldovan girlfriend, who received six years, and his twin brother, who was sentenced to eight months. Two Moldovans are on trial in their home country for the thefts. Franceschini credited strong cooperation between law enforcement in the three countries for recovering the paintings and finding the thieves, giving particular praise to Italy's Carabinieri art squad. The culture minister also announced the government would introduce legislation this week making the theft or damage of Italy's cultural heritage specific crimes with elevated penalties. ROME BANS GLADIATOR ACTORS FROM ANCIENT TOURIST HOT SPOTS Curator Ettore Napione traveled to retrieve the paintings, studying them carefully with gloved hands before wrapping them for the homeward journey. The works were displayed in simple wooden frames made for them after they were recovered, because the thieves had cut the canvasses from their original frames, which they then discarded. "They suffered scratches, nothing very serious," Napione said. The paintings are to be shown together at their home in the Castelvecchio Museum for about a month beginning Friday before undergoing restoration and reframing. Authorities say an attacker entered a Northern California gas station, sprayed an employee behind the counter with a flammable liquid and set him on fire, killing him. The Record Searchlight newspaper in Redding reports (http://bit.ly/2h6kaVD ) that surveillance cameras captured the Wednesday evening attack near Burney, a small logging community an hour's drive east of Redding. Shasta County sheriff's Lt. Anthony Bertain says investigators are searching for the assailant and haven't identified a motive for the killing of 54-year-old David Wicks. Authorities say paramedics found Wicks with severe burns and an air ambulance flew him to a hospital, where he died. Bertain says the surveillance video shows the attacker wearing yellow rain gear, a black hoodie and gloves. Investigators say they found a bicycle outside the gas station. ___ Information from: Record Searchlight, http://redding.com A judge has scheduled an Ohio homeowner's murder trial for Feb. 21 in the death of a firefighter last year. Lester Parker has pleaded not guilty in the death of Hamilton firefighter Patrick Wolterman (WOHL'-tur-man). Butler County Judge Greg Stephens on Thursday ordered that he remain held on $500,000 bond. The 66-year-old Parker appeared with his newly appointed attorney, David Washington of Hamilton. Wolterman died after crashing through a floor Dec. 28 while responding to a house fire. The fire was later ruled an arson, and Parker recently was indicted on murder and aggravated arson charges. The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reports fellow firefighters were back in the courtroom Thursday and say they will maintain a presence during upcoming proceedings. Authorities say a police officer shot a man who was under custody at a Florida hospital after he attacked a medical employee. Ocala police spokeswoman Cynthia Barnes said in a Thursday statement the suspect also grabbed scissors from a desk in the X-ray room and threatened the medical staff and officer with them. Police say he didn't follow the officer's orders before he was shot. The man is recovering from the wound but authorities say he is expected to live. The hospital staff suffered minor injuries. The shooting erupted before midnight on Wednesday in Ocala, which is north of Orlando. Earlier, police and FBI agents had arrested the man for robbing a bank and taken him to the Ocala Regional Medical Center for treatment. A prominent Atlanta attorney has been booked into jail to face charges in the shooting death of his business executive wife. Fulton County Jail records Thursday show that Claud "Tex" McIver has been charged with felony involuntary manslaughter, along with a misdemeanor count of reckless conduct. McIver's attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Atlanta police have said McIver was riding in a rear seat of an SUV late Sept. 25 when a gun he was holding fired and the bullet hit his wife, 63-year-old Diane McIver, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. She later died at a hospital. Tex McIver has said the shooting was an accident. Diane McIver was president of U.S. Enterprises Inc., the parent company of Corey Airport Services. BRNO, Czech Republic -- He's loved by kids around the world and even made it to outer space this year. Little Mole's motto? Smile through adversity, always be positive. As Europe's economic crisis bites, toy manufacturers here are thriving on that message. Profits are high, new markets are opening and Little Mole, a cartoon character created in 1956 and still going strong, is the unrivaled star. "The mole is definitely No. 1 for us in all aspects," said Blahoslav Dobes, sales director at a small factory that has sole rights to make "Krtek", as the little stuffed toy with a red nose is known in Czech. "It's clear: He's a positive hero in these troubled times." Around Dobes, dozens of women were sewing, cutting and packaging a wide array of products trying to keep up with Christmas orders in 25 countries in Europe, Asia and the United States. It's a similar happy tale for other toy manufacturers here. Miroslava Brabcova, co-owner of Olymp, a Czech company that exports its wooden toys to Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and Chile, among others, expects sales to be up some 20 percent this year with eye-catching growth of up to 35 percent in western European markets, including Germany. "We're not happy about any crisis but we still manage to compensate losses on one market with profits from others -- however tough it may be," she said. When the Czech economy contracted by 4.7 percent in 2009 during the last global economic downturn, toy sales still rose by three percent that year. "It's a source of joy for us that the toy sector has not been hit by the crisis," Jiri Stastny, of the Czech Association of Toy and Play, told The Associated Press. "So far, we don't save when it comes to our children -- and it's the same in other European countries." "Krtek" was created by animator Zdenek Miler, who died Wednesday at age 90. In a limited series of cartoons known by all Czech children, he delights in playing with his friends -- a mouse, hedgehog and rabbit. He helps them from danger, dodges crazy traffic in the big city and in one episode searches high and low for chamomile herbal medicine in the ocean to nurse the mouse back from illness. "Krtek" proved hugely popular behind the Iron Curtain before the fall of Communism and has since broken into other markets, although English-speaking ones have proven toughest. His cheery face stares out from shops across Prague -- with a hat, umbrella, in pants, talking or even dancing. This year, he went where no mole had ever gone before when U.S. astronaut Andrew Feustel took a 7.5 inch stuffed version on the space shuttle Endeavour's last mission. Dobes said staff could barely believe it when the U.S. Embassy called one day to say they had 24 hours to make a version that met all NASA requirements. "We have licenses to export the mole to particular countries, but not to send him to space," he said. But the final frontier -- and perhaps most lucrative -- is China, where the mole is riding a wave of popularity after featuring at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. The Czech ambassador there says that for the Chinese there's no more famous Czech in the world. Dobes declined to give profit margins, but proudly said his factory in the south of the country has "been in black numbers for the last 20 years." Globally, toy sales bounced back quickly from the previous global economic crisis with 4.7 percent growth in 2010 to reach $83.3 billion, according to the NPD Group, a U.S. market research company. In Europe, there are some 78 million children younger than 14. The major markets in Germany and France were up 7.8 and 7.0 percent, respectively, in the first nine months of 2011 compared with the same period the previous year, according to the Toy Industries of Europe. That's with Christmas season sales that account for some 60 percent of annual revenues not yet factored in. The Czech Republic is one of the European Union's top exporters -- and international giants like Lego, Simba and Playmobil joined other major western investors in moving to then-Czechoslovakia after the 1989 collapse of communism in search of a cheap but skilled labor force. Plastic, though, is quietly frowned upon. "The quality (of Czech toys) is much better. They are classics and people now are returning to the past," said Prague shop assistant Milena Svahorova. "Maybe, they're fed up with the plastic ones because the new toys make children stupid." At least 11 people were killed and another 15 injured in an armed standoff at a liquor store in Guatemala, rescue officials said. Rescue workers found victims dead in "hiding places," in the store's bathrooms, and in surrounding streets, Sergio Vasquez, spokesman for the volunteer firefighters told local media. They arrived at the scene in the village of San Jose Nacahuil, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) north of the capital, after getting an emergency call "and a person with a calm voice indicated there were several injured," Vasquez said. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of, and who was behind, the carnage. Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez told reporters the killings could be linked to fearsome gangs -- or "maras " -- that roam the region. Guatemala has seen a wave of violence that has left more than 6,000 people dead a year -- one of the highest murder rates in Latin America. Officials estimate as many as half the violent deaths are associated with drug trafficking and the battle between gangs. Germany's top security official has sharply criticized Austria for dumping refugees at the border between the two countries Tuesday night. Austrian authorities failed to warn Germany about the impending arrivals, many of whom are fleeing conflict and violence in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere claimed Wednesday. "Austria's behavior in recent days was out of line," de Maiziere told the Associated Press. He said the two countries have since agreed to cooperate better. Meantime, Austrian officials are considering building a fence along parts of the countries' common border to "be able to control the refugees in an orderly way, state media reports. The land route into the European Union has shifted from Hungary to Slovenia since Hungary erected a fence along its border with Serbia last month. Most refugees continue to Germany and other EU countries from Austria. Slovenia also hinted Tuesday it was considering erecting fences on its border with Croatia. In addition, Austria is reportedly dealing with an influx in arm sales as a result of growing tensions over the refugee crisis. According to the broadcaster OE24, approximately 70,000 more firearms have been sold in Austria so far this year compared to the same period last year. The report says that an estimated 900,000 firearms are in Austrian homes. With a population of 8.5 million people, Austria is one of the most heavily armed countries in Europe. "Nearly all shotguns are sold out because you don't need to have a firearms permit to buy them," Thomas Ortner, spokesman for gun retailers in the state of Upper Austria, told the paper. "Registration courses for pistols are usually held only every five weeks but are now held weekly." According to Austrian law, anyone 18 and over can buy and own a shotgun or certain types of rifles, but they must be registered at a licensed dealer on gunsmith within six weeks of purchase. Ownership of other, more powerful weapons, such as semiautomatic weapons or repeating shotguns, requires special permission, such as a hunting license. The report also noted that many of the new gun buyers are women. The report stated that the most common reasons given for buying a gun were fear of refugees and fear of burglars. "Because of the social change, people want to protect themselves," one arms dealer told OE24. Meantime in the Netherlands, officials called Wednesday for a halt to threats and intimidation amid heated debate on providing shelter for thousands of asylum seekers entering the country. The leaders of 11 political parties in the Dutch parliament appealed to concerned citizens "not to confuse threats and insults with arguments. Let everybody speak, even if you totally disagree with them. In recent weeks, demonstration marches and meetings to discuss emergency housing for refugees have deteriorated into verbal abuse on both sides, including via mail and social media. People, whatever their view, who behave that way limit freedom for all of us, the leaders added. In comments to reporters during a state visit to China, King Willem-Alexander added, "In the Netherlands we talk things out, we don't fight them out." In Sweden, the countrys immigration agency said it will discontinue publicizing the location of refugee housing facilities after more than 20 fires, many considered arsons. Immigration officials estimate some 190,000 asylum-seekers will arrive this year, putting Sweden second only to Germany among EU members. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Authorities say that assailants armed with AK-47 assault rifles burst into a pool hall in Honduras' capital and opened fire, killing at least 12 people and wounding three others. Police spokesman Edgardo Barahona said at least three of the five attackers were wearing police uniforms and bullet-proof vests in Saturday's attack in Tegucigalpa's violent northern 1 de Diciembre neighborhood. The victims ranged in age from 19 to 30. Police said the pool hall was controlled by the Barrio 18 gang and there were about 30 people in it at the time. No arrests have been made. The massacre took place a year after a similar shooting in a nearby pool hall left five people dead. Honduras is plagued by gang and cartel violence, and has among world's highest murder rates. A U.S. private investigator who was deported from Costa Rica after being detained by immigration authorities in the Central American nation claims that he was set up by officials in Costa Rica and a man he was investigating. Doug Smith, the owner of WillSpy Private Investigation and Security Services, eventually returned to Central America after being deported to the U.S. He said he never faced charges in the 2013 case. Costa Rican newspapers at the time, citing immigration officials, widely reported that he was charged with immigration fraud. But Smith disputes the charges. A spokesman for the Costa Rican immigration authority and officials from the countrys prosecutors office did not return repeated calls and emails over several days seeking comment. Smith was eventually deported because he had failed to renew his 90-day tourist visa. But he claims the government meddled with his immigration paperwork to make it seem like he was breaking the law. And, he claims, someone broke into his home to steal his passport, marriage license and cash to make it seem like he had no official documents. Im a gringo in a foreign country with no documents and no money, Smith told Fox News Latino. Stories by the Costa Rican media two years ago said Smith was arrested after a former client accused him of fraud. There were never any charges on me then or now, Smith said. They did deport me but I am 100 percent clean everywhere and in every country there were never any charges. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram An inmate apparently killed his ex-wife and buried her beneath his cell in Bolivia's largest prison with nobody taking notice for nearly a year, officials said Thursday. Chief prosecutor Gomer Padilla told The Associated Press that the body was found after a fellow inmate confessed to helping bury Kenia Hidalgo Cespedes. The prosecutor said the alleged killer, Marco Antonio Ramirez, apparently failed to pay the conspirator an agreed-on $278 to keep silent. "There are some investigations pending but all elements show that the skeletal remains belong to the ex-wife of this man who was already sentenced for murder," Padilla said. Ramirez is serving a 30-year sentence for killing another former girlfriend. His former wife apparently visited to discuss the sale of a jointly owned apartment. Bolivian law allows inmates to have unsupervised visits. Padilla said investigators are probing the responsibility of personnel at the notorious Palmasola prison, which Pope Francis visited last year. The case highlights the chaos at the badly overcrowded prison on the outskirts of the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. Inside its walls, inmates run the prison, drugs are cheaper than on the street and money buys survival. During a 2013 struggle for control of the cellblock holding Palmasola's most violent inmates, one gang attacked its rivals with machetes and home-made flamethrowers. The 36 fatalities included a 1-year-old. It was modern Bolivia's deadliest prison riot. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Turkey's president on Wednesday implicated a U.S.-based Muslim cleric in the killing of Russia's envoy to Turkey, saying the policeman who carried out the attack was a member of his "terror organization." Ambassador Andrei Karlov was killed Monday evening by a gunman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara. The assassin, Mevlut Mert Altintas of Ankara's riot police squad, was killed in a police operation. "He (Altintas) was a member of the FETO terrorist organization. There is no point in hiding this," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a joint news conference with his visiting Albanian counterpart. "From the places he was raised to his connections that's what they point at." Turkey has accused Fethullah Gulen a former ally who has turned into Erdogan's top foe of trying to destabilize Turkey and says his movement is behind a failed military coup in July aimed at toppling the Turkish leader. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup. His movement also condemned "in the strongest terms" the ambassador's assassination. The government however, has labeled the movement "the FETO terror organization" and has cracked down on Gulen's followers, arresting tens of thousands of people for their alleged link to the coup and purging more than 100,000 suspected supporters from government jobs. Turkey is also pressing the United States to extradite Gulen so he may be prosecuted for the coup attempt and other alleged crimes. Erdogan told reporters that Turkey's intelligence agency was also looking into Altintas' possible foreign connections, saying there were "certain clues" indicating overseas links. He did not elaborate. Turkey has been rife with speculation about Altintas' motive and possible links to Gulen, but Erdogan's statement was the first time a senior official openly blamed the killing on the movement. On Tuesday evening, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry by phone and provided information on the assailant, according to an official in his ministry. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said Cavusoglu also told Kerry that both Turkey and Russia "know" that Gulen's movement was behind the attack. During the phone call, Kerry raised concerns about "some of the rhetoric coming out of Turkey with respect to American involvement or support, tacit or otherwise, for this unspeakable assassination yesterday because of the presence of Mr. Gulen here in the United States," Kerry's spokesman John Kirby said. "It's a ludicrous claim, absolutely false," Kirby said. "We need to let the investigators do their job and we need to let the facts and the evidence take them where it is before we jump to conclusions." Russia flew a team of 18 investigators and foreign ministry officials to Turkey to participate in the investigation. In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman indicated that Russia doesn't believe the 22-year-old gunman acted on his own, but refused to explain the reasons for the suspicion. "We shouldn't rush with any theories before the investigators establish who were behind the assassination of our ambassador," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. Neighbors in Altintas' hometown of Soke in western Turkey near the Aegean coast described a quiet, respectable family who showed no signs of radicalization. "To me, he appeared to be a well-meaning, calm fellow. That's how I saw him. His mother and father are good people," said neighbor Zeki Inan, 74. "We were shocked when we heard that this boy did this. We could not believe it." Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency raised the number of people detained in connection to the attack to 11, including Altintas' parents, sister, three other relatives and his roommate. The agency said investigators, among other things, were trying to determine whether anyone from the Russian Embassy may have provided the gunman with information about Karlov as well as the gunman's links to possible Gulenists within Turkey's police force. Citing the Ankara prosecutor's office, Anadolu said the gunman, who had three spare cartridges on him as well as more than 20 bullets in his pocket, ignored calls for him to surrender after he had shot the ambassador, and opened fire on police, taking shelter behind a wall. It said special forces police who stormed the art gallery shot Altintas in the feet, legs and knees but that he continued to fire on police from the ground, shouting that he "would not be captured alive." The report said investigators believe the security forces killed Altintas, fearing he may have had a bomb on him. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, speaking to Turkish state television TRT, also said the gunman is not believed to have acted alone. "This is not an ordinary attack that was conducted by a lone man," Kurtulmus said. "There are some people who directed (him) behind the scenes, who led him into carry out such a plan, who wanted to obtain political gains." "Those who are behind this pawn wanted to disrupt ...Turkish-Russian relations in an irreparable way. But they won't succeed," he said. Three car bombs ripped through an outdoor market in Mosul on Thursday, killing at least 15 civilians and eight policemen, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a statement. The attack occurred in the eastern district of Gogjali, which Iraqi forces retook from Islamic State militants weeks ago as part of a massive operation to drive them from Mosul, the brief statement said. It did not say whether the explosions were caused by suicide attackers. Earlier Thursday, the United Nations denounced the killing of four aid workers and seven other civilians in two mortar attacks in Mosul this week. The U.N. mission said the attacks occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday in eastern Mosul, and wounded up to 40 others. The U.N. did not identify the aid workers or provide their nationalities. On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said Islamic State fighters are deliberately targeting civilians in areas they have lost to government forces. The New York-based group said that Mosul civilians were increasingly being caught in the crossfire, with at least 19 killed and dozens wounded in the period from the third week of November into the first week of December. Backed by the U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, the Iraqi military launched a campaign in October to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city and the last major IS urban bastion in Iraq. The troops' advances slowed once they pushed into more densely populated areas. IS captured Mosul in the summer of 2014 as part of a blitz that placed nearly a third of Iraq under their control. Since last year, IS has lost large swaths of territory in western and northern Iraq. Two Western diplomats in New York say that an expected United Nations vote on a resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement activities has been postponed. The diplomats, both of whom have knowledge of the process, spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to release the information. One diplomat didn't give a time-frame for when the vote -- which had previously been set for 3 p.m. ET -- may now occur. The other said the matter has been postponed indefinitely as Egypt has bowed to Israeli pressure. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged the U.S. to use its veto power to block the resolution, which demands a halt to Israeli settlement activities in Palestinian territory and declares that all existing settlements "have no legal validity" and are "a flagrant violation" of international law. The draft resolution, circulated by Egypt, also stresses that "the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-state solution" which would see Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace. The U.S. vetoed a similar resolution in 2011, but it was not immediately clear how U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power would vote Thursday. The U.S., along with China, France, Great Britain and Russia, is one of five permanent Security Council members with the power to kill any resolution. Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said the resolution "will do nothing to promote a diplomatic process, and will only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror." "We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," he said. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, has said a cessation of all Israeli settlement activities and an end to its nearly 50-year occupation of Palestinian territory are necessary for a comprehensive peace agreement. Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying negotiations should take place without conditions. In September, the international diplomatic "quartet" of Mideast peacemakers called for Israel and the Palestinians to take steps to resume stalled peace talks. But the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders remain wide, preventing any meaningful talks since 2009. The draft resolution calls for intensified and accelerated international and regional diplomatic efforts "aimed at achieving, without delay a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East." New Zealand, a non-permanent council member, has been pushing a separate resolution that would set out the parameters of a peace settlement. Fox News' Jonathan Wachtel and the Associated Press contributed to this report. An Italian court on Thursday convicted a Senegalese man of murdering an American woman in her flat after they met at a nightclub, and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. Ashley Olsen, 35, was found dead in her apartment Jan. 9, 2016 after her boyfriend an Italian artist in Florence became alarmed when he hadn't heard from her and asked the landlord to open the door. An autopsy found that she had been strangled and had suffered skull fractures. Police arrested Cheik Tidiane Diaw a few days later after street surveillance cameras showed him walking with Olsen toward her home that night, and DNA traces were found on a cigarette butt and condom in her apartment. Witnesses said they had met at a Florence nightclub a few hours before the attack. Diaw told police he and Olsen, of Summer Haven, Fla., had fought but denied strangling her. Prosecutors had sought the maximum sentence of life in prison. Olsen had moved to Florence a few years before her death, joining her father who teaches at a design school in the city famed for its Renaissance architecture. Olsen's parents, Walter and Paula Olsen, were present for the verdict. "We just mourn for her every day. That's all we do," Paula Olsen said outside the courtroom. Joshua Holt, a 24-year-old American jailed in Venezuela for six months now, has not been allowed to conference with his defense since Dec. 4, attorney Jeannette Prieto told FoxNews.com. They dont let me in, the last three times I've been in the Sebin they didnt let me in. They keep me at the door for about 5 minutes and then they ask me to leave, she claimed. Prieto said she attempted to see Holt on Dec. 5, 8 and 12. Holt and his wife Thamara Caleno Candelo were arrested on weapon charges after a police raid to their apartment on June 30. Venezuelan authorities contend they were stockpiling weapons and have suggested his case was linked to other attempts by the U.S. to undermine President Nicolas Maduro's rule amid deep economic and political turbulence. Both are being held at El Helicoide, one of the Intelligence agency buildings in Caracas, along with a dozen dissidents who claim to be political prisoners. Holt, however, is being held in the common prisoners' wing. Holt has had four hearings postponed so far because the judge failed to appear. The fifth attempt has been scheduled for Jan. 5. U.S. State Department officials in Caracas told FoxNews.com that they plan to send officers to attend the next hearing. If the hearing does take place that day, a judge will rule whether the charges can be fully dropped or if the case merits to a trial. He could also be allowed to be released pending trial. They also said consular officers have been allowed to visit Holt a total of seven times the last one being on Dec. 13. We are following this case closely and continue to request authorization to visit him. We call on the Venezuelan government to expedite Mr. Holts case, respect due process and human rights, and ensure that U.S. consular personnel can visit Mr. Holt, the note said. The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has repeatedly raised concerns about Holts health, the conditions of his detention and the treatment he is receiving from Venezuelan authorities. The State Department has brought the case of Holt to the highest levels of government, including a meeting between Secretary John Kerry and President Maduro on Sept. 26. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. visited the South American nation twice in November. After the government's capture of the rebel-held east of the city, here's a look at key events in Aleppo since the start of Syria's uprising nearly six years ago: March 2011: Protests erupt in the southern city of Daraa over the detention of a group of boys accused of painting anti-government graffiti on a school wall. On March 18, security forces fire on a protest in Daraa, killing four people in what activists regard as the first deaths of the uprising. Demonstrations spread, as does the crackdown by President Bashar Assad's forces, eventually igniting a full-scale civil war. 2012 July: Rebel fighters seize eastern Aleppo, dividing the city. The intense fighting that follows, including almost daily barrel bombs dropped by government warplanes on the poorer and more densely populated east, causes an estimated 1 million civilians to flee. Another half million are displaced inside the eastern part of the city in the first year of the conflict. October: The U.N. negotiates a short-lived truce during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. Fighting damages cultural and historic sites, including the Grand Umayyad mosque, which both sides sought to control. December: Rebels launch an offensive that expands their presence in Aleppo province and secures supply lines to the Turkish border. They seize a number of military and air bases, increasingly isolating government forces. All flights from Aleppo airport are suspended after al-Qaida-linked fighters threaten to shoot down civilian planes. 2013 January: At least 147 bodies wash up on the banks of Aleppo's Queiq River, apparently killed by government security forces. April: Aleppo's ancient Citadel, used by government forces as a base, comes under rebel fire. The government targets the Umayyad mosque minaret, suspecting rebels were using it. Amid the fighting, passageways between the two sides of the divided city emerge, allowing an informal link for residents, but also turning deadly at times, as sniper fire kills many. August: Insurgents gain control of the Aleppo-Damascus highway, tightening the siege on the government part of the city. Residents of eastern Aleppo take food to relatives in western Aleppo. October: Poor coordination and infighting weaken the rebels' ranks. That winter, Islamic State group militants clash with the rebels, establishing a presence in the eastern part of the city. December: The government begins an unprecedented campaign of dropping barrel bombs on Aleppo city and surrounding areas, driving more people out. IS expands its presence in the eastern part of city. 2014: January: Rebels unite against IS, driving the extremists out of Aleppo. Government forces exploit the fighting to push the rebels back. May: Using a new tactic, rebels tunnel beneath a hotel used as a government command and control center and blow it up. The government intensifies its barrel bomb campaign. 2015 March: Insurgents blow up the Air Force Intelligence building in Aleppo after digging a tunnel, a symbolic victory. The newly formed Army of Conquest, which brings together rebels and al-Qaida-linked fighters, seizes Idlib city to the northwest. October: Russia begins launching airstrikes to bolster Assad's forces. Syrian troops launch an offensive around Aleppo. Iraqi, Lebanese and Iranian militias also throw their weight behind the government, setting the stage for a wider offensive against Aleppo that would continue until the following year. 2016 February: Russia and the U.S. broker a cease-fire that excludes extremists. Signs of normal life return to Aleppo. April: The cease-fire collapses, bombing resumes, and the Castello road, the only road out of eastern Aleppo, becomes a death trap. July: The government and allied forces impose a full siege on eastern Aleppo, with some 250,000 still in the enclave. Rebels break the siege for a few weeks, but government force seal the city off again by August. September: A cease-fire negotiated by Russia and the United States holds for a few days, but talks to bring in aid go nowhere. An airstrike hits a humanitarian aid convoy north of the city. October: Russia announces it is suspending its airstrikes on eastern Aleppo and designates humanitarian corridors, urging the rebels and residents to leave the eastern enclave. The rebels reject the offer, no one uses the corridors and the U.N. says it cannot carry out medical evacuations due to security concerns. The government continues its air raids. November: The government launches a renewed, intensified air campaign. In late November, Syrian troops and allied forces launch a major ground offensive, rebel defenses crumble and thousands flee. Dec. 14: A cease-fire, brokered by Turkey and Russia, is announced for the evacuation of rebels and civilians from the tiny remaining sliver under opposition control, effectively surrendering the city to the government. But it fails to take hold, government shelling continues. Dec. 18: World powers reach a deal to allow the evacuations to resume, and over next days buses ferry out thousands of civilians and hundreds of fighters across government-held areas to rebel territory in Aleppo province. Rebels agreed to allow government forces to evacuate civilians and the sick from two Shiite villages under siege in rebel-controlled Idlib province. Dec. 22: Under heavy snow and freezing conditions, the last people leave eastern Aleppo. The Syrian military announces that it has "re-established security" across the city. A Moscow court has sentenced a 20-year old university student to four and a half years in prison for trying to join Islamic State group fighters in Syria. Varvara Karaulova was detained last year in Turkey as she was reportedly trying to cross the border into Syria. Karaulova, who had adopted Islam, said she fell in love with a man she met online and wanted to marry him. The Moscow District Military Court on Thursday found her guilty of "preparing to join a terrorist organization" and rejected her pleas that she had no intention to fight in Syria. More than 3,000 Russians are believed to have gone to fight alongside Islamic State militants in Syria from Russia. Most of them, unlike Karaulova, are men from Russia's predominantly Muslim regions. An 85-foot-tall artificial Christmas tree stands erected in Baghdad as a symbol of solidarity with Christians this holiday season, says the Muslim businessman who built it. Yassi Saad said he wanted to put the tallest tree in the Iraqi city with the aim at joining our Christian brothers in their holiday celebrations and helping Iraqis forget their anguish, especially the war in Mosul. The tree, with a diameter of 33 feet, was erected in the center of an amusement part in the Iraqi capital. Saad said the initiative cost around $24,000. "This tree represents love and peace," said teacher Saba Ismael, as her visiting students took pictures in front of the tree. "I wish all Iraqi Christians could return to Iraq and live normal and peaceful lives." Iraq's Christian community has steadily dwindled since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Christians have been targeted by Islamic extremists on several occasions, and have also fled the country for better economic opportunities. Thousands of Christians fled Mosul and surrounding areas when IS swept across northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. The extremist group forces Christians to convert to Islam or pay a special tax, and often confiscates their property. Some Christians have managed to return to villages outside of Mosul that have been retaken by Iraqi forces, only to find that their homes and churches have been ransacked. The Associated Press contributed on this report. Even in Saudi Arabia, Santa Claus is coming to town. Well, maybe not to the whole town but at least to a number of homes. While many of the doors in the Arab nation are firmly closed to him, the jolly fat man is busier than ever as underground Christmas celebrations attract more and more guests. The Kingdom, which only recognizes a strict brand of Islamic faith and practice, prohibits Christianity and its people from celebrating the holiday. However, insiders and experts claim that there are an increasing number of secret Christians converting is illegal and punishable by death, imprisonment or lashes and a growing number of Saudi residents celebrate Dec. 25. The number of Christian converts from Islam and other religions is increasing, along with their boldness in sharing their new faith, David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, a non-profit focused on assisting oppressed Christians around the world. But they have to be careful. A lot of persecution can come from family or society, rather than the government. The Saudi government doesnt conduct any census about religious faith, and, officially, the percentage of Christians in the country is zero. But experts and outside groups believe that, out of around 30 million residents, there are around 1.2 million Christians mostly expatriate migrant workers who dont have citizenship. Recent studies have estimated that up to 4.4 percent of the population identifies as Christian, a boost from 0.1 percent at the beginning of the 20th century. But there are no churches in Saudi Arabia, and even the wearing of any kind of religious symbols is forbidden a Christmas tree or lights outside is unthinkable. So what is the holiday season really like in Saudi Arabia? I fly back to Saudi Arabia almost every Christmas. We pray in little groups, said 18-year-old Laura, an Orthodox California native who spent much of her youth in Syria and Saudi Arabia and asked to be identified only by her first name. On Christmas night, we usually celebrate at a private compound or an Embassy where only foreigners are allowed. We drink and party until six in the morning, said Laura, who is currently studying neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside. The Saudi Government knows about it, so long as there are no Saudis at our celebrations, were safe. According to Laura, non-Saudi Muslims routinely join the Christmas festivities and take it as an opportunity to learn new things. While residents cannot have seasonal decorations outside, the inside of their homes brims with Christian symbols, Santa stockings, stars and tinsel. We know God is watching over us, and that is why we have been safe in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia celebrating this occasion so far, she went on. It is very important for us to celebrate Christian occasions, because it is one of the ways we can pass on our religion to our children and to people younger than us. Jeff King, President of the International Christian Concern (ICC), cautioned that Christmas celebrations of any kind still carry a big personal risk as people are still arrested arbitrarily for violating religious laws. The Christmas season often a season where Christians around the world are most visible is a tense time for Christians in Saudi Arabia, who have to celebrate the holiday in secret, risking arrest and deportation, he said, noting that despite pledges a decade ago to stop interfering with non-Muslim private worship, services at private homes are still targeted by officials. The number of Christian converts from Islam and other religions is increasing [in Saudi Arabia], along with their boldness in sharing their new faith. But they have to be careful. David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA Some celebrators have been bold enough in recent years to post online about their Christmas festivities, much to the anger of religious leaders. In December 2012, it was reported in Arab media that Saudi Arabias religious police the Mutaween raided a private home, arresting more than 40 guests for plotting to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Last winter, rumors of an uptick in clandestine Christmas parties prompted the Saudi state media to reinforce that celebrating the holiday was forbidden, suggesting that for Muslims even to greet non-Muslims with a Christmas-related message was akin to endorsing their faith. It wasnt always like this. Before the 7th century spread of Islam, Christians built churches across the Persian Gulf state, with one of the earliest ever church structures dating back to the 4th century having been discovered in Jubail by archeologists. The Apostle Paul spent time in Arabia, as did St. Thomas, and sections of the country like Najrat in the south, remained largely Christian until into the 10th century. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted in its 2016 report that Saudi Arabia has improved a little when it comes to religious freedom, but that overall the situation remains dire. The U.S State Department has designated Saudi Arabia a country of particular concern (CPC) since 2004, but in recent years it was awarded an indefinite waiver. The report pointed out that US-Saudi relations remain close and that, since 2010, the US government has sold more than $100 billion in arms to the Kingdom. Beyond that, American and Saudi interests are deeply intertwined in fighting terrorism. So much so, religious liberty advocates say, that the U.S could afford to enforce a full, non-waiver CPC status and press the Saudi government to improve its record on religious freedom. Saudi Arabia remains uniquely repressive in the extent to which it restricts the public expression of any religion other than Islam, USCIRF Chair Rev. Thomas J. Reese told FoxNews.com. USCIRF has recommended that the [Obama] administration provide a detailed report on progress and lack of progress. Neither the US State Department nor the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, D.C., responded to requests for comment. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip are on their way to their country estate to celebrate Christmas after the couple delayed their trip for a day due to illness. Royal officials said Wednesday that both the queen and Philip were suffering from heavy colds and had to call off their train trip to Sandringham, the queen's private estate in the Norfolk countryside 110 miles (175 kilometers) north of London. The royal family traditionally gathers at Sandringham each Christmas and spends the festive season there. The couple appeared to have recovered somewhat Thursday, with officials confirming their departure from Buckingham Palace in London. The BBC reported that the pair travelled by helicopter. The queen turned 90 this year and Philip is 95. Russia will supply Serbia with fighter jets, tanks and combat vehicles, a move that potentially strengthens Moscow's influence in the Balkans. The six MiG-29 fighter jets, 30 T-72 tanks and 30 combat vehicles come from Russia's weapons reserves. The jets will need immediate overhaul after delivery in March, which will cost between 180-230 million euros (between $188-240 million.) Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who secured the deal during his visit to Russia on Wednesday, says the Russian "donation" will "dramatically" boost his country's defense capability. Most of Serbia's neighbors are NATO members. Vucic says Serbia will remain militarily neutral despite the new weaponry from Russia. Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has been sliding toward traditional ally Russia. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Santa and Father Frost, not tanks and troops, have met up at the busiest border crossing between Russia and Finland. But despite the jovial ho-ho-hos in the annual show of seasonal goodwill and neighborly friendship, there lies an increasing disquiet in the Nordic nation. Finland shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia and is preparing to celebrate a centenary of independence from its huge eastern neighbor. Yet Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 remains an uneasy reminder that current borders can be changed by force. Hannu Himanen, a senior security adviser at Finland's Foreign Ministry, says Finnish-Russian relations are "correct ... and as good as they can be" in the current environment. "It has annexed Crimea. It is ... supporting a war, an armed conflict, in Ukraine which has caused a lot of anxiety in Europe, including also northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region," Himanen told The Associated Press. "The government doesn't see Russia as a threat but one could say Russia today is a source of concern. We have to watch Russia's behavior." Finland's independence festivities begin with fireworks on New Year's Eve and last through the night into 2017, followed by scores of events during the year, culminating in the president's ball on Dec. 6, marking the day that Parliament declared independence from Russia in 1917. "Independence is particularly important to Finns. We have a history of fighting for our independence either literally on the battlefield or then in terms of keeping a small society together," said Charly Salonius-Pasternak, senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. "Most Finns I know, in some ways, are planning on celebrating 100 years." Preparations continue amid tensions in the Baltic Sea region, where non-aligned neighbors Finland and Sweden have watched Moscow's growing military muscle, including airspace violations by Russian military aircraft and the deployment of missiles in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. In a counter move, NATO has increased its presence in Baltic member states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Finns are used to regional conflict. After 700 years of Swedish rule, the area known as Finland served as a battlefield for Russian-Swedish conflicts and in 1809 it fell into Russian hands. However, as an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire, it was allowed to develop politically including forming a parliament eventually leading to independence in the turmoil surrounding the Russian Revolution. That independence proved difficult later on. After an attack by Stalin's Red Army in 1939, Finland was drawn into two bitter wars, eventually forcing the evacuation of 400,000 people and ceding more than 10 percent of its territory to the Soviet Union, in line with the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties. Salonius-Pasternak says that invasion attempt made the Finns increasingly wary of their geopolitical position. "In terms of the actual battlefield, (Finland) kept its territory. This makes most Finns quite proud of this Herculean effort but because of this and the experiences from the second World War there's a recognition that if you live next to big country you have to take them into consideration," he said. During the Cold War, Finland walked a fine line between East and West, subjecting foreign policy decisions for the Kremlin's approval in exchange for tacit permission to develop a capitalist economy. Now the threats are of a different nature cyberattacks, social media "trolls" and disinformation and propaganda campaigns all believed to be orchestrated by Moscow, causing worry not just in government circles. "There is enough circumstantial evidence and there are clear cases where pro-Russian accounts in the social media spread information, part of which is false and fake and invented," Himanen said. Johan Backman, a pro-Russia activist at the Kremlin-funded Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, brushes off the criticism, saying that Finnish and European governments are afraid of what he calls "true information." "Actually, Russian media is quite modest. (It) is delivering information about Russian decision-making and the brilliance of the Russian leadership, so it's not propaganda," he said. Meanwhile, the "Santa summit" at Nuijamaa on Finland's eastern border took place Monday, with Russia's Father Frost and his granddaughter, Snow Maiden, arriving through a border no man's land to meet the Finnish Santa Claus. "Truth be told, our nations have been friends for a very, very long time," Father Frost said. "Friendship does not have borders territorially. I want to congratulate all, all of the people of the world with the approaching New Year. And let all your dreams come true. Happy New Year." The Berlin terror suspect who repeatedly slipped through the fingers of German authorities was reportedly on the U.S. no-fly list months before Monday's deadly attack. German officials on Thursday continued to hunt Anis Amri, who is considered armed and dangerous. A fingerprint in the cab of the truck used in Monday's attack was found on Thursday to belong to Amri. Amri piqued the interest of U.S. officials after it was discovered he had researched the construction of explosive devices and communicated with ISIS leaders on at least one occasion via the groups Telegram Messenger, officials told The New York Times. ATTACK PROMPTS HIGH SECURITY IN U.S. CITIES But while the U.S quickly moved to keep Amri out of the country, Germany couldnt get him to leave. There were red flags galore surrounding the Tunisian-born Amri: Amri, 24, left Tunisia in 2010 after stealing a truck, a crime for which he was sentenced to prison time in absentia, Die Welt reported. He arrived in Italy but couldnt stay out of trouble, eventually landing in an Italian prison for setting fire to a school at a refugee camp, according to an interview with Amris father broadcast on a Tunisian radio station. News agency Ans reported the fire was part of a revolt against infidels. Amri was transferred among several Sicilian prisons for bad conduct, The Associated Press reported. Prison records show he bullied fellow inmates and attempted to spark insurrections. Amri applied for asylum in Germany in July 2015 and was denied in June 2016; however, he was never deported. Tunisia first claimed it could not find evidence he was a citizen of the country and then delayed in sending him a passport, German officials said. Germany had hoped to deport Amri after learning he was plotting a serious act of violent subversion, an official told The Washington Post. Amri was reportedly arrested in Germany on at least two other occasions after his asylum rejection, however, he was released each time. German officials monitored Amris connections to extremists, and at one point investigators believed he may have offered himself as a suicide bomber, Der Spiegel reported. But due to Amris ambiguous statements, Germany was never able to arrest him. Authorities began investigating Amri in March but ended the operation in September despite uncovering some troubling connections. He had lived with a suspected Islamic extremist and was allegedly a follower of an Iraqi-born German preacher who was later arrested due to connections to ISIS. Officials again convened in November to share intelligence that Amri was connected to Islamist militants. A month later, Amri killed 12 people and wounded 48 when he drove a truck into a crowd at a Christmas market. This is the smoking gun to show that the vetting process has major gaps in it, that intel is not being shared, that information about ideological extremism is not being adequately considered, said Ryan Mauro, a National Security Analyst for the Clarion Project. It shows that ideology is not playing a strong enough role in the vetting process, even in Europe. The failure of German authorities to catch Amri before the ISIS-claimed attack mirrors their current struggle to capture the fugitive after the fact. Amri wasnt identified as the prime suspect until Wednesday, despite leaving a wallet with identification papers behind in the truck he used during the rampage. In the first two days after the attack, Germany detained and questioned two other people, but had to release both due to insufficient evidence. But Sebastian Gorka, author of "Defeating Jihad," placed the blame on the liberal policies of the German government, which allowed an influx of nearly a million asylum-seekers into the country around the time Amri entered. Looking into what we know already, its less a function of bad vetting its bad policy," Gorka told FoxNews.com The facts are, the red flags were there but the policies of Berlin were such that the individual was released. He wasnt deportedThat is a function of policy, not policing. Gorka said police were already fighting an uphill battle thanks to the country throwing open its borders to migrants. The politicians have endangered their fellow Germans, not the policemen," he said. "Its easy to blame the operators, but the real responsibility lies with the politicians. Two Americans were victims of the Monday massacre, and one of the unidentified individuals remained hospitalized on Thursday, the U.S. Embassy told Fox News. An update was scheduled for later in the day. Fox News Greg Palkot contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 A U.S.-based Muslim cleric has condemned the killing of Russia's envoy to Turkey and rejected accusations that his movement was behind the attack. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara this week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has implicated Fethullah Gulen in the killing, saying the policeman had links to his movement. In a video address made available to the Associated Press, Gulen accused the Turkish government of blaming and defaming his movement and suggested the government would facilitate other assassinations and blame them on his followers. Gulen said "it is not possible for them to convince the world of such accusations." A ceremony Thursday in Moscow for Karlov will be attended by President Vladimir Putin. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 A Florence court is debating the fate of a Senegalese man accused of murdering an American woman in her flat after they met at a nightclub. Ashley Olsen, 35, was found dead in her apartment Jan. 9, 2016. An autopsy found that she had been strangled and suffered skull fractures. Police arrested Cheik Tidiane Diaw a few days later after street surveillance cameras showed him walking with Olsen toward her home that night, and DNA traces were found on a cigarette butt and condom in her apartment. Prosecutors asked the court to convict Diaw and sentence him to the maximum life in prison. Diaw told police he and Olsen, of Summer Haven, Florida, had fought but denied strangling her. A verdict is expected later Thursday. Emmanuel Abayisenga, soupconne du meurtre en Vendee du pere Olivier Maire decede des suites de coups portes a la tete en aout 2021, a ete mis en examen pour " assassinat " UNLIKE their neighbors in area counties, Fredericksburg officials are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to plans to build another set of tracks through the region for higher-speed rail service. In fact, City Council members plan to look into the local impact of the 123-mile Richmond-to-Washington segment of the proposed Southeast High Speed Rail line. They want to meet with state and regional agencies early next year in hopes that if and when the multibillion-dollar project is done, the city will benefit from the infrastructure improvements. This is a strikingly different, but sound, approach on a project thats caused controversy along the East Coasts mainline. Fredericksburg has a long history as a railroad town, and officials understand its economic value. In recent months, the boards of supervisors in Spotsylvania, Stafford and Caroline counties have all opposed an eastern bypass route of Fredericksburg after residents along the proposed route kicked up a fuss. Property owners dont want the cloud of a potential railroad line impacting the value of their property, and county officials agreed with them. The bypass would be disruptive to thousands of residents. So if the Federal Railroad Administration, which makes the final decision, takes the path of least resistance, that would put expansion of the rail system along the CSX tracksright through historic downtown Fredericksburg. Now, part of City Council members more relaxed approach may come from doubts about whether this set of tracks will be built in our lifetime. Who knows whether the much-studied D.C.-to-Florida project will be included in the federal infrastructure spending package talked about during the presidential campaign? Still, if it happens, the plan here calls for spending nearly $500 million for a third rail line, a new bridge over the Rappahannock River and improvements to the confusing station platform in the city, replacement of deteriorating rail bridges over four nearby streets, and more parking along the CSX-owned right of way. The Fredericksburg station has a less-than-stellar reputation because Amtrak riders never know which set of tracks the train will arrive on and they often have to race underneath the platform and up the other side to climb aboard passenger cars. Virginia Railway Express commuters could also benefit from an extended platform that would allow more riders to board longer trains. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation this month put its preliminary blessing on the additional tracks running through Fredericksburg, saying they fit into the citys comprehensive plan. At this point, Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw says she and council members want more details about the project and what properties would be affected. Among the historic buildings near the tracks are, of course, the 1910 train depot and the former gas plant on Charles Street. The line passes through Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. We want to be part of the process, Greenlaw says, We really are not ready to take a position until we gather this information. She said they havent heard objections from city residents so far. One other much-desired change on the CSX line is closer to fruitionthe end of storage of hazardous materials tanker cars on siding tracks near Mayfield. For years, residents have wanted the tankers carrying ethanol, liquefied petroleum, gas and chlorine moved away from them. Randy Marcus, Virginia vice president of CSX, told city officials that construction of a new siding will be done by the end of the year. However, it wont be operational until January or February when new signals are installed. Councilman Chuck Frye said the work cant be completed soon enough: Its got to be safety first. Weve got to protect our residents. Fredericksburg, the region and Virginia clearly benefit from such rail improvementssmall and large scale. We hope high-speed rail can be done so that long-standing problems at the city station can be addressed while adding track capacity to support passenger and freight growth on the congested CSX corridor. Wood splitter, log splitter, self propelled with conveyor: a key interview Power Split International launches its new YouTube Hangout Live Interview with the Head of Sales of the company, and announces more reviews and testimonials which focus primarily on the subject of wood splitters. -- Powersplit International announced December 20th, the launch of its new YouTube Hangout Live Interview with Mr. Louis Lapointe, Head of Sales of the company, along with more reviews and testimonials which focus primarily on the subject of wood splitters. This will be of interest to all wood splitting companies and will help firewood suppliers find the most appropriate equipment possible to suit their needs. Firewood suppliers looking for the latest information on state-of-the-art wood splitting machinery are invited to subscribe to Powersplit International's YouTube channel. The channel provides expert guidance and information on wood splitting equipment, on a regular basis. In addition to this revealing interview with the Head of Sales of the company and these new powerful testimonials, Powersplit International also has several other videos on its YouTube channel such as: Wood splitters in action - see demonstrations of different models in action. Testimonials - more reviews from several existing customers. Also, there will be very soon an additional video demonstrating Powersplit's wood splitters in action, compared in real time with the traditional wood splitter models available on the market. Viewers and subscribers to the Powersplit International's YouTube Channel can view all the latest videos here: https://www.youtube.com/c/PowersplitInternational As Mr. Louis Lapointe, Head of Sales of Powersplit International said: "The comment we get the most from our clients is their surprise at the production. It even surpasses what they expected. It's always fun to hear that they're overly happy with the machine once they get it." The entire six minute interview can be viewed here! Fans and viewers are encouraged to watch the videos, subscribe to the YouTube channel for regular updates and help spread the word through the various social media outlets. Alternatively, interested parties are able to learn more about Powersplit International directly by visiting their website: http://powersplit.com/ For more information, please visit http://powersplit.com Contact Info: Name: Louis Lapointe Organization: PowerSplit International Inc. 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A typical lowland mixed family farm will be far worse off by 2025, whether the UK has a hard or a soft exit from the EU. However, steps can be taken to assess the exposure of businesses to the exit, enabling them to be better placed to cope with the change. Consultant Andersons has run scenarios for its Meadow Farm model to illustrate the potential effects of the so-called hard and soft Brexits (no access to the single market and continued access, respectively). The farm is a typical family-run 154ha beef, sheep and arable holding. Under a soft Brexit, by 2025, the business makes a 131/ha loss from its farming operations before subsidy, a slightly better position than that currently envisaged for its 2017 performance (see table below). Meadow Farm performance projections (/ha) 2017 (projection made before referendum) 2017 (projection made after referendum) 2025 soft Brexit 2025 hard Brexit Livestock gross margin 663 726 698 596 Arable gross margin 609 686 657 486 Total gross margin 651 718 689 573 Overheads 500 500 512 513 Rent, finance and drawings 318 318 309 300 Production margin (166) (100) (131) (240) Subsidy 188 2908 139 71 Business surplus 22 107 8 (170) Source: Andersons However, with direct subsidy assumed to fall by one-third by 2025 under soft Brexit, the overall business surplus in this scenario is forecast to fall to just 8/ha, compared with 107/ha for 2017. A hard Brexit scenario is far worse, with a 240/ha negative result before subsidy, which is assumed to fall to just one-third of current levels by 2025, giving an overall 170/ha loss. Assess key business issues Despite the many unknowns, it was important to spend time understanding and assessing the key issues affecting a farm business, said Michael Haverty, senior agricultural economist at The Andersons Centre. If farmers grapple with some of the issues now, then once the policy direction becomes clear they will be in a better position and wont be caught in the headlights, he said, acknowledging that the situation was difficult to forecast. He advised farmers to focus on: Markets understand where key markets for your produce are in the EU or further afield, and your potential exposure if the UK is not part of the single market. For example, for Meadow Farm, sheepmeat exports to the EU are very important, but the EU is also the UKs largest export destination for wheat and beef. Inputs many of the main inputs are sourced from outside the UK, so trade arrangements and relative currency values will have a significant effect here, exposing farm businesses to supply and price risk. For example, all of the soya meal used in the UK is imported, with 70% coming from outside the EU and 30% inside. About half of our nitrogen fertiliser is from EU sources and 20% of it non-EU. The UK supplies 80% of its potash needs but no phosphate, importing 40% from the EU. Support UK government funding for direct support at current levels is expected to include the 2019, but not the 2020, claim. While a radical policy departure could be made, Andersons thinks this is unlikely given the time and resource pressure the government will be under. A significant further risk for English farmers is the possibility of the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland developing farm support that may be more generous, distorting competition. Business sensitivity/exposure the table on the left shows the possible effects on Meadow Farm of two scenarios relating to trade arrangements and potential changes in direct support under each of these. If no EU-UK trade deal is concluded, the UK will revert to being governed by World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. This would mean UK farming paying tariffs on the commodities it sells into Europe. The EU has trade deals with more than 50 countries globally, said Mr Haverty. There was significant doubt whether such agreements would apply to the UK on exit and the British government may have to negotiate new trade deals separately. Opportunities lower land prices and rents could mean significant opportunity for some farm businesses to expand. There could also be scope for gains for UK beef in the domestic market. However, much depends on any terms on which the UK will trade with Ireland, and the levels of support the sector will get, warned Mr Haverty. I would have serious concern for the sector in a hard Brexit, particularly if the UK concludes free trade deals with the likes of Mercosur [Latin American countries including Brazil and Argentina]. There may also be opportunities in pigs and poultry, both sectors where imports are significant. China and Indias rising sheepmeat consumption may also offer scope to increase exports, alongside demand for high-quality lamb to the Middle East. Animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) is planning to turn the first-ever UK factory farm map into a reality. With Brexit ahead, the CIWF states there are opportunities and uncertainties for animal health legislation. The charity, which campaigns for improved welfare for all farm animals, says it has commissioned a national investigation to reveal Britains factory farm hotspots. See also: Pig unit plans approved despite local and activist opposition Do you live near a factory farm hotspot? The chances are you simply dont know, the CIWF said, in an email letter to supporters Intensive farms arent quick to advertise the cruelty that goes on. But we have a plan to change this. It added: For the first time, the map will start to answer questions like: Where are Britains intensive pig farms? and What sort of farming really goes on in my area? Caged farm animals According to the CIWF, 70% of Britains farm animals are kept in cages, overcrowded pens or sheds and are denied the chance to express many of their most basic natural behaviours. But the online map plans to lay bare the truth about factory farming and show the scale of cruelty taking place behind the backs of citizens in each area of the country. However, the CIWF said its investigation so far has shown how hard it is to tell a higher-welfare indoor farm from an intensive farm from the outside. If you run a higher-welfare farm, please get in touch and our map will take it into account. 20,000 costs The CIWF is seeking donations to raise 20,000 to complete this project. Farmers Weekly has contacted the charity to request a breakdown of the projected costs. But so far, the CIWF has not provided this. We have also asked the CIWF to define what it means by factory farming. A CIWF spokesman said: We will in no way be targeting individual farms or farmers. A similar factory farm map was published in the US by the consumer advocacy group Food and Water Watch in 2010. Story Highlights Reported assaults, robberies among highest in sub-Saharan Africa Less than half feel safe walking alone at night At least two in three in each country worry a lot daily WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Improving security is among the top issues that residents in war-torn Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan want their governments to tackle in the coming year. Reeling from years of civil war and ongoing violence and insecurity, 54% of those surveyed in CAR and 19% of those surveyed in South Sudan name security as the most important issue. For the past several years, civil wars in CAR and South Sudan have led to extreme violence, mass killings and the consequential involvement of international United Nations peacekeeping missions. The situation remains extremely critical, and violence has escalated recently. This week, the U.N. issued a warning about the risk of genocide in South Sudan, and it also recently reported various types of killings, inhumane treatment and sexual abuse throughout CAR. Because of insecurity, Gallup made several geographic exclusions that represented 44% of the population in South Sudan and 40% in CAR. In both countries, urban residents are somewhat more likely than those in rural areas to be concerned with security issues. Almost four in 10 urban residents (38%) in South Sudan mention improving security as the main priority, while 11% mention improving agriculture. Among those in rural areas, 25% cite improving agriculture and 16% choose security. Such views are set against a backdrop of a developing famine in South Sudan, which is related to growing violence in agriculture-rich regions in the past six months. In CAR, 59% of urban residents mention security as the government's main priority, while 50% of rural residents say the same. Crime Victimization Among Highest in Sub-Saharan Africa These feelings of insecurity are further illustrated by the relatively high percentages of people in both countries who report having been victims of assaults and robberies in the past year. Nearly one in four in CAR and South Sudan report being assaulted in the past year, and 36% and 46%, respectively, report having money or property stolen in the past year. Both figures are some of the highest across sub-Saharan Africa in 2016. Crime Victimization in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 Money/Property stolen in past 12 months Assaulted in past 12 months % % Uganda 49 23 South Sudan 46 24 Malawi 43 10 Sierra Leone 43 22 Liberia 43 27 South Africa 37 19 Zambia 36 16 Central African Republic 36 23 Rwanda 36 12 Kenya 35 19 Botswana 35 12 Tanzania 31 5 Senegal 29 5 Chad 29 17 Nigeria 28 20 Ghana 26 16 Gabon 25 13 Zimbabwe 24 7 Burkina Faso 24 9 Guinea 24 9 Lesotho 23 8 Togo 22 10 Congo (Kinshasa) 21 15 Mauritania 20 8 Madagascar 19 5 Cameroon 17 16 Congo (Brazzaville) 17 11 Benin 17 9 Mali 16 6 Ivory Coast 15 7 Somalia 14 6 Niger 11 10 Ethiopia 9 6 Mauritius 6 1 Gallup World Poll, 2016 The high victimization rates amid the instability in these two countries help explain why less than 50% in either country say they feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where they live. In CAR, those who report having been assaulted in the past year are far less likely to say they feel safe walking alone at night (28%) than are those who say they have not been assaulted (46%). Both Countries Not Particularly Hospitable to Minorities The most recent Gallup data reflect the degradation of the acceptance of ethnic minorities in Central African Republic. In 2016, 48% of adults in CAR said their community is a good place for racial or ethnic minorities to live, compared with 74% in 2011. In South Sudan, the percentage is also relatively low, at 43% in 2016. These percentages are among the lowest rates in sub-Saharan Africa. In CAR, the change in perceptions toward ethnic minorities from 2011 to 2016 is striking. In 2016, 45% of urban residents say their area is a good place for ethnic minorities, compared with 64% in 2011. In rural areas, such attitudes dropped from 76% to 50%. Acceptance of Racial and Ethnic Minorities Is the city or area where you live a good place or not a good place to live for racial and ethnic minorities? Urban Rural % Good place % Good place South Sudan 38 44 Central African Republic 45 50 Gallup World Poll, 2016 In the current climate, residents in both countries have a great deal to worry about -- and they do. In both countries, at least two in three say they experienced worry a lot of the previous day. Bottom Line Perceptions of insecurity in CAR and South Sudan are similar. These results underscore the ongoing dire situation that pervades in both countries. That the findings exclude populations who live in the most unsafe areas makes these results even more striking. These data are available in Gallup Analytics. Survey Methods Results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted June 29-July 12, 2016, in Central African Republic and 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted April 14-May 27, 2016, in South Sudan. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is 3.8 percentage points. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. Finally, because of insecurity reasons, the geographic exclusions represent about 40% of the estimated national population in Central African Republic and 44% of the estimated national population in South Sudan. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works. Story Highlights U.S. uninsured rate continues to fall Communities that invest in active living see results Trump victory negatively affects LGBT Americans' life evaluations WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index provides nearly real-time data on Americans' well-being across five elements: purpose, social, financial, community and physical. The following are Gallup editors' picks for the most important health and well-being findings reported in 2016. Uninsured rate continues to fall: In what may be the last full year that the Affordable Care Act exists in its current form, the percentage of U.S. adults without health insurance continued to fall. The uninsured rate was 10.9% in the third quarter of 2016, down a full percentage point from a year earlier and down 6.2 points from the fourth quarter of 2013, just before the requirement for all Americans to carry health insurance took effect. Obesity hits a record high: The percentage of U.S. adults who are obese, calculated based on their self-reports of weight and height, climbed to 28.3% by the end of July, up 2.8 percentage points from when Gallup and Healthways first measured obesity in 2008. Additionally, fewer Americans now say their overall health is "excellent" than did in 2008. A primary goal of the Affordable Care Act was to improve Americans' health, but these findings suggest that this goal has not been met. The article discussing these findings was part of a five-part series examining health and well-being under the Barack Obama administration. Communities investing in active living infrastructure see results: A study of 48 U.S. communities found that, on average, residents of communities with the five highest "active living" scores -- based on walkability, bike-ability, transit infrastructure and park infrastructure -- do significantly better in key aspects of physical well-being than do residents of communities with the five lowest scores. The Boston metro area led the nation in having the infrastructure to support active living, while Fort Wayne, Indiana, ranked last. Trump win has negative effect on LGBT Americans: The percentage of LGBT adults rating their lives positively enough to be classified as "thriving" declined 10 points after the election, from 51% to 41%. Among LGBT individuals, the drop was seen among both Democrats and Republicans, indicating that concerns about a Donald Trump administration crossed party lines for this group. Food hardship falls to a record low: The percentage of Americans saying there have been times in the past 12 months that they did not have enough money to afford food fell to 15.0% when Gallup reported the results in the first quarter of 2016. At the time, this was the lowest figure recorded since Gallup and Healthways began tracking this metric in 2008. Since that report, food hardship edged down to 14.9%, a new record low, in the second quarter before rising to 15.4% in the third quarter. Unemployment has damaging health effects for young adults: In developed countries such as the U.S., young adults who are unemployed have lower physical well-being than older adults who are employed. Unemployed young adults with a college degree have even lower well-being than unemployed youth with less education. Most Americans support increased e-cigarette regulation: Six in 10 Americans say e-cigarettes should be regulated as much as tobacco cigarettes. This finding suggests that the Food and Drug Administration's May 5 announcement that it is broadening the definition of tobacco products to include e-cigarettes is consistent with public opinion. Although a majority want more regulation, Americans tend to say e-cigarettes are less harmful to one's health than tobacco cigarettes. Millennials buck the poor health trend: Obesity and diabetes rates have climbed since 2008 among all generations except millennials, who have seen declines. Exercise has increased since 2008 among millennials, while non-millennials have seen virtually no change. Check out more findings from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. To stay up to date on the latest health and well-being findings in 2017, sign up for Gallup News alerts. Learn more about how the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index works. With so many Fillipinos now using the anonymous digital currency Bitcoin to send money back home, the Philippines government is now considering regulation of Bitcoin. It would be one of the few nations to do so. We are concerned with potential money laundering and consumer protection, said Nestor Espenilla, who heads the central banks supervision and examination unit. We are studying putting virtual currency exchange operators under a more formal regulatory framework. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas estimates the volume of remittance transactions involving virtual currencies has risen to at least US$2mil a month. This is yet another blow to the online gambling sector with ties to the Philippines as Bitcoin has become a leader processor of Web betting transactions. Once considered a safe haven for operators the likes of Bodog and TopBet, as well as a number of well-funded land-based casino operators, the nation has aggressively cracked down on its gambling sector under newly sworn in President Rodrigo Duterte, much of which is deemed unlicensed. Earlier this month, the Philippines Department of Justice issued a Be on the Lookout bulletin for Macau casino tycoon Yin Lok Lam, better known as Jack Lam. The Government also revoked his investors visa. That being said, the new leadership may not be the only reason for the Philippines to take this type of stand against Bitcoin. Bloomberg News points out that the Philippines has stepped up its efforts at warding off money laundering and technology crimes after thieves hacked into the Bangladeshi central banks account at the US Federal Reserve in February and routed US$81mil to accounts at Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. - Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com iPhone 8 Specs, Features, News & Update: Imminent Apple Phone Gets Curved Plastic Screen, Comes In New Color? As 2017 inches closer and closer, rumors continue to spark about Apple's iPhone 8, one of the world's most hotly anticipated smartphones. Given that this device will mark the iPhone's 10th anniversary, it is predicted to come with a wide range of mind-blowing features. Reports are circulating that the iPhone 8 comes with a curved plastic screen in a new color. According to a report by Korea Herald, the iPhone 8 may get a new, plastic screen which differs from the accustomed Gorilla Glass screens of the previous iPhones. The publication's sources, who claim to be familiar with the matter, said that Apple placed orders for curved plastic screens. This strongly supports one of the iPhone 8 rumors that it will have a curved display like the Samsung Galaxy 7 Edge phones because the same material was used to produce its biggest rival. Meanwhile, flat panels commonly utilize glass. As previously reported on GamenGuide, it is also suspected that a red iPhone 8 will be added to the smartphone's roster of colors including rose gold, space gray, gold and black. Other iPhone 8 rumors claim that it would have a wider screen display because it would remove the physical home button. In relation to this, Korea Herald further claims that sensing technology would be located on the device's sides.This goes with previous reports of the iPhone 8's wider display due to the loss of bezels and a home button. According to Macworld, these reports mean the iPhone 8 fingerprint scanner must go elsewhere. If the sides of the iPhone 8 integrates sensing technology, then a user just needs to pick up the iPhone 8 for it to open and respond. There would be no need to 'unlock' the phone. The iPhone 8 release date is expected to follow the trend seen in previous years which marks a September launch although its actual anniversary is on June 29. Stay tuned for more updates. Samsung Galaxy S8 Launching Of Most Recent Next Leader Mobile Phone; Everything You Need To Know The Samsung Galaxy S8 could be a standout amongst the most foreseen arrivals of 2017. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is coming in 2017, and the holes and bits of gossip are now flooding in. This is what many think of Samsung's next leader, including the Galaxy S8 release date. As per Express, a South Korean report have guaranteed that the company could plan to break with custom and launch its most recent and most noteworthy lead mobile phone at a standalone occasion in New York in April 2017. The news was evidently uncovered at a recent Samsung worldwide strategy meeting. This would mean Samsung misses its typical release date at the Mobile World Congress public expo in Barcelona, held for the current year from 27th February. The company has released a few of its latest gadgets at the show, including the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge mobile phones a year ago.Nevertheless, it revealed the Galaxy S4 gadget at an event in New York in 2013. A few reports asserted that the issues in regards to the deferral of the dispatch of the Galaxy S8 were because of an absence of testing on Samsung's part as the company hurried out a gadget to contend with Apple's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Samsung Galaxy S8 may be 15-20% more expensive than the S7 https://t.co/spaUiAQXBr pic.twitter.com/Wpy4r2IT6H GSMArena.com (@gsmarena_com) December 19, 2016 Many are now listening to discuss specs, with supposed elements including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 chip, a 4K show, an 'Edge'- style screen, and an enhanced camera. Surely, this numerous new rumor encompassing the Galaxy S8, including mumbles of a back confronting, optical unique mark scanner and Bluetooth 5.0. No cases about the Galaxy S8 have been affirmed yet. " Samsung Galaxy S8 Tidak Dilengkapi Jack Headphone https://t.co/rWXOD85Sik " pic.twitter.com/9xgW2ag44W Paimin (@Paimin32) December 12, 2016 As reported by Trusted Reviews, Samsung could likewise take after Apple's suit and ditch the earphone jack on the Galaxy S8. There are a lot of earphones available that support USB Type-C, notwithstanding, Samsung is supposed to build up its own exclusive port to supplant the 3.5mm port. Pangu, Lucas Todesco Manuevering For First iOS 10 Jailbreak Release The wait is on for an iOS 10 jailbreak with Apple releasing iOS 10.2. It has been over a week now and no jailbreaking tool has surfaced. Lucas Todesco has surprising been more aggressive and vocal about a potential crack, singling out the possibility for iOS 10.1.1. As mentioned in a previous post, this had to do with a kernel and root exploit that was originally discovered by developer Ian Beer. Such gives users all the reason to delay any plans to update to iOS 10.2 though Apple has technically issued an ultimatum. With iOS 10.2 out in the open, the Cupertino company has stopped signing iOS 10.1 and 10.1.1, meaning users who upgrade to the latest Apple OS will no longer be able to downgrade. While Apples move is not surprising, it is the viability of iOS 10.2 that comes to mind. Reports are coming in that the latest mobile operating system release has not fully addressed bugs, most especially the dreaded 30% battery drain issue, Forbes reported. The latest update further appends the woes brought in by iOS 10, plenty of which were tied up to compatibility and security issues. With iOS 10.2, the celebrated iTunes security issue has allegedly not been addressed as well. Todesco has been closely monitored for a potential iOS 10.1.1 jailbreak right now. Looking at his track-record, the chances of that happening are not that reliable. He has often shown his breakthroughs via videos but has not made any jailbreak tool public. Pangu, on the other hand, has kept silent despite belief that the Chinese hacking group reportedly has an iOS 10 jailbreak ready for deployment. One was shown back at the MOSEC 2016 in July though the only crack they were able to come out with was iOS 9.3.3. Either way, Todesco, and Pangu find themselves racing for a possible iOS 10 jailbreak release. The version may vary but seeing one out in the open is the only thing that matters, particularly for the Apple Jailbreaking Community. The agreement comes about two months after Project Roomkey, which provided motel rooms for the homeless, ended. This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department, the Benton County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise. Corvallis Police Department TUESDAY, DEC. 20 DUII: 11:11 p.m., Southwest West Hills Road and Reservoir Avenue. An officer arrested Rohal Abbass Kakepoto, 21, of Alsea, and charged him with DUII, reckless endangering and reckless driving following a traffic stop. Kakepoto had a reported blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent. Benton County Sheriff's Office SUNDAY, DEC. 18 ASSAULT: 11:56 p.m., 4455 N.E. Highway 20. A man at the Children's Farm Home reported being punched in the face by a 16-year-old male client. The client was cited with fourth-degree assault. ASSAULT: 11:13 p.m., 4455 N.E. Highway 20. Two people reported an assault at the Children's Farm home by a 14-year-old client. The client was cited with fourth-degree assault and harassment. ASSAULT: 12:25 a.m., 4455 N.E. Highway 20. A deputy responded to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center to investigate an assault that reportedly occurred at the Children's Farm Home. A female staff member, who reportedly refused to give information about the assault that led to her hospitalization, said she did not want to press charges. The case was discontinued. Oregon State University is in line for up to $40 million in funding to build an advanced wave energy test facility just off the Oregon coast near Newport. The U.S. Department of Energy grant, announced on Wednesday, will finance the design, permitting and construction of an open-water, grid-connected national wave energy testing facility with four test berths. Known as the Pacific Marine Energy Center South Energy Test Site, the complex is expected to be up and running by 2020. The site will test devices being developed by private companies around the world to capture the energy of ocean waves and turn it into electricity. Belinda Batten, director of OSUs Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, said the test site will play an important role in bringing those new technologies to market. We anticipate this will be the worlds most advanced wave energy test facility, she said. Energy Department officials noted the final amount of the grant remains subject to appropriation but said the investment would create jobs and help develop a major untapped energy source. This is another enormous step for alternative energy, especially for an energy resource that Oregon is so well-positioned to pursue, said OSU President Ed Ray. In coming years this new facility, aided by the assistance of OSU experts, will provide great learning opportunities for our students and have repercussions for wave energy development around the world. 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. 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. An arrest has been made in the Greenville church burning. Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, was arrested Wednesday for setting Hopewell Baptist Church on fire and scrawling "Vote Trump" on the side in spray paint, according to Warren Strain with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. McClinton has been charged with one count of first degree arson of a place of worship, Strain said. Strain said the investigation was ongoing and declined to comment further. A motive has not been released. The fire was set Nov. 1. The church is approximately six miles from McClinton's residence. The church was a total loss, according to Greenville Fire Chief Ruben Brown Sr. Two weeks after the fire, Brown said samples taken from the fire tested negative for accelerant but investigators still believe the fire was arson. "We dont know if it was direct flame contact, contact with clothes or paper, but this here is an ongoing investigation and still remains to be an arson investigation, Brown previously said. Brown could not immediately be reached for comment. Police Chief Delando Wilson previously told The Clarion-Ledger that a person of interest volunteered to be interviewed. It is not known if McClinton was the person of interest. Google Maps Can Now Help You Find Public Toilets Near You News oi -Samden Sherpa You will be able to find a loo by using your smartphone and the Google Maps app. It was back in November when the rumors hit the internet announcing that Google is working on a unique feature that would allow people to locate public restrooms. However, on Thursday the company announced that Google Maps will now start showing people information about public toilets near them. The feature will be available in Delhi-NCR and Madhya Pradesh. Well, the good thing is that, if you feel like relieving yourself or you end up in an "emergency situation", you will be able to find a loo pretty much by using your smartphone and the Google Maps app. Truecaller for Android Gets Updated With "Call Me Back" Feature The feature is available both in English and Hindi. Moreover, each public toilet listing, when opened, provides a star rating. It'll help determine whether the toilet is well reviewed by previous visitors or not. As such, Google in collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), has added the 'toilet locator' feature to Google Maps. The search giant expressed that because of the partnership, details of over 4,000 communal and public restrooms have been added to its mapping service. Sanket Gupta, Product Manager, Google Maps, also explained that when you search for 'public toilet' on Google Maps in an area where the service is available, you will be able to see a list of restrooms near you including the respective address and opening hours. For instance, if you're traveling on the National Highway 8 in Gurugram, locating a public toilet can be challenging and most often the only option is going to nearby restaurants and cafes. He added that now having all information could make things much easier. Acer Launches Spin 7, The World's Thinnest Laptop in India Google specifies that regions covered include Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, Bhopal, and Indore. Further, the company has also mentioned that the MoUD "plans to continue to provide information about public restrooms for more cities." As of now, if you are using Google Maps on Android, iOS, and desktop, you can search for 'public toilets' in the search tab. After entering the details, you will then be shown public toilets near you, alongside the exact address and opening hours. An interesting feature indeed! Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Source Best Mobiles in India Major Tech Controversies of 2016: Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Reliance Jio, Freedom 251 and More Features oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Here are the most controversial incidents in tech this year. As the year 2016 is coming to an end in just a few more days, we at GizBot are taking you through the major things in technology that have happened throughout the 365-day duration. Following the tech trends of 2016, today, we have come up with another story. This time, we are not aren't up with the glorious moments that happened this year. Yes, we are here to shed light on the biggest controversies that have happened in the field of technology this year. Does the Position of Fingerprint Scanner on Smartphones Matter It goes without saying that not everything is hunky dory all the time in any industry. Likewise, even in this field, there have been some controversies or disputes. Having said that, we have listed some incidents that have fired up public opinion, created chaos in the tech industry, etc. Take a look at the companies that have earned the wrath from below. Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Fiasco Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the flagship phablet announced by the South Korean tech giant in August this year, will definitely top the list when it comes to controversies. With the numerous battery explosion incidents of the Galaxy Note 7 across the world, the company had to recall the device and finally end the production of the same keeping the consumers' safety in mind. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Apple and FBI Clash Apple locked horns with FBI regarding security and privacy of the iOS devices. This issue began when FBI asked Apple to offer a peek into an iPhone that was used by a terrorist, who is involved in the San Bernardino case. Eventually, the FBI hacked the controversial iPhone 5c without Apple's assistance proving that there is a hole in the privacy in the iPhones. BlackBerry phones came to end BlackBerry that has its hopes pinned on the BlackBerry Priv announced to discontinue making smartphones due to the underwhelming reception of the phone. The controversy is that the company announced that it will not make smartphones anymore, but third-party manufacturers will make phones with the BlackBerry branding and the company will focus on the software side. As announced, the newly launched BlackBerry DTEK50 and DTEK60 were made by TCL. Missing headphone jack on iPhone 7 Apple thought that ditching the headphone jack to resolve the space crunch was justifiable, but the Apple fans disagreed on the same. Though the new iPhones are pretty sleek, the missing headphone jack on these phones still remains a trouble. Also Read: Take a Sneak Peak at 10 Tech Trends That Dominated The World in 2016 Pebble shut its business We saw the downfall of Pebble this year. Early this month, the company announced that they will stop making watches and offering support for the existing Pebble owners. Pebble's intellectual property was acquired by Fitbit, so we can expect familiar features in the upcoming Fitbit products. Google EU case Google is in a long drawn battle with EU (European Union) and its antitrust charges. EU accused Google of promoting its shopping services unfairly and blocking the rival online search ad services intentionally. It has been six years since Google was accused, and finally Google responded by denying the allegations. We wait to see what happens in 2017. The Rs. 251 phone blunder Who can forget the Freedom 251, the Rs. 251 priced smartphone? When Ringing Bells announced the phone, people rushed in to book it. Though the price of the phone was too good, it resulted in an investigation from the Indian Department of Electronics & Information Technology. Now, the company is claimed to have shut its business, though it has rubbished off such plans. Reliance Jio craze It won't be an exaggeration to say that Reliance Jio has created a tornado in the Indian telecom space. With the free and unlimited voice calls, 4G data, and more, the company made people lineup before its stores. It also forced the other telecom operators to follow it to retain their users. The company was criticized for its call drop issues despite offering free services. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India BSNL Partners With DataMail to Offer Email Services in 8 Indian Languages News oi -Prajith BSNLs new initiative is aimed to simplify emailing for rural India. BSNL, the state-run telecom network in partnership with 'DataMail had launched free e-mail address service in 8 regional languages including Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, and more yesterday. As a result, BSNL broadband users will be able to open an email ID in DataMail service in their own language. This move comes right after the Government of India had launched . (Dot Bharat) domain in Indian languages to increase the reach of internet users in the country (especially in rural and remote areas) by providing services in regional languages. Also Read: BSNL Offers Unlimited Data With No Data or Speed Limit To Combat Rivals Anupam Shrivastav, Managing Director of BSNL said in a statement that, Providing the linguistic email address is one of its kind initiative in the world to achieve our Prime Ministers Vision of Digital India. It's now possible in every part of India to have an email address in their own language and communicate in the preferred language. Mr. N.K Gupta Director CFA, BSNL in a statement said, The linguistic email service offered by BSNL will have . (DataOne.Bharat) domain and email address will be offered in eight regional languages including Hindi (), Gujarati (), Urdu (), Punjabi ( ), Tamil (), Telugu (), Bengali () and Marathi (). DataMail is free to be downloaded from any Android or iOS system through their respective play store. Also Read: BSNL Introduces Unlimited Local and STD Calls At Rs. 99/Month With No Upfront Cost Mr. Ajay Data, Founder and CEO of Data XGen, said, Our fully made in India software product enabling DataMail service is a revolution in the world as many countries are waiting to inject the linguistic email address to empower the non-English speakers of the world. We are happy to contribute to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modis Digital India dream by partnering with BSNL, countrys strongest network telecom company having rural and remote connect. According to the Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators Report (April-June, 2016) released by TRAI, only 30% of the countrys population (350.48 million) are internet subscribers. And, 89% population is non-English speaking and usually dont understand other languages, therefore, finding it difficult to communicate via email as English is the most common one. However, with the new services being rolled out, BSNL aims to change all of this and improve the reach of internet in the country. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India 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!! Counter-ISIL Strikes Continue Against Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 20, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Syria: -- Near Raqqa, three strikes destroyed an oil tanker truck and damaged an ISIL supply route. -- Near Ayn Isa, five strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two vehicle bombs and an ISIL-held building. -- Near Palmyra, three strikes destroyed an ISIL-held tank, a tactical vehicle and an artillery piece. Strikes in Iraq Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted five strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: -- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an ISIL command-and-control node. -- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed an ISIL-held building. -- Near Mosul, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed 11 fighting positions, three ISIL-held buildings, an anti-air artillery piece and a tunnel; suppressed three ISIL tactical units and a mortar team; and damaged four ISIL supply routes. -- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIL-held building. Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Two Army Guard division headquarters deployed simultaneously; first time since Korean War By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy December 20, 2016 ARLINGTON, Va. -- More than 450 Soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division headquarters deployed this month, making them the second of two Army National Guard division headquarters currently deployed to a forward location, the first time since the Korean War two Army Guard division headquarters have been forward deployed simultaneously. "This is the epitome of the Total Force and displays how the Army National Guard is fully integrated into the Total Force," said Army Maj. Gen. Blake Ortner, the commanding general of the 29th ID. The deployment will see the division provide command and control of units taking part in operational missions, multi-lateral military exercises and theater security cooperation activities in the Middle East. With more than 18,000 troops under its command, it also marks the largest number of Soldiers the division has commanded since World War II, said Ortner. The 29th ID follows the Texas Army National Guard's 36th Infantry Division, which is currently deployed to Afghanistan. The deployment of the two divisions represents somewhat of a change from the deployments during the Korean War. "With the Korean War, the Army was caught flat-footed," said Army Lt. Col. Jeff Larrabee, the chief historian at the National Guard Bureau, adding that as a result, four divisions from the Army Guard were mobilized and deployed. "Two were deployed to Korea and two were deployed to Germany." Numerous other Army Guard companies, battalions and brigades were also called up, as well as four additional divisions who saw service in the U.S. as a strategic reserve. Those divisions called up for service in Korea augmented understrength active component divisions, Larrabee said. "Recreating or reorganizing a division from scratch in the regular Army would [have taken] too long," he said. "So, the only recourse was to mobilize the Army Guard and get those formations into the active service as soon as possible." Once mobilized, however, getting those divisions overseas was often a lengthy process. "They had to be brought up to war strength, which is one huge difference from today," said Larrabee. "For roughly a hundred years, from 1903 until about 2004 or so, the Army Guard had an authorized peacetime strength, which did not equal our wartime organization. That meant if [the Army Guard] were mobilized, we had to have additional personnel flow in to bring those units up to war strength." Today, said Larrabee, a unit's authorized strength level is its required strength for deployment. "That's one advantage we have today and that's why the Army Guard is more useful today and more relevant, because we can [deploy quickly]," he said. Back then, once the division was brought up to war strength, those Soldiers then had to train collectively for the deployment. "That's why it took a long time before they actually deployed outside the country," Larrabee said. For the Soldiers of the 29th ID, being prepared for this deployment was an integrated part of normal unit training. Earlier this year, members of the unit took part in large-scale, multi-national training exercises in Europe as well as combined, multi-echelon exercises at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. "These training exercises really built the team as we worked under stressful conditions," said Ortner. "We developed and refined processes and procedures to ensure the smooth functioning of the division headquarters. This helped prepare us for any kind of mission that we may be called upon to perform." The division's primary mission is to provide large-scale oversight to a variety of units. "With the Army's transition to a modular force the division headquarters are assigned any number of forces under them--brigade combat teams, other brigades, multi-component [units]--whereas in Korea the division was the standard formation," said Larrabee. But many constants remain. "Then, as with now, it's providing command and control," Larrabee said, adding that "only now the staffs have to be more agile. The mission is more fluid." For Ortner, this current deployment is just the next chapter of the 29th ID, whose history includes World War I service in the Argonne Forest, landing in the first wave at Normandy on D-Day and leading the fighting to take St. Lo during World War II, heading up peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and taking part in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The Soldiers who came before us established our reputation," said Ortner. "It is our charge to keep it and the Army chose the 29th ID for this mission. I think that says a lot about the 29th." That spirit is embodied in the division's motto, "29, Let's Go!", said Ortner. Coined during the Second World War, according to Ortner the motto means "drive, determination and a can-do attitude," but also something larger. "It still means that," he said. "But since [World War II] it has taken on a larger meaning that we can take on any mission, anytime and anywhere. I think this short notice mobilization demonstrates that more than any words can." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint Statement by Heads of Mission in Kenya on International Support for Kenya's 2017 Elections 20 December 2016 Nairobi, Kenya As long-time partners, our countries support the Kenyan government and people as they seek to realize the goals of the 2010 Constitution and Kenya's Vision 2030. We are committed to helping Kenya to hold free, fair, credible, and peaceful elections in 2017, and to provide non-partisan technical assistance to government institutions and civil society. We do this because effective democracies depend not just on government institutions, but on non-governmental institutions as well. A free media and independent civil society both have critical roles to play in democracies. To be clear, we do not provide electoral assistance to any organization, governmental or non-governmental, to influence the election results for any side, political party, or candidate. Rather, our assistance supports the Kenyan people to independently exercise their right to vote and have their voice heard. The Kenyan people alone have the sovereign right to choose their leaders, and we fully respect this right. We operate with full transparency. Our solicitations for project proposals are, and always have been, publicly available. In accordance with our bilateral agreements, we have created our electoral assistance programs in consultation with government, political party, and civil society leaders, who identified weaknesses in the 2013 electoral process that would benefit from international support. We provide our electoral assistance to support the Kenyan people in making their choices freely in an environment of transparency and peace. As close friends of Kenya, our electoral assistance is just one small part of a very much larger partnership in which we work together every day on education, health, security, the environment, and economic development. This statement has been issued by the following Heads of Mission in Kenya: Robert F. Godec, Ambassador of the United States Mette Knudsen, Ambassador of Denmark Stefano Dejak, Ambassador, European Union Delegation to Kenya Frans Makken, Ambassador of the Netherlands Tarja Fernandez, Ambassador of Finland John Murton, Charge d'Affaires a.i., for the United Kingdom Victor Conrad Rnneberg, Ambassador of Norway Johan Borgstam, Ambassador of Sweden John Feakes, High Commissioner for Australia Jutta Frasch, Ambassador of Germany Sara Hradecky, High Commissioner of Canada NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Coalition Targets ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 21, 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 the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 strikes in Syria: -- Near Raqqah, 11 strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units; destroyed three oil storage tanks, two oil wellheads, two oil tanker trucks, two fighting positions, two tactical vehicles, a financial storage facility, an artillery system and a vehicle bomb; and damaged a supply route. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed seven oil wellheads and an oil pumpjack. -- Near Palmyra, five strikes destroyed four ISIL-held tanks, three hardened aircraft shelters, an excavator and an air defense artillery system. Strikes in Iraq Attack and fighter aircraft and rocket artillery conducted five strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: -- Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL-held buildings, a tunnel, and a supply cache. Near Mosul, three strikes destroyed eight fighting positions, five ISIL-held buildings, two land bridges, a vehicle bomb factory, an artillery system, an anti-air artillery piece and a weapons storage facility; damaged 11 supply routes; and suppressed a mortar team and two ISIL tactical units. -- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a weapons storage facility. Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S., Russian Officials Discuss Flight Safety in Syria DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2016 Defense Department officials today held a video conference with Russian Defense Ministry counterparts, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement. The call was co-chaired by Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Elissa Slotkin and Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Clarke, the Joint Staff's vice director of strategic plans and policy, Cook said. The video conference was the latest in a continuing dialogue with the Russian Defense Ministry under the memorandum of understanding for the safety of flight in Syria to ensure that each side continues to adhere to agreed-upon measures to mitigate incidents in the air over Syria, the press secretary said. "Department officials discussed ongoing work regarding the safety of operations since the two sides last met," Cook said. "The two sides reiterated the utility of adhering to the memorandum of understanding to avoid accidents and misunderstandings in the air space over Syria." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Flying the skies with the South Carolina National Guard By Capt. Jessica Donnelly December 21, 2016 WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Located near the Columbia Metropolitan Airport is a small South Carolina Army National Guard aviation unit that has the ability to carry out real-world missions on a daily basis, transporting passengers and cargo to anywhere in the continental United States. Soldiers with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 641st Aviation Regiment, fly the C-26 twin turboprop aircraft, which is an aviation asset specific to the National Guard. "It's a National Guard unit that does real-world missions almost every day," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Graham Gilstrap, operations officer. "We're not really well known, but we do really cool things." The unit is made up of four fulltime staff and two additional drill-status Soldiers, and typically conducts flying missions 3-4 days a week, along with a day for aircraft maintenance, explained Gilstrap. There is a priority system that determines what unit gets assigned each mission and what missions get fulfilled. Priority one would be emergencies, priority two is when the mission is essential and cannot be completed by another mode of travel, and priority three is official business travel and is the majority of the flights conducted. The missions can range from transporting service members to training events, conferences, and site visits, to moving mission essential cargo from one state to another, or even providing casualty evacuation in an emergency situation. "As a pilot, it gives you this unique perspective because of the types of missions," added Gilstrap. The aircraft can hold up to 14 passengers or be reconfigured to have additional space for cargo, based on the assignment. Gilstrap explained, there is a simple process to request the aircraft that includes a military member or DoD civilian filling out a Military Air Passenger/Cargo request form and submitting it to the service airlift validation office where it will be entered into a system and assigned based on assets available. Once the mission has been assigned to the unit, the crew can coordinate directly with the passengers. "There is no reason our Guard members can't use this asset," said Gilstrap. "It's a very capable aircraft." In addition to this stateside mission, the unit is also a deployable asset. Both personnel and aircraft can be deployed overseas to provide transportation assistance throughout the operational area. "We do the exact same mission while deployed, transporting passengers and cargo," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Clinton Zimmer, C-26 pilot. It is an efficient aircraft that burns less fuel per hour and can carry more people while doing it, said Zimmer. For this reason, it's a cheaper aviation asset to have over other aircraft. The crew also enjoys flying the aircraft and completing the assignments, whether stateside or in a deployed location, added Zimmer. The profession can take them to a new location each day based on the needs of the military. "We fly all over the country," said Zimmer. "We love the mission, it's a great mission." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Release No. NR-453-16 December 21, 2016 DoD Announces Award of New Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Hub in Manchester, New Hampshire The Department of Defense announced the award of a new public-private Manufacturing USA institute to Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) today. This new institute will be the 12th Manufacturing USA institute established, with the Department of Defense now leading seven of the 12. "The investments we are making in advanced manufacturing, including today's announcement, will ensure that the innovations needed to develop, manufacture and commercialize cutting-edge processes and materials will happen right here, in America," said Defense Secretary Ash Carter. "They will provide important benefits to our war fighters and will help strengthen the economy that is the bedrock of our national security." Headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, ARMI is part of continuing efforts to help revitalize American manufacturing and incentivize companies to invest in new technology development in the United States. The highly competitive process resulted in ARMI's selection to lead the Advanced Tissue Biofabrication (ATB) Manufacturing USA Institute. The award of $80 million in federal funding will be combined with over $214 million contributed by the winning consortium, made up of industry, state and local governments, universities, community colleges, and non-profit organizations located across the country. The ATB institute, with founding industrial and academic partners in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, California, Colorado, Washington, Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland, seeks to organize the current fragmented domestic capabilities in tissue biofabrication technology and better position the U.S. relative to global competition. Biofabrication is an innovative manufacturing industry segment at the intersection of biology-related research, computer science, materials science and engineering that is creating state-of-the-art manufacturing innovations in biomaterial and cell processing, bioprinting, automation and non-destructive testing technologies for critical Department of Defense and novel commercial use. ARMI, Inc. will integrate the diverse and fragmented collection of industry practices and institutional knowledge across many disciplines to realize the potential of a robust biofabrication manufacturing ecosystem. Technologies ripe for significant evolution within the ATB institute include, but are not limited to, high-throughput culture technologies, 3D biofabrication technologies, bioreactors, storage methodologies, non-destructive evaluation, real-time monitoring/sensing, and detection technologies. ATB joins the Manufacturing USA institute network which is a bipartisan program that brings together industry, academia, and government to co-invest in the development of world-leading manufacturing technologies and capabilities. Each Manufacturing USA institute focuses on a technology area critical to future competitivenesssuch as 3D printing, integrated photonics, or smart sensors. Across the Manufacturing USA institutes, the federal government has committed $860 million, which has been matched by $1.8 billion in non-federal investment. Together, the Manufacturing USA institutes are already enhancing U.S. competitiveness in advanced manufacturingfrom helping Youngstown, OH attract over $90 million in new manufacturing investments to its region and train 14,000 workers in the fundamentals of 3D printing for businesses, to supporting companies like X-FAB in Lubbock, Texas, upgrade to cost-competitive, next-generation semiconductors and sustain hundreds of jobs. The ATB Manufacturing USA institute includes: Forty-seven industrial partners, including Abbott, Autodesk, Becton Dickinson, Celularity, DEKA Research & Development, GenCure, Humacyte, Lonza, Medtronic, Rockwell Automation, and United Therapeutics. Twenty-six academic and academically affiliated partners, including Arizona State University, Boston University, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rutgers, Stanford University, the University of Florida, the University of Minnesota, the University of New Hampshire, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Yale University. Fourteen government and nonprofit partners, including FIRST, the State of New Hampshire, and manufacturing extension partnerships in multiple states. For more information regarding this program overall and this institute in particular, visit the website at https://www.manufacturingusa.com/. http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1035759/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Norway P-8A Aircraft and Associated Support Media/Public Contact: pm-cpa@state.gov Transmittal No: 16-57 WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2016 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Norway for P-8A Aircraft and associated support. The estimated cost is $1.75 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on December 20, 2016. The Government of Norway has requested a possible sale of up to five (5) P-8A Patrol Aircraft, each includes: Commercial Engines, Tactical Open Mission Software (TOMS), Electro-Optical (EO) and Infrared (IO) MX-20HD, AN/AAQ-2(V)1 Acoustic System, AN/APY-10 Radar, ALQ-240 Electronic Support Measures. Also included are eleven (11) Multifunctional Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio Systems (MIDS JTRS); eight (8) Guardian Laser Transmitter Assemblies (GLTA) for the AN/AAQ-24(V)N; eight (8) System Processors for AN/AAQ-24(V)N; forty-two (42) AN/AAR- 54 Missile Warning Sensors for the AN/AAQ-24(V)N; fourteen (14) LN-251 with Embedded Global Positioning Systems (GPS)/Inertial Navigation Systems (EGIs); and two thousand (2,000) AN/SSQ-125 Multi-Static Active Coherent (MAC) Source Sonobouys; spares; spare engine; support equipment; operational support systems; training; maintenance trainer/classrooms; publications; software; engineering and logistics technical assistance; Foreign Liaison Officer support; contractor engineering technical services; repair and return; transportation; aircraft ferry; and other associated training and support. The total estimated program cost is $1.75 billion. This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO ally which has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability throughout the world. The proposed sale will allow Norway to maintain its Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) capability following retirement of its P-3C MPA. This sale will strengthen collective NATO defense and enhance Norway's regional and global allied contributions. Norway has procured and operated U.S. produced P-3 Orion MPAs for over 40 years, providing critical capabilities to NATO and coalition maritime operations. Norway has maintained a close MPA acquisition and sustainment relationship with the U.S. Navy over this period. The proposed sale will allow Norway to recapitalize, modernize, and sustain its MPA capability for the next 30 years. As a long-time P-3 operator, Norway will have no difficulty transitioning its MPA force to the P-8A and absorbing these aircraft into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region. The prime contractor involved in this sale is The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA. Additional contractors include: Air Cruisers Co, LLC; Arnprior Aerospace, Canada; AVOX Zodiac Aerospace; BAE; Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC)/EMS; Compass David Clark; DLS/ViaSat, Carlsbad, CA; DRS; Exelis, McLean, VA; GC Micro, Petaluma, CA; General Electric, UK; Harris; Joint Electronics; Martin Baker; Northrop Grumman Corp, Falls Church, VA; Pole Zero, Cincinnati, OH; Raytheon, Waltham, MA; Raytheon, UK; Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, IA; Spirit Aero, Wichita, KS; Symmetries Telephonies, Farmingdale, NY; Terma, Arlington, VA; Viking; and WESCAM. Norway does require an offset agreement. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the prime contractor. Implementation of the proposed sale will require approximately five (5) contractor personnel to support the program in Norway. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded. All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department's Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, pm-cpa@state.gov. -30- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address First Down-range Deployment for USNS Trenton Navy News Service Story Number: NNS161221-13 Release Date: 12/21/2016 1:06:00 PM By Bill Mesta, Military Sealift Command Public Affairs VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Military Sealift Command's expeditionary fast transport ship, USNS Trenton (EPF 5) departed from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story to begin its first operational deployment, Dec. 20. Trenton will be forward deployed to U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa Command's area of operation, supporting Sixth Fleet's efforts to conduct theater security operations and to promote peace, security, and preserve freedom of the seas. "We are very excited about supporting the team down-range and we are ready to go," said the Trenton's Military Detachment Officer-in-Charge, Lt. Cmdr. Johnny Quilenderino. "The deployment means a lot to us because this will be the first time the ship is able to perform operational missions and contribute to our military efforts," said USNS Trenton's Master, Capt. Susan Orsini. "We participated in lots of exercises and training evolutions in preparation for this deployment. We worked very hard to ensure we are prepared for this deployment." The service members who are deployed on Trenton began to arrive on the ship in Sept. and originated from 17 different commands. "The Trenton team for this deployment came together in a very short amount of time with a highly compressed schedule," said Orsini, "The military detachment and the civil service mariners (CIVMARS) who crew the ship really 'hit the ball out of the park' getting ready to leave. They all really did a great job." "Everyone is family aboard Trenton," added Quilenderino. "Our Sailors and CIVMARS all treat each other like family and work great together." The Trenton is the fifth of 12 expeditionary fast transport ships planned for the Military Sealift Command. "The Trenton is going to be operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea, supporting U.S. forces in any way we can," said Orsini. "The ship is going to primarily perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions on this deployment." Expeditionary fast transport ships are versatile, non-combatant transport ships which are capable of transporting 600 short tons for 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots. These ships are designed to operate in austere ports and waterways, thus providing added flexibility to U.S. warfighters worldwide. "The Trenton is very well suited and up to the task to meet our military mission," said Quilenderino. "When the military detachment first arrived, we had qualifications to complete and modifications to complete and now we are set to deploy." The USNS Trenton is one of the Navy's expeditionary fast transport vessels operated by Military Sealift Command. The ship is crewed by nearly 80 U.S. Navy Sailors and civil service mariners. "Trenton received a lot of support from many people and commands while getting ready for this deployment," concluded Orsini. "We are very grateful to everyone who helped make this deployment possible." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS San Jacinto Departs Piraeus, Greece Navy News Service Story Number: NNS161221-02 Release Date: 12/21/2016 8:15:00 AM By By Lt. j.g. Katrina Jorsch, USS San Jacinto (CG 56) Public Affairs MEDITERRANEAN SEA (NNS) -- The guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56) departed Piraeus, Greece, Dec. 17, after a scheduled port visit to enhance U.S.-Greece relations as the two nations work together for a stable, secure and prosperous Europe. The ship's presence in the Mediterranean is a demonstration of the U.S. Navy's continued commitments to NATO and the collective security of the European region. Capt. Dennis Velez, commanding officer of San Jacinto, hosted a luncheon with local dignitaries and Greek officials in an effort to strengthen partnerships and demonstrate the shared commitment to promoting safety and stability within the region. "This was a much needed and deserved port visit that provided the crew a great opportunity," Velez said. "It was a great chance to meet with a number of Greek dignitaries and military officials to exchange sea stories and experiences and seek opportunities to enhance the interoperability of our two countries." The crew had the chance to participate in tours of the area including visits to the Acropolis and Temple of Poseidon. They were able to experience the country and learn about another culture. It was an opportunity to further boost relations between the two countries and take in the sites of the country. San Jacinto deployed as part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (Ike CSG), June 1. Ike CSG consists of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 10 staff, the staff and squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 26 staff, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), guided-missile cruisers San Jacinto and USS Monterey (CG 61), and guided-missile destroyers USS Roosevelt (DDG 80), USS Mason (DDG 87) and USS Nitze (DDG 94). San Jacinto, homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of our allies and partners and U.S. national security interests in Europe. U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of join and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interested an security and stability in Europe and Africa. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. 6th Fleet Command USS Mount Whitney Enters Shipyard Navy News Service Story Number: NNS161221-01 Release Date: 12/21/2016 8:06:00 AM By by Petty Officer 3rd Class Rebeca Gibson RIJEKA,Croatia (NNS) -- The U.S. 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) entered drydock, Dec. 19, for its 2017 shipyard period. During this time, vital systems and a hospitality upgrade will be installed over the six month shipyard period. Mount Whitney will return to service in 2017 following the installation period in Gaeta, Italy, where the ship is forward deployed to. "The crew of Mount Whitney and the professionals at Viktor Lenac Shipyard ensured today's dry docking evolution was performed safely and efficiently," said Capt. Kevon Hakimzadeh, USS Mount Whitney commanding officer. "Completing this first major milestone on time sets the stage for a strong cooperative effort as we focus on completion of the 2017 Mount Whitney service life extension program." Mount Whitney, is currently operating in the Mediterranean Sea, working with allies and regional partners to help develop and improve maritime forces, maintain regional security, and work toward mutual goals in order to advance security and stability in Europe. U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 19 protesters killed in DR Congo's capital: UN Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 2:58PM At least 19 protesters have been killed in recent clashes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital, Kinshasa, amid growing tensions over the refusal of President Joseph Kabila to quit after the expiration of his term in office. According to a UN provisional toll on Wednesday, at least 45 demonstrators have also been injured in violent clashes between protesters and security forces since Tuesday. Reports of the death toll are different. Human Rights Watch said security forces had killed at least 26 demonstrators in the capital and arrested scores of others. The government said nine people had been killed in Kinshasa. On Tuesday, the director of the UN mission in the DR Congo, Maman Sambo Sidikou, said his office had documented 113 arrests of opposition leaders and civil society activists, human rights campaigners and journalists by police and intelligence authorities since December 16. Fears are growing about the eruption of new violence across the country. State television recently announced the establishment of a new government in line with an October deal between the ruling party and tiny opposition groups to leave Kabila in office pending elections in April 2018. Germany suspends aid talks with Congo On Wednesday, Germany's foreign office confirmed that Berlin had indefinitely postponed talks on development aid to the DR Congo against the backdrop of President Kabila's staying in power. "From now on, the Congolese government's scope for action will be restricted," the German foreign office said in a statement. "The negotiations on development cooperation scheduled to take place next year will be postponed indefinitely. The German government reserves the right to take further steps." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli settlement activities against international law: EU, Arab League Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 9:59AM The European Union and the Arab League have denounced Israel's illegal settlement activities, calling for international efforts to end the regime's decades-long occupation of Palestinian lands. In a declaration adopted Tuesday at the fourth meeting of EU and Arab League foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, the two sides stressed the need for the regime in Tel Aviv to stop its land grab and demolition of Palestinian homes. "The Ministers reaffirmed their shared position that Israeli settlement policy, including in occupied East Jerusalem (al-Quds), and related actions such as demolitions and confiscation - including of EU-funded projects and forced transfers are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace," read the declaration. They also "urged Israel not to adopt legislation which would allow for the legalization of outposts and settlements in the occupied West Bank by confiscating private Palestinian property rights, which could have far reaching consequences." "The international community should work with all relevant stakeholders to end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967," the statement stressed. Ever since its 1967 occupation and later annexation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds, Israel has been either manifestly or insidiously grabbing Palestinian land by expanding settlements and forcing out Palestinians under various pretexts. The measures have so far led to the construction of more than 120 illegal settlements occupied by over half a million Israelis in the territories. The United Nations and most countries regard the settlements to be illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war that year and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands. The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, is debating a bill to legalize some 4,000 settler units in the West Bank. The UN has condemned the draft legislation as "unequivocally illegal," saying the move would be in contravention of international law. Israeli settlement construction was among the reasons behind the collapse of talks with Palestinians in 2014. "The Ministers also called to respect of the rules of international law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and Geneva Convention of 1949, including with respect for all Palestinian and Arab prisoners and detainees, especially juveniles, in Israel prisons," the declaration also noted. The European and Arab leader further demanded "the release of prisoners in accordance with previous agreements and an end to excessive use of administrative detention in contravention of international law." More than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in some 17 Israeli jails, dozens of whom are serving multiple life sentences. About 540 Palestinians are being held without trial under the so-called administrative detention. Administrative detention is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time. "The Ministers called for all parties to take swift steps to produce a fundamental change to the humanitarian, political, security and economic situation in the Gaza Strip, including the end of the closure and a full opening of the crossing points in accordance with access and movement agreement of 2005, and accelerate the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip," the statement concluded. Israel had also occupied Gaza during the war, but withdrew in 2005. The densely-populated Palestinian territory, which is under a crippling Israeli siege, has witnessed three devastating wars since 2007. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Thailand, China in talks over military cooperation: Thai official Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 9:25AM A Thai official says his country is negotiating with China to have joint military production facilities set up in Thailand. In a visit to Beijing last week, Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan held talks with his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan about the issue, according to Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich. "The defense minister told his Chinese counterpart that we are interested in setting up facilities to repair and maintain the Chinese equipment we currently have in our arsenal," Kongcheep explained. "We will also look to their expertise in producing small arms and other security-related equipment like drones," he added. The spokesman further said that Thai authorities have also held talks with Russia about the production of similar facilities in their country but did not provide details. The Thai defense minister said last month that Bangkok was due to supply Russia with agricultural products and food in exchange for military and engineering equipment. Thailand, a United States ally by treaty, has been seeking to expand its military ties with Beijing and Moscow ever since its relationship with Washington turned chilly over a May 2014 military coup in Bangkok. Thailand said the coup was necessary to end months of unrest, including rampant street protests. The US, however, said that democracy had been harmed and that relations could not return to normal until rule of law was restored. The ruling military junta has promised fresh elections for mid-2017. The Thai and Chinese air forces held a joint military exercise in 2015 for the first time ever. Thailand also bought tanks from Beijing and signed a multi-billion-dollar contract to buy its first submarines from China in the same year. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bahraini court summons top cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 9:14AM Regime forces in Bahrain have handed a warrant to prominent cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim to appear in court, after clashing with his supporters. Bahraini police forces used tear gas against Sheikh Qassim's supporters around his residence in the western Diraz region of the country in a brutal effort to gain access to the doorway of the house on Wednesday. The supporters of the cleric, who have been camping out at the area as a protective measure for his safety, called on more people from the local population to join them following the police raid. The sit-in protest outside the cleric's home entered its 185th day on Wednesday. The sit-in protest began on June 20, when Bahraini authorities stripped the 79-year-old cleric of his citizenship, less than a week after suspending the country's main opposition party, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, and dissolving the Islamic Enlightenment Institution founded by the senior cleric and another opposition Islamic association. Following the provocation against the cleric, a senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) publicly declared that the sanctuary of the top cleric was a red line, the violation of which would set fire to Bahrain and the entire region. Major General Qassem Soleimani, who commands the IRGC's Quds Force, said in June that overstepping the red line would leave the people of Bahrain with no other choice but armed resistance. Bahrain's Interior Ministry had alleged in a statement that Sheikh Qassim actively sought the "creation of a sectarian environment" through his connections with "foreign powers," charges that were widely understood as regime attempts to silence the dissident cleric. He has denied the charges. Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has seen a wave of anti-regime protests since mid-February 2011. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others wounded or detained in a crackdown that Manama has been carrying out to crack down on dissent since then. Soon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed forces to Bahrain to assist the Manama regime's crackdown on the peaceful protests. Human rights groups have frequently censured the Al Khalifah regime for rampant human rights abuses against the opposition and anti-regime demonstrators. The regime has imprisoned other senior clerics in the past. Sheikh Ali Salman, one such figure, has been sentenced to nine years in jail in a sham trial. Also on Wednesday, UK-based rights group Amnesty International (AI) issued a statement demanding that the Bahraini regime "halt its relentless crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly" across the country. It further underlined that, over the past two months, regime forces had banned at least 40 human rights defenders and political activists in the country from traveling abroad while interrogating and filing charges against them. Amnesty said it issued the statement after Bahraini authorities "notably intensified their clampdown on freedoms" across the Persian Gulf country since June 2016, when the regime announced its bid to strip away the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim. The international rights group urged Bahraini officials to "release all prisoners of conscience" including rights activist Nabeel Rajab and Sheikh Salman "immediately and unconditionally." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gambia's president clings on to power Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 5:40AM Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has declared he will not step down despite losing to opposition leader Adama Barrow in a presidential election earlier this month. In comments on state television late on Tuesday, Jammeh also condemned mediation by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which has been trying to persuade him to peacefully hand over power at the end of his mandate on January 18. "I am not a coward. My right cannot be intimidated and violated. This is my position. Nobody can deprive me of that victory except the Almighty Allah," said the president, who has been claiming that the election suffered from numerous irregularities. Jammeh initially accepted the results of the December 1 election, in which Barrow was declared the winner, but reversed his position more than a week later and called for a revote. His refusal to accept the results prompted political upheaval in the African country, bringing pressure from the international community on him to accept the result and step down. ECOWAS said last week that Jammeh must step down next month and vowed "to take all necessary action to enforce the results" of the election. In his Tuesday remarks, Jammeh said, however, that meetings with ECOWAS mediators had been "a formality" and that he would not step down. His latest refusal is likely to stoke further tensions in the country, where the military has already been deployed to civilian sites, such as the election commission headquarters, in a show of force by the incumbent. Halifa Sallah, a spokesman for the opposition, later on Tuesday said that Jammeh would not be prosecuted for his refusal to accept the election results if he ultimately decided to allow a peaceful transition. "President-elect Barrow says he is going to treat outgoing President Yahya Jammeh like a former head of state and would consult him for advice," Sallah said. He had formerly said that Jammeh had no constitutional mandate to remain in office beyond January, warning that, "Any president who loses constitutional legitimacy becomes a rebel." The United States, the United Nations Security Council and international organizations have also called for a peaceful transition of power. President Francois Hollande of France, a former colonizer of African states, also said on Tuesday that the results of the polls were "indisputable" and that Barrow "must be installed as soon as possible." Jammeh seized power in a military coup in 1994 and has been in power ever since. He has long been under fire for by human rights groups, who accuse him of torturing, imprisoning, or even sometimes killing his opponents. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Africa command ends operation in Daesh bastion in Libya Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 2:38AM The US military has formally announced the end of operations in the Libyan city of Sirte following the recent capturing of the coastal city from the clutches of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group (ISIL). Washington began its military campaign in Libya - known as Operation Odyssey Lightning - on August 1, under the pretext of helping the Libyan unity government in a fight against the Takfiri group, which rose to power in the oil-rich country in 2011. "The United States Africa Command concluded Operation Odyssey Lightning December 19, following an announcement from the Libyan government of the end of offensive military operations in Sirte," the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday. "In partnership with the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), the operation succeeded in its core objective of enabling GNA-aligned forces to drive Daesh (ISIL) out of Sirte," it added. Africa Command claimed that the US had conducted a total of 495 airstrikes against Daesh positions in Libya since August 1. Libya's unity government has repeatedly denounced the presence of foreign troops as "violation" of the country's sovereignty. The Pentagon made the announcement three days after Fayez al-Sarraj, the GNA's leader, said in a televised speech that the city had been under full control of forces loyal to the internationally-recognized government. "The battle for Sirte is over but the war against terrorism in Libya is not finished," Sarraj said on Saturday. He also called on all factions and military forces to unite under "one single army," inviting different political parties in the North African country to work together to resolve the issues facing Libya. Sirte, located 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, is the hometown of former slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi and the main bastion of the terrorist group outside Iraq and Syria. Daesh, which captured Sirte more than a year ago, had taken advantage of a chaos gripping Libya since 2011. Forces loyal to the GNA launched the final offensive to retake Sirte from Daesh terrorists on December 5. Located on the Mediterranean coast, the city was the main urban center that Daesh managed to seize outside Iraq and Syria. The GNA, endorsed by the United Nations and several Western governments, has yet to fully establish its authority across Libya. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN chief hails peaceful and inclusive legislative elections in Cote d'Ivoire 21 December 2016 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has applauded the Government and the people of Cote d'Ivoire for this Sunday's peaceful and inclusive legislative elections as well as the progress in the country since last year, his office said. "[The Secretary-General] congratulates Ivorian political parties for their active participation in the elections and the Commission electorale independante for its efforts in ensuring the people's right to vote," read a statement issued by his spokesperson late yesterday. "He also appreciates the positive role of international and national electoral observation teams, as well as the engagement of Ivorian civil society, which enhanced the transparency and credibility of the elections," it added. Further in the statement, the UN chief commended the progress achieved by the west African country with the conclusion of a free and fair presidential election in October 2015 and the constitutional referendum in October this year. "The successful conclusion of the legislative election confirms Cote d'Ivoire's steady march towards lasting peace and stability," noted the statement. Mr. Ban also reiterated the commitment of the UN system, including the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), to continue supporting the country in sustaining the gains achieved in its consolidation of peace, stability and long-term prosperity. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Guinea-Bissau: Ban urges leaders to demonstrate goodwill to resolve political crisis 21 December 2016 Expressing concern over the impact of a prolonged political and institutional crisis in Guinea-Bissau, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the country's leadership to work towards a long-lasting political solution to the crisis on the basis of a regional roadmap agreed in September this year. "The Secretary-General shares the concern expressed by the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on 17 December over the prolonged political and institutional crisis in Guinea-Bissau, which continues to negatively impact the people of the country," read a statement issued by Mr. Ban's office late yesterday. "He calls on Guinea-Bissau's political leadership to demonstrate the requisite commitment and goodwill to reach a lasting political solution to the crisis in their country on the basis of the ECOWAS Roadmap and the Conakry Accord," it added. According to the statement, the UN chief also took note of the ECOWAS Authority decision to proceed with the withdrawal of its mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB) in the first quarter of 2017. "He expresses the hope that such withdrawal will be contingent on the preconditions stipulated in the ECOWAS Roadmap and adequate consultation with international partners, including the UN," the statement added. Mr. Ban also expressed his appreciation to the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, in particular the ECOWAS Mediator for Guinea-Bissau, President Alpha Conde of Guinea, and the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, for their continuing efforts aimed at ensuring the full implementation of the ECOWAS Roadmap and the Conakry Accord. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Roberta Diane Bailey, 71, of Corvallis died Wednesday morning at the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Dorothy M. Dorgan, 79, of Lebanon died Wednesday in Lebanon. No services are planned. Huston-Jost Funeral Home is handling arrangements. William Perry Eddy, 97, died Tuesday, Dec. 20, at the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. McHenry Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Gary Kim Jeanette, 64, of Albany died Sunday, Dec. 18. AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Wayne Howard Johnston, 69, of Brownsville, formerly of Sweet Home, died Tuesday. Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling arrangements. Margaret Paul, 92, of Albany died Friday. At her request no services will be held. Fisher Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Riva G. Peterson, 91, of Albany died Tuesday at Timberwood Court. AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Germany Offers Reward For Information On Berlin-Attack Suspect RFE/RL December 21, 2016 German authorities are offering a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($105,000) for information leading to the arrest of a Tunisian man suspected of involvement in the Berlin Christmas-market attack, identifying him as 24-year-old Anis Amri. In a statement issued on December 21, the Federal Prosecutor's Office warned that the suspect could be "dangerous and armed," and urged members of the public to notify police if they see him. The statement said a search for Amri was under way, with support from police forces in all of Germany's 16 federal states. Twelve people were killed and 48 wounded in the truck attack on a Christmas market late on December 19. German media have reported that the Tunisian suspect has used various identities since coming to Germany in 2015. Earlier, Ralf Jaeger, the interior minister in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia where the suspect had lived, said the suspect's asylum request had been rejected and that he was due to be flown back to Tunisia in August but didn't have the necessary papers to be returned. He added that the suspect was known by Germany's counterterrorism center and his case discussed by intelligence officials as recently as last month. Jaeger said that legal proceedings against the man had been opened on the suspicion that he was planning a "serious crime." German authorities are focusing their search in western Germany, where the suspect was registered in a refugee center near the Dutch border. French President Francois Hollande said on December 21 that his country's intelligence services were in "constant contact" with German officials. A website linked to Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for the December 19 attack. In a December 20 statement, the Amaq website said, "The executor of the operation...in Berlin is a soldier of the Islamic State and he executed the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition countries." A similar attack with a truck -- driven by a Tunisian man-- in the French resort city of Nice in July killed 86 people. German authorities had initially arrested a Pakistani asylum seeker who had been the sole suspect in the case but prosecutors said they lacked evidence against the 23-year-old Pakistani man and released him. German President Joachim Gauck visited some of the nearly 50 people who were injured in the incident. Officials said 14 people are considered to be in serious condition. "My visit is a symbol of millions of people across our country taking an interest in the fate of the victims, and those who are fighting for their lives, and others who have a good chance to fully recover," Gauck said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the truck rampage, in which the vehicle plowed 80 meters through the crowd, "would be especially hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that [the] person who committed this act was someone who sought protection and asylum" in Germany. Merkel is under fire over her decision in 2015 to admit almost 900,000 migrants -- most from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan -- into Germany on humanitarian grounds as they backed up on southern EU borders. The deadly attack at the Christmas market in the center of the German capital has shocked average Germans and angered Merkel's political opponents. Police say the truck used in the attack was hijacked by the suspect from a Polish driver, who was found injured in the passenger's seat of the truck. Police say he was alive at the time the truck drove into the shoppers at the Christmas market but medics were unable to save him. The White House condemned "what appears to have been a terrorist attack" and said the "horrific incident" appeared to "target our way of life." The U.S. State Department issued a European travel alert in November warning Americans of a "heightened risk of terrorist attacks throughout Europe, particularly during the holiday season," and urging "caution at holiday festivals, events, and outdoor markets." Series Of Attacks The attack in Berlin is the latest in a series of similar incidents in Germany since the summer. In July, a 17-year-old claiming to be an Afghan asylum seeker attacked passengers on a Bavarian commuter train with an ax and a knife. A week later, a 27-year-old Syrian asylum seeker blew himself up outside a music venue in the Bavarian town of Ansbach, injuring more than a dozen people. A 12-year-old boy with dual German-Iraqi citizenship also allegedly attempted to explode a nail bomb at a Christmas market in the western German city of Ludwigshafen a few weeks ago. Christmas markets have a long history in Germany stretching back to the Middle Ages and have grown dramatically to become popular places to socialize -- to drink mulled wine and to eat snacks in the weeks running up to Christmas. Security has been increased at Christmas markets all over Germany, where nearly every town and city has such a market during the holiday season. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, N-TV, Der Spiegel, and dpa Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/german-police-berlin- attack-manhunt/28188736.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 State Department Terrorist Designation of AQIM Operative Saleck Ould Cheikh Mohamedou Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC December 21, 2016 The Department of State has designated Saleck Ould Cheikh Mohamedou as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign individuals determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. As a result of this designation, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which Mohamedou has any interest is blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Mohamedou. Mohamedou, an al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) operative, was sentenced to death in Mauritania in 2011 after his conviction for attempting to assassinate the Mauritanian head-of-state Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The plot, which was foiled by the Mauritanian Army, included attacks on the French Embassy and the Mauritanian Ministry of National Defense. Mohamedou is also regarded as the mastermind of the terrorist attack that resulted in the killing of four French tourists in Mauritania in 2007. Mohamedou escaped from prison in 2015, but was captured in January 2016 and is currently incarcerated in Mauritania. The imposition of sanctions by the United States against terrorists is a powerful tool. Today's action notifies the U.S. public and the international community that Mohamedou has actively engaged in terrorism. Designations of terrorist individuals and groups expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and result in denial of access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist or complement the law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and other governments. A list of U.S. designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations and SDGTs is available here: http://www.state.gov/j/ct/list/index.htm. Identifiers: Name: Saleck Ould Cheikh Mohamedou AKA: Saleck Ould Cheikh DOB: 1984 POB: Atar, Mauritania NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Germany Identifies New Suspect in Berlin Market Attack By VOA News December 21, 2016 German police are engaged in a manhunt to find a Tunisian man suspected of involvement in Monday's deadly truck rampage in Berlin. An arrest warrant issued Wednesday names Anis Amri and lists him as a Tunisian citizen, born in the town of Ghaza. The wanted notice says he has used at least six aliases and three nationalities in the past and is considered armed and dangerous. German authorities also released two photos of the man and described him as being of average height and weight, with black hair and brown eyes. Police are currently searching for him across Germany and throughout Europe's Schengen states. Another man, a Pakistani who had been detained following the attack, was released due to lack of evidence. Following a briefing Wednesday from security officials, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said police had identified Amri as a new suspect, but stressed that "he is a suspect, but not necessarily the assailant." While de Maiziere refused to confirm or deny the media reports regarding Amri's connection with Islamic extremist groups, Stephan Mayer, a lawmaker from the governing conservatives, said Amri had been under surveillance for some time. "We are apparently talking about a potentially dangerous suspect who was known to authorities and belonged to the Salafist-Islamist scene," Mayer said during the same news conference. Officials also say police suspected Amri was plotting a serious crime. "Security agencies exchanged information about this person in the joint counterterrorism center, the last time in November," said the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger. According to Jaeger, Amri applied for asylum in Germany in 2015, but his request was denied. Media reports say authorities found asylum papers belonging to the Tunisian man in the cab of the stolen truck after it was used to plow through a crowded Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more. The government in Berlin said 12 people are still receiving treatment for injuries sustained in the attack, but a large number of victims with minor injuries are being released. Berlin police say they have received more than 500 leads from a telephone tip line since the attack Monday. On Tuesday, the head of Germany's Federal Criminal Police force said police have not yet found the gun believed to have been used to kill the truck's Polish driver. The Islamic State group has claimed the attack was carried out in response to its calls for people to target citizens of countries participating in the U.S.-led coalition seeking to destroy the militant group. Germany is not one of the country's conducting airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, but has served in a support role including refueling and reconnaissance. Monday's crash bore strong similarities to a truck attack earlier this year in southern France that killed scores of people and wounded many others as France celebrated a national holiday. French police linked that July 14 attack, which killed 86 people and wounded more than 400 others, to a Tunisian national with reputed links to Islamic State extremists. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Europe Braces for Russian Cyber Assault Before 2017 Elections By Henry Ridgwell December 21, 2016 Amid ongoing accusations that Russia attempted to influence and subvert the U.S. presidential election, Europe is bracing for a similar operation by Moscow before a series of elections. France, Germany and the Netherlands go to the polls in 2017, and analysts say Russia is already attempting to influence the outcomes, a charge Moscow denies. As the chief European architect of sanctions against Russia, analysts say German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the European leader Moscow would most like to see voted out of power. In a speech this month Merkel warned of the dangers of external attempts to hack the election, adding that German leaders must inform people, and express their political convictions clearly. The chancellor is running for a fourth term. But she does have an Achilles heel. Nearly a million migrants arrived in Germany in 2015 and analysts say Russia will likely use this to try whip-up anti-immigrant feeling. In January, a fake news story about a Russian-German girl named "Lisa" who had reportedly been raped by migrants prompted protests in Germany, and accusations of a cover-up from Moscow. The girl later admitted it was a lie. Russia will likely ramp up its efforts at disinformation before the election, says Center for European Reform analyst Ian Bond. "They can target it both in France and in Germany. But because Angela Merkel herself has been so closely identified with the policy of admitting refugees and asylum seekers to Germany, it is, I think, an area of vulnerability for her," Bond says. Break-up of EU as goal The far right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party is rising in the polls. Monday's terror attack in Berlin could boost support, says Thorsten Benner of Berlin's Global Public Policy Institute. "Or if we have an unraveling of the refugee situation again with the EU-Turkey pact unraveling on refugees. That could also increase the pressure on Germany," Benner says. Across Europe, far right parties have sought close relationships with Moscow. Ian Bond says the populist parties share one goal, the break-up of the European Union. "And from a Russian point of view if you can divide Europe, if you can then pick off individual states and make them feel more vulnerable or make them feel that they have to accommodate themselves to Russia, then that is a huge win." With Donald Trump taking over the U.S. presidency in January, Bond says European unity will be tested from all sides. "Trump himself, like Putin, seems to share this preference for dealing with countries in Europe bilaterally rather than multilaterally. And so I think he is not going to shed many tears if in fact the EU is weakened as a result of Russian activity in European elections in the coming months" Bond says. While Trump has said US NATO allies should pay more for defense, he has not suggested he wants to see the European Union weakened. European leaders hope that by sounding the alarm early, any attempts by Moscow to influence upcoming elections can be extinguished. But analysts warn Russia's propaganda drive is already well underway. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran to launch 3 more satellites into space: ICT minister Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 6:50PM Iran's minister of information and communications technologysays the country plans to send a new domestically-manufactured satellite into space by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (ending on March 20, 2017). Mahmoud Vaezi said on Wednesday that the probe called Sharif Sat would be put into orbit by the end of the year, adding that Iran planned to send two more satellites into space by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (which ends on March 20, 2018). The three satellites have been manufactured by young Iranian experts in research centers at the country's universities, the minister said. He also said that Iran was about to sign a contract with a Russian company on the manufacture of a remote-sensing satellite. "The contract is in final stages. The letter of credit to finance the contract has also been finalized and the work will begin within the next two or three weeks," Vaezi said. The minister also said that Iran had embarked on manufacturing a telecommunications satellite, and that the country was in talks with a number of foreign countries on the project. He said that further details would be announced in the near future. Iran launched its first locally-built satellite, Omid (Hope), in 2009. The country also sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into space in February 2010, using Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier. Iran also placed the domestically-made Fajr (Dawn) satellite into orbit in February 2015. The satellite is capable of taking and transmitting high-quality and accurate pictures to stations on earth. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Military auditing regulation revised People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 20:13, December 21, 2016 A revised regulation has been issued to streamline auditing practices in the armed forces and tighten disciplinary supervision. Issued by an order from Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping, the regulation will take effect on Jan. 1,2017, according to an official announcement Wednesday. All economic activity of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the armed police is subject to auditing, and officials with economic duties must also be placed under scrutiny, the regulation said. Officials with a lot of financial and logistics responsibilities, those who have been considered for promotion and those who are leaving their posts should be placed under particularly close watch, it said. Military auditing agencies with powers to investigate and penalize must hand over disciplinary and legal violations cases in the financial sector to anti-graft and prosecution authorities for further investigation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China Extends Its Clampdown on Foreign Nonprofits By Ken Bredemeier December 21, 2016 Beijing has extended its clampdown on the activities of 7,000 international nonprofit groups in China, its latest effort aimed at curbing foreign influences in the country. Expanding on a law passed in April, Beijing published a list of activities the foreign groups will be allowed to conduct and gave the groups days to register with police and submit to government supervision before the controls take effect January 1. Many of the estimated 200 permitted activities are non-controversial, such as work in water conservation, disaster response and vocational training. But the restrictions also cover issues such as legal services, gender equality, disability rights and the rule of law. Government wants control Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged a tough campaign against foreign influences in the country, especially activities that might undermine the Beijing government, such as those promoting universal human rights. Taisu Zhang, a Yale University law professor and an expert on the Chinese law covering the international nonprofits, told VOA the list of allowable activities the Chinese government published Tuesday by the Ministry of Public Security "indicates an increased seriousness on behalf of the government to signal the foreign non-government organizations to step up their compliance with the rules. The government wants to control the messages that the foreign NGOs are sending out." He said, "You could imagine some anti-communist human rights group now being affected" by the rules that would limit its activities in China. Under the law, the international nonprofits must have a government sponsor to continue to operate inside China. Analysts say the effect of the restrictions won't be be fully known until Chinese police and other agencies start accepting, or rejecting, requests for sponsorship. Warning issued to Americans Groups working in legal services could be especially vulnerable under the law, which authorities say was necessary to control the unregulated nonprofits and their activities. They must be sponsored and supervised by the Ministry of Justice, which legal-reform advocates say has been antagonistic to the nonprofits. Since mid-2015, Beijing authorities have jailed, detained or interrogated dozens of human rights lawyers, often accusing them of collaborating with foreign civil rights groups to promote democracy. A week ago, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing issued a warning that American citizens employed or associated with the nonprofits "may face special scrutiny and/or penalties for noncompliance" with the law after it goes into effect on New Year's Day. The U.S. and other governments have criticized the law as an attempt by Beijing to control civil society. Some of the nonprofits working in China had hoped that the sponsoring agencies under the law would be dominated by Chinese non-government groups, including think tanks and professional associations. But nearly all the approved supervisory agencies China listed are government-controlled. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India should be cautious in rebuilding special forces in border areas with China: expert People's Daily Online By Sun Wenyu (People's Daily Online) 14:04, December 21, 2016 In addition to the deployment of Mountain Strike Corps and BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missiles along the China-India border, India is planning to rebuild its Special Frontier Forces (SFF) to cope with China's frequent actions, Indian media outlet Daily News and Analysis (DNA) reported on Dec. 19. But experts have since pointed out that India should approach this task with caution. The SFF was established in 1963 after the border conflict with China in 1962. As the ears and eyes of India's frontier forces, the troop has played a significant role in gathering intelligence from border areas and neighboring countries. According to DNA, the decision to rebuild the force was made by top Indian security leadership in an effort to cope with China's actions in countries surrounding India and along international boundaries. The report noted that China has proposed building a new railway and trade route between itself and Nepal. China has also enhanced its presence in Bangladesh and Myanmar -- two nations that show great interest in attracting Chinese capital and infrastructure. Ye Hailin, chief of the South Asia Studies Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the decision to rebuild the SFF is India's internal affairs, but the country should think carefully about whether this is a practical solution. China has no right to stop India's efforts. Likewise, its cooperation and exchanges with Bangladesh and Nepal need no consent from India, Ye added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Daesh terrorists target civilians as they lose ground in Mosul: HRW Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:44AM Human Rights Watch says Takfiri Daesh terrorists in Mosul are deliberating targeting the civilians who decline to join their ranks as Iraqi armed forces are making headway during an operation to liberate the northern city. The New York-based international rights group said in a Wednesday report that an increasing proportion of Mosul residents is getting caught in the exchange of gunfire between government forces and Daesh terrorists. Daesh is "indiscriminately or deliberately killing and wounding people for refusing to be human shields," said the report, which is based on interviews with fleeing residents of Mosul. It added that 19 people lost their lives and dozens more sustained injuries between the third week of November and the first week of the current month during the fighting, adding that the deaths were mainly caused by Daesh snipers as well as militant mortar attacks, car bombs and roadside bombings. One of the witnesses, identified as Ammar told Human Rights Watch that Daesh terrorists began rounding up civilians to retreat with them before the army entered Mosul's east, but many of them refused to help the militants. "They were coming door-to-door, saying, 'Do you want to leave with us or not?'" said "Ammar," who fled the eastern Mosul neighborhood of Intisar after being wounded in a Daesh mortar strike on December 5. "We said we would not go with them and they said,'Whatever happens to you guys, you deserve it,'" he added. Mosul battle underway The statement came a day after the media center of Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha'abi, said Iraqi army and federal police forces had launched a barrage of artillery shells into Ghazlani military base, which lies near Mosul, in preparation to storm the site and regain its control. Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir YarallahLieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, also said Iraqi forces are clearing roads and buildings in liberated areas of explosive devices and abandoned ordnance. Meanwhile, Chief Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat, commander of Iraqi Federal Police Forces, wrote on his Facebook page that security forces have destroyed two vehicles rigged with explosives on the outskirts of Abu Seif village south of Mosul. On October 17, Iraqi army soldiers, supported by fighters from Hashd al-Sha'abi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists. The Iraqi forces' advance has, however, been slowed down due to the presence of hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of whom are prevented from leaving Mosul by Daesh. The International Organization for Migration said on Sunday that 103,872 people have been displaced ever since Mosul liberation operations got underway in mid-October. Jassem Mohammed al-Jaff, the Iraqi minister for displacement and migration, had earlier put the number at 118,000. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US returns part of Okinawa's WWII-occupied land to Japan Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 2:22PM The United States government has officially returned a large chunk of occupied land on Okinawa Island to Japan, but is pushing ahead with plans to stay on the prefecture despite public outrage. US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy joined Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Wednesday in a ceremony to mark the handover of over 4,000 hectares (about 10,000 acres) of land that the US had occupied after the Second World War. The land was part of a zone commonly known as the Northern Training Area, located inside a vast US military base complex on the Pacific island. The return was the largest of its kind since 1972, when Washington gave back a large part of the island to Japan. Despite the latest move, 17 percent of Okinawa still remains under US occupation. After the rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by three US troops in 1996, Washington and Tokyo agreed to relocate some US servicemen outside Okinawa or move others to less populated parts of the island. Under the deal, the US Marines' Futenma base, which is currently in a heavily-populated area, would be relocated to a less populated area. However, that plan faced delays due to protests by local residents against the construction of new US military facilities. Protesters want the base and the US military off their land altogether. Led by Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, Okinawan people are also worried about the high rate of crimes and reckless incidents involving the US military personnel. In his attempts to block the relocation, Onaga revoked an October 2015 order by his predecessor for a landfill project that would allow Washington and Tokyo to complete the relocation. Onaga and his campaign received a major blow on Wednesday, when the Japanese Supreme Court said he acted "illegally" when he called off the project. Situated in the East China Sea, Okinawa hosts the bulk of the nearly 50,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan and is key to Washington's plans to curb China's growing influence in the region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Japanese PM to Take Non-apology Tour to Pearl Harbor By Brian Padden December 21, 2016 Next week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to engage in a now familiar diplomatic offensive to reconcile lingering resentment over his country's wartime past when he visits the Pearl Harbor memorial in Hawaii. Japan's surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in 1941 killed over 2,000 Americans and drew the United States into World War II. After alienating regional neighbors in 2013 by visiting the Yasukuni war shrine that honors millions of war dead, but also includes the names of over a thousand convicted war criminals, the conservative Japanese leader has taken a very proactive role to address concerns over his efforts to recast wartime history with a less apologetic tone, and to ease the limits of Japan's pacifist constitution. "He's done a good job in the last two years or so of really, I would say, keeping his mouth shut and not expressing his, what are probably his deeply held, views about recent regional history, particularly involving World War II. And that's what statesmen do," said Grant Newsham, a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo. Revisionist Abe is a perceived nationalist who embraces a revisionist view of history that portrays Japan not as the imperialistic aggressor in World War II, but as a nation that tried to push back against U.S. and European domination of Asia. "The counter narrative, one of revisionists, the one that is led by Abe, is that that is one sided and biased, and that Japan is the victim of victors' justice and victors' history, that unfairly impugns Japan and tarnishes its reputation," said Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo, during a recent seminar at the school. Comfort women Comments by Abe and his supporters that downplay or omit wartime atrocities committed by Japan have enraged China, where an estimated 20 million Chinese died fighting the Japanese in the 1930s and 1940s, and South Korea, which Japan ruled as a colony from 1910 to 1945. Regarding the estimated 200,000 Asian "comfort women" forced into sexual slavery by Japan's military during its occupation of Asia and during World War II, the Japanese leader has used elusive language to express remorse without assuming responsibility for past abuse. Some Abe supporters caused widespread outrage in Asia with claims that many "comfort women" were not coerced but willingly engaged in prostitution for financial gain. South Korean President Park Geun-hye had refused to hold any bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Abe until he offered proper atonement and reparations. With Washington also pressuring Abe to resolve this contentious issue, Tokyo and Seoul negotiated for months on a settlement that would satisfy South Korea but also mitigate disapproval from Japanese nationalists. The two sides reached a deal in December of last year. Abe released a written statement that offered his "most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds." Tokyo also agreed to contribute over $8 million to a South Korean fund to aid the surviving "comfort women." South Korea in return resumed bilateral cooperation and both sides agreed the settlement was "final and irreversible." Russia The Japanese prime minister had less success negotiating with Russia to give back the southern Kuril islands in the western Pacific, that were seized by Soviet forces at the end of the war, forcing about 17,000 Japanese residents to flee. The two countries have been unable to agree on a post war peace treaty because of the ongoing dispute over ownership of the islands. Last week Abe and Putin met for two days of talks and agreed in the end only to increase economic cooperation with the hope to reach some agreement on the island chain in the future. China Japan's close relationship with the United States and Abe's efforts to expand the scope of the military has raised concerns in China. Beijing and Tokyo are involved in a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands called the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyu in China in the East China Sea. There have been numerous close encounters between the two countries' naval forces and coast guards in the disputed zone. In September, Prime Minister Abe met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in China, where both agreed to increase dialogue to resolve this issue and to establish a hotline to prevent accidental collisions between the two countries' militaries. Trump Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor is in part a reciprocal gesture for President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima in May. The first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the initial U.S. atomic bomb attack in 1945, Obama offered sympathy for the victims, but no apology. Abe had fostered close ties with Obama in supporting the Trans Pacific Pact (TPP) free trade agreement, and to expand its military role to counter the North Korean nuclear threat and China's aggressive moves in the South China Sea. But the recent presidential election victory of Donald Trump may have added new urgency for Abe to show solidarity with the United States. Trump has opposed TPP and during the campaign he criticized Tokyo for not paying its fair share of mutual defense costs for the 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan. Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Scores of S.Korean ruling party lawmakers agree to defect after presidential impeachment People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 13:59, December 21, 2016 Scores of South Korean ruling party lawmakers agreed on Wednesday to defect from the Saenuri Party as strife deepened between factions loyal to and against impeached President Park Geun-hye. A group of 35 legislators of the Saenuri's anti-Park faction agreed to bolt from the governing party on Dec. 27 during a televised emergency meeting. Intra-party fight got stiffer after the bill to impeach President Park was passed on Dec. 9 through the National Assembly with an overwhelming support. Almost half of 128 Saenuri lawmakers voted for the impeachment, indicating more anti-Park faction members may choose to leave the ruling party in the near future. A new party that will be created by the anti-Park faction could surpass the number of 38 parliamentary seats the minor opposition People's Party garnered in the April general elections. The biggest opposition Minjoo Party has 121 lawmakers, while there are 6 legislators with the minor opposition Justice Party and 7 independent lawmakers. The anti-Park faction's new party will become one of floor negotiation bodies in the parliament as it meets the requirements of over 20 lawmakers, raising the total number of floor body to four. The four-party regime would emerge for the first time since 1988 when four political parties formed their respective negotiation bodies in the floor. Attention is expected to be paid to whether the People's Party, mostly composed of defectors from the Minjoo Party, and the anti-Park faction's party would form a so-called "third playing field," where non-mainstreamers in both ruling and opposition parties compete to field a single candidate in next presidential election. If the constitutional court justifies the presidential impeachment for as long as 180 days, a presidential election is required to be held within 60 days. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US to regularly deploy strategic weapons to South Korea: Officials Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:40PM The United States will regularly deploy strategic weapons to South Korea to counter nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, US and South Korean defense officials said in a joint statement. Officials reaffirmed the commitment at the first meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) in Washington on Tuesday. In an attempt to boost deterrence against Pyongyang, US and South Korean officials launched the joint defense cooperation talks in Washington in October. "In response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the officials reaffirmed the commitment of the US to regularly deploy US strategic assets for the defense of the Republic of Korea," the allies said in their statement on Tuesday. The two countries will also "enhance such measures and identify new or additional steps to strengthen deterrence," the statement, published by the US State Department, said. Earlier in the year, the US sent several B-52 strategic bombers and stealth fighter jets to South Korea in a show of force after North Korea conducted a nuclear test. The bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons briefly flew over the Osan Air Base, located some 72 kilometers (45 miles) south of Seoul. In September, the US also flew two B-1B strategic bombers over South Korea and near North Korea's border. One of the nuclear-capable supersonic bombers landed at Osan Air Base near Seoul, a first in two decades. "The US reiterated its ironclad and unwavering commitment to draw on the full range of its military capabilities, including the nuclear umbrella, conventional strike and missile defense to provide extended deterrence for the ROK," the two sides stressed in their statement. The South Korean delegation met with Michael Flynn, a retired US Army lieutenant general who will serve as the national security adviser for the incoming president, Donald Trump. Flynn said the Trump administration would continue to cooperate with Seoul to further strengthen the South Korea-US alliance, officials said. North Korea launched three ballistic missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan on September 5. Several days later, it announced that it had conducted a successful "nuclear warhead explosion," which was believed to be the fifth and largest such test by the country. Pyongyang says it will not abandon its nuclear "deterrence" unless Washington ends its "hostile" policy toward the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Korea inspectors raid major pension fund office linked to fraud scandal Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 6:30AM South Korean inspectors have raided the National Pension Service (NPS) office as part of a probe into a high-profile fraud scandal that has prompted the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. The raid was conducted against what has been described as the world's third-largest pension fund on Wednesday. It was part of a bid by a special prosecutor looking into the scandal to investigate the NPS's decision in 2015 to endorse the eight-billion-dollar merger of two Samsung Group affiliates, according to an official with the special prosecutor's office. The special prosecutor is investigating whether Samsung bribed Park's confidant Choi Soon-sil to win the NPS's approval for the merger. Choi is in custody and on trial for fraud and abuse of power in a massive influence-peddling scandal. Also on Wednesday, South Korean prosecutors raided an office at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which administers the NPS. A spokeswoman for the ministry confirmed that special prosecution authorities were at the ministry's pension department and were "looking at a broad range of material." Last month, a different team of prosecutors raided the offices of Samsung and the NPS. South Korean lawmakers voted on December 9 to impeach Park, a measure that requires confirmation by the Constitutional Court, which has 180 days to announce its judgment. Meanwhile, a South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra. The warrant was issued on Wednesday over several charges, including obstruction of justice, a spokesman for the special prosecutor's office, Lee Kyu-chul, announced. Lee further said that South Korean legal authorities would seek the assistance of German prosecutors to detain the 20-year-old Chung, who is believed to reside in Germany. Lee also said that authorities were working to invalidate Chung's South Korean passport and are seeking information about her whereabouts and financial assets from German prosecutors. Chung provoked public outrage earlier this year when it was revealed that she had received special treatment from a prestigious and private university in Seoul. She was also stripped of her high school diploma for fabrication of grades and attendance, according to the Seoul Education Office as cited in local media reports. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US to continue diplomatic ties with Russia: State Dept. Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 6:13PM The US government will continue its diplomatic ties with Russia, says the US State Department, rejecting the Kremlin's remarks that almost all communication channels between the two sides were "frozen." "It's difficult to know exactly what is meant by this comment, but diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement on Wednesday. "That we have significant differences with Moscow on some of these issues is well known, but there hasn't been a break in dialogue," he added. Kirby's remarks were a response to an earlier statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said mutual ties with the White House were marred by "an extreme degree of distrust." "With the United States, nearly all levels of dialogue are in a frozen state. We do not communicate with each other or do it minimally," Peskov told the MIR television network, adding, "President [Vladimir] Putin has consistently advocated for a way out of this state." Ties between Washington and Moscow further soured after the US Treasury Department on Tuesday blacklisted several Russian companies and individuals over their alleged connection to the Ukrainian crisis and the 2014 reunification of the Crimean peninsula with the Russian mainland. The Treasury said the sanctions were against eight Russian infrastructure, shipping and construction companies that have ties to projects in and near Crimea. The Treasury further named 26 subsidiaries of Russian Agricultural Bank and gas producer Novatek, both of which had already been sanctioned in 2014. Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17, 2014, and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum in which 96.8 percent of participants voted in favor of the secession. Since then, the US and some other Western countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia over accusations that Moscow has been involved in the crisis in Ukraine, which broke out when Kiev launched military operations to crack down on pro-Russia forces in the east. The two countries have also been at loggerheads with each other over the years-long crisis in Syria, where Russia supports the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the US sides with militant groups fighting his government. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US sanctions Russian companies, Moscow responds Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 12:24AM The United States has blacklisted several Russian companies and individuals over their alleged connection to the Ukrainian crisis and the 2014 reunification of the Crimean peninsula with the Russian mainland. The US Treasury Department said in statement on Tuesday that the sanctions were against eight Russian infrastructure, shipping and construction companies that have ties to projects in and near Crimea. It said the blacklist also included seven businessmen who had "extensive business dealings" with Russia's Ministry of Defense. The Treasury further named 26 subsidiaries of Russian Agricultural Bank and gas producer Novatek, both of which had already been sanctioned in 2014. "Today's action is in response to Russia's unlawful occupation of Crimea and continued aggression in Ukraine," said John Smith, the acting director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which imposes sanctions. "These targeted sanctions aim to maintain pressure on Russia by sustaining the costs of its occupation of Crimea and disrupting the activities of those who support the violence and instability in Ukraine," he added. The Treasury added that the US-based assets of those businesses and individuals targeted by the Tuesday sanctions will be blocked and American citizens and companies are banned from financial transactions with them. Russia reacts In response to the move, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the sanctions were "hostile acts" by the administration of outgoing US President Barack Obama and Moscow would expand its sanctions against Washington, looking for other "asymmetrical answers" to US actions. "We reserve the right to choose time, place and form of reciprocal measures in a way that will be comfortable for us and that will correlate with our own priorities in policy concerning the US," Ryabkov said. The European Union announced on Monday that the bloc would extend its own economic sanctions against Russia for another six months. Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17, 2014, and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum in which 96.8 percent of participants voted in favor of the secession. Since then, the US and some other Western countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia over accusations that Moscow has been involved in a deadly crisis in Ukraine, which broke out when Kiev launched military operations to crack down on pro-Russia forces in the east. Earlier this year, Obama signed a new Executive Order that extends economic sanctions against Russia for another year. The decree, published on March 2 on the official White House website, states that economic and financial sanctions imposed on Moscow over its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis will stay in place until March 6, 2017. What Americans think about Russia hacking The Tuesday announcement of fresh sanctions against Russia comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow, as US intelligence agencies have reported alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. In an interview last week, the outgoing US president vowed to retaliate against Russia's involvement in cyber attacks. A new poll conducted by Morning Consult/Politico and published earlier in the day revealed that 46 percent of Americans disagree with the conclusion of US intelligence agencies that the Russian government is responsible for cyber attacks related to the November 8 election. "We cannot be sure about who is primarily responsible for hacking and cyber-attacks that may have impacted the US election," the respondents said. The voters who were opposed to the conclusion argued that tracing cyber attacks is complicated and the intelligence groups now claiming Moscow's meddling in US elections "are the same ones that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." Only 29 percent of respondents were in favor of the statement that "We know with near certainty that Russia is responsible for hacking and cyber attacks that impacted the US election." Moscow has time and again denied any interference in the presidential election, calling the allegations absurd and an attempt to distract US voters from pressing domestic issues. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Presidential Hopeful Slams Kremlin On Syria, Ukraine RFE/RL's Russian Service December 21, 2016 Russia is fighting on the wrong side in Syria and has turned close neighbor Ukraine into a "hostile state" through its aggression, Kremlin foe Aleksei Navalny has said in an interview. Navalny, an anticorruption crusader and opposition leader who announced last week that he plans to run for president in 2018, spoke to RFE/RL's Russian Service on December 20. He said that Russia should be battling Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria as part of a U.S.-led coalition rather than helping President Bashar al-Assad's forces retake territory from rebels in a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people. Russia should not "try to save Assad, who represents a military junta," Navalny said. He said that getting involved in the war on the same side as Shi'ite-dominated Iran and Hizballah, the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group fighting alongside Syrian government forces, stokes anger among members of Russia's mostly Sunni Muslim minority. "That is exactly why people from the North Caucasus go to Syria in droves to fight along their Sunni brothers against Shi'a," Navalny said, referring to the part of southern Russia that includes mostly Muslim regions such as Chechnya and Daghestan. "That, I think, was the reason for the fanatic who committed that terrorist act yesterday," Navalny added, speaking of the fatal shooting of the Russian ambassador to Turkey on December 19 by a gunman -- identified by the Turkish authorities as an off-duty policeman -- who shouted, "Don't forget Aleppo!" Russian military support has helped Assad's forces take most of eastern Aleppo from rebels in recent months in a persistent campaign that has led to accusations of atrocities and war crimes. Navalny said that comments on social networks from some Ukrainians about the killing of the ambassador underscored the level of animosity in that county toward Russia, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and has backed separatists in a war that has killed more than 9,750 people in eastern Ukraine since that April. "We just see that with our own hands we have created a hostile state where...people hate Russia en masse," Navalny said. He said that "a couple of generations" will have to pass before ties with "the culturally and linguistically" close neighbor can return to normal. Navalny also said that to make sure that no Russian troops are on Ukrainian territory, Russia must fully implement the Minsk agreements on resolution of the conflict in Ukraine's east, where Russia-backed separatists control some districts. If elected, he said, he would initiate "a normal referendum" in Crimea to legally define the status of the peninsula. Russia seized control of Crimea in March 2014 after flooding the peninsula with troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by Ukraine, the United States, and a total of 100 UN member states. Domestic Focus Navalny, 40, could face an uphill battle just to get on the ballot in the 2018 election, in which Putin is widely expected to seek a new six-year term but has not announced his candidacy. Navalny will need to clear hurdles that Kremlin critics say have been used extensively in the past to block opposition politicians from challenging Putin. He has been convicted of financial crimes twice in trials he says were Kremlin-dictated revenge for his opposition activities, though a Supreme Court decision to throw out one of the convictions removed a legal restraint that had barred him from running for office. If he is convicted in the retrial, which is under way, he could be barred from the ballot. While he spoke about Syria and Ukraine in the wide-ranging interview, Navalny said that as president, he would focus much of his attention on pressing domestic concerns. Among other things, he said he would free political prisoners, pursue judicial reforms to make the courts independent, and take steps to ensure oligarchs and business giants do not control the media. Navalny also said he would hold a new election to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, contending that the September vote that elected the current Duma was rigged in favor of the ruling United Russia party. Navalny was a key leader of large street protests that erupted in Moscow over claims of widespread fraud in the December 2011 Duma elections and Putin's plan to return to the Kremlin in 2012 after a stint as prime minister. He said he would bring back the four-year presidential term to prevent future presidents from being "being spoiled by power" in six-year terms, reversing a change made in 2008. Navalny predicted that recent and upcoming elections in the United States and European Union countries will have little long-term effect on their relations with Russia, in part because election cycles mean leaders in the West can frequently be replaced. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said he will seek to improve ties with Russia, which are badly strained by Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria, among other things. But Navalny said that "Trump is supported by Republicans and Republicans are very belligerent on [Russia-related] issues." Written by Merhat Sharipzhan based on an interview by RFE/RL's Russian Service Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-navalny- presidential-candidate-criticizes- syria-ukraine/28189546.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 Kremlin Lashes Out At U.S. Over 'Destructive' Sanctions RFE/RL December 21, 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has criticized the United States for targeting additional individuals and organizations with sanctions over Moscow's aggression in Ukraine and suggested the Kremlin would respond in kind. Speaking on December 21, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed "regret" over what he called the "destructive obstinacy on the part of our American colleagues." He said that the U.S. policy of imposing sanctions "does serious damage to our bilateral relations" and that Russia "will take adequate measures" in response. The U.S. Treasury Department issued an updated list on December 20 that includes seven Russians and more than three dozen companies in Russia and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014. "These targeted sanctions aim to maintain pressure on Russia by sustaining the costs of its occupation of Crimea and disrupting the activities of those who support the violence and instability in Ukraine," John Smith, acting director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement. The list includes Yevgeny Prigozhin, a St. Petersburg businessman who has been linked to a "troll factory" that paid Russians to post anonymous comments to news sites, social-media networks, and blogs in an effort to bolster Kremlin policies. The U.S. Treasury announcement said Prigozhin had provided financial, material, and technological support for senior Russian defense officials and has had extensive business with the Defense Ministry. That includes a company linked to him that has a contract to build a military base near the Russian border with Ukraine, the department said. Prigozhin has been dubbed "Putin's chef" thanks to state catering contracts his firms have secured with the Kremlin and elsewhere. Russians targeted by the U.S. sanctions over Ukraine are barred from traveling to the United States and any assets they hold there are frozen. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the fresh sanctions a "hostile move" and warned on December 20 that Russia would retaliate, at least in part by expanding its own lists of Americans subject to similar sanctions. "We will be expanding our lists. We will see how we can respond asymmetrically," the state-run TASS news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying. Russia does not publicly release the names of the U.S. citizens targeted by its sanctions. With reporting by TASS Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-- lashes-out-at-united-states-over-new- sanctions/28188953.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 US Refutes Russian Claim of Broken Communication By Steve Herman December 21, 2016 U.S. officials expressed bafflement Wednesday over Kremlin comments that relations between Washington and Moscow are practically frozen. "I was just as much surprised as you," a high-ranking U.S. official told reporters, adding that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov "should be asked about his comments." The Kremlin official's assertion came just a day after a telephone conversation between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and on the same day that American and Russian military officers held a video conference to discuss flight safety over Syria. "The dialogue has not been broken," State Department spokesman John Kirby said at Wednesday's daily briefing. "Communications are not frozen." Washington remains committed to "dialogue and communication," Kirby added. U.S. officials acknowledge significant differences with Russia at a time of heightened tensions, ranging from Moscow's backing of Syria's government in its brutal offensive against rebels to alleged Russian interference in the recent U.S. presidential election. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's Mir TV on Wednesday that "almost every level of dialogue" had been severed with the United States. Peskov is also quoted as saying he expects President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration to take a "fresher and more constructive approach." His remarks came a day after the White House expressed its commitment to implementing new economic sanctions on Russia a decision the Russian foreign ministry said it "regretted," while also vowing Moscow will take commensurate measures. Leaders from Russia, Iran and Turkey met in Moscow on Tuesday, excluding representatives from the United States and the United Nations, to discuss solutions to ending the nearly six-year war in Syria. There are expectations that U.S.-Russian ties, which became increasingly tense during the eight years of the Obama administration, are set to improve when Trump takes office. The president-elect has dismissed U.S. intelligence reports blaming Russia for hacking computers of the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost the election to Trump. He has also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and selected ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson, who has deep business ties to Russia, to be his secretary of state. VOA's Joshua Fatzick contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zarif: Iran, Russia, Turkey cooperate for sustainable ceasefire in Syria IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Moscow, Dec 21, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that Iran, Russia and Turkey cooperate for establishment of a lasting ceasefire in Syria to bring about a political solution to the crisis in the country. Zarif made the remarks during a joint press conference with his Russian and Turkish counterparts at the end of troika talks on Syria in Moscow. He expressed hope that the statement issued at the end of the talks could help put an end to the conflict in Syria. Zarif said that the resolve of the three countries to fight terrorism is the first step to establish a lasting ceasefire in Syria, noting that Iran is committed to cooperate with other countries in that regard. Referring to recent terrorist attacks in Turkey, Germany and Switzerland, the foreign minister said the terrorist groups are not confined to a single country and are a threat to the entire world. 9341**1420 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zarif urges respect for Syrian territorial integrity IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Dec 21, IRNA -- Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged respect to sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of Syria and underscored the need for efforts to prevent its division. He made the remark on Tuesday during trilateral meeting attended by foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Russia. Zarif told reporters that negotiations have been made with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the trilateral meeting which was held two months ago in Moscow during which sides agreed on having a joint meeting with Turkey on Syria. 'We held a meeting with Turkish officials in Tehran to coordinate this issue and all three countries are making attempts to have political negotiations on establishing truce in Syria and on sending humanitarian aids', he added. Zarif noted that the points considered during the meeting were approved as a joint statement. Foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey began a trilateral meeting in Moscow on December 20 with a focus on the humanitarian crisis in Syria, particularly the dispatching emergency relief supplies to Aleppo. Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier-General Hossein Dehqan is also in Moscow to develop cooperation on defense and security with the Russian Federation. 9376**1424 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN resolution on Aleppo to fuel tension in Syria: Iran senior official Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 5:35PM A senior Iranian official has warned that a recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution on the deployment of UN observers to the Syrian city of Aleppo could result in more tension in the Arab country. On Monday, the UNSC unanimously approved a resolution urging the immediate deployment of UN monitors to watch over evacuations from Aleppo. UNSC Resolution 2328 cannot help the settlement of the Syrian crisis and it could cause further tension in the country as it fails to take into account the Syrian people's conditions and problems as well as the role of the Damascus government, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said on Wednesday, adding that the UN resolution merely focuses on saving terrorists. The high-ranking Iranian official said Western countries and the sponsors of terrorists had a history of taking advantage of ceasefires to strengthen militants, and underlined the need for measures aimed at cutting support for terrorists. "Instead of biased resolutions and statements, serious resolve is needed to block the funneling of arms, forces and financial aid" to militants in Syria, he said. He lauded the "strategic victories" by the Syrian army and resistance fighters in Aleppo and said "the resistance and steadfastness of the Syrian nation and government against terrorists set a good example to regional countries, showing a strong response to countries and coalitions that blatantly support terrorists." The adoption of the UN resolution comes as the process of evacuation of formerly militant-held eastern Aleppo resumed on Wednesday after being halted for a day. The Aleppo evacuation is part of a fragile ceasefire deal, brokered by Turkey and Russia last week, which also allows residents of militant-besieged Foua and Kefraya in the neighboring province of Idlib to leave the two villages. Earlier, the militants attacked buses used to evacuate civilians in the two villages and set them on fire. Shamkhani condemned militants for preventing the evacuation of civilians from the two villages and called on the international community to take action against such measures adopted by the Takfiris. Earlier on Wednesday, militants said they had reached an agreement with the government in Damascus to complete their withdrawal from Aleppo. The Syrian forces wrested control over Aleppo last week, marking a significant victory against militants since the beginning of the foreign-backed conflict in the Arab country in 2011. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Civilians' evacuation from eastern Aleppo resumes after halt: UN Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:25PM The process of evacuating civilians from formerly militant-held eastern Aleppo has resumed after a one-day suspension amid diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the almost six-year-long conflict in Syria, says a UN official. "Buses are now moving again from eastern Aleppo. We hope that this continues so that people can be safely evacuated," UN spokesman Jensen Clarke said in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday. He further noted that more UN staff had arrived in eastern Aleppo to help monitor the evacuation in line with a recent Security Council resolution that urged the quick deployment of monitors. Meanwhile, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were 60 buses prepared to take some 3,000 militants and civilians out of eastern Aleppo. It is assumed to be the last convoy set to leave Aleppo before the Syrian government declares full control over the city. Earlier on Wednesday, foreign-backed militants announced that they had reached a deal with the Damascus government to complete their withdrawal from Aleppo. "An agreement has been reached to resume the evacuation of Aleppo," said Ahmad Qara Ali, spokesman for the Ahrar al-Sham terrorist group, adding that the process would begin "shortly." The Aleppo evacuation is part of a fragile ceasefire deal, brokered by Turkey and Russia last week, which also allows residents of terrorist-besieged al-Foua and Kefraya to leave the villages. However, a dispute between Syria's warring sides delayed the final round of evacuations for some 24 hours after about 20,000 people were bused out of Aleppo. Syrian state media reported on Tuesday that "differences among terrorist groups" were holding up the evacuations from Aleppo as well as al-Foua and Kefarya. 'Harsh' weather Ingy Sedky, Damascus spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said the humanitarian institution had already taken out 750 people from the twin villages, but some 1,500 more still needed evacuation. Moreover, the ICRC confirmed the resumption of the Aleppo evacuation, warning of "harsh" weather conditions. "All patients have been evacuated, al-Quds hospital (the only remaining hospital in the enclave), is now empty, and all other urgent medical cases have now been evacuated," ICRC spokeswoman Kris Armstrong said. On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Moscow, Tehran and Ankara had agreed to guarantee the Syria peace talks, while backing the expansion of the Aleppo ceasefire in the Arab country. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian crisis since March 2011. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Welcomes Moscow Agreement On Syria, But Remains Skeptical RFE/RL December 21, 2016 The United States has welcomed an agreement by Russia, Iran, and Turkey to work toward drafting a peace deal in Syria but expressed some skepticism that it would come to pass. "The United States welcomes any effort to try to get a cease-fire in Syria that can actually have meaningful results, particularly for those people that remain in Aleppo, as well as the resumption of political talks," State Department spokesman John Kirby said after Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with his Russian and Turkish counterparts about the agreement on December 20. The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, and Turkey said after meeting in Moscow that they would seek to widen the cease-fire in Syria and increase access to humanitarian aid and eventually would act as "guarantors" of any future peace deal. Russia and Iran have backed the Syrian regime in the six-year civil war, while Turkey has backed rebel forces. Kirby said that Kerry would like to get "political talks back on track as soon as possible," but believes it is "too soon to know" if the Moscow declaration will have any impact. He said Kerry was skeptical of success, given his own experience with seeing the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad torpedo past attempts to impose a cease-fire and political settlement in the country. "Given that the meeting just broke up today and given the fact that we have seen repeated promises to appropriately influence the Assad regime...fail, I think we really need to wait and ascertain the results over the coming days," Kirby said. While the Moscow meeting did not include the United States, which has been a top player in past peace negotiations, U.S. officials sought to downplay any notion that Washington was being sidelined. "We are not excluded, we are not being sidelined," Kirby said. "We would obviously refute any notion that...the fact that we weren't at this one meeting is somehow a harbinger or a litmus test for U.S. influence and leadership there or anywhere else around the world." One of the tenets agreed to at the Moscow meeting, however, was anathema to the United States: to give priority in Syria to the fight against terrorism and not the removal of Assad, whom the United States and its allies have accused of war crimes. Because of his brutal tactics, the United States and its allies in previous peace negotiations have insisted that Assad must step down as part of any political settlement. Russia, Iran, and Syria have rejected that precondition. The deep divide over the fate of Assad has led several times to an impasse in the UN peace talks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the Moscow meeting that he hopes the "troika" talks will overcome the "stagnation" of the UN talks. "The format you see today is the most efficient one," Lavrov said. "It's not an attempt to cast a shadow on the efforts taken by our other partners, it's just stating the facts." He cited the recent evacuation of civilians and rebels from Aleppo, brokered by Moscow and Ankara, as proof of the efficiency of working with parties that are directly involved in the war and not merely bystanders. "More than any others, our states are ready to help the settlement with real deeds and not just words," he said. With reporting by AP and Reuters Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/us-welcomes -moscow-agreement-syria-but-is- skeptical-kerry-/28188311.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 Final Aleppo Evacuations Resume By VOA News December 21, 2016 The final evacuations of rebels and civilians from the northern city of Aleppo have resumed after being delayed for one day. "The buses are now moving again from east Aleppo," a U.N. official in Syria told Reuters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 60 buses were ready to evacuate 3,000 people from freezing temperatures in eastern Aleppo in what would be the final step of rebels leaving the part of Aleppo they seized four years ago. But the buses were held up due to a last minute snag in the evacuation agreement. The complete evacuation of the rebel-held enclave will give full control of Aleppo to Syrian President Barshar al-Assad, a milestone in the nearly six-year old civil war. The evacuations are being conducted under an agreement negotiated by Russia and Turkey that also called for people to leave two villages in Idlib province that have been under rebel siege. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday more than 37,000 people had been evacuated from Aleppo, and the goal was to have all the remaining evacuations completed by Wednesday. After a meeting in Moscow among the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters the three nations used their influence to force the evacuation, suggesting they have become the main powerbrokers in Syria's nearly six-year conflict. The foreign ministers drafted a proposal that Russia said amounts to a blueprint for a cease-fire in Syria and potentially an end to the war.The urgency for Russia intensified after its ambassador to Turkey was assassinated Monday in Ankara by a man shouting "Don't forget Aleppo." Broad cease-fire sought The foreign ministers agreed to guarantee peace talks and to expand the cease-fire throughout Syria. But the broader cease-fire would exclude the militant groups Islamic State, the Fatah al-Sham Front and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which supports the Syrian government. "Iran, Russia and Turkey are ready to assist in preparing the agreement in the making between the Syrian government and the opposition and to become its guarantor," Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said in a joint statement from the three countries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel would consider bringing wounded refugees from Aleppo to Israeli hospitals for treatment. "I've asked the foreign ministry to seek ways to expand our medical assistance to the civilian causalities of the Syrian tragedy, specifically in Aleppo. "Israel has treated many wounded in the Syrian civil war over the past three years, although Israel and Syrian are formally in a state of war. UN monitors The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday urging the immediate deployment of U.N. monitors to observe the evacuations from Aleppo.The U.N. said Tuesday 20 additional monitors will be sent to Aleppo. "This will almost triple the number of international staff currently deployed in Aleppo, U.N. spokesman Jens Laerke said at a Geneva news conference. The U.N. monitors are in Damascus and Laerke said they will travel to Aleppo "as soon as possible." More than 70 percent of the buildings in the western Aleppo countryside have been destroyed and there is an acute shortage of food and medical supplies there too, according to opposition leaders and activists. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan regrets Sao Tome termination of diplomatic ties ROC Central News Agency 2016/12/21 17:07:29 Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) Foreign Minister David Lee () on Wednesday expressed deep regret at the decision by Sao Tome and Principe to sever diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan). "We deeply regret Sao Tome and Principe's decision to terminate diplomatic ties with our country on Dec. 21. To uphold our nation's dignity, we have decided to end diplomatic ties with Sao Tome and Principe, withdraw our embassy and technical personnel and end all bilateral cooperation effective immediately," Lee said at a news conference. Lee said that since the two countries established diplomatic ties in May 1997, Taiwan has actively asissted the west African country in the areas of public health, infrastructure, agriculture and energy. For example, an advisory team from Taiwan has helped reduce the incidence of malaria from 50 percent in 2003 to 1.01 percent in 2015, Lee said. He pointed out that exchanges between diplomatic allies should be based on the principles of integrity and mutual benefit, but said the financial woes facing Sao Tome and Principe were of such a magnitude that Taiwan was unable to meet its demands. As a result the country has decided to turn its back on two decades of diplomatic ties with the ROC in a bid to curry favor with China. Lee would not confirm the amount of funding Sao Tome and Principe sought to remain a diplomatic ally, but said that it was "an astronomical figure." He expressed regret and condemned the "reckless and unfriendly decision and action of Sao Tome and Principe." Lee led a delegation to the country to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Evaristo Carvalho on Sept. 3. Foreign officials said at the time that Carvalho's son and daughter were studying for doctoral and master degrees in Taiwan. China established diplomatic ties with Sao Tome and Principe, a former Portugese colony, after it declared independence in 1975. Following the nation's latest decision, Taiwan now has 21 diplomatic allies. In Africa, only Burkina Faso and Swaziland maintain formal ties with Taiwan. In March this year, China and The Gambia issued a joint statement indicating the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, ending 21 years of official ties between The Gambia and Taiwan. (By Lu Hsin-hui and Lilain Wu) Enditem/AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address ROC to break diplomatic ties with Sao Tome and Principe ROC Central News Agency 2016/12/21 09:41:28 Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) It is a "sure thing" that Sao Tome and Principe in west Africa will break diplomatic ties with the Republic of China, a ranking official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. The official confirmed that the west African country has asked for up to US$100 million dollars recently due to financial shortfalls, and the ROC government has turned down the request because it refused to accept dollar diplomacy. (By Tang Pei-chun and Lilian Wu) Enditem NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey suspends 2k education staff over coup plot Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 6:1PM Turkey has sacked nearly 2,000 education employees over their alleged links to the coup attempt of July 15. An official from the Turkish Ministry of Education said 1,980 teachers and school employees had been placed under suspension pending investigation. There was no further information available. Ankara has been engaged in a crackdown on people it accuses of having connections to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Gulen of having masterminded the coup. The Pennsylvania-based cleric denies the allegation. President Erdogan on Wednesday said the off-duty police officer who gunned down Russia's ambassador to Turkey on December 19 had connections with Gulen. The cleric, who has denounced the assassination, denies any involvement. The post-coup crackdown has seen some 36,000 people jailed pending trial and more than 100,000 sacked or suspended in the civil service, army, judiciary and other institutions. The campaign has raised criticism among those accusing the government of using the failed putsch as a pretext to suppress dissent. On December 15, Human Rights Watch accused the Turkish government of silencing independent media in an attempt to block scrutiny or criticism of Ankara's large-scale crackdown. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian envoy's murder blow to Turkey's prestige: Kremlin Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 2:20PM The Kremlin says the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Ankara is a serious blow to the image of Turkey, whose government is said to have gambled on the conflict in Syria by supporting anti-Damascus militants. "This is certainly a blow to the country's prestige," Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Wednesday. The Russian ambassador, Andrei Karlov, was killed during the opening of a photo exhibition at a gallery in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Monday. The assassin, off-duty policeman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, was shot dead at the scene. Following the murder, the cop shouted in Turkish and Arabic, "Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria." Elsewhere in his remarks, Peskov said Moscow does not believe that the gunman acted on his own, without elaborating on the reasons behind the suspicion. "We shouldn't rush with any theories before the investigators establish who were behind the assassination of our ambassador," he said. An unidentified Turkish government official also confirmed that it was unlikely Altintas acted alone as the killing had all the marks of being "fully professional, not a one-man action." Meanwhile, Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet, identified the assailant as a member of the team providing security for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Moreover, the Jordan-based al-Bawaba news and media website reported that the Takfiri Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told US Secretary of State John Kerry in a Tuesday phone call that Ankara and Moscow believe a movement led by opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the incident, according to ministry sources. Being asked about the assertion, the Kremlin spokesman, however, said it was too early to draw any conclusions about who may have orchestrated the murder. "We need to wait for the results of the joint investigative group," Peskov said, adding, "It is really not worth rushing to any conclusions." This is while Russian and Turkish investigators are conducting a probe into the killing. Memorial held in Istanbul Separately on Wednesday, the Russian consulate in Istanbul held a memorial for the Russian envoy, whose body envoy was returned home. The Kremlin website said Russian President Vladimir Putin had posthumously given the ambassador the Hero of Russia award, the country's highest military medal. Russia and Turkey have been supporting the opposite sides to the conflict in Syria over the past years. However, the two countries have recently stepped up cooperation to resolve the crisis in the Arab country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Killer of Russia envoy ex-Erdogan guard: Daily Iran Press TV Wed Dec 21, 2016 11:16AM Turkish newspaper Hurriyet has identified the off-duty police officer, who recently gunned down Russia's ambassador to Ankara, as a member of the team providing security for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Named as 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, the officer shot and killed Andrey Karlov, the Russian envoy, as the latter was inaugurating a photo exhibition in the Turkish capital, Ankara, with nine bullets on Monday. The attacker was subsequently gunned down by the police. The paper said he had served in the taskforce ensuring that no harm would come to the head of state in public events. The group would play second fiddle to Erdogan's personal bodyguards. He had provided security for the Turkish president eight times since July 15, when the country witnessed a failed coup, according to the report. Over all, he had served two-and-a-half years in anti-riot police. On Tuesday, the state-run Anadolu agency said the attacker's mother, father, sister and two other relatives were arrested in the western province of Aydin, while his flatmate in Ankara had also been detained. Turkish media reported seven more arrests in the case later. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has told US counterpart John Kerry in a phone call that Turkey believed US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the assassination plot. Ankara also blames Gulen, Erdogan's friend-turned-archenemy, to be behind the coup. The clergyman denies the allegations. Also on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said on Tuesday that Russian investigators had flown to Turkey earlier in the day to help probe the killing as per a mutual decision taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan. He said it was too early to conclude who was behind the murder. "In this case it is hardly worth hurrying to any conclusions until the investigation determines -- as our president said -- who was behind the murder of our ambassador," Peskov told reporters. Takfiri hand? Meanwhile, the Jordan-based al-Bawaba news and media website reported that the Takfiri Fath al-Sham militant group operating in Syria has claimed the attack. Turkey and Russia have condemned the assassination as an attempt to damage Ankara-Moscow ties. The killing came as the countries are maintaining cooperation over the Syrian crisis. The two recently clinched a deal enabling evacuations out of Syria's second city of Alepp. Turkey had joined the talks on behalf of the militants, while Russia was negotiating on behalf of the Syrian government, whom it has been supporting in the face of the foreign-backed militancy. Iran, the US, NATO and other countries and world institutions have also condemned the assassination of the Russian ambassador. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey Blames U.S.-Based Muslim Cleric For Russian Envoy's Killing RFE/RL December 21, 2016 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Turkish policeman who gunned down the Russian ambassador in Ankara was a member of the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. "There is no reason to hide that he's a member of the FETO network. All his connections, from where he was educated to his links, point to FETO," Erdogan said at a news conference on December 21. Turkish authorities refer to the followers of the U.S.-based Gulen as the "Gulenist Terrorist Network" (FETO). Gulen himself has condemned the assassination of ambassador Andrei Karlov, calling it a "heinous act of terror." The envoy was shot nine times while speaking at an art exhibition on December 19. The off-duty policeman, who authorities identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, was later killed by police. Altintas shouted "Don't forget Aleppo" and various Islamic slogans at the scene of the murder before he was killed. On December 20, the Turkish Foreign Ministry quoted Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as telling U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone conversation that "Turkey and Russia know that behind the attack...there is FETO." However, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on December 21 that one should not "rush to conclusions before the investigation determines who was behind the killing." "Moscow believes that it's necessary to wait for the results of the joint investigative group's activity," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, referring to an investigation by Turkish and Russian authorities. Turkey has demanded the extradition of Gulen, who lives in exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in connection with a failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July. Ankara has chafed as the U.S. Justice Department has so far refused to extradite Gulen, saying that Turkey must present compelling evidence implicating him. Some Turkish officials in recent days have suggested that the United States supported the assassination of Karlov, prompting a sharp rebuke from U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby on December 20. Kirby said Kerry raised concerns about "some of the rhetoric coming out of Turkey with respect to American involvement or support, tacit or otherwise, for this unspeakable assassination yesterday because of the presence of Mr. Gulen here in the United States." "It's a ludicrous claim, absolutely false. There's no basis of truth in it whatsoever," Kirby said. "And the secretary made that very clear in his discussions today with the foreign minister. "We need to let the investigators do their job and we need to let the facts and the evidence take them where it is before we jump to conclusions," Kirby said. Kerry reportedly offered U.S. assistance to Turkey in investigating the killing. However, Ankara has said it will jointly investigate with Russian authorities, and Moscow dispatched a team of about 20 investigators to Turkey on December 20. Gulen, a reclusive figure who preaches interfaith dialogue and whose followers and organizations are best known for sponsoring schools and charitable causes, has condemned what he called the "heinous act of terror" that killed Karlov. While Turkish authorities are seeking to determine whether Altintas had ties to Gulen, the slogans he shouted may be more closely associated with a radical Islamist group in Syria that has ties to Al-Qaeda. One slogan in particular shouted by Altintas -- "We are the ones who swore allegiance to [the Prophet] Muhammad for the jihad!" -- was commonly used in propaganda videos of Syria's Jabhat al-Nusra militant group, according to Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper. Jabhat al-Nusra, which changed its name to Fatah al-Sham, is one of the rebel militias that Syrian regime forces are now pushing out of Aleppo as they clinch their grip on the city. With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and Reuters Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-blames-us -based-muslim-cleric-gulen-russian-envoy- karlov-assassination/28188195.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 Erdogan: 'No Doubt' Russian Envoy's Killer Linked to Gulen By VOA News December 21, 2016 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the assassination of Russia's ambassador earlier this week was "no doubt" carried out by a member of the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. "There is no need to make a secret out of the fact he was a member of FETO," Erdogan said at a news conference, using Ankara's preferred acronym for the group run by the U.S.-based preacher and political figure. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call earlier this week that Turkey believes the killer is linked to Gulen, whom Ankara also blames for being July's failed coup in Turkey. But Wednesday's news conference marked the first time the president had publicly made the claim of Gulen's connection to Monday's assassination of Andrei Karlov at a photo exhibit in the Turkish capital. Gulen condemned the attack earlier this week, and the United States has rejected what it called "absolutely ridiculous" suggestions that it was involved in or supported the assassination because of Gulen's presence in the U.S. Turkey has been demanding Gulen's extradition from the U.S. Russia said earlier Wednesday it is too early to draw conclusions about the shooter responsible for Karlov's assassination. Karlov was shot by Mevlut Altintas, a 22-year-old Turkish off-duty police officer who is believed to have gained access to the exhibit by using his badge. A witness told VOA that during the shooting Altintas shouted: "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria! As long as our lands aren't safe, you will not be safe!" Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday there should be no rush to conclusions before a joint investigation of the assassination is complete. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that Secretary Kerry raised concerns about "some of the rhetoric coming out of Turkey" in his call with Cavusoglu. "We need to let the investigators do their job," " Kirby told reporters. "And we need to ... let the facts and the evidence take them where it is before we jump to conclusions. But any notion that the United States was in any way supportive of this or behind this or even indirectly involved is absolutely ridiculous." Karlov's body arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, accompanied by his widow. Cavusoglu said on Twitter the street outside the Russian embassy in Ankara will be named after Karlov. The Turkish foreign minister was in Moscow Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, and the two diplomats laid flowers next to portrait of Karlov. "Turkish people are mourning this loss as much as Russia and the people of Russia," Cavusoglu said. Cavusoglu, Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met in Moscow to discuss the Syrian crisis, and according to Lavrov, they agreed to facilitate a deal between the Syrian government and the opposition. Both Russian and Turkish leaders have said the assassination will not divide them. Analysts say they do not see the killing driving a wedge in Russia-Turkey relations. "For a while now, Turkey and Russia had agreed on many issues in northern Syria, including evacuation of civilians from eastern Aleppo, and this convergence could be undermined by the assassination attempt but I think that will not happen," said TWI Turkish Research Program Director, Soner Cagaptay. "At this stage for Russia to act aggressively on this assassination issue would mean that Russia would lose what it has," he told VOA Turkish. "So I think ... Turkey will respond by running a thorough investigation of the assassination." "Russia has been giving Turkey the benefit of the doubt because of the broader interests developing the region regarding Syria and Iraq," said political columnist Semih Idiz of the Al Monitor website. "As you see now, Russia has brought Turkey to its side," he added. "It's trying to capitalize on the deepening division between Turkey and the West, and it sees an advantage in this and it would not want to endanger at this moment in time." Captured on video Ambassador Karlov was making a speech at the opening of an art exhibition as the well-dressed gunman stood on the side of the stage, leading many in the audience to assume he was a bodyguard. The entire scene was captured on video. Three other people were wounded before security officers shot the gunman dead. Ambassador Karlov died at a hospital. He had been Russia's ambassador to Turkey since 2013. Six people have reportedly been detained in connection with the investigation, including the shooter's' roommate, parents and other relatives. Mehtap Colak Yilmaz of VOA Turkish contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia: Too Early to Reach Conclusions About Ambassador's Killer By VOA News December 21, 2016 Russia said Wednesday it is too early to draw conclusions about the shooter responsible for the assassination of the country's ambassador to Turkey. An off-duty police officer shot Ambassador Andrei Karlov on Monday in Ankara. A witness told VOA the shooter shouted: "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria! As long as our lands aren't safe, you will not be safe!" Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call that Turkey believes the killer is linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States and has also been blamed for July's failed coup in Turkey. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday there should be no rush to conclusions before a joint investigation of the assassination is complete. The United States has rejected what it called "absolutely ridiculous" suggestions that it was involved in or supported the assassination because of Gulen's presence in the U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that Secretary Kerry raised concerns about "some of the rhetoric coming out of Turkey" in his call with Cavusoglu. "We need to let the investigators do their job and we need to... let the facts and the evidence take them where it is before we jump to conclusions," Kirby told reporters. "But any notion that the United States was in any way supportive of this or behind this or even indirectly involved is absolutely ridiculous." Karlov's body arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, accompanied by his widow. Cavusoglu said on Twitter the street outside the Russian Embassy in Ankara will be named after Karlov. The Turkish foreign minister was in Moscow Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, and the two diplomats laid flowers next to portrait of Karlov. "Turkish people are mourning this loss as much as Russia and the people of Russia," Cavusoglu said. Cavusoglu, Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met to discuss the Syrian crises, and according to Lavrov, they agreed to facilitate a deal between the Syrian government and the opposition. Both Russian and Turkish leaders have said the assassination will not divide them. Analysts say they do not see the killing driving a wedge in Russia-Turkey relations. "For a while now Turkey and Russia had agreed on many issues in northern Syria, including evacuation of civilians from eastern Aleppo, and this convergence could be undermined by the assassination attempt but I think that will not happen," TWI Turkish Research Program Director Soner Cagaptay told VOA Turkish. "At this stage for Russia to act aggressively on this assassination issue would mean that Russia would lose what it has, so I think...Turkey will respond by running a thorough investigation of the assassination." "Russian has been given Turkey the benefit of the doubt because of the broader interests developing the region regarding Syria and Iraq," said political columnist Semih Idiz of Al Monitor website. "As you see now Russia has brought Turkey to its side. It's trying to capitalize on the deepening division between Turkey and the West, and it sees an advantage in this and it would not want to endanger at this moment in time." Captured on video Ambassador Karlov was making a speech at the opening of an art exhibition as the well-dressed gunman stood on the side of the stage, leading many in the audience to assume he was a bodyguard. The entire scene was captured on video. Three other people were wounded before security officers shot the gunman dead. Ambassador Karlov died at a hospital. He had been Russia's ambassador to Turkey since 2013. Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek identified the assassin as a 22-year-old police officer, Mevlut Mert Altintas. Anadolu said six people have been detained in connection with the investigation, including the roommate, parents and other relatives of Altintas. Mehtap Colak Yilmaz of VOA Turkish contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Open-Source Sleuths Document Extensive Russian Shelling Of Ukraine In 2014 RFE/RL December 21, 2016 Open-source investigator Bellingcat says Russia launched "systematic" artillery and other barrages against Ukraine in 2014 that were "essentially an act of war" against its smaller neighbor. In its December 21 report, titled Putin's Undeclared War, the group confirms Russia deliberately fired thousands of shells and missiles into eastern Ukraine in the opening months of a conflict in which Moscow has consistently denied playing any direct role. The barrages came at a crucial juncture in the separatism-fueled war and appear to have been aimed at helping pro-Moscow fighters repel Kyiv's efforts to retake areas held by the separatists. "Our evidence shows that this was a systematic attempt by the Russian military to destroy Ukrainian forces all along the border of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in 2014, so it was essentially an act of war of Russia against Ukraine," says Sean Case, one of the researchers who compiled the report. The report offers the first detailed public assessment of the extent of the Russian cross-border shelling into Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the summer of 2014. U.S. and Ukrainian officials have previously accused Moscow of using artillery and rocket launchers based in Russia against Kyiv's forces in 2014 but have not publicly detailed the scale of the attacks. Bellingcat, a group of investigative journalists and citizen journalists specializing in analysis of open-source images and other materials, found artillery units of the Russian armed forces fired on at least 149 separate occasions against targets in Ukraine from July to September 2014. The analysts used images from Google Earth and other open sources to document activities along the border during the three-month period. The targets were military positions the Ukrainian Army had taken up in June along the eastern border in an effort to cut off supply lines from Russia to separatist forces deeper inside Ukraine. In some cases, the researchers found evidence of Ukrainian positions being pummeled by massive Russian fire. "Several of the Ukrainian camps were hit with what appears to be hundreds of artillery shells in a very short space of time," Case says. "For example, there is one camp just south of the town of Biryukove, close to the Dolzhanskyy checkpoint, and on July 16 on the satellite image you can see that the camp is covered with literally hundreds of artillery craters, each at least a few meters wide, and which seems to have basically annihilated the Ukrainian position." He says that in this case, the researchers traced the fire back to a Russian position a few kilometers away with batteries of multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS). "There is a Russian military position of 10 rocket launchers, each of which can fire 40 rockets at a time, which we believe was all used either at the same time or in a very short space of time to fire at this Ukrainian military position," Case says. "We believe that here and in many other cases the intention of the Russian military was to completely annihilate these Ukrainian camps and remove completely their ability to take part in the Ukrainian conflict." To find evidence that specific Russian units engaged in shelling, the researchers looked for the telltale blast marks that howitzers and rocket-launch systems leave on the ground beneath and around them. The Russian military used artillery located mostly on Russian territory but in some cases set up just inside Ukraine itself to get the best line of fire on the Ukrainian camps, the researchers said. In addition to what they say is clear evidence of shelling from at least 149 positions, the researchers also found another 130 Russian locations they judged likely to have been used as firing positions. In those locations, they spotted concentrations of howitzers or rocket-launch systems that were aimed at Ukrainian positions but which did not show clear signs of blast marks. The Russian artillery fire proved so effective that by August the Ukrainian military was forced to retreat from the border and abandon its efforts to cut off the separatists' supply lines. The defeat was the first in a series of setbacks that subsequently saw the Ukrainian Army lose much of the territory it had earlier retaken from the Russian-backed separatists during Kyiv's summer counteroffensive. Case says that the new report proves that Russia's cross-border shelling of Ukraine was a deliberate part of Moscow's strategy to help the separatists roll back Kyiv's forces. "Our evidence shows that one cannot say that this artillery fire was just due to mistakes by Russian commanders on the ground or that this was the action of individual commanders who fired across the border," he says. Moscow has repeatedly denied that it conducted cross-border shelling into Ukraine in 2014. The shelling was first reported by Ukrainian officials as it occurred and was later corroborated by NATO's release of satellite imagery the same year. Kyiv and NATO have also provided evidence of wider Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014 that included Russian servicemen operating without identifiable markings inside Ukraine and delivery of unmarked Russian tanks and other heavy military equipment to separatist units. After repeatedly denying the presence of Russian forces in Crimea after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fled in February 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin eventually acknowledged sending troops there to support "Crimea's self-defense forces" and in March 2015 said he had ordered a plan to seize the peninsula from Ukraine weeks before a Russian-staged referendum there. The fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 9,750 people since March 2014, and international negotiations have hit a stalemate in their efforts to secure a lasting peace deal. Bellingcat was among the most vocal debunkers of Moscow's claims that a Russian-supplied missile launcher could not have been used to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing 298 people. The group's investigators asserted in November 2014 that a launcher "the Russian military provided separatists in eastern Ukraine with the Buk missile" was the likely culprit in the MH17 tragedy -- two years before a similar conclusion was reached by an official investigation. Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia -cross-border-shelling-2014-documented- bellingcat/28189372.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 Fugitive Ukrainian Lawmaker Hits Back At Poroshenko Allies With Profiteering Claims Mike Eckel December 21, 2016 WASHINGTON -- A fugitive Ukrainian lawmaker, whose accusations of top-level corruption have sparked a political furor, has charged that President Petro Poroshenko's allies are profiting from supplying troops fighting Russia-backed separatists. Poroshenko's government has pushed back aggressively against the media blitz by Oleksandr Onyshchenko, denying the allegations outright and threatening to sue some journalists who report on his claims. Onyshchenko, who fled Ukraine before being stripped of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution in the summer, claims to have recorded conversations detailing corruption involving Poroshenko, his political party members, business partners, and others. He faces criminal charges in Ukraine. Among the materials Onyshchenko claimed he has are recordings of members of Poroshenko's inner circle discussing schemes to steal money from state and private companies and buy votes in parliament. He also said he had been involved in a complex scheme to drive down the approval ratings of the former prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, so he could then be replaced. At a December 19 news conference, Onyshchenko repeated long-simmering suspicions that companies connected to Poroshenko's inner circle were profiting from contracts to supply the frontline troops battling Russia-backed insurgents in eastern regions. For that reason, he told reporters, Poroshenko had less incentive to bring a full end to the fighting and fulfill the 2015 Minsk accords reached with Moscow. "He doesn't want to do this, actually, because the war also for him is business. And it's a way also for him to keep power," Onyshchenko told the news conference via Skype. A representative for Onyshchenko said he was in Europe but asked not to disclose his exact location because of security threats. Roshen In Russia, Still Onyshchenko also criticized Poroshenko for retaining an ownership stake in a Russian confectionary factory that supplies chocolates and other candy in Russia. Poroshenko, a billionaire whose fortune comes in part from his candy company Roshen, has repeatedly pledged to sell off the factory, in the Russian city of Lipetsk. As of October, Roshen continued to own the factory. Poroshenko and his supporters have denied using insider deals or other suspect means to win supply contracts for the thousands of government troops fighting in the Donbas region. Poroshenko's allies have also repeatedly demanded that Onyshchenko back up his claims and turn over evidence for further investigation. Earlier this month, Andriy Zhyhulin , a spokesman for Poroshenko's office, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that investigators had yet to receive any incriminating materials from Onyshchenko. Last week, Nazar Kholodnytsky, the head of Ukraine's anticorruption bureau, a specialized investigative unit set up in 2015 to deal with the country's rampant corruption, said his unit would close its case by December 27 if Onyshchenko fails to turn over any evidence. Earlier this month, Onyshchenko said he turned over materials to the U.S. Justice Department, upping the ante in his fight and threatening to draw the U.S. government deeper into Ukraine's messy domestic politics. On December 17, the Justice Department confirmed it had met with Onyshchenko but pointedly said it would have no more contact with him. "They say to me one thing: 'You know this corruption in Ukraine is, like, your own problem,'" Onyshchenko said. "'We just want to look to see if it touches American law, American banks, American accounts, but we don't want to go inside of Ukraine.'" He argued that the United States, which has given nearly $500 million in assistance since the conflict erupted in 2014, and $2 billion in loan guarantees, should be more involved in the fight against corruption. Otherwise, he said, "Ukraine will be the same country like Afghanistan or Iraq or these kinds of countries where corruption is at the highest level." "If you [the Americans] want Ukraine to be in Europe, if you want Ukraine to be a better economical [sic] situation, you should control all this financial support that you give to Ukraine. You should be more involved," he said. Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-fugitive -onyshchenko-hits-back-poroshenko -profiteering/28185323.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 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. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy 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. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec 22, 2016) - Power Metals Corp. ("Power " or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:PWM)(FRANKFURT:OAA1) is pleased to announce the results of the laboratory analysis of the 606 soil samples over the 1.6 KM grid from its previously announced press release date December 7th, 2016. Lithium and Rubidium levels averaged higher than at the Brazil Lake deposit, in the same geological setting. A core drilling program of 28 holes in 2011 at Brazil Lake encountered Li2O as high as 7.7 percent in spodumene with average deposit drill intersection grades of 1.08 per cent (north pegmatite dike) and 1.39 per cent (south pegmatite dike). The company has attached pictures of the high-grade spodumene crystals at Brazil Lake on it's website at http://www.Powermetalscorp.com Power Metals CEO Johnathan More noted "The spodumene crystals at Brazil Lake bear close resemblance to those at Kings Mountain, North Carolina. North Carolina's Gaston and Cleveland Counties at one point contained more than 80 percent of the known reserves in the United States and produced over 50 percent of the world's estimated output of lithium. Those properties were the beginning of what is now the massive FMC Lithium Corp. (Albermale)." The Company is highly encouraged with the results to date and is accelerating the commencement of the planned drill program to take place in early Q1, 2017. Case Lake At Case Lake, in preparation for its drill program also set for early Q1, 2017, the company has commenced a process of re-assay on approximately 500m of existing core from the 2010 drill program which includes highlights: 14.07 metres at 1.35 per cent Li2O; 9.2 metres at 1.98 per cent Li2O; 8.8 metres at 1.02 per cent Li2O; 4.4 metres at 1.49 per cent Li2O. Case Lake is host to three main dikes currently with the potential to host many more, including the untested northeast dike that sampled 2 percent Li2O (lithium oxide). The local geology of pegmatite dike swarms gives Case Lake the potential for large tonnage. Spodumene-rich pink pegmatites outcrop intermittently over at least 1,200m, representing 15 percent of the Main dike. Government geologic mapping indicates the presence of pegmatites over a strike length of in excess of 5km. John F. Wightman, MSc. (Geology), P.Eng., FGAC, a qualified person, prepared the disclosure reports related to this project. National Instrument 43-101 reports have not been prepared on this property. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the mineralization of the Case Lake or Larder River Properties, the payment of funds and incurring of expenditures toward exploration of such properties, and the earning of interests therein. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; and the results of current exploration and testing. 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. Specifically, there is no assurance the Company will be able to raise the necessary funds to make all the cash payments and incur all of the exploration expenditures required to earn an interest in any of the mineral properties described herein; that it will be able to verify past drill results; that it will determine the existence of any mineralization, resources or reserves within any of the properties, whether of lithium or any other metal or substance. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Channel CH16-01 intersects 1.1% Li2O over 2.29 m with Be 243 to 251 parts per million (ppm), Nb 51 to 66.4 ppm, Rb 752 to 972 ppm and Ta 34.8 to 69.2 ppm. Channel CH16-02 intersects 1.07% Li2O over 1 m with Be 259 to 293 ppm, Nb 42.4 to 66 ppm, Rb 703 to 1270 ppm and Ta 27.3 to 52.7 ppm. Channel CH16-03 intersects 1.15% Li2O over 3.0 m with Be 262 to 315 ppm, Nb 49 to 62.4 ppm, Rb 535 to 1090 ppm and Ta 29.8 to 43.6 ppm. VANCOUVER, Dec 22, 2016 - Ultra Lithium Inc. (TSX VENTURE:ULI) ("Ultra Lithium" or "the Company") is pleased to announce assay results from its recently concluded trenching and channel sampling program at its 100% owned Georgia Lake Lithium Project located in the Thunder Bay Mining District, Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The results of one of the three channels cut at Camp Pegmatite indicates 1.15 % lithium oxide (Li2O) over 3 metres. There are anomalous values of beryllium (Be), niobium (Nb), rubidium (Rb), and tantalum (Ta) in these channel samples.Highlights of the Camp Pegmatite sampling program are (see table for details): The fieldwork program was carried out by Pleson Geoscience in October - November 2016 after receiving permits from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM), Ontario. Camp Pegmatite exists on the south shore of Wood Pigeon Lake. Historical work exposed a small outcrop near the shore. The field crew continued stripping along strike until the overburden depth was too thick to proceed further. Camp Pegmatite is a 3-4m wide, strong spodumene growth near the center of the dike, with the margins exhibiting more aplite "zones" or veins. Pegmatite is near vertical with a strike of 325, and changes to 340 as the trench proceeds to the east. Grab samples indicated up to 2.73% lithium oxide, with some channels assaying up to 1.57% Li20 over 1m. Dr. Weiguo Lang, CEO of Ultra, stated that, "We are very pleased with the channel sampling results from the first of the eight historically documented pegmatites on Ultra Lithium's Georgia Lake property. These areas present excellent exploration potential for discovering more lithium bearing pegmatites and will help us build a strong portfolio of lithium assets. The Company is also currently completing due diligence on its Argentinian brine lithium project located in the famous lithium triangle." Samples were prepared by Actlabs' preparation lab in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and then shipped to Actlabs' analytical lab in Ancaster, Ontario, for analysis. Actlabs is an independent lab accredited by ISO 17025. The samples were digested using sodium peroxide fusion and analyzed for the major elements by ICP and trace elements by ICP/MS (Method: FUS-MS-Na2O2). The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Afzaal Pirzada, P.Geo., a qualified person, as defined by NI 43-101 who works as a consultant with the Company. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kiki Smith, CFO About Ultra Lithium Inc. Ultra Lithium is an exploration and development company with a focus on the acquisition and development of lithium assets. The Company is currently focused on acquiring promising lithium assets in Argentina located in the famous lithium triangle while exploring its Georgia Lake and South Big Smoky Valley Projects. About the Georgia Lake Lithium Project: The Company holds a 100% interest in the Georgia Lake lithium property comprising 16 mineral claims covering approximately 2416 in 151 units, located in the Thunder Bay Mining Division, Ontario, Canada. The project represents a stable and favourable mining jurisdiction, supportive First Nations and excellent infrastructure. It is located near provincial highway 11, 145 km from deep water port in Thunder Bay. The spodumene-bearing pegmatites of this area were first discovered in 1955. Majority of pegmatites are Lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) type where spodumene is the main lithium mineral. A total of eight historically documented lithium pegmatites are located on the property. View the Company's filings at www.SEDAR.com. Table: Assay Results of Channel Sampling at the Georgia Lake Lithium Project Channel Sample Li2O Width Be Nb Rb Ta Location UTM Zone 16 N ID ID % m Intersection ppm ppm ppm ppm Easting Northing Azimuth CH16-01 881101 0.17 1 < 3 5.4 158 < 0.2 431376.5 5470296 55 881102 0.26 0.97 251 66.4 972 69.2 881103 1.61 1.03 1.1 Li2O over 2.29m 249 58 949 34.8 881104 0.59 1.26 243 51 752 34.8 881106 0.35 1 < 3 6.8 248 < 0.2 CH16-02 881107 0.22 1.08 10 8.2 432 1.4 431385 5470290 65 881108 0.48 0.97 267 66 703 52.7 881109 1.07 1 1.07% Li2O over 1m 293 56.6 1270 37.1 881111 0.56 1.2 259 42.4 990 27.3 881112 0.18 1 5 6.3 294 < 0.2 CH16-03 881113 0.23 1 < 3 5.5 173 < 0.2 431412.9 5470263 70 881114 1.01 1 1.15% over 3.00m 262 55.4 586 43.6 881116 0.86 1 315 49 1090 29.8 881117 1.57 1 245 62.4 940 40.1 881118 0.09 1 264 53.8 535 35.8 881119 0.25 0.25 4 6.2 481 < 0.2 Kiki Smith, CFO778 968-1176604 909-4682kiki@ultralithium.comwww.ultralithium.com TORONTO, Dec. 22, 2016 - IAMGold Corp. ("IAMGOLD" or the "Company") today reports that the Company has signed a definitive agreement with Merrex Gold Inc. ("Merrex") to acquire, in an all-share transaction, all of the issued and outstanding shares of Merrex not already owned by IAMGOLD (the "Transaction"). Merrex is a junior mineral exploration company of which IAMGOLD currently owns approximately 45.8 million or 23% of Merrex's issued and outstanding 199.2 million common shares. IAMGOLD expects to issue 6.9 million shares, amounting to less than 1.5% of its issued and outstanding shares, in connection with the Transaction. The Transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017."This agreement consolidates the ownership of a key asset in IAMGOLD's exploration pipeline," said Steve Letwin, IAMGOLD's President & CEO. "The IAMGOLD exploration team, led by Craig MacDougall, working in concert with Merrex on the Diakha-Siribaya project in Mali has done an outstanding job over recent years to define indicated resources of 2.1 million tonnes grading 1.90 g/t Au for 129,000 ounces and inferred resources of 19.8 million tonnes grading 1.71 g/t Au for 1.1 million ounces. Mali is a prolific mining friendly jurisdiction and is where IAMGOLD began nearly 25 years ago at the Sadiola project which, along with its neighbouring Yatela mine, has already produced over 7.5 million ounces of gold."The mineral resource estimate above, including verification of the data disclosed, was filed in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) requirements and CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines. The report is dated January 25, 2016 and is available on SEDAR at http://sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=24&issuerNo=00009025&issuerType=03&projectNo=02442203&docId=3875136. The mineral resource estimate was also included in IAMGOLD's 2015 yearend reserve and resource news release dated February 17, 2016. Merrex's primary assets are its gold properties in West Mali, principally its 50% interest in the Siribaya Gold Project, its 100% held Karita exploration authorization in Guinea and its 100% held zinc-lead property in Nova Scotia (the Jubilee Project). Merrex holds permits totaling approximately 700 square kilometers within an approximately 4,100 square kilometers area of interest in the southern portion of the West Mali Gold Belt. The Transaction will proceed by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The companies expect to close the Transaction following required securityholder, court and regulatory approvals and satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding expected, estimated or planned gold production, cash costs, margin expansion, capital expenditures and exploration expenditures and statements regarding the estimation of mineral resources, exploration results, potential mineralization, potential mineral resources and mineral reserves) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "will", "should", "would", "estimate", "believe", "suggest", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, failure to obtain, or delays in obtaining, required approvals for the Transaction, failure to meet expected, estimated or planned gold production, cash costs, margin expansion, capital expenditures and exploration expenditures and failure to establish estimated mineral resources, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, changes in world gold markets and other risks disclosed in IAMGOLD's most recent Form 40-F/Annual Information Form on file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Qualified Person Information The technical information relating to exploration activities disclosed in this news release was prepared under the supervision of, and reviewed and verified by, Craig MacDougall, P.Geo., Senior Vice President, Exploration, IAMGOLD. Mr. MacDougall is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About IAMGOLD IAMGOLD (www.iamgold.com) is a mid-tier mining company with four operating gold mines on three continents. A solid base of strategic assets in North and South America and West Africa is complemented by development and exploration projects and continued assessment of accretive acquisition opportunities. IAMGOLD is in a strong financial position with extensive management and operational expertise. Please note: This entire news release may be accessed via fax, e-mail, IAMGOLD's website at www.iamgold.com and through CNW Group's website at www.newswire.ca. All material information on IAMGOLD can be found at www.sedar.com or at www.sec.gov. Si vous desirez obtenir la version francaise de ce communique, veuillez consulter le www.iamgold.com/French/accueil/default.aspx. All monetary amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated. Contact IAMGold Corp. Bob Tait, VP Investor Relations Tel: (416) 360-4743, Mobile: (647) 403-5520 Laura Young, Director, Investor Relations Tel: (416) 933-4952, Mobile: (416) 670-3815 Shae Frosst, Investor Relations Associate Tel: (416) 933-4738, Mobile: (647) 967-9942 Toll-free: 1-888-464-9999 info@iamgold.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Panoro Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:PML) (Lima:PML) (Frankfurt:PZM) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Panoro Trading (Cayman) Ltd. (Panoro or the Company) are pleased to announce that they have received a third payment of US$2.0 million as part of the Precious Metals Purchase Agreement (the Cotabambas Early Deposit Agreement) with Silver Wheaton (Caymans) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silver Wheaton Corp. ("Silver Wheaton") (TSX:SLW) (NYSE:SLW) in respect of the Cotabambas project located in Peru. The principal terms of the Cotabambas Early Deposit Agreement are as described in the Companys press release on March 21, 2016, whereby Silver Wheaton will pay Panoro upfront cash payments totalling US$140.0 million for 25% of the payable gold production and 100% of the payable silver production from the Companys Cotabambas Project in Peru. In addition, Silver Wheaton will make production payments to Panoro of the lesser of the market price and US$450 per payable ounce of gold and US$5.90 per payable ounce of silver delivered to Silver Wheaton over the life of the Cotabambas Project. Panoro is entitled to receive US$14.0 million spread over a period of up to 9 years as an early deposit with payments to be used to fund general and administrative expenses related to the Cotabambas Project. The Cotabambas Early Deposit Agreement includes provisions to accelerate these payments through Silver Wheatons matching, up to certain limits, any third party financing of Panoro targeted for exploration at the Cotabambas Project. The balance of the US$140.0 million, should Silver Wheaton elect to proceed with the Cotabambas Early Deposit Agreement, is payable in installments during construction of the Cotabambas Project. The payment of US$2.0 million comprises the matching payment for Year 1 of the Cotabambas Early Deposit Agreement whereby, pursuant to the Cotabambas Early Deposit Agreement, Silver Wheaton is required to match up to US$2.0 million of any financing Panoro raises from third parties for investment into the Cotabambas Project. Panoro announced the closing of a C$6.6 million financing on August 29, 2016, whereby the principal use of proceeds is investment into the Cotabambas Project, including: Step-out drilling to expand the oxide copper resource and assessment of the potential to incorporate a heap leach SX/EW process into the project plan; Exploration geophysics and drilling at the Maria Jose target to add near surface high grade mineralization to the mill feed; and Metallurgical testing to test for potential improvement in recoveries from all four mineralogical types in the current resource. With the receipt of this matching payment, Panoro will have closed the following financings in 2016 totalling: C$12.0 million. C$5.4 million (US$4.0 million) from Cotabambas Early Deposit Agreement; and C$6.6 million from the private placement on August 29, 2016. Panoro has commenced pre-drilling work at the Cotabambas Project. The Company expects to finalize the renewal of a community agreement at the Cotabambas Project shortly, after which it will commence a geophysical survey and other work leading to commencement of drilling at the Maria Jose prospect. About Panoro Panoro is a uniquely positioned copper exploration company focused on Peru. Panoro is advancing its significant portfolio of copper and gold projects in the key Andahuaylas-Yauri belt in south central Peru, including its advanced stage Cotabambas Copper-Gold-Silver-Molybdenum and Antilla Copper-Molybdenum Projects. Since 2007, the Company has completed over 70,000 m of exploration drilling at these two key projects leading to substantial increases in the resource base for each. The mineral resources for each project are summarized in the table below. Summary of Cotabambas and Antilla Project Resources Project Resource Classification Million tonnes Cu (%) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Mo (%) Cotabambas Cu/Au/Ag Indicated 117.1 0.42 0.23 2.74 0.001 Inferred 605.3 0.31 0.17 2.33 0.002 @ 0.20% Cu eq cutoff, effective October 2013, Tetratech Antilla Cu/Mo Indicated 291.8 0.34 - - 0.01 Inferred 90.5 0.26 - - 0.007 @ 0.175% Cu eq cutoff, effective May 2016, Tetratech Panoro has completed Preliminary Economic Assessments (PEA) for both projects, the key results for which are summarized below. Summary of Cotabambas and Antilla Project PEA Results Key Project Parameters Cotabambas Cu/Au/Ag Project Antilla Cu/Mo Project Mill Feed, life of mine Million tonnes 483.1 350.4 Mill Feed grade,life of mine % Cu 0.32 0.31 g/t Au 0.18 - g/t Ag 2.37 - % Mo - 0.009 Mill Feed, daily tonnes 80,000 40,000 Strip Ratio, life of mine 1.25 : 1 0.85 : 1 Before Tax1 NPV 7.5% Million USD 1,053 491 IRR % 20.4 22.2 Payback years 3.2 3.3 After Tax1 NPV 7.5% Million USD 684 225 IRR % 16.7 15.1 Payback years 3.6 4.1 Annual Average Payable Metals Cu Thousand tonnes 70.5 36.8 Au Thousand ounces 95.1 - Ag Thousand ounces 1,018.4 - Mo Thousand tonnes - 0.9 Initial Capital Cost Million USD 1,530 603 Project economics estimated at commodity prices of; Cu = US$3.00/lb, Au = US$1,250/oz, Ag = US$18.50/oz, Mo = US$12/lb The PEAs are considered preliminary in nature and include Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied that would enable classification as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the conclusions within the updated PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Luis Vela, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release. On behalf of the Board of Panoro Minerals Ltd. Luquman A. Shaheen, M.B.A., P.Eng., P.E. President & CEO CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Information and statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and involve risks and uncertainties. Examples of forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release include information and statements with respect to: payment by Silver Wheaton of US$140 million in installments; Panoro making targeted investments into exploration at the Cotabambas Project; mineral resource estimates and assumptions; the PEA, including, but not limited to, base case parameters and assumptions, forecasts of net present value, internal rate of return and payback; and copper concentrate grade from the Cotabambas Project. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. In some instances, material assumptions and factors are presented or discussed in this news release in connection with the statements or disclosure containing the forward-looking information and statements. You are cautioned that the following list of material factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. The factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to, assumptions concerning: metal prices and by-product credits; cut-off grades; short and long term power prices; processing recovery rates; mine plans and production scheduling; process and infrastructure design and implementation; accuracy of the estimation of operating and capital costs; applicable tax and royalty rates; open-pit design; accuracy of mineral reserve and resource estimates and reserve and resource modeling; reliability of sampling and assay data; representativeness of mineralization; accuracy of metallurgical test work; and amenability of upgrading and blending mineralization. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks relating to metal price fluctuations; risks relating to estimates of mineral resources, production, capital and operating costs, decommissioning or reclamation expenses, proving to be inaccurate; the inherent operational risks associated with mining and mineral exploration, development, mine construction and operating activities, many of which are beyond Panoros control; risks relating to Panoros ability to enforce Panoros legal rights under permits or licenses or risk that Panoros will become subject to litigation or arbitration that has an adverse outcome; risks relating to Panoros projects being in Peru, including political, economic and regulatory instability; risks relating to the uncertainty of applications to obtain, extend or renew licenses and permits; risks relating to potential challenges to Panoros right to explore and/or develop its projects; risks relating to mineral resource estimates being based on interpretations and assumptions which may result in less mineral production under actual circumstances; risks relating to Panoros operations being subject to environmental and remediation requirements, which may increase the cost of doing business and restrict Panoros operations; risks relating to being adversely affected by environmental, safety and regulatory risks, including increased regulatory burdens or delays and changes of law; risks relating to inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance; risks relating to the fact that Panoros properties are not yet in commercial production; risks relating to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and tax rates; and risks relating to Panoros ability to raise funding to continue its exploration, development and mining activities. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forwardlooking information. The forwardlooking information contained in this news release is based on beliefs, expectations and opinions as of the date of this news release. For the reasons set forth above, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Panoro does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and statements included herein, except in accordance with 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 release. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Panoro Minerals Ltd. Luquman A. Shaheen, President & CEO Phone: 604.684.4246 Fax: 604.684.4200 Email: info@panoro.com Web: www.panoro.com With the most power over U.S. government that any party has had in decades, Republicans have hit the jackpot. The new administration will embolden states rights, but it could also create problems for them. limiting the sharing of student and family information with federal immigration officials; restricting immigration agents physical access to campus, unless they have a subpoena or a warrant; prohibiting campus security or campus police from collaborating with immigration authorities; and providing additional resources, such as legal counseling, for immigrant students and their families. The concept of a "sanctuary campus" -- a safe space for immigrants seeking higher education -- isn't new. But with the election of Donald Trump, who pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, it's sparking more debates and uncertainty in colleges across the country.In the past month, students at more than 100 universities circulated petitions to establish their schools as sanctuary campuses. Their push, though, comes amid federal and state Republicans' promises to defund sanctuary campuses.The dilemma leaves universities grappling with how to address immigrant students' concerns in a way that doesnt invite legal action or threaten their funding.Most of the talk surrounding sanctuaries is usually around cities. More than 300 municipalities -- dozens of which have repledged their resistance since the election -- have instructed their local law enforcement to not cooperate with federal immigration officials in finding, apprehending and deporting undocumented immigrants. The federal practice may violate the Fourth Amendment, according to a 2014 court ruling.When students at Texas State University petitioned their administrators, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott warned that he would financially punish any school that becomes a sanctuary.Texas will not tolerate sanctuary campuses or cities, he wrote on Twitter. I will cut funding for any state campus if it establishes sanctuary status.His threat may be working because none of the state's colleges have publicly declared themselves a sanctuary campus.Legislators in at least two other states, Arkansas and Georgia , have also threatened to block state funding to sanctuary campuses -- if the schools violate federal law. Congress is considering a similar bill, and Republican lawmakers have shown a willingness to support such legislation in the past.Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would have withheld federal funding from sanctuary cities, but Democrats in the U.S. Senate blocked the bill.It's unclear, however, what legal justification state or federal authorities would use to cut off funding to sanctuary campuses. Neither sanctuary city nor sanctuary campus have a legal meaning. And in 2011, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a policy that urged its officers and agents to avoid enforcement actions on sensitive locations like colleges and universities.That's why Jessica Hanson, an attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, said that any threats regarding funding, I think it would be an uphill battle."Hanson's organization is also developing model "sanctuary" actions that schools can take without running afoul of federal law. While the specifics vary, they usually include:In some liberal states, the push to become a sanctuary is coming from politicians themselves.Shortly after the election, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, sent letters to the president and chancellors of the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges urging them to formally become sanctuary campuses, where residents can pursue a higher education without the fear of Mr. Trumps proposed deportation force.Earlier this month, California state Sen. Kevin de Leon, the senate leader, pre-filed a first-of-its-kind bill for the 2017 session that would prohibit state and local law enforcement from using resources to investigate, detain, detect, report, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes. In a press release, de Leon said he would not stand by and let the federal government use our state and local agencies to separate mothers from their children.During his campaign, President-elect Trump pledged to deport 3 million undocumented immigrants and to repeal President Obama's executive orders that deprioritized the deportation of some undocumented immigrants.Roughly 750,000 young people, many of them students, have received permits under the relief program. Advocates for undocumented immigrants have worried that students would be targeted for deportation.In recent weeks, however, after meeting with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former Obama aide, Trump said he would " work something out " for young immigrants who were brought to this country illegally.Though the sanctuary campus concept has gained currency among students and faculty at many universities, the institutions administrative leadership have been more reluctant to embrace the term.For example, Garrey Carruthers, president of the New Mexico State University system, declined to adopt the sanctuary label, citing concerns about jeopardizing federal funding. But in a memo, he noted that the system already has policies in place that meet many of the petitions demands, such as not disclosing student information without students consent or a legal requirement to do so.Other schools have followed the example of the University of Pennsylvania, where leaders have been more explicit about calling themselves a sanctuary campus:Penn is and has always been a sanctuary -- a safe place for our students to live and to learn, wrote the schools president, provost and executive vice president. We assure you that we will continue in all of our efforts to protect and support our community, including our undocumented students. Kansas has had to endure a lot of depressing budget reports lately. Every month, the state seems to fall short on its anticipated revenues. In October, just after the state Department of Revenue reported that tax receipts had fallen $45 million below projections, a state task force recommended that the department stop releasing such information altogether. That suggestion came just after Gov. Sam Brownbacks administration decided to kill a quarterly economic report that was also habitually filled with bad numbers.Kansas received some criticism for trying to end bad economic news by not reporting it, asput it. Brownback administration officials responded that the data was confusing and often failed to reflect current reality. But Kansas is not the only state afraid of the figures its own budget-crunchers present.As part of last years budget, Connecticut ended its practice of current services projections. Thats a boring-sounding way of talking about how much programs will cost over time, assuming there are no policy changes. Its a baseline against which to compare any proposed cuts or increases in spending. Ben Barnes, Connecticuts budget director, said last year that it didnt make sense to project shortfalls or surpluses into the future. Theres no such thing, in my view, as a deficit or a surplus in years in which there is no appropriation in place, Barnes said.Some legislators complained that the new rules would be a blow against transparency in the budget. The change was adopted anyway. A majority of states already choose not to publish current services projections. There is kind of a tendency for policymakers to focus on the immediate and not the future, says Liz McNichol of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. This reduces the outside pressure to look beyond one year.Lawmakers are always going to argue about the validity of budget forecasts. Governors often contend that projections out of the legislative fiscal office arent as accurate as their own numbers, especially when the legislative researchers turn out to be more pessimistic. When shifting a percent or two can have huge ramifications, everyone prefers to believe the rosier scenario.But bad news has a way of catching up with policymakers, no matter how optimistic their initial assumptions. Connecticut will have to fill a shortfall of more than $1 billion in its budget this year, according to analyses from both the administration and the legislature. In Kansas, the shortfall is $350 million. When Randy Simmonds graduated from college and went on to the seminary, he was sure that being a pastor was his calling in life. But in his first job as a youth director at a large church in Louisiana, his confidence was shaken by something that his masters of divinity hadnt prepared him for. There were multiple crises every week with these kids and their families, he says. Death, substance abuse problems, family issues. I really liked the counseling, but I wasnt equipped for it -- I only had two classes in counseling while in seminary.Simmonds situation is one thats familiar to clergy across the country. When a person is emotionally distressed and decides to seek counseling, research shows they are much more likely to talk to a faith leader than a psychologist or a psychiatrist. And often that faith leader finds himself untrained and unprepared to properly handle the weighty mental health issues he may be faced with.At the same time, governments are confronting a significant shortage of psychologists and other mental health professionals, particularly in rural areas. Thanks to a 2008 parity law, insurers are required to cover mental health on par with primary care services. But until the Affordable Care Act came along, that law was abysmally enforced. Now, more people are thinking about mental health issues in the same way they think about physical ailments, and as a result the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has seen its budget increase over the past couple of years. The National Health Service Corps, which places health professionals in underserved areas, is set to expand its workforce by 60 percent in the coming years. Still, large swaths of rural residents simply dont have access to proper mental health treatment.For some people, the solution to both of these situations is obvious: Train clergy to act as licensed mental health professionals. If there arent enough psychologists to go around -- and if most people are more comfortable talking to their pastor anyway -- why not tackle both issues at once? Look, were never going to have enough mental health providers. We just wont, says Matthew Stanford, who has spent much of his career studying the intersection of faith and psychology, most recently at Baylor University. We need to stop pretending that were going to get enough people with an expensive degree to move to a rural area and make no money just because they love people. If we know people are going to their pastor first when something is wrong, why wouldnt we give the pastor tools to make the church a more inclusive environment?Not everyone is comfortable with the thought of blurring the line between faith leaders and medical mental health professionals. Directing taxpayer Medicaid dollars to churches, synagogues and mosques is a controversial notion. Theres also an imminent question of how the push for mental health coverage would be affected by President-elect Donald Trumps plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.But a growing contingent of officials and practitioners believes that leveraging peoples faith -- and their faith leaders -- will be a key component in ending the stigma around mental health and providing people with the treatment they need. When it comes to mental health care, their message seems fairly simple: Have a little faith.One aspect of using the clergy to provide treatment involves simply training pastors to recognize signs of mental illness in their congregants and connect them with the services they need. Its impossible to address any sort of community health disparity without addressing their cultural brokers, and often thats a spiritual leader of some kind, says Gigi Crowder, the Contra Costa County, Calif., faith coordinator for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Crowder has spent part of her career training faith leaders in her area to identify potential mental health issues in the people they counsel. If governments want to make genuine inroads with mental health in underserved communities, she says, these cultural brokers are often the only way in.State and local funding to implement such an approach has been limited, although Crowder says most counties in California have engaged in some form of training of religious leaders. The federal government, on the other hand, has made significant investments in training. SAMHSA has been actively working with faith-based organizations since 1992, and in 2000 it became the first health and human services department to launch a so-called Faith-based and Community Initiatives program. SAMHSA disperses money specifically to community organizations looking to implement mental health and substance abuse programming rooted in faith. The demand is there and rising, says Acacia Bamberg Salatti, director of faith-based and neighborhood partnerships for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There certainly has been increasing concern and conversation about mental health in the faith community, Salatti says. And getting that referral for a counselor or psychologist from a pastor is really important for some people.But far beyond these efforts to help faith leaders spot signs of mental illness, theres the bigger -- and thornier -- idea of actually licensing clergy themselves as mental health providers. Last year Kentucky became the sixth state to allow pastoral counselors to become licensed mental health workers. A pastoral counselor is someone ordained by their religious group who also has a degree in psychology, counseling or a similar field. Pastoral counselors dont promote a particular belief system or ideology, but rather are equipped to weave theological thought and teachings into therapy. Pastoral counselors are everywhere, but only Arkansas, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee and now Kentucky actually license them with the state. It may still be a nascent trend -- Kentucky was the first state to take up the issue in over a decade -- but its absolutely the future of mental health care, says Simmonds, who, after starting at his church in Louisiana, went on to earn a Ph.D. in counseling and become a pastoral counselor. He now serves as president of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and works as a pastoral counselor in Colorado.But even Simmonds acknowledges the challenges of blending faith and health care. Its just such a tightrope with Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement -- how do we fit into that mix? How do we make clear to insurance companies that were not proselytizing? These are things were going to have to deal with for years.That tightrope is cause for concern, says John Rigney. As the immediate past vice chair of the Kentucky Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, he says he agrees with the basic idea of licensing pastoral counselors. Its an effort to provide better quality for those patients where faith is a central consideration when choosing a therapist, he says, and [Kentuckys] qualifications for licensed pastoral counselors are stringent. The problem, he says, is with enforcement. There are currently 28 licensed pastoral counselors in Kentucky, and Rigney suspects that there are many more out there without certification operating under the guise of a pastoral counselor. The public doesnt know, when they go to Pastor Smith for counseling, whether hes had the proper training according to the state.Indeed, theres a growing number of groups and associations dedicated to various forms of religious-based counseling. The American Association of Christian Counselors, for example, more than tripled in size from 1999 to 2005. Theres also the Association of Biblical Counselors, not to be confused with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors or the Biblical Counseling Coalition. These and other associations may require counseling trainings, but they dont require education credentials like pastoral counselors do.Thats why it can be tricky to mix religion and mental health care, says Stanford, the Baylor professor. Pinning down exact figures is tough, but he says hes seen a dramatic rise in ministries operating under the guise of a counseling center. Itll market itself as place where girls can recover from eating disorders, for example, but then they get there and its a spiritual intervention, he says. Its disturbing because these appear to be based in psychology at first glance.Stanford also notes an increase in addiction ministries, which offer sober houses for recovering addicts. He says they can be beneficial, but they sometimes dont understand how relapse works, and how typically its just part of the recovery.Even in regular counseling sessions, Stanford says, religion can color a patients experience. My research found that 30 to 40 percent of people who go to faith leaders for a mental health problem have a negative experience, he says. They are told things like, You need to pray more, or, Its a weakness of faith. They see something like depression as a moral failing.For that reason, Stanford believes its more imperative than ever to de-stigmatize mental health within a religious community and to train religious counselors to know when an issue might require help that goes beyond prayer. Stanford, like Crowder in California, also trains faith leaders on the basics of mental health. He is CEO of the Hope and Healing Center, which offers community leaders educational seminars and programs on how to best treat someone with a mental illness. Most faith communities want to help, but they dont have a clue, he says. And they often just want to know how they can fit something into a particular spiritual paradigm.That may be changing, says Crowder. As the mental health stigma ebbs slowly away, she says shes seen faith leaders come to appreciate that mental health problems are an illness rather than a moral defect. Were getting them to realize that if you can accept diabetes as a medical condition, you can accept depression as one too, she says. A lot of progress has been made. Ive had faith leaders apologize to their congregation for things theyve said about mental health problems in the past.Theres a possibility that this shift toward incorporating clergy into mental health care could be slowed or halted by Donald Trump. Depending on how he goes about repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, it could end the push to integrate mental health into more of a primary care setting. Georgia Rep. Tom Price, Trumps pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, has been critical of the Obama administrations efforts to move away from a fee-for-service model. That may mean that funds for SAMSHA to create integrated care programs could be wiped out in the coming year. Conversely, its possible that a Republican administration, paired with overwhelming Republican control in the states, could push the integration of faith-based mental health services even further.Either way, most experts say that mental health parity is the direction the field is ultimately heading. The integrated approach to health care is the future, says Simmonds. Its going to be incumbent for everyone to figure out the best ways to treat people as a whole person.And for some patients, the best treatment means incorporating elements of faith, says Crowder. When I was just working in the mental health space, I never vocalized my faith because I felt like we werent supposed to. But its important to people and it can be talked about, she says. If were going to truly treat the whole person, then addressing someones faith is just a part of doing culturally responsive work." a good friend to Asa Hutchinson. The two Republicans both served in the U.S. House, so when Hutchinson was elected governor of Arkansas in 2014, he turned to Pence, then midway through his term as Indiana governor, to be a sounding board and guide. Now Pence is stepping into the vice presidents office, and Hutchinson is hoping to use his old ally as a bridge connecting states to the new administration.Its a desire thats widely shared. Given the upheaval thats coming to Washington, states are going to need a strong advocate there. The actions of Donald Trump and a GOP Congress, while anticipated with something like glee by Republicans around the country, will have enormous consequences for states. Governors like Hutchinson are hoping that their colleagues in Washington, as they work to undo years of Democratic legislation and executive actions, dont load more burdens onto states than the states can handle.Republicans have a rare, indeed a historic, opportunity. With control in Washington and big majorities in state legislatures and governorships, the GOP dominates every major aspect of American government except for big-city mayoralties.index of electoral performance, which looks at control of the White House, Congress, governors and state legislatures, shows that the GOP is stronger than its been at any time since 1928.Republican policymakers in the states say they are delighted about the change thats coming to Washington, as well they might be. The political branches of the federal government will be under full GOP control for the first time in a decade, and a conservative majority will soon be restored on the Supreme Court. Rather than having an adversarial relationship with Washington, GOP state officials expect to join a partnership working toward the shared goals of limiting government and promoting free markets. Theres just an excitement about the changing dynamics in the relationship with the federal government, Hutchinson says. You think about the breadth of agenda items under President Trump, its almost overwhelming.Republican state officials wont be filing lawsuits all the time against the federal government, as happened under President Obama. They can be newly confident that the feds wont second-guess them on education, policing, gay rights or voting restrictions, or try to force-feed stricter environmental regulations, or push for a looser approach to immigration and refugee policy. Im most excited about congressional Republicans and President Trump devolving power to states, says Robin Vos, the GOP speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly. Name the topic -- education policy, environmental regulations, a lot of things where Washington, D.C., has in my mind let bureaucrats overreach -- and now the 10th Amendment will have new life breathed into it.But theres significant risk for states as well. The truth is that GOP state policymakers, as joyful as they sound about the new political arrangement, are approaching the new year in a cautious and even uncertain mood. While celebrating the partys electoral triumphs, they have no choice but to keep a close eye on the early burst of legislation coming out of a new regime as revolutionary as Trumps. They understand that the changes being contemplated in Washington, especially on taxes and domestic spending, could cause real fallout for them.Thats why Republican governors and legislators are hoping Pence and other former state officials in the administration and Congress wont forget their friends back home. I really do believe the vice president will play an important role, says Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Governors Association (NGA). He understands states. Governors will communicate -- sometimes it may not be public -- but they will communicate [to him] that certain proposals will create budget shortfalls in the states.Even conservative governors such as Hutchinson know that there is considerable exposure for them in the sweep of events Trump will soon oversee in Washington. The most obvious area is the Affordable Care Act (ACA). After years of talking about repealing the law, Republicans in Washington now can actually do it. Popular parts of the law may be maintained, but no one can say with any certainty what a final repeal and replace package will look like. Nineteen states rejected the Medicaid expansion that was part of the ACA, but most -- including Arkansas -- accepted it in some form. Whatever their ideological opposition to the law, many Republican governors and state lawmakers at the time recognized that, simply from a cash-flow perspective, it was too much free money from Washington to pass up. Now that money may be going away.The basic Medicaid program may be upended as well. Paul Ryan, the speaker of the U.S. House, has in previous years crafted budgets that would have converted Medicaid into a block grant program. Such a change would give states a lot more flexibility -- and Republicans including Hutchinson believe they can craft policies that will deliver better services at reduced cost. But theyd have to bring costs down a great deal. Previous estimates of Ryans plan foresaw the federal government slashing its contribution to Medicaid by as much as a third. A reduction of that magnitude would force states to choose whether to devote a lot more of their own dollars to the program, or to collectively see millions of residents go without care. Theres a good likelihood that there can be a transfer to the states, more than there would have been under divided government, says Bill Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Congress will say you can keep those provisions, but youve got to pay for them.Trump and the Republican Congress also appear certain to address the federal tax code. Again, Republicans are all for reductions and simplicity. But GOP state officials are going to be watching the federal tax debate with extreme interest, because its almost certain to affect their own revenues. Abolishing the federal estate tax, increasing the earned-income tax credit and lowering corporate tax rates would all have direct impacts on states own tax systems, which are generally coupled with the taxes that Washington imposes. States will come under enormous pressure to cut their own tax rates if new federal law reduces or eliminates the deductibility of state income and sales taxes. Ending deductibility may not happen, but it immediately became part of the discussion in Washington following the election. A key target for Republicans since Reagan has been the state and local tax deductions, says Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.Looking at the broader federal budget picture, theres a real possibility of fewer dollars being sent out to states across a whole range of program areas. Congress and the administration will want to cut taxes but bolster defense. Trump intends to pursue a big increase in infrastructure spending, while avoiding any reduction in Social Security or the military. That will focus most of the budget-cutting attention on the discretionary domestic spending that sends money flowing through states -- a long laundry list entailing everything from payments for special needs education and nutrition assistance for women and children to funds for public health and homelessness and on through to loans for higher education and water treatment. The Ryan budget, in addition to having those drastic cuts in Medicaid, also had large cuts to nondefense discretionary programs, says Michael Leachman, director of state fiscal research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Were already on track, under current law, to have them shrink to their smallest share of the economy on record, with data going back to the early 1960s.Republicans will enjoy more of a free hand than theyve had in living memory. In November, the GOP enjoyed a net gain of two governorships, bringing them to 33 -- the most the party has had since 1922. At the legislative level, there was actually less change than in the typical election year. But given the enormous gains registered by Republicans in 2014, the fact that they basically broke even with Democrats this time -- and picked up some key chambers -- means that the GOP now controls both legislative chambers in 32 states. Just counting the states where they hold both the governors office and the legislature, Republicans have full control of half the states -- 25 -- compared with just five for the Democrats. You can drive from Florida cross-country to Idaho without passing through a state where Democrats have any real power left.Even where Democrats won in November, their success was only partial. They regained control of the Nevada Legislature and took back the New Mexico House, where theyd suffered losses in 2014, but will have to contend with Republican governors in both those states. Democrat Roy Cooper managed to unseat Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in North Carolina, but the GOP held onto its supermajorities in both chambers there. Republican legislators in North Carolina showed no compunction about running roughshod over McCrory, a governor of their own party. They certainly wont play nice with a Democrat. In West Virginia, Democrat Jim Justice won the open race for governor, even as the state gave a 42-percentage-point margin to Trump. In West Virginia, however, a simple majority is enough for the GOP legislature to override any gubernatorial vetoes.There are additional states where Republicans, long blocked by a Democratic governor or legislative chamber, will no longer face those obstacles. The GOP takeover of the Kentucky House -- the last Southern chamber that was still in Democratic hands -- will lead to changes in tort law and pensions and take Kentucky off the now-short list of states that dont allow charter schools. The Bluegrass State also appears certain to pass right-to-work legislation that will weaken unions by making membership and dues payments voluntary. Missouri will do the same thing. The election of Republican Eric Greitens to the governors office means Missouri GOP legislators no longer have to worry about overriding a veto like the one that blocked a right-to-work bill last year. Every single statewide candidate that won ran on the platform of supporting right-to-work, laments Pat White, president of the St. Louis Labor Council.Iowa is already a right-to-work state, but the erasure of the Democratic majority in the state Senate will uncork all kinds of conservative legislation that had been bottled up in previous sessions. On the labor front, theres the possibility that Iowa will follow neighboring Wisconsin in ending collective bargaining rights for public employees. A more conservative turn on taxes and social issues is also probable. Eighty percent of all that came out of the Iowa House went over to the Senate to die, says Jenifer Bowen, executive director of Iowa Right to Life, an anti-abortion group. Its a new day. Theres a lot of pent-up work that has now been freed.In states where the GOP has held majorities for some years, theres less of a to-do list. States including Arizona, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin have already enacted much of the conservative agenda on restricting abortion, labor unions and voting rights, as well as promoting school choice. Republicans are always in favor of cutting taxes, but most states will be fairly circumspect on that front this year, given that revenue collections are slowing. States are in a very cautious mood, especially as they prepare for their next budgets, says the NGAs Pattison. You might see some targeted tax cuts, but its getting late in the recovery.Even as Trump makes the immediate future unpredictable for states, he will empower many Republicans at the state level. Its not just the fact that they wont have to worry about fighting with the Justice Department or the Environmental Protection Agency. The very fact of his election changes the GOPs sense of what voters want and how aggressive the party can be in going after those goals. Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, said after the election that Trumps victory gives conservatives the green light to move forward with boldness and confidence.Patrick, who oversees the state Senate, was sometimes at odds during the last session with Joe Straus, the more moderate speaker of the Texas House. Their differences encapsulate the tension that exists in a number of states between more traditional Republicans and the rising generation of ardently conservative GOP legislators who chafe when told there are limits to how far and how fast they can push through changes.Straus, along with most of his allies, survived primary challenges from the Republican right last year. Two days after the election, Straus renewed his call for civility and bipartisanship in the upcoming legislative session, telling an audience of Hispanic business leaders that emotional, divisive issues get a lot of attention but the legislative focus should remain on bread-and-butter issues such as education and public safety. It would be nice to think that Speaker Straus and his team got the message from the election, but it appears that Speaker Straus is committed to continuing his governing style, says Michael Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texans, a militant conservative group and frequent Straus critic.In Texas, as in some other states, the GOP establishment has in the recent past watered down or blocked some of the more divisive and controversial conservative initiatives. The party leadership would say that its hands were tied, that the Obama administration would block a bills implementation, or that it might fail in the courts. Such arguments have lost their resonance. The establishment has historically said that divisive rhetoric would cause Republicans to lose elections, says Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University. Yet its hard to imagine more divisive rhetoric than Trump used, and he won.This could lead to some headaches not only for more moderate legislative leaders but also for governors, who tend to be more pragmatic in their approach than many GOP legislators. Last year, Republican governors in Georgia, Idaho, South Dakota and Tennessee all vetoed contentious legislation restricting gay rights or allowing the Bible to be used as part of public school instruction. Its going to be harder for governors, says Christopher Larimer, a political scientist at the University of Northern Iowa. Before, you could let the legislature fight those things out and not have to weigh in. Now, if the extreme ends of the party want to pursue change, its going to end up on the governors desk.Whenever there is one-party control, theres always the possibility of overreach. Politicians can mistake the mood of voters who were unhappy with the status quo as a mandate to make sweeping changes that end up being unpopular. Power in Washington tends to swing back and forth for just that reason. Its not hard, even at this early stage, to imagine Democrats regaining a lot of lost ground in 2018. That sort of midterm correction has happened repeatedly over the past 60 years after elections that initially seemed likely to reshape the political map for many years to come.But in light of their unexpectedly sweeping victories in 2016, Republicans arent spending much time worrying about overplaying their hand. They know they enjoy nearly unchecked power to set and implement policy for the nation and for most states. Any failings will be their own -- but triumphs will be all theirs as well. This is not the time to be timid, says Vos, the Wisconsin speaker. When we run on principles like shrinking the size of government, empowering individuals and reducing the tax burden, all of those things have to happen. Theres nowhere else for Republicans to hide, other than to show that what we believe in works. The Ohio Supreme Court leveled the playing field for DNA testing in murder cases today by ruling part of state law unconstitutional.The court's 4-3 decision in a Portage County double-murder case resolves a discrepancy in state law which existed since 2003. Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, who wrote the majority opinion, said state law violated the constitutional rights of inmates by setting up different appeals processes for those convicted and sentenced to death in murder cases and those convicted in murder cases but not sentenced to death."We find that providing only a discretionary appeal is not rationally related to the governmental purpose of expeditiously enforcing final judgments and, accordingly, the law does not meet the rational-basis test and violates both the federal and state equal-protection clauses," O'C onnor wrote.The court cut out the unconstitutional part of the law, which means eligible capital offenders in the future will be permitted to appeal directly to the Ohio Supreme Court when a trial court denies a request for post-conviction DNA testing.Dan Tierney, spokesman for Attorney General Mike DeWine, said DeWine supported the state law, but it will be up to the PortageCounty prosecutor to decide if the Supreme Court decision's will be appealed.While the ruling specifically effects Tyrone Noling, convicted and sentenced to death for killing Cora and Bearnhardt Hartig of Atwater in Portage County in April 1990, it also will apply to all future capital murder cases, according to Carrie Wood, an assistant state public defender and Noling's attorney."The Ohio Supreme Court took a much-needed step towards ensuring that all of Ohio's prisoners receive appellate review when their requests for DNA testing are denied. DNA testing has been responsible for 10 of Ohio's 56 exonerations and it is a critical tool forTyrone Noling, who has already served over twenty years on death row for a crime he did not commit," Wood said."Mr. Noling continues to seek DNA testing of key evidence, access to the national ballistics database, as well as results of DNA testing in his case which the state has refused to release. Our hope is Mr. Noling will be granted access to the information and testing needed to resolve his case fairly," Ms. Wood said.The Portage County Common Pleas Court rejected Noling's request for DNA testing in the case in 2013. Noling is on death row but does not have a current execution date.Justices Terrence O'Donnell, Judith French and Sharon Kennedy dissented from the majority decision, but only because they thought the whole statute, not just part of it, should be thrown out."The authority to sever the unconstitutional part of a statute does not give this court license to rewrite it by selectively deleting words to change the meaning of the language that the legislature enacted," O'Donnell wrote.The decision is online. Description GIS - 22 December, 2016: There is a critical need to have a blood bank to handle emergency cases during the festive period, highlighted the Minister of Health and Quality of Life, Mr Anil Gayan, at the Mega Blood Donation, held on 21 December 2016, at Esplanade of Emmanuel Anquetil Building, Port-Louis. The blood collection campaign aims at securing an adequate and reliable blood bank by mobilising a maximum of persons to donate their blood in order to cater for the demand of blood especially during the months December 2016 and January 2017 , underlined Minister Gayan. The target for this year, pointed out the Minister, is to reach a minimum of 2000 pints. The Vice-President of the Republic, Mr Barlen Vyapoory, expressed his gratitude to the collaborating stakeholders contributing to this noble cause. For his part, Mr Obaid Owadally, President of Blood Donors Association, underscored the need to have young blood donors and made an appeal to the youth to participate actively. It is to be noted that around 1803 blood pints were collected and some 2000 persons donated their blood. It is to be recalled that last year 1900 pints of blood were collected. Mega Blood Donation 2016 was jointly organised by the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life and Blood Donors Association and was visited by various eminent personalities. The Mega Blood Donation is an annual event, held since 2014. The provision of blood is fundamental in certain medical cases like surgeries, cancer, anaemia treatments, renal dialysis, transfusions and accident victims. Around 45 000-46 000 blood pints are collected yearly while the daily demand is 125-150 pints. The Ministry collects 93% of its blood supply from voluntary blood donors, with 88% male donors and 12% female donors. If government is truly to start serving constituents the way sleek, modern tech companies serve customers online, perhaps the place to start is with rethinking procurement. 18F , a federal digital consultancy within the U.S. General Services Administration, has been tinkering with a few possible ways of doing exactly that. Ats State of GovTech event held in San Francisco in October, 18F Deputy Executive Director Hillary Hartley introduced two experiments her agency has been working on: agile blanket purchase agreements and micro-purchasing . Both involve short-time-frame, iterative approaches to delivering tech services to government, contrasted with long-term, high-price contracts. Both emphasize the ability of government to react quickly to the needs of both its employees and the constituents they serve.And 18F isnt stopping at the federal government with those concepts either. In our interview with Hartley, she talked about how the agency is beginning to work with state and even some foreign governments to try those experiments at different levels of public service. (TNS) -- Fledging fitness-focused app Lymber outlasted 75 tech-centric local startups in this years PitchFest competition, ultimately winning a $5,000 check and earning the honorary title of San Diegos top technology idea of 2016.Founded earlier this year, Lymber makes an iPhone app that helps locals book a drop-in spot at 180 studios in San Diego, and more than 600 around the country.The startup is looking to slice off a portion of the $22-billion annual gym-membership business with a pay-as-you-go marketplace where supply and demand dictate drop-in rates at partner facilities.Unlike New York-based ClassPass, which was founded in 2013 and charges a monthly subscription fee, Lymber offers workout seekers a no-commitment way to explore various disciplines offered around town. Classes available range from the standard to the bizarre, and include things like yoga, barre, rock climbing and even spearfishing.The PitchFest competition, an annual affair hosted by the San Diego Venture Group, invited local early-stage companies to measure their business plans and investor appeal against others in town. Some 124 startups applied to participate in October. Applicants were divided into tech and biotech categories, with roughly 70 percent falling into the former bucket. A panel of judges picked two finalists per division to compete in a live demo in front of a crowd of 480 people.Lymber narrowly won the tech division of the pitch-off on Dec. 13, securing the crowds vote over challenger Approved , which makes software for mortgage professionals. In the biotech group, Sun Genomics bested Poiesis Therapeutics Lymbers signature feature, called dynamic pricing, likely played a role in its win. Dynamic pricing means that studio fees will fluctuate depending on the day of the week, the time of day and the popularity of the studio or instructor. The studios set a high price and a low price anywhere from a few bucks to $40 per class and then Lymbers algorithm goes to work, using real-time and historical data to adjust class rates on the fly.While the startup may have earned the approbation of its peers, the companys young app 2-months-old is still looking to secure a sizable audience that will vote in the only real way that matters: studio bookings. So far, Lymber has landed just 100 local users. Though those who are using the app tend to be repeat visitors, as the company is averaging three visits per user, CEO Doug Hecht said.Lymber has raised $1.1 million in seed funding. Currently, the company is looking to raise an additional $1 million in capital, and aims to use the money to continue to build its foundation in San Diego and recruit new users.The first million was spent on building supply and now were raising money for consumers, Hecht said. (TNS) -- A Maryland state legislator said he has been stonewalled in getting information about a data breach affecting about 1,000 former Frederick County students and will introduce legislation addressing what went wrong.If I, as a member of the Maryland General Assembly, cannot get answers, then I cannot imagine how the young adults facing a life of looking over their shoulders must feel, Del. David E. Vogt III, R-District 4, wrote in a statement his office sent The Frederick News-Post on Wednesday.He said his legislation would give more meaningful assistance to victims of the breach and would require stronger security for information in the future.The breach affected about 1,000 former students who attended Frederick County Public Schools between November 2005 and November 2006. Their names, birth dates and Social Security numbers were stolen before 2010.The list has been visible recently on a website, where someone offered to sell 20,000 Social Security numbers, with the associated birthdays and names. The person posted 1,000 names and numbers as a sample. Many of the 1,000 have been confirmed as former Frederick County students.The district started investigating the breach in September after getting a tip from a former student whose name is on the list. District representatives have said the investigation needed to be done before the district contacted victims.Former students identified on the website will be mailed a letter by the end of the week, district spokesman Michael Doerrer said. The letters, which had not been mailed as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, will notify past students they were on the list and offer one year of credit monitoring.Robert McGinley, who graduated from Walkersville High School in 2011, started a petition online calling for the school system to offer seven years of credit monitoring. The petition, posted at change.org , had more than 500 signatures as of 6 p.m. Wednesday.McGinley said his name was not listed on the website, but he is friends with many people who were. He wants to know if his information is among the 20,000 identities that the website was offering for sale.He is drafting a letter to send to Gov. Larry Hogan, along with the petition once it gets 1,000 signatures.Asked if the district would consider expanding the number of years of credit service it will cover, Doerrer repeated that one year is the industry standard for a data breach.Former students on the list are starting careers and might not be able to afford their own credit monitoring, which adds up, McGinley said.This is a $200 million mistake made by the state, he said. People get identity theft monitoring because they did shady stuff online. They didnt do it because they went to school. ... Thats the main aggravating factor in all this we just went to school.Vogt said in his statement that he plans legislation in the upcoming session requiring responsible organizations to provide up to five years of free identity and credit monitoring services for victims of the FCPS breach and future breaches.He also will propose removing a requirement that FCPS and other systems transmit students personal information to the state if the Maryland State Department of Education cannot maintain an industry-accepted standard in their information technology systems.Frederick County Public Schools said Monday that it is likely that students personal information was stolen from a state government computer system, but the education department disputed that.Vogt said hes made it a priority to compel the department and Frederick County Public Schools to release relevant information that can point to the origin of the data breach, a rationalization for a several-month delay in notifying victims and the number of students whose information is still being sold online.Parents, former students, and concerned citizens are still waiting for answers regarding the FCPS data breach this legislator included, his statement says. The personal information of thousands of Frederick County students continues to be auctioned off in illegal online marketplaces, but the government entities tasked with protecting this information would rather engage in a nontransparent bureaucratic blame-game than admit responsibility and provide citizens with the answers they now need to protect themselves.This situation is immensely serious, and the organizations involved should prioritize what is best for the victims of this crime rather than what is best for the images of their organizations, he said.Data breaches and student privacy are a large concern, said Marc Rotenberg, the president and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research center that tracks news and legislation on First Amendment and constitutional issues of privacy.He said the typical practice after a breach is to notify victims and offer credit monitoring. He thinks the district should do a thorough review of security practices after personal information is compromised.I think organizations need to carefully consider whether they need to keep the information, he said. If you cant protect it, you shouldnt collect it.The subject of student data privacy has been especially important in recent years because schools are under pressure to collect more information, such as behavioral and family information, and make it available to third parties for consulting or research, Rotenberg said. The more that information is shared, the greater the risk it will be compromised, he said.A Maryland Department of Legislative Services audit, released in April 2015, found the school system needs to enhance internal controls and accountability for a number of its financial operations, including procurement, contract monitoring, disbursements, human resources and payroll processing, information system security and food service supplies. The audit found FCPS had not taken steps to properly secure critical computer applications and its network. (TNS) -- Triangle health care companies are anticipating a boom in research and funding from sweeping Congressional legislation signed into law last week that aims to lower the cost of medical research and to ease drug approvals.Clocking in at nearly 1,000 pages, the 21st Century Cures Ac t is deemed one of the most comprehensive laws Congress has passed since the Affordable Care Act was adopted in 2010. Unlike the contentious ACA, this years law was bipartisan and lauded by President Barack Obama, despite objections that it was a giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry and didnt require drug companies to address an ever-pressing problem: soaring drug prices.The new law earmarks $6.3 billion for biomedical research and other programs, and clears the way for the Food and Drug Administration to require less data for drug approvals if the drug is already approved for other conditions. For regulatory review of medical devices, the law says developers can apply the least burdensome standards to establish product safety.Ive read this bill in full, all hundreds of pages of it, last week, because its such an important and revolutionary bill, said Jeff Wolf, chief executive of Heat Biologics, a 20-employee developer of cancer immunotherapies in Durham.Executives at Triangle biomedical firms said the the law would be a catalyst for their industries.This will help drive even more investment into this space, said Patrick Daly, CEO at Cohera Medical, a surgical product maker that employs 22 people in Raleigh. If theres a more collaborative regulatory environment, I think it could take more time off our approval process.Some Triangle companies supply products and services to the industries that could benefit directly from the new law. One such company is bioMerieux, which employs 800 people at its Durham office, the French companys Americas regional headquarters and manufacturing site for blood culture bottles. BioMerieux also makes instruments and reagents for bacterial testing that is expected to benefit from increased demand as biomedical firms develop new diagnostic tests in response to new standards established by the law.The legislation makes it easier to develop tests and deliver them to doctors and hospitals, said Sam Bozzette, bioMerieuxs vice president for clinical affairs. We will be developing more products and getting more products approved.Another company that could potentially benefit is Morrisville device maker TransEnterix, whose surgical robot Senhance is approved in Europe and is being readied for submission to the FDA for approval in this country. TransEnterix is sitting on reams of performance data for the robot that may not have to be replicated in full in this country under new protocols.Many devices, such as our robotic surgery system, are safely and effectively used for years in Europe and elsewhere before coming to U.S. patents and doctors, TransEnterix said in an emailed statement. The specific provisions of a least burdensome pathway at the FDA along with a push to follow global consensus standards will help medical device companies move through the U.S. approval process.Despite its broad support, the law met severe criticism from some lawmakers. The loudest critics included Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as the the advocacy group Public Citizen. They warned the law will weaken federal oversight, compromise drug safety and enrich drug companies.The law next will go through the lengthy process of developing the federal rules that explain the guidelines and provisions in the legislative language. The process of crafting regulations is expected to take many months.Heat Biologics expects to benefit from the federal research funding to develop drugs, combination therapies, biomedical technology and to fund clinical trials, particularly for a Zika virus treatment under development. This could enable us to do things that we cant ordinarily do today, Wolf said.Wolf said he was encouraged by the laws flexibility for clinical trial design and data analysis, which will allow using alternative measures to assess a drugs effectiveness. He said that with cancer treatments, the standard measure for effectiveness is typically patient survival rates, which can take years to determine. Wolf said one potential change in documenting the effectiveness of a cancer drug is measuring tumors as they shrink from effective therapies.This will be much more cost effective and much faster, and will allow us to generate better results, Wolf said. Naidu To Preach Poverty Alleviation In Sri Lanka! Ask any common man in Andhra Pradesh on whether poverty has been eradicated in the state under the Chandrababu Naidu regime in the last two and a half years. The answer would be definitely No as most of the poverty alleviation schemes are only on paper, while crores of rupees are being wasted on redundant projects. Yet, Naidu is good at fooling people outside the state on eradication of poverty through hi-tech rule. On Thursday, Naidu got an invitation from the Sri Lankan government to address its people on poverty alleviation programmes being implemented in Andhra Pradesh. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mythripala Sirisena wrote a letter to Naidu to this effect, extending invitation. He said Sri Lankan government was very much impressed with the schemes being implemented by AP government using technology as a tool. Since Sri Lanka is observing 2017 as Poverty Alleviation Year, Sirisena felt Naidus expertise would be of great help to his country. Well, it is better if Sri Lanka sends a delegation to AP and makes an independent survey on Naidus governance. It will give a clear picture! Founded in 2009, Visedo specializes in electric powertrains and components for heavy-duty machinery, commercial vehicles and the marine industry. Its powertrains are suitable for hybrid and electric systems within the power range of 30 kW to 2,000 kW. Visedos head office is located in Lappeenranta, Finland, and the company has a subsidiary in the Netherlands. Visedo has a broad, international client base, with exports to Europe and Asia representing 90% of its sales. Visedo, a Finnish manufacturer specializing in electric powertrains and components, has secured a financing package of 20 million (US$21 million) to support its international growth plans. The financing consists of an equity investment of 13.5 million, an EFSI loan of 5 million and 1.5 million in funding from other sources. With increasing migration from petroleum to electric-power, the electric powertrain market is expected to grow rapidly to around 11 billion by 2020. The equity investment round was led by Emerald Technology Ventures, with Ilmarinen, LahiTapiola, Suffice International, Sinituote, Finnish Industry Investment, VNT Management, Green Campus Innovations and Visedos employees participating in the funding. Electrification improves machine performance, while achieving significant fuel savings and reductions in noise and emissions. These are essential factors for industrial clients and original equipment manufacturers. Thanks to its superior powertrain design and unique business model, Visedo is a winner in this business. Charles Vaslet, Partner at Emerald Technology Ventures One of the long-term investors in Visedo, Sinituote Oy, becomes the largest shareholder after the funding round. Sinituote is a successful Finnish family office and also one of the few supporting smaller Finnish SMEs both financially and by sharing their experience and vision in business development. Visedo electric machines.Visedo electric machines are based on synchronous reluctance assisted permanent magnet technology (SRPM)combining the benefits from PM and synchronous reluctance motor technologies. They are liquid-cooled and designed to work as traction motors in harsh operating environments. SRPM machines deliver improved performance through accurate control and fast response, Visedo says. Compared to conventional technologies, such as induction machines (IM) or standard permanent magnet motors (PM), Visedo SRPM motors offer smaller dimensions, lighter weight and higher efficiency, the company says. The motors are available in various speed and torque ratings in both Visedo machine series: PowerDRUM with power up to 4,000 kWhigh torque with high efficiency PowerDISK with power up to 75 kWshort axial length to fit in tight spaces PowerDRUM motors are available in longer or more compact versions. Visedo also offers a supercapacitor-based energy storage system, based on third-party cells and Visedos own capacitor management system (CMS). For power electronics, Visedo offers three main product groups: PowerMASTER inverters and frequency converters; PowerBOOST DC-to-DC converters; and PowerCOMBO multiconvertersa combination of inverters and DC-to-DC converters. French bus manufacturer Safra selected Visedo as the supplier of a full-electric drivetrain its the new Businova hybrid bus. A typical electric drivetrain in hybrid buses can reach an average efficiency of 73%; the Visedo solution, however, reaches more than 90%, and can maintain the vehicles high efficiency even with heavy loads, the company says. The new buses are already in serial production, and the first vehicles are being delivered to various cities in France, for example Toulouse, Gaillac and Albi. The plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles are currently being outfitted with Waymos fully self-driving technology, including a purpose-built computer and a suite of sensors, telematics and other systems, and will join Waymos self-driving test fleet in early 2017. Waymo and FCA also revealed today the first images of the fully self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid vehicle. Waymo (formerly the Google self-driving car project, earlier post ) and FCA announced that production of 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans ( earlier post ) uniquely built to enable fully self-driving operations has been completed. This first-of-its kind collaboration brought engineers from FCA and Waymo together to integrate Waymos fully self-driving system into the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan thereby leveraging each companys individual strengths and resources. Engineering modifications to the minivans electrical, powertrain, chassis and structural systems were implemented to optimize the Pacifica Hybrid for Waymos fully self-driving technology. The Pacifica Hybrid will be a great addition to our fully self-driving test fleet. FCAs product development and manufacturing teams have been agile partners, enabling us to go from program kickoff to full vehicle assembly in just six months. Theyve been great partners, and we look forward to continued teamwork with them as we move into 2017. John Krafcik, Chief Executive Officer, Waymo Waymo and FCA co-located part of their engineering teams at a facility in southeastern Michigan to accelerate the overall development process. In addition, extensive testing was carried out at FCA's Chelsea Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Michigan, and Arizona Proving Grounds in Yucca, Arizona, as well as Waymo test sites in California. Two years after states around the country passed an unprecedented number of police reforms after the killing of George Floyd, some are struggling to make the new policies stick. The momentum for change has slowed from its earlier frenetic pace. Some of the reforms have been rolled back or at least tweaked after police complained that the new policies were hindering their ability to catch criminals. Legal experts say police killings of Black people over the last decade epitomized by Floyds killing have altered the trajectory of policing. But change has come about unevenly in thousands of police departments across the U.S. Transcription 1 2 Introduction to Cleveland Police Page 1 Cleveland Police Vision & Values Page 2 Becoming a Police Officer Page 3 Recruitment Process Pages 4-8 Eligibility Criteria Pages 9-12 Appendices Pages Frequently Asked Questions Pages 18-21 3 Introduction to Cleveland Police Cleveland Police has around 1300 police officers, 130 Police Community Support Officers and 250 members of police staff. In 2010, we transferred around 500 police staff and a number of business support services including call handling in our Control Room, Human Resources, Information and Communications Technology and Finance to a private company, Sopra Steria. The partnership working exists at all levels of the organisation to ensure that we deliver a high standard of policing to the public of Cleveland. This document sets out to provide you with an understanding of the recruitment process to become a police officer with Cleveland Police and about working for the Force. There are different stages of the recruitment process and therefore it is important you understand what this entails, how long you have to complete each stage and when you will be informed if you have been successful to progress to the next stage. Cleveland Police is committed to fairness towards all members of the community. We need people from diverse backgrounds with skills and experiences to help us deliver excellence in local policing across Cleveland. 4 Cleveland Police Vision & Values Vision Cleveland Police will work with others to deliver high quality, professional policing services that focus on protecting you from harm and responding to local needs. Values Professionalism Meet the Standard Acquire and apply knowledge, skills and best practice to enable all officers and staff to respond to customer needs. Honesty and Integrity - Do the right thing Act honestly, openly, impartially and fairly. Have an objective approach that is consistent and reflects the highest ethical standards. Commitment - See things through See things through to the end, putting the task and the needs of others first. This requires loyalty, a willingness to take responsibility and the energy and determination to succeed. Pride Have a sense of worth Take pride in delivering high quality, professional policing services directly to our communities or supporting those that do. Respect - Show consideration for others Treat people with respect and dignity regardless of their background or circumstances, showing tact, empathy and compassion. Forward Thinking Change for the better Encourage creativity, innovation and long term thinking to identify ways of delivering better outcomes for people and provide value for money. The Force is currently in the process of a transformation programme, which has seen a move from a Base Command Unit (BCU) structure to a functional model. 5 Becoming a Police Constable with Cleveland Police What we offer A two-year learning programme, which on successful completion will result in the award of the Diploma in Policing, a mandatory award for Police Constables. The programme will include learning in both classroom and workplace settings. A salary in line with Police Negotiating Board guidelines. Annual leave of 22 days, increasing with length of service. Police pension. Training and development opportunities. Employee Assistance, covering a range of health, wellbeing and lifestyle issues. Support and advice from Occupational Health and a range of staff associations. As well as access to a range of services such as Charitable Trust and Police Mutual. Childcare vouchers, which you can use to pay for registered or approved childcare for children up to the age of 16. This includes nurseries, child minders, breakfast and after school clubs. 6 The Recruitment Process At the end of each stage of the recruitment process you will be notified whether or not you have been successful and therefore eligible to proceed to the next stage. Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Application Form Police SEARCH Assessment Centre Final Interview and Code of Ethics assessment Pre-employment checks Further information in respect of the Police SEARCH Assessment Centre process and preparation material can be found on the College of Policing website under the Police Recruitment Standards section. Further information on the eligibility criteria can be found here. The Recruitment Stages Stage 1 Application Form The Cleveland Police application form will be hosted on our e-recruitment system. Please ensure you complete the application form fully. It is very important that you follow the instructions as incomplete forms will not be accepted. You will receive a notification regarding the outcome of your application and if you are successful you will be invited to attend an Assessment Centre. Stage 2 Police SEARCH Assessment Centre We run the Assessment Centres over a weekend and you will be required to attend on only one of the days. Please note that you will be responsible for making your own travel arrangements. It is important when deciding to apply for the role of a police officer that you can attend one of the Assessment Centre dates, as no dates outside of these will be available at this time. 7 The Recruitment Process The Police SEARCH Assessment Centre consists of: 20 minute competency based interview Two written exercises Four interactive role play exercises Numerical reasoning questionnaire and a verbal logical reasoning test These exercises are designed to test your ability to think on your feet, make quick decisions based on sound judgement and also measure your basic numeracy and literacy standards. You will be required to provide identification documents following the guidelines in Appendix 1. NB: If you do not bring these with you, you will not be allowed to progress any further with the application process. If you are successful at this stage, you will then be invited to attend an interview and Code of Ethics assessment with members of Cleveland Police. Stage 3 Final Interview and Code of Ethics Assessment The Force has adopted the Policing Professional Framework (PPF) in Appendix 2, for recruitment and selection and candidates will be scored against the relevant personal qualities for the role: Serving the public Openness to change Service delivery Professionalism Decision making Working with others Code of Ethics Assessment The College of Policing has produced a Code of Ethics which sets and defines the exemplary standards of behaviour for everyone who works in policing. The Code of Ethics is about professionalising the service and giving those within it a clear guide on ethical decision making and behaviour. 8 The Recruitment Process Following your interview you will undertake a short assessment whereby you will be given four scenarios for consideration. You are asked to describe what your course of action would be appropriate if you found yourself in the situation described, including why you feel your actions are appropriate. Stage 4 Pre-employment checks Pre employment checks will be undertaken for those candidates who have been successful at Interview and the Code of Ethics Assessment and will consist of: A Fitness Test Medical Assessment Vetting Checks Substance Misuse Testing References Fitness Test We test endurance through a fitness shuttle run, commonly known as the Bleep test. A good indicator of the fitness level needed for this test is to be able to run at a good pace for around four minutes over a distance of about 700 metres. Bleep Test (Shuttle Run) Explained Required Level is 5.4 = 5 Levels and 4 Shuttles Total Time Distance Covered Shuttles Completed 3 min 35 seconds 525 metres 35 Levels Shuttles per level Seconds per shuttle 9 The Recruitment Process Medical Assessment A medical assessment will generally be carried out by our Occupational Health team. We will check: BMI Eye sight test Colour vision Lung function Hearing You will be asked to complete a confidential medical history questionnaire, which needs to be validated by your GP. If a cost is incurred for this service this will be at your own expense. Once you have been declared medically fit we will then progress your application to the next stage. Vetting Checks We will carry out security checks on you and you will be required to provide details to enable us to do so on the application form. Financial Circumstances Applicants will have their financial status checked. These checks are carried out because police officers/staff have access to privileged information, which may make them vulnerable to corruption. Applicants with outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJs), Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVAs) or who have been registered bankrupt with outstanding debts will be rejected. Applicants who have discharged County Court Judgements may be considered. Applicants who have been registered as bankrupt and their bankruptcy debts have been discharged will only be considered three years from the discharge of the debt and will need to provide a Certificate of Satisfaction. For further information see The College of Policing website. Biometric Vetting We will need to take your fingerprints and DNA samples to carry out some final vetting checks against our databases. 10 The Recruitment Process Substance misuse We will collect a sample of hair approximately 50 to 100 strands from the crown of the head to test for substance misuse. References References will be sought from previous employers for a period covering 3 years or 2 employers and 1 character reference, unless deemed necessary to ask for further information. 11 Eligibility Criteria For further details please click on the following link: - Applicants must be able to demonstrate one of the below criteria: Minimum of 18 months service as a Police Community Support Officer Minimum of 2 years service as a Special Constable A level 3 Qualification within the meaning of Section 3 of the Education and Skills Act A minimum of 5 years service in the Military or Armed Forces. In addition candidates must also meet the following eligibility criteria You must be 18 years or over and under 57 years of age when you submit an application form. Be a British citizen, a citizen of a country that is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland. If you are a citizen of a country outside of the EEA, you need to demonstrate you have a legal right of residence in the UK free of any restriction, i.e. indefinite leave to remain without restriction. Possess a full UK manual driving licence on appointment. Not be registered bankrupt or subject to current County Court Judgements (CCJs) or Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs). Tattoos Tattoos are not acceptable if they are particularly prominent, garish, and offensive, or if they undermine the dignity and authority of the role. You will be asked as part of your application if you have a tattoo on your face, neck, forearms or hands and if you answer yes, you will be asked to provide a brief description and attach two digital photographs of each visible tattoo: 1. A distance photograph to clearly identify where on the body the tattoo is. 2. A close up photograph to clearly identify the images. Each photograph should not be more than 1MB in size. If not acceptable you will not be able to continue with your application. 12 Eligibility Criteria Facial Piercings Facial piercings are not an automatic bar from application. However the prominence and location of facial piercings will be considered as to whether they undermine the dignity and authority of the police officer and whether there may be implications for an officer s safety. As part of your application you will be asked if you have any facial piercing and if the answer is yes, you will be required to upload a photograph. The photograph should not be more than 1MB in size. If not acceptable you will not be able to continue with your application. Countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) from which applicants may apply You can still apply to become a police officer as long as you are an EEA National or Swiss National. Commonwealth citizens and Foreign Nationals are required to have leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK for an indefinite period. (Although Bulgaria and Romania are members of the EEA, their citizens are not automatically entitled to remain in the United Kingdom. Therefore citizens from Bulgaria and Romania are also required to have leave to enter and leave to remain in the UK for an indefinite period.) Countries of the European Economic Area include: Austria Hungary Norway Belgium Iceland Poland Cyprus Ireland Portugal Czech Republic Italy Slovakia Denmark Latvia Slovenia Estonia Liechtenstein Spain Finland Lithuania Sweden France Luxembourg United Kingdom Germany Malta Greece Netherlands 13 Eligibility Criteria Eyesight Tests Eyesight Requirements You may have seen a chart like the diagram below at your opticians. The actual chart is much larger and is read from a distance of six metres. Each line equates to a standard. Without spectacles or contact lenses is: Distance vision 6/12 or better with either your right or left eye 6/6 with both eyes together. A BC DEFG HIJKLM NOPQRSTU VWXYZABCD EFGHIJKLMNOPQ RSTUVWXYZABCDEF 6/60 6/36 6/24 6/18 6/12 6/9 6/6 6/5 If you need to wear spectacles or contact lenses you also need to reach 6/36 without your spectacles or lenses. Near vision 6/9 with both eyes together (aided). Colour vision The use of colour-correcting lenses is not acceptable. Severe colour vision deficiencies (monochromacy) are not acceptable. Mild anomalous trichromacy is acceptable. Severe anomalous dichromacy or trichomacy is also acceptable but you will need to be aware of the deficiency and make appropriate adjustments. 14 Eligibility Criteria Eye surgery Radial keratotomy, arcuate keratotomy or corneal grafts are not acceptable. Other forms of refractive surgery such as LASIK, LASEK, PRK, ICRS and epiflap are all acceptable provided that six weeks have elapsed since surgery, there are no residual side effects, and the other eyesight standards are met. Qualifications Examples for England, Wales and Northern Ireland If you are using the qualification to apply you must have achieved one of the following: A Level AS Level Advanced Diploma National Diploma National Certificate National Aware Level 3 Diploma Level 3 Certificate Level 3 Award Level 3 NVQ City & Guilds, Level 3 Level 3 International Certificate in Computer Studies (ICCS) NCC Education UK NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety Access to Higher Education Diploma 15 Appendices Appendix 1 Guide to Identification Documents In order to comply with our requirements you need to provide one of the original documents listed below from List A or a combination of documents listed below in List B for us to see and copy prior to your interview. LIST A A passport showing that the holder is a British Citizen, or has a right of abode in the United Kingdom. A document showing that the holder is a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland. This must be a national passport or national identity card. A residence permit issued by the Home Office to a national from a European Economic Area country or Switzerland. A passport or other document issued by the Home Office which has an endorsement stating that the holder has a current right of residence in the United Kingdom as a family member of a national from a European Economic country or Switzerland who is resident in the United Kingdom. A passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder can stay indefinitely in the United Kingdom, or has no time limit on their stay. A passport or other travel documents endorsed to show that the holder can stay in the United Kingdom; and that this endorsement allows the holder to do the type of work offered if they do not have a work permit. An Application Registration Card issued by the Home Office to an asylum seeker stating that the holder is permitted to take employment. LIST B A document giving a permanent National Insurance Number and name. This could be a P45, P60, National Insurance card or a letter from a Government Agency 16 Appendix 1 Guide to Identification Documents Together with one of the following: A full birth certificate issued in the United Kingdom, which includes the names of the holders parents OR A birth certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland OR A full adoption certificate issued in the UK stating the name(s) of at least one or your parents OR A full adoption certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland OR A certificate of registration or naturalization stating the holder is a British citizen OR A letter issued by the Home Office to the holder which indicates that the person named in it can stay indefinitely in the United Kingdom, or has no time limit on their stay OR An Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it can stay indefinitely in the United Kingdom, or has no time limit on their stay OR A letter issued by the Home Office to the holder which indicates that the person named in it can stay in the United Kingdom AND this allows them to do the type of work offered to them OR An Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it can stay in the United Kingdom AND this allows them to do the type of work offered to them 17 Appendix 2 Policing Professional Framework (PPF): Personal Qualities and Behavioural Indicators Serving the public Demonstrates a real belief in public service, focusing on what matters to the public and will best serve their interests. Understands the expectations, changing needs and concerns of different communities, and strives to address them. Builds public confidence by talking with people in local communities to explore their viewpoints and break down barriers between them and the police. Understands the impact and benefits of policing for different communities, and identifies the best way to deliver services to them. Works in partnership with other agencies to deliver the best possible overall service to the public. Openness to change Positive about change, adapting rapidly to different ways of working and putting effort into making them work. Flexible and open to alternative approaches to solving problems. Finds better, more cost-effective ways to do things, making suggestions for change and putting forward ideas for improvement. Takes an innovative and creative approach to solving problems. Service delivery Understands the organisation's objectives and priorities, and how own work fits into these. Plans and organises tasks effectively, taking a structured and methodical approach to achieving outcomes. Manages multiple tasks effectively by thinking things through in advance, prioritising and managing time well. Focuses on the outcomes to be achieved, working quickly and accurately and seeking guidance when appropriate. Professionalism Acts with integrity, in line with the values and ethical standards of the Police Service. Takes ownership for resolving problems, demonstrating courage and resilience in dealing with difficult and potentially volatile situations. Acts on own initiative to address issues, showing a strong work ethic and demonstrating extra effort when required. Upholds professional standards, acting honestly and ethically, and challenges unprofessional conduct or discriminatory behaviour. 18 Appendix 2 Policing Professional Framework (PPF): Personal Qualities and Behavioural Indicators Asks for and acts on feedback, learning from experience and developing own professional skills and knowledge. Remains calm and professional under pressure, defusing conflict and being prepared to step forward and take control when required. Decision making Gathers, verifies and assesses all appropriate and available information to gain an accurate understanding of situations. Considers a range of possible options before making clear, timely, justifiable decisions. Reviews decisions in the light of new information and changing circumstances. Balances risks, costs and benefits, thinking about the wider impact of decisions. Exercises discretion and applies professional judgement, ensuring actions and decisions are proportionate and in the public interest. Working with others Works co-operatively with others to get things done, willingly giving help and support to colleagues. Is approachable, developing positive working relationships. Explains things well, focusing on the key points and talking to people using language they understand. Listens carefully and asks questions to clarify understanding, expressing own views positively and constructively. Persuades people by stressing the benefits of a particular approach, keeps them informed of progress and manages their expectations. Is courteous, polite and considerate, showing empathy and compassion. Deals with people as individuals and addresses their specific needs and concerns. Treats people with respect and dignity, dealing with them fairly and without prejudice regardless of their background or circumstances. 19 Appendix 3 Character References Professions Accountant Airline pilot Articled clerk of a limited company Assurance agent of a recognised company Bank/building society official Barrister Chairman/director of a limited company Chiropodist Commissioner of oaths Councilor (local or county) Civil servant (permanent), but not someone who works for IPS Dentist Director/manager of a VATregistered charity Director/manager/personnel officer of a VAT-registered company Engineer (with professional qualifications) Financial services intermediary (eg a stockbroker or insurance broker) Fire service official Funeral director Insurance agent (full time) of a recognised company Journalist Justice of the Peace Legal secretary (fellow or associate member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs) Licensee of a public house Member, associate or fellow of a professional body Member of Parliament Merchant Navy officer Minister of a recognised religion (including Christian Science) Nurse (RGN and RMN) Officer of the armed services (active or retired) Optician Paralegal (certified paralegal, qualified paralegal or associate member of the Institute of Paralegals) Person with honours (an OBE or MBE, for example) Pharmacist Photographer (professional) Police officer Post Office official President/secretary of a recognised organisation Salvation Army officer Social worker Solicitor Surveyor Teacher, lecturer Trade union officer Travel agent (qualified) Local government officer/manager/ personnel officer (of a limited company) Valuer or auctioneer (fellows and associate members of the incorporated society) Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers 20 Frequently Asked Questions Q. How do I contact Cleveland Police about my application? A. The majority of answers that you need to know about your stage of the recruitment process are contained within this booklet, however if you still have questions then you can us at Q. I will be 18 on the date the Assessment Centres start. Can I still apply to join Cleveland Police? A. No. To be eligible to apply, you must be age 18 years at the point of submitting your application form. Q. I have not received an confirming if I have passed or failed? A. Updates will be provided throughout the process and we will check your details. However if you have not received an you should check your junk mail / filter settings in case it has been filtered by your spam software. Q. I have a medical condition but does that prevent me from joining Cleveland Police? A. It will depend upon the nature of the medical condition. We require that all our new officers undergo a medical assessment with our Occupational Health Team. You will need to pass the medical assessment to be eligible to join Cleveland Police. Q. I have tattoos. Will this stop me becoming a police officer? A. Whilst this does not prevent you continuing your application, during the eligibility stage you will be asked if you have any tattoos. The nature, location, prominence and appearance of tattoos will be considered by the force you apply to. The number and size of your tattoos will also be considered in terms of the impression they may give to members of the public or colleagues. If you have any tattoos you must include at least two photographs of each tattoo, if they are located on your hands, neck, forearms or face. The first photograph must be a close up of the tattoo. The second photograph must clearly show the location of the tattoo on your body. If the tattoos are deemed not acceptable you will not be able to continue with your application. 21 Frequently Asked Questions Q. I have facial piercings. Will this stop me becoming a police officer? A. Whilst this does not prevent you continuing your application, the prominence and location of facial piercings will be considered as to whether they undermine the dignity and authority of the police officer and whether there may be implications for an officers safety. Q. I am not a British citizen. Can I still apply to join Cleveland Police as an officer? A. You can still apply to become a police officer as long as you are an EEA National or Swiss National. Commonwealth citizens and Foreign Nationals are required to have leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK for an indefinite period. Q. Do I need a driving licence? A. You must have a current full UK manual driving licence at date of appointment. Q. I have a motoring offence(s). Can I still apply to become an officer? A. Yes you are still eligible to apply. Q. I have a criminal record. Can I still apply to become an officer? A. Yes you are still eligible to apply, however it is assessed as part of the vetting process. Q. If I am successful in my application to become a PCSO or Special Constable, can I transfer to become a Police Officer? A. No, you would have to go through the official recruitment process like all other applicants in order to qualify as a police officer. Q. I am a serving PCSO or Special Constable, can I transfer to become a Police Officer? A. No, you would have to go through the official recruitment process like all other applicants in order to qualify as a police officer. 22 Frequently Asked Questions Q. I would like to become a firearms officer if my application is successful can I join the unit straight away? A. No all newly recruited police officers must undergo a probationary period, so you could not apply for any specialist posts within Cleveland Police until you have completed at least two years service. Q. Can you become a police officer if you wear glasses or contact lenses? A. As part of the recruitment process you will need to undergo an eye test. New recruits must have at least 6/12 vision in the right or left eye, or at least 6/6 vision in both eyes. Those who wear glasses or contact lenses must have at least 6/36 vision in both eyes without wearing their glasses or contact lenses. Q. Can you become a police officer if you are colour blind? A. Those with colour blindness are eligible to become police officers, but may be restricted from fulfilling certain posts. If your colour blindness is monochrome, you would be unable to apply. Q. If I have a disability can I apply to become a police officer? A. Yes, Cleveland Police welcomes applications from people with disabilities. Q. I have diabetes. Can I still apply? A. You can still apply as long as your diabetes is under control. Your doctor will need to supply a medical report for clarification. Q. I have epilepsy. Can I still apply? A. You can still apply to become a police officer. We will look at each case on its merits and take guidance from our Occupational Health team. Q. Is there a height restriction for police officers? A. No. There is no minimum or maximum height restriction. 23 Frequently Asked Questions Q. I have failed the fitness test. Can I still become a police officer? A. You will be given three opportunities to pass the fitness assessment. If you are unable to pass this assessment you will not be eligible to progress further. Q. I would like to work part time, is this possible. A. Your probationary period will be a minimum of 2 years for which the initial study period and subsequent mandatory training periods must be completed on a full time basis. Should you reduce your hours your probationary period will be extended on a pro rata basis to match the reduced average per week. You would need to apply to formally apply for flexible working to the Force who will then decide if they are able to support your request. Part time officers however will not be exempt from working shifts, including night duty. Part time rotas will be by mutual consent and be a work pattern consistent with a named supervisor to ensure continuity of supervision. Q. I am having difficulties viewing the form correctly A. This may be a compatibility issue. Please try an alternative browser listed below. Please Note make sure you have saved your most up to date information onto the application. Once in a different browser your information will still be available. Google Chrome Once on the page click Download Chrome for process to start.- system=true&standalone=1 Mozilla Firefox Once on the page Click Free download for the process to start Opera (direct download) Good Luck in completing your application! 24 Its a stressful time of year for college seniors. A few of them are already getting their acceptance (or rejection) letters from colleges. Many more are trying to meet mid-January application deadlines and get mom and dad to finish the FAFSA. Most high school seniors long ago grew tired of the what-are-you-doing-next-year questions. And its hard for them and their parents not to be freaked out by some of the recent college admissions headlines. Down in Durham, Duke said last week that it accepted 24 percent of the hyper-talented academic workaholics who applied early for a spot in next fall's class. Sometime in the spring, Duke will announce that it accepted just 0.00000082 percent of the kids who applied during the second round. (Ha ha, just kidding! The actual number from 2016 was a youve-gotta-be-kidding-me 9 percent; I expect this year's will be lower.) Out in the West Coast, UCLA already has received a national record of 100,000 (!) applications for its next freshman class of roughly 6,500. Harvard, meanwhile, took just 15 percent of its early applicants. OK, deep breath: These numbers are not typical. The vast majority of schools simply arent all that selective. I cant emphasize that enough. Most colleges are happy to accept smart and capable (but not necessarily superstar) students. If you dont believe me, believe the latest report on college admissions from the National Association of College Admission Counseling. (Here's the actual report, if you prefer unabridged reading.) Its key finding in the eyes of The Syllabus: Four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. accepted nearly 66 percent of first-time freshmen applicants in the fall of 2014. If you flip to page 10 of the report, youll find that only about 20 percent of schools are quote-unquote selective because they take fewer than half of the applicants. (One reason for all the stress this time of year: These schools get more than a third of all applications.) In other words, youve got better than a 50-50 shot at four out of every five four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. In North Carolina, there are only three truly elite schools in the sense that they accept only a small number of top-ranked students. The three are Duke (it accepted 11 percent of first-time freshmen in fall 2015, according to the handy College Navigator), Davidson (22 percent) and Wake Forest (29 percent). Remember that those numbers are atypical. Also, North Carolina has another 16 public universities and 30-some private colleges (and 57 community colleges who take everyone who walks in the door). Most UNC system schools accept at least 60 percent of applicants. The exceptions are UNCG and Winston-Salem State (both at 59 percent in 2015), Western Carolina (40 percent; Im trying to figure that one out), UNC School of the Arts (34 percent because it's small and has a national rep), N.C. State (50 percent) and UNC-Chapel Hill (31 percent). (A quick word about Chapel Hill: Its 31 percent admissions rate is misleading because it gets a ton of out-of-state applications but its out-of-state enrollment is capped at 18 percent. That's why UNC accepted only 20 percent of 21,000 out-of-state applicants. The good news for N.C. students: Carolina took 52 percent of nearly 9,800 in-state applicants slightly better than 50-50, in other words.) Among the states private colleges, there are only six (outside of the Big Three) that you can call selective: Catawba (32 percent), Brevard (41 percent), Barton (42 percent), Johnson C. Smith (46 percent), Pfeiffer (47 percent) and William Peace (50 percent). Most of the rest accept between 50 to 70 percent of their applicants. A few take a larger slice. Here are the rates for local schools: Elon (57 percent), Salem (62 percent), Guilford (63 percent), High Point (72 percent), Greensboro (75 percent) and Bennett (95 percent). I'd caution you not to use the acceptance rate as a proxy for quality. Catawba's acceptance rate is 25 points less than UNCG's, for instance. But the caliber of students who end up going to the two schools are roughly the same, based on a very quick look at SAT and ACT scores. So: two perfectly good colleges, two very different acceptance rates (and probably two very different reasons for taking the number of students they do). Whether college is worth all the hoop-jumping of the admissions process is a whole different discussion. (Based on lifetime income, the answer is probably yes.) But if you are planning to go to college, the admission odds are in your favor. Just maybe not at Duke. Want to make sure you see these blog posts? Like me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter. Have something to say? Email me at john.newsom@greensboro.com. Associated Press film writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr name their choices for the best films of 2016. Jake Coyles choices 1. Moonlight. The life of Chiron, the young man who grows up in three distinct chapters in Barry Jenkins masterpiece, is hard and full of pain. And yet Moonlight is so abundant with transcendent moments of grace and lyrical splendor. In the films blue-tinged darkness shines a tortured soul, one of the most intimately and fully realized ones I can remember encountering in a movie. 2. Cameraperson. In Kirsten Johnsons memoir-like montage of film, momentary intimacies from a lifetime of making documentaries accrue a staggering poetry. From war zones abroad to her family at home, her camera is a force of connection that binds us, fleetingly. 3. La La Land. Its not like were so overrun with blissfulness and charm that we couldnt use Damien Chazelles light-footed celebration of classic musicals, Los Angeles, dreams, keytars and Emma Stone. Its not a revolutionary work. Its a knowing and full-hearted resurrection. Its a conversation with nostalgia, held at golden hour between lampposts and tap shoes. 4. I Am Not Your Negro. Does anyones voice sound more urgent today than James Baldwins? Raoul Pecks documentary, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, is culled largely from an unfinished manuscript of the writer, intellectual and social critic. Baldwins words wash over you, at once inspiring in their passion and alarming in their frightful insight into America. But Peck doesnt need to mix in more recent footage to connect Baldwins thoughts with today. Amid the shards of 2016, Baldwins relevance is apparent enough. 5. Sunset Song. Rare is the combination of formal beauty and deep inner-life thats found in Terence Daviess adaptation of the 1932 novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon. It was one of two films by the chronically underappreciated Davies this year, the other being his less sublime Emily Dickinson biopic with Cynthia Nixon, A Quiet Passion. But Sunset Song, about a young woman growing up in rural Scotland in the years before World War I, is one of the more exquisite and wrenching portraits of lives shaped and ripped apart by history. 6. American Honey. Nothing was more thrillingly alive this year than Andrea Arnolds bass-thumping plunge into the American heartland. Arnold, the British director of Fish Tank, has both a keenly critical eye to what she sees around her and a deeply affectionate one for her young characters. Rihanna (played in a scene set in a Walmart) supplies Arnolds anthem: She finds love in a hopeless place. 7. Manchester by the Sea. It might be my third favorite of playwright Kenneth Lonergans three films (the others are Margaret and You Can Count on Me), but its still one of the years best. Scenes this natural just dont come along. Seemingly quotidian moments flicker with the past, with pain, with humor, with glimpses of insight. Lonergans way with words is trumped only by the great reaches of his empathy. 8. O.J.: Made in America. Its an L.A. story. Ezra Edelmans 467-minute documentary, released both as one long film and a five-part television series, has an almost Dickensian scope. Edelman uses the case as a prism through which to make a grand portrait of Los Angeles and of America. 9. Hell or High Water. David Mackenzies West Texas heist tale is a genre movie firing on all cylinders. Theres the fine acting of Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham. Theres the economical but loose direction of Mackenzie (Starred Up). And theres the flavorful, comic dialogue of Taylor Sheridan (Sicario). Add it all up and you get a hell of a movie. 10. The Edge of Seventeen. The pleasures are similar in Kelly Fremon Craigs spectacular debut: a genre movie (this time a teen coming-of-age comedy in the John Hughes mold) made with uncommon authenticity and wit. And Im not sure I enjoyed any performance this year more than Hailee Steinfelds beset high-schooler who curses her generation as mouth breathers. Lindsey Bahrs choices 1. La La Land. Damien Chazelles film has more edge than many seem to give it credit for. Like those of its spiritual predecessor Jacques Demy, La La Land might be soaked in lavender skies, bright costumes and bouncy songs, but under the surface lingers a gnawing uncertainty about art and ambition and love and sacrifice. And itll leave you singing Another Day of Sun, even if it is through wistful tears. 2. Manchester by the Sea. The script! The performances! The atmosphere! The score! Its all uncomfortably perfect. Manchester by the Sea is a fully realized and affecting American epic about all-consuming grief and the inconvenient, often funny and sometimes impossible life that remains. Its a career-defining role for Casey Affleck. 3. Jackie. Moody and unsettling, Jackie might not explain the former first lady, but Pablo Larrains unconventional biopic illuminates her hand in crafting that indelible Camelot legacy for her family, with a pitch perfect performance from Natalie Portman. 4. Moonlight. What is really left to be said about Moonlight? Its a triumph of storytelling and image about a mans life in Miami told in three stages. Barry Jenkins film could easily be among the best of any year. Mahershala Ali is rightfully being singled out for his supporting performance as a drug dealer with a conscience, but he is just one part of an extraordinary cast of actors whose names youll want to know. 5. The Red Turtle. A gorgeous, hand-drawn, wordless fable co-produced by Studio Ghibli, The Red Turtle is an elegant gem about a shipwrecked man, whose impact will sneak up on you in the most devastating way. Take a pause from all the noise and give it a chance. 6. 20th Century Women. Mike Mills is better than anyone at creating those transformative environments that look, feel and seem like real life, but better. Here, he transports you to sun-soaked and anxiety-ridden Santa Barbara in 1979 where three women, a wild teen (Elle Fanning), an angry 20-something (Greta Gerwig), and a 50-something mother (Annette Bening) rally around the emotional education of a teenage boy. 7. I Am Not Your Negro. There were a few great documentaries about the black experience in America this year, including Ava DuVernays look at mass incarceration in The 13th and the overwhelmingly powerful O.J.: Made in America, but Raoul Pecks rendering of James Baldwins words about the lives and assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. stands out among the others for its artful poignancy. 8. Hail, Caesar! Would that it twere so simple. No single line this year has echoed in my mind as much as Alden Ehrenreichs earnest rube Hobie Doyle trying so, so hard to please the refined Laurence Lauretnz (Ralph Fiennes, also a standout in The Big Splash). The Coen brothers Hail, Caesar! came and went with little fanfare, but this is a slapstick lark that just gets more dizzyingly delightful with every viewing. 9. Certain Women. Quiet and calming, Certain Women is a slow-cooked meditative poem about the lives of the modern frontierswoman whose beauty will leave your heart aching and warmed thanks to Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams, Lily Gladstone and the strong supporting cast. Its the best Kelly Reichardt has ever made. 10. Sausage Party. Who knew some of the years smartest comedy and most rebellious ideas would come from the mouth of a horny hot dog? Seth Rogen and Evan Goldbergs irreverent fever dream about food, religion and culture will make you blush, laugh, wince and think. Its not for everyone, but it wouldnt be great if it was. GREENSBORO The family of Murad Anthony Weaver asked a Guilford County District Court judge Wednesday to let him out of jail to attend the funeral of his 5-year-old brother, who Weaver is accused of fatally shooting. It was a request Judge Tom Jarrell denied during Weavers first appearance. Weaver, 22, of 2129 Fairbrothers St. in Greensboro, surrendered to police Tuesday. He is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his brother Caleb Pearson Harris. Caleb died at 12:03 a.m. Saturday, just 30 minutes after his brother is accused of shooting him after a disagreement with their mother outside a house on Waugh Street. Details of the shooting were not offered in court. Family members filled the first row of the courtroom but did not speak. Weavers sister sat next to Greensboro attorney Ken Free, who spoke on the familys behalf. Free told the judge that he didnt see the boys mother in the courtroom. Free said family members wanted Weaver to be able to attend the funeral and wanted the capital defenders office appointed to the case. Jarrell appointed a capital defender and denied him bail. Weaver tried to talk, but the judge cut the video. Im not going to allow him to speak, Jarrell said. He later explained that because attorneys had been appointed that were not present, defendants could not speak directly to the judge. Weavers appearance was the first of three for people charged with first-degree murder. In each case, Jarrell denied bail and appointed a capital defender. I will have had this job for 18 years next month and I have never had three capital murder charges during one first appearance setting in my career, Jarrell told the court staff. You will probably never see this again. Betty Genopolis Russell, 56, of 125 Vivian Lane in Greensboro and James Dequan McDowell, 24, of 508 Steele St. in High Point, also face first-degree murder charges. Russell is accused in the death of her roommate Allen Lee Ritter, 66, who was reported missing by a neighbor on Dec. 15. Guilford County investigators have not released a cause of death for Ritter, who was found dead in his apartment Tuesday. Results of an autopsy by the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are pending. Deputies arrested Russell Tuesday at the Budget Inn located at 512 Farragut St. in Greensboro. McDowell faced Jarrell on a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Ashley Renee Cozart, 26. Cozart and a second unidentified victim were found shot at an apartment on Lowdermilk Street. At the time of the shooting, McDowell was on probation for possession of a firearm by a felon and had been released from prison in May for an assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury conviction. McDowell faces the death penalty or life in prison in Cozarts death and up to 40 years in prison on an attempted murder charge in the shooting of the other victim. Murad is scheduled to appear in court next on Jan. 24. Russell and McDowell are each scheduled for appearances on Jan. 26. "Our commitment to maintaining and protecting diverse and inclusive communities remains unchanged." City of Charlotte Make no mistake: Roy Cooper and Senate Democrats killed the repeal of HB 2, abandoning Roy Coopers commitment to avoid divisive social issues by shooting down a temporary cooling off period on ordinances like the one that got us into this mess last March. Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) "Today's failure to repeal HB2 is a blow to not just the LGBTQ community but to the entire state of North Carolina. ... The North Carolina General Assembly Leadership has made clear today that North Carolina remains closed for business." Rep. Chris Sgro (D-Guilford) and Equality NC executive director I honestly find it shocking, that a moratorium is what derailed this. Democrats have been talking about repealing House Bill 2 for a long time, and decided not to do it simply because of a moratorium. ... It would have been a great solution to the issues and the controversy facing the state of North Carolina." Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford) "We are thankful for the members of the General Assembly who stood up for what is right, and represented the will of voters by stopping the move to cower and cave-in to the city of Charlotte and the Human Rights Campaign." Tami Fitzgerald, NC Values Coalition executive director There was the opportunity to repeal HB 2 and restore North Carolinas reputation as being a welcoming community and a business-friendly environment, and now Im afraid that maybe weve compounded the issues we have with HB 2. They sent a horribly mixed message. It appears, from the outside anyway, that they made a deal with the city of Charlotte and then couldnt deliver. Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan "They (Republicans) have done nothing to protect against discrimination and have only further damaged our reputation." Patsy Keever, chairwoman, N.C. Democratic Party "After months of threatening boycotts and misleading rhetoric, not a single Democrat voted to repeal HB 2 on a straight up and down vote." Robin Hayes, chairman, N.C. Republican Party Charlotte should immediately reinstate its nondiscrimination ordinance as soon as possible to reaffirm their commitment to equality for all, and other local governments should pass similar ordinances in solidarity. Gerrick Brenner, executive director of Progress NC Action "This was a tremendous opportunity for North Carolina to right a great wrong; its unconscionable that lawmakers chose to waste it. Rea Carey, executive director, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund "As I've stated multiple times, the balance between privacy and equality is not just a North Carolina issue, it is a national issue that will be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in the near future." Gov. Pat McCrory "I am disappointed that Republican legislative leaders refused to live up to their promise to fully repeal House Bill 2. Im disappointed for the people of North Carolina the jobs that they may not get. Im disappointed that we havent yet removed the stain from our reputation around the country and around the world." Gov.-elect Roy Cooper This was a case of bad timing ... or maybe good timing. Just days after the states Charter Schools Advisory Board asked the State Board of Education to give denied applicants a second chance, news of an embarrassing scandal broke. The State Board of Education asked the Durham County District Attorneys Office to investigate why diplomas were awarded to more than 50 students at Kestrel Heights School who didnt earn enough credits to graduate. The school reported the problem to state authorities after a new principal discovered irregularities in July and launched an internal investigation. It also has proposed steps that 22 of its 2016 graduates must take to fulfill graduation requirements. Finally, it will implement remedial measures to make sure this doesnt happen again. This is a commendable response. The state board, however, also seems to be interested in accountability. It wants a former principal and guidance counselor to explain to the DAs office how they let this happen. It seems unlikely that any crimes were committed, but someone did a great disservice to youngsters who might have thought they earned high school diplomas only to find out months later that they didnt. Some may be in community college, the military or other employment and still owe more high school work. If they owe their current position to an unearned diploma, their circumstances may be suddenly complicated. If students from earlier classes were also shortchanged, it would be even more difficult to rectify the error. Its hard to imagine this happening on such a scale at a traditional public school, where accountability is built into the system. Its not so hard to think that some private schools funded with public money, through opportunity scholarships or vouchers, could hand out diplomas without requiring the appropriate credits. There is virtually no state oversight over how that taxpayer money is spent or what kind of education is provided. There are generally better checks on charter schools. Several have been closed because of financial troubles, and quite a few get low marks on the states A-F grading system. The state board provides an important gatekeeper role, denying many applications for new charter schools when it thinks the proposals are weak. This has rankled some members of the Charter Schools Advisory Board, which more freely recommends the approval of applications for new charter schools. Three weeks ago, it asked that before the State Board of Education turns down an applicant, it send the application back to the advisory board for a second review. Thats insulting to the Board of Education, which gives proper attention to the application the first time. The number of charter schools is expanding quickly enough, to 167, taxing the states ability to monitor them. None is governed by an elected school board as are traditional schools, and some have gone off the rails before anyone put on the brakes. Further investigation of Kestrel Heights School is warranted, but a bigger question is how many other schools may have cut corners with no one conscientious enough to put a stop to poor practices. The Italian name for the caldera - Campi Flegrei, or "burning fields"- is apt. The 7.5-mile-wide cauldron is the collapsed top of an ancient volcano, formed when the magma within finally blew. Though half of it is obscured beneath the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean, the other half is studded with cinder cones and calderas from smaller eruptions. And the whole area seethes with hydrothermal activity: Sulfuric acid spews from active fumaroles; geysers spout water and steam and the ground froths with boiling mud; and earthquake swarms shudder through the region, 125 miles south of Rome. And things seem to be heating up. Writing in the journal Nature on Tuesday, scientists report that the caldera is nearing a critical point at which decreased pressure on rising magma triggers a runaway release of gas and fluid, potentially leading to an eruption. Forecasting volcanic eruptions is a famously dicey endeavor, and right now, it's impossible to say if and when Campi Flegrei might erupt, according to lead author Giovanni Chiodini, a volcanologist at the National Institute of Geophysics in Rome. But now more than ever, the caldera demands attention: An eruption would be devastating to the 500,000 people living in and around it. The site's last major eruption happened over the course of a week in 1538, when it expelled enough new material to create the cinder cone mountain Monte Nuovo. But the caldera itself is some 39,000 years old, formed by an eruption larger than anything else in the past 200,000 years of European history. A 2010 study in the journal Current Anthropology suggested that this prehistoric outburst - which spewed almost a trillion gallons of molten rock and released just as much sulfur into the atmosphere - set off a "volcanic winter" that led to the demise of the Neanderthals, who died out shortly afterward. Today, the Campi Flegrei caldera is increasingly restless. For half a century, scientists have measured "bradyseism" events - slow movements of the ground - that are indicative of molten rock slowly filling the mountain's magma chamber. Significant uplift in the past decade prompted Italian authorities to raise the supervolcano's alert level from green (quiet) to yellow (scientific attention) in 2012. "These areas can give rise to the only eruptions that can have global catastrophic effects comparable to major meteorite impacts," Giuseppe De Natale, head of a drilling project to monitor the caldera, told Reuters after that change was made in 2012. Now, Chiodini and his colleagues have identified the volcano's "critical degassing pressure" - a vital data point in understanding the likelihood of an eruption. As molten rock from the Earth's interior rises through the crust, it is subject to less pressure, and this decline in pressure causes volatile gases dissolved within it to be released. At the critical degassing pressure point, this process accelerates tenfold. Huge amounts of steam are injected into the surrounding rock. If the magma loses too much water, it may harden and cease its upward motion, stopping the eruption in its tracks. Alternatively, the injections of steam could destabilize the rock, accelerate the deformation process and ultimately cause the volcano to blow. Chiodini said scientists have seen an increase in ground deformation and low-level seismic activity around the caldera in recent years. This pattern compares with activity seen around similar volcanoes before their eruptions. This doesn't mean residents of Naples should be heading for cover. "In general, unfortunately, volcanology is not a precise science," Chiodini wrote in an email. "We have many uncertainties and long-term previsions are at the moment not possible! For example, the process that we describe could evolve in both directions: toward pre-eruptive conditions or to the finish of the volcanic unrest." What's more, volcanoes operate on time scales far beyond the scope of most scientific records. Campi Flegrei has had a major eruption only twice in the past 40,000 years, and both happened long before the invention of the first writing systems, let alone seismometers. There are written accounts of the 1538 eruption, but there are limits to the scientific insight those descriptions they provide. What they lack in data, however, they make up for in vividness. Take this recollection, written by Italian philosopher Simone Porzio: "The large tract of land which lay between the foot of the mountain . . . and the sea . . . was seen to rise and take the form of the newly produced mountain. And on the same day, at the second hour of the night, this mount of earth opened like a mouth, with a great roaring, vomiting much fire and pumice and stones." volcano Washington Post News Service (DC) 12/21/2016 1:55:34 PM Central Standard Time This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Connecticut baker is set to bring his delicious cakes to Food Network's "Cake Wars," but his journey to the kitchen may be the real showstopper. Owner John Cummings, of Stonehouse Baked Goods in Naugatuck, Conn., will represent the bakery, alongside the bakery's lead decorator Ashley Grom, as they compete for $10,000 on Monday, Dec. 26. "Cake Wars" pits four teams against each other with surprise ingredients and a theme as they try to make the most delicious and eye-catching cakes. Cummings and Grom were tasked with creating cakes under a Rose Bowl theme. Check out the gallery above for a look at some of Stonehouse Baked Goods' creative cakes. After applying a few times to the show, the bakery finally received a call last July to head to Los Angeles for a taping of the show. Cummings, who has spent about six years baking now, said going against competition in front of cameras was a unique experience, but one that he's open to once more. "Pretty much one of the most stressful things we've done," he said. Stress is no stranger to the baker, either. Cummings previously worked for 20 years in Bridgeport at what is now Global Co. LLC oil terminal, until enduring an injury requiring a cervical fusion. "When I was out having my neck done, my wife asked me to make a birthday cake for a friend of hers...and I said, 'well you know what let me do it like the TV guys,' and I used fon[dant] and stuff," Cummings recalled. "It took off from there." Unable to work the rigorous demands of the docks in Bridgeport, he began considering baking as a new career after the success of his cake for his wife's coworkers. "So it's kind of a roundabout route to where I was going to end up. I figured I'd be 25 years on the job and then retire and that's it," Cummings said. Cummings rented a commercial kitchen in Glastonbury, where he started baking full-time, advertising and selling his creations. His success lead to a storefront in Wolcott before moving to his current location in Naugatuck last November, where he creates all his delicious treats from scratch. Perhaps his talents may have been waiting for the right occasion to shine. "My mother was a phenomenal baker and when I was a kid I used to help her but that kind of faded out once I hit my teens. I didn't think I'd be reverting back to that," Cummings said. The competition When Cummings and Grom arrived in California, they were immediately put work. The first day there, Cummings and Grom shopped for ingredients needed for the competition and took a studio tour. After familiarizing themselves with their workspace on the second day, they jumped into the competition on day three. "When you're decorating and putting a cake together for a customer to pick up, you have a little bit of a luxury possibly in saying, 'hey, can you come 10 minutes later or 20 minutes later,'" Cummings said of the experience. "It's basically when they say go and they hit the button and the clock starts, it doesn't stop." And when the clock started, there was no room for error or hesitation. Any challenges Cummings and Grom ran into required them to improvise on the spot. "If something goes wrong, it's not like you're at your bakery where you have an extra, when you decide I'm going to build this and something goes wrong you're stuck with what you have," Cummings said. Despite the new challenge, Cummings may have caught a competitive fever. "I'd definitely throw my hat back in. It was definitely an experience I'm glad we did for sure," he said. The discussion saw the participation of a broad array of stakeholders including the UNHCR, Refugee law specialists, and academics who contributed to the intellectual vibrancy of the discussion by their observations and comments including Ms. Kavita Belani, UNHCR, Mr. V. Micheal, UNHCR. Prof. Parivelan, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Mr. Yashasvi Nain, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Brgd. M B Anand, VSM, Human Rights Expert, and Rachel Allamand from TARA. The study is expected to lay the groundwork for concrete legal and policy interventions by the Government of India and Government of Sri Lanka to find a solution to the plight of Hill Tamils in addition to striking a chord with Refugee and Humanitarian Law researchers. It also assumes contextual significance in the wake of the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955 which conspicuously omits any reference to the Hill Tamil refugee community in India who reside in Refugee camps without any clear cut legal status and citizenship claims. A comprehensive and unique study on the plight of Hill Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu titled Legal Analysis on the Risks of Statelessness amongst Hill Tamil Refugees conducted by, School of Law, Ansal University was the subject of a scintillating Round Table discussion in Ansal University on 20th December 2016. The study, supported by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) is perhaps the first of its kind in India that seeks to analyze the legal lacunae leading to statelessness among Hill Tamils Refugees in India (a subset of the Tamil Minority community in Sri Lanka who migrated to colonial Sri Lanka as plantation labourers in the central part of the country during the 19th Century). "Even after the continuous effort from both Indian and Sri Lankan Government, lacunae in the law and administrative policies make Hill Tamils vulnerable to statelessness," said Prof. Dr. Sanoj Rajan Dean, School of Law who is also the director of this research project. The study categorised Hill Tamil refugees lodged in Tamil Nadu refugee camps into three broad categories who are either stateless or at the risk of statelessness in the absence of immediate state intervention. Legal and policy roadblocks surrounding the citizenship claims of each of these three categories and the solutions to this intractable humanitarian crisis spanning close to four decades was analysed threadbare. I greatly appreciate the attention that the Greenwich Time has devoted to the issue of opioid abuse and addiction and its devastating impact on individuals and families. The statistics provided by the CDC and other government departments clearly shows the dramatic increase of opioid use and abuse over a relatively brief period of time. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in this country. Fatal overdoses surpassed shooting deaths and fatal accidents years ago with 63 percent of the overdoses directly a result of opioid addiction. Even with the plethora of information and news about the opioid epidemic and state legislation and task forces dedicated to curb the growing rate of opioid use and overdose deaths, the question has to be asked, why are more people becoming addicted and overdose deaths are rising? The recently completed report on opioid use in Greenwich co-written by the Greenwich Department of Social Services and Liberation Programs provides some reasons why. The stigma of drug addiction deters people from seeking treatment and there is a denial of the problem itself. Most Greenwich residents think of opioid addiction as a national or state problem, but not here. The reality is that opioid abuse is a major social, public health and safety issue and Greenwich is not immune. One significant fallacy appears to be a public perception that prescription pain killer pills are completely safe to use. Opioids are often legally prescribed by doctors for pain management under brand names including: Percoset, Vicodin and Oxycotin. Opioids used for only a brief period can cause dependency and over time are addictive. Unfortunately, when opioids are prescribed there is no education or warning concerning the high risk of addiction. Opioids are often misused for non-medical purposes as recreational drugs by adults or by teens who find the products in the home or buy them on the street. Once dependent on the opioids, if the prescription products are not available, users may turn to heroin, which is today both widely available and relatively inexpensive. It may be too soon to properly describe opiate use as an epidemic in Greenwich. But a recent report by Liberation Programs, a respected nonprofit agency specializing in treatment and prevention programs for addiction, characterized it as a smoldering problem that deserves immediate attention. Beyond the efforts made on a federal and state level, the most effective approach to put the brakes on opiate abuse is to develop strategies that work on a local level and for taking personal responsibility. There are a number of actions that be taken right now, based on what has been learned through the research. 1. Become aware of the presence of opioids in your home, especially in your medicine cabinet. Immediately dispose unused opioids properly. A disposal container is in the Greenwich Police Station. 2. Reduce usage of these pills if possible or seek a non-opioid alternative. 3. If you or your physician feel that you have become addicted to opioids, seek treatment from a reputable source without fear of criminalization. The Greenwich Report, Starting the Conversation: An Inside Look at Opioid Use in Greenwich Connecticut is available on the towns website. For information or assistance to find treatment, please contact The Greenwich Department of Social Services at 203-622-3800. Alan D. Barry, Ph.D., is commissioner of the Greenwich Department of Social Services Peter Robinson Interviews Kellyanne Conway By: David Henderson One of my biggest surprises of the 2016 political season was the election of Donald Trump and, relatedly, his winning in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Now my Hoover colleague Peter Robinson, host of Uncommon Knowledge, has interviewed one of the main architects of that victory, Kellyanne Conway, here. I enjoyed the interview a lot. Its fascinating to read how she and the other Trump insiders thought about the campaign. I thought she had a particularly good insight about Mitt Romneys failed 2012 campaign for president. More on that anon. I do think that Peter went a little too easy on her on some of the substantive issues. I dont like gotcha interviews, but I do want to see the interviewee tested a little when she says things that cry out for a test, such as on trade and immigration. More on that anon also. My comments imply no disdain for either Peter or Kellyanne. Ive known and liked Peter for over two decades and he has interviewed me 3 or 4 times on Uncommon Knowledge. I met and enjoyed talking to Kellyanne at the annual Club for Growth event in Palm Beach, Florida in early 2009. Highlights and Comments: 15:00: He [Romney] was afraid to talk about it. Romney did not embrace his wealth and his business experience. She continues about what he could have done. I think she nails it. Her point reminded me of a related point I made about Romney during the 2102 campaign. 23:35: Pennsylvania as her reach state. 24:03: Trump was able to elevate trade and illegal immigration as fairness and economic issues. DRH comment: The problem is that the economic lens through which he looked at immigration was folk economics, not real economics. I had expected Peter, who was around Milton Friedman at Hoover even more than I was, to push back a little. He didnt. 26:30: Our jobs have been shipped to Mexico and China. DRH comment: They havent. 26:40: Potentially good stuff on Obamacare. 27:00: More on illegal immigration. 28:00: Peter asks where Trumps views on trade and immigration came from. Peter: Hes not been reading policy journals for the last decade. Peter says this as if to say that Trump had ideas that policy journals on these issues would support. But when I saw this, I thought, Duh, he sure as hell hasnt been reading policy journals; otherwise he wouldnt be saying what hes saying. 29:20: A poll in 2014 showed that American people look at immigration through an economic lens. What does she mean by that? Her exposition seems at odds with the policy of restricting immigration. Peter doesnt follow up by asking for clarity. 30:45: Good question by Peter and good discussion of infrastructure spending. The difference between $1 trillion in infrastructure spending and $1 trillion in government spending on infrastructure. 33:20: Kellyanne trumpets, so to speak, the deal on Carrier. This is not something to be proud of. It would be if we could believe her reason: The Carrier and United Technology (Carriers parent company) execs made their decision because Donald Trump promised to roll back useless regulations. But the much-more-plausible story, which I detail in a forthcoming article in Reason, is that Carrier did it because, as United Technologys CEO Greg Hayes put it, I was born at night, but I wasnt born last night. In other words, the threat to the parent companys approximately $5.6 billion annual income on federal government contracts was at risk. The restaurant was one of Lindsay Lohans many regular stops in the mid-00s. Photo: James Devaney/WireImage The nature of heat is that it cools and the nature of restaurants is that they close. This week, after 41 years, Da Silvano, the old Italian celebrity canteen in the West Village, cooled for good. As Silvano Marchetto told the New York Posts Steve Cuozzo, were closed forever. When a thing reaches its end a person, a restaurant, a relationship it rarely behooves any interested party to parse out the exact cause. Even if its discovered, it isnt very enlightening. And more often than not, its a million cracks that break the pane. In Da Silvanos case, Marchetto has explicitly laid the blame of the restaurants closing at rising labor costs and a rent that has metastasized from $500 when he first took over the restaurant then a red-sauce joint called Bimbos on a dicey stretch of Sixth Avenue to today, when rent is $41,000 a month. (As has been noted, however, any potential outrage should land with the landlord, not with labor costs.) Of course, the rent is too damn high. But more saliently, the machinery on which Da Silvano operated has gradually seized up and broken down. Da Silvano is mostly a victim of the transformation of the celebrity-industrial complex. At its essence, and perhaps its best, the yellow-awninged restaurant served as a stage on which celebrities could enact their own fame within a civilian context. It was an IRL version of Us magazines StarsTheyre Just Like Us. The paparazzi shots that kept Da Silvano in the public eye were the result of a complicated economy of fame. Celebrities, desirous of a little PR bump, would (or would have their publicists) arrange a table at Da Silvano. Silvano himself, or a minion, or sometimes the publicist would then contact a representative of the media usually Marchettos greatest champion, the Posts Richard Johnson who would dispatch a photographer or arrange for an item to appear in Page Six. (Its worth noting that it was Johnson who kept Da Silvano in business and the Posts Steve Cuozzo who announced its passing.) Ralph Fiennes looking completely casual at Da Silvano in 2006. Photo: Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic Alex Rodriguez definitely had no idea photographers would be present in 2008. Photo: AGU & RG/The Grosby Group/Corbis via Getty Images Hugh Jackman and his family in 2009. Photo: Santiago Baez/The Grosby Group/Corbis via Getty Images It was always a fragile ecosystem. If any of the principal parties changed status, from hot to not, the table would tumble over. In this case, every entity the media, the restaurant, and notions of celebrity lurched toward obsolescence with existential panic. With the proliferation of online gossip sites, Page Six went from arbiter of celebrity to just another voice among many. With an abundance of very good restaurants trying very hard to make very good food, as well as a plethora of regional Italian cuisine readily available, Da Silvanos menu of solid singles seemed quaint and uninteresting. In addition, Marchettos own brand of louche boys-will-be-boys Italian masculinity grew increasingly distasteful. And many of the celebrities who once frequented the restaurant meanwhile have either died, faded, or opened restaurants of their own. More fatally, perhaps, celebrity itself has grown flatter. As fame moved from derivation in a specific genre i.e. movie stars, producers, musicians to a more generalized sense of tastemaker-ness, the appearance at restaurants has become yet another avenue through which a celebrity can express his or her level of discriminating taste. Hence Estela is a hot spot and Mission Chinese and Carbone and Little Park not only because the heat those places generate, but more importantly because they are good and now those two things are rather tightly aligned. But just because something is no longer what it once was, it nevertheless was at some point, and the point of a eulogy is to appreciate the latter. Forty-one years is a long time and for much of its existence Da Silvano was one of those magical New York rooms. In 2008, whilst on assignment chronicling Marchettos feud with his neighbor, Bar Pittis Giovanni Tognozzi, I came across a set of heavily damaged guest books Marchetto displayed on a bookshelf like the Book of Days. (Who, besides monuments, museums, and inns even have guest registers anymore?) Its touching now to page through, and it shows tidily how much times have changed. Yummy Yummy! wrote Madonna, before she went gluten-free. On St. Patricks Day in 1998, Emma Thompson wrote, Silvano, your corn beef and cabbage is just so italian. With love and baci. Joaquin Phoenix, always weird, wrote, [Director] James Gray is the irrefutable king of cinema. Never forget the King. Long live the King. On October 14 1998, Jack Nicholson drew a not-half-bad sketch of Silvano. Ten years before his death, Mike Wallace wrote, Happily superbly worth the interminable trip downtown from way up at the edge of Harlem. Rihanna at Da Silvano in 2007 Photo: James Devaney/WireImage ..and again in 2008. Photo: Freddy Baez/The Grosby Group/Corbis via Getty Images I arrived an actress and left a mermaid, wrote Sigourney Weaver in 1998, Your turbot was out of this world. Then, because Mark Knopfler had signed the facing page, she added P.S. I love Dire Straits! The role call on one specific night February 13, 2002 shows how magical and fleeting the conclave at Da Silvanos could be. The Hot Spot of New York, someone wrote, before adding the following had consumed mass quantities Donna Dixon, Tom Freston, Sam Waksal, Graydon Carter, Frank McCourt, Fran Drescher. Dennis Leary, Jerry Inzerella [sic] and Prudence [Solomon] Robert Evans, Jim Wiatt. A gathering like this will never happen again. Some, like Waksal the pharmaceutical titan who went to prison for six years for insider trading, have been disgraced. Others like Freston the former CEO of Viacom; Wiatt the former head of WME and Gerard Inzerillo, once head of IMG, are no longer in the jobs that gave them a seat at the table. Dixon, an actress, has retired and moved to Virginia. Frank McCourt is dead. Graydon Carter is still around but probably at his own place around the corner. Of course, gatherings like these still happen somewhere, only the names have changed and the food on the table comes from a different kitchen. Wherever that is the hotspot of New York now let its operators take note that eventually it, too, will sputter out just like Da Silvano. The table will then be cleared and reset, and the party will begin again. Rumors about Huaweis new flagship P10 keep pouring. Earlier this year we reported likely specs and images of the early prototype. According to the Weibo user reviewer_xiaokang the new device will come with dual-curved screen. Front fingerprinting is also expected in Huawei P9s successor. Several sources reported back-mounted fingerprint sensor but apparently the Chinese company is aiming for the more conventional user option. Reports also include wireless charging and if that's true it will be a first for Huawei. We are eager to confirm this part of the rumor since most flagships of the Chinese company sport a metal unibody which conceptually clashes with such feature. Official reveal is still months away so we advise you to take this rumor with a grain of salt until more reliable source is reported. Source Nothing says "we're back in the mobile space" better than a good old patent lawsuit. At least that's what Nokia seems to think. Now that the brand's re-entry into the mobile world has been confirmed countless times by company officials for 2017, Nokia is back at doing something else it hasn't in a while: suing Apple. Today the Finnish company announced that it's filed patent infringement lawsuits against Apple in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, as well as the Regional Courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich in Germany. Across all these actions, Nokia claims Apple has infringed 32 of its patents, covering display, user interface, software, antenna, chipsets, and video coding technologies. The official press release on the matter unfortunately doesn't go into more details, so we don't yet know exactly how Apple is supposedly infringing these patents. Nokia says that since agreeing to a license covering "some" of its patents in 2011, Apple "has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products" - and that's the reason for these new lawsuits. Nokia's head of Patent Business, Ilkka Rahnasto, had this to say about the company's complaints: Through our sustained investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in today's mobile devices, including Apple products. After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights. And being in the news alongside Apple probably won't hurt Nokia's efforts to be once again recognized as a player in the mobile world either. Expect Nokia to file further actions against Apple in other jurisdictions in the future. Source United Nations officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, are warning of possible genocide in South Sudan as terrible violence rages there. The Secretary-General is urging the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the country to remove the tools to escalate violence a position the United States supports, in addition to establishing targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for some of the worst atrocities in the conflict. South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan In 2011. In 2013 a civil war broke out and the country descended into sectarian violence, when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a member of the Dinka ethnic community, began to fight those who supported former Vice-President Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer. A peace accord was signed in 2015, but the fighting has continued leading to a humanitarian disaster, with widespread displacement and food insecurity, as well as pervasive human rights abuses, including the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. In a statement, U.S. State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said that both the government and the opposition are responsible for the horrific violence that has brought so much suffering to innocent civilians. He pointed to the recent mobilization of 4,000 government-affiliated militia in Central Equatoria and to repeated calls from opposition leaders to overthrow the government and attack the capital. Both the government and opposition, Mr. Kirby said, continue to obstruct humanitarian access and impede the operation of the UN Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS, and despite pledges to do so, the government has not taken sufficient steps to allow deployment of an UNMISS regional protection force to provide stability and security in Juba. Mr. Kirby took note of President Kiirs December 14 call for a national dialogue, and called on both sides to create the conditions that would be required for such a dialogue to proceed. This means that both sides must cease violence against civilians, support humanitarian access, and respect the cease fire. Mr. Kirby urged the swift adoption by the UN Security Council of an arms embargo and targeted sanctions against those who have undermined peace and stability and created the conditions for mass civilian atrocities. As we and our partners in the international community continue to pursue these measures, we will support those engaging in a peaceful and inclusive dialogue as a means to resolve the current crisis and work toward the peaceful future that the people of South Sudan deserve. Haiti - Politics : Donors must honor their commitments Fighting illicit financial flows, investing in family and small-scale agriculture and coordinating aid for Haiti after Hurricane Matthew were among the issues on which Members of the European Parliament and their counterparts from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries agreed at the 32nd session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) in Nairobi, which closed yesterday Wednesday. To meet needs on the ground effectively, the international community and Haitis partners should work in coordination with the Haitian government, say MEPs and their ACP counterparts in the second urgent resolution voted on Wednesday. They add that donors should deliver on their pledges, underlining that only 40% of the US$ 120 million requested by the Haitian government and the UN has so far been provided. The 33rd ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly will be held from 19 to 21 June 2017 in Valletta, the capital of Malta, which will chair the Council of the European Union from 1 January to 31 June 2017. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Elections : Verifications at the CTV, the tone rises, nothing advances or almost... Wednesday, the second day of verification at the Votes Tabulation Centre (CTV), the situation is increasingly tense and the tone is rising and lack of restraint between the lawyers and representatives of the protesters and the Electoral Court on the one hand and the lawyers and representatives of the PHTK on the other hand... The protesting parties multiply the demands for verification and control, lingering to the slightest detail, interrupted by repeated objections and accusations, causing a form of obstruction and considerable delay. So of the 360 minutes submitted by LAPEH barely a fortnight were checked at 6 p.m. after having started in the morning... at this rate it will take many days to check the PV of LAPEH, before starting to check more than 1,000 PV randomly... while it only remains 8 days before the publication of the final results... The representatives of the PHTK accuse the complaining parties of wanting to deliberately delay the process while the 3 protesting parties camp on their position until provoking a strong irritation of the judge Jean Simon St Hubert, which has been subjected to numerous verbal attacks, including some veiled threats, notably from former Senator Yvon Feuille, one of the representatives of Famni Lavalas. A judge exasperated by the intransigence of Famni Lavalas who makes no compromise but just the opposite... As for the conclusions of the verifications they are totally different depending if we listening to the complainants or the PHTK. Thus on the 27 PV submitted Tuesday by Moise Jean-Charles of "Pitit Dessalin" the PHTK sees only 6 of incorrect while "Ptiti Dessalin" sees 18... See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19579-haiti-elections-the-verification-of-the-pv-has-begun-not-near-to-be-finished.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping politics... Me Andre Michel, ready to congratulate Jovenel Moise... Me Andre Michel, lawyer of candidate Jude Celestin (LAPEH), said he is ready to congratulate Jovenel Moise (PHTK). "If Jovenel Moise won the elections well, we will congratulate him, but if it is proven that indeed there are frauds, tricks, manipulations, we will have to necessary to seek the author of these tricks, frauds while applying the electoral law." Fanmi Lavalas dissatisfied The Nippes Senator Nenel Cassy (Fanmi Lavalas) considers insufficient, the sample of 12% of the minutes to be randomly chosen to the CTV, specifying that such an approach will not allow Fanmi Lavalas to shed light on The electoral process, because there were more frauds and irregularities in the elections on 20 November than in 2015. Escape of Gonaives, recklessness and negligence Wednesday in press conference, Commissioner Marc Wilkens Jean, spokesperson of the General Inspectorate of the National Police of Haiti (IHPNH) acknowledged that the escape from the prison of Gonaives https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19572-haiti-flash-7-detainees-escape-from-prison-of-gonaives.html was due to the recklessness and negligence of the guards and confirmed that an administrative investigation had been opened at the IGPNH. The Deputy Bodeau calls for negotiation "[...] it is time to acknowledge the victory of the candidate elected in the first round. The ruling team can not afford the luxury of not passing power to the President-elect on February 7, 2017 [...] The sleight-of-hand in CTV can not under any circumstances alter or invalidate the popular vote. It is no longer a time for protest. True negotiations on public policies and the formation of an inclusive government aimed at improving the living conditions of the people must begin without delay," declared Deputy Gary Bodeau in an opinion note. Day of traditional music to BNE This Thursday, the National Bureau of Ethnology (BNE) organizes a day of reflection on the economy of traditional music together with Caracoli, Wallonia-Brussels Internationale (WBI) and the house of Creation. This activity will be held in the BNE Multi-Purpose Room throughout the day. New President for CCIHC At its 14th Ordinary General Assembly, the Haitian-Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIHC) elected a new Board of Directors. Claude Martin Jr, was elected President of the Board and President of the CCIHC. HL/ HaitiLibre By Vasia Orion | Published on 2016/12/21 Love is in the air in episode fourteen of "Dr. Romantic", which is a far better thing to have airborne than MERS. The crisis is resolved and Seo-jeong has to make some decisions on her feelings. In-beom's bluff is called and Teacher Kim gives the young man some honest advice. The episode brings back familiar faces, but it also adds a new mysterious figure and probable enemy of Doldam and Teacher Kim. Advertisement Not much has changed since I expressed my opinion on the romance between Seo-jeong (Seo Hyun-jin) and Dong-joo (Yoo Yeon-seok). His neglect of her trauma for his personal pleasure continues, but it is fortunate that the writer acknowledges the trauma's continued existence. Seo-jeong's PTSD arc was too rushed and I would love to see it return and hopefully end with her truly overcoming her issues. It would also be a chance for Dong-joo to mature and learn how to care for her needs. Aside from the romance, the episode addresses In-beom's (Yang Se-jong) lying and I am glad to see Teacher Kim (Han Suk-kyu) stay within character by seeing through that lie. I still feel that the writer has made a huge mistake with In-beom's treatment of Seo-jeong, however, which no amount of remorse can fix. The character and the deserved sympathy for him could realistically be brought back if he lied about experience, but sending someone to their death to please daddy is beyond redeemable for an adult. Mistakes like these reveal the writer's second weakness aside from rushing through their apparent inability to develop their compelling character stories. The second issue I feel Kang Eun-kyeong's writing has here is the decisions made for the sake of titillating drama, which end up throwing the potential of the subplots and her characters under the bus. It is a common Dramaland problem, especially for shows with higher ratings and therefore increasingly greedy interests behind them, but it is always sad to see. On to happier topics, Yeon-hwa (Seo Eun-soo) has made her triumphant return and I am happy enough to not mind the clumsy writing which brings her back. I look forward to her work as a doctor and, more importantly, her ethics. I also wonder if the artist will be a recurring character. Last, but not least, there is a new boss in town and Kim Hye-eun's character seems like a means of return to hospital politics. This is quite a shame, as life and death situations are dramatic enough without the need for stereotypical villains. Seeing them rub their hands in glee as they stop the heroes from doing their job is not engaging, it is just annoying and it cheapens the story. Adding to this Chairman's Sin's (Joo Hyun) secret and we have quite the chaos approaching. May the creators handle it well. "Dr. Romantic" is directed by Yoo In-sik, written by Kang Eun-kyeong and features Han Suk-kyu, Yoo Yeon-seok, Seo Hyun-jin and Kim Hong-pa. Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings' Watch on Viki Note: Due to licensing, videos may not be available in your country By William Schwartz | Published on 2016/12/21 Soo-jin (played by Lee Cho-hee) works at the Lotte Duty Free store and laments having hit her twenty-fifth birthday without ever having received a first kiss. Then Choi Ji-woo pops up with a magical solution to Soo-jin's dilemma. This ends up involving the seven male models who represent the Lotte Duty Free Store- Lee Joon-gi, Park Hae-jin, and Ji Chang-wook feature in this set of episodes. Kai, Ok Taecyeon, Lee Jong-suk, and Lee Min-ho will appear later on. For contractual reasons, no doubt. Advertisement ...Yes, if you were wondering why seven of South Korea's most famous male stars are appearing in an apparently random web-drama, that's why. Advertising purposes. At minimum this is almost certainly why "Seven First Kisses" comes complete with both English and Chinese subtitles. And really, who could blame them? Why bother appearing in a generic commercial when you can instead just do an exaggerated self-parodying ten minute genre drama? The stories in "Seven First Kisses" are highly condensed and highly goofy. Director Jeong Jeong-hwa compresses the plotlines of entire dramas into small chunks that perfectly encapsulate the appeal of Korean cultural brand products worldwide. You see, there is a handsome or even pretty man. He is very manly and assertive, yet also kind and gentle, who pursues you with single-minded determination no matter what manner of preposterous obstacle lies in his way. Lee Joon-gi does not deal with very many obstacles, though, which is fine by me since his dramas usually have horrific backstories. He's just rich, but with that emotional void in his heart that comes from never talking to his childhood crush. Park Hae-jin plays closer to type as a stiff man with little to no emotional variance who is nonetheless attractive because, uh, he takes everything so seriously I guess. Ji Chang-wook, as expected, does spy thriller action romance. But more than any of them I like Lee Cho-hee as a leading lady. She's just so...earnest. Soo-jin can barely contain her fangirlish glee over the prospect of all these handsome men paying so much explicit attention to her. She's passive mainly out of the fear that something will go horribly wrong in the case of explicit forward movement. This is true even when (as is the case in the Ji Chang-wook segment) Soo-jin finds that going out on the offensive can be a lot of fun. "Seven First Kisses" may be pure wish fulfillment. In the end though, aren't all dramas, really? Review by William Schwartz "Seven First Kisses" is directed by Jeong Jeong-hwa and features Lee Joon-gi, Park Hae-jin, Ji Chang-wook, Kai, Ok Taecyeon, Lee Jong-suk, Lee Min-ho, Choi Ji-woo and Lee Cho-hee. Wyoming school closed because of oil well leak will not reopen until fall 2017 A school in Wyoming was evacuated and closed in May after students and staff complained of health problems. Midwest School in Midwest will remain closed until the 2017-18 school year as engineers and consultants work to mitigate air quality problems caused by a leak from a nearby oil well. Wyoming oilfield - Shutterstock The Casper Star-Tribune reported that more than 150 students from the Midwest School will continue to be bussed 40 miles south to campuses in Casper while environmental consultants design and build a mitigation system that will pump air away from the school and monitor air quality. The Midwest School was evacuated in May and subsequently closed after students and staff reported headaches, sore throats and other health problems. A state report said the symptoms were likely caused by the oil well leak. Testing found high levels of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds in the air. The school is surrounded by the Salt Creek oil field, which is operated by FDL Energy. After the leak was detected, FDL plugged the well in question. Testing taken two days after the school campus was evacuated measured benzene at 200 times safe levels. Benzene poses short- and long-term health risks. Breathing it in can cause dizziness, headaches and confusion. Inhaling extreme concentrations can cause death, and long-term exposure can increase the risk of cancer. Federal officials have said they could not guarantee the safety of students and faculty in the future. Officials are hoping the mitigation measures being put in place will prevent further leaks. FDL is footing the bill for the mitigation system. m abolishing dress codes to key HR trends, here's what HR professionals clicked on in 2016.Just weeks after one receptionist was sent home for refusing to wear high heels, the Australian arm of PwC officially abolished its traditional employee dress code. The two are not linked but I dont mind the timing, insisted Sue Horlin, human capital leader at PwC Australia. Sydney-based Horlin says the move is actually about keeping up with what industry competitors can offer as well as driving innovation at the firm. Previously, men were expected to wear fine knitwear, smart shirts with collars, tailored trousers, traditional suits and dress shoes or boots. Women had to wear similar attire, with additional options of tailored dresses, shirts, smart shirts or blouses and business-style shoes or boots. Now, Horlin says the official guidelines will be removed with bosses placing more trust in employees judgement. In an environment where we are asking our people to be more innovative and creative, it just didnt feel right to keep mandating what our people wear," she said. The only suggestion was that employees think about what is respectful to clients and colleagues while being safe and appropriate for the workplace environment, Horlin added.Energy giant Shells HR team was in the midst of executing a round of job cuts in its Australian operations, as it sought to gain increased efficiencies. The company informed staff in Australia it would be embarking on a round of job cuts, with many asked to re-apply for their current positions. It was reported that up to 250 jobs in Australia could face the axe, from a workforce that numbers approximately 2300 across its local operations. The move follows clear market updates from Shell that it would need to cut 2,800 from its global workforce after its takeover of a BG Group business. "Shell last week commenced conversations with employees about business efficiency and staffing levels - as a result of combining it with the previously BG-owned QGC - a process that will lead to job reductions," Shell Australia spokesman Paul Zennaro said in a media statement. "A majority of employees impacted by the re-organisation will be from corporate head offices, and where possible they will be provided with redeployment opportunities."With statistics showing that on any given weekday around 300,000 Australian workers are taking a sick day, HR managers may find themselves questioning the validity of some employee claims. More than 88 million days are taken up by sick leave each year for legitimate and non-legitimate reasons with the Australian economy paying the price of over $27.5 billion per year in sick leave costs and lost productivity, a 2013 study of Australian workplaces has shown. But HR managers need to be wary of the legal implications before requesting a sick note for proof of actual illness, says employment lawyer Benjamin Marshall. HR can request a medical certificate whenever an employee is claiming leave or where it has a reasonable basis to believe the employee is not fit for work and wants assurance that the employee may safely continue working, Marshall, Senior Associate with Arnold Bloch Leibler, told HC Online. The Fair Work Act says employees will be eligible for leave on medical grounds if they provide evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person of their reason for taking leave usually in the form of a medical certificate. In some circumstances, other evidence may be sufficient, such as a statutory declaration from the employee, Marshall said. However, HR needs to be mindful of the fine line between getting the information their organisation needs and infringing on employee privacy. ELKO Elder Landon Howe, who was critically injured in a bicycle accident the day after Thanksgiving while serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is returning to Elko just in time for Christmas. His healing and recovery has progressed so quickly that on Tuesday, Landons doctors gave him the OK to fly home and continue his recovery and rehabilitation in Elko. Landons parents, who have been with him in Louisiana since the accident, say Landon can think pretty good and still has the same personality, but gets tired easily and has some trouble swallowing and with some other things. Landon will continue speech, physical and occupational therapy on an outpatient basis and will be going to doctors in Salt Lake City. Landon continues to wear a helmet, which has been signed by other missionaries and friends, as he is still missing part of a skull flap, which will be replaced in approximately 8-10 weeks. He even got to see Santa Claus today and told him all he wanted for Christmas was his skull flap replaced. Santa didnt know how to respond to that request, said Landons parents. Although he will be released upon his return home, throughout his recovery Landon has continued to want to serve, be a missionary, and help others. Depending on his recovery, Landon is thinking about returning to continue to serve. His parents said, He shared with us that he knows the Savior has been with him through this ordeal and how the atonement can help strengthen us to face our challenges in life. He is always interested in how others are doing and realizes that there are many who are suffering who can be comforted by the assurance that Christ understands their pains. Landons parents, Leonard and Susan, and the rest of his family are grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers and support they and Landon have received. They said, The love of so many concerned friends has helped him continue on. Howe was struck by a car Nov. 25 while riding his bicycle. He suffered a collapsed lung and three brain bleeds, as well as other minor injuries. By Jesse Wood The Watauga County Board of Commissioners will meet Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. to decide its next step following yesterdays N.C. Supreme Court ruling upholding the abolishment of the Town of Boones extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Hours after the ruling was announced last week, Watauga County sent out a meeting notice for Wednesday, Dec. 28, when commissioners will discuss the court ruling and consider whether enacting a moratorium is necessary. The commissioners will meet in the boardroom on the ground floor of the Watauga County Administration Building at 814 West King Street in Boone. After the N.C. General Assembly passed former Sen. Dan Souceks sponsored legislation abolishing the towns ETJ in 2014, Watauga County Board of Commissioners enacted a 90-day moratorium on high impact land uses because of citizens concerns about polluting industries operating near their homes and neighborhoods. Watauga County doesnt have countywide zoning, and citizens that spoke out against the ETJ were looking for more stringent regulations paralleling the Town of Boones ordinances. That moratorium was a stopgap measure while the Watauga County Planning Board studied permanent solutions. Concerned citizens asked for a two-year moratorium on polluting industries operating in the ETJ and at least a 1,000-foot buffer between polluting industries and residential dwellings. At the time, the county had a 1,500-foot buffer between some of the high-impact land uses and educational facilities, nursing homes, religious facilities and childcare facilities but no residential buffer. The Watauga County Board of Commissioners eventually enacted a 750-foot buffer between residential property lines and Category 1 uses [Asphalt Plants, Cement Mixing Facilities, Quarries/Stone Crushers, Chemical Manufacturing, Chemical Storage Facilities, Explosives Manufacturing, and Explosives Storage Facilities, Chip Mills, and Electricity Generating Facilities, excluding Wind and Solar Power Farms, which are regulated by a separate ordinance]. The commissioners also enacted a 1,500-foot buffer between a scenic byway and Category 1 uses. The site of the proposed asphalt plant in Deep Gap is located on a stretch of U.S. 421 known as the Doc and Merle Watson Scenic Byway. When the commissioners revised the Ordinance to Regulate High Impact Land Uses in 2015, the commission featured a GOP majority. After Novembers election, the commission is now controlled by Democrats. Commission Chair John Welch said the meeting on Wednesday is to seek guidance from staff and legal counsel regarding N.C. Supreme Courts ruling. Right now, I dont have anything specific as far as what the moratorium would be on. We are just taking a look to see what are the impacts and options since we are the first county that takes over an ETJ, that was stripped from a town, Welch said. This is kind of uncharted waters. More than 200 ETJs exist in North Carolina, but Souceks 2014 bill only targeted Boone. For more click here. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Release from Town of Boone On Dec. 21, 2016 the North Carolina State Supreme Court filed a ruling where the majority voted to uphold a 2014 state law that abolished the Town of Boones powers of extraterritorial jurisdiction. This ruling transfers Planning and Zoning Authority from the Town of Boone to Watauga County. The Watauga County Commission has called a Special Called Meeting to discuss the issue. All ETJ residents and property owners are encouraged to attend the Special Called Meeting to obtain the most updated information possible. The Town of Boone is coordinating the transition with Watauga County and providing all information in an attempt to make the transition as seamless as possible. This change will involve active planning applications and permits, fire inspections and code enforcement in the ETJ. The Town of Boone has worked tirelessly to continue to provide protections to those in the ETJ. Now that Boone no longer has authority to offer that protection, it is imperative that all involved participate in the upcoming meetings to express their concerns and to provide input during the transition process. See article about the upcoming meeting, quoting Commission Chair John Welch here. See article on Supreme Court ruling here. Special Meeting Notice THE WATAUGA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WILL HOLD A SPECIAL MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2016, AT 12:30 P.M. IN THE COMMISSIONERS BOARD ROOM LOCATED IN THE WATAUGA COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AT 814 WEST KING STREET, BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA. THE PURPOSE OF THE MEETING IS TO DISCUSS THE NORTH CAROLINA SUPREME COURT RULING REGARDING THE TOWN OF BOONE EXTRA-TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION (ETJ) AND TO CONSIDER WHETHER ENACTING A MORATORIUM IS NECESSARY. FOR INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS, PLEASE CALL THE COUNTY MANAGERS OFFICE AT (828) 265-8000 Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket By Jessica Isaacs | [email protected] Looking for a way to round out your year-end giving? Consider donating time or money to the local Red Cross, which needs help from the community after a busy year of responding to emergencies in the High Country. Throughout the United States and around the world, the American Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross work diligently to respond to families in need. A large majority of its workforce is powered by volunteers, and it carries out roles in five key aspects of service around the world: lifesaving blood collection, health and safety training and certifications, service to the armed forces and military families, disaster relief and international services that include family reunification. Here in western North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Piedmont chapter spans a 12-county area that stretches from Alleghany down to Gaston and covers in-between counties of Alexander, Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, Watauga and Wilkes. Everybody knows that we do blood collection, but the American Red Cross and the international Red Cross were both founded on battle fields, said Brian Womack, disaster program manager for the Blue Ridge Piedmont chapter whos stationed in the Boone branch office. Ever since our inception, we have been close with helping the military with communications. Say your brother was overseas fighting with the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq and something happened with your family and you need him to come home. The Red Cross handles the fact checking so that by the time the information gets to his commanding officer, the CO knows it has been vetted and is true and were able to get soldiers home quickly in times of need. We do healthy and safety training, like CPR certification and babysitting classes. We do family reunification people are being displaced all around the world, running from hot conflict areas, but just about every country has a Red Cross or Red Crescent society that works to reunite those families. A large portion of the organizations work is in disaster relief and emergency preparedness and is carried out by volunteers through established local Disaster Assistance Teams. We respond to house fires, hurricanes, ice storms and other disasters, manmade or natural; but, no matter where you are living in the U.S., your biggest disaster risk is a house fire, Womack said. Even in the years of hurricanes and super storms, we spend more money helping victims of house fires. Its a big part of the pie, and thats what that DAT teams are set up for theyre my frontline, go-to people who respond to these events. Even on national, large disasters, they start on a local level and pivots around those DAT teams. Here in our neck of the woods, DAT volunteers like Diane Waryold are ready and willing to help when a family is in crisis. We respond to situations in which people lose their homes or their homes are damaged, so it could be a flood or it could be a fire. Up in this area, especially in the winter, were pretty active because a lot of people heat by wood, Waryold said. We get called in from either the Emergency Services, the sheriff, the police or the fire departments and were on the scene. Its usually a family standing there in their bare feet, so we get them short term accommodations for a couple of nights and then empower them to reestablish themselves, whether it be through a rental or another home. With a large number of residents living in remote parts of the High Country, many who face disasters at home are uninsured and rely on help from the Red Cross to move forward with their lives. Theres a lot of need up here. Sometimes they will lose a homestead that the family has owned for generations and they wont know what to do the next minute. Its rewarding because we get this all the time: I dont know what I would have done without you, said Waryold. Were a short term solution, but we refer to other agencies to help get people back on their feet. Like many of those who work for Red Cross, Waryold stepped up to help when she saw its good work firsthand. My family is from the New York area, and they said that for a month after the hurricane up there the Red Cross was the only way they ate, she said. So I thought, you know, Im going to have to start looking into how I can help and pay it forward to pay back what they did for our family. Not only do local DAT volunteers respond to individual family emergencies, but they also work to serve the community at large in the event of major disasters. Their recent work has included feeding firefighters on the scene of this summers Valle Landing fire in Valle Crucis and assisting displaced residents there, as well as feeding the firefighters at the recent Horton wildfire and establishing an emergency shelter at Alliance Bible Fellowship in Boone. Because the Red Cross is a nonprofit agency, fundraising is always important, especially in the wake of large-scale disaster response like the local chapter has seen in recent months. However, volunteer work is equally significant. My friend was a volunteer and she told me about what she was doing. I thought, I can definitely volunteer and help out, said Kathleen Rowell, local business owner and a Red Cross DAT volunteer. My husband and I both signed up and went to the meetings and got involved. My very first call was in the middle of the night. We got the address and realized it was a friend of ours. When we got there we were the only familiar faces that they saw. The local chapter also stays busy with the organizations Home Fire campaign, which installs free in-home smoke detectors and provides communities with fire safety education. In fact, the Blue Ridge Piedmont chapter installed more than 1,000 smoke detectors in its 12-county region last year at no charge to the homeowners. Whether you can give time or money this holiday season, consider supporting your local Red Cross. We cant predict emergency situations, but we can always be sure the Red Cross will be there to help. To make a donation, learn about volunteering or receive a free smoke detector through the Home Fire Campaign, contact Brian Womack in the Boone branch office at 828-264-8226 or by email at [email protected] A branch of the organizations office in Hickory, the local Red Cross is located at 331 Queen St. Ste. B in Boone. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket The Elko Daily Free Press is counting down the days until marijuana is legal in Nevada by answering questions concerning the law. Q: How much control will local governments have over recreational marijuana? A: As the law is written, local governments cant prohibit the legal use and cultivation of marijuana, but there is some speculation on how much control they have over accommodating the businesses selling the drug. Cities and counties cant prohibit individuals from possessing and using weed as long as they are 21 or older. However, cities and counties can adopt and enforce local marijuana control measures pertaining to zoning and land use for marijuana establishments, states the initiative. Whether this translates into cities and counties prohibiting marijuana establishments is up for debate. The Department of Taxation has 12 months from Jan. 1 to adopt all regulations necessary to carry out the initiative that legalized recreational weed. According to the law, the regulations must not prohibit the operation of marijuana establishments, either expressly or through regulations that make their operation unreasonably impracticable. Unlike the medical marijuana law, which allows cities and counties to prohibit weed businesses, the initiative for recreational pot was not as clear cut. According to research done by the Kenny C. Guinn Center for Policy Priorities, local governments dont have an opt out option. State Sen. Tick Segerblom, however, told the Las Vegas Sun that local governments would have the right to vote on whether they want to allow recreational marijuana facilities, too. When asked why he had that interpretation of the law, he told the Free Press, Because I believe the language allowing local governments to adopt and enforce local marijuana control measures pertaining to zoning and land use for marijuana establishments means they can adopt measures that prohibit recreational marijuana they just need to use their imagination. Assemblyman John Ellison disagrees that local governments will be able to prohibit recreational weed businesses, like they did for medical marijuana. The two laws do have different wording pertaining to local governments. The medical marijuana law allowed cities and counties to enact zoning restrictions. The recreational weed law allows localities to adopt and enforce marijuana control measures pertaining to zoning and land use for marijuana establishments. Elko County Manager Rob Stokes said the attorney general may have to weigh in on the issue. He said the Nevada Association of Counties board of directors is questioning if local governments can keep recreational marijuana business from setting up shop. Elko County Commissioners voted in 2014 to prohibit medical marijuana establishments in the unincorporated areas of the county. Elko City also has a prohibition on medical weed dispensaries. Stokes said the County will wait to see what the Department of Taxation and the Legislature do concerning the law. There is speculation that the Legislature may make some changes, he said. A former Sinn Fein councillor and his father, who are accused of falsely imprisoning, assaulting and threatening to kill another man, will find out in the new year if they will be electronically tagged while awaiting trial. Jonathan Dowdall (38) and Patrick Dowdall (59), both of Navan Road, Dublin, were making bail applications at the Central Criminal Court yesterday. Each is charged with falsely imprisoning Alexander Hurley on January 15 last year. Both men also face charges of threatening to kill Mr Hurley and of assault causing harm. Additionally, they are charged with possessing a firearm or imitation firearm, which appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun, and a handgun. They are due to go on trial next May, and gardai yesterday objected to them receiving bail in the meantime. The court heard evidence from Chief Superintendent Finbarr O'Brien, who said that the refusal of bail may be necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence. Patrick Dowdall, who has had two strokes and is on medication for blood pressure, said he would hand over his passport if granted bail. "I'd do whatever I have to do. I'd accept any terms," he said. The father-of-three also said he would have "no objections" to electronic tagging. Responsibilities Jonathan Dowdall said he wanted bail to tidy up some family and business affairs, adding he would not run away from his responsibilities. "I'm certainly not going to make things worse than they already are," he said. He added he would agree with any conditions, no matter what, including wearing a tag. Mr Justice Paul Coffey said he would adjourn the matter until January 15, to see if tagging could be organised. A Dublin man has appeared in court charged with murdering his partner who was found dead in their home in the south of the city. Desmond Duffy (68) was remanded in custody after he was arrested and charged with killing Des Sullivan (59), whose body was discovered at the house earlier this year. He had sustained serious neck injuries. Arrested Dublin District Court heard Mr Duffy told gardai he was "not guilty" when arrested and charged. Judge Michael Walsh adjourned the case and the accused was due to appear in court again today. Mr Duffy is charged with murdering Mr Sullivan at their Summerville Park home, in Rathmines on May 23. Yesterday, Detective Inspector George McGeary of Terenure Garda Station told Judge Walsh he arrested the accused at his home and took him to Rathmines Garda Station where he was charged. Mr Duffy's reply after caution was: "Nothing to say until I speak to my solicitor. Not guilty," Det Insp McGeary said. Defence solicitor Anarine McAllister asked Judge Walsh to adjourn the case for a day. There was no bail application as bail cannot be granted on a murder charge in the district court. Ms McAllister applied for free legal aid on Mr Duffy's behalf and handed a statement of his financial means in to court. Det Insp McGeary said there was no garda objection to legal aid. Judge Walsh granted legal aid and assigned solicitor Michael Staines. Unresponsive He remanded Mr Duffy in custody to appear in Cloverhill District Court. The accused, wearing a cream and black anorak, check shirt, blue jeans and black shoes remained silent throughout the brief hearing. Mr Sullivan was discovered in an unresponsive state at his home off the Upper Rathmines Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr Sullivan had previously worked in a charity shop. A man who stabbed a family friend with a metal object during the school run has received a suspended sentence having spent almost two weeks in jail. Anvar Ghambari (39) attacked the victim in the school yard when both men were dropping their sons off in the morning. He wanted to confront the victim about comments he allegedly made about his wife and stabbed the victim four times around the head and punched and kicked him. Ghambari of Cushlawn Way, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to Majid Suhrabi at St Melroon's school, Tallaght on March 1, 2016. The court heard that Ghambari did not come armed to the incident but he pulled a metal stabiliser from a children's bicycle during the attack. Ghambari was shouting "I'm going to kill you, I swear to god, I'm going to kill you" while he stabbed the victim's head before departing the yard. One-off The victim still suffers from memory loss. Both he and Ghambari were asked not to bring their sons to school in case of a repeat and Mr Suhrabi said he missed doing this. Judge Martin Nolan adjourned the case two weeks ago having heard evidence and remanded Ghambari in custody. He accepted that this was "a one-off fall from grace" for Ghambari, who has no previous convictions. He noted that a report by the Probation Services was positive. Yesterday Judge Nolan sentenced Ghambari to three years in prison which he suspended in full. He said "even though what he did was reprehensible and it was a frightening experience for the victim, I don't believe he deserves an immediate custodial sentence". "You've been in custody for a period of time, if you breach this order, that's what awaits you," Judge Nolan told Ghambari. These are the two burglars who tied up a 90-year-old woman and subjected her to a savage assault, which left her with a punctured lung and several broken bones. Michael Cash (23) and Jamie O'Brien (22) have admitted they were responsible for the violent attack on Eva Sutton at her home in Bray, Co Wicklow, last year. The serial offenders, who have over 120 previous convictions between them, pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning the pensioner and seriously assaulting her, as well as burglary. The horrific attack occurred on September 10, 2015, at the victim's home on Dublin Road, Bray. In the 30-minute ordeal, Ms Sutton was tied up and beaten as the thugs ransacked her home. The elderly victim suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs and a broken nose during the attack. Expand Close Michael Cash / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michael Cash Convictions Michael Cash, of Ashlawn Park, Ballybrack, Co Dublin, has over 90 previous convictions, including burglary and theft. Jamie O'Brien, with an address in Hazelwood, Bray, has over 30 previous convictions. They both pleaded guilty to the three charges at separate sittings of Wicklow Circuit Court last week, and both will be sentenced in March. The two criminals were on bail for a string of burglary offences at the time of the vicious attack. They smashed through the front door of Ms Sutton's home in the early hours, while she was asleep in a downstairs room. Ms Sutton attempted to call for help by pressing a panic button attached to a necklace, but her attackers ripped the alarm from her neck. They then tied up their frail victim before assaulting Ms Sutton and ransacking her home. Local sources praised the investigation, which ensured that an enormous amount of evidence was gathered against both accused. Forensics "Gardai investigating this case gathered a wealth of evidence, including forensics and CCTV footage, which gave the two thugs no other option but to plead guilty," a source said. After being charged earlier this year, Jamie O'Brien's family home was attacked, in what sources said was "100pc" linked to the assault on Ms Sutton. The house in Fassaroe, Bray, was set on fire, and graffiti was daubed on a side wall which read 'rat' and 'woman beater'. In the aftermath of the ordeal, the victim's daughter, Amanda Sutton, described how it had left her mother "broken". "Physically her injuries are improving, but the mental damage that has been done won't go away. She is a tough woman, but this attack has really got to her." The car at Clondalkin Garda Station after the botched shooting by James Walsh A suspected gangland serial killer who shot himself in the leg during a botched hit, has been jailed for 10 years. James 'Nellie' Walsh (30) is being investigated for three gun murders and a number of other firearms incidents. He was sentenced yesterday at Dublin Circuit Court for offences linked to a botched hit on criminal Michael Frazer. Walsh has become a jail target for many mobs, including the Kinahan cartel, for his suspected role in murders and other attacks. Such is the threat against him, the jail van ferrying him to and from court from the Midlands Prison, where he had been serving a separate sentence for burglary, has been always accompanied by armed gardai en route. Escaping Expand Close James Walsh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp James Walsh Apart from the Frazer hit, 'Nellie' is being investigated for fatal hits on Gerard Eglington, Dean Johnson and Jason Carroll. Walsh shot himself in the leg while escaping from the scene of where he blasted Drimnagh thug Michael Frazer (37) in a Clondalkin church car park on March 26, 2014. He previously pleaded guilty to possession of a pistol with intent to endanger life at the Church of the Transfiguration, Bawnogue Road, Clondalkin and attempted murder charges against him were dropped. It emerged in court that Frazer refused to co-operate with the garda investigation. However, the Herald can reveal gardai believe Walsh was hired by Frazer's former gang associates in the Crumlin area to shoot him dead. It was one of five different attempts on Frazer's life in the space of just over a year but the only incident in which he was actually shot. Yesterday at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy imposed a 10-year sentence on Walsh and backdated it to when he went in to custody on December 5, 2014. Mr Justice McCarthy said it was important to emphasise that there was evidence of the use of a firearm with intent to endanger life in the fact that there was a shooting and a person had two gun wounds. Injured "That person did attend a garda station for the purpose of obtaining sanctuary and he drove the car from where he had been shot to the garda station. "He declined to afford permission to gardai to take up his medical records," said Mr Justice McCarthy. "The absence of the injured party could be the case of Hamlet without the Prince." Bill Clinton was an elector from New York this year. After voting for his wife, Hillary, on Monday, he explained her defeat: We had the Russians and the FBI, and she couldnt prevail against that. The former president was frustrated and disappointed, and he wasnt alone. When you win the popular vote by 2.8 million, when a switch of 80,000 votes in three states would have swung the Electoral College your way, when you were absolutely convinced that victory was assured no wonder theres so much frustration. No wonder the Democrats are playing the blame game. They are trying to pin their defeat on a variety of outside factors: not only the Russkies and the Feds, but misguided reporters and misleading data, fake news and faithless voters. And in such a close election, all those variables certainly affected the outcome. But heres the blunt truth that Bill Clinton and many other Democrats wont face: The main reason they lost is that they had a poor candidate who ran a poor campaign. The old adage is true, that the buck stops at the presidents desk. That applies to campaigns, as well: The buck stops with the candidate. And her husband. Hillary is right in claiming there is a vast right-wing conspiracy ready to take down the Clintons. But repeatedly, over many years, the Clintons have handed their enemies ammunition to use against them. Yes, the Russians hacked the computers of Clinton advisers, and yes, FBI Director James Comey seriously violated Justice Department norms by resurfacing questions about Clintons email practices so close to Election Day. But in politics, stories resonate when they play into a pre-existing narrative, and the Clintons have acquired their reputation for deceptive behavior the old-fashioned way. Theyve earned it. Bill Clinton was first dubbed Slick Willie in 1980, when he was running for re-election as governor of Arkansas. Paul Greenberg, the local columnist who coined the nickname, once told the Washington Post, It doesnt mean liar. It means dissembler. This is a particular subspecies of lying. Its a very lawyerly, sophisticated, elastic lie. No one made Hillary set up a private email server when she became secretary of state, and then defend her decision with a series of lawyerly, sophisticated and elastic explanations. No one made the Clintons set up a foundation that was vulnerable to charges of influence peddling. No one forced Bill Clinton to meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch just as the Justice Department was investigating his wifes handling of classified information, a self-inflicted wound in the Slick Willie tradition. Exit polls reflect this long history of elastic explanations: 55 percent of voters viewed Hillary Clinton unfavorably; 61 percent said she was not honest and trustworthy. Sixty-three percent criticized her email practices, and those voters went 69 to 24 for Donald Trump. Clinton compounded her problems with the way she campaigned. She candidly told the website Humans of New York, I know that I can be perceived as aloof or cold or unemotional, and in private, she is a charming and witty person. But for the public Hillary, that perceived lack of warmth has been a political liability her whole career. In hindsight, there were many warning signs that her campaign was in trouble. Long before the FBI or the Russians intruded, Bernie Sanders won more than 13 million votes in the Democratic primaries. Jeb Bushs crushing defeat should have sounded similar alarms, since Hillary and Jeb both depended heavily on lengthy resumes, large war chests and longstanding family connections all assets that proved far less effective this year than in previous cycles. Both suffered from the same Trump sobriquet, low energy, and good sources inside Camp Clinton tell us that Hillarys popular appeal was so tepid that aides had to book small venues to make her events look more crowded for the cameras. Yet the Clinton campaign remained terminally complacent. They ignored all these signs because their data told them they were going to win. Even President Obama criticized her relaxed travel schedule on NPR: If were not showing up, if were not in there making an argument, then were going to lose. And we can lose badly, and thats what happened in this election. Trump did show up in Wisconsin and Michigan during the last week, and Clinton did not the final mistake in a long series of missteps. The Russians and the FBI have a lot to answer for, but if the Clintons are placing blame for their defeat, they should start with themselves. As Mario Cuomo said, politicians campaign in poetry but have to govern in prose. Now we have a president-elect who campaigned in tweets ... but still will have to govern in prose. Donald Trump showed great skill as a campaigner, steering his campaign past a slew of professional politicians who underestimated him at every turn. Now the test is whether he can govern that is, whether he can run the United States government, conduct foreign policy in treacherous times, and reshape domestic policy to fit his goals. This requires a very different set of skills from those he showed before the election. So, like a few thousand other Americans, Id like to give him some advice. Not on the substance of policy itself that hell handle himself but on how to be effective at achieving what hed like to achieve. First, he has to set priorities. During the course of the campaign, according to The Washington Post, Donald Trump made 282 promises. He is not going to be able to deliver on them all. So hell need to set out his priorities with clarity and force. As the head of a vast federal establishment, clarity of objectives is crucially important in policy implementation. He cannot afford to sow confusion. Though this president-elect prides himself on unpredictability, conducting policy in an unpredictable way is the mark of a rogue state. Unpredictability creates doubt about what he wants to achieve both on Capitol Hill and among the vast number of people and agencies charged with carrying out his policies which in turn produces a race by elected officials to fill the clarity vacuum with their own agendas and prevents frontline agencies from planning. Many Americans and foreign governments have already been unnerved by the unexpected Twitter messages coming from President-Elect Trump; this will only make his job harder once he takes office. Second, the president-elect must fix his conflict-of-interest challenge. Because of the extraordinary extent of his business interests, he has an unprecedented number of potential conflicts for a U.S. president. He will be negotiating policy with many people, agencies and countries where he or his business partners have a bottom-line stake in what happens. If he does not fix this before he takes office, conflict-of-interest charges will dog him throughout his presidency and weaken, if not cripple, his effectiveness. He has to protect himself from charges that his actions as president are influenced by his personal financial interests. It wont be enough to put everything in a blind trust controlled by his children. As Newsweek recently pointed out, every nation on Earth will know that doing business with the Trump Organization will one day benefit the family. Third, President Trump will need to keep his majorities united. Given Republican dominance of Capitol Hill, hes in a strong position to get things done. But hell have to keep his fellow Republicans on his side. Some Republican leaders are already separating themselves from his attack on the CIA analysis of Russian interference in the election. Showing respect for, and reaching out to, GOP lawmakers will matter. So will considering a variety of different views and treating them with respect which is how a pluralist democracy works. Knowing how to work cooperatively and accessibly with potential allies on Capitol Hill and throughout the D.C. power structure will be crucial to making his priorities a reality. Finally, in order to do this, its not enough simply to say I want this. He has to take seriously the role of facts in the deliberative process. Members of Congress and others need to be able to defend their support for politically difficult proposals and they cannot do this without factually based arguments. Accurate information is necessary to make sound judgments about policy. Trumps decision not to regularly hear information from intelligence officials is worrisome. For a president to succeed, he needs to interact in a measured, sensible, reassuring way, and supply his allies with solid analysis and information, not guesses, instincts, opinions, and debunk-able theories. A president who sets clear priorities, removes all doubt about potential conflicts of interest, and works responsibly with his allies on fact-driven policies can make good progress and achieve his goals. Vejer de la Frontera , a small agricultural town a couple of kilometers inland from the surfers paradise of Tarifa , on Spains Atlantic Cadiz coastline, buzzes with excitement in the run up to December 22. This is the day Spain holds the draw to its El Gordo Christmas lottery, but many of Vejers 12,897 residents are more likely to be hoping to win of plot of land in a draw held every leap year dating back more than seven centuries. Locals check their names on the 'lucky lands' land raffle in Vejer de la Frontera. PACO PUENTES In the weeks ahead of the lottery, which only takes place every four years, there is little else being talked about in the cafes and streets of this picturesque whitewashed town. On Thursday morning, while children from Madrids San Ildefonso school sing out the numbers for the national lottery in in the capitals nearby Teatro Real, as they have done since 1771, girls from Vejer, in typical regional costume, announce Vejers winners in the local theater. But instead of mountains of cash, the winners in Vejer will be entitled, until the next leap year in 2020, to earn money from renting out one or two of the 232 plots of land that the town raffles off. The words lucky lands will usually spark good-natured debate in the towns bars Its the most egalitarian way to share the towns common assets. Its unique. I still havent been able to find an example of anything similar, says Juan Jesus Cantillo, a local historian. The tradition of the lucky lands began in 1288 amid the Reconquistathe war between Spanish Christians and Moorish Muslims for control of the Iberian Peninsula. In such a vulnerable region so close to the southern frontier [with Moorish-controlled territory], King Sancho IV decided to encourage people to settle the town. Besides giving settlers tax breaks, he also gave them a series of lots of farmland, so they wouldnt have to answer to a lord or landowner, explains Cantillo. Its believed the King made this deal with other towns in the south, from Granada to Cadiz. However, noblemen took the land in other areas, he adds. Vejer also lost these plots of land to the nobility after King Ferdinand IV donated a house to a duke. The transfer of the title infuriated the town, and it was a local man, Juan Relinque, who decided to fight it, said Cantillo. Relinque, now a local hero, sued the duke for the land rights, but died in the middle of the legal proceedings. The other townsfolk however, imbued with the spirit of freedom and justice, carried on with the case, explains Cantillo. Its the most egalitarian way to share the towns common assets Juan Jesus Cantillo, local historian On February 8, 1566 the courts ruled against the duke and on the side of the residents of Vejer. At that time, the town had grown so much that there were more residents than plots available, so they decided to create a lottery to give the lands out, says Cantillo. This year, the town is celebrating the 450th anniversary of the first raffle. In todays draw, 1747 households have registered, hoping to win one of 232 plots of land. Winners of the lottery typically rent out the plots to local farmers. Depending on the size, they can earn between 750 and 1,300 per year. Local banks have even caught on and offer deals to give the winners all of the money upfront, in exchange for commission fees. For the last two years Cantillo has been lobbying UNESCO to consider Vejers lucky lands raffle as an intangible cultural heritage and for the Spanish government to name the lottery as an asset of cultural interest. He said that the official statuses could help protect a tradition that draws on Vejers unique culture, society, economics and identity. Any morning in the days leading up to the draw, the words lucky lands will usually spark good natured debate in the towns bars. Im not signed up because I got married, and my family changed but they didnt register it. But four years ago my dad won and he opened a savings account and saved all the money for my daughter, explains one man. Sherry glass in hand, a neighbor replies Do you remember Antonio, the guy who won twice? That was lucky! Cantillo, used to these lively exchanges, smiles. Do you see what I mean? People talk about the lands as ours. Here we know how to distinguish between whats public, whats private and whats communal. English version by Alyssa McMurtry. All Gov. Terry McAuliffe wants for Christmas is a chimera. In his message to the General Assemblys money committees last week, the governor said the commonwealths financial picture looks a little better than it did a few months ago, when a $1.5 billion hole appeared in the budget projections. Now, the budget gap is slightly more than $1.2 billion. Small progress, but progress nonetheless. McAuliffe has proposed a number of ideas to bring the books into balance, including a tax amnesty program that he estimates would bring in $59 million. Theres also a proposal to keep but tighten the accelerated sales tax gimmick lawmakers have used in past years to close budget shortfalls. While none dare call this a tax increase, requiring certain businesses to pay 13 months of sales tax payments in a 12-month period regardless of which party is behind the idea is exactly that. The governor also proposed limits on the states generous land-preservation tax credit and a slew of what he called policy and technical changes to be determined later. Together, these ideas dont come close to mending Virginias fiscal fences. But they do succeed in building a rather fantastic looking beast. To complete it, all we need is a head maybe from a lion or perhaps a bear to make our chimera complete. Instead, the governor offers Marketplace Fairness. In his remarks, McAuliffe said he has asked congressional leaders to address this issue. McAuliffe said passage of the Marketplace Fairness Act would make internet sales subject to the same state sales taxes imposed on sales at brick-and-mortar retailers. Which, to listen to rhetoric of those who favor of the idea, seems like a perfectly fine idea. The governor said that without this bit of fairness, Virginia is currently missing out on $250-300 million dollars a year . A number of conservative and free-market voices back the idea, too. So whats not to like? Fairness. Online businesses with no physical presence in the commonwealth do not use its resources, roads, fire or police protection, schools, aid programs or anything else. The governor and the bills many bipartisan supporters think that in this one instance, the government should not be picking winners and losers through tax policy (so long as we ignore the many other ways in which state and local governments do exactly that). I agree. Marketplace fairness, however, dragoons retailers, big and small alike, into becoming tax collectors for governments over which they have no say. And not just a few governments, but nearly 10,000 according to the Tax Foundation, with 174 in Virginia. Yes, Virginians are already required to report their online purchases on their tax forms (and pay the requisite sales tax you do pay it, right?). So this isnt a new tax. Marketplace Fairness hasnt moved much in Congress. And, despite McAuliffes cajoling, Congress isnt likely to run to his financial rescue anytime soon with a legislative fix. So whats a state starved for cash to do in the meantime? Virginia could, and should, pursue tax reform. Back when tax reform was last seriously debated in Virginia, the Tax Foundation suggested a plan that would clean up the state code, eliminate some truly hated local taxes (such as the business, professional and occupational license tax) and also a tax hike on gasoline. The plans authors said their approach would be revenue neutral, but would also maximize growth in the state economy. Growth brings greater tax revenue, which is what the state needs over the long term to keep its books balanced. Perhaps the worthies in Capitol Square should start here rather than joining the governors hunt for a budgetary chimera. Spains main opposition Socialists (PSOE) have used their clout in Congress to push the minority government into a deal against fuel poverty. The guarantee of electricity will depend on household income which is not specified and extend to the entire year, not just the winter months. Energy Minister Alvaro Nadal and PSOE spokesman Antonio Hernando. Ballesteros (EFE) Energy Minister Alvaro Nadal has agreed to tweak existing legislation to include a ban on cutting off electricity from households considered vulnerable by the social services. The conservative administration of Mariano Rajoy has pledged to have the new rules in place within the next three months. Ciudadanos accused the PP and PSOE of indulging in a trite two-party system It is a structural reform and the beginning of the end of fuel poverty, said Antonio Hernando, the PSOE spokesman in Congress. In exchange for the concession, the Popular Party (PP) government has secured the PSOEs support for a reform of the social voucher, an electricity subsidy for nearly 2.5 million low-income consumers. This subsidy a 25% discount on regular electricity fares for low-income consumers, from pensioners to unemployed families was canceled in October by the Supreme Court, which ruled that the utilities should receive compensation for the withheld revenues. The basis for the decision was that the subsidy was discriminatory, as it only affected the five largest companies representing 94% of industry turnover but left out the smaller utilities. A protest in Reus after a woman died in a fire caused by candles. J.LL. Sellart Last year, electrity companies contributed 186 million to the social voucher. The main thing for us is that fuel poverty should be regulated at the national level, said Pilar Lucio, the Socialist spokeswoman on energy issues. The State must step in to prevent electricity cuts through regulation. Representatives from Spains two biggest electricity companies, Endesa and Iberdrola, declined to comment on the deal, saying it would be premature to do so at this stage. Without a legislative development to the deal, which has yet to happen, we cannot know if it makes any sense, said a source at Endesa. This same source said that Endesa no longer cuts off services from any family that cannot afford to pay the bill, particularly when the social services have alerted them to the situation. The issue of fuel poverty made headlines in November, when an elderly lady from the Catalan town of Reus died in a fire inside her home. The fire was started by the candles that she was using after her electricity was cut off. Challengers protest Unidos Podemos was left out of the deal, even though it had made a banner out of the fight for affordable heating. The leftist group called the deal a scam and accused the PP and PSOE of putting on a show. Instead, it wants to see a new social electricity fare that would extend to more consumers, and lower VAT on electricity bills. Unidos Podemos is also calling for an industry audit. The other protest party in Spanish politics, Ciudadanos, accused the PP and PSOE of indulging in a trite two-party system. English version by Susana Urra. Candidates with no legislative history not uncommon Maryland's candidates for governor do not have long legislative records. Wes Moore has none at all. Analysis shows that is not uncommon. The winning number in this years Christmas lottery popularly known as El Gordo (The Fat One) is 66513. The lucky five-digit figure corresponding to the top 4 million prize was sung out by two children from San Ildefonso school as per tradition at 11.57am. Children at Madrid's San Ildefonso school sing out the winning lottery numbers. Carlos Rosillo The first prize-winning number in the hugely popular draw was sold at the lottery office of 53-year-old Agustin Ramos in Paseo de la Esperanza Street in the Madrid suburb of Acacias. Agustin, who has only been running the outlet for four months, and has also won a 400,000 share of the winnings, was visibly affected on hearing the news of the offices success. With hands shaking, he held on tightly to a flower in a plastic vase which Jose Luis Villasevil, the owner of a nearby bar and another of the lucky winners had brought him. Agustins wife Maria Jose Rojo said that many of the winning tickets has been sold to people in the neighborhood, including residents of an old peoples home up the road, where celebrations were already underway. Villasevil couldnt believe his luck and looked serious despite having just learned he will be taking home winnings of 400,000. He says he will use the money to pay off a few debts, although it sounds like a cliche. Agustin (left) is the owner of the lottery outlet where all tickets of the winning number were sold. In Spains Christmas lottery, every number is divided into 10 identical segments, or decimos, costing 20 each. Because numbers are also divided into series, there are in fact 1,600 tickets with the same number sold at lottery sales points across the country, making it impossible for one person to buy them all. Many people buy even smaller stakes in several decimos to increase their chances of winning something. A 1 stake in the winning number is worth 20,000, while a 20 decimo pays out 400,000 before taxes. All prizes of over 2,500 are subject to a 20% tax which means holders of a decimo will take home 320,050 with the rest going to the tax office. Residents and workers at the Peneulas celebrate. They have been buying lottery tickets with the same number for 14 years. English version by George Mills. On November 24, the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas signed off on a revised peace treaty , meant to end over 50 years of armed conflict in the country and pave the way for peace. As in any war, the consequences have been devastating: deaths, kidnappings and thousands of displaced persons, chiefly from rural to urban areas. The street art created by residents of Plaza de la Hoja in Bogota. More information Una nueva vida para Colombia Aidel Yaguara, who was displaced by the guerrillas, defines it aptly: Unfortunately we were forced to come and lead a life that we had no idea about. And its been a struggle, because it is not easy to adapt to a different environment and to a new situation. Faced with this reality, the city of Bogota and Habitat, the United Nations human settlement program, are developing various projects to find these families a new home. One of the most recent initiatives is Plaza de Hoja, located in central Bogota, where 457 families are now living in subsidized homes. The word life seemed the most appropriate one since these people have been evicted from their places of origin Pablo Purone, artist But the goal of these policies goes beyond mere resettlement: they are also aimed at social integration for a group of people who often suffer from stigmatization. And to that end, program developers have resorted to the most powerful weapon of all in their view art. The point is to give the surrounding area an identity of its own that will create a sense of belonging among its dwellers. And there is a second goal: to create a common task for all residents to work on together, as a way to reinforce social ties. What we seek through art is for people who are coming from a background of various conflicts to start finding common paths to walk down together, says Jhon Zuluaga, of Habitat. Colombians celebrating the signing of the peace accord. AFP Spanish artists Boa Mistura, a collective of Spanish graffiti artists, was tasked with heading the project. The group has 15 years experience creating murals all over the world, from South Africa to Brazil, Britain, Norway, Serbia and India.They view their work as a transformational tool to change the look of streets and to create links between people. With very little time and money, painting manages to change ones surroundings and creates new social relations, leading to a sense of empowerment, says Pablo Purone, a member of Boa Mistura. Their working methods are always similar, and oriented at getting the community to participate as much as possible. For the first few days, the artists live with the residents in order to understand their problems from within. Later, they conceptualize the information into a work of art that all locals are asked to participate in making. In the case of Bogota, the artwork occupies over 5,000 m2 and depicts a giant leaf made up of hundreds of smaller leaves set in such a way as to make out the word VIDA (life, in Spanish). The leaves belong to the most significant plant species to be found in Colombias various ecosystems, creating a parallel with the different people who live inside the building and their own diverse origins. The word life seemed the most appropriate one, since these people have been evicted from their places of origin and brought here to start a new life where political problems and guerrilla violence have disappeared, to make way for a fresh start and to begin something new, says Pablo Purone. The painting is on the ground, and the sense of it is completely different depending on whether one walks over it or views it from above through a building window. At ground level, all one sees is enormous geometric shapes in different colors, but from above eveything falls into place, representing a new beginning filled with hope the kind of hope that an entire country is now longing for, the kind of hope that would bring life to Colombia. English version by Susana Urra. 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 3 loan agreements- increase in state debt by USD 180 million Today at the NA extraordinary session convened by the Government, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) faction Head Naira Zohrabyan touched upon a number of buildings in Gyumri, which are in emergency condition. She mainly touched upon a building in Antaravan district, alarming, Dear colleagues, people evacuate their children from that building. On the eve of New Year they will come to the Government building and put up tents there. During the recent snow storm, snow penetrated into houses. If the issue of this house is not solved in an operative way, we may face a serious danger; it can fall down on people. This issue will be discussed during the break, replied the NA Speaker Galust Sahakyan. The Rule of Law (OEK) lawmaker Mher Shahgeldyan announced that during this extraordinary session three loan agreements will be discussed, It means that the state debt may increase by USD 180 million. It is impermissible, especially when those drafts have been introduced at the end of the year and during an extraordinary session. The issue must be discussed only now, answered Galust Sahakyan. Then the NA started discussing the draft on making amendments to the RA law on State duties. It is being presented by the Deputy Minister of Finance Karen Tamazyan. The draft proposes to set the state duty of games with internet prize from hundred million to five hundred million. The Armenian National Congress (HAK) faction Head Levon Zurabyan noted, A few days ago we held an extraordinary session, where numerous draft laws were put to discussion; have you just noticed that there was a need to bring the Tax Code in line with the law on State duties? We may have done it during the previous session, why have you noticed all that so late? Karen Tamazyan answered that different bodies had sent these drafts in order to receive opinions, It has just been approved thats why we have just presented it to the NA. Are you satisfied with my answer? Have you answered well so that I get satisfied? If that is the answer, we have serious doubts about the professionalism and competence of the Government, answered Levon Zurabyan. By the way, during the approval of the agenda, the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) lawmakers Aleksan Petrosyan, Murad Muradyan, Razmik Zohrabyan, Vazgen Karakhanyan voted instead of their absent colleagues. National orchestra to have three conductors (video) Pan-Armenian orchestra can be considered reality, said the RA Minister of Culture Armen Amiryan today during the meeting with journalists. To remind, the Minister offered Serzh Sargsyan to establish Pan-Armenian symphonic orchestra, which will include our talented compatriots from different parts of the world. According to the words of Ruzanna Sirunyan, Director of the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, who also heads the work of the orchestras formation, it is a very difficult task, as each musician has his program, but when their learn about the idea, they react positively. The musicians included in the orchestra will change from time to time. It will have three conductors- Sergey Smbatyan, Eduard Topchyan and Karen Durgaryan. The first performance is planned on April 24, 2017. The orchestra will perform works of only Armenian composers; from Komitas, Khachatryan to modern composers. There will also be ordered works. At the end of the meeting, Minister of Culture surprised the journalists. Week of gratitude will be announced from December 24 and the best words of gratitude in Armenian posted on the Ministrys website will receive awards. By the way, the first prize is a mobile phone of Armenian production. HICKORY Jamie Lavals passion for holiday music returns with a Celtic Christmas show, Music and Stories for the Deep Midwinter, hosted in the Drendell Auditorium (SALT Block) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Hickory. "Each year I find new songs and stories that date back to pre-Christian holiday celebrations," Laval said via a press release. "It is fascinating to unravel the tapestry of music and dance traditions during the midwinter solstice." Asheville-based violinist and storyteller Laval will headline the show. The performance will also include two Irish step dancers and two Scottish Highland dancers. Asheville's Rosalind Buda, who plays at least four instruments, will give mesmerizing readings of seasonal poetry. Also featured will be Celtic harpist Haley Hewett (Boston), soprano Megan McConnell (Cleveland), Irish step dancer Claire Shirey (Atlanta), and six Highland dancers from the acclaimed Annandale Center for Scottish Dance (Raleigh/Durham). Tickets are available at www.BrownPaperTickets.com and prices range from $12-25. For more information, call 206-226-5663 or visit www.JamieLaval.com. Kwanzaa celebration at the library HICKORY The Ridgeview Library Friends are celebrating Kwanzaa with a performance from Tyrone Jefferson and A Sign of the Times beginning at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Ridgeview Library. Residents are invited to come and learn more about this holiday and to enjoy the story of Kwanzaa as told through jazz, R&B and classic music. Friends of the Ridgeview Library will provide light refreshments. Kwanzaa is a celebration of African American culture and history and is celebrated each year for seven days, Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, with a focus on reconnecting to an African past and promoting the seven principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. For more information about events at Ridgeview Library, call Carole Dennis at 828-345-6037. HICKORY While the 2016 graduation was back in June, Hickory Public Schools took the time to recognize some of last years top grads Tuesday. It was a special ceremony at Hickory High for the 2016 International Baccalaureate (IB) graduates. The results for IB student examinations in May are not issued until July. Hickory High IB coordinator Christopher Rice wanted to create a way to celebrate their achievements in a public way, so he decided to invite as many as were able to be part of Tuesdays event something he wants to hold every December. There were 49 IB graduates in the Class of 2016. Rice also invited graduates from past years to talk about how their IB experience benefited them in college. I credit IB for getting me to where I am right now, like getting into college, Ben Pleasant, a 2015 graduate, said. For me, some of the things that played the biggest role werent quite as obviousIB taught me all problems have a lot of different perspectives that we need to be taking into account. Founded in 1968 in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is a nonprofit educational foundation offering four highly respected programs of international education that develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world, according to ibo.org. Its college prep at an accelerated pace for high school students. Schools must be authorized, by the IB organization, to offer any of the programs and is for students aged 3-19. After a year of training, Hickory Public Schools started its own IB diploma curriculum in 2006. Since 2007, 430 students have taken the courses to earn IB certificates or the IB diploma. Students in IB programs take a class in each of the six core courses: English, foreign language, history, science, math and arts. They also take a philosophy class called Theory of Knowledge to tie the experience all together. That class asks how do we know what we know and how do we know it in each of the disciplines, Christopher Rice said. Tiffany Gray graduated from Hickory High in 2011 and when she started her IB journey, she wasnt sure if it was right for her. Its been one of the best things for me, Gray said. IB for me taught me how to write papers. When I came in, I had no idea what I was doingeverything ran together, no paragraphs. Her IB English classes gave her the tools she needed to face a writing assignment without fear. Now, writing a paper is a piece of cake for and that helped me so much in college when I went to (Lenoir-Rhyne University), she said. IB just taught me you have to work hard. You have to be open-minded and when you put the work in you will get the results. Pleasant, who attends Vanderbilt, also talked about how IB helped him understand the importance of stepping out of his comfort zone. It doesnt matter where you are, its really easy to get stuck in a bubble of thinking and a bubble of ideas and have that be the one thing that guides your view of the world, he said. His time in the IB program at Hickory High gave him the ability to see all the different perspectives around any issue. Its a skill he said hes continuously used every day since. No one answer is necessarily right, Pleasant said. Saba Khan from the class of 2012 and Emily Perry from the class of 2013 also shared their experiences in the IB program. It was touching for me to hear themas a teacher I put a lot of myself in it and to hear them say those things is really gratifying because it really says its worth it, giving up my own private time is making a difference, Rice said. Hickory High Principal Katherine Cater also spoke and Hickory Public Schools board chair Reggie Hamilton gave the closing remarks, congratulating all the current and future IB graduates. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ If Levon Ter-Petrosyans concept worked, now we would have neither Armenia, nor Karabakh (video) If Levon Ter-Petrosyans conception on Nagorno Karabakh issue resolution worked, we would have neither Armenia nor Nagorno Karabakh. You wont restrict the appetite of Azerbaijan with compromises, Lets give one part, he says, in order to keep the rest, but it wants all, how can you keep one part? It wants to reach Yerevan. Armen Rustamyan has noticed that Levon Ter-Petrosyan speaks much of the compromises. He wants to understand what Azerbaijan surrenders; if it is interim recognition of Karabakhs status, it doesnt oblige Azerbaijan to recognize Karabakhs independence, The deployment of peacekeepers is natural, it doesnt matter, were we struggling for deployment of peacekeepers? Step-by-step resolution, according to Dashnaktsutyun, is buried, and Armen Rustamyan does not agree that step-by-step option of 1997 was discussed in Kazan. Dashnaktsutyun imagines the solution to Artsakh issue by one of the provisions of Karabakh Constitution; Azerbaijan must recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh, which includes also Shahumyan region, which is now in Azerbaijans territory, I stand by the opinion of those people and I will give my life so that it comes true. Turk remains a Turk, states Armen Rustamyan. Our neighbor, unlike Israels neighbors, carried out genocide and will again carry out, Mr Levon Ter-Petrosyan doesnt consider the issue of genocide to be a current issue, he considers that to be an issue of past, as we know his viewpoint, become reconciled. But we know that in Karabakh Levon Ter-Petrosyan spoke about the threat of genocide coming from Azerbaijan. Armen Rustamyan agrees that such a thing was told, but that threat still exists, Does this step-by-step plan eliminate the danger of genocide? On the contrary, our todays guarantee; we have imposed peace by these territories. Armen Rustamyan is also for negotiations, but the principle territories for status is distorted and is not acceptable. The issue of status must be clarified first and then the issue of territories must be discussed, Which is their step-by-step option? First territories, then status? In the world it is perceived in completely different way- first status, then- territories. According to Armen Rustamyan, Ter-Petrosyan thinks that we will weaken. In that case he must admit nation-army principle, yet he doesnt accept, Once he was against having army. He used to say that if we have army, it means we want to create problems with neighbors. Armen Rustamyan agrees with Levon Ter-Petrosyan only over one thought that corruption ruins Armenia. Watch below the whole interview of Armen Rustamyan on Levon Ter-Petrosyans speech! Photographer Henry Hargreaves has released a series of harrowing photos recreating the last meals of death row inmates. The series, showcased on website ayearofkilling.com, consists of 20 photos. They are the recreations of the final meals served to inmates from various US states like Texas, Florida and Alabama. New project www.ayearofkilling.com upbeat project that chronicles the last meals served to every prisoner executed on Death Row in 2016. As the US govt struggles to find suitable drugs to 'humanely' execute these inmates and the number of prisoners exonerated after sentencing is 1 in 9 the killings continue... Site designed by @zzdesign thanks to @micheledoyingphotography A photo posted by Henry Hargreaves (@henry_hargreaves_photo) on Dec 21, 2016 at 6:47am PST This is not the first time Hargreaves has done this. In 2011, his photo-series No Seconds, on the same subject, went viral. Through these photos, the Brooklyn-based photographer wants to bring attention to the death penalty issue in the US. The website reads: Every year since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976, the state has executed an average of 47 people. One in nine inmates were freed from death row after new evidence of their innocence came to light. These images are full recreations of the final documented meals of individual inmates executed in 2016. By continuing this theme here, he (Hargreaves) hopes to further highlight the frequency of these killings; how long inmates spend on death row before their executions; and how this whole practice can go on -- and with such conviction -- even when theres great uncertainty around so many cases, the description adds. Here are some of the photos from the series: Ribeye steak, baked potato with sour cream, asparagus, dinner rolls with butter, French onion soup, strawberries, pistachio ice cream, milk and apple juice served to 63-years-old from Georgia. (Henry Hargreaves/ayearofkilling.com) Medium pizza with sausage and pepperoni, chicken wings with Buffalo sauce and a large soda served to a 50-year-old from Georgia. (Henry Hargreaves/ayearofkilling.com) Meat pizza, steak and cheese calzone, stuffed Portobello mushroom, chef salad with ranch dressing and honey mustard dressing, and orange juice served to a 37-year-old from Georgia. (Henry Hargreaves/ayearofkilling.com) Beef soft tacos, salsa, Spanish rice, mixed greens, corn, refried beans, and flour tortillas, with a choice of tea, punch, or water to drink served to a 33-year-old from Texas. (Henry Hargreaves/ayearofkilling.com) Rib eye steak, medium rare; a baked potato with butter and sour cream; a salad made of iceberg lettuce, cucumber and tomato; baked garlic bread; lemon meringue pie; and a bottle of CocaCola served to a 53-year-old from Florida. (Henry Hargreaves/ayearofkilling.com) Fried chicken and french fries served to a 45-year-old from Alabama. Pepper steak with brown gravy, steamed rice, mixed greens, a vegetable blend, black eyed peas, sliced bread, chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, and a choice of water, tea, or punch to drink (believed to have drunk the punch) served to a 35-year-old from Texas. (Henry Hargreaves/ayearofkilling.com) 10 pieces of fried catfish, 10 hushpuppies, two triple deluxe hamburgers with bacon, two pints of vanilla ice cream and one sliced raw onion served to a 60-year-old from Georgia. (Henry Hargreaves/ayearofkilling.com) Follow @htlifeandstyle for more In the election season, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh is banking on, among other things, the colour of turbans to regain power. The state Congress chief is seen these days in hoardings, posters, flex screens and stickers wearing green, maroon, blue, and saffron turbans away from his preferred pastel shades. Amarinder, though, prefers to wear turquoise, peach, lavender, baby pink, sky blue, fawn and mauve but on the poll publicity material he chose to look different. Capt Amarinder Singh usually prefer pastel shades for his turbans but has chosen to move away from his preference on poll publicity material like posters. (Bharat Bhushan / HT Photo ) The new colours appeal to a different vote bank, particularly among the Sikhs, who comprise a majority of 58% voters among the total electorate. Maroon for urban Sikhs, blue for panthic Akali minded voters, saffron for those with a radical bent of mind and green for the farmers, particularly the supporters of kisan unions who have leaf green as the chosen turban colour. Amarinder is one leader in the Congress party who appeals to all sections of the electorate and the shades of different turbans touches the chord with different sections of Sikh electorate which is in majority in Punjab, helping him connect with all the sections more effectively, his poll manager told HT. A poster showing Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh. (Bharat Bhushan / HT Photo ) After Amarinder became chief of state unit of Congress in 1997 and then took over as state CM in 2002, the shades of turbans of the party leaders also changed from white to pastel. Pink is the official Patiala royalty colour which he wears on family ceremonies. An aide of Amarinder revealed that the colours of his turbans on the poll material were not digitally changed. He wore all these turbans on different days and his pictures were clicked before they hit the billboards, hoardings and posters. Police exposed an alleged racket that was printing 100 and new 500 notes at a rented house in Hazira area of Gwalior and arrested two men, aged in early 20s. The kingpin of the racket is at large. The police seized from the trio fake 100 and 500 notes worth 13,900. The accused were booked under Section 489 of IPC and further investigations are underway, Gwalior superintendent of police Ashish told Hindustan Times. This is the second alleged racket exposed by the MP police in three days which was printing new currency notes. Earlier on Saturday, two people were arrested from Burhar town of Shahdol district for allegedly printing fake 2,000 notes at a pathology lab. In Gwalior, the police stumbled upon the alleged racket during a routine vehicular check in Hazira area on Tuesday. A man, identified as Ashutosh, was purchasing cigarettes with a 500 note at a roadside shop. The shopkeeper got suspicious about the note and called the police who were checking vehicles. When Ashutosh was grilled, he broke down and admitted being part of the racket, involving two others. The police arrested his aide, identified as Pawan. The grilling of the arrested duo revealed that the fake currency was being printed by a man, identified as Jacky, at a rented house in the same area. The police team raided the house, but the alleged kingpin of the racket couldnt be arrested. Investigations have revealed that the kingpin was using coloured photo copiers to print the fake notes since the demonetisation of the two high-valued banknotes was announced on November 8, the Gwalior superintendent of police said. Fake Rs 100 and Rs 500 new currency notes seized from the accused. (HT photo) However, the SP didnt rule out possibility of the fake notes racket operating before demonetisation announcement. Were also probing the possibility of the alleged racket using the fake currency notes in procuring narcotic substances as one of the arrested men is a drug addict, said Ashish. The income tax departments search and survey operation at the residences and business establishments linked to a ruling BJP leader and ex-chairman of Madhya Pradesh Sahkari Awas Sangh, Sushil Vaswani, in Bhopal, entered the second day on Wednesday. While the survey was being conducted at Mahanagar Nagarik Sahkari Bank, Bairagarh, which was founded by Vaswani in 1992 and presently headed by his wife, the searches were underway at his kins residential and business premises, including an automobile showroom, an engineering firm and hotels in different parts of the state capital. According to a senior I-T department official, the taxmen opened on Wednesday the eight bank lockers held by Vaswani and his family members in different banks, including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Mahangar Nagarik Sahkari Bank. What tumbled out of the lockers could be known only after Wednesday late night, the official added. The survey has so far revealed that old currency notes worth several crores were deposited in the cooperative bank between November 9 and November 15. The search and survey teams are zeroing in on 100-plus new accounts, which were opened after the November 8 demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. Also under the scanner are those accounts which have reported frequent transactions before the RBI directed the cooperative banks to stop accepting the demonetised currency notes on November 15, said the official. We are trying to figure out the total volume of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes deposited in the bank since November 8, the sources from which the defunct notes emanated, and the possibility of this money being diverted to varied business interests of Vaswani family and their relatives, the official added. SLEUTHS SEARCH AXIS BANK RECORDS The special investigation wing of income tax department from Jabalpur is conducting survey of the Axis Bank records in Katni. The team is probing the possibility of heavy sum of black money worth crores of having been parked by unscrupulous elements in the bank since demonetisation of the 500 and 1,000 notes. Under scanner is a possible nexus between a prominent politician of the area and some suspected hawala operators who are linked to mineral and coal mining, besides construction business. The IT sleuths are probing the details of around 12 bogus accounts in the banks which were opened in the name of below poverty line (BPL) card holders in the previous years by showing them as heads of bogus companies. Subsequently, crores of rupees were parked in these accounts, before the money was diverted to some companies in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, NCR and other states. HT had exclusive reported this alleged fraud in the past. Dental students of 2014-15 batch staged a demonstration in Gwalior on Wednesday against cancellation of their admissions by the Madhya Pradesh high court for getting into colleges on the basis of Class 12 marks. The December 16 decision came one and a half years after Punjab and Haryana high court verdict that had declared the admission of dental students on the basis of marks of Class 12 as invalid, the students said. After the Punjab and Haryana high courts decision, the Dental Council of India (DCI) had ordered cancellation of admission of all the students of 2014-15 batch. But, the colleges in Madhya Pradesh moved the Jabalpur high court that allowed the students to appear in the first year exam. We had taken admission according to the rules of state government and government and colleges should fight for us, the students said. DCI rule is not a new one. It was in the rule book from 2007 but the rules were suddenly implemented for our batch. We have spent our three years in BDS. Where will we go now? said a student, demanding that the college authorities come up with a solution to save their future. A private dental college chairman, Kaushal Singh, said, We are ready to support the students. The admissions were held according to rules and regulations of the state government. The enforcement directorate (ED) has served notices to six nationalised banks in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly issuing 10% of the new banknotes seized by Delhi police from a law firm in the national capital earlier this month. More than Rs 13 crores in cash, including over Rs 2.5 crores in new Rs 2000 notes were seized by the Delhi polices crime branch during a raid at the office of the Rohit Tandons T&T law firm in Greater Kailash-I on December 12. The case was subsequently handed over to the income tax department for investigation. Of the seized amount, Rs25 lakh was ostensibly issued by the banks now under scanner in Madhya Pradesh. The detailed analysis of the serial numbers of the confiscated Rs 2000 notes revealed they were issued from the six banks in MP, sources in the enforcement agency involved with the money laundering probe confided to Hindustan Times on Wednesday. The banks were asked to submit details of the notes issued, to whom and when they were issued, the sources said. 3 cooperative banks in Ujjain and 10 shell companies under ED scanner At least three cooperative banks operating in Ujjain region of MP also came under the ED scanner for enabling at least 10 shell (bogus) companies park black money in the form of the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes between November 9 and November 11. Sources privy to the developments told HT that several crores of rupees were parked in old currency notes with the three banks within a span of just three days. The ED has sent notices to the banks seeking details of the account holders who had deposited the heavy volume of old currency notes in just three days after demonetisation of the high-value currency on November 8. Sources said the investigations into the matter could well lead to busting of a major money laundering racket involving the 10 shell companies registered in and around Indore. Shell companies are non-trading companies used as a vehicle for various financial maneuvers (like money laundering) or kept dormant for future use in some other capacity. Meanwhile, MP minister of state (independent charge) Vishwas Sarang said in Bhopal that whatever information the ED had sought would be furnished to the enforcement agency. The information was already provided to the income tax department. UNDER LENS The six banks had allegedly issued 10% of the new notes to Rohit Tandons T&T law firm in Delhi The enforcement directorate served notices after seizure of more than 13 crore in cash from the law firm by Delhi police crime branch ED has asked the banks to n submit details of the notes issued, to whom and when they were issued Three cooperative banks in Ujjain and 10 shell companies are also under ED scanner for allaged money laundering After facing a lot of hardship and spending thousands from their pockets, 13 Kashmiri students, who along with their four teachers reached Bhopal on Monday from all the way from J&Ks Bandipara district to participate in the December 19-21 inter-state cultural school festival National Bal Rang, keep their fingers crossed for reimbursement of their journey expenses. Fearing stone pelting in Jammu and Kashmir, a very common act by the separatists in the state, they (students) could not set off for Bhopal during the daytime and had to travel in wee hours to board a truck. We left after midnight around 3 am so that no one notices us. We could have been stone-pelted or attacked by protesters, had we left during the daytime, said Shahida, one of the students. Children artistes from Chhattisgarh performing in a cultural programme at National Balrang Festival in Bhopal on Wednesday. (PTI) As majority of students in the team were girls and there was no arrangement of vehicles, it was a huge task for directorate of public instructions (DPI) officials to bring them to Bhopal. Narrating the incident, DPI officer Altaf Hussain, who accompanied the team to Bhopal, said, First of all we had to convince parents of all the students that their children will be safe. Another challenge was that there is no public transportation currently plying in Kashmir due to unrest so we boarded a truck which brought us to Jammu district where we stayed for a night spending about Rs 2,500 as we reached there in odd hours. The next day we boarded a train from there. Child artistes from Arunachal Pradesh await for the performance. (PTI) Hussain also said they paid Rs 23,000 for reaching Jammu in a private vehicle. The sad part is that they might not be reimbursed for this and all such extra expenses they will bear in their return journey. The reimbursement sheet had a column for only rail conveyance which is fine in a normal scenario but for us to reach here and ask the children to perform was no less than a mission. We dont know if the Manav Sanghralay (organizer of the festival) and DPI Madhya Pradesh will reimburse our expenses and help us, said Hussain. DPI joint director DS Kushwaha, however, thanked HT for for bringing this matter to our notice, and said, Considering their case as a special one, we will try to help them and get the entire amount reimbursed. Students said most of the times their schools remain closed. We rehearsed with a lot of difficulty at one of our friends house for this festival, said Safura, a student, adding it was a great feeling for them to be here and experience a sense of normalcy in Bhopal after the turmoil in the Valley. Himachal wins first prize in folk dance A cash prize of Rs 51,000 was awarded to Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday for winning the folk dance competition at National Bal Rang in the state capital. Tripura and Haryana, who were declared the first and second runners-up, were awarded a cash prize of Rs 31,000 and Rs 21,000 respectively. Consolation prizes of Rs 5,000 each were given to Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh. School education minister Vijay Shah with participants. An exhibition for displaying paintings, food culture and regional customs was also organised by the students of government and private schools of Bhopal. Government middle schools of Nishatpura, Raja Bhoj airport area and Bairagargh were declared winners of the exhibition. A separate exhibition on the theme Samarth Bharat was also organised in which government high schools of Putlighar, Palasi and Nehru Nagar were awarded. A scout camp to showcase jungle camp, river crossing, monkey bridge, commando bridge, branch tower, ban was also organised by scout guides of Madhya Pradesh. Scout Ranveer Barela and guide Savitri Soni were awarded the best scout and guide award. The economic offences wing (EOW) of Madhya Pradesh has summoned former chief minister Digvijaya Singh for questioning in connection with an alleged 719 crore scam in MP State Industrial Development Corporation (MPSIDC). Singh was the chief minister between 1995 and 2002 when the alleged inter-corporate deposit (ICD) scam took place in the MPSIDC, a senior EOW official told HT. The EOW, in a notice, asked Singh, now the national general secretary of Congress, to appear before it on January 16 next year, the official said. This is the second case in which the former chief minister will be questioned by the EOW. A few months back in Bhopal, the EOW had recorded statements of the senior Congress leader in connection with unlawful reduction of penalty slapped on a Bhopal-based educational institute between 1993 and 2003. According to the EOW official, the case, in which Singh was summoned for questioning, was lodged in July 2004 against 86 accused, including two former ministers, some senior bureaucrats and officials of 42 companies. Former ministers Narendra Nahata and Rajendra Singh, ex-MPSIDC managing directors MP Rajan and SR Mohanty and directors Ajay Acharya, JS Ramamurti and others are accused in the case. Barring senior bureaucrat Mohanty, the EOW has already charge sheeted other bureaucrats and politicians in the case. The case was lodged barely a month after the MPSIDC submitted a report on loans disbursed among companies since 1995. The MPSIDC had allegedly first raised funds from provident fund organizations and financial institutions and later loaned out the money via inter corporate deposits among 42 companies, thus causing a loss of 719 crore to the government. Sidharth Malhotra, who was shooting in Bangkok, Thailand, returned to Mumbai recently. The actor, who was seen in two films this year, is now shooting for an action movie. He has also signed the sequels of two successful franchises. In an interview with HT, Sidharth talks about his struggles and successes. Are you anxious about the expectations from Aashiqui 3? Also, you have not been part of a movie that is based on a musician before Definitely, there will be a lot of expectations. We dont know when exactly it will go on floors. Now, its in the scripting stage. This sequel will be equally exciting, if not more, as the previous one. And music will have a great part to play in it. If given an opportunity, would you like to sing in the future? I would want to. Itll be interesting. But, Ill have to rehearse a lot. Ready to chase ! Action rehearsals ! #bike #chase #action #bangkok A photo posted by Sidharth Malhotra (@s1dofficial) on Dec 10, 2016 at 1:05am PST You have been vocal about your struggles. What changed after you achieved success? Now, the struggle is to keep reinventing yourself with your work. One thing that I have learnt from many senior actors is that you can never take anything for granted. Whether one is working with the best director or a first-time director every experience teaches you a lot. You have to forget the past and live in the present. No matter how successful I have been in the past or how bad my last Friday [release] was, the only thing in my control is what I am giving out next. Are you a spiritual person? I am not big on rituals or idol worship, because I think that also comes from the fact that I left my home pretty early. Most of those rituals that I was part of while growing up took place because of my mother and grandmother in Delhi [where his family is based]. So, since the time I have been staying on my own, which is around nine years now, I have become more independent. I would rather know about different cultures, read about them and understand them, than just blindly follow their rituals. All cultures in India have their own logic. Full family here now ! #family #dinner #love #best #time #bangkok #shoot A photo posted by Sidharth Malhotra (@s1dofficial) on Dec 10, 2016 at 8:41am PST Are you someone who has a lot of questions to ask, even to your directors? I think you have a difference of opinion, which always happens in a creative field. There is no fire without friction. You need to have the questions and answers going on a set. Whenever that happens, we have different approaches. I believe in, I do it my way and you do it your way, and then see what works pattern. I think that comes with me having worked as an assistant director earlier, which I really enjoyed. I learnt a lot about film-making through that. So I keep using that experience as well. I am like that. And hats off to all my directors who bear with it (his questioning attitude), and try to take on my suggestions too. I think that kind of teamwork is interesting. In moments of doubts or crisis, who do you speak with? It has to be two people. One is Karan Johar, who is my karta dharta [like my godfather] in the industry, and the other is Reshma Shetty, who manages my work. They both are very senior in their respective fields and know the industry well. They are sweet and protective; like my guardians in the industry. The actor will next be seen on screen, in the sequel of Bang Bang! and the remake of Ittefaq. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Bollywood actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan welcomed their first baby boy early Tuesday and internet trolls have been having fun at their cost ever since. The power-couple named their son Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi. Once the name was announced, social media became abuzz with tweets and posts questioning the babys name. They asked why they baby was named after the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur. However, veteran actor Rishi Kapoor congratulated the new parents Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor on Taimurs birth, saying the couple has a sunny boy. Kareenas uncle thanked friends and fans for their wishes and informed that the mother and baby are doing fine. Congratulations to Kareena and Saif! They have a sunny boy. Both mother and baby doing well. Thank you for all your wishes, will pass it on, he wrote. Congratulations to Kareena and Saif! They have a sunny boy. Both mother and baby doing well. Thank you for all your wishes,will pass it on! Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child please?Mind your business,it's got nothing to do with you.Parents wish! Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 Rishi also responded to some of the trolls: You mind your bloody business. Tumhare beta ka naam toh naheen rakha na? Who are you to comment? https://t.co/Sr3SOl65cU Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 Alexander and Sikandar were no saints. They are common names in the world. Apna kaam karo na tum. Tumko kya takleef hai? https://t.co/lT2i5U1Qod Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 Saif and Kareenas family members including Karisma Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Kemmu also gave their best wishes to them on the arrival of their little one. The family is delighted. Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi is a beautiful baby boy and both mother and son are doing very well!!, Soha told said. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also criticised those who made fun of Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor for naming their newly-born son Taimur. Abdullah says that its their right to decide the name of their baby and the opinion of the rest doesnt matter. He tweeted, The only people who get to decide a babys name are the parents of said baby and the ones they ask. Why should opinion of the rest matter? Another tweet by him read: So congrats to Saif and Kareena and a long happy life to their baby son. May Taimur Ali Khan have a happy and healthy life. The only people who get to decide a baby's name are the parents of said baby & the ones they ask. Why should opinion of the rest matter? Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) December 20, 2016 So congrats to Saif & Kareena and a long happy life to their baby son. May #TaimurAliKhan have a happy & healthy life. Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) December 20, 2016 Saif already has two kids Sara and Ibrahim with ex wife Amrita Singh. The couple, who have worked together in films like Tashan, Kurbaan, Agent Vinod, LOC Kargil and Omkara, got married in October 2012. Take a look at what Twitterati had to say: "Dear Taimur, I feel for you bro. Some dads should not be allowed to name their sons." -Tiger Shroff The Ethical Cheater (@Ethical_Cheater) December 22, 2016 #Taimur mean: Lion , heart , soul and iron. the origin is Arabic name. Saifu love arabic name like sara , ibrahim #TaimurAliKhan Kareena Kapoor Khan (@Queenkhanlovers) December 20, 2016 "on the day he was born in breach candy hospital, taimur ali khan trended on twitter," begins a horrible millennial salman rushdie novel. Supriya Nair (@supriyan) December 20, 2016 Why Outrage? Come on. What's Wrong With Naming Your Kid After A Brutal Muslim Invader Who's Famous For Mass Murders And Rapes. #Taimur ;) Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) December 20, 2016 @mamtara14 @chintskap I have this name Taimur Ali Khan from 27 years. And I never invaded any country, not even my neighbors. So stay kool Taimur Ali K Mohmand (@iamTribalKhan) December 21, 2016 So if saif and kareena had their named their kid Ashoka, that would have been fine ? #bhaktlogic Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) December 21, 2016 From Tagore to Timur. #Kareena & SaifAliKhan name their son after a man who committed a genocide of Indians - Taimur https://t.co/FyR4AMIkTn Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) December 20, 2016 A Free and Liberal Women Named her child 'Taimur'. This the Capital of our 70 years of Secularism. Amit Agarwal (@amitprem72) December 22, 2016 It is a very strange thing that PRITHVIRAJ's granddaughter gives birth to a TAIMUR! Kailash Kaushik (@kailashkaushik8) December 22, 2016 Follow @htshowbiz for more Last month in an interview I asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi if she would concede that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a similar personality to Indira Gandhi, tough and authoritarian. No, no, absolutely not, she responded emphatically. A month later, I am tempted to pose the question again. More specifically, would it be right to suggest that the politics behind Modis demonetisation programme is similar to Indira Gandhis 1969 bank nationalisation drive? Rewind the clock to 1969. The decision to nationalise banks was taken as part of an ongoing power struggle within the Congress. Despite having been prime minister for almost three years, Indira Gandhi was struggling to assert her authority over the Congress old guard led by Morarji Desai who could never accept Nehrus daughter as their leader. Bank nationalisation along with the abolition of privy purses became the turning point in Indira Gandhis ascent, allowing her to shed the tag of goongi gudiya once and for all and leading to an eventual split in the Congress. Read | Modi took kickbacks from biz houses as Gujarat CM: Rahul Gandhi Modi faces no similar challenge to his hegemony over his party in 2016. He is at the moment Indias neta number one by some distance. Yet, half way through his tenure, he has, like Indira, perhaps sensed the need to shake up the system, consolidate his image as a strong leader and snatch away the political discourse from his opponents. Indiras bank nationalisation was specifically aimed at creating a new constituency for herself among the countrys poor, bypassing the existing patron-client relations within the old Congress structure. Modis bank demonetisation is similarly targeted at moving away from his suit-boot ki sarkar image, and reaching out to the gareeb voter even at the risk of alienating the more traditional BJP support base among the middle class and traders. Make no mistake, the suit-boot taunt by Rahul Gandhi did hurt the Modi persona. The prime minister wearing an expensive, name-embossed suit during US President Barack Obamas visit last year was bad optics. After all, Modi had come to power flaunting his credentials as the quintessential political outsider, the son of a chaiwallah who had never forsaken his roots. The attempt to rush through the new land acquisition Act didnt help either: It was seen to be anti-farmer. A course correction was needed which started with Budget 2016 where the government appeared to rediscover the kisan and the poor. Read | PM a superman, not afraid of taking bold decisions: Goel Moreover, after electoral defeats in Delhi and Bihar, the prime ministers sharp political antennae suggested that he needed to do something dramatic and disruptive to enhance his political stature. Ideas like smart cities, Stand up India, Start up India, Swachh Bharat, may have got him the appreciation of the neo middle class, but the prime minister needed to create an agenda that went beyond the applause of his traditional cheerleaders. Foreign policy doesnt win elections so his high-profile international visits would have limited impact on the electorate. His Pakistan diplomatic adventurism had also floundered in the icy chill of the Valley. Enter the idea of a surgical strike against black money. After all, it was the prime minister who in an election rally ahead of the 2014 general elections had promised the country that he would put 15 lakh in every Jan Dhan Yojana account. That may well have been, as BJP president Amit Shah confessed, a chunavi jumla, but again like the suit-boot jibe, it gave Modis opposition a chance to question his credibility on the corruption issue. Getting back black money stacked in Swiss banks was always going to be a long drawn out process in any case the amounts in foreign banks may well be exaggerated so a more urgent step was needed. Read | PM Modi pure like Ganga, Rahul biggest patron of corruption: BJP Lets also be clear: Demonetisation maybe a questionable idea, poorly planned and haphazardly executed causing more pain than anticipated, but the announcement itself on November 8 required political boldness. It could only be done by a majority government headed by someone brimming with self confidence, bordering on arrogance. In the context of 1969, Indiras move too was considered bold and risky, driven by an intense desire to achieve political supremacy. Modi too, has taken a huge risk but arguably a calculated one. Firm in the belief that the rich and urban middle class will not desert him for now, especially given the visible lack of options, he has consciously sought to cultivate the poor by seeking to create almost a Robin Hood-like image for himself. Which is why he is pushing the idea that enhanced tax revenues earned from unaccounted cash entering the formal banking system will be used for his garib kalyan scheme and social infrastructure projects. Dont be surprised if next he promises to put 15,000 in every Jan Dhan account below a certain income level. Read | Dont coerce Opposition using CBI, not everyone is Rahul: Kejriwal to PM Modi In a sense, Modi is attempting to send out a message to the less affluent that demonetisation is a great equaliser, that it will create a level playing field between the rich and poor. The truth may well be that it is the poor who will hurt the most because of job cuts and an economic slowdown while the lives of the crorepatis remain untouched, but in a post-truth society, the power of effective messaging often precedes the eventual results. Interestingly, Indira Gandhi called a general election in December 1970 a year ahead of schedule in the aftermath of bank nationalisation and won big. The question is: If the BJP wins Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat in 2017, will Modi also gamble on a 2018 general election? Post script: There are political observers who are puzzled as to why more people are not angry with the cash crunch and long bank queues. The answer may well lie in what a senior Maharashtra politician told me, doosron ke dukh mein sukh milta hai (in the misfortune of others, we find happiness). Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and an author The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public rally in Dehradun on December 27, just two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party is set to begin the Atal Sandesh Saptah the second phase of its election campaign in the hill state. Several top BJP leaders have made their presence felt in the poll-bound state to drum up support for the local leaders. Party chief Amit Shah has already addressed more than four election rallies in the state and will be in Dehradun on Friday to inaugurate a private hospital. State BJP vice president JP Gairola on Thursday told HT that the PMs rally is likely to be held at the Parade Ground. BJP state president and leader of opposition Ajay Bhatt held a meeting with other office bearers late on Thursday evening to discuss the preparations for the rally. The prime minister will lay a foundation stone for the ambitious 11,000-crore all-weather road network project for the Chardham religious circuit in the state during his visit, Gairola said. The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the 16,000-crore Rishikesh-Karnparayag rail link project and the Centres flagship Nami Gange project. The party is yet to fix the venue where the Prime Minister would lay the three projects, he said. Gairola claimed that Modis public rally would give a tremendous boost to the BJPs ongoing campaign for the upcoming assembly polls. Modiji is a charismatic leader and his style of governance has had an impact everywhere in the country. Party sources earlier told HT that the opposition would fight the assembly polls riding on Modis demonetization wave that received immense support in the state. The state BJP vice president, however, waved off suggestions that the rally was planned to nullify the impact of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhis rally in Almora on December 23. His (Modi) rally had long been pendingIt has got nothing to do with that, Gairola said. He also took a dig at the Congress vice president, who on Wednesday alleged that the PM had received kickbacks as the chief minister of Gujarat from a corporate house. Such allegations have had no impact on the people of this state because Rahulji is one politician who is not taken seriously either in the political circle or by the common man, he said, adding that the claims were unsubstantiated. Gandhi is frustrated because he had failed to win the hearts of the people despite being the scion of a famous political family. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Harish Rawat-led Congress government on Wednesday night proposed to rechristen Jolly Grant airport in the state capital after Adi Shankaracharya, the 8th century Hindu saint, ostensibly to appease the majority community ahead of the assembly elections. The state government is sending a formal proposal to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in this regard after the state Cabinet approved the renaming proposal, said secretary (civil aviation) Meenakshi Sundaram. The history of Jolly Grant airport though dates back to 1984, it started commercial operations only in 2008. The move is perceived as an attempt by the cabinet to counterbalance its earlier decision to grant 90-minute Namaz break to Muslim state government employees. The decision, taken three days ago, drew criticism from various quarters, including the BJP, which had termed it a dangerous move. This is, however, not the first time Congress is playing a soft-Hindutva card in the state that has several prominent Hindu pilgrimage sites such as Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath and Kedarnath and nearly 78% Hindu population. The Congress is even highlighting the restoration of the flood-devastated Kedarnath shrine as one of the major achievements of the Rawat government to please Hindu sentiments. Support of the Hindus is crucial for the Congress as a large chunk of the majority community shifted their allegiance to the BJP, propelling the partys phenomenal growth in the hill state. The minority community is scattered in the plain districts, particularly in Haridwar where their number is more than 6 lakh out of over 12 lakh population. If approved Uttarakhand will be the first state in the country to name an airport after a Hindu saint. Shankaracharya, who is believed to have consolidated Advaita Vedanta, sub-school of Vedanta, is highly revered by the Hindus. The BJP flayed the Congress governments decision to rename the airport dubbing it a mere poll gimmick. The Congress calls itself secular but their acts dont support their claim BJP state president Ajay Bhatt told HT. To counter the BJP criticism chief ministers spokesperson Surendra Kumar said: Does BJP alone have copyright on every issue? Government takes inclusive decision based on merits. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Sceptics were quick on Thursday to blame the pressure generated by the continued slugfest between the AAP government in Delhi and the L-G office behind the sudden resignation of Najeeb Jung. However, the party did not show any signs of cheer as it remained focussed on who would replace Jung. Party circles were abuzz whether it will make life easier for the AAP government or tougher. In their reactions, both chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia expressed their surprise. However, both wished Jung -- whom Kejriwal has called Hitler, an agent of the Centre in the past -- well in his future endeavours. Chief Minister Kejriwal tweeted saying Jungs resignation is a surprise to me. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who spoke to Jung after he announced his resignation, said the AAP government and Jung have together done some good jobs in Delhi. He told me he was feeling tired and wanted to work in academics. I wish him all the best for his future. Last two years and even during the 49-day government we worked with him. We had a bittersweet experience with him. On many things we fought, he stopped us on many things but in health, education, electricity, we and the L-G worked together, Sisodia told reporters. Read: Jung resigns as Delhi L-G, Kejriwal calls it a surprise Jungs resignation comes a few months after his office won the first round of the legal fight over administrative jurisdiction on Delhi versus the AAP government. On August 4, the Delhi High Court ruled that L-G is the administrative head of Delhi and not bound by the suggestions of the council of ministers. The Supreme Court is hearing AAP governments appeal against the HC verdict. AAP Delhi convener Dilip Pandey said he hoped the next person who becomes the L-G, works for the benefit of people of Delhi. AAP national spokesperson Raghav Chaddha also wished Jung luck. The news came as a surprise, but we wish him luck with whatever he does, he said. AAP leader Kumar Vishwas said the news of Jungs resignation came as a shock to the party. His tussle with the Delhi government is over now. We wish him luck...He wasnt doing it by himself. He was doing it on the directions of the Centre, he said. Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jungs resignation on Thursday garnered a guarded reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which called the resignation a personal decision. Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) Delhi chief, Manoj Tiwari, said, We do not want to give any political tinge to this. He has served the people of Delhi very well and he has been a firm believer of the constitution. BJP spokesperson RP Singh said that the news of Jungs resignation has come as a shock, but the party wishes him well for his future plans. He (Jung) was a good administrator and was performing by the rulebook, which was needed in a place like Delhi where the chief minister was not following the rules. I do not know what was in his mind but if he has decided to continue his career in academics then he will shine in it, Singh told HT. Speaking on the possibility of Jung being bogged down under the pressures of the political slugfest with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government, Singh said, He did not seem like a man who would succumb under any kind of pressure. But no one knows. Every person has a breaking point. He said, inki (AAP) jung Jung se nahi thi, inki jung toh kanoon se thi (AAPs fight was not against Jung, it was against law), he continued, Jung as the L-G was only following the law. Read: Jung resigns as Delhi L-G, Kejriwal calls it a surprise BJP and AAP have been locking horns on several issues and with the upcoming municipal elections next year, the problems have been escalated. Sources from the party said that soon after the news of L-Gs resignation came out on Thursday, Tiwari met the home minister to discuss the situation of Delhi. However, they refused to reveal further details saying it was a pre-decided. It was apparently Tiwaris first meeting with the minister after taking charge of the partys Delhi wing. Sources said that the move had surprised even the central party leadership, which was not aware of Jungs decision till the last moment. Though Jung was not pleased with the frequent tussles with the Delhi government, the Shunglu panel report and the Delhi High Court judgement had clearly established his authority in the administrative matters of the capital. He has exercised utmost restraint in his behaviour and words despite grave provocation from certain people in power. Despite everything, his heart and tongue was never bitter against his critics, said leader of opposition, Vijender Gupta, expressing his shock. Gupta also said that Delhis chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal did not allow him to work smoothly and created hurdles. He said that Kejriwal must apologise to the people of Delhi for his deeds. Sources said that Jung was supposed to go on a week-long holiday this month, but there was no indication that he might leave. Six months ago his replacement was discussed but that was stalled and no discussion on this topic was initiated after that. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Delhi police are on the lookout for a man a karate instructor who allegedly sexually assaulted a four-year-old boy at a training school in Lajpat Nagar. Police suspect the child had been molested a couple of times in the past few weeks. The boys father told police that he had enrolled his son for the karate classes six months ago. An officer said that prima facie, it appears Deepak had assaulted the boy thrice. Police have registered a case against the karate teacher Deepak and are probing his involvement in other cases as well. An investigating officer said that police are talking to other students, mostly minors, at the school to probe if they were also sexually assaulted by Deepak. The boys father, a senior executive in a media company, told police that Deepak touched his son inappropriately while pretending to teach him moves of self defence. On Wednesday night, the father approached the Lajpat Nagar police station and filed a complaint against Deepak. Police sources said that the father alleged that around a week ago, his son refused to go for his karate class. Initially, the family did not suspect anything. When the child refused to go for his classes the second time around and cried, his parents spoke to him and learnt about Deepaks wrongdoing. The boy told his parents that Deepak kissed him and touched his private parts inappropriately, said a police officer. Read: Delhi: 5-year-old girl raped by 55-year-old man in Taimoor Nagar The boy is learnt to have told police that Deepak allegedly followed him to the changing room whenever he came for the classes. The Lajpat Nagar police officers called a counsellor who interacted with the boy. A medical examination was also conducted, which confirmed sexual assault after which police registered a case under the POCSO Act. Police conducted a raid at Deepaks house in Sriniwaspuri, but he wasnt at home. They later declared Deepak as absconding and launched a manhunt. The investigating officer has taken the statement of the boys nanny, who regularly dropped him to the karate classes. The woman is learnt to have told police that Deepak did not allow her to watch the child during the training. Some days ago, Deepak had also asked her if the child had complained about him or the classes. She did not suspect anything then, an officer said. Police said they are also taking statements of Deepaks neighbours in Srinivaspuri and probing if their kids had similar experience with him. Prima Facie, police say they have not found any cases against him. We have sent teams to his possible hideouts. He will be arrested soon, said a senior police officer. Najeeb Jung resigned as Delhis lieutenant governor on Thursday, ending a three-and-half-year tenure marked by a bitter jurisdictional battle for the Capital with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. In a brief statement, Jungs office said he had submitted his resignation to the government of India and would be returning to academics -- his first love. Without citing any reason for the decision, Jung thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his help and cooperation and Kejriwal for his association. He also thanked the people of Delhi for all their support and affection. The 65-year-old was locked in several public spats with the city government after the Aam Aadmi Party returned to power with a crushing majority last year. Jung and Kejriwal had showdowns over control of police, bureaucracy and clearance of files. Sources in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) told HT that Jung got the resignation hand-delivered in a sealed envelope directly to the prime ministers office (PMO) instead of the MHA to which the L-G reports. Sources said Jung also had two phone conversations with the PMO on Wednesday. One home ministry source told HT Jung was tired of the prolonged feud with the city government. Another government source said the L-G was finding it increasingly difficult to live up to the NDA administrations expectations in Delhi, where the BJP suffered a drubbing in the 2015 elections. Minutes after news of the decision broke, Kejriwal tweeted: Jungs resignation is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours. Sh Jung's resignation is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 22, 2016 His deputy, Manish Sisodia, said that despite several bittersweet experiences, I can say that we have worked very well for Delhi with Jung and wished Jung the best for the future. Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) December 22, 2016 The resignation triggered intense speculation about Jungs successor with former Union home secretary Anil Baijal -- who retired in 2006 as civil aviation secretary -- tipped as the front-runner. Another name doing the rounds was BS Bassi, a former Delhi police commissioner who was locked in a bitter feud with Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party government until he retired this January. Jung is a 1973-batch IAS officer who served in the Madhya Pradesh government and at several key posts at the Centre, including as joint secretary in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. He was vice-chancellor of Delhis Jamia Millia Islamia University before he took charge as L-G in July, 2013. Leader of opposition in the Delhi assembly and BJP leader Vijender Gupta described Jung as a man who championed the Constitution of India, Union and Delhi government rules, despite heavy odds. The Congress, however, sought an explanation from the Centre, alleging that Jung was unceremoniously removed. In a hurriedly called press briefing, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken asked: Was he (Jung) removed to bring someone who is close to RSS? Was it done considering the upcoming municipal polls? The civic elections are due early next year. The Kejriwal-led Delhi government was locked in several tussles with Jung over administrative jurisdiction and control of key sectors, including land and police. They also crossed swords over control of Delhis anti-corruption branch. The fight eventually reached the courts and, on August 4 this year, the Delhi high court stamped the L-G as the administrative head of the city-state. The AAP government challenged the decision in Supreme Court, where the next hearing is on January 18. (with inputs from Kumar Uttam) Read| Najeeb Jung vs Kejriwal govt: 5 issues over which they fought over SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a sudden move, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday resigned amid a protracted bitter confrontation with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Without citing reasons, Jungs office said he has submitted his resignation to the Centre. 65-year-old Jung, a former IAS officer, had assumed charge of Lt Governor of Delhi on July 9, 2013. Here are the flashpoints when the AAP government and Najeeb Jung did not see eye to eye: Turf war over anti-corruption branch Delhi government appointed SS Yadav as ACB chief; L-G appointed MS Meena as ACB chief. AAP government passed a resolution against a MHA notification that gave the purview of services to Lt-Governor. Transfer, posting of officers AAP government opposed appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary. AAP government opposed the appointment of Dharam Pal as home secretary and gave additional charge of home to principal secretary to CM, Rajendra Kumar. Dharam Pal was later transferred out of Delhi and SN Sahai was appointed new home secretary. AAP government accused L-G and the Centre of obstructing crackdown on tax defaulters when VAT commissioner Vijay Kumar was transferred out of Delhi Post HC order of August 5, 2016, AAP govt alleged that Jung transferred officers handling key projects like Mohalla clinics and education reforms Showdown over govt decisions A number of orders passed by the AAP government were not cleared by the L-G: 1. Increase stamp duty and circle rate of agricultural land. 2. Suspension order of two DANICS officers by Satyendar Jain. 3. Setting up commission of inquiry to probe alleged CNG fitness scam, irregularities in DDCA. 4. Proposal to introduce app-based bus aggregator service in city. 5. Jung quashed the appointment of DERC chief Krishna Saini. 6. AAP govt alleged that Jung did not clear a file related to creation of 9,000 new posts for teachers. 7. Jung dissolved Delhi Wakf Board. 8. AAP govt alleged Jung did not clear the Mohalla Sabha proposal. 9. Major tiff between the L-G and the AAP govt over the appointment of three-member Shunglu committee to review the decision by the Delhi government taken before the HC order which made it clear that the L-G was the administrative head of NCT Delhi. 10. Face off over foreign tours by Delhi ministers after L-G sought details of the expenditure. Jung had faxed deputy CM Manish Sisodia to cut short his Finland trip at the height of the dengue outbreak in the Capital in September. Read: Jung vs Kejriwal: Both sides have to learn to work together A day after guest teachers working in Delhi government-run schools walked out of an event held for them, deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia said the teachers broke his heart. The teachers walked out of the event and blocked traffic on the ring road to protest against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. I did not sleep the whole night after what the guest teachers did yesterday. They broke my heart, he said at school function in Vishwas Nagar. Sisodia alleged that the protests were motivated and alleged that 10-15 people provoked many guest teachers. You were provoked by a group of 10-15 teachers. I know these teachers, they are from VHP, Bajrang Dal and Congress. Guest teachers raised slogans against us, that is ok but you blocked the road, he said. Read: Thank you session for guest teachers in Delhi turn into protest rally Sisodia said the Delhi government has been working to improve situation of guest teachers. Earlier guest teachers used to be replaced every year in March but we kept their jobs safe but still the teachers created a ruckus. We doubled your salary. But you are blocking road. Who are you doing this against, he said. During Wednesdays event, Kejriwal said guest teachers salaries have been hiked and their leaves been approved by the Delhi government but the file was pending with the LG. The teachers had protested after the event saying that there was nothing new in the announcements made by the CM and that they were being used as fodder in the fight between the LG and the Delhi government. I have photos and videos of people who started the ruckus. Action will certainly be taken against them. The others should also think about what will happen to them, said Sisodia. When the 23-year-old paramedic was brutally gang raped in Delhi in a moving bus and later left to die on the side of a road on December 16, 2012, India reacted with shock and horror. The incident shook the collective conscience of the nation and triggered violent protests in the Capital, sparking a national debate on womens safety in India. What shocked the nation even more was the news that one of the six perpetrators was a minor the most brutal of them of all, as the police put it. The minors involvement raised a few questions. What drove the teenager now an adult working at dhaba at a roadside eatery to act with such brutality? What happened to the age of innocence? Now for a reality check. Official data over the years shows more and more young people are taking to heinous crimes such as rape. Rape was the third most prevalent crime among juveniles in India in 2015 after theft and trespassing or burglary, says National Crime Records Bureau data. In 2015, more than 41,000 juveniles were apprehended across India, 1,841 on rape-related charges. One thousand six hundred and eighty eight cases of rape were registered against juveniles in India, 119 in Delhi, under Section 376 of the IPC. Minors were booked in 88 cases of gang rape four in Delhi. Theres more. The same year, 1,439 cases were registered against juveniles across India under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty). One hundred and forty-two of these cases were in Delhi. Under Section 509 of the IPC, Insult to Modesty of Women, 111 cases were registered across India, of which 20 were in Delhi. The statistics are a grim portrayal of the state of affairs regarding minors in conflict with law and raise a pertinent question, where did we go wrong ? Experts on gender, sexual violence and aggression agree that many a time it is our patriarchal society that derails the attitude of young boys against women. Stereotypical gender roles that assign certain duties and ideal behaviours to people based on their gender distort our worldview and can impact the way men treat women, they said. From a very young age, boys learn by observation that they are special just because they are boys. There is lack of accountability, which makes them think that they can get away with anything, said psychiatrist Smita Deshpande. She explains how kids are exposed to an imbalanced power system, from almost the day they are born, which sways in favour of men. The sense of invincibility makes them believe people will excuse their deplorable behaviour with the common refrain, boys will be boys. The beginning Girls at a government school in Delhi narrated how they are harassed and bullied by boys, all of their age. The girls are on the morning shift. The boys are in the afternoon shift and harass the girls when they leave school. I have had to deal with two boys who follow me home every day after school. They passed lewd and aggressive comments. The comments varied from proclamations of love to outright threats of violence, said one of the girls who identified herself as Sana. Most of the boys denied harassing the girls but acknowledged they knew someone who did. Why did the others do so? Its all in just good fun, one of them said. They probably dont have mothers and sisters at home, he said after a thought. One answer summed it. Kar sakte hain to karte hain (They do it, because they can do it), said Ajeet. This sense of entitlement is reinforced by society, and set norms at schools and homes. Even simple things such as expecting the girl child to do all household chores, sometimes even at the expense of her education or hobbies, reinforces a belief that men should be preferred. They are superior. It teaches our kids women are at the service of men, Deshpande said. Children are not born violent, or aggressive, or disrespectful of women. They learn to be so from grown-ups and other sources. Ashok Pandey, principal, Ahlcon International School, put it in perspective. Children learn and internalise things by observing their parents and society. They see the gender roles in society where the father works and orders the mother. The brother is more valued and gets preferential treatment. All this leaves a lasting impact on how girls and boys view their roles in society. As educators, it is our responsibility to break these stereotypes while they are young. Some of the boys agreed what they observe in everyday life can affect their behaviour. I know some of my schoolmates harass girl students by passing comments, staring or following them. I think most of these kids have seen someone older doing it, said Akash, a Class XII student. Schools reinforce similar stereotypes, the psychiatrist said. At the government school concerned, the principal of the boys section explained: Students are very well aware what they are doing is wrong. They understand they are harassing these girls. However, they do not think they should be held accountable. Even if they know it is wrong, unko ek baar mazaa chakhna hota hain (they want to enjoy just the one time). The girls at this school are not alone almost every other female student has a story of stalking or harassment to share. Neither is the problem endemic to a certain socio-economic class. Shivangi, a student at a prestigious school in Delhi, lives with similar fears. My classmates are good, even the boys. But I feel scared every time I have to step out. There is the potential of real harm in every stare, every aggressive comment, and every lewd gesture, she said. Fear is the key Many girls do not find the courage to raise their voice. The atmosphere of fear can choke every ounce of courage and reason they might have. Many young girls at the cusp of womanhood suffer in silence as they fear retaliation if they raise their voices. Their fear is so far reaching that student who initially agreed to write for HT later said she did not want her letter to be published. She had addressed her male schoolmates, who she claims look at her and her classmates as mere objects. Her parents feared the boys would retaliate if they knew she had written an open letter. Can you guarantee that nothing will happen to my daughter? If someone hurts my child, what will I do? her mothers pleaded. Sana explains the fear. People advise us to keep quiet. They warn us that the boys could possibly hurt us in much worse ways if we complain. It is a no-brainer that hurting is just a euphemism for rape. And that too by youngsters her age. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Recently Hindustan Times launched a campaign --- Lets Talk About Rape --- which aims to start a conversation about sexual violence. In the first edition, eight prominent personalities from different fields wrote open letters. In the second edition, eight ordinary Indians carry the conversation forward. The response from the readers has been wide-ranging and vociferous: While one demanded that rapists should be castrated, another a proud mother of a 12-year-old girl --- sent us a short poem on girls and the challenges they face since birth in this country. In one of the articles in the series, a child psychiatrist explained that stereotypical gender roles that assign certain duties and ideal behaviour to people impact the way men treat women. When children are exposed to an imbalanced power system from almost the day they were born, a sense of invincibility makes them believe people will excuse their deplorable behaviour with the common refrain: Boys will be boys. A principal of a reputed school made another valid point: Children are not born violent, or aggressive or disrespectful of women. They learn to be so from grown-ups and other sources. Read: Lets Talk About Rape Over the years, official data show that more and more young people are taking to heinous crimes such as rape. Rape was the third most prevalent crime among juveniles in 2015 after theft and trespassing or burglary, says the National Crime Records Bureau. In 2015, more than 41,000 juveniles were apprehended across the country, 1,841 on rape-related charges. One thousand and six hundred and eighty cases of rape were registered under juveniles in India; 119 in Delhi under Section 376. Minors were booked in 88 cases of gang rape --- four in Delhi. Moreover, as one of our columnists noted, notions of honour are central to the discourse on rape. The rape of a daughter, sister or wife is a source of dishonour to males within the family structure. This deters the reporting of rape to the police, reinforced by a belief in the impunity of perpetrators, the fear of retaliation, and humiliation by the police through physical and verbal abuse. Read: To prevent rapes, its important to understand why they occur Violence against women will not decrease unless there is a thrust on having a gender-neutral approach towards policies and programmes. This is because investing in men is also a way of ensuring womens empowerment, because a gender sensitive father, brother or spouse will positively impact womens lives. After all, we all live in the same family, same community and we are interrelated and interdependent The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has reissued e-admit cards for candidates who will appear for engineering service (preliminary) examination 2017 in Kolkata rectifying the name and address of the venue. The candidates of Kolkata centre of Engineering Service (preliminary) Examination, 2017 whose roll numbers fall between 0096334 to 0118978 and who were allotted to the venue Modem Land Girls High School (HS) 89A, Santoshpur Avenue, Jadabpur, Kolkata - 700075, may please note that the name and address of the venue may be read as Modern Land Girls High School 89A, Santoshpur Avenue, Jadabpur (Opp To UBI Santoshpur Branch), Kolkata - 700075, the commission said in the latest notification about the exam. It added that the revised e-admit card have been uploaded on the commissions website. Candidates have been requested to download their cards afresh and appear in the examination at the venue as indicated in the rectified version. The preliminary examination will be held on January 8 at various centres across the country for filling up engineering positions in various departments of the central government. There are approximately 440 posts in civil, mechanical, electrical, electronics and telecommunication engineering categories that would be filled through the examination. The engineering services examination will be conducted in three stages - preliminary, main and the personality tests. Note: Please check the official notification provided above and visit UPSCs official website regularly for details and latest updates. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Digital shoppers swear by online shopping. And why wont they? It lets you try and buy, offers heavy discounts and easy returns all this without having to wait in queues at stores. We know this was the scenario even before demonetisation, but cash crunch has forced even the anti-online shoppers to change their mind. And you know thats true when that item you saved in your online cart gets sold out way sooner than you could give in to the temptation. Heres helping you be a smart shopper and beat the competition, as you bag great deals without burning a hole in your... umm.. digital wallet. No cash, no fuss Digital payments not only save you the hassle of arranging cash for your orders, but have their own set of benefits too. When shopping through e-tail sites, always keep a check on cashback and bonus discount options on certain e-wallets and cards. Certain e-tailers might also be associated to your bank, thus offering you better deals through your credit and debit cards. Multiple sites, multiple discounts We all know that there is a plethora of great e-tailers out there, but a smart shopper should never settle for the first good deal they get. If you like a product on a certain site, dont jump the gun and add it to your cart. Instead, always check for the same product on other sites and you might chance upon a much better deal elsewhere. Discounts galore We all know that online shopping comes with discounts and offers. So how do you sweeten the deal? The internet is full of coupon and cashback portals, that at a nominal subscription fee, will give you added benefits just by entering a simple code when making the final payment. Also, know what sites offer better discounts on apps as compared to their browser sites. It takes a little work, but it helps you make smarter choices. Buy in combos Every e-tail brand offers great offers on their products, but there is an added benefit when you shop in combos. Like a T-shirt? Check if that site offers a multipack set for the same or if it has an ongoing BOGO (Buy One- Get One) offer on it. Keep a tab on notifications Site subscriptions are another way of keeping a check on flash sales, discount hours and loyalty bonuses. Keeping a tab on your app notifications and the social media pages of your favourite shopping websites and you never know, you might get a great deal on that one product you had saved in your cart a long time back. Follow the fashion brigade If you are a shopaholic, consider fashion bloggers your best friends. Follow their blogs, instagram accounts and social media handles and you are bound to chance upon free giveaways and discounts (even when there are no sales going on). Many fashion Instagrammers also host weekly competitions which allow you to score the latest products without spending a penny. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Since demonetisation, the police said their control room received 169 distress calls pertaining to demonetisation, mostly from bankers, as the public in queues turned unruly. Of these, just two calls were made by those waiting in queues to withdraw, deposit or exchange cash, as per the police records. This is in sharp contrast to neighbouring Delhi, where the police received over 40,000 calls pertaining to demonetisation during the same period. Gurgaon police officials said that barring a few commotions, the queues outside banks were catered to smoothly. On November 9, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes, the police control room at the new commissioner of police office, near Rajiv Chowk, received 13 distress calls. On November 10, the calls shot up to 19 followed by 38 on November 15, the highest number of calls so far. By and large, the whole process of disbursing cash at banks has been smooth in Gurgaon, Sandeep Khirwar, commissioner of police, Gurgaon, said. We have had few calls of minor commotions, but there was no major incident reported anywhere till date, the commissioner said. Police had, in fact, deployed a majority of its personnel to manage queues outside banks. Bankers said it was primarily because of the heavy police presence at banks that the withdrawal, deposit and exchange of currency could be carried out peacefully. Most of the calls received were from bank officials, who complained about people in queues turning unruly, a police personnel of the control room, said. On a given day, the control room receives around 2,500 distress calls, of which less than 1% pertain to criminal incidents. Most of the calls are blank calls, officials said. In 2016, up to November, the control room received over 8.2 lakh calls. Seventy personnel work in three shifts at the control room. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON According to a new study, a class of drugs frequently prescribed or purchased over the counter for chronic conditions including sleep problems, depression, anxiety, pain, allergy and incontinence in the elderly is linked to an increased rate of emergency department and hospital utilisation, says a study. The findings suggest that drugs with anti-cholinergic properties could be harmful. Individuals taking anti-cholinergics should talk with their doctors or pharmacists about possible alternatives, said lead researcher Noll Campbell from Indiana University Center for Aging Research in the US. While taking a drug with mild anti-cholinergic effect daily increased the likelihood of in-patient admission by 11 percent over a year, using a drug with a strong anti-cholinergic effect daily increased the likelihood of inpatient admission by 33 percent over a year, the study said. Sleeping pills, one of the most common medications used by elders, are in this category as are anti-histamines, which are available without prescription, according to the study of 3,344 Americans aged 65 and older. The findings suggest that drugs with anti-cholinergic properties could be harmful. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Anti-cholinergics, the medications that block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter, have previously been implicated as a potential cause of cognitive impairment, by us and by other researchers, Campbell pointed out. This new study provides stronger motivation to design and conduct de-prescribing studies to determine safe ways to take individuals off anti-cholinergic medications in the interests of preserving brain health and decreasing healthcare utilization rates and their potential costs, Campbell noted. The findings appeared in the journal Phamacotherapy. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over 105 deaths across the country allegedly due to demonetisation and advised him to at least condole the deaths. About 105 people died but the twitter king (Modi) didnt tweet on it. It is understood that it happened due to your mistake, but you should have at least paid tribute. Isnt it, the Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo said. The RJD leaders tweeted remarks came soon after Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that Modi got Rs 40 crore in kickbacks from a corporate house when he was the Gujarat chief minister -- a charge vehemently denied by the BJP. Lalu also demanded a probe by a Supreme Court Judge into the matter. Attacking Modi, the RJD chief in a series of tweets said, PM must give explanation on the allegations made against him... He shouldnt remain silent. Rahul Gandhi has alleged Rs 40 crore corruption charges on Modi with evidences. This is not an ordinary thing, he wrote. Fakir never hides anything, they live a transparent life. Fakir saheb (Modi) must give the accounts of Rs 40 crore or else the people would loose faith from Fakir and Fakiri, he said. Someone has accused the so-called honest Prime Minister of corruption and he remained silent. The image of India is tarnished internationally, he added. Lalu is all set to stage protest against demonetisation at all the district headquarters in Bihar on December 28 and hold a huge rally in Patna early next year. Though Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has supported the demonetisation he has been critical of its implementation, and is likely to join the protests. A tip-off that the Election Commission (EC) is set to hold a meeting in Delhi on Friday evening and may announce the Punjab Assembly poll schedule sent the Parkash Singh Badal administration into a tizzy on Thursday. What topped the worry of the Akali Dal-BJP government governor VP Singh Badnores assent to nine populist Bills that the Vidhan Sabha passed in the December 19 special session. A battery of lower and middle rung officials were dispatched to Raj Bhawan on Thursday to assist the governors staff which pointed out certain procedural points. The Badal administration gave last minutes approvals to a host of decisions such as parking Avtar Singh Kler and Heminder Singh as commissioners in the Right to Service Commission and Avinash Kaur, daughter of a Jalandhar-based Akali Dal leader, in the Human Rights Commission in addition to 30 people in different boards and corporations. They also gave additional charge of the home affairs department to SK Sandhu, principal secretary to the chief minister. With reports of the poll meet doing the rounds, Jagpal Singh Sandhu, additional chief secretary (home) on Thursday joined the state election commissioner position a post-retirement prime slot for next five years. In past Punjab assembly elections, the EC had followed the practice of announcing a poll schedule after holding a meeting during these days of December. All eyes are on the EC meeting scheduled for Friday evening, a key government official said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The NIA has launched a probe into the import of California almonds through two trade routes in Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) over suspicion that it is facilitating a large-scale transfer of fund from across the border to foment terrorism and separatism in the state. Investigation teams of the NIA have conducted searches and seized several incriminating documents, at several places connected with the crime, in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Investigation Agency said in a statement. The searches were conducted at the two trade facilitation centres (TFCs) in Salamabad-Uri in Baramulla district and Chakkan-da-Bagh in Poonch district that were set up to facilitate part of the cross-border trade mechanism. The routes were opened as part of confidence building measures between India and Pakistan and also to boost direct trade between Jammu and Kashmir and the PoK in 2008. This is in gross violation of the state policy of prohibition on trade in third-party origin goods through this mechanism and information indicated that these funds are being used for fomenting terrorism and separatism in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the NIA statement added. The NIA has registered an FIR in this regard following directions from the Union home ministry due to the gravity of the offence and its bearing on national security. The FIR has been registered under the relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The cross-LoC trade is basically duty-free barter trade. But only those items can be brought in or sent that are produced in either in Jammu and Kashmir or the PoK. Traders at other points on the India-Pakistan border have cried foul as many items that come from across the LoC are not produced in the PoK and since they are duty-free, these items remain cheaper once they reach other parts of India, hurting their interests. An NIA team has presented the FIR before the NIA special court in Jammu. The investigation into the case is on. Revenue intelligence officers seized stacks of 2,000-rupee notes worth Rs 1.34 crore worth besides foreign currencies from fiver persons at Anna international airport in Chennai on Thursday. Based on a tip-off that a gang was involved in smuggling foreign currency out of India, officials from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Chennai Zone, detained five people in the wee hours. In the search that followed, DRI sleuths found 6,700 bills of 2000-rupee notes worth Rs 1.34 crore and foreign currency worth $ 7,000 (Rs 4.76 lakh) in the baggage. Further investigation is on, an official statement from the DRI said. On Wednesday, DRI had seized about 12 lakh foreign cigarettes worth Rs 1.63 crore that arrived at V O Chidambaranar Port in Tuticorin, by a container from United Arab Emirates. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj sought a report from the Indian ambassador in Norway on the allegations made by an Indian couple that Norwegian authorities have taken away their five-year-old child on a frivolous complaint of abuse. I have asked Indian ambassador in Norway to send me a report, Swaraj tweeted. BJP leader Vijay Jolly had written to her and the Indian ambassador in Norway after the couple sought his help in getting back custody of their child. Meanwhile, MEA officials said, Our embassy officials in Oslo have spoken to the boys father Anil Kumar Sharma and extended full support. However, Sharma informed the mission that he has hired a lawyer to represent him in the case. When contacted, Norwegian embassy spokesperson said, The Embassy became aware of this case on Wednesday evening. We have asked relevant authorities in Norway to provide us with further information, and are awaiting their response. In his letter to Indian ambassador Debraj Pradhan, Jolly had raised concerns on forcible custody of the boy Aryan by Child Welfare Department of Norway on baseless and fabricated complaint in Oslo on December 13. Sharma is a member of Overseas Friends of BJP. Jolly said he has received a call from a senior MEA official saying that help will be given to the Indian couple. This is the third case since 2011 when children have been taken away from their Indian-origin parents by the authorities in Norway on grounds of abuse. In 2011, a three-year-old and a one-year-old were separated from their parents, prompting the then UPA government to take up the issue with Norway. The Norwegian court later allowed the children to be reunited with their parents. In December 2012, an Indian couple was jailed on charges of ill treatment of their children who were 7 and 2 years of age. Later, they were sent to their grandparents in Hyderabad. It is way beyond the ability of a short-sighted and spoiled India to mount proxies like Mongolia to challenge China on the Dalai Lama issue, a state media editorial lashed out at New Delhi on Thursday, adding that there is wide chasm between Indias ambition and strength. Even the mighty US will have to think twice before taking on China on its core issues like sovereignty and integrity, the editorial said, indicating that India is foolish to even think on similar lines. India should draw some lessons from the recent interactions between Beijing and US President-elect Donald Trump over Taiwan Trump has met Chinas restrained but pertinent countermeasures, and must have understood that Chinas bottom line sovereign integrity and national unity is untouchable. Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage, a strongly worded comment piece in the nationalistic tabloid Global Times said. The piece was a reaction to the Mongolian foreign minister saying Tuesday that Ulaanbaatar will never allow Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to enter the country again. This followed Dalai Lamas visit to the country earlier following which China, the countrys largest trader, suspending two rounds of diplomatic talks with Ulaanbaatar. Subsequently, Ulaanbaatar wanted Indias help in the matter. Incidentally, the same newspaper had called Mongolias call for help from India as a politically harebrained move. The Global Times wrote: Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil said Tuesday that Mongolia will not allow the Dalai Lama to visit the country, even in the name of religion, thus settling a one-month standoff between Mongolia and China. But a long lingering issue behind it all is how India should handle its relationship with the Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama who escaped from China in 1959 lives in exile in India and is considered by China as a separatist and wolf in sheeps clothing. What angered Beijing even more was the meeting between President Pranab Mukherjee and Dalai Lama on December 11, the first time a serving Indian President had met him decades. New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee met with the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November, the editorial written by Wen Dao said. New Delhi expressed its concerns about Mongolias well-being, and vaguely pledged to put into effect a credit line of $1 billion it promised to Mongolia in 2015. However, before Indias bureaucrats could start, Ulaanbaatar caved in to the reality. Indias way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond Indias capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging Chinas bottom line. India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China, it added. The editorial said: Sometimes, India behaves like a spoiled kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being the biggest democracy in the world. India has the potential to be a great nation, but the countrys vision is shortsighted. Earlier this month, India dismissed Chinese objection to the Dalai Lama meeting the President, saying he was a revered spiritual leader and the meeting was a non-political event. A Manipuri migrant labourer was on Thursday arrested for allegedly raping and murdering an octogenarian woman at her house three days ago. The 85-year old woman was found dead in her house on December 19 with a cloth tied around her neck and two bangles missing from her person. Police said they zeroed in on one Mohammed Sameer Khan (24) in Gandhipuram area near the old womans house and a team then fanned out across the city to nab him as he was not there. They said he was nabbed after he jumped from a flyover early this morning on seeing a patrol team and got injured. Khan, who was admitted to the Government Hospital, told police he had arrived from Kerala on December 18 to attend the birthday celebrations of a friend. He reportedly confessed that he had entered the old womans house in an inebriated state, raped and strangulated her to keep the crime a secret and also took away the bangles. After recovering the bangles, police remanded him to custody and he was later lodged in the central jail here. Communal tension gripped a village in Bihars Vaishali district on Thursday after an alleged honour killing of a 20-year-old youth. The youth, Veerchand, was found dead in Sarma village early on Thursday morning, police said, adding that the preliminary investigation suggests the youth was killed over an affair with a girl from a different community. His body was recovered from behind the girls house. The girl and her father have been arrested, police said. We have begun investigation into the case and deployed additional security forces from neighbouring police stations in the village to maintain peace, superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar said. According to reports, a mob pelted stones at police and the girls house, creating panic in the village. In view of the tension, district magistrate Rachna Patil and SP Rakesh Kumar have been camping in the village. Heavy police deployment has been made in and around the village to avoid any untoward incident. Tension prevails between two communities in the village but the situation is under control, a local police official said. According to villagers, the victim was seen in the village on Wednesday evening. In a setback to the Congress in poll-bound Goa, its legislator Pandurang Madkaikar on Thursday resigned as member of Goa legislative assembly. Shortly after tendering his resignation, Madkaikar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar. The resignation was submitted before the speaker which stands accepted, state legislature secretary Nilkant Subhedar said. Madkaikar, a three-term MLA from Cumbharjua constituency and former state transport minister, is the second Congress legislator after Mauvin Godinho to quit the party ahead of the Goa polls. Godinho had on December 16 quit the Congress after resigning as a member of the state legislative assembly, and formally joined the ruling BJP. Madkaikar has filled the form for primary membership of the party, BJP Goa unit chief Vinay Tendulkar said. Tendulkar, however, refused to divulge if Madkaikar would contest on the partys ticket from Cumbharjua seat, in the Goa assembly elections due early next year. I was not happy in the Congress. The Congress state leadership has failed completely, Madkaikar said. He claimed that there is no future for the Congress in the state and this is what prompted him to take the decision. The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday arrested businessman Parsamal Lodha for converting over Rs 25 crore old currency into new. On December 1, the Enforcement Directorate raided multiple hawala operators across the country involved in illegal conversion of old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 to valid legal tender since demonetisation on November 8. The ED raided multiple locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai among others based on intelligence gathered by the agency. Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to curb corruption and black money, the Income Tax department raided several hawala dealers and jewellers across the country for cutting barter deals with people to convert invalid currency notes into valid legal tender. Former Planning Commission member and Indias top statistician Pronab Sen on Thursday warned a parliamentary panel that demonetisation may lead to sharp rise in prices of goods. Deposing before the panel on finance, of which former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also a member, Sen rejected demonetisation as a good move to tackle corruption and black money. After high-value notes were scrapped, the demand for goods and services compressed. And it has led to compression in supply of goods as well as there are fewer customers. As the money is pumped in, the demand will rise sharply and with less supply and more demand, prices are bound to rise, he said. He also told the panel that one-time demonetisation cant check fake notes. Fake currency is something to be alarmed about. From time to time, steps have to be taken to check fake currency,Sen said. RBI governor Urjit Patel was earlier scheduled to appear before the panel but the lawmakers decided to call him later. Sources said Patel will appear before the panel on January 18. It will be the first time when the RBI government will appear before a parliamentary panel to brief on demonetisation. At least five peoples eyesights were affected after having undergone cataract surgeries at Dr Rajendera Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Kangra of Himachal Pradesh, the latest incident to highlight the state of medical treatment in the country. All the patients, hailing from various parts of Kangra district, had undergone the surgery at RPGMC on December 15. The matter came to light when the five patients, mostly older people, were admitted to Rotary Eye Hospital at Palampur after developing an infection. Two of them were operated by retinal experts at Rotary Eye Hospital while three, whose retina has been severely damaged, have been shifted to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh. Doctors at the Rotary Eye Hospital said one of the patients admitted at PGIMER was recovering well while two have shown no signs of recovery and have been kept under observation. Himachal health minister Kaul Singh Thakur said he had sought a detailed report from the RPGMC authorities in the matter. Thousands of people undergo cataract surgery in charity-run camps and government hospitals every year. The operations are generally considered to be low risk and easy to perform, but such incidents are not uncommon in India. In 2015, seven people from the Nurpur subdivision of Kangra district reported partial blindness after cataract surgeries in March during a free eye camp at a private clinic in Pathankot, Punjab. The Tamil Nadu government has appointed Girija Vaidyanathan as the states chief secretary, replacing P Rama Mohana Rao, a day after the Income Tax department raided his residence, office and other properties. The state government issued an order Thursday morning appointing Vaidyanathan, a 1981 batch IAS officer as the top bureaucrat. Vaidynathan was additional chief secretary/commissioner of land administration prior to this. Read | Income tax dept raids Tamil Nadu chief secretarys house in Chennai She will also hold the additional charge of vigilance commissioner and commissioner for administrative reforms the posts additionally held by Rao. The order made no mention of Raos fate. Though there is speculation he is facing suspension, Rao will continue to remain in service without a posting as no official decision as yet been made. I-T Dept officials on Wednesday morning had raided the houses and offices of Rao and his relatives as part of a probe into tax evasion by his son, Vikram Rao, who is currently being interrogated. Read | Blame netas and babus for the rot in Tamil Nadus bureaucracy Raos offices in the state secretariat were also searched on Wednesday. The raids, which continued overnight, resulted in the seizure of Rs 30 lakhs in the new Rs 2,000 denomination notes, 5 kg of gold, and documents containing details of undisclosed assets approximately worth Rs 5 crore from the 11 locations searched, according to tax officials. The governments push for a less-cash economy might offer better career prospects for those aspiring to become cyber security experts. Union minister of information technology and law, Ravi Shankar Prasad, has instructed the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) to start cyber security courses for students. This is part of a slew of measures taken by the IT ministry to prepare for the challenges likely to come up as the country moves towards a cashless economy. The NIELIT, an autonomous scientific society under the ministry, is engaged in capacity building in IT and communications. In the coming five years, we propose to bring up 1.14 lakh qualified professionals who will be involved in creating cyber security awareness campaigns, Prasad told HT. The incidents of cyber security breaches in the country as reported to the computer emergency response team- India (CERT-In) which engages in 24x7 monitoring of internet traffic in the country have ranged between 45,000 and 50,000 every year since 2014. After the recall of high-value notes on November 8, the government has given a big push to digital transactions, bringing focus to its safety aspects. Prasad said the standardisation testing and quality certification (STQC) would offer testing facility to those who are in the business of distributing money. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), for instance, is in the process of developing an Android-based Aadhaar-enabled payment system. The app will be certified by the STQC. The ministry has set up a digital payment division in the ministry of electronics and IT to focus on safety aspects. We are also reviewing the IT Act and rules to see how we can strengthen data security, said Prasad, who plans to convene a meeting of stakeholders, including smartphone manufacturers, to discuss the issue. We are planning cyber security campaigns. We will hold workshops on digital payments, he said. A chief information technology officer (CITO) will be appointed in every ministry and department at the Centre to act as an interface with CERT-In in matters relating to cyber security. The income tax department on Thursday said it had carried out at least 43 search and survey operations across Gujarat post-demonetisation and unearthed undisclosed income as well as assets worth Rs 73.09 crore, including new currency of Rs 3.53 crore. According to the director general of investigations of I-T Gujarat, P C Mody, as many as 30 searches and 13 surveys were carried out in different parts of the state after the Centre scrapped high value currency notes on November 8. During our searches we have seized cash as well as assets worth Rs 22.93 crore, including Rs 3.53 crore in new currency. During our survey operations, people have admitted to unaccounted income of Rs 50.16 crore, said Mody at press conference in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The senior I-T official also informed reporters that the department visited Memnagar branch of a private bank on Thursday to verify information related to transactions being done using dummy accounts. We only did verification upon receiving an input that transactions were made using some suspected dummy bank accounts. We have collected some documents from the bank. Further investigation is still on, said Mody. Mahesh Shah to be called for questioning On Mahesh Shah, the businessman who had declared Rs 13,860 crore under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) and then claimed that the cash declared by him belonged to others, Mody said he will be called again for questioning. We will call him again for questioning. I want to assure you that whatever action as per the law deserves to be taken will be taken, said Mody. Principal chief commissioner of income tax, Gujarat, B D Gupta told reporters that Shah along with his chartered accountant Tehmul Sethna may face criminal proceedings for misleading the department. As of now, he has not revealed any names. We may file a complaint against Shah and his CA under IPC for filing false declaration. We have submitted a report to higher authorities in this regard. You will be informed very soon about our next step, Gupta told reporters at the I-T headquarters. 67-year-old Shah, a property dealer, shot into limelight after he declared Rs 13,860 crore under IDS which closed on September 30. Later, Shah claimed that he was used a front by some persons in declaring that money. Shah was supposed to pay Rs 1,560 crore as the first instalment on the undisclosed income. Though November 30 was the last date, he failed to deposit the money, prompting officials to cancel his declaration and start an inquiry. Income tax officials on Thursday ended their raid at the house of Tamil Nadu chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao. The raid began on Wednesday morning and continued all night. On Wednesday, searches were also conducted in Raos office in the state secretariat and in several other places connected to Rao, his son and others. According to IT officials, raids were held in 12 locations. A senior official in the IT department said cash in new currency was seized from the raided premises. Ironically, Rao holds the additional charge of Vigilance Commissioner and the Commissioner for Administrative Reforms. Rao was appointed to the post overlooking the seniority of several IAS officials. Informed sources said the searches of Raos residence and office were linked to the earlier IT raids on the residence of businessmen J. Shekhar Reddy, Srinivasalu and Prem. The IT department recently seized 177 kg of gold and cash totalling Rs 96 crore in old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and Rs.34 crore in new currency from the three. A contractor, Reddy had reportedly executed a lot of work for the Tamil Nadu government. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested all three on Wednesday. Leaders of the DMK and PMK demanded the immediate dismissal of Rao. An Indian national was sentenced to over three months in jail by a local court for overstaying in Pakistan. Rehanur Rehman was arrested last week from the Cantonment area of Lahore and a case was registered against him for staying in the country. His visa reportedly expired in the second week of December. Rehman was on Wednesday presented before a Cantonment magistrate who sentenced him to three-and-half-month of imprisonment for living in Pakistan without a valid visa. He will be deported back to India after he serves his sentence. A gun battle reportedly broke out in Bandipora, Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday morning. According to ANI, the army and police cordoned off Hajin village of Bandipora suspecting the militants in the area. The offensive comes less than a week after three soldiers were killed in Pampore when motorcycle-riding militants fired on an army bus. It also follows an encounter in Bandipora on November 25, in which two terrorists and an army jawan were killed. Since Indias surgical strikes on militant launch pads across the Line of Control on September 29, there have been more than 200 incidents of firing and shelling along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir as well as ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops, which have resulted in the 26 deaths, including 14 security personnel. Also read | Its not anti-national: Time to assess impact of surgical strikes A Kolkata-based businessman, arrested in connection with alleged conversion of over Rs 25 crore old currency in new notes, was on Thursday sent to seven days in Enforcement Directorate custody by a city court which was told that he was required to unearth the money trail. Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain granted ED the custody of businessman Paras M Lodha, who was arrested late Wednesday after being questioned here in connection with the conversion of over Rs 25 crore of old notes in to new notes in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases. The ED, in its plea seeking 14 days remand of Lodha, said his custodial interrogation was necessary to identify the names and details of international and Hawala operators involved in the matter and others who have committed the offence of money laundering under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Appearing for ED, special public prosecutor Vikas Garg said Lodhas custody was necessary for further probe as the case is at a very crucial stage. While the Reddy case pertains to Chennai where the Income Tax department made the biggest haul of unaccounted income of over Rs 142 crore, the Delhi Police and the I-T seized Rs 13.5 crore from a law firm here belonging to lawyer Rohit Tandon. Reddy was yesterday arrested by the CBI. The ED on Thursday also submitted that it was making efforts to trace the absconding persons and further ascertain the proceeds of crime and the money trail even involving foreign countries, which may take time. Opposing EDs plea, Lodhas counsel told the court that the allegations against his client were false and baseless. Officials from the income tax (I-T) department and Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted several raids across the country on Thursday morning, nabbing a Kolkata-based businessman for converting Rs 25 crore of the scrapped banknotes as well as intercepting Rs 1.34 crore in Rs 2,000 notes near Chennai airport. Raids at the Tamil Nadu chief secretarys properties also ended, though officials searched his sons house on Thursday. Updates on days activities: 1:55pm: I-T officials raided the Nandanam offices of Vivek Rao, the son of former Tamil Nadu chief secretary Ram Mohana Rao, in Chennai 1:30pm: Businessman Parsamal Lodha, arrested by ED in Mumbai for converting over Rs 25 cr in old banknotes, produced before Saket Court 12:09pm: Girija Vaidyanathan to take over as new chief secretary of Tamil Nadu following income tax raids on former secretary Rama Mohana Rao 12:02pm: Police arrests two people with Rs 29.98 Lakh in new currency notes in Karnataka 11:25am: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence bust hawala gang, seize Rs 1.34 crore in Rs 2,000 notes and USD 7000 from five people in early morning hours, near Chennai Airport 10 am: Kolkata businessman Parsamal Lodha arrested by ED for converting over Rs 25 crore old currency into new ED arrests Paras Mal Lodha, involved in conversion of more than Rs 25 Crores of old notes to new notes in Shekhar Reddy & Rohit Tandon cases ANI (@ANI_news) December 22, 2016 9:54 am: 2 people arrested with Rs 20,31,500 in Chandausi of Sambhal district on Wednesday. Rs 16 Lakh in new Rs 2,000 notes recovered. Probe underway 9 am: ED officials conduct inspections in the state cooperative bank of Kannur, Kozhikode and Thrissur and CBI in Kollam and Malappuram. Officials examining the documents of huge deposits after November 8 to 14th, fake accounts and hawala deposits: ANI 8:55 am: Old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 worth Rs 31 lakhs seized from a person at New Delhi Railway station, income tax department informed: ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Thursday morning where he was scheduled to lay the foundation stones of various projects. In the wake of allegations levelled by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, all eyes were on Modi on how he would respond to the charges. During his visit, the Prime Minister was also scheduled to inaugurate other projects and address BJP workers. Here are highlights from Modis speeches in his constituency: Let us make sports an essential part of our lives. This land of Kashi is of spiritual importance and has tremendous tourism potential. It is also a trade centre. If someone is suffering from cancer, why should one go far for treatment. We decided a cancer research institute should come up here. When they say large parts of India did not get access to education, whose report card are they giving Now that their (Congress) young leader has spoken, we have seen what the earthquake is all about. Have faith in the strength of 125 crore Indians. The people of India are selfless. Blessings of people is like blessings of Almighty Need of the hour is to provide quality and affordable healthcare to the people of India especially the poor Indian doctors have distinguished themselves at the world stage The role of technology in medical science is increasing and we are moving towards providing best medical facilities in India We thought, why not have a cancer research institute here itself. Why should patients from here have to travel far for cancer treatment Today so many development works will be inaugurated during my Varanasi visit Arts and culture have a paramount place in our society Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi hit back at Narendra Modi over the governments demonetisation move on Thursday, hours after the Prime Minister ridiculed him over allegations of corruption. In Varanasi, Modi said he was the happiest since the Congress leader learnt to speak as he unwittingly admitted the failure of his partys reign. Watch: PM Modi mocks Rahul Gandhi Here is are the highlights of Gandhis address in Bahraich: 4:00pm: You can mock me if you want, but PM Modi, you have to answer if these facts of corruption are true? And this isnt what Im asking; these are question from Indias youth 3:58pm: You have hurt the earnings of the poor, of these women (indicating the audience). Then you said one could only deposit Rs 5,000, and explain deposits above that 3:56pm: We are not against cashless economy, but we do not want India to be cheated 3:55pm: Modi attempted to deflect attention by talking about terrorists 3:53pm: Modi has created a black market on top of the black market 3:50pm: By locking Rs 8 lakh crore of your money in the banks, he is helping the super rich with their loans 3:45pm: I was told Modi is a super event planner in the most spectacular ways. He thinks about everything. 3:42pm: In the past 2.5 years, PM Modi hasnt done anything for the poor 3:42pm: How many black money holders have been put in jail by (PM Narendra) Modi? Not even one; instead he allowed (Lalit) Modi and (Vijay) Mallya to run away 3:40pm: How do people pay for things with their debit or credit cards? No, they pay with cash. 3:39pm: Everyday our farmers are committing suicide... we went to the PM with these problems, but the PM did not say even one word 3:37pm: Modi has fire-bombed the poor. Those in suit-boot werent the ones standing in line (outside the ATMs, banks)... it was the poor 3:31pm: How many black money holders have been put in jail by (PM Narendra) Modi? Not even one; instead he allowed (Lalit) Modi and (Vijay) Mallya to run away 3:30pm: Only 6% of black money in cash; the remaining is in real estate, foreign bank accounts and gold 3:26pm: All of black money isnt in cash, and all cash isnt black money: Rahul Gandhi 3:25pm: Black money isnt with the 99% of people standing in line; it isnt in cash. It is with the 1% of rich people 3:21pm: Did not see any suit-boot people standing in line outside ATMs: Rahul Gandhi 3:21pm: Demonetisation move wasnt against corrupt, but against poor and weak of the country: Rahul Gandhi 3:20pm: PM Modi didnt answer me, but made fun of my questions: Rahul Gandhi hits back An aggressive Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi continued his attack on the prime minister on Thursday, challenging Narendra Modi to answer corruption allegations levelled by the Opposition leader. Speaking at a massive rally in Uttar Pradeshs Bahraich, Gandhi alleged Modi received money from top industrial houses during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister a charge levelled by the Congress leader in Mehsana one day ago. Modi ji mock me as much you want, but answer my questions, Gandhi said, hours after the PM attacked the Congress leader in Varanasi and made fun of him. As it happened: Rahul Gandhi addresses rally at Bahraich Gandhi waived purported IT papers to the crowd and read out details of so-called transactions. Listen carefully, today I will repeat my allegations on Modi ji. You (PM Modi) have to answer my questions, Gandhi said. I will ask the same question again. Did you indulge in corruption or not? Gandhi a fierce critic of the governments shock recall of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes said the move was a fire-bomb on the countrys poor and middle class. Demonetisation was nothing but a well thought-out and planned step by the prime minister to help his super-rich friends and one percent people of the country who have black money, said Gandhi. The Congress is trying to come back to power in Uttar Pradesh after more than two decades but is locked in a tough fight with the BJP and regional rivals Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. Since the note recall was announced on November 8, Gandhi has gradually sharpened his attack on the prime minister, first criticising the move as anti-poor and then personally accusing Modi of corruption. The Congress vice president also accused the PM of waiving off loans given to industrialists. More than Rs 1.40 lakh crore loan of industrialists has been waived off by PM Modi. But he has no time to wave off loan of poor farmers, said Gandhi, who has made farm loan waiver a central poll issue in UP. He chided Modi for asking people go for cashless transactions. Farmer pays for his childs education and treatment in cash. How can you except a poor to transfer money from his cell phone for making a payment, questioned Gandhi. The 45-year-old also criticised Modi for not fulfilling poll promises. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis political and oratory skills on Thursday, saying now that he has spoken, theres no chance of an earthquake. His remarks are viewed as a riposte to the 46-year-old Gandhi questioning the Prime Ministers integrity. Modi said everyone had seen what the earthquake was all about. They have a young leader; he is learning how to speak. Since he has learnt now to speak, I am the happiest There could have been an earthquake if he hadnt spoken. It would have been an earthquake that people would have had to deal with for 10 years. Gandhi accused the Prime Minister on Wednesday of accepting kickbacks from two business houses, some during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister. Also, he alleged last week that he knew about personal corruption by Modi, but the government didnt allow him to speak about it in Parliament. Read | Modi took kickbacks from biz houses as Gujarat CM: Rahul Gandhi He said if he spoke in Parliament, there would be an earthquake and Modi would not be able to sit. The BJP responded swiftly and called Modi as pure as the Ganga. On a brief tour of his Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi, his first since announcing the demonetisation drive on November 8, the Prime Minister said the young Congress leader is learning to speak, but kala mann (black heart) is surfacing along with kala dhan or black money. The reference is to Gandhi as well as the Oppositions protests against the surprise recall of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, which the government said will weed out unaccounted-for cash from the economy. For his part, Gandhi said Modi could make as much fun of him as he likes, but should answer his question. Did you indulge in corruption or not? Read | Rahul Gandhis bribe allegations against PM stir political storm The Prime Minister didnt spare predecessor Manmohan Singh and former finance minister P Chidambaram either, saying they exposed their own report card when they disputed the governments push for a cashless economy. Singh and Chidambaram had argued that a transition from cash to digital payment is not feasible because of poverty, illiteracy and lack of electricity in most villages. Modi said poverty is Singhs legacy because he was Prime Minister for two terms and a finance minister before, and has been holding key positions since the 1970s. Whose fault is he pointing at? Did I uproot electric poles or snap cables in villages which had electricity, he said, countering Chidambarams views that online transactions cant find wide acceptance as nearly half of the countrys villages dont have power. The Prime Minister compared the opposition parties stalling of Parliaments winter session over the demonetisation exercise to the cover fire that Pakistan gives to terrorists. The comparison attracted a swift response. BSP chief Mayawati said the comment is indecent and showed his frustration. (With agency inputs) In a significant order, the NGT on Thursday imposed a complete ban on burning of waste in open places across the country and announced a fine of Rs 25,000 on each incident of bulk waste burning. We specifically direct that there shall be complete prohibition on open burning of waste on lands, including at the landfill sites. For each such incident, violators including project proponent, concessionaire, any person or body responsible for such burning, shall be liable to pay environmental compensation of Rs 5,000 in case of simple burning, while Rs 25,000 in case of bulk waste burning, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said. While directing every state and Union territory to enforce and implement Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the green panel also asked the Environment Ministry and all states to pass appropriate directions in relation to the ban on short-life Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and chlorinated plastics within a period of six months. All state governments and Union Territories shall prepare an action plan in terms of the Rules of 2016 and the directions in this Judgment within four weeks from the date of pronouncement. The action plan would relate to the management and disposal of waste in the entire State. The steps are required to be taken in a time-bound manner. Establishment and operationalisation of the plants for processing and disposal of the waste and selection and specifications of landfill sites which have to be constructed, be prepared and maintained strictly in accordance with the Rules of 2016, the NGT said. It further held that non-biodegradable waste and non-recyclable plastic should be segregated from the landfill sites and used for construction of roads and embankments in all road projects all over the country. The green panels judgement came on the petition by Almitra Patel and others seeking directions to local bodies in states and the Centre for improving solid waste management methods. Eight persons were named by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday in a charge sheet for allegedly attempting to carry out a terror strike by using explosive devices similar to those used by ISIS cadres during last years Paris attacks. The charge sheet was filed before a special NIA court at Hyderabad under various sections of the IPC, Explosive Substances Act, Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They have been charged with entering into a criminal conspiracy to wage war against the country by collecting weapons and explosive materials to target public places including religious sites and sensitive government buildings in various parts of the country. Those named in the charge sheet are Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Amoodi alias Fahad, Mohammed Ibrahim Yazdani alias Abu Abdurrahman, Habeeb Mohammed alias Abu Shaibah, Mohammed Ilyas Yazdani alias Abu Mansoor, Muzaffar Hussain Rizwan alias Abulhasan, Yasir Naimathullah alias Naimath Ullah Hussaini, Mohd Ataullah Rahman alias Ghouse and Abdul Raoof alias Mohammed Almashrifi. The NIA said that during raids at various premises on June 29, several electronic gadgets, mobile phones, hard discs, semi-automatic pistols, air rifle, pellets, target boards, explosive precursor chemicals were recovered. These can be used for preparation of triacetone triperoxide (TATP), an explosive material used in the Paris attacks. As many as 129 people were killed on November 13, 2015 when ISIS cadres used TATP substances while carrying out terror strikes at three places in Paris. TATP is easy to make, easy to set off, and susceptible to accidental detonations. The NIA also found urea, nitrate explosive and equipment for manufacturing like pet jars with liquids, capacitor, gas stove with cylinder, weighing balance, nails, knives, quartz alarm time pieces, bundle of wire. Forensic analysis of electronic gadgets seized from the accused showed online radicalisation of the accused by watching videos of ISIS, discourses and lectures of radical Islamic preachers, such as Anwar Awlaki, Abdu Sami Qasmi, Meraj Rabbani, Tausif ur Rehman, Jerjees Ansari and Zakir Naik, the agency said. Investigation has established that the members downloaded and followed ISIS propaganda videos, ISIS magazine Dabiq, which convinced them that ISIS was fighting for the rights of the Sunni Muslims, it said. The group associated with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (the ISIS) and pledged their allegiance through the Bayah to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Caliph of the Islamic State and formed a group called Jhund ul Khilafa Fi Bilad Al Hind (Army of the Caliph from the South India), it further said. The National Investigation Agencys (NIA) special court in Hyderabad has awarded the death penalty to Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and four other terrorists in connection with the 2013 twin blasts at the bustling Dilsukhnagar area in Hyderabad. There is a problem, though. None of the prisons in Hyderabad, Telangana or for that matter neighbouring Andhra Pradesh have the facility to hang them. And, as there are no gallows, the department has not bothered to fill the vacancies for hangmen either. Read | Yasin Bhatkal, 4 others sentenced to death for 2013 Hyderabad blasts We have no facility for hanging prisoners because we have not come across such cases in a long time. Though we have modernised our prisons, gallows are absent in all the prisons, A Narasimha, Telangana inspector general of prisons, told HT. One such facility was constructed at the Secunderabad Central Jail in Musheerabad during the British regime, but it was demolished along with the rest of the prison in 2003 to make space for the Gandhi Hospital. The jail was then shifted to Cherlapalli on the city outskirts, where the terrorists are currently lodged. The NIA special court also operates from the same facility. The last time somebody was hanged at Musheerabad jail was on December 1, 1975, when two Naxalites Bhumaiah and Kista Goud were sent to the gallows during the Emergency. Since then, there have been no hangings in any part of Telangana, Narasimha said. Before the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the only prisons to have such a facility were the Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam central jails. Department sources said the last hanging in Andhra Pradesh took place at Rajahmundry jail the oldest in the state in February 1976. It pertained to one Nambi Kistappa of Anantapur in connection with a murder case. Inquiries revealed that as many as 92 executions were carried out in these three jails since Independence, of which Rajahmundry Central Jail accounted for 42 hangings, Musheerabad Jail for 32 and Visakhapatnam Central Jail for 18. However, the jail official asserted that the department was fully prepared to construct makeshift gallows to hang Bhatkal and the others if their death sentence gets confirmed. We need just a weeks time to make the arrangements. As far as a hangman is concerned, we might get one from another state on deputation, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Odisha was in the news in 2016 mostly for wrong reasons like Japanese Encephalitis claiming over 100 lives, malnutrition killing infants, a sex scandal, water war with Chhattisgarh, farmers woes et al. The Naveen Patnaik government faced embarrassing moments as the story of Dana Majhi, a poor tribal who had to walk over 10 km carrying his wifes body on his shoulder from a government hospital in backward Kalahandi district after being denied a hearse in August, made international news. As the poor healthcare sector in the state stood exposed, financial help poured in from many quarters for 45-year-old Majhi, whose wife had died of TB at the hospital, while an educational institute offered free education to his three daughters in Bhubaneswar. The BJD government was under attack throughout the year as many other issues including death of 25 people in a hospital fire in Bhubaneswar, high infant and maternal mortality rates, corruption and power crisis armed Opposition Congress and BJP with enough ammo. In the words of state Odisha Congress chief Prasad Harichandan and BJP state president Basant Panda, the BJD government failed on all fronts and healthcare, education, and law and order machinery collapsed. On its part, BJD, which is in its fourth term in power, accused the Centre of neglecting the state by slashing funds and claimed that its government is ably handling all issues. The Opposition claimed that healthcare crumbled in the state saying more than 100 children died due to Japanese Encephalitis in tribal-dominated Malkangiri district in a span of about two months. The disease rapidly spread and six of the seven blocks of the district were badly hit. The state government also drew flak following the death of at least 19 infants due to alleged malnutrition at Nagada village in mineral-rich Jajpur district within a short span during June-July. Another tragedy which evoked widespread condemnation and outcry was the killing of five civilians, including three tribals and a child, in alleged firing by security forces on July 8 at Gumudumaha in Kandhamal district. While Patnaik, who holds the home portfolio, came under sharp attack for the incident, politicians made a beeline to the nondescript village alleging high-handedness. Rattled by brickbats from many quarters, the state government ordered a probe by a special investigation team (SIT). Yet another act of BJD government which drew severe criticism from many spheres was its handling of Mahanadi river water issue with neighbouring Chhattisgarh. BJD was up in arms demanding stoppage of construction of dams and barrages in upper reaches of Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh saying the projects would drastically reduce water flow into Odisha, hitting hard agricultural, industrial and other activities. Though the state government claimed it was kept in the dark about the projects over the river, considered as the lifeline of Odisha, Opposition parties lashed out at it saying it was well aware of the plans chalked out by Chhattisgarh way back in 2000. More than half a million volunteers helping job seekers in different rural schemes now have a new target: To enrol people and shops in e-economy and train them in cashless transactions. And despite an incentive of Rs 100 for making each village shop accept any form of digital payment, volunteers across India are facing a daunting task. So far, just 55,000 merchants have gone digital and 2.5 million rural Indians enrolled in cashless transactions after the government recalled Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes on November 8, said a senior member of the Amitabh Kant-led task force to push cashless economy. The Hurdles e-wallet needs internet/smartphone, has limitations of balance amount and gives no interest Smartphone penetration is just around 30% Shortage of ATMs No grievance redressal for e-payment-related issues We have asked the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to ease formats of two payment systems USSD and UPI. In villages, people prefer fingerprints over other security features and it will help in higher rates of enrollment, said Amarjeet Sinha, rural development secretary. But even the rural development ministrys own set-up for cashless economy needs major improvements. Out of the 1.1 million active workers of the Centres rural job scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme just 34% have an Aadhaar-linked bank account. This comes amid a strong push for cashless economy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a decision criticised by the Opposition as anti-poor. Now, the rural ministry has set an ambitious target to get Aadhaar-linked bank account in another 35 million job accounts. But mere enrollment will not be enough, as opportunities to transact cashless is still limited. In a review meeting, the Kant panel found that out of 160,000 ration shops in the country, only 35% had machines to identify biometrics of MGNREGA workers. But there is a massive interest among people, particularly the rural youth, to adopt new ways to go cashless, said Sinha. A standing committee of Parliament will grill officials of the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday over demonetisation of high value notes and the related flip flops. The RBI has drawn flak for changing rules 60 orders in 42 days since demonetisation leading to confusion over deposit and withdrawal norms. RBI governor Urjit Patel will not appear at the meeting of the finance related standing committee of Parliament. Other RBI officials will represent him at the meeting of the committee of which former prime minister Manmohan Singh is a member. Members are expected to seek clarity from the RBI on quantum of money that was in circulation in Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination. Several government leaders have given different figures, ranging between Rs 14 and Rs 15.44 lakh crore, creating confusion about the exact amount in high value notes that were in circulation on November 8. The current status of how much of this has returned to the bank is not known. Earlier, RBI deputy governor R Gandhi said Rs 12.4 lakh crore of the scrapped notes have been deposited in banks till December 10. That was far more that the governments estimate of Rs 10 lakh crore that would accrue to banks through demonetisation, as mentioned in its submission before the Supreme Court. The committee members will also grill the RBI about the measures it took to minimize the impact of demonetisation and hardship faced by people. The central bank has been criticized for coming out with several orders, averaging more than one a day, that created confusion. Members are expected to pull up the bank for this. Read | In Parliament and Supreme Court, questions over demonetisation singe govt Buyers of new cars or motorcycles will need to prove that they have space to park them if a proposal from the Union government announced Thursday is implemented. The rule will likely make a significant dent in the annual increase of private car sales. As of March 2015, Delhi had more than 26 lakh cars, the highest in any Indian state. In future, it would be mandated that no permission would be given to any construction without a toilet no car or vehicle will be registered without adequate parking space availability certificate, Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu said at a government function in Delhi on Thursday. I am holding discussions with (road transport minister) Nitin Gadkari and also sensitising the states. We are moving in that direction, Naidu added. Experts welcomed the plan but said the execution faces a number of challenges. Highlights As of March 2015, Delhi had more than 26 lakh cars, the highest in any Indian state. A third of Delhis population lives in unauthorised colonies. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016 aims to address road safety issues and improve the processes for citizens dealing with transport departments, but they do not mention the parking norm. Once the law is amended and notified, its implementation will fall on civic agencies and transport departments. The Centre will need to amend the motor vehicles law, changes to which are already pending parliamentary approval. The 2016 amendment aims to address the issue of road safety and improve the processes for citizens dealing with transport departments, but they do not mention the particular parking norm. Once the law is amended and notified, its implementation would fall on civic agencies and transport departments of state government. Systems will need to be put in place for inspection and certification of parking spaces that new vehicle buyers will require. Civic officials said existing building bylaws and parking norms may need to be tweaked, which will have to be done by the urban development ministry. Even though there is no framework as of now, officials from MCDs building department can carry out the inspection as they anyway visit sites to issue building plan and completion certificates, an official said. Government officials have also warned that implementation will not be easy since a third of Delhis population lives in unauthorised colonies. Apart from illegal colonies, Delhi anyway does not have planned development, an official said. Exactly a week after they killed a rhino in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam with AK-47 assault rifles, poachers killed another rhino on Wednesday night and stole its horn. Despite dozens of poacher arrests in the past 3 to 4 months, killing of the endangered animal in the park hasnt abated. The latest incident takes the death toll to 18 this year. Poachers killed the adult male rhino in the parks Bagori range and chopped off its horn. The bullet-riddled carcass of the animal was found by park authorities on Thursday. Unlike last weeks incident, when nearly a dozen used shells of AK-47 were recovered from near the animal, this time used shells of a .303 rifle was found near the carcass. After last weeks attack, forest authorities in a joint operation with police had busted a poachers camp in nearby Karbi Anglong district and recovered a number of sophisticated weapons. The last incident seemed to have been carried out by some insurgent group. The latest kill seem to be handiwork of small time operators who entered the park by crossing the Brahmaputra river, said a park official. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel is likely to be called by the Parliamentary Committee of Finance for a briefing on demonetisation next month, informed sources said on Thursday. Patel was initially to make his submission to the panel on Thursday. But the panel felt they first needed to interview officials from the Finance Ministry. Patel is likely to be called on January 18, the sources said. It was communicated to the RBI Governor on Wednesday that we will call him later. The committee will interview officials from the Finance Ministry and others first, a member of the panel told IANS. On Thursday, the panel had interaction with economic experts. Next, we will be calling officials from the Finance Ministry and CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes), the member said. Cash worth Rs 28 lakh in new Rs 2,000 denomination notes was seized from a Dubai-bound passenger at Mumbais international airport on Thursday, an official said. The passenger, identified as Ashraf Veetil (30), was about to board a Jet Airways flight to Dubai on Thursday afternoon when he was found carrying the notes in his bag. When his bags were checked, Veetil was found carrying Rs 2,000 notes worth Rs 28 lakh, an official of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport said. These notes were kept inside his check-in bag, the official said, adding, These bills were hidden inside a jeans pant, over which he had kept various items like cooker, toys and tissue papers. He has been detained and is being interrogated in this regard, the official said. Rebel AIADMK leader Sasikala Pushpa on Thursday threatened to contest the election for the post of general secretary depending on what the Madras high court says on her plea for maintaining status quo on the issue. The decision to contest for the partys top post would be based on the High Court verdict tomorrow. I will contest just like any primary member has the right to contest, she said. Denying that the she has been expelled from AIADMK, Pushpa asserted that she still remains party MP. If I was expelled I should have received letters after a proper enquiry. Even in Rajya Sabha records I still remain an AIADMK MP, she added. Talking about the dissatisfaction among the party cadres and the vacuum Jayalalitha had left, Pushpa said around 75% of AIADMK cadres were not happy about demands being made for Sasikala Natarajans elevation to the partys top position. Sasikala Natarajan is not a primary member of the party. Amma had thrown her away from the party for conspiracy, Pushpa said. Everyone knows her husband Natarajan and her family are compelling the cadres to stage a drama before people, she added. Commenting on the raid in state chief secretary Rama Mohana Raos house, she said Jayalalitha would not have allowed such things to happen. Earlier in the day, Sasikala met minister of state for human resources Upendra Kushwaha to thank him for the decision to omit certain adverse references to the Nadar community in the Social Studies text book of class 9 in CBSE. It is a historic day for Nadar community, she said. Terming demonetisation as the biggest scam in independent India, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday her party would hit the streets with the slogan Modi hatao, desh bachao from January 1, as the country is not safe in the hands of a person who has been baptised in politics through communal riots. Now Alibaba and four aides are taking all decisions, even the finance minister doesnt know it. Only God knows what is happening in the country. They are bulldozing the people, the country and even their party (BJP), the West Bengal chief minister said in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Banerjee who presided over the extended core committee meeting of TMC said, The Modi government which is talking about cashless economy has become faceless. Our partys only slogan will be Modi hatao, desh bachao and we will organise meetings throughout the state from January 1 to 8, the CM told a press conference. Claiming there is no money in banks, she said, A person who has no credibility cant lead a country like India. The decision (demonetisation) has led to economic disaster in the country. From sunrise to sundown, this government is changing decisions more than hundred times. They are changing decision even in their sleep, she remarked. Banerjee said Modi government did not make any statement on a big decision like demonetisation in the Parliament. It is a serious matter, she said, asserting that time has come for a united opposition against the Modi regime. Only because you have the majority, you cant bulldoze Parliament. Rajiv Gandhi had over 400 MPs. I dont know about Bofors but a message (on corruption) had gone to the people, she said. Outgoing UN chief Ban Ki-moon has asked India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue and exercise restraint as he maintained his concern over the increase in tensions between the two neighbours along the Line of Control in recent months. The secretary-general, whose 10-year tenure at the world organisations helm will end this month, has had a very consistent position on the situation in Kashmir, his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Wednesday in response to a question on tensions between India and Pakistan. All I can say is the secretary-general has had a very consistent position. One fact we expressed even just last month, which is to say that he is following with concern the increase in tensions along the Line of Control and that he urges the governments of India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and encourages them to continue their efforts to resolve their differences peacefully and through dialogue, Haq said. When asked by a Pakistani reporter that the secretary-general has been very reluctant throughout his term to talk about the Indian-Pakistan conflict, Haq disagreed with the statement. I would disagree with you on that. Weve had statements, including on the situations between India and Pakistan and on specifically on Kashmir. There have been statements and notes to correspondents. The last one was just a few weeks back, so I would just refer you back to those, Haq said. In a statement issued last month, Ban had expressed deep concern about the deterioration of the situation along the Line of Control in Kashmir and called on all involved to prioritise the restoration of calm and stability in order to prevent any further escalation and loss of life. Ban has said that his good offices are available to India and Pakistan if accepted by both sides. Throughout the year, Pakistan brought up the Kashmir issue at various UN fora but its attempts to internationalise the Kashmir issue did not find resonance among the rest of the 191 member states of the UN. Ahead of the state assembly elections, the Akhilesh Yadav government on Thursday gave its assent to include 17 Other Backward Castes in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list. A Cabinet meeting presided over by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday morning cleared the proposal in this regard, officials said. The proposal, considered to be aimed at wooing the OBCs in the coming elections, will now be sent to the Centre for clearance, they said. The 17 sub-castes which the government wants included in the SC category are Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar and Machua. Earlier in March 2013, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly had passed a resolution asking the Centre to include 17 castes of the state into the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) category. In the resolution presented by Social Welfare Minister Avdhesh Prasad and passed by the voice vote in the House, it was stated that in a detailed study by UP SC/ST Research and Training Institute, these 17 castes have been found deserving to be included in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC). The Mulayam Singh Yadav government too had passed the resolution in the state Cabinet in February 2004 and had sent recommendation to the Centre for inclusion of these castes in SC list in December 2004. Later, Mulayam went ahead and issued a government order on October 10, 2005 giving SC benefits to these castes, which was, however, struck down by the High Court. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are likely to be held early next year. Following an argument with his wife, an enraged father tied up his daughters and abandoned them in a forest in Uttar Pradeshs Rampur, who were later rescued by locals and reunited with their mother. Mohammad Rafis daughters - aged 18, 30 months - were rescued by a young man who caught the father in the act and informed villagers. They were later handed over to former Block Pramukh, Mohd Akbar, who informed the police and offered to look after the children. According to police, Rafi came back to his senses and rushed to the spot looking for his daughters. When he approached the police, we refused to hand him back the girls, said, Wahid Khan, inspector of civil lines police station in Rampur. Later the girls were handed over to their mother, who came to the police station after Rafi contacted her. But Khan said he has not pressed charges on the father, in the best interest of the infants. After seeing their parents, the two infants started crying and rushed to embrace their mother. It changed our mind, the Inspector said. In the best interest of the infants future, we handed them to their mother. Had I taken a legal action, the future of the infants might have been jeopardized, he said. Separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir have announced a state-wide protest on Friday, following reports that said the government has started issuing domicile certificates to West Pakistan refugees. The announcement by the government comes at a time when Kashmir is yet to recover from the aftermath of the five-month-long unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani. Separatist groups lashed out at the government, particularly ruling party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of attempting to change the demography of the state to fulfill the Hindutva agenda of its coalition partner, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Separatists Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik in a joint statement, said the attempts would not be tolerated as these were things of life and death for Kashmiris. Issuing domicile certificates to West Pakistan refugees, court verdict challenging the sovereignty of Jammu and Kashmir and allowing banks to confiscate and hold properties in the state are issues of life and death for our existence as Muslims and Kashmiris. PDP has again started working on its anti-Kashmir and anti-Muslim agenda but the people of Jammu Kashmir will not hesitate to offer any sacrifice to oppose such actions, they said. Kashmirs prominent daily Greater Kashmir on Wednesday reported that the state government has finally started issuing domicile certificates to West Pakistan refugees, after decades of controversy over the matter. The paper quoted Jammu divisional commissioner, Dr Pawan Kotwal, as saying that the certificate was not a Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) but just an authentication that the West Pak refugees reside in Jammu and Kashmir, giving them the liberty to apply for jobs. The BJP has been advocating for citizenship and voting rights to these refugees. However, separatists see these manoeuvres aimed at changing the demography of Jammu and Kashmir. According to BJP leaders, there are some 60,000 refugees living in Jammu division. They settled in Jammu after some 5,700 families migrated from Pakistan in 1947. They are citizens of India and have the right to vote. The BJP has been advocating for state citizenship and voting rights in assembly elections to these refugees. The three separatist leaders, however, said they were not against rehabilitation of these refugees. On humanitarian grounds, we fully support their every demand and urge the government to facilitate them and provide them all the rights they are eligible to. India is a huge country with more than 30 states and if they are sincere, honest and feel the sufferings of these refugees, they can settle them in any of their states... they said. INDORE: Ahead of Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishads (ABVP) 62nd national conference in Indore, its national president and general secretary have come out to clear the air on its autonomy, saying its a student body which is independent from the political party. Addressing media persons here, ABVP national president Nagesh Thakur and general secretary Vinay Bidre said, Today we are not just restricted being a student union, weve turned into an ideology. For the last couple of weeks ABVPs identity as a student wing or a political party wing was much discussed, as National Students Union of India (NSUI) raised questions about how a political party wing could be allowed to conduct a national convention in an educational institution. ABVP national president Nagesh Thakur (L) and national general secretary Vinay Bidre addressing Meet The Press programme at Indore Press Club on Wednesday. (Arun Mondhe / HT photo) The matter was moved to Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging the allocation of a government college campus for the meet, and also the financial help provided by the state government for organising the event. However, court on Tuesday dismissed a prayer for interim relief to stay the ABVP convention, thereby providing a green signal for the meet. ON STUDENT ELECTIONS Replying to a query from media on student election results in prominent universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University, Bidre said, At JNU, five different student unions contested together against ABVP, but we still managed to get the highest 26.8 percent vote. At DU, we have got 10,000 votes more than that in the previous year. Except for the joint-secretary post, our candidates won all the three other seats. Bidre said ABVP has even managed to get good results in student polls at universities in northeastern states and Rajasthan. ON OFFICE ATTACK On recent attack at their Mumbai and Bangalore offices, Thakur said that ABVP workers are strong enough to retaliate, but believe in channelising the energy of youth in constructive activities for betterment of the society. ON FEE REGULATION BODY Meanwhile, the ABVP leaders failed to comment on appointment of a regulation body to check exorbitant fees in schools and colleges in the state, unlike Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, who already have the same. Since we believe in democratic process, we can only run campaigns with people and ask the state government to bring fee regulation act. We cannot force them to do it, Thakur said. Both the leaders backed Prime Minister Narendra Modis move on demonetisation, saying it will help to curb corruption in the country. They also favoured caste-based reservation saying it should be continued until equality prevailed in the society. Indore collector P Narahari on Wednesday directed all district and municipal officials to work towards bringing maximum number of beneficiaries into the fold of welfare schemes run by Central and state governments. There are over 35 public welfare schemes through which different sections of society, mostly marginal and low income groups, can be benefitted. However, due to lack of awareness among masses, we are not being able to extend benefits of all these schemes to people, Narahari said. Keeping this aspect in mind, the state governments urban administration and development department (UADD) has started Nagar Uday Abhiyaan, under which the officials and staff will educate masses about government welfare schemes, identify beneficiaries and enrol them into the program, he said. To reach out to maximum number of people through this mission, the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) is organising awareness camps in three phases in each ward. IMC has organised a training session of municipal staff to educate them about various welfare programs at Devi Ahilya Viswavidhyalaya universitys auditorium on Wednesday. During these three phases, we should try to reach maximum number of marginal households and enrol them in government welfare programs, said municipal commissioner Manish Singh. The programs implementation will be strictly monitored. Based on penetration of different schemes in different wards, the municipal wards will be categorised under excellent, moderate and ordinary sections, Singh said, adding that the local corporators will help municipal staff in organising meetings at ward levels. There are a host of government welfare schemes that are aimed at benefitting marginal and poor families right from the time of birth to death, said Nikhil Kulmi, an IMC official. Every marginal family (below poverty line) can avail benefits of multiple programs. It is our duty to identify them and extend them the benefits of such schemes, Kulmi told municipal staff attending the training session. Devi Ahilya Vishwavidhyalaya (DAVV), Indore, on Wednesday appointed Prof Rajiv Gupta, senior most faculty member at Institute of Management Studies (IMS), as director of Directorate of Distance Education, in a bid to resolve the seniority dispute over IMS director post. The university courted controversy after it chose Prof Rajnish Jain for the post, overlooking the seniority of Prof Gupta and Prof Jayant Sonwalkar. Following reports, the department of higher education reportedly intervened in the matter unofficially. Higher education principal secretary Ashish Upadhyaya reportedly called and asked the university to withhold orders on Jains appointment. Now, after Prof Guptas appointment as director of DDE, and with Prof Jayant Sonwalkar already heading School of Journalism and Mass Communication, all hurdles are now cleared for Prof Jains appointment as IMS director. The university has decided to stick to its previous order issued on Monday, in which it finalised Prof Jain as the new IMS director under its rotation policy. The former director Prof PN Mishra had already completed his tenure. When contacted, vice-chancellor Narendra Kumar Dhakad said, The university sticks to its decision. Code 23 empowers V-Cs to appoint any one among the professors from the department as director, with the help of incumbent dean, under the rotation policy. We are following the same, Dhakad said. Ever since the Central government announced its plans to move towards a cashless economy, the demand for point of sale (PoS) machines have seen a steep ascend in Indore. Post the demonetisation decision, many traders, food outlets, shopping malls and even vegetable vendors have installed swiping machines to cope with the cash crunch. The number of requests for PoS machines received in nationalised and private banks in the city has increased significantly. In last one month, the number of requests for connection of PoS machines has increased four times. While earlier, we used to get around 250-300 connection requests in a month, now the number has increased to more than 1,000 requests a month, said an official from HDFC Bank, adding that they have also seen 70% increase in online transactions in last 8-10 days. We now get 100-150 applications for PoS machines overall in Indore branches, which is a three-fold increase compared to 40-50 applications we used to get before demonetisaton. Our team is working to cope with demands pouring in from doctors, chemists, vegetable vendors and stationery shop owners among others, said Virendra Kumar, SBI regional manager. Many traders, food outlets, shopping malls and even vegetable vendors in Indore have installed swipe machines to cope with the cash crunch. (Arun Mondhe/HT photo) The bank officials also said that there is a shortage in supply of PoS machines when compared to demands, and they are expecting it to be resolved in two to three weeks. Gaurav Chopara, manager of Sunmax corporation, an Indore-based PoS machine supply outlet, too maintained that his customers have increased by at least 30% post demonetization. Earlier, we used to get 60-80 customers a month, but now 150-160 people come asking for the machines, said Chopara, who imports swiping machines from Taiwan. He said that renting of the machines also have increased on the same scale. Chopara also said that demand for currency counting machines have also seen a significant rise as most of the cash now flowing in the market is in Rs 100 denomination. Demonitisation is not scheme to launder black money: I-T Dept The income tax department on Wednesday said demonitisation was not a scheme to convert unaccounted money into an accounted sum. The departments statement comes in wake of barrage of queries it received in the past one month from traders and businessmen who wanted to know on safe methods of investments. People have to be answerable for every penny they deposit in bank. Demonitisation should not be misunderstood as a scheme to launder your black money (convert it into white money), Indore region chief income tax commissioner Vinod Kumar Mathur said. He said any cash deposited in a bank was explainable if a mismatch was found. Mathur said the I-T department might ask an assessee (a person by whom any tax or any other sum of money is payable under Income Tax Act) to explain in case his case comes up for scrutiny due to suspicious transactions. The I-T department has no role in demonitisation announced on November 8 but it has to ensure that whatever money is deposited in banks by assessees should be explainable if the need arises, Mathur told HT. Our information system is robust. We have more information about peoples finances than they think we have, he said. Meanwhile, the department has begun to redig its records about people who evaded tax in past. On radar, are people dealing in real estate, equity purchases. He said the departments other areas of focus include vehicle registration, purchase and deployment of poclain machines (which costs above 78 lakh) and bogus accounts in co-operative credit societies, co-operative banks in Indore region which includes 15 districts of Indore and Ujjain divisions. When Laxmi Sargara hit the headlines in April 2012 by becoming the first woman in the country to annul her child marriage, 21-year-old Santa Meghwal was still in Class 12. Like Laxmi, she was a toddler just 11 months old when she was married off in a family mass wedding. She cut out the newspaper report on her role models marriage annulment and kept it in her bag for two years before finally getting through to Kriti Bharti, the Jodhpur-based child rights activist who had helped Laxmi. In May 2015, Santa filed a petition for annulment of her child marriage at a Jodhpur family court. By October the same year, she had become a free woman. UNICEF defines child marriage as a marital alliance struck before the people involved have attained 18 years of age, and considers it a human rights violation. According to the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4), 35% of the women in the 20-24 years age group get married before 18. Some of the problems arising through such an event are loss of education opportunities, segregation from family and friends, sexual exploitation, early pregnancy, health risks, increased vulnerability to domestic violence, higher infant mortality rate, lightweight babies, and pre-mature birth. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act-2006, which replaced the Child Marriage Restraint Act-1929, had introduced a section for nullifying marriages solemnised in childhood within two years of the partners attaining maturity. Annulling a marriage simply erases it from the records, as if it never took place. Child marriages in Rajasthan enjoy traditional, cultural and religious support. However, when children grow up, they find that the alliance is unmatched the man is less educated than the woman, he doesnt want her to continue her studies, the families dont approve of women working, or the men are found to be medically unfit and want to call it off. But that takes a hard battle against a feudal society. The caste elders, who have a hand in pushing child marriages, oppose the womans decision. When Santa filed the annulment petition, a caste panchayat at Rohicha Kalan village in Luni block, slapped a fine of Rs 16 lakh on the family and ex-communicated it for two years. Bharti, who fought Santas case, was threatened with gang rape and mutilation. However, Santa was determined to end the marriage because the husband was harassing her as well as her friends. I wanted to study and get a government job. Keeping that in view, how could I live with an alcoholic who had absolutely no interest in education? Santa asked. Life was difficult for some time, but Im a free woman now, she beamed, proudly holding out the newspaper clipping that she still carries in her tote bag. She has now graduated from college, and is writing competitive examinations to bag a government job. Twenty-year-old Ashok Bishnoi was married off at the tender age of four along with sisters, Priyanka (who was just 10 months old) and Mamta, during a funeral ceremony to save money. In accordance with Rajasthani customs, Ashok had to tie the knot with a girl from Priyankas in-laws family. Ashok and his sisters learnt about their marriages just two years ago, after which they decided to reverse the archaic tradition. The three filed petitions in a Jodhpur court on April 16, 2015. While Ashok and Priyanka obtained their annulment decrees in a record two days, Mamtas case is still in court. Bhartis Saarthi Trust which has assisted in 31 such cases across Rajasthan said nobody used the annulment clause for the first six years after the law was amended in 2006. We also faced many problems in the beginning the courts treated annulment petitions as divorce petitions. There were two reasons for this: one, rules made for implementation of the 2006 Act are silent on annulment, and two, theres lack of judicial awareness on annulment, said Bharti. The 29-year-old activist described child marriage annulment as a curative approach that removes girls from the dark room of early marriage. Why, then, should victims of an early marriage carry the burden of divorce when annulment is possible? she asked. Bharti said the authorities were focusing more on prevention of child marriages, rather than annulment. Prevention is good, but the curative approach should also be looked into, said the activist, who has chosen to remain single herself. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Priyanka Gujjars marriage was fixed 16 years ago, when she was still a foetus in her mothers womb. The wedding took place nine days after her birth, and she took the seven rounds around the sacred fire sitting on her mothers lap. However, Priyanka now a Class 11 student at a government senior secondary school in Tonk districts Niwaria village has refused to go to her husbands house before she completes her studies. My father and father-in-law are friends. When my mother and mother-in-law were expecting, the two fixed our marriage, hoping that one will deliver a girl and the other a boy, she told volunteers of the Ladli Samman campaign who went to her school in November. The state government launched the campaign in 2014 to spread awareness against child marriage and encourage under-aged brides to resist gauna (the ceremony where the wedded woman enters her husbands house) until they turn 18. The campaign began on September 20 this year and ended on November 30, covering 120 gram panchayats in four blocks of the district Tonk, Todaraising, Deoli and Uniara. According to data from the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4), the percentage of women who were married before 18 the legal age for women to get wedded in India came down by half in Rajasthan over the last 10 years. It showed that only 35.4% women in the 20-24 age group tied the knot before 18 during this period. In NFHS-3 (2005-06), it stood at 65.2%. Among men, the decline was not as steep in NFHS-4. The percentage of men who married before 21 the legal age of marriage for men came down to 35.7 from 57 in NFHS-3. However, activists working against the illegal practice of child marriage are not satisfied. The pace of the decline is still too slow, they say. Between NFHS-3 (2005-2006) and NFHS (2015-2016)-4, there has been a decline of 35% in child marriage, which means an annual decline of about 3%. This is too less, if you compare that with the annual growth of Rajasthans gross domestic product, said Sanjay Nirala, the child protection officer of UNICEF, Rajasthan. More attention and investment is needed to eradicate the harmful practice, he added. Nirala pointed out that the data also needs to be correlated with the total number of unmarried people below the legal age of marriage. There is a vast difference. There were 6% women in the 15-19 age group who had already given birth or were pregnant at the time of the survey (2015-16) in the state. This proportion was 16% in 2005-06, he said. Laadli Samman covered 360 gram panchayats in three seasons of 70 days each. Vipin Tiwari, the campaign convenor, said the percentage of child marriage was going down due to rising awareness levels. But the percentage is still high. We want complete eradication of this illegal practice, he added. Kriti Bharti of the Jodhpur-based Sarthi Trust, which works with young couples to annul child marriages through courts, said child marriages were being solemnised during Mosar (the ceremony held when someone in the family dies) instead of Akshay Tritiya (the auspicious day for weddings in the Hindu month of Vaishakha, which coincides with late April-early May). This is because the state machinery sounds an alert, and district collectors set up control rooms for information on possible child marriages, a few days before Akshay Tritiya begins. Families in the state believe they can escape detection if their children are married off on other occasions, Bharti said. Tollywood is known to turn issues of peoples interest into films, but none so quickly and as more relevant than this one. Tollywood filmmaker Suvendu Ghosh (Raj) has completed a Bengali feature film on demonetisation. Ghosh has titled his film Shunyota (Emptiness) and is releasing it on Friday as he wants to hit the screen before the last date of banks accepting old notes of Rs 500 and 1,000, which is December 30. This is the first film to be produced anywhere in the country on the vexed topic. It will premiere at Nandan, which is one of Bengals most prestigious movie halls and is owned by the West Bengal government. This year 42-year old Ghosh received the best debutant director award in Goa International Film Festival in Dubai. He started shooting the film on November 26, a mere 18 days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the move. Starring Arun Guhatharkurta, Arindol Bagchi, Rupali and Swaralipi the film was shot in a coal mine belt near Raniganj. Shooting was completed within a mere seven days. Tollywood filmmaker Suvendu Ghosh has made films like Bhoy and Chetana in the past. After the Prime Ministers demonetisation announcement, there is a lot of confusion all around. We heard that a man collapsed in a long queue. We thought this can make for a good script, said the director, who had earlier directed Bengali films such as Bhoy and Chetana. The story of Shunyota revolves around a mother and daughter who work in the coal mine belt. The daughter is about to get married and the mother, a widow, sells off her land to fund the marriage. However, the Prime Ministers sudden announcement upsets their lives. Ghosh is keen on showing the film to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has emerged as the most strident critic of the demonetisation move. I would really appreciate if she watches the film, he said. Shunyota stars Arun Guhatharkurta, Arindol Bagchi, Rupali and Swaralipi. The director also told HT that he is not trying to convey any political message through the film. He felt the story had to be told through the life of a common man when the entire country is grappling with currency shortage. The old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes can be deposited in bank until December 30. So, I wanted to release my film within this month, said the director. He also said that the end of the film is open ended for the audience to draw their own conclusion. I dont know whether its ignorance on the matter or any miscommunication that has led to this enormous confusion and crisis. I have just tried to tell a story, he said. This is Ghoshs fourth film. Recently Tollywood has churned out films based on the Sheena Bora murder and massacre at a Dhaka bakery. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Thanks to demonetisation, the state forest department cannot pay members of hula party, a squad that is deployed to chase away elephants, thereby increasing the risk to the lives of many in Bengal. The importance of elephant chasers can be gauged from a simple piece of statistic -- Bengal tops the states in the country in terms of man-animal conflict. Every fourth Indian who is killed in animal attack, is from West Bengal. Every year a number of people are killed by elephant and tiger attacks in Bengal. In the year 2015-16, elephants killed as many as 108 people. Elephants not only kill people, but also destroy houses and crops every year. Worse, elephants tend to stray more into human habitations during the winter months. While tiger attacks are restricted to villages in the Sunderbans, marauding herds of elephants roam around a far wider area -- in the districts of West Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura in south Bengal and Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar in the north. Demonetisation has paralysed the entire economy. We have not been able to pay Hula party members who are at the centre of our strategy to drive away elephants. Now, who will be responsible when elephants kill villagers? asked forest minister Binay Krishna Barman. With existing members not getting payment, new members are declining to join the squad. Hula parties were set up quite some years ago. They are equipped with drum, torch and fire crackers. When elephants stray into villages, the Hula party and forest department staff plays an active role to drive away elephants. There are nearly 20-25 groups of Hula party across South Bengal. Each group consists of 25-30 people and they are paid Rs 224 per head for 8 hours duty. They are deployed 60 to 80 days in a year. Earlier, the range officer would pay cash. Payments were made a day after the elephant was driven back. After demonetisation payments have become very slow, said Anjan Guha, divisional forest officer of Kharagpur in West Midnapore district. Sanjay Dutta, the ranger of Belacoba Range, Jalpaiguri, remarked, For driving away elephants, we have to hire people. But we cant do that right now because of the cash crunch. In an administrative meeting in Jhargram in June, chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed concern at the frequent crossing of elephant herds from the Dolma hills of Jharkhand. The chief minister instructed forest department officials to ensure that humans do not fall prey to elephant herds. Rebuking her officials, Mamata asked them to value human lives. If I dont see any improved results, I will shut down the department, the chief minister said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The famous chikankari and zardozi business in Lucknow has taken a beating following demonetisation, weavers have complained. The usually over-crowded markets like Ameenabad and Chowk are witnessing much less footfall for the past one and a half month. Ameenabad and Chowk are the hub of chikan clothes while Hazratganj has many grand showrooms. Zardozi workers are mainly found in the area between Akbari gate and Gol darwaja in the walled city. While chikankari is a traditional embroidery style from Lucknow believed to have been introduced by Noor Jahan, the wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir, weavers use gold and silver threads in zardozi work. Lucknow zardozi products are manufactured in areas in Lucknow and six surrounding districts of Barabanki, Unnao, Sitapur, Rae Bareli, Hardoi and Amethi. BK Rastogi, owner of the over six-decades-old Bhagwat and Sons shop at Chowk area, says sales had dropped by 40% due to demonetisation. Seventy percent of contract workers are struggling and there are difficulties in circulation. The worst affected are kaarigars (weavers) who are not getting enough work. We supply to cities like Mumbai and Delhi but there is around 40% drop in sales, Rastogi said. The process of chikankari includes designing, engraving, block printing, embroidery, washing and finishing and for every step we hire kaarigars who are paid in cash. It is difficult for businessmen as there is a withdrawal limit post demonetisation. We cant pay them through Paytm or cards, he added. Zafar Ali, who has been handling his ancestral zardozi business at Shahi Shafakhana Chowk, said the note ban had made their lives very difficult. There are 12-13 kaarigars working on daily wages here. We purchase raw material in cash and it is difficult now due to lack of cash. Normally, we get orders from big showrooms but there are not enough orders these days. Forget about profit, it is getting harder even to retrieve the cost, he said. Aiming to lend a helping hand to the victims of the war torn Aleppo, 18-year-old Delhi girl Roshni Gulati, will be leading a march at Jantar Mantar on December 24. The march will raise awareness about the worsening situation in Aleppo and will also try to make a difference by collecting contributions for the people suffering there. People are dying every minute as the world silently observes. I cant let that happen. We need to make as much noise as possible instead of just sighing and feeling sad every time. To show our solidarity to the situation I am organising a march tomorrow, says Gulati. The march will start from Jantar Mantar and participants will contribute in some way they can for the victims of the war torn city. I have written to the several international organizations and they are happy to help us. I will collect the money from the participants who wish to contribute and I will further donate to the organisations such as World Wide Tribe and more. Gulati, who is nervous about her initiative also hopes that with the right support , she will be able to make a big difference to the lives of the people in Aleppo. This is the first time I am holding a march and I am quite nervous but on the other side,I am positive and that people will participate in the march and extend their help. Facts WHAT: March for Aleppo WHERE: Jantar Mantar WHEN: December 24 TIMINGS: 11am to 2pm NEAREST METRO STATION: Rajiv Chowk on the Yellow Line SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari has asked party members to start distributing laddoos at the doorstep of Delhis residents. Many BJP workers even distributed them to people waiting in queues outside banks and ATMs. He says they are doing it to applaud people patience. The name of the new initiative is Thanks and Feedback Programme where the feedback will be compiled and sent to the BJP unit. However, Twitter, like always, has found fodder for mockery. Here are some of the funniest reactions on the matter: Any videos of bjp Delhi guys trying to distribute laddoos to people in ATM queues? Wait, are they acknowledging now that there are queues? Nikhil Pahwa (@nixxin) December 13, 2016 Food Blogger: Main ATM jaa rahi hoon Mom: Par paise toh hai tere pass FB: Paise nikalne nahi mom. Wahan laddoo khaungi fir review doongi Bhayanak Puppy (@BhayanakPuppy) December 13, 2016 Next: Laddoo diameter too large to dispense from existing machines. Need recalibration https://t.co/LsgcVmOaDt Bharat Shubhchintak (@TheHattivist) December 13, 2016 I think we all can evade taxes now and give the government a laddoo each. If they queue up to collect taxes, that is. Bharat Shubhchintak (@TheHattivist) December 13, 2016 Look. They're smart. They know the laddoos are funny. They are giving them out so we spend time discussing laddoos instead of real shit. Vir Das (@thevirdas) December 14, 2016 Saffron party giving orange laddoos to very blue brown people standing in line for pink money that is white. We are a colourful country. Vir Das (@thevirdas) December 13, 2016 Ppl in ATM queues to get laddoos. This is reminiscent of 26Jan/15Aug in school when I go thru boring programs n queues just to get laddoos. Aladdin (@Alllahdin) December 13, 2016 Waiting for Kejriwal to tell us that the laddoos that BJP is distributing have been bought using old notes to get rid of their black money. Sapan Verma (@sapanv) December 13, 2016 waste , ! Aisi Taisi Democracy (@AisiTaisiDemo) December 13, 2016 Day1:1 ladoo per family Day2:Actually 2 ladoos per 3 families Day3:Not ladoos, sugar cubes Day4:Aap ladoo kha rahan hai, wahan border par... Rajneesh (@MrMrRajneesh) December 13, 2016 Be careful guys the laddoos come with nano gps chips... Jose Covaco (@HoeZaay) December 13, 2016 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Even after scouring through the CCTV footage of at least 250 cameras, questioning 150 people and forming 18 teams, the police are yet to find leads on the rape and murder of a 25-year-old physiotherapist, whose body was found at her Vile Parle house on December 6. Police sources said they have rummaged through the CCTV footage within a 2-km radius in a bid to identify any suspicious movement around the physiotherapists house. During the course of investigation, officials have questioned at least 150 people for a clear picture on the sequence of events leading to her death. The police have questioned the victims relatives, her close friends and her boyfriend. Only hours before she was killed, the woman was in her room with a friend making plans for the latters birthday. While her friends claimed she left close to midnight, the police have not found anything that goes against the sequence of events provided by the victims friends. What stumped the police was there was no sign of forced entry into the house. Also, even though the house is in a congested chawl with rooms close to each other, the neighbours did not hear any commotion until they saw smoke emitting from her house. The police are now relying on call detail records to prepare a list of suspects. According to the police, the incident is likely to have taken place between midnight and 3.30am on December 6. The accused strangled the physiotherapist with her pair of jeans after strangulating her with hands. The accused set the room on fire in an apparent bid to destroy evidence. HT spoke to the local residents who claimed that many of them are awake till as late as 2am. A neighbour whose house is adjacent to the victims told the police in her statement that she did not hear any noise as her TV set of her house was on. The police were looking into the background of three men - one of whom had an altercation with her over a family matter. A local youth and her boyfriend were also questioned. No fingerprints were found that could assist the probe. The police have collected samples of burnt items and are awaiting a report. READ Vile Parle physiotherapist was assaulted by more than one person: post mortem report SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Maharashtra anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Wednesday gave a clean-chit to beleaguered state women and child development minister Pankaja Munde in the chikki scam. Although the agencys closure report has come as a relief to the minister, the Opposition has launched a scathing attack against the Fadnavis government for allegedly shielding her. Amid attacks and counter attacks over alleged irregularities in the purchase of chikki, here are the five things we know about the scam: 1. The controversy relates to awarding of chikki contracts worth Rs206 crore for school children. In June 2015, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant had filed a complaint with the ACB, alleging Mundes ministry had, on her orders, flouted rules and favoured certain companies when awarding contracts worth Rs206 crore in February. 2. One Suryakanta Mahila Audyogik Sanstha (SMAS) was awarded a contract worth for Rs113 crore allegedly without due process. SMAS had quoted a price of Rs285 per kg of chikki, even though other groups had allegedly sought Rs127 per kg. Significantly, the department responsible for awarding contracts had opposed the contract to SMAS in April 2013. Radhika Rastogi, then industries development commissioner, had categorically said the contract should be awarded only by inviting tenders. 3. Two government resolutions (GRs), among the 24, were for the purchase of the same items electronic physiogrowth monitors (EPGM), which are used to track the health of malnourished children. Two firms from north Maharashtra were awarded the contracts for Rs6 crore and Rs18 crore. 4. Sachin Sawant, spokesperson for the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, said the chief minister is backing corrupt ministers and legislators. If the state doesnt want to act on complaints of corruption, they should shut the ACB, Sawant told reporters on Wednesday. He demanded that the government make the details of the investigation public. 5. Munde said she had always maintained no irregularities were committed and the allegations were meant to defame her. The ACB sought an explanation from my department on the allegations. After examining charges, the agency concluded there was no truth in them, Munde told HT READ Purchase of chikki: Oppn slams clean chit to Munde Chikki scam: Graft charges against me were false, says Pankaja on clean chit Pankaja Munde given clean chit by Maharastra ACB in chikki scam Three days after registering a case of murder, the police are yet to locate the accused purportedly responsible for death of four-year-old Manavi Ingale, who fell to death from a high-rise in Byculla. The Byculla police and the Mumbai police crime branch which is conducting a parallel investigation have questioned a few neighbours, who the victims father raised suspicions about. According to the police, two women residing on the same floor as the Ingales, had fought with Manavis father a few times. We scrutinised CCTV camera footage to check whether any unidentified individual entered the building. The incident took place around 12.23 pm on Monday. The father Ashok Ingale does not suspect anyone besides the two women, said an officer of the Byculla police. Ashok said that when he stepped out of the house to feed Manavi, he saw one of the neighbours roaming on the floor. He added that she ignored him and went back inside. Ashok is suspicious of her because earlier that same afternoon at 12.05 pm, an advocate had come to her house to give her a letter. As she didnt open the door, the advocate kept troubling Ashok, asking him to take the letter, which he refused to do. He said that when he went to feed Manavi, he saw the neighbour outside, said an officer. Manavi fell from the window of a gallery at New Hind Mill MHADA colony around 1pm on Monday. She had been dressed and ready to leave for school. She was rushed to KEM Hospital, but doctors there declared her brought dead. Her mother Aarti, a traffic constable, was at work when she was informed. Senior police inspector Avinash Shingate fromthe Byculla police station said, We have not arrested anyone till now. We are trying to gather evidence. The two women are the main suspects. However, we are not ruling out the involvement of a third person. Read Abandoned infant found in parking lot at Mira Road Infant suffers burns while being treated at pvt hospital Infant falls ill on Jet flight SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A CBI court on Thursday permitted Indrani Mukerjea to perform last rites of her father, Upendra Bora, in Mumbai under police escort. Indrani, key accused in the Sheena Bora murder, had on December 20 moved an application to visit Guwahati after her fathers death. Indranis son Mekhail, who was adopted by Upendra, had objected to her plea. Later, she had changed her plea and her lawyer, Gunjan Mangala, pleaded that if not to Guwahati, she be given a permission to perform rituals in Mumbai. The CBI had, however, objected saying that she can perform all rites in the jail. While Indrani so ironically performs last rites of her father..I hope she spares a thought for Sheena too. She should be alive today rahulmukerjea (@rahulmukerjea) December 22, 2016 After hearing arguments, the court allowed Indrani to perform rituals from morning till evening on December 27. She is allowed to choose a place of her choice for the rituals, the court said. The court, however, restrained her from speaking to media or any other person. READ Indrani lured Sheena with promise of a diamond ring, claims driver Rai SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Its adapt or perish time for e-wallet apps that have suddenly been forced to cater to thousand of more users following the demonetisation announcement. Sick of queues, many Mumbaiites have signed up for e-wallet apps; while small vendors and vegetable sellers have also resorted to accepting payments through such apps. The apps are now upping their security features, imposing cash limits and asking for transaction passwords to make payment a more secure. While experts feel e-wallets in generally safe, newer applications coming into market may need quality checks. To avoid misuse, phones need to be secured first. If they are in the wrong hands, it would compromise details. Other safeguards come later, said cyber expert Vicky Shah. Shah said there were no security passwords for e-wallets earlier. Even the RBI has stepped in, setting a cap of Rs20,000 as a balance limit for e-wallets. This cap is relaxed to Rs1 lakh only after the know-your-customer process (KYC) to verify the user has been completed . These checks have also made it possible to track thos who steal money using e-wallets. Through the transactions and with help of the telecom service provider, officials can find the communication device from which the transaction was done. But this takes a lot of time, Shah said. To add a another layer of security, the telecom regulator has asked service providers to use the Aadhar cardsbiometric records before handing out new numbers. The key to keeping ensuring your e-wallet is safe is not linking it to bank accounts. An auto refill to the e-wallet will keep your wallet full whenever it dries up. But this not alert the user to keep if money is being emptied, Shah said. READ Of passwords and OTPs: Cashless economy may boost cyber crime E-wallets raise privacy and hacking fears Demonetisation effect: Watch out for virtual pickpockets In the mad rush for cash in these desperate times of demonetisation, one bunch of people are profiting online scamsters looking to make the most of an economy still learning the ropes of mobile wallets and e-transactions. In the weeks since the Centre scrapped the high-value banknotes of Rs500 and Rs1,000, a large part of urban India is getting used to buying and paying for everything online from fruits and vegetables to rides to work in a bid to conserve scarce cash. The government too has been pushing for more of India to go cashless with numerous incentives. But in the scramble and desperation, questions about how secure these new-age systems are have got lost. Fraudsters are cashing in on the frenzy as people have become more vulnerable.. The police report receiving complaints of con calls that ask people for debit card details, stating they could be blocked. They claim to be calling from the Reserve Bank of India and other banks. They convince their victims, take the information they need and then empty their accounts. Such scamsters are quickly taking their crimes to e-wallets, said an officer with cybercrime unit. Online wallets are exposed as their functioning is still too new, too unorganised. They also lack some basic security features such as a know your customer (KYC) verification system. They also use a mobile number to be set up. There is no cap on the number of e-wallet apps that can be operated on a single mobile number, which means fraudsters use forged documents to duplicate mobile numbers and empty out accounts. Sources in the police department said they have written to the RBI, requesting providing stricter rules to monitor online wallets. The fraudsters are cashing in on panic-striken card holders. Many of the victims are middle-aged or senior citzens who are less tech savvy, said Sachin Patil, the deputy commissioner of police (cyber cell). Patil said one way to prevent getting duped is not give out card numbers pins or CVV numbers and OTPs to anybody asking for this information over the phone. Also, learning how to use an e-wallet will help. Gathering operational knowledge of e-wallets and being cautious while conducting online transactions is the key to safety when dealing with money electronically, Patil said. READ Of passwords and OTPs: Cashless economy may boost cyber crime The real troubles in virtual payments 1. From 2009 assembly defeat to BJPs youth wing president: Poonam Mahajan has come a long way On Thursday, the 36-year-old BJP MP will formally take over as the head of the partys youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, in a small function in Delhi. READ 2. Meet Pankaja Munde: Controversys child in Fadnavis government If there is any controversys child in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra, it would have to be state women and child development minister Pankaja Munde.The 37-year-old daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde also has an uncanny ability to weather these controversies. READ 3. Shiv Sena taunts Chandrababu Naidu for his U-turn on demonetisation The Shiv Sena on Thursday lashed out at Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu over his U-turn on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union governments demonetisation move. READ 4. Court allows Indrani to perform last rites of her father in Mumbai on December 27 A CBI court on Thursday permitted Indrani Mukerjea to perform last rites of her father, Upendra Bora, in Mumbai under police escort. READ 5. 5 things we know about chikki scam and allegations against Pankaja Munde The Maharashtra anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Wednesday gave a clean-chit to beleaguered state women and child development minister Pankaja Munde in the chikki scam. READ In 2009, four years after the murder of senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, his daughter Poonam, then 29, stood for her first assembly election in Mumbai. She got a ticket when many in BJP circles had written her family off, despite her uncle and senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde being alive. In the main battle, she lost her assembly fight ironically, against her fathers former associate, Ram Kadam (now a BJP MLA) of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Since then, Poonam has come a long way. On Thursday, the 36-year-old BJP MP formally took over as head of the partys youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, in a small function in Delhi. She is only the second woman to hold the post, the first being Uma Bharati. But, its also a post that her father, the Union home minister Rajnath Singh and three-term Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan filled at the beginning of their careers. There is little doubt that being BJPs Yuva Morcha national president can set the stage for greater things. The one thing my father taught me is that no one is bigger than the organisation. I am glad that my hard work has been recognised. I will use this opportunity to work for my party and better its chances everywhere. This is a golden decade for India. My heart is in my city and I want to see Mumbai transformed as among the best global cities, Poonam told HT. The transformation did not come easy, given the heartbreaking drubbing in 2009. From being her fathers daughter to a brash and often arrogant political novice, to an efficient organiser, to a go-getter and a networker, Poonam has managed to work well and rebuild ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP bosses in Delhi and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Those close to Poonam pointed out it was the 2009 defeat and consequent turning of friends into foes that steeled her. Her efforts for self-improvement benefited her the most, her associates said. Her endeavour included public speaking tuitions to changing the wardrobe to party work to brushing up on political and social issues to speak at rallies and functions. In 2010, she was appointed the national vice-president of the BJYM, and, in 2013, she became the youngest national secretary of the BJP. But, the party post didnt make it any easy for her to get a ticket for the 2014 elections from a constituency, Mumbai North East, she thought she had a chance to win. The partys former MP Kirit Somaiya had lost two elections here and Poonam thought she was a good bet for the party. Despite lobbying hard and cultivating this constituency, Poonam was denied the ticket and Somaiya was given another chance instead. She then took a chance on a constituency, Mumbai North Central, a Congress stronghold that no one from BJP was willing to contest. Her unexpected win in these polls became a turning point in her career. Over the last two years, Poonam has made herself indispensable to the citys big projects by using her MP status to co-ordinate and push citys agenda with Union ministers. She has partnered and supported chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in all Mumbai projects from building an International Finance Centre (IFC) to being a member of the CMs war room on infrastructure. Recently, she pulled off the Global Citizen event in Mumbais Bandra Kurla Complex that was headlined by the British rock band Cold Play. That earned her a pat on the back from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the young audience of thousands via a video conference from Delhi. Poonam constantly shuttles between Mumbai and Delhi. Many may not know that her relations with Fadnavis are better than with her cousin and state minister Pankaja Munde. She is one of the CMs few steadfast supporters in the state today. Her greatest strengths are in driving key initiatives, working with a team and smooth execution. Her leadership is participatory in nature and this has helped us through our last two-year journey in pushing big ticket projects, said Officer on Special Duty with Chief Ministers Office, Kaustubh Dhavse, who has worked with Mahajan on several projects from Global Citizen to International Finance Centre . . Poonam Mahajans journey 1. 36-year-old Poonam Mahajan joined politics in 2006, a year after the death of her father, Pramod Mahajan 2. She completed a commercial pilots training course and has an experience of 300 hours of flying in Dallas, US. She earned a diploma in Leadership Management from Brighton School in 2012 3. She is married to Anand Rao Vajendla, an industrialist from Hyderabad, and has one son, Aadya, and one daughter, Avika 4. Her first foray into politics came in the 2009 assembly polls, which she contested from Ghatkopar West constituency in Mumbai against Ram Kadam, then Maharashtra Navnirman Sena candidate and now a BJP MLA. She lost the election. 5. She held the post of general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Maharashtra, for three years. In 2010, she was appointed as the national vice-president of BJYM and in 2013 became the youngest general secretary of the BJP 6. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, she again got a chance and defeated then Congress MP Priya Dutt with a margin of 1.86 lakh votes 7. She had declared her assets worth Rs108 crore in her election affidavit in 2014 8. In the last two years, she has worked closely with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on big ticket Mumbai infrastructure issues and projects, including getting an International Finance Centre to Mumbai. She also organised the recent Global Citizen event at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai 9. On December 22, she will formally take over as the national president of the BYJM, a post earlier held by BJP stalwarts, including her father, Rajnath Singh and Shivraj Singh Chauhan. 10. She shares great rapport with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whom she refers to as uncle, and his son Aaditya. She has rebuilt ties with RSS and is in good books of partys top brass. READ Women, Dalits may get boost in BJPs party rejig; new role for Anurag Thakur SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Mankhurd police recently busted a racket, in which infants were kidnapped and sold, and rescued four such infants. The scheme was run by a gang of six people, who stole toddlers from Mumbai and sold them to childless couples in Goa, Gujarat and Karnataka. The arrested gang members are Yogita Salle, 21; Asha Thakur, 36; Noorjahan Mullah, 40; and Prabha Naik, 48. On December 5, a toddler named Ahmed Khan went missing while he was playing outside his house in Mankhurd. The parents approached the Mankhurd police station, following which, a case of kidnapping was registered. The police questioned the familys relatives, suspecting that one of them was involved. We learned that Salle had been to Goa. On interrogating her, she lied and said she had been staying with her mother in the city. We showed her evidence of her being in Goa. She then confessed. Salle kidnapped the child, gave him to Mullah and Naik, who then sold the boy to a Goa-based couple, said an officer with the Mankhurd police station. Initial investigation revealed that the gang had kidnapped at least eight more infants from Ulhasnagar, Kalyan and Ambernath. Police discovered that Mala Prabhakar Wankhede and Ganesh Salle were also involved and arrested them from Ulhasnagar and Mankhurd respectively. Senior police inspector Naresh Kasale said, Mullah and Naik were responsible for finding customers. Mala would steal toddlers from the city and inform Mullah or Naik who would then start looking for customers. The Mankhurd case was the first kidnapping in which Ganesh and his wife Yogita Salle were involved. The police said during the transactions, one of the gang members would pose as a relative and claim that the toddler was an orphan, whose expenses he could not afford. A childless couple from Goa a 59-year-old man and his 56-year-old wife were looking to adopt a child. The accused told them they would sell their child for Rs2.5 lakh, he added. Read Chinese couple sell their baby daughter for a mere iPhone Jharkhand: Mother sells 3-day-old infant for Rs 2,000 to buy 2 goats Selling off newborns? Hospital staff, agents prey on unwed mothers in Gwalior SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON While the review meeting to decide if a 51-year-old bureaucrat with end-stage kidney failure can receive a transplant from her house helps husband was postponed on Wednesday, top officials from the health ministry said not a single approval has yet been granted for organ donation between employer and employee. Officials said out of the nine appeals of cases rejected by hospitals of unrelated kidney donation in 2016, six had approached them twice and three of them were reconsidered. DMER director Dr Pravin Shingare said they have rejected a similar case in January 2016. The meeting is a result of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis intervention in the case after it was rejected by DMER twice. Shaina NC, BJP politician who was one of the those who requested the CM to intervene, said, The 30 something man has been looked after by the family since a long time and there is no financial involvement whatsoever in the case. We had even appealed to the CM to allow the transplant procedure on humanitarian grounds. The appeal of the bureaucrat to allow her house helps husband to donate kidney to her was rejected a fortnight ago, because the officials failed to find affection between the donor and the recipient to rule out exchange of money.Commonly in the appeals of unrelated transplants, the donors are distant relatives. This case, like the one earlier this year, was rejected because the donor was the house helps relative and they failed to establish compassion, said Dr Shingare. Sources from health ministry said the state has never witnessed a legal transplant procedure in which the donor was a help or helps relative. Usually in such cases, there is an apparent chance of monetary gains and thats why they are rejected. It wont set a right example if the government allows this transplant because more such appeals will follow, said the official. Senior nephrologists from the city, on the other hand, said while at one end the government representative of Hospital Authorization Committee (HAC), which gives approvals to related kidney transplant, is prolonging the procedures and requesting extra paperwork, its hypocrisy to allow a non-related transplant with donor being the house helps relative. Recently a kidney transplant procedure between mother (donor) and son (recipient) was needlessly prolonged because of the pending approval of the wife of the recipient. Blood related transplants are delayed by government representatives across the city and its a serious issue to be looked at, said Dr Bharat Shah, a veteran nephrologist. A 22-year-old mans beheaded body was found in Aarey Colony in Goregaon (east) on Thursday afternoon. Police officials suspect that the man was murdered first and then beheaded. The head was found at a distance from the torso in thick bushes, and his clothes too were later recovered from nearby bushes. Aarey police alerted all the police stations in a bid to identify the deceased. Later, the he was identified as Brandon Gonsalves, a college student, who lived with his parents and sister near Oberoi mall in Goregaon (east). According to his father, he used to go to Aarey colony for morning walk. Gonsalves went missing on Monday and a missing persons post was circulated widely on social networking websites seeking information about him. His family approached the Dindoshi police, where a missing persons complaint was registered. His body has been sent to Siddharth Hospital for an autopsy. The police are awaiting the autopsy report to ascertain the exact time of death and for leads on how he was killed. His body was discovered after a passerby spotted it in the bushes and alerted the police. The police have not found any weapon near the body. They are checking for CCTV cameras near his residence to find out if he was last seen with any of his friends or acquaintances. The police are in the process of registering a case of murder. Read Mystery behind Chennai actress headless body solved, husband arrested Moscow nanny admits beheading disabled child SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON If there is any controversys child in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra, it would have to be state women and child development minister Pankaja Munde.The 37-year-old daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde also has an uncanny ability to weather these controversies. On Wednesday, she felt vindicated when the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) closed the probe report against her departments alleged Rs206-crore chikki scam. The reports of this scam, one of the first of the new BJP government, broke out last year. It forced Munde, then vacationing abroad, to cut her visit short and issue clarifications on national TV channels. The scam had haunted her in all state legislature sessions. Launching a stinging attack over the ACBs closure report, the Opposition has accused the BJP of a cover-up. The state government had never given its consent for this probe that was made half-heartedly by the agency, said the Congress. This time last year, I was crying myself hoarse telling everyone that these allegations had no basis. I gave explanations with documents repeatedly on the floor of both the Houses. But, the Opposition did not want to listen. It was enough to attack me as I am my fathers daughter, Munde told HT. Mundes rise to power is indeed linked to her name. As the eldest daughter of Gopinath Munde, former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, Pankaja para-trooped into active politics to fend her fathers home turf in 2009. While he contested the parliamentary polls, she contested from her fathers assembly constituency, Parli, and won the seat. But, her entry into politics also led to a split in the family. Her cousin, Dhananjay, till then seen as Mundes political heir, rebelled and joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Today, as the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, he continues to be among her nemesis in politics. With her fathers sudden demise in 2014, barely months after BJP came to power in the Centre, Pankaja was left alone to prove her metal as a politician. She succeeded by carrying out a giant Jan Sangharsh Yatra across the state drawing in lakhs supporters, from the Other Backward Classes. She was also successful in holding rallies across the state for her party. This was also when the clamour for Pankaja as the chief minister was first heard from her supporters at one of the rallies. The demand was tacitly recognised by none other than party president Amit Shah. Barely days after the BJP swept assembly polls, she courted her first big controversy. She was reported saying that she had CM ambitions and had credentials as a mass leader while most of the other young BJP leaders were largely drawing room politicians. Since then, the tag of being CM aspirant has stuck to her with her relations with Fadnavis often under media gaze. Pankaja, had then refuted this report, saying she was misquoted. In the government, she faced the chikki scam allegations, followed with another controversy over issuing the Rs6,300-crore Take Home Rations (THR) tenders with activists alleging that the minister was playing into the hands of a few contractors at the cost of small women self-help groups. Her selfies taken in drought hit Maharashtra while surveying water shed development works went viral as that of an indulgent minister and her public spat on Twitter with Fadnavis after she lost out one of her portfolios earned her and Fadnavis a tick-off from Delhi bosses. She also had a face-off with the spiritual guru of the Vanjari community at Bhagwan Gad, seen as her fathers close associate Namdeo Shastri, recently in a bid to establish her leadership of the community. I would like to believe that the worse (in terms of controversies) are over. The media does love to slam me and I can see that as the handy work of my political opponents. However, I have been vindicated on both big issues, the chikki tenders and THR tenders. Recently, the apex court told us to continue with our tender in THR, upholding our stance, said Pankaja. Notwithstanding controversies, Pankaja remains as one of the very few BJP leaders, who can command a mass base in the state today. She has inherited a ready constituency of the Vanajari caste, a dominant OBC community, which has been trying to consolidate behind her. Political observers believe that she will set herself up as an OBC leader in the coming days, which will help to strengthen her base in the state polity. Her legacy and her support base continues to be a reason why Fadnavis cannot sideline her completely. Its also one of the reasons attributed to her political survival. It remains to be seen whether she will court more controversies in the remaining two-and-a-half years of the Fadnavis government or learn to stay out of media scrutiny. READ 5 things we know about chikki scam and allegations against Pankaja Munde Purchase of chikki: Oppn slams clean chit to Munde SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After the chaos in first-year junior college (FYJC) admissions this year, the education department has proposed measures to make the process easier in the next academic year. Students could be allowed to change their list of college preferences after every round of admission. They will also be allowed to confirm their admission at the click of a button, in addition to online allotment of colleges. This year, although 2.3 lakh students secured admissions in the drawn-out admission process spanning over three months- June to September, multiple rounds were conducted as students didnt get their preferred colleges despite scoring well. According to BB Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region, the online seat confirmation will streamline the admission process. Currently, only the allotment of colleges is done online, while admissions are done offline. We are thinking about allowing admissions online too, he said. He, however, clarified that the students would still have to visit respective colleges to pay their fees and complete other formalities. Chavan also said that allowing students to alter their college choices after every round will help students land a seat in their desired college. According to him, if students are not allowed to change their preferences after an admission round, they lose a chance to apply for vacant seats in a more preferred college. This year, the students were allowed to change their options after the third round was over. Chavan also said that the department will also likely bring down the number of college-course combinations students are required to mark in their applications. The move will help avoid confusion among parents, as they will have to fill only few choices, he said. The education department is also considering a proposal to outsource the online form filling to third party service providers to reduce its dependency on schools. Many a times, the students are compelled to choose their own school as their preferred choice, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who has been appointed as the brand ambassador for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) campaign against open defecation in the city, on Thursday made his first visit to see the status of facilities in the city. The actor has promised to donate mobile toilets through his Being Human foundation to Aarey colony slums and repair the existing one. This is in addition to the already donated five mobile toilets each with six seats to BMC. Khan had earlier urged citizens to participate in the campaign and use toilets instead of defecating in the open. Two years after identifying 118 locations where open defecation took place, the BMC is still to rid 21 areas of the practice owing to lack of mobile or permanent toilets. Earlier, BMC had declared 12 out of Mumbais 24 wards ODF and chalked out an action plan for other wards. Read Salman donates five mobile toilets, urges people to keep Mumbai clean Mumbainama: Why Salman Khan cannot make Mumbais stink go away SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Shiv Sena on Thursday lashed out at Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu over his U-turn on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union governments demonetisation move. Saying better late than never, the party added Naidu, who was earlier the biggest advocate of demonetisation, has now realised how the move is causing distress to people. The Shiv Sena had foreseen this and was trying to strongly tell that the demonetisation exercise is only creating distress and confusion. But at that time, Chandrababu Naidu questioned our criticism, saying one cannot speak against the government despite being a part of it. Better late than never, he has now given his answer. The biggest advocate of demonetisation has turned against it because he has finally understood the truth, the party said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana. Earlier this week, the Telugu Desam Party leader said that the results of the November 8 decision were contrary to what he had wished for, and that solutions to the note ban predicament were nowhere in sight even after 40 days. He later said his comments were distorted. Ever since the Narendra Modi government introduced demonetisation, ally Shiv Sena has continuously criticised it, maintaining it is not against reining in black money, but against the way in which the sudden decommissioning of old Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes was implemented. In its editorial, the Shiv Sena added Naidu took a lot of efforts to make Hyderabad a digital city even before Prime Minister Narendra Modi started his drive. He connected every district and taluka to Hyderabad through a computer. He tried to hear out and address peoples concerns through video conferencing, but Hyderabad still opted him out. This is because simply with a digital agenda, the everyday questions of food and work dont get resolved. Demonetisation has created a similar picture, where on a daily basis people have to face a lot of inconvenience for simple things, the Sena said. READ Maharashtra doesnt need BJPs development vision: Shiv Sena SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A six-year-old boy was sent to a shelter home after his father was diagnosed HIV positive. The victim, a mason who hails from Kolkata, West Bengal, had come to Noida to get treated for multiple ailments. However, his relatives in West Bengal allegedly refused to take care of his son as soon as they heard about his condition, thereby forcing the father to send his kid to a shelter home. A local resident, who had gone to meet a patient at the district hospital on Thursday, spotted the boy sitting near his father who was lying on a bed. When he inquired, he found that the man is HIV positive and there is no one to take care of the child. He then informed the police and Childline, a helpline for children. We received the information from the police team. Our workers went to the hospital and shifted the child to a Noida shelter home. His father was shifted to LNJP Hospital in Delhi where the India HIV Aids Alliance is taking care of him, said Satya Prakash, programme manager, FXB India Suraksha NGO. The district hospital authorities said that the victim was referred to LNJP Hospital in Delhi after he was diagnosed HIV positive. The victim had approached the hospital with multiple ailments. After we found out that he was HIV positive, we referred him to LNJP hospital. It is a routine procedure that is followed with all such patients, said Nagendra Mathur, chief medical superintendent, district hospital. Earlier, the victim was staying at a Noida residents place after he was found waiting in the district hospital 15 days ago at the district hospital. I went to the district hospital to meet a relative who was admitted there. I found this man lying on a bed while his son sat next to him. He told me that he has nowhere to go. I took him to my place, said Kallu, a resident of Noida. The Good Samaritan of Noida also got him tested at the district hospital. However, he could not keep the child due to the fear that he might run away. We admitted him at the hospital and got all the tests done. On Tuesday, his reports came and it was found that he was HIV positive. The man is still with us and on Friday he will be shifted to the LNJP hospital. We could have kept the child but we did not want to take any risk, said Kallu. Emphasising on the need to make higher educational institutions independent of the government machinery, academicians and representatives of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) pressed for complete autonomy from regulatory bodies, at an event in Noida. If the Union government intends to make a few selected institutions free from the regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) so that the quality of education can improve, then I believe all higher institutions should be granted full autonomy, said Professor Furqan Qamar, secretary general, AIU. Qamar was speaking to the press on the recent news of the Union government thinking of providing greater autonomy to performing higher educational institutions on the basis of their rankings. Earlier, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry had brought forward a draft for National Education Policy 2016 under which 20 world-class universities will be founded in India and have minimal regulations from UGC, AICTE and other regulatory bodies. Of the 20 universities, 10 were supposed to be public and 10 private with listed credentials. The idea of introducing regulatory bodies for universities was to bring order and quality. But over the years, we have realised that such bodies are not doing any good to educational institutes. The first regulatory body, UGC, was set up in 1956. Before that, institutes had full autonomy and results were much better, said Qamar. The decision of premier colleges being selected for autonomy also did not go down well with academicians. Only a small chunk of students study in Central universities or a few premier colleges, the larger lot of students still study in state universities. If autonomy is granted, then it should not be selective, said Qamar. As many as 89 vice chancellors of state, private, public and Central universities were attending the two-day AIU North Zone Vice Chancellors Meet at Amity University in Sector 125 that began on Thursday morning. Addressing the press, academicians also stressed on the need for financial autonomy from the state machinery rather than academic autonomy. What we really require is financial autonomy because we need to invest more in the field of research. I still believe that institutes, more or less, have academic autonomy, but lack of funds is what troubles the education sector, said Professor DS Chauhan, vice chancellor, GLA University, Mathura and the president of AIU. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Madras High Court order on Sharia courts is strange as the Supreme Court itself in its landmark decision on July 7, 2014 has held that Sharia courts are not courts as the Indian legal system doesnt recognise a parallel judicial system. No one has ever asserted that Sharia courts are courts in the strict sense of the term. Is it not a fact that privatisation of justice is a fact of life not only in a developing country like India but in most developed countries? Does our law not recognise arbitration and other alternative methods of dispute resolution? Most businesses consider a private arbitrator an attractive alternative to a judge selected by the government. A recent survey of 1,000 of the largest US corporations showed that 79% used arbitration to resolve commercial disputes in the last three years. Thus one of the central functions of government, business dispute resolution, is largely escaping the States sphere of influence. The decline in the use of public court processes and the shift to private, largely unregulated and unscrutinised processes is a global trend. Governments do attempt to portray the court system as one of speedy and impartial justice. But in reality, traditional courts have many problems, just like the other appendages of governmental bureaucracy. They are often slow at their best and conduits for gross injustice at their worst. At a more fundamental level, no evidence shows that the adversarial system which our judiciary follows is the best way to solve disputes. Whenever parties choose arbitration rather than government courts, it demonstrates that arbitration is making both parties better off. Read: Muslim women dont want change in laws on triple talaq: Scholar United States is witnessing a huge decline in the number and proportion of cases tried in federal and state courts. In United Kingdom from April 2013 we are witnessing the exclusion of civil (and most family) claims from the ambit of the legal aid scheme with mandatory diversion to private mediation for a vast swathe of disputing parties who have brought their cases to the county courts for judicial determination. The move has been termed as the economic cleansing of the civil courts. There is indeed a global shift to mediation as part of a social movement in which parties are increasingly turning to the less brittle justice of mediated solutions in which no one loses and rights claims are visualised as problems in search of win-win solutions. Arbitration is essentially private, specialist adjudication on merit. This is the context in which the latest order of the Madras High Court on Sharia courts is to be understood. At the end of the day, the High Court may permit continuance of Sharia Courts which are nothing more than arbitration councils. Even UK has set up five Sharia courts, with their rulings enforceable with the full power of the English judicial system. Read: Madras high court bans unauthorised Sharia courts in Tamil Nadu For almost a century or so, British judges in India were assisted by Muftis and Qazis in the discharge of judicial functions. The Qazis Act of 1880 deprived the Qazis of their judicial powers. The British courts now started pronouncing judgments on Muslim Personal Law. Establishment of Sharia courts was demanded in the first quarter of 20th century but was not conceded. This development set the stage for the establishment of Sharia courts in Bihar in 1920. The Sharia courts of Bihar are widely respected and their elaborate procedure of recording issues and decisions based on Sharia are quoted in approval by the various courts in eastern India. It may be noted with some interest that no law governing citizens can compel them to necessarily use the forum of civil courts to settle disputes. Thus no law prohibits establishment of Sharia courts. Bihar as well as Madras have the most elaborate system with lower and appellate Sharia courts. Detailed rules are in place for the registration of cases with all the necessary details of parties, payment of small amount as fee, conducting of in-depth enquiries, holding of hearings with the assistance of lawyers etc. Decisions include a statement of facts, discussion on evidence and issues are disposed of with proper citation of sources of Muslim Law. Judgments are subsequently published and courts do act as courts of records. Moreover there is an elaborate system of appeal. Due to the success of Bihar model, we have sharia courts in several states and thats why neither the centre nor the Muslim Personal Law Board have denied the existence of such courts in the apex court. In Bihar alone, approximately 50,000 cases have been amicably resolved with a remarkable degree of compliance. The cases are disposed of in record time which generally does not exceed beyond a year. But an important point to note is that a judgment by a Sharia court doesnt have any legal status if one of the party challenges it. These orders cannot be enforced. Read: Muslim womens group demands complete ban on Shariah courts There has been a steady increase in the number of cases filed with the Sharia courts. A study of 94 years of Sharia courts decisions would show that the courts have been by and large pro-women and have saved hundreds of marriages and gave decisions in favour of destitute women. Challenging of sharia courts decisions in the civil courts is extremely rare. Since Sharia courts do not follow the doctrine of precedent, they try to give justice according to unique circumstances of individual cases. This is not to say that all their decisions are as sound in law as regular court decisions. There have been some bad decisions as well. Even the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Aandolan, which is leading the current movement for reforms in Muslim law, runs its own Sharia courts. Those who run these courts do say that in most cases women themselves come to these courts for divorce. Sharia courts would go out of business if our civil courts render cost effective and timely justice. Faizan Mustafa is vice chancellor, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. The views expressed are personal So who are the regulars missing from the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) line-up this time? Conspicuous by their absence will be poet-translator Ashok Vajpeyi, scholar-poet Uday Prakash and litterateur K Satchidanandan. All three were prominent faces of the award waapsi campaign last year where writers and poets returned State-sponsored awards against growing intolerance of freedom of speech in the country. And who are the luminaries wholl make up for the absence of these literary heavyweights? Well, dont bet on propaganda officials of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for sure. Whats raising the hackles of critics in the 2017 edition is a session featuring two leading RSS pracharaks: Akhil Bharatiya prachar pramukh Manmohan Vaidya and sahsarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale. Why will representatives of the RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the Bharatiya Janata Party, without any apparent literary worth, make their debut at the greatest literary show on the earth, particularly in a year when the litfest celebrates its tenth anniversary, is anybodys guess. Read:The two JLF controversies that you must know about But then the Jaipur Literature festival is no stranger to controversy. In 2012, even as celebrated author Salman Rushdie was persuaded to stay away from the festival citing security concerns, writers Amitava Kumar, Jeet Thayil, Ruchir Joshi and Hari Kunzru decided to read out excerpts from his banned novel, Satanic Verses, as a mark of protest. Read:Jaipur Lit Festival in London: Why this fuss about Vedanta Namita Gokhale, one of the co-founders of the festival, has reportedly attributed hosting the RSS to an intellectual curiosity. While the premise of plurality and listening to diverse points of view is admirable, the literary merit of the two pracharaks can be dubious at best. The other speakers at JLF 2017 include the well-regarded David Armitage, Harvard professor and the author of A Global History, Giles Milton, bestselling author of nine works of narrative history, political scientist Vinay Sitapati and academic-historian Reba Som. Arguably, the Kumbh of publishing wouldnt be poorer without the publicists (pracharaks) from the RSS. Several years ago a French expert on radical Islam, Gilles Kepel, argued that European Muslims would provide the bridge between the mediaeval tribalism of the West Asian Arab and Western modernity. He could not have been more wrong. As the recent Christmas terror attack in Germany reminds, the European Muslim has instead become a bridge to transport West Asias ills into the European heartland. Unfortunately, the evidence is that the high watermark for European jihad is still some years away. A majority of terror analysts believe Europe should brace for an ever expanding footprint of violent Islamicist attacks for three reasons. One, the social base of lone wolf attacks alienated, working class European Muslims will only increase in the coming decades. Europes economic future is one of either stagnation or negative growth. In terms of job creation, the story is even worse. A Muslim in Europe faces increasing discrimination and suspicion. Each terror incident triggers a nativist backlash and even greater minority alienation. Notably, the German terror attack was contemporaneous with an attack on a mosque in Switzerland. The rise of anti-immigrant parties across Europe only feeds this negative cycle. Read | Syria: Russia, Iran, Turkey cast themselves as deal-makers in the war-torn land Two, the Norwegian terrorism expert Thomas Hegghammer has shown that waves of Islamicist terror attacks in Europe closely tally the activity of what he calls terror entrepreneurs. These are Islamic State veterans or radical ideologues who do not directly involve themselves in violence but recruit and encourage youngsters to follow the path of jihadi violence. Because of the light prison sentences given to such persons in Europe, four to six years on average, thousands of these arrested in the mid-2000s have started to re-enter society. And they are unrepentant. German intelligence studies show only one in 10 has renounced his ways. The numbers of such people, writes Hegghammer, may be larger in the coming 10 years than it was in the previous decade. These will be the seeds of a Euro-terror wave that could run into the 2020s. Three, the ability of Europes intelligence and police networks to tackle this internal threat has been declining. While budgets and manpower have increased, improvements in social media technology and the recruitment of off-the-grid jihads has meant a declining ability to pre-empt attacks. Even excluding the recent attack in Germany, Islamcist terror claimed more lives in Europe between 2014 and 2016 than in all previous years combined. The worst statistic: Half of serious Islamicist terror plots in Europe today reach fruition. Fifteen years ago the pre-emption rate was closer to 70%. Read | Trauma of Islamic State rule follow Iraqi women out of Mosul Simple things like end-to-end encryption in messaging apps like WhatsApp have made real-time intelligence gathering much harder for law-enforcement agencies. Europes patchwork of jurisdictions continues to be exactly that, a patchwork. Germans provincial governments and Belgiums district police systems, for example, are notorious poor at sharing information with their central government counterparts and each other. Finally, and there is a glimmer of hope here, there is the issue of overseas crucibles of violent Islamicism both territorial and ideological. For Europe this has largely been about the State collapse between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. In theory, the slow but steady military rollback of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria should mean good news for Europe. But the key words here are slow and steady. The Iraqi army could take as much as another half-year to capture the city of Mosul, according to US military sources. Syria is such a labyrinth of blood and tears that no one is clear whether the country will ever find an exit. The real question is whether the defeat of the Islamic State will only provide a permanent reprieve from Euro-terror. Read | France, Britain push UN Security Council for helicopter ban, sanctions on Syria Most of the leading experts on the Islamic State, such as Princeton Universitys Bernard Haykel or the Brooking Institutes William McCant, argue that the Islamic State, like its forerunner Al Qaeda in Iraq, arose because of the chaos that beset the region. Military defeat alone will not resolve that underlying problem and would probably pave the way for another terroristic body to arise some years later. Islamic State officials already speak of plans to disappear into the rural areas of West Asia and hide among their Sunni Arab tribals allies until the international community is distracted. In any case, the jihad narrative also rallies its fighters on a sense of Islam under threat. There is no shortage of tales to maintain that mythology. The Turk who assassinated a Russian ambassador raised the most recent source of Sunni anger: Siege of Aleppo. Read | Rights group: IS in Mosul targets civilians as it retreats What is certain is that there is no global leader with the bandwidth to provide long-term therapy to West Asias trauma. US president-elect Donald Trump only speaks of more military, if more surgical, action. The most powerful European leader, Germanys Angela Merkel, has suffered her sharpest drops in popular support when she encounters the Arab world whether through refugees or through terrorists. The Arab world will be left to its own devices. Unfortunately those devices are increasingly ones designed to kill, maim and spread fear. p.chaudhuri@hindustantimes.com After Congress' debacle in the Chandigarh municipal corporation polls, its time to point finger. Crisis within the party has deepened as a faction considered close to former union minister Manish Tewari has raised the demand for Pawan Kumar Bansal mukt city unit. The demand for former MP and railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansals expulsion was raised by former councillor Chander Mukhi Sharma. The Congress won only four seats in the MC polls, results of which were declared on Tuesday. Congress local unit chief Pardeep Chhabra had tendered his resignation from the post, taking moral responsibility for the crushing defeat . The Chandigarh Congress in-charge Asha Kumari, however, said , I have not yet received the resignation and once I get it, I will forward it to the party high command. Chander Mukhi Sharma said, We should make Congress Pawan Bansal mukt if we want to strengthen the party. Sharma said he, along with principal Gurbachan Singh, will meet the central leaders seeking removal of Bansal and his supporters from posts in the city unit . Before the polls, we had categorically pointed out that the choice of candidates was not right and Bansal was not involving anyone else other than Pardeep Chhabra. They had been running the party like a private company and obliging only people close to them. He said Bansal and Chhabra, whom he descired as the rubber stamp of the former, should be expelled from the party. Defeat in MC polls is not of the Congress but of Pawan Bansal, he said. Candidates hold meeting with Chhabra The Congress candidates who lost the elections, held a meeting with Pardeep Chhabra to introspect what went wrong. It was decided that a formal complaint will be lodged with the election commission regarding the alleged tampering of the EVMs. They alleged that no videography was done when the EVMs were stored and the strong room where the machines were kept was not sealed. Some local leaders even demanded a CBI inquiry into the issue. Some candidates also blamed Chhabra for not managing the elections properly. They also rued that though a list star campaigners was in, no efforts were put in to get the leaders around. Even as Chhabras resignation is yet to be accepted, names of Pawan Sharma and Chander Mukhi Sharma are making rounds for the presidents post. WE LOST DUE TO FACTIONALISM : ASHA KUMARI Congress in-charge for Chandigarh Asha Kumari said, We could not get our act together. I dont think it is victory of Narendra Modi, but loss of local unit Congress due to factionalism. Expelling people is no solution, we need to set our house in order. Pawan Kumar Bansal is a senior colleague and maybe somewhere his judgement went wrong but it does not mean that we should expel him.We need to introspect and take corrective measures. We will also take along the party leaders who are unhappy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Demanding reservation in the recruitment of teaching staff at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), the members of Dr Ambedkar Shakti Dal locked the university gate number 2 (both entrance and exit gates) on Wednesday afternoon and later blocked the traffic on Ferozepur Road, leaving the commuters, students and university staff harassed. It is said that the members had already announced their plan to lock the gates but no police force was deployed to stop them from doing so. Thus, harried visitors and students were forced to use other gates of the university. Though, the security persons were present at both the sides but failed to stop the protesters from blocking the gates. Members of Dr Ambedkar Shakti Dal locking gate number 2 of PAU in Ludhiana on Wednesday. (Jagtinder Singh Grewal / HT Photo) After locking the gates, nearly 30 members of the organisation blocked the traffic on Ferozepur Road and sat on dharna for nearly half-an-hour. The protesting members raised slogans against the state government and vice-chancellor of PAU. After intervention by police, the protesters lifted dharna from the road but they continued to protest outside the locked gates of the university. As the officials concerned assured us to look into our demand of reservation in recruitment of teaching staff, we opened the gates. If our demand is not fulfilled, we will lock all the gates of the university next time, said Ajay Chauhan, a member of the organisation. Chauhan claimed that they have been staging protests outside the PAU gate number 2 for the last 30 days but the government and authorities have failed to pay any attention. He demanded the government to ensure reservation in the recruitment of teaching staff at PAU. Sandeep Singh, a commuter, said it is sheer harassment as anyone can dare to block traffic to mark their protest. Where were the policemen when these protesters came here to block the traffic? The protests should be marked in a democratic way, he said. A student of PAU said that everyone has a right to mark protest in a democratic way but the protesters should not create trouble for others. It is the responsibility of the university authorities to take required steps in this regard as anyone can dare to lock the gates again, he said. Vice-chancellor BS Dhillon was not available for comment. Earlier this year, the Congress leaders had staged protests and attempted to lock the offices of the municipal corporation and the district administration but heavy police force were deployed to stop them from locking the gates. Three years after a bride from Barnala was killed in an acid attack on her wedding day, the court of additional district and sessions judge Sandeep Kumar Singla on Wednesday sentenced six accused, including a woman, to life imprisonment. Those convicted are Amritpal Kaur, the divorced wife of the grooms elder brother, her paramour Parvinder Singh, Sunnypreet Singh, Gursewak Singh, all residents of Patiala and Jaspreet Singh and Rakesh Kumar, residents of Fatehgarh Sahib. One of the accused Ashwani Kumar of Mohalla Arya Samaj of Patiala was acquitted. He was accused of providing fake car number plates to the accused for executing the crime but the charge could not be proved. The court said the two main conspirators Amritpal and Parvinder have been sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment which shall not be less than 25 years each. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 9.6 lakh on all accused and ordered a compensation of Rs 6 lakh to the parents of the victim Harpreet Kaur. On December 7, 2013, Harpreet had gone to a beauty salon in Sarabha Nagar for her bridal make-up when one of the accused barged in and threw acid on her. Three women, including two beauticians working at the parlour, had sustained injuries in the attack. The victim was rushed to the DMC with 45% burns on her face, eyes, chest and abdomen. On December 12, she was shifted to National Burns Centre in Mumbai for treatment. However, Harpreet lost battle for life on December 27. The victims mother, who was outside the salon, had noted the number of the Zen car in which the accused had come. After the incident, the open sale of acid was banned in the city. JEALOUS EX-WIFE OF GROOMS BROTHER HAD HATCHED PLOT During interrogation, the main accused Amritpal Kaur told police she was jealous of her ex-husbands family and sought help from her paramour to scar the bride on the day of her wedding. Kaur told police that she planned attack on Harpreet so that no one dared to marry their daughter into the grooms family. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab has made a fresh appeal for donations to contest the forthcoming assembly polls. However, unlike earlier, this time the party will be keeping its list of donors a top secret. The AAP, which had taken a high moral stand on the issue of maintaining absolute transparency regarding its finances, has decided, for the time being, to keep all the information guarded. The move comes after some people reportedly complained to the party of harassment by its opponents for donating large amounts to it. The party, as a result, has not put up any information on its donation website for the past several months. The website says the donors list is under construction, and no time frame has been given as to when it would be available. The under construction donation list section of the AAPs website. No information has been put on it for months. The list of donors is not going to be put out. Our donors are being troubled by opposition parties, said the partys national treasurer, Raghav Chadha. Chadha had last week written to treasurers of the Congress and BJP asking them to disclose the source of unaccounted donations received by them. He had urged them to also make public the names of those who gave donations below Rs 20,000. The AAP has always accounted for every penny received. We give all the required details to the income tax department, Chadha told HT on Wednesday. When pointed out that the party accounts were not available in the public domain and the AAP website was hosting only an old balance sheet of 2014, Chadha said the latest one will be put up soon. AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had in a video message issued on December 17 asked for time and donations from party supporters for the Punjab and Goa polls. Our party does not accept donations from big persons. If we do that tomorrow we will have to do their illegitimate works also, he said in the video message. It is you who made us win Delhi. Now we need you to win Punjab and Goa, he had added. This was second such request made by Kejriwal after one in August. Chances are the AAPs donations have dropped drastically, and that is why they are not revealing the details, said the partys former state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur. This is for two reasons. The NRIs who were funding the AAP have closed their purses after stories of how their hard-earned money was being misused by the party leaders started coming out. The second is that the persons the AAP leaders had fooled with false promises of poll tickets know where they stand and are not going to spend another penny on the party, he said. The partys candidate from Majitha, Himmat Singh Shergill, has had to ask for donations specifically to defeat revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia. His posters requesting for money say: Donate to defeat Majithia. Other than the donors list, the party is also not sharing in the public domain the total donations it has received from Punjab and its Punjabi NRI supporters in the past few years. We are very busy with the elections in Punjab and Goa. But we will try to get that information and share it with the media, said Chadha. Another website run by an AAP supporter, which gave trends on donations to party, too has no new information to share since July this year. That is not a website run by the party. We are not sure if it has authentic data or not, said Chadha. According to the information on this site available from January 2014 to July 6, the AAP collected over Rs 2.6 crore from Punjab. Another Rs 5.6 crore came in from the US, Rs 2.8 crore from Canada, Rs 2.7 crore from the UAE and a little over Rs 1 crore from the UK. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON There are plenty of ways to see in the New Year in Europe, from dancing to electro beats in Berlin, clubbing in Glasgow or taking in the fireworks from the London Eye. But why not try something different this New Years Eve? Heres a selection of alternative European destinations for partying the night away this December 31. Lisbon, Portugal Revelers head to the Praca do Comercio for the annual ritual of eating 12 raisins as the clock strikes midnight. Festivities usually include a light and sound show as well as a fireworks display. Traditionally, a fireworks display is also held in the Belem neighborhood, home to the Torre de Belem tower and the famous Pasteis de Belem shop, selling Portugals tasty pasteis de nata custard tarts. Celebrations start in the morning, with a 10km running race called El Corte Ingles Sao Silvestre, starting 10:30am from Avenida da Libertade. Vienna, Austria Visitors to Vienna can stroll through the Silvesterpfad (New Years Eve Trail), the citys annual street party, sampling various specialties. The Vienna New Years Eve Ball is another internationally renowned event, where dancing takes center stage. Viennas dance schools even offer open-air waltz lessons to help revelers brush up on their skills. The Austrian capital has a magical atmosphere through the whole holiday season. New Years celebrations start in the afternoon of December 31 in the old town. Head to Rathausplatz and the Prater. A fireworks display is held at the Rathaus (city hall). The party carries on into the next day, with a concert from Vienna philharmonic shown on a big screen while revelers tuck into a well-earned breakfast. Geneva, Switzerland Three stages will be set up for partygoers on the Quai du Mont-Blanc, on the shores of Lake Geneva. Music will start at 7pm and therell be something for everyone, with jazz, funk and disco. The main stage stars DJ Tim Paris, playing a set from 10pm. Electro fans can head to the Bains des Paquis, where a lounge area will offer a more chilled-out vibe. Festivities will continue until 3am. Visitors who dont fear the cold can return to Lake Geneva the following day for the traditional New Years Day swim. Zagreb, Croatia The Croatian capital isnt just a hot-spot for summer sunshine. Visitors can see in the New Year with a trip to the ice rink at King Tomislav Square, skating around to the sound of live music. Ban Jelacic Square, the biggest public square in the Croatian capital, is a meeting point for revelers looking to party through the night. Valletta, Malta Visitors to Southern Europe can enjoy a musical New Years Eve in Maltas capital, Valletta. This European Capital of Culture for 2018 is once again holding a free concert in St Georges Square, with 10 local and international acts taking to the stage. Celebrations will be held on the seafront, where a fireworks and confetti display will add to the festive atmosphere. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more Fourteen Turkish soldiers were killed and 33 wounded in clashes with Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria on Wednesday in the militarys highest single day toll of its four month campaign inside the country. The fighting came as Turkey and allied pro-Ankara Syria rebels faced increasing resistance from the extremists in a battle to take a key town IS-held town of Al Bab, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the Turkish border. The toll, the heaviest single day loss for the Turkish army in its Syria operation that started in August, came in fighting with jihadists that included three suicide car bomb attacks, the army said in a statement quoted by Turkish media. Read | Turkish military says Syrias al-Bab to Aleppo highway under full control Four soldiers were killed in attacks earlier in the day, the army had previously announced. The other 10 were killed later Wednesday. Six of the 33 wounded were said to be in a serious condition. The fierce fighting erupted as Turkish officials said the army was entering into a key phase in the fight for Al Bab. The town has become the main target of the armys campaign inside Syria, in support of the pro-Ankara Syrian rebels opposed both to the jihadists and President Bashar al-Assad, that started on August 24. The army said the clashes erupted around a weapons depot that had been used by IS for the last two years. It said that 138 IS jihadists were killed in the fighting. The armys toll for the extremists could not be verified independently. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged there had been martyrs in the fighting, at an earlier news conference before the toll was announced, but expressed confidence that Al Bab would be taken from IS. Al Bab has been completely besieged by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and our soldiers, he said. He expressed hope that the town would fall entirely sooner or later. IS claimed on jihadist forums to have killed or injured at least 70 Turkish soldiers in three suicide bombings carried out by IS fighters and in fighting on the ground. They also said the casualties and losses of the Turkish army were the highest since the intervention in northern syria started. The Turkish air force meanwhile struck 47 IS targets around Al Bab, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. After the lightning speed of the earlier campaign, which saw the border town of Jarabulus taken on the first day of the offensive, the Turkish army has suffered increasing casualties in the fight for Al Bab. Around three dozen Turkish soldiers are believed to have lost their lives since Ankara launched its operation Euphrates Shield in August, with most of the deaths blamed on IS attacks. At least 29 civilians including eight children were killed Thursday in Turkish air strikes on an Islamic State group bastion in northern Syria, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes were carried out on the flashpoint town of Al-Bab, which Turkish forces have been seeking to capture for weeks in the biggest test of a four-month incursion into Syria. The raids came a day after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by jihadists around Al-Bab, in the country's biggest loss of the campaign so far. Turkish troops entered Syria on August 24 in support of pro-Ankara Syrian rebels, with the aim of ousting IS jihadists as well as Kurdish militia from the border area. Turkish forces regularly carry our air strikes in support of the ground operation in Syria but officials insist the utmost is done to avoid any civilian casualties. Defence Minister Fikri Isik told parliament on Thursday that 1,005 IS jihadists and 299 fighters affiliated to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) had been killed so far in the Syria operation, but made no mention of any civilian casualties. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed Thursday to press on with the fight, saying: "Turkey is in the midst of a great struggle -- our fight against terror continues both in our country and outside our borders." The army has suffered increasing casualties in the fight for Al-Bab -- 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the border -- with some three dozen soldiers believed to have been killed so far. China saw 66,000 workplace deaths in 2015 despite strengthened legislation, Chinese authorities said, highlighting often dangerous labour conditions in the worlds second largest economy. The worlds workshop also saw 282,000 workplace accidents in 2015, according to a report posted Wednesday on the official website of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) of China. Deaths have dropped 50 percent since 2002, with total accidents down from one million in the same year, it said, but insufficient safety precautions in the workplace remain a major problem. In 2015, the country saw 38 accidents involving over 10 deaths or causing more than 50 million yuan ($7.2 million) of damage, the report said. There was a rising tendency to put an emphasis on development while overlooking safety, the report quoted Zhang Ping, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee as saying. Zhang singled out coal mines and steel factories as places where poor safety supervision had resulted in accidents. Insufficient law enforcement and outdated or even conflicting regulations and standards also caused problems in workplaces, he added. The number of deaths was slightly down from the 68,061 recorded by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2014, while the number of accidents dipped from the 290,000 reported by the official Xinhua news service for the same year. China has seen a number of serious industrial accidents in 2016. In early December, two separate coal mine blasts in Inner Mongolia and northeast Heilongjiang province killed 59. A further 33 miners were killed in a colliery explosion on October 31 in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, and in September at least 18 were killed in a mine blast in the northwestern Ningxia region. Hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians, including small children swaddled in thick blankets, were bused out of war-ravaged Aleppo in heavy snow on Wednesday as the evacuation of former rebel strongholds entered its final phase. Scenes of buses slowly driving out of Aleppo in a shroud of white offered an evocative finale to what has been one of the most brutal chapters in Syrias civil war. The departures from Aleppo pave the way for President Bashar Assad to assume full control there, after more than four years of fighting over Syrias largest city. It marks the most significant victory for Assad since an uprising against his familys four-decade rule swept the country in 2011. Read | Syrian Twitter girl safely evacuated from Aleppo The evacuations were set in motion last week after Syrias opposition agreed to surrender its last footholds in eastern Aleppo. Since then, about 25,000 fighters and civilians have been bused out, according to the United Nations. On Wednesday, buses began evacuating the last rebels and civilians, an estimated 3,000 people. By nightfall, 25 buses carrying hundreds of people had driven in a rare snow storm from eastern Aleppo to opposition-held areas in the countryside near the city, said opposition activist Ahmad Primo, who was monitoring arrivals at the main drop-off point in the Rashideen district. The evacuees got off the buses wearing thick jackets and carrying sacks with belongings. One woman dressed in a black robe and face veil carried a small child swaddled in a heavy yellow blanket. A man held a toddler whose face was peeking out from under a blanket shielding him from falling snow. The oppositions Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday evening that with the evacuation of the last group of rebels from eastern Aleppo, Assad was in full control, save for a few positions on the western outskirts of the city that were still in rebel hands. Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said patients and all those requiring medical care had been evacuated from the last hospital in the citys east. Pro-government forces repeatedly struck medical facilities in rebel-held neighborhoods in their push to expel the opposition from Aleppo this year. In November, the UN said it believed there were no more functioning medical facilities in the eastern part of the city. Wednesdays bus movements came after evacuations had been suspended for 24 hours, one of several snags and delays since the first bus convoys left the city last week. Frequent disagreements have erupted between the rebels and the government, as well as among rebel groups, over compliance with a wider deal that also includes evacuations from two rebel-besieged villages, Foua and Kfarya. Read | Aleppos fall will change US and Russian roles in Syria The Berlin Christmas market that was struck by a deadly truck rampage three days ago will reopen Thursday, organisers said, as the grieving city sought a return to normal life and police hunted for the prime suspect in the attack. The wooden huts selling mulled wine, sausages, toys and seasonal decorations will open at 11:00 am (1000 GMT), though the section where the truck cut a bloody swathe through the market on Monday has been kept bare. The Berlin association of market vendors said the decision to reopen the market was not an easy one. We are still stunned and deeply shocked. Our thoughts are with the injured, the dead and their families, the associations chairman Michael Roden said. In a situation like this its very difficult to know what the right thing to do is. Twelve people were killed and 48 injured when a driver rammed a truck into the crowded market, crushing yuletide revellers and knocking over stalls and Christmas trees. Out of respect for the victims, Roden said the market on Berlins central Breitscheidplatz would refrain from playing party music and keep garish lights turned off. Two memorial sites are planned where visitors can pay their respects, the association added. Christmas markets are a much-cherished annual tradition in Germany. In the wake of the attack, the authorities urged organisers across the country to keep their markets open, while beefing up security. Meanwhile, a European manhunt is under way for 24-year-old Anis Amri, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker who has been named as the main suspect in the attack after his asylum papers were found in the cab of the truck. German police arrested four people who had been in contact with A Tunisian suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack that killed 12 people, media reports said on Thursday, as a nationwide manhunt for the migrant was underway. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack in which a truck ploughed through crowds gathered around wooden huts selling gifts, mulled wine and sausages on Monday evening. It was the deadliest attack on German soil since 1980. A spokesman for the German chief federal prosecutor denied the media reports and said he would give no further details on the operation to avoid jeopardising it. Bild newspaper cited an anti-terrorism investigator as saying that it was clear in spring that the Tunisian suspect - 24-year-old Anis Amri - was looking for accomplices for an attack and was interested in weapons. The report said preliminary proceedings had been opened against Amri in March based on information that he was planning a robbery to get money to buy automatic weapons and possibly carry out an attack with them and other accomplices yet to be recruited. In mid-2016, he spoke to two IS fighters and Tunisian authorities listened in on their conversation before informing German authorities. Amri also offered himself as a suicide attacker in well-known Islamist chat sites, Bild said. Police started looking for the Tunisian after finding an identity document under the drivers seat of the truck used in the attack. Authorities have stressed that Amri is just a suspect and not necessarily the driver of the truck. Broadcaster rbb said the perpetrator lost both his wallet and mobile phone while running away from the attack site. On Wednesday Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), said the Tunisian appeared to have arrived in Germany in July 2015 and his asylum application had been rejected in June 2016. Klaus Bouillon, the head of the group of interior ministers from Germanys 16 federal states, said Islamists often deliberately left identity documents behind at attack sites - as was the case in the Paris attacks - to spread fear and steer public opinion against refugees. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced calls to tighten asylum procedures since the attack. Armin Schuster, a member of her Christian Democrats (CDU), said Germany needed to take robust action against those who had no reason to seek asylum. He told broadcaster NDR that Germany had been too generous for too long and had been taken advantage of: We need to send the signal: Only set off for Germany if you have a reason for asylum, he said. The Christmas market that was attacked was reopened on Thursday after authorities put concrete bollards around it. A cat-crazy Canadian woman who tried to smuggle her pet into New Zealand in a handbag was immediately sent home after being caught at Auckland airport, officials said Thursday, criticising her very stupid attempt. Officials condemned the hapless bid to circumvent strict biosecurity laws after the woman arrived Wednesday on a 15-hour flight from Vancouver and declared only that she had dirty boots. She failed to mention the cat secreted in her bag, only revealing its existence when officials insisted it must be X-rayed. Immigration officials refused the woman entry permission to the country. She was forced to return to Canada with her cat on the next available flight, the ministry of primary industries (MPI) said. As a result, the woman missed out on visiting New Zealand but has a feline frequent flyer, which has travelled about 23,000 kilometres (14,300 miles) from Vancouver to Auckland and back. We believe this was a deliberate and very stupid attempt at smuggling. There are strict biosecurity rules in place to stop imported cats and dogs from introducing pests and diseases into New Zealand, MPI added. The passenger clearly decided those rules didnt apply to her. Forensic investigators scoured the charred remains of a fireworks market outside Mexico City on Wednesday for clues to what caused a series of massive blasts that killed at least 33 people, the third fiery accident there in 11 years. Dozens of people were injured in Tuesdays disaster at the San Pablito open-air market, which was crowded with shoppers just before Christmas. A smell of burning hung over the remains of the market where investigators dressed in white protective gear, police, and medical personnel searched through twisted metal frames and the wreckage of stalls. Soldiers with dogs appeared to be looking for human remains. Alejandro Gomez, the state attorney general, told Mexican television it was unclear what caused the explosions, adding he could not corroborate accounts pointing to a detonation at one stall that may have begun a chain reaction. Video of the blasts showed a spectacular flurry of pyrotechnics exploding high into the sky, like rockets in a war zone, as a massive plume of charcoal-gray smoke billowed out from the site. Watch | 29 killed in Mexico fireworks market explosion The tragedy could weigh on the gubernatorial election in the State of Mexico next summer, where the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) aims to hold on to the populous region after a slump in President Enrique Pena Nietos popularity. The federal attorney generals office opened an investigation, saying that there were six separate blasts. Alberto Teres, owner of one of few stalls remaining, saw the flames leap from stall to stall. The only thing you could do was run, he said. Its a catastrophe, said Guadalupe Sanchez from nearby Cuautitlan Izcalli, as she searched on Wednesday morning for her uncle, 52, who owned a market stall, and two nephews, aged 15 and 9. It was the third time in just over a decade that explosions have struck the popular marketplace in Tultepec, home to the countrys best-known fireworks shopping and about 20 miles (32 km) north of Mexico City in the State of Mexico. In late 2005, explosions struck the market days before Independence Day celebrations, injuring scores of people. Another explosion gutted the area again almost a year later. A sign reading Tultepec, Firework Capital stood at one of the exits to the market. It was particularly full on Tuesday as many Mexicans buy fireworks to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Burned out cars with the paint peeled off and windows punched out by the force of the blasts ringed the site. Everything was destroyed, it was very ugly and many bodies were thrown all over the place, including a lot of children. Its the worst thing Ive ever seen in my life, said housewife Angelica Avila, 24, tears running down her face. Read | Mexico fireworks blast like a plane crash Avila spoke outside a nearby hospital on Tuesday night as she waited for an update on the health of her brother, a fireworks salesman, who she said was burned and also suffered a heart attack. Ten of the dead have yet to be identified, according to a state government website. State interior minister Jose Manzur said the vast majority of the markets 300 stalls were completely destroyed. However, he noted that the site was inspected by safety officials just last month and that no irregularities were found. The botched investigation into the disappearance and apparent massacre of 43 student teachers in 2014 in the violent state of Guerrero was a major embarrassment for Pena Nietos administration, which has also been criticized for its handling of probes into deadly accidents at state oil company Pemex. The PRI controls the State of Mexico, but not the town of Tultepec, which is run by the leftist opposition, and State Governor Eruviel Avila accused the towns mayor of seeking to use the tragedy for political ends. China on Thursday launched a satellite to monitor carbon dioxide levels, state media said, making the Asian giant the third country to track the potent contributor to global warming from space. The TanSat probe will allow China to keep a close eye on greenhouse gas emissions and give it a louder voice in future negotiations on carbon reduction, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The technology will trace the sources of greenhouse gases and help evaluate whether countries are fulfilling their commitments to reduce pollutants under environmental pacts, it said. China is a signatory to the Paris climate change agreement, the first universal action plan for curbing global warming. The US and China are together responsible for some 40 percent of the worlds emissions, so their participation in the agreement is crucial for its success. The satellite launch comes after US president-elect Donald Trump, an avowed climate sceptic, reportedly threatened to gut the US space agency NASAs climate change monitoring program. China is the third country after the US and Japan to launch a CO2 monitoring satellite. The three-year mission will take readings every 16 days. The TanSat has very good vision and can distinguish changes in atmospheric CO2 as small as 1 percent, Xinhua quoted the satellites chief designer Yin Zengshan as saying. Lin Chao, who was also involved in developing the technology, said it will allow China to collect carbon data from all over the world, all year round, and record the carbon contributed by both developed countries and the developing countries. China is the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases, due to its heavy reliance on coal to provide electricity to its population of 1.37 billion. The country has been fast moving away from coal -- driven in large part by major air pollution concerns including a crisis this month that has choked large swathes of the country. After growth of 5.3 percent per year from 2005-2014, China recorded a decline of 0.7 percent in 2015 and is set for a 0.5 percent drop in 2016. Remarks by deposed king Gyanendra Shah about rising threats to unity in Nepal has created political ripples, at a time when the government is trying hard to amend and implement the constitution, and hold local elections. Appearing to exploit the confusing political environment, Gyanendra said on Wednesday that Nepals national unity is under attack by so-called progressive, revolutionary and modern elements. Echoing US president-elect Donald Trump, he called on the nationalist forces to save the nation from breaking the social fabric and to make Nepal a great country again. Relentless efforts are underway to erase and break the social goodwill among the Nepali people living in Himal (mountain), hill and Tarai (southern plains), he said. The comments are being seen as an attempt by Gyanendra to gain political advantage when no significant progress has been made in meeting the demands of Mahdesis and other ethnic communities, while parties are bargaining over numbers of provinces and federal boundaries. The cabinet on Thursday discussed the intent and motive of Gyanendra, who recently visited China and met some senior Indian officials in Singapore, apparently seeking blessings for his rise to some kind of political space. At the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Prachanda reportedly shared some classified information about Gyanendras visit to China and Singapore. It is not merely a coincidence that Gyanendra visited India and China in recent past, he said. We should not take these incidents lightly as political achievements like republicanism, secularism, inclusiveness are in serious stake if we keep on wrangling. Deputy Prime Minister Bimalendra Nidhi, who is also the home minister, raised the issue of reopening the file of royal massacre of 2001, in which the entire family of late king Birendra Bir Bikram Shah, the elder brother of Gyanendra, was killed. The government at the time had formed a committee led by the then speaker Taranath Ranabhat to investigate the massacre that indicated the involvement of prince Dipendra Shah who was also shot dead. But many people did not believe the outcome of the probe and suspected some others. Gyanendra was not present at a party organised inside the palace at the time. But his family members sustained minor bullet injuries. If Gyanendra continues to speak like this, questioning the current political set up, the government should dig out the probe report again and reopen the case, Nidhi said in the cabinet meeting. Baburam Bhattarai, the former prime minister and senior Maoist leader who is now coordinator of Naya Shakti Nepal, tweeted: This is a hypocrisy when he talks about nationalists. Gyanendra, who has been seeking blessing of foreign powers, should not talk like this. No monarch in the world should get such kind of exception to talk once they are overthrown, he said. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are awash with the statements favouring and opposing Gyanendras remarks. Some of them are calling for the present regime to change its course or face the challenge posed by the former king. Surprisingly, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi , a senior Maoist leader from Prime Minister Prachandas party, supported Gyanendras statement. He is a common citizen and he can speak his mind, Rayamajhi said on Thursday at a function in Kathmandu. Everyone can express their view in a democracy, he said. Some senior leaders of Nepali Congress, the single largest party in Nepal, are reportedly keeping alive the agenda of restoration of Hindu kingdom and revival of monarchy. President-elect Donald Trump has met with some of the US militarys top brass to discuss ways of reducing costs, particularly for the F-35 stealth fighter program. Yesterdays meeting at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida came after Trump last week blasted the F-35s costs as out of control in a message on Twitter. Several three- and four-star generals and admirals attended the meeting, including the F-35 program chief Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan. Trying to bring costs down, Trump said when asked what the meeting was about. Primarily the F-35, trying to get the costs down. A program that is very, very expensive. With a current development and acquisition price tag of USD 379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft -- most of them destined for the Air Force -- the Lockheed Martin-built plane is the most expensive in history, and costs are set to go higher still. Once servicing, maintenance and other costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircrafts lifespan through 2070, overall program costs have been projected to rise to as much as USD 1.5 trillion. Trump has frequently turned to Twitter to vent his outrage across a range of topics. On December 6, he blasted Boeing over the possible $4 billion price tag for a replacement Air Force One presidential plane. He also called that project out of control. Trump also met with Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson and Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg. Asked whether he had secured any concessions from Hewson, Trump said: Were just beginning, its a dance. But were going to get the costs down and were going to get it done beautifully. Boeings Muilenburg told reporters the meeting with Trump went great and said Air Force One would be delivered for less than USD 4 billion. Were going to get it done for less than that, and were committed to working together to make sure that happens, Muilenburg said. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named his former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway to serve as counsellor to the president, his transition team said in a statement. Conway, 49, currently a senior adviser on Trumps transition team, is widely credited with helping him bring a more disciplined approach to campaigning that helped him win the November presidential election. In her new post, Conway will play a key advisory role in the White House when Trump takes office on Jan. 20, helping to manage the New York businessmans messaging and legislative priorities, according to the statement. Trump said Conway played a crucial role in my victory. She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message. In an interview with ABC News shortly after the announcement, Conway said Trump was finalizing his communications staff and was preparing to announce his choices for White House press secretary and related posts soon but gave no other details. Asked when Trump would hold his first news conference after canceling one earlier this month, Conway avoided directly answering the question. Trump has held several rallies since winning the Nov. 8 election but has not taken formal questions from reporters. Speaking on ABCs Good Morning America program, Conway pointed to Trumps time spent forming his Cabinet. Hes been very busy doing that, she said. France and Britain are pushing the UN Security Council to ban the sale of helicopters to Syria and to impose the first sanctions over the use of chemical weapons in the five-year war. A draft resolution obtained by AFP on Wednesday calls for asset freezes and travel bans against four Syrian officials and 10 entities including a Syrian research centre tied to chemical weapons development. Diplomats however said the measure is certain to be vetoed by Russia, Syrias ally, which has blocked council action on Syria with six vetoes so far. A vote at the council is expected as early as next week. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that several units of the Syrian army had used toxic weapons against three villages in northern Syria in 2014 and 2015. It was the first time an international probe blamed President Bashar Al-Assads forces after years of denial from Damascus. Government helicopters flying from two regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, the panels latest report said. Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia. British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said there must be significant measures to follow up on the panels findings and called for sanctions. Well be pursuing that with our council colleagues and circulating a draft shortly, he told reporters. Russia however has said that the reports findings are inconclusive and not strong enough to warrant sanctions. Under the proposed measure, the council would demand that all UN member-states prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to the Syrian military and government of any helicopters, or related materiel including spare parts. A UN committee that oversees a sanctions blacklist for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State would also be tasked with adding names of those responsible for a mustard gas attack in Syria in 2015. Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain said that he never attended school and missed out on its joys as he was home schooled due to various reasons. Hussain was speaking at a function at the Cadet College Hassanabdal near Islamabad on Wednesday where he told students to follow in the footsteps of Pakistans founder M A Jinnah to better meet the challenges that the country is facing. When asked about the presidents comment regarding his own education, alumni relations officer at the cadet college Syed Mohammad Ali said the president was home schooled due to various reasons, the Dawn reported. Hussain belongs to Pakistans financial hub Karachi where he settled after his family migrated from Agra during the partition. He rose from humble beginnings to become the president of the country. He is considered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs confidant who approved his appointment to the top job because of his loyalty to Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party. Soon after his appointment as president, Hussain said in one of his interviews that he had also attended a religious seminary in Karachi. It is for the first time that he said that he was deprived of formal modern schooling. The Syrian army said on Thursday that it had retaken complete control of Aleppo after the last rebel fighters were evacuated from the city, handing President Bashar al-Assad his biggest victory of the war. The army said it had brought security and safety to Aleppo, ending four years of rebel resistance in parts of the northern Syrian city. The last group of rebels and their families holed up in a small eastern enclave were evacuated on Thursday, under a deal that gives the army and its allies full control of the city after years of fighting, Syrian state television said. Syrians, who left the last rebel-held pockets of Syria's northen city of Aleppo, arrive on December 22, 2016 in the opposition-controlled Khan al-Assal region, west of the embattled city. (AFP Photo/Baraa al-Halabi) A rebel fighter walks carrying a bag at insurgent-held al-Rashideen in Aleppo. (Reuters/Ammar Abdullah) At least 34,000 people, both civilians and fighters, have been evacuated from east Aleppo in a week-long operation hampered by severe winter weather, the latest UN figures show. But the United Nations estimates that thousands more remain. The process for evacuation was traumatic, with crowding, and vulnerable people waiting for hours and exposed to sub-zero temperatures, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in New York. A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings after an airstrike on the rebel held al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo. (Reuters/Abdalrhman Ismail) The last evacuees left a tiny pocket that was all that remained of a rebel sector that covered nearly half the city before being besieged in the summer and hit by intense air strikes that reduced swathes of it to rubble. As the months of bombardment wore on, rescue and health services collapsed. Syrian rebel fighters, arrive in the opposition-controlled Khan al-Assal region. (AFP Photo) Last fight Fighters and civilians were evacuated overnight and on Thursday from east Aleppo to opposition-held areas under an agreement between the warring sides, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. A member of forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad stands in front of Aleppo's historic citadel. (Reuters File/Omar Sanadiki) Most are heading towards camps, or to their relatives, or shelter locations, said Ahmad al-Dbis, a medical aid worker heading a team evacuating patients from Aleppo. The humanitarian situation in northern Syria is very difficult, because the area is already densely populated since it has people displaced from all over Syria. Those leaving Aleppo were not only going to Idlib, a city and province southwest of Aleppo, but to villages in the countryside in Aleppo province that lies west and north of the city and has also been heavily bombed. Hundreds of other people were also evacuated from two villages besieged by rebels near Idlib and taken to government lines in Aleppo, part of the deal that has allowed insurgents to withdraw from the city carrying light weapons. A rebel official said a heavy snow storm that hit northern Syria and the sheer numbers involved had delayed the evacuation. Syrian rebels being evacuated from Aleppo drive through a rebel-held territory near Rashidin. (AFP Photo/Omar Haj Kadour) The numbers of civilians, their cars alongside and of course the weather all are making the evacuation slow, Munir al-Sayal, head of the political wing of Ahrar al Sham, said. A Christmas-themed train on Thursday set out on a journey to criss-cross Pakistan in an effort to promote tolerance in the overwhelmingly Muslim country. Adorned with Christmas lights and mock snowmen, and with carriages that have portraits and tributes to notable Christian Pakistanis, the government says it hopes to change mindsets in Pakistan, where attacks and persecution of religious minorities have become routine. Christians make up an estimated 1.6 percent of Pakistans 200 million people and have long faced discrimination -- sidelined into lowly paid jobs and often the target of trumped-up blasphemy charges. A Pakistan policeman walks past a Christmas-themed train. (AFP) Pakistani people visit a Christmas-themed train. (AFP) This is a sign of tolerance, everybody will celebrate Christmas together, Human Rights Minister Kamran Michael told AFP, adding that members of the public would be welcomed to visit the train and see its exhibits along its many stops. It set off Thursday afternoon from Islamabad to Peshawar, capital of the conservative northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and will travel to Lahore on Christmas day before leaving for southern Karachi on January 1. People look a "Christmas peace train" specially decorated by Pakistan Railways for Christmas celebrations, at Margalla railway station in Islamabad. (AP) A woman (R) takes a picture of her daughter with a man dressed as Santa Clause, inside a decorated car of Christmas Peace train. (REUTERS) Discrimination and violence against religious minorities is commonplace in Pakistan, where Muslims account for more than 90 percent of the population. A bomb attack on a park in Lahore on Easter Sunday in March killed 73 people, with the Pakistani Taliban claiming the attack and saying they had targeted Christians. Twin suicide attacks against churches in Lahore killed 17 people in March last year, sparking two days of rioting by thousands of Christians. Pakistan railway employees walk past a Christmas-themed train . (AFP) A man dressed as Santa Claus waves from a Christmas-themed train after its inauguration ceremony in Islamabad. (AFP) Agnes, a Catholic Pakistani who attended the launch ceremony, said she was grateful for the gesture, while acknowledging it was symbolic. Its nothing more than a function -- but it makes me feel proud, it is a first step, she said. Lets hope we can celebrate christmas in peace and harmony in the many years to come. cnp/ia/eb A Swedish man is claiming to be the first person in the world to have reached the South Pole in a wheelchair. Aron Anderson said he accomplished the feat on Wednesday after a 21-day journey in a wheelchair on skis. He told Swedish public radio Thursday that temperatures averaged -30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) during his 640- kilometer (400-miles) trek. Speaking from the South Pole, Anderson said the glide on the snow here is really hard and that he now wanted some real food, Im kind of tired of this freeze-dried food. He said the expedition had raised five million kronor ($538,000) to fight cancer among children in Sweden. On his website, Anderson explained he got cancer in the lower back aged seven and been in a wheelchair ever since. Islamic State claimed three suicide car bombs that killed at least 15 civilians and eight Iraqi policemen on Thursday in an eastern suburb of Mosul, according to a military statement. The attacks targeted Kokjali, a suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago. A military spokesman said the car bombs went off in a market. The US-backed assault on Mosul, the jihadists last major stronghold in Iraq, was launched by a 100,000-strong alliance of local forces on October 17. It has become the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Islamic State militants retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they are retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction. Four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed by mortar fire this week during aid distribution in Mosul, the United Nations said on Thursday. People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked, said Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. All parties to the conflict - all parties - have an obligation to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians survive and receive the assistance they need. Elite army forces have captured a quarter of the city but the advance has faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants. The authorities do not release figures for civilian or military casualties, but medical officials say dozens of people are wounded each day in the battle for Mosul. Some brought photos of their missing loved ones to the Mexican fireworks market where a series of explosions killed at least 33 people, while others who had already claimed their dead began to mourn their loss. Friends and relatives of Ernesto Ornelas, 67, gathered in the narrow street in front of his house in the Mexico City suburb of Naucalpan late Wednesday to pray, sing and mourn his loss in the deadly blasts, whose cause has still not been determined. Authorities in Mexico State said the death toll could rise further because 12 people were listed as missing and some body parts were found at the scene of Tuesdays tragedy in the San Pablito fireworks market in the city of Tultepec. Read | At least 31 dead, 72 hurt in Mexico fireworks market blast Ornelas had been shopping for fireworks with his son Cesar Ornelas and his 15-year-old grandson Francisco when the explosions occurred. They became separated in their dash to escape. Cesar and Francisco suffered minor injuries and only later saw Ernesto, bleeding from his head and with his clothing burned, loaded into an ambulance. After learning which hospital hed been taken to they were told he had died of a head injury, Cesar Ornelas said Wednesday. We dont know if it was from a fall or if a flying rock hit him. Investigators were focusing their attention on ignored safety measures that led to vendors displaying fireworks outside their concrete stalls in the passageways that divided the sellers. The passageways were supposed to prevent exactly the sort of devastating chain reaction that occurred. Juana Antolina Hernandez, who has run a stand for 22 years in San Pablito next to one operated by her parents, escaped the market in a mad dash when the explosions began. On Wednesday, she was one of the disconsolate residents waiting outside a local morgue. I cant find my father, and my mother is very badly burned, said Hernandez, 49, I am waiting here for them to tell me if my father is here, but up to this point, nothing. Of the 33 dead, the state listed 10 as unidentified. In some cases, the bodies were so badly burned that DNA identification will be necessary. Read | Cause of deadly Mexico fireworks blasts still unknown San Pablito was especially well stocked for the holidays and bustling with hundreds of shoppers when the blast reduced the market to a stark expanse of ash, rubble and the scorched metal. Dramatic video of the explosion showed a towering plume of smoke that was lit up by a staccato of bangs and flashes of light, the third such incident to ravage the market on the northern outskirts of Mexicos capital since 2005. As police hunt for Tunisian Anis Amri, the top suspect in Berlins Christmas market attack, public anger has grown over a catalogue of failures that allowed him to evade arrest or deportation. An incredulous public has learned that Amri was a rejected asylum seeker and known radical jihadist with a history of crime who had been under police observation for plotting an attack before surveillance was dropped. They knew him. They did nothing, ran the scathing headline of Berlins B.Z. tabloid. Here are the missed chances that may have prevented Mondays attack, according to what we know so far from official statements and press reports. False start It seemed too good to be true when police said Monday night they had arrested a suspect within an hour of the attack -- a Pakistani man who had apparently been identified by an eyewitness. By the time police let him go late Tuesday for lack of evidence, they had lost 24 hours during which the public had not been told the armed killer was still on the run. Police say a forensics team only found a wallet containing Amris papers in the truck cabin on Tuesday afternoon. It took until Wednesday afternoon for authorities to issue a Europe-wide public wanted notice that gave Amris full name, age and photograph and warned the public he was dangerous. Read: Berlin attack: 4 arrested in connection with Tunisian suspect, say media reports Attack plot Amri had been watched since March by counter-terrorism services who knew he was in contact with radical Islamists and could have been plotting an attack. He had had contact with Iraqi hate preacher Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A., who was arrested by German police in November for setting up a recruitment network on behalf of the Islamic State group. Berlin prosecutors say Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary meant to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, possibly to carry out an attack. Surveillance had however shown that Amri was working as a small-time drug dealer in Berlin, and the observation ended in September. Amri had used different identities to travel between German states, an unnamed investigator told the Bild newspaper, but apparently there was never sufficient evidence to arrest him. Der Spiegel news weekly said security services had even heard Amri volunteer for a suicide attack -- but that he had used a phrase considered too obscure to stand up as evidence leading to an arrest. Amid the finger-pointing, debate is raging over whether Amris case highlights incompetence or an overburdened security apparatus. Police say that a suspects 24/7 phone and personal surveillance requires a rotating team of up to two dozen officers. German security services say they are keeping an eye on some 540 radical Islamists they consider potentially dangerous. Read: Attack-hit Berlin Christmas market to reopen, but sans celebratory lights, music Deportation blocked Amri arrived in Germany in July 2015 at a time when a historic influx of migrants and refugees was overwhelming authorities. His asylum request was rejected in June this year, but Amri couldnt be deported because he had no passport and Tunis denied he was a Tunisian citizen. Finally, the new Tunisian travel document arrived on Wednesday, two days after the attack, said Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, who added coolly that he preferred not to comment on the delay. Germany has repeatedly accused Tunisia and other North African states of stalling on the repatriation of their nationals from Germany. Jailed in Italy Adding to the troubling list of questions is the fact that Amri was known as a dangerous offender in Italy and was considered a threat by the United States. An unnamed US official told The New York Times that Amri had been on a US no-fly list, had in the past allegedly researched online how to build a bomb and had had contact with IS via messaging service Telegram. In Italy, where Amri had arrived by boat from Tunisia in 2011, he had served more than three years in jail for setting fire to a school building used to house refugees and other offences. In May 2015, he was placed in deportation detention but released weeks later, free to travel on to Germany, wrote Die Welt. Italy only issued an alert for him across Europes visa-free Schengen zone this year, according to Der Spiegel. When Amri issued his asylum request in Germany, he initially claimed to be an Egyptian fleeing state repression but was unable to answer even basic questions about the country, the magazine said. His asylum request was denied but, because he couldnt be expelled, he was issued a stay of deportation paper -- the document that police this week found in the mangled truck cabin. Mortar fire killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in the battleground Iraqi city of Mosul, the United Nations said on Thursday. According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queueing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire, Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in a statement. Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents that also wounded up to 40 people, Grande said. People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked, she said, adding: The killing of civilians and aid workers violates every humanitarian principle. Iraqi forces launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul, the countrys last city held by the Islamic State jihadist group, and have retaken areas on its eastern side. But the battle -- during which more than 100,000 people have been displaced, with many times that number still believed to be inside the city -- is far from over. The UN announcement came a day after the Human Rights Watch said the IS was indiscriminately attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the jihadists in Mosul. Residents said (IS) members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were unbelievers and therefore, valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces, the rights group said. The jihadists have targeted civilians with mortars, explosives and gunfire, it said. After a trapdoor spider, a speckled freshwater darter (fish), a parasitic hairworm and an extinct lizard, outgoing US President Barack Obama now has a new species on his name: A coral-reef fish. Scientists have named a new set of small pink and yellow coral-reef fish -- found exclusively within the marine protected area in Hawaii -- in honour of Obama. The fish now bears the formal scientific name Tosanoides obama. The fish was discovered during a June, 2016 national oceanic and atmospheric administration expedition to Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Hawaiian Islands. On August 26, at the urging of the Hawaii democrat senator Brian Schatz, and various conservationists and marine scientists, President Obama had expanded the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. At 582,578 square miles, it is the largest permanent marine protected area on Earth. We decided to name this fish after President Obama to recognise his efforts to protect and preserve the natural habitat, including its expansion, said lead author Richard Pyle, Bishop Museum scientist. The expansion of Papahanaumokuakea adds a layer of protection to one of the last great wilderness areas on Earth, Pyle added. Male Obamas have a distinctive spot on the dorsal fin near the tail, which is blue around the edge and red with yellow stripes in the centre. It is reminiscent of President Obamas campaign logo so seemed especially appropriate for the fish to be named in honour of the President, Pyle said. The new species was first discovered and collected on a dive to 300 feet at Kure Atoll, 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu. It is special because it is the only known species of coral-reef fish endemic to the Monument. On September 1, during his trip to Midway Atoll within the Monument, legendary scientist, conservationist and deep ocean explorer Sylvia Earle presented the President a photograph of the fish. The study was published in the open-access scientific journal ZooKeys. Pakistan on Thursday accused India of settling non-Kashmiris in Jammu in an attempt to change the demographic composition of the region. Foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria made the allegations at the weekly press briefing at Islamabad. Reportedly, PDP-BJP regime... in violation of UNSC Resolutions, has started issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu region. The move is part of the regimes nefarious designs to change the demographic composition of the territory, he said. This act of bringing material change in the disputed territory of Jammu & Kashmir is a blatant violation of UNSC Resolutions on Kashmir. Kashmiris have hopes that international community and relevant international organizations will call India to the account, he alleged. He said that at an International European Kashmir Conference in Denmark last month, representatives of 500 political and social organisations and NGOs adopted a declaration, inter alia, seeking release of arrested people. A Palestinian man was killed during clashes with Israeli soldiers overnight as they arrived to demolish the home of the alleged perpetrator of a deadly attack on Israelis, the army said on Thursday. A spokeswoman said that during a confrontation suspects threw improvised explosive devices at soldiers, who responded by opening fire, resulting in the death of a Palestinian. The Palestinian health ministry identified the man killed as Ahmad al-Kharoubi, 19. The spokeswoman said Israeli soldiers were attempting to demolish the home of Misbah Abu Sbeih -- who went on a deadly shooting rampage in October -- in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Kufr Aqab. Sbeih was shot dead by security forces on October 9 after killing police officer Yosef Kirma, 29, while Israeli media identified the second victim as 60-year-old Israeli woman Levana Melihi. A wave of violence in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel since October 2015 has killed 245 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some died in Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte called a top UN official an idiot and joker on Thursday for urging that murder investigations be launched against the president after he admitted personally killing people. Zeid Raad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday said Philippine judicial authorities should probe Dutertes accounts of having carried out killings when he was mayor of Davao City. This guy (Zeid) is ever the joker or crazy, Duterte said during a televised speech, and repeatedly called him stupid. You UN officials, sitting there on your asses, we pay you your salaries. You idiot, do not tell me what to do ... Who gave you the right? Duterte told businessmen last week that when mayor he personally killed criminals on the streets and later admitted shooting dead three men involved in a kidnapping case, during a police gunfight in the late 1980s. Zeid on Tuesday said investigations should also be opened into deadly anti-drugs campaigns in Davao when Duterte was mayor and the shocking number of deaths during the current nationwide campaign. More than 6,000 people have been killed as part of Dutertes crackdown, a third by police and the rest still officially under investigation. Duterte says the shootings by police were in self-defence. Duterte has previously threatened to withdraw from the UN and called it inutile for being slow to respond to crises. Please shut up because your brain is lacking there, he told Zeid. Go back to school. You United Nations, you do not know diplomacy. You do not know how to behave to be an employee of the United Nations. You do not talk to me like that, you son of a bitch. Congo security forces have killed at least 34 people this week amid protests against President Joseph Kabilas extended rule, a rights group said Thursday, as mediators urged the ruling and opposition parties to find a way out of the political crisis. The toll is likely to climb, said Human Rights Watch researcher Ida Sawyer. The group has confirmed 19 deaths in Kinshasa, five in the southern city of Lubumbashi, six in Boma and four in Matadi. Most were shot dead by security forces while protesting in the streets, but passers-by also have been targeted, she told Radio France International. One family said their son was picked up when he stepped out of the house to make a phone call early Tuesday and was later found dead, Sawyer told RFI. Map of the Democratic Republic of Congo locating Lisala (AFP) Police say the heavy security presence will be maintained through the holidays. Anger has grown as Kabila, in power since 2001, remains in office after his constitutional mandate ended Monday. A court has ruled he can remain in power until a new leader is elected, but elections originally set for November have been postponed indefinitely. Catholic church-led political talks continued Thursday, and mediators have said a solution must be found before Christmas to reassure the people of this vast, mineral-rich central African country. Peter Kazidi, the adviser to Etienne Tshisekedi, the leader of the largest opposition party, said mediators had prepared an agreement and were meeting participants in small groups to discuss and amend it. He gave no details of the proposal. We were not able to make progress yesterday, Kazidi said. We want to reach an agreement, but we dont trust the majority to be here in good faith. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged all parties to work in good faith to find a transitional arrangement that keeps with Congos constitution, and peacefully work toward timely and credible elections. In a statement late Wednesday, Ban also stressed the need for Congos security forces to exercise restraint. Russian air strikes in Syria have killed 35,000 rebel fighters and succeeded in halting a chain of revolutions in the Middle East, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday. Speaking at a gathering of top military officials that appeared designed to showcase Russias military achievements, Shoigu said Moscows intervention had prevented the collapse of the Syrian state. We are now stronger than any potential aggressor, President Vladimir Putin said at the same event at the Defence Ministry in Moscow. Shoigu said Russian aircraft had flown 18,800 sorties in Syria since the start of the Kremlins operation there last year, destroying 775 training camps, 405 sites where weapons were being made and killing 35,000 fighters. The chain of colour revolutions spreading across the Middle East and Africa has been broken, Shoigu said. Russias intervention in Syria is widely seen as having saved President Bashar al-Assads forces from defeat and as being crucial to their retaking full control of Aleppo. Shoigu also said Russias nuclear missile forces would next year be swelled by three extra units armed with modern weaponry and that the air force would receive five modernised strategic bombers. But Putin warned that while Russias military power had grown substantially, if we dont want that to change we had better not lose focus. Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has had and continues to have contact with Russian intelligence services, according to newly declassified portions of a House Intelligence Committee report released on Thursday. The Pentagon found 13 undisclosed high risk security issues caused by Snowdens disclosure to media outlets of tens of thousands of the US eavesdropping agencys most sensitive documents, according to the new material. If the Chinese or Russians obtained access to materials related to these issues, American troops will be at greater risk in any future conflict, the report said. The committee remains concerned that more than three years after the start of the unauthorized disclosures, NSA, and the IC (Intelligence Community) as a whole, have not done enough to minimize the risk of another massive unauthorized disclosure, the report said. Snowden lives in Moscow under an asylum deal that was made after his leaks of classified information in 2013 triggered an international furor over the reach of U.S. spy operations. Snowdens lawyer, Ben Wizner, declined to immediately comment to Reuters on the newly released material. But in a Twitter post, Wizner called the newly declassified portions of the report petulant nonsense. The army said Thursday it has retaken full control of Syrias devastated second city Aleppo, scoring its biggest victory against opposition forces since the civil war erupted in 2011. The announcement came after a landmark evacuation deal that put an end to a ferocious month-long offensive waged on east Aleppo by government forces and allied militia. An army statement said the general command announces the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists, and the departure of those who stayed there. It came shortly after state television reported that the last convoy of four buses carrying rebels and civilians had left eastern Aleppo and arrived in the government-controlled Ramussa district south of the city. Evacuees from the Shi'ite Muslim villages of al-Foua and Kefraya ride a bus at insurgent-held al-Rashideen in the province of Aleppo, Syria. (Reuters Photo) Ahmed Qorra Ali, an official with the rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, confirmed that the last convoy has left the rebel-controlled area. Earlier, the Red Cross said more than 4,000 fighters had left rebel-held areas of the city in the final stages of the evacuation. The loss of east Aleppo is the biggest blow to Syrias rebel movement in the nearly six-year conflict, which has killed more than 310,000 people. It puts the government in control of the countrys five main cities: Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Damascus, and Latakia. Read| Aleppo evacuations in heavy snow end brutal war chapter Freezing temperatures Syrias conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011 but spiralled into a civil war after a brutal government crackdown on dissent. It has drawn in proxy powers and attracted foreign jihadists, but successive attempts to negotiate a political end to the conflict have failed. President Bashar al-Assads victory in Aleppo is a boon for his allies in Moscow and Tehran and a defeat for the oppositions backers, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Western states. Because of the intensity of these global rivalries -- particularly between Russia and the United States -- the international community struggled for years to respond to the bloodshed in Syria. A Syrian child plays in the snow after her family arrived from the rebel-held pockets of Syria's northen city of Aleppo to the opposition-controlled Khan al-Assal region, west of the embattled city. (AFP Photo) The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran, state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying before the army announcement on Thursday. The evacuation had been hampered by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, in one of the last stages of the evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated in private cars, vans, and pick-ups from eastern Aleppo, said Ingy Sedky, the spokeswoman in Syria for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She said about 34,000 people had left rebel areas of Aleppo under the evacuation plan. The United Nations said it had deployed observers to monitor the final evacuations, under a Security Council resolution adopted on Monday. Pivotal moment Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, said 31 staff had been assigned for monitoring at Ramussa. Its been a very difficult night. The weather is really harsh, and people are leaving in hundreds of private vehicles at different levels of disrepair, he told AFP. Heavy snowfall from Wednesday, which blanketed Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, had hampered the evacuations. The bad weather, including heavy snow and wind, and the poor state of vehicles... mean things are moving much more slowly than expected, Sedky said. Rebel forces, who seized east Aleppo in 2012, agreed to withdraw after a month-long army offensive that drove them from more than 90 percent of their former territory. The deal was brokered by Russia, which launched air strikes in support of Assads regime last year, and Turkey, which has supported some rebel groups. As part of the Aleppo evacuation deal, it was agreed some residents would be allowed to leave Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority villages in northwestern Syria that are under siege by the Sunni Muslim rebels. About 1,000 people have been able to leave the villages in recent days. The evacuation of Aleppos rebel-held sector is a pivotal moment in a war that has triggered a major humanitarian and refugee crisis. As well as a major strategic gain for Assad, the withdrawal has, however, given fresh impetus to international efforts to end the conflict. Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed this week to guarantee Syria peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire, laying down their claim as the main powerbrokers in the war. In pics: After over four years of fighting, battle for Aleppo comes to an end Powerful symbol Repeated attempts at peace have failed, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene fresh talks in Geneva in February. Formerly the beating heart of Syrias commercial and cultural industries, Aleppo had been split since July 2012 between rebels in the east and the government in the west. East Aleppo became a powerful symbol for Syrias opposition, which set up its own administration to run schools, electricity and water there. Opposition fighters lobbed rockets into government-held territory, and regime forces battered the east with air strikes and artillery. It was Moscows military intervention in support of Assad that marked a major turning point. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday the Russian air force has killed 35,000 fighters in Syria since it began in September last year. Turkey launched its own campaign in Syria in late August in support of pro-Ankara rebels, with the aim of ousting Islamic State group jihadists as well as Kurdish militia from areas near its border. Turkish air strikes killed at least 47 civilians including 14 children on Thursday in the IS-held town of Al-Bab, which Turkish forces have been seeking to capture for weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The raids came a day after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by jihadists around Al-Bab -- Ankaras biggest loss of the campaign so far. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed to press on, saying: Turkey is in the midst of a great struggle -- our fight against terror continues both in our country and outside our borders. Read| Aleppos fall will change US and Russian roles in Syria President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until the rest of the world comes to its senses regarding nuclear weapons. Trump made the statement on Twitter and did not expand on the actions he wants the US to take or on the issues he sees around the world. His comments came one day after meeting with incoming White House national security adviser Michael Flynn. The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016 Trumps transition website says he recognizes the uniquely catastrophic threats posed by nuclear weapons and cyberattacks, adding that he will modernize the nuclear arsenal to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent. Beyond that, he has offered few specifics, either as a candidate or during the transition. Trumps vanquished campaign rival Hillary Clinton repeatedly cast the Republican as too erratic and unpredictable to have control of the nations nuclear arsenal. Ten former nuclear missile launch operators also wrote that Trump lacks the temperament, judgment and diplomatic skill to avoid nuclear war. Trump was spending Thursday at his private estate in South Florida, where he has been meeting with advisers and interviewing potential Cabinet nominees. He is also building out his White House staff, announcing that campaign manager Kellyanne Conway will join him in the West Wing as a counselor. Conway, a longtime Republican pollster, is widely credited with helping guide him to victory. She also is a frequent guest on television news programs. Trump called Conway a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda. The president-elect has spent part of the week discussing national security issues, including the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Germany. He called the violence an attack on humanity and appeared to suggest a willingness to move ahead with his campaign pledge to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from coming to the United States. Trump proposed the Muslim ban during the Republican primary campaign, drawing sharp criticism from both parties. During the general election, he shifted his rhetoric to focus on temporarily halting immigration from an unspecified list of countries with ties to terrorism, though he did not disavow the Muslim ban, which is still prominently displayed on his campaign website. The president-elect, when asked Wednesday if the attack in Berlin would cause him to evaluate the proposed ban or a possible registry of Muslims in the United States, said, You know my plans. All along, Ive been proven to be right, 100 percent correct. Whats happening is disgraceful, said Trump, who deemed the violence an attack on humanity, and added, its got to be stopped. A transition spokesman said later Wednesday that Trumps plans might upset those with their heads stuck in the politically correct sand. President-elect Trump has been clear that we will suspend admission of those from countries with high terrorism rates and apply a strict vetting procedure for those seeking entry in order to protect American lives, spokesman Jason Miller said. But transition officials did not comment on whether Trump could also push for the overarching ban on Muslims. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for Mondays attack in Berlin that left 12 people dead and 48 injured. On Wednesday, German officials launched a Europe-wide manhunt for a violent and armed Tunisian man suspected in the killings. Conway said on ABCs Good Morning America Thursday that Trump is the guy out there saying we need extreme vetting policies, that we need to have a better system vis a vis countries that train, harbor and export terrorists. He said during the campaign long after he originally proposed that that this would be more strictly tied to countries where we know they have a history of terrorism and that this is not a complete ban, she added. Trump, who addressed journalists Wednesday for less than two minutes outside his palatial South Florida estate, said he has not spoken to President Barack Obama since the attack. Denouncing the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Germany, President-elect Donald Trump renewed his vow to stop radical terror groups and appeared to suggest a willingness to move ahead with his campaign pledge to ban temporarily Muslim immigrants from coming to the United States. Trump proposed the Muslim ban during the Republican primary campaign, drawing sharp criticism from both parties. During the general election, he shifted his rhetoric to focus on temporarily halting immigration from an unspecified list of countries with ties to terrorism, though he did not disavow the Muslim ban, which is still prominently displayed on his campaign website. The president-elect, when asked Wednesday if the attack in Berlin would cause him to evaluate the proposed ban or a possible registry of Muslims in the United States, said You know my plans. All along, Ive been proven to be right, 100% correct. Whats happening is disgraceful, said Trump, who deemed the violence an attack on humanity, and its got to be stopped. A transition spokesman said later Wednesday that Trumps plans might upset those with their heads stuck in the politically correct sand. President-elect Trump has been clear that we will suspend admission of those from countries with high terrorism rates and apply a strict vetting procedure for those seeking entry in order to protect American lives, spokesman Jason Miller said. But transition officials did not comment on whether Trump could also push for the overarching ban on Muslims. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for Mondays attack in Berlin that left 12 people dead and 48 injured. On Wednesday, German officials launched a Europe-wide manhunt for a violent and armed Tunisian man suspected in the killings. Read: Germany hunts Tunisian suspect after IS claims truck attack US President-elect Donald Trump named Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on trade with China, to head a newly formed White House National Trade Council, the transition team said on Wednesday. Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has authored a number of popular books and made a film describing Chinas threat to the US economy as well as Beijings desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia. Trumps team praised Navarro in a statement as a visionary economist who would develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores. Trump, a Republican, made trade a centerpiece of his presidential campaign and railed against what he said were bad deals the United States had made with other countries. He has threatened to hit Mexico and China with high tariffs once he takes office on Jan. 20. Navarro, 67, is a professor at University of California, Irvine, and advised Trump during the campaign. His books include Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base, which was made into a documentary film. As well as describing what he sees as Americas losing economic war with China, Navarro has highlighted concerns over environmental issues related to Chinese imports and the theft of U.S. intellectual property. China is paying close attention to Trumps transition team and the possible direction of policy, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said after being asked about Navarros appointment. Cooperation is the only correct choice. We hope the U.S. works hard with China to maintain the healthy, stable development of ties, including business and trade ties, the spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told a daily press briefing. While Trump in the statement praised the clarity of Navarros arguments and the thoroughness of his research, few other economists have endorsed Navarros ideas. Marcus Noland, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, likened a tax and trade paper authored by Navarro and Wilbur Ross, who has been named as Trumps commerce secretary, to the type of magical thinking best reserved for fictional realities for what he said was its flawed economic analysis. Dont Poke the Panda Navarro has also suggested a stepped-up engagement with Taiwan, including assistance with a submarine development program. He argued that Washington should stop referring to the one China policy, but stopped short of suggesting it should recognize Taipei, saying: There is no need to unnecessarily poke the Panda. China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, said in an interview carried on Thursday in the Communist Party of Chinas official newspaper that China-US relations face new uncertainties but with mutual respect for core interests they will remain stable. Only if China and the United States respect each other and give consideration to others core interests and key concerns can there be long-term, stable cooperation, and effect win-win mutual benefit, Wang said. After his election win, Trump stoked Chinas ire when he took a telephone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a break with decades of precedent that cast doubt on his incoming administrations commitment to Beijings one China policy. In an opinion piece in Foreign Policy magazine in November, Navarro and another Trump adviser, Alexander Gray, reiterated the president-elects opposition to major trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Trump will never again sacrifice the U.S. economy on the altar of foreign policy by entering into bad trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement, allowing China into the World Trade Organization, and passing the proposed TPP, Navarro and Gray wrote. These deals only weaken our manufacturing base and ability to defend ourselves and our allies. Trump has vowed to pull the United States out of the TPP, a free-trade pact aimed at linking a dozen Pacific Rim nations that President Barack Obama signed in February. It has not been ratified by the US Senate. The president-elect has also vowed to renegotiate the NAFTA pact with Canada and Mexico, saying it had cost American jobs. Washington US President-elect Donald Trump has been vague on plans to create a registry or database of Muslims before, but when asked about it in the wake of the terrorist attack in Berlin, he told reporters on Wednesday, You have known my plans all along. If that didnt sound like a yes, it wasnt a no either, not as clearly as his transition team put it last month, saying in a statement that the president-elect has never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion. Taking questions from the protective pool of reporters that travels with presidents and president-elects, at his resort in Miami, Trump did moderate his tone on the Berlin attack, now calling it an attack on humanity. He had earlier described it as an attack on Christianity and Christians, as part of Islamic States global jihad, which was criticised for pushing the contentious narrative of a clash between two religions, or two cultures. Flanked by officials of his incoming administration that included national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has called Islam a cancer, Trump said, Its an attack on humanity. Thats what it is. An attack on humanity and its got to be stopped. But his remarks about the registry and database were less clear, and were unlikely to reassure Muslims already worried for their future under Trumps administration, with a sharp spike in reports of hate crimes against the community since his election. Though the Trump camp has denied the president-elect is in favour of any religion-based registry or database, some of his supporters have called for the kind ordered by President George W Bush after the 9/11 attacks, of immigrants not US citizens from Muslim-majority countries. That scheme was killed off by the Obama administration in 2011, as were many others found to have served their time and purpose of preventing a repeat of an attack the likes of which had never been seen before on American mainland. The more alarming version of registry, or its memories, was the compulsory registration of Americans of Japanese descent ordered after the Pearl Harbor attack that drew the US into World War II, accompanied by internment. But the notion of a database of Muslims teased by Trump but never spelt out that is most worrying is one that requires all Muslims in the US not just immigrants from terrorism-affected countries to register with the government. Trump has never spoken of a registry, but flirted with the idea of a database, as did his allies and some of those he auditioned for a post in his cabinet. He started by calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. Trump has since tweaked the plan but not abandoned it. He has also said he will set up a commission on Radical Islam, introduce an ideological screening test and extreme vetting for visitors to the US from countries affected by terrorism, as determined by the department for Homeland Security. His supporters, however, have gone beyond. Tunisian suspect Anis Amris fingerprints have been found in the cab of the truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin, strengthening the case linking him to the deadly attack, Germanys top security official said Thursday. Authorities across Europe were scrambling to find the 24-year-old suspect, a day after Germany issued a wanted notice for him and warned that he may be violent and armed. In Berlin, the Christmas market that was ripped apart by the truck reopened - with increased security measures - in a signal of the citys resilience. German authorities have offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($104,000) for information leading to Amris arrest. Twelve people were killed and 48 injured in Monday evenings rampage, which was claimed by the Islamic State group. We can tell you today that there are additional indications that this suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after visiting the Federal Criminal Police Office along with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Fingerprints were found in the cab, and there are other, additional indications that suggest this, he told reporters. It is all the more important that the search is successful as soon as possible. Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors, specified that Amris fingerprints were found on the drivers door and the side of the vehicle. We believe that Anis Amri was steering the truck, she said. Investigators searched properties in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin where Amri is believed to have spent time, and also checked a bus in the southwestern city of Heilbronn after receiving a tip, she added. They didnt make any arrests. Mustapha Amri (2ndL), the father of 24-year-old Anis Amri, the prime suspect in Berlin's deadly truck attack, poses next to his children Walid (L), Hanan (C), and Abdelkader and his brother (R) in front the family house in the town of Oueslatia, in Tunisia's region of Kairouan on December 22, 2016. (AFP) In Tunisia, one of Amris brothers spoke to The Associated Press to urge him to surrender to authorities. I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it, brother Abdelkader Amri told the AP. He said Amri may have been radicalized in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Amris mother said he had shown no signs of radicalization and questioned whether he was really the attacker. Speaking Thursday in the central Tunisian town of Oueslatia, Nour El Houda Hassani said poverty drove Amri to steal and to travel illegally to Europe. She said Amri spent time in an Italian prison and in Switzerland before reaching Germany. I want the truth to be revealed about my son, she said. If he is the perpetrator of the attack, let him assume his responsibilities and Ill renounce him before God. If he didnt do anything, I want my sons rights to be restored. Tunisian police who interrogated the family on Wednesday took away her telephone and were studying her communications with her son, she said. Police patrol at the re-opened Christmas market at Breitscheid square in Berlin, Germany, December 22, 2016, following an attack by a truck which ploughed through a crowd at the market on Monday night. (REUTERS) German officials put out an arrest warrant for Amri, who according to authorities has used at least six different names and three different nationalities, after finding a document belonging to him in the cab of the market attack truck. German authorities had deemed Amri, who arrived in the country last year, a potential threat long before the attack this week - and even kept him under covert surveillance for six months this year before halting the operation. They had been trying to deport him after his asylum application was rejected in July but were unable to do so because he lacked valid identity papers and Tunisia initially denied that he was a citizen. At the market outside Berlins Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, police placed concrete blocks at the roadside Thursday to provide extra security as it reopened. In a solemn tribute to the victims, organizers decided to do without party music and bright lighting and Berliners and visitors laid candles and flowers at the site. An Israeli woman, Dalia Elyakim, and 31-year-old Fabrizia Di Lorenzo of Italy were among the 12 killed in the market attack, their countries said. Di Lorenzo had lived and worked in Berlin for several years. Two Americans were among the wounded, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. The UN Security Council will vote on an Egyptian-drafted resolution demanding that Israel immediately halt its settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. Egypt circulated the draft late yesterday and a vote was scheduled for 3 pm (local time) today. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal and has repeatedly called on Israel to halt them, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. The draft resolution demanded that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements are seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The draft states that Israeli settlements are dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-state solution that would see an independent state of Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. It stresses that halting settlements was essential for salvaging the two-state solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground. The measure calls for immediate steps to prevent acts of violence against civilians, but does not specifically single out the Palestinians to stop incitement, as demanded by Israel. UN diplomats have for weeks speculated as to whether the administration of US President Barack Obama would decide to refrain from using its veto to block a draft resolution condemning Israel. Obamas administration has expressed mounting anger over Israeli settlement policy and speculation has grown that he could launch a final initiative before leaving. Israel last month revived plans to build 500 new homes for Jewish settlers in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, after Donald Trump won the US presidential election. US law enforcement has announced the arrest of a Pakistani national for his alleged role in a $140-million fraud in fake school and college certificates called the diploma mill run by Axact, a Pakistani firm prosecuted by authorities there in 2015. Umair Hamid, the 30-year-old defendant, was arrested on December 19, US attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said in an announcement on Wednesday, identifying him as the assistant vice president of international relations of Axact. Hamid has been charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a racket collecting, according to authorities, $140 million from tens of thousands of customers in many countries, including the US. As alleged, while promising the rewards of a higher education, Umair Hamid was actually just peddling diplomas and certifications from fake schools, Bharara said, announcing the arrest and charges. Hamid allegedly took hefty upfront fees from young men and women seeking an education, leaving them with little more than useless pieces of paper. The racket involved enrolling customers in supposed schools, colleges and educational institutions in what they thought were real courses at the end of which they would get real certificates. Instead, after paying the upfront fees, consumers did not receive any legitimate instruction and were provided fake and worthless diplomas, Bhararas office said in the announcement. Pakistani authorities had cracked down on Axact in May 2015 and arrested owner Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh days after The New York Times published an article alleging it was selling fake educational degrees from fictitious institutions. Axact had denied the allegations and called them baseless. Pakistan had then sought the FBIs help as many of those allegedly cheated were in the US. Also, as the charges filed in the court revealed, most of the fictitious institutions cited to con consumers were based in the United States. US attorney Preet Bharara has charged a Pakistani executive for his role in a $140-million fake diploma mill scam that allegedly defrauded thousands of people around the world, including Indians. Umair Hamid, 30, who served as assistant vice president of international relations of Pakistan-based Axact, was charged for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the scam that collected at least approximately $140 million from tens of thousands of consumers. The fake diploma scam operated by Axact was exposed by The New York Times in May 2015, triggering investigations in the US and Pakistan. American authorities arrested Hamid, who used the aliases Shah Khan and Shah, on December 19 and presented him in federal court on Wednesday. As alleged, while promising the rewards of a higher education, Umair Hamid was actually just peddling diplomas and certifications from fake schools. Hamid allegedly took hefty upfront fees from young men and women seeking an education, leaving them with little more than useless pieces of paper, Bharara said. FBI assistant director William Sweeney Jr said: Thousands of peoples hopes were crushed as this alleged diploma mill scheme came crashing down. Victims took at face value the lies Hamid and his co-conspirators are alleged to have sold them. Today, were rewriting the lesson plan. Hamid, who belongs to Karachi, could face up to 20 years in jail for charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The investigation into the scam in the US is being jointly conducted by the FBI, the US Postal Inspection Service and the justice department. Executives and call centre employees of Axact allegedly made false and fraudulent representations to consumers on websites and over the phone to trick them into enrolling in purported colleges and high schools, and issued fake diplomas upon receipt of upfront fees from consumers, the justice department said in a statement. In Pakistan, authorities launched an investigation against Axact, which started as a software company, soon after the expose by the Times. Investigators raided Axact offices and arrested several people, including the firms CEO Shoaib Shaikh. In August this year, Shaikh and 14 others were granted bail by a court in Karachi and he was acquitted in a separate money laundering case for lack of evidence. The initial expose had revealed how Axact allegedly scammed thousands of people, including an Indian accountant in Abu Dhabi who paid more than $30,000 for a fake online masters programme in business administration, a fake English language training certification and a State Department authentication certificate allegedly signed by secretary of state John Kerry. The US justice department alleged Hamid and others from Axact made misrepresentations to individuals across the world, including throughout the United States and in the Southern District of New York, in order to dupe these individuals into enrolling in supposed high schools, colleges, and other educational institutions. Consumers paid upfront fees to Axact but did not receive any legitimate instruction and were provided fake and worthless diplomas. The scale of the scam was unprecedented. According to the justice department, Axact promoted and claimed to have an affiliation with about 350 fictitious high schools and universities, which it advertised online. During certain time periods since 2014, Axact received approximately 5,000 phone calls per day from individuals seeking to purchase Axact products or enroll in educational institutions supposedly affiliated with Axact, the statement said. Once consumers paid for a certificate or diploma that falsely reflected a completed course of study, Axact sales agents were trained to use sales techniques to convince the consumer that the consumer should also purchase additional accreditation or certifications for such certificates or diplomas in order to make them appear more legitimate, it added. The justice department said Hamid, while based in Pakistan, was allegedly involved in managing and operating online companies that falsely claimed they were educational institutions. He also allegedly opened bank accounts in the US in the names of shell entities that received funds transferred by consumers for fake diplomas. Hamid then allegedly transferred these funds to bank accounts associated with other entities located in the US, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer will serve as US President-elect Donald Trumps press secretary in the White House when he takes office next month, Trump announced on Thursday. To round out his communications team, the president-elect appointed loyalists from his upstart presidential campaign. Hope Hicks, Trumps sole spokeswoman when he began what was considered a longshot candidacy in June 2015, will be director of strategic communications. Jason Miller was appointed director of communications and Dan Scavino was named director of social media. Spicer, 45, served as RNC spokesman during Trumps presidential campaign, alongside party chairman Reince Priebus, who stood by Trump amid furious opposition from establishment Republicans and was rewarded with the chief of staff position. Acerbic and professional, Spicer, a Navy Reserve commander, has been openly critical of media coverage of Republican candidates and the president-elect, but insists the future US leader has a high regard for press freedom. We understand and respect the role that the press plays in a democracy. It is healthy, its important. But its a two-way street, Spicer told Politico recently, before bashing the news outlet for what he said was exclusively negative coverage. Spicer, who has been a spokesman for the Trump transition team, has a long background in public affairs. He led a turnaround in the RNCs public affairs operation after taking over as communications director in 2011. He beefed up social media operations, built an in-house TV production team and created a rapid response effort to reply to attacks. Spicer worked in President George W Bushs administration as the assistant US Trade Representative for media and public affairs. Before that, he was communications director for the Republican Conference in the US House of Representatives. Spicer has tried to reassure news organizations that Trump will not try to ban them from covering him, as the president-elect sometimes sought to do during the election campaign. But Spicer and other Trump aides have indicated the new president would shake up the status quo in White House dealings with the media, including re-examining the need for daily televised news briefings and the practice of assigned seating in the briefing room. I think we have to look at everything, Spicer told Fox News when asked about the briefings. And so I dont know that it needs to be daily. I dont know that they all need to be on camera. Amid escalating tension between the relationships of the US and Russia, President-elect Donald Trump said America must need to expand its nuclear capability. Trump issued the statement after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia's arsenals are better and stronger than any country in the world. Data from US Arms Control Association revealed that the US has 7,100 nuclear weapons while Russia has 7,300. "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," said Trump on his Twitter account. He also said that the US must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders. "And quickly adapt plans for neutralizing threats to our country," he said. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. ARLINGTON, Va. -- Hyatt Centric Arlington today becomes the latest hotel to join Hyatt's new Hyatt Centric portfolio of hotels. Situated in the heart of downtown Rosslyn, Va., just minutes outside of Arlington and Washington, D.C., Hyatt Centric Arlington was rebranded from Hyatt Arlington and introduces the distinctive elements of the cosmopolitan-inspired Hyatt Centric brand to the nation's capital. "We are thrilled to be a part of the Hyatt Centric brand," said Ed Brogan, general manager, Hyatt Centric Arlington. "Like all Hyatt Centric properties, the new Hyatt Centric Arlington is in the middle of the action, close to transportation, and a true launch pad to the amazing sights and sounds of the city. Our dedicated team of colleagues is excited to introduce the brand to both loyal and new guests, who we know will be impressed by the many enhancements to our property." Distinctive Design & Guestrooms Hyatt Centric Arlington layers modern design details together with a nod to traditional craftsmanship. The hotel's updated artwork encourages guests to enjoy the best of Arlington and Washington, D.C., with images including close-ups of the Capitol Rotunda, Library of Congress and underground Metro Transit System stations, a guestroom wall with a view of visitors ascending the stairs to the Jefferson Memorial, and an entire lobby wall featuring the area's famous cherry blossoms. "Arlington, Virginia is a community built for those dedicated to public service, which is why Hyatt Centric Arlington embraces this theme throughout its unique interior design," said Jim Stapleton, principal of FRCH Design Worldwide, the architect and interior design firm for the hotel. "Our goal was to bring to life the nation's well-known monuments and landmarks in a unique, fun and unexpected way, encouraging them to notice every detail of the area no matter how small. At Hyatt Centric Arlington, guests will view the city through a new lens, discovering fresh vantage points of Arlington and Washington, D.C. around every corner." Hyatt Centric Arlington boasts 318 contemporary guestrooms, including five suites and 12 PURE rooms that are hypo-allergenic and treated with a state-of-the-art air purification system to reduce airborne particles and minimize the presence of potential irritants. Room renovations, scheduled to conclude by the end of the year, will include new beds, lighting, carpeting, wall fixtures, furniture and artwork. Guests can relax, recharge and prepare for the next adventure through a complete array of offerings, including 24-hour room service, as well as unexpected personal touches. Amenities at Hyatt Centric Arlington include Drybar Buttercup blowdryers, the premium hair dryer of Drybar blow-out salons; BeeKind environmentally conscious bath products from Gilchrist & Soames; cozy sweatshirt style hooded cotton bathrobes; Keurig coffeemakers with a selection of Starbucks coffee and Celestial teas; new 55" high-definition televisions; and bluetooth-enabled electronics. Complimentary Wi-Fi is also available to all guests. Approachable Arrivals Upon arrival at Hyatt Centric Arlington, guests will enter a transformed open-concept lobby space featuring modern comforts, intimate social spaces and seamlessly integrated technology. The Corner is an intriguing lobby lounge outfitted with carefully curated resources, such as maps, guides, artifacts and books, for recommended destinations and hidden gems in and around the Arlington and Washington, D.C. area. Guests are encouraged to mingle, wander and prepare for their next exploration of local hot spots. "Selecting Rosslyn as the first Hyatt Centric hotel location in the Washington, D.C. area is a true honor and testament to the energy and growth that encompasses this unique neighborhood," said Mary-Claire Burick, president, Rosslyn Business Improvement District. "Hyatt Centric Arlington guests will have easy access to many monuments and cultural activities throughout our nation's capital." New Drinking & Dining Hyatt Centric Arlington is introducing an original drinking and dining experience comprised of local culinary flavors and an exciting new menu of premium spirits, wine and beer. The newly-designed Key Bridge Terrace offers unexpected and flavorful options such as lamb lollipops, chorizo tacos and crispy plantains. The new dishes are accompanied by inventive craft cocktails, including the duck mule, made with Aylesbury Duck Vodka, the cocoloco, infused with Don Q Cristal Rum and Don Q Coco Rum, and thebaren-bourbon, created with Barenjager Honey Liquer and Elijah Craig Bourbon. Guests and locals can also enjoy Starbucks and grab and go food options at Key Bridge Terrace, as well as all-day dining at the newly revamped cityhouse restaurant featuring classic American dishes prepared with an innovative twist. Refreshed Meetings & Events Hyatt Centric Arlington offers more than 7,300 square feet of fully renovated meetings and events space with a new lighting, bright wall coverings, and carpet, as well as state-of-the-art sound system. With versatile and modular breakout spaces and pre-function rooms, the hotel can accommodate corporate conferences and private events for meeting planners and individuals seeking a location that is ideally situated in close proximity to the many sites, sounds and sensory experiences of our nation's capital. Hyatt Centric Arlington is managed by Highgate, a premier real estate investment and hospitality management company whose growing portfolio includes more than 100 properties in gateway cities worldwide. For more information, please visit https://hyattcentricarlington.com, or call (703) 525 -1234. Hyatt Centric Arlington Hyatt Centric Arlington boasts 318 contemporary guestrooms, including five suites and 12 PURE hypo-allergenic rooms, providing an ideal setting to relax, recharge and prepare for the next adventure. Hyatt Centric Arlington's drinking and dining experience features local wine and beer, as well as handcrafted cocktails at Key Bridge Terrace. The hotel's re-designed restaurant, cityhouse, is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers locally sourced, classic American dishes prepared with an innovative twist. Hyatt Centric Arlington also offers more than 7,300 square feet of renovated meeting, wedding and event space, 24-hour room service and a 24-hour fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment. Conveniently located in the heart of downtown Rosslyn, Virginia, just minutes outside of Washington, D.C., guests are minutes away from top destinations including Georgetown University, Arlington Cemetery and Washington D.C. monuments. The Hyatt Centric Experience Hyatt Centric is a brand of full-service lifestyle hotels located in prime destinations. Created for millennial-minded travelers who want to be in the middle of the action, Hyatt Centric hotels are thoughtfully designed to enable exploration and discovery. The lobby lounge is a launch pad providing guests with information about the most sought after food, nightlife and activities the destination has to offer. The bar and restaurant are local hot spots where great conversations, locally inspired food and signature cocktails can be enjoyed. Streamlined modern rooms focus on delivering everything guests want and nothing they don't, including BeeKind's environmentally conscious bath products, bluetooth-enabled electronics and salon-grade blowdryers. A team of colleagues is always available to recommend local hidden gems to launch guests' discovery of the destination. About Highgate Highgate is a premier real estate investment and hospitality management company widely recognized as an innovator in the industry. Highgate is the dominant player in U.S. gateway markets including New York, Boston, Miami, San Francisco and Honolulu. Highgate also has an expanding presence in key European markets through properties in London, Paris, Barcelona, Vienna and Prague. Highgate's portfolio of global properties represents an aggregate asset value exceeding $10B and generates over $2B in cumulative revenues. The company provides expert guidance through all stages of the hospitality property cycle, from planning and development through recapitalization or disposition. Highgate has created a portfolio of bespoke hotel brands and utilizes industry leading proprietary revenue management tools that identify and predict evolving market dynamics to drive outperformance and maximize asset value. With an executive team consisting of some of the industry's most experienced hotel management leaders, the company is a trusted partner for top ownership groups and major hotel brands. Highgate maintains corporate offices in New York, London, Dallas, Chicago and Seattle. For more information, visit highgate.com. About Hyatt Hotels Corporation Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company guided by its purpose to care for people so they can be their best. As of June 30, 2022, the Company's portfolio included more than 1,150 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 72 countries across six continents. The Company's offering includes brands in the Timeless Collection, including Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Hyatt Residence Club, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, and UrCove; the Boundless Collection, including Miraval, Alila, Andaz, Thompson Hotels, Hyatt Centric, and Caption by Hyatt; the Independent Collection, including The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Destination by Hyatt, and JdV by Hyatt; and the Inclusive Collection, including Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Vivid Hotels & Resorts, Alua Hotels & Resorts, and Sunscape Resorts & Spas. Subsidiaries of the Company operate the World of Hyatt loyalty program, ALG Vacations, Unlimited Vacation Club, Amstar DMC destination management services, and Trisept Solutions technology services. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com. Forward-Looking Statements Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable when made, are inherently uncertain, and are subject to numerous assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside of Kiraku, Inc. or Hyatt's control, which could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements made in this press release are made only as of the date of their initial publication and neither party undertakes an obligation to publicly update any of these forward-looking statements as actual events unfold, except to the extent required by applicable law. If one or more forward-looking statements is updated, no inference should be drawn that any additional updates will be made with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. 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 The Charles Hotel using RateTiger for managing online sales channels Czech luxury boutique hotel, the Charles has improved online business with eRevMax thorough efficient rate and distribution management. The four-star property has been using RateTiger Channel Manager for channel management, reservation delivery, rate benchmarking and business intelligence to improve business efficiency. Prague is one of the most popular leisure destinations across Europe and receives over 5 million tourist visits every year. One of the oldest hotels in Prague, the Charles with its 31 luxury rooms, is a popular address with leisure travellers. RateTiger is helping them sell rooms from an allocated inventory pool across multiple global and niche sales channels simultaneously from a single platform, making online distribution complete automated and saving time. The extremely competitive nature of the Prague hospitality industry, with constant changes in occupancy and rates, make it really challenging for small hotels like us. Managing OTAs, 24X7 bookings and rate queries was taking a toll and obstructing our focus from the core business of hospitality. RateTiger is great support system for a small hotel like The Charles. With its elegant simple interface and a responsive customer service, now everyday life is on cruise mode for me and my team. I am very happy with the service, support and the analytics of RateTiger. I would stronglyrecommend it, said Happy Walia, General Manager at The Charles Hotel. Mikulas, Nemeth, Sales Manager Europe, eRevMax, commented, RateTiger by eRevMax gives The Charles Hotel instant control to manage rate and inventory and receive reservation confirmation to their system thereby eliminating chance of overbooking. In addition, they can leverage eRevMax Channel Ecosystem to have 2-way XML connectivity with leading global and luxury OTAs and expand their target market. RateTiger by eRevMax is a fully integrated channel management solution that assists hotels in seamless rate and inventory management across multiple distribution channels. Hotels can also get bookings delivered into their property management system through the Reservation Delivery feature to keep availability updated at all times. About eRevMax: eRevMax is a travel technology company that helps hotels to maximise online revenue opportunities through real-time distribution, market intelligence and connectivity solutions. The company provides specifically tailored solutions within its core product brands RateTiger, RTConnect and LIVE OS. RateTiger product suite offers the industrys leading ChannelManager for online distribution, Shopper for rate benchmarking and BookingForce to help drive direct bookings from the hotels brand.com. RTConnect provides seamless 2-way XML integration of channel management functionality with the hotels central systems. LIVE OS offers hotels a single sign-on platform to access multiple applications, while offering technology partners a chance to get in front of hotels allowing greater distribution of promotional opportunities. eRevMax is working closely with over 200 certified channel and technology partners as well as 9000 hotels worldwide helping them increase revenue opportunities and streamline business processes. For more details, please visit http://www.erevmax.com/ or contact us on marketing@erevmax.com In year-over-year comparisons, the countrys occupancy increased 13.9% to 50.1%. Average daily rate (ADR) for the week was up 3.7% to CAD130.65. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew 18.2% to CAD65.48. The Canadian hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 11-17 December 2016, according to data from STR. In year-over-year comparisons, the countrys occupancy increased 13.9% to 50.1%. Average daily rate (ADR) for the week was up 3.7% to CAD130.65. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew 18.2% to CAD65.48. Among the provinces, Prince Edward Island recorded the largest year-over-year increases in occupancy (+26.8% to 33.0%) and RevPAR (+30.4% to CAD32.21). Three additional provinces reported RevPAR growth of more than 20.0% for the week: Quebec (+26.1% to CAD74.54), Ontario (+25.6% to CAD69.86) and British Columbia (+22.8% to CAD71.60). Ontario posted the largest rise in ADR (+7.4% to CAD130.11). After Prince Edward Island, three other provinces experienced an occupancy increase of more than 15.0%: Quebec (+19.5% to 54.4%), Ontario (+17.0% to 53.7%) and British Columbia (+16.3% to 50.6%). Overall, all 10 of the reporting provinces saw increases in occupancy and RevPAR, while six of the provinces reported double-digit growth in the two metrics. Three provinces reported a decrease in ADR for the week. Alberta (-4.6% to CAD127.26) reported the steepest decline in the metric. STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com. It looks like yesterdays feature on DJ Pauls Get Away single might be the last we hear from the artist known as Yelawolf. On Monday, the Alabama native took to Instagram to announce that he will no longer go by the stage name Yelawolf, but rather his real government name Michael Wayne Atha, aka MWA for short. In the lengthy IG post, Yelawolf MWA opened up about his depression after years of alcoholism & issues with family & friends. He also blamed his manager for some of his more recent problems, and even shared a clip of him in the hospital. Thankfully however, he cleared things up and said the clip was from a few weeks ago, and that hes doing just fine right now kicking it. No word yet if hes still signed under Eminems Shady Records, but he should still have a forthcoming album on the way called Trial By Fire, dropping next year. Check out the PSA (below) and let us know how you feel about the name change? [Via] yelawolf Colin O'Gorman says the public has a right to hear accurate abortion information on the state broadcaster. Amnesty International says its deeply concerned at yesterdays BAI ruling on abortion discussion. The authority upheld complaints from the pro-life lobby in regards to interviews conducted by Ray D'Arcy on his RTE Radio One show with Amnestys Colin OGorman, and Gaye and Gerry Edwards who spoke about their experiences of fatal foetal impairment. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has a responsibility to ensure that broadcasting serves the public interest, including peoples right to seek information, says OGorman. Decisions like what has been reported today do not serve that function, and are deeply unhelpful. An Amnesty International/Red C poll carried out in February 2016 found that there is a substantial lack of public awareness on the issue of access to abortion in Ireland. Only 14% of respondents are aware that having an abortion when the womans life is not in danger is a criminal offence, which carries a potential 14 year prison sentence. Just 14% trust the media as a source of information on abortion. However, a large majority (62%) trust women whove had abortions to inform them on the issue. Ireland has finally begun to have a vital national conversation on the issue of abortion, he continues. As the Citizens Assembly deliberates on this issue, the media should seek to discuss it in a way that ensures the public get the accurate information they need. Most importantly, women with personal experience of abortion must be given an opportunity to share their stories. Women like Gaye Edwards who bravely shared her experience in order to encourage much needed law reform. Discussions such as those which took place on The Ray D'Arcy radio show are sorely needed. The BAI should be encouraging and supporting such discussions, not seeking to stifle them. It is time for the BAI to deliver on its mission to regulate, foster and support broadcasting in the public interest on the subject of abortion. Last month, the government agreed to make reparations to a woman following a UN Human Rights Committee ruling that Irelands abortion laws had seriously violated her human rights. The UN Committee found that, in denying access to abortion in Ireland, she was subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, discrimination, and violation of her right to privacy. It is beyond dispute that Ireland seriously violated the human rights of the woman at the centre of the UN Committees decision the programme covered. Just last month the Government confirmed it accepted the Committees finding. Why should a programme covering this important story have to strike a balance with those who would deny this womans experience? Inhuman and degrading treatment was one of the violations against this woman found by the UN Committee. Yet those who are happy to see womens human rights remain violated in Ireland are to be given equal space when important stories like this are being covered. This is absurd and perverse The Amnesty International/Red C poll also found that 87% favour expanded access to abortion. 80% would vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment, either outright or if reasonable restrictions were put in place. Of the 5% of people personally opposed to abortion in all circumstances, half would still vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment. Repeated opinion polls have shown that access to abortion in Ireland is no longer a divisive issue in Ireland. Across all regions, demographics and social groups, people in Ireland want change. The media should not be forced into contriving a false sense of balance. Rather they should seek to reflect the levels of public support and overwhelming consensus which exists for reform of Irelands abortion laws. The Eighth Amendment must be repealed and replaced with a legal and healthcare framework that respects the rights of women and girls. The Citizens Assembly process and concurrent media debate is a critical opportunity for public dialogue on abortion, with a view to dispelling any myths and misrepresentations in advance of a referendum. The BAI should fulfill its public service obligation and support such a debate, he concluded. The glorious act of civil disobedience is getting the quality tunes it deserves! Carol Keogh has joined Lisa Hannigan in releasing a Christmas single in solidarity with the Home Sweet Home initiative. You can name your price for the poignant 'Lights Of Apollo', which finds her joined by such seasoned Dublin musos as Binzer Brennan and Gavin Glass. As Ms. H says, "Power to the people!" "I started writing a song about driving around in my car at Christmas and how, despite some tough times this year, I'm still fortunate that I'm not sleeping in it," Carol reflects. "Or worse, on the street without any shelter whatsoever. And I stopped there... a few lines in, because it just seemed so hopelessly negative and didactic. Telling people the terrible stuff that they already know and are seeing every day. Then the story broke about Apollo House and while I was preparing for a live radio session I had been asked to do with soul sister Grainne Hunt, this song just sort of wrote itself. I played it to Grainne, we did it at the session and then the mad idea presented itself to try and get it professionally recorded and out to the world in the lead up to Christmas. "So, I threw it out on social media to see if anyone would be up for doing it. The first person to step up to the plate was Gavin Glass, a musician and songwriter who offered the services of his Orphan Recording studios. Grainne was on board and between myself and Gavin we gathered a troupe of musicians who were willing to give their time and skills for free, at short notice and at one of the busiest times of the year for everyone. Binzer Brennan on drums, Travis Lyon on electric and pedal steel guitar, Graham Bolger on bass, Paul Smyth on Rhodes, Gavin on piano and myself and Grainne on singing duties. We started at 6pm on Tuesday 20th, worked into the early hours, Gavin went home to get some sleep and went back in to mix on the 21st, and by 6pm that evening (i.e. within 24 hours) we had a mastered track. "Like everyone else who has been moved by the events at Apollo House, we all just wanted to do something to help," Carole continues. "The songwriter in me responded with a song, because that's something I can do, but the message really came from the working administrator (also me) who commutes from outside the county border because she can't afford to live within it any more. Who, despite having a decent steady job and without any extravagance, often finds herself struggling to keep the head above water and sometimes has to rely on friends and family to get through the month and to the next pay packet. Who is horribly aware of the spiralling problem of homelessness all over this country, where the visible numbers of people without shelter on the streets of our cities, towns, suburbs and villages are just the thin end of the wedge. And who thinks to herself, 'That could so easily be me'. Advertisement "We're not necessarily expecting people to buy this song, although any proceeds will be promptly donated to the HomeSweetHome campaign. I know that those who care are already doing what they can. A lot of folk are, like me, time and cash poor, so can't necessarily give much of either. But as Glen Hansard said on the steps of the High Court, the conversation has started. It's a necessary conversation and one that has wide-reaching implications for everyone in our society. All of the musicians and technicians that gave their time and skills to getting this recording made want to be part of that conversation. We are calling ourselves The Homefire Collective. Whatever happens now with Apollo House, following yesterday's High Court ruling, and what is I suppose a merciful stay of execution for the current 40 residents until early in the New Year, I hope that a movement has started. A movement that rejects blind and immobilising protocols. A movement that responds to human crisis with common sense acts of kindness that only a very confused world would define as radical. "And it is a confused world, in which most of us are looking for comfort, especially at this emotionally heightened time of year with its mix of ancient Solstice traditions and modern customs of trade. As we see the queues growing at the day centres for Christmas food parcels; when we know there are people who came here under horrific circumstances and are facing into another year of Direct Provision; as more come seeking desperate asylum while their surviving loved ones, forced from their once beautiful cities, remain terrorised inside the Syrian border; as the Fairytale of New York becomes a pledge to form a bulwark against the threat of tidal hatred; as we feel our common humanity squeezed by the death-grips of corporate interests - WE HAVE TO TRY TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON. We know that in living with 'austerity' we are paying en masse for the insane gambling habits of an elite. We know that in the relatively short history of this State, things have taken a dramatic turn in the wrong direction and we have to get all hands back on the wheel. But we can't take it all on at once - if we only look at the bigger picture all we can see is the darkness at its edges. So we do what we can do in doing the NEXT thing and keep our human values close. "Keep our small but vital home fires lit and invite in the neighbours, whoever they may be."Lights of Apollo by The Homefire Collective Hans Richter grew up in a small German town just across the Rhine from Basel, Switzerland. He was raised on a farm, but he earned a master's degree in mechanics, taught auto mechanics in Africa and eventually managed the service department at a Mercedes-Benz dealership. There he met a German living in Houston who spent six years trying to convince Richter to open a repair shop with him. After visiting Houston twice - never in the summer - Richter came to the U.S. in 1992, speaking very little English but with big dreams. With the help of immigration attorney Charles Foster, Richter received a green card in 14 months, bought an empty lot, built a shop and in 1994 opened Texas-German Autohaus on Edloe Street with a German wine-tasting party catered by Spec's. In this edited interview, he talks about his business. Q: How did you come to Houston? A: I was in my very early 40s, and my adventurous inner self said: "If you're going to change your life again, you need to change it now." I bought a ZIP code list from a business in Austin that had the number of Mercedes and BMWs registered in each ZIP code. I made a map and right in the middle is where we had to be. I chose an area where we would be within an 8- to 10-mile radius of 58 percent of the Mercedes and BMWs registered in Houston. We had no parts on the shelf and no credit, but we wrote checks for every 30-cent gasket. We built a parts room over a few months. It was very exciting for me. Q: Were there times when you thought about going back to Germany? A: Oh, many times! It was not always easy. We lost a lot of money in the beginning. We were too big for the number of cars we had. We had spent a lot on advertising, and we had printed a newsletter. We bought addresses and pushed ourselves into the market. It took 13 years before we took a penny out. Q: Has the slower economy this year hurt your business? A: Yes, I think this year was the first year we didn't grow. I talk to customers; they are the perfect advisory board. They are teachers, lawyers, engineers, everybody. I have seen a lot of them lose their jobs, and they are struggling right now. Some are in their mid- to late 50s, and I'm not sure they are going to start over again. Most of the German auto shops help each other, and we talk. I'd say we have 8 percent to 10 percent less in sales this year. I can downsize a little bit, but not too much. I need 1.5 parts men, but there is no such thing, so we have two. We need 1.5 service advisers, so we have two. So we're high in overhead, but I have wonderful employees, so I'm good. Q: Are American car owners different from European car owners? A: In my old dealership, they would bring in their car, you do what's needed and they pay the bill. It's an honest, straight-forward system. Here, you have to call. You have to explain what needs to be done. And you have to give options. That's a good thing. I'm an advocate of giving my customers the big picture every time they are here. Over there, they blow out their engines much more. That's unheard-of here, unless the owner does something unusual like drive without oil or overheat it too much. In Germany they blow their motor on the autobahn going 150 miles per hour! Q: What's the biggest challenge in doing business in Houston? A: It's finding good people, which I'm blessed with. There's no training system like an apprenticeship here that teaches the basics. Guys here learn hands-on while working on cars. But cars are a nice piece of engineering, and you should understand that engineering. There's a chemical process in the combustion. The mixture needs to be right. There is physical load, there is leverage, and electronics now. Q: What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a business? A: People who start businesses are the risk-takers in the modern world. They take risks with finances, they take a risk with the people they employ. They need capital to survive without a profit for at least three years. If they make money from the first day, I am happy for them, but that never happens. The costs are always more than you think. I think Houston is one of the best places to do business. The city is growing, and we have been growing for 20 years. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Moonflower Farms grows cilantro, arugula and other produce for more than 30 of Houston's top restaurants. That's where comparisons to traditional farming end. "I'm a scientist," owner and CEO Federico Marques said. "We're a technology company." Moonflower Farms is Houston's first commercial indoor vertical farm, using hydroponic technology to grow herbs and microgreens year-round without the need for soil, pesticides or large quantities of water. NASA has been interested in the process for years as a way to possibly grow food in space. Vertically grown plants are stacked in shelves under LED lighting. Seeds are spread onto a vermiculite, or mineral, blend that doesn't require fertilizer. Automated sprinklers water the crops every other day for three to four minutes. Marques, also one of the founders of Houston's Ruggles Green restaurant chain, has tapped into a growing industry. Since March, Moonflower Farms has operated in a 900-square-foot space at 4523 Almeda-Genoa in south Houston. Marques said he is finalizing the permitting process to build a 20,000-square-foot hybrid indoor vertical farm and hydroponic greenhouse facility a few blocks away. Though still small in scale in the U.S., the vertical farming industry has taken off in other countries with more pronounced concerns over population growth, food shortages, a lack of arable land, depleting freshwater supply and the effect of climate change. With major investments in countries such as China, India, Japan, South Africa and Australia, the market is expected to grow worldwide by more than 27 percent annually through 2022, according to Irish firm Research and Markets. The Moonflower project has a global connection as well. Supplying the expansion project will be Australia-based engineering company A&B Hydroponics. The Houston project will mark its first foray into the U.S., company director Joe Argius said earlier this month. In the U.S., hydroponic technology - a common tool for vertical farming second only to aeroponics technology that relies on a mist system for watering plants - has mainly been associated with NASA research efforts and the cannabis industry. Chad Sykes, CEO of Indoor Harvest, the Houston engineering and procurement company that provided equipment for the original Moonflower Farms facility, noted that the hydroponics' association with marijuana farms has subdued U.S. investments. Yet Sykes and Craig Lawson, managing director at MHT Partners investment bank, both see changes ahead. They see small investments already being made here, with bigger, more sophisticated investors monitoring the scene. "What's driving vertical farming today is demand for higher-quality produce," Sykes said. As it stands, the U.S. vertical farming industry is made up of small research and development startups, like Moonflower Farms. They typically serve a niche market of green-minded consumers and top-tier restaurants that are willing to pay more for better quality. "To be successful and appeal to investors, you have to scale," Lawson said. High operational costs, especially when trying to replicate free resources and processes in nature, are an obstacle. In places like Texas with an established agricultural sector, competition from traditional farms can also pose a challenge. That can be a non-issue in the Northeast, where growing seasons are shorter, or the West Coast as it copes with record drought. Moonflower Farms currently produces about 25 pounds of product a day, Marques said. But he aims to increase that yield to 1,000 pounds a day in the new facility and said he's already gotten interest from wholesale grocers for his products should he be able to scale up production. The new facility is expected to cost almost $2 million. "If the model works, we want to put it in every city," Marques said. Moonflower Farms also distinguishes itself from existing vertical farms by focusing on microgreens, which pack more protein in smaller bites. Company vice president Constance Tenorio said there's more demand given consumers' growing interest in healthier food alternatives. Microgreens also have captured the attention of those who are planning to return humans to space, NASA project scientist Gioia Massa said. The agency has been investigating its potential. Marques pointed to a more terrestrial concern: the need to address the effects of climate change on agriculture. Regardless of how economically viable vertical farming proves to be, he said, the world must develop new technologies to address climate change. Shiv Om Consultants, a firm known for consulting major oil and gas companies on severance taxes, has been acquired by global tax services firm Ryan. Houston-based Shiv Om has consulted companies for more than 20 years. Shiv Om will be fully absorbed into Ryan, giving the latter a staff of tax specialists and Shiv Om's Fortune 500 client base, according to a statement from Ryan. The oil patch will have fewer jobs in the not-so-distant future as drilling rigs become increasingly automated, with companies putting the latest advances in drilling technology into the field next year. These new rigs, using sophisticated software and robotics, could reduce the number of people working in the oil patch by up to 40 percent over the next few years, energy analysts said, while requiring more people in information technology to remotely monitor operations and troubleshoot problems. As with manufacturing and other industries that have become increasingly automated, the advances mean that oil and gas companies will likely need more brains, less brawn, and fewer workers overall. It also means that many of the more than 215,000 U.S. jobs lost in the two-year oil bust - including about 100,000 in Texas - may never return as the industry recovery gains strength. "That's always been the Holy Grail to not have to touch the pipe and totally automate the process," said Byron Pope, an energy analyst at Houston investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. "They're automating more of the process and eliminating some of the human variability and error." More Information TECHNOLOGY'S IMPACT IN THE OIL PATCH Automated drilling rigs could cut the size of a drilling crew from 25 workers to 15, a cut of nearly 40 % Source: Industry analysts By the numbers 40 percent of oil patch jobs could be replaced by technology 10 fewer workers who could be needed on site per rig within a few years 100,000 Texas oil jobs lost in bust that may never return See More Collapse Among the automated systems coming into operation next year is the "iRig" of the Houston oilfield services company Nabors Industries. Nabors' technology, which it calls "iRacker," uses automated robotics to lift long pieces of pipe from racks, piece them together and drive them into drilled holes to build the wells. Schlumberger, the world's biggest energy services company is launching its "Rig of the Future," which aims to drill more holes and deeper horizontal wells from a single location in West Texas shale fields, meaning the industry will require fewer rigs and fewer crews. Rise of smart rigs The technology is here, and the oil sector only need embrace it to save money and increase safety, said Chris Papouras, president of Nabors drilling solutions division. Papouras said the systems developed by Nabors and other companies mean that dangerous jobs, such as running steel pipe down wells, that required four or five workers, can be done with a push of a button, increasing efficiency and dramatically reducing the risk of injuries near the wellhead. "The rig is still treated as dumb iron," Papouras said. "The oil and gas industry still operates using old models. This is not a technology challenge. This is really a culture shift." Within a few years, the number of people on site for each rig at any given time could fall from an average of 25 to 15 people, analysts said. In addition, small "mom and pop" services companies that run pipe casing or attach drilling tools for larger companies could be forced out of business in the years to come. The rigs will automate most of the work of the casing crews as well as that of directional drilling crews that drive attachments to the rig and guide them during drilling, allowing companies like Nabors to do more of the work themselves, rather than hire third-party contractors. ABB, a Swiss technology company, last year opened two new automation and robotics integration offices in Houston to work more closely to energy customers, said Brandon Spencer, ABB's vice president of oil, gas and chemical in North America. Bringing oil patch to Houston Advances in wireless and sensor technology mean that even when wells are producing oil in remote fields, the temperatures and pressure levels can be monitored remotely from Houston without routinely having to send workers out to sites hundreds of miles away. This technology is already used for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and is now making its way to onshore production. "They're running all of the Eagle Ford from Houston," said Spencer. The Eagle Ford shale play is located in South Texas, about 250 miles from Houston. New technologies, however, don't necessarily mean fewer jobs, Spencer said. ABB, for example, is teaming up with Microsoft to build what's touted as the world's largest cloud-based computing platform for industrial customers, including energy firms, allowing them to collect and analyze massive amounts of data to monitor performance, improve precision, and develop better techniques and processes. This will require large teams of computer scientists, software developers and other highly-skilled technical workers. "It's about redeploying the manpower; it's different skill sets," he said. "All of this big data still requires a lot of manpower." More data and information technology specialists also will be needed as the oilfield services sector consolidates and integrates the systems, products, and services of different companies, said Chris Wolfe, who leads the oilfield services practice group at the Dallas-based law firm Haynes and Boone. Schlumberger, for example, bought Houston-based Cameron International in part to boost its technology offerings, while Paris-based Technip is merging with Houston's FMC Technologies for much of the same reasons. General Electric is buying a majority of Houston's Baker Hughes to marry a lot of the drilling and services work with the GE digital platform. "A lot of investments in analytics are coming," Wolfe said. "Information services has been underfunded in the oilfield services historically." Adding to the problem? The downturn has spurred many exploration and production companies to adopt new technologies and create efficiencies beyond the discounts they received from services firms during oil bust, said Ahmed Hashmi, BP's global head of upstream technology. Services companies do a wide variety of work for production companies, including drilling, cementing, and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Large, further diversified services companies like Schlumberger and Baker Hughes could make things easier for producers like BP by helping them produce more oil at lower costs as the industry recovers. While the industry is working through global oil glut, the world will still need 35 percent more energy by 2035, Hashmi said, most of it coming from oil and gas. The industry got into this mess largely because of drilling technologies that began opening oil and gas reserves in shale rock formations about a decade ago. Today's technological advancements mean the energy sector can extract 5 trillion barrels of oil and gas globally by 2050 - twice what world is forecast to demand - although much of it won't make economic sense to produce. "Technically, the world is awash in oil and gas," Hashmi said. "That's on the back of technology." Out of all of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks so far, few would seem like a more direct attack on the legacy of the Obama administration than the appointment of fast food CEO Andrew Puzder to head the Department of Labor. While most of the fast food industry hasn't been happy about the Labor Department's move to strengthen overtime rules or its campaigns for minimum wage increases and paid sick leave, Puzder whose burger chain has made a name for itself with advertisements full of scantily-clad women has crusaded against them in public. And for one Obama official in particular, it's personal. David Weil, a Boston University business school professor who became director of the Wage and Hour division three years ago, published a book in 2014 on what he calls the "fissured workplace": How companies have shed employees through outsourcing and franchising, shielding them from liability for labor law violations and reducing workers' bargaining power. Using that research, Weil's wage and hour division went after the practice of misclassifying employees as independent contractors, which deprives workers of certain legal protections and benefits, and also shorts states on payroll tax income. Along with the National Labor Relations Board, Weil also advanced an interpretation of the law that made some franchisers and general contractors into "joint employers," equally responsible for treatment of the people who ultimately do the work they're directing. The franchising industry panicked over that series of moves. Puzder was at the forefront of criticizing the idea, saying it would "essentially destroy the business model." All in all, it seems likely that much of what Weil's division has accomplished from setting minimum wages for home care workers to requiring paid sick leave for employees of federal contractors could be dismantled. His program of investigations into fast food, construction and other industries considered high risks for violating wage and hour laws recovered $1.8 billion in back wages for 2 million workers, but that could also be ramped way back. Still, Weil is arguing for those actions to stand, in the terms that President-elect Trump castduring his entire campaign: Workers should reclaim the kinds of jobs and benefits they used to enjoy. "What does Making America Great Again mean?" asked Weil, in an interview. "I would offer the interpretation that we went from the post-war period, when there were productivity increases, those increases went not only to the owners of capital, they also went to working people. That started to fall apart in the 1980s, and continued to erode for decades." The phenomenon he's talking about is at the root of wage inequality, with middle-class wages flatlining as the economic elite reaped the gains from growth. It's fueled by many structural changes in the workplace, such as the "fissuring" of employer-employee relationships that Weil has described. Weil says governmental moves in recent years to raise wages and working conditions had started to address the problem. "If you define our mission as a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, I think we have updated the definition of a fair day's pay," Weil said. "That was what the overtime rule was all about. The notion that Donald Trump won by fighting for workers well, a lot of the workers who will be helped by the overtime rule are the ones that helped elect him president." The new overtime rule raised the pay threshold for exempting supervisory employees from overtime, from about $25,000 to $47,000. It was scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of December, but was blocked by a federal judge in Texas. The new administration could simply drop the Labor Department's appeal to kill the rule, but many employers have still complied with the rule, which Weil thinks is evidence that they saw it as a necessary adjustment. After January 20, Weil will go back to his old post at Boston University, and look for ways to continue the work he did at the Department of Labor. He knows he may have to watch much of what he's done be dismantled, and worries it could jeopardize the upward trend in median incomes that just started this year. "We got closer to an aspect that we should aspire to attain again. Working people work very hard every day, and until this last year, didn't recover their share of those benefits," Weil says. "It's unclear to me whether this president-elect is really going to be consistent with what he says, and make sure that happens in the future." There are only so many ways to describe a drunk college student wandering campus after midnight. University of Texas at Austin Police Department Sgt. Robert Land may know them all after his gig chronicling overnight escapades at UT for an entertaining email newsletter called Campus Watch. The digital publication plays an important role in showing campus police officers' personality and humor, he said. What Land compiles and sends to about 20,000 subscribers is not your typical police blotter. Readers may recall the "Vomit-mobile" in which innocent passengers were trapped in a car with an ill woman. Here are a few more entries: 2:46 a.m.: A patrolling UTPD officer noticed a male UT student decorating the sidewalk with the contents of his stomach. 3:09 a.m.: When the officer asked her if she needed medical assistance, she responded by doing an impressive impersonation of a scene from The Exorcist. 3:48 a.m.: The man stood up suddenly but was clearly having difficulty dealing with the normal effects of gravity. And those were just on the morning of Oct. 29. The offbeat crime newsletter has circulated for at least 15 years. However, initially it took a more serious tone: Thats developed over time to follow a raccoons criminal mischief in 2012, bagel theft in 2015 and a mysterious green leafy substance confiscated in 2014. A recent item described an unidentified man who slyly peeked at medics after pretending to pass out. Crime Prevention Tip: If you are intoxicated, you are never as sneaky as you think you are, Land wrote. Each day on the job, Land received briefings from UT's night patrol officers and scanned the submitted police reports, looking for gems that would make it to the popular publication. Its not an official crime log or an exhaustive list. He said he would not include a story that would compromise a victim or jeopardize an investigation. The tone, he said, has to be respectful but entertaining so that readers open the email day after day. Sometimes, thats easier said than done. I cant make bike theft funny anymore, he said. Ive done everything I know how to do. Land became Campus Watch's sole scribe over the summer, shortly after five Dallas police officers were ambushed as they patrolled a nonviolent protest. Strengthening the relationship between officers and the UT Austin community became even more vital to him then, he said. Not just in Dallas but in other cities as well, issues with folks objecting to police underscore a divide thats already there between police and the communities they serve, Land said. Being able to do something that helps bridge some of that gap, at least a little bit, is a really rewarding experience. Land said some of his most avid readers are UT parents, hoping to peek into their childrens college lives. When they first learn about Campus Watch, he said, they say they dont want to know about the crime on campus. That quickly changes, he said. Its a way for you to keep tabs on the university without having to bug your student every day. Many readers, including parents, respond to the email, sharing their favorite bits. He said hes never heard from anyone featured in an entry. I dont think anyone wants to call us up and claim ownership of one of these. Land, 34, was recently promoted to supervise the departments night shift patrol and announced his retirement from Campus Watch in a December email to subscribers. An officer will serve in an interim capacity until the department appoints a full-time officer to the unit, he said. Earlier this month, Land sent out a compiled Best of Campus Watch for the year, in which readers ranked their favorite anecdotes. The winning entry? In October, a university staff member reported a missing wallet that contained a bag of white powder. Another staff member approached his colleague and an officer and said the wallet was his, identifying the substance as methamphetamine. Officers then asked if the drugs also belonged to him. 12:24 a.m.: The very helpful man explained to officers that it did indeed belong to him. After the officers recovered from their disbelief, they placed the man under arrest. To subscribe, click here. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate You'll have to wait until next October to see it, but Mona Hatoum's electrified room could cause a real buzz. Hatoum may not be a household name yet in the U.S., but she has been having more than a moment in Europe with a critically acclaimed, 35-year retrospective that has traveled this year to major museums in London, Paris and Helsinki. Menil Collection curator Michelle White has been working quietly with the artist for three years, and this week the museum announced it had solidified plans to give Hatoum a proper introduction to new audiences."Terra Infirma" will be Hatoum's first large U.S. solo exhibition in more than 20 years. The show will run Oct. 13, 2017, through Feb. 25, 2018, before traveling to the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis. Hatoum will likely be a star presence in Houston this coming spring as the first artist in residence at Rice University's Moody Center for the Arts. A Palestinian born in Beirut who now lives in London and Berlin, Hatoum creates provocative sculptures and installations that address the growing unease about a world connected by technology and divided by politics and war. "She thinks a lot about placelessness and ideas of home and exile the fragility of place," White said. Hatoum's work couldn't be more timely during an era when millions of people across the globe are being displaced. While it may be of special interest in Houston, one of the most refugee-friendly cities in America, the show also makes great sense for the Menil, since Hatoum has long been inspired by one of the collection's star artists, Rene Magritte. Like Magritte, she often transforms mundane home tools into menaces "to upset your perception of the everyday," White said. That's where that electric room comes in. The show will include 1999's "Homebound," a room-size assemblage of household objects and furniture threaded together by a crackling wire of live electricity. The monumentally scaled vegetable slicer "La grande broyeuse (Mouli-Julienne x 17)" riffs, slightly less dangerously, on the Surrealist notion of the uncanny. The artist wants her work to create a situation where reality itself becomes a questionable point and viewers have to reassess their relationship to things around them, White said. "Terra Infirma" will present about 30 major sculptures and installations from North American and European collections. The exhibition and a scholarly catalog are supported by a $100,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and a $50,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Bookmark Gray Matters. It has has long been inspired by Rene Magritte. Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman steps along the concrete floor and past the steel doors of the county jail like a veteran lawman at peace with his recent electoral loss and a legacy shaped in part by scandal and the limitations of the shortest-lived administration in about 150 years. Guards shake his hand and wish him well. They say they're sorry his 18-month tenure is coming to a close. He's cleaned out his office for the most part, ordered business cards for his successor, and left a gold sheriff's badge in the drawer of the desk he will sit at come Jan. 1. "It has been a great tour," said Hickman. "There are the feelings I've left some things unfinished, but we did accomplish a great deal - in 18 months we got a lot done." The former constable and policeman, who has 45 years in law enforcement and who will turn 62 on Thursday, is not sure what awaits him next. But of this he is certain: There was nothing more he could have done to win the November election; and the jail over which he presided - one plagued by overcrowding, abuse of inmates, and lack of adequate staffing - is a better facility than the one he inherited when Adrian Garcia resigned to launch what would be an unsuccessful bid for mayor. As Hickman heads into the sunset, he can hang his trademark Stetson Llano hat on the fact that the troubled jail, the state's largest with more than 9,000 residents at any given time, recently passed a state inspection, for the second straight year. Approximately 120,000 people a year make their way through the a jail system, and they have to have their medical and mental needs met as well as be guarded, fed and moved to and from courthouses - all while keeping every aspect of the facility up and running properly and within state guidelines. And in Harris County, that burden falls on the shoulders of the county sheriff. "We aren't into rehabilitation; we aren't into punishment," Hickman said. "Our job is to keep them safe and care for them while they are moving through the process. When you get the impression reading about jail facilities, you think of a dungeon like environment, slime on the walls. It is a pretty clean facility, and it is pretty orderly." Goforth shooting He now passes on responsibility of running the facility to incoming sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who will have to pay the price for Hickman's success, which was attained in part by using massive amounts of overtime to overcome manpower shortages. "Because of the amount of the (inmate) population we have, too many (jail employees) have to work double shifts too many days of the week," the sheriff said. "A minimum of two extra shifts a week; some of them work three or four days a week double shifts. How long could you do that before you got burned out?" Though short, Hickman's tenure as sheriff saw its share of stormy weather, not the least of which was the murder in 2015, shortly after he took office, of deputy Darren Goforth, who was shot in the back at a northwest Harris County gas station. The death, which was shockingly random and pointless and which was captured by a surveillance camera, rattled the department and drew an outpouring of emotion from the public. "I've seen a lot of bad stuff, really bad stuff - things people do to their little kids - but to see a guy walk up and put a gun 8 or 10 inches from the back of somebody's head and just drop him and then stand over him and pump 13 or 14 more rounds into his head, that is rough stuff to watch and to see what it did to the heart of our sheriff's department family," he said. Goforth's murder by a black man came at a particularly difficult time nationally, with the Black Lives Matter movement in its ascendency, sparked by numerous incidents across the United States in which unarmed black men were killed by police. Hickman drew strong criticism from the community when he appeared to blame the movement for Goforth's death, or at least link it to the murder. His comments, he said this week, were aimed at reducing rhetoric, not trying to blame Black Lives Matter. "I actually said, can we tone down the rhetoric? We have heard black lives matter, white lives matter; cops lives matter too," he said. "Why can't we just say all lives matter? But they took that to mean I'm blaming Black Lives Matter." The shooting also led to a sex scandal within his department that dogged Hickman for months. Goforth had been having an affair with a woman who was with him when he was killed. One of the department's senior investigators was fired for having a sexual relationship with that same woman, who is a witness in the capital murder case against accused shooter Shannon Miles. Another deputy was also fired over ties to the same woman, but authorities have not revealed much detail. How to house bad guys As sheriff, Hickman's administrative world has been divided into two parts - overseeing the capture of criminals in the streets and their housing in jail after their arrest. "Most of us came into law enforcement to catch the bad guys," he said. "It is like a dog chasing and catching a Chevrolet - now that I've got it, what do I do?" Hickman said, that in addition to keeping the jail safe and secure, among his other accomplishments were upgrading the required training of new deputies and enhancing the department's use of technology to fight crime. On his watch, approximately 500 surveillance cameras were added to the main jail complex building at 1200 Baker St. Prior to his arrival, there were none, he said. Cameras in other buildings were also upgraded in terms of technology as well as positioning, he said. The jail played a prominent role in the campaign he lost to Gonzalez, a former city councilman and Houston Police officer, who criticized Hickman for, among other things, the use of overtime, the time burden of adding more training to new guards and having to send inmates to other counties with more jail space. A team of five inspectors from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards recently wrapped up a review. They are not white-glove inspections but have been known to include inspectors searching through pipe chases, poking around inside cells and combing through files. "For them to pass and it not be a train wreck is always a good thing," said Brandon Wood, executive director of the commission. "They have got a lot of moving parts down there." Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack, a former Houston policeman, said the sheriff was handed a bad situation in the jail from the start, and that any sheriff coming into office will struggle being both policeman and jailer. "I think he inherited an absolute mess with unbelievable amounts of money wasted," said Radack, who added that it would be tough to point to any sheriff who has not had troubles running the jail because they tend to have expertise in catching criminals, not housing them. Incoming Sheriff Gonzalez said that he intends to move forward and not dwell on the past or his criticism of Hickman. "My focus will be on what we need to do right now - how do we stop the bleeding? What are our long- and short-term fixes?" he said. "We'll look at what works and what does not. Maybe I'm naive, but I'm excited about the opportunity going in." What's next? There is some debate over whether Hickman was the 28th or 29th sheriff in the department's 175-year history, as one man in the 1800s was a chief deputy who briefly oversaw the department after a sheriff committed suicide. The last to serve a term as abbreviated as Hickman's was Sheriff Irvin Lord, who was appointed in September 1865 and served until June 1866 when elections were held at the close of the Civil War, according to the sheriff's office. Hickman's career of late speaks of a man striving for more in his later years. He earned a bachelor's degree in 2005 from the University of Alabama and wears the school ring. He recently completed the FBI's National Academy, including the challenging 6.1 mile obstacle course. Hickman said he is not sure what he'll do next, but like his time as sheriff, he won't be making many more walks through the jail. Heading down the corridor where Goforth's alleged killer and others are housed, a staff member put her arm around Hickman and told him how sorry she was to see him go. "You can only hear that so many times," Hickman said. A state appeals court ruled Thursday that a Houston doctor accused of molesting a child will not be retried after prosecutors forced a mistrial last year because they thought they were losing the case. Robert Yetman maintained his innocence after being accused of fondling a 7-year-old boy at Memorial Hermann Hospital. He went to trial in 2015, where prosecutors sabotaged their own case when they realized they would lose, the trial court ruled. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate After three months at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, it seemed Cynthia McGuffie had run out of time. Her heart was failing. No replacement had come. And, like many patients, her petite frame had disqualified her from receiving a bulky artificial heart, which wouldn't have fit in her shallow chest cavity. She had weeks, if not days, to live. Then her doctors came to her with an idea: If she agreed to participate in an experimental trial, she might qualify for an artificial heart, after all. The operation in September lasted five hours. Within days, McGuffie was sitting up in bed, wires protruding from her chest, connecting the electronic device inside her to a portable, battery-powered pump. In November, shortly before Thanksgiving, she became just the third patient in the country and the first in Texas to be sent home from a hospital after receiving a new, smaller version of the standard artificial heart. "How has your life changed since receiving this device?" her surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Morgan, asked during a checkup last week. "Say again," McGuffie said, asking the doctor to raise his voice to be heard over the constant sound of the backpack-sized pump she must carry everywhere. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The noise now defines her life. "I wouldn't have a life without it," McGuffie said. Nearly four decades after acclaimed surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley performed the first implantation of a wholly artificial heart at St. Luke's, the life-saving technology remains out of reach for many. Although the devices have gotten smaller and more efficient since then, they are still too big for many patients, including children, Morgan said. "Fortunately for Miss McGuffie, we've seen a couple of significant advances recently in artificial heart technology, giving new hope to a lot of patients," said Morgan, the director of mechanical circulatory support and cardiac transplant at Texas Heart Institute. "It's only been for a year or two that a patient can actually go home with an artificial heart. That combined with this new development of a smaller artificial heart has really been a game changer." The device, the 50cc SynCardia Total Artificial Heart, has not been formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration but can be used as part of clinical trials. Baylor St. Luke's is among only a few hospitals in the country that has implanted the device. Artificial hearts often are used as a temporary fix, keeping patients alive long enough to receive a traditional heart transplant. But in some cases, Morgan said, the machines are used as a "destination therapy." In other words, patients rely on the device for the rest of their lives. Some survive for years like that, Morgan said. That could be the case for McGuffie, 55, whose small size and high antibody count have made it difficult to find a suitable donor heart, though she's still holding out hope. She carries the battery-powered pump in a backpack at all times, its rhythmic whooshing trailing her through the house. Since returning to her home in Houston last month, she and her husband, Ed McGuffie, have gotten used to the sound. "We sleep right through it now," he said. McGuffie said she feels nearly as well as she did before she was diagnosed with heart disease three years ago. "I'm back to 90 percent," she told Morgan during the checkup. She's working to rebuild strength after so many months confined to a bed. It feels good to exercise, she said. She even likes to get up and jog. "You're jogging with the device?" Morgan said, sounding shocked. "Just in place," McGuffie said. "That's about all I can do for now." A few months ago, even that would have been unthinkable. A woman died Wednesday night when her son inadvertently rammed into her with a car as she stood outside the family home in northwest Harris County. The incident happened about 6 p.m. in the 2600 block of Daryns Landing Drive near T.C. Jester, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Wildlife lovers rejoice: The endangered ocelot has been fruitful, and multiplied. Researchers in South Texas are celebrating the arrival of four ocelot kittens, heralding some much needed good news for a beleaguered animal that saw several killed on roads in 2016. "It's extremely exciting," said Hillary Swarts, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist. "It's not all doom and gloom, there's good news, too." Images of ocelot females with kittens were captured on cameras placed in strategic locations across two areas in the Rio Grande Valley where ocelots live and reproduce. But researchers say the most exciting of all was the discovery of an ocelot den. Using GPS technology to track one of the females, biologists were able confirm the first ocelot den at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in nearly 20 years. There researchers pulled back the brush to find a 3-week-old male ocelot kitten, weighing just under a pound. The researchers quickly documented the area before the 11-year-old mother returned. Landowners working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect ocelot habitat on their property are also seeing camera evidence of new kittens, according to researchers. Ranches are havens Of the adult females captured on camera by biologists at the Yturria Conservation Easement in Willacy County, at least three have had kittens this past year. The photographs show healthy-looking kittens following closely behind their mothers. While ocelot females usually have only one kitten per litter, researchers said that one of the three mothers had twins. "Data gathered in Willacy County is further evidence that private ranches are often great havens for wildlife and key partners in our conservation efforts," said Boyd Blihovde, Refuge Manager at Laguna Atascosa NWR. "These private lands will be crucial to protecting habitat and wildlife into the future." Swarts believes that abundant rainfall over the past couple of years has made for superb breeding conditions. She explained the trickle-down benefit of rain, starting with plant growth that provides food for smaller wildlife, such as rodents, rabbits and birds, that ocelots like to eat. There are seven known adult female ocelots at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, where Swarts is stationed. Biologists estimate there are fewer than 80 ocelot roaming in South Texas; some are on private land, others on refuge land. Between 2015 and 2016, at least seven ocelot were killed on area roads. 'We're a team' Swarts and other researchers track and monitor ocelots in South Texas, collecting data on their population numbers, health, habitat use, range and reproduction. Despite efforts to reduce threats through the acquisition of habitat and restoration, if the ocelots don't reproduce these hard-won gains are for naught, she said. In late December, with the arrival of kittens to the population, wildlife conservationists were optimistic about the prospect of ocelot survival and recovery. "To see that they are actively reproducing, while we're working on our end to decrease mortality numbers," Swarts said, "they don't know it, but it's like we're a team." Nick Anderson CNN often asks whether the President-Elect is getting is Presidential Daily Brief from our intelligence services, since Donald Trump spoke dismissively about it in the weeks after the election. One thing that's clear is that Trump consumes a lot of media, especially when it's about him, since he often likes to tweet disparaging remarks about the coverage. Click the gallery below to see many more cartoons by Nick Anderson. President-elect Donald Trump's campaign talk about renegotiating or abandoning free trade pacts, shipping millions of undocumented immigrants back to their homelands and building a border wall to keep future ones out helped him win the election, but threatens a major rupture in U.S.-Latin America relations. The Republican hotelier's rhetoric dismayed Latin American leaders because, despite many disagreements over the years, the region traditionally has looked to our country for help and leadership. Without billions of dollars in aid from the U.S., for example, it is highly unlikely Colombia would have achieved the recent peace accord ending its long war with the leftist FARC rebels. But Trump's rhetoric, which includes his promise to pull out of the newly-formed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement because he views them as unfair to the U.S., has bred a sense that he doesn't know or care much about the region. So the region is turning to another Trump target, China, which has greatly increased its presence and influence in Latin America in recent years and now sees an opportunity to increase it even more. In the past decade, China has poured $125 billion into the region, mostly for oil and minerals. The president-elect complained about Chinese trade practices during the campaign, then angered the Chinese government by chatting by phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and afterward questioning whether the U.S. should continue its one-China policy. Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping made state visits to Peru and Chile and attended a summit of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group where, pointedly, he invited TPP members to join two regional economic groups he is promoting, neither of which include the U.S. Immediately after Xi's visit, China issued a policy paper that called for a "new era" in Chinese-Latin American relations and offered what sounded like full partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean in the region's future development. It also included, by the way, a vow to "promote the implementation of the Paris Agreement," the international pact to fight global warming. Trump has said he has an "open mind" over U.S. support for the agreement, after previously pledging to withdraw from the effort. Notably, Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu met with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi last week in Mexico City where they discussed enhancing trade and investment ties as Mexico, shaken by Trump's campaign promises, explores way to reduce its economic dependence on the U.S. The week before, Mexico awarded China's Offshore Oil Corporation two deepwater offshore oil exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico. China has the world's second largest economy, behind only our own, but with a population of 1.3 billion people and a government focused on growth, it is expected to have the top economy in the not-too-distant future. If anything is clear, it is that China does not need help from U.S. leaders to enrich itself further or expand its influence, yet that is precisely what it has gotten from the president-elect. He has alienated much of the hemisphere, which has been our primary sphere of influence since James Monroe enunciated the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. Even before he takes office we are losing influence, friends and credibility. Trump needs to understand that as the future president his words and actions can have far-reaching consequences, often bad ones in a world still astonished that someone with no political experience will soon be the world's most powerful man. Houston's murder rate is disturbingly high. A preliminary analysis claims that our city is one of three driving an increase in the nation's overall murder rate. "Nationally, the murder rate is projected to increase 31.5 percent from 2014 to 2016 - with half of additional murders attributable to Baltimore, Chicago and Houston," according to the 2016 Brennan Center for Justice report. Houstonians of all ages whose lives have been altered by those horrific statistics gathered together in Finley Wortham Theatre at the University of Houston this month to watch a performance of "Gun Violence: the New Normal." This provocative exploration of deadly weapons and their horrific misuse was written, performed and directed by students at Yates High School in the Third Ward. Unlike most adults, these students didn't mince words. They took aim at the devastation that gun violence has wrought on their community and at the disruption that the all-too-frequent sound of gunfire wreaks on their daily lives. They voiced their conclusion in forceful terms: There should be nothing normal about the pervasive and deadly presence of guns in a community. But let this sink in. The acquisition, possession and misuse of guns is normal in the Third Ward. Margo Hickman, their theater teacher, stated in a panel discussion after the play that she has had 10 students die of gun violence in her eight years of teaching theater at Yates. The students involved in the performance were both horrified and inspired to act by the back-to-back deaths this summer of two brothers in the Third Ward. Daquarius Tucker, 19, was fatally shot at a Fourth of July block party. Four days after his funeral, Demarcus Tucker, 34, was gunned down blocks from his family's Tuam Street home. Ola Tucker, mother of the two men, was in the audience witnessing grief and bewilderment as portrayed by the student actors and actresses. She lives with these emotions every day. Other mothers who have lost children to gun violence were in the audience to applaud the students' courage for giving voice to what so many feel but too few say: These deaths are unnecessary and wrong. Calandrian Kemp, who founded Village of Mothers in 2014 after her son was killed, attended to bear witness, along with members of her organization. In the discussion after the play, she added her plea to the students': "No more gun violence." That refrain reverberated around the room time and again. Although a good-sized crowd filled the auditorium, those who most needed to see this play were absent. Some elected officials, whose obeisance to the Second Amendment blinds them to reasonable measures designed to protect their fellow Texans, weren't in the audience. Neither were state Reps. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, and Jonathan Stickland, R-Fort Worth, who might have been enlightened by vignettes of gun violence the students acted out - abusive boyfriend, abusive father, abusive girlfriend and hate crime. Each had the same tragic ending: an unnecessary death. Both legislators have filed bills in the upcoming legislative session that expand gun rights. Fortunately, the students are going to the Legislature. On Jan. 11, they are driving to the Capitol to lobby against gun violence. This is more than a play for these students; it's a cause. In a question-and-answer session after the play, several students acknowledged that it was easy now for them to buy guns. Let that sink in. These are high school students. Texas lawmakers should be working on measures to keep guns out of the hands of children, not laws expanding access. Imagine a chocolate birthday cake with candles ready for a celebration, except that the birthday girl or boy is gone, a victim of a senseless murder. That's what Fort Bend County resident Kemp and the members of Village of Mothers do, as a way to express their grief for their sons and daughters who have been lost to gun violence in this country. They host birthday parties for their deceased children. There should be nothing normal about gun violence. But in some communities it's so common that it's part of the daily fabric of life. This reality outrages these students. They refuse to accept it. But the sad fact is that many of our lawmakers do. Hallowed ground Regarding "Destruction of cemetery leaves families hurt, angry" (Page A3, Dec. 16), the desecration of this cemetery is extremely alarming. While I have no connection with the families or the cemetery involved, I do have a deep respect for families and neighbors associated with cemeteries. The Aldine Cemetery destruction suggests that the community did not care about the dignity of those buried in the cemetery or their survivors. The workers involved in the destruction were thoughtless about the consequences of their actions. Whoever ordered the universal clearing of the property was cavalier and callous in their action, and the owner was not diligent in managing the property. What has happened to normal behavior of neighbors caring for neighbors that resulted in this desecration of the Aldine Cemetery? Walter L. Ellis, Pearland Planned Parenthood Regarding "State plans to cut Planned Parenthood from Medicaid" (Page A3, Wednesday), it saddens my heart to see what the state of Texas is trying to do to Planned Parenthood. Why are they continued to be vilified and discredited by Texas officials? I am a retired social worker and for many years I worked with clients who benefited greatly from the services of Planned Parenthood. They provided services when they could not be found anywhere else for the young and the poor. They were able to get family planning and health care services. Planned Parenthood provided the kinds of programs that not only kept them healthy but also helped them to be more knowledgeable about their own bodies, and helped them to better plan their families. Isn't this what we want for all people regardless of party affiliations, race, or income? Texas can do a better job of not only supporting a wonderful agency like Planned Parenthood but also supporting our wonderful Texas women. Sandra Thomas, Houston Misplaced priorities Two Sunday headlines tell different stories: "Texas' poor on outside looking in" (Page A1, Dec. 11) and "Texas attorney general loves a good fight - and to win" (Page A1, Dec. 18), Attorney General Ken Paxton has won many fights. It's unfortunate for many Texans that his energy and zeal haven't been directed toward helping them. Our great state has a high percentage of uninsured people, and environmental pollution often contributes to their illnesses. Aren't elected officials supposed to work for the good of all the people they represent, and especially those who need help most? Nancy Perich Daly, Houston 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. 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Nine people, including a father and stepmother, were arrested and charged in Indiana last week after a three-year-old girl was found locked inside a plywood box. On Dec. 14, Pulaski County Sheriff's Department searched a home after receiving a tip about a possible case of child abuse. Advertisement They found the toddler curled up inside the box. Police said in a release that the girl was often locked in the box overnight and for extended periods of time. "Never seen anything like this. It's one of those deals, you go there and think, 'hopefully this is not true,'" said Sheriff Jeffrey Richwine to 16 WNDU. He added that this was the worst case of child abuse he can recall. Box was full of dead bugs Police told Fox 2 Detroit News that the box was also full of dead bugs. The toddler's grandfather told 13 WTHR that he was kept from his grandchild and had no idea what was going on. "I've seen people treat their animals better," Frank Jackson said. "It's like a nightmare and I wish I'd wake up." Advertisement Police say five children, as well as the victim, have been placed with child services. Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also on HuffPost A 15-year-old girl in Nepal died after she was forced to sleep in a tiny shed because she was on her period. Roshani Tiruwa was found in a chhaupadi goth (isolated hut) on Saturday morning. The ninth-grader had likely suffocated after she lit a fire to keep warm, Nepal's Republica newspaper reported. Advertisement Just last month, 21-year-old Dambara Upadhyay died the same way in a nearby village. Secluding women who are on their period is a Hindu practice. Women are forced to sleep in sheds for the entirety of their menstrual cycle and must eat less food. This often leads to them being attacked by wild animals, or raped, according to The Guardian. Badri Prasad Dhakal, the district's police superintendent, told NPR the girls' deaths have affected people in the community. "For people in the village it's a big eye-opener. They learned that you can't go and stay alone in places like that," he said. Advertisement Chhaupadi was banned by Nepal's Supreme Court in 2005, but the ruling hasn't stopped some families from continuing the practice. A 2011 UN report estimates 95 per cent of people in western Nepal's Achham District still follow the practice. "We have a legal ban but the law enforcement forces have not been strong about implementing it," Mohna Ansari of Nepal's National Human Rights Commission told Al Jazeera. Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It's not the fact that Jesse Myshak took a Zamboni to a Tim Hortons that makes this story unbearably Canadian, no. It's the reaction he received. When the 34-year-old took the ice-surfacing vehicle to a Stony Plain, Alta. Tim Hortons on Tuesday, he said the staff was so excited they poked their heads out the drive-thru window, according to Global News. Advertisement Myshak told the network the employees were "all smiling and telling me this is the best thing theyve ever seen." He said the driver in front of him even paid for his hot chocolate. That's not even the end of it. The father of three told CBC News people were running outside the store as he arrived to take photos of his majestic entrance. Advertisement Myshak's hot chocolate quest began after he left his shop, where he was working on the newly-acquired Zamboni. He had to drive it home, where it was destined for his (and his children's) backyard ice rink. His colleagues at work joked he should stop by a Tim Hortons on the way, so he did. Myshak told CBC News he got lucky, since he wasn't sure how police would react to his little trip. Could you imagine if a Mountie had been photographed with him? We're pretty sure our computers would explode from peak Canadiana. Also on HuffPost A great horned owl has a second lease on life after it was rescued from inside the front grill of an SUV last week in Central Alberta. A teacher at Camrose Composite High School was driving to school the morning of Dec. 13, when she heard a thud. Advertisement "I was going fast, like high speed, so I did hit it pretty hard," Jennifer Thomas told CBC News. She got out of the car to have a look, and could see feathers in the grill. She thought the owl was dead. However, when she returned to her vehicle a few hours later, she could see big, round eyes staring back at her. She called Alberta Fish and Wildlife, and Officer Lorne Rinkel was dispatched to the scene. "The students with the high school automotive or shop class had rolled the vehicle into their work bay, so I was able to deal with it inside the school," Rinkle told 660 News. Advertisement Thomas gave the shop teacher the ok to cut away part of the grill, and Rinkle was able to reach in with his protective gloves, of course and grab the frightened owl. "It had a small amount of blood on one of its legs, but the legs and wings were fine," Rinkel told The Canadian Press, amazed the bird wasn't injured further. "There were a lot of happy students taking videos and pictures, almost cheering, you might say." The owl warmed up in a box for the next 10 hours and then Rinkel took the owl out to a rural area. When he opened the box, Rinkel says the owl flew off toward the full moon. Advertisement "It was almost like a fairy tale, its quite amazing that it survived the impact, Rinkel said, clearly getting a hoot out of the rescue. "Ive seen, unfortunately, lots of dead birds of prey in front grills, but Ive never seen one survive. Also on HuffPost Women have long been shouting at the top of their lungs about the terrific burden they face trying to juggle the demands of raising children while excelling in the work force. Finding work-life balance is a huge problem for women. But since we have been at this game since after the second World War, we are experienced veterans. Millennial men, on the other hand, are a new generation of super-pumped dads who really want to be engaged fathers -- unlike any generation before. Advertisement So they're relative newbies at the juggling act between home and work. Well, welcome to the party! (After all, misery loves company.) As gender roles change and society inches towards greater equality, it seems fathers are the ones who are conflicted about how to have it all now. In research reported earlier this year by the Boston Center for Work and Family, dads report the same or even more unhappiness than working moms about the conflict they experience between fulfilling their desires at both work and home. Interestingly, the research broke out the types of millennial dads into three categories based on their own personal attitudes and behaviours with respect to gender equality. Advertisement Keep in mind that all dads were happier than their single counterparts, so kids do bring joy! The happiest dads were the ones who fully believed in gender equality in the home and who share the responsibility of child rearing and domestic chores most equitable. The second most happiest were dads who self identified as traditional. They believe men should work and women should care for the home and were happy living in this arrangement. Yup, they were happy, but the study didnt score how happy their wives and kids were. The faction of millennial dads who were the most torn apart and unhappy about their work-life balance were the dads who embraced gender equality and a desire to be more equitable in their participation in family life, but who were not living up to their own ideal. So what can we do with this new information? 1. Celebrate progress. The happiest men and women have meaningful lives in some form in and out of the home. Gender equality is the right path, even if its slow. 2. Employers should address their male employees desire to have time with family as being their most important employment concern, only topped in significance by career growth and benefits. Advertisement 3. Encourage dads to lean in to parenting and domesticity the way women have to lean in at the work place. 4. Invite women to make space and opportunities for dads to show up more in family life. Moms can be such powerful leaders in the family that they create a kind of glass ceiling for dads. 5. Continue to change the work culture for men. Progressive companies like Deloitte has Deloitte Dads as a workplace wellness group that addresses their unique challenges. 6. Petition for longer family leave and paternity leave. 7. Be sure stay-at-home dads feel included in mom or nanny groups instead of isolated. 8. Be cautious of your company's work culture that may send implicit messages of expectancy to work long hours, to work additionally from home and during personal hours. 9. Push for flexibility in hours to help assist in child-care duties. Men report an improvement from 2011 to 2016, so such requests have resulted in more companies being flexible. Keep paving the way! Advertisement 10. Kiss a dad today. They dont get enough appreciation, recognition, blogs, books, research, attention and support. (#guilty) Also on HuffPost Getty Images/iStockphoto In the December 10 edition of the Calgary Herald, an article exuberantly proclaims "Questerre Energy shares soar after Quebec passes bill to open oil and gas reserves." Mr. Michael Binnion, Questerre's CEO and president of Quebec Oil and Gas Association (QOGA), should think twice before he (or any shareholder) breaks open the champagne! Before applauding this news, shareholders must be aware that here in Quebec, Bill 106 has numerous shortcomings. According to the website of Quebec's National Assembly, Bill 106 is a mammoth bill which modifies 20 different laws as well as the Civil Code. Advertisement The Chamber of Notaries diplomatically expressed the opinion that the "legal and financial security" of Quebecers is possibly in jeopardy. The Federation of Municipalities of Quebec as well as the Union of Municipalities both expressed serious reservations because it reduces their ability to protect the drinking water sources of its citizens if fracking is used on its territory. Bill 106 not only acknowledges this legalized burglary, but gives those companies legal priority over the owners of the land. The municipalities' concerns are exacerbated because a gas company can now override their own urban management plan. In other words, with a month's notice and despite a city councils' objections, the Couillard government has given any company the power to establish a drilling rig where it chooses. For instance, in Saint-Louis-de-Richelieu, 25 kilometres from my home, Lone Pine Resources has drilled -- and fracked -- a gas well in the middle of the village. With Bill 106, such despicable behaviour becomes normal and legal. In 2010, we were outraged when we became aware that companies had quietly claimed the subsoil under our feet. The incompetence of our ministry of natural resources allowed companies to pay a ludicrous 10 cents a hectare; in B.C., they sell the same kind of claim for $1,000 per hectare. On page 201 of the report of the BAPE (Quebec's environmental hearing agency), it says that we lost $5 billion, based on a half-way price of $500/ha., a price often used in Alberta. Advertisement Now, Bill 106 not only acknowledges this legalized burglary, but gives those companies legal priority over the owners of the land. The general feeling is that, though Bill 106 is now legal because the Couillard government used closure as a legislative bulldozer, it is immoral and illegitimate. Finally, one must not forget that the ethical reputation of the governing Liberal Party of Quebec (LPQ) is already damaged. As a symptom of its questionable behaviour, former Premier Jean Charest had meetings behind closed doors with commissioners of the NEB (National Energy Board); when the National Observerpublished these facts, this unacceptable behaviour forced two commissioners to withdraw from the Energy East hearings, thereby causing long delays. And Dan Gagnier, a former aide of Premier Charest, had to resign as co-chairman of the Liberal Party of Canada a few days before the federal elections of 2015 because he had sent compromising emails to managers of TransCanada Pipelines. We are working overtime to get rid of the stink of corrupted officials with tools such as the public affairs program "Enquete" of the SRC network, the Charbonneau commission, UPAC (permanent police unit against corruption) and the court system. Presently, former mayor Vaillancourt of Laval is serving a long jail sentence, and former Deputy Premier of Quebec Nathalie Normandeau is facing criminal charges... As an effort to clean the Aegean Stables, this is a good beginning! Exploiting Quebec's natural resources must be a win-win situation. Unfortunately, Bill 106 makes it a win for the petroleum industry and a losing proposition for its citizens. Mr. Couillard's government is acting like a 19th century puppet who is kowtowing to its colonial overlord. Mr. Binnion and the QOGA should remember that since the 1960s, we are Maitres chez nous: Masters in our own house! In other words, treat us right and we will treat you right; but step on our toes and there will be hell to pay. Shareholders and Mr. Binnion should be forewarned not to count their chickens before they are hatched. He may have the law and the Liberal government of Charest and Couillard on his side. However, this is our land; not his. Besides, hydrocarbons are an obsolete 20th century resource. Think! Why does the feeble rhetoric of Mr. Couillard pay lip service to renewable energies? Because that is where Quebecers really want to go! Advertisement Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Every kid, no matter their cultural background, loves games and treats. So when I stopped by my son's Grade 1 and 2 split class this week to explain Hanukkah traditions, I arrived bearing dreidels (a spinning top game), gelt (chocolate coins) and sufganiyot (doughnuts). I even brought our Minecraft menorah. But here's a little secret about Hanukkah -- there's not much more to it. Which is why our family celebrates Chrismukkah. Advertisement If not for its proximity to Christmas, nobody would pay the minor holiday of Hanukkah much mind. It's mostly a big deal because North American Jews got tired of their little kids whining about Santa. Hanukkah isn't even in the Bible. The roots of the holiday are recounted in the two Books of the Maccabees, part of the non-canonical scriptures known as the Apocrypha which Jews banished back in the day (though Catholics and Orthodox Christians, but not Protestants, consider it canon). The story, as usual, is about how our ancestors overthrew their oppressors -- in this case, Greek-run Syria. Judah Maccabee led a religious insurgency between 167 and 164 BC that eventually saw his Hebrew holy warriors reclaim Jerusalem from Antiochus, a Seleucid king who banned Judaism in an attempt to Hellenize the Israelites and get them to pray to Zeus. Advertisement If not for its proximity to Christmas, nobody would pay the minor holiday of Hanukkah much mind. Everyone can appreciate the defeat of a colonial ruler who forbids local beliefs and customs. But what's less known nowadays is that the Maccabean revolt arose out of a Jewish civil war between rural fundamentalists and urban elites. As Haaretz recounts, it began as "Judas and his band of rebels staged guerrilla warfare against Hellenized Jews." Yes, they did eventually defeat their Greco-Syrian occupiers, but they also killed a lot of Jews who weren't Jewish enough. As a cultural but non-religious Jew who married a lapsed Catholic, the Maccabees would not have been fond of me. So this part of Hanukkah is problematic. It was way back when, as well. The holiday's famous miracle of the oil was actually introduced centuries later, by rabbis who may have wanted to gloss over the earthly internecine struggle. Advertisement This story, now symbolized by the lighting of the menorah and eating of fried foods, is that when the Maccabees retook the temple in Jerusalem they discovered only one day's worth of holy oil. Yet it burned for eight days, the amount of time it took to press and purify more. That's it. So even ignoring the political baggage, Hanukkah's miracle pales next to the biblical Bonnaroo that is Passover, the best Jewish holiday, which recounts the Hebrew exodus from Egypt. It begins with mass enslavement and baby Moses floating down the Nile, where he's found and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter before leading to the burning bush, 10 plagues, parting of the Red Sea (!) and receiving of the Ten Commandments. Now those are some miracles. Christmas, of course, also only has the one miracle. But the virgin birth of the son of God is a biggie and it's bolstered by the addition of a jolly, gift-giving, sleigh-riding secular Santa. It would've been cruel and unusual punishment if all our classmates got Christmas except us. I grew up as one of the few Jews in my hometown, so it would've been cruel and unusual punishment if all our classmates got Christmas except us. The town was so small that my acting teacher dad, despite being Jewish, was enlisted to play Santa down at the Crescent Beach community centre. At the time, he explained his red suit and white beard by claiming he worked for St. Nick. I didn't even have to write letters to Santa -- Dad literally called my wish list in to the North Pole. Advertisement But we had Hanukkah, too. We lit the menorah, said the prayers, spun the dreidels, ate the latkes and opened up presents for both holidays. In other words, we celebrated Chrismukkah long before The O.C.'s Seth Cohen gave it a name in the teen-soap's iconic 2003 episode, "The Best Chrismukkah Ever." The Death Cab-loving high-school hipster described his made-up superholiday as "eight days of presents, followed by one day of many presents," which sounds like a great reason to celebrate -- but which a fun-loving writer on Forward.com called "greedy." In a take-down titled "Why I Hate Chrismukkah and So Should You," the author also compared it to a spork: "The reason that this highly practical spoon-shaped eating utensil with short tines at the tip has not become a favourite is because it's a compromise. Neither here nor there. It's indecisive. It takes good parts of both fork and spoon and ends up as satisfying as neither. Like Chrismukkah." Advertisement For us, Chrismukkah is the perfect way to bring both parental holiday traditions together. But at least he has a sense of humour. In 2004 the New York Catholic League and New York Board of Rabbis released a joint-statement declaring Chrismukkah "insulting" to Jews and Christians. In 2011, Jewish parenting website Kveller.com posted an article arguing "Actually, You Can't Celebrate Hanukkah AND Christmas" because apparently we shouldn't be celebrating either holiday "in a cultural, not religious way." But modern holidays are structured to give people a choice in how how they celebrate them. It's why Christmas has Santa and Easter has an egg-laying bunny despite marking the birth and death of Jesus. For us, as cultural, not religious people, Chrismukkah is the perfect way to bring both parental holiday traditions together. As The O.C.'s co-creator Stephanie Savage told The Hollywood Reporter this week, "It's about inclusiveness. We were surprised by how many people told us this is how they celebrated but didn't have a name for it." In my son's class I focused on the fun Hanukkah traditions because I remember feeling different as a Jewish kid, forced to stand out in the hallway while the class recited the Lord's Prayer. I wanted Emile to be proud of the minority side of his bi-cultural background as his classmates gleefully spun their dreidels (shouting "gimmel means gimme all!") and devoured their menorah-stamped chocolate coins. Advertisement I explained why Hanukkah is called the Festival of Lights, how the candles symbolize pushing back against the darkness and the lesson we should draw from the holiday about respecting the cultures and beliefs of others. It helps our interfaith family celebrate ritual, tradition, family and, yes, many presents. And I also told them that Hanukkah coincidentally starts on the same day as Christmas Eve this year, but that we have always celebrated Chrismukkah because that lesson of inclusiveness comes through in our combination of both holidays. The name made them giggle because they don't know what a Seth Cohen is and because it sounds like a pretend holiday. But what's real is that it helps our interfaith family celebrate ritual, tradition, family and, yes, many presents. Born And Raised is an ongoing series by The Huffington Post Canada that shares the experiences of second-generation Canadians. Part reflection, part storytelling, this series on the children of immigrants explores what it means to be born and raised in Canada. We want to hear your stories -- join the conversation on Twitter at #BornandRaised or send us an email at bornandraised@huffingtonpost.com. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Advertisement As loved ones gather for the holidays, many Canadians lovingly remember new friends they met while travelling this year. Kristian Foster is one of them. Growing up with a single mother and little money, I often thought I was hard done by. My middle-class friends had better clothes and went on trips around the world, things not available to me. I can still remember the time when my whole class went on a trip to Ottawa and I was the only one who could not go. I had to stay back and STILL go to school. That experience imprinted on me that I wasn't good enough because I didn't have money. Advertisement Visiting Tanzania in September changed my perception of what it's really like to go without. I travelled with World Vision child sponsorship ambassadors to see how communities are being empowered to live sustainably. The people we met survive with the bare necessities. A roof over their heads, basic clothing and just enough food to survive. Yet, we witnessed such joy and hope in them, and for this, I fell in love with Tanzania. At each school we visited this is how we were welcomed. The kids came running arms open ready to hug us. Photo: World Vision Advertisement I have never felt so loved, especially by people I had never met. The children were so happy to see Canadians, people from the country that has helped them go to school. Sure, school was available before, but so far away that children spent much of the day trekking there and back. Now, there are schools much closer to home, making it much easier to attend and do well. Many kids are doing this, instead of staying home to help their parents earn an income. And it was easy to see how they felt about it, every time we arrived in a new village! Taking digital pictures with us, then seeing what they looked like, made the children giggle with joy - and me too! Photo: Kristian Foster The children were thrilled to hear us trying to speak Swahili, the first language of Tanzania, and came up with lots of things for me to attempt. They laughed so much at one phrase I said that I started to wonder just what were they teaching me! Advertisement I repeated the phrase to the teacher, and asked him what it meant. It was so innocent that I almost cried. Here I was thinking the children were laughing because they were teaching me bad words, and in reality they were just so happy that we were having a conversation. I have never met people so open to the possibility of living with joy, even during hardship. They were laughing with joy. Joy because their new Canadian friend was learning their language, and having fun while doing it. Generosity everywhere Generosity, something you wouldn't expect to see in communities with so much need, was everywhere. Everywhere we went, someone gave one of us a thank-you gift for all that World Vision Canada has helped them to do. I was given a beautiful handmade bowl from a woman who makes flour for porridge. How could there be so many emotions around a single wooden bowl? Photo: Kristian Foster Receiving this bowl initially made me feel terribly guilty. I thought: how can I take this beautiful gift from someone who clearly needs it more than I do? Advertisement But then I realized how proud my new friend was to share her accomplishments with me. She felt proud to be able to give me the bowl as a symbol of her appreciation for our visit. How could I refuse something that was being given in such a meaningful way? Tanzanians burst my heart wide open. I have never met people so open to the possibility of living with joy, even during hardship. Open to giving to others, even when they don't have a lot to give. And open to loving strangers -- Canadians -- for the generosity that they show every day. You can reach out to communities overseas this holiday season, through the World Vision Gift Catalogue. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Ezra Bailey via Getty Images Business people in planning meeting "Government is a big buyer with many complex challenges. Entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to these problems should have a shot at solving them, don't you think?" This was a question asked this fall by federal Minister of Small Business and Tourism Bardish Chagger in a speech she gave to celebrate Small Business Week in Ottawa. But how can the government actually do this? What mechanism could make government procurement an enabler of innovation? We believe Canada needs its own Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Advertisement The Liberals floated the idea of SBIR during the election campaign, but scant notice was taken by the media or the business community. But SBIR can be a very powerful catalyst for innovation and we must not allow this idea to be relegated to the policy back burner. SBIR was pioneered by the U.S. in 1982 to stimulate technical innovation and commercialization by small business. The program is so successful that it is branded as "America's seed fund" and credited as the foundation for success of FedEx, Qualcomm, Amgen and Symantec, providing initial funding support when they were small startups. It requires government departments and agencies to set aside a tiny portion of their R&D budgets for competition-based awards to small business. The program is implemented and managed by individual government departments to address their respective innovation challenges. And it has set-asides that restrict a portion of competitive government procurement to small businesses. In the United States and other key competitor countries, SBIR-like programs have been shown to help small businesses grow while successfully accelerating innovation and facilitating the transition from product idea to commercialization. Advertisement An SBIR program tailored to the Canadian context would fill a crucial gap in the federal toolkit of supports for small-business innovation. Canadian small businesses often do not have sufficient working capital required to innovate and current innovation programs such as the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) require them to have this type of capital. Also, much of Canadian business innovation does not fit into the strict criteria for the government's Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit program. Without working capital, companies will postpone or reduce R&D until they build up sufficient resources, which reduces our rate of business innovation and key opportunities for commercialization success are lost. Revamping federal procurement processes to include a Canadian SBIR program would address the need of early-stage companies to secure up-front working capital as they launch their innovations. Additionally, it would provide the government with made-in-Canada solutions that meet its own needs for innovative products and services. Most importantly, a multi-stage SBIR would enable more Canadian companies to scale-up their innovation capacity from concept through to pre-commercialization. An SBIR program would be different from the existing suite of federal programs that support business innovation. It would provide 100 per cent up-front funding support directly to small business for R&D without the requirement for industry matching funds. Unlike other programs, SBIR would not be repayable and would not represent a contingent liability on the balance sheet of a small business. Perhaps most importantly, SBIR would have its objectives firmly set on commercialization as the outcome of a multi-stage innovation process. Implemented effectively, a Canadian SBIR program has the potential to stimulate early-stage innovation and R&D in small business, increase market-oriented, commercializable products and technologies, and grow the number of global patents for Canadian techniques and technologies. The government could build in criteria to encourage collaboration with underutilized segments of Canada's innovation and talent ecosystems, including underrepresented groups, women or even polytechnics and colleges -- urging the collective creativity and ingenuity from across a wide spectrum of talent. Advertisement Integrating SBIR as a demand-pull program as part of government procurement would increase alignment of Canadian innovation technologies and products with the needs of government, while nurturing a critical mass of capability in areas of strategic importance. So to answer Minister Chagger's question, yes, entrepreneurs with innovative solutions should have the opportunity to solve complex challenges facing government and government should use all of Canada's talent and ingenuity in seeking to solve its own R&D problems. A homemade SBIR program would do just that while also helping Canadian small business to grow and create jobs. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: News headlines throughout 2016 were unrelentingly mortifying, bleak and despairing. Just this week - a Russian ambassador assassinated live on camera in Turkey, shoppers run down at a Christmas market in Berlin, a shooting at a mosque in Switzerland, and the endless bombing of Syria. It is easy to conclude from these headlines that evil has triumphed emphatically over the forces of love, peace and hope, and it is no surprise that one of the trending hashtags to close out the year is simply "#f_ck2016" (you fill in the missing vowel). Beyond the wishfully dismissive hashtag, the real problem is that no one actually thinks that 2017 will be any better. And why would it be? As families unite this week to celebrate Christmas hoping to bury the headlines under glad tidings of comfort and joy, many others are simply wondering aloud: Where does our hope come from? How will humanity ever find peace? And why are humans dead-set on killing each other no matter what? Is anyone realistically looking to Donald Trump for hope, peace, or greater global stability? Amid the search for answers, it is no secret that "being religious" has gone out of style. But somehow, "being spiritual" is considered socially acceptable, so long as you do not push your particular interpretations on others. In Western society, the result is a mish-mash of relativist spiritual theories, and a deference to the Goddess of Blind Tolerance, whose belief system offers zero hard answers to the complex questions above. Advertisement In the spirit of tolerance, here is an idea for you to tolerate over the holidays: there is indeed hope for humanity, and there are answers to these questions, and both can be found through belief in Jesus Christ alone. For those who consider themselves 'spiritual, but not religious', the next logical question is: so who is Jesus Christ? This question is about far more than whether or not you 'go to church', and the answer cuts to the philosophical core of modern society. Over 2000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem, a baby boy, Jesus of Nazareth, was born. Jesus' existence is a historical fact, one that is as well documented as that of the life of Julius Caesar. The Islamic and Hindu traditions respect and revere Jesus, the former even regarding him as a prophet. Today, it is not a question of whether Jesus existed, but rather: do you believe what Jesus said? What Jesus said about himself and about life is simple, as found in the Gospel of John, chapter 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." Jesus' absolutist statement offends most people today, in an era of limitless knowledge that is somehow dominated by fake news. We have been left chasing an unquenchable thirst for truth, while ignoring the one who said, "I am the truth." Advertisement When Jesus declared who He is, He offered a stark choice for all humanity, and this is particularly relevant during the Christmas season when Christians celebrate the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ. The fateful choice is whether or not Jesus was in fact who He claimed to be: the saviour of all mankind through His death on the cross for our sins, and His resurrection from the dead three days later. It matters greatly what we think about the historical person of Jesus Christ. Author C.S. Lewis put it this way: "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice." But if in fact Jesus is the Son of God, as He claims to be, then you, the reader, must seriously ask yourself what it means for your life. His claims do not leave room for merely "respecting" Him as a teacher. To over a billion Christians around the world - approximately one in every seventh person - Jesus means many things: He is hope, joy, love, peace, tender-heartedness, kindness, humility, and courage. These values and virtues are sorely missing from so much of the world today. In fact the opposite of these virtues appear to be on the march. The forces of darkness are strong, vicious, and advancing with murderous intent; the prospect of greater global conflict practically feels inevitable, and of course, we all must work to avoid that. But at this point in human history, there is no room for fence-sitting on issues of the heart and soul. Indeed, Jesus made this clear in Matthew 10:34-39 when He said: Advertisement "Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. [...] If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it." While we celebrate the joy of the Christmas season, represented by the birth of the Christ child, the verse above cannot simply be dismissed. We face a tremendously uncertain future and the persistent reminder of the existence of evil, manifest by the demonic spiritual force known as the Islamic State. The headlines of 2017 are practically bound to be worse. Deep at its collective core, humanity is being forced to make a decision about the overarching and fundamental worldview that every human embraces. We either live in a universe that is ruled by God, whose plan and hope for humanity is found in the salvation Gospel of Jesus Christ; or, we live in a world that is ruled by the strongmen of the day, by selfish ambition and materialist pursuits, and is governed by failing international institutions - a world without hope. For where could hope ever come from if the majority of humanity rejects the one man - Jesus Christ - whose message was pure hope? Such a hopeless world is one that is destined for the destruction that we continue to witness. But we are not without options. For Jesus said at John 14:27: "I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid." The Christmas story is God's bold, annual reminder, one which many of us celebrate but fail to commit to, that God did and does have a plan for salvation and hope for every human. We are so easily distracted by the wonders of this life that we ignore at our peril, and to our despair, the deep spiritual hunger inside every human soul. Advertisement It has been said that there is a God-shaped void inside every human heart. We long to know truth, to know hope, and to understand our purpose in this brief life. Jesus said at John 10:10: "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." Jesus knows that every human longs for complete satisfaction of the heart and soul, and for genuine hope. God offers that through the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Mercifully, God made this free gift available to all. As Romans 10:9 says: "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." May you find Jesus Christ and His free gift of hope, love and peace this Christmas season Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us via Getty Images ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - MARCH 07: Zte mobile phone operator building, addis abeba region, addis ababa, Ethiopia on March 7, 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Photo by Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images) Ethiopia's corporate sector needs to emphasize active involvement in the betterment of the country. They have the capabilities to do so, and it aligns with their own interests to promote a better society for all -- for themselves and the society all shall inherit. Progressive societies place much emphasis on the corporate sector, expecting that sector to be engaged in social responsibility, striving for the well-being of the society in which they labour to make profits. Fulfilled, happy and proud employees produce profits in the long run. Business models that integrate social well-being and community building work build brands to be proud of and to which communities extend goodwill. Advertisement There is a notion that the Ethiopian economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and that is a good thing. But it would be far better if that fast-growing economy benefited more Ethiopians and helped create a better social safety net for its most vulnerable. This is while providing employment opportunities for more Ethiopians as well as work for suppliers and others along the value change that growth generates. What is the point of making Ethiopia a better investment hub, if the only beneficiaries are the businesses themselves? In the construction of a new narrative for Ethiopia, all voices are needed. To move a new Ethiopia forward, the involvement of all actors is needed. The government is not in a position to be the lone voice and lone actor to help in articulating and creating the interests of the country. There are companies and institutions that are beginning to take corporate social responsibilities seriously and they should. It is not rare thing outside of Ethiopia but legitimate expectation and it seems that corporate social responsibility is being integrated into business plans her. That is why I am excited with the new partnership that is taking place between the Ethiopian Education and Research Network with ZTE Ethiopia. This is not a drop of water in the bucket contribution, but it's profound and worth one billion birr (about $45 million). The initiative was conceived to help empower public universities helping them maximize their capacity by providing education resources. Launched by Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD), then Minister of Communication and Information Technology, "the project is a commitment to improve the quality of education and address issues of access to higher education" and "the instructors and researchers will be exposed to the global network of education and research that will definitely change the problems of the education quality and development narrative". Advertisement Private Public Partnerships or initiatives, which have become the norm in Europe and North America are being emulated across the African continent. ZTE is an international company that has managed to incorporate its social responsibility seriously. Partnerships and contributions to Ethiopia is what has made the company unique since it ventured in the country two decades ago. For instance, in collaboration with Ethio-telecom, it donated a telecom lab to the Addis Ababa Science & Technology University (AASTU) , worked with ICT center of Excellence to encourage the Ethiopian Software innovators and developers by awarding resources to realize their dream. It has donated ICT class room by equipping the necessary materials to Hayelom Araya Primary school and built libraries to three different schools located in Oromia regions. It made a quite but determined entrance into the Ethiopian telecom market since 1996. Although its role was minor at that time it signed a partnership contract with the only telecom company in the country in 2006 and became a very large presence. Since then, the brand has become well known to Ethiopians. It won government contracts worth millions of dollar only a decade ago, undertaking the upgrade of Ethiopia's aging telecommunication infrastructure. It was the first to construct a national mobile telecom network in the country. It has not only benefited from government endorsements in Ethiopia but in many parts of the world such as, recently in Japan, where they are providing a Pre 5G massive Mimo for SoftBank and in Peru, where they are providing the Commercial operation of the first IP multimedia subsystem voice. In Ethiopia, they are noted for offering many, an adequate training and helping transform the telecommunication sectors in the country. In addition, work opportunities have been created for hundreds of new graduates and valuable internship offered to students. The Ethiopian government has placed much confidence in the company and has been rewarded with a good partner in development. Advertisement Among its promoters was, former Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi who had this to say -- "The Great Wall is a symbol of China and the opening of the national mobile network in Ethiopia have an equal significance as that of the Great wall to Chinese People. You have done a marvelous job. We have full confidence in ZTE and I hope you will continue to work miracles in Ethiopia." As Ethiopia is opening its door to the world, there will be many opportunities for partnerships and resources readily available. In all the partnerships that the corporate world can make within Ethiopia, what the government should scrutinize is the real social value of the partnership. For instance, the government should reconsider the social cost of billboard advertising by the alcohol companies in areas where there are children, banning these billboards from being erected near schools. In a model that scrutinizes social impact, investors in IT should help train students in practical applications of IT and the beer companies would mitigate social impact by providing care to shoes in recovery from alcohol and build a strategy to eliminate underage drinking. That is the real meaning of corporate social responsibility, providing good, eliminating harms. Those types of partnerships are what need to be promoted and embraced in Ethiopia as it moves forward. ZTE is indeed a great model to emulate. KAREN BLEIER via Getty Images (FILES)This February 25, 2013 photo taken in Washington, DC, shows the splash page for the Internet social media giant Facebook. Those Facebook 'likes' can reveal a lot more than you think. Research released March 11, 2013 shows patterns from these Facebook preferences can provide surprisingly accurate estimates of the user's race, age, IQ, sexuality and other personal information. The researchers developed an algorithm which uses Facebook likes -- which are publicly available unless a user chooses stronger privacy settings -- to create personality profiles, potentially revealing a user's intimate details. These mathematical models proved 88 percent accurate for differentiating males from females and 95 percent accurate distinguishing African-Americans from whites. The algorithms were also able to extrapolate information such as sexual orientation, whether the user was a substance abuser, or even whether their parents had separated.AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER / FILES (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images) What we have here are two seemingly disparate stories involving two of the most dominant content distributors on the planet. In one, our friend Mathew Ingram discusses Mark Zuckerberg's video initiative, which, he says, undercuts the Faceborg supremo's insistence that he's not running a media company. In a subsequent post, he highlights Faceborg's ostensible commitment to fighting fake news. Advertisement It's not hard to see why Zuckerberg resisted the characterization as long and as hard as he did. We've talked about that previously ourselves. And as Ingram points out: Facebook likes things that are neat and tidy, like algorithms -- not things that are all muddy and gray and complicated, like defining what constitutes fake news. Well, we've all seen how effective the algorithms are at distinguishing genuine, authentic content from bullshit. And we've already talked about how those algorithms are shaped by your ultimate goal: do you want engagement, or do you want veracity? Do you want to be clicky, or do you want to be authentic? Can't always have both. And which one you prioritize is going to determine what floats to the top of your menu. There's no great insight in observing that this is going to get a lot messier before it gets any neater. The accusations of bias, censorship, lack of transparency, and hidden agendas are going to be deafening, and they're going to be coming from all sides. The language is going to be heated and ugly. If there's any small comfort to be drawn from this, and it's a big "if," it'll be in Facebook's acceptance of responsibility for the content it serves up. Advertisement (In any event, it might all be academic anyway. As our friend Jonathan Albright argues, fake news is soon to become the least of our problems.) Secondly, a disturbing piece in the Guardian by Carole Cadwalladr. When she tried a Google search involving the Holocaust, the first thing that happened was that the search bar auto-completed her query to read "did the Holocaust happen?" And there, at the top of the list, was a link to Stormfront, a neo-Nazi white supremacist website and an article entitled "Top 10 reasons why the Holocaust didn't happen". She then recounts Google's insistence that it would not rewrite its search algorithm* or remove the results, despite its declaration that it did not endorse those views. Eventually Cadwalladr did an end run around the organic search results by buying a paid Google ad that bumped Wikipedia's entry about the Holocaust to the top of the page. For now, at least. The rest of the piece examines how and why such a self-evidently repugnant outcome becomes possible. Not so much about why Google won't edit the results, but why Stormfront would rank so highly -- and, unsurprisingly: it comes down to money: Advertisement " ... empirically speaking, people tend to treat Google like an authority. So this is an appalling shirking of responsibility. It's about money. It always is. The commercial imperative trumps all other aims at the company, including moral ones." Why this content and not that? So, a few revealing insights about what motivates two of the most powerful content platforms on the planet. These entities control what we see, what we read, what we're exposed to, and what we consume. These entities control the vast majority of the information available to us. If they don't want to show it to us, chances are we're not going to see it. What lessons do we draw from this? Once again: the importance of critical thinking. Why is Facebook serving up this story and burying that one? Why is Google ranking this at the top of its search results, and not that? What are we not seeing here? Why is our attention being directed to this thing at this time? There's no need to go full-bore conspiracy theory here -- just a healthy skepticism and willingness to do the work. *In the spirit of disclosure, there are times when one doesn't necessarily want Google to rewrite its algorithms. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook ebstock via Getty Images Senior couple meeting with agent An Attorneys Duty to Account As the median age of Canadians gets older, the appointment of an attorney for property for the purpose of planning for incapacity is becoming increasingly important. Most people know that it is important to consult a lawyer if they are appointed to be an executor under a will. It is less commonly known that acting as an attorney for property also attracts legal responsibilities and liabilities and that it is often a good idea to obtain legal advice prior to acting as an attorney. The grantor, (the person who made the power of attorney document) and the attorney (the person named in the power of attorney document) have a fiduciary relationship. The attorney owes the grantor certain duties and responsibilities. At common law, it has been established that the attorney has a duty to account to the grantor. When the grantor becomes incapable, the nature of the relationship and the obligations owed to the grantor change. The attorney must act in the best interests of the incapable person. Ontarios Substitute Decisions Act (the SDA) requires an attorney for property to perform his or her powers and duties diligently, with honesty and integrity (ss. 32-38). Advertisement An attorney should keep records of all transactions made with the grantors property and may be called on to account for his or her actions to the court. Depending on whether or not the attorney is compensated for acting, there are two standards of care that might be applied: an attorney who does not claim compensation is held to the standard that a person of ordinary prudence would exercise in conducting his or her own affairs, whereas an attorney who receives compensation is held to a higher standard, being that of someone in the business of managing the property of others. The attorney, the grantor, the grantors dependants, the grantors attorney for personal care, the Public Guardian and Trustee, the Childrens Lawyer (in certain circumstances), or anyone else with leave of the court, may seek to compel the attorney to pass accounts. This passing of accounts is an audit by the court, similar to an audit by the CRA. The attorneys records must be sufficient for a judge to assess the work of the attorney on behalf of the incapable person, to ensure that he or she is fulfilling the duties of an attorney properly and faithfully. A passing of accounts is a court proceeding. Accordingly, when applying to pass accounts, it is advisable that an attorney obtain assistance from a lawyer in preparing accounts in the proper format, responding to any objections that may be raised, and representing the attorney in court. If no objections are raised by anyone served with the application to pass accounts, judgment approving the accounts may be obtained without the need for a hearing. Advertisement The next step is otherwise typically to seek an Order Giving Directions, which sets out the relevant legal issues and sets out the timing of the next steps of the litigation, which will often include replies to objections, examinations, mediation, and failing settlement at an earlier stage, a trial. The obligation of maintaining fiduciary accounts places an added burden on attorneys for property, in recognition that the fiduciary is managing property belonging to an incapable person who may be vulnerable and be in need of this extra layer of protection. A court can and will exercise its discretion to punish an attorney for mishandling the money in a way that is inconsistent with the incapables best interests. As greater numbers of individuals become authorized to act as attorneys for property, it is important that both the grantors and the attorneys understand what is expected and what may be legally required of the fiduciary. Attorneys are entrusted with a great deal of authority with regard to the affairs of the vulnerable, and will be held to a high standard, even if unaware of their corresponding duties and responsibilities. They should consider consulting a lawyer for a complete explanation of their obligations prior to taking on the role of attorney for property. Ian Hull and Suzana Popovic-Montag are partners at Hull & Hull LLP, an innovative law firm that practices exclusively in estate, trust and capacity litigation. To watch more Hull & Hull TV episodes, please visit our Hull & Hull TV page. Advertisement Hemera Technologies via Getty Images Computer stop symbol I am deeply disappointed at yet another massive government IT failure, and sadly, not surprised in the slightest. The Canadian government's initiative to consolidate more than 1,500 government websites into a single super site, Canada.ca, is failing and starting to look like Canada's version of the disastrous Healthcare.gov. The original deadline for completing the project passes this month, with costs ballooning from $1.54 million to a reported $9.4 million, and growing. A consolidation at this scale is the equivalent of a digital moon-landing, and the first problem was massively underestimating the initial cost and level of effort. It was wrong to choose a closed-source, proprietary solution, and it was wrong to pursue the unnecessarily ambitious consolidation of the entire government's digital presence into a single website. Advertisement The financial burden of moving to Canada.ca is being handled by the departments and agencies separately, and since 2015, according to a recent report at CBC, eight of the largest departments have spent more than $28 million on a project now pushed out to December 2017. Progress is glacial. Of the 17 million pages now managed by the Canadian government, only 10,000 have been moved to the new mega-site. This news coming out of Ottawa is not surprising to cynical observers of old-school government IT failures. It is a familiar tale for Americans who tried to use HealthCare.gov in the early days of Obamacare and wound up footing the estimated $2.1 billion price tag for bad IT. This project was destined to fail from the beginning. Government IT disasters have dominated headlines in Australia, the UK, the state of California and more, and are such a classic story that the IT press routinely publishes Buzzfeed-like lists of the Top Ten IT Failures. Advertisement On the other hand, every government IT project is not destined to fail -- just look to the Government of Australia as an example. Their govCMS platform is a successful model predicated on open source, the cloud and shared innovations between departments and agencies that simply works. Unfortunately, the Canadian taxpayers were misled with a bad strategy and were sold the classic vendor lock-in bill of goods on a project that involves collaboration across the entire government. In over four years in the Obama administration, I have observed that a technology project's success is inversely correlated to the number of people involved, and the size of the budget. This project was destined to fail from the beginning. Outside of project scale, a contributing factor to failure was a set of outdated IT procurement policies. These all but ensured that solutions using open source would be excluded, with Canada requiring bidders to license, warrant and indemnify the government for its use of open source application software. This is not how open source works and so, not surprisingly, the procurement process yielded but one "compliant" bid, and that was from the biggest and most expensive proprietary software vendor in the market. I procured enterprise digital platforms in my role running technology for Obama's WhiteHouse.gov and the Department of State's global U.S. embassy platform. Both were powered by open-source technology and were infinitely smaller than Canada's all-of-government solution, costing between $8 to $12 million per year just to maintain. They were extremely successful, and we delivered projects on budget and up to 75 per cent faster. Advertisement Procurement process notwithstanding, the assumption that more than 30 ministries, each with their respective challenges, constituents and culture, could be harmonized under a single platform is ludicrous. The complexity of relationships across bureaucracies is hard to even comprehend. The consolidation strategy runs counter to all key digital trends of the past 15 years, whereby today's technology encourages decentralization of content creation and syndication. Any respectable vendor should have had the integrity to call out this pipe dream and encourage the government to adopt a hub-and-spoke model, at the very least. I had the good fortune of being a part of the administration of the first digital president, Barack Obama. From the beginning, it was imperative that government was made more transparent, participatory and collaborative. Our vision was always to give as much control as possible to key stakeholders at the right levels to ensure government worked like a modern digital organization. Citizens and customers operate at the speed of the Internet. They will not, and should not, accept operating at the speed of government. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Advertisement Team Trudeau's "sunny ways" are constantly being clouded over by the drip-drip of the fallout from the political fundraisers that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers continue to hold and attend despite mounting opposition, and media and public concerns. The prime minister and his ministers have continued to defend what now seems indefensible. The whole practice seems even more questionable in view of the latest revelations in the Globe and Mail about how some organizers of the Trudeau fundraisers have been asking the invitees to pay $4,500, and in some cases $5,000 -- well above the $1,525 allowed per person annually. Advertisement The prime minister and his ministers have continued to defend what now seems indefensible. It all started in April of this year with our good Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould insisting on proceeding with her $500-per-head private fundraiser at a Toronto law firm -- which I had publicly urged her to cancel, as had many others. It didn't jibe with the new Trudeau guidelines to his ministers, and those presumably to himself as well, against preferential access or the appearance of preferential access to government for individuals or organisations that may have made financial contributions to the party. The guidelines had gone on to state that this obligation to deny preferential access wasn't satisfied by simply living within the current laws. Ironically, the whole Liberal defence of the "cash for access" now rests solely on the practice falling within the existing law -- the Trudeau guidelines be damned. And to make matters worse, Trudeau's otherwise smart Liberal House leader, Bardish Chagger, in an interview with the Huffington Post, shockingly opined that the "House of Commons is not where [the politicians] talk about political fundraising." Advertisement No matter how one viewed the political fundraising that is fast becoming an albatross around my political party's neck, one would have thought that House of Commons is definitely the place to talk about it. It is the People's House. Political fundraising -- good, bad or ugly -- is people's business, and the people's business belongs and can be discussed -- must be discussed -- in the People's House. Ms. Chagger, welcome to government. Since the Liberals are in power, it is their conduct and standards that are at the forefront in public discussions. More than 60 per cent of Canadians are concerned about the perception that is created by the current Liberal practice of fundraising -- followed until recently by all political parties -- that the media have dubbed "cash for access." Before the X-mas break, the government had been on the ropes in the House of Commons for not living up to Trudeau's own guidelines for government ministers. Political fundraising -- good, bad or ugly -- is people's business. The House is a place for the government and the opposition to discuss anything they deem relevant, and during question period the speaker prohibits questions that may appear out of order. Insofar as the commons speaker didn't stop the opposition from asking questions about "cash for access," he must have deemed them appropriate and permissible. Quite appropriately, Chagger later told the Huffington Post that she misspoke about the House not being a place for the fundraising discussion. Chagger's words were reminiscent of Prime Minister Kim Campbell's elitist dictum of an election being "no time to discuss serious issues." Chagger had gone on to say "political parties can talk about that [political fundraising]" among themselves, away from the House, since the People's House was not the place for it. Advertisement Chagger's remarks may not have been intended to convey elitism. But they reeked of it. Trudeau would do well to remember himself and remind Chagger that after what appeared to be Campbell's elitist remarks, her Tories had suffered their worst electoral loss. A version of this blog originally appeared on UjjalDosanjh.org. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: 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. goir via Getty Images Earlier this week, we witnessed two horrific acts of violence. In Berlin, a lorry ploughed through a crowd at a busy Christmas market killing 12 and injuring many more. In Ankara, we witnessed the assassination of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey by Mevlut Mert Altintas, a riot police officer. Monday's event in Berlin was reminiscent of the lorry attack in Nice, which killed 86 people in July. As demonstrated with both events, terrorists do not need sophisticated command, control or resources to still carry out what they deem 'effective' attacks. Advertisement Earlier this month in Munich a terror attack, similar to the one in Berlin, was foiled by German intelligence. They found the (potential) attacker to be a 12-year-old boy, a German citizen of Iraqi heritage. The boy was radicalised online by an ISIS member and carried out the instruction to place a backpack with a homemade bomb in a Munich Christmas market. Had the suspicious behaviour not been reported, we would be seeing horrifying scenes similar to Berlin today. A nail bomb is not a difficult task to construct, nor is placing a bomb in a crowded place. ISIS, and groups like it, have long-called for the deployment of low grade weaponry and tactics which are both ubiquitous and can avoid the trip wires of our intelligence efforts. So much so a 12-year-old almost successfully carried out an attack - a person as young as this is rarely detected by intelligence services and is much easier to influence due to their impressionable nature. The perpetrators are nearly always young men citing political reasons for their motivation behind the attack. The killing of the Russian ambassador echoed that of Lee Rigby by Michael Adebolajo. Adebolajo hacked soldier Lee Rigby to death on a busy street in broad daylight. Eye-witness accounts recall his words after the murder when asked why he did it: "The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers. And this British soldier is one, he is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". Mevlut Mert Altintas was filmed moments after the assassination shouting: "We die in Aleppo, you die here" as well as "Allahu Akbar, we are descendants of those who supported the Prophet Muhammed, for jihad". Whilst political grievances are arguably the most cited reason behind terrorist attacks, it is important not to overlook the Islamist ideology that performs as the ultimate justification for violence. Advertisement The attacks in Berlin and Ankara, particularly Ankara, are the manifestations of an echo chamber for that extremist ideology I once held. As a reformed extremist, I can identify better than most the Islamist platform from which these young men operate from. From my time in Al Muhajiroun, now a banned UK terrorist group, I remember well the exploitative nature of marrying religious ideology with geo-political events. Our political grievances were given justification through the nature of the violent Islamist ideology and thus led to our hostile reconnaissance of potential terror plots in London. The process of radicalisation is getting shorter and the choice of soft targets and weapons is becoming more unpredictable. We have entered a new era of terrorism. What we are dealing with a transnational community of violence underpinned by a pernicious reading of Islam that sees violence such as these acts as legitimate whilst serving God. We need to reassess our approach to preventing extremism through a comprehensive understanding of the radicalisation process these men have undergone to commit these acts of terror. We must counter Islamist ideology as much as the active prevention of violent acts through a counter narrative of reform and reclaiming Islam for the moderate. This summer, I had successfully finished fundraising millions of pounds for five community-owned solar parks. A satisfying job where I was also able to work three days a week and meet some very inspiring people all around the country so, despite all the juggling (and there is a lot of that) I was fortunate to have a role that I enjoyed. But then I decided to quit work to volunteer with the Climate Change Coalition. Because I do not want to lose the special places and life I love to climate change, because no one knew I cared. Having just finished the rounds of nativity plays there isn't a person in the world who wouldn't feel a little tug on their heart strings and want what is best for their children and their loved ones. Yet global warming is the biggest challenge we face as citizens and it is virtually ignored. Advertisement I cannot get rid of this very uncomfortable feeling. The feeling is that things are going to go very bad unless things change very soon. It is time to give people the opportunity to understand what is at risk so they can make informed choices and be part of the solution. This winter, it is so mild we have not had the heating on and floods were so bad last month the train for the Climate Change Coalition meeting in London had to travel at 5 mph for safety reasons. The conductor joked the arm bands were under our seats! Yet despite all these strange goings on, no one really talks about climate change. The silence is almost deafening because: A common problem remains a common problem until it is common knowledge... As a scientist who has followed developments on global warming for a quarter of a century, I am dismayed at the number of trees and flowers blossoming as the Christmas lights go up. Nature is confused and it is an indicator of just how warm the world has become. Advertisement But there is good news. In 2016, for the first time ever, all the world leaders agreed the need for climate action. Even oil-exporting Saudi Arabia, who has never been accused of environmental enthusiasm signed the Paris Agreement. So where is the problem if there is consensus to urgently stop burning fossil fuels and the quicker the better? This year our Government has given the green light to support fracking, Heathrow expansion and more road building. And concurrently withdrawn support for clean energy and energy conservation, leaving what was the UK's fasting growing industry decimated, just as we should be powering ahead with improving productivity. It has almost become taboo, for fear of offending someone, to discuss climate change. Who are people so afraid of? Is it the oil giants of Exxon and the like? The board of British Gas? Donald Trump? The BBC are so cautious of climate deniers I believe they give almost as much time to sceptics of global warming on their website as they do the actual subject. When asked to correct this gross bias they cited the need for 'inclusion' as their argument rather than any need to consider the credibility of this argument or indeed their own Trust review of scientific coverage. Advertisement British people love talking about the weather so it really shouldn't be that difficult for the BBC, the Government and for all of us to start talking about Weird Weather. The Climate Change Coalition is looking to do just that with the help of some very famous friends during the Show the Love Campaign in February. To give you an idea of how important this transition to clean energy is. One in six homes in the UK are at risk of flooding and precious few have bought equipment to protect their property. Last year Storm Desmond caused over 5bn of damage to the economy. This does not include all the anguish of those who lost their possessions and businesses in the 15/16 floods. And if it is bad in the UK, it is nothing to what people are experiencing in more vulnerable, poor countries who face droughts and hurricanes. So the number of migrants will rise because there will be nothing to keep them at home. Potentially, we are going to pay a high price for ignoring our responsibility to stop global warming. Advertisement So I quit work to spread the word and support the Climate Change Coalition. And on Valentine's Day we will be asking everyone to speak up for the things you love. And I hope you will join us? You don't have to quit work, but there is a lot you can be doing right now. These changes can have multiple benefits to your bank balance, health and quality of life. As well as leaving a better future for our children and grandchildren. See my blog on cool gadgets that do good for further inspiration. And finally, please wear and share a green heart this February to show the love and help protect the places and people that are special to you from climate change. Background Show The Love is an annual celebration of all that we love but could lose to climate change. It is part of an ongoing effort to protect the people, places and life we love from climate change by encouraging world leaders and the UK Government to shift to clean and secure energy within a generation. Show The Love is organised by The Climate Coalition, the UK's largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change and limiting its impact on the people, places and life we love at home in the UK and around the world, including the world's poorest countries. It includes over 100 organisations such as RSPB, National Trust, WWF, Greenpeace, The WI and Oxfam. The combined supporter base of our 120 member organisations is more than 15 million people across the UK. Advertisement During our stay in Marrakech, my husband Steve and I were invited to take part in a cookery class with The Sanssouci Collection at Les Cigognes Hotel, which has been the leading Moroccan cookery school for the last 15 years. The Sanssouci Collection have also acted as food consultants for The Hairy Bikers and were the location for Ottolenghi's Mediterranean Feast, so we were excited to be learning about Moroccan cuisine with them. We arrived at small boutique hotel Les Cigognes, which is opposite Palais El Badii, and were given a fresh mint tea whilst we were seated in the central courtyard. We were then introduced to our host for the day, culinary expert and general manager Pierre, who we immediately found to be warm, interesting and fun. Pierre asked us what we would particularly like to learn about on the course and I mentioned I would like to learn how to make couscous and some of the Morroccan Salads I'd been ordering each night and Steve had enjoyed the Pastilla's he had eaten so asked to know how to make those. Advertisement After showing us the kitchen and introducing us to their cook and kitchen assistant, Pierre told us he would be taking us around the local markets to show us where they source their food and spices and also to get some ingredients for our dishes. He jokily advised us that he is a bit of a celebrity around the markets so not to be surprised if his name was called a lot. He wasn't joking - a local culinary celebrity was exactly what he was, with locals calling his name, shaking his hand and happily chatting away to him. Firstly Pierre took us down a little alley, which led into a small room where we found three people making local bread. Pierre told us this bread only sells for pence and that it is the best local bread and also where he buys the bread for the hotel and cookery class. We tried the bread later that night and it was delicious. Next we went into the local food market, which is somewhere we would never have discovered without Pierre, and here there were chickens, fish, vegetables, fruit, flowers and much more. It was a visual feast for the eyes and I particularly liked a stall that was full of food goods, such as jars of preserved lemons and olives, that looked so delicious and so much better (and cheaper) than a lot of similar products in the UK. Finally we visited the spice shop where Pierre buys all of his spices. We were informed that spices should always be bought whole and ground in front of you so you see exactly what goes in them. It was a good fact to learn and we took his advice and chose some Ras el hanout, Moroccan Cumin and Moroccan Chicken Spice and the smells from each of them were just fantastic. Spices aren't cheap in Morocco but you're probably not going to get as good quality back home or need to buy such spices again so we thought they were worth the money and I was already excited to get home and cook with them! Advertisement We then headed back to Les Cigognes and into the kitchen - it was time to don our aprons and cook! First off we were learning how to make the Pastilla. This was in three parts; making our meat mixture, which was done in a pan, our nut filling, which we made in a bowl after blanching and frying almonds, and then our pastry, which was the final and tricky part! The pastry mixture had to be ladeled into a large frying pan and immediately pushed right to the edges as soon as went in and we had to brush the mixture with a wide pastry brush so there were no gaps and it was the same thickness all over. Then we had to slowly peel the mixture away from the edges of the pan and lift it up quickly onto a plate. I was actually not bad at this but Steve's was more holes than pastry! Since it was mid-afternoon, Pierre asked us if we'd like some Moroccan wine whilst cooking - of course we didn't refuse! It was a Gris wine, which I'd come to know and enjoy over my time in Morocco, and it was delicious. He joined us for a tipple and made us laugh when his glass was almost empty and he shouted "Emergency!" in his wonderful French accent! We then got onto making Couscous with Seven Vegetables and the Moroccan Salads. I was intrigued to make couscous and it is made from scratch simply with cracked barley, salt, butter and water but is not as simple as getting it out of a packet and adding some water as we do at home though. Moroccan couscous is a long process of steaming the grains three times, each for 20 minutes, and forking the grains with your fingers each time to prevent clumping - which was tricky work when it was steaming hot! This was like second nature to our fantastic cook however and she didn't even seem to notice the heat. It tasted better than any couscous I'd ever eaten and it made me want to never use packet couscous again! For the Moroccan salads we were trying an Aubergine salad, a Pepper salad and a Carrot Salad, which we'd particularly asked to make as it was so delicious when we'd tried it in restaurants. It was simply made with cooked carrots, orange blossom, cinnamon, ras el hanout, lemon, olive oil and sesame seeds and it didn't disappoint! After finishing our final salad, we were taken through to a private dining area to a table for two which was lit with candles and adorned with petals. Here we were to enjoy the fruits of our labor and it was nice eating the meal we'd spent the day learning how to cook. The pastilla was so big that we took some away with us as it was too good to leave! Advertisement During our stay in Marrakech it was Ramadan and whilst we were having our meal, the sun set and the daily fast broke meaning locals could enjoy their first meal of the day. We took our wine to the hotel's roof terrace and looked out onto the palace as we saw the kitchen assistant we'd spent the day with carry trays of food out to the guards. Here they all sat, chatted and enjoyed an array of delicious Moroccan food whilst the sun continued to set above and there was an air of complete calmness while people all over the city enjoyed their meal. It was an incredible sight to see and something truly memorable. We had a fantastic day taking part in the cookery course and the team at Les Cigognes are talented, friendly and true experts. It's a very personal cookery course that is hands on whilst being taught throughout and a special thanks has to go to Pierre who is a burst of fun, energy and knowledge and spending a day with him really was something to remember. Make this a must do on your list when visiting Marrakech. Last Christmas a group of local Muslim ladies sang the carol 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' to the white English staff at their local community centre. The ladies used the community centre through the year and wanted to thank the team for their help. The ladies on the staff were very impressed. As the Muslim ladies left the Centre they had photographs taken of themselves next to the well decorated Christmas Tree. Having worked in that very diverse community for a number of years, I knew, that Christmas was always celebrated - in the schools - the churches and the community centres. I even played Santa Claus in the Sure-Start centre. Despite my bad acting children from all the different cultures came in and enjoyed the Santa experience - including many Muslim families and their children. Advertisement I am not an expert on diversity or community cohesion or on religion - especially Islam - but over the years I saw children and families growing up and saw how local people got along together. I saw how very often people from different ethnic and cultural groups lived their lives in a separate, but not unfriendly way in that particular place. Over the years some British newspapers have tried to depict Muslim folks as wanting Christmas banned - most recently the Sun carried a story about a Woolworths shop in Germany which they said had 'banned Xmas' because of Muslims- lots of references to 'shocked locals' - but when you read the article we find out that they stopped trying to sell Christmas stuff because no one was buying it in that particular place. The issues surrounding religious and ethnic differences in this country are seldom far from the headlines. This is especially so around Islam - not too surprising I suppose considering some violent men are using the excuse of this particular religion for their violence. The Government has recently floated the idea of an 'oath of allegiance' to be sworn by Council officials and immigrants - the idea being to concentrate everyones minds on 'British values' - whatever they are? Sounds a nice idea - but who is to choose which values to be sworn to? Advertisement Louise Casey has produced a thoughtful report on social cohesion and highlighted the vast complexity of the issues around how different cultures live together - but few people will read that report. Many more people will get their news from mainstream media - from newspapers like the Mail, the Sun and the Express. each newspaper in their way seeking to exploit differences and suspicions of other cultures - especially Muslims. The Express especially seems keen to search the entire world for negative stories about what bad things Muslims are doing - obviously made easier by terrorism associated with an otherwise peaceful religion of Islam. I remember a time when terrorism was associated with Ireland and the Irish were often discriminated against - these things change and are not ever lasting though our collective memory is short. Different cultures bring their own prejudices and faults - low income white English people are suffering their own problems and all these things can be exploited by those seeking power or trying to sell newspapers. Advertisement Whilst I think we have to leave the EU because of the result of the referendum vote - I don't think it will solve many, if any, of the problems associated with immigration that the leave camp promised it would. I don't believe Trump will deliver much for those that voted for him because he fed on their fear and resentments about other groups and this self-obsessed man does not appear to be some one to trust anyway. But - in amongst all the debate and manufactured resentment - in amongst the real problems and the ones made up - I thought I would mention this one small episode. A small group of Muslim ladies making a gesture in singing a Christmas carol in an obscure community centre will not make headlines but I think it is a small sign that not everything is as bad as the haters and exploiters would have you believe. Li-lets The sequins are out and the bubbly is on ice - the festive party season is upon us. While we let our hair down after a long year, the last thing we want is to feel anxious about going out. But according to new research from Lil-Lets, we do. And it's all because of our periods. A third of us would consider missing a party this Christmas - simply because of a lack of confidence when we're on our period. A huge 3 in 4 women (76%) expect their sanitary protection to fail them at some point while they are on their period, and this is reflected in the kind of underwear ladies turn to during their time of the month. In fact, a quarter of us have admitted wearing knickers that are an average of six years old...! Advertisement Unsurprisingly, wearing knickers this old and tatty makes us feel unsexy (27% and unfeminine (13%) as a result. And when asked what ladies hate the most about being on their period, worrying about leaking, feeling unable to wear the clothes they normally would and not feeling attractive came out top. Not a great way to feel for a week every month - not least during party seasons. I wanted to make a stand against these past-it-pants, which is why I helped to design a daring pair of 'period pants' for Lil-Lets, with help from independent lingerie designer Iris London. Lil-Lets is so confident that its tampons that expand all the way around will give women better fit, comfort and great protection on their periods, that we have designed limited edition pairs of knickers that are the opposite of the kind of pants women said they expect to have to wear. Made from white satin and lace and with the hot pink message 'any time of the month' embroidered on the front, these breathable knickers have been designed for comfort and to challenge the idea of the classic 'period pant', encouraging women to move on from their tatty knickers to a gorgeous pair they can wear at any time of the month. Advertisement This week five boys arrived with us (Care4Calais) from Eritrea. Three of them are 16 years old, one is 15 and one is 17. I try hard not to get personally attached to individual refugees. It's a lesson hard learned. To be effective, we must help large numbers of people and making personal attachments slows you down. But there is something about these boys. They have such open honest smiles. They are so full of hope. It breaks my heart. And the clincher comes when we ask them what they need. It is absolutely freezing here right now, and we are outside all day. The boys are outside all night too. One of them has plastic shopping bags inside his shoes to keep out water. So we ask what they need - clothes, warmer coats, shoes? They talk amongst themselves then, the only one who speaks some English comes back to say they are embarrassed to ask but if we could just give them one euro each to get the bus they would be so grateful. I am won over. Advertisement So we learn their stories. They left because in Eritrea teenage conscripts are held in slavery-like conditions for over ten years. Arbitrary detention and torture are widespread. To provide a better life for their young children, families save for years to pay for passage with smugglers. But still Eritrean refugees run enormous risks; border guards have a shoot-to-kill policy. The children travelled alone through Sudan and Libya, such dangerous countries, before undertaking the Mediterranean crossing that so many have perished attempting. It really does not bear thinking about. One of the boys has a cousin in the UK and one an uncle. And they all want to know when and how they get to the UK. Innocent hope, still alive after all they have been through. The problem is that a cousin or an uncle are not close enough family members to guarantee them getting to to the UK under the "Dublin" family reunification rules. And now the home office have stopped transferring children from Calais, their chances of being taken are slim to nil. They really have no chance. There has been a lot of attention on unaccompanied minors in Calais but no one has made any provision for new arrivals. Once we tell them this, it takes a long time for them to believe us. They have come so far. This is the end to all their hopes. It simply cannot be true. Advertisement After us spending some time with the boys they each come to their decisions. Three decide to stay sleeping rough in the area in the hope of getting to the UK illegally on a lorry. It is extremely dangerous, but I understand why they have made this decision. They are thousands of miles from home on a different continent with a very foreign culture. They want to get to something familiar and safe. These three include the two with the cousin and uncle in the UK, and they all have friends there. This is a clear sign that whilst the camp has been demolished, the crisis has not gone away. We insist they take better shoes, thermal underwear, hats and gloves. We feed them, top up their phones and save our phone numbers in them for emergencies. That is all we can do. The other two agree to try making a claim for asylum in France. I tell them we can take them to a home for children where they will be safe. They will be under the care of the French state. They are very nervous as we take them the hours' drive to the French state run home for children. The staff are nice and welcoming, and so are the other boys which is reassuring. However, the place is pretty drab and the staff explain that the budget is tight and the children have few clothes or things to do. There are two boys standing outside in very thin clothes. When I ask about this the staff tell me that all clothes are donated and the coats and jeans are often too big as they are meant for men. The boys don't want to wear them. I think back to being 16 years old and, yes, it was definitely preferable to freeze to death rather than risk looking uncool. It serves as a reminder that these children are not so dissimilar to young people in the UK. Back at the warehouse we thoroughly search for smaller clothing, appropriate for young men and women. Due to the ever amazing kindness and generosity of our donors we come up with a haul of 25 coats (one of the hardest items to find) a couple of boxes of t shirts and quite a few hoodies, but this is still not really enough. The one thing we really struggle with is jeans. The refugees tend to be smaller than the average donor and tend to look swamped in anything other than skinny jeans. Advertisement So that's my Christmas shopping decided for this year. Instead of presents I go to Primark and buy 30 pairs of skinny jeans in sizes 26, 28 and age 13/14. All my family and friends will get to donate jeans to refugees. It's not just about clothing these young people. Sometimes we want to make them happy too. Teenagers that age love fashion, so we want to let them feel good for once. We are making an appeal to anyone who knows kids of that age who will be throwing out clothes, second hand tablets, smartphones, or anything suitable for teenagers after Christmas, to think about donating these to refugees in Calais. These children will keep arriving and provisions are lacking, both from the French state and charities such as ours who are struggling to plug these gaps. We want to keep these young people safe and warm and, maybe just once, bring a little Christmas cheer. olgakr via Getty Images Come Christmas Day, many of us will enjoy a turkey dinner with all of the trimmings and not give a second thought to just what went into bringing it to our tables in the first place. If we did, it's probably fair to say that most of us would quickly lose our appetite. And not necessarily for the reasons that most people might initially suspect. While the sometimes awful conditions that livestock are raised in have come in for plenty of media scrutiny, people are less aware of the fact that a growing number of people employed in food and drink supply chains are subject to sometimes equally shocking working and living conditions. They are in situations of modern day slavery and their number is growing, perhaps because for the first time, companies are finally beginning to look and measure the risk. Advertisement In the UK, an estimated 13,000 people are working in situations of modern day slavery in a myriad of different industries, whether that's hospitality, domestic work, agriculture, retail, organ harvesting or the sex trade. And the food industry, due to its complex global supply chains and the fact that it often depends on migrant workers, both in the UK and in our supply chains abroad, is exposed to this like few other sectors. This problem is perhaps most visible in the run-up to Christmas, when thousands of additional temporary workers are required to help grow, produce and package the food that adorns our plates come the big day. Previous coverage on exploitative labour practices in farming shows that working conditions at some meat processing sites in Ireland and the UK could be better- so what does this mean for our Christmas Turkey? We know that exploitative labour practices are prevalent in certain horticultural industries too, including the production and picking of cabbages, sprouts, onions and potatoes. That's not to say that progress isn't being made. Last year, the Government passed the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the first piece of UK legislation focusing on the prevention and prosecution of modern slavery and the protection of victims. The Act stipulates that any business with an annual turnover of 36 million or above is required to provide a statement in a prominent place on its website within six months of the end of the financial year, setting out what steps it has taken to ensure there is no slavery in any part of its business, including its supply chains. Advertisement However, so far there has been a deafening silence from business in response to this legislation. Just a small percentage have published statements thus far and, according to figures from the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, just 22 of these meet the minimum legal requirements. So what's holding them back? In some cases it's undoubtedly a case of not knowing where to start. Perhaps there's also a fear that any admission of inactivity or oversight will result in a public and media backlash that businesses would rather avoid - even though hiding such a problem is only likely to make things worse for them in the long run, certainly in terms of reputational damage. Whatever it is, things need to change and fast. Consumers have a major role to play in all of this too - after all, we're the ones who buy and consume the food at the end of the day. And yet most people are oblivious to the problem. Recent research commissioned by the team here at the University of Hull's Wilberforce Institute for the study of slavery and emancipation found that more than half of us (55%) admit to not being aware of the most common signs of slavery*. Clearly, greater education in this area is urgently required. To help businesses and consumers to better spot the signs of modern slavery, the Wilberforce Institute has compiled the following advice: Confinement: Victims may seem under the control of or being influenced by someone else, they may rarely interact with others. Advertisement Living conditions: Victims' work and home addresses may be the same and they may be living in unhygienic, cramped or overcrowded accommodation Physical and psychological signs: Victims may show signs of physical or psychological abuse such as appearing detached, or looking dishevelled and malnourished Lack of identification: Victims may have few personal possessions, no identification documents, and wear unsuitable/similar clothing day in day out Little freedom of movement: Victims have limited opportunity to move freely and have had their travel documents such as their passport taken off them Unusual travel times: Victims are often transported at unusual times when going to work or moving accommodation, either very early or late at night Advertisement Betsie Van Der Meer via Getty Images Recently, I was in Topshop looking for a pair of jeans. In a classic Topshop move however, only sizes six to ten were on display. I asked the sales assistant if they had any in a size twelve, and her reply really got to me: "Sorry, we don't have any big sizes". Now I know I'm not small. I'm 5 foot 9, have 40 inch hips, and hair with its own orbit. I know I don't look like a Victoria's Secret model (although considering the wonders of airbrushing, hours of full body make-up and push-up bras, I highly doubt Victoria's Secret models look like Victoria's Secret models either). But referring to a woman my size as "big", when the national average for women in the UK is to be 5 foot 5 and a size 14, seems a bit of a stretch. Advertisement I could easily dissect why I saw being called "big" an insult, but I won't; someone on the internet has probably already done it much better than I could. The fact is I've spent 23 years living in a society where referring to a woman as "big" is generally not a compliment. To the sales assistant it was probably nothing more than an off-hand comment, and fortunately I was able to brush it off. Had she said it to someone else - someone suffering from an eating disorder, someone with lower self-esteem, someone in the middle of a weight loss plan - the impact could have been much worse. I don't think it's bold to say that every woman struggles with her body from time to time. It's been reported that only 20% of British women consider themselves "body confident". Girls as young as five worry about their size. Off-hand comments like the one made to me can result in insecurities that last a lifetime. I used to hate my height, because my brother once told me that I should "stop growing because boys don't like tall girls". I didn't wear halter neck tops for years, purely because in Mean Girls Regina George says she can't wear them because of her "man-shoulders". Seriously. When I was at my thinnest, it was because severe anxiety had literally panicked two stone off my body. I was scared to be mentally well again, because people kept saying "you look so good!", even though I felt like shit on the inside. Put all this in the context of a world that scrutinises everything about women's appearances, right down to our vaginas (you heard that right kids, labiaplasty is now one of the fastest growing surgeries among young women), and you've got a huge ticking time-bomb of insecurities, ready to go off at the drop of a hat. Advertisement Christmas is a time when women's relationships with our bodies can become particularly strained. One side of us is saying to eat our body weight in pigs in blankets, the other telling us we'll regret it when we don't look like Gigi Hadid come summer. In January, the onslaught of "new year, new me" pressure will arrive, brainwashing us into joining an overpriced gym and juicing all our food. This is the festive dilemma for women everywhere. One minute we're immersed in this wonderful world of food and alcohol and lovely things, the next we're bombarded with images of "perfect" bodies and "clean eating" and courgetti. It just doesn't match up. I don't even own a spiralizer. I know there's nothing anyone can say to cancel out years of society pressuring women to look a certain way, and forcing women to spend money they don't have on products that make them fit a completely invented standard of beauty. But I would like to make a request to women everywhere. This Christmas, I would like to ask you to simply not give a fuck about what anyone thinks about your body. Give yourself a day off worrying about your cellulite, the little roll on your tummy, that one boob that's slightly smaller than the other. If you can't manage a whole day, even a couple of hours where you don't give a fuck is better than nothing. Every minute that you refuse to care what people think represents a massive middle finger to the world that's made billions by putting you down. Eat the chocolate coins. Finish the roast potatoes. Don't think about macros. If eating loads of avocados on rye bread genuinely does float your boat, then do that. Spend all day in your pyjamas. Wear that dress you love but aren't 100% sure if it's "flattering". Don't wear any make-up. Wear all the make-up you can get your hands on. WHY NOT. The point I'm trying to make, is to just let yourself live. wildpixel via Getty Images Political turmoil has largely characterised the social care scene in 2016, resulting in a continuously changing political landscape and social care agenda. Whilst it is fair to suggest that the sector is currently at the tipping point of a funding crisis, the year has seen some positive progression, particularly in dementia care. As a promising sign for 2017, the quality of social care being delivered in care homes across England over the past year has significantly improved. Nearly three quarters of care homes originally rated as inadequate have improved their ratings, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England. This is a flagship example of the dedication and commitment shown by care staff, providers, funders, commissioners and regulators in striving to achieve quality care with the resources available. Advertisement Dementia care this year has also advanced significantly, with additional funding, large donations from organisations, research breakthroughs and improvement to the overall quality and range of dementia care available. September welcomed the announcement of a 186m investment that will see funding for dementia rise to more than 45m from April 2017 onwards. The investment will help to maintain the UK's position as a leader in medical research and will provide a great deal of promise for the future of dementia care and treatment. The Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's Research UK and the Medical Research Council partnered up in May to pledge a 50m investment for the establishment of the UK's first dedicated Dementia Research Institute. It has also received government backing, with 150m pledge of investment. Once up and running in 2020, the institute will research further into diagnosis, treatment, care and initial prevention of dementia. With regards to the research itself, 2016 has been a year of real progress. In August, the Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research announced research trials focused on finding early ways of detecting the condition. Spotting the early signs of dementia is an essential aspect of discovering effective treatments and allows people to enter research trials before their condition is too advanced. The results of an experimental research study trialled by the University of Manchester also indicated a possibility that Alzheimer's disease could be treated with a commonly used anti-inflammatory drug. The study found that the anti-inflammatory drug, Mefenamic acid, reversed brain inflammation and therefore memory loss in mice. Whilst more research will be required to understand the long-term implications of its use, the study provides yet another promising indication for the future prospects of dementia care. Advertisement Several reports have been published that also indicate that the proportion of people living with dementia has fallen in the UK, paralleling with similar reports in America and across Europe. The findings are believed to be a result of an increasing trend in better health, access to education, improved medical care and a developing non-smoking culture. With a better understanding of the factors that underlie this general trend, it is hoped that the knowledge can be translated into intervention, which will reduce the likelihood of an individual having dementia going forward. In addition to this, the year also saw the rise of dementia-only care homes, enabling providers to create a specially-designed environment for those living with the condition. These homes can cost anything from between 2,000 - 3,000 a week for residents, and millions of pounds to build. Robert Decelis Ltd via Getty Images I have been a foster carer with TACT (The Adolescent and Children's Trust) for approximately eight years, and have fostered many children from different backgrounds and circumstances. Like most people I had seen the news about the plight of migrant children in Calais, so when I got a call from TACT asking me if could give a home to a young unaccompanied asylum seeking girl approximately 13 years of age, I didn't hesitate to say yes. However, I had no idea about the challenges and new experiences I was about to encounter fostering a young refugee. The day she arrived at my home I opened the door to find a pretty little girl that looked very thin and scared. The social worker was holding her hand and she looked terrified. I was told she couldn't speak English so I was mindful of my body language and facial expressions. If she couldn't understand English, she would understand love and affection. Advertisement After the social worker left I showed her to her bedroom and left her to unpack and settle in. The next day we went straight to the shops as the only clothes she had were the ones she stood up in. When I took her to have her feet measured they were a five and a half, but she was wearing size three trainers. Communication was a struggle at first, I found myself miming all the time, and we laughed as I tried to do impressions of a chicken to tell her what was for tea. But it wasn't long before she started to speak a little English. She's an exceptionally bright girl and very keen to learn. For the first two and a half months she wasn't able to go to school until she had an age assessment and Home Office interview. She became bored and frustrated and the lack of stimulation gave her too much time to think about her family and the traumatic experiences she had endured. She would often cry and not want to leave her room. When the interview finally came, she had to go through the trauma of re-counting her epic journey from Eritrea, East Africa, travelling by foot with a small group of other villagers. Through an interpreter, she explained that they walked through Ethiopia, then Sudan and through the desert, where she was captured by guerrillas who tied up and tortured her, burnt her with a lighter and abused her. Advertisement While translating this awful story the interpreter openly wept. Eventually they escaped, and she managed to get on a boat with other refugees that attempted to cross the Mediterranean before it capsized. Italian coast guards rescued her and treated her for dehydration. After two months she made a second attempt to cross, and this time arrived in Calais were she spent three months in the camp, sleeping rough and under the constant threat of attack as a vulnerable unaccompanied child. From Calais she managed to jump on a lorry which brought her to England where she was found in a bedsit starving and terrified. I was so shocked to learn about the horrendous experiences she had been through to get to England, and it made me even more determined to give her a loving, stable home. She has now started an independent school that is helping her to learn English along with other unaccompanied asylum seeking children, before entering mainstream school. She is receiving the best care possible, including counselling and help from the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). She is now feeling excited about her future and making friends. She is loved and feels loved. She laughs a lot, which is amazing considering her experiences. She calls me mummy, and I feel privileged to call her my daughter. On 20 December 2016, the Spanish Presidency of the Security Council has organized a ministerial level open debate on "Maintenance of International Peace and Security. Trafficking in Persons in Conflict Situations". The debate, chaired by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, took place only a few days before Spain will end a remarkable accomplished two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes and the world's second largest criminal enterprise, after drug trafficking. But unlike drugs, here the commodity of crime is human beings who are sold and bought without any consideration for human dignity. Today, there are more human slaves in the world than ever before in history: an estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children. Trafficking in persons is a topic that, unfortunately, has become a cruel reality for many people because of their simple presence in a conflict area. Advertisement During the open debate, I was deeply moved by the testimony of Nadia Murad Basee Taha, a survivor of Daesh human trafficking, who on 16 September 2016 was appointed the UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. It is the first time a survivor of human trafficking has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador. Worldwide conflicts are becoming more connected to terrorist activities, while human trafficking plays a growing role in the operation of terrorist organizations, generating revenue and being an instrument for vanquishing those who oppose them. Linkages between conflict and trafficking in persons, particularly of women and children, have been identified by the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council, and the case of horrendous crimes perpetrated by Daesh against Yazidi women and girls gained the deep sympathy of the entire world. Both in conflict and non-conflict situations, prevention is key even though we might not be able to make use of the same instruments. An enhanced role may be played by the peacekeeping personnel deployed in UN operations. Pre-deployment training of the blue helmets on the specificity of trafficking in persons will contribute to increasing their knowledge about the phenomenon, in order to identify and fight against it. In fact, all persons having access to conflict areas, including representatives of civil society organizations or humanitarian actors, should be trained in this regard. For instance, prior to deployment in UN peacekeeping operations, the Romanian personnel receives a special training on how to identify and protect victims of human trafficking. Advertisement Assistance to victims requires addressing their needs on a case by case model. An interdisciplinary approach is necessary to ensure that they have access to medical, psycho-social assistance and legal aid, for a successful rehabilitation and social reintegration. Evidence proves the existence of a complex nexus between trafficking in persons, organized crime, corruption, armed conflict and terrorism. This requires a further mapping effort. Joining forces becomes increasingly important, because combating successfully the scourge of trafficking in persons cannot be achieved only at national level, especially in cases of conflict situation. Cooperation at regional and international levels to complement national efforts is therefore needed, as well as the exchange of information among relevant authorities from states that are a source, transit or destination for victims of trafficking. This cooperation is also essential in identifying those responsible for the trafficking, with a view to hold the perpetrators accountable. Alongside the UN, the INTERPOL and the International Organization for Migration, civil society, private sector and media have to be major partners. Combating trafficking in human beings is an ongoing battle, and the focus must be on protecting the victims. Necessary legislative and other measures to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparation for acts relating to human trafficking need to continue to be enforced. The UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its additional Protocol, as well as the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, are part of this legal backbone. But in our efforts we should also use the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (target 8.7), which provides a clear mandate to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking. Advertisement Exchanging best practices may equally be part of the solution. In Romania, we have the Anti-trafficking National Agency with the main role to coordinate, evaluate and monitor the activities of authorities dealing with human trafficking, as well as the protection and assistance of victims. Partnerships with civil society are important too, because preventing and tackling this scourge require a multidisciplinary approach. The Agency currently cooperates with more than 60 partners. Within the Romanian National Police there is a dedicated Unit for fighting against trafficking in persons, with 15 regional teams comprising specialized officers available at county level and totaling around 250 operational staff. The Police Border Department has 400 police officers detached to the EU Agency FRONTEX, who work in European Border and Coast Guard Teams to fight trafficking in persons and drug trafficking. Currently, 22 Romanian debriefing experts contribute to identify victims of trafficking among the immigrants. Britain's social-care system has reached crisis point. The government has just announced plans for a 6% council tax hike to help cover the costs of an ageing population, and the increasing numbers of elderly, disabled and dementia patients managing without formal or informal care at home. Households could see bills rise by more than 150 over the next couple of years as a result of it. But is this enough? Community services for seniors face a funding gap of up to 2.6 billion by 2020, with the number of elderly Britons requiring care predicted to double to eight million by 2030. A rise in council tax does not necessarily address the immense pressures on an overstretched system. Frazzled staff are woefully underpaid; care is spread too thinly. Throwing money at a flawed sector won't solve the deep-rooted dysfunction at its core. Instead, we must look beyond budget alone and adopt a triple-pronged approach to allow seniors to continue to live independently and safely at home wherever possible. First, seniors deserve a seamless system, where social care and healthcare go hand in hand. For too long - since, in fact, the NHS was founded in 1948 - the two have been seen as separate, medical treatment somehow standing apart from daily care in nursing homes, with little dialogue between the two. For care to be effective, and to make the most of every penny in the taxpayer pound, they have to be integrated. In April 2016, Greater Manchester became the first geography in England to take control of its own health and social care budget of more than 6bn, which entails merging the two sectors. This is a positive step forward for the system, and one that must be fanned out across the UK, where appropriate. Advertisement Modernisation, in the form of technology, is a vital tool in achieving smooth integration of health and social care. Indeed, tech has the power to completely transform the care we provide, making it more reliable, responsive and transparent - even enabling carers to receive better pay. At present, the social care sector is fragmented and overcrowded, with more than 8,000 companies offering services of wildly varying quality. However, with the advent of technology-enabled services the space is rapidly changing. At Cera for example, we provide an on-demand home-care platform, accessible from a mobile phone, allowing individuals, families, councils or NHS facilities to request care when and where it's needed, 24/7. Cera can get a carer to a patient's home or hospital bed within four hours of an enquiry in London. It allows relatives to check on their loved ones at a moment's notice, and even gives elderly people the technology they need to control home appliances such as lights and thermostats, while simplifying their daily routines. Its digital records allows carers to document services given, while giving those involved in a seniors' care the information they need at a touch of a button. Soon, GPs will be able to tap into to this information, further streamlining the link between social care and healthcare. But for social care to be revolutionised, it's crucial that its funding is sustainable and designed with a long-term view. At present, up to half of the UK's social-care services are self-funded, something many may not be planning for - and this figure is only going to keep rising. Recently, a number of proposals have been mooted, from amending the triple-lock on pensions to release funding, to merging pots for benefits, entitlements, pensions and care. Alternatives include a social-care-focused insurance or a movement towards individuals starting to save for care as young adults. Whichever route we take, it's clear that a more comprehensive and long-term solution to support seniors is key; there's little point in offering free public transport to seniors who are unable to leave their homes because they aren't receiving home care. Advertisement Stefan Wermuth / Reuters The Court of Justice of European Union has delivered a Christmas present of privacy to the British public - and a major blow to Theresa May. The Court has ruled that powers that force Internet Service Providers to collect and keep records of our online activity should not be permitted in a democracy. This has massive implications for the Governments latest snooping law, the Investigatory Powers Act, which only received royal assent this month. Advertisement Retaining information about everyone, all of the time is pretty clearly a problem for a free society. People will choose to avoid certain websites or information because of the feeling they might be watched. This is especially true in countries like Germany who have more recent experience of the surveillance state, but it is also true for many people in the UK. Many of us simply dont want to be watched, and why should we, if we arent under suspicion? The UK has had data retention since the early 2000s, first as a voluntary arrangement, and later as the result of a 2005 EU-wide law, after the UK lobbied for it. The European Court rejected data retention in 2014, saying that it interfered with our right to privacy after a challenge from both Digital Rights Ireland and from Austrian citizens. The UK Government's response was to rush the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act through parliament in just a few weeks. Many were disturbed by the lack of parliamentary scrutiny. MPs Tom Watson and David Davis challenged DRIPA in the courts and won - the High Court ruled that parts of it were unlawful in 2015. It was the Government's appeal that sent the case back to the CJEU, where the High Court asked for clarification of its ruling on the Data Retention Directive. The Prime Minister may live to regret this. Her decision to push on regardless with the Investigatory Powers Act suggests that she thought the CJEU's ruling may have been limited. Advertisement Today, the CJEU went much further than expected and ruled that the blanket collection of everyones communications data is not permissible. Its not just that our data is being collected but it is at risk of being accessed by employees from over 48 organisations and all they need to do is get internal sign off from a colleague. Now, the CJEU has ruled that authorisation must be independent, a clear no-brainer. They have also specified that only people suspected of or linked to serious crime should have their data looked at. This begs the question as to whether organisations like the Food Standards Agency and Health and Safety Executive really need the powers to see the websites we visit. The triennial PISA results have become one of the great set-piece education events. Pored over by policy-makers, Governments around the world place great importance in the results of these tests - taken by 15-year-olds in reading, science and maths - and in many cases look to mimic the policies of the top performers. It was, for instance, Germany's PISA "schock" that led to them revamping their curriculum. Far East Asian jurisdictions compete to be top of the rankings. In England, Michael Gove, the former Education Secretary, pointed to England's falling position in the rankings as justification, in part, for his reforms of the education system. Singapore is regularly referenced by the Government to underpin its introduction to schools here of "maths mastery", an approach credited for taking it to the top of the maths rankings at age 10, 14 and 15. Poland's improvements have been part of the reason for the introduction of the EBacc here. And the Opposition lapped up the opportunity to criticise the impact of the Government's reforms when England's performance was shown to have barely changed, for better or worse, when the latest results were published last week. Advertisement But outside the education world, does anyone really care how England does? A survey by independent polling company YouGov, commissioned by education consultancy PLMR, suggests not. It found that only 30% of people in the UK place any importance on results in international tests like PISA. And only 5% of adults said they placed "a great deal of importance" on them. Asked whether they thought introducing the teaching methods of the successful East Asian jurisdictions, such as maths mastery, to the curriculum here would make our students more globally competitive, only 39% of all respondents agreed. So there is quite some disconnect between Westminster and the rest of the country (not for the first time, of late). Perhaps it's not surprising. Most parents, understandably, are much more interested in what is happening on a day-to-day basis within their own child's school. Whether England's PISA score is 520 or 500, whether we have closed the gap on Macao, and whether we have overtaken Finland. Few parents will give two hoots about any of those as long as their child is happy, safe and doing well at their local school. Do they like the teachers? Is there good arts, music and drama provision? So maybe the question is not whether people do care, but whether they should. After all, the Government has, over the last six-and-a-half years fundamentally reformed our system, many of the changes based on the education systems of high-ranking jurisdictions, and spending many millions of taxpayers' money in the process. The education children now receive - re-designed GCSEs, a new curriculum and a focus on "academic" subjects, with many more in academies or Free Schools - is copied from overseas. Yes, whether our child gets good exam grades and is happy rightly matters most to parents. But what they are being taught, and the setting in which they are being taught, has often been imported, and holding the Government to account for England's performance in the international tests is therefore right. For all that, Mr Gove did say, on taking office in 2010, that it would be at least a decade before the success or otherwise of the reforms could be judged. Advertisement Feedback's Gleaning Network are taking the fight against food waste to farms Approximately one third of the world's food is wasted. All the world's nearly one billion hungry people could be lifted out of malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US, UK and Europe - let that sink in. Want to be part of the solution? Join our gleaning network and rescue food from farms. Farms are often bearing the brunt of the risks and costs of food waste. Farmers are caught between many factors like variable weather, volatile consumer demand, and perhaps most importantly, supermarket policies. Advertisement Image: Author's own Many farms overproduce food because they're worried supermarkets will cut their contracts if they ever fail to meet an order, but this means when there's a good year, the price crashes for everyone, and farmers end up taking the hit. One farmer I spoke to had to plough 250,000 of their cauliflowers back into the field for this reason. Many other farmers have perfectly delicious and nutritious produce rejected just for being the wrong size, shape or appearance. One carrot farmer I spoke to said that on average they lose 1 in 4 of their carrots - some are rotten or have pest damage, but many are simply the wrong size, shape, or have minor blemishes. That's an average of 21 million portions of carrots wasted per year. Supermarkets have often tried to blame consumer fussiness for this, and that's undoubtedly part of the problem. But supermarkets have often cultivated that fussiness - you won't see the same uniformity in a farmer's market. Supermarkets often also use cosmetic standards as an excuse to reject orders, when they don't want produce anymore or they've found a better deal elsewhere. Gleaning consists of gathering up the leftovers after harvest, and was widespread across Europe in the middle ages, when poor peasants would gather up the remainder of the harvest. Advertisement We set out to revive gleaning in style five years ago. We take groups of volunteers out to the fields to harvest food that would normally be wasted on farms, and redistribute it to charities, like FareShare and FoodCycle. It's a really fun day out in the countryside, picking produce and connecting with where your food comes from. We usually take groups of 10 to 20 people out to the fields, but sometimes groups as large as 50, and it's very sociable and a great way to make new friends. Volunteer gleaner Scott Chandler remarked 'A great day out!! Being in the country with lovely people, doing something fun and helping people!'. It's also a fascinating chance to talk with the farmer and hear their concerns, and witness the stunning levels of food waste first-hand. This year gleaning has swept across the UK like never before. If you think about your five portions of fruit and veg you're meant to have per day, since Feedback started gleaning in 2011 we've saved over 3 million of these portions of fruit and vegetables from going to waste in the fields, with over 1,500 volunteers and over 150 gleaning days. Between September and December this year alone, we've saved over 1 million portions! Nobody knows exactly how much food is wasted on farms, but there's little doubt it's colossal. A very rough estimate by the Waste Reduction Action Plan was 3 million tonnes, which would mean that there is approximately 15 times more food wasted on farms than at retail level. If that's correct (WRAP are generating more accurate figures by 2018), that means we're still only gleaning approximately 0.01% of the UK's agricultural food waste. Gleaning could be expanded to get so much more fresh, nutritious produce to those in need. But more importantly we need to pressure for policy change to design this food waste out of the system in the first place. If you'd like to join us in the fields or join our campaigns against food waste, you can sign up to our gleaning list to find out when a gleaning day is coming up near you. Advertisement Feedback has been campaigning on food waste issues since our first Feeding the 5000 event in 2009. Since then, food waste has gone from being a little-known issue to being an international phenomenon. If you don't fancy getting out in the fields, please consider making a donation to our work - we are a small charity dependent on voluntary donations. Donald Trump put aside his very important business of picking Twitter fights with celebrities so that he could concentrate on picking Twitter fights with magazines. This time it was Vanity Fair which had him flipping his wig about a restaurant review of the Trump Grill, which is in that explosion of bad taste that is the Trump Tower in New York. The writer Tina Nguyen did not like the food, the drinks were awful, the decor was comically bad and the menu was littered with grammatical mistakes. Advertisement Much of what it advertised was unavailable and what they did have was inedible. The reviewer particularly disliked Donald's flaccid grey dumplings, which might be what Melania talks to her therapist about. The next President of the United States of America took the review in the customary way that he takes anything that is not a compliment, wrapped round an encomium, topped with an accolade, served on a eulogy - he went berserk. He lunged for his phone and screamed the place down, like a baby dropped its rattle. "Has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of @VanityFair Magazine. Way down, big trouble, dead! Graydon Carter, no talent, will be out!', he tweeted. Graydon Carter is the grand editor of the upscale Vanity Fair magazine, where he has been holding court since 1992, which in publishing years is an epoch. Advertisement He was one of the first people to mention in print that Donald Trump has small hands, calling him a 'short-fingered vulgarian', which Donald Trump took very well and with great maturity. The review of the Trump Grill states that the restaurant may be the worst in America, which suggests that either the reviewer does not eat out in America much or that she really wanted to hate it. I could point her in the direction of the Red Neck Cafe in Wyoming, where I spent four hours late one night in 1982 while searching for a ride to California, but I doubt it is still there, or that a sophisticated New York restaurant reviewer would stray that far for a meal. The Grill's position in the lobby of the tower gave her the opportunity to see the parade of contestants for the cabinet positions of the forthcoming Trump presidency traipse through on their way to the eye-shrivelling golden lift that would take them to the orange nightmare. The ritual humiliation involved seemed to have curdled the reviewer's salad dressing. The awfulness of everything she saw, heard, ate and drank is an indication of Trump being in over his head, she said. If that were true only in the field of catering it would not be so bad for the rest of us - avoiding eating in the Trump Grill is easy. Avoiding dyspepsia with him as President, less so. Advertisement It is not the first time that Vanity Fair has gone after Trump, who has always been keen to appear in its pages and go to its parties. Graydon Carter once detailed the night he took Donald as his guest to the 1993 White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Halfway through the event the guest next to Trump, the model Vendela Kirsebom, was in tears. She said that the entire evening was spent listening to him compare and contrast the breasts and legs of every woman there and asking her how they compared to his wife of the time. She said he was "the most vulgar man I have ever met.'' She could not stand it any longer and asked to be moved. He has not even taken office yet and half the human race is asking to be moved too. Bignai via Getty Images Last week saw the long-awaited publication of Charlie Taylor's report on youth justice, which paints an inspiring and radical vision of the way we should treat children in the youth justice system, using education as a tool to build futures away from crime. The government responded with a rush of enthusiastic pre-publicity, including from Justice Secretary Liz Truss, who wrote a piece for The Guardianpromising that the government would "use education to offer hope to young offenders". As someone who has witnessed, time and time again, the ability to prison education to transform lives, linking learning and hope is spot on. The detailed government response that emerged later made several welcome commitments: including more staff, more staff training, increased governor control of education and promises to ensure all young people are in education, training or employment on release. The creation of two secure schools meanwhile will test Taylor's conviction that building security into a school is a better approach than trying to graft education into a prison setting. Advertisement At first glance, this may convince us of Truss's assurance that "Taylor has made a compelling case for change and the government has listened". And yet, once you stand back and review the government's response in detail, it becomes clear that the more radical elements of Taylor's vision are missing - not so much being rejected by the government, as simply not being addressed. A key example is the question of who should bear responsibility for children who come into contact with the criminal justice system. At present, the education, social services and mental health agencies that support children in their communities are all local. But perversely, once a child is sentenced to custody in a Youth Offending Institution (YOI), they are passed on to central government (at huge cost I might add) - taken off the local agencies' plate at least until they return, often more problematic and damaged than ever. Taylor pushes for this to be devolved, so that local agencies take responsibility for children from their own areas. This would mean better coordinated care, moulding around each child support that is receptive to his or her interlinking health, educational, familial and other needs. It would also create a financial incentive to avoid, where possible, sending a child to custody - not only an expensive option but also proved to be an ineffectual one in terms of leading a child away from crime. Reducing the numbers of children in custody in this way would free up more resources per child to give the intensive support that more troubled children need, either through new secure schools or, perhaps even better, through the highly effective but costly Secure Children's Homes. But these parts of Taylor's recommendations are not mentioned in the government's response. Indeed, ministers and officials might well be cautious about a radical devolution: what if local agencies aren't up to it? What if they divert and waste the resources? Do we need the difficultly and distraction of shifting the highly centralised structure of YOIs to local control? But in some ways the government's response actually drives in the opposite direction to Taylor's proposed local route. It rejects Taylor's calls to divert funding for Youth Offending Teams from the centralised Youth Justice Board (YJB) to local authorities. Instead, it proposes a strengthened commissioning role for the YJB and national performance standards for those working within the community and custody. By doing so, it misses the benefits of tackling young offending at its source - in the communities young people live in, and to which they will most likely return after custody. Advertisement In a sector which has been pushing for meaningful youth justice reform, Taylor's report will be rightly valued for its focus on the overall wellbeing of the child, its clarion call for custody to be used only as a last resort and its compelling message about the power of education to equip all children to reach their potential. As he says: "Children have great strengths on which to build and are capable of rapid and extraordinary change." But by sidestepping the most radical element of Taylor's vision - local devolution - the government is rejecting a community-based approach that responds to each child's interconnected needs, and which incentivises cheaper, kinder and more effective alternatives to custody. In doing so, the government may have ensured that in years to come, Taylor's report will be looked back on not as a great leap forward, but as a missed opportunity for rapid and extraordinary change. Whether you're inspired to wear a Christmas jumper, take part in a charity bake off, buy charity Christmas cards, give your time to help the homeless, or support international coordinated disaster responses such as the Yemen crisis appeal launched earlier this month by the Disasters Emergency Committee, Christmas is clearly an important time to donate time or money to a cause that matters to you. But with so many charities in the UK, how do you know which one to give to? Unfortunately there are some fraudsters and criminals that are prepared to take advantage of the public's generosity and goodwill at this time of year by misusing donations or funds. This is rare, and we don't want the public to be put off giving to charities that do really important work, but we all want to make sure this doesn't happen. Our advice to the public is be aware and just take a few simple steps to ensure your money reaches its intended destination. We've teamed up with the Fundraising Regulator to set out the key things you can do - whether donating online or in person - to ensure your money reaches the right hands: Advertisement Firstly, check the charity's name and charity registration number. You can then verify this on the Charity Commission's register of charities online which is very easy to use. If the charity is in Scotland or Northern Ireland it should be registered with OSCR or CCNI respectively. When approached by street collectors, ask to see the collector's ID badge. Also check that the collector has a licence to fundraise with the local authority or the consent of the private site owner. Ensure any collection device is sealed and fundraising materials are in a good condition If you're giving online, be wary of unsolicited emails from charities you've never heard of or have no association with. Instead, search online for your chosen charity to check you have the right web address and donate directly to them. When giving online, check there is a padlock symbol in the URL bar and that the web address starts with 'https' Advertisement If in doubt, never feel pressurised by a fundraiser into making a donation immediately. You can always donate directly to charity through other channels. If you think after making these checks that a collection or appeal is not legitimate, report it to the police or Action Fraud. And if you have concerns about a registered charity, contact the Charity Commission and/or the Fundraising Regulator and we will look into it. Yet with over 165,000 charities registered in England and Wales, there's still clearly a lot of choice when it comes to donating to good causes. How can you tell if your money will be used on the end cause? And which charities operate most efficiently? Deciding whether to give to a charity should be a combination of what your head and your heart say. There are a lot of charities doing good work and coming up with new innovative fundraising campaigns, but if you're thinking about giving, think about which causes and issues personally matter to you. But also be sensible, do some research, read about a charity's work and financial information on our charity register as well as its own website, and seek evidence of the impact the charity is having so that you can make an informed decision when donating or volunteering your time. Transparency is key to driving public trust and confidence in charities and will be essential to maintaining donations and good relationships between fundraisers, charities and the public going forward. Charities should be transparent across all their operations, fundraising activities and fees. But it's also up to you to ask sometimes tricky or searching questions - genuine fundraisers will be happy to answer questions and explain the positive impact their charity is having on its cause. Advertisement It is not often that girls of Arab and Asian descent are described as empowered; the type that go against every stereotype as the meek and weak female who need saving from the wider world. One such young woman is 18 year old Muzoon Almellahan. A refugee from Syria resettled in the UK, she has been described as the 'Malala of Syria' for her activism against child marriage and for girls' education. I met Muzoon at the annual Young Muslim Writers Awards (www.ymwa.org.uk) in December where she received the Special Recognition Award for 'Championing Children's Rights to Education'. Advertisement Muzoon's story begins in Daraa, a Syrian city which is often described as the 'cradle of the revolution'. In 2011 about fifteen boys from prominent families sprayed anti government slogans on walls. Their subsequent treatment sparked the beginning of the Syrian uprising which is still being played out in all its destruction and witnessed by the world through the power of social media. Muzoon's family remained in Daraa until 2013 but when the violence increased, she and her parents, two brothers and sister fled their homes to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. After a short stay, they were forced to move to Azraq camp which was built to house a hundred thousand refugees. I ask her about the experience of living in refugee camps for three years. "At first it was hard to get used to new people, and a completely new situation. I was very worried about missing my education because we left Syria when I was in Year 9 - a very important year for exams. I carried all my books to Jordan and I was so happy when I found out there was a school in the camp. I enrolled as soon as I could and kept going to classes the whole time I was in Jordan." It was in these camps that Muzoon's activism took shape. She was noticing more and more girls were dropping out of lessons to get married. Advertisement "When I went to classes, I was shocked that so many girls the same age as me were talking about getting married and not focusing on their studies. I started to talk to them about the importance of education. When you are a refugee, one of the only things you can take with you is your education. It gave me hope to continue my studies in the camp and I tried to persuade other families to keep their children's hopes and dreams alive by sending them to school." There is no denying that child marriage existed before the conflict, but the mass displacement has led to an increase in child marriage within families that would never have practised it otherwise. An overwhelming reason for marrying young daughters off quickly is to protect them from poverty and sexual violence. Some are young as twelve years old. Many girls enter these marriages because they do not wish to be perceived as a burden on their struggling families. I ask Muzoon about the child brides. In her opinion, were they happy to get married or did she think they were being forced into marriage? "I think many of them didn't know what marriage really means. Men would come to the camps looking for brides, and their families would arrange it. Some girls got divorced after a short time and that made the situation even worse for them, especially if they had children." Muzoon's family was one of the 1000 Syrians selected for relocation to the UK and given refugee status on arrival. Newcastle is her new home. I ask her if she likes England. "Yes I do although the weather is a bit cold and it is hard to understand the Geordie accent in Newcastle! Of course Syria will always be my home, but in the UK I am going to a good school and I am able to continue my education. I feel very lucky to be here." Advertisement She is good friends with Malala Yousafzai. Both are campaigners for girls' education, role models themselves. I ask her what it's like to be compared to Malala. "I am so proud to have Malala as my friend. She is inspiring and she is also very nice. We get on so well. I am very happy to work with the Malala Fund too, campaigning for girls' education. Along with my own education, I am working hard to make sure that all girls everywhere have access to 12 years of free, safe, quality education." Her plans for her own career? "I hope that I will do well at school and then go to university. In future I would like to be a journalist. I think it is a very interesting job and when I was living in the camps I realised how important the media is. Often there was no electricity for the radio or internet. In times like this, you realise how much we all need the media to help us make decisions in our lives. I hope that, as a journalist, I can also help rebuild my country, and help people to understand each other better. That is my wish." Muzoon was one of three finalists for the International Children's Peace Prize 2016 Sharing with farmers and farm workers less than 1 cent per cup of coffee, tea and cacao is greedy. It is NOT FAIR to them. It hurts poor children! In this holiday season most of you think of sharing with your family and giving presents to your children and loved ones while perhaps enjoying a warm beverage with them but very few of you will be aware of the sad reality of the children in the communities that produce that beverage, the coffee, tea and cocoa you drink. Most of these children will receive neither gifts nor food from Santa Claus, because the truth is Santa Claus was not created for them, and because we the consumers, who play Santa Claus, are indifferent towards, or unaware of, their daily struggle. There are more than 100 million of these kids, mostly living in poverty, tens of millions in extreme poverty, due partly to our indifference, but mainly because of the cruel business model of the multinational companies in those industries that we support daily with our customer loyalty and purchasing power. Advertisement From the profits they make with the coffee, tea and cocoa that you drink every day, these companies share less than one cent per cup in net benefits with the producers and even less with farm workers. On the other hand they accumulate tens of billions of dollars in profits per year, some of which ends up in Swiss bank accounts, or in Luxembourg, or benefits rich investors in Wall Street. This is in great part why tens of millions of the children of these farmers and farm workers live in extreme poverty; they have no homework to do, because there are no schools in their communities, and they, like their parents, eat barely enough and are malnourished. Many of them work, breaking local laws that prohibit child labor and also violating the Convention of the Rights of the Child. This is a consequence of our sharing net benefits less than one cent per cup of the coffee, tea and chocolate we drink with the communities that produce it for us. Major coffee, tea and cocoa companies and traders buy as low as they can and sell as high as they can. Many of these same companies pride themselves on being fair, sustainable and ethical, with the complicity of hundreds of NGOs, of the governments and politicians of developed nations, of multilateral organizations, including the UN, so-called "ethical" "certification" labels and even the churches who benefit from these businesses. The truth however is that what they dare to call "ethical" or "Fairtrade" in coffee, tea and chocolate perpetuates poverty; it provides an insignificant benefit of less than 4 cents per day, per person, to the poor people in these rural communities. Sadly, "Fairtrade" is not fair, and was not designed to be fair. Next time you see the marketing of the "Spirit of Christmas" in Starbucks, McDonald's, Dunkin Doughnuts, Tim Hortons, Costa Coffee, Burger King, the Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt or almost any coffee shops, hotels or restaurants, or drink a Nespresso, Nescafe, Dolce Gusto, Keurig, Senseo, Illy, Lavazza, Folgers, Maxwell House, etc. at your home or office, you can be almost certain that they all share less than one cent per cup in net benefits of what you pay them with the families who produced the coffee they sell to you. You can also be certain that according to the US Department of Labor and reports by many independent journalists there is child labor in coffee, tea and cocoa. This is because these are exploitative industries that profit from extreme poverty. Advertisement But we hundreds of millions of consumers are not able, through corporations, charity organizations, or development aid, to change their lives radically. A transparent Shared Value system, with compensation of at least 10CentsPerCup of coffee, tea and cocoa (chocolate) consumed in developed countries, can change the world for more than 100 million children, and in total for 400 million people, in the rural communities that produce the raw materials for these drinks that are so enjoyed by the rest of the world. This is why I am working to create We Share, a transparent Shared Value system based on compensation from consumers to producing communities. The World Economic Forum in Davos has undoubtedly, throughout the history of humanity, been the one single organization that has wasted the most its unique and concentrated power to change the world. There the world's most influential entrepreneurs, academics and politicians talk about Improving the State of the World, about Shared Value (At the WEF the CEO of Nestle speaks -in minute 7:50- about Shared Value), but do not practice it toward the hundreds of millions of poor people who supply the WEF Summit, their industries, their universities or their governments. The WEF has never shared 1 cent per cup of coffee to Improve the State of the World. If Klaus Schwab (78), founder of the WEF, thought at this stage in his life as a social entrepreneur committed to "Changing the World", as a kind of "corporate Santa Klaus" for profit, Schwab could create a WEF Task Force -a PPP- to eradicate the poverty suffered by hundreds of millions of people around the world with a transparent Shared Value system based on compensation paid by the consumers, at no cost to the companies. This would have major and almost immediate benefits for the brands of WEF member companies, finally fulfilling the WEF's promise to Improve the State of the World. That would be almost a miracle because eradication of poverty has never been Schwab's purpose in life or la raison d'etre of the WEF. We must have the courage to tell the truth to our own children: for hundreds of millions of poor children Santa Claus does not exist, they are not part of the "Christmas business model". They have no education, healthcare or good nutrition, mainly because neither the companies nor we the consumers share with their parents even 1 cent as compensation for what they, and some of the kids with their own child labor, produce for us. A similar lack of transparent Shared Value is true in most of what we eat, drink, wear and use that is produced in "developing" or less developed nations. I hope you will agree with me that, if we share enough with others, if we compensate properly those who produce for us, we can change the world for them. When We Share 10CtsPerCup of coffee, chai and cocoa, or per bar of chocolate, we will be able to tell our children that no one needs to be a Super Hero, or the most influential leader in Davos, to fight social injustice and Improve the State of the World. Millions of us together, sharing a few cents per cup, could invest billions of dollars per year towards ending poverty and creating a rural middle class where currently poverty reigns and hunger is a fact of life. Advertisement The ancient Romans regarded Janus as the deity of transitions. He is said to have presided over the beginning and end of conflicts, and is frequently depicted with two faces as he looks out both towards the past and the future. As we reflect back on 2016 which has upturned the western liberal world order, one can't help but wonder how Janus would feel were he presiding over events from high above. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but looking back, Brexit came to define 2016. And, whilst many joked that what happened in Britain may not necessarily stay in Britain, very few predicted that America would be brazen enough to elect Donald Trump. Advertisement The former Apprentice star was surely too bombastic, racist, sexist, and loose with the truth to be elected by the American people. Yet, after self-styling himself as Mr. Brexit, and promising a "Brexit times ten", the tycoon tweeter did not disappoint: all hail president Trump. Caputuring the zeitgeist, British politician Michael Gove noted: "People have had enough of experts." On both sides of the Atlantic, they appear to have had enough of facts as well. Perhaps 2016 will be most remembered as the year when the truth became an elastic concept. It was a time when fake news stories peddled on Facebook could in some instances hold more sway than the mainstream media: stories "sponsored by political activists but also increasingly by state actors and their surrogates," writes FT editor Lionel Barber. Advertisement Welcome to the post fact era. What does this mean for politics going forward? Trump's campaign certainly broke every rule in the playbook, from threatening to muzzle the press and jail his opponent Hillary Clinton to branding all Mexicans as "rapists". And, whilst it is tempting to draw parallels with the 1930's and the rise of Hitler, we are really far from a Great Depression. In fact, corporate profits are up, credit is flowing and the US is fast approaching full employment. But, not so fast: those numbers heavily mask the fact that there are a lot people out there from the American rust belt all the way to middle England who have all been left out of this "recovery". For the overwhelming majority in both in the US and U.K. real incomes have stagnated for nearly a decade. And, there are many who are far worse off. After the financial crisis, they lost their jobs, their pensions, and in some cases, even their homes. Yet, at the same time, the wealth of the top one percent flourished, raising the ivory tower class to even loftier heights. And, to add insult to injury, the bankers responsible for creating the whole debacle in the first place were only rewarded with even fatter bonuses. As Naomi Klein writes in the Guardian : Advertisement We have witnessed the rise of the Davos class, a hyper-connected network of banking and tech billionaires, elected leaders who are awfully cosy with those interests, and Hollywood celebrities who make the whole thing seem unbearably glamorous." According to author Francis Fukuyama, "the real question should not have been why populism has emerged in 2016, but why it took so long to become manifest." Enter Nigel Farage, 'the Godfather of Brexit' stage left, and Trump himself stage right. Both rabble rousers stoked the flames of public discontent by fanning anger towards immigrants, global institutions such as the WTO, and in the UK's case the EU, followed by a good bout of nostalgic nationalism to make them yearn for some golden bygone era. Slogans like 'Let's make America great again' and 'Take Back Control' in the U.K. rallied the masses as it provided a salve to their anti establishment frustrations epitomized by the likes of the Bush's and the Clintons. Never mind that both campaigns were short on policy: they alluded to a better time, a promised land if you will. The "how" simply wasn't important. As Barber notes: Advertisement "In 2016 we witnessed the birth of the "Fourth Way" -- a new brand of politics that is nativist, protectionist and bathed in a cultural nostalgia. We also witnessed a widespread disillusion with globalisation. This period - call it Globalisation 2.0 is now over." Free trade became a dirty word for a public worried about job security and the competitive threat posed by developing nations. And, free movement received an even harder rap as Europe become inundated by refugees from both the Middle East and North Africa. The recent string of terrorist attacks from Paris to Berlin has severely weakened the public's appetite for more migrants. After all, how can the government assure that ISIS fighters have not infiltrated the pack? "There was a sense governments had somehow lost control, of national borders and national identity," writes Barber, hence the allure of Trump's "beautiful" wall with Mexico. So, what does this mean for the year ahead? Recent events certainly hold promise for other disrupters lying in wait. It will be interesting to see how well the far right fare in the upcoming French, Dutch and German elections. Advertisement Moreover, when Trump finally does take the helm of the world's largest economy in a few weeks time, how will we all fare as citizens of the globe? "For more than two centuries, the US has served as a beacon for democratic values such as pluralism, tolerance and the rule of law," writes Barber. And, "for the most part, it has been on the right side of history. But, "in 2016, Americans voted for the first time for a man with no previous government or military experience. Like Brexit, it was a high-risk gamble with utterly unpredictable consequences." Trump has already started a twitter war with Beijing after dismissing its one China policy, whilst threatening to pull out of the much needed Paris climate pact. It does not bode well for neither international relations, nor for the health of our planet. After all, 2016 will be the hottest year on record as temperatures threaten to pass the 4C mark well before the turn of this century. But, according to Klein, a large portion of Trump's base could be eroded: "If there were a genuine redistributive agenda on the table, an agenda to take on the billionaire class with more than rhetoric, and use the money for a green new deal. Such a plan could create a tidal wave of well-paying unionized jobs," fighting economic inequality and climate change both at the same time. If Trump really wants to make good on his promise to 'Make America Great Again' he had better pay heed. Time can but tell what 2017 will bring. But, according to Harvard professor Cornel West, "in these times, to even have hope is too abstract, too detached, too spectatorial. Instead we must be a hope, and a force for good as we face this catastrophe." By Kevin Noone, Stockholm University and Bjrn K. Haugland, DNV GL. Imagine this: After a long, productive day you go to bed knowing that not one of our neighbors anywhere on the planet is going to bed hungry. The planet's ecosystems - on which our prosperity is based - are healthy, resilient and unpolluted. The injustices of the past that were rooted in intolerance and a lack of respect for and appreciation of diversity have been largely eliminated. You are heading for bed in a world in which justice is the norm for all, not just for the well off. Sound good? Perhaps utopian or even naive? Still, even though we have yet to achieve anything like it, who wouldn't want to go to bed in such a world? That is the kind of world we can reach if we actually achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We can imagine it and we must aspire to create it, however difficult it may be. Professor Kevin Noone addresses a sustainability roundtable at the DNV GL headquarters near Oslo, Norway. Advertisement Getting from our current world to a better one will require a very long series of decisions. Some argue the earth has now entered the "anthropocene" epoch; named for the significant impact human activity is having on the earth's ecosystems and geology. Some of these decisions will be very difficult, and will require the ability to reconcile complex and perplexing trade-offs. Decisions will need to be made in conditions of uncertainty, and among constituencies with different viewpoints and values. Difficult decisions of this kind need to be based on the best available evidence, not on hearsay or falsehoods. How do we separate fact from fantasy, opinion from evidence? Logic, and the scientific approach that grew from it are probably the most effective tools we've developed so far to help keep us honest when confronting a complex, confusing world. Science has a very long history and a proud tradition. Since the time of Thales of Miletos in 600 BCE, logic and the scientific method have been continuously developed and refined. The essence of science is to challenge beliefs, and to be willing to change them when the evidence shows them to be insufficient or incorrect. The value of facts and evidence has been sorely challenged of late. Political operatives make statements like "There's no such thing, unfortunately, anymore as facts"**, or that Britons "have had enough of experts"***. "Post-truth" was named word of the year for 2016 by the Oxford Dictionaries. We feel it is imperative that we push back against these notions. Facts do exist, and they are critically important to proper decision making. Truth is something to respect, not something to get past. Making plans or decisions based on false information is dangerous, irresponsible and comes at high societal costs. The two of us - along with many other colleagues - collaborate to ensure that the latest scientific evidence from the research community is used in DNV GL's strategic planning, business development and daily operations. As a certification body and risk management advisory company, DNV GL can only do its job properly if we base our analyses and advice on the best available scientific evidence. We rely on experts - internal and external - to provide us with this information. Our customer base would erode very quickly if we based our work on wishful thinking or unsubstantiated opinion. False news and information are not useful for proper planning. Advertisement From the research community point of view, it is critical that we continue to develop and expand our ability to provide unbiased, verifiable information to decision makers, but work to do it in a way that is more conducive to decision support. Scientific information is almost never black or white; shades of gray are the norm. Even though we do not know exactly how agricultural systems will react to changing temperatures and precipitation, exactly how ocean ecosystems will react to further acidification, or exactly how Arctic communities will be impacted by the loss of sea ice, we do know enough to prepare solid strategies for the future. Science can inform those plans, but making and implementing them requires contributions from myriad stakeholders. No single group, government or individual has the expertise or the resources to do this alone. In this sense, collaboration between the private sector and the research community is crucial. In our experience this collaboration can work very well. At the core of successful strategic planning is the trust that everyone involved in the collaboration is honest, that there is mutual respect for others' expertise, and that we operate on fact, not fiction. Strategic planning with a post-truth approach is an oxymoron. A singular challenge with decision making in the Anthropocene is that many of the most important challenges we face are "wicked" problems. They are ones in which we operate with rapidly changing, incomplete or even contradictory information with a large number of stakeholders and with connections to many other problems. However complex and convoluted these problems may be, they are still characterized by facts. They can be understood through careful observation and analysis. They are only tractable if we have the courage to listen to what the evidence and facts are telling us and to act based on this knowledge. We reject the notions that experts are irrelevant and that facts don't exist anymore. We will continue to collaborate towards a world outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals based on values of honesty, respect and truth. Advertisement U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn looks at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as he talks with the media at Mar-a-Lago estate where Trump attends meetings, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 21, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY With Donald Trump's inauguration less than a month away, there's been a lot of talk in Washington about two topics: first, the unprecedented conflicts of interest posed by the Trump presidency and, second, the individuals Trump is nominating to fill important government positions. But one thing there hasn't been sufficient conversation about is the intersection of those two topics -- the conflicts of interest posed by Trump naming the heads of agencies that are, or may be, investigating him and his businesses. It's yet another reason -- as if the Constitution's Emoluments Clauses weren't enough -- why Trump should be divesting and putting all of his assets in a blind trust. The U.S. Constitution provides that the president "shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law." In other words, the president (and the president alone) has the power to nominate the heads of federal agencies and other top federal officers. When the president makes those nominations, he should be thinking about who can best lead the federal government and serve the national interest. But when President Trump makes those nominations, the people he selects will have the power to affect not only the national interest, but also his own personal interests. Advertisement Consider some of the possible conflicts of interest. Trump repeatedly claimed during the presidential campaign (although he did not offer proof) that he is being audited by the IRS. Indeed, according to Trump, he is regularly audited: "Every year they audit me, audit me, audit me," he said last February. In late 2017, the current IRS Commissioner's term will expire, and Trump will have the responsibility for naming his successor -- the person who will lead the agency that has, according to Trump, been auditing him for nearly a decade. It's difficult not to worry about the possibility that in deciding whom to pick Trump will be motivated, at least in part, by his views about which candidate might look most favorably on whatever tax moves have put his tax returns under investigation for so long. It's also impossible not to worry that whomever Trump picks will feel some debt to the man who put him into office. Or consider the many Trump hotels that are subject to the labor laws enforced by the National Labor Relations Board. It's not difficult to imagine conflicts arising between employees at Trump hotels and the hotel management. Indeed, one doesn't have to just imagine it -- until very recently, Trump's Las Vegas hotel was refusing to negotiate with the union that a majority of its employees chose to represent them. That dispute was before the National Labor Relations Board -- a board that will soon have three of its five members appointed by Trump. Although the Las Vegas hotel dispute recently settled, there's one complaint still pending before the Board, and it's not hard to imagine that similar disputes will arise in the near future, given the number of Trump hotels around the country. And again it's difficult not to worry about the possibility that in deciding whom to appoint to the NLRB, Trump will be motivated, at least in part, by his views about which candidate might be most inclined to side with Trump hotel management. Likewise, it's impossible not to worry that Trump's picks will feel some debt to the man who put them in office. Advertisement Or to take another example, one can imagine developments of the Trump organization running afoul of environmental regulations. This recent New York Times story explained how the site of a failed business venture by Donald Trump Jr. is now in need of environmental cleanup, and South Carolina regulators are deciding whether the current owner, a Trump Organization affiliate, qualifies for a state program that allows voluntary cleanup while providing protection against liability. While that story involves a state program, it doesn't require a great deal of creativity to imagine that other similar ventures might be the subject of regulatory enforcement by federal environmental regulators. And who appoints the head of the federal environmental regulator, the Environmental Protection Agency? The President, of course. In this case, the President has already named his choice: Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who is not only a climate change denier, but who also has complained about "unnecessary EPA regulations." Or consider one final example, particularly relevant given all of these (and other) potential conflicts in the news. The Office of Government Ethics is the independent federal agency which is responsible for overseeing ethics in the executive branch. As its mission statement declares, "[w]hen government decisions are made free from conflicts of interest, the public can have greater confidence in the integrity of executive branch programs and operations." OGE recently made news when its Twitter account praised the President-elect for commitments to divest his business holdings that (unfortunately) he had not actually made. As an agency spokesman subsequently explained, the agency believes "[d]ivestiture resolves conflicts of interest in a way that transferring control does not," and it was "willing and eager" to help the incoming President resolve all conflicts issues. The current Director's term expires in early 2018. It's not difficult to worry about what ethical issues may be on Trump's mind as he looks for someone to replace him. So long as Trump refuses to sell his vast business holdings (and that appears to be his plan, notwithstanding the constitutional violations that would create), these conflicts will be insoluble. The president cannot delegate his nomination authority to another official. That does make the Senate's constitutional role of providing "advice and consent" particularly important. The Senate needs to be able to assess whether the individuals Trump is naming can be trusted to work in the interest of the public, not the man who is appointing them to high office. Of course, the Senate can't provide informed "advice and consent" until it knows the full extent of the conflicts -- and it can't know that until Trump provides full financial disclosure of all of his holdings. A photo of SLS Brickell's distinctive exterior at night. Photo Credit: The Related Group. One of the first priorities of early humankind was finding a safe place to live. Before basic tools and the invention of blueprints eventually became sophisticated enough to construct a stand-alone home, a defensible 'pre-fab' cave with a burning campfire would do for protection. A building boom of sorts spread through primitive societies, propelled by pioneering "architects" who incorporated creature comforts with structural soundness. Whether a mud hut, a scaffold-like teepee or cliff-side condo, one innovation after another--especially indoor plumbing--contributed to an expanding and flowing fabricated environment that continued to evolve, and there is evidence that many early dwellings also incorporated art works, such as murals of bison, Pompeiian mosaic floors, or tall stone carvings of abstracted humanoid forms. As the grand cities of America began to shoot upwards into the sky as useable urban land became increasingly scarce, the idea of a singular, condensed, recognizable identity for a strategic and iconic facade became de rigueur. This notion presented an exciting challenge to push forward with groundbreaking concepts inside and out, and these practical, distinctive designs generated memorable urban identities in cities such as Manhattan, Chicago and San Francisco. Miami certainly has joined this exclusive fraternity with an outstanding collaboration of designers, architects and artists, directed by visionary developers who joined forces with a great creative team to produce a growing and in this case, glowing, unique skyline. Having a ball at the SLS Brickell pool at night. Photo Credit: House Photographers. Today, modern multi-use buildings that incorporate truly distinguished and innovative designs obviously have a sharp-edge advantage against their competitors, with a flourishing international arena that has developed exponentially and has become much more sophisticated by market-driven interest in living with extraordinary design. These initiatives continue to evolve to create buildings as bona-fide works of art, from top to bottom and inside out, which is the case with the groundbreaking and ingenious concept that created the spectacular, just-opened 55-story SLS Brickell Hotel & Residences. In a partnership with the LA-based, award-winning hospitality company sbe and The Related Group founder and Chairman Jorge Perez, a compelling, art-filled building has come to life downtown. For good measure, adding the legendary talents of co-founding principal of Arquitectonica, Bernardo Fort-Brescia, with his wife and founding partner Laurinda Spear, as well as legendary designer Philippe Starck, this utilitarian sculptural complex now is poised to become a Miami landmark asset in the heart of the city's rapidly changing Brickell neighborhood. At whatever angle, from the ground up or looking down, this structure is a masterstroke of a planned marriage with an impressive art dowry filled to the brim with form, function and fun. Advertisement Massive drip mural by Markus Linnenbrink enveloping the tower's exterior facade. Photo Credit: Tamz. An alien approaching South Miami Avenue from the air at sunset might mistake the painterly work of Brooklyn-based German artist Markus Linnenbrink's dizzying 40,000 square foot, vertically striped and dripped mural for a giant slice of colorful layer cake, theoretically baked by Claes Oldenburg, and a handsomely decorated homage to color field pioneers Gene Davis or Morris Louis. The icing on the cake is a dazzling line-up of permanent soft blue pin lights that appear as candles at night, offering an illuminated facade that could be used to amplify the hit song by DNCE "Cake on the Ocean." The building now anchors the southern tip of South Miami Avenue with its distinguishing prismatic glass wedge, which resolves the geometry of the city's grids that meet at the corner of two of Miami's most important streets. This triangular configuration becomes the dominant vocabulary, while linear, intermittent balconies project into space, streamlining the profile. The uncommon shape and exterior decoration sets the stage for a pedestrian friendly environment, similar to Manhattan's Park Avenue, adding to the energetic richness of the entire block, which is peppered with a delightful installation of site-specific commissioned works. Katja Loher, When Will the Sea Swallow the Land?, 2016, Site-specific video installation, entranceway, SLS Brickell, Miami, 6 LED-discs placed on ceiling, 8 ft. each. Commissioned by The Related Group. Advertisement The Related Group appointed Swiss artist Katja Loher to shoot a site-specific video installation for the spacious entrance driveway, which consists of six circular Video-Islands that are strategically placed almost as stepping stones, positioned upside down on the ceiling and serving as portals in the artist's universe. At the opening, VIP guests had the feeling of being "beamed up" to these animated kaleidoscope window-like circles after attending an Academy Awards-like red carpet ride surrounded by a mob of camera crews and art and costumed performances, some in honeybee outfits that reminded me of a classic "Saturday Night Live" skit by Dan Aykroyd. Everybody was smiling, including a proud Jorge Perez, arguably Florida's best residential and mixed-use developer, as he stood in front of the photographers' step and repeat background with its can't-miss logos. Opening night group photo of the A-team. Top row, left to right: Matt Allen, Arash Azarbarzin, Sam Nazarian, Bernardo Fort-Brescia, Boy George, Jean Monestime, Jorge Perez, Frank Carollo, Carlos Rosso, Michele Caniato (peeping through behind Carlos). Bottom row, left to right: Philippe Starck, Thomas Meding, Jose Andres, Michael Schwartz. Photo Credit: House Photographers. Just after entering the foyer, visitors will come across Bernardi Roig's The Man of Light, delightfully placed by Patricia Hannah, Perez's art director, which is a perfect hybrid of Dan Flavin and George Segal, perhaps en route to Art Basel as they look for an electrical outlet. Bernardi Roig, The Man of Light III, 2005, Polyester resin, marble dust and fluorescent bulbs. Ray Smith, The Wave, 2006, Oil and sand on wood, 90 x 320 in. Photo Credit: The Related Group. Another striking work that perfectly blends magical realism and modernism is Ray Smith's contextual The Wave, which is an oil painting on wood of colossal mirror-like waves curling towards each other, celebrating the power of nature and perhaps the alleged parting of the Red Sea. If you see anything like this coming your way on South Beach, you need to drop your suntan oil and surfboard and run like hell. Another wonderful example of art fusion and narrative realism is an ironic painting by Smith, titled Tex-Rex, which portrays a midnight performing cowboy Marlboro man as he twirls a huge swinging lasso that would make Roy Rogers jealous. Advertisement Ray Smith, Tex-Rex, 2006, Oil on canvas, 128 x 150 in. Photo Credit: The Related Group. When you add up the extraordinary inventiveness of the entire SLS Brickell project, with its signature design and iconic facades and the first-class team of planners and creative partners, and throw in Philippe Starck, Sam Nazarian, Chef Jose Andres and Michael Schwartz, James Beard Award-winning Chef and owner of The Genuine Hospitality Group, for good measure and taste, it shouldn't be surprising that this fantastic property has transformed Brickell forever. "Give Me Shelter" in Miami now has a whole new meaning that others should hold as the gold standard downtown. As the year winds down, I find myself reflecting on the past year and trying to sort through what's to come. However, one thing is very clear, disruption is the new reality and modern marketers should look for ways to leverage it. The following are my predictions for where the greatest disruptive opportunities may lie and what marketers need to watch out for in the coming year and beyond. Post-Communications Ecosystems Innovative mediums and services are cropping up in ever-increasing ways, from Amazon Alexa and Google Home to HTC Vive, Nest and Hololens. These platforms will not be friendly to communications-based brand building, like advertising. Brands will win by creating services, products and markets meant specifically for them. For example, MasterCard, rebranded as MasterPass, is now a payment system driving easy food purchases on Samsung-connected refrigerators. It won't be long before brands like LiveNation sell first-row subscription tickets to any event anywhere around the world, but attended virtually from your VR home experience. Marketers need to look at these environments and ecosystems not for what messaging they will allow, but for what services and value brands can provide. Creating this brand value addresses the ever-increasing use of adblockers as well. The New Definition of Media With the explosion of choices and continued rise of fragmentation, media has never been more complex than it is today. What's more, it's now easier for people to ignore, skip or block ads at an ever-increasing scale. But that doesn't mean advertising or traditional media is dead. Marketers need to view the media landscape and their investments in a new light. By understanding human behavior, brands can create a more targeted impact by finding the right opportunities and moments to provide real value versus only looking at scale, tonnage or clicks. Brands should consider how the combination of paid advertising, content marketing, media partnerships, experiences, earned media, utility and product or service improvements can help achieve their business objectives. In order to adapt, it's important to shift dollars into solutions that go beyond advertising to create enduring brand experiences. When Land O'Lakes' WinField United division invested in the development of Crop Adventure, an interactive museum experience that explores how modern agriculture works, they created a brand asset that will educate generations to come. In-the-Moment Marketing It's no longer enough to just post, tweet or snap what you're doing. People now want their friends and followers to actually experience what it's like to be there with them in the moment. Facebook Live, Instagram Stories and continued innovations at Snapchat will further increase the real-time, "moment-based" marketing trend. As brands move beyond ads, marketers need to give people more ways to become part of their omni-media experiences in order to maximize ROI and share their stories. Media Mistrust The segregation of media has the potential to divide the nation even further, regardless of political leanings. While fabricated news has always existed, the speed, scale and influence of social media today (nearly 50% of Americans get their news from Facebook, for instance), allows people to find and share any type of content that aligns with their views, regardless of whether it's fact-checked or completely fake. Plus, a Facebook or Twitter share often equals site traffic revenue for publishers. Marketers have a responsibility now more than ever to think beyond the impression, click or CPM of a search, social or programmatic media buy to truly understand the authenticity of the content of their advertising message and where it shows up. Media brands like Google and Facebook have a responsibility too. Relative objectivity in the news media has long been a hallmark of this country, and it is extremely valuable to building strong, authentic and enduring brands. Brands Taking a Stand Brands will need to address the uncertainty and anxiety caused by the changing presidential administration. As many in the country are divided, the challenge to brands is the difficult choice of either, 1) trying to appeal to all audiences equally, which will require them to be somewhat generic in their purpose, personality and messaging; or 2) following suit like brands Allstate, Orbitz, Miller Lite, Target and others that are making a conscious choice to stand for values like equality and inclusion; or, conversely, Chic-Fil-A or Hobby Lobby that stand for conservative social values. Taking a specific stand may alienate people who do not agree with your position, whereas choosing to be neutral may cost your brand relevance. This is a massive shift that could create a large schism in brands, as well as give birth to new brands with the intent of serving one group and not others. As technology, the political climate, and ways people interact with content and each other continue to evolve, we need to pay attention to the trends shaping our world and the implications these have on marketing. In 2017 and beyond, brands will have to move faster than ever, and those that embrace disruption will have an advantage. In politics, hindsight isn't always 20/20. In July of 2015, I began writing this column for The Huffington Post, advancing ideas and strategies as a pragmatic Republican. Like many pollsters and pundits, I was surprised by Donald Trump's stunning victory over Hillary Clinton, although not totally shocked, having seen Michael Moore the week before the election explain why Democrats didn't have a clue about Rust Belt voters. To better understand the outcome, I went back to review my thinking about Trump over the course of the campaign, to make more sense of this watershed moment in American politics. 8/8/15 (two months after Trump declares candidacy): Trump has made a mockery of the time-honored, unwritten rule that in order to run for President, you have to have a certain level of political and public service experience. When The Donald threw his hair into the ring, a GOP circus came to town. Trump's first comments about Mexicans being rapists and murders was startling, but not unexpected. But I started to realize this was a different kind of election and the bar had been lowered when Trump got away with attacking John McCain. If anything, his poll numbers even went up after that. I thought to myself, "if he can get away with doing this, what can't he get away with?" Unfortunately, that proved to be just the first of a series of shattered glass ceilings that would have knocked any other candidate out of the race. 2/8/16 (after Iowa Caucus): The political playoffs have begun and who would have ever imagined that rookies such as Donald Trump and Ben Carson could even make it to prime time? This may be the most unconventional campaign ever, as so many of the normal standards have been ejected from the rulebook. The primaries crystalized how skillfully Trump was using the GOP establishment to run against the Republican Party party. Ignoring the fact that he was actually a Democrat a few years earlier, Trump leveraged the 90% of base who hated the establishment. And he played the media like a violin, getting millions of dollars of free publicity and exposure without having to raise or spend millions of dollars to build a political organization. 6/21/16 (post GOP primaries): Like many Republicans, I didn't see this coming. I took Trump's initial declaration as little more than a joke. But as the GOP primaries turned into a traveling circus, my outlook shifted from impossible to improbable, possible to likely, imminent to inevitable. Looking back at the primary process, it's obvious how Silvio Berlusconi-ish Trump was. Both are consummate salesman, who used the image of their wealth and success to their advantage. They also capitalized on the strategy of forcing their opponents to constantly defend themselves rather than promote their own ideas and policies, while Trump deftly avoiding the fact that he had little (or none) himself, other than our government was a HUUUGE disaster. In the end, both men ramped up the base to vote against their opponent rather than for them. 7/26/16 (after Republican Convention): I don't like or trust Hillary Clinton, but I am voting for her. When forced to decide between eminently unlikeable and, at best, indisputably unqualified, I'll opt for the former. Loyalty to country trumps (sorry) loyalty to party. The GOP Convention proved the old axiom that presidential campaigns are more visceral than cerebral. The personal demonization of your opponent that Newt Gingrich started during the Bill Clinton presidency, which then became even more vitriolic during President Obama's terms, grew even more venomous during the convention. With chants of "Lock Her Up" echoing across the arena, it was obvious that Trump was not only appealing to the pent-up fear and anger his core supporters were radiating in Cleveland, but also repeatedly stoking it, making sure they would be voting on emotions, not issues. 9/6/16 (before first presidential debate): The depressing thing is that the only Republican that Hillary could beat is Trump and the only Democrat that Trump could beat is Hillary. With temperatures dropping from Maine to Mississippi, snow in the forecast (or on the ground in lots of places), and kids gearing up for winter break, Christmas is getting close. For many of us, this really is the most wonderful time of the year. But for too many Americans, especially children, it's anything but that. It's the time of year when their parents' forced choice between heating the house and paying for health care becomes especially painful, when monthly food stamps that can only be stretched for three weeks means the dinner they had been looking forward to is pitiful rather than plentiful, and when ads and store windows chock full of magical toys, books, and games serve only as sad reminders about dreams that are out of reach. For sure, Americans are at their most generous this month. The Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, and hundreds of smaller charities do great work to make the holidays a little brighter for these kids. But their problems don't end with the New Year, nor should our efforts to combat them. One organization that is doing that hard, year-round work and driving real progress in 50 communities and counting happens to be very aptly named. But you've probably never heard of it. So as we all make mental lists of things worth celebrating, add Bright Futures USA to yours, as thousands of children and their families, teachers, and schools in "flyover" communities already have. Advertisement Bright Futures, which first emerged as the brainchild of a team of teachers, parents, and community leaders convened by then-Joplin Missouri public schools superintendent CJ Huff, now works in schools across Missouri and Arkansas as well as in Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Virginia. And its seemingly simple three-part formula for school improvement - meet every child's basic needs within 24 hours, engage the community to take ownership of schools and address longer-term issues, and embed service learning in every classroom - has evolved in more mature community affiliates, like Joplin, into a powerful tool for enhancing teaching and learning. It's also a year-round Christmas present for students and teachers alike. One teacher describes the snack packs that keep low-income students fed on the weekends and well-stocked clothing "pantry" as "a tremendous weight lifted off our shoulders. We educators had dozens upon dozens of people loving our students and filling needs." A parent who volunteers as a Lunch Buddy - taking half an hour each week to eat with a student and hear about her day - describes the joy he gets out of the experience. And Huff got to personally witness a joyous surprise when all 235 students in West Center Elementary School showed up for its assembly in colorful stocking caps that two elderly members of the local church had knitted for them. These are all gifts not only to children but to the adults around them. Even more unique, however, is Bright Futures' approach to ensuring that Joplin's most disadvantaged children, who in most districts would be relegated to under-resourced schools and to classrooms that are less-than-conducive to learning, get the opposite. In the aftermath of the devastating tornado that ripped through the city in 2011, killing 161 people including seven students, Huff had the benefit of disaster relief resources to work with. One of the key decisions he made was to invest not only in a new state-of-the-art combined elementary and middle school that would nurture its students' social and emotional skills, but to move a group of his poorest students into it. When they and their parents took a tour of Soaring Heights Elementary just before it opened in January 2014 and told him "we don't deserve such a beautiful place" to learn every day, Huff realized that he was giving them a truly rare gift - the knowledge that they, like every child, is worthy of the best their community can offer. Advertisement Among the amazing things that happen when this kind of magic starts to take hold is that the children who see their entire communities coming together to support them feel the need to give back. Joplin fifth graders who heard about their counterparts in Moore, Oklahoma's Plaza Towers Elementary School having lost seven classmates took service learning to a new level. With the support of their teacher, they developed and pitched to Huff a plan to raise funds and books for a replacement library for the Moore students. The presentation even included the cost of renting a bus, plus gas and tolls, so that they could deliver the gifts in person and talk with the Plaza Elementary students about their own tornado trauma and the process of healing. School leaders across the country are working with Bright Futures to continue to spread this love. The newest affiliate has just gotten started in Fairbanks, Alaska. And closer to home, Frederick County, Virginia superintendent David Sovine recently convened six of his peers to explore the creation of a regional Bright Futures strategy. With over half of all US public school students - our nation's future workers, parents, neighbors, and leaders - eligible for free and reduced school meals, and a growing share coming from immigrant and non-English speaking families, a community-wide blanket of support is a gift we can't wait any longer to give. Going shopping sucks, doesn't it? Think of all the time and energy that's wasted. You walk down the aisle. You pick out a box of Mallomars because they're unbelievably delicious and only available during certain times of the year. You put the box of those delicious Mallomars in your cart along with other stupid items like lettuce and cheese. You stand in line. You take the Mallomars out of the cart and put it on the cashier's belt. You then take the Mallomars off the belt after the cashier has scanned them and put them in a bag. You put the bag in the cart. You pay. Then you bring it home, carry the bags inside, take the Mallomars out of the bag and eat the entire box in one sitting with a big glass of cold milk. What a process we have to go through for a box of Mallomars! But finally, there's a better way. No, it's not from Amazon. It's from Panasonic. And it's going to change how people shop, and merchants operate...forever. The concept is simple. You stick all your items in a special shopping basket. You go to a self-service kiosk and slide the entire basket into a slot. A scanner detects and records all the items in the basket. You swipe or dip. The items drop into a bag. You walk out of the store, muttering about the high price of everything. You're home in time to eat your Mallomars in front of the inevitable sequel to Game of Thrones: The Rise of the Lannisters (remember, this is in the future). Advertisement The system "could bring a revolution to the broader retailing industry," Sadanobu Takemasu, the chief operating officer of convenience-store chain Lawson Inc., told the Wall Street Journal. "We all face a scarcity of labor." Reports of Takemasu being a Mallomars fan are unconfirmed. My expectation is that the future generation of machines like Panasonic's will operate on a larger scale. Using radio-frequency ID technology, look for shoppers to be able to put items in bags right from the shelves and then just walk their cart through a giant scanner like the kind you go through at airport security. The items are scanned all at once, and payment is automatically made through a mobile app where payment details have already been set up. No lines. No repetitive taking stuff in and out of shopping carts and bags. Once stores start implementing this technology, it will become expected by shoppers. The implications are big, both for employees and business owners. Like Amazon's proposed self-service automated grocery stores, the Panasonic scanner can have an enormous effect on employment. Technology like this will (not might) result in the loss of many low-paying, low-skilled jobs like cashiers over the next decade, and workforces are going to have to adjust. As you might expect, executives at both Panasonic and Lawson are quick to say that all employees won't be receiving a pink slip. "Our store is also a point of communication for neighbors, where customers can enjoy chatting with clerks," said Lawson's Takemasu in the Wall Street Journal article. Yeah, right. For merchants, there's bad news and good news. Big technology investments are going to be required over the next decade to keep up with the Jones' and meet customers' expectations. So get out your wallets and take your banker out to dinner. But on the flip side, merchants will be able to cut back the cost of their biggest headache: finding, managing and paying people -- particularly in these times of labor shortages, $15 per hour minimum wage and rising healthcare expenses. Advertisement "The smart merchants will figure out a balance between people and technology in the years to come," Jeff Lenard, a vice president at the National Association of Convenience Stores told me. "This will be very similar to when gas stations converted to self-service pumps decades ago. A big investment in technology that was driven by customer demand has helped the industry grow." The Panasonic scanning device is in test mode for now -- but the company expects it to go live by February with more being rolled out in the Lawson chain throughout 2018. By the way -- Tony Soprano also loves Mallomars. So maybe he's not such a bad guy after all. Demonstrators protesting against US president-elect Donald Trump display placards during a so called 'Pussy Grabs Back' demonstration in Berlin on November 12, 2016. / AFP / John MACDOUGALL (Photo credit should read JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images) Since the presidential election people have been asking about how the results have affected my son. "How is he doing?" they ask, their faces screwed with worry. I say, "He's doing okay. He's living in Portland and attending Portland State University, an accepting, open safe place for LGBT people. He is surrounded by other like-minded people. He and his friends are frustrated and fired up." Advertisement When it was clear on the evening of the election that results were showing a Trump win, my son and his fellow students took to the streets in Portland. What else do you do when what you thought and hoped was going to happen doesn't happen, and what you feared could happen comes to pass? It was a sudden shock, not unlike an earthquake. When the earth falls out from under your feet most people do not want to be alone. You probably want to get out of your dorm room. You might want to shout or scream. You might want to take a really long walk. You might even want to break things. You want to be with people. Many people took to the streets. They walked, they talked, they shouted and cursed. For the most part, these people were peaceful. There was a lot of attention paid to the few violent acts committed by people who were not peaceful. Thankfully, my son was not part of that. Amaya told me that as the night wore on it was hard to leave; he didn't know what else to do. Eventually he got so tired he needed to go back to his room. When he got home, still not knowing what to do with himself, he put energy into creating a short video documenting the experience using images he'd captured that evening on his cell phone. He wrote eloquent words and shared his inspiring film on Facebook and other social media. Currently it has over 3000 views on Facebook. Advertisement This video struck chords deep inside me. My husband and I and many others were moved to tears after reading our son's words and watching his film. So many people contacted me to tell me how his words and video affected them. They said he was inspiring, courageous, "a light in the darkness" as one person put it. I remain inspired by his action, not only because of this one film, but because of what it represents; the future. The next generation is coming of age and they are a rising force. This election has rallied young voices like we haven't seen in many years. This generation will have to fight for rights many have taken for granted, such as a woman's right to choose and freedom of the press. But they can't do it alone. We all need to fight for these rights. The fire of youth sparks my own flame. I intend to be a voice for those who do not have one, to stand up for what I know is right. I know I must, even if I am tired or bored or overwhelmed or discouraged. There is much work to be done, and I have tools that are needed. So much work to do. It's curious to me that most people I talk to focus their concern on my transgender child, but they don't ask how my other kids were affected. Yes, this change of course in the presidential administration might have very deep implications for my son who is transgender. Over 50 so-called "bathroom bills" have been introduced in the U.S. to legislate where people pee. Some states still allow discrimination based on gender in the workplace, and some even allow firing someone simply because they are transgender. Senator Ted Cruz is promising a revisit of the proposed First Amendment Defense Act that will basically give permission for people to discriminate against LGBTQ people based on their religious beliefs. This is a very dangerous and very real threat to the safety of LGBTQ people, and the implications of such a bill becoming law frighten and anger me. But I worry equally for my daughter and stepson as well. My adult daughter is a young woman living in the New York City area. She is often the target of catcalls. Empowered by a "pussy-grabbing" PEOTUS, will this boorish behavior increase or escalate? She says she feels anxious in large crowds due to the potential for violence. Will this next administration, known for vitriol directed at Muslims and other minorities throughout the campaign, make us safer? With a PEOTUS who has threatened to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. and deeply embraces support from the alt-right, I fear not. And what about my stepson and his family living in rural Oregon, raising two daughters on a beekeeper's salary? They are a hard-working, young family. They depend on the Affordable Healthcare Act for their health and well-being. Will tax breaks for the rich help them? Will school vouchers that pull desperately needed funds from public schools help them? Will my granddaughters have reproductive rights? And what of my young friend who was brought here at age five by her parents, who sought a better life for their children? Now an adult raising her own daughters in California, my friend was an undocumented minor raised in America. Because of the Dream Act she was able to receive an education, she earned high grades, and she has much to contribute. What will happen to her, her family, and others like them under the new administration? Fretting does me no good, nor will it change a thing. Instead, it is empowering to shift that anxious energy and move it toward something useful. So, I continue to serve food to the homeless. I too, like my son, have taken to the streets to march for peace and justice and civil rights in the face of the incoming administration. I write and call my legislators. I do my best to educate myself from credible news sources. I donate to causes that align with my principles. I write this blog. It sometimes feels like all that I do adds up to just a tiny drop in an ocean that needs so much more rain than I can give. These words from Mother Teresa comfort me: Online education changed my life. It's really that simple. Living in a small town, I didn't have access to higher education. And I didn't have time to travel over an hour to attend college while raising a young family and working full time. Enter online education. It was the perfect opportunity for me to finish my education and still do everything else I needed to do. Fast forward a dozen years later, I'm honored to teach at non-profit online university and love teaching students from all over the globe. That's why I was so excited to have the opportunity to talk with Michal Borkowski. He's the CEO and co-founder of Brainly, a social learning network for students that's changing education for millions. I personally understand the potential online learning, at every level, can have on student's lives. And I understand that the future of education lies in the crossroads of technology and innovation. Advertisement Leaders, celebrities, and educators all have their own ideas how education should look like and how to students should learn skills in a faster, more sustainable pace. As of yet, there's no understanding or consensus on how new technologies will be integrated into education, and consequently, into the lives of school-age children. Borkowski discussed how Brainly is shaping the way of the future for educators, students, and how learning is ripe for change. How should education change in your mind? Schools are so strapped for resources that they're often obliged to take a one-size-fits-all approach to learning rather than account for the individual needs of each student. Educators know this, which is why personalized learning has become such a buzzword recently. Personalized education works because it focuses on the needs of the individual student rather than teaching the same topic the same way to every individual. Personalized education should not mean that students are isolated within their own specific academic paths. Instead, it means that other people are critical components of how a particular learner's educational path is established. We believe that the addition of social dynamics to a study program can train "soft" social skills like leadership and motivation, which are crucial to a student's future success. Advertisement According to a study released by RAND Corporation, the longer students use personalized learning, the better their growth in achievement becomes. This makes it critical that we make the switch to personalized education sooner than later. No two students share the exact same interests, study habits, or learning capabilities. The earlier we start maximizing the student's potential, they better they will be long-term. How did you acquire your 80 million users? What's your growth strategy moving forward? Brainly originally launched as Zadane.pl in Poland seven years ago. Within our first 6 months, we registered 1 million unique users. Brainly ignites excitement in our users by making learning engaging. The concept of students helping students encourages collaboration and makes it easy for users to find the answers and increase their knowledge on a topic. Brainly is different from most approaches because it is our belief that personalized education can go along with social learning. Finding the right people to learn and study with increases the effectiveness of those processes and delivers more assimilable content. Instead of reinforcing antiquated learning techniques, we encourage students to interact with another, ask questions and spark a conversation. The more students are engaged in the learning process, the more they remember for the long haul and the better their future learning experiences will be. Education is a game-changer. It opens doors, improves happiness, and launches careers. Our vision is to equalize students' chances around the world by providing access to high-quality education and information to anyone who wants it and by connecting students with a community of like-minded peers. As technology advances and influences learning tools, it's increasingly possible to level the educational playing field by granting every student access to a built-in support system. Advertisement Our community of learners around the world has grown organically. The power of Brainly is our open knowledge base, which attracts millions of learners each month. They come for help and knowledge and stay for the community and educational interactions, which are the heart and soul of the Brainly experience. We are now focusing on expanding our community and perfecting our product. There's still a lot to be done to ensure that students receive the help they need. But we have a good vision of how to get there. What's the main criticism you encounter? Do you get pushback from educators? Unfortunately, not every educator is onboard with the idea of Brainly. The opinion shifts based on the country they reside in. Brainly focuses on earning their trust. In some countries, educators are more hesitant to introduce new technologies into the learning experience, though in other countries educators are actively pursuing new learning technologies. In all cases, it's very important for us to earn the trust of educators by demonstrating that we have no intention of substituting or replacing conventional in-school learning methodologies, and by being clear that we deeply value and appreciate the difficult jobs that teachers tackle each day. Students are our main focus, but we're thrilled to see that many educators and parents also value a community where young people can learn and interact while having fun. We've had countless conversations with educators, and one of the most common responses we hear is that Brainly can take the night shift from overworked teachers by providing students with the help they need outside of regular school hours. And this is very much true, especially since the vast majority of students can't afford expensive private tutoring or after-school classes. What are the main challenges? One of the ways Brainly succeeds at earning educators' trust is through our collaborative culture. We understand teachers and parents play prominent roles in the student's education and hold multiple focus groups to include them in ongoing academic research. The valuable insight Brainly gains from this collaborative partnership directly impacts the products we release to our users. All of this makes it possible to put the students and their needs first. Advertisement Under Trump, school choice is once again being discussed; how do you see Brainly in the context of the wider educational debate in the US? The whole point of Brainly is to put students first. Like any company, we do keep a close eye on political shifts, but at the end of the day our product is student-centered and transcends politics in the same way it transcends the various national and cultural differences we've encountered in our 35 global markets. Regardless of where someone grows up or what political views their parents hold, and regardless of who happens to be in office at a given time, students will always face a common set of core learning problems, just as they'll continue to be united by their impulse to turn to one another for help. So at Brainly, we have less interest in the ebb and flow of politics than we have in doing what we do best, which has always been to connect students to a community of like-minded learners. Do you have data to share about the effectiveness of your platform? Every household is unique. Whether it's a two-parent or one parent home, chances are those parents work full-time jobs. Not all households have individuals actively present to help kids master the skills students need to make it in the real world. Brainly solves this ongoing problem for students according to Borkowski. We've surveyed more than 20,000 students worldwide to see how young learners seek help when they're studying or completing homework. Unfortunately, about 60% of students said their family members do not or cannot help them in these areas. This is why we created an online learning environment where students can interact with other students to improve their knowledge." Another study we recently conducted sought to understand how Brainly helps students learn. We found that 77% of our users improved their grades by asking and answering questions on Brainly, while 82% of users reported that after asking and answering questions on Brainly they felt that their learning outcomes had improved About Brainly Brainly technology gives students free access to more resources (other students) all over the world, making it easier to find the answers they need. In return, they get the opportunity to help other students on their best topics. Advertisement Brainly focuses on three core values: stay curious, lend a hand, and strive for better. Focusing on these three core values promotes and increases education engagement, interest, and drive for its users. Brainly is changing the way students learn by giving old-school ideas an overdue update. "The one thing all humans share is that we all inhabit the same limited amount of real estate, which is planet earth." Celebrated Danish architect Bjarke Ingels discusses an ultra local approach to architecture in a global world. The beauty of the human project has always been its adaptability, the result of which is a highly differentiated catalogue of possible ways of living: "Each city becomes a very specific experiment in how to inhabit this particular part of the planet for this particular group of people," Ingels says, proposing that we use this "catalogue of global best practice" as inspiration for building better, more sustainable architecture and cities. While modernist architecture tried to create one style of building to fit all humans, today's architecture can help us learn from each other and adapt solutions from one environment to another - such as the Copenhagen bike paths that were exported to Australia. Advertisement Ingels also discusses the Anthropocene, the current geological era in which humans are the main actors on the environment, causing massive ecological and social change. "Once you've accepted that there is no way we can be here without having a very significant influence on our planet we just have to take it as a positive," says Bjarke Ingels and proposes to "design our world so that we have positive social and environmental side effects." Bjarke Ingels (b. 1974) is a renowned Danish architect and founding partner of BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group - located in Copenhagen and New York. In 2013 BIG was chosen to redesign the Smithsonian, the world's largest museum and research complex in Washington, a project which will be implemented over a period of 20 years. His projects include The Mountain, a residential complex in Copenhagen, and the innovative Danish Maritime Museum in Elsinore. In 2004 he received the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale and the Danish Crown Prince's Culture Prize in 2011. Moreover, BIG received Architizer's Firm of the Year Award in 2014. Bjarke Ingels was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner in New York in October 2016. Camera: Rasmus Quistgaard Edited by: Klaus Elmer Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2016 Jim Chanos, Founder and Managing Partner of Kynikos Associates LP speaks at the Reuters Global Investment Outlook summit in New York, November 19, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS) *This post originally appeared on the blog of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Milwaukee-born short-seller Jim Chanos, founder and managing partner of New York-based Kynikos Associates, teaches University of Wisconsin and Yale business students about corporate fraud. During his life and career, he has witnessed seismic shifts in economic thinking and the relationship between labor and capital. Chanos shares his thoughts on the world emerging from the election of Donald Trump and the tumultuous political events of 2016. Lynn Parramore: Leading up to the election of Trump, we had eight years of Obama, and before that, eight years of Bush. Before we get to the president-elect, how do you assess the records of those past presidents in terms of basic policing of markets and corporate fraud? Advertisement Jim Chanos: Bush was the MBA president who was going to be pro-business, cut taxes, and deregulate. Meanwhile, he had two recessions on his watch, less employment than when he started, and two bear markets in the stock market --probably the worst president for business since Herbert Hoover. The business guy! Yet, he did tighten up the Justice Department and go after corporate crime. The Ashcroft Justice Department, as bad as it was in lots of other things, went after corporate fraud and accounting fraud, criminally. In 2002, we got Sarbanes-Oxley to curb fraud. I don't know that all this was Bush's predilection -- remember, his biggest supporter was Enron. But because of Enron and the other dot-com era scandals, he got backed into a corner to go hard on them. I've joked that the only person who put more corporate executives in jail than George W. Bush was his father during the Savings and Loan Crisis. On these issues, I'd rather have Bush any day of the week than Obama. Both Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer of Obama's Justice Department said in TV interviews and testimony that they factored in non-judicial aspects as to whether to mount prosecutions. I think that this had political costs to the Democrats. The crony capitalism still bothers people -- the idea that Wall Street got off scot-free and they are still struggling. That lack of justice applied equally under the law was corrosive, not necessarily for Obama personally, but certainly for the party following him. Advertisement LP: How do you see a Trump presidency in this light? JC: You and I have talked about how it has become a cost calculus for lots of corporations and financial institutions to cheat. "If I get caught," they say, "I'm just going to pay a fine." How does this change with new faces in Washington? You still have this very pro-corporate group on Capitol Hill whose main bailiwick, in my opinion, is to protect the corporate class and the very wealthy. You've got what ostensibly is a proto-populist in the White House with a cabinet that is a melange of different types, so who knows? In my overall view, stuff happens to change people. If we go back to Bill Clinton, his "Putting People First" manifesto in '92 was quite left-of-center, but he didn't govern that way. If you look at things like NAFTA, Welfare reform, and cutting capital gains taxes -- well, in many ways, Ronald Reagan would have been proud of him. Events conspire to derail our perceptions of presidents. When we look at their platforms, we think we know where things are headed. But in modern times, the only two presidents that I can think of who really got their ideas and platforms enacted wholesale were FDR and Reagan. Everybody else has gotten compromised, or has had events overwhelm them. LP: What do you make of the expectations of the economy under Trump? JC: I worry about the heightened expectations from the people who voted for him thinking that he's their savior. That's what scares me -- unmet expectations. For the swing voter in the Midwest who voted for this guy because he thinks coal mines are coming back or the plants are going to reopen -- it's not going to happen. LP: What about the rise in bank stocks since the election? Are banks anticipating deregulation? JC: Almost all stocks are going up, mostly because of the belief of lower taxation. But after Obama's election, most stocks went down and kept doing down until the following March -- and then they tripled! So I wouldn't read a lot into the first month or two. Advertisement It could be that banks are anticipating deregulation, but so what? Deregulated to what end? They're still going to have the capital requirements, which are international. Putting capital standards on them is the biggest way in which they were regulated. In the bigger picture, if you think this is an uncertain presidency and we're not quite sure where he's going and how events will conspire, it's not that important to get too worked up because things will happen and you'll have to react. If, however, this is a once-in-a-fifty-year change in global thoughts about capitalism, then you have to pay attention. LP: If this is a once-in-fifty-year change, what's at stake? JC: Part of my view is that in the 1930s, we rejected the individuality of the '20s and before. After the crash and the Depression, we finally put the corporate class and bankers to the sidelines. Whether it was Keynesianism or the New Deal in the West, or state fascism or the advent of Stalinism, you saw more government control over the economy. This was good for workers and large governments. It was more nationalistic and led, obviously, to the next conflict. But the rise of government planning and government involvement was good for nominal GDPs. It was not good for the asset-holding classes--stocks and bonds did terribly over that period, right? You wanted to be a worker, you wanted to be labor, not capital. The period from the late 1970s to 1980 changed all that. You had Thatcher and the U.K. and Reagan in the U.S. Mao died in 1976, the Solidarity movement in Poland began in 1978, and the Soviet Union peaked in power in 1979. You saw that the pendulum had gone too far and now we're going to cut taxes on capital, we're going to be more globalistic, and trade was going to improve. Since then, capital has risen and assets have done better than labor. Taxes have been light on financial assets and heavy on labor. Everything was reversed on its head. If we look at the events of 2016 -- Brexit, the Italian referendum, Trump, and the rise of nationalist China -- are these the harbingers of something bigger? Or are they just a coincidence? The ground seems to be fertile for things to change globally. If so, does this give rise to a more nationalistic, protectionist, statist scenario? Are labor prices going to go up again? Are we going to tax capital and emphasize wages? Advertisement We'll see.... LP: Going back to Trump's promise to bring jobs back to the U.S. -- can the government even do that? JC: In the case of the '30s, you had massive public works spending and government spending, so you created construction workers. But on that front, we're not going to compete anymore, as the Carrier guy said. Mexican labor is $3 an hour. No amount of retraining for a lower-skilled assembly job is going to change that. The only thing that will replace that Mexican worker himself is a robot. And a robot is infinitely cheaper than even the cheapest labor. Surveys show that there are jobs open in the economy, but there's just not a skill level to fill all of them. Our problem is the displacement in things like mining, assembly, low-end manufacturing - that's where the job losses have occurred. It is just very hard under almost any scenario no matter what your politics are to see where those jobs are going to come back. To the extent that you have wholesale, large, construction-like projects, then you will put people to work at relatively high rates, but the jobs are episodic and not necessarily career paths. When I was making $14 an hour working steel in Milwaukee in the summers in college, a steel worker could basically say, "all right, as long as I understand that I'm going to work in this factory, I can have a nice living for my family." Those jobs are gone. The plants closed. So the whole idea that someone can now say, "I can work in the Carrier plant for $20 an hour and be assured of a job for life and security and put my kids through college" -- that doesn't exist anymore. That's where the problem and discontent will come -- when you've sold that dream and it doesn't happen. In that scenario, Trump begins to have a pretty short honeymoon. LP: You've long been linked with China. What do you make of the positions of China and the U.S. in the international economy, and how do you think they're changing? Advertisement JC: To me, the rise of Xi Jinping is a big event still underestimated in the global political economy. He is more of a personality than either Deng Xiaoping or Mao Zedong, certainly higher in stature internally than his predecessors. He is not first among equals in the Politburo Standing Committee -- he's first. This goes along with the theory about the rise of nationalists such at Putin in Russia. Xi Jinping is also a nationalist. He talks about the China Dream, China getting back to past glories, and not exporting communism. What you would have heard Mao say. He's a member the Chinese Communist Party, but the Party exists now as a political apparatus, not an ideology. China would not have the type of capitalism it has today if this were not the case. So these are not Marxist-Leninists, but rather just a fantastic single party in control. We have to understand it in that light. China is increasingly a geostrategic rival. In the past, China looked toward protecting what it had -- making claims on Taiwan and Tibet and ancillary areas, but the Chinese were really content not to compete in the global Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. Now we have this multi-polar world, and China sees itself clearly as the prime actor in the Pacific willing to fill any vacuum that the United States begins to pull away from. Xi Jinping comes in and immediately he rewrites the passport maps. He sets the air traffic and extends the air defense zones. More ominously, he begins to militarize the South China Sea, and puts military bases on the islands, which alarms pretty much everybody. (And yet if you look at a map of the Pacific, the only country that really needs to traverse the South China Sea is China itself --oil going from the Middle East to Japan goes around it. The South China Sea is symbolic more than it is geostrategic). I think, however, that Trump has decided that China makes a convenient media punching bag. You can claim that China took your jobs and China is a bogeyman. It seems to me that president-elect Trump does best when he has someone to fight against. However, the broader issue will be that foreign policy and national security events have a whole different dynamic than beating up on a defense contractor for an air conditioning plant. Advertisement What will be the ramifications? How will China react? What do you do about countries like the Philippines that are in the middle -- a country that has elected its own interesting president, someone who seems to want to embrace China after decades of being staunchly a U.S. ally? What does this do for Japan? Japan itself has a nationalist, Shinzo Abe, who wants to increase military spending and take off the yoke of the Japanese constitution block on an expanded military. There are many questions, but whatever you might think, China and Japan, while big trading partners, are not the best of friends in that neighborhood. Finally you've got the wacky guy in North Korea. What's he going to do? This whole area just keeps quietly but relentlessly getting to be more dangerous. I think that at some point in the first four years of the Trump administration, the Pacific is going to heat up again. People are talking about starting a trade war with China but they haven't really thought it through, because if you talk to corporate execs in the United States, they're sort of quietly terrified. Often the supply chain, even in U.S. manufacturing, relies on parts from Mexico and China coming in. We are pretty interconnected. Lots of businesses, and workers, too, will get disrupted in ways we can't even think of in a trade war. There's a reason why people studied the 1930s with the tariff walls that went up and the disruptions that happened. It's negative for growth. So stay tuned, it's going to be interesting. LP: To turn to Europe, you're a Greek-American, and you have been critical of the Eurozone's attitude toward Greece. What do you make of the situation there now? Advertisement JC: The key issues for Greece now revolve around two entities that are not Greek. First you have the EU as a whole. We continue to have these bombshells, like the Italian referendum and Brexit -- and you've also got elections coming up elsewhere in 2017. I think Greece was sort of the Spanish Civil War to what's about to be the EU's WWII in that it was the opening preview of all of the problems that are going to come to the fore if Catalonia wants to become independent, if Italy wants to leave, if France wants to leave. The EU is being held together by chewing gum and string right now. With this rise of nationalism -- if that's what it is and it continues -- the EU is going to find itself increasingly a victim of people wanting self-determination in northern Europe. That's the first thing. Second is something I'm much more concerned about which nobody's paying attention to, and that's the continued rise of Erdogan in Turkey. He has not only consolidated his power through a series of purges --thousands and thousands of journalists and academics have been thrown in prison since the aborted coup -- but increasingly he is becoming more militant and Turkey is becoming a pro-Islamic state that is part of NATO. He's throwing wild monkey wrenches into the whole Middle Eastern situation by making claims on land that was owned by the Ottomans, pre-WWI, like modern-day Iraq, modern-day Syria, and modern-day Greece and Bulgaria. He's warned the EU that he will open Turkey's borders to undocumented immigrants if EU membership talks are frozen. Like Xi Jinping, he's putting out these old maps and saying: this is our real land. Erdogan is yet another nationalist. Poor Greece is at the crossroads of all these seismic events and Ottoman Empire II. You've got the possible weakening or dissolution of the EU, and Greek debt problems are about tenth on the list of issues in that region. They're going to struggle, no doubt about it. Every time the Greek economy starts to show some green shoots, it seems to stall and fall right back down again. Advertisement LP: What do you hope might happen in this emerging world? JC: This is the tough thing about being in the financial markets. You can have opinions on all this stuff and either get it wrong or have it not matter. First, I hope our system of free trade holds up. That's one thing I believe in fervently. The evidence seems to be that a rise of tariffs and trade walls and barriers will be bad for global growth. Given the debt overhang that's out there, which is relentless, the ability of economies to service debts in a global trade war will be greatly curtailed, so I'm clearly watching that. I also continue to be concerned, on a stand-alone basis, with the giant debt bubble occurring in China. It has done nothing but just gotten bigger since you and I last sat down. Despite all the talk of reform, there really hasn't been any. The Chinese are more reliant on the state than ever -- on state lending and state banks. The debt continues to grow at twice the rate of growth, and now the currency is depreciating. We're getting a situation where the Chinese economy is still a very important driver of global growth, but increasingly it is using the old methods that the Chinese themselves said only a few years ago that they would have to change. But they can't, because every time they try, the economy slows too fast. China continues to be half of the demand for global commodities. It basically supports Africa and countries like Australia and Brazil. Almost 40 percent of global GDP is either China or commodity-exporting countries whose prime market is China. That's considerable. So we have to look not only at China's role with us, but China's role on its own because it is such a driver for global growth, Chinese growth represents 1 point of the 3 percent GDP growth, so if China were not growing at all, we'd be at 2 percent. Doesn't sound like a lot but it is. We have to keep our eye on what's going on there. A global trade war would probably send China into a really steep recession. Advertisement How would an average worker navigate a rising trade barrier globally? It's scary. If we look back at the '30s template, one major outlet was, of course, a giant arms race. By the late '30s, you had the whole world realizing the threats of fascism and rearming rapidly. Keynesian government spending was what pulled up the economies; it just had some really bad repercussions from 1939-45. But if we get into any kind of global arms race with China, either conventionally or otherwise, that would be Reagan-like. I don't know what the numbers would mean in terms of employment, but you would take a lot of manufacturing people and turn them to making other things. LP: How do you rate the current moment with big periods of change you've seen in your lifetime? JC: I had this odd personal journey from being a union pipefitter and boilermaker as a college student -- I made more money in two-and-a-half months making steel than I did my first year on Wall Street. I went from being a product of the industrial Midwest and putting myself through college by working in a steel mill, to being the beneficiary of the Reagan-Thatcher era. I saw the world change, but I didn't really understand until years later what an important period the late '70s/early '80s was (and a great period for music, by the way!). If we're in one of those periods now, if 2016 is like 1932 or 1979 -- then you not only have to change your portfolio, you have to change your lifestyle. That's one of the things we've been telling clients. If this is a major shift to populism, nationalism, greater state involvement, and less globalism, then you really have to rethink almost everything in your life. Millions of people take to the streets to demand the impeachment of the first woman to be elected president in the country's history. Protesters condemn corruption scandals involving the largest national companies. The leading party loses support, and has its structure shaken. The impeachment process, the second in the country's young democracy, casts shadows over the president's political mentor, who is considered by a large segment of society to be one of the greatest leaders the country has ever had. The scenario outlined above could represent either Brazil or South Korea in 2016. Like Dilma Rousseff, Park Geun-hye has been impeached by parliament. The ousted Korean president awaits trial, which is expected to take place in the beginning of 2017, while the unpopular Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn serves as acting president. Advertisement There are significant differences in the political profiles of both former leaders. While Dilma took part in the guerrilla movement against the Brazilian military dictatorship, Park is the daughter of general Park Chung-hee, the dictator who ruled South Korea for almost 20 years. Park was elected amid nostalgia for the authoritarian period, when the country experienced rapid economic development. Her campaign also took advantage of her dramatic personal history -- her father was killed by the head of the secret service as part of an attempt to overthrow the government, and her mother was killed by North Korea supporters. In Brazil, the impeachment was part of a longer crisis, which included the deterioration of the economy and the rise in fiscal imbalance over Dilma's first term, the tense 2014 presidential elections, and the unfolding Operation Car Wash investigation into the corruption scandal at the state-run oil company Petrobras. The president gradually lost her popularity, and conflicts with her allies made her lose the support of the majority in congress. Although it is still early to draw solid conclusions about South Korean politics, the country's general mood is one of satisfaction, unlike in Brazil. Dilma's impeachment was prompted by "fiscal maneuvers," which are basically illegal accounting maneuvers to hide the true size of public debt. The protests against the president were motivated by the corruption scandal and dissatisfaction with her economic policy. In South Korea, Park's impeachment started with her relationship with the businesswoman Choi Soon-sil, her childhood friend, and the influence that Soon-sil had over the presidential decisions. Korean tabloids suggested that this scenario resembled more closely Tsarist Russia and Rasputin than the image of a modern globalized state that South Korea tries to convey. Choi Soon-sil's father was the leader of a the cult-like Church of Eternal Life, which combines elements of Christianity, Buddhism and shamanic rituals. After the murder of General Park's wife, he became extremely conservative, and turned to the Choi family for spiritual guidance. Following the dictator's death, the influence that the Choi family had over the young Park Geun-hye grew stronger. As she gained political power, this influence generated a network of favors and suspicious businesses. In 2016 the press accessed a tablet that contained conversations between Park and Choi, and they found out that the businesswoman had access to classified official documents and controlled several aspects of the president's life, including her speeches, wardrobe choices, and the events she appeared at. The image of Park as a puppet in a pagan cult spread rapidly across the country. Investigations proved that Park and Choi kept suspicious relations with the chaebol, the large Korean family businesses. The presidents of companies such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai and Lotte came before parliament to testify to a web of corrupt deals that the president and her friend had orchestrated. For example, Choi's daughter used her family's political power to graduate from one of the country's most prestigious colleges despite attending less than half the mandatory classes and without sitting for the necessary exams. Advertisement Korean feminist groups have pointed out that the opposition to Park was not due to her gender, but rather to her political actions. Amid extreme polarization and the heated debate, many Brazilians who were opposed to Dilma Rousseff's presidency spouted sexist statements targeted at the president. It is not possible to say that gender issues have been central to her impeachment, but they clearly surfaced in the protests, unlike what happened during the impeachment of Fernando Collor, for instance. Considering that patriarchy is still prevalent in South Korea, gender issues were also strongly present during the protests. Many people called Park a "princess disconnected from reality" and considered the fact that she was single to be immoral. However, Korean feminist groups have pointed out that the opposition to Park was not due to her gender, but rather to her political actions. The two presidents had very different reactions to their impeachment. Dilma called it a coup, and she still has many supporters. Park, on the other hand, apologized to the nation, acknowledging part of the accusations against her and, "with a heavy heart," accepted whatever destiny the parliament decided for her. Dilma's impeachment didn't solve the Brazilian political crisis. Currently at stake is the party system that had been built since Brazil's redemocratization. Advertisement The ongoing corruption scandals, the attempts by the congressmen to protect the politicians involved and the deepening of the recession are serious concerns of the Brazilian population amid the controversial measures proposed by president Temer, such as freezing public expenditures for 20 years and a new social security reform. This year's municipal elections -- the first after the impeachment -- had a devastating impact on the Workers' Party, which was expelled from the largest cities. Further, smaller parties were successful in some state capitals, and the PMDB faced significant defeats -- which is all indicative of a period of high instability until the next presidential election. Although it is still early to draw solid conclusions about South Korean politics, the country's general mood is one of satisfaction, unlike in Brazil, where there is sizeable opposition to the impeachment. The Korean conservative party, Saenuri, lost popular support and the Democratic Party, DPK, gained momentum and will probably go on to win the 2017 elections. The current debate in South Korea is over the unclear relations between the private and public sectors, which go back to the military period. How can they change these structures? Mark Zeff has a passion for life and design. The South African Native came to New York City for vacation in 1984 and after being seduced by the Big Apple, has never left. Educated in the UK at the Chelsea Design School, Zeff began his U.S. design career at the Walker Group. By age 26 he opened his own firm that specialized in designing residential luxury interiors in NYC and in the Hamptons. Among his loyal clients are actors Hilary Swank and Gabriel Byrne, jewelry designer Alexis Bittar, and famed photographer Annie Lebowitz. In a desire to expand his design prowess, Zeff also managed to make his mark on the hospitality industry. He's designed several restaurants for Jeffrey Chodorow including Social Hollywood, he was also responsible for the complete renovation and redesign of the the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for Morgan's Group, the Sense Spa at the Carlyle, a Rosewood Hotel and The Red Cat restaurant in New York City. Today, his firm MARKZEFF works on a global scale with international projects such as the Seafire restaurant in the Cayman Islands to Hotel Van Zandt in Austin, TX, the latter of the two created for Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants. He's created the Canopy brand for Hilton Worldwide and is designing at least a dozen of these hotels. What gets him really excited these days are his designs for the first Flagship Virgin Hotel in New York City's Nomad District for Sir Richard Branson. Advertisement With all this he still shows no signs of slowing down in his unparalleled quest to redefine the meaning of luxury lifestyle for how people live today. So it came as no surprise that Zeff wanted to begin a new venture offering great style at a fair price, and so the BLACKBARN brand was born. The brand began with the BLACKBARN house, a structure that Zeff and his wife built in the Hamptons that is in line with the designer's belief in honest architecture and natural aesthetics. While the exterior is unassuming and a bit mysterious in its simplicity, the inside is full of texture, color, and objects, that are meaningful to Mark and Kristen. The home is at once industrial, artful, subtle, refined, personal, and understated; it is with this mixture that they sought to expand this idea through a retail experience. The shop is the latest iteration of Mark and Kristen Zeff's BLACKBARN lifestyle brand ( https://www.blackbarnshop.com/ ) BLACKBARN shop - Photo by Eric Laignel BLACKBARN Showroom - Photo by Eric Laignel Mark and Kristen (a former marketing executive) saw a void in the market for an emporium-meets-atelier, which offers not only found and designed items but also custom design services. Clients and designers will be able to buy found objects, art, and furniture, BLACKBARN home products, as well as custom designed items. "The goal is for our clients to find beautiful found and new objects, but also be able to consult with one of our in-house designers to create a custom kitchen, dining table, light fixture, or anything else you might need for the home," explains Zeff. From the moment you enter BLACKBARN Shop, you feel like you have arrived somewhere really different -- housed inside a former 1920's era industrial warehouse -- you are drawn inside this stunning and enormous 3,000 sq. ft light-filled space with floor to ceiling windows, exposing this cabinet of curiosities. Utilizing items found on their extensive travels as the baseline for the collection on display, they have also collaborated and commissioned artists both locally and from places such as Morocco, Bali, South Africa, Spain, Portugal and Italy to create pieces for the shop. In addition, from Mark's native South Africa, there are antique Cape Dutch farmhouse furniture and objects, as well as handwoven baskets made by the Cape Town Society for the Blind. Balinese ceremonial necklaces made of cowry shells are displayed as objet d'art, and vintage items from Paris personally selected by Mark and Kristen. Advertisement Congolese Bangles - Photo by Daniel B. Johnson (BLACKBARN Shop) Moroccan Pottery-- Photo by Daniel B. Johnson (BLACKBARN Shop) Balinese Tribal Necklace -- Photo by Daniel B. Johnson (BLACKBARN Shop) Painted South African Basket - Photo by Daniel B. Johnson Earlier this month, I accompanied my wife on her work trip to Cambodia. Having never visited Southeast Asia (except two brief visits to Singapore), I was excited about traveling to a country known for being home to the world's largest existing Hindu structure. Upon my arrival in Siem Reap, once the seat of the Khmer Empire, the Hindu iconography in the Buddhist kingdom was striking. Khmer versions of Ganesha and Hanuman were present throughout the city, and both the Ramayana (known as the Reamker in Cambodia) and Mahabharata loomed large in popular imagery. In Angkor Wat, the 12th century Hindu temple structure that draws millions every year, Hindu deities loomed larger than life, including a statue of Vishnu at the entrance now worshipped as a Buddhist shrine. As we explored the Hindu temples (some of which had become Buddhist structures during the reign of Jayavarman VII in the latter 12th century CE), I was drawn to the level of devotion with which the structures were built and how they were inscribed. Additionally, as a Tamil, I was drawn to the similarities between the ancient Khmer script (which has roots in Southern India) and Tamil. Advertisement What makes Cambodia so interesting is that it is a country that has held strongly to its Buddhist identity for nearly 700 years, transitioning from Mahayana Buddhism to Theravada Buddhism following Jayavarman VII's reign. In fact, many of Cambodia's historical institutions mark "the beginning" of Khmer history with its development into a society that patronized Buddhism. Yet, so much of Cambodia's cultural heritage - and a lot of its tourism dollars - are devoted to an era in which Hinduism was either the dominant religious tradition, co-worshipped with Buddhism, or patronized by Khmer rulers. Even at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, much is made about a sword believed to have been given to the ancestors of the royal family by the Hindu deity Indra. At the national museum, the various forms of Hindu divinity dominate exhibit galleries, while visitors are unable to tell between the multi-armed form of Buddha (Lokeshvara) and Vishnu. The reason? The statues were likely worshipped as both at different periods of Khmer history. Additionally, Cambodia has celebrated the return of figures from the Ramayana that were looted from the country in the years during and after French colonization. Today, one of the challenges Cambodia faces is maintaining that rich history amidst pressure to modernize (and cater to a growing number of expatriate visitors) and investment from countries such as China, which has invested millions into highlight Cambodia's Chinese Buddhist history. As such, Cambodia's continued willingness to preserve its Hindu heritage will depend largely upon support from the global Hindu community, which might not be aware of the extent to which Hinduism influenced Southeast Asia. Even today, names such as Devi, Vidya, Rama, and Krishna are popular among Cambodians, reflecting an interesting absorption of Hinduism into Buddhist culture. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks about the election of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election in Washington, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts As we approach the end of the year, Republicans are looking forward to filling the many judicial vacancies -- especially the Garland vacancy on the Supreme Court -- left at the end of Barack Obama's presidency. We should never forget why there are so many vacancies, because that affects how the Senate should act with regard to President Trump's nominees. Unfortunately, over the course of Obama's presidency, Senate Republicans changed the playbook. They refused to consider a Supreme Court nominee, and they extended their partisan fights over nominees to include district court nominees, who had generally not found themselves victims to such partisan mistreatment before. On the Supreme Court, never before has the Senate refused to take any action whatsoever to consider a president's nominee to fill an existing Supreme Court vacancy. There is no precedent for Americans to be forced to wait a year or more for the next president to fill a sudden, unexpected vacancy on the nation's highest court, simply because it was an election year when the justice passed away. In fact, it is extremely rare for a Supreme Court justice to die in office at all, let alone in an election year. Before Justice Scalia, the last election-year death on the Court was in January of 1916, when Justice Joseph Lamar died. President Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to fill the vacancy, and the Senate confirmed him that June, just five months after the vacancy opened. Of course, nowhere in the Constitution does it say that any of the president's constitutional powers or obligations dissipate a year before the end of his term. President Obama did his job by nominating Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Advertisement But Republicans failed to do theirs. And because they ignored their constitutionally-defined duties and robbed President Obama and the American people of a Supreme Court nominee, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to the Garland seat, as well as his other Supreme Court nominees, will be held to a very high standard. Just as President Obama nominated a consensus nominee, no one short of a consensus nominee will be acceptable from Trump. As in so many areas in the Trump era, violations of democratic norms cannot be rewarded if we want to maintain our democracy. On the lower courts as well, Republicans have been negligent in failing to fill court vacancies. As we've shown, while Democrats in 2007-2008 fulfilled their responsibility to confirm circuit and district court judges, Republicans in 2015-2016 not only confirmed judges at a sluggish pace, they let judicial emergencies (an official designation in which judges are so swamped that justice is delayed) rapidly rise. As a distraction, GOP leaders often trumpet that the number of confirmations under Bush and Obama are about the same. But they leave out vital information needed for that statistic to have any meaning because they do not mention how many vacancies needed to be filled. Obama had nearly twice as many judges confirmed as Eisenhower, but that doesn't mean Eisenhower's nominees were horribly obstructed; the comparison is meaningless without knowing that Ike had hundreds fewer vacancies to fill than Obama. While Obama hasn't had hundreds more to fill, he has had many more than Bush. Equal numerators mean nothing without knowing the denominators. Advertisement Senate Republicans and their cheerleaders also like to point out the number of vacancies without nominees. That is quite a "don't look at the man behind the curtain" distraction. Many of those vacancies are unfilled because the White House has been bending over backward to find moderate, qualified nominees without an ideological agenda who home-state Republican senators will agree to (since they have unilateral power under Senate practice to block lower court nominees from their states). And what is it that they don't want you to see? It's the extraordinarily high number of circuit and district court nominees (23) who have been fully vetted by the Judiciary Committee but are languishing on the Senate floor because Mitch McConnell refused to allow a vote on them unless nominees favored by GOP senators were allowed to skip in line and move ahead of other nominees, without any guarantee that those skipped nominees would get a vote. Almost all 23 of these men and women were unopposed in committee, and all had the support of their home state senators. But the overwhelming majority were left waiting on the floor for more than half a year, and four could have been confirmed more than a year ago. That's hardly treating nominees fairly. Indeed, the fact that McConnell refused to let these vacancies be filled by qualified nominees with bipartisan support and no ideological agenda makes one wonder why McConnell was so insistent on keeping these vacancies open. It makes suspect anyone who Trump nominates to fill those vacancies. By Jody Sadornas, The Open Hands Initiative In our first blog post in this Post-Conflict Colombia & Public Health project series, we shared our hopes for a brighter future in 2016. While the year has indeed been a tumultuous one, in some parts of the world there have been bright spots. Just weeks ago, the Colombian Congress approved a revised peace accord between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, formally ending more than 50 years of armed conflict and earning Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, the Nobel Peace Prize. For the more than six million Colombians who have been working to rebuild their lives since being forcibly displaced, the peace deal adds momentum to their efforts in securing greater recognition and realization of basic rights, such as access to healthcare and education services, infrastructure such as roads and sanitation systems, and the rights to the land they live on. Advertisement Beyond the two leading negotiating parties, the voice of Colombia's internally displaced is one that can no longer be ignored. A stronger and more prosperous Colombia calls for addressing the grievances of those forced from their homes and locked out of Colombia's economic and social gains. Earlier this month, with our partner, the University of Antioquia's School of Medicine, we hosted a photo exhibit and panel discussion, Caras de Granizal (Faces of Granizal) that focused on health, displacement, and diplomacy through the perspective of the Granizal community, Colombia's second largest community of internally displaced persons and also one of its poorest. Through the event at the Modern Museum of Art of Medellin, we hoped to provide a public forum and platform for community members to share their stories about their journey to peace, while providing an opportunity to connect viewers to the community by showcasing the values and hopes that are common to us all: good health, safe neighborhoods, participation in political processes, and opportunity. Convening members of multilateral organizations, regional and local governments, academia, private and nonprofit sectors, and the media, we hoped to build solidarity among these various entities to bring about long-term commitment in ensuring Granizal and communities like it receive the public benefits, protection, and opportunities they are entitled to as Colombian citizens. Our panelists included Victor de Currea Lugo, a doctor, professor and journalist known for his work on human rights and armed conflict, and Carlos Ivan Lopera, Regional Coordinator for the United Nations Development Program. Advertisement As Dr. Lugo shared, "Peace is just the beginning. Ensuring the viability of the Peace Agreements will call for the active participation of all Colombians. Empowering citizens to be active participants in their society will require good health. As doctors then, we play an important role in enabling civic participation. Health, in many ways, can be seen as more than a fundamental human right, but a political one as well." In addition to Caras de Granizal, another outcome of our Post-Conflict Colombia and Public Health Project included the expansion of the community center in Altos de Oriente, which serves as a health clinic, learning center, internet cafe, and a recreational space for children. Finally, as a result of the January collaboration, several other seeds have been planted for cross-cultural cooperation, including an inter-institutional effort in census mapping of the region, as well as one of our American fellows, Katrina Keegan, spending her 2016 summer in Medellin to work alongside Dr. Jaime Gomez and the Granizal community. Katrina shares, "Transformative experiences like the one I had in January are defined the people you share it with. I could not be more grateful for my Colombian colleagues, who have since become some of my dearest friends, and for my dedicated professors, who have offered invaluable support and mentorship throughout this journey. Likewise, I'm honored to be working with members of the Granizal community, whose contagious optimism and vibrant personalities shine even in the face of adversity. Such relationships serve as potent reminders that cross-cultural exchange, mutual understanding, and a shared mission are powerful agents of long-lasting positive change." Working across cultures with our friends in Colombia provides critical learning opportunities on how to better address public health issues for vulnerable populations, both in Colombia and in the United States. It also helps cultivate trusting international friendships that can help create a healthier and more prosperous world for everyone. Advertisement In this period of American history, we hope that more private citizens and organizations will continue to reach out and build those connections between the United States and our friends across the globe. We have so much to learn and share with one another. Our hope for 2017 is that we all can continue to extend an open hand of friendship regardless of culture, language, religion or policy differences. For more on the Caras de Granizal exhibit or to see it in person in the United States, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to find out when and where it will debut. You can also subscribe to our Newsletter for the latest updates from Open Hands Initiative. This article reflects an outcome of the "Post-Conflict Colombia and Public Health" project. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the University of Antioquia or Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. PhotosTop: Granizal community leader reflects on exhibit. Middle: Our panelists included Carlos Ivan Lopera, Regional Coordinator for the United Nations Development Program, and Victor de Currea Lugo, a doctor, professor and journalist known for his work on human rights and armed conflict. Bottom: Student Ambassador Katrina Keegan provides de-worming medication to young Granizal community members during our health fair. Advertisement The idea of women helping other women succeed - both personally and professionally - is not a new way of thinking in Silicon Valley. According to AngelList, San Francisco is home to 15,233 startups. In 2015, it was noted that 24 percent of startups in San Francisco were launched by female founders. It's also been mentioned by SheEO that only 4 percent of venture capital goes to women led-companies. Advertisement Fortunately, women have the power to create change. Four women in particular have come up with unique and creative ways to help women everywhere succeed in leadership and tech positions. Here is what these inspiring women are doing: Adriana Gascoigne, Founder/CEO of Girls in Tech Adriana Gascoigne founded Girls in Tech (GIT) in 2007 to create a supportive network designed to help women advance their careers in STEM related fields. Since it's founding, Girls in Tech has taken a unique approach to encouraging women entrepreneurship and involvement in tech. This non-profit is committed to providing tangible results for women, which is accomplished through bootcamps, hackathons, pitch competitions in front of investors, virtual classrooms and more. For example, Girls in Tech's AMPLIFY Women's Pitch Night is an annual event dedicated to female-founded startups. AMPLIFY took place this year in San Francisco on November 16th and featured 10 startup finalists along with several keynote speakers. The female founder-only pitch competition is the largest in the world and brings together top technology leaders, entrepreneurs and investors. Advertisement "Many technology companies took a great first step by releasing their internal diversity figures, which only made it more apparent for the need of opportunities and exposure for women working in technology," said Adriana. "With Amplify, women don't have to wait for companies to do the right thing; they can be their own companies and leaders. We're proud to spearhead Amplify where they will be able to network with top investors and business leaders in their company's early growth stage." The winner of AMPLIFY this year was Pandia Health, a company that has designed a revolutionary way for women to receive birth control online. Through regular events like AMPLIFY, Girls in Tech has created a unique way of helping women-led companies and women in tech succeed in tangible ways. Vicki Saunders, Founder of SheEO Vicki Saunders is the founder of SheEO, a two-decade long initiative aimed at transforming the way in which we support, celebrate and finance female entrepreneurs. By taking a unique approach to raising capital for women-led ventures, SheEO has created a new economy for women entrepreneurs. The organization raises a $1M fund within active SheEO communities. This money is raised through 1,000 women committed to contributing $1,100 each to invest in a small number of women-led ventures. The SheEO community is made up of entrepreneurs, public leaders, executives and everyday citizens. The women who become members of the SheEO community are called "activators" because they are activating money, capital, buying power and experiences. Advertisement This title makes sense, as SheEO has noted that women make 80 percent of purchasing decisions. However, only 4 percent of venture capital goes to women. Yet emerging data shows that women investors better understand women-led ventures, and that these ventures perform better when funded by other women. "We are so much more than we think we can be. And we won't become our potential until we come together and lift one another up. We are social beings. We need each other in order to thrive. Imagine how you would dream differently if you were surrounded by radically generous women committed to supporting you," Vicki Saunders wrote in a recent Medium post. Earlier this year, a SheEO activator in Toronto persuaded 500 women to contribute $1,000 each. Saunders isn't stopping there though. Most recently, Saunders started engaging women in San Francisco and Denver. Of course, building communities in more cities will take many years, but Saunders appears to be up for the challenge. If you want to become involved with SheEO, the SheEO Activator portal is open for women who wish to activate (there will be a total of 500 activators across the San Francisco Bay Area, LA and Colorado). Each activator will be able to vote for 5 finalists in January. Jillian Manus, Managing Partner at Structure Capital Words of encouragement can go a long way, a point proven by Jillian Manus, venture capitalist and inspiring startup mentor for female founders. Advertisement Jillian recently spoke at the Women's Entrepreneurship Day (WED) conference in San Francisco. She explained how "women need to get out of their own way" and learn to believe in themselves in order to succeed - both on a personal and professional level. "If you believe in yourself, then people will believe in you. Your personal path and personal currency is what you have to establish before the professional piece can reach its full potential. I mentor a lot of women and female founders to help them learn how to believe in themselves," said Jillian. By acting as a mentor, Jillian's mission is to help women reach their full potential so they can accomplish their goals. Her advice for women wanting to "get out of their own way" is to be truthful, not to whine or complain, and to take responsibility for their actions. "Be truthful and honest with yourself. I used to write down 3 things that I needed to work on. At one point, I wrote down 3 things that were stopping me from succeeding, which were the most self-destructive parts. I would then try to fix one. I would fix one and try to fix another and reward myself for fixing the third," said Jillian. Jillian currently serves as a mentor for female founder of Copia, Komal Ahmad, along with other women CEOs in the Bay Area. She also mentors women in shelters whom have faced domestic violence. Advertisement Melisa Lin, Founder/CEO of Nommery Nommery is a social-dining network that connects women with other women (and men) through fine dinning experiences. Unlike other social networking sites, Nommery brings together like-minded individuals for great conversations over shared meals at restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded by Melisa Lin in 2014, Nommery has hosted 1,800 food-related events for over 4,600 members. Nommery members can even host their own events to bring together specific groups of people or they can create public events to meet new faces. While Nommery is a platform aimed at gathering like-minded people together for shared meals, Melisa is now focused on strengthening social networks for women. "We are especially excited to help grow and strengthen networks of like-minded women. Nommery's first investors were women whom I met over various Nommery meals," said Melisa. "We encourage all women to create Nommery meals and share them with their networks. As an event creator, your Nommery profile will be featured in our newsletter and on social media accounts as well." Melisa's most recent Nommery event was held at The Modernist in San Francisco. The event was a happy hour for female founders and entrepreneurs to mix and mingle over tasty cocktails. About 40 attendees -both women and men - came to this event. The event's featured guest was Julie Trell, the San Francisco lead for SheEO. Advertisement Nommery's member base is growing quickly as more events are being added to the website each week. "Together We Can" The unique efforts being made by Jillian Manus, Vicki Saunders, Adriana Gascoigne and Melisa Lin are just a few of the many initiatives being taken by women to help other women. Business Insider, Forbes, and Fortune have all reported that business women are responding to Hillary Clinton's ill-treatment and loss in the 2016 presidential campaign by becoming politically involved. One interviewee in a similar story in Crain's Chicago Business went so far as to say, "blood was boiling," she and her friends were so infuriated by the lack of respect and misogyny Hillary Clinton experienced, motivating them to become politically active. No doubt, it's time to gear up for the next campaign. Things for American women are looking pretty horrible right about now. Ohio, anyone? A White House likely filled with men who don't support women's equality, anyone? A Congress that's still mostly male and majority Republican, anyone? I don't think so. Time to convert riled up to get up (and go). Fortunately, I have a handy how-to guide I can share. It is based on the experience of those of us who have been riled-up and getting up and going for decades. In fact, we're much of the reason Hillary Clinton got as far as she did: we've been giving and raising money for decades for pro-choice, pro-women's equality candidates; asking friends and colleagues to participate in women's campaigns for decades; and constantly and everywhere making the case that political women are just as able and strong as political men and, often (say, like Hillary Clinton), better prepared. Advertisement So, here is that how-to guide to getting in and staying in the political game, to winning for yourself and the women candidates you support. Just show up: consider Michelle Obama's wise counsel, stated repeatedly during the 2016 presidential campaign: (even) presidential elections are won precinct by precinct (Hillary Clinton lost Michigan by .2%!). So, just show up and organize yours every single time there is an election where women's future is at stake, or when a good woman is running, or when a pro-choice, feminist man is on the ballot. Size matters: build a large and diverse network. And don't get hung up because you might be starting small, i.e., locally. Go ahead and build that local network, recruiting diverse business decision makers who share your views. And, then see just how fast that local network can become big and important. Here are two cases in-point: consider what the local networks of new U.S. senators Kamala Harris and Tammy Duckworth built for them: national leadership and big political futures. Yours can do the same. Lead with your strength: if you're a great manager, volunteer to manage the campaign of your favorite woman candidate. If you're a great writer, write her campaign speeches and press releases. If you're a great accountant, keep her campaign's books. No matter your profession, there will always be ways to lead politically, by using your professional expertise. You'll be amazed at how fast you'll become valuable, part of the inner circles, and win for yourself, if that's your campaign goal. Advertisement Recruit powerful business people to your side, even if they intimidate you: nobody who wants to be or to remain somebody goes to bed at night without worrying about how to still be somebody (or further on the way there) the next morning. Consider this proof: the frequency with which business men take the time to raise money for political candidates.They sure don't do it for their health. They do do it to make sure they stay somebody among their peers and keep advancing to ever more exclusive c-suites. So recruit those somebodies you know to your campaigns. You can accomplish this by volunteering to help them. For they can't raise that money alone. Others help. One of those others can be you. And once you're at the side of that somebody and delivered for him (or her), you can ask for help in return. Yes, you'll have to ask, but most people do pay most of their debts. Don't wait in line: again, consider Kamala Harris and Tammy Duckworth. Had they waited in line for someone to notice them, they never would have gotten to the front of the line. Instead, each sought out a man already at the front of the line and made her case for being there, too. Both said I'm ready to take on the big boys now. Just watch me. I will win for you, too. Men will accept it when you take charge, so take it (charge, that is): enough men want the same public policies women activists seek that it is worth recruiting them. No worries about asking them to join the campaigns you've organized. In fact, they will appreciate the invitation and be grateful for not having to do all the work! And, in the course of your working with them, you will demonstrate your political savvy and your influence among people and institutions that matter to them. That respect will help you keep recruiting men who matter and getting you where you want to go --even faster. The ICBM test, which was followed by two short-range ballistic launches into the sea, was condemned by neighbors and the U.S. Flag-wrapped coffin of late Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is carried to a plane during a ceremony at Esenboga airport in Ankara. Umit Bektas/Reuters The assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey G Karlov, by an off-duty Turkish police officer in the Turkish capital Ankara appeared, at first glance, to be a game changer in the ongoing Syrian war. When Karlov was gunned down at a public event by Mevlut Mert Altintas, the war had already entered a new phase with the fall of Aleppo through the support of Russia and Iran. But far from bringing about the beginning of World War III, the assassination has shed light on a new power axis dominating the Middle East. Advertisement This new phase centres around three main regional actors on the ground, Turkey, Iran and Russia, each with diverging calculi and interests. No immediate crisis Contrary to early commentary and as seen in the statements from the leaders of Turkey and Russia, the Russian ambassador's assassination did not lead to an immediate crisis. Relations between the two countries had recently normalised following the downing of a Russian SU-24 fighter jet by Turkish air forces in November 2015 after it violated Turkish air space. Comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the assassination is being cautiously viewed in his country as an attempt to sabotage the countries' improved relations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's expression of a strong wish to continue close Turkish-Russian ties, have highlighted the decisiveness of the two nations to keep cooperating - despite significant cleavages - on the slippery path towards the end of the Syrian civil war. Advertisement Osman Orsal/Reuters Critical timing The recent incident came at a time when Turkey and Russia have been collaborating on the evacuation of civilians in Aleppo. Its timing is critical for three main reasons. First, the past ten days have seen a new wave of terror in Turkey attributed to TAK, the urban affiliate of the Kurdish separatist organisation known as the PKK. The attacks have increased calls for national unity against terror. Second, Turkey has felt abandoned by its Western allies in its efforts to protect itself from spillover effects of the Syrian civil war since 2015. Turkey has recently diverged from the US in its the handling of the Syrian crisis, as well as over how best to fight Islamic State. The recently triggered crisis with the EU over the "refugee deal", has also led the Turkish government to search for alternatives and ad-hoc coalitions for solving the Syruan crisis, in the form of Russia and Iran. Third, the incident came the day before the planned trilateral meeting of the three regional actors involved militarily in the crisis. That meeting was the first face-to-face gathering organised independently of UN diplomatic initiatives and without the participation of the US and other regional actors, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Advertisement The meeting affirmed a strong commitment to cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Reshaping the regional calculus? Regionally, Turkey appears to be the country most affected by the Syrian civil war. It has been a direct target for violent groups based in Syria, such as Islamic State and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), along with its military wing, YPG. The PKK has also resumed violence against the Turkish state after a three-year peace process. On top of all this, Turkey carries the heaviest financial and social burden as host to nearly three million Syrian refugees. Umit Bektas/Reuters Since Turkey's Assad-centric approach to the conflict has not been supported by its Western allies, its gradual isolation in the Middle East has prevented it from pursuing a flexible and independent Syrian agenda. The entrance of Russia into the Syrian quagmire in September 2015 together with an increasing Iranian presence on the ground have served to make Turkey more vulnerable to the diffusion of the civil war. Advertisement Together, these factors appear to have pushed Turkey to revise its Syria policy, taking into consideration the changing regional balance and the strategies of newcomers, such as Russia. Despite this revision of its regional calculus, Turkey as a long-time ally of the West and as a NATO member, has not yet changed sides in Syria. And its main reservations about the future of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remain. The new Turkish-Russian-Iranian coalition Worsening spillover effects from the Syrian war, combined with the Western strategy of non-engagement, does appear to have forced Ankara to return to its traditional strategy of diversifying foreign policy options and partners. The statements of the three countries' foreign ministers in the aftermath of the Russian-Turkish-Iranian meeting reflect their shared interests in finding a peaceful political solution to the ongoing gridlock. And the ongoing evacuation of civilians from Aleppo has offered hope for the efficiency and the functionality of the trilateral regional conflict resolution mechanism. The reactions to the assassination can also be seen as a good indicator of the increasing interdependence between Turkey and Russia regarding Syria and other regional security problems. Advertisement In fact, America's unwillingness to act as a peace broker in Syria allowed Russia to take on a leading role in the crisis and reinforced its capacity to manoeuver on the ground. Given the ambiguities of US president-elect Donald Trump's possible Syria policy, it seems likely that regional actors will have room to more easily assume extra roles in dealing with the crisis in the coming months. The assassination shows that prolonging the crisis would not serve anyone's interests. The conflict has now become unsustainable for all parties concerned. Murad Sezer/Reuters There's now a greater need for all involved in Syria to take more responsible action with the aim of restoring security order. The assassination has proven that Russia needs Turkey - together with Iran - to shape the post-Syrian war environment in the Middle East. Turkey's presence in this ad-hoc coalition signifies the total failure of Western actors in Syria, and provides clues as to how the new Middle Eastern order will be designed in the future. Advertisement Emel Parlar Dal, Associate Professor of International Relations, Marmara University By Annemiek Hoogenboom, Country Director of the People's Postcode Lottery Syrian refugee children line up to start school in the afternoon shift at Mtein School, Mount Lebanon. Photo: Theirworld/Hussein Baydoun The ongoing flow of grim news from Aleppo makes me reflect again on our experiences this year with providing education to children in emergencies. The future for the Aleppo families and children is extremely uncertain. But I am also proud, that our lottery players could contribute substantially to more chances for education for Syrian girls and boys in Lebanon and Turkey. And energized by so many amazing and determined people I had the privilege to meet especially in Lebanon. As Country Director of People's Postcode Lottery I travel with one goal: to find ways to fund organisations who make this world a better place and to connect them to our players. That means sometimes emotional encounters: as we focus on topics such as poverty, inequality, war crimes, and international cooperation. Advertisement Facts first. Of the 5 million Syrian refugees outside Syria over 1.5 million live in Lebanon, a country of about 4.5 million people, making up a quarter of its population. That's a sharp contrast with the only 0.07 percent Syrian migrants on the total European population. Sadly, the European Union tries to prevent Syrian migrants entering Europe and disguised its efforts as 'aid for sustainable development. While hundreds of millions of Euros often disappear in the pockets of corrupt politicians, people's right to move freely is under attack. The message: stay where you are! Lebanon counts around 400,000 Syrian children between 6-15. Nearly half of the children are still out of school. But the other 200,000 are in school during the 2015-2016 school year. By supporting the children's charity Theirworld we have helped develop a unique double shift education to enrol Syrian children in school. This means that school teachers teach Lebanese children in the morning and Syrian children in the afternoon. Because this school year 30 percent more schools and their brave headmasters signed up for double shift education an additional 50,000 children can enjoy classes. We have also supported Theirworld to campaign for more funds from governments around the world to support this key initiative. Education is a fundamental right. But education is also crucial to protect the children against early marriage, or child labour. The longer a child remains out of school the less likely it is to finish education. We know that, but I found that this year's progress in education for refugees is made possible by incredibly courageous women. PPL Director Annemiek Hoogenboom watching girls learn to code as part of the Tech Hub Theirworld is piloting at Mtein School, Mount Lebanon. Photo: Theirworld/Hussein Baydoun Advertisement The headmaster Mrs Najah Banna of Mtein primary school, which is supported by Theirworld with the help of the Peoples Postcode Lottery, in Mount Lebanon is a one of such strong headed women with a big heart. Her not so ordinary school receives in the morning 580 pupils and in the afternoon 660. She explained in November her challenges to us. She just had received a request to place 40 more children. "I feel sad to return these children, also as I know that two neighbouring communities would not allow to open their schools for them." With great relief I heard the same evening that the activist coordinator of the double shift education at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mrs Sonia Khoury, could arrange places for these 40 children. Mrs Najah Banna, Head Teacher Mtein School, Mount Lebanon. Photo: Theirworld/Hussein Baydoun Another brave and passionate Lebanese leader I met at one of the informal tented settlements in Bekaa Valley. Here in Zahle, Maria Assi, director of Beyond Association, leads a series of workshops and educational facilities, including handicrafts, and mother groups against early marriage of their girls. Her challenges in reaching all children with education in Lebanon are twofold: the ongoing struggle with the landowners who ask more rent from the parents than they can pay, and feel forced to send their young boys to work in the potatoes harvest and secondly the need to giving children hope again. "We need to recreate the dreams of the children, they come here with traumatic memories, their parents are living in the survival mood, don't care too much for discipline and focus. When a child is absent for 10 days it cannot just go back to public school." Maria keeps expanding the existing classes with music and poetry classes and courses in calligraphy to help the children to express themselves. I also met filmmaker Zeina Erhaim, who documents the horrors and dreams of women of Aleppo. She runs a women centre in Aleppo convinced that "when I do'nt document my friends lives nobody will remember the brave acts of women under siege." Finally I saw how dance classes can give people dignity, hope and strength. Nikita Shahbazi founded MOVE4Syrians in Beirut with one goal: to let women from Lebanon and Syria let use dance and yoga as a catalyst to create space for free thought. She teaches women dancing, who were never allowed to do so by their conservative environment. After discovering the liberating force of movement on their thinking and behaviour these women have only one wish, namely to spread dance to other women and children. She says: "To create a healing dance movement in a society in which girls and women feel locked up is wonderful." Advertisement For next year I wish that with a bit of help of our players more children have the opportunity to schooling and will experience peace and happiness! Annemiek Hoogenboom Reno Commission puts liquor by drink without food sales on 2023 ballot Hutchinson board acts quickly to respond to brewery's dilemma, but vote is more than a year away. President Tran Dai Quang (centre), the new ambassadors and other officials pose for a photo (Photo: VNA) The President stressed the importance of the three countries where the new ambassadors will serve the tenure from 2016-2019, with Laos and Cuba having traditional friendship and special solidarity with Vietnam, and Spain being a strategic partner. Nguyen Ba Hung is appointed as the new ambassador of Vietnam to Laos, while Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh will serve in Cuba, and the new Vietnamese Ambassador to Spain is Ngo Tien Dung. President Quang noted that the new ambassadors tenure coincides with a decisive period in Vietnams five-year socio-economic development plan from 2016-2020. He therefore requested the ambassador to follow the three key external relation tasks set by the 12th National Party Congress. The tasks are to maintain a peaceful and stable environment and garner external support for national development; to resolutely and consistently work to firmly safeguard national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and to enhance the countrys position and prestige./. If we look at 2016 it continues to highlight that risk is certainly not going away, its getting more complicated than ever before, Lindsay said. Just look at weather events like hurricanes, and unexpected flooding in Louisiana. Increased storms and natural devastation arent the only uptick in risk, Lindsay said. We also have cyber risks with smart home technology and all of the things we have access to that seemingly make our lives easier, Lindsay said. They introduce risks you never would have thought possible before with your home connected to all of these devices. PRMA offers education to its members whether they are brokers, agents, carriers or specialty providers. The organizations first graduating class from its Chartered Risk Advisor Certificate program, 155 strong, will receive their certification in February. Its incumbent upon agents, brokers and carriers to invest in the tools, the research the knowledge, to help the end consumer be more educated about some of the risks that are out there, Lindsay said. How to mitigate wildfire risk, how to manage your property. Lindsay said she believes that whether its cyber or weather, affluent people need the kind of coverage afforded to corporations. Wed like to see the insurance industry invest in some risk based pricing that recognizes high net worth individuals that go above and beyond to proactively manage risk, Lindsay said. Related stories: Zenefits CEO to resign, may join Trump team Billionaire backs Metromile with $191.5 million Nuclea once had two locations in the city of Pittsfield, both of which were closed eight months before the company filed for bankruptcy. Nuclea's Intellectual Property Heading To Auction In January PITTSFIELD, Mass. Nuclea Biotechnologies' intellectual property will be sold at auction in January. According to court documents, the company has as much $10 million in liability as it proceeds with Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The liquidation of the assets is eyed to pay back creditors as much as possible in order of priority. The company was founded in 2005 by Patrick Muraca and a year ago he resigned as CEO to start a new company NanoDX in the Albany area. Don Pogorzelski was hired to head Nuclea and about a month later the company left Pittsfield. The company said in January that a major reorganization led to the closure of the two Pittsfield locations Elm Street and Kellogg. "Since its inception, a major area of focus for the company has been economic development and job creation. The new plan will position the Company to grow rapidly, and to continue providing essential diagnostic kits and services for the management of patients in oncology and diabetes," the statement read. In August, Nuclea filed for bankruptcy. Nuclea was once a highly touted aspect of the city's future but has fallen dramatically since. It hit its high point just two years ago when former Gov. Deval Patrick used the company's Elm Street facility to tout a $510,000 tax incentive that was eyed to help the company grow a tax incentive that required jobs just until the end of 2015. Nuclea then boasted of employment numbers of 70, with 43 workers located in the Berkshires with plans to add 35 to 40 more. It purchased Wilex Inc., taking control of a 20,000 square-foot facility in Cambridge and 11 employees. City officials rallied to bring the company to the proposed Berkshire Innovation Center which Nuclea later backed out of and to the William Stanley Business Park. Nuclea also partnered with local colleges for job training. In 2012, it moved into the Kellogg Street office and invested some $200,000 into the 1,700 square-foot space. With the bankruptcy, the city is likely to lose some $1,500 in unpaid taxes, the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority is out $10,000 for unpaid rent in the Kellogg Street office. It is unlikely that the city sees much, if anything, from the liquidation. Photo: VGP He also appreciated the members efforts since the beginning of this year, adding that the members had promptly mastered the international tendency and concerns of member economies, thus proposing the years theme Creating new driving force for a common future. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Vietnams four priorities for the year, which included fostering sustainable, creative and inclusive growth; strengthening regional economic connectivity; increasing competitiveness and creativity of super small-, small- and medium-sized enterprises; and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture, along with climate change adaptation, were supported by APEC member economies. He added that the preparation was conducted early and actively. As a result, the organization of initial activities, including a conference on priorities and the unofficial APEC Senior Officials' Meeting (ISOM), had been appreciated by members. Meanwhile, the communication work was carried out swiftly with many creative ideas, contributing to promoting the images of the land, people, tourism and economic potential of Vietnam to international and regional friends. Nearly 200 activities will take place throughout 2017, including the APEC Week in Da Nang city. In March, the first Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) and related meetings will be organised in Nha Trang city./. The talks between Prime Ministers Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Hun Sen on December 20th (Photo: VNA) The following is the full text of the Statement. 1. At the invitation of H.E.Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, led a high Cambodian delegation to pay an official visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from December 20-21, 2016. During his visit to Vietnam, Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen held a talk with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, paid courtesy calls on General Secretary of the Party Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and State President Tran Dai Quang, met with National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, laid wreaths at the Memorial of National Heroes and Martyrs and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and visited Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai province. Also on this occasion, the two prime ministers witnessed the signing ceremony of three cooperative agreements, namely (1) Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Kingdom of Cambodia, (2) Treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Kingdom of Cambodia, and (3) Agreement on Bilateral Cooperation between the Committee for Ethnic Minorities of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Cult and Religion of the Kingdom of Cambodia. 2. In the atmosphere of friendship, mutual understanding and trust, leaders of the two countries had in-depth discussion on the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Kingdom of Cambodia and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interests of the two countries. Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen praised Vietnams remarkable progresses in renovation, national building and development and wished Vietnamese people success in industrialization and modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party and State of Vietnam. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other leaders of Vietnam highly praised the important achievements that the Cambodian people had attained, under the wise reign of His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni and under the leadership of the Senate, National Assembly and Royal Government of Cambodia led by Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen, in the national construction and development which has brought about political and social stability, growing economic development as well as increasingly enhanced the position and role of the Kingdom of Cambodia in the region and the world. On this occasion, Vietnamese leaders sincerely wished Cambodia great success in organizing communal elections in 2017 and parliamentary elections in 2018 and in continuing to build a peaceful and prosperous Kingdom of Cambodia. 3. The two sides noted with satisfaction the advancement of friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia over the past period, offering practical benefits for both peoples. Vietnam emphasized that it always attaches great importance to the strong affection, valuable support and assistance that His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Norodom Sihanouk Preah Borom Ratanak Kaudh the late King Father of Cambodia, His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, the leaders and people of Cambodia extended to the people of Vietnam in the struggle for national independence in the past as well as in the present national building and development. Cambodia expressed its profound gratitude for the strong support and assistance that the generations of Vietnamese leaders and people have accorded to Cambodia in the past and at present, affirming that the Cambodian people will always keep in mind the assistance of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers in cooperation with Cambodian people to liberate Cambodia from Khmer Rouge genocidal regime in 1979. 4. The two sides agreed that strengthening and advancing the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia is of crucial importance for both nations. They committed to continually consolidate and promote the bilateral relations under the motto good neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, long-lasting stability. They also pledged to fully observe the principles stated in the Vietnam Cambodia Joint Statements in 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016; to respect independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in each others internal affairs; to ensure ones territory is not used by hostile forces to menace the others security; and to settle problems arising between the two countries by peaceful means. 5. The two sides agreed to increase high-level meetings, contacts and the exchange of delegations at all levels and encourage people-to-people contacts, especially between provinces in border areas. The two sides accentuated the importance of educating their people about the nations traditional friendship and mutual assistance. 6. The two sides also agreed to work together in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam Cambodia diplomatic relations (June 24th, 1967 June 24th, 2017), thus enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples, especially between the young generations and tasked the two foreign ministries to prepare the commemoration. 7. The two sides highly valued cooperative agreements in various fields signed and agreed to instruct relevant ministries and institutions to coordinate with each other in adjusting related mechanisms to seek effective measures to raise the bilateral trade turnover to the set goal of USD 5 billion in the coming years. 8. The two sides reaffirmed their respect for and full implementation of the border delimitation treaties and relevant border agreements concluded by the two States. They highly commended the efforts of the Joint Commission on Land Border Demarcation for having accomplished over 83% of the land border demarcation and marker plantation workload over the past time on the basis of the border delimitation treaties between the two countries. Building upon those achievements, the two sides were determined to find once-and-for-all solutions to the remaining border segments for an earlier completion of land border demarcation and marker plantation and to finalize the relevant demarcation dossiers as soon as possible with a view to building a borderline of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation and sustainable development. 9. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other Vietnamese leaders thanked Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen and other Cambodian leaders and authorities at various levels for providing assistance to the Vietnamese residents in Cambodia over the past time. In the spirit of friendly neighborliness between the two countries, they hope Cambodia would continue to take appropriate measures in ensuring the legitimate rights of Vietnamese residents, equally treated as other foreign residents in Cambodia in conformity with laws and regulations of Cambodia, therefore contributing to the consolidation and enhancement of the traditional friendship between the two peoples. 10. The two sides applauded their fine cooperation in multilateral fora inthe past, especially the mutual support for each others candidacy for important international organizations of the United Nations. Given the growing complexities in the regional and global context, the two sides agreed to increase coordination, information sharing and mutual support in multilateral fora, especially ASEAN. 11. The two sides underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security in the South China Sea, settling disputes by peaceful means, exercising self-restraint, refraining from the threat or use of force in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The two sides are committed to join efforts for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC). 12. The two sides also pledged to continue working closely together and with other members in the frameworks of the Mekong River Commission, the Lancang-Mekong cooperation and other Mekong cooperation frameworks in order to ensure sustainable use and management of water resources in the Mekong River Basin in consistence with international practices as well as harmonize the interests of riverine countries with the goal of sustainable development in the region. 13. The two sides highly valued the positive outcomes and significantly profound meaning of the official visit to Vietnam by Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen, considering as an important event, which was positively conducive to the advancement of the solidarity, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and sustainable growth between Vietnam and Cambodia. 14. Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his sincere gratitude for the warm welcome and hospitality that the leaders and people of Vietnam had extended to high delegation of Cambodia during the entire visit. 15. On this occasion, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, kindly invited His Excellency Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to attend the 26th World Economic Forum on ASEAN, hosted by Cambodia in 2017 and to pay an official visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2017. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gratefully accepted the invitation./. Healthy Soils Summit planned Sacramento, California - The public is invited to a Soils Summit hosted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) on healthy soil and climate smart agriculture. The meeting provides an opportunity to explore roles and collaborative opportunities for managing California soils for health and natural fertility while reducing greenhouse gases. The meeting will be held at the CDFA Auditorium, 1220 N St., Sacramento, on Jan. 11, 2017 from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Today we understand that soil has the transformative power to help us stabilize our changing climate, said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. By capturing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere and storing them underground, through the assistance of living plants and microbes, we improve both the atmosphere and the soil. The vital role of soil in feeding a hungry world has been recognized for millennia, says Carlos Suarez, state conservationist for NRCS in California. Our Agency was established during the Dust Bowl to protect soil from erosion and exploitation. Now our aim is to go beyond stemming erosion to enhance and build the health of the soil to sustain it and usfor generations to come. Both CDFA and NRCS have healthy soil initiatives available to interested farmers. NRCS programs are ongoing while CDFAs initiative is slated to begin in 2017. Additionally, numerous agencies, universities, non-profits and organizations are currently researching or pursuing paths to soil sustainability. The soil summit will hear from a number of these groups. An open microphone discussion will finalize the days events. A link to the agenda for soil summit may be found at: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/docs/Joint_USDA_CDFA_SoilHealthSummitAgenda.pdf State Department Terrorist Designation of AQIM Operative Saleck Ould Cheikh Mohamedou Washington, DC - The Department of State has designated Saleck Ould Cheikh Mohamedou as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign individuals determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. As a result of this designation, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which Mohamedou has any interest is blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Mohamedou. Mohamedou, an al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) operative, was sentenced to death in Mauritania in 2011 after his conviction for attempting to assassinate the Mauritanian head-of-state Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The plot, which was foiled by the Mauritanian Army, included attacks on the French Embassy and the Mauritanian Ministry of National Defense. Mohamedou is also regarded as the mastermind of the terrorist attack that resulted in the killing of four French tourists in Mauritania in 2007. Mohamedou escaped from prison in 2015, but was captured in January 2016 and is currently incarcerated in Mauritania. The imposition of sanctions by the United States against terrorists is a powerful tool. Todays action notifies the U.S. public and the international community that Mohamedou has actively engaged in terrorism. Designations of terrorist individuals and groups expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and result in denial of access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist or complement the law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and other governments. Tourists visit a traditional fish sauce firm in An Thoi Township, Phu Quoc island.(Photo: VNA) The same day, a ceremony will take place to round off the 2016 National Tourism Year, which was designated to draw visitors to Phu Quoc island and the Mekong Delta region. Experts said the tourism year is a key move in turning Kien Giang into a tourism hub in the Mekong Delta region with Phu Quoc island as a leading resort destination of Vietnam. In 2016, more than 5.4 million tourists visited Kien Giang, increasing 24 percent year on year and exceeding the yearly quota by 9.5 percent. Of the figure, international arrivals grew 31.4 percent annually, 14 percent higher than initial plan. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the country expects to welcome over 10 million international arrivals and serve more than 62 million domestic travelers this year, with total revenue estimated at VND400 trillion (USD18 billion). On January 1st, 2017, Vietnam will begin issuing e-visa for foreign tourists. As such, the tourism sector has set goals of 11.5 million foreign visitors and revenue of VND460 trillion (USD20.24 billion) in 2017./. 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 }} *WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY AHEAD* One of the most interesting aspects of the first of the Star Wars anthology films, Rogue One, is how much it muddies the waters morally with its heroes' actions and perspectives; especially when so much of the franchise in the past has focused on characters stuck between the diametric choice between good and evil. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) must struggle with the less-than-savoury actions he committed for the good of the Rebel Alliance, while Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) carries the dark baggage of having defected from the Empire. Most conflicted of all, surely, is Mads Mikkelsen's Galen Erso: the brilliant, kind-hearted scientist who still ends up aiding the Empire in constructing the Death Star; though he's able to leave behind one last act of defiance by creating the fatal flaw in the Death Star's constructions which leads to the climax of its destruction in A New Hope. It's natural for fans to question his actions and what drove them, which is perhaps why Galen became such a recurring topic during a Twitter Q&A hosted by one of Rogue One's screenwriters, Gary Whitta. "He was always a pacifist," Whitta tweeted. "His act of defiance in sabotaging DS-1 makes him a Rebel for sure. He risked his life to do it. In the writing it was always intended as an act of defiance and also a way to unmake what he was forced to help make." "That's the real tragedy," Whitta also wrote, in reference to the idea his work was originally intended to be used for free energy on developing planets. "All of Galens genius and good intentions corrupted in the purpose of something truly horrific." Whitta also shared a few interesting revelations in his Twitter chat, including the fact actual nerf herders - as in, "scruffy-looking nerf herder" - appeared in the original Rogue One script. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Show all 13 1 /13 [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film 'I rebel' Straight off the bat, that instantly infamous line from Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso - "This is a rebellion, isn't it? I rebel" - is missing from the final cut. Probably a good thing, considering nobody needs Jyn's entire character motivation spelled out in quite such obvious terms. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Moody Orson Krennic This brilliantly moody shot from the film's teaser never makes it into the final cut, but there's a good chance it was never intended to, having all the hallmarks of footage deliberately shot for the trailer. Walt Disney Studios [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Moody Jyn Erso The same goes for this look at Jyn Erso in her Imperial disguise, which definitely has the look of a promotional shot to it. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film 'What will you become?' The look at Jyn's Imperial outfit coincides with the final line of a cut monologue from Saw Gerrera: "What will you become?" The confusing part here is that Saw is seen with the close-cropped hair he sports only in the prologue scenes, when Jyn is only a child. When she visits him in Jedha, his hair is much fuller and he's sporting a beard. So, was this speech somehow originally delivered to Galen Erso in a cut prologue segment? In the context of Galen's work with the Empire and his later attempts to evade them, Saw's words would make a lot more sense. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film And Moody Darth Vader Potentially another promo shot, considering this was used as the very first reveal of Darth Vader in the trailers. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Krennic and Vader However, this shot also shows a cut scene between Krennic and Vader, in which the former talks about the "power we are dealing with here". [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film 'The captain says you are a friend. I will not kill you' K-2SO has many similar lines directed to Jyn throughout the film, but they're a lot less sinister than this one. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Captured rebel pilots This shot from Jedha is missing. It doesn't exactly add anything to the story, but it's an added touch of grit which sets the tone nicely in the trailers. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film 'Good.' 'Good.' A cut moment between Jyn and Cassian, though it's a little hard to tell where this comes from - there's no moment where Jyn sits as co-pilot on the U-wing, since it's usually K-2SO in the seat. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Jyn faces off against a TIE fighter What's interesting is that this shot of Jyn limping across the Scarif communications tower is, of course, in the final film. It's just that the TIE fighter is entirely absent. Was this a cut moment? Was Krennic piloting that thing? Or was it even just cut into the trailer to keep audiences off the scent? [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Krennic on the Scarif beaches And what about this great shot of Krennic marching amongst the dead? The set-up and lighting seem to imply he survives the initial battle without getting shot by Cassian, and is on the ground when the Death Star destroys Scarif - if that's indeed the source of the glow in the background. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Jyn and Cassian in the Scarif battle In fact, the trailer footage seems to hint at a drastically different ending, which may point to what exactly got changed during the re-shoots. We see multiple shots of Jyn and Cassian running along the Scarif beach with the Death Star plans. Considering the battle is still in full swing, it suggests the archives and the communications tower may have been separate locations in the original version. [SPOILERS] 13 scenes from Rogue One's trailers cut from the film Jyn, Cassian, and K-2SO running through Scarif base And here, again, we see Cassian, Jyn, and K-2SO running with the data plans through the Scarif base. That means the droid wasn't originally meant to die (or whatever happens to droids) defending the archive room. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is out in cinemas now. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A 10-year-old girl from Northern Ireland has gone viral after a video of her singing a variation on Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' for her school choir performance was posted on Facebook. Kaylee Rodgers, from Donaghadee, County Down, has autism and ADHD, and began singing as a way to build her confidence. The video of her singing the Killard House school choir's version of 'Hallelujah' has attracted more than 100,000 views from people around the world. It was originally posted by parent Nichola Martin, who was proud of her son Blake who also took part in the choir. Kaylee told ITV that she was excited just to be singing, but that it was also "amazing" that the video had received so much attention. "I just loved doing it," she said. Colin Millar, head teacher at Killard House, said: "For a child who came in P4 and would really talk, couldn't really read out in class, to stand and perform in front of an audience is amazing. "It takes a lot of effort on Kaylee's part." The alternative lyrics sung by Kaylee were written by contemporary Christian rock band Cloverton, who are based in Manhattan, Kansas. Their version - which was posted on YouTube in 2014 but muted due to reported copyright issues with Sony Columbia - sparked a debate at the time over whether it was disrespectful to change Cohen's lyrics to suit a Christian message, since Cohen was Jewish. Cohen's opening lyrics: "Well I heard there was a secret chord/That David played and it pleased the Lord/But you don't really care for music, do you?" were changed by the band to: "I've heard about this baby boy/Who's come to earth to bring us joy/And I just want to sing this song to you," and so on for the duration of the song. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Frontman Lance Stafford told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the time that "no disrespect to Leonard Cohen was meant". "When we rewrote the lyrics, I had no idea Leonard Cohen was Jewish," he said. "We didn't perceive it as a song celebrating Jewish culture or written for Jewish people." Leonard Cohen died in his sleep aged 82 after a fall in the night on 7 November 2016, after a career spanning five decades. He released his 14th studio album You Want It Darker on 21 October of the same year. 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 }} An ex-drug dealer from London has become a tattooist to some of grime and hip-hop's biggest stars but no-one knows who he is. Known only as Traphouse Tattooer, the artist has gained more than 10,000 Instagram followers as a result of inking musicians including Skepta and A$AP Rocky. Recommended The financial reason some gang members cover their bodies in tattoos But there's a reason for his reluctance to throw himself into the spotlight. Speaking to Complex recently, he admitted: I have done a lot of bad things as myself and I have warrants for my arrest here, I have warrants for my arrest in New York. Instead, he used social media to get his work out there. Because this wasnt supported by shops and this wasnt recognised as a style or a popular thing that people wanted, I had to book a hotel and I was living out of a hotel for a couple of months in a Travelodge and just battering the Instagram myself. Influenced by line drawings and London youth culture, Traphouses Instagram showcases some of his best designs but, it also provides an insight into his nameless world. He uses the captions to describe his work, but also his life, with one appearing to be an ode to his home city. We have history, we started dating many years ago, when I was just a young bull, before anything else, the first tattoo I got was London. I tattooed the city's name on my skin. It was deep before then but that was when it became official at the supple age of 14 ... Shottin (slang for drug dealing) was key to survival, provided everything I have. I've done so much off dirty money n never saw value in an honest pound. I don't think anythin negative about it. I'm not your average passer by, I can't conform to conventional ideologies. I can't be the suit an tie bozo. I know better than that an I've never wanted to work for the man I been raging against the machine from the start. The self-confessed drug dealer, despite his anonymity, is entirely relatable to so many and, without doubt, has his social media presence to thanks for the buzz surrounding his work. While his guise might be veiled, his intentions are wholly obvious. I feel like you show know the person behind the art, he explains, Its not just a product and a service, it is very personal. I make a personal connection with everyone I tattoo. Im going to be putting something on you for life so I will make that friendship, that connection. 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 }} Ecstasy could soon become available on prescription in the US as a major trial into the use of the drug as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) enters its final stage. Army veterans who took part in previous phases of the trial have said MDMA, the active substance in ecstasy tablets, helped alleviate their PTSD symptoms. Following positive results, the US Food and Drug Administration last month approved the use of MDMA in large-scale clinical trials the third and last stage before it can be submitted for approval as a prescription drug. Former soldier Tony Macie told US military newspaper Stars and Stripes the treatment had helped him process trauma he had experienced when serving in Iraq in 2007. The Army Specialist developed PTSD after an Iraqi interpreter who he had told to wait for another vehicle to pick him up was killed in an explosion. On his return home, the 29-year-old said he found himself constantly on edge, as if braced for an attack, and felt anxious, depressed and had trouble sleeping. My brain wasnt able to shut off. It was going a million miles a minute. You need it on a deployment. But its not normal at home, he said. Mr Macie used alcohol and painkillers to numb these feelings, and was prescribed antidepressants and a course of therapy, but his condition proved resistant. The second phase of clinical trials started in 2000 and in 2010 began to include army veterans including Mr Macie. Patients were given three eight hour sessions of psychotherapy under the influence of MDMA. Recommended Teenager who beat childhood cancer dies from lethal ecstasy overdose Mr Macie told the newspaper he had been able to face his most deep-seated traumas during the treatment and didnt need more than one dose as his symptoms improved after the first session. A year after therapy was completed, two-thirds of the second phases more than 100 participants, of which around a third were veterans, were found not to meet the criteria for PTSD. Phase three of the research will involve at least 230 patients, according to the New York Times. Like previous studies, it will be sponsored by the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which has advocated the medical use of a number of illegal drugs since 1985. Smugglers hide drugs in food Show all 11 1 /11 Smugglers hide drugs in food Smugglers hide drugs in food Methamphetamine in chocolate bar This July 2012 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows methamphetamine disguised as a chocolate candy bar in Los Angeles. Officials said a California man tried to smuggle more than 4 pounds of methamphetamine out of the country disguised as 45 individually wrapped chocolate bars at Los Angeles International Airport. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Cocaine in coffee This October 2015 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows a packet of cocaine hidden in a bag of ground coffee in Miami. Three bags of roasted, ground coffee arriving at Miami International Airport in a package from Guatemala in October were actually filled with more than 3 pounds of heroin, customs officials said. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Cocaine in powdered milk This November 2014 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows bags of powdered dairy product that contained cocaine in New York. A woman arriving at Kennedy International Airport in New York from Guyana was found with six bags of milk and custard powder that were filled with cocaine. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Cocaine in custard powder This November 2014 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows bags, marked as holding powdered dairy products, that hold cocaine in New York. A woman arriving at Kennedy International Airport in New York from Guyana was found with six bags of milk and custard powder that were filled with cocaine. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Cocaine in various foods This October 2015 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows an array of food products concealing cocaine in Newark, N.J. A U.S. citizen arriving from Peru at Newark Liberty International Airport in October had an assortment of food in his luggage that customs officials found also included 10 pounds of cocaine. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Cocaine in vanilla wafers This April 2015 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows vanilla wafers filled with cocaine in Houston. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Cocaine in vanilla wafers A Guatemalan citizen arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport from Guatemala City in April with packages of vanilla wafers. But when customs officials opened them up, they said they found they were filled with cocaine instead of cream filling. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Liquid cocaine in rum bottles This December 2014 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows rum bottles filled with liquid cocaine in New York. A man arriving from Guyana at Kennedy International Airport in New York was found to be carrying the bottles that customs officials said were filled with 18 pounds worth of liquid cocaine. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Cocaine paste in chocolate syrup This February 2012 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows plastic packets of chocolate syrup and salad dressing concealing cocaine paste in Los Angeles. A mother and daughter traveling from Spain were carrying bags of condiments that customs officials at Los Angeles International Airport decided felt unusually thick. They opened it up to find a plastic bag with cocaine paste placed inside, and then found another syrup packet in their checked-in luggage that contained more cocaine paste. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Opium in cinnamon packets This June 2012 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows packets of opium covered in cinnamon hidden inside a rice cooker in Los Angeles. Officials found the rice cooker stuffed with 3 pounds' worth of black opium, which had been coated in cinnamon and wrapped in plastic, being transported by a man arriving at Los Angeles International Airport from Iran. AP Smugglers hide drugs in food Cocaine in frozen meat This undated photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in October 2015 shows a block of cocaine concealed in a package of frozen meat in New York. A man arrived at Kennedy International Airport from Trinidad with three large packages of frozen meat in his suitcase. AP The organisation has applied for breakthrough therapy status, which if approved could see the drug prescribed by therapists as soon as 2021, reported the newspaper. Another soldier called C J Hardin told the New York Times taking part in the trial in 2013 had changed his life. It allowed me to see my trauma without fear or hesitation and finally process things and move forward, he said. "It changed my life." However, some scientists have expressed concern about the potential misuse of the drug if it becomes a prescription medicine. Andrew Parrott, a psychologist at Swansea University, said the trial sends the message that this drug will help you solve your problems, when often it just creates problems. This is a messy drug we know can do damage, he told the newspaper. MDMA, short for methylenedioxmethamphetamine, was first patented in the early 20th century by German pharmaceutical company E Merck. Psychiatrists began using MDMA as a treatment in the 1970s, and it soon began to be sold as a party drug commonly known as ecstasy. The drug, which releases a flood of hormones in the users brain and provokes powerful feelings of happiness and empathy, was made illegal in the US in 1985 and in the UK in 1977. Restrictions on the use of illegal drugs in medical settings have so far prohibited similar trials into the medical use of MDMA in the UK, but British psychiatrist Ben Sessa hopes to launch two MDMA studies funded by Maps next year, reported The Guardian.. 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 worlds largest furniture seller, Ikea, will pay $50m (40m) to the families of three young boys after its products caused their deaths. The children, no older than two years old, died when Ikea dressers toppled over with crushing force. In all cases, the lethal furniture was one of Ikeas Malm dressers, a line of popular assemble-it-yourself chests made of fibreboard. Ikea settled in the US after two days of mediation with the families lawyers, according to a statement. Such a payout may be among the largest-ever settlements of its type. The retailer did not respond to a request for comment from the news media. Jackie Collas, the mother of a toddler named Curren Collas, has publicly recounted the horror of discovering her son beneath the Ikea chest in February 2014. As The Washington Post wrote in July 2015, There was the blonde wood dresser shed bought from Ikea, fallen on its front. And there was Curren trapped between it and the bed, his face purple and his body unbearably still. Recommended Ikea recalls millions of chests of drawers after three toddler deaths The settlement brought a sense of relief that the legal battle was finished, Collas told the Philadelphia Inquirer. But her life could never be the same, she said, telling the paper, Even if I live until 100, its going to be before Curren and after Curren. The two other children killed were Theodore McGee, a 22-month-old Minnesota boy who died in February 2016, and Camden Ellis, a 23-month old from Washington state, who died four months after Curren. Four other deaths, the first in 1989, have been reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission involving Ikea dressers that tipped over. In three wrongful death lawsuits filed in Philadelphia, the families argued that Ikea knew about the danger the Malm dressers posed. It was the families who were at fault, Ikea countered, for not supporting the Malm dressers with wall anchors as the instructions indicated. Alan Feldman, an attorney with Feldman Shepherd, the Philadelphia-based law firm representing the three families, would not elaborate about the depth of Ikeas knowledge of tip-overs. But previously confidential documents that Ikea turned over to the lawyers 100 per cent provided leverage for a settlement, he said. This June, Ikea recalled 29 million Ikea dressers, of which the Malm style represented more than one-fourth. The previous July, the company had offered free wall anchors to customers. Its June 2016 recall was more expansive. IKEA will provide a one-time, free in-home installation service, upon request, noted the Consumer Product Safety Commission in June. The company will alternatively offer a refund for recalled dressers manufactured from January 2002 to June 2016. Biggest business scandals in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Biggest business scandals in pictures Biggest business scandals in pictures Volkswagen emissions scandal VW admitted to rigging its US emission tests so that diesel-powered cars would looks like they were emitting less nitrous oxide, which can damage the ozone layer and contribute to respiratory diseases. Around 11 million cars worldwide were affected. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Martin Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals Martin Shkreli became known as the most hated man in the world after his drug company, Turing, increased the price of a 62-year-old drug that treated HIV patients by 5,000% to $750 a pill. He was charged with illegally taking stock from Retrophin, a biotechnology firm he started in 2011, and using it pay off debts from unrelated business dealings. Shkreli, who maintains he is innocent, and says there is little evidence of fraud because his investors didn't lose money. Biggest business scandals in pictures Panama Papers: Millions of leaked documents expose how worlds rich and powerful hid money - April 2016 Millions of confidential documents have been leaked from one of the worlds most secretive law firms, exposing how the rich and powerful have hidden their money. Dictators and other heads of state have been accused of laundering money, avoiding sanctions and evading tax, according to the unprecedented cache of papers that show the inner workings of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is based in Panama. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Google's tax avoidance Google reached a deal with the HM Revenue and Customs to pay back 130 million in so-called back-taxes that have been due since 2005. George Osborne championed the deal as a major success. But European MEPs have since called for the Chancellor to appear in front of the committee on tax rulings to explain the tax deal. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Rogue trader A French court cut the damages owed by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel from 4.9bn (4.2bn) to just 1m (860,000). The court ruled on that Kerviel was partly responsible for massive losses suffered in 2008 by his former employer Societe Generale through his reckless trades. Kerviel has consistently maintained that bosses at the French bank knew what he was doing all along. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Barclays CEO under investigation for trying to identify whistleblower - Monday Paril 10 Authorities have launched an investigation into Barclays chief executive officer Jes Staley for trying to identify a whistleblower, the bank said on Monday. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are both investigating Mr Staley after the bank notified them that Mr Staley had tried to identify the author of two anonymous letters, which were sent to the board and a senior executive in June 2016. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures UK to crack down on bank money laundering after reports of 65bn Russian scam, City minister says - March 2017 The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has vowed that the Government will crack down on money laundering practices, after several of the UK's biggest banks were accused of processing money from a Russian scam, believed to involve up to $80bn (65bn). Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former HBOS bankers convicted of bribery and fraud over 245m loan scam - February 2017 Two former HBOS bankers were among six people found guilty of bribery and fraud that cost customers and shareholders hundreds of millions of pounds, the BBC reports. Lynden Scourfield, 54, a manager at HBOS, forced struggling clients to use the services of his friends David Mills, 60, and Michael Bancroft, 73. In return, the two businessmen arranged sex parties, cash and lavish gifts. On Monday, the three were convicted at Southwark Crown Court on accounts including bribery, fraud and money laundering. Mark Dobson, another manager at HBOS, Alison Mills, and John Cartwright were also convicted. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Lloyds chief apologises for damage caused by affair allegations - August 2016 Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank, has broken his silence over allegations about his private life admitting he regrets any "damage done to the group's reputation". In a message sent to the bank's 75,000 employees, the banker said that anyone can make mistakes while insisting that staff had to maintain the highest professional standards. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Christine Lagarde faces court over 340m Bernard Tapie payment - July 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, must stand trial in France over a payment of 403 million (now 340m, then 290m) to tycoon Bernard Tapie, a France's highest appeals court has ruled. The court rejected Ms Lagarde's appeal against a judge's order in December for her to stand trial over allegations of negligence in her handling of the affair. Ms Lagarde could risk a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if convicted. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures HSBC senior manager arrested in FX rigging investigation at JFK airport in New York - July 2016 A senior executive at HSBC has been arrested at New York's JFK airport for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to rig currency benchmarks, according to reports. Mark Johnson, global head of foreign exchange cash trading in London, was reportedly arrested on Tuesday. He will appear before a federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Bloomberg said. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Former PwC employees found guilty in 'Luxleaks' tax scandal - June 2016 Two ex- PricewaterhouseCoopers staffers were found guilty in Luxembourg of stealing confidential tax files that helped unleash a global scandal over generous fiscal deals for hundreds of international companies. Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet face suspended sentences of 12 months and 9 months and were ordered to pay fines of 1,500 (1,230) and 1,000 (822) for their role in the so-called LuxLeaks scandal. Despite the minimal sentences, the ruling was described by Deltours lawyer as shocking and a terrible anomaly. The ruling puts on guard future whistle-blowers, Deltour told reporters.The LuxLeaks revelations sped beyond Luxembourg, causing European Union regulators to expand a tax-subsidy probe and propose new laws to fight corporate tax dodging, while EU lawmakers created a special committee to probe fiscal deals across the 28-nation bloc. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Goldman Sachs dealmakers lavished Libyan officials with prostitutes to win contract - June 2016 A former Goldman Sachs dealmaker trying to persuade Gadaffi-era Libya to invest $1 billion with the investment bank procured prostitutes and invited Libyan officials to lavish parties in the hope of winning the business, the High Court heard on Monday June 13.The Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund is suing Goldman Sachs for inappropriately coercing its naive staff into giving its sovereign wealth fund cash to the bank to invest in products they did not understand. The products were designed to generate big profits for Goldman, the LIA claims.Goldman denies wrongdoing and says the LIA was treated as an arms-length customer Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former boss of BHS said his life was threatened - June 2016 Darren Topp, the former boss of BHS, has said former owner Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him when he challenged him over a 1.5 million transfer out of the business. MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee asked Mr Topp about a 1.5 million transfer Mr Chappell made from BHS to a company called BHS Sweden. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley admits paying workers below the minimum wage - June 2016 Mike Ashley admitted paying Sports Direct employees below the minimum wage at a hearing in front of MPs. The company founder said that workers were paid less than the statutory minimum because of bottlenecks at security in an admission that could result in sanctions from HMRC. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Mitsubishi admits improper fuel tests - April 2016 Mitsubishi has admitted to using false fuel methods dating back to 1991. The scale of the scandal is only just coming to light after it was revealed in April that data was falsified in the testing of four types of cars, including two Nissan cars. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Quindell, the scandal-ridden insurance firm Quindell was once a darling of AIM but its share price fell in April 2014 when its accounting practices were attacked in a stinging research note by US short seller Gotham City. In August the group was forced to disclose that the 107 million pre-tax profit it had reported for 2013 was incorrect, and it had in fact suffered a 64million loss. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Toshiba Accounting Scandal The boss of Toshiba, the Japanese technology giant, resigned in disgrace in the wake of one of the countrys biggest ever accounting scandals. His exit came two months after the company revealed that it was investigating accounting irregularities. An independent investigatory panel said that Toshibas management had inflated its reported profits by up to 152 billion yen (780m) between 2008 and 2014. Biggest business scandals in pictures FIFA Corruption Scandal Fifa, football's world governing body, has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption since the summer of 2015, when the US Department of Justice indicted several top executives. It has now claimed the careers of two of the most powerful men in football, Fifa President Sepp Blatter and Uefa President Michel Platini, after they were banned for eight years from all football-related activities by Fifa's ethics committee. A Swiss criminal investigation into the pair is ongoing. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Libor fraudster City trader Tom Hayes, 35, has become the first person to be convicted of rigging Libor rates following a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court. Hayes worked as a trader in yen derivatives at UBS before joining the American bank Citigroup in Tokyo. He was fired from Citigroup following an investigation into his trading methods. He returned to the UK in December 2012 and was arrested following a two-and-a-half year criminal investigation by the SFO. Getty For the December settlement, each family will receive a third of the $50 million sum. In addition, in memory of each child, Ikea will donate $150,000 divided evenly among three childrens hospitals in Philadelphia, Washington state and Minnesota, law firm Feldman Shepherd said in a news release. The retailer plans to donate another $100,000 to Shanes Foundation, a nonprofit group focused on childrens safety and tip-over prevention founded by a mother who also lost a child to a falling dresser. Ikea vowed to increase consumer perception of the dangers of tipping furniture, by allocating additional funds to a series of television and Internet ads. 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 worlds oldest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, has been granted a multi-billion euro state bailout after it admitted a private rescue plan was unlikely to succeed. Paolo Gentiloni, the new Italian Prime Minister, said his Government had approved a new 20 billion (16.8 billion) fund after Cabinet met to discuss the matter into the small hours of Friday. The Italian parliament had already authorised the Government to step in and save Monte dei Paschi di Siena, recently judged the weakest of the European Union's major banks. Italy's third largest lender had hoped to raise 5bn from investors through the sale of shares in order to avoid being nationalised. However, the bank admitted on Wednesday night that Qatars sovereign wealth fund had not been persuaded to become the anchor investor to underpin its recapitalisation plan. Without private sector capital, Monte dei Paschi was set to miss an end-of-year deadline imposed by the European Central Bank to raise fresh funds. Shares in Monte dei Paschi were briefly suspended on Thursday after plunging by nearly 7 per cent in early trade as the embattled Italian lender's bailout crisis continued. The bank has already lost more than 80 per cent of its value since the start of the year. Parliamentary approval for the 20bn rescue package was needed to allow the state to take on new debt. Italy's debt burden, at about 133 per cent of annual output, is already the second highest in the eurozone after Greece. Biggest business scandals in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Biggest business scandals in pictures Biggest business scandals in pictures Volkswagen emissions scandal VW admitted to rigging its US emission tests so that diesel-powered cars would looks like they were emitting less nitrous oxide, which can damage the ozone layer and contribute to respiratory diseases. Around 11 million cars worldwide were affected. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Martin Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals Martin Shkreli became known as the most hated man in the world after his drug company, Turing, increased the price of a 62-year-old drug that treated HIV patients by 5,000% to $750 a pill. He was charged with illegally taking stock from Retrophin, a biotechnology firm he started in 2011, and using it pay off debts from unrelated business dealings. Shkreli, who maintains he is innocent, and says there is little evidence of fraud because his investors didn't lose money. Biggest business scandals in pictures Panama Papers: Millions of leaked documents expose how worlds rich and powerful hid money - April 2016 Millions of confidential documents have been leaked from one of the worlds most secretive law firms, exposing how the rich and powerful have hidden their money. Dictators and other heads of state have been accused of laundering money, avoiding sanctions and evading tax, according to the unprecedented cache of papers that show the inner workings of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is based in Panama. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Google's tax avoidance Google reached a deal with the HM Revenue and Customs to pay back 130 million in so-called back-taxes that have been due since 2005. George Osborne championed the deal as a major success. But European MEPs have since called for the Chancellor to appear in front of the committee on tax rulings to explain the tax deal. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Rogue trader A French court cut the damages owed by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel from 4.9bn (4.2bn) to just 1m (860,000). The court ruled on that Kerviel was partly responsible for massive losses suffered in 2008 by his former employer Societe Generale through his reckless trades. Kerviel has consistently maintained that bosses at the French bank knew what he was doing all along. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Barclays CEO under investigation for trying to identify whistleblower - Monday Paril 10 Authorities have launched an investigation into Barclays chief executive officer Jes Staley for trying to identify a whistleblower, the bank said on Monday. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are both investigating Mr Staley after the bank notified them that Mr Staley had tried to identify the author of two anonymous letters, which were sent to the board and a senior executive in June 2016. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures UK to crack down on bank money laundering after reports of 65bn Russian scam, City minister says - March 2017 The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has vowed that the Government will crack down on money laundering practices, after several of the UK's biggest banks were accused of processing money from a Russian scam, believed to involve up to $80bn (65bn). Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former HBOS bankers convicted of bribery and fraud over 245m loan scam - February 2017 Two former HBOS bankers were among six people found guilty of bribery and fraud that cost customers and shareholders hundreds of millions of pounds, the BBC reports. Lynden Scourfield, 54, a manager at HBOS, forced struggling clients to use the services of his friends David Mills, 60, and Michael Bancroft, 73. In return, the two businessmen arranged sex parties, cash and lavish gifts. On Monday, the three were convicted at Southwark Crown Court on accounts including bribery, fraud and money laundering. Mark Dobson, another manager at HBOS, Alison Mills, and John Cartwright were also convicted. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Lloyds chief apologises for damage caused by affair allegations - August 2016 Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank, has broken his silence over allegations about his private life admitting he regrets any "damage done to the group's reputation". In a message sent to the bank's 75,000 employees, the banker said that anyone can make mistakes while insisting that staff had to maintain the highest professional standards. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Christine Lagarde faces court over 340m Bernard Tapie payment - July 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, must stand trial in France over a payment of 403 million (now 340m, then 290m) to tycoon Bernard Tapie, a France's highest appeals court has ruled. The court rejected Ms Lagarde's appeal against a judge's order in December for her to stand trial over allegations of negligence in her handling of the affair. Ms Lagarde could risk a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if convicted. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures HSBC senior manager arrested in FX rigging investigation at JFK airport in New York - July 2016 A senior executive at HSBC has been arrested at New York's JFK airport for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to rig currency benchmarks, according to reports. Mark Johnson, global head of foreign exchange cash trading in London, was reportedly arrested on Tuesday. He will appear before a federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Bloomberg said. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Former PwC employees found guilty in 'Luxleaks' tax scandal - June 2016 Two ex- PricewaterhouseCoopers staffers were found guilty in Luxembourg of stealing confidential tax files that helped unleash a global scandal over generous fiscal deals for hundreds of international companies. Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet face suspended sentences of 12 months and 9 months and were ordered to pay fines of 1,500 (1,230) and 1,000 (822) for their role in the so-called LuxLeaks scandal. Despite the minimal sentences, the ruling was described by Deltours lawyer as shocking and a terrible anomaly. The ruling puts on guard future whistle-blowers, Deltour told reporters.The LuxLeaks revelations sped beyond Luxembourg, causing European Union regulators to expand a tax-subsidy probe and propose new laws to fight corporate tax dodging, while EU lawmakers created a special committee to probe fiscal deals across the 28-nation bloc. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Goldman Sachs dealmakers lavished Libyan officials with prostitutes to win contract - June 2016 A former Goldman Sachs dealmaker trying to persuade Gadaffi-era Libya to invest $1 billion with the investment bank procured prostitutes and invited Libyan officials to lavish parties in the hope of winning the business, the High Court heard on Monday June 13.The Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund is suing Goldman Sachs for inappropriately coercing its naive staff into giving its sovereign wealth fund cash to the bank to invest in products they did not understand. The products were designed to generate big profits for Goldman, the LIA claims.Goldman denies wrongdoing and says the LIA was treated as an arms-length customer Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former boss of BHS said his life was threatened - June 2016 Darren Topp, the former boss of BHS, has said former owner Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him when he challenged him over a 1.5 million transfer out of the business. MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee asked Mr Topp about a 1.5 million transfer Mr Chappell made from BHS to a company called BHS Sweden. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley admits paying workers below the minimum wage - June 2016 Mike Ashley admitted paying Sports Direct employees below the minimum wage at a hearing in front of MPs. The company founder said that workers were paid less than the statutory minimum because of bottlenecks at security in an admission that could result in sanctions from HMRC. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Mitsubishi admits improper fuel tests - April 2016 Mitsubishi has admitted to using false fuel methods dating back to 1991. The scale of the scandal is only just coming to light after it was revealed in April that data was falsified in the testing of four types of cars, including two Nissan cars. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Quindell, the scandal-ridden insurance firm Quindell was once a darling of AIM but its share price fell in April 2014 when its accounting practices were attacked in a stinging research note by US short seller Gotham City. In August the group was forced to disclose that the 107 million pre-tax profit it had reported for 2013 was incorrect, and it had in fact suffered a 64million loss. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Toshiba Accounting Scandal The boss of Toshiba, the Japanese technology giant, resigned in disgrace in the wake of one of the countrys biggest ever accounting scandals. His exit came two months after the company revealed that it was investigating accounting irregularities. An independent investigatory panel said that Toshibas management had inflated its reported profits by up to 152 billion yen (780m) between 2008 and 2014. Biggest business scandals in pictures FIFA Corruption Scandal Fifa, football's world governing body, has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption since the summer of 2015, when the US Department of Justice indicted several top executives. It has now claimed the careers of two of the most powerful men in football, Fifa President Sepp Blatter and Uefa President Michel Platini, after they were banned for eight years from all football-related activities by Fifa's ethics committee. A Swiss criminal investigation into the pair is ongoing. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Libor fraudster City trader Tom Hayes, 35, has become the first person to be convicted of rigging Libor rates following a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court. Hayes worked as a trader in yen derivatives at UBS before joining the American bank Citigroup in Tokyo. He was fired from Citigroup following an investigation into his trading methods. He returned to the UK in December 2012 and was arrested following a two-and-a-half year criminal investigation by the SFO. Getty However, state intervention could also spur further anti-euro feeling among Italian voters at an uncertain time in Italian politics. The misfortunes of Italys banking sector have already spilled over into the political sphere, contributing to the governments defeat in this months constitutional referendum. The failure of Monte dei Paschi would threaten the savings of thousands of Italians and could undermine confidence in the country's wider banking sector, saddled with a third of the eurozone's total bad loans. Additional reporting by Reuters 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 }} Saudi Arabia has revealed a projected deficit of about $53bn (43bn) for next year as it announced the first detailed look at its long-term plan to boost the economy and reduce its historically high dependence on oil. The government is planning to have a balanced national budget by 2020 by reinforcing revenues from non-oil industries to 50 per cent and containing growth in spending. Recommended Oil prices surge after more producers agree to cut output The budget deficit shrank to 297 billion riyals ($79bn; 64bn) in 2016. That was well below a record 367 billion gap in 2015, and below the government's projection in its original 2016 budget plan of a deficit of 326 billion riyals. The drop is likely to reassure international investors worried about Saudi Arabia's ability to cope with an era of cheap oil. Saudi Arabia is the worlds second-largest oil producer and volatility in oil prices hit the governments revenues. The price of crude has fluctuated wildly in the last two years. From a high of more than $100 a barrel in mid-2014, the price of oil plunged to a low of $29 by January 2016. Oil prices soared after The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has reached a deal amongst all 14 members to curtail oil supply for the first time in eight years. The deal is designed to reverse a slump in global oil prices and will see the group reduce production by 1.2 million barrels a day from January. Prices have now recovered to about $55 per barrel. The worlds biggest crude exporter also burns more oil than any other country to generate electricity. According to Bloomberg, citing the most recent International Energy Agency figures, the kingdom consumes at least 900,000 barrels a day at peak periods of the year to keep the lights on an amount worth more than $16bn year based on current oil spot prices Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. "This budget comes at a time of a highly volatile economic situation... and which led to a slowdown in world economic growth and a drop in oil prices that impacted our country," King Salman said with Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan Revenues came in slightly higher than expected at 528 billion riyals instead of 514 billion riyals as the government raised cash with austerity measures such as lowering wages of public employees and visa fees. Additional reporting by agencies 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 }} Theresa May has given her support to The Independents Christmas Appeal while announcing 50m for projects to tackle the tragedy of rough sleeping. The Prime Minster said: The early intervention and advice that the Young and Homeless Helpline can provide will help turn young lives around and save people from the injustice of rough sleeping. I salute everyone who has taken part in this years appeal and it is doing vital work to raise funds and awareness of the problem. Speaking during a visit to a homeless project in south London this morning, she said: Christmas generosity, together with the work of government, can make a real difference to vulnerable young people on the verge of sleeping rough. Homelessness is a tragedy for all of us especially for those affected, she added. All the more so because it can happen at any time and for a wide variety of reasons. Recommended Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet Homeless Helpline volunteers Our appeal has raised more than 1m to help Centrepoint, whose patron is Prince William, launch the first national advice and support helpline for people aged between 16 and 25 facing homelessness or already sleeping rough. It will fill a void in housing support for growing numbers of young people facing homelessness and help them with wider issues including mental health, addiction and family breakdown. More than 150,000 young people facing homelessness seek housing support from local authorities each year but up to a third are turned away with no help or advice. Ms May and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, who has already given his support to the campaign, announced a 50m government funding pot for homeless schemes during a visit to the Thames Reach Employment Academy in Camberwell. The funding includes 10m aimed at schemes targeting the imminent risk of having to sleep rough including 414,000 towards the No First Night Out homelessness-prevention drive by City of London, Tower Hamlets and Hackney councils in the capital. Birmingham has been given a 1.7m boost to tackle the root causes that can lead to someone losing their home, including funding for a new partnership board to take responsibility for homelessness services, and new dedicated teams to support vulnerable people leaving custody and hospital with no fixed address. Some 10m nationwide will go to new social impact bonds devised to fund help for a smaller number of people with the most complex needs, including mental health issues and poor education. The new programme builds on other funding from the Government to prevent homelessness, including providing 100m for at least 2,000 low cost accommodation places for rough sleepers leaving hostel accommodation and domestic abuse victims and their families moving on from refuges. During the visit, the politicians met former rough sleepers being trained with new skills to help turn their lives around and watched trainees paint a nursery as part of a six-week course to become full-time decorators with qualifications and references. Thames Reach chief executive Jeremy Swain said: This place is all about getting people into work. Our strong view is that the best way of avoiding homelessness in the future is to help people get the skills to move into a job. Up to 2,000 people get support each month at the centre which offers help, advice and training for a range of problems, not just homelessness. It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the 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 }} Zephyr Teachout is an academic and activist who has written about the long, ugly history of corruption within American politics. And she believes President-elect Donald Trump may be the most corruptible president do date. Amid ongoing uncertainty about what sort of barrier the 70-year-old will establish between his Oval Office duties and the vast myriad of businesses interests he and his family possess, Ms Teachout said she had spent much time researching the history of the conflict of interest laws. She did so for her 2014 book Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklins Snuff Box to Citizens United. Ms Teachout said that this week, Mr Trumps transition team had suggested a new idea - that the blind trust many have urged him to establish to avoid a possible conflict of interest, may not actually be blind after all. It would allow Trump to keep any eye on how his businesses are doing. All this means that when Trump becomes president, he and his family could still be getting payments and favours from his companys foreign clients - from China to Georgia to the Philippines - who often have interests at odds with Americas, she wrote in Politico. It also means that Trump threatens to be the most corruptible president in American history. Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway named counselor to President Mr Trump has insisted that the US Constitution does not say anything about the business interests of the president, even though it does refer to the conflict of interest of government officials. Earlier this year, Mr Trump told the New York Times that in this regard, the law is totally on my side. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to inquiries on Thursday. Ivanka Trump will occupy a White House office (EPA) Mr Trump has previously said that his children would continue to run the Trump business empire while he served as president - something many observers said would also not be a blind trust. Earlier this month, it was reported that his daughter, Ivanka, is move into the White House with her father and occupy the office normally reserved for the first lady. In research for my book Corruption in America, which documents the early history of conflict of interest law, I found many ways in which money has been used to win power, wrote Ms Ms Teachout. But there has been no other president who was so vulnerable to corruption by outside business interests as Trump now is. She added: Since the early days of the country, presidents have gone out of their way to distance themselves from even the appearance of conflicts of interest. Not only does Trumps decision to keep his businesses violate the foreign bribery clause of the Constitution (also known as the emoluments clause), but with that violation, Trump is upending 240 years of tradition and a core conviction of the founders: that a stable, safe, representative republic depends on protecting against the foreign corruption of our officeholders. 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 prominent adult film actress has claimed she was violently assaulted during an alleged non-consensual scene for an adult website. On Monday, in a series of tweets, Nikki Benz claimed she was involved in a horrific scene. She alleges that a director, Tony T, choked her during filming for a scene for the Canadian pornography company Brazzers. He has denied any wrongdoing. She also shared screengrabs of messages, though it is not known who the messages are between, where it is claimed Benz head was stomped on and that she kept asking for the scene to be cut, yet filming continued. On Twitter, Benz called the alleged incident a rape scene, saying in one tweet: On set bullying, rape and violence should never happen. No means no on camera, off camera. She also said several times she was not ok with the scene. The 35-year-old said she was disgusted, traumatised and upset by the alleged incident and that after 13 years in the industry, this was the only time she went into shock on set and cried. Brazzers responded to Benz on Tuesday in a statement shared on their sister site Trendzz. As most of you already know, we do not produce content ourselves but commission producers to do so on our behalf, they wrote. We understand that this particular scene was an unscripted scene with the artistic direction left open to the producers discretion. 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. Brazzers considers performers consent, boundaries and limits and safety to be fundamental and paramount issues and unequivocally stands for the respect of the performers. Brazzers does not condone nor does it tolerate conduct by producers that would jeopardise a performers security or well-being. The company said it would investigate the allegations surrounding the production of the scene and if necessary will take steps that are reasonably calculated to prevent the alleged behaviour from occurring. Brazzers always reserves the right to reject any particular scene if it does not meet with its brand and image guidelines. Producers are aware of this and, we hope, are cognisant of that when shooting scenes for Brazzers. This particular type of scene would never meet our standards and would be rejected immediately, it said in a statement. On Thursday, TMZ reported the director had been fired by Brazzers. The Independent has not been able to contact Tony T, but his representatives told the gossip website he denied all the allegations made against him, laments the actions of Brazzers and is confident his name will be cleared. Benz has continued to be vocal against Tony T and Brazzers on social media, branding their statement a PR stunt and claiming they have not apologised to her. The Canadian actress was supported by other adult actresses online and said she was speaking out about the alleged incident to be the voice for every girl in this industry whos been wronged. Representatives for Brazzers did not immediately respond to a request 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 }} Prince Charles has issued a warning over the rise of populism in a veiled apparent reference to the election of Donald Trump and increasingly hostile attitudes towards refugees in Europe. The Prince of Wales said there were deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s, adding that evil religious persecution was taking place across the globe. The suffering doesnt end when they arrive seeking refuge in a foreign land," he said in the pre-recorded message for BBC Radio 4's Thought For The Day. We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive to those who adhere to a minority faith. All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s," he said. My parents generation fought and died in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and inhuman attempts to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. Citing UN statistics, he added that a "staggering" 65.3 million people abandoned their homes in 2015 5.8 million more than the year before. The suffering doesnt end when they arrive seeking refuge in a foreign land," he said. "We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith." The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters He went on to urge listeners to remember this Christmas how the story of the Nativity unfolds with the fleeing of the holy family to escape violent persecution. While the prince did not make direct reference to Mr Trump, his address will be widely linked to the billionaire's rise to power. It came as the President-elect signalled he may be intent on pushing through a proposed Muslim 'registry'. Thank you Prince Charles for calling out the creeping trend of modern authoritarianism in which Trump and Putin are significant players," one Twitter user wrote. The heir to the throne's address also comes after an apparent surged in far-right and nationalist sentiment across Europe, which appeared to gather momentum in the wake of the UK's Brexit vote. Front National candidate Marine Le Pen is expected to reach a second-round run-off in next year's French presidential elections, while similar political parties have also seen an increase in support in countries including Germany, Austria and Netherlands. The speech was the third time Prince Charles has appeared on Thought for the Day. He first did so on the fiftieth anniversary of VE Day in 1995 and then again in January 2000 to mark the new millennium. 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 }} Thousands of people around the world work tirelessly to defend human rights - often risking their lives to expose abuses against women, children, minority groups and landless farmers amongst others. Below are five activists who had an impact on 2016, in no particular order. Biram Dah Abeid, anti-slavery activist The leading Mauritanian campaigner was born to slaves and should have faced a life of servitude in the desert nation which straddles the Arab Maghreb and black sub-Saharan Africa. But he was released from slavery by his mother's master on the advice of a Koranic teacher. Abeid has spent much of his life campaigning for the end of slavery in Mauritania where some 43,000 people, or about 1 percent of the population, live as slaves, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, although others put it at 20 percent. In my country, people come into the world already owning other human beings, said Abeid, who has been jailed several times including after taking part in a 2014 anti-slavery march. The last country to legally abolish slavery in 1981, Mauritania criminalised slavery in 2007 and a new law passed last year makes the offence a crime against humanity and doubles the prison term for offenders to 20 years. But Abeid told the Thomson Reuters Foundation: In Mauritania, Sharia law supersedes the Constitution and the ratification of any international treaty on slavery. That's why perpetrators of slavery are rarely, if ever, imprisoned. Zaina Erhaim, Syrian journalist Zaina Erhaim has trained more than 100 citizen journalists in Syria and helped establish a number of independent newspapers and magazines. Living and working in Aleppo, Erhaim made a series of short films Syria's Rebellious Women, which tells the stories of women who stepped into positions usually reserved for men since the start of the civil war. The women include a paramedic, a relief worker and community activist. Erhaim told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that if such remarkable women went undocumented, the male winners will be writing the history, and the heroines will be forgotten. Jennifer Kempton, former sex slave For six years, Jennifer Kempton was forced to work as a prostitute by a former boyfriend who branded her with his name tattooed above her groin. She had other markings including a tattoo on her neck of the name of one of her traffickers along with his gang's insignia. After escaping sexual slavery, Kempton set up a charity, Survivor's Ink, two years ago to help other women who had escaped enslavement get their brandings covered up or removed. Survivor's Ink has so far provided grants to help around 100 women cover up their slavery brandings. It's always amazing to see the look on their face when they no longer have to look at this dehumanising mark of ownership and violence, Kempton told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner with her husband and baby (Mike Segar/Reuters) Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, climate poet The poet, performance artist and teacher from the Marshall Islands is on a mission to protect her low-lying Pacific island home from climate change. Jetnil-Kijiner has been training young people to apply for grant money that can help their families in the nation of more than 1,000 atolls and islands cope with worsening extreme weather and rising seas. The 28-year-old, who was part of her country's delegation to the UN climate talks in Marrakesh in November, said many of the country's 53,000 people feel they must move away from their home at some point. Lots of the outside rhetoric they hear tells them that. But I tell them it's not over yet. There's still time to fight, Jetnil-Kijiner told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 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. Hla Myat Tun, LGBT activist Hla Myat Tun is programme coordinator at Colors Rainbow, a leading rights group in Burma that works to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. LGBT people in Myanmar routinely face abuse, violence, intimidation and harassment from police officers who extort money and sexual favours from them in a country where homosexuality is banned, campaigners say. By giving them free legal advice and introducing them to lawyers we hope they can access justice more easily, said Myat Tun. Reuters Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A man who raised 100,000 in the hope it would help his cancer-suffering wife survive beyond Christmas Day has revealed that she has died. Ed Cusick, 40, used the money to buy a potentially life-extending drug for his 34-year-old wife Nina, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year. The couple from Aylesbury had hoped it might give her enough time to see their 21-month-old son, Teddy, open his presents on Christmas morning, before she went on to a clinical trial next year. But Mr Cusick, a musician who stopped working to be at home with his wife and son for 22 months, revealed in a Facebook post that she had died. It is with the worst pain I have ever felt that I am writing this to inform all our friends that I have tragically lost my Nina," he wrote. "She was taken to hospital after developing an infection last week. She fought so hard for her life but the antibiotics had no effect, they were stopped and she died in my arms as I lay next to her in the hospital bed on Thursday." The widower said he was "beyond destroyed" by his wife's death, before writing a message directly to her. I love you more than words can ever describe," he said. "You have been such a beautiful and wonderful wife to me and the most incredible mother to our little boy." "We have been through the toughest time possible, but every second I spent with you has been the best and most precious time of my life. "You are not only a stunning wife and mother, but you are a wonderful daughter, sister, friend and an inspiration of strength to so many people who's hearts you have reached out and touched. "What you have achieved through love in the face of cancer is beyond imaginable." UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images 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 Hundreds of people offered their condolences on the social media site. "I'm so sorry to hear of your sad loss," one wrote. "My thoughts are with you and Nina's family. "I was at primary school with Nina, and she was such a lovely character from what I can remember. My thoughts are with you all." Another wrote: "I am so sorry to hear this. Nina was a wonderful person, vibrant and full of adventure. I am sending your entire family and friends my condolences." Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A multitude of different faith groups are teaming up across the UK to help the homeless in the run up to Christmas. Muslim NGOs are working hand-in-hand with churches in London to distribute food and sleeping kits. Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists, Quakers, Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs meanwhile opened up a night shelter in Leicester last week, in what is believed to be the first enterprise of its kind. Muslims and Christians dished out hot turkey dinners and sleeping kits to around 90 homeless people at a west London church on Monday. The One Roof night shelter in Leicester houses 10 rough sleepers and its location switches between seven venues One Roof Leicester (One Roof Leicester) It was a glimpse into how the world should be, said Shepherds Bushs Church of St Stephen and St Thomas vicar Dr Bob Mayo, speaking to The Independent. Homelessness is a desperate need in society and there is a desperate need for different faith groups to work together because secularism has pushed us apart. Muslim Aid, NGO the Al-Khair Foundation and non-faith based charity Streetlytes also served up biryanis and kits containing sleeping bags, multipurpose utensils and emergency phone numbers. The One Roof night shelter, pictured at its launch on 12 December, is believed to be the first of its kind One Roof Leicester (One Roof Leicester) You always get a better sleeping bag from the Muslims, joked Dr Mayo, who shared his birthday cake with his homeless friends on 5 December. There is so much negative publicity surrounding Islam going on at the moment so we really encourage them to come in and maximise what theyve got. Earlier this month, Muslim Aid and East London Mosque in Whitechapel handed 10 tonnes of food to homeless charity Crisis for its Christmas initiative. Recommended Kebab shop feeding homeless and elderly free turkey on Christmas Day An estimated 90 per cent will go to non-Muslims. Muslim-owned kebab shops in Birmingham and in south-east London will feed the homeless free of charge on Christmas Day. In Leicester, charity One Roof opened a shelter on 12 December, for 10 homeless men, which switches between seven different faith-based locations. Housing Justice UK told One Roof that never before had so many different faiths collaborated on a homelessness project. When you think about it, I find it really mind boggling, the charitys manager Salma Ravat told The Independent. In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Show all 16 1 /16 In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Celebrities and 1,000 members of public attended the End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out in London's Greenwich Peninsula on 24 November Andy Barnes In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Sadie Frost at the End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out in London's Greenwich Peninsula on 24 November Andy Barnes In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Celebrities and 1,000 members of the public joined the End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out in London's Greenwich Peninsula on 24 November Andy Barnes In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Seyi Obakin, the Chief Executive of Centrepoint, and Colin Salmon at the End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out in London's Greenwich Peninsula on 24 November Andy Barnes In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Celebrities and 1,000 members of public attended the End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out in London's Greenwich Peninsula on 24 November Andy Barnes In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Celebrities and 1,000 members of public attended the End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out in London's Greenwich Peninsula on 24 November Andy Barnes In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Celebrities and 1,000 members of public attended the End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out in London's Greenwich Peninsula on 24 November Andy Barnes In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Celebrities and 1,000 members of public attended the End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out in London's Greenwich Peninsula on 24 November Andy Barnes In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron gets ready to bed down as 1000 people get ready to sleep out for the annual Centrepoint Sleep out at the Greenwich Peninsula Nigel Howard In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out The RAF prepare tasty food before a 100 people get ready to sleep out for the annual Centrepoint Sleep out at the Greenwich Peninsula Nigel Howard In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Independent reporter Alex Dymoke gets ready to bed down as 1000 people get ready to sleep out for the annual Centrepoint Sleep out at the Greenwich Peninsula Nigel Howard In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Anjali Patel, Remy Diamon-Ross and Hannah Kilminster join members of the RAF as they are given dinner Nigel Howard In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Bedding down for the night, sleepers get ready for lights out in one of several tents at the annual Centrepoint Sleep out at the Greenwich Peninsula Nigel Howard In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Bedding down for the night, sleepers get ready for lights out in one of several tents at the annual Centrepoint Sleep out at the Greenwich Peninsula Nigel Howard In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Bedding down for the night, sleepers get ready for lights out in one of several tents at the annual Centrepoint Sleep out at the Greenwich Peninsula Nigel Howard In pictures: End Youth Homelessness Sleep Out Colin Salmon is 'photo bombed' before he gets ready to bed down as 1000 people get ready to sleep out for the annual Centrepoint Sleep out at the Greenwich Peninsula Nigel Howard Its really important that all these different faiths work together. It builds community; people getting to know each other, sharing values and sharing morals. Working together, you find out more of what you have in common with one another than what your differences are. One Roof, which will give its homeless donated presents on Christmas Day, estimates there are around 40 rough sleepers in Leicester, although the last city council count totalled 16. Leonardo Di Caprio delights fans on visit to Edinburgh eatery which helps the homeless There are 255,000 people without a permanent home, according to charity Shelter, and an estimated 124,000 homeless children will spend Christmas in temporary accommodation. Its fantastic what weve achieved, said Ms Ravat, a 44-year-old Muslim. Also in November, Muslims and Christian volunteers gave an evening meal for the homeless as part of a Jewish Mitzvah Day initiative in St Albans, Hertfordshire. 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 }} Ministers are considering a push for longer working hours for MPs next year, to give enough time to pass Brexit legislation in line with Theresa Mays schedule. They are mulling whether more late sittings could be needed to ensure the necessary legislation is in place, in time for Ms Mays desired 2019 Brexit. But any move to make the House sit longer into the evening is likely to face opposition from MPs who have been pushing for more family-friendly working hours. It also comes amid ongoing questions over whether the Government will be able to negotiate both a withdrawal from the EU and new trade terms in Brussels within the allotted two-year time scale before 2019. Ms May has promised to bring forward a Great Repeal Bill in the next Queens Speech, shortly after she triggers Article 50 Brexit negotiations in March 2017. The Prime Minister wants the Bill, which will allow all EU law to be brought under British auspices on the day of Brexit, to pass through Parliament and be in place for when the two year Article 50 talks are concluded, likely in March 2019. One Government source said: Its going to be tight to ensure that it passes all of the marks so that its in place, ready to operate, on the day Brexit arrives in March 2019. So to ensure that it is, it may mean that we have to extend parliamentary hours. That could mean introducing later sittings in the middle of the week, like on a Tuesday. Over the past three decades the trend has been towards Parliament finishing earlier with fewer sittings after 10pm and post-midnight sittings disappearing. 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 Currently, the Commons sits until around 10.30pm on Monday, but on Tuesday and Wednesday debates tend to end around 7.30pm. Earlier this year a report commissioned by Parliament called for trial sittings of the House of Commons based around normal business hours, as one potential way of improving gender balance. A spokesperson for the Leader of the House of Commons David Liddington said: "There are no plans to change the sitting hours of the House." But a potential move toward longer hours also highlights the tight time-scale under which the Government will be operating once Ms May triggers Article 50 in March. The Prime Minister told MPs at the Liaison Committee that she intended to secure both an exit deal and new terms within the two-year period allowed. But Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said it will be "impossible" for the UK to strike a full Brexit deal in the negotiation period allowed by the EU's founding treaty, a view held by others in the UK and on the continent. 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 }} Labours Diane Abbott has called for a major rethink on Theresa Mays snooping laws, which the European Court has indicated are unlawful. Ms Abbott slammed the Conservative legislation as a "serious erosion of our rights and liberties" and called for new exemptions. But she also risked opening divisions in her own party after telling how she tried to warn MPs about dangers before the law was passed, despite concessions having been won by her Labour predecessor Andy Burnham and Sir Keir Starmer, then in the shadow justice brief. The European Court of Justice has now ruled that bulk email and call data retention by governments is unlawful, even though it was a watered-down version of Ms May's Investigatory Powers Act that reached the UKs statute book last month. Ms May first brought the legislation forward as Home Secretary, but a legal case against it was brought by Labours deputy leader Tom Watson and David Davis, who would later end up in Ms Mays Cabinet. Writing for Politics Home, Ms Abbott said that from time to time intelligence powers are needed to gather data on terror suspects or criminals. But she added: "The legislation that was struck down in the European Court went far wider than that. In fact, there was no provision limiting the gathering of data to terrorism or organised crime at all. "Even the suspicion of the most minor offences was enough to trigger a data trawl by the most junior officials, and in all cases the target had no right to be informed that an investigation had begun, or even that it had taken place in the past with no evidence of wrongdoing found. May on Snoopers' Charter "This is a serious erosion of our rights and liberties." The bulk of the legislative process was carried out while Mr Burnham was shadow Home Secretary and Sir Keir was in the shadow justice brief. During the the summer both fought for concessions to Ms Mays earlier versions of the law, with Sir Keir claiming to have won a "really significant step forward". But Ms Abbott said: I became involved in this legislation almost at the end of its passage through Parliament as a new shadow Home Secretary. "I tried to raise these points in the course of the final debates. I even suggested that the courts might strike down the provision of the Act as being sweeping and draconian." She went on: "Ordinary people are the main victims of both terrorism and organised crime. We need to wage a relentless fight against both. "But government legislation in this mistakes draconian powers for effective ones. I will be happy to work with government on a major legislative rethink." Ms Abbott has also clashed with Mr Burnham and Sir Keir more recently over immigration, after giving an interview in which she signalled the economic consequences of stronger controls. Meanwhile, Mr Burnham, Labours candidate to be mayor of Manchester, used an interview to say it was "time to confront a hard truth" and implied that immigration could be "undermining the cohesion of our communities and the safety of our streets". Sir Keir backed tougher controls and said the UKs future relationship with the EU needed to go "beyond" economic considerations. 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 prison population in England and Wales should be reduced by 40,000 - almost a half - to levels seen under Margaret Thatchers premiership, senior cross-party politicians have urged. The call from the former Tory Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke, Liberal Democrat MP Nick Clegg, deputy Prime Minister in the coalition government and Jacqui Smith, who served as Labour's Home Secretary between 2007 and 2009, urges the Government to act to curb the "escalating prison population", in a letter published in The Times. The politicians said the violent unrest at HMP Birmingham last week, in which specialist riot squads tacked rioters for more than 12 hours, was a wake-up call for this country. They believe that reducing the number of prisoners from 85,000 to 45,000 would help to alleviate the crisis facing prisons in England and Wales. In a letter the senior politicians added: "To restore order, security, and purpose to our jails, Ministers should now make it their policy to reduce prison numbers. "We want to see the prison population returned to the levels it was under Margaret Thatcher, herself no 'soft touch'. "That would mean eventually - not overnight, but safely over the course of several years - reducing prison numbers to around 45,000. If the tide is not turned soon, the prisons crisis will do untold damage to wider society." Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme Mr Clegg added: This year the highest number of deaths in prison ever but also its been an ineffective system because so many prisoners come out of prison particularly those on short term prison sentences only to commit crime very rapidly again and end up in prison again. In other words, this revolving door of imprisonment and crime also damages communities and leaves a string of victims in its wake. In response to the letter, a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesperson emphasised that the prison population has remained "relatively stable since 2010" despite a significant increase in the number of convicted sex offenders. They added: The Justice Secretary has been clear that she wants to see more early intervention and a reduction in reoffending. We have launched a White Paper outlining our plans to make prisons places of safety and reform and have announced a comprehensive review of our probation system, focused on reducing reoffending by getting offenders off drugs and into training or work. This will report in April next year. 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 }} Some Kenyan schools will stay open throughout the Christmas holidays to accommodate hundreds of girls who are scared their family will force them to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) if they go home. Schools that would have closed more than a month ago for the Christmas break are staying open for the girls, with head teachers being told to make the buildings available and ensure they attend classes. The danger of female circumcision becomes more acute around Christmas, which is a time for initiation rituals in many communities, the BBC reported. FGM was banned in 2011, a move that with Kenya's Women Parliamentary Association hailed as a "bold step" for the rights of women. But one county official Brian Njeru, who has converted all the girls schools under his jurisdiction into rescue centres for the holidays, told the BBC girls continued to undergo the procedure in secret. "This is a deeply entrenched issue that will take time to completely get rid of," he said. "These days there are no elaborate ceremonies to celebrate girls who have undergone FGM. "It is very secretive and it makes it very difficult to apprehend those who are behind this." FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Show all 12 1 /12 FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl cries after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM The traditional practice of circumcision within the Pokot tribe is a rite of passage that marks the transition to womanhood and is a requirement for all girls before they marry Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls are encouraged to leave their hut and make their way to a place where they will take off their clothes and wash during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised in a tribal ritual in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls, draped in animal skins, sit on rocks during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman performs a circumcision on a girl REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman holds a razor blade after performing a circumcision on four girls REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl bleeds onto a rock after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl is smeared with a white paint after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM More than a quarter of girls and women in Kenya have undergone genital cutting, according to United Nations data REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls covered with animal skins squat on rocks after being stripped naked and washed during their circumcision rite in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS Yet he said the number of girls enrolling in primary and secondary school had rocketed in the wake of the ban. 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 }} Atheists will now be protected under US law as part of new legislation promoting religious freedom signed in by US President Barack Obama From now on the rights of "non theists" as well as religious minorities will be enshrined, following the HR15 amendment to the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act. The freedom of thought and religion is understood to protect theistic and non-theistic beliefs as well as the right not to profess or practice any religion, it says. The legislation was welcomed by secular campaigners when it passed with no opposition in Congress to become law on 16 December. Roy Speckhardt, the executive director of The American Humanist Association which lobbied for the inclusion of atheists in the legislation called it "historic". He added that his organisation was looking "forward to working with the US Department of State to ensure religious liberty for non-theists and religious minorities abroad. He said: That non-theists are now recognised as a protected class is a significant step toward full acceptance and inclusion for non-religious individuals, who are still far too often stigmatised and persecuted around the world. Scholars also praised the expansive view of the amendment. Atheist US blogger killed in machete attack in Bangladesh The new law has some really interesting language in it, Caroline Mala Corbin, professor of law at the University of Miami, told Religion News. It takes an expansive view of religious liberty, saying freedom of religion is not just about the right to practice religion. It is also about the right to have your own views about religion including being agnostic and atheistic. There is a strong foreign policy aspect to the amendment, which sets out to improve the ability of the United States to advance religious freedom globally through enhanced diplomacy, training, counter-terrorism, and foreign assistance efforts, and through stronger and more flexible political responses to religious freedom violations and violent extremism worldwide, and for other purposes. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The US Commission on International Religious Freedom was mandated by the original 1998 act to monitor religious freedom and abuses of it around the world. The amendment has broadened the groups remit to include recording abuses of religious freedom by non-state actors, such as the jihadi group Boko Haram. The amendment also means that religious freedom will be a high priority for US diplomatic missions and overseas officials will be trained in the strategic importance of religious freedom. An Ambassador-at-Large for religious freedom will also report to the Secretary of State, and include findings on people imprisoned for their religious beliefs, religiously motivated cenosrship and the persecution of religious freedom campaigners. 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 }} Barack Obama has taken action to try and prevent Donald Trump from establishing a registry of American Muslims and banning people from Muslim nations entering the US. The Obama Administration is scrapping the dormant National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (Nseers) that logs and monitors people who enter the US from countries with active terrorist groups a system Mr Trump could have resurrected and expanded to help implement his controversial plans. During the election campaign, the businessman promised to impose a ban on all Muslims entering the country. He later modified this to apply only to people coming from countries with a proven history of terrorism. Following his shock election victory on 8 November, Mr Trumps team announced he was also considering imposing a registry of Muslim immigrants already in the US. Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State who is an adviser to Mr Trump and has been tipped for a job in the incoming administration, suggested these policies could be enacted by bringing back the Nseers system the Obama team are now scrapping. Twenty-four of the 25 countries that were included in the Nseers register were Muslim-majority nations. The other was North Korea. The system was introduced after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 but has not been used since 2011, reports The New York Times suggesting Mr Obamas move is designed solely to make it harder for Mr Trump to fulfil his pledges. The President-elect this week reiterated his promise to ban Muslim immigrants and set up a register of US Muslims. He answered a question from reporters on whether this was still his intention by saying: You know my plans all along and Ive been proven to be right. 100 per cent correct. Barack Obama moves to protect funding for abortion clinics from attack by Donald Trump's Republicans A spokesperson later said Mr Trump was referring to his modified plans to ban the immigration of people from countries where there are terrorist groups operating, rather than his earlier proposals for a blanket ban on all Muslims entering the US. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway was asked on Thursday if the President-elect had backed away from the idea of a Muslim registry. Well, he said during the campaign long after he had originally proposed that, that this would be more strictly tied to countries where we know they have a history of terrorism, Ms Conway said on ABCs Good Morning America. This is not a complete ban, added Ms Conway, who was named Trumps White House counsellor on Thursday. President Trump protests Show all 20 1 /20 President Trump protests President Trump protests Patrons hold a sign as people march by while protesting the election of Republican Donald Trump as the president of the United States in downtown Los Angeles, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators rally following the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States, in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators march following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests Thousands of protesters rallied across the United States expressing shock and anger over Donald Trump's election, vowing to oppose divisive views they say helped the Republican billionaire win the presidency AFP/Getty Images President Trump protests Demonstrators protest outside the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois Getty President Trump protests A police officer aims a launcher after demonstrators threw projectiles toward a line of officers during a demonstration in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests An officer examines a vandalized police vehicle as demonstrators riot in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators take over the Hollywood 101 Freeway just north of Los Angeles City Hall in protest against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests A woman holds up a sign reading 'Trump you are an Idiot' as demonstrators gather during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump outside the City Hall building in Los Angeles, California EPA President Trump protests A masked demonstrator gestures toward a police line during a demonstration in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators protest against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States, near the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada Reuters President Trump protests Musician Lagy Gaga stages a protest against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on a sanitation truck outside Trump Tower in New York City Getty President Trump protests A woman yells as she takes part in a protest against President-elect Donald Trump in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests A man dressed in red-white-and-blue sits on the curb during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests A protester sets off fireworks during a protest against President-elect Donald Trumpin Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests University of California, Davis students protest on campus in Davis, California, U.S. following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests An Oakland police officer checks out damage after a window was broken by protesters at a car dealership in downtown Oakland, Calif AP President Trump protests A protester faces a police line in downtown Oakland, Calif AP President Trump protests President-elect Donald Trumpis victory set off multiple protests AP President Trump protests A fire burns during protests in Oakland, Calif AP Democrats, including 51 members of Congress, had called on Mr Obama to scrap the Nseers register to avoid it being utilised by Mr Trump. Left-wing mayors from cities with large immigrant populations have also said they will not co-operate with Mr Trumps immigration policies. The Obama Administration has now set the ball rolling on abolishing the registry by initiating a change to federal rules that will come into effect this week. Neema Hakim, a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security [DHS], told the Times the programme was obsolete and outdated. DHS [Department of Homeland Security] ceased use of Nseers more than five years ago, after it was determined the program was redundant, inefficient and provided no increase in security, he said. Mr Obama has taken several steps to attempt to secure his legacy and make it harder for Mr Trump to fulfil some of his more controversial policy pledges. He moved to guarantee federal funding of abortion clinics in the face of the President-elects anti-abortion message and introduced a ban on drilling in the Arctic and parts of the Atlantic. 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 }} Delta Airlines has defended its action to eject YouTube celebrity Adam Saleh from a flight, amid accusations of Islamophobia. Mr Saleh posted a video of the encounter on Twitter Wednesday morning, claiming kicked off the flight for speaking to his mother in Arabic over the phone. I speak to my mom on the phone every flight, Mr Saleh told CBS. She only speaks Arabic. But Delta an airline that has been at the center of multiple controversies involving alleged discrimination against Muslim and Arabic-speaking passengers has a different account of what happened on the plane. The airline released a statement claiming that Mr Saleh, who is known for executing pranks on this YouTube channel, attempted to cause a disruption on the flight. Upon landing, the crew was debriefed and multiple passenger statements collected, Delta said. Based on the information collected to date, it appears the customers who were removed sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behaviour, including shouting. This type of conduct is not welcome on any Delta flight. While one, according to media reports, is a known prankster who was video-recorded and encouraged by his travelling companion, they added, what is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees. It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority. Mr Saleh released a statement upon returning to his home in New York City and accused Delta of lying. Delta has been called out previously for racial matters, he said. What they did was wrong and we deserve to speak up about this and not let this happen again. The world's 10 worst airlines Show all 10 1 /10 The world's 10 worst airlines The world's 10 worst airlines 10. Jet AirHelp, has assessed more than 30 airlines using scores for quality of service, on-time performance and responses to claims for compensation. Here follows the lowest ranked airlines, starting with Jet Airways, 35% of whose flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 9. Aerolineas Argentinas 15% of Aerolineas Argentinas flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 8. Iberia 16% of Iberia flights were delayed in 2018 Getty Images The world's 10 worst airlines 7. Korean Air 36% of Korean Air flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 6. Ryanair 14% of Ryanair flights were delayed in 2018 EPA The world's 10 worst airlines 5. Air Mauritius 31% of Air Mauritius flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 4. easyJet 21% of easyJet flights were delayed in 2018 AFP/Getty Images The world's 10 worst airlines 3. Pakistan International Airlines 39% of Pakistan International Airlines were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 2. Royal Jordanian Airlines 13% of Royal Jordanian Airlines flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 1. WOW Air 25% of WOW Air flights were delayed in 2018 Getty Yes, we're pranksters, and it sounds like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, but today you can clearly see its as real as it gets. Mr Saleh has previously sparked criticism for apparently staged videos. In one now-infamous prank, he depicted a scene where a New York police officer racial profiling he and a friend. The Smoking Gun debunked the 2014 video. But as his account has prompted scepticism, Muslim advocacy groups say the alleged incident is illustrative of a larger problem with the airline industry. Were very concerned about reports of this kind. If the allegations are true, they fit a pattern of these kinds of incidents over the years, said Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesperson Ibrahim Hooper. Despite world events, the world is a diverse place where people speak different languages, wear different attire, and look different, he added. Thats not justification for removing someone from a plane." 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 changed his tune on Mexicos richest man after meeting him at Mar-a-Lago, but perhaps more surprising was the revelation that Carlos Slim may have arranged to meet the president-elect through a private lobby group. Mr Trump met telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim last weekend for dinner at his Florida resort, even though the two businessmen had recently accused each other of being racist and leading a media conspiracy. Ben Carsons former campaign manager, Barry Bennett, told Politico that his new lobbying firm partner, Mr Lewandowski, had travelled to Mexico City this month to meet with Mr Slim and had arranged the meeting. The revelation could undermine Mr Trumps message that he wants to "drain the swamp" in Washington DC of rich, powerful lobbyists. The meeting, which happened just 10 days after Mr Lewandowski met Mr Slim, also casts a shadow over potential conflicts of interest between government business and a private lobbying group. Lobbying firm Avenue Strategies' website advertises the Me Lewandowski and Mr Bennett's close relationship with Mr Trump and the proximity of their office to the White House. Their office building also houses the Trump transition team. Mr Bennett told Politico that Mr Slim might become a client of their firm, Avenue Strategies, next year. "It's unknown," he said. "Everyone would love to have Carlos Slim as a client." Donald Trump's controversial cabinet Mr Lewandowski flatly denied that any money had changed hands. He responded that he travelled as a private citizen to Mexico City and was not "paid a dime" or given a contract. He said there was "no factual basis" for him trying to recruit Mr Slim as a client. Mr Trumps spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, also denied that the president-elect was being sold for access. Whether money is exchanged or not, the Justice Department's Foreign Agents Registration Act requires anyone acting as a representative to foreign individuals or foreign governments report their political activities within 10 days of "agreeing to become an agent and before performing any activities for the foreign principal". Mr Trump previously accused Mr Slim, who is a major owner of shares in the New York Times, of leading a media conspiracy to defeat him during the campaign. "The New York Times strings are being pulled by Mexico's Carlos Slim, a billionaire who benefits from NAFTA and supports Hillary Clinton's open border policies," he said in a statement in October. Mr Slim also scrapped a television deal in June 2015 with Mr Trump after accusing he accused the president-elect of racism. But the president-elect appeared to have changed his tune after the meeting last weekend. He tweeted: "Yes, it is true Carlos Slim, the great businessman from Mexico, called me about getting together for a meeting. We met, HE IS A GREAT GUY!" He told the Washington Post that he had "a lovely dinner with a wonderful man". The contents of the meeting were not disclosed. 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 }} Democrats have finally found something on which they can agree with Donald Trump - his plan to pump up to $1 trillion into overhauling America's "crumbling" infrastructure. Among the real estate tycoon's many election promises was a pledge to "refocus government spending on American infrastructure and away from the Obama-Clinton globalisation agenda", and create "thousands" of jobs in the process. Mr Trump's campaign identified poor quality roads, contaminated water and stalled energy projects, including fossil fuel extraction, as symptomatic of a problem so severe it has even featured in a 20-minute segment on John Oliver's satirical programme Last Week Tonight, where the host described it as "important but not sexy". Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Show all 20 1 /20 Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Now the incoming leader of the Senate Democratic group, Chuck Schumer, has said he likes the sound of such massive investment. He told ABC News: "We think it should be large. Hes mentioned a trillion dollars, I told him that sounded good to me. "Were not going to oppose something simply because it has the name Trump on it, but we will certainly not sacrifice our principles just to get something done." He added that his party will push for the investment package to be more than just a series of tax breaks for companies. Recommended Trump officials question State Department about environmental spending Mr Trump's plan revolves around the idea that $137 billion of tax credits will be turned into $167 billion of investment by the companies that receive them to build revenue-generating projects, like toll roads. It is hoped those companies will borrow privately to finance up to $1 trillion in total spending, the Washington Post reported. That would create jobs with taxable wages, as well as taxable corporate profits. Mr Trump's advisers believe the tax income could make the whole endeavour cost-neutral for the government. The President-elect is now creating an infrastructure task force to coordinate among local, state and federal officials as well as the private sector. How has Donald Trump campaigned around infrastructure? On his campaign website, Mr Trump has promised to implement "a bold, visionary plan for a cost-effective system of roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, railroads, ports and waterways, and pipelines in the proud tradition of President Dwight D Eisenhower, who championed the interstate highway system". Here is what he told voters he would do: "Put American steel made by American workers into the backbone of Americas infrastructure" "Employ incentive-based contracting to ensure projects are on time and on budget" "Make clean water a high priority. Triple funding for state revolving loan fund programs to help states and local governments upgrade critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure" "Link increases in spending to reforms that streamline permitting and approvals, improve the project delivery system, and cut wasteful spending on boondoggles" "Work with Congress to modernize our airports and air traffic control systems, end long wait times, and reform the FAA and TSA" The National Association of Manufacturers lobby group, cited by Mr Trump on his site, has claimed that the US would lose 2.5 million jobs by 2025 without "immediate action" to improve transport infrastructure. Last month Thanksgiving week traffic in Los Angeles provided a stunning illustration of the problem as thousands of cars choked the infamous I-405 freeway, one of the country's busiest. California commuters trapped in 'nightmare' traffic jam Hillary Clinton also made overhauling infrastructure a main plank of her campaign, pledging to pass a bipartisan plan in her first 100 days as president. She also criticised Mr Trump's plan to build a border wall, saying the reported $25 billion cost could go towards 1,500 new schools, or power five million homes through renewable energy. 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 held meetings with the heads of two aerospace companies who lost millions in shares when he criticised their projects for being too expensive. The US President-elect met with Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-35 fighter jet, and Dennis Muilenburg, head of Boeing, which has a contract to build two new Air Force One planes. Mr Muilenburg said he had promised Mr Trump the manufacturer would complete the Air Force One project for less than the $4bn the president-elect claimed it would cost. Earlier this month, Mr Trump tweeted: 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! Following his comments, Boeings stock temporarily fell by around $2 a share, wiping $1bn from the companys stock market value, which it later recovered. Mr Muilenburg told reporters at Mr Trumps estate in Palm Beach, Florida that Boeing would get it done for far less than the President-elect had claimed. But he did not suggest an estimate for a cost or provide a timetable for the completion of the presidential planes. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg after his meeting with the US President-elect (Reuters) Lockheed Martin also saw their stocks tumble when Mr Trump criticised the program to build new F-35 jets, said to be the world's most expensive weapons program. The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th, tweeted Mr Trump on 12 December. Following the message, Lockheeds Martins market value fell by $3.5bn when shares dropped from $251 each to $245.50 but this also rebounded and shares now stand at $252.50. Ms Hewson did not speak to reporters after her meeting with Mr Trump but released a statement which said it had been productive. I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we've made in bringing the costs down, she said, according to the Washington Examiner. The F-35 is a critical program to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies. Mr Trump told reporters the focus of his meetings had been to try and reduce the costs of the programs, according to Reuters. Primarily the F-35, we're trying to get the cost down. It's a program that's very, very expensive. Of his meeting with Ms Hewson, the President-elect said: It's a little bit of a dance. We're trying to get costs down. Women go on strike against Donald Trump Show all 7 1 /7 Women go on strike against Donald Trump Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump Protestors march during a demonstration against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 12, 2016. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Women go on strike against Donald Trump Protestors march during a demonstration against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 12, 2016. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images The President-elect, who takes office on 20 January, has promised to cut government procurement costs as part of his industrial policy. He has named Peter Navarro, a vocal critic of China, as the head of a new government office overseeing American trade and industrial policy. 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 said he still planned to ban Muslims from entering the US and to build a Muslim "registry" after the latest terrorist attacks in Berlin. Following an Isis-related attack at a Christmas market in Berlin this week, Mr Trump renewed his calls to carry out sweeping discriminatory acts against Muslims from overseas and the American Muslim population of around 3.3 million people. "You know my plans all along and Ive been proven to be right," he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. "100 per cent correct. Whats happening is disgraceful." Mr Trump was speaking the day after a man hijacked a lorry, killed the driver and ploughed into a Christmas market, killing at least 12 people and injuring 48. He was also referring to the Russian ambassador to Turkey who was killed in Ankara. "Its an attack on humanity and its got to be stopped," Mr Trump added. The president-elect had been seen to backtrack on his hard-line anti-Muslim stance when his December 2015 statement pledging to temporarily suspend Muslim immigration disappeared from his website the day of the election. "Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on," he said at the time. He then changed his policy to only suspend immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, rather than discriminating against one religion which claims more than 1.6 billion people. "When I am elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world when there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we understand how to end these threats," Mr Trump said in a June 2016 speech. Mr Trump first called to ban Muslims shortly after the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015. With every Isis-related assault, Mr Trump tweeted that he would be "tough, smart and vigilant". A week after the election, Kansas secretary of state and Trump adviser Kris Kobach revealed the team were looking at ways to implement a registry. Mr Trump has never clarified exactly how he would plan to execute the controversial policies. Mr Trumps communications director, Jason Miller, denied that his boss had ever advocated for a Muslim registry. Since his election, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has reported at least 900 hate crimes against Muslims across the country, from mosques being vandalised and set on fire, to Muslims being beaten, shot and stabbed on the street. 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 pick to lead his new National Trade Council is an economist who supports closer ties with Taiwan and has authored a book called Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base. The President-elect named Peter Navarro to head the White House group and praised him as a visionary who would develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores. Mr Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has authored a number of popular books and made a film describing China's threat to the US economy as well as Beijing's desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia. Mr Trump made trade a centrepiece of his presidential campaign and railed against what he said were bad deals the United States had made with other countries. He has threatened to hit Mexico and China with high tariffs once he takes office on 20 January. Mr Navarro, 67, is a professor at University of California and advised Mr Trump during the campaign. He has authored several books including Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base, which was made into a documentary film. As well as describing what he sees as America's losing economic war with China, Mr Navarro has highlighted concerns over environmental issues related to Chinese imports and the theft of US intellectual property. While Mr Trump in a statement praised the clarity of Mr Navarro's arguments and the thoroughness of his research, few other economists have endorsed the ideas. Marcus Noland, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, likened a tax and trade paper authored by Mr Navarro and Wilbur Ross, who has been named as Mr Trump's commerce secretary, to the type of magical thinking best reserved for fictional realities for what he said was its flawed economic analysis. Mr Navarro has also suggested a stepped-up engagement with Taiwan, including assistance with a submarine development program. He argued that Washington should stop referring to the one China policy, but stopped short of suggesting it should recognise Taipei, saying: There is no need to unnecessarily poke the panda. China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. Recommended US stealth jets to Australia in response to South China Sea tension China's foreign minister Wang Yi said in an interview carried on Thursday in the Communist Party of China's official newspaper that China-US relations face new uncertainties but with mutual respect for core interests they will remain stable. Only if China and the United States respect each other and give consideration to other's core interests and key concerns can there be long-term, stable cooperation, and effect win-win mutual benefit, Wang said. After his 8 November election win, Trump stoked China's ire when he took a telephone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in a break with decades of precedent that cast doubt on his incoming administration's commitment to Beijing's one China policy. In an opinion piece in Foreign Policy magazine in November, Mr Navarro and another Trump adviser, Alexander Gray, reiterated the president-elect's opposition to major trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Trump will never again sacrifice the US economy on the altar of foreign policy by entering into bad trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), allowing China into the World Trade Organization, and passing the proposed TPP, they wrote. These deals only weaken our manufacturing base and ability to defend ourselves and our allies. Trump has vowed to pull the United States out of the TPP, a free-trade pact aimed at linking a dozen Pacific Rim nations that President Barack Obama signed in February. It has not been ratified by the U.S. Senate. The president-elect has also vowed to renegotiate the Nafta pact with Canada and Mexico, saying it had cost American jobs. Copyright 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 }} Russia is hoping for a "more constructive" relationship with the United States after Donald Trump's inauguration despite announcing all dialogue between the countries was "frozen", a Kremlin spokesman has said. Dmitry Peskov had said on Wednesday: "We dont communicate with one another, or we do so minimally." But the arrival in the White House of Mr Trump, who has praised President Vladimir Putin as a "great" leader and dismissed the CIA and FBI's assessment that Russia was behind the hacking of Hillary Clinton's emails, is seen as cause for hope in Moscow. 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 Peskov said: "We're not wearing rose-tinted glasses, we have no illusions about any breakthroughs, but hope for a more constructive approach." Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was examining how it would approach the incoming administration when it takes office on 20 January. "We are of course actively working on a constructive agenda for our relations [with the United States] after the arrival of the new administration," he was quoted by the state RIA news agency as saying. He claimed the world was undergoing its stormiest period for decades. Talk of a freeze came after a series of strong public statements by US politicians including President Barack Obama, after the CIA and FBI both said they believed Russia was behind the hacking of emails relating to Hillary Clinton during the presidential election. On Tuesday, Republican senator John McCain said Russias involvement in hacking US systems during presidential election campaigns threatens to destroy democracy in its current form. The senator for Arizona warned there may soon be an unraveling of the world order and criticised the absolute failure of the American leadership to improve relations with Moscow. The US State Department moved quickly to dismiss Mr Peskov's claim about the freeze. Spokesman John Kirby said: "It's difficult to know exactly what is meant by this comment, but diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues. "That we have significant differences with Moscow on some of these issues is well known, but there hasn't been a break in dialogue." Reuters contributed to this report. 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 sparked fears about a new global nuclear arms race with a tweet that reverberated around the world in which he called on the US to expand its nuclear arsenal. In a single comment that will raise more questions about both his temperament and foreign policy experience, the President-elect said the US must "greatly strengthen and expand" its nuclear arsenal until "the world comes to its senses regarding nukes". He gave no other details about his plans. But his comment immediately triggered fears that the next US president will reverse decades of policy in which the nation has, in tandem with Russia, sought to reduce its nuclear arsenal. The Associated Press said the Thursday morning comment from Mr Trump came a day after he met with several military procurement officers to discuss defence budgets, including Lt Gen Jack Weinstein, the deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration for the Air Force. During the campaign, Mr Trump had suggested that the US expand its arsenal and he also suggested that the better off other countries, including Japan and South Korea, should have nuclear capabilities. He said that would mean that the USs traditional allies might not be so dependent on Washington. Mr Trump was spending Thursday at his private estate in south Florida, where he has been meeting with advisers and interviewing potential cabinet nominees. He is also expanding his White House staff, announcing that campaign manager Kellyanne Conway will join him in the West Wing as a counselor. Reaction to Mr Trumps comments was quick. Anti-nuclear campaigners said the comments underscored how little Mr Trump understood the danger of nuclear expansion something on which there had been bipartisan agreement in the US for decades. Kate Hudson, General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), told The Independent she was deeply concerned by Mr Trumps comments. Saddam Hussein's daughter says Donald Trump has 'political sensibility' It was very striking that during the campaign he made comments that suggested he did not understand much about nuclear weapons, and suggested other countries should develop their own, she said. The US already has enough weapons to destroy everything there is several times over. Why does it need more? It seems crazy. He needs to understand that this is the best way to start a nuclear war. The Federation of American Scientists has estimated there are currently 15,375 nuclear warheads held by eight countries (Federation of American Scientists) It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia's military can overpower any potential foe. "We can say with certainty: we are stronger now than any potential aggressor," he told an annual end-of-year defence ministry meeting. "Anyone!" The Federation of American Scientists has estimated there are currently 15,375 nuclear warheads held by eight countries. Of those, Russia has an estimated 7,300, the US has 6,970, France has 300, China possesses 260, the UK has 215, Pakistan has 130, India has 120 and Israel has 80, though it refuses to confirm or deny its arsenal. Efforts by the two major nuclear powers to reduce their arsenal date to the late 1960s. SALT I or the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Agreement signed on 26 May 1972 froze the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels. John Pike, director of the Washington-based military studies group GlobalSecurity.Org said that Mr Trumps actions appeared to fit with the suggestions of critics who say Mr Trump however unlikely it may sound is working to benefit Russia. What he has done is what someone would do it they wanted to completely upend the USs security posture, he said. Dr Janne Nolan, chair of the Nuclear Security Working Group, a bipartisan group of policy experts working to build consensus on nuclear security issues, said Mr Trump would be inheriting a $300bn nuclear modernisation programme agreed by the Obama administration. There is a certain irony here in that the outgoing president, who was rhetorically committed to a vision of global nuclear elimination, leaves behind the most ambitious and expensive nuclear modernisation plan of several decades for his successor to execute, she said. It remains to be seen what President-elect Trump will actually do that is new or different. It would appear that he will need time to learn that effective 21st century nuclear deterrence is a far more nuanced challenge with complex considerations and not so easily achieved with additional weapons or larger budgets. 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 }} Gina McCarthy Boston native, Irish Catholic, lover of Guinness beer and a good laugh has been a central player in the Obama administrations work to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and combat global warming at home and abroad. A career environmental bureaucrat and a veteran of Republican administrations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, McCarthy promised a common sense approach to fighting climate change during her 2013 confirmation hearing. Although she contends that the Obama administration has pursued exactly that, the Environmental Protection Agency has run into stiff opposition from the oil, gas and coal industries in recent years. The administrations central effort to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, for example, remains stalled in federal court. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to scrap that Clean Power Plan and other key environmental regulations from the Obama era, and his nominee to replace McCarthy, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, seems eager to give it his best shot. As she prepares to leave office, McCarthy sat down with The Washington Post to discuss the accomplishments and frustrations of her tenure. She reflected on the water crisis in Flint, Mich., the importance of continued domestic and global leadership on climate change and the need to protect the integrity of the science at EPA and other federal agencies. The exchange that follows has been edited for length and clarity: The Washington Post: What are your thoughts about your potential successor, Scott Pruitt? Youre certainly familiar with him, but usually from the opposing side of a courtroom. Hes been among the most outspoken critics of EPA. Gina McCarthy: Im thinking he has a big role to do here. He really doesnt have a great deal of familiarity with the agency and the breadth of what it does, even though he has sued us on a number of occasions. Im looking forward to him spending a little bit of time before he jumps at what his priorities are, because talking about it outside and then sitting at this table is a whole different ballgame. He is smart enough to know that hes taking an oath to do a job, that this agency has a good mission and were proud of it. Hes going to have to figure out how he makes his mark. TWP: Donald Trump has promised to roll back any number of things that the Obama administration has done, namely the Clean Power Plan. He has promised to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, which you played a key role in. Hes promised to get rid of the Waters of the U.S. rule. Hes called what EPA does a disgrace. And the folks that he is appointing seem determined to see that through. How have you wrestled with the prospect of much of your work being undone? McCarthy: Ive certainly heard all of this. Im concerned, without question, by much of what Id call political rhetoric. But I feel pretty confident that what we have done is really very solid work. There are clear records, factual records and science behind the decisions weve made. While I know that Mr. Pruitt, when he was attorney general, called what we did overreach in many different ways, if you really look at it, this is standard work we do in this agency and have done for a long time very successfully. So I dont feel like weve broken new ground as much as weve applied the law and the science the way were supposed to. Women go on strike against Donald Trump Show all 7 1 /7 Women go on strike against Donald Trump Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump Protestors march during a demonstration against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 12, 2016. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Women go on strike against Donald Trump Protestors march during a demonstration against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 12, 2016. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images [And] he hasnt just gone after the Clean Power Plan; hes gone after the Clean Water Rule, hes gone after Clean Air Act rules that we have done. Mercury and air toxics standards its already done, [companies] are already complying. Were so past that. Weve worked our way through regulations that were either not done in the prior administration or done badly and came back to us. There was a long, very large body of work we had to get through. As far as I know, weve done it extraordinarily well. So its not like a blink of an eye and all that goes away. TWP: You said its not partisan to care about clean air and clean water. And [Trump and his nominees] say the same thing, that they care about the EPAs mission of clean air and clean water. But they argue you have to free companies from unnecessary regulations. What would your response to that be? McCarthy: It probably wont surprise you to know I disagree. The goal of government is supposed to be to have both. Where you can have cost-effective regulation and regulation that grows jobs, thats where you ought to go. I dont think EPAs only task is to regulate. Our task is to reduce pollution with the best tools available. So we do it with voluntary programs as well as regulation. TWP: You mentioned the evidence that underpins the regulations youve written. Id like to talk about the role of science, because theres been a lot of talk about that in recent days and worries whether the next administration will rely on science, will trust the science, will protect scientists. From your perspective, what role does science play at EPA? 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 McCarthy: Science is everything. Almost every action we take is bounded by what the science tells us. Its based on a factual record of where the world is today and what is our obligation under our mission. Science needs to be protected. Any effort to undermine that science in a way that would give undue influence to folks that arent scientists is a really big problem. But its not just for EPA. You cant selectively say, Ive decided I dont like the science on climate, so lets find a way to revisit that, without saying, Im revisiting the way the United States of America and, frankly, every country does science. Its something that people need to watch and protect. In this agency, if were asked who worked on climate change, I have a list of 15,000-plus people. Because everybody in this agency, one way or another, has touched the issue of climate. Why wouldnt something like climate change, which impacts everything we do, not be on everybodys agenda? Its just important for people to remember that the career staff were hired for their scientific credentials, and our job is to make sure that their integrity is maintained. TWP: Can you illustrate an example or two where youd be lost without the scientific basis? McCarthy: Its fundamental to how we do clean air. I need to understand how dirty air hurts individuals to know what clean air looks like and what the goals are we should be moving toward. If I dont have science, I dont have anything. It is fundamental to absolutely everything we do. The amount of science that goes into an Energy Star label, its enormous. For us to actually evaluate appliances and to tell people the greenhouse gas reductions achieved through those but also the energy savings and costs its changed appliances forever. 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 TWP: What regrets will you leave with? Or maybe a better way to ask that is, how could the EPA have done better while you were here? Where did it fall short? McCarthy: One of the areas, I think, is an area the next administration is going to have to make some big progress on: clean drinking water. There have been lots of lessons learned about how vulnerable some communities are. I really wish that the Clean Water Rule could have been better received by folks who didnt understand it or that just read news stories about it. The Clean Water Rule is essential for source protection for 170 million people who rely on rivers and streams that are now unprotected for their drinking water. So its a big deal. And the investment that needs to be made in drinking water is substantial. Now, the president-elect wants to do infrastructure investments? I just hope that this agency is able to put drinking water on the table as part of that. There are old, aging systems that we continue to rely on, and we just cant. Nobody really wants to spend money when all it is are pipes in the ground that youre never going to see. But ask people that same question when they have a contaminant in their drinking water system. TWP: Are there other things you wish had gone differently? McCarthy: EPA does not have the strong relationships with rural communities that it has with urban communities. We work in a lot of communities, we work on a lot of urban-related issues. We have great relationships with mayors. But we have tended to not be able to have a very compelling rural agenda and to build constituencies there. Thats been challenging for us. Because we do know that runoff from agriculture and storm water all these small sources of nutrients that are getting in our waters and streams are the biggest challenge we face right now. If we cant identify a partnership or collaborative approach, were going to be in trouble in trying to figure out how to address those in ways that wont require huge investments downstream in treatment facilities. Certainly, I didnt make the progress I wanted to make in building bridges with agriculture and in finding a way to articulate a really robust rural strategy. I know rural America is struggling right now, and I think when they see the word regulation, they just look at that as being money that theyll have to spend. I look at it as being investments that need to be made. So, theres an opportunity the next administration could take in recognizing how you meet this environment and economy nexus in rural communities. Its a challenge. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan TWP: The EPA acknowledged shortcomings in Flint. Obviously, there was also a huge state role there. But how confident are you that Flint can be made whole again, whatever that might mean? Trust was long ago lost. How does that get fixed? McCarthy: Thats a really good question. I know the drinking water situation is getting fixed. Weve made more progress than anyone could have anticipated at this point. But Flint was never just a drinking water problem. It was a community that was very vibrant at one point, with large auto manufacturing businesses, and it just got disinvested in the 70s and 80s in a way that devastated their economy. If you go there, you know this didnt happen a year or two ago. This is a significant problem. Flint is not alone in being a shrinking city. Were doing great at getting the water quality up, but its too large a system. They have neighborhoods where they have one person living in them. You cant service one person in a system like that without having stagnant water everywhere. Stagnant water is not your friend in a drinking water system. So there are long-term challenges there that have to be fixed. And its a real serious question about how the economics work in a city that has such high poverty levels with such high vacancy. Its like Detroit, only smaller. There needed to be a huge national effort to address that. TWP: If the next administration pulls back from climate action domestically and internationally, what role are cities and states going to play in combating this issue? And is that enough, if you essentially dont have the federal government participating? McCarthy: Ive worked at the local level and the state level and the federal level. Ive been working on climate change now for 25 or 30 years. The only action that the United States has been doing up until a very short time ago has happened at the local and the state level. Mayors are our champions. The reason is that they cannot deny the impacts that are happening. Good luck saying climate change isnt real in some of the communities that are facing the brunt of the intense storms and the fires that are raging and the droughts that are happening. People know its not business as usual. And so theyre demanding action. States and regional efforts are going to continue. But Im hoping that if this next administration sees the same value in international leadership, that will not be the only thing happening. TWP: And for you personally, whats next? McCarthy: Vacation for a little bit. And then well see. Im not retiring. I may be over the hill, but I dont think I am depends on how big a hill, I guess. Ill still be active in these issues, and Ill find an opportunity for myself. I think Ill be as vocal as I can be. This is a great agency, and its career staff needs continued support. While I recognize that the next administration can put its mark on things, Im going to be watching the science more than anything else, because I need to make sure our science remains credible. Copyright 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 }} Last week, Las Vegas reached its decade-long goal of completely powering the city with renewable energy, making it the largest city in the United States to do so. Las Vegas is one of the few cities in the entire world that can boast using all of its power from green sources, Mayor Carolyn Goodman told reporters at city hall last Monday. The city reached the goal thanks to the opening of Boulder Solar 1, a 100-megawatt solar plant located near Boulder City. Now, the citys government buildings, streetlights, and parks are fueled the renewable energy. Since the city began working on the project in 2008, theyve reduced energy emissions by 30 percent, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Theyve also inspired several casinosMGM Resorts, Wynn, and Las Vegas Sandsto announce plans to utilize more renewable energy sources. Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada Show all 12 1 /12 Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada US President Barack Obama speaks on his energy policies following a tour of the Copper Mountain Solar Project, the largest photovoltaic plant operating in the country, March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada BOULDER CITY, NV - MARCH 21: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) tours Sempra U.S. Gas & Poweras Copper Mountain Solar complex on March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada The president went on to speak about energy policy in Boulder City as part of a multi-state tour. The Copper Mountain solar facility is the largest operating photovoltaic plant operating in the country. (Photo by Jessica Ebelhar-Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada US President Barack Obama walks up the steps of Air Force One on March 21, 2012 at Andrew Air Force Base, Maryland. Obama is traveling to Boulder City, Nevada. Photo by Olivier Douliery/ABACAUSA.com Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada US President Barack Obama speaks on his energy policies following a tour of the Copper Mountain Solar Project, the largest photovoltaic plant operating in the country, March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada BOULDER CITY, NV - MARCH 21: U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility, the largest photovoltaic solar plant in the United States on March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada. Obama is on a four-state tour promoting his energy policies. The Copper Mountain solar facility is the largest operating photovoltaic plant operating in the country. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada BOULDER CITY, NV - MARCH 21: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama (R) laughs with Jeffrey Martin, CEO, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power (L), while touring Sempra U.S. Gas & Power?s Copper Mountain Solar complex on March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada. The president went on to speak about energy policy in Boulder City as part of a multi-state tour. The Copper Mountain solar facility is the largest operating photovoltaic plant operating in the country. (Photo by Jessica Ebelhar-Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada US President Barack Obama (C) tours the Copper Mountain Solar Project, the largest photovoltaic plant operating in the country, March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada BOULDER CITY, NV - MARCH 21: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama (L) , tours Sempra U.S. Gas & Poweras Copper Mountain Solar complex with Kevin Gillespie, Operations, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power on March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada. The president went on to speak about energy policy in Boulder City as part of a multi-state tour. The Copper Mountain solar facility is the largest operating photovoltaic plant operating in the country. (Photo by Jessica Ebelhar-Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada US President Barack Obama speaks on his energy policies following a tour of the Copper Mountain Solar Project, the largest photovoltaic plant operating in the country, March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada BOULDER CITY, NV - MARCH 21: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd R), tours Sempra U.S. Gas & Poweras Copper Mountain Solar complex with, John Sowers, Operations, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power (L), Jeffrey Martin, CEO, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power (2nd L), and Kevin Gillespie, Operations, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power on March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada The president went on to speak about energy policy in Boulder City as part of a multi-state tour. The Copper Mountain solar facility is the largest operating photovoltaic plant operating in the country. (Photo by Jessica Ebelhar-Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 21: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama departs Air Force One at McCarran International Airport on March 21, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The president went on to speak about energy policy in Boulder City as part of a multi-state tour. The Copper Mountain solar facility is the largest operating photovoltaic plant operating in the country. (Jerry Henkel-Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Obama visits America's largest photovoltaic plant in Nevada U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility, the largest photovoltaic solar plant in the United States on March 21, 2012 in Boulder City, Nevada. Obama is on a four-state tour promoting his energy policies. Getty Images The city invested more than $40 million in the project over the years. Theyve since installed solar panels on city buildings and have saved at least $5 million on energy each year. By the end of 2017, the city plans on receiving power from the Hoover Dam for the first time in history. 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 }} Republican legislators in North Carolina declined to repeal the controversial bathroom bill after multiple delays and private meetings between GOP lawmakers. The state House adjourned without voting to repeal the Public Facilities and Privacy Security act, or House Bill 2 (HB2), during a special session called by outgoing Gov Pat McCrory. Shortly after, the Senate voted down the repeal, to chants "shame" as lawmakers filed out of the chambers. Democrats introduced the bill to repeal HB2 Wednesday afternoon, which was met with an amendment from Republicans including a "cooling off period" a proposal to would block municipalities from approving ordinances affecting public accommodations and access to restrooms for more than six months. The political climate in North Carolina has reached a boiling point after GOP lawmakers voted to dramatically strip power from the Democratic Governor-elect Roy Cooper. Mr Cooper campaigned against the anti-LGBTQ law, and won in an election that was highly contested by Republican opposition. Protesters filled the statehouse earlier in the week, many of whom accused outgoing Gov Pat McCrory of pulling off a "legislative coup". The denial of HB2s repealment a blow to Mr Cooper further illustrates that political turmoil "The legislature had a chance to do the right thing for North Carolina today, and they failed," Mr Cooper tweeted following the vote. HB2 prohibited transgender people from using the public restrooms corresponding with their gender identification. The House and Senate can still vote on the repeal, but Democrats believe the moratorium which could be renewed every six months could prevent cities from passing nondiscrimination laws. Dont be fooled: this is not a full repeal of HB2, doubles-down on discrimination, and makes clear that NC is still closed for business, said Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin. Despite criticisms from Democrats and LGBTQ advocates, Republican Sen Phil Berger still saw the vote as a step in the right direction, It's an opportunity for us as a state to get this right, he said before the session. Democratic Governor-elect Roy Cooper issued a statement on the special session after Charlotte City Council agreed to overturn a city non-discrimination ordinance. It will be the fifth special session in 2016. Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlottes vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB2 in full, Mr Cooper said in a statement. I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full. However, advocates called for a full repeal of the ordinance, after discovering the City Council vote only covered one of the three sections that limited rights of LGBTQ individuals. A source told WSCO that the two other parts of the ordinance remained because they didnt pertain to HB2 specifically. Per the source, they were related to discrimination policies for passenger vehicles for hire and city contractors. In an emergency session Wednesday morning, the council fully repealed the ordinance in a 7-2 vote. The City of Charlotte posted a statement on their Twitter account. The City of Charlotte is deeply committed to protecting the rights of all people, the statement read. Lt Gov Dan Forest released a statement ahead of the special session in support of HB2. I do not favour its repeal, he wrote. No economic, political or ideological pressure can convince me that what is wrong is right. Gov McCrory, who lost to Mr Cooper in the November election, signed HB2 into law last March. He also condemned the Mr Coopers call to appeal in a statement as a political move by the left. This sudden reversal, with little notice after the gubernatorial election has ended, Mr McCrory said, sadly proves this entire issue, originated by the political left, was all about politics at the expense of Charlotte and the entire state of North Carolina. But Rep Sgro had a rebuttal to the outgoing Republicans sentiment: For those of you tracking, [North Carolina General Assembly] may adjourn with no action, because GOP couldnt get votes. Shows once and forever whos playing politics." 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 senior executive at Oracle publicly resigned with a stinging letter to the co-CEO who joined Donald Trumps transition team. George Polisner, chair of the Democratic central committee in his home county in Oregon and who worked with the company since 1993, posted the letter to LinkedIn to oppose his former boss supportive words of the president-elect. He quoted Ms Catz, who spoke to reporters at the tech executives meeting at Trump Tower last week, before joining his team. "I plan to tell the president-elect that we are with him and will help in any way we can," she said. "If he can reform the tax code, reduce regulation and negotiate better trade deals, the US technology industry will be stronger and more competitive than ever." Mr Polisner, 57, outlined the reasons he opposed the president-elect, including his aim to dismantle social security and Medicare, "stoking fear, hatred and violence" against people of colour, Muslims and immigrants, and his alleged disrespect towards women, the disabled and Gold Star families. Mr Polisner also objected to Mr Trumps tax and economic policies, which would, he said, lead to "an alarming growth of wealth inequality in America". Ms Catz sitting, far right, at the tech meeting (Getty Images) "I am not with President-elect Trump and I am not here to help him in any way," he wrote. "In fact when his policies border on the unconstitutional, the criminal and the morally unjust I am here to oppose him in every possible and legal way. "Therefore I must resign from this once great company." His letter has been read more than 192,000 times. A petition at IBM has also been circulating, urging their CEO Ginni Rometty to speak out against Mr Trump. "Taking a conservative approach has grave implications," the petition read. "Our own founders experience and the rest of history teach us that accommodating those who unleash forces of aggressive nationalism, bigotry, racism, fear, and exclusion inevitably yields devastating outcomes for millions of innocents." The news follows a gathering of top tech executives at Trump Tower, including IBM, Apple, Alphabet, Google and Facebook, where Mr Trump said there was "no formal chain of command" and he would do "whatever he could" to help the firms. Twitter was one noticeable absence from the meeting. CEO Jack Dorsey was one of the only executives to publicly denounce Mr Trumps request to build a Muslim registry. Mr Trumps eldest three children were present at the meeting, which was deemed unusual. 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 woman who allegedly told police that a man had threatened to set her on fire if she did not take off her hijab was not telling the truth, according to police. The alleged incident took place on the University of Michigan campus three days after Donald Trump was elected. She said she was set free after taking off her hijab in front of the man. Police worked with the FBI and the state police to investigate what appeared to be a hate crime. They conducted witness interviews and reviewed surveillance footage of the area. The University of Michigan issued a campus safety alert and students told local news outlets that they felt disgusted and angry. Recommended Police charge Muslim woman for false reporting of a hate crime The woman gave numerous inconsistent statements, however, police in Ann Arbor said. Detectives then concluded that the incident did not occur. It is unclear whether the woman will face charges. Ann Arbor police could not be immediately contacted for comment. The woman's identity has not been disclosed. The news comes shortly after a New York student was charged with obstruction and false reporting of a crime after she said that three white, drunken men called her a terrorist on the subway as bystanders watched and did nothing. The men, she said, tried to pull her hijab off her head. Forest Hill stabbing: Witnesses hear man shout 'death to Muslims' Police found there were no witnesses or video evidence to support her claims and after several weeks the alleged victim recanted. She could face up to one year in jail. Despite the two allegedly fabricated encounters, there has been a spike in reported hate crimes and attacks in the months leading up to and after the presidential election. President-elect Trump has used heated rhetoric against Muslims, ethnic minorities and immigrants, pledging to build a wall along the US-Mexican border, banning Muslims from entering the US and forcing American Muslims to sign a registry. The FBI found there was a 67 per cent increase of anti-Muslim incidents in 2015. The Council on American-Islamic Relations found there were at least 900 anti-Muslim attacks since 8 November, including Muslims being beaten, shot and stabbed on the street. Hate crimes, they found, have reached their highest level since 2001. 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 reformed robber who was mistakenly released 10-years into a 98-year sentence could be back behind bars this Christmas as a legal challenge to his re-imprisonment continues. Rene Lima- Martin from Aurora, Colorado was 19 when he robbed two video shops in 1998. Handed prison terms totalling 98 years, a judge ordered they run consecutively. But a mix-up behind the scenes meant the state's prison service thought Mr Lima-Marin was due to serve the sentences concurrently and he was released after just 10-years, the Fox31 TV station reported. He would serve another five years on parole, The mistake was discovered in January 2014 and Mr Lima-Marin was hauled back to prison, tearing apart the young family he had established since his release in 2008. Lawyers are now claiming that the married father-of-two should be released under a writ of habeas corpus at the Arapahoe County Court in Denver. "We argued the government is holding him illegally because their conduct is what put him in the place that he is," litigator Jaime Halscott told Fox31. Pleading on behalf of his children, Mr Lima-Marin told the court: "I've been taken away from them and all they have is me and my wife. And this just doesn't make sense to me. I didn't do anything worth 98 years." The state argued he knew he was getting out early and that a bureaucratic error should not void his sentence. But Mr Lima-Marin insisted his appeal attorney told him his sentence was 16 years. "This professional in this field was appointed to me, is telling me I have 16 years," he said. "So who am I to question this professional appointed to me to assist me in this process?" At the time of his arrest, his wife Jasmine told local media that his re-incarceration was "wrong". "Hes changed," she said. "He changed his life for the better, when he got out. His number one goal was never to go back there. "Murderers dont even get 98 years. I think its ridiculous." Judge Carlos Samour will review the submissions before issuing a decision, but has not specified when that will be. 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 gang member has been convicted under federal laws for murdering his ex-girlfriend because she was transgender, in a landmark case in Mississippi. Joshua Vallum killed Mercedes Williamson, 17, because he allegedly feared reprisals from gang members if they discovered his relationship with a transgender woman. The 29-year-old is the first person to be convicted under federal hate crime laws for targeting someone for being transgender. Our nations hate crime statutes advance one of our fundamental beliefs, that no one should have to live in fear because of who they are, said US Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Todays landmark guilty plea reaffirms that basic principle, and it signals the Justice Departments determination to combat hate crimes based on gender identity. Courts have heard how Vallum, a member of the Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation crime gang, knew of Ms Williamsons gender but kept it a secret. The two broke up in 2014 but when in 2015 a friend discovered her gender, he decided to kill her, according to the US Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Vallum, who lured the 17-year-old into his car and stabbed her repeatedly on 29 May that year, said he would not have killed her if she was not transgender. He pleaded guilty in a state court in George County, Mississippi, in July, and was sentenced to life in prison, but pleaded guilty to the federal charge on Wednesday. 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 Of 5,462 hate crimes in 2014, 18.6 per cent resulted from sexual-orientation bias, compared with 17.7 per cent of 5,818 in 2015 according to the FBI. As of November, the deaths of 26 transgender people had been reported in 2016, which is more than any other year according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Hate crimes spiked in the wake of Donald Trump's election win, with 897 reports recorded in 10 days, and hate crimes in Michigan increased by 6,500 per cent alone. 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 }} Just weeks before he takes office, President-elect Donald Trump is urging the Obama administration to veto the UN resolution that would prevent Israel from building settlements on Palestinian territory. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations, Trump said in a statement that he posted to Facebook and Twitter on Thursday. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis." Of course, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also condemned the resolution and has urged the United States to veto the proposal. The 15-member council will vote on the measure at 3pm ET on Thursday. Its currently unclear whether or not the Obama administration will vote in favor of the resolution. Women go on strike against Donald Trump Show all 7 1 /7 Women go on strike against Donald Trump Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump Protestors march during a demonstration against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 12, 2016. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Women go on strike against Donald Trump Protestors march during a demonstration against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 12, 2016. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images Women go on strike against Donald Trump People rally as part of a nationwide protest against US President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016 in New York. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images In the past, President Obama has criticized Israels settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem but US officials told Reuters this month that he is not expected to make major decisions between Israeli-Palestinian relations before he leaves office. While speaking at his final press conference of the year, the president urged Trump to take on a fresh perspective of US foreign policy. What Ive advised the president-elect is that across the board on foreign policy, you wanna make sure that youre doing it in a systematic, deliberate, intentional way, the president said last Friday. And since theres only one president at a time, my advice to him has been that before he starts having a lot of interaction with foreign governments, other than the usual courtesy calls, that he should wanna have his full team in place, that he should want his team to be fully briefed on whats gone on in the past and where the potential pitfalls may be, where the opportunities are, what weve learned from eight years of experience, so that as hes then maybe taking foreign policy in a new direction, hes got all the information to make good decisions. 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 }} The Indian government predicts it will vastly exceed its renewable energy target agreed at the Paris Climate Change conference last year. A draft 10-year energy blueprint published this week predicted the country would be generating 57 per cent of its energy through renewable sources by 2027. The target set by the conference last year was 40 per cent by 2030. According to the document, the country is on course to achieve 275 gigawatts of energy from renewable sources by 2027 with a further 100GW generated from other zero emission sources like nuclear. It predicted advances in energy efficiency would mean it would only need to 40GW more energy capability by 2027 despite its booming population and industry. The report also claimed there would be no reason to build another coal power station for the next 10 years. The positive forecast is due to the heavy investment in researching clean energy technology. Following the signing of the treaty in November 2015, Indias energy minister Piyush Goyal has appealed to wealthier nations to provide the capital to invest in its renewable energy projects. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Japans Softbank and Taiwanese company Foxconn pledged to jointly invest 16.2bn in the Indian solar energy industry and the French state-owned energy firm, EDF, has said it will $2bn (1.6bn), citing the potential of wind and solar power. Analyst Tim Buckley told the Guardian: India is moving beyond fossil fuels at a pace scarcely imagined only two years ago. Goyal has put forward an energy plan that is commercially viable and commercially justified without subsidies, so you have big global corporations and utilities committing to it. He said technological advancements have already meant the price of energy had fallen by 80 per cent over the last year. India's investment in energy efficiency is in marked contrast to the attitude of incoming US president Donald Trump. On the campaign trail he threatened to repeal the act ratifying the treaty and claimed climate change was a hoax invented by the Chinese. After the election he backtracked on the comments, saying there was "some connectivity" between climate change and humans, but still appointed an avowed climate change sceptic - former Texas governor Rick Perry. Mr Perry, who has repeatedly championed the oil industry throughout his 15 years in Texas, claimed climate change was just a "secular carbon cult". 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 }} US armed forces have handed back nearly 10,000 acres of land on Okinawa to the Japanese government in the biggest transfer of American-occupied space there since the island was returned to Japanese rule in 1972. But activists, who have long campaigned to have US military bases removed from the island entirely, said they felt "betrayed" by the deal which saw the Japanese build a number of new helipads to accommodate the controversial MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, in return for what amounts to about half the US' military training area. Takashi Kishimoto, from the anti-US base group Peace Okinawa, told CNN: "From our point of view, the US military is giving back something it doesn't want while having new Osprey runways built. Okinawa alone is host to 74 per cent of the US' military bases in Japan. The return of this land only reduces this presence to 71 per cent." An Osprey crash-landing off Okinawa on 14 December added to safety concerns and anti-US base sentiment. Demanding an unconditional land return and opposing Osprey deployment on the island, Okinawa Govenor Takeshi Onaga boycotted Thursday's handover ceremony and joined a protest against the US military presence on the island, his choice highlighting differences between the central government and Okinawa. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, attended a ceremony in Tokyo over the move the previous day. At a rally held near Thursday's ceremony venue, Mr Onaga told thousands of cheering people that the land return in exchange for a new US military facility is deceptive and is not reducing Okinawa's burden. The land return ceremony one-sidedly held by the central government is nothing but a proof they have no intention whatsoever to be considerate of our suffering, Mr Onaga said. He renewed his demand that Ospreys be removed from Okinawa and that any US military base planned for a closure simply be returned and not relocated. Kouji Ida, of the Okinawa government's military base affairs divison, told CNN: "This handover isn't enough. "The helipads will be used to launch Ospreys, and we fear there may be more crashes. Ultimately, we hope the presence of the US military bases will continue to shrink." The US military said in a statement Japan had made sufficient progress in building helipads and access roads to consolidate military training in other areas and allow for the return of the 9,909 acres. The returned land is part of the Northern Training Area, or Camp Gonsalves or the Jungle Warfare Training Center, and is the largest US installation in Japan with 19,300 acres of land. Okinawa hosts the bulk of the approximately 50,000 US military personnel in Japan. Lt-Gen Lawrence Nicholson, of the US Marines in Japan, said: "This decreased training area on Okinawa will not deteriorate our commitment or our ability towards working with the government of Japan and our partners in the Japan Self Defense Force in mutual defence of this country." Although agreed in 1996, the return of the land was delayed by protesters blocking the construction of helipads. The Japanese government recently resumed work at the site. On Tuesday, Japan's top court ruled in favour of the government plan to relocate the Futenma base to another part of the island, dealing a blow to islanders' efforts to get rid of it altogether. The Associated Press contributed to this report. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A man who raped his six-year-old brother when was 11 has had his conviction quashed, after the Australian High Court found he could not have understood that his actions were "seriously wrong". The man, who is only known as RP and from the state of New South Wales, was convicted after raping his younger brother twice in 2005. But, now aged 22, he has been acquitted by the High Court, according to The Australian. In its judgement, the court noted the perpetrator had a lower IQ than 96% of his peers when tested at the age of 18. According to the High Court report, when RP was left to babysit his younger siblings a decade ago, he locked the six-year-old in a room and said: "If you wanna come out, you gotta let me do this to ya." He then smothered the child's mouth and raped him, as the boy cried out "no, no". When the father returned and found them, he warned the six-year-old: "Don't say nothing." The father left the children alone again just a few weeks later, at which time the older boy exposed his penis to his brother before raping him again on a pile of clothing. In Australia, children aged from 10 to 14 are presumed to be doli incapax, or incapable of legal wrong. The same defence used to be in force in Britain, but was struck out in 1998. This right can be over-ruled if a child is believed to understand their conduct is seriously wrong. RP was therefore found guilty a decade ago Police launch 'sextortion' video to fight online crime But subsequent intelligence tests, and the assessment of a clinical psychologist that the child's upbringing was "fairly unsatisfactory", led the High Court to reverse the earlier judgement. The judgement read: "I am left... with a reasonable doubt about whether RP understood that the sexual intercourse which he had with his brother was seriously wrong by normal adult standards." The Independent has contacted the Australian High Court to establish whether the man was still serving a custodial sentence, and if so, whether he has now been released. Earlier this year, an 11-year-old boy became Britain's youngest convicted rapist after assaulting his sister, aged nine. 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 family of the suspected Berlin attacker have urged him to give himself up to police amid mounting evidence he was the terrorist behind the massacre. Anis Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian man, remains at large three days after a lorry ploughed into a German Christmas market, killing 12 people in injuring at least 50 more. His fingerprints have reportedly been found on the vehicles door, while Amris asylum documents were discovered under the lorrys drivers seat. Amri's fingerprints were found on the lorry door (AFP/Getty) The suspects family said he left Tunisia several years ago for Europe and kept in contact with his brothers via Facebook and phone, but they have not heard from him since Mondays attack. Abdelkader Amri said his brother may have been radicalised while serving a prison sentence for setting fire to a school in Italy, where he moved to during the 2011 Arab Spring. I ask him to turn himself into the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it, he told the Associated Press. Abdelkader said the whole family was in shock and struggling to come to terms with the possibility his brother may be behind the massacre. If he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation, he told the AFP news agency. We reject terrorism and terrorists - we have no dealings with terrorists. Amris estranged father told a Tunisian radio station his son had a lengthy criminal past, being sentenced in absentia to five years in prison for aggravated robbery in his hometown of Oueslatia. Isis has gained a foothold in Tunisia, where its supporters have launched attacks at the Bardo Museum and at a beach in Sousse, where a gunman murdered 38 mostly British tourists. The terrorist group is known to target young criminals with propaganda offering redemption through jihad, in what analysts call an emerging crime-terror nexus. Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Show all 18 1 /18 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Several people have been killed after a lorry drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'At least nine' people have been killed and more than 50 injured. AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency Services rush a Berlin market victim to an ambulance Associated Press Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Police cordoned off the square at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the incident REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers inspect the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin EPA Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency crews inspect the lorry that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least nine people AFP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Fire crews attend the scene of the attack AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Armed police secure the site of a lorry attack at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Crushed debris is visible beneath the wheels of the vehicle REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack An injured man is pushed to an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Medics attend an injured person after the lorry attack which killed at least nine and injured more than 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters examine the lorry which was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack A person is carried into an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack View of the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine and injuring at least 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher to an ambulance Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters assess the damage after the lorry rammed the Christmas market, killing 'at least nine', and injuring more than 50 people AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters stand beside a toppled Christmas tree at the site of the suspected terrorist attack in a Berlin Christmas market AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least nine people have been killed EPA Amri arrived in Germany in July 2015 but his application for asylum was rejected in June, when authorities were unable to deport him because Tunisia had no proof of his nationality. The necessary paperwork did not arrive until Wednesday. Anger at security services was growing after it emerged Amri was known to be a terror threat and had been investigated over a previous plot, but not arrested. Prosecutors launched a probe into claims Amri was planning a break-in to finance buying automatic weapons for an attack, but surveillance that started in March failed to reveal evidence of a terror plot and was stopped in September. Separate probes into extremist preachers operating in Germany showed Amri had offered himself a as a suicide bomber, Der Spiegel reported, but the wording of the messages was not deemed conclusive enough to warrant an arrest. He also raised a red flag for counter-terror agencies in the US, which put Amri on a no-fly list after finding he had conducted online research into making improvised explosive devices and communicated with Isis members on the Telegram messaging app. Islamic State claims responsibility for Berlin truck attack Stephan Mayer, a politician from the CSU party, said the new suspect had ties to a network of Islamic extremists, reported to include a hate preacher known as Abu Walaa, who was arrested as part of a cell of Isis supporters sending militants to Syria earlier this year. Amri was also said to have followed an extremist preacher known as Boban S, who was arrested in Dortmund on suspicion of supporting Isis in November. A house was raided in the city early this morning, according to local reports, and police have also searched Amris former accommodation in Emmerich, North Rhine-Westphalia. A European arrest warrant issued for the suspect gives six different aliases, showing Amri going under different names, birth dates and even nationalities. The technique has previously been used by Isis militants including the Paris and Brussels attackers in attempts to throw authorities off their scent. Prosecutors are offering a 100,000 (85,000) reward for information leading to Amri's arrest, warning people not to approach the violent and armed suspect. Isis has claimed responsibility for the Berlin massacre, calling the perpetrator a soldier of the Islamic State who was obeying calls to attack supporters of the US-led coalition launching air strikes on its territories in Syria and Iraq. Coming after two previous Isis terror attacks by asylum seekers earlier this year, the massacre has fuelled increasing anger against Angela Merkel's government over its decision to open the borders to refugees last year. 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 }} Four people have reportedly been arrested in Germany as a Europe-wide search continues for the suspected Berlin attacker. Armed police stormed a house in Dortmund early on Thursday morning, detaining four people inside, Bild reported. The newspaper published photos of officers at the scene and taking a suspect covered in a towel into custody. They were believed to have links to Anis Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian man being hunted across Europe following the massacre at a Christmas market in Berlin. Recommended Germany failed to deport Berlin attack suspect A spokesperson for Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor, which is leading the terror investigation, said the report was "totally false". But officials at North Rhine-Westphalia police did not deny the operation took place and The Independent understands more details may be released later. Amri has been linked to an Islamist network in the region and is thought to have followed a Dortmund-based extremist called Boban S, who was arrested earlier this year for supporting Isis. Residents living near Boban S' former home told Ruhr Nachrichten they recognised Amri, last seeing him around 10 months ago. Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Show all 18 1 /18 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Several people have been killed after a lorry drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'At least nine' people have been killed and more than 50 injured. AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency Services rush a Berlin market victim to an ambulance Associated Press Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Police cordoned off the square at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the incident REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers inspect the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin EPA Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency crews inspect the lorry that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least nine people AFP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Fire crews attend the scene of the attack AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Armed police secure the site of a lorry attack at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Crushed debris is visible beneath the wheels of the vehicle REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack An injured man is pushed to an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Medics attend an injured person after the lorry attack which killed at least nine and injured more than 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters examine the lorry which was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack A person is carried into an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack View of the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine and injuring at least 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher to an ambulance Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters assess the damage after the lorry rammed the Christmas market, killing 'at least nine', and injuring more than 50 people AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters stand beside a toppled Christmas tree at the site of the suspected terrorist attack in a Berlin Christmas market AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least nine people have been killed EPA The suspect has also been linked to a hate preacher in Hildesheim known as Abu Walaa, who was detained last month as part of a group radicalising Isis militants and sending them to Syria. Migrant accommodation where Amri formerly lived in Emmerich has also been searched by police, who did not give details of the operation. The Tunisian suspect had his asylum claim denied by Germany but could not be deported because the necessary paperwork proving his nationality was missing. As well as using at least six aliases, Amri used fake identity documents and claimed to be Egpytian or Lebanese at various points as he travelled around Germany after arriving in July 2015. He was the subject of a previous investigation over a possible terror plot and was put under surveillance in March, but the operation was ended in September because of a lack of evidence. Prosecutors are offering a 100,000 (85,000) reward for information leading to Amri's arrest, warning people not to approach the violent and armed suspect. There were fears the attacker could pose a further danger to Germany after killing 12 people and injuring around 50 more on Monday. The hijacked lorrys driver was found shot dead inside but the gun used has not been found. 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 Christmas market near Berlins famous Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is bustling once more just three days after more than 60 people were killed or injured in Germany's worst every Islamist terror attack. Martin Dubie, a mulled wine seller, is serving a queue of enthusiastic customers just metres from where a lorry hijacked by a suspected Isis supporter ploughed into nearby stalls. I heard this huge crash and then people started to run past, screaming attack, attack, attack, he recalls. I ran around the corner to see if I can help, there were injured people and bodies everywhere. Martin Dubie, a mulled wine seller at the reopened Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin (Lizzie Dearden) The horror has deeply affected all stallholders at the picturesque market, but every single one of its festive huts that were left intact reopened in a show of defiance on Thursday. Its good that we have reopened now, Mr Dubie says. We have to stay here, we have to stand together. Berliners and tourists mill around the stalls selling traditional gingerbread and gifts under the watchful eye of patrolling squads of armed police, surrounded by protective concrete barriers. The lorry has been removed and debris swept away but numerous spontaneous memorials left to the 12 victims of the attack serve as a constant reminder of the atrocity. Britta, a candle seller, says the whole festive season had felt strange and blames the government for increasing fears with previous warnings about possible attacks at Christmas markets. We had a very heavy police presence before, more than Ive ever seen, and still it happened, she says. (Getty (Getty) So now we wait to see if something else will happen. I think the government has to change some things. Refugees are welcome, always, but if they get investigated and if they break the law, they have to leave immediately. To be criminal is criminal, so go. Anis Amri, the suspected attacker, remains on the run amid a Europe-wide manhunt after fleeing the scene after the crash. The 24-year-old Tunisian man was investigated over a previous terror plot and had his asylum application denied but could not be deported because of a bureaucratic dispute. Prosecutors are offering a 100,000 (85,000) reward for information leading to Amri's arrest, warning people not to approach the violent and armed suspect. For Robert and Pamela Maloney, an Irish couple on holiday in Berlin with their children, the potential threat is not dampening the magic of the Christmas markets. Robert and Pamela Maloney from County Wicklow in Ireland, at the reopened Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin (Lizzie Dearden) They learned of the attack, which has been claimed by Isis, the night before setting off for Germany and decided not to cancel the trip. It didnt stop us this is probably the in the world at the moment, Mr Maloney says, gesturing towards a patrol of armed police. Recommended Germany failed to deport Berlin attack suspect But the effects of the attack can be felt, with the market far from full. The sound of laughter is rare from mostly sombre visitors, who stop to look at screens surrounding the destroyed stalls and lay down flowers and candles at memorials. Richard Pawson, a 24-year-old from Yorkshire, is hunting for a stein of beer with his friends. The attack happened when we were on the plane over but we would have still come if wed known, he says. I think its good they reopened, they need to let life continue. Other British tourists browsing the market agree. A young couple from Devon came past within minutes after the lorry rampage but did not realise a terror attack had taken place. Richard Pawson, 24, at the reopened Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin (Lizzie Dearden) There was just a whole load of sirens, we didnt know what was going on, says a woman, who did not want to be named. It seems a shame to stop coming just because of what happened, it would almost make it worse. Another British couple, both on leave from the Army, agree. They arrived in Berlin on Thursday and were determined to continue their holiday even if the city doesnt seem very cheerful. We went to Paris last year after the bombings and it didnt put us off if anything it makes it safer, a woman says. You cant stop doing everything because something bad happens. The sentiment seems to be shared by the bulk of people returning to the market, with signs calling for solidarity and unity visible among piles of candles and flowers left as tributes to the victims. But signs of increasing division in Germany are not far away. Next to one memorial an elderly man stands holding a homemade placard addressed to Angela Merkel and the mayor of Berlin, Michael Muller. A sign asking why? at the reopened Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin (Lizzie Dearden) Beloved leader, it reads. I am afraid of dying in Germany. Bernd Wierer, 75, is calling on his government to do more to protect the public and monitor almost 1 million refugees who have arrived in Germany since Ms Merkel opened the borders last year. After comparing the Chancellor to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, he says: I dont think refugees should be stopped but the government has failed on safety. They need to know the identities of the newcomers. People said there is no danger, but I think there is a lot of danger. Protests and counter-protests have swept Berlin since the attack, which reignited ongoing debates over immigration, asylum and the role of Islam in German society. Amid the tributes left for the dead are posters, banners and messages calling for unity, love and freedom in the face of terror. We remember the victims of this cowardly attack, one reads. But we are still Berliners and will remain open to the world. Our lives will continue to be free and nothing and no one can hold us down. 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 donation page set up for the family of a Polish lorry driver who died during the Berlin market attack has raised almost 45,000 in one day. Lukasz Urban, 37, was murdered by the attacker after his truck was hijacked shortly before it was driven into the market, killing 12 and injuring 50. The trucker was reportedly on his way home to his wife, Zuzanna, and their 17-year-old-son when he was attacked. David Duncan, a British lorry driver from Leeds, set up the fundraising page after reading reports of how Mr Urban had heroically fought with the terrorist seconds before the truck drove into the crowd. Police are looking for a suspect who has been named as 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri. Mr Duncan wrote: Although I did not know Lukasz, the story of his untimely departure shocked and disgusted me, and I cannot comprehend how his family feel at this awful time. So, as a fellow trucker, I decided to reach out to the trucking community and beyond to help in some small way. No amount of money will bring Lukasz back, but hopefully it will help his family do whatever they need to do. The page was set up by Mr Duncan in the name of The Truckers of the UK and beyond. Investigators believe the injuries Mr Urban sustained are consistent with him being alive and fighting with his attacker in the moments before the truck crashed into the crowded market. A unnamed police officer told German newspaper Bild: "He must have put up some fight." Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Show all 18 1 /18 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Several people have been killed after a lorry drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'At least nine' people have been killed and more than 50 injured. AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency Services rush a Berlin market victim to an ambulance Associated Press Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Police cordoned off the square at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the incident REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers inspect the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin EPA Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency crews inspect the lorry that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least nine people AFP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Fire crews attend the scene of the attack AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Armed police secure the site of a lorry attack at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Crushed debris is visible beneath the wheels of the vehicle REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack An injured man is pushed to an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Medics attend an injured person after the lorry attack which killed at least nine and injured more than 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters examine the lorry which was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack A person is carried into an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack View of the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine and injuring at least 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher to an ambulance Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters assess the damage after the lorry rammed the Christmas market, killing 'at least nine', and injuring more than 50 people AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters stand beside a toppled Christmas tree at the site of the suspected terrorist attack in a Berlin Christmas market AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least nine people have been killed EPA Officers think Mr Urban was wrestling with the attacker when he was shot dead. He had also been repeatedly stabbed. His cousin, Ariel, who owns the trucking company Lukasz worked for, told the Daily Mail: It was really clear he was fighting for his life. His face was swollen and bloodied. Police informed me that he had suffered gunshot wounds. Despite being stabbed he was shot dead. I believe he would not give up the vehicle and would defend it to the end if he were attacked. The truck was hijacked after Mr Urban reportedly stopped for a kebab. Isis has claimed responsibility for the attack on the market and a huge manhunt for suspect Anis Amri is underway. It emerged the suspect had previously been placed under surveillance by German authorities after they were tipped off that he may have been planning to buy automatic weapons for an attack. Security services stopped tracking him in September after failing to find evidence of any wrongdoing. 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 }} Romania is set to appoint a Muslim and a woman as prime minister for the first time in its history. with the nomination of Sevil Shhaideh, a little-known member of the Tartar minority. The centre-left Social Democratic Party (PSD) led by Liviu Dragnea took 45 per cent of the vote on election day in 11 December, double any other party's share. It is now forming a new government in coalition with a smaller liberal partner. But Mr Dragnea, who as party chief would normally be appointed to become Prime Minister, was found guilty of electoral fraud and given two years' suspended sentence in April. Though Mr Dragnea, 54, was not banned from politics and remains hugely popular among his party's base, incumbent President Klaus Iohannis was elected on an anti-corruption platform and has barred any candidate with a criminal record from becoming PM. Romania protests demand change So his party chose Ms Shhaideh, who was a minor minister for just six months in a previous government. The 52-year-old technocrat briefly oversaw the department of regional development, and has long been an ally of Mr Dragnea. "Dragnea has nominated a loyal person," Romanian political science professor Sergiu Miscoiu told Reuters. "It will be a government controlled by Dragnea." And Mr Dragnea made no bones about the nature of the appointment, telling reporters: "the political responsibility stays with me first of all." Nonetheless, the move is a historic one. Only 0.3 per cent of Romanians are Muslims. Ms Shhaideh is not only a member of the tiny Sunni population which has persevered for seven centuries on the coast of the Black Sea, but is married to a Syrian, and she and her husband own properties in the war-torn country. The truth about Romania's gypsies: Not coming over here, not stealing our jobs Show all 4 1 /4 The truth about Romania's gypsies: Not coming over here, not stealing our jobs The truth about Romania's gypsies: Not coming over here, not stealing our jobs romania1.jpg The truth about Romania's gypsies: Not coming over here, not stealing our jobs romania2.jpg The truth about Romania's gypsies: Not coming over here, not stealing our jobs romania3.jpg The truth about Romania's gypsies: Not coming over here, not stealing our jobs pata-rat-romania.jpg Public will in Romania is strongly against mandatory EU quotas of refugees fleeing the Syrian war, particularly if they are enforced without Romania itself being allowed into the Schengen free-movement area. And this is unlikely to change under Ms Shhaideh. But to crown his ally as head of the Romanian government, Mr Dragnea needs the approval of parliament and President Iohannis, and this is far from a done deal. "I will not come up with another proposal," Mr Dragnea told press outside Bucharest's Cotroceni Palace. "If it is turned down, we'll see each other elsewhere." 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 }} Russia has revealed plans for a major military expansion in the next year. The army is expected to receive over 900 tanks and armoured vehicles, along with 170 aircraft, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the ministrys final board meeting, Russian state news agency TASS reports. Eight surface ships and nine combat boats will be made operational for the Navy, the defence minister said, adding that the Russian Aerospace Force will receive five modernised strategic bombers. "For the strategic nuclear forces, the task is to put three missile regiments armed with modem missile systems on combat duty in the Strategic Missile Force," Mr Shoigu added. Russia shows off new weapons as Syria offensive resumes The defence ministry also intends "to reinforce the army groups in the western, southwestern and Arctic strategic areas". Six regiments armed with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles were put on combat duty in 2015, and another four assumed combat duty in 2016, according to TASS. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is due receive three new submarines and two frigates, Fleet Commander Alexander Vitko said. Russia's military can overpower any potential foe, President Vladimir Putin told the annual end-of-year meeting with defence chiefs. "We can say with certainty: We are stronger now than any potential aggressor," he told the meeting. "Anyone!" Tensions between Russia and the West have been souring ever since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and surreptitious support of separatists in eastern Ukraine. Relations dipped further last year after Russia launched an air offensive in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad. Both Russia and NATO members have conducted a flurry of military drills near Russia's borders this year. Russia insists it is responding to a growing NATO threat. 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 Analysts say Russia's military forces remain materially weaker than Nato armies but are gaining technological ground, aided by Mr Putin's aggressive command. Igor Sutyagin, a senior research fellow at London's Royal United Services Institute think tank, said the Russian military was not the world's strongest. But he said Russian military performance was improving in part because Mr Putin wields more control over his military compared to Nato nations. "The lack of restrictions makes them better equipped for combat," he said. "They are stronger because if Mr Putin wants to use them, he doesn't ask advice. He doesn't come to Parliament or to Capitol Hill." Additional reporting by Associated Press For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Once the heart of industrial and commercial life in Syria, Aleppo drew visitors from all over the globe. But four years of conflict have ravaged the historic Old City, smashing its ancient palaces,toppling its historic minarets and scorching its old stone walls. As the evacuation of the rebel held areas draw to a close and government forces establish their presence, pictures have emerged of the bombed out ruins that remain. Old city of Aleppo on 28 November 2008, above, and on 13 December 2016 (Reuters) Citadel Aleppo's ancient citadel on 9 August 2010, above, and after the fighting (Reuters) The walled 13th century Citadel of Aleppo is an iconic fixture of the city's landscape. Considered one of the oldest and largest castles in the world, extensive conservation work was carried out on it during the early part of the century. Now its walls are pockmarked with bullet holes and extensive damage has been done both inside and out. Umayyad mosque Aleppo's Umayyad mosque on March 12, 2009, above and after the fighting, below (Reuters) The Umayyad mosque on 12 March 2009, above, and on December 13 2016, below (Reuters) The Ummayad mosque, one of the largest and oldest in the world, reputedly houses the remains of John the Baptist's father. Its ancient stone minaret was toppled during the fighting and now lies in ruins on the floor. Entrance to the al-Zarab souk The entrance to al-Zarab souk in the Old City on November 24, 2008 (above) and after the fighting, below (Reuters) Raw silk from Iran and spices and dyes from India used to travel through the entrance to the al-Zarab souk in the old city, which was once a busy trade hub. Now it is home to the little more than rubbish and rubble. Hammam al-Nahasin Massage parlour Hammam al-Nahasin, in the Old City of Aleppo on October 6 2010, above, and after the fighting, below (Reuters) Hammam al-Nahasin, to the south of the mosque in Aleppo's ancient souk, is a male-only bath house dating back to the 13th century. It was once a popular tourist attraction. 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 }} Isis car bombs have killed 23 people in a district of Mosul recently liberated from the extremist jihadi group. Eight of the dead were policemen and 15 were civilians, according to the Iraqi Defence Ministry. Iraqi troops entered Gogjali, in the east of Mosul, in early November. Islamic State video purports to show fighting in Mosul Three suicide bombers were behind the attack in the district, Isis said when it claimed responsibility. Also on Thursday, four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed when a mortar attack hit a distribution of aid in the city. It was the second attack on aid workers and civilians in less than a week. In pictures: Mosul offensive Show all 40 1 /40 In pictures: Mosul offensive In pictures: Mosul offensive A doctor carries an Iraqi newborn baby at a hospital in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi girls play at a yard of a school in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017alal Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A woman on crutches who is a relative of men accused of being Islamic State militants is seen at a camp in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq July 15, 2017. Picture taken July 15, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A displaced girl, who fled from home carries a doll at Hamam al-Alil camp south of Mosul, Iraq July 13, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi federal police members and civilians celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on 9 July 2017 after the government's announcement of the "liberation" of the embattled city. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said he was in "liberated" Mosul to congratulate "the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory" AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken on 9 July 2017, shows a general view of the destruction in Mosul's Old City. Iraq will announce imminently a final victory in the nearly nine-month offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, a US general said Saturday, as celebrations broke out among police forces in the city. AFP In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of the Iraqi federal police raise the victory gesture as they ride on a humvee while advancing through the Old City of Mosul on 28 June 2017, as the offensive continues to retake the last district held by Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Smoke billows as Iraqi forces advance through the Old City of Mosul on 26 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district held by the Islamic State (IS) group. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi man wearing the green scarf of the Shi'ite faith kisses an Iraqi Army soldier on safely reaching the Iraqi forces position as Iraqi civilians flee the Old City of west Mosul where heavy fighting continues on 23 June 2017. Iraqi forces continue to encounter stiff resistance with improvised explosive devices, car bombs, heavy mortar fire and snipers hampering their advance. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken from the inside of an Iraqi forces armoured vehicle shows residents walking through a damaged street as troops advance towards Mosul's Old City on 18 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district still held by the Islamic State (IS) group. Military commanders told AFP the assault had begun at dawn after overnight air strikes by the US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces. They said the jihadists were putting up fierce resistance. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi Army soldiers advance in a destroyed street after an Iraqi forces airstrike targeted an Islamic State sniper position 17 June 2017 in al-Shifa, the last district of west Mosul under Islamic State control. IS snipers, as well as car and suicide bomb attacks continue to hinder the Iraqi forces efforts to retake the final district. A series of airstrikes by Iraqi helicopter gunships attempted to hit multiple Islamic State sniper positions in al-Shifa. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier frisks a displaced Iraqi man at a temporary camp in the compound of the closed Nineveh International Hotel in Mosul on 16 June 2017 which was recovered by Iraqi troops from Islamic State group fighters earlier in the year. A screening centre set up in the compound's fairgrounds sees a constant stream of Iraqis fleeing the battle for Mosul, awaiting their turn to be checked by the Iraqi forces who are searching for suspected Islamic State (IS) group members. The small fairground lies at the end of a pontoon bridge across the Tigris recently opened to civilians that is the only physical link between the two banks of the river. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis staying at the al-Khazir camp swim in a river near the camp for internally displaced people, located between Arbil and Mosul on 11 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi government forces drive on a road leading to Tal Afar on 9 June 2017, during ongoing battles to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi policeman carries a poster bearing an image of Mosul's iconic leaning minaret, known as the "Hadba" (Hunchback), on 22 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis stand in line to receive food aid in western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood on 7 June 2017, during ongoing battles as Iraqi forces try to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. Living conditions in Mosul have again deteriorated since the start of the Iraqi government's offensive on the city in October in which they retook a large part of the west of the city. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced Iraqis carry lightbulbs and sacks as they evacuate from western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood as government forces advance in the area during their ongoing battle against Islamic State (IS) group fighters on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) flashes the victory gesture as he patrols in western Mosul's al-Islah al-Zaraye neighbourhood on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi army soldiers from the 9th armoured division on a truck flash the sign of victory as they drive back from Mosul to the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya) Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of Iraqi forces flash the sign of victory on their vehicle as they advance towards Hammam al-Alil area south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi security forces gestures in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi children, one flashing the sign of victory, greet Iraqi army's soldiers from the 9th armoured division in the area of Ali Rash, adjacent to the eastern Al-Intissar neighbourhood of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Peshmerga forces look at a tunnel used by Islamic State militants near the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier takes a photograph with his phone as his comrade stands next to a detained man, whom the Iraqi army soldiers accused of being an Islamic State fighter, who was fleeing with his family in the Intisar disrict of eastern Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families, who fled their homes in Hamam al-Alil, gather on the outskirts of their town Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced people walk past a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families who were displaced by the ongoing operation by Iraqi forces against jihadists of the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul, are seen gathering in an area near Qayyarah In pictures: Mosul offensive A boy who just fled Abu Jarbuah village is seen with his family at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi child eats a pomegranate upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive People who just fled Abu Jarbuah village sit as they eat at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A couple who just fled Abu Jarbuah village are escorted by Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Women carry a boy over a wall as civilians flee their houses in the village of Tob Zawa, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier and a civilian ride a motorbike as smoke rises behind them, on the road between Qayyarah and Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces, wearing a skull mask, waits at a checkpoint for people fleeing the main hub city of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier sits at a checkpoint in an area near Qayyarah Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi men prepare food portions for Iraqi forces deployed in areas south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi forces celebrate upon the arrival of vehicles bringing food to them Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi childen smoke cigarettes upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces distributes drinks to children in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty Three vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices went off in Kokjali, an eastern suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadis almost two months ago. At least two civilians were killed and 20 others wounded, including soldiers, according to local police, a health official and a witness. The death toll was expected to rise. A UN statement on the two separate mortar attacks this week that killed aid workers and wounded about 40 people said indiscriminate shelling violated international law. People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked, said Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. All parties to the conflict all parties have an obligation to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians survive and receive the assistance they need. She did not assign blame for the attacks, but Isis fighters retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they are retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction. The US-backed assault on Mosul, the jihadis last major stronghold in Iraq, was launched by a 100,000-strong alliance of local forces on 17 October. It has become the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Elite army forces have captured a quarter of the city but the advance has faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants, even in areas thought to be cleared. The authorities do not release figures for civilian or military casualties, but medical officials say dozens of people are wounded each day in the battle for Mosul. Additional reporting by agencies. 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 }} Animals at a zoo in Yemen are starving to death after the middle-eastern countrys government stopped paying its staff and abandoned the facility amid the escalating violence of the country's ongoing civil war. The 265 creatures, including 28 Arabian leopards that are critically endangered in the wild, have recently been cared for by a rescue organisation called SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue, set up by Chantal Jonkergouw in February after animals began dying of starvation. But Ms Jonkergouw, a Swedish national, told The Independent funds were running out and it would now take a miracle to get the animals to safety and prevent them from starving to death. Although the organisation has managed to raise nearly $130,000 (105,000) from public donations, she said keeping the animals alive costs around $4,000 (3,241) a week, covering food and care and the modest salaries of a small staff of six. But with funds down to just $10,000 (8,103) at the end of last month, she was forced to make the heartbreaking decision to cut off the food supplies. (Chantal Jonkergouw (Chantal Jonkergouw) While local volunteers have tried to help out, food shortages in the region around the zoo have made this difficult in recent months. Ms Jonkergouw, who coordinates fundraising and other management activities from Sweden, said many of the animals are now showing signs of extreme weakness. She told The Independent: As the animals grow hungrier, the stronger ones might prey on the weaker ones. I think that most of them will lie down and die slowly." Ms Jonkergouw added that many of the creatures have also displayed signs of severe zoochosis a condition that often affects animals kept captive in artificial environments and is characterised by obsessive and repetitive behaviours. Ms Jonkergouw is now calling on Yemen's government to facilitate an evacuation of the creatures. But the southwestern city of Taiz, where the zoo is located, has been the scene of continual fighting in Yemens ongoing civil war after government forces were pushed out by rebel Houthis in April 2015. The group occupy the area around the zoo, so even if Ms Jonkergouw's organisation were to be granted a government permit allowing the animals to be transferred, "the problem would be getting safe passage", and it would cost up to $500,000 (405,166) to evacuate the zoo, with armed guards required. (SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue (SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue) Ms Jonkesgouw said there were two offers on the table to move the animals to safety, with the Princess Alia Foundation in Jordan and the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) both saying theyd take the animals. But she added that due to the UAE support for Yemen's government, the Houthi rebels would be unlikely to support such a move. 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 She said: "The structures are there and the money is there to do all this, but not in Yemen. Plus the war has approached within 500 metres of the zoo, so with the recent Saudi bombings some of the shell fragments hit the zoo. My expectations are quite low, because the first hurdle is the government in Yemen, the second hurdle is the Houthis situation in the area, and the other hurdle of course is the financing of the whole operation. The first one, for Yemen to cooperate and give us a permit, is almost impossible. It will take a miracle. But we need to keep a hard line. At least we'll know that we tried everything. 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 }} While Singapore is being hailed as the best place in the world for expatriates to live in, another new study has come up with the worlds most expensive cities for the same group of people. Mercers annual Cost of Living survey places Luanda, Angola, as the most expensive city for expatriate employees, where a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre can set you back $3,500 per month, and a pair of jeans could reportedly cost you more than $240. While it may come as a surprise that Luanda would trump Paris, New York or London, all of which frequently make the top three in lists of the most pricey cities, this is the third consecutive year Luanda has been placed at number one. The reason for this has been attributed to Angolas oil industry, which accounts for half of the countrys global GDP. The most expensive cities in the world 2015 Show all 10 1 /10 The most expensive cities in the world 2015 The most expensive cities in the world 2015 1. Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands The largest island in the Cayman Islands group, Grand Cayman is the most expensive city in the world to live in David Rogers/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 2. Zurich, Switzerland Switzerland's largest city, Zurich, takes the number two spot FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 3. London, United Kingdom The British capital of London is the third most expensive city in the world Chris Jackson/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 4. Geneva, Switzerland One of three Swiss cities to appear in the top 10, Geneva is the world's third most expensive city Mike Hewitt/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 5. New York City, USA The Big Apple is the fifth most expensive city in the world Afton Almaraz/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 6. San Francisco, USA San Francisco, on the other side of the country, comes one place behind NYC Ezra Shaw/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 7. Washington, DC, USA America's seat of power, Washington, DC, is the 7th most expensive city Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 8. Bern, Switzerland The Swiss capital is the 8th most expensive city in the world FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 9. Hong Kong The city-state of Hong Kong is the ninth most expensive city in the world PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images The most expensive cities in the world 2015 10. Singapore Another city-state, Singapore, edges in to the top 10 most expensive cities in the world ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images "As the global economy has become increasingly interconnected, close to 75% of multinational organizations are expecting long-term expatriate assignments to remain stable or increase over the next two years," said Ilya Bonic, President of Mercers Talent business. "Sending employees abroad is necessary to compete in markets and for critical talent." The top 10 most expensive cities for expatriates are as follows: 1) Luanda, Angola 2) Hong Kong, China 3) Zurich, Switzerland 4) Singapore, Singapore 5) Geneva, Switzerland 6) Shanghai, China 7) Beijing, China 8) Seoul, South Korea 9) Bern, Switzerland 10) N'Djamena, Chad A list by global consulting firm ECA International came up with a slightly different set of results, however Zurich and Luanda maintained their top-three spots. 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 }} There was an awful lot of talk - and no small controversy - about the how much it would cost to protect Donald Trump when he spends his time in New York rather than Washington. This week, some sharp-eyed New Yorkers spotted military planes flying over Manhattan, close to Trump Tower, in what was apparently a training exercise to prepare for evacuating the President-elect in the case of an emergency. NCB reported that the planes and helicopters seen flying last week were taking part in an exercise to locate a landing spot for a military chopper close to the Trump Tower, located at the bottom of Central Park. It said the operation involved two Blackhawk helicopters and a C-130 plane. Retired Army Maj Mike Lyons, a military analyst, told the network that the mission may have also been looking at rooftops in the city that could help as possible evacuation routes. Police and law enforcement have got to be creative as terrorists could be in recognising that during 9/11 they werent able to evacuate anyone from the rooftop, he said. The first thing they are likely looking at is a possibility from Trump Tower. The New York Post said aircraft looped around the city for around 40 minutes as the military crews assessed how many minutes they would have to evacuate Mr Trump. The newspaper said the citys police force had not been informed in advance of the exercise. 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 picture of the former Archbishop of Canterbury has been removed from a London university following a LGBT+ student rights campaign. The image of Lord George Carey is one of a number to be taken down from a wall of fame at Kings College London (KCL), an outdoor display which has been criticised for lack of diversity. A student campaign to remove Lord Careys portrait began more than four years ago, when the former church leader spoke out against the legalisation of gay marriage. Recommended University Challenge team boycott show following alleged sexism In a statement, Kings College London said the picture had been removed after a review had concluded that its alumni pictures did not capture the diversity of our university campus. The decision has been criticised by some, however, including one KCL academic who said the move was a victory for the gay-stapo. Writing for Times Higher Education, lecturer Niall McCrae and Rev Jules Gomes said: For a prestigious institution of Christian heritage to allow this campaign to claim victory is worrying. Lord Carey is not homophobic, but his name has been tarnished by a gay-stapo that refuses to acknowledge that a clergyman cares for all, while maintaining a traditional view of marriage. In 2012, Lord Carey said that for time immemorial, marriage must only be between a man and a woman. Student news in pictures Show all 34 1 /34 Student news in pictures Student news in pictures South Korean policemen detain a student demonstrator during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye EPA Student news in pictures South Korean policemen detain student protestors during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea. The protesters demanded that the parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-Hye EPA Student news in pictures Filipino demonstrators face off with anti-riot police during a protest near the US Embassy in Manila, Philippine EPA Student news in pictures Hundreds of protesters including Indigenous People, students and militant groups marched towards the US Embassy to protest against the presence of US military troops and condemning the violent dispersal which left at least forty people hurt including twenty police officers and three people who were run over by a police van EPA Student news in pictures A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students Student news in pictures A man holds up a photograph of a missing student with a caption reading 'We are missing 43,' during a meeting marking the 25-month anniversary of the disappearances of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City. A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students AP Student news in pictures Miguel Perez, an intern student from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, puts away his cell phone before walking into the operating room at the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez MartInez Oncological Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once they complete their general surgery training, many residents are moving to the United States in search of better wages, one of the main factors linked to the current shortage of specialists in the Island Student news in pictures Fewer EU students have applied to start university courses in the UK next autumn. There was a 9% fall in the numbers who had applied for courses, according to admissions service UCAS. PA wire Student news in pictures University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela. Masses of protesters jammed the streets of Venezuela's capital on the heels of a move by congress to open a political trial against Maduro, whose allies have blocked moves for a recall election AP Student news in pictures University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela AP Student news in pictures Thousands, most of them high school students, march during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain, on a one day strike to protest about the country's education law that increases the number of annual exams AP Student news in pictures Students gather on the west mall to confront the Young Conservatives of Texas student organization over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action Student news in pictures Donald Parish Jr, right, confronts Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Dewayne Perry over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action AP Student news in pictures Brigham Young University announced that students who report sexual assault will no longer be investigated for possible violations of the Mormon-owned school's strict honor code that bans such things as alcohol use AP Student news in pictures Students of secondary education march to protest against the final examinations and LOMCE (The Improvement Quality Education Law) law, after a call by trade unions, in Murcia, Spain EPA Student news in pictures South African police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters who had marched to the parliament building to call for free university education, where the finance minister was giving a budget speech AP Student news in pictures Police break up student protests outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters Student news in pictures South African Policemen fire rubber bullets at student protestors in Cape Town, South Africa AP Student news in pictures A student protestor is hit by a rubber bullet in Cape Town, South Africa AP Student news in pictures An injured student is helped by colleagues during protest outside the parliament during South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's medium term budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters Student news in pictures Plaintiffs and bereaved families of elementary school students killed in the tsunami that followed a major earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, show banners that say 'victory in a suit filed with the Sendai District Court' in Sendai. A Japanese court ordered municipalities to pay $13.7 million dollars to families of school children who were swept away to their deaths by the 2011 tsunami Getty Student news in pictures A group of student at Ewha Womans University calls for a thorough investigation into those involved in years of engagement with state affairs backstage by Choi Soon-sil, a personal confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the school's front gate in Seoul, South Korea EPA Student news in pictures Students raise placards during a strike action called by the student union, in Madrid against university entry exams Getty Student news in pictures Libyans throw a newly graduated student into a fountain as they celebrate during the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Thousands of Thai Catholic students take part in mourning tributes and in singing the Thai Royal Anthem to honour late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Saint Dominic School in Bangkok, Thailand EPA Student news in pictures Students of Silpakorn University paint portraits of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok Getty Student news in pictures A student of Silpakorn University paints a portrait of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok Getty Student news in pictures St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator's Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend PA wire Student news in pictures St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator's Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend, an annual tradition where student 'parents' inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as 'children' as part of a mentoring scheme PA wire Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) in Havana, Cuba Reuters Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) take part in a practice in Havana, Cuba Reuters Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) wait in line to enter a classroom in Havana, Cuba Reuters He added: Same-sex relationships are not the same as heterosexual relationships and should not be put on the same level. University officials said portraits of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Michael Howard have also been removed to make space for new digital screens by the Strand campus entrance. The campaign to get Lord Careys image removed was led by KCL student union president Ben Hunt, who was standing for the position of LGBT+ officer at the time. Responding to the decision to remove Lord Carey from the display, Mr Hunt said he had carried on a campaign that had been running for several years at the institution, and was motivated to make the window display more diverse and representative of the current KCL community. In a statement, he said: "The digital windows express a community which strives to be accepting of diversity and inclusive. "It comes after a campaign of several years which was concluded through collaboration and a shared will of the Union and College to do more to represent what all of the Kings community does in service of society. "It is this message, one of collaboration and inclusion, which I would like to emphasise." He added: "For journalists to employ language like gaystapo which has very negative connotations for LGBT+ groups, as well as for people of colour and the Jewish community, is hurtful and harmful and creates a tone of division which this project does not represent." A KCL spokesman said: 'In 2015 a review of our window display policy across all our campuses was undertaken by representatives from External Relations, the Students' Union and Alumni Relations. It was agreed that the current static displays, which are costly to maintain, or change, did not capture the diversity of our university community and that this should change. "The decision was taken that we should expand the breadth of content to include the achievements of our students and staff. The Independent has approached Lord Carey for comment. 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 }} Yet even though Washington DC had hardly been an innocent bystander in Latin America over the previous decade, I thought it an absurdly excessive defence. A quarter-century and several truck bomb attacks on US diplomatic premises later, large lumps of concrete and extra-strong bollards are part of the scenery at sensitive buildings and tourist spots worldwide. Elizabeth Tower, better known as Big Ben, has its own designer steel and concrete barrier, while the rest of Parliament Square in London has plenty more protective street furniture in place, installed after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Elsewhere in Britain, airports and big railway stations have punctuations of pillars designed to stop a truck loaded with explosives in its tracks. Hostile Vehicle Mitigation of this kind was introduced after the attack on Glasgow airport in 2007, in which two would-be suicide bombers tried to drive a Jeep laden with petrol and propane gas cylinders into the airport terminal. This year extremists changed their murderous tactics. On 14 July in Nice, 86 people were mown down by a truck. And on 19 December in Berlin, once again a celebration changed in seconds into a massacre. Each of the victims had their life cut brutally short, and the lives of those who loved and lost them will never be the same. For the rest of us, the horrors of the Promenade des Anglais and Breitscheidplatz provide a reminder of the risks in a world where hate seems to have a stronger voice than ever. A natural human response is to close the curtains and stay safe with family and friends, while in the world beyond more barriers spring up. But a better response is to travel to Berlin, to Nice, to Brussels even to Tegucigalpa. You and I can demonstrate solidarity with the citizens of those splendid cities, and show we will not be bullied into changing our way of life by thugs in trucks. And the overwhelming probability is that your life will be enhanced by a joyful experience. It seems an appropriate time of year to hear from at least two wise men. Ted Wake, director of short-break specialist Kirker Holidays says his customers in the German capital are undeterred by the latest terrorist attack. Kirker clients in Berlin at the moment include a family with two children staying in the city centre who have decided to carry on enjoying their cultural short break. Other customers due to travel out to Berlin for Christmas have no desire to amend their plans. In Berlin, whilst the first concern was to ensure that all those directly and indirectly affected were properly cared for, the authorities were also very well organised and determined to ensure that local people and visitors alike can return to the normal pattern of their day-to-day lives as quickly as possible. But Mr Wake concludes with a thought that many, with heavy hearts, will echo: These events are likely to remain part of our lives for some time to come. So it was good to be reminded by Sir David Spiegelhalter of what an enormously safe world we live in. Its staggeringly protected, the Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk at Cambridge told BBC Radio. One in a million people every day die an accidental death, a non-natural death. We live with uncertainty and risk, and thats one of the joys of being human. As you plan for the year ahead, reduce your exposure to joy at your own risk. 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 }} The airport is owned by the Stobart Group, which also owns the airline involved: Stobart Air. From May, it will fly in the colours of Flybe to a range of cities and beach destinations. Fares for the flights in Embraer 195 commuter jets are competitive: a weekend in Budapest in May is being sold for 80 return, while a week in Dubrovnik departing on the first Saturday in August is priced at 158 return. Other destinations include Cologne, Lyon, Venice and Vienna. In the past, links from Southend to destinations such as Maastricht and Nantes have failed to become profitable. But the airports chief executive, Glyn Jones, told The Independent he was confident about the new tranche of routes: You can never absolutely know, and it is inevitably the case that some routes are very successful and others are less successful. But were confident we can persuade travellers from east London to use us instead of the alternatives. Southends location, outside the congested London air-traffic area and close to the Continent, means flight times are shorter than from other airports serving the capital. But the rail journey from London takes 54 minutes, one reason why Southend took last place in The Independents survey of airport transport links earlier this month. Mr Jones said: What really makes a difference is how quickly you get through the airport. You can be off the train and into the terminal in a minute, and through the terminal in 15 minutes. Last month, Southend was voted best small airport in Britain for the second year running by the Airport Operators Association. Click here to view European tours and holidays, with Independent Holidays. 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 }} The row over fining parents for taking children out of school is to go to the Supreme Court. The judges will rule on a test case involving the daughter of Jon Platt, a businessman from the Isle of Wight. He took his daughter out of school for a holiday to Florida in April 2015, and was subsequently fined by the islands council. He refused to pay, and was taken to court under the 1996 Education Act. Magistrates dismissed the case on the grounds that the girl was a regular attender. In May 2016 the High Court agreed that he had no case to answer, because overall his daughters attendance was still satisfactory. The ruling indicated that missing up to 10 per cent of school days was acceptable. In a typical academic year involving 190 days, that would amount to 19 days. Several further cases, most recently in Swindon, have found in favour of parents. Holiday prices rise sharply during school holidays. Flights on easyJet from Gatwick to Geneva from Saturday to Saturday over the February half-term cost up to 734 return, compared with a maximum of 159 one week earlier an almost five-fold increase. Three Supreme Court judges have now given permission for the Isle of Wight Council to seek to overturn that decision, with the case likely to be held in the first three months of 2017. The Isle of Wight Council is being supported by the Department for Education. Last month the DfE published guidelines that stated: Head teachers should only authorise leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. If a head teacher grants a leave request, it will be for the head teacher to determine the length of time that the child can be away from school. Leave is unlikely, however, to be granted for the purposes of a family holiday as a norm. 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 recent terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, where a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker was wrongly arrested, will have major spillover effects on the refugee community in Germany, as well as in wider Europe. We will have to be careful of, and equip ourselves against, the risk of reciprocal radicalisation, also known as cumulative extremism. Reciprocal radicalisation occurs when right-wing extremist groups and Islamist organisations feed off each other, occasionally escalating into violence against what each group perceives as the other. The space in which reciprocal radicalisation occurs is most clear when we examine each groups attitude towards refugees. Both Islamist extremist groups and far right groups benefit from the refugees as terrorists conspiracy theory. For Islamist extremists, refugees are traitors for leaving a Muslim state or country (dar al-Islam) to escape to the dar al-kufr or the land of infidels. Propaganda released by Isis regularly advocates for the punishment and abuse of traitors who have left the caliphate. Any refugees trapped in countries of first refuge and exhausted by the political institutions that fail to protect them will find their bad experiences deserved in the eyes of extremists. Moreover, right-wing groups use the graphic images and videos released by groups such as Isis, which can depict children committing beheadings or women being abused, to justify why refugees are not welcome. This can spiral into violent protests against immigrants or near refugee camps. A key example of this is the gunman who shot three at an Islamic Centre in Zurich, which came shortly after the attack in Berlin. Eyewitnesses reported that the man shouted for those praying to go back to where they came from before opening fire. Any violence against refugees by far right groups is then re-absorbed by Islamist extremists as a justification for why people escaping the caliphate will be severely punished for doing so, and this creates mutually reinforcing cycles of tension and extreme violence. In both cases, refugees are rebuked and exploited for crimes they have not committed, and do not want to be associated with. Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Show all 18 1 /18 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Several people have been killed after a lorry drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'At least nine' people have been killed and more than 50 injured. AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency Services rush a Berlin market victim to an ambulance Associated Press Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Police cordoned off the square at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the incident REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers inspect the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin EPA Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency crews inspect the lorry that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least nine people AFP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Fire crews attend the scene of the attack AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Armed police secure the site of a lorry attack at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Crushed debris is visible beneath the wheels of the vehicle REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack An injured man is pushed to an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Medics attend an injured person after the lorry attack which killed at least nine and injured more than 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters examine the lorry which was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack A person is carried into an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack View of the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine and injuring at least 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher to an ambulance Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters assess the damage after the lorry rammed the Christmas market, killing 'at least nine', and injuring more than 50 people AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters stand beside a toppled Christmas tree at the site of the suspected terrorist attack in a Berlin Christmas market AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least nine people have been killed EPA Last week, a 12-year-old boy was arrested for his second attempt to detonate a bomb in another Christmas market in Western Germany. Although of Iraqi descent, the child is German, and we must therefore be careful not to stigmatise entire communities rather than focus on the background factors, such as youth and vulnerability, that might make an individual susceptible to joining violent extremist networks. In the case of radicalisation, prevention is easier than cure. It is important to safeguard young and vulnerable individuals from extremist rhetoric, whether it is far right hatred or Islamist extremist conspiracy. To do this, we must raise awareness of such content and its reinforcing nature amongst frontline workers and practitioners working with refugees. For refugee youth, practitioners must focus on potential smuggling networks where juveniles can be exploited or radicalised. There must also be educational content freely available for, and accessible to, refugees to teach them how to oppose and be resilient to extremist content. Berlin's Muslim community sends message of peace and solidarity after Christmas market attack For host communities, the focus must be on messaging based on facts and figures, not conspiracy theories, as well as empowering local actors to integrate others, rather than alienate them. This will create an environment where grievances and concerns can be aired in an open and non-hostile way. It is only through inclusive communication and interaction that we can highlight similarities between refugee communities and their host societies, without going to extremes. Nikita Malik is a Senior Researcher at Quilliam, a counter-extremism organisation. She is also the founder of Fempower, a grassroots initiative to empower women and children against extremism 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 }} There is something infinitely naive in our pursuit of the identity of those behind the massacres which Isis is committing in Europe. Yes, we need to know the names. Sure, we need to know what their wives or parents thought. Did they know? How did the perpetrator of Mondays Berlin truck killings communicate with Isis? Or did he merely imbibe their political instruction manual? After the Bataclan mass murders and the lorry slaughter in Nice, we asked the same questions.So now we ask: is the latest suspect a Tunisian criminal Anis Amri the killer driver of the Berlin truck? But we didnt bother to ask what Isis was trying to do. Was it a tactic of terror terror being the pejorative word that enables us to avoid all rational thought in the aftermath of any bloodbath or a strategy, a thought-through political attempt to produce a profound crisis in the societies of western Europe. And the simple answer is that it was a strategy. The grey zone, a phrase invented by Isis almost two years ago, first made its appearance in the groups French-language publications, obviously intended for those Muslims who make up perhaps 10 per cent of the population of France the nation with the largest number of Muslims in Europe. Isis wanted to eliminate the grey zone which it identified as those western Crusader, Christian, etc countries with a large Muslim immigrant community. Muslims should revolt against their European nations (or their host nations, if not actually citizens) and create conflict within the countries. Islamic State claims responsibility for Berlin truck attack The intention was to provoke European states to persecute the Muslims within their frontiers in acts of reprisal for the mass killing of western Europeans presumably non-Muslim civilians. In fact, it didnt matter to Isis if their victims were Muslims since the latter were mere apostates who had accommodated to non-Muslim societies and adapted to their secular rules for economic or political advantage. In a mass flight from the vengeful Crusaders, according to a French edition of Dabiq in early 2015, the Muslims of Europe would migrate to the caliphate of the Islamic State and thereby escape persecution from the Crusader governments and citizens. In other words, they wished to provoke the non-Muslim people of Europe to reject their millions of Muslim fellow-citizens. An uprising among Isis followers however few would produce mass murder by the Christians of Europe. That was and obviously still is the strategy. And it has had some success. The rise of far-right parties in both western and eastern Europe has a strong anti-Muslim/anti-immigrant detonation, and the hunt for political power by those who wish to discriminate against Muslims (or persecute them) has been fuelled by mass killings carried out in Isis name. Thus Angela Merkel, the angel of the one million refugees who sought sanctuary in Europe last year, is herself now dressing in the dark robes of Mephistopheles (by objecting, ironically, to the dark robes worn by Muslim women). Faustus, of course, was a character of German folklore long before Christopher Marlowe wrote about him. Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Show all 18 1 /18 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Several people have been killed after a lorry drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'At least nine' people have been killed and more than 50 injured. AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency Services rush a Berlin market victim to an ambulance Associated Press Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Police cordoned off the square at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the incident REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers inspect the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin EPA Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency crews inspect the lorry that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least nine people AFP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Fire crews attend the scene of the attack AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Armed police secure the site of a lorry attack at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Crushed debris is visible beneath the wheels of the vehicle REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack An injured man is pushed to an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Medics attend an injured person after the lorry attack which killed at least nine and injured more than 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters examine the lorry which was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack A person is carried into an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack View of the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine and injuring at least 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher to an ambulance Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters assess the damage after the lorry rammed the Christmas market, killing 'at least nine', and injuring more than 50 people AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters stand beside a toppled Christmas tree at the site of the suspected terrorist attack in a Berlin Christmas market AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least nine people have been killed EPA But the Isis strategy has far more recent precedents than a man (or woman) who sells his soul to the devil. First a health warning: there is no connection between Isis and the man widely regarded as the Greatest Briton in history. But when Britain remained the only country still under arms against Nazi Germany in 1940, Winston Churchill believed that the occupied people of Europe should rise up against their Nazi occupiers. He believed not without reason that western Europeans under German domination were settling far too peacefully into the role of quiescent occupied peoples, making accommodation for and creating collaboration with Hitlers army and Gestapo. Churchill was right. Crushed by economic as well as military disaster, the people of France, Denmark, Holland and Belgium were far too busy trying to protect their families and feed their children to start an insurrection. Furthermore, they knew as Churchill knew that any armed resistance to German occupation would immediately lead to the murder of hostages, the destruction of villages, executions, deportations and mass murder the sort of persecution which Isis obviously hopes, however vainly, would be visited upon the Muslims of Europe if they continue their attacks on the European Continent and, indeed, in Britain. But Churchill was ruthless. And now, set Europe ablaze, he told his minister of economic warfare, Hugh Dalton, who set up what was to be called the Special Operations Executive (SOE), whose extraordinary and courageous exploits of arms smuggling, ambushes and sabotage clearly regarded as terrorism by many of Churchills associates led to great losses, civilian reprisals, the death of many innocents and a history of defeat. Not of victory, as post-war monochrome movies about SOEs daring-do would have cinemagoers believe. Churchill called his policy a new instrument of war. The Spanish had used just such an instrument during the Peninsula war, the guerrilleros. And as a student of history, Churchill well knew the terrifying results for civilians. Goya depicted their suffering for all time. The happier side of this comparison, however, is clear. Churchills policy justified for him at the time, however cruel did not work. It took years, and the terror assaults by the Germans which they had used in eastern Europe, before armed resistance to their rule became a serious problem for Nazi occupiers. And todays western Europeans, however much the right may try to earn their votes with their anti-Muslim hatred, are not Nazis much as Isis may wish them to be. The Crusaders ceased to exist six hundred years ago. Millions of Muslims cannot be turned into apostates because Isis identifies them as such. They wish to live in Europe. Besides, the Muslims of the Islamic world had their chance of joining the Isis Caliphate last year. They could have walked, marched or trekked across the deserts to Raqqa and Mosul to join the Caliph al-Baghdadi. But they didnt. Instead, they took the train to Germany; which remains the greatest defeat Isis has suffered in more than two years. Isis cannot turn their retreat into victory merely because they infused a few of their would-be killers in among the refugees even if Amri came from Italy last year, rather than the Arab world. And Europeans can maintain that defeat by turning away from those of their non-Muslim fellow citizens in effect Isis allies who advance a policy of revenge and racism. The far right in Germany and in France and Holland and, yes, in Britain -- are the people whom Isis now rely upon to destroy the grey zone. 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 implication of Donald Trumps call for the US to greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capabilities is unclear. But even if he is merely repeating his campaign criticism of the current inadequacy of Americas nuclear strike force, it may further alarm those already worried by the President-elects seemingly nonchalant attitude to the deadliest of all weapons. His remarks, contained as usual in a tweet, came hours after Vladimir Putin said Russia, the Cold War adversary of the US with whom Mr Trump wants to improve relations, needed to boost the potential of its own nuclear forces above all to penetrate opposing missile defence systems. During the campaign, the Republican candidate talked of the need for an overhaul, even declaring at one point that our nuclear arsenal doesnt work. In doing so he echoed warnings by several conservative defence analysts here. They believe the US has allowed its weapons to become near-obsolescent, even as rivals like Russia and China have embarked on upgrading programmes. But other experts disagree. Right now, the US and Russia each have about 7,000 nuclear weapons, and are committed by treaty to go lower still. They say US defences, based on a triad of land-based, submarine-borne and air-carried weapons, are perfectly adequate. Moreover, they insist, Washington is already committed to a 30-year, $1 trillion modernisation programme. In his tweet, Mr Trump declared the boost was needed until such time as the world came to its senses over nukes. But his critics would say his policies would if anything raise the danger of nuclear proliferation. With his demands that US allies take a greater share of the burden of their own defence, he at one point encouraged Japan and South Korea to acquire nuclear weapons to counter the menace of North Korea. However he retracted that statement later in the campaign. Moreover if he does as Mr Trump has threatened pull out of the Obama administrations nuclear deal with Iran, that might only increase the risk of Tehran getting such weapons sooner, and make it likelier that Saudi Arabia and other rivals of Iran will want to go nuclear as well. In reality, Mr Trump may be forced into some major nuclear decisions even before such things happen. The most immediate concerns North Korea, which, according to experts, could soon have weapons that threaten not just Tokyo and Seoul, but parts of the US as well. 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 }} In the discourse about problems in the prison service there is a section of the secure population that has not been mentioned; women. Women make up small numbers of the prison population; they rarely riot or draw attention to themselves. The majority are not violent and are not a threat to society. Women in prison will spend Christmas in dismal, undignified conditions, away from their children and families. A sensible beginning to resolving the current problems within the secure estate would be to reduce the number of women sent to prison; these women are frequently victims of abuse, violence and poverty. They could be rehabilitated in the community while caring for their families; fewer children would enter the care system and everyone would benefit. Helen Rawden Lincolnshire In welcoming the attention suddenly being given to prison conditions and the sheer number of prisoners, one can only hope that specific thought will be given to addressing the disproportionate number of ex-Servicemen in custody-those who have gone from being "Hero" to "Zero" on the thud of a gavel . John Scott Moncrieff Edinburgh Why is Father Christmas not set to be on the New Year's Honours List? Although probably too late for inclusion in the New Year's Honours list, may I strongly recommend an award for someone who gives his life's work to providing enjoyment to people around the world particularly to the young, but indeed to all ages. I refer, of course, to Father Christmas. Year after year the list of (some) deserving recipients is published, much of it to the amusement of clear-thinking people, but not once have I seen even the smallest of baubles allocated to this great man. In the present climate of unrest and misery, millions would be uplifted to hear that he is not merely to become Sir Father, but indeed "Lord Christmas of Lapland and Plymouth Ho-Ho-Ho" (might there be a Lady Christmas as well?). Typical of his nature, though, he would be sure to give due deference to his team of elves and reindeers. Stanley Grundy Porton It is time to cut off the oxygen to Farage's views I couldn't agree more with the letter in the Independent about cutting down on the oxygen of publicity that allows Nigel Farage to peddle his hateful views under cover of his bluff-man-of-the-people schtick and racism disguised as a necessary national debate on immigration. Seven times voters in different constituencies have had a chance to elect Farage as their MP. Each time when they had the opportunity to see Farage up close they elected someone else. If the BBC still insist on his sinecure on Question Time and other similar platforms, despite the fact he no longer has an official status in UKIP, can I suggest that the addition of an actor's voice a la Gerry Adams in the 1980s would be a good idea, with Janette Krankie adding just the right note of gravitas to what he would be saying. John Murray Bracknell The SNP will never accept a referendum result that does not suit them One thing is clear from the Scottish governments Brexit plans: the Scottish National Party will not respect the outcome of any referendum that does not deliver the result it wanted. Whether it was the No answer to the 2014 independence referendum, or the Leave answer to the 2016 EU referendum, Nicola Sturgeon and the rest of the SNP leadership almost immediately moved on to start thinking of ways of effectively overturning the result or otherwise engineering a re-run. Will the First Minister guarantee that if she does call a second independence referendum and the result is to stay in the UK, that she will set aside any thoughts of a further referendum for at least a generation? Or did she say that once already? Keith Howell West Linton The Queen is right stay at home if you have a cold I see that the Queen has once again demonstrated her concern for her subjects by cancelling a Christmas train trip for fear of infecting fellow travellers with her cold germs. If only more sniffling members of the general public could realise that "coughs and sneezes spread diseases" and do likewise especially at this time of year. God bless you, Ma'am! John Eoin Douglas Edinburgh 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 }} Soviet intelligence had a special way of needling those Western reporters who remained in Moscow through December. The KGB would contrive to dangle some headline-grabbing announcement for the 25th of the month, or stage some last-minute media event a question and answer session, say, with some hard-to-get official knowing full well that this would cause maximum inconvenience to those celebrating Western Christmas with family or friends. In the days before the internet, social media and even mobile phones, there was little choice but to turn up in person. The day was, after all, just a normal working day in the USSR, as indeed it is in Russia today, where Orthodox Christmas is a public holiday and celebrated on 7 January. The surprise sprung on us Moscow correspondents 25 years ago this weekend, however, was no stratagem designed to ruin our festive lunch. It was a cataclysm that would disrupt the holiday for the whole of the Western world, and whose aftershocks are still being felt around the globe today. Mikhail Gorbachevs last television broadcast as Soviet President was delivered with all the gravitas worthy of the occasion. But there was also something disconsolate, almost truculent, about how he regretted the failure of his efforts to keep the Soviet Union together and announced the de facto dissolution of the country. The hammer and sickle that flew over the Kremlin was lowered that night, replaced by the Russian tricolour. One state became 15 and, as elected president of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin became leader of the official successor state. Gorbachevs bitter rival had won. So ended a 74-year long old social experiment, with all its initial idealism and all its cruelty at least some of which will be revisited next year for the centenary of the Bolshevik revolution. So ended, too, more than a year of all-embracing uncertainty, as shop shelves emptied and power seemed to swing between the Soviet and Russian authorities by the day. President Obama vows to take action against alleged Russian hacking of election In that sense, the collapse of the Soviet Union brought a measure of relief. There was relief that the interminable wait for something who knew what? was over; relief, too, that the second superpower, as it was then, had been dissolved essentially by consent. There was no civil war, no famine and no mass refugee crisis for all of which the West had made (probably inadequate) plans. Two pieces of paper, or so it seemed, had sufficed: the accords signed by Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia (now Belarus) on 8 December, renouncing the treaty that had established the Soviet Union, and the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev. The apparent ease with which the Soviet Union passed into history, though, was deceptive. For 25 December 1991 was not just an end; it was also the birth, or rather re-birth, of the Russian state and the start of a process that is far from complete even 25 years on. Which is where, it could be argued, lie the roots of some of the suspicion and outright hostility Russia faces in much of the Western world today. Here are three aspects that are less appreciated than they deserve to be. First, the Soviet Unions collapse had many causes. Its central planning system failed; it proved unable to bring either its economics or its politics into the modern world, and it was bankrupted by trying to match USA defence spending. But it died, too, because its constituent parts simply lacked the will to hold it together. Some of the 15 republics actively strove for separation (the Baltic States and, less ardently, Ukraine). Others the Central Asian republics were less enthusiastic and woefully unprepared. But Russia played a big part, too, because its people had come to resent the burdens of empire. The end of the Soviet Union was as much about the reassertion of Russian identity as it was about the failure of Soviet communism. This has been a more difficult and contested task than it might have seemed. Second, perhaps because Russia became the Soviet successor state, it is often treated as though the one simply emerged from the other and there was no rupture, such as took place elsewhere as the eastern bloc or subsequently in Georgia and Ukraine. This is to forget, however, that between 1989 and 1991, hundreds of thousands of Russians went out on to the streets each weekend to demand democratic reforms; that people power helped to defeat the August 1991 hardliners coup, and that Yeltsin then outlawed the Soviet communist party. It is true that there was more continuity in Russia than in some former communist countries, also because some senior officials saw the writing on the wall and defected from Soviet to Russian institutions ahead of time. But to maintain there was no change of power is wrong. Gorbachevs fate alone testifies to that. There was a real change of power along with a real rejection of Soviet communist rule. The Wests failure to recognise that todays Russian Federation is not just the Soviet Union in flimsy disguise is something that irks Russias leaders and people to this day. Third, the merciful lack of drama that attended the dissolution of the Soviet Union fuelled expectations elsewhere in the world that Russians would respond pretty much as, say, Poland had done. Of course, the historical significance of what had happened was huge, but surely Russians would acquire new passports, seize the new freedoms and creature comforts and joyfully turn their back on the bad old days. To an extent that is often underestimated, this did indeed happen: Russians enjoy amenities and opportunities today that were unimaginable then. Vastly underestimated, too, though, is the trauma the Soviet collapse brought in its wake. For some people there was sudden material poverty. For many, many more perhaps the country as a whole the chief impact was psychological: a pervasive insecurity; a fear that the disintegration process was not over; a sense of national defeat and diminished status. This is a trauma that has marked a whole generation the generation of Vladimir Putin with its effects doubtless lingering on well into the next. And if the prime cause of Russias aggrieved response to what it sees as Western encroachment into eastern Europe and Ukraine is not innate Russian belligerence, but the experience of loss and the birth pangs of a post-Soviet national identity, we may be looking for the remedy in the wrong place. Rather than issuing imperious demands for a change in Russias behaviour and consigning communications to the deep freeze as Moscow recently accused the US of doing we should perhaps borrow the advice given in another context by that wise elder statesman John Major: to understand a little more and condemn a little less. Garda forensics officers at the scene of a shooting in the Ronanstown area of west Dublin A man in his 60s has been shot dead as his partner looked on. The victim, named locally as Noel Kirwan, was targeted by a lone gunman shortly after he pulled into the driveway of a house in the Ronanstown area of Dublin just after 5pm. The 62-year-old, originally from the north inner city, was hit by several bullets fired into the driver's side of the Ford Mondeo. The killer escaped in a w hite Peugeot Partner van 10-CE-9834 which was found burnt out a short time later behind the nearby Neilstown shops. Kirwan was understood to have associated with Gerry "the Monk" Hutch. His family has been embroiled in a bitter feud with the Kinahan crime cartel which turned bloody in September 2015 when Gary Hutch was shot dead in Spain. At least 10 people have been killed in Ireland and Spain as a result. Gino Kenny, People Before Profit TD from the area, appealed for calm. "Violence just breeds violence. It's terrible for the family," he said. "It hasn't been confirmed but obviously if there's a link to the Hutch and Kinahan feud then it's a cycle of violence that has to stop. Someone has to say stop. Fathers, brothers are being killed." Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald described those involved in the shooting as "a scourge on Dublin and the good people of our city". "They go about their brutal business with no concern for the fear that they inflict on our communities and with zero regard for the innocents who may be caught up in their terrible acts," she said. Ms McDonald called for additional policing and justice resources to tackle gangland crimes. "The actions of those involved in these crimes are an affront to the spirit of Dublin. Our communities, our families and all who inhabit this city have had enough. We are done with being caught up in this seemingly endless cycle of violence," she said. Detectives appealed for witnesses and anyone with information particularly people in the area prior to the incident and immediately after the shooting and who may have information or who may have seen anything unusual or suspicious to contact them. Kirwan was murdered outside a house on St Ronan's Drive, a short walk from the local garda station. His partner was not injured but is understood to have been deeply distressed by the killing. A tent was erected over Kirwan's Mondeo car for several hours following the shooting while forensic examinations took place at the scene. A group of people believed to be relatives were brought to the crime scene by gardai at about 9pm before the man's body was removed in an ambulance. Knackeries will face increasing checks in the coming months in regard to taking procession of untagged animals. It comes on the back of concerns expressed by the BVD Implementation Group (BVDIG) on the reporting of deaths by knackery operators. The BVDIG was convened in June 2011 to take forward planning and implementation of an industry-led national BVD eradication programme. It comprises representatives of the industry organisations. In a letter from the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to the Group, which has been seen by FarmIreland, the Minister outlines that while the Department has found the operators to be substantially compliant in the past, he said if specific cases are brought to out attention, they will be investigated. The Minister highlighted that it is an offense for a knackery operator or anyone else to take procession of an untagged animal. Knackery operators will be remained of the responsibilities in this regard and, in the context of the concerns expressed by the BVDIG, knackeries will face increasing checks by DAFM in the period ahead, the Minister said. The Department has approved 39 knackeries for the proper disposal of fallen animals. The Minister recently announced increased supports for the early removal of PI (persistently infected) calves under the national Bovine Viral Disease (BVD) Eradication Programme in 2017. Making this announcement, Minister Creed welcomed the renewed commitment of all stakeholders represented on the BVD Implementation Group to drive towards eradication of BVD. The Minister said: The progress to-date in the eradication effort, which has seen the incidence of PIs fall by 75pc since 2013, has resulted in very substantial savings to farmers, currently estimated at 66m per year, and these savings will increase further in the years ahead as the incidence of the disease continues to decline. The Minister continued: whilst recognising the very significant progress made over the past four years, I believe the increased level of support for the early removal of PI calves will give a further major impetus to reducing incidence of the disease and final eradication in the foreseeable future. The inclusion of dairy crosses and dairy bulls for the first time in the support arrangements will further assist this process. The head of dairy processor Lakeland Dairies (NI) has said a recent uplift in market conditions will continue next year. In his December message to farmer members in Northern Ireland, Cavan-based Lakeland group chief executive Michael G Hanley said long-term volatility in dairy markets had made it a "very difficult year". He concluded, I have requested that the Minister communicate with the SBCI as a matter of urgency. There must be greater engagement between SBCI and the financial institutions, with the prompt agreement of terms a priority, in order to ensure the rollout of loans in January. The company took over the dairy operation of Northern Ireland co-op Fane Valley last year. In August, Lakeland announced a move to seasonal production at Fane Valley's plant in Banbridge, which could affect the future of 72 staff at the Co Down plant. Mr Hanley said he "strongly hoped" that moderate improvements in the market, led by demand for dairy commodities such as milk powders, would continue in 2017. Milk prices for Northern Ireland farmers have fallen dramatically in the past few years, but recent months have brought a slight recovery. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs recorded an October net producer price per litre of 24.35p, which was up from a low earlier this year of 17.7p. But that was still substantially below a recent high of 34p recorded in 2013. Mr Hanley told members that Brexit was a factor. "Some market uncertainty has been created by the Brexit decision," he wrote. "However, we will meet any outcomes from that process as competitively as we always have done." But he said there were many factors influencing the markets including "the dairy buying power of oil-producing nations, the continuing Russian trade embargo, fluctuating demand levels in Asia, currency exchange rates and the overall global milk supply and demand balance". And Mr Hanley said the co-operative would deal with Brexit as it had any other challenge. He added: "We have long-term customers with strong ongoing demand for our products in the UK, and this will continue to be the case. "Our overall strategy is to achieve the highest levels of efficiency and the lowest processing costs to ensure that the maximum possible returns are made to our milk producers at all times. "This must be consistent with market conditions as part of a long-term and sustainable co-operative business." His message to farmers concluded: "Our mission remains constantly to support our dairy farmers, and we are fully energised behind that goal now and into the future." Last year Lakeland also opened a new global logistics centre in Newtownards, Co Down, where it already operates the Pritchitts dairy food service site. Irish farmers together with Dairygold have contributed 17,500 to the Irish Cancer Society through Wrap It Pink which saw farmers across rural Ireland wrap their silage bales in pink this year. The bright pink wrap which is produced in Ireland has become increasingly popular with farmers as they willingly get on board with Dairygold to help in the fight against cancer. Wrap it Pink was launched in the summer of 2015 and for every roll of pink silage wrap sold both the farmer and Dairygold made a contribution to the Irish Cancer Society. The silage wrap was sold across Dairygolds network of retail stores, Co-Op Superstores and nationwide through their online store coopsuperstores.ie. The campaign really captured the imagination of the farming community and as a result many other agricultural businesses have now embraced pink, joining Dairygold on the journey of raising awareness of cancer in rural Ireland and raising much needed funds for cancer research and support services. Commenting on the campaign, John O Carroll Head of Retail at Dairygold said We are delighted with the success of Wrap It Pink again this year- the campaign had a twofold objective of raising awareness of cancer across rural Ireland while also raising funds to support the great work of the Irish Cancer Society and were proud to have achieved both. "Fields of pink were a constant reminder to people to get screened and to talk openly about cancer and it is clearly a strategy that is working as the funds raised this year are significantly up on last year. Mark Mellett, Head of Fundraising at the Irish Cancer Society said, Wrap It Pink plays a vital role in raising awareness of breast cancer in rural Ireland and also funding vital cancer research and services to support those affected by the disease. "Every year in Ireland over 2,800 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. We are there to support them on their cancer journey every step of the way, but we cant do this without your support. Were very grateful to farmers nationwide for backing this campaign and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Dairygold into the future. Europes top court has backed the European Commission in a state aid case that could hint at problems for the Government over its Apple appeal. The European Court of Justice ruled that the Commission may have been correct in finding that tax breaks provided to two Spanish companies one involving banking giant Santander on their foreign holdings were illegal. The verdict could have repercussions for the Governments legal battle against the Commissions decision in the Apple case. Ireland has challenged the EU ruling that Apple owes Ireland 13bn in back taxes and has appealed it to the European courts. However, the Department of Finance has rejected this, stating that the grounds on which the Apple appeal is founded "makes it very clear that this application for annulment is not dependent on one single legal argument or legal issue". It is a complete overstatement to say that the Irish appeal of the Apple decision is dependent on the outcome of the Santander and Autogrill decision of the European Court of Justice, or that todays judgement is crucial for the Irish case, a spokesman told independent.ie. The facts and the approach in the Santander and Autogrill cases are very different from those that have now been presented in the final decision in the Apple case. The Court of Justice said yesterday that the Luxembourg-based General Court the same European court that the Apple case has been referred to had been incorrect to annul the Commissions decision relating to the Spanish companies. Although the Santander case is different to the Apple case in terms of substance and fact, the ruling signals that Europes top court is willing to take a wider view of what constitutes state aid. And that will potentially rattle nerves here, where theres cross-party support for the appeal. The European Commission, in two rulings in 2009 and 2011, said the scheme, which applied to Spanish companies holding a stake of at least 5pc in a foreign company for at least a year, broke EU state aid rules, and ordered Spain to recover the money. The Spanish scheme allowed a company based in Spain to write down goodwill of a foreign shareholding and deduct this from its corporation tax. This did not apply to domestic shareholdings. The European Commission said it welcomed the judgment, saying its state aid decisions were reinstated and that it would now work with Spanish authorities to recover the aid granted. The ruling comes just days after the Commission published its final decision in the Apple case. The Government has accused the Brussels body of interfering with Irelands tax sovereignty and has exceeded its powers in ordering the technology giant to pay 13bn in taxes to the Exchequer. The Government said that the commission has attempted to re-write the Irish corporation tax rules in making its decision. Finance Minister Michael Noonan has already insisted that the California tech giant was not given any sweetheart tax deals when it opened its base in Cork in 1980. Apple has also denied any such arrangements are in place at present, or that they existed in the past. (Additional reporting Reuters) The figures were released by Finance Minister Noonan Photo: Tony Gavin The Central Bank is paying out on average 58,000 a day - not including VAT - to contractors, figures show. There are currently 106 contractors engaged by the Central Bank, according to data provided by Finance Minister Michael Noonan. Mr Noonan said that for commercial reasons, it isn't possible to provide individual daily rates. But he said that the average daily rate paid to these contractors is 551, excluding VAT. "The number of contractors varies from time to time and is determined by the business needs of the bank," Mr Noonan said, in response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fail TD Michael McGrath. "The daily rate paid is determined by the role performed. "These roles vary from temporary roles, such as the provision of maternity leave cover, to the engagement of specialists. "These contractors are engaged via the completion of competitive tender processes." Mr Noonan said the figures included a number of IT resources and reflected the level of IT projects underway. Earlier this week it was revealed that the Central Bank was hiring extra staff who are being drafted in to supervise financial institutions planning to move to Ireland from the UK once it exits the European Union. A spokeswoman for the Central Bank confirmed that it had just gotten approval to hire 28 staff who would be dedicated to Brexit-related activities. She said it was hoped that the roles would be filled as soon as possible. Eighteen of the new recruits will be working in supervisory roles in the Central Bank's existing insurance and asset management units. The Central Bank has long argued that it has had problems attracting and retaining top talent. Late last year, deputy Central Bank governor Cyril Roux bemoaned public sector pay restrictions, which he said hampered the organisation's ability to keep its supervisory function beefed up. Ireland's biggest hotel group, Dalata, has said trading in the final four months of the year has been marginally ahead of expectations. Growth in the Dublin market was lower in the second half of the year, as anticipated, but still "very healthy" according the group, whose chief executive is Pat McCann. The company noted a recent report that showed revenue per available room in the Dublin area increased by 16.6pc for the 11 months to the end of November, compared with the corresponding period in 2015. Dalata said revenue per available room in its own properties in Dublin was 20.8pc higher in the latest 11-month period. "To date, we have seen no impact of Brexit on any of our hotels in Ireland or the UK," it added in a statement. Stockmarket-listed Dalata operates 41 hotels in Ireland and the UK, with a total of 8,000 rooms. It owns the Maldron and Clayton brands. Of its properties, 24 are company-owned, 10 are operated under lease agreements and seven are operated under management agreements. Last month, Dalata secured competition clearance to acquire the leasehold on the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, one of the capital's best-known hotels. The 502-bedroom property is operated by Hilton, and branded as a Doubletree. It will be rebranded as a Clayton. Dalata paid 2.5m for the 25-year lease on the hotel. In 2015 the hotel recorded revenue of 29.5m and a profit before tax of 2.2m. "The Clayton Hotel Burlington Road has been smoothly transitioned into the group and we expect trade in 2017 to be in line with the expectations," said Dalata. The Burlington property is owned by German investment fund Deka, which bought the hotel from investment group Blackstone. It had put it up for sale for 180m after buying it in 2012 for 67m. Earlier this year, Dalata signed a 35-year lease on a new Maldron hotel in Newcastle. The four-star 226-bedroom property is due to open in 2018. The company said that it is making "strong progress" on its development pipeline across the island of Ireland. Those projects will add 950 bedrooms to Dalata's owned and leased portfolio. Construction is under way on a Maldron hotel in Belfast that's due to open in 2018. A Clayton hotel being built in Charlemont in Dublin will also be finished in 2018. Also in Dublin, a Maldron on Kevin Street will open in 2018, while planning permission has been secured for a 140-bedroom extension to the Clayton hotel at Dublin Airport. Meanwhile, Garret Marrinan has been appointed General Manager at the four star Gibson Hotel, which was recently acquired by the Dalata Hotel Group. He joins the hotel with over 25 years experience in the hospitality industry in the USA, UK and Ireland. Garret most recently held senior management roles within the Choice Hotel Group including the role of General Manager at the Clarion Hotel Cork and Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley Dublin. Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) European stocks retreated into negative territory on Wednesday as optimism about the possibility of a rescue for Italy's banking sector was tempered by analysts. Italian banks need at least 52bn ($54bn) to clean up their balance sheets, much more than the rescue package proposed by the government on Monday. The shortfall is an estimate of how much lenders would have to increase loan-loss provisions to allow for the sale of bad debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It includes the 8bn of provisions UniCredit has said it will add before selling 18bn of its worst loans and uses that ratio as a proxy for the gap at other banks. The total also includes the 5bn Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has been struggling to raise in recent months. The Italian government asked parliament this week to increase the public borrowing limit by as much as 20bn to potentially backstop Monte Paschi and other lenders. Spanish banks fell after a ruling in the European Union's top court that may result in them handing back billions of euro to mortgage customers. Gold futures rose 0.2pc to $1,135.30 an ounce, after closing near a 10-month low on Tuesday. The euro added 0.4 pc to $1.0428, after touching an almost 14-year low of $1.0352 earlier in the week. Elsewhere, oil fluctuated near $53 a barrel after erasing gains amid government stockpiles data in the US. Convenience food maker Greencore secured a 95pc acceptance on a 520m capital raise that will allow the company to complete a takeover for US-based Peacock Foods for around $747m. The ISEQ overall index of Irish shares fell by or 0.46pc to 6447.87, down 29.80 points just before the close. (Additional reporting by Bloomberg) A RETIRED insurance broker, who lost 500,000 in a property bond investment, has failed in an appeal to set aside the Financial Services Ombudsman's (FSO) rejection of his claim for the return of the money. Hugh Governey, of Palmerston Road, Dublin 6, put the money in a property-based fund promoted by Anglo Irish Assurance Co as a highly geared investment scheme in the Kennet Shopping Centre, Newbury, England. Anglo, like its banking counterpart, later had its name changed - to Irish Bank Resolution (IBRC) Assurance Co. The investment failed because another shopping centre attracted lucrative tenants away from the Kennet centre. Mr Governey had made a complaint to the FSO claiming Anglo/IBRC had breached its duty to disclose all material facts, including in relation to the rival centre. Anglo/IBRC disputed the claim. The FSO found the complaint had not been substantiated. Mr Governey had been informed by brochure he could lose all of his investment and that a geared property investment was considered high-risk, the FSO said. In his High Court action, Mr Governey claimed that since the investment had been structured as a life assurance policy, full disclosure of all risks had to be made or else the contract would be open to rescission. A High Court judge found the contract he had entered into was an investment risk rather than an insurance risk. The judge refused an order directing IBRC to repay the 500,000. Dismissing Mr Governey's appeal to a three-judge Supreme Court against that decision, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy was also satisfied the contract was not, in substance, an insurance contract but an investment fund managed by Anglo. Ryanair and Aer Lingus have been ordered to pay the Government what is expected to be a total of about 16m, after the European Court of Justice said the two airlines benefited from illegal State aid of that amount. The European Commission previously ruled that the way Ireland's now suspended air travel tax was structured meant shorter air routes had effectively benefited from illegal State aid. It wants Ryanair to pay the Government 12m in air taxes, and Aer Lingus to pay 4m. Of the Aer Lingus total, it's thought that about 1m is attributable to Aer Arann, as it operated Aer Lingus Regional services. Aer Arann, now Stobart Air, was also thought to have a separate liability, but the issue is complicated by the fact that the carrier went into examinership after the travel tax was introduced. Stobart Air continues to operate Aer Lingus Regional services. Last year, the European General Court overturned the Commission's ruling. But the European Court of Justice said yesterday that the airlines must pay back the money and reversed the General Court's decision. The Government introduced the air travel tax in 2009. It levied a 2 charge per passenger on flights up to 300km from Dublin, and 10 for distances over that. They were later replaced with a flat 3 rate. The Commission told the Government it would have to collect from both Aer Lingus and Ryanair, the difference between the two rates - 8 - that had previously been in operation, in respect of each passenger that had been charged the lower 2 levy between 2009 and 2011. Skoda are confident of becoming one of the top five highest selling car brand in Ireland following a record sales performance in 2016. Over the last 12 months, the company recorded a 20pc volume growth, delivering over 9,500 new vehicles. The impressive figures has solidified their position as the sixth highest selling car brand in the country for the second year running. However, following a dealer investment of 12.5m injected into the transformation of the brand, the company are aiming higher next year. At SKODA we are extremely optimistic for 2017," Brand Director at SKODA Ireland, John Donegan said today. "The new face of our dealer network will be the most modern of any car brand in Ireland and we will have some exciting new models for our customers to experience. Increasing their market share to 6.5pc, Skoda's car turnover has increased by 29pc from 115m to 148m. Meanwhile, the turnover from sales of vehicle parts and accessories has increased 13pc from 7.8m to 8.8m. Finance offers at the company have also seen a surge in interest with over 105m loaned to customers over the past twelve months, an increase of 48.9pc on 2015. "Just under 50pc of the cars sold by Skoda in Ireland are financed by Skoda Finance with two out of three Skodas financed taking the PCP route," said Mr Donegan. "This year alone, SKODA Finance have financed 6,052 contracts and were looking forward to growing that number further in 2017. Thursday's announcement follows Skoda's production of their 19-millionth vehicle earlier this month at their factory base in Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic. In Ireland, the Octavia is the top performing model of the Skoda range with over 4,700 sales in 2016. The brand's first ever seven-seater SUV, the Skoda Kodiaq is set for release in March 2017. The software sector is a major hub for inward professional migration, according to new data from LinkedIn. The presence of some of the world's largest tech multinational firms in Ireland has meant the country has seen an influx of software personnel in recent years. Tech staff from India, France, Brazil and Italy respectively account for the largest proportion of professionals moving to Ireland to take up roles in the software sector. The UK was the most attractive destination for workers from Ireland seeking to go abroad. Other countries popular with Irish workers are the United States, Canada, Germany and Spain. The LinkedIn data showed that there was a net loss of professionals in the areas of healthcare, architecture, engineering and professional services. However, there are more people moving here to work in professional roles than there are leaving overall. The areas which experienced the strongest levels of growth were software technology, architecture and engineering, healthcare, hardware technology and oil and energy. "Ireland continues to lure talent from abroad, highlighting the continued economic recovery with foreign professionals and returning emigrants taking up positions across a range of industries. "The Irish technology sector is still attracting more skilled workers than any other industry, underlining the fantastic reputation that the country has established internationally in this space," said Sharon McCooey, senior director international operations and site leader of LinkedIn Ireland. "Our professional migration data also reflects the top skills in demand by Irish employers, with technology expertise in areas like cloud computing and big data proving highly attractive. "As a significant employer in the technology sector with over 1,000 staff, LinkedIn has benefited from the professional migration to Ireland and I am proud that we have been able to attract Irish emigrants back home," Ms McCooey added. LinkedIn's EMEA operations have been headquartered in Dublin since 2010. The company was purchased by Microsoft earlier this year and last month it was announced the company is to hire an extra 200 staff in Dublin, taking LinkedIn's headcount in Ireland to 1,200. A move into a new premises across from its current location at Wilton Plaza in Dublin 2 is mooted for early next year. The new site will be a 200,000 square metre development, which will see the firm's office space doubled. Construction is set to be completed in the spring. LinkedIn was founded in 2003 and is the world's largest professional network, with over 460m users globally. It generates revenues through advertised content which matches employers with users who have desirable skillsets. The company has become an increasingly powerful tool for jobhunters and also for employers seeking to recruit top talent. Latest results reveal that LinkedIn's revenues grew by 23pc to the third quarter of 2016 to $960m (920m), driven in large part by huge growth in mobile use of the platform. Almost 3,400 people were approved to take out a mortgage Stock Image The number of people approved for a mortgage shot up in November, as the mortgage market continues to recover. There was a 30pc rise in the numbers getting approval from a bank to borrow in the three months to November. Most of the increase was accounted for by first-time buyers and movers. The new figures from the banks show that almost 3,400 people were approved to take out a mortgage in the three months up to November. Almost half of those cleared by their bank to draw down a mortgage were first-time buyers. Not all approvals translate into mortgage drawdowns as buyers with a mortgage often struggle to compete with cash buyers. A total of 3,377 mortgages were approved on average in the three-month period, with a collective value of 680m, according to the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland data. The pick-up comes ahead of a relaxation of Central Bank mortgage restrictions for first-time buyers that take effect from the start of next year, and a new Government incentive for new buyers. But economist with Goodbody Stockbrokers Dermot of OLeary said that the Governments help-to-buy scheme was unlikely to have impacted the figures. The scheme was only formally announced in Octobers Budget. He said the scheme would not have had much impact on the figures as there was not much clarity around the tax-rebate plan until relatively recently. However, he added there may have been an element of pent-up demand being reflected in the November approvals, as potential homeowners were waiting on clarity around budget-day measures before proceeding with purchases. Mr OLeary said: The latest mortgage approval trends bode well for mortgage activity in Ireland in 2017. We are forecasting growth of 19pc in mortgage drawdowns in 2017. Recent approval trends suggest that this forecast might prove to be conservative. Chief economist with specialist bank Investec Ronan Dunphy said the figures indicate that lending is growing. This data is consistent with our expectation for a total lending drawdown volumes of over 5.5bn in 2016, which would equate to a 14pc increase year-on-year. He said the increase in mortgage approvals fits with Investecs expectation of very strong mortgage lending growth in 2017. This was particularly because of signs of a re-acceleration of house market prices and the help-to-buy scheme and easing of Central Bank lending limits. The help-to-buy scheme will mean first-time buyers can recoup up to 20,000 in a tax refund to put towards the cost of purchasing a property. Mr Dunphy forecast 7bn in new mortgage lending volumes in the Irish EU countries cannot force telecom operators to keep all their customers' data, the EU's top court has ruled - weighing in on a privacy debate that has raged since Edward Snowden's 2013 leak on mass surveillance by British and US spies. Attacks in Europe have reinforced calls for security agencies to be given greater powers, but privacy advocates say mass retention of data is ineffective in the fight against such crimes. A number of British politicians - including Brexit minister David Davis - had filed a legal challenge against an early version of the UK's Investigatory Powers Act, a 2014 surveillance law, part of which was suspended by a British court. Opponents of mass data retention had described the move as a "snoopers' charter." The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) said its ruling was based on the view that holding traffic and location data en masse allowed "very precise conclusions to be drawn concerning the private lives of the persons whose data has been retained". Such interference with people's privacy could only be justified by the objective of fighting serious crime and access to data should be subject to prior review by a court or independent body except in urgent cases, it said. Governments could demand targeted data retention subject to strict safeguards, the ECJ statement said, but the data must be stored within the EU given the risk of unlawful access. The court was responding to challenges against data retention laws in Britain and Sweden on the grounds that they were no longer valid after the ECJ struck down an EU-wide data retention law in 2014. The ruling will make uncomfortable reading for the British government, which passed a new data retention law in November. "On the face of it, there is quite a lot in the data retention bit of the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) that does not comply with the conditions that the Court of Justice has laid down," said Graham Smith a partner at Bird & Bird law firm. Privacy International, an advocacy group that intervened in the case, said the ruling raised questions about the legality of provisions in the British bill requiring telecom operators to store data for up to 12 months "for reasons that go far beyond what is strictly necessary for fighting serious crime". (Reuters) Italy's parliament gave the green light yesterday for a 20bn plan to prop up the country's weaker banks, starting with a bailout as early as this week for the third largest, Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The Tuscan lender - recently judged the weakest of the EU's major banks - needs to erase a mountain of bad loans and raise 5bn in capital by the end of this month or risk being wound down by European regulators. But its hopes of raising the money from private investors, via a debt-for-equity swap and a share placement that ends on Thursday, are fading. A failure of Monte dei Paschi would rock Italy's banking system, the eurozone's fourth largest. In the latest prospectus for the deal, the bank warned it could run out of liquidity in four months - compared to a previous 11 month estimate published as recently as Sunday. It also said a key investor in its rescue plan, bank bailout fund Atlante, had set new conditions for its participation. If Monte dei Paschi's capital plan fails, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni's new government is likely to issue an emergency decree to inject capital into it. But that could prove to be politically explosive, given that investors are required to bear losses under EU bailout rules. Parliamentary approval for the 20bn government plan was needed to allow the state to take on new debt. Italy's debt burden, at about 133pc of annual output, is already the second highest in the euro zone after Greece. The measure approved by parliament says the state can borrow money to provide "an adequate level of liquidity into the banking system". (Reuters) The Individuals Deposit Guarantee Fund and the Finance Ministry of Ukraine on December 21 signed an agreement to sell 100% of shares in PrivatBank, the press service of the fund has reported. "Since the moment of the transfer the state is the owner of 100% of shares in the bank in the person of the Finance Ministry. This was made thanks to coordinated actions of the Finance Ministry, National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Deposit Guarantee Fund, National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, National Depository of Ukraine, Ukrgasbank and Ukreximbank," the fund said on its Facebook page. All the required procedures were settled within 72 hours: reserves for active transactions have been formed, additional shares have been issued and placed, amendments to the bank's regulations have been made, the transition balance has been formed and all the procedures for selling the shares and reshuffle the owners of the bank have been finished. "PrivatBank's capital is negative. According to the law on the individuals deposit guarantee system, the Deposit Guarantee Fund sold all the shares of the bank to the Finance Ministry for UAH 1," the fund said. In general, it took two days to buy ownership rights to the shares of PrivatBank since the start of the procedure for removing the bank from the market. Niamh bristles with Hayley and Paul as everyone celebrates Christmas (L-R) Niamh - Clelia Murphy, Hayley - Rebecca Grimes, Nicola - Claudia Carroll, Paul - Tony Tormey It's a reunion from hell for Paul Brennan on Fair City as the Carrigstown lothario finds himself forced to break bread with wife Niamh, old flame Nicola ... and his mistress, Hayley. Niamh's plan to infuriate her cheating partner continues to work like a charm as she brings the most important women in Paul's life into one room for a Yuletide feast. After months of holding her tongue about Paul and Hayley's affair and plotting with Dermot to bring Paul down, Niamh puts the final piece of her plan in place. Unbeknownst to Paul she invites half of Carrigstown for drinks hoping it will cause enough of a distraction for her to slip away unnoticed. Niamh is on a mission to bankrupt her husband as punishment for his infidelity and with Dermot's assistance she is getting closer to her goal to jet off to Spain. Eager to meet Hayley, Paul lies to Niamh that he's visiting a sick friend in hospital. She can see right through his deception and becomes even more determined to go through with her plan. As Nicola and Paul's ex Jane arrive, Niamh enjoys how the tensions are rising. Things start to go south for Niamh when Nicola spots her passport sticking out of her bag. She takes it out and finds a boarding pass for a flight to Barcelona first thing the following morning. Paul returns to the house and is shocked to find so many people there, his plans of having a quiet Christmas ruined. While Niamh is delighted with Paul's reaction, her mood soon takes a turn for the worse when Nicola confronts her about the boarding pass, trying to figure out what she's up to. Niamh is forced to confess that she is leaving Paul because he is having an affair with Hayley. Nicola agrees not to tell Paul as long as Niamh takes Callum to Spain with her. Terrified Nicola will destroy her plans, Niamh is left with a difficult decision to make. Video of the Day The long-running soap is also taking a blast from the past to celebrate the best episodes of 2016. RTE Player has curated a special collection of the most memorable scenes of the last 12 months while also resurrecting the ghosts of Christmas past as they bring viewers on a journey back to the 1990 Fair City Christmas special. Hosted by actor Bryan Murray, who plays Bob Charles on the soap, viewers will get behind-the-scenes access to the series. It will also feature an inside look at the double wedding of Kerri-Ann and Deco and Carol and Robbie, as well as interviews with the show's actors. Families should "exercise caution" when visiting festive events over the coming days, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has said. Mr Flanagan said that while there was no "specific evidence" that Ireland was a target for terrorist activity, we were "not immune". Speaking in the wake of the tragic events in Berlin, Mr Flanagan asked members of the public to be aware of the dangers when attending "outdoor events, festival events and holidays events". He said people should "follow the advice of gardai and indeed to report any suspicious activity or behaviour to An Garda Siochana, who will enforce the law". "My advice to Irish citizens travelling to Germany, indeed to Irish citizens travelling anywhere, is to exercise a high degree of caution," Mr Flanagan said when asked what advice the Foreign Affairs Department was giving people travelling to Europe this Christmas. "Many European countries have a state of high alert. "I acknowledge that the events of the last 48 hours have heightened tensions. "My advice to Irish people would be exercise caution, to follow closely advice and guidance of the police authorities in European capitals and European countries, and also the local civic authorities." He said people had "to be on the lookout in the context of what is a very troubled time in Europe". Defence Minister Paul Kehoe said Ireland's threat level was at "moderate", but risk assessments were being carried out. He said that meetings were being held involving the Defence Force intelligence section, the Justice Minister and Tanaiste Francis Fitzgerald and Taoiseach Enda Kenny to ensure security in the country. Christmas travel plans have been thrown into disarray by the oncoming Storm Barbara, as six of Friday's Irish Ferries' crossings have been cancelled. The following crossings from Dublin to Holyhead have been cancelled - 8:45am, 10:45am and 2:30pm. Meanwhile, the 11:50, 4:45pm and 5:15pm from Holyhead to Dublin have also been cancelled. A short statement on Irish Ferries' website reads: "Irish Ferries regrets to advise that due to adverse weather conditions on the Irish Sea, the 08:45hrs Swift Fast Craft sailing is cancelled. "Passengers can be accommodated on either the 08:05hrs Ulysses Cruise Ferry. Check-in time is 30 minutes prior to departure. There is no need to call at this time. However should neither of these options be suitable, please contact one of our offices. "Irish Ferries apologises for any inconvenience caused by this disruption." Currently Stena Line has not cancelled any of its crossings, however it does have the following statement on its webpage: "Winter Storm Barbara is set to bring wet and windy conditions to the UK. Unfortunately this may cause disruption to some of our scheduled sailings this Friday and Saturday. " Meanwhile flights from three London airports have been hit by delays after fog shrouded the UK caiptal. Festive travel plans faced being thrown into chaos after Heathrow, Gatwick and London City Airport all experienced a raft of hold-ups due to the weather. A spokesman for Heathrow said some early-morning flights had been been pushed back and knock-on delays could take place throughout the day, adding that there have yet to be any cancellations. British Airways said on its official Twitter feed that it was aware of fog affecting flights at all three London airports and advised passengers to check their flight status online. The airline said in a statement on its website: "Fog across parts of southern England is affecting some flights to and from London's airports today. "For safety reasons, Air Traffic Control has to allow greater space between landing aircraft in fog or during periods of low visibility, and this will mean a reduced number of aircraft being allowed to land each hour. "We are sorry for the difficulties caused by the poor weather and will do all we can to minimise the effect it has on our operations." It comes as Britain braced itself for the arrival of Storm Barbara, which is set to batter the country with strong winds. Scotland is predicted to be the worst hit by the weather, with gusts of up to 90mph forecast in places. Pockets of Northern Ireland, North Wales and the North of England are also due to feel the force of Barbara, which is due to roll in to the UK by Friday. Have you been affected by the cancellations get in touch: contact@independent.ie A judge has jailed a former soldier who was high on cocaine when he repeatedly punched and kicked his ex-partner, fracturing her eye sockets, face and skull. Jessica Bowes begged for her life during the "merciless" attack by Jonathan McSherry (34). McSherry breached a barring order to go to the victim's home to assault her. Expand Close Ms Bowes after the assault that left her unconscious / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ms Bowes after the assault that left her unconscious At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Melanie Greally said that McSherry's "brutal acts of violence" left his victim unconsciousness and in "a very perilous position". In a victim impact report, the mother-of-three said her lips wouldn't close together fully and in a cold environment her top lip didn't move, making her face look "deformed". McSherry, of Cedarbrook Walk, Cherry Orchard, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm at Grange View Way, Clondalkin, on December 20, 2015. Footage of the attack, played in court, showed him punching Ms Bowes to the ground, kicking her at least four times and then dragging her along the ground and continuing to punch her. She lost consciousness after the first punch and then a second time during what she described as a merciless attack. She said she thought she was going to die. The assault left her with permanent scarring and nerve damage. The court heard there were fractures to her skull, eye sockets and cheek bone. The imprint of a shoe was left on her face and there were boot marks under her chin. She had a metal plate put into her face. Her memory was impaired and she relied on her 10-year-old daughter to remind her of the younger children's birthdays, the court heard. Nightmares Ms Bowes said she was now overprotective of her children and in a constant state of anxiety. She had nightmares about McSherry and became paralysed with fear and "trapped in a nightmare". Judge Greally previously remanded McSherry on continuing bail to yesterday so he could continue his treatment at the Coolmine residential drug treatment programme. She suspended the last year of a three-and-a-half year prison sentence on condition that he remain alcohol and drug free and that he attend a Probation Services group for men who engage in violence against women. She also ordered him to refrain from having any contact with the victim. She backdated the sentence to March last to take account of time spent in custody and treatment. Counsel for McSherry, who has two young children with the victim, said he had no words to express his remorse for his actions. "He has done everything he can to make amends, to try to change himself, for the sake of his family." Ireland's baby boom has been replaced by an increasingly greying population. The birth rate has fallen to its lowest in a decade, according to the Department of Health's annual report on the state of the nation's health. At the same time, the number of over-65s is rising by around 20,000 a year. However, the report warned that a combination of an ageing population and poor lifestyles poses the biggest threat to our future. It said: "In the past decade alone, there has been an increase of almost two and a half years in life expectancy. "These gains are driven largely by reductions in mortality rates from principal causes of deaths, such as those from heart disease and cancer. "Another striking feature is the growth in the number of people aged over 65. Each year, this cohort increases by almost 20,000 people. This trend is set to continue into the future and will have implications for future planning and health service delivery. "The largest proportional increases in the population in Ireland will be in the category of those aged 85 years and older," it added. The total fertility rate has decreased slightly in recent years and now stands at 1.94 per 1,000. There were 65,909 babies born last year, compared with 75,554 in 2009. Ireland still has the second highest rate of fertility amongst EU countries, behind France. In 2015, counties Kerry, Kilkenny and Dublin had the lowest fertility rates. It also said that Ireland was now beginning to catch up with other European countries in terms of population ageing. The population of those aged 65 years and over has increased by 32.8pc since 2007 and has been rising at a faster rate than that of our EU neighbours. There has been significant improvement in survival rates from breast and colorectal cancer in the past 15 years. However, five-year relative survival rates from breast and cervical cancers are lower in Ireland than the average for OECD countries where data is available. The scene of a fatal shooting in Clondalkin (Photo: Independent.ie) The scene of a fatal shooting in Clondalkin (Photo: Independent.ie) The scene of a fatal shooting in Clondalkin (Photo: Independent.ie) Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron The partner of a man shot dead outside his home witnessed the moment he was gunned down. The shooting took place in St Ronan's Drive, Clondalkin shortly after 5pm this evening as the man (62) sat in his car. It is understood he was close friend of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch' and that he is now the tenth victim of the bloody Kinahan Hutch feud. The victim has been named locally as Noel Kirwan. Expand Close Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron Read More His partner is said to be "very distressed" but unharmed. "A lone gunman approached the car, fired a number of shots at the car and we then believe he got into a white Peugeot van," Superintendent Dermot Mann said. Expand Close Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron The van was later found burned out at the rear of the Neilstown Shopping Centre. Gardai believe there was one gunman and one driver involved in the shooting. Expand Close Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gardai investigate the shooting of a man at St Ronans Drive, Clondalkin. Picture:Arthur Carron A firearm has been recovered at the scene. It is believed there was ammunition left in the vehicle when it was set alight near the scene. Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to contact them. It is understood he may have been shot up to five times, including an gunshot injury to the head. Expand Close Noel Kirwan, left, with Gerry The Monk Hutch / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Noel Kirwan, left, with Gerry The Monk Hutch Gardai and emergency services rushed to the scene, but the victim was soon pronounced dead. A small van believed to have been used in the shooting incident was found burnt out at Neilstown Shopping Centre a short time after the shooting. Investigation teams arrived to the residential area shortly before 7pm. The victim, who is originally from the North Inner city, is believed to have been an associate of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch. A former low-level criminal in younger years the victim had long turned his back on crime according to locals. "He would have grown up with some of the Hutch family, and it is my guess he was murdered because of this. It is ridiculous. There is no way he should be a target," a source said. "This is just going to get worse now, and put everyone on edge over the Christmas, which is probably what the killers planned to achieve," said the source. "At this stage it's seems this gang war will never end," the added. Our pictures show the smashed window of a car which is parked in the driveway of one of the houses on the residential road. Images also show gardai cordoning off the scene. Gino Kenny, a local TD in the area, said the shooting proved again that the gangland feud had "spiralled" out of control and across the city. "This feud has spiraled out of control and into many areas of the city. The tentacles and violence of this feud really are out of control," he said. "Someone is eventually going to have to say, down the line, that it has to stop because it's just leaving a trail of misery across Dublin. The shooting was "less than a minute's walk" from a local garda station he added. More to follow Support of agriculture from the 2017 national budget would be around UAH 5.5 billion, Ukraine's Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry has reported. "Now farmers will receive subsidies in the amount of 1% of products they make during five years. This is a really historic decision, as Ukraine has not yet this model. In 2017 support will total UAH 5.5 billion," Minister Taras Kutoviy said. Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said discussing the draft budget that UAH 4 billion will be provided for the subsidy program to agricultural producers, UAH 500 million for agricultural machine building, UAH 700 million for the fund securing credits in the agro-industrial sector and some other programs. It is planned to increase financing of farmers by UAH 1.08 billion from the special fund of the national budget thanks to an increase in revenue from seizure of assets of corrupted persons. Some UAH 40 million from support of cattle breeding was transferred to fish industry and UAH 30 million more was earmarked for fish selective breeding. UAH 56.8 million was added for taking anti-epizootic measures. The special VAT regime for agriculture is to be annulled from 2017. A man found stabbed near Belfast's Christmas Market is in a critical condition in hospital. Police said he was taken to hospital for treatment following the incident beside the city hall. The ambulance service was called to attend to the man at about 7.45pm on Wednesday. Police said they are working to establish where exactly the stabbing happened. A spokesperson from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said it received a call at 7:45pm. An NIAS statement said: "We sent a rapid response paramedic along with our A&E crew. The patient was treated at the scene and was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital." The man is understood to be in a critical condition. Some of those who fled the scene said people began to panic when they spotted PSNI officers at the scene. "No-one would tell us what was happening, security staff just kept saying we had to leave," one onlooker said. Our Christmas Market is somewhere families come to embrace the festive season, but tonight's incident has shocked us all. pic.twitter.com/2MrvdyVjm9 Guy Spence (@GuySpence) December 21, 2016 Awful news coming through on what should have been a fun, enjoyable night for the many thousands in Belfast tonight https://t.co/ApMl0HUy1k Emma LittlePengelly (@little_pengelly) December 21, 2016 "We then saw lots of police coming in to the markets and moving us all out. They wouldn't tell us what was going on so we started to panic thinking it was terrorist-related. I kept thinking about Berlin and knew we had to get out of there. "We were so scared." A massive security operation swung into action as police sealed off the entire market area. Police are not ruling out that it was a sectarian motive. One eyewitness, Lyra McKee, told the Belfast Telegraph: "I just walked round out of the side gate at City Hall and there was a crowd and a police cordon across the front of City Hall. "The man looked in his 40s, from the little I could see of him. "Someone told me she saw a knife sticking out of him. "This is the last night of the Christmas market, there were children here that had to see this. It was horrible. "I think after Berlin, people seemed a bit more panicked, because of the location obviously. "Kids were panicking asking was it terrorist-related. For 13 and 14-year-olds asking that was heartbreaking." Another eyewitness, Joan McKinley, said: "The man was slumped against one of the stalls and he appeared to be unconscious. We saw blood on the pavement further down from where he was and we realised it was serious." Another witness said: "He was leaning over and was very grey and we didn't think he was drunk. There was a steward with him and three other stewards came rushing out to help." Reacting to the news DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly tweeted: "Awful news coming through on what should have been a fun, enjoyable night for the many thousands in Belfast tonight." Lord Mayor, Alderman Brian Kingston said: "Such violence on our streets is always abhorrent but it is doubly so at this time when people are celebrating with friends and family as we look forward to Christmas," he said. "I urge anyone who can provide information about the incident to contact the PSNI." Belfast councillor Guy Spence condemned the violence. He tweeted: "Hearing there's been a stabbing at our Christmas Market in Belfast. Liaising with PSNI in City Hall, no justification for this heinous act." The Continental Christmas market attracts stall owners from all over Europe to the grounds of city hall. It is thought that the attack happened just after a musical display involving a group of drummers at City Hall's gates. It was thronged with hundreds of people and fast food stalls. Police had been on guard nearby. Inspector Duncan McBain said: "Police are working to establish where this assault has occurred and I would appeal to anyone who has any information about this to contact detectives at Musgrave police station on the non emergency number 101 quoting 1155 of 21/12." The grounds of City Hall are transformed into a traditional festive German-style market each year and the venue attracts around 800,000 visitors to the city. The market's annual run was due to finish on Thursday at 6pm. There are no further details at this time. The Floating Voter podcast looks back on the political year that defined GUBU, with guest, Minister Paschal Donohoe, doling out some Christmas Politician Awards along the way. Click here subscribe to the Floating Voter on iTunes. The days of GUBU, Charlie Haughey and co were halcyon compared to what happened in 2016. From the birth of new politics, the re-bert of Bertie Ahern, to water charges down the drain and car insurance and rent sky rocketing. The Celtic Tiger was replaced by leprechaun economics; 1916 was commemorated but not celebrated; and while Joan Burton fell out of a boat, Enda Kenny was still leading the country. Joining Kevin Doyle, Philip Ryan and Niall O'Connor to look back on the year in politics was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe where they discussed the mistakes of the general election campaign, the uncertainty over Brexit, the consequences of the Trump agenda, the Fine Gael leadership race, and predictions for 2017. Plus in the first Floating Voter Christmas Awards, who got the vote for the Bob Cratchit Hardest Working Politician award as well the Political Grinch of the Year? Each week on the Floating Voter, INM's political team discuss the main issues affecting Irish politics bursting the bubble around Leinster House. New episodes on Independent.ie every Thursday. Legal action could delay or halt construction of a 288m high-voltage power line between Meath and Tyrone granted planning permission following an 11-week public inquiry. A campaign group which claims to represent 45,000 people says that plans to build the 138km North-South Interconnector will be subject to judicial review, and called for politicians to insist the lines were buried underground to avoid impact on the landscape. The power line involves 299 pylons, some of them up to 51 metres high, being erected across Cavan, Monaghan and Meath, and was subject to some 900 submissions during an a public hearing earlier this year. An Bord Pleanala has granted permission to national grid operator EirGrid to build the line, which will take up to three years to complete. Work cannot begin until a 35km section in Northern Ireland is approved. A public hearing will take place on this section in February. The North East Pylon Pressure Campaign (NEPPC) said the board's decision was an "affront" to the democratic process and warned that legal action was likely both in Northern Ireland and the Republic. "NEPPC is calling on all elected representatives to seek a solution to the impending impasse and conflict," it said. "Time still exists for EirGrid to be directed to do the right thing and underground the project. "The landowners and local communities are disgusted with how they have been treated for the past 10 years. If An Bord Pleanala thinks there will be no repercussions in terms of integrity of the planning process from this decision, then they are gravely mistaken. If political action is not taken, this project will make the Shell to Sea debacle look like a walk in the park." The interconnector allows electricity to flow north and south, and was part of the 3.2bn Grid25 project launched in October 2008. Permission was sought in December 2009, but withdrawn the following June, before a fresh application was lodged in June last year. In its decision, the board said it had regard to the benefits of integrating both electricity grids, national policy and the potential impact on the environment. It agreed with its inspector's recommendation that permission be granted, subject to nine conditions, including a requirement to appoint agriculture liaison officers to work with landowners and to undertake a monitoring programme for the whooper swan. The project is required because EirGrid, which is also responsible for the Northern Irish network, has said there was just one interconnector between both jurisdictions, with analysis suggesting this adds around 20m per year to customer bills. Undergrounding the line could add 500m to costs. "We're delighted with the decision," EirGrid chief executive Fintan Slye said. "We recognise it's one of the two consents we need, but in the interim, we have the opportunity to continue and redouble our efforts and engage with local landowners and community groups." He added that EirGrid hoped to secure the land needed to construct the pylons by agreement, and avoid use of compulsory purchase order powers. The line will run from Woodland, Co Meath, to Turleenan, Co Tyrone, and opposition centred on concerns including health, impact on the landscape, animal welfare and agriculture and biodiversity. Chambers Ireland said the project was essential to maintain economic growth, but the Irish Farmers' Association said it "ignored" concerns. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has issued a formal warning notice to RTE against The Ray D'Arcy Show's coverage of the abortion issue. The notice from the broadcasting watchdog follows a third complaint against RTE relating to its coverage of the campaign to change Irish abortion laws and the discussion of abortion. The decision has been welcomed by the Pro-Life Campaign, who declared it "significant" in the ongoing campaign against media bias on the abortion issue. "The dual issues of accountability and impartiality runs much deeper than 'The Ray D'Arcy Show'," the group said in a statement. "With each new instance of one-sided coverage, public trust in RTE is evaporating. RTE's refusal to address the problem is also doing a huge disservice to those working in RTE who take care to be impartial." The complaint relates to an interview on the radio show from June 9, in which Irish couple Gaye and Gerry Edwards discussed travelling to England for an induced delivery after their son was diagnosed with a fatal foetal abnormality. The BAI concluded that the audience of 'The Ray D'Arcy Show' should have been made aware that the interviewees were members of a campaigning organisation seeking to change Irish law, and not simply people telling their personal story. RTE said in a statement yeaterday that "it notes and accepts the decision of the BAI as required". "RTE will provide the BAI with a plan to ensure there is no reoccurrence of the issues identified," it said. In its latest decision, the BAI pointed out that this "was the third occasion on which complaints have been upheld" in respect of abortion coverage on 'The Ray D'Arcy Show'. Earlier this year, the BAI upheld a complaint relating to D'Arcy's interview with comedy writer Graham Linehan and his wife Helen, in which the pair discussed their abortion experience. Formal sanctions may be made against the national broadcaster if the matter is not remedied by RTE to the BAI's satisfaction. The committee also rejected RTE's contention that a subsequent interview on 'The Ray D'Arcy Show' corrected any imbalance that may have occurred, noting that this later interview did not touch on the abortion debate in any meaningful way. In a statement last night, advocacy group Amnesty International Ireland said it was deeply concerned about the finding. "The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has a responsibility to ensure that broadcasting serves the public interest, including people's right to seek information. Decisions like what has been reported today do not serve that function, and are deeply unhelpful," executive director of the organisation, Colm O'Gorman, said. Mr O'Gorman said the BAI should support debate about the abortion issue on the national airwaves. "Ireland has finally begun to have a vital national conversation on the issue of abortion. As the Citizens' Assembly deliberates, the media should seek to discuss it in a way that ensures the public get the accurate information they need," he said. "Women with personal experience of abortion must be given an opportunity to share their stories. Women like Gaye Edwards who bravely shared her experience in order to encourage much-needed law reform. "Discussions such as those which took place on The Ray D'Arcy radio show are sorely needed." Mary Cahill meeting her daughter Sarah home from London at Shannon Airport. Photo: Kyran O'Brien There were hugs and tears of joy as Irelands emigrants returned home to Shannon Airport this morning. Barry and Catherine Allan returned home from Scotland with their children Hamish (1) and Scarlett (3). Grandparents Josephine and Tommy Weadick from Ballybunion, Co Kerry were eagerly waiting at Shannon Airport to welcome them home. Were over from Scotland for Christmas. Were very excited. I cant wait to see the family, Catherine told Independent.ie. Our plans are to spend time together. Santa knows that this is where he has to deliver the presents this year. Rain, thunder, sleet or snow well come home to Ireland for Christmas. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Siobhan OSullivan arriving from London with her mother Noreen Boland from Shannon at Shannon Airport. Photo: Kyran O'Brien Barry, Catherine, Allan with their children Hamish (1) and Scarlett (3) with Tommy and Josephine Weadick from Ballybunnion at Shannon Airport. Photo: Kyran O'Brien / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Siobhan OSullivan arriving from London with her mother Noreen Boland from Shannon at Shannon Airport. Photo: Kyran O'Brien Vicky Roach (23) was welcomed home from Edinburgh by friends Collette Maloney (23) and Tara Dobson (23) from Co Limerick. I just came home from Edinburgh. Ive been over there for three months and I came home for Christmas. Im delighted to see everyone, said Vicky who works for a UK IT company and is doing a Master degree in business. Collette recently returned home from Australia for Christmas. Ive been in Australia for the last year. I missed last Christmas and it was so different in Australia because of the weather. You cant beat Christmas in Ireland. You cant beat your mothers cooking. It doesnt even feel Christmas-y. The atmosphere isnt the same even though they have decorations, its not as good. I was in Brisbane so we gathered together and tried to make Christmas dinner but it wasnt the same. I missed my family and friends but not the weather. Mary Cahill from Co Clare burst into tears at welcoming her daughter Sarah home for Christmas. I cant wait to meet up with family, friends and have a few drinks, Sarah told Independent.ie. Mary said it was fantastic to have Sarah home after she spent six months in the UK. Its fantastic to have her home. I knew she would come home because I did the mom-guilt thing to make sure she comes back. Im looking forward to relaxing in our pjs and slippers. Rebecca Smyth with an Irish Wolfhound at Newgrange in Co Meath in 2016 Photo: Mark Condren The sun failed to illuminate the inner chamber of the 5,000-year-old monument at Newgrange during the winter solstice yesterday. But despite the biting cold wind and the squally showers, there was a warm atmosphere, with hundreds braving the elements to welcome the sun when it eventually broke through the clouds at around 9am. Expand Close People gather at the entrance to the Newgrange Passage Tomb in Co Meath for the winter solstice in 2016 Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People gather at the entrance to the Newgrange Passage Tomb in Co Meath for the winter solstice in 2016 Photo: Mark Condren People set off early, and walked for miles searching for the light. As the darkness faded to light, hundreds more people gathered. Then drums could be heard in the valley below, growing louder as group Soul Medicine formed two circles, one of men and the other of women, on the ground in front of the monument. "We are celebrating nature's cycle. We honoured the darkness at Dowth on the eve of the solstice, and today we welcome the light at Newgrange," said drummer Declan Hammond. "I come here to get my energy from the light. It's great to be part of it, and to stand on this great ground," he added. A lucky group of 10 people, whose names had been drawn in a lottery, were allowed stand inside the chamber in the hope that the sun would work its magic. Expand Close The view in the inner chambers Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The view in the inner chambers Photo: Mark Condren Illuminate The sun failed to light up the entire chamber at daybreak. However, it did briefly illuminate the stone passageway leading into the chamber later on in the morning. Eddie Mendez (37), from Mexico, attended with his Irish wife Krystle Malone and wider Irish family. But it was his father-in-law Noel Malone who he brought into the chamber. Expand Close Another view of the crowds gathering at the entrance of the monument Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Another view of the crowds gathering at the entrance of the monument Photo: Mark Condren "I've already won Krystle over, but I'm still working on the father-in-law," he said, laughing. "It was an incredible experience, and even though we didn't see the sun we could see the light and how it shines into the chamber. Amazing. "We've been to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza in Mexico and it is incredible to think that in different parts of the world there were celebrations of light. "They mention Newgrange there too." Making a very visible and striking presence at Newgrange this year was the Irish Wolfhound, with many dogs brought by the Irish Wolfhound Club. "These fine animals are the living heartbeat of ancient Ireland. It is part of our myth and legend that the Wolfhounds lived here with their masters and mistresses," said Mary Potter. One lady fortunate enough to see the sun shining down the ancient passageway was Catherine Alexander (37) from Stepaside in Dublin. "I was part of the second group that went in after the sun had risen, and it did shine in for a short while. I saw it beaming. I saw it happen," she said with excitement. "I played my singing bowl in the chamber too and I could feel its energy resonating around me. It was incredible." From this point on, the sun will rise earlier and set later each day. January will see an extra one-and-a-half to two minutes of daylight each day, and by the end of it there will be a noticeable 'stretch' in the evenings. The dulcet tones of Chris Rea will serenade many travellers as they drive home for Christmas this year. But thousands of Irish emigrants will be celebrating the festivities many miles away - some in the sunshine, others in the snow. And while most will enjoy the cultural differences in their adopted homelands, there are bound to be a few distinctly Irish traditions they pine for. We caught up with emigrants in the four corners of the earth to find out what their Yuletide will entail and what they will miss about home. Tracy Donegan has been living in California with her husband Philip and sons Jack (13) and Cooper (6) for the past two years. Originally from Dublin, the 45-year-old moved to Silicon Valley to set up the Gentlebirth app for expectant mothers. "Although Americans take decorating to a new level, once December 25 is over it's back to work. On St Stephen's Day, all the Christmas trees come down and are put out for the bin men, so that's a bit of a shock to the system," she says. "When it comes to seasonal food there's a lot we miss - such as Christmas cake, pudding and trifle - although thankfully our parents send us Irish hampers with lots of goodies. But I really miss the tin of Quality Street in front of the TV, particularly as the programmes here are generally horrendous so we really miss the Christmas specials from home. "Like most emigrants we just miss the craic - catching up with everyone and seeing friends and family, going to the local and spending Christmas Day with the kids and family. Skype just isn't the same." She adds: "Whenever I hear 'I'll be home for Christmas' or 'Fairytale of New York' I have a little sniffle. And it's particularly hard as our parents are getting older. Every time I'm home I wonder if it's the last time I'll see them. We'll probably come home next year with the boys but in the meantime, we hope our family and friends have a great Christmas and we'll see you in 2017." Aoife Murphy (24) from Clare is living in Melbourne, Australia, with her boyfriend Kevin Dolan and has just finished a Master's in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. "I've always wanted to see more of the world, so I moved here in January 2014 to work and study. Unlike most immigrants I am an Australian citizen, courtesy of my parents living here for a while in the 80s, so that made moving here much easier; I had an amazing godmother to stay with, I don't need to worry about securing a visa and I have universal healthcare. "I'm now living with my boyfriend Kevin, who came from home with me, along with Australian housemates who I consider part of my surrogate Australian family," she explains. "Because it is summer here, you lose a bit of the atmosphere. I've managed to impose a few traditions on our friends, such as a 12 Pubs of Christmas and waiting for the tree to go up until December 1, but for the most part Christmas here can feel somewhat hollow. "Kevin and I were lucky to get home last year, much to the delight of our parents. But this year the budget just couldn't stretch to it and homesickness has taken hold in a big way. But rather than wallow on Christmas Day we've decided to avoid it entirely. We're heading to Tasmania for two weeks and will probably spend the day hiking or on the beach. "So while the atmosphere at Christmas is important and so is the turkey, the shopping and all that jazz, I will miss my family the most. I have missed important births, deaths, weddings and milestone birthdays in 2016, so adding Christmas to that makes it tough. My family is from Kerry so we usually congregate there at Christmas and that's what I'll be particularly lonesome for. I will miss them all and I'll be home next year, even if I have to crawl - but I call shotgun on the big room!" Caroline Rocliffe moved to Canada with her family over two years ago. Together with her husband Jimmy and children Ashlee (17), Hannah (11) and James (9), the Dublin woman relocated to Calgary where she works as a midwife. "Christmas is such a magical time so we will definitely miss being with our extended family on my husband's side. We always spent Christmas morning with the paternal grandparents - the whole family would gather there to exchange gifts and it was one of the few times in the year where we all got together - so the kids really miss that. We Skype regularly and we are hoping that they will come to visit Calgary someday as the children really miss them," she says. "The weather here is crisp and cold at Christmas so it's very festive - a picture postcard. Our kids are embracing the outdoors life, skating, sledding and tubing, all done with laughter and lots of hot chocolate. "We have maintained a lot of Irish traditions - kids are excited to open presents in the morning, have a chocolate coma by breakfast and they love playing with gifts. A little (or a lot of) homemade mulled wine while prepping dinner and then once dinner is over we watch the English soaps and 'Call the Midwife' (of course) tops it off and sets us up for the post-dinner nap," she adds. "We are lucky that we have my sister, her husband and kids and my parents here but we would love to tell all of our family in Ireland that we miss them every day and wish them a very merry Christmas. Our door is always open." Philip Breen lives in Helsinki with his wife Linda and their children, Shane (19), Cian (8) and Eireann (5). The 46-year-old met Linda (whose father is Irish) in Dublin in 1995 and has lived in Finland for over a decade. "I moved to Finland in 2005 for a better life with Linda - or as I like to say, she put me in a container and hid my passport!" he laughs. "Christmas is very different here to what it is in Ireland so we celebrate it twice. First we have the Finnish one on December 24 with ham, smoked fish and carrot and turnip casserole. We also drink 'glogg' with almonds and raisins which resembles mulled wine. "On this night, all of the family are gathered together and Santa Claus visits the children personally - he comes in through the front door and hands gifts out to them while the reindeer are waiting outside in the snow. "Then on Christmas Day we will have a few drinks and an Irish Christmas with turkey and ham, stuffing, gravy, roast potatoes and the rest. But it's different to the dinner in Ireland. While I won't miss home so much as I have been here for so long, I do miss the traditional Christmas dinner. And on that note, to everyone I know in Ireland - have a great Christmas." If we want a seat at the top table, Ireland needs to live up to its heroes. The international dimension of this year's 1916 commemorations gave an opportunity for an early offensive in Ireland's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2021-22. Ireland needs to secure the support of more than 100 countries before the 2020 election. Given that a majority of UN member states are former European colonies, mounting exhibitions on Roger Casement in Africa and Latin America will have been a useful exercise in 'soft power persuasion'. The image of a principled nation fighting for fundamental rights will have done Ireland no harm in its Security Council bid. However, a close look at the inaction of successive governments on a key United Nations Convention - and indeed one written by an Irishman - should make voting states wonder what principles this country will really bring to the Security Council. The International Convention against Disappearance would not exist were it not for Patrick Rice. Born in Fermoy, Co Cork - a relative of executed 1916 leader Thomas Kent - Mr Rice went to South America as a missionary priest in 1972. Originally destined for a comfortable parish in one of Argentina's wealthiest provinces, he opted instead for the poverty of a Buenos Aires shantytown. A huge man, with curly red hair and a wide, disarming smile, Mr Rice lived as his parishioners lived, and worked alongside them as a carpenter on a construction site. He learned to speak fluent Spanish with a Cork accent. He quickly earned the community's affection and respect. These were difficult times in Argentina, however, with paramilitaries of the left and right sowing terror and panic. In 1976, the military staged a coup, but rather than restore order they unleashed a killing spree. Disregarding his personal safety, Mr Rice became an outspoken critic. One evening, Mr Rice and a young catechist were bundled at gunpoint into an unmarked car. Brought to a secret detention centre, both were continually and brutally tortured over the following days. Frantic efforts to locate them led only to denials and dead ends. Mr Rice's fate mirrored that of tens of thousands of innocents who were "disappeared" in this way by the Argentine military during those years and never heard from again. But he would be among the fortunate few. Thanks to the courageous journalism of the 'Buenos Aires Herald' and tenacity of Irish diplomats, word got out and pressure was brought to bear: after 56 days, Mr Rice was released, and immediately deported to Ireland. Mr Rice moved first to London and then to Washington to campaign against what was happening in Argentina. Activists often operate on the basis of anger, but Mr Rice did so from his firm belief in a better world. His calmness, intelligence and good humour set him apart and he won over many influential figures. Mr Rice was involved in a memorable protest in Washington's cathedral, where the Argentine diplomatic and military delegation had come to celebrate their national day, but very soon walked out of the church when brought face to face with their crimes. The much-feared Argentine interior minister was infuriated. "That Irish priest! That terrible Irish priest!" he said. In 1983, democracy returned to Argentina, and Mr Rice went back to Buenos Aires, and later left the priesthood. He would eventually again meet Fatima Cabrera, the young woman who had been abducted alongside him. They married and had three children. Mr Rice, who died in 2010, devoted the rest of his life to the cause of justice for those disappeared and tortured worldwide, working with - and indeed often helping establish - organisations of relatives and survivors across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. A lifelong Christian and idealist, Mr Rice was ultimately a realist, who knew that protection lay in the rule of law. With secret detention continuing as a practice of repressive regimes, the United Nations eventually accepted the need for a Convention against Disappearance and Ireland nominated Mr Rice as the Western Group's representative in negotiations. He played a key role in bringing the Convention into existence in 2006. Ireland signed in 2007, but has yet to ratify it. Referring to the Security Council bid, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan told the Dail in June of this year that we "will be basing our campaign on Ireland's foreign policy credentials". On whose coattails, minister? "The one thing that Casement has shown us, is that one person can make a difference," Ambassador Sean Hoy said in Abuja, Nigeria, last month when opening the exhibition on Casement's work in Africa. Patrick Rice was also such a person. Whether it be as a tribute to his life and work or as a prudent affirmation of international law in this suddenly uncertain moral climate, it is high time Ireland ratified the International Convention against Disappearance. Hugh Harkin is making a radio documentary about Patrick Rice Long-established building contractor JJ Rhatigan & Company plans to continue developing its team ahead of new projects due to commence in early 2017. JJ Rhatigan & Company has expanded on a consistent basis since its formation in 1982 to become one of Irelands leading building contractors with offices in Galway, Dublin, Sligo, Cork as well as London. Currently working on some of Irelands most prestigious projects including Dublins premier Residential Development Lansdowne Place, the 140m Primary Care Centres PPP Project, the 27m regeneration of Charlemont Street; Trinity Business School (48m); and new Garda headquarters in Galway and Dublin for the Office of Public Works (OPW) (in excess of 25m each), the company is going from strength to strength. In November, JJ Rhatigan & Company won Construction Company of the Year at the 2016 Irish Plant & Construction Awards, having earlier in the year won Contractor of the Year at the Irish Building and Design Awards last April. Advancing its expertise across the full construction spectrum and in response to many clients looking for a more holistic approach to their projects in recent years, JJ Rhatigan & Company is successfully completing more and more design and build projects in both the public and private sectors. Next year, it is due to start work on a number of new projects including the National Forensic Mental Health Services Hospital in Portrane, Co Dublin, NUI Galway student accommodation and multiple projects in Dublin particularly in the residential, hotel, commercial, healthcare and education sectors. In order to deliver these projects and continue to grow in a sustainable manner, JJ Rhatigan & Company sees the potential to employ between 50 and 100 people in various disciplines over the next six to 18 months. Currently employing 400 people in Ireland and the UK, with a further 350 subcontractors within those regions, it is looking to recruit for a wide range of positions requiring varying levels of experience. These include graduates, commercial managers, contracts managers, project managers, engineers, technicians and quantity surveyors at all levels. In addition, it is looking for office administrators, purchasing officers, health and safety officers, services coordinators, programmers/planners, quality assurance personnel and building information modelling (BIM) engineers/technicians. There are opportunities for a long-term career in the construction sector with an established company like JJ Rhatigan & Company, says Sarah ODonohoe, HR manager. JJ Rhatigan & Company operates across all sectors, including commercial, residential, healthcare, education, food processing, pharma/medical devices, hotel and leisure, as well as various fit-out and refurbishment projects. The company has a reputation for delivering innovative building projects on time, within budget and to the highest level of integrity, quality and safety, founded on the principles of Setting Standards in the industry. Collaboration and teamwork are embedded within the culture of JJ Rhatigan & Company, notes ODonohoe. The directors, supported by the wider team, ensure there is a solid understanding of each clients requirements and develop collaborative working relationships to achieve their expectations. The level of repeat business we continue to get is testament to the relationships and trust we have built up with our clients over the years, she explains. The culture of collaboration is further evident in the joint venture partnerships JJ Rhatigan & Company has forged over the past few years, which gives it the opportunity to deliver larger projects for its clients. The company places a huge emphasis on supporting people in achieving their career objectives. While experience is of benefit, it can also be gained working with us. We ensure all our staff achieve their full potential as part of our continual professional development, employee nurturing, training and development incentives, says ODonohoe. From graduates to senior managers, employees are provided with ongoing mentoring. We are known for treating our staff with respect and fairness and encourage interaction amongst staff. Innovation and ensuring our teams are exposed to the newest technologies to stay ahead of the curve is a key priority for JJ Rhatigan & Company. In the past few years for example, it has invested heavily in building information modelling (BIM) and rolled it out across the business. To date over 140 staff have been trained in BIM, and we are now seeing the benefits of our investment in terms of efficiencies gained in delivering projects on the ground. Ultimately, it is our clients who reap the benefits as BIM allows us to reduce costs and eliminate any potential project risk, says ODonohoe. JJ Rhatigan & Company has also introduced a cloud-based document management system called Union Square for Construction. This allows information to be shared between our regional offices, site offices and design teams, improving communication and information flow across the business ODonohoe notes. The company has a very strong and dedicated mechanical and electrical services management team. With the level of services and specialist equipment included in buildings becoming more detailed and complex, JJ Rhatigan & Company is keen to develop talent in this area. BIM allows us to control the integration of services into our building process from procurement to design, co-ordination and installation, testing, commissioning and validation. To further leverage this, we are looking to recruit and develop expertise across our services team, says ODonohoe. We are continuously looking for new talent to help accelerate our growth across all markets. We currently operate throughout Ireland, from Galway across to Dublin and from the North West down to the South and South East. As we expand and the construction market continues to grow steadily, we will continue to recruit at all levels and offer opportunities for a long term career with JJ Rhatigan & Company. Global biotech company BioMarin is looking to fill positions across a range of departments as it continues its expansion trail in Ireland. Ranked 10th on Forbes magazine's 2016 list of the World's Most Innovative Companies, biotechnology company BioMarin will continue to grow its workforce in Ireland over the coming years This is the third consecutive year that BioMarin has ranked in the top ten and received the recognition, acknowledging the company's ongoing commitment to rapidly developing and delivering first-in-class or best-in-class therapies for those with severe or life-threatening rare diseases. A global biotech company, BioMarin International Limited entered Ireland in August 2011 and since then it has announced significant expansion and progress plans. These include the 2014 launch of the construction, validation and commissioning phase of its manufacturing operations in Shanbally, Ringaskiddy, Co Cork. This event highlighted the expansion plans for the site which will manufacture products to treat rare genetic orphan diseases. BioMarin initially announced the creation of 100 jobs in 2011, but as a result of global demand for its products further job creation was announced early in 2014. In mid-2014, BioMarin announced expansion plans for its Dublin operation, with the creation of up to 50 new jobs in its Dublin Global Commercial Operations Hub. The Dublin operation, responsible for high-level commercial decision making, has personnel working in finance, sales and marketing, legal and compliance, contract manufacturing support and international commercial operations. BioMarin continues to grow and expand its workforce with 2016 alone seeing the recruitment of over 100 people in Ireland. The global biotech company is now looking to fill positions across a range of departments including manufacturing, manufacturing sciences and technology, engineering and maintenance, quality control, quality assurance, validation, supply chain, logistics, warehouse, and finance. A strategic location Speaking about the workforce expansion, Michael ODonnell, site leader at BioMarin in Cork says: Cork is the hub for BioMarins European manufacturing operations, and overall, Ireland is a strategic location for BioMarins growth in global operations, specifically in the areas of commercial, manufacturing and supply chain functions. ODonnell continues: Ireland provides a highly educated, well trained and experienced workforce and business-friendly climate, along with a strong governmental support model. This allows us to focus on what we do best - targeting diseases like Morquio A syndrome. This is an ultra-rare, severely debilitating disease that lacks effective drug therapies and affects relatively few people worldwide, many of whom are children. Cork also offers another very important element to BioMarin - a great place to work and live for the team based there. For nearly 20 years, BioMarin has been committed to making a big impact in the lives of small patient populations. BioMarins reputation for being innovative is largely driven by providing first-in-class or best-in-class treatments that provide meaningful advances to patients who live with serious and life-threatening rare genetic orphan diseases and largely unmet medical needs. The company remains steadfast in its original mission - to bring new treatments to market that will make a big impact on small patient populations. Headquartered in San Rafael, just north of San Franciscos Golden Gate Bridge, BioMarin has developed and commercialised five products since 1997, including an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of MPS IVA, a lysosomal storage disorder. BioMarin International Limited in Cork is a multi-product drug substance site with packaging and labelling capability for drug products. Two additional products are scheduled for manufacturing over the next year in Shanbally, with plans to add more in the coming years. Commitment is key to what BioMarin does, according to ODonnell: While the science builds the platform for clinical success, we could not do what we do without a commitment to long-term relationships with patient communities, physicians, academic researchers, our employees, elected officials, regulatory bodies, investors and the local communities where we operate. The patients and families that we serve are extraordinary, and we appreciate their participation in the clinical trials required to provide approved treatments. The optimism, resilience and thoughtfulness of our patients motivate us to deliver breakthrough therapies that will change the course of genetic diseases. One of BioMarins differentiating factors in attracting talent in Ireland has been its connection with patients with rare diseases, explains ODonnell: We have had many patients visit and speak personally to the team about the impact our treatments have made to their lives and the lives of their families and carers. It gives our employees a compelling reason to come to work and do their very best for our patients. Graduate growth This year BioMarin initiated a successful graduate programme, with four graduates joining the BioMarin team last September at the Shanbally facility. Four more gradates will start the programme in 2017. Graduates rotate through the core areas of manufacturing, engineering, quality and manufacturing sciences over the three-year BioMarin graduate programme. There is potential to work on projects that impact operations and business in BioMarins US site in San Francisco as well as in Ireland. We have been hiring graduates over the past number of years. Having seen the growth in the industry and the planned projects in Ireland, we decided to grow our own talent starting with a strong graduate programme, O Donnell explains. Science and engineering are the two key areas we are focusing on for 2017 and we plan to continue this into the future. Graduates will get every opportunity to work in a fast-paced company with a real focus on patients and science. Our size means that we are agile enough to be innovative and entrepreneurial in how we do our business. At BioMarin, both employees and graduates have the opportunity to work in multiple areas of the business. In terms of career progression, hiring managers seek out talent that have the right attitude and approach to fit within the organisational culture. ODonnell says: We invest significantly on the importance of how we work, as much as recognising the technical aptitude a person may bring to their role. Performance is rewarded with providing opportunities to get involved cross functionally, or to transition to different areas across the business on an assignment or rotational basis while developing and growing peoples technical and interpersonal skills at BioMarin. Over time there are opportunities to work globally in the US and in Europe, and we have multiple product and technology transfers ongoing where there will be opportunities for short and extended stays in our San Francisco facilities. For more information on current vacancies in BioMarin visit careers.biomarin.com. Ukrzaliznytsia has received confirmation from Polish Railways that new high-speed Intercity+ Kyiv-Przemysl-Kyiv train pair No. 705/706 is assigned. The train on December 23 will make its first trip from Kyiv to Przemysl, Poland. "The price of first class tickets from Kyiv to Przemysl is around UAH 574, second class UAH 406, from Lviv to Przemysl for first class UAH 235 and second class UAH 172," Ukrzaliznytsia reported on Wednesday. The train made by Hyundai Rotem will run every day and reach destination in Przemysl in 7 hours and 40 minutes and in Kyiv in 7 hours and 7 minutes. The train will depart from Kyiv at 06:45 and from Przemysl at 14:26. The schedule was drawn up, taking into account a possibility of switching to train No. 3602 Przemysl-Krakow-Wroclaw that departs from Przemysl at 14:29. Passengers of train No. Wroclaw-Krakow-Przemysl arriving to the destination city at 13:18 can continue their trips by Przemysl-Kyiv train No. 705/706. Ukrzaliznytsia said that the price of tickets in hryvnias depends on the euro exchange rate. When tickets are bought to travel within Ukraine, for example from Kyiv to Lviv, the price will depend on coefficients: the cheapest ticket will be for first class seats on Tuesdays and for second class seats on Thursdays and Saturdays. Tickets for the Intercity+ Kyiv-Przemysl-Kyiv train are available. There is a wide variety of job opportunities available in the Civil Service as recruitment across the public sector in Ireland continues to gain momentum. Recruitment across the public sector is back in full swing as the Irish economy shows tentative signs of recovery. New opportunities are opening up for talented and skilled emigrants to make the move back to Ireland. If you are home for Christmas and are tempted to make your return a permanent move, there is good news on the jobs front. The Civil Service exists as an independent, impartial body to serve the State and the people of Ireland by carrying out the work of Government and delivering public services efficiently and effectively. Everything the Civil Service does impacts on Irish society in some way. So far this year, the Public Appointments Service has assigned more than 3,800 people to jobs in the Civil Service. The variety of career opportunities is reflected in the roughly 98,000 applications across 303 campaigns within Government departments, the Health Service Executive (HSE), Local Authorities and An Garda Siochana. The Civil Service Graduate Development Programme, which is delivered in partnership with the Irish Management Institute, assigned more than 200 graduates last year to positions of administrative officer, third secretary, trainee auditor and economist in the Civil Service. This year almost 5,000 applications were received for the Civil Service Graduate Development Programme, which welcomes graduates of all ages and from all backgrounds with degrees in various disciplines. Two Recruit Garda campaigns, along with general service grade competitions for clerical officer, administrative officer and assistant principal, attracted tens of thousands of applications. Senior appointments Amongst the senior roles for which the selection process was completed, the Top Level Appointments Committee (TLAC) has appointed a chief information officer, head of learning and development to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as well as a director to the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service. Other senior appointments such as chief administration officer, An Garda Siochana, chief executive officer of Clare County Council and national human resources director in the HSE have been made in the broader public service. The selection process for recommendation of suitable applicants for consideration by the relevant Minister for chairperson and non-executive director roles to State board agencies is also managed by the Public Appointments Service process through the www.stateboards.ie portal. This is a good opportunity for Irish expatriates to bring their experience to bear on a wide variety of disciplines from financial services to engineering and arts. There is an enormous variety of roles across the public sector with people requirements in all areas over the past number of years. Given the generalist nature of the Civil Service, new skills and competencies in critical areas such as human resources, finance and IT are highly sought after. The aim is to align specialist skills alongside core Civil Service skills to improve focus on outcomes and strengthen performance. The Civil Service is actively managing the challenges posed by an ageing workforce, ensuring that each appointment draws on the widest possible pool of available talent, and providing more open development opportunities for all staff. Recruitment in these areas is underpinned by equality of opportunity, diversity and gender equality across the workforce to build a Civil Service which more closely reflects the society in which it works. Settling back Michelle Noone, head of search, marketing and communications at the Public Appointments Service, is a returned emigrant with a long career in the private sector. She describes her experience as a returning expat as initially very positive as she returned at a time when the economy was doing well. However, there were challenges in settling back into Ireland. Although you have the support of family and friends, you are still starting from scratch again, tailoring your CV for the Irish marketplace, re-establishing networks, finding a new job and settling back into Irish life and culture, she says. I joined the Civil Service three years ago and it is a varied and exciting place to work, not just in terms of the variety of jobs but also the quality of people working across the civil and public sector. There is no doubt that the challenges of managing the economic and fiscal recovery has led to enormous change in recent years. However, the launch of the Civil Service Renewal Plan in 2014 is a major contribution to the Governments wider Public Service Reform programme, notes Noone. This programme focuses on driving practical change and action in four key areas to create a more unified, professional, responsive, open and accountable Civil Service, providing a world-class service to the State and to the people of Ireland. My perception of the public service before I joined was very different. However, my experience is that every day we aim to be the best that we can be in everything we do. This means continuously improving, evolving and adapting to respond to social, political, environmental and economic changes in Ireland and internationally. With more focus on employee wellbeing, jobs in the Civil Service offer opportunities for career progression, a competitive salary, training and work/life balance with family friendly options. If you are interested in the opportunities on offer, you can register your details with publicjobs.ie for alerts and to browse the jobs available. Among the positions currently available are executive officer in the Civil Service, chief operations officer and chief strategy and planning officer with the HSE and president of Cork Institute of Technology. Puerto Rican fashion model Joan Smalls poses for pictures on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the British Fashion Awards 2016 in London Joan Smalls walks the runway during the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 30, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret) Model Joan Smalls attends Target + IMG New York Fashion Week Kick-Off Event at The Park at Moynihan Station on Tuesday, September 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Target) Joan Smalls attends the God's Love We Deliver Golden Heart Awards on October 17, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael Kors) Joan Smalls walks the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 30, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret) Joan Smalls walks the runway during the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 30, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret) Joan Smalls prefers to look strong rather than skinny. The Puerto Rican model has walked for the likes of Victoria's Secret, Givenchy and Tom Ford, and currently stars in a new campaign for denim brand Replay. For the Replay ads, Smalls poses in skinny jeans from the Touch collection, which she swears feel like a "second skin". While she poses in next to nothing in the imagery, she is adamant that she is strong rather than skinny. "I hate being skinny, and being a little weakling thing," she told The Telegraph, adding that she hits the gym four or five times per week. "I want to be able to take a punch and give a punch and feel empowered." Expand Close Joan Smalls walks the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 30, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Joan Smalls walks the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 30, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret) And Smalls explains her off-duty look tends to reflect her love of denim and sportswear. When she's at home, the 28-year-old will usually sport men's boxer shorts or slouchy cashmere trousers, along with a pair of Nike sliders. But if she's hitting the town, you'll probably see her in a pair of tight fitting jeans. "Especially if they come by my ankle because I'm so tall and it's hard to find long ones," she shared. "But then I also like slouchy, baggy ones that are a little bit more boyish, because it just looks a bit cooler and easy going. Add a pair of heels to slouchy jeans, it gives you a better posture and takes the look to another level." Ranked among the world's top models and boasting over 1.9 million Instagram followers, Smalls' star is continuing to rise. As for her future plans, the fashionista remains dedicated to working hard. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference "My career has always thrived on hard work and good relationships with people I work with and just continuing grinding," she laughed. Katie Price switches on the Woking Shopping Christmas Lights at on November 19, 2015 in Woking, England. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images) Katie Price attends the Kiss FM Haunted House Party at SSE Arena on October 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) (L-R) Katie Price, Princess Tiaamii, Kieran Hayler, Junior Andre and a guest attend the Kiss FM Haunted House Party at SSE Arena on October 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) Katie Price speaks at the Festival of Marketing at Tobacco Dock on October 6, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images) Katie Price has vowed to give up alcohol for a year two controversial appearances at corporate Christmas parties. The tv personality was paid 15,000 to appear at a Christmas party in Glasgow and another 13,000 to attend the EnergySave bash weeks apart with equally dramatic results. It's reported she was "invited to leave the premises" and the police were called during her stay in Scotland, according to a spokesperson for the Lorne Hotel. "The guest became extremely abusive towards the staff member and so the duty manager agreed to escort them to the room," a spokesperson said in a statement to The Sun. Expand Close Katie Price attends the Kiss FM Haunted House Party at SSE Arena on October 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Katie Price attends the Kiss FM Haunted House Party at SSE Arena on October 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) "Once the guest was granted access to the room, they continued to shout abuse and to make matters worse, threw plates at the duty manager, breaking these against the wall. The police were called. After the police spoke with the guest for almost an hour, the guest was invited to leave the premises." She called the reports "complete rubbish", but has now said she is a "nightmare" while drinking. At the separate party on Monday night, which she was paid 13,000 to attend, she was recorded on stage launching into a rambling, foul-mouthed tirade. Expand Close (L-R) Katie Price, Princess Tiaamii, Kieran Hayler, Junior Andre and a guest attend the Kiss FM Haunted House Party at SSE Arena on October 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (L-R) Katie Price, Princess Tiaamii, Kieran Hayler, Junior Andre and a guest attend the Kiss FM Haunted House Party at SSE Arena on October 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) She also told guests her ex-boyfriend Dane Bowers was the "love of her life" and he gave her a "toe job". "I said before, when I drink Im a nightmare, and it means there are stories in the press making out Im a rowdy drunk," she told the Loose Women panel on Wednesday. Video of the Day "It just doesnt agree with me. Im small so it affects me that much." "I said Id do a dry January, but Im not going to drink for the whole year. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference I can do it when Im pregnant, so whats one year? She said the reason she drinks so much is simply "because it's there". "Ill have two glasses of champagne, then Ill stay all night, and catch up with everyone," she added. "After the new year, Im going to give it up and prove you all wrong." She also tried to sing a song to the crowd before she was stopped. Delta Airlines said it was gathering all the facts about the allegation before jumping to any conclusion Delta Airlines is looking into allegations of discrimination after a known prankster posted a video saying he and a friend were removed from a flight departing from Heathrow Airport because they "spoke a different language". The airline's statement came on Wednesday after Adam Saleh posted the video on Twitter. Saleh told ABC News that he was speaking to his mother on the phone, in Arabic, when a woman told a Delta crew member she felt unsafe. Delta said it was "gathering all of the facts before jumping to any conclusion". Saleh is known for comic YouTube videos, including one showing him purportedly smuggling himself aboard an Australian commercial flight in a suitcase. He told The New York Times that the incident was not a stunt. AP Trillions of insects buzz and flutter across southern England each year in secret migrations that move the biomass equivalent of 20,000 flying reindeer, scientists have revealed Trillions of insects buzz and flutter across southern England each year in secret migrations that move the biomass equivalent of 20,000 flying reindeer, scientists have revealed. Researchers used upward-pointing radar to scan the skies for the hidden hoardes of high-flying bugs for nearly a decade. They counted an average of 3.5 trillion insects, weighing a total of 3,200 tons, crossing the region every year at heights above 150 metres (492ft). Study co-author Dr Jason Chapman, from the University of Exeter's Centre for Ecology and Conservation in Cornwall, said: "Insect bodies are rich in nutrients and the importance of these movements is under-appreciated. "If the densities observed over southern UK are extrapolated to the airspace above all continental landmasses, high-altitude insect migration represents the most important annual animal movement in ecosystems on land - comparable to the most significant oceanic migrations." The migration routes were not recorded, but previous research suggests many of the insects will have been travelling to and from continental Europe over the English Channel. Others are likely to have been making round trips to Scandinavia across the North Sea. Until now, radar studies have only been used to measure night-time migrations of a few species of nocturnal agricultural pest. The new study, published in the journal Science, is the first to catalogue the vast numbers of daytime insect migrants. Larger insects were found to ride seasonal tailwinds on their travels. Overall, almost exactly the same number of large insects flew northward in the spring and southward in the autumn. Lead researcher Dr Gao Hu, from Nanjing Agricultural University in China, said: " Many of the insects we studied provide important ecological services which are essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems, such as pollination, predation of crop pests and providing food for insectivorous birds and bats." Co-author Dr Ka S (Jason) Lim, of the Radar Entomology Unit of the AgroEcology Department at Rothamsted Research, said migratory insects can serve as indicators of global environmental condition. "Animal migration, especially in insects, is a very complex behaviour which takes millions of years to evolve and is very sensitive to climatic condition," he said. "Global climatic change could cause decline of many species, but equally other highly adaptable species thrive and become agricultural crop pests." The combined weight of the insects was more than seven times that of the 30 million songbirds that fly from the UK to Africa each autumn, said the scientists. They also made a seasonal comparison with Santa's flying reindeer. It would take 20,000 of the animals to match the biomass of the migrating bugs, the researchers pointed out. Radar was used to spot larger insects weighing 10mg or more while estimates of smaller insect movements were based on the number caught in nets. The larger daytime migrants mostly consisted of beneficial species, including hoverflies, ladybirds, carabid beetles and butterflies. Cereal aphids were the most abundant small day-fliers, and lacewings the commonest large night-travellers. A Highland cow and her calf will take part in the nativity scene at Midmar Church in Aberdeenshire A church minister has recruited a special cast for a Christmas Eve nativity service - farm animals. Church of Scotland r everend Elspeth McKay has arranged for a Highland cow and her calf, a donkey called Jason, sheep and a pony to attend the annual service at Midmar Church in Aberdeenshire. Mrs McKay is a huge fan of BBC comedy The Vicar Of Dibley and said people often liken her to the central character Geraldine, played by actress Dawn French. She said the four-legged cast members will add a "touch of realism" to the traditional nativity story and she hopes the service will remind people there is more to Christmas than Santa Claus and presents. Mrs McKay, who has led Echt and Midmar Churches Together for two-and-a-half years, has teamed up with three farmers for the event. She said: "Over the last two years, we have been blessed with the presence of Jason the donkey, who last year came into the church building to meet the children. "But this year we decided to take things to the next level and we will have a collection of other animals outside the church such as Highland cows, sheep and a pony, which will add a touch of realism to the story of Jesus's birth. "Having the animals there will remind us that the son of God was not born into a prosperous family, but in a stable surrounded by the animals who were living there." In one episode of The Vicar Of Dibley, Geraldine turned her church into an ark for a pet blessing service. Mrs McKay said she and the other organisers were "definitely having a Vicar Of Dibley moment" when they decided on the service programme. She added: "We are very excited about the service but I am not sure whether all the animals will get on, I guess we will just have to see. "We are in a rural location and it is something different and reminds us that the Christmas story is not all about presents or Santa." A 102-year-old scientist has won a battle to keep working on campus at an Australian university amid concerns his presence was a "safety risk". Edith Cowan University, in Perth, had told ecologist David Goodall that he would have to work from home from 2017 as it was concerned about his "general wellbeing on campus". Dr Goodall, who was born in London and received his PhD from Imperial College in 1941, has an unpaid position as an honorary research associate, but typically attends the campus at least four days a week to review academic papers and supervise doctoral students. The journey to his office involves a 90-minute commute on two buses and a train. Following a public outcry over the proposed eviction, the university has said it will renew Dr Goodall's position this month and has found him a new office at another campus, which will halve his travel time. "It is better in many ways," the university's vice-chancellor, Prof Steve Chapman, said. "First of all, it's closer to his residence. Secondly, there's an office very close that's manned all the time, so we will be able to keep an eye on him to ensure he's OK. "Thirdly, he's agreed to inform us when he comes in so that if he didn't arrive, we could check what had happened." Dr Goodall, who has worked at the university for two decades, said he was sad to be leaving his old office. "Given that I had to move, this is satisfactory," he said. "I prefer to be on campus because there are other people around and people who potentially are friends... I hope to continue with some useful work in my field in so far as my eyesight permits. But I still think the emphasis on safety was unnecessary." The university said Dr Goodall's position will be renewed for three years. Dr Goodall, who holds three doctorates, has worked in Ghana, Britain and the US, and has published more than 130 scientific works. He has four children from three marriages and has lived in Australia since 1948, when he took up a position as a botany lecturer at the University of Melbourne. He lives alone and belongs to a group that performs poetry readings around Perth. "I know most of the people in my office corridor and it's very nice to be able to go and talk to them from time to time," he said. Karen Goodall-Smith, Dr Goodall's daughter, said: "He is a very intelligent, bright man, sharper than many people a quarter of his age. All of us are going to get old. Does that mean that we are not expected to contribute if we can?" ( Daily Telegraph London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Anis Amri is suspected of being involved in the fatal attack on the Christmas market in Berlin (German police via AP) The fingerprints of the Tunisian man being sought over the Berlin truck attack have been found in the vehicle's cab, Germany's interior minister has confirmed. Thomas de Maiziere said the fingerprint discovery strengthens Germany's case linking Anis Amri, 24, to Monday's attack, which left 12 people dead and 48 others injured after the truck ploughed through a Christmas market. German authorities have issued a wanted notice for Amri, describing him as potentially violent and armed. Mr de Maiziere spoke after visiting Germany's federal criminal police office alongside chancellor Angela Merkel. German authorities have offered a reward of up to 100,000 euro (84,000) for information leading to Amri's arrest. Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the carnage in the German capital. Mr de Maiziere said: "We can tell you today that there are additional indications that this suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator. "Fingerprints were found in the cab, and there are other, additional indications that suggest this. "It is all the more important that the search is successful as soon as possible." In Tunisia, one of Amri's brothers urged him to surrender to authorities. Abdelkader Amri said: "I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it." He said Amri may have been radicalised in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Amri's mother said her son had shown no signs of radicalisation, and questioned whether he was really the attacker. Speaking in the central Tunisian town of Oueslatia, Nour El Houda Hassani said poverty drove Amri to steal and to travel illegally to Europe. She said Amri spent time in an Italian prison and in Switzerland before reaching Germany. "I want the truth to be revealed about my son," she said. "If he is the perpetrator of the attack, let him assume his responsibilities and I'll renounce him before God. If he didn't do anything, I want my son's rights to be restored." Tunisian police who interrogated the family on Wednesday took away her telephone and are studying her communications with her son, she said. German officials put out an arrest warrant for Amri, who according to authorities has used at least six different names and three different nationalities, after finding a document belonging to him in the cab of the market attack truck. German authorities had deemed Amri, who arrived in the country last year, a potential threat long before the attack this week - and even kept him under covert surveillance for six months this year before halting the operation. They had been trying to deport him after his asylum application was rejected in July but were unable to do so because he lacked valid identity papers and Tunisia initially denied that he was a citizen. In Berlin, the market hit by the attack has now reopened - with increased security measures - in a signal of the city's resilience. At the market outside Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, police placed concrete blocks at the roadside to provide extra security. In a solemn tribute to the victims, organisers decided to do without party music and bright lighting, and Berliners joined visitors in laying candles and flowers at the site. An Israeli woman, Dalia Elyakim, and 31-year-old Fabrizia Di Lorenzo of Italy were among the 12 killed in the market attack, their countries said. Ms Di Lorenzo had lived and worked in Berlin for several years. Two Americans were among the wounded, US state department spokesman John Kirby said. AP Ukraine's Health Ministry has signed agreements on 2016 budget-funded medicine procurement with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in two more spheres. Acting Health Minister Ulana Suprun wrote on her Facebook page that the agreements to buy medicines and medical products to treat child cancer and oncohematological diseases and procurement of medicines to treat tuberculosis (TB). As reported, early December UNDP delivered the first batch of medicines to treat mucopolysaccharidosis orphan disease purchased from 2016 funds to Ukraine. In general, UNDP will buy medicines in 33 segments using 2016 budget funds. The Health Ministry in 2015 passed the purchase of drugs under 12 government programs for national budget funds to three international organizations: the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UNDP and the British procurement agency Crown Agents. The Health Ministry plans in 2018 to transfer purchase of drugs under five state programs to the national procurement structure, which will be created and launched in 2019. Walid, brother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, speaks to members of the media near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi The Christmas market which was targeted in a horror truck attack, which claimed 12 lives, has re-opened to the public, as a manhunt for the suspect continues. German investigators believe there is a "high probability" that the Tunisian suspect they are hunting in connection with Monday's attack on a Berlin Christmas market is the perpetrator, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Thursday. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Anis Amri. picture: German federal Police Nour, mother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, reacts near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anis Amri. picture: German federal Police "We can report today that we have new information that the suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," de Maiziere told reporters. "In the cab, in the driving cabin, fingerprints were found and there is additional evidence that support this," he added. Chancellor Angela Merkel, appearing alongside de Maiziere at the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation, said she hoped the perpetrator would be arrested soon. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack in which a truck smashed through wooden huts selling gifts, mulled wine and sausages on Monday evening. It was the deadliest attack on German soil since 1980. The media did not name their source for the report about 24-year-old Anis Amri's fingerprints and police declined to comment. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she hopes for an arrest "soon". German prosecutors will provide an update on the investigation at 5pm today. The market in Berlin reopened surrounded by concrete bollards. Meanwhile, one of Amri's brothers has urged him to turn himself in. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Walid, brother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, speaks to members of the media near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi Police patrol among people at the re-opened Christmas market at Breitscheid square in Berlin, Germany, December 22, 2016, following an attack by a truck which ploughed through a crowd at the market on Monday night. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Walid, brother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, speaks to members of the media near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi Abdelkader Amri said: "I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it." He said Amri may have been radicalised in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. The Berlin attack has raised concerns across Europe in the approach to Christmas, with markets in France, target of a series of militant attacks over the last year, tightening security with concrete barriers. Troops were also being posted at churches. The Berlin market reopened on Thursday ringed by concrete bollards. Police in the western German city of Dortmund arrested four people who had been in contact with Amri, media reports said, but a spokesman for the chief federal prosecutor denied that and said he would give no further details on the operation. Bild newspaper cited an anti-terrorism investigator as saying it was clear in spring that Amri was looking for accomplices for an attack and was interested in weapons. ASYLUM REQUEST REJECTED The report said preliminary proceedings had been opened against Amri in March based on information he was planning a robbery to get money to buy automatic weapons and "possibly carry out an attack". In mid-2016, he spoke to two IS fighters and Tunisian authorities listened in on their conversation before informing German authorities. Amri also offered himself as a suicide attacker on known Islamist chat sites, Bild said. Police started looking for Amri after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of the truck used in the attack. Authorities have stressed he is just a suspect and not necessarily the driver of the truck. Broadcaster rbb said the perpetrator lost both his wallet and mobile phone while running away from the attack site. On Wednesday, Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), said the Tunisian appeared to have arrived in Germany in July 2015 and his asylum application had been rejected in June 2016. Klaus Bouillon, head of the group of interior ministers from Germany's federal states, said Islamists often left identity documents at attack sites - as was the case in Paris attacks - to steer public opinion against refugees. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced calls to tighten asylum procedures since the attack. Armin Schuster of her Christian Democrats, told broadcaster NDR: "We need to send the signal: Only set off for Germany if you have a reason for asylum." The Italian Foreign Ministry said an Italian woman named Fabrizia Di Lorenzo was among the victims and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an Israeli woman called Dalia Elyakim had been identified among the dead. The prime suspect for the Berlin massacre was under covert surveillance for months as a possible terrorist threat until police let him slip through their grasp earlier this month. Anis Amri (24), a Tunisian asylum seeker who arrived in Germany last year, was investigated for "preparing a serious crime endangering national safety", involving funding the purchase of automatic weapons for use in a terrorist attack. Amri had been arrested earlier this year and was known to be a supporter of the terrorist group thought to be behind the Sousse terrorist attack in Tunisia, as well as being a suspected disciple of a notorious hate preacher. He had multiple identity documents with six different aliases under three nationalities, and a criminal record in Italy and Tunisia. He spent four years in an Italian prison before travelling to Germany after an expulsion order expired. The German authorities, who were facing serious questions yesterday about how Amri was still at large, tried to deport him in June, but because he had no valid papers proving his nationality he was allowed to stay. In a further twist, Germany had asked Tunisia to issue a new passport for him so he could be deported, but the document only arrived yesterday - two days after the Christmas market attack that claimed 12 lives. It also emerged that the killer might have received hospital treatment for his injuries before slipping away. German police asked for "vigilance" as they said a second attack was possible. Twelve of the most seriously injured people from Monday's attack remained in hospital last night. As the hunt for Europe's most wanted man continued, yet more pressure was piled on Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who was already facing criticism from opponents and supporters alike over her 'open door' refugee policy that allowed migrants into the country without vetting. Mrs Merkel is receiving regular updates on the huge manhunt for Amri, whose name was found on documents under the driver's seat in the cab of the lorry used in the attack. The hunt spread across Europe, with police conceding that the suspect could have travelled hundreds of miles since Monday night's outrage. "When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm in shock, and can't believe it's him who committed this crime. If he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation," his brother Abdelkader Amri said from his home in Tunisia. Police are believed to have found Amri's blood in the lorry's cab. They now assume that whoever was driving the lorry was badly injured, either when pieces of wood smashed through the windscreen or in a fight with Lucasz Urban, the Polish driver. His life came to an end when he was shot in the head by the hijacker. Anis Amri is suspected of being involved in the fatal attack on the Christmas market in Berlin Photo: German police via AP Anis Amri, a 24-year-old rejected asylum-seeker from Tunisia, became the most wanted man in Europe yesterday. Germany offered a 100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the man who is now the prime suspect in the Berlin terror attack. But as details of the investigation emerged, it quickly became clear that Amri is not the undetected jihadi hiding among a million migrants Germany has long feared. He was well-known to police, and had long been identified as a potential terrorist. He was supposed to be under surveillance, but had somehow managed to give his watchers the slip just weeks ago. Amri was investigated earlier this year by German police over a suspected attempt to buy automatic weapons for an unconnected terror plot. He was a known criminal who fled his native Tunisia to escape imprisonment, and spent time in Italy. But he failed to stay out of trouble in Italy. He was jailed for some time, reportedly over an arson attack at a school. After his release, he travelled on to Germany, arriving in July 2015 as the European migrant crisis was developing, but a month before Angela Merkel had opened the country's borders to asylum-seekers. He entered Germany at Freiburg, near the border with Switzerland and France, and lived for some time in the southern state of Baden-Wurttemberg, before moving north to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. According to a European arrest warrant issued by Germany, Amri used at least six different aliases and three different nationalities, claiming at times to be Egyptian or Lebanese. US president-elect Donald Trump has said America must "greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability". Mr Trump tweeted that the US must bolster its arsenal "until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes". The tweet comes a day after he met with several military procurement officers to discuss defence budgets, including Lt Gen Jack Weinstein, the deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration for the Air Force. During the election campaign, Mr Trump had suggested that the US should expand its arsenal and mused that the world would be "better off" if other countries, including Japan and South Korea, had nuclear capabilities. Mr Trump's transition website has said he "recognises the uniquely catastrophic threats posed by nuclear weapons and cyberattacks", adding that he will modernise the nuclear arsenal "to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent". Beyond that, Mr Trump has offered few specifics, either as a candidate or during the transition. His vanquished campaign rival Hillary Clinton repeatedly cast the Republican as too erratic and unpredictable to have control of the nation's nuclear arsenal. Ten former nuclear missile launch operators also wrote that Mr Trump lacks the temperament, judgment and diplomatic skill to avoid nuclear war. The president-elect spent the day at his private estate in South Florida, where he has met advisers and interviewing potential Cabinet nominees. He is also hiring more White House staff, announcing that campaign manager Kellyanne Conway will join him in the West Wing as a counsellor. Ms Conway, a longtime Republican pollster, is widely credited with helping guide him to victory. She also is a frequent guest on television news programmes. Mr Trump called Ms Conway "a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda". The president-elect has spent part of the week discussing national security issues, including the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Germany. He called the violence an "attack on humanity" and appeared to suggest a willingness to move ahead with his campaign pledge to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from coming to the United States. Mr Trump proposed the Muslim ban during the Republican primary campaign, drawing sharp criticism from both parties. During the general election, he shifted his rhetoric to focus on temporarily halting immigration from an unspecified list of countries with ties to terrorism, though he did not disavow the Muslim ban, which is still prominently displayed on his campaign website. The president-elect, when asked if the attack in Berlin would cause him to evaluate the proposed ban or a possible registry of Muslims in the United States, said: "You know my plans. All along, I've been proven to be right, 100% correct." He added "what's happening is disgraceful", and deemed the violence "an attack on humanity" which has "got to be stopped". A transition spokesman said later that Mr Trump's plans "might upset those with their heads stuck in the politically correct sand". Jason Miller said: "President-elect Trump has been clear that we will suspend admission of those from countries with high terrorism rates and apply a strict vetting procedure for those seeking entry in order to protect American lives." Ms Conway said on ABC's Good Morning America that Mr Trump is "the guy out there saying we need extreme vetting policies, that we need to have a better system vis a vis countries that train, harbour and export terrorists". She added: "He said during the campaign long after he originally proposed that that this would be more strictly tied to countries where we know they have a history of terrorism and that this is not a complete ban." AP President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has taken part in the ceremony of passing paintings that were abducted and detained at the Ukrainian border to Italian Verona. "Through effective cooperation of prosecutors, border guards and other Ukrainian law enforcers it was possible to block the smuggling channel of the values of art, not only delay the smugglers, but also find these priceless works of art that we are now finally returning to our Italian friends after all the formal procedures," the president said, speaking at the ceremony. According to him, from now on 17 paintings will be passed over to the Castelvecchio museum in Verona, from where they were abducted in 2015. "I would like to thank the Italian government, the mayor of Verona, the Embassy of Italy for the opportunity to exhibit these 17 priceless paintings at the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Art," Poroshenko said, adding that tens of thousands of Ukrainians have visited the museum and saw these pictures. In turn, Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi thanked the Ukrainian side for such assistance in finding and returning valuable paintings. "It happened that the story had rather unpleasant and dramatic beginning and such a good ending, because it will serve as a starting point for strengthening our further cooperation especially in the field of culture, as well as for the strengthening of bilateral relations," he said. As reported, a total of 17 valuable paintings were detained near the border with Moldova in Odesa region on May 6, 2016 which were stolen by armed robbers from the Castelvecchio museum in Verona in 2015. Art expert analysis of paintings by such artists as Peter Paul Rubens, Jacopo Tintoretto, Antonio Pisanello, Giovanni Caroto, Andrea Mantegna was held on May 7. It was established that the paintings are originals. Estimated value of the paintings is from EUR15 to EUR 20 million. In June 2016 the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv opened an exhibition "Rescued Treasures of Italy. 17 Paintings from Castelvecchio Museum in Verona." Everyone could see these pieces of art. Floral tributes on the the road leading to the Russian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, after envoy Andrei Karlov was assassinated (AP) Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Krill, on podium, conducts a religious service for killed Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov inside the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia (AP) A US-based Muslim cleric has condemned the killing of Russia's envoy to Turkey and rejected accusations that his movement was behind the attack. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara earlier this week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has implicated Fethullah Gulen in the killing, saying the policeman had links to his movement. In a video address made available to the Associated Press, Gulen accused the Turkish government of blaming and defaming his movement and suggested the government would facilitate other assassinations and blame them on his followers. Gulen said "it is not possible for them to convince the world of such accusations". Mr Erdogan had also blamed Gulen for the attempted coup in July. Russia flew a team of 18 investigators and foreign ministry officials to Turkey to participate in the investigation into Mr Karlov's assassination. Foreign ministry officials and members of parliaments have gathered at the Russian foreign ministry's headquarters for a farewell ceremony. Diplomats and officials laid flowers at the open coffin with an honorary guard standing by. "Those who raised a hand against Ambassador Karlov, who took his life will definitely fail in their attempts to stop Russia from co-operating with other countries including Turkey," said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. President Vladimir Putin is also due to attend too. Mr Karlov will be laid to rest in Moscow later on Thursday. AP Meanwhile, Turkey's state-run news agency said authorities have released relatives of the policeman who killed the Russian ambassador. The policeman's parents, sister and three other family members were among 11 people detained over the murder of Mr Karlov as he delivered a speech at the opening of a photo exhibition in Ankara. The policeman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, was later killed in a police operation. The Anadolu Agency said the six family members were released without charge on Thursday. Those still in custody include Altintas' room-mate. AP Walid, brother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, speaks to members of the media near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi Nour, mother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, reacts near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi Nour, mother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, reacts near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi Anis Amri is suspected of being involved in the fatal attack on the Christmas market in Berlin (German police via AP) Fingerprints from a Tunisian suspect have been found inside the truck that smashed through a Berlin Christmas market on Monday in an attack that killed 12 people, and investigators assume the migrant was at the wheel, officials said. A hunt is under way across Europe for Anis Amri, 24, as Germany reels from its worst attack in decades. "We can report today that we have new information that the suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters on Thursday. "In the cab, in the driving cabin, fingerprints were found and there is additional evidence that supports this," he said. Dashcam video shows truck rushing towards Berlin Christmas market. Read the latest: https://t.co/qw6GfFuBKZ pic.twitter.com/xcEo9pw77C Reuters Top News (@Reuters) December 22, 2016 Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office, told reporters: "At this point in the investigation, we assume Anis Amri drove the truck." Police had carried out searches across Germany on Thursday but made no arrests, she said. Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing demands to take a much tougher line on immigration and security, said she hoped the perpetrator would be arrested soon. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the truck mowed through a crowd of people and bulldozed wooden huts selling Christmas gifts and snacks beside a famous church in west Berlin. Expand Close Anis Amri is suspected of being involved in the fatal attack on the Christmas market in Berlin (German police via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anis Amri is suspected of being involved in the fatal attack on the Christmas market in Berlin (German police via AP) One of the 12 dead was the Polish driver from whom the truck had been hijacked. His body, stabbed and shot, was found in the cab. Amri had been identified by security agencies as a potential threat and rejected for asylum, but authorities had not managed to deport him because of missing identity documents. In Tunisia, two of Amri's brothers, Walid and Abdelkader, said they feared the failed asylum-seeker may have been radicalised by radical Islamists while he spent almost four years behind bars in Italy. "He doesn't represent us or our family," Abdelkader told Sky News Arabia. "He went into prison with one mentality and when he came out he had a totally different mentality." Expand Close Anis Amri. picture: German federal Police / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anis Amri. picture: German federal Police The suspected involvement of a migrant - one of more than a million allowed into Germany in the past two years - has intensified political pressure on Merkel, who plans to seek a fourth term in elections next year. Armin Schuster of her Christian Democratic party told broadcaster NDR: "We need to send the signal: Only set off for Germany if you have a reason for asylum." Expand Close Nour, mother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, reacts near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nour, mother of suspect Anis Amri who is sought in relation with the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, reacts near their home in Oueslatia, Tunisia December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi Germany had until now been spared the kind of mass-casualty militant attacks that have hit France, Spain and Britain in recent years. No attack on German soil has claimed so many lives since 1980, when 13 people including the suspected bomber, a member of a neo-Nazi group, were killed in an explosion at a Munich beer festival. Ringed by concrete bollards, the Berlin market reopened on Thursday, with candles, flowers and flags laid amid the small festive huts in tribute to those killed. Bild newspaper cited a counter-terrorism investigator as saying it was clear last spring that Amri was looking for accomplices for an attack and was interested in weapons. The paper said preliminary proceedings had been opened against him in March based on information he was planning a robbery to get money to buy automatic weapons and "possibly carry out an attack". In mid-2016, he spoke to two Islamic State fighters and Tunisian authorities listened in on their conversation before informing German authorities. Amri also offered himself as a suicide attacker on known Islamist chat sites, Bild said. Police started looking for him after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of the truck. Broadcaster rbb said the perpetrator lost both his wallet and mobile phone while running away from the attack site. The attack has heightened concerns across Europe in days before Christmas. In France, target of three major attacks in the last two years, security around festive markets was strengthened with concrete barriers, and troops were posted at some churches. The Italian Foreign Ministry said an Italian woman named Fabrizia Di Lorenzo was among the Berlin victims, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an Israeli woman called Dalia Elyakim had been identified among the dead. Rhode Island voters will head to the polls Tuesday to choose the first new face to represent the state's 2nd congressional district in 20 years as leading candidates Seth Magaziner and Allan Fung vie to replace the retiring James Langevin, who has served in the role since 2001. The tightly-contested congressional race is just one of a number of important contests taking place Tuesday as the state will also select its next Governor, voters will decide the fate of a number of high-priced ballot initiatives and towns up and down Rhode Island select their local officials in a number of highly-divisive and politicized town council and school committee races. Do you believe the results of this years election will make a positive or negative impact on your community? Let us know in this week's poll question below. You voted: National budget for 2017: general expenditure on healthcare to grow by 26% to UAH 88.7 bln Ukraine's national budget for 2017 passed by parliament on December 21 envisages the increase of general expenditure on healthcare by 26%, to UAH 88.7 billion, the Health Ministry has told Interfax-Ukraine. The ministry said that expenses on medicine procurement will be increased by UAH 2 billion, to UAH 5.9 billion. In 2017, first it is planned to cover 100% of need in medicines for patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. Budget spending on medicine procurement would help to raise funds of the Global Fund. The entire resource to buy medicines using budget funds will be around UAH 9 billion. In addition, the 2017 budget foresees UAH 500 million for reimbursement of medicines for patients with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and asthma. An additional UAH 817.7 million will be used to pay for medical services provided by the clinics of the National Academy of Medical Sciences system. Some UAH 477.3 million will be sent to finance child and anti-TB recreation centers. A total of UAH 60 million will be earmarked to buy medicines and equipment for Heart Center and National Cancer Institute. Some UAH 150 million will be sent to create cardiovascular surgery centers. The 2017 national budget envisages the increase of wages of medical workers by 20% on average. The morning started out a disaster. We were prepared to go rain or shine, but an ice storm made conditions not just unpleasant, but dangerous. I frantically coordinated with my colleagues at the D.C. Audubon Society to alert our 24 volunteers that we had to push our start time to the afternoon. Postponing any longer or giving up was out of the question, after all, because we had more than a century's worth of tradition to uphold. The first Christmas Bird Count, or CBC, was held in 1900, when ornithologist Frank Chapman of the newly formed Audubon Society proposed a twist on traditional Christmas "side hunts," where hunters competed to see who could shoot the most birds in a day. Many species of birds were threatened by overhunting at the time - egrets were nearly driven to extinction because their long plumes were used to decorate hats - and Chapman proposed simply counting the birds instead of killing them. Twenty-seven birders in 25 locations across the country participated in that first Christmas Bird Count. This year's 117th annual count expects more than 72,000 participants in more than 2,500 locations in the Western Hemisphere, from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic Circle. Last year people counted almost 60 million birds. It's the longest-running wildlife census in the world and one of our most valuable sources of information about birds. Our small sliver of the D.C. Christmas Bird Count covered Battery Kemble Park in Northwest Washington. Just three of our original 24 sign-ups made it to the new start time, joining three D.C. Audubon volunteer board members, Chris Murray, Sara Fuentes and me. It was the first CBC for each of the attendees, Laysa Hedjar, Katherine Youngbluth, and Hisao Yatsuhashi, so I explained the situation: We were part of a larger effort trying to identify and count every individual bird within a 15-mile-diameter circle around Washington. At the end of the day, the counts from each sector of the circle would be tallied together to get a sense of the total avian population in the area. Our local count in turn would be added to the pool of national and international results to get a picture of bird population trends over time. Our mission set, and our coats zipped tight, we headed up the icy hill to the top of Battery Kemble Park. The "battery" in the park's name refers to the twin parrot rifles that once aimed down at Chain Bridge, Aqueduct Bridge and rebellious Virginia during the Civil War. The park has less ambitious goals today, primarily serving as a dog-walking venue. As far as the birds are concerned, it's not spectacular habitat - in D.C. Audubon's four years of covering the park for the CBC, our most unusual sighting was the time we're pretty sure we saw NBC's David Gregory walking his dog - but the scrubby brush at the top of the ridge can host big numbers of small birds, and we went after them first. Sure enough, the ridge was alive with feeding birds. We counted more than 100 American robins either in the trees overhead or scouring the thawing ground for worms. White-throated sparrows, song sparrows and a rare fox sparrow worked the thick grass looking for seeds, harried by bickering Carolina wrens. We reliably see huge numbers of northern cardinals at Battery Kemble, and there were more than a dozen at our first stop. (We counted nearly 50 before the day was out.) Everyone needs to work together when you're trying not to miss a single bird, and our little squad was sharp. Yatsuhashi spotted some cedar waxwings perched quietly in a dense tangle, and Murray spied a hulking Cooper's hawk - likely a female, which are larger than males, enlarged further by ruffling her feathers against the cold - over a distant rooftop. We picked our way up around the top of the park and headed gingerly back down through the ice and mud toward Maddox Branch, the stream we would follow all the way down to the overlook at Fletcher's Cove. We left most of the shrub-loving species behind - sparrows and American goldfinch - and headed into the woods. The woods had their own suite of species. We encountered Carolina chickadees and tufted titmice, and managed to pick out a lone hermit thrush as it zipped across the road into a hedge. Woodpecker diversity picked up, too, with downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers and Northern flicker all making an appearance. Red-bellied woodpeckers are one of the many species whose population trends have been revealed thanks to Christmas Bird Count data. Scientists began noticing that the species's range was creeping northward from the American Southeast starting in about 1910, picking up speed in the 1950s. The bird is now fairly common throughout New England, and moving still. Warming temperatures that allow the bird to survive and feed further north is the primary reason. Christmas Bird Count data has been critical to understanding how birds move in response to climate change. Tufted titmice are expanding northward and boat-tailed grackles are moving west, just two of the 314 species whose range Audubon predicts to shift by 2080. More than a third of species that spend their winters in the United States are declining, mainly from loss of habitat, including the Northern bobwhite, American kestrel and the wood thrush. There are some bright spots: Peregrine falcons and bald eagles have responded to intense conservation efforts and have rebounded from their midcentury nadirs. As our team crossed down through the lovely Potomac Palisades Park, a small flock of ring-billed gulls was a nice pickup, and we finally saw a pair of powerful red-tailed hawks in trees looking over the Potomac River, but at this point in a bird count it becomes as much about the birds you haven't seen as the ones you've got. "How have we not seen a northern mockingbird?" we asked ourselves. "Where are the vultures? We're still missing a pigeon!" There's a house in a nearby neighborhood with an incredible bird-feeder set up, and we paused to enjoy another large burst of woodpeckers, house finches, Carolina chickadees, mourning doves, Northern cardinals and tufted titmice. No new species, but it was good to see so much activity. As we walked to the back to the entrance of Battery Kemble, we braved another melting ice shower and reconvened in the parking lot to go over our tally. We ended the day with 27 different species, fewer than in previous years but pretty good considering the difficult conditions. We had some high numbers for some species, though, including 190 American robins, 77 white-throated sparrows, 20 red-bellied woodpeckers and 30 mourning doves. Dampened by the weather but buoyed by our contribution to citizen science, we said goodbyes and headed home, to dry off. - - - The D.C. Christmas Bird Count was one of the earlier ones this counting season, which started Dec. 14 and runs through Jan. 5. Check the Audubon website to volunteer for a count near you. Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan's younger daughter Akshara Haasan has worked as assistant director in a few Bollywood films and she has also acted as the female lead in director Balki's 'Shamithab' in which she shared screen space with Dhanush and Amitabh Bachchan. The younger sister of Shruti Haasan has now signed two Tamil films. One is 'AK 57' directed by Siva with Ajith Kumar in lead role for which she is presently shooting in Bulgaria. Another one is 'Thupparivaalan' directed by Mysskin with Vishal in lead role. In both these films she will be playing an important character. Vishal in his recent interview to IndiaGlitz confirmed that 'Thupparivaalan' will be hitting the screens on April 14, 2017 for Tamil New Year festival. The makers of 'AK 57' are also targeting April 14 release as it would be appropriate Tamil New Year treat for Thala fans. If 'Thupparivalan' and 'AK 57' release on the same day it will be two releases on the same day for Akshara and they will bee her first two films in Tamil. This will be an extremely rare phenomenon in the history of Tamil cinema. Single-digit reduction in NBS rates The revised NBS rates for ensuing Rabi season have been announced by the Government of India. New rates have not seen much steeper cuts as was widely anticipated; therefore, positive for complex (NPKs) fertilizer companies. This brings much comfort to the domestic complex fertilizer companies as a steeper cut would have entailed higher inventory losses. 03 Nov 2022 11:10 AM October 2022 auto sales: PV and CV segments continue to impress Underlying demand trend has stayed strong for PV and CV segments. Analysts at IIFL Securities estimate October 2022 wholesale dispatches in PV, MHCV and LCV segments to have grown 30%, 24% and 14% YoY, respectively. They expect the above segments to clock 25-35% volume growth in FY23. 02 Nov 2022 11:43 AM Initial signs of moderation in API cost pressures: IIFL Securities High raw-material inflation, elevated freight expenses, and normalization in marketing spends have impacted margins of Indian pharma players over the past 12 months. However, some of these API/RM cost pressures have started abating in Q3CY22. Cipla, Sun, JB Pharma and Torrent remain IIFL Securities top-picks in the pharma sector owing to lowest risk to IIFL Securities margin and earnings estimates for these companies. 01 Nov 2022 10:53 AM PrivatBank's eurobonds included in list of financial tools sent to bank capital Eurobonds of PrivatBank (Dnipro) have been included in the list of financial tools transferred to capital, Board Chairman Oleksandr Shlapak has said. "Eurobonds were included in the list of financial tools that were transferred to capital. It was the decision of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). I think that we jointly with the NBU would try to make arrangements with the bond holders. If nothing is reached, we will substantiate it in court," he said at a briefing in Dnipro on Thursday. As reported, the Individuals Deposit Guarantee Fund and the Finance Ministry of Ukraine on December 21 signed an agreement to sell 100% of shares in PrivatBank. Earlier NBU Governor Valeriya Gontareva assessed the possible additional issue of shares at UAH 32 billion. The NBU also said that the central bank considers PrivatBank's eurobonds as liabilities affiliated with former owners of the bank and they will be converted into bank capital. Illegal armed groups on Thursday morning twice attempted to storm Ukrainian government forces position in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) area near the city of Svitlodarsk, Donetsk region, according to the Defense Ministry of Ukraine's official website. "The enemy has continued its provocative activities near the Svitlodarsk bulge From 09.00 to 09.45 militants comprising a platoon attempted to dislodge army forces from their position. The enemy attempted again after Ukrainian government forces repulsed the first attack," the statement says. According to the Defense Ministry, all attacks were repulsed by ATO forces and militants were forced to retreat. "There are no losses among Ukrainian government troops. We are checking on the number of enemy casualties," the press release says. As reported, earlier on Thursday Deputy Head of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Alexander Hug said observers saw many ceasefire violations in Donbas, with about half of them coming from fighting near Svitlodarsk. If youre into rocking out to a genre-blending synthesis of hip-hop, pop and classical music with people of all ages and backgrounds, a Black Violin show might be the move. The sonically eclectic Black Violin consists of violinist Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste, who plays the viola. The duo, who call themselves Wil and Kev on stage, aim to bridge the gap between classical music and hip-hop. We want to show people not to judge a book by its cover while creating something that is musically interesting and carries a message. The message is that it doesnt matter who you are. If you want to do something, do it, said Baptiste. Baptiste said that to many people, they dont look like classically trained musicians. He feels that if their skills cause audiences to do a double take and view a pair of Black men in a new light, they are one step closer to their goal of breaking down the stereotypes that keep the world divided. The music video for their song Stereotypes does an amazing job of highlighting this message. It includes powerful images, ranging from Black doctors and athletes, to police brutality and Black Lives Matter protesters. The pair met in high school and as teens, they were both reluctant to embrace their musical inclinations. Today, they have a passion for youth and take part in educational workshops at nearly every stop on tour. We hope to inspire young people to push the envelope and break the boundaries they have been given. If someone is telling you that you shouldnt do something, use that as fuel to do it. Its not always the most talented who succeeds; its the person who works the hardest. A lot of these things are somewhat cliche, but it doesnt mean its not true. We try to plant seeds into the minds and spirits of all of these kids, said Baptiste. The seeds they are planting are taking root all over the world as the group continues to share their message with new audiences. They have performed for the troops in Iraq and for President Obama. They have toured the United States and Europe and have performed with Linkin Park, the Wu-Tang Clan and Alicia Keys. This February, Indianapolis will have a chance to experience the duos vibrant sound. Black Violin will perform at Clowes Memorial Hall on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017. Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now at ticketmaster.com. Baptiste hopes audiences will leave the show with a renewed sense of unity. You will see a young 25-year-old hip-hop head and an 80-year-old grandmother right next to each other enjoying the concert, said Baptiste. We have too much division in this country. We need to have empathy for each other to see each others beauty. We try to bring different places, races and ages together and have everyone enjoying great music, vibing and taking in a new sound. Listen to Stereotypes by Black Violin: South Africas Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, has said that doing it doggy style is a major cause of cancer and stroke. pinimg.com He said after three years of arduous research, he found that the high pumping of blood during sex, when one is standing or kneeling overloads the veins in the legs which ultimately causes stroke. He told The Insider, On cancer one of the main causes of cancer is stress, fatigue and tiredness. The most energy consuming and stressful sexual position for men is doggy; hence the connection is more than clear. dogtime.com Look, I am only giving you guys a snippet, but we will be posting the results of the full research on the Ministry website. The minister added that he is in talks with Home Affairs Minister, Malusi Gigaba to craft a legislation that will seek to outlaw this style. According to him, occasional doggy style, like only on Christmas day and Valentine's Day is harmless, but each night is suicidal. This is the reason why South African married men die and leave their wives a lot these days, the 58-year-old man added. The Energy and Coal Industry Ministry of Ukraine has set a task to cut by 30% the country's dependence on anthracite coal, which until recently has been supplied almost entirely from the anti-terrorist operation () zone in volume of over 9 million tons per year, Minister Ihor Nasalyk has said. "In three years we should fully get rid of dependence on coal from the ATO zone," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday. The second reactor of the state-run Centrenergo's Zmiyiv Thermal Power Plant will be switched to gas coal on March 1 and its fifth reactor in three months, the minister said. According to him, this will reduce the anthracite coal purchases by 1.5-2 million tons per year. Nasalyk also thanked the DTEK energy company and TechNova, which started to buy coal not only from the ATO zone but from other suppliers. Attending to natures call just got super convenient, if youre out on and about in the NCR and Madhya Pradesh region that is, as Google Maps will now let you search for public toilets whenever the need arises. Google is beginning to roll out these new local public toilet listings on Google Maps today, and both desktop and Google Maps for Mobile (Android | iOS) users will be able to search for them. This service will be accessible to users both in English and Hindi language. Google Maps Showcasing Public Toilet Information in Hindi and English Language Thanks to their collaboration with the Governments Ministry of Urban Development, Google is adding the location, address and opening hours details of over four thousand communal and public restrooms to its Google Maps, aiming to provide easy access to information to people in India and help improve sanitation. With over four thousand listings covering Delhi NCR including Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, Bhopal and Indore in Madhya Pradesh, anyone will now be able to easily find the nearest public toilet on Google Maps, both on the mobile app as well as on desktop. When you search for public toilet on Google Maps in an area where the service is available, youll see a list of restrooms near you, including the respective address and opening hours, said Sanket Gupta, Product Manager, Google Maps. For instance, if youre traveling on the national highway 8 in Gurugram, locating a public toilet can be challenging and most often the only option is going to nearby restaurants and cafes. Having this information handy can make things much easier. Improving sanitation is an important cornerstone of the government's Swachh Bharat campaign for a clean India, according to Google. This includes making information about existing sanitation facilities easily accessible to people. The Ministry of Urban Development plans to continue to provide information about public restrooms for more cities. Chinese state media lashed out at India and accused India of using Mongolia as a proxy to challenge China on Dalai Lama issue. Nationalistic tabloid Global Times said on Thursday that there is a wide chasm between Indias ambition and strength and also called India short sighted and spoiled. India should draw some lessons from the recent interactions between Beijing and US President-elect Donald Trump over Taiwan Trump has met Chinas restrained but pertinent countermeasures and must have understood that Chinas bottom line sovereign integrity and national unity is untouchable. Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage, a strongly worded comment piece in the nationalistic tabloid Global Times said. AFP The piece came in reaction to Mongolian foreign minister saying that Ulaanbaatar would never allow spiritual leader Dalai Lama to enter the country again. This followed Dalai Lamas visit to the country earlier following which China, the countrys largest trader, suspending two rounds of diplomatic talks with Mongolia. Subsequently, Ulaanbaatar wanted Indias help in the matter. Incidentally, the same newspaper had called Mongolias call for help from India as a politically harebrained move. The Global Times wrote: Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil said Tuesday that Mongolia will not allow the Dalai Lama to visit the country, even in the name of religion, thus settling a one-month standoff between Mongolia and China. But a long lingering issue behind it all is how India should handle its relationship with the Dalai Lama. AFP The newspaper called Dalai Lama, a wolf in sheeps clothing and referred to him as a separatist. The December 1 meeting between President Pranab Mukherjee and Dalai Lama too irked China because it was first meeting after decades when a serving President met Dalai Lama. New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee met with the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November, the editorial written by Wen Dao said. New Delhi expressed its concerns about Mongolias well-being and vaguely pledged to put into effect a credit line of $1 billion it promised to Mongolia in 2015. However, before Indias bureaucrats could start, Ulaanbaatar caved into the reality. Reuters Indias way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond Indias capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging Chinas bottom line. India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China, it added. The editorial said: Sometimes, India behaves like a spoiled kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being the biggest democracy in the world. India has the potential to be a great nation, but the countrys vision is shortsighted. Earlier this month, India dismissed Chinese objection to the Dalai Lama meeting the President, saying he was a revered spiritual leader and the meeting was a non-political event. Gujarat ATS and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has launched a probe into the seizure of 800 kg of cocaine worth over Rs 1,200 crore, by Sri Lankan authorities, from a Gujarat-bound ship. Authorities in Colombo found the cocaine hidden in a container of teak logs with consignment papers carrying the name of a Gandhidham-based timber trader as the recipient, said ATS sources. The trader has denied having ordered any such consignment of teak logs from anywhere. salon.com/Representational image "Our team, along with NCB and Customs officials are camping at Mundra Port to investigate the cocaine seizure. This is supposedly the largest drug haul ever in South Asia," said a senior ATS official. According to agency sources, in the second week of December, Sri Lankan authorities had seized the contraband from an India-bound ship at Colombo port. The ship had left Ecuador on October 2, and was on its way to Mundra Port through a circuitous sea route. outsidethebeltway.com/Representational image ATS sources said the ship was allowed to proceed from Colombo, as it had shipments belonging to other companies on board that needed to be delivered against a deadline. "Our teams with NCB sleuths are searching other containers too," said a senior ATS official. Reuters/Representational image Gujarat ATS sources said they have information that the consignment was originally of 1,200 kg of cocaine, but the Sri Lankan authorities have reported finding only 800 kg. "We suspect that the missing 400 kg could have been moved out of the container somewhere on the way," said an ATS official. Senior ATS and NCB officials said investigations are being carried out with the help of intelligence agencies in Ecuador, Belgium, Saudi Arabia and India. With confusion still surrounding the new Rs 2,000 notes a number of unsuspecting victims have been duped by conmen using color photocopies of the currency. But what if bank ATM start dispensing them? It seems like that too has happened. Reuters/ Representative Image Pankaj Kumar, a resident of Bihar's Sitamarhi district has calimed that he received a"fake" Rs 2,000 note from an ATM. According to Kumar he had withdrawn the cash from an State Bank of India (SBI) ATM in Simra village on Saturday but when he handed over the currency note to a person on Sunday, he refused to accept it saying the note was fake. Police have registered a case based on his complaint. PTI/ Representative Image Bank officials said that refilling the currency notes at the ATM was outsourced to a private firm adding that they will check the currency notes inside the machine. They however felt that Kumar might have been cheated by someone else. "It seems someone has fooled Pankaj by exchanging his original currency note with a fake one. However. We have taken note of Pankaj's complaint and launched an inquiry," Sudhanshu Kumar Rao, chief manager SBI branch in Sitamarhi said. The tiny Union Territory along the Arabian Sea coast, Daman and Diu, has become the first cashless region of the country. PTI Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir has commended the UT administration for taking the initiative to make Daman and Diu as the first cashless region of the country. At least 190 teams of trained volunteers visited over 25,000 households spread across the UT to educate their members about the benefits of cashless transactions, an official statement said. The administration has introduced free Wi-Fi services in the UT recently and 3,500 GB data was used by over 32,000 tourists and local people during the last 45 days. This initiative was appreciated by Ahir as it will help in promoting the Centres initiative of Digital India and e-transactions. ALSO READ: Didn't Buy Into Black Money Hunt Or Cashless Economy Plans? Here's A Lottery Ticket For You BCCL Ahir reviewed the developmental projects in Daman and Diu and also inaugurated the coastal police station at Kadaiya. He directed the officials to expedite work on setting up the coastal police station at Diu. Ahir called upon the UT administration to fill up the vacancies immediately so that the coastal police station can operate at its full capacity at the earliest. The Minister inaugurated a function to commemorate the 56th Liberation Day of Daman and Diu on December 17. In a first and major step towards breaking gender stereotypes, Deutsche Bank (DB) has delinked parental leave from gender. From January 1, the bank will offer the same quantum of childcare leave maternity leave of 6 months in India to men as well, if they happen to be primary caregivers. BCCL The new leave policy is being rolled out across Asia Pacific. An internal note circulated among DB employees in India, says: "The new parental leave policy centres on the caregiver's responsibility, rather than tie parental leave to gender, and replaces what was previously called maternity/paternity leave. It also covers surrogacy and adoption and aligns it with parental leave entitlements. Deutsche Bank employees who are new parents can choose to either be the primary caregiver or the non-primary caregiver within the duration of the parental leave." The main caregiver or the one who takes primary responsibility for care of his/her child during the bank's typical work hours is eligible for the leave. The policy is expected to provide greater flexibility and choice for parents to take care for their newborn or adopted child alongside their careers. Childcare It is usually assumed that the woman/mother is the primary caregiver since she gives birth to the child. But there is a growing trend of men partaking in childcare responsibilities. Madhavi Lall, head, human resources, Deutsche Bank India, told TOI: "The new policy will fight several unconscious biases that are prevalent in society. If a male employee happens to be the primary caregiver, he can now give a self-declaration and avail up to six months of parental leave. If an employee's wife is required to return to work in three months after childbirth and the husband (DB employee) becomes the primary caregiver for the child, he can avail of the new parental leave benefits." Similarly, the primary caregiver concept in cases involving surrogacy and adoption would also apply to men now. Lall said the processes currently used to onboard women returning to work post maternity will also be applicable for men when they return to work post childcare/parental leave. kreative In June this year, DB India had revised its maternity leave from 16 weeks to 26 weeks (inclusive of public holidays and non-working days), while paternity leave was revised from 5 to 10 working days. On the other hand, employees who are non-primary caregivers can continue to take 10 working days paid leave after the birth of their child or adoption of a child below 7 years of age. The overall diversity number across Deutsche Bank India group is 33%. While in the executive committee, the apex decision making body of the Bank, the diversity is 40%. BHASKAR.COM It seems that 59 circulars from the Reserve Bank of India weren't enough. Social activist Anil Bokil, said to be the brain behind PM Narendra Modi's demonetisation policy, has hinted that the new Rs. 2,000 denomination note will cease to be a legal tender soon. "The demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 constituted 86% of the cash flow. Withdrawing them in one go was bound to spawn a major shock. The Rs 2,000 note was introduced to minimise that shock," Bokil told the Times of India. Read more here. Here are 5 more stories for you: 1. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung Resigns, Thanks PM Modi For His Support AFP In a surprise move, Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Najeeb Jung who largely remained in news over repeated disputes with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal resigned on Thursday. Jung who submitted his resignation to the government would be returned to what he call his first love, the academics. In a brief statement, Jung thanked PM Narendra Modi for all his support and cooperation during his tenure. He also thanked people of Delhi for their support to the LG, especially during the one years President Rule in Delhi. Read more here 2. Chinese Daily Slams India For Using Mongolia As Proxy, Labels Us As 'Too Ambitious' AFP Chinese state media lashed out at India and accused India of using Mongolia as a proxy to challenge China on Dalai Lama issue. Nationalistic tabloid Global Times said on Thursday that there is a wide chasm between Indias ambition and strength and also called India short sighted and spoiled. India should draw some lessons from the recent interactions between Beijing and US President-elect Donald Trump over Taiwan Trump has met Chinas restrained but pertinent countermeasures and must have understood that Chinas bottom line sovereign integrity and national unity is untouchable. Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage, a strongly worded comment piece in the nationalistic tabloid Global Times said. Read more here 3. Magistrate Allegedly Beats Up Army Commander And Four Home Guards After His Trees Go Missing! gun online/Representational Image A platoon commander and four home guards were allegedly beaten and suspended by a District Magistrate (DM) here, as he suspected they were responsible for two sandalwood trees missing from his official residence this week. The alleged victims are now staging a dharna at the collectorate to protest against DM Abhay Singh. Gajraj Pathak, the head of the home guards' association, has threatened to launch a state-wide agitation against DM Singh.Read more here 4.Karnataka CM Confuses China's 'Sichuan' With India's Siachen, Almost Starts A War BCCL There are some words, the spellings of which just cannot be got wrong. That could lead to war, literally. Which is probably why the office of the Karnataka chief minister took down a tweet soon after it realised what could have been a monumental blunder. A picture speaks more than a thousand words, so, behold the tweet that was taken down. Read more here 5. Modi Mocks Rahul Gandhi, Says He's 'Overjoyed He's Learned To Giving Speeches' BCCL Prime Minister Narendra Modi today ridiculed the Congress Party's Rahul Gandhi and his statements about a "political earthquake," and - without naming Rahul - said his joy "has had no bounds since he learned how to give speeches." "There are some young political leaders. There is a young political leader. He's learning how to speak and since he learned to speak my joy has no bounds. They are learning how to give speeches. I'm glad that they have has started speaking, (but) I'm happy that we did not have an 'earthquake'," PM Modi said, referring to the Congress vice president, who yesterday said the PM received kickbacks as chief minister of Gujarat from a corporate house. Read more here In another such case in last half a decade, Norwegian authorities separated a five-year-old child from his NRI parents after accusing them of beating the child. The Child Welfare Department of Norway took custody of my five-and-a-half-year-old son on December 13, at 9.30 am, from his kindergarten school. They did not give us prior information. At 10 am, the same day, four policemen came to my house, took my wife into custody, and interrogated her from 11.15 am to 2.45 pm," Anil Kumar, father of the child told The Indian Express. Reuters Kumar, who owns an Indian restaurant and has also served as vice president of the Overseas Friends of the BJP in Oslo, told the daily that the boy has been sent to a childrens welfare home in Hamar which is 150 kms from the capital Oslo. When we asked for the reason, it was conveyed to us that we had beaten up our son, said Kumar, who migrated from Punjab to Norway about 26 years ago. He and his wife, Gurvinderjit Kaur, have reached out to BJP leaders in Delhi and sought the governments intervention. "They interrogated our child for about one-and-a-half hours. They showed us some of those videos. The video shows that when asked whether his parents have loud discussions with each other and if they beat him up, his answer was no. When they asked him whether his grandfather had beaten him up, he became very angry, said Kumar. The Norwegian embassy in Delhi, when contacted, said they were ascertaining the facts from the authorities in Oslo. Meanwhile, BJP leader Vijay Jolly, former convenor of OFBJP, met Norwegian embassy officials on Wednesday and raised the issue. Representational Image This has been the third case in last five years. Earlier in 2011, a three-year-old and a one-year-old were separated from their parents, Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya. The then UPA government took up the issue with the Norwegian government. The Norwegian court later allowed the children to be reunited with their parents. In December 2012, a court in Norway convicted an Indian couple in a child abuse case. Anupama Vallabhaneni was sent to jail for 15 months, and her husband, Chandrasekhar, got an 18-month prison term. The children, 7 and 2 years, were sent to their grandparents in Hyderabad. It's called 'Calexit', a movement to secede from the United States. Led by the 'Yes California Independence Campaign', secessionists have reportedly opened their opened the embassy of independent California - in Russia. Presentation to the press at the opening of the Embassy of the Independent Republic of California @CAEmbRu @YesCalifornia #Calexit pic.twitter.com/MsF56cPjvf Bear Flagger (@LouisJMarinelli) December 18, 2016 San Diego resident and Yes California leader Louis Marinelli organized an event to highlight the embassy, calling to "presentation to the press at the opening of the Embassy of the Independent Republic of California." Marinelli said Yes California wants "to start laying the groundwork for a dialogue about an independent California joining the United Nations now." Just like Brexit, Yes California's aims to officially get state residents to be polled about whether they would want to leave the United States of America altogether In November, they had protested outside the state Capitol, demanding their right to a state-wide ballot: "In our view, the United States of America represents so many things that conflict with Californian values, and our continued statehood means California will continue subsidizing the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children," the group said in a statement, adding that, "In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the international community with their Brexit vote. Our 'Calexit' referendum is about California joining the international community." They claim California is economically strong enough to do its own thing "Point by point, California compares and competes with countries, not just the 49 other states," it said. At $2.46 trillion in 2015, California's economy was larger than India's at $2.07trillion. The group says California subsidizes 25 to 35 states of the union, getting back only 75 cents for every dollar it contributes to the federal finances. A recently aired video shows jihadi parents kissing their daughters goodbye before one of them was blown by a remote detonator in a suicide bomb attack on a police station. The jihadi father tells the chidren, aged 7 and 9, "how to carry out suicide bomb attacks," before a burqa-clad woman, possibly her mother, embraces them. #EXPOSED! #JFS jihadist teaches his daughters how to blow themselves in sake of god, the same baby who blew herself days ago in #Damascus pic.twitter.com/YAYDEjNcKT Majd Fahd (@Syria_Protector) December 21, 2016 In the video, the girl can be heard saying she would carry out a suicide bombing operation in Damascus. Both burqa-clad girls then say "Allahu Akbar". The 7-year-old girl may have carried out a deadly attack on a Damascus police station, shortly after the video was filmed. In another video, a man can be heard asking the mother is sending her children into jihad so young. "No one is young when it comes to jihad as every Muslim is supposed to participate in jihad," she replies Ukraine's Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan has invited British companies to join the reconstruction of Ukrainian roads and the development of the transport network, the ministry's press service has reported. "Ukraine is very interested in establishment of European standards in the road sector, and European companies can give these standards," he said at a meeting with Political Director of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Tim Barrow. Omelyan added Ukraine is extremely interested in establishment of European standards in the road sector. He also stressed interest of international companies which are ready to enter the Ukrainian market has increased significantly. The parties also discussed the prospects of signing an agreement on joint aviation space. The British side expressed regret that Ukraine has become a hostage to a dispute between Britain and Spain. Barrow noted support for Ukraine on the part of the UK both in European integration intentions and the issue of implementing reforms. Too Many Generals Spoil the Democracy Trumps Push to Win with Warriors is a Loss for America By William J. Astore December 21, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Tom Dispatch " - America has always had a love affair with its generals. It started at the founding of the republic with George Washington and continued with (among others) Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. These military men shared something in common: they were winning generals. Washington in the Revolution; Jackson in the War of 1812; Taylor in the Mexican-American War; Grant in the Civil War; and Ike, of course, in World War II. Americans have always loved a hero in uniform -- when he wins. Yet twenty-first-century America is witnessing a new and revolutionary moment: the elevation of losing generals to the highest offices in the land. Retired Marine Corps General James Mad Dog Mattis, known as a tough-talking warrior-monk, will soon be the nations secretary of defense. Hell be joined by a real mad dog, retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as President-elect Donald Trumps national security adviser. Leading the Department of Homeland Security will be recently retired General John Kelly, another no-nonsense Marine. And even though he wasnt selected, retired Army General David Petraeus was seriously considered for secretary of state, further proof of Trumps starry-eyed fascination with the brass of our losing wars. Generals who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan to anything but victory -- pyrrhic ones dont count -- are again being empowered. This time, its as civilian advisers to Trump, a business tycoon whose military knowledge begins and ends with his invocation of two World War II generals, George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, as his all-time favorite military leaders. Lets pause for a moment to consider those choices. Patton was a skilled commander of armored forces at the divisional and corps level, but lacked the political acumen and temperament to succeed at higher levels of command during World War II. MacArthur, notoriously vainglorious and -- does this ring a bell? -- completely narcissistic, was fired by President Harry Truman for insubordination during the Korean War. And yet these are the generals Trump professes to admire most. Not Omar Bradley, known as the GIs general; not Dwight Eisenhower, the man who led the D-Day invasion in 1944; and not, most of all, George C. Marshall, a giant of a man and the architect of military victory in World War II, who did indeed make a remarkably smooth transition to civilian service both as secretary of state and defense after the war. If Truman appointed Marshall, whats wrong, one might ask, with Trump surrounding himself with retired generals? Consider two obvious problems. First, the president already has a team of uniformed generals to advise him: the Joint Chiefs of Staff. By selecting career military men like Mattis and Flynn as his senior civilian advisers on military matters, Trump is in essence creating a rival Joint Chiefs, his own tight circle of generals trained and acculturated to think about the world as primarily a realm of conflict and to favor military solutions to geopolitical problems. Second, though its getting ever harder to remember in increasingly militarized America, this nation was founded on the fundamental principle of civilian control over the military, a principle that will be seriously eroded if the presidents senior civilian advisers on defense-related matters are men who self-identify as warriors and warfighters. Having taken off the uniform only a short time ago, career military men like Mattis, Flynn, and Kelly are not truly civilians. In fact, when they served, they werent even citizen-soldiers; quite the opposite, those in Americas post-Vietnam military self-identify as professional warriors. For Mattis and Kelly, its once a Marine, always a Marine (especially since each served 40-plus years in the Corps). Flynn occupies a spot all his own, since he specifically fancies himself as a warrior-crusader against Islam. These are the men who will soon occupy the highest civilian offices in Americas colossal national security state. The bottom line is this: a republic -- or should I say, former republic? -- founded on civilian control of the military needs true civilians as a counterweight to militarism as well as military adventurism. Recently retired generals are anything but that; theyre not even speed bumps on the road to the next set of misbegotten military adventures. They are likely to be only one thing: enablers of and accelerants to military action. Their presence in the highest civilian positions represents nothing short of a de facto military coup in Washington, a coup that required no violence since the president-elect simply anointed and exalted them as Americas security saviors. But heres a question for you: If these men and their three- and four-star colleagues couldnt win decisive military victories while in uniform, what makes Trump and the Washington establishment think theyll do any better while wearing mufti? Of Highly Groomed (and Flawed) Generals Americans, who strongly admire their military, like to think that its most senior leaders rise on merit. This is not, however, the way the military promotion system actually works. Officers who reach the rank of general have usually been identified and sponsored at a young age, often when they are still company-grade officers in their mid-twenties. They are, in a word, groomed. Their careers are carefully curated, as a friend of mine (and colonel in the Air Force) reminded me recently. Theyre placed on a fast track for early promotion and often given jobs in Washington at the Pentagon or as liaisons to Congress. Their sponsors and patrons, flying top cover for them, have found them worthy and they may indeed be talented and hard-charging. They are also judged to be safe -- in the sense of being true believers in the professional military way of life. As my colonel-friend put it, Theres little room for innovation [in todays military] because the next generation of GOs [general officers] has been incubating for ten years, learning all the talking points and preparing to venerate the sacred cows. Its why when a truly innovative idea breaks through and the colonel behind it is publicly commended, theres no answer to Wow, hes great. I wonder why hes retiring as a colonel? True mavericks in the military often stall out at that rank. By disrupting the status quo, they make powerful enemies. A sterling example is Colonel John Boyd. Arguably the finest strategist the U.S. Air Force has produced in the last half-century, Boyd originated the OODA loop concept and fought hard against the brass for more maneuverable and affordable fighter jets like the F-16. Stymied within the ranks, he only gained influence after retirement as a Pentagon consultant. General officers, by the way, have come to resemble a self-replicating organism. The grooming process, favoring homogeneity as it does, is partly to blame. Disruptive creativity and a reputation for outspokenness can mark one as not being a team player. Political skills and conformity are valued more highly. Its a mistake, then, to assume that Americas generals are the best and the brightest. The curated and the calculating is perhaps a more accurate description. With that in mind, lets take a closer look at Trumps chosen threesome, starting with General Mattis. He has his virtues: a distinguished career in the Marine Corps, a sensible stance against torture, a dedication to all ranks within the military. Yet like so many high-ranking military retirees -- take General Mark Welsh of the Air Force, for example -- Mattis quickly cashed in on his career, reputation, and continuing influence via the military-industrial complex. Despite a six-figure pension, he joined corporate boards, notably that of military-industrial powerhouse General Dynamics where he quickly earned or acquired nearly $1.5 million in salary and stock options. Mattis is also on the board at Theranos, a deeply troubled company that failed to deliver on promises to develop effective blood-testing technologies for the military. And then, of course, there was his long military career, itself a distinctly mixed bag. As head of U.S. Central Command under President Obama, for instance, his hawkish stance toward Iran led to his removal and forced retirement in 2013. Almost a decade earlier in 2004, the aggressive tactics he oversaw in Iraq as commanding general of the 1st Marine Division during the Battle of Fallujah have been characterized by some as war crimes. For Trump, however, none of this matters. Mattis, much like General Patton (in the president-elects view), is a man who plays no games. And Mattis seems like the voice of reason and moderation compared to Flynn, whose hatred of Islam is as virulent as it is transparent. Like Trump, Flynn is a fan of tweeting, perhaps his most infamous being Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL. A brusque man convinced of his own rectitude, who has a reputation for not playing well with others, Flynn was forced from his position as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, after which he became a harsh critic of the Obama administration. In his brief retirement, Flynn served as a paid lobbyist to a Turkish businessman with close ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, while running a business consultancy that is due to profit by providing surveillance drones to patrol the U.S.-Mexican border. Rising to prominence during the Trump campaign, he led the chant against Hillary Clinton (Lock her up!) at the Republican National Convention in July. (His son recently helped spread the false rumor that Clinton was involved in a child sex trafficking ring involving a Washington, D.C., pizzeria.) Flynn, who sees Islam as a political conspiracy rather than a legitimate religion, is an angry warrior, a dyed-in-the-wool crusader. That Trump sees such a figure as qualified to serve as the nations senior civilian security adviser speaks volumes about the president-elect and the crusading militarism that is likely to be forthcoming from his administration. Serving in a supporting capacity to Flynn as chief of staff of the National Security Council (NSC) is yet another high-ranking military man (and early supporter of Trump's presidential run), Army retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg. Almost a generation older than Flynn, Kellogg served as chief operations officer for the ill-fated Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, which badly mismanaged the U.S. militarys occupation of the country after the fall of Baghdad in 2003. Like most retired generals, Kellogg has profited from close links to defense-related industries, including CACI International, Oracle Corporation (Homeland Security Division), and Cubic, where he was senior vice president for ground combat programs. Its hard to see fresh ideas coming from the NSC with long-serving military diehards like Flynn and Kellogg ruling the roost. General John Kelly , the last of the quartet and soon to be head of the Department of Homeland Security, is yet another long-serving Marine with a reputation for bluntness. He opposed efforts by the Obama administration to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, claiming that the remaining detainees were all bad boys, both guilty and dangerous. He also ran afoul of the administration by criticizing efforts to open combat positions to qualified servicewomen, claiming such efforts were agenda-driven and would lead to lower standards and decreased military combat effectiveness. Despite these views, or perhaps because of them, Kelly, who served as senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and has been well vetted by the system, is likely to be confirmed with little real debate. Of Coups and Crusades Collectively, the team of Mattis, Flynn, and Kelly could not be more symbolic of the ongoing process of subversion of civilian control of the military. With Trump holding their reins, these self-styled warriors will soon take charge of the highest civilian positions overseeing the military of the worlds sole superpower. Dont think of this, however, as a "Seven Days in May" scenario in which a hard-headed general mounts a coup against an allegedly soft-hearted president. Its far worse. Who needs a coup when generals are essentially to be given free rein by a president-elect who fancies himself a military expert because, as a teenager, he spent a few years at a military-themed boarding school? In all of this, Trump represents just the next (giant) step in an ongoing process. His warrior-steeds, his dream team of generals, highlight Americas striking twenty-first-century embrace of militarism. At the same time, the future of U.S. foreign policy seems increasingly clear: more violent interventionism against what these men see as the existential threat of radical Islam. In the process, one radical idea will be pitted against another: American exceptionalism, armed to the teeth and empowered by war-lovers (some deeply involved in an evangelizing Christianity) against Islamic jihadist extremism. Rather than a "clash of civilizations," it's a clash of warring creeds, of what should essentially be seen as fundamentalist cults. Both embrace their own exceptionalism, both see themselves as righteous warriors, both represent ways of thinking steeped in patriarchy and saturated with violence, and both are remarkably resistant to any thought of compromise. Put another way, under Trumps team of civilian warrior-generals, it looks like the crusades may be back -- with a vengeance. Yet for all the president-elects tough talk about winning, count on the next four years, like the last 15, being filled to the brim with military frustrations rather than victory. And fear a second possibility as well. Whatever else they do, Trump and his generals are likely to produce one historically stunning result: the withering away of whats left of the American democratic experiment. William J. Astore, a TomDispatch regular, is a historian and retired lieutenant colonel (USAF). His personal blog is Bracing Views . Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, John Feffer's dystopian novel Splinterlands, as well as 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 William J. Astore Ukrainian military positions in the Anti-Terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas came under fire 24 times in the past day, the press service of ATO headquarters in eastern Ukraine said on Thursday. Near the city of Mariupol, militant units fired 122mm artillery on Novohryhorivka, used mortars against Krasnohorivka and Pavlopil, fired grenade launchers, submachine guns and small arms on Talakivka, Shyrokyne and Maryinka, as well as fired infantry fighting vehicle weapons on Talakivka, the press service said in its morning report, posted on Facebook. The militants fired grenade launchers on Zolote, Novo-Oleksandrivka, Novozvanivka and Stanytsia Luhanska in the Luhansk region. Snipers also operated near Stanytsia Luhanska, the press service said. Strikes involving small arms, 120mm and 82mm mortars and 122mm artillery continued against Ukrainian military positions on the outskirts of Luhanske, Novhorodske and Avdiyivka in the Donetsk region, the headquarters said. The Threat Against Trump Rises By Paul Craig Roberts December 21, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - The use of the presstitute media to deny Trump the Republican presidential nomination failed. The use of the presstitute media to deny Trump victory in the presidential election failed. The vote recount failed. The effort to sway the Electoral College failed. But the effort continues. The CIA report on Russias alleged interference in the US presidential election ordered by Obama is in process. Faked evidence is a hallmark of CIA operations. In their determination to seal Trumps ears against environmental concerns, a group of environmentalists plan to disrupt the inauguration. This in itself is of little consequence, but chaos presents opportunity for assassination. Trump himself seems to think he is in danger. According to MSNBC, Trump intends to supplement his Secret Service protection with private security. As there is evidence of CIA complicity in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (film shows Secret Service agents ordered away from JFKs limo immediately prior to his assassination), Trump, who is clearly seen as a threat by the military/security complex, is not being paranoid. MSNBC implies that Trumps private security is to suppress protesters, as if government security forces have shown any compunction about suppressing protesters. http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-news/watch/will-trump-use-private-security-as-president-837040707540 This provides an indication of the threat that the CIA sees in Trump: http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/donald-trump-will-ruthlessly-decimate-cia-turning-against-him/ri18205 Global Researchs Michel Chossudovsky has explained that Trumps peaceful approach to Russia aligns him with oligarchs, whose wealth benefits from business deals with Russia, and puts Trump at odds with the military/security oligarchs, who benefit from the one trillion dollar annual military/security budget. The latter group have been in control since President Eisenhower warned us about them and can muster deep state forces against a Trump presidency. To take on a group like this requires a tough SOB. Anything less than Trump wouldnt have a chance. Indeed, if Douglas Valentines just published book, The CIA As Organized Crime (Clarity Press, 2017) is even half true, Trumps life is certainly at risk. Donald Trump is clearly no saint. Given what we are up againstdangerous tensions between nuclear powers and the military/security complexs stake in these tensionsa saint is not what the situation calls for. The military/security complex has been entrenched since NATOs formation on April 4, 1949, a provocation that preceded by six years the formation of the Warsaw Pact on May 14, 1955. Any president willing to confront this entrenched deep state superpower deserves the support of all of us. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order . Barack Obama Setting Up Shadow Government of Ultra Liberal Progressives Will Trump Play Spy vs. Spy?: During the Nixon administration, the Joint Chiefs of Staff grew so distrustful of the White House that they planted a spy on the staff of the national security adviser. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. West Directed Killers Hand in Assassination of Russian Ambassador By Finian Cunningham December 21, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " SCF " - The brutal slaying of Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov in Ankara sent shockwaves around the world. Condemnations were issued by Washington and European states of the act of terrorism by a gunman who shot Karlov in the back while he was speaking at a photo gallery in the Turkish capital. The White House condemned what it called a heinous attack, while the European Unions foreign policy chief Federica Morgherini vowed solidarity with Russia in the aftermath of the killing. One headline read: EU, US Shocked by killing of Russian ambassador in Turkey. Given the months of relentless and unwarranted vilification of Russia by the US and EU over the Syrian conflict, the phrase crocodile tears comes to mind on hearing their condemnations in regard to the murdered ambassador. Within hours on the same day of this atrocity, Monday, a second apparent terrorist attack took place in the German capital, Berlin, when a Pakistani asylum plowed a lorry into a crowded Christmas market, killing at least 12 people and injuring nearly 50 others. Taken together, both events ramped up state security measures across Europe. Again, another cruel irony, given the culpability of European states in sowing seeds of violence. Karlov (62) had been a career diplomat for four decades, taking up his post in Turkey in 2013. He worked deftly behind the scenes to facilitate the recent political dialogue between Russia, Iran and Turkey aimed at finding an evacuation arrangement for civilians and militants out of the battleground Syrian city of Aleppo. Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Karlovs assassination was a provocation to derail the ongoing sensitive negotiations on finding a political settlement in Syrias conflict. Those talks went ahead the day after the killing when foreign ministers from the two countries, plus Iran, met in Moscow as planned on Tuesday. Pointedly, the US and its European allies have been left out of the talks between Russia, Iran and Turkey. Even though the Western states are a party to the nearly six-year war in Syria, having bankrolled and armed various anti-government militant factions. Putin, in a televised address from the Kremlin, said that investigations into the murder of ambassador Karlov needed to find who was behind the hand of the gunman. The shooter, who was quickly killed by Turkish special forces when they stormed the photo gallery, was named as Mevlut Mert Altintas, a 22-year-old off-duty member of the Ankaras anti-riot police squad. Video footage taken by surviving members of the public attending the fatal event showed the killer declaring support for the people of Aleppo and shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) This is payback for Aleppo, as Karlov lay dying on the floor. Turkish authorities later claimed that the shooter was affiliated with the Gulenist movement, which they have already blamed for inciting the failed coup back in July. That move may be a diversion by the Turkish government to conceal what would otherwise be an embarrassing affiliation between its police force personnel and Islamist terrorists in Syria. Some Russian lawmakers went as far as alleging that the slaying of Karlov may have been orchestrated by the US-led NATO military alliance. The Syrian armys liberation of Aleppo last week, with the help of Russian, Iranian and Lebanese military allies, has come as a strategic defeat for NATO powers who have been waging a covert war for regime change in Syria. Over the weekend, reports also emerged of several special forces from NATO members having been captured by Syrian troops in Aleppo. The covert presence of NATO personnel in Aleppo, presumably training and directing jihadist terrorists, would be proof positive of the Western criminal conspiracy prosecuting the war in Syria. It remains to be seen if the killer cop who shot ambassador Karlov was acting under direction from NATO intelligence. However, even if he acted alone, it can still be said that the Western governments and their news media have an onerous responsibility for directing his hand. Among the condemnations pouring forth from UN chief Ban Ki-Moon, the US, UK, France and Germany were those articulated by American Secretary of State John Kerry and Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN. Only days before the murder of Andrey Karlov, the Western states and senior UN officials were waging an intense media campaign alleging that Russia was committing war crimes during the Syrian offensive to retake Aleppo. John Kerry denounced what he called was a massacre in Aleppo. Samantha Power was almost hysterical at the UN Security Council berating Russia for being incapable of shame and bandying reckless, unsubstantiated claims of women and children being executed in Aleppo. A months-long crescendo of condemnation by Western governments and media reached a climax last week when Aleppo finally was finally recaptured by the Syrian army and its allies. Citing dubious sources linked to terror groups holding east Aleppo under siege, the West has demonized Russia as an oppressor of civilians, committing crimes against humanity. American, British and French diplomats have grossly distorted historical analogies by comparing Russia and its Syrian ally to the depredations of Nazi Germany and Spains fascist Franco. Recall too that when Russian consular offices in Syria have been targeted by militant rockets, the Western states declined to condemn these gross violations. Recall too how British foreign secretary Boris Johnson urged public protests outside the Russian embassy in London. Recall too when two Russian nurses were murdered in a terror rocket attack on a mobile hospital in Aleppo, Western states kept a muted silence rather than condemn. In countless subtle and not-so subtle ways, Western governments and media have set Russia up as a villain deserving attack. The climax of condemnation reached unconscionable heights last week when Washington, its Western allies and the UN all amplified unquestioningly by the Western news media vilified Russia for allegedly slaughtering civilians in east Aleppo. American ambassador Samantha Power specifically cited unverified reports of children being killed in a basement by Syria and Russian forces. Belying Western hysteria, a calm evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians in Aleppo was actually underway. There was no evidence of any massacres or crimes against humanity that the West and UN officials were screaming about. Droves of civilians have instead expressed relief and gratitude for having been liberated by Syrian and Russian forces from a reign of terror imposed on them for four years by Western-backed militants. Virtually everything that Western official sources have been saying about Aleppo, and the Syrian war more generally, is seen to be a grotesque lie. Russian lawmaker Alexey Pushkov, of the Dumas foreign affairs committee, is correct when he said following the death of Andrey Karlov that the West bore responsibility because its hysteria and fabrications about events in Aleppo have fostered a climate of deranged hatred towards Russia. When the Turkish assassin raised his pointed gun at Karlov, he declared that he was acting in memory of civilians killed in Aleppo. But who gave him the image of Russia being a legitimate target for payback? Who filled his head with (false) images of carnage and horror against civilians in Aleppo? In answering those questions honestly, the conclusion is that Western governments, diplomats and media directed the gun that murdered ambassador Andrey Karlov. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. NATO Ramps Up Ukraine War After Defeat in Syria By Finian Cunningham December 21, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Sputnik " - A surge in military attacks this week by NATO-backed Kiev regime forces on the breakaway eastern Ukraine regions is no mere coincidence. It is the reaction to events in Syria by the US-led military alliance in its hybrid warfare against Russia. Hundreds of ceasefire breaches by troops belonging to the Ukraine Armed Forces (UAF) are being reported in the separatist self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Over the past few days, several towns and villages have come under intense shelling from artillery, rockets and mortars in stark violation of the Minsk agreement. That agreement was brokered by Russia, Germany and France during 2014 and 2015, and was meant to facilitate a political settlement between the Western-backed Kiev regime, which came to power in a coup detat in February 2014, and the breakaway provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, which refused to recognize the legitimacy of the usurper Kiev cabal. Houses, schools and water treatment plants have been hit as the UAF and associated Neo-Nazi militias move heavy weaponry close to the so-called contact lines. All indications suggest that the NATO-backed Kiev regime is mobilizing for a renewed offensive on the mainly ethnic Russian Donbas region comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics. So far, the militia of the DPR and LPR have repelled the offensive, with dozens of casualties reportedly suffered by the Kiev regimes military. The timing of the large-scale attacks on Donbas comes just as the US and its NATO allies incur a strategic setback in their covert war for regime change in Syria. The liberation of the battleground city of Aleppo last week by the Syrian army, supported by Russian, Iranian and Lebanese allies, portends the end of the nearly six-year conflict in Syria. The routing of jihadist militants from Aleppo, who had been backed covertly by the US and certain NATO powers, including Britain and France, has signaled the end of the regime-change project in Syria to oust the government of President Bashar al-Assad. NATO member Turkey had played a key role in the US-led dirty war on Syria, serving as a conduit for fighters and arms to the proxy jihadist militants trying to overthrow Assad a longtime ally of both Russia and Iran. But now Turkey seems to be aligning with Russia and Iran to bring an end to the war in neighboring Syria. This week, foreign and defense ministers from Russia, Iran and Turkey met in Moscow to declare their commitment to end the Syrian conflict. The New York Times reported: Russia, Iran and Turkey meet for Syria talks, excluding the US. Pointedly, it added: The new alignment and absence of any Western powers at the table all but guarantee that President Bashar al-Assad will continue to rule Syria under any resulting agreement. In other words, its game over for Washington and its criminal enterprise to subvert Syria. The setback for American imperialist scheming in the Middle East cannot be overstated. For decades, US rulers have seen it as their God-given exceptional right to roll over any foreign government deemed unfit for their geopolitical interests. Syria was among target countries on the American hit-list, which came into action back in March 2011 when the US and its NATO partners and regional client regime unleashed hell with terror proxies. US ambitions of conquest in the oil-rich region have now been dealt a stunning blow after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military operation at the end of 2015 to support the Syrian state, along with Iran and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah. Despite a massive propaganda campaign orchestrated by the Western media and Washington puppets at the United Nations, the Syrian army and its allies have won a historic victory in retaking Aleppo from NATO-backed jihadists. Not only is this a bitter military defeat for Washington. It is a political and moral triumph over Western lies as told through major media corporations. The latter were saturated with claims of atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by Syrian and Russian forces. Those reckless claims have now been exposed as blatant fabrications, as the people of Aleppo openly celebrate liberation from Western-backed jihadists who had imposed a reign of terror on large parts of the city for nearly four years. It seems significant that only days after the liberation of Aleppo, Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov was brutally assassinated in Turkeys capital Ankara, when a gunman shot him in the back as he addressed a cultural event. The murder was evidently aimed at derailing the political talks underway between Turkey, Russia and Iran. Who would benefit from such an atrocity? Obviously, the US-led NATO powers. If NATO military intelligence did not specifically order the assassination of Karlov, we can at least say that Washington and its Western allies certainly created the climate of hatred and demonization that made the Russian diplomat a legitimate target. A further significant development is the renewed offensive by the NATO-backed Kiev regime against the ethnic Russian people of east Ukraine. Again, this provocative move comes only days after the spectacular military victory by Russia and its allies against NATOs jihadist proxies in Aleppo, and possibly now for the whole of Syria. Make no mistake, the reactionary junta that seized power in Kiev is a surrogate for NATOs long-held offensive designs on Russia. Citing unsubstantiated fears of Russian aggression, NATO has given itself a license to escalate troops and missiles on Russias border. Washington and its European lackeys have financed, armed and trained the Kiev regime. This week, British defense minister Michael Fallon announced more British army training for Kievs forces, claiming that it was to counter Russian aggression. Fallon had the cheek to spout this nonsense in the same week that the assaults on eastern Ukraine have surged. At a NATO-Russia summit in Brussels earlier this week, the US-led military alliance had the gall to call on Moscow to influence "Russian separatists" in Donbas to "honor the Minsk ceasefire". Russian delegate to NATO Alexander Grushko reportedly introduced some reality to the meeting by pointing out the hundreds of violations being committed in recent days by the Kiev regime. Such violations are par for the course, since the NATO-backed junta first launched its offensive on the region back in 2014, and which has resulted in up to 10,000 deaths. As with the Syrian war, Washington and its NATO allies, aided and abetted by the Western news (sic) media, play with semantics and illusions, and insult common intelligence. In Ukraine, NATO is waging a covert war every bit as it was in Syria, where as many as 400,000 people have been killed and from which Europe is struggling with its greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War, including the threat of terror attacks as seen in France and Germany this week. Shamelessly, Washington and its Western subordinates accuse Russia of hybrid warfare and aggression. The reaction to defeat in Syria through ramping up conflict in Ukraine shows that it is the US-led NATO alliance that is the real culprit of hybrid war and aggression. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. Who Profits from Turkeys Sarajevo Moment? By Pepe Escobar December 21, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Lets cut to the chase: Ankara 2016 is not Sarajevo 1914. This is not a prelude to WWIII. Whoever plotted the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov a cool, calm, collected old-school diplomat risks a mighty blowback. The assassin, Mevlut Mert Altintas, was a 22-year-old police academy graduate. He was suspended from the Turkish National Police (TNP) over suspected links to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO) after the failed July 15 putsch against Erdogan but returned to duty in November. Its no secret Gulenists heavily infiltrate the TNP; so a particular outcome of the attack will be an, even more, relentless Erdogan/AKP crackdown on the Gulen network. The Turkish investigation will have to focus not only on the (major) security service fail at Ankaras modern art center but way beyond. Its not very reassuring that Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu put out a terse statement a very long three hours after the facts. The killer in a black suit and tie shouted slogans about revenge for Aleppo the requisite Allahu Akbar included in both Turkish and broken Arabic, something that might establish a connection to an Islamist groups rhetoric, although thats not conclusive evidence. Timing is crucial. The hit happened only one day before the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran were scheduled to meet in Moscow for a key Syria strategic discussion. They were already closely in touch for the past few weeks on how to strike a comprehensive deal on Aleppo and beyond. And this right after the crucial, previously established Putin-Erdogan agreement, which implied no less than thousands of moderate rebels responding to Turkeys commands being able to use a corridor out of Aleppo. Ankara was fully on board with the plan. That in itself eliminates the possibility of an Ankara-provoked false flag. President Putin for his part made it very clear he wants to be informed on who directed the killer. Thats something that could be interpreted as subtle code for Russian intel already very much in the know. The Big Picture On the bilateral front, Moscow and Ankara are now working close together on counter-terrorism. Turkeys defense minister was invited to Russia for anti-air defense system negotiations. Bilateral trade is booming again, including the creation of a joint investment fund. On the all-important energy front, Turkish Stream, despite the Obama administrations obsession about its derailment, became the subject of state law in Ankara earlier this month. Atlanticists are appalled that Moscow, Ankara and Tehran are now fully engaged in designing a post-Battle of Aleppo Syrian future, to the graphic exclusion of the NATO-GCC combo. Its under this context that the recent alleged capture of a bunch of NATO-GCC operatives deployed under the US-led-from-behind coalition by Syrian Special Forces in Aleppo must be interpreted. Syrian member of Parliament Fares Shehabi, the head of the Chamber of Commerce in Aleppo, published the names of the apprehended coalition officers; most are Saudi; theres one Qatari; the presence of one Moroccan and one Jordanian is explained by the fact Morocco and Jordan are unofficial GCC members. And then theres one Turk, one American (David Scott Winer) and one Israeli. So NATO shows up only via two operatives, but the NATO-GCC link is more than established. If this information proceeds and thats still a big if these may well be coalition military personnel and field commanders, formerly advising moderate rebels and now a formidable bargaining chip in the hands of Damascus. Both NATO and GCC remain absolutely mum; not even non-denial denials have materialized. That might imply a made in the shade deal for the release of the high-value prisoners, further strengthening Damascus grip. It was President Putin who all but established a de facto Russia-Iran-Turkey axis dealing with facts on the Syrian ground in parallel to the rhetoric-heavy, zero-solution UN charade going on in Geneva. Moscow diplomatically emphasizes that the work of the axis complement Geneva. In fact, its the only reality-based work. And its supposed to sign and seal definitive parameters on the ground before Donald Trump enters the White House. In a nutshell; the five-year (and running) NATO-GCC combos multi-billion dollar regime change project in Syria all but miserably failed. Wily Erdogan seems to have learned his realpolitik lesson. On the Atlanticist front nevertheless, that opens myriad avenues to channel geopolitical resentment. The Big Picture couldnt be more absolutely unbearable for neocon/neoliberalcon Atlanticists. Ankara slowly but surely is veering the Eurasianist way; bye bye to the EU, and eventually NATO; welcome to the New Silk Roads, a.k.a. the China-driven One Belt, One Road (OBOR); the Russia-driven Eurasia Economic Union (EEU); the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO); the Russia-China strategic partnership; and Turkey as a key hub in Eurasia integration. For all that to happen, Erdogan has concluded Ankara must be on board the Russia-China-Iran long-term strategy to pacify and rebuild Syria and make it a key hub as well of the New Silk Roads. Between that and an alliance of fleeting interests with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the US, its certainly a no-brainer. But make no mistake. There will be blood. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. Is Obama a Russian Agent? By Dmitry Orlov December 21, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Sometimes a case looks weak because there is no smoking gunno obvious, direct evidence of conspiracy, malfeasance or evil intentbut once you tally up all the evidence it forms a coherent and damning picture. And so it is with the Obama administration vis a vis Russia: by feigning hostile intent it did everything possible to further Russias agenda. And although it is always possible to claim that all of Obamas failures stem from mere incompetence, at some point this claim begins to ring hollow; how can he possibly be so utterly competent at being incompetent? Perhaps he just used incompetence as a veil to cover his true intent, which was always to bolster Russia while rendering the US maximally irrelevant in world affairs. Lets examine Obamas major foreign policy initiatives from this angle. Perhaps the greatest achievement of his eight years has been the destruction of Libya. Under the false pretense of a humanitarian intervention what was once the most prosperous and stable country in the entire North Africa has been reduced to a rubble-strewn haven for Islamic terrorists and a transit point for economic migrants streaming into the European Union. This had the effect of pushing Russia and China together, prompting them to start voting against the US together as a block in the UN Security Council. In a single blow, Obama assured an important element of his legacy as a Russian agent: no longer will the US be able to further its agenda through this very important international body. Next, Obama presided over the violent overthrow of the constitutional government in the Ukraine and the installation of an American puppet regime there. When Crimea then voted to rejoin Russia, Obama imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation. These moves may seem like they were designed to hurt Russia, but lets look at the results instead of the intentions. First, Russia regained control of an important, strategic region. Second, the sanctions and the countersanctions allowed Russia to concentrate on import replacement, building up the domestic economy. This was especially impressive in agriculture, and Russia now earns more export revenue from foodstuffs than from weapons. Third, the severing of economic ties with the Ukraine allowed Russia to eliminate a major economic competitor. Fourth, over a million Ukrainians decided to move to Russia, either temporarily or permanently, giving Russia a major demographic boost and giving it access to a pool of Russian-speaking skilled labor. (Most Ukrainians are barely distinguishable from the general Russian population.) Fifth, whereas before the Ukraine was in a position to extort concessions from Russia by playing games with the natural gas pipelines that lead from Russia to the European Union, now Russias hands have been untied, resulting in new pipeline deals with Turkey and Germany. In effect, Russia reaped all the benefits from the Ukrainian stalemate, while the US gained an unsavory, embarrassing dependent. Obamas next achievement was in carefully shepherding the Syrian conflict into a cul de sac. (Some insist on calling it a civil war, although virtually all of the fighting there has between the entire Syrian nation and foreign-funded outside mercenaries). To this end, Obama deployed an array of tactics. He simultaneously supported, armed, trained and fought various terrorist groups, making a joke of the usual US technique of using terrorism by proxy. He made ridiculous claims that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against its own people, which immediately reminded everyone of similarly hollow claims about Saddams WMDs while offering Russia a legitimate role to play in resolving the Syrian conflict. He made endless promises to separate moderate opposition from dyed-in-the-wool terrorists, but repeatedly failed to do so, thus giving the Russians ample scope to take care of the situation as they saw fit. He negotiated several cease fires, then violated them. There have been other achievements as well. By constantly talking up the nonexistent Russian threat and scaremongering about Russian aggression and Russian invasion (of which no evidence existed), and by holding futile military exercises in Eastern Europe and especially in the geopolitically irrelevant Baltics, Obama managed to deprive NATO of any residual legitimacy it once might have had, turning it into a sad joke. But perhaps Obamas most significant service on behalf of the Russian nation was in throwing the election to Donald Trump. This he did by throwing his support behind the ridiculously inept and corrupt Hillary Clinton. She outspent Trump by a factor of two, but apparently no amount of money could buy her the presidency. As a result of Obamas steadfast efforts, the US will now have a Russia-friendly president who is eager to make deals with Russia, but will have to do so from a significantly weakened negotiating position. As I have been arguing for the last decade, it is a foregone conclusion that the United States is going to slide from its position of global dominance. But it was certainly helpful to have Obama grease the skids, and now its up to Donald Trump to finish the job. And since Obamas contribution was especially helpful to Russia, I propose that he be awarded the Russian Federations Order of Friendship, to go with his Nobel Peace Prize. Dmitry Orlov was born in Leningrad and immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. He is the author of Reinventing Collapse, Hold Your Applause! and Absolutely Positive, and publishes weekly at the phenomenally popular blog www.ClubOrlov.com . The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. How The Military Excluded The White House From International Syria Negotiations By Moon Of Alabama December 21, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Moon Of Alabama " - The NYT laments today that international negotiations about the situation in Syria now continue without any U.S. participation: Russia, Iran and Turkey Meet for Syria Talks, Excluding U.S. Russia, Iran and Turkey met in Moscow on Tuesday to work toward a political accord to end Syrias nearly six-year war, leaving the United States on the sidelines as the countries sought to drive the conflict in ways that serve their interests. Secretary of State John Kerry was not invited. Nor was the United Nations consulted. With pro-government forces having made critical gains on the ground, ... (Note: The last sentence originally and correctly said "pro-Syrian forces ...", not "pro-government forces ...". It was altered after I noted the "pro-Syrian" change of tone on Twitter.) Russia kicked the U.S. out of any further talks about Syria after the U.S. blew a deal which, after long delaying negotiations, Kerry had made with the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. In a recent interview Kerry admits that it was opposition from the Pentagon, not Moscow or Damascus, that had blown up his agreement with Russia over Syria: More recently, he has clashed inside the administration with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. Kerry negotiated an agreement with Russia to share joint military operations, but it fell apart. Unfortunately we had divisions within our own ranks that made the implementation of that extremely hard to accomplish, Kerry said. But I believe in it, I think it can work, could have worked." Kerry's agreement with Russia did not just "fell apart". The Pentagon actively sabotaged it by intentionally and perfidiously attacking the Syrian army. The deal with Russia was made in June. It envisioned coordinated attacks on ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria, both designated as terrorist under two UN Security Council resolutions which call upon all countries to eradicate them. For months the U.S. failed to separate its CIA and Pentagon trained, supplied and paid "moderate rebel" from al-Qaeda, thereby blocking the deal. In September the deal was modified and finally ready to be implemented. The Pentagon still did not like it but had been overruled by the White House: The agreement that Secretary of State John Kerry announced with Russia to reduce the killing in Syria has widened an increasingly public divide between Mr. Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who has deep reservations about the plan for American and Russian forces to jointly target terrorist groups. Mr. Carter was among the administration officials who pushed against the agreement on a conference call with the White House last week as Mr. Kerry, joining the argument from a secure facility in Geneva, grew increasingly frustrated. Although President Obama ultimately approved the effort after hours of debate, Pentagon officials remain unconvinced. ... Im not saying yes or no, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, commander of the United States Air Forces Central Command, told reporters on a video conference call. It would be premature to say that were going to jump right into it. The CentCom general threatened to not follow the decision his Commander of Chief had taken. He would not have done so without cover from Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Three days later U.S. CentCom Air Forces and allied Danish airplanes attack Syrian army positions near the ISIS besieged city of Deir Ezzor. During 37 air attacks within one hour between 62 and 100 Syrian Arab Army soldiers were killed and many more wounded. They had held a defensive positions on hills overlooking the Deir Ezzor airport. Shortly after the U.S. air attack ISIS forces stormed the hills and have held them since. Resupply for the 100,000+ civilians and soldiers in Deir Ezzor is now endangered if not impossible. The CentCom attack enabled ISIS to eventually conquer Deir Ezzor and to establish the envisioned "Salafist principality" in east Syria. During the U.S. attack the Syrian-Russian operations center had immediately tried to contact the designated coordination officer at U.S. Central Command to stop the attack. But that officer could not be reached and those at CentCom taking the Russian calls just hanged up: By time the Russian officer found his designated contact who was away from his desk and explained that the coalition was actually hitting a Syrian army unit, a good amount of strikes had already taken place, U.S. Central Command spokesman Col. John Thomas told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday. Until the attack the Syrian and Russian side had, as agreed with Kerry, kept to a ceasefire to allow the separation of the "marbled" CIA and al-Qaeda forces. After the CentCom air attack the Kerry-Lavrov deal was off: On the sidelines of an emergency UN Security Council meeting called on the matter, tempers were high. Russia's permanent UN representative, Vitaly Churkin, questioned the timing of the strikes, two days before Russian-American coordination in the fight against terror groups in Syria was to begin. "I have never seen such an extraordinary display of American heavy-handedness," he said, after abruptly leaving the meeting. The Pentagon launched one of its usual whitewash investigations and a heavily redacted summary report (pdf) was released in late November. Gareth Porter still found some usable bits in it: The report, released by US Central Command on 29 November, shows that senior US Air Force officers at the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at al-Udeid Airbase in Qatar, who were responsible for the decision to carry out the September airstrike at Deir Ezzor: misled the Russians about where the US intended to strike so Russia could not warn that it was targeting Syrian troops ignored information and intelligence analysis warning that the positions to be struck were Syrian government rather than Islamic State shifted abruptly from a deliberate targeting process to an immediate strike in violation of normal Air Force procedures The investigation was led by a Brigade General. He was too low in rank to investigate or challenge the responsible CentCom air-commander Lt. Gen. Harrington. The name of a co-investigator was redacted in the report and marked as "foreign government information". That officer was likely from Denmark. Four days after the investigation report was officially released the Danish government, without giving any public reason, pulled back its air contingent from any further operations under U.S. command in Iraq and Syria. With the attack on Deir Ezzor the Pentagon has: enabled ISIS to win the siege in Deir Ezzor where 100,000+ civilians and soldiers are under threat of being brutally killed cleared the grounds for the establishment of an ISIS ruled "Salafist principality" in east-Syria deceived a European NATO ally and lost its active cooperation over Syria and Iraq ruined Kerry's deal with Russia about a coordinated fight against UN designated terrorists in Syria kicked the U.S. out of further international negotiations about Syria It is clear that the responsible U.S. officer for the attack and its consequences is one Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian who had earlier publicly spoken out against a deal that his Commander in Chief had agreed to. He likely had cover from Defense Secretary Ash Carter. The White House did not react to this public military insubordination and undermining of its diplomacy. Emptywheel notes that, though on a different issue, the CIA is also in quite open insurrection against the President's decisions: [I]t alarms me that someone decided it was a good idea to go leak criticisms of a [presidential] Red Phone exchange. It would seem that such an instrument depends on some foundation of trust that, no matter how bad things have gotten, two leaders of nuclear armed states can speak frankly and directly. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. Islamic militant group Boko Haram have released another 21 girls from the famous 376 Chibok girls abducted two years ago. Following the release of 21 of the abducted girls in October, the federal government revealed that negotiations were taking place for the release of the others. Guardian reports that the newly released girls were brought to Yola International Airport in Yola, Adamawa State capital around 3pm on Thursday. With the Nigerian Army pushing on into the stronghold of the Islamic militia, one would expect the release of more captives. Boko Haram has been a menace in Nigeria and other countries of the Lake Chad basin ever since it began its terrorist activities in 2009. In April 2014, insurgents of the group kidnapped over 200 school girls of a government school in Chibok, Borno state. A group of aggrieved demonstrators on Tuesday pelted the convoy of Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai with stones in Kafanchan, Jemaa Local Government Area shortly after the State Security Council meeting in the area. The attack prompted a 24-hour curfew imposed yesterday on Zangon-Kataf, Kaura and Jemaa Local Government areas. Justifying the move, the Kaduna State Security Council said it took the step based on credible intelligence about risks to lives and property in the affected areas. The governor also appealed for calm over the attack on him, urging citizens not to respond to the action by demonstrators. In a statement by El-Rufais Spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, the decision to impose curfew on the three LGs was taken by the State Security Council shortly after its meeting on Wednesday. Mr Aruwan added that the council also reaffirmed the ban on all processions and unlawful assembly throughout the state, adding that security agencies had been empowered to arrest and prosecute any individual or groups that violated the orders. The meeting, chaired by El-Rufai, the statement added, was attended by the Deputy Governor, Barnabas Yusuf-Bala; Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Agyole Abeh; and Director DSS, Mohammed Wakili; among others. The governor and his entourage were reportedly pelted with stones and some of the vehicles were damaged after the governor addressed some demonstrators after the Kaduna State Security Council meeting. In the name of God, I am begging you. No one should take the law into his or her hand over what happened in Kafanchan. Although it is unfortunate, we must rise above induced prejudice and hatred, Mr Aruwan quoted the governor. Israels former President, Moshe Katsav was on Wednesday freed on parole after serving five of his seven-year prison sentence for rape and other sexual offenses. Live television and radio broadcasts showed Katsav walking out of the Maasiyahu Prison, east of Tel Aviv, where about a dozen of family members and supporters were waiting for him. He hugged his wife, Gila, and entered a car that took him to his home in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi. His release came about an hour after the State Attorney Shai Nitzan said that the prosecution would not appeal the Parole Committees decision to grant Katsav an early release. Under the terms of his parole, Katsav would have to join a prison service rehabilitation programme. He would also have to stay under house arrest every night, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., until the end of his parole period. The committee also imposed restrictions on speaking to the media and forbid him to hold a job position in which he would have female subordinates. Katsav, 71, was born in Iran and became the first president who was born in a Muslim country. He served as Israels seventh president between 2000 and 2007. In 1977, at the age of 30, he first became a parliament member with the right-wing Likud party. In November 2011, the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed his conviction on two counts of rape of a former employee during his term as a tourism minister in the 1990s. He was also convicted of indecent sexual assaults and sexual harassment of two other women while being president, and obstruction of justice. Source: Xinhua/NAN Two days after a suspected terrorist ran a lorry into a Christmas market in the German capital of Berlin, authorities have released a photo of the suspect. German police have disclosed that 24-year-old Anis Amri, a Tunisian is responsible for the incident. Amri had earlier monitored earlier in the year on suspicion of armed robbery. Officials say he is armed and dangerous and are offering a reward of up to 100,000 ($104,000) for information leading to his arrest. There may be two Ukrainian citizens among the people killed in a December 19 terrorist attack in Berlin, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said. The Ukrainian Embassy in Germany is awaiting DNA test results that will help clarify the picture, but two Ukrainian citizens - a man and a woman - could be among those killed in the Monday incident, he told the 1 plus 1 TV channel. It was reported that 12 people were killed and around 50 were injured when a truck ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin's Breitscheidplatz square in the evening of December 19. Nigerian newspaper headlines December 22, 2016. Punch The nations march towards digital broadcasting will reach an important milestone today (Thursday) as President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurates the roll-out of digital broadcasting in the Federal Capital Territory. Vanguard Last week Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari released the 2017 budget of N7.298t with the Ministry of Education expected to gulp N398.01b in recurrent expenditure. Guardian Arik Air yesterday morning resumed scheduled flight services on both domestic and international routes after protesting workers and unions called off a strike late Tuesday. Thisday The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved a whistleblowing policy to expose fraud and other related crimes in both the public and the private sectors. Leadership The Gambia president, Yahya Jammeh, has declared that he will not hand over power to president-elect, Adama Barrow, who won the election held in the West African country recently. Premium Times The kidnappers of Comfort Baikie, a Superintendent of the Nigeria Customs Service, are yet to contact her family or demand for ransom. The Sun Over 6,000 workers in the maritime sector have lost their jobs in the last one year due to the current recession. The Nation Convicted former Delta State Governor James Ibori has been released from jail despite attempts by the British Home Secretary to detain him further. A major bank robbery attack was on Thursday foiled by personnel of the Rivers State Police Command. The new generation bank located along Eagle Cement area was stormed by a combined team of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS) and regular policemen from Rumuolumeni Police Station, who acted on a tip-off. According to reports, the hoodlums on sighting the policemen opened fire to which the operatives retaliated leading to arrest of three suspects while a SARS operative was also injured. The State Spokesperson, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, who confirmed the incident to newsmen in Port Harcourt, said the bank robbers were arrested at about 2am on Thursday while they were using a gas cylinder to cut open an entrance into the bank. Omoni disclosed that the SARS operative that sustained gunshot injury was immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment. He identified the three suspected bank robbers (all males) as Samuel Nwara (28) from Igwuruta town, Kaaly Taagaba (28) from Kpong, Khana LGA and Lucky Ukwuoma (26) from Etche LGA. Today (Thursday) at about 0200hrs, upon a distress call that there was a robbery going on at a new generation bank at Eagle Cement, Rumuolumeni, combined team of SARS and men of the Rumuolumeni Police Station led by the DPO, Felix Nnebue stormed the scene of the robbery. On sighting the police, the robbers opened fire on them, a situation that led to an exchange of fire. At the end, three armed robbers were arrested while one of the SARS operatives sustained gunshot wound. He is currently receiving treatment in the hospital, he added. Explaining that the suspects were helping the police in their investigation with a view to arresting others on the run, Omoni listed one cooking gas cylinder, one handsaw, one chisel and two Ghana-must-go bags as items recovered from them. The Commissioner of Police, CP Francis Odesanya, wishes to assure the people of the state that the Command under his watch has vowed to relentlessly fight all manner of crimes in the state. The Ovie of Agbarha-Warri Kingdom in the Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, Orhifi Orovwagbarha Agbarha-Ide Ememoh II, who was abducted on Wednesday, has been rescued by operatives of states police command less than 24-hour after he was kidnapped. The monarch was rescued by a team of local vigilante groups and the Delta State Police Command led by its commissioner, Mr. Zanna Ibrahim, at about 3:12am on Thursday morning. A palace chief confirmed the released of the Urhobo monarch to our correspondent on Thursday morning when contacted. The Agbarha-Warri paramount ruler was abducted on Wednesday along the Ughelli/Asaba Expressway near Ossissa community in Ndokwa-East Local Government Area of the state while traveling for a Security Summit in Asaba, the state capital. Forty-eight hours after he was paraded by the Lagos State police command for allegedly killing his father and stabbing his mother into a state of unconsciousness, Babalola Rotimi Junior, 24, was remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons yesterday for both offences. Magistrate Bola Folarin-Williams of an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates Court gave the order when he appeared before her on a two-count charge of murder and attempted murder with knives. The magistrate said the accused should be remanded pending the receipt of legal advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPPs). Rotimis plea on the first count of murder was, however, not taken as the court lacked the jurisdiction to try such matters. He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted murder and was granted a bail of N500,000 with two responsible sureties, both of whom must be blood relations. Earlier, the prosecutor, Cpl. Hafsat Ajibodu had told the court that the accused committed the offences on December 4 at about 11:30am., at No. 11, Ibitayo St., Magodo GRA, Phase 2 in Lagos State. She alleged that the accused had stabbed his father, Babalola Rotimi, 59, to death with a kitchen knife. The accused was also alleged to have stabbed his mother, Adijat Babalola, who is presently battling with her life in an undisclosed hospital with another knife. My father wanted to use charms to make me rich, I dont know why he would want to do that to me despite being a practicing Muslim. My parents would lock me up and send thugs to beat me up, I stabbed them out of frustration and because he would not give me money for my upkeep. I went to Shoprite to purchase two knives to defend myself and to gain my freedom because I was always locked up in my room, Rotimi said. The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Sections 221 and 222 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. Section 221 prescribes a death sentence for offenders. The accused, a deportee from Ireland, showed no sign of remorse and claimed his father deserved what he dished to him while in court. The court, however, adjourned the case till January 23, 2017 pending the receipt of legal advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPPs). In a related development, a 24-year-old man, Godwin Simon, was on Wednesday arraigned in an Ebute-Metta Chief Magistrates Court, Lagos, for allegedly stabbing one Bankole Olubode to death. The accused, who resides at No. 73, Olaro Road, Abule-Egba, is facing trial on a count charge of murder. The plea of the accused, was, however, not taken. The prosecutor, Cpl. Hafsat Ajibodu had told the court that the offence was committed on December 2 at about 9:30p.m., at No. 1, Sadiku St., Oke-Odo, Abule-Egba. She alleged that the accused and the deceased had a misunderstanding, while Simon used a kitchen knife to stab the deceased in his neck. Ajibodu said that the offence contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The Magistrate, Mrs. O.A. Salawu, ordered that the accused should be remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons, pending an advice from the state Director of Public Prosecutions. The case was also adjourned till January 23. Source: Guardian The Standards Organisation of Nigeria on Wednesday raided some companies in Onitsha and its environs, arresting some persons suspected to be producing fake products. At Bendusco International Agency Limited and DSK Golding City Investment Limited in Awada, Obosi, near Onitsha, a Chinese, Ning Tiandong, suspected to be an accomplice working for the two companies was arrested One of the directors of the company, Benjamin Nwizu, was also arrested. SON evacuated the suspected fake products of the companies in three trucks. Some of the products allegedly adulterated by the companies were toothbrushes and shaving sticks. Led by its director of operations, Mr. Felix Nyado, SON raided one other factory at 33 area of Onitsha were six persons were arrested. Speaking to journalists, Nwizu denied that his company was producing substandard products. He said his company had dragged SON before a Federal High Court in Awka where the court ordered the parties in the suit to maintain the status quo. Nwizu said his company had an order from the National Assembly restricting SON from disturbing its business. Addressing journalists after the raid, Nyado described Nwizu as a serial liar. He said that Nwizus claims were false and denied that SON was in court with Nwizus company. He is a serial liar. We are not in court with him and I dont think any court will restrict a regulatory body from performing its functions. We are an Act of the parliament; the National Assembly cannot stop us from doing our work. This company is producing substandard products and we say they cannot do that because the health of the people is being endangered. Take for instance, the rule says you must produce toothpaste with virgin raw materials, but this man and his company are producing such products with recycled materials. We say no to that and he is talking about a court order and an authority from the National Assembly. Did the court and the National Assembly give him the authority to fake and produce substandard products? He said the Chinese and Nwizu would be handed over to the police. Source: Punch Former governor of Delta state, James Onanefe Ibori, who was released from a UK prison on Wednesday is facing some challenges before he can return to Nigeria. The 57-year-old must face a deportation hearing and also pay 18 million to the UK government as the proceeds of crime. The unresolved issues almost elongated Iboris imprisonment, until a high court judge gave an order he should be released and that attempts to detain him were quite extraordinary. Ordering Ibori to be immediately freed from prison, Mrs Justice May said: You dont hold someone just because it is convenient to do so and without plans to deport them. A Home Office application that Ibori be electronically tagged and subjected to strict curfew conditions was also rejected. The judge accepted arguments that the home secretary was attempting to misuse her immigration and deportation powers. Ibori was jailed for fraud totalling nearly 50 million in April 2012. He evaded capture in Nigeria after a mob of supporters attacked police but was arrested in Dubai in 2010 and extradited to the UK, where he was prosecuted based on evidence from the Metropolitan Police. On Wednesday, the Home Offices barrister said the government was concerned that Ibori might frustrate confiscation proceedings and wanted him kept in jail or subjected to strict controls on his movement. But it emerged in court that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is pursuing the confiscation proceedings, was neutral about Iboris release and possible deportation. Ian MacDonald who represented Ibori, said: The Secretary of State has taken it upon herself. There is no objection from (the CPS) for release. This is extraordinary, Mrs Justice May said. They (the CPS) dont care. Why doesnt the Secretary of State just send him back? she asked. He wants to go. She wants him to go. In court on Wednesday, Iboris barrister, Ivan Krolic, explained how another defendant in the fraud case had appealed against conviction on the grounds that police officers in the investigations had been corrupt. The Court of Appeal rejected that after counsel for the Crown indicated that there was nothing to support the allegation, Mr Krolic explained. Ordering Iboris release, Justice May said: The Secretary of State appears to have taken it upon herself that Ibori does remain in this country, in apparent contradiction of the order served earlier this year to deport him. The position of the Secretary of State, as very candidly set out by Birdling (representing the home secretary), is that she accepts that there is an argument that she has no power to detain him. I have decided that the balance of convenience falls heavily in favour of his immediate release. I am not prepared to impose conditions involving tagging or curfews. The judge said the matter of Iboris deportation should be heard before the end of January. A middle-aged woman, Linda Alapa, has been arrested in Lagos State for allegedly beating her 10-year-old housemaid, Joy Mbafan, to death. Alapa, before beating the minor to death, was said to have also starved her severally. The Punch reports that Mbafan lived with the suspect on Bolanle Oduniyi Street, Okegbegun, in the Ikorodu area of the state. According to the report, the suspect was flogging the girl as punishment for an offence, in the wee hours of Tuesday. The victim was said to have passed out and died afterwards. Some residents, speaking on the incident, said they warned Alapa many times to desist from assaulting the victim to no avail. A neighbour identified only as Ellen said, She usually beats the girl for messing up their apartment. Around 3am on the day the girl died, I heard her crying as Alapa flogged her. I woke my husband up to intervene. He said he was tired of the womans insults. After a while, she stopped crying. It was when I came back from work that afternoon that I saw a crowd in our premises in tears. They said Mbafan was dead and the womans husband was not at home that day. It was the landlord that told him about the incident on the telephone, Ellen added, noting that Mbafans father was late while her mother was ill and Alapa had brought her to Lagos from a village in the eastern part of Nigeria. But she used to beat up and starve the girl of food. On several occasions, the girl would come to me to eat, saying her aunty did not give her food. At the Ikorodu General Hospital morgue where Alapa had gone to deposit Mbafans corpse, a doctor on duty was said to have noticed marks of violence on the body and alerted the police at the Sagamu Road Division. Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Dolapo Badmos, said, I confirm the case. The suspect is under investigation while the corpse has been deposited in a morgue for autopsy. After interrogation, Alapa confessed to beating the girl. She wanted to absolve herself of the death of the victim, but for the doctor on duty who raised the alarm after a close examination and she was arrested. There are marks of violence on the body of the deceased and she did not deny beating her. She will be charged to court soon. Source: Dailypost Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years AP - 55 minutes ago The Bank of England has rolled out its biggest interest rate increase in three decades, saying the move is needed to beat back stubbornly high inflation that's eroding living standards and is likely to... $SPX : 3,719.89 (-1.06%) $DOWI : 32,001.25 (-0.46%) $IUXX : 10,690.60 (-1.98%) Markets Digest. What's The Next Move? Blue Line Futures - 1 hour ago Our daily video . . . UK orders Glencore to pay millions over African oil bribes AP - 1 hour ago A British court has ordered commodities company Glencore to pay more than 280 million pounds for using bribes to bolster its oil profits in five African countries $SPX : 3,719.89 (-1.06%) $DOWI : 32,001.25 (-0.46%) $IUXX : 10,690.60 (-1.98%) Shootin' the Bull about sucking up money Swift Trading Company - 1 hour ago The Fed is attempting to suck up money like a Hoover vacuum cleaner. That is the most damning action to a business that can happen. For months on end, manufacturers, industries, and transportation have... Dollar Rallies Sharply on Hawkish Fed Barchart - 1 hour ago The dollar index (DXY00 ) Thursday rallied to a 1-1/2 week high and rose sharply by +1.36%. The dollar soared Thursday on carry-over support from Wednesday when Fed Chair Powell signaled higher interest... DXY00 : 112.985 (+1.47%) ^EURUSD : 0.97447 (-0.02%) ^USDJPY : 148.246 (+0.02%) GCZ22 : 1,630.9s (-1.16%) SIZ22 : 19.430s (-0.84%) Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) will discuss the release of hostages at the request of the Ukrainian side on December 23, spokesperson for Ukraine's representative in the contact group, second President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, Darka Olifer, has said. "The issue of the release of our citizens will be raised during the Skype-meeting of the TCG, which is to be held at the request of the Ukrainian side on Friday, December 23. We also demanded the release of five teenagers who were illegally detained in Donetsk. Representatives of the ORDLO (separate areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions) promised to place them under the house arrest before the New Year," she wrote on her Facebook page following the TCG meeting in Minsk on Wednesday. Self-storage properties are constantly changing hands, and Inside Self-Storage is regularly notified of these market transactions. Many are covered in detail on the ISS website and available for viewing on the Real Estate topics page. Following are additional acquisitions and sales that werent covered. 265 Super Storage in Springdale, Ark., was sold as the second leg of a 1031 exchange. Built in 1995, the property at 1507 S. Old Missouri Road comprises 58,665 square feet of storage space in 375 storage units and 75 outdoor parking spaces. The property will be managed by Absolute Storage Management (ASM), which owns and manages self-storage facilities throughout the Southeast. The seller was represented in the transaction by Larry Goldman, an associate with RE/MAX Commercial, who is the Argus Self Storage Sales Network broker affiliate for Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Southern Illinois. Adams Storage Systems in Farmington, Mo., was sold. The first phase of the 5.5-acre property at 2079 Highway D opened in September with 236 units, 35 outdoor parking spaces and a 1,260-square-foot office and apartment. The buyer plans to start the second phase soon, according to an Argus press release. Goldman represented both buyer and seller in the transaction. Anytime Storage - Commerce Park in Sellersburg, Ind., was sold to a limited-liability company (LLC). The 40,700-square-foot property at 8511 Commerce Park Drive was a Certificate-of-Occupancy deal, according to a press release from The Mele Storage Group of Marcus & Millichap, the real estate firm that represented the buyer, also an LLC, and the seller in the transaction. The brokers were Michael A. Mele, Mickey Hurley and Sean M. Delaney. Bargain Storage, which owns 32 facilities in four states, purchased Memorial Mini Storage in Houston. The property at 1101 Tully Road contains 519 units. The buyer and the seller, a private investor, were represented in the transaction by Dave Knobler, senior associate, in the Marcus & Millichap Houston office, and Charles "Chico" LeClaire, senior vice president of investments, in the firms Denver office. Brazos Moving and Storage in College Station, Texas, was sold to a foreign investor. The property at 17535 Highway 6 S. includes 477 units. The facility is new and not fully stabilized, according to a press release from Marcus & Millichap, which brokered the transaction. The buyer, a storage developer, and the seller, a storage owner owner, were represented by Knobler and Logan Miller, an associate, both from the firms Houston office. Carefree Storage in Carthage, N.Y., was sold to a private investor. Built in 1986, the property at 10889 State Route 26 comprises 53,952 of net rentable square feet of storage space in 443 units and outdoor parking spaces. The seller, also a private investor, was represented in the transaction by Mele, Luke Elliott and Kevin Menendez of Marcus & Millichap. Mele and Elliott also represented the buyer. Crestline Storage in Lansing, Kan., was sold. The transaction was driven by a series of 1031 exchanges from Nebraska farmland. The property at 13621 Gilman Road comprises 65,116 square feet of storage space in 123 units, three office/warehouse units, and a 1,500-square-foot office and apartment. The buyer plans to expand the facility soon, according to an Argus press release. Goldman represented the seller in the transaction. Gateway Mini-Storage LLC in Gilbert, Ariz., was sold for nearly $14 million to a self-storage real estate investment trust. The property at 5750 S. Power Road, which formerly operated as Uncle Bobs Self Storage, comprises 92,855 net rentable square feet of storage space in 669 units. A phase-three expansion is under construction and will add 21,575 net rentable square feet to the property. The addition will be completed in early 2017, according to a press release from NAI Horizon, the real estate firm that brokered the transaction. The buyer and the seller, Circle G Property Development, were represented by Denise Nunez, senior vice president of NAI. High Security Self Storage in Goodyear, Ariz., was sold to River Crossing Goodyear LLC for $2 million. The 3.4-acre property at 13360 W. Van Buren St. comprises 34,093 square feet of storage space. The buyer and the seller, Bar-K Development II LLC, were represented in the transaction by Nunez. River Crossing, which owns another storage facility in the market, plans to increase the net rentable square footage on the site, Nunez said. Kwik Storage in Rock Hill, S.C., was sold to a regional buyer for approximately $77 per rentable square foot. The property at 1409 Albright Road comprises 21,200 square feet of storage space in 187 units, some of which are climate-controlled. The 2.7-acre site also contains an office, laundromat and free-standing pharmacy. The seller was represented in the transaction by Dale C. Eisenman, president of Midcoast Properties Inc. Lake Road Self Storage in Sheffield Lake, Ohio, was sold. The property at 5360 Lake Road comprises 57,000 net rentable square feet in 418 units. Built in 2004, the 8.6-acre site also contains 41 parking spaces. It includes 1.25 acres of land zoned for office and retail as well as 32,800 square feet to expand the storage space. The seller was represented in the transaction by Ryan Clark, senior vice president of SkyView Advisors. SG Realty, a real estate holding and service company, has acquired B&B Storage and Top Storage in Edgerton, Wis. The properties at 100 U.S. Highway 51 and 541 Lake Drive Road have been rebranded as Badger Storage and will be managed by Josh Eastman and Justin Spaulding. The brokers in the transaction were Paula Carrier, owner of Best Realty of Edgerton, and Melanie Simmons of Brayson Realty LLC. South Oldham Self Storage in Crestwood, Ky., was sold for $1.7 million to a national self-storage operator. Built in 2001, the property at 6440 W Highway 146 comprises 26,175 square feet of storage space. The buyer and the seller, a local developer, were represented in the transaction by Paul Grisanti, owner and principal broker, and Nick Grisanti, sales and leasing associate, for the Grisanti Group Commercial Real Estate, an Argus broker affiliate for Kentucky, Southern Indiana and Tennessee. Storage Concepts in Hamburg, N.J., was sold as part of a three-property portfolio for $5.9 million to a private investment group. The property at 3490 State Route 94 comprise three single-story buildings containing more 320 units, which includes outdoor parking spaces. Opened in 2002 and expanded in 2005, it sits on more than 7 acres. The other two properties in the portfolio are in New York and Pennsylvania. The buyer and the seller were represented in all three transactions by Investment Real Estate LLC (IRE), a self-storage real estate firm. The eight-property Storage Pros portfolio in Knoxville, Tenn., was sold. The portfolio comprises 415,616 square feet of storage space as well as 23,500 square feet of parking space. The properties are within 20 miles of each other. The seller, Storage Pros Management LLC, was represented in the transaction by Aaron Swerdlin, executive managing director, and Kenneth Cox, senior managing director, of NGKF Self Storage Group, a division within commercial real estate advisory firm Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF). The three-property Sunset Storage portfolio in Jesup, Ga., was sold to a regional buyer. Sitting on more than 5 acres, the facilities comprise 48,000 rentable square feet of storage space in 430 units, a rental office and an apartment. The seller was represented in the transaction by Eisenman. Argus is a Denver-based network of real estate brokers who specialize in storage properties. Formed in 1994, the company has 36 broker affiliates covering nearly 40 markets. Founded in 2002, ASM operates more than 96 properties in 13 states. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., it has regional offices in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Jackson, Miss.; and Nashville, Tenn. Based in Portland, Ore., Bargain Storage operates facilities in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Texas. Since its inception in 1998, IRE has provided brokerage, construction, development and management services to self-storage owners and investors. Midcoast Properties offers brokerage services to self-storage owners and investors in the Carolinas and Georgia. Established in 1992, NAI Horizon is a commercial real estate brokerage and management firm serving Arizona through offices in Phoenix and Tucson. Its a member of NAI Global, a managed network of independently owned commercial real estate brokerage firms. NGKF offers appraisal and valuation advisory services, debt placement, investment sales, proprietary lending, and transaction management. Together with its affiliates and London-based partner Knight Frank, the company employs more than 14,000 professionals, operating from 400 offices on five continents. Founded in 1971, Marcus & Millichap is a commercial-property investment firm with more than 1,500 investment professionals in offices throughout Canada and the United States. The firm closed more than 8,700 transactions in 2015 with a value of approximately $37.8 billion. SkyView is a boutique firm specializing in self-storage acquisition, development, facility expansion and renovation, refinancing, and sales. Based in Tampa, Fla., the firm also has offices in Cleveland and Milwaukee. Update 1/25/18 SmartStop has expanded its student-housing footprint, acquiring three properties between June 2017 and January 2018. It also has an agreement to purchase three senior-housing facilities in Utah for $78.5 million. The assisted-living properties and two of the student-housing transactions are tied to the Strategic Student & Senior Housing Trust Inc. (SSSHT), a non-traded REIT sponsored by SmartStop. SSSHT filed a $1.1 billion offering of common stock in September, following a $75.6 million private fundraising effort, according to the source. Last June, the REIT acquired The District, a 198-unit, 592-bed student-housing property adjacent to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville for $57 million. It purchased The Domain At Tallahassee, a 125-unit, 434-bed student-housing center near Florida State University in September for about $47.5 million. Earlier this month, SmartStop affiliates acquired 411 Lofts, a 90-unit, 345-bed student-housing community near the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for $43.8 million. In November, SSSHT entered an agreement to purchase The Charleston, Cottonwood Creek and The Wellington senior-living centers in the Salt Lake City market. Together, the properties comprise 294 units. The transaction is expected to close this month, the source reported. SSSHT was launched as a Maryland corporation that intends to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. It focuses on the acquisition of class-A, student- and senior-housing communities. 12/21/16 SmartStop Asset Management LLC, a diversified real estate company that manages 89 self-storage facilities in Canada and the United States, is expanding its commercial portfolio by moving into the student-housing sector. SmartStop recently facilitated the $70 million acquisition of The Summit, a student-housing community adjacent to the University of Nevada campus in Reno, Nev., on behalf of an affiliate company, according to a press release. "We are pleased to have acquired our first student-housing property, with the goal of expanding our commercial real estate portfolio to include not only high-quality self-storage assets, but also student- and senior-housing investment opportunities," said H. Michael Schwartz, chairman and CEO of SmartStop. The Reno property at 2780 Enterprise Road is one block from the university. Built on 8.95 acres, it comprises 237,547 rentable square feet in 186 housing units. The units are fully furnished. The complex offers amenities such as a two-story clubhouse, fitness center, game lounge and private study rooms. It is Silver-Certified through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program of the U.S. Green Building Council, the release stated. "The state-of-the-art architectural design offer students a sense of community and connectedness that will make this property attractive to student/residents for many years to come," said John Strockis, senior vice president of acquisitions for SmartStop. "In addition, this newly constructed property is currently benefiting from the strong economic expansion in greater Reno." SmartStop is also the sponsor of Strategic Storage Growth Trust Inc., a public, non-traded REIT focused on self-storage acquisition and development, and Strategic Storage Trust II Inc., a public non-traded REIT that focuses on stabilized self-storage properties. Sources: Blue Vault, SmartStop Files $1 Billion Student and Senior Housing Nontraded REIT Offering CoStar, Self-Storage Operator SmartStop Getting into Multifamily Digital Journal, SmartStop Asset Management, LLC Acquires First Student Housing Property Totaling $70 Million in Nevada Law Insider, Purchase Agreement and Escrow Instructions SmartStop Asset Management, Website U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Form S-11 Registration Statement S-5!, a supplier of roof accessories for self-storage and other industries, has hired Frank Hogan in the newly created position of business development director. Hogan will focus on deepening relationships with the companys original equipment-manufacturer market to maintain market share and capture additional sales opportunities, according to a press release. Hogan previously served as a national sales representative and field support manager for S-5! in Canada and the United States from 2007 to 2012. Hes also held a variety of sales and management positions with several metal-roofing manufacturers. Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., S-5! manufactures several snow-retention systems, including ColorGard, DualGuard, SnoFence, SnoRail, VersaGard, X-Gard 1.0 and X-Gard 2.0. The patented clamps can mount banners and signs, light fixtures, snow-retention and wind-performance systems, solar arrays, stack/flue bracing, and more. Update 3/1/18 The Wayne City Council this week approved the sale of the East Michigan Avenue parcel to Metro Storage as well as a brownfield remediation for the site. The transaction is the citys first such redevelopment deal, in which financial incentives are offered to help developers clean up sites with contamination issues, according to a source. The land was negatively impacted by the former radiator shop that stood on the property. I hope [Judge] is able to break ground by summer of this year. If all the infrastructure and foundations are up by the fall, he could have a spring 2019 ribbon-cutting, said Matthew Miller, city planner. 12/21/16 Metro Storage LLC, a Taylor, Mich.-based self-storage operator with three facilities, intends to build a 95,000-square-foot facility on East Michigan Avenue in Wayne, Mich. The city council favors the project and recently approved an agreement that would sell a 2.3-acre parcel to storage owner Tim Judge for $1. To accommodate the project, however, Judge will need to acquire two additional parcels from Wayne County, Mich., and receive zoning-change approval from single-family residential to industrial/business, according to the source. If approved, the facility would comprise 70,000 net rentable square feet and could break ground by the middle of 2017. The Michigan Avenue property includes a former radiator business. It was one of several parcels acquired by the city and reserved for future development. Other business proposals for the site included an art center. Judge was solicited to submit a proposal by Lori Gouin, the citys economic-development director. "They approached me. It was a fantastic initial experience for the city to be so welcoming," Judge told the source. Gouin estimated the $3 million self-storage project would generate more than $100,000 in annual property taxes, with more than 90 percent retained by the Downtown Development Authority. The storage facility would be in an area that has received recent revitalization, including a new police department and remodels to Arbys and Wendys fast-food restaurants. "I think that other businesses in the area will have an incentive to spruce up their properties, Gouin told the source. That's exactly what we are hoping for." "I think it creates synergy along the corridor, agreed Judge. People feel confident about spending money for the capital improvements." Metro Storage operates self-storage facilities in Dearborn, Oak Park and Taylor, Mich., according to the source. Sources: Hometown Life, New Development in Wayne: Three Things Coming to Town Hometown Life: A $3 Million Project Comes to Wayne This content is from: Video Inflation remains the primary concern for the worlds central banks, which have engaged in the broadest and fastest tightening regime in history, according to Alejandra Grindal, chief economist at Ned Davis Research. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Canada will capitalize if President-elect Donald Trump takes his foot off the gas when it comes to fighting climate change.Speaking yesterday at an event in Calgary, Trudeau said that people know climate change is a fact and not a debate anymore, explaining that the debate now is around how to adapt to it.Trudeau was asked whether he was committed to sticking to his plans to combat climate change, even if it makes Canada less competitive with the US under the incoming president, according to a Canadian Press report.He said that while there might be short-term benefits in ignoring climate change, Canada will be more attractive to investors in the long-term if it stays committed to the cause.Trudeau added that there would be extraordinary opportunities for Canada if the US does takes a step back from tackling climate change, according to Reuters.The PM also said that during their first conversation after the US election, Trump was very supportive of TransCanada Corps proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline.He actually brought up Keystone XL and indicated that he was very supportive of it, Trudeau said of Trump.The Obama administration had rejected plans for the 830,000 barrel-per-day pipeline in November last year, saying it would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to the US economy. First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian representative in the humanitarian subgroup Iryna Gerashchenko has said that several convicts pardoned by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will be handed over to ORDLO (separate areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions). "I am very grateful to the president for this act of mercy, for his dedicated efforts to do everything possible to free the hostages. I recall that the Ukrainian side will release 15 previously convicted offenders from custody in the coming days as an act of humanism. Most of them have been pardoned by the president, among them - six women, elderly and sick persons," she wrote on her Facebook page expressing the expectation that the other side will demonstrate humanism on the eve of holidays and "the process of hostages' release will be unlocked." Gerashchenko said the work of the humanitarian subgroup in Minsk on December 21 was fully devoted to the issue of hostage release. "I am saying with cautious optimism that we have a promise that the teenagers detained for 'subversive activities' will see the New Year with their families. They promised that to us and we will be happy that the children will be with their families," she said. "We have discussed the names and the lists a thousand times to achieve a compromise. We suggested holding a Skype conference on Friday to get a result," Gerashchenko said. According to earlier reports, nine convicts were pardoned under the Ukrainian president's decree dated December 20. The team at Insurance Business would like to thank all of our readers and advertisers for your continued support throughout 2016 and we wish you all the best for the holiday season.It has been another fantastic year for Insurance Business as weve continued to grow as a website and as a magazine.It was a banner year for Insurance Business as a publication thanks to highly commended accolade for our website at the Publish Awards 2016 the only insurance publication that received a nomination for any award on the night.Lively discussions in our comment section have seen readers able to connect and share ideas and advice on a wide range of issues affecting the current insurance market in Australia.As the year draws to a close, we look back on what has been a superlative 2016 for Insurance Business and hope that we can continue to build on our foundation of timely, trustworthy and in-depth news for such a burgeoning industry.Enjoy the festivities and thanks again for all your support.The Insurance Business team. It may be one of the worlds first publicly listed law firms, but for Slater & Gordon recent times have been troubled as the Australian firm once again falls under the spotlight.This time the firm, which bought out the professional services arm of UK insurer Quindell, now known as Watchstone Group, back in 2015, has been ordered by the corporate regulator here in its home country to produce documents relating to its financial records with shares falling in the firm by more than 6%.According to a Financial Times report, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has issued two notices to the company to produce documents as part of an investigation into the accuracy of financial records and accounts. The period under investigation spans from December 01, 2014 to September 29, 2015.According to the firm, the probe is looking into whether the records and accounts were deliberately falsified or manipulated and whether the company or any of its officers have committed offences.The documents are to be produced later in the month and in January, with the Melbourne-based company saying it will comply with the notices.It is the latest in a series of woes for Slater & Gordon tracing back to its purchase of most of Quindell for 673 million in 2015. Shortly after the purchase Quindell came under investigation for historic accounting and business practices. The law firm took an impairment charge earlier this year and had a net loss of A$1.02 billion for the year ending in June. The R Street Institute, a nonprofit public policy research organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., has found that Vermont has the best insurance regulatory environment in the U.S. for the third straight year in its annual Insurance Regulation Report Card. The fifth annual report, written by R Street Senior Fellow R.J. Lehmann, issues letter grades for all 50 U.S. states based on seven categories politicization, fiscal efficiency, solvency regulation, auto insurance market, homeowners insurance market, residual markets and underwriting freedom. The two factors most emphasized in the report were solvency regulation and underwriting freedom, because it stated it found these factors most illustrative of states ability to create healthy and competitive markets. For 2016, five Eastern U.S. states improved their grade compared to last year (New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont), while six received a lower grade (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, Maryland and Delaware). One state, Rhode Island, received the same grade both years. Best in East: Vermont The report found Vermont had the best insurance regulatory environment in the U.S., receiving the only A+ score and improving from its A grade last year. Whether we are serving consumers or working with the industry, we take pride in being accessible and responsive regulators, Kaj Samsom, deputy commissioner for the insurance division at the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, told Insurance Journal. Maintaining the competitiveness of the markets is key for us. Vermont is a very small market, and we understand that it needs to be an attractive place for insurers to do business, or they simply wont bother. One particular strength the report found in Vermont is its underwriting freedom. This section of scoring was based on rate-filing system descriptions from the 2015 ISO State Filing Handbook, examining the processes states use to review rates in four property-casualty insurance markets: private auto, homeowners, medical liability and general commercial lines. The scores ranged from zero points for states that use a prior approval filing system, in which all rates are approved by a regulator, up to five points for states that use no file systems, in which the state either does not require rates to be filed or filings are seen as a formality. In five other Eastern U.S. states Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey a lack of underwriting freedom was found to be a weakness in scoring. We experience firsthand that consumer choice and price competition are two of the most important consumer protections when it comes to affordability and service, Samsom said. We regularly analyze the personal lines market to ensure that prices are not excessive and that consumers have choice. He added that communication and accessibility are also key to this strategy. This doesnt guarantee that there wont be issues, but when there are, we open a dialogue with the companies and try to get on the same page with how to address the problem, he said. One weakness the report outlined for Vermont, however, was its high tax and fee burdens, which factored into the reports measure of fiscal efficiency for each state. My guess is that it is our fines and penalties that drive this metric, Samsom said. We make no apologies for that. If you break the law, you may face significant penalties. The penalties go straight to the General Fund, not our budget, to avoid any perverse incentives. If we turn the other cheek or go light on a violation, we are not fostering a level playing field and are actually harming the good players in the industry. Samsom acknowledged that while the reports A+ grade is appreciated by Vermont DFS staff, each market is unique, making it difficult to accurately rank all 50 states. Does it mean Vermont is the best regulator? Absolutely not, he said. Attempting to rank the performance of a regulator is fraught with problems. Each states markets, consumers and issues are so unique that having a standardized scorecard is bound to be problematic. Worst in East: Massachusetts Chris Goetcheus, director of communications at the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, also criticized aspects of the scoring rationale as too one-size-fits-all. Massachusetts received the lowest grade of the Eastern U.S. states with a D-, down from its grade of C last year. I think the D- grade is unwarranted, he said. There are areas where I think this report is flawed in regard to its evaluation of the Massachusetts Division of Insurance. The report pointed to a regulatory surplus of more than eight times the size of the insurance department budget as one weakness for the state. The regulatory surplus for each state was considered in determining its fiscal efficiency. One issue outlined in the report was that total fees and assessments collected by state insurance departments across all 50 states were more than double the amount spent on insurance regulation in 2016. Limiting the consideration just to those regulatory fees and assessments that are paid by insurers and insurance producers, states collected about $1.87 billion more in regulatory fees than they spend on regulation, up from $1.61 billion last year, the report said. Goetcheus contested that under Massachusetts law, however, revenue and regulatory spending are divided appropriately. The Massachusetts DOI in the 2016 fiscal year generated $88 million in total revenue, and under our law, the majority of those revenues go to the General Fund, Goetcheus said. The legislature annually appropriates the agency funding, which for the 2016 fiscal year was $15.7 million. The remaining $72.3 million went to the General Fund as it is supposed to do. The report also found Massachusetts large residual markets to be a weakness. Where residual markets grow large, it generally represents evidence that regulatory restrictions have prevented insurers from meeting consumers needs by disallowing what would otherwise be market-clearing prices, the report stated. Based on Automobile Insurance Plans Service Office (AIPSO) data, the report found that three Eastern U.S. states Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have residual markets that account for more than one percent of auto insurance policies. The report measured the size of residual markets for home insurance as well using the most recent available data from the Property Insurance Plans Service Office. They were correct that Massachusetts auto residual market is less than two percent its hovering around 1.4 percent of the total market share, which is very healthy, Goetcheus said. The reason why our residual market for property insurance may be higher than a lot of other states is that Massachusetts FAIR plan offers a full homeowners policy portfolio. Some states dont offer such a broad portfolio, thereby tempering the market share size for those states. Indeed, 30 states and the District of Columbia operate Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plans, originally created to serve consumers in areas where it is difficult to obtain homeowners coverage. One strength the report found in Massachusetts is its ability to regulate insurer solvency. The report looked at how well states examine the companies they regulate by using the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) data on the number of financial exams and combined financial/market conduct exams states reported for domestic companies from 2011 through 2015. It compared those figures to the number of domestic companies listed as operating in the state for those five years. The number one responsibility of an insurance regulator is to monitor company solvency, said Goetcheus. Were very proud of the job that our financial examination staff does at the Massachusetts Division of Insurance. They do a lot with a little, and we havent had an insolvency here since before 2000. Ratings Methodology The report acknowledged that because it is limited to factors it can quantify for all 50 states, there are considerations that it does not reflect. Among other variables, we lack good measures of how well states regulate insurance policy forms and the level of competition in local markets for insurance agents and brokers, the report listed as one example. R.J. Lehmann told Insurance Journal that The R Street Institute believes there is a role for regulation and tries to outline what it believes that role is in its report. We are free market advocates. That is not something we would hide, he said. Were not going to say its not ideological, but its not anti-government. Scores for each state were calculated by adding the weighted results from all seven variables. For each of the categories, data from the most recent available year were used. The report has some great metrics and provides good discussion and context about the methodology used, and I think it has the potential to provoke good conversations, Samsom stated. East Region Grades The three Eastern U.S. states receiving A grades are: Maine with an A, New Hampshire with an A- and Vermont with an A+. The three Eastern U.S. states receiving D grades are: New York with a D+, Massachusetts with a D-, and Delaware with a D. Six Eastern U.S. states received B and C grades, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey with a B-, Virginia with a B, and Connecticut, Maryland and Rhode Island with a C+. Lehmann and other fellows at R Street Institute are authors of the Right Street blog on Insurance Journal.com. IJ West Editor Don Jergler contributed to this report. Related: Topics USA Trends Legislation Massachusetts New Jersey Homeowners Maryland Connecticut Vermont Vermont Governor-elect Phil Scott announced he would reappoint Michael Pieciak as commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation. The department will also retain the deputy commissioners for each of its four divisions, which include Cynthia Stuart for Banking, Kaj Samsom for Insurance, William Carrigan for Securities, and David Provost for Captive Insurance. Commissioner Pieciak was first appointed to this role in July 2016, serving as the chief regulator of the states financial services sector. Prior to that appointment, he served as the deputy commissioner of the departments Securities Division, where he led the investigation into the Jay Peak EB-5 projects. In 2014, the department modernized the states securities laws to allow Vermont businesses to raise capital through equity crowdfunding, making Vermont a leader in the local investing movement. Michael has demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting Vermonters financial security, especially throughout the EB-5 investigation, while also thinking outside the box to help foster entrepreneurship by modernizing systems to help Vermont meet the demands of a new marketplace, Governor-elect Scott said. Im looking for leaders in every agency and department to step up and think differently about how we can better serve Vermonters and grow our economy. Michael and his deputy commissioners have each shown that it is possible to be innovative and modernize, while also safeguarding the security of Vermonters and Vermont businesses. Commissioner Pieciak is an observer member of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies, treasurer and board member of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and member of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). He previously practiced law in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPs New York office, and at Burlingtons Downs Rachlin Martin. Additionally, Deputy Commissioner Stuart was appointed in January 2015 and has worked in banking for nearly two decades. She oversees the division that regulates and examines financial services entities, including banks, credit unions, lenders, mortgage brokers, sales finance companies, debt adjusters and money servicers. Appointed in 2014, Deputy Commissioner Samsom and has served in the department since 2006. The Insurance Division is tasked with maintaining affordability and availability of insurance for Vermonters, ensuring reasonable competition among insurers and protecting consumers against unfair and unlawful business practices. Deputy Commissioner Carrigan was appointed in July 2016 and has worked in the department since 2007. Carrigan is a Certified Fraud Examiner and was a member of the team that investigated the Jay Peak EB-5 matter. He oversees the divisions efforts to protect the Vermont investing public from fraud, and promote development of Vermonts capital markets. In addition, Deputy Commissioner Provost was appointed in June 2008 and has been with the division since 2001. He leads the division in its mission to maintain and enforce a regulatory system that attracts quality captive insurance business to Vermont and advances the growth of this sector. Source: Vermont Department of Financial Regulation Topics Legislation Vermont The former nanny of Pittsburgh Penguins player Chris Kunitz was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison for setting fire to her rental residence and then filing fraudulent insurance claims for the contents. The public defender for Andrea Forsythe, 28, unsuccessfully sought a term running concurrently to one shell receive next month for thefts from the Penguins player and other people for whom she worked as a nanny. She also was ordered to pay more than $179,000 restitution to the insurance companies that covered her losses in the June 23, 2014 fire in Sturgeon. In the other cases, Forsythe was convicted of numerous crimes and will be sentenced Jan. 3 by a judge in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Prosecutors say she stole $12,000 diamond earrings from Kunitzs home in 2013 and sold them to jewelry stores. The earrings were a birthday present for Kunitzs wife, Maureen. The theft charges filed by police in Collier Township, where Kunitz lives with his wife and their children, grew out of the arson and insurance fraud investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into the Sturgeon fire. Forsythe pleaded guilty in July to federal charges of malicious destruction of property by fire and wire fraud for burning the house, then filing fraudulent insurance claims for the contents, including some jewels she had allegedly stolen from another couple while also working as a nanny. The other couple told investigators that an 18-karat gold diamond necklace worth about $4,400 and a gold diamond stud earring worth more than $10,000 had been stolen from them. Appraisals of those jewels were then used by Forsythe to make the fraudulent insurance claims, federal authorities contend. As that investigation progressed, Forsythe eventually confessed to stealing the earrings from Maureen Kunitz. They were appraised at $11,900 when Kunitz bought them for his wifes birthday sometime before she noticed them missing in September 2013. Forsythe acknowledged stealing the diamond earrings from Maureen Kunitzs bedroom while the couple wasnt home, the Collier Township police complaint said. Forsythe then sold a loose diamond from one earring to a jewelry store for $2,542 and the other earring to a precious metals and jewelry store for $1,408.50. Forsythes federal public defender, Jay Finkelstein, in court documents blamed the thefts on Forsythes allegedly abusive home life as a child. Finkelstein has a blanket policy of not commenting to the media. U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon refused Finkelsteins request to allow Forsythes federal sentence to run concurrently to whatever sentence she receives next month saying the theft victims deserve their own justice, so to speak, and the court will not intervene here. However, the county judge could still order that sentence to run concurrent to the federal sentence. If that happens, Forsythe would get credit for serving both terms simultaneously, instead of serving them one after the other. Forsythes public defender in the Allegheny County theft case didnt immediately return a call for comment Tuesday. This story has been corrected to say earrings were sold to jewelry stores rather than jury stores. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Fraud Pennsylvania The twin forces of regulation and technology will see the emergence of new distribution models in 2017. This sounds like a commonly heard disrupter scenario for the U.S. and European markets, but its actually a prediction for the future of agency distribution in Hong Kong. Indeed, next year will mark the beginning of the end for mass agency in Hong Kong, according to Joyce Chan and Kevin Martin, who are partners in Clyde & Co.s Hong Kong office. Hong Kong has for a long time discussed the opportunities for evolution in insurance distribution, but, in reality, it has largely remained a traditional agency based market, they said, noting, however, that this is set to change in 2017. Their prediction is just one of many such predictions for global markets, authored by the insurance team of international law firm Clyde & Co., which Insurance Journal has summarized this week in four articles. Todays article the last in the series includes Chans and Martins predictions on insurance distribution in Hong Kong and a second piece on technology in China, which regulators are warily embracing. (Parts one through three can be accessed via the links below.) Costly Mass Agency Distribution Models In their comments on insurance distribution, Chan and Martin, said they expect to see a drive to new affinity, bancassurance and direct distribution channels, led by the arrival of new market entrants in combination with innovative technology. The result will be a transition from costly mass agency distribution models, Chan and Martin continued. This will be given greater impetus when the cost of administering such channels increases under the additional scrutiny of the new Independent Insurance Authority, due to take over in 2017, and the recent regulatory changes relating to the sale of life insurance, which are intended to reform the industrys approach to sales, with a greater focus on customer protection. Companies best placed to take advantage of these changes are established brands that are not tied to existing costly mass agency forces and can partner with innovative technology companies to create cost effective distribution models, according to Chan and Martin. There is a lot of opportunity for disruption in a market where significant volumes of direct sales have yet to take off, they emphasized. Technological Evolution in China The potential market disorder from technological evolution also was the theme behind Carrie Yangs prediction about Chinese regulation in 2017. She said the Chinese insurance regulator encourages innovation but is wary of possible side effects. New business models responding to technological evolution require a watchful eye, said Yang who is a partner in Clyde & Co.s Shanghai office. To implement the industry-specific 13th Five-Year Plan, the Chinese insurance regulator has been taking various steps, including the reform of its commercial auto insurance market, the development of a multi-layer intermediary market, and the change in supervision of insurance products, she added. While more flexibility will be given to insurers in respect of product diversification and business innovation, the regulator will impose heavier corporate governance obligations on insurers, increasing their cost base as they have to comply with new regulatory requirements, Yang went on to say. She noted that new business models have been developed in response to technological evolution for example, many insurers are using the popular Tencent platforms, i.e. WeChat and QQ, to explore new business opportunities by targeting individual customers. While most of the market players are doing business within the regulatory regime, some have taken advantage of virtual tools to conduct activities in violation of existing laws, Yang explained. Although the regulator expressly encourages business innovation, it will pay close attention to any potential market disorder to echo the State Councils plan of preventing internet finance risks, and will adjust its rules as a result. Related: Topics Carriers Trends Legislation Agencies InsurTech Tech China Grades assigned to the insurance regulatory systems in the Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin range from A to D in a report recently released by a conservative-leaning research organization that annually assesses the effectiveness of states insurance regulatory systems. Illinois (A), Iowa (B+) and Wisconsin (A-) had the highest overall grades of the Midwest states, with a ranking of four, 11, and seven, respectively. The R Street Institutes 2016 Insurance Regulation Report Card scores state insurance regulatory environments in seven different categories: politicization; fiscal efficiency; solvency regulation; auto insurance market, homeowners insurance market, residual markets and underwriting freedom. Overall, Vermont received the highest grade of all states with an A+ and North Carolina came in last with a grade of F. R Street bills itself as a think tank dedicated to free markets and acknowledges that it believes that an open and free insurance market maximizes the effectiveness of competition and best serves consumers. It grades states regulatory systems against principles of limited, effective and efficient government. The report focuses on personal lines. Author R.J. Lehmann writes that R Street believes states have done an effective job of encouraging competition and, at least since the broad adoption of risk-based capital requirements, of ensuring solvency. As a whole and in most individual states, U.S. personal lines markets are not overly concentrated. Insolvencies are relatively rare and, through the runoff process and guaranty fund protections enacted in nearly every state, generally quite manageable. R Street does believe theres a role for insurance regulation, particularly in the area of insurer solvency, Lehmann told Insurance Journal. Were not going to say its not ideological, but its not anti-government, he said. We are free market advocates. That is not something we would hide, Lehmann added. Politicization The less politics are involved in the state insurance regulatory system the better, according to R Street. Therefore, the 11 states in which the insurance commissioner is elected California, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Washington automatically had five points knocked off their scores. The report uses as a baseline those states in which the commissioner is appointed and serves at the pleasure of the governor. This means that no points were added or subtracted for the 19 states that have such a structure. One point was added to the scores of the five states Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota in which the commissioner is appointed by an executive officer of the state other than the governor. In three states Florida, New Mexico and Virginia the commissioner is appointed by a public board. Viewing such a system as advantageous from a political independence perspective, R Street adds three points to the scores for those states. Insurance commissioners in 12 states Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia are appointed for a set term and cannot be removed without a good reason. To R Street, this type of structure offers regulators the most political independence so five points are added to the politicization scores in those states. Fiscal Efficiency State insurance departments collect a lot of money from the entities involved in the business of insurance in their jurisdiction. R Streets analysis judges states on how well they manage and use the vast amounts of capital raised through regulatory fees, assessments, premium taxes, penalties and other revenue sources. Citing National Association of Insurance Commissioner (NAIC) data, R Street said the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia collected around $2.92 billion in insurance industry regulatory fees and assessments in 2015. However, all of the jurisdictions together spent less than half that amount $1.41 billion on insurance regulation last year. Points were removed from a states score if it collects more money from the insurance industry in fees and assessments than it spends on regulatory activities. In other words, states that had a regulatory surplus lost points in the fiscal efficiency category. The report also looked at what it deemed a states tax and fee burden and judged states on the overall fiscal burden they place on insurance products. R Streets ratings for fiscal efficiency range from a high of 15.0 points (Michigan) to a low of 3.1 points (Massachusetts). Solvency Regulation In R Streets view, the most important job for a state insurance department is monitoring the solvency of the companies it regulates. In assessing states solvency regulation R Street looked at how often insurance departments examine the financial strength of companies they regulate, and how well it does in catching the problems that lead to insurance carrier insolvencies. Included in the assessment was study of the in-progress claims liability of insurers placed in runoff, supervision, conservation, receivership and liquidation in each state. In its analysis, R Street also found Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to have somewhat thinly capitalized markets, while some of the most strongly capitalized markets were found in Wisconsin, South Dakota, New Jersey and Hawaii. Solvency regulation category scores range from a high of 17.0 points for Nevada to a low of 7.1 points for Texas. Auto and Homeowners Insurance Markets With regard to auto and home insurance markets, R Street focused on the concentration and market share of insurance groups within each market; and the long-term loss ratios reported by companies operating in those markets. Loss ratios are examined over a period of five years. Points were taken off for both very high loss ratios and very low loss ratios. Lehmann explained that if loss ratios are too high insurers are not charging enough, and if loss ratios are too low they are charging too much. Either is a bad sign, he said. For instance, states with high loss ratios have a difficult time attracting insurers. Lehman pointed out that in Michigan, which has extremely high loss ratios, companies are required to provide unlimited lifetime medical benefits. That is a serious problem for any company trying to do business there, he said. On the other hand, low loss ratios are an indication of a non-competitive market, with companies not lowering premiums even though they are profitable. We consider that a sign that the market is not very competitive, Lehmann said. Auto insurance scores ranged from the least competitive, 0.0 points (Michigan), to the most competitive, 10.0 points (California and Maine). In the homeowners market, scores ranged from 0.0 (Hawaii) to 10.0 points (New Jersey). In the Midwest, the respective scores for auto and homeowners insurance regulation are: Illinois, 6.3 and 4.6; Indiana, 8.7 and 7.1; Iowa, 8.3 and 6.6; Kansas, 8.9 and 7.3; Michigan, 0.0 and 7.5; Minnesota, 7.7 and 6.8; Missouri, 8.1 and 6.3; Nebraska, 8.2 and 3.1; North Dakota, 8.2 and 6.1; Ohio, 9.3 and 8.2; South Dakota, 8.0 and 4.0; and Wisconsin, 8.7 and 8.0. Residual Markets and Underwriting Freedom R Street examined state residual markets for auto and homeowners insurance, as well as specialty funds such as Californias earthquake insurance pool, Floridas catastrophe fund, Michigans catastrophe fund for auto insurance claims and various workers compensation funds. The report recognizes that no state has ever allowed its residual market to fail, there typically is an implicit assumption that states will stand behind a residual market pool or chartered entity if it encounters catastrophic losses. Midwest States at a Glance State 2015 2016 2016 Rank Strengths Weaknesses Illinois B A 4 Underwriting freedom Large runoff liabilities, concentrated auto insurance market, concentrated home insurance market Indiana C+ B 15 (tie) No significant residual markets Large runoff liabilities Iowa A B+ 11 Low politicization, no runoff liabilities, strongly capitalized, no significant residual markets, low tax and fee burden Behind on financial exams Kansas C+ C 33 (tie) No special strengths Highly politicized Michigan C C+ 30 Low politicization, no regulatory surplus, ahead on financial exams, low tax and fee burden Very high auto loss ratio Minnesota C+ B 14 No special strengths Behind on financial exams Missouri B B 17 (tie) No special strengths Large runoff liabilities Nebraska A- B 20 No special strengths Very high homeowners loss ratio North Dakota C D+ 41 No runoff liabilities, competitive auto insurance market Highly politicized, very low auto loss ratio, very low homeowners loss ratio, monopoly workers comp system, little underwriting freedom Ohio B B 17 (tie) Underwriting freedom Large runoff liabilities; monopoly workers comp system South Dakota B+ B 26 No runoff liabilities; strongly capitalized, no significant residual markets Large regulatory surplus, behind on financial exams, very high auto loss ratio, very high homeowners loss ratio Wisconsin B A- 7 Strongly capitalized, underwriting freedom Behind on financial exams Residual market scores ranged from 0.0 points (North Carolina) to 15.0 points, for 13 states with no significant residual markets. As to underwriting freedom, the report subtracted points for states regulatory practices that include desk drawer rules, which Lehmann described as rules that regulators apply that are not on the books. Regulators tend to apply such rules without providing the opportunity to comment on them, he said. If you know that theres a certain kind of requirement that would always be denied, even if theres no rule that it should be denied, we consider that a desk drawer rule. If you try to obey the law as written, you still could be denied any number of business requests. Illinois was found to have the most liberal rate regulation policies, followed by Wyoming and Oklahoma. California was deemed to have the strictest underwriting rules of all states. The insurance departments in Illinois, which was upgraded this year, and North Dakota, which received the lowest grade of the Midwest states, did not respond to requests for comment about R Streets 2016 Insurance Regulation Report Card. Lehmann and other fellows at R Street Institute are authors of the Right Street blog on Insurance Journal.com. IJ West Editor Don Jergler contributed to this report. Related: Topics California Legislation Auto Texas Profit Loss Workers' Compensation Underwriting Michigan Ohio Market Homeowners Missouri Illinois Indiana North Carolina Iowa Kansas Wisconsin Minnesota Nebraska Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will pay a former employee $75,000 to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit filed over the companys alleged actions in regard to an employee at a store Hodgkins, Ill. The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), charged Wal-Mart with failing to accommodate Nancy Stack, a cancer survivor with physical limitations, and subjected her to harassment based on her disability. Stack worked at a Walmart store in Hodgkins, Ill. Wal-Marts alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, which can include denying reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities and subjecting them to a hostile work environment, the EEOC said. As a workplace accommodation, Stack needed a chair and a modified schedule. EEOC alleged that while the store provided Stack with a modified schedule for a period of time, it revoked the accommodation for no stated reason. Further, according to EEOC, the store did not ensure that a chair was in Stacks work area, telling her that she had to haul a chair from the furniture department to her work area, a task that was difficult, given her disability. Making matters even worse, EEOC alleged that a co-worker harassed Stack by calling her cripple and chemo brain. EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Civil Action No. 15-cv-5796). Wal-Mart will pay $75,000 in monetary relief to Stack as part of a consent decree settling the suit. The two-year decree also provides additional, non-monetary relief intended to improve the Hodgkins stores workplace. Under the decree, the store will train employees on disability discrimination and requests for reasonable accommodations under the ADA. The Walmart store will also monitor requests for accommodation and complaints of disability discrimination and report those to EEOC. Source: EEOC Topics Lawsuits Illinois The University of Cincinnati has settled a federal lawsuit filed by a student who said she was told she had to sit and work with other female students and not with male students in a physics lab. U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott (duh-LAHT) officially dismissed the lawsuit this week. Court records show the school agreed to pay the students legal fees. Other details werent made public. Casey Helmicki had filed a gender discrimination lawsuit in July, asking the university to stop segregating by sex. She said a teaching assistant told her to work only with females. University spokesman Greg Vehr says the school was pleased to have a resolution and that it has reminded teaching staff that class groups should be voluntarily formed by students or formed randomly. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Ohio Education Universities Billionaire Carl Icahn will advise Donald Trump on rescinding what the activist investor called excessive regulation on U.S. businesses, the president-elects transition team announced on Wednesday. Icahn will serve as a special adviser, not a federal employee, and he will not have any specific duties, Trumps team said in a statement. He will not take a salary for his service, a transition aide said. But the pick could draw scrutiny because Icahn, whose major investments include insurer American International Group and oil refining business CVR Energy, could play a key role in shaping rules meant to police Wall Street and protect the environment. Icahn has been helping the Trump team weigh candidates to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, people familiar with the issue said. Current chair Mary Jo White will leave the agency in January. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which overseas the derivatives market, also has vacancies. As of last week, candidates to replace White included Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner who is part of Trumps transition team, and Debra Wong Yang, a former federal prosecutor, a source familiar with the matter said. A transition spokeswoman said this week no decision had been made yet. Icahn has said the 2010 Dodd-Frank banking law went too far, and has been a loud critic of the U.S. biofuels program that requires oil companies to use renewable fuels like ethanol. Its time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities, Icahn said in the transition team statement. (Reporting by Emily Stephenson, Sarah N. Lynch, Steve Holland and Diane Bartz in Washington, Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Chris Prentice in New York, and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Chris Reese) Topics Legislation Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in Donbas (TCG) at a meeting on Wednesday discussed the formula proposed by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the OSCE Special Representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas Martin Sajdik said. Sajdik said following the TCG meeting in Minsk on Wednesday, responding to a journalists' question about the 'Steinmeier formula' that the issue was discussed that day and would be discussed in detail during the Normandy Format talks. At the same time the OSCE special representative did not specify the content of this formula. No South Central state had the best score and none had the worst in a report recently released by a conservative-leaning research organization that annually assesses the effectiveness states insurance regulatory systems. Grades assigned to the insurance regulatory systems in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas by R Street Institutes 2016 Insurance Regulation Report Card range from B- to D. The report card scores state insurance regulatory environments in seven different categories: politicization; fiscal efficiency; solvency regulation; auto insurance market, homeowners insurance market, residual markets and underwriting freedom. While grades for Louisiana (D) and Oklahoma (C) remain unchanged from last year, Arkansas grade fell from B to C+ and Texas did a better job this year in R Streets view, which raised the states grade from D in 2015 to B+ in 2016. Overall, Vermont received the highest ranking of all states with an A+ and North Carolina came in last with a grade of F. R Street bills itself as a think tank dedicated to free markets and acknowledges that it believes that an open and free insurance market maximizes the effectiveness of competition and best serves consumers. It grades states regulatory systems against principles of limited, effective and efficient government. The report focuses on personal lines. Author R.J. Lehmann writes that R Street believes states have done an effective job of encouraging competition and, at least since the broad adoption of risk-based capital requirements, of ensuring solvency. As a whole and in most individual states, U.S. personal lines markets are not overly concentrated. Insolvencies are relatively rare and, through the runoff process and guaranty fund protections enacted in nearly every state, generally quite manageable. While admittedly conservative-leaning, R Street does believe theres a role for insurance regulation, particularly in the area of insurer solvency, Lehmann told Insurance Journal. Were not going to say its not ideological, but its not anti-government, he said. We are free market advocates. That is not something we would hide, Lehmann added. Politicization The less politics are involved in the state insurance regulatory system the better, according to R Street. Therefore, the 11 states in which the insurance commissioner is elected California, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Washington automatically had 5 points knocked off their scores. The report uses as a baseline states in which the commissioner is appointed and serves at the pleasure of the governor. This means that no points were added or subtracted for the 19 states that have such a structure. One point was added to the scores of the five states Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota in which the commissioner is appointed by an executive officer of the state other than the governor. In three states Florida, New Mexico and Virginia the commissioner is appointed by a public board. Viewing such a system as advantageous from a political independence perspective, R Street adds three points to the scores for those states. Insurance commissioners in 12 states Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia are appointed for a set term and cannot be removed without a good reason. To R Street, this type of structure offers regulators the most political independence so five points are added to the politicization scores in those states. Fiscal Efficiency State insurance departments collect a lot of money from the entities involved in the business of insurance in their jurisdiction. R Streets analysis judges states on how well they manage and use the vast amounts capital raised through regulatory fees, assessments, premium taxes, penalties and other revenue sources. Citing National Association of Insurance Commissioner (NAIC) data, R Street said the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia collected around $2.92 billion in insurance industry regulatory fees and assessments in 2015. However, these jurisdictions together spent less than half that amount $1.41 billion on insurance regulation last year. Points were removed from a states score if it collects more money from the insurance industry in fees and assessments than it spends on regulatory activities. In other words, states that had a regulatory surplus lost points in the fiscal efficiency category. The report also looked at what it deemed a states tax and fee burden and judged states on the overall fiscal burden they place on insurance products. R Streets ratings for fiscal efficiency range from a high of 15.0 points (Michigan) to a low of 3.1 points (Massachusetts). Solvency Regulation In assessing states solvency regulation R Street looked at how often insurance departments examine the financial strength of companies they regulate, and how well it does in catching the problems that lead to insurance carrier insolvencies. Included in the assessment was study of the in-progress claims liability of insurers placed in runoff, supervision, conservation, receivership and liquidation in each state. In its analysis, R Street also found Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to have somewhat thinly capitalized markets, while some of the most strongly capitalized markets were found in Wisconsin, South Dakota, New Jersey and Hawaii. Solvency regulation category scores range from a high of 17.0 points for Nevada to a low of 7.1 points for Texas. Auto and Homeowners Insurance Markets With regard to auto and home insurance markets, R Street focused on the concentration and market share of insurance groups within each market; and the long-term loss ratios reported by companies operating in those markets. Loss ratios are examined over a period of five years. Points were taken off for both very high loss ratios and very low loss ratios. Lehmann explained that if loss ratios are too high insurers are not charging enough, and if loss ratios are too low they are charging too much. Either is a bad sign, he said. For instance, states with high loss ratios have a difficult time attracting insurers. Lehman pointed out that in Michigan, which has extremely high loss ratios, companies are required to provide unlimited lifetime medical benefits. That is a serious problem for any company trying to do business there, he said. On the other hand, low loss ratios are an indication of a non-competitive market, with companies not lowering premiums even though they are profitable. We consider that a sign that the market is not very competitive, Lehmann said. Auto insurance scores ranged from the least competitive, 0.0 points (Michigan), to the most competitive, 10.0 points (California and Maine). In the homeowners market, scores ranged from 0.0 (Hawaii) to 10.0 points (New Jersey). For the South Central states, the respective scores for auto and homeowners insurance regulation are: Arkansas, 7.9 and 6.3; Louisiana, 3.8 and 4.1; Oklahoma, 8.0 and 3.4; and Texas, 9.3 and 7.6. Residual Markets and Underwriting Freedom R Street examined residual markets for auto and homeowners insurance, as well as specialty funds such as Californias earthquake insurance pool, Floridas catastrophe fund, Michigans catastrophe fund for auto insurance claims and various workers compensation funds. The report recognizes that no state has ever allowed its residual market to fail, there typically is an implicit assumption that states will stand behind a residual market pool or chartered entity if it encounters catastrophic losses. Residual market scores ranged from 0.0 points (North Carolina) to 15.0 points, for 13 states with no significant residual markets. As to underwriting freedom, the report subtracted points for states regulatory practices that include desk drawer rules, which Lehmann described as rules that regulators apply that are not on the books. The report calls out Arkansas as one state that has voluminous or onerous desk drawer rules. South Central States at a Glance State 2105 2016 2016 Rank Strengths Weaknesses Arkansas B C+ 31 No significant residual markets Large regulatory surplus, behind on financial exams, desk drawer rules Louisiana D D 45 No special strengths Highly politicized, large regulatory surplus, concentrated auto insurance market, very low homeowners loss ratio, large homeowners residual market Oklahoma C C 33 Underwriting freedom Highly politicized, concentrated home insurance market, very high homeowners loss ratio, large workers comp fund Texas D B- 25 Low politicization, ahead on financial exams Thinly capitalized, large homeowners residual market, large workers comp fund Regulators tend to apply such rules without providing the opportunity to comment on them, he said. If you know that theres a certain kind of requirement that would always be denied, even if theres no rule that it should be denied, we consider that a desk drawer rule. If you try to obey the law as written, you still could be denied any number of business requests. Illinois was found to have the most liberal rate regulation policies, followed by Wyoming and Oklahoma. California was deemed to have the strictest underwriting rules of all states. The Louisiana Insurance Department, which ranked lowest among the South Central states, did not respond to a request for comment about R Streets 2016 Insurance Regulation Report Card. Lehmann and other fellows at R Street Institute are authors of the Right Street blog on Insurance Journal.com. IJ West Editor Don Jergler contributed to this report. Related: Topics California Legislation Auto Texas Profit Loss Workers' Compensation Louisiana Underwriting Michigan Market Homeowners Oklahoma North Carolina Arkansas North Carolina ranks the worst of all 50 states when it comes to insurance regulation, according to a 2016 insurance regulation report card by an insurance industry think tank. The R Street Institutes 2016 Insurance Regulation Report Card scores state insurance regulatory environments in seven different categories: politicization; fiscal efficiency; solvency regulation; auto insurance market, homeowners insurance market, residual markets and underwriting freedom. Based on these ratings, each state is given a letter grade. Overall, Vermont received the highest grade of all states with an A+ and North Carolina came in last with a grade of F. Other states, including Florida and South Carolina, fared better but their regulators still dispute some of R Streets claims in its report and say some are based on inaccurate information. The author of the fifth annual report, R.J. Lehmann, writes that states have for the most part done an effective job of encouraging competition and, at least since the broad adoption of risk-based capital requirements, of ensuring solvency. The report also says that, for the most part, U.S. personal lines markets are not overly concentrated, insolvencies are relatively rare and, through the runoff process and guaranty fund protections enacted in nearly every state, generally quite manageable. But the report contends that state-by-state regulations does lead to inefficiencies and particular state policies that have discouraged capital formation, stifled competition and concentrated risk. R Street bills itself as a think tank dedicated to free markets. The institute believes that an open and free insurance market maximizes the effectiveness of competition and best serves consumers. The report, which focuses on personal lines, grades states regulatory systems against principles of limited, effective and efficient government. R Street said it believes there is a role for insurance regulation, particularly in the area of insurer solvency, but Lehmann told Insurance Journal that the group is ultimately a free market advocate. Lehmann says the point of the report is not to be anti-government but to outline what the role of state insurance regulation is. The largest single factor in our report is solvency regulation, Lehmann said. For the Southeast, the states ranked as following: Kentucky A-; South Carolina B; Tennessee B-; Georgia C; W. Virginia C; Alabama C-; Florida C; Mississippi D; and North Carolina F. Each state was graded on its strength and weaknesses in the aforementioned categories. North Carolina Issues According to R Street, North Carolina had no special strengths and its weaknesses included being highly politicized, having a large auto residual market and a large homeowners residual market, as well as little underwriting freedom. The report says that North Carolinas Beach Plan and FAIR plan have increased significantly in just a few years. In 2011, the Beach Plan wrote 3.37 percent of the states market and the FAIR Plan wrote 0.62 percent. In 2015, the North Carolina FAIR Plan was up to 2.16 percent and the North Carolina Beach Plan was up to 7.03 percent. North Carolina was also dinged for having an elected insurance commissioner. Lehmann said elected commissioners, as well as those appointed by a governor, can get caught up in playing politics instead of regulating the industry. Among non-elected commissioners, in states where you serve a set term that can overlap multiple (gubernatorial) administrations, that seems like the independence that is the best, he said, adding that this means a commissioner isnt serving at the pleasure of one executive. The state also suffered a downgrade because of the central role the North Carolina Rate Bureau plays in the personal lines market. The report calls the state an outlier because of its large residual auto market saying that 30 percent of the states auto market is in the North Carolina Reinsurance Facility. North Carolina had the worst score for the second year in a row and received a failing grade for the third year in a row, the report states. The North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) did not respond to requests for comment by Insurance Journal on the report or its failing grade of the state. Insurance Commissioner-Elect Mike Causey has stated that reforming the North Carolina Rate Bureau will be one of his tasks when he takes over next month from the incumbent he defeated, Wayne Goodwin. In a statement to Insurance Journal, Causey said that while he is not in total agreement on the methodology used in this report, he does agree that in some areas North Carolina is over-regulated and this over-regulation hurts consumers by limiting competition. However, he said, contrary to the reports methodology, allowing voters to vote for an insurance commissioner is actually less political than having a governor appoint one of his top campaign donors or political friends. A board or commission is also made up of political appointees, so a free and fair election is the one way voters can directly choose their own insurance regulator, Causey said. As commissioner I will work to make North Carolina more competitive in the insurance business and give consumers more choices. Florida Takes Issue Florida moved up from last years grade of D to a C this year, but the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) took little solace from the upgrade by R Street. The report lists Floridas strengths as having no regulatory surplus, a competitive home insurance market and a low tax and fee burden. However, Floridas OIR took issue with R Streets weaknesses of being behind on financial exams; a very low homeowners loss ratio an indication of high rates, according to Lehmann; and the states utilization of desk drawer rules. Lehmann described desk drawer rules as rules of thumb that regulators apply that are not on the books. If you know that theres a certain kind of requirement that would always be denied, even if theres no rule that it should be denied, we consider that a desk drawer rule, Lehmann said. If you try to obey the law as written, you still could be denied any number of business requests. Floridas OIR Communications Director Amy Bogner said they disagree with the reports assessment. We are current with exams. Our residual market has dramatically reduced in recent years, and a low homeowners loss ratio indicates that Floridas property insurers have the opportunity to earn a reasonable profit. We do not know what desk drawer rules are being referenced, but in Florida we enforce statutes and promulgated rules, Bogner told Insurance Journal. South Carolina Disputes South Carolina Insurance Director Raymond Farmer also took issue with R Streets charge that his state is behind on its financial exams, which was cited in the report as a weakness. Farmer said staying on top of the states exam responsibilities is a task he takes very seriously. This year was our year to have NAIC Accreditation review and we sailed right through that and if we were behind on anybodys exam they would have pointed that out, Farmer said. Whoever did the report is certainly ill-informed and didnt do their homework. The report also lists the states supposedly large homeowners residual market as a weakness and a reason South Carolinas grade fell from an A- in 2015 to a B in 2016, but Farmer said that information is also inaccurate. We have a very competitive homeowners market the state windpool is actually losing business, Farmer said. We have added over 60 companies to our homeowners marketplace in the last 4 years. We think we have a great insurance environment here in South Carolina and think we are as free a market as anyone can be and are always looking to increase competition. Kentuckys Grade Kentucky was the only state to earn a grade higher than B in the Southeast, but it dropped from an A grade in 2015 to an A- this year, ranking no. 9 of all 50 states. The strengths for the state were listed as low politicization, being ahead on financial exams, and no run off liabilities. Its weaknesses were listed as a concentrated home insurance market, and a large workers comp fund. The report gave credence to the states political independence structure for appointing its insurance regulator in Kentucky it is done by the governor. The report says this structure offers the greatest political independence for the regulator. The Kentucky Department of Insurance said it had not viewed the report when contacted by Insurance Journal, but it said it planned to review it. Lehmann and other fellows at R Street Institute are authors of the Right Street blog on InsuranceJournal.com. IJ West Editor Don Jergler contributed to this report. Related: Topics Florida Legislation Agribusiness Market Homeowners North Carolina Kentucky South Carolina Officials in Birmingham, Ala., say three of five planned community storm shelters will be open before the spring tornado season. Thats nearly six years after the April 27, 2011 tornadoes that devastated parts of Alabama, including the community of Pratt City. One tornado hit the northwest Birmingham community, killing one person and destroying the library, a fire station, numerous homes, apartment buildings, at least one church and vehicles. The Birmingham News reports all of the shelters will be located in Pratt City. Under Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines, Birmingham Planning and Engineering Director Andre Bittas says all of the shelters have to be located within a five-minute walk of the residents of the Pratt City community. Alabama was awarded $33 million from FEMA to build community shelters. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Alabama A report gives Californias insurance regulatory environment low marks for auto body repair rules, the insurance commissioners call for insurers to divest from coal, its prior approval law and being the most politicized state in the country. California was given a D- by the 2016 Insurance Regulation Report Card from R Street Institute, a group that says its dedicated to the mantra, Free markets. Real solutions. The annual survey tests which state regulatory systems embody the principles of limited, effective and efficient government. It is the philosophy of the reports authors that states should regulate only market activities in which government is best-positioned to act, and those activities should produce a little as possible financial burden on policyholders, companies and taxpayers. Other Western states that received poor grades were Alaska (D-), Hawaii (D) and Montana (D). A-grades were given to Arizona, Idaho and Utah. Nevada (B+), Oregon (B+), New Mexico (B) and Wyoming (B) followed. Colorado earned a C-grade and Washington received a C-. Nationwide, Vermont graded out as the best regulatory system for insurance and North Carolina had the worst grades. Californias poor grade didnt sit well with the insurance commissioners office. These so-called report cards by these right-wing affiliates should be dismissed as nothing more than political garbage, said Byron Tucker, deputy commissioner of the California Department of Insurance. This is just another partisan study by a biased, self-serving organization. Nobody in California views R Street as objective and credible. R Street Senior Fellow R.J. Lehmann, who authored the report, said the state had points deducted because the office of insurance commissioner is politicized, which includes decisions made by the commissioner that he said were political. The report, however, isnt political, he added. We are free market advocates. That is not something we would hide, Lehmann said. We believe there is a role for regulation. A primary scoring consideration, for example, is solvency regulation. States not doing an effective job of regulating solvency have points subtracted. The largest single factor in our report is solvency regulation, he said, adding that solvency is an objective topic, not a political one. Were not going to say its not ideological, but its not anti-government. Major deductions for California included a decision in January from California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who asked all insurers that do business in the state to divest from thermal coal and to require insurance companies to disclose such investments. To comply with this request would mean making no new investments, not renewing existing investments, and selling or withdrawing from existing investments in thermal coal, according to the California Department of Insurance. It should be noted that as of now, Jones divestment request is voluntary, and specifically requests a divestment from any entity that either extracts or burns thermal coal or that derives 30 percent or more of its revenues from thermal coal. His job as the insurance commissioner of California when it comes to investing is to look to see if they are prudent and they are effectively matched to the risk that the insurer takes on, Lehmann said. His job is not to pick industries. He said he finds the idea somewhat ludicrous that the commissioner believes he knows the risk of an investment and an insurer doesnt. This is one of the primary reasons the report declares California to be the most politicized state in the U.S. More deductions came from a decision from Jones in March on a pair of auto-body regulations that would require insurance companies to inspect a damaged vehicle within six business days, and would limit companies freedom to comment about a particular auto-body repair shop where the effect might be to dissuade customers from choosing that shop. The top reason Lehmann gave for Californias D- is a law thats been around since 1988. Its basically Prop 103, he said. Prop 103 does not permit the kind of market-based competition that we think works in most states. Prop. 103 requires, among other things, that property/casualty insurers justify their rates. The industry has challenged the law in the past. Last year a Sacramento Superior Court rejected an industry challenge on the commissioners regulations under Prop 103 that limit the amount of advertising costs insurers may pass on to consumers through insurance premiums. This prior approval auto regulation makes it difficult to introduce products, and makes it hard for insurers to increase or even lower rates, Lehmann said. An insurer responding to market conditions, for example, may want to cut rates. That would be unlikely, however, knowing they couldnt easily raise them later. If you had the freedom to adjust your rates based on conditions in the market, you would see a lot more companies offer discounts, Lehmann said. Californias a very restrictive state and we think that is a concern. Those who support Prop. 103 say it has saved consumers lots of money. A report in 2013 from the Consumer Federation of America that analyzed the auto insurance regulatory systems of each of the 50 states from 1988 through present singles out California and the landmark insurance reforms in Prop 103. That report shows an estimated savings to California drivers of $100 billion, or $8,125 per household, since the law passed. The authors also called for prior approval regulations similar to Prop. 103 for the rest of the states. Having an elected commissioner also cost points in the R Street report. Lehmann said elected commissioners, like Californias, as well as those appointed by a governor, can get caught up in playing politics instead of regulating the industry. Among non-elected commissioners, in states where you serve a set term that can overlap multiple (gubernatorial) administrations, that seems like the independence that is the best, he said, adding that this means a commissioner isnt serving at the pleasure of one executive. Three states in which commissioners dont directly serve one executive got positive points in the grading: in Virginia the commissioner is nominated by the State Corporation Commission; in New Mexico the Public Regulation Commission has the say over commissioner; and in Florida the Department of Financial Services appoints the commissioner. The report also dings California under the category of residual markets because of the California Earthquake Authority, which has an estimated 40 percent of the states earthquake market. The CEA is a product of a law that earthquake insurance must be offered in the first place, Lehmann said. We probably would ultimately disagree with that law. The CEA was created by Legislature following the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and the home insurance crisis the ensued. At that time the state also passed a law requiring insurers offering homeowners insurance in the state to also offer earthquake insurance. Lehmann said he believes its appropriate for a bank to require earthquake insurance if it is holding an outstanding mortgage, but if youre not a lender who wants to secure their principal, then ultimately it should be up to the policyholder. He also believes insurers could craft more products to deal with earthquake risk if the market were freer, and that consumer deductibles would shrink if more insurers were able to compete in the earthquake market. I think CEA has gotten better, he added. In fact, the CEA, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, has lowered rates by 55 percent combined in that time and has created a range of deductibles (5 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent, 25 percent), according to CEA CEO Glenn Pomeroy. Several states, including California, were downgraded for practicing desk drawer rules, which are rules of thumb that regulators apply that are not on the books. If you know that theres a certain kind of requirement that would always be denied, even if theres no rule that it should be denied, we consider that a desk drawer rule, Lehmann said. If you try to obey the law as written, you still could be denied any number of business requests. The grading isnt all bad for California. It graded out as one of the most competitive states in terms of the auto insurance market. Alaska was another state that was hammered in the report. The state received a D- overall. It was knocked for having highly concentrated auto and home insurance markets, and Gov. Bill Walkers veto in July of SB 127, which would have allowed insurers to consider a consumers credit information during policy renewals. Lori Wing-Heier, director of the states insurance department, said the state currently allows credit scoring to be used on new applications, but not on renewal business unless certain statutory procedures are met. SB 127 simplified the process for renewal business, when it was vetoed by Governor Bill Walker, she wrote in an email reply to a request for comment for this article. It did not eliminate or change the use of credit scoring on new applications or on renewal. She noted that Walker intends to introduce a revised bill at the start of the legislative session next month that will strengthen consumer protections. It is our hope to strengthen the personal lines market and provide additional consumer protections with the passage and enactment of this new bill, Wing-Heier said. Hawaii received a D for its low loss ratio, having a concentrated homeowners market, having a workers comp fund that accounts for more than a quarter of the market, having a prior approval system, banning the use of credit in auto insurance underwriting and ratemaking, and prohibiting the use of age and gender in underwriting variables. A spokesman for Hawaiis insurance department declined to comment. Montanas D was for having an elected commissioner, for having a state fund that writes more than half the workers comp market and prohibiting the use of gender and marital status in underwriting variables. Laura Parvey-Connors, communications director for the Office of the Montana State Auditor, Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, responded in an emailed comment that the commissioner is elected according to the state constitution. The Office of the Montana State Auditor didnt have the regulatory authority over the Montana State Fund until 2015, she wrote. Senate Bill 123, passed in 2015, assigned regulatory authority over the Montana State Fund to the auditors office with provisions that retained the state funds certainty for a certificate of authority, requirement to be a guaranteed market for workers compensation and exemption from paying the premium tax. The fact that State Fund writes more than half of the workers comp in the state is because they are the guarantee market for workers compensation, she stated. Lehmann and other fellows at R Street Institute are authors of the Right Street blog on Insurance Journal.com. Related: Topics Carriers California Catastrophe Legislation Auto Workers' Compensation Homeowners Earthquake Eight Seattle children should have their day in court to argue that Washington state and others arent protecting them from climate change, a judge ruled. King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill on Monday allowed the young petitioners to move ahead in their case against the state, writing that it is time for these youth to have the opportunity to address their concerns in a court of law, concerns raised under statute and under the state and federal constitutions. The petitioners, between 12 and 16 years old, had asked the judge last month to find the state Department of Ecology in contempt for failing to adequately protect them and future generations from global warming. The judge said Ecology had complied with her orders by adopting the Clean Air Rule within the timeline set by the court, and so denied the youths request to find Ecology in contempt. But the judge allowed the young people to amend their complaint and move ahead with their constitutional claims so as to have their day in court, she wrote. The Court takes this action due to the emergent need for coordinated science based action by the State of Washington to address climate change before efforts to do so are too costly and too late, Hill wrote. The petitioners can now go to court and argue that the state has violated their rights under the state constitution and the legal principle called the public trust doctrine, which requires the government to protect shared resources, said Andrea Rodgers, a Western Environmental Law Center attorney representing the youth. All of the policies that the state has implemented in response to climate change are not resulting in emissions reductions that comply with state law and science, she said. Ecology spokeswoman Camille St. Onge said the state has adopted one of nations most progressive carbon pollution reduction regulations and will continue to do our part to help slow climate change. The case is part of a larger effort led by the Oregon-based nonprofit Our Childrens Trust to force governments to take action on climate change. Last month, a federal judge in Eugene, Oregon, allowed a similar climate change case against President Barack Obamas administration to proceed. In that lawsuit, 21 activists ages 9 to 20 argue that the federal governments actions violate their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, and the government has violated its obligation to hold certain natural resources in trust for future generations. The judge in Seattle noted that the youth argued in their initial petition for a rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions based on the best available science. A rule was adopted but, the judge wrote, Ecology agreed that it isnt intended to meet the requirements of a state law requiring specific reductions of greenhouse gas emissions over the next decades. The petitioners say governments must adopt science-based prescriptions that protect the rights of young people and future generations to a stable climate. The judge said she would retain jurisdiction in the case. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Washington Climate Change Kyiv's court of appeals on December 20 upheld a ruling of court of a lower instance to ban the owner of TMM construction company Mykola Tolmachev from travelling abroad over his debt of $15 million to the First Ukraine International Bank (FUIB, Kyiv), the bank has reported on its website. According to the report, Kyiv's Pechersky district court on November 11 banned Tolmachev from travelling abroad. He is the owner and director general of TMM-Energobud. The court took into account an application of the law enforcer in the case to collect a debt of over $15 million to the bank under the surety agreement and credit agreement. The bank said that on December 20, the debt of Tolmachev was over $14 million. His personal car and apartment were seized to cover the debt. TMM has been operating on the Ukrainian market since 1994. KYIV. Dec 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) Kyiv's court of appeals on December 20 upheld a ruling of court of a lower instance to ban the owner of TMM construction company Mykola Tolmachev from travelling abroad over his debt of $15 million to the First Ukraine International Bank (FUIB, Kyiv), the bank has reported on its website. According to the report, Kyiv's Pechersky district court on November 11 banned Tolmachev from travelling abroad. He is the owner and director general of TMM-Energobud. The court took into account an application of the law enforcer in the case to collect a debt of over $15 million to the bank under the surety agreement and credit agreement. The bank said that on December 20, the debt of Tolmachev was over $14 million. His personal car and apartment were seized to cover the debt. TMM has been operating on the Ukrainian market since 1994. Select A TV Show - Select A TV Show - Les Vraies Housewives Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Real Housewives di Napoli The Real Housewives of Amsterdam The Real Housewives of Athens The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Real Housewives of Auckland The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills The Real Housewives of Cape Town The Real Housewives of Cheshire The Real Housewives of D.C. The Real Housewives of Dallas The Real Housewives of Dubai The Real Housewives of Durban The Real Housewives of Hungary The Real Housewives of Jersey UK The Real Housewives of Johannesburg The Real Housewives of Melbourne The Real Housewives of Miami The Real Housewives of New Jersey The Real Housewives of New York City The Real Housewives of Orange County The Real Housewives of Potomac The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City The Real Housewives of Sydney The Real Housewives of Toronto The Real Housewives of Vancouver The Real Housewives Slovenia Vanderpump Rules Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met with former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on Thursday, the Belarusian presidential press service said. Lukashenko and Kuchma conferred on the current status and the perspective of Belarus-Ukraine relations and the activity of the Trilateral Contact Group promoting settlement in eastern Ukraine, it said. The sides had a cordial conversation and exchanged gifts. They also underlined friendly relations between themselves and peoples of the two countries. Lukashenko said he was glad to have the meeting. "It is always a great honor to speak with you. Besides, people should know that life marches on," Kuchma said. "They should also know that we are still friends," the Belarusian president added. Belarus and Ukraine will mark the 25th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations on December 27, 2016. Gardai are investigating after a car was set alight while a man slept inside. The incident occurred in Dublin, along Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge at around 11.15pm last night. The man, who is in his 40s, was taken to St Vincent's Hospital with minor injuries. It is reported that he is believed to be homeless. Gardai in Irishtown are investigating the incident and no arrests have yet been made. Russias military is now stronger that any possible foe, Vladimir Putin has said. The Russian president told an annual end-of-year meeting with the defence ministry: "We can say with certainty: we are stronger now than any potential aggressor." Tensions between Russia and the West escalated after Russias annexation in Crimea in 2014 and its involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Last year, Russia began an air force operation in Syria to support president Bashar Assad, which irked the US in particular. Both Russia and Nato members conducted a flurry of military drills near the Russian border this year. Russia has insisted that it is bolstering its forces at the border in reaction to a growing Nato threat. Speaking at the defence ministrys headquarters in Moscow, Mr Putin said Russia should follow closely any military movement along its border as well as changes "in the military and political situation globally". He said Russia should be swift in "adjusting plans to neutralise potential threats to our country." Mr Putin made the comments after defence minister Sergei Shoygu presented his annual report, lauding Russias military achievements in Syria as well as successful efforts to modernise the Russian army. Among other things, Mr Shoygu said Russia "for the first time in its history" has fully covered the Russian border with early warning anti-missile systems. Shoygu also announced plans to send more troops to Russias west, south-west and the Arctic region. Mr Putin thanked the ministry for its work but added that "the situation might change very quickly" in case "we let ourselves relax even for a moment". Herdwatch, MagGrow, and Crowley Engineering will be on the stand (Hall 8, Stand 863), on Wednesday, January 19, and 12 companies that have received support from Enterprise Ireland will be exhibiting at LAMMA under their own banners. The Herdwatch cloud-based app is a smartphone, tablet or computer app that allows you to record farm events as they happen. It is marketed as a complete mobile herd management tool that doesnt rely on the internet to record. It has won several awards, and the same can be said for MagGrow, a company with pioneering magnetic spraying technology that reduces drift by up to 80% while, at the same time, delivering superior coverage by using fine droplets, a key challenge of conventional drift reduction technologies. Only last week, MagGrow was named by the Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA) as a Top 10 winner of its 2016 GCCA Later Stage Awards. It is one of just 10 companies from around the world, and the only company from Ireland, to win a 2016 GCCA Award, in the food/smart agriculture category. The GCCA Awards were presented week in Little Rock, Arkansas, in conjunction with the Global Cleantech Summit 2016 and Reunion of Club de Madrid and P80 Group. GCCA is a Swiss foundation that provides access to capital, corporates, markets and insights, with a vision to drive sustainable regional economic development globally. The third company to be featured next month on the Enterprise Ireland stand at LAMMA is Crowley Engineering, based at Glanmire, Co Cork, who offer innovative engineered solutions within the arable and livestock sectors, manufacturing and installing grain storage facilities, feeding systems, dryers, milling equipment, silos and bins, to name just a few key areas of activity. The other 12 companies exhibiting at LAMMA that have received support from Enterprise Ireland are Abbey Machinery, Cross Agricultural Machinery, Dairymaster, Distag QCS, Future Grass Technology, Hi-Spec Engineering, Major Equipment, Malone Engineering, Mastek, McHale, Samco Agricultural Manufacturing, Tanco Autowrap and Wakely Engineering. Enterprise Irelands clients exports have almost doubled in the past 10 years, and exceeded 20 billion for the first time in 2015. Exports represent 52% of all sales by Enterprise Ireland companies, with significant growth across all key sectors, including agriculture. The three-judge court upheld a commercial court finding that Maureen Curran, from Oldcastle, Co Meath, had made out no arguable defence to Bank of Irelands claim for summary judgement against her for the 1m. Ms Curran, a widow, is the mother of Michael Curran whose XL Fuels Group, Oldcastle, went into receivership when the firm defaulted on loans from Bank of Ireland. The bank had brought proceedings seeking judgement against Mr Curran and his mother. Judgment for 2.2m was previously entered against Mr Curran who did not defend the application but Mrs Curran maintained she had an arguable defence. Yesterday, the Court of Appeal agreed with the commercial court that she had made out no arguable defence, including on grounds the guarantee was executed under undue influence or was an unconscionable bargain such as entitled her to argue it was unenforceable. Giving the courts judgement, Ms Justice Mary Irvine noted Mrs Curran was a director of the company, its secretary and received what was described as a stipend for her services. Mrs Curran had signed an acceptance of facilities which the bank agreed in May 2008 to make available to the company, the judge said. It was not disputed that she signed the guarantee in three places and in the presence of two bank officials during an encounter which took place, at her request, in her home. Her third signature was under a statement written by her which advised she understood the nature of the liability she was undertaking and did not wish to get independent legal advice. It was accepted the text of that statement was read to her by one of the officials. The judge said Mrs Currans claim of undue influence seemed to be made not against the bank but rather her son, who had an interest in procuring execution of the guarantee. Evidence to support a claim of undue influence by her son or based on the conduct of the bank was glaringly absent from Mrs Currans affidavits, the judge ruled. The 33-year-old woman stated in her victim impact statement that she continually had nightmares reliving the rape. Now I feel like my life is regressed and I am less of a mother because a huge chunk of me was taken away that night, the statement continued. The 33-year-old man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape on January 26, 2014, in a Dublin suburb. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy was ready to pass sentence yesterday having heard evidence on Monday but Caroline Biggs, defending, asked for the case to be adjourned to seek the directors and complainants view in relation to potential significant compensation. Mr Naughten has defended the adverts, which have been broadcast on TV and radio, though the advertising watchdog told complainants that they were misleading. However, his cabinet colleague, Ms Doherty, said the adverts wrongly insinuate that ambulance services will not reach the scene of an emergency on time or at all if callers do not use their Eircode. Following complaints, a document issued by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland initially found the Eircode ads were misleading and that they breached four sections of its code. The Irish Examiner revealed that despite communicating its initial decision to the three complainants who made submissions against the ads, the ASAI subsequently changed its position and said it had no remit to uphold complaints, because the subject matter was a public service broadcast. Reacting to the story on social media, Ms Doherty tweeted close loophole asap stupid ad. It is my view that all bodies who advertise should be subject to the same rules, standards, and governance, Ms Doherty told this paper. A still from the ad Asked about her description of the ads as stupid, Ms Doherty said: While Eircode can, indeed, assist in directing emergency services to the location of an incident, the insinuation in this ad is that an emergency may not be reached on time, or at all, without the use of Eircode. I do not feel that this is representative of the work of the members of our National Ambulance Service, who work tirelessly and efficiently every day, both with and without the use of Eircode, she said. However, the Department of Communications which signed off on the ads refused to comment on the initial ASAI ruling. The ASAI did not find Eircode in breach, the case was deemed outside of the remit of the code, and, therefore, no further analysis was completed by the ASAI, the department said. A statement on behalf of Mr Naughten defended the broadcasts. One of the benefits of using Eircodes is to make it easier to find addresses, including in an emergency situation, the minister said. The rationale for the recent Eircode advertisement was to remind the public of the benefits of using Eircodes, when calling for an ambulance. Since the advertisement, the ambulance service have noticed an improvement in the elderly population knowing their Eircode, which demonstrates the value of introducing the system, Mr Naughten said. Ukraine ready to release 15 captives as goodwill gesture before end of 2017 - Sajdik Kyiv is ready to release 15 captives before the end of 2017, the OSCE Special Representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas Martin Sajdik said. "Ukraine expressed readiness to release 15 people as a goodwill gesture before the end of the year," Sajdik told reporters following a meeting of the contact group in Minsk. He said that Ukraine will release women and injured people. Clyde Keogh, aged 20, of Ballyclough Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick pleaded guilty to robbing and attempting to rob a number of young teenagers who were on their way to school on January 21. Yesterday, Limerick Circuit Court heard Keogh threatened to stab and shoot the children after he had stolen from them while he was on a drugs bender. Keogh hit the headlines earlier this year when he threw a bottle of Coke at a district court judge after she refused him bail in the case. A solicitor said Constansa Munteanu, aged 18, had told him: I am Romanian, no one will employ me. The teenager, from 50 Orchard Court, Blackpool, Cork, appeared before Cork District Court for penalty only. She was fined 150 for begging at Winthrop St on November 24. Dennis Healy, solicitor, said the girl was actively involved in courses such as learning English and sewing and was seeking work. The solicitor represented several members of the Roma community yesterday who pleaded guilty to offences of street begging. Florin Fiti, aged 31, of 5 Douglas Rd, Cork, was fined 250 for an offence on Liberty St on December 3. Insp Brian ODonovan said the accused was actively begging with a puppy on his lap and had received over 80 by the time gardai arrested him. Judge Marie Keane directed the 80 would be sent to Cork Penny Dinners. Mr Healy said Fiti had been in Ireland for the past five years and could not get a job. Judge Marie Keane said: I would have thought it should be obvious to him he is not going to achieve work in this country. The solicitor said that after many years of representing members of the Roma community in Cork, their prospects were even worse in Romania. Also before the court was Lina Munteanu, aged 21, who was fined 250 for stealing over 100 worth of cosmetics from Boots in Blackpool retail park on May 21, and Veta Rostas, aged 36, of 11 Springview Terrace, Commons Rd, who was given two fines of 200 for begging at South Mall on December 8 and at Liberty St on December 11. Ionel Rostas, aged 42, of 5 Southern View Place, High St, and Maria Puica, aged 21, of 30 Orchard Court, Blackpool, were each fined 250 for begging on December 17. Madian Rostas, aged 28, of 11 Springview Terrace, Commons Rd, was fined 250 for begging on November 29 and Cornel Rostas, aged 25, of 80 College Rd, received two 150 fines for begging on November 15 and 23, and 200 for shoplifting at Penneys, St Patricks Street, on November 25. The Fine Gael leader confirmed the situation as he acknowledged the removal of Britain from the EU could take a decade and as his officials sought to downplay concerns over the rights of UK-based Irish citizens. Speaking to reporters as part of a wide-ranging Christmas media briefing, Mr Kenny said he will meet with the Conservative party leader in late January to clarify a series of issues directly related to Brexit. The visit by Ms May, her first to the Republic since replacing David Cameron earlier this year, was agreed during discussions at a European Council meeting in Brussels last Thursday. Mr Kenny said the talks, which will be followed by cross-border meetings in Dublin Castle in February on issues such as agriculture, trade, and tourism, will be key to again underlying Irelands concerns over Brexit in the lead up to the planned March triggering of the move. However, despite previously suggesting the removal of Britain from the EU may take place within two years, Mr Kenny yesterday publicly agreed for the first time with comments from Britains secretary of state for leaving the EU, David Davis, that it could in reality take up to a decade. Its probably going to mean a much bigger transition period, it could be 10 years, it could be eight years, or it could six years, he said when asked about the legal complications involved in the removal caused by shared laws. At the same press conference, Mr Kenny also rejected concerns Irish citizens living in Britain could see their working rights and other related matters severely reduced in the wake of Brexit. Earlier this week, Ms May said during a Westminster debate that continuing the rights of Irish citizens in Britain would be dependent on guarantees that the rights of British citizens living in other EU countries would also not change. The move would potentially put at risk the working rights and migration status of Irish citizens in Britain, forcing thousands to return home. However, asked about the comments as Irish Government officials claimed Ms May intended to refer to all EU citizens and not just Irish people a position Westminster has not confirmed Mr Kenny said Britains support for the common travel area means there is little need for alarm. Ireland has acquired, along with Britain, particular rights between our countries for a long period. The common travel area is not just for social reasons but it is also for work opportunities. She did ask that when the negotiations would start that a question of European Union people, living in Britain, and British people living in Europe, would be dealt with at an early part of those discussions. And that is separate from the rights and relationship that Ireland has with the UK, he said. Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said at a separate event yesterday that British officials have said they will make every effort to continue the common travel area. The BAI said the notice was issued because it was the third time it had upheld complaints about the programmes coverage of abortion. RTE issued a statement noting and accepting the BAIs decision. As required, RTE will provide the BAI with a plan to ensure there is no re-occurrence (sic) of the issues identified, read the statement. The Pro Life Campaign described the BAIs decision as significant and called on RTE to admit there was a serious problem regarding bias at the station. It is understood that RTE management will meet with the BAI early next month to discuss the decision and put together a plan to address the matters raised. On June 9 The Ray DArcy Show broadcast an interview with Gaye and Gerry Edwards about their experience of the termination of a pregnancy where a fatal foetal abnormality was present. The interview was broadcast on the same day the UN Human Rights Committee criticised Irish abortion law. The couple were asked for their view on the UNHRCs findings. The person who complained to the BAI said it was obvious they were campaigning to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. If it had just been a personal story, there would have been no issue. RTE said the interview was a piece reacting to a story of the day, which was the UNHRCs ruling on fatal foetal abnormalities. The BAI said the programme segment was predominantly a news and current affairs item rather than a human interest story and that listeners should have been made aware that the couple were members of an organisation seeking to change Irish law. During the interview, Mr Edwards made a passing reference to an organisation, Terminations for Medical Reasons. RTE accepted it would have been preferable to have mentioned that the couple were members of the group. The BAI also upheld a complaint about a prank telephone call by comedian Ross Browne, which aired on Corks 96FM on July 6. The BAI said broadcasters must respect an individuals right to privacy. Mr Browne telephoned a member of the State Examinations Commission who ended the call before he could reveal his identity. The broadcaster apologised for any embarrassment caused. Hanora Daly, aged 45, from The Lodge, Stoneleigh Cottage, Ballycasheen, Killarney, admitted harassing the preacher, Lora Malloy, on dates unknown between January 1, 2012, and June 12, 2015. Ms Malloy told Killarney District Court the harassment included yelling outside her town centre residence along with texts, calls, and claims by the accused she was fraudulent. Social media had also been used. Sgt Kieran OConnell said on one particular day, some 122 calls had been made, forcing Ms Malloy to disengage her voicemail and her phone. The preacher, involved in Christian ministry, had been invited to speak at Catholic and Christian gatherings all over Ireland. However, her quality of life had completely declined as a result of the harassment, she stated. Sgt OConnell said contact between the parties began through the prayer meetings and there had also been some counselling. The accused would call saying she wanted help but it went beyond that and got to the stage of harassment, the sergeant said. Solicitor Padraig OConnell, for Ms Daly, said his client had made full admissions when charged. There was a certain amount of misdirected religious zeal involved, he said. His client rightly or wrongly felt there was a certain amount of hypocrisy and she took it into her own hands to tackle it. Oklahoma-born Ms Malloy told Judge James OConnor there had been incessant harassment which progressed to become extremely frightening and caused a lot of stress and anxiety. Ms Daly would be outside her residence in High St yelling my name, said Ms Malloy. Very disturbing text messages were being sent, the preacher said. Her phone, she said, was used for ministry purposes. I play golf. And she started to contact people on social media I play golf with, she claimed. Judge OConnor asked if there had been threats, and was told no. Ms Malloy said the defendant was accusing her of being fraudulent and had also been beating on her car. My quality of life in Ireland and in Kerry completely declined, said Ms Malloy, who has lived in Killarney for six years. She also suffered temporary vision loss. A medical report was presented to court by Ms Dalys solicitor. Judge OConnor remanded Ms Daly on continuing bail until December 2017 and ordered her to stay completely out of High St where Ms Malloy resides. There could be no communication, the judge said and indicated there was liberty for the prosecution to apply to the court to re-enter the case. The judge told Mr OConnell if Ms Daly had to come to court again, there could be certain consequences for her. US president Barack Obama banned new offshore oil and gas drilling in 100m acres of the US Arctic and undersea canyons in the Atlantic Ocean. That is certain to provoke a fight with the Republican-led Congress and his successor in the White House, Donald Trump. In an announcement co-ordinated between the US and Canada, two of the worlds biggest oil producers, Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, also committed to freezing new offshore leasing in his nations Arctic waters and to reviewing the matter every five years. These actions, and Canadas parallel actions, protect a sensitive and unique ecosystem that is unlike any other region on Earth, Obama said in a written statement. They reflect the scientific assessment that even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the regions harsh conditions is limited. The US move announced a month before Obama leaves the White House is sure to draw a legal challenge, and there is scant precedent. President-elect Donald Trump could rescind the order, but the 1953 statute Obama is invoking doesnt include an explicit provision for reversal, and that question could be tied up in court for years. Although Obamas decision was cast primarily as safeguarding 31 ecologically precious Atlantic canyons and fragile Arctic waters, it was a major victory for environmental activists. They have been arguing that even broader climate change concerns should drive the White House to rule out drilling in mostly untouched US waters. Environmentalists said the decision sends a message to the world that the US knows the warming Earth cant afford to burn extreme oil locked under now-protected parts of the Arctic and Atlantic. Todays bold, bi-lateral announcement, between Canada and the United States, shows North America is leading the world in preserving the Arctic for future generations, said Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defence Council. President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau have created an indelible legacy, as true stewards of the most fragile and threatened ecosystem in the world, and we urge the other Arctic leaders to follow suit. Donald Trump In a joint statement, the US and Canada said their actions set the stage for deeper partnerships with other Arctic nations, including Russia, which has not taken a similar step to broadly rule out drilling in the region. In the US Atlantic, the massive underwater canyons covered by Obamas order were carved by glaciers, or are the remnants of rivers that once flowed overland. According to a White House fact sheet, they are home to many species of fish, whales, and other aquatic life and have been the subject of scientific exploration for decades. The announcement builds on Obamas earlier decision to rule out selling new leases in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific from 2017 to 2022. But Tuesdays proclamation, based on the so-called 12(a) provision of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, is different, because it explicitly puts certain areas indefinitely off-limits for oil exploration and production. Until now, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act provision has been used mostly to indefinitely preserve coral reefs, walrus feeding grounds, and marine sanctuaries. Some presidents have used it more broadly, but temporarily. Although presidents have modified a predecessors decisions under the act, they have never rescinded them. A legal opinion from the US attorney general in 1938, on similar designations under a different law, said they do not imply a power to undo. And there have been no federal court rulings on the offshore energy statute. But the law doesnt include an explicit statement that the protections are permanent a potential opening for offshore drilling advocates. Theres no such thing as a permanent withdrawal, said Christopher Guith, a senior vice-president at the Chamber of Commerces Institute for 21st Century Energy. Any 12(a) withdrawal can be made via presidential memorandum and can be repealed via presidential memorandum. Trip Van Noppen, president of Earthjustice, said the scientific underpinnings of Obamas order will buttress it in court. Its important, in general, to have a strong rational basis for the decision, and the fact of local impacts guiding the decisions is important in justifying the decisions. Although the US Arctic is estimated to hold 27bn barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, energy companies have struggled to tap those resources, because of high exploration costs and long development timelines. Oil companies spent $2.5bn nabbing drilling rights in the region, but relinquished many of those claims, as low crude prices forced them to cut spending. But the industrys top trade group, the American Petroleum Institute, is confident that the Arctic withdrawals will be rolled back by Trump, even if the matter is ultimately decided by federal courts. Theres a number of avenues to explore to overturn a withdraw, said Andy Radford, offshore senior policy adviser at API. In a recent document, the Department of Justice warned of an increased threat to the EU from Islamic State and calls from the terror group to sympathisers in Europe to use weapons such as cars to kill citizens. It came just weeks before Mondays outrage, in which a truck ploughed through a packed Berlin Christmas market, leaving 12 people dead and 48 injured, 16 of them seriously. The attack highlights the threat to Europe on a range of fronts: from organised cells to unknown lone wolves, from groups directed by IS to individuals inspired by IS, from EU citizens to those using the asylum system, from attacks comprising assault rifles to ones involving trucks and blades. It comes against the background of warnings of the ramifications of the military assault on IS in Syria and Iraq and the return of EU foreign fighters. Speaking after the attack near the Kaiser Wilhelm church, Germanys top prosecutor Peter Frank said a Christmas market was a prominent and symbolic target and that the modus operandi mirrors at least past calls by jihadi terror organisations. Amaq, a news agency used by IS, said the person who carried out the truck attack in Berlin was a solider of the Islamic State who did so in response to calls for targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition. A Pakistani asylum seeker was arrested but was later released after Berlin police came to the belief he was not the right person. German chancellor Angela Merkel said it would be very difficult to learn that a human being who came to Germany to ask for refuge and asylum committed the attack. It would be terrible for all Germans who are very active, day by day, in helping asylum seekers and refugees. German police described the suspect as dangerous and most likely armed, given the Polish driver of the truck, believed to have been hijacked by the attacker, was found shot dead in the cabin. Following a search of the cabin police discovered an immigration document, reportedly allowing a Tunisian man to stay in Germany pending deportation after being rejected for asylum. He was named by police as Anis Amri, born in 1992 in Tataouine. His is thought to go by two aliases. Spiegel news magazine reported that last February, he was noted by police as having suspected ties with IS and was subject to intensive monitoring. He was also classified as a potential threat. Other reports stated he associated with a number of individuals, including a known Islamic preacher, arrested recently in Germany for recruiting radicals to IS. The veracity of these reports has yet to be determined as does the extent to which he was acting under direction or independently. A security source here said that even if someone is a person of interest, it does not necessarily mean they are subject to constant surveillance which is massively labour intensive or that targets cant dodge surveillance. The source also stressed against leaping to judgments: Until we know the facts of the [Berlin] case, its pointless to speculate. Theres always a danger in the rush for information to add two and two and get five. Both the use of the truck and the suspected nationality of the attacker in Berlin echo the terrible events in Nice on Bastille Day last July. The scene from the Nice Attacks In that case, Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel killed 86 people, including 10 children, when he mowed through the famous promenade. A Department of Justice document, detailed in the Irish Examiner last month, highlighted increased risks to Europe resulting from the military campaigns against the IS caliphate and calls from IS to supporters to use vehicles as weapons. The end of the Caliphate may result in the large displacement of former IS members, many of whom may seek to return to Europe, said the document. It said observers had noticed a change in IS rhetoric: Where once there was glorification of its territorial conquests and ambitions, the message has now resorted to more traditional messaging and in particular the idea of personal jihad and the encouragement of self-motivated attacks on Europe and the West. The document quotes IS spokesman Mohammed AL-Adani: If you kill a disbelieving American or European especially the spiteful and filthy French or an Australian or a Canadian, or any of the other disbelievers waging war [against us], including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah and kill them in any manner or way however it may be. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife or run him over with your car. A Garda source said they have examined the use of a truck by a terrorist but pointed out it was very difficult to prevent someone driving a truck into crowded areas and killing people. Last month, Europol said there was an upward trend in the scale, frequency and impact of terrorist attacks in the EU and that the success generated by such outrages will encourage more attacks. The EU police agency said there could be an increase in the rate at which foreign fighters were returning home and that given the high numbers involved this represented a significant and long-term security challenge. A Garda source said: There is certainly a fear [of more returned fighters]. Its a fear right across Europe, for all police and security services. Rough estimates suggest some 30 Irish citizens have gone to fight in the region since 2012, though a significant number went to fight Assad or IS. Last month, Irish convert to Islam Khalid Kelly was blown up by Iraqi forces as he was attempting to carry out a suicide bombing. While authorities dont know for sure, he is thought to be the first Irish person to die with IS. Terence Khalid Kelly, the Dubliner who died in a suicide attack in Iraq is thought to be the first Irish person to die with IS. He had links to a Jordanian man deported from Ireland earlier this year after he was described as IS foremost recruiter here. Gardai have said it was impossible to determine how many people have gone out and how many have come back, but they monitor those they know about and who may be a threat. Officers are also monitoring the reaction of known IS sympathisers here to the Berlin attack. Garda HQ will conduct a review of their security strategies after they receive briefings from German police, as they previously got from Belgium and French authorities. Sources said part of the purpose was to learn lessons from the attacks and any alterations in the modus operandi such as the hijacking of the truck. Out of these briefings there are learnings and thats put into our plans and our training, said a source. Jessica Casey talks to the butchers, the bakers and the Christmas card makers, who remind us of the importance of buying Irish The butcher Nothing beats Christmas dinner: the roasties, the stuffing, even the brussel sprouts. But the centrepiece of the day for most people, vegetarians aside, is the feast of turkey and ham. McCarthys in Kanturk has been meeting the demands of Christmas for generations, with a selection of the finest hams, geese and of course, turkies. Father and son Jack and Tim in McCarthys are especially proud of their version of a particular delicacy, indigenous to the Rebel County the spiced beef. Cork people would tell you, its not Christmas until you smell the spiced beef, says Tim McCarthy, adding that a group of butchers are working on getting a denomination for the dish, which would mean it would be recognised as a speciality to the area. A Cork tradition, the brining process behind the beef takes about five weeks in total, before the beef is spiced with cinnamon, allspice and pimento. Walk into the shop at this time of year, youll get the smell of the cinnamon. McCarthys is busy all year but its Christmas when it really kicks off for the fifth generation of this family to run the shop. Its all ramping up now, 100% says Tim, taking a quick break to speak with the Irish Examiner. Its long days wed be working until 10 or 11 at night, loading and getting things ready. As well as the Christmas essentials, people call to the shop for their award-winning black pudding. The butchers create a festive Christmas pudding made especially for this time of year, popular for starters or for adding to stuffing. Customers also call for whiskey dry-cured rashers, the perfect addition to a Christmas morning fry. With songs blasting out of the shop (Fairytale of New York, youd be sick to the back teeth, Tim says) the shop will be packed in the days before Christmas. The shop is like a nightclub here on the 23rd. Turkeys are last minute, whereas you can get the ham or the beef the week before. Youll find that husbands typically will be sent off to get the last minute presents, the women go then to get the turkey. At Christmas time, theres more staff, more stock, more pressure, but a great atmosphere. Tradition is important to their customers, Tim says. People return year after year, because their mother got their turkey from us. Youll have people travelling down all the way from Limerick to pick up their turkeys, to keep the tradition alive. Emigrants returning home too, theyll be sent in to pick up the turkey, so youd get to see loads of people when they come into the shop. For us, its enjoyable. Its a busy time of the year but we enjoy it. Its the one meal of the year that has to be right and it has to be local. The bakers The leaves are still on the trees and the children of Co Limerick are just back to school when the preparations for Christmas get under way at Kearneys Bakery. Love it or loathe it, Christmas cake is an essential to every household at this time of year. In September, a sumptuous mixture of fruit, chopped nuts, spices, lemon-rind, brandy and whiskey is combined and left to soak for some time before it is baked into dozens of traditional Christmas cakes. After the cakes are cooled and settled, they are wrapped up and left for six weeks, only disturbed to be steeped in more whiskey or brandy before they receive their frosting of icing in December. Sister team Maura and Siobhan Kearney have been supplying the people of Limerick and the surrounding areas with traditional baked goods for years, employing a team of 22 bakers from the local area. Maura and Siobhan Kearney preparing the cakes for Christmas at Kearneys Home Baking. The hustle and bustle of the bakery at this time of year, along with the festive smells take Maura Kearney back more than 20 years ago to when they first started their business. The songs really make you remember Driving Home for Christmas, I always picture myself making the cakes in our kitchen when we were starting off when I hear it, and the smell of the mincemeat, it just always takes me back. The Kearneys pride themselves on the traditional and homemade Christmas baked goods they deliver. On our ingredient list, youll find there isnt a whole lot someone at home wouldnt have in their cupboards, Maura says, adding they use Odlums flour and soak their tea brack in Barrys. A crucial addition to Kearneys Christmas cake is their almond paste, Maura says, adding most companies use almond essence or marzipan instead. Its a little bit more expensive, but you can taste the difference. Thousands of almonds are ground into a fine paste on site, with a little more brandy added in. It is a fairly boozy cake alright! Maura says, but she adds that because the ingredients are all natural, it acts as a preservative. During December, the cakes will be iced and a hand written Merry Christmas will be piped on top of each one. The cakes are then decorated with holly before shipping out. Households doubtful they will get through an entire Christmas cake over the holiday season neednt worry you can buy the cake in quarters. The bakery also bakes dozens and dozens of mince-pies, with traditional mincemeat and shortcrust pastry. Apples from a farm in nearby Tipperary are also added into the mix. A lot of people think they dont like mince pies, because of the association with mincemeat but then theyll say that theyve never tasted them, Maura says incredulously. But theyre lovely served warm. The Christmas card makers Even in July people are asking us for Christmas cards. The simple, traditional design on the front covers of Paperbear cards give no clues to whats hidden inside; once opened the cards come to life, with elaborate 3D scenes appearing before your eyes. Deer roaming a wintery forest, a VW beetle complete with Christmas tree strapped to its roof, and Molly Malone pushing her cart through the streets of Dublins fair city are just some of the scenes that pop up to greet you when you open a Paperbear Christmas card. Aaron and Katie, the husband and wife team behind PaperBear, have been in business together for three years. A pop-up Christmas card from the company Paperbear, all of which have a distinctive Irish twist. And although the design duo create all kinds of cards for every occasion, its their unique Christmas cards with a distinct Irish twist that have caught peoples attention. The pair will set up a stall at dozens of markets in the run-up to the big day, sometimes at two or three different events daily. The requests for their cards come early in the year. Even in July people are asking us for Christmas cards. I did debate if it was too early to set up then, Aaron laughs, adding that visitors always enquire if the pair make festive cards all year round. After getting so many requests at markets during the summer, August is when I really start thinking about Christmas, Katie says. Her favourite festive card theyve created is the Must be Santa a fireplace scene, complete with stockings, a little girl and Santa Claus, because it reminds her of herself when she was a child, she says. The little girl, the fireplace with Santa peeking out, the stockings I think its an image a lot of our customers associate with Christmas. The number one reaction they see when people open their cards is bewilderment as they try and work out the engineering that went into it, Aaron says. All cards are designed by the couple. We could be walking along the canal and then visualise the canal as a pop-up card and talk about what we could have in the card during the walk. We find our imagination more open this way rather than sitting in our office putting pressure on ourselves, Aaron says. After brainstorming together (Our ideas often snowball from one another!) Katie uses a drawing pad to sketch out a rough design. After the design is refined it is then then laser cut and assembled. Up to ten samples can be produced before the couple are finally happy with the finished product. Katie thinks their Irish cards especially resonate with people with loved ones who are abroad at Christmas. So many people have emigrated, its nice to send them a memento, Katie said. The Christmas tree farm Christmas trees have been springing up in homes across Ireland over the last few weeks well in advance of December in some eager households. Theres a good chance the 30ft tall trees you see lit up with lights and adorned with decorations in town centres across the country originated from one farm in Killarney. With more than 40,000 Christmas trees at his farm in Knocknasartnett, Ballyhar Road in Kerry, Nick Foley works tirelessly to tend to the trees throughout the month of December. Nick Foleys Christmas tree farm near Killarney has been growing trees for 25 years. Helped by his sons, John, Podge and Seamus and a wonderful fellow Les, Nick and his team harvest Christmas trees from morning to night in the run up to Christmas. Previously a chef, Nick switched to the trade more than 25 years ago when he set up his farm and today his farm, Killarney Christmas Trees, is one of the biggest suppliers in Ireland. More than 4,000 trees this year will be sold and moved around the country, Nick and his team are busier than Santa and his elves. Specialising in Nordman firs and bigger trees, growing Christmas trees takes work all year round. Throughout the year the team picks the lateral buds because if you dont the tree goes out of shape, Nick says. This process takes weeks, Nick explains because all 40,000 trees are growing in different stages. The best Christmas tree seeds come from Georgia, Nick says. Here the seeds are extracted dangerously, with the trees scaled to pick the seeds directly from each pine cone. These seeds then go on to be sowed in Denmark, where they are grown over four years into saplings. Nick imports these young trees from Denmark and plants the eight or nine-inch saplings in Killarney. It takes 10 years from when you put the saplings in the ground for the trees to grow to height. Harvesting the trees is also hard work. The bigger trees have to be handled extremely delicately. They have to be brought out carefully, so theyre not damaged, Nick says, adding they operate a pulley system to ensure needles stay intact and the trees shape is kept. After the trees are cut they are left for two days to release their gases before being pulled through a net stocking to keep the trees shape. The trees are then sold wholesale or directly to buyers, and shipped out around the country. Killarney trees are a wonderful colour, whatever it is we have in the micro climate weve a wonderful colour. Christmas decoration makers Tinsel, lights and angels a Christmas tree is just a tree without its decorations. Every house has that one special ornament; it could be a priceless family heirloom handed down from generation to generation, or a dried-pasta creation covered with glitter, handmade by the youngest child when they were in montessori school 20 years ago. Handcut Irish Flag Christmas bauble. At their studio in Waterford, a team of master craftsmen create unique glass ornaments, using processes that have been in their family for generations. Previously employed at the Waterford Crystal factory Tony Hayes, Danny Murphy, Derek Smith and Richard Rowe have a combined total of 130 years of glass-making experience. Their fathers had been master craftsmen at the same factory, where they joined them as apprentices at the age of 15. After working on their trade and perfecting the craft for eight years, the group became master craftsmen in glass making and cutting. After the factory closed in 2009, the group were determined not to lose the trade and set up Irish Handmade Glass. Today their shop in Waterford specialises in coloured hand-cut crystal and bowls, dishes, figurines, and a special line of Christmas decorations. Their baubles are created all year round. Over the busy holiday period, the company is able to take on additional staff they used to work with in Waterford Crystal. Derek Smith, one of the master glass makers who are creating unique glass decorations at their studio in Waterford. After glass fragments are gathered and melted in a furnace, the molten glass is then coloured with claret, amethyst and emerald green. This glass is then blown before being left to cool, and is then cut. And because the decorations are hand cut, everyone we have is slightly different, Tony explains. Some of the decorations go on to be hand-etched with snowflakes and stars, some are multicoloured and some are left clear. The Irish countryside inspires the range with designs like Wild Heather Wild Atlantic Way and Irish Rose. With the companys strong emphasis on tradition, the decorations are something you would hand down in a family. One half of Ireland is living in Australia and the other half is in Canada, Tony says, adding they also have many people home for Christmas purchasing their items as well. The toy maker Toymaker Jacinta Leigh is hard at work in her studio, creating toys that bring childrens imagination to life. Her children, Quinn and Fay, play a big part in her company, Scatterpillar , so much so she calls them her directors. She describes her toys as imagined by a child and brought to life Scatterpillar began when Jacinta started to turn the characters in her childrens drawings into soft toys. Today, Jacinta also makes customisable orders so parents can send their own childrens drawings to her. Theres been a few not from drawings but from sculptural pieces little pottery pieces a child has made, she says. Scatterpillar family dolls made by Jacinta Leigh. These orders are custom made and either hand crafted or hand finished. You can also get a family portrait, as well as figures designed by Quinn and Fay. Jacinta is working around the clock at this time of year. She imposed December 18 as a cut-off date for posting orders out, and is no longer taking customisable orders until after Christmas, although other items on the site can be purchased after this time. The toys are everything to do with childhood. Soft toys for kids at Christmas, they are just so personal. And its something that Mummy and Daddy can give to me and then its brought to life. Angry Eyeball, a softie designed by her son Quinn even made an appearance on The Late Late Toy Show a couple of years ago. My son and daughter were watching the show and I was in the kitchen when I heard them shouting hes on the table, hes on the table! Jacinta says. There he was, Angry Eyeball, lying on one of the tables on the set of the infamous show, Jacinta laughs. Fay my daughter was saying Get up Angry Eyeball get up! and I was trying to explain to her Well..hes not going to get up on his own. But they neednt have worried because Ryan proceeded to pick up the toy and show him to the audience. Id knew hed gone in but for Ryan Tubridy to hold him up we were chuffed. Some of the touching projects Jacinta has worked on over the years include a number of projects for parents of children who have passed away. It touches me greatly that people have given me that drawing and entrusted me to make it into a toy for a sibling. Its a unique way to remember them. Its very sad, but I feel like I am helping, that its therapeutic. Business Thilawa SEZ Receives US$900 Million in Foreign Investment A man works at the site of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project, May 2015. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters RANGOON Japan-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rangoons Thanlyin Township has received more than US$900 million in foreign investment since its launch in 2014, said a recent report issued by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC). Since the start of the operation, the SEZ has received US$903 million foreign investment, MIC secretary U Aung Naing Oo told The Irrawaddy. Since 2014, the MIC has given the green light to 75 businesses from 17 countries to operate in the economic zone. So far, 19 factories have started production, according to the MIC report. Japan is the largest investor in the Thilawa SEZ, followed by Hong Kong, China, Korea, Singapore and the United States. From April to December of the current fiscal year, the SEZ received US$190 million in foreign investment, said U Aung Naing Oo. The industrial production sector has received about 76.5 percent of foreign investment; the transportation sector, 8 percent; the service industry, 7.5 percent; the real estate industry, 2 percent; and trading, 6 percent, according to a spokesperson from MIC. Burma has received a total of US$3.65 billion in foreign investment during the 2016-17 fiscal yeara decline of US$1.3 billion compared to the same period last year. Covering 6,200-acres, the industrial project is a joint venture between the governments of Burma and Japan and consortiums including Japan Thilawa Development Co Ltd backed by Mitsubishi, Marubeni and Sumitomo corporations, Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings backed by local companies, the Thilawa SEZ management committee and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Ukraine is creating a smart model to protect the state border with Russia in the course of Project Rampart, Ukrainian State Border Service chief Viktor Nazarenko said. "As of today, 264.6 kilometers of anti-tank ditches, 111.8 kilometers of lateral roads, 40.6 kilometers of exclusion drag roads, and 75.7 kilometers of fencing have been built," Nazarenko said in an interview published by the parliamentary newspaper Holos Ukrainy on Wednesday. He said that the project was called Rampart by the media. "This is a smart model to protect the Ukrainian state border through a combination of mutually supplementary technical measures. It will be possible to control the borderline online and to rapidly respond to any violations," he said. "The Derhachi sector in the Kharkiv region has been used as a ground for testing new techniques, which we have been implementing on our border in collaboration with scientists," he said. "We deem this project to be very important. For the first time in centuries, our country is building a real border with Russia. It will truly enhance efficiency and will significantly reduce risks and threats," the chief of the State Border Service said. The rate of violations observed in the Derhachi sector and nearby areas has been minimized by the deployment of the visual and technical surveillance network, he said. Border guards are building engineering infrastructures in accordance with a plan approved by the Ukrainian government in May 2015. The project is funded by the budget. The project continues in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, Nazarenko said. "The works are over 50% complete in the Kharkiv region, while they have just begun in the Luhansk region," he said. Four combat modules are in use, and a comprehensive border protection and control network has been deployed on most part of the Kharkiv region, he said. The State Border Service chief complained about the limited funding of the project, which prevented the works from being performed on a full scale. "Only UAH 400 million were allotted in 2015 although the budget stood at nearly UAH 1 billion. This year's project budget amounted to UAH 1.2 billion, yet only UAH 200 million have been allotted, and UAH 175 million worth of works have been financed," Nazarenko said. Asia Indonesia Police Kill Three Suspected Militants, Defuse Bombs Indonesian police attend a security briefing at the National Monument before deployment during the Christmas and New Year holidays in Jakarta, Indonesia December 22, 2016. / Darren Whiteside / Reuters TANGERANG, Indonesia Indonesian police said three suspected militants who were planning a holiday season suicide bombing were killed in a gun battle Wednesday on the outskirts of Jakarta in the second imminent attack to be foiled in less than two weeks. A residential neighborhood was evacuated after bombs were found in a house rented by the men. Police said they had found five low-explosive bombs made from potassium nitrate and defused three so far. Indonesias TVOne reported numerous controlled explosions have occurred at the location. The men planned to stage their attack on Christmas Day or New Years Eve, said Jakarta police chief Mochamad Iriawan. They were to stab police officers in order to attract a crowd and then detonate bombs, he said. The three men were killed during a violent confrontation with the polices anti-terror squad in a leafy residential compound in Tangerang, a Jakarta satellite city, after refusing an appeal from authorities to surrender. National Police spokesman Rikwanto said the men threw explosives and fired guns at police. A fourth man, who was arrested in the neighborhood, had led police to the house used by the militants. Every year, Christmas and New Years events are the target of terrorists to carry out amaliyah, Rikwanto told a news conference, using an Arabic term thats a byword for suicide bombing in militant circles. Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim nation, has carried out a sustained crackdown on Islamic militants since the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. But a new threat has emerged in the past several years from militants who have switched allegiance to the Islamic State group and from new recruits. An attack in the capital Jakarta in January by IS sympathizers killed eight people, including the attackers. Police said the holiday season plot was uncovered during the interrogation of militants arrested Dec. 10 who were planning a suicide bomb attack on a guard-changing ceremony at the presidential palace in Jakarta the next day. Police have said that foiled plot, in which a woman was to be the suicide bomber, was orchestrated by Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian with the Islamic State group in Syria. They also say Naim was behind a bomb lab that was raided last month in West Java and contained enough explosive materials to make bombs three times more powerful than those used in the Bali bombings. A revamp of Indonesias anti-terrorism law has languished in parliament this year and may not be seriously deliberated again until the second half of next year due to rising Muslim populism, Achmad Sukarsono, an analyst with Eurasia Group, wrote in a report. Police are particularly concerned by lack of legal powers to deal with Indonesian militants who return from Syria. Security forces will have to double down on surveillance efforts with the currently inadequate legal support, and the probability of them failing to prevent a terror strike will rise, Sukarsono said. Agus Wartono, owner of the house rented to the slain men, said they became his tenants about two weeks ago. They presented themselves as drivers for motorbike taxi hailing app Go-Jek and wore its trademark green jackets, he said. The Australian governments advice to travelers, updated Wednesday, said the terrorist threat level in Indonesia remains high. It notes that authorities have arrested people who were allegedly in the advanced states of attack planning. Awi Setiyono, a police spokesman, said that one of the slain militants, who he named as Omen, was a convicted murderer who was radicalized in prison by a militant who had plotted an attack against the Burma embassy in Jakarta in 2013. The two other slain men were members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, an extremist group led by radical cleric Aman Abdurrahman. The anti-terror squad also arrested a suspected militant in North Sumatras Deli Serdang district on Wednesday and another in Payakumbuh, a town in the neighboring province of West Sumatra. Police said they were linked to radicals who were arrested in August for an embryonic plot to fire a rocket at Singapore from the nearby Indonesian island of Batam. Asia Thailand Seeks to Develop Military Production Facilities with China Thai army tanks travel on a road near the Thai-Cambodia border, April 28, 2011. / Sukree Sukplang / Reuters BANGKOK Thailand and China are in talks about building military production facilities in Thailand, a Thai defense ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, the latest sign of warming relations between China and Americas oldest ally in Asia. Relations between Thailand and the United States cooled following a May 2014 military coup that the Thai military said was necessary to end months of unrest, including street protests that led to the ouster of an elected government. The United States has said relations cannot return to normal until democracy is restored. The generals running Thailand have promised an election for 2017. Since the coup, the military government has sought to counterbalance US ties by developing relations with China and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan met his Chinese counterpart, Chang Wanquan, during a visit to Beijing last week. The defense minister told his Chinese counterpart that we are interested in setting up facilities to repair and maintain the Chinese equipment we currently have in our arsenal, ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich told Reuters. We will also look to their expertise in producing small arms and other security-related equipment like drones, he said. Thailand has also held talks with Russia about setting up similar production facilities, said Kongcheep, without giving details. Following the 2014 coup, the US froze security and defense aid to Thailand. It has also scaled back annual military exercises citing concern about Thailands political development. Donald Trumps election victory has also raised questions about prospects for a US pivot toward Asia, a central policy of outgoing US President Barack Obama. If the US is unable to back up its regional role the regional states have no other choice but to accommodate Beijing, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Bangkoks Chulalongkorn University. Kongcheep said military relations with the United States were expected to get back on track after Thailands election. The relationship is not yet perfect, he said. Once Thailand returns to democracy, I expect the relationship to return to normal. Burma Ethnic Armed Groups Clash in Shan State, Killing One Civilian Displaced civilians take shelter inside a monastery in Namtu town, Dec. 22, 2016. / Khun Myo Satt RANGOON One civilian woman was killed and another three wounded on Tuesday in fighting between the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) in Pang Long village, Namtu Township, according to local sources. The deceased victim was shot outside her home while she attempted to run for shelter behind a wood pile. Community leaders were able to organize a funeral on Wednesday, local sources reported. The three wounded civilians were treated at the Lashio Hospital in northern Shan State. She was only 17 years old. She was shot while she tried to hide, said Nang Sam Howm, a lawmaker from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) in Namtu Township. The victim, an ethnic Shan woman, found herself caught between the two ethnic armed groups when fighting broke out in the village on Tuesday morning. Her family was unable to recover her body until the following day. She was shot at 11:00 a.m., but her family had to abandon her body and run away from the fighting, said Nang Sam Howm. It was hard to say who shot the girl, he added. In order to recover the womans body on Wednesday, several community leaders from Namtu Township asked the two ethnic armed groups to halt their fighting for 20 minutes. They were battling inside the village, said Nang Sam Howm. They were still fighting when we arrived. But they stopped fighting briefly when we asked them if we could bring out the dead body. We saw that some houses and a monastery were destroyed in the fighting. Normally, Pang Long village is home to a mix of ethnic Palaung (Taang) and Shan residents, but nearly all the villagers had fled when fighting started on Tuesday. We cant allow the SSA-S to base themselves in our area of control, said TNLA spokesman Col. Tar Phone Kyaw. So we have to kick them out. This is why our troops launched the offensive. Namtu is within our area of control. We may let them stay in Hsipaw, but not in Namtu. More than 1,100 internally displaced persons (IDPs) took shelter in Namtu town after fleeing the Pang Long village area this week. There are three camps where the IDPs are staying now, said Nang Sam Howm. In total, there are 1,125 people. Namtu community leaders dispatched a rescue team on Thursday morning to evacuate civilians from nearby Nyaung Pan Hla village, which contains another 25 households. Many of the IDPs are taking shelter inside a monastery in Namtu town. Few were able to bring enough warm clothing and blankets to protect them from the winter weather. Local aid groups have donated food to the IDPs, and the Shan State government delivered 60 bags of rice on Thursday. The TNLA and SSA-S come from two different ethnic groupsPalaung and Shan respectivelyand have fought each other many times in the past over disputed territory. The most recent round of fighting between the two groups began in February in the region of Kyaukme, Namtu, Namsang, Hsipaw, and Namkham townships in northern Shan State. The SSA-S normally bases itself in southern Shan State, but since signing the nationwide ceasefire agreement, some members of the SSA-S have reportedly tried to expand their area of operations into other ethnic Shan areas. On Nov. 20, the TNLA seized three military bases from the SSA-S in Mongton Township. TNLA soldiers captured Burma Army uniforms in that raid, according to photos that the group posted on its Facebook account. Three days later, the Burma Army attacked the TNLA and retook the three positions. In the aftermath of those battles, the TNLA claimed that the Burma Army had worked in concert with the SSA-S and transported SSA-S soldiers from southern Shan State to Mongton Township in the north. Burma Investigation Into Rangoon Explosions Wraps Up Rangoon divisional office pictured after an explosion on Nov. 25. / Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy RANGOON Police have arrested four suspects in connection with a series of minor explosions in Rangoon in November, with the investigation soon coming to a close. The investigation has almost finished, and I have heard that a press release will soon be made, said a police officer whopreferred not to be named. Rangoon saw a spate of minor explosions during the second and third weeks of November. The first incident involved two minor blasts at the Ocean Super Center of Mayangone Township on Nov. 17 and another two devices detonated at the Capital Hypermarket in Dawbon Township on Nov. 20. The third incident involved four minor explosions at the office of the immigration and population department of Rangoons South Dagon Myothit Township on Nov. 24. Police arrested three suspects after two minor explosions occurred at the Immigration Department of the Rangoon divisional government office on Nov. 25. The office shares the compound with the Rangoon Division parliament and the police headquarters. The detonations were caused by homemade explosives made from M150 brand glass energy drink bottles filled with chemical liquids. There were no casualties and no reported injuries in the blasts, according to police sources. Police later arrested one more suspect. Roughly, there are four suspects. And I assume that they are also involved in other incidents besides the one that happened in the government office compound, the police officer told The Irrawaddy. Following the arrest on the evening of Nov. 25, photos of a suspect went viral on social media. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the authenticity of the photo with the police force. Police have kept silent about the explosions. Burma New Treatment-Oriented Drug Policies to be Proposed The Rangoon government destroys over US$19.7 million worth of seized narcotics to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, 2016. / Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy RANGOON After a review of Burmas 23-year-old narcotics legislation, a new policy with a treatment-oriented approach on drug addiction will be set up, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) has said. According to the CCDACa government organization central in drafting the new policya working group comprised of several civil society organizations and government ministries reviewed Burmas 1993 Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Law. Police Col. Zaw Lin Tun, head of CCDACs project department, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that a draft version of the amended legislation had been submitted to the Presidents Office; it strives to ensure an effective treatment plan for drug users rather than prescribe legal punishment and imprisonment. A national policy on drug control will be proposed to Union-level decisionmakers in January 2017, and consultations with civil society groups will continue in February and March. We found out that the drug abuse problem in the country has not decreased while practicing punishment policies, he said. It made us realize that our policies were never the right approach since the problem has not become smaller. The police colonel also highlighted the need to find the root causes of drug addiction, which policymakers previously neglected to explore. People recognized drug addiction as a social problem in the past and some would even say its a character loss that should be punished, Col. Zaw Lin Tun explained. In fact, drug addiction is a chronic disease that can be cured. Drug users are not criminals. They deserved to be considered as patients, he said. Dr. HtayOung, a psychiatrist who has been practicing in the country for more than 20 years, also participated in the policy drafting workshops. I hope the new legislation will ensure a policy for drug users to get exempted from legal punishment to some extent, and [instead] provide them with rehabilitation and reintegration programs, he told The Irrawaddy. He also emphasized that the new policy be considered as paving a platform and allocating budget for the implementation of harm reduction programs for drug addicts. Anyone found guilty under Burmas 1993 narcotics law shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend from a minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 10 years and may also be liable to a fine. It would be a pity for young addicts to waste five years of their youth in prison, U HtayOung said. Burma is currently the second largest producer of raw opium in the world, after Afghanistan, according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Burma Rangoon Public Bus Companies Aim to Launch Services in Early 2017 Yangon Bus Public Co., Ltd (YBPC)the citys first bus rapid transit (BRT) systemis a pioneering public company launched in February 2016. / Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy RANGOONRangoon public bus companies aim to start operating in early 2017 as a total of eight companies have been selected, according to the Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA). The existing bus networks in the city are notorious for poor maintenance standards, misconduct by bus staff and a failure to respect traffic rules. The transport authority previously said that the bus lines would be merged into around 50 lines to be regulated more easily by the authority body. Among the eight selected companies, the Yangon Bus Public Co., Ltd (YBPC)the citys first bus rapid transit (BRT) systemis a pioneering public company launched in February this year. Its buses currently traverse three routes in the city and provide an electronic ticketing service. Dr. Maung Aung, the secretary of the transport authority and the chairperson of Yangon Bus Public Company, said that the newly formed bus lines would provide the same service as his YBPC. We cant say when the others will be launching as not all companies are ready for the operation, Dr. Maung Aung told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. Currently, the citys buses are individually owned and operated under the Yangon Division Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committee, popularly known by the Burmese-language acronym Ma Hta Tha. Over 7,800 buses are registered in Rangoon and about 4,000 buses, on some 300 bus lines, run daily for the citys commuters. Daw Nilar Kyaw, Rangoons minister for electricity, industry and transportation as well as the chair of the YRTA, said in a divisional parliamentary session held in early December that regional government had been drawing up a plan to supervise the citys buses and taxis using GPS technology. She also cited individual ownership and operation of buses in Rangoon as a major cause of traffic congestion in the city of 5.2 million. U Hla Aung, chairman of the Ma Hta Tha and a member of the YRTA, told The Irrawaddy that the majority of his Ma Hta Tha staff willlikely be shifted to the authority body to manage the new public bus companies after Ma Hta Tha is abolished. As [the YRTA] is responsible for managing all transportation sectors in the city, it will be in need of staff, he said. It is highly possible that a majority of Ma Hta Thas existing employees will have to transfer to the YRTA. The selected public companies will include Bandoola Transportation Co. Ltd., run by the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd., (MEHL) as well as many other existing private bus line operators. According to the Japan International Cooperation Agencys (JICA) 2014 survey on the public transportation in Rangoon,the bus dominance is 49 percent while the modal share of the public transportation is 61 percent. Burma Vice President: New Airport Project Must Be Transparent Proposed design for new Hanthawaddy International Airport Project. / Department of Civil Aviation Myanmar / Facebook RANGOON Burmas Vice President Henry Van Thio stressed the need for the transparent and systematic implementation of the Hanthawaddy International Airport project north of Rangoon at the first meeting of the project committee on Wednesday. The new Hanthawaddy International Airport will become a major gateway for international flights into the country. We will implement it as a national project, Henry Van Thio, who is head of the committee, said on the Presidents Office website. An international airport with international civil aviation safety standards is urgently needed for both passenger and cargo flights, the vice president said at the Wednesday meeting. Hanthawaddy international airport is essential for the development of countrys economy, he said. Yangon International Airport cannot be expanded as there is no space for a new runway or more airplane parking spaces. The airport is also shared by the Burma Air Force and is in a residential area, making noise pollution an issue. Hanthawaddy International Airport will be located at the site of an old airport near the town of Pegu on over 9,500 acres of land. The vice president urged the respective ministries and regional authorities to discuss potential difficulties in upgrading the roads around the airport, installing sufficient power supply and telecommunication networks, and relocating settlements in the project area. Incheon Airport Consortium, a South Korean conglomerate, won the intial tender in Aug. 2013, but negotiations on lending terms for the project broke down and the government rescinded the contract. A new tender was awarded in Oct. 2014 to a Japanese-Singapore consortium comprised of Singaporean firms Yongnam Holdings Ltd. and Changi Airports International, as well as Japans JGC Corporation. The first phase of the projectwhich will take five yearsis expected to cost US$2 billion and begin early next year. Once the first phase of the project is completed in 2022, Hanthawaddy International Airport will have the capacity to handle 12 million passengers per year. Upon completion of the second phase, it will have the capacity for 30 million passengers annually. Eleven Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen were wounded as a result of fighting in the Svitlodarsk bulge area of Donbas over the past day, Kyiv said. "No Ukrainian servicemen were killed in fighting over the past 24-hour period, but 11 of our soldiers were wounded. The Armed Forces of Ukraine sustained these medical losses in the Svitlodarsk bulge area as a result of the enemy's mortar and artillery strikes," Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Thursday. In the Luhansk area, most fighting took place near Stanytsia Luhanska, he said. Towards the evening the enemy spent more than three hours shelling Ukrainian positions. The ceasefire was also breached on the Bakhmutka road (Orikhove) and in the Popasna district. No heavy weaponry was used. In all, four shell attacks have been recorded in the Luhansk area in the past 24 hours. In the Donetsk area, Luhanske remains a "hotspot" where intermittent fighting lasted for about 12 hours, Motuzianyk said. The enemy is using heavy weapons en masse: around 300 rounds and around 30 artillery shells were launched against Ukrainian military positions, he said. Nor was it quiet in Avdiyivka where two major skirmishes took place, lasting for a total of nearly five hours, the Defense Ministry spokesman said. As a result, a private property and business structures were destroyed but no one hurt. The enemy also breached ceasefire in Novhorodske, Kruta Balka and on the Butivka Mine position. In the Mariupol area, the enemy fired mortars in Krasnohorivka and Pavlopil and artillery in Novohryhorivka, Motuzianyk said. As ever, most trouble took place on the coastal lines (the Pavlopil-Shyrokyne section of the front). In all, ten shell attacks, including four with heavy weapons, took place in the area over the past 24 hours. My name is Matt, I am photographer and "BTS search Guru".On ISO 1200 Magazine we have the best team searching brand new behind the scenes videos around the world to learn all the secrets of the best photographers Thursday, December 22nd, 2016 (12:02 am) - Score 1,804 The Governments 1.7bn Broadband Delivery UK project, which has been deploying superfast broadband (24Mbps+) to 95% of UK premises by 2017/18 and then 97% by 2020, has confirmed that 442m is being returned by BT (Openreach) for reinvestment to help cover another 600,000 premises. The above total reflects 292 million of public investment that is being returned by BT through clawback / gainshare due to high take-up of fibre broadband (FTTC/P) connections in BDUK upgraded areas and 150 million from contract / efficiency savings across all 44 of the local authority broadband projects. The figure is fairly close to BDUKs preliminary data from June 2016 (here). The clawback mechanism in related contracts requires BT to return part of the public investment when take-up of the new service passes beyond the 20% mark in related areas (total BDUK linked take-up now stands at 30.62%) and, as BTs latest financial results have already confirmed (here), were already well on the way to achieving a figure of 33%. We should point out that 133m of clawback has already been allocated back into related projects (see below), which will be used to help reach the new coverage expectation (todays official update confirms that superfast broadband coverage is on track to reach 97 per cent by 2020; BDUK Phase 3). The rest should be allocated as new contracts are signed over the coming months. Overall 1.5 million premises (homes and businesses) out of the 4.5 million premises covered have now signed-up to the service in areas where the Government and local authorities have subsidised its roll-out via BDUK (note: the 4.5m figure also appears to include sub-24Mbps fibre broadband areas upgraded by BDUK see the last Q3 2016 total for some extra context). Gainshare Allocation by UK Region (Actual) East Of England 18,900,000 Midlands 22,543,498 North East England 3,450,000 North West England 15,590,000 Northern Ireland 2,000,000 Scotland 17,843,000 South East England 18,405,000 South West England 8,827,000 Wales 12,780,000 Yorkshire and the Humber 13,559,000 Total: 133,807,498 We ran a detailed report on the Q2 2016 take-up figures by each local authority in October 2016 (here) and a new update for Q3 2016 is due soon, although we are today able to share a more recent / general summary of regional take-up rates from the BT and BDUK linked contracts. Take up rates by region (September 2016) East of England 34.20% Midlands 30.52% North East England 29.55% North West England 29.32% Northern Ireland 27.41% Scotland 26.30% South East England 35.59% South West England 29.91% Wales 28.77% Yorkshire & the Humber 31.12% Grand Total: 30.62% Sadly were not told precisely what the 150m in careful contract management [savings] by the Government, local authorities and BT actually represents, although BT did deploy less of their more expensive FTTP solution in BDUK areas than some had predicted (they preferred cheaper / slower FTTC), which was partly reflected in this 2015 report from the National Audit Office. In other cases it may have simply cost less to upgrade an area than forecast. Karen Bradley, Culture Secretary, said: Our Broadband Delivery UK programme is giving families and businesses in hard-to-reach areas the fast and reliable internet connections which are increasingly at the heart of modern life. Strong take-up and robust value-for-money measures mean 440 million will be available for reinvestment where it matters putting more connections in the ground. This will benefit around 600,000 extra premises and is a further sign of our commitment to build a country that works for everyone. At present around 91% of the United Kingdom are estimated to be within reach of a 24Mbps+ capable broadband connection and its worth pointing out that BDUK Phase Two, which aims to push the UK coverage to 95% by the end of 2017, may eventually be able to return even more public funding for reinvestment. In keeping with that Karen Bradley is encouraging more people to sign-up to superfast broadband. Broadband speeds arent boosted automatically it needs people to sign up. Increasing take-up is a win-win-win: consumers get a better service, it encourages providers to invest, and when more people sign up in BDUK areas, money is clawed back to pay for more connections, said Karen. One small thing to note, before today the Government had previously indicated that the 97-98% coverage expectation could be reached by the earlier date of 2019 and theyve now shifted this to 2020. Mind you it wasnt really a solid target, until now. UPDATE 6:59am Weve just had a comment from the Independent Networks Cooperative Association (INCA), which represents alternative network providers. When I asked security experts for their 2017 predictions, ransomware was mentioned more often than anything else. But close on ransomwares heels were the security concerns surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT). This isnt surprising, considering the rising popularity of the IoT in both enterprise and consumer settings and with the recent attack caused by the Mirai botnet. However, the predictions regarding IoT security focus vary a lot more than I expected. Here is a sample of those predictions. Yoel Knoll, VP of Marketing with TopSpin Security, looked at the security issues that are built into IoT devices, discussing that the way the IoT is designed the need to perform specific functions with low power consumption, minimal CPU cycles, and low memory requirements prevents onboarding of traditional security tools. Knoll foresees cybercriminals taking advantage of the lack of baked-in security and predicts that in 2017 we will see more attacks against IoT devices, and more security solutions geared toward the IoT market, adding: Attacks will range from DDOS such as the attack that hurt Twitter, Amazon and a host of other site which originated from hijacked web-cameras to more targeted attacks aimed at stealing valuable data by breaking into enterprise IoT devices such as VoIP phones, printers or even employee attendance systems. While the former attacks will no doubt get the headlines, its the latter stealing data which will cause the most damage mainly because this type of attack is extremely difficult to detect. In a related note, Javvad Malik, security advocate at AlienVault, said we should expect the debate about the need for security in IoT devices to heat up, putting pressure on manufacturers to architect fundamental security principles into the designs of internet-connected products. Meanwhile, Rajiv Gupta, CEO with Skyhigh Networks, predicted that IoT security concerns will force the United States to take action about hacking, telling me via email: After incidents affecting critical infrastructure in the Ukraine and New York state this year and the threat of voting machine hacks, the new U.S. administration is on the spot to address cyber espionage. The U.S. managed to reduce Chinese hacking of private sector companies through closed-door diplomacy, but the stakes are much higher with the threat of connected device hacks on the table. On the defensive side, the EU produced legislation requiring minimal cybersecurity capabilities for critical infrastructure, and the U.S. may follow in 2017. Finally, Eve Maler, VP Innovation & Emerging Technology with ForgeRock, anticipated that the real problem with IoT security will involve personal privacy. She said it is easy to imagine the damage that IoT-based security incidents can do, considering how much our lives have become dependent on the devices to keep our infrastructure up and running. But she added: For IoT in health care, smart homes and more, however, the consequences are different but no less severe, and a killer requirement comes to the fore: privacy. The most mature part of the IoT security and privacy technology stack comes from its web API heritage, with protocols such as OAuth and OpenID Connect playing a key role. With the FCC tightening privacy rules for broadband providers in the U.S. and the GDPR looming in the EU, the adoption of the OAuth-based consent and delegation standard User-Managed Access (UMA) protocol is likely to accelerate. I think it is clear: IoT security is going to affect all of us in 2017, both professionally and personally. Will industry and manufacturers step up to the security challenge? Sue Marquette Poremba has been writing about network security since 2008. In addition to her coverage of security issues for IT Business Edge, her security articles have been published at various sites such as Forbes, Midsize Insider and Toms Guide. You can reach Sue via Twitter: @sueporemba On Friday, December 23, at 11.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference "2016: Citizens' Evaluation. Main Achievements and Failures": level of satisfaction with the authorities' activities among the citizens; assessment of the success of government policy and reforms; rating of achievements and failures in 2016; ratings of key parties and politicians. The participants will include head of the Rating Sociological Group Oleksiy Antypovych, deputy director of the Rating Sociological Group Liubomyr Mysov (8/5a Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation. Additional information by phone: 380 (44) 254 36 93, 380 (44) 254 36 94 or on: www.ratinggroup.ua. Data-Centric Approach Starves Data-Hungry Cybercriminals Will 2017 be the year that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning become an important front-line tool for cybersecurity? A number of security professionals Ive heard from think so. When I was looking for security predictions, Paul Shomo, technical manager Strategic Partnerships with Guidance Software, sent this along to me: In 2016, AI went mainstream with its ability to detect malware binaries on the disk, including the polymorphic variants missed by signatures. In 2017, AI will conquer dynamic analysis, adding the detection of running and injected processes to its accomplishments. When I asked him to explain this a little more in depth, he told me that AI or machine learning-based approaches look at binary files on the hard drive, and are unable to examine memory resident or injected malware. The upshot is that running malware that deletes its files off the disk can defeat machine learning every time. He continued: The solution is analyzing processes as they run, but this has proven difficult. Static files are judged simply by looking inside of them. Dynamic analysis is harder because the code actually running in memory comes from many places, is unpredictable and difficult to access. Likely memory forensic techniques will need to be coupled with machine learning to access datasets similar to what existing AI is having success with. Roman Foeckl, CEO with CoSoSys, agreed that AI could be an important part of our cybersecurity defense in 2017, telling me in an email that cybersecurity tools will be equipped with AI for better detection and prevention of security incidents, adding: In DLP, for example, AI can make a big difference because it will be able to generate data transfers and manipulation patterns for a more effective protection of sensitive data. It makes sense that we begin to turn to AI for security defenses. Threats are becoming more complex, as a Recorded Future blog pointed out, and human analysis needs assistance. I think that AI will be a necessary tool to address the current security skills gap; we just dont have enough hands on deck to detect, address and fight threats. AI isnt going to replace humans, but it can certainly provide an assist. However, AI isnt perfect, nor is it immune from its own potential threats, as John Worrall, CMO at CyberArk, told me via email: As weve seen with other technologies, as AI becomes commoditized, we can expect cyber attackers to take advantage of AI in a similar way as businesses. Much like 2016 saw the first massive IoT-driven botnet unleashed on the Internet, 2017 will be characterized by the first AI-driven cyber attack. Worrall added that these attacks will be characterized by their ability to learn and get better as they evolve. This type of advanced attack will transform and become commonplace, driving a huge economic spike in the hacker underground. It makes sense. We should expect any connected tools to be at risk for threats, but I think in the long run, AI will do more as a cybersecurity tool than as a cybersecurity threat. Or at least I hope so. In any case, expect 2017 to be the year when AI and cybersecurity are terms used together a lot. Sue Marquette Poremba has been writing about network security since 2008. In addition to her coverage of security issues for IT Business Edge, her security articles have been published at various sites such as Forbes, Midsize Insider and Toms Guide. You can reach Sue via Twitter: @sueporemba The world has been waiting for the grand comeback of Nokia, the Finnish company that is known for its high-quality mobile phones. And just recently, reports regarding its flagship smartphone were leaked. How advanced could the Nokia 'P' would be compared to other telecoms giant? According to Forbes, the return of Nokia's name on smartphones is made possible with their licensing agreement with the HMD Global. After ending their partnership with Microsoft, the company announced that the first Android-powered handsets will be out in the first half of 2017. Although the announcement did not come with details, photos and predictions of the upcoming smartphones are quickly spreading all over the internet. The leaks suggest that they will be sleek and stunning - elegant enough to compete against Apple and Samsung. The Nokia 'P' Flagship Smartphone Will Run On Snapdragon 835 With A Whopping 6GB RAM In an interview with Economic Times, HMD's Chief Executive, Arto Nummela, said that the Nokia smartphones will be extremely competitive when it comes to pricing and specs. For instance, the Nokia 'P' is said to feature the Snapdragon 835, a well-known processor for power and efficiency. Aside from this, it is also expected to have a 23MP rear camera with Quad HD resolution as well as Carl Zeiss optics. These top of the line features, as what HMD said in their December press release, will focus on innovation, quality, and experience that add to the iconic Nokia mobile phone attributes of design, robustness, and reliability. Other Nokia Smartphones To Be Launched In 2017 Are The Nokia D1C And Z2 According to India Times, the D1C is one of the smartphones to come out in two variants 2GB RAM version and a 3GB RAM variant. In addition, another high-end model of Nokia smartphone which is the Z2 is also allegedly in the works. Both of them are said to be powered by Snapdragon, too. On December 14, 2016, Nokia surprised the public with their official announcement of two 'dumb' phones which are the Nokia 150 And 150 Dual SIM. Despite having 31-day battery life and the iconic game of snake, people seem to be disappointed. But now that news regarding Nokia's newest smartphones is out, the company is gaining a lot of attention. NASA's Cassini spacecraft is currently on the last leg of its "ring-grazing orbits" around Saturn, and was able to take images of the planet's rings. The spacecraft has sent back an intriguing image, though - Mimas, Saturn's moon, looks like it's about to crash into the planet's rings. Cassini Has Been Delivering Informative Insights About Saturn Ever since Cassini's launch in 1997, the spacecraft had been delivering helpful insights about Saturn, along with some stunning images. Recently, an image that it sent back shows Mimas getting too close to Saturn's rings, and if you look closely at the image, you will feel that the moon is about to crash. NASA said that there is no need to worry because the image is just an optical illusion. NASA made it clear that Mimas is actually 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers) away from the rings. The image was taken in green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 23, 2016 from a distance of approximately 114,000 miles (183,000 kilometers) from Mimas with an angle of 29 degrees. Gravity Links The Moon And The Rings Together The space team said that there is a strong connection between the icy moon and Saturn's rings because of gravity. Mimas' gravitation pull causes Saturn's wings to form waves, which we can see in the image. Meanwhile, Cassini's 20 ring-grazing orbits, each about seven days long, are actually just a preamble to the spacecraft's final chapter - 22 final orbits beginning April. During this time, the spacecraft will come within about 1,012 miles of the planet's cloud tops, and will also shoot through the gap between the rings and the planet, a move that will allow scientists to calculate the mass of both structures separately. After which, Cassini will end its mission by plunging into the planet's thick atmosphere, sending back data until the signal is finally lost. Leaked documents have revealed that tech giant Apple will release next year a premium iPhone codenamed "Ferrari", and many believe that this could be either the iPhone 8 or the mysterious iPhone 10, a mobile device that customers are expecting, but there haven't been any kind of information published so far. The Documents Showed Apples Plans For 2017 According to Business Insider, the leaks of the premium iPhone were released by a Chinese social media user that is well known for leaking any kind of information the Apple East Asian supply chain. Apparently, this person published the documents on one of Chinas biggest social network Sina Weibo, in which it was showed that the in addition premium iPhone "Ferrari", the Cupertino company will release the "s" models of the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. Next year will be extremely important for Apple, given the fact that the company will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first iPhone, and everyone expects the release of something incredible. Although the iPhone 8 has been confirmed and is expected to be one of the most incredible mobile devices in the history, these documents confirm that Apple also has some other plans. The Premium iPhone Would Be Dual-SIM As reported by Softpedia, the premium iPhone "Ferrari" might be equipped with incredible specs and features as suggested in the leaked documents. Naturally, this represents Apples intentions of exceeding expectations and keep being ahead of the smartphone game in a moment in which emergent smartphone makers as Huawei are starting to become a threat, especially because of the fact that it will start to sell its smartphones in the U.S. The documents also hinted that the premium iPhone would be Dual-SIM, which is the only confusing detail, considering that just as it was reported in a previous article this is something that the upcoming iPhone 8 would wear. Nevertheless, the mysterious iPhone 10 could also have it, but for now, Apple lovers will have to wait. 2016 was a great year for smartphones in general, but there is no doubt that some players outshone some competitors - whether in terms of camera, design, specs or overall. The OnePlus 3T was a surprise as the Chinese company had already released a handful of devices this year, but the changes and upgrades have been welcome. Meanwhile, Google released its first 100 percent-made smartphone in the Pixel XL. OnePlus was a real contender this year, with the only real complaint being that the Chinese company released one too many handhelds this year. The 3T unit was especially surprising, as the OnePlus 3 was released just months prior. Logically, it did not make sense to release devices in the same series at such close proximity. However, OnePlus explained that there were very few changes and upgrades made between handhelds. Furthermore, the company questioned why it would hold out on a new and improved device when it could release the same presently. The tech company has nonetheless advised that it would not make the same moves for future smartphones. Meanwhile, Google's Pixel XL is the larger variant of the company's first solo foray into the smartphone industry. It has been praised for its camera, but there is definitely more to the device than just that. The handheld definitely has its strong points as well. The OnePlus 3T, as noted by NDTV Gadgets, was released just last month and has a 5.5-inch touchscreen with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution. It runs on 6GB of RAM and has 64GB of non-expandable internal storage. Meanwhile, the Pixel XL was released in October this year and has a 5.5-inch touchscreen display with 1440 x 2560 pixel resolution. It runs on 4GB of RAM and only comes with 32GB of built-in storage that also cannot be expanded. Both devices are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. The newer device surprisingly runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 out of the box, while Google's Pixel XL is fitted with Android Nougat 7.1. The OnePlus 3T is available in Gunmetal and Soft Gold while its competitor is available in colors that are teasingly named Very Silver, Quite Black, and Really Blue. The former unit has a 3450 mAh battery, while the latter's is 3400 mAh. While the OnePlus 3T has a 16-megapixel rear camera and a 16-megapixel front camera, the Pixel XL has a 12.3 megapixel and 8 megapixel rear and front camera respectively. And while the Chinese device theoretically wins out in this regard, there is much more to a camera than its lenses. All the other features of the device need to work well together in the system as well. As Digital Trends reports, the OnePlus 3T ultimately wins out in terms of design, battery life and charging. This is mainly due to the fact that this device is both thinner and lighter than the Pixel XL, despite sporting the same screen size. Its fingerprint sensor is also arguably more accessible at the chin of the phone. However, the Pixel XL wins out in terms of display and software. The AMOLED display from Google is undoubtedly sharper than the one found on the OnePlus 3T. And while the Chinese device will eventually catch up in terms of operating systems, the Google handheld gets them - and their important features - almost immediately. Christmas is that one time in the year when kids get especially excited largely because of Santa, the reindeers and all the presents that he brings. But we all know he doesn't exist, so why do parents insist on perpetuating this myth? Psychologists weigh in on the reasons why parents lead their kids to believe in the big guy, and hand out tips on the best time to tell the truth according to child psychology. When a child asks how Santa fits into the chimney, crawls down and comes out without ever getting any burns, you pause and think for the most plausible answer you can think of. The reason why adults would make an effort to retain the child's belief varies and depends on their life experiences as children. Aside from the obvious answer that it's fun, some parents enjoy the idea of creating a world of illusion for their kids, one that gives them a reason to smile and be excited about something. They get a feeling of satisfaction when they see the delight on their kids' faces. Another possible reason is the poignant way that it transports them back to happy memories in their childhood, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Whatever the reason why parents allow their children to believe in Father Christmas, psychologists say that this surprisingly does little harm to the psychology of the child. This goes in conflict with the previous belief that lying to kids about Santa negatively affects their trust on the parents. Recent studies on child psychology suggest that as long parents keep it simple, like repeating what the child states, the child will think things through and come to a conclusion. The child is bound to know the truth anyway as they approach the ages of five and seven. Dr Justin Coulson, a psychologist and parenting expert is optimistic that kids are resilient. Once they demonstrate curiosity and are old enough to tell the truth, simply tell them what they need to know, he shares with Kent Live News. Inspired by a lecture at the renowned UC Berkeley and spurred by his interest in the intricate link between economics, privacy, and technology, Alessandro Acquisti initiated his own start-up. He brought forth a very witty concept that goes by the name of "privacy paradox". This is where the audience were very much concerned about the security and privacy of the data they made available online but at the same time, they were not willing to pay to get that information secured in the web. At times, the public shared the material with unknown people, according to Wink News. Inside The Privacy Paradox Acquisti's work on privacy paradox brought together an interesting amalgam of experts at sciences and humanities who gathered under the roof of Massachusetts Institute of Technology to understand the relation between economics and privacy. Though Acquisiti's program "WISE" received a varied response, the general public started to see the correlation between privacy and economical value. The Issues On Privacy And Public Awareness Detailing on the increase in public awareness, talking to The Irish Times, Acquisti stated two main causes: the progress of social media networks and the improved understanding of the public as to how companies and governments benefit economically from personal information online. He carried out two definite experiments in this regard with his team. The first was the creation of various fake online profiles through which it was deduced that companies target and search a specific kind of audience. Secondly, facial images were used to aid them in processes which eventually led to finding out social security numbers. Privacy Is An Old Notion Acquissi further added that privacy is not a novel concept at all, but an ancient one, which is just being sophisticated and refined now. He believed that this sophistication has led to greater awareness and now people understand privacy and its relation to economics much clearly than before. China is now fearing a bird flu outbreak. The second and third case of human infection of H7N9 virus in China this week was confirmed by authorities while other Asian nations try to control the outbreak of the deadly virus. According to Reuters, a man who traveled in Jiangsu was diagnosed with H7N9 bird flu on Wednesday, Dec. 21, and is currently being treated in Shanghai. Local authorities are now investigating the origin of the virus in Jiangsu province. On the other hand, a 44-year-man was also diagnosed with H7N9 in Xiamen, a city in the eastern Fujian province on Sunday, Dec. 18. The report came via local state news agency, Xinhua, late Wednesday. The patient is in a stable condition and is currently getting treated. Meanwhile, the local government ordered to stop the sales of poultry in the district to reduce the risk of more infections. Previously, an elderly man from Hong Kong was diagnosed with the disease. Shanghai is the most populated city in China with a population count of more than 24 million while Xiamen has about 3.5 million citizens. The authorities are now taking actions to prevent further outspread. China has banned imports from more than 60 countries including South Korea and Japan. In the past month, South Korea and Japan have ordered the killing of tens of millions of birds to control outbreaks of different strains of bird flu, causing damage to their poultry industry. The first outbreak of H7N9 bird flu to have infected humans was reported in China in March 2013, which resulted in 46 deaths. In most cases, the virus results in serious respiratory illness such as pneumonia and has a mortality rate of about 30 percent. Bird flu commonly strikes during spring and winter and in the recent years, local farmers have increased cleanliness measures to prevent the disease. It has been commonly known to the general public that Zika virus has been deadly spreading all over the world. It has affected and caused casualties in more lives than anyone could imagine, having it considered as a deadly. Now, a new discovery has been made wherein the virus can't only be transferred orally, but can also be transmitted at birth. What Is Zika Virus And How Does One Naturally Acquire Such Disease? Zika virus has recently been considered to be alongside the "family" of the dengue fever which despite the mild symptoms, can lead to deadly results. The said virus should not be taken lightly, thus anyone should be cautious enough when the symptoms start to impact one's body. Just recently, it has been reported that for the first time in the state of Rhode Island, a baby was unfortunately born already carrying the virus. It's not enough that the virus can be orally transmitted; it can be done through childbirth as well. That is more or less on the same lines of a pregnant woman diagnosed with HIV and having it passed on to the baby in her womb. Pregnant Woman In Rhode Island Gives State First Case Of A Baby Born With Zika Virus A spokesperson from the Rhode Island Department of Health has confirmed the information last Wednesday, regarding the news on a baby born with Zika virus. It is highly unfortunate for the infant having been born with a deadly virus through the wrongdoings of a parent. Just like dengue, Zika virus is acquired through a mosquito bite. However, having one and transferring it to another person through sexual intercourse for most parts, could cause a lot more damage. That is where it differs from dengue, since the latter cannot be passed orally and can only be acquired through a mosquito bite. It has been reported that the mother got the virus while traveling, and that the baby was fortunately not born with any defects. However, the infant has been added to Rhode Island's Zika registry and the Department of Health has assured that they are looking into the case thoroughly and weighing all options to ensure survival of the baby. A huge and bizarre object has recently and unknowingly emerged on the shores of a certain New Zealand beach. The mysterious object has then sparked various speculations about its origins, some particularly known to be bizarre conspiracy theories about what it might be, most of which says that it is the gateway of aliens here on Earth. The twitching black mass that has been washed up on Muriwai Beach, 25 miles northwest of Auckland, New Zealand, has then found to have taken the world by storm since its discovery about a week ago. The 'Muriwai Monster' Of New Zealand: Is It Really Made By Aliens? According to reports revealed by News, Melissa Doubleday, a local resident of the area said that she has come across the strange object. After seeing it, she was then baffled by the discovery which was then later found out to be the "Muriwai Monster". Doubleday explains that she first thought of it as a washed up whale, but as she came closer, it became more and more absurd. Moreover, as Doubleday has allegedly shared the photos that she has taken on social media, people around the world has then began speculating that it was a sea monster, a "beach Christmas tree," or even an alien time travel capsule. However, as Dogo News reports it, it turns out that the "Muriwai Monster" is not some fantasy-based beast straight out of a Harry Potter book. According to experts at the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society, it is merely a large piece of driftwood overrun by a species of gooseneck barnacles called Lepas anatifera. It was found that gooseneck barnacles are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces along the shorelines between the tide marks. Experts have further added that although gooseneck barnacles are a type of shellfish, these are the only sessile crustaceans in the world. Thus, they are found to behave like oysters and produce a cement-like substance that glues them to submerged objects, which includes ship hulls, piers, and even sea turtles, for their entire life. Developers of the popular Signal secure messaging app have started to use Google's domain as a front to hide traffic to their service and to sidestep blocking attempts. Bypassing online censorship in countries where internet access is controlled by the government can be very hard for users. It typically requires the use of virtual private networking (VPN) services or complex solutions like Tor, which can be banned too. Open Whisper Systems, the company that develops Signal -- a free, open-source app -- faced this problem recently when access to its service started being censored in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Some users reported that VPNs, Apple's FaceTime and other voice-over-IP apps were also being blocked. The solution from Signal's developers was to implement a censorship circumvention technique known as domain fronting that was described in a 2015 paper by researchers from University of California, Berkeley, the Brave New Software project and Psiphon. The technique involves sending requests to a "front domain" and using the HTTP Host header to trigger a redirect to a different domain. If done over HTTPS, such redirection would be invisible to someone monitoring the traffic, because the HTTP Host header is sent after the HTTPS connection is negotiated and is therefore part of the encrypted traffic. "In an HTTPS request, the destination domain name appears in three relevant places: in the DNS query, in the TLS Server Name Indication (SNI) extension and in the HTTP Host header," the researchers said in their paper. "Ordinarily, the same domain name appears in all three places. In a domain-fronted request, however, the DNS query and SNI carry one name (the front domain), while the HTTP Host header, hidden from the censor by HTTPS encryption, carries another (the covert, forbidden destination)." Their research revealed that many cloud service providers and content delivery networks allow HTTP host header redirection, including Google, Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon S3, Azure, CloudFlare, Fastly and Akamai. However, most of them only allow it for domains that belong to their customers, so one must become a customer in order to use this technique. Google, for example, allows redirection through the HTTP host header from google.com to appspot.com. This domain is used by Google App Engine, a service that allows users to create and host web applications on Google's cloud platform. This means that someone can create a simple reflector script, host it on Google App Engine and then use the HTTP host header trick to hide its location from censors. Someone monitoring user traffic will only see HTTPS requests going to www.google.com, but those requests will reach the reflector script on Google App Engine and will be forwarded to a hidden destination. "With today's release, domain fronting is enabled for Signal users who have a phone number with a country code from Egypt or the UAE," Open Whisper Systems founder Moxie Marlinspike said Wednesday in a blog post. "When those users send a Signal message, it will look like a normal HTTPS request to www.google.com. To block Signal messages, these countries would also have to block all of google.com." Even if the censors decide to ban Google, the domain fronting implementation can be expanded to use other large-scale services as domain fronts. If this happens, enforcing a ban on Signal would be the equivalent of blocking a very large portion of the internet. The anti-censorship feature is currently present in the latest version of Signal for Android. It's also included in a beta version of the app for iOS that will be released in production soon. The developers also plan future improvements that will allow the app to detect censorship automatically and switch to domain fronting even if the user has a phone number from a country where censorship is not normally present. This is intended to cover those cases where users travel to other countries where the app is blocked. Signal is considered by security experts as one of the most secure messaging services around. It's open-source end-to-end encryption protocol has also been adopted by other popular chat apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. While the communication between users is encrypted end-to-end, the Signal app uses servers for contact discovery and these can be blocked by censors to prevent users from using the app. Feds laud $83M to better Pell Bridge The congressional delegation of Rhode Island was in Jamestown to celebrate an $82.5 million grant to upgrade the bridge that connects Conanicut Island to Newport. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a... Local author, illustrator collaborate on book A local woman has turned her digital cross-country teatimes with her granddaughter into a childrens book. Tuesday Tea, written by Debby Furness Saletin and illustrated by Maryann England, both of... Local group asks for rental rules changes A group of residents is expected to present its recommendations on how to improve the ordinance that governs short-term rentals. Member Ron Ratcliffe said the item is scheduled to be... A rider passes by a plant in Binzhou, East China's Shandong Province, on December 9. Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the country's north should promote the use of clean energy in winter heating with a view to reducing the number of smoggy days. Natural gas and electricity can be substitutes for coal, a major energy source for China, in heating buildings in north China, Xi said at the 14th meeting of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs. Clean energy should be used as much as possible and supply a larger share of winter heating, Xi said, adding that the government will give enterprises a major role in the process to ensure affordable heating. Last week, Beijing issued its first red alert of the year for smog. The lasting smog has disrupted the people's daily life and schooltime for students in Beijing and neighboring regions. Related: Factories suffer huge losses from smog shutdown Sixty percent of cities in China affected by smog: Ministry of Environmental Protection China has rolled out a revised regulation to streamline auditing practices in the military and tighten disciplinary supervision. All economic activity of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the armed police is subject to auditing, and officials with economic duties must also be placed under scrutiny, says the regulation which was signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC). Officials with a lot of financial and logistics responsibilities, those who have been considered for promotion and those who are leaving their posts should be placed under particularly close watch, it said. Military auditing agencies with powers to investigate and penalize must hand over disciplinary and legal violation cases in the financial sector to anti-graft and prosecution authorities for further investigation. According to the PLA Daily, the official military newspaper, implementing the new regulation will be crucial in building a modern military audit and surveillance system. The report added the regulations will improve Party construction and enhance the anti-corruption campaign within the military through a strict and effective surveillance network system. Guo Chunfu, the Auditor General of the Audit Office of the CMC, told the PLA Daily that "since 1934, we have issued five versions of auditing regulations, the last in 2007, and because of the fast development and change of our military forces in past 10 years, we need a new auditing regulation." "In the past few years, during the military reform launched by Xi, we found there are many problems of corruption and many senior military officers were arrested," Xu Guangyu, a retired PLA major general and a senior advisor of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, told the Global Times on Wednesday. "These facts tell us that we have to improve the auditing and supervision system within the military to fix the problems," Xu said. The new regulation has 11 chapters and 77 articles, covering the audit system, audit authorization, and audit process. The new regulation requires that the Auditing Office of the Central Military Commission must report to the CMC. Xu said in the past, auditing and supervision were conducted by low-ranking agencies under the General Logistics Department, and many senior military officers had the power and authority to make decisions without supervision on using money, and cooperated with non-military sectors, such as companies. "Therefore, in the past, there was room for corruption to occur and auditing couldn't find it due to a lack of authority," Xu said. According to the new regulations, the auditing agencies within the armed police forces will be canceled and PLA auditing agencies will be responsible for the auditing and supervision of the armed police force, with the same standards. Unlike the PLA, the armed police deal more with non-military sectors as its duties are very different, Xu said. "The armed police are responsible for fire control, forest protection, and so on, thus they have more connections with society and this means the chance for corruption is higher." Focus on 'tigers' Among other things, officers with massive financial and logistics responsibilities, those who have been considered for promotion and those who are leaving their posts should be placed under particularly close watch, the regulation says. Among the nearly 50 senior officials who were probed for corruption since 2013, some were from the general logistics department or in charge of the approval of real estate-related projects. The falls of Gu Junshan, former Deputy Director of the PLA General Logistics Department from December 2009 to February 2012, and Xu Caihou, former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, were related to real estate projects they oversaw. Military audit authorities will be authorized to check bank deposits, impose fines, publish the result of investigations and seek necessary assistance. Party and government organs are required to cooperate with military auditing units, and once authorities discover violations of Party discipline and laws, the case will be forwarded to discipline inspection and prosecutorial organs. Song Zhongping, a military commentator, told the Global Times that "the improvement in the military auditing and supervision system can largely guarantee the defense budget will be spent correctly," and systematically prevent the abuse, waste and corruption of the defense budget. This is the foundation for building a modernized world-beating military force, Song said, "In addition, the new regulation will coordinate with the systemic reform of Chinese military forces, and it will reasonably distribute resources to every unit based on the new structure of military forces and conduct auditing and supervision." African island nation Sao Tome and Principe announced Tuesday that it has cut its so-called "diplomatic" ties with Taiwan and acknowledged sovereignty of the People's Republic of China. Sao Tome is the first country to break "diplomatic" relations with Taiwan since Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen took office. Taiwan "diplomacy" has suffered its first setback after Tsai's phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump. The Chinese mainland immediately gave positive feedback and stressed the universality of the one-China policy, but kept silent on the mainland's role in the event. The diplomatic break is not accidental. It is obviously a punishment for Tsai's refusal to recognize the 1992 Consensus and her other provocations against the one-China policy, including the phone call with Trump. The event is also a response to Trump's wrong stance on the Taiwan question. The Taiwan authorities cited Sao Tome's request for enormous aid for the diplomatic cut off, hoping to divert public attention from political reasons to economic ones and to help Tsai acquit responsibility. Sao Tome asked for $210 million from Taiwan, according to local media reports. In fact, Taiwan has long been providing aid to those small and poor countries that it has "diplomatic" ties with. The number of countries that have "diplomatic" ties with Taiwan has dropped from 22 to 21. Sao Tome may start a new wave of "diplomatic breaks" with Taiwan. Taiwan witnessed the first such wave last century when the People's Republic of China was founded and the mainland joined the UN and established diplomatic relations with the US. The number of countries that Taiwan has "diplomatic" ties with kept declining during Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian's terms, and stayed at a relatively stable level only during Ma Ying-jeou's term when Taiwan authorities acknowledged the one-China policy. Tsai's rejection of recognizing the 1992 Consensus is a reckless move at a time when Taiwan's strength gap with the mainland keeps widening. As Taiwan is just the size of a province, it cannot compete economically or diplomatically with the mainland. The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) push for Taiwan independence will herald Taiwan's "diplomatic" suicide. Its attempts to make Taiwan look like a sovereign state will however see the island further abandoned and turn its so-called sovereignty into a laughing stock. Trump calling Tsai "Taiwan president" won't change the situation that the world acknowledges the one-China principle. In fact, Trump didn't want to override the policy. He just wanted to use it as leverage and Taiwan as a pawn against the mainland in negotiations for economic interests. In the near future, Taiwan will predictably have to see some other countries break "diplomatic" ties with Taiwan and seek to establish ties with Beijing. In the changing world, the mainland's One Belt and One Road initiative well responds to the development needs of developing countries, and the attraction of building a comprehensive relationship with the mainland far outmatches the short-term interests of Taiwan's economic aid. These countries will hardly stay for Taiwan's small favors if they are to be accepted by the mainland. If the DPP continues to pursue Taiwan independence, Taiwan will lose all the countries that have the "diplomatic" ties with it. This is a blind alley and an insult that the authorities forced on Taiwan society. The reunification of the mainland and Taiwan has already started. When the mainland was frail, Taiwan muddled around in the international community. But now that the mainland has grown strong enough to take Taiwan into its economic orbit, the two have been deemed by the world to be a bigger entity. The earlier Taiwan realizes and accepts it, the earlier its situation will be improved. Google Assistant will now feature a Santa Tracker that will help kids and adults alike know when Santa Claus is coming to town. With the added feature, Google is extending a helping hand to those who are waiting for Santa Claus to deliver their most awaited gifts. . This Christmas season, the Santa Trackers could become more popular than the new "Pokemon Go" tracker that Jobs & Hire reported on earlier. Tech2 reported that the Santa Tracker in Google Assistant will allow users to virtually check up on Santa Claus and see if he is getting nearer or farther away from their home. Using Google Assistant's Santa Tracker, kids and adults would be able to know the exact moment when Santa Claus will deliver their gifts just by telling the tracker to tell users his location. Unfortunately, Google Assistant's Santa Tracker does not guarantee that users will be able to personally see Santa Claus deliver their gifts. On a happier note, the newly integrated Santa Tracker in Google Assistant also have a feature that cheers up users who are getting restless in waiting for Santa Claus. Using Santa Tracker, Google Assistant users can enjoy some Christmas jokes. Google Assistant's Santa Tracker is not a unique thing. NYup.com reported the NORAD Santa Tracker is also up and running and ready to help people in determining the location of Santa Claus. The North American Aerospace Defense Command have been tracking Santa Claus for 61 years ever since an advertisement initiated the idea that the department can track the most popular delivery guy in the world. Google Assistant's Santa Tracker can be downloaded using Android on Google Pixel devices. The NORAD Santa Tracker can be accessed on the official and very professional NORAD Tracks Santa website. Which one would you use to track Santa Claus? Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) is one of Germanys leading newspapers. SZ has total viewers of 4.4 million both online and newspaper. With this power, they gave their best in order to search for a certain document that might lead to Facebooks streak to end. The said document has already been found and caused conflict among the two companies. That report was publicized by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which contains a confidential report that has detailed policies on the controversies of hate speeches along with how businesses work underneath the shadows. The document was conferred from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that sells anonymous offshore companies. According to Panama Papers, the German newspaper acquired about 2.6 terabytes of data, making it the biggest leak in the journalism world. The said newspaper wants to sue Facebook for disregarding this hate speeches policies. They said that Facebook should be punished by law for these certain acts of such organizing groups to receive the discrimination. The two groups were told protected and not protected category. Sex, religious affiliation, national origin, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability or serious illness were included in the categories. While the subcategories include age, political affiliation, and appearance. In the page of Suddeutsche Zeitung, the revealed document at SZ Official Site, the report has notable details like: For instance, saying fucking Muslims is not allowed, as religious affiliation is a protected category. However, the sentence fucking migrants is allowed, as migrants are only a quasi-protected category a special form that was introduced after complaints were made in Germany. This rule states that promoting hate against migrants is allowed under certain circumstances: statements such as migrants are dirty are allowed, while migrants are dirt isnt. After a Muslim YouTuber was reported to be thrown out of the airplane for just speaking Arabic hate speeches cannot also be disregarded. Email Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday. An employee at Kunming's Dwarf Empire returns from a performance. [Photo/xinhuanet.com] Since opening its doors in 2009, Dwarf Empire has been a divisive subject. Critics are aghast at its mere existence and criticize it, while others admire it for providing employment where opportunities for disabled people are sparse. Located in the outskirts of Kunming, Dwarf Empire is a mountainside theme park equipped with mushroom shaped castles and fairytale-like trimmings. Its employees - all dwarfs - are the main attraction. At regular intervals, dozens of the parks employees dress as medieval knights, powerful khans, butterflies and cooks, and perform slapstick sketches and dances. The parks critics are plentiful, ranging from disabled rights groups to celebrities. Famous actor Warwick Davis, who is also a dwarf, expressed distaste after visiting the park as part of a hit UK TV series. Many in this camp argue that integration diminishes prejudice, while isolation reinforces it; many others wince at the thought of tourists ogling out of morbid curiosity at dwarfs in fancy dress. Chen Mingjing, the park's creator and a self-made business and real estate mogul, views it differently, as do many of his employees. As far as Chen sees it, the stable employment, tailor-made accommodation and reasonable remuneration for the 100 dwarfs that the park currently employs is much better than 100 dwarfs eking out a living through odd jobs. While life in Dwarf Empire remains far from idyllic, many employees say it offers them a sense of community where they are able to share the same challenges. For some, the feeling of being among equals outweighs the awkwardness and surreality of the performances. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that it has filed a complaint against a Mount Airy company for violating federal law. The complaint was filed against Hiatt & Mason Enterprises Inc., a structural-steel-erection services company, in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. The company could not be reached for comment Wednesday. It has been accused of permitting a racially hostile work environment. According to the EEOC complaint, Paul Bowman, a black man, went to work for Hiatt & Mason in March 2014. Bowman left the company in March 2016. Bowman has accused the companys white foreman and some co-workers none of which were identified in the EEOCs news release of subjecting him to racial harassment for almost two years. The complaint was not available online through the federal Pacer.gov website. Bowman said he was subject to daily or almost daily use of the N-word and other racial epithets, as well as racial jokes about blacks. He said he was threatened with physical harm on more than one occasion. The complaint alleges that Hiatt & Masons equal employment opportunity officer witnessed at least one incident of harassment and received complaints about abuse, but took no action to stop it. The EEOC said it had attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The agency is requesting monetary relief, including compensatory and punitive damages for Bowman, as well as injunctive relief. Employers must take appropriate action to stop employees use of racial slurs in the workplace, Lynette Barnes, the regional attorney for EEOCs Charlotte district office, said in a statement. EEOC takes a companys disregard for the federally protected rights of its employees very seriously and will prosecute cases where this kind of abuse occurs, Barnes said. Gabrielle Ellis starts each day at Philo-Hill Magnet Middle School in the same hall where her father stood duty, shouting out greetings and affirmations to ensure students start off the day on a positive note. When the bell rings, Ellis heads to the classroom where her father worked and teaches the students who had just begun to get to know him. After eight years of advocating for public education in Raleigh as vice president and then president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, Ellis had returned to his roots: a Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools classroom. Essie McCoy, principal at Philo-Hill, said Ellis had sought out her school specifically and wanted to be part of the transformation that McCoy was poised to lead. She brought him on to teach reading study skills and had plans to make him the schools new dean of students. One of the things that impressed me the most about Rodney was, after a very public statewide career he chose, of all the things he could choose to do, he chose to return to Philo-Hill, said Beverly Emory, superintendent of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. He had this vision of things he wanted to do for the student: A step team; this room; no one should be hungry; people should have clothes if they need them. Then, just two weeks into the school year, Ellis died unexpectedly. He was just 49 years old. The news reverberated through North Carolinas education community, where Ellis had been a well-known and respected advocate for public schools. Hed shot into statewide prominence in 2014 when, then serving at president of NCAE, Ellis was one of the protesters arrested at the General Assembly during a Moral Monday protest. His lifes passion was to give every student, no matter their situation in life, a chance to be successful, said Mark Jewell, current president of NCAE, in a statement. Jewell had been vice president of the organization under Ellis leadership. He fought for those ideals every day as an educator and as president of the North Carolina Association of Educators. Whether it was in front of a local school board, or on Jones Street at the state legislature, Rodney was a tenacious advocate for children, for educators, and for civil and equal rights, Jewell said While remembrances were rolling in and arrangements were being made McCoy was wondering what would become of the plans she and Ellis had been making to transform Philo-Hill. It didnt take long to find the answer: theyd carry on. She hired Gabrielle, whod been working at a nonprofit in Florida, to take over Ellis classroom. They expanded the schools food pantry and converted a storage closet into a book room where students can find donated books to take home as Rodney Ellis had envisioned. Many of these pieces of Rodneys vision have come to be and will live on, Emory said. During the dedication of that room Wednesday in honor of Ellis, the Ellis Dream Steppers the step team hed wanted to start performed for a crowd of students, district officials and Ellis friends and family including his wife, Lisa Chisolm-Ellis and four of his five children. So far, the room has about 1,000 books donated by the Junior League of Winston-Salem. McCoy said the Junior League plans to donate more books and the school will also take donations for the book room, clothes closet or food pantry. She can also use more community volunteers for the schools various mentoring programs, in which Ellis was also involved. Ellis was deeply committed to Philo-Hills transformation. For years, the school has struggled. When it ended up on a list of priority schools, meaning it was one of the lowest performing in the state, the district took action. McCoy was brought on as the schools new principal and the 2016-17 was slated as a planning year to develop an innovative new approach to start in the fall of 2017. In just a matter of weeks, Ellis had become an integral part of that work, McCoy said. Hell continue to be, through his vision, the initiatives he founded and through his daughter, carrying on his mantle. Its unique that Im able to be right in his classroom, doing something that was important to him, Gabrielle Ellis said. I know hed be proud. RALEIGH A whirlwind attempt to repeal transgender restroom House Bill 2 fell apart Wednesday as Republicans and Democrats in the N.C. Senate couldnt get past mutual mistrust on what a moratorium would have allowed and limited. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, submitted Senate Bill 4, which he and other Republican leaders claimed as their reach-across-the-aisle effort to reset the debate over the HB2 law approved earlier this year. The five sponsors of SB4, which include state Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Davidson, were Republicans. State Sen. Tommy Tucker, R-Union, said the bill had the potential to get rid of the stigma of HB2 off Charlotte and the state. However, senators could not reach a compromise on the second part of SB4 a lengthy moratorium in which no city or county government may enact or amend an ordinance regulating employment practices or regulating public accommodations or access to restrooms, showers or changing facilities. Gov.-elect Roy Cooper, a Democrat, expressed disappointment that the HB2 repeal was derailed and that Berger attempted to blame him for the failure. The legislature had a chance to do the right thing for North Carolina today, and it failed, Cooper said. He said he had legislative leaders from both parties and the Charlotte City Council in agreement on the HB2 repeal that would bring back jobs and sporting events. I know there were enough Democratic and Republican votes to fully repeal HB2 by itself. But Republican legislative leaders have broken their word to me and broken their trust with the people, he said. Republican senators alternatively blamed Cooper and the Charlotte council for not being transparent in how the council rescinded its city ordinance. Berger said in a statement and on the Senate floor that Cooper killed HB2s repeal by pressuring Senate Democrats to vote against SB4. Berger accused Cooper of abandoning his commitment to avoid divisive social issues by shooting down a temporary cooling- off period on ordinances like the one that got us into this mess last March. Moratorium The moratorium initially would have been 180 days after SB4 was signed into law. The moratorium then became a 30-day period after the end of the 2017 long session. The end of SB4 came in a bipartisan vote against repealing HB2 by all 16 of the Senate Democrats, including state Sen. Paul Lowe of Forsyth County, and 16 Republicans, including state Sens. Joyce Krawiec of Forsyth, Andrew Brock of Davie County and Shirley Randleman of Wilkes County. Berger applied a rarely used parliamentary split question to put Democrats on the defense. The first proposition was for an outright repeal of HB2. The second proposition was approval of the moratorium. Berger made it clear that both propositions had to be approved to move the bill forward. Surely you understand why theres still doubt about whether you really want to repeal HB2 and start over, or if you just want to get your way and continue to scream at Republicans, he said. This is your one and only opportunity to show us how serious you are about repealing HB2, Berger stressed before the 32-16 rejection of the HB2 repeal proposition. Cooper said in a CNN interview Thursday that he didnt believe the NCAA or NBA would have been satisfied with an HB2 repeal featuring a lengthy moratorium on N.C. cities and counties providing additional anti-discrimination protections. The potential for an indefinite moratorium on those ordinances led all 16 Senate Democrats to reject GOP-sponsored Senate Bill 4. The Senate Democrats knew (with the moratorium) that the NBA wouldnt come back, the NCAA wouldnt come back, and businesses would still say No to North Carolina in many instances, Cooper said. They were trying to stop something that wasnt a full repeal. Some Republicans said they voted to reject the HB2 repeal proposition because they opposed the use of the split-question maneuver. Road ahead A bill to repeal HB2 is now likely to be taken up in the long session scheduled to begin Jan. 11 where it may receive more deliberation but not necessarily experience a smoother path. Were worse off now than when we started, lamented state Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr., D-Durham. Instead of enhancing North Carolina with this repeal effort, we have allowed HB2 to remain a scar on North Carolina. Meanwhile, House legislators idled for more than nine hours with no parallel or other bill related to repealing HB2 introduced. Political analysts had espoused that the House would have been the more challenging chamber to get an HB2 repeal through. At least 10 rural House Republican legislators opened their part of the special fifth session, saying there was no need for it because they didnt want to repeal HB2. Any city or county anti-discrimination ordinance passed before the Charlotte ordinance in February would have been allowed to stay in place, but could not be amended, Berger said. Left-leaning advocates say the latest moratorium option would just extend the period in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals can be fired in Charlotte and elsewhere without legal protections. Blame game As the deal fell apart, both sides returned to harsh and bitter rhetoric in assessing blame. State Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, the defeated Republican candidate for state attorney general, said the moratorium would halt ordinances that the lunatic left of the city of Charlotte and other places want to enact. I have no faith in the city of Charlotte, no faith that anybody on the other side at this point will act honorably and in good faith to find a way forward, Newton said. Krawiec said she was disappointed that the Democratic senators viewed the moratorium offer as a deal breaker rather than a compromise. It was a principle vote for me, Krawiec said of her no vote. I was comfortable with the moratorium even though I had heard from thousands of constituents who didnt want to see HB2 repealed. When asked about taking up an HB2 repeal effort in the long session, Krawiec said she was supportive if we can find good-faith efforts on both sides, something that ultimately was lacking today. Concerns Democratic senators ultimately could not get past the fact that SB4 kept cities and counties from enacting their own anti-discrimination ordinances. McKissick said his concern with SB4 was that it only takes us halfway back to status quo because it restricts new anti-discrimination ordinances. With the moratorium, the bill was giving in the left hand and then taking back in the right hand, he said. McKissick said the possibility that the cooling-off period could be set permanently on prohibiting anti-discrimination ordinances gives me cause and reason to oppose this bill. For the past six sessions under Republican control, the end of the regular session has ended as early as July 1 (2016) and as late as Sept. 30 (2015). Simple bill? Berger introduced SB4 as a very simple bill that would take the state back to the status quo that existed before Charlotte passed its ordinance. This is the right thing to do to get us to a reset, whether you think Charlotte did something wrong or we did something wrong, Berger said. This will carry us through the long session. SB3, submitted by three urban Democratic senators, would have repealed HB2 in its entirety but not affect the Charlotte ordinance. It was referred to the Judiciary I committee that was not called into meeting Wednesday. The moratorium clause drew pushback from both parties. State Sen. Jeff Jackson, D-Mecklenburg, said SB4 with either moratorium in place breaks the legislatures end of the bargain. He said the Charlotte council would not have rescinded its ordinance had SB4 been the intent of the legislature leadership. The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday that the council retooled its nondiscrimination ordinance to fulfill its end of a deal to repeal HB2. On Monday, the council repealed the major parts of its Feb. 22 ordinance including all the clauses related to bathrooms and locker rooms that were the main source of Republican opposition. But because councils changes were not repealed entirely, the Observer reported, some Republican legislators were raising concerns over whether they should approve the overturn of HB2. The councils actions Wednesday essentially reverted the citys nondiscrimination ordinance to where it stood before the February vote, meaning gender identity and sexual orientation wouldnt be covered. The new repeal isnt tied to a Dec. 31 deadline, as Mondays action was, and would take effect as soon as the legislature repealed HB2. Charlotte acted in good faith that we would keep our end of the bargain, and it looks like were not going to, Jackson said. State Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow, referring to SB4, said that with the Charlotte councils track record, theres no reason why Charlotte or another city couldnt enact another ordinance without this bill in place. Brock said he believes in trust but verify and called the Charlotte councils effort Monday a political stunt by Mayor Jennifer Roberts after he found out it wouldnt have fully rescinded the anti-discrimination ordinance. Each side will just want to wait the other side out, said Brock, who voted against the amendment. Lowe said SB4 represents a partial repeal and still represents discrimination against a set of people. It is good for our state to just let this law go because it is bad for North Carolina in how we are looked at throughout the country. I cant go home and support a cooling-off period. Just how incompetent is the Obama administration? It turns out they knew the Russians were behind the Democratic National Committee and attempted Republican National Committee hackings, but according to NBC News, decided not to take any decisive action because they were assuming a Hillary Clinton victory, and therefore felt President Clinton could deal with the Russians when she took office. At his end-of-year news conference Friday, President Obama admitted to his own weakness with his statement that his response to the DNC hacking was to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to cut it out, when he saw Putin in China in September, fully a year after FBI agents tried to contact the DNC about the hacking attempts. What?! I hope Obama added a determined foot stomp and a by golly to his pitiful admonition to Putin. I wonder if Putin laughed in Obamas face, or waited until he left the room. I think history will show the Putin abuse of Obama reached a crescendo at that moment. How is it possible that Obamas team decided a flimsy warning to Putin would be enough of a response? Maybe Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said it best when he tweeted, There would be no strong Putin without a weak Obama. The Democrats want to play the victim, blame Donald Trump and declare Trump the beneficiary of the Russians interference in the 2016 campaign, but in fact, it was their own leadership that dropped the ball and gave the Russians the opening they needed. And Attorney General Loretta Lynchs silence on this was deafening. Where was she when her agents were trying to get the DNCs attention? Probably somewhere carrying out her audition for a job in a Clinton administration. Anyway, the tale of incompetence doesnt stop there. In a Keystone Cops-worthy episode revealed in no less than The New York Times, it turns out the FBI repeatedly called the DNC beginning in September 2015 to warn them about hacking attempts, but the Democratic staffer the FBI agent reached wouldnt return the agents calls because he wasnt certain the caller was a real FBI agent and not an imposter and because the DNC had nothing to report. Not to mention, another Democratic staffer made the worlds most inexplicable typo and called a phishing email a legitimate email instead of an illegitimate one, opening the path for a hacker to gain access to all of John Podestas emails. Oops. Its unbelievable. And as troubling as it is that Obama and the Democrats allowed the Russians to interfere in the election and engage in cyberwarfare without any ramifications, we shouldnt be surprised. After all, it is the Obama administration that has capitulated to Iran at every turn and stood by as Syrian government forces, facilitated by the Russians, slaughtered hundreds of thousands in Syria. Now more than ever, it is clear it is time for an urgent change in our foreign policy. Obama and his team cannot leave office soon enough. Photo released on Dec. 21, 2016 and acquired from the website of German Federal Criminal Police Office shows Anis A., suspect of the Christmas market attack. German police is searching nationwide for the suspect after a lorry ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday night, killing 12 people and injuring many others. (Xinhua) SAN DIEGO Alisa Valdes is a gifted writer, and like many others who practice this trade a haunted one. I didnt become a writer, she told me. I was born condemned to live as a writer. I was given a gift. And if I dont use it, its disrespectful to whoever gave it to me. These days, Valdes is living her dreams even as she fends off nightmares. Monsters appear in her personal life and in the public square. The personal challenges include pain, heartbreak, doubt, self-loathing, sadness. The public menace is a blowhard who awoke Americans prejudice on his way into the White House. Convinced that evil is descending upon us like a medieval plague, the Latina novelist and avid Donald Trump critic is afraid for her country and itching for a fight. She thinks artists should be in the revolution business because they feel and see things others dont. As the daughter of a father who was born in Cuba and a mother whose ancestry is Mexican and Irish, she thinks Trump is dangerous and must be opposed at every turn. Valdes knows how to fight. Her writing career has been full of wins and losses. Since I was 20 years old, Ive wanted to be an artist full-time, she said. But it doesnt work financially. So I have a day job, then I do what my heart loves in my spare time. High points: Years ago, after studying music and journalism at the best schools, she gave up being a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and tried her hand at fiction. Words came like water out of a fire hose. She wrote a novel in six days. It was about a group of Latinas who struggle with careers, romance and life. She gave the book a sexy name: The Dirty Girls Social Club. It sold more than 500,000 copies, was translated into 11 languages, and got optioned by Hollywood three times. She was suddenly a rock star in publishing, carving out a niche in what other Latina writers snootily dismissed as chick lit. Book signings drew thousands of people. Her fans are loyal. Her most important role, however, is being mom to a son whom she loves and adores. Low points: Even though Valdes churned out a dozen more books in the years to come, none was as successful as Dirty Girls. The book that got optioned multiple times never made it to television or film. In her professional life, when people try to discourage her, or criticize her, or run her down, Valdes doesnt listen. Unfortunately, when those things happen in her personal life, she does. There was a marriage, then a divorce. A succession of boyfriends in the years since, and just as many breakups because her friends would say none of her partners was up to the challenge of loving someone smarter and more talented than they were. She also struggles with mental illness, for which she has sought therapy and treatment. Not long ago, after a fight with a boyfriend, she overdosed on prescription medication. The minute I took the pills, I regretted it, she said. And yet I know that many of my favorite writers have gone down this path. There is something about the writers brain that is especially open to feeling these emotions. The pills did the trick. She died. Hospital records say Valdes stopped breathing, and the paramedics say her heart stopped beating twice in the ambulance. She had no pulse for 20 minutes, and spent 12 hours in a coma. Valdes woke up, and now shes determined to make the most of her second chance. When not railing against Trump to her fan base and anyone else who will listen, she is enjoying her season of redemption. After more than a decade of trying to introduce Dirty Girls to Hollywood, she recently inked a deal with the Starz cable network for what executives are calling a dynamic and sexy half-hour series. Valdes, who will serve as a co-executive producer, knows there are no guarantees. Yet shes thrilled with the project and proud of the creative team that has been assembled to adapt the story to television. This sort of thing is a heady accomplishment for any writer. But the victory must be especially sweet for someone who has known so much pain and disappointment. Not long ago, Valdes almost ended her own story. Now, instead, a new chapter is about to be written. JONES ABERNETHY, Winston-Salem An historic achievement On Dec. 2, Rep. Virginia Foxx was selected to serve as the chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee in the 115th Congress. Foxx will be the first Republican from North Carolina to chair a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the first woman to lead this important committee. Foxx represents North Carolinas Fifth House District, which includes all of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, but somehow the Journal did not find this historic achievement by our hometown congresswoman worthy of coverage. As a teacher, Watauga County school-board member, administrator at Appalachian State University and president of Mayland Community College, Foxx has devoted her professional career to education. I know that Foxx does not share the same political outlook as the Journal. But her constituents would have benefited from learning of Foxxs new position. This committee is uniquely involved in the lives of the American people, young and old, as nearly everyone will attend school and work during their lifetime. Its important for us to know that she will have a significant role in developing the policies that impact our schools and workplaces. No one works harder for her constituents than Foxx. No person or organization has been more consistently critical and condescending of her than the Journal. I hope it is an oversight, rather than blatant misogyny, that the Journal has chosen to overlook her appointment. Foxx is an experienced leader and its time the Journal reported some real news and acknowledged her accomplishments. ****** FLEMING EL-AMIN, Winston-Salem Frozen freedoms The aggressive deliberate and deceitful display of arrogance against the will of free elections in the N.C. General Assembly by Republican leaders insults human decency and disrespects the fundamental purpose of a free election. Our basic structure of government is three branches designed to check and balance each other for the people. These lawmakers are attempting to control all three branches with midnight laws being written with no public debate or input. To attempt to consolidate all state powers into one branch of government is unprincipled and undemocratic. It appears to be an attempt to freeze our freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Its an assault on basic rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. ****** SHEILA ROHER, Winston-Salem Banana republic If Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-dominated legislature seriously believed stripping the governor of power was in the best interest of our state, they should have done so when he was first elected. To strip the executive branch of long-established powers based solely on a naked grab for political power puts us in line to becoming a banana republic, where serious and well-considered ideas of democratic governance have been discarded in favor of purely partisan appetites. This is foolishly riding a tiger that can eat our democratic republic and we need to push back against it. JAMES T. FULLER, Winston-Salem Full freedom of speech Im sure the writer of the Dec. 15 letter Limited freedom of speech is a good man and loves our country. But so do the protestors he finds it necessary to criticize. The opposite of love isnt hate, but indifference. If they didnt love America, they would sit at home watching TV. The writer feels his freedom of speech embodied in his vote for President-elect Trump is threatened by the protestors. But this is simply not so. Nobody tried to stop him from speaking, or voting. Freedom of speech doesnt mean that you get to have your say then everyone else has to shut up. It means that you get to speak, then others get to speak, then others get to speak, so on and so forth. In asking people not to respond to his speech, it is he who advocates limiting that freedom. Lets not forget that our country was founded on protest against an oppressive government. It was also inspired by a memorable event in Boston that involved the destruction of property. Democracy is not always clean and pretty. The Trump protestors, like the tea-party protestors who sprang up eight years ago, are following a fine tradition. Some values, like freedom of speech, should go beyond partisan politics. We should all understand that people have the right to say things we wont agree with and we have the right to respond. Let people protest; its the American way. ****** BOON T. LEE, Winston-Salem Fair play The naked power grabs by the GOP lawmakers to strip some powers from the incoming Democratic governor (GOP strips governor of mower powers, Dec. 17) is outrageously shocking. Its beyond ones imagination that such a thing could happen in a democratic country. This could only happen in a banana republic. They are unashamedly and arrogantly trampling on the will of the voters and the democratic principle of fair play. They have no common decency. All decent people irrespective of political affiliations should stand up to this autocratic abuse of power. Whats next? They probably would like to abolish elections altogether. 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. [File photo] Chinese customers snapped up anti-pollution products in the run-up to and throughout Beijing's first red alert for smog in 2016, issued on Dec. 16. Over 3 million masks were sold each day the red alert was in effect. According to statistics from JD.com, one of Chinas largest e-commerce companies, over 15 million masks were sold via the online platform from Dec. 16 to 20, with a growth rate of 380 percent. Chinese customers also bought 110,000 air purifiers and PM2.5 monitors, with growth rates of 210 percent and 105 percent respectively. As of press time, masks designed for children were sold out on the platform. Customers in Beijing make up the largest consumer base for anti-pollution products. Due to the city's air quality, which often exceeds the recommended standards for PM2.5 and other pollutants, such products have become daily necessities for many families. The recent red alert, which is the highest tier of the countrys four-tier warning system, was lifted on Dec. 21 after heave smog engulfed the city for six days. During the red alert, Beijing authorities were ordered to shut down businesses, restrict cars and close schools to protect public safety. Counts of PM2.5 harmful microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs reached over 170 micrograms per cubic meter on Dec. 19, which is nearly seven times the World Health Organizations recommended maximum exposure of 25 over a 24-hour period. About 200 bags of diapers, hygiene essentials and other related products will be available free-of-charge to expecting moms, who register for the "Shower for Life" event being held on Nov. 5, from 1-3 p.m., at St. Paul's Anglican Church, located at 316 W. Carolina Ave in Summerville. Read more'Shower for Life' calls all expecting mothers Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | After the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey by a member of the Ankara police force who appears to have gone over to some form of al-Qaeda-like radicalism, one person on the internet said that Turkey should never have let Muslims into its country. I just saw someone tweet that Turkey should have never allowed Muslims into their countryI will now take a hammer to my head Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) December 19, 2016 This person did not realize that the vast majority of people who live in Turkey are of Muslim heritage, and have been for many centuries. This this is not The Onion level of disbelief also has to attend Trumps reaction to the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey on Sunday. He said the incident, and the truck attack in Berlin on what he characterized as Christians, proved he was right in his position that Muslim immigrants should not be allowed to come to the US. Trump, moments ago, asked about overseas attacks: "What's going on is terrible. In fact, we have intelligence here right now." About what? pic.twitter.com/BeYIFCDqvn Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) December 21, 2016 The problem is that assassin Mevlut Altintash was not an immigrant, to anywhere. He was a natural born Turk, born and raised in his native country. He is also part of a very tiny fringe of radical Muslim Turks (large numbers of Turks are secularists, while most others tend toward a moderate Islam). Both in Ankara and in Berlin, far right radicals were attempting to troll various publics. They want to sour relations between Turkey and Russia. They want to provoke Germans of Christian heritage to attack Germans of Muslim heritage. When German Muslims are accepted in German society, radicalism cannot flourish. Hence, it is suspected that a Tunisian terrorist drove the truck into the German crowd. The German far right is scathingly criticizing Chancellor Angela Merkel and urging attacks on German Muslims (5.8 percent of the German population). In other words they are allowing themselves to be trolled by Muslim radicals. Likewise, so is Trump swallowing the Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) line. Likewise, for someone to suggest that only immigrants have committed violence in Germany is obscene. Far more violence is committed by the German far right (and has been for a century) than was ever carried out by the small Muslim community in Germany. The same is true of the United States, where Neonazis, biker gangs, and other manifestations of the far right have deliberately ratcheted up tensions between Christians and Muslims. Gandhi said that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. If the German and American publics allow the radical trolls to win, that is where the whole world is going. Related video: Donald Trump Reacts To Terrible Turkey, Germany Attacks | NBC News [File photo] Chinas underwater robot technology has advanced significantly in recent years, but the country still faces problems, including a lack of applicable products and relatively slow transformation process from technologies to applicable products, experts said. In 2016, Chinas underwater robot industry saw fast development. In January, the homegrown unmanned autonomous underwater vehicle Qianling-2 accomplished its first undersea mission, searching the seabed and collecting high-precision hydrological data. In August, Haidou-1, Chinas domestic underwater glider, dove over 10,767 meters below sea level, making China the third country after Japan and the U.S. to have built submersibles capable of reaching depths in excess of 10,000 meters. Though Chinas progress in underwater robot technology has been recognized by the international community, the country still lags behind compared to many developed nations. It is time-consuming to transform technologies into actual products, and China still has a long way to go to establish a mature industrial system. In the U.S., an underwater robot can be tested hundreds of times per year, while in China we can only test the robot dozens of times [due to the slow process of technological transformation]. In the long run, China will fall even further behind, Liu Jian, chief designer of Qianling-2, told Economic Information Daily. Feng Xisheng, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that China needs to build a system covering the research, design, manufacturing, application and talent training of underwater robots. While other countries have established distinct industrial sectors to develop such technologies, underwater robots in China are mainly studied at research centers, with few companies taking part in the process. Experts believe that favorable policies and a mature system should be established in China to promote its underwater robotics industry, which is crucial for the countrys sustainable development and national security. Reddit Email 0 Shares The white supremacist revealed this week he is considering running for the Montana Congressional seat. With an incoming presidency that was embroiled in charges of using white supremacist rhetoric during the campaign trail, its no wonder white supremacists across the country are rising from the margins and being frontlined on mainstream platforms. The rise of Richard Spencer the white supremacist considering running for Congress is one such case. Spencer said in an interview Tuesday that he is seriously thinking about running for the Congressional seat in Montana and will make a final decision by early next year, The Los Angeles Times reported. This would be an insurgent campaign, said Spencer, adding that he would run as an independent candidate. My candidacy would be something everyone would be talking about and would observe. Spencers National Policy Institute has been listed as a hate group by both the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League. A video surfaced last month of him speaking to a crowd in Washington that cheered and whooped his neo-Nazi speech that was also met with a roomful of neo-Nazi salutes. Hes been flown around the country since for a multitude of speaking engagements. Spencer began considering the Montana congressional seat after the current holder of the position, Republican Ryan Zinke, was tapped last week by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Interior. According to the Montana secretary of states office, for Spencer to run, he would have to submit a petition amassed with 15,000 signatures 75 days before the special election. While Democrats have outright condemned his candidacy, Republicans are more ambiguous in their opinion. Jeff Essmann, chairman of the Montana Republican Party, told the Missoulian last week that he is not able to comment on the merits of any candidate or share my personal views on any of them, but did add that in most corners of Montana, a Spencer candidacy would be viewed skeptically. On Tuesday, Rachel Carroll Rivas, co-director of the Montana Human Rights Network, was more outright in her condemnation. Hes using a political platform to take these extremist ideas into our everyday discussion, and we should resist this at every turn, she said. Who supports Richard Spencer? Hes supported by a bunch of online vitriolic trolls. Spencer isnt the only white supremacist who has considered running for office in Montana. Five years ago, John Abarr, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan ran for the congressional seat, in response to, as he said, the election of President Obama and the subsequent effort to "save the white race." He dropped out due to minuscule support for his campaign. Another white supremacist, Taylor Rose, also ran on an unsuccessful GOP campaign for a seat in the state legislature this year. 16.12.2016 18:00 Age: 46 days Category: Press Releases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 20, 2016 Congressional Puerto Rico Task Force Releases Recommendations Washington DC - A Congressional task force released a report proposing changes to US law impacting Puerto Rico. Congress created the Congressional Task Force on Economic Growth in Puerto Rico in June as part of legislation addressing the US territory's debt crisis. The report recommended changes to federal tax and health care policy. Puerto Rico owes $70 billion in debt and avoided default in July when President Obama signed the debt crisis legislation. "The task force did important work to examine Puerto Rico's treatment under US law," noted Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious anti-poverty coalition Jubilee USA. "Congress should implement many of the bipartisan recommendations." The task force report recommended that Congress extend the Child Tax Credit to additional families in Puerto Rico, which could inject nearly $3 billion into the economy over the next decade. Currently only families with three or more children are able to claim the credit. "It's important that the task forces recommends that American citizens in Puerto Rico should be able to access the same healthcare funding and child benefits that citizens can access on the mainland," stated LeCompte. Jubilee USA won an amendment to the debt crisis legislation to require the task force to address Puerto Rico's high child poverty rate. The task force included Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Representative Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin), Representative Tom MacArthur (R-New Jersey), Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida), Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), Representative Pedro Pierluisi (D-Puerto Rico) and Representative Nydia Velazquez (D-New York). Read the Congressional Task Force on Economic Growth in Puerto Rico Report to the House and Senate Read more about Jubilee USA's child poverty amendment to the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act Read a timeline of Puerto Rico's debt crisis Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of 75 organizations and 650 faith communities. Jubilee USA builds an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA wins critical global financial reforms and won more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. www.jubileeusa.org 21.12.2016 14:00 Age: 41 days Category: Press Releases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 21, 2016 Puerto Rico Oversight Board Moves Forward on Debt Restructuring Washington DC - Puerto Rico's "control" board sent a letter to current Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla and incoming Governor Ricardo Rossello stating areas for fiscal plan review and that debt restructuring talks are moving forward. The Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico begins conversations with creditors this week. "It's critical the board is moving forward with the process to restructure Puerto Rico's debt," said Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte. LeCompte testified to the board in November and suggested the debt be reduced by as much as 60 percent. "I'm encouraged by statements from board members that a deep reduction of Puerto Rico's debt is needed." The oversight board and debt restructuring process for the US territory are products of Congressional action this past summer. The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act also temporarily prevents debt collection lawsuits against the heavily indebted island. Unless a formal debt restructuring process moves forward by February, the moratorium on lawsuits will expire. "If talks between creditors and Puerto Rico fail to achieve a deep cut in the debt, the oversight board needs to authorize the formal court arbitrated restructuring process," noted LeCompte. "Solving this crisis starts with restructuring the debt. Creating economic conditions for growth depends on a deep cut of the island's debt." Read the letter Read Eric LeCompte's testimony to the Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico in November Read a timeline of Puerto Rico's debt crisis Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of 75 organizations and 650 faith communities. Jubilee USA builds an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA wins critical global financial reforms and won more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. www.jubileeusa.org NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Drinks Daily News The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Drinks Weekly News A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Drinks Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter A plan for China's fourth-generation 600,000-kilowatt high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR) was released by Tsinghua University on Dec. 21. Representing the first commercial HTR plan in the world, the development is of crucial significance. The HTR scheme was independently developed by Tsinghua University and China-owned IPRs. Currently, the project is in the installation and commissioning stage; it is scheduled to achieve grid generation by the end of 2017. Zhang Zuoyi, the chief architect of the project, claimed that HTR has broader prospect than coal-fired alternatives, as it combines heat, power and the production of nuclear hydrogen. In addition, it is a significant force behind Chinas nuclear strategy. China has made a number of breakthroughs in core HTR technologies. It has signed memoranda of understanding with Saudi Arabia and Indonesia relating to HTR. Three notable diplomatic events took place recently, all relating to China: China and Norway normalized their bilateral relations, Mongolia promised to never again invite the Dalai Lama to visit, and the government of Sao Tome and Principe declared that it would sever so-called diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The three countries all emphasized that they will stick to the One China principle, which is one of China's core interests, near to the hearts of over 1.3 billion Chinese people. The policy is also a prerequisite for other countries to maintain and develop friendly relations with China. China is pleased to see that Norway, Mongolia and Sao Tome and Principe are all getting back on the right track. Bilateral ties between China and Norway normalize after 6 years China and Norway issued a statement on the normalization of ties during Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende's official visit to China on Dec. 19. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also spoke with Brende, according to the website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced its normalization of ties with China on the same day, according to a Reuters report, which added that ties between the two countries have been "frozen" since 2010. Mongolia bans Dalai Lama's future visits The Mongolian government invited the 14th Dalai Lama for a visit from Nov. 18 to 23, despite China's firm and strong opposition. The Mongolian Foreign Minister Munkh-Orgil Tsend told Mongolian media on Dec. 20 that the Dalai Lama's visit in the name of religion had a negative impact on Mongolia-China relations, and he regretted that impact. Munkh-Orgil said that Mongolia is making efforts to restore China-Mongolia relations. Mongolia firmly supports the One China principle, and holds that Tibet is an inalienable part of China. The Tibet issue is China's domestic affair, in the eyes of Mongolia. Mongolia will continue to adhere to this principle, and never again invite the Dalai Lama to visit. The government of Sao Tome and Principe cuts ties with Taiwan The government of Sao Tome and Principe reportedly issued a statement on Dec. 20, declaring intentions to sever its "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan. "We note that the government of Sao Tome and Principe issued a statement on Dec. 20 local time, announcing its decision to cut so-called diplomatic ties with Taiwan. China appreciates this and welcomes Sao Tome and Principe's return to the right side of the One China principle," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Dec. 21. Adhering to the One China principle is an inevitable trend that is in accordance with the will of the international community. China is always willing to develop friendly, cooperative relationships with other countries based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the One China principle. The 26th Session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 in October 1971, making it clear that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing China. The One China principle recognized in the resolution has become the general consensus of the international community. China is always reasonable when it comes to international affairs. However, China has a firm bottom line when it comes to its core interests, which it will strenuously defend. The future is bound to be brighter as more and more nations accept this reality. The winners of the Fudan Science Prize have aroused controversy in recent days, since the organizers offered the prize to American and Japan scholars, but left out Chinese scientist Chen Lieping, who has also contributed a lot to the field. I am really disappointed with the final result. It is unprofessional, and ignored the opinions of insiders, Fu Xinyuan, a professor at the Medical School of National University of Singapore, told Thepaper.cn on Dec. 20. The Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Prize, with its premium of 3 million RMB, was awarded to American immunologist James Allison and Japanese immunologist Tasuku Honjo to recognize their contributions to the research of tumor treatment. Many Chinese scientists were reluctant to accept the result because Professor Chen has been of vital importance in the field thanks to his discovery of PD-L1 glair. Professor Chen was one of the candidates for the prize. The specific reasons he was not named a winner remain unknown. Fu Xingyang, one of the researchers of PD-L1, said he was very surprised that Chen was excluded from the award, though he agreed that the winning scientists deserved the prize. According to Fu, Chens exclusion reflects a larger problem in the international community, which frequently minimizes Chinese contributions. (Xinhua) 18:48, December 22, 2016 Two major presidential hopefuls in South Korea's biggest opposition party beat outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a simulated presidential election, a local survey showed on Thursday. Moon Jae-in, former head of the main opposition Minjoo Party, is elected as president in a simulated showdown with Ban, who has been seen as the best hope for conservative voters, according to the survey conducted by local pollster Realmeter for two days through Dec. 16. Lee Jae-myung, mayor of Seongnam, a city to the southeast of the capital Seoul, also won the presidency in a virtual presidential election with Ban. Lee is a runner-up to Moon among the Minjoo Party's presidential contenders. Moon beat Ban by 46.8 percent to 35.5 percent in the simulation, while the virtual showdown between Lee and Ban was 42.3 percent to 39.0 percent. Ban, whose two, five-year terms at the top UN post are set to end by the end of this year, has never officially declared his run for presidency in his home country, but local media outlets speculated that he already indicated his presidential ambition. In the multilateral presidential race including Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party, Moon won a 31 percent support in the simulation, trailed by Ban with 23.6 percent and Ahn with 13.7 percent. However, Ban ranked first in approval rating among presidential hopefuls as support for the opposition contenders were divided. Support for Ban was 23.1 percent, followed by Moon with 22.2 percent and Mayor Lee with 11.9 percent. Ahn came next with 8.6 percent. (Xinhua) 19:18, December 22, 2016 China on Thursday denied "money diplomacy" with Sao Tome and Principe after the Central African nation cut the so-called "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan. "How can the one-China principle be traded with money? The Chinese government never trades its principles," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a press briefing. Her comments were in response to a question about Taiwan's claim that Sao Tome and Principe had asked for an astronomical figure that Taiwan was unable to pay. Hua said the one-China principle had broad consensus in the international community, while representing people's aspirations. "We appreciate and welcome Sao Tome and Principe returning to the correct track of sticking to the one-China policy. Justice lies in people's hearts," she said. Sao Tome and Principe, an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, announced Tuesday (local time) that it cut so-called "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan. Compared with its crowded counterpart in Chengdu, the giant panda base in Dujiangyan, 60 km away, is quiet and secluded. It's the perfect location for the world's only "nursing home" for elderly pandas. The Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP), in southwest China's Sichuan Province, provides care for eight aging pandas, including 31-year-old Pan Pan, the world's oldest male giant panda in captivity. Giant pandas over the age of 20 are considered old. Pan Pan, which means "expectation" in Chinese, was born in the wild in Sichuan in 1985. He was later rescued and kept by the CCRCGP. The prolific panda has more than 130 descendants, and nearly a quarter of all captive-bred pandas in the world are related to him. The Winter Solstice on Wednesday marked the arrival of pandas' favorite season. The bears love the brisk temperatures. But Pan Pan and his pals need special care as they suffer from multiple health afflictions. "Corn bread, with shreds of fresh bamboo leaves, is specially prepared for the old ones. It's easier for them to take in bamboo this way since they no longer have good teeth," said Tan Chengbin, Pan Pan's keeper. The "panda grandpa" was diagnosed with cancer in June this year. Apart from this, he also suffers from common old-age conditions, such as cataracts and deteriorating teeth. Pan Pan now spends most of his day indoors due to health problems, said Tan. To help the aged pandas better cope with winter, the care team prepares eggs, milk and other nutrients for their meals. They are ready to turn on the heating system in the enclosure if there is a plunge in temperature. Around 2,000 giant pandas live in the wild, mostly in China's Sichuan and Shaanxi. The country started releasing captive-bred pandas into the wild in 2006 in an effort to improve the genetic diversity and quality of the species. China has 67 giant panda nature reserves, but habitat fragmentation is a major reason for the isolation of wild panda groups and a threat to their survival, according to Chen Fengxue, deputy head at the State Forestry Administration. "The giant panda is still endangered," Chen said. However, the situation could change for Pan Pan's youngest relatives. A plan to build a national park for giant pandas has been submitted to the central government for approval. Under the plan, existing nature reserves, parks and scenic areas would be integrated into the national park, which could offer a solution for the problem of fragmented habitats. Local residents of Blagoveshchensk, Russia enjoy the view of Heilongjiang River (or Amur River in Russia), a boundary river between China and Russia. The government of Heilongjiang province in northeastern China has confirmed that construction on a cross-border highway bridge linking the city of Heihe and Blagoveshchensk, Russia is expected to start on Dec. 24 after nearly 28 years' discussion from both sides. The 19.9-kilometer bridge will be the first cross-border bridge over the boundary river that separates the countries, the Heilongjiang River (or Amur River), with 6.5 kilometers in China and 13.4 kilometers in Russia. With investment of nearly 2.5 billion yuan, the project is expected to be completed in three years and will be officially open to traffic in October, 2019. The notion of building the bridge was first put forward by both countries in 1988. However, establishment of a construction fund proved to be a significant obstacle and prevented the project moving forward. In a bid to tackle the problem, Heilongjiang government in 2013 proposed to establish a joint venture company between the two countries to attract loans and then pay back the loans using bridge tolls. In September 2015, a protocol on building the bridge was signed between China and Russia and one year later the Heilongjiang government in China and the Amur state government in Russia inked a contract with the China-Russia joint venture Company. According to the contract, the company will be responsible for construction management, operation and maintenance of the bridge as well as charging fees and returning loans. Trips across the two sides are expected to be doubled to nearly 1.5 million in 2020 and freight volume is also expected to increase 10-fold, reaching over 3 million tons. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Matharoo sisters Jyoti (left) and Kiran (right) Kiran and Jyoti Matharoo are living the life. Private jets, luxury yachts, exclusive VVIP parties, a closet full of the choicest designer clothes, shoes and bags. It is the kind of life we only imagine or see on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. But while Kim and her sisters glamorous lifestyle is majorly for their hit reality TV series, the Matharoos is their reality. Yacht chilling Living the life The sisters left their home country of Canada to set up a base in Nigeria in search of greener pastures. Now for some, the idea of leaving a country like Canada, generally seen as developed, to come settle in a third-world Nigeria would seem almost atrocious. But not for Kiran and Jyoti. The brunette sisters knew to look beyond what the rest of the world sees, but even more, they understood that being light-skinned, extremely beautiful and with the slightest hint of a foreign accent in a country like Nigeria will take you places and buy you things you can only afford to dream of in some backwater town in Canada. Their curvaceous bodies are every mans fantasy. Buff stuff They started off as managers in charge of a very pricey restaurant situated in a high-brow area of Lagos and frequented by societys high and mighty; but with curvaceous bodies to kill for and faces straight out of a magazine cover, it was only a matter of time before the sisters struck gold. So they found their very green pastures in the pockets of politicians and oil magnates who would give anything to be in the company of living goddesses. Jyoti posing in her walk-in closet Shades and purses Life of a glam girl Jyoti showing off a Hermes bag she got as a present Their glamorous and lavish lifestyle which is constantly on display on their Instagram pages and blog has earned them quite the following they have a combined total of almost 50,000 followers on the picture-sharing platform. But as expected too, with the thousands of fans comes a ton of haters who attack them in the comment sections every chance they get. But hateful comments and even a recent run-in with the law isnt dimming the sisters shine. For each blow theyve been dealt, they always seem to come back stronger and flashier. Showing off wads of cash on their Instagram Hard currency More designer stuff because, material girls Audemar Lounging Private jet by night and day How to glow Kiran and Jyoti practically have men eating out of the palms of their hands. The richest men in the country fall over themselves to get a taste of the Canadian-Indian sisters. The sisters are driven about by armed policemen They get invited to the most exclusive parties in and outside the country and they go everywhere with heavily-armed security details. Theyre regulars at popular Lagos club, Quilox Pink and kinky Not your regular bottles there The Matharoo VIP friendship list also boasts of quite a few celebrity names including Wizkid, Jennifer Obawuyana, celebrity stylist Jeremiah Ogbodo among others. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Seba Aghayeva Trend: Azerbaijan and Turkey held political consultations in Baku. During the consultations held by the two countries deputy foreign ministers, Khalaf Khalafov and Umit Yalcin, the sides discussed the issues of development of bilateral relations, the situation in the Middle East, fight against terrorism, settlement of regional conflicts, neighborhood policy and several other international issues, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend Dec. 22. The Azerbaijani and Turkish deputy foreign ministers also discussed recent events in Turkey and expressed concern in connection with these incidents aimed at violating stability in the country. Moreover, Khalafov and Yalcin expressed satisfaction with the cooperation in the formats of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Turkmenistan and noted the importance of the development of trilateral relations. Details added (first version posted on 17:19) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Seba Aghayeva Trend: The UN General Assembly has passed the Azerbaijan-initiated resolution titled Missing Persons, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend December 22. The resolution calls upon the states that are parties to armed conflicts to strictly observe and respect the rules of international humanitarian law, take all appropriate measures to prevent people from going missing and provide their family members with relevant information that they have on their fate. In this context, the resolution requests the states to pay the utmost attention to cases of children reported missing in connection with the armed conflicts. Details added (first version posted on 11:18) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Ismail Kahraman, Speaker of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin and Chairman of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of the Kyrgyz Republic Chynybay Tursunbekov, who are visiting the country to attend the official opening ceremony of headquarters of the International Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic-Speaking Countries (TurkPA) December 22. Welcoming the Turkic-speaking countries' parliament speakers, President Aliyev hailed the importance of their visit to Baku, and said the visit will strengthen solidarity and give a new impetus to relations between the countries. President Aliyev praised mutual activities of the parliaments of Turkic-speaking countries, saying the heads of state also contribute to cooperation between these countries. The president noted the importance of this cooperation both to the region and to the world. The head of state said Azerbaijan attaches great importance to this cooperation. Nigmatulin conveyed greetings of President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his wishes for peace and tranquility to the people of Azerbaijan. On behalf of his counterparts, he congratulated President Aliyev on the country's successfully holding the referendum. Nigmatulin emphasized that the results of referendum once again demonstrated to the world community the Azerbaijani people's support for the policy carried out by President Aliyev and the strengthening of the country's independence. Speaker of the Kazakh Parliament noted that President Aliyev as the leader of modern Azerbaijan also contributes to the development of relations between the Turkic-speaking states. Saying TurkPA delegations visit the Alley of Honors to pay tribute to national leader Heydar Aliyev each time they travel to Azerbaijan, Nigmatulin spoke about personal friendly relations that were between Heydar Aliyev and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. He noted that the Kazakh president always remembers the national leader, saying, "Azerbaijan strengthened its statehood and independence thanks to the wise policy of Heydar Aliyev." The speaker of the Kazakh Parliament thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the construction of headquarters of the International Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-Speaking Countries. "Our nations are of a common Turkic origin, and therefore, the construction of the building has a symbolic meaning," he said. Describing Baku as a shining example of the developing Azerbaijan, Nigmatulin noted that they are impressed by the development of Azerbaijan and its capital Baku. He underlined that TurkPA countries share a common position within international organizations, saying this policy will continue, and expressed his confidence that fruitful initiatives will be put forward by recommendations of President Aliyev at the new headquarters. Nigmatulin hailed President Aliyevs role in and contributions to the development of TurkPA and on behalf of his counterparts thanked him for supporting the activities of the organization. He emphasized that the organization instituted the medal "For special merits in the development of TurkPA", and that by unanimous decision the first medal was conferred upon President Aliyev for his contributions to strengthening solidarity and unity of the Turkic-speaking countries. The speaker of the Parliament of Kazakhstan presented the medal to President Aliyev. The president thanked Nigmatulin for kind words and also expressed gratitude for the greetings of President Nazarbayev and asked the speaker to communicate his greetings to the Kazakh leader. President Aliyev hailed TurkPAs recognizing his activity and said it was symbolic that the presentation of the medal coincided with the opening of the headquarters of the International Secretariat of Turkic-Speaking Countries and the 25th anniversary of independence of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The president said cooperation with the Turkic-speaking countries was one of the priorities of Azerbaijans foreign policy. President Aliyev noted that Turkic-speaking countries cooperate and strive to strengthen their mutual activity both in bilateral and multilateral formats and within the UN, OIC and other international organizations. If any Turkic-speaking country is not represented in any international organization, the other one supports its stance and demonstrates solidarity with it. President Aliyev mentioned that these nations have common history and roots. The head of state said Azerbaijan will continue to contribute to bringing Turkic-speaking countries closer and encourage them to support each other. The president asked the speakers to extend his best wishes to the presidents of Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. During the meeting, Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Ismail Kahraman said friendly and fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey successfully develop in all areas, and hailed inter-parliamentary cooperation. He emphasized the role of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic-Speaking Countries in expanding cooperation between the countries. Chairman of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of the Kyrgyz Republic Chynybay Tursunbekov said relations between the countries successfully develop in various fields, adding that inter-parliamentary cooperation contributes to the development of these relations. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: The capacity of logistics center in Turkeys Kars province that is being built for needs of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will be 412,000 tons of goods per year, the Turkish Yenisafak newspaper reported. It is expected that the BTK railway will be commissioned in mid-2017 with an initial capacity of 6.5 million tons, however, in the medium term, the volume of cargo transshipment can reach 35 million tons per year, said the report. The logistics centers area will be 350,000 square meters and about 500 jobs will be created, according to the report. The report also said that the cost of the centers construction will be 100 million Turkish liras. A six-kilometer line of the Kars-Erzurum railway is being built in order to ensure the access to the logistics center, according to the report. Cargo flow from Asia to Europe is 240 million tons and if even 10 percent of this volume goes through Turkey, it will justify the construction of the logistics center, said the report. The project can bring billions of dollars to the economy in the future. The freight traffic will be even faster when the Ankara-Kars high-speed rail project will be implemented in 2023. Along with the BTK, the implementation of the Marmaray project will also give an opportunity to continuously provide the railway corridor from China to Europe with cargo. Therefore, the freight traffic between Europe and Asia will be fully transferred to railway, said the report. Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan bought additional ferries for transportation through the Caspian Sea. Freight traffic from China to Europe via sea takes 45-60 days, while via the BTK this period will be reduced to 12-15 days. Moreover, service and repair for passenger and cargo trains will be carried out at the logistics center in the Kars province, according to the report. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Azerbaijan reduced goods export to Georgia by 10.2 percent to $440.19 million in January-November 2016, according to the report of Georgias National Statistics Office. The report says that Azerbaijan, with a specific weight of 4.9 percent (7.1 percent in January-November 2015), ranks the sixth among the countries exporting goods to Georgia. Canada, with $1.79 billion (20.1 percent), is the leader for goods export to Georgia. Turkey with $1.24 billion (13.9 percent) and Ireland $621.29 million (7 percent) are following Canada. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Georgia amounted to $571.36 million in January-November 2016, according to the report. The specific weight of Azerbaijans trade turnover with Georgia accounts for 5.3 percent of the total volume of Georgias foreign trade operations. 1 of 11 Flickr`s 10 most beautiful pictures of 2016 An amazing ten photos from across the globe have been revealed as photo-sharing platform Flickr's best of 2016, selected from the billions of uploads this year. The top 10 photos list was compiled using an algorithm that measures social and engagement metrics, alongside curation of the images from Flickr staff. The sun peeks through the trees deep in a Danish forest, two swans press their heads together to keep warm on the Finnish ice and stars dust the night sky above an Australian plain. Read More... All this week, the Kilkenny People is conducting a poll to ascertain people's thoughts on the proposed, new hard surface pathway to be constructed along the River Barrow from Athy to St Mullins, taking in Leighlinbridge, Bagenalstown, Goresbridge and Graignamanagh. According to the promoters of the plan, Inland Waterways, the planning application is for an upgrading of the existing navigation towpath - The National Way-marked Way along the Grand Canal Barrow Line and the River Barrow. This upgrading is hotly disputed by many local people. According to Inland Waterways, it will provide a multi-use shared leisure route through Rathangan, Monasterevin, Vicarstown, Athy, Carlow, Leighlinbridge, Bagenalstown, Goresbridge, Graignama -nagh and St. Mullins. Once the work is complete on the 115km route, Waterways Ireland will work with the local business and tourism providers to develop the route into a Blueway, a 'slow' tourism product, focusing on leisure activities, Inland Waterways added. The campaign against the path is led by journalist and broadcaster, Olivia O'Leary who was reared in Co Carlow close to the banks of the Barrow and has strong links with Graignamanagh. Ms OLeary, who chairs the Save the Barrow Line campaign, pointed out that the Barrow is a Special Area of Conservation under the EU habitats directive, while Carlow Co Councils draft development plan for 2015-2021 promises to protect and enhance its natural heritage and landscape. The grassy towpath of the Barrow waterway is to me the most beautiful place on Gods earth, she said. Not the sound of a car, not the sound of your own steps to be heard, and your feet telling you that you are walking on soft grassy earth, she added. RTE's Dick Warner, has called the stretch between Graignamanagh and St Mullins; perhaps the most beautiful riverside walk in these islands. He is opposed to the hard surface and says the faster traffic it would facilitate would be a real deterrent to wildlife and,: is a real threat to this wild place, he said. Have your say Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Azerbaijan reduced goods import from Georgia by almost twofold to $131.17 million in January-November 2016, as compared to the same period of 2015, according to the report of Georgias National Statistics Office. During the period, Azerbaijans share in the Georgian export was 6.8 percent (11.5 percent in January-November 2015). The country was a leader for goods import from Georgia for a long period of time, however, the situation changed after the introduction of a temporary ban on imports of cattle from Georgia in 2016, as well as due to a sharp decline in export of cars and other products. According to results of 11 months of 2016, Azerbaijan ranked the sixth among countries importing Georgian products. The country was the leader for goods import from Georgia ($231.8 million) in January-November 2015. Georgia mainly exports pipes, iron alloys and others to Azerbaijan. Russia takes the lions share $182.4 million with a specific weight of 9.5 percent in the import of Georgian goods. Turkey with almost $163.65 million (8.5 percent) and China - $158.06 million (8.2 percent) are following Russia. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Georgia amounted to almost $571.36 million in January-November 2016, according to the report. The specific weight of Azerbaijans trade turnover with Georgia is 5.3 percent of the total volume of Georgias foreign trade operations. SHANGHAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - China's central bank will inject 100 billion yuan ($14.41 billion) into money markets on Thursday through seven-day reverse bond repurchase agreements, 70 billion yuan through 14-day reverse repos, and an additional 50 billion yuan through 28-day reverse repos, traders said. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) injected a net 250 billion yuan into the market through open market operations last week. In early trade on Thursday, the volume weighted average of the seven-day repo rate , considered the best indicator of general liquidity in China, was at 2.25 percent, down 37.39 basis points from the previous closing average rate. ($1 = 6.9390 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Sunil Nair) HANOI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official market and indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi at 0058 GMT. Dec 22 Dec 21 USD/VND mid-point 22,152 22,154 USD/VND interbank 22,766/22,768 22,740/22,800 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.85/36.52 35.90/36.57 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank quotes are indicative bid/ask prices. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co, the gold manufacturer. Interbank offered rates are indicative, quoted from market sources. For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) HANOI, Dec 22 (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 0407 GMT. Dec 22 Dec 21 USD/VND mid-point 22,152 22,154 USD/VND interbank 22,755/22,760 22,740/22,800 USD/VND unofficial 23,300/23,330 23,330/23,360 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.62/36.34 35.90/36.57 Interbank offered rates Overnight 4.0-4.6 4.5-5.0 1 week 4.4-4.8 4.8-5.2 1 month 4.9-5.4 5.0-5.4 3 months 5.0-5.5 5.0-5.5 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; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) (ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets) * STOXX Europe 600 down 0.1 percent * Monte dei Paschi swings after initially failing to open * Actelion surges to record on J&J talks * M&A stories help Inchcape, Ontex By Alistair Smout LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - European shares edged lower on Thursday, dropping further from their highest levels of the year, though Italian blue-chips outperformed as they shrugged off uncertainty over Monte Paschi's rescue plan. Drugmaker Actelion provided support as it surged to a new record high after it entered exclusive discussions with prospective bidder Johnson & Johnson. The STOXX 600 was down 0.2 percent, falling for a second straight session after hitting its highest level since Jan. 4 on Tuesday. Outside the STOXX 600, shares in Banca Monte dei Paschi chopped in and out of negative territory after initially failing to open, and was last down 1.1 percent. It failed to find an anchor investor for its private rescue plan on Wednesday, and looks set for a state bailout. However, Italy's blue-chip FTSE MIB rose 0.5 percent, and Italian banks rose 0.8 percent, outperforming other European shares. Analysts said that other Italian banks such as Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit had better capital positions, and were taking steps to improve their situations further. "(Investors) are looking at Monte dei Paschi and saying it's an individual case ... I think people would not read across to Intesa or UniCredit," said Edmund Shing, global head of equity & derivative strategy at BNP Paribas. "Those two look to be on a much sounder footing, and really look to be largely unaffected by Monte dei Paschi ... That's why the Italian banking sector has reacted quite differently to Monte dei Paschi." Miners were the biggest sectoral fallers, down 1.1 percent as copper hit a 1-month low. The sector remains up 59 percent for the year, however. The STOXX 600 is up 5.4 percent in December, and set for its biggest monthly rise rise since October 2015. One of the month's big winners has been Actelion, up 15 percent in December after a 37 percent surge in November, as possible buyers circle the stock. Actelion rose as much as 8.2 percent to hit a record high on Thursday. The Swiss biotech company has turned back to potential acquirer Johnson & Johnson for exclusive talks about a "strategic transaction", in an about-turn that appears to sideline rival suitor Sanofi . Sanofi rose 1.7 percent. M&A stories supported other stocks, with Ontex rising 5.2 percent after confirming discussions of a possibly acquisition of Hypermarcas in Brazil, while Inchcape jumped 5.1 percent after buying a distribution business in South America. Nokia was the top faller on the index, down 4.3 percent after it said it had filed a number of lawsuits against Apple for violating technology patents. (Editing by Alison Williams) (Kitco News) -The mining sector is long overdue for a paradigm shift and junior mining company Integra Gold alongside major producer Goldcorp are hoping that will soon change. The two companies are looking for proposals to introduce technology and innovation that could have the power to completely transform the sector or as the two mining companies describe it #disruptmining. The best ideas will be presented during a Shark-Tank style event during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in March. The top idea at the conference will end up walking away with up to $1 million, courtesy of Goldcorp. The mining industry is overdue for radical, disruptive innovation that drives value, enhances safe production and performance across every aspect of our business, from exploration through to reclamation and closure," Todd White, senior vice president for business excellence at Goldcorp, said in a recent press release. As an industry, we must collaborate to spur investment and accelerate the pace of innovation in order to stay competitive and deliver greater value to shareholders. Efficient, socially and environmentally responsible operations that deliver value for all of our stakeholders are simply good business and this event is designed as a catalyst to make that happen faster." In an interview with Kitco News, Steve de Jong, CEO of Integra, agreed that the mining industry needs to do more to embrace new technologies and efficiencies. Mining and exploration is extremely risky and nothing has changed that in the last 50 years. Ultimately, we drill holes and cross our fingers, he said. The mining sector has been slow to accept new technologies because of its cyclical nature, said de Jong. When prices are high, companies are interested in getting minerals out of the ground and dont really think about efficiencies. As a result, during the down years, companies cut down spending on research and development to preserve capital, he explained. Along with its cyclical nature, de Jong added that there is generally not a lot of collaboration among mining companies. However, Integra has seen firsthand what can happen when the sector comes together. Last year, Integra launched its Gold Rush Challenge, which used crowdsourcing to comb through 75 years worth of geophysical and historical drilling data to produce potential exploration targets at the companies Sigma/Lamaque project in Val-d'Or, Quebec. De Jong said that this challenge was just the start of a much larger conversation. Im excited to see what we are going to get but I dont think we are going to get that one idea that is going to change the industry overnight. I think we are going to get four or five ideas that are in their infancies and that we can build on, he said. De Jong added that they have already partnered with some major tech companies, who are interested in showcasing their ideas to see how they can be utilized by mining companies. While de Jong is excited to see what ideas are proposed for exploration, he added they are trying to take a holistic approach to the sector. This collaborative concept applies to all facets of a company from production, exploration, reclamation, marketing and even investor relations, he said. Not only will this new challenge lift up the sector into the 21st century, but de Jong said that through partnerships, they are also hoping to create technology scholarships within the industry. By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com Follow @Neils_C * SSEC -0.2 pct, CSI300 -0.3 pct, HSI -0.9 pct * Hong Kong trade thins as Christmas nears, tracks Wall Street * China banks, property companies lead broad declines SHANGHAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks slid on Thursday, tracking losses in global markets, with investors reluctant to buy risky assets ahead of the Christmas holiday. China stocks also fell, with strength in utility stocks offset by weak bank and property shares . The Hang Seng index dropped 0.9 percent, to 21,625.25 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 1.3 percent, to 9,208.96 points. The CSI300 index fell 0.3 percent, to 3,327.58 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 percent, to 3,131.76 points. In the Hong Kong stock market, which is more exposed to its global counterparts, the appetite for risk was curbed by a weaker Wall Street, where investors worried that a post-election rally meant that stocks were overvalued. Meanwhile, trading was thin with many investors already departing ahead of the weekend's Christmas break. "Investors are inactive as the holiday is near," said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities Ltd, adding there was little news to change the market's sluggish trend. Yip said sentiment was also partly hurt by the weaknesses among Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, with banks dragged down by persistent liquidity concerns on the mainland. Nearly all sectors in Hong Kong retreated at the lunch break, with financial stocks among the biggest decliners, down more than 1 percent. In China, markets were dampened by news the insurance regulator was making it much harder for insurers to get new licences, in the latest move to rein in some insurers' aggressive stock investments that have raised concerns. A recent bond scandal also weighed on sentiment after China's central bank asked its branches to look into entrusted bond holding agreements between some commercial banks and non-financial firms. Property stocks fell after President Xi Jinping said China's approach to regulating its red-hot property market would include financial, fiscal, tax, land, and regulatory measures as Beijing looks to develop a long-term mechanism for an industry prone to speculation. "The markets wobble in a narrow range today, but room for further declines is limited," said Zhang Yanbin, an analyst at Zheshang Securities, adding that some state-owned enterprises (SOE) continued to benefit from Beijing's support of mixed-ownership reform. Energy shares received a boost from index heavyweight PetroChina Co Ltd , which climbed to a nearly one-year intraday high on restructuring hopes. "But companies remain short of money as China's fiscal year-end on Dec. 31 is close, so they are unwilling to go long on stocks," Zhang said. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ China stock market graphics suite ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Jackie Cai and John Ruwitch; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) DUBAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Oman's central bank raised its overnight repurchase rate slightly in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary tightening last week, data provided by the central bank showed on Thursday. The policy rate, which is determined by a formula based on the London interbank offered rate, climbed to 1.244 percent from 1.195 percent. It has been edging up in the last few months from the 1.00 percent level where it was for years. Central Bank of Oman Executive President Hamood Sangour al-Zadjali told Reuters last week that it wouldn't automatically imitate the 0.25 percentage point rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, because although the Omani rial was pegged to the U.S. dollar, the countries had different economic cycles. (Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath) * Regulator keen for private sector solution but little progress * FWD, Prudential, Hanwha approached for investment -officials * Backdoor listing marred by much confusion, delayed till 2017 * Govt keen to avoid state aid after Bank Century bailout furore By Eveline Danubrata and Cindy Silviana JAKARTA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities seeking to shore up troubled life insurer Bumiputera have had little luck in finding a strategic investor and engineering a backdoor listing, increasing the likelihood that some form of state aid may have to be considered. Despite restructuring under the stewardship of Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) since 2013, the century-old firm still has liabilities of around 20 trillion rupiah ($1.5 billion), more than assets worth 13-14 trillion rupiah, according to its statutory manager. Pressure on Bumiputera, formally known as Asuransi Jiwa Bersama Bumiputera 1912, has begun to mount with plans for its backdoor listing marred by confusion while there has been no sign that approaches to foreign insurers are paying off. Failure to resolve problems for a firm with 6.7 million policyholders - many of them civil servants - could also pour cold water on growth prospects for Indonesia's underdeveloped life insurance sector, where foreign companies have bought stakes in domestic firms in the last few years. "A potential government bailout, maybe in part if there should be some other solutions, might have to be seriously considered," said Peter Meyer, services committee chair at the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia and who has around 30 years of experience in Indonesia's insurance industry. Financial authorities stress they are doing their utmost to make sure Bumiputera's woes are resolved without government funds, scarred in part by the public furore that erupted over a taxpayer bailout of lender Bank Century in 2008. "We are trying our best such that not a single cent has to come from the government to overcome this," Adhie Massardi, Bumiputera's OJK-appointed statutory manager, told Reuters. But he also said state-owned enterprises including insurer PT Taspen have been sounded out about subscribing to a rights issue that will be part of the planned backdoor listing. Taspen is analysing Bumiputera's financial condition and business prospects but has not made a decision yet, investment director Iman Firmansyah told Reuters. Lucky Bayu Purnomo, an analyst at Danareksa Sekuritas, said he felt a government bailout may be a last resort. "The government had a bitter experience when it bailed out Bank Century for 6.7 trillion rupiah. It has to look for other ways of restructuring." FAILED APPROACH, CONFUSING PLANS Foreign companies approached by Bumiputera in the last few months include Hong Kong's FWD Group, the UK's Prudential Plc and South Korea's Hanwha Life Insurance Co Ltd , Massardi and Dumoly Pardede, an official at the regulator, told Reuters. FWD walked away from talks with Bumiputera mainly due to concerns about its liabilities, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. A FWD spokesman declined to comment while Massardi said he had no knowledge of FWD walking away. Prudential declined to comment, while a spokesman for Hanwha said there had been no contact from Indonesia about an investment and it was not considering any such investment. Bumiputera's muddled backdoor listing through Jakarta-listed textile materials trader PT Evergreen Invesco Tbk has also done little to bring investors on side. Evergreen, which plans to conduct a rights issue to acquire a holding company set up by Bumiputera, said in September it was seeking 30 trillion rupiah. It then lifted that to 40 trillion rupiah before cutting it this month to 10.3 trillion. Adding to the confusion, Evergreen said in its prospectus that the stand-by buyer for the offering was Bumiputera itself. Indonesia's capital market supervisor has since said new documents about the rights issue do not make mention of this. Originally slated for end-2016, the rights issue has been delayed until next year. Evergreen did not respond to several requests for comment made by phone and emails. ($1 = 13,465.00 rupiah) (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata and Cindy Silviana in JAKARTA; Additional reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee in HONG KONG and Joyce Lee in SEOUL; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) (Adds details) BEIJING, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Chinese imports of coal from Indonesia surged 160 percent in November from a year earlier, in line with rising shipments to meet a domestic shortfall, but imports from Australia dipped 10 percent. Imports from Indonesia jumped to 5.15 million tonnes, still slightly below the 5.6 million tonnes shipped in from Austrlaia, customs data showed. Imports from Indonesia are up nearly 37 percent so far this year, while shipments from Australia are down 2.1 percent. Coal imports by utilities and steel mills have jumped sharply after China moved to tackle a glut and cut dependence on fossil fuels to help combat pollution. Beijing has since taken steps to help domestic producers ramp up supply, but monthly output in November was still below last year's level. Imports of North Korean anthracite jumped 37.5 percent in November from a year earlier to 1.91 million tonnes, the figures showed. China's Commerce Ministry said earlier this month it will put a temporary ban on imports of North Korean coal. Imports from Mongolia, a major exporter of coking coal used in steelmaking, rose 186 percent on a year earlier to 3.36 million tonnes. The figure was also well above October's 2.31 million tonnes. Coal imports from Russia were also up strongly in November on a year earlier, jumping 84 percent to 1.7 million tonnes, while year-to-date imports were up 14 percent. (Reporting by Meng Meng, Aizhu Chen and Hallie Gu; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath and Richard Pullin) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Seba Aghayeva Trend: Cuba urges Azerbaijani businessmen to invest in its economy and is ready to ensure protection of their investments, newly appointed Ambassador of Cuba to Azerbaijan Alfredo Nieves Portuondo said in an interview with Trend. In March 2014, a law on foreign investments entered into force in Cuba, he said. The law slashes taxes on profits from 30 percent to 15 percent and gives new investors eight years of exemption from paying taxes. Tax benefits for companies that are 100 percent foreign-owned are reserved for joint ventures with the Cuban state and investments linking foreign and Cuban companies. Cuba has announced creation of a free economic zone, the Cuban ambassador added. The law on foreign investments in Cuba opens up more opportunities for the investments in the country, and favorable conditions are created for this, he noted. It is necessary to identify areas that may be of interest to Azerbaijani investors, the diplomat said. He added that Azerbaijan can also offer Cuba a lot of areas for cooperation. Tourism sphere can surely become one of the important directions of cooperation, he said, adding that tourism industry of Cuba is one of the developed in the world. Some 2.5-3 million tourists visit Cuba every year, he said. Cubas tourism industry is also open to Azerbaijani investments, the country is ready to accept Azerbaijani entrepreneurs, who are willing to invest in the Cuban tourism sector, the diplomat noted. He also said that there are different ways to invest in the tourism sector of Cuba, adding that this can be made via direct Azerbaijani investments, creation of joint ventures or with the participation of a third country. Azerbaijani investors can participate in such projects as the construction of hotels, shopping centers in the tourist areas, the development of the restaurant business, the delivery of food and other products for the tourism sector, etc., the diplomat said. He added that the launch of direct air traffic between Istanbul and Havana by the Turkish Airlines company can also open good opportunities for Azerbaijani tourists and businessmen. Azerbaijani travel companies can take advantage of the opening of the direct flight from Istanbul to Havana to increase the growth in tourist traffic between Azerbaijan and Cuba, the ambassador said. In the future, the Cuban national airline may enter into an agreement with the Azerbaijan Airlines on the opening of air traffic between the two countries, he noted. Azerbaijan and Cuba may also organize joint flights from Baku to Havana via Istanbul, and this issue has already been discussed with the national airline of Cuba, the diplomat said. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa Editor's Note: Kitco News has officially launched its 2017 Outlook where we ask if this is the start of a new Raging Bull market. Be sure to catch all our coverage here, which includes gold forecasts, special technical reports and of course, our popular Invest Like The Experts Series. We will also be launching a new feature so be sure to stay tuned! (Kitco News) - Kitco News launched a new feature this year as part of its outlook series in an effort to give our fans a voice! After a few weeks of voting, we have finally tallied up the results to unveil who our readers and viewers think were the most fascinating individuals of this past year. After sifting through thousands of responses, we finally have tallied your choice for the mining worlds top commander-in-chief. Rob McEwen CEO, McEwen Mining (TSE, NYSE: MUX) Rob McEwen has been behind some of the biggest mining companies in the industry. First founding Goldcorp in the 90s transforming the company from a collection of small companies into a mining power house . A standout and much-talked about move was when McEwen launched the Goldcorp Challenge, sharing with the public the companys geological data with the offer of $575,000 in prizes to those who could help locate the Red Lake mines next 6 million ounces of gold. More than 80 percent of the sites discovered yielded significant gold reserves. Currently, McEwen is the chief executive and chairman of his own company, McEwen Mining (TSE: MUX). A believer that management should be as personally invested in a company as its shareholders, he owns 25% of the outstanding shares of McEwen Mining; he receives no salary. This year, McEwen hit a major milestone by getting the stock (TSE: MUX) above $1 at the start of 2016. The company is now preparing to end the year with positive free cash flow, no debt and over $70 million in the treasury. As for a personal milestone, this January McEwen will be inducted into the Mining Hall of Fame. Past great feats include his appointment to the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honor. McEwen has donated in excess of $60 million, some of which went to the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the Toronto General Hospital and the Schulich School of Business, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Our readers voted noting that he is an investors ideal CEO, while one reader wrote, He is dedicated to his company and their shareholders. Another wrote, He constantly makes the right moves. NOTABLE MENTIONS In a tight race, the runner-up is Keith Neumeyer of First Majestic (NYSE: AG; TSX: FR). Readers commented: He knows the mining space and knows the market really well. And, He thinks outside the box and has done wonders at First Majestic. He has great managing skills, and has created a lot of wealth for his investors. Source: Wikipedia By Daniela Cambone of Kitco News; dcambone@kitco.com Follow @DanielaCambone A few people got very excited that Bill English said he wouldnt describe himself as a feminist and further doesnt quite know what it means. This question is always a trap. If you answer yes then you will be given a long list of ways in which you dont live up to feminist ideals, and if you answer no you will be condemned as not believing in equality. Many people (including myself) define a feminist as someone who believes in equality for women. On that definition around 98% of the population is a feminist, which probably makes it not a particular meaningful definition. Most people differentiate the two though. Danyl McL blogs on a poll from the UK: When split out by gender, women were more likely to identify as feminist, with nine per cent using the label compared to four per cent of men. But men were more supportive generally of equality between the sexes 86 per cent wanted it for the women in their lives compared to 74 per cent of women. Sam Smethers, the charitys chief executive, said: The overwhelming majority of the public share our feminist values but dont identify with the label. However the simple truth is if you want a more equal society for women and men then you are in fact a feminist. So over 80% of people in the UK support equality for women but only 8% of women (and 4% of men) identify as a feminist. So Bill English falls into that category. If your only criteria for being a feminist is supporting sexual equality, then Gareth Wilson points out: My thought experiment when this comes up is the feminist trio Leni, Alice, and Tammy. Leni is proudly racist, and believes only white people are capable of civilisation. Alice is a radical libertarian who would let half the population starve if it would motivate the other half to work harder. Tammy is a devout Christian who sincerely believes youll go to Hell for having an abortion, or teaching evolution. But they all genuinely believe that women are equal to men, and deserve all the opportunities and privileges that men have. If you dont believe all three are feminists, then your broad definition that you use to bully people into describing themselves as feminists isnt actually what you think a feminist is. Matthew Hooton also points out: Anyone who thinks feminism is simply about equality should have a quick re-read of, say, The Whole Woman by Greer. It is a far richer doctrine than mere equality and quite understandable for a Catholic conservative like Bill English and many other people besides him to be cautious about wholehearted identification with the term. So even though Im happy to say Im a feminist as I support equality for women, most people dont see a feminist as just being about equality but about a wider political ideology. so holding it up as a litmus test for fitness to not very enlightening. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Thunderstorms likely. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 42F. SSW winds shifting to NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 42F. SSW winds shifting to NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Amazon is set to start charging Louisiana online shoppers with sales tax starting January 1, 2017. Shoppers will pay the state's five percent sales tax, plus any other local taxes shoppers would normally pay in-person. State Treasurer John Kennedy, does not agree with the change. "The Edwards administration is celebrating, because that means they get more money to spend, but you have to ask yourself, where is that money coming from?" questions Kennedy. "It's coming from the pockets of our people." Governor Edwards' office says shoppers were not self-reporting on their taxes, so now Amazon and other online retailers are taking care of the issue for them. "With the state sales tax, if someone were to go to the website and buy something, they're basically getting it for cheaper than they could at the family store around the corner," says Richard Carbo, Communications Director for Governor John Bel Edwards. The owner of Clint's Comics in Monroe, Clair Chandler, says she is happy to be able to compete with retailers like Amazon. "People can come buy it in the store and not have to pay shipping or anything like that," says Chandler. "They get what they want immediately instead of having to wait on it." Louisiana is the 30th state Amazon will charge sales tax. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Azad Hasanli Trend: Azerbaijans government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed an agreement on a $500-million loan, according to the document posted on the ADB website. The loan, signed into an agreement on Dec. 8, was approved by the ADB on Dec. 7. It is designed to cover social maintenance, creating jobs and diversifying the economy to mitigate the adverse impact of decrease in oil prices. The loan will be allocated in one tranche. The interest rate on the loan is LIBOR plus 2 percent. Interest payments must be made twice a year on February 15 and August 15. Azerbaijan will also need to pay a commission of 0.75 percent each year. This commission will accrue on the full amount of the loan (after deduction of the repaid part of the loan) 60 days after the date of signing of the agreement. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, Azerbaijans government can at any time ask the bank to change the interest rate, as well as to set restriction on floating interest rate. The loan must be repaid in four tranches of 25 percent per each installment starting from 2020 and before August 15, 2021. Terms of the loan provided by the ADB to Azerbaijan, aimed to support the economic growth, will differ from the terms of other borrowings, Nariman Mannapbekov, head of ADB office in Azerbaijan, earlier told Trend. Mannapbekov said the loan will be granted as part of the Countercyclical Support Facility (CSF) and that the CSF terms could be slightly tougher than the terms of other ADB facilities. In addition to the loan, ADB will provide technical assistance of $1.2 million to help design reforms in macro-fiscal management, state-owned enterprises and in the finance sector. ADB, based in Manila, was established in 1966 and is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Azerbaijan became the ADB member on Dec. 22, 1999. By Lee Hyo-sik The head of Hyundai Motor's U.S. operations has quit over its sluggish sales there, the company said Thursday. Dave Zuchowski, who has been managing Hyundai's business in the United States over the past two years, recently expressed his intention to resign, holding himself responsible for the carmaker's performance this year, according to company officials. "Zuchowski voluntarily offered to quit," a Hyundai Motor official said. The official said Gerald Flannery, an executive vice president of Hyundai Motor America, will fill Zuchowski's void until the successor is named. In the first 11 months of this year, Hyundai sold 712,700 cars in the United States, up 2.1 percent from the same period last year. But it is much lower than last year's 5 percent sales growth. "We appreciate Dave's decade of service to Hyundai, especially his leadership as president and CEO, which has made us a stronger organization," Flannery said in a statement. "I look forward to working closely with our dealers, affiliates, senior management and our talented and hard-working employees across the country to realize Hyundai's full potential." Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motor together are seeking to sell a combined 8.13 million cars globally this year. They sold 8.15 million cars in 2015. But the carmakers are widely expected to miss that target, due mainly to frequent production disruption caused by a strike and the global market slump. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: The international rating agency Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Kazakh Tsesnabank (TSB) to 'B' from 'B+' and affirmed the Long-Term IDRs of Kazakhstans Kazkommertsbank (KKB), Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan (HB), ATF Bank, Bank Centercredit (BCC), and Subsidiary Bank Sberbank of Russia JSC (SBK), the rating agency reported Dec. 22. The Outlooks are Stable. Fitch has also affirmed one of HB's domestic subsidiaries, JSC Halyk Finance (HF) with a Stable Outlook and maintained its other, Altyn Bank JSC (AB), on Rating Watch Positive (RWP). The banks' Long-Term IDRs are driven by their Viability Ratings (VRs), except SBK whose Long-Term IDRs reflect Fitch's view of potential support from its parent, Sberbank of Russia (SBR; BBB-/Stable), Fitch said. HALYK BANK OF KAZAKHSTAN The affirmation of HB's Long-Term IDRs at 'BB' and VR at 'bb' reflects its strong franchise, solid profitability and capitalisation. The bank's liquidity cushion is large and refinancing risks are limited, in Fitch's view. At the same time, the elevated levels of HB's problem and potentially problematic loans as well as the broader scope of risks inherent in Kazakhstan's operating environment still constrain HB's ratings. According to Fitch, HB retains the strongest loss absorption capacity among large Kazakh banks due to its solid pre-impairment profitability and a large buffer of core capital. HB's liquidity is also the strongest among the peers given its liquid assets of 35 percent of liabilities at end-3Q16 compared with the Eurobond repayments in 2017 of only $0.6 billion or 5 percent of liabilities. KAZKOMMERTSBANK The affirmation of KKB's 'CCC' Long-term IDR and 'ccc' VR reflects Fitch's view of the bank's significant distressed assets and modest loss absorption capacity. Positively, KKB's ratings factor in its recent track record of foreign debt repayments in a relatively stressful environment, and its sufficient liquidity relative to the Eurobond payments forthcoming in 2017. Fitch's view of the weak asset quality is driven by KKB's large loan exposure to BTA, its former subsidiary currently operating as a distressed asset manager, equalling half of KKB's loans or 6x FCC at end-1H16. Fitch expects only modest cash recoveries from this portfolio in the foreseeable future despite the exposure being reported as performing. Fitch views positively the bank's extensive track record of repayments on senior and subordinated Eurobonds, including $ 0.2 billion subordinated notes and $ 0.4 billion senior Eurobonds during 2016. The November paydown reduced KKB's liquidity but Fitch believes it remains adequate relative to 2017's Eurobond repayments. KKB's high funding concentration and instability of one of its largest depositors are moderately negative. TSESNABANK The downgrades of TSB's Long-Term IDRs to 'B' from 'B+' and its VR to 'b' from 'b+' are driven by Fitch's view of the bank's deteriorating asset quality and profitability while its capitalisation remains only moderate. Positively, TSB's ratings consider its recently improved liquidity and the record of it accessing financing from quasi-state sources and state-controlled companies. BANK CENTERCREDIT The affirmation of BCC's Long-Term IDRs at 'B' and VR at 'b' reflects the bank's still significant problem loans, modest capitalisation, and moderate performance. The ratings benefit to a degree from BCC's lower than peers' foreign currency lending (mostly already recognised as impaired), stable and improving domestic deposits base and its improved liquidity position. ATF BANK The affirmation of ATF's Long-Term IDRs at 'B-' and VR at 'b-' reflects the bank's persistently weak asset quality, low capitalisation and only modest core profitability. Fitch believes ATF is also exposed to relatively high liquidity risks considering the possible deposit outflows, partially mitigated by its currently large liquidity cushion. SB SBERBANK OF RUSSIA The affirmation of SBK's 'BB+' Long-term IDRs and '3' Support Rating reflects Fitch's view of the moderate probability of potential support from the parent bank based on the strategic importance of the CIS region for SBR and the small size of SBK relative to its parent. The affirmation of SBK's VR reflects Fitch's view that its credit profile is still consistent with the 'b+' level, mainly thanks to the ordinary benefits of support from SBR as well as still decent core profitability and comfortable liquidity, despite the recent continued weakening of asset quality and capitalisation. ALTYN BANK The RWP on AB's 'BB' IDRs and 'A+(kaz) 'National Long-Term rating reflects the upside potential for these ratings from an acquisition of a 60% equity stake in the bank by China Citic Bank (CCB; BBB/Stable) in 2017. Fitch also expects that AB would be supported, if needed, by HB, which currently owns 100% of AB's ordinary shares. HB signed a memorandum of understanding with CCB in November 2016. HALYK FINANCE HF's 'BB' Long-term IDRs are aligned with the ratings of its parent as Fitch considers HF a core subsidiary of HB. This opinion is based on HF's prominent market positions in investment banking and brokerage services to domestic clients and significant potential reputational risks for HB should its subsidiary default on obligations. HF's moderate size at 1% of HB's total assets at end-3Q16, and its healthy balance sheet make it relatively easy to support. Fitch's baseline SRF for domestic systemically important banks at 'B-' reflects the agency's view that large-scale capital support would be unlikely to be forthcoming for any Kazakh commercial banks, given the history of defaults by systemic banks and other institutions, the rating agency said. Nevertheless, Fitch expects most banks in Kazakhstan to continue benefiting from liquidity and other financial assistance provided by the state and quasi-state sources. HB's SRF of 'B' and SR of '4' reflects its exceptionally high systemic importance, based on its large 17% deposit market share and by far the largest regional branch network, which in addition to its solid political connections make moderate state support possible. KKB's 'No Floor' SRF is based on Fitch's expectations that support from the Kazakh authorities in the amount sufficient to address the bank's large asset quality and capitalisation problems without senior creditors facing losses remains unreliable. SRFs of 'No Floor' and SRs at '5' of TSB, ATF and BCC reflect these bank's moderate market shares, from 6 to 9 percent of system deposits at end-3Q16 and, therefore, these banks' non-systemic status. The VR-driven Long-Term IDRs would mainly be sensitive to changes in the banks' asset quality and capitalisation parameters. Significant liquidity deterioration and weakening of core profitability would be negative. The Long-Term IDRs of SBK and HF would likely change in tandem with the ratings of their respective parents. AB's ratings could be upgraded upon its acquisition by CCB which may take more than six months to complete. Debt ratings would change with their respective anchor ratings. By Lee Hyo-sik Park Sung-taek K-Biz chairman The Korea Federation of SMEs (K-Biz) is facing a lawsuit from operators of food delivery smartphone apps for issuing what they call an "erroneous" press release. Korea's three major delivery apps Baedal Minjok, Baedal Tong and Yogiyo claim K-Biz distorted its recent survey of 200 restaurants and other small businesses using the apps in order to make them look bad. They even said K-Biz has no moral ground to criticize other entities, citing a slew of irregularities overwhelming one of Korea's five major business associations, which represents more than 3.3 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs). On Monday, K-Biz issued a press release saying that nearly half of all small restaurants suffered unfair treatment one or more times while using the delivery app services. The association called on app operators to stop abusing small businesses and abide by the Fair Trade Act. Over the past few years, food delivery apps have expanded rapidly, with the growing number of self-employed people in the food service industry relying on the apps to increase sales. About 40 million consumers are estimated to have downloaded smartphone applications and some 5 million people order food through the apps every month. While calling K-Biz's press release "fabricated," Baedal Minjok, Korea's largest food delivery service app, said it will file a complaint with the prosecution against the association. It accuses K-Biz of spreading false information and obstructing its business. "We have selected a law firm that will represent us in court," a company official said. "K-Biz distorted the findings of its unreliable survey of only 200 respondents. We believe that its behavior is solely intended to hurt our business and seek something in return. We will ask the prosecution to look into its dubious acts." In the press release, K-Biz claimed Baedal Minjok charges food service businesses a handling fee ranging from 4 to 10 percent of the order price. But the delivery app stopped collecting fees in August last year. "K-Biz said we charge processing fees up to 10 percent on restaurants using our platform but this is an outright lie," the official said. "We are a budding startup trying to make ends meet. We don't know why K-Biz has picked on us. No matter what the reason, it must stop twisting the facts." Yogiyo also said it will send a letter of protest to K-Biz, saying the press release is full of errors. "The release has so much false information about us. We don't know where to begin. We will lodge a formal protest." K-Biz: hotbed of irregularities In response, K-Biz insisted its findings are correct, adding it doesn't understand why the food delivery apps are protesting. "The apps should let us know what we did wrong. But they haven't. Instead, what they have been doing is trying to discredit our survey," a K-Biz spokesman said. But an IT industry analyst, who declined to be named, pointed out that K-Biz is not in a position to criticize other entities, given its long history of involvement in a host of irregularities. "In August, K-Biz was found to have inappropriately managed its subsidiaries and a cooperative fund for small business owners, as well as promoted dubious inter-subsidiary dealings," the analyst said. "Its chairman, Park Sung-taek, is also facing trial for buying votes to win the post in February 2015. There have been many other irregularities engulfing K-Biz. Before slandering other entities, it should clean its own house first." Part-timers accuse SPC, E-Land of delaying wages By Park Jae-hyuk SPC Group, owner of Paris Baguette and a Korean operator of Baskin Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts, has been criticized by the Arbeit Workers Union (AWU), a trade union of part-time workers in Korea, for delaying wages of part-time workers. The AWU demanded on Tuesday the government inspect franchise stores of SPC, so the group's payment practices can be revealed to the public, as those of E-Land Park, an operator of 20 restaurant brands, were exposed on Monday. E-Land has recently been under fire for withholding 8.4 billion won ($7 million) in wages this year from 44,000 part-timers who worked for its restaurants including the well-known family restaurant chain Ashley. Rep. Lee Jung-mi of the minor opposition Justice Party had first raised the issue during a parliamentary audit in October, and then the Ministry of Employment and Labor investigated the company. Although the company apologized for misconduct on Wednesday, consumers already began to boycott E-Land and civic groups have urged the government to arrest E-Land Park CEO Park Hyeong-sik. Those consumers and civic groups named E-Land a vicious enterprise, because E-Land Retail, another subsidiary of E-Land Group, had also been embroiled in labor disputes by the discount chain employees in 2007, which was cinematized in "Cart" and dramatized in "Awl." "So many violations of the subsidiaries of E-Land Group are still reported to me," said Rep. Lee during a press conference at the National Assembly, Thursday. "E-Land has become a symbol of an anti-labor enterprise among the public." The AWU claimed Paris Baguette has also withheld more than 7 billion won ($5.8 million) annually in wages on average, saying about 90 percent of the payments for annual leave have not been given to part-time workers. The union said most franchise stores of SPC are violating the minimum wage act as well. SPC and large retail franchises, on the other hand, claim that the current law prohibits the headquarters from meddling in the management of franchise stores, so the company has not been able to monitor payment to part-time workers. They said the headquarters are trying their best, instructing store owners on a regular basis to make them obey the law faithfully. Civic groups said the government should supervise franchise stores more closely and punish them more harshly when they violate labor laws, during a press conference in front of the headquarters of E-Land Park in southwestern Seoul, Thursday. Still, most part-time workers of coffee shop chains, department stores and discount outlets suffer poor working conditions, according to the announcement of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Wednesday. The ministry inspected 4,005 businesses, most of which are large retail franchises, from September to December and revealed that 3,108 businesses breached the Labor Standard Act. "Most franchise stores hesitate to obey the law and won't improve working conditions of teenage staff," an official of the ministry stated in a press release, "so the government is considering conducting more inspections at such stores." The AWU said it will soon urge the government to inspect Korea's three major convenience store chains CU, GS25 and 7-Eleven. According to the union, violating the minimum wage law and withholding payment for overtime and annual leave are still common at most stores. "Master" Mr. Jin (Lee Byung-hun) is a notorious swindler who has committed large-scale fraud. In order to catch him, detective Kim Jae-myeong (Gang Dong-won) threatens Jin's henchman, Park Jang-gun (Kim Woo-bin). Directed by Cho Ui-seok. "Sing" Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) holds a singing competition in order to revive his old music theater. All kinds of animals from all over the country come to participate in the competition. Directed by Garth Jennings. "Will You Be There?" Su-hyeon (Kim Yun-seok) gets magic pills that that can take him to the past. With the pills, he goes back to 1985, meets his past self (Byun Yo-han), and strives to change one thing that has been his biggest regret in life. Directed by Hong Ji-young. "Pandora" A strong earthquake hits South Korea, followed by a nuclear power plant explosion. Jae-hyeok (Kim Nam-gil) and his fellow workers at the power plant desperately try to prevent a radiation leak. Directed by Park Jung-woo. "La La Land" Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a jazz pianist, and Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress, both of whom are living in Los Angeles. They fall in love, and inspire each other to achieve their dreams. Directed by Damien Chazelle. South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday it will soon initiate the process of confiscating the passport of the daughter of Choi Soon-si, the long-time friend of President Park Geun-hye, who faces charges for meddling in state affairs. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to swiftly issue an order for the return of Chung Yoo-ra's passport, and if it is not returned before a deadline, it will take steps to annul it," ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said in a press briefing. He did not elaborate on when the order will be issued but added the action will be taken "speedily." Earlier in the week, the independent counsel investigating the influence-peddling scandal involving Choi and President Park secured a court warrant to arrest Choi's only daughter, who is believed to be hiding out in Germany. Park Young-soo, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate the Choi Soon-sil scandal, gets on an elevator to go to his office in southern Seoul, Thursday. The team said it is working with the German authorities to extradite Choi's daughter Chung Yoo-ra, who is staying in Germany, to Korea for questioning over her involvement in the scandal. / Yonhap By Jung Min-ho Choi Soon-sil hides 800 billion won ($670 million) in Germany, according to the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times. The local daily reported Thursday that Park Young-soo, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate the scandal, and German prosecutors have found that Choi has hidden cash and real estate assets worth 800 billion won in the country. According to the paper, Choi, the central figure of the influence-peddling scandal that has derailed the Park Geun-hye government, established 500 paper companies under other people's names, including that of a crony David Yoon, to hide the fortune. The independent counsel team has asked German prosecutors for their cooperation, requesting their investigation records, including the details of Choi's money transactions, phone call history and financial statements of the paper companies. The team is also looking into how Choi, who has barely worked throughout her life, made such a big fortune in the first place. The value of Choi's real estate in Korea alone has been revealed to be at least 30 billion won. She has been accused of using confidential information from Cheong Wa Dae to make real estate investments, but no one knows exactly how she has accumulated her wealth. Her sister Choi Soon-deuk also reportedly owns real estate worth 100 billion won here. To gather information behind the fortune, the team recently met Chung Doo-un, a former lawmaker who knows a lot about Choi Tae-min, a shady cult leader and Choi's father, and his relationship with President Park. The team is investigating whether the President, who has stayed close with the family for decades, was involved in helping them make and hide the money. "Running a kindergarten was the only job Choi Soon-sil had, but she was alleged to have a slush fund of 800 billion won. There is no way to explain the money other than illegal solicitation and abuse of power," People's Party spokesman Rep. Son Kum-ju said. "The special prosecutor should find out whether it came from companies in return for special favors or taxpayers' money." Meanwhile, the team is searching for her daughter Chung Yoo-ra, a dressage competitor, who allegedly took advantage of her mother's close relationship with the President to influence school admissions and dressage training. A Seoul court has issued an arrest warrant to the prosecution for Chung on charges of business obstruction to bring her in for questioning. In cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the team is also taking steps to invalidate her passport. If a German court accepts the arrest warrant, the German government can extradite her to Korea if Seoul applies for this. If not, the passport invalidation process, which is expected to take a month, will make her stay abroad illegal. Early this month, Chung was expelled from Ewha Womans University after she was found to have been unfairly accepted into the school and given overly generous grades without attending classes or doing homework. For now, her whereabouts remain unknown, but the German prosecution in Frankfurt said it will cooperate actively with the special prosecutor in the investigation. By Jun Ji-hye When the defense ministry released the results of its talks with the United States, Wednesday, it said Washington reaffirmed its commitment to "regularly" deploying its strategic weapons, such as nuclear-capable bombers, in South Korea for better defense against North Korean threats. At first glance, the comment sounded as if the ministry had achieved a great consensus at the allies' Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) meeting in Washington, Tuesday. But the comment was no more than reaffirmation of Washington's existing pledge, which actually is a step back from the two nations' earlier agreement to conduct a review of whether to deploy strategic assets to the South "permanently on a rotational basis." Defense observers say the meanings of "regularly" and "permanently" are clearly different, but the ministry is playing on the words to conceal its failure to reach a consensus with the U.S. on permanent deployment. Permanent deployment on a rotational basis was first mentioned in October in the lead-up to talks between defense chiefs of the two nations, dubbed the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM). At the time, it was also controversial as the allies had been highly expected to announce a decision on permanent deployment following the SCM, but they eventually did not do so. "Permanent deployment" was reportedly included in the draft version of the joint statement of the SCM, but was excluded in the final version, according to sources. In an apparent effort to resolve controversy over the issue, officials at the time noted that the allies were going to continue discussions at the EDSCG. The establishment of the EDSCG was also reached at the talks in October, in a bid to strengthen the U.S. "extended deterrence" protection of South Korea against the North's nuclear and missile threats. Observers pointed out that the inaugural meeting of the EDSCG only stressed regular deployment, which the U.S. has been doing. Washington has sent multiple B-52 or B-1B strategic bombers and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force in response to the North's major provocations, including nuclear tests. "The ministry is playing on words again," said Kim Dong-yup, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES), a research arm of Kyungnam University. "The regular deployment is open to multiple interpretations, but even if the U.S. asset is dispatched to the South only a day every year, it is also regular deployment." The professor said the ministry fell short of explaining when, how often and how long such assets will stay on the peninsula, and is only giving an evasive answer, such as "we will continue the discussions," as it did in October. Other experts said the U.S. is probably controlling the speed of discussions with Seoul before the inauguration of the Donald Trump administration next year. In an explanation, defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said, Thursday, regular deployment means the U.S. will promptly, consistently and frequently send its assets. He said the agreement at the EDSCG opened up ways of discussing the issue of permanent deployment. Extended deterrence refers to Washington's stated commitment to defend its ally by mobilizing all military capabilities nuclear and conventional to deal with the North's aggression and provocations. The U.S. has provided extended deterrence, or a "nuclear umbrella," to South Korea after withdrawing nuclear weapons from the peninsula following the 1991 inter-Korean denuclearization declaration. Woo Byung-woo, a former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, attends the fifth National Assembly hearing on the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, Thursday. Woo denied allegations he had turned a blind eye to Choi's influence-peddling and that he had met with her. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun By Kim Hyo-jin Woo Byung-woo, a former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, denied all allegations leveled against him regarding the corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil during the fifth National Assembly hearing into the affair, Thursday. Woo is accused of dereliction of duty for allowing Choi to meddle in state affairs and abuse of power in a bid to protect her and the President. It was his first public appearance in 46 days since he was questioned by prosecutors investigating the scandal in November. Woo had been in hiding for that time presumably to avoid the hearings, according to observers. Choi, who refused to attend a previous hearing, did not turn up again giving the excuse of "mental and physical exhaustion." Other key witnesses ex-presidential aides An Chong-bum and Jeong Ho-seong were also absent. To protest their absence, the National Assembly special committee looking into the corruption case decided to hold an additional hearing Monday at detention centers where the three are currently detained. Despite expectations, Woo did not cooperate in unearthing the truth and instead rotated his answers _ "I don't know," "It is not true," "I can't agree," or "I won't express my position." Woo also denied knowing Choi, saying, "I still don't know her. I've only seen her in the media." He said he did not know Choi had visited Cheong Wa Dae frequently escorted by presidential aides. "The matter has to do with the presidential security team. Even if they had mishandled it, the office of the presidential secretary for civil affairs has no right to inspect the team," he said. Woo dismissed the lawmakers' claim that he was appointed as a presidential secretary thanks to his relationship with Choi, arguing it was Kim Ki-choon, then presidential chief of staff, who appointed him. But he admitted that his not knowing of Choi's alleged meddling in state affairs meant a failure to fulfill his duties. "I should have looked closely into the issues surrounding Choi. I'm sorry to the people in that aspect." Woo's denial of being acquainted with Choi, however, was refuted by Roh Seung-il, another witness at the hearing and a staffer of the K-Sports Foundation that was set up by Choi. Roh said it was "absurd" that Woo did not know her because he heard from Ko Young-tae, Choi's close friend, that Woo introduced a legal assistant to Cha Eun-taek, another associate of Choi. Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the Saenuri Party asserted that Woo abetted perjury and concealed the truth, quoting Cheong Wa Dae documents on countermeasures to the scandal. The documents, seized by the prosecution, were allegedly made by Woo's office in late October after the scandal erupted, according to Lee, and they contain Woo's guidance to the President that she should deny all accusations involving the Mir and K-sports foundations. Woo replied, "The office did not make the documents and I never ordered my staff to make denials." Mir and K-sports are the two controversial foundations controlled by Choi, for which she allegedly extorted 77.4 billion won ($66.2 million) from more than 50 conglomerates. The President is suspected of forcing the groups to "donate" the money. Woo also denied the allegation that he had exerted influence on prosecutors investigating the Sewol ferry disaster by pressuring them not to look into the computer server of the Korea Coast Guard, which had failed in its rescue attempts. Additionally, he denied the allegation that he and his family embezzled tens of millions of won from their company, Jeonggang. Woo has been accused of misappropriating company money to pay for a luxury car lease and personal telecommunications fees from 2014 to 2015. Army nurse Capt. Cho Yeo-ok, another key witness who lawmakers thought could solve the mystery behind the President's "missing seven hours" during the sinking of the Sewol, also appeared at the hearing. Cho worked at the presidential office at the time of the disaster. While President Park's whereabouts for seven hours during the tragic incident remained unknown, rumors have abounded that she might have been receiving cosmetic procedures. Capt. Cho said she was in the presidential staff clinic, not with the President on the day of the sinking. "I did not engage in any treatment on the President as I was working in the clinic," she said. It was found earlier that the presidential office bought hundreds of injections commonly used for anti-aging treatment, in recent years. Cho said she treated Park and up to 10 presidential officials with the injections, and added that "most of the shots were for the President." By Kim Hyo-jin A group of lawmakers planning to break away from the ruling Saenuri Party are in talks with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over a possible alliance for next year's presidential election, their spokesman said, Thursday. "Some lawmakers of the group have been in touch with Ban and we have had close talks," Rep. Hwang Young-cheul said in a radio interview. However, Hwang remains cautious about whether Ban will join the breakaway lawmakers. "It is not appropriate to talk about it at this point as he is exploring various options," he added. In the wake of a factional feud over the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye, 35 lawmakers aligned against President Park announced, Wednesday, that they will leave the governing party, Dec. 27, to set up another conservative party. Also, Ban virtually declared his bid to run for the presidency, Tuesday, once he completes his second term as U.N. chief at the end of this year. He said he is open to banding together with various political groups. With the Saenuri Party's breakup looming large, speculation is rife that Ban and the splinter group could join hands and create a new conservative force, seeking to regain momentum of the conservative bloc, hit hard by the presidential corruption scandal. Ban had been rumored to be considering running for the presidency under the banner of the Saenuri Party, with President Park and her loyalists backing him. However, following Park's impeachment, he seems to be distancing himself, criticizing the current administration for the ongoing political turmoil. Hwang said more than 60 lawmakers are likely to leave the party and join the anti-Park faction should Ban team up with them. Currently, the Saenuri Party holds 128 Assembly seats. The anti-Park Saenuri lawmakers aim to set up a new party by Jan. 20, Rep. Choung Byong-gug said. The 35 lawmakers set up a preparatory committee, Wednesday, co-chaired by Choung and Rep. Joo Ho-young following the announcement of their exit plan. "With the distinct possibility of an early presidential election, we feel we need to rush to create a party," an official of the committee said. The envisioned party will be tentatively called the "New Conservative Party," Choung said. Separately, the U.N. chief was the favorite candidate in the latest poll for the presidential election, scheduled for December 2017 should Park's impeachment be overturned. According to local pollster Realmeter, Ban has 23.1 percent, followed by former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Moon Jae-in with 22.2 percent and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung at 11.9 percent. Lawmakers talk during the fifth round of the parliamentary hearing over the Park Geun-hye scandal at the National Assembly on Thursday. / Yonhap By Kim Bo-eun Criticism against lawmakers flooded in after the fifth National Assembly hearing into the scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, Thursday. Lawmakers failed to get any concrete evidence to nail down former presidential aide Woo Byung-woo, one of the key suspects who was allegedly involved in various acts of corruption. The lawmakers did not immediately question Woo, the main witness for the hearing, but spent several hours arguing over allegations that Rep. Yi Wan-young of the ruling Saenuri Party ordered witnesses at former hearings to commit perjury. During the hearing, Woo, occasionally smirking at the toothless questions from lawmakers, defended himself effectively, while lawmakers threw clueless questions and allegations without substantial data and facts. Watching the argument broadcast live, citizens expressed disappointment and disgust at the lawmakers. They said the Assemblymen were unqualified and ill-prepared for the hearing, and failed to address the proper questions to witnesses. "The lawmakers had time to prepare for the hearing, after seeing how other lawmakers earlier failed to effectively carry out their role," said Kim Sae-bom, a 27-year-old in Seoul. "However, they made fools of themselves in front of Woo it was really embarrassing to watch." "Lawmakers should prepare for the hearing thoroughly so that they can have the upper hand in front of the witnesses, but it just seems to be the opposite," said another with the ID kongju10301. "It is pathetic that the lawmakers are just sitting there shouting at the witnesses." Internet users also posted writings critical of the lawmakers. A blogger with the ID Nero said, "This is a hearing for the Assembly's investigation into the scandal, not a place for Yi to refute suspicions raised against him. Isn't it time he was ousted?" After the fourth hearing, Dec. 15, some local media reported that Yi had met with figures of the K-Sports Foundation controlled by Choi prior to the hearing, including foundation head Chung Tong-choon and other workers, and told them to lie about a tablet PC, which is considered key evidence that shows Choi was interfering in state affairs. /Captured from Richard Marx's Facebook By Hong Dam-young, Park Si-soo The video clip of an in-flight drunken rampage involving a South Korean "psycho" passenger and popular U.S. musician Richard Marx went viral on Wednesday, unleashing a wave of criticism of the unruly passenger and curiosity about the man's identity. And pieces of the man's personal profile were put together in just hours thanks to the extensive searches of Internet-savvy Koreans and information leaked from police. Rich man's son The passenger was confirmed as the son of a Seoul-based trading company's chairman, surnamed Im. He was born in 1982 and graduated from Seoul's Lila Elementary School. The university he graduated from is unknown, but after graduation he worked for Samsung Electronics and recently joined his father's company. He committed the rampage after drinking two cups of whisky on board the flight. According to police, it was not the first time Im had become violent on a plane. He made similar in-flight trouble in September, police said. Father promises action The rampage rekindled 2006 reports that shed light on the trading company's alleged poor working conditions, exploitation of employees and corruption. One of those posts from 2006 read: "You will experience how human beings turn into working robots. We (workers) don't have weekends or holidays. "The problem is, we don't receive any extra pay for overtime. Executives who control the company are corrupted as well." It went on: "Everyone leaves the company in less than a year." Im's father said his son was returning from a business trip to Vietnam when the incident happened. He said he would ensure his son's wrongdoings were properly investigated. Im was arrested on arrival at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday, but was sent home because he was too drunk to be questioned. "Im went home with his guardian," police said. "But we will summon him for questioning later." Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 Trend: Agriculture, tourism, oil industry, chemical industry, industrial parks are priority areas for Polands investments, Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Natig Aliyev said. The minister made remarks at the seventh meeting of the Azerbaijan-Poland intergovernmental commission on trade-economic cooperation in Warsaw December 18-21, the Azerbaijani embassy in Poland told Trend Dec. 22. Aliyev, who is also a co-chairman of the commission from the Azerbaijani side, informed the Polish side about the economic potential of the country, ongoing big international and regional projects, in particular, the North-South project, East-West Transport Corridor and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the embassy said. According to the embassy, Azerbaijan and Poland signed the protocol following the meeting. During the visit, Aliyev met with Mateusz Morawiecki, co-chairman of the commission from the Polish side, Polish deputy prime minister, minister of development, Krzysztof Tchorzewski, the countrys energy minister, and other officials, the embassy said. The current state and prospects of cooperation between the two countries were discussed at the meetings. The meetings with businessmen were held in Warsaw as part of the visit. The Azerbaijani minister urged the Polish entrepreneurs to invest in the country's economy. According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Poland amounted to $55.76 million in January-September 2016, $51.31 million of which accounted for the import of the Polish products. From left are Han Seung-heon, Ha Kyung-cheol, Chae Myung-sung and Lee Joong-hwan By Kang Hyun-kyung The legal representation of President Park Geun-hye and former President Roh Moo-hyun after their impeachments shows a sharp contrast, as a rather humble legal team is representing Park compared with 11 top-notch lawyers for Roh in 2004. Among the legal team for Roh were former Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) chief Han Seung-heon, former Constitutional Court Justice Ha Kyung-chul and former Supreme Court Justice Lee Yong-hoon. Park's four-member legal team has no star lawyers with extensive experience in high-profile cases involving politicians. Former prosecutor Lee Joong-hwan will lead the defense in the impeachment trial as a chief attorney with the support of three other lawyers Suh Sung-geon, Son Beom-kyu and Chae Myung-sung. Some of Park's picks are controversial. Chae has come under fire for shifting his position on the impeachment of the President after joining the presidential legal team. During a National Assembly seminar in November, Chae said he thought President Park was impeachable considering the prosecution's findings in its investigation of Choi Soon-sil and her colluders. He said the President violated the Constitution as well as laws prohibiting abuse of power. Park's other picks also raised skepticism about their qualifications. She might have difficulty picking top lawyers because her impeachment is supported by the people, while a majority opposed impeaching Roh, officials said. Park Sang-yung, an attorney from law firm Hankyul, compared representing an impeached president to a high-stakes poker game. According to him, monetary compensation doesn't outweigh political pressure and the work-related stress those lawyers have to shoulder. He said legal fees for presidential lawyers are not high, compared to other high-profile cases. But they grapple with the demanding workload because of the highly complicated and sophisticated nature of an impeachment trial. President Park's lawyers also have to endure considerable political pressure from the public because of the worsening popular opinion about the President. This could cost them their reputations as well as their future careers. But there are opportunities, he said. "They have access to all information about the Choi scandal and will be able to know every detail of the case that rocked the nation. President Park's lawyers will also be able to deepen their understanding of highly sensitive political issues, which could help their future careers." What made Park struggle to find strong legal representation, while Roh had no difficulty getting such support? Public opinion about the two presidents can be one explanation. In 2004 when Roh underwent the impeachment trial, public opinion was on his side. Candlelit protesters gathered in Gwanghwamun urging the Constitutional Court to reject the impeachment request. The public's opinion of President Park is the opposite. Hundreds of thousands of citizens have staged candlelit protests over the last two months, demanding she step down immediately even before the Constitutional Court's ruling. By Kim Rahn The organizers of the candlelit protests against President Park Geun-hye plan to continue the rallies next year until the President steps down or the Constitutional Court approves the National Assembly's impeachment motion. Staffers of the organizers said Thursday they would keep holding the protests, with plans to march to spots up to 100 meters from Cheong Wa Dae, the prime minister's residence and the court this Saturday. They will call for the court to make a ruling to remove the President who has been identified as an accomplice in the influence-peddling scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil. "We'll also demand high-ranking officials appointed by Park, including Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, to resign, and the government scrap major policies promoted by them," the staffers said at a press briefing in Seoul. For the rally this Saturday, which is Christmas Eve, they plan to provide the President with handcuffs as a Christmas present. In front of the prime minister's residence, the participants will hold red cards to symbolize their call for Hwang's resignation. On the following Saturday, New Year's Eve, they plan to hold the gathering until midnight so the participants can have a New Year countdown together, wishing for a New Year without Park. For next year, the organizers have already reported their rally plans for Jan. 7 and 14 to police. By Jun Ji-hye The fifth National Assembly hearing into the presidential corruption scandal Thursday was marred by allegations that two ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers pressured key witnesses to commit perjury. While other lawmakers on the 18-member special parliamentary committee holding the hearing said the two were not qualified to take part in the investigation into the scandal, the two denied the allegations, dismissing them as a "political offensive." The Assembly's investigation is being conducted separately from one by an independent counsel. The committee decided to request the special prosecutor to uncover the truth behind the perjury allegations involving Reps. Yi Wan-young and Lee Man-hee. Opposition lawmakers as well as some from the ruling party also demanded that the chairman of the committee remove the two. The opposition claimed Yi and Lee, who are loyalists to impeached President Geun-hye, apparently ordered witnesses to lie in order to change the unfavorable situation facing the scandal-ridden leader. The two lawmakers are alleged to have met with officials of the K-Sports Foundation, controlled by Choi Soon-sil, and pushed them to say that a controversial tablet PC does not belong to her. Choi is the close friend of Park who is at the center of the high-profile corruption and influence-peddling scandal that led to the President's impeachment, Dec. 9. She is believed to be the owner of the tablet computer, first obtained by TV network JTBC and handed over to the prosecution. The computer contained classified files including early drafts of presidential speeches and documents related to the national security. The tablet is regarded as key evidence in the scandal. Choi, currently on a trial after being charged by the prosecution, denies that the computer is hers. "Committee Chairman Rep. Kim Sung-tae, should remove those who have tainted the committee," said Rep. Park Young-sun from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the governing party also said the two should remove themselves from the committee if they want to prove their innocence. Rep. Hwang Young-cheul, also a Saenuri Party lawmaker, said if the two remained on the committee amid mounting public anger, it would be a deliberate attempt to negatively influence the investigation. Rep. Yi replied that an opposition lawmaker also met with key witnesses before the hearing. "According to a tip-off I gained, Rep. Park Young-sun also met with witnesses including Ko Young-tae in early December," he said. "In particular they had a five-hour meeting on Dec. 12." Yi alleged Rep. Park colluded with Ko to create false testimony and that investigators should look into this. After the fierce verbal exchange, lawmakers later agreed to move on to questioning former presidential secretary for civil affairs Woo Byung-woo and Army nurse Capt. Cho Yeo-ok to uncover the truth behind the scandal, as well as the mystery of Park's seven missing hours while the ferry Sewol was sinking on April 16, 2014. Woo faces allegations that as a senior secretary he was aware of wrongdoings committed by Choi but ignored them. As a former prosecutor, Woo himself is also believed to have exerted major influence over the nation's judicial system. One allegation is of him having exerted influence on the prosecution team investigating the ferry disaster, by pressuring it not to look into the computer server of the maritime police. The tragedy killed 304 passengers, mostly high school students on a trip to Jeju Island. The government has been criticized for its bungled rescue operations, while it is still unclear what Park was doing for some time during the sinking. Owing to the lack of an explanation about why the President appeared at the emergency measures headquarters seven hours after the tragic incident began, rumors have abounded that she might have been receiving a Botox wrinkle treatment or other cosmetic procedure. Capt. Cho worked at the presidential office at the time of the disaster. Opposition lawmakers believe she might know what Park was doing at the time. The Constitutional Court on Thursday called on President Park Geun-hye to expound upon her alleged seven-hour absence during a 2014 ferry disaster at its first preparatory hearing on her impeachment case. The top court also proposed organizing the president's 13 charges cited in the parliamentary impeachment motion into five categories as part of efforts to accelerate the deliberation process, which could last up to six months. At the hearing, the court, the National Assembly impeachment panel and the president's attorneys discussed how to carry out the upcoming court review sessions. The next preparatory meeting was set for next Tuesday. Participants in the 40-minute hearing included Kweon Seong-dong, the chairman of the parliamentary judicial committee, eight legal representatives for the Assembly and seven attorneys defending the president. Touching on the charges of her inaction during the sinking of the ferry that killed more than 300 people, the court demanded Park's attorneys fully explain what she did in chronological order "without leaving anything unexplained." The U.S. soldiers from the Stryker unit have lined up in front of an armored car at the Seungjin Training Camp, Yeongbuk-myeon, Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, after carrying out a fire exercise in the Key Resolve drill on March 7, 2011. / Korea Times file By Lee Jin-a, Park Si-soo A military drill and part-time assistants. It is hard to imagine a correlation of the two words under any circumstances. But U.S. forces in Korea have made it and it has left many people scratching their heads over an "unthinkable" matchup. According to a post on the recruiting information website of a Korean university, United Sates Forces Korea is recruiting part-time assistants for the Key Resolve drill in February, an annual joint military exercise conducted by U.S. troops and Korean armed forces. It plans to hire 39 temporary assistants among Korean university students 30 will be assigned to PC maintenance services, eight to help desk support services and one to audio-visual fabrication engineering. Requirements are the ability to communicate in English and basic knowledge of computers. Those who have a driver's license are preferred. Successful candidates will assume the role of assisting U.S. troops from Feb. 17 to March 17, including a pre-exercise training period. They will be paid 10,000 won ($8.34) an hour. It is unknown what exactly their duties are and why the U.S. forces are recruiting part-time workers for the military drill. U.S. Forces Korea has refused to reveal anything related to the recruiting. Its spokesman told The Korea Times that it will release detailed information next week. The post reads: "The temporary workers will support the military staff to solve the problems related to the electrical devices at the base during the drill. Since the workers will receive a two-week training program before they start their job and get help from the existing staff during the drill, they will have no difficulties to operate the task." The South Korean government on Thursday decided to beef up its readiness posture against possible acts of terrorism in the wake of a recent attack in Berlin and a shooting death in Ankara. During a working-level meeting, the government decided to devise stronger anti-terrorism measures and step up vigilance around popular public places, particularly towards the end of the year. It will also intensify efforts to inform overseas South Koreans of the need to better protect themselves, and hold regional consultative meetings on the fight against terrorism in Seoul, Busan and other major cities, officials said. Seoul officials also expressed concerns over the continuing propaganda activities that the Islamic State militant group has carried out through social media. (Yonhap) By Lee Soo-jung A new phase of history was written in the early hours of Nov. 9 in the U.S., but not in the way "most" people had expected it to. As the map of the country gradually became covered with red (the color representing Republicans) as the ballots were counted, however, it became obvious that the country hoped to be repositioned to the Founders' original vision: women and minority groups at the margins and white men at the center. It is stubborn to attribute Hillary Clinton's defeat to her gender, but if she had won, her gender would have defined her victory as a historic achievement. As a South Korean student at Columbia University, I see the result of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in parallel terms with the recent political scandal in South Korea involving the first female president. It is a surprising coincidence that two political issues broke out around the same time on opposite sides of the world, both involving women. In one of the civic protests that have been held in central Seoul to demand Park's resignation, a 17-year-old high school student responded during an interview with TIME magazine, "[Park] spoiled it for us. Many people now say, Look at her, that's all a woman can do.'" The two political matters may have brought the specific issue of "women in politics" to the surface, but it is an undeniable fact that our society as a whole still falls prey to gender stereotypes. As a female studying engineering in college, it only seems to me that the recent news in politics and the ongoing concern in my area of interest stem from the same roots. Even today, women continue to be underrepresented in the spheres of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and there is still a long way to go for improvements to be made. Having a mother who is a materials engineering professor, I was rather shocked when she suggested that I reconsider my decision to major in engineering. It was definitely not the response I had expected from someone who had achieved so much in her field. She told me that in college, she had been the only female student in the whole engineering school. Her efforts led her to graduate in the top 1 percent of the class and earn her Master's and Ph.D. earlier than fellow male classmates, but the world outside was harsh. While her male classmates who had lower academic results advanced to becoming full-time professors much earlier, she had to spend a longer time as a part-time lecturer. It was her personal experience that made her realize that women do not belong in engineering, or, that is how the world sees it, at least. My mother's story definitely made me grasp the reality I would face, but my gender could not be reason that would stop me from pursuing my goals. I could only hope that with the one-generation gap between us, people are educated enough to appreciate female engineers. And yes, a lot of things have changed since then. Just by looking at statistics provided by Columbia University, the ratio of female students enrolled in the engineering school in the fall 2016 semester is 41 percent. Gone are the days of Rosalind Franklin, Nettie Stevens and Lise Meitner, just three out of numerous female scientists whose remarkable accomplishments were overlooked and robbed of recognition. Yet, even today, when women obtain a distinguished position in science, their research continues to be less seen by a wider audience. In certain majors such as mechanical and electrical engineering, over 90 percent of the degrees are conferred on men. In contrast to the increasing percentage of women majoring in engineering, only 13 percent of the engineering workforce is female. Studies find that a majority of women become disillusioned with their career prospects after experiencing negative group dynamics in which most challenging problems are naturally handed over to men. Engineering is about using science to make a difference in people's lives, and women are just as interested and qualified as men are to have this responsibility. As much as huge progress has been made, the world still awaits for the currently male-dominated engineering culture to address gender stereotypes and become more inclusive towards women. Quoting Hillary Clinton, "the highest and hardest glass ceiling" still remains in our society, but with more females including myself striving to start a change, it will eventually lead to its downfall, because glass certainly is breakable at some point. The writer is a graduate of Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies and is currently a freshman in the School of Engineering and Applied Science of Columbia University in the City of New York. Write to sl4098@columbia.edu South Korea's Air Force has upgraded the capability of its F-16 fighter jets by equipping them with bombs and missiles capable of hitting key underground facilities in North Korea and shooting down combat aircraft at long range, officials said. The completion of the upgrade enables the South Korean jets to fire AIM-120 mid-range air-to-air missiles, according to the Air Force. The missiles have a range of 50 to 180 kilometers. They will also be equipped with GBU-31JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) air-to-ground guided bombs, which can hit underground military facilities and neutralize the North Korean leadership in the event of an emergency, it added. The F-16 Peace Bridge Upgrade (PBU) project is part of the Air Force's efforts to enhance the overall capability of its frontline jets. The U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets have played a key role in conducting air operations for the South Korean Air Force since their introduction in 1986. But the need for the upgrade has been raised as existing electronic equipment on planes has been halted and precision weapons such as guided bombs cannot be installed in the original models, it said. In November 2009, South Korea inked a deal to upgrade the F-16 combat planes with Lockheed Martin Corp. A total of around 30 jets have been improved since October 2013. "The upgraded F-16 PBUs will have the same capability of the KF-16 jets and will operate as the main combat planes charged with defending South Korea's air," said an Air Force official It added that Seoul will continue to make efforts to enhance its KF-16 fleet's combat readiness by installing advanced equipment including active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. (Yonhap) By Yoon Ja-young Hundreds of handicrafts, archives and photos that belonged to Albert Taylor, a correspondent for the Associated Press (AP) who reported to the world the realities of life in Korea under Japanese occupation, have returned to Seoul. According to the Seoul Museum of History, Jennifer L. Taylor, a granddaughter of the journalist, donated a total of 451 items belonging to her grandparents. They are of significant importance as they provide a glimpse of life in Seoul while it was under Japanese colonial rule. Born in the United States in 1875, he came to Korea with his father who was engaged in gold mine development. In 1919, he reported on Koreans' March 1 Independence Movement to the world after finding a document of the Declaration of Independence at Severance Hospital where his son, Bruce, was born. Korea independence movement leaders were there preparing for the massive movement. He also reported on the massacre of Koreans at Jeam-ri in Hwaseong. The Taylor family lived at a house they named Dilkusha, which was at that time the biggest brick house in the country. They lived there from 1923 until 1942 when they were expelled by Japanese. Taylor was even jailed for six months by the Japanese for resisting expulsion. He passed away in the United States in 1948, but is now buried at the cemetery for foreign missionaries in Seoul. The historic Dilkusha, which still stands near Sajik Tunnel's western entrance in Jongno-gu, is undergoing restoration to be opened to the public in 2019, commemorating the Taylor family's dedication to the country's struggle for independence. Jennifer L. Taylor has already donated 57 items during a visit to Seoul. Among the donations this time is a photo album that depicts a 1930s-era gold rush in Korea. Albert Taylor took photos of a gold mine in Gangwon Province while his wife made drawings of people's daily life there. A draft for "Chain of Amber," a book by Mary Taylor depicting life in Seoul, as well as her amber necklace were also donated to the museum. In the book, Mary Taylor wrote in detail on people's lives, folk rituals and traveling to Geumgang Mountain. She also left portraits of Koreans who helped with the family's housework. "The items donated by the Taylor family are closely related with major incidents of Korean history," an official at the museum said. "It will also help with restoration of Dilkusha." Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 21 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: The international rating agency S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on Kazakhstan-based electricity group Samruk-Energy JSC to 'BB-' from 'BB', and placed it on CreditWatch with negative implications, S&P reported Dec. 22. 'B' short-term corporate credit rating was affirmed. The agency also lowered its Kazakhstan national scale long-term rating to 'kzBBB+' from 'kzA' and its issue rating on Samruk-Energy's $500 million senior unsecured notes due December 2017 to 'BB-' from 'BB', and placed both on CreditWatch with negative implications. The downgrade primarily reflects Samruk-Energy's weaker credit metrics and a lack of visible ongoing government support, which we had previously factored in the rating, S&P said. Contrary to the rating agencys expectations, Samruk-Kazyna, Samruk-Energy's sole owner, has not converted a Kazakhstani tenge (KZT) 100 billion (about $300 million) shareholder loan to equity. Therefore, S&P estimates Samruk-Energy's debt to EBITDA will be at about 5.5x by year-end 2016. As a result, the rating agency has removed the positive one-notch adjustment it previously included, based on its comparable ratings analysis. This has led the agency to revise downward its assessment of the company's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) to 'b' from 'b+'. The CreditWatch placement reflects potential pressures on Samruk-Energy's liquidity and credit quality if the company fails to ensure availability of funds sufficient to cover the $500 Eurobond, which matures on Dec. 20, 2017, or doesn't receive timely and sufficient financial support for this from the government or Samruk-Kazyna, which would reflect a weakening link to the government. The ratings currently reflect that S&P expects the company will improve its performance in 2017, such that debt to EBITDA is at about 5x, thanks to higher tariffs already approved by the regulator, growing electricity demand, an increase of export sales, and asset disposals. S&P views the company's business risk profile as weak. The group is not shielded from competition on the market, because the price-cap mechanism does not guarantee cost recovery. On the positive side, the rating agency notes high vertical integration in coal mining, electricity generation, distribution, and supply operations; a leading market position in several regions; and a relatively solid share of 32 percent of the country's installed capacity. At this stage, S&P continues to believe there is a high likelihood that Samruk-Energy would receive timely and sufficient extraordinary support from the Kazakh government, but this assessment could change depending on the government's strategy with regard to any support for Samruk-Energy's upcoming Eurobond maturity. According to S&P, Samruk-Energy has an important role for the government, given its strategic position as a leading provider of electricity in Kazakhstan; and a very strong link with the government, which fully owns Samruk-Energy through Samruk-Kazyna. The rating agency expects that the government will maintain majority ownership of Samruk-Energy for at least the next two years. S&P also considers the government's involvement in strategic decision-making at the company, the risk to the country's reputation if Samruk-Energy were to default, and the government's track record of providing strong financial support to Samruk-Energy in the form of equity injections, asset transfers, low-interest-rate loans, debt guarantees, and tax benefits. The CreditWatch placement reflects pressures on the ratings if by the end of the first quarter of 2017, Samruk-Energy is not able to ensure liquidity sufficient to cover the Eurobond's redemption in December 2017, or if the government (likely via Samruk-Kazyna) doesn't provide timely and sufficient extraordinary financial support, such as a shareholder loan or equity injections. The latter could also indicate weakening of the link to the government and result in reassessment of the likelihood of extraordinary state support. S&P could affirm the ratings if Samruk-Energy ensures, in advance, availability of funds sufficient for the Eurobond's redemption, and continues to enjoy government support. The rating agency aims to resolve its CreditWatch in about three months. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Azad Hasanli Trend: Baku will host the Azerbaijani-Iranian business forum Dec. 27, the Azerbaijan Export and Investments Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) said in a message Dec. 22. It is expected that the Iranian entrepreneurs working in the fields of agriculture, food industry, light industry, pharmaceuticals, transportation, logistics, tourism, ICT, construction, production of building materials, spare car parts and others, will take part in the forum, according to the message. Iranian companies have so far invested $2.6 billion in Azerbaijans economy. As much as $145 million of the total amount has gone to the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan. This is while some 450 companies with Iranian share operate in Azerbaijan. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $175 million in January-November 2016, $130.13 million of which accounted for the import from Iran, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Iran is keen on conducting geological exploration of Kazakhstan territory. President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said it during a joint statement after the talks with Iranian Leader Hassan Rouhani in Akorda Palace on Thursday, Kazinform reported. According to the Head of State, both countries may establish effective interaction in ore-mining metallurgy. Karaganda region has already started developing a copper deposit together with Iranian companies. Iranian side is interested in conducting geological exploration of Kazakhstan territory and we back this proposition, N.Nazarbayev said. The talks touched upon also other issues of trade-economic cooperation. Issues regarding fight with terrorism were discussed. The sides exchanged also views on international situation in the world. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Azad Hasanli Trend: Reza Vaziri, president and chief executive officer of Anglo Asian Mining PLC (AAM), has agreed to extend the term of his loan facility to the company, the company said in a message Dec. 22. Anglo Asian Mining PLC is a gold, copper and silver producer with a broad portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan. The amount of the loan facility from Vaziri is $4.0 million and the term of the loan is until January 8, 2017, the company said. According to the company, the amount currently outstanding under the facility is $3.9 million. The interest on the loan is at a rate of 10 percent per annum. The extension of the term of this loan is currently being renegotiated. It is expected that other terms of the loan will remain the same, the company said. Based on the production sharing agreement signed with Azerbaijani government in August 1997, Anglo Asian Mining PLC has the right to develop six fields in south-west of Azerbaijan: Gadabay, Ordubad, Gosha Bulag, Gizil Bulag, Vejnali and Soyutlu. The gold produced at the fields is sent to Switzerland for purification. The ingots are delivered to Azerbaijan and are stored in the governments account. COLLINSVILLE, Texas (KXII) -- One home in Collinsville has been catching everyone's attention every holiday season for decades. This is Wayne McCorkle's home during the day ... But at night this home turns into a winter wonderland. With more than 1,000 Christmas decorations, 148 batteries, 125 extension cords and nearly a 500 dollar increase in his electric bill, the 83-year-old Collinsville resident says it's all worth it. "It's bigger than it's ever been, put it that way. This year's bigger, the outside's bigger, the inside's bigger," McCorkle said. Most people start preparing for Christmas after Thanksgiving, but McCorkle gets in the holiday spirit in the dog days of summer. "Well I start decorating in August, it takes the whole time to get it all done and I do every little of it of it myself," McCorkle said. And for more than 20 years, at 210 Stewart Street in Collinsville, McCorkle has invited anyone and everyone into his home. "This was the first year that we went inside, we go every year to look at the lights but this was the first year we went inside," said Deeann Smith. But Deann Smith says the decorations aren't the only thing locals love about their most festive neighbor. "Just his enthusiasm. He just loves it and he loves sharing it with everybody," Smith said. McCorkle says his doors will be open to all the rest of this week - and even on Christmas Day. "I bet there's not one out of five that comes in but I'm always thrilled when they do," McCorkle said. You'll find McCorkle's home decorated up until December 31st. The murder trial of a man from Wisconsin won't start on Feb. 6 as scheduled. Greene County Circuit Judge Calvin Holden postponed the bench trial of Nicholas Godejohn at a hearing on Thursday morning. Godejohn, 27, of Big Bend, Wisc., is charged with first-degree murder for the stabbing death of Clauddine Dee Dee Blancharde, 48, in June 2015 at her home just north of Springfield. Blanchardes daughter, Gypsy, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last July and received a 10-year prison sentence. At the hearing on Thursday, Holden granted a request by prosecutors to allow them to have a mental health expert examine Godejohn. Prosecutors want to have a second opinion after defense attorneys hired a mental health expert to do an exam. Instead of a bench trial on Feb. 6, the judge scheduled a pretrial conference for that day. Investigators believe Gypsy Blancharde and Godejohn met online and communicated secretly for three years before he came to Springfield at her request. They think Godejohn killed Dee Dee, took several thousand dollars from her house, mailed the murder knife to his home, and returned to Wisconsin with Gypsy by bus. Police arrested them at Godejohns home a few days after the murder. Psychologist Kent Franks of Springfield told Circuit Judge Calvin Holden at a hearing in November that he did two mental evaluations of Godejohn at the Greene County jail. He said the murder suspect thought he was doing the right thing when he killed Blancharde, because he wanted to rescue Gypsy from her mother. Previous report The Blanchardes relatives believe Dee Dee Blanchard required her daughter to act as if she was sick, and pretend to be younger than she is, so they could get sympathy and aid from charities and social service agencies. People who knew them thought Gypsy couldnt walk and possibly was fatally ill. The Blanchardes moved to Springfield in 2006 from Louisiana after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. After they moved, they used the last name Blancharde instead of Blanchard as the rest of their family does. Franks said Godejohn is on the autism spectrum and spent most of his time on the internet and playing video games. The psychologist described the murder suspect as more like a child than an adult. He said his IQ is 82 and he functions at the level of a 10- or 11-year-old person. The psychologists findings could result in Godejohn being found guilty of a lesser charge than first-degree murder, which requires someone to deliberate before killing another person. The judge said he would allow Franks testimony over objections of prosecutors, who argued Franks isnt qualified to be an expert witness. Godejohn waived his right to a trial by jury. This recipe was created in New Zealand to honor a world-famous Russian ballerina who visited there in the 1920s. Like the ballerina, it's light and airy on the inside, crusty on the outside! The Pavlova can be made in advance, cooled and stored in an air-tight container for up to two days. If not stored air-tight, it will shrink and get weepy and soggy. Pavlova Ingredients -- 4 egg whites (frozen egg whites work superbly, just bring to room temperature) -- 1 pinch (less than tsp) of salt -- 1 dash (less than tsp) of vanilla -- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice Combine the above and beat with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Then combine the following ingredients and add very slowly, while beating again. -- 1 cup of sugar (superfine works well, dissolves more readily) -- 2 rounded teaspoons of cornstarch -- 1 pinch of cream of tartar Continue beating until stiff and shiny, but NOT DRY -- Preheat oven at 350 degrees -- Cover a flat cookie sheet (or pizza pan) with foil, and draw an 8-inch circle in the middle, using a plate as a guide -- Dust the inside of the circle with cornstarch to prevent sticking -- Mound the meringue onto the circle, smoothing the top, then hollowing out a slight indentation across the top, which will contain the final topping -- Place in the oven; IMMEDIATELY TURN THE TEMPERATURE DOWN to 300 degrees -- Bake for one hour, until slightly golden at edges -- Turn oven off and prop the door open -- Leave Pavlova in the oven to cool slowly (it's OK to leave it overnight) Just before serving, carefully (this is fragile) peel off the foil, place on a flat dish (a pedestal cake plate is nice), spread whipped topping over the top, arrange sliced fruit over the topping. Topping Its easiest to use an eight-ounce tub of Cool Whip, but you may also whip your own heavy cream. Use 1 cup, add about 2 tablespoons of fine sugar (or powered sugar) after whipping, and tsp. vanilla. It looks good with two cups of sliced kiwi or strawberries but any colorful, tasty fruit will do. Jo Manhart, Missouri Egg Council, (573)874-3138 Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR continues work with American energy corporation ConocoPhillips on joint onshore search for oil among Mesozoic sediments in Azerbaijan, a source in SOCAR told Trend Dec. 22. The source said that the search and exploration of oil and gas deposits in the Mesozoic sediments, lying at great depths and having complex geological structures onshore and offshore, are essential. Over many years, more than 350 wells have been drilled in the Mesozoic sediments, as a result of which small fields of oil and gas were opened, said the source adding that there havent been any big deposits among them. In particular, Statoil, Total and ConocoPhillips appealed to SOCAR in order to conduct exploratory work for Mesozoic oil on Azerbaijani land, according to the source. Under SOCARs contract with ConocoPhillips, two-dimensional seismic surveys on 12 profiles with a total length of 780 kilometers, covering the territory of 11 districts from Gobustan to the Georgian border, were held, said the source adding that the obtained data was summarized and systematized. Currently, the work continues, noted the source, adding that SOCAR very carefully approaches to the issue of determining where the first exploration well will be drilled, which is somewhat delaying the project. However, the projects complexity requires a careful approach, added the source. Mesozoic sediments are one of the ways to stabilize oil production in Azerbaijan. In July 2011, SOCAR and ConocoPhillips signed an agreement on joint pre-exploration of onshore deposits in Azerbaijan. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Donald Trump is set to be sworn in next month as the 45th president of the United States, despite garnering almost 3 million fewer votes than his challenger. With the presidential election results now certified in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., Hillary Clinton won a total of 65,844,610 votes 48.2 percent compared with Trumps 62,979,636 votes 46.1 percent according to David Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Other candidates took 7,804,213 ballots, or about 5.7 percent of the popular vote. Clintons margin of victory in the popular vote is the largest in raw numbers for any candidate who has gone on to lose in the Electoral College. Her margin of victory is almost six times larger than that of Democrat Al Gore, whose popular vote win in 2000 is now the second-largest in this category. Gore received about 500,000 more votes than Republican George W. Bush, but came up short in the Electoral College after a hotly contested race in Florida. Trumps substantial deficit in the popular vote makes his margin by percentage of votes the third-worst among winning candidates since 1824 (when the popular vote was first officially recorded), according to an analysis by The New York Times published earlier this week. Thanks to the Electoral College, none of this matters. Trump won 306 electoral votes to Clintons 232 on Election Day, securing him a comfortable victory last month. Although many of Trumps opponents had spent the past few weeks trying to figure out how they could deny the real estate mogul a path to the White House, the Electoral College on Monday further secured his win. A total of 304 electors cast their votes in favor of the GOP nominee, meaning just two Republican electors defected. Some 227 cast their presidential ballots for Clinton, with five Democratic electors switching their vote. Those seven defecting electors voted for other candidates. Trumps team has tried to deflect focus away from the popular vote over the past month, with Trump himself even mentioning what he referred to as a massive landslide victory in the Electoral College. PolitiFact ruled that claim false, noting that Trumps win ranks near the bottom in terms of the portion of total available electoral votes won by a candidate. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates A judge has ordered Zimbabwes First Lady Grace Mugabe to return three properties that she seized from a Lebanese businessman over a $1.35m (1m) diamond ring deal, South Africas News24 website reports. According to an affidavit from the businessman, she demanded a refund after the diamond ring, purchased in Dubai, was delivered to her after it had been polished by a third party. When Jamal Ahmed failed to repay the money to an account in Dubai, even though he says it was remitted through a Zimbabwe bank, the first lady forcibly took over his three houses last October, his testimony said. The case also involved Mrs Mugabes son from her first marriage to Russell Goreraza. The affidavit said Mr Ahmed then suffered a reign of terror and harassment and was verbally threatened, harassed, insulted and told that he could not do anything about it as the parties involved [Mrs Mugabe and her son] were in fact Zimbabwe'. Justice Clement Phiri said Mrs Mugabe should also ensure that all workers who lost their jobs at the three properties owned by the diamond seller be reinstated. The ring was meant to be President Robert Mugabes present to his wife for their 20th wedding anniversary, News24 says. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Raila Odinga, Kenyas former prime minister and leader of the opposition Cord alliance, has called for mass action to protest against changes to electoral laws ahead of the presidential poll next year. It follows a bitter dispute in parliament as the ruling Jubilee party passed a law to allow the use of manual systems during next years election. The government wants a back-up to the electronic system but the opposition says it is a way of rigging the poll. Writing on his official Facebook page, Mr Odinga said: The Jubilee brigade today proved to Kenyans that they have no interest in free and fair elections. In forcing through the amendments to the Election Laws that had been carefully negotiated between all political actors in the country, they revealed the duplicitous nature of this regime. Mr Odinga then called for peaceful, non-violent and legal mass action across the country, starting on 4 January, adding: Elections can no longer be rituals to impose the will of a few on the majority of Kenyans. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates The United Arab Emirates wants to build a military base in the port of Berbera in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, according to a memorandum of understanding. Somalilands Transport Minister Farhaan Aadan Haybe said the issue would be debated in parliament. The UAE already has a military facility at the Eritrean port of Assab, which it uses in its campaign against Houthi rebels in nearby Yemen. Earlier this year, Somaliland signed a deal with the UAE ports giant, DP World, to develop the port at Berbera, which mainly exports livestock to the Middle East. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 Trend: The list of best employers in Azerbajan has been released. Azercell Telecom LLC was ranked among top 3 employers in terms of attractive compensation package, working environment, corporate culture, perspective professional development and other indicators. ACT global research and consulting company conducted a research in August-September 2016 covering the CIS countries and Eastern Europe. As per research results, Azercell was defined as one of 3 best employers in the market. The research aimed to study Azercells employer positioning among employees of Azercell and representatives of various fields, as well as to reveal the best employers present in Azerbaijan and study the image of mobile operators. The research was conducted through face-to-face interviews with employees of Azercell, other professionals, students, local and international graduates and media representatives. The research results showed that Azercell is in the list of top 3 employers in all segments in Azerbaijan. The company was defined as the best employer among mobile operators. Meanwhile, Ernst & Young Azerbaijan conducted Best Employer 2015 survey among students and professional candidates. The main purpose of the survey carried out in May-June 2016 was to determine the major trends in labor market in Azerbaijan. The respondents were asked to indicate factors affecting their employer preferences, key sources of information about employers, deficiencies in recruitment process and other issues. According to preferences by students and professionals, Azercell was listed among top 10 employers in the market. Furthermore, Azercell was the only telecom operator in this list. As is known, safe and healthy environment is among basic factors in maintaining convenient workplace for each individual. We are proud to inform that Azercell is now certified with international standard in Occupational Health & Safety OHSAS 18001 and international standard in Environmental Management System ISO 14001. In parallel, the company has successfully passed re-certification against revised Quality Management ISO 9001:2015 standard. Health and Safety, First Aid, Fire Fighting trainings, as well as constant health related measures (vaccination, blood test and etc.) are common procedures, covering all operational offices of Azercell. The company offers perspective professional development program, attractive compensation and social package for each employee. With its reliable corporate culture, Azercell has managed to establish trust in its employer brand. The leader of the mobile communication industry of Azerbaijan and the biggest investor in the non-oil sector Azercell Telecom LLC was founded in 1996. With 48% share of Azerbaijans mobile market Azercells network covers 80% of the territory and 99,8% of population of the country. Currently, 4,5 million subscribers choose Azercell services. Azercell has pioneered an important number of innovations in Azerbaijan, including GSM technology, advance payment system, 24/7 Customer Care, online customer services, GPRS/EDGE, M2M, MobilBank, one-stop- shop service offices Azercell Express, mobile e-service ASAN signature, etc. Azercell deployed first 4G LTE services in Azerbaijan in 2012. According to the results of mobile network quality surveys of Global Wireless Solutions company and international systems specialized in wireless coverage mapping such as Opensignal and Testmy.net, Azercells network demonstrated the best results among the mobile operators of Azerbaijan. When it comes to high-end custom homes in La Jolla, the name GDC Construction is synonymous with the state-of-the-art. As this venerable family company, currently headed by the fourth generation of Dewhursts, Pancho Dewhurst, heads toward 2017, GDC Construction is expanding its creative footprint throughout San Diego County. Its exciting for us to not only be in La Jolla but to be out of La Jolla, because were doing projects from Carlsbad all the way down to Imperial Beach, Dewhurst said I think that San Diego is growing and our economy still looks strong, and Im excited about 2017. We havent seen any slowdown in the amount of work were bidding or the amount of opportunities that are coming out of La Jolla (and beyond) in terms of development projects. It looks really positive for the next couple of years. The whole coastline of San Diego County is doing very well. GDC is a start-to-finish company whose services go from pre-construction to construction and on to post-construction. Custom homebuilding has been its specialty, but the company is expanding in another way as well with the addition of Shawn Monteith, chief estimator and project manager at GDC Construction. Were branching off into multi-family construction, Dewhurst said. Shawn is an expert in multi-family, and were trying to grow the company and make it more diverse. Monteith explained that in neighborhoods, including La Jolla, ownership developer groups are buying lots large enough to accommodate two dwellings on them. Theyre turning to a contractor like us, who is well known in the community, to actually contract the work and build the projects, Monteith said. We are positioning ourselves as being flexible to these developer types, because at the end of the day our objective is to build quality products in La Jolla and the greater part of coastal San Diego. Reiterated Dewhurst: Weve become very attractive to a lot of developers because we know how to build quality and they can trust well get the job done on time and on budget. This confidence stems in part from the long GDC Construction history. We always try to maintain the same level of quality that the family instilled in me from the 1920s, Dewhurst said. Thats been our reputation top-notch quality. Hes also rightfully proud of those with GDC, Monteith and others, who make it happen. Weve been growing exponentially over the last couple of years and have been fortunate enough to grow with a great team, Dewhurst said. Theyre the best people in the industry who know what theyre doing within their specific fields. A Super Bowl team. Well, at least San Diego has one Super Bowl team. GDC Construction, 1031 Silverado St., La Jolla. (858) 551-5222. Open Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. gdcconstruction.com Business Spotlight features commercial enterprises that support La Jolla Light. KITCHEN SHRINK: This year, Chanukah (or Hanukkah) coincidentally lands on the heels of Christmas. So when hungry Saint Nicholas arrives at the North Pole, he can munch on a variety of tasty latkes with assorted toppings, along with traditional Christmas fare, before he makes his chimney rounds. Since were a melting pot of cultures, there are many culinary crossovers that allow us to partake in the delights of all traditions. Here are some food highlights from the two major league winter festivals. Yes, its beginning to feel a lot like Christmakah. From Eggnog to Yule Log Christmas herbs and spices are the cornerstone of the holiday season. The latter come out of the pantry like gangbusters, especially cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger, while the herbs, equally as bold, including rosemary, sage, thyme, peppermint and lavender, dial up both sweets and savories. There are many options for a festive Christmas dinner from exotic fowls of goose, swan, pheasant and quail, to more traditional birds especially turkey, duck and Cornish hen. When theres a pork in the road, choose grass-fed, immune-boosting rack of lamb or crown roast over fatty, sodium-laden ham. Or heart-healthy, mineral-rich sea treasures, such as wild-caught salmon, Dungeness crab and deep-sea scallops. If you insist on the other white meat as the main attraction, then, its best to do a lean pork loin roast. Alas, desserts have a sinful amount of sugar, fat and carbs, some so dense they could double as weight-training devices. Fruitcake, anyone? Marzipan, plum pudding, mincemeat pie, gingerbread houses, and imports like panettone, stollen and buche de noel aka the Yule log are the glorious epitomes of the holiday season, and since they come but once a year, indulgences are permitted. Wash it down nicely with a wide range of cocktails and mocktails that scream Christmas cheer from the traditional eggnog and hot apple cider, to creative concoctions, like a Gingerbread Man (butterscotch schnapps and Baileys Irish Cream) or a Mistletoe Martini (melon liquor, coconut rum, pineapple juice). A Festival of Lights and Latkes Jews celebrate Chanukah to commemorate the miracle in ancient times when Judah Macabee found a flask that contained enough oil to burn for eight days for the rededication ceremony of their desecrated temple in Jerusalem. Candles held in a menorah are lit for eight days, and jelly doughnuts (sufganiyot) and potato pancakes or latkes symbolically fried in oil served with toppings of applesauce and sour cream are part of the traditional celebration. Put a refreshing new spin on the old Chanukah menu with trendy dishes, including this diverse latkes line-up: A French twist combining golden Yukon potatoes with celery root, shallots and herbes de Provence, served with sour cream horseradish; A taste of Italy with polenta and fresh basil, complemented by marinara sauce; Shredded sweet potatoes with coconut milk and fresh ginger accompanied by curried Greek yogurt drizzle; Vegetarian patties of porcini mushrooms, Jerusalem artichokes, or toasted quinoa with peach or apricot chutney; A pescavores paradise of wild-caught salmon patties with Meyer lemon mayo; Patriotic red, white and blue with redskin, russet and purple potatoes, served with all-American bbq sauce; The James Bond topped with creme fresh, chives and a dollop of caviar; A dessert version of pureed chestnuts, honey and cinnamon with a tower of vanilla bean whipped cream. These can all be made with a healthier methodology by wrapping latkes in parchment paper and baking until crispy and golden. To round out the Chanukah meal, try adding pulled roast chicken sliders, lamb kebobs with mint yogurt sauce, mini bagels with smoked salmon, capers and horseradish cream cheese, and Mediterranean eggplant caviar. For discriminating sweet tooths serve poached pears with goat cheese and honey drizzle, Meyer lemon bars with blackberry puree, and old-world apple strudel. The cross-cultural Christmas latke (see recipe below) blends potatoes with a confetti of red and green peppers, smothered in cinnamon-spiced applesauce and is sure to please all. For additional holiday recipes, e-mail kitchenshrink@san.rr.com Recipe: Christmas Confetti Potato Latkes Ingredients: 3 large Russet potatoes, peeled, diced 1/2 sweet onion, diced 1/2 each green and red pepper, diced 2 jumbo eggs 2 tablespoons unbleached flour 2 teaspoons Meyer lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon baking powder High smoke point oil for frying (grapeseed, canola, sunflower, avocado) Method: In a food processor, grate potatoes to desired consistency. Strain through a fine sieve or squeeze with hands to remove excess water. In a large mixing bowl, blend potatoes with remaining ingredients. Heat skillet on medium with a thin layer of oil. Gently drop large spoonfuls of potato mixture into oil. Cook 4 minutes or until the edges are crispy. Flip and cook until golden. Drain on a cookie sheet/paper towels. Enjoy with favorite toppings. Iran is not only a close neighbor of Kazakhstan in the region, but also our reliable partner. President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said it on Thursday after the talks with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Akorda Palace, Kazinform correspondent reports. We have never broken our ties even when sanctions were imposed against Iran. We have held two rounds of negotiations regarding the nuclear programme and we have made a passive contribution to the solution of this problem, N.Nazarbayev said. Ways of development and strengthening of bilateral relations were discussed at the meeting, the Kazakh Leader added. The scope of the Kazakh-Iranian dialogue is being expanded and gains a systemic character. Our main goal is to promote friendly ties between the two nations, Nazarbayev highlighted. He added that the negotiations focused on the ways of strengthening partnership in trade-economic sphere and several priority areas of interaction were defined. This is joint usage and development of enormous potential of the two countries in transit and logistics sphere. You know, that Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railroad has turned into an effective transport and communication system in the region enabling Kazakhstan and Iran as well as other countries to come in the Gulf States. We have started joint construction of logistics centers of grain and container terminals, Nazarbayev noted and added that cooperation in railroad sector dynamically developed in recent years. This work need to be continued, he stressed. Historic ties of north Meck span throughout region Though the north Mecklenburg area didnt see significant population growth until a few decades ago, its rich history dates back to the Revolutionary War. That was the basis of... An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at... Baku, Azerbaijan, 22 Dec By Dalga Khatinoglu Trend: Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis visit to Kazakhstan on December 22 ended without any energy deal. A source in Irans Oil Ministry told Trend that no talks were scheduled to be held about oil and gas issues with Kazakhstan. However, several major energy projects have been negotiated between two Caspian littoral nations in the last several months: refinery and power plant construction projects as well as oil swap. Of course, Rouhani said in Kazakhstan that both Iran and Kazakhstan are oil and gas exporters and can cooperate in this sector. We can receive Kazakh oil in Caspian Sea and deliver the same amount of oil to Persian Gulf, Iranian president said Dec. 22. Oil swap Iran is preparing to resume oil swap with Caspian littoral states. The capacity of storage facilities in Iran's Neka port on the Caspian shore is being increased to about 2.5 million barrels per day (mb/d), director of Iran's North Oil Terminal Hamid Reza Shahdoust said previously. Currently 3 of 9 oil storage facilities are being maintained to be ready to intake 120-130 thousand b/d of Caspian oil. Only the tankers with 5-7 tons capacity can arrive in Neka now. Meanwhile, Pirouz Mousavi, the managing director of Iranian Oil Terminals Company told Mehr news agency in November 2015 that Russia and Kazakhstan have expressed readiness to resume crude oil swap with Iran. The imported crude oil from the Caspian states is to be refined at Tehran and Tabriz oil refineries in northern Iran which will lead to saving costs of transferring oil from southern Iran to the mentioned refineries. The oil swap project reportedly saves Iran costs of carrying 500,000 b/d of oil from south to north of the country. Tehran will deliver an equivalent amount of the imported oil to potential buyers in the Persian Gulf ports. Under oil swap agreements, which started in 1997 and were in place for over 12 years, Iran received crude oil of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in its northern port of Neka on the Caspian coast and delivered an equal volume to the clients of the same countries in Persian Gulf. Tehran would receive a transit fee from Caspian states as well. The overall revenue obtained by Iran from 1997 to 2009 has been estimated at about $880 million. Refinery and power plant projects Irans power and water equipment and services export company SUNIR signed a deal with Kazakhstans Eurasia Invest Group with $600 million worth in April 2016 to build one wind and two thermal plants in Kazakhstan in 18 months. The wind power station will have 50 megawatts (MW) capacity and thermal power plants - 250 MW each. Iran also announced in June 2016 that two nations have planned to build a joint venture oil refinery in Amirabad Port, on the Caspian Sea shore. It was projected to refine Kazakh oil and then export to other countries. --- Dalga Khatinoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Iran news service, follow him on Twitter: @dalgakhatinoglu The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more President Hassan Rouhani, who is on a tour to three regional countries, arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday night, IRNA reported. President Rouhani was welcomed by Kazakh investment and development minister, Iranian ambassador to Astana and Iranian embassy's staff. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev will officially welcome President Rouhani at the Asian country's presidential palace in Astana on Thursday morning. On the first leg of his regional tour, the president visited the Armenian capital where he met his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan. During his visit to Yerevan, Rouhani attended a meeting of top-ranking delegations of the two countries. He also participated in a joint conference of economic activists of Iran and Armenia. Iranian and Armenian officials signed five cooperation documents in the presence of the two presidents. This article appears in the December 23, 2016 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. AFTER THE LIBERATION OF ALEPPO Germany Must Shape the G20 Agenda with a Marshall Plan by Helga Zepp-LaRouche [Print version of this article] Dec. 17President Obama, in the last press conference of his term in office, accused Russia and Russian President Putin personally of having manipulated the American presidential election through cyber-attacks, and announced that there would be reprisalssome explicit and open, and others so that Russia would recognize the author. This announcement of covert operations should cause alarm worldwidewhat kind of operation does he mean? Drone strikes, collateral damage of all sorts? Obama apparently wants to use his remaining time in the White House for a confrontation with Russia, a confrontation whose end is signaled by Trumps cabinet appointments. Clearly the neoconsin whose camp Obama belongs, given his continuation of the policies of Bush and Cheneydo not accept their loss of power. whitehouse.gov President Barack Obama This is all the more outrageous as numerous representatives of the American intelligence community, as well as cyber-experts, have vehemently countered the allegation of President Obama and CIA Director John Brennan, that Putin personally oversaw cyber-attacks that led to the election of Trump. In a memorandum released December 12, the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)among whom are former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel and former CIA agent Ray McGovernstressed that these allegations have no basis in fact. They state they have gone through the various claims about hacking and could say unambiguously, on the basis of their experience as experts in cyber-security, that what happened involved leaksthat is, the disclosure of information by an insider, as in Edward Snowdens case, for exampleand not hacks, the penetration of an operating system or cyber-security system from a remote location. If it had been a hack, they said, the NSA, due to its global surveillance capability, would have known long ago the precise location of the sender and receiver. It is unthinkable that the NSA would not be able to identify anyonewhether Russian or notwho tried to interfere in the U.S. election by hacking. Even the notorious John Bolton, himself a leading neocon, speaks of a false flag operation, and suspects that the American intelligence services hacked the Democratic Partys computers themselves, in order to be able to lay the event at Russias doorstep. In fact, a number of Trumps nominees for cabinet posts are people who know exactly where the bodies are buried when it comes to Obamas many activities that could one day become the subject of legal investigations. And so Obamas last stand is obviously also a gigantic maneuver to deflect from potential prosecution. Otherwise, anyone who followed what was billed as Obamas last press conference saw someone who had absolutely nothing to say apart from unfounded allegations and post-truth assertions about the wonderful situation of the American economy. No vision. No perspective. Germany Falls into Line What then does it mean, in this campaign alleging Russian hacking, when Bruno Kahl, the new president of the German Federal Intelligence Service, the Nachrichtendienst, takes the same line as CIA Director John Brennan in declaring that there are indications of a trail leading to Moscowthus obviously defending the neocons line instead of the truth? What does it mean when the CDU/CSU demands a hard line against Moscow in connection with the alleged cyber-attacks? It doesnt bode well. The notoriously pro-British Anne Applebaum, the Washington Post columnist, is 100% sure that the Russian government will try to steal victory from Merkel in the 2017 German elections, exactly as it did with its intervention against Hillary Clinton. It has become clear since German Defense Minister von der Leyen expressed her deep shock over Trumps election, that many of the proponents of the failed paradigm of neoliberal globalization are not part of the geopolitical campaign against Russia and China because they get orders from Wall Street and the City of London, as many had assumed, but because geopolitics is a fundamental axiom of their identity. The Syrian government had to resort to a military solution, with the support of Russia and Iran, to free Aleppo and other parts of Syria from ISIS, al-Nusra, and other terrorist groups, because Obamas continued arming of such groups ruled out any other possibility. Anyone who speaks of the fall of Aleppo, and not its liberation, is apparently siding with ISIS, the group responsible not only for countless deaths in the Middle East, but also for the terrorist attacks in France and Germany. Of course, the tragedy of war is that, in its course horrors occurespecially when it rages on for many years and is a proxy war instigated from the outsidehorrors that produce a never-ending chain of horrors. It is therefore all the more urgent now that all neighbors of the Middle EastRussia, China, India, Iran, Egypt, but also Germany, France, and Italyput large-scale reconstruction of the entire Middle East on the agenda. Donald Trumps designated National Security Advisor, Gen. Michael Flynn (ret.), has spoken in favor of a Marshall Plan for the Middle East, but it can only succeed if all the major powers cooperate and provide real prospects for the future for the people of this devastated region. The concrete approach to be taken has long since been proposed by the Schiller Institute in its Phoenix Program for the Reconstruction of Aleppo and the Extension of the New Silk Road to Southwest Asia. It is obviously just as urgent and necessary to implement a comprehensive industrialization and development program for Africa. A first baby step in the right direction was just taken by German Development Minister Gerd Muller, who seeks to motivate German businesses to invest more in Africa. That is progress, at least compared to the funding projects of the NGOs, whose Sunday sermons on democracy and human rights have brought next to nothing. China, India, and Japan are already active in Africa with significant investments in infrastructure and industrial zones, while Africans speak openly among themselves of how the Europeans will soon be irrelevant on the continent unless their indifference toward Africa changes very quickly. What Germany Could Do Chancellor Merkel announced in a video message that Germany will make African development a major theme of the G20 Summit next July in Hamburg, which Germany will chair. Preparations for this summit, and then the summit itself, could become a turning point for the reconstruction of the Middle East and the industrialization of Africa, but only if the German government adheres to the high standard set by China at the last G20 summit in Hangzhou, where President Xi Jinping pledged that China is committed to industrializing Africa. If, however, Merkel intends to approach the development of Africa from the mindset of the great transformation and decarbonization of the world economy, laid out by Joachim John Schellnhuber, CBE, and Dirk Messnerin a Dec. 13 Berlin press conference, in anticipation of Germany assuming the 2017 presidency of the G20then Germany will be discredited, the Asian countries will expand their influence in Africa, and Europe will marginalize itself. The worldwide revolution underway is directed against exactly that thinly disguised neocolonial policy, of which Schellnhuber is exemplary. Nor will it do any good for Messner to dream up a new, modern narrative for this policy. But Germany could meet the challenges of the year 2017 in a very different way, namely, by taking up Chinas offer for win-win cooperation in building the New Silk Road. More than 100 nations and institutions are already participating in this, the greatest infrastructure program in history. The New Silk Road Becomes the World Land-Bridge, published by EIR and the Schiller Institute, provides a comprehensive program that includes the key projects required for overcoming underdevelopment in Africa, such as, for example, the Transaqua project to replenish Lake Chad. Germany could decide to cooperate in realizing these projects, and become a force for the good in creating a new paradigm of cooperation for the common aims of mankind. This transcript appears in the December 23, 2016 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. MANHATTAN PROJECT DIALOGUE The Strength To Create a Cultural Renaissance [Print version of this transcript] Excerpts from the Dec. 17 Manhattan Project in Dialogue, with Helga Zepp-LaRouche and Megan Beets. Dennis Speed: On behalf of the LaRouche Political Action Committee Id like to welcome everybody here today. My name is Dennis Speed. And despite the various forms of scare tactics underway, including around this meeting, were going ahead. Some of you know that were involved in another event which is going to happen a little later today; many of our members at least are involved in an event that involves a concert that will be happening in the evening. But you also know that we have a certain context in which were operating; and that context is not defined by the peculiar and sometimes insane actions of certain heads of state. For example, Barack Obama and his recent claims about Russia. Its really defined by something much larger. I just want to refer here to a statement made by Dr. Martin Luther King. Its not well known; its contained in one of the sermons that he gave called Strength to Love. Its not the entire statement, but its the most significant element of the statement. He said: Man can think a poem and write it. He can think a symphony and compose it. He can think of a great civilization and produce it. . . . He can be a Handel moving into the highest heavens and transcribing the glad thunders and gentle sightings of the great Messiah. By his ability to reason, by his power and memory and his gift of imagination, man transcends time and space. As marvelous as are the stars, as great as is Handels Messiah, is the mind of the man that studies them. That statement pretty well summarizes, I think, the actual orientation we take to what people often call politics. Many years ago, Lyndon LaRouche wrote an article called Politics as Art in which he talked about this, but weve askedIve askedthat Helga LaRouche address us today as we go into that later event from the standpoint that theres a need that Americans have to consider a completely new, if you will, cultural and intellectual platform for their behavior in politics. She has worked for over 30 years to get this point across to Americans, and I thought it was an important point to be made to all of us prior to those activities. Its always my honor to present Helga LaRouche; and we will hopefully have some time for questions and answers. So, Helga? LPACTV Helga Zepp-LaRouche Our Dangerous Situation Helga Zepp-LaRouche: Yes, hello; good day. I think everybody is in a state of enormous tension, because the world is not in a safe place yet. I watched yesterday the live press conference, supposedly the last press conference of President Obama, and what he said there was really incredibly evil. Because he claims that they have evidenceno, he didnt even claim that; they said that Russia had hacked the DNCs and other computers and interfered with the election process in the United States. Up to the present moment, there has not been any evidence presented. Then he threatened actions against Russia in retaliation; both obviously open, but also hidden, but that Russia would find out what the message was. That is a rather unveiled threat; and there is a real hysteria on the side of those people who lost the election. Hillary today came out and said basically that Putins interference was his personal revenge, because Putin didnt like what she did as Secretary of State. It needs to be stressed that a very respectable group, the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), including such people as Senator Mike Gravel and Ray McGovern, put out a statement that their long years of experience as cyber security experts caused them to look at these emails, and that they have no doubt that these were not hacks, but leaks like the kind of leaks Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning had done from the inside. Anyway, there is a big hype, and I think we should be very aware that this is very dangerous. A confrontation with Russia, with China, is the other thing that could happen between now and President-elect Trump actually taking office. The recent developments in the South China Sea speak to that. We are not in a safe world by any means. The hysteria about the so-called fall of Aleppo, as it is being characterized by the media, is not less. Here you have a military solution to a problem which it was obviously not possible to solve politically; among other things, because of the sabotage by the United States of the talks in Geneva. So, the military option was the only remaining one; and now people are liberated. People should be happy that ISIS has been suffering a terrible defeat. I am pointing out that this incredible spinning of events shows you that we are not in a safe situation by any means. In the United States, but also in Europe, people can almost be separated into two groups: First, those who have not yet recovered from the so-called shock of the Trump election. These are the people who believe in geopolitics, in globalizationpeople who believe in the present system, which has brought the world to this point. Then you have those who are very happy that Trump won; they hope that he will stick it to Wall Street. But we have to see whether he will do it, given his Goldman-Sachs appointments. And we have to see whether he will stick it to the establishment in general. I reference these circumstances very briefly, because I dont think that either of those mindsetsneither the people who are freaked out about Hillary losing, nor those who say that Trump will stick it to the establishmentis adequate. We have to introduce a completely different level of thinking into the political process, which is why the performance of the Messiah and a long series of other concerts is so extremely important. We have discussed this many times, but I will say it again. Why is Classical art and Classical music in particular so absolutely crucial if mankind is going to get out of this crisis? Why Are We So Stupid? The problem is, and I think most of you agree, that for many yearsalmost 50 years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the cover-up of his murderthe paradigm of the Western world and especially the United States has led to an incredible brutalization of the population. And many people are not happy about the future. Life expectancy in the United States is going down for the first time in a very long time; there is simply no better indicator for living standards and well-being of a people than life expectancy. If life expectancy goes down in a civilized nation, that is a sure proof it is in a full crisis and in decay. Now, how do we get people out of this? How do we get people to be their more noble selves? How do you get people to a more elevated level of thinking than just saying, Lets hope Trump will stick it to them? Because that is still an emotion of anger, frustration and so forth. The problem is, we have discussed in these meetings many times that the oligarchy rules over society by reducing people to beings of just feelings, emotions; and they are very good at manipulating these emotions. That people are angry; that people are depressed; that people have rage; that people have joy in decadent pleasures. All of these are tools of the oligarchy. When man is on that level, he is not truly human. The first thinker who really described this very effectively was Plato in his famous cave allegory. He said the people who only believe in their emotions are like those who sit in a cave where they see only dimly-lit shadows of events which take place outside of the cave; and they take these shadows for the real thing. People who only believe in sense certainty, they have different forms. For example, monetarism is one such form of believing in the senses. Or utilitarianism, that only what is useful is valid. Or nominalism, positivism. There are all these varieties of isms, but they basically mean that people are not really thinking. Freedom to Know Truth Great Classical art opens the way to understanding real principles, those principles which are behind the sensuous appearance. And it enables one to learn how to become truly free. That is a quality which has been a very rare commodity in these periods. That people really have inner freedom; that they have their own judgement; that they develop their inner voice; that they learn to listen to their inner voiceyou can also call it conscience. View full size EIRNS/Don Clark It is generally great art which allows people to develop that quality in a playful way. Because when you are looking or listening to great art, this is not the seriousness of real life; this is like the existential in that sense. But you can study the process of creativity in a playful way. I think it is extremely important that we not forget that mankind must make the jump to a completely new paradigm, in which we are not just thinking about one nation. Trump has promised America first. Well, that may be a good antidote to what has happened with this so-called globalization up until now. But what is required is a completely different thinking, which is why I like Friedrich Schiller so very much. And why I think his ideas provide such a richness of concepts that we need to get to the New Paradigm. Schiller, for example, said it is not a contradiction to be a patriot and a world citizen; I think we have reached a state in human history in which we must establish that no nation can express a self interest if it is in contradiction to the goals of humanity as a whole. Therefore, this quality of becoming a world citizen while loving your nation without contradiction is something we have to introduce into this debate. Only then can the American people join in the New Paradigm of the New Silk Road for common goals of humanityfor the community of destiny for the future of mankind, as Xi Jinping always describes it. I think that Schiller is very important for another reason, and that is that heunder the terrible collapse of the French Revolution leading to the Jacobin terror, the killing of people through the guillotinehe was completely appalled. Schiller, in reaction to this Terror and associated developments in France, wrote the Aesthetical Letters; where he basically said that the only way you can have an improvement in the political life is through the ennoblement of the individual. Now, I know that that is not exactly what people think about politics; and they dont think aboutthe only way mankind moves forward, is that each of us; you, me, everybody ennobles themselves or tries to do so throughout their entire life. I think the idea of mankind which Schiller developed, is the notion of the beautiful soul; because I think that its the key to a lot of things. Crucial Role of Our Inner Freedom Schillers idea of the beautiful soul is the soul of a person for whom freedom and necessity, passion and duty, are one. I think this is a concept one has to think about, because freedom and necessitywhat does it mean? It means that, no matter what the circumstances of your life are, you do what is necessary, not only for yourself and your family, but for mankind as a wholewhich may have different shapes and different requirements at different times. Right now, it means to bring the United States into the paradigm with the rest of the world and overcome this terrible danger of a confrontation with Russia and China, which would surely mean the extinction of civilization. Now, what does it mean to find your freedom in what is necessary? I want you to think about it, because most people have not thought about it, and it is the key to being truly free. Freedom does not just mean the absence of chains and the absence of constraints. It means that you are completely a self-determining person, and that at the same time, you do your duty with passion. You are not a Kantian who says, Oh, I have to do my duty and therefore Im truly sour; but Im a moral person and Im doing what Im supposed to. You see many such people, but you have to joyfully do what is necessary. That requires the education of your emotions so that, as Schiller demands, you can always trust them blindly, because your impulses will never tell you anything different than what Reason would command. That is a high standard, but I think it is absolutely possible to accomplish it. It is great Classical art which is the field where you can rehearse what this requires. Schiller, in the very interesting piece of drama which he wrote which used a Classical Greek example, namely The Bride of Messina, he wrote an introduction where he discusses the function and the power of great art. He says when people listen to a great piece of artin that case, he talked about the Greek chorus; not the musical chorus, the chorus in the Greek drama. He said that when people are exposed to this, it sets a power free inside thema power which sets people truly free, internally free. And that freedom remains even when the performance is over. Limitations of Trumps Entourage Some of you have experienced that already, during the great celebrations on the 15th anniversary of September 11th, with the performances we had in four churches in New York. Obviously, this is a very precious gift which we have to really fight to make the more dominant culture. Im perfectly happy to give the President-elect a lot of credit that he will do interesting things; at least half of what he has posed will come true, namely renewing the relationship with Russia and China and putting it on a good basis. And that would be gigantic. But I have the most severe doubts that this question of a Classical education and the aesthetical improvement of man can be expected from this Trump administration. But it is the absolute necessary requirement to make America great again; which he has promised. I think you need a kind of spirit of ennoblement, of the sublime; and that level you do not find in any of the utterances from the Trump side. At least, I havent heard anything even close to that. But you have heard it from such people as Benjamin Franklin, as George Washington, as Alexander Hamilton, John Quincy Adams, and especially Lincoln. If you think about the Gettysburg Address, and the beautiful spirit which is expressed in that, that is the mindsetnot in the predicates, but in the spiritwhich people should be at all times if they are truly free. So, in that sense, I think we have a tremendous chance over this Christmas period and the holiday seasonpeople always have some time to read, to think, to listen to music. I would encourage you to do not just the things you usually do in this season, such as going to the mall and buying gifts for people. All that is fine, but the real meaning of this season is to find for yourself and find the higher identity which we have to mobilize to get the world into a safer place. So, thats really all I wanted to address, and thats what my remarks to you are at this moment. [applause] Questions and Answers Q: Good afternoon. How are you? This is Jessica from Brooklyn. First I wanted to say that Im very glad that were having this meeting. I was a little worried about attendance; people coming with the snow and rain and this and that. Its a little earlier time, but I see that we have a nice group of people here; and Im glad to be here, and Im really happy that you are addressing us and changing the way were thinking about going forward with making what we want to happen really happen. With this situation Obama did the other day, yesterday, his speech and all that; I saw that. I just wanted to say that, first of all, that Im very happy that youre here addressing us; and I think everyone in this room is. My question is not so much an actual question, but Im a teacher and Im seeing a lot of different things happening in my school and in my union. People, like you said, are tense; theres some hysteria going on. Theres a lot of stuff happening. Would you comment please on what you feel a Classical education is. In many different ways, we can talk about education; we can talk about the actual subjects, the intent of what education should bring about. Ive been thinking about that in watching other peoplemy parents, my fellow teachers. So, if you could please comment on what you feel we should be doing, or what should be meant by a Classical education? Education of Individual Character Zepp-LaRouche: Obviously, my husband Lyn is somebody who has developed that method in many ways. There is a great reference in Germany, which hasapart from my husbanddeveloped the best education system I know of, and thats Wilhelm von Humboldt. Not only did he design the German education system and university system, but in the 19th Century, there was not one professor in the United States who was not either educated by this method or by somebody who had studied it in Germany. The influence of Humboldt in the 19th Century in the United States was tremendous. The reason I think he is still extremely important today, maybe more than ever before, is that he defined as the goal of education not any particular skill. He said if you learn how to learn, you can improve your skills throughout your life. What he defined as the goal of education is the beauty of the character. I dont know of any school today that has a goal that the end result of the pupils going to the school should be that they have beautiful characters. But if you look at the violence, the meanness, the brutality, all of the behaviors people retainespecially in the schools, where many teachers are afraid of their pupils; this is a common phenomenon these days. The idea that the end goal should be a beautiful character, I think is more important than at any time before. Schiller was a close friend of Humboldt, and shared these ideas, but Humboldt had a very clear idea of how you reach that goal. He said that there are certain subjects which are more suited than others to have this effect of developing all of the potentialities that are in a young person into a harmonious totality. He said, first of all, you have to have a command over your own language in its highest expressions. Obviously the highest expressions of your own language are the most beautiful Classical poets, because they can express concepts which you just do not find in prose. There is a big difference between lyrics and poetry, and prose; because lyrics and poetry force the mind to access those higher levels where new concepts are formed. Naturally, you cannot think what you cannot express in words; and therefore, the study of the best examples of poetry is the key to all other subjects. If you dont have the language, Britney Spears once proudly said that she has a vocabulary of only 80 words. That obviously limits the amount of what she can think. Humboldt then also said, you have to study universal history, because only if you are able to place your own identity and your own life in the context, not only of the history of your nation, but in the history of universal mankind, can you find the right place. Schiller expressed that you have to connect your dwindling existence, which is short because people live a very short time, to the long chain of generations before you and generations after you. And that is what gives you your identity; it makes you grateful to the generations before you and gives you a vision of what you have to contribute to make better generations after you possible. Then, naturally, come geography, music, natural sciences, other languages. PlayStation or Humboldt? So I think to really go with the Humboldt conception and to reintroduce Humboldt would be such an extremely important start because it is not just science, it is not just art as such, but it is the combination, the two things absolutely have to go together. Because scientists and artists are the only two professions, so to speak, that believe in universal principles. Natural sciencephysics, biology, chemistrythese are areas in which, if you make an adequate experiment, you can repeat it anywhere around the globe. If you find a discovery in the United States and if its a true physical principle, any Chinese or any African can repeat it in Africa, or in Luxembourg, or in some other place, because its a universal principle. And the same goes for great Classical art, but especially music, which is why you find in orchestras, people from all over the world working together, performing a concert, and you dont even notice that they come from different countries and cultures, because they have one universal language. So science and music in particular are really important, because they free you from opinion, they free you from the liberal notion that my opinion is as good as yours, which is commonplace now. People dont accept the idea that there is truth and that you have to be truthful; people say, it doesnt matter, what I think is as good as what you say, and therefore, there is no criterion for truth at all, which obviously prevents people from finding this key Im talking about. Oil on canvas, 1949, by A.E. Yeletsky The future paradigm will mean that people think like creative scientists; thats why Lyn puts such an emphasis on individuals such as Vernadsky and Einstein. And naturally, thinking like Beethoven, thinking like Mozart, or Handel for that matter, that is what truth is; thats how you can find truth. And I think for the children today who are soyou know, the children today have almost no chance, because if they look at TV, if they play games using PlayStation, they have no chance to have this love for truth. So I think that would be the most important to accomplish, because once you accomplish that, they start to seek truth and become truth-seeking people, and then its the key for everything. The Great Poet of the United States Speed: When you were talking about Lincoln, I was thinking about his First Inaugural Address, which has this phrase at the end that has become very famous: The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. I remember, this must be back in 1986, at a conference where some of us of the Schiller Institute were, you made the point that the great poet of the United States is Abraham Lincoln. And you also referenced it earlier, and in your conclusion to us, I just want to ask youif you wouldto tell us why you say that, why you think that, and how you think we might be able to use the example of Lincoln, particularly now with this new Presidency, and this new opportunity? What a Republic Requires Zepp-LaRouche: It is because Lincoln has this quality of noble thinking. And if you study what he said at various points, you find that quality. And in a certain sense, it is this idea too, which is expressed in the Gettysburg Address, in particular, that you cannot just think for the moment: You have to connect your personal life with what others have contributedyou can live the way you live because of all your ancestry, and you have the idea that you, with your life, contribute something so that mankind is richer when you are no longer here, because of what you have done. That quality, which is sort of a Good Samaritan impulse, that is what Schiller called the Good Samaritan, who does the good without thinking what advantage he may have, or whats in it for him; none of these thoughts enter your thinking. And at the same time, you have a vision for the future, and Lincoln surely had that. So in one sense, he may have been the greatest President of the United States, and he is the measurement for any President from now on. So all of you should think like that: Because a republic only functions when everyone takes the same kind of responsibility as the President, and a republic only functions when you have a sufficient number of people who also demand of themselves that they qualify themselves so that they could become President! You should study economics, foreign policy, science, art, so that if for some reason, you would have to be President, you could do it. And then you have a functioning republicif many, many people are thinking like that, even if they dont become President. Thats the way to look at the world and to look at your nation. [applause] Speed: Thats certainly a worthwhile task for the Manhattan Project to take up, its a good way for people think about what weve got to do today as well. Thank you very much Helga, and youll be getting a report some time tomorrow morning on our work with the Messiah down in Brooklyn. Unite To Spread Noesis Beyond Mars Megan Beets: Those of us alive today are presented with an incredible opportunity, which is the opportunity, though not the guarantee, of leaving for the next 50, 100, perhaps thousands of years ahead, a new paradigm, which has never existed among mankind before, a new system established based on the true nature of mankind. And you think about the implications of that, that means that the empire system is over forever, relegated to a past and long-dead, never-to-return era of mankind. This is a very challenging idea. Its a very big idea. And its one that those of us assembled here, and everywhere, should take up as our mission, for the rest of the time allotted to us on this planet. Now that opportunity presented us, to establish a new paradigm, obviously comes with a great responsibility, and I want to go back to the quote from Martin Luther King that Dennis read at the opening. He said that Mankind can think of a great civilization and produce it. So, upon what principles do you base that civilization? What is the most truthful notion of the nature of mankind that we can strive for, upon which we will be confident in establishing this new paradigm? The human mind is a completely unique form of existence, on this planet, and anywhere else in this Universe, as far as we are aware. Human beings are a form of life which can study the Universe, which can confront paradoxes, which can confront problems which challenge our knowledge, and which can imagine solutions, which can imagine notions of a principle which is generating the kind of paradoxical effect we see in the Universe. We can imagine solutions to scientific problems, and generate them from the human mind, and these notions are so true, that they allow human beings to exert a greater power over nature than we had before. Thats an incredible form of existence. As an example of what Im referring to, weve never seen an atom. Weve certainly never seen the nucleus of an atom; no microscope can image for us, the nucleus of an atom. And yet, our vision of the organization of the atomic nucleus is so close to nature, that with this notion, with this idea, we are able to split the atom; were able to fuse atomic nuclei to create new elements; were able to create fusion plasmas, manufacturing new elements, breaking down current materials, and exerting a finely tuned control over nature, that allows us to first of all, unleash enormous amounts of power and energy, to generate electricity, to generate explosions for infrastructure construction; but also allows us to fine-tune materials like steel, to create steels that are stronger than anything we could have produced from purely natural elements. The most inspiring notion thats given us the most inspiring power over nature, up to this point, for me, is Johannes Keplers poetic notion of the planetary orbits; his poetic notion of the Solar system. Because that has allowed us, to create artificial orbits, intentionally, to put satellites into orbit and to put mankind into orbit. And for me, its mankinds potential to leave this planet and bring that process of creativity to other bodies of the Solar system, to begin improving them, bringing them to a higher state of organization than ever before; giving them a new meaning in the Solar system, something they could not have had without the presence of creative life, in the form of human beings. To me, thats the most inspiring power over nature that weve achieved up to this point, and it absolutely defines something which is the common aims of mankind. Mankind on this planet must unite in our scientific capabilities, our scientific insight, and our economic power to get mankind off of the planet, out onto the Moon and to Mars beyondand well see when we can get beyond that. We must come together to establish this new era of mankind. This editorial appears in the December 23, 2016 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. Shut Obama Down To End His Murder Spree [Print version of this editorial] Dec. 20Russias Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey G. Karlov, was shot dead yesterday, while delivering an address at the Contemporary Arts Center in Ankara. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu later identified the attacker as a 22-year-old former police officer by the name of Mevlut Mert Altintas. According to news reports, he was heard shouting, Dont forget Aleppo! Dont forget Syria! As long as our brothers are not safe, you will not enjoy safety. In response to the attack, Turkish President Recip Erdogan, speaking on behalf of both himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin, denounced the assassination as an open act of provocation against Turkey-Russian relations. The assassination comes on the eve of a series of conferences aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis, between Turkey, Russia, Iran, and others, including both the Syrian government and moderate opposition. Heightening global tensions, on the very same day as the Ankara shooting, a 25-ton truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring at least 48 others. On Tuesday, Dec. 20, a posting was made to the Amaq website of ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), claiming responsibility for the Berlin attack. The posting stated, A soldier of the Islamic State carried out the Berlin operation in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries. Upon receiving the first reports of the Ankara assassination, statesman Lyndon LaRouche immediately stated, Put Obama on the list of suspects. He also stated that the assassination itself was a deliberate kind of killa set-up, and that the murder was not just vengeance, its a special operations act. He urged that authorities run down the people involved in any way in this. Obama Will Kill, Unless He Is Stopped Three days prior to the Ankara shooting, Lyndon LaRouche had warnedafter hearing a nationally broadcast interview given by President Obama on National Public Radiothat bloody, murderous actions by Obama could be expected in the days ahead. In that interview, Obama had specifically threatened action against Russia, asserting that Russia hacked Democratic National Committee computers. Obama raved, I think there is no doubt that, when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections, that we need to take action, and we will, at a time and place of our choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be, but Mr. Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it. In response to Obamas statements, Lyndon LaRouche said, These words are a threat to murder people of importance. This is what Obamas stepfather taught him. LaRouche called on citizens to watch this guy, so that he doesnt kill. He is publicly threatening the world. The nations of the planet are now threatened by Obamas plan for mass killing of people. Obama is intrinsically a killer, as LaRouche put it. Earlier, at his Dec. 16 White House Press Conference, Obama repeated his threat against Russian hacking. He said that he told Russia to stop it, and indicated there will be consequences when they do it. . . . Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia. Further, Obama concurred with the CNN White House reporters summation, that The President thinks Vladimir Putin authorized the hack. All the evidence, however, shows that Obamas murderous provocations against Russia have nothing to do with alleged hacking. Despite repeated requests from the House Intelligence Committee for the Obama Administration to provide evidence of the hacking, all of the top Obama Administration intelligence officials have outright refused to go to Congress, declining even to appear in a close-door session. There have also been multiple indications that other intelligence agencies, including their top officials, do not agree with CIA Director John Brennans conclusion about Russian hacking. So far, not one shred of evidence has been presented. The actual danger, in this post-election environment, arises from Obamas predilection for murderand the fact that he is soon to be out of office, where he will have neither executive powers nor protection from possible prosecution for his crimes. Look at the Obama record. There are his Tuesday target meetings to draw up victim-lists for killing-by-drones. There are the continued deployments of American men and women to go to their harm and death, in U.S. military service, in the 16 years of Obama/Bush/British regime-change wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya). Within the United States, death rates and drug overdoses are soaring as a result of the Obama economic disaster, which he calls a successful recovery. Look at Obamas history. Lyndon LaRouche has stressed many times that Obama comes by killing from his own upbringing. His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro in Indonesia, was a killer-operative in the subversion and slaughter (1965-66) to bring down the government of President Sukarno. Obama wrote in his autobiography of how he learned during that time, that killing the weak is what the strong do. LaRouche noted that, internationally right now, we have people leading a world program for development and peace [the Eurasian New Silk Road, with President Xi Jinping, along with President Putin and others], but Obama will not just let things get by peacefully. He will kill; then the problem comes in, and its a bloody mess. LaRouche emphasized that, The signals are all there. Obama has made it clear.... Obama has made repeated efforts to show his readiness for large-scale killing in the United States and other nations. What needs to be done, is to shut down Obama, to prevent what he intends to do. This interview appears in the December 23, 2016 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. INTERVIEW Senator Mike Gravel: Hacking the Election Charge Is Ridiculous [Print version of this interview] Jason Ross of the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee interviewed Mike Gravel, a Democratic U.S. Senator from Alaska 1968-81, on Dec. 14, and replayed and reported on the interview on LaRouche PACs Weekly Webcast of Dec. 16. Edited excerpts follow, courtesy of LPAC. Jason Ross: On Dec. 12, the VIPS groupthe Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanityreleased a memo called Allegations of Hacking the Election Are Baseless, in which they gave their reasons for coming to that assessment. We interviewed a leading member of the VIPS group, Senator Mike Gravelformer Senator from Alaskato get his take on this; and we can play that for you now. Mike Gravel is one of the signers of a letter that was released by the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity a couple of days ago in response to the New York Times and the general media tumult around Russia hacking the electionsRussia denying Hillary Clinton the Presidency that she deserved as a gift from God. So, Id like to ask Senator Gravel, who is a former adjutant top-secret control officer for the Communications Intelligence Service, and a special agent of the Counterintelligence Corps, in addition being a former Senator from Alaska. Senator Gravel, could you tell our viewers what you think of this notion that Russia hacked the election and determined the outcome of our Presidential election here in the U.S.? LPAC Senator Mike Gravel Sen. Mike Gravel: First off, its ridiculous! Its far-fetched ridiculous! We knowand here we can be grateful to Edward Snowdenthat the United States capability, along with their partners in Britain, have the capability of vacuuming up every single communication in the world. That means that the NSA has all of Hillarys emails; has all of the communications between the U.S. and Russia. And so for the government to come out and say via the intelligence community, that this is all instigated by Russia, is just part of the demonization that weve seen taking place about Putin and Russia, as part of a plan in the United States to have regime change in Russia. Believe it. Were seeing whats happened in Syria with regime change, which is hundreds of thousands of people displaced and killed. And now we know that it was the U.S. that financed the coup in Kiev, that unseated Ukraines duly-elected President, who was favorable to Russia; which, of course, is normal, since they are neighbors and were essentially one country at one point. And so we destabilized that, and that was admitted to by [the Assistant Secretary] Victoria Nuland, whos still there; was there under Clinton. She admitted that the United States had spent $5 billion over a 10-year period, to destabilize the government of Ukraine. We succeeded. youtube CC/Mariusz Kubik Then, of course, as a reaction to that, when Russia had to continue its fresh-water port, which is Sevastopol, which came under threat, they protected it by annexing itre-annexing it, lets put it that waybecause it was part of Russia before. It was given away by Nikita Khruschev several years ago. So, in point of fact, we have all the knowledge in the NSA. Maybe the NSA doesnt talk to the FBI, or doesnt talk to the CIA. I dont know. Weve had this problem in 9/11, with nobody connecting the dots; and may have that same problem right now. But theres no question that the United States government does more activity in the cyber world than anybody else. Russia is probably a distant second. China is a distant second. But theres nobody that holds a candle to what were capable of doing. So, for our government to turn aroundor elements within our government, lets put it that wayto turn around and say that the Democratic Party was hacked and these hacks were given to WikiLeaks who then released them; well, it seems odd that the American government would have to be partners of WikiLeaks to let this stuff out. What seems more likely, is that somebody within the government, whether rogue or by intent, saw this as an ability to try and embarrass Russia; embarrass Putin, and to save face for Hillary, who was promptly losing the election with her skullduggery. As a result of this, we now see the New York Timesand this should not surprise usthe New York Times and the Washington Post, the two major national newspapers of note, have done a lot of disinformation over the years, and I think this is just one more instance of that disinformation coming out of the New York Times. Keep in mind its the New York Times that ginned up the war to invade Iraq. You can take your credits from there, as to what theyre capable of doing when they put their mind to it. So, thats essentially what I think is the case. Here too, we have enough people with skills and knowledge, particularly with our group, the former intelligence officers in the government, very senior intelligence officersbecause none of us are spring chickensto be able to question what has been put out, and say that this doesnt seem accurate, and doesnt make sense. To Sabotage New Relations with Russia Ross: All of this might look like its a bunch of flailing around to explain the electoral defeat by blaming anybody except for the terrible candidate that the Democrats had, but its much more than this. You have to remember, this isnt just domestic theatrics; the case is being made foras Obama put ita revenge attack or some kind of answer being made to Russia in some way or another. That is, threatening a nuclear-armed nation over allegations that have not been backed up with any specific evidence, and frankly, accusing Russia of things that the U.S. admits to doing all the time. So, we asked Senator Gravel, what was the intent; why the anti-Russian hysteria? Is this just about the election? Whats the push for this? This is what he had to say: Sen. Gravel: The intent is to sabotage the potential new relationship [with Russia]. Thats what the intent is. But here too, I think Trump has his own areas of expertise in this regard. And the new Secretary of State designate, Rex Tillerson, he also has a great deal of experience with the Russian leadership. And so, as a result of that, theyre going to dictate their own policy. What we see right now, is the last regurgitation of a failed policy, one that was very dangerous. In demonizing Putin the way weve done in American media, Western media, and then turning around and levelling the charge at them that they are trying to destabilize Western and Eastern Europeits ridiculous. I know of no instanceand I would question anybody to quote an instance where Russia has threatened anybody in the last decade in Eastern Europe and Europe proper. He sells them oil and gas; why would he want to destabilize his customers? It makes no sense at all. But to the neo-cons, who are intent on trying to protect the hegemonic position of the United States in the world, this makes a lot of good sense for them. They need to demonize Russia and Putin, they need to demonize Chinese President Xi Jinping and China, and assert our military prowess in the world. We have a significant economic position in the world, and these militarists feel theyve got to shore that position up, with militaristic policies that make no sense at all. What they should be doing, is joining with China in the New Silk Road (One Belt, One Road), to raise the economic level of the world to a higher level, and that would be the biggest contribution we could make to the well-being of people around the world, and to the issue of having world peace. Thats what we should be doing. But thats not whats happening. Whats happening is what we learned from the study of the Thucydides Trap [invoked by Harvard scholar Graham Allison], where the power which is the global powerwhich is the United Statesis now facing the problem of an ascending power like China moving in and surpassing us. Well, our egos may not be able to take that, but certainly the people of the world could take it; because it would mean greater economic activity, on the part of China. So, its all mixed up with this insanity that exists within the American government, by a group of people called neocons. They start with Cheney. They go from Cheney/Rumsfeld, that crowd, into the present group of neocons. Here you have a person like John Bolton, whos being considered for the Number Two man at the State Department. I cant think of a person whos more idiotic, as a neocon, than John Bolton. I think Trump is just wantonly picking people, hither and yon, to satisfy the conservatives. Hillary Clinton creative commons/Gage Skidmore John Bolton I think what theyre going to find, is when these neo-conservatives attempt to assert policy positions that are at variance from Donald Trump, theyre going to find theyre short-lived. Hell fire them. Hes done that on TV and hes used to that. Give me the wrong advice, youre fired! Thats what youre going to see from a President whos going to be tweeting. Hes going to be tweeting his policies to the American people and the world, all by himself, in his room, with his little computer. Ross: You know, if you have time for one more question, Id like to ask you about China, which you brought up. One of Trumps recent appointments was the former governor of Iowa, which is a state that President Xi Jinping of China has close ties tohaving lived there for years, studying agriculture when he was a lower-level figure in the government. You brought up the One Belt, One Road as a potential for the U.S. to be involved in. Its currently something that, under the Obama administration, the U.S. has been opposing. The U.S. did not join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; the U.S. urged other nations not to join it as well. What would you see as the proper or the bestwhat should the U.S. role in the world be? What should U.S. relations with China in particular be with regard to this program? Sen. Gravel: Well, the U.S. role should, first and foremost, rest upon economic activityraising the quality of life for the people in the United States and for the people in the world. Thats the goal that China has set with respect to its One Belt, One Road. We oppose that because we are refusing to accept the fact that China is the ascendant power, and that within a couple decades, will be the Number One economic power in the world; but not the military power. If you just look at the amount of money theyre spending, they spend about 10% of what we do on our defense posture. That demonstrates that they have no interest in becoming the militarily predominant power in the world. Theyre ceding that to the United States. But that, of course, is not all that attractive, as you saw in Obamas Pivot to Asia. Thank God that we have a new President, Duterte, in the Philippines, who is now creating a rapprochement to China, which is the most enlightened thing they could do. Their future is not with the United States; their future is as a player in the economy of Asia. Thats what a rapprochement with China portendsthat the Philippines will be the recipient of extensive One Belt, One Road financing to raise the standard of living in the Philippines, which used to be superior to many of the other countries in Asia, and is now in the lower brackets. My recommendation for the United States and the new administration would be Trump negotiating his deal. And the deal he can negotiate is that, yes, the United States will join with China, and will raise the economic threshold of the world. Ross: That sounds like an excellent direction for the U.S. Do you have any other, final thoughts youd like to leave for our viewers? Sen. Gravel: No, not at all, except to thank the LaRouche organization for doing good work in advancing the cause of peace, and in advancing the cause of economic growth. The only way we are going to bring about world peace is when we raise the standard of living of the people throughout the world. Again, thank you for the good work in that regard. Ross: Senator Mike Gravel, thank you very much. PRESS RELEASE Reps. Amash and Jones Demand Obama Provide Congress with Full Intelligence on Alleged Russian Interference in U.S. Election Dec. 21, 2016 (EIRNS)Republican Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.) and Walter Jones (N.C.) demanded in a Dec. 19 letter to President Obama that he provide Congress with a full briefing on the intelligence behind the claim that Russia interfered with the U.S. election. The letter points out that the "anonymous assertions" from "administration officials" do not detail specific evidence, and "even suggest that there are disagreements among intelligence officials." The congressmen write that the Chairman of the House Permanent Investigations Subcommittee requested a briefing to resolve contradictions, but "the chairmans request was quickly denied," followed by a statement that the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, said that Congress "will not be briefed until a review you requested has been completed." Yet, less than two days later, the letter says, with no Congressional briefing scheduled, "You [Obama] took to NPR to announce retaliatory action against Russia for impacting the integrity of our elections... It is reckless to allow evidence-free assertions to serve as Congresss and the publics only source of information." The letter advises Obama, "In light of the conflicting information coming from your administration, the lack of public evidence, and the retaliation against Russia that is apparently already under development, Congress cannot wait to be briefed on this matter.... [W]e request that a classified briefing on the evidence being used to support these claims be made available to all members of Congress immediately." Obamas clear threats to Russia have put the United States on the edge of military action against Russia, which could escalate to war. PRESS RELEASE Kremlin Says Almost All Russia-U.S. Dialogue Frozen Dec. 21, 2016 (EIRNS)The Kremlin said today that nearly all the communication channels between Moscow and Washington were frozen, RIA Novostis reported, stating, "Practically all levels of dialogue with the United States are frozen." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Mir TV: "We dont communicate with one another. Or we do so minimally." Obama administration spokesman John Kirby responded, "That we have signifIcant differences with Moscow on some of these issues is well known, but there hasnt been a break in dialogue," noting that U.S. Secretary of State Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov had spoken by phone yesterday about Syria. Yesterday the Obama Administration reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining sanctions on Russia over Crimea, by adding new financial restrictions on Russian businessmen and companies. Earlier this month, it had accused Russia of a cyber attack on the United States. PRESS RELEASE Head of Russian Railways Proposes High-Speed Cargo Trains from Europe to China Dec. 21, 2016 (EIRNS)The president of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, proposed a high-speed cargo railway connection between Europe and China, allowing transport of goods to take as little as two days. "We plan to reach China via Kazakhstan and to carry special, high-profit cargoes to Europe via Russia, because a ship sails now 60 days, which is a long time. It sails round India and only then arrives to Europe. With a high speed [railway] transport we will be able to deliver goods in two days, and to earn extra money for our country," Belozerov told a United Russia party meeting. In an earlier report, Russian Railways spoke of working on the concept of a cargo train capable of carrying from 300 to 600 tons of cargo at a speed up to 300 kph. The cargo line will be part of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway, whose construction should begin in 2017, Belozerov said. With a distance of some 770 kilometers, and a speed of of 350-400 kph, the rail route will cut the time between the two cities to as little as 3-3.5 hours; the current time is 14 hours. The line could be commissioned before 2022-2023. The $16.8 billion railway project could later be extended to China, connecting the two countries across Kazakhstan. The Moscow-Beijing railroad will be 7,769 kilometers, with a travel time of 32.8 hoursfour times faster than the current 130.4 hours. The average annual passenger traffic is estimated at 195 million people. China is committed to providing $6.5 billion as a credit for 20 years and $1.6 billion as a contribution to the charter capital of the special-project company. The German Initiative Consortium (includes Siemens, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Bahn, and other companies) is ready to allocate 2.7 billion to finance the construction of the high-speed railway line and to attract up to 800 million for the project. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed gratitude to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev for his contribution to the achievement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA/nuclear deal) between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries (China, France, Russia, the UK, the US plus Germany), Kazinform international news agency reported Dec. 22. I would like to thank you for effective cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in the sphere of atomic power use for peaceful purposes, Rouhani said to Nazarbayev. The president of Iran also emphasized Kazakhstans continuing support of the Islamic Republic in the international and regional formats. We hope for the elimination of some existing barriers which hinder the development of our relations, Rouhani added. In turn, Nazarbayev appreciated the significance of Irans policy for the Caspian littoral states. Iran is an important partner in the Muslim world for Kazakhstan, as well as a neighbor and a friend in the Caspian region, he noted. The Kazakh people highly appreciate your great work in solving the nuclear issue, just like the rest of the world does. The Kazakh president noted the usefulness of bilateral visits, their contribution to the development of relations between the two countries. The next U.S. secretary of Agriculture could be Susan Combs, a Texas politician who published a steamy erotic novel in 1990, Politico reports. Combs, former state agriculture commissioner and comptroller of Texas, met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Tuesday, leading some political observers to speculate that she could be named to head the Department of Agriculture. While Combs is best known in Texas as a popular relatively moderate Republican, her past (and brief) career as a romance novelist raised some eyebrows when she ran for Texas state comptroller in 2006. In that election, Combs Democratic opponent Fred Head attacked her now out-of-print romance novel A Perfect Match, calling it pornographic. Heads attack didnt work. Combs defeated him in a landslide. Advertisement A Perfect Match tells the story of Emily Brown, a National Security Agency code breaker who falls in love with the bodyguard assigned to protect her after she intercepts a message with dangerous information. A particularly steamy passage from Combs novel is posted on Heads campaign website, which is still online. She felt his chest rising unsteadily and heard his rapid intake of breath, it reads. His lips sucked gently at the curve of her neck, his tongue brushed against the lobe of her ear then plunged inside.... She needed him to fill the aching void at her center. In a post at the New Republic, writer Michelle Legro seemed unimpressed by Heads claims that he was scandalized by the book: That an adult woman had expressed her sexuality by writing in a public forum, in a manner that was neither illegal or demeaning to others, was portrayed as scandalous by her Democratic opponent in the 2006 comptrollers race. Combs isnt the first politician to publish a romance novel. Stacey Abrams, the House minority leader of the Georgia state assembly, has written eight romantic thrillers under the pen name Selena Montgomery, including Deception, Hidden Sins and The Art of Desire. It remains to be seen whether Combs and President-elect Trump are a perfect match. Politico calls her a dark-horse candidate for the USDA job, suggesting that Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Idaho Gov. Butch Otter might have clearer paths to the position. December isnt traditionally seen as tax time. But during the last days of the year, you can take steps to lower your bill when you file your returns. Here are six moves to consider. 1. Be generous Add tax-smart gifts to your holiday shopping list. You can claim charitable donations as tax deductions for 2016 as long as you make them by Dec. 31 and itemize your taxes. Donations of money, clothing or household items all qualify. Many nonprofits also accept cars or other vehicles, and some accept stock that has appreciated in value but no longer fits your portfolio strategy. Whatever you give, get a receipt. Without one, the Internal Revenue Service can nix your donation deduction. Older taxpayers have an additional option. If youre 70 or older, you must take a specified amount each year, known as a required minimum distribution, from your traditional IRA, 401(k) or other tax-deferred retirement accounts. Fail to do so by Dec. 31 and youll face a stiff tax penalty. But if you directly transfer your distribution amount to an IRS-qualified charity, youll meet your withdrawal requirement and wont owe tax on the money. Advertisement 2. Harvest capital gains and losses Reviewing and rebalancing your investment portfolio is a good annual exercise. If your income is low, consider selling some stock youve held for more than a year that has increased in value. Investors in the 10% or 15% tax brackets dont have to pay any capital gains tax on these long-term capital gains. Folks in higher tax brackets will face capital gains taxes of 15% or 20% on the sale profit of long-term assets. You can offset that tax by selling other holdings that have lost value. If it was a bad investment year and you have more capital losses than gains, use up to $3,000 of your excess capital losses to reduce your ordinary income. SIGN UP for the free California Inc. business newsletter >> 3. Take advantage of your home Homeowners are well aware of the many tax benefits a house provides. Boost those breaks by making your January mortgage payment by Dec. 31, moving its tax-deductible loan interest into this tax year. Keep in mind that this will give you one less payment to deduct next year, so make sure you need the break in 2016. The same strategy works for deductible real estate taxes if you pay them by the end of the year. Certain home improvements also offer a tax break. Making relatively easy energy efficiency upgrades, such replacing drafty windows or adding insulation, could earn you a tax credit of up to $500. Other home improvements qualify, but there are specific credit caps. Plus, if youve claimed this credit any time since 2006, you must subtract those amounts from the $500 maximum. 4. Examine your sales tax deduction If youre considering whether to claim the state sales tax itemized deduction instead of the Schedule A write-off for state income taxes, the decision is much easier if you made a big purchase this year. Thats because sales tax paid on a car, motorcycle, motor home, recreational vehicle, sport utility vehicle, truck, van or off-road vehicle or, if you really splurged, a boat or a plane is deductible. 5. Make medical moves Most taxpayers can deduct only the portion of their medical bills thats in excess of 10% of their adjusted gross income. To clear that threshold, schedule medical treatments before Dec. 31. Older taxpayers can deduct expenses in excess of 7.5% of their AGI in 2016. If you have a medical flexible spending account at work, dont waste that money. Some companies let employees use funds through the following March or carry up to $500 into the next year, but others require FSA owners to use or lose the funds by the end of the year. 6. Pay for college After the holiday break, college students will head back to campus. You can pay next semesters tuition now and claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit on this years tax return. The credit, a dollar-for-dollar reduction in any tax you owe, could be as much as $2,500 and can even refund you up to $1,000 if you dont owe any tax (note that there are income limits to be eligible for this credit). The early payment option also applies to school costs that can be used to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit, which is worth up to $2,000 and available for students beyond the standard four years of undergraduate study. Kay Bell is a contributing writer to NerdWallet, a personal finance website. ALSO How busyness became a bona fide status symbol Why its so hard to get your hands on the Christmas toy your kid really wants Trump is unwinding some foreign deals, but many potential conflicts remain A U.S. Senate committee detailed in an investigative report Wednesday how drug companies were exploiting the market by acquiring decades-old crucial medicines and suddenly raising their prices astronomically. We must work to stop the bad actors who are driving up the prices of drugs that they did nothing to develop at the expense of patients just because, as one executive essentially said, because I can, said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, who chairs the Senate Aging Committee. Over the last year, the committee investigated four drug companies, which it said had all used a similar business model that included egregious price hikes to maximize profits. Advertisement Here are some of the key findings in the committees 131-page report on those companies, which included Turing Pharmaceuticals, Retrophin Inc., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and Rodelis Therapeutics. The companies raised prices not to fund research to discover new drugs but to boost profits for executives and investors. In essence, they operated more like hedge funds than traditional pharmaceutical companies. Turing, headed by executive Martin Shkreli, bought Daraprim, a 62-year-old medicine for a deadly parasitic disease, on Aug. 7, 2015, and raised the price overnight from $13.50 to $750 a pill. When asked by investors about the expected revenues from the drug, Shkreli wrote, I think it will be huge. So 5,000 paying bottles at the new price is $375,000,000 almost all of it is profit, and I think we will get 3 years of that or more. Should be a very handsome investment for all of us. The companies bought critical life-saving drugs made by one manufacturer and then worked to keep competitors out. The committee found that Turing tried to keep other companies from making generic versions of Daraprim by restricting its distribution. Patients could not get the drug at the corner drug store. Instead, it was delivered by a specialty pharmacy. Turing executives explained that this kept competitors from acquiring enough of the medicine to perform studies that are required to prove they can make the same drug. The companys programs to help patients afford the drugs werent charities, but a way to increase profits on their monopolies. The committee said that Valeant offered a program that covered the cost of co-pays for privately-insured patients because executives knew it would reduce patients incentive to complain to the press about Valeants outrageous price increases. By increasing prices rapidly, but covering patients co-pays, the companies could still make big profits, the committee said. They used the example of a drug priced at $100,000 that cost $10,000 to manufacture and distribute, leaving a potential profit of $90,000. If the company covered the patients $20,000 co-pay, the insurance company still paid $80,000 for the drug, resulting in a $70,000 profit for the company. The patient assistance programs were a key method that Valeant used in raising the price of Cuprimine, used since 1956, and Syprine, developed in 1969, the committee said. Both drugs are used to treat Wilson disease, a rare condition in which the body cannot process copper. Valeant raised the prices of Cuprimine and Syprine from about $500 to about $24,000 for a 30-day supply, the report said. The committee believes that these programs were driven not by altruism, but by Valeants desire to extract monopoly profits and then conceal that fact from the public, the report said. Valeant issued a statement saying it has established a patient access pricing committee and has improved transparency under a new executive team. The companies raised prices on life-saving drugs that patients were desperate to get. Committee members asked Michael Pearson, the former chief executive of Valeant, about this at an April hearing. In your thinking about this free market system you are describing, is it a factor [that] the absence of Syprine could lead to liver failure or a liver transplant or even death? Is that a factor? asked Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat. It is, Pearson responded. The price increases are threatening the economic stability of American households and also the health of patients who cant afford the drugs they need. Shannon Weston told the committee how she was devastated in May 2015 when her 2-month-old daughter was diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, which can lead to blindness and death, and she learned the price of Daraprim. I was hopeless and depressed at the thought of what would happen to my perfect little girl if I was not able to help her, Weston said. I looked into any way I could think of to come up with the almost $360,000 necessary to treat my daughter for a year. The strategy was not limited to four companies. The senators said they had evidence that other companies had used the same strategy to aggressively raise prices. They called for policy changes to stop the practices, including improving transparency of prices, preventing the misuse of patient assistance programs and co-pay coupons, and allowing temporary imports of certain medicines to lower prices. Mr. I-Dont-Settle-Lawsuits received the go-ahead this week to settle his lawsuits over alleged fraudulent practices by Trump University. U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego issued an order giving preliminary approval to a settlement agreed to by Trumps lawyers last month. According to the deal, Trump University now has to pony up $25 million to fund the settlement by Jan. 18. If Trumps namesake house of learning fails to come across with the cash its said by the Better Business Bureau to be no longer in business Trump himself will have to make good. Two days later, hell be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Advertisement In light of the multiple risks of continued litigation, the complexity of individualized damages determinations and the likelihood of delay of any recovery, the court preliminarily finds that the estimated amount of recovery that eligible class members will receive is fair, adequate and reasonable, Curiel said in his order. Trumps lawyers have said the president-elect chose to settle so he can focus on running the country. Hes admitted no wrongdoing. But lets not kid ourselves. Theres nothing more sacrosanct to Trumps reputation as a businessman than the perception that hes second to none when it comes to wheeling and dealing in the property market. He was alleged in two California class-action lawsuits and one civil case filed by the New York attorney general to have defrauded Trump University students by offering secrets to real estate riches that seldom materialized. Trump settled because the last thing he wanted was weeks of testimony claiming he was defrauding people. (Full disclosure: I was on the witness list because of columns Id written about Trump University; Trumps lawyers filed a motion to block me from taking the witness stand.) Trump insisted during a campaign debate that even though he could have settled the cases on any number of occasions, he refused to do so out of principle. The people that took the course all signed most many many signed report cards saying it was fantastic, it was wonderful, it was beautiful, he declared. I got a distinctly different impression when I attended a Trump University seminar at the Pasadena Hilton in 2007 and spoke with prospective and former students. The event turned out to be nothing more than a two-hour sales pitch for a three-day workshop costing nearly $1,500. The priceless information on making millions from real estate promised in an ad could be boiled down to this: Buy low, sell high. After I wrote about my seminar experience, Trump called to say he was going to sue me for the inaccurate and libelous things Id written. He also contacted my editor to say that Im a nasty guy and that the Los Angeles Times should fire me. He never sued. Im still employed. If Trump had gone to trial, hed have to explain hundreds of pages of Trump University playbooks that had been introduced by plaintiffs lawyers as evidence in the case. The playbooks were intended to guide university employees in closing sales with seminar participants. When you introduce the price, dont make it sound like you think its a lot of money, one playbook advised. If you dont make a big deal out of it, they wont. It emphasized that salespeople need to size up prospective students for how big a payout theyd be good for Are they a single parent of three children that may need money for food? and identify those most likely to buy. In one document released by the court, Ronald Schnackenberg, a witness for the plaintiffs who worked as a Trump University sales manager in 2007, said he believed that the school was a fraudulent scheme that preyed on the elderly and uneducated. I spoke with Trump by phone before attending the Pasadena event. He told me the foreclosure market represented almost limitless opportunity for a real go-getter. Trump seemed unfazed that millions of people with subprime mortgages nationwide were struggling to remain in their homes. These are great times, he said. There are unbelievable opportunities for making money. In their motion seeking to block me from testifying, Trumps lawyers argued that anything I had to say could poison the jury by introducing as evidence the negative opinions of a business columnist. But I wasnt alone in my wariness of Trump Universitys sales pitch. In announcing the proposed settlements last month, New York Atty. Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman said that Donald Trump fought us every step of the way, filing baseless charges and fruitless appeals and refusing to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of his phony university. Trump tweeted at the time that the ONLY bad thing about winning the presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad! Yeah, I think we all see this as a missed opportunity. David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com. MORE FROM LAZARUS Soaring insulin prices are a case in point: A free market in healthcare is doomed I bought an Amazon Echo ... and its totally cool This father thought a credit card spending limit would keep his son in check. Instead, he got a shock A Google Inc. employee has filed a lawsuit against the technology giant, alleging the companys confidentiality policies illegally dissuade current and former workers from whistle-blowing. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in a California Superior Court in San Francisco County, by an anonymous San Francisco-based product manager. In the lawsuit, he is described only as John Doe because he said publishing his name would further damage his reputation in the company and larger tech industry. Advertisement Doe alleges a Google official falsely blamed him for leaking company information to reporters to ensure other employees would follow confidentiality agreements. The Google official told thousands of employees Doe had been fired for the leaks, the lawsuit states. Though Google did not identify Doe by name, he says in the lawsuit that a number of Googlers concluded that Doe and the employee identified as the leaker were one and the same. The lawsuit alleges that Google has wide-ranging confidentiality agreements and employee communication policies that prevent employees from disclosing violations both internally and externally. According to the lawsuit, Google restricts what employees say, even in internal emails, advising employees not to say I think we broke the law or I think we violated this contract. The training program also advises employees that they should not be candid when speaking with Googles attorneys about dangerous products or violations of the law, the lawsuit said. The policies, according to the lawsuit, go so far as to prevent employees from discussions with a spouse or friends about whether they think their boss could do a better job, talk of wages or even writing a novel about someone working at a tech company in Silicon Valley without prior approval from Google. The Mountain View, Calif., company called the lawsuit baseless, saying the firm was committed to an open internal culture. Transparency is a huge part of our culture, Google said in a statement. Our employee confidentiality requirements are designed to protect proprietary business information, while not preventing employees from disclosing information about terms and conditions of employment, or workplace concerns. samantha.masunaga@latimes.com For more business news, follow me @smasunaga Sunny Pawars life has changed dramatically ever since he was cast in Garth Davis Lion at the age of 6. Almost two years later the native of Mumbai recently finished his first trip to the United States, where he promoted the film and visited the Statue of Liberty and, of course, Disneyland. His translator notes, He knew it was a movie, but he did not know that it would become so big. Sunny plays Saroo in the fact-based story of a young boy who is separated from his family after getting stuck on an empty passenger-train car and traveling thousands of miles across India unable to explain to curious adults trying to help him what village hes actually from. Eventually, a Western couple, played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham, adopt him and take him back to Australia. Advertisement Rooney Mara, Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman star in Lion. Decades later an adult Saroo, portrayed by Golden Globe and SAG nominee Dev Patel, tries to trace his way back home using, of all things, the surprising power of Google Maps. Patel met Sunny when the production was preparing to shoot in India and his eyes brightened when they saw each other again in a West Hollywood hotel for a day of press interviews. Patel, of course, is an old pro at this game, but Sunny is a bundle of energy excited by everything going on around him. Look at him. Hes just the most scrumptious little adorable creature, isnt he? Hes so smart, Patel says. Hes been here just under a month and his English has just exponentially gotten better. Its astounding, his ability to be able to grasp things so quickly, and its just been awesome. He met Bill Clinton in New York. Hes traveled around America shaking hands. I think he can make America great again, this guy. For Davis, it was important to create a connection between the two actors. Even though they were never going to appear on screen together, they were essentially playing the same person, so Sunnys scenes as a young Saroo had to become Patels memories as the older character. The Slumdog Millionaire actor traveled to India early in the production just to watch Sunny and the other actors playing Saroos family work. It allowed me to meet Priyanka [Bose], who plays Saroos biological mother, and Abhishek [Bharate], who plays his biological brother, Patel says. And I watched them do those scenes with Pawar and took those moments as my memories, so when I came to Australia, I was building on it, on a history. Later in the film, as Saroo is struggling with a flood of painful memories of his former life, the Aussie filmmaker used audio of Sunny and the other actors from scenes Patel had watched being shot. Im staring at his blank laptop screen trying to master these emotions all of the sudden, Patel says. But having been there on set, I could see the room, I could see the colors, I could smell India, and thats what you have to kind of transport yourself back. In many ways, Patel sounds grateful that Davis found such a remarkable young actor in Sunny to play the younger version of his character. He found this similar light, I guess, Patel says of he and his young counterpart. His journey is very external, whereas mine in the film is more internalized. His is a reactive force against a world, and dodging the predators and all sorts of things. Mine is a different tone, even though were playing the same person. Dev Patel talks about portraying a man raised in Australia, then tracing his roots in India in Lion. Like any other kid his age, Sunny has only so much patience for interviews and eventually gets distracted. But there were a number of things he was willing to answer. He had the most fun shooting the running scenes and what he calls the train scene, which is the dramatic moment when Saroo gets stuck on the passenger car. He loves acting and loves dancing to the Sia song Never Give Up that plays over the end credits at every post-screening Q&A. Patel notes, They go insane when he comes in the room. Hes a little rock star. He stands up on his chair sometimes and waves to his adoring fans. And, through his translator Sunny adds, I like talking to people and I love signing autographs. The youngster has already filmed his second role, alongside Demi Moore in Tabrez Nooranis Love Sonia, which was produced by Life of Pis David Womark. And after a taste of Hollywood, hes now dreaming big. Smiling and somewhat taken aback, his translator interjects, Did you hear that? Theres a big Bollywood star called Shah Rukh Khan. Sunnys like, Im not Shah Rukh Khan, Im Sunny Pawar! Judging by that infectious smile and inherent talent, no one should put it past him to get that big. See the most read stories this hour calendar@latimes.com ALSO: Leslie Mann likes her comedies dark, as with The Comedian Riz Ahmed and The Night Of strike a chord of contemporary concerns Michael Keaton finds another meaty role in McDonalds tale The Founder Amid the clatter and bustle of an oceanside Santa Monica restaurant, Michael Keaton shrugs, describing his decision to star in The Founder as really pretty simple. Even if that simplicity is obvious to no one but the Oscar-nominated actor himself. The biographical drama which recently had its release date moved to Dec. 7 for a one-week Oscars-qualifying run ahead of its Jan. 20 wide release features Keaton as Ray A. Kroc, the brilliant, bullying business executive who built the McDonalds fast food franchise into a multibillion-dollar Happy Meal juggernaut but also wrested control away from actual founders Richard and Maurice McDonald in the mid-1950s. By appearance and disposition, however, Kroc (who died in 1984) looked nothing like Keaton. And when the actor was offered the part in 2015, he was already nearly a dozen years older than the erstwhile burger king during the period showcased in the film. Whats more, Keaton admits he knew little of the itinerant milkshake machine merchant-turned-CEOs Machiavellian, prosper-or-die streak and initially greeted the role sight unseen with a meh. Advertisement Justin Chang reviews The Founder, directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Michael Keaton. Video by Jason H. Neubert. There are things in life you never really pay attention to. They just are, says Keaton, 65. McDonalds is just a thing that is. Im thinking, So who is Ray Kroc? His acceptance boiled down to three factors: Rob Siegels script, which had been ranked on the 2014 Black List of Hollywoods best unproduced screenplays, director John Lee Hancock (behind the acclaimed previous biopics The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks) and, not least, the way The Founders production schedule would impact the stars assiduously maintained on-duty versus off-duty equilibrium. It fit my life, says Keaton, who splits time between a luxurious home in Pacific Palisades and a 1,500-acre Montana ranch where the star hunts and fishes with Hemingway-esque gusto. I looked around and said, What do I have to do in life? My personal life is important to me. I think Johns work is really good. I thought the script is really good. And it fit where I was at the time. The way The Founder fits into Keatons latest career incarnation is much more obvious. The fact-based drama which kicks off with Krocs eureka discovery of the McDonald brothers assembly line system of on-the-go dining and ends with the executive hornswoggling the business for himself through cutthroat corporate maneuvering rounds out a trio of masterful performances in awards season movies, capping off a career resurgence that might have seemed inconceivable a few years ago. It started with the 2014 backstage dramedy Birdman, which netted Keaton a lead actor Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe. He followed up that performance with a co-starring role as Boston Globe investigative editor Walter Robbie Robertson in last years Spotlight, the ensemble biopic that scored a best picture Oscar. Now, The Founder places Keaton in the thick of Hollywoods annual statuette scrum for the third time in three years in his fourth go-round portraying a nonfictional character (including the mini-series The Company and the HBO movie Live from Baghdad). Its like having answers to the test when you play someone real. Its a huge advantage because half your work is done for you, Keaton says, before adding his Founder portrayal was largely a work of dramatic invention: Youd make a big mistake trying to do an impression of Ray Kroc. Easy enough to forget, then, that after the actor blazed into popular consciousness with the 1978 comedy Night Shift, jumping from comedy to superhero moviedom as the Caped Crusader in a pair of Tim Burton-directed Batman movies, and delivering solid dramatic turns for directors including Quentin Tarantino (Jackie Brown) and Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight), Keaton experienced something of a wilderness period. Before Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Inarritu cast him in Birdman as a washed-up superhero movie star struggling to overcome career doldrums Keaton was toiling in a similar journeymans purgatory, appearing in paycheck films such as Need for Speed and Herbie Fully Loaded (2005). Its like having answers to the test when you play someone real. Its a huge advantage because half your work is done for you. Michael Keaton What was I thinking with Herbie? One hundred percent business decision, he says. My thinking was: If I know theres going to be a check every couple of years, and its going to be sizable, I can afford to sit back and wait for that pitch I want to hit. Wait for the Alejandro call. The Tim Burton call. The Tarantino call. Or just wait for the really good script. In my experience, almost every time, this kind of thinking will backfire on you. Against all odds, that strategy seems to have worked. And providing a kind of only-in-Hollywood irony upon ironies, one of Keatons Founder follow-ups finds him portraying a winged villain called the Vulture in this summers mega-budget superhero reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming. Never mind his ignorance surrounding the genre. I only know the Batman stuff based on the movies I did. I had to play catch-up all the time, Keaton says. Marvel has created such a distinct universe, I would do something based on another character, maybe a really obscure character, who did a certain thing in a certain book that affected Iron Man in a certain movie Iron Man plays a part in the plot in Spider-Man. So I had to be educated, otherwise things didnt make sense. Asked about his previous sweep through Oscar season, and what another awards validation would mean to him after so many professional twists and turns, the actor grew philosophical. Being nominated meant a lot to me how could it not? he says. Besides that, it is what it is. I still have me and my friends. Im still a dad. And all those other things, that doesnt affect that. I balance things, my life and my work, mostly really well. See the most read stories this hour calendar@latimes.com ALSO: Leslie Mann likes her comedies dark, as with The Comedian Riz Ahmed and The Night Of strike a chord of contemporary concerns Two actors, one role but little Sunny Pawar may have had more fun than Dev Patel in Lion More than three decades into one of Hollywoods most blue-chip movie careers, two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks has entrenched himself in the public imagination as a baby-boomer version of Jimmy Stewart: an uber-American avatar of unimpeachable decency and everyman triumphalism with a shelf full of acting awards and a real-life Presidential Medal of Freedom to prove it. Often overlooked in the stars nearly 60-film oeuvre, however, is a recurrent theme of foiled plans and unreached destinations, of crash landings and turbulent seas, of interrupted journeys and uncertain repatriation. That is to say, in so many of Hanks most indelible films, his character sets off on a trip and just doesnt get where hes going at least not for a while. The most recent example: the biographical drama Sully, which has earned more than $200 million worldwide since arriving in theaters in September. The Clint Eastwood-directed film which has once again placed Hanks on many an Oscar pundits year-end short list finds the actor portraying Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III, the Air Force ace turned airline pilot who, against insurmountable odds, managed to land a US Airways jet on New Yorks Hudson River after both the planes engines became disabled a miraculous water touch down that saw all 155 passengers on board escape basically unharmed. Advertisement See the most read stories this hour Tom Hanks stars as Capt. Chesley Sully Sullenberger in Clint Eastwoods new film. But he didnt really get them where they were going, did he? This isnt even Hanks first cinematic crash landing (that honor belongs to Cast Away). Yet audiences just dont seem to tire of his travel trials by fire, the actors unique ability to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune while braving the open road/seas/air (or, for that matter, making celestial perambulations 137 nautical miles above the planet). With that in mind, heres an Envelope rundown of Tom Hanks bad trips: Apollo 13 (1995) The traveler: In this drama plotted around actual events, the actor portrays Jim Lovell, mission commander of NASAs third manned lunar landing whose immortal utterance, Houston, we have a problem, has become cultural jargon for snafus great and small. The bump in the road: Somewhere outside Earths gravitational pull, the spaceship Lovells piloting faces a quadruple systems failurethe worst of them involving an exploding liquid oxygen tank placing the crew in mortal jeopardy. Unless, that is, a heroic Mission Control ground crew can beat the clock and figure out a way to bring them home. Cast Away (2000) The traveler: His dramatic persona Chuck Noland is a FedEx systems engineer with one eye constantly glued to his watch and a globetrotting career that takes him to far-flung locales often at a moments notice. The bump in the road: When the characters plane goes down over the Pacific, he must escape being burned to a crisp in the fiery wreckage, then avoid drowning. And thats before the real existential challenges set in: grinding out four years in Robinson Crusoe-like solitude on an uninhabited island with no survival skills to speak of and only a Wilson volleyball for companionship. (Hanks landed an Oscar nod for the part.) The Terminal (2004) The traveler: Steven Spielberg strands Hanks as a stranger in a strange land yet again this time as Viktor Navorski, an English language-deficient immigrant from the fictional Eastern bloc nation of Krakozhia who comes to visit America on a deeply personal mission of reclamation. The bump in the road: Upon arrival at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport, the character learns his homeland has devolved into rebellion. Without a valid passport or visa hes stranded in a diplomatic no-mans land and ultimately spends nine months living inside JFKs international arrivals lounge. There, Viktor befriends a veritable United Nations of airport service personnel and absorbs a fun-house version of the American dream. Captain Phillips (2013) The traveler: What is it with Hanks playing all these captains? In this bio-drama based around headline-making events in 2009, he portrays Capt. Richard Phillips, a merchant mariner piloting his container ship, the Maersk Alabama, through the treacherous Gulf of Aden. The bump in the road: The characters peaceful journey across one of the planets most dangerous shipping lanes is interrupted when a quartet of Somali pirates one portrayed by Barkhad Abdi, who landed an Academy Award nomination barking I am the captain now! at Hanks overruns the ship, hellbent on ransoming the vessel and its crew for millions of dollars. After being forced into the lifeboat, Phillips is eventually rescued, though the clear lesson here is to stay off the open seas with Tom Hanks and the open skies. calendar@latimes.com This isnt hell its West Texas. That, at least, seems to be the message of a couple of current films and several older movies either shot, or set, in the area. In the Golden Globe-nominated Hell or High Water, West Texas, with its bleak, flat landscapes and small towns featuring depressed main streets filled with vacant storefronts, is a potent symbol of economic decline and cultural stagnation. And in this months Nocturnal Animals, West Texas is a place where a family on a road trip can be run off a deserted highway by a trio of rednecks who first terrorize them then kidnap the wife and daughter. These pictures are definitely playing into stereotypes that exist, says Charlie Scudder, who writes about Texas culture for the Dallas Morning News. The people are stereotypically portrayed. People who live out there are hard, tough, sometimes get the bad end of the stick. And playing into it are larger Texas stereotypes like wildness and lawlessness. Advertisement There is a harsh beauty to the area, adds West Texas native and Hell or High Water screenwriter Taylor Sheridan. Working out there is a hard way to make a living, and anytime you get into an isolated place, the haves and have nots are much clearer. There is a certain amount of extremism in the country that allows you to highlight it. The list of films that have taken these concepts and run with them can be traced at least as far back as 1956s Giant, with its contrast between wealthy rancher Rock Hudson and wildcat oilman James Dean. In Hud (1963), Paul Newman and his rancher father, Melvyn Douglas, fight over whether they should hide an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease among their cattle. Lone Star (1996) features Chris Cooper as a sheriff in a Texas border town trying to solve a decades-old murder. In The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), West Texas ranch hand Tommy Lee Jones tries to bury his deceased friend in his Mexican hometown. And No Country for Old Men (2007) features the murderous consequences of a drug deal gone wrong near the Mexican frontier. None of these films encourages you to leave the theater with a smile on your face, either because of the murderous nature of the stories or the economically depressed area in which they occur. Hell or High Water, for example, is set in northwestern Texas, an area once known for its enormous ranches. Its now a part of the state where these ranches have been slowly carved down and shrunk to where its impossible to make a living from them unless they have oil, says Sheridan, whose film features oil as a key plot point. He adds that in contrast to such booming cities as Austin, Houston and Dallas, there is no new big booming city there that wasnt there. Tourism has not become an economy in West Texas. The towns are the same size as they were when I was a kid, adds the 47-year-old Sheridan. Nothing looks differently to me. Its an area of small towns with not much in between, says Scudder. You can drive for hours before getting to a big city, and I mean just a few thousand people. People who live there are tough and gritty; ranchers live and die by the drought, oilmen live and die by oil prices. What they dont live and die by these days, however, is film production. Neither Hell or High Water nor Nocturnal Animals was shot in Texas (with New Mexico and California filling in, respectively), because of poor tax incentives for filmmakers, which leads to some interesting problems for production designers. Supporting actor Michael Shannon talks about his much-noticed role in Nocturnal Animals. We shot parts of the film in the Mojave, says Nocturnal Animals production designer Shane Valentino. There are similarities between the deserts in California and Texas, but they dont have Joshua trees in Texas, so you have to go farther out in the desert to shoot. And for the small town in the film, Valentino opted for the Fillmore area, in Ventura County, where they have these small towns with main streets. There is a particular architecture and color palette in California, and I wanted to make sure the movie had the same palette as West Texas towns. The bottom line for setting a story there? There is something about the geography, the flatness, the desert element of the area, says Dallas Morning News film critic Chris Vognar. Its the edge of the state, the last frontier of the state that lends itself to stories that are pretty dark. Theres a sense that it goes on forever, and almost anything could happen there. calendar@latimes.com ALSO: Hell or High Water: An Oscar movie for the changin times Tom Ford crafts a layered thriller-within-a-thriller with Nocturnal Animals Hell or High Water shows the bigotry, violence, poverty and quiet love in the world, cast says The saga of what spurred Adam Saleh and Slim Albahers removal from a Delta flight continues to unfold as Delta released an updated statement Wednesday night, citing provocative behavior. Upon landing the crew was debriefed and multiple passenger statements collected. Based on the information collected to date, it appears the customers who were removed sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting, Delta said. This type of conduct is not welcome on any Delta flight. While one, according to media reports, is a known prankster who was video recorded and encouraged by his traveling companion, what is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees. It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority. Advertisement Missing from Deltas statement is what happened to precipitate the behavior from Saleh and Albaher that the airline deemed unacceptable. Saleh and Albaher released a new video Wednesday after arriving in New York via a different airline with new footage from the plane and the immediate aftermath, as well as further explanation as to their side of events. This whole thing was my fault, Albaher said in the video. I was speaking Arabic and the lady started coming at me, but I froze up and I couldnt even speak up for myself. I was scared cause a bunch of them were coming at me at the same time and I felt like a criminal. Adam, hes like my big brother. He stood up for me, he added. He took out his camera. If I was by myself, I wouldnt be able to take out my camera like that. I was just so shocked and stunned about what happened. I was paralyzed. Also featured in the video is a conversation the pair had with the planes pilot, while surrounded by Delta staff. We can accommodate you on the next flight, but if you keep this up, we will not be able to accommodate you, the pilot tells Saleh in the video. Everybodys excited. You brought attention upon yourself and youre obviously doing it for the benefit of [the cameras]. We need you to calm down. But according to Saleh, the camera was there not to incite but to document the events as they unfolded. When it turned into a chain reaction of, like, 20 racist people against us and the captain comes to take us out, thats when I took my camera out, Saleh said. I knew they were trying to kick us out for speaking another language. And when we said that in the video, nobody denied anything. Until after theyd seen the video that was out, then they tried to deny the situation. However unlikely it might seem, its possible both Delta and Saleh and Albaher could be telling the truth, differing only in when each party contends the incident began. In Saleh and Albahers narrative, the events began when other passengers provoked Albaher after hearing him speak Arabic. From Deltas point of view, the trouble started when Saleh took out his camera and he and Albaher contested their removal. Its unclear if the parties will ever see eye to eye, even as they all seem to be telling the same story, albeit with different ideas of where it begins and who was at fault. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour libby.hill@latimes.com Twitter: @midwestspitfire ALSO YouTube star Adam Saleh says he was booted from a Delta flight for speaking Arabic Not-so-friendly skies: Passenger harasses Ivanka Trump on JetBlue flight How airlines decide when to kick a passenger off a plane 7 passengers kicked off Spirit Airlines flight at LAX; some claim racial discrimination Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Fatih Karimov Trend: Iranian and Kazakh officials signed five memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on the sidelines of a meeting between the visiting Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana Dec. 22, Iran's state-run IRINN TV reported. The signed documents include MOU for animal quarantine, a document for cooperation in the field of shipping in the Caspian Sea, a MoU on facilitating tourism, a cooperation document between the Central Bank of Iran and the National Bank of Kazakhstan for boosting mutual trade and a MoU on cooperation in the field of labour and social security. Rouhani, who is on a tour to three regional countries, arrived in Kazakhstan on Dec. 21. He was officially welcomed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Asian country's presidential palace in Astana on Dec. 22 morning. According to Iranian Customs Administration, over the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2016) the Islamic Republic imported goods worth at $87 million from Kazakhstan. Meanwhile Iran exported goods worth at $137 million to Kazakhstan. The two sides are determined to increase their volume of trade turnover to $1 billion per year. During a visit of Kazakh president to Iran earlier in April 2016, Tehran and Astana agreed on a total of 66 documents on cooperation between the two countries. If Viola Davis has learned anything in the near 30 years since she graduated from Juilliard, its that you dont play games with August Wilson, the work or the man. An actor should honor him, and his words, because he honored the lives and words of the black men and women he wrote about. My whole thing is, Ive got to be as good, as courageous as whats written on the page, Davis said. If he wrote a four-page monologue where I tell this man the depth to which hes hurt me, then Ive got to go there. If he went there as a writer, Ive got to go there as an actor. If I dont, Im not respecting his work. This is how she approached the role of Rose Maxson in Wilsons Fences on Broadway and its how she approached its reprisal in the plays cinematic adaptation, in theaters Sunday. Both have paid off: She won her second Tony in 2010 for the role (she won her first for another Wilson play, King Hedley II, in 2001) and is a front-runner for Academy Award recognition next month. Advertisement Denzel Washington directs and stars in Fences, which features Viola Davis and Jovan Adepo and is based on the play of the same name by August Wilson. Over lunch the night after she won two honors at the Critics Choice Awards and just hours after nabbing a Golden Globe nomination (she would also get a SAG Award nomination two days later) Davis, 51, is calmly collected. Wearing an aqua blue, knee-length dress and a charcoal gray overcoat Scandals Olivia Pope would envy, she sits in a wooden chair at NeueHouse Hollywoods rooftop restaurant, her eye contact intense, voice assured. You can tell shes been here before, a place where her day off is now populated with a press interview and photo shoot and a moment in which Hollywood recognizes her gift; but also, a place where she still marvels that a dark-skinned girl born into poverty in St. Matthews, S.C., could feel at home. Davis is no stranger to the world of celebrity, though fame was a long time coming. While the beginning of her television and film career was populated with minor roles, often as nurses, it was through a recurring role as an attorney on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit that audiences began to take note of her. But it wasnt until the 2008 Oscar-nominated role her first in Doubt, opposite Meryl Streep, that people clamored to know her name. Still, she didnt truly blow up until her second Oscar nomination, for playing a humble maid in 2011s The Help. Though she lost that year to Streep, as almost every actress worth her salt does at one point or another, it cemented her as a force to be reckoned with. Since, Davis has claimed ground in TV with How to Get Away with Murder, for which she became the first black woman to win an Emmy for lead actress in a drama in 2015. With Fences, undoubtedly, this is her year to take home all of the awards. And the credit goes to Wilson, the playwright known for chronicling the African American experience during the 20th century through a series of 10 plays one for each decade. Davis relationship with Wilson, whom she considers the best writer about black life, began with a 1989 staging of Joe Turners Come and Gone, the second of the series. Thats how she earned her Actors Equity card and became a professional, and since shes found herself continually drawn to his work. Fences, the sixth in the series, set in the 1950s, was her third time performing Wilsons work on Broadway. (He wrote the film adaptation of Fences before his death in 2005.) When describing his uniqueness, Davis puts him in a category with only one other person: Streep. They are people who are living their lives, available and open, but at the same time theyre watching, she said about both Wilson and Streep. Theyre taking it in and at the most opportune time, they use it. Wilson used it in his writing, translating with precision and authenticity what he saw and heard while living in the boarding houses of Pittsburghs historically black Hill District. Davis said Wilson was so exacting in his writing, evoking the natural rhythm of how black people speak, that when he was in a rehearsal, he would sit, put his head down and you would think he would be asleep. Then, as soon as you missed one word youve got to be word-perfect his head would jump up, hed look around, grab and look at the script and look at the actor, she said. Hed start tapping on the [directors shoulder] and then youd have to go back and do it again. We have to stop thinking about diversity and start thinking about inclusion... Thats what you can take from August Wilson. Viola Davis According to Stephen McKinley Henderson, who reprised his Broadway role as Mr. Bono for Denzel Washingtons screen adaptation, Wilsons ability to capture the intricacies of black life was unmatched. Hes got kind of a blues poetic that goes throughout [his work], said Henderson. When you hear the characters talk, you also hear some of the great blues songs [of the time] and as the decades go by, it starts to get jazzy with that blues bass in it. Davis said Wilson had also perfected writing roles for women, her character Rose being a perfect example, complete in her narrative, starting as someone assumed to be a background character who, through pain and devastation, becomes much more. It is a complete journey of a human being and I dont get that in most of the characters that come her way, she said. I dont get [roles with] journeys You get your three scenes and you hope, you just pray, that you get even a tiny bit of backstory. Its fabulous that I got all of that and then some. And with that, she goes all the way, Henderson said of Davis. Thats just how she rolls. She only has an A game, and it can go A-squared. Charles D. King, a Fences executive producer and leader of Macro Ventures, which co-financed the film, agreed, saying it was quite apparent that she channeled and took [the role] to another level than what she did on stage, noting the power and nuance of her performance. One scene of the film perhaps best illustrates this. Confronted by her husband (Washingtons Troy), Rose is told that he will be a father of another womans baby and hes not ending the affair. Her response is intense, emotional and traumatic, for the character and, in a way, the audience. She ugly-cries. Snot runs from her nose. Its like a jazz riff, knowing how to ride that wave and still have it grounded in truth, Davis said. Its not one of those tiny cries-with-the-handkerchief, Im-really-deeply-hurt scenes. Its I-dont-care-whos-watching, I-can-rip-my-clothes-off-right-now, I-could-claw-every-bit-of-skin-off-your-face Vanity and everything else gets thrown out the window. Luckily, Davis said, the trust between the cast and Washington allowed her performance to flourish. Because they all staged the Broadway production together, she knew that they could handle the work, that you could throw the ball at them and theyll throw it back at you. Davis admits that being cast as Annalise Keating on How to Get Away with Murder, helped her better emotionally connect with Rose because with the television role, I had to give myself permission to fit into those adjectives of being sociopathic, sexualized, manipulative, she said. Then, as I was thinking of that not being me, I asked, Why cant that be me? The whole idea that youve got to be big to be maternal, if youre dark skinned, you cant be the girlfriend ... Im trying to fit that into what I understand about life and they dont fit, she said. They are diametrically opposed to each other. Thats why I asked why with Annalise and I have to say as soon as I did, my whole brain exploded with possibilities. Shes since become a vocal critic of the roles written and opportunities for women of color. At our sit-down, she talks of what the industry can learn from Wilson, whose plays have traveled worldwide. We have to stop thinking about diversity and start thinking about inclusion, she said. Thats what you can take from August Wilson. That there are whole cultures out there living experiences exactly like yours and their stories can be just as dynamic, sold in the foreign market, put as many butts in the seats as any Caucasian movie out there. And that brings her to what Hollywoods most recent diversity conversation, prompted by #OscarsSoWhite, is missing: our own participation in it. We sort of just want it to happen, but we dont want to be the one that makes it happen, she said. How are you moving the whole idea forward? Are you plopping your money down to see that different narrative that includes people of color? If youre a studio exec, are you giving the green light to those stories? Thats why she, along with her husband Julius Tennon, created JuVee Productions: to ensure the next generation of filmmakers and artists have the space to craft dynamic stories spanning the broad spectrum of humanity, as the website reads. The company has already had some successes, signing an overall deal with ABC in April and partnering with HBO for a TV movie on Harriet Tubman in which Davis is set to star. Im just looking for any new voice thats going to be inclusive, that is going to be different, she said about the types of stories shes looking to tell with her company. All I know is that there is a need for people to see their own images. Theyre hungry for it. She sits back in her seat. The interview is over and my audio recorder is off. As we finish our meal, she revisits my last question, about the types of stories she wants to tell. She describes a casting call for a movie about a journalist. She makes a number of assumptions that lead to: Who says a journalist has to be a white man dressed in a suit? Why cant they be like you? I, black, gay and gender-nonconforming, am wearing a black and grey poncho, leather pants almost as tight as leggings and a pair of three-inch black heels. Why cant they be dressed like you? she said. That would make me lean in. Get your life! Follow me on Twitter: @TrevellAnderson. Like the calculating women whose lives it celebrates, Hidden Figures knows what its doing. A Grade-A Hollywood crowd-pleaser that happily celebrates its shameless moments, Hidden Figures can be teased but it cant be ignored. The film may not be restrained but stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae are powerfully effective and its little-known true story is so flabbergasting that resistance is all but futile. Before the word computer referred to a machine, it was a job description used for people, often women, who ran the numbers and did the heavy mathematical lifting serious science required. Advertisement As detailed in Margot Lee Shetterlys book (which veteran producer Donna Gigliotti purchased just from an outline), not only were a group of these African American women computers working in the segregated South, they turned out to be critical to getting Americas 1960s space program off the ground. Shetterly writes in the books introduction that the never-before-told story defies our expectations and challenges much of what we think we knew about American history. Hidden Figures never misses a chance to go for the heart-tugging and the obvious as scripted by Allison Schroeder and directed by Theodore Melfi, a veteran commercial director who corralled Bill Murray in St. Vincent. But, frankly, if the films aesthetic standards were more rigorous, the end product might not be as out-and-out effective as the result undeniably is here. Hidden Figures begins with a brief 1926 prologue introducing us to a young black girl who is a math prodigy inspiring awe in all who know her. Ive never seen, a teacher tells her parents, a mind like your daughter has. Thirty-five years later we meet that girl as the adult Katherine Johnson, one of three women carpooling to work at NASAs Langley Memorial Research Lab in Hampton, Va. Or at least trying to: Their sturdy Chevrolet has broken down. Momentarily stranded, the three women soon reveal their core personalities. Johnson (Henson), is still the brainy one, a complete whiz with numbers. Dorothy Vaughan (Spencer) is the practical one, looking under the hood to see what the problem is. Mary Jackson (Monae), momentarily occupied with her lipstick, is charismatic and ambitious. These three are part of what is known at Langley as the West Computing section, a group of some 20 mathematicians who were all African American women. As Jeff Nichols film Loving made clear this year, Virginia in 1961 was as segregated as any state in the Deep South. These women could not eat in the same restaurants, drink from the same water fountains or even, as brazenly becomes a major plot point, use the same restrooms as their white colleagues. Though they all work at Langley, each of the three has a different job challenge and a different way they have to contend with the inescapable racism of the time and place. Super-capable Vaughan, for instance, wants to be made a supervisor, but NASA is dragging its feet and her white boss Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) is not going out of her way to help. Jackson wants to become an engineer, and despite how bleak her chances are (no African American woman has achieved that title to date) she is determined to make the attempt. The most interesting trajectory, so to speak, turns out to be Johnsons. NASA is in a dog-eat-dog race with the Soviets to put people into space, and the man in charge of the Space Task Group, crusty Al Harrison (a composite figure deftly played by Kevin Costner), is a tough nut known to eat computers for lunch. Out of desperation as much as anything else, Johnson is given a shot at a place on his staff, and though we know that she is as much of a wizard as Albus Dumbledore, Hidden Figures milks the situation for all its worth. Hidden Figures also provides glimpses of the personal lives of its characters. Mary, for instance, is married to the civil rights firebrand Levi (Aldis Hodge), who initially does not see her struggles as significant. Johnson, for her part, a widow raising three daughters, catches the eye of Col. Jim Johnson (Mahershala Ali, a star, like Monae, of Moonlight), a good man who discovers that she is more impressive than he realized. Understandably excited to be playing significant women, the trio of lead actresses are uniformly excellent, but the films script is structured to make Henson the first among equals, and she takes advantage of her opportunities. She has a showstopping speech (hint: it involves those bathrooms) and the actress ability to put enormously complex equations on a huge chalkboard is impressive because the numbers and symbols had to be faultlessly memorized. The real Katherine Johnson, still alive and vibrant at age 98 and a recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, couldnt have done it any better. Hidden Figures MPAA rating: PG for thematic elements and some language Running time: 2 hours, 7 minutes Playing: In general release See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers kenneth.turan@latimes.com Movie recommendations from critics Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and other reviewers. Click title for full review. Arrival Amy Adams stars in this elegant, involving science-fiction drama that is simultaneously old and new, revisiting many alien-invasion conventions but with unexpected intelligence, visual style and heart. (Kenneth Turan) PG-13. The Eagle Huntress A portrait of a 13-year-old Kazakh girl from Mongolia who defies eons of tradition by learning to hunt with fierce golden eagles is a documentary so satisfying it makes you feel good about feeling good. (Kenneth Turan) G. Advertisement The Edge of Seventeen Hailee Steinfeld gives a superb performance as a high-school misfit in Kelly Fremon Craigs disarmingly smart teen dramedy, the rare coming-of-age picture that feels less like a retread than a renewal. (Justin Chang) R. Elle Paul Verhoevens brilliantly booby-trapped thriller starring Isabelle Huppert is a gripping whodunit, a tour de force of psychological suspense and a wickedly droll comedy of manners. (Justin Chang) R. The Handmaiden The most absorbing feature in years from the South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) is a teasingly witty and elegant puzzle-box of a thriller about two women (played by Kim Tae-ri and Kim Min-hee) pursuing their destinies in 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea. (Justin Chang) NR. Jackie Star Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy and director Pablo Larrain brilliantly pull back the curtain on one of the most public of private lives. (Kenneth Turan) R. La La Land Starring a well-paired Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, writer-director Damien Chazelles tuneful tribute to classic movie musicals is often stronger in concept than execution, but its lovely and transporting all the same. (Justin Chang) PG-13. Loving Beautifully acted by Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton, this involving, socially conscious Jeff Nichols drama shows the personal lives of the interracial couple whose marriage led to the 1967 Supreme Court ruling that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. (Kenneth Turan) PG-13. Manchester by the Sea Powerful, emotional filmmaking that leaves a scar, Kenneth Lonergans drama starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams is both heartbreaking and heartening, a film that just wallops you with its honesty, its authenticity and its access to despair. (Kenneth Turan) R. Moonlight Superb filmmaking and an exceptional level of emotional honesty universalizes a very specific coming-of-age experience, that of a gay black man growing from child to adult starting in 1980s Miamis crack cocaine epidemic years. (Kenneth Turan) R. Neruda Pablo Larrains intoxicating puzzle of a movie is less a straightforward biopic of the great Chilean poet (played by Luis Gnecco) than a rigorous and imaginative investigation of his inner world. (Justin Chang) R. Silence Martin Scorseses wrenching adaptation of Shusaku Endos 1966 novel, about 17th-century Portuguese priests experiencing a crisis of faith in feudal Japan, ponders the dogmas and mysteries of Christian faith with astonishing rigor and seriousness. (Justin Chang) R. Toni Erdmann Sandra Huller and Peter Simonischek give splendid performances as a high-strung businesswoman and her screw-loose dad in this magnificently unpredictable comedy from the German writer-director Maren Ade. (Justin Chang) R. Things to Come The great Isabelle Huppert and director Mia Hansen-Love combine for a film about a woman newly on her own. Its quiet satisfactions very much sneak up on you. (Kenneth Turan) PG-13 See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Near the beginning of Martin Scorseses shattering Silence, two young Jesuit missionaries shiver in a cottage far from their Portuguese homeland, taking shelter from the rain and the watchful eyes of those to whom they have sought to bring their gospel. The year is 1639, and Japan is in the midst of its Edo period, an era of strict isolationism and intense hostility toward Christianity, whose many adherents have been subjected to mass torture and execution. When the missionaries hear voices calling Padre! from outside, Father Francisco Garrpe (Adam Driver), fearing a trap, insists that they do nothing. But Father Sebastiao Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) bravely opens the door and is relieved to greet two Japanese Christians who have traveled from a nearby island, desperate for the sacraments that only these foreigners can confer. As the priests will soon learn, the consequences of answering Gods call are not always so clear or edifying. Silence, magisterially adapted by Scorsese and Jay Cocks from Shusaku Endos revered 1966 novel, knows this down to its bones. It ponders the dogmas, riddles and anxieties of Christian faith with a rigor and seriousness that, with a few exceptions Terrence Malicks The Tree of Life and Lee Chang-dongs Secret Sunshine come to mind has few recent equivalents in world cinema. Advertisement These artists may regard the divine with a measure of ambivalence, but they rarely speak from a place of neutrality. Endo wrote Silence, his acknowledged masterpiece, partly in response to the discrimination he experienced as a Japanese Catholic. (He also co-wrote the striking 1971 film adaptation directed by Masahiro Shinoda.) Scorsese, for his part, has made his Catholicism a visual and dramatic fixture of much of his work never more controversially than in The Last Temptation of Christ and this anguished, contemplative new movie, which he spent nearly three decades coaxing into celluloid reality, carries the weight of a career summation. Miraculously, that weight doesnt crush the movie; it exalts it. Filmmakers have choked on all-consuming passion projects before, and Scorsese, who spent another quarter-century struggling to bring Gangs of New York to the screen, knows all too well the difficulties of spinning grand personal ambitions into popular art. In Silence, a work of good faith in every sense, you feel the passion but none of the strain. Its remarkable how absorbingly, and indelibly, its story takes shape before our eyes. Rodrigues and Garrpe arrive in Japan hoping to revive a ministry that has been driven underground, and also to locate the physical and spiritual whereabouts of Father Cristovao Ferreira (Liam Neeson), a veteran priest who is rumored to have done the unthinkable and apostatized, or renounced his faith. And as the two men minister to Japanese believers in secret, Rodrigues played by Garfield with a galvanizing swirl of doubt and conviction becomes the movies conflicted center, though he could scarcely be considered its hero. The great deliverance that Rodrigues envisions for himself, through either his success or his glorious martyrdom, is a vain delusion that will be steadily chipped away by the cruel, sadistic interrogation of the local authorities, but also by the doubt and despair that have taken root in his heart. Working with such sterling past collaborators as editor Thelma Schoonmaker, production designer Dante Ferretti and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, Scorsese has done more than resurrect a vision of feudal Japan, wreathed in mist and caked in state-of-the-art period grime. (The film was shot entirely in Taiwan, on 35mm film.) He has come to trust his material on an instinctual level; Silence feels less like a feat of adaptation than an act of artistic submission. At times the camera holds with mournful solemnity on the torments endured by Japanese Christians three of whom we see crucified at sea, while others are burned alive or dangled over a pit for hours on end but any sense of revelry in this horrific spectacle is entirely absent. Gone, too, is the directors swaggering formal bravado; everything extraneous seems to have been pared away. In embracing the irreducible simplicity of Endos language and slowing his own narrative rhythms accordingly, Scorsese has conjured a portrait of unbearable suffering that is also a work of insistent, altogether confounding grace. The searing honesty of the directors approach demands a no less candid spirit on the part of this critic and fellow believer: Endos novel wrecked me when I read it three years ago, for both its consolation and its challenge. It struck me then as both a wrenching affirmation of a saviors unfathomable grace and a thorough dismantling of everything that Christianity has often aligned itself with across the centuries: the arrogant pursuit of its own power and authority, and a willingness to do harm in the name of one who stood for unconditional mercy. Scorseses film continues that dismantling, brilliantly and unsparingly. Its not often that Hollywood gives us a Christian-themed movie with no particular interest in preaching to either the unconverted or the choir. With ruthless wit and an incisive grasp of cultural and theological nuance, Silence subverts the familiar narrative of imperialist conquest and lays waste to the conventional Hollywood wisdom of East bowing to West. In particular, Scorsese grants his Japanese characters the full measure of their vivid, thorny humanity something he manages with no small help from some exceptional acting talent. The personal stakes are etched with plain, piercing eloquence in the faces of two village elders, Ichizo (Yoshi Oida) and Mokichi (Shinya Tsukamoto), who are forced to participate in a humiliating act of apostasy by trampling on a fumi-e, an icon bearing the likeness of Christ. That particular blasphemy will play out again and again, often performed by the treacherous, pathetic Kichijiro (a haunting Yosuke Kubozuka), a holy fool whose endless turmoil holds up a twisted mirror to Rodrigues own. At once a helpful guide and a persistent thorn in Rodrigues side, Kichijiro never stops pleading for the absolution he knows he needs, even as he betrays his faith again and again for the sake of survival. If that makes Kichijiro the storys Judas figure (if also, perhaps, its truest exemplar of Christian humility), the role of Pontius Pilate is given a malevolent comic spin by the notorious inquisitor Inoue (Issey Ogata), whose persecutions have struck terror into the hearts of Christians across Japan. Like Ferreira, whom Neeson embodies with a profound sense of defeat, and the silver-tongued interpreter (the excellent Tadanobu Asano) provided for Rodrigues benefit, Inoue pointedly identifies Japan as a swamp, a place whose feudal economy and Buddhist worldview have made it impossible for Christianity to flourish. Even viewers who recognize Ogata from Edward Yangs Yi Yi and Alexander Sokurovs The Sun will be unprepared for the bracing dose of camp he injects into these severe proceedings, with his mock formality and an unnervingly high vocal pitch that suggests a Nipponese Mr. Woodchuck. Its an audacious, beautifully judged performance, and also a jolting reminder that, for all the asceticism of the films subject, Scorsese the entertainer is still very much at work. At times the director seems to channel the stark, meditative gaze of Carl Theodor Dreyer, Robert Bresson and other saints of European cinema, as well as the ghostly poetry of such Japanese classics as Kenji Mizoguchis Ugetsu. But Silence isnt, in the end, a radically austere film, or an especially difficult one. Scorsese may be pushing us into uncommonly rarefied multiplex territory much as he did with Kundun, his epic portrait of the Dalai Lama but he has no intention of leaving us in the dark. The casting of name actors like Garfield, Driver and Neeson as Portuguese priests, speaking English in a range of accents, may represent concessions to the mainstream. But these surface inconsistencies think of them as slightly varying translations of the same rock-solid text are quickly subsumed in the urgency of the performances, and in the flow of a drama that gathers tremendous force over its 161-minute running time. Building implacable dread and tension from scene to scene, the story is as simple as its underlying ideas are endlessly complex. The possible meanings of Endos title are infinite, and hardly limited to the historical moment that so gripped his imagination. Is Gods silence a test, or an admission of His nonexistence? What about the problem of our own silence, especially when it makes us complicit in someone elses suffering? The dissonant closing scenes advance a still more provocative inquiry: Could silence, far from being an act of cowardice, in fact constitute the truest, most necessary expression of faith? These questions are more easily posed than answered. As this film enters the cultural bloodstream, much will be made of its allegedly polarizing qualities, the divisions that it will draw between skeptics and believers. But Silence is too enormous in mind and spirit, too respectful of its own mystery, to be contained by these convenient dichotomies. Scorsese summons every last ounce of conviction to question the very nature of conviction itself and in the process, a movie that never insists on our faith becomes all but impossible not to believe in. ------------ Silence In English and Japanese with English subtitles MPAA rating: R, for some disturbing violent content Running time: 2 hours, 41 minutes Playing: ArcLight Cinemas, Hollywood, and the Landmark Theatre, West Los Angeles See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers ALSO 25 years in the making, Martin Scorseses Silence will get its Oscar moment Martin Scorseses Silence, his personal quest and an awards hope, has its major Hollywood unveiling Will Scorseses Silence be the late-breaking Oscar spoiler? Review: Hidden Figures is a Grade-A Hollywood crowd-pleaser in the best way Viola Davis, star of Fences, opposite Denzel Washington in theaters now, is no stranger to Hollywood. And shes got the resume to prove it. As the industry sings her praises for the role of Rose Maxson in August Wilsons theatrical adaptation of his Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, we revisit five other roles of the St. Matthews, S.C. born, Julliard-educated actress. Doubt, 2008 As Mrs. Miller, Davis steals the show in a seven-minute scene opposite Meryl Streep in this film adaptation of the Broadway play Doubt: A Parable. The role, as the mother of a boy caught up in a school sex abuse scandal, landed her her first Oscar nomination. Advertisement Wont Back Down, 2012 In Wont Back Down, Davis plays a teacher at a failing, inner city school who imagines better for her students, teaming up with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays the mother of one of the pupils, for reform. Though the picture opened to mixed reviews, Davis won the NAACPs best actress Image Award. How to Get Away With Murder, 2014 Annalise Keating is not a woman to be messed with. But she is the woman you want on your side in a courtroom. The television role also of note, her recurring spot on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit starting in 2003 won Davis an Emmy in 2015, the first time a black woman was named best lead actress in a drama. Blackhat, 2015 A cybercrime action drama, Blackhat stars Davis as a government agent charged with monitoring a furloughed convict whos supposed to save the country. The role for Davis, one similar to her turn in this years Suicide Squad, is small, but mighty. The Help, 2011 As the humble maid Aibileen Clark during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Davis wows with emotional depth and nuance. Her work opposite Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer earned her a second Oscar nomination and cemented her as one of Hollywoods elite. Get your life! Follow me on Twitter: @TrevellAnderson. Every generation gets the Guess Whos Coming to Dinner? that speaks most trenchantly to the evolving cultural issues of our time. Apparently, ours is Why Him? where the young suitor isnt racially other but is from a completely different planet when it comes to culture, values and social norms. That planet? Silicon Valley. In Why Him?, directed by John Hamburg and written by Hamburg, Ian Helfer and Jonah Hill, Stanford University senior Stephanie (Zoey Deutch) invites her tight-knit Michigan family to spend Christmas with her boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). Its only appropriate, seeing as their first introduction to the man was his unexpected naked rear on their video chat screen at dad Neds (Bryan Cranston) birthday celebration. And when the Flemings land in the Bay Area, theyre in for a cultural odyssey they could never have expected. Why Him? is probably the best sendup of contemporary California tech culture to date. Theres the yoga, the fussy food (Laird practices lawn-to-table cuisine with the help of Top Chef Richard Blais), the pretentious art (a moose suspended in its own urine), the celebrity, the wealth, the tank tops, for crying out loud. When we see these cultures clash, its clear that #Calexit has already happened it might as well be a foreign country for all the toilet mishaps and communication misunderstandings that take place. Advertisement Theres fun to be had in watching the Flemings go Cali, as mom Barb (Megan Mullally) learns about vaping and twerking, and tween son Scotty (Griffin Gluck) takes up code and a slouchy beanie. Cranston, fuddy-duddy crank Ned, is more resistant. Threatened by Lairds peculiar ways and off-putting lack of filter, he staunchly refuses to give his blessing. Franco is quite funny in his uniquely laid-back way as the computer nerd who never quite figured out how to interact with a family. While his initial forthrightness tends toward the TMI, hes refreshingly honest and endearingly vulnerable. His tribe includes Gustav (Keegan-Michael Key), his combination concierge, trainer and best friend, whose German accent wavers into Jamaican territory at times. Laird has also hired Kaley Cuoco the girl from Big Bang Theory! he exclaims to voice Justine, the all-seeing, all-knowing smart house entity whose helpfulness verges on the intrusive. In that vein, there are opportunities to explore how technology goes wrong, but Why Him? is far more about how the culture of tech is wacky; in this world, tech is good and has the power and money to save Middle American manufacturing companies and keep jobs right here in the U.S. of A. If a little privatized surveillance comes along with it, so be it. The biggest problem with Why Him? though, isnt him, its her. Stephanie is so underwritten that even though these men are competing ruthlessly over her, she drops out of the story completely. Shes the center of attention, but shes a void. Thats not the fault of the winsome Deutch. Its that the writers havent fleshed out her character, and she only has two modes, either bratty or exasperated. Its difficult to empathize with her, so we latch on to the kooky Laird and stern Ned, whose rivalry the film revolves around. In true Hollywood fashion, they get the hims right but not her. Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic. ------------- Why Him? Rating: R, for strong language and sexual material throughout Running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes Playing: In general release See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Longtime Vogue Italia editor in chief Franca Sozzani died on Thursday. She was 66. Born in Mantua, Italy, in 1950, she headed the Italian magazine for 28 years, shaping it into one of the most influential magazines globally. Sozzani touched on topics deemed taboo by others, dedicating whole issues to themes such as Curvy, or Black, the obsession with plastic surgery, the BP Gulf oil spill or domestic violence. Advertisement Earlier this month, Sozzani received the First Swarovski Award for Positive Change in London, and in September, a movie on her life directed by her son Francesco Carrozzini premiered in Venice at the citys Film Festival. Designers and industry leaders have been posting tributes to the late editor on Instagram and Twitter. American Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour wrote the following in a blogpost on Vogue.com: In private, Franca was warm, clever, funny, and someone who could give the Sphinx a run for its money when it comes to keeping a confidence. She was also the hardest-working person I have known, and with an envy-inducing ease with multitasking. She made everything she worked on appear effortless, regardless of whether it was an event for several hundred; a whirlwind trip to Africa to support the continents emerging designers, or the creation of yet another newsworthy, provocative and utterly spellbinding issue of Italian Vogue. Farewell to Franca Sozzani, a woman who believed fashion could be more. We cant always be writing about flowers, she said, tweeted Vanessa Friedman of The New York Times. Designer Donatella Versace posted an Instagram photo, captioned: Ciao Franca, my dearest friend. You will be in my heart forever. The screening of the documentary on Sozzani in September reflected her stature in the fashion industry, with guests ranging from Azzedine Alaia and Miuccia Prada to Renzo Rosso, Diego Della Valle, Riccardo Tisci and Donatella Versace. The screening was followed by a dinner held by Valentino in her honor, in the presence of Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti and the brands sole creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli as well as its chief executive officer Stefano Sassi. The likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Bruce Weber, Marina Abramovic, Jeff Koons and Baz Luhrmann appeared in the film, expressing their views on Sozzanis work and persona. Interviewed ahead of the screening, in her staple understated manner, she said the comments were more controversial than, as she put it, hagiographic. I didnt want a santino [holy picture] of me, or anyone saying I am a genius. There are people Ive had clashes with, Sozzani told WWD. To wit, Conde Nast chairman and chief executive officer Jonathan Newhouses comments that he thought shed taken Vogue too far. I said, If you keep going in this direction, I might have to fire you. To be sure, Sozzani courted controversy and appeared unfazed by the commotion she often caused. Never afraid to speak her mind, Sozzani channeled her views on Vogue.it, and sharing her opinion on her blog, bonding with readers around the world. At the screening of the film in Venice, Sozzani received the red-carpet treatment just as much as any Hollywood A-lister, with young fans clamoring for selfies and screaming for autographs. While her looks conveyed a delicate image, with her petite frame and long, wavy blonde hair and azure eyes, Sozzani was determined and set on leaving her mark in the world, as she says in the film, not content with being a bourgeois housewife. In a WWD interview in 2011, Sozzani stated her views for Vogue Italia very simply, saying that what differentiates the magazine is that it tells its own stores, it does it in a way that is sometimes stronger than other magazines. I would say the strength of Vogue Italia is its creativity and image. She wondered how to translate the magazines photos and content online, which quickly became a success, driving sales at newsstands, too. Jared Kushner appears to be ready to pick up sticks and move to Washington, D.C., with his wife Ivanka Trump to become an adviser (either officially or unofficially) to his father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump, and theres at least one piece of Manhattan he wants to shed before he goes: The New York Observer. According to people familiar with the matter, Kushner has been quietly shopping the storied paper to potential buyers. A potential suitor for the media property had been rumored to be National Enquirer-parent company American Media Inc. AMI declined to comment, however, sources close to the firm expressed skepticism that the company is a potential buyer. The Observer Media chairman and chief executive Joseph Meyer (who, notably, is also Kushners brother-in-law) denied speculation the property is for sale, saying: As one of the fastest-growing businesses in all of digital media, we are constantly being approached by potential investors and partners. Advertisement Insiders surmised that Kushner wants to unload the Observer, which recently ceased printing its salmon-pink weekly edition, so that he can focus on his budding political career. Kushner bought the paper in 2006 for $10 million with dreams of becoming a media mogul. He began slowly changing its mission, focusing it more on digital stories and volume, and less on its trademark New York-centric storytelling, which was steeped in media, arts, culture and real estate reporting under longtime editor in chief, the late Peter Kaplan, who left the paper in 2009 (and later joined WWD parent Fairchild Media) over disagreements about deep cuts in the editorial staff. It could not be determined how much Kushner is looking to get for the now digital-only property. One reason AMI has been floated as a possibility is because throughout the presidential campaign, the National Enquirer was a pit bull for Trump, publishing several stories that were positives for the president-elect, including a smear piece on his primary rival Ted Cruz about an alleged extramarital affair and an item suggesting that Cruzs father was somehow involved in the assassination of former president John F. Kennedy. In typical Enquirer fashion, neither was true which did not stop Trump from repeating them both on Twitter and on the campaign stump. Moreover, it recently came to light that AMI reportedly agreed to pay $150,000 to a former Playboy centerfold for her story recounting her affair with Trump a decade earlier. The story was then killed by the publisher, which, in addition to owning the Inquirer, also owns Radar Online, Star and OK, among others. Peckers Enquirer was also one of the few publications that endorsed the Republican candidate; another was not surprisingly given his familial ties Kushners Observer. More evidence of Trumps cozy relationship with AMI, which may suggest acquisition interest, is based on the fact that the president-elect and Kushner are friends with AMI chief executive officer David Pecker. Trump has lauded the Enquirer for its reporting on the John Edwards scandal and he has taken to Twitterwhich means it must be importantto praise his friend. Time magazine should name David Pecker of American Media to be its top guybut they are not smart enough to do that! Trump tweeted in 2013. There have also been rumors that Pecker was promised an ambassador job by Trump, but AMI denied those reports. Peckers ties to Kushner have been slightly less obvious, although when the Observer shuttered its print edition it was revealed that subscribers would either receive a refund or get Peckers Star Magazine. The bizarre offering was proof point of a closeness between Pecker and Kushner. Indeed, while readers are usually offered some kind of alternative magazine option or a refund when a title shutters, the publications normally have similar readerships. Setting aside the election, the Observer had a more liberal, New York-centric bent and less of a tabloid flavor. Again, the fact that readers would be offered the option of receiving an AMI-owned magazine may have stoked baseless rumors that the publisher had interest in the Observer, a source noted. 2016 was a year of surprises: President-elect Donald Trump, Nobel laureate Bob Dylan, the end of Angelina and Brad (or was that one inevitable?). We were hacked by the Russians, panicked by Zika and horrified by shootings across the country. After the November election, adult Californians could smoke marijuana -- legally. We said goodbye to Kobe and Vin, binge-watched, rocked out to Old-Chella and signed up for the Tesla 3. Beyonce and Hamilton ruled. So, yes, it was a big year. And wed like to suggest that you take some time to recall the biggest stories of 2016 -- if only to prepare for the cacophony that undoubtedly will erupt in 2017. A little-known county board overruled its own staff and the powerful Los Angeles Unified School District this week to allow three embattled charter schools to remain open. The reprieve represents a full turnabout for Magnolia Public Schools, which faced the shutdown of its campuses after L.A. Unified moved against them in October. The L.A. Unified board voted 6 to 0 to shutter the schools at the end of the current school year. But the charter group had the option of appealing to the board of the L.A. County Office of Education, and that body reached a different decision Tuesday, by a 4-1 vote, after three hours of testimony and discussion. Advertisement As a result, Magnolia Science Academy 1 in Reseda, Magnolia Science Academy 2 in Van Nuys and Magnolia Science Academy 3 in Carson will remain open. Charters are independently run and exempt from some rules that govern traditional campuses, but they must be authorized by the local school system, the county or the state. Once L.A. Unified rejected Magnolias bid to keep the schools open, the county was the next agency with the authority to step in. The county staff report echoed the school districts concerns, concluding, among other things, that Magnolia failed to provide investigators, auditors and financial overseers with requested documents in a timely fashion after years of poor fiscal management. The county review team also contended that the charter was top heavy in management, had a high student attrition rate and scheduled board meetings that were difficult for the public to participate in or see. Jose Cole-Gutierrez, head of the charter school division for L.A. Unified, also appeared before the county to make the case. The county education office is headed by Debra Duardo, who until recently was a top L.A. Unified administrator. But a board majority was swayed by Magnolias reasonably strong academic record and evidence of new and improved management. Magnolia Chief Executive Caprice Young a former L.A. Unified school board member was allowed to present her case and answer questions from board members. The process felt a lot more fair than what I experienced at L.A. Unified, Young said. Members of the county education board are appointed by the elected county supervisors. L.A. Unified school board members are selected directly by voters. From the start, the scrutiny of Magnolia Public Schools was never just about sound management or academic performance. Magnolia had come under widespread scrutiny after the Turkish government accused it and other U.S.-based charters with Turkish governing boards of helping foment a failed July coup in Turkey. The schools leaders denied any involvement. A more direct concern for L.A. Unified was Magnolias practice which the charter group says it has now ended of importing Turkish nationals and their families for teaching and other staff positions. But neither Turkish entanglement was cited as an official reason for closing the three schools when they came up before L.A. Unified for their routine five-year renewal hearing. Nor did those matters come up before the county Tuesday. The county now is authorizing three Magnolia charter schools, which means it will provide oversight for them. Five Magnolia charters remain under the jurisdiction of L.A. Unified, and Magnolia also has schools in San Diego and Santa Ana. At the October meeting in which L.A. Unified rejected Magnolia, it also turned down renewals for two campuses run by Celerity Schools. The county never acted on Celeritys appeal. Celerity will move instead to a final appeal before the state Board of Education next year. howard.blume@latimes.com Twitter: @howardblume MORE EDUCATION NEWS One solution to failing K-12 schools? Let universities help A state fitness test suggests L.A. students have some more exercising to do UC freshman applications shatter records, with gains among all racial groups The remaining militants have left Aleppo, which is now fully controlled by the Syrian army, a military source told RIA Novosti, Sputnik reported. Later, the Syrian army confirmed in a statement that the whole city is now under the control of Damascus. The last convoy evacuating militants from eastern Aleppo has left the city, the source said. "This convoy is the last one. Now we can say that all militants have left Aleppo, and the city is fully controlled by the Syrian army," the source said. "The command of the Syrian army declares that peace and security returned in the city of Aleppo," the army's statement read. Californias top education official has urged the states public schools to declare themselves safe havens for students who are in the country illegally. In a letter sent Wednesday to county and school district superintendents, charter school administrators and principals, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson asked them to remind families about existing laws that protect them and their students records from questions about immigration status. The letter comes in light of concerns about President-elect Donald Trumps promises during and after the campaign to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally. Advertisement In his letter, Torlakson included a link to a safe haven resolution passed by the Sacramento City Unified School District as an example that other districts might follow. The Los Angeles Unified School District already has already passed a similar measure and set up a hotline and support sites to counsel parents and students who are worried. Our schools are not and will not become an arm of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, Torlakson wrote. Instead, they will remain safe places for learning and teaching for all students, regardless of immigration status. You can reach Joy Resmovits on Twitter @Joy_Resmovits and by email at Joy.Resmovits@LATimes.com. A federal judge granted bail Thursday for a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of smuggling backpacks he thought were loaded with drugs across the border fence. Noe Lopez, a 10-year Border Patrol veteran who worked out of the Imperial Beach station, must post $200,000 bail secured by property. He also was ordered to be monitored by a GPS tracking device and surrender any firearms he owns. Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Heyman argued at the hearing that Lopez, who was arrested Dec. 14 following a two-month undercover sting, was a flight risk and should not be freed from custody. Advertisement Heyman told the judge that Lopez met a man at a party and the two struck up a friendship. Lopez later bragged about how easy it was for him to smuggle drugs that were staged at the border fence and offered to go into business together, authorities said. The man went to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration with the information and became a confidential source. He then cooperated with investigators and helped pull off two transactions with Lopez, Heyman said. Lopez is accused of taking the source on a driving tour of the border fence both from the U.S. side and the Mexico side to show where ideal spots were to drop drug loads and where sensors and cameras were located, Heyman said. On Dec. 6 and 8, Lopez agreed to pick up backpacks at sites at the border fence while on duty, according to the complaint. Undercover agents placed the backpacks there and loaded them with fake cocaine and methamphetamine. Lopez picked up both loads and later delivered them to the source in his personal vehicle after work, the complaint states. He was paid $10,000 for his efforts, prosecutors said. Heyman said that evidence collected in the case suggests Lopez may have committed similar acts in the past. In one text exchange with the confidential source, Lopez implored him to trust him because it could be a lucrative partnership. He said, Trust me, well start small, Ill prove myself and well keep building up, Heyman said. Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com California Treasurer John Chiang on Wednesday slammed two out-of-state public pension funds for what he called a shameful ploy to eliminate 79 affordable housing units in a massive San Fernando Valley housing complex. At a news conference outside the 390-unit San Regis apartments in Van Nuys, Chiang castigated building owners for asking a judge to end a 55-year affordable housing covenant after only 15 years. The complex, he said, is owned by the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Assn. and the Utah State Retirement Investment Fund. Advertisement These public funds, which pay their bills on the backs of taxpayers and public servants, should be ashamed of their craven greed, Chiang said. Their hubris will deepen the affordable housing crisis afflicting Angelenos. This cannot be done and theyre not going to get away with it. The owners filed a lawsuit in October that Chiang said attempts to exploit an unintended legal loophole in the companys contract with the city of Los Angeles to terminate the affordable housing covenants. At stake is not only taxpayer funds, but the welfare of hundreds of poor families, seniors and veterans, said Chiang, who has announced his bid for governor in 2018. On Monday, the treasurers office filed a cross-complaint seeking a court declaration that the 55-year covenant will remain in force. Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer filed a separate cross-complaint Monday, but did not attend the news conference. Affordable housing is beyond scarce in Los Angeles, and were fighting to preserve every unit thats been set aside for that purpose, Feuer said in a statement Wednesday. An attorney representing the buildings owners declined to comment on the matter Wednesday, saying he lacked authorization. The lawyer, Stephen A. Tuggy, of the law firm Locke Lord, also declined to say whether the pension funds owned the building. In court filings, the owner is listed only as San Regis LLC. The dispute hinges on the $23.6-million city-issued tax-exempt bond that a former owner obtained for the 2001 purchase of the complex at 15454 Sherman Way. A bond authorization agreement with the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee required the owner to maintain 79 of the units at prices affordable to people making 50% or less of the areas median income. San Regis LLC purchased the complex in 2005 and is now planning to sell it, according to its filing. The firm contends that its contract with the city provides for the affordable housing commitment to terminate when the tax-exempt bonds are paid, which would likely occur upon sale. It wants to restore the affordable units to market rates to obtain a better price for the building. The lingering uncertainty on this issue caused by the city and CDLAC clouds title to the project and impinges on the ability of San Regis to market the project and receive full fair market value, the lawsuit said. In the cross-complaint, the treasurer contends that commitment to maintain affordable rates for 55 years is inseparable from the project, and any ambiguity in the city contract results from a failure to reference the commitment that all parties understood to be in force. It asks the court to reform the agreement. It remained unclear Wednesday how large an impact the case could have on the supply of affordable housing. Chiang said about 2,000 buildings across the state have units committed to long-term affordable housing under the tax-exempt bond financing mechanism that was used to purchase the San Regis in 2001. But the lawsuit hinges on San Regis contract with the city. The states cross-complaint attributed the ambiguity to a drafting error in the citys contract. It wasnt clear Wednesday whether the same ambiguity affects other city contracts with owners of bond-financed housing. Jeree Glasser-Hedrick, executive director of the Debt Limit Allocation Committee, said the stakes are high. New affordable housing costs about $370,000 per unit, so the loss of 79 units would represent a $28-million blow to the affordable housing program, Glasser-Hedrick said. Were fighting this at the granular level and were trying to save every unit that we can, she said. doug.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @LATDoug Videos captured the moment in July when Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers pounced on Michael Smith and his girlfriend in downtown San Francisco, ordering them to the ground at gunpoint and handcuffing them. As people gathered and recorded with their cellphones, Smith, 22, still handcuffed, crooked his head up and spit in an officers face. That prompted the officer to punch him in the face with a closed fist, causing Smiths head to bounce off the ground. People at the Embarcadero station exploded in screams of anger. Smiths girlfriend and others told Smith to cooperate, and soon he and his girlfriend were hauled off to a police substation, where the woman was let go and Smith was booked on suspicion of assaulting and resisting police. Advertisement Police released the 911 call that led to the July 29 arrest of Michael Smith at the Embarcadero BART station in downtown San Francisco. But the call that led to the July 29 confrontation a report that Smith may have been armed and that he and another black man had threatened to rob someone on the train turned out to be unfounded. Facing a criminal trial last week on six counts of battery on an officer and one count of resisting police, a jury acquitted Smith of three battery charges and was hung on the remaining four. In releasing the series of videos Wednesday, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi called for prosecutors to drop the remaining counts, saying his client did nothing wrong. Its really an example of whats wrong with our system. The system run amok, Adachi said. Its a story of a young African American man who was the victim of excessive force yet found himself having to stand trial for these serious misdemeanor crimes. This is an unfortunate drama and tragedy that gets played out throughout the country. In separate statements, both BART police and prosecutors defended officers actions that day. Though the district attorneys office has not yet decided on whether to retry Smith, authorities have said law enforcements response was justified given the report of an armed robber and Smiths apparent lack of cooperation. They did what they were trained to do, said Deputy Chief Jeffrey Jennings of BART police. Were still going to do an internal investigation, but I dont anticipate them having a different finding than what I saw. According to Jennings, the officers strike to Smiths face was a tactical move. I consider that a distraction blow forcefully deflect a person who spit on you and keep their head countered away from you, he said. The San Francisco district attorneys office defended its prosecution of Smith, arguing that the videos dont provide the full picture. Today the Public Defender released an edited sequence of body camera footage that a judge excluded from evidence, prosecutors said in a statement. In excluding the evidence, the judge cited editorial choices that were made, such as altering the audio levels and omitting segments where the defendant is alleged to have bit, kicked, and spit on BART police officers. Smiths girlfriend was never charged with a crime, and the officers involved in the arrests are back on duty, BART officials said. joseph.serna@latimes.com For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter. Prosecutors have declined to file charges against a vocal critic of the Los Angeles City Council who submitted a card during a public meeting with racially incendiary drawings, including a burning cross. The Los Angeles County district attorneys office said the card submitted by Encino attorney Wayne Spindler, which labeled City Council President Herb Wesson with a racial slur, was deeply offensive, morally wrong and socially reprehensible, according to a memo released Thursday. But citing 1st Amendment concerns and the unusual facts of the case, Dist. Atty. Jackie Laceys office ultimately opted against prosecuting Spindler for making a criminal threat against Wesson. Advertisement After much legal analysis and careful consideration, the known evidence appears insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Spindler crossed the sometimes nebulous line between constitutionally protected speech and punishable true threat, according to the memo. The card submitted by Spindler on May 11 showed the burning cross and a man hanging from a tree images typically associated with the Ku Klux Klan and appeared to depict a KKK figure holding a sign that stated, Herb = [N-word]. Wesson, who is African American, was presiding over the days committee meeting held in Van Nuys. Two days later, officers arrested Spindler, 46, on suspicion of making threats against Wesson. Community leaders denounced the drawings as a hate crime. And the citys lawyers obtained a restraining order barring Spindler from coming near Wessons home, vehicle or city office, but allowing him to speak at public meetings. After the decision was announced Thursday, Wessons office issued a brief statement. We are very disappointed in the district attorneys determination, said Wesson spokeswoman Vanessa Rodriguez. We see Mr. Spindlers action as morally reprehensible, but well continue our work as public servants. Spindler, an attorney who often represents immigrants facing the prospect of deportation, said he welcomed the district attorneys decision but was critical of her office explaining a legal decision with remarks about his purportedly reprehensible behavior. That is completely inappropriate for a lawyer making objective analysis, Spindler said. They are criticizing me for my public participation. It shouldnt be there. Its not part of the law. Spindler has maintained that he was being silenced for speaking out against Measure RRR, a ballot measure that sought to reform the scandal-plagued Department of Water and Power. Voters rejected the measure in November. In an interview, Spindler said the comment cards burning cross referred to the corruption destroying the city, and he claimed the person hanging from a tree evocative of lynching symbolized DWP customers suffering from rate hikes. Wesson said he viewed the comment card as a potential threat to him, his family, city workers and City Hall visitors. He said the comment card recalled the history of racially motivated attacks on the black community. It is not OK to do that to me, Wesson, the first black president of the City Council, said at a news conference shortly after Spindler was arrested. It is not OK to do that to us in the year 2016. And when Im talking about us, Im talking about all of us white, yellow, black and brown. Complaints over Spindlers behavior were filed with the State Bar of California, the licensing arm of the states judicial branch. But the state bar declined earlier this year to have Spindler disciplined or disbarred, in part because the lawyer had not been charged. The bar does not agree with the racist implications of Mr. Spindlers drawing, deputy trial counsel Ross Viselman wrote in a letter, but we cannot bring disciplinary charges against him for exercising his right to free speech. Spindler said the public condemnation from Wesson and others drew a flurry of personal threats. I handed in a speaker card with a stupid doodle, he said. For that, he claimed to have received death threats and vandalism to his car. I had to go into hiding, he added. Its very destructive to my life. Shortly after his May arrest, Spindler filed a claim against the city the first step in a lawsuit proceeding and alleged violations of civil rights, illegal detention and other charges. He said Thursday that he was still weighing whether to pursue a lawsuit against the city. Separately, court records show he filed a lawsuit in July against the city over his Nov. 10, 2015, arrest at a police commission meeting. The citys attempts to crack down on inflammatory speeches at City Hall has sometimes backfired. In 2014, the city agreed to pay $215,000 to settle a free-speech lawsuit brought by Michael Hunt, an African American man who was tossed out of a city commission meeting for wearing a KKK-like hooded outfit and a T-shirt with a racial slur on it. matt.hamilton@latimes.com Twitter: @MattHjourno dakota.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @DakotaCDSmith ALSO Ex-L.A. County Sheriff Lee Bacas obstruction trial ends in mistrial; jurors hopelessly deadlocked Man pleads guilty to killing three people in 2014 Pasadena shooting rampage Man bludgeoned former reality show contestant to death with hammer, prosecutors say UPDATES: 9:05 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details on Wayne Spindlers legal actions involving the city and minor editing. 5 p.m.: This article was updated with additional background on the incident that led to prosecutors to consider filing charges. This article was originally published at 3:20 p.m. Los Angeles prosecutors and attorneys for New York real estate scion Robert Durst clashed in court on Wednesday over evidence, witnesses and the legality of a prosecutors jailhouse interrogation of the idiosyncratic millionaire. The back-and-forth served as a preview of whats to come as the celebrity murder case pitting veteran prosecutors against a high-powered legal defense team prepares for trial. As a bailiff pushed Durst, 73, into the Los Angeles courtroom in a wheelchair, the defendant craned his neck and locked eyes with several reporters in the packed audience. Advertisement When prosecutors spoke, Durst who is accused in the execution-style slaying of his friend, writer Susan Berman stared intently, often blinking, squinting and gripping the defense table in front of him. At one point, Durst, who is thin and appears frail, wheeled himself backward for a better view, bumping into one of his attorneys. He turned around slowly and let out a croaky, Sorry. Superior Court Judge Mark E. Windham appointed a special monitor to search boxes of evidence seized in the case and separate out any attorney-client privilege material. His ruling, Windham said, was meant to protect Dursts rights. Prosecutors had asked Windham to assign the special monitor to comb through evidence collected from three different places Dursts Houston home, the New Orleans hotel where he was arrested and the home of a friend who stored some of Dursts belongings. Prosecutors said the material was seized properly but asked the judge to assign a special monitor in an abundance of caution. Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin appears in Los Angeles court with his client, real estate heir Robert Durst, who is charged with murder. (Jae C. Hong-pool/Getty Images) Dursts attorneys filed a response, arguing that much of the evidence had, in fact, been collected improperly and denouncing a veteran prosecutor on the case for conducting an improper and deceptive interrogation of Durst in New Orleans. They said Durst was frail, afraid and quite disoriented at the time of the questioning. On Friday, the district attorneys office filed a transcript of the March 15, 2015, jailhouse interview in Los Angeles County Superior Court. During the sometimes rambling interrogation, Durst said he wanted to stay away from talking about Bermans killing. He also said he was high on meth during interviews he gave for the HBO documentary series The Jinx. Dursts arrest last year in connection with the murder case came a day before the finale of the six-part documentary aired. During the last episode, Durst mutters to himself in the bathroom: What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course. Many people took the audio, captured on a hot mic, as a confession to three killings: those of his long-vanished wife, a neighbor in Texas and Berman, his close friend who was shot in 2000 in her Benedict Canyon home. In the Texas case which ended in Dursts acquittal he admitted to shooting his neighbor, saying he acted in self-defense before chopping the man up and dumping him in Galveston Bay. Dursts attorneys argue that the warrant issued last year for Dursts arrest in Bermans killing was promoted by a television show, not probable cause. Prosecutors dont deny that The Jinx played a role in the timing of his arrest, but also say the arrest warrant was fully supported by probable cause. At Wednesdays hearing, the judge did not rule on the legality of the evidence seizure or the interrogation, but prosecutors and attorneys for Durst took jabs at one another over the interview conducted last year by Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lewin. Lewin expressed particular disdain for the defenses allegations that his interrogation of Durst was improper. Im not going to pull punches here, the prosecutor said. Their motion wasnt true; it wasnt accurate. And that wasnt an accident. One of Dursts attorneys scoffed. Earlier in the hearing, another of Dursts attorneys, Dick DeGuerin, told the judge he was frustrated that the prosecution had publicly filed evidence, including the transcript of Dursts interrogation. At a brief news conference after the hearing, DeGuerin declined to answer most questions, saying, Im not going to try the case in the press, like theyre doing. Asked about Dursts health, he described his client as pretty strong. Windham, the judge, also set a conditional hearing for Feb. 14, where two witnesses are expected to testify. Lewin characterized the hearing as a precautionary measure intended to get testimony on the record as soon as possible in a case that could take a long time to go to trial. One of the witnesses a man who told police he spoke with Dursts long-vanished wife around the time of her disappearance is 86. The identity of the second witness hasnt yet been revealed by the prosecution, and Lewin told the judge that some witnesses in the case are understandably concerned about their safety. Dursts attorneys bristled at the claim, reminding the judge that their client uses a wheelchair. Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report. marisa.gerber@latimes.com For more news from the Los Angeles County courts, follow me on Twitter: @marisagerber UPDATES: 6:05 p.m.: This article was updated with additional background about the case. This article was originally published at 4:30 p.m. An air traffic controller in San Diego who mistakenly routed a wide-body jet with 353 people aboard toward Mt. Wilson has been removed from her current assignment amid an investigation into the incident, The Times has learned. The wrong turn, which has sparked concern in aviation circles, occurred in some of the busiest and most difficult to monitor airspace in the nation. On a typical day, more than 11,000 aircraft take to the skies in Southern California, most of them over the Los Angeles Basin. Los Angeles International alone handles 1,700 to 1,800 departures and arrivals daily. In the past 30 years, the National Transportation Safety Board has blamed two major crashes in the region on air traffic control problems the mid-air collision of a private plane and an Aeromexico jet over Cerritos in 1986 and another collision involving a SkyWest commuter plane and a USAir jetliner at LAX. The controller has been given other duties and is no longer working air traffic after an EVA Air Boeing 777 that departed from Los Angeles International Airport last Friday morning was ordered to turn left to the north, sending the aircraft over the San Gabriel Mountains at low altitude. The standard procedure for eastern departures from LAX is to make a right turn to the south shortly after takeoff and then head out over the ocean. The EVA Air incident began about 1:30 a.m., when the controller ordered Flight 15 to turn left shortly after the pilot shifted air traffic control responsibilities from the LAX tower to approach control in San Diego, a common practice. When the controller realized the EVA flight was turning in the wrong direction, Federal Aviation Administration officials said, she took immediate action to keep the aircraft safely separated from an Air Canada jet that had just departed LAX from the north runway complex. Those planes remained the required distance from each another, which is 3 miles laterally and 1,000 feet vertically. FAA officials said the controller then turned her attention to getting the EVA pilot to turn south and repeatedly ordered him to do so until he complied. At one point in the flight, the controller asked the pilot: EVA 15 what are you doing? Turn southbound now, according to a recording of radio transmissions. The Taiwan-bound jetliner appeared to clear the 5,713-foot peak of Mt. Wilson by no more than 800 feet, according to website data cited by The Times. However, broadcast towers rise an additional 400 feet from the summit, potentially reducing the clearance. FAA regulations require aircraft to be at least three miles away laterally or 2,000 feet vertically above obstacles such as mountains. No way they should have ended up where they were, said Jon Russell, a commercial airline pilot and a regional safety coordinator for the Air Line Pilots Assn. The pilots followed instructions from air traffic control and it led to other issues with traffic and terrain. Thomas Anthony, director of the Aviation Safety and Security Program at USC, said the incident raises several other important questions and issues, such as how close the Boeing 777 got to the mountains, the effort to separate the EVA and Air Canada flights and whether the air traffic controller might have been tired from working late-night shifts. Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman in Los Angeles, said the agencys investigation will look into all aspects of the flight, including air traffic control, the actions of the pilots and the proximity of the EVA jet to Mt. Wilson before correcting its course. Gregor described the incident as highly unusual, but declined to comment further, stating that a personnel matter was involved. A spokesperson for the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. also declined to comment, citing the FAA investigation. EVA officials have said the airline is cooperating with the FAA and that their plane was never too close to the mountains or other aircraft, such as the Air Canada flight. Police from Riverside fanned out across the state this week to arrest three people in connection with a double homicide last year, and one of the suspects was fatally shot by authorities in Fresno County. Deputies with the Fresno County Sheriffs Department as well as the U.S. Marshals Service arrived at a Coalinga home early Wednesday and used a loudspeaker to summon those inside, sheriffs spokesman Tony Botti said. A man with a gun, later identified as Anthony Lovell Eddington II, left the home and began shooting, sparking a gun battle with authorities. Advertisement Eddington, 24, was one of three suspects in the Oct. 23, 2015, slaying of two Guatemalan immigrants in Riverside, more than 250 miles south of Coalinga. Also Wednesday morning, authorities arrested Antoine Deshawn James, 39, in Bakersfield, according to the Riverside Police Department. Abiance Linece Turner, 25, was arrested in San Diego County. Both were booked on a count of murder each, police said. In the Riverside homicides, the two victims Juan Bartolo, 45, and Domingo Esteban, 26 were ambushed while walking near 7th Street and Kansas Avenue in the eastside area of Riverside, police said. A third man was injured in the shooting. Riverside police Sgt. Bill McCoy told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that the three were shot because they were Latino. None was in a gang, police said. These arrests ... will help start the closure process for the victims families and they represent our community members rejection of criminal activity and violence in our neighborhoods, Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz said in announcing the arrests. After Wednesdays shooting in Coalinga, authorities searched the gunmans home and interviewed three other adults and two children who were inside during the gunfire. None of them was injured, and authorities did not say whether any arrests were made. Police also searched six locations in Riverside, Apple Valley and Moreno Valley, during which two people unrelated to the homicides were arrested. T.W. Smith, 34, was booked on suspicion of weapons violations. Richard Stuckey, 30, was booked on suspicion of weapons and parole violations. matt.hamilton@latimes.com Twitter: @MattHjourno. ALSO Suspect in slaying of reality show contestant was allegedly having an affair with her, her sister says Los Angeles sues Boyle Heights recycling center after massive pile of trash burns for 6 weeks Aspiring poker star sentenced to prison for following casino players home and robbing them UPDATES: Dec. 22, 6:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the investigation into a Riverside double-homicide investigation. This article was originally published at 10:00 p.m. on Dec. 21. Planning on traveling through Los Angeles International Airport over the holidays? You might have better luck hitching a ride on Santas sleigh. Airport officials said nearly 230 flights in and out of LAX have been canceled or delayed as the first of two rainstorms caused gridlock for hours and forced authorities to switch flight operations Wednesday and Thursday. UPDATE: Flight delays, gridlock mean long day ahead for LAX travelers Advertisement 1 / 11 Holiday travelers line up for security screenings in Terminal 7 at LAX on Thursday. Airport officials said nearly 230 flights have been either canceled or delayed. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 11 Jetliners line up to park at gates in Terminal 1 at LAX on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 11 A traveler pauses beside a Southwest Airlines sign board showing dozens of flights to be delayed at LAX on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 11 A TSA agent guides holiday travelers through a security checkpoint in Terminal 2 at LAX on Thursday, one of the busiest travel days of the year. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 11 Travelers make their way through a crowded Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Thursday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 11 Holiday travelers line up for security screenings in Terminal 7 at LAX on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 11 Crowds jam security screening lines in Terminal 5 at LAX after unattended baggage was found in a restroom on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 11 A police canine team sweeps through Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport. Police responded to the discovery of several suspicious packages in three separate terminals on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 11 Traffic outside Terminal 5 at LAX backs up after unattended baggage was found in a restroom on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 11 Security screening lines in Terminal 5 at LAX back up after unattended baggage was found in a restroom on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 11 A heavily armed police officer stands guard at Los Angeles International Airport, where security personnel responded to the discovery of several suspicious paackages on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) Instead of flying west toward the ocean, planes were forced to head east over urban areas because of high winds, airport spokeswoman Mary Grady said. The switch, she said, slows things down. More than 400 flights in and out of LAX were delayed or canceled from noon to 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Grady said. Of those, 123 departing flights were delayed, and 17 departing flights were canceled. Airport officials said Friday morning that in the time period from 12:01 a.m. to noon Friday, 54 departing flights were expected to be delayed and two departing flights were canceled. More than 120 arriving flights were delayed or canceled, officials said. The delays and cancellations were partly attributed to snow and rain across the nation, which caused a ripple effect for air travelers. Amid the delays, LAX officials warned that terminals were packed with holiday travelers. The airport is at capacity, Grady said. As passengers flock to the airport, more equipment has been brought in to help with inspections. Daily takeoffs also increased from 1,750 to 1,900. And if that wasnt enough, lost and forgotten luggage is causing major disruptions. On Wednesday, police evacuated passengers from three terminals after an unattended package was found. As the day went on, it started to back up, Grady said. Any time unattended baggage is spotted, airport workers are required to report it to police, Grady said. That triggers a massive response, including bomb-sniffing dogs, she said. In the rush of the holidays, its easy to misplace items, Grady said. She asked passengers to keep their possessions close and make sure their baggage is with them at all times. Rain and snow in other parts of the country, she said, also are slowing operations in Los Angeles. Heavy snow in Colorado forced some airlines to cancel flights. Cancellations and delays also have affected travel in Chicago. But travelers can avoid headaches, she said, if they plan ahead. She advised passengers to check the status of their flights before they head to the airport. They also should monitor weather or delays at their intended destinations. And dont forget to use same tips and plan ahead on Jan. 2 and 3 those are the airports busiest days. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO Truck plows through Thousand Oaks home, killing holiday guest Rainy weather causes havoc on L.A. roads ahead of peak holiday travel Mothers who lose not one, but two children to violence: Why him, why us, why me? UPDATES: Dec. 23, 10:20 a.m.: This article was updated with newly released figures on anticipated delays. 8:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional figures on Fridays delays and cancellations. This article was originally published at 10:20 a.m. Dec. 22. Opponents of Measure S, an initiative that would block some large-scale real estate development in Los Angeles, have been accused in a lawsuit of submitting inaccurate statements for a city voter guide. L.A. resident Grace Yoo, in the suit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, said the ballot information cited independent economic studies showing lost jobs and tax revenue if Measure S were to pass. However, according to the lawsuit, the overwhelmingly critical Beacon Economics study was paid for by Measure S opponents. Advertisement The initiative would place a two-year moratorium on construction projects needing special exemptions to city planning and zoning rules. As a result, the lawsuit also objects to including statements in the voter guide that are based on a 10-year moratorium. Supporters contend Measure S is needed to crack down on mega-developments that have hurt the citys quality of life and increased traffic. Opponents say the measure would worsen L.A.s housing shortage and hurt the economy. The guide, which will be mailed to voters ahead of the March 7 election, includes arguments from both Measure S supporters and opponents. The Coalition to Preserve L.A., which is spearheading the measure, has raised more than $1.4 million, according to its September campaign filings. Nearly all of that money has come from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which sued the city earlier this year over the approval of the Palladium Residences a project planned next door to its Hollywood headquarters. Yoos lawsuit is being paid for by the coalition, a spokeswoman said. The Coalition to Protect L.A. Neighborhoods and Jobs, which opposes Measure S, has raised at least $975,000, with major funding coming from two developers. Unions and homeless advocates also oppose the measure. Spokesman Josh Kamensky said his groups understanding of the ballot initiative leads them to believe that its restrictions could last longer than two years. Kamensky called Beacon an independent firm and said the coalition commissioned the study but did not direct it. Mayra Puchalski, assistant chief in the citys election division, said that the voter pamphlet is set to go to the printer by Jan. 6 and that the city does not fact-check arguments submitted for it. We ask that the authors of the argument attest to the information being correct, Puchalski said. dakota.smith@latimes.com @dakotacdsmith Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered condolences over the death of Russias Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone conversation and expressed readiness to step up cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism, the Kremlin press service said on Wednesday. "Israels prime minister on behalf of himself and all the Israelis offered deep condolences over the tragic death of Russias Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov and strongly condemned the crime, expressing readiness to intensify cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism," the press service said in a statement, noting that the phone call was made by the Israeli head of government, TASS reported. Besides, Putin and Netanyahu discussed some topical international issues, the press service said. Russias ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was gunned down on December 19 as he was speaking at the opening of a photo exhibition 'Russia from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka through a Travelers Eyes'. The Turkish authorities identified the attacker as former police officer Mevlut Mert Altyntash. He was promptly eliminated by the local security forces. The attacker had injured three other persons. The Russian Foreign Ministry has qualified the attack as an act of terrorism. A 46-year-old man pleaded guilty to murdering three people and trying to kill a fourth in a 2014 shooting rampage in Pasadena, authorities said Thursday. John Izeal Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of second-degree murder, attempted murder and assault with an assault weapon on a peace officer, according to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office. Prosecutors said that in July 2014, Smith got into a fight with 59-year-old Maria Aguiar, grabbed an assault rifle and opened fire on Aguiar and her father, Luis Aguiar, killing both. Advertisement Smith then turned to neighbors and killed a third person, Jose Hernandez Iribe, according to the district attorneys office. Shortly afterward, Smith barricaded himself inside a home on the 1700 block of North Summit Avenue and called police. He shot at multiple people, including a Pasadena police officer. Nobody was injured. Smith later surrendered and was arrested. He faces a sentence of 181 years to life in state prison. sarah.parvini@latimes.com For more California news follow me on Twitter: @sarahparvini ALSO Border Patrol agent nabbed in undercover drug sting is granted bail Man bludgeoned former reality show contestant to death with hammer, prosecutors say Wrestling star Chyna died from mix of alcohol and drugs, autopsy report finds A man was charged on Thursday with killing a nurse and former reality show contestant with a hammer, then burying her body at his familys home in Lennox. Jackie Jerome Rogers, 34, is charged with one count of murder in the death of Lisa Marie Naegle, who went missing Sunday after a birthday party, according to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office. If convicted, Rogers could face 26 years to life in state prison. Advertisement Prosecutors allege that Rogers bludgeoned Naegle to death with a hammer on Sunday. Rogers later gave investigators information that led them to believe Naegle had been slain, according to police. When detectives went to his familys home in the 5000 block of West 106th Street on Tuesday, they found Naegles body in a shallow grave. Rogers, a nursing student of Naegles at West Los Angeles College, is being held in lieu of $2-million bail. Naegle, who appeared on the E! reality show Bridalplasty, went missing after attending a party at the Alpine Village restaurant in Torrance on Saturday night. She called her husband about 2:30 a.m. Sunday and said she would be grabbing food on her way home. She never made it home and didnt show up to teach nursing classes that day. Naegle was reported missing Monday after her family spoke with Rogers and noticed inconsistencies in his story. Her sister, Danielle Naegle-Kaimona, told KABC-TV news that her family had obtained surveillance video that showed Naegle entering Rogers black SUV after the party. The family also had photographs of the pair at the party and security camera images of them at a gas station, the TV station reported. When they confronted Rogers seeking information about Naegles whereabouts, he denied having left with her or taking her home, Naegle-Kaimona said. Rogers later admitted to police that he changed his story because he and Naegle, who was married, were having an affair, Naegle-Kaimona told KABC. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO Wrestling star Chyna died from mix of alcohol and drugs, autopsy report finds Truck plows through Thousand Oaks home, killing holiday guest Holiday nightmare: More than 200 flights canceled or delayed at jam-packed LAX A man visiting family in Thousand Oaks was killed early Thursday after a truck drove through the back of a home, authorities said. The crash occurred around 2 a.m. in the 2000 block of Briarwood Place, according to the Ventura County Sheriffs Office. The operator of the truck was driving in a cul-de-sac and did not stop. After the truck left the roadway, it crashed through a fence, sped down a ravine, plowed through the homes wall and into a bedroom. The 74-year-old man sleeping at the time he was struck and killed, authorities said. Advertisement There was nobody else in the room, but other family members were in the house, said Ventura County sheriffs Capt. Romano Bassi. He was visiting family for the holidays. The 19-year-old driver was taken into custody. Authorities are investigating whether he had been drinking. sarah.parvini@latimes.com For more California news follow me on Twitter: @sarahparvini ALSO Holiday nightmare: More than 200 flights canceled or delayed at jam-packed LAX During search for Riverside double-murder suspect, Fresno deputies fatally shoot man in gun battle Mothers who lose not one, but two children to violence: Why him, why us, why me? Susan Wolfe-Devol, the first woman to become a Lutheran pastor in Orange County and a hard-driving advocate for inclusion and social justice in the church and its ministry, has died at the age of 61. Wolfe-Devol died Dec. 16 in Ventura after a brief illness, her husband said. For years, Wolfe-Devol was among those in the Lutheran church who reached out to the LGBT community and helped clear the way for the 2009 vote by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that permitted gay and lesbian clergy to openly marry and continue to serve in the church. Advertisement Wolfe-Devol served as an associate pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Santa Ana from 1985 to 1990, becoming Orange Countys first female Lutheran minister. She later served as an associate pastor at Angelica Lutheran Church in the Pico-Union District in Los Angeles. By the time she arrived at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, where she was pastor for 13 years, she had emerged as a leading voice of inclusion and making the LGBT community feel welcome at the church bringing your entire self to church, as one congregant put it. Morgan Rumpf, a congregation president at the church for years, recalled St. Matthews being the church of broken toys in the early 2000s, a place that welcomed the marginalized, the misunderstood, the castoffs and the spiritually broken. She spoke for those whod been pushed to the sidelines, said Richard Gasparotti, who also served as a congregational president at St. Matthews. He said Wolfe-Devol was someone able to harness the electricity that the churchs widely diverse congregation seemed to exude. When Rumpf and Gasparotti were married in 2008, during the brief window before Proposition 8 again banned the right of same-sex couples to marry in California, Wolfe-Devol helped them write their commitments, presided at their wedding and then offered encouragement when the legal validity of their marriage seemed in doubt until the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2015. Sue was a huge, straight-out ally for the LGBT, long before it became fashionable, Gasparotti said. She reminded us that we were married in the eyes of God and that it mattered less what the state of California thought. She spoke for those whod been pushed to the sidelines. Richard Gasparotti, congregant Wolfe-Devols resolve to crusade for gays and lesbians may have been born years earlier when she got to know a closeted gay man who, despite his compromised existence, was an early champion of womens rights, said Keith Banwart, pastor at St. Matthews of Glendale. Born in Ventura on May 30, 1955, Wolfe-Devol earned a degree in sociology at UC Berkeley and a master of divinity degree at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Iowa. She served an internship at an all-black congregation in Detroit, an apprenticeship that her husband Steven a copy editor at the Los Angeles Times said cemented her passion for the ministry and shaped her sense of social justice. Those who worked with her, and those who sat in the pews and absorbed the words of her sermons, said she radiated compassion and humor. One congregant, who posted her thoughts on CaringBridge a website devoted to those fighting an illness, said she was a fully-developed atheist until she was welcomed into St. Matthews. Wolfe-Devol, she said, won her over immediately when she dropped an F-bomb when they first met, and then blushed. I knew she actually cared about me when she took me to lunch after having just met me and divulged some of her saddest secrets, moments that had tested her faith, Alissa Davis wrote. Banwart said he last saw Wolfe-Devol in the spring when she showed up at his church for Easter services. Keeping a tradition theyd followed for years, they met up the next day at the Abbey in West Hollywood for clergy cocktails. Despite the health setbacks shed endured, he said he was struck by her undiminished sense of humor. Wolfe-Devol is survived by her husband; a son, Pierce; her mother, Elizabeth; a brother, Ben; a sister, Connie; and three nieces and nephews. steve.marble@latimes.com Twitter: @stephenmarble By removing a single word from legislation governing the military, Congress has laid the groundwork for both a major shift in U.S. nuclear defense doctrine and a costly effort to field space-based weaponry. Experts say the changes, approved by overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate, could aggravate tensions with Russia and China and prompt a renewed nuclear arms race. The bill awaits action by President Obama. The White House has not said what he will do. For decades, Americas defense against nuclear attack has rested on twin pillars: The nations homeland missile defense system is designed to thwart a small-scale, or limited, attack by the likes of North Korea or Iran. As for the threat of a large-scale strike by China or Russia, the prospect of massive U.S. retaliation is supposed to deter both from ever launching missiles. Advertisement Central to this strategy was a one-word qualifier limited -- used to define the mission of the homeland defense system. The language was carefully crafted to avoid reigniting an arms race among the superpowers. Now, with virtually no public debate, bipartisan majorities in Congress have removed the word limited from the nations missile defense policy. They did so in giving final approval over the last month to the year-end defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. A related provision of the law calls for the Pentagon to start research, development, test and evaluation of space-based systems for missile defense. A space-based defense program would hinge on annual congressional appropriations and decisions by the incoming Trump administration. Yet both proponents and opponents say the policy changes have momentous implications. These amendments were historic in nature given the paradigm shift forward that they represent, said Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), who introduced and shepherded the amendments in the House. Leading defense scientists said the idea that a space-based system could provide security against nuclear attack is a fantasy. It defies the laws of physics and is not based on science of any kind, said L. David Montague, a retired president of missile systems for Lockheed Corp. and co-chair of a National Academy of Sciences panel that studied missile defense technologies at the request of Congress. Even if we darken the sky with hundreds or thousands of satellites and interceptors, theres no way to ensure against a dedicated attack, Montague said in an interview. So its an opportunity to waste a prodigious amount of money. He called the provisions passed by Congress insanity, pure and simple. The National Academy study, released in 2012, concluded that even a bare-bones space-based missile defense system would cost about $200 billion to put in place, and hundreds of billions to operate in subsequent years. Franks, asked whether the country could afford it, replied: What is national security worth? Its priceless. Philip E. Coyle III, a former assistant secretary of Defense who headed the Pentagon office responsible for testing and evaluating weapon systems, described the notion of a space-based nuclear shield as a sham. To do this would cost just gazillions and gazillions. The technology isnt at hand nor is the money. Philip E. Coyle III, former assistant secretary of Defense To do this would cost just gazillions and gazillions, Coyle said. The technology isnt at hand nor is the money. Its unfortunate from my point of view that the Congress doesnt see that. He added: Both Russia and China will use it as an excuse to do something that they want to do. The word limited has guided U.S. policy since the National Missile Defense Act of 1999. The qualifier reflects, in part, the reality that intercepting and destroying incoming warheads is supremely difficult, and that it would be impractical to field enough interceptors to counter a large-scale attack. Any such system, by its very nature, would be limited. The current homeland anti-missile system the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD relies on interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Ft. Greely, Alaska. In flight tests, the system, which has cost taxpayers more than $40 billion, has managed to destroy mock enemy warheads only about half the time. Military officials estimate that, in the event of an attack, the U.S. would have to fire four or five interceptors for every incoming warhead. As a result, the systems arsenal of 34 operational interceptors could be rapidly depleted. The 1999 law threaded the needle between defending against a potential North Korean or Iranian threat and not rocking the boat too much with Russia and China, said Laura Grego, a physicist who led a recent study of GMD for the Union of Concerned Scientists. So just trashing that without a real substantive discussion is, I think, shameful, Grego said. Franks said in an interview that he drew inspiration from President Reagans Strategic Defense Initiative of the 1980s, which was intended to use lasers and other space-based weaponry to render nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete. Known as Star Wars, the initiative cost taxpayers $30 billion, but no system was ever deployed. Franks said that by striking the word limited from the homeland defense systems mission, and at the same time pursuing a space-based system, the U.S. is on a path to better safeguard its security. He said the new approach would protect both U.S. territory and surveillance satellites. I hope that the day will come when we could have solid-state lasers in space that can defeat any missile attack, said Franks, who represents suburbs north and west of Phoenix. That day is a long ways off. But fortunately, its a little closer, and a little more certain, with the passage of these amendments. The new policy he championed says America should maintain and improve a robust layered missile defense system capable of defending the territory of the United States and its allies against the developing and increasingly complex ballistic missile threat. Franks suggested that Americans have no reason to fear a space-based arms race with China or Russia. He also said he had been surprised by the absence of Democratic opposition to his proposals. The first of his amendments to eliminate limited from U.S. policy was approved in April by the House Armed Services Committee with no debate and without a recorded roll-call vote. At a committee hearing May 17, a senior Democrat on the panel, Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, offered mild protest. I think it was a mistake to mandate a poorly thought out, unaffordable and unrealistic missile defense policy, including plans for a space-based missile deterrent, Cooper said. But neither Cooper nor any other House Democrat sought to overturn the provisions, and he was among those who voted to pass the overall bill the next day. Im a little stunned that we didnt get more profile on it, Franks said. Thats fine with me, because that may have made my job easier. Franks Republican partner on the legislation, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, enjoyed a similarly smooth path. Deliberations of the Senate Armed Services Committee were closed, forestalling public debate. The legislation was approved by a roll call vote of 16-10, with two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Tim Kaine of Virginia, the partys eventual vice presidential nominee, joining the Republican majority. In June, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sought to restore limited, saying that the change in U.S. policy would create the impetus for a new arms race with Russia and China. Markey offered an amendment on the Senate floor but could not muster enough support to bring it to vote. The same month, the Obama administration criticized the changes in the Senate bill, saying it strongly objects to removing limited and to placing anti-missile weaponry in space. The statement stopped short of threatening a veto. The policy changes were greeted with opposition from another quarter as well. At a congressional hearing in April, Franks pressed Vice Adm. James D. Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, for his stance on expanding U.S. capability into space. Syring pushed back. I have serious concerns about the technical feasibility of the interceptors in space and I have serious concerns about the long-term affordability of a program like that, he said. david.willman@latimes.com Twitter: @DWillmanNews MORE ON MISSILE DEFENSE A flawed system generates $2 billion in bonuses for Boeing A test of the homeland missile defense system found a problem. Why did the Pentagon call it a success? Missile defense system is simply unable to protect the public. California and the U.S. Department of Education are in a standoff about testing again. The state education department is introducing new science tests to go with its updated science curriculum, and it doesnt want to administer the old exams while it road-tests the new ones. Federal officials withheld their permission, but the state appears set to go its own way. It all sounds so familiar. For all the apprehension in Sacramento about Donald Trump as president, state officials have long bumped heads with the Obama administration on the education front. California couldnt get a waiver from No Child Left Behind because state officials refused to make students scores on standardized tests a significant part of teacher evaluations, as the feds demanded. Smart move; the federal policy was based on little to no evidence that it improves education. Then California wanted to introduce its new tests for math and English, aligned with the Common Core curriculum, and eliminate the old tests, which no longer fit with what the state was teaching. It didnt want to hold schools accountable for the results on the new tests, though, because both the curriculum and tests were in a transition phase. The Obama administration said no. California said it was going ahead anyway. Federal officials did some saber-rattling about withholding funding but caved in the end. Advertisement Now, in a nearly identical move, the state wants to give the new science tests, dump the old ones and not hold schools responsible for the results until everyone gets used to the new curriculum and exams. The U.S. Department of Education rejected the proposal, saying if California wont report scores for the new tests, it has to give the old tests as well. Once again, the state is right: It shouldnt test something it isnt teaching anymore. And it shouldnt be pushed to double-test; schools are supposed to be eliminating duplicative tests. California isnt budging, and this time, it has an odd wind at its back: Republicans, who have vehemently opposed the strong federal oversight of schools that the Obama administration championed. It remains to be seen whether Trumps nominee for Education secretary, Betsy DeVos whos been a vocal critic of Common Core since her appointment will be more hands-off. But state officials clearly figure they have nothing to lose by stalling. The federal government is missing the forest for the trees here. Its big concern shouldnt be how the state transitions to a new test, but whether California ever will produce an accountability system that informs the public about how individual schools are performing. The confusing, color-code grid that the state has drawn up seems designed to obfuscate more than hold schools responsible. No matter how much power Republicans might want to return to states, basic accountability is a bedrock of the new federal school law. It should not be abandoned. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook In its 1944 decision in Korematsu vs. United States, the Supreme Court upheld a wartime order sending Americans of Japanese racial ancestry to internment camps. To some, the decision belongs to a closed chapter of the past. After all, in 1984, the U.S. District Court in San Francisco set aside Fred T. Korematsus conviction for flouting the incarceration order, and four years later, Congress authorized reparations a $20,000 payment to each survivor of the internment. Yet the court has never overruled Korematsu, and in the words of dissenting Justice Robert Jackson, its underlying principle lies about like a loaded weapon. It would be nice to think the roundup of Japanese Americans was a special case, limited to the desperate days of World War II. It would be comforting to conclude that discriminatory exclusion or incarceration could never happen again. But Korematsu was not a one-off. Hostility to Asians and suspicion that they are not quite fully American has never entirely disappeared. Korematsu and other cases upholding other discriminatory laws designed to suppress Asian participation in the U.S. provide frighteningly solid reasons to fear that our government has the power to trample the basic rights of immigrants and citizens all over again. Advertisement Conservative justices have continued to cite Korematsu in support of racial bias. Japanese internment was just one component of a system of anti-Asian federal and state laws. The Naturalization Act of 1790, signed by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, limited naturalized citizenship to free white persons. In 1882, Congress specifically restricted Asian immigration with the Chinese Exclusion Act. The government extended the policy to Japanese, Asian Indians and other Asian races as soon as they began to immigrate in significant numbers. The effects of these laws reverberate today because they successfully restricted the growth of Asian communities. For centuries, more than half the worlds people have lived in Asia, but in this nation of immigrants fewer than 6% of Americans are of Asian ancestry. Asians received equal naturalization privileges only in 1952, equal treatment in immigration in 1965. States piggybacked on federal restrictions targeting Asians. California, among others, prohibited Chinese and Japanese and other Asians from owning land and marrying whites. Implemented in peacetime, none of these policies could be justified by the need to win a war. The explanation, instead, was a supposedly fundamental connection between European racial heritage and suitability for American citizenship. In the 1882 debate over the Chinese Exclusion Act, Sen. La Fayette Grover of Oregon, pointed out that the founding fathers treatment of Native Americans must be construed as fixing a limit to the meaning of their public declarations upon the rights of man. When they declared that all men were created equal, and were endowed with the inalienable right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they undoubtedly meant all men like themselves. For its part, the Supreme Court accepted the baldly bigoted conclusion of Congress that Asians could be excluded from the country because the presence of foreigners of a different race in this country was dangerous to its peace and security. There has been undeniable progress toward racial equality since the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Korematsu decision. To some degree, the Korematsu ruling itself has been rehabilitated. Although the majority opinion allowed the internment, it also stated that all legal restrictions which curtail the civil rights of a single racial group are immediately suspect and courts must subject them to the most rigid scrutiny. The Supreme Court later used this language to invalidate school segregation, the prohibition of interracial marriage, and covenants that barred nonwhites from certain neighborhoods. Yet conservative justices have continued to cite Korematsu in support of racial bias as well. Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, for example, cited it in affirmative action cases to illustrate permissible racial discrimination. And the idea behind it, that Americans of Asian Pacific ancestry are somehow not fully American, also persists. U.S. citizens of Asian ancestry such as Wen Ho Lee and Sherry Chen seem to have been very quickly too quickly charged with espionage based on inadequate investigations. After a stranger on the street told then-New York Times editor Michael Luo to go back to China, he wrote about it, and countless Asian Americans added their stories of racial insults and violence. Asian Americans of Muslim faith (or who are suspected of such) have particular reason for concern. In a November 2015 radio interview with Donald Trump, incoming White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon seemingly embraced the connection between race and Americanness, and about the difference of Asians. Trump decried the fact that educated foreign students often were forced to leave the United States; Bannon demurred. 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 suggestively and citing bogus statistics suggesting an invasion when none existed. A country is more than an economy. Were a civic society. It is hard not to read civic society as a euphemism for the belief America is a white nation. And it is hard to regard the venerable tradition represented by Korematsu vs. the United States as a thing of the past. Gabriel J. Chin is a professor at the UC Davis School of Law. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Does America have a religion? It seems a strange question to ask. Some Americans have one religion, others another; many have none at all. If there is one conviction about religion that nearly all Americans share, it is that religion is a private matter that each of us is free to arrange as he or she thinks best. But our shared commitment to the separation of church and state can hardly be called a religion itself. That government should stay out of religion, and religion out of government, is a principle as deeply entrenched in the American way of life as that of free expression, to which it is closely allied. Like others, I hold the principle dear. But I also have great sympathy for those who long for an America whose citizens are joined by more than rights and duties or shared material ends. And I believe this is not an empty dream that America is, in fact, already held together by a common spiritual ideal, though it is not always recognized as such. Walt Whitman described this ideal in his 1871 essay Democratic Vistas. A fervent democrat, Whitman believed in government of, by and for the people. He was also a fierce champion of diversity. Advertisement But the diversity that Whitman loved was not the group-based kind we think of today. It was the endless diversity of individuals that Whitman revered. Indeed, revered is too weak a word to describe Whitmans awestruck wonder at the uniqueness of every individual he encountered, from the pimply prostitute plying her trade on the streets to the president and his Cabinet in their stately gatherings. In each of these he saw an infinitely complex human being like no other on Earth. The deepest truth, according to Whitman, is that we are all expressions of the one everlasting God of the world. Whitman also believed that every individual makes a singular contribution to the story of the world and thereby shares, in a limited way, in the eternity of the world. He had a single word to express all these convictions. He insisted that every individual is divine. We rarely see the divinity in others, or even in ourselves. But the deepest truth, according to Whitman, is that we are all expressions of the one everlasting God of the world. The true end of American democracy, he declared, is to establish a system of laws, which treat all of us alike, so that we have the freedom and security to begin to explore the divine diversity that sets us apart, not group by group, but individual by individual. The attainment of this higher goal lies in the distant future, beyond democracy and equality, beyond the rule of law and the principle of tolerance. But it is something even better than all of these. Whitman called it Americas religious ideal. Whitmans use of that word is bound to strike some as strange. For most Americans, religion means the Abrahamic faiths. These all rest on the belief that the world was created from nothing by a God beyond the world and time. From this perspective, the greatest heresy imaginable is the claim that the world itself is eternal. But this is just what Whitman believed. Unlike many atheists, Whitman was convinced that we are awash in a sea of divinity. But unlike every Christian, Jew and Muslim, he also believed that the eternity that resides in even the least conspicuous corner of the world is not the gift of a God beyond it, but the worlds own possession indeed, that world and God are two different words for the very same thing. Although Whitmans religion has sometimes been described as a form of pantheism, his reverence for the individual has no counterpart in the pantheistic philosophies of pagan antiquity, or those of the East for that matter. It is the bequest the afterglow of Abrahamic belief, which first conferred on the individuality of every man and woman the infinite value that Whitman assigns it. A better name for his religion would be born-again paganism: a reaffirmation of the unity of God and the world, enriched by the central teaching of the three creationist religions that insist so vehemently on their separation. Born-again paganism gives spiritual depth to Americas culture of individualism. It explains our reverence for diversity in a way that avoids the worst excesses of identity politics. And it gives us a God that is magnified, not threatened, by the restless drive to explain all things that is such a striking feature of our national character. In these respects, born-again paganism suits us well. It is the right religion for America. No one can be compelled to embrace it, of course, but those who do may find it easier to see that, despite our proud commitment to the separation of church and state, we are one nation under God after all. Anthony T. Kronman is Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He is the author of Confessions of a Born-Again Pagan. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook President Obamas announcement this that hes banning offshore oil and gas drilling in 125 million acres of federal waters in the Arctic Ocean and 3.8 million acres in the Atlantic came as good news on the eve of the drill everywhere ethos of the Trump administration. But Obamas proclamation didnt go far enough he should have followed the requests of West Coast elected officials and ruled the Pacific out of bounds as well. And he should have curtailed new wells in federal Gulf of Mexico waters too. Its unclear why Obama limited his action, significant as it is, to the Chukchi Sea and a large portion of the Beaufort Sea, and to submerged canyons between Virginia and New England. A White House spokesman declined to discuss why the Pacific wasnt included, and environmental activists say they havent received clear word from the administration. There is some speculation that because Big Oil hasnt had its eyes on the West Coast recently (there have been no new leases in three decades, and no leases are available in the federal 2017-2022 drilling plan), there was little risk to protect it from, and that Obama chose to invoke the rarely used 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in as limited a way as possible. If so, as a strategy, closing off the Arctic and portions of the Atlantic could lead the oil-and-gas industry to look more closely at new operations off the West Coast. So, thanks, Obama. Advertisement The nation the world needs to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources as quickly as possible ... But even if the oil industry remains uninterested in the Pacific for the time being, sealing those federal waters off from future drilling would have amplified for the incoming administration that West Coast states dont want offshore wells. Its unclear how permanent Obamas permanent ban can be. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows a president to withdraw land from leasing consideration, but doesnt define how a president may restore withdrawn lands, setting the stage for legal battles should the Trump administration try to undo Obamas action. And that seems likely, given the climate change skeptics in the president-elects still-forming administration, and his own pronouncements about wanting to open more federal land to fossil fuel exploitation. To be sure, the steps Obama took were good ones. He spoke of the unusual and fragile natures of the Arctic ecosystem and the bio-rich Atlantic canyons, the latter adjacent to his recently designated 4,913-square-mile Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument southeast of Cape Cod. But Californias coast is no slouch of a natural resource either, and the 1969 Santa Barbara spill showed the nation how disastrous and difficult an offshore leak can be. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico reinforced the message. Beyond the environmental risk of spills, though, the nation the world needs to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources as quickly as possible if it is to stave off the worst of climate change repercussions from global warming. Despite the scoffing from Trump appointees, it is a real phenomenon and we are already experiencing some of the effects, from the shrinking Arctic ice cap and glaciers to shifting and more intense weather patterns to changes in species ranges, habitats, life cycles and accelerated extinctions. Obviously, we still are reliant on oil and shutting off the tap now would be disastrous economically. But if were to move away from petroleum in significant measures and at sufficient speed, we need to rely in part on market forces. If we buy the argument that costs affect consumption, making fossil fuels more expensive and renewables less expensive will hasten the transition and, with perseverance, perhaps stave off an epochal catastrophe. Scott.Martelle@LATimes.com Follow my posts and re-tweets at @smartelle on Twitter To the editor: Most data demonstrate that the work-hour rules that resulted from the unfortunate Libby Zion case in New York (she died under the care of overworked residents) have actually caused more handoff-related harm from supposedly better-rested residents. (Young doctors could work 28 hours straight under new plan, despite possible dangers, Dec. 16) Our profession reacted to external forces (including the media) and strictly limited resident shifts without the scientific data to support its decisions. This has weakened the skills of our younger physicians, especially those in surgical specialties. As an obstetrician who has been available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for more than three decades, I ask patients whether they would prefer a doctor who is available when needed or one who punches a clock. If doctors are not expected to learn and think when fatigued during their residencies, society has to accept physicians working shifts who are more likely to miss something during a handoff. Advertisement Howard C. Mandel, MD, Los Angeles .. To the editor: As a physician who has worked far too many 24-hour shifts over 35 years, I can see both sides of the issue. When one has worked all night and then starts a surgery, it is almost impossible to walk out of the operating room when your 24-hour shift is over and abandon the patient you have followed day and night. However, nowadays one must know how to just say no and let the fresh doctor take over. Its tough to do, but better for the patient. Michael L. Friedman, MD, Torrance Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook No break has been registered in dialogue between Russia and the United States despite significant differences, State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a short message sent to the TASS office in the US capital on Wednesday, written as a reply to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskovs words that a bilateral dialogue of Moscow and Washington was in a frozen state. "Its difficult to know exactly what is meant by this comment, but diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues," Kirby wrote. "That we have significant differences with Moscow on some of these issues is well known, but there hasnt been a break in dialogue. Indeed, as we noted, Secretary Kerry spoke by phone with Foreign Minister Lavrov just yesterday about the situation in Syria," he added. Earlier, Peskov said in an interview with the Mir TV channel, "All levels of dialogue with the Unites States remain in a frozen state. We do not communicate or do it minimally." He said that Russia "pins certain hopes on new, fresher and more constructive approaches coming from the new administration" led by Donald Trump, who is to be sworn in on January 20. "We have no idea yet what kind of approaches are going to emerge. We have no idea what kind of president Trump is going to become. We have no idea what his future policy towards Russia will be like." "We have never suffered from excessive optimism and have never worn rose-colored glasses. We realize perfectly that any US president will safeguard his countrys interests and we also proceed from the fact that President Putin acts, primarily and always, in his countrys interests," Peskov emphasized. To the editor: Its quite clear by now that Republicans want to push the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, over a cliff while promising to build an airplane on the way down. (The risky GOP push to repeal Obamacare with no backup plan, editorial, Dec. 20) They want to change Medicare into Obamacare, and in the process they want to cut $346 billion in taxes over 10 years for the wealthiest Americans. What could be done instead is to permit Medicare to negotiate for drug prices, extend Medicare to those 55 years of age and develop a public option that can effectively compete with for-profit insurance companies. So its up to California to once again lead the nation. California can defend and build on the achievements of Obamacare by first stabilizing the private insurance market and preventing millions from losing their coverage, before moving to having our own statewide public option leading to our own public universal health insurance plan. Californias economic power is bigger than that of France, which provides healthcare coverage for all people living there. We can do this. Advertisement Stephen Tarzynski, MD, Santa Monica .. To the editor: Obamacare must be repealed. For-profit healthcare has burdened us with ever-increasing prices. Congress has the ability to control healthcare costs, but its members would have to sacrifice campaign contributions from corporate America. The Republicans have no viable plan, but House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) stated correctly that Obamacare has done damage to our healthcare system and families. What is the remedy? Price controls in a government-sponsored healthcare public utility, as was done in the last century for power, telephones, trains, water and sanitation. The public must be empowered to demand this change and end our healthcare systems attack on on all of us, which must start with the repeal of Obamacare. Jerome P. Helman, MD, Venice .. To the editor: The Times lays out the many pitfalls of the Republicans plan, but it leaves out a major benefit of the current law: the out-of-pocket maximum protection, which caps the amount you are required to pay before you are covered 100%. Before the Affordable Care Act, you might have had a split of, say, 70%-30%. If you had a catastrophic illness and racked up $500,000 in bills, you would be required to pay about $150,000. This was bankrupting folks who worked and paid their premiums. Republicans must realize that once they touch Obamacare, they own it. There will be no excuses or spin if it is not as terrific as they are promising. Dan OMara, Agoura Hills .. To the editor: I hate to assume ill will, but in this case I believe its warranted. The only reforms to the healthcare system Republicans ever pushed for are selling insurance across state lines, putting caps on lawsuits against doctors, eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood and privatizing Medicare. They dont want to reduce drug prices, they fought like crazy to avoid expanding Medicaid, they mocked the first ladys efforts to improve childhood nutrition, they filed lawsuit after lawsuit to kill the Affordable Care Act, and six years after it became law, they have no real replacement strategy. The Republicans have paid no political price for their actions. Why would anyone imagine they care enough to figure out a solution to the repeal fallout? Joanne Zirretta, Aliso Viejo Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook If Democrats had made a different choice in the primaries last spring, Bernie Sanders would be assembling his Cabinet right now. A reading of voting patterns in the presidential election suggests that the Vermont senator would have beaten Donald Trump. Trump won the election by prevailing in the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that, together, gave him 46 electoral votes. In Michigan, he edged Hillary Clinton by just three-tenths of a percent. In Wisconsin, the margin was eight-tenths. In Pennsylvania there was a slightly larger gap of 1.2%. All three of those states usually lean toward the Democratic candidate. This time around, most working-class white voters many of whom voted for Barack Obama in the last two elections saw Clinton as the incarnation of a political establishment that was indifferent to their struggles. They were won over by Trumps boasts that he would protect American jobs and challenge the influence of Wall Street. Who else in the 2016 campaign made similar promises, with far more conviction? Bernie Sanders, of course. 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) Polls and interviews with voters, both before and after the election, identified a significant overlap between Trump voters and Sanders admirers. Among non-college-educated whites in the old industrial states, many were simply looking for someone to address their concerns and shake things up in Washington. They went with Trump on Nov. 8, but plenty of them would have voted for Sanders if he had been on the ballot. Would it have been enough to tip Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania? Given the small numbers needed, the answer is very likely yes. Now, I have a smart friend who is certain the socialist label would have sunk Bernie in the general election. He believes Americas long antipathy toward the Red Menace (the old red, not the new, conservative red) would have been fully exploited by right-wing commentators and the Trump campaign. Certainly, that would have been the central line of attack. But I argue, with the Soviet menace no more than a memory, the potency of that attack would have been largely limited to a constituency on the right that no Democrat could win anyway. Sanders is not a threatening, alien figure. His socialism was most pronounced in his calls to tax the wealthy at a higher rate and provide free college tuition at state universities two ideas that are hardly radical, given that both were the norm in the America of Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. And it would have been difficult for Trump to condemn Bernies attacks on big corporations and the financial industry since his own rhetoric was infused with a similar populist message. It is now clear, as well, that Sanders would have had another big advantage: He wasnt Hillary. It may be grossly unfair, but 30 years of character assassination from the right took its toll. A big share of voters opted for Trump because they loathed Clinton, or at least the predominant caricature of her. Bill Clinton was a drag on her candidacy, as well. When Trumps lewd comments about women made on video were revealed, the negative reaction was blunted by Trump surrogates who skewed attention toward the sordid past of Hillarys husband. With Bernie, there would have been no Bill and no email controversy, no Benghazi brouhaha and no last-minute letter from the FBI director. Also, no misogyny a disturbing but real factor in Clintons loss. Finally, there was an enthusiasm gap among younger voters who were a key demographic in Obamas victories. They would not have stayed home on election day or wasted their vote on the Green Party candidate if Sanders had been the Democratic Party nominee. Despite his white hair and stooped shoulders, Sanders was adored by a legion of millennials who respected his ideological consistency and responded to his challenge to become part of a movement for change. It would not have taken many votes to produce a different result in three key states. Bernie Sanders could have done it. He would now be president-elect and America would be heading in a very different direction. David.Horsey@latimes.com Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter MORE FROM HORSEY Americans who voted against Trump are feeling unprecedented dread and despair Trump slanders the CIA and tilts America toward Putins Russia Trumps Cabinet will serve corporate interests, not the chumps who voted for him 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 the 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. In his campaign Trump threatened to slap a 45% tariff on all Chinese imports. Advertisement But conservative and liberal economists alike questioned the value of forming another agency in the White House to deal with the harmful effects of trade and globalization, core elements of Trumps economic platform. The government already has an entire agency devoted to trade negotiations, the U.S. Trade Representative, whose offices are less than a block from the White House, as well as two Cabinet departments and two other White House offices with a hand in trade policy. Trumps transition team has indicated that Wilbur Ross, his pick for Commerce secretary, was likely to lead the charge on trade. Traditionally, trade policy has been largely the purview of the Trade Representative, for which Trump has not selected a nominee. The Treasury Department has the role of scrutinizing foreign currency practices, a hot issue in trade especially involving China. Then there are the two White House economic groups, the National Economic Council and the Council of Economic Advisors. I hate the notion of another bureaucracy and another example where the White House is trying to do everything itself, said Derek Scissors, a resident scholar and China expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. It is hard to get things done across the government, and you just created another group to sit at the table and have its own interests. Trumps team, in announcing the new trade office, did not spell out how it would relate to the other agencies. But their statement described the mission of the trade council as advising the president and carrying out initiatives such as the Buy America, Hire America program. Navarro, 67, was one of Trumps early supporters and served as an economic advisor during the campaign, co-writing with Ross the white paper on Trumps economic plan on trade, regulatory and energy policies. Over the last decade, Navarro has come to be known for casting a harsh spotlight on Chinese economics and politics. He is the author Death by China: Confronting the Dragon a Global Call to Action. Although Navarro first met Trump during the campaign this summer, Trump endorsed Navarros 2011 book as well as the film version of his 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 the statement announcing the appointment. He will fulfill an essential role in my administration as a trade advisor. Clyde Prestowitz, a former top trade negotiator in the Reagan administration who knows Navarro and his works, said his selection is a strong signal from Trump that he definitely wants to see a different trade policy. Prestowitz, like a growing number of other trade analysts, has challenged the view that free trade is always a win-win deal. Hes a logical guy for Trump to put on the job. Give the guy a chance, said Prestowitz. Critics of Chinas economic policies have accused Beijing of manipulating the exchange rate of its currency to gain an edge in trade as well as subsidizing Chinese firms, stealing intellectual property and erecting barriers for American and other foreign companies doing business in China. On Wednesday, the Obama administration, through the Trade Representatives office, issued an annual list of prominent markets notorious for counterfeit products and services. The list included Taobao.com, an online marketplace operated by Alibaba Group, which the trade office said was among the 15 most popular websites globally. Alibaba Groups president, Michael Evans, said he was disappointed by the decision and said it leads us to question whether the USTR acted based on the actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate. Trump has cited Chinas policies as a major source of Americas huge trade deficit. The accusation found particular resonance during the campaign in the industrial Midwest and other manufacturing centers in the U.S., which helped Trump get elected. But other economists expressed reservations about Navarro and his positions. Jared Bernstein, former chief economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, credited Navarro for his elevation of the downside of trade [which] brought an important reality missing in the campaign. But his policy ideas seemed uniformly misguided, Bernstein said. His obsession with China seems out of step with whats going on in international economics. Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said he had mixed reactions to the new trade council and Navarros appointment. Were big critics of the Washington trade consensus, Atkinson said of the notion that free trade and globalization are unreservedly good. At the same time, at what point do you start having the U.S. behave like other countries, he said, concerned about Trumps threats for high tariffs and protectionism. Separately, Trump also is naming one of the nations richest men to be a special advisor on issues regarding regulatory reform. Carl Icahn, a veteran of Wall Street who founded his own securities firm, will serve as an outside advisor, Trump said. He will not have a government position or receive a salary. As a result, he will not have to comply with government conflict-of-interest rules the way he would if he had a formal appointment. Icahn, an early Trump supporter, is estimated to be worth more than $16 billion. Trump said a statement that the 80-year-old Icahn, one of the nations leading investors, is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future, especially having to do with finances and economies. Fear of a Trump-triggered recession gives way to hope for short-term economic boost How Trump could use the presidency to help his business interests don.lee@latimes.com Follow me at @dleelatimes ALSO: Reality check: Manufacturers returning to U.S. may mean jobs for robots, not people Why this is the perfect time to invest in infrastructure, and why it probably wont happen Millennials arent big spenders or risk-takers, and thats going to reshape the economy Over a career in elected public office lasting more than 46 years, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has seen campaigns from the rudimentary, family-run effort that first launched him unexpectedly to the U.S. Senate as a 29-year-old to the sophisticated, data-driven juggernaut that helped elect him and Barack Obama twice to the nations highest offices. But rarely has he trusted anything as much as his own gut instinct, attuned to the middle- and working-class sensibilities of his former neighbors in towns like Scranton, Pa., and Claymont, Del. And so as he sat in his office one day in October and watched footage of a Donald Trump rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., not far from his childhood home, Biden sensed trouble. Advertisement Son of a gun. We may lose this election, Biden said, recalling his reaction during an interview in his West Wing office. Theyre all the people I grew up with. Theyre their kids. And theyre not racist. Theyre not sexist. But we didnt talk to them. Theyre all the people I grew up with. Theyre their kids. And theyre not racist. Theyre not sexist. But we didnt talk to them. Joe Biden, vice president Now, as the Democratic Party struggles to understand what went wrong in an election that left them with the least power in state and federal offices in decades, that same instinct leads Biden to offer a diagnosis and a prescription for what he sees as a more successful approach, one which pushes back, if ever-so-gently, against a powerful current in Democratic politics. It begins, in typical Biden fashion, with a reference to family wisdom. My dad used to have an expression. He said, I dont expect the government to solve my problems. But I expect them to understand it, Biden said. I believe that we were not letting an awful lot of people high school-educated, mostly Caucasian, but also people of color know that we understood their problems. Theres a bit of elitism thats crept in to party thinking, he worries, setting up what he sees as the false impression that progressive values are inconsistent with working-class values. What are the arguments were hearing? Well, weve got to be more progressive. Im not saying we should be less progressive, he said, adding that he would stack my progressive credentials against anyone in the party. We should be proud of where the hell we are, and not yield an inch. But, he added, in the meantime, you cant eat equality. You know? He also distinguishes what he describes as the middle-class agenda that President Obama has put forth from the more populist, anti-Wall Street message that helped power Bernie Sanders rise in the Democratic primary. I like Bernie, Biden said, adding he agrees with the Vermont senator on many issues. But I dont think 500 billionaires caused all our problems. :: It was election eve, and Biden had just concluded the last of 83 campaign events he would headline on Hillary Clintons behalf. Something once again didnt feel right. Stepping off the stage after an at-times sentimental appearance in northern Virginia with Sen. Tim Kaine, the man he hoped would succeed him, the vice president shared a nagging concern with aides: Any enthusiasm among the crowd of several thousand was not about the partys presidential nominee. You didnt see any Hillary signs, Biden recalled. Every time I talked about Hillary they listened. But Bidens speech that night mirrors his message to Democrats now. God willing were going to win this, but theres a lot of people who are going to vote for Donald Trump, Biden told the crowd. Weve got to figure out why. What is eating at them? Some of it will be unacceptable. But some of it will be about hard truths about our country and about our economy. A lot of people do feel left out. Speaking weeks later beside a crackling fireplace in his West Wing office, Biden was more blunt. I was trying to be as tactful as I could in making it clear that I thought we constantly made a mistake of not speaking to the fears, aspirations, concerns of middle class people, he said. In the campaign, you didnt hear a word about that husband and wife working, making 100,000 bucks a year, two kids, struggling and scared to death. They used to be our constituency. When Biden considered running himself in 2016, he and his aides envisioned a campaign that would combine the continued popularity of the Obama administration in which hed served with his reputation as a middle class warrior and his affable often blunt persona. In a memo to Bidens vast network of former staff and supporters, a top aide wrote that a Biden campaign would be optimistic, a campaign from the heart and, naturally, it wont be a scripted affair. If Biden entered the race, former Sen. Ted Kaufman wrote in the memo, which quickly became public, it would be because of his burning conviction that we need to fundamentally change the balance in our economy and the political structure to restore the ability of the middle class to get ahead. Biden, of course, did not run. The emotional toll of the death that spring of his eldest son, Beau, made a campaign an impossibility. But the clarity of Kaufmans memo contrasts notably with Bidens critique of Clintons campaign. In the interview, Biden pointed to questions that came even from members of Clintons inner circle, revealed in emails made public by WikiLeaks, about whether the Democratic front-runner had figured out why she was running. I dont think she ever really figured it out, Biden said. And by the way, I think it was really hard for her to decide to run. Clintons decision to run did not reflect raw ambition or a desire to move back to the White House, he said, calling those characterizations of her unfair. Instead, he said, he saw her decision to run as ultimately stemming from a sense of duty and her belief that her victory would have opened up a whole range of new vistas to women in a similar way that Obamas had for African Americans. She thought she had no choice but to run. That, as the first woman who had an opportunity to win the presidency, I think it was a real burden on her, he said. It was one of several times Biden went out of his way to emphasize that he doesnt see Clinton as singularly responsible for the November defeat. It was, rather, the result of a combination of factors that includes the unique candidacy of the president-elect. The core of the Democratic agenda is popular with the American people, Biden said, but was not always communicated effectively to those who would benefit from it. As he said during the campaign, Biden became frustrated with coverage of the race that seemed devoid of substance, based more on documenting an unending series of controversial public statements from Trump that sucked all the oxygen that should have been devoted to issues. Asked about comparisons between his and Trumps freewheeling rhetorical style and economic message, Biden seemed cautious to avoid directly criticizing the president-elect. I think theres a difference between authenticity and , he said before pausing to choose his words carefully. I dont think Ive ever said anything that I didnt believe. Now maybe I shouldnt have said it. But I believed it. What he more clearly disputes is the notion that Trump was any more successful than Clinton in offering both empathy and hope to economically distressed Americans. I dont think he understands working-class or middle-class people, Biden said. He at least acknowledged the pain. But he played to the prejudice. He played to the fear. He played to the desperation. There was nothing positive that I ascertained when he spoke to these folks that was uplifting. :: The partys defeat leaves the Democrats without a clear leader. But Biden says hes not going anywhere, which he means literally and figuratively. Like Obama, he is planning to live in Washington, at least part time, after moving out of the vice presidents residence on Jan. 20. The presence of both the former president and the former vice president in the capital will be historically unusual. But Bidens decision to remain nearby is, like many hes made in his political career, largely driven by family. His wife, for one, will continue teaching at a community college in Virginia. Still, the decision to live even part time in the nations capital will give him proximity to the unfolding Trump administration and the decision-makers and media figures interacting with it. And it will allow him to continue stoking the political fires he seems to revel in the notion that he might be fit enough to challenge Trump in four years, when he would be 77 and Trump 74, although he has not publicly committed to any plans. Others close to him are less reticent. Bidens going to be the countrys conscience, said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee who forged a close relationship with him. Biden will be freer to speak out about Trump administration actions than Obama, Wasserman Schultz said. And hes certainly not shy. michael.memoli@latimes.com For more White House coverage, follow @mikememoli on Twitter. ALSO American voters wanted change in 2016, but will they get the change they wanted? Joe Biden makes the case for Hillary Clinton to working-class voters: She gets it Bidens bittersweet speech packs some punches at Trump Jeff Sessions uneasy history with race can be traced back to the long, winding roads that cut through the pine forests and farmland 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. Advertisement 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. Yet despite efforts to leave the past behind and even recast himself as something of a civil rights advocate in the face of opposition to his expected nomination to lead the Justice Department under Donald Trump, Sessions has not been able to shake questions about his views and positions on racial matters. Particular attention has focused on his early years growing up in Alabama and starting his career as a U.S. attorney. After becoming Alabamas top law enforcement officer, he had his first opportunity to exercise prosecutorial discretion and was accused of using it in a way that adversely affected minorities. Those decisions will take center stage in coming weeks when the Senate Judiciary Committee holds confirmation hearings into the 69-year-old Alabama senators record. The same committee in 1986 rejected Sessions nomination by President Reagan for a federal judgeship, in part because Justice Department colleagues alleged he had made racially insensitive comments. The issue of race, especially in the South, is painful, contentious, and sometimes nuanced. By all accounts, Sessions has enjoyed lifelong friendships with African Americans, is respected by former black employees and has even earned recent praise from a top black state legislator. Even so, the conservative Republicans policy positions, decisions as a prosecutor and racially tinged comments have led many civil rights advocates to fear how he would enforce the nations anti-discrimination laws. The bad outweighs the good when we look at his overall record, said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Civil rights advocates say Sessions recently tried to paper over his record by taking credit in his Senate confirmation questionnaire to join Trumps Cabinet for bringing anti-discrimination lawsuits as a U.S. attorney in Alabama, despite having done little work personally on the cases. Trump transition officials concede Sessions didnt prepare or lead the lawsuits, but fully supported them. Sessions perceptions about race were forged as a boy, growing up in the northern section of then-segregated and sparsely populated Monroe County, best known for its high number of lynchings and being the birthplace of Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, a seminal novel dealing with race and justice. Sessions, who was named after the president of the Confederacy and a confederate general, has largely avoided discussing his upbringing or his fathers views, even with some of his closest friends, both in childhood and as an adult. Its just not something we talk about or talked about, said Ralph Reaves, a friend from his grade school and high school days. It just was what it was. That period also marked the start of Sessions embrace of conservatism and the Republican Party, fueled by a high school teacher who encouraged the promising student to read National Review. It was a time when the GOP the party of Lincoln had few supporters in the South. During the 1964 presidential campaign, the familys pickup truck notably featured a bumper sticker backing Republican nominee Barry Goldwater. He excelled at Huntingdon College, a small Methodist school in Montgomery, Ala., where he was a member of the Young Republicans Club and president of the student government. Though his class of 1969 included the first black student and was located near the epicenter of many civil rights protests, classmates say race and discrimination were rarely discussed. It was just something our parents had done, said Jack Mooresmith, a Huntingdon classmate. But my generation didnt believe in it and nobody paid any attention to it. Thinking he might want to be an educator, Sessions spent his first year after graduation teaching the sixth grade at a small black public school in Montgomery. It was the end of segregation, but there were still some schools that were virtually all African American, Sessions told the Washington Examiner in 2009. I think my class was all African American. I really worked hard at it, but Im afraid I learned as much as my students. In the fall of 1970, he enrolled at the University of Alabama Law School, which had integrated just a year earlier. Within his first few weeks at school he befriended Donald Watkins, a black classmate. Watkins still warmly recalls how Sessions was one of the few white students who welcomed him with a handshake and smile. He was literally the second white person to speak to me, said Watkins, who went on to become a civil rights lawyer. He acknowledged my humanity. When somebody is nice to you, when you can walk down the hall and [other] people are referring to you [with racial slurs] and somebody was treating you with decency, that was huge in 1970. Two years after graduation, Sessions joined the eight-lawyer U.S. attorneys office in Mobile, Ala. He was tapped by Reagan in 1981 to be the regions U.S. attorney and earned a reputation for taking on public corruption cases and fighting drug trafficking, according to those who worked with him. But he was also blasted by black leaders for indicting three civil rights workers on voter fraud charges. The Marion Three, as they became known, were acquitted, casting a shadow on Sessions decision to prosecute. Reagan nominated Sessions in 1985 to be a federal judge, but the confirmation ran into trouble when fellow Justice Department lawyers alleged he had made racially insensitive remarks. He was accused of agreeing with a statement by a judge that a white attorney was a disgrace to his race for handling civil rights cases. A black prosecutor also alleged that Sessions referred to him as boy. Sessions denied making the comments or said he could not recall them, though he did admit to cracking a joke about how he had lost respect for the Ku Klux Klan when he learned its members smoked marijuana. J. Gerald Hebert, one of the Justice Department lawyers who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Sessions had called the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and American Civil Liberties Union un-American. The reason, Hebert said in a deposition, was because Sessions believed the groups were forcing civil rights down the throats of people who were trying to put problems behind them. Sessions said the comment was taken out of context and that he was referring to how some people might feel about the groups getting involved in unrelated issues such as foreign policy. The NAACP, he testified, runs into trouble when it gets outside of legitimate civil rights issues and involved in political issues not related to civil rights. Hebert told the committee that he considered Sessions to be a friend and that the prosecutors office had fully cooperated with his investigations, even in cases that were highly sensitive and very controversial and, quite frankly, unpopular in his district. Today Hebert says he does not believe Sessions is qualified to be attorney general because anytime he has had prosecutorial discretion, he seems to have abused it rather than used it in an evenhanded way. Democrats were joined by two Republicans on the Judiciary Committee in rejecting Sessions nomination by a vote of 10 to 8, only the second time in five decades it had taken such action against a judicial candidate. The rebuke stung, and Sessions told friends he felt he was unfairly labelled a a bigot. He was upset, but he told me that he knew who he was and he wasnt going to let this define him. He knew it was all political, said Larry Thompson, an African American fellow U.S. attorney and future deputy attorney general who roomed with Sessions on several occasions when they attended training sessions or meetings. Sessions soldiered on as U.S. attorney under President George H.W. Bush. He left the office in 1993 and briefly worked in the private sector before being elected state attorney general in 1994, beating an incumbent Democrat. During his two-year tenure, Session took numerous positions that were assailed by black leaders and civil rights advocates. He unraveled a court settlement reached under his predecessor that would have put more black judges on the state appeals court. He fought a court order mandating more equitable funding of the states public schools, a decision that had been hailed as a way to boost education spending in poor black jurisdictions. And he launched investigations of voter fraud in several majority-black counties that drew comparisons from civil rights leaders to his earlier prosecution of the Marion Three. He was accused by some African Americans of initiating a politically and racially motivated witch hunt, according to a 1995 Birmingham News article. The allegations of voter fraud were jointly investigated with federal prosecutors and eventually resulted in voter fraud convictions or guilty pleas involving 11 people, including a county commissioner and his political aide, all African American. In 1996, he set his sights on Congress, and campaigned to replace retiring Sen. Howell Heflin, a Democrat who had voted against Sessions nomination to the federal bench. Sessions won and has served in the Senate ever since. He has earned a reputation for being one of the Senates most conservative members, particularly on immigration policy, criminal justice matters and gay rights. We both came from the same place, and we are all products of our environment, in some respect, but it is very complicated, said Joe Whatley, who grew up near Sessions and fought the then-attorney general in court over civil rights matters. Lots of conservative Republican policies have an adverse impact on African Americans. I suspect there are a lot of African American people that Jeff Sessions likes very much, and those that like him very much. But like I said, it is very complicated. del.wilber@latimes.com Follow @delwilber on Twitter ALSO: Tracking down guns used in crimes and terror attacks is still surprisingly low-tech Aspiring agents learn from mistakes of FBIs shameful investigation of Martin Luther King Jr. How these Brooklyn prosecutors work to get innocent convicts out of prison California lawmakers are once again trying to expand the collection of DNA evidence in criminal cases, something they say has declined under Proposition 47, hurting cold rape and murder investigations. The landmark ballot measure, which voters passed in 2014, reduced drug possession and some theft crimes to misdemeanors in a move to lower the jail and prison population across the state. But in doing so, law enforcement officials say, the list of felony cases from which police are required to gather DNA evidence has been narrowed, causing a drop in the states database of forensic samples. Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) says he hopes to address that unintended consequence through the reintroduction of Assembly Bill 16, which would order investigators to gather swab samples, blood specimens, palm prints and fingerprints from offenders convicted of certain misdemeanors. Advertisement An identical iteration of the bill died last legislative session in the Senate Public Safety Committee amid opposition from privacy and civil rights advocates who found its provisions too far-reaching. But Cooper said it was a good proposal worth pitching again. What we want is to make sure that bad people who commit serious crimes are held accountable, he said. AB 16 would apply to misdemeanors that were considered felonies when voters in November 2004 passed Proposition 69, which required authorities to collect DNA evidence from all felons. It also would apply to some drug and theft offenses that before the passage of Proposition 47 were known as wobblers, or crimes that could be charged as misdemeanors or felonies depending on their severity. Supporters of the legislation say collection of forensic evidence in these types of cases is crucial to investigations that have gone cold, in which officers have few leads to follow. They point to at least half a dozen studies in other cities and states that show assailants in old murder, rape and assault cases are often arrested years later for unrelated, lower offenses. In 2010, the California attorney generals office found that 61% of the DNA samples that were entered into the states databank and resulted in matches to suspects in cold cases had been collected in nonviolent, lower-level felony crimes, such as drug offenses, fraud or other property crimes. Among those cases was that of 20-year-old Joshua Graham Packer, who was arrested on robbery charges and connected to an unsolved triple murder in Ventura County from 2009. But opponents argue AB 16 would expand the forensic database far beyond the scope of any other state law, requiring the intrusive collection of DNA evidence in minor crimes such as drug possession and shoplifting. Mica Doctoroff, a legislative advocate with the American Civil Liberties Union of California Center for Advocacy and Policy, said her organization had not yet taken a position on the bill. But she said the ACLU had opposed its predecessor due to the rising concerns with DNA evidence itself. Once considered the gold standard of forensic science, DNA analysis has faced greater scrutiny in the courtroom as the methods to interpret results continue to evolve. Expanding the states database, Doctoroff said, could increase the likelihood of repeating past mistakes, raise serious privacy concerns and disproportionately target blacks and Latinos. We know that people of color are stopped, searched and arrested at a much higher rate in California, she said. With this type of expansion, you end up with an over-representation of sensitive information from people of color. jazmine.ulloa@latimes.com Twitter: @jazmineulloa ALSO: Movement builds to correct major flaw in Prop. 47 Shelved DNA bill had personal meaning for Los Angeles Assemblyman Mike Gatto The promise and perils of DNA evidence Updates on California politics Winning a seat representing a California congressional district is not a cheap endeavor. In the last two years, more than $150 million was spent trying to help or hurt the candidates running for one of Californias 53 seats in the House of Representatives. Most of that money about $117 million was spent by the candidates own committees while an additional $35 million poured in from outside groups looking to influence the outcome of a few key races, according to federal spending records tracked by the nonpartisan election guide California Target Book. Advertisement Californias most expensive House races included some perennially contested seats as well as sleepy districts that were suddenly thrust into competition based on hopes that having Donald Trump at the top of the GOP ticket would imperil incumbent House Republicans down the ballot. Heres a look at the priciest contests: 1. $14 million worth of mudslinging in suburban Sacramento The most expensive race in the state saw $14.3 million spent in a swing district in the Sacramento suburbs where Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) faced off against Republican Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones. Bera spent over $4 million to keep his job, while Jones campaign dropped in more than $1 million. But the real action came from outside spending by independent super PACs and so-called dark-money groups tied to both parties as well as special interests. That spending added up to $9 million. The race was given extra heat by dueling scandals that were prominently featured in ads and mailers. Beras father was sentenced to a year in federal prison for illegally funneling money to his sons congressional campaigns in 2010 and 2012. Meanwhile, Jones was accused of sexual harassment in a court deposition by a colleague in law enforcement. Updates on California politics 2. Testing the Trump effect in the Central Valley Spending in a Central Valley race between three-term incumbent Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) and beekeeper Michael Eggman, a Democrat, clocked in at $14 million. Though Eggman took a 12-point beating from Denham in the district in 2014, the rematch was more competitive. The race saw a fresh round of attacks by Democrats trying to tie Denham to Trump in a district where analysts estimate about a quarter of voters are Latino. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC that supports Republicans in Congress, responded with $3.3 million worth of attacks labeling Eggman an extreme liberal and a rubber stamp for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) because he supports the Affordable Care Act. Denham won by 3 percentage points. 3. Issa spends big to eke out a win in a surprisingly close race Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), left, greets then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the San Diego Convention Center on May 27. (John Gastaldo / San Diego Union-Tribune) San Diego area Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) tapped into his campaign piggy bank to the tune of $6 million to hold back upstart Democratic challenger Doug Applegate a race that cost more than $11 million overall. Applegate, a retired Marine colonel and Iraq war veteran, surprised political watchers with his strong primary showing. The political novice quickly came under attack from Issa after reports surfaced that he was accused of threatening his former wife during their divorce proceedings more than a decade ago. His ex-wife later supported him in his campaign. Issa, a frequent and vocal critic of President Obama, also sent out mailers praising Obama a move the president called shameless. The only California House candidate who spent more than Issa this election cycle was House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who gives a significant chunk of his money away to benefit the Republican Party and to help out other candidates since he has a safe seat. Issa, an early Trump supporter, won a razor-thin victory by just 1,621 votes. Applegate, who benefited from more than $3 million in outside spending by liberal groups, said after the loss that he will challenge Issa again in 2018. 4. Money adds up in crowded race for open Santa Barbara seat Democrat Salud Carbajal and Republican Justin Fareed spent a combined $5 million to replace retiring Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara). Carbajal won the race by more than 6 percentage points, but the race still attracted about $3.6 million in outside spending from party-affilated groups as well as a super PAC backing Fareed that was funded in part by a coal giant. Fareed, who was making his second run for the House at the age of 28, also saw a surge in out-of-district support from donors tied to two businessmen from L.A.s Westside some of whom didnt know who Fareed was when asked. Total spending in the race added up to more than $10 million thanks in part to spending by prominent candidates who failed to make it out of the primary. 5. A contentious fight in the Antelope Valley Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), the incumbent in the 25th Congressional District, answers a question during a May 5 debate in Newhall. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times ) The fight between freshman Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) and first-time Democratic candidate Bryan Caforio was closely watched by national analysts going into election day. Knights shaky fundraising, waffling on his support for Trump and a caught-on-tape confrontation with a protester in 2015 made Democrats and political observers think he could lose in this Antelope Valley swing district. Democrats unleashed a wave of attacks ads on Knight, hitting him for his staunch opposition to abortion and comments he made in a May debate calling Social Security a bad idea. But Caforio, a well-heeled lawyer who moved into the district shortly before entering the race, never overcame his outsider status among voters in the traditionally Republican area that stretches from Lancaster west through Santa Clarita into Simi Valley. He lost by 6 percentage points. Republicans labeled Caforio as not one of us in one ad and highlighted a Times story that looked at Caforios six-year tenure at Century City law firm Susman Godfrey, where he represented large corporations and multimillionaires. The race cost more than $8 million, with more than $5.2 million coming from outside groups. javier.panzar@latimes.com Follow @jpanzar on Twitter ALSO How does a 28-year-old raise more than $1 million for a congressional bid? Dark money funds flood of political canvassers in heated Los Angeles County congressional race This congressman will sleep in his office, and other tales from the incoming California freshmen In the four years since Californias largest pension fund recalibrated its investment projections, the annual contribution from state and local governments in effect, the money paid by taxpayers has slowly been on the rise. By the summer of next year, the pace of those payments will quicken, as the California Public Employees Retirement System throttles back the expectations of profits earned on its $300-billion portfolio. Advertisement Those expectations were officially made more conservative on Wednesday by CalPERS board of directors, a half-percentage-point decrease in assumed returns over three years that will send shock waves through all sectors of state and local governments faced with billions of dollars in new pension costs. Even so, those higher contributions could add some long-term strength to a government employee retirement program that has fallen deeper into the danger zone in recent years. This will make for a more sustainable system, Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement after the pension boards vote. The final approval for shrinking CalPERS official rate of investment profit, from its current 7.5% to 7%, came one day after the proposal was vetted and recommended by the board of directors investment committee, putting in place the mechanism to shrink CalPERS expectations to its lowest rate in modern history. An in-depth look at Californias pension crisis This is very monumental for the organization, said Richard Costigan, the CalPERS board member whose finance committee vetted the proposal. It was a decision some members of the pension board, most notably those from the ranks of public employee unions, have resisted. Other board members said it was simply a matter of the math for CalPERS, the biggest public employee pension fund in the nation. That was best seen in Wednesdays report by the funds chief investment officer that actual investment returns over the last 20 years have averaged only 6.9%, and returns for the current fiscal year are a paltry 2.3%. The impacts will first be felt in the state budget, which already makes annual payments of $5.4 billion a year into the CalPERS fund. While local governments and schools wont have to boost their pension contributions until 2018, the state budget will begin to feel the effects of the CalPERS decision in almost six months. Pension fund leaders were told on Tuesday that Brown, who will unveil his new state budget in less than three weeks, believes the ratcheting down of CalPERS investment profits will force the state to pay an additional $2 billion above current pension mandates by the summer of 2024. These costs have very real and significant budget pressures, Eric Stern, a pension adviser to Brown, said in testimony on Tuesday. With only three real sources of money investment returns, government funds and government worker contributions to make up billions of dollars in long-term pension shortfalls, the admission by CalPERS of weaker portfolio profits will have a domino effect in communities across California. Government workers hired before the states 2012 pension overhaul could be asked to set aside more for their pensions in their paychecks through future collective bargaining. Workers hired after the 2012 changes, though, will have to automatically pay more. So, too, will local governments, which made $4.4 billion in CalPERS payments in the most recently completed fiscal year. We believe its a step in the right direction, in spite of the strains it will put on our budgets, said Dane Hutchings of the League of California Cities. Even so, those dollars are now being diverted in some cases from local public services and law enforcement. In Sacramento, fire and police department positions remain vacant due to a lack of dollars. This change will obviously be very difficult for us, and this will continue our inability to fill those positions, Sacramento city finance director Phil Wright said in testimony to pension board members. School workers, such as custodians and maintenance workers, are also promised pensions paid through CalPERS. Dennis Meyers of the California School Boards Assn. told officials on Tuesday the rate change could add $500 million a year to school pension payments. That is money off the table, and its money thats not being able to be used to decrease achievement gaps, or buy textbooks or technology, or all of those things we need to do to move our student population forward, Meyers said. Any objections by CalPERS directors to the new conservative investment assumptions were largely absent this week, a shift from strong critiques made last month by those who represent public employee labor unions. The only labor criticism this week came from Jai Sookprasert, the assistant director of the California School Employees Assn., who told board members on Tuesday the action was very aggressive in light of current stock performance records being set on Wall Street. One board member, J.J. Jelincic, abstained from supporting the plan because he said it was too small of a dose of reality for state and local governments. Jelincic said the kinds of investments CalPERS has made arent designed to yield a 7% return, the new lower projection. I think the number is too high, he said in an interview on Wednesday. I think it was more a political decision to aid [government] employers. john.myers@latimes.com Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast ALSO: Political Road Map: The long, cold winter is coming for California pensions CalPERS widens its ban on tobacco related invesments Updates on California politics For more than 30 years, the Pape family has decorated the front lawn of their Burbank home during the holidays to help spread cheer to their neighbors and the community. On Friday, the Burbank Civic Pride Committee announced its winners of this years holiday decorating contest, with the Papes winning in the residential category and the Color Lounge salon taking the top spot in the commercial category. George Wyatt, 11, who won in the youth category for the Halloween decorating contest this year, won in the same category in the holiday contest. Although the Pape family notched their second victory in the holiday contest the first success occurring in 2001 this years win was bittersweet for them. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Burbank native Ed Pape Jr., who would have turned 47 years old on Christmas, passed away on Dec. 10 after his aorta ruptured the day after Thanksgiving. His father, Ed Pape, who is also born and raised in Burbank, said it was because of his son that the family started decorating their frontyard. And even after his son, a captain with the Los Angeles Police Department, moved out of Burbank, the two would work together on the decorations. This time of the year was his happiest time, Ed Pape said. He was born on Christmas Day. He loved Christmas, loved doing the decorations and everything else. He helped me bring a lot of smiles to everyones faces. Sometime before Thanksgiving, Ed Pape Jr. was helping his father put up the lights around the house and noticed that the curb area in front of the house could use some additional decorations. Ed Pape said that his son told him that he would give him one of two candy-cane lanterns he had made to put in front of his house. Ed Pape jokingly asked his son why he was not getting both. After reflecting on the question, Ed Pape Jr. decided to give both the candy canes to his father and make new ones for himself next year. So he gave them both to me and theyre out there on the curb area, Ed Pape said. The last thing [he] and I did together was put those up and that was on Thanksgiving. The next night, his aorta ruptured and [we] never spoke since. Before his sons passing, Ed Pape had about a third of the decorations put up on his front lawn, but was questioning whether he should even put up decorations this year at all. After his son died, it took a lot of convincing by his wifes cousin to motivate him to finish putting up the decorations. At the last second, Ed Pape decided to enter his name in the decorating contest, not because he wanted to win, but to honor his son, whose funeral was on Tuesday. I know he wanted me to, and the win was just icing on the cake, he said. I know hes looking down on me, and know that hes proud of me for getting it done. To see all of the entrants and winners in this years holiday decorating contest, visit burbankca.gov/home/showdocument?id=38972. -- Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio The California Fair Political Practices Commission, or FPPC, is opening an investigation into the alleged misuse of $50,000 in public funds in the form of a donation by the Burbank Hospitality Assn. to a committee supporting construction of a new replacement terminal at Hollywood Burbank Airport, following a complaint filed by a local resident. At the same time, the Burbank City Council is tightening its reins on the association in light of its donation to pay for campaign mailers for the Committee for Yes on Measure B. Passage of the measure in the November election paved the way for construction of a new 14-gate terminal at the airport, a move that some residents expressed concerns about. Join the conversation on Facebook >> City Council members unanimously voted during Tuesdays meeting to take several steps that they think will prevent another such incident from happening urging that the association, better known as Visit Burbank, provide Brown Act training to its board members and staff; prohibit the group from making any further donations to political campaigns; remove the director of the citys community development department as a voting board member; require that the association use its own address rather than the citys; and cut the organizations budget by $50,000, according to a city staff report. The City Council also agreed to have city staff come back with a resolution to reduce the agreement with the Burbank Hospitality Assn. from five years to three years. Additionally, council members approved to have the city manager contact the public integrity division of the Los Angeles County District Attorneys office to start an investigation on whether the actions by the association were legal. Earlier this month, resident David Spell filed a complaint with the FPPC, alleging that the Burbank Hospitality Assn. illegally donated $50,000 to a committee advocating for approval of Measure B. During a Burbank Hospitality Assn. meeting Sept. 14, Sunder Ramani, a former state Assembly candidate and member of the Committee for Yes on Measure B, asked the association to donate $50,000 to his organization to educate Burbank residents on the importance of voting yes on Measure B, according to a city memo dated Sept. 20. Spell and other residents believe the donation used public funds because the Burbank Hospitality Assn. deals with funds generated by the citys Tourism Business Improvement District, which collects money from hotels via a 1% assessment on hotel stays. According to the FPPC, it is illegal to use city funds for campaign materials. Violations can be as high as a $5,000 fine per violation. Spell said that he received a letter from the FPPC on Monday informing him that it is opening an investigation into the issue, and it could take several weeks to finish. During the City Council meeting, several residents told council members they think the donation was done illegally. Aside from the citys community development director, Patrick Prescott, none of the associations board members were present. However, in an unsigned letter, which City Manager Ron Davis said came from Tony Garibian, the associations chair, members of the organization feel they have not had enough time to prepare a response or counterargument to the issues that are being raised. The public wants to hear how this happened, Spell said during the meeting. I shouldnt be standing here talking about this [for] three weeks in a row. City employees should be standing here. [Burbank Hospitality Assn.] board members should be standing here. The committee on Yes on Measure B board members should be standing here. Resident Sue Cleereman concurred with Spell, adding that the recommended changes to the association did not go far enough. They do not address the key issue of how the funds were approved in the first place, she said. This appropriation of funds was way too easy. Councilman David Gordon wanted to take matters further by holding a public hearing and subpoenaing all the board members of the association and figuring out how they allowed such a donation to happen. I think we need to subpoena every single one of them and anyone involved in this, and we need to have them tell us under oath whether or not they discussed with Mr. Ramani before that meeting whether or not this was going to go down, Gordon said. City Atty. Amy Albano said that because the association is classified as a mutual-benefit corporation nonprofit, it is allowed to donate toward political campaigns, but added that it is unclear if the money used is considered public funds. -- Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio The attack on the house, located in Kabul, resulted in the deaths of the lawmaker's two grandsons, a son of a parliament member from Kandahar and two security service members, the security sources said, as cited by the TOLO News channel. According to the broadcaster, Mir Wali managed to escape, but the attackers took a number of his family members and friends hostage. At least one of the gunmen reportedly detonated a suicide vest, Sputnik reported. A Fountain Valley man pleaded not guilty to felony charges stemming from two robberies in Santa Ana and Stanton. Marc Louis Gold, 21, is facing three charges of second-degree robbery, according to Orange County Superior Court records. Police said Gold was sitting at the bar at M&Toi Cafe at 4702 W. First St. in Santa Ana at 3:15 p.m. Nov. 21 and appeared to be texting on his phone. About a minute later, two males wearing bandanas on their faces entered the business with a handgun and a knife and ordered the woman behind the counter to open the register. Police allege that Gold removed the money from the register and fled with the armed robbers. It wasnt clear how much money was taken. In addition to the robbery charges, Gold is facing possible sentencing enhancements on allegations that he knew the two had a firearm. He entered his not guilty plea Dec. 15. A 17-year-old Westminster resident turned himself in to Santa Ana detectives on Dec. 2 after seeing himself on the news, police said. Detectives arrested a 17-year-old Santa Ana resident at his home Dec. 8. Both were placed in Orange County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of armed robbery, police said. Their names were not released because they are minors. An Orange County sheriffs detective told Santa Ana police that he thought Gold was the third suspect they were looking for, police said. Sheriffs deputies recently had arrested Gold in connection with a Nov. 28 robbery at a cafe in Stanton, according to police and court records. Gold was out on bail when police arrested him at his home Dec. 14 in connection with the Santa Ana robbery. Gold, described as a laborer, was booked into Orange County Jail with bail set at $210,000, according to jail records. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN Organizers of a campaign challenging a city-approved luxury condominium tower in Newport Beach delivered thousands of petition signatures to the city clerks office Wednesday, starting a process that could result in a public vote on the 25-story project. Line in the Sand, the political arm of local activist group Still Protecting Our Newport, spent about two weeks and at least $40,000 to drum up support to fight the 100-unit Museum House development, which is slated to replace the Orange County Museum of Art at 850 San Clemente Drive in Newport Center. The museum plans to move to Costa Mesa. By the groups count, it gathered 13,837 signatures well above the original 8,000 goal and the roughly 5,800 signatures of local voters needed to qualify for a referendum. The signatures were delivered about a week before the Dec. 29 deadline. Line in the Sand gave the city about 360 petition packets, each of them 2 1/2 inches thick and containing about 1,000 pages. Each weighed 10 pounds and cost $90 to produce. The group rented a truck to haul a majority of the packets, which were stuffed in 65 cardboard boxes weighing nearly 2 tons. At City Hall, a team that included City Manager Dave Kiff delivered the boxes and loose packets to the second-floor city clerks office for counting. After several hours, the clerk counted 13,730 signatures 107 less than Line in the Sands figure. They will be sent Thursday to the Orange County registrar of voters office for verification. If enough are verified within 30 working days from Wednesday, the matter will return to the City Council, which could put the development up for a citywide vote in a special election or at the next general election in 2018. The council also could rescind its Nov. 29 approval of Museum House. The packets were thick because of a motion initiated last month by then-Councilman Ed Selich that, in effect, attached thousands of pages of background documents to the petitions. Former Newport Beach Councilwoman Jean Watt, left, and Jack Skinner, right, watch as the city clerks office counts signatures submitted by Line in the Sand on Wednesday. (Bradley Zint / Daily PIlot) In a statement Wednesday, Line in the Sand said: It is the right of Newport Beach voters to call for a public vote to decide a single political question. Line in the Sand is hopeful that this referendum will succeed in bringing voters and city leaders together for an open conversation about the future character of our town. By talking and listening to each other, the hope is that a true consensus will develop for future planning purposes. Gino Canori, executive vice president of development for Museum House applicant Related California, said in a statement Wednesday that the company continues to stand by the facts regarding Museum House, including its contention that the project complies with Greenlight, a growth-control measure approved by city voters in 2000. He also touted possible public benefits from Museum Houses tax revenue, including funding West Coast Highway landscaping, a new junior lifeguard headquarters and other projects. If the referendum does qualify, it will be thanks to the major campaign, funded by secret money, that has worked to torpedo Museum House with citywide mailers, TV ads and other activities, Canori added. Hopefully, those behind the secret money will come out of the shadows so they can be identified for the benefit of all citizens that might possibly vote on this issue. Related has accused Museum House opponent Citizens Against High Rise Urban Towers, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit whose backers have not been made public, of being a dark money group. On Tuesday, Related California said a law firm it asked to examine Line in the Sands petition concluded that the document doesnt comply with state elections code, partially because of its small font, which Related called illegible. Line in the Sand organizers have said that in order to comply with state law and attach all the necessary documents to the petition, they reformatted the documents to make them fit on about 1,000 pages instead of having 4,000 or 5,000 pages. The signature-gathering process was marked by allegations against all sides, leading many observers to say they had never seen a campaign get so aggressive in otherwise civil Newport Beach. Line in the Sand and Related California have accused each other of spreading misinformation, and on Wednesday, Line in the Sand issued fresh criticism of Related and its affiliate OCMA Urban Housing LLC, saying their supporters used deterrents like physical and verbal harassment, mailings, phone calls and other tactics. Related and OCMA Urban Housing hired a firm to try to persuade people to either rescind their petition signatures or not sign the petitions at all. Some of the firms workers were stationed near Line in the Sands tables, which were staffed by a mix of volunteers and paid signature gatherers. An Irvine Co. lawsuit against Related said some of its supporters trespassed on Irvine Co. properties this month by conducting Museum House-related activities there without the Irvine Co.'s permission. bradley.zint@latimes.com Twitter: @BradleyZint It was a strangely hyped yet underwhelming year, like when a good movie ends badly. The same could be said for Laguna Beachs year in review. There were some interesting highlights but nothing worth full admission. It was a rental year, in more ways than one. Heres a colorful recap of some top stories, in case you missed them. 10. Albertsons-Haggen-Gelsons fiasco: After a decent grocery store leaves town, its like longing for a past president. Albertsons was just OK, but looking back now, most people would love to have the store back. Instead, we had the short-lived debacle that was Haggen, which may have meant well but had some kind of curse that was taken out on customers through outrageous prices. Then we got the similarly priced Gelsons. I dont even know where to start with this store. How about the soda? Who refrigerates all the soda? Seriously, whats the point? I dont know, but its emblematic of Gelsons: a little out of touch and tries too hard. 9. Death to coyotes: So we had some coyotes that dared to be themselves and kill some pets. The city gave a hunting outfit the green light to start trapping and killing the wild animals, so people fired up their torches on both sides. Predictably, humans encroach on nature and then whine about it when nature fights back. I said at the time that a coyote is like the wolfs ugly half-brother scrawny, jumpy and unpredictable. Coyotes are like the Wests hyena. It wont surprise me if they become extinct just because thats our answer to everything: kill it and ask questions later. 8. The infamous mother-son duo on Forest Avenue: He drops his octogenarian, wheelchair-bound mother off almost every night and drives away in his Prius. She begs for money for hours on end and has been known to urinate and defecate on public benches. Come 11 or 12 oclock, he rolls back into town and they drive off to their Irvine apartment. Its inexcusable. 7. Expensive restaurants: Several new restaurants opened in Laguna in 2016. White linens, trendy martinis, dimly lit menus with things like ancient grains, turmeric and heirloom broccolini with gochujang. All are what youd expect. None are cheap or kid friendly. Other tony coastal cities have restaurant diversity. Here, its as if were going out of our way to turn into the worst of Santa Barbara, La Jolla and Newport Beach. 6. City inaction: The city has painted a few crosswalks, worked on the sewers and complained to Caltrans, but thats been about it for 2016. Think about it. What has the city really done this year except pay for more consultants? Its been a series of mixed messages and false starts, like when city officials asked the owner of Alessa restaurant to design a parklet, then hastily told him to take it down because someone complained about the loss of parking, more or less. This behavior is foreshadowing what will happen with the Downtown Specific Plan update next year: lots of talk, not a lot of action. 5. Teetotaling Art Walk: In a major PR gaffe, the citys Police Department busted a bunch of art galleries for serving cheap wine without a license during Art Walk. The whole drinking during Art Walk thing was sometimes problematic, sure, but having the cops step in like they did was unfortunate. Apparently, they tried to give notice through the Art Walks monthly meeting, but not all the galleries got the memo. Art Walk officials probably should have tried harder to prevent it, but the police should have known better. Clearly, a bad move all the way around. 4. Bad Airbnb: This story is probably not over yet, but basically Laguna doesnt like short-term rentals. Let me rephrase that. People who live next door hate short-term rentals, but everyone else loves them. Long term, there will be short-term rentals. It will happen legally or illegally. Laguna is too desirable. Besides, its a tourist town so why fight it? 3. The death of artist live-work: In another blow to the citys art colony legacy, a proposed live-work project for artists was denied by a Superior Court judge, but not for normal reasons like land use or density or character. Instead, it was because of the California Coastal Commissions ineptness. Essentially commission members violated public disclosure laws, or ex-parte contacts, according to the judge. The Coastal Act requires that they promptly report any contact with developers, environmentalists and others that occur outside of official proceedings. But they rarely do that. As a result, Louis Longis project is on life support. 2. City Council election: There was a firecracker candidate, Judie Mancuso, who livened up the City Council race, but she didnt win. This is where Laguna is unlike national races. We dont go crazy. For some inexplicable reason, we trend toward boring. Its unclear why, exactly, but my theory starts with the blue hairs. Its simple demographics. The people of Laguna are old older than any other nearby city along the coast on average. So that typically means in jammies by 7 or 8. Keep it safe, predictable and off the lawn. 1. Pedestrian danger: And the top story in Laguna Beach in 2016: the routine killing and maiming of pedestrians. It should come as no surprise that the citys pedestrian accident statistics top state charts. We have a full-throttled freeway running through the center of a tourist town. There are dark intersections where its hard to see people even during the day. Sometimes people cross blithely, but for the most part, its just inherently dangerous conditions. The city has tried to repaint some intersections, but the worst locations are controlled by Caltrans, which says it might get around to improving them in three years. Perhaps this is why Laguna doesnt want to encourage more walking by making new pedestrian zones downtown. Keep people in their cars because the body count will not look good on tourist fliers. DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com. I read with complete disgust your article regarding Michael Hoskinsons views on certain members of our community (Huntington Beach planning commissioner bashes Islam and leftists, Dec. 16). As a planning commissioner, Hoskinson should represent all of us, but clearly his personal beliefs do not allow for this. I am ashamed of my city, which allows someone with with these beliefs to speak for our government. I am hopeful that Councilman Erik Peterson, who appointed Hoskinson to the Planning Commission, will do the right thing and remove him. In the meantime, I ask the city officials to remember when one group of people is singled out for discrimination, we are all at risk for the same. Irene Briggs Huntington Beach City planner should resign I am shocked and concerned by the extreme views shared on social media by Huntington Beach Planning Commissioner Michael Hoskinson. I cannot imagine how he can be fair as a public servant given his intolerant beliefs. I hope you will advocate for a commission that represents all citizens by calling for his resignation. Laura Wilson Seal Beach Whats wrong with a referendum? Ask yourself, why are the developer, the museum and the City Council trying so hard to keep the residents from being allowed to vote on the Museum House tower project? Finding a new home for the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) is hardly a rationale for building Museum House. Dean R. Laws Corona del Mar Does writer regularly visit OCMA? Another Museum pro move article (Commentary: Museum House will allow OCMA to move to a better location, Dec. 15). I wonder how often he has visited the museum on San Clemente Avenue? William Monroe Corona del Mar Too many pro-move letters in Pilot Why is it that your paper only publishes extensive letters in support of the museums move to Costa Mesa and no letters in opposition? Does your paper have its own agenda? William M. Monroe Corona del Mar Line in the Sand founder Jean Watt celebrated her 90th birthday last week, and by all accounts theres no slowing down this powerhouse community advocate. Leading the referendum signature battle against the proposed Museum House development, Watt and her group collected an estimated 13,837 signatures, and on Wednesday delivered about 360 referendum petition packets to the Newport Beach city clerks office. The petitions each weighed about 10 pounds, measured 11 inches by 17 inches and were about 2 1/2 inches thick. It amounted to nearly two tons of paper, most of which were inside the 65 boxes delivered to the clerks team. Theyll need 5,800 verifiable signatures to bring the Museum House project to a vote of the people. The group did this all in just two weeks, delivering ahead of the Dec. 29 deadline, and in the face of unprecedented criticism by the opposition, including an email blast this week from Councilman Scott Peotter. Line in the Sand is an offshoot of SPON, or Still Protecting Our Newport. In Peotters email he calls them Still Pouting and Whining in Newport-SPAWN and depicts the movie poster from 1983 film The Deadly Spawn, with monster tentacles and fangs coming to Earth to eat human flesh. He attempts to expel what he calls lies about the Museum House project. I have no problem with a councilman disagreeing with constituents, but mocking them in this manner is shameful, disrespectful and unbecoming of the office. During this petition war, Line in the Sand has spoken to thousands of residents. Member Karen Tringali said her sense was that many who considered Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) a separate issue, were resentful of how these two issues development and a new location were combined. They felt the City Council wasnt listening to the community. Tringali says her group doesnt have an opinion on OCMA, but rather on what to do with the property. This is a land-use issue for us, she said, and a case of representative government not listening to residents, which is why we have to go for a referendum of change. But is OCMA really a separate issue here? Theyre the ones who want to sell their property to the high-rise developer Related California LLC, so they can move from Fashion Island to the Segerstrom Center. I called Todd D. Smith, OCMA director and CEO. Early in this fight, Smith sent an email to supporters announcing the council decision to approve the project, warning, A group of residents has decided to repeal the councils approval by circulating a petition to referend the Museum House. We cannot let this effort succeed, Smith wrote, urging supporters not to sign petitions and asked they text or email and let us know the time and the location where the petitioners were. I asked Smith why he wanted this information. Smith said he wanted to alert his partner, Related, so they could mobilize their forces, as the opposition was doing, and pass out their own information. Thats when I asked about the aggressive young men who were harassing petitioners and signers outside of stores, and if he thought that was an OK strategy. Smith said there were also documented cases opponents have given out false information, and we have our people telling us they have been harassed by paid petitioners as well. In my book saying they did it too isnt cool. You cant light a match and then blame someone else for the fire. Ive heard stories of petitioners and signers being harassed, countering by getting in the faces of those who aggressively approached them. But petitioners working for the project set this tone initially, so Related and OCMA shouldnt be surprised that their operatives have experienced blowback. Smith wanted to expel some rumors about OCMA. He said the museum wasnt in financial distress, as some have insinuated, and that wasnt the motivation to seek out Related to buy its property. We are a solvent nonprofit and look to the Segerstrom Center to build on that. And, he said, theres a logical audience for us there, as OCMA is the visual arts component the center is missing. Smith points to cross opportunities at the Segerstrom Center, where the museum would have higher visibility, as there is a lack of pedestrian traffic at their current location, making it difficult to grow. Weve been a good neighbor in Newport for 55 years he said. I am sure neighborly isnt the word some would use to describe them now, especially after this highly negative campaign to stop the referendum effort. --- BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com. Last week, Glendale City Council heard about the growing short-term rental market in the city as neighboring cities deal with the burdens and benefits of the sharing economy. Short-term rentals, made popular by hospitality companies like Airbnb, is the practice of renting out dwelling areas for a period of less than 30 consecutive days, with host present or not. Recently, several major cities, including Santa Monica and New York City, have banned the practice. Although council members took no action to either regulate or ban short-term rentals preferring instead to wait for ongoing lawsuits against Santa Monica and Airbnb to pan out the city staff made it clear that the sometimes volatile rental activity would someday soon need to be dealt with. Join the conversation on Facebook >> At issue was whether or not the city should begin the process to amend the municipal code to better deal with short-term rental activity and whether to allow, regulate or ban them in some zoning districts. No comprehensive state law exists on the issue. In its current form, the city code does not address short-term rentals explicitly. However, according to city staff, the code can be read to support use in some residential areas. Hotel or motel code definitions are not broad enough to include short-term rental activity. In other words, if we were to say you cant have a vacation rental in Glendale, its not a winning argument because of the language in the code, said City Atty. Michael Garcia at the meeting last week. Glendale had an estimated 450 listings citywide as of this past October, with most rented at a maximum of 15 to 90 days per year, according to data from Host Compliance, a service that monitors short-term rentals for local governments. City staff members outlined several public-policy benefits such as supplemental income for residents, reduced carbon footprint of a hotel and the possibility of collecting a transit occupancy tax from providers. Short-term rental hosts are obligated to collect and submit transit occupancy taxes to Glendale, but many have not done so, according to staff. Some issues which have kept short-term rentals out of some major cities include concerns over the drop of affordable housing, costs of enforcement and nuisance activities associated with an increase in occupancy. As policy options, staff members recommended possibly conducting an affordable-housing-nexus fee study, paid for by the citys housing authority, for direction on how to actively enforce collection of the 12% transit occupancy tax. One suggested method is to partner with hosting platforms to collect and submit the tax. Currently, Airbnb is the only provider that has voluntarily partnered with some cities, such as Los Angeles, for collection. This is an enforcement nightmare, no matter which way we go, said Mayor Paula Devine. In the end, City Council did not opt for outreach, further study, tax enforcement or any move to ban or regulate short-term rentals in Glendale. "[Current action on short-term rentals is] too messy. Its just going to lead to a large number of problems, said Councilman Zareh Sinanyan. Were going to have to deal with it somehow until there comes a point where this whole thing is systematized and better monitored, but I dont think at this point we have a handle on it. Garcia suggested staff reevaluate the status of the ongoing lawsuits related to short-term rentals in six months and return to council with any findings. -- Jeff Landa, jeff.landa@latimes.com Twitter: @JeffLanda This holiday season local playwright and bookseller Rob Gibbs will be able to give his two young daughters the Disney princess Christmas theyve always dreamed about, thanks to a little help from best-selling author James Patterson. Gibbs, a La Crescenta resident whos worked at Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse since it opened in 2007, recently learned he was one of 149 independent bookstore employees across the nation chosen to receive a holiday bonus from the internationally acclaimed novelist. I was very happily surprised, the floor manager said of the $1,000 gift. It will facilitate a good Christmas season for my family and probably help with some bills it will be very helpful. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Patterson put up $250,000 of his own money this year for the express purpose of recognizing the hard work of independent booksellers, many of whom continue steadfastly in a profession thats often overshadowed by digital monoliths such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and hundreds of retailers offering books at a bargain. The authors effort is part of an ongoing personal mission hes established in recent years, with the help of the New York-based American Booksellers Assn., to pledge his support for independent bookstores and their employees. These grants and bonuses are my humble acknowledgment of some of the terrific work taking place in libraries and bookstores, Patterson said in a statement last year on the program. Heres to communities supporting their bookstores and libraries. Heres to a country that makes reading a priority. Heres to flourishing libraries and booksellers, and to a joyful holiday season. Flintridge Bookstore was awarded a grant from Pattersons purse in 2014 to help out with special events. So when owner Peter Wannier learned this years prizes would be awarded to individual employees, he immediately nominated Gibbs. If people are looking for qualities in a bookseller, he has them, Wannier said. For one thing, you have to be unflappable, thats probably No. 1, and have a good interaction with customers. You have to know the literature, and Robs a reader, always was. Gibbs a former graduate student who specialized in Shakespeare and Renaissance drama at Mary Baldwin College and whos written for TV and the theater professes a broad taste in literature that runs from nonfiction to science fiction. Its exactly the kind of palate booksellers must cultivate if they are to be able to recommend books to customers who come in shopping for themselves or others, he figures. We offer a service to people that you cant get online, as good as the software and programs may be, he said, explaining computer algorithms can make A-to-B recommendations but often fail to tease out what it is readers like about a particular book or author. It sort of takes a person to make those leaps. Gail Mishkin, who handles marketing and events for the store, said she was pleased to learn of Pattersons plans to honor bookstore employees individually. Theyre not in it for the money, theyre just doing it for the literature, she said. I think its great. And while much of Gibbs bonus will go toward colorful Disney-themed gifts for his daughters, the real gift is just being recognized by his employers, and a literary giant like Patterson, for a job well done. I appreciate the recognition of the value of what we do here, he said. Its incredibly generous. -- Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com Twitter: @SaraCardine I started reading the Valley Sun the day we moved into our house in La Canada. Back then, everybody read the Valley Sun. Every Thursday night, our neighbor Bill Isenberg would trek down the hill holding a copy of the Valley Sun, anxious to talk about a pressing local issue. Bill always began the discussion by waving the paper in the air and shouting, Pravda speaks! Yup. Pravda was his nickname for the Valley Sun. Thats why it has been a thrill to freelance for the Valley Sun. Together, weve explored the regions best burritos (Lupes on Foothill Boulevard), Christmas shopping (the Apple Cart on Foothill Boulevard), gin-based cocktails (Flintridge Proper on Foothill Boulevard), weird stuff at Trader Joes (ditto) and the history of Foothill Boulevard. All that, plus Memorial Day, the Memorial Park plaques, walking our late dog Miss Audrey Hepburn on Foothill Boulevard and the secret criminal history of Rattlesnake James (a local who was the last man hanged in California), the burning of the elementary school, sourcing coffee, and local litigation in 1890. Its been a kick. And now, its time to take a hiatus. The reason is simple. Its hard to justify space for a soft column when space is needed to report hard news. La Canada is home to thoughtful, educated professionals and a vibrant community that deserve robust coverage of our elected officials, the government institutions, the clubs and the schools. The Columbia Journalism Review recently pointed out, as local and regional newspapers have grappled with the collapse of an antiquated business model, funding for investigative units and accountability journalism has shrunk drastically. Accountability journalism is the key to an effective 1st Amendment. Next month, armed with a grant from the Ford Foundation, the investigative journalism nonprofit, ProPublica, will launch a trial program in Chicago. Theyll have 10 reporters and one editor who will focus on local reporting. ProPublica hopes that this state initiative will eventually expand to other local regions. ProPublica says, The collapse of regional and local newspapers, and the drastic cutback of reporting staffs, has left accountability journalism at the state and local levels shrinking and underfunded, weakening democratic governance at a critical moment. Thats right. A strong local newspaper strengthens the city government. It would be great for the Valley Sun to win a grant, like ProPublica, find a sugar daddy, or wake up Friday morning to 50 new half-page ads. In the meantime, the Valley Sun will continue to rely on the excellent Sara Cardine. Shes on Facebook, and covers crime, the City Council, schools and current local events. Sara and our editor, Carol Cormaci, do a great job. Many thanks to all of you, our readers. Thank you to Carol Cormaci and The Los Angeles Times, for the opportunity to engage with our community, right here in the La Canada Valley Sun! See you on Foothill Boulevard! -- ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Canada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Contact her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. Follow her on Instagram @realanitabrenner, Facebook and on Twitter @anitabrenner. On the night Vanessa Dundon was shot in the eye, she was on the front lines looking up at a phalanx of police. It was after sundown on a cold night at the Backwater Bridge at the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Dundon, 31, a Navajo and mother of four, had arrived two months earlier to join thousands of others in their battle against the Dakota Access pipeline. Working security for the pipeline resisters, Dundon trailed a group of men as they approached two burnt-out trucks, abandoned on the bridge during a chaotic day of mass protest and arrests. Now pipeline foes wanted to clear them and open the road for emergency vehicles. Advertisement The men moved onto the bridge. Police in riot gear fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets from behind barbed wire. As Dundon took cover, she heard a woman yelling for help. She looked up. A flaming canister was headed her way. It was too late to duck. I knew it was going to hit me, Dundon recalled later. I just had to embrace it. I figured, its coming. Just got to take it. Dundon closed her eyes. :: Dundons injury is one of the worst in the confrontation between police and those whove been gathered here for months to protest an advancing $3.8-billion, 1,172-mile pipeline. Hours after Dundon was injured, 21-year-old Sophia Wilansky, a recent graduate of Williams College, nearly had her left arm blown off by an explosive device. Dundon faced obstacles at every turn as she sought medical help, but Wilansky was flown to a Minneapolis hospital in the hours after the explosion. And Dundons injury received a fraction of the attention given to journalist Erin Schrode, whose Facebook post of her injury from a rubber bullet received nearly 2.5 million views. Its because theyre white, said Chat Bobtail Bear, who was shot in the skull with a rubber bullet on the bridge shortly after Wilansky was hurt. He said he suffered severe bleeding from a wound that required seven staples to close. His injury also received little attention. Wilansky recognized the disparity in a recent Facebook post. I think that I received a disproportionate amount of money because Im white, Wilansky wrote. She offered to donate some of the funds she has received to lesser-known victims of police violence. :: Dundon grew up in White Cone, Ariz., a high-desert community in the heart of the Navajo reservation, just south of the Hopi mesas. She was raised traditionally, surrounded by ceremony and the Navajo creed, Walk in beauty. We have a saying, Excuse my beauty! Dundon said, smiling. I say it a lot. Last summer she heard about members of some 300 tribes who had gathered on the North Dakota prairie to fight the black snake: the winding pipeline. But it wasnt until September when she saw a video of dogs from a pipeline security team biting protesters that she decided to join them. She found a ride and traveled north to Standing Rock. Vanessa Dundon in October at the Dakota Access oil pipeline protest. (Blake Nicholson / Associated Press ) As weeks passed, Dundons commitment grew deeper, her political awareness sharper. She swapped her skirts and moccasins for the Marine and Army uniforms her veteran sisters had brought her from Arizona. Her cousin named her Adzaan Dezbah, or Lady Going to War. Determined to be more than just a spectator, she joined the American Indian Movement and became a security dispatcher and first responder on the front lines. Her code name was Sioux Z. On the front lines she would burn bundles of cedar and white sage, coaxing the smoke in the direction of the police, praying for them. Excuse my beauty! she would yell. :: The flaming tear gas canister struck Dundon directly in her right eye. Instinctively she covered it with a bandana. She tried to run but almost immediately felt a rubber bullet pierce her skin. She fell. O ma key ya po! she yelled in Lakota. Help me! Dundon closed her eyes as a man and a woman dragged her toward safety. Is my eyeball hanging out? she asked them. No, they told her, youre just bleeding a lot. But Dundons eye had been damaged, and in the crucial hours she had to save it, she found herself in a healthcare nightmare. After camp medics applied sutures to halt the bleeding, a Standing Rock ambulance took her to a clinic in Mandan, an hours drive away. As she waited for attention, Dundon said, she overheard nurses talking about a Native man whod been injured on the bridge. Thats what he gets, one of them said. An hour later a doctor arrived and gave her stitches. He told her she needed to see a retina specialist immediately, but there were only three in the state. He recommended one in Fargo, 200 miles east. But they were unavailable over the Thanksgiving holiday. The next day, Dundon went to a retina clinic in Mandan. Clerks there refused to accept her Indian Health Service insurance card from Arizona. We cant help you, Dundon recalled them telling her. She called her mother, trying to connect the clinic with her Arizona benefits coordinator. This is an emergency. This is 72 hours to save my eye. They wouldnt treat me unless I had cash. I dont know what I ever did to Morton County. Vanessa Dundon Desperate for money, she returned to camp, where a drum group sang and a woman danced for her at the sacred fire. They raised $743 for her. Her cousin then drove her four hours to Fargo, where she checked into an emergency room. But there was so much bleeding in her eye that it was impossible to determine the extent of the damage, she said. The next day, an ophthalmologist told her she probably had a detached retina. Finally, five days after being injured, she had an appointment with a specialist in Minneapolis,a 3 -hour drive. She was told there was only a 5% chance she would see again out of her right eye. Seventy-two hours, she later said dejectedly. Thats all I had. :: Dundon is now the lead plaintiff in a civil rights class-action lawsuit filed in federal court against North Dakota police officials, alleging excessive force in an increasingly violent campaign to suppress and chill plaintiffs constitutionally protected rights. I dont know what I ever did to Morton County, Dundon said. The fact is Im a water protector. Im on the front lines. I am very passionate. But Im not up there as an agitator. Morton County officials would not comment specifically on Dundons case because of the lawsuit. However, they have consistently defended police tactics. Dakotans should be proud of law enforcement and the professionalism they have demonstrated throughout this ordeal, said Cody Schulz, chairman of the Morton County Commission. These protesters are now grasping at straws, using the court system to make false accusations against officers. Duncan said her anger goes far beyond the police. Injured, she was unable to get the quick medical help she needed. Her health insurance, she said, wasnt good enough for me to get flown to Minneapolis. I had to make my way myself. Wilansky, in her offer to share medical funds, addressed the equity issue head on. Im sure a lot of people feel the same way, she said in her Facebook post. We cant fix the pathetically unequal and unjust healthcare system overnight, but we can look after each other in these extraordinary times. ALSO Storm soaks Southern California; LAX jammed The long and complicated road to understanding Jeff Sessions and matters of race By striking a single word, Congress shakes up U.S. nuclear defense doctrine and opens door to space arms race Fingerprints matching a fugitive Tunisian refugee were found Thursday inside the truck that plowed into a Berlin Christmas market this week, killing 12 people. The discovery has left investigators all but certain that the suspect, who remains at large and is armed and dangerous, was behind the wheel during the worst terror attack the country has seen in decades. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters that investigators found fingerprints belonging to Anis Amri, the subject of a European-wide manhunt since Wednesday. Amris wallet and ID had already been found inside the trucks cabin, where police said a vicious knife fight with the Polish driver had taken place. Authorities believe Amri first injured the Polish driver with a knife before shooting him to death at the end of the rampage that also left 48 people injured. Advertisement The suspects fingerprints have been found in the cockpit of the truck, de Maiziere told reporters, who accompanied Chancellor Angela Merkel on a visit to the governments anti-terror center in Berlin. There are also other highly probable indications that the suspect is indeed the assailant, he added, a day after warning against jumping to conclusions that Amri had been the attacker. Thats why its all the more important that this manhunt succeeds as quickly as possible. Were very much hoping that will be the case. The federal prosecutors office issued a warrant for Amris arrest Thursday. It had earlier described him as armed and dangerous, and offered a 100,000-euro ($104,000) reward for information leading to his capture. Heavily armed police commandos staged early morning raids at several locations Amri had frequented in the past, in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlins Kreuzberg, Moabit and Prenzlauer Berg districts. A mosque in Berlin and a passenger bus near the southern town of Heilbronn were also searched. Merkel paid tribute to police detectives for their work in quickly identifying the suspect, even though authorities have been blamed for failing to deport Amri, a man with a long criminal record who was designated for deportation back to Tunisia. Im proud of the way that the vast majority of people have reacted with such prudence in recent days, Merkel told reporters. Since the attack, Merkel has been hit with sharp criticism from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party over her open-door policies that allowed more than a million refugees into the country during the last 16 months. Facing a difficult election in September where she will attempt to win a fourth term, Merkel has lost considerable support over the last year because of her decision to allow in so many refugees and her staunch refusal of demands from the right-wing of her own party to accept limits on those numbers. Political analysts had long warned that support could crumble further if Germany were hit by a major terror attack. Amris request for asylum in Germany had been turned down in July, but he could not be deported because he did not have a Tunisian passport and Tunisia at first denied he was a citizen. Amri had also been on a watch list and under police surveillance for months after he was linked to radical Islamists in Germany. Before coming to Germany, the young Tunisian had also been in jail for four years after helping set fire to a migrant center on the island of Lampedusa. He wound up there after fleeing from Tunisia in 2011, one of thousands of young Tunisians who made the journey during the Arab Spring. 1 / 17 Italian police stand around the body of suspect Anis Amri after a shootout in Milans Sesto San Giovanni neighborhood early Friday. (Daniele Bennati / EPA) 2 / 17 A visitor lays a candle at a memorial inside the reopened Breitscheidplatz Christmas market only a short distance from where a truck plowed into the market, killing 12 people. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images) 3 / 17 An Israeli flag stands among candles and flowers left by mourners at a memorial at the reopened Breitscheidplatz Christmas market. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images) 4 / 17 Pictures of suspect of Anis Amri released by German Federal Police. (Handout / AFP/Getty Images) 5 / 17 The entrance of the mosque where the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack is believed to have been seen. (Maurizio Gambarini / Associated Press) 6 / 17 Nour-Houda Amri, mother of 24-year-old Anis Amri, the prime suspect in Berlins deadly truck attack, is seen in front her house in Oueslatia, Tunisia. (Fethi Belaid / AFP/Getty Images) 7 / 17 The press spokesperson of the federal prosecutors office, Frauke Koehler, announces an arrest warrant for Anis Amri of Tunisia on Thursday. (Franziska Kraufmann / Associated Press) 8 / 17 A police officer walks through a Christmas market near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church the day after a terror attack in central Berlin. (Tobias Schwarz / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 17 People light candles at a makeshift memorial in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, where a truck crashed into a crowded Christmas market the day before, killing 12 people and injuring scores more. (John MacDougall / AFP/Getty Images) 10 / 17 German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives on Dec. 20, 2016, at the site where a truck crashed into a crowded Christmas market near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. (Maurizo Gambarini / AFP/Getty Images) 11 / 17 German Chancellor Angela Merkel, second from left, and Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller, left, visit the terror attack scene at the Christmas market near Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in central Berlin. (John MacDougall / AFP/Getty Images) 12 / 17 Police officers stand next to a truck after it crashed into a crowded Christmas market near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. The attack is being called an act of terror. (Tobias Schwarz / AFP/Getty Images) 13 / 17 A police officer and a firefighter inspect a damaged truck on a road beside the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin. Officials say the truck deliberately rammed into a crowded market, killing a dozen people. (Michael Kappeler / EPA) 14 / 17 Police officers stand in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin on Dec. 20, 2016, a day after a truck crashed into a Christmas market and killed 12 people. (John MacDougall / AFP/Getty Images) 15 / 17 A German police officer stands next to a merry-go-round in the Christmas market in Frankfurt, Germany, one day after a truck drove into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin killing 12 people. (Michael Probst / Associated Press) 16 / 17 German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other government officials visit the site of the attack in Berlin, the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market and killed 12 people. (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press) 17 / 17 Police officers inspect the scene in Berlin, the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market and killed 12 people. (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press) Armin Laschet, a deputy leader in Merkels conservative party, lamented a depressing lack of coordination between state officials and security agencies. It looks like the thinking (in North Rhine-Westphalia) was he moved away to Berlin so the case is closed for us and the balls in Berlins court now, Laschet told German radio. In Italy, prison guards in six different Sicilian jails recall Amri as a violent and thuggish rebel who bullied fellow prisoners. When he was in the Pagliarelli jail in Palermo he was held in a cell on his own to avoid mixing with other prisoners because of his poor conduct which had led to fights with some inmates, said Donato Capece, the head of Italian prison guards union SAPPE. During his spell at Enna jail in Sicily in 2013, a group of volunteer actors enrolling prisoners for theater performances signed Amri up for a play, but were soon disillusioned. He was silent, polite and was given the task of playing the drums because he was so withdrawn, said actress Pierelisa Rizzo. Amri made it through rehearsals, but was shifted to another jail before the performance. Amris father, and one of his brothers, have said he was radicalized during his time in jail in Italy. The young Tunisian was written up 12 times for offenses including intimidated other prisoners and trying to stoke rebellion in jails. He was held under strict supervision as a violent, riotous inmate, but he never showed signs of loyalty to the jihad in jail and did not frequent places of worship, Capece said. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Tom Kington contributed reporting from Rome. ALSO Haitians, Africans, Asians: Mexicos border cities are getting overwhelmed with migrants headed to America Car bombs explode at a suburban Mosul market, killing 15 civilians and eight policemen Fireworks were the lifeblood of this community. Then suddenly, they brought devastation UPDATES: 3:35 p.m.: This article was updated with details of an Italian prison service report. 1:43 p.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting. This article was originally published at 10:00 a.m. A blast hit on Thursday a military plant in the central Italian town of Baiano Di Spoleto leaving at least one person injured, Sputnik reported. A 24-year-old woman was seriously injured by the explosion and sent to a hospital the RaiNews24 media outlet reported. Firefighters and carabinieri arrived at the site. Causes of the incident remain unknown. The local authorities launched investigation into the case. An expected U.N. vote on a resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement activities has been postponed, according to a pair of Western diplomats in New York. The diplomats, both of whom have knowledge of the process, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. One diplomat didnt give a time frame for when the vote may now occur. The other said the matter has been postponed indefinitely as Egypt has bowed to Israeli pressure. Advertisement The vote, previously expected Thursday, would have provided one of the last opportunities for President Obama to take a stand against Israeli settlement building after years of failed peace efforts, but doing so could reignite a dispute with a close ally in the waning days of his tenure. The draft resolution, circulated by Egypt, demands Israel stop settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and declares that all existing settlements have no legal validity and are a flagrant violation of international law. In an overnight tweet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote: The U.S. should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. Israel has expressed concern that Obama, who has had an icy relationship with Netanyahu, will take an audacious step in his last weeks in office to revive the peace process, but U.S. officials have said he has nearly ruled out any major last-ditch effort to pressure Israel. A Security Council resolution would be more than symbolic since it carries the weight of international law. In the past, Obama has refused to endorse anti-Israel resolutions in the council, saying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved through negotiations. Still, the U.S. and much of the international community consider Israels West Bank settlements illegitimate and an obstacle to peace. Netanyahu rejects such claims, blaming the failure of peace efforts on the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israels Jewish identity. Netanyahu and Obama have repeatedly clashed over Israels settlement policies. But even if Obama supports Thursdays resolution, it is unclear what impact it will have. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in less than a month, has indicated a more sympathetic approach to Israel and appointed an ambassador who has been a supporter of the settler movement. Nearly 600,000 Jewish settlers now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas the Palestinians want as part of their future state, along with the Gaza Strip. Israel captured those territories in the 1967 Mideast war. Settlement construction has thrived under Obamas watch, despite his administrations constant condemnations, a sign of the limits of U.S. influence over its close ally. Obama has struggled to revive peace talks, which last collapsed in 2014. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Obama for more than a year had considered giving a major speech describing his vision for a future peace deal or, in a more aggressive step, supporting a U.N. resolution laying out parameters for such a deal. Although the goal would be to impart fresh urgency to the moribund peace process, either step would have been perceived as constraining Israels negotiating hand while strengthening the Palestinians argument on the world stage. The U.N. vote presents Obama with an opportunity to display his impatience with Israel, but its not clear how he will proceed. The draft resolutions language, challenging the legality of the settlements, is likely to be unacceptable to Washington. A yearlong wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has tapered off in recent months but not halted completely, has further imperiled any peace efforts. Earlier Thursday, the Israeli military said its forces shot and killed a Palestinian who was lobbing an explosive device at troops carrying out an operation in east Jerusalem. The forces were demolishing the home of a Palestinian who carried out an October attack in Jerusalem that killed a police officer and a civilian. ALSO Fireworks were the lifeblood of this community. Then suddenly, they brought devastation European Court strikes down Britains sweeping surveillance law The U.S. is no stranger to interfering in the elections of other countries UPDATES: 8:15 a.m.: This article was updated with news that the vote has been postponed. This article was originally posted at 5:05 a.m. Multiple car bombs tore through an east Mosul suburb Thursday morning, killing 15 civilians and eight police officers, Iraqi officials said. The victims were at a market and a police garage in the town of Gogjali, which Iraqi forces seized from Islamic State militants in early November as part of an effort to take back the city, Iraqs second largest. The terrorist group claimed responsibility, saying through its Amaq news agency that the attack was carried out by three suicide bombers targeting the Iraqi army. In addition to the dead, at least 50 people were wounded. Advertisement It was about 10:30 a.m. when Samir Hassan, a 29-year-old federal police officer from Baghdad, parked his Humvee outside the police garage and joined other officers at a checkpoint. Suddenly they saw a familiar boy running toward them. His parents had been killed by Islamic State. The officers had been giving him food. Hassan said the boy told them: Suicide bombers are coming. By the time the officers spotted the two cars, it was too late. We shot the cars, but they were armored, Hassan said. The explosions sent shrapnel into his left foot. He was taken to a hospital 25 miles east in Hamdaniya with other injured police. The 60-bed hospital, which officially opened Thursday, was rapidly filling, said Brig. Gen. Mohamed Shakr, who runs it. He said Islamic State was still active in the area. They make us feel secure, then they attack, he said of militants. A second bombing was reported at about 11 a.m. at an open-air market not far from the police garage. Mohamed Qasim, a medical student who treated victims at a nearby World Health Organization clinic, said most of the injured were male civilians. After the attack, authorities placed Iraqi soldiers outside the clinic and imposed a curfew. We think that there are sleeper cells in Gogjali, but we have many police and soldiers here to protect us, Qasim said. Islamic State took over Mosul, a city of 1.2 million, in 2014. Starting this October, Iraqi forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition began clawing back territory, encircling the city and freeing about half of the east side. In recent weeks, however, the offensive has stalled, with soldiers entrenched in the east and families trapped with militants. Mosul residents are coping with shortages of medicine, food and water. Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who was visiting Hamdaniya on Thursday, said the Gogjali attacks were to be expected. Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, commander of land forces in the coalition, said Islamic State is cornered and desperate to defend Mosul. Sometimes that means they will stay behind in areas that we have cleared, he said. During the last two days, four aid workers and at least seven civilians awaiting aid have been killed and another 40 injured, in two mortar attacks in east Mosul, said Lise Grande, U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Iraq. People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help, Grande said in a Thursday statement. They should be protected, not attacked. molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com Twitter: @mollyhf ALSO: Fireworks were the lifeblood of this community. Then suddenly, they brought devastation European Court strikes down Britains sweeping surveillance law U.N. will vote on a resolution to halt Israeli settlements in the West Bank, calling them a flagrant violation UPDATES: 9:21 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting. This article was originally published at 6 a.m. The day began with a crack of lightning over Turbo, a Colombian port city built along a murky, trash-strewn bay. Once the site of gun battles between leftist guerrillas and paramilitary groups, the citys narrow streets now swirled with all types of commerce: Shirtless men hauled timber to the docks. Women hawked freshly gutted fish. And smugglers offered their services to migrants from all over the world on their way to the United States. Every day they come, said Emelides Munoz Meza, a local official who has found himself consulting maps of the world to understand where some of the thousands of foreigners making their way through his city have journeyed from. Advertisement Eritrea? I didnt even know this country existed, Munoz said. The flow of migrants arriving in Colombia without visas has increased dramatically over the last three years. Some 9,500 of them transited the country in the first half of 2016, more than double last years levels and four times the number detained in 2014. They are part of an unprecedented wave of global migration that has seen millions of refugees descend on Europe, fleeing poverty, persecution and war. Now, with migrant ships sinking in the Mediterranean and violent attacks in Europe, a rapidly growing number of migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Asia, Africa and the Middle East are making journeys of unimaginable difficulty up through South and Central America dreaming of setting foot one day in the United States. With a population of 163,000, Turbo is Colombias last major outpost of civilization before the border with Panama. Migrants come here to gather supplies and rest up before boarding boats across the gulf to a tiny Colombian border town where they begin their hike through the dense jungle that straddles the Panamanian frontier. In recent years, Turbo has become a kind of 21st century Casablanca, the Moroccan town where European refugees fleeing Hitler waited for transport to the U.S. seven decades ago. A babel of languages mix on the the streets. In the dark hallways of seedy hotels, migrants crowd around every available electrical socket, charging their phones while they type on WhatsApp to loved ones back home. Fishale Haile, the 26-year-old son of sorghum farmers in Eritrea, had arrived the night before after a two-week bus trip through South America that began in Brazil. That morning, he was frantically scouring the shops of Turbo in search of supplies for the trip ahead. His backpack had been stolen on the long bus ride, and in it were the clothing, shoes and jackets hed packed. All he had left were the baggy jeans and black T-shirt he was wearing, and a small leather satchel. It contained his phone, identity documents and a framed poem in English that he had bought for his girlfriend in Eritrea, a hopeful gesture in a long journey with an unknown ending. When he got nervous, he rubbed his fingers along his left forearm, where he had recently tattooed a mantra. Never look back, it said in black cursive script. :: Slight, with long eyelashes and a thin goatee, Haile had escaped Eritrea a year earlier in the dead of night. An isolated country of six million wedged in between Ethiopia and Sudan in the Horn of Africa, Eritreas population has been fleeing the often-brutal rule of President Isaias Afwerki at an astonishing rate. Nearly half a million Eritreans have lodged asylum claims or registered as refugees, over 9% of the countrys population, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported last year. Many are trying to evade the years of indefinite military conscription often as much as a decade of forced labor that Afwerkis government imposes on the countrys young men. Haile left after he was forced into several years of military service. Three of his brothers had also escaped, two to Europe, and one to Ethiopia. Evading Eritrean snipers along the desert border, Haile made it safely to a Sudanese refugee camp, where he befriended three other former Eritrean soldiers who shared his daring dream of journeying to America. Using money sent from sympathizers back home and in the Eritrean diaspora, they boarded planes to Brazil, and then bought bus tickets north. As they traveled day and night on highways known for stops by bandits and corrupt police, Hailes family sent messages on Facebook to keep him updated on developments back home. The news was grim. Other soldiers who had tried unsuccessfully to desert were being imprisoned or killed. I miss you, one of his sisters told him. But please dont come home. On the morning of his crossing, using money pooled from his traveling companions, Haile left the hotel to scrounge for supplies. Caribbean music blasted from every storefront. Using hand motions to figure out how much things cost, he forked over cash for a new backpack, some thick socks and a pair of rubber rain boots that were much too big for his slender feet. At a brightly lit grocery market, he hurriedly stuffed food into his cart rice, apples, two packages of strawberry wafers and a bag of sugar to help keep him and his friends alert while they trekked through the muggy forest. The young Colombian woman at the cash register rolled her eyes as he fumbled for $20 worth of the unfamiliar currency. As he left, a street vendor called out: A lantern is necessary in the forest. Haile stopped and handed over $6 in crumpled pesos for two plastic flashlights. Light seemed like a good idea. Everybody had warned him that he was heading to a very dark place. :: The Pan-American Highway stretches from Alaska down to the southernmost tip of Chile with only one gap a nearly 60-mile section of dense rainforest along the Colombia-Panama border. Humans have for more than a century tried to tame the jungle in what is known as the Darien Gap and the jungle has consistently rejected their efforts. In the 1850s, several U.S. Navy explorers died in the Gap while looking to cut a nautical channel from the Caribbean to the Pacific. More recent voyagers have ended up killed or kidnapped by the FARC rebels and other paramilitary groups that have long holed up in the forest. Its not just jungle snakes and rebels that migrants have to fear when they make the crossing. Sometimes its the people who offer to help them. Colombian coyotes circle like flies in Turbo at the $4-a-night hotels where migrants sleep three or four to a bed, offering to help with the passage to Panama. Amigos, they coax in hushed voices. Lets collaborate. Days before Haile arrived, three Cuban migrants had paid human traffickers to take them by boat all the way to Panama in an effort to sidestep the jungle passage. Instead, authorities said, the smugglers took them to wetlands not far from Turbo, where they raped and killed the woman and killed one of the men. In January, a smuggler boat loaded with migrants from Pakistan, Somalia and Sierra Leone capsized off the coast of Colombia, drowning 15. Paying a smuggler is often necessary for the difficult jungle journey to Panama, which can take up to a week. The path through the jungle crosses wide rivers, two mountains and is strewn with things discarded: clothes, water bottles, even food that migrants deemed too much to carry. It is also lined with graves. A smuggler who wouldnt give his name described a pregnant Haitian woman who died after being bitten by a snake while she slept. He spoke of a Nepali man who had a heart attack while climbing a hill, and a Haitian child who was orphaned on the journey, and scooped up by other migrants so she wouldnt die in the forest. The Gap has taken on a fearsome persona, and its impossible to sort out which stories are fact and which are fiction. The coyotes have been known to make up stories to scare the migrants into hiring them. Cedrick Lezi, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, crossed in September with a group of people from Pakistan, Nepal, Ghana and Nigeria. They walked from dawn to nightfall for days. You dont even know where youre going, he said. Youre just going. At times he suspected the coyote they had hired was purposely getting them lost, so they would be forced to rely on him more. A pro-democracy protester in the Congo, Lezi said he left home after he was arrested for organizing a demonstration and several fellow activists were killed. But the arduous jungle journey was more draining. At one point, he said, I told my friends, I am tired. Go on without me. As he explained it, You reach a moment where you decide its better going back to your country. Go back. Let them kill me. Its better to die in my country at least Ill have a grave. But something made him keep walking. That night, he was intercepted by Panamanian authorities, who took him to a refugee camp and eventually let him pass. Not long ago, he was sleeping on the floor of a Catholic Church in Panama City, trying to make enough money to continue the journey ahead. He regretted not having chosen the route from Africa to Europe, to ask for asylum there. I thought this road was easier, but its more dangerous, he said. If you asked me to do this again, I could not. :: If Haile had heard Lezis story, would he have scrambled aboard the motorboat headed for the Gap? Would the other 200 immigrants crowded on the docks in Turbo that morning? When the boats sidled up, reeking of gas, they all surged toward them. A group of Cubans boarded one boat. A group of Nepalis boarded another. The Eritreans were the last to crowd on. They had bought tickets for a 9:30 a.m. departure, but it was close to noon when they finally set off. A dark gray sky was threatening rain. The boat motored away from Turbo and out across the Gulf of Uraba. Haile sighed as the city gave way to lush forest. It was the greenest thing he had ever seen. They stopped at a large barge an immigration checkpoint. But the official there didnt ask for anybodys papers. He seemed mostly interested in getting them out of Colombia. The boat picked up speed as it entered open waters, smacking violently along the waves. Haile, seated in the turbulent front half of the vessel, already had a headache. Now his back muscles began to ache from bouncing against the hard wooden seats. He silently wished the boat would just slow down that is, until the engine sputtered. This cant be, Haile thought as the boat stopped. They were drifting on choppy waves at least a mile off the coast. Next to him, a Haitian woman was near tears, humming prayers. Haile looked back at his friends, squeezed amid a group of Cubans. They all looked as nervous as he did. Death by smuggler? Death by jungle snake? Haile had prepared himself for those risks. But death by drowning? That was not supposed to happen on this journey. That was the fate of unlucky immigrants crossing into Europe, not those traveling to America. As the boat drifted and its passengers began to panic, Haile craned his neck to see the boat operator, who was tinkering with the engine. Without it, they might sink. After a very long minute, the man yanked the motor cord. The engine coughed to life. Thank God, Haile uttered out loud when the boat finally pulled up to the dock in Capurgana, the tiny town where they would begin their hike into the jungle. Fat raindrops fell as they stepped off the boat. Immediately they were surrounded by a group of smugglers. Amigos, said one man who was holding a beer. We are guides. We have contacts. What are they saying? asked one of Hailes friends. Haile shook his head. I dont trust strangers, he said. The longer the Eritreans stood there, talking among themselves, the more aggressive the coyotes became. Look, its no problem, one of them told Haile. You pay half here and half when you arrive. A group of Haitians from the boat had made a deal with a different smuggler, and the group was now starting to walk away with him to the edge of town. Haile and his friends decided to follow. Carrying a bag of groceries and his new backpack, Haile ran to catch up with the group, which had just rounded a bend. He soon disappeared with them, on his way to the forest. He never looked back. kate.linthicum@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter: @katelinthicum Times staff writer Chris Kraul and Alexandra Zavis contributed to this report. Jesus Rodriguez Ernesto Ortiz leaned against his bike Wednesday and peered through a chain-link fence at the wreckage of the San Pablito fireworks market. In this community, the sale of fireworks touches nearly every family, and so too did the explosion Tuesday afternoon that left the market a field of twisted metal, burned-out cars, broken glass and human remains. At least 32 people were killed and 46 others remained hospitalized Wednesday after an eruption of sparks and flames engulfed the crowded network of stalls that was once considered Latin Americas safest fireworks market. By Wednesday morning, along with a sense of mourning across Mexico, there were also recriminations. Advertisement It was the third major explosion at the San Pablito market since 2005. You cant explain that these tragedies continue to repeat themselves, and the authorities just lament them and send condolences, said Alejandra Barrales, president of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party. This demonstrates the lack of care and attention not just here, but in the whole state. But many here in Tultepec, like Ortiz, have lived a life defined by fireworks sales and the culture of the pirotecnicos. Even after the devastation of the previous day, they were quick to defend the artisanal explosives crafted here through the generations as a source of income, celebration and strength for the community. Now 22, Ortiz has been selling fireworks since he was 12. He knows to have a fire extinguisher and buckets of water handy, and he instructs customers to keep a distance of several feet when they ignite the elaborate standing displays, or castles, that he makes for parties. Ortiz showed pictures of his castles on his phone. Hed experimented with different materials and was proud of the level of detail he put into their construction. ''I like the creativity, its really fun. Its even more fun when you light it and people are watching,' he said. On his grandmothers birthday, he estimated, nearly 600 people came into the street to watch him light up the castle hed made for her as a gift. They had the same enthusiasm theyd shared since they were all children a mix of glee and fear on their faces. He found himself watching their faces instead of the spectacle. This week though, for the families who had not been spared, the horror that fireworks could cause was all too real. At a clinic near the blast site, Alvaro Hernandez Urban searched for his sister-in-law. She had worked at a fireworks stand that each November and December in the busy holiday season became her home. Now she was missing. Frustrated that he hadnt been given information from any hospital, nor permitted to see whether any of the unidentified bodies at the morgue might be her, he continued to check lists of names in hopes of finding some new information. ''Shes a wonderful person,' he said. ''Its worrisome, we have zero information.' Rolando Lomas, looking for his brother-in-law, was equally desperate. He had already looked in all the hospitals where the wounded had been sent. ''I heard some people were helping victims in their homes,' he said. Juan Martinez Leon, who escaped from the blast along with his mother and sister, doesnt sell fireworks but works with his family at the market selling hand-sewn hats from a cart. When the explosions started, he tried to grab his things, but finally gave up and just ran. Juan Martinez Leon with his mother, Lorenza Leon Lopez, and sister, Marie Cruz Aguilar Mendoza, who all survived the explosion, at their home in Tultepecs San Antonio Xahuento neighborhood. (Laura Tillman / For The Times ) ''I can say I didnt lose anything the material isnt important. I have my mother and sister, said Leon, who was wearing a sweatshirt with a picture of Santa Claus and the word, in English, Believe. When I was separated from them, that uncertainty and the fear were the worst part,' he said. But his daughter, Sara Elizabet Vidal Hernandez, was not so calm. She shook as she spoke about the explosion, describing how emergency workers had instructed bystanders to bring water to pour on the bodies in the rubble to stop them from burning. While her father defended the pirotecnicos, saying they lift the whole community with the income they generate, Hernandez was no longer convinced. ''I think they should close. Because this isnt the first time, its been three times that it exploded,' she said. ''I understand its their work here in the community, the fireworks, but its dangerous, and too many people died.' Along La Saucera Street, a long dirt road lined by concrete-block buildings housing dozens of businesses that sell raw materials for fireworks, there was a sense of resignation. At one company, Piroquim, a match setting fire to its name on the marquee, Pedro Sanabria estimated that up to 90% of the community benefits from the fireworks trade. ''Thats how you eat for many people,' he said. As for how the explosion could have occurred, that was more complicated. ''There are many versions, he said. Some say it was provoked, some people didnt want the market there.' Is it possible, as Ortiz had wondered earlier that day, that it could have been caused by a child playing around? ''No,' Sanabria said, definitively. ''Children already know what fireworks are, they know a cometa, a mecha.' They know the dangers of a tamalito, a cracker, a trabuco. Other children in other places might have accidents with fireworks, Sanabria said. But certainly not the children of Tultepec. Tillman is a special correspondent. All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced. 19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc. Spider On Mars: Troughs Can Form The Martian Spiders staff@latinoshealth.com By partha das Dec 22, 2016 01:55 AM EST NASA unveils another new fact regarding Mars. Very recently researchers have discovered troughs on Mars that are erosion-carved and may become the 'spiders'. NASA in his official website has clearly described the fact. According to the reports from the desk of NASA, the troughs are the infant versions of Martian "spiders". These troughs actually 'grow and branch' for 'multiple Martian years'. These small troughs are visible on the south pole of Mars. NASA first detected this fact through MRO or the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It is believed that this cumulative growth of channels is the aftermath of the "thawing-carbon-dioxide process". The size of the spider is big. It ranges from ten yards to thousand yards. Several channels are grown from a central point and they resemble like body and the legs of a spider. Ganna Portyankina of the famous University of Colorado has said that the spider is actually formed in the 'sand-dune' region so the shape can enlarge or it may be disappeared. The sand dunes can help to know the actual way of formation of the baby spider. It takes a long time to have a complete and large spider. Researchers have opined that the process can take even thousand Martian years. This calculation is actually produced by Ganna Portyankina in a report in the Science Direct. One Martian year means 1.9 years on Earth. The co-author of the report, Candice Hansen also says that the spiders are the amazingly shaped landforms on Mars. The incident is actually occurred due to the presence of the carbon-dioxide ice or better known as the 'dry ice'. In 2007 Hugh Kieffer said that in the Spring time sunshine enters into the ice and make the bottom portion hot, which ultimately causes carbon dioxide. Now the trapped gas creates pressure and cracks are formed. Gas is released through these cracks and erodes the ground. This process actually creates spring sand. But the important fact is the erosion ultimately creates the spider. Previously it was reported that the erosion was first seen in the North Pole of Mars, though later the erosion was disappeared. Reports of NASA confirmed that the newly built troughs in the South Pole are also close to the Spring-fan sites. The process to form this spider here took three Martian years. Above all it can be said that MRO plays the key role to complete this research. In 2006 this orbiter first began its work and started to send important images of Mars. This revelation related to 'spider' is a major breakthrough of modern science as it helps to unveil another important part of Mars. Subscribe to the latinos health newsletter! Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 22 By Anakhanum Hidayatova Trend: Assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov in Ankara is a challenge for bilateral relations between Russia and Turkey on the part of those who interfere with the friendship of the two countries, Alexander Sotnichenko, associate professor at the St. Petersburg State University, a turkologist, PhD in history, told Trend. He said that this tragedy is mainly linked to cooperation, which is being repaired between Moscow and Ankara on the Syrian issue. This alliance is absolutely unacceptable for the third forces in the region, who see the cooperation between Russia and Turkey on Aleppo as a betrayal, he noted. The terrorist who shot Karlov was involved in one of the jihadist groups, as evidenced by his words said immediately after the assassination, according to the expert. Sotnichenko expressed hope that this provocation will only strengthen the relations between Russia and Turkey. It is clear that the Turkish government has nothing to do with the tragedy, and the Turkish authorities will try to eliminate all the consequences as fast as possible, he said. Karlov died after receiving fatal wound in an armed assault at an art gallery exhibition opening in Ankara late Dec. 19. Three other people were injured in the attack. The killer, Turkish off-duty police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas, has been eliminated. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the incident an act of terrorism. The expert said that in the near future a meeting will be held between the Russian and Turkish leaders in Astana, which will be devoted to the settlement of the Syrian crisis. We hope that this tragedy will not hamper cooperation of the sides in the resolution of the Syrian crisis, Sotnichenko said. Only the dialogue between Russia, Turkey and Iran, with the exception of such destructive forces as the US, the EU and Saudi Arabia will end successfully for Syria. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum China Should Watch Out for Unpredictable Trump, Experts Say Experts say that China needs to be careful of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's unpredictable policies. (Photo : Getty Images) China needs to be prepared for the unpredictable foreign policy of incoming United States President Donald Trump, experts said. An Gong, a researcher for the Beijing-based public policy research group Pangoal, said that Trump's choices for his cabinet members mean that his government will likely exercise a tougher political stance, the Global Times reported. Advertisement An addded that since a lot of choices are in their 60's, they bring in plenty of experience from their fields. Some of the surprise picks for Trump's cabinet include General James Mattis, who will be serving as Defense Secretary. Mattis will be the first serviceman to fill the position since George Marshall in the 1950s. He has combat experience in the Middle East and was a vocal critic of outgoing President Barrack Obama's policies regarding the Islamic State. Trump's choice for national security adviser also has experts concerned. Former General Michael Flynn's 30-year experience in military intelligence is expected to turn the position into a more influential and important part of the President-elect's cabinet. Meanwhile, his appointed Secretary of State, Rex Stillerton, is reportedly very close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. An said that such a connection could potentially change the current relations between the U.S. and Russia, something that China needs to pay close attention to. However, Diao Daming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute for American Studies, says that it will likely take around a year before the Trump administration can fully establish its policies, as many of the appointees have no prior political experience. Trump has regularly raised eyebrows in China for his tough stance against the country. Recently, he again drew flak from Chinese officials after commenting about the country's seizure of a U.S. Navy underwater drone, The Independent reported. The President-elect has earlier blasted China on his personal Twitter account over the incident, calling it an "unpresidented (unprecedented) act." Trump would later, tweet again about the matter, this time saying that the country should just keep it. Chinese officials have said that they have already contacted their American counterparts and will be returning the drone "in an appropriate manner." Chairmen of China's various regulatory commissions attend a news conference on the sidelines of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing in March this year. (Photo : Getty Images) Multinational companies operating in China are finding it hard to take money out of the country as Chinese regulators have imposed tougher restrictions on the flow of capital out of the China in a bid to slow the devaluation of the yuan. Advertisement According to The Wall Street Journal the new rules are also sowing anxiety and confusion in the process as transferring money has become easier in the past years. Analysts said some foreign companies may reconsider investing in the country in the future if they are uncertain of the returns. In November, firms that want to exchange yuan into dollars need government approval, as well as transactions greater than $5 million. The government also imposed stricter limit on the transfer of bank accounts in China to other countries, known as "cross-border sweeping." According to Alexander Tietze, managing director at Acon Actienbank AG, foreign investments in China may likely slow, as the restrictions could discourage foreign takeovers or new joint venture plans. As few opportunities for reinvestment are present in China's slowing economy, many foreign companies feel it would be more difficult if their money will be trapped in the country. "A majority of clients are currently consolidating and restructuring their China business," Bernd-Uwe Stucken, a lawyer with Pinsent Masons LLP in Shanghai, said. Stucken added that some of their clients are closing down but did not make new investments. In addition to the confusion caused by the new rules, companies are unclear of the limits as the official changes to the rules has not been published by Chinese regulators and instead issued only informal guidelines to the banks. An official of a multinational firm said that companies can only take out of the country the amount that is equal to 30 percent of their assets in China, unlike the 100 percent allowed in the previous guideline. Further, the transaction that took previously one to three days, can now take more than a week to finish. Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, which represents more than 1,600 European companies, said that he knew several cases involving payments by multinational firms which have delayed as it awaits approval. He added that the new rule could disrupt business and "exacerbates uncertainties regarding the predictability of China's investment environment". According to the People's Bank of China, the yuan has devaluated by 7 percent this year while capital flight, which diminished the country's foreign currency stockpile, has reached about $3.05 trillion as of November, from $3.23 trillion in January. Mikko Huotari, head of the China foreign relations research program at Mercator Institute for China Studies, a German think-tank, said that big firms are not the only ones affected by the new regulation, but also small and medium-sized firms, which often operate with limited funds. This isn't the kind of merchandise usually found in a museum gift shop. The National Museum of Industrial History through the end of the month is stocking its shop with a unique array of creations designed by students at nearby Lehigh University. It's an interesting dichotomy in the sense that the past innovators behind the industrial tools on display in the actual museum in Bethlehem probably never imagined the tools used by the students to forge their creations. The technology available to the students included laser cutters, 3-D printers and waterjets that can saw through metal. The students' creations were unveiled at a "Meet the Makers" event held Dec. 10 at the museum. Products that will remain on sale until the end of the month include book lights, shelving, smartphone virtual reality goggles, candle holders, furniture, candy dishes, serving trays, wine bottle holders, lamps, picture frames, bookends, music boxes and furniture, Lehigh University says in a news release. "Many of the designs were directly inspired by objects in the museum collection or the grounds of Bethlehem Steel," says Wesley Heiss, a Lehigh associate professor of art, architecture and design. The nod to Bethlehem's industrial past wasn't entirely by chance. Students were required to work with folded sheet metal as their primary material. Trexler Industries in Bethlehem Township and Benco Technology in Honey Brook, Pa., assisted in the manufacturing of the products. The least expensive item is a bottle opener for $6; the most is a chair for $300, the Lehigh release states. "Some are great for kids; some are nostalgic and celebrate the industrial heritage of our area," Heiss says. "Some are slick and modern; some are great accessories for entertaining." The sales are not for profit with 40 percent of proceeds going to the museum and 60 percent going to students to cover their costs. Heiss has been running similar projects with his classes since 2007. In the past, students have sold their designs through Home and Planet in Bethlehem and Mercantile Home in Easton. Students quoted in Lehigh's news release say they learned valuable lessons from the experience and had some fun, too. "I learned about all the directions you can go when making a product," says Lehigh student Zach Port, who made sheet metal bookmarks featuring cutouts of Steel's iconic I-beams. "This class was an excellent opportunity to bring a product from an idea to a sellable item." The museum is located in the former Bethlehem Steel's Electric Repair Shop, 602 E. Second St., Bethlehem. Visit the museum's website for hours and additional information. Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Texas man is accused of fleeing a Bethlehem hotel and stiffing staff with the bill. Marc R. Ziegenfuss, 47, of Austin, at 6:09 p.m. Wednesday was picked up by police when he registered for a stay at Hotel Bethlehem, 437 Main St., in the city. A front desk clerk was previously advised by the Residence Inn by Marriott, 2180 Motel Drive in Bethlehem, Ziegenfuss never paid for his stay at that hotel, police said. Ziegenfuss allegedly left the Marriott at 3:19 p.m. Wednesday and paid with a credit card that was declined. Police later learned a warrant also was out for Ziegenfuss's arrest in Sarasota County, Florida on a felony grand theft charge. He was arraigned before District Judge John Capobianco, who set bail at $100,000. He was taken to Northampton County on an arrest prior to requisition charge. Ziegenfuss is awaiting extradition to Florida. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Powerball ticket sold at a Lehigh County store was a $250,000 winner in Wednesday night's drawing. The ticket was sold at the Quick Stop Mini Mart, 1917 Walbert Ave. in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania Lottery officials said in a news release. The winner correctly matched four of the five numbers -- 25-33-40-54-68 -- and the Powerball number -- 3. The ticket holder bought the $1 Power Play option, which increased the prize from $50,000 to $250,000. The jackpot for the Powerball drawing on Christmas Eve is $50 million. Last month, a $1 million-winning scratch off ticket was sold at the Coplay News Agency. Lottery officials advise winners to sign the back of their tickets, call the lottery at 717-702-8146 and file a claim. Claims may be filed at lottery headquarters in Middletown, Pa., or at one of seven area offices. The lottery's Lehigh Valley office is at 44 E. Broad St. in Bethlehem and is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Winners have one year from the drawing date to claim their prizes. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Barack Obama President Barack Obama. (David Goldman | AP Photo) In a victory for our coasts, President Obama has taken a historic action by blocking offshore drilling in parts of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The administration has listened to millions of people across the country by safeguarding our marine ecosystems, fisheries, coastal jobs, and New Jersey's $38 billion per year tourism industry. This protection will ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy our beaches without the threat of a spill. Obama has sent a clear message to President-elect Donald Trump and Big Oil: "Keep your oily hands off our coast." By using a little-known 1953 law, the president has permanently protected 115 million acres of the Arctic Ocean and 3.8 million acres between Massachusetts and Maryland. This will make it harder for Trump to undo the coastal plan that excluded drilling the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Since there is no provision for a succeeding president to reverse such an order, it makes it very difficult for Trump to override the ban because it has the force of the law. From the Arctic to Anwar all the way to Belmar, offshore drilling will be off limits. This is needed more than ever because Trump has promised to allow drilling and fracking off our coasts and on public lands. The only oil we will see off our coasts is suntan oil. We thank Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, who helped Obama "kill the drill." Now we must continue to fight to make sure this decision is upheld. Jeff Tittel Director, New Jersey Sierra Club Trenton A 61-year-old man died after a two-vehicle crash Wednesday evening on Route 94 in Frelinghuysen Township, New Jersey State Police report. A 2014 Kia driven south by Catherine Kozak, 35, of Montague Township in Sussex County, crossed the double yellow line just after 6:30 p.m. and struck the left front of a northbound Lexus driven by Thomas Pisano, Trooper Lawrence Peele said. Pisano later was pronounced dead at Newton Medical Center, Peele said. Pisano was a resident of Newton in Sussex County, according to a New Jersey Herald report. It wasn't immediately clear why the Kia went into oncoming traffic at mile marker 14.5 in northern Warren County, Peele said. Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to be factors, the Herald reported. Kozak suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene, Peele said. There was no immediate ruling on Pisano's cause and manner of death, Peele said. Emergency personnel attempted to revive Pisano with CPR, police said Wednesday night. The investigation, which closed the 700 block of the road near the township elementary school, continues, Peele said. There was no indication of passengers in either vehicle, Peele said. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Farmers and others living in rural areas and Laois and around Ireland have been urged to keep an out out for their neighbours over Christmas. The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association's rural development chairman Seamus Sherlock reminded all those living in rural communities to keep an eye out for one another over the festive season. We all lead busy lives and none more so than farmers but it's important to keep our older and more vulnerable citizens in mind over the coming weeks. This will be all the more pertinent given the bad weather forecast for the weekend which may add to the difficulties for many. A quick call may be all that is needed to make a big difference in the life of someone who feels lonely or isolated at this time of year. It is important that these people are reassured and reminded they are still a much valued and respected part of their communities. Farmers are renowned for lending a helping hand to others when in need so lets all work to keep that tradition alive," he said. Mr Sherlock wished all ICSA members and all those living and farming in rural Ireland a very Happy Christmas and a safe and successful New Year. Hams and Sausages at a German meat products stand. (Photo : Credit: Sean Gallup / Staff) A new research warns that eating processed meats four times a week can aggravate asthmas symptoms. The study suggests that eating a lot of cured or processed meats including ham, salami or sausages can just worsen the condition of asthma patients. If consumed 4 or more times in a week, the symptoms of asthma get triggered, according to the findings published online by the journal Thorax. Advertisement French researchers explained that the reason behind this event is because cured and processed meats contain a significant amount of nitrites to keep them from spoiling and nitrites may contribute to the inflammation of the airways, and is a common characterization of asthma, US News cited. Other symptoms of asthma which are triggered by eating cured meats include difficulty in breathing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, Express reported. The study involved 1000 people with respiratory disease. The researchers discovered that those who consumed more cured and processed meats were 76 percent more likely to suffer from worse asthma symptoms compared to those who ate less. Processed meats have been associated with higher risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Dr. Zhen Li, the lead author of the study also mentioned that these are also the meats that were identified to be cancer-causing by the World Health Organization (WHO). The researchers said that there is really no definite conclusions yet that can be drawn from the study but it can point out the association of processed meats to lung function and overall human health. Still, Li wants to warn the public about the intake of processed meat. "Public health strategies are warranted to reduce cured and processed meat intake," Li said. According to WHO, 235 million people in the world have asthma, and the study on the correlation between eating processed meats and asthma can help raise awareness to help people avoid getting the symptoms triggered. Some of the most common triggers of asthma include outdoor allergens, dust mites and pet dander, tobacco and cigarette smoke, chemical irritants and many others. The campaign fronted by a Portarlington who lost a son and brother in a fatal crash caused by a drink driver is making a differance, according to the head of the Road Safety Authority. Moyagh Murdoch, Chief Executive Officer of the RSA praised Gillian and Ronan Treacy and their children Sean and Caoimhe. The family are fronting a major campaign media campaign which focuses on the death of their son and brother Ciaran. Ms Murdoch said the family's courage is helping to deter people from drinking and driving. "The Treacy family have really helped this year's message to get out. It focuses on their own son Ciaran. It is making a differance and people are listening to it," she told RTE's Morning Ireland. She encouraged people to follow the example of the Treacy family over the festive season by taking action to stop any family and friends they know from getting behind the wheel after drinking. Ciaran Treacy, was aged just four, when died near Portarlington in 2014 after a drunk driver ploughed into the car which was driven by his mother Gillian. His mother Gillian was badly injured while Sean survived without serious injuries. A number of local emergency staff, gardai and nurses also feature in the campaign which was launched for Christmas but which will run for two years. Meanwhile, Gardai in Portlaoise have doubled the number of drink driving checkpoints this Christmas . While cuts have been made to the Garda Traffic Corps Nationally, extra efforts are being made this Christmas to crack down on drink driving to save lives. The Leinster Express understands that number of daily checkpoints in into double figures over Christmas by the Laois Traffic Corps based in Portlaoise. Kildare towns newly formed First Responders are looking for volunteers to join them. They were on hand in Tesco in Kildare Town recently to inform locals interested in learning vital skills in how to save a persons life by using a defibrillator, among other techniques. The Kildare Town Community First Responders are a voluntary group that will work in conjunction with the National Ambulance Service and will respond to calls for Cardiac Arrest, Heart Attack, Stroke and Choking Incidents with in a 5km radius of Kildare Town. They were in the Tesco store on Sunday December 11, to show shoppers how to use CPR and AED (Automated External Defibrillator). Kildare Town Community First Responders are a new formed group, said chairperson Cathal Keogh A first responder is trained as a minimum in basic life support and the use of a defibrillator, who attends an actual or potentially life-threatening emergency. Kildare CFR is a fully voluntary group and will work in conjunction with the Na tional Ambulance Service and will respond to calls for Cardiac Arrest, Heart Attack, Stroke and Choking Incidents with in a 5km radius of Kildare Town. They are looking for more volunteers to get involved too, and anyone who is interested can check out their facebook page for further details. Its official. The organisers of June Fest have pledged there will be a festival in Newbridge in 2017, with plans being developed for the next three to five years. Committee chairman, Noel Heavey reports; Almost six months have passed since the Town Hall Proms the final gig in June Fest 2016. Since then, we have looked back at our achievements and agreed they are worth repeating. We have come together again, elected the officers, adopted a robust constitution and started planning for the next three to five years. It is an ambitious project that will depend on you, your friends, your family and your neighbours. June Fest is indeed a celebration of all that is good in our community. He said strategic planning will secure the future of the Newbridge festival. This involves leadership, compliance, governance, commitment, creativity, trust, passion, and lots of money. Since our AGM in early November, a machine has been set in motion that will deliver a series of festivals that will be the envy of every town in Ireland, he added. The machine has departed and very soon you will be called upon to grease the wheels, fuel the fire and man the crossings. I am happy to confirm that Declan Brown, Colm Somers and myself were elected as officers of June Fest at the AGM. In the meantime, we have been meeting weekly to develop a strategy to secure the future of the Festival. Mr Heavey said the committee has arranged meetings next month with current and potential partners to plan for 2017, 18, and 19. Thousands of people flocked to Newbridge for this year's festival with a huge variety of events organised including the Family Fun Day and street carnival, which was sponsored by Supervalu. Over 5,000 people alone visited Newbridge garda station for the open day. Concerts, artistic, cultural and heritage events also attracted huge interest. The ICA Yarn Bomb display at the Strand also received huge positive feedback. Facebook Develops a Content-suppression System, May Be Used by Chinese Authorities for Censorship Mark Zuckerberg, chairman, chief executive, and co-founder of the social networking website Facebook, speaks during the China Development Forum 2016. (Photo : Getty Images) Anonymous sources say that Facebook has developed a content-suppression program that can be used by Chinese authorities to filter and control posts. This exercise of power will have a tremendous potential to amplify the hollow one-mindedness of social media users. As Facebook continues to expand and may someday reach half of the world's population, its selective filtering and censorship of content may make them an absolute power over what half of the world watches and reads. A recent example of this is the censorship of images of Prophet Muhamed as well as the Vietnam War on the social media platform. Advertisement Facebook doesn't only filter posts, but also filters messaging content. And if you combine this with their behavioral learning mechanisms technology, it signals a worse upcoming change. Matthew Stender, a Berlin-based technology rights advocate, said: "The rate at which content is blocked, and at which accounts are suspended, are both striking in their frequency and their lack of transparency." He also warned that "we don't know what extent Facebook curating our timelines shapes our view of the world." Mark Zuckerberg has effusively courted China's chief Internet propagandists, which gives a hint that the company will willingly aid China's oppression. Facebook's censorship has become both extra-partisan and international wherein Chinese dissidents have had their artwork banned and Wikileaks' content being blocked. Currently, a lot of "fake news" are spreading rampantly on Facebook. The traditional media interpreted this as an "especially effective move to propagate false right-wing news." Facebook announced that they are planning to eliminate "fake news" on their social media platform. This move has been praised by China's Communist Party Organ, the Global Times. Alex Grass, a fellow at the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy at Cardozo School of Law, said that Zuckerberg should consider his legacy. He either will be remembered as the owner of the company that wields all its power in the cause of free expression, or an owner of the company that is a conciliatory billionaire that enabled suppression at home and abroad. Nick Clegg has joined Ken Clarke, a former Conservative home secretary, and Jacqui Smith, a former Labour home secretary, in a letter to The Times calling for the prison population to be reduced to the levels seen under Margaret Thatcher, the effect of which would be to broadly halve the number of people incarcerated. Here is the letter: Sir, The recent violent unrest at HMP Birmingham is a wake-up call for this country. Our prisons have become unacceptably dangerous places, with a 31 per cent increase in assaults in the past year alone. Every three days a prisoner kills themselves. The three of us know, having served in different capacities in different governments, that all governments, of whatever political persuasion, have failed to grasp this nettle for far too long. Since Michael Howard coined the phrase prison works in 1993, the prison population in England and Wales has nearly doubled to more than 85,000. Yet almost half of adults are re-convicted within one year of release from prison. So the system is not serving victims of crime or properly protecting our communities either. We believe that an escalating prison population has gone well beyond what is safe or sustainable. To restore order, security and purpose to our jails, ministers should now make it their policy to reduce prison numbers. We want to see the prison population returned to the levels it was under Margaret Thatcher. That would mean eventually reducing prison numbers to about 45,000. If the tide is not turned soon, the prisons crisis will do untold damage to wider society. Nick Clegg MP; Kenneth Clarke MP, justice secretary 2010-12, home secretary 1992-93; Jacqui Smith, home secretary 2007-09 Rail users have had to put up with an appalling service from Southern Rail over the last few months. Even before the strikes the companys service was one of the worse amongst all the train companies across the UK but now the situation has become totally unacceptable. Businesses in the South and South East of England are being adversely affected, important hospital appointments missed, everyday family routines of commuters are being wrecked, people are losing their jobs because they cannot guarantee their employer what time they will get into work or, on strike days, even that they will get into work. All this because of the deplorable non-service provided by Southern Rail. This cannot go any longer. It is time for the Secretary of State at the Department of Transport (Dft), Chris Grayling MP, to act now before it is too late and serious long term damage is done to tens of thousands of lives and businesses as a result of the shocking rail service southern commuters have had to endure for far too long. The Secretary of State must take personal responsibility for solving the crisis. Furthermore, it is also time for 50 or so Conservative MPs in the region to insist Mr Grayling intervenes. We all know that if every local Tory whose constituents are affected by Southern Rail threatened to resign, the government would ensure all sides were around the negotiating table in a heartbeat! No ifs or buts, the moment has clearly arrived time when Tory parliamentarians need to choose. Will they act in their beleaguered constituents interests or simply parrot the governments line? Their is a way forward but it takes leadership; granted this is not something we have seen much from Grayling over this dispute but in an attempt to find a practical way forward, and as the former MP for Eastbourne who always put my constituents first I am happy to offer him a solution. The Secretary of State must take the following five steps: 1/ All parties involved Southern Rail, RMT and Aslef agree to go to the independent tribunal ACAS for arbitration. 2/ There should be no pre-conditions to the talks. 3/ There must be no strikes whilst the talks continue. 4/ The final terms agreed by the negotiation be binding on all concerned. 5/ Furthermore, that the Dft must also accept the agreement and in the spirit of honest negotiation, publicly commit to not preventing Southern Rail from reaching terms with the Trade Unions. An Acas spokesman has recently said: Our services remain available. Their offer must be taken up. Bluntly the government needs to actually govern on behalf of beleaguered rail users. It is also time for the regions Conservative MPs to stand up for their long suffering constituents. Ive put up a petition outlining my five step proposal link below please share far and wide so that we can get enough people on board to force some sense into those who actually have the power to fix this appalling our rail service. * Stephen Lloyd was MP for Eastbourne and Willingdon until 2015. He was chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education. In March 2013 the Group published a report called RE: the truth unmasked on the supply of and support for RE teachers. In June 2013 Stephen tabled an Early Day Motion on REs role in tackling extremism. A GROUP is to be set up to campaign for a swimming pool in the Mungret-Raheen-Dooradoyle area. It comes after Labour councillor Joe Leddin called for a feasibility study to determine the possibility for a facility in the southern environs of the city. Since the St Endas pool closed five years ago, this area of the city has been left without a municipal swimming pool. But Cllr Leddin wants this to change. We have had significant levels of housing development which hasnt been matched with any type of community infrastructure. You now have to travel across the city to either the University of Limerick or the Grove Island Leisure Centre to go for a swim. There is no swimming facility in the whole southern environs, he said. The City West councillor lodged a notice of motion seeking the feasibility study at the last community committee meeting. But after he was told that such a study would cost 10,000, he has instead agreed to set up a lobby group on the proviso that the issue remains on the agenda at the next committee meeting. He believes a swimming facility in one of the largest areas of the city population-wise would be a success. If you look at the provision of the Mungret playground which the area sadly lacked, the response has been phenomenal. Its like the old saying: if you put the church in the middle of the parish, people will come. If you put in the facilities, people will respond, he said. Cllr Leddin added the group will comprise sporting groups, parents, and anyone who has an interest in seeing this project come to fruition. EMOTIONS ran high at Shannon Airport this week, as families were reunited with loved ones who travelled from all over the world to spend Christmas in Limerick. Of the hundreds walking through arrivals this Monday morning, Hollywood star Dominic West and his wife Catherine Fitzgerald, daughter of the late Knight of Glin Desmond Fitzgerald, flew in from London to celebrate Christmas again in Glin. Leaving the airport, the couple said they were thrilled to be back. Mr West told the Limerick Leader: I am delighted to be back in Limerick especially on this lovely, sunny day. I have no plans for Christmas, other than swimming in the Shannon on Christmas Day, when I am sure there will be a great attendance by the people of Glin. For Evette Murphy, Corbally, it has been a year since she set foot on Irish soil, after a long journey from Singapore, where she is a teacher. I am absolutely thrilled. It feels like I am in a dream, I dont know whats going on. I havent been home in a year, so I havent seen these two [niece Rosie and nephew Harry] in a year. Last Christmas was the last time I came home. She acknowledges that living so far away from home can be tough. Of course, it is exciting, but theres nothing like coming home. It is the people that you miss, really. I have a great group of people out in Singapore, theres a lot of Irish people out there, and I have been lucky enough that a lot of people have been out to me, she said. Murroe man Pat Walshe was waiting for more than an hour for his daughter Sadhbh to fly in from New York, via Heathrow. I am delighted she is home. We dont have much planned other than have dinner at home with all the family. Sadhbh Walshe is a freelance journalist for the New York Times, the Guardian and the Irish Times, and has worked on film in the United States for around 20 years. She told the Leader that it was great to come home, especially following the election of Donald Trump as the new US president. New Yorkers 80% of us did not choose the person who is president, and he lives in our city, and it is difficult for people. And I think no one knows how its going to play out. Its unusually sombre there. I always come back for Christmas and the summer, too. And to me, its now a novelty to have, like they [her parents] have, a house in the country with dogs. You cant get that in New York! So I am very excited. I am a bit jetlagged, but now I dont have to do much over the next two weeks, she said. Tim and Eileen OSullivan, Adare, were waiting for their son Gerrard, who flew in from Heathrow at 12.25pm. Tim, who grew up in Ballylanders and lived in the UK for 38 years, that it is special time, anytime when the family reunite. But Christmas has that additional magic, and thats for every family, all over the world, wherever you are. There is something that grabs you for Christmas, and it is so, so important. Its a key time of the year in family bonding when we give up and forget about all the other things we do in life, and we get together as a family and enjoy ourselves. He said that many years ago travelling home would be a cumbersome task; getting the Holyhead mail boat, get a number of crammed trains and buses and arrive in Knocklong more than 24 hours later. Now, he said, pointing to the flight schedule, There are one, two, three flights from London and Gerrard is less than an hour on the plane. Hugh and Jenny McDonogh, Ballybricken, will celebrate the next fortnight with their grandson Tony. Tony will be staying with us for two weeks and right into the New Year. Hes studying to be an actor, and it is his third year at the University of Aberystwyth, in Wales, so hes doing pretty well. We are very proud of him over there. We are always in contact with him, Hugh said. Shannon Airport recently announced that it expects passenger numbers to rise this festive season by around 5%. More than 70,000 passengers are expected to pass through the airport between last Friday, December 16 and January 3 up from 66,500 over the same period last year. The sign and logo of LinkedIn seen at the entrance of office (Photo : Getty images/Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor) As Microsoft has made it official to absorb LinkedIn, it is expected to have one goal: Make this acquisition unique. The company has a track record of giant buys gone south and write-downs have capped $13 billion since 2012. The buying of Nokia's handset unit appears to have doomed from the beginning, while buying aQuantive, which made software for selling display ads on the web, suggests like a good idea - yet it winded up being a pricey mistake. Advertisement Here's what Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella must do to keep the newly-completed LinkedIn deal from joining the ash-heap of M&A history. Retain LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer Jeff Weiner - and for more than the two to three years that secured executives generally stay around. Weiner is fiercely known among the staff talking a lot about "managing compassionately". When LinkedIn stock declined last February after inadequate earnings, Weiner held a company meeting to calm the fears of everyone. Then Jeff gave up own $14 million stock award, distributing it instead to employees. Jeff is also one of the few Silicon Valley executives who can speak about corporate goals - assisting people to find better jobs - with sufficient sincerity for listeners to buy it. Microsoft has taken over companies with well-respected leaders in the past, and among these also included David Sacks's Yammer and Mike McCue's Tellme Networks. Both the founders resided at Microsoft for about two years before farewell. The New York times reported that Mr. Satya Nadella is taking Microsoft from its roots in software for personal computers and computer servers in the new age of cloud computing mobile devices when artificial intelligence (A.I) is rapidly playing the role as an intermediary. LinkedIn matters to Microsoft for both the A.I talent it has on staff and the vast amount of data it holds on its users. A.I. works very well when it has a huge variety of data sets from which information is drawn. LinkedIn's vast collection of data is in fact why Salesforce which was once agreeing with Microsoft over its own possible acquisition, now objects to the buying of LinkedIn. THE Savoy Hotel has reached out to a man in a wheelchair who was allegedly asked to leave the hotel after a viral post claimed that he was unfairly discriminated against. The manager of the luxury city hotel has denied the claims, saying that the man was merely asked to move to another part of the lobby. The original posting by Jay Reddan about his friend Ronan has received almost 8,000 likes and more than 4,000 shares on Facebook. Thousands of comments have been left under the post and also on the Savoy Facebook page, with many calling the alleged incident disgraceful and disgusting. Jay confirmed that the hotel reached out to him and Ronan, writing on Facebook: I met the manager of the hotel and he wants to welcome Ronan back to the hotel and to have a talk about the incident. But thats entirely up to them, but to be clear I stood my ground 100 percent on my statements. Ronan Branigan, manager, spoke to the Limerick Leader in the wake of the accusation that a staff member asked the man to leave on the basis of his disability. As far as we can understand at the moment, he was asked just to move across the front of the reception, out of the fire escape way which was being blocked, and unfortunately the communication was misunderstood or misconstrued and taken to be a request to leave the hotel, which it certainly wasnt. In the post, Mr Reddan said that Ronan was forced to leave in the lashing rain, even though they served him food and he had a half a pint with two straws when I arrived. When I arrived at the Savoy I was immediately confronted by a doorman inside wearing a suit who said Ronan had to leave as he was in the way of the busy traffic of customers, the post read. The staff in the Savoy have been very good at accommodating Ronan anytime he arrived. But the excuse that he was in the way of people is absolutely unacceptable. He was nearly crying as he left, continued the post. The manager said that Ronan was a regular guest here with us and always gets very well looked after by all of the staff, adding that he has a great rapport with staff. Were very sorry that the information was misconstrued in that way, but it was certainly not the intention. THE PUBLIC Accounts Committee is set to examine the University of Limerick in the new year on a number of financial and governance issues. The examination of spending in at least four third-level institutions across the country before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been delayed this year, due to hearings in relation to Nama and Project Eagle over the last six weeks. Chairman of the PAC, Sean Fleming, confirmed to the Limerick Leader that while a number of universities will be questioned, including three Dublin institutions, Limerick has specifically come up as a big issue. He said correspondence has been received on the UL case, but he could not confirm at this time whether UL president Don Barry, or high-ranking members of the finance department, or members of the Governing Authority board will be called upon by the board to answer questions when it goes to a hearing. An exact hearing date won't be set until after the Dail resumes in the New Year, and the scheduling of the UL case will also depend on the availability of those who need to be called. He said the hearing will last at least a couple of hours. Deputy Fleming said that among the financial issues at UL which may be examined will be the high severance packages to a number of staff members, which were not sanctioned with the Department of Education and Skills. A report by the office Comptroller & Auditor General earlier this year highlighted that UL did not comply with good practice in offering two employees severance packages amounting to over 450,000 between them, following a review of high-value discretionary severance payments. A footnote in ULs financial accounts for UL, for the relevant period, during the year end September 2012, states that wages and salaries include severance payments of 220,331 and 231,506 respectively to two staff, amounting to a total of 451,837. Following this, the Department of Education confirmed to the Limerick Leader that UL did not seek prior written approval in relation to an additional 150,000 severance payment to a staff member. A spokesperson for the department said that it was only informed of this severance package, made in 2014, subsequent to it being paid. Fianna Fail deputy Willie O'Dea said that the hearing will put ongoing issues of concern at the university under the full glare of the microscope, with the top guys in UL getting a fair grilling and subject themselves to being questioned at length. There will be no holding back there, he added. Deputy O'Dea said that he understands that a number of individuals brought matters relating to UL to the PAC for their attention. Fianna Fail deputy Niall Collins told the Leader that he will be requesting that the PAC examine the non-engagement with the whistleblowers. Two of the whistleblowers, who worked in UL's finance department, and made claims in relations to expenses they were asked to process, now remain suspended for 19 months with pay, and say there appears to be no resolution in sight to their case. Leona O'Callaghan, a former UL employee, again in the finance department, brought correspondence in relation to her concerns to the PAC in 2006, but they did not go to a full hearing. Ms O'Callaghan told the Leader that she's "glad that people in the right places are realising that there does in fact need to be an investigation into the situation with UL. I'm glad that the financial decisions of UL will finally be examined by the appropriate body. I have provided the PAC with a lot of emails, details, dates and names showing the pressure I felt [during her time in UL]. She continued: I have gone to great lengths to try to sit down with the heads of UL and its Governing Authority body to go through the various difficulties I had in my role in accounts, but unfortunately they have decided to stand by their actions, deny any wrong doing and refuse to even meet with me. It's a pity therefore that all of this has to go so public, reinforcing the hurt to all the whistleblowers that have come forward and also damaging the reputation of the university," she said. Other institutions due before the PAC include Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and Dublin City University. In correspondence seen by the Leader and submitted to the PAC this month, UL president Don Barry states that the two suspended whistleblowers were found by an investigator to have made a malicious complaint against a colleague. This finding resulted from an independent investigation by an expert external to the university, and was upheld on appeal by a barrister. The women reject the allegation. UL said that the disciplinary hearing against the women has been delayed due to a number of factors, including the review commissioned by the Higher Education Authority and undertaken by Mazars. The report has now been passed to the Department of Education to address matters further. Upon completion of that report, the HEA expressed concerns that there may have been, or may still be, a culture in the university of inappropriate claims being made, until challenged. COAS Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat. (Photo : Indian Army) Lt Gen. Bipin Rawat has been appointed Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army, bypassing two more senior officers and triggering a political controversy due to the government's disregard for the rule of seniority cherished by the Indian Armed Forces. He succeeds Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag who retires Jan. 1, 2017. Advertisement Gen. Rawat's appointment was the first time since 1983 the most senior officer candidate wasn't appointed COAS. The most senior officers bypassed in this case were Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Army's Eastern Command at Kolkata, and Lt. Gen. P M Hariz, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command with headquarters at Pune. The long delay in appointing Gen. Singh's successor as COAS led to speculation Gen. Bakshi was out of favor with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of Gen. Bakshi's background as an armored corps officer. The post of COAS traditionally has traditionally gone to a senior infantry officer of the Indian Army. The only armored corps officer recently appointed COAS was Gen. Krishnaswami Sunderji, who held the post over two decades ago. "Why has seniority not been respected in appointment of Army Chief," asked Manish Tewari, a former government minister and leader of the opposition Congress party, in a tweet. In reply, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party said the "government appoints people to the office based on what it considers to be the most appropriate choice." Gen. Rawat, a counter insurgency specialist, has considerable experience working along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between areas controlled by India and Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region. His appointment also illustrates Modi's concern for the LoC where scores of Indian Army and Indian civilians have been killed in ongoing clashes against the Pakistan Army and Pakistani-sponsored Modlim Kashmiri separatists. Government sources told Indian media Gen. Rawat "is the candidate best suited to deal with emerging challenges, and that his operational experience and 'general dynamism' tipped the scales in his favor." The same source also noted Gen. Rawat has "more than 10 years of experience in counter-insurgency operations and on the Line of Control, besides serving on the China border. He has the requisite experience considering the current situation." 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. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. (Photo : Getty Images) The Republic of China (Taiwan) accused China of bribing the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe off the western coast of Africa into abruptly severing diplomatic relations with it on Dec. 21. On the other hand, China welcomed the move as a win for its One China Policy, leaving only 21 countries with which Taiwan has diplomatic relations. Advertisement An impoverished former Portuguese colony, Sao Tome and Principe relies heavily on foreign aid for survival. A statement by Taiwan President Tsai ing-wen said Taiwan deeply regrets China took advantage of the financial difficulties faced by Sao Tome and Principe to manipulate the "One China Policy." "This kind of approach not only hurts the feelings of the Taiwanese people, but also undermines the stability across the Taiwan Strait," she said. She believes China's approach is impractical to the long-term development of cross-strait ties. The Mainland Affairs Council also issued a statement to express its strong discontent and regret mainland China cajoled Sao Tome and Principe into ending diplomatic ties with the ROC. Tsai said the ROC is fully able to provide assistance to the nation's diplomatic allies across various fronts and has been more than willing to contribute to allies' development to the fullest extent of its abilities. "However, it is not our approach to engage in diplomatic games by the means of money." Tsai noted that Taiwan has long been confronted with the same external challenges regardless of which party governs, or which polices each administration adopts when it comes to cross-strait relations. This is the reality that the entire nation must squarely face, she said. "The cross-strait issue is not about differences in polices. What matters most is whether or not the people of Taiwan will come together to address this issue effectively." Last Dec. 9, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report that "Sao Tome and Principe's growth has been subdued, though still positive, reflecting delayed external financing that affected spending on key growth-enhancing capital projects. "While the macroeconomic outlook is positive, fiscal and debt sustainability concerns remain critical to maintain a careful balance between growth-enhancing spending and macroeconomic stability. The IMF, therefore, approved a further disbursement of funds for the island nation, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to some US$2.6 million. Fairy Tail is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. (Photo : Facebook/Fairy Tail fan page) The upcoming chapter of "Fairy Tail" will be tackling the history of Irene and her struggle to give birth to Erza. Though some fans may expect a dramatic reunion between the two, things will not go as expected when Irene regarded Erza as trash after what happened to her. Irene's Big Reveal Irene revealed Erza's father was a general in a neighboring country who got her pregnant. When Irene tried to reveal her pregnancy to the man who impregnated her, she was treated inhumanely, and her claims were easily dumped because of her dragon-looking face. Advertisement According to a fan-made manga blog Yonkou Productions, Irene was sent to prison, tortured and humiliated in front of people. Irene recalled she tried to protect Erza from her abusers. By the time the general revealed her trial date was scheduled, the anger she was trying to hold up transformed her into a dragon. Irene was not able to control herself, killing the general and the rest of the army while escaping through the woods. Having no idea how to transform herself back as a human being, Irene hid herself in the mountains until Acnologia finds her and instantly transforms her back to her human form. While Irene was delighted with what happened, she could not fully regain her senses which made her feel rather useless. By the time she remembered her baby is still inside her belly, she tried to summon them to become one, but things did not go as planned for her. By that time, she revealed to Erza that since she was useless to her as a baby, she decided to throw her into some unknown village. Though Erza was disgusted with the revelation, she still thanked her mother for bringing her into the world. With no remorse from her, Erza said that Irene throwing her into Rosemary Village made her meet her true family. Meanwhile, fans over Reddit speculated the same events will be revealed in chapter 515. Majority expressed their sympathy over Irene's experience with her husband. For more details on "Fairy Tail" Chapter 515, check out the video clip below. 'Dragon Ball Super' spoilers: Teaser trailer features the Gods of Destruction in all 12 universes; 'Universe Survive' arc to premier on February 2017 [VIDEO] Dragon Ball Super next arc will be called "Universe Survival Arc". (Photo : Dragon Ball Super) The latest details for "Dragon Ball Super" will feature all of the Gods of Destruction and the premier date of the "Universe Survive" arc. A new story arc for "Dragon Ball Super" called "Universe Survive" will feature a universe wide tournament that sees Son Goku and his friends competing against powerful warriors in all of fhe 12 universes. A teaser trailer of the "Universe Survive" arc featured Goku's team in Universe 7 comprised of Vegeta, Son Gohan, Master Roshi, Tien Shinhan, Krillin, Piccolo, Android 18, Android 17 and Majin Buu. Advertisement The video also teased all of the Gods of Destruction from the 12 universes along the Kaioshin as they kneel before the Omni Kings Zen-Oh. The preview continues to explain that each universe is allowed ten representatives in the martial arts contest. Any universe who loses will be annihilated without a second thought, so the teams are forced to fight for their homes safety, ComicBook reported. Shortly after the new arc was announced, the "Dragon Ball Super" website shared a short message from producer Shunki Hashizume as he promised anime fans that the new arce will be exciting, action-pack and will not disappoint. The "Universe Suvive" arc also marks the return of two "Dragon Ball" characters in action namely Gohan and Android 17. Past episodes of "Dragon Ball Super" revealed that Gohan has been training with Piccolo in order to better prepare for battles incase the Earth is in danger against the likes of Frieza, Zamasu or other evil beings who want to harm his home, friends and love ones. Android 17's return will likely be a mystery since he has been absorbed by Cell during "Dragon Ball Z". 17 along with his twin sister, Android 18 were the antagonist of the Android saga and played a huge role in Future Trunks' storyline as alternate future versions of Android 17 and Android 18 were wreck havoc in the in Trunks' timeline and killed Future Gohan. The Universe tournament was first hinted at the ending phase of the "Universe 6 vs Univers 7 Tournament" arc as Zen-Oh enjoyed the fights despite the Beerus and Champa skipping their duties as Gods of Destruction. Goku excited to see that happened and wants to fight the strongest warriors in all 12 universes. The tournament will be hosted by the Omni Kings and with the universe at stake, Goku and his friends must survive the tournament, marking their biggest battle yet. The "Universe Survive" arc will premier in "Dragon Ball Super" on Feb. 5, 2017, iTech Post reported. "Dragon Ball Super" returns next week on Fuji TV. Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) (Photo : Twitter / AmanteAndroid) From past few months, Samsung's upcoming Galaxy A series smartphones have been in rumors. New information indicates that the Galaxy A3 (2017) and Galaxy A5 (2017) will release in mid-January whereas the Galaxy A7 (2017) would be launch at start of January 2017. Earlier, the 2017 edition versions of Galaxy A3 and A7 were to launch in this month, but it seems that Samsung has postponed their unveil until January next year. Leakster Rolan Quandt has stated that both the smartphones will be releasing in Western European Union nations. Advertisement However, rumors indicate that the Galaxy A7 (2017) will not be launching in Europe together with A3 and A5 smartphones. It is expected to release in Europe later 2017. Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017), Galaxy A5 (2017), Galaxy A7 (2017) Launch Date, Pricing As mentioned above, both the smartphones may get unveiled together in mid-January. Previous rumors have indicated that the Galaxy A7 (2017) would be launched on Jan. 2 According to the same leakster, the Galaxy A3 (2017) will be costing at Euro 349 ($363). The Galaxy A5 (2017) will be costing at Euro 449 ($467). Both the smartphones are said to come in black, blue, gold and pink colour variants, SamMobile reported. The Galaxy A7 (2017) is expected to be available for $449. Samsung Galaxy A7(2017) Specifications, Features The Galaxy A7 (2017) is expected to come with 5.7-inch Super AMOLED screen that will support full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The device will have Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection for the screen. The smartphone is rumored to come powered by 1.8 GHz Octa-core Exynos 7880 chipset that includes Mali-T830MP2. It will come with 3 GB of RAM and in two storage variants of 32 GB and 64 GB. It will also provide support for external storage of 256 GB via microSD card. The phone is likely to run Android v6.0.1 Marshmallow OS. It will sport 16-megapixel rear camera and 16-megapixel front facing camera. The Galaxy A7(2017) is said to feature fingerprint sensor and come in black, white, gold, and pink color variants. It is speculated to be the first Galaxy A smartphone to arrive with IP68 certified water and dust resistant body. Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) Specifications, Features The Galaxy A5 (2017) is speculated to have 5.2-inch screen which will support full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The device will come equipped with 1.87 GHz ocat-core Exynos 7880 chipset. It is likely to come with 3 GB of RAM and native storage of 16 GB. It will be running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. It is rumored to come with 13-megapixel rear camera and is likely to be equipped with a 3,000 mAh battery, TheMobileIndian reported. Recently, both the smartphones have passed the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi certification indicating that the unveil date for these smartphone are close at hand. Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) Specifications, Features According to earlier leaks, the Galaxy A3 (2017) is expected to come with 4.7-inch screen with an HD resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. It is likely to be powered by Exynos 7870 chipset featuring 1.58 GHz octa-core processor and ARM Mali-T830 graphics. The device will come packed with 2 GB of RAM along with native storage of 8 GB. The smartphone will come loaded with Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. It will feature 12-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front facing camera and it will be packed with a 2,550 mAh battery. Here is leaked renders of Galaxy A7 (2017): Holland Roden attends the 'Teen Wolf' panel during Comic-Con International 2016 at San Diego Convention Center on July 21, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Matt Winkelmeyer) Scott (Tyler Posey) and his pack are slowly uncovering more details about the Ghost Riders in "Teen Wolf" Season 6, with Lydia (Holland Roden) playing a critical role in finding Stiles (Dylan O'Brien). Latest spoiler news teased of Lydia's unexpected trip through a mysterious portal that leads to a different world. Advertisement When "Teen Wolf" Season 6 returns to the small screens after the holiday break, viewers will witness Lydia's various visions of a town called Canaan. Shown in the latest teaser clip from the upcoming episode 6, Lydia will find herself transported to the mysterious town through a mirror. Posted on MTV, the sneak peek for the said episode featured Lydia washing her hands in a sink inside what appears to be a locker room in school. With a bathroom mirror in front of her, Lydia is taken by surprise when a woman suddenly appeared in the mirror. A woman with an unruly mop of curly blonde hair, very white skin and lips tinted with a dark red color seem to be gazing back at Lydia before she turned around and disappeared from the mirror. Confused by what happened and curious to know whether what appeared is a vision or some form of an apparition, Lydia touches the mirror and gets sucked into a mysterious world. The location appears to be on one of the streets on Canaan with several people milling about to celebrate "Canaan Day." Lydia then notices the mysterious woman who appeared in the mirror walking away from her and heading towards the end of the street where a block party is happening. At this time, it is unclear if Lydia's trip through the mirror portal is part of the banshee's dreams or if it actually happened while she was in school. A previously released promo clip for "Teen Wolf" Season 6 episode 6, posted on Spoilers Guide, revealed how Lydia has been dreaming about Canaan especially after Stiles told them to look for the said town. Titled "Ghosted," the said episode will feature Scott, Lydia and Malia's (Shelley Hennig) trip to the now deserted town. However, the trio will meet an unexpected character in Canaan who has the same banshee powers as Lydia. "Teen Wolf" Season 6 episode 6 will be released on Jan. 3, Tuesday, on MTV. Watch Lydia's mysterious journey to Canaan below: Ripe old age (Image credit: Grahm S. Jones/Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Colo, the world's oldest gorilla, celebrates her 60th birthday on December 22, 2016, at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Columbus, Ohio. Hello, world! (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) December 22, 1956: Colo, a western lowlands gorilla, was born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, becoming the first gorilla in the world born in captivity. She was tiny weighing only 3.75 pounds (1.7 kilograms) and measuring 15 inches (38 centimeters) long. A precious life (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Colo was born earlier than expected, and Columbus Zoo staff found her shortly after birth, abandoned by her mother on the floor of their enclosure, and still in her amniotic sac. She was raised by human caregivers, who attended her around the clock. A meager beginning (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Colo's name was derived from a combination of the words "Columbus" and "Ohio." She was briefly called Cuddles, until the zoo hosted a contest to officially name her. Sweet baby (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Gorillas are gentle and intelligent animals who live in small family groups with one adult male. Young gorillas are dependent on their mothers for the first three years of their lives. Vulnerable creature (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Colo's parents were Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa. They became residents at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium during a brutal snowstorm in 1951. New family (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Prior to Colo's birth, zoo gorillas were typically captured in the wild as babies. Often, their family members were killed in the process. Trial by fire (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Colo's birth proved that gorillas were able reproduce in captivity. Much was learned about gorilla pregnancies notably that the gorilla gestation period is about 250 days. Not alone (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Colo was rejected by her mother at birth, but 24-hour care from staff at the zoo ensured that she was healthy and socialized. Hangin' out (Image credit: Julie Estadt/Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) The Columbus Zoo maintains several gorilla social groupings. While Colo is content to observe other gorillas from a distance, she prefers to live apart from them, according to her caregivers. Baby pics (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) Colo was raised in a nursery and reared by zookeepers, and introduced into the zoo's primate enclosure as she neared maturity. Since 1955, the gorilla habitat at the Columbus Zoo has changed to become more like the gorillas' natural habitat in the wild. See more Pictured above: A frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguinensis), identified by John Sparks, curator of ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Blobby fish with bulging and reflective eyes, protruding jaws crammed with spiky teeth, and peculiar structures dangling from bodies are finding an appreciative audience on land. That's because a Russian fisherman named Roman Fedortsov shared photos on Twitter of these mysterious denizens of the deep. Fedortsov hails from Murmansk, a port city on Russia's northwest coast near the Barents Sea, according to his Twitter bio. He works on a type of net-fishing boat called a trawler, and he photographs and tweets in Russian about the unusual fish and occasional invertebrates that he finds, which typically live in deep water but are pulled to the ocean surface in the trawler's wide-mouthed nets. Some of the fish are a deep, inky black, while others are translucent, and several have eyes that appear to glow. Although these creatures' looks might appear nightmarish and grotesque to surface-dwellers, their peculiar features are adaptations that allow them to thrive in the cold and dark ocean depths. [In Photos: Spooky Deep-Sea Creatures] Fish that live in the deep-ocean region called the mesopelagic zone, which ranges from depths of about 650 to 3,300 feet (200 to 1,000 meters), may swim closer to the surface to feed. But when they're way down deep, these fish navigate waters that are much colder and darker than those in shallower marine environments, said John Sparks, a curator in the ichthyology department at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Sparks, who does not work with Federetsov, told Live Science that the features that make deep-sea fish look so strange coloration so dark it seems to swallow light, oversized lower jaws and long, spiky teeth are optimized for a dim habitat where food is scarce. See more The dark, velvety-black color of some predators helps them to stay hidden, even if they have just swallowed a bellyful of prey that glows, Sparks said. Many deep-sea creatures are bioluminescent, shimmering with a light they generate internally. For a fish that eats bioluminescent animals, inky skin acts like a blackout curtain over its stomach, keeping a predator's last meal from giving its position away to the next potential meal, he explained. See more Pictured above: A female deep-sea anglerfish (Ceratioidei), commonly known as a "sea devil," identified by John Sparks (AMNH). Protruding lower jaws and sharp, spiky teeth are also frequently seen in deep-sea fish, because these features help to snag wriggling prey, Sparks said. With scant light to show where likely prey might be found, a predator's best strategy is to sit and wait for an unsuspecting fish to swim by and then snap it up in a single gulp. "It's a stealth environment," Sparks told Live Science. "You don't have to be streamlined and fast. You can be a lie-and-wait ball of flesh with a big gape and dagger-like teeth. If you have a big jaw that unhinges almost 180 degrees no matter what prey you encounter, you can grasp it with your teeth." See more Pictured above: A female deep-sea anglerfish, likely family Linophrynidae and genus Haplophryne, sometimes called "ghostly seadevil." Identified by John Sparks (AMNH). An expanding stomach also benefits a fish that must gulp down whatever crosses its path. Such a stomach can even enable a predator to swallow prey larger than its own body, Sparks said. One extreme example, the aptly named black swallower (Chiasmodon niger), has a stomach that stretches so much that digestion can become a race against time and the swallowers sometimes lose. Sparks said that these fish have been found dead with their bellies full of meals that decomposed before they could be digested, killing the swallowers. Some of the fish in Fedortsov's photos have enormous eyes or eyes that seem to catch and reflect light. But what's really interesting about fish that live in a perpetually dark environment is that there's so much variability in the types of eyes that they have some are big, some are small, and some are even fluorescent, Sparks told Live Science. There's a lot that scientists have yet to discover about how these animals' vision functions in dark water, he added. See more Pictured above: A grenadier or rattail in the Macrouridae family. It is a deep sea gadid a type of cod and most have a bioluminescent organ on their ventrum. Identified by John Sparks (AMNH). Much has been learned about mesopelagic fish in the past several decades, but many questions remain, Sparks said. One question scientists want to answer is how so much diversity in deep-sea fishes emerged in an environment with no natural boundaries to separate populations and drive speciation. "The thinking used to be that because the deep sea is a very homogeneous environment in terms of temperature and salinity, that there were just a few species but that they were very widespread," Sparks explained. "But when we looked more closely at the morphology and genetic data, diversity was higher than we thought. It's a very species-rich environment the question is, how are they diversifying?" For some people, a single glimpse of these unusual fish may be more than enough. But if you want more, you're in luck: Federotsov has shared plenty of images on Twitter and Instagram. Original article on Live Science. It's a line you'll hear in almost any crime show after someone finds the body the detective turns to the medical examiner and asks, "Time of death?" But in real life, medical examiners don't have a very precise method for figuring out how long ago someone died. Now, researchers say they could use the bacteria found on the body to provide a more accurate way to pinpoint the time of death, according to a new study. In the study, published today (Dec. 22) in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers examined the "necrobiomes" of 21 cadavers. The necrobiome, or the community of bacteria found on a dead body, changes considerably as time passes after death and the body decomposes, according to the study. [The Science of Death: 10 Tales from the Crypt and Beyond] Currently, medical examiners estimate the time of death by physically inspecting the body for signs of early-phase decomposition and, in later stages of decomposition, by looking at the insects present on the body, the researchers wrote. But "these techniques are notoriously unreliable," thanks to factors such as temperature, weather conditions and geographic location, the researchers wrote. But "by knowing which microbes take over a dead body and how long it takes, forensic scientists might be able to use [the necrobiome] to determine time of death or other aspects of a crime scene," Robert DeSalle, curator of molecular systematics at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, said in a statement. DeSalle was not involved in the study. In the study, the researchers took samples of bacteria from the ear and nasal canals of the cadavers, which were at the Anthropological Research Facility at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The cadavers were placed outdoors, in a temperate, deciduous forest, and were left to decompose naturally over the course of several weeks. The researchers sequenced the DNA of the bacteria, and used their findings to construct a model that could predict a body's time of death to up to 55 "accumulated degree-days," which is equal to about two summer days. Accumulated degree-days are a way to measure the passage of time and temperature simultaneously, said senior study author Nathan Lents, a professor of microbiology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at The City University of New York. Because human decomposition is strictly dependent on both time and temperature, scientists cannot consider the passage of time alone, Lents told Live Science. "When it comes to rates of decay, one day in summer time is like two weeks in winter time," he said. A dynamic ecosystem The bacterial communities found on a dead body change over time, Lents said. "Think about a decomposing vertebrate as an ecosystem" teeming with various life-forms, Lents said. "The ecosystem is very dynamic because the environment of the decomposing host is in a state of wild changes." For example, cycles of high and low oxygen levels play a role in which bacteria are present, as oxygen is consumed and carbon dioxide builds up in the body. But the body's tissues eventually rupture, and oxygen flows back in, changing the environment again. There are also cycles of high and low nutrient richness, Lents said; nutrient levels may be low until a tissue ruptures and nutrients spill out. Ultimately, "the environment is a feeding frenzy for alternating groups of organisms, setting up a succession of bacteria that proliferate when their time comes," Lents said. [Ear Maggots and Brain Amoeba: 5 Creepy Flesh-Eating Critters] But researchers still have a great deal to learn about this ecosystem, Lents added. The new study is "a very promising proof of concept," Lents said in a statement. Still, the method could be improved by adding more data, from a larger study at multiple locations, and involving bacteria from additional parts of the body, they wrote in the study. Originally published on Live Science. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate One day after the explosion at a fireworks market in Tultepec on the outskirts of Mexico City, at least 31 victims have been pronounced dead. One 3-month-old boy and a 12-year-old girl are among those confirmed dead, several sources report. Dozens more people are injured, and several are in serious condition, including an estimated 10 children. Some victims are being treated for severe burns, including cases where 90 percent of their bodies are covered in burn wounds. FROM TUESDAY: Deadly Mexico fireworks blast hit market packed for holidays Governor of the State of Mexico Eruviel Avila said that some of the children will be transported to a hospital in Texas for treatment. Some reports indicate that these patients will be transferred to Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, but that information has not yet been confirmed. That hospital is renowned for its burn-related incident pediatric care. Avila added that they are determined to find out who started the chain-reaction explosion at the San Pablito market. He also informed the public that the government will implement a program for the merchants affected by the incident. Out of the 300 fireworks stands, only about 10 are still standing, Mexican news outlet Zocalo Saltillo reports. (Story continues below.) The blast leveled the entire market, leaving only charred rubble and ash. On Wednesday, forensic investigators sifted through debris, searching for some clues as to who or what may have started the successive fireworks detonations on Tuesday. Alejandro Gomez, Mexico's state chief prosecutor, said in a press conference that some of the victims had to be identified by their genetic material because their bodies were so badly burned. He explained that the death toll could rise because some body parts were found at the scene. It's not yet been determined if they belonged to individuals already confirmed dead, Gomez added. EXPLAINED: Fireworks rules in Harris County "Everything was destroyed. It was very ugly and many bodies were thrown all over the place, including a lot of children. It's the worst thing I've ever seen in my life," Angelica Avila, 24, told The Guardian. On Tuesday, 70 Red Cross Mexico volunteers and 35 ambulances descended on the scene to aid in gathering victims and bodies. Dramatic video of the incident shows the loud, widespread explosions at Mexico's biggest fireworks market. First responders can be seen wearing masks, running to the scene. Gunpowder filled the air long after the blast, witnesses told several sources. This is the third such blast to devastate the market. Naruto Shippuden: Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise (Photo : Narutowikia) Sasuke's pursuit of 'Fushin' has ended. Finally, he has come face-to-face with the leader of the Dark Thunder Group. Naruto Shippuden episode 487 will get viewers a closer look into the power of the Ketsuryugan and unbridled hate towards the villages of the only surviving member of the Chinoike clan. Advertisement Episode 487: Ketsuryugan - Recap Highlights -After revealing that he's none other than Fuushin, Nowaki launches a series of attack to Sasuke using his wind style jutsu. Nowaki said he despises Sasuke for ruining the plan to bring down the five major villages in the shinobi world, which caused so much pain in him and his friend, Chino. -It was revealed that Nowaki was born in an island near the Village of Hidden Mist. The Villagers sold him to another arms' dealer because of his windstyle jutsu that posed danger to them. His life had no direction until he met Chino in a tournament. He looked up to her as his big sister. -Chino is the only surviving member of the Chinoike clan. The clan was at the point of demise when kekkei genkai collector En Oyashiro kidnapped her. There, she underwent rigorous training that sharpened her assassination skills. She kills for the sake of Oyashiro alone. Chino and Nowaki at Hell Valley - Naruto Shippuden Episode 487 pic.twitter.com/z96fH5iaRW Anime/Sports Updates (@Shonen_lord) December 22, 2016 -However, after learning the history and whereabouts of their clan, Chino decides to leave Oyashiro group with Fushin/Nowaki. They formed a bandit that robs the rich and helps the poor. They were known as the Dark Thunder group. Unfortunately, the poor people they had been helping turned their backs on them when they needed them most. -Nowaki accompanied Chino to Hell Valley, only to find out that everyone died due to starvation and tough environment in the location. She promised to avenge her clan by plotting along with Nowaki to destroy the villages which she considered the culprit behind the fall of Chinoike clan. Episode 488: The Last Man - Preview, Promo Teaser: Chino revealing her Ketsuryugan - Naruto Shippuden 488 Preview pic.twitter.com/W55eza1sCQ Anime/Sports Updates (@Shonen_lord) December 22, 2016 Naruto Shippuden will be having a one week holiday break. Series will resume on January 5 for the last episode of the Sasuke - Book of Sunrise arc. Watch replay of Naruto Shippuden Episode 487 on Crunchy Roll. Episode 488 promo teaser can be watched on Naruto official page. For more Naruto Shippuden news and update, follow me at ShonenLord@Twitter Check out our latest E-Edition Accessible anytime and anywhere on your desktop, tablet and smart phone devices. The Lodi News e-Edition is enhanced with the latest digital tools, including RSS feeds, social networking and much more. Check out our latest E-edition! South Korean actress Kim Yoo Jung is known for the television series 'Moon Embracing the Sun,' 'May Queen' and 'Angry Mom.' (Photo : YouTube/FA-TopList) Actress Kim Yoo Jung's agency has released an official statement related to a recent controversy concerning Jung's attitude at the promotion of her upcoming movie "Because I Love You." The statement reads that they are aware of the "problematic behavior" of Kim Yoo Jung at the recent official event that went viral online. Advertisement At the promotion of "Because I Love You," Cha Tae Hyun, Kim Yoo Jung and other actors of the movie stood on stage and interacted with the press and fans. However, in a report by allkpop, Kim Yoo Jung is seen playing with her nails and leaning on one leg. People on the internet termed this as "lack of professionalism." "At first, I thought it was no big deal but if she's on stage, she has to show perfection because that's her job," wrote a netizen. However, Kim Yoo Jung is reflecting on the controversy and her attitude. According to the statement, she is apologetic for letting down her fans at the event. The agency has also apologized on her behalf. "We're aware of the problematic behavior of her at an official event that's spreading online. Kim Yoo Jung herself is deeply reflecting on her attitude and the controversy, and she's apologetic for disappointing fans, who've always trusted her. She plans to do her best to prevent something like this from happening again. We apologize and bow our heads for this issue causing worry to so many," reads the official statement by Sidus HQ (obtained via allkpop). Stay tuned for more K-pop news and updates. Enhanced Security and Enforcement To make sure that all users of MTA Bridges and Tunnels toll facilities pay their fair share, a series of enforcement measures are in place to tackle chronic toll scofflaws. New York is deploying 150 State Troopers to key checkpoints to crack down on chronic toll evaders and enhance public safety. Customers who do not pay their tolls are subject to $50 violation fees, car registration suspensions, and other enforcement actions. Late fees accrue if an initial toll bill is unpaid. Beginning in February 2017, the violation fee will be increased to $100 at the Robert F. Kennedy, Bronx-Whitestone, Throgs Neck and Verrazano-Narrows Bridges and the Queens Midtown and Hugh L. Carey Tunnels. The violation fee will remain $50 at the Marine Parkway, Cross Bay, and Henry Hudson Bridges. For commercial vehicles, failure to pay toll fees in the amount of $200 or more within 5 year period will also result in Suspension of Registration. At each crossing, and at structurally sensitive points on bridges and tunnels, advanced cameras and sensors are being installed to read license plates, regardless of lighting conditions or the vehicle's speed. Every vehicle that passes through a MTA bridge or tunnel will have their license place scanned, and the technology will instantly cross-check the vehicle's license plate number with the list of suspended registrations and send an alarm to the on-duty Trooper and Bridge and Tunnel Officers in a matter of seconds. Security teams of State Police and National Guard will work with MTA Bridge and Tunnel Officers at the crossings to ensure public safety. Special barricade trucks will be positioned at the crossings to serve as mobile barriers in the event of an emergency. Public Art at Crossings In addition to making the commute easier for drivers, Governor Cuomos New York Crossings Project will reconfigure toll plazas into modern transportation gateways. Plaza walls will be transformed by veils that shield security personnel and equipment, while acting as LED message boards. Intercept vehicles will be stationed behind the veil and security personnel will have line-of-sight monitoring portals. While plaza redesign will vary, each automated tolling structure on MTA-operated bridges and tunnels will be covered with a decorative artwork presenting a wave effect. The wave will be constructed from chainmail fabric which moves with the wind. This concept is currently being tested at the Queens Midtown Tunnel. LED lighting will be adopted on all MTA bridges and tunnels. LED lights use 40 to 80 percent less power and last six times longer than other types of roadway lighting. In addition to costing less and lasting significantly longer, LED lights can be programmed into different colors and patterns. The New York Crossings Project will lead the nation by encompassing all MTA-operated bridges and tunnels in New York City, plus the George Washington Bridge. "The City That Never Sleeps," a dusk to dawn lighting schedule, will illuminate these crossings with spectacular, multi-color light shows that will be visible for miles. Illuminating New York's already awe-inspiring structures will transform them into international tourist attractions with the potential to drive additional tourism revenue. LED installations are also set to begin next month. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events By Long Island News & PR Published: December 22 2016 The NCPD Community Affairs Unit will be partnering with the Westbury Target store and the NCPD Foundation to host a community event called Heroes and Helpers. Westbury, NY - December 21, 2016 - The Nassau County Police Department Community Affairs Unit will be partnering with the Westbury Target store and the Nassau County Police Department Foundation to host a community event called Heroes and Helpers to help children from five schools in the Westbury School District. During this event, children from the community, who are in financial need, are paired with police officers to shop for gifts for their families using donated gift cards from Target with matching funds from the NCPD Foundation. The Heroes and Helpers program helps foster strong relationships by pairing law enforcement officers with in-need youth to shop for the childrens families during the holidays. Eight children from each of the five schools have been identified by their respective schools as meeting the criteria for this grant. The children and a guidance counselor from each school will be transported in Department vehicles to the Westbury Target. Police Officers from Community Affairs will be assisting with this event. A welcoming celebration with refreshments will kick off the event followed by a shopping spree using gift cards distributed by Target team members and the NCPD Foundation. Upon completion, they will be returned to their schools by those same police officers. When: December 22, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Where: Target Store located at 999 Corporate Drive, Westbury School & Education, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: December 22 2016 The Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy (Institute) will launch its own Veterans Law Clinic (VLC). The VLC will be scheduling appointments starting in early January 2017. Hempstead, NY - December 21, 2016 - The Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy (Institute) will launch its own Veterans Law Clinic (VLC), an innovative program designed to assist local veterans in obtaining the disability (and thus health care) benefits to which they are entitled. The VLC, a novel addition to Hofstra Law Schools already thriving clinical program offerings, will give students the opportunity to partner with expert attorneys to complete critical intake forms, perform research required for appealing denied claims, and submit appeals to the Board of Veterans Appeals or before the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. In addition, students will participate in a pre-clinic Boot Camp designed to expose them to nuanced military culture and to dispel myths and misconceptions about veterans returning from active duty all in an effort to help students form deeper bonds with their veteran clients. The VLC will be scheduling appointments starting in early January 2017. Last year, we experimented with a legal internship where a law student worked on a case of an awarded and wounded Marine who suffered both Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury, but was unjustly discharged from the Corps and denied medical benefits. We won a reversal of this unjust treatment and now this Marine will get the medical benefits which he deserves, said Gary Port, U.S. Army veteran and supervising attorney for the clinic. Going forward, this clinic, with eight law students, will be able to provide significantly greater legal services to our veterans. To assure veterans participating in the VLC receive ancillary services when and where they need them, the Institute will launch a series of strategic alliances with the Universitys Program in Public Health, the Zarb School of Business, the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, and the Joan and Arnold Saltzman Community Services Center. Beyond leveraging University resources to support clinic veterans in need, the Institute has been selected for participation in the Starbucks Military Mondays program. This partnership, the first of its kind in New York, provides the Institute with secure, client-confidential space in the Starbucks near Hofstras campus as well as resources each month for meetings between legal counsel, law students and veterans seeking military benefits. It is a great privilege for me to be part of this work which will provide legal services to men and women who have served our country in a manner that put their lives at risk, said Janet Dolgin, Hofstra Law professor and director of the Institute. The VLC represents a key component of the Institutes broader Mission Critical veterans outreach and engagement campaign, developed to serve the local veteran community by delivering coordinated and accessible educational, clinical, legal and social resources in a centralized location right on the University campus. About the Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy The Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy unites students, faculty, attorneys, caregivers, clinicians, policymakers and community partners to transform the U.S. healthcare system. Through alliances with key community stakeholders, the Institute: Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: December 22 2016 At the federal courthouse in Central Islip, NY, Khalif House pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit armed robberies in connection with 40 knife-point robberies. Khalif House, 24, with a last known address in Hempstead, plead guilty in connection to multiple knife point robberies that have occurred in Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens counties. Central Islip, NY - December 20, 2016 - Today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, Khalif House, 24, of Hempstead, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit armed robberies in connection with 40 knife-point robberies that he and his co-conspirators committed between February 9, 2015 and June 7, 2016. The announcement of the guilty plea was made by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. As part of the plea, House admitted his role in each of the robberies which occurred in Nassau, Queens and Suffolk Counties, including at Carvel, Dunkin Donuts, Subway and 7-Eleven stores (a complete list of the robberies that House allocuted to is attached hereto as Exhibit 1). On almost every occasion, House robbed stores wearing mismatched gloves, with his face covered, while brandishing a knife. During one of the robberies, House chased down a fleeing employee, dragging her back into the premises to prevent her escape. On another occasion, in order to avoid apprehension, House cut an employee, who attempted to disarm him during a robbery. House was ultimately apprehended in Floral Park, on June 8, 2016, following the attempted robbery of a Dollar Tree store located in Queens. When the Floral Park Police located House, he was hiding in a strangers van, and in possession of, among other things, mismatched gloves. Houses arrest and conviction were the result of a joint investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Long Island Gang Task Force, the Nassau County Police Department, the New York City Police Department, and the Suffolk County Police Department. Additionally, a number of other law enforcement agencies assisted the investigation, including the Floral Park Police Department. The defendant engaged in a widespread and dangerous pattern of knife-point commercial robberies, which terrorized the communities and jeopardized the safety of the employees of more than three-dozen local businesses. As a result of the diligent work and collaboration of federal and local law enforcement authorities, the defendant will now be held accountable for his actions, stated United States Attorney Capers. Mr. Capers extended his grateful appreciation to all of the participating law enforcement agencies for their invaluable assistance in this case. House pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack. When sentenced, House will face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. The governments case is being handled by the Offices Long Island Criminal Section. Assistant United States Attorney Mark Misorek is in charge of the prosecution. Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com Columnists Press Releases Popularity of Cosmetic Surgery on the Rise (Photo : Getty Images) Many Koreans are vain which explains why the country is called the plastic surgery paradise. With more than 1 million plastic surgeries conducted across South Korea yearly, the South Asian country ranks third in total number of cosmetic procedures done, or about five percent of the global total, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Advertisement The pretty and handsome faces of Korean celebrities some of whom could likely had underwent plastic surgery to enhance their face and body is likely one of the reasons why Hallyu clicked in China. However, a growing number of Chinese women are following the path to the surgeons clinic taken by wealth Korean females, Global Times reported. But because plastic surgery and the average Chinese woman often does not have the financial resources to pay for the procedure, some take shortcuts. For instance, a female Chinese allowed an unscrupulous doctor to implant Amazingel, an illegal substance, in her body so her breasts would become bigger. However, after 10 years, it was the womans tummy which grew because the implants dropped from her fake breasts to her abdomen. A 19-year-old Chinese woman went to a plastic surgeon she found on the internet to have her face fixed. But the doctor not only did a poor job in making her prettier but even raped her several times. According to Seoultouchup, cosmetic surgery prices in Korea begins at $2,000 for eyelid surgery which doubles for a nose job. Hair transplant costs $6,000 minimum and liposuction of the arm, thigh and belly would also make the patients wallet or bank account slimmer by $4,000, while for larger breasts, the cost is at least $7,000. In an article on Global Times, Korean writer Cindy Lee defended people who go through plastic surgery as not being wrong if they want to also be happy and could afford the stiff price of the procedure. Although some Korean have cosmetic surgery to become more attractive and live a happier or more confident life, some do it so they could live a normal life of being employed because a growing number of employers base their hiring on an applicants pretty or handsome face. Spoilers for Weekly Shonen (Photo : Weekly Shonen) After a weeklong Shonen Festa celebration, your favorite manga series are back for next week's release. Karasuno vs. Tsubakihara match continues to intensify in Haikyuu!!, Joichiro Saiba begins to manifest changes in cooking style in Shokugeki no Soma, and the fight between Deku and Kacchan concludes in Boku no Hero Academia. Advertisement Haikyuu!!! Chapter 235: Karasuno is still in a dogfight match with first-round foe Tsubakihara. After losing to Shiratorizawa last year, the guys from Tsubakihara Academy is more than determined to beat the very same crows that defeated Ushiwaka 'the Eagle.' Although Kageyama somehow found his groove back in the last chapter, problems continue to surface as the match progress. Hinata is clearly not his best and Kageyama doubts the pressure of playing in front of many people is affecting his buddy and the team as a whole. Meanwhile, members of the Date Tech, the last team Karasuno had a tune-up with before the inter-high competition, are anxiously watching the match. The two previous captains of Karasuno were also in attendance and proud of Daichi Sawamura's accomplishment. Shokugeki no Soma Chapter 196 : Saiba has always been known for serving failed dishes to his dorm-mates, including first-year Jun. Being the top cook in whole Totsuki, Saiba was picked to represent the school in the World Young Cooking Competition, known as the "THE BLUE." But before the actual competiton, Saiba decided to have a cook-off with Dojima and Azami, which he won convincingly. Saiba considered the Polar Star Dormitory as the best place to hone his skills presumably because of the quality of competition in the Dorm. Saiba's entry to The BLUE was shrouded by controversy after 50 students accused him of bribing organizers of the event. Feeling insulted by the accusations, Saiba challenge the 50 students to a Shokugeki (Regiment de Cuisine) with his participation in the BLUE at stake. As expected, Saiba obliterated each one of them and even beat 10 of them all at once. He was truly a prodigy, a title the young Saiba abhored so much. Soma's father believed the title of genius or prodigy diminishes the work he put in to master all kinds of cuisines. At the time too, Dojima and Azami noticed that Saiba was no longer the same person they once knew. The smile had gone and a new Demon (Ashura) rose up. Shokugeki no Soma chapter 196 spoilers pic.twitter.com/hifooyYDxw Anime/Sports Updates (@Shonen_lord) December 22, 2016 Boku no Hero Academia Chapter 120: The issue opens up with the result of the popularity contest. Kacchan garners the top spot with Deku, Shouto, Eraserhead and Eijirou rounding out the top-5. All Might apparently is only the sixth popular character in the series. Back to Deku vs. Kacchan show. Deku/Modoriya admitted that he was quite surprised with his speed. H experienced dramatic change in his speed as he shifted gears from 5 to 8 percent. Deku went on to say that when 'the feeling of I need to win surpasses the feeling of I need to rescue,' he has tendency to say bad words. However, in the end, Deku still considers Kacchan the image of victory. Deku and Kacchan decides to settle the fight mid-air. Deku hits Kacchan with a massive punch, but Bakugou counters with an explosive right. That proved to be the telling blow as Kacchan finally came on top in the fight. All Might arrived in the scene with the purpose of solving the rift between the childhood friends. He told Kacchan he understands what he feels but his decision to give One for All to Deku was based on the latter's exemplary hero attributes. Then again, All Might explained to the two that they need to both win and rescue for them to be successful heroes. After hearing All Might's words, Kacchan promised not to tell the secret to anybody. A pact that will be tested in the coming chapter of My Hero Academia. Boku no Hero Academia Chapter 120 pic.twitter.com/14OlPQGTaU Anime/Sports Updates (@Shonen_lord) December 22, 2016 Get a copy of the latest issue (Dec.26 Release) of Haikyuu, Shokugeki no Soma and Boku no Hero Academia at Weekly Shonen Jump. For more Anime and manga news, follow me at ShonenLord@Twitter The Taliban claimed responsibility for last nights suicide assault on a member of parliaments home in Kabul that killed at least seven people. The Taliban said a two man suicide assault team armed with automatic weapons, improvised grenades and explosive vests attacked the home of Malim Mir Wali, a member of parliament from Helmand province, as an important military meeting was taking place. The two Taliban fighters took hostages and held off Afghan security forces for 10 hours before being killed. Afghan officials claimed that eight people were killed in the fighting. According to a statement by Afghan President Arshaf Ghani, two members of his [MP Walis] family, a number of his bodyguards and the son of another MP from Uruzgan, Obaidullah Barakzai were killed during the Taliban siege. However, the Taliban claimed that up to 20 key enemy personnel were killed, including the head of Parliament Complaints Commission Muhammad Hanif Haneefi, Helmand Chief Justice Tayyeb Atal as well as commando troopers, police, ANA and multiple commanders of south western zone. The Talibans claim cannot be confirmed. Last nights assault is the first high profile attack by the Taliban in the Afghan capital since Sept. 5, when a suicide team struck near the Afghan Ministry of Defense. At least 20 people, including Army and police officials, were killed during that assault. This year, the Talibans high-profile attacks in Kabul have focused on military and political targets. The Taliban launched two other major suicide attacks over the summer; a double suicide bombing on June 30 targeted a bus carrying police cadets; and a suicide attack on June 20 hit a bus carrying Canadian embassy personnel. The latest attack in Kabul took place as the Taliban has sustained an offensive in northern, southern, eastern, and western Afghanistan. The Taliban offensive, dubbed Operation Omari after its founder and first emir, Mullah Omar, has strained Afghanistans struggling security forces. Several districts have fallen under Taliban control over the past year. All of Helmand province is currently either controlled or contested by the Taliban. In the past, the Taliban has assassinated key political and military leaders in an attempt to destabilize districts and provinces coveted by the group. The attack on Walis home is reminiscent of the July 19, 2011 suicide assault on the home of Jan Mohammad Khan, the former governor of Uruzgan province who had served as a key adviser to then-President Hamid Karzai. Khan, Mohammad Hashim Watanwal, a parliamentarian from Uruzgan, and several other people were killed in the assault in Kabul. The assassinations of Khan in 2011 and then his nephew, Matiullah Khan, who served as Uruzgans police chief in 2015, contributed to the destabilization of Uruzgan province. All of the provinces districts are heavily contested by the Taliban. [See FDDs Long War Journal reports, Key adviser to Karzai, member of parliament assassinated in suicide assault in Kabul, and Afghan intel captures Taliban commander involved in targeting foreigners in Kabul.] Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Culture / Art Republik From Israel with love, the country brings the best of its culture and heritage to our shores via nine doors at the Marina Bay Sands Dec 22, 2016 | By Vimi Haridasan One does not have to hop on a plane and drop some serious dough to travel to a far-flung location. With the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel, those visiting the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich history and culture of Israel through the exhibition Open A Door To Israel. Until Dec 23, guests will be able to explore various aspects of the country with the help of nine Curiosity Doors. Each with its own theme, the doors represent education, culture, family, heritage, technology, diversity among others and break down barriers that help visitors to see the similarities that Israel has with Singapore. With a duration of 30 minutes for each session, guest will be greeted by an LED screen that features an interactive video, games and interactive library. Apart from opening doors to the country, the exhibition will allow guests to take part in traditional Israeli events and other interactive experiences. Using two large screens and robotic projectors to feature the stories of Israel, the 10-minute multimedia presentation is the perfect platform for Israel to show off its technological advancements. Launched last year at the Tel Aviv Port, the exhibition has visited countries such as Poland, Italy, France and Russia. Our goal is to present Israels vibrant society and its core values through the Open a Door exhibition and connect further with our friends from all over the world. By creating this personal hands-on experience, we can showcase the true face of Israel in all its beauty, said HE Ms Yael Rubinstein, Ambassador of Israel. Open a Door to Israel, December 9 23, Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre, Hall C, 1 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018971 The Islamist group now has two advisory councils for the first time since its founding in 1928, a move opposed by leaders based in London The Muslim Brotherhood group has been hit by another internal dispute between two key factions, with rival members of the region's oldest political-Islam movement engaging in a war of statements via the media. The latest crisis erupted on Tuesday, after the Cairo-based Administrative Committee announced on one of the group's Facebook pages that it had created a new "Shoura Advisory Council", deciding by a majority vote on a separation of powers between the organization's legislative and executive branches. The move leaves the organization with two advisory councils for the first time since its foundation in 1928. "This is a first step on the right track to reforming the organization, resulting in the separation of powers between advisory and executive roles inside the organization," according to the committee's statement. The committee also said that Mohamed Badei, the organization's supreme guide, who has been in prison since the ouster of the Islamist government in July 2013, retains his position, with full powers. He will retain his position, along with other jailed members of the guidance bureau, until they are released from prison, said the committee. However, the Brotherhood's London office, lead by the acting Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat, rejected the election of a new advisory council, defying the administrative committee's decisions. The Muslim Brotherhood Administrative Committee was formed in February 2014 and consists of second-tier leaders responsible for runing the organizations' affairs. Most of the Brotherhood's prominent leaders and guidance-office members were jailed in the wake of the July 2013 uprising, which toppled former president Mohamed Morsi. The committee's leader, Mohamed Kamal, was killed by Egyptian security forces in Cairo in October, leaving the committee without a declared leader. Since its establishment, the committee has been perceived as having control over the organization's supporter base in Egypt. The second group led by Mahmoud Ezzat and mainly residing abroad, especially in the Uk, Turkey and Qatar, is responsible for issues of financing and regional international affairs. This second group, commonly known as the "old guard", includes other leaders from the Brotherhood's international organizations - or what is described as "historical leaders" of the organization. These include London-based leaders Ibrahim Mounir, Mahmoud Hussein and Mahmoud Ezzat, who is currently acting as Supreme Guide. 'Historical' dispute Ahmed Ban, a former Brotherhood member and researcher on Islamic movements, describes the latest dispute as "historical". In Ban's opinion, the divisions run far deeper than the latest crisis over the advisory council. Rather, he says, there is complete disagreement between the two groups on ways to resolve the organization's current state of deterioration. "Since its establishment in 1928, the MB never witnessed such a threat to its existence. We now officialy have two Muslim Brotherhood organizations with two different advisory councils who exchange claims and feud through the media. This is something decisive in the history of the organization," said Ban. "The current crisis between the two groups is nothing more than a struggle over power, reflecting the failure of the two groups to take any serious action or mobilize the masses to act against the current regime." Another important factor, in ban's opinion, is the desire of the old guard to engage in political dialogue and reconciliation with the current regime, while the Cairo-based group is against the idea of reconciliation. Ban says that prominent members within both groups have been engaged in efforts at reconcilliation for years, seeking to resolve tensions within the organizations. However, the situation has reached the stage where reconcilliation seems unlikely, with tensions likely only to increase in future, according to Ban. Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's former president and prominent member of the Brotherhood's guidance office, was ousted by a popular uprising in July 2013. The organization was designated as a terrorist group in December of the same year. Most of its prominent leaders, including Supreme Guide Mohamed Badei, former president Morsi, and almost all members of its guidance office and other top-tier members, were put on trial and jailed. Since then, the two groups have engaged in several disputes by way of media statements, with each claiming to be the legitimate representative of the organization. Search Keywords: Short link: Managing IP was first to report major stories that matter, from a Peppa Pig dispute to the UPC sunrise period and new targets for the Indian and UK IP offices What are we to make of the Obama Administrations unprecedented move to permanently ban offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and the Atlantic coast? For the anti-oil green lobby this action was publicly hailed as an incredible holiday gift. The ban was also good news for lawyers readying for years of litigation to combat another of the current Administrations ever-creative use of ancient statutes. More importantly, the move was doubtless greeted with quiet delight in Riyadh and Bejing, and most of all in Moscow. It is fitting that the Obama Administration began, and now ends with a gift for Vladimir Putin. Within months of being inaugurated in 2009, President Obama scrapped Americas plan to build a missile defense system in Poland, a program that Russia vigorously opposed. At the time Putin called the move correct and brave. After meeting with Putin for the first time earlier that year, the Obama Administration saw Putin as a man of today and hes got his eyes firmly on the future. History since then has already been written with regard to Russias expansion on its western and nearby southern fronts. We might now expect Russia to more eagerly expand its activities on its northern front. It is a simple fact that official Russian policy is to aggressively pursue Arctic oil and gas production, as well as to expand its territorial claims in that region. But to gauge the Obama Administrations move in the geopolitical framework that matters, and in time-frames that are meaningful to politicians and potentates on the world stage, we need to keep in mind a set of related and equally incontestable facts. Oil is the worlds largest traded commodity, greater than all minerals combined. Oil propels over 95% of all global land, water and air miles, despite hundreds of billions of dollars of grants, subsidies and inducements to change that fact. Oil demand will be greater in the future no matter what policies are enacted anywhere, a reality acknowledged not just by the DOEs Energy Information Administration but also by the International Energy Agency. OPEC and Russia produce about 60% of the oil traded in the world. Nearly 70% of Russias export revenues and 50% of its economyand derivatively its foreign adventurescome from selling oil and gas. Russias onshore oil and gas fields are in decline. So, unsurprisingly, Russia is providing its companies tax incentives to develop the Arctic. And they are getting help from China, not just as a market but, critically, as major financier. The $27.5 billion Russian Yamal Arctic natural gas project is 50% financed by loans from China. And Norwaynot known as an environmental laggardis eager to provide Russia with technology and construction services there because of substantial related economic activities and ripple effects locally and regionally. The Obama Administrations collateral ban of offshore Atlantic drilling is also meaningful against the geopolitical backdrop. Almost one-third of all global oil production comes from offshore projects. Just five countries supply nearly half of all that offshore production: Brazil, Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. So we can add to the list of gift recipients, Brazil and Mexico. It is true that America has a prodigious capacity to produce oil on-shore, especially now in the shale age. But the realities of future global hydrocarbon demands and the vicissitudes of future geopolitical events argues for leaving our options open, not least because of the message that sends to the world. In politics and especially geopolitics, symbols matter. Russia is likely happy to be granted the gift of hegemony in oil and gas production in the Arctic region while America, apparently in cooperation with Canada, steps back. ______________________ Mark P. Mills is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of Expanding America's Petroleum Power: Geopolitics in the Third Oil Era. Follow him on Twitter here. Egypt circulated a draft U.N. resolution Wednesday night that demands a halt to Israeli settlement activities in Palestinian territory and declares that all existing settlements "have no legal validity" and are "a flagrant violation" of international law. The proposed resolution also stresses that "the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-state solution" which would see Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace. The Security Council scheduled a meeting at 3 p.m. EST Thursday to vote on the draft resolution. Much of the international community considers Israeli settlements illegal and backs the establishment of a Palestinian state, even though a deal appears to be increasingly complicated, in part because of the continued growth of settlements. But Egypt's call for a speedy vote leaves almost no time for negotiations among the 15 council members, and some language in the draft is highly likely to be unacceptable to the United States, Israel's closest ally and a veto-wielding council member. Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said the resolution "will do nothing to promote a diplomatic process, and will only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror." "We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," he said. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, has said a cessation of all Israeli settlement activities and an end to its nearly 50-year occupation of Palestinian territory are necessary for a comprehensive peace agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those terms saying negotiations should take place without conditions. In September, the international diplomatic "quartet" of Mideast peacemakers called for Israel and the Palestinians to take steps to resume stalled peace talks. But the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders remain wide, preventing any meaningful talks since 2009. The draft resolution calls for intensified and accelerated international and regional diplomatic efforts "aimed at achieving, without delay a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East." New Zealand, a non-permanent council member, has been pushing a separate resolution that would set out the parameters of a peace settlement. Search Keywords: Short link: 10 PHOTOS click for more People say it, and it sounds cliche, but I swear this is true: There is something magical about New York City during the holidays. Its as though everyone is on his or her best behavior. People bump into one another less forcefully on the street; we mutter excuse me and pardon instead of curse words under our breathe; and if you accidentally steal a taxi from someone, the nail of the finger that flips you off is likely to be painted Santa Claus red. The cold is do-able if not enjoyable (at the very least, you know its the last time youll opt to walk the long way home until April), the odd snowfall feels novel and there are so many sparkling, twinkling lights that you cant help but look up in in awe. Touristy things feel fun. Stores are wrapped up like presents. For one short month we all agree to not act jaded. Its very sweet! Click through above for 10 New Yorkers take on what it is that makes the holiday season in NYC so special. Illustrations by Amber Vittoria; follow her on Instagram @amber_vittoria. Trump Protectionism, Trade Chief Peter Navarro and The Quest To Demonize China While most Americans view China as friendly though not as an ally, those who favor demonizing China seek to change both perceptions and realities. Starting in January, these trade protectionists will lead US policies in the White House. Recently, President-elect Trump chose Harvard-trained economist Peter Navarro to head the newly-created National Trade Council (NTC) in the White House to oversee industrial policy. Targeting the trade deficit is expected to pave way to Trumps First America trade protectionism. While news media has portrayed Navarro appointment as a move toward trade protectionism in America, Navarros longstanding quest to have a voice in Washington and the White House has been downplayed. In reality, his trade commentaries have been published widely by the leading US media that now sees him as a fringe threat to pro-trade US interests.In reality, Navarro is a Republican insider who advised President George W. Bush and Mitt Romneys failed campaign. I warned that Navarros China demonization has little to do with economics as it is taught in Harvard more than three years ago.Indeed, Navarro and former Nucor CEO Dan DiMicco, who has been considered for Trumps US Trade Representative, represent not just trade protectionism but a longstanding effort to mainstream anti-China bias in America. This effort is ridden by self-interested economic agendas and moral hazards, which I analyzed in the following commentary that was originally published in August 2013.---------While most Americans view China as friendly though not as an ally, those who favor demonizing China seek to change both perceptions and realities.In a New York Times op-ed of August 5, 2013, business professor Peter Navarro concluded that buying Made in China whether steel for our bridges or dolls for our children entails large costs [which are] hurting our country and killing our economy.The harsh content of the commentary was not new. But the venue the editorial page of the New York Times was. Such voices do not represent majority views in America. But nor are they any longer marginal.While they reflect the concerns of a fragmented minority, they do share a common denominator: the quest to demonize China. China as a deadly scapegoat Navarros commentaries on China build on his The Coming China Wars (2008) and the more extreme Death by China (2011), which was co-authored with Greg Autry, who represents Coalition for a Prosperous America and the American Jobs Alliance, which advocate a hard line against China. Ultimately, these treatises are less about facts and more about political persuasion. In San Diego, Navarro was known for great political ambitions and repeated political failures in the 1990s (e.g., for mayor, city council, county supervisor, congress). Failing to appeal to American voters, he wrote books on business until the great recession. Afterwards, demonizing China offered a way to exploit the national malaise and the politics of resentment as evidenced by the anti-China campaign ads in the elections of 2010 and 2012. Americans are being injured or killed by the Dragons dangerous exports: poisoned food, spiked drugs, toxic toys, Navarro says. Meanwhile, huge U.S. corporations have allied with Chinas state-owned enterprises to destroy American manufacturing... Such statements are fatally misguided. In reality, quality issues are not just a Chinese challenge. More than half of Chinese exports are products that are manufactured by foreign multinationals operating in China. For years, many have been cutting corners for cost-efficiencies. The problems extend from quality to fraud, including multinationals that have tried to boost their market share through corruption; from Big Pharma and the French GlaxoSmithKline, which allegedly bribed hundreds of Chinese physicians, to J.P. Morgan which is said to have hired children of influential Chinese officials to win lucrative business. Furthermore, the argument that Chinese companies have destroyed American manufacturing is plain silly. According to U.S. data, some $900 billion of the manufacturing fixed assets of the U.S. companies remain in America, and over $100 billion in major European locations, as opposed to $21 billion in China. The hollowing out of U.S. manufacturing originates from the 1970s. In turn, Asian companies have shifted their export manufacturing base to China over the past two decades, which is reflected in the U.S. trade deficit. China is now the third largest export market for U.S. goods, while currency policies have not had much of an impact on the U.S. trade balance or jobs, as U.S.-China Business Council has argued. Getting steel-tough against China Death by China calls China the biggest threat to global peace since Nazi Germany, urging U.S. business executives to be like Nucor, Americas largest steel producer. Navarros anti-China books gave rise to his documentary, Death by China (2012). But who funded the documentary? And why? Before the great recession, Nucor made fortunes. In 1995-2005, its stock price rose from $15 to $20. Thereafter, it almost tripled to $75 in mid-2008, followed by a plunge to less than $34 in February 2009. That year Nucor suffered a loss of $293 million. It was then that its executive chairman Dan DiMicco and Navarro began to co-write op-eds blaming U.S. trade deficits on Chinas currency manipulation (Wall Street Journal); decrying Chinas weapon of mass production (San Francisco Chronicle); and urging Washington to get tough with China (Barrons). DiMicco gave testimony on Chinese currency policy in the Congress. Navarro penned his Death by China. When Navarro began to develop his documentary, he again turned to Nucor, but wanted the $1 million deal done through Utility Consumers Action Network (UCAN), a San Diego non-profit, led by his friend Michael Shames. So UCAN deposited Nucors checks to Navarros production company. In February 2012, UCAN, Navarros production company, Navarro and his wife were subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury, which wanted to see all financial records and contractual agreements. The UCAN debacle led to a long legal mess. The combination of industry protectionism and corporate lobbying is a deja vu of the 1980s, the rise of Japan, and the competitiveness debates. Thats perhaps also why China bashers are in a hurry. With Japan, friction eclipsed as the Japanese moved from exports to investment in America. Today, Chinese capital is going global, though from a very low point (in 2012 China invested $6.5 billion in the U.S., barely 1.5% of that by UK in 2011). Chinese investment in the U.S. means new capital and jobs, which, in turn, has the potential to defuse much of the current bilateral tension. And that is precisely what China demonizers dislike. From trade hawks and hard-liners to battle plans In the U.S., the interest groups that promote greater nationalism in economic relations comprise corporate giants that are not well-prepared for global competition; small and medium-sized manufacturers that cannot cope with competitive imports; and organized labor that has shrunk dramatically. These groups are supported by trade hawks, neoconservatives and their intellectual counterparts, as well as democracy, human rights and religious activists. They also hope to shape the future course of Asia Pacific. Since 2011, President Obama has advocated U.S. rebalancing in Asia seeking to move 60 percent of U.S. naval fleet to the Asia-Pacific by 2020. In the last elections, neoconservatives persuaded Romney to recommend increasing the number of warships far more than the Navy itself asked for. At the time, Romneys economic adviser was R. Glenn Hubbard, President Bushs leading economic adviser and Navarros co-author in a 2010 book, which blamed Americas economic ruin on the Obama White House. The rearmament would have cost an astounding $2.1 trillion over the next decade, but it would have supported the neoconservatives AirSea Battle Plan to militarize containment in the South China Seas a doctrine that General James Cartwright, aformer vice chair of the Joint Chiefs has criticized for demonizing China. In U.S. history, difficult times have translated to periods of xenophobia, isolationism and protectionism, from the anti-Chinese legislation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to the anti-Japanese sentiments in the late 1980s. Demonizing China today is not as virulent as Henry Fords International Jew in the 1920s, but it, too, is based on shrewd manipulation of economic data, exploitation of political sentiments, social stereotypes and psychological bias. Criticism is based on facts, but demonizing also suggests evil culpability. Historically, it has been typical to demonize the enemy in the run-up to war. And yet, only one of ten Americans sees China as an enemy. In June, Gallup discovered that more than half of Americans perceive China as friendly, though not an ally. In turn, one of four Americans views China as unfriendly. Accordingly, the strategic goal of Chinas demonization is, first, to convert those who already hold negative views on China into a harder line and, over time, to increase negativity among those who see China as potentially friendly. Americas lingering jobless recovery has hardened views on economic and trade policies. Thats what the messengers of demonization are exploiting, in the quest to mainstream anti-China bias in America. Dr Steinbock is the founder of the Difference Group and has served as the research director at the India, China, and America Institute (USA) and a visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). For more information, see http://www.differencegroup.net/ 2016 Copyright Dan Steinbock - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. U.S. Shale Oil Cash Flow Is Now Neutral Oil prices are probably already high enough to spark a rebound in shale production. The IEA says that in the third quarter of 2016, the U.S. shale industry became cash flow neutral for the first time ever. That isnt a typo. For years, the drilling boom was done with a lot of debt, and the revenues earned from steadily higher levels of output were not enough to cover the cost of drilling, even when oil prices traded above $100 per barrel in the go-go drilling days between 2011 and 2014. Even when U.S. oil production hit a peak at 9.7 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2015, the industry did not break even. Indeed, shale companies were coming off of one of their worst quarters in terms of cash flow in recent history. That all changed around the middle of 2015 when the most indebted and high-cost producers went out of business and consolidation began to take hold. E&P companies began cutting costs, laying off workers, squeezing their suppliers and deferring projects that no longer made sense. By 2016, oil companies large and small had shed a lot of that extra fat, running leaner than at any point in the last few years. By the third quarter, oil prices had climbed back to above $40 and traded at around $50 per barrel for some time, replenishing some lost revenue. That was enough to make the industry cash flow neutral for the first time in its history. That suggests that moving forward, the shale industry could move into cash flow positive territory. Oil prices seem to be trading safely above $50 per barrel for the time being, and OPEC cuts could induce more price gains. The industry is now focusing on shale plays that have lower breakeven prices, namely, the Permian Basin and some parts of the Bakken. That has companies like Concho Resources, Murphy Oil, Devon Energy, Pioneer Natural Resources and EOG Resources all stepping up their spending levels heading into 2017. Wood Mackenzie suggests that $55 per barrel is a sweet spot for the oil and gas industry to rebound, a level that is only slightly above todays prices. At $55 per barrel, the shale industry is cash flow positive and will grow accordingly. "If we stay (at $55 a barrel), the world's biggest oil companies start to make money again. If we go back down to $50 (or lower) in 2017...then those companies are in the negative territory and they go back into survival mode where they have been in the last two years," Angus Rodger, WoodMacs research director for upstream oil and gas, said in a report. He estimates that OPECs cuts could succeed in pushing oil prices sustainably up to $55 per barrel. Even taking into account some cheating, WoodMac concludes that a 75 percent compliance rate with the promised cuts would get the markets to that price level. Still, the seeds of disappoint have already been sown it is just a question of whether or not they will sprout. The U.S. dollar is at its strongest level in nearly a decade, which will weigh on global crude oil demand. Also, hedge funds and other money managers have staked out the most bullish position on oil futures in more than two years. That has succeeded in running up prices this month, but it also sets up the market for downside risk. Should data emerge in the coming months that some OPEC members are cheating, the net-long positions could unwind. Those liquidations tend to happen quickly, so a sharp fall in oil prices is not out of the question. "If confidence around the compliance with cuts wavers, the market will necessarily correct lower, considering that it also faces the twin headwinds of resilient U.S. production and a stronger dollar environment as the Fed begins to hike rates," Harry Tchilinguirian, an analyst with BNP Paribas, told S&P Global Platts. And while the financial markets present risk, the physical market is also up in the air. Of course, OPEC cheating is a possibility. But with U.S. shale producers already stepping up drilling, production could come back quicker than many expect. Weekly EIA data shows gains of nearly 300,000 bpd since the end of summer. On top of that, disrupted output from Libya and Nigeria two countries not subjected to the OPEC cuts could begin to come back. An oil tanker docked at Libyas largest oil export terminal, Es Sider, this week, was the first tanker to load up Libyan oil from that terminal in more than two years. Libya hopes to add another 300,000 bpd in output in 2017 after adding as much in 2016. Even with those negative risks in mind, the shale industry is getting back to work. If oil prices can stay roughly where they are right now, the industry could become cash flow positive for the first time ever next year. http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Shale-Is-Now-Cash-Flow-Neutral.html By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com 2016 Copyright OilPrice.com - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. A leading furniture fair has been postponed due to insufficient measures needed to secure the event, Egypt's interior ministry said in an official statement on Thursday. Le Marche was set to take place from 22 to 25 December, but organizers said it was postponed in a surprise move by authorities three days before the opening, causing millions of pounds worth of losses to local manufacturers and traders. In the first official remarks on the reasons for rescheduling the event, the statement quoted an interior ministry official as pointing to the "non-completion of the civil protection and firefighting system that ensures that attendees and contents are protected from fire risks." "The postponement will provide the opportunity to meet the required conditions in this regard," the official said. Organisers published an advertisement earlier this week in Al-Ahram newspaper pleading with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to intervene to solve the matter. The losses incured by over 200 companies participating in the fair are estimated at between EGP 200 and EGP 300 million, Yousry Abul-Naga, head of the fair-organisers' division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, told Ahram Online on Wednesday. Manufacturers and traders say they had hoped the event would boost next year's sales amid a stagnant economy. The fair is co-organised by the Arab African Promoters for International Conferences and Exhibitions (AAPI) and Tarek Nour Communications (TNC), which is owned by advertising mogul Tarek Nour, who also owns satellite TV channel Al-Qahera Wal Nas. Search Keywords: Short link: COLLINSVILLE-A family disagreement led to more than 260 musical records being burned and possible jail time for at least one person. During a trial by Henry County Judge David V. Williams, Darren William Wilson of Axton pleaded not guilty to felonious destruction of property in a May 31 incident. Williams ordered a presentence report and set sentencing for March 29 at 2 p.m. Christopher Wilson testified that, except for a couple days, he lived with his brother Darren from March until Christopher moved out about a week before the May 31 incident. Christopher testified that he and his mother went to Darrens residence on May 31. Christopher said he went there with intentions to get his records and guitar. Christopher added that while there he and Darren got into an argument and physical fights, and that Darren got the worst of it. Christopher said he left with his guitar. Christopher testified that he returned to Darrens home 20 to 30 minutes later, because his mother wanted to see if Darren needed medical attention. On the way there, Christopher testified, he saw billowing smoke. Upon arrival, Christopher saw Darren throwing Christophers records into a fire in Darrens yard, Christopher said. I saw a large pile of records in flames, Christopher said. He added that Darren then went into his house. Christopher said in all he had 375 records, of which 261 burned. He indicated he kept written records of his musical records, which he kept in crates, about 4 crates of records in all. His collection included records by Alabama, Led Zeppelin, Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath, The Beatles, as well as others. Christopher said the 261 records that burned had a value of well in excess of $3,000. However, about $1,000 worth of those records were salvageable but were in nowhere near the mint condition they had been. Some of the other records were melted to their jackets and sleeves. In addition to the records, Christophers lava lamp and drawing pad containing drawings were burned, he indicated. He estimated his total loss at about $2,800, after allowing for salvageable records. However, Christopher noted, Darren has paid him about $2,300. Deputy C.S. Curtis of the Henry County Sheriffs Office testified that when he arrived at Darrens home at 120 Brittany Hill Lane, he saw a giant pile of records in the yard burning. Darren was inside the home. Curtis said Darren told him that he and his brother had been fighting earlier and that is why he burned the records. Darren testified that he burned only one crate of his brothers records and he didnt see how a crate could hold 75 records. Christopher had testified that about 4 crates worth of records were in the fire pile, with about 75 records per crate. Darren described any amount above the one crate he burned would be Christophers wish list. Darren said the reason why he went into his home when his brother returned the second time on May 31 was that he was afraid of being attacked again. I was already bleeding. I needed several stitches, Darren said. Darren said his house was burglarized and trashed after the incident in question. Christopher said he had nothing to do with that. After hearing the testimony and arguments, Judge Williams found Darren Wilson guilty of the charge. Also Wednesday, Judge Williams appointed counsel to represent David Wayne Taylor of Ridgeway, who is charged with three counts each of distribution of methamphetamine and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine (on April 6, May 4 and May 18); and one count each of distribute imitation controlled substance, conspiracy to distribute imitation controlled substance and feloniously obtaining money or property by false pretense (all on July 28). Recently in Henry County Circuit Court, Jerry Kenneth Call Jr. of Reidsville, North Carolina, pleaded not guilty to third-offense larceny (shoplifting), but Judge Williams found him guilty of that charge. Williams ordered a presentence report and set sentencing for March 29 at 2 p.m. The incident allegedly happened on Jan. 20, 2015. Signal's developers deploy technique called "domain fronting" to ensure the service cannot be blocked without shutting down the internet Related Signal developer says Egypt blocking access to its encrypted app Users of the encrypted instant-messaging and voice-call application Signal were able to access the app on Thursday morning, with the app's developers saying they had re-established the service after it was reportedly blocked in Egypt on Monday. The developers said they have developed a new technique known as "domain fronting" that allows access regardless of attempts at blocking the system. With domain fronting deployed, the only way to block Signal would be to block internet access entirely. "With today's release, domain fronting is enabled for Signal users who have a phone number with a country code from Egypt or the UAE, when those users send a Signal message, it will look like a normal HTTP request to www.google.com. To block signal messages, these countries would also have to block all of google.com," the developers explained. On Monday, Open Whispers Systems, the developer of the encrypted messaging application stated that its app had been blocked in Egypt. The company added that it would begin deploying censorship circumvention in Signal over the next several weeks. Days before this statement was made, Signal users in Egypt, mostly activists, complained on Facebook and Twitter that the application was not working. The company added that it would begin deploying censorship circumvention in Signal over the next several weeks. Egyptian authorities have made no official comment on the alleged blocking of the app, a move that may have been motivated by security concerns after a suicide bomb blast in a Cairo Church earlier this month left 26 victims. Officials contacted by Ahram Online declined to comment on the issue. Encrypted software allows users to communicate while avoiding surveillance from third parties, including state bodies and law enforcement. Search Keywords: Short link: MARTINSVILLE-Changes will soon be coming to the Village of Martinsville. On Monday, Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust finalized plans to purchase the outdoor mall facility, which houses Belk, Kroger and Dunhams Sports, among other shops. According to the purchase documents, Wheeler paid $23.53 million for the property, roughly $78.98 per leasable square foot. That was done through a combination of cash and the companys Key Bank credit. We focus on grocery-anchored centers, said Laura Nguyen, Wheelers director of capital markets, when asked what drew them to make an offer. Talking to the Bulletin on Tuesday as Wheeler officials toured the facility, she pointed to the large amount of traffic outside of Kroger. She also pointed to the companys website, which outlines what types of facilities they look to invest in. That includes operations anchored by a dominant grocery store and stabilized assets of 50,000 square feet or larger. The Village of Martinsville currently has 297,950 square feet of rentable space, with 97 percent of that filled. That includes a 55,969 square foot Kroger store, an 85,000 square foot Belk store, a 24,100 square foot Marshalls, 23,523 square foot Office Max and Dunhams Sports, at 43,872, among others. Wheeler, based out of Virginia Beach, focuses on facilities in the South, Midwest and Northeast markets. They currently own nine facilities in Virginia, including Port Crossing in Harrisonburg, Brook Run Shopping Center in Richmond and Berkley Center in Norfolk, among others. The Martinsville facility becomes the company's largest facility in Virginia. Brook Run, at 147,738 square feet, is second and Laburum Square, also in Richmond, comes in third at 109,405 square feet. We know what types of retail work well in these types of markets, Nguyen said. Now that the purchase is complete, company officials want to take a look at what the Village of Martinsville will be like in the future. Well get together and develop a gameplan, Nguyen said. It will take about 18 to 24 months to solidify those plans. What well be doing is surveying the surrounding retail area. Well look at whats already here and what type of stores dont have a presence here. Well also see if some facilities already here might want to relocate to our property. This will be the latest in a series of changes for the property formerly known as Liberty Fair Mall. Originally designed as an indoor mall in 1989, it was redeveloped over the last four years by the Hull Property Group. Company officials had determined an indoor mall wasnt a good fit for the Martinsville and Henry County area. Instead, it turned the mall into a traditional shopping center and renamed it. The Village of Martinsville was one of the acquisition targets identified by Wheeler earlier this year and discussions had been going on with Hull Property Group. Wheeler CEO Jon Wheeler toured the facility on Tuesday, saying it was a good fit for the company. I am pleased to be adding Village of Martinsville to the portfolio as it represents our business strategy of acquiring necessity-based retail in the secondary and tertiary markets, Wheeler said in a statement. The Center will be efficiently operated out of our Virginia Beach, Virginia headquarters as we maintain our scalable and manageable platform. COLLINSVILLE-The Henry County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) on Wednesday unanimously approved a special use permit for the construction of a cell phone tower in the Iriswood District. The special use permit was requested by Apex Towers LLC of Beckley, West Virginia. The proposed tower would be located at 4174 Chatham Road, about 400 feet from the roadway. The BZA also approved eight minimum conditions for the tower as recommended by county staff. These conditions included that the site must be maintained in compliance with local, state and federal building code and erosion and sediment control standards and regulations; that the access road be maintained; that a security fence be erected around the site; and that existing mature tree growth and natural land forms at the site should be preserved to the maximum extent possible, among other conditions. At the public hearing regarding the special use permit, two people raised objections to the tower: Pastor Robert Denzell Kellam of Spirit of Christ Worship Center, which is located near the site of the proposed tower, and Dwight Mack, who lives across the street from the proposed tower. Kellam said that the tower would likely be immediately visible to people entering and exiting his church. He also raised concerns regarding the number of workmen who would be visiting the tower and whether they would be a disturbance to people in the community. Kellam also asked if it were possible that a smaller tower could be constructed, as the proposed monopole tower will measure 199 feet in height. Apex Project Manager Dale Hill said that no other suitable sites for the tower could be found within a 2 mile radius, and that if smaller towers were used, it would take more than a hundred to cover the current cell phone coverage dead zone on that stretch of Chatham Road. Hill said that barring emergency maintenance, workmen would visit the site perhaps twice a month, and they would be visiting in the daytime. Henry County Director of Planning, Zoning and Inspections Lee Clark said that about 20 years ago, the county made a conscious decision that a smaller number of larger cell towers was preferable to a large number of small towers. The county has approved dozens of cell towers since, Clark said, and Apex had done more than their due diligence to ensure that many of Kellams concerns including erosion control and proper placement of the tower to provide maximum coverage to the area would be alleviated. Mack raised concerns that the cell phone tower might produce radiation that could have an ill effect on his family and pets, or contaminate the nearby waterways. Clark said that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 explicitly prevents localities from factoring in health and/or environmental concerns when discussing the placement of telecom equipment, and as a result, the BZA legally could not factor those concerns into their decision. The BZA unanimously approved the special use permit. In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. 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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 A Cairo appeals court has suspended a one-year prison sentence against the former head of Egypt's Central Auditing Authority Hisham Geneina, who was convicted of spreading false news after he alleged massive corruption in state institutions. Geneina was sentenced to prison in July for spreading false news with the goal of harming public interest after he stated in 2015 that corruption had cost the country EGP 600 billion (approx $68 billion at the time) over a four-year period. Geneina was also fined EGP 20,000 and released on bail pending his appeal against the sentence. The appeals court suspended the sentence on Thursday for three years, with the sentence to be put into effect if the defendant is convicted of another crime within that period, according to a judicial source Geneina was sacked by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in March after a fact-finding committee investigating his report on corruption concluded that he had misled the public by exaggerating the scale of corruption. Search Keywords: Short link: SPRINGFIELD -- CRRC MA has a deal to manufacture new subway cars for Los Angeles, and the Chinese-owned company plans to do final assembly on those cars at its Springfield plant. On Dec. 2 in Los Angeles, the board of directors of the Metro public transit system in Southern California approved a $178.4 million deal to purchase 64 new subway cars for its Red Line and Purple Line from CRRC. The deal has an option for the Metro to buy 218 more cars. The Los Angeles deal is not yet final, however, as other bidders have contested the result. Under the deal, CRRC would start production on the LA cars in 2019, said Jia Bo, CRRC MA vice president. "That has been the plan all along, to use this plant as our hub in North America and to bring more work here," Bo said through a translator during a tour of the Springfield facility Thursday. "It was never 'Get one or two jobs and go.'" CRRC MA is nearing completion on its 204,000-square-foot, $95 million factory at the former Westinghouse factory site on Page Boulevard in East Springfield. Construction is expected to be completed in April or May. Then, there will be three months of commissioning work at the facility to get it ready for production as early as July. CRRC built the factory to fulfill a $566-million contract it received to manufacture 284 subway cars for Greater Boston's subway system. Of those cars, 152 will be for the Orange Line and 132 will be for the for the Red Line. Delivery of the first cars is expected in March 2018, and production is expected to last five years. Two weeks ago, the MBTA awarded CRRC a new $277 million contract to build an additional 120 new Red Line cars starting in June 2022, after the previously announced Red and Orange Line cars are built. This most recent deal includes an option to purchase 14 more Red line cars. Bo led the tour that included Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and other city officials. Sarno marveled at the progress and thanked CRRC for preserving the former Westinghouse office building as its new office and headquarters building. Construction workers were fitting out the interior of the massive assembly building, assembling overhead cranes and putting up interior walls. They also were preparing to install interior railroad tracks. Other construction contractors used earth movers to prepare ground for a 2,240-foot test track that will parallel Interstate 291. Bo explained how car shells, really just a metal frame, will arrive from China by sea through the Port of Philadelphia and then overland. Once inside, as many as 200 production workers spread over two shifts will install all the wheels, motors, electronics and interiors over a period of about three months. For the Los Angeles cars, work on air conditioning and lighting systems will be performed at a facility in Los Angeles as part of a commitment for local content, according to Metro. Red Line and Purple Lines [pdf] of the Los Angeles metro parallel famous Wilshire Boulevard and service Hollywood, Studio City and Koreatown. "It would be a very big project for us," Bo said. Production for the Los Angeles cars is expected to begin in 2019. "By 2020 this workshop will be at peak capacity," he said. At this point, CRRC has work lined up for the Springfield plant that would keep it busy through 2024. But Bo said the goal is to continue to get more work. "The demand is very big," he said. "And right now we are only doing transit cars. We could do intercity rail cars, light rail cars, any number of different cars." Light rail is an industry term for what we would think of as a trolley or a tram. Bo said officials from Atlanta's MARTA transit system have already toured the Springfield factory. CRRC also is trying to get work to build cars for SEPTA in Philadelphia. In New York, CRRC is still awaiting word whether it has gotten a contract to make 1,025 subway cars for New York City over five years. That work would be done at a similar plant CRRC plans to build in Fort Edward, New York, which is near Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs, 134 miles and an almost 2-hour drive from Springfield. "This facility is not big enough to service the New York market," Bo said, adding that New York City and its environs comprise 40 percent of the total U.S. market. New York, like Massachusetts did with the Red and Orange cars project that lured CRRC here, also is requiring assembly be done in state. "Our competitors in New York already have facilities in New York state," Bo said. CRRC also plans to bid on a job to build cars for the Long Island Rail Road. Bo said Springfield would still be the hub of CRRC's North American operations, and he hopes to build some components for the Fort Edward plant in Springfield. Sarno said CRRC's plans point to Springfield's strategic location with good transportation links heading both north-south and east-west. SPRINGFIELD With less than a week until Christmas, 12-year-old James Foster and several students from the Elias Brookings School lugged boxes of winter clothes, toys and gift certificates from an overstuffed car into the school building. "(Last year) we had a toy drive and a clothing drive," James, of Longmeadow, said of Hope for Every Child Inc., a charity he founded two years ago. "This drive, we're sort of mashing them together, because the families need everything." As a fifth-grade student at Wolf Swamp Road School in Longmeadow two years ago, James saw a classmate unable to play outside at recess because her family lacked the resources to buy winter clothes. Longmeadow stands among the more privileged communities in Western Massachusetts, but about 3 percent of families in the town fall below the poverty line, according to 2013 U.S. Census data. More than 13 percent of families in Hampden County fell below the poverty line during the same period. Poverty is far more pronounced among students at Springfield's Elias Brookings School, where more than 95 percent of the students' families fall below the poverty line and many are homeless, Brookings adjustment counselor Gianna Allentuck said. Standing next to his mother's SUV before unloading it, James said Hope for Every Child began collecting donations for this drive about six months ago. "It's been really good," he said. "As you can see (the donations) are piled up to almost the ceiling of the car." In addition to toys, coats, hats and gift cards for food, donations included "survival bags," said James' mother, Stefania Foster. These bags were packed with basic necessities -- toothbrushes, socks, underwear -- that many students at the Brookings School often go without. Donations were collected from individuals in Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, Springfield and Agawam, as well as 100+ Women Who Care about Greater Springfield, a group to which Stefania Foster belongs. Items provided through Hope for Every Child to the Brookings School consist of things no child should go without, Stefania Foster said. "These are things we know any child would need," she said. Agawam St Patrick Committee 2017 The Agawam St. Patrick's committee has named its 2017 parade Marshall, and issued its two most prestigious awards with an eye toward the March holiday. From left is the 2017 Parade Marshall Vera Conway, the 2017 Citizenship Awardee Edward Borgatti, and the 2017 Ann Sullivan Awardee - Laurie O'Connell. (Submitted Photos) AGAWAM - The Agawam St. Patrick's committee has named its 2017 parade marshal, and issued its two most prestigious awards with an eye toward the March holiday. Vera Conway, the daughter of immigrant parents George and Catherine McDonnell, from Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland, will serve as the 2017 Parade Marshal. A longtime member of the Agawam St. Patrick's Committee, a board member and past president, Conway previously established a St. Patrick's Committee trophy case at the Agawam Public Library to display the committee's history. She also developed an archives area in the storage place at the Agawam Housing authority. The 2017 Ann Sullivan Awardee is Laurie O'Connell, according to the committee. O'Connell has been a member of the Agawam St. Patrick's Committee for the past four years, where she has been actively involved with the Colleen Committee with her daughter Kaitlyn, the events committee where she was involved in the successful first ever Halfway to St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl. According to the committee, she has painted over 35 shamrocks in one season. The 2017 Citizenship Awardee is Edward Borgatti, the owner and operator of E.B's Restaurant for the last 30 years which has a nationally recognized location on The Big E fair grounds. Over the years, through his business, Borgatti has received recognition and given back to the community in many ways through both monetary and gift card donations. Borgatti was recognized by The Children's Miracle Network, The Larson Foundation (assisting families of homicide victims) and Easter Seals of Massachusetts for his contributions. He was named a "Partner in Philanthropy" and awarded and recognized for his donations and work with Easter Seals Relay for Independence. The Agawam St. Patrick's committee will be honoring Conway, O'Connell and Borgatti when it crowns a new Colleen on Feb. 12 at Chez Joseph. cc.jpg After meeting for eight months, the Charter Commission will pursue a change in government, gathering details for a plan that voters could consider in 2018. (Republican file Diane Lederman) AMHERST -- After eight months of meetings with residents and officials, the Charter Commission is pursuing a new form of government without Town Meeting. In a 5-4 straw poll vote, the commission agreed to look at creating a mayor-town council model with "robust citizen participation," said commission chairman Andy Churchill. He said the commission could reconsider the proposal, but he said the vote "gives us direction." Churchill said commissioners can now look at the details of creating such a form of government. Under its current form of government, Amherst has a five-member Select Board, a town manager and a 240-member representative Town Meeting. Residents last voted on changing the town's form of government in 2005. That proposal rejected a seven-member council/mayoral form of government. Commissioners also agreed to continue looking at a system of town government that's popular in Connecticut, Churchill said. That form includes town meeting and a first selectmen, who is like a mayor, but part of a three-member board. The commission, with the help of consultants from the Collins Center at UMass-Boston, will look at the details of a mayor-council form of government, such as mayoral terms and how councils would be elected, for example -- "a lot of nitty gritty," Churchill said. He said the commission heard from some people who want to keep Town Meeting. Commission members Meg Gage and Gerry Weiss submitted alternative plans. Both would keep representative town meeting. Gage proposed a reduction from 240 to 150 members. Weiss suggested 220 members, with 20 of those at-large. Churchill said said the town is facing "looming capital projects ... There are big problems (ahead) and challenges. We don't have a structure where we can have conversations about them. "Those are some of the issues that have emerged from listening sessions," he said. The commission must submit its preliminary report by July 31 and its final report by Sept. 29. The commission would then make a recommendation that voters would consider in March 2018. An Arizona trucker was reportedly carrying more than 55 pounds of the powerful prescription opioid painkiller Fentanyl when police stopped him on Route 34 Wednesday in Connecticut, according to the Associated Press. Derby Police arrested 47-year-old Erick Escalante after finding the packaged drugs -- estimated to carry a street value of more than $55 million -- at around 11 a.m. Federal Drug Enforcement Administration members in New Haven took over handling the case due to the size of the bust. Escalante was arraigned in federal court on charges of possession, intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess and sell the drug. He is being held without bond for the time being and his next court appearance will be on Jan. 4. Medical professionals blame Fentanyl for the huge explosion in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, owing to the extreme strength of the drug, which is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. The Centers for Disease Control said synthetic opioid deaths in jumped by 73 percent in 2015, to 9,500. The attorney for Erika Murray, the mother accused of murdering her two infants and keeping her other children in squalid conditions in their Blackstone home, wants key evidence in the case tossed. The Milford Daily News reports attorney Keith Halpern Wednesday argued in Worcester Superior Court that the search of Murray's home in September 2014 exceeded the scope of the warrant. That warrant, he said, stated police were searching for documents relating to potential human trafficking. Police were investigating the discovery of two children living in filthy conditions in Murray's home, who appeared to be unknown to neighbors and family members. The children were in addition to two children that Murray was known to have. During that search, police discovered the remains of an infant wrapped in a towel and placed in a closet. But Assistant District Attorney John Bradley argued authorities at the time did have cause to believe the two children found living in the horrid conditions weren't Murray's. From Milford Daily News: "The facts were simply so bizarre and unusual that (authorities) couldn't discount any possibility," Mr. Bradley said. "When you have everyone in that house except for one person claiming that these kids were not part of the family, it at least raises the issue that they might have come from somewhere else or might have been part of a human trafficking operation." It was later determined all the children were Murray's. In addition, a subsequent investigation uncovered a total of . Murray has been charged with murder of two of the children. A third -- a baby with the umbilical cord still attached -- she was not charged with murdering. At , a prosecutor said the dead babies appeared to have lived anywhere from one week to a month. Police were first called to the home in late August 2014 after a 10-year-old boy asked a neighbor how to get a baby to stop crying. The neighbor came to the house and found squalid conditions inside and called police. Police arrived to discover a 3-year-old girl who according to police looked like she'd been "dipped in feces" and a 5-month old who was severely malnourished and neglected. Both had been living in an upstairs bedroom of the home. All of the children were removed by the Department of Children and Families. The skeletal remains of pets were also discovered in the home. The home was later torn down by the town of Blackstone. Murray is due back in court on Feb. 19. Her boyfriend and father of all of the children, Raymond Rivera, is charged with child abuse and will be back in court Jan. 9. 1222 cruz ago.jpg Juan Cruz, as seen in his booking photo following his Nov. 21, 2015 arrest in Chicopee. Police say he jumped out a second-story window in an attempt to escape capture. (Chicopee police photo) NEW HAVEN - A New Haven man who was arrested last year in Chicopee in connection with a series of bank robberies in New York and Connecticut was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. Juan Cruz, 38, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Aiker Meyer to serve 84 months in prison to be followed by three years of probation. He pleaded guilty to robbing six banks in New Haven and Albany between Oct. 15 and Nov. 20 of last year. He is accused of stealing more than $18,000 over that time. Cruz was arrested Nov. 21, 2015 when he was spotted at the Days Inn in Chicopee. He had been identified as a suspect in the robberies and a warrant was issued for his arrest as a fugitive from justice. Cruz was apprehended after he tried to escape police by jumping out a second floor window, according to Chicopee police. Cruz had been in custody since his arrest in Chicopee. Fabrizia Di Lorenzo (Facebook.com) An Italian woman who has been identified as one of the victim's in the Berlin terror attack has ties to a Boston restaurant which is run by her cousins. Italy's foreign minister confirmed Thursday that Fabrizia Di Lorenzo died in the Dec. 19 attack in Berlin where authorities believe a Tunisian man drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market. "The German judiciary, as reported by Germany's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has performed the necessary verifications and unfortunately it is now certain that among the victims there is also the Italian national, Fabrizia Di Lorenzo," Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, said. "I am affectionately close to her family and loved ones and join them in their immense grief." Investigators are now searching for Anis Amri, a 24-year-old born in Tunisia, in connection with the attack that left 12 people dead and 48 people injured. Di Lorenzo's cousin, Philip Frattaroli, told the Boston Globe this week that his family received messages from relatives in Italy on Tuesday asking his family to call them. The Frattaroli family, who live in the North End section of Boston and run Ristorante Lucia there, told the newspaper they learned Di Lorenzo was missing and her cell phone along with other items were located at the market. The 31-year-old had been living in Germany and was buying Christmas gifts at the time of the attack, according to the Associated Press. Lone Wolf City health officials report much progress has been made to address "chronic moisture" and a resultant cockroach infestation at The Lone Wolf on Main Street. Next month, the restaurant will close for two weeks to allow contractors to replace portions of the kitchen floor, the last in a battery of recent repairs. (Phil Demers/MassLive) AMHERST -- The Lone Wolf will close for two weeks next month so contractors can replace the kitchen floor, part of ongoing work to resolve a pesky bug problem reported by MassLive in October. The closure begins on Tuesday, Jan. 3, and the project should be completed by Jan. 17, a restaurant manager told MassLive. In an interview Monday, Amherst Public Health and Community Services Director Julie Federman said "numerous repairs" have been undertaken at the Main Street breakfast and lunch shop since a cockroach problem peaked in September. Several customers complained to the town -- including one who said her daughter and a friend were served "omelets with bugs in them." Several Google reviewers reported seeing cockroaches in the restaurant as well. On Sept. 12, Amherst Health Inspector Susan Malone issued an order to temporarily shutter the business, which she deemed hazardous to public health, but owner Robert Watson intervened to prevent the measure. Instead, the city would help Watson get building owner Ting-Wei Tang, of Bristow, Virginia, to make long-needed repairs. Leaks in the roof, holes in the building envelope, plumbing and other issues causing "chronic moisture" -- ideal conditions for roaches to thrive -- needed to be addressed. The fixes were not Watson's responsibility. He had been trying in vain, he said, to ring alarm bells with Tang -- a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst -- to no avail. City involvement helped. In October, Federman said, Tang visited the city on other business. "He was asked to come to the restaurant, and we went there and met with him," she said. "My message was, I will not be able to keep this building open if you don't renovate and fix all parts. Not with bandaids. Everything to be done really well." She added, "Over the course of the next few weeks, huge amounts of work were being done in that building." Tang chose to make a significant investment rather than risk losing all the building's tenants -- two upstairs apartment renters and Lone Wolf and a second restaurant downstairs. "It's fantastic," Federman said. "We're really happy about it. The city wants two restaurants and two units of housing there, not a dilapidated building." President-elect Donald Trump called on Thursday for the United States to veto an Egyptian-drafted UN resolution demanding that Israel immediately halt its settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," the Republican said in a statement issued ahead of the vote taking place later in the day. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," Trump added. Egypt circulated its draft late Wednesday and a vote was scheduled for 3 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. Israeli settlements are seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations has maintained that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the United States to use its veto to block the measure. Some in the Israeli government view Trump's victory as an opportunity to expand settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian land occupied by Israel for nearly 50 years. The billionaire businessman has pledged to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to refrain from pressuring it into deals with the Palestinians. Trump has chosen as ambassador to Israel the hardliner David Friedman, a man who has said Washington will not pressure Israel to curtail settlement building in the occupied West Bank. *This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid told Sky News Arabia on Thursday afternoon that the consultations on the Egyptian draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its settlement activities are not over, whether in the United Nations in New York or the Arab League HQ in Cairo. The UN Security Council postponed on Thursday a vote on the draft resolution as president-elect Donald Trump weighed in, saying the United States should veto the measure. No new time or date for the vote has been scheduled, though diplomats said it could happen on Friday. Diplomats had told media outlets that Cairo requested the postponement of a vote Tursday to allow time for more consultations. Abu Zeid explained that the Arab League's Committee to End the Occupation, which was tasked with drafting the resolution, had decided in its last meeting on Monday to revaluate developments based on the resolutions chances to pass in the Security Council. The committee includes Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Palestine. According to media reports, Egyptian ambassador to the UN Amr Abul-Ata said on Thursday afternoon that UN Arab Group ambassadors held an urgent meeting today and decided to wait for the Arab League committees decision. The move to halt construction of illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories prompted immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained unclear whether Washington would take a different approach this time, possibly abstaining to allow the measure to pass, but without US support. Trump, who campaigned on a promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, said in a statement that Washington should use its veto to block the resolution. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," the Republican said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," Trump added. Israeli settlements are seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Some in the Israeli government view Trump's victory as an opportunity to expand settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian land occupied by Israel for nearly 50 years. Trump has chosen as ambassador to Israel the hardliner David Friedman, a man who has said Washington will not pressure Israel to curtail settlement building in the occupied West Bank. The draft resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." It states that Israeli settlements have "no legal validity" and are "dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution" that would see an independent state of Palestine co-exist alongside Israel. The text stresses that halting settlements was "essential for salvaging the two-state solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground." UN diplomats have for weeks speculated as to whether the administration of President Barack Obama would decide to refrain from using its veto to defend its closest ally in the Middle East. Obama's administration has expressed mounting anger over Israeli settlement policy and speculation has grown that he could launch a final initiative before leaving. Under Netanyahu's government, settlement construction has surged with some 15,000 settlers moving into the West Bank over the past year alone. Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations described the proposed measure as the "peak of hypocrisy" arguing that it will "only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror." The measure calls for "immediate steps" to prevent acts of violence against civilians, but does not specifically single out the Palestinians to stop incitement, as demanded by Israel. "We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement. The United States joined the European Union, the United Nations and Russia in calling for a halt to Jewish settlements in a report released in October by the so-called diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East. The report was to serve as the basis for reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process which has been comatose since a US initiative collapsed in April 2014. France set January 15 as the date for an international conference to re-launch the peace process and "reaffirm the necessity of having two states," Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: Gov. Steve Bullock and First Lady Lisa Bullock have announced $29,905 in private grants for the Breakfast after the Bell initiative at nine schools. They include schools in Lolo, Florence, Dixon, Drummond, Winifred, Helena, Lodge Grass, Gallatin Gateway and Great Falls. Full Story: http://mtstandard.com/news/state-and-regional/bullocks-donate-to-expand-breakfast-in-nine-montana-schools/article_bc93976c-9287-5c67-b5ba-04a63fa611dd.html Direct United Airlines flights from Great Falls to Chicago debuted last summer and were a success, so United Airlines decided to expand their frequency next summer, Great Falls Airport Director John Faulkner announced Tuesday. Tickets went on sale this week for the nonstop flights that will operate on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, from June 10 until Labor Day weekend of 2017, he said. The flights will depart Great Falls at 12:15 p.m. and arrive in Chicago at 4:30 p.m. In Chicago, the flights leave at 9 a.m., arriving in Great Falls at 11:40 a.m. Peter Johnson , [email protected] Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/money/2016/12/20/united-expand-great-falls-chicago-flights/95672024/ Wells Fargo & Co. https://www.wellsfargo.com/ chief Timothy Sloan received a terse call last Tuesday from the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.: That afternoon the regulators would publicly announce the bank had flunked a vital test and would be slapped with first-of-their-kind penalties. By EMILY GLAZER and RYAN TRACY Full Story: http://www.wsj.com/articles/wells-fargo-scrambles-to-deal-with-new-crisis-1482233400?mod=e2fb "What weve done is shown the benefits across two generations of the study of these enriched early child care programs," Nobel-prize winning economist James Heckman said in an interview with NPR. "Not only providing child care for working mothers allowing them to get more education but primarily to get more work experience, higher earnings gains through participating in the workforce, but also getting high-quality child care environments that turn out to be developmentally rich. It promotes social mobility within and across generations. That I think is an important finding of this study." Heckman and his colleagues have just released these findings in a paper called "The Life-Cycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program." http://heckmanequation.org/content/resource/lifecycle-benefits-influential-early-childhood-program by Alyssa Haywoode Full Story: https://eyeonearlyeducation.com/2016/12/22/james-heckmans-new-research-on-early-education/ *** Other coverage of this research includes: The Atlanta-Journal Constitutions Get Schooled blog http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2016/12/12/new-study-quality-birth-to-five-programs-for-at-risk-kids-pay-off/ Chicago Magazines story: "Why Pre-K Education Could Be One of the Best Ways to Reduce Crime," http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/December-2016/Early-Childhood-Education/ Education Dives "Should school districts play a larger role in birth-to-5 programs?" http://www.educationdive.com/news/should-school-districts-play-a-larger-role-in-birth-to-5-programs/432303/ Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji was released on Thursday from prison after a Cairo court of cassation suspended on Sunday his two-year prison sentence pending a final verdict on 1 January 2017. Naji was released from Boulaq Abul-Ela police station in Downtown Cairo after completion of release procedures. The novelist was banned from travel according to the Sunday ruling. In February, Naji was sentenced to two years for publishing a sexually flagrant article in the state-owned cultural newspaper Akhbar Al-Adab in 2015. The article was an excerpt from Naji's novel The Guide for Using Life. Search Keywords: Short link: Custom Business Cards for the New Year Trade shows, business meetings, networking events the New Year is sure to give you plenty of opportunity to put your business cards into new hands. This year, make your cards the ones they remember with custom printing options. Dazzle them with foil stamping, stand out with creative and 3D die cuts, or make in impression with embossed cards. Dont hand over the same generic card your competitors use (and bought on the cheap). Get noticed with the highest quality custom cards available. Start your custom business card order today. Get a quote or contact your personal print experts at: Phone: 1-800-930-7022 Email: [email protected] Either way, youll be happy you did. PrintingForLess [email protected] Tourist arrivals in the first semester of 2022 from main markets were France (93,446), United Kingdom (55,717), Republic of South Africa (42,022), Germany (39,834), Reunion Island (16,490), India (15,059), Switzerland (9,130) and Italy (6,854). In the first semester of 2022, France, our top tourist generating country, registered an increase of 92,845 tourist arrivals compared to first semester of 2021. Increases in tourist arrivals were also observed in the other main markets as follows: United Kingdom (+55,630), Republic of South Africa (+41,885), Germany (+39,740), Reunion Island (+16,439), India (+14,662), Switzerland (+9,072) and Italy (+6,809). During the period under review, the number of tourists in age group 20-49 years was 199,558 representing 53.0% of tourist arrivals. Compared to the first semester of 2021, increases in tourist arrivals were noted for the following tourist destinations in the Indian Ocean region during the first semester of 2022: Maldives (from 510,564 to 813,263), Sri Lanka (from 16,908 to 411,377), Mauritius (from 3,225 to 376,556) and Seychelles (from 50,444 to 156,287). Compared to 1st Semester 2021: the number of nights spent by tourists who departed during 1st Semester 2022 increased from 299,804 to 4,719,867; and the average length of stay decreased from 92.2 to 12.4 nights As at end of June 2022, there were 113 licensed hotels of which 3 were temporarily closed, 3 were closed due to renovation works and one new hotel not yet in operation. The total room capacity of the 106 hotels in operation was 13,649 with 31,745 bed places, there were 58 large hotels (i.e. well-established beach hotels with more than 80 rooms) in operation. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have released the family members of the policeman who killed the Russian ambassador. The policeman's parents, sister and three other relatives were among 11 people detained over the killing of Ambassador Andrei Karlov as he delivered a speech at the opening of a photo exhibition in Ankara. The policeman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, was later killed in a police operation. The Anadolu Agency says the six family members were released Thursday without charges. Those still in custody include Altintas' roommate. A ceremony for Karlov, to be attended by President Vladimir Putin, was being held in Moscow. Search Keywords: Short link: Conditions to implement a multi-billion dollar contract to supply Saudi-financed French weapons to Lebanon are now favourable after the formation of a new government in Beirut, France's foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Thursday. Speaking in the Lebanese capital after meeting President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, Ayrault said it was also more important than ever that the new authorities keep up dialogue with Saudi Arabia and Iran to ensure the country was not dragged into the Syrian conflict. "The conditions are favorable," Ayrault told reporters during a visit after the formation of the new government on Sunday. "The sun is shining again on Lebanon." Saudi Arabia suspended a $3 billion programme to supply the Lebanese army with French-made weapons in February, citing concern about the influence on interim Beirut authorities of the powerful Shi'ite muslim movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran. Financed by Riyadh, the equipment was to be supplied by France to bolster the army in its fight against jihadi groups. Ayrault said he and Aoun would soon travel to Saudi Arabia to discuss the contract and wider ties. "Everything must be done to keep Lebanon out of the Syria conflict," Ayrault said. "We want Lebanon to keep dialogue with all its regional neighbours, including Saudi Arabia and Iran." In the Syrian conflict, Iran backs the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight with Saudi-backed Sunni muslim rebels. Lebanon's President, Michel Aoun, and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri have formed a new government of 30 ministers drawn from most sides of the country's political spectrum and from all of its religious sects, the cabinet office said on Sunday. Search Keywords: Short link: Authorities said Wednesday they arrested three teenagers and charged them with setting fire to a Nebo home. Fire Investigator Craig Walker of McDowell County Emergency Management charged Andrew Robert Rogers, 16, of 75 Village Circle, Marion, with arson after he and two juveniles set fire to a home, according to a report. Cases against the juvenile males ages 13 and 15 were turned over to juvenile authorities. Walker said, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, all three teens went to an unoccupied residence at 163 Hill Road in Marion and set fire to the structure. Witnesses reported seeing the suspects in the area when the blaze broke out. It was estimated that the house, owned by William Morgan of Nebo, sustained $30,000 worth of damage. Rogers was held in custody on Dec. 2 and has since been released. The army said Thursday it has retaken full control of Syria's devastated second city Aleppo, scoring its biggest victory against opposition forces since the civil war erupted in 2011. The announcement came after a landmark evacuation deal that put an end to a ferocious month-long offensive waged on east Aleppo by government forces and allied militia. Earlier, the Red Cross said more than 4,000 fighters had left rebel-held areas of the city in the final stages of an evacuation. The loss of east Aleppo is the biggest blow to Syria's rebel movement in the nearly six-year conflict, which has killed more than 310,000 people. It puts the government in control of the country's five main cities: Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Damascus, and Latakia. President Bashar al-Assad's victory in Aleppo is a boon for his allies in Moscow and Tehran and a defeat for the opposition's backers, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Western states. Because of the intensity of these global rivalries -- particularly between Russia and the United States -- the international community struggled for years to respond to the bloodshed in Syria. "The liberation of Aleppo is not only a victory for Syria but also for those who really contribute to the fight against terrorism, notably Russia and Iran," state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying before the army announcement on Thursday. The evacuation effort had been hampered by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures, leaving evacuees waiting in unheated buses for hours. "Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, in one of the last stages of the evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated in private cars, vans, and pick-ups from eastern Aleppo," said Ingy Sedky, the spokeswoman in Syria for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She said about 34,000 people had left rebel areas of Aleppo under the evacuation plan. The United Nations said it had deployed observers to monitor the final evacuations, under a Security Council resolution adopted on Monday. Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, said 31 staff had been assigned for monitoring at the crossing point at Ramussa, the government-held district of southern Aleppo through which evacuation convoys have been leaving. "It's been a very difficult night. The weather is really harsh, and people are leaving in hundreds of private vehicles at different levels of disrepair," he told AFP. Heavy snowfall from Wednesday, which blanketed Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, had slowed down the evacuations. "The bad weather, including heavy snow and wind, and the poor state of vehicles... mean things are moving much more slowly than expected," Sedky said. Rebel forces, who seized control of east Aleppo in 2012, agreed to withdraw from the bastion after a month-long army offensive that drove them from more than 90 percent of their former territory. The deal was brokered by Russia, which launched air strikes in support of Assad's regime last year, and Turkey, which has supported some rebel groups. As part of the Aleppo evacuation deal, it was agreed some residents would be allowed to leave Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority villages in northwestern Syria that are under siege by the Sunni Muslim rebels. About 1,000 people have been able to leave the villages in recent days. The evacuation of Aleppo's rebel sector is a pivotal moment in a war that has triggered a major humanitarian and refugee crisis. As well as a major strategic gain for Assad, the rebel withdrawal from Aleppo has given fresh impetus to international efforts to end the conflict. Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed this week to guarantee Syria peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire, laying down their claim as the main powerbrokers in the war. Repeated attempts at peace have failed, but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes to convene fresh talks in Geneva in February. Formerly the beating heart of Syria's commercial and cultural industries, Aleppo has been split since July 2012 between rebels in the east and the government in the west. East Aleppo became a powerful symbol for Syria's opposition, which set up its own administration to run schools, electricity, and water there. Opposition fighters lobbed rockets into government-held territory, and regime forces battered the east with air strikes and artillery. Moscow's military intervention in support of Assad marked a major turning point in the war. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday the Russian air force has killed 35,000 fighters in Syria since it began in September last year. Turkey launched its own campaign in Syria in late August in support of pro-Ankara rebels, with the aim of ousting Islamic State (IS) militants as well as Kurdish militia from areas near its border. Turkish air strikes killed at least 47 civilians including 14 children Thursday in the IS-held town of Al-Bab, which Turkish forces have been seeking to capture for weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The raids came a day after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by jihadists around Al-Bab, in the country's biggest loss of the campaign so far. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed Thursday to press on, saying: "Turkey is in the midst of a great struggle -- our fight against terror continues both in our country and outside our borders." Search Keywords: Short link: Russian air strikes in Syria have killed 35,000 rebel fighters and succeeded in halting a chain of revolutions in the Middle East, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday. Speaking at a gathering of top military officials that appeared designed to showcase Russia's military achievements, Shoigu said Moscow's intervention had prevented the collapse of the Syrian state. "We are now stronger than any potential aggressor," President Vladimir Putin said at the same event at the Defence Ministry in Moscow. Shoigu said Russian aircraft had flown 18,800 sorties in Syria since the start of the Kremlin's operation there last year, destroying 775 training camps, 405 sites where weapons were being made and killing 35,000 fighters. "The chain of 'colour revolutions' spreading across the Middle East and Africa has been broken," Shoigu said. Russia's intervention in Syria is widely seen as having saved President Bashar al-Assad's forces from defeat and as being crucial to their retaking full control of Aleppo. Shoigu also said Russia's nuclear missile forces would next year be swelled by three extra units armed with modern weaponry and that the air force would receive five modernised strategic bombers. But Putin warned that while Russia's military power had grown substantially, "if we don't want that to change we had better not lose focus." Search Keywords: Short link: Soldiers sealed part of Congo's second city and carried out mass arrests of young men on Thursday, residents said, as talks to defuse the country's explosive political crisis continued. Protests and deadly clashes have erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo over President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down at the end of his mandate on December 20. The army sealed off the Matshipisha-Gbadolite neighbourhood of Lubumbashi from 5 am (0300 GMT), five residents of the city told AFP. The operation was concluded by early afternoon, said the police commander in Haut-Katanga province, Jean-Bosco Galenga. On Wednesday the region's governor Jean-Claude Kazembe was forced to flee as stones were thrown at him when he tried to visit Matshipisha on a "peace march" aimed at demonstrating that the authorities were in control there following deadly violence on Tuesday. "The objective of sealing off (the area) was to retrieve three weapons stolen from police during clashes on 20 and 22 December (when) two police stations were looted," said Galenga. The weapons were all successfully located, he added. Police said a total of 20 people were killed Tuesday in clashes in the capital Kinshasa, Lubumbashi in the southeast, and Matadi and Boma in the west. Galenga said six of the deaths were in Matshipisha, revising down an earlier death toll. Forty-seven people were also injured in the district. Human Rights Watch has put the total death toll at 34, increasing an earlier estimate. Matshipisha residents said that the army sealed off the district, going house-to-house, searching and arresting young men and teenagers. "They put them in trucks to take them off in an unknown direction," said one resident, adding that two adolescents and a young man were arrested in his area. "I saw three trucks filled with young people," said another. Several dozen people, representing families of those detained, demonstrated outside the Lubumbashi headquarters of the UN's MONUSCO force to protest against the "arbitrary arrests". They were cleared by Congolese police around 11:30 am without incident. Lubumbashi, the capital of Haut-Katanga, is the fiefdom of an opposition leader in exile, Moise Katumbi. Talks to end the political crisis headed by the bishops' conference CENCO resumed on Wednesday after breaking up at the weekend without a breakthrough. CENCO chairman Archbishop Marcel Utembi appealed for a deal by Christmas. CENCO has also called for an independent investigation into the violence that greeted the end of Kabila's mandate. The conference said it hoped to hold a meeting at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) to give an update on how the talks are progressing. The mainstream opposition headed by 84-year-old Etienne Tshisekedi has called for "peaceful resistance" from the country's 70 million people, pinning its hopes on a deal at the negotiating table. But in what Kabila's opponents dubbed a provocation, a new government was announced overnight Monday. In separate development, 17 people were killed in clashes between Congolese police and members of a cult that believes the end of Kabila's mandate will usher in the apocalypse, a regional governor said Thursday. Bienvenu Esimba, governor of northwestern Mongala province, said the clashes broke out Wednesday in the provincial capital Lisala when members of the sect burned dozens of houses and attacked a market before launching an assault on local electoral commission offices. Kinshasa was calm on Wednesday although security forces were still out in force, manning roadblock checkpoints that were erected overnight. Thierry Vircoulon, a central Africa specialist at France's Sciences Po university, said that the scope for protest in Kinshasa had been "locked down" and that opposition might now shift to areas outside the capital "and take the form of regional rebellions". Congo has never witnessed a democratic transfer of power following polls since independence from Belgium in 1960. The president has been in office since his father Laurent Kabila's assassination in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and again in 2011. Two decades ago, the country collapsed into the deadliest conflict in modern African history. Its two wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s dragged in at least six African armies and left more than three million dead. Search Keywords: Short link: by Jess Nelson , December 22, 2016 Purina Animal Nutrition doubled email engagement this year after partnering with Salesforce to drive more relevant communication. Headquartered in Shoreview, Minnesota, Purina Animal Nutrition offers a variety of animal feeds and health supplements for livestock. Purina leveraged the Salesforce Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud and Pardot to at first improve data quality, and then to leverage that data to make marketing content more personalized. Purina also worked with Magnet 360 as a Salesforce consulting and implementation partner. Brandon Leander, director Digital Technology & Analytics at Purina, was the lead on Salesforce implementation for Purina Animal Nutrition. As customers trust us with their information, we want to provide better information in return for their animals, says Leander. Its not just about selling feed, but making sure that theyre taking care of their animals. Someone who has two chickens will need a different type of feed, and communication, than someone with a thousand head of cattle, says Leander. advertisement advertisement By capturing customer information in Salesforce Pardot, such as how many animals someone owns, their ages or whether they have any food allergies, Purina can provide personalized content that benefits the pet owner and their animal charges. Purina captures information through a variety of channels, including paid media and SEO, but Salesforce acts as its centralized customer data hub. Leander describes how Purina previously sent non-segmented shotgun blast emails that averaged a click-through rate of 2.2%. Purina was able to boost engagement 83% to a 4% click-through-rate by segmenting communication. In the last two months, Purina has averaged an even higher 5% click-through rate. Open rates have also increased from 13% to 28%, says Leander. Another helpful addition has been to differentiate between qualified and unqualified leads, says Leander. He says that around 13.5% of Purina Animal Nutritions leads are qualified, but 59% of those qualified prospects are then converted. By prioritizing resources into qualified leads and adding more segmented communication, Purina has witnessed its email engagement double. Imagine being able to whisper in a customer's ear while they are shopping online, says Leander, describing the functionality of being able to track customer activity on the companys Web site. In the future, Leander emphasizes how he would like to do more geotargeting in Purinas email marketing programs. The company has also recently starting A/B testing, and Leander expresses excitement about digging into different capabilities in the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, December 21, 2016 Software corporation Oracle is asking the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider the sweeping broadband privacy rules passed earlier this year. Oracle, which spent years unsuccessfully attempting to prove that Google's Android code infringes copyright, says the FCC's recent order on privacy will give Google an unfair advantage against Internet service providers. "The Commission cannot allow the order to stand, when it hands a clear victory to Google by hamstringing ISPs while allowing Google to continue to engage in invasive data collection and aggregation techniques, bolstered by its tight control of the Android operating system," Oracle said Wednesday in a petition asking the FCC to reconsider the ruling. The rules, passed in October by a 3-2 vote, prohibit Internet service providers from drawing on information about subscribers' Web activity and app usage for ad targeting, without their opt-in consent. advertisement advertisement The regulations apply only to companies that provide consumers with access to broadband, like Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon. Online publishers, search engines, social networks and other so-called "edge providers" are not required to follow the FCC rules. Instead, those companies generally adhere to an industry code that allows consumers to opt out of receiving targeted ads based on Web-surfing data. (The self-regulatory code also requires companies to seek opt-in consent from consumers before drawing on a narrow category of "sensitive" data, including financial account information, geolocation data and certain types of healthcare information.) When the FCC was considering the rules, critics of the planned regulations argued that broadband providers shouldn't be held to tougher privacy standards than other online companies like Google and Facebook. But privacy advocates countered that broadband carriers should be subject to stringent rules, because carriers have comprehensive information about consumers' activity -- including knowledge about all unencrypted sites visited by subscribers, as well as people's usage patterns. Oracle says in its petition that the FCC failed to consider "Googles massive information-gathering capabilities" when crafting the privacy rules. "Google already has the ability to track virtually every movement of a consumers day through an Android phone or tablet," Oracle writes. "It has created a proprietary Android world to derive substantial economic benefit from advertising and - perhaps even more importantly -- obtain access to huge amounts of personal data through search, location tracking, and other activities." Google itself opposed the FCC's privacy rules. The company argued to the FCC earlier this year that broadband providers should only be required to obtain users' opt-in consent before drawing on their "sensitive" data -- including health information and precise locations -- for ad targeting. by Thom Forbes @tforbes, December 22, 2016 Stalled in a slump of sales to consumers who are favoring gas-guzzling bigger cars, Hyundai has dismissed Dave Zuchowski, the head of its U.S. unit, temporarily replacing him with chief legal and safety officer Jerry Flannery. Hyundai said Flannery is tasked with boosting the companys brands, and quickening growth and customer satisfaction for the U.S. market, writes Melissa Burden for the Detroit News. But accounts indicate its an interim appointment as Hyundai looks for someone with the skills to steer it out of relying on less-lucrative fleet-sales. Zuchowski, who was widely respected by dealers, was axed for failing to meet internal sales objectives, multiple sources tellAutomotive News David Undercoffler, who broke the story. Zuchowski joined Hyundai as U.S. sales chief in 2007 and was named in December 2013 to succeed John Krafcik who now heads Alphabet Inc.s Waymo as CEO just as Hyundais growth was beginning to slow, he writes. advertisement advertisement While the brand survived and even thrived early in his tenure as sales boss following the Great Recession, it struggled to maintain its pace as falling gasoline prices led the U.S. market to shift away from Hyundais bread-and-butter small cars and toward crossovers and SUVs, segments where the brand is weak or nonexistent and where supply shortages have dented sales, Undercoffler continues. Naming nameplates, Seoul, Korea-based Hyundai's stalwart sedans, the Elantra and Sonata, have become less enticing to American shoppers, points out Nathan Bomey for USA Today. Discounts as a percentage of Hyundai transaction prices rose 13% in November, compared to a year earlier, according to TrueCar. The companies doing particularly well are those that have sport-utility vehicles and trucks, Autotrader.com analyst Michelle Krebs tell Bomey. And the ones that are heavily reliant on cars are doing not as well. A company like Hyundai, [while] it heavily incentivized vehicles, it doesn't have big truck profits to offset those with, like Ford or GM or Chrysler. Hyundai Motor America is based in Fountain Valley, Calif. Zuchowski has been praised by dealers for trying to help the company become more responsive to U.S. market trends, writes Adrienne Roberts for Market Watch. The executive, however, couldn't deliver the type of growth executives in Korea wanted. And the brand continues to rely too heavily on low-margin sales to fleet buyers, including rental car deliveries that erode reputation and ding resale values. The move comes only a month after Mr. Zuchowski used the Los Angeles Auto Show to outline a plan to revamp the companys line of sport utility vehicles, a weak spot that has hurt sales in the last few years as Americans flocked to larger vehicles, Neal E. Boudette writes for the New York Times. In the first 11 months of this year, Hyundais sales have grown by only 1.3%, to 707,485 cars and light trucks, from the comparable period in 2015. The Kia Motors Corporation, an affiliate controlled by the Hyundai Motor Group, has seen its sales rise by 3.8%, to 593,245 vehicles. Not that Hyundai is doing all that well elsewhere on the globe. Zuchowskis departure comes as Hyundai is set to undershoot its global sales target of 8.13 million for a second straight year. It also follows the replacement of Hyundais South Korea sales chief and its head of China in October, as the carmaker struggles in an environment of low oil prices, writes Song Jung-a for Financial Times. But fortune may be smiling on the automaker in a perverse way. Daiwa analyst Chung Sung-yop tells Song that Hyundais business environment should improve next year as higher oil prices push up currencies and thus consumers purchasing power in emerging markets, and spur appetite for more fuel-efficient vehicles. Meanwhile, there was no word from Zuchowski on his plans, and Hyundai did not elaborate publicly on its decision. We appreciate Daves decade of service to Hyundai, especially his leadership as president and CEO, which has made us a stronger organization, Flannery, who will remain responsible for all legal matters in the U.S., says in a statement that attributes Zuchowskis leaving the company to a continuation of a reorganization that began late this year. But apparently Hyundai has not been playing up to its capabilities under his stewardship: I look forward to working closely with our dealers, affiliates, senior management and our talented and hard-working employees across the country to realize Hyundais full potential, says Flannery, who was an attorney for Ford before joining Hyundai Motor America in its infancy in 1987. Now in its adolescence, Hyundai is finding a bit difficult to fit in with the popular kids. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, December 22, 2016 Researchers at Indiana University have developed a search engine, Hoaxy, to demonstrate how fake news and unverified stories spread through social media, after showing how they generated revenue from advertising based on the misinformation. Filippo Menczer, the director of the university's Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, is heading the joint project between the university and the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research. Menczer and Giovanni LucaCiampaglia, assistant research scientist at the university, coordinated the project. Along with a team, the two have created an open platform for the automatic tracking of both online fake news and fact-checking on social media. advertisement advertisement The platform tracks social sharing of links on "independent fact-checking sites like snopes.com and factcheck.org, and sources that publish inaccurate, unverified, or satirical claims "according to lists compiled and published by reputable news and fact-checking organizations," per the Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A) page on the university's site. "Social media makes it more likely that I am more exposed to false information that I am likely to believe," Menczer told Reuters. Hoaxy relies on Web crawlers to extract links to articles posted on fake news Web sites and links to their debunking on fact-checking sites. The post explains that the search engine uses social media APIs to monitor how these links spread through online social networks. The collected data is stored on a database for retrieval and analysis. A dashboard will provide interactive analytics and visualizations. Fake news also enabled Menczer and researchers to make money during an earlier research phase. Ten years ago, Menczer and colleagues ran an experiment where 72% of the college students participating in the study trusted links that appeared to originate from friends, even to the point of entering personal login information on phishing sites. He placed ads on a fake Web page that he created and populated the site with random, computer-generated gossip news. A disclaimer ran at the bottom of the page saying the site contained meaningless text and made-up facts. At the end of the month, he received a check in the mail with earnings from the ads, proving that he could make money off fake news. Google is actively working to stop fake news from appearing in search engine results and also is taking steps to stop advertisements powered by AdSense, its ad-serving platform, from serving on publisher sites known to publish fake news. by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, December 22, 2016 Independent media agency Crossmedia has been named media agency of record for Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, the 5th largest commercial bank in the country. The selection came after a formal review and the incumbent was Cincinnati-based Empower MediaMarketing, which had handled the account for 23 years. The bank spent $58.5 million on ads in 2015, up from $45 million in 2014 according to Kantar Media. The account will be handled by Crossmedias New York office and includes planning, buying and the agencys real-time analytics offering. The creative portion of the account, not part of this review, is handled by Carmichael Lynch, which won the assignment last year. Kate Quinn, executive vice president and Chief Strategy and Reputation Officer at U.S. Bank stated, Our partnership with Crossmedia will help us continue to earn that [customer] trust through strategic and innovative media investment. We are excited to share more of our brand story in 2017. advertisement advertisement There is significant energy behind the U.S. Bank brand, stated Kamran Asghar, Chief Executive Officer of Crossmedia. They have a powerful new brand campaign called the Power of Possible, naming rights to U.S. Bank Stadium which will host significant events in the next few years and a refreshed roster of agencies We believe our new partnership will be transformative for U.S. Bank and Crossmedia. "Its with great respect and admiration for our 23-year relationship with U.S. Bank that we end an era as a new one begins, said Jim Price, president and CEO at Empower MediaMarketing, MediaPosts 2016 Media Agency of the Year. "We look forward to announcing a new financial client in the next few weeks. Weve had a prosperous relationship with U.S. Bank and have served as a change-agent thats helped U.S. Bank evolve from a small regional bank to the fifth largest bank in the country. U.S. Bank, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, provides a portfolio of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products. This story has been updated. With more than 50 percent of doctors visits in the United States involving primary care physicians, no year is ever a quiet one in the life of a general practitioner, and 2016 is no exception. The past 12 months have seen a number of changes to medical guidelines, and scientific research has raised questions about certain practices in healthcare. Share on Pinterest The past 12 months have brought a number of changes to primary care. Typically, new developments in primary care are more likely to translate into extra work for physicians offices. However, 2016 saw some exceptions. Back in May came the news that there is no longer any need to ask patients to fast in preparation for cholesterol checks, while other stories revealed some techniques that could make a doctors job much easier when it comes to patient diagnoses. However, the past year in primary care has not been without flaws. According to one study, the burden of medical error should be measured as if it were a disease. In this article, we take a look at the top news stories that have had the biggest impact on general practitioners (GPs) in 2016. New guidelines and recommendations Flu prevention in children The American Academy of Pediatrics used the September publication of Pediatrics to make their recommendations on flu prevention in children. Recent research had shown that the flu shot gave significantly better protection than the nasal spray vaccine. The organization also championed inoculation of healthcare professionals themselves, even adding that they should brag about the merits of protection in acting as vaccine guardians: HCPs [healthcare providers] should act as role models for both their patients and colleagues by receiving influenza vaccination annually and by letting others know that they have received vaccine, highlighting the safety and effectiveness of annual influenza vaccination. Tackling antimicrobial resistance Meanwhile, inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing has persisted, leading the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue advice in the Annals of Internal Medicine in January. Share on Pinterest The CDC and ACP offered some advice for doctors in a bid to reduce inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics. Common colds, uncomplicated bronchitis, sore throats, and sinus infections may create a lot of demand in primary care, but the organizations offer some advice in an effort to combat antibiotic resistance and drug spending. To help with patient information, the paper suggests the use of the symptomatic prescription pad. The CDC have print-ready examples on their website. Another tool that might improve antibiotic prescription is an office test that distinguishes viral infections from bacterial ones but how practical and cost-effective would this be? Researchers at Duke Medicine in Durham, NC, published results of such a test in January. They are working to priorities established by President Barack Obama in 2014 to improve diagnostics, and they say that their gene expression blood test is a step toward this goal. However: The technical hurdle to transfer these targets to a reliable, timely, affordable, and accessible platform remains. ISDA update guidelines for aspergillosis diagnosis, management In July, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) updated their guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of aspergillosis an umbrella term for a variety of diseases caused by the fungus Aspergillus. The new guidelines focused on three types of aspergillosis: allergic, chronic pulmonary, and invasive. Each recommendation was given a classification of weak or strong based on the quality of evidence. For example, the guidelines make a strong recommendation that invasive aspergillosis should be treated with voriconazole, based on high-quality evidence that this drug is effective. Still, the IDSA say that they consider adherence to the guidelines to be voluntary, with the ultimate determination regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patients individual circumstances. Simplifying diagnoses Updating the doctors bag If you have had enough of being told how to manage common presentations by people who have never sat through a block of winter appointments, perhaps a digital spruce up for the stethoscope and other devices could be a welcome distraction. According to The Journal of mHealths editor, the doctors bag is getting a digital makeover. How about a stethoscope attachment that can transcribe heart sounds to the medical record? Or smartphone technology that can create images from the otoscope? New app to detect early-stage skin cancer Skin cancer is the most common cancer for both men and women in the United States, with around 5.4 million basal and squamous cell skin cancers diagnosed annually, as well as more than 76,000 melanomas. In July came the news of a new app, called Dermofit, that promises to help doctors better detect skin cancer in its early stages. Thirty percent of doctors will automatically send a patient to a hospital if they have signs of a skin growth, notes Dermofit developer Prof. Jonathan Rees, of the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. But the evidence is that the vast majority of people who are seen and referred do not have skin cancer or anything serious at all. The new app consists of a library of more than 1,300 skin lesion photos that have been grouped together based on their color and texture. Practitioners can click on the image of a lesion of interest which then leads to further similar lesions. As lesions are selected, further sets of similar lesions are displayed, explains Prof. Rees. This gives familiarity with the different skin lesion types and allows users to differentiate between lesions that look similar, but that are from different skin lesion classes. Challenging current practices Fasting for cholesterol testing redundant In May came a study that claimed the fasting requirement for cholesterol testing is redundant. Using an article in the European Heart Journal in April, the European Atherosclerosis Society and European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine made a joint consensus statement. Since 2009, non-fasting lipid testing has become the clinical standard in Denmark, and is appropriate more widely, say the authors, offering a chance to simplify testing for patients and GPs. The consensus, however, does include the recommendation that non-fasting plasma triglyceride concentrations above 5 millimoles per liter (440 milligrams per deciliter) might be repeated after fasting. Blood pressure drugs may do more harm than good The linear relation between blood pressure and cardiovascular disease seen in some observational studies cannot be extrapolated to assumed benefit of treatment, conclude the authors of a February paper published in The BMJ. The authors suggest that blood pressure drugs prescribed below a certain threshold are likely to not only lack benefit in this way, but they may also be harmful. They recommend that blood pressure drugs be used in people with diabetes if systolic blood pressure is above the 140 milligrams of mercury threshold. Treating for readings below this may be harmful, they conclude. They confirm that antihypertensives used above this threshold are important in cutting mortality and cardiovascular disease in diabetes patients. Mistakes and misdiagnoses Medical error third leading cause of death in U.S. In another paper in The BMJ that was published in May, researchers find that the third leading cause of death in the U.S. is medical error. One of the authors discusses the issue in an audio interview, saying that the issue has been vastly underestimated. The paper also adds: Death certificates in the U.S., used to compile national statistics, have no facility for acknowledging medical error. The estimate of 250,000 deaths is very conservative, says Prof. Martin Makary, of the Department of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. The solution, according to the paper, is to share data about medical error in the same way as data is shared about disease medical error should not be exempt from the approach of scientific inquiry. The dangers of undiagnosed dementia It might seem obvious that undiagnosed dementia presents danger, but is there evidence relating to these risks? Some numbers appeared in a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in June. People who had probable dementia but no diagnosis were more likely to drive, prepare hot meals, manage finances and medications, and attend medical visits alone, compared with seniors who had been diagnosed. The authors conclude: Understanding the prevalence of potentially unsafe activities and living conditions can help clinicians focus safety screening and counseling in older adults with diagnosed or suspected dementia. Obviously, the problem of dementia is a major and growing one in society, and the authors confirm that over half of seniors living in the community who are suspected of having dementia do not have a physicians diagnosis of it. Measures against the problem, say the authors, include assisting patients and their families to accept, understand, and adapt to a dementia diagnosis. A funeral service for Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, killed in Ankara on December 19, has begun in Moscow. The ceremony is taking place in the entrance hall of the Foreign Ministrys main building. Servicemen of the Preobrazhensky Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces are carrying the guard of honor. Family members and the Foreign Ministry staff are bidding farewell to the departed ambassador. Security measures have been tightened in the area. Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin has paid his last respects to the diplomat The Russian president has paid his last respects to Andrey Karlov. Putin attended the funeral ceremony at the foreign ministrys building and laid burgundy roses at the coffin. He also conveyed his condolences to the family of the departed ambassador - his mother, widow, son and sister. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also bid their final farewells to the departed ambassador. Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who knew Karlov personally and worked at the Russian embassy in Turkey himself, also laid flowers beside the casket. On Wednesday, Putin awarded Andrey Karlov a Hero of Russia title posthumously. In order to attend the funeral ceremony, the president had postponed his annual press conference. Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, will conduct a pre-burial prayer service for Karlov in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Russias ambassador Andrey Karlov was assassinated as he was opening a photography exhibition in Ankara on Monday, December 19. The killer, who was eliminated by the Turkish police during a special operation, was later identified as a 22-year old Turkish riot police officer. Search Keywords: Short link: Cancer patients are ending up in debt because they have to cover the costs of treatment as well as other care related expenses, researchers report at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress in Singapore. Previous studies have demonstrated that cancer patients face financial difficulties even in countries where the national public health system covers most of the expense. The economic hardship experienced by patients and survivors is often refered to as the "financial toxicity" of cancer1. Research presented at ESMO Asia 2016 shows new aspects of the burden of cancer care on patients. A study2 from Malaysia has found that more than half of cancer survivors spend at least a third of their yearly household income on treatment, as well as on costs such as transport to hospital and childcare. They have to pay for cancer drugs because many are not funded by the government despite the availabilty of free healthcare. Lead author Nirmala Bhoo Pathy, a clinical epidemiologist at the Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said: "The scope of cancer care and drugs offered free through the public health services is limited in Malysia. "The current system of funding for cancer healthcare needs to be reviewed. The government must increase financial risk protection especially for the poor. Early cancer detection must also be improved through policy changes." The findings were based on 1,662 men and women who participated in the 2012-2014 ASEAN Costs in Oncology Study. More than half (51%) of those still alive (n=1,215) a year after diagnosis were suffering financial difficulties. Low-income, a lack of health insurance and not having surgery were among the factors associated with patients having money issues. The risk was lower for those who did not undergo chemotherapy. Commenting on the study, Professor Nathan Cherny, lead investigator for the ESMO International Consortium Study on the Availability of Anti-neoplastic Medicines, said: "Unfortunately this situation is not limited to Malaysia. Data from the soon-to-be published ESMO International Consortium Study on the Availability of Anti-neoplastic Medicines3, indicates that the burden of out-of- pocket expenses for drugs that are not on the World Health Organisation (WHO) essential medicines list, is substantial in most upper-middle income countries like Malaysia. "The problems are even more severe in low-middle and low income countries where patients often need to cover costs themselves, even for essential anticancer treatments." Cancer patients report loss of jobs and income The financial burden of cancer care is also highlighted in a separate pilot study4 to be presented at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress. It includes data from patients (n=14) aged 37 to 77 currently being treated at a hospital outpatient department in Australia. All participants completed a questionnaire covering issues including income and employment history, as well as health insurance status. Preliminary results found nearly three quarters (n=10) reported a reduction in household income after their cancer diagnosis. Of the twelve patients who did have a job, ten highlighted changes in employment conditions such as decreased hours (n=6), others were no longer working (n=3) and one had retired. "The loss of work, a carer's income and early retirement can all contribute to the financial burden on the household," said lead author Anupriya Agarwal, research fellow, Concord Cancer Center, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, Australia. "Our study aims to provide insight into these costs and assist policymakers in finding ways of reducing this burden on patients." Doctors favour expensive drugs if life-prolonging Another study5 included in the programme investigated why cancer doctors recommend costly cancer drugs. Oncologists were asked to complete an online experiment. They were presented with several scenarios involving a fictional patient with advanced cancer, and then had to state the cancer drug (A or B) they would recommend. The results based on 101 responses found that healthcare professionals were more likely to advise the use of drugs that allow patients to live longer and have a higher chance of improving their symptoms. They were less likely to recommend drugs with an increased chance of side-effects and that cost patients more, because they are not subsidised by the government. However, doctors would favour expensive treatments if they increased a person's survival time by two months or more over the standard care available. They would take this approach even when the out-of-pocket cost could expose patients with advanced cancer to extreme financial difficulty or 'toxicity'. Lead author Deme Karikios, PhD candidate, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, said: "Australian oncologists are willing to expose their patients to financial toxicity when recommending expensive unfunded anticancer drugs. They will only do this though in cases where the survival benefit is above that of standard care. "Cancer doctors need to help patients understand the potential benefits, harms and costs of drugs not subsidised by the government. Then patients can make an informed decision about these treatment options." Commenting on the findings, Cherny said: "Tools like the ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS)6 can help clinicians better inform patients on how extensive the potential benefit is from a treatment option being considered. "Using a very objective tool such as the ESMO-MCBS helps put the evidence into perspective, mitigates against optimism bias and can lead to shared decision-making that is better informed." A centuries-old herbal medicine, discovered by Chinese scientists and used to effectively treat malaria, has been found to potentially aid in the treatment of tuberculosis and may slow the evolution of drug resistance. In a promising study led by Robert Abramovitch, a Michigan State University microbiologist and TB expert, the ancient remedy artemisinin stopped the ability of TB-causing bacteria, known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to become dormant. This stage of the disease often makes the use of antibiotics ineffective. The study is published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. "When TB bacteria are dormant, they become highly tolerant to antibiotics," Abramovitch said, an assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine. "Blocking dormancy makes the TB bacteria more sensitive to these drugs and could shorten treatment times." One-third of the world's population is infected with TB and the disease killed 1.8 million people in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or Mtb, needs oxygen to thrive in the body. The immune system starves this bacterium of oxygen to control the infection. Abramovitch and his team found that artemisinin attacks a molecule called heme, which is found in the Mtb oxygen sensor. By disrupting this sensor and essentially turning it off, the artemisinin stopped the disease's ability to sense how much oxygen it was getting. "When the Mtb is starved of oxygen, it goes into a dormant state, which protects it from the stress of low-oxygen environments," Abramovitch said. "If Mtb can't sense low oxygen, then it can't become dormant and will die." Abramovitch indicated that dormant TB can remain inactive for decades in the body. But if the immune system weakens at some point, it can wake back up and spread. Whether it wakes up or stays 'asleep' though, he said TB can take up to six months to treat and is one of the main reasons the disease is so difficult to control. "Patients often don't stick to the treatment regimen because of the length of time it takes to cure the disease," he said. "Incomplete therapy plays an important role in the evolution and spread of multi-drug resistant TB strains." He said the research could be key to shortening the course of therapy because it can clear out the dormant, hard-to-kill bacteria. This could lead to improving patient outcomes and slowing the evolution of drug-resistant TB. After screening 540,000 different compounds, Abramovitch also found five other possible chemical inhibitors that target the Mtb oxygen sensor in various ways and could be effective in treatment as well. "Two billion people worldwide are infected with Mtb," Abramovitch said. "TB is a global problem that requires new tools to slow its spread and overcome drug resistance. This new method of targeting dormant bacteria is exciting because it shows us a new way to kill it." The National Institutes of Health, MSU AgBioResearch and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded the research. A new study of U.S. adolescents provides some of the best evidence to date of how violence spreads like a contagious disease. Researchers found that adolescents were up to 183 percent more likely to carry out some acts of violence if one of their friends had also committed the same act. But the spread of violence doesn't just stop at friends - results suggest the contagion extends by up to four degrees of separation - from one person to a friend, to the friend's friend and two more friends beyond. "This study shows just how contagious violence can be," said Robert Bond, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University. "Acts of violence can ricochet through a community, traveling through networks of friends." Results showed that participants in the study were 48 percent more likely to have been in a serious fight, 183 percent more likely to have hurt someone badly, and 140 percent more likely to have pulled a weapon on someone if a friend had engaged in the same behavior. Bond conducted the study with Brad Bushman, professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State. Their results appear online in the American Journal of Public Health. These results fit in with other studies that have shown that characteristics and behaviors from happiness to obesity to smoking spread within social networks, at about the same rates found in this research. "We now have evidence that shows how important social relationships are to spreading violent behavior, just like they are for spreading many other kinds of attitudes and behaviors," Bushman said. Data from the study came from 5,913 young people who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (ADD Health) and who were interviewed in-depth in 1994-95 and again in 1996. The ADD Health researchers interviewed as many students (grades 7 to 12) as they could from 142 schools across the country so they could have information on social networks within each school. Participants were asked to name up to five male and five female friends from their school at both of the two interviews. They were asked how often in the past 12 months they had been in a serious physical fight, how often they hurt someone badly enough to need bandages or care from a doctor or nurse, and how often they had pulled a knife or gun on someone. The researchers then analyzed whether each student's friends (and friends of friends, and so on) had said they committed the same acts of violence. The finding that adolescents were more likely to commit acts of violence if their friends had done so is not surprising, Bond said. Much of that association is related to what scientists call a "clustering effect" - people with similar interests, including the use of violence, tend to cluster together as friends. But the researchers also tested whether friends could influence each other to commit more acts of violence than they might normally commit given their friendship. They could estimate this influence effect because they had data from two different points in time, a year apart. They calculated the effect by determining whether friends had committed more violent acts at the time of the second interview than could be explained by what their shared history at the time of the first interview would suggest. Results showed that each additional friend who had seriously hurt someone increased the likelihood that a participant had hurt someone badly by 55 percent, even after taking into account the clustering effects and other factors. If you include only male participants (who were more likely than females to seriously hurt others), then the likelihood increased to 82 percent. After taking the controls into account, the researchers didn't find influence effects for being in a serious fight or pulling a weapon on someone. But that doesn't necessarily mean the influence of friends doesn't play a role in these violent acts, Bond said. One explanation may be that fights are common enough among these adolescents that it is difficult to find the role of influence. On the other hand, pulling a weapon was rare enough that they may not have had a large enough sample size to determine influence. This study is the first to show how far violent behavior may spread within a social network, Bond said. The findings showed that the influence of one person's violent act can spread up to two degrees of separation (friend of a friend) for hurting someone badly, three degrees (friend of a friend's friend) for pulling a weapon on someone, and four degrees for serious fights. The influence declines with each degree of separation, but is still noticeable. For example, a student in the study was about 48 percent more likely to have participated in a serious fight if a friend had been involved in one. But they were still 18 percent more likely to have participated in a fight if a friend of a friend had. This result is particularly important because it shows the value of anti-violence programs. "If we can stop violence in one person, that spreads to their social network. We're actually preventing violence not only in that person, but potentially for all the people they come in contact with," Bond said. Article: The Contagious Spread of Violence Among US Adolescents Through Social Networks, Robert M. Bond, PhD, and Brad J. Bushman, PhD, American Journal of Public Health, doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303550, published 20 December 2016. A commercial brand of mouthwash that is readily available from supermarkets and pharmacies can help curb the growth of the bacteria responsible for gonorrhoea, reveals preliminary research published online in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections. Daily rinsing and gargling with the product might be a cheap and easy way of helping to control the spread of the infection, suggest the researchers. New cases of gonorrhoea among men are on the rise in many countries amid declining condom use, with the bulk of cases among gay/bisexual men, say the researchers. Rising rates of gonorrhoea heighten the risk of the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of Neisseria gonnorhoeae, the bacteria responsible for the infection, making the need for a preventive measure that doesn't rely on condoms even more urgent, they say. As far back as 1879, and before the advent of antibiotics, the manufacturer of Listerine, a commercial brand of mouthwash, claimed that it could be used to cure gonorrhoea. But no published research has tested out this claim. In a bid to rectify this, the researchers assessed whether Listerine could curb the growth of N. gonorrhoeae in laboratory tests and in sexually active gay/bisexual men in a clinical trial. For the laboratory tests, different dilutions (up to 1:32) of Listerine Cool Mint and Total Care, both of which contain 21.6% alcohol, were applied to cultures of N. gonorrhoeae to see which of any of them might curb growth of the bacteria. By way of a comparison, a salt water (saline) solution was similarly applied to an identical set of cultures. Listerine at dilutions of up to 1 in 4, applied for 1 minute, significantly reduced the number of N. gonorrhoeae on the culture plates, whereas the saline solution did not. The clinical trial involved 196 gay/bisexual men who had previously tested positive for gonorrhoea in their mouths/throat, and who were returning for treatment at one sexual health clinic in Melbourne, Australia, between May 2015 and February 2016. Almost a third (30%; 58) tested positive for the bacteria in their throat on the return visit. Thirty three of these men were randomly assigned to a rinse and gargle with Listerine and 25 of them to a rinse and gargle with the saline solution. After rinsing and gargling for 1 minute, the proportion of viable gonorrhoea in the throat was 52% among the men using Listerine compared with 84% among those using saline. And the men using Listerine were 80% less likely to test positive for gonorrhoea in their throat five minutes after gargling than were the men using the saline solution. The researchers admit that the monitoring period was short, so the possibility that the effects of the mouthwash might be short-lived can't be ruled out. But the laboratory test results would suggest otherwise, they say. This research is preliminary, so a larger trial is currently under way to confirm these results and see whether the use of mouthwash could curb the spread of gonorrhoea, they say. "If daily use of mouthwash was shown to reduce the duration of untreated infection and/or reduce the probability of acquisition of N. gonorrhoeae, then this readily available, condom-less, and low cost intervention may have very significant public health implications in the control of gonorrhoea in [men who have sex with men]," write the researchers. Article: Antiseptic mouthwash against pharyngeal Neisseria gonorrhoeae: a randomised controlled trial and an in vitro study, Eric PF Chow, Benjamin P Howden, Sandra Walker, David Lee, Catriona S Bradshaw, Marcus Y Chen, Anthony Snow, Stuart Cook, Glenda Fehler, Christopher K Fairley, Sexually Transmitted Infections, doi: 10.1136/sextrans-2016-052753, published online 20 December 2016. When you're suddenly able to understand someone despite their thick accent, or finally make out the lyrics of a song, your brain appears to be re-tuning to recognize speech that was previously incomprehensible. University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists have now observed this re-tuning in action by recording directly from the surface of a person's brain as the words of a previously unintelligible sentence suddenly pop out after the subject is told the meaning of the garbled speech. The re-tuning takes place within a second or less, they found. The observations confirm speculation that neurons in the auditory cortex that pick out aspects of sound associated with language - the components of pitch, amplitude and timing that distinguish words or smaller sound bits called phonemes - continually tune themselves to pull meaning out of a noisy environment. "The tuning that we measured when we replayed the garbled speech emphasizes features that are present in speech," said first author and UC Berkeley graduate student Chris Holdgraf. "We believe that this tuning shift is what helps you 'hear' the speech in that noisy signal. The speech sounds actually pop out from the signal." Such pop-outs happen all the time: when you learn to hear the words of a foreign language, for example, or latch onto a friend's conversation in a noisy bar. Or visually, when someone points out a number in what seems like a jumbled mass of colored dots, and somehow you cannot un-see that number. "Something is changing in the auditory cortex to emphasize anything that might be speech-like, and increasing the gain for those features, so that I actually hear that sound in the noise," said co-author Frederic Theunissen, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and a member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. "It's not like I am generating those words in my head. I really have the feeling of hearing the words in the noise with this pop-out phenomenon. It is such a mystery." "It is unbelievable how fast and plastic the brain is," added co-author Robert Knight, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and Helen Wills Institute researcher. "In seconds or less, the electrical activity in the brain changes its response properties to pull out linguistic information. Behaviorally, this is a classic phenomenon, but this is the first time we have any evidence on how it actually works in humans." The findings will aid Knight and his colleagues in their quest to develop a speech decoder: a device implanted in the brain that would interpret people's imagined speech and help speechless patients, such as those paralyzed by Lou Gehrig's disease, communicate. Holdgraf, Knight, Theunissen and their colleagues report their findings in the journal Nature Communications. Priming the brain Working with epilepsy patients who had pieces of their skull removed and electrodes placed on the brain surface to track seizures - what is known as electrocorticography - Holdgraf presented seven subjects with a simple auditory test. He first played a highly garbled sentence, which almost no one initially understood. He then played a normal, easy to understand version of the sentence, and then immediately repeated the garbled version. Almost everyone understood the sentence the second time around, even though they initially found it unintelligible. The electrodes on the brain surface recorded major changes in neuronal activity before and after. When the garbled sentence was first played, activity in the auditory cortex as measured by the 468 electrodes was small. The brain could hear the sound, but couldn't do much with it, Knight said. When the clear sentence was played, the electrodes, as expected, recorded a pattern of neural activity consistent with the brain tuning into language. When the garbled sentence was played a second time, the electrodes recorded nearly the same language-appropriate neural activity, as if the underlying neurons had re-tuned to pick out words or parts of words. "They respond as if they were hearing unfiltered normal speech," Holdgraf said. "It changes the pattern of activity in the brain such that there is information there that wasn't there before. That information is this unfiltered speech." "Normal language activates tuning properties that are related to extraction of meaning and phonemes in the language," Knight said. "Here, after you primed the brain with the unscrambled sentence, the tuning to the scrambled speech looked like the tuning to language, which allows the brain to extract meaning out of noise." This trick is a testament to the brain's ability to automatically pick and choose information from a noisy and overwhelming environment, focusing only on what's relevant to a situation and discarding the rest. "Your brain tries to get around the problem of too much information by making assumptions about the world," Holdgraf said. "It says, 'I am going to restrict the many possible things I could pull out from an auditory stimulus so that I don't have to do a lot of processing.' By doing that, it is faster and expends less energy." That means, though, that noisy or garbled sound can be hard to interpret. Holdgraf and his colleagues showed how quickly the brain can be primed to tune in language. The neurons from which they recorded activity were not tuned to a single frequency, like a radio, Theunissen said. Rather, neurons in the upper levels of the auditory cortex respond to more complex aspects of sound, such as changes in frequency and amplitude - spectro-temporal modulation that we perceive as pitch, timbre and rhythm. While similar studies in animals, such as ferrets, have shown that neurons change how they filter or tune into a specific type of spectro-temporal modulation, the new results are the first in humans, and show a more rapid shift to process human language than has been seen in animals, he said. The researchers used an analysis technique first used by Theunissen to determine which complex characteristics of natural sound, like speech, neurons in the higher levels of the auditory cortex respond to, with a particular focus on songbird language. This is the first time the technique has been applied to humans to study how receptive fields change in neurons in the auditory cortex. The work was supported by a graduate fellowship from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS 2R37NS021135, NIDCD R01 007293) and the Nielsen Corporation. North Korea has rejected NATO's demand that Pyongyang stops its nuclear missile program, Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Thursday. KCNA said that it is confusing why NATO, "the official function of which is to ensure security in the North Atlantic, meddles into affairs of the Korean Peninsula." By putting forward its demands, "NATO proved that this military-politicial bloc turned into a puppet of the United States," the agency added. Moreover, "it plays into the hands of the South Korean regime of Park Geun-hye which is living its last days," KCNA said. Accusing NATO strategists of complete incompetence in the affairs on the Korean Peninsula, the agency noted that "this organization now plays the role of the instrument that undermines international peace and security." Search Keywords: Short link: Ill say this. I have been waiting since FOREVER for this to happenEric Prydz performing on Indian territory. Just a few months ago, I was discussing how it would be an EDM dream come true. Well, looks like God (or was it Santa?) heard me! The international dance music sensation who has been dishing out the best in the charts for over a decade now is finally set to perform as the headlining act for VH1 Supersonic thats happening in February 2017, in Pune. Viacom18 For those of you who had been looking for a legit reason to splurge and travel to the music festival next year, it doesnt get any better than this. Prydz has been the first headliner to have been announced as part of the festival and while we cant wait for the remaining artists to be announced, I dont see how it could top this one. Speaking about the artists association with Supersonic, festival curator, Nikhil Chinapa said, Eric's been an artist we've been trying to bring to India forever. I've heard him several times in different continents and I can truly say, there is nobody like him in all of electronic music's landscape. Bringing him to India for Vh1 Supersonic is a dream come true - a dream to share his incredible music with my closest friends, who've never heard him live before. With this booking and after all these years, it feels like my work in electronic music is complete. Prydz is one of the few remaining heroes in electronic music who have managed to self-sustain themselves and their quality of music in a world where commercialism is taking over. And he keeps getting better with time! He is right! I think I can speak for most of us when I say that, our electronic music wish list could be complete after having seen the legend perform right before our eyes, as we live and breathe, on Indian frigging grounds! Holy crap Christmas came early and I cant wait for next year now! Slovenia's president called for an anti-migrant barbed-wire fence on the border with Croatia to be dismantled, saying it now serves little purpose, in comments published on his official website Thursday. "I believe we could remove the wire fence, bearing in mind that no migrant wave, like the one we had last year, is forseeable in the near future," Borut Pahor said. He said that even "if Turkey opened its borders for migrants, something that can't be predicted for the near future, we would still have enough time to erect the wire fence and other obstacles on the border." Slovenia put up the fence along some 200 kilometres (120 miles) of its 670-kilometre frontier with Croatia -- an outer border of Europe's passport-free Schengen zone -- at the beginning of this year. The stated aim was to prevent an uncontrolled inflow of people along the so-called Balkan route used by migrants on their way from Greece to Germany and elsewhere. But in the end the influx had already all but stopped by the time the barrier was erected, and critics say that it has also hurt tourism and been harmful to wildlife. Slovenian authorities have nonetheless been reinforcing and replacing the barrier with a more durable panel fence, arguing that illegal migration has been rising and that a new migrants wave could still come. Pahor also said, in his comments originally made in a radio interview late Wednesday, that the removal would also represent a "sign of improved confidence (by the Slovenian government) in the newly elected Croatian government." Since the new Croatian centre-right government led by Andrej Plenkovic took office in October, the border fence has been a thorn of contention between the two former Yugoslav states. Croatia, an EU member not part of Schengen, objected and has sent several diplomatic notes to Ljubljana saying that the fence is on Croatian territory at several points. During the interview, Pahor also announced he would run for a second mandate at the presidential elections to be held by the end of 2017. Search Keywords: Short link: Since the million-strong influx of migrants into Germany last year, authorities there have struggled to deport failed asylum seekers from Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria when their home countries refuse to take them back. The issue has been put into sharp focus by the massive manhunt for Anis Amri, the 24-year-old Tunisian who Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed on Thursday is the alleged perpetrator of the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that claimed 12 lives. Months earlier, Amri's asylum application was rejected but he could not be expelled from Germany because Tunisian authorities blocked the procedure. German authorities put pressure on Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria when police established that most of the hundreds of men believed to have sexually assaulted women during New Year's Eve celebrations in Cologne hailed from those countries, but were in the country illegally. When German authorities want to deport someone from the three countries in question, authorities in those countries insist that the individual must have a valid identity document. Without it, they cannot return. So in order to avoid deportation, Tunisians, Moroccans and Algerians simply destroy their identity papers. That sets in motion a long and laborious administrative process in Germany. Authorities must first make a formal request to the countries concerned to issue a temporary travel document -- and to do so they must provide proof of identity, such as fingerprints. In the case of Amri, whose asylum request was rejected in June, this procedure took months. Tunisia first denied that he even had Tunisian nationality before making a U-turn. David Khalfa, an analyst from the Paris-based Institute for European Perspective and Security (IPSE), said Amri's background -- he served a jail sentence in Italy and German authorities earmarked him as a jihadist months ago -- could have dissuaded Tunisia from taking him back. "Given his profile, it is hardly surprising that the Tunisian authorities did not really want him to return, and with Germany being a country that applies the rule of law, that threw a spanner in the works," he told AFP. Coincidentally, the papers from Tunisian authorities to allow Amri to be deported finally arrived in Germany on Wednesday -- two days after the deadly attack on the Christmas shoppers. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere visited each of the countries in question earlier this year and returned with promises that cooperation would be increased. Overall, citizens of the three North African countries have little chance of obtaining refugee status in Germany. Between January and November 2016, just 2.7 percent of applications from Algerians were approved, 3.5 percent from Moroccans and a miniscule 0.8 percent for those from Tunisia. And when the numbers of asylum seekers are compared with those sent back to their homelands, the numbers are startling. In those same 11 months this year, 3,416 Algerians, 3,829 Moroccans and 902 Tunisians applied for asylum in Germany. Yet in the first half of the year, just 56 people were sent back to Algeria, 43 to Morocco and 67 to Tunisia. In an attempt to dissuade would-be asylum seekers from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, the German government decided it would classify them as "safe countries". In concrete terms, this classification allows asylum seekers to be rejected more quickly and to assign unsuccessful applicants to an address from where they can be swiftly taken to airports to leave the country. However, little has gone to plan. The law easily passed through the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, where Merkel has a comfortable majority, but it was blocked by the upper house, the Bundesrat. As a result, none of the three countries are yet classified as "safe". In the Bundesrat, which has a markedly different composition to the lower house, the ruling coalition does not have a sufficient majority to force through the measure and needs support from the opposition that has not been forthcoming. The Greens in particular reject the classification of a "safe" country, arguing for example that homosexuals suffer discrimination. They also point to concerns about freedom of expression and cases of torture. Search Keywords: Short link: Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed a second $1 billion tranche loan agreement with the director of the World Bank in Cairo on Thursday. On Tuesday, the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved the release of the second tranche of a $3 billion loan package to support Egypts economic reform programme, according to a statement on the international cooperation ministrys website. In 2014, Egypt embarked on a plan to introduce a number of fiscal reforms, including fuel subsidy cuts that raised prices by up to 78 percent, as well the imposition of new taxes to ease a growing budget deficit, currently estimated at 12.2 percent of GDP. Egypt received the first tranche of the loan, worth $1 billion, in September. The current portfolio of the World Bank in Egypt includes 25 projects with a total commitment of about $8.5 billion. Egypt will operate four direct flights a week from Germany to the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh as of Friday in an attempt to return the number of foreign tourists to previous levels, the Egyptian tourism ministry announced on Thursday. According to the ministry, the move coincides with Egypt's winter tourist season, which previously saw large numbers of visitors from Europe. German airlines were among several foreign carriers that imposed travel bans on flights to Sharm El-Sheikh after a Russian passenger jet crashed over Sinai in October 2015, killing all 224 people on board, most of them holidaymakers. At the end of October 2016, German travel companies resumed direct flights to Sharm El-Sheikh. In recent months, a number of European airlines also resumed direct flights to the popular South Sinai tourist destination, including Turkish, Belgian and Polish companies. The Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the crash, saying it had smuggled a bomb on board. However, Egypt has not concluded its investigations into the cause of the crash. Since the crash, Egypt has been implementing new, tighter security measures at all its airports. The number of tourists visiting Egypt increased by 7 percent in October 2016 compared to September 2016, with some 506,200 tourists registered, according to the state's official statistics body CAPMAS. CAPMAS highlighted that Western Europe sent the highest number of visitors to Egypt in October at 36 percent. Germany contributed 38.8 percent of all Western European tourists to Egypt in that month. Search Keywords: Short link: Banker-turned-adventurer says exploring Antarctica is the closest thing to visiting another planet Followers of Egyptian adventurer Omar Samra have been buzzing with news of his latest daring expedition, as he heads once more to icy Antarctica, this time for a ground-breaking climb. Samra has picked the Ellsworth Mountains, the highest mountain range in Antarctica, as his destination. It was there that he reached the summit of Vinson Massif back in 2011, and this time he plans to climb a mountain that has so far not been explored. All being well, he will complete this latest challenge in the next two days. An Egyptian banker-turned-adventurer, Samra made history in May 2007 when he became the first Egyptian and the youngest Arab (then 29 years old) to climb Mount Everest. Samra, broke another record by becoming the first Egyptian to complete the Seven Summits challenge by climbing the highest mountains on seven continents. In December 2013, he was among the winners of the Axe Apollo Space Academy competition in Florida, United States, beating 112 competitors from the rest of the world on his path to becoming the first Egyptian to see the edge of space. Since then, space had been his constant passion. He recently reached out to various Egyptian governorates, launching his "Make Space Yours" project to raise interest in space science and exploration among school and university students, engaging them in competitions at the national level. According to Samra, his new adventure in Antarctica also has a space-like twist, taking him to places that nobody else has been. Addressing his followers on his website, Samra said that Antarctica is the most remote continent on earth, and for an earth-bound traveller, going there is the "the closest you can get to another planet." He has even given his new expedition a space-related name: Planet VII. Since announcing his new expedition, fans have been keeping up with his progress by posting messages on his website. His journey so far has taken him to Chile, then down to Antarctica, where he succeeded in being the third person to summit Mount Roger. Having limbered up, his next destination is the as-yet unconquered peak. Search Keywords: Short link: Late-night TV hosts have cast 2016 as a downright apocalyptic year, but for television it was actually pretty great. Here are our picks for the best TV episodes of the year. Juniper Networks, Inc. designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers. It also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation, and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine, and top-of-rack data center switches; and juniper access points, which provide Wi-Fi access and performance. In addition, the company offers security products comprising SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP. Further, it offers Junos OS, a network operating system; Contrail networking, which provides an open-source and standards-based platform for SDN; Mist AI-driven Wired, Wireless, and WAN assurance solutions to set and measure key metrics; Mist AI-driven Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, which identifies the root cause of issues; Juniper Paragon Automation, a modular portfolio of cloud-native software applications; and Juniper Apstra to automate the network lifecycle in a single system. Additionally, the company provides software-as-a-service, technical support, maintenance, and professional services, as well as education and training programs. It sells its products through direct sales, distributors, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers to end-users in the cloud, service provider, and enterprise markets. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions. It also offers ProxyEdge, an electronic proxy delivery and voting solution; data-driven solutions and an end-to-end platform for content management, composition, and omni-channel distribution of regulatory, marketing, and transactional information, as well as mutual fund trade processing services; data and analytics solutions; solutions for public corporations and mutual funds; SEC filing and capital markets transaction services; registrar, stock transfer, and record-keeping services; and omni-channel customer communications solutions, as well as operates Broadridge Communications Cloud platform that creates, delivers, and manages communications and customer engagement activities. The company's Global Technology and Operations segment provides solutions that automate the front-to-back transaction lifecycle of equity, mutual fund, fixed income, foreign exchange and exchange-traded derivatives, order capture and execution, trade confirmation, margin, cash management, clearance and settlement, reference data management, reconciliations, securities financing and collateral management, asset servicing, compliance and regulatory reporting, portfolio accounting, and custody-related services. This segment also offers business process outsourcing services; technology solutions, such portfolio management, compliance, fee billing, and operational support solutions; and capital market and wealth management solutions. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Lake Success, New York. Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company worldwide. It provides test preparation services and materials; data science and training services; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global. The company also offers training, test preparation, and degrees for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates three colleges, a business school, a higher education institution, and an online learning institution. In addition, it owns and operates seven television stations; and provides social media management tools to connect newsrooms with their users, as well as produces Foreign Policy magazine and ForeignPolicy.com website. Further, the company publishes Slate, an online magazine; and two French-language news magazine websites at slate.fr and slateafrique.com. Additionally, it provides social media marketing solutions; home health and hospice services; burners, igniters, dampers, and controls; screw jacks, linear actuators and related linear motion products, and lifting systems; pressure impregnated kiln-dried lumber and plywood products; cybersecurity training solutions; digital advertising services; and power charging and data systems, industrial and commercial indoor lighting solutions, and electrical components and assemblies. The company also owns and operates 11 restaurants and entertainment venues; and engages in automobile dealerships business. The company was formerly known as The Washington Post Company and changed its name to Graham Holdings Company in November 2013. Graham Holdings Company was founded in 1877 and is based in Arlington, Virginia. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; and women's and men's accessories, travel, entertaining and bar, home decor, and seasonal items under the Mark and Graham brand, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and decor industry. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. It operates 544 stores comprising 502 stores in 41states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico; 20 stores in Canada; 19 stores in Australia; 3 stores in the United Kingdom; and 139 franchised stores, as well as e-commerce websites in various countries in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, and India. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Global Partners LP engages in the purchasing, selling, gathering, blending, storing, and logistics of transporting gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, distillates, residual oil, renewable fuels, crude oil, and propane to wholesalers, retailers, and commercial customers in the New England states, Mid-Atlantic region, and New York. The company is also involved in the transportation of petroleum products and renewable fuels through rail from the mid-continent region of the United States and Canada. Its Wholesale segment sells home heating oil, branded and unbranded gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, diesel, kerosene, residual oil, and propane to home heating oil retailers and wholesale distributors. It also aggregates crude oil through truck or pipeline in the mid-continent region of the United States and Canada, as well as transports it through rail and ships it through barge to refiners. The company's Gasoline Distribution and Station Operations segment sells branded and unbranded gasoline to gasoline station operators and sub-jobbers; operates gasoline stations and convenience stores; and provides car wash, lottery, and ATM services, as well as leases gasoline stations. Its Commercial segment sells and delivers unbranded gasoline, home heating oil, diesel, kerosene, residual oil, and bunker fuel to customers in the public sector, as well as to commercial and industrial end-users; and sells custom blended fuels. As of December 31, 2021, the company had a portfolio of 1,595 owned, leased, and supplied gasoline stations, which included 295 directly operated convenience stores; and owned, leased, or maintained storage facilities at 26 bulk terminals with a collective storage capacity of 11.9 million barrels. Global GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts. Two Vietnam veterans emerged Wednesday as frontrunners for the post of Veterans Affairs Secretary in the Trump administration despite the pleas of major veterans service organizations to keep current VA Secretary Robert McDonald on the job. At his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump met first with Luis Quinonez, an Army veteran of Vietnam and founder of IQ Management Services, which provides health care services to the government and the private sector. Trump also met about the VA post with heart surgeon Dr. Delos "Toby" Cosgrove, chief executive officer of the sprawling Cleveland Clinic, a network of non-profit hospitals and clinics, and an Air Force veteran of Vietnam. Cosgrove was considered for the VA job two years ago when then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned under pressure, but turned it down to stay at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio's largest employer. Quinonez confirmed to Univision that Trump discussed with him taking on the task of running the $180 billion-a-year VA and overseeing its 340,000 employees. "I just finished a two-hour interview with him (Trump) and his team and, yes, I confirm that I am under consideration," Quinonez said. Quinonez, who was born in Guatemala, is currently the only Hispanic on Trump's 16-member transition advisory team and also is a member of Trump's Hispanic Advisory Council. The 75-year-old Cosgrove has been an outspoken critic of President Obama's Affordable Care Act, charging that the landmark legislation has hamstrung doctors with red tape. Cosgrove recently agreed to be on a new Trump advisory group on jobs and the economy, and he also met with Trump last week in New York City at Trump Tower. Cosgrove is well-known at the Cleveland Clinic for handing out "patients first" buttons as a sign of the clinic's commitment to same-day appointments with a doctor. Trump, who has pledged a major overhaul of the VA to cut down on wait times and expand veterans' access to private care, was expected to make his VA choice known before Christmas. More than 20 veterans organizations and advocacy groups have supported retaining McDonald. Separately, the "Big Six" veterans service organizations met earlier this month with members of the Trump transition team. Joe Chenelly, director of AmVets, told the New York Times after the Big Six meeting that "we all support McDonald," but Verna Jones, executive director of the American Legion, said Thursday that the constitution of the 2.2 million member organization bars making endorsements and the Legion was taking no position on McDonald. In addition to Cosgrove and Quinonez, Trump also has a number of other individuals under consideration for the VA post. On Monday, he met with retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who was widely respected for taking control of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Also mentioned as possibilities for the VA position were former Sen. Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican; outgoing House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff miller, a Florida Republican; and Iraq war veteran Pete Hegseth, a Fox News contributor and the former head of Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group backed by the industrialist Koch brothers. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. For many Americans, civilian and military, the most intimate look at the 2003 invasion of Iraq comes through the eyes of a company of wry reconnaissance Marines who trade insults and belt Avril Lavigne songs to ward off sleeplessness and boredom as they plunge deep into an unknown combat zone as shock troops in thinly protected Humvees. As captured by Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright in a series of articles that would later spawn a book, "Generation Kill," and an HBO miniseries of the same name, the Marines of Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, find themselves at the front lines of the invasion, improvising ways to fight in unfamiliar terrain and navigating the moral quandaries of combat, under the leadership of junior officers they don't always understand or trust and enlisted leaders seemingly fixated on enforcing the ubiquitous Marine Corps "grooming standard." Bubbling below the surface is a fundamental difference of perspective between the elite and irreverent Recon Marines and a larger Marine Corps with an allergy to exceptionalism and a need for all Marines to toe a strict line. And at the helm of the entire assault is a familiar figure: Maj. Gen. James Mattis, who called the men of 1st Recon "cocky, obnoxious bastards" and sent them to the front, saying he prized their courage over the armor and gear of better-equipped units. Mattis, now a retired four-star general and the former commander of U.S. Central Command, was nominated this month to become secretary of defense. Thanks to the runaway popularity of "Generation Kill," the Marines got something else they hadn't bargained for -- a measure of celebrity and recognition that continues to follow them, to varying extents, a decade later. Some have traded on their fame, while others have just tried to move on. But the Marines of Bravo Company who spoke with Military.com said they remain glad that their story was told, and proud of their service in what would be a long and costly war. Thrust into the Spotlight If a single protagonist emerges in "Generation Kill," it's Sgt. Brad Colbert, a wry, intellectual 28-year-old team leader whose coolness under pressure earns him the nickname "Iceman." While most of the enlisted Marines in Bravo Company who make appearances in the book and show left the Marine Corps shortly after their deployment, Colbert chose to make a career of the Corps, retiring Oct. 24 as a master sergeant with 20 years of service. When he spoke with Military.com in July, Colbert, 42, was still on active duty as a project officer for Raids and Amphibious Reconnaissance at Marine Corps Systems Command, the branch of the service responsible for developing and acquiring new gear and equipment. For Colbert, the attention that came with his inadvertent starring role was a mixed blessing; for Marines looking for a long-term future in the Corps, conventional wisdom says to "keep off the skyline" or out of the public eye -- particularly as part of a group of foul-mouthed Marines holding forth with complete candor on subjects ranging from their unit leadership to the state of race and class in America. As the articles came out and began to receive attention from the Marine Corps, Colbert said he was called in to several meetings with service leaders, including Mattis himself, to account for the portrayal. He assured the leaders that the conversations were not a sign of dissension in the ranks, but rather a "ground-eye view of warfare." "I don't tell my Marines in the heat of battle what to say and what to think," he said. "What I ask my Marines to do is execute commander's intent. And I like to think my Marines did what was asked of them and more." On a personal level, Colbert said his feelings about "Generation Kill" evolved over time. "It's like listening to yourself on the answering machine; you sound like an idiot," he said of seeing his conversations and remarks reproduced. "I was excited, because I wanted to be able to share my experiences with the world, and I had a vehicle to do that. But at the same time I would cringe. So many of the things I said, having them thrown back in my face was embarrassing." He did lose some friends, and said he experienced some ostracism within the close-knit reconnaissance community as a result of the unvarnished account. While some officers, such as 1st Lt. Nathaniel Fick, a platoon commander, were generally well-regarded by the junior Marines and noncommissioned officers, others were sometimes regarded as incompetent or unable to handle the stress of combat, and given unflattering nicknames such as "Encino Man" and "Captain America." "At the end of the day, it was real events," Colbert said he ultimately concluded. "No matter how gritty or politically incorrect, it was real life." Colbert's vehicle driver and counterpart is Cpl. Josh Ray Person, a whip-smart 22-year-old with a quick response to everything and a penchant for energy drinks and caffeine. Today, he's a 36-year-old father of three who is part of a software development start-up in Kansas city. Person, who left the Marine Corps in 2003, shortly after returning from his deployment to Iraq, said "Generation Kill" gave him a rare gift: the opportunity to share his deployment experiences in the most realistic way possible with his wife, whom he married in 2007. They attended the 2007 premiere of the show in Burbank, California, together, and it brought them closer, Person said. For her to be able to see it on the screen and have it so accurately portrayed just visually, I loved that," Person said. " 'See that, that's exactly what it was like.' That was what I enjoyed the most out of the entire thing." The miniseries, which has remained popular with Marines in part because of its realism, was accurate at rates of "60 to 70 percent," Person estimated, though the elements he singles out as not true-to-life have little to do with major events in the deployment. The personalities of the Marines were a bit exaggerated for the screen, and he complains, tongue-in-cheek, that the actor who played him onscreen, James Ransone, was a lot more petite than he is. "They found a guy who's like, 'Hey, you're 120 pounds soaking wet, perfect,' " he said. In the next breath, though, he admitted he and Ransone had very similar personalities and that the actor portrayed him pretty well. "Generation Kill" has opened some doors for Person in his business ventures, making people who recognize his name more willing to hear him out. And he still occasionally has fans find him on social media, he said. But the value of the series goes far beyond that for him. And he's grateful for it, in part because of the clear-eyed way it approaches the imperfections and ugliness of war. "It was raw and real; it showed the confusion. It showed incorrect decisions in hindsight," Person said. "That's life. It showed it in a very raw way from a perspective that wasn't from the top down, it was from the bottom up. It gave voice to the low-level guys who never had a voice before." Scenes that depict a small child inadvertently shot at a military roadblock, an airstrike that decimates a compound full of Iraqi civilians, and Marines trying to conduct crude crowd control with smoke grenades show realities that haunt warfighters -- realities that the public, for the most part, has the luxury of ignoring. "War is stupid. War is ugly. War is confusion. War is death," Person said. "[Generation Kill] shows that 19- and 20-year-olds are prosecuting this war, for the most part. Here they are, having to navigate geopolitics combined with group psychology and all these things. Yeah, they're going to bumble. Even barring all of that, what we're capable of and what humans are capable of is phenomenal. I think people are used to seeing the reality of things. They have never really gotten that from war journalism." Life After Generation Kill A significant number of the the Marines from Bravo Company were brought in at some point to consult on the "Generation Kill" miniseries, a fact that unquestionably contributed to its realism and accuracy. But no one was more involved than Rudy Reyes, a sergeant and team leader who agreed to play himself in the show -- a surreal experience, he says, in which he said lines as himself that he'd never really say. Reyes, 44, has made better use of the publicity that came with "Generation Kill" than perhaps anyone else involved with the project. For him, it's been a springboard into a fitness modeling and acting career and a host of other military-related projects. He's a spokesman for Condition One and has modeled for brands including Pentax Camera. But he won't let anyone forget that he's a Marine first. Reyes was never your stereotypical grunt. The members of his unit called him "Fruity Rudy" because he was "so beautiful," journalist Evan Wright wrote, though he insists he's no more appealing than any of the "young gods" he went to war with. Reyes comes across as a mixture of Bruce Lee and zen master on screen, and he has a meditative way of speaking that can contrast startlingly with his frank discussion of war. Reyes, who still makes public appearances based on his "Generation Kill" fame, said he noticed the series had made a resurgence among troops and the general public as the country finds itself once again at war in Iraq, trying to eliminate Islamic State militants from the air and in an advisory capacity on the ground. "When [the series] came out, it was too close and too timely. We were not interested in veterans' issues at that time; we were not interested in anything except forgetting," he said. "Now America is finally waking up." Like many of the Marines portrayed in the show, Reyes makes no attempt to gloss over the pain and the moral conflict he still grapples with, more than a decade after the invasion. "There is a gravity, there is a sadness, there is a rage that you carry with you forever," he said. "I was hoping, when I did this work for HBO, that we could find a way to peer into that world. I think it was a start to open a dialogue for all of us, and open up a dialogue amongst ourselves in the military communities. I still work on it. I still have problems inside." As far as Reyes is concerned, he owes no debt to the show for the exposure it afforded him. "I couldn't have done it without 'Generation Kill,' " he acknowledged. "But then again, 'Generation Kill' wouldn't have existed without me invading a country. Nobody gave anybody a hookup." "Generation Kill" also springboarded the career of at least one of the professional actors: Chance Kelly, who played the raspy-voiced Lt. Col. Stephen "Godfather" Ferrando, the commander of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. Ferrando is portrayed as tough, unrelenting and ambitious, and consumingly eager to stay in the good graces of Gen. Mattis, to ensure his Marines stay on the front edge of the fight. The show often appears to take the side of the junior enlisted Marines with whom Wright spent most of his time, and Ferrando, like many of the officers, is shown as flawed. Both the book and the show end with a frank discussion between Ferrando and Wright in which the reporter asks him about his seeming over-aggressiveness to send Marines into the fray, and his decision to keep an officer in his command who seemed to have become erratic and violent in the face of combat. In the end, Wright concludes Ferrando was "vindicated," as Mattis' choice of unit to prosecute the fight. Kelly said he knew he had to get in touch with Ferrando himself when he landed the role, and the two men quickly developed a friendly relationship, he said. It was especially difficult, he said, to play Ferrando as a conflicted character on the show after he had developed so much respect for the officer personally. "These guys were officers in 1st Recon, USMC. You do not get there by being a bumbling idiot," Kelly said. "They went over there and they did not have one death. They did not paint things [subtly] in that black-and-white TV world. Ferrando gets an A-plus, I don't give a s--- what anybody says. " Kelly's exposure in the show led to a host of new acting opportunities -- he has since had roles in hit shows including "Fringe," "House of Cards," "Homeland" and "Army Wives," as well as a role as a military officer in the Bradley Cooper blockbuster "American Sniper" -- but it has also given him rare access to military culture through the show's fanbase. He laughs as he describes walking through Prague with his wife five years ago and getting stopped by four Marines on leave who immediately started calling him "Godfather." "Everybody identifies with this, especially in the military. This is the Bible to the Marines," he said. "There's no other show that profiles Marine Corps life like this to date." Moving On There are some who have done their best to move past the fame and infamy of "Generation Kill." For Jeffrey Carisalez, a lance corporal and vehicle mechanic for Bravo Company, the deployment ended on a bitter note with the relief of team leader and friend Sgt. Eric Kocher, after another unit reported he and other Marines had been mistreating an Iraqi prisoner, a point hotly disputed by the unit. Carisalez, a salty-mouthed Marine who freely criticizes the Marine Corps and the war throughout the deployment, was informed after his return that he too could face administrative punishment for his comments. At that point, he knew for sure he wanted out of the Corps. "I popped smoke quick," he said. "I was on base like, two weeks at most." Now he's an envelope-pushing stand-up comedian in Los Angeles who performs five to seven nights a week, he said. Now 34, Carisalez' Marine Corps service was the better part of a lifetime ago. He's not an enthusiastic fan of "Generation Kill," but he said it accurately captured "how foul-mouthed and dirty we were." It also provided a moment of vindication for Kocher, who called Carisalez when the Rolling Stone feature came out to tell him, "Dude, we won!" Like many, Carisalez hopes the story paints a clearer picture of war's realities for those who never served. "Civilians can have attention deficit disorder," he said. "['Generation Kill'] maybe exposes the trials, tribulations and struggles of these guys that go up and stand for something bigger than themselves. Whether than the war was right or wrong, these guys stood up for something bigger than themselves." On the other side of the spectrum is Walt Hasser, a good-natured Humvee MK-19 grenade launcher gunner who spent three more years in the Marine Corps following the 2003 deployment, leaving the service as a sergeant. Now 36, Hasser works as a marksmanship trainer and a security consultant in Virginia. He has pointedly tried not to capitalize on the measure of fame afforded by his involvement in "Generation Kill," but said his name still gets recognized regularly by people he encounters through his work, and one of his co-workers insists on calling him "Hollywood Hasser." Hasser's reservations about the series come not from any concerns about how he was personally portrayed, but more from a reticence about the publicity it afforded the traditionally secretive Marine reconnaissance community. "As a recon Marine, we exposed our soft underbellies a little bit," he said. Yet, over time, he like many others has concluded the story has significance that goes beyond one unit and their experiences. "If it was in my power to pull that story back, I wouldn't do that," he said. "It's a hell of a time in our history. It's definitely important." No Regrets After the initial shock of "Generation Kill," most Marines embraced the narrative and its author, Evan Wright. In 2005, he would receive the General Wallace M. Greene Jr. award from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for best non-fiction account depicting Marines and Marine Corps life. There were exceptions: Wright said he found himself briefly handcuffed and escorted out by military police at Camp Pendleton, California, in 2004 after one of the junior officers he had described unfavorably learned he was aboard the base. Wright said he worked to involve as many Marines as possible in the production of the show, with roughly a dozen participating in roles ranging from consulting to background voice work. He said he's witnessed up close the Marines' struggles with post-traumatic stress and "darkness" since returning from Iraq. At least one man from Bravo company has contended with serious mental illness since the deployment, and several have had grave brushes with the law. In one case, Wright testified as an expert witness in the defense of a Marine he met in Iraq who was later arrested for homicide. While some may come away from the book and the series conflicted about the realities of war and the collateral damage sustained, Wright maintains the men he traveled with have never received enough credit for the disciplined war they prosecuted in a complex and unfamiliar environment. "It's so much easier to write about a firefight, where shootings happened," he said. "The thing that I witnessed in 'Generation Kill' that's so hard to dramatize is the many times that people took fire and did not shoot back because they didn't have a legitimate target. Moral courage and restraint; it was on the backs of [sergeants] and below that our military succeeded." While many of the Marines have stayed in touch in the years since the invasion, Colbert and Wright both cited the warm friendship that has grown between them through "Generation Kill." For Colbert, his confidence in the project was bolstered when Wright approached him to ask his blessing to turn the three-article Rolling Stone series into a book. Despite the heat Colbert initially took because of "Generation Kill," he said he has no regrets that the story was told. "I've spoken to sailors and soldiers and Marines and airmen. Almost to the man or woman, the 'Generation Kill' book and following show seemed to resonate so strongly," he said. "It didn't matter that it was a Marine unit that was being portrayed. To not have that story told would disenfranchise the experience of the U.S. military for the last 15 years. It is that everyman and every woman story; to be able to have that narrative is invaluable." -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. 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... Social Media You can follow us on different types of social media by clicking the links below: [December 21, 2016] CRTC establishes fund to attain new high-speed Internet targets Wants Canadians to have access to an unlimited data plan option and speeds of at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload OTTAWA-GATINEAU, QC, Dec. 21, 2016 /CNW/ - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today declared that broadband access Internet service is now considered a basic telecommunications service for all Canadians. The CRTC is also setting ambitious new speed targets and creating a new fund that will invest up to $750 million over and above existing government programs. Broadband and mobile services Further to its legislative mandate, the CRTC has set the following targets for the basic telecommunications services that Canadians need to participate in the digital economy: speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband Internet access services. an unlimited data option for fixed broadband access services. the latest mobile wireless technology available not only in homes and businesses, but also along major Canadian roads. New funding for broadband projects The CRTC is establishing a fund to support projects in areas that do not meet these targets. Applicants will be able to submit funding proposals in order to build or upgrade infrastructure for fixed and mobile broadband Internet access services. The fund will: make available up to $750 million over the first five years; over the first five years; be complementary to existing and future private investment and public funding; focus on underserved areas; and be managed at arm's length by a third party. Accessibility and tools for consumers The CRTC wants Canadians to have access to the tools and services they need to empower themselves regarding fixed Internet access services. No later than six months from today, service providers should ensure that contracts are written in clear and plain language, and should make available online tools so consumers can easily manage their data usage. Also, all wireless service providers will have to offer and publicize, no later than six months from today, mobile service packages that meet the needs of Canadians with disabilities. The path forward for Canada's digital economy During its consultations with Canadians, the CRTC also identified further gaps regarding the adoption of broadband Internet services in Canada that are outside its core mandate. Today, the CRTC is submitting a report to the Innovation Agenda, as encouraged by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, on the availability and adoption of broadband Internet services in Canada. This report includes information on access gaps resulting from infrastructure, affordability and digital literacy issues, as well as barriers to connectivity in Indigenous communities. The decision issued today complements the Government of Canada's Innovation Agenda. Looking ahead, the CRTC will contribute in ways appropriate to its mandate. However, all stakeholders have a role to play to ensure that broadband Internet service is universally available and barriers to adoption are removed. Quick Facts Broadband Internet access services are necessary to the quality of life for Canadians and empowers them as citizens, creators and consumers. While most are well-served, many Canadians, particularly those in rural and remote communities, do not have access to broadband Internet access services that are comparable to those offered to the vast majority of Canadians in terms of speed, capacity, quality and price. Broadband Internet services would allow more Canadian entrepreneurs to easily access crucial information relating to international markets and create more business opportunities across Canada . . In 2015, 82% of Canadians had access to speeds of 50 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband services. The CRTC is shifting its regulatory focus from wireline voice to broadband services. Currently there is a subsidy for residential local voice services in rural and remote areas that amounted to approximately $100 million in 2016. in 2016. The current local voice subsidy will now be transitioned to the new funding mechanism announced today (for projects that meet the new targets). Further to a broad consultation, more than 50,000 Canadians provided their views on the telecommunications services they need to participate in the digital economy. Quote "Access to broadband Internet service is vital and a basic telecommunication service all Canadians are entitled to receive. Canadians who participated during our process told us that no matter where they live or work in our vast countrywhether in a small town in northern Yukon, a rural area of eastern Quebec or in downtown Calgaryeveryone needs access to high-quality fixed Internet and mobile services. We are doing our part to bring broadband services to rural and remote communities. The availability of broadband Internet, however, is an issue that can't be solved by the CRTC alone. All players in the Canadian communications landscape will need to do their part to ensure Canadians have access to the services they need to participate in the digital economy. All levels of government must address gaps in digital literacy. Affordability concerns are best addressed by the emergence of a dynamic market place where service providers compete on price for telecommunication services, in conjunction with social responsibility programs of telecommunications carriers and different levels of government. High quality and reliable digital connectivity is essential for the quality of life of Canadians and Canada's economic prosperity." - Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman and CEO, CRTC Additional links Backgrounder 1 Summary of key decision points Backgrounder 2 Further details regarding new funding mechanism Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2016-496 Modern telecommunications services The path forward for Canada's digital economy Basic telecommunications services Ask a question or make a complaint Stay Connected Follow us on Twitter @CRTCeng Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/crtceng Backgrounders Summary of key decision points Policy regarding modern telecommunications services for Canada's digital economy Universal service objective Canadians, in urban areas as well as in rural and remote areas, have access to voice and broadband Internet access services, on both fixed and mobile wireless networks. Mobile wireless and fixed broadband Internet access services are key components of this new objective. In addition, Canadians living in rural and remote areas should have a level of broadband Internet access services similar to those available in urban areas. Criteria for the universal service objective Fixed broadband service Canadians should have access to fixed broadband Internet access service offerings that meet certain levels of speed, data allowance and quality of service. Specific values and parameters for these characteristics are discussed below. Mobile wireless broadband service Canadians should have access to the latest generally deployed mobile wireless technology (currently LTE). This technology should be available in Canada not only in homes and businesses, but on major transportation roads. Fixed broadband Internet service criteria Speeds Canadian home and business subscribers of fixed broadband Internet access services can access speeds of at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. These speeds are to be the actual speeds delivered, not merely those advertised. Data allowance Canadian home and business customers can subscribe to fixed broadband Internet access services that include the option to have an unlimited data allowance. Quality of service Levels for latency, jitter, and packet loss will be established to assess high quality for fixed broadband Internet access service. Measurement of success Fixed broadband Internet access service, as set out in the decision, should be available in 90% of Canadian homes and businesses by the end of 2021 and in the remaining 10% within 10-15 years. Modifications to current regulatory measures for local voice services Local service subsidy The local service subsidy will be phased out. A follow-up proceeding will be launched in early 2017 to examine how it should be phased out. Accessibility Availability and awareness All wireless service providers must offer and publicize, no later than six months from the date of this decision, mobile service packages that meet the needs of Canadians with disabilities who tend to rely more on data services than voice services. These packages must ensure access to 9-1-1 service, and be based on consultations with Canadians with disabilities. All wireless service providers' websites are expected to meet the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by June 1, 2017. Current and future initiatives Bell Canada, Bell Mobility, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, Rogers Communications, SaskTel, Shaw, Telus and Videotron must each submit a detailed report, no later than six months for the date of the decision, concerning their respective plans to invest in the ongoing accessibility of telecommunications services. Consumer empowerment regarding broadband Internet access services Awareness and notification Within six months of the date of this decision, all Internet service providers that provide retail fixed broadband Internet access service are expected: (i) to ensure that contracts and related documents clearly explain, to all customers; the services included in the contract, any limits on the use of those services that could trigger overage charges, the minimum monthly charge for services included in the contract, information on where customers can find information on rates for overage charges, and whether or not there is a maximum data overage charge that might be incurred in a monthly billing cycle, and if so, the amount of that maximum charge. (ii) to provide account management tools that enable customers to monitor their data usage; and (iii) to provide plain-language information on the data usage associated with common online activities. The above-noted information and tools should also be accessible to customers with disabilities. All providers of retail fixed broadband Internet access services must notify residential and small business customers who have incurred overage charges of where they can find information about: (i) the account management tools offered, (ii) the data usage associated with common online activities, and (iii) alternative plans that may better suit the customer's needs. Customers should be able to opt out of these notifications at any time. Such notifications must be provided each month in which a customer incurs data overage charges, unless the customer opts out of receiving such notifications. New funding mechanism Guiding principles The new funding mechanism will focus on underserved areas in Canada . 1 . The CRTC will attempt to align this new funding mechanism with the broader ecosystem of current and future funding and investment. To the greatest extent possible, the funding mechanism will be managed at arm's length from the CRTC, based on objective criteria, and administered in a manner that is transparent, fair and efficient. Fund design General A competitive process will be used to distribute funds to successful applicants under the new funding mechanism. Applicants will be able to submit funding proposals to build or upgrade access and transport infrastructure for fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access service Government funding and private sector investment Applicants requesting funding will be required to secure a minimum level of financial support from a government entity .2 Applicants will be required to provide a minimum amount of investment for their project. The amount of funding from public and private sources cannot be nominal and must be commensurate with the nature of the project. In the assessment stage, more weight will be given to applications with higher amounts of government funding and private investment in their projects. Amount of funding The current local voice subsidy will now be transitioned to the new funding mechanism. The first five years of funding (amounts will be reviewed after three years) will be no more than the following: Year 1: $100 million Year 2: $125 million Year 3: $150 million Year 4: $175 million Year 5: $200 million For the first five years, up to 10% of annual funding will be allocated to satellite-dependent communities to cover operational costs and certain related capital costs. Governance and accountability The new funding mechanism will involve two main functions: project management and accounting. Third-party administrator(s) will carry out these functions. A fairness monitor will be appointed to observe the competitive process. An audit committee will be established to verify the accounting function. CRTC will retain oversight and will approve the projects to be funded. Follow-up proceeding The CRTC has set out preliminary views on the following aspects of the new funding mechanism: Eligibility and assessment criteria. Responsibilities of the CRTC and the third-party administrator(s) for the project-management and accounting functions. A follow-up proceeding will be initiated in early 2017 to examine these preliminary views as well as other matters related to the new funding mechanism. _________________________ 1 An underserved area is defined as an area that does not meet the criteria used to measure achievement of the Commission's new universal service objective. 2 "Government entity" includes federal, provincial, regional and municipal entities, Aboriginal governments, community entities, and non-profit organizations. SOURCE Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 22, 2016] Trianz to Support Smart Village Initiative Launched by University of California, Berkeley in India SANTA CLARA, California, BANGALORE and DUBAI, UAE, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As a part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and support to social empowerment, Trianz is pleased to partner with the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), for its innovation initiative to prototyping a smart village in India. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160615/809578 ) The Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation at UC Berkeley is establishing its first smart village prototype in India under the leadership of Professor Solomon Darwin. The village is located in the East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh. In this endeavour, Trianz joined hands with UC Berkeley as a sponsor and is supporting its innovation initiative. This effort is inviting large organizations, innovators and entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley and India. Commenting on the association, Sri Manchala, President & CEO of Trianz, said, "Partnering with UCB's innovation initiative reiterates our commitment towards societal empowerment and building better communities across the social strata." This initiative is part of the UC Berkeley's, 'The Smart Village Open Innovation Accelerator 2016' which - in collaboration with the Center for Open Innovation Accelerator 2016 - is inviting students for disruptive technological innovations in the areas of mobile apps, sensors, embedded technologies, data analytics, low power ad low cost that will support building a smart village prototype. The innovation initiative sponsored by Trianz focuses on developing models that produce the triple bottom line of: social, environmental and economic. The intent is also to identify the weakest links and bottlenecks, and address them through a technological solution. About Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation The Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation focuses on large-enterprise innovation, paying particular attention to implementation issues and development of new business models to capture the value of innovative products and services. The center houses the Open Innovation Program, Chief Innovation Officer Round Tables, the World Open Innovation Forum and the Berkeley Innovation Forum, a membership organization dedicated to sharing knowledge about innovation challenges. Professor Darwin, the Executive Director of the Center, teaches courses in Open Innovation, Business Model Innovation in emerging economies, Smart Cities and Smart Villages. The center publishes research, business cases and use cases to enable practitioners to expand markets. About Trianz Trianz enables digital transformations through effective strategies and excellence in execution. Collaborating with business and technology leaders, we help formulate and execute operational strategies to achieve intended business outcomes by bringing the best of consulting, technology experiences and execution models. Powered by knowledge, research, and perspectives, we enable clients to transform their business ecosystems and achieve superior performance by leveraging Cloud, Analytics, Digital and Security paradigms. With offices in Silicon Valley, Washington DC Metro, Jersey City, Dubai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai, we serve Fortune 1000 and emerging organizations across industries globally. As a professional services firm, our values and culture are focused on delivering measurable business impact, predictability in execution, and a unique partnership experience. Media Contact: Prashant Bhavaraju Director, Marketing +1-408-387-5800 [email protected] http://www.trianz.com SOURCE Trianz [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] business Tata-Mistry case adjourned till Jan end In the first hearing for Cyrus Mistrys petition in the National Company Law Tribunal, Cyrus Mistrys lawyer presented the first set of arguments but NCLT asked Mistrys counsel to present proof and documents business Wadia hits out at Nano in letter to TaMo shareholders before EGM Nusli Wadia has said that his removal from Tata Steel was not linked to performance as a board of directors had evaluated his performance in previous meeting, sources tell CNBC-TV18. you are here: business Be opportunistic; NBFC seeing fad investing right now: Udayan Speaking to CNBC-TV18 Udayan Mukherjee said that the next 3 months is going to throw up a lot of opportunities for buying. aYou need to be opportunistic. We are going through a painful phase and it is not over. It is only getting entrenched.a The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana. Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, Letter to editor: Voting is necessary to protect democracy Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity CHARLOTTE The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, recently donated a total of $10,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina as part of the foundations commitment to giving back to the community. SHFBM is the largest Health and Human Services agency in Charlotte. The Food Bank provides food and household items to partner nonprofit agencies who feed people in need. The funds from the TD Charitable Foundation will be used to help those at risk of hunger in Burke County. SHFBM currently supports 26 hunger feeding programs in Burke. This includes child hunger programs at Rutherford College Elementary, Mountain Crest Elementary, Mull Elementary and Icard Elementary schools. In 2015-16, SHFBM distributed more than 2.4 million pounds of food to agencies in Burke County. Currently, there are more than 18,000 individuals living at or below the poverty line in Burke County. We are excited about this new partnership with the TD Charitable Foundation, said Kay Carter, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. They have a history of helping to build stronger communities and believe strongly in corporate responsibility. We are thankful for their donation to support what we do in Burke County. We look forward to working with them more to help provide food people in need in the counties we serve where they are located. A staunch commitment to active involvement in the local community is a vital element of the TD Bank philosophy. TD Bank and the TD Charitable Foundation provide support to affordable housing, financial literacy and education, and environmental initiatives, many of which focus on improving the welfare of children and families. The foundation's mission is to serve the individuals, families and businesses in all the communities where TD Bank operates, having made more than $$167.3 million in charitable donations since its inception in 2002. The foundations areas of focus are affordable housing, financial literacy and education, and the environment. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation, including an online grant application, is available at www.tdbank.com. Karen Wallace: I'm Karen Wallace for Morningstar. In a new study that looks at fund managers by gender, Morningstar found that women are underrepresented in fund manager roles worldwide. Here to discuss the study's findings is Madison Sargis. She is a quantitative analyst for Morningstar. Madison, thanks so much for being here. Madison Sargis: Thanks for having me. Wallace: So, my first question is, what is the scope of the study? How many countries did you study, and what sorts of trends did you find? Sargis: So, we looked at managers in over 56 different countries, and we found that at the global level women are still underrepresented. But in smaller markets, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, there's a higher representation of women fund managers. Wallace: You've studied this data before and have you found that it's becoming more gender-inclusive or not? Sargis: So, we looked at this data going back to 2008, and we found that, really, the rates of female fund managers has not increased through time, and it's been steady around 12%. Wallace: You also mentioned in your report that you used a modeling exercise to determine if certain characteristics are more prevalent among women fund managers or funds run by men. And I think what you're trying to determine is if women are more likely to run a certain type of fund than a man would be. What did you find there? Sargis: Yeah. So, we found that women are more likely to manage passive funds than active funds. They are also more likely to manage fund-of-funds and socially responsible funds. Wallace: So, lastly, why should be an investor be interested in a study like this? I think a lot of investors would say, as long as my fund manager is delivering good results, his or her religion, race, gender doesn't matter to me. Why should an investor pay attention to something like this? Sargis: Yeah. I think our study finds a couple of characteristics that may be associated with better investing practices. For example, we find that funds run by women generally have lower turnover ratios, which generally results in lower costs and better investing outcomes. And also, women are more likely to have their CFA in certain asset classes, which is a measure of, it's a credential for fund managers. Wallace: OK. The study is live on Morningstar.com. Thank you so much for being here to discuss it, Madison. Sargis: Thank you. Wallace: For Morningstar, I'm Karen Wallace. Thanks for watching. Banks Buying Non-Banks; Lehman vs Loandepot and iMortgage Hospitality is the art of making guests feel like they're at home when you wish they were. (Read that again its pretty clever.) Millions of white and non-white people call the United States home, and the U.S. Census Bureau released the countrys top 1,000 surnames by race and Hispanic origin and those that occurred 100 or more times in the 2010 Census. The graphics show the top 15 most popular surnames and those with the largest increase and rank. Additionally, the Random Samplings blog discusses trends gathered from the tabulations. Visit the Census Bureau's Genealogy page to see frequently occurring surnames from previous censuses. Our tax money at work, hiring computer programmers and actuarials to figure this all out! We have some news from the continuing Lehman Brothers saga. Josh Rosenthal, an attorney with Medlin & Hargrave, PC, writes, "LBHI just filed an adversary proceeding in the Lehman bankruptcy against Imortgage.com, Inc. and Loandepot.com, LLC, for indemnity related to the Fannie Mae settlement LBHI entered into in 2014. LBHI has already filed some of these actions against nearly 200 loan originators (of the 3,000 or so loan originators that it has indemnity claims against). "This action is related to claims LBHI has been making in demands to loan originators over the past year. LBHI has taken the position that loan originators that purchased certain assets of other loan originators that originated the loans that were the subject of the Fannie Mae settlement are also responsible for liabilities of those loan originators. It has convinced the bankruptcy court to force these alleged successor companies into the Alternative Dispute Resolution procedure it has in place which requires loan originators to mediate with LBHI in New York. Now, LBHI is filing actions against these alleged successors based on asset sale agreements. "Due to a ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeal in February of 2016, the statute of limitations that may apply to indemnity claims related to the Fannie Mae settlement is the three year limitations period of Delaware, not the six year period of New York. So, Lehman may feel some pressure to get all of its claims on file by the end of next month or risk not being able to file any of the claims." Thanks Josh! Residential lending and legal entanglements aren't confined to the United States. Spanish banks lost a court case over mortgage interest payments. The EU Court of Justice ruled that Spanish banks may have to refund billions of euros to mortgage customers who paid too much interest on home loans. Lawsuits aren't cheap, and the increasing cost of regulation, coupled with the need to invest in technology, creates fixed costs that hurt residential lenders and community banks overall. Companies can mitigate these costs primarily by getting bigger, which has prompted increasing M&A activity among community banks - and we will see plenty more among lenders in 2017. Research by Deloitte finds the biggest impediments to achieving a successful M&A transaction cited by large corporate executives and private equity investor respondents are: insufficient due diligence process (88%), improper target identification (83%), not valuing the target accurately (81%), changing regulatory and legislative environment (81%) and failure to effectively integrate (78%). The holidays have not slowed the M&A pace. Just in the last week or so it was announced that in Florida IBM Southeast Employee Credit Union ($947mm) has filed an application to acquire Mackinac Savings Bank ($110mm). In Virginia Sonabank ($1.1B) will merge with EVB ($1.3B) in a merger of equals transaction. The deal is valued at about $178.3mm & after close will result in Sonabank owning about 51% of the company and EVB owning about 49%. HomeTrust Bank ($2.7B, NC) will acquire municipal leasing company United Financial (NC). (United underwrites & originates municipal leases for fire stations & other municipal buildings.) First Republic Bank ($68B, CA) will acquire student loan technology company Gradifi. (Gradifi offers programs that help members pay down student loans faster.) Simmons Bank ($8.2B, AR) will acquire Bank SNB ($2.5B, OK) for about $564.4mm in cash and stock or roughly 2.10x tangible book. In California Bay Commercial Bank ($653mm) will acquire United Business Bank ($451mm) for about $38mm in cash and stock. And in Texas Veritex Community Bank ($1.3B) will acquire Sovereign Bank ($1.1B) for about $162mm or roughly 1.74x tangible book. Today we had the usual Thursday Initial Jobless Claims. Here's something regarding the employment situation. Research by the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds the share of farm employment has declined from 40% back in 1900 to only 2% as of 2014. And research by Smith finds 65% of Americans believe computers and robots will take over the work people do now within the next 50 years. Of note, research by Korn Ferry finds 44% of leaders of large global businesses believe robotics, automation and AI will make people "largely irrelevant" in the future (when it comes to work). Crowe Horwath Financial Institutions Compensation Survey. The survey noted that more banks are now willing to pay above-market rates given a tight jobs market - a trend that's risen sharply over the past 4Ys. Consider that in the 2016 study, almost 29% of banks reported plans to pay more than 10% above market for some jobs. That's up 5bp from the 2015 study, 10bp from the 2014 study and 15bp from 2013. Not surprisingly, as compensation has ticked up, employee turnover has also risen. According to the survey, bank employees are changing jobs at the fastest pace in 10Ys, with non-officer turnover peaking at almost 19% and officer turnover reaching nearly 7%. By contrast, only 1Y ago, non-officer turnover rates stood at about 16% and officer rates at fewer than 5%. Rates? Heck, we could be here for the next couple weeks. Fixed-income securities started Wednesday with a slightly positive bias and it held that slightly positive bias throughout the session, with all securities respecting some pretty tight trading ranges. There was no news yesterday to move rates although November's Existing Home Sales were +0.7% to seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million. November has the highest sales pace since February 2007. Housing inventory is at 4 months of supply, versus 4.3 months in October, which should continue to drive up median prices and crimp affordability for prospective buyers. Median existing home price for all housing types increased 6.8% to $234,900, which is the 57th straight month of year-over-year gains. Today we've already had a tidal wave of data, so let's wade in. (Like that one?) November Durable Goods (-4.6%), final Q3 GDP (revised higher to +3.5%, topping forecasts), Initial Jobless Claims for last week (+21k to 275k), and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (-.27). Later, in a spread of indicators across months, we see the FHFA Home Price Index (Oct), leading indicators (Nov), and the KC Fed's manufacturing survey (Dec). And if you have some spare ducats at 1PM the Treasury will auction $14 billion of 5-year TIPS. The 10-year note closed Wednesday better by nearly .250 in price and yielding 2.54% while 5-year securities and agency MBS prices were better by about .125. After this first volley of economic data the 10-year is yielding 2.56% with MBS prices worse a shade versus last night. Jobs and Announcements Since 1917, "Chemical Bank has been Michigan's leading community bank, helping communities grow and thrive. Our hometown banking approach helps us improve the quality of life in the communities we serve for almost a century. Last quarter, Chemical Bank and Talmer Bank and Trust successfully completed our mortgage integration. Our combined team will produce an excess of $2 billion annually. As we expand into other Michigan markets and new Ohio and Indiana markets, we will be adding additional mortgage professionals during 2017. We plan to add an additional 30 loan officers and 40 operations staff members to our team. Chemical Bank allows for "make sense" loans to our customers by utilizing the strength of our portfolio. Confidential questions and resumes should be sent to Recruiting." Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. Chemical Bank is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer-Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity, committed to workplace diversity. VEVRAA Federal Contractor. The StoneHill Group is looking to add a Manager of Quality Control to oversee the company's largest department, including all Pre, Post-Close and Servicing QC functions. Also currently open, the Sr. QC Audit Manager will be responsible for daily audit operations and the direct management of employees engaged in quality control auditing. The StoneHill Group is also actively searching for an experienced Fulfilment Operations Manager to oversee all department functions; including but not limited to, closing, post-closing, shipping/ funding, and investor delivery of FHA, VA, and Conventional loans. These roles will be key contributors to the growing organization and are located at headquarters in Atlanta, GA. The StoneHill Group, Inc. is a nationwide provider of QC outsource services and is headquartered in Georgia. The ideal candidates will have at least 10 years' in the industry and significant managerial and operational experience. To review the full job description and to submit an application and resume, please visit the StoneHill Group, Inc. Careers' Page. Questions should be directed to Stacy Nelson. And Doorway Mortgage, a regional retail lender based in Orange County (the old International City Mortgage), is searching for a Chief Financial Officer. The ideal candidate will have several years of experience in the mortgage banking industry with senior management experience. An advanced degree or CPA and/or CFO certification is desired, as is expert knowledge of cash management, including warehouse lines. Doorway serves the Western United States, servicing a billion-dollar retained portfolio, with strong capital reserves, and an expansive product portfolio. "Join an experienced, energetic management team in our plan to grow the company to $1 billion in annual loan origination volume over the next two years." Confidential inquiries and resumes should be sent to Matt Danilowicz, President. Per STRATMOR's LOS Technology Insight Survey, 30% of lenders report that are not satisfied with their LOS and are either actively looking to replace or are in the process of replacing their system. Lender Satisfaction is only one component of the detailed results report that is now available for purchase. The full report includes the results from more than 250 lenders and reports on LOS Functionality, Market Share, Overall Satisfaction, User Experience, Implementation Experience, Expenditures and Required Resources and other LOS considerations as well as Third-Party Integrations such as Document, Lead Management/CRM, POS and Pricing Engine software. The report also includes detailed lender feedback on 17 unique Loan Origination systems including satisfaction, user experience and a functionality assessment. To download a sample of the report or to purchase the full report, click here. Congrats to Radian Guaranty Inc., the mortgage insurance (MI) subsidiary of Radian Group Inc., which has been named Best Mortgage Company for Professional Women by Mortgage WOMEN Magazine. The award was announced and presented during the closing general session of the Mortgage Bankers Association's inaugural summit on Diversity and Inclusion in Washington, D.C. (The ranking is based on a survey sent to more than 1,400 financial institutions with mortgage company licenses recognized by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System & Registry - NMLS for those who like acronyms.) Mount Pleasant, SC (29464) Today Mostly clear. Low around 60F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear. Low around 60F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. New members inducted into Institute of ... The government is proposing to slap Korean Air with a 21-day suspension of flights to New York and W1.44 billion in fines for violating aviation laws in what has become known as the "nut rage" incident (US$1=W1,088). The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport already on Tuesday filed a complaint with prosecutors against airline heiress Cho Hyun-ah for violating aviation security laws by forcing an aircraft to change course. Cho boarded a Korean Air flight from New York to Incheon last week and got enraged over the way her nuts were served in first class, forcing the pilot to taxi back to the terminal to kick the purser off the plane. The ministry said an investigation revealed that Cho shouted at and insulted cabin crew. A ministry official told reporters that passengers and flight attendants on the scene testified to Cho's abusive behavior. But the official added the ministry will leave it to prosecutors to confirm whether Cho physically abused flight attendants on board. Korean Air escaped charges over deviating from its route since the incident happened when the aircraft was still on the landing strip at JFK International Airport. The ministry said the pilot failed to properly supervise the cabin crew, while Cho and the purser who was forced to disembark gave false testimony during initial interviews. Korean Air officials are believed to have pressured flight attendants to lie to investigators. A ministry official said the violations can incur a 21-day flight suspension and W1.44 billion in fines. The government also plans to launch a special inspection of Korean Air's operations. Cho had told investigators last week that she had told the purser and flight attendant to leave the plane, but denied ordering the pilot to return the plane to the boarding gate. "Cho had drunk one to two glasses of wine before boarding the flight, but that does not seem to have affected her judgment," a ministry official said. The civic group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said investigators need to conduct further interviews with the purser since Korean Air management sat in on his initial interview. But a ministry official said the manager was present only during the first 20 minutes of the interview and then left. The civic group last week also filed a complaint against Cho with prosecutors. The top most viewed news stories of 2016 involve not only several fires but also many reports of missing persons. The overview of 2015 is here and the review of 2014 is here, The year 2016 began with a winter storm and it will end with a winter storm. In January our school delays page became very popular as parents and students checked to see if school was in session or delayed. The January 6 news story about the storm is here. We reported on many tragic vehicle accidents in 2016 in Tuolumne and Calavaras County. In Tuolumne the CHP recorded 13 fatalities in 10 fatal collisions. Last year there were also 10 fatal collisions but 17 total fatalities. In Calaveras the San Andreas CHP says there have been 9 fatalities and 8 fatal collisions, last year there were 10 fatalities from 10 collisions. Our 6th most read news story was about a tragic plane crash in August that killed four people at Columbia airport. The names were released later in the news story here. Thankfully in the two other plane crashes at Pine Mountain Lake Airport this year injuries were very minor as reported here. The CHP is still interested in information about a November 1st triple fatality on J59 near the Bond Flat Road intersection. News about the incident became our 5th most read news story. A white Acura MDX Crossover may have caused the accident, the CHP confirms they have followed up on leads but they are still seeking a gray or silver colored minivan, with black rims that may have witnessed the accident. An elderly man, mother, and daughter were killed in the crash while their sibling and another teen suffered serious injuries. Details about the investigation are here. As reported here in September six of seventeen active missing persons cases at the Tuolumne County Sheriffs Office going back to 1991 were filed this year. 2016 Missing persons news stories: In February 35-year-old Allen Christopher Martin of Modesto was reported as missing. He was last seen at Chicken Ranch Casino on February 9 our April update on the case provides more information here. In June, 34-year-old Troy Galloway, a Crystal Falls resident, who had not been heard from since January, was officially reported as missing by family members. The news story is here. In July El Dorado County Sheriffs Offices reported 53-year-old Scott Kerfoot of Sacramento as missing. He was last seen in Modesto. On August 8 his truck was found blocking a forest road near West Point in Calaveras County. A search was conducted in Calaveras as reported here. Rosalyn Saxenmeier, 71, of San Mateo County walked away from the Silver Valley Campground near Lake Apline in Calaveras County on July 28. After an extensive search that did not reveal where she may have gone, Alpine County Sheriff department reports her DNA is on file with the Department of Justice. 55-year-old Christopher Craig Prows was last seen on August 9. There were few details provided by the Sonora Police as reported here. Breck Phelps is a 68-year-old man who reportedly went fishing in October but did not return. His vehicle was found at 1.4 mile west of Donnell Vista Point. Details on the search are here. 2016 Found Missing Person News Stories: Two missing mother lode teens were found by the San Jose Police in March as reported here. In June two lost hikers and their dog were happy to be found in the Mi Wuk Ranger District near Pinecrest. As reported here they were from Modesto and shared details about their experience. A 20-year-old Twain Harte man who was missing for five days along with his dog was rescued on July 18th. Details are here. In August German tourists were found with major injuries the afternoon after being reported missing from Yosemite the previous evening. Their SUV went down an embankment along Highway 120, where the wreckage could not be seen from the roadway as reported here. In September two firefighters from Fullerton were located by search and rescue after getting lost in Yosemite. They were experienced backpackers, details are here. At the end of September search and rescue also found a 17 and an 18-year-old from Tracy. The two ended up spending a night in the Rainbow Pools area in Groveland before they were found. Details are here. Sadly in July there was also drowning at Rainbow Pools this year. 11-year-old Natalie Garcia of Empire slipped and fell while crossing over the rocks above the falls. The news story is here. Three hikers from San Jose and the Bay Area were found in the Emigrant Wilderness a day after they were expected back early in October. They refused assistance and were allowed to finish their hike, as detailed here. Most recently, a 30-year-old woman from Sonora was reported missing since Dec. 10th but was later found safe. In other most read non-crime or and accident related news two earthquakes on Feb. 16 were felt locally. Details about the quakes were published immediately here. On December 28th the United State Geological Survey (USGS), reported many quakes several including some 5.7 just 80 miles away in Hawthorne, Nevada. Details were published here. The gold nugget found in Jamestown has become our 8th most popular news story of the year. Oscar Espinoza found a gold nugget over a pound in size under a boulder in Woods Creek as detailed here. Stephanie McGeough was found dead in her apartment in September under suspicious circumstances and the case is being investigated as a homicide. Her cause of death has not been released yet, she was last seen with her brother Sean McGeough, 53. He is still wanted for questioning. Her vehicle was located in Sparks, Nevada where reports suggest her brother may have been seen in the area. The details were reported here. 2016 Shootings: Kenneth Aaron Livesey, 33, of Stockton was reportedly shot while trespassing at a home in Wilseyville and reportedly acting erratic. He died at the scene as reported here. Two men from Richmond were involved in a robbery in Arnold. One was shot and is still recovering, the other faces various charges. The victim of the robbery, who has not been identified, confessed to firing the gun that injured one of the men. Details on the incident are here. In other sad news three individuals bodies were found and later identified in the area Elseys Pond off Sullivan Creek near Mono Way. In January 40-year-old Garland Williams was found near Sullivan creek, behind the former Mother Lode Motors off Mono Way in January. Details on the cause of death were released here. In July Zachariah Hickie was found near an area where a vegetation fire occurred earlier in the day. The autopsy results released in November found a high alcohol level in his system and that he died of drowning. In November 55-year-old Ernest Richard was found near Elseys Pond off Mono Way near the Sonora Dodge dealership. The autopsy report states Richards died of natural causes as reported here. Unidentified remains found in New Melones was our 12th most popular news story this year. Unfortunately the forensic autopsy on the badly decomposed body revealed little about the woman. She is considered a crime victim due to the remains, which consisted of a pelvic girdle and upper legs, found wrapped in a covering and encircled by what appeared to be a tow-like chain with a hook at the end of it. In July a boating incident left two women severely injured and Dean Payne, a 55 year-old from Copperopolis has been charged with Boating under the influence. Originally his bail was set at $15,000 but it was later increased as the severity of the womens injuries became known. The case is still pending in the court system as reported here. 2016 Major Fires: Half of our top ten news stories were breaking news stories reporting on local fires. August 28 the Willow Fire was a fast moving vegetation fire in the San Andreas area that grew to 450 acres in just 3 hours. Mandatory Evacuations were in place for the Willow Valley subdivision. It was 100% contained on September 1st. Rene Ilene Hogan was charged with starting the fire and most recently failed to appear for a pretrial hearing. She currently has a warrant out for her arrest as reported here. September 26th the Marshes Fire was fully contained at 1,080 acres near Moccasin. The fire closed Highway 49 and Mandatory Evacuations were in place for 15 homes in Moccasin Ranch Estates. It was ignited by a motorist that pulled over on Marshes Flat Road and drove across dry vegetation as reported here. July 2 the Appaloosa Fire was only 310 acres but it caused 10,800 to go without electricity. The Appaloosa Fire was 100% contained on July 9th. An unidentified property owner started the fire while working on an electrical panel breaker box that led to the water supply for his marijuana plants. The wiring was not up to code, and he was charged with two misdemeanor citations as reported here. Three other small fires were also started by electrical equipment related to marijuana grows as detailed here. Early Fire on August 29 burned 187 acres before it was fully contained, the fire was within the Rim Fire footprint as detailed here. Witness Lamir Anthony Amma View Photos Arnold, CA Two men who claimed to be victims of an unknown gunman in Arnold were actually tied to an earlier robbery, according to the Calaveras County Sheriffs Office. It is an update to a story we first reported here. The Sheriffs Office responded to the Arnold area earlier this month because a man, 48-year-old L. Amir Amma, claimed that his friend, 33-year-old Robert Hilton Jr., was shot in what was described to be a random attack while sitting in a vehicle. The two were unable to give a description of the attacker, and were uncooperative with the investigation. The pair, who reside in Richmond, also could not give an explanation as to why they were in Arnold, only to claim that they were traveling from Oakland to Sacramento. Detectives later found evidence in the car that led officials to the Mill Woods community of town homes on Manuel Road in Arnold. After being questioned, a resident in a townhome admitted that the shooting occurred in his home. He said that Amma and Hilton came into his residence and robbed him at gunpoint. The unidentified 33-year-old man is trained in martial arts so he wrestled the gun away. During the struggle the gun went off multiple times and one bullet struck Hilton. The man then ordered the two alleged robbers to leave. The firearm used was later located and confiscated by detectives. The robbery victim told the Sheriffs Office he did not report the incident because he did not want another negative story in the press about the marijuana industry bringing crime to the county. The victim is involved with a local commercial medical marijuana cultivation site. Whether the victims involvement with the marijuana site has any direct connection to the shooting still remains unclear, according the Sheriffs Office. Yesterday Amma was contacted in Richmond and transported to Contra Costa County Jail. He will later be taken to Calaveras County Jail on charges of robbery, false imprisonment and making criminal threats. Hilton remains hospitalized for the gunshot wound he sustained. Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Calaveras County Sheriffs Office at 209-754-6500 or the anonymous tip line at 209-754-6030. Sacramento, CA Governor Jerry Brown and California Treasurer John Chiang have both given thumbs up to the vote to lower the earning rate for CalPERS pension fund. The move by the states largest pension system to downgrade its expectations for investment earnings means government agencies and their workers will likely have to contribute more tax dollars to retirement benefits for public employees. On Wednesday the California Public Employees Retirement System board voted to lower its assumed earnings rate from 7.5 percent to 7 percent over three years. It is a reaction to long-term financial pressures and lower projected returns on global investments over the next decade. Governor Jerry Brown had this reaction, Todays action by the CalPERS Board is more reflective of the financial returns they can expect in the future. This will make for a more sustainable system. State Treasurer John Chiang noted, With nearly half of all California workers on track to retire with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level, the preservation and rapid expansion of retirement security for all Americans must be the call of our generation. He went on to state, Todays vote goes a long way toward ensuring a dignified retirement remains within reach for millions of current and future Californians. By creating a more fiscally stable system, we aim to keep our promise to public servants in a manner which saves taxpayers money in the long run. CalPERS has about $300 billion in assets. It is enough to cover only about 68 percent of promised benefits as it pays more each month in retirement benefits than it takes in from taxpayers, workers and investment earnings. Sacramento, CA State officials proposals to carry out the death penalty sentence have been rejected and a voter approved measure has been put on hold. On Wednesday, the state Office of Administrative Law, in a one-page notice, informed the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation it had rejected the departments new proposal to execute death row inmates. The plan to use one of four different drugs or the gas chamber does not meet procedural requirements, according to the law office. However, the notice does not spell out the reasons why. Instead, the agency says it will give the department a written explanation within seven days. Corrections officials submitted the plan in November prompted by court pressure and due to a nationwide shortage of execution drugs. Although the state hasnt executed anyone since 2006, currently 750 condemned inmates remain on the nations largest death row. Additionally, earlier this week the California Supreme Court stopped the implementation of voter-approved Proposition 66, which is intended to speed up the appeals process for death row inmates. The court put the measure on hold to give the court time to consider a lawsuit challenging the measure that argues the law would disrupt the courts, cost more money and limit the ability to mount proper appeals. Supporters of the measure counter that the lawsuit is a frivolous stall tactic. California voters cast ballots on two death penalty measures in the November election. They rejected a measure to abolish the death penalty and narrowly approved Proposition 66. In informal discussions, Chinese officials say there is a lot of uncertainty about how the new U.S. president will handle relations with China, and preparations are being made to deal with varied scenarios. "U.S. exports of cars and aircraft would be in the firing line," he said. China might also subject U.S. companies to tighter regulation that hampers their capacity to do business. Beijing may also encourage its exporters by offering tax rebates to overcome any reduction in export demand in the U.S., Williams said. "In the event of a trade war with the United States, Chinas response would go well beyond tariff increases," said Mark Williams, Chief Asia Economist for Capital Economics. "U.S. companies would find their products and operations in China subject to tighter regulation that hampered their capacity to do business there." The possibility of a trade war between the United States and China loomed large over the horizon after the U.S. electoral college confirmed Donald Trump's presidency on Monday. China is expected to take a series of defensive and retaliatory measures to counter any U.S. moves to restrict the role of Chinese goods and currency movements in the American economy, as Trump has promised to do. Mixing Politics and Economy In the past, China has responded with trade restrictions on several countries for political reasons. For example, Norway for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to a dissident writer or giving a visa to Tibet's Dalai Lama. Trump's recent tweet questioning the One-China policy concerning Taiwan has already caused a stir in the Chinese Communist Party. Talking about investments by China's companies in the United States, Trump recently said, "They haven't played by the rules, and I know it is about time they are going to start". Some members of the U.S. Congress have also called for a review of the policies concerning Chinese investments. This elicited a strong response from Wang Jianlin, China's richest man, who acquired movie studios and other properties in the United States. He says restricting Chinese companies would hurt American jobs instead of helping the country. Wang said he has invested $10 billion and employs 20,000 people in the United States, who will have "nothing to eat" if restrictions are placed on Chinese businesses. During the election campaign, Trump also promised to declare China a currency manipulator. The Chinese yuan has considerably devalued, owing to market pressure. Analysts are divided on whether he would still go ahead with his threat after the recent devaluation. "I am sure that the U.S. under Trump will focus unrelentingly on the exchange rate," Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at King's College, London. "It is a huge anomaly in the 21st century that the world's second biggest economy does not have a market set exchange rate ... In that sense, China is really a freeloader, in the eyes of its American opponents, and they will want to see a quick move to rebalance the Chinese currency, and do something about this anomaly". U.S. Business Concerns More than 1,500 Chinese companies established operations employing 80,000 workers in the United States, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in China. U.S. businesses operating in China have their own fears of moves that cause instability to trade and investment relationships. "Isolating or penalizing China will not serve Americas interests, and only with engagement and commerce will the two largest economies of the world make progress to reach a consensus on contentious issues such as national and regional security, market access and industrial policies, internet censorship, cybersecurity, and terrorism," James Zimmerman, chairman of AmCham, China told VOA. "We do indeed recognize that talking tough is a lot easier than thinking tough and making tough decisions, which is what presidents actually have to do," he said adding, "The chamber has long supported maintaining stability in the region, and we expect the new U.S. administration to respect the status quo". Penalty Corners Who suffers most in the case of a trade war? China would be the first to be hit, and more severely because the United States is a major market for Chinese goods. America buys three times more than what it sells to China. But Beijing can take solace in the fact that Trump would end up hurting the American consumer if he imposed a 45 percent duty on Chinese goods, as he has promised to do.The most important items in the Chinese export basket are mobile phones, tablets/laptops and network equipment. A higher tax on these goods would ultimately be paid by U.S. consumers, Williams of Capital Economics said. Williams does not see the incoming President slapping the 45 percent tax on Chinese goods as he had promised, but hostilities can break out anytime, he warns. Gulen condemned the attack earlier this week, and the United States has rejected what it called "absolutely ridiculous" suggestions that it was involved in or supported the assassination because of Gulen's presence in the U.S. But Wednesday's news conference marked the first time the president had publicly made the claim of Gulen's connection to Monday's assassination of Andrei Karlov at a photo exhibit in the Turkish capital. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call earlier this week that Turkey believes the killer is linked to Gulen, whom Ankara also blames for being July's failed coup in Turkey. "There is no need to make a secret out of the fact he was a member of FETO," Erdogan said at a news conference, using Ankara's preferred acronym for the group run by the U.S.-based preacher and political figure. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the assassination of Russia's ambassador earlier this week was "no doubt" carried out by a member of the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Russia said earlier Wednesday it is too early to draw conclusions about the shooter responsible for Karlov's assassination. Karlov was shot by Mevlut Altintas, a 22-year-old Turkish off-duty police officer who is believed to have gained access to the exhibit by using his badge. A witness told VOA that during the shooting Altintas shouted: "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria! As long as our lands aren't safe, you will not be safe!" Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday there should be no rush to conclusions before a joint investigation of the assassination is complete. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that Secretary Kerry raised concerns about "some of the rhetoric coming out of Turkey" in his call with Cavusoglu. "We need to let the investigators do their job," Kirby told reporters. "And we need to ... let the facts and the evidence take them where it is before we jump to conclusions. But any notion that the United States was in any way supportive of this or behind this or even indirectly involved is absolutely ridiculous." Karlov's body arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, accompanied by his widow. Cavusoglu said on Twitter the street outside the Russian embassy in Ankara will be named after Karlov. The Turkish foreign minister was in Moscow Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, and the two diplomats laid flowers next to portrait of Karlov. "Turkish people are mourning this loss as much as Russia and the people of Russia," Cavusoglu said. Cavusoglu, Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met in Moscow to discuss the Syrian crisis, and according to Lavrov, they agreed to facilitate a deal between the Syrian government and the opposition. Both Russian and Turkish leaders have said the assassination will not divide them. Analysts say they do not see the killing driving a wedge in Russia-Turkey relations. "For a while now, Turkey and Russia had agreed on many issues in northern Syria, including evacuation of civilians from eastern Aleppo, and this convergence could be undermined by the assassination attempt but I think that will not happen," said TWI Turkish Research Program Director, Soner Cagaptay. "At this stage for Russia to act aggressively on this assassination issue would mean that Russia would lose what it has," he told VOA Turkish. "So I think ... Turkey will respond by running a thorough investigation of the assassination." "Russia has been giving Turkey the benefit of the doubt because of the broader interests developing the region regarding Syria and Iraq," said political columnist Semih Idiz of the Al Monitor website. "As you see now, Russia has brought Turkey to its side," he added. "It's trying to capitalize on the deepening division between Turkey and the West, and it sees an advantage in this and it would not want to endanger at this moment in time." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Francisco likes to think of itself as a beautiful melting pot of people from different cultures, races and financial standings living harmoniously integrated within its 49 square miles. In many ways this notion is true, and compared to other cities across the nation, San Francisco is less segregated with far fewer areas of concentrated poverty, affluence and race than metro areas such as Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis, according to research from the University of Minnesota. But any San Franciscan knows that segregation still exists and certain neighborhoods don't reflect the city's overall diversity and have high concentrations of people from certain races and financial status. To understand the existence of this segregation and the history, it's interesting to look at the redlining maps from the New Deal-era, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced new economy recovery programs in response to the Great Depression. The Northern California city joined the rest of the country in encouraging bankers to extend loans to the middle- and upper-class living in high-class areas and warned them against loaning money to home buyers in poor, non-white neighborhoods. Maps and reports drawn up by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) include blatant redlining revealing certain areas of the city where residents were refused loans or given them with caution based on the racial or ethnic composition of their neighborhood. RELATED VIDEO: The most and least diverse cities in the United States You can get a glimpse of this practice on the Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America site where four universities collected redlining maps for dozens of America's largest cities including San Francisco. "Collectively the maps are a remarkable window into racist redlining practices in mid-century America," said Robert Nelson, director of the digital scholarship lab at the University of Richmond, one of the universities contributing to the project. "The private real estate industry practiced redlining. What the HOLC maps did was endorse those practices and through the federal government's regulatory capacity systematically make them best practices in the era." Nelson added, "The effects were devastating. While obviously it's not the only cause, by disadvantaging people of color in access to mortgage and other real estate financing, redlining helped to cause the great disparities of familial wealth between white families and families of color." The language in the reports is remarkable in that the racism isn't implicit or hidden. While you won't find any racial slurs, HOLC's agents outrightly stated that neighborhoods were deemed unacceptable risks because of the presence of people of color, of immigrants, and of Jewsin some cases just a handful. "For example, the San Francisco area descriptions refer to 'undesirable racial elements,'" Nelson explained. "D1, for instance, explains that 'More than half the Negro population of San Francisco are located here, and it is considered a highly hazardous area.' That explanation is pretty typical. That language could be found in the area descriptions of any other city, as is the language about the 'threat' of 'infiltration' by people of color." LM Otero/STF Food business leaders from around the world will gather in Houston early in 2017 for the Global Food Safety Conference. The 16th annual conference, sponsored by the Global Food Safety Initiative and the Consumer Goods Forum, is scheduled for Feb. 27 through March 2 at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel. President-elect Donald Trump has his eye on yet another Texan to take the helm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sean Spicer, who Trump on Thursday named incoming White House Press Secretary, told reporters that Elsa Murano, a former president and current professor at Texas A&M University, was going to be meeting with Trump about the job next week. A pregnant woman who was held facedown on the ground and handcuffed in a San Francisco train station by BART police officers despite an agency policy against cuffing pregnant women behind their backs said Wednesday that she suffered a miscarriage because of the officers actions. Andrea Appleton, 24, was taken to the ground along with her boyfriend, 22-year-old Michael Smith, in a July 29 incident that prompted controversy after videos of the encounter spread online. Smith was acquitted last week of misdemeanor charges of battery stemming from his struggle with officers, which happened after another passenger apparently falsely reported that Smith was armed and had threatened to rob him. The passenger, a white man, had been harassing the couple, who are African American, as their train headed through West Oakland, telling them that they smelled, said Appleton. She said she was in her first trimester and on her way to a doctors appointment with Smith. Her account was backed up by two witnesses during Smiths racially charged trial, said San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who represented Smith. The couple said they got off at Embarcadero Station to avoid confrontation with the other passenger, only to be greeted by BART officers with guns drawn. According to a 911 recording released Wednesday, the other passenger reported a dispute with two African Americans, saying that one, who he said wore a Mickey Mouse shirt and might have had a weapon, just threatened to rob me. Adachi also released the officers body camera videos, in an effort, he said, to further a conversation about racial bias and police use of force. We often talk about policy and the use of force, but this is an actual case where you can see how the system failed Michael Smith and Andrea Appleton, Adachi said. Were here not to only look at one criminal case but how we can improve BART policy so this does not happen again in the future. In a statement, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said an internal affairs investigation is ongoing. She said that when officers responded the adult male was not cooperative, while the adult female was. Body cameras on the officers show the adult male bit, kicked and spat on officers while resisting arrest. The body cameras also showed an officer holding Appleton facedown on the ground with his knee in her back and pulling her arms behind her as she protests that she is pregnant. Smith, who was on the ground as well, began thrashing and screaming that Appleton was pregnant as the officers struggled to hold him down. Appleton said it wasnt until this point that an officer asked her if she was pregnant and then helped her off the ground. In the videos, her hands remain cuffed behind her back. BART police policy states that pregnant women should be restrained in the least restrictive manner that is effective for officer safety and in no event shall these persons be restrained by the use of leg irons, waist chains or handcuffs behind body. In this case, it was not clear or known if the female was pregnant, Trost said. She was not visibly showing. After the adult female said she was pregnant, body cameras show the officer treated her with respect, stood her up in a comfortable position almost immediately, moved her away from possible injury that could occur, and asked her about her well-being or if she needed medical attention, which she declined. BART directors Lateefah Simon and Bevan Dufty vowed Wednesday to do what they could to make sure such an encounter doesnt happen again. But Deputy Chief Jeffrey Jenner maintained that the officers followed protocol and were some of the best-trained in the department. Our job is to make sure that the citizens who ride BART are safe and the officers are safe, Jenner said. In this case, nobody was hurt in the sense of an action that BART PD did. We worked within our training and we worked within our policy. None of this would have happened if Mr. Smith complied. While Smith was acquitted of four battery charges, the San Francisco jury couldnt reach a verdict on two additional counts of battery on a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and a lesser charge of simple battery all misdemeanors. The district attorney could choose to refile charges, and Adachi did not allow Smith to speak to reporters Wednesday as a result. Max Szabo, a spokesman for District Attorney George Gascon, said in a statement that the office is currently evaluating whether we will pursue this case further. Adachi questioned why the passenger who made the report was not criminally charged. He said the case showed how implicit racial bias affects policing, echoing the concerns of one juror that one of the BART officers testified that he saw Smith as angry even though there was little evidence of that on the video. We look at this case as a teaching opportunity for our communities to come together and to do better, Adachi said. We know police officers have a difficult job, but these encounters, like the one that Mr. Smith and Ms. Appleton went through that ultimately cost them the life of their child, was unnecessary and did not need to happen this way. Appleton said she and Smith have been struggling since the miscarriage, which happened about two weeks after Smiths arrest. She said her boyfriend cried every day, and she fell into a deep depression. Its not right, she said quietly. Its not fair to me or my boyfriend to lose our child and to have to go through this. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo When Janet Stone lost half her life savings in the 2001 stock market crash and again in the national economic meltdown of 2008, she had enough with the banks and other financial institutions. The 48-year-old San Francisco single mother and yoga instructor withdrew what was left of the nest egg shed been stashing away in a bank since she was in her 20s, invested in a home safe and hid the key somewhere she thought no one would ever find. But in a shocking twist, Stone went bust for a third time. On Dec. 14, a burglar pried open the door of her home near Mount Davidson Park, broke into the trusty safe and swiped her life savings of more than six figures as well as jewelry and precious family heirlooms. Even the contents of her two young daughters piggy banks were stolen. I had been saving for over 20 years. I just crouched on the ground, put my head on the floor and cried, Stone said. I couldnt believe that could happen. Despite the devastating loss, Stone said she looked around her ransacked home and was grateful that the thief left her Christmas tree intact. The investigation of the crime is ongoing and, so far, no arrests have been made, said Officer Robert Rueca, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department. There is no surveillance footage capturing the incident or witnesses, Rueca said, making it even more difficult to capture the bandit. It felt like they knew exactly where the safe was. It felt like they were in the house before, Stone said, adding that she is very open with her home and often rents it out on Airbnb. The burglar was able to find the key to the safe, which had been packed away in the back of a closet and zipped up in an ancient purse, Stone said. She said she last pulled her money out of the bank in 2008 when she lost over half her savings in the national economic crisis. She thought a home safe would better protect her earnings than a bank, but now, she said, shes forced to rethink her ways. Anything that I was saving went into the safe, said Stone, who lives with her 10-year-old and 13-year-old daughters. We are just trying to make it. We dont have a lot of cushion for later or if my kids get sick or if I get sick, so thats really what that (money) was for. Unless the culprit or culprits are caught, that money will never be replaced, Stone said, adding that home insurance doesnt cover cash. In addition to losing the money, the burglar snatched her jewelry, including her grandmothers diamond wedding ring, a family heirloom shed been hoping to pass on to her children. That stuff was really sentimental, those things mean a lot. I dont have photos of those things, Stone said of the jewelry. Stone has been a yoga instructor in San Francisco for 15 years and teaches classes at Yoga Tree, which has studios throughout the city. She also teaches workshops for yoga instructors around the world including Bali, Indonesia, India and Australia. Since the burglary, the yoga community has rallied around Stone, organizing a GoFundMe page. One yoga studio in Canada added a fundraising campaign to its classes to help Stone recoup some of her losses, said Connie Engel, who works as a training coordinator for Stone. When I first walked in and dropped to the floor, I lifted my head and was like, Thats so unkind, Stone said. But theres been such an outpouring in the community and I just kept putting my attention on the kindness. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani Paper Tigers SATX Xmas Showcase put a twist on Christmas music Wednesday by featuring local artists playing holiday music in their own unique style, according to the event page. San Antonio-based Lonely Horse and Flower Jesus Quintet led the starry night, which was put on to raise money for The Childrens Shelter in San Antonio. The U.S. has imposed curbs on all financial transactions by staff of the North Korean mission to the UN and their families. The aim is to strangle the flow of hard currency into the North Korean regimes nuclear and missile programs. In an online notice Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department said American banks now need special permission from the Office of Foreign Assets Control before opening accounts or giving loans to North Korean diplomats at the UN and their families. They can only use these special accounts to remit or receive money. That will make it easier to monitor suspicious financial transactions and money laundering. In March, Washington froze all U.S. assets linked to the North Korean regime and Workers Party but exempted routine financial transactions for the operation of the North Korean mission and the daily lives of its staff and families. Millions of people visit the San Antonio River Walk yearly with a large portion of those crowds visiting during the holidays, meaning long lines wrapped around the banks of the river for a peek at the glowing cypress trees or bite of warm Tex-Mex cuisine. The River Walk/Alamo Plaza twinkling duo are surely stars of San Antonio's holiday spectacular, but if slow-moving, selfie stick-grasping crowds are not a part of your ideal winter wonderland scenario, they city is packed with other, less-crowded options. San Antonio's lush Christmas display may have taken a different vibe this year with the 55-foot White Fur moving to Travis Park, but that just means there are more destinations to visit for your holiday light fix. Several places from San Antonio to the Hill Country go big this time of year by drenching houses, parks and prominent landmarks with millions of sparkling lights. Courtesy Photo Members of Uptown Midland Business and Professional Women helped the Salvation Army on Dec. 3 with time at their famous red kettle. The women were joined by the Armys Advisory Board and University of Texas of the Permian Basin students to help raise donations for the organization as well as for Lone Star Animal Sanctuary and Matts Backpacks for the Homeless. These three charities are in desperate need of donations, especially during our cold and rainy weather, BPW director Jonna Smoot said. BROOKFIELD - Superintendent John Barile proposed a $41.5 million budget for the 2017-18 academic year at a Board of Education meeting Wednesday night. The initial proposal is a nearly $1.15 million increase from this years budget. The proposed budget estimate for 2017-2018 as presented represents our commitment to maintain an excellent educational program and continue to advance the Brookfield Public Schools to continually improve and retain among the finest in Connecticut, Barile said in a letter to the board. Barile said in his letter that the budget allows the schools to follow its Strategic Coherence Plan, which outlines the districts goals through 2021, by addressing curriculum development, professional learning, assessment literacy, reading instruction and organizational structures. The proposed budget is a 2.85 percent increase from the 2016-17 budget, which had been a 2.19 percent increase from the 2015-16 budget. Chairman of the Board of Education Bob Belden said the 2.85 increase is one of the lowest initial proposals the board has received in a while. When Barile initially proposed the 2016-17 budget, he recommended a 4.19 increase. The superintendent and the administration were very responsible in thinking of what the means were and where we could cut back in order to bring a reasonable budget to the taxpayers, Belden said. The proposed budget is also lower than the status quo budget of $41.7 million because Barile found ways to reduce costs, Belden said. Although Barile recommended hiring two reading teachers, one for the high school and one for the middle school, which would cost $160,000, he suggested eliminating para educator, K-2 Spanish and high school writing center positions. This would save $138,000. Its nice to see a school administration take a balanced view like that, Belden said. Barile said the budget continues to support funding for facilities, performing arts, world language and extracurricular activities. It will also strengthen student achievement by improving technology and professional development activities for staff, he said. The budget maintains a balance among core programs despite increased costs, Barile said. In a fiscally responsible manner, this spending plan requests limited new funding necessary to meet the cost of continuing and maintaining the quality of current programs and compliance with legal mandates. The presentation on the schools website shows some of the budget drivers are strategic enhancements, special education costs, the 8 percent increase in employee benefit costs, the 21 percent increase in English language learner enrollment, utilities, unfunded mandates and implementation of state standards. Barile recommended adding a world language lab at the high school and cutting Monday early dismissal for Kindgergarten. He also proposed eliminating Spanish classes for Kindergarten through second grade, providing up to an additional one hour per week for social studies and science lessons. At Whisconier Middle School, Barile suggested creating an enrichment program focusing on science, technology, engineering, math, creativity, innovation, and communication and collaborative skills. He said the middle school would also increase social studies time for fifth and sixth grade. Barile said in his letter that he strived to develop a budget that would not be a financial burden on taxpayers. At the same time, we are aware of our responsibility to insure the adequate resources necessary to move the Brookfield Public Schools forward as an organization that propels students to become exceptional young people who will shape our future, he said. Paul Checco, the vice chairman of the Board of Education, said the proposal was in its infancy and that it was too soon to comment on whether the budget was too high or low. Were going to take the benefits of the holidays to digest it, he said. The board will discuss the budget at its Jan. 4 meeting and will bring it to the first selectman at the end of January. The town will vote on the budget in May. Democrats and Republicans reached a power-sharing deal Thursday for the 18-18 tie in the state Senate, avoiding a stalemate and a potential court court case over the constitutional powers of the lieutenant governor. The agreement will make members of both parties co-chairmen of the various legislative committees, along with House co-chairmen. If the Senate co-chairmen cannot agree on a bill, it will essentially die in committee. When the General Assembly gathers for the new session on January 4, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, will retain his title. Current Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, will become Senate Republican President Pro Tempore, to distinguish him from his Democratic counterpart, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven,. who will retain that title. The agreement ends more than a month of closed-door talks among the Senate leaders and their staffs, facing a tie for the first time since a 12-12 deadlock in 1893, also under a Democratic lieutenant governor. Under the loose wording in the state Constitution, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, a Democrat, could break every tie vote, including procedural issues at the very start of the session, but Democrats negotiated an arrangement to defuse the potential for partisan gridlock. The deal headed off a battle over the issue in the state Supreme Court, which might have had to rule on the extent of the lieutenant governors powers. Voters of Connecticut expect us to work together regardless of whether one party has a 10-seat majority or if we are tied, Duff said in an interview. Seventy five percent of the legislation we pass is unanimous and 95 percent is bipartisan, so I expect we will continue to work favorably with this new agreement. It was critical that Democrats and Republicans work together to reach a fair compromise to ensure that the Senate is able to conduct its business and move Connecticut forward, Looney said in a statement. With bipartisan power comes bipartisan responsibility and accountability. Todays announcement would not have been possible without Senator Fasanos leadership and commitment to working together throughout this process. Bipartisan bills are the best way to legislate, Fasano said in an afternoon interview. The way this is structured there are going to be a lot of conversations. I think it respects the vote of the people of Connecticut, who saw we needed some equalization in government. Under the settlement, Republicans, who have been in the minority since 1997, will now be able to mark resolutions, bills and union contracts ready for action in the Senate. There are a lot of pluses in this arrangement, Fasano said. It gives us more control. For decades, Democratic majorities in the House and Senate have allowed new union contracts to lapse into effect. Now, Republicans can at least get them called on the calendar. This will draw attention to the fact that 25 percent of our budget is personal services expenditures, Fasano said. He added that Looney was very magnanimous in allowing him to share the title of president pro tempore, the highest-ranking moniker among the 36 senators. This agreement sets a historic precedent for lawmakers to work together, no matter which party holds the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and respect a relationship of equal power as decided by Connecticut voters, Fasano said. Senator Looney and I have known each other for many years and we have an enormous amount of respect for one another. We have become a chamber of equals, and now we have a plan to maintain that equality in all day to day legislative business. kdixon@ctpost.com; ALBANY Investigators seized 862 fake IDs and arrested 818 people for underage drinking statewide this year, record numbers for the Department of Motor Vehicles. In the Capital Region, the department's investigators seized 201 fake IDs and arrested 149 people, the governor's office said Thursday. DMV investigators work year-round with state and local law enforcement agencies to conduct underage drinking sweeps at bars, restaurants and concert venues across New York. The previous record of 751 seized fake IDs and 758 arrests was set in 2015. 1 Black church burning: A Mississippi man arrested in the burning of an African American church that was spray-painted with the words Vote Trump is a member of the congregation, the churchs bishop said. Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, Miss., was charged Wednesday with first-degree arson of a place of worship, said Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. McClinton,who is African American, was arrested in Greenville where Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was burned Nov. 1, a week before the presidential election. A state official said politics did not appear to be the reason for the fire. 2 Drain the swamp: One of Donald Trumps advisers says the president-elect is no longer interested in his rallying cry drain the swamp. Im told he now just disclaims that. He now says it was cute, but he doesnt want to use it anymore, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in an interview that aired Wednesday on NPR. Gingrich, a vice chairman of the transition team, also predicted there would be constant fighting over Trumps efforts to reduce the influence of lobbyists and Washington insiders. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Pasadena city communications director's recent admission in federal court that he violated state ethics laws in municipal elections has led to an official to call for an audit of the city's finances. At a Dec. 20 precouncil meeting, City Councilman Sammy Casados presented Pasadena's comptroller, Wayne Long, with a written request for a forensic audit, or an investigation into the city's finances, that would be done by the city's auditor, Belt Harris Pechacek LLP, to uncover any potential fraud or misuse of money. "Richard Scott admitted to doing something illegal, and as a result this is something I felt is my duty as a council member elected by the citizen of Pasadena," Casados said later. "But I want to clarify that this is not a witch hunt. This is bigger than Richard Scott. As the communications director, he is in charge of five other departments and I now have to ask the question: How far does this go? Are five city departments being used illegally for political campaigns? That's what we don't know." On Nov. 29, Scott testified in a federal voting rights case brought against the city by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a national nonprofit civil rights group that alleges that the city's redistricting approved by voters in 2013 diluted the power of the Hispanic vote. During his testimony, Scott admitted he used city resources and worked from his City Hall office while being paid as a city staffer on the campaigns of several council candidates in the 2015 election and to help gain passage of a charter amendment in 2013 to authorize the redistricting. Scott also admitted to directing other city staffers to help organize campaign events and work in other ways on the campaign during office hours using city computers and other resources. Public servants generally are prohibited from using government resources such as computers or staff time for personal gain or campaigns. Said Casados: "I want to make sure that our city employees and department directors are held accountable for their actions. In addition, we need to make that as a city we're not going to be held liable from employees that are fired or let go due to the outcome of this investigation." Included in the records Casados presented to the city comptroller was documentation that showed Scott was being represented during the trial by a criminal defense attorney from the Houston law firm Rusty Hardin and Associates. "That is one of the reasons I requested this financial audit because it's not clear if the city is paying for criminal defense attorneys for Mr. Scott or other employees. I understand the city may be in litigation against certain parties, but the city should not be paying for someone's criminal defense," Casados said. Casados asked the controller at the Dec. 20 meeting to calculate how much money the city had spent on the MALDEF lawsuit. Casados said he had heard estimates that the legal fees associated with the lawsuit are more than $1 million. Long didn't return calls for comment as of press time. Several citizens also called for an investigation during the public comments portion of the Dec. 20 regular council meeting. "I want an investigation. I want to find out how and why," former council candidate Larry Peacock said. "It's hard to run a campaign, and we all want to play on the same level field. But, maybe we weren't. This does not need to keep happening in Pasadena. This is very, very bad and it needs to stop." During the 2015 city council elections, Peacock ran an unsuccessful campaign against Councilman Cary Bass for District E. During Scott's testimony and according to court documents, Scott admitted using city resources and working during city time to campaign for Bass and other candidates who were supported by a political action committee called "Citizens for a Strong Pasadena." Scott's admissions were also a concern for another resident, Mariavilma Duran, a newcomer to city politics who said she intended to become more involved because of recent issues. "I think that as a member of the younger generation, as a millennial, what do we want? We want action," Duran said. "We don't want to continue in the same protocol or in the same unacceptable behaviors as always." Duran called for an internal investigation and said that it should go beyond allegations against Scott. "Is this a culture within the city government? How deep does it go?" Duran asked. "It's really important because as residents we have placed a lot of responsibility and trust in our city government starting right here with the city council," Duran said. "Right now, I feel that trust has been broken." According to the city charter, an independent audit of the city's accounts by an independent auditor is required each year. Last March, Belt Harris Pechacek issued a clean report on the city's financial statements for the year ended Sept. 30, 2015. As part of the audit, council members are required to sign a form reporting any suspected fraud or financial misconduct on the part of the city. Casados said he felt he had to report possible financial mismanagement associated with Scott's campaign activities and ask auditors to investigate any potential liability for the city and trace any suspected fraudulent activity. "If this situation involves fraud we need to speak our minds and do something about it," he said. A ruling in the federal trial is expected early next year. BAD AXE Huron County agencies have begun to coordinate drug abuse prevention efforts. County agencies involved in drug abuse prevention met Tuesday at the Huron County Jail to discuss overlapping programs and solutions to the drug issue plaguing the county. At the same time, the Huron County Board of Commissioners was approached about having youth representation on the issue at the county level. McKenzie Price, executive director of the Huron County Community Foundation, said the foundation's Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) would like to take part in the process of evaluating drug prevention efforts in the county. A needs assessment done two years ago by the committee found that among seventh, ninth and 11th graders, binge drinking and drug abuse were major issues. "I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone in this room that the biggest issues they saw were binge drinking and drug use and abuse in our high school population," Price said. Students from each county high school sit on YAC, which meets monthly. YAC manages its own pool of grant funds, Price said. She said prevention is key. "By the time we're seeing them at hospitals, by the time they're engaging with our law enforcement, it's too late," Price told county commissioners on Tuesday. "If we're going to focus on prevention, if we're going to focus on the youth, I think YAC would be a really valuable resource to you guys. So instead of sitting around a table deciding what is going to have an impact on our young people, (try) directly asking those students 'Hey, you guys had five presentations come to your school this year. Did any of them stick?'" "Really, no one knows the mind of a high schooler better than the high schooler," Price added. "Good, bad or otherwise, if that's your target audience for this program, I think it would be great to engage youth in that discussion." YAC is currently in the process of coming up with a 15-minute presentation to be given before prom after which is graduation after which many students go to college, Price said. "You're about to go through a large transition in your life. These are things you're going to be exposed to ... Here are some logistical things that can help you through it," she said. The commissioners seemed receptive to Price's ideas. Huron County Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson called the jail meeting, which officials from the Huron County Health Department, the Huron County Prosecutor's Office, Huron Behavioral Health (HBH), the Chance for Change program, and Huron County Sheriff's Office program attended. "This meeting should have happened years ago," Hanson told the Tribune. He said he was unaware that the health department and HBH each had a full-time prevention specialist on staff. The Huron County Board of Commissioners has not budgeted any specific funds for drug prevention in the county for 2017, but officials expect to iron that out next year, and amend the budget accordingly. The meeting "was about what we all currently do, how long we've been doing it, how long we intend on doing it and what can be done together, or somewhat together, or can't be done together at all," Hanson said. "We're sharing information amongst agencies," Hanson said. The goal is to determine how agencies can serve the county in a more coordinated manner. One outcome of the meeting was that the entities decided to form a Families Against Narcotics (FAN) group, Hanson said. "Follow up meetings will occur next month and enhancement between agencies occurred immediately," Hanson said. Hanson said YAC, as well as other agencies, would be welcome at follow-up meetings. The daily carried images of MRLs standing in line on the beach and blasting away while Kim looked on smiling. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched a firing contest of multiple rocket launchers and a nighttime air-raid drill by fighter jet pilots, state media reported Wednesday. The batteries are aimed at hitting the Seoul metropolitan area, and there are fears that South Korea has no viable defense against them. Kim has watched four military events in December alone. Edith Dee Dee Wacksman, a prominent figure in Bay City philanthropic circles, has stepped down as a trustee after 18 years of volunteer service to Delta College. Wacksman concluded her Delta Board career at the trustees December meeting, marking the end of a lengthy and passion-fueled tenure at the community college. Eighteen years is a long time to do something, Wacksman said. You just know when its time. Wacksmans steadfast belief in the mission of community colleges to provide educational opportunities to everyone stems from her past career as a dental hygiene instructor. Wacksman taught at a community college branch of the University of Cincinnati decades ago. The experience inspired her to get involved with Delta. Its where I learned the value of community colleges, she recounted. When we moved to Bay City 40 years ago I was very familiar with the community college experience. I thought maybe I could be of assistance to Delta. Wacksman began representing Bay County as a trustee in 1999. Through the years she has been one of the more visible trustees on campus, often attending events and lending her support to faculty and staff-driven endeavors. One of the things that made me different from other Board members was that I was retired and could go out to Delta during the day, she said. Dee Dee engages with our campus community and our students, said Delta President Jean Goodnow. Its common to see Dee Dee on campus hours before a board meeting begins. Often, she is visiting the library, a Womens History Month event, an office on campus, or is taking the time to appreciate the artwork of our faculty. Most recently, Dee Dee volunteered for our Democracy Commitment initiative to register voters on campus. For Goodnow, bidding farewell to a person shes grown to admire and become fast friends with over the years is difficult. I am lucky to say that Dee Dee has been an advisor and friend to me,Goodnow said. It is with gratitude and, I have to be honest, sadness that we say farewell to two of our trustees, Kimberly Houston (Midland County) and Dee Dee Wacksman. The Bay County trustee, Goodnow said, always had Deltas best interests at heart. She often brings me articles--from around the countrythat related to things going on at Delta College. She brings back thoughtful mementoes from her travels and shares them with us. She is caring and considerate, pays attention to all the details going on around the college, and always takes time to provide me with feedback regarding the messages I send to the Board on various topics. She always had something positive to say. Goodnow went on to say that Wacksman was one of the first people she met at Delta. Thats because she was a member of the Presidential Search Committee when Goodnow was hired back in 2005. Wacksman cited that role as a highlight of her Delta Board career. I was the Board Chair (2003-2004) when Peter Boyse retired, she recounted. This triggered a presidential search that was unprecedented in Deltas history. Pete was brought in as a VP with the expectation that he would succeed Don Carlyon as president, which is what happened. We had a huge search committee. It was a daunting task. Being there when Jean was hired and seeing the president shes become has been rewarding. Yet Goodnows presidential regime has not been without controversy. She and the college have been sued multiple times, including lawsuits filed by ex-trustee Kim Higgs, primarily over what he claimed were Deltas frequent violations of The Open Meetings Act. While Delta has prevailed the vast majority of times in court in its legal battles with Higgs, the controversies proved to be a distraction that detracted from the colleges focus on student success, Wacksman said. Jean definitely had some issues over the years with one of our former trustees, she said. Its much better now. Shes very capable of dealing with things. She is cool, calm and collected. Jean is respected nationally in academic circles. People here dont know that. If youre from here you dont necessarily pay attention to this. Delta, Wacksman said, has an image problem it doesnt warrant. Too many people in this area think Delta is an elaborate high school. That couldnt be further from the truth. The people out there are what make it such an outstanding institution. The faculty is simply outstanding. They go beyond the classroom to help students. Ive seen it firsthand because Ive taken about 42 hours of class work at Delta. Dee Dee truly values Delta College and the people who work here, Goodnow said. A couple years ago she made a big motion to reserve a parking spot for me. This may seem like a little thing to youbut its a big thing to me. She recognized the fact that I have a tight schedule with meetings both on and off campus. She recognized how much easier a parking spot would make it for me to get where I needed to go. I appreciate that. Enrollment continues to be a big challenge for Delta and other institutions of higher learning, Wacksman said. A declining population coupled with more people returning to the work force make it difficult for Delta to reach past student numbers. We have to take advantage of people who are still here, Wacksman said. Maybe they arent the 18 to 20 year olds. There is a big adult market out there that were not tapping as well. Wacksman anticipates that changing when Delta unveils its new satellite campus in downtown Saginaw. The new center in Saginaw should be open in a couple years, she said. This is going to bring in a whole new group of people, many who perhaps didnt have access to college previously. This should help Deltas enrollment. Wacksman said that with her husband, Rick, now semi-retired, the time was right to not seek re-election to Deltas Board. The couples son, Mitch, lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine and we have two beautiful granddaughters, aged 2 and 4, we plan to spend more time with. Were in Maine a lot and were heading south for several weeks this winter, she said. But Im not moving to China. Ill be around. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK A new fourth grade social studies textbook will be on classroom shelves across Norwalk next school year. Thats according to the Norwalk Board of Educations Curriculum Committee Chair Artie Kassimis, who said a timeline for selecting and replacing the current books was decided on by the committee this week. The effort to find a new book comes after district officials earlier this month deemed the current fourth grade social studies textbook The Connecticut Adventure inaccurate and insensitive in its historical depiction of slaves in Connecticut. Officials were acting in response to concerns with the book first raised Nov. 29 by a mother who argued that the textbook taught her daughter slaves in Connecticut were cared for like family members. District officials responded within a week and said hundreds of copies of the textbook would be pulled from classrooms in the 10 out of 12 of the districts elementary schools that currently use it by the time students return from the holiday break. The fourth grade social studies curriculum, officials said, was poised for an update in 2019 anyway. So we are just going to get on it a little quicker, Kassimis said. The timeline for getting a new textbook into the classroom was established at the committee's Tuesday meeting. On Jan. 3. the committee will meet with Mary Yordon, Norwalk Federation of Teachers president, and Michael Connor, the districts chief academic officer, to put a social studies integration team together that will construct the requirements for a new textbook, Kassimis said. To serve on that team, Kassimis said, officials are looking for a total of 10 to 12 members from central office, teachers and parents. Later in the month, Jan. 20, that team will be presented to the Board of Education to be officially adopted. In February the team will host a vendor fair where publishers will visit to show off viable textbooks. The focus in the search will be on four different areas of focus: civics, economics, geography and history, Kassimis said. The team will tentatively select a book and conduct a six-week pilot evaluation in March. Finally, a new book is slated to be adopted in May. In the meantime, a separate committee was formed to pull together resources to use in teaching fourth grade social studies for the remainder of the year, in the books absence. The committee also asked Connor to go through other textbooks in the district to check for such inaccuracies. Kassimis said to his knowledge no other issues had been found. To pay for the new textbooks, Kassimis said the Board of Education will have to make a capital request in May, as the costs were not planned for. He said new textbooks were recently purchased for the middle schools at a cost of roughly $250,000. He said the cost for the fourth grade social studies textbooks could be in that neighborhood. The current text, The Connecticut Adventure, is 250 pages, was published in 2001 by Gibbs Smith Publishing and written by author John W. Ifkovic. Brad Farmer, chief executive officer at Gibbs Smith Education, said the publishing company fell short in the iteration of the book used by Norwalk schools. The content about Connecticut slavery was revised in a new version of the publishers program, Connecticut Stories, which makes no reference to slaves being cared for like members of their owners families. KSchultz@thehour.com; 203-354-1049; @kevinedschultz When Agape Counseling Services of West Texas eliminated therapy for children, it wanted to give the resources to another organization in need. As Agape switches its focus to adult and adolescent clients, it has strengthened partnerships with other counseling centers. Executive director Michael Ballard said his staff has long interacted with local organizations, including Centers for Children and Families and Samaritan Counseling Center. He said they all work to serve community members. We dont see ourselves in competition, Ballard said. With mental health, there are too many people in need. Recently, Agape changed its emphasis to counseling adults and adolescents. So the organization decided to donate used toys from its play therapy program to High Sky Childrens Ranch. JaLynn Hogan, executive director of High Sky, welcomed the donation and said the toys will help during sessions with children who have experienced trauma. Play therapy toys may not seem like a very big deal, Hogan said. For children, playing out things that happen in life is a big deal. They may not be able to speak about them, but they can play. The shift in Agapes services gave local organizations another reason to work together, according to Kristi Edwards, clinical director at Centers. Help is available -- Agape Counseling Services of West Texas 3500 N. "A" St. 550-5683 -- Centers for Children and Families 3701 Andrews Highway 570-1084 -- Samaritan Counseling Center of West Texas 10008 Pilot Ave. 563-4144 See More Collapse Were all here in this small town, Edwards said. Were trying to make sure clients go to the appropriate place. Right now Agape doesnt have counseling for small children, so they refer them to us. Were in training together, so they know they can trust us with their clients. Counselors at Samaritan also dont want to compete, according to Teresa Alexander, director of business administration. She said the center does what it can to fulfill needs within the community. We support agencies that offer the same services as we do, Alexander said. There are lots of clients to go around. We try to take care of the clients that seek us. Agape, located in Midland Shared Spaces, already formed partnerships with some nonprofits in the building. But the organization saw an opportunity for further collaboration when employees toured the new facility for Centers. Sue Daniel, assistant executive director of Agape, said people within her organization realized they didnt need to duplicate services offered at Centers. For play therapy, instead of copying the space, they can do it better for who really needs it, Daniel said. Were going to focus on adolescent help. Were trying to move into a niche that isnt well-covered. Agape used a grant from Ecolab to start a new adolescent program this semester at Midland ISDs Midland Alternative Program. The organizations employees went to the school to lead students in small group discussions about life skills. Kristine Blankendaal, licensed professional counselor intern at Agape, helped facilitate the discussions. She said the sessions gave students support and information about opportunities. The purpose of being there is just to help develop identity strengthen both external and internal resources students can use, Blankendaal said. Its really just planting seeds. In addition to the alternative school program, Agape offers counseling appointments for teenagers at it office. Edwards said the relationships among counseling centers has value for all Midlanders. Theres no secrecy, Edwards said. We worked together so long and so much to do the best we can for the community. Healthy people make a healthy community. Holding somebody on a waiting list or not sending them to someone else is a disservice. A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday reinstated a California law allowing the state to charge nonresidents much higher fees than residents for commercial fishing licenses. The law, first enacted in 1986, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal magistrate in 2013 and was suspended while the state appealed unsuccessfully to a three-judge appellate panel. But in a 6-5 ruling Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the state justified the higher fees as a way to lessen the impact on California taxpayers to support commercial fishing. California spent about $20 million on management, enforcement and conservation activities related to commercial fishing in 2010-11 and collected $5.8 million in fees and taxes from the fishing industry and retail sales, Judge William Fletcher said in the majority opinion. Nonresidents paid higher fees $951.50 for a commercial fishing license, compared with $317 charged to California residents, and an additional $1,600 for vessel registration, herring gill nets and Dungeness crab permits, 3.3 times as much as in-state residents were charged overall. Fletcher said Californians made up the difference in their share of overall state tax payments. The state has an interest in recovering from nonresident commercial fishers their share of the benefit provided to them by its management of the commercial fishery, Fletcher said. While the plaintiffs argued that they also paid California taxes on their earnings and purchases in the state, Fletcher said the three plaintiffs who filed the class-action suit on behalf of non-Californians had paid only a few thousand dollars in California income taxes in the past two decades. But dissenting Judge Milan Smith said the majority had disregarded expert testimony that declared nonresidents, as a group, were paying taxes on their California income and purchases. They are not being subsidized by other taxpayers and should be charged the same fees for fishing, Smith said. Californias enactment of discriminatory fee differentials promotes our economic balkanization, said Smith, joined in dissent by Judges Andrew Hurwitz, John Owens, Stephen Reinhardt and Marsha Berzon. Non-Californians hold about 11 percent of the commercial fishing licenses the state issues each year, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Stuart Gross, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the 700 to 1,000 nonresidents who paid higher fees for those licenses would start each fishing season with a deficit they sometimes couldnt make up, especially in the herring business, where the profit margin is typically slim. Gross said he would appeal Wednesdays ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court has overturned other states nonresident license fees that were 10 or 100 times the amounts paid by residents. The appeals courts reasoning would allow states to enact a broad range of discriminatory laws that restrict the individual rights of citizens of the United States to earn a living, Gross said. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko Washington Obamacare seems to be holding its own. The administration said Wednesday that 6.4 million people have enrolled for subsidized private coverage through HealthCare.gov, ahead of last year's pace. Despite rising premiums, dwindling insurers and the Republican vow to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, about 400,000 more people signed up through Monday than for a comparable period in 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services said. "Today's enrollment numbers confirm that doomsday predictions about the marketplace are not bearing out," said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. Still, it's too early for supporters of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, to say "I told you so." It's unclear if the administration will meet its target of 13.8 million sign-ups. That's partly because the share of new customers is down compared with current consumers re-upping for another year. New customers are 32 percent of the total this year versus 40 percent around the same time last year. Administration officials said they're going to focus on getting more new customers between now and the end of open enrollment Jan. 31. Other vital signs for HealthCare.gov were encouraging. "There are zero signs that the ACA's marketplaces are in danger of imminent collapse," said Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. That carries an implicit warning for President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, who have promised to move quickly to repeal the law. That repeal would be followed by a GOP-inspired replacement. Although immediate changes affecting 2017 are unlikely, the whole process could take several years. Democratic governors Wednesday fired off a letter to GOP congressional leaders, calling the repeal plan "nothing more than a Washington, D.C., bait-and-switch" that would leave millions uninsured and shift to states an estimated $69 billion over a decade in uncompensated care costs. The statistics released Wednesday are for 39 states served by the federal online insurance marketplace. Numbers from states running their own markets have not been fully tallied, and will be added later, raising the total. Toward the end of this month, several million current customers who are being re-enrolled automatically will be added to the count. Some of the biggest sign-up numbers are coming from states Trump won in the presidential election, including Florida (1.3 million); Texas (776,000); North Carolina (369,000); Georgia (352,000), and Pennsylvania (291,000). This Saturday evening, Christmas Eve, as we Jews begin our 8-day celebration of Hanukkah, the festival marking the dedication (Hanukkah Translated) of the second temple in Jerusalem, I wanted to focus on the most important symbol for me the Menorah. This beautiful holiday is also known as the festival of lights and I love the ritual of using one of our many Menorahs to light the candles. According to a short piece from Israelboutique.com, the Menorah stands for light, wisdom and divine inspiration. Originally, the Menorah was a seven-branched candelabra beaten out of a solid piece of gold that served as one of the sacred vessels in the Holy Temple... Only pure, fresh olive oil of the highest quality was suitable to light the MenorahThe Menorahs design and the ideas it communicates endure as an inspiration for universal enlightenment. Todays Menorahs contain nine branches, including the Shames (Shamash) or servant candle, which is used to light each of the 8 candles. According to Jewish Gift Place.com, The candles are placed in the Menorah from right to left. The candles are lit from left to right. None of the eight candles can be used for anything beyond publicizing the Hanukkah story. Over the past 50 years, my wife and I have been collecting unusual Menorahs, which we have discovered in many off-the-beaten path stores, art fairs and Judaica shops around the United States. Our criteria are very simple. The Menorah must be really different and its design has to be really striking. Most of our Menorahs (Hanukkahs) fit that description and we have used almost all of them either separately or together to create a real array of lights. For instance, nearly 15 years ago we attended the Ann Arbor, Michigan art fair, a huge event, with our daughter. As we walked down one of the main streets, I saw a breathtaking array of glass Menorahs. When we stopped to chat with the artist, we learned that he was a Chicago area glass blower and he had just started designing these Menorahs. The piece was gorgeous and very heavy. Its long and sleek and filled with purples, reds and blues. Today, it adorns our fireplace and we love using it, especially several nights into Hanukkah when the lights against the glass truly publicize Hanukkah. Soon after wed purchased the glass Menorah, we were walking around New Canaan on Black Friday the same year. We wandered into this amazing store called The Wave (its no longer there, but a sister store is still in New Haven). I saw this incredible tall wooden Menorah out of the corner of my eye and dragged my wife over. The name of the manufacturer was a company called Styx and the Menorah was part of a display of eclectic looking furniture, mirrors and jewel boxes. I knew we had to have that Menorah. There was a beautiful bird adorning one end of the piece and on the points of the flat Jewish star, the designer had carved drink, eat, play, dream and there was an inspirational saying on the base of this magnificent Hanukkiah. The Menorah remains as a decorative piece and it accents every Hanukkah as a true symbol of freedom and inspiration. Anyone who visits is immediately struck by the beauty of this piece. Our Womanorah, which we purchased years ago at Remarkable Books in Westport when it was a favorite haunt, looks like it was chiseled out of dark clay. The images of the women are amazing and we love to use the Womanora these days as a true symbol of womens rights. When we visited Taos, New Mexico and Albuquerque sometime early in the 21st century, we were walking around a square with charming shops when the sign for the Judaica shop caught my eye. I told my wife we had to stop into that shop and when we did I saw a gorgeous silver plate Menorah. Its design with curves and circles just struck me and the price was just over $50. It was one of several Menorahs but it was unique so I told the shop owner to wrap it up. Ive only included a small representation of our Menorah collection, which today numbers about 15, and each one has its own look and character. But our favorite night of Hanukkah is the last one when we bring out all of our collection, place them in the window and light enough candles to publicize this holiday with lights that could reach our entire neighborhood. It is truly a spectacular night. Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate. Steven Gaynes is a Fairfield writer, and his In the Suburbs appears each Friday. He can be reached at stevengaynes44@gmail.com. Saenuri Party lawmakers who are no fans of embattled President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday that they will leave the party within the year to create their own political group. Yoo Seung-min and Kim Moo-sung, the former floor leader and party chief, said at least 35 lawmakers will choose to leave, citing the reluctance of the Park-loyalist leadership to initiate reforms despite the impeachment crisis. A minimum of 20 lawmakers are necessary to form a negotiating faction in the National Assembly. This is the first time the party has faced such a massive split since it was formed in 1990 by the merger of three conservative groups. The San Francisco Police Commission approved a use-of-force policy Wednesday that would prohibit the citys police officers from shooting at moving vehicles or using carotid restraints. The policy passed unanimously despite several hours of heated debate and harsh words from members of the public as well as a lawsuit filed by the police union on Tuesday over the stalled negotiations regarding those two specific sections of the policy. I understand the emotion and the fatigue and the frustration, Police Commission President Suzy Loftus said after a particularly heated exchange during the meeting. But I think its important in this process to remember that this commission is designed and intended to keep the public safe, preserve life and keep the officers safe. Wednesdays vote marks the end of a year-long process that began when five city police officers opened fire on Mario Woods, a suspect in a stabbing incident, in the Bayview neighborhood in December of 2015. The shooting of the African American man sparked outrage and calls for reform after it was caught on smartphone video, prompting the commission to reopen the Police Departments use-of-force policy for the first time since 1995. A version of the policy that strongly regulates officers decisions during perilous encounters and puts an emphasis on using minimal force was passed in June, with the union and community stakeholders agreeing to disagree on the issue of shooting at moving vehicles and use of carotid restraints. The hope was that the two sides could reach a compromise on those two sections during the meet-and-confer negotiations afforded to the San Francisco Police Officers Association for any changes in working conditions, but an impasse was declared in October. On Wednesday night, city attorneys held that these two issues are considered a management right, not a change in working conditions, and the commission moved forward on the vote. The U.S. Department of Justices community-policing division and President Obamas Task Force on 21st Century Policing both recommend restricting officers from shooting at vehicles and banning carotid restraints. The debate around carotid restraints gained the most attention at Wednesdays meeting, where most attendees expected the majority of the discussion to be focused on shooting at moving vehicles. Proponents for the carotid hold have long argued its a necessary tactic for smaller officers against larger subjects, but many experts warn that too often, a carotid hold can shift into a fatal choke-hold, much like in the case of Eric Garner in New York. Several commissioners suggested they keep carotid holds as a part of the policy with a special section indicating that the commission intended to eliminate the technique until an acceptable, intermediary force option can be identified. One such force option would be the use of electric stun guns, a fraught topic in San Francisco and a tool that has been rejected by the public time and time again. But after much discussion, the commission voted 4 to 3 to prohibit the carotid hold entirely. To address reservations around the issue of prohibiting officers from shooting at moving vehicles, commissioners added an extra caveat to the policys preamble that would allow for officers to break policy in an extraordinary circumstance. That would allow for officers to shoot at a moving vehicle if an attack similar to those in Nice, France and Berlin, where drivers plowed through crowds of bystanders, were to take place in San Francisco a point the union has long used to argue for a more lenient policy. Experts say permitting officers to shoot at any vehicle also allows them to put themselves in perilous situations such as stepping in the way of a car where they are forced to shoot their way out, when really in many situations, the drivers goal may be to flee, not to hurt or kill anyone. In May, a San Francisco sergeant fatally shot an unarmed African American woman in a stolen car, a shooting that prompted the resignation of then Chief Greg Suhr. While many members of the public seemed satisfied with the final policy, the police union began fighting it before the commission had even voted. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, union officials called for an injunction on the policy, claiming that the Police Commission violated the unions collective bargaining rights. Alan Schlosser, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California who helped develop the policy, said he was unconcerned with the unions lawsuit. I dont think theres any question that the use of force policy and those two issues are policy matters that are not mandatory subjects of bargaining and are not subject to arbritration, he said. He called the new policy an important transformational document. I think that the Police Commission stayed the course and adopted a policy that fulfilled the mayors promise to re-engineer use of force, Schlosser said. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WESTPORT A fantastic partnership. Thats how Elsie Lopez, executive administrator of the Norwalk-based Carver Foundation, described the agencys relationship with the Bedford Family Social Responsibility Fund, which on Dec. 16 distributed $250,000 in funding to 18 local nonprofits. Im absolutely thrilled to be able to receive this on behalf of the Carver, Lopez said upon accepting the check from Gloria Nussbaum, a committee member with the Bedford Family Fund, at the Westport Weston Family YMCA. Lopez was one of 18 representatives from nonprofit organizations throughout Fairfield County who received grant funding to continue their work in serving the educational needs of children and young adults with the specific goal of reducing educational achievement disparity among students. The one-year grants, which ranged from $5,000 to $22,500, were made possible from a donation by the late Ruth Bedford, a YMCA trustee emeritus and granddaughter of Edward Bedford, who founded the Westport YMCA in 1923. The Bedford Family Social Responsibility Fund was established in 2015 to support local programs and those selected were chosen by the funds committee from a pool of over 70 applications. Were going to expand the offering of our STEM program, Charles Flowers, the CEO of Boy Scouts of America Connecticut Yankee Council, said. The Connecticut Yankee Council, which received $10,000, is the local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America and provides services for 12,800 youth and 4,200 volunteers throughout Fairfield and parts of New Haven counties. Also receiving $10,000 was Homes with Hope, a Westport organization tasked with combatting homelessness by providing emergency shelter, permanent supportive housing and the tools to achieve independence. The grant will be used for a new initiative in the program a service aimed at helping the children of the adults they shelter. More Information Grant Recipients Adam J. Lewis Preschool, Bridgeport Carver Foundation, Norwalk Central Connecticut Coast YMCA Connecticut Yankee Council-Boy Scouts Council of Churches, Janus Center, Bridgeport Hall Neighborhood House, Bridgeport Homes with Hope, Westport Horizons at Greens Farms Academy, Bridgeport Horizons at Sacred Heart, Fairfield Klein Memorial Auditorium, Bridgeport LifeBridge, Bridgeport Mercy Learning Center, Bridgeport Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County, Bridgeport Project Morry, serving Bridgeport Riverbrook Regional YMCA, Wilton and Norwalk St. John's Family Center, Bridgeport Staples Tuition Grants, Westport Urban Impact of Blackrock, Bridgeport See More Collapse For 30 years weve been doing a really good job with adults, but a third of our 115 people, about 30 of them, are children, Homes with Hope CEO Jeff Wieser said. And this is really going to allow us to do a much better job in both the emergency shelter and the supportive housing. Wieser added that the money will go to after school programs like tutoring. The selection committee will continue to monitor the organizations throughout the year to see how they are progressing. We expect that each of these organizations will continue to do their very good work in closing that achievement gap. We will be in touch with them throughout the year, Jen Tooker, a member of the selection committee said. Westport Weston YMCA CEO Pat Riemersma said she does not know of another YMCA across the country that has had the opportunity to awards such grants. The Y is here for the community and this is just a small way that we can share some of the benefits that weve gotten from this wonderful bequest into the community and you know, were all about the kids, she said. Were helping the kids. Leslie Lake contributed to this report. Independent counsel Park Young-soo has taken out an arrest warrant for the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the heart of a massive corruption scandal that has brought down President Park Geun-hye. Chung Yoo-ra, allegedly the chief beneficiary of huge donations from Samsung and underhand privileges at the prestigious Ewha Womans University, has been lying low in Germany, where her mother is suspected of buying billions of won worth of properties with her ill-gotten gains. The independent counsel is seeking to get Chung extradited by invalidating her Korean passport after charging her with subverting the admissions process at Ewha. An Education Ministry audit of the university revealed that the school eliminated two applicants in 2015 who had higher scores than Chung to pave the way for her admission. Chung repaid Ewha by rarely attending classes but still managed to get passing grades, with a professor completing some of her assignments on her behalf. She has now been expelled from the university and her high school diploma has also been canceled after it emerged that she barely attended her final year. An official at the independent counsel's office said, "If we send the arrest warrant to German prosecutors, they will have a court there issue another arrest warrant and capture Chung and send her to Korea." The independent counsel will also ask German authorities to track Chung's financial transactions and phone calls and freeze her assets. Invalidating Chung's passport would render her an illegal alien in Germany, but that is expected to take about a month. The best-case scenario is that Chung voluntarily returns to Korea. Earlier, Choi's lawyer Lee Kyung-jae said, "We conveyed our view to Chung that it would be best to obey the government's summons. Chung has yet to respond, but she does not seem to be absolutely against the idea of returning to Korea." But in a telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo on Wednesday, Lee said, "I have not spoken on the phone with Chung, but it is regrettable that an arrest warrant was issued without an official summons. She will make the decision whether or not to return to Korea." Her whereabouts remain a mystery. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Five Orange County school superintendents have joined a growing number of educators across Texas opposing the state's new letter-grade rating system, which they say will "vilify" teachers and mislead the public. Dozens of school boards statewide, including three in Region 5, have adopted resolutions against the system, which takes effect in September. Districts will receive provisional ratings next month. On Wednesday, superintendents of Bridge City ISD, Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD, Orangefield ISD, West Orange-Cove CISD and Vidor ISD signed an open letter calling the letter grades unfair and accusing state leaders of "demonizing (public schools) in the name of politics and profit." The letter, titled "An Unfair Game," was written by a group of superintendents near Dallas. Orange County's superintendents signed the document because "we felt like there were some very strong points being made, and things that needed to be considered not only by the citizenry but also by the legislators," said Orangefield Superintendent Stephen Patterson. The A-F rating system, enacted in the 2015 legislative session, evaluates students and schools based on performance and achievement gaps on standardized tests, annual improvement, attendance and graduation rates, post-secondary readiness and self-determined measures of community and student engagement. The current rating system considers similar indicators, but schools and districts receive only "met standard" or "improvement required" ratings. The new system will grade schools from A to F, with more than half of the rating - 55 percent - based on STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test results. "Comparing districts without understanding the challenges and barriers each independent district must overcome is simply not fair," the letter said. Among the considerations such a system ignores are a large population of economically disadvantaged students, English Language Learners or special education students. The letter argues that the system "vilifies and marginalizes" teachers and will hurt communities by assigning misleading ratings. The key flaw in both the current and new accountability systems is that they "label communities and children" without taking into account each district's unique demographics and funding levels, Patterson said. "Until schools are funded appropriately, there's really no way to put these type of monikers on it," he said. Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Texas, said he has met with all superintendents in his district, including Orange County, and is aware of their concerns about the accountability system. "While the intent for the system may be to help foster transparency and communicate how well local schools are meeting students' needs, I understand concerns exist regarding schools in economically disadvantaged areas," he said in a statement. "The concern is that these grades may not reflect a full picture of on-going improvement. I am monitoring this issue closely and will continue to work with Superintendents and parents in East Texas to represent their interests in the Texas Senate." According to the Texas Association of School Administrators, which is fighting the new ratings, 121 districts have passed resolutions opposing the system, including three in Region 5: West Orange-Cove CISD, Hull-Daisetta ISD and Bridge City ISD. A resolution by TASA, which West Orange-Cove adopted on Dec. 12, calls the A-F system "an invalid, disconnected reflection of school quality" and criticizes its reliance on high-stakes testing. A system "that tries to quantify kids and quantify communities" is "very wrong and not healthy," Patterson said, and "paints a picture of failing public schools" that erodes trust in the education system. In addition to opposing the system, West Orange-Cove "strongly disagrees" with the initial letter grade it anticipates it will receive in January, the district said in a statement. "The letter grade is based upon incorrect data," the district said, referring to the same error from the spring 2016 STAAR tests that prompted the district to appeal its 2015-16 accountability rating. That error, which mistakenly assigned some tests from West Orange-Stark High School to West Orange-Stark Middle School, earned the school an "improvement required" rating in August. While the TEA granted the district's appeal last month, revising it to "met standard," "the data and calculations on which the original rating was based are not changed," according to the agency. "While the January letter grade is for information purposes only and carries no TEA-related impact for schools, it, however, will unfairly publicly misrepresent the work of our students and teachers," superintendent Rickie Harris said in the statement. Orangefield ISD successfully appealed the district's rating after a data glitch, but Patterson said he is not sure yet whether that will affect the initial letter grade. The state legislature passed the law establishing the new system in May 2015, and TEA announced the indicators and procedures for determining the ratings earlier this month. The provisional reports with letter grades, which will not include the community and student engagement indicators, will be released to the Texas legislature by Dec. 30, to school districts by Jan. 4, and to the public by Jan. 6, according to a TEA timeline. LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/LizTeitz Embattled President Park Geun-hye does not plan to send out New Year's cards this year as her impeachment over a corruption scandal looms. A Cheong Wa Dae official said Wednesday, "We decided it would not be appropriate to do so while her authority has been suspended" as the Constitutional Court reviews the impeachment bill. Park has sent out New Year's cards every year since she took office in 2013. She is also expected not to deliver a New Year's address. Park "will remain in her residence and spend the New Year in meetings with her lawyers to deal with an investigation by the independent counsel and Constitutional Court's ruling on the impeachment bill," the official said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The two-week-long search for a missing League City mother is continuing against the backdrop of a volatile relationship the 30-year-old waitress had with her ex-husband, according to court documents. Anne-Christine Johnson's erstwhile spouse, Shaun Hardy, is not considered a suspect in her disappearance, but records reviewed by The Chronicle show their relationship was troubled and possibly violent which could impact how search crews hunt for her. According to Johnson's account in court documents of a June 2015 blow-out, Hardy choked her, pistol-whipped her and tried to drug her. "Shaun Philip Hardy's violent behavior against me has gotten so bad that he has assaulted me with a shotgun, threatened me with a knife, and choked me," Johnson alleged in a request for a protective order filed after the incident. "I am afraid that without this protective order, Shaun Philip Hardy will continue to hurt me or even kill me in the future." DESPERATE MISSION: Volunteers expand search area for missing League City mom But before Johnson entered her filings with the Galveston court, her ex-husband also filed for a protective order contending that Johnson had "engaged in conduct that constitutes family violence" and was "reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass" him. The court granted both requests, but cancelled them before the end of the next month. Johnson vanished on Dec. 8, when she left her ex-husband's League City house in a car with another man, Hardy told police. Johnson was officially reported missing the next Monday and EquuSearch crews have been hunting for her ever since, working through the recent cold blast to scour the area where she was last seen. At the time of her disappearance, a year-old GoFundMe featured a picture of the mother of two bruised and battered - ostensibly the damage done during the alleged domestic dispute in June 2015. 'SMALL SHREDS OF HOPE:' Missing woman had called in sick to work Posted by the League City woman's mother, Stephanie Johnson, 58, the campaign sought to raise money for a legal fund to prosecute Hardy. The crowdfunding effort only raised $790 and Johnson's mother deleted the page after her daughter's disappearance. By Johnson's account of the 2015 incident, she and a friend were at Hardy's house and planning on spending the night until Hardy "became very agitated" that Johnson's friend was there. The friend left, at Johnson's suggestion. But then, according to the missing woman's affidavit, her ex-husband grew violent. "Shaun Philip Hardy shoved me to the ground, got a shotgun, loaded it, and began pointing the gun at me," Johnson alleged. She claimed her ex hit her with the gun barrel and choked her and then went to the kitchen and began cutting himself with a hunting knife. EXTRA HELP: EquuSearch joins search for Johnson When she went to her son's bedroom to say goodbye, Hardy allegedly began stabbing the mattress. The struggle moved outside the bedroom, where Johnson alleges Hardy squirted a syringe full of Ambien, Klonopin and muscle relaxers into her mouth and said he'd slit her wrists so it looked like suicide. The young woman ran outside for help and found a stranger to take her to the hospital. At Clear Lake Regional Medical Center, she told staff she didn't want to call police because "her husband knows everyone in the police force, and if he found out (she) told anyone he would kill (her)," hospital records note. Hardy's earlier protective order does not appear to outline his version of events, but alleges that Johnson left him "in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault." A judge agreed that Johnson posed a "clear and present danger of family violence." League City Police Department's incident report indicated that the two exes "assaulted each other." Hardy did not return a request for comment on Wednesday. District court records don't show any charges stemming from the incident, but League City police spokesman Kelly Williamson said the case may have been turned over to another agency. TRAGEDY: Search for reality contestant comes to a tragic end The couple's only other courtroom face-off was a divorce Hardy initiated in October 2014. Finalized the following April, the legal split left Hardy with primary custody of the couple's autistic son. Johnson won visitation at least two hours a week, court documents show. Johnson's other child - an 8-year-old boy - lives with his father, who could not be reached for comment. Police said Tuesday that Hardy is not considered a suspect in his ex-wife's disappearance. "We spoke with him twice, once by phone and once in person in an interview setting," Williamson said Tuesday. "As of right now we cannot eliminate him as a person of interest but there are several other people we are not completely through speaking with." On Wednesday, Williamson said police had requested a third interview with Hardy, who declined through his lawyer. But whether or not her ex is a suspect, Johnson's domestic violence history could impact the way her search plays out. LOOKING FOR DAD: A 911 call and 3 years later, a Texas family waits for a father to come home "With a past domestic violence charge on a person you cannot automatically assume that person has what it takes to kill another human being, but to put it simply, domestic violence is historically an offense that has a high rate of escalation," Williamson said. EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said a family violence history sparks a "far greater concern for the missing person." In such cases, Miller said, crews usually search areas where an abuser may have hunted or fished. "We try to figure out all the areas that a person is comfortable with," he said. And because many women's shelters won't release names of their residents, EquuSearch volunteers distribute fliers in places where an abuse victim might go for safety. In the hunt for Johnson, crews have covered everything in a 3-mile radius of where the missing woman was last spotted. "We just keep spreading out further and further," Miller said. After using ATVs and drones, crews are considering whether to use a boat to help with the hunt "We're 14 days today and the outlook is not good. My biggest fear is that we don't have an ending and she's not found." Reporter Harvey Rice contributed to this report. Interstate 20 has problems. Planners in the 1950s and 60s didnt predict that industry and populations would surge in Midland-Odessa, yielding the high traffic volumes, a worn out roadway and the spike in accidents and fatalities seen today. There is hope, however. The Permian Basin Metropolitan Planning Organization is conducting the I-20 Corridor Study, the first full-out analytical effort of its kind since 1999. Will Barresi of engineering firm CH2M Hill gave a packed conference room at MPO headquarters an update Monday during the MPOs monthly public policy board meeting. Attendees had a lot to say, particularly about the idea of converting all frontage roads from bidirectional to one-way. One-way frontage roads I can tell you right now that in Ector County, youre not going to switch them to one-way. Politically, you just cant do it, Odessa Mayor and MPO policy board Vice-chairman David Turner said. With the heavy-hitters on the interstate, its just not going to happen. Those heavy-hitters include major businesses built on the service roads that use the roadway for ingress and egress to their facilities. According to a draft handout used as part of Barresis presentation, the change when taking into consideration the impacts of other one-way conversions could mean safer travels in the 43-mile corridor that stretches from Farm-to-Market Road 1208 in Midland County to FM 866 in West Odessa: Serious head-on and angle crashes might be reduced between 83 percent and 94 percent. Rear-end crashes could go down 73 percent. Intersection crashes are estimated to fall between 77 percent and 85 percent. Fatal and injurious crashes could drop by 57 percent. The one-way conversions wont happen before other work has been finished, such as the construction of Texas turnarounds, which connect frontage roads to each other either above or below highways. One example is already familiar to Midlanders using service roads on Loop 250. Intersections feature 180-degree free left turns that connect service roads. The turnarounds are necessary because some intersections on I-20 are upward of 5 miles apart and thats only in one direction. Backage roads Another option to alleviate interstate traffic is the creation of backage roads. City of Midland Engineering Director Jose Ortiz said backage roads give businesses extra access to their sites and they provide capacity to complement what is attempting to be accomplished in the I-20 corridor. Backage roads arent an easily implemented solution, however. Turner noted that cities and counties have to fund backage roads. Unfortunately, over the past few years weve been blessed with the economy, but weve worn out a ton of roads, he said. I know both cities are strapped with it, and I know both counties are strapped with it. Planning has got to be the key. Paying for all thats involved in backage roads, including right of way, could possibly come from a private-public partnership, but Turner said that private contributions might depend on where the road is being built. Backage roads are a great idea, but in some areas, thats the older part of town, he said. How do you get a backage road through the neighborhood, especially when were already dealing with truck traffic in those areas? Securing right of way is where the rubber hits the road, policy board member Ector County Judge Ron Eckert said. If you cant secure the right of way, the whole thing is just a theory and never put into practice. Ector County has no money. And to the mayors point, if this is going through an older segment of Ector County, were less apt to have an affluent funder, so it will devolve back to the city or the county. Policy board member Midland County Commissioner Robin Donnelly cited other issues. I dont disagree with backage roads. Our problem is implementing them, he said. My (concern) is practicality. What are we going to do with areas we cant get through, like the wildlife preserve north of I-20? How do I get beyond that? How do I show people there is a backage road that can be used? There have been successes, however. Donnelly noted the positive traffic flow impact seen after a two-lane backage road near the Parks Legado retail area was constructed. I wish we had landowners and people who would cooperate with us like that all over the counties, he said. Continuity The I-20 Corridor Study is analyzing nine segments of the highway, and the top four priority areas are not contiguous, leaving two gaps. Stakeholders did not rank one segment in Ector County high enough, and a second was omitted despite its high ranking because Texas Department of Transportation is already working on the area. When asked to comment on the study update, Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance President James Beauchamp noted that the priority areas should be contiguous because continuity will make for a much safer interstate. Beauchamp also said that people elsewhere in the state who have fought against one-way frontage road conversions have lost, but getting everything done is a matter of having a full plan together. TxDOT corridor planner Roger Bell of Austin said the states transportation agency is looking at the whole 43 miles, but you have to start somewhere that somewhere being the highest priority segments. Policy board member TxDOT Odessa District engineer John Speed added that the agency is looking for funding to study the whole corridor, not just parts of it. Funding priorities Future funding is prompting a reanalysis of project priorities. Category 2 funding will tally $167 million over the next 10 years, and its the task of the MPO to program that funding. In addition, there is $76 million slated in Category 4 funding for the TxDOT Odessa District to program. Because TxDOT will use Category 4 funding on I-20, interstate projects on the master transportation plans (MTP) fiscally constrained and unfunded lists can be rearranged top push higher other projects subject to Category 2 funding. MPO Executive Director Cameron Walker told the Reporter-Telegram on Wednesday that the planning organizations technical advisory committee is going to reprioritize at all future projects on the MTP lists. Like Trevor on Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @HowdyHawes. Councilman Rey Saldana confirmed late Wednesday that he intends to run for a fourth and final term for his District 4 seat and will not run for mayor. There had been speculation for months that the three-term councilman would jump into the mayoral race, though his midyear campaign finance report that posted in July quelled some of those suspicions, as hed reported funds that aligned with a council-campaign war chest one that would not be sufficient for a citywide race. I came in as an impatient 24-year-old kid who wanted to serve, he said I want to finish what I started. If Saldana and District 7 Councilman Cris Medina win re-election, they would become the second wave of council members to serve all four two-year terms since voters softened term limits in 2008. A councilman since 2009, Ray Lopez of District 6 will become the first to be forced off of the council under the relaxed rules when he completes his current term next year. Saldana, 30, said he owes it to the residents of District 4 who took a chance on him in 2011, when he was a political neophyte challenging the heir-apparent to the council seat. He said he also believes the council seats up for grabs are potentially more important than the mayors race. San Antonio stands to have one of the most inexperienced councils its ever seen when the next cohort is seated in May (or June, depending on runoff elections). With Lopez term-limited, Councilman Ron Nirenberg running for mayor and both Joe Krier and Mike Gallagher announcing theyll step down, there will be at least four new council members on the dais next year. Saldana and Medina, though some of the youngest council members, would be the most senior members serving. Asked whether hed launch a de facto mayoral campaign after the May 6 election for the 2019 election Saldana demured. If I continue in public office, he said, Im not as interested in whats happening in Austin or Washington, D.C. The councilman said he is far more concerned about city government. And after serving four terms as a council member, the only place to land is in the mayors corner office. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A gunshot victim discovered Sunday in Olmos Basin Park was identified as a local man. Michael Moriarty, 19, was discovered with a gunshot wound to his abdomen at about 8 a.m. in the 500 block of Divine Road, according to preliminary information from a San Antonio Police report. The passer-by who called police performed CPR on Moriarty until Park Police arrived. Shortly afterward, EMS pronounced him dead, according to the report. Homicide detectives noted it appeared Moriarty may have been in a fight. As of Wednesday, there were still no suspects or any witnesses, police said. jbeltran@express-news.net Twitter: @JBfromSA SAN ANTONIO One man was killed and at least two others were injured in a shooting Thursday morning on the Southwest Side near Lackland Air Force Base, according to police. The San Antonio Police Department and EMS responded at 3:52 a.m. Thursday to the 5400 block of Stonybrook Drive, where one man was dead on arrival and another had a gunshot wound to the hand, a sergeant said at the scene. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The race to be President-elect Donald Trump's agriculture secretary is heating up, and two Texans appear to be at the center of it. Signs are emerging that Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and former Comptroller Susan Combs are in play for the job, one of the few Cabinet posts Trump has yet to fill. Combs, who was the state's agriculture commissioner from 1998 to 2007, met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Tuesday in Washington, and Miller is preparing for a trip to Trump Tower in the coming days. Commissioner Miller has had multiple conversations, telephone conversations, with Chairman Priebus and is planning a trip to the Trump Tower to visit with Chairman Priebus and members of the transition team between Christmas and New Years," Miller spokesman Todd Smith said Wednesday, referring to Reince Priebus, the outgoing chairman of the Republican National Committee whom Trump has appointed as his chief of staff. Word of Miller's trip came hours after Combs earned a valuable endorsement for the job that of U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, the Midland Republican who chairs the House Agriculture Committee. "Shes certainly capable and well-qualified for the job," Conaway told the Texas Tribune Wednesday. The position is one "that we on the Ag committee work the closest with, and shes someone Im comfortable I could work with her in her role as secretary and in my role as chairman." Trump's transition team indicated Wednesday he has not yet made a decision on agriculture secretary or another Cabinet post, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. "I don't know how imminent any announcement will be," Trump aide Jason Miller told reporters, adding that he has not received any indication Trump has officially made up his mind on those positions. Conaway said he has not spoken with Trump or Pence about Combs, emphasizing that decision is ultimately up to the president-elect. "All these Cabinet folks will be direct reports to the president, for the most part, and its important that its people hes comfortable with," Conaway said. "It doesnt matter if Im comfortable or Mike Pence is comfortable its got to be the president." Asked about Miller, Conaway said the current agriculture commissioner is well-versed on the issues. Its up to Mr. Trump to decide who he believes would do the job that he wants done, Conaway said. In Combs and Miller, Trump would have two candidates who differed in the extent of their support during the campaign. Combs, who backed two of Trump's primary rivals, was not an enthusiastic supporter during the general election, though she said she would vote for him and participated in at least one of his Texas fundraisers. Miller, meanwhile, served on Trump's agriculture advisory committee Combs did not and emerged as one of his most loyal Texas surrogates in the closing days of the race. In weighing the two Texans, Trumps camp will see stark contrasts in style and substance. Combs, a budget wonk, recently served as a visiting fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and plans to launch a nonprofit platform aiming to foster career ambitions in women. Miller is a rodeo cowboy who relishes being seen as an enemy or political correctness. He would no doubt be a more controversial pick for Trump. He became engulfed in controversy days before the election, when a tweet appeared on his Twitter account calling Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, an obscene term. Miller apologized and blamed the tweet on a staffer. In 2015, Miller irked Combs when he lifted a decade-old ban on deep fryers and soda machines in Texas public schools that she had introduced while she was agriculture commissioner. He said the move was geared at granting schools more freedom. Combs called it unimaginable that Miller would repeal her effort. I don't think there is any way he could have studied the issue or he never would have done this, she said in 2015. I am actually baffled and sorry that Commissioner Miller did what was not good for kids. If you give children bad choices, they will make them. (During her tenure, Combs also implemented a more comprehensive school nutrition policy that Millers processor, Todd Staples, repealed.) And then there was Miller's first official act as agriculture commissioner: a press conference to grant "amnesty" to a cupcake. Miller said he wanted Texans to know the state had just lifted a ban on the treats in classrooms that had been put in place by Combs. But Combs swiftly noted that cupcakes had been allowed in schools for a decade, and raised questions about Millers priorities. There is little in retired neurosurgeon Ben Carsons record to suggest he knows much about housing or urban development. He is nonetheless the president-elects choice to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, succeeding former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. In this, Carson is not unlike Donald Trumps other Cabinet nominations. This similarity includes having expressed views that might seem antithetical to the agency he will be heading. Part of HUDs mission is providing adequate housing to Americans, including public housing. Among Castros achievements in his short tenure was action to bring housing policy in sync with preventing segregation. Under this new rule, done by executive authority, cities evaluate fair housing in their communities, submit reports on the degree of segregation and blight, and tell the federal government what they will do about it. The aim is to make neighborhoods more integrated and to end practices that confine the poor to poor neighborhoods that have all the attendant problems, such as bad schools, food deserts and high crime. Carson, a former presidential candidate, complained that Castros new rule smacked of a failed social experiment that threatened to move public housing and the poor into wealthier neighborhoods. Oh, the horrors mixed neighborhoods in which low-income residents have access to the educational, transportation, job and retail opportunities that more affluent residents have. This is, in fact, very much not a failed social experiment. This from a report earlier this year, the Distressed Communities Index from the Economic Innovation group based in Washington, D.C.: Place matters. The American Dream is predicated on the idea that anyone from any place or background can climb to the highest rungs of the economic ladder. But there is a growing body of evidence that the more time an individual spends living in a distressed community especially at childhood the worse that individuals lifetime chances of achieving economic stability or success. And not all poor neighborhoods are alike; some offer vastly better chances of economic mobility than others. The United States is still a land of opportunity for many. But when it comes to life outcomes, geography is too often destiny. That report, by the way, said San Antonio leads the nation when it comes to the extreme differences between our more prosperous neighborhoods and our more distressed measured by such things as the number of high school degrees, housing vacancy rates as a percentage of habitable housing, the number of working adults, the poverty rate, and the number of available jobs and businesses. We are, in other words, among the most economically segregated cities in the nation. And ZIP code is too often destiny chances are high that if you grew up in a poor one, you become poor; if you grew up in a more affluent one, you do not. But heres what else the experts say: If you grow up poor but in a more prosperous part of the community, this destiny changes. You get a shot at getting out of poverty if you live among highly educated people if you grow up in a place where there are good schools, jobs and businesses. So, in fact, moving public and affordable housing to more affluent parts of the community does have broad societal impact for the good. Cities, San Antonio included, can essentially move people out of cycles of poverty. Carson is flat-out wrong. Castro and President Barack Obama are right. This view gets resistance because people fear people they dont know. This is demonstrably true in San Antonio, with a long history of white flight from the urban core. And there is also a fear of decline in property values, which need not happen in mixed neighborhoods. What we have going on, in any case, is white flight to good schools and other opportunities, but gentrification of poorer neighborhoods resulting in displacement of poor people. Of course, cities cannot move all their poor out of poverty. The other part of the equation is bringing prosperity to poor communities including high-functioning and well-resourced schools and enacting policies that mitigate the displacement potential of gentrification. San Antonio has taken steps on this latter issue. And yet it is a national leader in economic segregation. More broadly it and the nations other cities havent done enough. Trump has promised vast infrastructure improvements in the nations urban cores. If Carson navigates this well, this will serve cities such as San Antonio well. If, however, he limits his vision about where the poor should live, they will not be served well enough. Judge Milton Gunn Shuffield did citizens a favor when he rejected the Beaumont ISD's claim of governmental immunity regarding two other parties connected with the carbon monoxide leak at Marshall Middle School. That kind of immunity should be granted carefully and not extended to vendors or contractors. The concept of governmental immunity is well-established, but it can still conflict with the rights of taxpayers. In this case, immunity shields school districts from most lawsuits or claims while performing the governmental function of education. No one wants to see schools sued over a student's low grades or a cafeteria's lousy food. But occasionally school districts commit acts of gross negligence. In those cases, victims should be able to seek justice in the courts. Whatever the merits of that concept, it should not be broadened to companies that do business with school districts. Marshall parents Jeremy and Visa Kandi Robison are seeking depositions and information from the BISD regarding boiler manufacturer Raypak Inc. and CNA Insurance Companies, which last inspected the boiler that caused the leak. Their request can now move forward, as it should. The BISD has a lot of messy litigation in its past, most of it connected to the previous administration. But that history should not motivate the district to place its legal preferences ahead of the welfare of its students. As a tax-supported entity, the district has an obligation to disclose as much information as possible to its patrons about incidents like this. Texas has fairly good laws on public disclosure. But cities, counties and school districts still find creative ways to delay or deny taxpayers access to the information they deserve. That ongoing struggle should not be made more difficult by shielding third parties that have some kind of relationship with the taxing entity. This gas leak was a serious scare that sent dozens of people to hospitals. Frankly, the district is lucky that it wasn't worse. Finding out exactly what happened and why is in everyone's best interests. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD The daughter of a Lione Park murder victim gave a tearful testimony during a probable cause hearing Wednesday as she told the judge how she watched her mother die last year. Andrina Roberts had difficulty describing the final moments of her mothers life. Maxine Gooden, 43, was a bystander who was struck and killed by a bullet last November. The 24-year-old Roberts said Gooden had just given her a drink in the parking lot of the facility she knows as Jamaica Park about 10 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2015. She remembered it as a quiet night as she, her mother, younger sister, her sisters boyfriend and several others were laughing and talking. Then she heard the shots. Boom, boom, boom, boom from behind me, Roberts testified. When I turned around, my mother was face down on the ground. Roberts said she initially thought the explosions were fireworks, but realized her mother was bleeding and then discovered the bullet wound in her abdomen. I will never, ever forget that wound, Roberts told Judge Thomas Colin. Roberts explained that her mother, a nurses assistant, had been injured on the job a few years earlier. When her disability ran out earlier that year, Gooden, who was an expert Jamaican cook, began selling food in the park to make money. The testimony in the 15-month-old case comes as one of the three defendants, DeShawn Hayes, and his attorney, Darnell Crosland, have requested a probable cause hearing. The hearing is like a mini trial where the states witnesses are called to testify and cross-examined so a judge can determine if there is enough evidence to charge Hayes with being an accessory to Goodens murder. The attorneys for the two other murder defendants, Jhonel Telemin-Valerio, 22, and Morris Joel Moore Jr. 24, have said they will not request hearings. Senior Assistant States Attorney Paul Ferencek, the prosecutor on the case, also called a man to the stand, who along with a friend, provided crucial help that led police to Hayes, Telemin-Valerio and Moore. The man, whose name is being withheld at the request of the Stamford States Attorneys Office, said he was standing on nearby Delaware Street and saw two men in black hoodies walk by him heading into the park. The two returned seconds after the gun shots and jumped into an idling Jeep parked in the middle of the street. The man and his friend got into his car and followed the Jeep. His friend took a picture of the license plate and the two drove back to the park and told police. Hayes, Telemin-Valerio and Moore were apprehended minutes later when an officer spotted the Jeep. An investigation of the SUV found a disassembled pistol in the vehicles dashboard, police said. But the man testified it was too dark to recognize the suspects, and he was not asked to identify Hayes, who watched the witnesses take the stand from behind the defense table dressed in light gray sweats. During his cross examination, Crosland dug deeply into the mans story and at times raised his voice and indicated the man could have been motivated to testify against his client in order to get a visa for himself and his parents. But under questioning by Ferencek, the man said he had not even heard of the Stamford police program that could get him a visa until three months after Goodman had been killed. The man said he was told he could be rewarded if he cooperates and testifies truthfully. The hearing will be continued on Jan. 5. jnickerson@scni.com; STAMFORD A New York man has been accused of threatening a city resident with a gun. Lt. Tom Barcello said police responded to a medical call on Den Road Tuesday afternoon when they heard someone had been threatened in the home with a gun. Barcello said he did not know what the altercation was about, but it may have been related to the medical call. Barcello said officers were told Thomas Iorizzo, 37, of Port Chester, N.Y., was carrying a gun and had pulled it out and pointed it at a man in the North Stamford home. Iorizzo has a pistol permit in New York, but it does not cover him in Connecticut, Barcello said. Iorizzo was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, threatening and reckless endangerment. He was released after posting a $25,000 court appearance bond. jnickerson@scni.com; This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A New York investor has purchased President-elect Donald Trumps first home in Queens and will take it to auction next month in hopes of turning a profit, auctioneers Paramount Realty USA told Mansion Global. The Tudor-style home in Jamaica Estates, Queens, will hit the auction block on Jan. 17, a few days before Mr. Trump will be sworn into office, said Misha Haghani, owner of auction house Paramount Realty USA. The unidentified investor hopes to capitalize on recent estimates from high-profile brokers that Mr. Trumps shocking victory against Hillary Clinton caused the propertys value to spike as much as tenfold, the auctioneer said. Mr. Haghani of Paramount would not identify who the buyer wasdescribing the new owner only as a New York investoror say for how much the home sold. The house on Wareham Place was last listed with Laffey Real Estate for $1.25 million. Related Links About a week after Election Day in November, superbroker Dolly Lenz estimated that the homes market value had skyrocketed in the wake of Mr. Trumps victory, speculating that it is now worth as much as three-to-10 times as much as before, The New York Post reported. That would make the home worth as much as $10 million, or more. Mr. Trump, 70, has expressed interest in buying the property himself. He told Jimmy Fallon on NBCs Tonight Show as much on Sept. 15. Thats it, thats where I was bornI want to buy it, Mr. Trump said on airthough it was an off-the-cuff statement. Whoever it is, the new mystery investor went into contract on the home in early December, according to listing records. The homes broker, Howard Kaminowitz of Laffey Real Estate, did not immediately return a request for comment. The two-story home, which has a fireplace, sunroom and detached garage, is in the well-off neighborhood of Jamaica Estates, where homes of that size typically trade hands for around $1 million. Mr. Trumps father built the home in 1940, and the address is listed on Mr. Trumps birth certificate. The family later moved into a grander, red brick house around the corner on Midland Parkway when the president-elect was only 4 years old, meaning Mr. Trumps memories from his birthplace are likely scarce. The sudden sale and upcoming auction mark a major turn of events for the five-bedroom home on Wareham Place, which got a lukewarm response when it first hit the market over the summer. The mystery investor bought the home from Isaac and Claudia Kestenberg, who originally put the house on the market in June for $1.65 million. They knocked the price down to $1.25 million before deciding to take the home to auction with Paramount Realty. That auction was postponed at the last minute on Oct. 19, about three weeks before Election Day, in hopes of stoking more interest. This story was written by Becky Strum and originally appeared on Mansion Global. This article "Bold Investor Snaps Up Donald Trump's First Home" appeared on Real Estate News and Advice from realtor.com. According to The Post-Star, one boy was killed and another is recovering in the hospital after they were buried in a snowbank by a dump truck in Greenwich, New York, on Tuesday. Snow Dumped at Private Property The two boys, Joshua Demarest, 13, and Tyler Day, 12, were sledding and building a fort around a massive snow embankment when tragedy struck. A Greenwich Village Department of Public Works (DPW) vehicle dumped or pushed a load of snow over the embankment, trapping the two boys underneath. The accident was on private property that the owner has long allowed the DPW to dump snow on in the past. The DPW claims the dump truck could not have seen the boys from the front side of the embankment before dumping the snow, reports The Post-Star. Demarest was pronounced dead at around 10:15 p.m. local time after rescue crews freed his body from the snow and performed CPR. According to The Post-Star, Day was trapped in the snow bank with a sufficient enough pocket of air to survive. Day was uncovered in the snow while still conscious. Officials say the boys were trapped for roughly three to three-and-a-half hours. The DPW staff said Day was located around six feet inside the snowbank, reports The Post-Star. The DPW superintendent was not sure if a tragedy like this could have been prevented, and he had never seen kids playing in the area before. Negligent Property Owners When a property owner neglects to keep their property or properties safe, they are endangering you and those around you. No one should worry about being injured when going about their daily lives. However, every day there are more and more people getting hurt because of someone elses negligence. Premises liability holds business owners, city governments, and property owners liable for injuries that occur on their properties including matters of negligent maintenance or unsafe premises. Thomas J. Henry has handled and continues to handle numerous premises liability cases. Contact an Experienced Premises Liability Attorney Because of careless property owners, many people will suffer catastrophic injuries such as brain injuries or spinal cord injuries. The nature of many injuries which occur on dangerous property can be more than painful- they can be permanent. Do not let your injuries overwhelm your life. If you have been seriously injured as a result of a condition or the use of real property, contact Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneyscontact Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys. As your premises liability lawyer, we will secure proper medical care and fight to make sure you receive proper compensation. We are available 24/7, nights and weekends and we represent clients/victims all over the country. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. To no ones surprise, the private sector effort to rescue Italys third largest bank, Monte dei Paschi, officially failed yesterday. Recognizing an end game was nigh, the Italian government announced that it would raise its debt levels by up to 20 billion to shore up failing banks.1 It does not take much in the way of mathematical skills to see that 20 billion will not go very far in plugging a hole of 360 billion in bad loans, particularly given that the total equity of Italian banks is only 225 billion. In fairness, not all of the loans are total losers; many would be viable if restructured. However, 200 billion are non-performing. So its probably generous (to the Italian government) to assume that writedowns would be at least half the total amount, or 180 billion. So why were some sites, like Business Insider, saying that an Italian rescue might cost as much as 52 billion? Thats a lot lower than the hole in the banks balance sheets. That is because the bail in rules require 80% of the losses come out of the hides of equity holders and subordinated creditors; the state provides the rest. However, the bail-in rules also stipulate that a bank not be failing.2 Keep in mind that Monte dei Paschi (and no doubt some other Italian banks) are so far gone that they should be resolved, as in nationalized, as the 5 Star Movement is demanding. But the Italian government cant begin to pretend it can borrow enough under Eurozone rules to provide that level of funding, and the Germans have been incredibly hard-nosed about cutting Italy any slack with respect to its banking mess. As the very thin press details of the Monte dei Paschi bailout make clear, its going to be done at least to some degree in conformity with the new bank bailout rules, which are actually bail-in rules. Equity holders, and then creditors are to be wiped out. The wee problem is that depositors are also creditors, and in the first application of a bail-in, in Cyprus, deposits over a certain size took haircuts. While no one yet expects depositors to take losses, the wee problem in Italy is that wobbly banks took advantage of often unsophisticated borrowers and sold them subordinated debt products, telling them they were similar to deposits. The Bank of Italy chose to ignore this deception, which started while Mario Draghi was governor. Some have argued that over 80% of the investors in these debt products were well off, so they can afford to take losses. But that still means a meaningful proportion werent affluent. And someone who had a good personal balance sheet could have moved enough of his funds into these products that the losses would strip him of a lot of his wealth. So while details of how the Monte dei Paschi rescue are scare, a few things seem clear: The Italian government is leaning towards a less punitive bail in. As took place in Spain, where banks similarly misrepresented subordinated debt instruments as being as good as deposits, retail investors are likely to get some compensation. But the higher the level of recovery, the faster the already-inadequate rescue pot is depleted. Any wronged depositor reimbursement program may nevertheless leave many in distress. Given the urgency of needing to clean up Monte dei Paschi versus the lack of any program (or likely even draft legislation for such a scheme), the subordinated debt investments will probably be haircut quickly, while there will be considerable delay before those investors get any recovery. Its hard to think it could happen any time before late 2017 and 2018 is more probable (you need to devise procedures, particularly anti-fraud, set up systems and personnel, create application forms, and verify and process them). Those who needed access to those funds will be in quite a pickle. The Germans and other sticklers may regard any breaks given to creditors, even if by a separate program as a violation of bail-in rules. Note that the payouts to similarly-situated Spanish creditors took place before the new rules became effective in January 2016. However, there has been a fair bit of noise in the press (and one has to assume in official circles) about alleviating the pain inflicted on naive depositors. I may have missed it, but I would have expected to see a smackdown from someone in the officialdom if this was perceived to be crossing a red line, and I havent come across anything like that. The slow motion bank run in Italy will only get worse. Wealthy Italians and Italian businesses have been shifting funds out of Italian banks. Perhaps some who havent yet rearranged their affairs believed the government PR that Monte dei Paschi could be salvaged without using government monies. Now that the officialdom is moving on Monte dei Paschi, its clear that other banks will be in line, meaning other investors and even depositors may be at risk. If more retail deposit funding makes its way for the exits, Italy could impose capital controls. The 20 billion to help with rescues is yet another kick-the-can-down-the-road non-remedy. As we said, it wont go far enough. The only open question is how long Mr. Market plays along. ____ 1 Although the Italian government will formally sell bonds, and historically Italians have been heavy investors in government debt, a big chunk of recent Italian bond issues have been purchased by the ECB. So while Italians will finance some of this rescue, the ECB will also wind up providing a large portion. 2 Here is how the Italian government has been hoist on its need to please the Confidence Fairy. Monte dei Paschi, implausibly, shows positive equity. So did Lehman before its collapse. In both cases, the assets were marked to unrealistic levels. But that still means that under the new EU banking rules (the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, usually referred to as BBRD), Monte dei Paschi isnt eligible for nationalization. Winter Haven mans obituary lists cause of death uppercut from Batman WFTS (Chuck L) How cooking vegetables changed humanity 10,000 years ago ars technica (Chuck L) Pakistani Airline Responds To Deadly Crash By Sacrificing Goat on Airport Tarmac Jonathan Turley (Chuck L). Cheaper than investigating Canadas Trudeau Plans to Work with Trump Admin to Approve Keystone XL, Pump Exxon-owned Tar Sands into U.S. Steve Horn South Sudan on brink of genocide one more victim of western policies in Africa Defend Democracy Brexit Germanys far right rises again Politico German Media Aids Merkel in Culture of Denial Michael Shedlock (EM) Spanish Banks Ordered to Repay Customers Over Unfair Mortgages New York Times. This is a big deal. ECBs silent coups Next victim: Cyprus failed evolution Worlds Oldest Bank Will Probably Need a Huge State Rescue Bloomberg Syraqistan Big Brother is Watching You Watch Imperial Collapse Watch The U.S. is no stranger to interfering in the elections of other countries Los Angeles Times (JMP) Big Brother is Watching You Watch Trump Transition OBAMAS LEGACY: LEAVING INDEFINITE MILITARY DETENTION REGIME INTACT Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof Mothers Incarcerated With Their Children in Obamas Disgraceful Family Prisons Want Freedom for the Holidays Alternet Obama Says His Daughters Wont Work on Wall Street Bloomberg. Arent parents supposed to let their kids make their own career choices? But the only reason to go to Wall Street is the money and (right now) Silicon Valley looks like the hotter ticket, as witness a recent exodus of what passes for talent. Man accused of murder believed he shot Trump Ithica Journal (Mark L). The Minnesotans on the Professor Watchlist are disappointingly unthreatening City Pages (Chuck L) New McCarthyism Calpers Scales Back Private-Equity Ambitions Wall Street Journal (DO) SEC Charges Former New York Pension Official and Two Brokers in Pay-to-Play Scheme SEC. Approximately $50,000 spent at restaurants, bars, lounges, and on bottle service. There have to be prostitutes in the mix, and Id hazard they are buried in this line item. Trump rally could be like Coolidges Roaring 20s before Depression, Nobel-winning economist warns CNBC. Lordie. Shiller should know better. The 20s stock market boom was the result of: 1. Bona fide growth in all sorts of businesses due to more and more homes being electrified as well as the sales of all sorts of new consumer durables. In other words, there was serious real economy new tech that led to higher consumer spending. 2. A lot of that consumer spending was debt financed. 3. The reason the stock market crash was so destructive is that the speculation was heavily debt fueled, with leverage of 70% to 90% not uncommon (and thats before you get to trusts and trusts of trusts). That meant when it collapsed it blew back to the banking system. Now 1. The Trump stock market rally may well be overdone and get even more frenzied before it goes into reverse. But 2. We dont do serious leverage in the stock market any more, so any real economy harm due to a stock market bust would not be all that bad. 3. Trump may very well blow other bubbles that will impair the banking/credit system, and Shiller would do better to worry about that. Class Warfare Uber self-driving car registrations revoked in San Francisco Financial Times. Google the headline to get access. California DMV Public Affairs (1 SK). E-mail on the DMV revoking the licenses of all 16 Uber self-driving cars. Weirdly there is nothing on the site about this in the DMV press room as of this hour. The text of e-mail message: Consistent with the departments position that Ubers vehicles are autonomous vehicles, the DMV has taken action to revoke the registration of 16 vehicles owned by Uber. It was determined that the registrations were improperly issued for these vehicles because they were not properly marked as test vehicles. Concurrently, the department invited Uber to seek a permit so their vehicles can operate legally in California. Californias testing regulations for autonomous vehicles strikes a balance between protecting public safety and embracing innovation. These regulations were adopted two years ago, and they are working for the 20 manufacturers now testing more than 130 autonomous vehicles on Californias streets and roads. Uber is welcome to test its autonomous technology in California like everybody else, through the issuance of a testing permit that can take less than 72 hours to issue after a completed application is submitted. The department stands ready to assist Uber in obtaining a permit as expeditiously as possible. Attached is the letter that DMV Director Shiomoto sent to Uber earlier today. Teachers in Wealthy Districts Get Bulk of Indianas Performance Payouts EdWeek (Dan K) In Sentencing Radical Pacifists, Judge Miles Lord Assailed Worship of the Bomb Counterpunch (Robert H). A reminder of how much jurisprudence in the US has changed. Antidote du jour. Margarita: A hummingbird flew onto the balcony at the beginning of Dec., so I bought a feeder right away. At least two h-birds have been coming to feed even though it has been snowing in Vancouver for the last two weeks. How do they keep warm at night? See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Introduction Regular readers will be fully up to speed on the Reserve Bank of Indias botched attempt at a handbrake turn style demonetisation thanks to Jerri-Lynn Scofields thorough coverage (see here, here and here for more background on this sorry tale). But the Indian governments attempt at implementing a strategy of moving an economy away from physical cash (notes and coins) is only the latest although the most aggressive seen to date in a global battle to make cash obsolete. Whats new in India is that users of the payment system are being made to demonetise by coercion. But in every major economy, physical cash is under siege. In this article I will show how central banks, the commercial banks (especially the Too Big to Fails), governments and technology companies have been waging a war on cash for decades. Inspired by the seminal work of Langdon Winner, who made the bold claim that technology has politics, I will also argue that drive to reform and modernise the payments systems we use, with its incessant focus on technology, has camouflaged the disproportionate power of some of the agents seeking to force this change. Before diving in to the historical examples, it is worth considering in the context of the payments systems we use what, exactly, is physical cash? Leaving aside the obvious stores-of-value and means-of-exchange descriptions and looking at cash as a payments system it has some unique and rather special characteristics. Firstly, as a service, it is free at the point of use. When I pay you in cash, neither of us incur a fee for my settling my account with you by handing over notes or coins. Secondly, while the provision of cash as a service definitely does have costs associated with providing that service to us, the cost of that service is progressive. To put that another way, if your liquid net worth is $10,000, then it costs you little or nothing to store that wealth in cash. If, however, your liquid net worth is $1,000,000,000, it costs you an awful lot to store that wealth in physical banknotes. Keep these characteristics in mind as you read the remainder of this piece. Softening Up Society for the Decommissioning of Cash In case you hadnt noticed, were all being hit upon by some pretty powerful institutions who are trying their best to convince us that it is an inevitability that physical cash will go the way of the dodo. As just a couple of examples, firstly here is a TV commercial which is currently being run in the UK by state-owned RBS subsidiary Nat West Bank: For those who dont want to or are unable to view the clip (its worth watching just for the sheer creepiness of it, reminiscent of the scene from Frankenstein where the monster encountered the girl and the pond) the key message from the commercial is encapsulated by the line: then we thought, in a time when the next generation may not even use pennies, isnt it up to us to educate them for their financial future? As always with the invisible hands invisible little helper often referred to as advertising you know something is up when were told things will happen but how those things come to happen lacks any agency. Just who, exactly, is responsible for the next generation not using pennies? What has happened to them? Why? Secondly, this is typical of the nudge-theory messaging which however well-intentioned it might be nevertheless contributed to the generation of a low-level anxiety about the dangers of carrying physical cash: This poster was in the storefront of a bank. Of course, thieves will steal cash. But crime statistics show (Table 6 pg. 26 refers, UK data) that there is little difference in the rates of crime for thefts of cash as opposed to thefts of vehicle parts, mobile phones or bicycles. But never have I seen similar warning posters displayed on car dealerships, mobile phone companies retail outlets or bike shops. Consumer Behaviour Economic Democracy or Coercion ? Why are users of physical cash being targeted in this way by governments and banks? The simple answer is to dissuade us from using cash and to encourage us to use as little of it as is possible or to create a perception that if we do use cash, were behaving like some outmoded throwbacks and the kids will look on us as horror of horrors in danger of becoming obsolete. But theres a more complex question behind that rather obvious response. Are powerful actors like governments and banks suspecting that they may not be the most influential determiners of technology and that payment systems users have a great deal of bargaining power too? Consumer behaviour has always been thought of as an essential element of Adam Smiths invisible hand that creates markets. They are, after all, 50% of the supply and demand equation. But I have never liked that reductionist argument which forms the basis of neoliberalisms central tenet that were all mere rational actors registering purchasing votes with our dollars. Yes, we can either buy or not buy, use or not use. But we are more than just that. We can sabotage, regulate, protest and demand. We can also practice a pattern of usage that is completely at odds with that which has been determined by those who supply what they think we have, or should have, demanded. I would suggest that it is this fear of consumers which is prompting those who want to supply alternatives to the services we use (like cash) to consider the district possibility that, as Lambert would put it, the dogs wont eat their new dog food. Or we wont eat all of it, all the time. Surely that is ridiculous though. In a market, suppliers create a product or service and if customers demand it, they will produce more of it, if customers dont want it and dont buy it, theyll stop producing it and that will be the end of the matter. That is certainly what the economic textbooks tell us should happen. But if, within the context of a particular industry, suppliers keep trying to supply the same product or service, those products or services keep being met with the same level of consumer indifference yet the suppliers insist on trying to foist the service on us, it is suggestive that some other force may be at work rather than market discipline. Demonetisation the 20 Years War Mondex Heres One We Made Earlier I am so old, I was involved with the original Mondex development in 1990. Now consigned to history, this was the first serious attempt at demonetisation using stored-value cards. Mondex (this was the name given to the service in Europe, the Visa Cash brand was deployed in the rest of the world, well refer to the underlying platform as Mondex from here for the sake of brevity as they were essentially the same) was designed as a cash replacement. A transition phase was envisaged whereby the public would migrate their physical cash by charging up their Mondex (or Visa Cash) cards either by feeding their existing notes and coins into automated deposit taking machines or directly at their banks where tellers would dispense Mondex recharges rather than cash. At the merchant, youd make your purchase in the same way that Chip and PIN debit or credit cards are used today you insert your card into a reader and it would have the balance on the card reduced. PIN verification was optional the trigger point for PIN entry could be set according to the transaction value. Eventually, so the scheme promoters hoped, Mondex would become universal and cash would disappear from circulation. Several large scale pilot schemes were started. A few years later, they were quietly wound down, in the face of public apathy. The reasons it failed, as per conventional finance industry wisdom, dwelt less on the ho-hum public ambivalence and were around the need for point-of-sale infrastructure installation and maintenance. Stored-value transactions need a different software stack than those generated by the conventional card schemes, such as VISA, MasterCard or AmEx so even if youve got EPoS devices in the store (merchant) already, they have to have additional code and physical properties in the card reader, and someone has to pay for the development and support of that. The existing card schemes wont because stored-value cards are a revenue stealer for them, so most likely youve got to have another device in your store. You also have a dependency on being near a power supply wherever you take payments and a telecoms backhaul at the devices where you charge up your stored-value card to check for cards reported as lost or stolen or have been tampered with plus physical hardening, secure locations and cash-handling overheads for where you want users to be able to feed in notes and coins to transfer to their stored-value card and, finally, major increases in customer average handling time at the merchant when compared with cash (at least 25%, often 50% lengthier). So-called contactless cards reduce average customer handling time but trade reductions in transaction speed for increased risk of loss to both the card user and the merchant. Theres also lack of flexibility if I have cash, if Im grabbing a coffee on the way to catch my train which is about to depart, when I know the coffee is 1.85 I can just throw a 2 coin down and say thanks, keep the change and make a run for it. You cannot do that with stored value cards, you have to go through the palaver of putting your card in the reader, the merchant has to register the sale, process the debiting of the card, I have to wait for the cards balance to be updated and so on. Similar situations happen all the time to real people in real life (i.e. not things that tech consultants preaching by PowerPoint would consider). But theres another reason which isnt so widely quoted. That is the cost of the card. Early implementations of stored-value cards were, by todays standards, appalling crude. They were cheap and cheerful in terms of on-card security and easily hackable at the card-reader end too. Later generations improved but even later card chip cryptograms were jailbroken cards that are 10-year old specification can be compromised, it isnt easy to do but they are now considered insecure. So, fine, the industry upped its game and developed more secure card solutions. The snag is, these are not cheap. The current gold standard, MasterCards M/Chip Advance specification, requires long-winded and costly certification for cards and readers. The real pain though is in the cost of the card. M/Chip Advance cards cost $5 to $10 in white plastic (depending on quantity), embossing and logoing adds another $2 $3, card carrier and distribution another $2 to $3 and, finally, PIN generation, mailing and PIN services for the user at activation up to $5. Thats potentially over 20 bucks to get a single operational stored value card to a robust security specifications in the hands of one user. Trying to roll that out to a user base of 10 or 20 million gets expensive, perhaps prohibitively so for a low income country. With cash, the government pays for the cost of issuing and maintaining physical cash. Its a universal free at the point of use service and will need to maintained for backwards compatibility for decades, even if a country went cashless. But rolling out a stored-value system would add to a countrys cost base. Who pays? If governments and the big banks are so confident they could, like the capitalists the claim to be, roll out the stored-value cards and the merchant infrastructure as a start-up venture. If and as Ive already suggested, it is a very big if users of cash could be persuaded to migrate away from physical cash then cash could indeed be decommissioned. The very notion of governments acting like they know better than the market is an anathema to the neoliberal thinking which has most of the US and European governments still held firmly in it thrall. So that forces the big banks to foot the bill and take the investment risk. But as has been documented many times here at Naked Capitalism, business really isnt that interested in investing in anything, unless it can be guaranteed outsized returns. If this looks like a catch-22 situation, thats because thats exactly what it is. Governments cannot press too hard on decommissioning physical cash (unless theyre willing to throw their economies under a bus, like India) unless and until the demonetisation has been delivered by the market. But the market isnt remotely interested in making the necessary investment while it is threatened by the competition from the established market player, namely physical cash. Rest in peace, then, stored value cards as an alternative to cash. But dont we have an app for that, now? Gadgetry Has its Limits Even in Gadget-Loving Japan Were well-accustomed nowadays to the cliche that, faced with such a knotty problem, disruptive technological innovation is precisely the sort of thing that comes along and displaces inconvenient realities like physical cash. FinTech PR hacks like to present gewgaws such as ApplePay or Android Pay as the futures of payment systems. While Apple, Google and all the usual suspects might like to think so, history suggests otherwise. In Japan there have been attempts to introduce a similar service and those attempts have been going on for twenty years plus. The big push came from NTTs mobile division DoCoMo. For the time, in the late 1990s, the technology was incredibly advanced. It was based in DoCoMos proprietary iMode protocol and hardware specification. In effect, it was ApplePay Near Field Communications (NFC) exchange of payment credentials. But it ran into the same problem that afflicts ApplePay: where are the funds for the transaction held and on whose ledger is the accounting done? If its not yours, you, like ApplePay (and like DoCoMos effort in Japan in the 90s) end up being merely a dumb pipe. And thats a tough business model to make work for you. DoCoMo used the metro systems stored value card products (Tokyo metros Suica being the biggest and most widely accepted lots of retail outlets in the stations and also the huge footfall (around the station) convenience and department stores accept Suica cards) to try to get round this problem. But from a customer proposition perspective, once the novelty had worn off, NTT got the what, really, is the point? usage decay. You have to transfer your funding into bank where you can get your income credited e.g. your salary. You then have to transfer that to your NTT DoCoMo account. You then have to ring-fence some of the balance on your DoCoMo account to the Suica pool. NTT DoCoMo tried to push the line that customers could, in effect, go overdrawn on their DoCoMo account then settle up when they got their monthly billing. But that put NTT in the position of needing credit decisioning expertise they didnt have this. They also needed capability and a system to handle standardized disputes resolution. They didnt have this either. If youre in the business of lending, you also need capital. NTT finally decided that they didnt want to be a bank, after all. DoCoMo still market the smartphones and the Suica capability but it isnt actively promoted to any great degree. Theyve decided to let Apple and ApplePay find out the hard way the same lessons they learned a long time ago. Outside Japan, the failure to propagate iMode and thus the potential to use its payment system was blamed on it being an example of the Galapagos phenomena. But I never bought that. My thinking was always that it was a solution in search of a problem. I think the same about ApplePay and the various smartphone app cash replacements. If they dont offer something that makes users of the existing payments systems see that it is such an overwhelmingly and consistently convincing proposition that they would willingly and irrevocably forsake cash forever they are always going to be at-best just another offer in the marketplace for payments and at-worst a niche product. Conclusions If payments systems users were that eager to adopt non-physical cash, they would have done so by now. Attempts to provide alternatives date back 25 years or more. Yet physical notes and coins remain in circulation and are the only legal tender in most jurisdictions. Physical cashs variable unit costs are progressive the less wealth you have, the less of the systemic costs is passed onto you as a currency user. Stored-value card systems impose a cost on users and that cost is regressive the less wealth you have, the higher the unit cost becomes. Smartphone, app and NFC/virtualisation based systems impose an even bigger cost on users due to the high up-front purchase price of a smartphone. Even in cultures which have exhibited a fondness for novelty, technological advances and gadgetry like Japan, a payment system based on smartphones, apps and NFC technology have not proved to be transformative to the payments systems in that country. As market participants users of physical cash have baulked at accepting governments, banks and technology companies attempts to achieve voluntary demonetisation for a generation, government and industry actors now seem intent on subtle approaches to dissuade people from using cash, such as via media messaging. This is increasingly being combined with more coercive strategies like restricting access to higher denomination banknotes. India has been in the vanguard of this move, but other central banks have indicated they are to pursue similar initiatives. But the interests of governments, banks and the technology companies do not align with those of us who stand to gain little or nothing, should those agents get their wishes fulfilled and decommission physical cash. We are, however, in an especially privileged position. Caught in a free-market-fundamentalist dogma, those who are in positions of power are having to rely on us to change our behaviours and eschew using cash. We merely need to resist that call. Its as easy as spending some money. The sound of quantum vacuum (Nanowerk News) Quantum mechanics dictates sensitivity limits in the measurements of displacement, velocity and acceleration. A recent experiment at the Niels Bohr Institute probes these limits, analyzing how quantum fluctuations set a sensor membrane into motion in the process of a measurement. The membrane is an accurate model for future ultraprecise quantum sensors, whose complex nature may even hold the key to overcome fundamental quantum limits. The results are published in the prestigious scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA ("Multimode optomechanical system in the quantum regime"). A membrane resonator (central white square) is in its 'phononic crystal' shield of cross-shaped holes. Even though the membrane is nearly the size of a flea (0.5mm), its motion follows the laws of quantum mechanics, as Niels Bohr Institute researchers show. (Image: Albert Schliesser, NBI) Vibrating strings and membranes are at the heart of many musical instruments. Plucking a string excites it to vibrations, at a frequency determined by its length and tension. Apart from the fundamental frequency - corresponding to the musical note - the string also vibrates at higher frequencies. These overtones influence how we perceive the 'sound' of the instrument, and allow us to tell a guitar from a violin. Similarly, beating a drumhead excites vibrations at a number of frequencies simultaneously. These matters are not different when scaling down, from the half-meter bass drum in a classic orchestra to the half-millimeter-sized membrane studied recently at the Niels Bohr Institute. And yet, some things are not the same at all: using sophisticated optical measurement techniques, a team lead by Professor Albert Schliesser could show that the membrane's vibrations, including all its overtones, follow the strange laws of quantum mechanics. In their experiment, these quantum laws implied that the mere attempt to precisely measure the membrane vibrations sets it into motion. As if looking at a drum already made it hum! A 'drum' with many tones Although the membrane investigated by the Niels Bohr Institute team can be seen with bare eyes, the researchers used a laser to accurately track the membrane motion. And this indeed reveals a number of vibration resonances, all of which are simultaneously measured. Their frequencies are in the Megahertz range, about a thousand times higher than the sound waves we hear, essentially because the membrane is much smaller than a musical instrument. But the analogies carry on: just like a violin sounds different depending on where the string is struck (sul tasto vs sul ponticello), the researchers could tell from the spectrum of overtones at which location their membrane was excited by the laser beam. The optical measurement record (blue trace) shows peaks at all frequencies at which the membrane can resonate, from the fundamental mode, marked (1,1), to many overtones. From this characteristic pattern the researches can tell the location at which the laser beam hits the membrane (inset). Remarkably, already the quantum fluctuations of the laser light excite the membrane modes. (Image: Albert Schliesser, NBI) (click on image to enlarge) Yet, observing the subtle quantum effects that the researchers were most interested in, required a few more tricks. Albert Schliesser explains: "For once, there is the problem of vibrational energy loss, leading to what we call quantum decoherence. Think of it this way: in a violin, you provide a resonance body, which picks up the string vibrations and transforms them to sound waves carried away by the air. That's what you hear. We had to achieve exactly the opposite: confine the vibrations to the membrane only, so that we can follow its undisturbed quantum motion for as long as possible. For that we had to develop a special 'body' that cannot vibrate at the membrane's frequencies". This was achieved by a so-called phononic crystal, a regular pattern of holes that exhibits a phononic bandgap, that is, a band of frequencies at which the structure cannot vibrate. Yeghishe Tsaturyan, a PhD student on the team, realized a membrane with such a special body at the Danchip nanofabrication facilities in Lyngby. A second challenge consists in making sufficiently precise measurements. Using techniques from the field of Optomechanics, which is Schliesser's expertise, the team created a dedicated experiment at the Niels Bohr Institute, based on a laser custom-built to their needs, and a pair of highly reflecting mirrors between which the membrane is arranged. This allowed them to resolve vibrations with amplitudes much smaller than a proton's radius (1 femtometer). "Making measurements so sensitive is not easy, in particular since pumps and other lab equipment vibrates with much larger amplitudes. So we have to make sure this doesn't show in our measurement record," adds PhD student William Nielsen. Vacuum beats the drum Yet it is exactly the range of ultra-precision measurements where it gets interesting. Then, it starts to matter that, according to quantum mechanics, the process of measuring the motion also influences it. In the experiment, this 'quantum measurement backaction' is caused by the inevitable quantum fluctuations of the laser light. In the framework of quantum optics, these are caused by quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in empty space (vacuum). Odd as it sounds, this effect left clear signatures in the Niels Bohr Institute experiments' data, namely strong correlations between the quantum fluctuations of the light, and the mechanical motion as measured by light. 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. Barclays was sued by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly deceiving investors who bought mortgage-backed securities, according to court papers filed in federal court in Brooklyn. The lawsuit announced on Thursday is rare for the big banks, which typically negotiate a settlement rather than risk a trial. The breakdown in talks suggests that the bank is willing to take its chances with the incoming enforcement officials in the Trump administration. The bank has lined up a lawyer known for his aggressive defense of clients including Lt. Col. Oliver North. Barclays is one of a handful of European banks, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, Credit Suisse, UBS Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, that have yet to settle the long-running U.S. probe as the Obama administration seeks to resolve the last major investigations from the financial crisis. The U.S. has extracted more than $46 billion from six U.S. financial institutions over their dealings in mortgage-backed securities. Barclays executives tried to draw the line at $2 billion in penalties to settle with the government, which made an opening offer it deemed too high, a person familiar with the situation told Bloomberg in October. The Justice Department's starting point for negotiations wasnt disclosed. "Barclays jeopardized billions of dollars of wealth through practices that were plainly irresponsible and dishonest," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a written statement. "With this filing, we are sending a clear message that the Department of Justice will not tolerate the defrauding of investors and the American people." Barclays rejected the government's claims in a written statement. "Barclays considers that the claims made in the complaint are disconnected from the facts," it said. "We have an obligation to our shareholders, customers, clients and employees to defend ourselves against unreasonable allegations and demands." The other banks under investigation declined to comment on the Barclays suit, even as they negotiate over how much they'll pay to resolve their own mortgage-securities probes. The British bank repeatedly deceived investors about the quality of more than $31 billion in loans backing the securities that were sold between 2005 and 2007, the Justice Department said in a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn. More than half of the underlying loans defaulted, the government said, after consultants reviewed the loans and called them "craptacular" and bearing the distinct aroma of default." Even before the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, the bank had hired an outside law firm as a signal that it wouldn't budge on the penalty figure. That law firm is Williams & Connolly, a person familiar with the matter said. The firm's top lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, is known in Washington as an aggressive litigator who relishes courtroom combat. Sullivan's spirited defense of Oliver North in the 1980s during the Iran-Contra hearings and subsequent criminal trial established him as a fighter. More recently, Sullivan was vindicated when a federal judge determined that prosecutors had unfairly withheld evidence that would have helped the case of his client, former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. Charges against Stevens, who died in a plane crash in 2010, were dismissed by the judge. Barclays has set aside 2.5 billion ($3.1 billion) for investigations and litigation since the start of 2014. Andrew Jetter is stepping down as the chief executive of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka after serving as the president and the chief executive for 14 years. The bank announced Tuesday that Jetter plans to retire at the end of the first quarter of 2017. "The Board of Directors of FHLBank Topeka is in the process of selecting an executive search firm to conduct a nationwide search for Jetter's successor," according to a Dec. 21 securities filing. Starting Jan. 1, Executive Vice President Mark Yardley will serve as the interim president and CEO until a new top executive is appointed. Jetter will remain as a nonexecutive senior adviser to the bank until his March 31 retirement date. "Throughout his career, he consistently and selflessly provided great value through his contributions, insight and leadership. And most of all, he directed the FHLBank to superior levels of performance, demonstrated by our current strong financial position," Bridger Cox, chairman of the bank's board of directors, said in a statement. Yardley joined the bank as an internal auditor in October 1984. He is now the chief risk officer and one of the "longest-serving members" of Jetter's team, Cox said. "We know that FHLBank will continue to be successful under Mark's leadership," he added. Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin is facing growing pressure from Senate Democrats to account for his leadership of a bank accused of shoddy foreclosure practices. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the top Democrat on the banking committee, sent a letter on Wednesday to the Treasury nominee, asking him to detail his views on issues including fair lending laws and foreclosure-prevention programs. Brown, who asked Mnuchin to respond to 11 questions by Jan. 6, says the nominee's record on other issues related to the committee's purview, which includes economic sanctions and financial regulations, are also unknown. "Working people need a Treasury Secretary who will work for them, not Wall Street," Brown said in a statement. "The American public deserves to know where Mr. Mnuchin stands on the important housing and finance issues that he will oversee. While he made a fortune from the financial crisis, far too many Ohioans have yet to recover from it." While Mnuchin can count on the support of the Republican majority in the Senate for confirmation, Democrats have signaled a tough fight. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner profited from the 2007-2008 housing market crash when he and a group of investors bought a failed mortgage lender that was later renamed OneWest Bank. It was accused of unfair foreclosure practices and avoiding business in minority neighborhoods. Mnuchin has said he's proud of his leadership of the bank, which was bought by CIT Group Inc. in 2015. The presidential transition team's press office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Brown's questions to Mnuchin ask for details on the following issues: His purchase of the failed California lender and the amount of financial support it received from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.; Mnuchin's time at Goldman Sachs' mortgage-trading desk; his policy stance on regulatory efforts related to housing finance, fair lending laws and a federal investigation of OneWest during his time as an executive; and explanations of comments made last month about taking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship. Mnuchin will face a public hearing with the Senate Finance Committee before it votes on his nomination, and must also respond to written questions, giving Democrats ample opportunity to criticize his business dealings. The party is still reeling from election results that revealed that an overwhelming number of Democratic counties where foreclosure rates were high voted for Donald Trump this year. "From the Democratic party perspective, perhaps the greatest remorse from the last eight years surrounds the response to the housing crisis," said Jeff Hauser from the Center for Economic Policy and Research in Washington. "They really did not take housing seriously enough. There's pent-up frustration that Democrats know they need to address." Senate Democrats have set up a website encouraging Americans to share their stories of being evicted by OneWest Bank. Mnuchin has submitted his three most recent years of tax returns and a questionnaire to the Senate, according to a finance committee spokeswoman. While tax returns may remain confidential, the financial disclosure documents and parts of the questionnaire will be made public. Senate Republicans have rallied around Mnuchin. He has met with several members of the finance committee, including Orrin Hatch of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Mnuchin has "a deep understanding of the fiscal challenges we face and can play an important role to help bridge the divide and craft bipartisan solutions that will promote the long-term health and prosperity of the American economy," Hatch said after his Dec. 8 meeting. (Natural News) The founder of online retail behemoth Amazon is a Russia propagandist and agentdid you know that? Sure he is, by the logic of his own newspaper, the Washington Post. So are the employees of the Internal Revenue Service, the St. Louis Federal Reserve, and the U.S. Census Bureau. Confused? Baffled? Shocked? Well explain. Twisted logic of the insane Left As noted by Zero Hedge, the three entities above were added to a sham list of about 200 news and information sites put together by a shady, never-before-known group of anonymous experts who spoon-fed the bogus story to the Washington Post, which wound up having to print a sort-of retraction explaining how its reporter couldnt really verify anything in the original story. It was so bad, in fact, that reliably Left-wing site The Intercept even chastised the paper for shoddy reporting in agreeing to publish the story. In case you missed it, the premise of the story was that a shadowy group, PropOrNot, published the list and claimed all of the sites on it were willingly publishing Russian propaganda, in an effort to help Donald J. Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. This is where the fake news narrative is coming from; this story. But since the 200-website list is completely bogus, that means the Posts story is nothing short of the kind of fake news it accused those same sites of publishing. Now, understand that the methodology behind the discredited list is guilt by association. If youre on that list, there is no need for there to be any actual proof that the site you work for (Natural News was included on the list, by the way), was a purveyor of Russia-supplied fake news propaganda. You dont have to actually publish the propaganda yourself, as an individual reporter for one of the aforementioned sites, but because you work there, you are guilty by association and subject to arrest by the state-owned secret police. Understand, mind you, that neither the Washington Postwhich has a journalistic (and legal) obligation to verify information and/or claims before publishing it/themnor the PropOrNot organization combed through any of the tens of thousands of pages on our site (or anyone elses) and found actual stories that had been force-fed to us by Russian intelligence operatives. And the reason why this did not happen is because there are no such stories on the site. Because we dont work for or with Russian intelligence. Heres how you might consider the Posts owner a Russian propagandist But this is how totalitarian logic works. Now, lets take it a step further: Is it possible that Jeff Bezos is a Russian double agent or propagandist, simply because he allows a t-shirt that features Russian President Vladimir Putin in a favorable light to be sold on Amazon.com? Or, how about this Professional Russian tee? Or waitif Donald Trump is associated with Russia because he has spoken of mending fences with Putin, what does that make Bezos for actually setting up shop in Russia with Amazon? In reality, the FBI looked into that, specifically. And the bureau found no Trump connections to Russia, and certainly not the level of Bezos companys association. Even U.S. government agencies are Russian plants Now, as for the Census Bureau, IRS and St. Louis Fed, Zero Hedge notes it published a pair of reports that relied on information from one or more of those agencies. It added: Sorry, U.S. Census Bureau, I.R.S. and St. Louis Federal Reserveyoure issuing Russian propaganda according to The Washington Posts shoddy fake news methodology. Your data enabled oftwominds.com and other independent journalist sites to issue content that was skeptical of official claims that are endlessly parroted by a bought-and-paid-for corporate media. OfTwoMinds.com was on the Posts fake news report about fake news spreading Russian propaganda. And of course, what counts among the U.S. establishment media as Russian propaganda? Any factual data or viewpoint that differs or refutes their Left-wing ruling elite and corporate-media shills. Because theyre so smart, anything that does not align perfectly with their views has to have come from what President Ronald Reagan once called the Evil Empire. Sources: ZeroHedge.com TheIntercept.com TechCrunch.com NYTimes.com Wednesday, December 21, 2016 by: Robert Jonathan Tags: insecticides , neonicotinoids This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author (Natural News) Neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides in wide use, may be more destabilizing to agriculture than previously presumed, according to a new study from Penn State. The teams research challenges the previously held belief that neonicotinoid seed coatings have little to no effect on predatory insect populations, ScienceDaily summarized. The findings suggest that more work needs to be done to work the bugs out, as it were. As Natural News has outlined, seeds are coated with neonicotinoids before planting instead of being sprayed on growing crops. Thus, a plant absorbs the entire insecticide component. The seven different chemicals that make up the neonicotinoid family are reportedly known to be extremely toxic to the environment despite being promoted as a safer alternative to traditional pyrethroid pesticides. The dysfunctional family includes acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, nithiazine, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam. Resembling nicotine, neonicotinoids exert an impact on the central nervous systems of insects and are sometimes called neonics for short. They are commonly deployed for crops such as corn, soybeans, and cotton. In 2013, the European Union imposed a temporary, multi-year ban on neonicotinoids out of concerns for the harm to the bee population through nectar and pollen. Earlier this year, Maryland became the first state to ban neonicotinoids, as of January 1, 2018, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a review project that is due to report its findings in 2018. In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on an incremental basis ended its use of neonicotinoids because of concerns over the global decline in pollinators such as bees and butterflies. In the newly published Penn State study, researchers performed a statistical meta-analysis of about 1000 observations from 20 field studies in North America and Europe that evaluated the effect of neonicotinoids on predatory insects. The results suggest that neonicotinoids may have a disruptive effect ecosystem, explained co-author Margaret R. Douglas. Predatory insects contribute billions of dollars a year to agriculture through the elimination of crop pest insects. We have found that neonicotinoid seed coatings reduce populations of these natural enemies 10 to 20 percent. This result suggests that neonicotinoids are reducing populations of natural enemies at least partly through their toxic effects rather than simply by reducing the availability of their crop pest foods, she added. As published in the PeerJ journal, the researchers wrote that Our finding that insects were more strongly affected by seed-applied neonicotinoids than were non-insect groups (mainly spiders and mites) suggests that toxin exposure is at least partly responsible for the overall negative effect we observed, and raises the question of how insect natural enemies are being exposed to these seed-applied toxins. The study seemed to suggest that neonicotinoids and pyrethroids had about the same effect on native predators, but that more research is necessary in this area. Co-author John F. Tooker proposed that farmers adopt an integrated pest management strategy that takes a combination of techniques into consideration, with insecticides possibly included as an option, depending on the circumstances. The researchers note that their results may help farmers and pest management professionals better weigh the costs and benefits of neonicotinoid seed treatments versus alternatives, Science Daily explained. IPM is the best chance we have of conserving beneficial insect species while maintaining productivity in our agricultural systems, the professor noted. In a prior study published in 2014, the same researchers similarly concluded that neonicotinoids may reduce crop yields by wiping out native predators of crop pests. Some 800 scientific studies previously reached the conclusion that neonicotinoids pose an ominous DDT-like threat to wildlife and the ecosystem. Plants treated with neonicotinoids have also been shown to poison birds and fish in addition to insects. Sources: ScienceDaily.com PeerJ.com Thursday, December 22, 2016 by: David Gutierrez Tags: corpus christi , Texas , Water contamination This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author (Natural News) (NaturalNews) Tens of thousands of residents of Corpus Christi, Texas, are still being told not to use their tap water after an asphalt chemical leaked into the city water supply. The city first issued warnings about the water on Wednesday, December 14. Some restrictions have already been lifted, and others may be lifted soon if tests give the municipal water a clean bill of health. But residents were angered to learn that officials had received reports of discolored water as much as two weeks before issuing the warnings, and had not investigated those reports. According to federal officials, there are four unconfirmed reports of people showing symptoms of illness consistent with drinking poisoned water. Corrosive, organ-destroying chemical Under current restrictions, the city of 300,000 is divided into three different water use zones. In the first zone, municipal water may be used for any purpose. In the second zone, residents are encouraged not to use municipal water for any purpose at all and to use bottled water for everything including bathing. In the third zone, the water is considered safe for bathing or clothes washing, except by children who might swallow the water if they bathe in it. Water in this zone should not be consumed internally. The city said that up to 24 gallons of a toxic chemical had spilled from a facility operated by Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions Inc., a subsidiary of oil refiner Valero. It is still unknown whether the water supply was contaminated by the incident. But as early as December 1, the city had received a report of discolored water. It received another such report on December 7, followed by a December 12 report of an unusual odor and appearance to the water. Two days later, the city issued its first warnings. The chemical in question is a mix of hydrochloric acid and Indulin AA-86, an asphalt emulsifier that is corrosive to the skin, eyes and respiratory tract and can cause damage to internal organs. With the water ban in place, schools and businesses had to close across the city. Stores began to sell out of bottled water immediately and placed emergency orders for shipments of more. People [are] waiting in aisles with their grocery carts ready for them to put out the new water shipments, resident Zach Kastelic said. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned people against trying to profit from the crisis. Every resource of my office will be made available to help regarding the water supply incident in Corpus Christi, Paxton said. Were monitoring the situation closely. Price gouging on bottled water will not be tolerated. Public and private donors supplied bottled water to be given out free to residents, but it took three days for the deliveries to start arriving. Slowness marks official response Corpus Christi residents have been angered by both the companys and citys responses to the crisis. More than half a dozen lawsuits have already been filed against Ergon. The city has been criticized for the slow nature of its response, both before and after the potential contamination was announced. In part, the delay in testing the chemical was beyond the citys control, however. Because Indulin AA-86 is a proprietary chemical, the city was forced to waste valuable time petitioning Ergon for more information on the chemical. The company actually forced the city to sign a non-disclosure agreement before revealing the contaminants chemical formula. Then because the U.S. legal system requires essentially no safety tests or protocols to be created before chemicals are allowed to enter the market it turned out that there was no known test that could reveal the presence of Indulin AA-86 in water. Thus, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first had to develop such a test, which it then ran on samples of Corpus Christi water. Sources for this article include: Edition.CNN.com MySanAntonio.com NBCNews.com LATimes.com With so many science-based challenges facing the world, researchers who can help to inform and affect policy can have an outsized impact. We asked Connie Lee, Tamara Galloway and Niklas Hohne to describe how they have helped to shape government policy and how others can learn from their experiences. Scientists need to step forward if they are to ensure that politicians understand the importance of their work. Credit: Andrew Aitchison/In pictures/Getty As chair of the public-policy committee for the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), Lee is a prominent advocate for science. She studied mammalian mitochondria before becoming an editor of The EMBO Journal and a deputy editor of Cell. As assistant dean for basic science at the University of Chicago in Illinois, she helps to oversee nine science departments. After training as a physicist, Hohne turned his attention to climate change, a field in which he hoped to make a global difference. As a founding partner of the New Climate Institute in Cologne, Germany, and a professor of greenhouse-gas mitigation at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, he works at the intersection of science and policy. Galloway, an ecotoxicologist at Exeter University, UK, can say with certainty that her research and her advocacy have brought real-world results. Her testimony in front of Parliament in May helped to bring about a UK ban on microplastics in personal-care products, an important source of marine pollution. In June, she discussed her research on pollutants in front of a committee of the United Nations in New York City. Fight for basic-science funding Connie Lee, assistant dean for basic science at the University of Chicago in Illinois Scientists have a lot of demands on their time. But getting involved in policy and advocacy is extremely important. Politicians hear from many lobbyists. If they don't hear from scientists too, we might be left out. I got bitten by the policy bug in 2008 when I visited Capitol Hill, the home of the US Congress, as a representative of the ASCB. My dream is for every US scientist to visit Capitol Hill you never know what questions politicians are going to ask. We met staff and elected members of Congress, and they had so many misunderstandings about science. A lot of people think that National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding only affects people in Bethesda, Maryland, where the NIH is headquartered. They don't realize that the funding spreads out to all 50 states, supporting research and creating jobs. The lack of scientific understanding among policymakers can be frustrating. Members of the US House of Representatives will scan titles of NIH grants to find items that sound wasteful. These grants have been peer reviewed, but the politicians just look at the titles and take them out of context. It can be important work, but it's mocked and dismissed. We can't let that sort of thing get us down. There's a communication gap between scientists and politicians. Scientists have to learn to explain the importance of their own work, whether they're talking to a policymaker, a dean or a potential donor. But we have to share a bigger message, too. We need to advocate for the institution of science and the importance of funding basic science. You never know where basic research can lead. The methodology behind CRISPR was discovered by looking at how bacteria protect themselves. Now it's used to edit genomes. The ASCB lobbies for issues outside the lab, such as immigration and the importance of international collaboration. We want to make sure junior researchers from other countries receive visas that last long enough to allow them to get the training they need. Policy and advocacy can take as much time as you're willing to give it. A lot of scientific societies have outreach positions, which is a great place to get started. You can join a government-relations board at your university or just offer a tour of your lab whenever a politician visits. And when you do get a grant funded, write to your local senator or representative and thank them for supporting science. It's baby steps, but we need to build relationships so they can see us as a resource. The facts matter Niklas Hohne, climate scientist at Wageningen University, the Netherlands Science covers the questions at the heart of society's problems. When it comes to climate change, it's absolutely essential that the research community helps to translate science into options for policymakers. I study international climate negotiations, such as the Paris agreement of 2015. The stated aim of the agreement was to limit warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. It requires much analysis to look at each country's emission proposals and then add them up to see whether they are on track to meet the overall goal. As I reported in November at the climate-change conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, our models show that some countries' current emissions proposals aren't sufficient to reach the Paris goal. Policymakers need this information so that they can adjust their country's emission targets, if they have the will to do so. I would say that most governments are generally well-informed about climate change. The goal to limit warning to 1.5 C is stronger than the previous one of 2 C, and that's because politicians understood the evidence. Scientists were able to show that a 2 C rise wouldn't be safe for the planet. Some politicians, including the president-elect of the United States, have denied that climate change exists. If individual politicians don't want to be convinced, there's not much more that scientists can do. Still, it's important to keep gathering data and reaching out to policymakers and the general public. The scientific community has a duty to continue to provide evidence and explain what we really know about human-caused emissions and global temperatures. Every 6 years, for example, about 2,000 researchers work together to create a report for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the current situation. It is a technical report that most politicians would have trouble understanding. But scientists can explain the key points and the take-home messages. Without that translation, their research won't have much of an impact. In some parts of society, we seem to be moving to an era beyond factual argument. Emotion seems to matter more than the facts. We have total access to information, but we also have total access to misinformation. Scientists have to make the facts matter again. We can do that by communicating results in an accessible way. I have been doing this for 20 years, and there have been a lot of setbacks. But I'm still hopeful. I got into climate change because I wanted to have an impact on the world, and I still think climate scientists can accomplish that. Despite the challenges, controlling climate change is doable. We have the technology we need to reach the goals. My main motivation is to give politicians the tools that they need to get this right. Progress may be slower than I hoped, but we'll see how things work out. Deliver your message Tamara Galloway, ecotoxicologist at Exeter University, UK The UK government is full of people who used to be bankers and lawyers. There's a great lack of scientific understanding. Most scientists aren't interested in becoming politicians, but it's still possible for them to become involved and inform policy. As a scientist, I always wondered why it took government so long to act on issues, especially when the evidence was already clear. Then, in November 2015, I participated in the Royal Society's 'Week in Parliament' scheme, and spent a week in London shadowing a Member of Parliament (MP). It was an amazing experience, and it helped me to understand that government is a giant monolith. Change comes slowly in most cases. In May, I and two other environmental scientists addressed a parliamentary select committee of MPs on marine pollution caused by microplastics, spheres of plastic less than 5 mm in diameter. The committee had three hours to ask us any question they wanted, and we didn't know what to expect. I felt like I'd had been called into the headmaster's office. The committee members asked intelligent and well-informed questions, trying to put everything in context. There's a lot of hysteria on the topic and websites with false information, so I needed to provide impartial scientific evidence. You don't want to sound as if you're pushing an agenda. I explained that microplastics, which are often found in cosmetics and shampoos, aren't actually toxic, but that they can disrupt the feeding and reproduction of many marine organisms. Shortly after the hearing, the committee announced that microplastics will be banned from personal-care products in the United Kingdom by the end of 2017. The science we were doing had had a real impact, and I was amazed that it happened so quickly. The pinnacle of my policy outreach so far is when I spoke about my research in front of a United Nations panel in New York in June. After that, I felt I could tackle anything. The lesson for me is that we must speak up. Scientists tend to become more and more specialized, to the point where it can be difficult to talk to other researchers, let alone the general public. I use my children as a sounding board. If they understand, I know I'm ready. Transplants of faecal matter have done wonders for the treatment of certain gastrointestinal infections. Will they ever work for inflammatory bowel disease? Faced with an impending operation to remove his large intestine, Oli Adams started a desperate search for other options that might resolve his Crohn's disease and spare him surgery. Credit: Nik Spencer Then 29, Adams was diagnosed with Crohn's when he was 23. For a decade before that as he forged a career as a professional surfer his fluctuating health had mystified him. He was one of few British surfers to compete in the sport's world tour, but his performance was erratic: one tournament he'd ace it, the next, feeling weak and with shaky legs, he looked like a different surfer. He thought it might be nerves or possibly that his vegetarianism was to blame. Part of Nature Outlook: Inflammatory bowel disease He hated the drugs he was prescribed when he was finally diagnosed the side effects were horrendous. And for six years, Adams cycled through flare-ups and fleeting opportunities to ride waves, all the while trying to find a medication that he could tolerate and that managed his symptoms. One worked for a time, but the symptoms returned. There's no rhyme or reason to it, says Adams, of Crohn's. How you're going to feel from one minute to the next, how your moods are going to be, whether you're going to be caught short ... It's embarrassing, it's painful, and at worse you're so malnourished that you are in a place you can't even describe it's like a zone of pain, but also your brain is so in crisis that you can't really think. Crohn's and ulcerative colitis the two main types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are caused by a hyperactive immune system attacking the walls of the gastrointestinal tract, causing inflammation and ulceration (see page S98). But no one knows why this happens. The drugs Adams was given included decades-old steroids that suppress immune function as a whole and newer drugs that block more specific aspects of the inflammatory cascade. These drugs can be effective, but not for everybody it's a common refrain in the IBD community that no two people's experiences are identical. When Adams's drugs stopped working and his intestine seemed to be in danger of rupturing, his doctors advised surgery. It was like a race against time for me not to have the operation, says Adams. And of all the avenues he could explore, Faecal transplant was the main thing on the list. A faecal transplant or the preferred term, faecal microbiota therapy (FMT) comes at IBD from the opposite direction to most drugs. Instead of assuming that the immune system is inherently faulty, whether because of genetics or environment, proponents argue that the hyperactive immune system is being provoked by something in the lumen, or interior, of the gut. The most plausible candidates are a pathogenic microorganism, a combination of such microbes or perhaps a shortage of microorganisms that lower levels of inflammation. If this is the case, changing the contents of the gut by seeding a new healthy community of microorganisms might halt the disease. Gastroenterologist Alexander Khoruts holds a bag of donated microbiota. Credit: Jeff Wheeler Two years ago, when Adams thought FMT could be an alternative to surgery, there was nowhere in the United Kingdom that provided the treatment for those with IBD. Despite being gravely ill, Adams considered travelling to Australia to take part in a small study. But he ran out of time. When his condition deteriorated quickly, his doctors examined his intestines and feared they could burst at any moment. I'd left it too long, he says. They did the operation there and then. Adams will never know if FMT would have helped his IBD. But it has become an established procedure for people with recurrent infections of the bacterium Clostridium difficile (an increasing problem owing to antibiotic resistance), and a small number of patients and gastroenterologists make enthusiastic claims about its effectiveness for IBD. But many others point to the modest results of systematic trials and urge more measured expectations. Is there something to it? Perhaps, says Alexander Khoruts, a gastroenterologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, who has used FMT extensively to treat C. difficile infections. Are we anywhere close to it? No, he says. Is it worth pursuing? Yes. But pursuing it properly requires more than simply doing further transplants: it means knowing exactly how the procedure changes the recipient's microbiota. This information, alongside clinical observation, is necessary to truly evaluate the effects of FMT. And it may also shed light on the causes of IBD. A new medicine Studies of the human microbiota the myriad microorganisms that call our bodies home have redefined how researchers view the contents of our gastrointestinal tracts. Scientists now know that humans co-evolved with a web of thousands of microbes: bacteria, viruses, fungi and unicellular organisms called archaea. The relationship we have with them is mutually beneficial we provide warmth and nutrients, and they help us to digest our food, mop up toxins, make vitamins, hone our immune systems, communicate with our brains and crowd out malignant microbes such as C. difficile. To people in this field, poo ceased to be simply a repugnant by-product of human digestion years ago. Faecal attraction: the history of faecal microbiota therapy (FMT) FMT is based on the idea that a healthy intestinal flora can be transferred from a donor to a recipient through, as the name suggests, faecal matter. The research behind it is increasingly sophisticated, but the procedure is not. The stool of a healthy donor is blitzed with saline, filtered and then delivered to the recipient's gastrointestinal tract. Various administration routes are used: an enema or colonoscopy coming up one way, or a nasogastric tube or capsules going down the other. The latter are popularly known as 'crapsules'. As one patient told Nature, these gastrointestinal diseases are serious enough by themselves, without anyone being uptight about toilet humour. The first stool Khoruts ever transferred came from the husband of a 64-year-old woman with a recurrent C. difficile infection. When she came under his care in 2008, the patient was living in incontinence pads, passing diarrhoea every 15 minutes, night and day, and her weight had dropped by almost 30 kilograms. Fifteen months of antibiotics had got her nowhere. Needing to try something new, Khoruts found a growing body of literature that included positive case reports and small studies that convinced him FMT was worth a try. The husband's stool was delivered by colonoscopy and the patient reported feeling better while still in recovery. Khoruts recalls that after more than a year of relentless diarrhoea, she said she felt something inside beginning to feel whole again. Within two days, she had a normal bowel movement. Not only was this event transformative for the patient, but it was also a landmark for the field because Khoruts did something that those early case reports had not: with a group of microbial ecologists, he examined the DNA content of stool samples taken from the donor and the recipient before and after the transplant1. Suddenly, there was some science there. The analysis demonstrated that microorganisms from the husband's gut had colonized the patient's gut. Suddenly, Khoruts says, there was some science there. In the throes of her illness, the patient's gastrointestinal tract had been a desolate landscape, but seeded by her husband's intestinal flora, it now hosted a vigorous microbial ecosystem in which the bacteria causing the infection were unable to survive. FMT's effectiveness at treating recurrent C. difficile infections was cemented in early 2013. As part of a randomized control trial, only 7 out of 26 people receiving a control (which included the antibiotic vancomycin) recovered, but 15 out of 16 patients receiving FMT were cured. The treatment was so successful that the trial was terminated early because withholding FMT from the control group was deemed unethical2. This remarkable 94% success rate seems to be holding up, and an increasing number of physicians now use FMT to combat C. difficile. I've become completely addicted, Khoruts says. I've helped 400 people like this in my own practice. We haven't charged them a penny, but I'm the richest man I know because of that feeling saving somebody's life. Flushed with success Buoyed by the effectiveness of FMT for treating C. difficile, the idea spread that any disease involving a malignant microbiota might be resolved by delivering a healthy one. IBD, in which inflammation and ulceration rage where the intestinal microbiota abuts human tissue, has long been thought to be next on the list of FMT-treatable conditions. But the reality showed that the procedure was anything but a straightforward fix and that understanding the exact role of the microbiota in disease is essential. Reports of FMT's effectiveness for IBD began in a similar way to those for C. difficile. In 1989, a gastroenterologist described how he had been in remission from his ulcerative colitis for six months following an enema of healthy stool3 (see 'Faecal attraction'). Since then, there has been a stream of anecdotal reports. No one doubts that at least some of these are valid, but whereas for C. difficile isolated accounts soon snowballed into larger studies and irrefutable clinical trials, for IBD they haven't. In 2014, gastroenterologists David Rubin and Ruben Colman both then at the University of Chicago in Illinois, reviewed case studies, small open-label investigations and a randomized controlled trial on the use of FMT to treat IBD4. They found that the studies' methodologies varied considerably: patients had varying severities and duration of IBD, and had received different numbers of transplants that had been delivered by different routes. The studies had also used different criteria to judge success from a decrease in symptoms to a verified healing of the mucosa. Rubin and Colman concluded that FMT for ulcerative colitis with huge variability between reports seemed to benefit 22% of people. For Crohn's, the figure was higher, but here the studies were too limited in both quality and quantity to draw firm conclusions. The bias towards studies of ulcerative colitis rather than Crohn's stems mainly from the fact that the former affects only the colon and rectum, whereas Crohn's can affect any region of the gastrointestinal tract, including the mouth. Rubin says that their goal was to start a serious discussion about the procedure's use for IBD and indeed, he says, there was a signal in the literature. The challenge now is for more controlled studies to decipher the nature of that signal. Paul Moayyedi, a gastroenterologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, has taken up that mantle. He led a randomized controlled trial for FMT in ulcerative colitis, published in 2015, in which participants received either colonic FMT or a water enema once a week for six weeks. A week after the final enema, the patients were checked for signs of colon healing. In the control group, 2 out of 37 entered remission, compared with 9 out of 38 in the FMT group, a statistically significant effect5. Scanning electron micrograph of various species of faecal bacteria. Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL The 24% success rate is similar to that described by Rubin and Colman. By Moayyedi's own admission, it needs to be a lot better. But he also argues that this level of success is the reality of treatments at the moment and compares favourably with the remission rates seen with much-heralded immunosuppressant drugs. Moayyedi is now in the early stages of a second trial for FMT in ulcerative colitis. It is one of a number of larger, better controlled trials that are under way for both this disorder and Crohn's to determine the future of FMT as a treatment for IBD. Firming up evidence It is now clear that recurrent C. difficile infection was a low-hanging fruit: a condition that is essentially tailor-made for FMT. This bacterium wreaks havoc, mainly in the bowels of people whose native microbiota has been wiped out through heavy antibiotic use. C. difficile survives because of its drug-resistant spores. But once the antibiotics have cleared, a new microbiota can easily take hold and crowd the bacterium out. No other condition is likely to be so easily bested by FMT, but the expectation is that it must be used to treat conditions caused by a pathogenic microbiota. And that the microorganisms in a healthy donor's stool must be able to colonize the recipient's gastrointestinal tract. Various studies have attempted to identify causative microbial factors for IBD by using ever more sophisticated genetic tools to examine the full suite of patients' intestinal inhabitants. Most studies have found alterations a common conclusion is that the IBD-associated microbiota is less diverse but frustratingly there is no consensus about which specific microbial populations are altered. More pressingly, however, these studies have been unable to determine whether these changes are pathogenic provoking the immune system, and so causing the disease or whether the pathological inflammation of IBD creates an intestinal environment that favours different microorganisms. Even studies showing that alterations in the microbiota correlate with disease severity, or that the microbiota normalizes with remission, fail to prove causation over correlation. This creates uncertainty over the extent to which FMT might work for IBD. It also places the procedure in an interesting position: trials of FMT might be able to unpick the riddle of cause and effect. Testing FMT is part clinical trial, part interventional clinical experiment. If installing a new microbiota works, it will be compelling evidence that the displaced microbiota had been central to generating IBD. Whereas, if symptoms persist after microbial transfer and the microbiota reverts, this will indicate that the problem lies with the immune system. A well-executed but failed trial of FMT, therefore, would offer the consolation of new insight into the mechanism of the disease. I wouldn't expect one transplant to change the microbiota that much. But before any of this can happen, researchers need to know whether introduced microorganisms effectively colonize the recipient's gastrointestinal tract. Without this information, it is impossible to interpret a changing or unchanging disease course. For this reason, Khoruts argues that establishing a reliable methodology should be the first goal of IBD research. I wouldn't expect that one administration of FMT would really change the microbial community structure that much, he says. Unlike the denuded bowels of people with a C. difficile infection, there are already microbes in the guts of people with IBD, leaving nowhere for the new arrivals to settle. But if you do it repeatedly, there is a decent chance that you're going to have a substantial change in the microbial community, says Khoruts. Moayyedi agrees. In his 2015 trial, DNA analysis of stool samples revealed that the microbial composition of FMT-treated participants shifted modestly towards the donor's profile after the six weekly transplants. In a second trial, set to begin next year, patients will first be given a two-week course of broad-spectrum antibiotics to make space in the gut, and then receive twice-weekly FMT for eight weeks. Moayyedi is also tweaking other aspects of the methodology in the new trial to explore signals that he noticed in the 2015 trial. All participants will receive stool from a single donor, for instance. The original trial used two main donors, A and B. Intriguingly, A's donations cured nobody, whereas B's had a 39% success rate. Disease duration is another variable that they have their eye on this time around: 3 of the 4 participants who'd had ulcerative colitis for less than 1 year responded to FMT, compared with only 6 of 34 who'd had the disease for longer. That is a lot of factors to explore, and every additional variable requires more participants and hence more funding. Rubin also wonders if there is a basic heterogeneity across IBD cases, such that a person whose disease began after a food-poisoning incident might benefit from FMT, whereas a more strongly genetic case might not. Funding large trials and sophisticated DNA analysis is challenging, especially for a treatment that, unlike a regular drug, has struggled to attract major financial investment. A lost Cambodian city that predates the renowned Angkor Wat temple complex by centuries has been discovered in the jungles along a mountainside in the country's northwest. Previously undocumented evidence of temples, ancient canals and rivers, dikes and roads were found by combining the latest in data gathering technology with Indiana Jones-style archeology. The find amounts to a hidden city that predates the renowned Angkor Wat temple complex by 350 years. Cobbling together pieces of evidence - a stone altar here, evidence of an ancient road there - creates a more complete picture of the ancient city: Mahendraparvata, a lost medieval city where people lived on a mist-shrouded mountain called Phnom Kulen, during the Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire that ruled much of Southeast Asia from about 800 to 1400 A.D., during a time that coincided with Europe's Middle Ages. GPS and lidar data guided Damian Evans, the director of the University of Sydney's archaeological research center in Cambodia, and his team to the individual ancient ruins, sometimes buried beneath thick overgrowth in an area peppered with landmines from more recent war. It is not yet known how large Mahendraparvata was, as the GPS and lidar data are not yet complete. Lidar - or light-detection and ranging data - is responsible for several great archaeological finds, including the 2009 discovery of extensive terraced farming networks in the Mayan city of Caracol, and a recent expedition at Stonehenge, Australian newspaper The Age reports. The lidar system effectively peeled away the jungle canopy, allowing the researchers to see perfect square structures and evidence of a network or roads and dikes, which allowed them to complete a map of the ancient lost city. Surprisingly, much of the city, though in ruins, was not compromised over the centuries. On the ground archaeologists found little of the telltale signs of looting. Despite 1,200 villagers living in the area around the newly found ruins, none of them realized they were living in the middle of the ancient city. Evans offered a hypothesis on the ancient city's demise: "One theory we are looking at is that the severe environmental impact of deforestation and the dependence on water management led to the demise of the civilization ... perhaps it became too successful to the point of becoming unmanageable," Evans told the journalist Lindsay Murdoch, the Southeast Asia correspondent Fairfax Media, whose piece ran in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. "Maybe what we are seeing was not the central part of the city, so there is a lot of work to be done to discover the extent of this civilization," Evans said. The discovery is set to be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. The Galapagos Islands are well known for their biodiversity, housing plants, and animals that aren't found anywhere else on earth. For years, scientists have been trying to figure out the origin and time frame of this phenomenon and at last, a study published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters has the answer. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences Fellow Kris Karnauskas, the lead author of the study, proposed that the geologic formation of one particular part of the archipelago that formed around 1.6 million years ago could be responsible for the Galapagos Islands' unique biodiversity. Despite authoring six peer-reviewed scientific papers on the Galapagos Islands, Karnauskas still hadn't found the answer to when biodiversity flourished in the Galapagos. "I asked around and couldn't get a straightforward answer," said Karnauskas, an assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. "My geology friends said anywhere between half a million to twenty million years ago, depending on what feature we're talking about." To determine exactly when the Galapagos turned into one of the most biologically diverse places on earth, Karnauskas looked beyond the age of the Galapagos islands. "I wasn't really interested in when the very first island breached the surface, but when this ecosystem developed," Karnauskas recounted. "That's not the customary way to ask questions in geology, nor does it lend itself to the usual toolbox." Karnauskas proposed that the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) colliding with the archipelago caused the biological explosion in the Galapagos. Due to the shape of Earth and the way it spins, the EUC remains at the equator. In the case of the Galapagos, islands emerged from the seafloor and blocked the current. The island of Isabela in particular interested Karnauskas. "It's a pure accident of geography that Isla Isabela is so large and stands right on the equator, right where the EUC is trying to pass through. This is enough to drive cold, nutrient-rich water up to the surface where it can fuel marine productivity. We can easily see it today from space; the water is very cold and productive just west of the Galapagos along the shores of Isabela. It's no surprise that you'll find all the penguins jumping in the water there." Karnauskas and his colleagues used previously collected data from sediment cores pulled up from sample sites near the Galapagos Islands. They noticed that around 1.6 million years ago, changes in the chemical composition of the fossil bugs in the sediment suggested a marked change in temperature. Since the EUC could no longer flow to the mainland, this resulted in diversifying the species of fish, plants and penguins in the Galapagos. "Typically, we use known geologic constraints to help explain past changes in the environment such as ocean circulation," says Karnauskas. "It contributes a unique data point not only for geology but also for ecology and biogeography -- where and when life is distributed." Bees are traditionally viewed as hardworking insects, but what most people would be surprised to know is that male bumblebees leave home and fly away without looking back. Researchers from the University of Exeter have discovered that male bumblebees make no effort to remember the nest they've come from. Upon leaving a flower they had just discovered, male bumblebees have been observed to perform a "learning" flight that shows them turning back and looking at the flower for them to remember how to locate it again. This is a marked contrast to the lack of effort the male bumblebees show when they leave the nest as solitary adults to start their bachelor life. Female worker bumblebees, on the other hand, work to sustain the thriving colony and always come back to the nest with nectar and pollen by performing learning flights to remember the locations of both the flowers they fly to and the nest they came from. University of Exeter PhD student Theo Robert was the one who discovered this behavioral pattern, prompting him to try an experiment. "Out of curiosity I placed a male on a feeder and found that its departure flight looked surprisingly similar to that of bumblebee workers. I was intrigued by this observation, and so we recorded more flights of male bees to understand whether they are capable of performing learning flights, but decide to do it only at locations that are important to them." "It will be interesting to understand what neural differences may underlie the sex-specific behavior of males and females," said senior author Dr. Natalie Hempel de Ibarra from the University of Exeter. "Female bees have a rich behavioral repertoire that is widely studied, while the behavior of males is less studied and is therefore sometimes held to be simpler. In fact, male bumblebees have to do more than just mate after they have left their natal nest." Migration, which includes the added benefit of avoiding breeding with sisters or cousins of male bumblebees, is key to pollination since they could travel as far as six miles. "Finding queens to mate with is not easy. Darwin found that to do so the males patrol stable routes. They learn these routes and deposit pheromones on plants along the way to attract females. There is still much for us to learn about their lives." Las Vegas is finally drawing 100 percent of its power from renewable energy sources. This is a dream finally achieved by its officials for the better part of the decade. According to the Review Journal, this effort moved closer to reality last 2015 when the city expanded its partnership with NVEnergy to deliver the power to run its facilities -- from the City Hall to parks to streetlights -- using clean energy sources. This goal has been fully realized last week when Boulder Solar 1, the large-scale project near Boulder City, had become online. Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman said the city has now become a "world leader in sustainability." According to Review Journal, aside from streetlights powered by kinetic energy, a portion of what's powered at the Boulder Solar 1 site is dedicated to the city. The city also generates energy to power on-site facilities with tree-shaped panels in the City Hall plaza, solar shade canopies at parks and arrays on roofs and other facilities. According to Review Journal, the city also draws power from hydropower energy. By the end of 2017, Las Vegas will for the first time draw power from the Hoover Dam, which will complement existing renewable sources. Not to mention, NVEnergy's GreenEnergy program will allow large customers to contract for an added cost with the company to power their facilities. It can be remembered that Las Vegas began building its sustainable energy programs back in 2008, first with energy-saving measures across the city and putting solar arrays on and around city facilities. This is a big move alongside other cities and countries who are aiming for a more "green" society, where they are starting to get more dependent on renewable energy sources and are cutting costs on methods that spend fossil fuel. For instance countries such as Canada are starting to opt out of coal to support this push. Meanwhile, investments on diesel are starting to drop due to this campaign towards using cleaner fuel. The city energy's saving because of this shift jumped to $5-million annually. Star Wars won't be on a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It appears Boeing may actually bring the epic laser battles of the franchise on Earth for real. Boeing has just been awarded an estimated $90-million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for the development and delivery of experimental laser pods. This means the contractor will provide research and development of high energy laser tech through the next five years. According to Inside Defense, the laser pod referred to the award is likely to be the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHIELD). It can be remembered that in August, Northrop Grumman was selected to develop the laser beam director turret for his high energy laser weapons system designed to protect tactical fighter planes from incoming missiles. However, it appears lasers can be used offensively as well, akin to space battles we see in the famous films. According to Next Big Future, Grumman was awarded a $39.3 million contract related to the development of a laser-based self-defense system for the US Air Force (USAF). Grumman was contracted by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on August 23 for the SHIELD Turret Research in Aero-Effects (STRAFE) program. He was to develop and deliver an advanced beam control system for integration as part of a complete laser weapon system into a tactical pod for USAF fighter aircraft. According to Defense Update, his work is expected to be finished by August 2021. And while his work may not resemble the epic space battles between ships of the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, the innovation would surely revolutionize the future of aerial warfare. It appears it is intended that the SHIELD pod would enable the USAF's fourth-generation fighter fleet. This includes the Boeing F-15 Eagle and Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon to survive in contested airspace. The fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II may probably not carry the pod, as it may negate their stealth characteristics. New satellite images show that North Korea is preparing its nuclear ballistic missile submarine to finally head out to see. The country has not released a statement regarding this, so military personnel from all over the world are keeping track of the progress. Known as the Bukgeukseong-1, the nuclear ballistic missile submarine has been in production since 2015. This particular warhead has been tested successfully in August of this year and is expected for launch as early as the first few months of 2017. What peaks the curiosity of many is that North Korea has not officially revealed any information regarding this submarine and considers technical information about it as classified information, just like what other countries like the United States do. According to a report from Washington Times, North Korea has been readying the submarine for worthiness and has been continuously testing it both on land and sea for the past two years. Spectators from all over the world only base their information on satellite images as the country has not officially declared its launch. A report indicated that it may not be enough to conclude that North Korea is going to launch its submarine within 2016. Many experts have considered this a threat, which is why military personnel from all over the world has been monitoring the movements of North Korea ever since the satellite images have been recorded. According to a news report, in the case that North Korea finally launches their nuclear missile submarine, the capacity and range of nuclear weapons in the country would increase significantly. This is on top of the fact that tracking the location of the country's nuclear weapons will pose more difficulty and challenges. A report from CNN noted that the reason behind North Korea's development of the submarine is unknown. As they only have one produced so far, it is still unclear if the country plans to use it simply as an experimental vehicle or for potential manufacture in the future. The new Star Wars film, Rogue One, has hit the cinemas, and many people are probably rewatching and re-living the entire collection to backtrack on its history. Along with this, fans may have been digitally revisiting the popular planets and galaxies featured in the film series, including Tatooine, the woods of Endor, and the ice world Hoth. What many don't know is that many of Star Wars' universe are actually turned into tourists destinations and they can take time away from their daily lives to visit these places. Architectural Digest enumerates many of the most iconic destinations. Most of the scenes in Tatooine have been filmed in various locations in Tunisia. This includes Mos Espa which features the space port of Tatooine. This place has been filmed in Oung Jmel, Tunisia and is visited by tourists on a regular basis. Also found in Tunisia would be Luke Skywalker's iconic igloo home. Newer destinations which are featured Rogue One as reported by CNN includes the planet of Scarif which could be located in the beautifull Laamu Atoll in Maldives. What is interesting is that the Imperial Base of Scarif which has also been featured in the film is located in an entirely different location, thousands of miles away in the Canary Wharf Station in London. This is an entirely different feel, with futuristic looking window panels, steel and glass compared to Laamu Atoll's island appeal. If travelling is too much, maybe turning your home into a Star Wars film set would be a great idea with a few of the sci-fi technology in the film which actually exists today. A company called Aerofox has developed their own flying speeder bike which they have been perfecting for the past few years. Probe droids are also quite popular nowadays in the form of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones which is not only entertaining but very handy. An 85-year-old Alameda man has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting his wife and then turning his gun on himself at a care facility last month, police said. Florentino Morata was scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, according to Alameda police Sgt. Alan Kuboyama. The shooting occurred at the Crown Bay Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 508 Westline Drive in Alameda at about 10:15 p.m. on Nov. 22, police said. Officers found Morata's 85-year-old wife, who'd been shot, as well as Morata, who had an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police. Morata and his wife were transported to Highland Hospital in Oakland to be treated for their injuries. Morata remained at the hospital until Sunday, when he was released and then booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, where he's being held without bail, Kuboyama said. His wife remains hospitalized, according to Kuboyama. The gun that Morata allegedly used in the shooting was recovered at the scene, police said. Its been 30 years since Willie Bridges has been a free man. But with a parole date set for just four months away, hes now looking for a job and he might have just found it. San Quentin State Prison held its third job fair earlier this month with 44 inmates, including Bridges, hoping to connect with employers before their release date. After being sent to prison when he was only 20, Bridges now hopes the Prison Employment Readiness Program will help him regain his footing in the world. Michael Bott "I want to do a start over and I feel that this is the best opportunity for that," Bridges said. The program was born two years ago when Nelson Theodo Butler, an inmate at San Quentin, was about to appear before the parole review board. Michael Bott "When you go to the board, one of the things they want you to have is a job, Butler said. Well, Im not from the Bay Area, so I dont have a lot of family and people here and a lot of connections to get a job. I was like, Well, what do I need to do in order to do that?" Lucky for him, a volunteer for the prisons reentry program heard about Butlers idea. "My first impression was that it was a very ambitious idea, said Diana Williams of San Francisco, who volunteers at the prison. He was very passionate about it. Given that he was in prison and had limited resources to make it a reality, I thought it was something I could help with on the outside." Williams traveled to job fairs and met with employers to gauge interest in the program. "I actually just started calling employers just literally making phone calls and seeing where the interest was, she said. "At the time, and I think its changing now, there was more of an underground group of employers who were hiring ex-felons. It took me a while to tap into that." Michael Bott The first job fair brought 10 employers to the prison. Today, the program has grown to 31. All inmates have to complete a 12-week job readiness program before they get to meet the employers, where they are trained on resume writing, launching a job search, and how to discuss their criminal history among other things. "We also meet with all the men individually before the job fair day to make sure they are prepared," Williams said. "They have homework to turn in that includes an essay on how they envision the future for themselves." Several job sectors were represented including the restaurant, construction, maintenance and healthcare industries. Potential employers included Cala Restaurant, Home of Chicken and Waffles, Goodwill Industries, District Council 16 and Pit Stop. The job fair is one of 60 programs in the prison, according to Steve Emrick, community partnership manager at the prison. One of the main goals for organizers is to find a good fit between inmate skills and employer needs. [The employers] said that they would hire an ex-felon, if we brought them someone that was qualified," Butler said. "I remember one guy. He got out on a Monday. By Wednesday, he was working for one of the companies that came in for the job fair. Butler knows many people are hesitant about hiring men like him, but he hopes the program will help inmates find a place in society as soon as they are released. "Once people hire us, they see that not only do I want the job, but Im willing to work twice as hard as the next guy that has never been to prison, because I have to prove myself, he said. "I have to prove to you that I am capable of this job, that I want this job and I will do anything legally to keep it." One of Butlers main goals is to make sure that once released, former inmates dont end up behind bars again. "That fact that you have a job is important, because if nothing else, it gives you a sense of worth. It says that I can do the right thing and when I do the right thing, I will get rewarded for it, he said. Butler hopes to help out with the job fair until his next parole date in 2018. "I would really like to reach out to any industry that is hiring and willing to hire my guys," Butler said. Williams said the program, aside from connecting inmates with potential employers, is a good way to reflect on life. "A lot of this is really about getting to know themselves better so they can find out who they really are and what they have to offer the world," he said. Housing advocates planned a rent control rally on Thursday to march against those who they feel are being grinches on the Mountain View City Council who have directed the city attorney not to oppose a temporary restraining order against a rent control measure. The rally is being organized by the Mountain View Tenants Coalition, which has a group of lawyers helping out with their rights. The rally is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at 500 Castro Street in Mountain View. And its because the tenants expect that the he California Apartment Association will ask a judge on Thursday morning to approve the restraining order. They fear the citys voter-approved rent-control ordinance, Measure V, is in danger. The California Apartment Association filed a multi-pronged lawsuit this week seeking to overturn the charter amendment, passed by voters last month, according to the tenants group. The association's arguments take aim at the measure's provisions for a rent rollback, a temporary freeze on rent increases, and a series of "vague and ambiguous" requirements imposed on landlords, the Mountain View Voice reported. The charter amendment is set to take effect on Friday, including a rollback of rents on thousands of apartments to October 2015 rates, the Voice reported. Measure V won in November with 53.4 percent of the vote, but the initiative had far less support among elected leaders. Six out of the seven Mountain View council members opposed the measure, most of them instead backing a milder alternative they added to the November ballot after Measure V qualified for the ballot, the Voice reported. An emergency meeting in the South Bay on Wednesday aimed to address some of the side effects of a Donald Trump presidency. Many students in San Joses Alum Rock School District are on Christmas break. But district officials said theyre learning that some of those students will not return after the holiday because their families are afraid of being deported. Superintendent Hilaria Bauer has been making home visits to convince families to keep their children in school amid brewing fears. An impromptu brainstorming session was held on Wednesday to discuss some of those parents concerns. We want them to be calm, she said. We also want them to know were working on it, not just promises on a piece of paper. One plan is to work with city, county and congressional leaders so they can have unified answers for worried families. Another is to get advice from border communities. Alum Rock School District board member Andres Quintero said the idea is to be proactive instead of waiting for children to stop attending classes. Colleagues that are [on] the Arizona border and unfortunately had to implement protocols to address situations where one day the children and parents are together and the next day the parents cant pick up their children, he said. Bauer, who already has two more home visits scheduled in January, is tracking attendance numbers to see how big of an impact this will have on the district. Police have released a sketch and are asking for the public's assistance in identifying a suspect accused of shooting and injuring a man outside a San Mateo bowling alley on Friday. The shooting happened at about 10 p.m. in the parking lot of the Bel Mateo Bowl at 4330 Olympic Ave., according to police. A 24-year-old Redwood City man was found near the front entrance of the bowling alley suffering from several gunshot wounds, police said. He was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover. Police said that it appears the victim was targeted in the shooting. "San Mateo police detectives are aggressively investigating this incident and from witness statements were able to obtain a sketch of the suspect and vehicle," police said in a statement. Investigators described the suspect as a being between 25 and 30 years old, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, with an average build, and weighing approximately 180 pounds. He had a mustache and beard, and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt that night. The vehicle was described as a 2000s green Mercedes-Benz four-door C230 or C240 with a sunroof, rear tinted windows and paper license plates, police said. Anyone with information about the suspect has been asked to contact police Detective Ed Han at (650) 522-7664 or ehan@cityofsanmateo.org. The union representing San Francisco police filed an unfair labor practices lawsuit against the city this week over a use of force policy that prohibits officers from firing at moving vehicles and putting people in chokeholds. The lawsuit was filed in Superior Court Tuesday by the San Francisco Police Officers Association. It seeks to block the city from implementing the new policy, which was approved by the Police Commission Wednesday night, and force it back into arbitration or negotiations with the union. Were a labor union and our members have a right to negotiate over working conditions, union president Martin Halloran said in a statement about the group's 2,300 police officers. The Commission wants to ignore those labor rights. The Charter is clear that our dispute must go to arbitration, so were asking a judge to order the Commission back to the table. The union alleges the city's Police Commission prematurely declared an impasse in negotiations in October and has refused to bargain further on the issue of whether officers can fire at moving vehicles. The lawsuit claims that city negotiators made verbal agreements to allow shooting at vehicles in exceptional circumstances such as terrorist attacks where vehicles are being used as weapons, but then refused to put those agreements in writing. Halloran deemed this move "bad faith" bargaining. The commission also reneged on an agreement to allow the use of a control hold known as the carotid restraint, according to the lawsuit. The policy bans the use of chokeholds but police had argued that the carotid restraint, a type of control hold that stops blood flow to the brain, could be used safely with proper training and was invaluable for smaller officers seeking to subdue a larger suspect. "We're asking a court to intervene and force the Police Commission back to the negotiating table," Halloran said. "The Commission tells us one thing in closed door meetings, then they refuse to put it in writing. They sign agreements on one day, and renege on them the next." Union leaders say officers and the public will be put at risk by the new use of force policy, which is getting the cold shoulder from the rank and file. The rule may lead to deadly results, with officers being forced to use more lethal options in certain situations. "We will seek a judge's approval to force the department to not to implement the policy until we either get back to the negotiation table or we let a judge decide or let an arbitrator decide," Halloran insisted. The commission debated a motion Wednesday night to allow the use of carotid restraints in certain circumstances, at least until other unspecified alternatives could be made available to officers. However, that motion was defeated in a 4-3 vote. Commission president Suzy Loftus said that while the union had sought an exception to the ban on shooting at moving vehicles for situations where vehicles were used as weapons, past experience had demonstrated that this approach backfired. After former police Chief Greg Suhr introduced a ban on shooting at moving vehicles in 2011 that included a list of exceptions, such incidents had actually increased, Loftus noted. Instead, Loftus introduced language intended to make it clear that incidents would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. "There is a strict ban in this policy on shooting at cars and there is also an awareness that we cannot predict every situation that officers may face," she said. The ban on shooting at moving vehicles and on carotid restraints are both backed by the U.S. Department of Justice, and are just two of 272 new reforms passed by the commission on Tuesday night. The city entered into a collaborative review process with the Department of Justice early last year that resulted in a report released in October with 479 recommendations for reforming the San Francisco Police Department. The union is also pushing for the city to allow the use of Taser stun guns to provide an additional less-lethal option for officers. That proposal has been repeatedly shot down in the past in the face of intense community opposition, and Halloran on Thursday said the commission has refused recently to even discuss it. The police commission as a group is not commenting on the lawsuit, but one commissioner told NBC Bay Area that the new policies will go into effect immediately - even the two that are most contentious with officers and the union. "The use of choke holds is banned, shooting at cars is banned, said San Francisco Police Commissioner Joseph Marshall. Mayor Ed Lee issued a statement saying that the city is committed to implementing the new reforms and will continue to work with the everyone involved to ensure public safety and restore trust in the police department. A man who was in a 40-hour standoff with officers in Salinas earlier this year was arrested again near Watsonville on Tuesday morning after leading police, Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputies and a California Highway Patrol aircraft crew on a pursuit. CHP officers saw a white Cadillac on Carlton Road that they recognized as being associated with 31-year-old Augustin Leon-Palomares, who had an active felony warrant for allegedly using his car to pin a woman in her vehicle last week, CHP officials said. When the officers tried to stop the vehicle, Leon-Palomares allegedly sped off through a dirt road and into a field before getting out of the car and running into a creek. CHP officers arrested Leon-Palomares around 11 a.m. at Thompson and Carlton roads and took him to a hospital, where he was checked before being booked into Santa Cruz County Jail at around 3 p.m. Leon-Palomares was booked on suspicion of six felonies including kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, stalking and vehicle theft, CHP officers said. The 31-year-old man was on probation for his earlier convictions of auto theft, stalking, terrorist threats and vandalism. In February, Leon-Palomares was arrested by Salinas police, sheriff's deputies and U.S. Marshals Service deputies for allegedly making terrorist threats, being a felon in possession with a weapon and domestic violence, Salinas police said. Authorities had been looking for the suspect two months earlier on warrants out of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, police said. San Francisco police have stepped up security around the city in the wake of the Berlin attack that killed 12 people and injured dozens more at a Christmas market. Police say the intent is to increase presence, not fear. They say these situations are unpredictable. "Sometimes terrorism is a random act," said Giselle Talkoff, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Police Department. "Sometimes it's not a group planning it or an individual planning it by themselves. So you might not know when it's going to strike." Police presence was increased at several tourists spots around the city, including Union Square. The Woschnagg family of Frankfurt, Germany, was among the thousands of holiday visitors to downtown area. Before they left home, the Woschnaggs saw how police were reacting to the Berlin attack. "They had policemen running around, standing there with machine guns, which is unusual," Karl Woschnagg said. "That hasn't been the case before in Germany." Woschnagg said the increased security around San Francisco "feels comforting." Workers from Cathay Pacific Airways also appreciate the heightened presence and police discretion. "Definitely, it's something that needs to be done for the safety of everybody," Jorge Gordillo of San Francisco said. "Very sad. But it is what it is, and we're in a different world nowadays." Simren Khurana of Danville said it really has an effect on everybody: "Because anybody could be in that situation. And that's something scary." Officers said they do not want to impact the holiday spirit but they also hope visitors will alert them to anything suspicious or needing attention. Residents in the Tri-Valley area of the East Bay are outraged after seeing their water and sewage bills balloon and learning more rate hikes are looming. One Pleasanton resident received a bill for $1,500, almost doubling her previous bill. Water customers in the Zone 7 Water District, which includes Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin, packed a Wednesday night water board meeting and made their voices heard. They carried signs, and they did their homework. The latest rate hike proposal was approved by the board, but residents said they will fight to get the hikes reversed. "People that I know through social media are angry," one resident said at the meeting in Livermore. "You dont have a revenue problem; you have an expense problem," another resident said to the board. The latest increase, which includes a one-year surcharge, translates to an $8-a-month increase on an average household bill on Jan. 1. The Pleasanton homeowner whose bill totaled $1,500 said that price hike came before the rate hike that kicks in next month. "Were told Zone 7 has high fixed costs, and if they sell less water, they still have those fixed costs to cover," Pleasanton City Councilwoman Karla Brown said. The Zone 7 water agency said it is faced with a need to recover financial losses after four years of drought. But that's a hard pill to swallow for water savers like Victor Ahaev. He started conserving water three years ago and still saw a steady quarterly increase in his bill, from $95 to nearly $300. "I know we have to save; I just dont trust them after these last two bills," Ahaev said. Menlo Park police arrested two 16-year-old boys Monday in connection with at least two home burglaries in the Willows neighborhood where 10 burglaries have occurred in the last two months. Detectives patrolling the neighborhood saw a suspicious vehicle at 4:50 p.m. Monday and stopped it for a code violation at East O'Keefe Street and Menalto Avenue, police said. Inside were two boys who resembled suspects caught on video during a home burglary in the Willows. Evidence and an investigation by police provided officers with enough reason to arrest the pair, police said. One boy was arrested on suspicion of two counts of residential burglary, conspiracy to commit a felony and providing a false name, according to police. The same boy was on probation for residential burglary and was wanted for violating his probation. The other boy was arrested on suspicion of two counts of residential burglary and conspiracy to commit a felony. Both boys live in East Palo Alto. They were booked into the Hillcrest Juvenile Detention Facility, police said. The names of the boys are not being released because they are juveniles. They are alleged to have taken, among other things, jewelry, electronics and cash, police Cmdr. Dave Bertini said. Detectives also cited 19-year-old East Palo Alto resident Kevin Plazola-Navarro, who was driving the vehicle in which detectives found the two boys, on suspicion of driving on a suspended or revoked license, police said. Christmas is a time for all sorts of traditions: Trimming the tree, hanging the stockings, steaming tamales. And for a group of Silicon Valley friends, theres hiking 2,500 feet up to the tippy top of Mission Peak in Fremont all with a 30-pound Christmas tree in tow. The end goal? A selfie on top and the exhilaration of doing something cool and adventurous when much of the world is shopping for presents or sipping egg nog. It feels like weve started a Bay Area tradition, said Brian Peters, 24, an Apple software employee, who along with Sushil Nedyavila, started the Christmas trek four years ago. People now recognize us on the mountain as the tree people. Its super exciting. I look forward to it every year. Peters and Nedyavila, a data science associate at Ravel Law, have been buddies since attending Fremont High School in Sunnyvale about a decade ago. They used to hike Mission Peak almost every weekend, while also exploring other great California outdoor favorites, such as Big Sur and Mount Diablo. Brian Peters Peters cant remember exactly how the two came up with the idea of buying a tree at Home Depot, super gluing on ornaments and then schlepping the pine up the mountain in 2013. (They carry it together, and the pine tree adds an hour to their normally one-hour hike. If friends are with them, they rotate who carries it.) But now, the annual rite of passage is etched into their personal history. This year, they brought Peters two sisters, a boyfriend, and three of Nedyavilas friends. Peters dad also joined them last year. When they finally summit, the friends zip-tie the trunk of the tree to a post already embedded in the mountain and strap it down with red tape to look nice. After New Years, the two go back up to carry the tree down the mountain and compost it. The two want their tree be shared with all who hike up to the peak. Peters and Nedyavila are asking everyone who takes a picture in front of the tree to use the hashtag #XmasOnThePeak to show how many people are enjoying their efforts. To date, more than 600 people have posted with that hashtag on Instagram. But others have used either #missionpeak or geo tags, so Peters estimates that well over 1,000 people have hiked to Mission Peak over the last four years to take pictures with their tree. This year, there are photos of a woman in full yoga gear standing on top of a red post, higher than the tree, and another person wearing a "naughty" Santa hat with the beautiful valley behind her. Mission Peak has long been a Bay Area selfie magnet, so much so that it's created parking woes for residents who live nearby, once even highlighted in the New York Times. Which raises this question: Did Peters and his pals get a green light to plant a tree on top of the peak from the East Bay Regional Park District, which oversees the mountain? Um, we did not get permission, Peters said, and we wondered what would happen if we ran into them, it was super terrifying. But this year, Peters said his group ran into a park ranger. We saw the truck zooming up the mountain. My sister flashed a smile. We ended up taking a picture with him. He was totally cool with it. A New York man and his husband were removed from a Jetblue flight after an incident involving the daughter and son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump. Hunter College professor Matthew Lasner said in a tweet that his husband went to "harass" Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, as they boarded a plane at John F. Kennedy airport on Thursday. In a second tweet, Lasner said that his husband "expressed displeasure in a calm tone, JetBlue staff overheard and they kicked us off the plane." He also tweeted a photo of what appeared to be the president-elect's daughter sitting on the plane. Lasner later deleted the tweets. JetBlue said in a statement that the couple was rebooked on another flight and that the "decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly." "If the crew determines that a customer is causing conflict on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane, especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of escalation during flight," the company said in the statement. "In this instance, our team worked to re-accommodate the party on the next available flight." In a Facebook post, Marc Scheff, a passenger on the flight who witnessed the exchange, wrote that Lasner's husband did not yell at Trump or "accost her." Scheff told NBC News that the professor appeared agitated and said, "Oh my God. This is a nightmare. They ruin the country and now they ruin our flight!" Scheff explained in his Facebook post that the flight was delayed because Trump's family had to board the flight first through some other entrance. "The comments were definitely for everyone but he was directing them towards her," he said. He continued: "When the JetBlue staff went back to speak to the man I overheard Ivanka say to them 'I don't want to make this a thing.' My assessment is that she was happy to let the man take his seat. Security made a different call." The President-elect's daughter and her family landed at San Francisco International Airport around 3 p.m. local time, and were immediately whisked off in a private car to a chartered plane that was waiting on a nearby tarmac. A representative for Ivanka Trump declined to comment on the exchange. A spokesperson said she and Kushner were on a flight to San Francisco en route to Hawaii at the time. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to "greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability" until the rest of the world "comes to its senses" regarding nuclear weapons. His comments on Twitter came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said strengthening his country's nuclear capabilities should be a chief military objective in the coming year. The president-elect's statement also followed his meetings a day earlier with top Pentagon officials and defense contractors. Trump, who is spending the holidays at his palatial private club in Florida, did not expand on the actions he wants the U.S. to take or say why he raised the issue Thursday. Spokesman Jason Miller said the president-elect was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation "particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes." Miller said Trump sees modernizing the nation's deterrent capability "as a vital way to pursue peace through strength." If Trump were to seek an expansion of the nuclear stockpiles, it would mark a sharp shift in U.S. national security policy. President Barack Obama has made nuclear non-proliferation a centerpiece of his agenda, calling in 2009 for the U.S. to lead efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons a goal he acknowledged would not be accomplished quickly or easily. Still, the U.S. has been moving forward on plans to upgrade its aging nuclear arsenal. Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the Pentagon planned to spend $108 billion over the next five years to sustain and improve its nuclear force. The U.S. and Russia hold the vast majority of the world's nuclear weapons. In 2010, the two countries signed the New START treaty capping the number of nuclear warheads and missile launchers each country can possess. The agreement is in effect until 2021 and can be extended for another five years. Thomas Karako, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the last comprehensive review of the U.S. nuclear force which was conducted during Obama's first term occurred against the backdrop of efforts to reset relations between Washington and Moscow. The relationship has since deteriorated, with Obama and Putin clashing over Russia's provocations in Ukraine and support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. "We need to candidly asses what the environment is and what the prospects are for Russian compliance with current treaties," Karako said. Trump has repeatedly called for closer relations with Russia and has spoken favorably about Putin. Democrats have questioned his ties to the Kremlin, particularly after U.S. intelligence officials assessed that Russia had interfered in the U.S. election on Trump's behalf. Putin addressed his country's nuclear capabilities during an annual year-end meeting of the Russian defense ministry. He said Russia should enhance missile complexes that can "penetrate existing and future missile defense systems." A U.S.-backed missile shield in Eastern Europe has been another source of tension between Washington and Moscow. Russia argues the system is a threat, while U.S. and NATO officials say it's meant to deter Iran from targeting Europe. The state of the U.S. nuclear arsenal was rarely addressed during the presidential campaign. To the extent it was, Trump showed faint understanding of its details. During a Republican primary debate, he appeared unfamiliar with the concept of a nuclear triad, the Cold War-era combination of submarines, land-based missiles and strategic bombers for launching nuclear attacks. Trump's vanquished campaign rival Hillary Clinton repeatedly cast the Republican as too erratic and unpredictable to have control of the nation's nuclear arsenal. The president-elect's transition website says he "recognizes the uniquely catastrophic threats posed by nuclear weapons and cyberattacks," adding that he will modernize the nuclear arsenal "to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent." Trump has spent the week at Mar-a-Lago, his South Florida estate, meeting advisers and interviewing candidates for a handful of Cabinet positions that remain unfilled. On Wednesday, he met with Pentagon officials and the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, companies with lucrative government contracts. Since winning the election, Trump has complained about the cost of Boeing's work on two new Air Force One planes and Lockheed's contract for F-35 fighter jets. Following the meetings, both CEOs said they had discussed lowering costs of the projects with the president-elect. On Thursday, Trump pitted the two companies against each other on Twitter. "Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!" he tweeted. Boeing and Lockheed are also among the companies pursuing a contract for replacing Minuteman missiles in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Spokespeople for the two companies declined to comment on whether that contract came up during Trump's meetings with their CEOs. The president-elect was also building up his White House staff, announcing Thursday that campaign manager Kellyanne Conway would serve as a counselor. The move will put Conway in close proximity to the president, though she is also expected to remain a visible presence promoting Trump's agenda in the media. Trump also announced veteran Republican operatives Sean Spicer as his press secretary and Jason Miller as communications director. Hope Hicks, Trump's long-serving campaign spokeswoman, is also joining the White House in a senior communications position. The California Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday revoked the registration for Ubers 16 self-driving cars over a permit fracas, effectively ending the companys pilot program in San Francisco. One week after the test was launched, Uber sent out a statement that said: "We have stopped our self-driving pilot in California as the DMV has revoked the registrations for our self-driving cars. Were now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules." At issue: a $150 permit that would allow Uber to legally give people rides in driverless cars. The company has been testing these cars around the city for a while now, and wanted to be able to use them in its ridesharing fleet. However, the cars need the same special permit as the 20 other companies testing self-driving technology in California, regulators argued. Uber maintains it does not need a permit because the cars are not sophisticated enough to continuously drive themselves and although the company promotes them as "self-driving" will always have an Uber employee behind the wheel. The DMV said the registrations for the vehicles were improperly issued because they were not properly marked as test vehicles. It invited Uber to seek a permit so their vehicles could operate legally in California an offer the company said it did not plan to accept. So the DMV did not back down. "It was determined that the registrations were improperly issued for these vehicles because they were not properly marked as test vehicles," the DMV wrote in a statement on Wednesday. "Concurrently, the department invited Uber to seek a permit so their vehicles can operate legally in California." San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee expressed his pleasure at the DMV's enforcement. "I have always been a strong supporter of innovation and autonomous vehicle development and testing, but only under conditions that put human, bicyclist and pedestrian safety first," he said in a statement. Uber officials on Wednesday were scheduled to hold a closed door meeting with state regulators to hash out whether or not the company can pick up riders in driverless cars. However, all sides remained tight-lipped about all aspects of the meeting, including where and when it was taking place. On Dec. 14, hours after rolling out its self-driving cars, Uber was bombarded with complaints: California legislators threatened legal action; dash cam footage showed an Uber driverless car running a red light; and Consumer Watchdog began pushing the San Francisco Police Department to impound the renegade cars as well as District Attorney Dennis Herrera to file criminal charges against CEO Travis Kalanick. Also, San Francisco also has an active bicycle culture, and some of its leaders have criticized Uber for deploying cars that make right "hook" turns across bike lanes at intersections. The executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition said that on a test ride Uber gave him before the launch, the car twice made such turns. Brian Wiedenmeier said he told Uber officials and they promised to fix it. He said he got reports of other such turns on the pilot project's first day, but not since. Before the San Francisco launch, the company said it told all employees sitting in the driver's seat to take the wheel for such turns. Meanwhile, it is working to improve the software. Check back for updates. A court in Argentina has indicted Justin Bieber for allegedly sending his bodyguards to beat up a photographer in Buenos Aires three years ago. Court clerk Soledad Nieto confirmed the decision to The Associated Press on Thursday. She says Judge Alberto Banos did not issue an arrest warrant. The court made the decision on Tuesday and it first surfaced publicly late Wednesday. Bieber was accused of sending the bodyguards to attack a photographer outside a nightclub during his 2013 South American tour. He apologized on the same trip for defiling the Argentine flag on stage and got into trouble with police elsewhere during the tour for allegedly spraying graffiti in Brazil and Colombia. Bieber never returned to Argentina to answer questions about the alleged attack. Four teenagers have been arrested after a series of armed robberies ended with a crash between a stolen vehicle and a CTA bus Wednesday morning in the South Side Fuller Park neighborhood. The teenagers, ages 15, 16, 16, and 17, each face five counts of robbery armed with a firearm, one count of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of attempted vehicular hijacking, all felonies, according to Chicago Police. They were also all charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to a vehicle, while the 17-year-old boy also faces one felony count of possession of a controlled substance. About 8:30 a.m., the teenagers were driving a tan car when they pulled up next to a 20-year-old man walking in the 4000 block of South Langley, police said. Two boys exited the car, showed a revolver, stole the mans property, then got back into the vehicle, which sped away. Officers spotted the car driving south on King and the car attempted to speed away again, eventually crashing into a CTA bus at 43rd and LaSalle, police said. The bus driver and three passengers suffered injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening. Two 58-year-old women were taken to Mercy Hospital, and a 59-year-old woman and a 62-year-old woman were taken to Saint Bernard Hospital. The teenagers ran away after the crash, but were all apprehended when officers gave chase, police said. The car was found to have been stolen from south suburban Matteson and a weapon was recovered inside, police said. While searching the 17-year-old boy, officers found he was in possession of prescription drugs. Investigators later determined the teenagers were responsible for four additional armed robberies that same morning, police said. A Chicago neighborhood is fighting back against package theftsand asking for help to catch a thief in its midst. At a community meeting Wednesday night, Chicago Police Cmdr. Bill Looney said 13 package thefts have been reported in the 16th District this monthbut cautions the number is likely much higher. Surveillance footage from outside Marc Serwatkas home in Dunning reveals such a crime unfolding frame-by-frame. A person walks up to the front porch, opens a package and removes the contents, before simply walking away. I got a call from my mother saying that the package was delivered but there was nothing gin there, Serwatka told NBC 5. I constantly order stuff for work and home, I constantly have packages delivered and this is the first time that this has happened. Serwtka posted a photo of the person on his Facebook page and it struck a chord with his neighbors. The whole neighborhood went into a fervor, said Jason Quaglia of the communitys watch group. Ald. Nicholas Sposato, 38th, wants to send a message to would-be package thieves in the area. We want to let them know that we're out here, we're going to be a little more vigilant out paying attention to what's going on, Sposato said. Police suggest having packages shipped somewhere other than your home, like an office or business. They also say its work paying a little extra to have a signature required so packages are not left unattended. A Chicago Police officer was driving one of five vehicles involved in an early Thursday crash that left three people injured on the Near North Side. About 2:45 a.m., a Pontiac was speeding west on West Division Street when the vehicle drifted across the center line and struck a taxi, then caused a chain-reaction crash with three vehicles stopped at a red light at the intersection with North Orleans Street, according to Chicago Police. The officer, who was on-duty at the time and driving to a police station for an unrelated traffic stop, was in one of the vehicles stopped at the red light when it was rear-ended by the Pontiac, police said. The Pontiac also rear-ended a Mercedes, causing that vehicle to crash into a Nissan stopped in front of it. The driver of the Pontiac, a 36-year-old man, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, while his passenger, a 38-year-old woman, was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said. The man driving the Mercedes was also taken to Northwestern. The woman was pinned inside the Pontiac and had to be extricated, according to Fire Media Affairs Chief Juan Hernandez. None of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening. The officer, a woman, refused medical attention, authorities said. Fire officials initially reported she was taken to the hospital. Police said citations and charges were pending against the driver of the Pontiac early Thursday. A man has been charged with driving drunk after crashing his vehicle last week in south suburban Posen, killing three of his four passengers. Wesley Rodgers, 32, was charged Saturday with three counts of aggravated DUI causing death, and one count of aggravated DUI causing great bodily harm, according to Posen police. Rodgers was the driver of a vehicle that crashed into several parked vehicles shortly before 3 a.m. Dec. 15 in the 14300 block of Harrison Avenue in Posen, authorities said. Rodgers suffered minor injuries and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, then released several hours later, police said. Three passengers in his vehicle, Tondalia Dubose, 29; Jaquira L. Brown, 26; and Lanae Dinnett Riley, 22, were killed in the crash, authorities said. Brown and Riley both lived in Chicago, while Dubose lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A fourth passenger was hospitalized in critical condition, police said. Bond was set at $500,000 for Rodgers on Sunday. He posted 10 percent bail the same day and was released from the Cook County Jail, authorities said. A teen hospitalized following a car crash woke up from an induced coma to discover that his parents had been killed in a separate collision on their way to visit him in the hospital. KOLR-TV reports that 38-year-old Daniel Hahn, of Springfield, and 37-year-old Loretta Hendrickson, of Lebanon, were headed to University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri, on Friday when another car crossed the center line. They, along with the couple in the other car, were killed in the head-on crash on a state highway five miles north of Lebanon, authorities said. The patrol identified them as 36-year-old Arthur Hayes and 35-year-old Crystal Hayes, of Eldridge. Hahn and Hendrickson's son, 19-year-old Chris Hahn, of Pittsburg, Missouri, had been injured earlier Friday in a head-on collision on U.S. 54 in Camden County. He suffered a skull fracture in three places, brain swelling and was placed in a medically-induced coma, according to a GoFundMe account started by a coworker on his behalf. He was released from the hospital on Wednesday, according to an update on the GoFundMe page. Prosecutors say they plan no charges in the case of a 5-year-old Missouri boy who police say accidentally shot and killed his 3-year-old brother. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced Tuesday that the decision to decline charges in Jermone Green's death Oct. 27 came after extensive review found a lack of evidence suggesting anyone was criminally culpable. Baker says prosecutors found insufficient evidence to establish anyone in the town house was criminally reckless or negligent by placing the handgun in an upper kitchen cabinet over the sink the night before the shooting. Authorities say the gun was found by the 5-year-old brother the next morning, when he apparently used a footstool to climb onto the kitchen counter. Prosecutors say the boy then accidentally shot his brother. The boys' grandfather established a GoFundMe for the family's funeral expenses, writing "None of us were prepared for a tragedy like this. With extremely heavy hearts, we must begin to make funeral arrangements for my grandson." Police are investigating after cards warning residents that something terrible is going to happen on Dec. 31 were left on hundreds of cars at numerous parking lots in Chicago suburbs over the weekend. Authorities stressed they "do not want the community to panic," and said numerous law enforcement agencies are involved in the investigation. The cards were found Sunday on vehicles in the Fox Valley mall, the Wheaton Bible Church, the Willow Creek Church and AMC Movie Theaters in South Barrington. Similar signs were also found at Studio Drive and Barrington Road in South Barrington. According to police, the cards and signs read Something terrible is going to happen in Aurora 12/31/16. The wise will find the truth and act before it is too late. If you are vigilant and watchful the clues will appear as you travel the roadways. The answer is all around you but will you find it before the evil is done? They also said Seek it happens 12/31/16 in the book of face. A Facebook page was set up featuring similar language, but that has apparently been taken down, police said. Aurora police said as of Thursday there were no suspects. While were not certain as to what the meaning behind the messages are, we do not want the community to panic, the department said in a statement. The incidents do serve as an excellent illustration of everyones role in keeping our community safe in that any suspicious behavior, no matter how insignificant it may seem, should be called into 911 immediately. If possible, taking a photograph or video of the suspicious behavior is also recommended as long as doing so would not put someone in immediate danger. Anyone with information on the cards is being asked to call (630)-256-5500. To everyone around her, China Howard seemed fine. She had an American Girl doll, she loved going to church and she was an honor student at Arnold Mireles Academy set to be inducted into the National Honor Society this week. China was a wonderful daughter, she was loving and caring and full of life and spontaneous, said her mother Ebonie Windham. Except Howard was keeping a secret that her mother and other adults didn't know, and now theyre sharing her story in hopes that it may save other children like her. Howards family said the teen was the target of relentless bullying at school and online. Her sister said the 13-year-old had confided in her, and only her, about what was happening. These girls were talking about her hair because it was short and they would tell her oh your sister did you hair? Well, she did a terrible job or you know make her feel bad so that she would cry," Ivorie Lindsey said. Still, Windham said her daughter didnt show any signs of depression. No one knew, no one knew anything, no one saw this coming, Windham said. Then, over the weekend, the eighth grader took her own life. Family members said they believed Howard killed herself because she couldnt take the bullying anymore. She was able to mask that with school and staying on top of her grades, said family friend Angela Grier. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a strong link between bullying and suicide. A study by Yale University also found that bully victims are two to nine times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims. "The loss of a young life is a tragedy, and as a school district we work to support students and staff during times of grief, Chicago Public Schools said in a statement. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the larger school community during this most challenging time." CPS noted that it has expanded the use of curriculum in recent years that emphasizes the importance of empathy to reduce bullying and antisocial behavior. The Chicago Board of Education also has an anti-bullying policy which prohibits bullying and harassment during any school-sponsored activity, during school, on transportation and through CPS computers or technology. Windham said shes sharing her daughters story in hopes that it encourages parents to talk to their children and listen to them. "Please don't keep these type of secrets, because I didn't know," said Windham. "I didn't know." A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for Howard's funeral. If you or someone you know needs help call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 A bipartisan congressional report concludes that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is "a serial exaggerator and fabricator," who remains in contact with Russian intelligence services. The two-year inquiry focused on Snowden's 2013 leak of classified U.S. material about America's surveillance programs. It concluded that Snowden compromised national security by these disclosures and is avoiding prosecution while living in Russia, a country that is considered one of the top U.S. adversaries. In recent months, U.S. intelligence agencies have been outspoken about their beliefs that Russia actively interfered in the U.S. political process by hacking into private email accounts. The report portrays him as a compulsive liar who exaggerated the importance of his job at the CIA where he worked before joining NSA and then lied about having ethical qualms about the agency. It also alleges he cheated on a test that got him a job with NSA's elite Tailored Access Operations office, known as TAO. Ben Wizner, Snowden's lawyer, dismissed the report and insisted that Snowden acted to inform the public. "The House committee spent three years and millions of dollars in a failed attempt to discredit Edward Snowden, whose actions led to the most significant intelligence reforms in a generation," Wizner said. "The report wholly ignores Snowden's repeated and courageous criticism of Russian surveillance and censorship laws. It combines demonstrable falsehoods with deceptive inferences to paint an entirely fictional portrait of an American whistleblower." The report sends a strong message to President Barack Obama during his final days in office: Do not pardon Edward Snowden. Obama has not offered any indication that he is considering pardoning Snowden for the leaks that embarrassed the U.S. and angered allies. Lisa Monaco, Obama's adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism, said last year that Snowden "should come home to the United States and be judged by a jury of his peers not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime." However, there has been a push by privacy advocacy groups to pardon the former NSA contractor who they herald as a whistleblower for leaking documents that disclosed the extent of the data the U.S. collects on Americans in its efforts to fight terrorism. After the disclosures, Obama reined in some of the surveillance authorities and put in place additional measures to provide more transparency to the classified programs. The House intelligence committee released the report to provide what the panel's chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., called "a fuller account of Edward Snowden's crimes and the reckless disregard he has shown for U.S. national security." The 33-page unclassified report pointed to statements in June 2016 by the deputy chairman of the defense and security committee in the Russian parliament's upper house, who asserted that "Snowden did share intelligence" with the Russian government. The report said, "Since Snowden's arrival in Moscow, he has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services." The following sentence was redacted, and there is nothing in the unclassified report that explains why the committee believes Snowden is still sharing intelligence with the Russians. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said Snowden isn't a whistleblower as he and his defenders claim. "Most of the material he stole had nothing to do with Americans' privacy, and its compromise has been of great value to America's adversaries and those who mean to do America harm," Schiff said. "For all of its harsh rhetoric, the report contains no evidence whatsoever that Snowdens intentions were anything other than public-minded, that his actions caused harm, or that he is under foreign influence because no such evidence exists," Wizner said. "In fact, the NSAs former deputy director has stated publicly that he does not believe that Snowden acted under the influence of a foreign power. One of the programs that came under great scrutiny is set to expire in a year, and it will be a top priority for the House committee, among others in Congress, to get it renewed. Under that program, the NSA sweeps up communications of non-Americans outside the U.S., and it can also capture the domestic communications of any American in contact with the terror suspect, even if those contacts have nothing to do with terrorism. The resulting sweeps are likely to have included emails and other data from tens of thousands of Americans over the past decade, experts have said. Three years ago, Snowden revealed U.S. government efforts to hack into the data pipelines used by U.S. companies to serve customers overseas. The programs collected the telephone metadata records of millions of Americans and examined emails from overseas. Snowden fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia to avoid prosecution. Police have arrested two people who are accused of stealing packages in Hamden. Police responded to London Drive at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday after someone reported seeing someone take a package that was delivered to a house on the street. An officer found 43-year-old Jack Humphrey, of Hamden, and said he was a passenger in a motor vehicle 43-year-old Lisa Zielinski, of Hamden, was driving. Officers took three boxes of LEGOS from the vehicle and police said they had been stolen from the London Drive residence. Humphrey also walked onto a front porch on Daniel Road, where several packages had recently been delivered, but drove off after a neighbor yelled at him, police said. Humphrey was charged with sixth-degree larceny, two counts of sixth-degree conspiracy to commit larceny and two counts of simple trespass. He was help on a $1,000.00 bond is scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on Jan. 4. Zielinski was charged with two counts of sixth-degree conspiracy to commit larceny. She was detained on a $1,000 bond and is also scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on Jan. 4. The father of a 5-year-old girl who was found abandoned inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York in November after her mother was discovered dead in Stamford, Connecticut has been charged with the woman's murder, according to Stamford Police. Stamford police checked on Dionicia Cano Bautista on Monday, Nov. 14 after Port Authority found the little girl and contacted authorities in Connecticut. When officers responded to 388 Courtland Ave. in Stamford, they found Bautista dead. Bautista had moved to Stamford with her daughter only the day before to reunite with Elmer Gomez Ruano, her estranged husband and the father of her daughter, according to police. In November, authorities in New York arrested Ruano, law enforcement sources told NBC New York. Stamford police said Ruano was charged with risk of injury to a minor and he was extradicted to Connecticut on Thursday, where he was also charged with murder. Bond has been set at $900,000 and Ruano is due in Stamford Superior Court on Dec. 23. Officials said it's not clear if the girl witnessed the dispute or the killing of her mother. She is now with a foster family, according to police. Connecticut state police have arrested a Danielson man who is accused of attempted manslaughter. Police responded to a Putnam home at 12:38 a.m. to investigate a disturbance with a gun. Police said 34-year-old Kenneth Griggs, of Danielson, grabbed a woman in the house, pointed a gun at her, threatened her and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not go off. A man in the house intervened and was able to get the gun away from Griggs, state police said. Griggs ran into a bedroom and tried to hide, according to state police. A 20-month-old child was sleeping in the next room, according to police. State troopers recovered a pistol from the scene and said it was stolen out of Thompson in May 2012 and Griggs does not have a pistol permit. He was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal attempt, unlawful discharge of a firearm, risk of injury to a minor, disorderly conduct, stealing a firearm, criminal attempted manslaughter, criminal attempted assault, first-degree threatening, first-degree risk of endangerment and first-degree unlawful restraint. Bond was set at $100,000. Ansonia police have been searching for three men who assaulted a Chinese food delivery driver and stole his car on Dec. 21, 2016 and they have arrested a suspect. Police said they responded to Dwight Street in Ansonia just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21 to investigate the assault and robbery and the delivery driver said three men, including one with a gun, approached him when he got out of his car to drop off food. Two of the men assaulted him, while the other took his car, a black four-door 2009 Honda Accord with New York plates HBY5939. On Nov. 2, police arrested an 18-year-old man who has been charged with first-degree robbery-serious physical injury, conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree-serious physical injury, first-degree assault-aid by others, conspiracy to commit assault first degree-aid by others, larceny third degree and conspiracy to commit larceny third degree. His name has not been released because he was 17 at the time of the crime. The delivery driver suffered minor injuries and was treated at the hospital. Police are still investigating and expect to make more arrests. Anyone with information is asked to call Officer Christopher Kelley at 203-735-1885.and not approach the car. A school bus will start picking-up and dropping off a 14-year-old New Haven student with cerebral palsy outside of his home Friday morning, a school district spokesperson said two days after NBC Connecticut was first to report about his familys safety concerns. Id like to say thank you to you guys for taking the story on and making my story heard so that this could be taken care of in a timely manner, Tania Bermudez said. After a personal visit from interim Superintendent Dr. Reginald Mayo and Chief Operating Officer Will Clark to the familys home Wednesday afternoon, Bermudez shared the good news with her son Daniel, who attends Wilbur Cross High School. Dr. Mayo was just here, she told him, your bus is going to be changed before you even go out on vacation. Bermudez is relieved her sons bus stop is moving back to where it was last year. His cerebral palsy is getting kind of bad now, she said, so it was becoming a concern for him to be walking up and down the hill, even though he wont admit it. After Bermudez reached out to NBC Connecticut, our camera was rolling when Daniels bus dropped him off Monday afternoon at the bottom of the hill. According to his individual education plan, he should be transported door-to-door. Theres plenty of room in the parking lot for the bus to turn around without a problem, Bermudez said. That is something both Mayo and Clark observed during their visit. After a thorough assessment and conversation, Mayo assured the family that their request will be accommodated and the issue will be resolved as soon as possible, NHPS director of communications Mercy Quaye said in a statement. District leaders take student safety very seriously and we are pleased that we were able to listen to the family's concerns and work towards finding an adequate solution for all parties involved." Daniel said he is looking forward to the change. Its better because that hill is of course a steep hill and its a long walk, he said. Captured at the Canadian border and now facing a murder charge. The man accused of killing Joey Gingerella at a Groton bar appeared before a judge Thursday. NBC Connecticut was first to give you a look inside the courtroom at 30-year-old Dante Hughes, the man accused of shooting and killing Gingerella. He's being held on a $500,000 cash bond for murder and $50,000 cash for assault. Town of Groton police tell NBC Connecticut that an altercation happened in the early morning hours on Dec. 11 between Hughes and another person. Gingerella stepped in to help. That's when Hughes allegedly pulled out his gun. Thursday in court the judge said there was a woman involved in the incident. Hughes is to have absolutely no contact with her. "Thank goodness this guy is off the street. He's a monster," said Ray Ryan, the owner of Ryan's Pub. The court appearance is step toward justice for Ray Ryan, who watched Gingerella grow up. He's the owner of Ryan's Pub where the fatal shooting happened. A memorial still lines the outside. "I'm just glad he's caught," Ryan said of Hughes. Catching Hughes wasn't simple. He was found trying to cross the Canadian border less than three days after the murder. Groton detectives picked him up from New York. "I shy away from the word closure. I rather say that I hope this provides a level of comfort for the community and for the family of course," said Deputy Chief Paul Gately of the Town of Groton Police Department. Gingerella's family watched through tears in the courtroom. His stepdad, newly elected state representative Joe de la Cruz gripped a framed picture of his son. The family didn't want to talk on camera. But made a statement on Dec. 13, the day Hughes was captured: "We all love (Gingerella) and know his legacy well growth through the work of his friends and family," de la Cruz said. Gingerella's family started a support group for families battling addiction called Community Speaks Out. Gingerella was known for sharing his experience with addiction to help others. Hughes is expected back in court in January. A Kentucky mall says it plans to permanently ban a shopper who berated two Hispanic women in a racially-charged, expletive-laden tirade captured on video. The video, posted by Renee Bucker to Facebook and YouTube Tuesday night, shows a white woman chiding the shopper for bringing items to the cashier while a friend was checking out. "They can't act like the hero, they come here to live and act like everybody else," the woman is heard saying. "Get in the back of the line like everybody else does and be somebody. That's the way I look at it. You're nobodies, just because you come from another country, it don't make you nobody." The woman tells the two Hispanic shoppers to "go back to wherever the f--- you come from," and "speak English." "Youre in America. If you dont know it, learn it, she continued, and claimed taxpayers probably paid for the woman's items because "she's on welfare." Buckner's pastor, Pastor Timothy Findley, Jr., of Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center in Louisville, tell NBC News that after the video stopped rolling, according to Buckner, the woman continued "to just racially heckle these women, and made specific comments regarding Donald Trump 'fixing' this" and "making America great again." "We are aware of the video posted online [Tuesday] from inside JCPenney, a mall spokesperson wrote on its official Facebook page. Jefferson Mall strives to create a comfortable and convenient experience for all of our guests and we absolutely do not condone this type of behavior. We will work with JCPenney to identify this woman and, once identified, she will be permanently banned from Jefferson Mall, per our Behavioral Code of Conduct. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said he was "sad and disappointed to see conduct like this," and hopes the video prompts family discussions about "basic human values, dignity and respect" during the holidays. "As a country of immigrants, we must understand that we only move forward through peace, acceptance and embracing those who are different from us," Fischer said in a statement. "These are basic American values protected in our Constitution, values embraced in this welcoming, compassionate community. Meanwhile, JCPenney said it is "deeply disturbed" by the incident and is asking for the public's help in identifying the two Hispanic women who were targeted so they could reimburse them for their entire purchase and "offer a sincere apology for their experience." "We are deeply disturbed by the incident that took place at our Jefferson Mall store, in which one customer made extremely inappropriate remarks to two other customers while standing in the checkout line," JCPenney spokesman Joey Thomas said. "We regret that innocent bystanders both other customers and a JCPenney associate were subjected to such discriminatory remarks. We absolutely do not tolerate this behavior in our stores, and are working with our associates to ensure any future incidents of this nature will be addressed quickly and appropriately." The video had been viewed more than 6 million times on Facebook, and had been shared more than 161,000 times, before it was taken down from the social media site Wednesday afternoon, according to NBC affiliate WAVE. Two young friends, who once lived together in a Bulgarian orphanage, were reunited in North Texas Wednesday night. The Make-A-Wish Foundation has worked for two years to make the reunion between Abigail and Caroline possible. The two girls became best friends at their orphanage. Abigail was adopted from Bulgaria by her parents, Dorcas and Tony, in 2013. While she was happy to join her new family, it meant leaving her best friend and roommate, Caroline, behind in Bulgaria. Abigail has cystic fibrosis, and out of all the wishes she could ask Make-A-Wish North Texas to grant, she asked her new family to adopt Caroline. The best friends, are now reunited as sisters, and Caroline arrived at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Wednesday evening to start her new life with her family here in North Texas. Dallas ISD will provide food to children over the winter break. For the first time, 11 participating schools will serve breakfast and lunch to any child under the age of 18 for some of Dallas' neediest neighborhoods. The schools that are participating are: A. Maceo Smith High School 3030 Stag Rd. 75241 Atwell Middle School 1303 Reynoldston Ln. 75232 Blair Elementary School 7720 Gayglen Dr. 75217 Comstock Middle School 7044 Hodde St. 75217 Florence Middle School 1625 North Master Dr. 75217 Gooch Elementary School 4030 Calculus Rd. 75234 Jill Stone Elementary School 6606 Ridgecrest Rd. 75231 Pease Elementary School 2914 Cummings St. 75216 Rogers Elementary School 5314 Abrams Rd. 75214 Samuell High School 8929 Palisade Dr. 75217 San Jacinto Elementary School 7900 Hume Dr. 75227 Tasby Middle School 7001 Fair Oaks Ave. 75231 Terry Elementary School 6661 Greenspan Ave. 75232 The meals will be served December 28 though Dec. 30 and Jan. 3 though Jan. 6. Breakfast will be from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and lunch will be provided from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Click here to read more about this story from our media partners at The Dallas Morning News. A Fort Worth man whose wife and infant son were found dead in the family's home last week has been arrested in Colorado and is held on a warrant of capital murder, police say. Craig Allen Vandewege, 35, was stopped late Wednesday evening by a police officer in Glenwood Springs, Colo., who took him into custody for speeding and failing to provide proof of insurance. Fort Worth police say that while Vandewege was being processed, he was detained on an outstanding warrant of capital murder from Fort Worth police. He remains jailed in Colorado on a $1 million bond, police said. A Fort Worth man whose wife and infant son were found dead in the familys home last week has been arrested in Colorado and is held on a warrant of capital murder, police say. Vandewege's wife, 36-year-old Shanna Vandewege, and 3-month-old son, Diederik, were found dead inside their home on Cactus Flower Drive in Fort Worth last Thursday. The medical examiner's office said the mother and child died from neck wounds. Shanna Vandewege was a registered nurse working at a local hospital. She was on maternity leave when she died. The funerals for the mother and child were held this week in Colorado. Fort Worth police last interviewed Craig Vandewege on Monday, and they said he denied any knowledge of the murders. According to an arrest affidavit, Glenwood Springs (Colo.) police say they received a call Wednesday of a suspicious person who borrowed a stranger's cell phone to make a few calls and "talk about a murder." He went onto say he was "on the run from the police," according to the police document. An officer who responded said he observed a white Hyundai sedan with no license plates. The officer said the driver pulled into a gas station, opened the trunk and screwed on a Texas license plate before continuing. The officer pulled over the vehicle when it began accelerating rapidly, police said. Police said the officer asked for the driver's identification and insurance information, and then asked the driver identified as Craig Vandewege to step out of the vehicle. Vandewege initially refused but then complied and was placed under arrest. Police said Vandewege showed "no emotion" when he told the officer that "it's been a long week, my wife and kid were murdered in Texas." He told the officer to call his attorney if he needed to verify anything that he was telling him. During a search, police said they found two loaded pistols on Vandewege's person one in a waistband holster and the other in an ankle holster and he provided a concealed handgun permit issued by Weld County, Colorado. When asked about knives during the traffic stop, Vandewege allegedly told the officer, "I'm not a knife guy." Inside the vehicle, police said they found "numerous boxes of different caliber ammunition, empty gas cans, camouflage clothing, numerous bottles of medication, and other miscellaneous items that included an AR-15 style rifle and a .22 (caliber) revolver." The murders have left people in their Fort Worth neighborhood stunned. "It was shocking, especially a young baby. That's just, it upsets me," said neighbor William Hamilton. Vandewege's arrest has certainly quelled some fears. While some neighbors said they wanted to move out all together, others said they were so scared not knowing who may have done this, they wouldn't even let their children play outside. "This is their break time from school, so they're always outside playing and I wouldn't let them," said Hamilton. NBC 5's Ashleigh Barry contributed to this report. As shoppers crowd other North Texas destinations, once-popular Valley View Mall has very few customers these days. A huge new redevelopment project called Dallas Midtown is soon to replace Valley View. But, some people are stopping to pay their respects at the dying mall. Mike Shapiro and his father, Dev, marveled Wednesday at the changes in the place where Dev Shapiro once worked at a jewelry store. "It's a morgue," Mike Shapiro said. "And three or four days before Christmas, and odds and ends of stores, there's no one at the guest services counter, there's no Christmas tree, no Santa Claus, nothing." Dev Shapiro said it was much different years ago. "Hundreds and hundreds of people milling through the mall from the time we would open until 9 o'clock closing. It's sad," he said. A wrecking crew was already working at the closed Macy's store Wednesday. The colorful mural over the entrance will not be saved at what was a Sanger Harris Store when it opened in 1973. "It's sort of an iconic piece of art that was part of Sanger Harris, back in the day," said visitor Jack Stephens. "That was several department stores ago, but it was nice." Stephens brought his granddaughter to see the mall and take pictures. Operators of remaining stores have been told this will be their last Christmas. "That's why we came today," Stephens said. "We don't know how much longer it's going to stand. It's a place that I've been many times back when it first opened." At the place where the big mural will not survive, artists have been selling their work in vacant stores. "It would have been a beautiful thing for them to save it, but from what I've read it doesn't look like that's going to happen," said artist Sara Miller. "I just picked up my last check, and it was not much. People aren't shopping here anymore. It's just a sad thing." The Dallas Midtown project will include new stores, a new movie theater, high-rise homes and offices and a large park. The city of Dallas is providing support for the redevelopment that will put a dense new neighborhood on the site of the sprawling mall parking lots. Dev Shapiro now lives near the Fire Wheel Town Center in Garland. It is an open air shopping center with parking closer to stores that today's customers seem to prefer to the closed malls of the 1970s and 80s. Shapiro said the Midtown plan seems appealing. "I think people will start coming back," he said. Investigators are still trying to figure out who killed a Fort Worth mother and her 3-month-old son. It's been nearly a week since they were found dead, but still there are no arrests. Shanna Vandewege, 36, and her 3-month-old son, Diederik, were found dead inside their home on Cactus Flower Drive in Fort Worth last Thursday. The medical examiner's office said the mother and child died from neck wounds. Shanna's husband, Craig Vandewege, called police after he came home and found their bodies. The family had recently moved to North Texas from Colorado earlier this year. Wednesday, there was a small memorial flowers and stuffed animals outside the home. People who live nearby say they're on edge after such an unthinkable tragedy happened steps away from their front doors. Because of what happened, neighbor Bradly Daluz says his family members from out-of-state are now staying with him to keep an eye on his kids while he's away at work. "We have two kids. I don't really want to let them outside, you know, right now, because I don't know who could be around the neighborhood getting into houses and hurting people," Daluz said. Others in the neighborhood shared similar concerns Wednesday. They said the only thing that could put their minds at ease is knowing who did this and why. Despite making no arrests, police tell NBC 5 there is no threat to the community. "At this time we have ruled no one out as a potential suspect," Officer J. Pollozani, with Fort Worth police, told NBC 5 on Saturday. "Also we are not specifically looking at any one person as a suspect at this time," Pollozani said. Shanna Vandewege was a registered nurse working at a local hospital. She was on maternity leave when she died. Craig Vandewege has hired an attorney, and police say while they haven't had an opportunity to interview him since Monday they are hopeful they can set up another interview soon. Maurice Gomez, of Los Angeles, considers teaching women to protect themselves his life's purpose, and he usually does it for free, NBC News reports. This purpose stems from a personal tragedy, when Gomez learned his girlfriend was raped and killed by a stranger, then left on the side of the road. "I put blame on myself because I should have been there," said Gomez, owner of MG Kenpo Academy in Duarte, California, and a tactical self-defense instructor for the Los Angeles Police Department. "Ever since then, it was something I carried inside of me, where I didn't want anybody to have to feel that." The fourth-degree black belt now offers free specialized self-defense classes for women watching them gain in confidence and strength as they prepare for the worst. Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article stated that Gomez is an LAPD officer, which he is not. Texas legislators have filed new bills that would penalize an Electoral College member who does not vote for the presidential candidate who received the most votes in the state's general election. House Bill 543 was introduced by State Rep. John Raney, R-Bryan, and it calls for a $5,000 fine. It also says a person who does not vote for the candidate with the most votes is ineligible to serve as an elector in future elections. State Sen.-elect Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, has introduced a companion bill, Senate Bill 394, which Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick praised in a statement Wednesday. "I applaud Senator-elect Buckingham for her quick action in filing this important legislation. This bill will ensure that Texas presidential electors stand by the will of the people of this great state and any elector who violates the public's trust will be fined and ineligible to serve in all subsequent elections," Patrick said in the statement. During the electoral college voting in Texas this week, two of the state's 38 electors did not vote for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. One elector voted for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, while another voted for former Texas Congressman Ron Paul. The electors' votes are conducted by secret ballot. A program that is moving forward could bring electric car-sharing to some low-income communities in Los Angeles as part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gases and "increase mobility in polluted areas of the city," according to NBC4 news partner KPCC. Under a contract approved by the Los Angeles City Council with Blue California, which KPCC described as "a subsidiary of the French company Bollore, which operates electric vehicle car-sharing in Paris and Indianapolis," charging stations and electric vehicles will be spread out in chosen neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Users will be able to use electric cars for short trips or periods, and can return them to charging stations that will be installed in downtown LA, Westlake, MacArthur Park and parts of Koreatown. The communities selected for the program were chosen "because they fall in the top 10 percent of those identified by the state as having the lowest incomes and being the most vulnerable to pollution from traffic or industrial sources," noted KPCC. Information about how much membership for the car service would cost, or if it would cost anything, was not available. Read more at KPCC. With jurors saying they were hopelessly deadlocked, a judge declared a mistrial today in the federal corruption trial of former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. The mistrial came on the fourth day of deliberations by the six-man, six- woman jury in downtown Los Angeles. Earlier in the day Thursday, attorneys in the case had a nearly hour-long series of private, sidebar discussions with the judge that at times included one of the jurors and Baca. At the time, there was no public announcement of what the discussions entailed, despite objections from some members of the media in the courtroom audience. The jury went back into the deliberations room around 2 p.m., and within 30 minutes, they sent a note to U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, who brought the panel into court. Jurors announced they were hopelessly deadlocked. Anderson asked the panel if additional deliberations might break the logjam, but jurors unanimously indicated that further discussions would be fruitless. Anderson then declared the panel "hopelessly deadlocked" and dismissed the jury. Prosecutors will have to decide whether to seek a retrial on the charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. There was no immediate word on how the jurors were split, or whether they were leaning toward conviction or acquittal. Baca is accused of conspiring to commit, and committing, obstruction of justice from August to September 2011, partly stemming from the incident in which two sheriff's investigators confronted the FBI agent in the driveway leading into her apartment and falsely told her that they were in the process of obtaining a warrant for her arrest. The charges against Baca focus on a period of time five years ago when sheriff's deputies based at the Men's Central Jail stumbled upon the FBI's secret probe of alleged civil rights abuses and unjustified beatings of inmates within jail walls. After guards discovered that inmate Anthony Brown was secretly working as an FBI informant, they booked him under false names and moved him to different locations in order to keep him hidden from federal investigators who wanted to use him as a federal grand jury witness. Prosecutors contend Baca so resented the federal government's secret jails probe that he attempted to force the FBI to back down by illegally having deputies confront the agent. The prosecution also alleges that Baca ignored years of complaints about excessive force used illegally against jail inmates in county facilities managed by the Sheriff's Department. Baca, 74, also faces a third count -- making false statements to federal investigators in April 2013, which will be the subject of a second trial. Prosecutors contend Baca lied to the FBI about his knowledge of department efforts to subvert a federal probe into corruption and inmate abuse in the jail system. The judge split the trial into two parts after he agreed to allow testimony by an expert on dementia -- but only as it relates to the false- statements charge. Anderson agreed to hold a separate trial on those counts so the jury could hear the medical testimony. Baca is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. In closing arguments in the trial, a prosecutor told jurors that Baca "authorized and condoned" the conspiracy, but the defense threw blame on Baca's former second-in-command. In his summation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fox told the six-man, six-woman panel that during Baca's years as sheriff, he "abused the power given to him by the people of Los Angeles County" by ignoring evidence of brutality against jail inmates and working to ensure "dirty deputies" were not brought to justice. "He wanted to ensure that no outside law enforcement would police the jails," Fox said. Jurors also heard accusations from the prosecution that the retired lawman was the "heartbeat" of the sheriff department's illicit response to the federal grand jury probe. Defense attorney Nathan Hochman countered that it was former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka who was to blame for the department's actions. The then-sheriff "was not the driving force," Hochman said, telling jurors that Baca had no idea that Tanaka was running things. Tanaka was sentenced to five years in prison and is expected to begin serving his time next month. Hochman told the jury that the government had "completely failed" to prove its case and had included graphic testimony of jail violence "to poison your mind" against his client. A Redondo Beach restaurant running a monthlong "Toys for Tacos" campaign to donate to children in the hospital was robbed right before the toys were to be donated, staff said Wednesday. The heartwarming campaign at Malibu Fish Grill on Pacific Coast Highway came to crashing halt Tuesday, sometime between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., when thieves stole half the toys, $4,000, and trashed the place, causing $4,500 in damage. Restaurant goers would come in with a toy during December and get a free taco. The toys were then to be donated to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Saturday. But after the theft, the donation is significantly smaller. Other locations running the campaign are in Los Angeles and El Segundo. Lisa Taylor was 29 when she agreed to travel the country in a black French maid outfit to promote a cheeseburger for Hardees, a fast food chain run by President-elect Donald Trumps pick for labor secretary. It was another overtly sexual social promotion from a company known for its racy advertising. As CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardees and Carls Jr., Andy Puzder has drawn attention for overseeing television ads that showed a swimsuit-clad Paris Hilton washing a car before digging into a cheeseburger. The whole industry that you work for is sexist, said Taylor, a stage name for the actress and teacher who lives in the Midwest. Youre paid strictly for how you look. Puzder has repeatedly defended the ads, claiming he wanted to appeal to a young, male demographic. I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis, he told Entrepreneur in 2015. I think it's very American." If approved by the Senate, Puzder will head a federal agency tasked with promoting a workforce that is nearly 50 percent women. He will also have jurisdiction for enforcing anti-discrimination laws, including sex discrimination, among federal contractors and subcontractors. Womens rights advocates, Democrats and labor organizations have criticized his appointment, not least because of the depiction of women in his company's advertising. To possibly have a secretary of labor who is the CEO of a company whose ads objectify women is an abomination, Madonna Badger, who runs an ad agency that aims to promote a positive image of women, told NBC. Terry ONeill, president of the National Organization for Women, said: Mr. Puzder is promoting a deeply offensive and misogynistic view of women: that women are sexual objects to be used to sell fast food. Its really disgusting. While the company's television ads are well known, their sexualized road show hasn't received the same attention. On the tour for Hardees, Taylor joined three other actresses, the so-called French me Femmes to advertise the French Dip Thickburger across the South and Midwest in the summer of 2009. The sandwich consisted of sliced roast beef on top of a burger patty and melted Swiss cheese, with au jus dipping sauce on the side. Meat was in essence a condiment, David Johnson, then-creative director of Ngage, the ad agency hired by Hardees for the promotion, said of the meat-on-meat sandwich. To riff on the French-themed burger, Johnson said, the actresses dressed as maids during the tour. Youre hired to portray a look and that personality type, Taylor said of the promotion. That led people to think they could treat you a certain way. Taylor and the other actresses clad in black miniskirts, fishnet stockings, choker necklaces and garters teased shirtless men with feather dusters at auto races while plugging the burger. The Femmes asked men through fake French accents when they first French kissed. They offered to wipe radio hosts mouths after they took a bite of the burger. For Taylor, the job was standard. Hardees did not ask for anything out of the ordinary; its the business that is inherently sexist, she said. Dealing with handsy men and creepy, unsolicited comments is in the job description for a promotion like the Hardees one. Youre used to that like lecherous, gross guy coming up to you. That was the whole point, she said. Youre wearing this French maid costume, giving out coupons. You deal with it. Thats your job. The promotion was aimed specifically to attract 18 to 34-year-old men hungry young guys, as Puzder describes them. It was a dynamic that made Taylor at times uncomfortable, but one she accepted because it was part of the job. Its almost like you put on your mask, she said. But if I was just an ordinary citizen living my life, I would be just grossed out if a guy was like can I take a picture with you? or youre hot! Taylor never interacted with Puzder and was hired by an independent ad agency, not directly by Hardee's. But for Badger and other critics of the Cabinet nominee, the sort of advertising his company produced has wider implications for how women are treated in the workforce and in society as a whole. Women are not props to be portrayed as scantily clad burger eating sex toys for anyone's viewing pleasure, Badger told NBC. Until women are portrayed as equal, we will not be treated as such. CKE Restaurants and the Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment. Jaxon Lane saved money for months to buy a hoverboard. Once the 10-year-old Texas boy saved $200, his parents helped him order a hoverboard online from Electric Empire USA a South Florida-based company committed to providing a quality product and the highest level of customer support. They placed the order and, in days, Jaxon was riding around on his brand new hoverboard. He was really getting the hang of it, but days later, he says his board started to malfunction. It just started to spin rapidly, cause I would be riding along and it would just shake and throw me off and it really hurt, he said. I got a couple bruises from it. According to its website, the companys hoverboards come with a Samsung-certified battery and offers a 90-day return period for any factory defects not caused by the end user. So his parents shipped it back and were told a replacement would be sent within 24 hours. But nearly 3 months later, Jaxon was still waiting. I see FedEx trucks going by and look at my front door and theres nothing, he said. The Lanes asked for a refund to no avail. It turns out, both the Florida Attorney Generals office and the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida have received hundreds of complaints combined about Electric Empire USA and Hoverboarder.com - two local companies selling hoverboards online. The BBB says it got over 600 complaints in just weeks. Some of the people have received the items and they have not turned on, not charged, so theyre completely damaged, said Cinthya Lavin, director of communications for the Better Business Bureau of SE Florida. Most of the complaints are about people who have purchased these hoverboards, paid with their credit cards and not received any items. As for Jaxon and his family, Electric Empire USA refunded their money and, in a statement, said they are deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused. As a growing small business, we have been struggling with growing pains and are working to fix the issues with customer service. But now, when you to go the websites of Electric Empire USA and Hoverboarder.com, youll find a page that says, "As requested by the Federal Government, (the company) can no longer ship out the hoverboards we have in stock. Due to the suddent and unexpected request, (the company) can not fulfill customer's orders. At the time of the request we had already purchased all hoverboards needed to fulfill customer's orders, these hoverboards can no longer be used. Due to these circumstances we are forced to go out of business." It goes on to note that it is receiving a lot of requests for refunds. "The reason we are unable to personally issue refunds is because all of our money was used to purchase inventory to fulfill our customers orders. After receiving notice from the CPSC that we cannot ship our boards, we are left without any capital to personally issue refunds. We are now out of business." Jaxon is happy he got results before the business shut down. Im very grateful that Electric Empire USA is refunding my money back to me, he said. I wanted to say thank you to NBC for their report and for helping me get my money back. If youve purchased a hoverboard from one of these two companies, the websites direct you to contact your credit card company to dispute the charge and request a refund or chargeback. If youre thinking of buying a hoverboard as a gift this holiday season, make sure the board is UL Certified. It should have a label saying so on its box. You should also always be clear on a companys refund policy before making a purchase. A federal corrections officer accused of pointing a gun at a family in Pembroke Pines on Thanksgiving is speaking out, along with his alleged victims. Jason Verga was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the incident. One of the alleged victims, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, German, said he had taken his 10-year-old son for a spin around their Pembroke Pines neighborhood on Thanksgiving Day in one of his cars. He says the ride was cut short when a neighbor, Verga, started yelling at him to slow down. "I don't even go fast, I'm sorry, my car is loud," German told NBC 6 Wednesday. Police said they argued, and German said Verga threatened him. "I exactly remember what he said: If I see you around here, I will shoot you,'" German said. German later told his wife, Stephanie, about what happened and she decided to go smooth things over. German said he and his son followed to take pictures of Verga's address. "He called my wife every single name in the book," German said. That started another argument between the men. "The guy was yelling to him 'you don't know who the F you're messing with,'" Stephanie said. Stephanie said Verga then pulled a gun and pointed it at her, her husband and 10-year-old son. According to a police report, he asked the parents if "they wanna die today." "I had my son next to me, shaking," German said. Stephanie said her family never stepped foot on Verga's property. "I literally thought one of us, for sure was going to get shot," Stephanie said. Police arrested Verga, who initially denied pointing a gun at the family but later admitted to it, according to the police report that said police found the gun at his father's house. NBC 6 spoke with Verga by phone, where he identified himself as a federal corrections officer and firearms instructor. He denied the allegations and she he was the one who was threatened. "I worry about running into him at the grocery store," Stephanie said. Stephanie said she and her son still have anxiety from that day and said she feels Verga's actions are inexcusable, especially for a federal corrections officer. "In that moment you feel like, my son [is] going to die, him and I going to die today," German said. According to the arrest report, Verga initially told police he was not in fear of his life, a statement he later changed. Verga told NBC 6 he would never point a gun at a kid, that he never left his property and that he should've called the police first. Officials say a 22-year-old man intentionally jumped overboard from the top deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that was returning to Port Everglades. The incident took place before 2 a.m. Thursday as the Independence of the Seas was in route back to South Florida. Witnesses notified crew members of seeing a person jumping from the ship about 30 miles southeast of Key Largo. Officials on board notified the Coast Guard and helped with the search for the man before continuing their return to shore around 6:15 a.m. Coast Guard crews continued their search for the man Thursday. The Independence of the Seas had taken off from South Florida on December 16th and had made multiple stops, including in Cozumel, Mexico, before returning to America. Miami-Dade Police arrested a man they say sexually assaulted a woman before stealing her car early Monday morning. Calvin Thomas, 43, was taken into custody early Thursday for the crime, police said. According to the police report, Thomas forced the victim into the backseat of her car and attempted to assault her multiple times. Thomas later fled the scene in the victims 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer. He was arrested near Northwest 71st Street and 36th Avenue. Thomas, who is homeless, is also a registered sex offender who faces multiple charges, including three counts of sexual battery along with carjacking and having sex with someone while HIV positive without the victims knowledge. Thomas was booked into jail and was being held on a $24,000 bond. Police said the victim's car hasn't been found and they're asking for the public's help in finding it. Officers from Miami-Dade Police and the Florida Highway Patrol were being hailed as heroes Thursday morning after pulling a man out of a burning car on a busy Southwest Miami-Dade road. Officials say members of both agencies pulled the driver out of the car on the northbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway near Bird Road around 1 a.m. According to an initial investigation, the car lost control and hit a wall before bursting into flames. The driver, 21-year-old Luis Carlos Aloma, was transported to Kendall Regional Medical Center where he suffered severe burns, but is listed in stable condition. "There's no doubt that Christmas came early this year for Mr. Aloma and that's his life," FHP spokesman Joe Sanchez said. "Through the heroic efforts of these officers who put their lives in danger, Mr. Aloma is alive today." The Obama administration is officially ending a post-9/11 era registration system for immigrant men from mostly Muslim countries. The decision to scrap the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System comes amid growing international terror fears and President-elect Donald Trump's suggestions that he could ban Muslim immigrants from the United States. Trump said Wednesday, "You know my plans." The NSEERS program was widely derided by civil libertarians as an effort to profile people based on race and religion. The administration hasn't been using the program since 2011. In a statement, Joanne Lin, ACLU senior legislative counsel, said: "The ACLU applauds the Obama administration for terminating NSEERS for good. With this action, the U.S. is on the right path to protect Muslim and Arab immigrants from discrimination. A man was wounded in a police-involved shooting in Belleville, New Jersey Wednesday evening, authorities say. Belleville police said that one of their officers shot a man at the Joralemon Street home at about 6 p.m. It's not clear why officers responded to the home or what sparked the gunfire. Essex County prosecutors say the man was taken to University Hospital in Newark in serious condition. No officers were injured in the shooting. Neighbors heard a helicopter in the area around the time of the shooting. They couldn't believe there was a shooting in their area. "It's a surprise, but it's quiet around here usually," Karen Fugaro said. Daniel Mejia agreed. "It's scary and it's weird. Like I said this doesn't happen often over here in Belleville," Mejia said. What to Know A YouTube star's video went viral after he said he was kicked off a plane for speaking Arabic; the airline says he wanted to disturb others Authorities in Europe are still searching for the man suspected of attacking a holiday market in Berlin earlier this week The folks at the North American Aerospace Defense Command are getting ready to track Santa as he delivers presents this weekend 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. *This daily briefing will be off Friday, Monday and Tuesday, returning Wednesday, Dec. 28. Video on Delta Flight Goes Viral A popular YouTube personality with a history of filming pranks and social experiments says he was kicked off a Delta flight in London on Wednesday after other passengers expressed their discomfort with him speaking Arabic while on the phone. A video that he tweeted had been retweeted hundreds of thousands of times by Thursday. After landing in New York, he told NBC News that a woman sitting near him first became annoyed when he spoke with his mother over the phone and to his friends on the flight. The news garnered disparate reactions on social media, as some expressed outrage against Delta while others were skeptical of the prankster's account. In a statement, Delta said Adam Saleh "sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting. Meanwhile, a video of a woman berating fellow shoppers in a racially-charged rant also went viral Wednesday. Europe Scrambles to Find Berlin Suspect Authorities across Europe scrambled Thursday to track down a Tunisian man suspected of driving a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin as one of his brothers urged him to surrender. Nearly three days after the deadly attack that killed 12 people and injured 48 others, the market in the center of the capital reopened Thursday, though surrounded by concrete barriers and filled with extra police presence. German authorities issued a wanted notice for Anis Amri on Wednesday and offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($104,000) for information leading to the 24-year-old's arrest. German media reported several locations were searched overnight, including a refugee home in Emmerich on the Dutch border. The attack has led to heightened security in U.S. cities for the holiday weekend. Efforts to Repeal LGBT Law Fail A supposedly bipartisan deal to repeal North Carolina's anti-LGBT law collapsed when both sides balked and started blaming each other, likely meaning the state will remain a pariah shunned by corporations, entertainers and high-profile sporting events. After more than nine hours of backroom discussions and sporadic public effort, Republican state legislators quit trying to repeal the law called House Bill 2 and went home Wednesday night. Among other things, the law orders transgender people to use bathrooms and showers that align with their sex at birth. Ikea to Pay Millions in Settlement Ikea will pay $50 million to the families of three children who were killed by dressers that tipped over. The Philadelphia-based firm Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP announced Wednesday it had settled wrongful death lawsuits filed against Ikea for $50 million. A lawsuit from the families filed against Ikea stated the unsafe design of the MALM dressers made them inherently unstable and easy to tip over. Poll Finds Most Annoying Words A poll has found that the most annoying word or phrase used in casual conversation in America is "whatever." The Marist College poll released Wednesday indicates the word irritates 38 percent of Americans. Here are the other words and phrases that made the list. This Is How NORAD Tracks Santa Santa's expected to enter North American airspace half an hour before Christmas Eve, at 04:30 Zulu time, according to the mission team in Canada charged with tracking his trip around the world this weekend. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, run jointly by the U.S. and Canada, does it each year live online. Anyone can follow the journey online with the Santa tracker website it's live now and begins tracking Father Christmas early Saturday morning. NYPD Plays Gives Gifts to Kids NYPD officers helped bring Christmas cheer to the families of kids at one school in Brooklyn. Officers from the Brooklyn North patrol unit played Secret Santa, asking students at one Brownsville school to write wish lists. To their surprise, many of the kids didn't want the latest gadgets, but simple necessities like water and food. Montreal's Christmas tree is getting a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons. The 88-foot balsam fir has drawn the ire of many Montrealers, who say the funny-looking tree could use some spicing up, according to the Montreal Gazette. "I am really disappointed, it's not nicely decorated and it's too thin," Sonia, a Hydro-Quebec employee, told the newspaper. The tree was brought in to celebrate Montreal's upcoming 375th anniversary with a Christmas tree comparable to the world-famous one at New York City's Rockefeller Center, the New York Times reports. The feeble fir has even drawn comparisons with the scrawny tree pictured in the popular children's holiday special "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Residents expected a tree adorned in colorful Christmas lights and ornaments instead, they received a sparsely-decorated fir that's become an internet punchline. Two parody Twitter accounts were created in French and English. Twitter users took to their accounts to poke fun. "I just caught up on memes about the wonky-a** Christmas tree in Montreal," one user tweeted. "Like how did the city allow that?" @Montreal you need to work on a better Christmas tree-or the person picking the trees needs to be replaced JMA (@JenFrYrEyesOnly) December 11, 2016 Montreal's Christmas tree is even more pathetic in person. Olivia Pope (@slim_simmaa) December 11, 2016 Yo that Christmas tree in Montreal looks depressing AF Arius (@Ariusfox) December 6, 2016 Philippe Pelletier, an owner of Sapin MTL, the company responsible for installing the tree, told the Gazette that he was surprised to hear so many negative reactions. He added that the company didn't have the time or budget to decorate the tree to the degree Montrealers expected. Despite overwhelming apprehension, several tweeters have come to the tree's defense to say they love it just as it is. The state Attorney General's office has cleared a New York City police officer of any wrongdoing in connection with the fatal shooting of a suspect following a wild car chase that ended in Yonkers. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the decision Wednesday, saying the use of force was justified and forensic evidence corroborated Officer Garthlette James' account of the December 2015 shooting. The pursuit started in the Bronx and crossed into the suburban city of Yonkers after police tried to stop a sedan driven recklessly by 35-year-old Miguel Espinal, of Queens. After Espinal crashed into several vehicles, police chased the driver on foot into a county park. The AG's report says that during a struggle over James' gun, Espinal reached for the firearm and was fatally shot by the officer. President-elect Donald Trump named Kellyanne Conway a "counselor" to the president Thursday morning, and later said who would be his press secretary and on the White House senior communications team. Conway served as Trump's third campaign manager in the months leading up to the presidential election in November. "Kellyanne Conway has been a trusted adviser and strategist who played a crucial role in my victory," President-elect Trump said in a statement. "She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message. I am pleased that she will be part of my senior team in the West Wing." Sean Spicer, a longtime spokesman for the president, will be his press secretary and an assistant to the president. He called it an "amazing honor" in a tweet. Other Trump spokespeople were named to his senior communications team as well: Hope Hicks as director of strategic communications, Jason Miller as director of communications and Dan Scavino as director of social media. Conway attended Trinity College in Washington, D.C. and went on to earn a degree from George Washington University Law School. She's the founder of a polling research firm, and has worked in politics for more than 20 years. She is also a frequent guest on television news programs. Conway had said previously that she planned to move her family to Washington to serve Trump, either inside or outside the administration. The transition team said Conway "will work with senior leadership" in the White House "to effectively message and execute the administration's legislative priorities and actions." "A Trump presidency will bring real change to Washington and to Americans across this great nation. 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 a statement. A Utah man who grew up eating free- and reduced-lunch at school has donated enough money to pay for more than 5,000 meals for kids with outstanding lunch balances due at schools in the district where he received his education. Damon Burton now owns website development and marketing companies and was looking for ways to give back and decided to give $2,000 to the Davis School District, the Standard-Examiner newspaper in Ogden reported Sunday. "I've experienced the big gap, so I understand the value in helping out because I was a direct recipient of that help in my younger years," he said. Burton, 35, of Layton, said he thought of the idea and started making calls to schools about two months ago. "It wasn't a strategic thing, it just evolved," he said. Burton's donation went to the Davis Education Foundation for distribution. Chris Williams, a spokesman for the district north about 15 miles north of Salt Lake City says it "has definitely lightened someone's load" and is much appreciated. It's not clear which schools in the district will receive the money, but the decision will be based on need and decided by the district's nutritional service director, Williams said. The donation is touching for teachers and administrators because they aren't technically supposed to give food to students if they have unpaid balances on their accounts, but it's difficult to withhold hot lunch from kids, said Diane Hammer, principal at Layton Elementary School. A different Utah district made headlines in 2014 when staffers at a Salt Lake City elementary school took lunches away from kids with past-due lunch balances. The district apologized and faulted breakdowns in communication over a new payment system. Davis school officials said Burton's donation is worth the equivalent of 5,714 meals. A 108-year-old World War II veteran from the Philadelphia suburbs who attended the yearly Veterans Day breakfast at the White House in November has passed away. William Mohr of Hatboro died on Sunday, December 18 surrounded by his family, caregivers, an Irish priest from his familys home town and Santa, who visited him at the hospital during his final hours. My dad was an inspiration to all who knew him, said Mohrs daughter, Jodie. A few moments in his presence would melt your heart. Always a smile, always a kind word. In November, Mohr made headlines when he was invited to the 2016 Veterans Day Breakfast at the White House. Mohr traveled to DC with two of his children, Jodie and Rick, where they met other veterans, current members of the military and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Mohr and his family also met President Barack Obama and took photos with him in the Blue Room of the White House. Meeting a sitting President was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for our father, who was a true patriot, said Mohrs family in a statement. Born in 1908, Mohr was one of the oldest surviving World War II veterans in the United States and the oldest resident of Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Mohr was an army sergeant with the 45th Infantry Division and served in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany and was a part of the unit that helped liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp. We would like to thank all the veterans who supported my dad in his final days, said Mohrs family. Greatest thanks go to his team of caregivers who would never leave his side. They made his life and his final days so joyful. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that contributions be made to Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation. Philadelphia police say a pair of detectives barely escaped injury after a forklift crashed into their vehicle. The detectives were traveling in an unmarked police car Wednesday night on the 1600 block of Carpenter Street when a forklift driver somehow lost control and crashed into their vehicle. The impact shattered the driver side windows of the police car. Amazingly however, neither the detectives nor the forklift driver were hurt in the crash. Officials say if the forklift had struck a few inches away from where it hit the detectives could have been seriously injured. Officials continue to investigate the accident. Ikea will pay $50 million to the families of three children who were killed by dressers that tipped over. The Philadelphia-based firm Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP announced Wednesday it had settled wrongful death lawsuits filed against Ikea for $50 million. The firm represents the families of Curren Collas of West Chester, Pennsylvania, Camden Ellis of Snohomish, Washington, and Ted McGee of Apple Valley, Minnesota. Collas, 2, died in his West Chester home in February 2014, when Ikeas MALM six-drawer dresser tipped over and fell on top of him, fatally pinning him against his bed. About four months after Collas death, a three-drawer MALM dresser tipped over and fell on top of Ellis inside his Washington State home. Ellis was placed on life support, which was discontinued on June 15, 2014, only a few days after his second birthday. McGee, 2, died after a six-drawer MALM dresser fell on top of him inside his bedroom in Minnesota. A lawsuit from the families filed against Ikea stated the unsafe design of the MALM dressers made them inherently unstable and easy to tip over. The lawsuit accused Ikea of refusing to meet voluntary national safety standards for stability of chests and dressers. The lawsuit also accused the company of being aware of other deaths and injuries caused by their furniture that tipped over yet still refusing to redesign its products. It was not until after the death of Ted McGee that Ikea finally agreed to stop the sale of its defective furniture and recall the MALM and other models of chests and dressers which failed to meet minimum standards for safety and stability, a spokesperson for Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP wrote. Ikea issued a recall on the MALM dresser on June 28, impacting 29 million furniture units. The $50 million will be divided up evenly among the three families. As part of the settlement, Ikea agreed to donate $50,000 to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia in Collas memory, $50,000 to a childrens hospital in Washington State in Ellis memory and $50,000 to a childrens hospital in Minnesota in McGees memory. Ikea will also donate $100,000 to Shanes Foundation NFP, a childrens safety organization, and will only sell chests and dressers in the United States that meet or exceed the requirements of the national safety standard for clothing storage units. Finally, as part of the settlement, Ikea will increase funding for its Secure It program which raises awareness on the risk of furniture tip-overs. Curren Collas mother Jackie Collas sent a statement to NBC10 about the settlement. I am so proud that we were able to negotiate such great terms, she wrote. To know that my little boy was able to help save so many children makes my heart happy. NBC10 reached out to Ikea for comment. We have not yet heard back. Carl Icahn may need to return to the bargaining table with Trump Taj Mahal's union workers if he wants to reopen the shuttered casino anytime soon. The New Jersey Assembly on Monday voted 60-17 to approve a bill that prevents the owner of a casino to shut it down, and then reopen it a short time later without employing unionized workers, according to the Associated Press. The bill, which still needs Gov. Chris Christie's signature, specifically targets Icahn since it would impose a 5-year gaming license suspension to anyone who shut down a casino after January 2016. The billionaire investor closed the Taj in October after months of failed negotiations with UNITE Here Local 54. The shutdown put nearly 3,000 workers out of a job. Lawmakers told the AP the legislation, while only impacting the Taj and not the four other casinos previously closed in Atlantic City, is meant to keep casino owners from sitting on the licenses for years. Assemblyman John Burzichelli told the outlet this will inhibit casino owners from "manipulating the licensing system." To read the full article, click here. For more business news, visit Philadelphia Business Journal. A Pennsylvania man faces charges for stealing a Toys for Tots donation canister, the Stroud Area Regional Police Department said. The Toys for Tots theft occurred Sunday at the Arlington Diner in Stroud Township, said police. The canister contained about $400. SARPD said they determined the 23-year-old as the prime suspect through investigation, security camera footage and witness information. Moya, of East Stroudsburg, is also charged with stealing a four-wheeler from a Stroud Township home and tip jars from Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and several other Stroudsburg-area businesses, said investigators. Online court records don't list an attorney for Moya, who's in the Monroe County jail unable to post $10,000 bail. He was arrested Wednesday. A Philadelphia man in jail the last 10 years for a shooting that left a boy paralyzed was released Wednesday after three years of appeals led a judge and the city District Attorney to find that he was wrongly convicted. Donte Rollins, now 29, waited at the Criminal Justice Center for several hours in the morning and afternoon before documents finally came from Graterford State Prison in Montgomery County that granted him his freedom. Donte Rollins & his mother answer questions after release, DA says Rollins was wrongly convicted @NBCPhiladelphia https://t.co/HRvZfmMi1G pic.twitter.com/9UrFzZbzBS Drew Smith (@drewsmithtv) December 21, 2016 Rollins had been locked up since 2006 for a shooting that year in the Strawberry Mansion section of the city. Jabar Wright, who was 6-years-old at the time, was left paralyzed in the gunfire. Marissa Boyers Bluestine, Rollins' attorney and legal director at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, said Rollins spent the last three years appealing for his freedom and that an appeals judge on Tuesday ordered him released based on evidence that his initial defense attorney failed to present at the original trial. District Attorney Seth Williams agreed with the appeal judge's ruling and said Wednesday he would not seek a new trial. "This is something he should never have been arrested for," Bluestine said while waiting at the Criminal Justice Center late Wednesday morning. "There is evidence that should have been presented at length. It's an egregious violation and his release is a long time coming." Bluestine and Rollins' family waited at the CJC all morning and afternoon as he was only a few signatures away from freedom. "We are doing everything we can to have him released as soon as possible without having to go back to Graterford," Bluestine said in the hours leading up to the release. Eventually, about 5 p.m., he walked out the front doors of the downtown judicial building. Rollins smiled as he embraced his mother. "It was messed up what happened to me but it's over now so I'm going to start my life," he said. Jabar Wright's mother Alicia Wright expressed mixed emotions during an exclusive interview with NBC10 Wednesday night. "Tired, confused and outraged," she said. Wright told NBC10 that ever since the Innocence Project took on Rollins' case, it has moved too fast and they've lost sight of the victim: her son Jabar. "You feel like this man is innocent, let 12 jurors decide it," Wright said. While Rollins' legal team said they are thrilled he will get to spend the holidays with his family after they worked so hard for his release, Wright said her family will continue to agonize over her son's pain. "We're no longer the victim," Wright said. "How is it, it's the holidays. They have a holiday and my kids don't have a holiday. I don't have money. I don't have resources." In the City of Firsts, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra has received its first-ever grant from the William Penn Foundation that will go toward expanding one of the orchestra company's programs. The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, now in its 77th year, has received a two-year grant of $82,500 from the William Penn Foundation, announced President and Music Director Louis Scaglione. The funding marks the first time Philadelphia Youth Orchestra has received a grant from the William Penn Foundation, which, since its founding in 1945, has made nearly 10,000 grants totaling more than $1.6 billion to various organizations, including other arts-and-cultural organizations. The foundation most recently donated $100 million that would go toward Philadelphia's parks, recreation centers and libraries. The funds will go toward the expansion of the orchestra company's Tune Up Philly, the company's engagement program that provides after-school music instruction to more than 220 students in 10 teaching sites in underserved Philadelphia communities. To read the full article, click here. For more business news, visit Philadelphia Business Journal. Bail is set at $1 million for a man accused of sexually assaulting four women in Trenton, including two on the same day. Mercer County Prosecutors charged 27-year-old Andre Wesley of Willingboro with aggravated sexual assault, attempted murder, criminal restraint and weapons offenses. Officials say the first attack occurred in March when a woman was attacked -- cut on her neck and leg -- on Elmer Street. Authorities say a woman escaped out a second-floor window after Wesley sexually assaulted her in a home on Chestnut Avenue in September Two women were attacked on Nov. 17 -- one stabbed in the neck with scissors and the other beaten on the face and choked, said prosecutors. It was not known if Wesley has a lawyer who can comment on the charges. [[238427591, C]] Before you hop on public transit this holiday weekend, remember: the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) will operate on a modified holiday schedule. On Christmas Eve, all trolley lines and most MTS bus routes will operate on their normal Saturday schedules. Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, and all trolley lines and most bus routes will operate on a Saturday service schedule. On Christmas Day, you can bring one friend with you on the bus or trolley for no extra charge, thanks to a special MTS promotion. On Christmas Day Observed (Dec. 26), which falls on Monday this year, all trolley lines and most bus routes will operate a Saturday service schedule. San Diegans jumping on public transit should also be aware that from Dec. 24 to 26, several routes will not operate: MTS Express Routes 50, 60, 110, 870 MTS Rapid 237 and Rapid Express Routes 280 and 290 MTS Rural Routes 888, 891, 892 and 894 Routes 972,973, 978, 979, including the Sorrento Valley COASTER Connection Norwegian industry welcomes normalization of ties with China From:Xinhua | 2016-12-22 16:46 OSLO, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Businesses and other bodies in Norway are expecting more cooperation with China as the two countries have decided to normalize relations after six years of frustrated ties. "We have been hoping for improved political conditions between our two countries for many years," said Kristin Skogen Lund in a recent interview with Xinhua. Skogen is the director general of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), which is the country's major organization for employers and the leading business lobby. The NHO, which represents over 24,000 companies and is made up of 19 sectoral federations and 15 regional offices, "is very happy to see the Chinese-Norwegian diplomatic relations back on track again," Lund said. "Our businesses from a vast number of sectors are now ready to develop goods and services that the global market needs, in a tight partnership with the Chinese," she said, "There is a strong, inherent compatibility between Norwegian and Chinese companies, and we look forward to resume the great cooperation we've had for decades." Jan-Gunnar Winther, director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, said his institute has collaborated closely with Chinese institutions on polar science in the past few years and that a normalization of ties will enable research to strengthen further. "This is the best Christmas present I could think of. After six difficult years, we can now restore our relations to the benefit to both our countries," Winther said, "I look forward to a Chinese-Norwegian 'spring' where new cooperation is activated within a wide variety of sectors." "As a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, I look forward to working with Chinese experts and officials on issues related to climate, polar and ocean," he added. China and Norway issued a statement in Beijing on Monday on normalizing ties. "The Norwegian side is fully conscious of the position and concerns of the Chinese side and has worked actively to bring bilateral relations back on track," said the statement. China-Norway relations deteriorated since the Oslo-based Nobel Committee conferred the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize on convicted Chinese criminal Liu Xiaobo. Liu was sentenced to 11 years in jail on Dec. 25, 2009, after a court in Beijing convicted him of engaging in activities designed to overthrow the government. According to the statement, both sides will promote mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation in various fields, including trade, culture, science and education. "It is positive for us. This will normalize trade between China and Norway, and will also make it easy for us to export salmon to China again," said Henning Beltestad, chief executive officer of Leroy Seafood Group, a leading exporter of seafood from Norway. "We have not been able to export any fresh salmon (to China) since 2010. So it is very positive and good news for us," Beltestad said, "It will mean a lot to us definitely." Remi Eriksen, president and chief executive officer of DNV GL Group, a leading international classification society with headquarters in Norway, said his company has a long and massive presence in China and welcomes the normalization of ties between the two countries. "We are very pleased that the bilateral relations between Norway and China are normalized, and look forward to developing the full potential of the partnership with our Chinese customers," he said. In fact, Norway and China had cooperated in a wide range of areas in the past. The eighth round of talks on a free trade agreement concluded in September 2010, three months before the Nobel Prize episode. In normalizing their relationship, the two countries have also agreed to resume free trade negotiations. "We also believe that signing the statement will bring new energy to the free trade discussions and will be important both for existing and new businesses," the NHO's Lund said. "It will be important to see a free trade agreement come in place at a time when the world needs more cooperation and trade." The number of unsheltered homeless people in San Diego County has jumped to an estimated 5,000 people, according to the latest count - and it appears some are opting out of rooms at local shelters. According to the Regional Homeless Task Force in 2016 Count, the number of people in shelters in the County went down last year by 18 percent - from 4,586 to 3,752 individuals. At the same time, the number of unsheltered homeless people went up by the same percent from 4,156 to 4,940 individuals. Thomas Easthope has lived on the streets in downtown San Diego for three years. He told NBC7 he is getting support from Social Security for health issues, but says it isn't enough. I'd like to be able afford a place to live, he said. Many of the small hotels that used to offer single occupant rooms are gone. The park Easthope lives near sits under a large new apartment complex now under construction. In hopes of easing the homeless problem in the City of San Diego, city officials started a $12.5 million initiative called Housing Our Heroes. The program helps veterans connect with housing. At a press conference in North Park Wednesday, the City announced that more than 700 veterans are in the program. About 450 are in housing now and a couple hundred are in the process of being connected to housing with the assistance of the VA. However, the City of San Diego says they are in need of hundreds of landlords to step forward to get involved to place more veterans into housing faster. Paul, a Marine veteran, said the process has had a big impact on him. You know getting off the street is incredible, it's like going from night to day...you have more security than being on the street, he said. Veteran homelessness has gone down from 2011 by nearly 30 percent in the County thanks to programs like Housing Our Heroes and President Obamas Housing First. But still thousands are left in the cold. Some estimates say they are approximately 1,000 people living in tents in the County, a number three times higher than two years ago. Christa Tiegue, a homeless San Diegan, said she bounced from shelter to shelter - but, eventually, she decided to buy a tent and live outside. Her tent is one of many set up in the shadow of San Diego's high rises. Tiegue lives there with her four children, aged four to 14. She says she can keep a better eye on them here. There is safety in numbers, Tiegue told NBC7. To get off the streets she said she needs some type of a program that's available to single moms to be able to put the kids in daycare and work. The profile of most of the people by the Regional Homeless Task Force shows that about 71 percent of the unsheltered homeless are men between 25 and 54 years old. Sixty percent are white, and many have physical and mental disabilities. Easthope says he sees lots of people on the streets with those issues. There's guys rolling around in a wheelchair, with one leg, you know they definitely need to be indoors, Easthope said. Another statistic is raising another issue: according to the Regional Homeless Task Force, about two-thirds of all of the unsheltered were incarcerated at some time. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer told NBC 7 San Diego that it has been a far greater challenge to get some of those people into housing than it has been for veteran due to the lack of support programs. Two years ago, when the penalty for drug offenses went down, it had an impact on homelessness, he said. There's no doubt we're also seeing the effects of Prop 47 in terms of substance abuse on the streets, and methamphetamine, and other things that's not helping the situation, it's harming the situation, and frankly harming the individual, Faulconer said. The Department of Housing and Urban Renewal awarded San Diego County $18,229,194 for programs to help homeless people and provide a network of continuum of care. The City of San Diego has added a staff member to address the growing issue and hopes that more resources, like those available for veterans, will help them better solve the issue for people who are calling the streets home for now. What to Know Jonathan Wienke was found with weapons by security officers at Homeland Security headquarters in June. A search of his West Virginia home found multiple illegal weapons, according to court documents. A Department of Homeland Security employee accused of taking weapons to work pleaded guilty to a federal firearms charge Wednesday. Jonathan Leigh Wienke, 46, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 when he is sentenced next year on a charge of making a firearm in violation of the national firearms act, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor in Martinsburg, West Virginia, confirmed. The charge relates to a silencer found attached to a pistol in a search of Wienke's home. The silencer qualifies as a firearm and was made by Wienke. In June, security officers found Wienke with a gun while he was on the job at agency headquarters on Nebraska Avenue in northwest D.C., according to court filings obtained by the News4 I-Team. A federal agent and security officers also found Wienke had a knife, pepper spray, thermal imaging equipment and radio devices, according to the request for court permission to raid his home about 75 miles from Washington in Martinsburg. Multiple federal charges were filed after investigators seized 19 firearms and 10,000 to 50,000 rounds of ammunition when executing the search warrant at his home, according to a court filing. Agents also found items in the kitchen consistent with those sometimes used to make improvised explosives, but the items were not considered contraband and not seized. In court documents, an agent said there was probable cause to believe Jonathan Wienke was conspiring with another to commit workplace violence, and more particularly may have been conspiring or planning to commit violence against the senior DHS officials in the building. But DHS Chief Security Officer Richard McComb told a House homeland security subcommittee there is "no indication" Wienke was "planning or conspiring to commit workplace violence." According court documents, Wienke was chosen for a random security screening when he arrived at agency headquarters about 7:30 a.m. June 9. The feds, in their filing, said security officers found the knife, pepper spray, thermal imaging equipment and radio devices during the screening and seized them. But he was allowed to proceed to his office by agency security, according to court documents. About 90 minutes later, before a meeting of senior DHS officials near Wienkes work area, security went to Wienke and asked him to undergo another screening, according to court documents. During that screening, the feds found the loaded gun and the five hollow-point bullets, the filing said. According to court records, Wienke had a top-secret clearance inside DHS headquarters, a building which has 3,000 employees. He was placed on administrative leave from his job after his initial arrest, and a judge barred him from entering DHS headquarters during the investigation. On July 11, another DHS employee was caught with a gun at headquarters. Thomas Pressley, a contractor who works in IT for the agency, pleaded not guilty. Prince George's County police say a man who died in an officer-involved shooting Thursday pointed his weapon toward a second suspect and an officer before he was shot. The officers were called to the 4100 block of Byers Street at 8 a.m. for a report of a suspicious car. When they approached the car, they found two men sleeping inside, Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said at a news conference. When the officers knocked on the window to wake the men, the passenger immediately jumped out of the car, trying to flee, police said. At the same time, the driver -- identified by police as 19-year-old Terrence Thomas Jr.-- picked up a gun and pointed it toward the passenger and an officer on that side of the car, Stawinski said. The officer on the driver's side saw Thomas' gun and fired two shots. The officers then pulled Thomas out of the car and began administering CPR. Thomas was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries. No officers were injured. The second suspect was quickly captured by responding officers. Police recovered two weapons from the car and are trying to determine if either of the guns were fired. Investigators will also look at the car, which fit the description of a car involved in several robberies in the area, police said. A woman who said she was Thomas' friend said she believed the police were too quick to shoot Thomas. She was not at the scene at the time of the shooting. "Soon as he woke up he got shot," Darnell Bell said. "Y'all took it upon yourselves just to kill that man." No further details have been released. Stay with News4 on-air and online for more on this developing story. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children created age progression images of what two Maryland children who disappeared more than two years ago might look like now. Catherine Hoggle told Montgomery County Police she left 2-year-old Jacob and 3-year-old Sarah with a friend in September 2014 but has never given details on their whereabouts. Her children would be 4 and 6 now. The age progression images were posted on a Facebook page dedicated to finding Jacob and Sarah. Police believe the Gaithersburg woman is responsible for the deaths of her children. She was charged with misdemeanor child neglect, abduction and hindering law enforcement, but mental health professionals repeatedly found her "not competent" to stand trial. At Hoggle's most recent competency hearing in September, District Court Judge Holly Reed said she is a danger to herself and others. Hoggle had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before the children disappeared. Montgomery County Police have said they believe Sarah and Jacob are dead. Catherine Hoggle remains held without bond. The largest taxi company in Montgomery County has filed for bankruptcy and its CEO says it took a major hit from ride-booking companies like Uber and Lyft. Barwood Taxi Service in Kensington, Maryland, has been in the county for 56 years. "My dad was a taxi driver and so, when I was a small child, I rode with him in a taxi," said Lee Barnes, CEO of Barwood Inc. But times have drastically changed since Barnes' father started the company. Barnes said companies that allow people to order a car from an app on their phone have made it difficult for traditional cab companies such as his to compete. "There's been this imbalance and, most specifically, on fares, secondly, on entry into the market, driver licensing, criminal background checks," Barnes said. According to Barnes, ride-booking companies do not undergo the same regulations as cab companies, allowing Uber and Lyft to have lower fares. On Tuesday, Barnes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. "We filed a plan for reorganization so that we can work on changing our business model," he said. Barnes said Barwood's cabs will be painted black and tablets will replace the old way of paying. "It's quick, it's affordable and it's seamless. There's no exchange of your credit card," he said. Barnes said he's hopeful the changes will help keep his business alive. A contractor for the D.C. government allegedly threatened a shooting at his office, leading to a lockdown and new active shooter training for employees. Edwin Melton worked here at the Office of the Chief Technology Officer for several years without any problems, but in early December, he learned his contract wouldnt be renewed. That prompted him to threaten to kill three of his coworkers, prosecutors said. Melton called a coworker about 8:30 a.m. Dec. 7 and said there might be a mass shooting at 200 I Street, court document say. He added he would put slugs into the chest of three coworkers, who he named. The coworker he called then alerted police. Melton showed up to work later that day, but did not have a gun and made no threats. He left work before police arrived and placed the building on lockdown. The building houses several D.C. agencies, including Child and Family Services, so security is higher at that location than other government buildings. Days after the incident police conducted active shooter training for employees at the building. OCTO said it is conducting a thorough review of existing processes and procedures to ensure staff safety. Police arrested Melton the next day at his home in Virginia, confiscating a cellphone they believe he used to make the threatening call. They didnt find any guns. Meltons attorney declined to comment except to say Melton denies the charges. A public high school student in Frederick County, Maryland, was caught with a gun at school on Wednesday, authorities say. The 17-year-old boy posted videos on social media showing off and saying he had a handgun at Oakdale High School, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. A teacher received information from students about the social media videos and contacted school administrators. A school resource officer and administrators then removed the young man from class and recovered a loaded handgun from his belongings, police said. No one was injured. Robert Antoine Shirley Jr. has been charged as an adult and was taken to the Frederick County Adult Detention Center. Police said he has been charged with possession of a dangerous weapon on school property, possession of a regulated firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and reckless endangerment. Police said it doesn't appear that Shirley had any plans or threats. Washington, D.C.'s transit agency will offer subway card sleeves with the president-elect's picture for the inauguration, Metro announced Thursday, a day after revealing that Donald Trump's face won't be on the cards themselves. Metro already started selling one-day passes without Trump's picture. Metro initially said it asked Trump's campaign for a picture to use on the cards but didn't receive a response. The cards are designed before the election. They contain graphics of the White House and the American flag to commemorate the 58th presidential inauguration. Presidential Inaugural Committee Director of Communications Boris Epshteyn tweeted Thursday the team is working closely with Metro to design the sleeve. He said they would be similar to sleeves designed for the pope's visit to D.C. last year. The Trump organization contacted Metro Thursday about the picture missing from the card and asked if anything could be done, Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans said. We're going to put the picture on the sleeve, and so every sleeve that has the card will have the picture, Evans said. Metro may try to print actual cards with Trumps picture, Evans said, but there's not much time to do that. The passes cost $10 and are good for unlimited rides on Inauguration Day, which is Jan. 20. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the inauguration. Metro will open at 4 a.m., an hour earlier than usual, and extra trains will run throughout the day. Metro is urging people to buy the passes in advance to avoid the possibility of long lines at station vending machines. Riders can put more money on the cards and keep using them after the inauguration. Metro riders can buy the inaugural cards online at wmata.com/inauguration. A preschool worker accused of operating a scheme to fleece department stores of designer handbags was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Praepitcha Smatsorabudh pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August. An investigator with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security testified Smatsorabudh would purchase authentic designer bags from department stores, including at least 226 of them from T.J. Maxx stores, then return imitation bags bought separately for refunds at the stores. The agent testified a merchandise expert with Louis Vitton confirmed, after review, that dozens of the bags returned to T.J. Maxx were inauthentic. Smatsorabudh would later resell the authentic bags for profit through eBay and Instagram for more than $2,000 each, according to the U.S. attorney's office. The scheme defrauded more than 60 department stores in 12 states of a total of more than $400,000, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Smatsorabudh also was ordered to pay that amount in forefeiture and in restitution to the victims. Federal investigators said they seized at least 527 handbags from Smatsorabudhs South Arlington Street home in Arlington, Virginia. According to their court filings, they also seized packages shipped to the Beddow Montessori School in Fort Washington, Maryland, where students' parents said Smatsorabudh taught 4-year-old children. Smatsorabudh worked at Beddow until her first appearance in federal court earlier this year. The school declined to comment to News4 when she was formally charged. The art of going global From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-12-22 16:46 Visitors look at a painting by Nathan Slate Joseph at Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Singapore [Photo/Courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery] If you want to be a successful art dealer in 2016, forget sitting in your gallery waiting for customers to come in and instead embrace a global, connected strategy. That's the key message from entrepreneur Sundaram Tagore, whose galleries in New York, Singapore and Hong Kong showcase contemporary art from around the world. For Tagore, a global strategy means following art fairs from continent to continent, riding the rising wave of online sales, offering an increasingly eclectic range of international art and artists, staging pop-up exhibitions in major capitals and turning the traditional gallery visit into a lifestyle experience. With the critical art fair season going into full swing, he's about to embark on a frenetic travel schedule that will take him to Miami, Singapore, Palm Beach, New York, Dubai and finally Hong Kong for the 2017 Art Basel fair, to be held from March 23 to 25. New York has been home for Tagore since he completed his art studies and joined the bohemian art scene in the city's Soho district of the 1980s, befriending leading post-war art figures including Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg. Tagore opened his first Soho gallery in 2000 Rauschenberg threw a party to celebrate and he already looks back on it as a distant era. "The art world back then was located in a physical space," he recalls. "If you had an art gallery, as a gallerist you sat in the gallery and waited for a client to come in." So how has the art market changed? "As the world has flattened especially in the context of how the art market functions people from New York travel to Hong Kong during auction and art fair season, and vice versa. Mainland Chinese collectors will end up in Miami and at European art fairs," explains Tagore. "The easiest way to consume art is through art fairs or online, so the old school brick-and-mortar type of gallery can't be your only point of access. The internet has become a very important dissemination and consumption channel. You have to have an understanding of how people view and buy art, which these days includes phones and tablets." It's a view backed up by the numbers. Art sales totalled $63.8 billion globally in 2015, down 7 per cent from 2014, according to a report published earlier this year by The European Fine Art Foundation. However, online sales bucked the trend and rose by 7 per cent, reaching almost $5 billion. Technology is also set to impact how people view and buy art. "If we mount an exhibition in New York, thanks to virtual reality a collector will be able to walk through the gallery anywhere else in the world," says Tagore. "It will allow collectors to make a much better judgment in buying a particular piece because they will be able to 'walk' around it and look at it from all angles." Tagore also says the old days of monocultural offerings are over. "You are no longer showing artists from just one country but from 18, 20, 30 different countries if you are a big enough gallery." He also believes that galleries today must offer a full lifestyle experience, including conferences, lectures, visits to working artists' studios and art tours to different parts of the world. "Galleries must take on a multifaceted role as the bricks-and-mortar role changes and dissolves, they must take up a new position." Increasing globalisation has also revealed marked differences in how artists work. "A lot of artists in the West, for instance, are very interested in producing paintings. But in Asia and some of the emerging markets, or with developing artists, they tend to produce installations and other forms of art that require manufacturing," he says. "Collectors' tastes have evolved we get a new set of eyes every 20 years and art has lost its definition as something you put on the wall." However the market adapts to changing tastes and technologies, Tagore says there is one fundamental principle that shouldn't be forgotten. "It is of paramount importance that we can come face to face with a work of art and have that chemical, primal reaction. That way, we can directly experience what the artist intended." John Oliver capped his latest season last month with an epic goodbye-2016 video that repeatedly employed an unrepeatable word. The "Last Week Tonight" host ended the anything-but-fond farewell by pushing a dynamite plunger and blowing up the four numbers of ire. It marked an explosive sendoff for a year that shook up the humor game: All the jokes aimed at Donald Trump, 2016's most pilloried comedic target, didn't stop him from getting the last laugh. And unlike any previous president-elect, the former reality TV star regularly responds to satirical jibes, even as he prepares to tackle the world's most serious job. The coming year heralds more comedic climate change, boding for unpredictable storms with a television-savvy president who fancies himself an entertainer and a critic. Amid the rise of fake news, comedy got real in 2016. Stephen Colbert's introduction of 11 years ago "truthiness" a conception of truth as a gut feeling, with little or no relation to fact played out in Trumps election season campaign rhetoric. So-called fake news comedy shows delivered their own version of the truth, cloaked in laughs. The "Weekend Update" team of Michael Che and Colin Jost gelled this season on NBCs "Saturday Night Live" (Calling Breitbart a news site is like calling the R. Kelly sex tape a rom-com, Che cracked last month). Trevor Noah affirmed Comedy Centrals confidence in him on "The Daily Show" with his October bit comparing Trump to an African dictator (He scams money like a Nigerian prince, he threatens opponents like an Egyptian leader and he constantly spews (expletive) out of his mouth like he has Ebola, Noah observed). Seth Meyers came alive on NBCs "Late Night" with his A Closer Look feature including a September segment in which he called Trump a racist and liar for claiming Hillary Clinton started the so-called Birther movement. But Trump, a seeming gift to comedy, came wrapped in Teflon. The Republican president-to-be, known for bombast aimed at pleasing his fans, is at once fodder for comics jokes and their rival for attention. Trump also is a veteran self-styled comedy critic: In 2013, he sued HBO Real Time host Bill Maher for joking about his parentage. Now Trump tweets his displeasure with Alec Baldwins portrayal of him on SNL, a show he's twice hosted. The incoming president may have sparked a larger backlash against funny folks: Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes recently got booed for slamming Trump. In October, some members of The Second City, Chicagos famed comedy outfit, quit reportedly, at least in part, because of apparently Trump-emboldened hecklers hurling hate. Its unclear if or how comedians might change their approach in the coming Trump era, though there are early hints of changing strategies. Maher, whose pre-election show featured a Howard Beale-like rant against Trump, tendered a backhanded interview invitation to the next president. Full Frontal host Samantha Bee, the breakout late night TV comedy star of 2016, recently filmed a chat with conservative commentator Glenn Beck. Both bemoaned Trumps rise as they sealed their odd alliance with a "strange bedfellows" cake. Whether Trump declares, Let them eat cake or throws more verbal pies in the faces of comics remains to be seen. So does whether hell regularly visit late night TV comedy programs as Barack Obama did with greater frequency than any previous president. Whats clear is that comedians will be thrust into uncharted territory come Jan. 20, with little clue as to whether 2017 will make 2016 seem like the good old days. Jere Hester is Director of News Products and Projects at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter. A former Manchester, New Hampshire police officer is facing charges of wiretapping and sexual assault. The Stratford County Attorneys Office says George Mallios will stand trial at an undetermined date. Mallios was an employee of the Manchester Police Department when a formal complaint was made against him in March. An internal investigation found Mallios was involved in criminal activity, leading to his termination in June. A review by the Hillsborough County Attorneys Office resulted in criminal charges. No details of the alleged incidents have been released. Shoppers at Legacy Place in Dedham, Massachusetts, were hunting for last minute gifts on Thursday. "Stuff for siblings, some clothes," said Ryan Laughna who's originally from New England but now lives in D.C. According to the National Retail Federation holiday sales are expected to increase this year by 3.6-percent, which is above the seven-year average. "Oh god, probably upwards to about $1,000," said Denise Connors when asked how much she spent on all her gifts. The NRF notes that department stores attract shoppers with sales and free shipping. Online shopping has also reached its highest peak ever at 56.5-percent, which is up 6.8-percent from last year. Not only do sales help ease shopping stress, so does free hot chocolate from the NBC Boston Treat Truck. The truck greeted shoppers at Legacy Place Thursday until 6 p.m. The truck will make its final stop in Lynnefield, Massachusetts at Market Street on Tuesday, December 27. A Massachusetts man accused of stabbing another man in Boston's North End Tuesday has been ordered held on $1 million bail. Anthony Spinelli, 44, of Leominster, allegedly stabbed a long-time acquaintance. Bobby Pirelli, the 50-year-old victim, survived and is recuperating at a hospital. "He's still not out of the woods 100 percent but he is, you know, he's going to make it," said sister Julie Pirelli. "He's in so much pain, he's curled up in the hospital bed, he's very, very weak." Police say the attack happened inside the victim's second-floor apartment on Tuesday. The two were having a conversation when, according to police, Spinelli suddenly attacked with a knife. The motive for the crime is unclear. "He's pinned down, has a pillow on his face at this point by the defendant, the defendant has a knife in his own hands, the struggle ensues," said Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Catherine Ham at Spinellis arraignment Thursday. Pirelli was able to pull an alarm and that scared Spinelli away. He was later found hiding behind a shed in Revere. Spinelli was a high school football star in Leominster back in the 1980s and would later claim he was sexually assaulted at a recruitment camp by Jerry Sandusky, the Penn State Assistant Football coach who would face similar allegations from many men in the widely publicized scandal. "He was a good prospect," said Steven Passarello, one of Spinelli's Pennsylvania attorneys. He believes Spinelli's criminal troubles began because of those alleged encounters long ago. "After he went to that camp is when he started to go downhill," said Passarello, who spoke to necn by phone. In court Thursday, prosecutors said Spinelli has a lengthy criminal record including a conviction for manslaughter. Pirelli ended up with stab wounds to his neck, arm and torso. "Being Christmas, we brought him a little Christmas tree and we're going to have Christmas there with him," said Julie Pirelli. "That's the best present I got, was having him OK." Spinelli is charged with armed assault with intent to murder. He was ordered to stay away from the victim and the scene. Bail on an open OUI in Winchendon was also revoked. His next court date is Jan. 17. A man who struck a woman Tuesday night in Framingham, Massachusetts, dragged her and ran away on foot, is being held on bail. Police said the 27-year-old victim was found seriously injured on Beaver Street just after 7 p.m. Proscutors say she was struck by a Ford Taurus and dragged under its wheels for about 100 feet. "She was bleeding from the head and shoulders, her body was covered with scratches and other markings," said Assistant District Attorney Daniel Storms. The victim, a 27-year-old mother of three remains in critical condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with punctured lungs, internal bleeding and a broken leg. The woman's sister said she had been taking out the trash in front of her home when she was struck. "It's not fair, if you hit anyone you're supposed to stop," she said. The driver left the car beside the victim and fled into a wooded area. Framingham Police and a Natick Police K-9 team pursued him and identified him as 23-year-old Tiago Veira of Framingham. The suspect, an undocumented immigrant, was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a crash that caused injury, as well as driving without a license. He is being held on $5,000 bail. Veira cried while facing a judge Wednesday. He claimed in court that the victim jumped into the road, and that he ran because he does not speak English and was worried about his safety from witnesses. The car's owner said he had loaned it to Veira before the crash. New Hampshire police are on an unusual search, trying to find the rightful owner of a bag of Christmas gifts, found scattered all over the road in Atkinson. There was definitely things in there that I put on my Santa list, said Gretchen Grosky, who found the bag. But Finders Keepers is not a rule Grosky believes in. On Wednesday, she handed over a bag of expensive items to police. I would say anywhere from $500 to $1000 worth of gifts, said Atkinson Police Sgt. Nathan Lyons. The items are fifts that Grosky found that she knows someone must be missing. And I just said, oh, this is an awful lot of money, and an awful lot to replace, she recalled. Grosky told necn she was on her way home from shopping last week when she took a left onto Indian Ridge Road in Atkinson. She saw a shopping bag and gifts scattered all over the road. I pulled over and just started grabbing them, she said. As soon as she got home she posted on Facebook, writing in part, Im sure someone is very upset right now and Id like to get it back to them ASAP. Atkinson Police said theyve found part of a receipt from Salem, New Hampshire, thats helping them track down the rightful owner. We contacted the store and we are waiting to hear back from them, Lyons said. Meanwhile, police are tipping their hats to the honest mom of three, on mission to get these gifts under the right tree in time for Christmas morning. It is the Christmas season and obviously she did the right thing, Lyons said. Im just hoping the person who receives it is very happy, Grosky said. If you know someone who might be missing some pretty awesome gifts, theyll have to call Atkinson Police and specifically identify every single one of them. A Massachusetts father made his children's Christmas wishes come true by surprising them while they made a visit to Santa at a mall in Marlboro. At the Solomon Pond Mall on Wednesday, 8-year-old Antonio Shotsberger and his younger siblings, Jayden and Alyssa, told Santa how much they missed their Dad since seeing him in September when he left for basic training with the National Guard. "Please tell the Army that we need Dad for Christmas," Antonio Shotsberger told Santa. "I'd like daddy for Christmas too," added their mother Sammi Shotsberger. With help from the mall, the Army and their parents, the Shotsberger children got the surprise of a lifetime. "Who's at the top of my chair," asked Santa while looking at the photo he took with the kids. At the very top of his chair was a familiar face. It was their dad, Kyle Shotsberger, who just finished basic training as a PV2 with the National Guard. Peeking out from behind Santa's chair was Kyle who said "hey can I be in your picture?" That family picture is now one they'll remember forever. "It's been hard to keep it a secret because it's a big deal, but it was something to look forward to," said Kyle. While tears streamed down his face Antonio said, "I've missed him so much." Kyle's wife Sammi has certainly missed him too. They've been married for three years, together for ten. "He's just my rock," said Sammi. "He's the person I turn to. First person I think about when I wake up, last person I think about when I go to bed." The Shotsberger family said the most important thing this Christmas is getting to spend it together. "Enjoy the people while you have them you never know when they'll be gone," said Santa. "Enjoy the people you know and love." The Shotsberger's will have Kyle home until he goes back to work January 3. Alibabas Taobao.com marketplace is in the eye of a storm after the U.S. Trade Representative included the vastly popular online Chinese marketplace in the list of Notorious Markets for 2016, after a long break. The list identifies markets that are allegedly "engaging in and facilitating substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. The listing carries no penalties but will likely be an embarrassment for Alibaba, which has been trying to burnish its image in international markets. The move by the USTR comes even as the company claims to have used big data technologies to zero in, for example, on 13 factories and shops that were selling knockoff RAM modules under Kingston and Samsung brands, according to Alibaba's news hub Alizila. Its counterfeit goods monitoring and identification algorithm, for example, monitors about 100 dimensional characteristics, ranging from price to the online shops decorations, transaction records, product-release pattern and consumer complaints. Merchants and goods are rated on a 0 to 100 scale, with 80 usually treated as a red flag. Another system scrutinizes accounts, products and transactions for 600 different indicators, focusing on seller behavior, product information, consumer reviews and user reports, according to Alizila. The company also uses optical character recognition and the scanning and analysis of images and logos for suspicious listings. The USTR charges that right holders in the U.S. and internationally continue to report serious challenges to reducing high levels of counterfeit and pirated goods on Taobao. Initial attempts to report intellectual property rights infringement are refused inconsistently and refusals of take-down requests contain little to no justification or guidance on how the right holder can amend its notification to get results. Small businesses do not benefit from a program extended to larger right holders. The right holders have also complained that error messages stall or prevent use of IP complaint systems and relevant communications to the right holders are not translated from Chinese. Right holders are prevented from directly communicating with Taobao resellers by broken hyperlinks, according to the USTR report. As a result, one large motor vehicle manufacturer, for example, reported that at least 95 percent of the merchandise with the companys brand names and trademarks on Alibaba platforms is suspected to be counterfeit. The Chinese giant has given the development a political twist, with Alibaba Group President Michael Evans claiming that the USTRs decision leads the company to question whether the USTR acted based on the actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate. Evans claims that in 2016 alone, Alibaba doubled over 2015 the number of infringing product listings it proactively removed from its site. It is therefore unreasonable for the USTR to have concluded that Alibaba is less effective in anti-counterfeiting than when it reviewed our efforts in 2015 and when it removed us from its list four years ago, he said in a statement Wednesday. Promoting public hospital reform and direct settlement of medical expenses away from home, which are among the top issues of public concern, will be the key tasks for medical reform during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). The State Councils executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Dec 21 approved two guidelines to improve health care and medical services and push ahead medical reform in the coming five years. Since the nationwide basic medical insurance network has been set up, the next step will be promoting resource sharing among hospitals in cities, counties, villages and communities within a region, and bringing the Internet Plus strategy into healthcare, both in an effort to make more resources in big cities go to local hospitals, Premier Li said. It is important to integrate the resources of public hospitals and community clinics, breaking through the administrative structure and introducing enterprise-style management, said the Premier, who hailed the test practice in Luohu, of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, at a conference a month ago. Premier Li promised a two-year timetable to achieve cross-provincial settlement of hospitalization fees for elderly patients at a news conference in March, in response to a question selected from an online poll. Progress has been made. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Dec 21 that China will achieve national portability of medical insurance by the end of 2016, and at the same time start the direct settlement of medical costs for retirees away from home. China should begin cross-provincial settlement of hospitalization expenses by 2017, according to the Premier. By now, everyone in our industry has provided 2017 cybersecurity predictions, and Im no exception. I participated in a 2017 infosec forecast webcast with industry guru Bruce Schneier, and ESG also published a video where I exchanged cybersecurity prophecies with my colleague Doug Cahill. Yup, prognosticating about the future of cybersecurity has become a mainstream activity. But rather than simply guess at what will happen next year, I think it is useful to review what actually happened over the past few years and extrapolate from there. ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) recently published the second research report in a two-part series titled Through the Eyes of Cyber Security Professionals. As part of this project, 437 cybersecurity professionals (and ISSA members) were asked to identify some of the cybersecurity actions their organizations have already taken over the past two years. Here are a few examples of what theyve done and what we can expect in terms of similar activities in 2017: 49% of cybersecurity professionals said their organization engaged in one or more new cybersecurity initiatives over the past two years. These included cloud security projects, new types of endpoint security plans, etc. These initiatives will likely continue next year, but I also expect two other focus areas in 2017: more initiatives around data security (i.e. sensitive data discovery, classification, confidentiality and integrity protection) and security analytics and operations integration (a la my blog post on Security Operations and Analytics Platform Architecture or SOAPA). 41% of cybersecurity professionals said their organization increased security controls and monitoring for privileged users over the past two years. This trend doesnt get nearly as much attention as it should, since we know privileged users can inflict lots of damage (witness Edward Snowden). Expect more multi-factor authentication and auditing of privileged users in the new year. 40% of cybersecurity professionals said their organization increased the size of its cybersecurity staff over the past two years. Yup, this, too, will continue, but it will be an increasingly uphill battle to recruit and hire talent. I also expect continued and possibly hyperinflation of cybersecurity salaries in 2017. Im looking for a corollary trend: a rapid increase in professional and managed cybersecurity services. 39% of cybersecurity professionals said their organization adopted some portion of the NIST cybersecurity framework over the past two years. This is good news, especially for an incoming administration with an aversion to new cybersecurity regulations. I expect the Trump administration to support and promote the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, so we should see continued momentum. Insurance companies may also pile on, making the NIST Cybersecurity Framework a risk management standard for premiums and customer service programs. 39% of cybersecurity professionals said their organization implemented stronger controls to limit user and device access to sensitive data and applications over the past two years. This is driven by security policies for business processes, regulatory compliance, and a goal of decreasing the attack surface. Look for a lot of 2017 chatter about attributed-based access controls and software-defined perimeters in 2017 in support of these objectives. If youre not familiar with these concepts, check out what Google is doing with BeyondCorp. I believe many large enterprises will initiate projects in 2017 to create a similar model for access control. 39% of cybersecurity professionals said their organization increased the cybersecurity budget over the past two years. Based upon past ESG research, my guess is that around two-thirds of organizations will boost spending again in 2017. Over the past month, Ive been asked whether I expect any new cybersecurity trends in 2017. Yes, there will be nuanced changes, but in reality, we will simply be building upon what weve done over the past two years. A good start with lots more to do. By IANS ABHU DHABI: As the deadline to exchange demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 Indian currency notes looms, the expatriates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have expressed their concerns that they might not be able to exchange the notes before the deadline. Several expats say they are surprised that the Indian government has not announced any reprieve for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), as many of them would not be able to travel to India before the last date to exchange the demonetised currency, said a report in Gulf News on Wednesday. The expats say they want the Indian government to make arrangements here in the UAE to exchange the invalid notes. Almost each of an estimated 2.6 million Indians in the UAE holds a few thousand Indian rupees, mostly in the denominations of 500 and 1,000 rupees that were demonetised in a surprise move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 night. The scrapped notes can be deposited or exchanged at banks in India by December 30 and at offices of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by March 31, 2017. However, there is no arrangement for the expats to exchange their old currency notes outside India. "The March 31 deadline is irrelevant to NRIs because it is practically impossible for them to reach a faraway RBI office while visiting India. Moreover, many expats go on vacation once in two years," said Shyam Gehi, a resident of Mumbai, who has been living in Dubai for over 40 years. He demanded an extension of the December 30 deadline indefinitely for NRIs and said they should be allowed to deposit at least up to Rs 25,000 in their bank accounts when they visit home. Another expat demanded that the Indian government should extend the deadline by at least one more year for the NRIs. If the deadline extension is not possible, then the government should authorise a money exchange centre in the UAE, otherwise the majority if Indians here will suffer, the expat said. Anurag Kashyap, 40, another expat in Abu Dhabi, suggested that the Indian government authorise the Bank of Baroda, the only Indian bank with commercial operations in the UAE, to facilitate exchange of the invalid notes. However, an official at the Bank of Baroda office in Dubai told Gulf News that there was no information about the bank accepting or exchanging invalid notes. The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a statement on Tuesday that it has taken up the issues raised by the NRI community in UAE with the Ministry of Finance as well as with the RBI. ABHU DHABI: As the deadline to exchange demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 Indian currency notes looms, the expatriates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have expressed their concerns that they might not be able to exchange the notes before the deadline. Several expats say they are surprised that the Indian government has not announced any reprieve for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), as many of them would not be able to travel to India before the last date to exchange the demonetised currency, said a report in Gulf News on Wednesday. The expats say they want the Indian government to make arrangements here in the UAE to exchange the invalid notes. Almost each of an estimated 2.6 million Indians in the UAE holds a few thousand Indian rupees, mostly in the denominations of 500 and 1,000 rupees that were demonetised in a surprise move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 night. The scrapped notes can be deposited or exchanged at banks in India by December 30 and at offices of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by March 31, 2017. However, there is no arrangement for the expats to exchange their old currency notes outside India. "The March 31 deadline is irrelevant to NRIs because it is practically impossible for them to reach a faraway RBI office while visiting India. Moreover, many expats go on vacation once in two years," said Shyam Gehi, a resident of Mumbai, who has been living in Dubai for over 40 years. He demanded an extension of the December 30 deadline indefinitely for NRIs and said they should be allowed to deposit at least up to Rs 25,000 in their bank accounts when they visit home. Another expat demanded that the Indian government should extend the deadline by at least one more year for the NRIs. If the deadline extension is not possible, then the government should authorise a money exchange centre in the UAE, otherwise the majority if Indians here will suffer, the expat said. Anurag Kashyap, 40, another expat in Abu Dhabi, suggested that the Indian government authorise the Bank of Baroda, the only Indian bank with commercial operations in the UAE, to facilitate exchange of the invalid notes. However, an official at the Bank of Baroda office in Dubai told Gulf News that there was no information about the bank accepting or exchanging invalid notes. The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a statement on Tuesday that it has taken up the issues raised by the NRI community in UAE with the Ministry of Finance as well as with the RBI. By Express News Service BENGALURU: A person in possession of cash worth Rs 10 lakh in Rs 2000 denomination notes was killed and burnt by his four friends in Ramanagara district. The accused have been arrested. Having called the victim- Satthar Ali, a resident of Kalanagar, Channapatna to a secluded spot near Tenginakallu forest area on the pretext of exchanging the new notes for old denomination currency, his four friends Altaf, Mohaib, Syed and Akbar, all residents of the same town, allegedly killed him, burnt his body and fled with Rs 10 lakh cash. According to the police, the accused and the deceased had known each other for many years. On December 16, the accused allegedly called Ali to exchange their old notes and offered a commission of 20 percent. Ali, who had new denomination cash was looking for persons who were ready to exchange money with old notes for the commission. The burnt body was discovered by the locals on December 18, who informed police about the same. Police authorities who started the investigation learnt with the help of Call Detail Records that Ali and the accused had conversed several times before his body was discovered. The accused have confessed to the crime during an inquiry, police said. Tension prevailed in front of Channapatna police station as members of Islamic community staged a demonstration and demanded the accused be killed. Ramanagara rural Police have registered a case and the accused have been sent to judicial custody. BENGALURU: A person in possession of cash worth Rs 10 lakh in Rs 2000 denomination notes was killed and burnt by his four friends in Ramanagara district. The accused have been arrested. Having called the victim- Satthar Ali, a resident of Kalanagar, Channapatna to a secluded spot near Tenginakallu forest area on the pretext of exchanging the new notes for old denomination currency, his four friends Altaf, Mohaib, Syed and Akbar, all residents of the same town, allegedly killed him, burnt his body and fled with Rs 10 lakh cash. According to the police, the accused and the deceased had known each other for many years. On December 16, the accused allegedly called Ali to exchange their old notes and offered a commission of 20 percent. Ali, who had new denomination cash was looking for persons who were ready to exchange money with old notes for the commission. The burnt body was discovered by the locals on December 18, who informed police about the same. Police authorities who started the investigation learnt with the help of Call Detail Records that Ali and the accused had conversed several times before his body was discovered. The accused have confessed to the crime during an inquiry, police said. Tension prevailed in front of Channapatna police station as members of Islamic community staged a demonstration and demanded the accused be killed. Ramanagara rural Police have registered a case and the accused have been sent to judicial custody. By Express News Service CHENNAI: As many as 150 people have fallen sick so far after the outbreak of an acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD) in Taramani, allegedly due to water contamination. They have been admitted to Government Royapettah General Hospital and Tondiarpet Communicable Disease Hospital since December 15-20. The worst affected areas are Mahatma Gandhi Nagar, Kamarajar Street, Anna Street, Karumariamman Koil streets in Taramani. Over 20 mobile medical teams from the Directorate of Public Health (DPH), Directorate of Medical Services (DMS), Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and some in collaboration with Chennai Corporation have been screening people for communicable diseases. The mobile medical teams are also doing door-to-door water chlorination check. Acute diarrhoeal disease outbreak Water contamination is the recurring problem here. However, it got worse after the cyclone. When we went to complain to the officials, they gave rude replies saying it is same everywhere after the rains, and what is special about your complaint, rued K M Aysha, resident of Janda Street. Now, only after the outbreak, all medical officers and doctors team are camping in Taramani. There must have been a leak somewhere in sewer line connection and drinking water supply line, said Eswari, a resident of Karumariamman Street. My elder sister had diarrhea and also started vomitting. We immediately rushed her to Government Royapettah General Hospital, from there they referred her to Tondiarpet Communicable Disease Hospital saying suspected cholera. Now, they have put her on IV fluids and doctors said, she is recovering, said S Kanimozhi, a resident of Karumariamman First Street. Official sources said the cases started reporting from December 15 and they had admission till Wednesday. In Government Royapettah General Hospital alone, over 10 cases were treated as outpatients and three were admitted. From there, one patient was referred to Tondiarpet CDH. A medical officer from Nagapattinam inspects the water purity level in Taramani | Sri Krishnan Speaking to Express, Dr K Kolandaswamy, Director of Public Health said, there are only 22 cases of acute diarrhoeal disease, admitted to Tondiarpet CDH as on Wednesday, he added. Kolandaswamy further said contact treatment and control measures have been taken in the area. However, he denied the allegation of cholera outbreak. He also denied over 150 have fallen sick and also any cases treated in Royapettah Government General Hospital. CHENNAI: As many as 150 people have fallen sick so far after the outbreak of an acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD) in Taramani, allegedly due to water contamination. They have been admitted to Government Royapettah General Hospital and Tondiarpet Communicable Disease Hospital since December 15-20. The worst affected areas are Mahatma Gandhi Nagar, Kamarajar Street, Anna Street, Karumariamman Koil streets in Taramani. Over 20 mobile medical teams from the Directorate of Public Health (DPH), Directorate of Medical Services (DMS), Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and some in collaboration with Chennai Corporation have been screening people for communicable diseases. The mobile medical teams are also doing door-to-door water chlorination check. Acute diarrhoeal disease outbreak Water contamination is the recurring problem here. However, it got worse after the cyclone. When we went to complain to the officials, they gave rude replies saying it is same everywhere after the rains, and what is special about your complaint, rued K M Aysha, resident of Janda Street. Now, only after the outbreak, all medical officers and doctors team are camping in Taramani. There must have been a leak somewhere in sewer line connection and drinking water supply line, said Eswari, a resident of Karumariamman Street. My elder sister had diarrhea and also started vomitting. We immediately rushed her to Government Royapettah General Hospital, from there they referred her to Tondiarpet Communicable Disease Hospital saying suspected cholera. Now, they have put her on IV fluids and doctors said, she is recovering, said S Kanimozhi, a resident of Karumariamman First Street. Official sources said the cases started reporting from December 15 and they had admission till Wednesday. In Government Royapettah General Hospital alone, over 10 cases were treated as outpatients and three were admitted. From there, one patient was referred to Tondiarpet CDH. A medical officer from Nagapattinam inspects the water purity level in Taramani | Sri Krishnan Speaking to Express, Dr K Kolandaswamy, Director of Public Health said, there are only 22 cases of acute diarrhoeal disease, admitted to Tondiarpet CDH as on Wednesday, he added. Kolandaswamy further said contact treatment and control measures have been taken in the area. However, he denied the allegation of cholera outbreak. He also denied over 150 have fallen sick and also any cases treated in Royapettah Government General Hospital. By Express News Service CHENNAI: After arresting sand mining baron Shekhar Reddy and his associate K Srinivasulu, Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday made three more arrests in connection with the seizure of Rs 34 crore worth new currencies during Income Tax raid in several places of the state. The three include Prem Kumar, against whom an FIR has been filed and who was interrogated by CBI, and Rathinam and Ramachandran, Reddys partners in SRS Mining, who are reportedly linked to influential figures in the State including politicians and bureaucrats. The names of the last two do not figure in the FIR, CBI sources said. The agency, which is probing only the seizure of new currency (Rs 34 crore) from the premises of the sand baron, has made the arrests after as it is believed that new currencies could have been procured with the help of bank officials. Income Tax department has been interrogating Ramachandran about the modus operandi of different sand stackyards in Tamil Nadu, while Shekhar Reddy was interrogated about the Public Works Department contracts in sand mining. JSR Infra Developers, of which Reddy is the chairman and managing director, is Class One contractors for the Tamil Nadu government, involved in works including six-laning of Vandalur Wallajabad Road, land acquisition for formation of Padappai Bye Pass (Phase-IV) and two laning to four laning of Vandalur - Wallajabad road. The company is also executing a variety of government projects funded by the World Bank. State government officials said Reddys arrest will not affect the projects of state government. CHENNAI: After arresting sand mining baron Shekhar Reddy and his associate K Srinivasulu, Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday made three more arrests in connection with the seizure of Rs 34 crore worth new currencies during Income Tax raid in several places of the state. The three include Prem Kumar, against whom an FIR has been filed and who was interrogated by CBI, and Rathinam and Ramachandran, Reddys partners in SRS Mining, who are reportedly linked to influential figures in the State including politicians and bureaucrats. The names of the last two do not figure in the FIR, CBI sources said. The agency, which is probing only the seizure of new currency (Rs 34 crore) from the premises of the sand baron, has made the arrests after as it is believed that new currencies could have been procured with the help of bank officials. Income Tax department has been interrogating Ramachandran about the modus operandi of different sand stackyards in Tamil Nadu, while Shekhar Reddy was interrogated about the Public Works Department contracts in sand mining. JSR Infra Developers, of which Reddy is the chairman and managing director, is Class One contractors for the Tamil Nadu government, involved in works including six-laning of Vandalur Wallajabad Road, land acquisition for formation of Padappai Bye Pass (Phase-IV) and two laning to four laning of Vandalur - Wallajabad road. The company is also executing a variety of government projects funded by the World Bank. State government officials said Reddys arrest will not affect the projects of state government. By Online Desk Another day, another seizure of new currency by the authorities. This time, the seizure was made by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials at the Chennai airport. Officials intercepted Rs 1.34 crore in denomination of Rs 2,000 currencies earlier today. Five persons were held in relation to the seizure near Chennai airport. The currencies were seized early Thursday morning. Further enquiries are on. More details awaited. Another day, another seizure of new currency by the authorities. This time, the seizure was made by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials at the Chennai airport. Officials intercepted Rs 1.34 crore in denomination of Rs 2,000 currencies earlier today. Five persons were held in relation to the seizure near Chennai airport. The currencies were seized early Thursday morning. Further enquiries are on. More details awaited. By Express News Service KOCHI: A group of filmmakers, whose movies had been screened at the recently held International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram, arrived on a visit to the venue of the Kochi Muziris Biennale(KMB). Green Zeng, who directed the critically acclaimed The Return (2015), said the KMB could easily match the internationally-renowned Venice Biennale. Of course, the Biennale in Venice has a higher budget and is afforded more space,but regarding the quality of the artworks on show at the KMB, I cant discern any difference between KMB and Venice Biennale, said Zeng, who had attended the Venice Biennale earlier this year. Jayan K Cherian, director of Ka Bodyscapes, said the Biennale is an installation in itself. There is a distinct change in the artistic production in accordance with the times we live in. Chilean poet-revolutionary Ra l Zuritas Sea of Pain captures perfectly the refugee crisis and forced displacement. Many works here have directly or indirectly referenced the socio-political conditions of the time, he said. According to South African filmmaker Brett Innis, whose Sink(2016) had wowed audiences at the IFFK 2016, it was the experimental nature of most of the works on display that was most impressive. Artists from different corners of the world are brought onto a common platform. The works are ambiguous and experimental. They prompt audiences to reflect unlike the narrative techniques used in filmmaking, Innis said. Dutch filmmaker and anthropologist Louk Vreeswijk, in search of inspiration, did not return disappointed. I saw a lot of conceptual art with a good mixture of literature, philosophy, audio and visuals, he said.Saudi Arabia-based director Mahmoud Sabbagh expressed admiration for the diverse narratives and forms. KMB to host curated film packages from tomorrow Kochi: The Kochi-Muziris Biennale(KMB) 2016 will host a series of specially curated film packages beginning this week. The first set of films, selected by noted film critic Dr C S Venkiteswaran, will be screened at the Pavilion in Cabral Yard, from Friday, December 23, to Monday, December 26. Titled Kinetic Power Called Caste, the packge examines the reality of caste in Kerala in the present time. And four malayalam films themed on caste--Shanavas Naranipuzha-directed Kari (2015);Sanalkumar Sasidharans Ozhivu Divasathe Kali (2015);Pathinonnam Sthalam (2016) by Ranjit Chittade and Aaradi(2016) helmed by Saji Palamel Sreedharan--will be shown. The screenings will begin at 6.30 pm and will have English subtitles. In contemporary Kerala society and polity, caste is an underground river that is invisible on the surface and unutterable in public discourse, but very much alive and flowing, feeding everything above the ground. These films probe at caste life and caste in Kerala society in the present times, said the organisers. KOCHI: A group of filmmakers, whose movies had been screened at the recently held International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram, arrived on a visit to the venue of the Kochi Muziris Biennale(KMB). Green Zeng, who directed the critically acclaimed The Return (2015), said the KMB could easily match the internationally-renowned Venice Biennale. Of course, the Biennale in Venice has a higher budget and is afforded more space,but regarding the quality of the artworks on show at the KMB, I cant discern any difference between KMB and Venice Biennale, said Zeng, who had attended the Venice Biennale earlier this year. Jayan K Cherian, director of Ka Bodyscapes, said the Biennale is an installation in itself. There is a distinct change in the artistic production in accordance with the times we live in. Chilean poet-revolutionary Ra l Zuritas Sea of Pain captures perfectly the refugee crisis and forced displacement. Many works here have directly or indirectly referenced the socio-political conditions of the time, he said. According to South African filmmaker Brett Innis, whose Sink(2016) had wowed audiences at the IFFK 2016, it was the experimental nature of most of the works on display that was most impressive. Artists from different corners of the world are brought onto a common platform. The works are ambiguous and experimental. They prompt audiences to reflect unlike the narrative techniques used in filmmaking, Innis said. Dutch filmmaker and anthropologist Louk Vreeswijk, in search of inspiration, did not return disappointed. I saw a lot of conceptual art with a good mixture of literature, philosophy, audio and visuals, he said.Saudi Arabia-based director Mahmoud Sabbagh expressed admiration for the diverse narratives and forms. KMB to host curated film packages from tomorrow Kochi: The Kochi-Muziris Biennale(KMB) 2016 will host a series of specially curated film packages beginning this week. The first set of films, selected by noted film critic Dr C S Venkiteswaran, will be screened at the Pavilion in Cabral Yard, from Friday, December 23, to Monday, December 26. Titled Kinetic Power Called Caste, the packge examines the reality of caste in Kerala in the present time. And four malayalam films themed on caste--Shanavas Naranipuzha-directed Kari (2015);Sanalkumar Sasidharans Ozhivu Divasathe Kali (2015);Pathinonnam Sthalam (2016) by Ranjit Chittade and Aaradi(2016) helmed by Saji Palamel Sreedharan--will be shown. The screenings will begin at 6.30 pm and will have English subtitles. In contemporary Kerala society and polity, caste is an underground river that is invisible on the surface and unutterable in public discourse, but very much alive and flowing, feeding everything above the ground. These films probe at caste life and caste in Kerala society in the present times, said the organisers. By Express News Service KOCHI: Amid reports that five students of Ernakulam Maharajas College had been arrested for painting graffiti on the walls, the City Police on Wednesday made it clear that they were picked up for allegedly vandalising public property by painting graffiti on the walls on November 23. City Police Commissioner(CP) M P Dinesh, on Wednesday, said the arrests were made on the basis of the petition lodged by college principal N L Beena on November 23. As per the complaint, Ernakulam Central Police have registered a case under Section 3 (1) of Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act. Subsequently, police arrested a student Arjun Anand and following this four other students turned themselves in. The incident-- causing damages to the tune of `50,000 -- had occurred a month ago, the CP said in a release.Meanwhile,in a related development, authorities decided to withdraw the complaint against the two students, who had illegally entered the campus on December 16 and painted graffiti inciting religious sentiments. The college authorities decision on Wednesday to withdraw the second complaint followed a meeting with the students representatives . We will not proceed with the case as student representatives promised to clear those posts. However, the case registered in connection with the destruction of college property will continue. The college is not against the students creative talents, said college principal N L Beena, who repeated the police version that the students had been arrested for vandalism and not for writing abusive language on walls. The decision taken by the college authorities is most welcome as we are not promoting disruptive activities. We are trying to resolve the issues in the college itself and expect the principal to take a positive approach on this issue while it comes up before the court, said College Union chairman Aswin P Dinesh. The City Police on Tuesday had arrested five students-- Rakesh Kalmadi, Nidhin Vijayan, Anand, Arjun Anand and Thattanparambil Muhammed-- following the complaint that they had damaged the college wall after trespassing the campus on a holiday. They were released on bail on Wednesday. Police had on December 19 registered another case against two students-- Amal P A and Unni Ullas-- based on a complaint from the college principal, alleging that the duo allegedly trespassed the college on December 16 and painted graffiti, causing damage to the tune of`50,000. According to the petition, the content was filthy and hurt religious sentiments. Following this, the Ernakulam Central Police registered another case under Sections 427 and 447 of the IPC and Section 3 (1) of Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act. No arrests have been made in the case and the reports in this regard are baseless, said the Police Commissioner.Earlier, the SFI staged a protest on the college premises demanding the withdrawal of the case. Even as the student outfit said the arrested duo indeed belonged to the SFI organisation,it insisted that the five arrested persons had been picked up on vandalism charges. More importantly, the SFI revealed that the five had been ousted from the organisation for anti-organisational activities. KOCHI: Amid reports that five students of Ernakulam Maharajas College had been arrested for painting graffiti on the walls, the City Police on Wednesday made it clear that they were picked up for allegedly vandalising public property by painting graffiti on the walls on November 23. City Police Commissioner(CP) M P Dinesh, on Wednesday, said the arrests were made on the basis of the petition lodged by college principal N L Beena on November 23. As per the complaint, Ernakulam Central Police have registered a case under Section 3 (1) of Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act. Subsequently, police arrested a student Arjun Anand and following this four other students turned themselves in. The incident-- causing damages to the tune of `50,000 -- had occurred a month ago, the CP said in a release.Meanwhile,in a related development, authorities decided to withdraw the complaint against the two students, who had illegally entered the campus on December 16 and painted graffiti inciting religious sentiments. The college authorities decision on Wednesday to withdraw the second complaint followed a meeting with the students representatives . We will not proceed with the case as student representatives promised to clear those posts. However, the case registered in connection with the destruction of college property will continue. The college is not against the students creative talents, said college principal N L Beena, who repeated the police version that the students had been arrested for vandalism and not for writing abusive language on walls. The decision taken by the college authorities is most welcome as we are not promoting disruptive activities. We are trying to resolve the issues in the college itself and expect the principal to take a positive approach on this issue while it comes up before the court, said College Union chairman Aswin P Dinesh. The City Police on Tuesday had arrested five students-- Rakesh Kalmadi, Nidhin Vijayan, Anand, Arjun Anand and Thattanparambil Muhammed-- following the complaint that they had damaged the college wall after trespassing the campus on a holiday. They were released on bail on Wednesday. Police had on December 19 registered another case against two students-- Amal P A and Unni Ullas-- based on a complaint from the college principal, alleging that the duo allegedly trespassed the college on December 16 and painted graffiti, causing damage to the tune of`50,000. According to the petition, the content was filthy and hurt religious sentiments. Following this, the Ernakulam Central Police registered another case under Sections 427 and 447 of the IPC and Section 3 (1) of Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act. No arrests have been made in the case and the reports in this regard are baseless, said the Police Commissioner.Earlier, the SFI staged a protest on the college premises demanding the withdrawal of the case. Even as the student outfit said the arrested duo indeed belonged to the SFI organisation,it insisted that the five arrested persons had been picked up on vandalism charges. More importantly, the SFI revealed that the five had been ousted from the organisation for anti-organisational activities. By Express News Service KOCHI: For Fr Shibu Kuttiparichel, a priest at St Marys Jacobite Church, Cheengeri in Wayanad, supporting charity and engaging in welfare activities is nothing new. And, when he heard about the health condition of 29-year-old Kairunnissa hailing from Chavakkad in Thrissur, he had little hesitation in donating one of his kidneys. Fr Shibu Kuttiparichel The 39-year-old priest, who has also penned several books and uses money earned from the sale of his works for the treatment of cancer patients, donated his kidney to Kairunnissa, who lives with her bedridden husband and three-year-old daughter. The kidney was harvested and transplanted in Kairunnissa at VPS Lakeshore hospital here on Wednesday. According to hospital authorities, the patient was suffering from kidney ailment for the past four years and underwent several rounds of dialysis over the last one-and-a-half years. On learning about the poor health of Kairunnissa, the priest, who got inspired by Fr Davis Chiramel, founder and chairman, Kidney Federation of India, first collected Rs 5 lakh from various donors and handed it over to the family of Kairunnissa for her treatment. Although Kairunnissas 56-year-old mother Shereefa, who lives in Kasargod, was ready to donate one of her kidneys to her daughter, it was found incompatible. Later, Fr Shibus blood group was found matching to that of Kairunnissa and he decided to practise what he preaches, by donating his kidney. Both the donor and recipient are in good condition, said hospital authorities. Fr Shibu, who has been shifted to ICU, will be discharged after four days. Meanwhile, Kairunnissa, who also has been shifted to ICU, will remain there for five days and will be discharged after one week following medical examination, hospital sources added. The harvesting and transplanting of the kidney was done under a medical team which included Dr Abi Abraham M, director, Nephrology and Transplant Services; Dr George P Abraham, transplant surgeon; and Dr Mohan A Mathew, director of Anaesthesiology. KOCHI: For Fr Shibu Kuttiparichel, a priest at St Marys Jacobite Church, Cheengeri in Wayanad, supporting charity and engaging in welfare activities is nothing new. And, when he heard about the health condition of 29-year-old Kairunnissa hailing from Chavakkad in Thrissur, he had little hesitation in donating one of his kidneys. Fr Shibu KuttiparichelThe 39-year-old priest, who has also penned several books and uses money earned from the sale of his works for the treatment of cancer patients, donated his kidney to Kairunnissa, who lives with her bedridden husband and three-year-old daughter. The kidney was harvested and transplanted in Kairunnissa at VPS Lakeshore hospital here on Wednesday. According to hospital authorities, the patient was suffering from kidney ailment for the past four years and underwent several rounds of dialysis over the last one-and-a-half years. On learning about the poor health of Kairunnissa, the priest, who got inspired by Fr Davis Chiramel, founder and chairman, Kidney Federation of India, first collected Rs 5 lakh from various donors and handed it over to the family of Kairunnissa for her treatment. Although Kairunnissas 56-year-old mother Shereefa, who lives in Kasargod, was ready to donate one of her kidneys to her daughter, it was found incompatible. Later, Fr Shibus blood group was found matching to that of Kairunnissa and he decided to practise what he preaches, by donating his kidney. Both the donor and recipient are in good condition, said hospital authorities. Fr Shibu, who has been shifted to ICU, will be discharged after four days. Meanwhile, Kairunnissa, who also has been shifted to ICU, will remain there for five days and will be discharged after one week following medical examination, hospital sources added. The harvesting and transplanting of the kidney was done under a medical team which included Dr Abi Abraham M, director, Nephrology and Transplant Services; Dr George P Abraham, transplant surgeon; and Dr Mohan A Mathew, director of Anaesthesiology. By IANS MUMBAI: Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor in a series of tweets has lashed out on those who have commented on the name given by actress Kareena Kapoor Khan and actor Saif Ali Khan to their son. He says that it's no one's business to comment on their decision. Kareena and Saif named their son Taimur Ali Khan. You mind your fuckn business what my ancestors must be feeling. Apna kaam karo https://t.co/7SknPLTQ7q Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 "Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child please? Mind your business, it's got nothing to do with you. Parents wish," Rishi tweeted on Wednesday. The name given to the star couple's son was a topic of debate on social media platforms as Taimur was the founder of the Timurid Empire in Persia and Central Asia and had invaded India in 1398. Rishi, who is popular for voicing out his opinions on social media, also replied to a users saying that names like Alexander and Sikander are common in the world even though Alexander, a Greek king, was not a saint. Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child please?Mind your business,it's got nothing to do with you.Parents wish! Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 "Alexander and Sikandar were no saints. They are common names in the world. Apna kaam karo na tum (Mind your own business). Tumko kya takleef hai? (What is your problem?)," he said. Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Cheif minister Omar Abdullah criticised those who made fun of Saif and Kareena for naming their newly-born son Taimur. Abdullah said that it's their right to decide the name of their baby and the opinion of the rest doesn't matter. Kareena, daughter of veteran actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, delivered the baby on Tuesday morning at the Breach Candy Hospital here. Kareena and Saif, who have worked together in films like "Tashan", "Kurbaan", "Agent Vinod", LOC Kargil" and "Omkara", got married in October 2012. Saif, the son of veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and the late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was earlier married to actress Amrita Singh and shares two children with her - daughter Sara and son Ibrahim. MUMBAI: Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor in a series of tweets has lashed out on those who have commented on the name given by actress Kareena Kapoor Khan and actor Saif Ali Khan to their son. He says that it's no one's business to comment on their decision. Kareena and Saif named their son Taimur Ali Khan. You mind your fuckn business what my ancestors must be feeling. Apna kaam karo https://t.co/7SknPLTQ7q Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 "Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child please? Mind your business, it's got nothing to do with you. Parents wish," Rishi tweeted on Wednesday. The name given to the star couple's son was a topic of debate on social media platforms as Taimur was the founder of the Timurid Empire in Persia and Central Asia and had invaded India in 1398. Rishi, who is popular for voicing out his opinions on social media, also replied to a users saying that names like Alexander and Sikander are common in the world even though Alexander, a Greek king, was not a saint. Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child please?Mind your business,it's got nothing to do with you.Parents wish! Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 "Alexander and Sikandar were no saints. They are common names in the world. Apna kaam karo na tum (Mind your own business). Tumko kya takleef hai? (What is your problem?)," he said. Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Cheif minister Omar Abdullah criticised those who made fun of Saif and Kareena for naming their newly-born son Taimur. Abdullah said that it's their right to decide the name of their baby and the opinion of the rest doesn't matter. Kareena, daughter of veteran actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, delivered the baby on Tuesday morning at the Breach Candy Hospital here. Kareena and Saif, who have worked together in films like "Tashan", "Kurbaan", "Agent Vinod", LOC Kargil" and "Omkara", got married in October 2012. Saif, the son of veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and the late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was earlier married to actress Amrita Singh and shares two children with her - daughter Sara and son Ibrahim. Aishik Chanda By Express News Service KOLKATA: For the first time in the Indian judicial system, a man in West Bengal was awarded an exemplary long jail term of 40 years for strangulating a five-year-old boy as a result of a feud with the victims grandfather. The sentence was pronounced by judge Amit Chattopadhyay of Fast Track-1 court of Basirhat subdivisional court. Convict Khudabaksh Ali of Bakjuri area in Haroa in North 24 Parganas district was found guilty of murdering five-year-old Suraj Lashkar on July 1, 2009 and was awarded 40 years jail term along with Rs 50,000 fine. Public prosecutor Arindam Goldar said that he had appealed for capital punishment for Khudabaksh but the court awarded the long jail term. Sources revealed that the murder was a fallout of convict Khudabaksh Alis long feud with Abdul Rahim of the same locality. He wanted to seek revenge by killing Abdul Rahims five-year-old grandson Suraj Lashkar. Accordingly, on July 1, 2009, Khudabaksh lured Suraj with a packet of biscuits into the nearby jute fields and strangled the boy to death. The body was dumped in the swamps of jute fields and covered with jute leaves, a source said. Later, when the Surajs family created a hue and cry over the missing kid, some locals revealed they had seen Khudabaksh going towards the jute fields with the child and returning alone. Police raided the jute field and found the body of the boy hidden under the leaves. Khudabaksh was arrested immediately. Though the Supreme Court has contended that life imprisonment means jail term for entire life and not only 14 years, the jail term awarded to Khudabaksh may not be confused with life imprisonment. He had specifically been awarded 40 years jail term which is common in countries such as the United States but rarest of the rare in India. KOLKATA: For the first time in the Indian judicial system, a man in West Bengal was awarded an exemplary long jail term of 40 years for strangulating a five-year-old boy as a result of a feud with the victims grandfather. The sentence was pronounced by judge Amit Chattopadhyay of Fast Track-1 court of Basirhat subdivisional court. Convict Khudabaksh Ali of Bakjuri area in Haroa in North 24 Parganas district was found guilty of murdering five-year-old Suraj Lashkar on July 1, 2009 and was awarded 40 years jail term along with Rs 50,000 fine. Public prosecutor Arindam Goldar said that he had appealed for capital punishment for Khudabaksh but the court awarded the long jail term. Sources revealed that the murder was a fallout of convict Khudabaksh Alis long feud with Abdul Rahim of the same locality. He wanted to seek revenge by killing Abdul Rahims five-year-old grandson Suraj Lashkar. Accordingly, on July 1, 2009, Khudabaksh lured Suraj with a packet of biscuits into the nearby jute fields and strangled the boy to death. The body was dumped in the swamps of jute fields and covered with jute leaves, a source said. Later, when the Surajs family created a hue and cry over the missing kid, some locals revealed they had seen Khudabaksh going towards the jute fields with the child and returning alone. Police raided the jute field and found the body of the boy hidden under the leaves. Khudabaksh was arrested immediately. Though the Supreme Court has contended that life imprisonment means jail term for entire life and not only 14 years, the jail term awarded to Khudabaksh may not be confused with life imprisonment. He had specifically been awarded 40 years jail term which is common in countries such as the United States but rarest of the rare in India. Anand ST Das By Express News Service PATNA: In Gopalganj district, two women poured acid on a 2-year-old boy, the son of their neighbour, when the toddler stayed in their house on Monday. Police said the two women avenged a recent quarrel over some dispute they had had with the boys family. The toddler, who suffered minor burns on his neck and chest, is getting treated at a local hospital. A case has been registered. The two accused women have left their home in Sheikh Baili village for unknown locations. We are trying to arrest them, said a police official in Bettiah. PATNA: In Gopalganj district, two women poured acid on a 2-year-old boy, the son of their neighbour, when the toddler stayed in their house on Monday. Police said the two women avenged a recent quarrel over some dispute they had had with the boys family. The toddler, who suffered minor burns on his neck and chest, is getting treated at a local hospital. A case has been registered. The two accused women have left their home in Sheikh Baili village for unknown locations. We are trying to arrest them, said a police official in Bettiah. By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Narendra Modi will be visiting his parliamentary constituency and holy city Varanasi on Thursday. It will be his fifth visit this year and ninth since he took over as Prime Minister in 2014. Apart from addressing BJP cadre and functionaries, the Prime Minister will also take part in the National Cultural Festival underway at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus. Modi is also expected to gift four major health centres and hospitals to the people of his constituency during his visit. According to district administration sources, all arrangements for the PMs visit have been made and a tight security cover has been put in place. Modi will first visit the BHU campus where will lay the foundation stone for the Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre and Shatabdi Super Speciality Hospital. From the BHU, the PM will visit Kabir Nagar to review underground cabling and installation of heritage street lighting system under the Integrated Power Development Scheme. He will also lay the foundation stone of the ESIC Super Hospital and BRS Health Research Institute at DLW Ground and dedicate the Trade Facilitation Centre and Craft Museum. He will wind up his visit with an address to booth-level workers of his constituency. LUCKNOW: Narendra Modi will be visiting his parliamentary constituency and holy city Varanasi on Thursday. It will be his fifth visit this year and ninth since he took over as Prime Minister in 2014. Apart from addressing BJP cadre and functionaries, the Prime Minister will also take part in the National Cultural Festival underway at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus. Modi is also expected to gift four major health centres and hospitals to the people of his constituency during his visit. According to district administration sources, all arrangements for the PMs visit have been made and a tight security cover has been put in place. Modi will first visit the BHU campus where will lay the foundation stone for the Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre and Shatabdi Super Speciality Hospital. From the BHU, the PM will visit Kabir Nagar to review underground cabling and installation of heritage street lighting system under the Integrated Power Development Scheme. He will also lay the foundation stone of the ESIC Super Hospital and BRS Health Research Institute at DLW Ground and dedicate the Trade Facilitation Centre and Craft Museum. He will wind up his visit with an address to booth-level workers of his constituency. YATISH YADAV By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is under the scanner of multiple investigating agencies, is feared to have fled the country. Government sources suspect Bhandari might have reached London via Nepal, evading a look -out notice issued against him. Bhandari was earlier stopped from boarding a London-bound British Airways flight in June. He was charged under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) by Delhi Police in October after the Income Tax sleuths recovered confidential defence documents during the search operation on his prmises in April. Despite several attempts, Delhi Police Special C P (Crime) Taj Hassan was not available for comments. The repeated attempts to get in touch with Home Ministry officials too did not elicit any response. The latest escape by the arms dealer might invite more embarrassment to the Centre with opposition already criticising it for failing to extradite Vijay Mallya and others. London, sources said, is becoming a safe and luxurious refuge for Indians fleeing the law enforcement agencies. Earlier in March liquor baron Vijay Mallya had fled to London and soon acquired a UK residence permit. Bhandari would join at least 57 other tainted individuals, who law enforcement agencies suspect, are living with ease in UK. The I-T investigation wing during the raids on April 27 at his residence had found emails, linking Bhandari with Congress president Sonia Gandhis son-in-law Robert Vadra, which was later denied by Vadras lawyers. Sources said although Bhandari had appeared before the Income Tax, he was evasive on alleged financial links tied to UK, UAE and Dubai. The investigators are awaiting response to collect details about the companies Bhandari used to channelise alleged slush funds to buy properties abroad. After registration of case under OSA, fresh summons were issued against Bhandari for questioning few weeks ago. Documents recovered from Bhandaris premises reveals that he made investment in two properties in Dubai and London using companies registered in tax haven countries. The agencies are likely to question individuals linked with Bhandari. As earlier reported by Express, Bhandari was in touch with some top guns of the country including a top officer of the finance ministry, who retired from the service last year. The ongoing probe is also examining Bhandaris links with Thales group, a French multinational company and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) that makes commercial and military aircraft, space systems and other defence products. Bhandari, investigators suspect, is involved in Indian Air Forces basic trainer aircraft purchase for which a deal worth around Rs 4,000 crore was signed during previous UPA regime in 2012. The investigators are probing tax evasion cases into Bhandaris companies Offset India Solutions Private Limited and Avaana Software and Services Private Limited. A source said they are also examining Micromet Ati India Private Limited formed in 2010, which is also under the scanner for alleged tax evasion. NEW DELHI: Arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is under the scanner of multiple investigating agencies, is feared to have fled the country. Government sources suspect Bhandari might have reached London via Nepal, evading a look -out notice issued against him. Bhandari was earlier stopped from boarding a London-bound British Airways flight in June. He was charged under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) by Delhi Police in October after the Income Tax sleuths recovered confidential defence documents during the search operation on his prmises in April. Despite several attempts, Delhi Police Special C P (Crime) Taj Hassan was not available for comments. The repeated attempts to get in touch with Home Ministry officials too did not elicit any response. The latest escape by the arms dealer might invite more embarrassment to the Centre with opposition already criticising it for failing to extradite Vijay Mallya and others. London, sources said, is becoming a safe and luxurious refuge for Indians fleeing the law enforcement agencies. Earlier in March liquor baron Vijay Mallya had fled to London and soon acquired a UK residence permit. Bhandari would join at least 57 other tainted individuals, who law enforcement agencies suspect, are living with ease in UK. The I-T investigation wing during the raids on April 27 at his residence had found emails, linking Bhandari with Congress president Sonia Gandhis son-in-law Robert Vadra, which was later denied by Vadras lawyers. Sources said although Bhandari had appeared before the Income Tax, he was evasive on alleged financial links tied to UK, UAE and Dubai. The investigators are awaiting response to collect details about the companies Bhandari used to channelise alleged slush funds to buy properties abroad. After registration of case under OSA, fresh summons were issued against Bhandari for questioning few weeks ago. Documents recovered from Bhandaris premises reveals that he made investment in two properties in Dubai and London using companies registered in tax haven countries. The agencies are likely to question individuals linked with Bhandari. As earlier reported by Express, Bhandari was in touch with some top guns of the country including a top officer of the finance ministry, who retired from the service last year. The ongoing probe is also examining Bhandaris links with Thales group, a French multinational company and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) that makes commercial and military aircraft, space systems and other defence products. Bhandari, investigators suspect, is involved in Indian Air Forces basic trainer aircraft purchase for which a deal worth around Rs 4,000 crore was signed during previous UPA regime in 2012. The investigators are probing tax evasion cases into Bhandaris companies Offset India Solutions Private Limited and Avaana Software and Services Private Limited. A source said they are also examining Micromet Ati India Private Limited formed in 2010, which is also under the scanner for alleged tax evasion. By Online Desk Born on January 18, 1951 in Delhi, Najeeb Jung did his schooling from St. Columbas School, Delhi. While he pursued his graduation from St. Stephens College under DU, he completed his masters in History from the University of Delhi and another M.A. in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics, U.K. Najeeb Jung joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1973 from the M.P. Cadre. He has served in Madhya Pradesh as the Collector and District Magistrate of 3 districts, M.D. of the M.P. Oil Seeds Development Federation and the M.P. Finance Corporation. He also served as the Private Secretary to Madhavrao Scindia, Minister for Railways and had been Director, Department of Steel, Government of India and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. Najeeb worked as Senior Energy Advisor and Principal Energy Specialist from 1995 to 1999 at the Asian Development Bank. He has been a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford University, teaching and guiding Ph.D students (1999 to 2002). He returned to Asian Development Bank (2002-05) as In-charge of Restructuring the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources in Afghanistan. He rehabilitated and redeveloped the entire gas production system as well as natural gas distribution system and introduced modern marketing for the sale of oil products. He returned to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in 2005. He has advised international oil and gas companies on future development and published two books on the development of the natural gas industry. In 2008, he returned to India and was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in 2009. A prolific writer and a regular columnist in national and international newspapers, Najeeb Jung recently published Fikr-o-Aagahi in Urdu. His published works include books on energy issues dealing with India and South Asia (to be published by Oxford University press), politics of the Afghan-Pakistan region and a collection of his essays in English. Jung's family features a long line of forefathers who have held positions of great power in their times. His grandparents served as the chief justice and chief engineer in the court of the last Nizam of Hyderabad. A great-grandfather was one of the co-founders of the Aligarh Muslim University. Born on January 18, 1951 in Delhi, Najeeb Jung did his schooling from St. Columbas School, Delhi. While he pursued his graduation from St. Stephens College under DU, he completed his masters in History from the University of Delhi and another M.A. in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics, U.K. Najeeb Jung joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1973 from the M.P. Cadre. He has served in Madhya Pradesh as the Collector and District Magistrate of 3 districts, M.D. of the M.P. Oil Seeds Development Federation and the M.P. Finance Corporation. He also served as the Private Secretary to Madhavrao Scindia, Minister for Railways and had been Director, Department of Steel, Government of India and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. Najeeb worked as Senior Energy Advisor and Principal Energy Specialist from 1995 to 1999 at the Asian Development Bank. He has been a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford University, teaching and guiding Ph.D students (1999 to 2002). He returned to Asian Development Bank (2002-05) as In-charge of Restructuring the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources in Afghanistan. He rehabilitated and redeveloped the entire gas production system as well as natural gas distribution system and introduced modern marketing for the sale of oil products. He returned to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in 2005. He has advised international oil and gas companies on future development and published two books on the development of the natural gas industry. In 2008, he returned to India and was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in 2009. A prolific writer and a regular columnist in national and international newspapers, Najeeb Jung recently published Fikr-o-Aagahi in Urdu. His published works include books on energy issues dealing with India and South Asia (to be published by Oxford University press), politics of the Afghan-Pakistan region and a collection of his essays in English. Jung's family features a long line of forefathers who have held positions of great power in their times. His grandparents served as the chief justice and chief engineer in the court of the last Nizam of Hyderabad. A great-grandfather was one of the co-founders of the Aligarh Muslim University. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: With UP fast heading for the mother of all battles, the state is turning into a battleground for stalwarts. So, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president were in UP on the same day for the second time on the trot on Thursday, exchanging barbs and countering each other. Speaking in this constituency, Varanasi a day after Rahul accused him of taking bribe from Sahara, Prime Minister Modi took a jibe at him, saying he was very happy that the young leader was evolving and at least learning to speak up. "He had promised an earthquake. Its good that he has started speaking now the fear and possibility of any jolt is no more there, the PM said at a function on BHU campus to lay the foundation stone of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre worth Rs 600 crore. Retorting to Modis taunt, the Congress leader, while addressing Jan Aaakrosh rally in Bahraich a few hours later invoked Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib saying: Har ek baat pe kahte ho tum ki tu kya hai, Tumhi kaho ki yeh andaaz-e-guftgu kya hai (You always question my identity. Is this the way to talk?). Seeking Prime Ministers response to his charges, Rahul said that Modi was free to mock at him but he would have to answer his queries over the amount he received from different quarters while he was Gujarat Chief minister. While taking the debate over demonetisation and the subsequent haul of huge amounts of old currency by investigating agencies to the next level, the Prime Minister called it a huge cleanliness drive which was going on in the country and expressed his anguish over the manner opposition parties had reacted to the situation by allegedly siding with corrupt and dishonest. I had never imagined that political leader can have the audacity to stand by the corrupt and support them in open, he said while expressing his confidence in the 125 crore countrymen who, he said, were selfless and bore with him in the fight against black money and corruption despite all the pain and distress. However, the Congress leader refused to accept note ban as a crusade against the black money and corrupt rather he called it a decision taken against the poor, deprived and middle class of the society. He again highlighted the point that Modi banned the old currency to help those few 50 families who were in the possession of all the wealth. They had taken huge loans of over Rs eight lakh crore from banks. It was becoming difficult to repay it, so the Prime Minister helped them by demonetising the currency, he averred. In a similar vein, the Modi took a potshot at former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for discarding note ban decision outrightly and questioning the feasibility of switching over to e-transactions. raining his guns on Singh, Modi said that if the former Prime Minister was talking about the country where 50 per cent of the population was poor and that it wont be easy to integrate technology easily across the board, was it a reflection of his governments performance or mine? asked the Prime Minister adding that it was the legacy of last 70 years that he had inherited. When they say large parts of the country did not get access to education, whose report card are they giving, asked Modi urging the youth to move towards online banking as soon as possible. The Congress vice-president on the other accused the Modi government of firebombing the poor, farmers and common man through currency scrapping in the name of doing surgical strike on black money. We also want to rid the country of corruption. Any step taken by NDA government in that direction would be supported by us. But the Prime Minister should also clear the air over the promises he had made to people over creation of jobs, crediting Rs 15 lakh to everyones account, awarding proper support price to farmers and vegetable growers for their produce, he stated. Earlier, the Prime Minister gifted development schemes worth Rs 2100 to the people of Varanasi during his fifth visit to the holy city and his parliamentary constituency this year. He also inaugurated a Trade Facilitation Centre & Crafts Museum. LUCKNOW: With UP fast heading for the mother of all battles, the state is turning into a battleground for stalwarts. So, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president were in UP on the same day for the second time on the trot on Thursday, exchanging barbs and countering each other. Speaking in this constituency, Varanasi a day after Rahul accused him of taking bribe from Sahara, Prime Minister Modi took a jibe at him, saying he was very happy that the young leader was evolving and at least learning to speak up. "He had promised an earthquake. Its good that he has started speaking now the fear and possibility of any jolt is no more there, the PM said at a function on BHU campus to lay the foundation stone of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre worth Rs 600 crore. Retorting to Modis taunt, the Congress leader, while addressing Jan Aaakrosh rally in Bahraich a few hours later invoked Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib saying: Har ek baat pe kahte ho tum ki tu kya hai, Tumhi kaho ki yeh andaaz-e-guftgu kya hai (You always question my identity. Is this the way to talk?). Seeking Prime Ministers response to his charges, Rahul said that Modi was free to mock at him but he would have to answer his queries over the amount he received from different quarters while he was Gujarat Chief minister. While taking the debate over demonetisation and the subsequent haul of huge amounts of old currency by investigating agencies to the next level, the Prime Minister called it a huge cleanliness drive which was going on in the country and expressed his anguish over the manner opposition parties had reacted to the situation by allegedly siding with corrupt and dishonest. I had never imagined that political leader can have the audacity to stand by the corrupt and support them in open, he said while expressing his confidence in the 125 crore countrymen who, he said, were selfless and bore with him in the fight against black money and corruption despite all the pain and distress. However, the Congress leader refused to accept note ban as a crusade against the black money and corrupt rather he called it a decision taken against the poor, deprived and middle class of the society. He again highlighted the point that Modi banned the old currency to help those few 50 families who were in the possession of all the wealth. They had taken huge loans of over Rs eight lakh crore from banks. It was becoming difficult to repay it, so the Prime Minister helped them by demonetising the currency, he averred. In a similar vein, the Modi took a potshot at former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for discarding note ban decision outrightly and questioning the feasibility of switching over to e-transactions. raining his guns on Singh, Modi said that if the former Prime Minister was talking about the country where 50 per cent of the population was poor and that it wont be easy to integrate technology easily across the board, was it a reflection of his governments performance or mine? asked the Prime Minister adding that it was the legacy of last 70 years that he had inherited. When they say large parts of the country did not get access to education, whose report card are they giving, asked Modi urging the youth to move towards online banking as soon as possible. The Congress vice-president on the other accused the Modi government of firebombing the poor, farmers and common man through currency scrapping in the name of doing surgical strike on black money. We also want to rid the country of corruption. Any step taken by NDA government in that direction would be supported by us. But the Prime Minister should also clear the air over the promises he had made to people over creation of jobs, crediting Rs 15 lakh to everyones account, awarding proper support price to farmers and vegetable growers for their produce, he stated. Earlier, the Prime Minister gifted development schemes worth Rs 2100 to the people of Varanasi during his fifth visit to the holy city and his parliamentary constituency this year. He also inaugurated a Trade Facilitation Centre & Crafts Museum. By ANI CHATTARPUR: The Madhya Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested two persons for printing fake Rs 2,000 new notes in Chhatarpurs Lavkushnagar. The accused were printing the notes with the help of a colour printer. The fake currency amounting to Rs two lakh has been seized from their possession. This comes in the wake of demonetisation of high-value currency notes on November 8. Since then, there have been many raids and seizure of cash and gold from across the nation. CHATTARPUR: The Madhya Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested two persons for printing fake Rs 2,000 new notes in Chhatarpurs Lavkushnagar. The accused were printing the notes with the help of a colour printer. The fake currency amounting to Rs two lakh has been seized from their possession. This comes in the wake of demonetisation of high-value currency notes on November 8. Since then, there have been many raids and seizure of cash and gold from across the nation. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service IMPHAL : Where the government has failed, people have stepped in to speak up for peace and reconciliation.In what is being seen as a long-standing need for Manipur, the first major attempt at ethnic reconciliation was made on Wednesday in the strife-torn State. Civil society groups and thinking heads from three major communities Meiteis (Manipuris), Nagas and Kukis got together to find a way out of the ethnic violence that has erupted. Amid renewed suspicion and mistrust at each other, the Nagas and the Meiteis, who are in the centre of the conflict, came together for the first time since the outbreak of the violence by sharing the dais at the all communities get together meeting for peaceful co-existence in Imphal. They appealed to the protestors to lift the blockade and counter-blockade and urged the State government to talk to all stakeholders to resolve the deadlock. The market (in Imphal) is a mirror of our society. Let us speak only good things and get involved for improving the situation, said activist Irom Sharmila, who belongs to the Meitei community. This was her maiden appearance at a public meeting since she had ended her epic hunger strike in August. Nimthouja Lancha, another Meitei leader, observed that the root cause of the all-pervasive suspicion was peoples ignorance about one anothers history and culture. Each community must try and understand the other. We feel that the history and cultures of each community should be included in our academic curricula. Ignorance often makes a community treat others as strangers, he said. Romeo Bungdon, a Naga and leader of the All Manipur Tribal Unity, said people should bury the hatchet and move on. We can achieve peace only through negotiations by involving all stakeholders. The government has to take the initiative to bring them under one platform, he said. Prof Rose Mangshi, a social activist, said the situation has worsened due to communication gap among the communities. We appeal to both sides to withdraw the blockades. We all should sit together and try and find a solution. When we do so, we will achieve it, said Mangshi, who belongs to the Kuki community. On the political front, a BJP MLA resigned alleging that the Centre was playing politics over the situation in Manipur. The lawmaker, Joy Kishan, later joined the Congress. The Kukis are caught in the conflict between the Nagas and the Meiteis. The United Naga Council, which enforced an indefinite blockade on two National Highways since November 1, alleged that by upgrading Nagas ancestral homeland Sadar Hills to a full-fledged district, the Okram Ibobi Singh government was trying to keep the Kukis in good humour. IMPHAL : Where the government has failed, people have stepped in to speak up for peace and reconciliation.In what is being seen as a long-standing need for Manipur, the first major attempt at ethnic reconciliation was made on Wednesday in the strife-torn State. Civil society groups and thinking heads from three major communities Meiteis (Manipuris), Nagas and Kukis got together to find a way out of the ethnic violence that has erupted. Amid renewed suspicion and mistrust at each other, the Nagas and the Meiteis, who are in the centre of the conflict, came together for the first time since the outbreak of the violence by sharing the dais at the all communities get together meeting for peaceful co-existence in Imphal. They appealed to the protestors to lift the blockade and counter-blockade and urged the State government to talk to all stakeholders to resolve the deadlock. The market (in Imphal) is a mirror of our society. Let us speak only good things and get involved for improving the situation, said activist Irom Sharmila, who belongs to the Meitei community. This was her maiden appearance at a public meeting since she had ended her epic hunger strike in August. Nimthouja Lancha, another Meitei leader, observed that the root cause of the all-pervasive suspicion was peoples ignorance about one anothers history and culture. Each community must try and understand the other. We feel that the history and cultures of each community should be included in our academic curricula. Ignorance often makes a community treat others as strangers, he said. Romeo Bungdon, a Naga and leader of the All Manipur Tribal Unity, said people should bury the hatchet and move on. We can achieve peace only through negotiations by involving all stakeholders. The government has to take the initiative to bring them under one platform, he said. Prof Rose Mangshi, a social activist, said the situation has worsened due to communication gap among the communities. We appeal to both sides to withdraw the blockades. We all should sit together and try and find a solution. When we do so, we will achieve it, said Mangshi, who belongs to the Kuki community. On the political front, a BJP MLA resigned alleging that the Centre was playing politics over the situation in Manipur. The lawmaker, Joy Kishan, later joined the Congress. The Kukis are caught in the conflict between the Nagas and the Meiteis. The United Naga Council, which enforced an indefinite blockade on two National Highways since November 1, alleged that by upgrading Nagas ancestral homeland Sadar Hills to a full-fledged district, the Okram Ibobi Singh government was trying to keep the Kukis in good humour. By ANI MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday backed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis allegation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken bribe from Sahara in 2013 and said that the latter should now give agni Pariksha to prove his innocence. If the allegation is made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is the duty of the government to set up an inquiry and get clean out of it. If they have done nothing wrong and are doing politics in the name of Ram then they should give agni pariksha like Sita maiya, NCP leader Nawab Malik told ANI. Echoing similar sentiments, another NCP leader Tariq Anwar said that Prime Minister Modi, who pretends to be honest, now stands exposed. The Prime Minister pretends to be honest and Harischandra, but the truth is now coming to light. PM Modi is wearing the blanket of honesty, but it wont last long and people would get see to his real face very soon, Anwar told ANI. Speaking in Gujarats Mehsana yesterday, Gandhi alleged that in the records with the Income Tax, there were notings of Sahara officials claims that they paid Prime Minister Modi nine times between October 2013 and February 2014 and that the total amount was Rs. 40 crore. He also alleged that according to documents with the IT department, the Birla Group too paid Rs. 12 crore to the Prime Minister. Seeking an independent inquiry, Gandhi said that he was raising the issue on behalf of the country. MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday backed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis allegation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken bribe from Sahara in 2013 and said that the latter should now give agni Pariksha to prove his innocence. If the allegation is made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is the duty of the government to set up an inquiry and get clean out of it. If they have done nothing wrong and are doing politics in the name of Ram then they should give agni pariksha like Sita maiya, NCP leader Nawab Malik told ANI. Echoing similar sentiments, another NCP leader Tariq Anwar said that Prime Minister Modi, who pretends to be honest, now stands exposed. The Prime Minister pretends to be honest and Harischandra, but the truth is now coming to light. PM Modi is wearing the blanket of honesty, but it wont last long and people would get see to his real face very soon, Anwar told ANI. Speaking in Gujarats Mehsana yesterday, Gandhi alleged that in the records with the Income Tax, there were notings of Sahara officials claims that they paid Prime Minister Modi nine times between October 2013 and February 2014 and that the total amount was Rs. 40 crore. He also alleged that according to documents with the IT department, the Birla Group too paid Rs. 12 crore to the Prime Minister. Seeking an independent inquiry, Gandhi said that he was raising the issue on behalf of the country. By IANS TIRUPATI: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday prayed at the Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala here. Accompanied by his wife Maithree Wickremesinghe, he paid obeisance to the revered Lord at the hill shrine in the morning. The couple was accorded a warm reception on arrival by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Trust Board Chairman Ch. Krishnamurthy, Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao and other officials. The Sri Lankan President and his wife were later escorted into the sanctum sanctorum where they offered prayers and performed rituals conducted by the priests. The couple was blessed by the priests at Ranganayakula mandap. The priests presented the Sri Lankan premier the silk 'vastram' of the deity while the authorities gave him 'laddu prasadam' and a memento. Wickremesinghe described his visit as personal. "The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is getting stronger day by day and I prayed to the Lord for the welfare of the people," the statement quoted him him as saying. The Wickremesinghes arrived in the temple town on Wednesday evening and had a night halt at the Sri Krishna rest house. Sri Lanka's Minister for Prison Reforms and Hindu Religious Affairs D.M. Swaminathan and Minister for Infrastructure and Community Development Palany Thigambaram also accompanied the premier. TIRUPATI: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday prayed at the Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala here. Accompanied by his wife Maithree Wickremesinghe, he paid obeisance to the revered Lord at the hill shrine in the morning. The couple was accorded a warm reception on arrival by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Trust Board Chairman Ch. Krishnamurthy, Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao and other officials. The Sri Lankan President and his wife were later escorted into the sanctum sanctorum where they offered prayers and performed rituals conducted by the priests. The couple was blessed by the priests at Ranganayakula mandap. The priests presented the Sri Lankan premier the silk 'vastram' of the deity while the authorities gave him 'laddu prasadam' and a memento. Wickremesinghe described his visit as personal. "The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is getting stronger day by day and I prayed to the Lord for the welfare of the people," the statement quoted him him as saying. The Wickremesinghes arrived in the temple town on Wednesday evening and had a night halt at the Sri Krishna rest house. Sri Lanka's Minister for Prison Reforms and Hindu Religious Affairs D.M. Swaminathan and Minister for Infrastructure and Community Development Palany Thigambaram also accompanied the premier. By Express News Service HUBBALLI: Kamaripet police arrested three people for carrying Rs 30 lakh unaccounted money here on Wednesday night. DCP (law and order) Jinendra Khangavi said the trio were transporting the money in new Rs 2,000 notes on a bike. The DCP, however, declined to divulge further details as police are yet to register a case against them. All the three are residents of Hubballi, he said. Recently, Suburban police of Dharwad arrested two people who were allegedly transporting Rs 47 lakh. Kundgol police had also recovered Rs 2 lakh illegal money. HUBBALLI: Kamaripet police arrested three people for carrying Rs 30 lakh unaccounted money here on Wednesday night. DCP (law and order) Jinendra Khangavi said the trio were transporting the money in new Rs 2,000 notes on a bike. The DCP, however, declined to divulge further details as police are yet to register a case against them. All the three are residents of Hubballi, he said. Recently, Suburban police of Dharwad arrested two people who were allegedly transporting Rs 47 lakh. Kundgol police had also recovered Rs 2 lakh illegal money. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Keralas minister for co-operation Kadakampally Surendran came out against the CBI raids at the co-operative banks, on Thursday. Alleging narrow political motives behind the raids, Kadakampally termed all allegations completely baseless. The minister also said BJP leaders have been vying for his blood. "If they want, let them take revenge on me. But they should destroy a great initiative, which has been a solace to the rural economy," said the minister. The co-operation minister added that if there's any black money found, the government will take appropriate action. The Left government in the State has been accusing the BJP-led Centre for trying to destroy the co-operative sector in the State in the name of demonetisation. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Keralas minister for co-operation Kadakampally Surendran came out against the CBI raids at the co-operative banks, on Thursday. Alleging narrow political motives behind the raids, Kadakampally termed all allegations completely baseless. The minister also said BJP leaders have been vying for his blood. "If they want, let them take revenge on me. But they should destroy a great initiative, which has been a solace to the rural economy," said the minister. The co-operation minister added that if there's any black money found, the government will take appropriate action. The Left government in the State has been accusing the BJP-led Centre for trying to destroy the co-operative sector in the State in the name of demonetisation. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Keeping the states development agenda in mind, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has kicked off his first overseas visit after assuming office, on Wednesday. The UAE visit, where the CM is expected to expected to hold talks with a number of Kerala entrepreneurs in the Gulf region, is part of an attempt to give wings to his developmental initiatives. During his week-long visit, the Chief Minister will hold talks with overseas businessmen interested in investing in the state. Six months into office the Chief Minister is looking at long-term plans for future, especially infrastructure initiatives. Along with that assessment efforts are also being taken on finalising new proposals and schemes, sources with the CMO pointed out. As part of the Chief Ministers visit, CMs press advisor John Brittas is in Dubai to do the necessary ground work. In addition to a couple of public meetings, the Chief Minister is also expected to hold one-to-one discussions with investors. Since the state has been receiving major foreign remittance from the NRKs (Non Resident Keralites), the government feels that the foreign remittance can be effectively utilised. Soon after completing 100 days in office, the Left Government had announced four major projects - Ardram, Haritha Keralam and Education Mission- to provide basic education and a scheme to provide houses to the homeless - as part of its Nava Kerala Mission. Coming up with the major missions, the Chief Minister has been planning major infrastructure initiatives for the state. The CM has also indicated about major contributions to these missions. Aiming to boost the infrastructure sector, the CM has been sending positive signals to investors to come to the state. During his first overseas visit as Chief Minister, Pinarayi would be keen to convince entrepreneurs that the government wants developmental initiatives to come to the state. The CM is expected to return to the state on December 26. Pinarayi is also scheduled to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 celebrations to be held in Bangalore on January 8 and 9, 2017. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Keeping the states development agenda in mind, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has kicked off his first overseas visit after assuming office, on Wednesday. The UAE visit, where the CM is expected to expected to hold talks with a number of Kerala entrepreneurs in the Gulf region, is part of an attempt to give wings to his developmental initiatives. During his week-long visit, the Chief Minister will hold talks with overseas businessmen interested in investing in the state. Six months into office the Chief Minister is looking at long-term plans for future, especially infrastructure initiatives. Along with that assessment efforts are also being taken on finalising new proposals and schemes, sources with the CMO pointed out. As part of the Chief Ministers visit, CMs press advisor John Brittas is in Dubai to do the necessary ground work. In addition to a couple of public meetings, the Chief Minister is also expected to hold one-to-one discussions with investors. Since the state has been receiving major foreign remittance from the NRKs (Non Resident Keralites), the government feels that the foreign remittance can be effectively utilised. Soon after completing 100 days in office, the Left Government had announced four major projects - Ardram, Haritha Keralam and Education Mission- to provide basic education and a scheme to provide houses to the homeless - as part of its Nava Kerala Mission. Coming up with the major missions, the Chief Minister has been planning major infrastructure initiatives for the state. The CM has also indicated about major contributions to these missions. Aiming to boost the infrastructure sector, the CM has been sending positive signals to investors to come to the state. During his first overseas visit as Chief Minister, Pinarayi would be keen to convince entrepreneurs that the government wants developmental initiatives to come to the state. The CM is expected to return to the state on December 26. Pinarayi is also scheduled to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 celebrations to be held in Bangalore on January 8 and 9, 2017. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday arrested industrialist J Shekhar Reddy and his associate and private person K Srinivasulu in connection with an illegal exchange of demonetised currency notes in contravention of RBI guidelines. The move comes after the Income Tax Department searches conducted earlier this month at Reddys residential and official premises in Chennai yielded Rs 170 crore in cash and over 127 kg of gold bars. Cash seizures during the IT Department search included recovery of Rs 34 crore in the form of newly introduced Rs 2000 currency notes. The agency has booked Reddy, Srinivasalu, Prem Kumar and unknown public servants for criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. "Reddy and his associates had, with the help of unknown public servants of different banks, converted the unauthorised cash held by them in old currency notes, thereby depriving the public in enforcing their right," CBI alleged in its FIR. The CBI FIR further alleged the bank officials, who are entrusted with the distribution of new currency notes as per instructions of Reserve Bank of India, defied the instructions of the RBI and helped Reddy for a "consideration". "Reddy, Prem Kumar and K Srinivasulu, had in conspiracy with unknown bank officials and public servants converted unaccounted cash held by them in the form of old currency notes to new Rs 2,000 currency notes, cheating the government of India," the FIR alleged. Agency sources said Reddy and has associate will be subjected to custodial grilling to unravel the entire network relating to the illegal exchange of currency notes post-demonetisation. NEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday arrested industrialist J Shekhar Reddy and his associate and private person K Srinivasulu in connection with an illegal exchange of demonetised currency notes in contravention of RBI guidelines. The move comes after the Income Tax Department searches conducted earlier this month at Reddys residential and official premises in Chennai yielded Rs 170 crore in cash and over 127 kg of gold bars. Cash seizures during the IT Department search included recovery of Rs 34 crore in the form of newly introduced Rs 2000 currency notes. The agency has booked Reddy, Srinivasalu, Prem Kumar and unknown public servants for criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. "Reddy and his associates had, with the help of unknown public servants of different banks, converted the unauthorised cash held by them in old currency notes, thereby depriving the public in enforcing their right," CBI alleged in its FIR. The CBI FIR further alleged the bank officials, who are entrusted with the distribution of new currency notes as per instructions of Reserve Bank of India, defied the instructions of the RBI and helped Reddy for a "consideration". "Reddy, Prem Kumar and K Srinivasulu, had in conspiracy with unknown bank officials and public servants converted unaccounted cash held by them in the form of old currency notes to new Rs 2,000 currency notes, cheating the government of India," the FIR alleged. Agency sources said Reddy and has associate will be subjected to custodial grilling to unravel the entire network relating to the illegal exchange of currency notes post-demonetisation. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Rattling the corridors of power in Tamil Nadu, Income Tax officials paid a surprise visit to the Chief Secretary in the wee hours of Wednesday, conducting raids at multiple premises including his office at the State Secretariat. Officials told Express that cash and gold were seized, but maintained that they were yet to ascertain whether this was unaccounted. IT officials raid the residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao in Chennai on Wednesday | D sampathkumar The operation that began before day break continued till night at 14 places in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, at premises belonging to Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, his son, relatives and sons business contacts among other places. Official sources told Express that the move came after obtaining the nod from the Centre to proceed against the official. Sources added that officials from State Environment Impact Assessment Authority are also under the scanner in what is believed to be connected to the ongoing investigations against sand mining baron J Shekhar Reddy, who was arrested and remanded in custody by a CBI court in Chennai in the evening for allegedly possessing over `130 crore in cash and 177 kg gold bars. P Rama Mohana Rao Information about the raids spread only at around 9 am, four hours after the officials reached the Chief Secretarys Anna Nagar residence. Going all the way to ensure that information about the raid was not leaked before they set out and also because the move was against the top bureaucrat, the IT department decided not to seek the assistance of State police. Instead, it was the CRPF who accompanied officials. Sources revealed that similar operations were on several places in Chennai including Anna Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur and Manapakkam among other places, belonging to his son, kin and their business contacts. Meanwhile in Chittoor, IT officials raided the residence of DK Badrinarayana, said to be related to Rama Mohana Rao by marriage. CHENNAI: Rattling the corridors of power in Tamil Nadu, Income Tax officials paid a surprise visit to the Chief Secretary in the wee hours of Wednesday, conducting raids at multiple premises including his office at the State Secretariat. Officials told Express that cash and gold were seized, but maintained that they were yet to ascertain whether this was unaccounted. IT officials raid the residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao in Chennai on Wednesday | D sampathkumar The operation that began before day break continued till night at 14 places in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, at premises belonging to Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, his son, relatives and sons business contacts among other places. Official sources told Express that the move came after obtaining the nod from the Centre to proceed against the official. Sources added that officials from State Environment Impact Assessment Authority are also under the scanner in what is believed to be connected to the ongoing investigations against sand mining baron J Shekhar Reddy, who was arrested and remanded in custody by a CBI court in Chennai in the evening for allegedly possessing over `130 crore in cash and 177 kg gold bars. P Rama Mohana Rao Information about the raids spread only at around 9 am, four hours after the officials reached the Chief Secretarys Anna Nagar residence. Going all the way to ensure that information about the raid was not leaked before they set out and also because the move was against the top bureaucrat, the IT department decided not to seek the assistance of State police. Instead, it was the CRPF who accompanied officials. Sources revealed that similar operations were on several places in Chennai including Anna Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur and Manapakkam among other places, belonging to his son, kin and their business contacts. Meanwhile in Chittoor, IT officials raided the residence of DK Badrinarayana, said to be related to Rama Mohana Rao by marriage. By Express News Service CHENNAI: After the initial shock over the raids, the ruling AIADMK took strong objection to the move even as the BJP maintained there was nothing political about the operations. Meanwhile, opposition parties, including the DMK, CPI (M) and the PMK sought P Rama Mohana Raos removal from the Chief Secretarys post. Terming the raids an act of intimidation unleashed to test the courage of the State government, AIADMK spokesperson G Samarasam warned that the people were watching what happened in Delhi (against the AAP government) and later in West Bengal (against the TMC government). The government at the Centre sometimes indulges in such galatta in States where their party is not in power. In the past, governments headed by NT Rama Rao, MG Ramachandran and EMS Namboodiripad were dismissed for no valid reason. They all came back to power with new vigour, Samarasam said. Another spokesperson, Avadi Kumar, said the timing of the raids created suspicion whether the Centre was trying to create political unrest in the State. The Centre which has been intimidating people (in the name of demonetisation), has shifted its attention to the State governments. These raids give room to an apprehension that the party in power at the Centre is trying to intimidate politicians in Tamil Nadu, he alleged. Facing questions about the motive behind the raids, BJP leaders and Union Ministers Pon Radhakrishnan and Nirmala Seetharaman denied that the raids were driven by any political agenda. The I-T department proceeded with the raids after receiving information, she told mediapersons in Madurai, adding that the agency had powers to probe leads against anyone. Do not assume any (hidden) agenda behind the raid, she said, refusing to comment further. Meanwhile, opposition parties sought Raos removal from the post, pointing out the unprecedented situation where the top bureaucrat himself is facing a probe. CHENNAI: After the initial shock over the raids, the ruling AIADMK took strong objection to the move even as the BJP maintained there was nothing political about the operations. Meanwhile, opposition parties, including the DMK, CPI (M) and the PMK sought P Rama Mohana Raos removal from the Chief Secretarys post. Terming the raids an act of intimidation unleashed to test the courage of the State government, AIADMK spokesperson G Samarasam warned that the people were watching what happened in Delhi (against the AAP government) and later in West Bengal (against the TMC government). The government at the Centre sometimes indulges in such galatta in States where their party is not in power. In the past, governments headed by NT Rama Rao, MG Ramachandran and EMS Namboodiripad were dismissed for no valid reason. They all came back to power with new vigour, Samarasam said. Another spokesperson, Avadi Kumar, said the timing of the raids created suspicion whether the Centre was trying to create political unrest in the State. The Centre which has been intimidating people (in the name of demonetisation), has shifted its attention to the State governments. These raids give room to an apprehension that the party in power at the Centre is trying to intimidate politicians in Tamil Nadu, he alleged. Facing questions about the motive behind the raids, BJP leaders and Union Ministers Pon Radhakrishnan and Nirmala Seetharaman denied that the raids were driven by any political agenda. The I-T department proceeded with the raids after receiving information, she told mediapersons in Madurai, adding that the agency had powers to probe leads against anyone. Do not assume any (hidden) agenda behind the raid, she said, refusing to comment further. Meanwhile, opposition parties sought Raos removal from the post, pointing out the unprecedented situation where the top bureaucrat himself is facing a probe. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: State Assembly passed eight key bills on Wednesday including a bill to amend the Telangana District (Formation) Act, 2016, to give legitimacy to the newly formed 21 districts in the state. Barring the Telangana District (Formation) Act, 2016, the remaining bills were passed without any problems. During the debate on the Telangana District (Formation) Act, 2016, Opposition parties came down heavily on the treasury benches for irrationally deciding the boundaries of new districts. They alleged that the government followed no scientific methodology to reorganise districts. Hence, the parties demanded that a committee be formed to fix flaws in the creation of districts. While taking part in the debate, BJP MLA K Laxman asked the government should to form a commission headed by a retired SC or HC judge for fixing the flaws. TDP MLA Revanth Reddy too had the same opinion. The BJP leader demanded that two additional districts Narayanapet and Mulugu be created as per the aspirations of the local people. HYDERABAD: State Assembly passed eight key bills on Wednesday including a bill to amend the Telangana District (Formation) Act, 2016, to give legitimacy to the newly formed 21 districts in the state. Barring the Telangana District (Formation) Act, 2016, the remaining bills were passed without any problems. During the debate on the Telangana District (Formation) Act, 2016, Opposition parties came down heavily on the treasury benches for irrationally deciding the boundaries of new districts. They alleged that the government followed no scientific methodology to reorganise districts. Hence, the parties demanded that a committee be formed to fix flaws in the creation of districts. While taking part in the debate, BJP MLA K Laxman asked the government should to form a commission headed by a retired SC or HC judge for fixing the flaws. TDP MLA Revanth Reddy too had the same opinion. The BJP leader demanded that two additional districts Narayanapet and Mulugu be created as per the aspirations of the local people. By IANS KATHMANDU: Nepal Police on Thursday arrested an Indian national in possession of banned currency notes worth Rs 363,500 from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Thupten Gelek (44) had 210 notes of Rs 1,000 denomination and 307 notes of Rs 500 denomination. Police detained Gelek while he was about to leave for New Delhi from Kathmandu on an Indigo Airlines flight (6E032). The notes were detected hidden inside a suitcase during security check. Gelek was taken into custody for further investigation about how he had collected the money and for what purposes he was taking it to India. Nepalis are holding billions-worth of banned Indian currency notes in and outside the banking channels. The Reserve Bank of India has not given a nod to Nepal's central bank to exchange these banned notes. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 had announced the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. KATHMANDU: Nepal Police on Thursday arrested an Indian national in possession of banned currency notes worth Rs 363,500 from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Thupten Gelek (44) had 210 notes of Rs 1,000 denomination and 307 notes of Rs 500 denomination. Police detained Gelek while he was about to leave for New Delhi from Kathmandu on an Indigo Airlines flight (6E032). The notes were detected hidden inside a suitcase during security check. Gelek was taken into custody for further investigation about how he had collected the money and for what purposes he was taking it to India. Nepalis are holding billions-worth of banned Indian currency notes in and outside the banking channels. The Reserve Bank of India has not given a nod to Nepal's central bank to exchange these banned notes. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 had announced the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. By AFP BAGHDAD: Mortar fire killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in the battleground Iraqi city of Mosul, the United Nations said on Thursday. Iraqi forces launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul, the country's last city held by the Islamic State jihadist group, and have retaken part of its eastern side, but these areas are still exposed to deadly artillery attacks, bombs and gunfire. "According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queueing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire," Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in a statement. "Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents" that also wounded up to 40 people, Grande said. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," she said, adding: "The killing of civilians and aid workers violates every humanitarian principle." Mahmud al-Sorchi, a spokesman for volunteer fighters from Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, said mortar fire had killed aid workers from a local organisation called Faz3a. A post on a Facebook page identified as belonging to an aid organisation called Faz3a said that mortar fire and a roadside bomb in Mosul had killed six of its members. The UN announcement came a day after Human Rights Watch said that IS was "indiscriminately" attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the jihadists in Mosul. "Residents said (IS) members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were 'unbelievers' and therefore valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces," the rights group said. The jihadists have targeted civilians with mortars, explosives and gunfire, HRW said. Amnesty International highlighted the impact of the Mosul conflict on children, saying they were exposed to injury or death, in addition to witnessing horrific violence. "Children caught in the crossfire of the brutal battle for Mosul have seen things that no one, of any age, should ever see," Amnesty's Donatella Rovera said. More than 100,000 people have been displaced since the battle for Mosul began more than two months ago, but the Iraqi government has encouraged civilians to stay in their homes if possible. This keeps the number of people from fleeing from reaching the catastrophic proportions estimated by some aid organisations before the Mosul operation began, but also exposes civilians to significantly more danger than they would face if they moved to camps. Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service punched into Mosul from the east, but progress has since slowed and the battle is far from over. Forces that made a long advance toward Mosul on the southern front have yet to enter the city, as have those on the northern side. The immediate area around western Mosul remains open on the ground, though forces from pro-government paramilitary groups have advanced close to the town of Tal Afar, between Mosul and the Syrian border. BAGHDAD: Mortar fire killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in the battleground Iraqi city of Mosul, the United Nations said on Thursday. Iraqi forces launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul, the country's last city held by the Islamic State jihadist group, and have retaken part of its eastern side, but these areas are still exposed to deadly artillery attacks, bombs and gunfire. "According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queueing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire," Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in a statement. "Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents" that also wounded up to 40 people, Grande said. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," she said, adding: "The killing of civilians and aid workers violates every humanitarian principle." Mahmud al-Sorchi, a spokesman for volunteer fighters from Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, said mortar fire had killed aid workers from a local organisation called Faz3a. A post on a Facebook page identified as belonging to an aid organisation called Faz3a said that mortar fire and a roadside bomb in Mosul had killed six of its members. The UN announcement came a day after Human Rights Watch said that IS was "indiscriminately" attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the jihadists in Mosul. "Residents said (IS) members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were 'unbelievers' and therefore valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces," the rights group said. The jihadists have targeted civilians with mortars, explosives and gunfire, HRW said. Amnesty International highlighted the impact of the Mosul conflict on children, saying they were exposed to injury or death, in addition to witnessing horrific violence. "Children caught in the crossfire of the brutal battle for Mosul have seen things that no one, of any age, should ever see," Amnesty's Donatella Rovera said. More than 100,000 people have been displaced since the battle for Mosul began more than two months ago, but the Iraqi government has encouraged civilians to stay in their homes if possible. This keeps the number of people from fleeing from reaching the catastrophic proportions estimated by some aid organisations before the Mosul operation began, but also exposes civilians to significantly more danger than they would face if they moved to camps. Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service punched into Mosul from the east, but progress has since slowed and the battle is far from over. Forces that made a long advance toward Mosul on the southern front have yet to enter the city, as have those on the northern side. The immediate area around western Mosul remains open on the ground, though forces from pro-government paramilitary groups have advanced close to the town of Tal Afar, between Mosul and the Syrian border. By AFP KATHMANDU: Nepal's former king has warned that national unity is under attack, making a rare public statement after protests sparked by proposed changes to new federal borders. Gyanendra Shah, the last king of Nepal, was deposed eight years ago following a Maoist revolution and has since largely refrained from public comment on the country's fractious politics. He broke his silence with a statement late on Wednesday in which he warned of growing divisions between the communities that inhabit the southern plains and the central hill areas of the Himalayan country over suggested changes to internal borders. "Social harmony among Nepali people is waning and efforts are being made to break the bonds of unity between the plains, the hills and the mountains," Shah said in a statement. Shah accused "temporary powers" who he said were "gaining strength under the influence of outside forces" of creating these divisions. He did not say who he was referring to, but neighbouring India has made clear its displeasure over the federal borders laid out in Nepal's new constitution, which many believe will disadvantage communities living in the plains with close cultural ties to India. Gyanendra stepped down from the throne in June 2008 after parliament voted to abolish Nepal's 240-year-old Hindu monarchy, transforming the country into a secular republic. Commentators said the former king, whose reign was not popular, was likely using the current period of political instability in Nepal to reassert his authority. "As the country faces political instability and protests on federal issues, the former king has taken a chance to show that he is active," said Lok Raj Baral, chairman of the Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies. "It is (due to) the weakness of the political leadership that the regressive forces want to raise their heads right now." Nepal's lawmakers began work on a new national constitution after the abolition of the monarchy and it was finally passed in September 2015 on a wave of national solidarity following a deadly earthquake. But the new federal borders proved highly controversial and led to violent protests in the south in which more than 50 people were killed. The proposed amendments are intended to address that, but some opposition parties are opposing them, arguing that they will create a divide between communities living in the hills and the plains. The government has not yet tabled the amendments in parliament and it is doubtful that they have enough support to garner a two-thirds majority needed to pass the proposed legislation into law. KATHMANDU: Nepal's former king has warned that national unity is under attack, making a rare public statement after protests sparked by proposed changes to new federal borders. Gyanendra Shah, the last king of Nepal, was deposed eight years ago following a Maoist revolution and has since largely refrained from public comment on the country's fractious politics. He broke his silence with a statement late on Wednesday in which he warned of growing divisions between the communities that inhabit the southern plains and the central hill areas of the Himalayan country over suggested changes to internal borders. "Social harmony among Nepali people is waning and efforts are being made to break the bonds of unity between the plains, the hills and the mountains," Shah said in a statement. Shah accused "temporary powers" who he said were "gaining strength under the influence of outside forces" of creating these divisions. He did not say who he was referring to, but neighbouring India has made clear its displeasure over the federal borders laid out in Nepal's new constitution, which many believe will disadvantage communities living in the plains with close cultural ties to India. Gyanendra stepped down from the throne in June 2008 after parliament voted to abolish Nepal's 240-year-old Hindu monarchy, transforming the country into a secular republic. Commentators said the former king, whose reign was not popular, was likely using the current period of political instability in Nepal to reassert his authority. "As the country faces political instability and protests on federal issues, the former king has taken a chance to show that he is active," said Lok Raj Baral, chairman of the Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies. "It is (due to) the weakness of the political leadership that the regressive forces want to raise their heads right now." Nepal's lawmakers began work on a new national constitution after the abolition of the monarchy and it was finally passed in September 2015 on a wave of national solidarity following a deadly earthquake. But the new federal borders proved highly controversial and led to violent protests in the south in which more than 50 people were killed. The proposed amendments are intended to address that, but some opposition parties are opposing them, arguing that they will create a divide between communities living in the hills and the plains. The government has not yet tabled the amendments in parliament and it is doubtful that they have enough support to garner a two-thirds majority needed to pass the proposed legislation into law. By AFP MOSCOW: Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for reinforcing the country's military nuclear potential and making sure its missiles can penetrate any missile-defence systems. "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems," Putin said at a defence ministry meeting, quoted by Russian agencies. "We must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralising threats to our country." He said Russia's military had successfully shown its capabilities in Syria. "The Syrian army received considerable support, thanks to which it carried out several successful operations against militants." Russia has flown an air campaign in Syria since September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad, with its special operations contingents also operating on the ground in the country. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military has "tested 162 types of modern armaments during military campaign in Syria," including its Sukhoi warplanes and MiG and Kamov helicopters. "They have shown to be highly effective," he said. MOSCOW: Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for reinforcing the country's military nuclear potential and making sure its missiles can penetrate any missile-defence systems. "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems," Putin said at a defence ministry meeting, quoted by Russian agencies. "We must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralising threats to our country." He said Russia's military had successfully shown its capabilities in Syria. "The Syrian army received considerable support, thanks to which it carried out several successful operations against militants." Russia has flown an air campaign in Syria since September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad, with its special operations contingents also operating on the ground in the country. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military has "tested 162 types of modern armaments during military campaign in Syria," including its Sukhoi warplanes and MiG and Kamov helicopters. "They have shown to be highly effective," he said. By AFP WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday condemned the Christmas market attack in Berlin as an "attack on humanity." Trump emerged from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to speak briefly with reporters, who asked him to elaborate on a statement made just after the attack in which he described it as an Islamist attack on Christianity. "It's an attack on humanity. That's what it is," he replied. "An attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped." Trump was also asked if in the wake of the German attack and the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey if he had spoken with President Barack Obama. He replied that they had spoken two days ago. "Terrible. Terrible. What's going on is terrible, terrible," Trump said. "In fact we have intelligence here right now but whats going on is terrible. Terrible. Terrible." WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday condemned the Christmas market attack in Berlin as an "attack on humanity." Trump emerged from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to speak briefly with reporters, who asked him to elaborate on a statement made just after the attack in which he described it as an Islamist attack on Christianity. "It's an attack on humanity. That's what it is," he replied. "An attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped." Trump was also asked if in the wake of the German attack and the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey if he had spoken with President Barack Obama. He replied that they had spoken two days ago. "Terrible. Terrible. What's going on is terrible, terrible," Trump said. "In fact we have intelligence here right now but whats going on is terrible. Terrible. Terrible." By AFP United States: The UN Security Council on Thursday postponed a vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its settlement activities in Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem, diplomats said. Egypt requested the delay to allow time for consultations on the measure, but no new time or date was scheduled, according to diplomats. Egypt circulated the draft late Wednesday and a vote was initially scheduled for 3 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday. The move prompted immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. President-elect Donald Trump weighed in early on Thursday, saying in a statement that the resolution should be vetoed. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," the Republican said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," Trump added. The UN Security Council on Thursday postponed a vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem, diplomats said. Egypt requested the delay to allow time for consultations on the measure, but no new time or date was scheduled, according to diplomats. Egypt circulated the draft late Wednesday and a vote was initially scheduled for 3 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday. The move prompted immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. President-elect Donald Trump weighed in early Thursday, saying in a statement that the resolution should be vetoed. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," the Republican said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," Trump added. Israeli settlements are seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Some in the Israeli government view Trump's victory as an opportunity to expand settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian land occupied by Israel for nearly 50 years. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Some in the Israeli government view Trump's victory as an opportunity to expand settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian land occupied by Israel for nearly 50 years. United States: The UN Security Council on Thursday postponed a vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its settlement activities in Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem, diplomats said. Egypt requested the delay to allow time for consultations on the measure, but no new time or date was scheduled, according to diplomats. Egypt circulated the draft late Wednesday and a vote was initially scheduled for 3 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday. The move prompted immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. President-elect Donald Trump weighed in early on Thursday, saying in a statement that the resolution should be vetoed. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," the Republican said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," Trump added. The UN Security Council on Thursday postponed a vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem, diplomats said. Egypt requested the delay to allow time for consultations on the measure, but no new time or date was scheduled, according to diplomats. Egypt circulated the draft late Wednesday and a vote was initially scheduled for 3 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday. The move prompted immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time. President-elect Donald Trump weighed in early Thursday, saying in a statement that the resolution should be vetoed. "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," the Republican said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations," he said. "This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis," Trump added. Israeli settlements are seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Some in the Israeli government view Trump's victory as an opportunity to expand settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian land occupied by Israel for nearly 50 years. The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. Some in the Israeli government view Trump's victory as an opportunity to expand settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian land occupied by Israel for nearly 50 years. The Telangana chief minister has said the BDJS leader from Kerala was acting on the direction of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 58F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 58F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible. Birth defects are problems which occur during fetal development in the womb. The problems can be either on the physical body or may affect the mental capabilities of the infant. Some birth defects develop in the first trimester of pregnancy, while others may arise during the last six months during organ formation. They can affect any part of the baby. According to statistics collected by the health department, a baby with a birth defect is born every four and half minutes in the United States. While comprehensive data on global birth defects is unavailable, there are a large number of babies born with birth defects each year. It is important that parents are made aware of the risk of birth defects so that they can eliminate common causes. What causes birth defects? Babies can be born with defects which are relatively minor, such as extra fingers or toes, while others may be born with severe defects, such as a hole in the heart. The cause of the defect is not always readily identifiable, and there is usually a mix of factors which will influence the proper growth of the fetus within the womb. The health of the mother, the presence of a medical condition such as diabetes, or obesity can be causes for birth defects. While genetics can cause some issues, most of the defects are usually caused by risky behavior during pregnancy. Addictive drugs, smoking, and drinking all have a detrimental effect on the fetus. Not taking prenatal care, lack of nutritious food, and even skipping vitamin and iron pills, can all lead to deficiencies in the mother. This in turn can translate into birth defects for the baby. So both genetic and environmental causes contribute to birth defects. Common birth defects The physically visible birth defects are the ones which are identified immediately - these could include extra appendages on feet and hands, a cleft lip, and spina bifida. In contrast, other defects may become more apparent as the child grows. They are usually identified when the child does not meet development milestones at appropriate ages. Birth defects that tend to be commonly seen include: Zika Virus This virus, which can be transmitted through a mosquito bite, blood transfusion or sexual contact, has been declared as a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). If the virus is transmitted to a pregnant woman, the child may be born with a visibly smaller head size in proportion to the body. There is also a risk of brain damage that the WHO warns of. Spina Bifida This is a neural tube defect that affects the spinal column of the baby. The condition is not genetic or hereditary. It can be prevented by a pregnant woman having 400 micrograms of folic acid every day. The risk of this birth defect reduces by 70% by this simple measure. It is a common birth defect. Cleft Lip or Cleft Palate This is the fourth most common birth defect in children worldwide. It occurs if the separate parts of the face, which develop individually, do not join up properly. The severity of the defect can vary drastically. The cause is not yet identified. Surgical intervention is the usual cure for this birth defect. Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Congenital Heart Disease This is the most common birth defect - it affects nearly 1 in every 150 babies born. Many times the defects are so minimal that they do not get identified until the person is well into adulthood. The severity of this varies drastically from case to case, but the majority of birth defect related deaths are caused by congenital heart disease. It can be caused due to a viral infection, medication, alcohol consumption, smoking, chronic illnesses of the mother, and genetic factors. They can be detected by sonography or ultrasounds. There are more than a dozen different types of heart conditions possible; therefore, treatment will depend on the condition. Down Syndrome This is one of the most common birth defects. 85% of those born with the defect do not survive their first year and 50% of the babies who live will not survive beyond 50 years. It is a genetic disease caused by Trisomy 21 where in an extra chromosome exists in either the sperm or the egg causing a fatal mutation. There is no cure and screening tests are the only way to avoid the disorder. Living with birth defects A lot of research is being conducted into birth defects and their treatments. Some cures have been identified, but for the majority of those born with limiting defects, life is never easy. Proper screening and diagnosis in the womb may allow some defects to be corrected before birth. With this said, the majority of treatments are done after birth. A good family support system combined with adequate medical attention is the best way to move forward. References Further Reading A new Tel Aviv University study finds that a popular food supplement called phosphatidylserine may be instrumental in reversing the detrimental effects of Familial Dysautonomia (FD), a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that affects approximately 1 in 31 Jewish people of Eastern European, or Ashkenazi, ancestry. FD affects aspects of the autonomic nervous system such as swallowing, sweating, and pain sensitivity, and places patients at increased risk for pulmonary and gastrointestinal complications. The research, led jointly by Prof. Gil Ast and Prof. Eran Perlson of TAU's Sackler School of Medicine, generated a mouse model of FD to examine the neuron degeneration caused by FD and to observe the positive effects of the novel therapy. The study was published in PLOS Genetics. Trucks, highways, and neurons "Neurons are the longest cells in our body," said Prof. Ast. "'Highways' along our neurons allow 'trucks' with 'cargo' to supply our neurons with essential supplies. In most neurodegenerative diseases these highways -- called microtubules -- and the axonal transport process are impaired. Our study demonstrates that alterations in the stability of microtubules and disruptions in the transport may lead to FD." The research team, including Shiran Naftelberg-Blonder and other TAU students, generated a mouse model of FD. The mice exhibited symptoms similar to those experienced by human patients with FD, including developmental delays, sensory abnormalities, unstable microtubules, and impairment of axonal retrograde transport of nerve growth factor. "We found that in neurons from our FD mice, the microtubular highways were impaired by elevated levels of an enzyme called HDAC6," said Prof. Ast. "This impairment removed the adhesive that connects the 'bricks' of the highway. This led to less stabilized highways and to the slower movement of cargo along it." Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Once the mouse exhibiting FD symptoms was generated, the researchers administered a phosphatidylserine treatment, which lowered the level of the enzyme that removed the "glue" from the "bricks" of the microtubular highways. Phosphatidylserine contains both amino acids and fatty acids and is known to be effective in slowing down long-term memory loss. Finding a "path" to treatment The researchers found that the treatment with phosphatidylserine enhanced the stability of the microtubular "highways" and improved the movement of "cargo" along these pathways. "We identified the molecular pathway that leads to neurodegeneration in FD and demonstrated that phosphatidylserine has the potential to slow progression of neurodegeneration," said Prof. Ast. "Phosphatidylserine can repair the activity in neurons from the FD mouse by reducing the amount of the enzyme that removes the 'glue' from the 'bricks,'" Prof. Ast continued. "This elevates the stability of the 'highways' and increases essential cargo movement along these neurological pathways." The researchers are currently researching ways of improving the delivery of phosphatidylserine to the nervous system. Teva Pharmaceuticals contributed support for this research through the National Network of Excellence. Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University Latest research from New Zealand's University of Otago is shedding new light on why and how cancer cells spread from primary tumours to other parts of the body. This phenomenon - known as metastasis - causes about 90 per cent of all cancer deaths. The Otago findings, published in the leading international journal Oncotarget, may pave the way for new therapies that prevent melanoma and other cancers from their deadly seeding of secondary tumours. Department of Pathology researchers Dr Aniruddha Chatterjee and Professor Mike Eccles are lead authors of the study, which investigated epigenetic changes in melanoma cells. Epigenetics involves changes to the way genes behave - such as their being switched on or off through the addition of methyl groups to a gene's DNA segments. Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today After comparing primary and metastatic melanoma cells from the same patients, Dr Chatterjee says the research team identified thousands of epigenetic changes - and, crucially, several that were common to all the metastatic cells. "We believe that these may be the key drivers that allow melanoma to metastasise," he says. Additionally, the team identified a new function in melanoma of a gene called Early B Cell Factor 3 (EBF3). "We found this gene gains more DNA methylation when primary melanoma progresses to its metastatic version, and that the gene expresses itself highly in the latter." When the researchers used molecular techniques that decreased EBF3 expression, both primary and metastatic melanoma cells grew less aggressively and behaved less invasively. Dr Chatterjee says earlier searches for genetic - rather than epigenetic - drivers of metastasis had not been very fruitful. "Over the years, very few genetic mutations have been identified as drivers of metastasis. Instead, our approach looked at the changes in the way genes in cancer cells are expressed, rather than changes to the genetic code itself," he says. Dr Chatterjee says unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible. "So if we understand the key changes that underpin metastasis, then not only are we potentially able to monitor for their presence, but also to design new therapies to target and correct them to prevent metastasis of tumours." The research of mapping the epigenetic patterns was made possible through a cutting edge technique called Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) that Dr Chatterjee, Dr Peter Stockwell (also a co-author in the recent paper) and colleagues at Otago have pioneered in New Zealand. Agendia, Inc., a world leader in personalized medicine and molecular cancer diagnostics, has presented new prospective data demonstrating the strong impact of its 70-Gene Breast Cancer Recurrence assay, MammaPrint, and the corresponding 80-Gene Molecular Subtyping Assay BluePrint, in clinical decision-making for patients with early-stage breast cancer in Germany. The PRospective study to measure the Impact of MammaPrint on adjuvant treatment in hormone receptor-positive HER2-negative breast cancer patients (PRIMe) study was undertaken by the West German Study Group (WSG). It included 452 patients from 27 centers and evaluated the impact of gene expression-based tests MammaPrint and BluePrint, compared to conventional clinico-pathological factors, in deciding whether or not patients would benefit from, and should therefore be treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. The results, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Conference last week showed a 28.4% change in patients treatment plans, originally based on clinico-pathological factors, as a direct result of the data provided by MammaPrint and BluePrint. Prof. Nadia Harbeck, MD, PhD, PI of the PRIMe study, Scientific Director of the West German Study Group and chair for Conservative Oncology at the Department for OB&GYN of the University of Munich (LMU), Germany, said: The discordance between conventional clinico-pathological assessment and the results of gene expression-based tests like MammaPrint is substantial. Our study demonstrated that, in Germany, physicians not only welcomed these tests but showed a strong adherence to the test results, even actively changing their previous treatment plans. The > 90% adherence rate to the MammaPrint results regarding adjuvant treatment decisions demonstrated the confidence of physicians in these gene-expression results. Bastiaan van der Baan, Chief Clinical and Business Development Officer at Agendia said: The final analysis of the WSG PRIMe study makes plain the importance of gene expression-based tests like MammaPrint, in giving physicians in Germany, and beyond, the definitive results and the confidence they need to provide the safest and most effective treatment plans for their patients. As the data shows, the current clinico-pathological approach leaves a significant number of women in an unpleasant situation where they are under or over-treated. We believe strongly that early-stage breast cancer patients and their physicians in Germany should be able to access the benefits of a gold-standard gene-expression test like MammaPrint, to enable individualized treatment based on quantitative, reliable, genomic data. The clinical performance of MammaPrint and its ability to accurately inform and guide treatment decisions was definitively proven by the publication of the MINDACT trial in the New England Journal of Medicine in August. This unique phase III prospective, randomized, controlled study provides the highest level of clinical evidence to MammaPrint (Level 1A), above any other genomic assay, for making adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in early-stage breast cancer. The MINDACT trial included almost 7,000 patients (over 800 from Germany), across 112 institutions in nine different European countries. The extra pounds you gain during the holidays will not only show up on your hips but will also affect your DNA. This is the result of a large-scale international study coordinated by Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, a partner in the German Center for Diabetes Research, which has now been published in 'Nature'. The study shows that a high BMI leads to epigenetic changes at nearly 200 loci of the genome - with effects on gene expression. While our genes do not change in the course of life, our lifestyle can directly influence their surroundings. Scientists speak here of the epigenome (Greek epi: over, outside of, around), which refers to everything that happens on or around the genes. Up to now there has not been much research on how the epigenome is altered as a result of being overweight. "This issue is particularly relevant because an estimated one and a half billion people throughout the world are overweight," said first author Dr. Simone Wahl of the Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology (AME) at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, "especially considering that being overweight can have adverse consequences and lead to diabetes and diseases of the cardiovascular and metabolic systems." World's largest study on BMI and epigenetics For this reason, the international research team led by Dr. Christian Gieger and Dr. Harald Grallert of the AME (as well as Jaspal Kooner and John Chambers of Imperial College London) examined possible correlations between body mass index (BMI) and epigenetic changes. Using state-of-the-art technology, the team carried out the world's largest study so far on the subject. Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today The scientists examined the blood samples of over 10,000 women and men from Europe. A large proportion of these were inhabitants of London of Indian ancestry, who according to the authors are at high risk for obesity and metabolic diseases. In a first step with 5,387 samples, the research team identified 207 gene loci that were epigenetically altered dependent on the BMI. They then tested these candidate loci in blood samples of an additional 4,874 subjects and were able to confirm 187 of these. Further studies and long-term observations also indicated that the changes were predominantly a consequence of being overweight - not the cause. Significant changes also in the expression of inflammatory genes "In particular, significant changes were found in the expression of genes responsible for lipid metabolism and substrate transport, but inflammation-related gene loci were also affected," said group leader Harald Grallert. From the data, the team was also able to identify epigenetic markers that could predict the risk of type 2 diabetes. "Our results allow new insights into which signaling pathways are influenced by obesity", said Christian Gieger, head of the AME. "We hope that this will lead to new strategies for predicting and possibly preventing type 2 diabetes and other consequences of being overweight." Next, within the framework of translational research in the German Center for Diabetes Research, the researchers want to investigate in detail how the epigenetic changes affect the expression of the underlying genes. Scientists at the Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC) at Osaka University, Japan, report a new group of monocytes they call SatM. Studies in mice show that SatM may be responsible for causing fibrosis and creates a new drug target for an ailment that has little effective therapies. Fibrosis is a form of scarring that could if uncontrolled cause deleterious thickening of tissues. Although it is known that fibrosis is caused by an activated immune system, which specific cells are responsible continuous to elude researchers. Scientists at IFReC may have found this subgroup, as they report in Nature a class of monocyte cells with strange morphology. "The cells had a bi-lobed segmented nuclear shape and many cytoplasmic granules. We therefore called them 'Segregated nucleus atypical monocytes (SatM)'", said IFReC Professor Shizuo Akira. Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today To identify this subgroup, the researchers looked at immune cell subpopulations that predominantly appeared in fibrosis. "These cells were regulated by C/EBP," observed Akira. Detailed examination of immune cells showed that the C/EBP mutant mice, unlike normal mice, produced no SatM, whereas no other observed immune cell population was changed. The mice were also significantly more resistant to fibrosis. On the other hand, when the mutant mice were exposed to SatM, their susceptibility to fibrosis rose. Although Dr.Akira, Dr. Satoh and his colleagues describe SatM as a subset of monocytes, SatM showed characteristics that suggested they were hybrids of different immune cells. According to Akira, gene analysis found SatM "showed granulocyte markers, but SatM are definitely not granulocytes. These cell type is one of monocyte." Additional study found the progenitor cells responsible for producing SatM. Adoptive transfer of these progenitors into mutant mice unable to produce SatM resulted in a SatM population, and C/EBP was found to be essential for maintaining the progenitors. The ability to isolate cells specifically related to fibrosis gives hope for new therapies. "Decades of research have shown that immune cells are extremely diverse," said Akira. "Clear definitions of the subpopulations are essential for properly diagnosing and treating diseases. Our discovery of SatM should improve therapeutic strategies against fibrosis." According to new research from the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, state tort reform has been associated with a decrease in physician ordering of radiographs. The study, published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), examines the extent to which radiography use is influenced by malpractice liability pressure among office-based physicians. "While physicians cite malpractice liability as an important factor driving their decisions to order imaging tests, little research has been done to examine the systematic impact of liability pressure on overall imaging," said lead author Suhui Li, PhD, a health researcher at Mathematica Policy Research in Princeton, NJ. "Radiography is the most widely used imaging procedure and therefore provides a lens into understanding how tort reforms affect imaging utilization." Li and her colleagues examined the association between state tort reforms and radiography orders in ambulatory settings using a nationally representative dataset of patient visits to physician offices between 1999 and 2010. They found that the probability that a primary care physician (PCP) ordered radiography decreased when states enacted caps on noneconomic damages, periodic payment reforms, and the total number of tort reforms. "We discovered that when states enact indirect tort reforms, reforms that make it harder to sue physicians have a stronger effect on radiography orders than reforms that directly reduce physicians' liability payoff for both PCPs and specialists," said Danny R. Hughes, PhD, Neiman Institute senior director for health policy research and senior research fellow. "We also found that the probability of a radiography order was lower in states with a greater number of tort reform laws." In addition, the researchers found that PCPs and specialists respond differently to tort reforms, perhaps reflecting the underlying differences between the two physician groups in their patient mix, their office type and even their metropolitan versus non-metropolitan setting. They also discovered that physicians tend to reduce radiography orders following the enactment of tort laws and increase orders following a reversal of a tort reform. "Our analysis suggests that reforms that make it harder to sue physicians have a stronger impact than reforms which directly reduce physicians' malpractice claim payments," noted Hughes. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine that includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It is commonly treated with one of several available biological drugs that block an inflammatory molecule called Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-alpha), but not everybody is helped by this treatment. New research by a team of biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside, led by David Lo, M.D., Ph.D., now offers a valuable tip that could help make these drugs more effective. TNF-alpha is a protein produced by the body's cells. It signals other cells that then produce additional inflammatory factors. But Lo's lab discovered earlier this year that TNF-alpha also induces specialized immune surveillance cells, called M cells, which both promote inflammation and suppress it. In other words, TNF-alpha plays a role in the destruction and the healing of tissues - a double-edged sword. "M cells normally help the immune system detect microbes in the gut, but in the case of IBD, these may also help bacteria enter tissues and worsen the inflammation," explained Lo, a distinguished professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine. His lab now reports that that while there are two receptors for TNF-alpha, only one receptor, TNFR2, induces M cells. Currently, TNF-alpha-targeted drugs block both TNFR1 and TNFR2. "Newer therapies might be more effective by targeting only TNFR2," Lo said. "As an analogy, if a soldier knew her enemy was hiding in one of two caves, she would not debate which cave she should target; she might blow up both. But if she knows her enemy is in Cave A, then why would she waste ammunition and risk innocent bystanders by attacking Cave B as well?" Study results appear online in the Journal of Crohn's and Colitis. The body's intestinal lining has epithelial cells that form a barrier so that bacteria in the gut do not pass on into the rest of the body. During inflammation that occurs in IBD infection, TNF-alpha triggers an increase in the number of M cells along the colon. The M cells act like selective gates and serve as a conduit for pathogens to get across the barrier and into the body. "The question is if you have more M cells, do you have better immune surveillance or do you have more bacteria getting across the barrier?" Lo said. "From a therapeutic point of view we might want to tamp M-cell production down just enough so that the immune system can do its job without having a whole lot of bacteria pass into the body from inside the gut." Lo explained why not everybody with IBD benefits from anti-TNF drugs. "These drugs target both TNRF-alpha receptors: TNFR1 and TNFR2," he said. "But our research identifies a distinct inflammation-inducible M-cell population that is dependent on TNFR2 signaling, but not TNFR1. If too many M cells are being produced, then the anti-TNF drug being used is not sufficiently blocking TNRF2, which induces the M cells, and is instead blocking the other receptor. If we understand why there are two receptors, then instead of drugs doing a global blockade, more focused therapeutic approaches could target only one of the receptors, resulting in a more efficient suppression of the inflammation we see in IBD." An ongoing challenge for biomedical scientists doing IBD research is gaining a full understanding of the role M cells play in chronic inflammation. It remains unclear whether M cells help promote continuing inflammation or whether they are critical to initiating immuno-regulatory mechanisms. "Knowing these roles should lead to more specifically targeted therapies that will promote the regulation and resolution of chronic intestinal inflammation," Lo said. The research, done using a mouse model, was supported by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease of the National Institutes of Health. "We would like to relate this work directly to humans in the near future because we have the same receptors, TNRF1 and TNRF2, and the pattern of inflammation in mice is similar to what we see in humans," Lo said. Joao Pereira who is a fisherman found one day a wonded Penguin in Ilha Island of Brazil. He saved his life by healing his wounds. After which, the Penguin every year travels 5,000 miles to meet his friend. When the 71-year-old man released the Penguin named Dindin in sea, he never thought that he will see him ever again. The Penguin lives with man for eight months and spends rest of the months in coast of Argentina and Chile. The man told I love the penguin like its my own child and I believe the penguin loves me,.No one else is allowed to touch him. He pecks them if they do. He lies on my lap, lets me give him showers, allows me to feed him sardines and to pick him up. Also Read:- Meet the 'Chimpanzee Azalea' who smokes 'Cigarette'!! The Reason 'Why Father married his Daughter' will Melt Your Heart!!! Coaching Institute Gifts 'BMW car' to student, but he Denies! Why?? The World Health Organizations (WHO) World Malaria Report 2016 reveals that children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa have greater access to effective malaria control. Across the region, a steep increase in diagnostic testing for children and preventive treatment for pregnant women has been reported over the last five years. Among all populations at risk of malaria, the use of insecticide-treated nets has expanded rapidly. But in many countries in the region, substantial gaps in programme coverage remain. Funding shortfalls and fragile health systems are undermining overall progress, jeopardizing the attainment of global targets. Scale-up in malaria control Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2015, the region was home to 90% of malaria cases and 92% of malaria deaths. Children under five are particularly vulnerable, accounting for an estimated 70% of all malaria deaths. Diagnostic testing enables health providers to rapidly detect malaria and prescribe life-saving treatment. New findings presented in the report show that, in 2015, approximately half (51%) of children with a fever seeking care at a public health facility in 22 African countries received a diagnostic test for malaria compared to 29% in 2010. To protect women in areas of moderate and high malaria transmission in Africa, WHO recommends intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (ITPp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. The treatment, administered at each scheduled antenatal care visit after the first trimester, can prevent maternal and infant mortality, anaemia and the other adverse effects of malaria in pregnancy. According to available data, there was a five-fold increase in the percentage of women receiving the recommended three or more doses of this preventive treatment in 20 African countries. Coverage reached 31% in 2015, up from 6% in 2010. Insecticide-treated nets are the cornerstone of malaria prevention efforts in Africa. The report found that more than half (53%) of the population at risk in sub-Saharan Africa slept under a treated net in 2015 compared to 30% in 2010. Last month, WHO released the findings of a major five-year evaluation in five countries. The study showed that people who slept under long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) had significantly lower rates of malaria infection than those who did not use a net, even though mosquitoes showed resistance to pyrethroids (the only insecticide class used in LLINs) in all of these areas. An unfinished agenda Malaria remains an acute public health problem, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the report, there were 212 million new cases of malaria and 429 000 deaths worldwide in 2015. There are still substantial gaps in the coverage of core malaria control tools. In 2015, an estimated 43% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa was not protected by treated nets or indoor spraying with insecticides, the primary methods of malaria vector control. In many countries, health systems are under-resourced and poorly accessible to those most at risk of malaria. In 2015, a large proportion (36%) of children with a fever were not taken to a health facility for care in 23 African countries. We are definitely seeing progress, notes Dr Pedro Alonso, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme. But the world is still struggling to achieve the high levels of programme coverage that are needed to beat this disease. Global targets At the 2015 World Health Assembly, Member States adopted the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030. The Strategy set ambitious targets for 2030 with milestones every five years to track progress. Eliminating malaria in at least 10 countries is a milestone for 2020. The report shows that prospects for reaching this target are bright: In 2015, 10 countries and territories reported fewer than 150 indigenous cases of malaria, and a further 9 countries reported between 150 and 1000 cases. Countries that have achieved at least 3 consecutive years of zero indigenous cases of malaria are eligible to apply for the WHO certification of malaria elimination. In recent months, the WHO Director-General certified that Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka had eliminated malaria. But progress towards other key targets must be accelerated. The Strategy calls for a 40% reduction in malaria case incidence by the year 2020, compared to a 2015 baseline. According to the report, less than half (40) of the 91 countries and territories with malaria are on track to achieve this milestone. Progress has been particularly slow in countries with a high malaria burden. An urgent need for more funding Sustained and sufficient funding for malaria control is a serious challenge. Despite a steep increase in global investment for malaria between 2000 and 2010, funding has since flat-lined. In 2015, malaria funding totalled US$ 2.9 billion, representing only 45% of the funding milestone for 2020 (US$6.4 billion). Governments of malaria-endemic countries provided about 31% of total malaria funding in 2015. The United States of America is the largest international malaria funder, accounting for about 35% of total funding in 2015, followed by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (16%). If global targets are to be met, funding from both domestic and international sources must increase substantially. 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. Royal Enfield's Tour of Rajasthan participants rode from Pushkar to Jaipur (246 km) on the last day of the event on December 19.Tour of Rajasthan was kicked off from Jaipur on December 11 with participation from 17 riders from across the country. The nine-day ride included an elaborate ride across the state of Rajasthan, involving a traverse through the great Thar desert and the magnificent Aravalli mountain ranges.Rajasthan has all the characteristics to test anyone's riding appetite, spectacularly laid out stretches of roads, off-road trails and sand dunes. The Tour of Rajasthan specifies to its riders that the ride will include tarmac, gravel, off-road and sand.Also read: Royal Enfield Himalayan Review: A Bike That Can Do It All, in a Budget Find the full itinerary below:Day 1: All 17 riders on December 10 were assembled in Jaipur for basic scrutiny and were briefed for first-aid and ride itinerary.Day 2: The ride spread over nine days was flagged off from Jaipur on December 11, when the participants rode to Mahansar 232 km away.Also read: Royal Enfield Himalayan vs Mahindra Mojo: A Comparison of Champions Day 3: (December 12) Mahansar to Bikaner - 229 kmDay 4: Bikaner to Jamba - 216 kmDay 5: Jamba to Sam - 251 kmDay 6: Sam to Barmer - 229 kmDay 7: Barmer to Mount Abu - 296 kmDay 8: Mount Abu to Pushkar - 398 kmDay 9: Pushkar to Jaipur - 246 kmTOR's previous editions in 2015 and 2014 were also successful events when riders from across the country took to streets of Rajasthan and other dynamic terrains. It also proved to be a learning opportunity for some who rode on sand for the first time. The ride is also an educational tour through the rich history of the state.Also read: From Delhi to Leh: Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey 2016 - Day 3 and 4 Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan and actor Saif Ali Khan were on Tuesday blessed with a baby boy, whom they have named Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi.Kareena, daughter of veteran actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, delivered the baby on Tuesday morning at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.As soon as the news broke, social media users as well as celebrities including Karan Johar and Sonam Kapoor sent out congratulatory messages for the new parents.A statement released on behalf of the actors read: "We are very pleased to share with you all the wonderful news about the birth of our son: Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi, on December 20, 2016. "We would like to thank the media for the understanding and support they have given us over the last nine months, and of course especially our fans and well wishers for their continued affection. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all...With love, Saif and Kareena."Taimur, which in Persian language means iron, has already been dubbed as "mini Nawab" by film fraternity members.And we got our hands on the first pictures of the 'sabse chote nawab' of the Pataudi family and they are adorable.These pictures were tweeted out by @iFaridoon which is a verified Twitter account. News18.com has reached out to @iFaridoon to confirm and are still waiting for a reply.Kareena and Saif, who have worked together in films like Tashan, Kurbaan, Agent Vinod, LOC Kargil and Omkara, got married in October 2012.With input from IANS. Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child please?Mind your business,it's got nothing to do with you.Parents wish! Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 You mind your bloody business. Tumhare beta ka naam toh naheen rakha na? Who are you to comment? https://t.co/Sr3SOl65cU Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 Alexander and Sikandar were no saints. They are common names in the world. Apna kaam karo na tum. Tumko kya takleef hai? https://t.co/lT2i5U1Qod Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 You mind your fuckn business what my ancestors must be feeling. Apna kaam karo https://t.co/7SknPLTQ7q Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 A lot of people are going to be blocked if any more arguments happen. Just shut the FUCK UP Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) December 21, 2016 Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor in a series of tweets has lashed out on those who have commented on the name given by actress Kareena Kapoor Khan and actor Saif Ali Khan to their son. He says that it's no one's business to comment on their decision.Kareena and Saif named their son Taimur Ali Khan."Why are people so bothered what the parents want to name their child please? Mind your business,it's got nothing to do with you. Parents wish," Rishi tweeted on Wednesday.The name given to the star couple's son was a topic of debate on social media platforms as Taimur was the founder of the Timurid Empire in Persia and Central Asia and had invaded India in 1398.Rishi, who is popular for voicing out his opinions on social media, also replied to a user saying that names like Alexander and Sikander are common in the world even though Alexander, a Greek king, was not a saint."Alexander and Sikandar were no saints. They are common names in the world. Apna kaam karo na tum (Mind your own business). Tumko kya takleef hai? (What is your problem?)," he said.Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief minister Omar Abdullah criticised those who made fun of Saif and Kareena for naming their newly-born son Taimur.Abdullah said that it's their right to decide the name of their baby and the opinion of the rest doesn't matter. New Delhi: Since Arvind Kejriwal government came to power in 2015, there had been several confrontations between AAP Delhi govt and the Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. A timeline showing the twists and turns in LG's relationship with the Delhi government. 2014 May 2: RIL moves HC for quashing of FIR and challenging a 1993 notification of the Centre giving power to Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to probe union government employees. May 8: Centre moves HC against FIR against the minister contending that ACB has no powers or jurisdiction to probe. May 9: HC issues notice to Delhi government on the plea to quash FIR against the minister. HC allowed ACB to continue with its probe. May 20: HC asks Centre, RIL to cooperate with ACB probe. Aug 9: ACB tells HC that it has powers to lodge FIR in gas pricing case. Aug 19: ACB tells HC it cannot probe the gas pricing case against RIL and a former UPA minister as a July 23, 2014, notification of Centre has taken away its jurisdiction to investigate central government employees. Oct 16: Delhi government tells HC its ACB can prosecute RIL and ministers. Oct 28: HC gives time to Centre to clarify on ACB power. Dec 4: RIL argues in HC that State probing Centre's decision on gas pricing is absurd. 2015 May 25: HC says ACB has jurisdiction to arrest policemen who come under Centre. It says the Centre's May 21 notification limiting ACB's powers was "suspect". May 26: PIL in HC against Centre's May 21 notification giving powers to LG to appoint bureaucrats in Delhi. May 28: Delhi government moves HC on Centre's notification on LG's powers. Centre moves SC against HC's May 25 order terming as "suspect" its notification. May 29: HC asks LG to consider Delhi government's proposals on shifting of nine bureaucrats from one post to another. Jun 10: HC refuses to stay MHA notification on ACB power. Jun 27: Delhi government moves HC to restrain LG appointee ACB chief M K Meena from entering anti-graft body's office. 2016 Jan 27: Union government tells HC that Delhi is under Centre's control and not full-fledged state. Apr 5: AAP government asks HC to refer to larger bench petitions on powers of LG on the governance of Delhi. Apr 6: Delhi government tells HC it was competent to set up a commission to probe allegations of corruption in awarding licence to conduct CNG fitness tests. Apr 19: AAP government withdraws from SC its plea seeking setting up of a larger bench in HC. May 24: HC reserves order on AAP government's plea for a stay on proceedings on the petitions arising out of its stand-off with LG over powers to appoint bureaucrats in the national capital and other issues. May 30: HC turns down AAP government's request to first decide its stay application. Jul 1: SC agrees to hear AAP government's plea seeking a direction that the HC be restrained from delivering judgement on issues including the scope of powers of the city government to exercise its authority in performing public functions. Jul 4: Justice J S Khehar of SC recuses from hearing AAP government plea on declaration of powers of Delhi as a state. Jul 5: Justice L Nageshwar Rao of SC also recuses from hearing Delhi government's plea. Jul 8: SC refuses to entertain Delhi government plea to first decide the preliminary issue as to whether it has the jurisdiction over disputes between the Centre and the state or is it "exclusively" triable by the apex court. Aug 4: HC says LG is administrative head of National Capital Territory and AAP government's contention that he is bound to act on the advice of Council of Ministers was "without substance". Retired bureaucrat Anil Baijal is the frontrunner for the post of Delhi Lieutenant Governor, which fell vacant on Thursday after the abrupt resignation of Najeeb Jung, sources told News18.Jung resigned with one and a half years left for his term, after a tumultuous stint at the Delhi Raj Niwas that saw him locking horns with the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party multiple times.Baijal had been a member of the executive council of the Vivekananda International Foundation, a New Delhi-based think-tank that had many of its fellows appointed to senior positions in the Narendra Modi government.Earlier, there were reports that his name was being considered for the post of the governor of Jammu & Kashmir.Baijal, an IAS officer, was the Union home secretary in the AB Vajpayee government.He has also been the vice-chairman of Delhi Development Authority, CMD of Air India and CEO of Prasar Bharti.Baijal joined the IAS in 1969 and retired in 2006 as urban development secretary, Government of India. #FLASH: Girija Vaidyanathan,IAS transferred and posted as Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Government in place of P Rama Mohana Rao pic.twitter.com/A1PDOZ6twf ANI (@ANI_news) December 22, 2016 Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary (CS) Ram Mohan Rao was sacked on Thursday following I-T raids at his residence in disproportionate asset case.Sources said, Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Land Administration Girija Vaidyanathan has been transferred and appointed as the new state Chief Secretary to replace Rao.The state government directed that Girija Vaidyanathan will also hold full additional charge of the post of Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioner for Administrative Reforms.I-T department on Wednesday raided the residence of Rao in Chennai's Annanagar. Informed sources said the searches of Rao's residence and office were linked to the earlier IT raids on the residence of businessmen J. Shekhar Reddy.Tax officials said Rs 30 lakh in new Rs 2,000 notes, 5 Kg of gold and documents with details of undisclosed assets worth about Rs 5 crore were recovered. New Delhi: New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and highlighted NDA governments failure in addressing a wide range of issues. Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradeshs Bahraich, Rahul Gandhi said the Narendra Modi-led NDA governments demonetisation scheme has forced the farmers and daily-wagers of the country to life in abject poverty while the rich live an extravagant lifestyle. The decision on demonetisation was not against black money or corruption it was against the poor of this country, he said. Rahul Gandhi alleged that PM Modi is protecting the interest of the rich people thats why he sent off Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi to London. Rahul also attacked Modi on issues like black money, surgical strike, Sahara papers and employment generation. Earlier, Rahul led his counter attack on Twitter and referred to the raids on Sahara group in 2012-12. 2012/13 10 packets ? pic.twitter.com/gCso0R7SZC Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 22, 2016 Prime Minister Modi had ridiculed the Congress V-P during his speech in Varanasi and said that all this while he was not sure what kind of a packet Rahul was. Now we know what is inside this packet, PM Modi had said. READ: PM Modis Reply to Rahuls Charges: He is Learning to Give Speeches Stay tuned for live updates: Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. Dubai: With time running-out to exchange demonetised currency notes, the over 2.6 million-strong Indian community in the UAE have demanded an extension of the deadline for NRIs, citing their inability in travelling to India to exchange scrapped notes in such a short time. Expressing concern that the Indian government has not announced any reprieve for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), the community members said that authorities should either extend the December 30 deadline to exchange old notes or provide a window here in the UAE to exchange the invalid notes, the Gulf News reported. Most of the over 2.6 million Indians in the UAE hold a few thousand Indian rupees, mostly in denominations of 500 and 1,000 that were demonetised in a surprise move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8. The old notes can be deposited or exchanged at banks by December 30 and at offices of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by March 31, 2017. However, there is no venue or arrangement outside India, including in the UAE, for this purpose. "The March 31 deadline is irrelevant to NRIs because it is practically impossible for them to reach a faraway RBI office while visiting India. Moreover, many expats, especially workers, go on vacation once in two years," said Shyam Gehi, 67, a retired professional, who has been living in Dubai for more than 40 years. "NRIs should be allowed to deposit at least up to Rs 25,000 in their bank accounts in India as and when they visit home," said Gehi, who is from Mumbai. He also demanded that the Indian government make arrangements in the UAE to exchange invalid notes. Bency Tharakan, 43, a finance professional in Abu Dhabi, demanded that the government extend the December 31 deadline by at least one more year for NRIs. If the deadline extension is not possible, the government should authorise a money exchange centre in the UAE to exchange notes, Tharakan was quoted as saying by the paper. Anurag Kashyap, 40, a marketing professional in Abu Dhabi, suggested India authorise the Bank of Baroda, the only Indian bank with commercial operations in the UAE, to facilitate exchange of the invalid notes. "That is the possible solution for NRIs here who are not travelling soon," he said. An official at the Bank of Baroda office in Dubai told the paper that there was no information about the bank accepting or exchanging invalid notes. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a statement: "We have taken up the issues raised by the NRI community in UAE with the Ministry of Finance as well as with the RBI. Beijing: It is way beyond India's capability to employ the Dalai Lama and Mongolia against China, a Chinese newspaper said on Wednesday, calling New Delhi a "spoilt kid". The Global Times, which is known to reflect the thinking of the Chinese leadership, wondered what made India so confident when even the US thought twice before "messing" with China on sensitive issues. An op-ed in the daily followed a meeting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had with the Tibetan spiritual leader. India also pledged financial support for Mongolia after Beijing punitively hiked tariff on trucks following his visit after Mongolia hosted the Dalai Lama. "New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. Mukherjee met the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November," said the Global Times piece authored by Wen Dao. "India wants to disturb China's pace of development by taking advantage of China's national and international problems, most of which have nothing to do with India's national interests," Wen wrote. "India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China," it said. The Dalai Lama have lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Global Times said Mongolia gave in to Beijing and said sorry for hosting the Dalai Lama before New Delhi could start the $1 billion credit line it had promised to Ulan Bator. Mongolia "tried to seek support from India, hoping that by allying with China's competitor, Beijing would be forced to give in. "India's way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line." The newspaper asked India to learn lessons how Beijing and US President-elect Donald J. Trump dealt with the situation after he spoke to Taiwanese President Tsai-ing Wen on the telephone. "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent countermeasures and must have understood that China's bottom line - sovereign integrity and national unity - is untouchable. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage? "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world'. India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is short-sighted." "Jung thanked the people of Delhi for all their support and affection, especially during the one year of President's Rule in Delhi, when he got unstinted support from them and which in turn helped run the administration in Delhi smoothly and effortlessly," said a statement from the L-G's office. Without citing reasons for the decision, 65-year-old Jung, who had taken charge in July 2013, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his help and cooperation and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his "association". Sh Jung's resignation is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 22, 2016 .@ArvindKejriwal TREAT TREAT TREAT TREAT TREAT TREAT TREAT Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) December 22, 2016 Waiting 2 see whom d @PMOIndia picks up as an improvement 2 make sure dat d duly elected government is not allowed 2 function #NajeebJung Manoj K Jha (@manojkjhadu) December 22, 2016 Najeeb Jung, whose tenure was marked by frequent run-ins with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has resigned as Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and submitted his resignation to the Centre on Thursday.Jung had still close to more than a year and a half to go for his term to end and the reason for his resignation is not yet known.In his resignation letter Jung said he was returning to his "first love, academics".Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to express his surprise at Jung's resignation.Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said despite several "bitter-sweet experiences, I can say that we have worked very well for Delhi with Jung. Good wishes for his future."AAP leader Kumar Vishwas said the party wished him good luck in his future stint with academics. "He is a learned man with a love for Urdu poetry. We wish him all the best," he said.Sources in the Home Ministry said the resignation suggested a "political decision" at the highest level.BJP spokesperson RP Singh said the resignation came as a surprise, but added that it was not entirely sudden given the extent of his friction with CM Kejriwal.Congress said the Centre must explain why Jung was "unceremoniously removed and whether it was done to bring someone to the top administrative post who is ideologically close to the RSS."Here are some reactions to the resignation on Twitter: New Delhi: Zafaryab Jilani, member and advocate of the All India Personal Law Board, said the December 19th Madras High Court judgment banning a Shariat Court functioning in Chennai will have no sweeping effect as it goes against the 2014 Supreme Court verdict. The Madras High Court on December 19th banned an illegal Shariat Court from functioning from the Makkah Masjid in Chennai. SC in Vishwa Lochan Madans case in 2014 refused to grant relief to the petitioner where he prayed to disband and diffuse all Dar-ul-Qazas and the Shariat Courts," Jilani told News18. It declared them to have no legal validity, but still if a Muslim wishes to consult a scholar and solve his dispute then there was no legal prohibition. But this order to ban a particular Shariat Court violates the SC judgment, he said. In 2014, a bench of Justices C.K. Prasad and Pinaki Chandra Ghose gave the ruling on a public interest writ petition filed in 2005. Advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan, in his petition, said a woman from Kukda village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh was raped by her father-in-law, following which the village panchayat passed a fatwa asking her to treat him as her husband. The Dar-ul-Uloom also declared that she had become ineligible to live with her husband. This was endorsed by the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board as well. The bench disposing the petition said that the fatwa had no legal sanction. It cannot be enforced by any legal process, either by the Dar-ul-Qaza issuing it or the person concerned, or for that matter anybody, it said. But it refused to ban them outright. Jilani is even hopeful that this order will be modified and recalled. This order was an ex-parte order. Advocate Muniruddin Shaikh who was appearing for the fourth respondent did not have his Vakalatnama (license to practice law) registered that day, he said. Now he will submit it and present the SC judgments which clearly show that such courts cannot be banned in light of the earlier Apex Court judgments but certainly does not have any legal binding value. There is a strong hope that this order will be re-called, Jilani added. The December 19 order primarily targeted towards the functioning of a Shariat Court within the premises of Makkah Masjid in Chennai not only declared it illegal but also ordered the State government to file a status report ensuring its closure. Advocate Sirajuddin who appeared for the petitioner in the case told News18 that although the order was only for a particular Shariat Court, there exists a strong feeling of presence of other such courts as well. But far from refuting the courts order, Mehmood Madani, general secretary of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind told News18 that the court was wrong to see these as Shariat Courts and these are mere grievance redressal centers. The entire issue has been misunderstood by the court. These centers work on the way of consent when people willingly come here to resolve disputes according to Islamic Shariat law and an alternative to the courts. But in no way does these centers compare to the judicial mechanism present in the country and thus banning a Shariat court makes no sense, said Madani. Madani even said that the divorce which is granted in the courts of India is not according to the Shariat and hence people often resort to such centers and carry the divorce and other matrimonial proceedings. The Kanpur Dar-Ul-Qaza Mufti was called to the Kanpur court to explain as to why he had pronounced a divorce. But after the Mufti explained the process followed by him, the court ended up praising him, said Madani who maintained that Fatwa and opinions are often confused and everything that court or the media considers as Fatwa are often merely opinion and are never binding or mandatory. Shariat Courts usually function in mosques or madrasas presided by a senior Mufti or an Islamic scholar. These courts are usually resorted to by Indian Muslims to ensure that any kind of dispute or problem is resolved in lines with Islamic law or Shariat without any intentional deviation. These courts often issue decrees or fatwas declaring a particular act or thing against Islam. However such decrees do not have any legal validity and cannot be enforced in any way unless a person wishes to follow it personally. We know that there are indeed such courts functioning within religious premises, but we cannot take any step since we do not have any concrete proof against them, said Sirajuddin, who believes that this order was in line with previous SC judgments and there have been no violation as such. Qazi Misbah-Ul-Haq, chief of Dar-Ul-Qaza located at Urdu Bazaar near Jama Masjid Delhi, told News18 that although such courts do not have any legal sanctity, a Muslim abides by the decision only because of his conscience and in no way does it compare to Indian law or courts. When a fatwa is issued, then whether you follow it or not is your call. We can never compel you but often one abides by them because it is issued by a scholar who is better read than a lay Muslim. Yes Indian law is supreme, but for us our religion comes first, said the Shahr Qazi who had been at the helm of the Dar-Ul-Qaza since the last three decades. However Haq said that a primary reason why such courts are often resorted to in spite of orders from the Supreme Court is because of the financial ease it guarantees and the time within which decrees are passed. Why do the poor go to peer-babas or small-scale doctors? Its the same with Shariat Courts, not only is the Mufti well versed with the religious law, here the judges are easily accessible and justice is dispensed quickly which is often cumbersome when one follows the proper legal route, he said. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has stepped in to help an NRI family in Norway. The five-year-old son of Anil Kumar was taken into custody by the Norwegian Child Welfare Department on the 13th of December from his kindergarten school in Oslo. Anil Kumar told The Indian Express that the Child Welfare Department was acting on a complaint that Kumar and his wife had beaten-up their son. The foreign minister, who is in the hospital recovering after undergoing a kidney transplant, has asked for a report on the case. Kumar is a Norwegian citizen and his wife holds an Indian passport. They have appealed to the Indian government for help alleging that their son was taken away without any evidence and is suffering at a children's home under the custody of child welfare department. The Indian embassy in Norway confirmed to CNN-News18 that Indian Ambassador Debraj Pradhan has already spoken to the childs father. Sources said: Anil Kumar has hired a lawyer to defend his family in court and the ambassador will be meeting him again. When asked whether the matter will be taken up diplomatically a source said, Lets wait for the court process to get over. Another official said, In all such cases, where an India national is involved, we take up the matter with concerned officials of the country via diplomatic channels." Norways child welfare department was tight-lipped on the exact facts of the case. When CNN-News18 emailed them to ascertain the status of the case and the charges against the parents they responded saying, The Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion is responsible for the general child welfare policy. However, the government does not have the authority to comment on or intervene in individual cases. It is still not clear when the child would be returned to his parents. Government sources have indicated that the legal processes may take time. A similar case in 2011 had drawn a lot of attention. Two children were taken away from their NRI parents and kept in protective custody for 12 months. They were returned after a long legal battle. The Indian government had put significant pressure on Norwegian authorities and the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also taken up the matter with his counterpart. Moscow: Russia's defence minister on Thursday accused the British army of using Russian insignia to designate the enemy during training, a method he said was employed by Nazi Germany during World War II. Minister Sergei Shoigu said that British troops at the Salisbury Plain training facility "have started to use Russian-made tanks and uniforms of the Russian military to designate the enemy". "The last time this training method was used was by Nazi Germany during the Second World War," Shoigu said, according to a transcript published on the defence ministry's website. He added that NATO had doubled the intensity of its military exercises and that the majority of its drills were "anti-Russian". "NATO has declared Russia a main threat and continues to build up its military potential at our borders," he said. Relations between NATO and Russia have soured since Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula of Ukraine in March 2014, and eastern European countries are worried that they too could be targets of Russian aggression. NATO vowed at a summit in Warsaw in July to bolster its eastern flank to counter a resurgent Russia, agreeing to deploy four battalions in Poland and the Baltic states. Moscow slammed the decision, accusing NATO of working to counter a "non-existent threat". European countries have criticised Moscow's deployment of nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in October into its Kaliningrad outpost that borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania. NATO has suspended all practical cooperation with Russia over its role in Ukraine but certain political channels of communication have remained open. Christmas is around the corner and one could feel cool breeze and smell of plum cake wherever they are sitting. The festive season promises to bring a lot of cold breeze all around the Northern Hemisphere and while partying and drinking eggnog is the way to celebrate the festival, this is also the best time to catch up to old classics.While, Netflix and Chill has become the motto of the youth, we bring to you few Christmas classics you can enjoy with your family or alone while hogging on the feasts in the comfort of your warm bed. Read on:This ensemble comedy is a charming treatise on romance, telling 10 intertwining London love stories, leading up to a climax on Christmas Eve.The mayor of Evergreen dismisses magic as nonsense, but when Frosty the Snowman blows through town, he shows the local children that magic is real.Hapless Clark Griswold, his exasperated wife, Ellen, and their kids gear up for Christmas in this vacation installment that became a holiday classic.Bill Murray rounds up an all-star cast for an evening of music, mischief and barroom camaraderie in this irreverent twist on holiday variety shows.Amid an avalanche of stars, Pee-wee straps on his ice skates and glides into the holiday season with Christmas cards, carols...and Charo.In this warm-hearted tale, a young boys faith in the holiday spirit is revived after he makes his way by train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.Buddy the Elf doesnt fit in with the other North Pole elves, so he travels to New York to find his real father and spread some Christmas cheer.Just when Shrek thought he could finally relax and enjoy his happily-ever-after with his new family, the most joyous of all holidays arrives.Join your DreamWorks friends for these four-holiday specials, featuring Shrek and Donkey, Hiccup and Toothless, and the wacky animals from Madagascar.Kung Fu Panda: HolidayAs preparations for the Winter Feast build, Po is caught between his obligations as the Dragon Warrior and his family holiday traditions.A Christmas CarolWhat's better than redeeming yourself on the holy day of Christmas while having fun with the ghost of past, present and future. One of the most loved Christmas classics, A Christmas Carol is a must watch in every holiday season.For an extra special touch, search for the Fireplace for Your Home on Netflix and conjure up a crackling old-fashioned, wood-burning fireplace in 4K glory and set to holiday tunes to really tune up the festive spirit. A very Merry Christmas indeed! Mumbai: Actress Priyanka Chopra is happy to be back home in Mumbai after having a busy year shooting for her American show Quantico in the US. The 34-year-old star expressed her excitement on social media by sharing a picture of her pet dog Brando, who gave a grand welcome to her. "Happy welcome.. Brando baby... happy to be home...Nothing like it," she captioned the photo. In another post she said, "So funny how some things don't change but yet everything becomes different... #backhome #backtowork #lovemumbai #morningmusings." The Bajirao Mastaani star also retweeted a picture, where she can be seen posing for Indian paparazzi during a red carpet event, here. "It's nice to be back," she wrote alongside the photograph. New Delhi: Terming Najeeb Jung's tenure as Delhi Lt Governor a "black chapter" on safety of women in the national capital, DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Wednesday said they are now free from his "tyranny" following his regisnation. In a sudden move, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung resigned today, ending a nearly three-and-half-year-long eventful tenure, mostly marked by bitter confrontation with AAP government on a range of issues that virtually brought governance to a halt on many occasions. "Double win for DCW. Delhi women freed from Jung tyranny. HC orderd release of 2 month DCW salary. Hope new LG will work toward women safety. "Black chapter for women in Delhi over. Jung ji failed as LG. 6 rapes daily, didnt hold single meet on women safety, brutally attacked DCW," Maliwal said in a series of tweets. Claiming that Jung had not convened a single meeting on women safety in the last one year despite instructions from he from the Union Home Ministry, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief claimed his sudden resignation proves all have to be accountable for women's safety in Delhi. "Jung ji failed to even meet DCW. Last week 2 Notice issued on him by HC on DCW petition to explain why no meet in women safety in Delhi. LGs sudden resign proves all have to be accountable for women safety in Delhi. If you ignore and attack women, you will have to step down," she tweeted. Last week the DCW chief had written to the Prime Minister, urging him to listen to "mann ki baat" of the women of Delhi and ensure that a high-level panel on women's safety is set up. The women and girls of Delhi are paying the price of the tussle of governance between the Centre and the Delhi government. The L-G had not convened a single meeting on women's safety in the last one year despite express instructions from the MHA, she had said. Yesterday, the Delhi High Court had asked the office of the L-G to apprise it whether any special task force on women's safety is in place in Delhi and if it did not exist then in how many days the L-G would do it. The court's direction had come after the DCW chief expressed doubt over the existence of the task force, claiming the L-G has not called a meeting regarding women's safety in the national capital in last one year. Looking forward to visiting Varanasi & interacting with citizens. I will be joining various programmes during my visit today. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 22, 2016 Will lay the foundation stone for Mahamana Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre & Centenary Super Speciality Hospital. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 22, 2016 Will inaugurate a Trade Facilitation Centre & Crafts Museum and launch schemes & programmes of @TexMinIndia during the Varanasi visit. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 22, 2016 Foundation stone for a ESI super speciality hospital will also be laid. All these development works will greatly benefit people of Varanasi. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 22, 2016 There will also be an interaction with booth level @BJP4India Karyakartas working in the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. @BJP4UP Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 22, 2016 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Varanasi to lay the foundation of various projects in his Lok Sabha constituencies.And competing with him from far away Lucknow would be chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who will unveil the under construction Varuna riverfront development project and also lay foundation stone of the Poorvanchal Expressway.This will be Prime Minister's first visit to Varanasi after he announced demonetization of high value currency notes on 8th November.During his five hour trip to his constituency, PM is slated to inaugurate Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Hospital and a Centenary Super Specialty Hospital at the BHU campus.He will address and interact with BJP booth managers drawn from all five assembly segments in Varanasi.The Prime Minister's visit comes ahead of assembly elections in the state.On the other hand, attempting to beat the announcement of elections which will bring into effect the model code of conduct, CM Akhilesh Yadav will unveil the Varuna riverfront project. Varuna is a tributary of the Ganga, which flows through Varanasi.This is third major riverfront project taken up by the state government during its tenure. The other two have been on River Yamuna in Vrindavan and Gomti in Lucknow.In Varanasi, PM Modi will lay the foundation of an ESI hospital with 150 beds, official sources said.PM Modi is also likely to attend the Rashtriya Sankriti Mahotasava organised at the BHU campus by the Ministry of Culture.He will also visit Kabir Nagar and inspect the work of underground electric cabling, being implemented under the Integrated Power Development Scheme. : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi saying the Congress leader is "learning to give speeches" while also hitting out at former PM Manmohan Singh and former finance minister P Chidambaram for their criticism of demonetisation.Addressing a function in Varanasi a day after Rahul accused him of accepting bribes from corporates three years ago, Modi said: " He is learning how to deliver speeches. From the time he has started to speak I have never been happier."Modi also ridiculed Rahul's threat that his corruption charges against the prime minister would cause an "earthquake". "Now that their young leader has spoken, we have seen what the earthquake is all about," he said to loud cheers from the gathering at his constituency.Continuing his attack on the young Congress leader, the PM said all the while he was not sure what kind of a "packet" he was." Now we know what is inside this packet," he added.ALSO READ: Why Didn't Congress Raise PM Modi's Corruption in 2013: Kejriwal Rahul in his speech in Mehasana on Wednesday had accused Modi of accepting kickbacks from two corporates while he was Gujarat CM and reeled off figures from a case which is already in the Supreme Court.ALSO READ: Modi Got Kickbacks From 2 Corporates as Gujarat CM: Rahul Modi also hit out at former prime minister Manmohan Singh for saying that a cashless economy was not possible because of lack of technical infrastructure. "Is the former PM giving a report card of his own tenure?" he quipped.ALSO READ: Prashant Bhushan on Government's Claim: SC Hasn't Seen Many Papers "Wherever there is a cleansing on, a stench is bound to rise," he said referring to the corruption cases that came up during the former UPA rule. Lucknow: With the crucial assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh just around the corner, the state government on Thursday approved conversion of 17 backward castes (OBCs) to Scheduled Castes (SC) in a key Cabinet decision. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh State Backward Class Commission (UPSBCC) had recommend to the state government to enact legislation for curbing atrocities on the members of the OBCs. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday also unveiled the under construction Varuna riverfront development project and also lay foundation stone of the Poorvanchal Expressway in a bid to woo voters on development plank. On December 8, fifteen new castes were included in the central list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) with the Centre issuing notification in this regard. Out of these 28, 15 castes, including Gadheri/itafarosh in Bihar, Jhora in Jharkhand and Labana in Jammu and Kashmir, were new entries, 9 were synonyms or sub-castes of the castes which were already in the list and four were corrections. Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday had launched a veiled attack on the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, claiming that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre believed in development for all, "unlike the situation in the state where caste is supreme". "Our government is working with the motto -- 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' -- as articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Gadkari had said. - With inputs from PTI Japanese technology company Konica Minolta launched e-bizVAULT, a cloud-based web Document Management System (DMS) solution which offers support for popular browsers and mobile devices."e-bizVAULT protects organisations against data loss, system failure and unauthorised system access. It is also accessible on a notebook, in the organisation's network, over the web, in the cloud or in a smartphone as well as a tablet, ensuring maximum agility for a business," the company said in a statement.The solution also eliminates the need for setting up servers or configuring applications for a business, reducing expenditures significantly."e-bizVAULT is a perfect offering for organisations eyeing a scalable and secure DMS solution over the cloud to fetch more agility and operational efficiency. It will also help businesses reduce their operating expenditures significantly," said Yuji Nakata, Managing Director at Konica Minolta India. Nokia Corp (NOKIA.HE) said on Wednesday it had filed a number of lawsuits against Apple Inc (AAPL.O) for violating 32 technology patents, striking back at the iPhone maker's legal action targeting the one-time cellphone industry leader a day earlier. Read more: Top 5 Apps for 2016 You Should Download on Your iPhone Nokia's lawsuits, filed in courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich, Germany, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, cover patents for displays, user interfaces, software, antennas, chipsets and video coding."Since agreeing a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products," Nokia said in a statement. Read more: Apple to Make iPhones, iPads, Macs in India Soon? Apple on Tuesday had taken legal action against Acacia Research Corp (ACTG.O) and Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc [GEGGIM.UL], accusing them of colluding with Nokia to extract and extort exorbitant revenues unfairly from Apple."Weve always been willing to pay a fair price to secure the rights of patents covering technology in our products," said Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock. "Unfortunately, Nokia has refused to license their patents on a fair basis and is now using the tactics of a patent troll to attempt to extort money from Apple by applying a royalty rate to Apples own inventions they had nothing to do with."Acacia and Conversant did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Nokia was not immediately available to comment on the Apple lawsuit.The legal action by Nokia and Apple appear to mark a revival of the "smartphone patent wars" that began five years ago, when Apple filed a series of patent infringement cases against Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) around the world, with wins and losses on both sides.Apple's lawsuit against Acacia, Conversant and Nokia was filed only one day after Ottawa-based Conversant named Boris Teksler as its new chief executive. He had worked as Apple's director of patent licensing and strategy from 2009 to 2013, the latter half of his tenure overlapping with the lawsuits against Samsung.Acacia is a publicly traded patent licensing firm based in Newport Beach, California. One of its subsidiaries sued Apple for patent infringement and was awarded $22 million by a Texas jury in September.Similarly, Conversant, which claims to own thousands of patents, announced last week that a Silicon Valley jury had awarded one of its units a $7.3 million settlement in an infringement case against Apple involving two smartphone patents.Nokia, once the world's dominant cellphone maker, missed out on the transition to smartphones triggered by Apple's introduction of the iPhone in 2007.The Finnish company sold its handset business to Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) two years ago, leaving it with its telecom network equipment business and a bulging portfolio of mobile equipment patents.But this year, Microsoft sold its Nokia-feature phone business to a new company called HMD Global.Nokia agreed to a 10-year licensing deal with HMD, which continues to market low-cost Nokia phones and plans to introduce new Nokia smartphone models next year. PVR cinemas have introduced a new Chatbot an artificial intelligence service on their website to provide assistance to the patrons.This service offers a guided interface helping them to book tickets, find new deals and access PVR e-magazine through Chatbot on PVRs official website under a programmed endeavour.It is prompt and efficient in responding to customers queries and can accomplish all its tasks in less than 30 seconds as claimed by the company.The company's messaging bot is an intelligent computer that provides immediate information without causing delay in response.Furthermore, the conversation with the chat-bot is controlled and restricts any sort of unauthorised terminology.Speaking on the recent development, Kamal Gianchandani, Chief of Strategy PVR Ltd, said, PVR strives to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to cutting edge features, therefore we decided to add Chatbot to our site as soon as we learned about the possibility.Pvrcinemas.com users thus can, as the first in the country, instantly use Chatbot during their next visitHe further added, Artificial intelligence is the new tech trend and with the introduction of Chatbot, we aim to provide next level of seamless online experience to our customers.It is assisted, programmed, and transactional at the same time; avoiding any delay in terms of execution of the requirements.From installing Wi-Fi, to revamping its digital space, to introducing interactive touch points, PVR has engaged with its customers to provide immersive and compelling movie experience. Islamabad: Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, is among the three diplomats shortlisted for the next Foreign Secretary, a key position that will fall vacant next month as incumbent Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry has been named Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States. Official sources said that in addition to Basit, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Tehmina Janjua and High Commissioner to Britain Sayed Ibne Abbas are also in the run. Basit, 58, is the senior-most diplomat but the appointment of Foreign Secretary is not made simply by seniority as Prime Minister has the prerogative to appoint one of the senior officials of foreign ministry as the foreign secretary. An official said that Basit may be the right candidate due to his vast experience. Of the three shortlisted candidates, Basit is considered most suitable official given his experience in dealing with delicate foreign policy issues. Basit faces tough challenge from Janjua who has been highlighting Kashmir issue and Pakistan's case in the nuclear conference in Geneva. She has productive meeting with Sharif in July when she visited Pakistan to participate in envoys conference. Abbas is also serious challenger due to his current posting as high commissioner in the UK where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been visiting frequently. One of Sharif's sons is settled in UK and has been doing business there. Baghdad: Four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed by mortar fire this week during aid distribution in Mosul, the United Nations said, as the campaign to retake the city from Islamic State continued to make slow and punishing progress. On Thursday, three vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) claimed by Islamic State went off in Kokjali, an eastern suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago. At least two civilians were killed and 20 others wounded, including soldiers, according to local police, a health official and a witness. The death toll was expected to rise. Amaq news agency, which supports Islamic State, said in a statement circulated online that suicide bombers had targeted the army. A U.N. statement on the two separate mortar attacks this week that killed aid workers and wounded about 40 people said indiscriminate shelling violated international law. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," said Lise Grande, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. "All parties to the conflict - all parties - have an obligation to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians survive and receive the assistance they need." She did not assign blame for the attacks, but Islamic State militants retreating from the military offensive have repeatedly shelled areas after they are retaken by the army, killing or wounding scores of residents fleeing in the opposite direction. The U.S.-backed assault on Mosul, the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq, was launched by a 100,000-strong alliance of local forces on Oct. 17. It has become the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Elite army forces have captured a quarter of the city but the advance has faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants even in areas thought to be cleared. The authorities do not release figures for civilian or military casualties, but medical officials say dozens of people are wounded each day in the battle for Mosul. United Nations: The outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has again called for India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue and has expressed concern over the tensions along the Line of Control. Ban, whose term ends this month, encourages the South Asian neighbours to continue their efforts to deal with their disputes peacefully and through dialogue, Farhan Haq, the Secretary-General's Deputy Spokesperson, told reporters on Wednesday. Haq was replying to a Pakistani journalist who said that Ban has neither been outspoken on the Kashmir issue and the human rights situation on the Indian side of the line of control, nor endorsed the demand for sending human rights investigators made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. Haq denied that Ban had ignored the Kashmir issue. "I would disagree with you on that. We have had statements including on the situation between India and Pakistan and specifically on Kashmir," he said. "All I can say is that the secretary-general has had a very consistent position," he added. "One fact which we expressed last month is to say he is following concern the recent tensions along the Line of Control." Ban "continues to encourages them to continue their efforts to peacefully and resolve their difference through dialogue," he said. Ban has avoided becoming embroiled in the Kashmir dispute, which India has said is a bilateral issue and recognised as such by the two countries in the 1972 Simla Agreement. Ban has offered his "good offices" to help the two countries resolve their difference if he is asked by them. Other UN bodies like the Security Council and the General Assembly also sidelined Islamabad's attempts to raise the Kashmir issue. Zeid is the only official to forcefully get involved in the Kashmir issue. He criticised India in September for not responding to his request to send a team from his office to Kashmir to carry out an "independent, impartial and international mission" on both sides of the line of control. Theres an empty place on the cook line at the Lynchburg IHOP where Francheska Lane once stood. The 28-year-old Lane, who along with her 48-year-old mother, Melynda Callaham, and 7-year-old daughter, Kadriana Lane, died in a mobile home fire in Gladys early Sunday morning, had worked at the restaurant at 5500 Fort Ave. for only six months, but made a big impression on her coworkers. They acted quickly to organize a candlelight vigil for their lost friend. More than 100 people gathered in the IHOPs parking lot Wednesday evening to honor the three, holding candles and releasing a host of pink balloons into the Central Virginia sky. Its been rough, Lanes IHOP coworker Raymond Gray said. Its hard looking at her place on the line and not seeing her there. I still cant sleep; Ill stay up at night thinking about her but it will get easier for all of us. Gray spoke to the assembled crowd with grief-stricken fervor, urging God and the gathered crowd to honor the deads memories by loving one another. Much of the Callaham-Lane family stood near the center of the circle, consoled by Lanes IHOP family. We are a family, Gray said. It certainly makes us appreciate one another. More than 20 IHOP coworkers of Lanes were there, including Lamar Parris, who had known Lane since her hire earlier this year. She just put a smile on everybodys face, he said, no matter what kind of day she was having. Tom Tahney, the restaurants general manager, described Lane as the perfect employee. Because of her residence in far-away Gladys, he scheduled her four days per week instead of the typical five. She worked long, nine-hour shifts on the cook line without complaint. She was a great person great person, Tahney said. Campbell County officials still are seeking information on the cause of the fire. Maj. L. T. Guthrie, of the Campbell County Sheriffs Office, said in a release anyone who traveled through the area of 5440 Marysville Road between 2 and 2:45 a.m. Sunday is asked to contact him at (434) 332-9580 or (434) 332-9700. He said any such witnesses could help confirm the incidents specific timeline. A 911 call came in reporting the incident at about 2:35 a.m., he said. We havent been able to determine the causewere looking into that evidence, and were not going to stop until every stone is unturned, he said. Guthrie said anyone who may have seen anything in the area before or during the fire is asked to get in touch, whether or not they think its significant. Three people have lost their life, and I think its very important that the cause of this fire is determined, he said. Officials still are awaiting autopsy results from the Chief Medical Examiners Office and analysis reports from different law enforcement forensic science labs, Guthrie said. A Maryland man was arrested Tuesday in connection with three sex crime charges in Lynchburg involving a minor. Matthew Edward Staley, 45, of Silver Spring, Maryland, has been charged with rape of a child younger than 13 years old, aggressive sexual battery and object sexual penetration. He was indicted for the charges Dec. 5 and arrested on the indictments Tuesday, Lt. Dave Gearhart, of the Lynchburg Police Department, confirmed Wednesday. The charges refer to an incident that allegedly occurred between Jan. 1, 2011, and Nov. 5, 2012, in Lynchburg, and the three charges all involve the same victim, according to court documents. Staley was released from Lynchburg Adult Detention Center on Tuesday on a $20,000 secured bond. Conditions of his bond forbid him from contact with two specific individuals and limit him to supervised contact with any minor. Hes scheduled to appear in Lynchburg Circuit Court on Jan. 3. Staley is not listed in either the Virginia or Maryland sex offender registries. A judge ordered nearly six months behind bars as the active sentence for a Lynchburg mans multiple convictions tied to a rash of vehicle break-ins along Fort Avenue this spring. Montez Rashad Hubbard, 19, who admitted Oct. 17 to several larcenies in May along with another Lynchburg man, received a total sentence Wednesday of five months and 20 days in consecutive jail terms. Lynchburg Circuit Judge Ed Burnette ordered 18 months of supervised probation for Hubbard after his release, with the probation office conducting regular drug screens due to Hubbard testing positive for PCP Oct. 31 while on bond. Hubbard was remanded to the jailscustody Wednesday to begin serving his sentence. Chief Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Chuck Felmlee urged at least some jail time for Hubbard on Wednesday, saying Lynchburg residents are frustrated by car break-ins, and the crime violates their sense of security. This is a crime spree that occurred May 6 to May 9. There were multiple victims, he said, adding the offenses tied to Hubbard were associated with four victims. Hubbard took a tablet, iPhone, Glock and revolver during the break-ins, Felmlee said. After being caught, Hubbard took authorities around the city and helped them recover stolen items. All of the items Hubbard stole were recovered except for two gun holsters and a phone case valued at a total of $150, which he must pay in restitution. Not counting time suspended, Hubbard was sentenced to one month on each of two firearm larcenies; one month on possession of stolen firearm; and 10 days on each of two petit larcenies, five counts of tampering with a vehicle and one count of obstruction of justice. Felmlee said under the various statutes violated, Hubbard could have faced up to 53 years total incarceration. Hubbard told the court he was sorry for what he had done, and it would not happen again. His lawyer, Gary Straw, urged leniency for his client, noting he had helped authorities recover the stolen items. He admitted to all the offenses, he said. It shows a willingness to cooperate. Straw also noted the lack of an earlier criminal history for Hubbard and previous stints at steady work as proof he can contribute to society. Shyheim Horsley, the other man charged in the case, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 28. Short of shouting Fire! in a crowded theater, as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously observed, speech in America is a fundamental right, protected in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Apparently, there are some members of the Charlottesville City Council who need a little refresher course in constitutional law. Federal Judge Norman Moon proved more than willing to school them. First, the back story. Like all local government bodies, the Charlottesville council, when it meets, always has a period of time set aside on its agenda for public comments, when members of the public can address council on any topic or concern. One resident who regularly avails himself of the opportunity is Joseph Draego, and his favorite topic to address council on is the danger Muslim immigration poses to the U.S. and, specifically, to Charlottesville. Council members became so tired of hearing from Draego drone on about the topic that they enacted a proceedural rule giving the mayor the power to shut off the microphone for folks when their speech crosses some sort of legal line. On June 20, Draego rose to talk about his favorite topic. An influx of Muslim immigration to Charlottesville represents a grave threat to local public safety, he went on to say, because the Quran orders them to kill the sodomites and those who allow themselves to be sodomized. Once council member started arguing with Draego from her seat at the dais until Mayor Michael Signer called for a vote to cut Draegos speaking time, citing councils so-called group defamation rule. When the measure passed and Draegos mic was cut, he refused to yield the podium, lying down on the floor in protest until two police officers removed him. A couple of months later, Draego and his attorney filed suit against the city, alleging his rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments were violated. In a statement at the time of the filing, his then-attorney Jeff Fogel said, [T]here is no such thing as group defamation. ... The rule is unconstitutional, since it allows for praise of a group but not negative comments. In a preliminary ruling last month, Judge Moon agreed, saying the group defamation rule violated the First and Fourteenth amendments on their face and, specifically, as it applied to Draego. He blocked council from enforcing the speech ban between now and the jury trial scheduled for March 21-22. Just about every local public body has those one or two individuals who speak at every public comment period. Sometimes, their topics vary; others speak on the same issue meeting after meeting after meeting. Can it be irritating for an elected official? Sure. Can it get under their skin if the comments hit close to home? Absolutely. But it is their job, as public servants, to actually serve the public, and that involves hearing their concerns ... and listening to them. Citizens have the absolute right to speak, and elected public officials have the absolute duty to listen to them. Ironically, just around the corner from City Hall on the Downtown Mall is Charlottesvilles Freedom of Speech Wall, a living monument to Americas first, and most important, political right. That it took a federal judge to remind Charlottesvilles elected leaders of the importance of free speech in a democracy is a sad sign of how our civic life has degraded. 20 X-Men characters that should make the jump from Marvel comics to the MCU Some new mutant faces for the MCU X-Men era and a couple the movies can finally get right Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Provigil users may be eligible in settlement December 21, 2016 Idahoans who bought the wakefulness drug Provigil may be eligible for part of a $35 million settlement. Consumers who purchased generic versions may also be eligible. Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced in August a settlement with Cephalon, Inc. and its affiliated companies. The settlement included Idaho and 47 other states who filed a lawsuit asserting the manufacturer violated antitrust laws. Affected consumers could submit claims beginning this week. Those who purchased Provigil and/or generic versions of Provigil (modafinil) between June 24, 2006, and March 31, 2012, may be entitled to a payment. To learn more about the settlement, and to submit a consumer claim form, consumers can now visit www.stateagprovigilsettlement.com. To be eligible to receive a payment, consumers must complete and submit a valid claim form by April 13, 2017. Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail! To sell or not to sell Cemex is using an indirect subsidiary, Sierra Trading, in the bid to acquire 132,616,942 ordinary shares of TCL at a price of TT$4.50 apiece. Sierra Trading already owns 39.5 percent of TCL stock and if its latest bid is successful, it will take its ownership up to 74.9 percent. There is objection aplenty to this latest bid by Cemex the most strident from TCLs former chief executive officer, Dr Rollin Bertrand. In two letters Bertrand recalls that in 2002, Cemex made what he calls a ridiculous offer of TT$5.62 or US$0.92 per share for 100 percent of the companys stock, an offer which was rejected by TCL. The company then issued a revised bid of TT$7.15 or US$1.17 directly to the shareholders. The company hired American investment bankers JP Morgan to do a valuation of the shares and when JP Morgan returned a determination that the shares were worth TT$10 or US$1.64 each, the TCL board again advised shareholders to reject the bid. Bertrand feels this is the approach the company should adopt this time around hire a reputable investment bank to value the companys shares. However, TCL chairman Wilfred Espinet sees no need to bring in an investment banker, arguing there are many reputable institutions competent enough to conduct a fairness opinion of the valuation done by Cemex, which is the way TCL intends to go. Espinet said the current TCL board has taken a position that every time it spends the companys money it must get value for the money spent, and the existing board would not approach the problem in the same way as the previous board. They have disqualified themselves as being authorities, he said. He said the board had an obligation to engage a third party who was unrelated and who the companys governance committee was satisfied did not have any conflict to do a fairness opinion of the valuation which supported Cemexs offer. We did not say that we were going to do a valuation. Espinet said a valuation is something subjective. I can give three valuators to value the same property and they could come up with totally different valuations. The process by law is that you must get a fairness opinion and we are doing that. The question is whether having another valuation serves a purpose. I think, personally, that it may create more confusion than is required. The board is going to have a fairness opinionsome third party will look at the offers and then the board must respond to that in its obligation to give a recommendation to its shareholders. He added the valuations already put forward and Bertrands proposed valuation would show that anybody could have their own ideas about the methodology to be used. Each one is arguable. He said the solution is for anyone who thinks the company is worth more than Cemex is offering to step forward and buy the company at their proposed price. Why doesnt Bertrand and they put together a team and offer $5? he asked. If he thinks it is worth $5 let him offer $5. He said the way to determine what something is worth is what someone is prepared to pay for it. According to Espinet, The board of TCL is neither a buyer or a seller and it has engaged a third party that is independent and in our minds non-conflicted to come up with a value or to come up with a fairness of the valuation. He added the four Cemex directors on the board would naturally recuse themselves from the decision-making process. The governance of this company is a gold standard of governance in this country today. We will never sit on a board and agree that we are going to have Cemex directors make a decision about a Cemex issue. We will ask them to excuse themselves. In fact, they will excuse themselves. He said the directors did not come onto the board as Cemex people. The board must await the fairness opinion from the experts appointed to do the job, said Espinet, and when it comes in to us the board will sit in a special committee of directors who are not in any way conflicted. They will sit and they will come up with recommendations for the board. Then we will sit as a full board - everybody - and make our determination. He reminded the public that the number of Cemex representatives are fewer than the non-Cemex directors so they are not in a position to outvote the other directors because it is a Cemex issue. And we will take a decision in the interest of TCL and all its stakeholders - and all its stakeholders are not only shareholders because I have employees, financial institutions, I have the public that I sell to and I have the public whose interest I have to represent - the whole public of Trinidad and Tobago. In response to a suggestion that once it receives the fairness opinion the board should call a shareholders meeting and explain the opinion and seek shareholders views, Espinet said the board does have an obligation to inform the shareholders but that is a prescribed process in which the company has to send the shareholders an actual document - the directors circular containing the directors position and an explanation of that position which must be sent 21 days after the offer is made. So, we are bound by law and by ethics to do that properly. But the labour movement is also against the deal: in a brief comment president of the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM), Ancel Roget, said JTUM would be opposed to the sale of TCL to Cemex Vincent Cabrera, president of the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU), one of the member trade unions of JTUM, was also opposed to any proposed sale. He said the takeover bid was clearly another move by foreign capital to monopolise the local market. He said if Cemex were successful in its takeover bid it could carry out dumping because of its size compared to the local TCL since the local company would not be able to achieve the economies of scale which could be achieved by Cemex. It calls into question how we approach strategically the question of national ownership as against foreign ownership which the Government would have little or no control over, said Cabrera Then there is shareholder activist, Peter Permell, who said it was clear to him that Cemex intention was the takeover of TCL but when the Mexican cement giant made its initial offer in 2002, one of the big obstacles was the 20 percent limitation on share ownership. He recalled a special shareholders meeting was called to remove the cap but that effort failed for lack of the necessary votes. However, the board of directors later summoned another special shareholders meeting at which shareholders voted to remove the cap. Permell said he never understood why shareholders would vote in favour of such a resolution without understanding all the implications if there was a takeover that was likely to be in the offing. He said the resolution was passed because the company was in bad shape, shareholders had not received dividends for years, the finances were in a mess and the shareholders were unhappy with the then board of directors. He said following the removal of the cap, Cemex was able to buy up more than 20 percent of the companys shares through a rights issue. For Permell, the issue is whether the price of $4.50 being offered by Cemex was a good offer but he said shareholders would have to wait until the board of directors completed a valuation and give their opinion whether they were for or against the offer or whether they were neutral. He pointed out that under the Takeover Bye-Laws the directors had 21 days from the date of the offer to submit their valuation and opinion. Espinet is unfazed by the opposition. Pointing out that TCL was established by an Englishman, he debunked the narrative that the company does not have to run properly or profitably only that it remains in local hands. He said that was not true and at the price of 95 cents per share under the previous board and management, the company would have been bust by now. He said TCL was in a state of technical insolvency when the new board took it over. He said if the directors had not met with the companys creditors and gone into default, the company would have gone bust. He said at that point it was necessary to replenish the capital TCL had lost but many companies, even big entities, did not support the Claxton Bay-based operation while Cemex was willing to do so. ABOUT CEMEX According to its website, Cemex is a global building materials company with operations in some 50 countries and trade relationships in more than 100 nations, providing what are described as high quality products and reliable services. The company has close to 43,000 employees across the world, is one of the leading cement manufacturers in the world and is described as the worlds largest supplier of ready-mix concrete and aggregates. It is also described as one of the globes top traders in cement and clinker. TCLs former chief executive officer, Dr Rollin Bertrand. FATCA Again On two occasions, on September 9, 2016 and December 9, 2016, the Tax Information Exchange Agreement Bill 2016 was laid for debate in Parliament and in the both instances, the Opposition walked-out. The Bill was taken to a whole committee of the House of Representatives on December 12 2016. However, the Opposition once again chose to abstain from the debate. The Government currently has 23 members in the House of Representatives, but 26 votes are required to pass the Bill, which means that a minimum of three votes are needed from the Opposition. Consequently, the Tax Information Exchange Agreements Bill 2016, cannot be passed without support from the Opposition, as the legislation requires a three-fifths majority, which Government does not have now. Trinidad and Tobago has until February 2017 to pass the relevant legislation to give effect to the IGA in order to begin reporting to the IRS by September 30 2017. The Opposition continues to hold the position of requiring a Joint Select Committee (JSC) to review the Bill and has even gone as far as to identify members to sit on this Committee. The natural question would then be, what is the value of a JSC? According to the Parliament website, these Committees are established to consider and report on important issues. Such issues may be legislative, financial or investigatory. The operational procedures of these Select Committees allow them wide powers to fully consider their mandates and facilitate an interaction between Members of Parliament and Government officials, interested parties, legal and other professional associations and the general public in deliberations on a wide variety of subjects. At the end of their deliberations, these Committees report back to their principal Houses, stating their findings and observation and recommending acceptance or rejection of the legislation. This is as opposed to the whole committee of the House of Representatives which, as it states, is made up of the House of Representatives. Maybe the Government can explain why the outright refusal to consider a JSC outside of saying that it is just not necessary and furthermore having reneged on its previous position. Interestingly, the IRS website states that all IGAs (not FATCA legislation) contemplate that a partner government will require all foreign financial institutions located in its jurisdiction (that are not otherwise exempt) to identify US accounts and report information about US accounts. It further states that an IGA can be implemented without having in effect a double tax convention or tax information exchange agreement with the United States. Maybe the Government can advise whether this is indeed the case and if so, what does this mean for us? Lastly, the Attorney General mentioned that in November 2016, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes found Trinidad and Tobago was one of three countries in the entire forum to be non-compliant. He added though that the Government has sought to address the issue by engaging to sign a multilateral convention with the Global Forum that would take the country out of default. Again, one has to wonder what does this mean for the country and why are stakeholders and citizens not engaged or informed of these details. Caribbean en garde over Lagarde In 2007 Lagarde became Frances finance minister and attempted to resolve the issue by ordering a settlement through a private arbitration panel, as opposed to accessing the regular court system. Lagardes decision in mid- 2008 to approve and not to appeal the 404m ($429m; ?340m) arbitration award for businessman Tapie led to the massive government payout and angered the French public. Last year, a Paris court ordered Tapie to repay the money. Even after the conviction, it is most surprising that she will face no fine or jail sentence. It must be noted that Lagarde has denied any wrongdoing. Indeed, it was only on Friday that Lagarde told the trial she had always acted in good faith and the suspicion she had lived under for the past five years had been an ordeal. Since the verdict, the IMF board is to meet shortly to consider the latest developments. It is noteworthy that the French government has indicated that it still had confidence in the IMF chief who also happens to be a previous Minister of Finance in France. For many people the issue may be far removed and possibly has no implications for us in the Caribbean. This episode, however, and the continued relevance of Lagarde as IMF chief must be questioned. Indeed, there should be cause for concern as undoubtedly the character and judgement of the IMF chief are being called into question. One must also remember that she is the same IMF chief that has made numerous decisions regarding the Caribbean people. Can we as a Caribbean people trust the clearly poor judgment of the IMF chief or can we assume that there has been the lack of equal treatment and fairness especially in the critical issues of vulnerability and debt overhang that have plagued the Caribbean. While no decision has yet been made regarding the Lagardes future at the IMF, the Caribbean should take a united position on the type of leader it wants at that institution and communicate this to its Board. Lagardes poor judgement which is at the heart of the case. It is her judgement that appears to treat close political allies favourably. For many years, the Caribbean has presented a case detailing the vulnerability of these small states with the highest debt/ GDP profile internationally. This vulnerability to extreme events has seen destruction of productive infrastructure and plant and equipment. In many cases these destroyed assets had loans that were still being serviced. The nature of the vulnerability extended to exogenous shocks which affected earnings of the states in the Caribbean. These latest shocks that have seen a major fall in oil prices are a good example of this. It is important to note that these arguments of vulnerability were advanced not only for the Caribbean but for all five groupings of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) comprising some 42 countries that exist globally. One must wonder whether these arguments were given a fair hearing and whether Lagarde truly understood the nuances of these small states. There are many, including Lagarde, who are yet to be convinced that the Caribbean and all SIDS qualify for being classified as vulnerable. This has implications for the way facilities and programmes at the IMF are made available to us in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. It also impacts the treatment of problems that exist in the region and the need for understanding and an appreciation that our debt profile and vulnerability require a different set of programmes designed to address such unique challenges. The IMF is yet to adjust the criteria for assistance for countries with debt/GDP over 60 percent to 56 percent threshold as put forward by Greenidge et.al. which will have far more meaningful impact on the Caribbean. It should be admitted that various times the Caribbean have advocated the essential arguments about the Caribbean and SIDS vulnerability. However, the Governor of the Barbados Central Bank was most forceful in his advocacy of the Caribbean problems to the point that he was considered rude by some. It is that clarity and decisiveness that is needed now as the Caribbean should clearly state to the Board of Governors that Lagarde or her replacement must, in an unbiased manner, treat with the issues of vulnerability and debt/GDP overhang. Our future depends not only on presenting arguments but having the right people with the right disposition in place to address our interests. This is not the first time that the IMF itself has shown questionable judgement in its choice of leader. The IMF must choose persons with integrity in personal and public life to lend credibility to the office and consequently in the decisions that the office makes. Indeed, there are well over 40 countries affected by the vulnerability issue. They must be en garde over Lagarde and raise their voices on these matters. Chinese FDI, potentials and pitfalls Chinese influence in the Caribbean has been increasing over the past 15 years both in terms of the number of their citizens living and transiting through the region and the level of investment. An Inter American Development Bank paper is saying that, even though the main sources of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the region currently come from the US and the UK, potentially, there is an opportunity to attract much more FDI from China than the region is currently receiving. Its author, Richard Bernal, discusses examples of FDI in the region, the general reaction of the Caribbean to this Chinese outreach and what can be done if the region hopes to capitalise on the third largest source of FDI in the world. According to Bernal, the Chinese have made US$119 billion in loan commitments to Latin America and the Caribbean since 2005. These have been largely to finance Chinese firms construction of energy and infrastructure projects. This in turn is an outgrowth of the deliberate effort of the Chinese to become more involved in the global economy and increase their influence. The paper notes that the economic circumstances of the Caribbean countries make increased Chinese FDI an important new development. It also lists the beneficiaries of Chinese FDI from 2005 to 2013, with TT receiving increasing amounts in these years from $US 0.8 million in 2006 (there is no record for 2005) to $US 3.9 million in 2013. It also lists the investor firms and the value of their investments. These are the Chaoyang BVI, ($0.78 million in oil production), the China Investment Corporation ($850 million in natural gas) and the memorandum of understanding signed between NGC and the ENN Group. This is in line with Bernals assertion that Chinese investors are particularly interested in energy and ministerals, but also agriculture and tourism. He said since the Caribbean is not the only area of the world that provides these investment opportunities, it should strive to make itself more attractive. It can do so, he said, through better marketing with sustained and planned campaigns as opposed to investment promotion missions. Such efforts could be assisted by embassies and government and promotion agencies. Bernal also suggested that the efforts should be unified. The Caribbean, as a group of small investment destinations, should collectively present the region as a cluster development opportunity for China. The efficacy of tourism presenting the Caribbean as a region in which there are broad similarities and commonalities has been proven throughout the region, without obscuring the uniqueness of each country. The paper also said that their should be more linkages, joint ventures and strategic business alliances between Chinese and Caribbean firms, with improvements made in the ease of doing business on the Caribbean side. The region should also utilise the strong business networks created by the Chinese nationals, who have in some territories, been living in the region since the late 19th century. But Bernal also laid down some cautionary areas for Caribbean countries to be aware of including local resentments against increased Chinese presence and cites some examples across the islands, inclusive of TTs architects, having complained about the employment of Chinese workers on projects being executed by Chinese firms. Foreign ownership of important assets were also likely to fuel narratives of asset stripping where profits are removed from the national economy, hampering longer development aims. Governments, Bernal said, should also establish a regulatory regime that ensures the right kind of investor comes to the country, is respectful of the environment and resources, that they share technology and utilise local labour. Corporate governance, a weak point in several jurisdictions, came up for mention. Due diligence and the institutional capacity to undertake it, on foreign investment will be paramount for the Caribbean countries to protect against money laundering and to ensure the protection of national standards and reputations. From successive Manning administrations to the Kamla Persad Bissessar admininstration, the Chinese have been playing an increasing role in this countrys economy, particularly in its construction and energy sectors. The observations Bernal has made has important implications, especially if the Chinese presence is going to become more prevalent. Given the reduction in FDI from energy firms and the need expressed by both the Prime Minister and Energy Minister that we need to get more of our oil and gas out of the ground, there may be a further role for the Chinese to play here. But as Bernal has pointed out, we may also have to pay closer attention to how the Chinese and their FDI contribution is integrated into the economy and the governance mechanism that will oversee this process. At least one commission of inquiry related to the role of Chinese labour and firms in contructing national projects has demonstrated this. Ultimately too, we may have to adopt a wait and see approach of the Trump government to China and how the US will react to a Caribbean becoming closer to it. Trinity Lodge fun time The event offered a fun party night with friends and colleagues who arrived to a festive cocktail, followed by a delicious Christmas dinner. A revived Trinity Ensemble Parang Group headed by past masters Ossie Woods and Anthony Sanchez added some old-time parang and fun and even inspired two youthful guests to take to the dance floor. The Master of the Lodge, Richard Saunders thanked the members for their outstanding support during the year. He introduced the office bearers who included immediate past master Trevor Paul, Tommy Lawrence as secretary, Colville Carrington, Dr Joseph Jacob and Dr Vinod Mahabir. Dr Godfrey Rajkumar received special commendation for co-ordinating the very successful Wine and Cheese event which raised funds to support several of the lodges charitable activities. Business as usual for Me Asia Sources from within the restaurant yesterday denied that of any of it employees, local or immigrant, are being mistreated by management of the restaurant. They also denied having any knowledge of management being told to close their doors until health and safety concerns have been addressed. Sources told Newsday yesterday, that all workers, said to have been detained for questioning, were present and accounted for. They said the restaurant opened its doors at its regular time and all employees arrived at work as they usually did. One staff member admitted that employees were questioned by investigators as the restaurant was searched. According to earlier reports the management of the Ariapita Avenue, Port-of-Spain branch of the restaurant was warned earlier to keep the establishment closed until they were able to comply with certain health and safety regulations of which they were in violation. TTUTA: End victimisation against Tranquil teachers TTUTA is also calling on him to recommend to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) to discontinue the disciplinary proceedings against the teachers on grounds of victimisation . In a statement yesterday, president Lynsley Doodhai said TTUTA, at last Saturdays general council meeting, considered the teachers issue and concluded that the matter points to victimisation of association officials for pursuance of trade union rights and safety and health in the workplace. The teachers, including TTUTAs staff representative, stayed away from school on TTUTAs advice to teachers not to occupy the school building which had serious electrical problems identified in a report dated November 11, 2015 by the Electrical Inspectorate. Directions were given to have the problems remedied by a Licensed Electrical Contractor. Disciplinary proceedings were subsequently instituted against them . According to Doodhai, the proceedings which have been going on for over five years, has had numerous delays, and a change in the chairman of the disciplinary tribunal due to TTUTAs objections . Coming out of the general council meeting, he said, TTUTA was mandated to seek an urgent meeting with Garcia to request that the ministry discontinue the disciplinary proceedings against the teachers . TTUTA views the ministrys actions, he said, as spiteful and oppressive noting that the teachers have been denied every opportunity for promotion and their increments have been affected. Doodhai said that financial institutions view doing business with them as risky . AMCHAM optimistic about FATCA passage At a news conference at Scotiabanks headquarters at the corner of Park and Richmond Streets, Port of Spain, they stressed the urgency of passing the legislation by the new deadline __ the end of February 2017. President of the Bankers Association, Anya Schnoor said that the association began discussing this issue with the previous government from 2012 to 2014 when the then government accepted the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) 1 option and entered into an agreement in substance with the U.S. Treasury Service, a prelude to the passage of the legislation. Following the media conference the five groups met the Opposition on Monday to press home their position. Suryadevara said his optimism sprang from a cordial conversation between the two sides on Monday at the Opposition Leaders office. He said the Chairman of the United National Congress (UNC), David Lee, gave the business groups the commitment that the Opposition will be in Parliament when debate on the FATCA legislation resumes on January 6, 2016. So we are expectant to see what happens. I believe we had a good conversation, points were exchanged, Suryadevera told Newsday in a telephone interview. He said he was also optimistic after speaking with the Attorney General on Wednesday, Simply because where the legislation has been left there has been a narrowing of differences of opinion in spite of how the process of arriving here has transpired and for national benefit we are hopeful seeing that the positions of review have narrowed significantly. OWTU warns of strike action Roget made the announcement at a press conference held yesterday outside of the Eric Williams Finance Building, Independence Square . To media, Roget said, If the Petrotrin management comes back and says there is nothing for the workers, at the appropriate time legally available to us we will serve and effect strike action on the Petroleum Company of TT without fail. His statements were made prior to a meeting scheduled to be held today with the Labour Ministry on the negotiations. The company, he said, was asked to go to the Finance Minister and come back with a reasonable response. Pending this response the union would act accordingly . Tomorrow afternoon we have a meeting set with the Ministry of Labour in San Fernando where the company was asked to go to the said Minister of Finance and come back with a reasonable response . We do not want the whole pie. We do not want half of the pie, quarter of the pie but for heavens sake, we having contributed to baking that pie we will not accept no pie for us, Roget declared . Roget did not want to disclose the exact date of the strike action but he also promised if Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, raised gas prices, we are going to mobilise for a national shut down in TT. Roget said that the Chief Personnel Officers (CPO) offer of zero, zero, zero-which came from the Finance Minister, would not be accepted by the union . He recalled Minister Imberts statement at the November International Monetary Fund (IMF) forum in which Imbert said the Government was exercising wage restraint and its offer of zero, zero, zero was a starting point for 2017 negotiations . Imbert, Roget said, was imposing IMF conditionality on the country Social Development offers support for families The ministry explained this support will be in the form of a prepaid card for the purchase of food up to the value of $400 and will offer families an easy, convenient and efficient way of helping to meet their nutrition requirements this holiday season. Delivery of these cards began on Tuesday at locations identified by the 41 Members of Parliament in the House of Representatives. The ministry said it was pleased to provide this support to families in need at this time. Asked how many MPs were taking advantage of this opportunity to help needy persons in their respective constituencies, ministry officials indicated that to date, officials of the respective MP Offices have been cooperating with the Ministrys staff who have been assigned to the identified locations to deliver the cards to the vulnerable persons. MPs on both sides of the political divide confirmed their awareness of this initiative and that they used it. Health Minister and St Joseph MP Terrence Deyalsingh said, Yes I have. I did it today. It went well. Congress of the People (COP) St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar replied yes to being aware of the prepaid cards and seeking to have these cards provided to needy persons in his constituency. United National Congress (UNC) Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial also said she took advantage of this opportunity to help needy persons in her constituency over this Christmas season. Yes I did, Ramdial stated. Female Coast Guard CO makes history on CG28 Bourne did so when she captained the TTS Carli Bay (CG 28) on its maiden voyage from The Netherlands to Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas . The CG 28 and the TTS Moruga (CG 27) arrived in Trinidad on Monday, having completed a three-week voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from the Port of Gorinchem, Gorinchem, Netherlands where they were built by Dutch shipbuilder, Damen Schelde (Damen) . These two vessels are the most recent delivery in a 12-vessel order made by the TT Government back in May 2015. The first six vessels were delivered in July 2015 . In between posing for photos with girls from the TT Cadet Forces Naval Cadets from the Naval Cadet Unit at Holy Faith Convent, Couva, Bourne answered Newsdays questions about her historic achievement . Its a great responsibility . Something thats not new to me because being the first female officer in the TTCG, I have been breaking a lot of ground in terms of what I have achieved . Hopefully, one day it will be commonplace; where every woman will be doing it. Bourne recalled that her first command was of a Fast Patrol Craft (FPC) in 2012, I believe. While the Lt Cdr was the first woman to hold certain posts in the TTCG, she happily noted that the Coast Guard has incorporated all our females in everything we do. So theres no restrictions and thats one of the beautiful things about the Coast Guard; theres no restriction on women other than themselves. Asked what message she would like to send to her female TTCG colleagues, Bourne replied, Never limit yourself . Youre only limited by your own imagination, youre only limited by your own mind. Expand your knowledge, never say you cant. Childrens mas producer Rosalind Gabriel retires The announcement of her retirement was made via her Facebook Page on September 19 at 12.54pm. In a post to her page, Gabriel told supporters, Regretfully, I must inform all children who play mas with me, that Carnival 2016 was my last year. I have made the very difficult decision to retire from producing mas. Her involvement in mas production spans forty years, starting in 1977. The reason for Gabriels retirement, however, remains unclear. Attempts to contact her via phone and email were unsuccessful. The post further said, I would like to thank all the guardians, mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, grannies, and grandpas, who supported me in the early years and onwards, all the people who stood at the side of the road and waited for the band to pass with broad smiles on their faces eagerly waving their hands from side to side. Gabriel thanked sponsors Nestle Orchard, Beacon Insurance, Norman Gabriel Ltd, Blue Waters among others for their support and standing by her to the end. She also thanked her family, saying, (you) have always supported me through the highs and the lows of producing Mas, and all of the workers at the camp, and especially the designers. She described it as the hardest decision she ever had to make and said she was truly sorry the day had to come. The post gained 138 reactions with 38 shares. Many in the comments section thanking Gabriel for her contribution. Get the news faster. Tap to install our app. Access Newser even faster. Click here to install our app on your desktop. X (Newser) The quote near the top of the story is this: "I didn't want to be 80 years old and know that I did nothing during the greatest humanitarian crisis of my time." It's from Jim Estill, CEO of the Danby appliance company in Guelph, Ontario, and it goes a long way toward explaining why the headline at Toronto Life refers to him as the "Oskar Schindler of Guelph." The humanitarian crisis he's referring to is the plight of ordinary citizens in Syria, and Estill has now brought 58 familiesmore than 200 individualsto Guelph to begin their lives anew. Estill hasn't just put up $1.5 million of his own money, he's now spearheading an ever-growing operation that encompasses job-training, language lessons, housing development, the coordination of volunteers and donations, etc. At this point, Estill "is prototyping an ambitious sponsorship program that he hopes will grow into a full-scale humanitarian movement," writes Mark Mann. "He wants to show other wealthy businesspeople across the country how they can front the money, set volunteers in motion and use their professional networks to find jobs for refugees." Estill emphasizes that last point: It's not about fostering dependency. "Youre not doing anyone any favors if you just hand them checks." He chooses the refugees himself, and his voice breaks while recounting those life-or-death decisions. He looks for families with someone able to work, meaning singles and seniors are generally excluded. Who do you help?" he asks. "How do you choose who starves? Click for the full story, which describes the 59-year-old Estill in a tongue-and-cheek manner as "annoyingly disciplined." Among other things: no TV and a codified set of "success habits." (Read more Longform stories.) (Newser) From the war-torn ruins of eastern Aleppo to the presidential palace in Turkey. CNN reports 7-year-old Bana Alabedwhose Twitter account has gained more than 350,000 followers since Septemberposed for photos and video with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday in Ankara. "Thank you for supporting the children of Aleppo and help us to get out from war," Bana says in English in a video posted to a Turkish cabinet chief's Twitter account. "I love you." Meanwhile, Erdogan's Twitter account posted photos of the meeting with the caption, "Turkey will always stand with the people of Syria," according to the New York Times. Bana's Twitter account was started by her mother Fatemah to show "how much kids are suffering," the BBC reports. Tweets showed Bana attempting to live a normal life amid chaos and violence of the siege of the Syrian city. The girl also befriended JK Rowling on Twitter and received digital copies of the Harry Potter series. The Alabed family home was destroyed during bombing Nov. 27 and the family went into hiding before escaping Aleppo on Dec. 19. Erdogan, who had previously tweeted words of encouragement to Bana, quickly sent a helicopter to pick her family up and bring them to Turkey. Experts have warned that Bana may be being used for propaganda, and some skeptics have even suggested she's been in Turkey the entire time. (Read more Bana Alabed stories.) (Newser) "It happened again" is what Erin Piche-Pitts told authorities when her second infant died of apparent suffocation, even though she'd been repeatedly warned about the dangers of co-sleeping, the New York Times reports. The son of the woman from Winter Haven, Fla., died in October, this time resulting in a felony aggravated manslaughter charge against her. Per the Orlando Sentinel, the story begins Dec. 4, 2009, not even two weeks after baby Angelina was born. Piche-Pitts brought the infant into bed to breastfeed and dozed off, waking to find the baby "cold and stiff to the touch," per an affidavit; Angelina's death was ruled accidental. On Oct. 6 of this year, her 18-day-old son, Javier, became unresponsive after she fell asleep in bed with him during a bottle feeding, the affidavit notes. His death was also ruled accidental, though his autopsy hasn't been finalized. What leads these two incidents into negligence territory is that Piche-Pitts had been warned both during her pregnancies and after the births about co-sleeping dangersvia training and counseling, and from hospital staff and familyand especially so after Angelina died, per the Polk County Sheriff's Office (which also gave WTSP a rap sheet on Piche-Pitts that includes burglary, domestic violence, and possession of meth). The Times notes the case highlights the ongoing controversy on co-sleeping, with some (especially in non-Western parts of the world) insisting it can be a safe way to get infants back to sleep if practiced correctly, while others continue to note its dangers. "These are very, very difficult cases," a Polk County prosecutor says. "We are not charging parents with crimes because accidents happen. There has got to be something more to it." (The risks of co-sleeping are long documented.) (Newser) Lawrence McKinney spent 31 years and nine months in prison before DNA evidence cleared him and set him free in 2009. Now, McKinney is seeking the $1 million he is entitled to under Tennessee law for all of those lost years. "I dont have no life, all my life was taken away," McKinney, 61, tells CBS News. McKinney was convicted of rape and burglary in 1978. His neighbor claimed McKinney, then 22, was one of two men who attacked her in her bedroom. When a Memphis jury pronounced him guilty, "I still could not believe it because I thought it was a dream or something." He was sentenced to 115 years in prison. McKinney tells CNN that when he walked out of prison a free man, he was handed a check for $75, a check he couldn't cash for three months until he got an ID. Since then, he has relied on odd jobs at his church to make ends meet. The problem is that the Tennessee parole board has twice rejected his bid for formal exoneration, which would open the door to compensation. A former board member tells CBS she is not convinced McKinney is innocent, even though prosecutors in 2008 said that if DNA testing had been available at the time of the crime, "there would have been no prosecution." McKinney's lawyer is appealing the matter to Gov. Bill Haslam. For his part, McKinney says he is not angry about those lost decades. He married a prison pen pal and attends Bible study most nights. "All I ask is that I be treated right and fair for what has happened to me," he tells CNN. "I didn't do nothing, and I just want to be treated right." (Cleared of rape, this man spent half his life in prison.) (Newser) After meeting with the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin on Wednesday, Donald Trump secured one promise: His successor will fly in a cheaper plane. In what Reuters calls the president-elect's "latest move to use the bully pulpit to pressure companies to help advance his economic agenda," Trump secured a promise from Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg that the Air Force One replacement program will cost less than $4 billion. Earlier this month, Trump publicly complained about the estimated cost of the project to replace the presidential planes, tweeting "Cancel order!" Muilenburg told reporters at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach that he had given Trump a "personal commitment" to control the cost of the planes, which are not expected to be ready before 2024. Trump also met with Lockheed Martin chief Marillyn Hewson on Wednesday. He told reporters he had been trying to reduce the "very, very expensive" estimated cost of the F-35 fighter jet program, the New York Times reports. Asked if he had made any progress getting the price down from an estimated $400 billion for 2,400 jets, he said the "dance" was just beginning, adding: "We're going to get the costs down and we're going to get it done beautifully." Both CEOs said the meetings had been very productive, while Trump praised the Pentagon officials who were present. "I met some really great Air Force GENERALS and Navy ADMIRALS today, talking about airplane capability and pricing," he tweeted. "Very impressive people!" (Read more Donald Trump stories.) (Newser) New York City police say they believe the opportunistic thief who swiped an 86-pound bucket of gold flakes worth nearly $1.6 million off an armored truck in Manhattan is hiding out on the West Coast. Detectives say the man fled to Orlando, Fla., after the Sept. 29 theft before ultimately landing in California. Police believe he's hiding out in the Los Angeles area with the stolen gold, the AP reports. The theft occurred in broad daylight and was caught on street surveillance cameras. Police say their suspect is 53-year-old Julio Nivelo, who goes by the names Luis Toledo, David Vargas, and other aliases. They say he's a career thief from New Jersey who has been arrested and deported back to his native Ecuador several times. (Read more weird crimes stories.) (Newser) A brother of the fugitive Tunisian suspected in Berlin's deadly Christmas market attack is urging Anis Amri to turn himself in to police. Amri's family members, speaking from his hometown of Oueslatia in central Tunisia, were shaken to learn he's the prime suspect in Monday's truck attack, which killed 12. Amri, who turned 24 on Thursday, left Tunisia years ago for Europe but had been in regular contact with his brothers via Facebook and phone. "I ask him to turn himself into the police," brother Abdelkader Amri tells the AP. "If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it." He says his brother may have been radicalized in prison in Italy, where he went after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. In other developments: German media reported several locations were searched overnight, including a house in Dortmund and a refugee home in Emmerich on the Dutch border. Federal prosecutors, who are leading the investigation, declined to comment. The manhunt also prompted police in Denmark to search a Sweden-bound ferry in the port of Grenaa after receiving tips that someone resembling Amri had been spotted. But police said they found nothing indicating his presence. German officials had deemed Amri, who arrived in the country last year, a potential threat long before the attack. They had been trying to deport him after his asylum application was rejected, and politicians are now bickering over what conclusions should be drawn. The Berlin market that was attacked has reopened. Concrete blocks have been put in place at the roadside to heighten security. Organizers decided to reopen the market next to the central Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Thursday, though without party music or bright lighting. Berliners and visitors have laid candles and flowers at the site in tribute. Israel Foreign Ministry rep Emmanuel Nahshon said Thursday that citizen Dalia Elyakim was among those killed in the attack. Elyakim was visiting Berlin with her husband Rami and had been missing since the attack. Her husband was seriously wounded but is now stable. The couple, in their 60s, loved to travel, friends say. Donald Trump, when asked Wednesday if the attack in Berlin would cause him to evaluate the proposed ban or a possible registry of Muslims in the United States, said "You know my plans. All along, I've been proven to be right, 100% correct," the AP reports. " A transition rep said later that Trump's plans "might upset those with their heads stuck in the politically correct sand." (Read more Germany stories.) (Newser) It made national headlines a week before the election: Someone set fire to a black church in Mississippi and painted the words "Vote Trump" on the building. Now authorities think they've got the arsonist, and they say the idea that a Donald Trump supporter did this was a ruse, reports the Clarion-Ledger. Police in Greenville arrested 45-year-old Andrew McClinton, who is an African-American member of the congregation of Hopewell Baptist Church. "We do not believe it was politically motivated," state insurance commissioner Mike Chaney tells the AP. "There may have been some efforts to make it appear politically motivated." Authorities have not speculated about a motive but, so far, McClinton has not been charged with a hate crime, though he is charged with first-degree arson of a place of worship. "We do not know if the federal government will pursue that as such because we do not have a motive," says a city spokesperson. The Nov. 1 fire destroyed the church, which was founded in 1905 and now has about 200 members. It's expected to take months to rebuild. McClinton served seven years in prison for armed robbery before his release in 2012, notes the AP. (Read more arson stories.) (Newser) Last-minute holiday shopping is usually stressful, but for two Hispanic women in Kentucky, a trip to the local mall proved even more soand now everyone's watching the video of what happened. Per NBC News, a shopper at JCPenney in Louisville's Jefferson Mall laid into the women Tuesday when one of them joined the other at the register with items to pay for, making the third shopper irate. "Go back to wherever the f--- you come from, lady," the white shopper can be heard saying in the video, shot by customer Renee Buckner. "Get in the back of the line like everybody else does. Youre nobodies." She went on to accuse the pair of being on welfare and told them to "speak English. You're in America. If you don't know it, learn it." Buckner posted the video on her Facebook page Tuesday with a short explanation of what had happened and the hashtag #exposingTheRacism. "If we ignore it, it will never go away," she wrote. "This is what America has come to." Timothy Findley, a Louisville pastor who spoke to the Courier-Journal on Buckner's behalf, says she's been overwhelmed by response to the video and that "we all shared the same reaction: shock, disappointment, but not surprised." Findley tells NBC that after the camera was turned off, the ranting shopper mentioned how President-elect Trump "is going to 'fix' this." Reaction has come in in support of the two berated customers, with the Jefferson Mall noting on Facebook it will ban the perpetrator for life once she's IDed, and JCPenney looking to ID the two customers to apologize and "reimburse them for their entire purchase." Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer tweeted Wednesday about the incident, writing: "I am sad and disappointed to see conduct like what happened at Jefferson Mall, when one person so dehumanizes another human being." (A racist rant in a Chicago Michael's.) (Newser) The US has returned 9,909 acres of land on the island of Okinawa to Japan in what the New York Times calls the "the largest transfer of land" since the US officially returned the island to Japan in 1972. In exchange, Japan has built six helipads to be kept in US control. US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy says this "milestone demonstrates America's continued determination to reduce the impact of our presence" on Okinawa, while the US military notes US-controlled land on the island has been reduced by 17%, reports CNN. But far from applauding the move, activists who've campaigned for years against US military presence on Okinawa have gathered to protest and say they feel "betrayed" by their government. As a rep for activist group Peace Okinawa puts it to CNN, "Okinawa alone is host to 74% of the US' military bases in Japan. The return of this land only reduces this presence to 71%." A resident adds the helipads are "nothing but an intensifying of the bases." Activists have long called for the removal US military bases allowed under US-Japanese security agreements as American sailors and contractors have been accused or convicted of rape, murder, drunk driving, and other crimes. Residents have also complained about noise and accidents; an Osprey aircraft crash-landed into the sea just last week. As the new helipads are located near residential areas, activists fear the helicopters will endanger Okinawa residents. (Read more Japan stories.) (Newser) A convicted Colorado robber who was sent back to prison after being mistakenly released decades before serving out his 98-year sentence asked a judge Wednesday to set him free again, arguing it would be unfair for him to remain imprisoned after he started a family, got a steady job, and reformed himself, the AP reports. Rene Lima-Marin, 38, was convicted in 2000 on multiple counts of robbery, kidnapping, and burglary after he and another man robbed two suburban Denver video stores at gunpoint. A judge issued him back-to-back sentences for a total of 98 years. But a court clerk mistakenly wrote in Lima-Marin's file that the sentences were to run at the same time. Corrections officials depend on that file to determine how much time an inmate should serve, and Lima-Marin was erroneously released on parole in 2008. He held a steady job as a window glazer, got married, and had a son before the error was found in January 2014, when cops returned him to prison to complete his sentence. Lima-Marin fought back tears as he told Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. he's experiencing severe emotional pain because of his separation from his wife, her son whom he adopted, and the son they had together during his freedom. "I'm supposed to be the ... person who's supposed to guide and lead them ... and I've been taken away from them," he said. But prosecutors said Lima-Marin shouldn't be freed because he knew about the clerk's error and never notified authorities. Lima-Marin's co-defendant, Michael Clifton, also would have been mistakenly released early, but the error in his file was uncovered after he filed an appeal in his case; Clifton is serving 98 years in prison. Samour Jr. didn't immediately decide whether Lima-Marin should be released, saying he needed time to do more legal research. (Read more Colorado stories.) (Newser) The city of Chicago just set a record for 2016, though don't expect the mayor's office to issue a self-congratulatory press release about it. The Chicago Sun Times reports that as of 12:52am Thursday, the city has gone four days without a deadly shooting for the first time this year. Previously, Chicago's longest stretch in 2016 was back in April, when the city went 3 days, 9 hours, and 23 minutes in between fatal shootings. The last shooting death in Chicago happened just before 1am Sunday when a 34-year-old man was shot during a fight. During the current four-day streak, there was one homicidethe fatal stabbing of a 58-year-old man Monday evening. There have been at least 691 gun-related homicides in Chicago this year. More than 4,200 people have been shot in Chicago in total this year, according to WGN. (Read more Chicago stories.) (Newser) The Syrian city of Aleppo returned to government control Thursday after the last remaining opposition fighters and civilians evacuated, ending a four-year rebel hold over parts of the country. The announcement was made through an army statement broadcast on Syrian state TV shortly after the last four buses carrying fighters left through the Ramousseh crossing, reports AP. Western Aleppo erupted in celebratory gunfire seen on Syrian TV, which showed uniformed soldiers and civilians shouting slogans in support of President Bashar Assad. The Syrian government's recapture of Aleppo represents a momentous victory for Assad and a crushing defeat for Syria's opposition, which will likely struggle to forge a way forward. The ancient city has been divided into rebel and government parts since 2012. "Thanks to the blood of our heroic martyrs, the heroic deeds and sacrifices of our armed forces and the allied forces, and the steadfastness of our people, the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announces the return of security and stability to Aleppo," said the statement read by an army general. The rebel evacuations were set in motion last week after Syria's opposition agreed to surrender its last footholds in eastern Aleppo. Since then, some 35,000 fighters and civilians have been bused out, according to the United Nations. More than 4,000 additional fighters have been evacuated in private cars, vans, and pick-ups from eastern Aleppo since Wednesday. (One famous evacuee is just 7 years old.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Helsinki: Nokia on Wednesday announced that it is suing Apple in German and US courts for patent infringement, claiming the US tech giant was using Nokia technology in many products without paying for it. Finnish Nokia, once the worlds top mobile phone maker, said the two companies had signed a licensing agreement in 2011, and since then Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apples products. After several years of negotiations trying to reach an agreement to cover Apples use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights, Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Nokias patent business, said in a statement. Also Read: Finnish telecom giant Nokia finalises acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent The complaints, filed in three German cities and a district court in Texas, concern 32 patents for innovations related to displays, user interface, software, antennae, chipsets and video coding. Nokia said it was preparing further legal action elsewhere. Nokia was the worlds leading mobile phone maker from 1998 until 2011 when it bet on Microsofts Windows mobile platform, which proved to be a flop. Analysts say the company failed to grasp the growing importance of smartphone apps compared to hardware. It sold its unprofitable handset unit in 2014 for some USD 7.2 billion to Microsoft, which dropped the Nokia name from its Lumia smartphone handsets. Meanwhile, Nokia has concentrated on developing its mobile network equipment business by acquiring its French-American rival Alcatel-Lucent. Including its 2013 full acquisition of joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia said the three companies united represent more than 115 billion euros of R&D investment, with a massive portfolio of tens of thousands of patents. The 2011 licensing deal followed years of clashes with Apple, which has also sparred with main rival Samsung over patent claims. At the time, Apple cut the deal to settle 46 separate complaints Nokia had lodged against it for violation of intellectual property. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Istanbul: A total of 14 Turkish soldiers were killed and 33 wounded on Thursday in attacks by Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria as the military backs rebels seeking to take the town of Al Bab from the extremists, the army said. The toll, the heaviest in a single day loss for the Turkish army in its Syria operation that started in August, came infighting with jihadists that included three suicide car bomb attacks, the army added in a statement quoted by Turkish media. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Kabul: Taliban gunmen stormed the residence of an Afghan lawmaker in the capital Kabul on Wednesday, with casualties feared in the ongoing gun battle that follows a recent lull in violence. It was not immediately clear if Helmand MP Mir Wali was in the compound when the attack began this evening, but local media reported some members of his family may have been killed or taken the hostage, citing security officials at the scene. The Taliban in a statement said their suicide bombers raided the house to disrupt an important gathering of security officials. Sporadic gunfire and explosions were heard from the house as Afghan forces cordoned off the property after launching a clearance operation. Security officials were tight-lipped about the attack, which underscores the worsening security situation in Afghanistan. The Taliban are escalating their insurgency despite the onset of winter when fighting usually ebbs, even as international efforts intensify to restart stalled peace talks. Fifteen years and hundreds of billions of dollars since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the security situation in the country remains fraught and Afghan forces are struggling to contain the conflict. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In a major decision, Tata Steel Ltd members voted in favour of resolution to remove Nusli Wadia from the office of independent director with immediate effect. The members voted 90.80% to oust Wadia. The resolution was passed in the extraordinary general meeting held on Wednesday. Wadia, who did not attend the meeting, however, asked the shareholders to vote against the proposal and continued his scathing attack on Tata Sons and criticised the group's continued steel investments in Europe. "I have chosen not to attend the meeting as I understand that recent meetings held of other Tata companies have been inappropriately and shamefully stage-managed by the requisitionist controlling the entry into the hall, as also in the selection and choice of speakers as never before seen in Indian corporate history," he wrote to the Tata Steel shareholders. Also Read: Nusli Wadia hits back at Tata, says allegations against him are 'false and baseless' Lashing out at the actions of Tata Sons, he said, "What is at stake is not whether I am removed or not, but the fate of the very institution of independent director that has been created in law and by Sebi to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders. If independent directors can be removed at the whim and fancy of a promoter, then their role will be reduced to that of 'yes men'." The ability of a promoter to remove an independent director through the brute force of its holding in an ordinary resolution on which it can vote is a serious and major dichotomy and the contradiction needs to be and must be addressed urgently, Wadia wrote. He continued his attack on board of Tata Steel, specially drawing attention of the shareholders to the continued investments by the firm in Europe. New Delhi: The 39-year-old priest, Fr Shibu Kuttiparichel, a priest at St Mary's Jacobite Church Cheengeri in Wayanad has donated his kidney to Kairunnissa, who lives with her bedridden husband and three-year-old daughter. The kidney was harvested and transplanted in Kairunnissa at VPS Lakeshore hospital on Wednesday. Fr Shibu Yohannan was inspired by the story of Davis Chiramel, the first priest in Kerala to donate a kidney to a stranger five years ago. Fr Shibu Kuttiparichel has also penned several books and uses money earned from the sale of his works for the treatment of cancer patients. He is also the founder and chairman of Kidney Federation of India. Fr Shibu first collected Rs 5 lakh and handed it over to the family of Kairunnissa for her treatment. Although Kairunnissas 56-year-old mother Shereefa, was ready to donate one of her kidneys to her daughter but it was found incompatible. After which blood test was conducted and Fr Shibus blood group matched to that of Kairunnissa and he decided to donate his kidney. Both the donor and recipient are in good condition, said hospital authorities. Fr Shibu, who has been shifted to ICU, will be discharged after four days. Meanwhile, Kairunnissa, who also has been shifted to ICU, will remain there for five days and will be discharged after one week following a medical examination, hospital sources added. The harvesting and transplanting of the kidney was done under a medical team which included Dr Abi Abraham M, director, Nephrology and Transplant Services; Dr George P Abraham, transplant surgeon; and Dr Mohan A Mathew, director of Anaesthesiology For all the Latest Lifestyle News, Others News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beijing: A satellite which will help the scientists understand the climate change by monitoring the global carbon dioxide has been launched by China. The name of the satellite is TanSat and it weighs 620 kilograms. Long March-2D rocket carried the TanSat and placed it into the orbit. The satellite was blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest Chinas Gobi Desert on Thursday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The launch comes hours after China lifted a red alert that remained for a week for the worst smog that affected around 40 cities in the country. The TanSat launch marks the 243rd mission of the Long March series rockets. A Long March rocket carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring. After Japan and the US, China is the third country to monitor greenhouse gases through its own satellite. Yin Zengshan, chief designer of TanSat at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) micro-satellite research institute said that the satellite was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 kms above the earth. It will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere he added. The satellite will not only help in understanding the climate change but will also provide independent data to Chinas policy makers. TanSat is on a three-year mission during which it will thoroughly examine global carbon dioxide levels every 16 days accurate to at least 4 ppm (parts per million), the report said. According to Yin, the TanSat will allow China to fetch first-hand emissions data and share it with researchers across the world. Committed to reducing their carbon emissions, more than 100 countries signed the Paris agreement on climate change, which came into effect on November 4. The satellite TanSat will help evaluate whether these countries are fulfilling their commitments towards carbon emissions by tracing the sources of greenhouse gases. TanSat means a louder voice for China on climate change, carbon reduction and in negotiations with a bigger say on carbon trading. Beijing had on Wednesday midnight lifted the red alert for air pollution which was put in place following the smog that had been engulfing the city since December 17 and disrupted the normal life. Beijing woke up this morning with a relatively clear sky. Since December 17 emergency measures such as even-odd car restrictions will end and classes will resume at schools, official media reports said. While the red alert was implemented by 23 cities including Beijing, 17 other cities implemented Orange alerts for pollution. PM2.5 density in the capital remained high throughout the period of the red alert. About the satellite Lu Naimeng, TanSat chief scientist said concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from 280 ppm to 400 ppm over the past 150 years, leading to an increase in average global temperatures of about 0.7 degrees Celsius over the last century. Chinas CO2 emissions are to peak around 2030, with emissions per unit of GDP cut by 60 percent of 2005 levels by the same date. (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Aizawl: A conglomerate of leaders of 14 major churches in Mizoram appealed to the state government on Thursday not to observe 'Good Governance Day' on Christmas. According to a statement issued by the Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), December 25 is the most important religious day for Christians. "It is extremely unfortunate that the Centre declared December 25 as 'Good Governance Day' which will surely inconvenience many people and disturb Christmas day celebrations," it said. The MKHC has understood that December 25 is declared as 'Good Governance Day' as it coincides with the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the statement said, adding it is a sacred day for the Christians. It also appealed the state government to appoint another day as Good Governance Day and not organise any official function that could disturb the Christmas celebrations. The MKHC had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make alternative arrangements so that the sentiment of the Christian community in the region is not hurt, it said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: Bollywood actor Salman Khan ended up hurting himself during the shooting of his upcoming film Tubelight, reports said on Thursday. Directed by Kabir Khan, Tubelight is slated for a release next year on Eid. The film is extensively shot in Manali and Ladakh. The film also stars Chinese actress Zhu Zhu. In November, Salmans brother Sohail, who plays a military officer in the film, had injured his leg while shooting a scene. Sohail while running up a slope in the mountainous terrain had hurt his leg. Rameswaram: Fishermen in nearby Pamban went on an indefinite boycott on Thursday demanding the release of 50 of their colleagues, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in the last two months, for allegedly entering its waters illegally. Rameswaram Fishermen Association president P Sesuraja said the strike would continue till the release of the fishermen, who were arrested in seperate incidents for allegedly poaching off the coast of Katchatheevu, Neduntheevu and Thalaimannar in the last two months. They also sought the release of 127 boats in the custody of the island nation. Meanwhile, about 300 fishermen from Pamban gathered near the bus terminus and staged a protest condemning the continuing arrests of the state's fishermen. The agitators raised slogans against the Lankan navy and the government for its actions, Sesuraja said. The fishermen urged the Central and state governments to take immediate steps for the release of the fishermen and their boats. The Sri Lankan navy had yesterday alone arrested 30 Tamil Nadu fishermen on charges of fishing in their waters. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Moscow: Fehthullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric from Turkey, has condemned the killing of Russia's envoy to Turkey and rejected accusations that his movement was behind the attack. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara this week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has implicated Fethullah Gulen in the killing, saying the policeman had links to his movement. In a video address made available to the Associated Press, Gulen accused the Turkish government of blaming and defaming his movement and suggested the government would facilitate other assassinations and blame them on his followers. Gulen said "it is not possible for them to convince the world of such accusations." A ceremony Thursday in Moscow for Karlov will be attended by President Vladimir Putin. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has observed that a person cannot be authorised to reside in the country without valid papers even if he is entitled to Indian citizenship. A division bench headed by Justice A S Oka, while refusing to grant relief to 49-year-old Abbas Karadia, also directed conducting an inquiry as to how the central government has been issuing such visas to the man when he has neither an Indian nor a Pakistani passport. Karadia, who was born in Pakistan and his parents are of Indian origin, had moved the HC seeking extension of Long Term Visa (LTV). In his petition, Karadia said both his parents are of Indian origin and that his mother shifted to Pakistan during the Partition. He claimed that at the time of marriage his mother and father both were residents of India and she went to Karachi at the time of his (Karadia) birth. The petition claimed that Karadia was brought to Mumbai soon after his birth. Karadia claimed of having identity cards such as Aadhaar, domicile certificate, PAN card and even a voters ID card. He, however, has no passport and is facing deportation since his last application for extension of his LTV was rejected and he was directed by the authorities to submit a copy of his Pakistani passport for the same. Karadia claims he does not have a Pakistani passport either. He claims to have applied for Indian citizenship seven times but has failed to get a positive response. Karadias last application is at present pending a hearing before the Union Government. He, thus, approached HC seeking that the deportation notice be stayed, and his LTV be extended till his citizenship application is decided by the government. Karadia argued that he was entitled to Indian citizenship by virtue of descent, registration, and by the principle of naturalisation, all provided for in the Indian Citizenship Act. The high court held that even if a person is entitled to Indian citizenship, he or she cannot, at any given time, be authorised to reside in the country without valid papers. In fact, we are surprised to know that even though the petitioner has no passport, he claims that the Government of India had earlier granted him LTV and extended the same from time-to-time. This needs to be investigated by the Centre, the bench said. HC is likely to take up the matter for further hearing on January 9 next year. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chennai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths have seized Rs 1.34 crore in new Rs 2,000 denomination besides foreign currencies from a gang of five persons at the airport on Thursday. Acting on specific input that a gang was involved in smuggling of foreign exchange out of India, the DRI Chennai zone officials intercepted five persons outside the Anna International airport here in the wee hours of Thursday, an official release said. During a search of the baggage carried by the gang, it was found containing Rs 1.34 crore in new currency of Rs 2,000 notes and foreign currencies of over USD 7,000 (equivalent to Rs 4.76 lakh), which were seized, the release said. Further investigation is on, it said. On Wednesday, the DRI officials had seized 12 lakh foreign cigarettes, worth Rs 1.63 crore, that arrived at V O Chidambaranar Port in Tuticorin, by a container from United Arab Emirates. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington : The United States has played down Russian reports that already tense ties between the old foes have plunged to chilly new lows. On Thursday, The State Department denied a Kremlin claim that communications are frozen, noting that Secretary of State John Kerry had called his Russian counterpart as recently as Tuesday. The Pentagon also noted that on the same day Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the claim, its officers had held a video conference with Russian commanders on how to stay out of each others way in Syria. Practically all levels of dialogue with the United States are frozen, Peskov told Mir TV, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. We dont communicate with one another. Or we do so minimally, he added, causing surprise in Washington. I dont know exactly what to make of that comment, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Obviously, we dont agree and have issues with Russia on a variety of issues, but dialogue has not been broken. Kirby said Kerry had spoken to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday by telephone to hear about talks Russia had hosted with Iran and Turkey to seek a solution to the crisis in Syria. Look, theres a lot of issues where dialogue and communications between the United States and Russia remain important, and for our part, we remain committed to that dialogue and that communication, Kirby said. It doesnt mean that were always going to agree and it doesnt mean that theres not going to be tensions. But as far as were concerned, communications are not frozen and dialogue is still happening. Differences are still being discussed, debated. Russia finds itself locked in its worst standoff with the West since the Cold War over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, the conflict in Ukraine and lingering disagreement about the conflict in Syria. US President Barack Obamas administration on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining sanctions on Moscow over Crimea with new financial restrictions on Russian businessmen and companies. The Russian foreign ministry said it regretted the new sanctions. The White House this month also pointed to direct involvement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in cyber-attacks designed to impact the US election. The upcoming presidency of Donald Trump raises questions over the future of US policy toward Russia given his apparently softer line on Putin. Putin himself has reiterated Moscows readiness to work with the Trump administration once the president-elect takes office in January, stressing the importance of normalizing the countries relations. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Bhubaneswar: Leading telecommunication firm Vodafone on Thursday announced the launch of its 4G service in Odisha with speedy expansion plan. Vodafone SuperNet 4G, which was launched in Bhubaneshwar, would be made available in all major towns and cities across the state by March 2017, company officials said. As a steadfast partner to Digital India, we are delighted to launch Vodafone SuperNet 4G in Odisha. 4G has the potential to revolutionise the mobile experience through powerful innovation that impacts how we work and live, Vodafone India Operations Director, Arvind Vohra said. Vodafones global expertise and experience of launching 4G in 20 countries gives it a better understanding of this technology and the needs of the 4G customer, he said. Vodafone Indias Business Head - Odisha Circle, Deepak Saluja, said, Odisha is a key market for Vodafone India and our over 4 million customers in the circle have a lot to look forward to. Vodafone SuperNet 4G will significantly enhance the mobile internet experience with faster download/upload of video and music, seamless video chats, the company said. The 4G launch in Odisha follows rollout of services in Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Haryana, UP East, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam - North East and Maharashtra circles. With launches planned shortly in Goa, Punjab, UP West, Chennai and Tamil Nadu, Vodafone SuperNet 4G coverage will be available in 2,400 towns across the country by March 2017. These 17 circles where Vodafone will offer 4G service contribute over 90 percent of Vodafone Indias data revenues. Kathmandu: A 44-year-old Indian national has been arrested from the Tribhuvan International Airport for possessing banned Indian currency worth Rs 363,500. Police arrested Thupten Gelek when he was about to leave for New Delhi of India from Kathmandu on an Indigo Airlines flight (6E032). He was carrying 210 notes of Rs 1,000 denominations and 307 notes of Rs 500 denomination. Police found the notes hidden inside a suitcase during a security check. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 had announced the ban on banknotes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beijing: China refuted allegations byTaiwan on Thursday that it is luring small countries with "money diplomacy" to enforce its 'One China' policy after Sao Tome and Principe, a central African nation, cut off its diplomatic ties with Taipei and moved closer to Beijing. "How can the one-China principle be traded with money? The Chinese government never trades its principles," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here reacting to Taiwan's assertion that Sao Tome opted for "highest bidder" namely China to tide over its economic difficulties. Hua said the 'One China' principle had broad consensus in the international community, while representing people's aspirations. "We appreciate and welcome Sao Tome and Principe returning to the correct track of sticking to the 'One China' policy.Justice lies in people's hearts," she said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Union Minister Maneka Gandhi on Thursday pitched the idea of a cashless economy to Anganwadi workers and urged them to encourage other people to switch to digital transactions, but many of them remained unconvinced and asked how would they buy a smartphone or an internet package. If the army of 24 lakh Anganwadi workers communicate to the parents who come to them that they must use cellphones to pay and accept salaries, to buy and sell vegetables, then we can create a new future and a new nation, Gandhi said. The Women and Child Development Minister was speaking at an award ceremony here, where a short presentation was made to familiarise Anganwadi workers with Unified Payment Interface or UPI and e-wallets. Maladevi, from Nasirpur in UP, said, This is a necessity but if there is no information then how will we do it? We also need money to be able to buy a smartphone and access internet. I earn Rs 4,000 a month and I only have a basic phone. The Centre pays Rs 3,000 to Anganwadi workers and states pay a small sum as an honorarium to them. Maladevi feels demonetisation has inconvenienced the poor the most. This is not a problem for those who have money. Only poor people are facing trouble. Others will find their way out but it is the poor who are being deprived. She said she was able to travel from her village to Delhi for the event on the money borrowed from her neighbours. Shantidevi, another Anganwadi worker for nearly 30 years from Jharkhands Latehar, said, People have phones but not smartphones. However, if this is made compulsory then we will have to do it. She said district authorities have been carrying out a campaign about cashless transactions and training people to open bank accounts and use an ATM. She too has been tasked to train 10 other people in her village. However, some were optimistic about the demonetisation exercise. A worker from Sri Ganganagar said she felt this will pave the way for a better future. Where I work not many people know how to use internet. But if today we are facing problems, we are hopeful we will have a better tomorrow. Keelhamu Lepcha, an Anganwadi worker in North Sikkim district, wondered whether the move towards cashless payments will be of help in remote areas where cellphone reception is poor. This is not as easy as madam makes it seem. Buying a smartphone will be a problem. Where I live, internet connectivity is not such a problem but in remote areas it will be a problem where there is poor mobile connectivity. She also told PTI that many people in her district have to travel 20-30 kms to access an ATM. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Islamabad: Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain claimed that he was home schooled due to various reasons and never attended a school. Hussain was speaking at a function at the Cadet College Hassanabdal near Islamabad on Wednesday where he told students to follow in the footsteps of Pakistans founder M A Jinnah to better meet the challenges that the country is facing. When asked about the presidents comment regarding his own education, alumni relations officer at the cadet college Syed Mohammad Ali said the president was home schooled due to various reasons, the Dawn reported. Hussain belongs to Pakistans financial hub Karachi where he settled after his family migrated from Agra during the partition. He rose from humble beginnings to become the president of the country. He is considered as confidante of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who approved his appointment to the top job due to his loyalty to Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party. Soon after his appointment as President, Hussain said in one of his interviews that he had also attended a religious seminary in Karachi. It is for the first time that he said that he was deprived of formal modern schooling. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A delegation of BJP on Thursday met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking the Centres intervention in ending the blockade in Manipur, as it claimed that the state government had failed to protect the interests of the people. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, BJPs election incharge, said the delegation sought the Centres intervention in opening up the blockade as Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has completely failed the state. Despite the central government having provided additional forces, still he has not taken any action. Actually, we see a design in roadblock and its timing. Ibobi Singh is guilty of making Manipur people suffer and therefore, we have sought intervention of the Union Home Minister, the HRD minister said. Javadekar said there is violence in the state and communal harmony has been breached. What we are seeing is that political vested interests are dividing. The Chief Ministers role is always divide and rule and that is what is on display today, he alleged. Asked if the delegation had sought imposition of the Presidents rule, Javadekar said it had only sought appropriate action. We are saying that appropriate action should be taken, what that appropriate action is, is for the central government and the ministries concerned (to decide). We are seeing that the state has been brought to a situation where everybody is fighting everybody, he said. He said some people were harming the interests of the state just for political gains. Asked about the allegations levelled by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Javadekar said those accusations have already been rejected by the court. So this is absurd. He thought that he will bring an earthquake but he has dug a pit for Congress, the senior minister claimed. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Lucknow: Playing the caste card months ahead of the Assembly election, the Akhilesh Yadav government on Thursday approved inclusion of 17 Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list, despite the Allahabad High Court having earlier struck down a similar move. A major contender for power, BSP supremo Mayawati swiftly went on the offensive dubbing it as mere drama and an attempt to deceive these castes as the power to include any caste in the SC list was vested with the Centre. In an apparent bid to woo the OBCs ahead of the potentially tough electoral contest, Akhilesh Yadav chaired a meeting of the state Cabinet which cleared a proposal in this regard. The proposal will now be sent to the Centre for approval. The 17 sub-castes which the government wants included in the SC category are Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar, Godia and Machua. Mayawati termed the move as mere drama and a decision which was both unfortunate and condemnable, and aimed at deceiving these communities. After having neglected all the backward castes barring one in the past five years of its rule, the SP government is out to mislead them in the same way as was done by the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government, she said in a statement. The UP Cabinets assent for inclusion of 17 OBCs in the SC list is a mere drama played out just before the Assembly elections in the state, Mayawati said, adding it is both unfortunate and condemnable and aimed at deceiving these castes. She said the decision is against the law as as the power to include any caste in the SC list was vested with the Union government. Earlier in March 2013, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly had passed a resolution recommending the Centre to include the 17 castes of the state in the SC list. The resolution had said a detailed study by UP SC/ST Research and Training Institute found these 17 castes deserving to be included in the SC list. The Mulayam Singh Yadav government too had passed a Cabinet resolution in February 2004 and sent it to the Centre for clearance. Later, Mulayam went ahead and issued a government order on October 10, 2005 giving SC benefits to these castes, which was, however, struck down by the High Court. After Mulayam governments decision on this issue, these castes were left in the lurch for they then belonged neither to the OBC nor the SC category. Mayawati claimed that the BSP government which succeeded the Mulayam Singh Yadav dispensation brought these castes back into the OBC list and sent a proposal to the Centre for including them in the SC list only on the condition of increasing the SC quota. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Koraput: An executive engineer in Koraput district was suspended on charges of dereliction in his duty after Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was left air-borne in a chopper for about 45 minutes on Thursday. After completing his programme at Jeypore, Patnaik left for Kotpad at 12.40 pm and was scheduled to arrive at 12.55 pm but he could not land until 1.35 pm at Kotpad, a senior state official said. The Public Works Department - entrusted to prepare the helipad for landing of the chief ministers chopper - had to provide the details of the location, including the latitude, longitude and altitude, but could not provide timely information to the pilot resulting in the delay, the official said. The pilot kept scouting for the location and the Chief Minister remained mid-air for 45 minutes, the official added. Following the development, the Executive Engineer of Jeypore division was placed under suspension, Works Department Secretary Nalin Kanta Pradhan said. The officials name was not given. Earlier, at Jeypore the chief minister had reiterated his governments commitment for tribal development. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Rameswaram: Seventeen Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Naval personnel were remanded in judicial custody on Thursday till January 5 by a court in the island nation. The fishermen were produced before a magistrate at his residence in Jaffna and were remanded in custody, P Sesuraja and S Emiret, leaders of Rameswaram Fishermens Association, said. The fishermen, 13 of them hailing from Rameswaram and others from Jagadapattinam in Pudukottai district, were sent to a Jaffna prison later, they said. All the fishermen were arrested near Neduntheevu yesterday, and their three boats were taken to Kanagesanthurai in Sri Lanka by the navy personnel. Following their arrest, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had urged the Centre to act decisively and bring back 51 fishermen languishing in the island republic. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, he sought his intervention for the immediate immediate release of 51 fishermen, including those arrested in the latest incident, besides 114 fishing boats seized by the Lankan Navy. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Albuquerque Police Department to start manufacturing crack cocaine so they can arrest the people they sell it to When Big Government goes off the rails, its almost like theyre smoking crack. In this case, thats not far from the truth: The Albuquerque Police Department now plans to manufacture crack cocaine so they can sell it to people who are then arrested for possession of crack. (See court documents below for proof.) Wait a sec Crack cocaine is an illegal substance, right? So now the police are going to possess it, manufacture it, sell it and then arrest citizens who buy it from them? Yep. Thats how some police tell themselves they are the good guys when they manufacture crack cocaine to sell to the bad guys who were making the crack cocaine before the police started making it. In other words, the Albuquerque Police Department will now be engaged in the manufacture and distribution of Schedule I Controlled Substances, meaning it is no longer deniable that the cops are the drug dealers. Its now right out in the open. See the documents obtained by BurqueMedia The story first broke on BurqueMedia.com, which explains, An affidavit obtained by Burque Media from a confidential source spells out plans by the Albuquerque Police Department to go after low-level drug users in a reverse buy-bust operation. In a reverse buy-bust, undercover agents sell drugs to citizens, and then arrest them for possession. Part of that operation involves APD manufacturing crack cocaine from powdered cocaine. Just as I was writing this story for Natural News, the Affidavit and Motion to Release Evidence document was removed from Scribd. But we have screen shots below, grabbed before the document was memory holed. It says: the State of New Mexico, through its Assistant District Attorney and Affiant Detective Marc Clingenpeel, and hereby request this Courts order to allow detectives to obtain heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine base (commonly referred to as crack), and/or cocaine from the Alburquerque Police Departments Evidence Unit for the purpose of an undercover operation as set below in quantities listed in order powered cocaine may be taken into APDs Criminalistics Unit to be made into crack cocaine. The Alburquerque Police Departments Narcotics Unit will use the heroin, methamphetamine, crack cocaine and/or cocaine to sell to individuals who are seeking to purchase drugs within the City of Alburquerque. Article continues below these documents (scroll down to keep reading): Nodding or shrugging the shoulders to ensnare citizens and charge them with felony drug possession As part of the APDs manufacture and distribution of crack cocaine, theyre planning on ensnaring citizens by using what they call gestures that are commonly used in the area to make contact with someone for the purpose of purchasing drugs. These gestures include nodding and shrugging the shoulders, meaning if you simply nod at one of these undercover APD crack dealers, you could be just moments away from being arrested and charged with attempting to purchase crack. After a nod or shoulder shrug, the person will be escorted to a discreet location, says the document. The detectives will sell the person the requested amount of drugs, it explains, after which the person will be arrested and charged with felony Possession of a Controlled Substance. You mean the same substance the police just manufactured and sold them? Gosh, and during what part of this elaborate operation do the detectives just pocket the cash and let a few buyers walk? Oops! Looks like a few kilos of crack never made it back to the evidence locker strange how that happens. When cops become drug manufacturers and street dealers, something has gone terribly wrong with the failed War on Drugs Now, you see, the police are making the drugs, dealing the drugs and potentially profiting from the drugs. It wont be long before the APD finds it needs to plug a revenue shortfall with some extra cash. And what do you know hundreds of citizens are lining up just to hand them cash for their self-manufactured crack cocaine! The temptation for abuse in this racket is too juicy to ignore. When a detective can make more untraceable cash profit in a single week than they might pull in an entire year on the citys payroll, its not difficult to imagine some of these cops going freelance. And if you have a police-run operation that can manufacture crack cocaine, sell it to people on the street, then arrest those people for buying the very same illegal substance the police department is manufacturing, just how long will it be before fringe police departments start running sex slave rings in order to sell slaves to buyers who are promptly arrested? (Hint: This is already going on. The cover-up is intense because the customers of such activities often tend to be among the political elite.) What can you do about all this? For starters, dont buy crack cocaine. More importantly, if you live in Albuquerque, dont nod or shrug at anybody on the street, or you may find yourself dragged into a dark alley by undercover cops who claim you signaled them with an intent to purchase illegal drugs. If they persist, just tell them you arent interested in cocaine you were actually hoping to buy a good time and you thought the undercover cops were transgender prostitutes. That should work amazingly well. Try it yourself and see! Submit a correction >> This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate For those looking to make a charitable donation this season, there are a few helpful tools to find a cause your passionate about and donate to with confidence. Charity Navigator rates charities based on a four-star system, which rates charities based on financials and transparency. The watchdog site does this using information provided through tax returns and information provided from charities. Interested in supporting a local charity this season? Check out the gallery above for a look at some of the area's top-rated charities. For more, visit Charity Navigator here. For more ways to give, visit Hearst Connecticut Media's Giving Fund page to support local families this holiday season. Dec. 31 is the biggest day for online charity donations, according to The New York Times. The paper reported data shows online donors give about 22.5 times more on that day than they did on an average day. While the end of the year usually brings more money into taxpayers' wallets, the sudden rush to give may also be fueled by the holiday season as well. Donating with confidence is always a worry when giving to a charitable cause. The Fairfield County Community Foundation (FCCF), an organization that pools donations to donate to a number of different charitable causes locally, nationally, and internationally, is a similar organization to Charity Navigator and vets organizations for those seeking to donate. Nancy von Euler, vice president of programs at FCCF, said much like watchdog organizations, FCCF has the ability to pour through data the public often doesn't catch. "Especially, for those grants that we're making ourselves, we often due our own due diligence," von Euler said. "We can go well beyond what you can find on the internet." The community foundation has access to tools that enable them to safeguard donors and also allow donors to advise where they want their funds to be made, if they choose. While community foundations serve charities locally and abroad, von Euler said FCCF recommends donating at the local level. "We always recommend that people give locally because when you give locally it benefits your own community," von Euler said. "But the other benefit is you get to really know those organizations in a hands-on way. You can volunteer, you can serve on the board, you can have direct contact with the work they're doing." In addition to helping out the community directly, and often having the chance to see their impact firsthand, there are a number of tax benefits that donors can take advantage of too. "It's always a good idea to talk with your tax advisor and see what they recommend in terms of end-of-year giving," von Euler said. "One of the appeals of a community foundation is...you can make the contribution now and get the tax advantage now but reserve your decision making until later." von Euler recommended a thorough look at assets and income before making sizable donations. Financial knowledge will also help donors capitalize on available tax credits. For donors who choose to give directly to a charity, it's important to exercise some common sense safety tips for donating. Charity Navigator advises donors to confirm a charity's 501(c)(3) status, research a charity before giving, and compare the differences in similar-sounding names of charities. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The state has fired the latest salvo in an 11-year-old school funding case, arguing in an opening brief to the state Supreme Court that a trial judge got it wrong when he determined the state irrationally doles out educational aid. In a 60-page filing submitted to the court this month, Attorney General George Jepsen said the high court should determine that all plaintiffs in the case known as Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. Rell didnt prove their case. The judge, the state argued, improperly called on lawmakers to create standards for what students should learn and know in order to graduate, and tasked the state with creating a better teacher pay and evaluation system, and restructuring how special education is organized and funded. The state further maintained, as it did during the court trial, that right out of the box, the coalition, also known as CCJEF, simply had no standing, because it used a sample of parents from various districts throughout the state all facing different circumstances as plaintiffs. David Noland, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said his side has until Jan. 26 to file its brief to the court. Response briefs are expected to continue into April. There is a chance the Supreme Court could hear argument in the spring, but it may not be until the fall or into 2018, Noland said. Theres no way to know at this point. The case was originally brought by a number of municipalities and educational advocacy groups who charged that Connecticuts funding of public education is unconstitutional, that the state didnt contribute enough and distributed what it did provide in an irrational manner. During a six-month court trial this year, Bridgeport interim Schools Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz and Danbury Superintendent Salvatore Pascarella testified about the difficult choices they make because of insufficient funding. Rabinowitz, who spent several days on the stand, told the judge a lack of funding kept her from making curriculum changes and providing supports and programs that could make a difference in the lives of children who come from impoverished backgrounds. It is definitely about having the funding to provide it, Rabinowitz told state Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher. Far more state funding goes to poor communities than wealthy ones in the state, but wealthy communities have far more property tax revenue to offset the difference. In September, Moukawsher found no fault with the overall amount the state spends, but took particular issue with the rationality of the states Education Cost Sharing formula. In the states brief, it claimed Moukawsher created a new rule of constitutional law in the realm of education. It is not good enough to offer adequate education opportunities, Moukawsher wrote, they must be rationally, substantially, or verifiably connected with educational need. The state said the court didnt pin that ruling on any other court decision and never defined or explained what it meant by substantial or verifiable. After creating its new standard, the trial court proceeded to apply it in a manner that clearly exposes it for what it is a license for a judge to impose his own views to correct educational policy ... in lieu of the determinations of the elected branches of government, the state argues. BROOKFIELD The Candlewood Lake Authority is exploring using ultrasonic pressure to control and prevent toxic blooms of blue-green algae. Authority and town officials heard a presentation about the technology Wednesday morning from Lisa Brand, sales manager for LG Sonics, the Dutch company that sells the specially equipped buoys that produce the sound waves. The buoys monitor water quality in the lake and emit sound waves at a specific frequency when they detect that an algae bloom is about to appear. The sound waves cause the collapse of the organisms gas vesicles, tiny balloon-like structures that inflate or deflate to regulate the algaes buoyancy and keep them at the optimum depth in the water. Without the vesicles, the blue-green algae sink beyond the reach of sunlight and eventually die. This is fascinating, Candlewood Lake Authority Chairwoman Phyllis Schaer said after hearing Brands presentation. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are harmful to humans and pets. The organisms can produce a toxin that can irritate the skin, eyes, nose and respiratory tract in human and animals. If swallowed, it can cause diarrhea and vomiting, and in large amounts, it can affect the liver or nervous system. Algae blooms in recent summers have forced full or partial closure of beaches around Candlewood and other lakes across the region. Brand said the sound devices must be used with care. The frequency of the waves must be changed often because the algae adapt quickly to the disturbance, and the strength of the signal must be great enough to hurt the algae but not so great as to harm other organisms. Once you find that balance, youre going to build up your ecosystem again, Brand said. The company has installed buoys in 17 countries, including New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the U.K. as well as the U.S. Because of Candlewoods large size and the cost of the units about $45,000 each officials have proposed this treatment for only parts of the lake, especially the Sherman, Brookfield and Danbury beaches, where the threat of blooms is greatest. The units, which are powered by solar panels, have a 50-acre effective area, which can vary based on the geography of the lake. From my perspective, Im hoping this could be a technology that could be used at the public beaches, said Larry Marsicano, Candlewood Lake Authoritys executive director. Marsicano and Schaer suggested starting with one beach to see how the technology works. Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope said he will ask the the Board of Selectmen to support this project. Hopefully, we can demonstrate through Sherman that its worthwhile, he said. Brand said coupling the buoys with an aerator to create a bubble screen, which would prevent the wind from blowing blue-green algae toward the beach, could help treat Shermans problem. Further research will be needed to determine the best placement for two or three buoys, Brand said. Thats a project that will take a lot of data, she said. Marsicano and Schaer said that if the buoys work, other towns or private lake communities might decide to buy the equipment. FirstLight Power Resources, which owns the lake, might be persuaded to help with the costs as well, they said. I think its doable and we have to start somewhere, Schaer said. But the costs could be prohibitive and kill the whole project if its too out of hand. kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345 For the past six years, since her husband left, Donna has cared for her three young children alone. She has suffered other losses as well. Her father, who was her strongest supporter, passed away. Last year, she lost her home because she could not keep up with her mortgage. This year, she lost her best friend to cancer, her mother passed away and her brother got sick. But Donna has persevered because of the love she has for her children, who she described as strong, charismatic and good-hearted. Donna has a full-time job that pays minimum wage, and when work is slow, her boss asks her to leave early. She is always short when paying bills and her electric bill is in arrears. She is eligible for some energy assistance, but because the balance is so large, the monthly payments are still more than she can manage. The News-Times has partnered with the United Way of Western Connecticut since 2011 to help families such as Donnas. During the holidays, the newspaper is presenting six cases each week outlining how a local resident or family could benefit by receiving a specific amount of money. About $292,000 has been donated over the years through the Giving Fund. A gift of $2,900 would pay Donnas back bills and get her started with an affordable monthly budget. Kimberly Morgan, CEO of United Way of Western Connecticut, said the Giving Fund can be life-changing for families, who appreciate that a stranger cared enough to lend a helping hand. As in previous years, the United Way of Western Connecticut will administer the fund free of charge, so 100 percent of donations go directly to those in need. Donations are collected for each case until it is fully funded. Any extra donations will benefit underfunded cases. If all are funded, the money will be used for programs aiding deserving families. This weeks cases: Case 25: Tom, 34, supports himself and his young children, who live with their mother. Since his late teens, Tom has experienced symptoms of anxiety and severe bipolar disorder. Many times, these symptoms impair his overall functioning, specifically when it comes to his job and finances. Several months ago, Tom became homeless and lost his belongings. He has sometimes stayed on the streets or with friends and family, but is looking for an affordable place of his own. He has a part-time job, but struggles to meet basic needs while trying to provide a better future for his children. A gift of $800 would allow Tom to pay for medication, food, warm winter clothing and a small gift for his children. Case 26: Sandy is a middle-aged woman who has overcome many physical and financial challenges over the years. She lives alone on a small disability check that barely covers her monthly expenses. She suffers from constant back pain and struggles to accomplish simple tasks. She lacks money to replace worn-out items in her home, and needs a small sofa or recliner and a new mattress. A gift of $1,000 would provide these items. Case 27: Monica, 21, lives with her parents, both of whom are disabled. For the past five years, her mother has had limited mobility due to her arthritis. Two years ago, her father began to have seizures. Between Monicas paycheck and her fathers disability check, the family struggles to make ends meet. A gift of $1,500 would pay the familys rent for one month and leave enough so the parents can have a few gifts under the tree for their daughter on Christmas. Case 28: Theresa and David have four children under 18. Their youngest, Johnny, 1, was diagnosed with cancer nine months ago and is undergoing treatment. David works hard to support the family and pay for Johnnys medical expenses. Theresa had to resign from her job to tend to her sons medical needs, leaving the family in a tight financial spot. Three months ago their washing machine broke. A gift of $500 would provide a new washing machine and lift the burden of frequent trips to the laundromat. Case 29: Lauren is an intelligent mother of 4-year-old Molly. Lauren and Molly have been living at a domestic violence shelter for women and children after fleeing a violent relationship. She has been working with community resources to find a safe home and has finally found an apartment, but she has no furniture because her ex-partner destroyed her property. The agency Lauren is working with requires that she have a proper bed for her daugher before she moves in. A gift of a $1,000 would cover the cost of two bed frames and two mattresses. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An already complicated murder case could become even more difficult to prosecute if a new accusation against police is substantiated. However, the New York Police Department on Wednesday disputed a claim that incriminating statements related to the murder of Stamfords Joseph Comunale may be inadmissible in court because one of the suspects was questioned after he requested a lawyer. During the interrogation, Lawrence Dilione, 28, of Jersey City, N.J., told New York police detectives where to find Comunales body, according to a criminal complaint. Police said Comunale, a 26-year-old Westhill High School grad, was stabbed 15 times after a party at a luxury Manhattan apartment before his body was buried in a shallow grave behind a flower shop in Oceanport, N.J. Diliones attorney, Michael Pappa, said his clients attorneys contacted the NYPD, which he said should have terminated its interrogation. I have good reason to believe ... that one or more lawyers for Mr. Dilione contacted investigators of the NYPD to instruct them not to question Mr. Dilione yet these instructions were apparently ignored in violation of Mr. Diliones Miranda rights, Pappa told the New York Daily News on Tuesday. NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said investigators did nothing wrong. This comes from the defense counsel and we expect that kind of thing, he said Wednesday in a statement. I read the report and saw what detectives did, and from what I can see, they did a great job. In an emailed statement to the Advocate, Pappa brushed off the chiefs response. It should be of no surprise to anyone that the chief of detectives would make such a statement to cover for the detectives under his direction, Pappa wrote. I stand by our position and firmly believe that the truth is on our side and that the truth will come out when this critical issue is decided in court. The Manhattan District Attorneys Office declined to comment. Police detained Dilione two days after the murder and questioned him for at least 40 hours. He and 25-year-old James Rackover, who lives in the apartment where the crime is believed to have occurred, were initially charged by the NYPD with second-degree murder. However, the DAs office dropped the murder charge while investigators try to determine who committed the stabbing. Dilione and Rackover were instead indicted on charges of concealing a human corpse, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence. A third suspect, Max Gemma, 29, has also been charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence. Gemma lives about a mile from the site where Comunales body was found. All three have pleaded not guilty. Joseph Colarusso, a Stamford criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, said its hard to assess the impact of Pappas accusations without knowing what discussions took place between Dilione and NYPD investigators. If Dilione had invoked his right to counsel and in fact had called an attorney who then, in turn, called NYPD and informed them not to question the suspect, the prosecution has a real difficult time with having his statements entered into evidence, Colarusso said. If Dilione later waved his right to counsel, suppressing his statements becomes much more difficult, Colarusso said. However, several other factors could play a role in the case, including if Dilione was pressured into waving his rights and whether his attorney was denied access to him during the interrogation. Authorities said Comunale was in New York City on 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 at The Grand Sutton, where Comunale was last seen, police said. Hours after the crime on Nov. 13, Rackover was seen placing a large duffel bag into the trunk of a black 2015 Mercedes that was parked outside of his building, police said. Rackover, who has a criminal history in Florida under his birth name, James Beaudoin, is the surrogate son of Jeffrey Rackover, a celebrity jeweler whose clients include President-elect Donald Trump. Colarusso said prosecutors are smart for building a stronger case before charging someone with murder. The District Attorneys Office is actually being very thorough in going forward and not rushing into a murder charge, he said. noliveira@hearstmediact.com, 203-964-2265, @olivnelson India can't use Dalai Lama against China: Chinese media China,Politics,Diplomacy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Beijing, Dec 22 (IANS) It is way beyond India's capability to employ the Dalai Lama and Mongolia against China, a Chinese newspaper said on Wednesday, calling New Delhi a "spoilt kid". The Global Times, which is known to reflect the thinking of the Chinese leadership, wondered what made India so confident when even the US thought twice before "messing" with China on sensitive issues. An op-ed in the daily followed a meeting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had with the Tibetan spiritual leader. India also pledged financial support for Mongolia after Beijing punitively hiked tariff on trucks following his visit after Mongolia hosted the Dalai Lama. "New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. Mukherjee met the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November," said the Global Times piece authored by Wen Dao. "India wants to disturb China's pace of development by taking advantage of China's national and international problems, most of which have nothing to do with India's national interests," Wen wrote. "India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China," it said. The Dalai Lama have lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Global Times said Mongolia gave in to Beijing and said sorry for hosting the Dalai Lama before New Delhi could start the $1 billion credit line it had promised to Ulan Bator. Mongolia "tried to seek support from India, hoping that by allying with China's competitor, Beijing would be forced to give in. "India's way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line." The newspaper asked India to learn lessons how Beijing and US President-elect Donald J. Trump dealt with the situation after he spoke to Taiwanese President Tsai-ing Wen on telephone. "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent countermeasures, and must have understood that China's bottom line - sovereign integrity and national unity - is untouchable. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage? "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world'. India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is short-sighted." --IANS gsh/mr Indian child's custody: Sushma contacts envoy in Norway India,National,Immigration/Law/Rights,Diaspora,Diplomacy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday got in touch with India's Ambassador to Norway following reports that a five-year-old Indian child was separated from his parents, who have been accused of beating him up. "I have asked the Indian Ambassador in Norway to send me a report," Sushma Swaraj tweeted. According to reports, the child was taken from his kindergarten school on December 13 without the parents being informed and is being kept at a children's welfare home some 150 km away from Norwegian capital Oslo. His mother, Gurvinderjit Kaur, was also taken into custody and was subjected to interrogation. The child's father, Anil Kumar, who runs an Indian restaurant, has denied all the allegations and said that his son was asthmatic. This is the third such case in Norway involving Indian children. In 2011, a three-year-old and and a one-year-old were separated from their parents but were later reunited when the UPA government took up the issue with Norwegian authorities. In another case of alleged child abuse in December 2012, a seven-year-old and a two-year-old were separated from their parents. The mother got a 15-month prison term and the father was jailed for 18 months. The two children were sent to the custody of their grandparents in Hyderabad. --IANS ab/vt Nigeria rescues 1,880 hostages from Boko Haram Nigeria,Defence/Security,Terrorism, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Abuja, Dec 22 (IANS) Nigerian government forces have rescued another 1,880 hostages from the den of the terror group Boko Haram, the army authorities said on Thursday. The hostages, all women and children, were freed from inside the Sambisa Forest, known as the largest training camp of Boko Haram in the country's northeastern Borno region. The troops also arrested 504 Boko Haram terrorists, of whom 19 willingly surrendered, Borno Combatant Commander Lucky Irabor told Xinhua news agency. The army has started constructing roads leading to the Sambisa Forest to ease troops' operations in mopping up Boko Haram fighters in their den. --IANS in/dg 7 Pakistanis die in rocket attack on cargo ship Pakistan,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Defence/Security, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Islamabad, Dec 22 (IANS) At least seven Pakistani nationals were killed in a rocket attack on a cargo ship off the Yemen coast, Geo News reported on Thursday. "All the crew members were Pakistani nationals and an officer, identified as Kabir, is said to have saved his life by jumping off the vessel as it started sinking after catching fire." The ship MV Joya was heading to Dubai from Egypt when it came under attack in Yemeni waters. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. --IANS ahm/dg Palestinians call UN to tackle settlement issue Israel,Politics,Defence/Security,Diplomacy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Jerusalem, Dec 22 (IANS) Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki on Thursday said a draft resolution against Israeli settlement constructions will be submitted to the UN Security Council. Malki told Xinhua that the consultations have been completed and the draft has been deposited in blue colour to Spain, which was the current chair of the UNSC. "We have requested a special session to look into the draft resolution and we are now awaiting the response of the Council chairmanship to confirm the date," said the minister. He expressed hope that the resolution would be adopted unanimously and overcome the veto for the first time, highlighting that the draft formation was based on the two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the US on Wednesday to veto the resolution to demanding a halt to Israeli settlement activities in Palestinian territory, according to the Israeli public radio. Malki also said that several amendments were included in the latest draft based on the deliberations with the Security Council member states, and particularly with the permanent members who enjoy the veto power. The issue of settlement is considered one of the most complicated issues between Palestinians and Israel. --IANS soni/ahm/dg North Korea denounces UN sanctions resolution North Korea,Defence/Security,Diplomacy, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Pyongyang, Dec 22 (IANS) North Korea on Thursday again denounced a UN Security Council resolution passed in late November on sanctions to further curb its nuclear and missile programmes. Neither UN sanctions nor independent sanctions can ever work on Pyongyang, which has already become a nuclear and space power, the director of the Department of Treaty and Law of the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the state media KCNA. The director denounced the newly-adopted resolution, saying it "wantonly violates the sovereignty of North Korea without any legality." "North Korea's legitimate self-defensive measure to defend its dignity and vital rights and protect genuine peace from the ever-more increasing nuclear war threat from the US is the legal right of a sovereign state," said the statement. Pyongyang has claimed that it has been developing nuclear capability and missile technology only to cope with the growing military threat from Washington and other hostile forces. On November 30, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang in response to the country's fifth and the largest nuclear test on September 9. But the Korean country has rejected the resolution and said it was a "violation of North Korea's sovereignty." The council sets an upper limit on Pyongyang coal exporting, saying the total exports from the country do not exceed $400.9 million, starting on January 1, 2017. In addition, the Security Council bans the sale of copper, nickel, silver, zinc and statues from the country. --IANS ahm/dg Italy confirms citizen woman killed in Berlin Christmas market attack Italy,Terrorism, Thu, 22 Dec 2016 IANS Rome, Dec 22 (IANS/AKI) Young Italian woman, Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, was one of the twelve people killed in the truck attack on a busy Christmas market in Berlin, the Italian government said on Thursday. "Investigating German magistrates have carried out all the necessary checks, and unfortunately, we are now certain that Fabrizia Di Lorenzo was among the victims," said Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano. "My heartfelt thoughts are with her family and loved ones and their immense suffering," he said in a statement. Hopes had faded for 31-year-old Lorenzo after her mobile phone was recovered at Berlin's Breitscheidplatz market on Monday and she failed to turn up for work at a German company in the city the following day. The death of Di Lorenzo, who came from the Abruzzo town of Sulmona, was confirmed after her family travelled to Berlin to provide DNA samples. She worked for a transport company in Berlin, where she had lived since 2013. Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni paid tribute to the "exemplary" young Italian woman. "Italy remembers its exemplary citizen Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, who was killed by terrorists," Gentiloni tweeted. "The country is moved and unites around her family's grief," the tweet added. President Sergio Mattarella also voiced sorrow at Di Lorenzo's death, deploring the truck attack that killed her. "The pain at her passing is great. Once again, a young compatriot abroad is the victim of senseless and odious terrorist violence," he said in a statement. Di Lorenzo studied for a Batchelors degree at the University of Rome La Sapienza and the University of Bologna before obtaining her Masters degree from Milan's Universita Cattolica. Another young Italian woman, 28-year-old PhD student Valeria Solesin, was among the 130 victims of the November 2015 attacks in Paris claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. At least six Germans and an Israeli tourist also died when a Polish-registered truck allegedly driven by a Tunisian supporter of the IS ploughed through the market at speed late on Monday. A total of 49 other people were injured in the attack, 14 of them critically. Police are hunting for 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri, whose ID and reportedly also his fingerprints were found in the truck after he managed to escape from the vehicle following the attack. IS has said one of its militants carried out the atrocity but has offered no evidence. --IANS/AKI vd Millions in savings can be achieved, computer modelling confirms IQALUIT, Dec. 22, 2016 /CNW/ - Greater than expected cost benefits can be achieved through renewable-energy deployment in select Arctic communities, with savings for Iqaluit of almost $30 million over a 20-year period, research commissioned by WWF-Canada has found. The study, performed by the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (a leading clean-energy research institute), revealed that deployment of a mix of renewable energy can lead to immense reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and millions in savings for communities already identified as having a good business case for renewable-energy deployment. The results: Community Average renewable energy penetration GHG emissions reduction Savings over 20-year period Baker Lake 81.6 per cent 74.1 per cent $13.4 million Sanikiluaq 81.5 per cent 70 per cent $10.2 million Arviat 66.5 per cent 55 per cent $9.3 million Rankin Inlet 53.3 per cent 47 per cent $26.8 million Iqaluit 28.8 per cent 26 per cent $29.7 million About the study: WISE developed a customized mathematical model for each of the identified communities using community-specific data and timelines, as well as different types of technology to provide realistic simulations over a 20-year period. In general, wind is the preferable renewable-energy option in Nunavut , though in the communities of Iqaluit , Arviat and Sanikiluaq , the diesel-solar-wind-battery combination was found to be the most cost-effective. , though in the communities of , and , the diesel-solar-wind-battery combination was found to be the most cost-effective. The five communities included in this Arctic renewable-energy feasibility study were identified in a Phase I pre-feasibility study by WISE, also commissioned by WWF-Canada. (The Phase II study also looks at renewable-energy potential in Sachs Harbour , N.W.T.) David Miller, president and CEO of WWF-Canada, says: "In the United States-Canada Joint Arctic Leaders' Statement, the government of Canada committed to reducing the reliance of Northern communities on diesel by deploying renewable power. If the greenhouse-gas emission reductions aren't persuasive enough, the economic benefits to be found in switching to hybridized renewable-energy electricity generation are too significant to ignore. We know renewable-energy technology is already being relied on to supply the electrical needs of homes and businesses in Arctic communities in Alaska and Siberia. We know it leads to massive savings for governments, and we know it's better for the environment. What communities need now is funding to support rapid renewable-energy deployment." Paul Crowley, WWF-Canada vice-president of Arctic conservation, says: "The diesel generators in use in these communities are either at or past their useful life. Community leaders and the government of Nunavut will be forced to make decisions on replacing infrastructure sooner rather than later. Inuit leaders who attended our Arctic Renewable Energy Summit in Iqaluit in September made it clear they are eager to adopt clean and reliable energy sources that give them independence from fuel shipped from the the south and resiliency in the face of a rapidly changing climate. It's time to accelerate the implementation of proven technologies to benefit Northern communities and the Arctic environment." Claudio Canizares, professor and principal investigator of WISE, says: "Inevitably, questions arise about the reliability of hybridized electricity systems, particularly in emergency situations: What if a diesel generator fails? What if the wind doesn't blow? What if it's too cold or too windy? Many deployments of these systems in the Canadian North and particularly in Alaska have shown that hybrid systems are as reliable or even more reliable than existing diesel-based systems. In fact, the simulation models we developed which take days to run for each community and have been validated with existing models and tools take into account worst-case scenarios, and thus we feel very confident that our studies show that Arctic communities can technically and economically depend on renewable energy." About World Wildlife Fund Canada WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca. SOURCE WWF-Canada For further information: or to request an interview, please contact, Sarah MacWhirter, senior manager, strategic communications, [email protected], +1 416-347-1894. Related Links www.wwf.ca MARKHAM, ON, Dec. 22, 2016 /CNW/ - McKesson Canada's retail pharmacy banners, Guardian, I.D.A. and Remedy'sRx, have come together to make a difference in the communities in which they operate. Over 75 stores and pharmacies have worked to make the holiday season a lot merrier for families across the country gathering close to $30,000 worth of toys for the "Toys for Tots Canada" charity. "Our independent pharmacies play an important role in communities across the country," said Rick Brennan, Senior Vice President, Retail Banner Services, McKesson Canada. "I am proud of our pharmacists for their compassion; today's donation will give children in need a gift during this holiday season." Local pharmacists, employees and representatives of the Toys for Tots Canada charity were joined by the Honourable John McCallum, Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and MP for Markham-Thornhill, at a reception ceremony in Markham to deliver the donation. "We are grateful to McKesson Canada and all of the local stores and pharmacies for making this donation," said the Hon. John McCallum. "It is always great to see the community come together to contribute to charities like Toys for Tots Canada. This is a reflection of the generosity of Canadians and the good people of Markham-Thornhill." "This is a remarkable contribution, it allows us to provide toys to children who would otherwise go without them this holiday season," said Robert Krizanec, President, Toys for Tots Canada. "On behalf of these amazing kids and their families, I give my heartfelt thanks to McKesson Canada, Guardian, I.D.A. and Remedy'sRx for this generous donation." About Toys for Tots Canada Toys For Tots (Canada) is a Canadian charity based on local partnerships between Canadian Armed Forces, businesses, and concerned citizenry whose sole focus as an organization is to provide toys for children who are in need. We work to address and prevent specific problems faced by families and their supporting charity organizations by providing toys to children who would otherwise go without during a major holiday and provide toys throughout the calendar year to local emergency and social agencies to distribute to children during catastrophic circumstances. About McKesson Canada Founded more than 100 years ago, McKesson Canada is dedicated to delivering vital medicines, supplies and information technologies that enable the health care industry to provide patients better, safer care. Our solutions empower pharmacies, manufacturers, hospitals and other health care institutions by enabling them to get closer to the millions of patients they serve every single day, while contributing to the quality and safety of care in Canada. SOURCE MCKESSON CANADA For further information: Media Contact: Darius Kuras, Senior Advisor External Communications, McKesson Canada, [email protected] Related Links http://www.mckesson.ca/ NORTH POLE, Dec. 22, 2016 /CNW/ - The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, has cleared Santa Claus for take-off again this year. Santa's flight plan is approved and his secret itinerary has been shared with all countries. Earlier today, Santa successfully renewed his commercial pilot license and passed his annual medical examination. View the exclusive behind-the-scenes footage here. Inspired by Minister Garneau's announcement on rear-view cameras for vehicles, Santa installed state-of-the-art back-up cameras on his sleigh. The cameras are entirely powered by renewable energy: reindeer trot motion! With HD infrared lights for night vision and 130 degree angle view, Santa and his flight crew can now keep an eye on all the presents and back-up without any fear of slipping off a narrow roof. Transport Canada has reissued a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) for Santa's drone. The drone's onboard camera will help Santa and Rudolf navigate in remote areas much more easily. Santa will be assisted by second officer in command Elf Dronita who will act as a remote observer, keeping the drone in sight at all times to ensure it maintains a safe distance from other aircraft. Santa is also testing the efficiency of drone gift delivery, an area he'd like to explore further in the future. Minister Garneau would like to remind Canadians to keep drones inside after dark: a drone that is not part of Santa's fleet could easily spook the reindeer or at worst, cause a collision with the sleigh or other aircraft. To keep Santa safe, Canadians can use Transport Canada's new online tool to report a drone incident from their mobile phones: report a drone incident. Quote "I would like to commend Santa and his elves for their extraordinary service to children in Canada and around the world. Santa does not shy away from hard work. He insists on yearly license renewal and always keeps up to date on the latest safety regulations. He has shown us that by investing in innovation and clean technologies we can achieve a safe, secure and efficient transportation system." The Honourable Marc Garneau Minister of Transport Quick Facts Santa would like to remind everyone who asked for a drone this holiday season to learn the rules of the skies before flying for the first time. Check out the safety guidelines at: www.Canada.ca/drone-safety. Failure to fly safe could see your name added to Santa's Naughty List! CATSA unveiled the SANTA Plus reindeer screening checkpoint at the North Pole airport on December 1, 2016 . New features such as remote x-ray viewing rooms and motorized gingerbread rollers have reduced screening time by 50%. airport on . New features such as remote x-ray viewing rooms and motorized gingerbread rollers have reduced screening time by 50%. To avoid pilot fatigue, Santa and his flight crew will enjoy a pre-flight nap before December 24 . Associated Links Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to e-news or stay connected through RSS, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada. This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities. SOURCE Transport Canada For further information: Delphine Denis, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, Ottawa, 613-991-0700, [email protected]; Media Relations, Transport Canada, Ottawa, 613-993-0055, [email protected] UNTO YOU IS BORN A SAVIOR By Chuck Baldwin December 22, 2016 NewsWithViews.com The birth of the Lord Jesus Christ as told in Saint Lukes Gospel: And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. (Luke 2:1-17 KJV) Perhaps the Apostle Paul extolled Christs birth best: Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (II Corinthians 9:15 KJV) MERRY CHRISTMAS! [If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link.] [I also have many books and DVDs available for purchase online. Go to Chuck Baldwin Live Store] Advances in robotics and additive manufacturing (3D printing) technologies are game-changing for space colonization. As a result, it has become economically feasible as we attempt to demonstrate in this paper to bootstrap a self-sustaining, self-expanding lunar industry that will spread across the solar system at no further expense to the Earths economy. Another game-changer is the discovery of lunar polar ice providing vast quantities of hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon. The Moon has every element needed for healthy industry. In light of these game-changing advances and discoveries, it is important to reassess the prospects for initiating space industry Arxiv Affordable, rapid bootstrapping of space industry and solar system civilization Simple modeling was developed to identify the main parameters of successful bootstrapping. This indicates that bootstrapping can be achieved with as little as 12 metric tons (MT) landed on the Moon during a period of about 20 years. The equipment will be teleoperated and then transitioned to full autonomy so the industry can spread to the asteroid belt and beyond. The strategy begins with a sub-replicating system and evolves it toward full self-sustainability (full closure) via an in situ technology spiral. The industry grows exponentially due to the free real estate, energy, and material resources of space. The mass of industrial assets at the end of bootstrapping will be 156 MT with 60 humanoid robots, or as high as 40,000 MT with as many as 100,000 humanoid robots if faster manufacturing is supported by launching a total of 41 MT to the Moon. Within another few decades with no further investment, it can have millions of times the industrial capacity of the United States. Modeling over wide parameter ranges indicates this is reasonable, but further analysis is needed. This industry promises to revolutionize the human condition. Once successfully bootstrapped, a robotic network can access, process, transport, and utilize the solar systems resources for mankinds benefit. Appropriately designed robots will not have the problems traveling the vast distances of the solar system that humans have, and they can set up the infrastructure that will enable us to follow. Within the first several decades a vital industry could be established on the Moon and in the asteroid belt using technologies that are for the most part only modestly advanced beyond todays state-of-the-art. After that, human outposts, laboratories, and observatories can spring up everywhere between the Kuiper belt and Mercury. It can grow exponentially and provide mankind the ability to do things that today are only dreams. To make this possible very soon, the majority of technology advancement needs to occur in the automation of robotics and in additive manufacturing. Trends in these fields are hopeful, so they think the scenarios they present here are not too optimistic. Therefore, they think the space resource community has real reason to be motivated in its work. We are aiming for the possible, not the fantastical. This paper roughly assesses how much mass and time are needed on the Moon to reach the ignition point of a self-sustaining and expanding industry, and it shows that the launch costs for this mass can be quite low. It does not assess the cost of developing the necessary technologies and of teleoperating them on the Moon until autonomy is achieved. While the mass and time are shown to be quite low, it might be necessary to subdivide the bootstrapping into even smaller, less expensive steps, creatively sharing them between public and private sectors. We leave that business model strategizing to future work. Also, the assessment in this paper is very rough and is intended mainly to organize our thinking on this topic, and to initiate discussion and further study within the space community. A full study will be very complex and require the involvement of a much larger group of contributors. They hope this will raise interest and lead to that more comprehensive effort in the near future. Bootstrapping a Solar System Industry Self-replicating systems have been studied as an innovative method to economically access space resources (Freitas and Gilbreath 1980; Tiesenhausen and Darbro 1980; Freitas and Zachary 1981; Chirikjian 2004). A 1980 summer study at the NASA Ames Research Center (Freitas and Gilbreath 1980) showed that self-reproducing machines are theoretically possible. It discussed a straw-man self-replicator of 100 metric tons mass, including 12 tons for paving robots, 4.4 tons for mining robots, and 4 tons for mobile assembly and repair robots, to name a few examples. Freitas and Zachary (1981) also used the figure of 100 metric tons per replica. The 1980 study recommended among other things a technology development program for the enabling technologies. This program has in effect occurred during the past three decades, mostly driven by non-space, commercial industry but also in the past decade by the Constellation project. As a result, these masses per replica can be reduced. For example, the excavator masses used in this paper are only 0.35 tons for the first generation seed hardware, based on trade studies and our experience with robotic lunar excavators and pavers that were recently developed and field tested (Zacny et al. 2010; Mueller et al. 2009; Mueller and King 2008). The 1980 study portrayed the seed replicator as a large factory, with warehouse operations, centralized computing, and significant facility construction. Lipson and Malone (2002) showed how Solid Freeform Fabrication technology (or additive manufacturing or 3D printing) could reduce the complexity of a space manufacturing operation. This would reduce the mass of the first seed replicator. There are several additional strategies to reduce the launch mass of a seed replicator. The first is to identify and use only the simplest system capable of replication. The second is to avoid full closure. Closure is the ability to replicate all aspects of the system in space so that nothing further is required from Earth to build replicas. Nearly full closure is vastly easier to achieve than full closure (Freitas and Gilbreath 1980), because the manufacture of electronics and computer chips requires heavy, high-tech equipment that would be expensive to launch from Earth and would command much of the industrys resources during replication. However, incomplete closure results in very high launch masses later as the industry grows exponentially, as we show below. A third strategy, which to our knowledge has not been discussed in the literature, is to begin with a simpler, sub-replicating system and evolve it toward the selfreplication capability. In this strategy, the evolving system might never become a selfreplicator even after it reaches full closure, because each generation can continue creating something significantly more advanced than itself. This is the strategy adopted here. The objective is for the first robotic colonists on the Moon to fabricate a set of, say, 1700s era machines and then to advance them steadily through the equivalent of the 1800s, 1900s, and finally back into the 2000s. We argue that this can be accomplished in just a few decades. There are reasons why this technological spiral will be both easier and faster than when we accomplished it on Earth. First, the majority of the technology does not need to be re-invented. The knowledge will be provided by technologists on Earth. Second, the Earth will provide material support in the early stages. We will send teleoperated robots and complex electronic assemblies prior to achieving closure. On the other hand, there will be new challenges. For example, we must gain experience in the lunar environment to learn how to adapt terrestrial technologies to it. The set of assets within each generation is described below. To be conservative, we usually assume that each asset is retired at the end of its generation so that only the more modern assets of the new generation are involved in producing the generation after that (except as noted below for solar cells and robonauts). This is overly conservative, but it allows that hardware failures could disable some new assets that are unable to be repaired while assets from the prior generation continue to operate to take their place. In Generation (Gen) 2.5, the use of the decimal place (rather than incrementing to 3.0) indicates that the assets of Gen 2.0 and Gen 2.5 are added cumulatively rather than retiring the Gen 2.0 hardware. We do this because it is necessary to vastly diversify materials manufacturing as quickly as possible, and this is accomplished by creating Gen 2.5 hardware that is no more sophisticated than Gen 2.0 although capable of making different materials. Subsequent generations are modeled very simply as extrapolations from the first one using a crudeness factor that tells how much more massive they are due to the use of mongrel alloys and other poor materials produced from the regolith. Thus, Gen. 2.0 and Gen 2.5 have a crudeness factor of 2.5, meaning they are 2.5 times as massive as Gen. 1.0 and thus take longer to manufacture. Gen 3.0 has a crudeness factor of 1.5, but Gen. 4.0 and subsequent have a crudeness factor of 1.0. The quantity of electronics fabricated on the Moon also evolves with the generations. For Gen. 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0, the targets are to make 90%, 95%, 99%, and 100% of the electronics on the Moon, respectively. If these targets cannot be met, then the overall exponential growth of lunar industry can be slowed down accordingly to keep it economical. Another model parameter is the operation time per lunation. If the solar cells are located on a peak of eternal light near the poles and are actuated to follow the sun, they might obtain enough power for the industry to operate through 70% of the lunation. More equatorially, they would support only 40% operation. The evolving approach described here reduces the cost of material transported to the moon by eight times. Lower cost launch providers like Spacex are altering the cost equation. This robotic industry in space leads to a grand vision. After the industry becomes selfsupporting it can be sent to other parts of the solar system. The asteroid belt has everything necessary for it: water, carbon, silicates, metals, oxygen, solar energy (with much larger collecting arrays), etc. The ices in the lunar poles are a limited resource so it will be important to move the center of industry to the asteroids as quickly as possible. There, the billion-fold greater resources could allow the industry to expand exponentially until it dwarfs that of the entire Earth within just a few decades. Continued advances in artificial intelligence will be needed to control and manage such a large industry. The United States economy uses 10^20 J of energy per year including fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables (Department of Energy 2010). Gen. 5.0 (at 70% duty cycle) using 10^15 J of energy per year. Multiplying this by a factor of 3 per year, it would exceed the energy usage of the US within 11 more years. After 12 more years it would exceed the US economy by a factor of a million. After another decade it would exceed the US economy by a factor of a billion. Somewhere within that brief period of time, humanity will have gained the ability to do everything we can dream of doing in space. Robotic space industry will also bring great dividends back to Earth. For example, it can create space beamed solar power (SBSP) satellites in Earth orbit. Commonly it is explained that SBSP is not competitive with other energy sources due to launch costs. Robotic space industry can eliminate not only the launch costs but also the construction costs, turning it into an essentially free, clean, and highly scalable energy source. Chinas space agency has officially confirmed that it has been funding research into the controversial space propulsion technology EmDrive, and that it plans to add the technology to Chinese satellites imminently. The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a subsidiary of the Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and the manufacturer of the Dong Fang Hong satellites, has held a press conference in Beijing explaining the importance of the EmDrive research and summarizing what China is doing to move the technology forward. China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) team statements corresponds with information provided to IB Times from an anonymous source. According to their informant, China already has an EM Drive on board its version of the International Space Station, the space laboratory Tiangong-2. Chinese researchers have at least constructed an EM Drive and have been studying it for more than five years now. Chief designer of the CAST communication satellite division, Li Feng, told the media that so far their EM Drive only produces millinewtons of thrust (similar to NASAs version) and to make it functional, they need to get those levels up to between 100 millinewtons and 1 newton. The team is allegedly now working on the cavity design of the EM Drive and the position of the thruster, before testing their new versions on their satellites in orbit. Logically if an EMDrive was placed on Tiangong-2 and no thrust was produced, this would be apparent right away. If tiny thrust was produced in orbit and in a vacuum then further research would be pursued. Further research could still occur if thrust seemed to be produced on the ground but did not appear in orbital microgravity. However in the case of no result in orbit, then the CAST team would probably not hold a press conference. This technology is currently in the latter stages of the proof-of-principle phase, with the goal of making the technology available in satellite engineering as quickly as possible, Li Feng explained at the press conference. Although it is difficult to do this, we have the confidence that we will succeed. Race to prove EMDrive and Cannae drive and commercialize for satellite applications In 2001 a small UK company, Satellite Propulsion Research Ltd (SPR), was set up to carry out an R and D programme into a revolutionary electrical propulsion concept. Roger Shawyer invented the first EMdrive. In October 2016, a UK patent application describing a new superconducting EmDrive was published, followed by a first international version. Shortly thereafter Shawyer unveiled the creation of Universal Propulsion Ltd., a new company aimed to develop and commercialise such thrusters, as a joint venture with Gilo Industries Group, a small UK aerospace company designing and selling paramotors and the Parajet Skycar. In November 2016 the International Business Times claimed the U.S. government was testing a version of the EmDrive on the Boeing X-37B and that the Chinese government has made plans to incorporate the EmDrive on its orbital space laboratory Tiangong-2. In 2009 an EmDrive technology transfer contract with Boeing was undertaken via a State Department TAA and a UK export licence, approved by the UK MOD. The appropriate US government agencies including DARPA, USAF and NSSO were aware of the contract. However, prior to flight, the propulsion experiment aboard the X-37B was officially announced as a test of a Hall-effect thruster built by Aerojet Rocketdyne The Cannae Drive (formerly Q-drive), is another engine designed to generate propulsion from a resonant cavity without propellant, is another implementation of an idea in this category. However, Cannae drive is claimed to not be an EMDrive. Its cavity is also asymmetric, but relatively flat rather than a truncated cone. It was designed by Fetta in 2006 and has been promoted within the US through his company, Cannae LLC, since 2011. In 2016, Fetta announced plans to eventually launch a cubesat satellite containing a version of the Cannae Drive, which they would run for 6 months to observe how it functions in space NASA peer reviewed paper showed that they had tested the propellentless EMdrive propulsion on a highly sensitive device in a vacuum and detected 1.2 millinewtons per kilowatt of propulsion. Many remain unconvinced. Despite having a setup that has been pretty much operating for years, how many data points are in the paper? Eighteen. Now, if this were a really time-consuming experiment, I wouldnt let that bother me. Hell, some synchrotron experiments have only a single data point. But this is clearly not a time-limited experiment. The microwave was pulsed for about 40 seconds, and an entire data run seems to take about 200 seconds. Allowing five minutes between measurements, it should have been possible to record 12 data points for the same settings every hour. Indeed, although the researchers have numerous variables at their hands to change between experiments, they only play with one. In previous papers, they played with two, but still this limited exploration and limited data is really disheartening. Then theres the error analysis: the authors estimate many measurement uncertainties so that each thrust measurement has an uncertainty of about ten percent. That sounds brilliant, right? Except the authors ignore the main uncertainties. In one experiment at 60 Watts of microwave power, the authors measure thrust of 128 microNewtons, while all three data points for 80 Watts of microwave power have thrusts of less than 120 microNewtons. Indeed, the thrust at 60 Watts for all data overlaps pretty much perfectly for all data taken at 80 Watts. They can only claim a slope by turning the power down to 40 Watts, where they do consistently measure less thrust. Cannae Drive The Cannae drive is also propellentless like the EMdrive but is a different design. They will test their system orbit in a cubesat in 2017 Cannae is not using an EmDrive thruster in their upcoming launch. Cannae is using its own proprietary thruster technology which requires no on-board propellant to generate thrust. In addition, this project is being done as a private venture. Cannae is only working with our private commercial partners on the upcoming mission. Theseus Space is going to be launching a demo cubesat (probably in 2017) which will use Cannae thruster technology to maintain an orbit below a 150 mile altitude. This cubesat will maintain its extreme LEO altitude for a minimum duration of 6 months. The primary mission objective is to demonstrate our thruster technology on orbit. Secondary objectives for this mission include orbital altitude and inclination changes performed by the Cannae-thruster technology. Cannaes thruster technology is capable of generating thrust from a few uN up through several newton thrust levels and higher levels. The Cannae thruster technology is particularly useful for small satellite missions due to low power, mass and volume requirements. Our thruster configuration for the cubesat mission with Theseus is anticipated to require less than 1.5 U volume and will use less than 10 watts of power to perform station keeping thrusting. Once demonstrated on orbit, Theseus will offer their thruster platforms to the satellite marketplace Cannae is commercializing proprietary propulsion technology requiring no on-board propellant to generate thrust. The core of their technology uses the Lorentz Force imbalances created by their thrusters to create propulsion. Cannae has demonstrated 2 separate prototypes of a superconducting thruster which requires no dielectric material to generate thrust. Inventor, Guido Fetta, delivered a paper on superconducting prototype demonstration at the 2014 AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference. Cannae has since improved upon the initial design and has demonstrated improved thrust and performance of their superconducting prototype at their Pennsylvania test facility. Cannae is also commercializing a thruster that does not require superconducting operation in order to generate thrust. This thruster also requires no on-board propellant to generate a Lorentz Force imbalance. Cannae has demonstrated prototypes of this new thruster technology at our Pennsylvania test facility. Cannae has various deep space probes and space freighter designs if their in orbit tests work out The deep space probe concept vehicle outlined in this section is used to propel a scientific instrument and communication payload with a mass of 2000 kgs to a 0.1 light year (LY) distance in a 15 year time frame. This vehicle uses existing superconductor and vehicle subsystem technology performance levels. No improvements to technological performance levels are required to build the vehicle described in this section. There are 10 Cannae Drives included in the deep space probe design. 5 x 50 MHz Thruster cavities (continuously powered) 3 x 1 GHz Steering cavities (powered as needed) 2 x 1.5 GHz Roll-control cavities (powered as needed) The 5 Cannae Drive thruster cavities provide continuous acceleration of 8.66 x 10^-3 m/s2 to the probe. This is equivalent to accelerating at 1/1132 G. The small acceleration is constantly applied in one direction throughout the life time of the probe, continually increasing the velocity of the probe with respect to the Earth reference frame. The total thrust developed by the 5 thruster cavities is 85.5 newtons. The three medium sized Cannae Drive cavities provide steering for the probe. These cavities are intermittently powered to provide course corrections or for flight maneuvers. The two small Cannae Drive cavities are used to modulate the roll rate of the space probe. These cavities are also used intermittently. All of the Cannae Drives are fixed in position on the vehicle. This eliminates moving parts from the propulsion system, allowing for longevity of operation. Deep space probe cavity design The Cannae Drive cavities are manufactured of aluminum. Aluminum (or another appropriate alloy) is used to minimize the thruster system mass. A substrate layer is then coated on the inside of the cavity. A top coat of 400 nm YBCO layer is then deposited over the substrate layer. The thrusting cavities are designed with asymmetric features in areas of high electric field and in areas of high magnetic field. The average effective differential in axially-directed radiation pressure is 15% over the entire cross section of each thruster cavity. The unbalanced force developed in the thruster cavity is directed through the axial center of the 5 thruster cavities. The design maximum H-field on the top plate of the thruster cavity is 4000 A/m with nominal maximum operating H-field on the top plate of 3270 A/m. This relatively low field is used to prevent field emission in the areas of high E-field and to keep the ohmic losses in the regions of high H-field to a minimum. The Cannae Drive deep-space probe is designed to measure the environment of the interstellar medium. To do this, the vehicle is launched to LEO on a standard launch vehicle. The diameter of the probe in launch configuration is 4.8 meters with a height of 10 meters. These dimensions allow the probe to fit into a standard 5-meter launch vehicle fairing. Once the vehicle is in LEO, the thruster system is powered and the vehicle accelerates in the direction of its Earth orbit. This causes the probe to slowly spiral away from Earth until it eventually escapes into deep space. The probe continues to accelerate, increasing its velocity and overcoming the gravitational attraction of the Sun. The vehicle will reach escape velocity from the Sun without gravity assists in less than 2 months. During the LEO-to-solar-escape-velocity phase of the mission, a light-weight radiation shield is deployed to shield the thruster section of the probe from Earths thermal radiation and from solar radiation. Once the vehicle flight path is directed away from the Sun, the radiation shield is ejected from the probe. The temporary shielding is not depicted in Figure 1. The probe is designed to accelerate continuously throughout its operational life time. The mission duration is designed to be 15 years, with mission-life extensions probable. After 15 years of constant 8.65 x 10-3 m/s2 acceleration, the vehicle will reach a distance from Earth of 0.1 LY (approximately 600 billion miles). At 0.1 LY, the vehicle will be travelling at approximately 1.35 % the speed of light (c). At a 0.1 LY distance, it will require over 1 month to send or receive radio signals between the probe and Earth. For comparison, the Voyager 1 probe is currently travelling at 17.06 km/s. The Cannae-Drive-propelled, deep-space probe increases by the Voyager speed of 17.06 km/s every 23.1 days. Accelerating at design level, the Cannae-Drive-deep-space probe passes the Voyager distance from Earth (120 AU) within 2.0 years of probe launch. The Voyager required almost 35 years to reach this distance. Voyager 1 continues to increase its distance from Earth and will reach a distance of 0.1 LY in a total travel time of 1780 years. The Cannae Drive probe requires 15 years from launch to travel 0.1 LY and the thruster system uses less than 100 watts RF power to do so. For additional comparison, a propellant-based probe designed to accelerate a 2000 kg payload to a velocity of 1.35% c (the speed of the Cannae Drive probe when it passes 0.1 LY) would require a minimum of 1.8 x 1021 kgs of propellant. This calculation assumes a propellant specific impulse of 10,000 seconds with zero structural, propellant tank and power system mass (final vehicle mass is 2000 kgs). Assuming the propellant has a specific gravity of 1, this amount of propellant could cover the entire surface area of the Earth to a height of over 2 miles. If power and structural mass estimates for the propellant-based probe are included in the propellant-requirement calculation, the situation gets much worse. The Cannae Drive probe reaches a distance from Earth of 0.1 LY in 15 years. Because of the simplicity of design and lack of moving parts, it is anticipated that the vehicle will continue to accelerate and will continue to transmit data back to Earth. The Voyager and Pioneer deep-space probes have demonstrated that multi-decade missions are achievable. The RTGs of the Cannae Drive probe are designed to deliver the power required to generate up to 100 watts of RF power to the thruster cavities. As RTG power levels drop below end-of-life design levels, RF power to the cavities will also drop below the 73 watt design level. As long as phase-locked power is sent to the thruster cavities, the probe will continue to accelerate. The acceleration of the probe is directly proportional to the RF power sent into the cavities. Given the proven longevity of RTGs in space applications, the Cannae Drive probe could continue to accelerate and send back data on the interstellar medium for decades. After 33 years of constant 8.66 x 10-3 m/s2 acceleration, the Cannae Drive probe will have crossed a distance of 0.5 LY from Earth while attaining a speed of approximately 3% of c. For deep-space applications, a Cannae Drive probe outperforms propellant-driven systems by orders of magnitude. Travel times and vehicle velocities that are impossible for propellant based systems are achievable with a Cannae Drive system. The Cannae Drive technology allows new deep-space missions that have previously existed only in science fiction. They have space freighter design hat is based on the reactionless thrust of the Cannae Drive. This freighter is a satellite that is launched to LEO on a standard 5 meter fairing launch vehicle. Once in orbit, the freighter is used to raise the orbits of other satellites that are already in a LEO orbit. The value of the freighter is that significant reductions in launch costs are achieved. Satellites that are destined for orbits higher than LEO require only the launch costs associated with the LEO launch. For larger GEO satellites, the launch cost savings can amount to greater than $200 million per satellite. CANNAE SPACE FREIGHTER SPECS Mass: 10,000 KGS Solar power required: 4000 Watts FREIGHTER DIAMETER: 4.8 Meters LENGTH: 10 Meters PHASE LOCKED RF POWER: 40 Watts CAVITY COOLING POWER REQUIRED: 40 Watts AT 70 K BRAYTON COOLER POWER: 1600 Watts COOLING FLUID: Neon gas SUPERCONDUCTOR: YBCO CAVITY FREQUENCY (THRUSTER): 50 MHZ CAVITY FREQUENCY (STEERING): 200 MHZ CAVITY FREQUENCY (ROLL): 1 GHZ SOURCES- IBTimes, Wikipedia Former governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori on Wednesday, December 21, 2016 was released from prison just as the Federal gov... Former governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori on Wednesday, December 21, 2016 was released from prison just as the Federal government of Nigeria moves to extradite him back to the country.Here are nine facts that characterised the former Governor to the United Kingdom prison and the eventual release after serving jail term:James Ibori's troubles started when some of his kinsmen filed allegations of fraud against him to the then Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), chairman, Nuhu Ribadu.However, Nuhu Ribadu failed to act, which led to an uproar. In 2007, acting on many reports received, the Metropolitan Police raided the London offices of a lawyer named Bhadresh Gohil.They found computer hard drives containing details of a myriad off-shore companies, run for Ibori by Gohil, fiduciary agent Daniel Benedict McCann, and corporate financier Lambertus De Boer.The three men were jailed for 30 years. But Ibori denied any involvement and accused, Nuhu Ribadu and the UK courts of politically motivated witch-hunting.Persistence by the UK authorities, in August 2007, Ibori's assets to the tune of about $35 million were frozen and his wife, Nkoyo Ibori was arrested in November 2007 and questioned in London. She was later released.The London police kept his assets frozen because he could not explain how on a salary of less than $25,000 as governor, he had $35 million in his account.On December 12, 2007, he was arrested by the EFCC at the Kwara state lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. The commission brought the following charges of theft of public funds, abuse of office, and money laundering against him.Nuhu Ribadu alleged that Ibori had tried to bribe him with a cash gift of $15 million, which Ribadu immediately lodged in the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN. Reports have it that the money remains in the CBN as an exhibit.However, in December 2009, a federal high court sitting in Asaba, Delta state, discharged and acquitted Ibori of all the 170 charges of corruption brought against him by EFCC.In 2010, his sins came after him and Ibori ran. Three months after Goodluck Jonathan became president, Ibori was accused of embezzling N40 billion, the governor of CBN later said that he had used Delta state as collateral for N40 billion loan.Attempts to arrest him were unsuccessful. He reportedly fled from Abuja to Lagos and then to the creeks of Oghara, his homeland in the Niger Delta.There were rumours that he was guarded by militants who shot at government security forces. He denied these charges.In April 2010, he fled Nigeria, prompting the EFCC to request the assistance of Interpol.An international arrest warrant was issued by the United Kingdom and enforced by Interpol and eventually Ibori was arrested on May 13, 2010 in Dubai.He was granted bail, but as the United Kingdom were seeking his extradition, the United Arab Emirates kept his movements restricted.He fought the extradition and fought for political asylum in Dubai. However this was not granted and he was eventually extradited to the UK in 2012.6. Family and friends in Court for Money LaunderingIn June 2010, UK juries found his sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori and his associate, Udoamaka Okoronkwo, guilty on counts of money laundering.Despite Ibori releasing a statement absolving the women, Ms Okoronkwo and Adebimpe Pogoson who were charged alongside his sister. Christine Ibie-Ibori and Udoamaka Okoronkwo were each sentenced to 5 years in prison on Monday, June 7, 2010.On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, after 5 years of running, James Ibori was sentenced to 13 years by Southwark Crown Court for his crimes. His houses, luxury cars and other properties were confiscated.The judge ruled that he was expected to spend half of the jail term which is six and half years. Also, the 645 days he had spent in detention facilities both in Dubai and UK were deducted from the sentence.On Wednesday, December 21, 2016, Chief James Onanefe Ibori was released from prison to a house arrest pending all other issues in the United Kingdom.President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has begun the process of extraditing former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who was released from jail in the United Kingdom two days ago. According to The Punch, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has told the EFCC to make Iboris 170 charges file available.Spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren in a text message said: His (Iboris) fate will be determined by the provisions of the law. Passengers, who were scheduled to travel out of the country with Arik Air on Tuesday but could not do so due to the strike action by aviat... Passengers, who were scheduled to travel out of the country with Arik Air on Tuesday but could not do so due to the strike action by aviation unions in solidarity with workers of the carrier, on Wednesday morning created an ugly scene at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos following the resumption of flight operations.Many of the passengers billed to travel on Wednesday joined those of the previous day, creating chaotic situations at the check-in counters of the airline at both the General Aviation Terminal of the local airport and at the international terminal.The situation persisted until noon when the airline was able to clear the backlog of passengers.One of our correspondents, who was at the departure hall of the airport at around 8.40am, observed that passengers in their hundreds besieged the check-in counters of the airline trying to get boarding passes for the carriers Lagos-London bound flight.Arik Air officials at the scene were overwhelmed by the surge in crowd, with some of the desperate passengers resorting to verbally abusing the officials, while some vowed never to patronise the airline again.A passenger, who gave his name simply as Tunde, said, I am really upset about the situation. I am a regular flyer of Arik to London and I can say without fear of contradiction that the airline is notorious for flight delays and cancellation, as well as poor treatment of its customers.I was supposed to have flown to London on Tuesday and have a meeting with some of my clients this morning, but through the airlines carelessness, I have lost that opportunity.Another passenger, who refused to give his name, said he was at the check-in counter to demand a refund of his airfare, having missed the opportunity to be in London at the scheduled time.I had to look for money to buy another ticket of Med-View Airline to take me to the United Kingdom in two weeks time. However, that is coming at a great cost, because the new ticket is expensive because of the Christmas/New Year rush and because Med-View will land at Gatwick airport, which is farther from where I am going instead of Arik taking me to Heathrow, the frustrated passenger said.While some officials of the airline were struggling to appease the angry passengers, others resorted to hauling insults back at the intending travellers.The Public Relations and Communications Manager, Arik Air, Adebanji Ola, said the airline had put in place extra flights to various destinations within the country that would operate between Wednesday and Saturday, and had also upgraded the aircraft on certain routes to bigger capacities to cope with the backlog of passengers whose flights were affected by the strike action.He said passengers whose flights were affected by the disruption on Tuesday were given priority on Wednesday.Additional capacities have been allocated throughout this week from both Lagos and Abuja to destinations such as Enugu, Asaba, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Benin, Warri, Uyo and Yola to also enable many of our customers to get to their destinations for the Yuletide season, he said.Meanwhile, Med-View Airline has announced that it has expanded its operations into the West African sub region with the commencement of flight services to Monrovia, Liberia and Freetown, Sierra Leone via Accra, Ghana.The airline said the expansion was in fulfilment of its promise to use its Accra operations as a stepping stone to other countries in the West Coast.According to a statement by the airline, the inaugural flight to the two countries took off from Lagos via the Kotoka International Airport, Ghana to the Roberts International Airport, Liberia and Freetown International Airport, Sierra Leone.The outbound flight headed straight to Kotoka in Ghana before going back to Nigeria. It was with delight and ecstasy that the two countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone, welcomed the airline, describing the operation as a giant step towards strengthening regional integration among ECOWAS countries, the statement read in part.The representative of the President of the ECOWAS Commission in Liberia, Ambassador Tunde Ajisomo, was quoted to have described the new operation as a courageous move by Med-View to fill the vacuum created by the absence of African airlines plying the West African routes.He said the development aligned with the vision of the Economic Community of West African States to deepen trade and economic relations between African countries and their peoples. Nigerian champions Enugu Rangers will face Algerian club Jeunne Sportive Saoura in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.The first leg will be played away in Algeria on 10, 11 or 12 February 2017, with the second leg to be played in Enugu a week later.The winners of the tie will face former champions and this year's finalists Zamalek in the next round.Super Four champions Rivers United have also been handed a tricky fixture against Mali's AS Bamako.If Rivers United see off the Malians, they will face El Merrikh of Sudan or Sony Nguema of Guinea in the next round.The Pride of Rivers will travel to Bamako for the first leg and will host the return fixture at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium.In the Confederation Cup, Federation Cup winners FC IfeanyiUbah will travel to Egypt where they face Al- Masry in the first leg of their preliminary tie.If IfeanyiUbah beat the Egyptians, they will face Djoliba of Mali.Nigeria's other representatives in the competition Wikki Tourists will tackle RSLAF of Sierra Leone in the preliminary round and Club Africain of Tunisia in the first round. A Zimbabwean court has ordered President Robert Mugabes wife to return three properties she seized from a local businessman in a messy d... A Zimbabwean court has ordered President Robert Mugabes wife to return three properties she seized from a local businessman in a messy dispute over a $1.35-million diamond ring, a lawyer said Thursday.Grace Mugabe was taken to court by Jamal Ahmed after she took over three of his properties, demanding that he repay the $1.35 million (1.3 million euros) she had paid for a diamond ring that she then decided she did not want.On Wednesday, Zimbabwes High Court ordered Grace to vacate the properties she seized, Ahmeds lawyer Beatrice Mtwetwa said in a statement.According to court documents seen by AFP, Ahmed said Grace had made an order for the $1.35 million diamond ring in Dubai.She placed an order for a diamond with my daughter in Dubai which she indicated her husband wanted to buy her for their anniversary, he said.The first lady then refused to take delivery of the diamond and instead demanded a full refund.Ahmed, who is not currently in Zimbabwe, said he has received threats from officials from Zimbabwes spy agency the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).I have been threatened with harm if I return and it is necessary that I get some form of protection, court documents quoted him as saying.If the respondents have a genuine cause of action against me, they have a right to take me to court without taking the law into their own hands. Reign of terror Ahmed said the first lady was aware that his business had already incurred the costs of preparing the diamond for its sale.To avoid trouble the businessman offered to repay the money in instalments and has paid back $150,000 already, he said in court documents.He also claimed that Grace, together with her son, initiated a reign of terror and harassment where I was verbally threatened, harassed, insulted and told that I could not do anything to them as they are in fact Zimbabwe'.Threats of taking over my properties in Zimbabwe were also made, he added.This is not the first time Grace Mugabe has been involved in a controversial business deal.In 2011 she was caught in a spat over a $1-million truck deal with South African businessman Ping Sung Hsieh.Grace, 51, married Mugabe in 1996.She now heads the ruling ZANU-PF party womens wing. She has said that she has the right to rule the country, like any other Zimbabwean, and is now among those angling to replace her husband.AFP. President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government said it has concluded plans with Russia to build nuclear power plants in Kogi and Akwa I... President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government said it has concluded plans with Russia to build nuclear power plants in Kogi and Akwa Ibom states.The minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said that the power plants which will be located in Geregu and Itu areas of the two states respectively, after completion, are expected to meet the needs of Nigerians in diverse areas including agriculture, health, technology, education, manufacturing.He said: Nuclear power is considered a prominent alternative and a more environmentally beneficial solution since it emits far less greenhouse gases during electricity generation than coal or other traditional power plants.It is a manageable source of generating electricity and has large power-generating capacity that can meet industrial and city needs.It is not like the low-power technologies such as solar that might meet only local, residential or office needs but cannot generate power for heavy manufacturing, he said. Some Nigerians on Thursday expressed displeasure with the celebration of the release of James Ibori, a former Delta Governor, from a priso... Some Nigerians on Thursday expressed displeasure with the celebration of the release of James Ibori, a former Delta Governor, from a prison in London.They said that such celebration was condemnable, unfortunate and uncalled for.The former governor of Delta was on Wednesday released from prison in London, U.K.Ibori was jailed in 2012, two years after he was arrested by the Interpol in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, where he was hiding after fleeing Nigeria.He was sentenced to 13 years in prison by Southwark Crown Court on April 17, 2012 after pleading guilty to 10-count charge of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud.In spite of his guilty plea and conviction for corruption, his kinsmen at Oghara and other Urhobo communities in the Delta, however, turned the affair to a carnival as they lined up major streets dancing.There was wild jubilation in Delta following the news of the release of the former governor.A retired teacher, Mr Augustine, said it was unfortunate that some Nigerians celebrated criminals and those who contributed to the bad situation of the country.He said, Its a shame that we are celebrating those who had contributed the increased unemployment rate in the country, lack of healthcare services, dwindling standard of education and failed democracy among other challenges.Until we start to change our ways and mindset, we will continue to wallow in our problems in the nation.In his views, Mr. Sesan Adeleye, a businessman, said such jubilation showed that politicians had successfully brainwashed some citizens with ill-gotten wealth.He said, The problem of some Nigerians is a clear case of poverty of the mind. We value wealth so much. They are not even bothered about why he went to prison.They are already waiting for him to come back so that he can continue to distribute ill-gotten money to them.They dont even care that the money stolen was meant for their welfare and development.Also, Dr Edewede Iyamu, a private physician, said that the celebration over Iboris release was uncalled for as he also contributed to the pervasively poor and under developed state of the Niger Delta.She said, Those from Niger Delta continue to blame the Federal Government for the challenges confronting their region, whereas, people like Ibori should be held responsible.It is sad that people from that region are now celebrating him.A Lagos-based legal practitioner, Mr. Adekunle Aribisala, said something must be done to stop the celebration of criminality in the country as it was becoming rampant.Aribisala also expressed worry that it would not be easy for the Western community to release the money in question 18 million Pounds to the Nigerian government.He said, We had the same situation when Chief Bode George and Mr. Hamza Al-Mustapha were released too, now its Ibori. I feel really ashamed as a Nigerian.We do not need people like that in our society any longer. They need to be isolated so they dont corrupt more people.In her opinion, Alhaja Aishe Jelil, a civil servant, said the future of the youth who were being used by politicians called for concern.She said, We seem to have lost our values in this society, I wonder what the future holds for our future generations. They are celebrating Ibori because they consider him a hero and a role mode. Senator representing Bayelsa east senatorial district, Ben Murray Bruce has said that it is impossible to fight corruption with workers ea... It is not Nigerians that are corrupt. It is their system that is corrupt. If you don't change that system, you can't ever end corruption. Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) December 20, 2016 When the actual cost of living is somewhere around 60k per month and minimum wage is 18k there is no way you can fight corruption! Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) December 20, 2016 Nigeria's MINIMUM WAGE of 18k will (not may) soon lead to MAXIMUM WAGE if it remains the same while the cost of everything else skyrockets! Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) December 21, 2016 Senator representing Bayelsa east senatorial district, Ben Murray Bruce has said that it is impossible to fight corruption with workers earning just N18,000 as minimum wage.The Senator who gave the statement via social media also said that it is not Nigerians that are corrupt but the system they found themselves into.When the actual cost of living is somewhere around 60k per month and minimum wage is 18k there is no way you can fight corruption! Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday admitted that although the current administration is making progress, it is slow. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday admitted that although the current administration is making progress, it is slow.He attributed the slow nature of the governments progress to what he called damages of the past.According to a statement from his media office, Osinbajo spoke when he paid an unscheduled visit to the Mpape artisans village, located near the Maitama district of Abuja.The Vice-President who was accompanied by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammad, cited the vandalism in the Niger Delta as one of the problems facing the country.He said, We are progressing but it is slow and the reason why it is slow is because there have been a lot of damages in the past.For instance, look at what is happening in the Niger Delta; that is where we get most of the money.But when the boys in the Niger Delta decided in blowing up the pipelines, production dropped from the two million barrels per day that we used to do to one million per day and we lost 60 per cent of what we used to earn from oil, that is partly responsible for the problem that you see today.Osinbajo encouraged the artisans not to despair as government was focused on addressing key sectors that would improve the economy and create jobs for them and other Nigerians.We are trying to deal with the problem in the Niger Delta, address farming, industry and the economy so that this problem you are talking about will be fixed permanently, he said. Fatal Demarest accident A man was struck and killed in Demarest earlier this week. (Google Maps) DEMAREST -- A delivery driver from New York was charged Wednesday with hitting and killing a pedestrian. Cheewah Wong, 54 The victim, who authorities didn't immediately identify, was a 63-year-old Demarest man who was walking his dog, NorthJersey.com reported. The incident occurred near Madison Avenue and Van Horn Street. The driver, Cheewah Wong, 54, was charged for knowingly fleeing the scene in an accident involving death. A volunteer firefighter from a nearby town witnessed the crash and helped the victim before medics arrived. The firefighter also gave information to authorities that led them to Wong, according to the publication. The victim was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. As condition of bail, Wong was ordered to surrender his passport. Bail was set at $100,000 with no 10 percent option. Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde. HACKENSACK - A Garfield man who said he was trying to protect his wife when he shot a man in Cliffside Park was found guilty of murder on Wednesday. A Bergen County Superior Court jury found that Michael A. Sampson, 42, shot Hector "Titoi" Zabala, 33, of Fairview on July 8, 2012, according to NorthJersey.com. The men had been at the same bar earlier in the evening and Zabala had irritated Sampson by paying attention to his wife, according to the report. The fatal shooting occurred July 8, 2012. (S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) When the bar closed, Sampson and his wife, along with Zabala and his friends gathered down the street in front of a grocery store, according to police at the time. Sampson and Zabala reportedly exchanged words before Sampson took out a gun and shot the younger man. During a trial, which ended Wednesday, witnesses testified that Zabala was drunk and annoying but not threatening, according to the report. Sampson was found guilty of murder, possession of a gun and drug possession, according to the report. Sentencing is scheduled for March 3. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. PARAMUS - Route 4 westbound lanes at Route 17 were closed Thursday morning after a tractor-trailer overturned, according to police. "The ramp from Route 17 south to Route 4 west is closed until further notice," Paramus police tweeted shortly after 7 a.m. Police said the local westbound lanes on Route 4 were also closed due to the accident. It was unclear whether other vehicles were involved in the crash and whether anyone was seriously hurt. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. EzellA.jpeg Brittany Ezell (Mahwah Police Department) Brittany Ezell MAHWAH -- A Florida woman arrested Monday at a local hotel is suspected of being part of a gang behind recent car break-ins in North Jersey, police said. Brittany L. Ezell, 24, of Fort Lauderdale Fla., was arrested after a months-long investigation into the "Felony Lane Gang," Chief James Batelli said in a press release. The gang targets vehicles outside gyms, daycares and parks to steal personal identification and financial documents, Batelli said. The group then sends women disguised as their victims with wigs to local banks to cash checks, according to Batelli. Batelli said the gang's name was coined because they use the farthest lane out in the bank drive-through. Using rental cars, the gang has been tied to a number of crimes across the country, according to media reports. Detectives tracked down Ezell after she was found to match the description of a woman seen at local banks cashing victim's checks. Police said they found nine different wigs inside the hotel room, some of which Ezell was seen wearing in different surveillance footage. Wigs recovered by police. Ezell allegedly worked with two other Florida men who were arrested Monday in nearby Wyckoff, Batelli said. Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal, whose office assisted in the arrests, warned North Jersey residents about the rash of break-ins. Ezell was charged with theft and forgery. Batelli said more charges are anticipated. An article in the Miami New Times detailed the gangs beginnings in South Florida. Fausto Giovanny Pinto may be reached at fpinto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @FGPreporting. Find NJ.com on Facebook. HACKENSACK -- A Kearny woman was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing $75,000 from her former employer using fake checks, officials said. Alyssa Elphick, 55, was charged with theft by deception and two counts of computer related theft, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said in a news release. An investigation began last week after the prosecutor's office received information that Elphick was embezzling money from her former employer, a logistics company in Hackensack, Grewal said. Detectives determined that Elphick had created fake checks in the company's name and then made them payable to herself and others. Elphick then used the checks to withdraw money from company bank accounts, Grewal said. More than $75,000 was allegedly withdrawn using the check scheme. She then accessed the company's Quickbooks accounting software to delete or alter the records, Grewal said. Elphick was released after being served with a summons. She is scheduled to appear in court in January. Fausto Giovanny Pinto may be reached at fpinto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @FGPreporting. Find NJ.com on Facebook. You don't let your kids talk to strangers. You certainly don't willingly give over private information about your kids to strangers. But internet-connected toys may leave children vulnerable. According to critics, the toys can be used to take advantage of your kids, and even put them in danger. Strangers or predators could use the technology in the toys to talk directly to your children, according to a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by several consumer advocacy and privacy groups. The bad guys can also hear what your children tell the toy. That information could be used for, well, we'll leave that to your imagination. The complaint alleges the internet-connected toys My Friend Cayla and iQue Robot -- neither are brand new releases -- violate federal privacy and consumer protection laws. "The toys subject young children to ongoing surveillance and are deployed in homes across the United States without any meaningful data protection standards," the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said in the complaint. The complaint targets toymaker Genesis Toys and speech recognition technology provider Nuance Communications, who together created My Friend Cayla and i-Que Robot. Neither company responded to our request for an interview. The two toys, according to the complaint, violate of both the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the FTC's prohibition on unfair and deceptive acts and practices. "Specifically, the companies unfairly and deceptively collect, use, and disclose audio files of children's voices and other personal information without providing adequate notice or obtaining verified parental consent in violation of COPPA, the FTC's COPPA Rule, and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act," EPIC said. Then there's the wireless component. The toys have no "reasonable security measures," EPIC said, which means anyone could use Bluetooth to connect with the toys -- and your kids. "As a result, Genesis fails to prevent strangers and predators from covertly eavesdropping on children's private conversations, which creates a substantial risk of harm because children may be subject to predatory stalking or physical danger," EPIC said. Anyone who connects to the toys could, in essence, get intimate information about your kids. On top of that, the voice recordings made by kids who use the toys are transmitted to Nuance Communications, which may use the recordings for just about anything it wants, EPIC said, including sharing it with third parties or using it to create targeted advertising. Before you say the toys' critics are overreacting, consider what's happened in Europe. There, some retailers have pulled the toys from store shelves and consumer groups are actively warning parents. The most frightening warning came in the form of a video by the Norwegian Consumer Council. It demonstrates how someone -- even from a very far distance -- could use the wireless connection to speak through the doll to your child. "With simple steps, anyone can take control of the toys through a mobile phone," the Council said on its web site. "This makes it possible to talk and listen through the toy without having physical access to the toy." That's pretty scary stuff. Back at home, following the complaint to the FTC, U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who authored COPPA while a member of the House, sent letters to Genesis and Nuance. "Sen. Markey asks for responses to questions that include what data are the companies collecting about children 12 years old and younger, how is this information used, and whether the information is shared or sold," a spokeswoman said. Markey's office said the companies haven't responded to his inquiries. If these toys are in Santa's sack and destined for your children, you might want to call the guy in the red suit to find an alternate gift while there's still time. 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. VINELAND -- A gas station on Main Road was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday evening, according to authorities. Police describe the robber as a white man, clean shaven, thin and between 40 to 50 years old. He was seen leaving the area in a black SUV or truck with tinted windows and a New Jersey license plate. The gas attendant got a part of his license plate number, which had "N87" on it. The robbery occurred Tuesday at the Major Petroleum on the 2700 block of South Main Road around 5:40 p.m. The robber approached the gas station booth and pointed a black handgun at the attendant, demanding money. With an undetermined amount of cash in hand, the gunman ran to the black vehicle parked nearby and drove away eastbound on East Sherman Avenue, toward Lincoln Avenue. The gas station attendant was uninjured in the robbery. Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find NJ.com on Facebook. BELLEVILLE -- A township police officer shot at least one criminal suspect Wednesday, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly of the Essex County Prosecutor's Office confirmed. Fennelly said the incident was still under investigation and little information was immediately available, but did confirm that the male suspect sustained a non-fatal wound and is in serious condition at University Hospital in Newark. No officers were shot, he also said The shooting occurred at a home in the 300 block of Joralemon Street around 6 p.m. Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NEWARK -- Two men were arrested at Newark Penn Station on Wednesday after Port Authority police say they intercepted a foot chase that began with the theft of an illegal ninja sword. Port Authority police seized this katana-type sword on Wednesday after stopping a foot chase between two men at Newark Penn Station. (Port Authority Police Department) Officers on the station's main concourse around 11 a.m. saw Leon E. Cureton, 61, running with a long black object away from Fernando Pellot, 29, who was chasing after him while shouting, according to Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo. Fernando Pellot (left) and Leon E. Cureton. (Essex County Correctional Facility) After officers stopped the two men, police say, they discovered the object Cureton was carrying was a katana-type sword wrapped in a black garbage bag. Cureton was charged with theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, and was taken to the Essex County Correctional Facility on an outstanding bench warrant out of New York City. Pellot was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon. He's scheduled to appear in court on the charge Dec. 28, according to police. Police say the katana was vouchered into evidence for safekeeping. Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NORTH BERGEN -- The neighborhood surrounding Kennedy Furniture was quiet for most of Wednesday morning until flames and heavy smoke began to pour out of the Kennedy Boulevard business, creating a chaotic scene on the Union City border. A five-alarm fire tore through the furniture store at the 13th Street intersection sometime around 11:30 a.m., injuring four firefighters and evacuating several surrounding homes, North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue Chief Frank Montagne said. George Dawli, who had an appointment in the neighborhood at the time of the fire, said within minutes, a light, gray smoke started pouring from the furniture warehouse before it quickly turned to a thick, black cloud. "Right after I noticed the smoke, I heard yelling and people frantically leaving the warehouse," he said. "Some people were moving cars, trucks and other vehicles away." Flames could be seen shooting out of the building from as far away as Secaucus and the black smoke was visible from parts Bergen County and Manhattan. Union City resident Rodrigo Marvin heard about the blaze on the news but saw the destroyed store firsthand while he rode his bike home from work Wednesday evening. "It was a really nice store," Marvin said of Kennedy Furniture, adding that he shopped there once before. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but Montagne said a construction crew was working on the roof of the one-story building when the blaze was reported. The fire burned for hours and was placed under control at about 3:15 p.m. Some residents were temporarily evacuated from their homes and have since started to return. Power was turned off in the neighborhood while firefighters battled the blaze. Crews are working to restore service to the immediate area surrounding the fire Wednesday evening. But the fire left the entire business gutted and burned out, with only part of the building's frame remaining. "You could feel the heat from up the street," said a Union City man who declined to give his name. "I've never seen flames like that before in my life. You couldn't even see in front of yourself." Jersey Journal staff writers Corey McDonald and Michaelangelo Conte contributed to this report. JERSEY CITY -- A 15-year prison sentence for the aggravated sexual assault on a 5-year-old boy was meted out today to a 37-year-old man who faked interest in the boy's mother to get close to the child. Michael Shehata ingratiated himself with the boy's mother and one day told her that he lost his apartment key and asked if he could spend one night in her Jersey City home, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor John Mulkeen said during today's sentencing. She thought "she was doing something helpful for a person in need and this defendant took advantage of the situation," Mulkeen said, adding that Shehata was married to a woman at the time and has a child of his own. Yet, he found "a way to get himself into the position to commit a sex act on the victim, Mulkeen said. The sex assault took place on June 14, however no other details of the abuse were presented in court today. When asked if he wanted to say anything before being sentenced, Shehata, a Jersey City resident, said: "Your honor, I am not a bad person. I was at a bad place at a bad time." Mulkeen said the mother approved of the plea deal because she did not want her son to have to testify at trial. Shehata's lawyer noted that his client was unlikely to have fared well at trial, which could have put him at risk of spending more than two decades behind bars. Before sentencing Shehata, Hudson County Superior Court Judge John Young noted that the defendant has no criminal record and that he must serve the entire prison term with no chance of parole, as it is the minimal allowed sentence for the offense. Shehata will also have to register under Megan's Law when released from prison and will be forced to undergo lifetime supervision. Shehata has been in jail since his arrest more than 550 days ago. He will now be remanded to state prison. 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. Welcome to non league daily news now - your number one spot for all things relating to the National League System. Our dedicated reporters have come straight from the sidelines to bring you news fresh from the dugout - but not before theyve stopped off at the burger van first! We know that non league football fans are full of heart, passion, and belief. You trust the manager, you believe in the team, and, for some strange reason, you trust those rickety stands, too! Here at Non League Daily, we hope we can become your trusted non league news resource - a platform thats just as passionate about non league daily news now as you. Come rain or shine, well be out reporting on the latest non league fixtures. Well also be scouring the news, refreshing social media, and sourcing information from team websites in the hopes of finding the latest breaking non league daily news for our readers. As youll soon see, weve got exclusive match reports on the Vanarama National League, weve got transfer speculation thatll affect the National League South, weve found great stories thatll spice up the National League North, and weve even got news on the latest giant killers of the FA Cup. We may not be able to agree on who is going up this year, but we can all agree that any news on the NLS worth knowing will be published here, at Non League Daily. #MBN Cable channel loses lawsuit against suspension order MBN, a cable TV channel, on Thursday lost a lawsuit against the government's order to suspend its operation for six months for accounting fraud. The Korea Communications Commis... #Hybe Q3 Hybe posts highest Q3 revenue ever Hybe, the entertainment company behind K-pop superstars BTS, on Thursday reported a revenue of 445.5 billion won (US$314 million) for the third quarter of the year, up 30.6 percent... The 2015 production of "The Nutcracker" by The Joffrey Ballet was the last time audiences had the opportunity to see the classic ballet as choreographed by Robert Joffrey. Enter this season, and dance fans have an exquisite new production to enjoy. "Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker," presented by The Joffrey Ballet, is an outstanding retelling of the popular production. The show runs through Dec. 30 at The Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. Choreographer Wheeldon has crafted a mesmerizing theatrical experience revolving around the opening of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Instead of the ballet focusing on a young Clara from a well-to-do family, this "Nutcracker" tells the story of young Marie, who is from a poor, hard-working immigrant family. The tale begins in 1892, on a Chicago Christmas Eve, where workers, who hail from different countries, are creating the Exposition. Marie and her brother Franz come home to find their mother, who is a sculptress, working on a piece that will star at the fair. Other workers join them at their home for Christmas festivities. The Impressario who created the fair joins the festivities and comes bearing gifts including a nutcracker for Marie. Later that night, Marie, while in a dream, embarks on a journey with the life-size Nutcracker and the Impressario. They travel to the land of the World's Fair, where they visit exciting ethnic pavilions. While the setting is different from the previous "Nutcracker" and the Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy, this production and its focus on the World's Fair is also beautiful to watch. The set and costumes by Julian Crouch are stunning. Wheeldon's choreography offers a blend of grace and power executed by dancers who are definitely tops in their field. The fact that this show is tailor-made for Chicago fans is another plus. It's fascinating to see key structures of the fair recreated on stage. The large gold sculpture known as the Statue of The Republic, is seen on stage as well as the Ferris Wheel. In addition to Crouch and Wheeldon, other members of the creative team are author/illustrator Brian Selznick, puppeteer Basil Twist; lighting designer Natasha Katz; and projection designer Ben Pearcy. Theater-goers will be happy to know the beloved Tchaikovsky score is still in the spotlight for this show, and is performed by The Chicago Philharmonic. The Joffrey's dancers deliver excellent performances throughout the ballet. Particular standouts are Victoria Jaiani as the Queen of the Fair; and Fabrice Calmels and Christine Rochas as Arabian dancers. "Nutcracker" fans won't want to miss this rendition of the beloved tale. It easily transforms one to a magical world of dance, music and history. FYI: Christopher Wheeldon's "The Nutcracker" performed by The Joffrey Ballet runs through 30 at The Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago. Tickets are $35 to $170. Call (312) 386-8905 or visit Joffrey.org. GARY The remains of a man found Oct. 3 in the Little Calumet River has been identified as Johnny Mitchell, 64, of Gary. Gary Police Lt. Dawn Westerfield said Thursday no foul play was suspected in Mitchell's death. Mitchell first went missing in September and police shortly after sent out a news release seeking the publics help in locating him, she said. At the time, Mitchell had been without his prescribed medication, had no resources and had been distraught, police said. Two fishermen came upon Mitchell's body in the river along the 2900 block of Martin Luther King Drive and contacted the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Gary Police Department around noon Oct. 3. Mitchell's body was identified through DNA samples submitted to the Indiana State Police Laboratory in Indianapolis, according to the Lake County Coroner's office. Lake County coroners officials declared Mitchell dead on scene. The Gary Fire Department assisted in recovering the body. Mitchell's cause and manner of death is pending, according to an office spokesman. HAMMOND The U.S. attorney has until next month to decide whether to request a new mail fraud trial against a former Merrillville lawyer. A jury in U.S. District Court was unable to reach a verdict last week on allegations Robert Stochel stole $331,840 from the family of a former supermarket chain. Stochel, who was in private law practice from 1978 until his disbarment last year, was appointed custodian in 1999 over the assets of Tip Top Supermarket Inc. following a dispute between the two brothers who owned the company. The government alleges Stochel opened a bank account to hold money in the receivership and withdrew the money for his personal benefit between January 2001 and June 2012. The Indiana Supreme Court disbarred Stochel for failing to return his clients' money and other misconduct. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maria N. Lerner and Diane Berkowitz and defense attorney R. Brian Woodward presented evidence last week to jurors who deliberated over two days before declaring themselves deadlocked Friday. U.S. District Court Judge Rudy Lozano dismissed the jury and told the parties to return to court within three weeks to discuss any new trial date. Ryan Holmes, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney, said no decision on the future of the case would be made before the holidays. LAPORTE A LaPorte man turned down offers for a ride then got behind the wheel and struck a telephone pole, police said. LaPorte police arrested Hector Torres for having an alleged blood-alcohol level of 0.326, more than four times Indiana's .08 limit for intoxication. The 36-year-old LaPorte man pulled into the parking lot about 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Shooter's, a bar at 201 Washington St., near the downtown. He nearly struck the building then stumbled out and fell, police said. The investigation shows he tried going inside the drinking establishment, but was denied service. Two men offered him a ride, but he refused and got back in his vehicle. Police said the two men followed Torres while he was driving in the opposite lanes on Tipton Street. He eventually struck a telephone pole a short distance away in the 200 block of Park Street, according to police. Torres was booked into LaPorte County Jail on Class A misdemeanor operating while intoxicated, which could result in one year in jail, along with never receiving a driver's license. Because of his high blood-alcohol level, Torres was transported to LaPorte Hospital as a precaution and was returned to the lockup to await a court hearing on the case after receiving medical clearance, police said. According to court documents, he was being held on a combined $800 cash bond for the two counts. He was not injured. STARKE COUNTY One person is dead after several officers in Starke County opened fire on a suspect allegedly attempting to run over law officers. Starke County sheriff and Knox City police officers arrived at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday at Southside Tire and Lube, 3021 S. U.S. 35, in Knox, to serve a felony warrant on William R. Newman, 46. Newman, of Plymouth, drove through a closed garage door of the business in a black GMC pickup truck, striking a Starke County sheriff's marked squad car, according to a news release from Indiana State Police, the investigating agency. Newman then attempted to run over another officer while trying to flee the scene, according to a preliminary investigation by state police. Officers fired their weapons, striking the vehicle and also Newman, who was the sole occupant in the vehicle, according to police. Newman was transported to Indiana University Hospital in Knox but later died, according to the release. MICHIGAN CITY A 21-year-old man has been charged with murder in the 2011 shooting death of NeKeisha Hodges-Hawkins just one month after a grieving father took to the streets and social media urging the citys police department reopen the case and bring charges against those responsible. This is the best Christmas present ever. Now I got some peace. This whole family got some peace, the girls father, Kalvon Hawkins, said Wednesday during a news conference broadcast live via Facebook. Charles Gerron, 21, was arrested Wednesday in a home in the 100 block of Custer Street in Michigan City after police executed a search warrant, according to a police department news release. He was served an arrest warrant once at the police department. Gerron is accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Hodges-Hawkins and is being held on a murder charge with a $1 million cash bond, according to police. Hodges-Hawkins was shot just before 11 p.m. July 24, 2011, at Krueger Memorial Park, where more than 100 people had been attending a private family gathering. Shots rang out in the parking lot as people were leaving the property due to a separate altercation that had broken out in the park hall, according to police. In the month leading up to Gerron's arrest, Hawkins launched a social media campaign, largely by broadcasting live videos via Facebook as he passed out fliers throughout the city and protested outside the police department building. Hawkins, along with clergy and community members, helped raise $5,000 in reward money for those who came forward with information. Sgt. Chris Yagelski said few leads had surfaced since the case first opened, but a break in the case in November prompted detectives to spend hundreds of hours reviewing the file, including past witness statements, and developing new witnesses. Part of the problem, Yagelski said in a news release, was that many of those who witnessed the shooting were juveniles in 2011 and parents would not allow them to make statements. Yagelski on Wednesday thanked a local group of pastors who convinced families whose children had direct knowledge in the case to step forward with key information. In cases as complex as these, even very small information or leads is important, he said in the release. Hawkins had said he presented the department last month with what he believed to be new evidence online screenshots of conversations discussing his daughters murder. Citing the ongoing investigation, Yagelski declined Wednesday to discuss what information made a break in the case or what ultimately led to Gerrons arrest. Hawkins said social media played a large role in bringing justice in his daughters case. (In the beginning) it was just me, by myself, and now I got an army with me, Hawkins said, thanking the 17,000-plus viewers who shared videos and posts from Hawkins this past month urging witnesses to come forward. Hodges-Hawkins mother, Janice Hawkins, said Wednesday via Facebook video she is grateful for everyone who came forward with information. Thank you to everybody who came forward to help because without your help, this wouldnt have happened," she said. INDIANAPOLIS Top-ranked high school seniors interested in becoming teachers have less than two weeks remaining to apply for a renewable $7,500-a-year state-funded college scholarship. The new Next Generation Teacher Scholarship will be awarded in April to 200 students statewide as part of a legislative initiative to produce more high-quality Hoosier educators and reduce Indiana's teacher shortage. At least 22 scholarships tentatively are designated for Northwest Indiana residents. But so far, only 12 applications have been submitted from the Region, according to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Scholarship applications are available online at LearnMoreIndiana.org/NextTeacher and must be submitted by Dec. 31, with a nomination from a current teacher and a 500-word essay on why the applicant wants to become a teacher. Applicants should be set to graduate in the top fifth of their high school class or have scored at least a 26 on the ACT exam or 1190 on the SAT. Recent graduates and current college students meeting those criteria also may apply. Scholarship winners are required to complete 30 credit hours a year in college with a 3.0 cumulative grade point average to continue receiving the annual $7,500 award. Students are limited to $30,000 in total scholarship funds. The money can be used to attend any public or private university in Indiana with a teacher training program. After graduation, students must teach in Indiana for five consecutive years, or repay 20 percent of the scholarship for each of the five years they don't teach. The $1.5 million annual state cost for each scholarship class initially will be covered using excess revenue collected through Indiana's 2015 tax amnesty program. INDIANAPOLIS The state's capital city has broken its all-time annual murder record with more than a week remaining in the year. Indianapolis tallied its 145th criminal homicide Wednesday night to exceed the prior top mark of 144 murders in one year, set in 2015. The latest killing involved an unidentified 48-year-old man responding to a knock on the door at an east side home. As soon as the man opened the door he was shot to death, according to police. The record-setting homicide happened just hours after Indianapolis Police Chief Troy Riggs unexpectedly resigned after less than a year on the job. Riggs, 50, said family financial concerns led him to decide to leave law enforcement. He did not say what he plans to do next. The Indianapolis police chief earns $117,187.20 a year, more than twice Indiana's median household income. The new murder record means Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett so far has failed to deliver on last year's campaign promise to reduce crime in the state's most populous city. But that isn't deterring the former Indiana secretary of state and U.S. attorney from continuing to push for criminal justice reforms. Earlier this month, Hogsett announced an ambitious crime prevention plan for Indianapolis and Marion County that in addition to constructing a new 3,000-bed jail would provide extensive mental health and substance abuse prevention programs to repeat and drug-addicted criminals. "In the grips of mental illness or addiction, a low-level, non-violent offender is processed again and again through the criminal justice system with a number of days in our local jail, almost each time without assessment or treatment for their underlying illness," Hogsett said. "If we focus exclusively on facilities, and not on how the justice system is in many respects unjust, we can expect the same result more crime, more tax dollars wasted." Indianapolis' current murder rate of 17 per 100,000 residents still remains considerably lower than Chicago's to-date 2016 murder rate of 26.7 per 100,000 residents. VALPARAISO City officials on Monday announced the launch of a new digital portal that provides the public with access to the city's and utility district's finances and performance information. The platform, run by OpenGov, allows users to search much of the city's financial data in an interactive digital format that enables analysis and understanding of the citys finances. Valparaiso Clerk-Treasurer Sharon Swithart headed up the effort and said she and other officials started exploring the idea in 2015. She said users can see the city's bills, the amount paid and purpose. Users can even sort the list by topic. It allows anyone a chance to see in a very clear way how the city funds projects, and actually look at the bills. We cant be much more open than that," Swihart said. "Its the ultimate to being transparent to taxpayers." She said transparency is important to city officials, and this is another step toward making information available to the public at any time. Financial information about the Valparaiso City Utilities also is online. Valparaiso Utility Controller Alina Hahn said it is important for people to know more about the utility's finances. "I thought it was a great idea to give citizens a little more information about how things are funded," Hahn said. Users searching the site can start with the basics about how the utility gets money and how it spends operating funds. She said a lot of the finances are discussed and reported at regular meetings, but this is available to people who cannot attend meetings. Swihart and Hahn said more information will be added in the future. The city platform may be accessed at http://www.ci.valparaiso.in.us/1550/Financial-Portal. The Valparaiso City Utilities platform can be accessed at http://www.valparaisoutilities.org/438/2971/VCU-Financial-Transparency-Portal?activeLiveTab=widgets. Anyone with questions about using the portals can send a message to Swihart through the portal, and she will respond. To send a message from the portal, go to Help/Contact Valparaiso, and fill out the requested information. CHICAGO Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is donating $12 million to pay for separate bike and pedestrian paths along Lake Michigan in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reports the founder of the global investment firm Citadel is a runner and a biker and that "separating the runners and the bikers on the lakefront is a vision I'm 100 percent behind." The donation affects 18 miles of the trail. Griffin appeared with Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel to announce the donation Wednesday. Emanuel says the separation project will make the trail safer. Griffin is one of Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's top donors and says he hopes the governor and mayor "would find common ground to keep Chicago at the forefront of our country and to meet the needs of our citizens." CROWN POINT Tears, standing ovations and even a cake shaped like his familiar white pickup truck greeted outgoing Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub on Wednesday at the last regular board of commissioners meeting of 2016. In the November election, Scheub, D-2nd District, lost his bid for a sixth term as commissioner to Republican Jerry Tippy, a Schererville town councilman. That truck has 233,000 miles on it, the 81-year old quipped as Commissioner Administrator Delvert Cole revealed the cake. Scheubs wife, Mary, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other relatives joined in honoring him at the standing-room only beginning of the meeting. Its been a pleasure to serve as county commissioners for two decades, said Scheub, who was hailed as a public servant by department heads, his two fellow commissioners and members of the public. Turning to the end-of-year business, the three commissioners worked through a 21-page agenda. They approved dozens of bids and agreements for materials, services, construction projects and computer equipment for 17 departments and facilities, including the Lake County Highway Department, the Lake County Juvenile Center, Lake County Community Corrections, the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration, the Lake County sheriff, clerk, auditor, public defender and surveyor. One of the actions taken was approval of a three-year, multimillion dollar contract with Correctional Health Indiana Inc. to deliver health services to the inmates at the Lake County Jail. Previous health services contracts have been for one year. This contract calls for CHI to be paid $4,450,828 in 2017; $4,553,878 in 2018 and $4,649,447.29 in 2019. The amounts are listed as not to exceed. CHI was chosen after negotiations. It is the most thorough proposal Ive ever seen, said Lake County Attorney John Dull in presenting the contract. The contract is compliant with the DOJ (Department of Justice). Sheriff John Buncich, who was not present at the meeting, issued a statement about the contract approval. I am very pleased that the Commissioners approved our jail medical contract this morning. This will provide continued stability for our medical program within the jail, Buncich said in the statement. Since I took office again in 2011 we have been working with the DOJ and have elevated our program to provide top medical care to the inmates. I am looking forward to continued success with the CHI team." In other business, commissioners opened bids for two projects and took those bids under advisement. Bids to install a standing metal seam roof were submitted by Pangere Corp. of Gary $162,087; E.C. Babilla of Gary $235,940; and Korellis of Hammond $290,475. The four bids submitted for a countywide telecommunications Voice Over Internet Protocol system were as follows: Telecom Innovations Group of Itasca, Illinois $989,980.75; AT&T Corp. of Indianapolis $1,041,244.66; Tri-Electronics of Hammond $1,837,530; and Converged Digital Networks LLC of Downers Grove, Illinois $729,588. Two resolutions honored Paul Fuller, the longest-serving volunteer firefighter in Lowell, and Rudolph Rudy Clay Sr., former Gary mayor and Indiana state senator. The commissioners voted to rename the commissioners courtroom at the Lake County Government Center the Rudolph Rudy Clay Sr. Commissioners Courtroom. Replicas of the plaque to be mounted outside the courtroom were presented to Clays wife, Christine, and his son, Rudolph Clay Jr. The federal government said in a recent legal filing that residents in the USS Lead Superfund site in East Chicago missed their chance to weigh in on the environmental cleanup of their neighborhood and cannot legally do so now while the work is ongoing. Justice Department attorneys also wrote in a response to residents' motion to intervene in a 2014 case that it's not unusual for cleanup funding to leave out part of the cleanup site in a settlement agreement. The government denied it sampled soil at two families' properties years ago but failed to provide results until recently, characterizing the claims as "a misunderstanding." Attorneys also filed hundreds of pages documenting EPA's work at the Superfund site to show the government has "adequately represented" residents' interests. Much of the documented work has been done since the city informed residents at the West Calumet Housing Complex that lead and arsenic contamination in the soil was more concentrated and extensive than expected. The Superfund site includes the complex and two residential areas to the east. The government said residents have other avenues to weigh in, including through a recently formed Community Advisory Group. "Of course, EPA cannot promise that it will agree with residents. But EPA will listen and consider the community's comments," Justice Department attorneys wrote. "This court need not mediate that process." Residents say otherwise. A long history In November, attorneys working on their behalf filed the motion to intervene to seek a formal role in a cleanup process they say EPA has taken far too long to execute. The residents are represented by attorneys from Northwestern University Pritzker Law Schools Environmental Law Clinic, Goldberg Kohn and the University of Chicago Law Schools Abrams Environmental Law Clinic. Debbie Chizewer, an attorney at Northwestern, said in an email that attorneys would have an opportunity to file a reply to the government's recent filing. The USS Lead factory at 5300 Kennedy Ave., shut down in 1985. The factory site was first proposed for EPA's Superfund list in 1992, but a cleanup there started in 1993 under a different program. Documents show EPA knew for many years that the Anaconda lead factory once stood where the West Calumet Housing Complex was built. EPA added the USS Lead site and Calumet neighborhood to the Superfund list in 2009 and began a remedial investigation soon after. A 2011 public health assessment prepared by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR, has been widely criticized for concluding breathing the air, drinking the tap water or playing in soil around the USS Lead site is not expected to harm peoples health." ATSDR is currently preparing another public health assessment for the site and assisted last summer after city officials began offering blood testing to East Chicago residents, according to court filings. Is case 'the right vehicle?' The EPA in 2012 chose a cleanup plan for the Calumet neighborhood, which was divided into three cleanup zones. The Justice Department and Indiana attorney generals office in fall 2014 announced they had reached a $26 million settlement with Atlantic Richfield and DuPont the successors to companies responsible for the pollution for a cleanup in zones 1 and 3 of the Superfund site. Zone 2 the middle part of the neighborhood was left out of the consent decree. In the motion to intervene, attorneys accused the EPA of minimizing and ignoring public health concerns at the site and cleaning up only a limited number of properties. They argued the EPA did this, despite knowing for years about severe and widespread contamination, using flawed analysis methods to develop cleanup plans, and improperly changing cleanup plans. Residents say they didn't fully realize the extent of contamination until last summer, when city officials told residents at the West Calumet Housing Complex they should relocate and move to demolish the complex. The government said it did not change the cleanup plan selected in 2012 through the 2014 consent decree. However, the EPA has agreed to conduct a new feasibility study for zone 1 because of the city's plan to demolish the public housing complex. The agency also cleaned the inside of many residents' homes last summer and conducted a number of pilot studies, testing for lead and arsenic in homes and basements and for lead in the drinking water. The government contended residents should have known four years ago that the cleanup could affect their property values, but limited feedback was offered during public comment periods. Interventions mid-cleanup are not legally permitted, because they could endanger public health by delaying remediation work, attorneys wrote. "Applicants seek a vehicle to second-guess EPA's selection and implementation of remedial actions at the site," the government filing says. "While it is understandable that applicants are interested in the cleanup, this case is not the right vehicle." INDIANAPOLIS Recently defeated state Rep. Bill Fine, R-Munster, has been selected by Governor-elect Eric Holcomb to head the states Office of Utility Consumer Counselor. Fine, who was first elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2014 but lost his seat in the November election, is an attorney and has owned his own firm since 1988, according to a news release from Holcombs team. "Bill has served Hoosiers boldly as a legislator and has years of experience as an attorney in the private sector," Holcomb said in the release. As head of the states OUCC office, Fine will advocate on behalf of utility customers in cases before state and federal utility regulatory commissions. Fine is a board member of the Lake County Bar Association and previously served on the Lake County of Elections and Registrations, according to a release. He received his law degree from Indiana Universitys School of Law and earned a masters degree from Purdue University. Holcomb on Wednesday announced the appointment of Peter Lacy, Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles chief of staff, to head the agency as commissioner. Holcomb also announced the reappointments of Dewand Neely as chief information officer for the Office of Technology; Cam Clark, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources; Mary Davidsen, director of the Office of Environmental Adjudication; and Trisan Vance, director of the Department of Energy Development. Some members of New York's finest spread some holiday cheer to sick children in Brooklyn Wednesday. Police officers dressed up as Santa and superheroes and gave holiday gifts to the young patients at Interfaith Hospital in Prospect Heights and Brookdale University Hospital in Brownsville. This is the second year Brooklyn cops have come in costume to visit the kids. They say the event is about making children happy. "We think about what we can do to just, you know bring a little cheer during this holiday season," said NYPD Assistant Chief Jeffrey Maddrey. "We sit down and think about what we going to do. We put it down and we work to get the resources and then we're able to come out with the smiles on the faces." "If somebody that doesn't get a gift and gets treated bad, they could be treated good if they came and get a present," said one of the children the officers visited. Ten officers visited the hospitals Wednesday and they say they plan on doing it again next year. A New York man says he and his husband were removed from a JetBlue flight after his husband "expressed displeasure" about flying with Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. Matthew Lasner said on Twitter that JetBlue staff kicked him and his husband off the flight from New York's Kennedy airport to Florida on Thursday after overhearing his husband's remarks. The Twitter account @mattlasner sent out two tweets Thursday morning. The first said, "Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them. #banalityofevil" The second included a picture of Ivanka (seen above) and read, "Ivanka just before @JetBlue kicked us off our flight when a flt attendant overhead (sic) my husband expressing displeasure about flying w/ Trumps." The Twitter user has since deleted his Twitter account. In a statement, JetBlue says the removed passengers were placed on the next available flight. "The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If the crew determines that a customer is causing conflict on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane, especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of escalation during flight," JetBlue's statement read, in part. A spokeswoman for the Trump family declined comment but did not dispute the accounts. IN 2008, when Janis Kupferer moved to Denver for a job, she was 40 and single and knew no one in the area. When browsing Match.com, she recalled, she would sometimes click on other womens profiles and think: Some of these women sound really neat. Why isnt there a Web site where I can meet female friends? So Ms. Kupferer decided to start one. Thus was born SocialJane.com, which now has about 16,000 members nationwide. It works much like a standard dating site: you post a profile, including a photo and some information about yourself, and search the database. The criteria can be as specific as Im looking for a French-speaking woman who owns poodles, Ms. Kupferer said. The next steps sound familiar, too: you fire off an e-mail and wait for a response, then perhaps meet for coffee. But ultimately, instead of ending up in bed or at the altar, the idea is that you acquire a running buddy or a lunch date. In the last few years, a cluster of such sites has cropped up. GirlFriendCircles, which claims almost 12,000 members, orchestrates outings and speed friending events. Girlfriend Social cites 45,000 members and hosts periodic get-togethers. As their names suggest, these cater exclusively to women. But a few sites, like Companion Tree, are open to members of both sexes. Inspired by the success of online dating, their founders saw a market for a similar model in the platonic realm. One of New Yorks most prominent antiquities dealers was arrested Wednesday on charges that she obtained millions of dollars in stolen artifacts from international smugglers and sold them illegally often through major auction houses by creating fraudulent documents to camouflage their history. In a complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court, prosecutors with the district attorneys office say that the dealer, Nancy Wiener, and several co-conspirators have trafficked in illegal antiquities since at least 1999. Prosecutors say the charges arose from months of interviews with confidential informants, an examination of thousands of emails and other seized documents, and years of investigations into international smuggling networks. The authorities raided Ms. Wieners gallery in March. Defendant used a laundering process that included restoration services to hide damage from illegal excavations, straw purchases at auction houses to create sham ownership histories, and the creation of false provenance to predate international laws of patrimony prohibiting the exportation of looted antiquities, according to the complaint. Ms. Wiener, who faces felony charges of criminal possession of stolen property and conspiracy, was released after posting $25,000 in bail. Ms. Wieners lawyer, Georges G. Lederman of Pearlstein McCullough & Lederman, said his client surrendered voluntarily and added, We are examining the charges and will respond at the appropriate time. The board of Californias state public pension system, Calpers, voted Wednesday to lower expectations for future investment returns, a step that will increase pressure on the budgets of towns and cities across the state. Calpers, a giant with roughly $300 billion in assets, has long been a bellwether among Americas thousands of public pension funds because of its sheer size and influence in the investment industry. It manages the investments for more than 1.7 million current and future retirees, making it the nations largest public fund outside the federal government. Calpers move to lower its investment expectations is likely to prompt pension systems in other states to do the same. This is very monumental for the organization, one trustee, Richard Costigan, said at a public meeting just before the vote. With the move, Calpers is changing its business plan, so that investment returns will cover less of the cost of retirees pensions than previously. That will force local governments to pay more, either through higher taxes or reduced public services. Public workers in California will have to chip in more, too. At Latin Americas biggest construction company, bribing government officials around the world became so common that a division was created devoted to tracking and facilitating kickbacks. When wire transfers were inconvenient, workers in this division at Odebrecht of Brazil would organize deliveries of cash-stuffed suitcases to secret locations. The scheme lasted more than two decades and involved bribes to government officials in a dozen countries across three continents, but eventually it came undone. On Wednesday, Odebrecht and its affiliated petrochemical firm, Braskem, pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Brooklyn to charges that they paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes. Together the companies will pay at least $3.5 billion in penalties in a case brought by authorities in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland. It is the biggest penalty for a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, surpassing a $800 million penalty paid by Siemens in 2008 to authorities in the United States. American officials said on Wednesday that their investigation was continuing and that individuals could also be prosecuted. Officers James and Romeo Francis were in the Bronx when they tried to pull over the vehicle that Mr. Espinal was driving because it had heavily tinted windows. Rather than stopping, the car sped onto the Henry Hudson Parkway, collided with two other vehicles and continued onto the Saw Mill River Parkway, where Mr. Espinal drove against traffic in the northbound lane and collided with three more vehicles, the statement said. He then ran into a wooded area near the parkway. Image Miguel Espinal Credit... New York Department of Corrections When Officer James caught up to him, Mr. Espinal tried to take his gun, according to the statement. The officer wrestled Mr. Espinal to the ground, but he resisted and reached for the gun, the statement said. Officer James fired one shot into the chest of Mr. Espinal, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Norman Siegel, a lawyer representing the family of Mr. Espinal, said in an interview on Thursday morning that his relatives were distraught and were raising questions about the accuracy of parts of the report. He said he would meet on Friday with a pathologist who conducted an independent autopsy to discuss the possibility of challenging some of the findings. Mr. Schneiderman noted that the inquiry would have benefited greatly from videotaped evidence and urged police departments to have officers wear body cameras and use ones attached to the dashboards of police vehicles. President Obamas decision to forbid oil and gas drilling in nearly all United States waters in the Arctic is in itself a spectacular environmental gift, offering protection to what he accurately described as a sensitive and unique ecosystem that is unlike any other region on earth. It also adds one more chapter, though probably not the last, to the administrations eight-year record of rebalancing the scale between the conservation of natural resources and their exploitation. And it sharpens an already glaring contrast between Mr. Obama and his successor, Donald Trump, who on the basis of his cabinet appointments alone seems hellbent on reviving the drill, baby, drill sensibilities of the George W. Bush administration. The White House announcement was coordinated with similar steps announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada. Neither announcement affects state-owned waters along the coasts, but together they will shield nearly all of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas north of Alaska from drilling. Mr. Obama based his decision on a provision in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which governs oil and gas activities in federal waters. The provision gives a president unilateral authority to withdraw from disposition any unleased lands on the shelf. Despite Senator Ted Cruzs complaint that this was simply one more Obama abuse of power, the provision, though rarely used, goes back as far as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who used it to protect the reefs off Key Largo, and has since been invoked by Democratic and Republican presidents alike. Mr. Obama previously used it to bar drilling in the rich fishing grounds of Alaskas Bristol Bay and parts of the Bering Sea. If 20 fire marshals came around and told us our houses were about to burn down, wed buy some fire insurance. So when the leading science academies in 20 developed countries, along with several major American corporations and the national security community, all tell us that burning fossil fuels is causing dangerous changes to the climate, we think its time for the United States to get serious about clean energy. It also means supporting safely operating nuclear power plants that produce carbon-free electricity. Already, 60 percent of our carbon-free electricity comes from the 99 nuclear reactors that dot the nations map, from Avila Beach, Calif., to Seabrook, N.H. These reactors provide low-cost, reliable electricity for the United States, which uses nearly 20 percent of the worlds electricity. But over the next decade, at least eight of these reactors are scheduled to shut down. That will push up carbon emissions from the American electricity sector by nearly 3 percent, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. In California, the closing of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2012 contributed to a 24 percent increase in carbon emissions from the electricity sector, according to data from the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board. Carbon emissions from the electricity sector in New England rose 5 percent in 2015, the first year-to-year increase since 2010, largely because of the closing of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in December 2014, according to ISO New England, the regions grid operator. In roughly two decades, the United States could lose about half its reactors. Thats because, by 2038, 50 reactors will be at least 60 years old, and will face having to close, representing nearly half of the nuclear generating capacity in the United States. Without them, or enough new reactors to replace them, it will be much harder to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. The authorities charged a man on Wednesday with setting fire last month to a predominantly African-American church in Greenville, Miss., where Vote Trump was found spray-painted on the side of the building. The man, Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, Miss., was charged with arson of a place of worship in the first degree, a felony, Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, said in an interview on Wednesday. Mr. McClinton, who is black, was a member of the church, Hopewell Missionary Baptist, at the time of the fire on Nov. 1, Mr. Strain said. One area where Mr. Trump and his advisers have been unswerving is their repeated denunciation of radical Islamic terrorism. But his position on barring Muslim immigrants has gone through various modifications since December 2015, when he first called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on. Philip D. Zelikow, who served in the administrations of both Presidents Bush and now teaches at the University of Virginia, said there were three guiding themes in Mr. Trumps foreign policy: economic nationalism, a war against radical Islamic terrorism, and a deliberate aloofness toward the actions of other countries for example, Russia. Beyond that, Mr. Zelikow said, there is an ambient prickliness. We could end up picking fights with three-quarters of the world. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump and his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, met with a delegation of generals and admirals from the Pentagons joint staff at the president-elects Palm Beach club. A day earlier, Mr. Flynn met in Washington with Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Mr. Trumps nominees for secretary of defense, Gen. James N. Mattis; secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson; and secretary of Homeland Security, John F. Kelly. The military officers at the meeting focus mostly on the acquisition of equipment, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, whose costs Mr. Trump recently complained had spiraled out of control. This suggests that his first major Pentagon briefing was about hardware and budgets, not military operations. Advisers to Mr. Trump did not discuss the meetings or say how he planned to respond to the attack in Germany, as well as ones in Turkey and Switzerland. In a Twitter post on Monday, the president-elect said that terrorism was getting worse and that the civilized world must change thinking! I applaud it, Mr. Eisen said Wednesday. I do think there has been a baptism of fire for all of the members of the Trump family, and there are some signs that they are responding appropriately to criticism. Added Mr. Painter: I dont think President Trump or the children are really used to the idea that he will be president and the public scrutiny that results. They are realizing it now. But Mr. Eisen and Mr. Painter said the Trump family must still resolve major outstanding conflicts involving the president-elects business operations and ensure that the children of Mr. Trump who will be running his business no longer participate in any government-related meetings. Eric Trump has returned full time in recent weeks to the Trump Organization, which he intends to help run after his father enters the White House. Now they have to resolve the big issue: The father has to divorce himself from his conflict by appointing an independent trustee for his businesses, Mr. Eisen said. Mr. Trump recently postponed a news conference during which he was supposed to address the concerns about the businesses. The auction for coffee with Ms. Trump was terminated on Friday, after The Times reported that several of the highest bidders had said in interviews that they had entered the competition in hopes of using her as a way to get a message to her father on issues such as immigration and election fraud. In addition, Eric Trump and his brother Donald have now said they will no longer participate in the post-inauguration charitable hunting trip. Details about the charity behind the event were first reported by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit journalism outfit. But Eric Trump went further on Wednesday evening, saying he realized his fund-raising could cause his family problems while his father is in the White House. WASHINGTON After a federal judge unsealed a search warrant this week that the F.B.I. had used to examine emails related to the previously closed inquiry into Hillary Clintons private server, some of her backers said it proved their contention that the warrant should never have been sought because it would not have changed the outcome of that investigation. The decision by the bureaus director, James B. Comey, to make the new email examination public in the presidential elections closing days was a stain on his legacy and amounted to an extraordinary impropriety, Mrs. Clintons supporters said. Mrs. Clinton herself has said that Mr. Comeys move cost her the election. But while the F.B.I. ultimately did not find anything to alter its decision in July not to pursue criminal charges against Mrs. Clinton or her aides, agents believed they needed to examine the emails to be certain there was nothing new in them. This is common procedure for the bureau, whether the case involves a former secretary of state like Mrs. Clinton or anyone else. In seeking the warrant, agents told the judge there was reason to believe the new emails might contain classified information. The emails were found on the laptop of Anthony D. Weiner, the estranged husband of Huma Abedin, a top Clinton aide. The laptop was not authorized to store classified information. The judge said there was sufficient probable cause and signed the warrant on Oct. 30. OVERLAND PARK, Kan. Brett Parker, an elementary school teacher and rookie politician, was a Democrat running against a Republican incumbent in a Republican state that the Republican presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump, clinched by 20 percentage points. In spite of all that, Mr. Parker will be sworn into the Kansas House of Representatives next month, one of 13 legislative seats the Democrats picked up here. In this election year, voters across Kansas leaned firmly to the right at the federal level, but showed far more nuance when it came to their state. In parts of Kansas, they punished conservative legislators linked to Gov. Sam Brownbacks tax-cutting doctrine, instead gravitating toward moderate Republicans and Democrats like Mr. Parker who blame the governor and his legislative allies for imperiling the states finances and putting public schools at risk. Their goal was very simple, and that was to associate me with Brownback, said James Todd, the two-term Republican lawmaker Mr. Parker challenged here in suburban Kansas City. That obviously was effective enough to beat me. In an interview with local radio Wednesday, the general secretary of Mexico State, Jose Manzur, said the first thing vendors asked him on Tuesday was when the market would be rebuilt. An estimated 30,000 people in a town of 150,000 made their living from fireworks. They said that this is an activity which is more than 200 years old and they asked for the help of the federal and state government to rebuild the market very soon, Mr. Manzur said in the interview. There is great consternation but there is also great hope that the federal and state government support them in this activity, which, yes, is dangerous. A basic question left unaddressed was how, after so many explosions, the market remained so dangerous. After the last major episode, in 2006, the market was upgraded to enhance safety, officials said, including a new layout with stores built of nonflammable material and separated by wide avenues of dirt. In the prelude to the busiest time of year, local officials sought to assure Mexicans of the markets safety. On Dec. 12, just over a week before the explosion, the municipality of Tultepec issued a statement by officials lauding the market for its top-notch safety standards. The document now reads like a tragic miscalculation, at best. At worst, it seems a vapid attempt to drum up business with false promises, paid for with the lives of more than 30 people, children among them. Juan Ignacio Rodarte Cordero, the head of the Mexican Institute of Pyrotechnics in the state of Mexico, called the market the safest in Latin America, a grandiose claim considering his remit is a single state in all of Mexico. He said the stalls were perfectly designed with sufficient space so as to prevent a chain of explosions in the event of a spark. Mr. Rodarte did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The president of the San Pablito market, German Galicia Cortes, listed all the measures taken to ensure shoppers the best, and most secure, experience in San Pablito: fire extinguishers, water, sand, picks and shovels as well as personnel trained to respond to any emergency. Vendors, he said, were certified by the secretary of defense to sell their products commercially. Several vendors in the market said the precautions, as well as the oversight, were strict. The vendors were checked regularly by officials to ensure compliance, and most were careful to maintain safe standards because they all understood how dangerous the work was. But not all. Some vendors said competitors overstocked their shelves and hid extra product from inspectors, to enhance their profits. Others said that a more explosive compound was being used, illegally, to create louder booms. And at times, it was the clients who ignored the safety precautions, asking to light certain fireworks to ensure they worked, an action expressly prohibited in the market. A United Nations panel concluded in findings made public Wednesday that warplanes had bombed a humanitarian aid convoy in Syria three months ago, an episode the head of the world body called, at the time, a possible war crime. The panel stopped short of identifying which countries did it, but said pointedly that American-led forces were highly unlikely to have been responsible for the deadly attack, which left only Syrian and Russian forces capable of carrying it out. The findings came as diplomats, in a highly unusual effort, voted decisively in the General Assembly for a resolution to empower the United Nations to prepare war crimes cases in Syria for prosecution in a future court. The vote 105 for, 15 against and 52 abstentions was a diplomatic embarrassment for Syrias principal allies, Russia and Iran, which just this week began consultations, along with Turkey, on a political settlement to the nearly six-year-old war without even consulting the United Nations. TEL AVIV The day he turned 30, Shamel Pitts put on a show. The setting was his apartment in the American Colony of Tel Aviv, a quiet neighborhood of New England-style clapboard homes. Mr. Pitts, a Brooklyn native who for six years had been dancing with the Batsheva Dance Company, Israels premier dance troupe, had recently been spending his free time in his black-painted spare room, undulating and contorting his long body to the sound of a spoken-word audio track he had created from his own poetry and other writing. So on his birthday, in February 2015, he invited 30 close friends to that room to witness the performance, which he called Blackbox and which lasted, fittingly, exactly 30 minutes. That show, in which Mr. Pitts used movement and words to discuss his blackness, his outsider identity and his tangled relationship with his past and present, has since evolved into both a short film (released online) and a live solo show, which will premiere in the United States on Jan. 6 at the 14th Street Y in New York. LONDON Why do you want to dance? the lordly impresario Boris Lermontov asks the young, beautiful dancer Victoria Page. Why do you want to live? she pipes back courageously. These are perhaps the most famous lines in perhaps the most famous ballet film of all: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburgers 1948 The Red Shoes, a tale about the burning need to dance, the obsessive drive to create art and a heroine who is ultimately driven mad by those demands. There are no words in Matthew Bournes all-dance version of The Red Shoes, which began previews at Sadlers Wells here on Dec. 6 and runs through Jan. 29. The production is to tour to the United States in the fall, with a stop at New York City Center. Mr. Bourne, 56, is best known for ingenious, witty adaptations of ballet classics his 1995 Swan Lake, with its sexually alluring male swans, won him worldwide fame but The Red Shoes is not his first foray into cinematic terrain. He has staged Tim Burtons Edward Scissorhands and Joseph Loseys The Servant, with notable success. The Red Shoes offers even higher stakes as a source for theatrical adaptation. Powell and Pressburgers story of a preternaturally gifted dancer who must choose between Art and Love is a dance film that is also considered a cinematic benchmark. It is characterized by an insistent lack of naturalism, its almost lurid color and its melodramatic theme. The cast, too, is indelibly memorable, most notably the real-life ballerina Moira Shearer as Victoria Page and Anton Walbrook as the ferociously driven Lermontov, who sees ballet (Art!) as a religious calling that precludes romantic relationships (Love!). Alexander Kellum, a Brooklyn artist, is director of specialty finishes at EverGreene Architectural Arts. EverGreene executed the gilding on the president-elects latest project, the Trump International Hotel in Washington, in particular its 13,200-square-foot presidential ballroom. To quote William Shakespeare, All that glisters is not gold. The ballrooms gilt is composition leaf, a copper alloy with only trace amounts of gold, a variation of which gilders call brass leaf. Brassy, yes. Gold, no. Real gold leaf in this situation would be a 60 to 80 percent increase in cost, Mr. Kellum said, declining to discuss actual pricing. EverGreene also gilded Mr. Puryears Big Bling and has worked on residences and hotel spaces at the Plaza in New York (23.75-karat gold). Image Castings by P.E. Guerin made for Henry Fords home in Dearborn, Mich. Credit... Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times Michael Kramer, president and founder of the Gilders Studio, a company in Olney, Md., that gilded the William Tecumseh Sherman monument at the entrance to Grand Army Plaza in Central Park, estimated the cost of using brass leaf at roughly $2 a square foot, excluding installation. Gold leaf could run $25 to $35 a square foot. Gilding is a topical application of precious metal to an object. In Gouthieres workshop, gilt was applied with fire gilding, a process by which an amalgam of mercury and gold was gently baked onto an object in a low fire, the mercury evaporating and the gold remaining as a coating of gilt. Electroplating using an electric current to adhere the gold to the object appeared in the 19th century, largely replacing fire gilding, whose mercury fumes are highly toxic. Fire gilding, specifically, is now rarely used except in museum-piece restorations. Here are edited excerpts from the visit. Many of the artists you collect share Fall Out Boys roots in the punk D.I.Y. aesthetic. I was really into graffiti when I grew up in Chicago. Growing up around vibrant art is great. And if you dont have access to galleries, then you should create it. And thats what this era of artists did: You could do this. That really informed me as a musician. And if youre not an artist? Theres art in everything that everyone does. Seventy percent of the art that I see is airport-hotel art. But then I realized that somebody out there poured their heart and soul into the design of a Holiday Inn Express. I can appreciate that. One time, this guy was like, You have the best art I love this piece. And it was a life-size cardboard portrait that my 8-year-old had done. Whats it like living with a KAWS painting of SpongeBob? To have a SpongeBob stare into your soul every day is pretty amazing. I took my 8-year-old to [the Los Angeles County Museum of Art] yesterday, and on the way home he asked me, Do we have a SpongeBob piece? And Im like, This is a strange conversation I mean, the one at home is pretty hard to miss. How do you like your holidays? Get a yuletide high with Harold and Kumar, traipse after Buddy the would-be elf or weep at a Christmas soup kitchen in 1950s Brooklyn. Whats on TV A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (2011) 7:55 p.m. on Comedy Central. Reunited by a mysterious package after a long estrangement, Harold and Kumar, those kings of recreational drug use played by John Cho and Kal Penn, search New York for the perfect Christmas tree after Kumar accidentally destroys the decorations of Harolds father-in-law. Along for the ride: the baby of Harolds new best friend. Neil Patrick Harris returns to sing, dance and talk dirty. He, that stoned baby and a stunning riff on the tongue-stuck-to-a-pole scene in A Christmas Story will, for fans of this franchise, make this a blissful holiday season indeed, Neil Genzlinger wrote in The New York Times. ELF (2003) 6:45 p.m. on Freeform. Will Ferrell plays Buddy, an overgrown human child adopted by Santas chief elf. Buddy journeys to New York to find his biological family and revive the Christmas spirit. Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, James Caan and Jon Favreau, who directed, play the men in his life. The movie succeeds because it at once restrains its sticky, gooey good cheer and wildly overdoes it, A. O. Scott wrote in The Times. A manhunt is on across Europe for a 23-year-old migrant whose identity card was in the truck used to kill 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market on Monday. The authorities said that the migrant, Anis Amri, is a Tunisian ex-convict and had been under surveillance on suspicion of plotting an attack and that there had been a failed attempt to deport him in June. The attack is a political crisis for Chancellor Angela Merkel as national elections approach in 2017. A defeat for Ms. Merkel could have global consequences. The answer can be found in relatively simple math. As a simple example, consider an investment of $1 million in a fund that generates a 10 percent return in years one and two and then loses 5 percent in years three and four. The investor would end up with about $1.09 million, a total gain of $90,000, or 9 percent, over the four years before fees. But now consider the return after deducting a 20 percent performance fee. In years one and two, the fund manager earns $20,000 and $20,400 for a total of $40,400. The funds manager earns nothing in years three and four. After deducting the fees, the investor would end up after the four years with just $1.05 million, a total return of 5 percent. But the $40,400 earned by the fund is nearly 45 percent of the investors total gains before fees not 20 percent. (And thats not even figuring in a 1.5 or 2 percent management fee.) If the losses are big enough, the hedge fund manager can capture 100 percent of the gross return, or investors can lose money even as fund managers line their pockets. Investors seem to be finally catching on to the fact that most hedge fund managers share generously in the good times, but are exposed to none of the losses in bad. Because of concerns over high fees and disappointing results, some endowments and pension funds, including those in Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island, have cut back substantially on their hedge fund allocations this year, following the lead of Calpers, the largest pension fund in the United States, which said in 2014 that it would exit hedge funds entirely. Through the third quarter of this year, investors had withdrawn about $51.5 billion from hedge funds, according to Hedge Fund Research. Ive been saying for some time that the two-and-20 model is dead, said Christopher J. Ailman, chief investment officer for the California State Teachers Retirement System, which manages assets of close to $200 billion. Ikea has reached a tentative settlement to pay $50 million to three American families whose young children were killed after the Swedish furniture companys furniture fell on them, lawyers for the families said on Wednesday. The families of Curren Collas, Camden Ellis and Ted McGee, all around age 2, sued after the children were crushed to death by chests or dressers in Ikeas Malm line. They contended that the unsafe design of the furniture rendered them inherently unstable and easily tipped over and that Ikea had consistently refused to meet voluntary national safety standards for the stability of chests and dressers. These were three very preventable deaths that never needed to occur if Ikea had simply made dressers that met the voluntary national standard, Alan M. Feldman, a partner with Feldman Shepherd, the law firm in Philadelphia that represents the families, said in a phone interview on Thursday. He was referring to the safety protocols set out by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. Done in by high rent, Silvano Marchetto closed his long-running restaurant, Da Silvano in Greenwich Village, on Tuesday night. It was a decision, he said, he had made just two days before. It went up to $42,500 a month, a fortune, he said. I couldnt handle it any more. When it opened in 1975, Da Silvano was at the forefront of honest Northern Italian cooking, often Tuscan, at a time Italian food in New York City frequently meant spaghetti and meatballs, washed down with a rough Chianti from a straw-covered bottle. In her two-star New York Times review in 1977, Mimi Sheraton praised the chicken liver crostini, panzanella salad, spaghetti puttanesca and osso buco, dishes that remained on Da Silvanos menu until its final day. The restaurant kept its two stars until 2006, when Frank Bruni took it down to one. Going to Da Silvano was almost like walking into a trattoria in Florence, said Mauro Maccioni, an owner of Le Cirque, which his father, Sirio Maccioni, founded in 1974. He served tripe and things like that you didnt see everywhere. Not long after it opened, Da Silvano began to draw attention from celebrities, attracting art dealers and their clients from the growing gallery scene in nearby SoHo as well as boldface names and movie stars. The restaurant maintained its standing with a high-profile clientele, including recently Madonna, Tom Hanks, Barry Diller and Anna Wintour. Tourists were always there to fill any empty tables. Few would dispute the contention that dolcetto is a modest wine. But the meaning of modest is open to interpretation. Its a word that may be said with a sneer concerning a wines potential. Or it may be said approvingly of its lack of pretension. Yet its my contention that most of the greatest wines of the world are modest wines. Conversely, some of the most disappointing wines of the world lack modesty and come off as pompous and vainglorious. At Wine School, modesty is a prime virtue, in both wines and wine drinkers. We appreciate wines of every caliber that are not made with a sense of inflated importance, and that allow terroirs to speak for themselves with a minimum of artifice. And we recognize our limits as wine drinkers: Expertise is neither innate nor a measure of worth. Its simply experience accumulated pleasurably, tempered with a recognition that complexities and wisdom differ from insistent opinions. Article: In Turkey, a Capstone to a Violent Year. In Germany, a Realization of Fears Before Reading Watch this short video titled After Berlin: We Just Have to Go On and discuss with a classmate how you view the aftermath of the Berlin marketplace attack this week. What are your reactions to the wide variety of comments in the video? Can you imagine how you might feel in this situation? Do you identify with anyone in the video? Questions for Comprehension and Analysis 1. What happened in Ankara, Turkey, on Monday night? What happened in Berlin on the same night? How are the attacks similar? How are they different? 2. Why does the article report that, for Germany, the future could be ominous? Can you make any comparisons to other countries undergoing similar tensions and stress? When the news feed was announced, before the emergence of the modern Facebook sharing ecosystem, Facebooks operating definition of news was pointedly friend-centric. Now, whenever you log in, youll get the latest headlines generated by the activity of your friends and social groups, the announcement about the news feed said. This would soon change. In the ensuing years, as more people spent more time on Facebook, and following the addition of Like and Share functions within Facebook, the news feed grew into a personalized portal not just for personal updates but also for the cornucopia of media that existed elsewhere online: links to videos, blog posts, games and more or less anything else published on an external website, including news articles. This potent mixture accelerated Facebooks change from a place for keeping up with family and friends to a place for keeping up, additionally, with the web in general, as curated by your friends and family. Facebooks purview continued to widen as its user base grew and then acquired their first smartphones; its app became an essential lens through which hundreds of millions of people interacted with one another, with the rest of the web and, increasingly, with the world at large. Facebook, in other words, had become an interface for the whole web rather than just one more citizen of it. By sorting and mediating the internet, Facebook inevitably began to change it. In the previous decade, the popularity of Google influenced how websites worked, in noticeable ways: Titles and headlines were written in search-friendly formats; pages or articles would be published not just to cover the news but, more specifically, to address Google searchers queries about the news, the canonical example being The Huffington Posts famous What Time Does The Super Bowl Start? Publishers built entire business models around attracting search traffic, and search-engine optimization, S.E.O., became an industry unto itself. Facebooks influence on the web and in particular, on news publishers was similarly profound. Publishers began taking into consideration how their headlines, and stories, might travel within Facebook. Some embraced the site as a primary source of visitors; some pursued this strategy into absurdity and exploitation. Facebook, for its part, paid close attention to the sorts of external content people were sharing on its platform and to the techniques used by websites to get an edge. It adapted continually. It provided greater video functionality, reducing the need to link to outside videos or embed them from YouTube. As people began posting more news, it created previews for links, with larger images and headlines and longer summaries; eventually, it created Instant Articles, allowing certain publishers (including The Times) to publish stories natively in Facebook. At the same time, it routinely sought to penalize sites it judged to be using the platform in bad faith, taking aim at clickbait, an older cousin of fake news, with a series of design and algorithm updates. As Facebooks influence over online media became unavoidably obvious, its broad approach to users and the web became clearer: If the network became a popular venue for a certain sort of content or behavior, the company generally and reasonably tried to make that behavior easier or that content more accessible. This tended to mean, however, bringing it in-house. To Facebook, the problem with fake news is not just the obvious damage to the discourse, but also with the harm it inflicts upon the platform. People sharing hoax stories were, presumably, happy enough with they were seeing. But the people who would then encounter those stories in their feeds were subjected to a less positive experience. They were sent outside the platform to a website where they realized they were being deceived, or where they were exposed to ads or something that felt like spam, or where they were persuaded to share something that might later make them look like a rube. These users might rightly associate these experiences not just with their friends on the platform, or with the sites peddling the bogus stories but also with the platform itself. This created, finally, an obvious issue for a company built on attention, advertising and the promotion of outside brands. From the platforms perspective, fake news is essentially a user-experience problem resulting from a lingering design issue akin to slow-loading news websites that feature auto-playing videos and obtrusive ads. Increasingly, legitimacy within Facebooks ecosystem is conferred according to a participants relationship to the platforms design. A verified user telling a lie, be it a friend from high school or the president elect, isnt breaking the rules; he is, as his checkmark suggests, who he represents himself to be. A post making false claims about a product is Facebooks problem only if that post is labeled an ad. A user video promoting a conspiracy theory becomes a problem only when it leads to the violation of community guidelines against, for example, user harassment. Facebook contains a lot more than just news, including a great deal of content that is newslike, partisan, widely shared and often misleading. Content that has been, and will be, immune from current fake news critiques and crackdowns, because it never had the opportunity to declare itself news in the first place. To publish lies as news is to break a promise; to publish lies as content is not. That the fake news problem and its proposed solutions have been defined by Facebook as link issues as a web issue aligns nicely with a longer-term future in which Facebooks interface with the web is diminished. Indeed, it heralds the coming moment when posts from outside are suspect by default: out of place, inefficient, little better than spam. RE: OBAMACARE Inara Verzemnieks wrote about the Americans who are excluded from the Affordable Care Act and the physical and psychological toll of being uninsured. Its not Obamacares dead zone. Its the Republican dead zone created by Republican refusal to implement Obamacares Medicaid expansion in Republican-dominated states. Yes, a few Republican governors, including Vice President-elect Pence, have implemented the expansion. But nowhere where Democrats hold sway is it blocked. Yet not once in this piece is the word Republican even mentioned. How these dead zones formed is not a matter of unanticipated consequences but the deliberate consequence of a full frontal assault along partisan lines. The Supreme Court ruling exploiting a minor glitch in the drafting to make the expansion optional for states was in clear contradiction of the laws obvious intent. But it doesnt stop states from adopting the expansion; only Republicans do that. Judith Silverstein, Berkeley, Calif. The Obama administration is dismantling a dormant national registry program for visitors from countries with active terrorist groups a program that President-elect Donald J. Trump has suggested he is considering resurrecting. The registry, created after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has not been in use since 2011, so the move is largely symbolic and appeared to be aimed at distancing the departing administration from any effort by the new president to revive the program, known as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or Nseers. Asked on Wednesday, in the aftermath of the Berlin attack, whether he still intended to set up a registry for Muslims and impose a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants, Mr. Trump said in Florida, You know my plans. Hours later, a spokesman said Mr. Trump was not reaffirming his earlier calls for a ban on immigration from Muslim countries but was referring to his more recent clarification that he would bar people from countries with a history of Islamist extremism. The move by the White House to formally end the registry is among the actions being taken in the final weeks of the administration that could prevent, or at least slow, what Democrats fear may be a swift rollback of President Obamas efforts on immigration and climate change. CAIRO The Dec. 11 bombing of a church in the Cairo cathedral complex the seat of the Coptic pope has been claimed by the Islamic State, although the Egyptian government has blamed the Muslim Brotherhood. Whoever planted the bomb that killed 27 people, including a 10-year-old girl, when it ripped through a church full of Sunday worshipers understood well how endemic bigotry in Egypt has left Christian lives at the whim of a regime that pays lip service to protecting them, armed Islamists who actively seek them harm, and a public that largely does not care. To gauge the enormity of what happened at the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, imagine a bombing in a church within the Vatican complex. Egyptian churches have been bombed before, but this was the first time a bomb had been taken inside a church to directly target worshipers; and it was the first time that Islamic State affiliates in Egypt targeted civilians after months of attacking the police and, in the Sinai province, the military. Coptic Christians are the largest Christian community in the Middle East, numbering about 10 percent of Egypts 90 million people. The cruel reality for Egyptian Christians is that only the Egyptian military has killed more Christians in recent times than did the Dec. 11 bombing. In October 2011, 28 Christians were killed in clashes with the military outside the Maspero television building in Cairo. They were protesting against an attack on a church. At the time, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was the head of military intelligence and a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which ruled Egypt after President Hosni Mubarak stepped down following the Jan. 25, 2011, revolution. Mr. Sisi has portrayed himself as the savior and protector of Egyptian Christians because it was he who ousted President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood and has led the effort against the Islamist insurgency in Sinai. In 2013, Mr. Sisi became the first Egyptian president to attend Christmas Mass, and this month he attended the funeral of those killed in the Dec. 11 bombing. But Christians remain vulnerable to both the regime and its armed militant opponents. To the Editor: Paul Krugman (How Republics End, column, Dec. 19) is exactly right. A very wise friend of mine once told me that the preservation of our democracy is not a given and that every generation of Americans has to preserve it for themselves. I had always believed that America was the greatest country on earth because of our government, not despite it. We are now witnessing the apotheosis of the movement to weaken government, led by a new president who has disdain for political norms, a legislature riven by excessive partisanship and a cabinet of wealthy ideologues with virtually no public policy experience. We progressives used to believe that the arc of history bent toward inclusiveness and personal freedom. But perhaps that is a myopic view. Written history is littered with the remains of once flourishing civilizations. Only time will tell if we can withstand this latest assault on our grand experiment. BOB KAGAN Narberth, Pa. To the Editor: Paul Krugmans assertion that it takes willful blindness not to see the parallels between the rise of fascism and our current political nightmare reflects the current state of hysteria that has become the modern liberal-progressive Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton lost, in no small part, because of such hyperbolic nonsense, which amounts to little more than a political smear. The Republic will survive, and maybe, after eight years of arrogant condescension from the Oval Office and tepid economic growth, even thrive. Then there is Andrew F. Puzder, the fast-food executive and opponent of raising the minimum wage, chosen as secretary of labor. He is a longtime anti-abortion activist who, as a lawyer defending people charged with blocking access to abortion clinics, has offered a defense of necessity, namely that abortion itself is a greater offense than a clinic blockage. I shouldnt omit Rex Tillerson, chosen as secretary of state after a career spent at Exxon Mobil supporting fossil fuel and cultivating connections with Russia. (Am I the only one to notice that Mr. Tillerson and Darren Woods, named by Exxon Mobil to succeed him as its president, appear in their corporate headshots as eerily exact likenesses?) President-elect Trumps selection of his bankruptcy lawyer, David M. Friedman, a shill for the Israeli right wing, to be ambassador to Israel is eyebrow raising, to say the least, in that Mr. Friedmans outspoken support of West Bank settlements and opposition to a two-state solution is at odds with longstanding United States policy. Maybe there really are giant pods waiting for the moment when simulacra of actual cabinet officers slip into the seats behind those big desks. A smart piece by Michael D. Shear in The Times earlier this week referred to most of the Trump nominees as disrupters who aim to unnerve Washington. Disrupters, destroyers the scale of the degradation that will occur is so astonishing that no one word is adequate to encompass it. (Mr. Perry, the has-been politician, as secretary of energy may represent the most head-snapping degradation of all, given that it was not so long ago that President Obama placed a Nobel laureate physicist, Steven Chu, in that highly sensitive position.) A great phrase from Janet Malcolms The Journalist and the Murderer comes to mind: the surrealism that is at the heart of journalism. At such a time as this, words fail and only images remain. Thats why I cant get the giant pods out of my mind. This brings me to my usual subject, the Supreme Court. President-elect Trumps list of 21 potential nominees which he is not obliged to stick to in filling the seat Republicans have kept open since last spring includes a number of men and women who would turn up on any Republican presidents list of mainstream judicial conservatives. Some, but not all. Attorney General-designate Sessions has a protege on the federal appeals court in Atlanta, William H. Pryor Jr., who succeeded him as Alabamas attorney general. One of the most conservative of all federal judges, Judge Pryor once declared that I became a lawyer because I wanted to fight the A.C.L.U., initials he proceeded to detail as the anti-American Civil Liberties Union. A fervent opponent of womens right to abortion, he has called Roe v. Wade the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history. Among the others on the list, Judge Pryors extremism stands out starkly. During the early weeks after Election Day, I assumed his name was there just to satisfy the far-right social conservatives of the Republican base, and that President Trump and his judge pickers would look elsewhere. But given the array of executive branch appointments, I now think a Pryor nomination to the Supreme Court is entirely possible. If that happens, the Democrats will have to filibuster. Unless the Republicans decide to go nuclear and abolish the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations, the Democrats may well succeed. I actually think time is on their side. The executive branch selections are so off the wall at such variance with the way most Americans see the country that objections to a high profile, lifetime, far-right appointment to the Supreme Court will tap into public sentiment that is now largely expressed as mere bafflement but soon enough will turn to real unease. And, after all, the vacancy is not legitimately President-elect Trumps to fill. Senate Republicans snatched it from President Obama when for nine months they didnt even deign to filibuster his distinguished nominee, Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. That moment has passed, and the Democrats cant snatch the seat back. But from their position on the high ground, the Democrats may ultimately be able to rally the country behind them to stop what could be the most damaging nomination of all. President-elect Donald Trump will assume office next month dogged by the question of whether a covert ploy by the Russian government had a decisive effect on his election. While a conclusive answer is likely to remain elusive, American voters deserve as many details as can be ascertained about Russias role in the campaign, to better protect the political process from similar interference in the future. The assessment by American intelligence agencies that the Russian government stole and leaked Clinton campaign emails has been accepted across the political spectrum, with the notable exception of Mr. Trump. The House speaker, Paul Ryan, called Russian meddling unacceptable, and said that under President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been an aggressor that consistently undermines American interests. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, said in a recent interview that the fact that the Russians were messing around in our election is a matter of genuine concern. To the Editor: Breyer Continues His Push Against the Death Penalty (news article, Dec. 13), about Justice Stephen G. Breyers dissenting opinion in the case of Ronald B. Smith, who was recently executed in Alabama, is far too generous. Twenty inmates have been executed in the United States in 2016. More than half (including a client of mine) have sought last-minute stays of execution from the Supreme Court (as Mr. Smith did). Justice Breyer recorded opposition in only three of these executions. If Justice Breyer sincerely has constitutional reservations about the carrying out of the death penalty, he should do what other justices have done upon reaching a similar conclusion, by voting to prevent the execution from going forward. Until his actual voting pattern demonstrates principled consistency, his on-again, off-again critique of the death penalty not only helps sustain an arbitrary system, but it also exemplifies it. To the Editor: Re Spared From a Criminal Record, as Long as You Can Pay and An Alabama Prosecutor Sets the Penalties and Fills the Coffers (No Money, No Mercy series, front page, Dec. 12 and 13): Congratulations to The Times on a hard-hitting expose of the means-based system of justice operating in many parts of the country but particularly in the South. It documents how the burden of a criminal record is imposed disproportionately and unfairly on minorities of limited means, frequently through unreviewable decisions of prosecutors, effectively re-creating the peonage that replaced slavery immediately after the Civil War. With a criminal record comes a vast network of restrictions and biases that operate to consign a third of the adult population to permanent second-class citizenship, as punitive as the old civil death laws that stripped a convicted person of all rights and privileges, and far more wide-reaching. It is a sad day for this country when only those with the means get a second chance. Until we can find a way to enforce the law in an evenhanded fashion, and temper justice with mercy for all, America will inevitably fall short of its promised greatness. MARGARET COLGATE LOVE Washington The writer, the United States pardon attorney from 1990 to 1997 under Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, represents applicants for executive clemency. Leaders on the Democratic left who want to represent the have-nots face an obstacle: their own voters. Keith Ellison, a congressman from Minnesota and a candidate for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, argues that Democrats have to stand for a strong, populist economic message. He warns that the way the working class is always controlled is that its divided. A key Ellison supporter in the fight for the chairmanship, Senator Bernie Sanders, believes that Democrats are focused too much with a liberal elite, which is raising incredible sums of money from wealthy people in the upper middle class, but has ignored to a very significant degree the working class and the middle class and low-income people in this country. For a certain stripe of liberal Democrat, free trade agreements have become emblematic of what Sanders describes as a global race to the bottom to boost the profits of large corporations and Wall Street by outsourcing jobs; undercutting worker rights; dismantling labor, environmental, health, food safety and financial laws; and allowing corporations to challenge our laws in international tribunals rather than our own court system. The problem facing Ellison, Sanders and their allies is that despite the success of Sanderss presidential campaign, the Democratic electorate has actually become less receptive to populism over the past two decades. Mark Muro, the director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, analyzed the differences between those communities that supported Hillary Clinton and those that backed Donald Trump. The findings of Muro and Sifan Liu, a Brookings research assistant, suggest that Democrats who are calling for a return to progressive populism will encounter more hurdles than they expect. MOSCOW Its June 2014. War is underway in eastern Ukraine, and Russia has recently annexed Crimea. Western countries are introducing sanctions against Russian companies and the people in President Vladimir V. Putins inner circle. It seems that Russia will soon be completely isolated from the rest of the world. But the 21st World Petroleum Congress is taking place in Moscow. The atmosphere at the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Center, where the congress is being held, is decidedly nonconfrontational. On a stage, two men in suits hold an amicable conversation, addressing each other as my friend. The men are captains of the global petroleum industry: Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, and Igor I. Sechin, the head of Rosneft, Russias state oil company, and one of Mr. Putins longtime allies. Russians rejoiced earlier this month when President-elect Donald J. Trump announced that he would nominate Mr. Tillerson as his secretary of state. If he is confirmed, it will not just be the Kremlin that benefits, but Mr. Tillersons friend Mr. Sechin in particular. The agency Mr. Tillerson has been nominated to lead is known in Russia as GosDep. The word, which translates to something like StateDep, entered the Russian language long ago, an abbreviation in the Soviet tradition of shortening long titles for government departments. But its more than just a clever nickname: GosDep is a term from Russias internal politics, one that evokes the Kremlins eternal enemy. We are sorely in need of some cheerful news out of Washington, so Im going to tell you Barbara Mikulskis story about the Senate bathrooms. Almost every veteran woman legislator, in every level of government, has a story about the shortage of bathroom facilities at work. Really, there needs to be a book on this. It could have a happy ending, and none of the chapters would involve Russian attempts to manipulate an election. Mikulski, 80, has served in Congress longer than any other woman in history. Shes retiring this month after representing Maryland for 30 years in the Senate. Before that she spent 10 years in the House. She was a social worker who got into Democratic politics during a battle to stop a planned highway that was threatening the ethnic Baltimore neighborhoods she loved. It was an unusual career route at the time, but she was an unusual person. One of the things they said was that I didnt look the part, Mikulski, who is 4-foot-11, recalled. You know, chunky and I have a definite blue-collar style, so I wasnt to the manner born, to the trust fund inherited. The classic way for a woman to win a seat in the Senate was to follow a famous male relative. Many of her predecessors were widows who succeeded their husbands. Nancy Kassebaum, the only other woman in the Senate when Mikulski arrived, was the daughter of the Republican presidential candidate Alf Landon. FRONT PAGE An article on Nov. 26 about a diaspora of poorer Venezuelans fleeing poverty and hunger omitted the names of two of the three Caribbean islands that a fleet of the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard patrols for refugees. Besides Curacao, the fleet also patrols Aruba and Bonaire. In addition, the article paraphrased incorrectly from comments by Rob Jurriansen, a coast guard officer who heads the fleet. Mr. Jurriansen said his fleet had intercepted just 5 percent to 10 percent of the illegal immigrants not boats coming to those three islands from all countries, not only Venezuela. INTERNATIONAL An article on Nov. 21 about a decision by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, to seek a fourth term referred incorrectly to the population of Germany. It has the largest population in the European Union, not in all of Europe. (Russias population is larger.) NATIONAL An article on Sunday about efforts to tamp down the raucous party atmosphere on the streets of Miami Beach misstated the surname of the executive vice president of Brio Investment Group, which oversees the Cleveland Hotel. He is Mike Palma, not Palmer. An article on Tuesday about the cost and effectiveness of widening the 405 freeway to ease traffic congestion in Los Angeles misstated part of the name of the institute of which Brian D. Taylor is director. It is the U.C.L.A. Institute of Transportation Studies (not of Traffic Studies). For a little less than $3,000 a month, the couple, now both in their early 30s, rented a one-bedroom. Their new rental building in rapidly-changing South Williamsburg had a postcard view of the Manhattan skyline. Within a year, we got a grocery store and about 10 different restaurants, Mr. Jankowski said. Last winter, with a budget of up to $950,000, he became serious about buying. A colleague referred him to Parul Brahmbhatt, a saleswoman at Compass. His aim was a condominium likely to appreciate in value. Weve always loved Williamsburg, and its really our home, he said. We didnt want to leave. The couple visited the Williamsberry, also in South Williamsburg, a condo conversion of a former noodle factory. The bedrooms in the one-bedroom units were too small to accommodate their furniture, but they loved the two-bedroom being used as the model apartment, a generous 1,200 square feet. But at more than $1.5 million, it was beyond Mr. Jankowskis price range. He made an offer for a one-bedroom of nearly 900 square feet at the Allan Building on Williamsburgs north side. It was listed at $995,000, with monthly charges of less than $800. So while state regulators have lifted the statewide mandatory 25 percent cut in water usage, Santa Barbara officials are cracking down. Beginning Jan. 1, the city will ban all residential lawn watering. Things just continue to get worse, said Joshua Haggmark, water resources manager for the city of Santa Barbara. This has been so much worse than anything weve experienced in the past. The lawn-watering ban is expected to help the city bring its water conservation rate up to 40 percent, compared to 2012. But Mr. Haggmark is bracing for more. He recently met with the officials from the states Office of Emergency Services to see what the state can do to help. This has been the driest five years on records and this month we will be out of any water that was captured in the lake, he said. The city can get about 30 percent of the water it needs by importing water from other parts of the state, but that is often unpredictable because of the byzantine process that water is allocated throughout the region. And Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent letters to the top ethics officials at 17 government agencies, asking if they had been in touch with officials of the Trump transition, whether they had received financial disclosure statements, and whether any Trump pick refused to provide any information that you believe is necessary to conduct a conflicts analysis as required by law. Given the large and complex financial holdings and boundless, serious potential for conflicts of interest, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in an email, these nominees need to turn over all relevant financial and background information so that senators can thoroughly review their record before going forward with any hearings. Several of Mr. Trumps cabinet picks would be among the wealthiest public servants in modern history. That alone presents a significant financial-vetting challenge to Senate Republicans, who hope to begin confirmation hearings in a few weeks. Mr. Trumps selection process begun, unlike that of most predecessors, after his election rather than before may have added to the challenge of moving quickly now. They need to step on the gas and get it done, said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who served as chief ethics counsel to President George W. Bush. They need to tell the Senate what they are going to do with their assets. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Kellyanne Conway, the Republican pollster and strategist who helped guide Donald J. Trump to victory in November, on Thursday was appointed counselor to the president, becoming the highest-ranking woman at the White House and one of his principal messengers to the public. Ms. Conway will be joined in the West Wing, steps from the Oval Office, by Sean Spicer, a veteran Washington political operative, who will be the face of Mr. Trumps administration as its press secretary, the transition team announced. Along with several other White House communications specialists appointed on Thursday, the pair will wage daily battles with legislators on Mr. Trumps behalf while seeking to preserve the presidents political power base among voters outside the capital. Ms. Conway and Mr. Spicer will also be responsible for a relationship with the press corps that has often turned antagonistic. The president-elects team has hinted that they may change the way reporters are treated, and possibly eliminate the daily press briefing, after a campaign during which Mr. Trump frequently derided reporters as dishonest. WASHINGTON President-elect Donald J. Trumps transition team asked the State Department this week to submit details of programs and jobs aimed at promoting gender equality, rattling State Department employees concerned that the incoming administration will roll back a cornerstone project of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The one-page memo, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times on Thursday, directed employees to outline 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 also requested a list of positions whose primary functions are to promote such issues though not the names of people in those positions as well as how much funding was directed to gender-related programs in 2016. The United States Agency for International Development also received the request, according to a senior official there. The wording of the memo is neutral and does not hint at any policy change. Nevertheless, some State Department employees took note of the reference to gender-related staffing, which they said could also refer to programs focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, though the memo did not refer specifically to them. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Thursday that the United States should greatly expand its nuclear capability, appearing to suggest an end to decades of efforts by presidents of both parties to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in American defenses and strategy. Mr. Trumps statement, in a midafternoon Twitter post, may have been a response to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who in a speech to his militarys leadership in Moscow earlier on Thursday vowed to strengthen Russias nuclear missiles. Mr. Putin said nuclear forces needed to be bolstered so they could reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems, apparently a reference to the Pentagons efforts to develop systems capable of shooting down nuclear-armed rockets. Shortly after Mr. Putins comments were reported by the news media, Mr. Trump said on Twitter that the United States must strengthen and expand its nuclear forces until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes. He did not elaborate. President-elect Donald J. Trumps transition team has asked federal border protection officials for guidance on where a new wall separating the United States from Mexico a signature promise of Mr. Trumps campaign can be erected, according to a Democratic congressman from Texas who opposes the idea. But the officials exploring possible paths for such a barrier also appear to be considering fencing and other options short of the big, beautiful wall that Mr. Trump regularly vowed to erect, at Mexicos expense, along a border of more than 1,900 miles. The discussions with federal border officials, along with separate talks with city officials in Laredo, Tex., one of the busiest crossings, come as aides to Mr. Trump maintain that construction of a border wall will be a top priority of his administration. In an interview, Representative Henry Cuellar, whose district includes a 200-mile stretch of border and reaches 150 miles north, to San Antonio, said that the chief patrol agents from two border sectors in the state had contacted him last week. They said they were doing so at the request of the incoming administration, Mr. Cuellar said, and solicited his ideas for where such a wall, or a fence, should be built. We are going to see, for probably another 10, 15 years, the number of deaths increasing and thats going to slow down the net growth, said Jeffrey S. Passel, a senior demographer at the Pew Research Center. Historic as it may be, this years rate is only somewhat slower than in recent years, experts said. And, the Census Bureau itself noted, methods for tallying the population have changed slightly over time. For almost 40 years in the mid-1900s, members of the Armed Forces overseas were included in the count; Alaska and Hawaii were not counted for the first half of that century. Despite the slow national expansion, some states had substantial growth in population. The population of Utah, the nations fastest-growing state this year, expanded by about 2 percent, as did Nevada, a runner-up. Idaho was next, followed by Florida and Washington, with about 1.8 percent each. Mr. Putin ordered the government to tighten regulations on products like perfumes, cleaning solutions, personal-care items and other consumer products that were more than 25 percent alcohol, and to impose harsher penalties for violations. Image A bottle of the deadly body lotion that was confiscated in Irkutsk, Russia. Credit... Russian Interior Ministry Russian investigators have detained 13 people who are suspected of distributing the deadly liquid. It was packaged as bath lotion with a warning that it was not for internal consumption, but the label also said it contained 93 percent ethyl alcohol, the type found in liquor, wine and beer. In fact, it was made with methyl alcohol, which is poisonous. The investigators said they had discovered two workshops where the poisonous lotion was made. Mr. Putins order also called for changes to be considered in how alcohol was taxed, with the aim of reducing demand for fake alcohol, according to the Kremlins website. Bottles of the mislabeled lotion were sold for about $1. Prices for a standard bottle of vodka, which contain twice as much liquid but whose contents are only about 40 percent alcohol, start at more than $3. Some lawmakers said they thought the countrys liquor industry was exploiting the deaths in Irkutsk to get relief from taxes that were imposed in part to combat alcoholism. Gennady G. Onishchenko, a member of Parliament and former chief sanitary officer for the country, told the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that the alcohol lobby is bitterly against the anti-alcoholism concept, passed in 2009. HONG KONG Before this week, few Chinese citizens had probably heard of Sao Tome and Principe, an island nation off the west coast of Africa. But the country has risen into their good graces after deciding to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a self-governing island that China regards as a breakaway province. The decision, announced by Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, reduces the number of countries that have formal relations with Taiwan to 21. It comes after Taiwans president, Tsai Ing-wen, who took office in May, shattered diplomatic protocol in early December and startled Beijing by speaking with the American president-elect, Donald J. Trump. China appreciates and welcomes Sao Tome and Principes return to the right track of the one-China principle, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a news briefing on Wednesday. Beijing has long refused to have diplomatic relations with any country that does not recognize it as Chinas sole government. Taiwan, where the defeated Chinese Nationalist forces retreated after the civil war in 1949, is formally known as the Republic of China. For decades, Beijing and Taipei competed for recognition as the country named China, but in 1979 the United States switched its support and formally established diplomatic relations with Beijing, and most countries have since done the same. MANILA President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines called the United Nations human rights chief an idiot on Thursday, days after the diplomat suggested that Mr. Duterte be investigated for murder. You there in the United Nations, you do not know diplomacy, Mr. Duterte said. You do not know how to behave, to be an employee of the United Nations. You do not talk to me like that, you son of a bitch. Mr. Dutertes denunciations were directed at Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, who called on Tuesday for the authorities in the Philippines to begin an investigation after Mr. Duterte boasted about personally gunning down criminal suspects while mayor of Davao City. SEOUL, South Korea South Koreas Constitutional Court, which will decide whether President Park Geun-hye is permanently removed from office, on Thursday ordered Ms. Park to respond to one of the most contentious accusations against her: that she neglected her duties on the day in 2014 when hundreds died in the sinking of a ferry. Ms. Parks presidential powers have been suspended since Dec. 9, when the National Assembly voted to impeach her. The Constitutional Court has until June to decide whether her impeachment is justified, either reinstating her or formally ending her presidency. Thursdays hearing, which Ms. Park did not attend, was the start of that process. The legislature accused Ms. Park of a wide range of violations of law and the Constitution, including taking bribes from businesses. But for South Koreans, perhaps the most emotional accusation is that Ms. Park failed to protect citizens lives on April 16, 2014, the day the Sewol ferry sank off the countrys southwestern coast. More than 300 people drowned, most of them teenagers on a school trip, and the country was scarred by the catastrophe, perhaps the worst in its peacetime history. Ms. Park has been dogged by questions about what she was doing during the first seven hours of the Sewol disaster. She did not emerge from her official residence during that time, and her office has not explained what she was doing, though it has said she received updates and gave orders. In its impeachment bill, the National Assembly said Ms. Parks reticence undermined the peoples right to know about the governments activities. TOKYO Amid rising tensions over the American military presence on Okinawa, the United States officially returned nearly 10,000 acres of land on the northern part of the island to Japan on Thursday. It was the largest transfer of land since the United States returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972, at the end of postwar occupation. The United States ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, described the move as a step toward shrinking the American military presence on the main island of Okinawa. Nearly half of the roughly 50,000 American troops in Japan are stationed on the island, and the United States military controls about one-fifth of it. At a ceremony in the seaside resort town of Nago on Thursday, Ms. Kennedy described the handover as a milestone, adding that it also demonstrates Americas continued determination to reduce the impact of our presence here in Okinawa while maintaining our security commitments to the entire nation of Japan. Like many encounters between the United States military and residents of Okinawa, however, the land handover has stirred controversy. In exchange for the return of about half the acres that the American military uses to train soldiers for jungle warfare, the Japanese government agreed to build six helicopter landing pads on the land that the United States will retain. A small but fierce group of residents has complained about increased noise from construction and expressed concern about possible accidents. BERLIN Anis Amri, a Tunisian man who turned 24 on Thursday, is the chief suspect in a Europe-wide investigation into Germanys worst terrorist attack in decades. His fingerprints and identity document were found inside a tractor-trailer that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing 12 people and injuring about 50 more. Here is a timeline of events in Mr. Amris life, drawn from government statements, interviews with officials and relatives, and news media accounts. Dec. 22, 1992: Mr. Amri is born in Oueslatia, a town in the midwest region of Tunisia, the youngest in a family of five sisters and four brothers. He drops out of secondary school at 14, and gains a reputation for drinking, partying and playing music. March 2011: Mr. Amri leaves with three friends by boat for Italy a few months after the start of the political uprising that overthrows Tunisias longtime president. He is later convicted in absentia by a Tunisian court for stealing a car, and sentenced to five years in prison. BERLIN The looming black semi with its shattered windshield was gone. The splintered boards and toppled Christmas tree had been cleared from the street and the square. In their place, the cheery stalls selling mulled wine, crafts and trinkets had returned to the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, which reopened on Thursday. But if the holiday trappings could be easily restored, the holiday spirit that so infuses Germany this time of year could not, not after Mondays attack that killed 12 and wounded dozens, at least not yet. After that attack, the countrys worst in decades, Berliners, like the French and the Belgians before them, seemed determined to continue to live life without fear. Shaken but undaunted, they trickled back to the citys beloved Christmas markets, most of which reopened Wednesday afternoon. BEIRUT, Lebanon The evacuation of civilians and fighters from the last rebel-held part of Aleppo concluded on Thursday after long delays because of frigid weather, putting all of Syrias industrial capital back in the hands of President Bashar al-Assads forces for the first time since 2012. The last buses carrying residents from eastern Aleppo left the city late Thursday night, according to the Syrian state news agency. Tens of thousands of people have been removed from eastern Aleppo since Dec. 15. Before the last buses left on Thursday, the Red Cross said that 34,000 people had left the city, including 4,000 fighters who had left in their own vehicles the previous night. A separate convoy was waiting to carry residents out of two pro-government villages in neighboring Idlib Province that have been surrounded by rebels for years. It was unclear late Thursday whether the convoy had completed its trip. Mr. Netanyahu cited that history on Thursday. I hope the U.S. wont abandon this policy, he said. I hope it will abide by the principles set by President Obama himself in his speech in the U.N. in 2011 that peace will come not through U.N. resolutions, but only through direct negotiations between the parties. What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? Whats their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process. Frustrated by two failed efforts to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians during his tenure, Mr. Obama has been considering an effort to lay out an American framework during his final days in office. Palestinian leaders and their allies had hoped he would allow the anti-settlement resolution at the United Nations to pass as an expression of frustration at Israeli policies. A Palestinian delegation traveled to Washington this month to urge Mr. Obamas team to support the anti-settlement resolution or at least abstain. Mr. Obamas advisers did not disclose a position and were holding out until the vote to watch how the matter developed. The Palestinians were unable to meet with Mr. Trumps aides and expressed disappointment on Thursday with his position. A veto means support of settlement activities, Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, said after the resolution was pulled. A veto means abandoning the two-state solution and peace efforts. Asked about Mr. Trumps comments, a visibly upset Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said, He is acting on behalf of Netanyahu. The return of the Palestinian cause to the world stage could serve the interests of some Arab leaders eager to turn public attention away from troubles at home. The government of Mr. Sisi, which sponsored the resolution as the Arab representative on the Security Council, faces domestic challenges stemming from a deteriorating economy, a persistent Islamic terrorist insurgency and this months bombing of a Coptic Christian cathedral. At the same time, it could distract from Mr. Netanyahus efforts to forge stronger relations with Sunni Arab nations on the basis of shared antipathy toward Iran, dominated by a Shiite theocracy that has threatened Israels existence and challenged Arab interests in the region. Arab leaders, who have largely overlooked the Palestinian issue in recent years, may feel pressured to distance themselves from Israel again if their own publics are angered at the treatment of Palestinians. Egypt backed off on the resolution after Mr. Netanyahus government put pressure on Mr. Sisis government to withdraw it, shortly before Arab ambassadors meeting at the United Nations endorsed it. It was a year to be confounded, shocked, humbled. Donald J. Trump won the American presidency, defying polls, mockery and fear to defeat Hillary Clinton. Britons jolted their country and the world by voting to leave the European Union. Syrias agony played out before a largely indifferent world, its children staring into the camera with eyes wide in terror, blood flecking their clothing. The president of the Philippines unleashed a merciless war on drugs, boasting of killing drug dealers himself when he was a mayor, and many of his citizens cheered him on. Climate change created a new class of refugees, even as climate-change skeptics were nominated to key United States cabinet posts. And talk about shocking: The Chicago Cubs won the World Series after a drought of 108 years. It was a year so unexpected, so tumultuous, that the fight has just begun over which narrative might possibly explain it. For some, it was the comeuppance of the elites and the rebellion of the forgotten white working class. Or it was the triumph of resentment, rage and racism. Or payback for identity politics. Or perhaps it was a rallying cry for identity politics. One lesson was clear: Economic and cultural upheavals have consequences. Free trade and globalization, many economists argue, are inexorable forces. But in the United States as in Europe, the exodus of high-paying manufacturing jobs has taken a political as well as an economic toll. Chancellor Angela Merkel lifted many hearts and outraged others when she opened Germanys doors to desperate refugees. But as in Britain, France and Italy, there was a backlash from those who conflated Muslim refugees with terrorism, and migrants with economic competition. After terrorist attacks from Paris to Nice, Berlin to Brussels, a frightened world is further barring its doors. Was there ever such an American election? The spectacle that was the Trump campaign riveted the world. The images are indelible: Mr. Trump in silhouette drawing thousands to ecstatic rallies where he pledged to bring back jobs, but also of crowds spewing hate. Hillary Clinton raced to make history as the first female president, allowing herself a brief moment of exultation, arms thrown wide. Then the surprise of her narrow defeat: Women pasted I Voted stickers on Susan B. Anthonys grave, while soon after, President Obama welcomed President-elect Trump to the White House. Violence struck in Orlando, with gay revelers attacked at the Pulse nightclub, and in Dallas and Baton Rouge, where the targets were law enforcement officers. Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were gunned down by the police. Rape, as ever a tool of war, was deployed by the Islamic State against Yazidi sex slaves. Mexican women, sexually assaulted by the police, broke their silence. Meanwhile, Zika continued to ravage its victims. Cholera was the latest of the scourges visited on Haiti. Empty shelves and emaciated mental patients showed the worsening toll of Venezuelas failing economy. It was a year in desperate need of grace notes. The first-time Olympians Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez and the rest of the American gymnastics team entranced the world at the Olympic Games in Brazil. Vienna waltzes soared at the New York City Ballet. And then there was Zarifeh Shalabi, elected prom queen in Fontana, Calif., with her crown atop her hijab. So much to absorb. Yet if 2016 was a world turned upside down, as the cast of the Broadway hit Hamilton sings of the American Revolution, just wait until next year. SUSAN CHIRA President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has embraced quite literally a 7-year-old Syrian girl from Aleppo, famous for her Twitter messages describing life in a war zone. Erdogans verified Twitter account posted photographs on Wednesday of the president posing with the girl, Bana al-Abed, her family and the presidents wife, at the presidential complex in Ankara. The photographs were posted with messages in Turkish and English, including, Turkey will always stand with the people of Syria. Erdogans embrace of Bana was a high-profile triumph for a little girl who had become an icon representing Syrian children living through the nightmare of siege and bombardment, profiled by news organizations and followed by thousands on social media. Bana posted on Twitter that she and her family were evacuated from eastern Aleppo this week along with thousands of Syrians who had been trapped in the shrinking rebel-held area of the city. A Turkish government official said on Wednesday that Erdogan sent a special representative to Syria to meet Banas family and have them airlifted out of the country to Turkey. Bana, a little girl with a missing front tooth, became a global sensation over the past few months for messages and videos posted to her Twitter account, @AlabedBana. The account, managed by her mother, Fatemah, described the horrors of war in intimate detail. In some of the messages, Bana was smiling and reading. In others, she posted photographs of a bombed-out building that she said used to be my reading place. This month, The New York Times wrote about Bana, the global attention she has attracted and how the Twitter account has also raised questions of veracity and authenticity in an era of internet hoaxes and fabrications: Some experts on media ethics said that, despite the appeal of such a heartbreaking narrative and with a young girl at its center, no less news outlets had to approach the account with skepticism, and that some had fallen short. Its always a question of whether a 7-year-old is being used as a propaganda tool, and if so, by whom, said Jane E. Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota. Sometimes we fall in love with a concept and basically ignore things that would undermine that concept, and ignore things that should be red flags. She added, For me, my antenna always goes up when the story is this compelling. Erdogan has railed against social media platforms like Twitter in the past, particularly when they were used by protesters in Turkey to spread messages of dissent or share leaked documents. He has called Twitter the worst menace to society and has blocked the platform for brief periods. At other times, Erdogan has used Twitter and other online platforms to spread his own messages. During the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July, Erdogan used the FaceTime app on his cellphone to communicate with and direct his followers. On Wednesday, after Erdogan met with Bana at the presidential complex and shared photographs of him hugging the child, she sent her own Twitter message: Very happy to meet with Mr Erdogan. Bana #Aleppo BREA A stretch of Carbon Canyon Road is expected to be closed until midnight because a power pole fell onto the highway after a woman crashed into it Wednesday morning, police say. The woman, Sharon Bell, 49, of Brea, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, said Lt. Darrin Devereux of the Brea Police Department. Residents of the small Brea enclave of Olinda Village will have to take the long way around to their houses, using the Chino Hills entrance, he said. Bell was driving westbound on Carbon Canyon around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday. Her 2005 silver Honda Civic crossed over into opposing traffic, left the roadway, struck the power pole and partially overturned, Devereux said. She was taken to the hospital after complaining of pain, and later arrested. The downed pole closed Carbon Canyon between Brea Hills Drive and Olinda Village so Southern California Edison workers can repair it, he said. There are no reported outages in the area, according to Edisons current outages map. Contact the writer: 714-796-6979 or chaire@ocregister.com As a lifelong resident of California, I grew up believing wholeheartedly in the California dream the idea that one day, my friends and I would be able to own our slice of paradise right here in the Golden State. Little did I know that because of the sky-high cost of housing, the only real estate most of us can afford are the Styrofoam missions we glued together in the fourth grade. It would actually be easier to have our high school reunions in Arizona or Nevada, because thats where all my classmates live. California just prices the middle class out of the market. For those of us who stuck around, most either live in the city in condos the size of broom closets, or bought a house on the outskirts of the Inland Empire, where its still relatively affordable to raise a family. Our parents are on the move too, with many of them cashing out of the California real estate market, and retiring to cheaper, neighboring states closer to their children and grandchildren. When its all said and done, what youre left with is a mass exodus of the productive and a middle class of renters. Thats not good for anybody. The only way for a middle class person to afford a house in the very expensive real estate markets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose or Orange County is to buy your second home first, in a less expensive market, and eventually roll the profits into a house in the city. In addition to being a great investment, its a way to shield your income from the tax man through the home mortgage tax deduction. But now the state of California is toying with the idea of taking the state mortgage interest tax deduction for second homes away, branding it as a giveaway to the rich. Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, just introduced Assembly Bill 71, which would eliminate the second home deduction and redirect the money into the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. Chius office estimates that this swap would amount to an exchange of $360 million. Chiu says his legislation is badly needed, explaining to the Desert Sun, We need to use our scarce housing investments smartly, focused on those who lack affordable housing, not on those fortunate few who own a second vacation home. Or put another way, we need to ensure that everyone has a roof over their head before using tax dollars to help some people have two roofs. Theres only one problem; the fortunate few dont finance their second homes, they pay cash. The people who finance their second homes are the middle class. Judy Horn is the president of the California Desert Association of Realtors, and believes that this legislation would put up another barrier for working families trying to get a taste of home ownership. She told the Sun, Its going to affect the little guy in Palm Springs who has the one-bedroom condo that hes dreamed about his whole life, and has a mortgage on it We are heavily dependent on remote owners in this valley, many of whom have mortgages. So there you have it, on display for all to see Sacramento politicians would rather we depend on them to pay the rent, and live like sardines in low-income housing than work our way into home ownership by buying a second home first. The whole point of the home mortgage interest tax deduction in the first place was to encourage home ownership, because making people stakeholders in their community is good for society. Now, Sacramento incentivizes poverty. No wonder all my friends live in Nevada. John Phillips is a CNN political commentator and can be heard weekdays at 3 p.m. on The Drive Home with Jillian Barberie and John Phillips on KABC/AM 790. ANAHEIM No more massive subsidies to luxury hotel developers. No more $300 million streetcar along Katella Avenue. A $40,000 bump in pay to Mayor Tom Taits staffer, to extend her hours, and a new policy allowing him to easily stick issues onto the City Council agenda. In Anaheims first City Council meeting with a new voting bloc that empowers the mayor, the panel shifted away from investing in the resort area and said it was pushing into a neighborhood- and resident-friendly direction. The meeting lasted more than nine hours, ending after 1 a.m. Wednesday. Latino activist Jose F. Moreno and newcomer Denise Barnes, both picked in the citys first by-district election, joined Tait and Councilman James Vanderbilt on a four-strong team on the seven-member council. The foursome moved quickly. The mayor, in his sixth year in office, can now place items on the agenda outside of council meetings, an ability once stripped away from him. The council also allocated an additional $40,000 for the mayors part-time assistant, Mishal Montgomery, beginning in July. Montgomery now earns about $71,000, which includes the cost of benefits. This office deserves a full-time chief of staff, Tait said. This job is a big job. I cannot do it with one part-time (aide). Then, the mayor got support to instruct the city manager to not renew a $67,000-a-year contract that expires at the end of January with the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce to promote events in the city. The Chamber has organized the annual job fair at the Convention Center, economic development forums and a July 4th fireworks show in Anaheim Hills. The chamber ran ads against Tait when he ran for mayor in 2014. Meanwhile, Tait said the money could be better spent on other nonprofits and schools. This is being hostile to the business community, Councilwoman Kris Murray said. Theres a number of programs that theyve helped. The council repealed a policy offering big-dollar incentives to developers building luxury hotels that meet AAAs criteria for four-diamond ratings. Tait has been critical of the previous council majority that, in July, awarded an estimated $550 million to a couple of developers, including Disney, to build three such hotels. Additionally, the council took a step toward officially ending the $300 million streetcar project that would have linked the citys ARTIC transportation hub with Disneyland and the Convention Center. Though the city had already stopped work on the project, Barnes wanted staffers to come up with firm language, which the council will consider later, that makes it clear the streetcar is not viable. This was a $300 million boondoggle, Barnes said. Moreno received support for Welcoming Anaheim, modeled after the nationwide Welcoming America movement. A mayoral task force will suggest policies promoting the integration and embracing of Anaheims immigrant communities. Moreno stressed that this is not a precursor to becoming a so-called sanctuary city. The new council majority was not done. It also undid the agreement for Interim City Attorney Arturo N. Fierro, effective Dec. 31. Fierro, who had ties to former Councilman Jordan Brandman, was appointed last month. The city will not have to pay him a severance package. Senior Assistant City Attorney Kristin Pelletier will take over for Fierro. Contact the writer: 714-796-2443 or jpimentel@scng.com or follow on Twitter @OCDisney Allergan has acquired regenerative medicine company LifeCell for $2.9 billion in cash, the company said Tuesday. The deal is expected to close early next year. LifeCells products include Acellular Dermal Matrices, most commonly used in breast reduction procedures and hernia surgeries. LifeCell has manufacturing capabilities and R&D operations in New Jersey. Allergan, formerly Irvine-based where it has an eye care and aesthetics campus, also has offices in New Jersey. The deal serves as an entry point for Allergan into regenerative medicine, Brent Saunders, chairman and CEO of Allergan, said in a statement This acquisition is an immediately accretive investment that enhances our near-term and long-term growth profile, Saunders said. Allergan was was acquired for about $70 billion by Dublin-based Actavis in 2015. Since the acquisition, the company has been in acquisition mode. In November the company acquired Irvine-based Chase Pharmaceuticals for $125 million. Chase is a clinical-stage company focusing on drugs to combat Alzheimers disease. Allergan also bought ForSight Vision5 for $95 million in August. Menlo Park-based ForSight Vision5 is developing a Bimatoprost Ring. The device treats glaucoma, an eye disease that can cause blindness, after being inserted under the eyelid. Also in August, Allergan completed the $40.5 billion sale of its generic drugs business to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. In 2015, the company bought Aliso Viejo-based AqueSys for $300 million. AqueSys makes implants that lower intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans Caseys Cupcakes, founded by former reality TV star Casey Reinhardt, is abruptly closing three of its five shops in Southern California as the company plans to focus on shipping its glam cupcakes. Shops at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach, Woodbury Town Center in Irvine and Fashion Island in Newport Beach are closing today at 5 p.m, according to representatives for Reinhardt, a former cast member of MTVs Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. Reinhardt earned national attention for her cupcakes in 2011 when she competed and won Cupcake Wars on Food Network. That same year she began growing her shops aggressively in Orange County. But on Thursday, her company told the Register in a statement that Reinhardt is pivoting. She is focusing her efforts on stores in Riverside and the Irvine Spectrum Center, which will remain open. She also plans to enhance doorstep delivery of her cupcakes, known for their glamorous decor. With Fashion Islands lease up, the company said it made the tough decision to close that shop, plus the two other locations as their leases also were expiring soon. All three locations performed well, the company added. By downsizing, Reinhardt can spend more time with her newborn daughter while still being hands-on with stores at the Spectrum and Mission Inn in Riverside. Following the birth of Caseys first child this year, Casey welcomes the opportunity to devote time and energy towards the development of her growing family and has decided to change her business model and focus on nationwide shipping, local delivery, online sales and her favorite stores at the Irvine Spectrum Center and The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, the company said. Reinhardt, who lives in Newport Beach, launched nationwide shipping of her cupcakes six months ago. She saw the business take off, prompting her to focus on online orders and shipping. Her stores also use third-party delivery services such as Postmates, GrubHub and UberEats. E-commerice is the way of the world now, Reinhardt said during a phone interview Thursday afternoon. Fewer than 20 employees are impacted by the three closures. They all got a generous severance package, a company representative told the Register. In 2009, Reinhardt launched the first Caseys Cupcakes at the Mission Inn, which is owned by her father Duane Roberts. Her father is a fast-food legend known in the industry for earning a fortune from mass producing frozen burritos. He helped finance the cupcake brand as Reinhardt grew the business. The closures come five years after Reinhardts cupcakes appeared to have peaked. When Cupcake Wars aired, she had just opened her second Caseys Cupcakes in Laguna Beach. After appearing on the show, she was approached by entrepreneurs from as far as Dubai who inquired about bringing her confections to the Middle East. While other cupcake shops were closing, she had lofty goals to expand in Southern California. Our goal is to always expand to make [Caseys Cupcakes] as big as possible, she told the Register in a 2011 interview. At that time, she was confident her brand could compete with powerful rivals such as Sprinkles Cupcakes. Theres always room for cupcakes, Reinhardt said. She opened shops in Laguna Beach, two locations in Irvine, one at Fashion Island and one in Huntington Beach. When Laguna Beach closed two years ago, the company said it planned to relocate the shop elsewhere in the city where Reinhardt grew up. But that never happened. Last year, she added cupcake-infused ice cream to her growing menu of cupcakes, macarons and cake pops. The Woodbury shop will become a Nekter Juice Bar, while an upscale menswear brand will be replacing Caseys Cupcakes at Fashion Island, the Irvine Co. said. Though shes betting big on e-commerce to build her brand, Reinhardt said shes not done yet with opening brick and mortar stores. If theres an amazing strategic location, were not opposed to that, she said. Contact the writer: nluna@scng.com Age: 58 Role: Chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County Bio: Vandermeir, who runs a communications firm with his wife, is a longtime Democratic activist. He held numerous volunteer positions including chairmanship of the California Democratic Council, which supports grass-roots Democratic clubs before being elected chairman of the county Democratic Party by the county partys governing Central Committee in 2013. He lives in Ladera Ranch. Why he is an influencer: Under Vandermeirs watch, famously Republican Orange County has seen the GOP edge in voter registration shrink from 10 percentage points to 3.7 points. The number of Democratic cities in the county more than doubled during that period, and this year the county voted for the Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since 1936. While the GOP share of voters has been declining since 1990, this year saw the annual pace increase fourfold a phenomenon Vandermeir has credited in good measure to the polarizing effect of Donald Trumps candidacy. Biggest challenge: Trying to get the party to understand that we can win in red areas as long as we do the work of connecting with voters on a year-round basis, not just during the weeks leading up to an election. Thoughts on politics: There needs to be more tolerance and respect for other peoples opinions instead of the Youre either with me or youre against me mentality that permeates between and within the parties. Inspiration: Being able to help elect leaders who truly have the best interests of their constituents at heart. Cant live without: Like most Californians, its probably my car. Whats next: Four years is a long time to spend in a full-time volunteer position, so its time for me to turn the reins over to someone else and get back to earning a living and traveling. Martin Wisckol Contact the writer: mwisckol@scng.com Just in time for Christmas, two nonprofits and their building industry partners have converted a dilapidated, mold-infested four-unit San Clemente apartment building into like-new housing, set up to accommodate eight homeless families. Family Assistance Ministries of San Clemente and HomeAid Orange County unveiled the renovated apartment building along San Clementes Calle Canasta on Tuesday. Its called FAMily House. Move-ins could begin today, once the city signs off on completion, said Mary Gray Perdue, FAMs executive director. Were shooting for home for the holidays, she said. FAM purchased the building in April for $1.2 million, assisted by a grant from Proposition 10, a statewide cigarette tax. A complete building makeover that had figured to cost $300,000 was carried out by Taylor Morrison Homes and dozens of partners in the building trades, largely using donated labor and materials, Perdue said. People moving in will discover fully furnished and stocked transitional living units equipped with bunk beds, able to house eight families and up to 32 people. We have eight rooms here, Perdue said, and three rooms across the street that will be part of this. It could be 11 families, times four in a room. It probably wont be. There will be some single-parent families that might double up. There will be a parent with two kids, or two parents and one child or a pregnant woman. There will be all sorts of mixes of people. Scott Larson, HomeAids executive director, said the housing is designed for short-term stays for families that may be living in their cars or in motels. They will be able to come here and be here for maybe 30, 60, 90 days, Larson said. This is really designed for a lot of people to use, he said. FAM will work with the families to try to get them back on their feet and into their own apartment. Phil Bodem, president of Taylor Morrisons Southern California division, said the homebuilder committed 90 days ago to making the makeover happen, assisted by dozens of partners. These apartment units were, in my opinion, probably uninhabitable, Bodem said. And here we are today, five days away from Christmas, and to think that families and children that are homeless right now are going to have Christmas here For HomeAid an outreach of the Building Industry Association of Orange County this was the 59th project around the county designed to change the lives of people who have either lost housing or need housing to try to restart their lives, Larson said. Nearly 50,000 people have been served in projects that HomeAid has been a part of, Larson said. Family Assistance Ministries, a hunger and homeless prevention agency with more than 50,000 client contacts per year, distributes food to the needy in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, provides financial counseling and offers assistance to try to keep at-risk families in their homes or, if already homeless, get them back into permanent housing, Perdue said. FAM also operates Gilchrist House, a transitional facility for mothers with children and homeless women, across the street from this facility. Contact the writer: 949-492-5127 or fswegles@scng.com Joshua Sudock began his Orange County Register career in 2004 as a photojournalist. In the ensuing years hes won multiple awards from the National Press Photographers Association, Associated Press and The California Newspaper Association. His work has been syndicated in publications around the world and across the country; from The New York Times to TIME. In 2016, Sudock transitioned from the photo department to the metro desk and became the newsrooms leadoff breaking news and crime reporter. SAN FRANCISCO Forecasters say waves as high as 20 feet are expected to crash onto many Northern California coastal areas on Wednesday. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the National Weather Service has issued a beach hazard statement for Marin, Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties through at least 6 p.m. Wednesday. National Weather Service Meteorologist Steve Andersen says the large waves might be seen at the famed Mavericks surfing location off Half Moon Bay, but otherwise wont likely affect many of the beaches along the coast. They will be confined to areas that arent accessible to beachgoers. Anderson says the water will be a frigid 50 degrees, or similar to the air temperature. Temperatures in San Francisco are expected to hit a daytime high of mid 50s throughout the week. Temperatures in the East Bay and South Bay will also be in the 50s. Today is expected to be the busiest delivery day of the year for the U.S. Postal Service. IN LESS THAN A BLINK OF AN EYE In about 1/10th of a second the U.S. Postal Service processes Note: data from 2014 statistics of first-class mail BUSY DAYS Today is expected to be the busiest delivery day for holiday packages, cards and letters. The Postal Service anticipates that nearly 30 million packages will be delivered. Today will also be the Postal Services busiest day online, with more than 7 million customers predicted to visit usps.com. Other than Priority Mail Express, deadlines have passed for guaranteed deliveries by Christmas. DELIVERING THROUGH THE YEARS Annual number of first-class pieces mailed Every day in the U.S. 512.8 million Number of mail pieces are processed and delivered 7,000 Number of letter carriers who deliver mail entirely on foot 113,531 address changes processed 3,206 addresses added for delivery 3.9 million people visit usps.com 17,029 passport applications accepted 320,132 money orders issued FIRST-CLASS MAIL HAS DECLINED, BUT STILL PLENTY TO DELIVER The map below was generated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General to show the steepest declines in mail delivery have been. The data show where first-class mail volumes declined the most from 1995 to 2014. The amount of first-class mail has declined in all areas, but is considerably less in urban areas. While Americans are not using first-class mail as much as they used to, they are mailing packages and standard mail, such as catalogs and direct mail, at a greater volume. FOR EVERY OCCASION First Christmas stamp Neither snow nor sleet nor lawsuits kept the U.S. Post Office from issuing its first Christmas stamp in Pittsburgh, in November 1962. Customers had requested holiday stamps for years and the wait led to a huge demand for the new Christmas stamp. There were 350 million printed at that time- the largest number produced for a special stamp in the first run. By the end of 1962, 1 billion of the stamps had been printed and distributed. The decision to print a Christmas stamp generated some controversy regarding the separation of church and state, but legal actions to bar the stamps were unsuccessful. First time issue This year the Postal Service issued a stamp for Diwali, which is also known as Deepavali. The holiday is one of the most important Hindu events; it celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Spanning five days each autumn, the holiday is considered by some to be the start of the new year. The festival took place at the end of October and early November this year. Something new for Hanukkah The first stamps issued by the Postal Service to celebrate Hanukkah were issued in 1996. This year a new stamp (pictured above) has been issued. The Jewish observance of Hanukkah spans eight nights and days of remembrance and ritual. This year, it begins at sundown on Dec. 24. The candles of the menorah are for each of the eight nights and days of Hanukkah, and the ninth, the shamash (or servant) is used to light the other candles. Kwanzaa turns 50 Kwanzaa is an annual secular holiday, that takes place over seven days from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. The first Kwanzaa stamps were issued in 1997. The festival is celebrated by African American families and was created by Maulana Karenga, an Africana Studies professor at Cal State Long Beach in 1966. It was eerily quiet as we stood one fall morning alone in the fog near the top of Mount Constitution on Orcas Island, the highest point in Washington states San Juan Islands. Surrounded by a forest of pine trees, my dads cellphone rang. My sister had called to chat for a few moments and wish him a happy birthday, on this, his 85th. A month or so earlier I called my dad, who lives in the Seattle area, and asked him if he had ever stayed on the islands. He said he had been on a ferry going through but never had stopped. So, I planned a short getaway to a cabin I had been to a couple of years before. I knew he would love the place, since it sits just steps from the water on Orcas Island. Ominous dark storm clouds flew by overhead as we drove north along I-5 from Seattle to catch an afternoon ferry in Anacortes. When we arrived, the clouds began to break and a rainbow appeared as we passed by the gateway sign marking historic downtown Anacortes. I knew then it would a good trip. After the hour-and-a-half ride on the ferry, which made a stop at Shaw Island, we got to the cabin just in time to watch the sunset before heading into Eastsound for dinner. The following day, a light mist filled the air as we headed out for some exploring. Staying on the west side of the largest of the San Juan Islands, we made our way along the winding, two-lane road to the eastern side of the island, stopping briefly in a couple of small villages and then on to Moran State Park. Unfazed by our presence, deer grazed alongside the road as we drove through the parks dense forest in a heavy fog. It being the offseason, we had the place to ourselves. On making it to the summit of Mount Constitution, I knew that there would be no views of the surrounding islands, which on a clear day are spectacular, but the journey was special nonetheless. On the way back to the cabin, a pounding rain began to fall as we stopped at the bookstore in the quaint village of Eastsound. Dad thought that perhaps an afternoon of reading by the wood-burning fireplace was in order. Who was I to argue with that? As if scripted from a play, the rain stopped and the clouds began to part just an hour or so before sunset. Leaving our cozy confines by the fire, we shuffled the few feet out to the weathered, wooden chairs at the waters edge in front of the cabin. Wine glasses in hand, we toasted to a wonderful birthday, had a few laughs and sat soaking up the magical scene before us as the sun eventually set with a splash of orange behind a neighboring Canadian island. With an early morning ferry to catch back to the mainland the following day, we had one last meal to savor. A birthday just isnt complete without dinner at a rustic waterfront restaurant and a candle in the dessert. Mark Rightmire is a staff photographer at The Orange County Register. Orange County received terrific news on Dec. 15, when the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it is launching an investigation of constitutional violations by the Orange County District Attorney and the Orange County Sheriff. There is overwhelming evidence that the District Attorney and the Sheriff used jailhouse informants in a manner that violated the constitutional rights of criminal defendants and then failed to make disclosures in court that are constitutionally required. Finally, there is the likelihood of a thorough investigation and the implementation of essential reforms. In March 2015, Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals disqualified the Orange County District Attorneys office from continuing to prosecute Scott Dekraii, who pled guilty to killing eight people at a Seal Beach hair salon. Judge Goethals found that the Orange County District Attorney illegally used jailhouse informants and unconstitutionally concealed the information from defense lawyers. Judge Goethals action in disqualifying the entire District Attorneys office was highly unusual and reflected the seriousness of the constitutional violations. The Constitution limits the ability of the government to use jailhouse informants to gain incriminating statements from an inmate. Once a criminal defendant is represented by an attorney, the government is not allowed to question the defendant without the attorney being present. The government cannot circumvent this by using others, including informants, to question the defendant. Judge Goethals found that in the Dekraii case, and in others, the Orange County District Attorneys office has been systematically using jailhouse informants to elicit incriminating statements, including by offering benefits in exchange for information and taping conversations. This is clearly unconstitutional. Judge Goethals also found that the Orange County District Attorneys office was violating its constitutional obligation to turn over to the defense potentially exculpatory evidence, including that which can be used to impeach prosecution witnesses. There also were allegations that sheriffs deputies lied in court about the program and the frequency of its use. The California Attorney General and the District Attorney appealed Judge Goethals ruling. But recently the California Court of Appeal, in a strongly worded opinion, affirmed his decision and sharply criticized the Orange County District Attorney. These are very serious constitutional violations that require thorough investigation. How long has this occurred? How pervasive is the problem? How many other criminal convictions might be tainted because of these constitutional violations? To provide answers to these questions and to ensure remedial steps, over a year ago John Van de Kamp, the former California Attorney General, and I sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch urging an investigation of civil rights violations by these offices. Our letter was signed by more than 25 eminent law professors and attorneys, including several former prosecutors. We stated: As of the writing of this letter, it is fair to say that the criminal justice system in Orange County is in a state of crisis: charges in extremely serious cases have been reduced or dismissed; violent crimes including murders have gone entirely uninvestigated; to date, four law enforcement officers have refused to testify in pending criminal matters, citing their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination; and at least one prosecutor has been found by a court to have given incredible testimony under oath. More troubling still, this all appears to be the tip of the iceberg. Our 27-page letter was accompanied by a 144-page appendix detailing evidence of serious misconduct. But District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has been unrepentant, repeatedly denying any wrongdoing and launching personal attacks against those who criticize the handling of this issue. He created a committee to look into the matter. The committee lacked investigative powers, but it issued a report that was very critical of Rackauckas and the management of the District Attorneys office. The committee provided him recommendations last December, but they have largely gone ignored. A truly independent investigation of the unconstitutional use of jailhouse informants in the Orange County jails, and the hiding of information about it, is essential and has yet to be undertaken. The Justice Departments announcement that it has launched an investigation as to a pattern and practice of civil rights violations by the Orange County District Attorneys Office and the Orange County Sheriffs Department is thus most welcome news. The investigation can provide answers to these crucial questions. Ideally, the District Attorney and the Sheriff will enter into a consent decree with the Department of Justice, like that which significantly reformed the Los Angeles Police Department. A consent decree can put into place measures to ensure a thorough investigation, reforms and compliance with the Constitution, including a monitor to provide enforcement. Lawlessness by those trusted to enforce the law is intolerable. Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Irvine School of Law. NEWPORT BEACH A group challenging the Museum House high-rise delivered a petition to the City Clerks Office this week in an attempt to bring the matter to voters. Members with the political-action committee Line in the Sand submitted 13,730 signatures, well over the minimum 5,619 required. They were collected in less than two weeks in an effort to let voters decide the fate of the proposed 25-story, 100-unit luxury condo tower. In spite of hurdles and deterrents placed on the referendum process, there was a groundswell of support by thousands of Newport Beach voters to put the Museum House tower project on a ballot for a public vote, Line in the Sand co-founder Tim Stoaks said in a statement. We will wait to hear if the submitted signatures are certified, said Gino Canori, Executive Vice President for developer Related California. At that point we will review our options for next steps. The documents will be delivered to the OC Registrar of Voters, which is expected to finish its validation process by February, Stoaks said. Line in the Sand pledged to seek a referendum soon after the City Council approved the project at its Nov. 29 meeting following several hours of public debate. If enough signatures are verified, the City Council can either reverse its decision or stand firm and let voters decide. On Monday, lawyers for Related California wrote a letter asking City Clerk Leilani Brown to reject the petition, saying it doesnt meet state-elections code requirements. Museum House is slated to replace the Orange County Museum of Art at 850 San Clemente Drive. The art museum is selling the land to finance a move to near the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. The Irvine Co. filed a lawsuit against Related California earlier this month over what its says are disruptive tactics against petitioners at its shopping centers and creating a hostile environment for guests. The company has taken issue with the buildings planned height, 295 feet, because of its proximity to its unoccupied Villas Fashion Island apartments, which could block views for incoming residents. Supporters and opponents of the tower have accused each other of intimidating shoppers at shopping centers and lying about the towers impacts on the community. Contact the writer: 714-796-2478 or lcasiano@scng.com Between the four of us Paul Hodgins, Brad Johnson, Nancy Luna, Anne Valdespino we cover a lot of ground. Food Team culinary experiences include multicourse dinners, fast food snacks, stealth dining, theme park concessions, food hall research, wine events, newsroom tasting panels and more. Every year, we think back over all the goodies that crossed our palates to compile a list of our most memorable delectables. Each writer selects three of his or her personal favorites to feature. Here are our picks for 2016. Tri-tip at SeaSalt Woodfire Grill: Those who travel up and down the state know that tri-tip is one of the best reasons to visit the Central Coast. SeaSalt Woodfire Grill in Huntington Beach started serving authentic tri-tip when it opened in April. SeaSalt owner Alicia Whitney persuaded two experienced tri-tip cooks, Sean McCuen and Anthony Guerra, to leave Shaws Famous Steak House, which has been a downtown Santa Maria mainstay since 1953. At SeaSalt, McCuen and Guerra are cooking up to 100 pounds of it on busy evenings. SeaSalts tri-tip is prepared simply, using a 2-2-1 mixture of salt, garlic salt and pepper. Its got a good, thick sear on the bottom, but its cooked perfectly: 140 degrees in the center and medium rare. Its moist, flavorful and surprisingly tender. The garnishes and sides are simple: beans, salsa and garlic bread. SeaSalt Woodfire Grill, 21214 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach, seasaltwoodfiregrill.com Paul Hodgins Short ribs at Macallans Public House: One of Orange Countys finest whiskey bars, this friendly downtown Brea watering hole also offers high-quality comfort food were talking classic rib-stickers such as corned beef sliders and onion rings and more upscale temptations like bacon-wrapped dates and the adorably named Mary Had a Little Lamburger. A favorite of mine is the Slow and Low: 48-hour braised short ribs, a generous portion of steaming meat served with mashed potatoes, heirloom carrots, demi-glace, horseradish cheese sauce and onion rings. Its all part of the upscale, masculine charm of Macallans. A Tyrconnell Irish whiskey chaser pairs beautifully with the short ribs. Macallans Public House, 330 W. Birch St., Brea, macallanspubbrea.com Paul Hodgins Aquavenus cocktail at Blinking Owl Distillery: Created by three friends, the Blinking Owl Distillery is Orange Countys first large-scale spirits maker. Its stylish tasting room and steampunk-ish production facility are tucked into an austerely attractive, 6,500-square-foot space at downtown Santa Anas Logan Creative, a former iron staircase manufacturing plant thats home to a growing community of artists and artisans. The Aquavenus is a bracing concoction of Aquavit, Blinking Owl vodka, Lillet Blanc, orange essence and thyme. Try the vodka by itself, too. Like Titos, its bold, distinctive and attracting a dedicated crowd. Blinking Owl Distillery, 802 E. Washington Ave., Santa Ana, blinkingowldistillery.com. Paul Hodgins Thai Balls at Grits Fullerton: Everything about this menu item at Grits sounds so wrong. Conceived by former chef Cody Storts, the wacky dish combines buttermilk fried pork cutlets, fish sauce and pancake balls (essentially ebelskivers served with maple syrup). How did it come about? When Grits fans begged for a chicken and waffles entree, Storts couldnt bring himself to serve something that trendy. So he created this dish, which is garnished with cilantro, shallots and thinly sliced jalapenos. We devoured every morsel. Storts left Grits recently for Tempo Urban Kitchen in Brea and Anaheim Hills. He brought the dish with him, only it is called pork and pancakes. (Thai Balls are still on the Grits menu.) Grits Fullerton, 133 W. Chapman Ave. No. 102, Fullerton; gritsfullerton.com Nancy Luna Morning Buns at Pizzeria Ortica: These bite-size, savory buns were introduced at the restaurants new brunch, which launched at the end of summer. Delightful and delicate, the buns are filled with a light layer of tomato conserva and drizzled with Parmigiano. General Manager Jason Scarborough described it best when he said, Its like a little bite of pizza deliciousness. Indeed it is. Each guest gets one free bun at brunch a genius idea, because you cant stop at one. Additional buns are three for $3. Pizzeria Ortica, 650 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa, pizzeriaortica.com Nancy Luna Lima bean and braised lamb neck cassoulet at Vaca: Have you ever eaten a dish so full of flavor, texture and soul-warming goodness that you think about it months later? I would have never thought shredded lamb neck and clunky lima beans would seduce my palate, but they did. Thats what happens when Amar Santana is in the kitchen. The chef and owner of Vaca in Costa Mesa and Broadway by Amar Santana in Laguna Beach delivers unforgettable flavors. Santana served it during the Segerstrom Ranch Dinner, a charity event benefiting the Festival of Children Foundation. The Top Chef Season 13 runner-up was tasked to make a course using the beans from the Segerstrom family farm. Santana, having never worked with lima beans before, whipped up this slow-cooked casserole and served it family style. Our table scraped our serving bowl clean. The biggest downside about this dish? Ill never see it again. Vaca, 695 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, vacarestaurant.com Nancy Luna Pinwheel Pizza at Sgt. Pepperonis: Its all about the crust, which is thick, super-chewy and slightly sweet, providing a base for melted mozzarella, salty Parmesan and powerful pops of spicy pepperoni. Not your usual pie, its rolled like a cinnamon bun, sliced, then baked until golden. Served at a holiday party, it looked like a crazy scramble piled high on a tray, but it disappeared as quickly as it was served: Ravenous guests pulled it apart like monkey bread. Sgt. Pepperonis, 2300 Southeast Bristol St., Newport Beach, sgtpepps.com. Anne Valdespino Total Eclipse Layer Cake at Blackmarket Bakery: Pushing my fork through the fudgy frosting causes me to salivate. It releases the deep chocolate aromas of this powerhouse dessert. The chocolate layers remain delicate, with a perfect crumb; the chocolate mousse binds everything together with its creaminess; and its all encased in that drives-you-wild chocolate ganache icing. Anne Valdespino Winter squash platter at Provenance: True confession: Sometimes I follow Brad A. Johnson around. Not in a creepy, stalkery way just to see what hes been eating. When his Best Thing I Ate This Week column featured Cathy Pavlos latest vegetable platter, I raced to retrace his footsteps. So many of my favorites were arrayed in an eye-popping presentation: several kinds of squash, pumpkin, shallots, crisp fried artichokes and bacon for crunch. Chipotle chili oil drizzled over the dish created a flavor bomb. I loved it so much I had another writer pen a story just so I could get the recipe. Editors privilege. Anne Valdespino Paella de carne at Vaca: Spanish paella is one of those rice dishes that restaurants never get right. Santanas Vaca is the rare exception. Its one of his specialties, and he does it very, very well. He offers several variations. The one with meat is the one I love most. It is riddled with spicy chorizo, soft lumps of blood sausage, thick chunks of pork belly, tender bits of beef cheek and a whole confit duck leg. Overkill? Nah. The rice is deeply stained with saffron and cooked until it almost catches fire. Theres a darkness, a moodiness to the bottom layer of rice something aficionados call socarrat that speaks to its soul, to the very heart of Spain. It is hauntingly delicious. Brad A. Johnson Shima aji at Hana re: It was just a couple of bites worth of fish, two pinkish-white flaps of flesh, each the size of a stick of chewing gum. Shima aji is a small striped jack from Japan whose flavor is believed to peak in summertime, which is when I sampled the fish for the umpteenth time but realized this was the first time that I ever fully understood it. I was dining at Sushi Hana re, a 10-seat sushi restaurant hidden behind The Lab in Costa Mesa. The dish was part of the chefs tasting menu. Atsushi Yokoyama draped the fish over segments of fresh grapefruit and adorned it with fluffy little clouds made from sweet plum wine. The flesh was fatty yet deliciously firm. I want to call it snappy, or al dente, for lack of a better Japanese vocabulary. And when combined with the grapefruit and wine, it seemed to come alive on my tongue. It was extraordinary. Brad A. Johnson Brisket at Lillies Q: The barbecue brisket at Lillies Q in Brea is as good as it gets. This is classic, textbook Texas brisket, smoked low and slow until the fork-tender meat develops a beautiful, red smoke ring that deeply permeates the outer edges. Thankfully, the kitchen does not fear the fat. A wonderful silky ribbon of beef fat cradles the meats surface, infused with hours upon hours of smoke and soot. Brad A. Johnson AGE: 69 ROLE: U.S. congressman BIO: Rohrabacher wrote for the editorial page of the Orange County Register and then served as a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan until winning election to Congress in 1988. He lives with his wife and their triplets in Costa Mesa. WHY HE IS AN INFLUENCER: Although he initially supported Ted Cruz, Rohrabacher has become one of Donald Trumps most outspoken defenders in Congress. After Trumps lewd open mic comments became public, Rohrabacher downplayed their significance and attacked critical Republicans. He also defended Trumps controversial call with Taiwans president and has been supportive of working with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the fight against ISIS. Rohrabacher has spent 14 terms espousing positions on science, foreign affairs and marijuana that have frequently fallen outside the mainstream views in Congress. But some of those views now appear to be giving him an insider status with the new administration including consideration for a Trump appointment. BIGGEST CHALLENGE: The biggest challenge (has been) deciding whether or not I should stay here in Orange County and raise my family or take a high-level job with Trump. Rohrabacher said the Trump team asked if hed be interested in a deputy secretary of state post, and he said he wouldnt. THOUGHTS ON POLITICS: I dont think were any more partisan than weve ever been. We have a democratic process and there are differences of opinion and they are expressed. CANT LIVE WITHOUT BESIDE MY PHONE: Surfing. WHATS NEXT: Rohrabacher said he will probably seek reelection in 2018. Martin Wisckol Santa Ana chose wrong Re: Santa Ana cements status as sanctuary city [News, Dec. 21]: Declaring Santa Ana a sanctuary city is irresponsible in two ways. First, it risks losing federal subsidies promised on the basis of cooperation in enforcing the law. It is unfathomable that any city would not want help with law enforcement, especially one with the crime statistics of Santa Ana. In the case of immigration law, Santa Ana is saying protecting non-citizens is more important the protecting citizens. And further, that risking its fiscal solvency is a worthwhile price to pay for that position. Second, Santa Ana is a county seat, so many non-residents must go there for all manner of government services marriage licenses, welfare services, jury duty and so on. As we saw in San Francisco, walking the streets in a sanctuary city is life threatening. Just ask Kate Steinles family. To expose not only its residents but non-residents alike to its perp protection policy is a violation of its responsibility to deliver public safety as a basic right. In the end, when the new administration begins enforcing immigrations laws, its intrusion into Santa Ana will be more disruptive than necessary, but it will be Santa Anas own fault. Harboring criminals cannot and should not be a goal of any government. M. J. Knudsen, Trabuco Canyon Liberal miscalculations Liberals and the media, unable to accept the election results, turned to the Electoral College to vote their conscience and apparently they did, with Hillary Clinton racking up more defectors than the Donald Trump. Yet another miscalculation by the Democrats and the mainstream media. Bud Carbonaro, Lake Forest Rally and Make America Great Again I fully agree with Foes must find ways to work with Trump, [Opinion, Dec. 20]. Mr. Trump has vanquished the combined might of the Democrats, Republicans (his own political party), Bernie Sanders supporters, and on top of all that, he also thrashed the most powerful Fourth Estate, who dishonorably veered away from the very essence it was created. And to think, Mr. Trump succeeded with nothing more than baskets of deplorables. So, for the sake of our country and people, especially the youth, we now should all rally and help Mr. Donald Trump Make America Great Again. Sam Castelo, Irvine California schools chief Tom Torlakson sent a letter Wednesday to the states superintendents and principals, urging them to declare all public schools safe havens for students and their parents who are in the country illegally. In this time of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear, Torlakson wrote, school administrators need to remind families about existing laws that protect them and their students records from questions about immigration status. Unfortunately, since the presidential election, reports of bullying, harassment, and intimidation of K-12 students based on immigration status, religious, or ethnic identification are on the rise, Torlakson wrote. As State Superintendent of Public Instruction, safety is my top priority, he wrote. California serves more than 6.2 million kindergarten through twelfth grade students with the most diverse population in the nation. Our schools are not and will not become an arm of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE). Instead, they will remain safe places for learning and teaching for all students, regardless of immigration status, Torlakson wrote. The Los Angeles Unified and Sacramento City Unified school districts have similar measures. So do many municipalities, including Santa Ana, where the City Council voted Tuesday night to become a sanctuary city. Across the country, many cities, colleges, churches and other entities are declaring themselves safe places for those who feel threatened by President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to deport people who are in the country illegally. Contact the writer: rkopetman@scng.com BUCHAREST, Romania In a surprise move, Romanias largest political party nominated a woman from the countrys Tatar minority for prime minister on Wednesday. If she wins approval from the president and Parliament, she will be both the first Muslim and the first woman to hold the post. The Social Democratic Party scored a resounding victory in the Dec. 11 general election, winning more than 45 percent of the vote. Together with its smaller ally, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, it holds a majority of the seats in Parliament. Ordinarily, the leader of the largest party is designated by the countrys president to become prime minister. But the Social Democrats leader, Liviu Dragnea, would have been a problematic choice: He was convicted of electoral fraud and given a two-year suspended sentence in April. President Klaus Iohannis has said that the countrys next prime minister should be untainted by criminal convictions or continuing investigations. So the Social Democrats turned instead to Sevil Shhaideh, 52, a relatively little-known figure who served as minister of regional development for six months in the last Social Democrat-led government. Its a surprising choice, said Sergiu Miscoiu, a professor of political science at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj. People were expecting somebody controlled by Dragnea, but from the partys upper levels, not a relative newcomer. Picking Shhaideh suggests that Dragnea will control the government without taking direct responsibility, Miscoiu added. She is not stained in a direct way, so Iohannis has no official reason to reject her. Miscoiu said the choice might have also been intended to counter accusations of orthodoxism and nationalism during the campaign. Referring to the Social Democratic Party, he said: PSD are saying implicitly with this nomination: You accused us of being nationalist and orthodoxist look what we do, dont you like it? The nomination of Shhaideh took many observers by surprise. We have seen many names put forward in the last days, but her name was not among them, said Paul Ivan, a senior policy analyst at the European Policy Center in Brussels and a former Romanian diplomat. They are billionaires and generals. Seven of the 23 named so far have no government experience. At least six oppose key policies of the agencies theyve been nominated to run. A guide to Trump picks Welcome to the administration of incoming President Donald Trump an administration shaping up to be as controversial, unpredictable and unorthodox as Trumps campaign. Its clear he gets a tremendous amount of delight from picking people other politicians wouldnt, said Dan Schnur, director of USCs Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. Hes very aggressively agitated against the political establishment. It shouldnt be surprising that his approach to his administration is so much different than usual. As unlikely as some of the picks are such as Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, whos spent his entire career with the oil conglomerate, to be the nations top diplomat others are more conventional, Schnur said. But even the conventional in the context of Trumps Cabinet might be outliers in other administrations. On one hand, it leads to creative thinking, said Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. On the other hand, it can lead to people like Tom Price, who has links to groups with ideas that are kooky. Price, the nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is among those Schnur listed as conventional conservatives. Price, a congressman and a surgeon, is an ardent opponent of abortion rights and Obamacare, stances shared with Trump. But Pitney, author of The Politics of Autism, points out that Price is also a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. The groups journal has said that HIV does not cause AIDS, that there are links between autism and vaccinations, and that there are links between abortion and breast cancer all stances that go against widely accepted medical science. Trumps picks also have attracted attention for their homogeneity. Of 23 top-level choices, more than three- quarters are white men. For those who win Senate confirmation Tillerson is among those already raising questions not only among Democrats but also some Republicans one question is how long theyll last in their jobs. After all, this is the chief executive who made Youre fired a catchphrase while host of The Apprentice and whose campaign saw unusually high turnover among top aides. Administration picks could face similar scenarios, said Lori Cox Han, a professor at Chapman University who specializes in the U.S. government and the presidency. Theyre either going to reshape the model or theyre going to fall flat and be replaced, Han said. People may have less time than usual to succeed. Drain the swamp? Trumps populist campaign resounded among white middle-class and lower middle-class Americans who felt government was out of touch. On the campaign trail, Trump relentlessly attacked the political establishment, liberal elites and globalist business interests. His nominees and appointees, meanwhile, are elites in their own right. There are five multimillionaire magnates, including former Goldman Sachs partner Steven Mnuchin, and five billionaires. There are five members of Congress, three generals, a governor, a former governor and the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Hardcore Trump backers are thrilled. I want people in office who dont need to fill their coffers with bribes from lobbyists, said Deanne Tate of Orange, who runs the Veterans First nonprofit in Santa Ana. Too many people go to Washington, D.C., become millionaires and let their staffers write regulations without ever having lived under these interpretations. And we the people suffer. John Berry, a California coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, also applauded Trumps picks. Yeah, theyre at the top of their fields, but they are successful and they are patriots and statesmen, said the Redlands resident. Government has a stale mindset. Its limited. In the private sector, its a different way of thinking. Its based on creativity. These are heavyweight, smart people. Berry is relieved to see a lack of Ivy Leaguers, who proliferated in President Barack Obamas administration. Theres nothing wrong with the Ivy League, but in government they have a stale, condescending attitude, he said. Of course, there are no shortage of critics. His Cabinet picks confirm what he campaigned on, said Dan Jacobson, chairman of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County. It shows a penchant for strongman, corporate rule. One of Jacobsons biggest concerns is harm to the environment from rolling back regulations. Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt is seen as an ally of the fossil fuel industry and, as Oklahoma attorney general, has fought regulations targeting climate change. Other worries include the possibility of foreign governments having inordinate sway over administration policies, the deregulation of Wall Street and the deportation of immigrants whose only crime is being in the country illegally. Jacobson has been worried about the use of government-sanctioned torture, given Trumps campaign statement that torture works. But he was heartened to hear that defense secretary nominee James Mattis words of opposition to torture were apparently well-received by Trump. The secretary of defense pick is probably one of the better picks, Jacobson said. At the other end of the spectrum, for Jacobson, is the choice of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to head the Department of Energy and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general. Perry once called for the elimination of the Department of Energy, and Sessions once failed to get confirmed for a judgeship because of racist comments. Fears and hopes While he remains wary, Jacobson says he no longer is as devastated that Hillary Clinton lost as are many Democrats. Ive accepted that Donald Trump will be our president, he said. That acceptance came at the end of a grieving process. And that acceptance allows you to see things clearly. Fear of the destruction of the republic is alarmist and wrong. Those opposed to Trumps proposals should focus on those that show signs of advancing and use available legislative, parliamentary, legal and activist means to fight them, Jacobson said. Fortunately, there are laws in place that can ensure the survival of the government services that we rely on, he said. There are 50 states and three branches of government. The president and his appointees have limited power. And then well kick the con man out of office. Jacobson pointed out that congressional approval would be needed to impose tariffs and that a ban on Muslims entering the country would be unconstitutional. He opined that Trump and congressional Republicans would be unlikely to dismantle Obamacare in a way that would take away health insurance from the 20 million who didnt have it before the law was passed. While saying that Trump and his administration picks are definitely uncharted territory, Chapmans Han shares Jacobsons view that they are unlikely to justify the deepest fears of foes or hopes of backers. Im skeptical how much deep change will take place, Han said. The president doesnt have unlimited power. There are a lot of checks and balances in place. Entrenched bureaucracies and special interests slow efforts of sweeping reform, Han said. She pointed to Obamacare as an example of a complex plan that is unlikely to be undone quickly because of the extensive work needed to replace it. Additionally, the Cabinet and White House staff members dont all agree with one another or with Trump. As examples, USCs Schnur points to former GOP chief Reince Priebus, Trumps chief of staff, and former Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon, Trumps senior counselor. You probably couldnt pick two people who have a more different view of how government should run, Schnur said. Trump has demonstrated a penchant in his business for setting up people with competing viewpoints and then he watches them battle it out. If thats what hes doing here, hes off to a good start. When it comes time for confirmation, Senate Republicans may signal just how cooperative theyll be when it comes to controversial aspects of White House policy. We know what the Democrats in Congress are going to do, Schnur said. Watching what the Republicans do in the confirmation process will be much more telling. Peter Navarro, a longtime professor at UC Irvine and noted advocate for tougher trade rules with China, will head the newly created White House National Trade Council. BUSINESS 14 Contact the writer: mwisckol@scng.com WASHINGTON Eric Trump said Wednesday that he had decided to stop directly soliciting contributions for his charitable foundation, which supports causes like the fight against childhood cancer, because he recognizes that his status as the president-elects son means that donors could try to use him to gain access to his father. As unfortunate as it is, I understand the quagmire, Trump said in an interview Wednesday evening. You do a good thing that backfires. His move followed criticism of an online auction that the Eric Trump Foundation had sponsored offering a chance to have coffee with his sister Ivanka. The criticism intensified after an invitation was drafted offering a hunting trip with Eric Trump or his brother Donald in exchange for donations of $500,000 or $1 million to a charity that friends of Eric Trump had created this month with his apparent consent, according to legal documents. Ethics experts had begun to compare Eric Trumps charitable efforts to the Clinton Foundation, which was a target of criticism by President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign. Trump argued that Hillary Clinton had provided favors to donors while she served as secretary of state, an accusation she called baseless. The president-elect has also faced calls from ethics experts to separate himself from his business empire. Associates of Eric Trump, 32, said he had made the decision not to solicit contributions with deep regret. He has been raising money for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Tennessee since he was 21, helping deliver more than $15 million. The fate of the foundation remains unclear, family members said. Among the options are to shut it down or rename it, or to distance Eric Trump in some other way from fundraising efforts. The auction for coffee with Ivanka Trump was terminated Friday, after The Times reported that several of the highest bidders had said in interviews that they had entered the competition in hopes of using her as a way to get a message to her father on issues such as immigration and election fraud. In addition, Eric Trump and his brother Donald have said they will no longer participate in the hunting trip. PALM BEACH, Fla. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until the rest of the world comes to its senses regarding nuclear weapons. His comments on Twitter came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said strengthening his countrys nuclear capabilities should be a chief military objective in the coming year. The president-elects statement also followed his meetings a day earlier with top Pentagon officials and defense contractors. Trump, who is spending the holidays at his palatial private club in Florida, did not expand on the actions he wants the U.S. to take or say why he raised the issue Thursday. Spokesman Jason Miller said the president-elect was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes. Miller said Trump sees modernizing the nations deterrent capability as a vital way to pursue peace through strength. If Trump were to seek an expansion of the nuclear stockpiles, it would mark a sharp shift in U.S. national security policy. President Barack Obama has made nuclear non-proliferation a centerpiece of his agenda, calling in 2009 for the U.S. to lead efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons a goal he acknowledged would not be accomplished quickly or easily. Still, the U.S. has been moving forward on plans to upgrade its aging nuclear arsenal. Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the Pentagon planned to spend $108 billion over the next five years to sustain and improve its nuclear force. The U.S. and Russia hold the vast majority of the worlds nuclear weapons. In 2010, the two countries signed the New START treaty capping the number of nuclear warheads and missile launchers each country can possess. The agreement is in effect until 2021 and can be extended for another five years. Thomas Karako, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the last comprehensive review of the U.S. nuclear force which was conducted during Obamas first term occurred against the backdrop of efforts to reset relations between Washington and Moscow. The relationship has since deteriorated, with Obama and Putin clashing over Russias provocations in Ukraine and support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. We need to candidly asses what the environment is and what the prospects are for Russian compliance with current treaties, Karako said. Trump has repeatedly called for closer relations with Russia and has spoken favorably about Putin. Democrats have questioned his ties to the Kremlin, particularly after U.S. intelligence officials assessed that Russia had interfered in the U.S. election on Trumps behalf. Putin addressed his countrys nuclear capabilities during an annual year-end meeting of the Russian defense ministry. He said Russia should enhance missile complexes that can penetrate existing and future missile defense systems. A U.S.-backed missile shield in Eastern Europe has been another source of tension between Washington and Moscow. Russia argues the system is a threat, while U.S. and NATO officials say its meant to deter Iran from targeting Europe. The state of the U.S. nuclear arsenal was rarely addressed during the presidential campaign. To the extent it was, Trump showed faint understanding of its details. During a Republican primary debate, he appeared unfamiliar with the concept of a nuclear triad, the Cold War-era combination of submarines, land-based missiles and strategic bombers for launching nuclear attacks. Trumps vanquished campaign rival Hillary Clinton repeatedly cast the Republican as too erratic and unpredictable to have control of the nations nuclear arsenal. The president-elects transition website says he recognizes the uniquely catastrophic threats posed by nuclear weapons and cyberattacks, adding that he will modernize the nuclear arsenal to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent. Trump has spent the week at Mar-a-Lago, his South Florida estate, meeting advisers and interviewing candidates for a handful of Cabinet positions that remain unfilled. On Wednesday, he met with Pentagon officials and the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, companies with lucrative government contracts. Since winning the election, Trump has complained about the cost of Boeings work on two new Air Force One planes and Lockheeds contract for F-35 fighter jets. Following the meetings, both CEOs said they had discussed lowering costs of the projects with the president-elect. On Thursday, Trump pitted the two companies against each other on Twitter. Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet! he tweeted. Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said Thursday, We have committed to working with the president-elect and his administration to provide the best capability, deliverability and affordability. Lockheed declined to comment. Trumps tweet came after the close of trading on Wall Street. But in after-hours dealings, shares of Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. fell 2 percent, while Chicago-based Boeing Co.s stock rose 1 percent. Boeing and Lockheed are also among the companies pursuing a contract for replacing Minuteman missiles in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Spokespeople for the two companies declined to comment on whether that contract came up during Trumps meetings with their CEOs. The president-elect was also building up his White House staff, announcing Thursday that campaign manager Kellyanne Conway would serve as a counselor. The move will put Conway in close proximity to the president, though she is also expected to remain a visible presence promoting Trumps agenda in the media. Trump also announced veteran Republican operatives Sean Spicer as his press secretary and Jason Miller as communications director. Hope Hicks, Trumps long-serving campaign spokeswoman, is also joining the White House in a senior communications position. Over the years, Ive learned that deals that seem too good to be true are exactly that. But in this case, even though it seems ridiculous, you really can rent an RV for a pittance, and drive it on a cross-country adventure. Of course, theres a catch: You have to pick up your ride at the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa, 150 miles south of Minneapolis, flying there at your own expense. And you have to put down a hefty (though refundable) deposit. If youre willing, though, you can have an excursion of up to 15 days for very little money, turning in the RV to a location in Los Angeles, Las Vegas or San Francisco, depending on the arrangement. The reason its so cheap is because the RVs have been ordered by an Australian company, which plans to rent them out to travelers from Down Under and Europe when they come to the U.S. next summer. Apollo is the largest RV rental company in the world, and has U.S. rental centers in L.A., San Francisco, Vegas and Denver. The RVs are being built even as we speak by Winnebago, and the company needs them driven out West, preferably by travelers like us who want to have a vacation. When I first discovered this annual Apollo relocation deal in 2012, the company only charged $1 per day for the rental and often gave gas allowances too, because those vehicles suck up a lot of the wet stuff. But as its become more popular, now theyre charging the enormous sum of $15 per day, at least at this writing. (Now, I want you to note that they also have relocation specials during the year, for example, to move an RV from Vegas to Los Angeles, in which case they only give you a few days to do it.) They mostly want you to pick up the factory RVs between April and June you can check the website for more details. The vehicles are mostly 27-30 feet long. You can expect to get 10-12 mpg, the average mileage when youre driving a house. Maximum occupancy is four adults, one child. Youre going to pay more than $15 a day on your trip, of course. Youll have the cost of getting to beautiful Forest City. And, then, youll have to figure the cost of gas to drive a house back from Iowa. Unless youre parking in your cousins driveway, you will have to spring for nightly camping fees. Youll have to put down a deposit, and if your plans change, you wont get any money back. Believe me, I know this, because I did reserve one and then had to cancel, and lost my $250 deposit. Ouch. Que sera, sera. When you show up to rent the RV, they also will charge your credit card a $1,000 bond against damage, which is refunded if you turn it in intact. And you can pay $15-38 a day if you want to insure against damage, just like with a rental car, but you dont have to do this. Rich Binder of Huntington Beach told me that he and his wife, Kim, did the relocation special in 2013, after reading about it in my column. They had a great time. He estimated that the trip cost them about $1,200 for a 10-day trip. Thats still much cheaper than it would cost to rent an RV under normal rates. Ann Parrack of Rancho Santa Margarita told me she also did the special in 2013, and spent 13 days touring Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial, among other attractions, before turning the RV into the San Francisco office 13 days later. At the time, she told me shed spent around $1,000 and would do it again. The reason Im telling you about this deal now is that you need to reserve your RV as soon as your plans are rock solid, because this is becoming a more and more popular trip keeping in mind youre not getting your deposit back if you change your mind. I also want to point out that they offer other relocation deals to move their existing RVs around the West Coast. At this writing, they were offering $1 a day rental to move vehicles immediately from Vegas to meet reservations in L.A. and San Francisco. If this sounds like something you want to do, keep your eyes on their website, because the offers change constantly. Sometimes theyll even give you a gas allowance, if theyre not finding any takers out there. Also, if you plan to travel to Australia or New Zealand, they also offer relocation deals there. For example, the chance to drive from Melbourne to Alice Springs for a pittance of the usual price. This sounds like a great adventure to me. Maybe you want to rent The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert before you go. I would love to do this. I hope someday I can. Learn more at www.apollorv.com/reloc.aspx. Contact the writer: mfisher@scng.com or 714-796-7994 Intrigue is usually focused on her enigmatic smile. However, when viewed under a microscope, historians in Italy have discovered that by magnifying the eyes of the "Mona Lisa" tiny numbers and letters can be seen. Experts say the barely distinguishable letters and numbers represent something of a real-life Da Vinci Code: in the right eye appear to be the letters LV which could well stand for his name, Leonardo Da Vinci, while in the left eye there are also symbols but they are not as defined. Of course, it's very difficult to make them out clearly but they appear to be the letters CE, or it could be the letter B. In the arch of the bridge in the background the number 72 can be seen, or it could be an L and the number 2. Also, the number 149, with a fourth number erased, appears behind the picture, which suggests that Da Vinci painted it when he was in Milan in the 1490s. You have to remember that the picture is almost 500 years old, so it is not as sharp and clear as when it was originally painted. 45-year-old Rakesh Shukla is a talented software engineer and CEO of a successful tech company, but among Indias animal lovers he is known as The Dog Father, an exceptional man who founded the countrys most advanced dog rescue center and who personally takes care of 735 abandoned pooches that nobody else wants. 10 years ago, Rakesh and his wife founded The Writers Block, a technical communication outsourcing company which today works with some of the biggest names in the tech industry Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, etc.. The Bangalore-based company quickly became successful, and over the next few years the software engineer got to travel the world, buy expensive cars and lead the fancy lifestyle he always thought he wanted. But he still didnt feel happy and fulfilled. It wasnt until 2009, when Kavya, a beautiful Golden Retriever, came into his life that he truly felt that his life had meaning. Photo: Rakesh Shukla/Facebook When we got home, she went and hid in a corner. I got down to her level on the floor and I was calling out to her. She was looking at me, she was scared, but I could see she wanted to trust me, Rakesh recalls about that fateful day. And thats when the moment happened it was a physical feeling, my hair was tingling, I could feel a warm glow. And Ive never needed to ask myself that question why am I here? again after that. Something magical happened when Rakesh Shukla met Kavya. Three months later, he got a second dog, this time a stray called Lucky. He found her on the streets, wet and miserable, so he just brought her home. Over the next few weeks, whenever, Rakesh saw a stray or an abandoned dog, he just brought it home. The growing number of canines soon became too much for his wife to bear, so he moved most of them to his workplace, turning the top floor of his office building into a dog shelter. Photo: Rakesh Shukla/Facebook In 2011, following a major human-stray incident (the massive culling of stray dogs), he founded the Voice of Stray Dogs, a modern dog rescue organization working to support the strays of Bangalore. Today, it is the worlds largest citywide dog rescue. VoSD rescue is essentially my private infrastructure that I opened to the city to save its dogs. Dogs that are my love. To do so I created the most automated and tightly managed rescue in the world, Rakesh wrote in a lengthy Facebook post, last year. My vehicles & people are GPS tracked. Each dog has a reference and exhaustive database entries and more. You get SMS, emails, online access. There is no rescue app like the VoSD Rescue App in the world. There is no enterprise CRM like the VoSD CRM in the world. There is no individualised tracking like VoSD provides in the world. At the same time, he kept adopting stray and abandoned dogs, and by 2012 he realized he needed to set up a proper shelter for them. That year, Mr Shukla bought land in the neighboring Doddballapur town and set up a canine haven for dogs. Most of the residents are old or sick, while the rest are simply unwanted. Last time he counted them, Rakesh Shukla had 735 dogs in his care. Photo: Rakesh Shukla/Facebook Im the last stop for these dogs. They are no longer cute and cuddly. Many are sick and no longer wanted, Rakesh told the BBC. But thats all the more reason to make their life as happy and comfortable as possible. To that end, the Dog Father spares no expense. His shelter employs a staff of about 10 people, including trained veterinary assistants, to feed and care for the animals. They are fed 200kg of chicken and 200kg of rice every day, and many of them receive constant medical treatments. The daily cost of running this unique haven runs between $650 and $750 a day, of which he personally provides 95%. In his 2015 message to the city of Bangalore, Rakesh Shukla estimated that in the previous three years he had spent over $1 million of his own money to fund the Voice of Stray Dogs rescue. He had managed to rescue over 5,000 stray dogs in Bangalore, not to mention taking care of the hundreds that lived at his shelter permanently. But following a string of problems faced by his organization while providing the city a free service, he decided to change his approach and focus more on the hundreds of dogs in his personal care. While VoSD still operates in Bangalore, its not a free lunch anymore, so people who need a dog rescued have to pay a 2,500 rupee ($37) fee. Earlier, we entertained all calls, where many turned out to be fake. After a spate of bad experiences, we have decided that whoever wants to have a dog rescued has to register online and pay a nominal amount of Rs 2,500 per dog, Rakesh told The Economic Times. This way , we will know that they are serious about what they want to do. Rakesh Shukla is viewed by many as a hero, and a human champion of stray and abandoned dogs in Bangalore, but not everyone has been supportive of his efforts. In the past, he has been sabotaged by so called animal activists who demanded access to his dogs and facilities, has received complaints that he is creating public unrest by keeping so many dogs, and some have even demanded that he shut down his shelter. He plans to do no such thing though. Ive made a pact with my dogs. We will part only when one of us kicks the bucket, he says. Tateyama Bay, in Japans Chiba Prefecture, is the meeting place of two very unlikely friends local diver Hiroyuki Arakawa and an Asian sheepshead wrasse by the name of Yoriko. The pair met 25 years ago and have been visiting each other ever since. Arakawa has been looking after an underwater Shinto shrine located in Tateyama Bay for over a quarter of a century, also acting as a guide for tourist who want to visit it. During that time, he has become unusually close with a giant friendly fish who comes to greet him whenever he calls. All he has to do is call by knocking with a hammer on a piece of metal and the fish shows up. Theyve been friends for 25 years now, and Hiroyuki has even named the fish Yoriko. Hiroyuki, who runs a local diving shop, has been documenting his friendship with the Asian sheepshead wrasse on Facebook. Yoriko shows up in nearly every photo taken near the Shinto shrine in the divers care, and sometimes even poses for the camera. Their relationship has become a tourist attraction in itself, with people asking for diving sessions just to see the two unlikely friends bonding and playing. They say fish have no feelings, but Hiroyuki Arakawa would tell you otherwise. Photos: Hiroyuki Arakawa/Facebook via The Dodo Its not unusual for youth nowadays to speak more than one language, but 32-year-old Muhamed Mesic is not your typical polyglot. He can communicate fluently in 56 different languages and claims to understand over 70 of them. Ever since he was a little boy growing up in Tuzla, an industrial city in the former Yugoslavia (currently in Bosnia Herzegovina), Muhamed Mesic was fascinated by languages. His exceptional talent for quickly learning to communicate in different languages was discovered by chance, when he was just 5-years-old. He was on vacation with his family, in Greece, and recalls being able to listen to their local neighbor speaking Greek and figuring out what he was saying from the situation they were in. This was the first time I met people whose language I couldnt recognize, Muhamed remembers. I could listen to our neighbors talking and then figure out the meaning from the situation. At the end of the vacation, I was able to help my father to communicate with a local mechanic who repaired our car. My parents were shocked. Photo: Muhamed Mesic/Facebook But that was only the beginning of his journey to mastering as many languages as he could. When he was nine, he picked up Swedish from the Swedish soldiers stationed in his town during the Bosnian Civil War, and after the conflict he went on a trip to Hungary and managed to learn Hungarian as well. In my first trip after the war to Hungary, my Grandmother demanded from me not to learn Hungarian, she said I didnt need it. When I came back, I was afraid to tell her the truth, he told The Jewish Journal. Before long, his family realized that there was something special about Muhamed. The doctors who examined him concluded that it was his Aspergers Syndrome (a light form of Autism) that allowed him to pick up new foreign languages so easily, sometimes unintentionally. He recalls that one time, a friend asked him to learn Latvian so he could accompany him on a business trip, and he was able to become fluent in the Baltic language in just 2 weeks, with the help of YouTube, two books and 43 cartoons. Asked how he came to speak Hebrew, Mesic said When I was 12, I listened to a show on the radio with the president of the Jewish community in Bosnia. I was put on-line and asked him how I can learn the three languages of Judaism Ladino, Yiddish and Hebrew. He laughed and asked: all at once?, and then recommended to start with Hebrew. At that time I also had a good friend who kept the VCRs of all the Eurovision Song Contests throughout the years. So this is how I started to learn Hebrew: by reciting Israels songs to the competition. I can recall all of them to that very day. Photo: Muhamed Mesic/Facebook But despite his remarkable ability to pick up foreign languages with ease, Muhamed Mesic is also 100% dedicated to his passion for languages and dedicates almost all of his time to studying and practicing them. Muhammed says that he hardly has any free time, which is tough for a 32-year-old, but at the same time, dedicating himself to his passion makes him feel happy and fulfilled. Ill be honest. I spend around 200 days per year on the plane. I am always traveling to various lectures, seminars, training But Im not complaining. I realized that you have to be a victim if you want to succeed and I really am one, he told Radio Sarajevo. It is important to have a goal and work hard to achieve it, and the results will come. Today, Muhamed Mesic speaks an impressive 56 different languages, from common ones like English or Portuguese, to Japanese and Georgian, and even tongues that most of us have never even heard of, like Kinyarwanda (official language of Rwanda) or Quechua (the language of the indigenous people of the central Andes of South America). Some of them he rarely gets to practice in real life, but that doesnt make them any less important. I dont focus on the plain profit from a language, Mesic says. I speak Icelandic for example, but I dont think that I must do anything with it beyond speaking with friends and colleagues. Language is knowledge, and knowledge is happiness, and thats what is important in life. A language dies when the people who speak it no longer relate to it as wealth, but as something redundant. And when it dies, the knowledge it carries in it dies with it. 56 sounds like an awful lot, but Muhamed claims that the more languages you speak, the easier it is to learn new ones, because many of them have quite a lot of similarities. Im sure linguists would agree, but still, being able to speak fluently in over 50 languages seem impossible. And yet, I am inclined to believe that this man is the real deal. Muhamed Mesics official website is currently under construction, so I dont yet have access to the full list of 56 languages he speaks. But he does have about a dozen videos uploaded on YouTube, where he speaks in different languages. And it just so happens that in one of them he is speaking Romanian. Thats my native language, and unless this man has actually been able to memorize a few minutes worth of speech, while also practicing his accent, he actually speaks Romanian a lot better than some Romanians. Its mind-blowing, to be honest. Check out his YouTube channel, maybe he speaks your language too. Asked how high he is ranked among the worlds polyglots, Muhamed said that there is no such ranking. And besides: how can you define speaking languages? I know, for instance, a guy who can greet, thank and say goodbye in 500 languages. There are people who can speak 8 languages as their mother tongue, including scientific and technical expressions. And me? I dont learn languages to brag, for me it is enough that people can understand me, he added. Trust me, his Romanian is way above conversational, so hes just being modest. Robert Dilenschneider As we move through another Holiday Season, here are some facts that may be of interest, and which you might like to share with those close to you. In the 4th century, Saint Nicholas of Myra (modern-day Turkey) is a bishop famous for throwing a bag of gold through a window to three poor sisters. The day of his death, December 6, is still celebrated as Saint Nicholas Day in Armenia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries. In the 17th to 18th centuries, English children learn the Dutch tradition of setting out wooden shoes in which Sinterklaas leaves presents. They also hear of Christkindl, the German gift-bearing angel. In the 19th century, Santa commands a flying sleigh (Washington Irvings Knickerbockers History of New York,) slides down chimneys (Clement Clarke Moores The Night Before Christmas,) and monitors kids from the North Pole (Thomas Nasts Harpers Weekly cartoons.) The first department-store Santa appears in Philadelphia. In 1912, the U.S. Postal Service provides an address for Christmas wish lists: Santa Claus, North Pole, Alaska. In 1958, the North American Aerospace Defense Command sets up a Santa cam to track the Christmas Eve ride. In 2016, in New York City alone, the number of letters to Santa that arrive at the post office is about half a million. Expect more than $23 billion in retail sales by the nations department stores. Look for more than $55 billion in retail sales by electronic shopping and mail-order houses. Know that about 560 locations produce dolls, toys and games. California leads the nation in this production. Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season and a 2017 that is special for you and all those you are close to. *** Robert L. Dilenschneider is founder and chairman of The Dilenschneider Group, a global public relations and communications consulting firm headquartered in New York City. The former CEO of Hill and Knowlton, Inc., he is also author of more than a dozen books, including the best-selling Power and Influence. Donald Trumps successful tactic of communicating directly to the public via tweets and other means, almost never having a news conference, is a worrisome development both for journalism and public relations. Both industries have lost lots of their powers in recent years. The number of reporters has shrunk along with ad revenues. Both Gallup and Pew put confidence in media around 20 percent. It used to be in the 70s. Media that bet heavily on Clinton winning the presidency were red-faced when the results became known. New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. published a half-hearted apology for the almost non-stop attacks on the Trump candidacy. The Times estimate that Clinton had an 84 percent chance of winning, made on the day of the election, resulted in some women thinking there was no need to vote. The Times is an example of media shrinkage. It is sub-leasing eight floors of its 52-story building at 620 Eighth Ave. between 40th and 41st streets. About 400 employees are affected. Hundreds of other employees have been laid off in recent years. The Times sold 21 floors of its space in the building in 2009 for $225 million and leased it for 15 years. It could buy it back for $250 million in 2019. The Times owns 58 percent of the building and Forest City, 42 percent. Tribune Media Co., Chicago, sold the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times in 2014 and this year sold the iconic Tribune Tower in Chicago and the Times building in L.A. after an employee buyout program. Press conferences, interviews, vanish PR people, who used to be able to produce CEOs and other executives for press interviews and conduct press conferences, now have trouble producing themselves when reporters call. Virtually all communications are by email with every word monitored by legal and administration. Press queries are normally shifted to outside PR firms. This shift, similar to the closing of corporate ad departments in the 1950s and 60s, has helped propel the growth of PR firms. Most firms in the top 25 ranked by ODwyers grow in double-digits each year. Emphasis is on direct contact with customers, potential customers, stockholders, employees and other audiences via social media, house websites and emails to key audiences. Lots of creativity is needed in reaching these audiences and its more likely found in agencies that cope with numerous client problems on a daily basis rather than in corporate departments that have the single corporate client. PR/press relations may warm Signs that PR/press relations may warm up after being cool for decades appeared at the Institute for PR dinner Nov. 30. Patrick Ford, Burson-Marsteller executive and recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Medal of IPR, said the most important role of PR people is to focus as much or more on behavior as we do on words. Among those listening was Tina McCorkindale, president of IPR who herself has said effective communications requires that people talk to each other, even if they disagree. She calls this dialogic looping. The same advice was given at the dinner by Distinguished Lecturer Geoff Colvin, Fortune editor-at-large, who spoke about the importance of face-to-face communications. Certain parts of the brain light up when people are facing each other but are inactive when they talk to each other without being F2F, he said, quoting research. PR availability is needed This reminded us of what Harold Burson said in accepting the PRSA Foundations Paladin award for courage in communications in 2012. PR, according to Burson, has four duties: to listen; to be the corporate conscience; communicate, including answering questions and serve as ombudsman representing the publics interest to companies. Our wish list for 2017 is that corporate and association PR people reach out to the press and not wait for the press to call them. Emails and phones of press contacts should be on websites rather than boxes where questions can be submitted. PR groups including PRSA, IABC and the Arthur W. Page Society should open their membership lists to the press. PRSA and IABC used to publish their lists. Reporters should be able to join PRSA. One reason for the decline in the influence of the press is that it has become hard for reporters to prize any facts out of companies and institutions. Press conferences and interviews with CEOs and other top execs have about vanished. Much of reporting today is combing official records, data-mining. PR professors, who have replaced PR firms and corporations as the dominant element in PRSA, can lead such reforms if they wish. They must erase the bogus designation of APR from the Societys governance structure. Despite a move to do that led by Richard Edelman, Art Stevens and Dave Rickey in 2010, the 2017 board will have 16 APRs and one non-APR. Cision Expands; Akeroyd Is CEO Cision, which owns PR Newswire, Vocus and Gorkana, with annual revenues reaching $630 million, emerged as the largest PR services company. Kevin Akeroyd, senior VP of Oracle, joined as CEO, succeeding Peter Granat, who becomes chairman of the Chicago-based company. Cision unveiled an integrated platform titled the Cision Communication Cloud that integrates earned media with paid and owned channels into a single platform, allowing communication pros better insights and the ability to establish a stronger multichannel content strategy. Users can monitor trending topics with access to millions of news stories across online, print, broadcast and social channels. It also provides content management and media outreach performance tools that allow users to target and engage audiences and influencer communities, leading them to make better real-time decisions. Agricultural News Could Our Next Secretary of Agriculture Be Former Texas Ag Commissioner Susan Combs? The following is an analysis of the search for the next Secretary of Agriculture- written by Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays. We are down to a handful of picks left for the incoming Trump Cabinet- including the USDA Secretary of Agriculture. The early thinking was that this would be a fairly quick pick in the early part of the process- getting a somewhat lower profile Cabinet position done using one of many loyalists to Trump during the campaign. As Cabinet nominee after nominee was made public- it became apparent that there was some significant infighting going on internally in the Trump Transition team- as some saw the USDA slot as one where diversity could be substituted for the best person for the job. Enter Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. The first term Democrat was seen as a great "across the aisle" pick by some in the Trump camp- and some say that she was actually offered the job. However, her Democratic friends were going crazy during the process as her joining the Cabinet likely meant a pick up of a Senate seat for the GOP. At the same time- you had many Ag Advisroy Committee members going crazy as well- pointing out her populist leanings over issues like mCOOL and GIPSA- plus grousing about not giving the job to someone who had been supporting Trump during at least some of the campaign. Likely- that means EXIT Senator Heitkamp. The names being mentioned this week by other media folks include: Susan Combs- both Agri-Pulse and Politico are saying that House Ag Committee Chair Mike Conaway is telling the Trump Transition team she is the lady for the job. Word is that the former Texas Ag Commissioner met this week with VEEP Elect Mike Pence, talking about USDA or perhaps another position in the Administration. Click here for the Politico article on Conaway touting Combs. Combs interviewed with Vice President Elect Pence on Tuesday- and we have been told that the interview went well. Bruce Rastetter of Iowa- also mentioned by Agri-Pulse as going to Trump Tower to meet with the Transition team- he was mentioned early on as a possible candidate- Has made lots of money with hog farms, ethanol and now in real estate. Charles Herbster- Mentioned in recent days as meeting with the Trump team- he is the Chair of the Trump Ag Advisory Committee- he is the President of Conklin- and if he is not promoting himself- he might be pushing for his friend and former Governor of Nebraska- Dave Heineman. Sid Miller- featured in a Mother Jones(a liberal opinion website) as one that might still be selected- pointing out that the Texas Ag Commissioner spent fifty bucks and published an Op-Ed beating the drum for Trump this past Friday- saying that Miller was trying to tell the Trump folks to "don't forget about me." It seems to me- if any of these folks or someone else can get an audience with President Elect Trump and impress him- there's your nominee! Maybe before Christmas- but maybe not. WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Agricultural News Opportunity Awaits South of the Border for Beef Industry as Ink Dries on Brazilian Trade Deal Just in time for Christmas, the US beef industry is getting a gift of sorts with a new opportunity to put the "cow that stole Christmas" back in 2003, behind us. This past August, the US and Brazil jointly announced that the two countries will open their doors once again to each other's beef products. Cheyenne McEndaffer, technical services manager for the US Meat Export Federation, says it will be good to finally get some US beef into the Brazilian marketplace. "We've been shut out of the Brazilian markets since our first case of BSE," McEndaffer said, "as well as the Brazilians have been anxiously awaiting to ship beef to the US where they have been banned due to foot and mouth disease concerns." Both countries have agreed to accept fresh or non-processed beef products. But first, there are still some details to work out regarding labeling registration requirements in Brazil. Once those details are finalized, packing plants will be able to start the process of getting approved for their label registration and get shipping underway. The sooner this happens the better, says McEndaffer, because there is apparently high demand for certain cuts of US beef waiting for us there. "Even though Brazil does produce some grain finished, British breed, high-quality cattle of their own, it's very, very limited. So that's really where we see an opportunity to supplement that with high-quality, grain finished US beef," McEndaffer said. "Over the past few months, we've also heard of interest for other cuts that we didn't initially expect like short ribs, chuck flats, tri-tips, strip loins, outside/inside skirts and chuck eye rolls." Listen to McEndaffer talk more about the opportunities that await the US beef industry in Brazil with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, on today's Beef Buzz. The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today. Listen to Hays & McEndaffer talk more about the opportunities that await the US beef industry in Brazil WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Agricultural News US Wins World Trade Organization Trade Enforcement Dispute for American Farmers and Ranchers The Obama Administration has secured another trade enforcement victory for American farmers, ranchers, and businesses. United States Trade Representative Michael Froman announced today that a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel has found in favor of the United States' challenge to Indonesia's wide-ranging restrictions and prohibitions on horticultural products, animals, and animal products. The United States, working closely with New Zealand as co-complainant, filed this dispute to address trade barriers in Indonesia that restrict the importation of American fruits and vegetables (such as apples, grapes, and potatoes), animal products (such as beef and poultry), and other agricultural products. The WTO Panel agreed with the United States on 18 out of 18 claims that Indonesia is applying import restrictions and prohibitions that are inconsistent with WTO rules. "The Obama Administration has again prevailed on behalf of U.S. farmers, ranchers, and businesses," said Ambassador Froman. "Today's panel report will help eliminate unjustified trade restrictions on American agricultural products, allowing U.S. farmers and ranchers to sell their high-quality products to customers in Indonesia - the fourth-most populous country in the world. This major victory is the fourth WTO win announced by USTR this year. It again affirms the Administration's commitment to enforcing U.S. rights to ensure Americans benefit from all the opportunities the United States has negotiated under our trade agreements." "This is a slam dunk for American agriculture," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Since 2012, Indonesia has maintained an untenable import licensing program, harming the ability of U.S. producers to sell a wide range of American-grown products in the Indonesian market - from potatoes to beef to grapes to oranges to poultry. Importantly, the WTO Panel findings will discourage Indonesia from simply substituting new trade-distorting approaches for the measures repealed, restoring American farmers' and ranchers' ability to compete." "American jobs - including thousands in my District - are jeopardized when other countries attempt to skirt trade rules," said U.S. Congressman Rick Larsen. "Today's report adds to a growing list of victories for the current administration's record of enforcing trade rules and protecting US jobs that count on a level playing field to compete against foreign competitors." "Today's announcement is a win for Washington's apple industry and agriculture community. The Indonesian government's trade restrictions have limited access for our exporters to this important market and harmed growers in my state," said U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert. "We must always fight against these types of actions that hurt consumers and limit opportunity for our communities. I thank Ambassador Froman and his team for their commitment to eliminating barriers and supporting U.S. agriculture." Background on Dispute Since 2012, Indonesia has maintained unjustified and trade-restrictive licensing regimes for the importation of horticultural products and animals and animal products. Indonesia has amended its regimes several times, adding additional trade-restrictive requirements. The United States launched a dispute with Indonesia in January 2013 and, working together with New Zealand, filed additional complaints in August 2013 and in May 2014 to address the modifications to Indonesia's import licensing restrictions. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body established the panel for this dispute in May 2015. The Panel found that all of Indonesia's import restricting measures for horticultural products and animal products are inconsistent with Article XI:1 of the GATT 1994. The United States challenged Indonesia's agricultural import regime as a whole as well as the following measures: - Requirement to import at least 80 percent of the quantity for each product specified on each importer's license, or face steep penalties. - Restriction on the importation of horticultural products during Indonesian harvest periods to avoid competition with domestic products. For example, Indonesia would restrict the importation of oranges during the harvest season of its domestic oranges. - Restrictions on the use, sale, and distribution of imported products. For example, imported beef could only be sold in restaurants and hotels, but not in traditional markets and supermarkets. - Restriction on the importation of certain products when their market prices fall below the government-determined "reference prices." - Restriction on the importation of horticultural products based on an importer's ownership of storage facilities. For example, an importer could only import 100 bushels of apples if it owns the storage space for 100 bushels of apples. The importer cannot lease or rent storage spaces to satisfy this requirement. - Requirement to purchase certain amounts of domestic beef before importation of beef from other countries is permitted. - Limited time period in which to apply for an import license and short validity periods of these licenses. - Restriction on imports that can be entered under a license based on fixed type, quantity, country of origin and port of entry requirements. - Prohibition on the importation of horticultural products that were harvested more than six months previously. - Prohibition on the importation of animals and animal products if they are not specifically listed in Indonesia's regulations. - Prohibition on the importation of horticultural products, animals and animal products when Indonesia determines that its domestic supplies are sufficient to satisfy domestic demand. The Panel found that all of these break WTO rules because they either restrict or prohibit importation of these products. The Panel also found that Indonesia has failed to demonstrate that the challenged measures are justified under any general exception available under the GATT 1994, including Articles XX(a) (public morals), XX(b) (human health), or XX(d) (compliance measures) of the GATT 1994. The Panel sided with the United States and New Zealand on 18 out of 18 claims that it reached. The Panel report not only provides a win in this complaint, but it also would resolve the two U.S. complaints filed on previous versions of Indonesia's import regime for agricultural products. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and an increasingly important export market for many U.S. agricultural products, with exports of agricultural products affected by Indonesia's import licensing regimes totaling nearly $115 million in 2015. U.S. agricultural products affected by Indonesia's import licensing regimes and related prohibitions and restrictions include fruits, such as apples, grapes and oranges; vegetables, such as potatoes, onions and shallots; dried fruits and vegetables; flowers; juices; cattle; beef, including a ban on secondary cuts; poultry, including a ban on chicken parts; and other animal products. In 2015, U.S. exports of affected horticultural products to Indonesia exceeded $87 million - including $28 million of apples and over $29 million of grapes. In the absence of Indonesia's trade-restrictive import licensing regime, however, we would expect U.S. farmers to be able to compete more effectively for sales to Indonesian consumers. In 2015, exports of affected horticultural products to Malaysia, a similar market, totaled $106 million, $19 million more than exports to Indonesia, despite the fact that Indonesia's population is over eight times larger than Malaysia's. U.S. exports of affected animals and animal products totaled $26 million in 2015. As with exports of horticultural products, however, we would expect U.S. producers to compete more effectively in the Indonesian market in the absence of Indonesia's trade restrictions. For example, U.S. exports of affected animals and animal products to the Philippines, another similar market, totaled $205 million in 2015, notwithstanding the fact that the population of the Indonesia is 2.5 times larger than that of the Philippines. Under WTO rules, either party may request adoption of the panel report by the WTO within 60 days of the release of the report, and the report would be adopted unless an appeal is filed. If the report is appealed, WTO rules provide that the WTO Appellate Body must issue its report within 90 days of the filing of the appeal. The Obama Administrations Trade Enforcement Record - Since President Obama was inaugurated in 2009, USTR has filed 24 enforcement complaints at the World Trade Organization (WTO) - more than any other WTO Member. The United States has won every single one of those complaints that has been announced by the WTO so far - 14 wins, plus another 6 complaints resolved favorably. - The Obama Administration has now brought 15 trade enforcement challenges against China, three against India, and several other complaints against a series of major economies including Argentina, the Philippines, and the European Union. To ensure the greatest economic benefits for American workers and exporters, the Obama Administration has used our trade enforcement actions to emphasize opening these large, strategic markets to which the United States exports a diverse array of products and services. - The Obama Administration has also broken new ground on the enforcement of agricultural market access including challenges to China's non-transparent and unpredictable administration of tariff-rate quotas, China's excessive domestic support for production of certain grains, India's non-science-based measures on poultry and other products allegedly to protect against avian influenza (U.S. prevailed in 2015), and China's unfair taxes on U.S. broiler chicken products (U.S. prevailed in 2014; compliance challenge pending). Enforcement extends far beyond formal disputes. The Obama Administration has opened markets for American workers, farmers, and businesses by taking tough stands to resolve unwarranted trade barriers with trading partners. For example, we have eliminated restrictions in 17 countries since January 2015, gaining additional market access for U.S. beef in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Guatemala, Iraq, Lebanon, Macau, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Ukraine, and Vietnam. As a result, U.S. beef exports have doubled. We also successfully engaged with the Philippines - including through the Special 301 process - to enhance protection of intellectual property rights. These and similar actions have helped expand exports and level the playing field for American goods and services. Source - United States Trade Representative WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Agricultural News American Farm Bureau Applauds US Victory at World Trade Organization in Case Against Indonesia The American Farm Bureau Federation release the following statement in response to the World Trade Organization's verdict regarding the trade enforcement dispute with Indonesia, filed by the US Trade Representative. "The American Farm Bureau Federation applauds U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the Obama administration on their victory at the World Trade Organization in defending farmers and ranchers from unfair trade restrictions in Indonesia. "America's farmers and ranchers depend on our nation's leaders to hold our trading partners accountable, and Farm Bureau is grateful for the administration's work to defend U.S. agriculture's interests abroad. Enforcement of trade agreements is crucial to maintaining market access. Thanks to this victory, American farmers and ranchers will have the freedom to reach customers in one of the world's most populous countries." Source - American Farm Bureau Federation WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News The sales plunge continued for Conagra Brands as the company held to its strategy of ending deep discounts and removing underselling product lines from store shelves. Righting the ship will take time, but year-over-year sales trends should improve in the rest of the fiscal year December through May executives said Thursday. They also expect profit margins will continue to improve. And come summer, the launch of new, trendier products will help grow sales, they said. Its all part of a massive turnaround strategy under Chief Executive Sean Connolly, who joined the company 19 months ago. He has since sold and spun off major business units, relocated Conagras headquarters from Omaha to Chicago and slashed employee headcount and other costs. Now he is reshaping the companys branded foods lineup, aiming to modernize products like Slim Jim meat sticks, Reddi-wip canned whipped cream and Peter Pan peanut butter and adding new brands, like the Frontera line of Mexican foods. Its not without pain: Sales fell 11.5 percent to $2.09 billion in the second quarter, which ended Nov. 27. About 7 percentage points of the decline were attributed to lower volume grocery shoppers not buying as much Conagra food, in part because the company ended discounts to retailers that allowed them to sell Banquet frozen dinners to consumers for about $1. The sale of some smaller business units also cut comparable sales, while higher prices somewhat offset the decline. Conagra revamped the Banquet meals and said it would rather have loyal customers who buy better food at higher prices. Despite consumer sentiment generally souring somewhat on packaged foods, there are pockets of growth in the industry, Connolly said. Unfortunately, it hasnt been the big companies that are getting after it, he said. Conagra is trying to speed up its process for studying consumer behavior and responding with new products. Make no mistake, we intend to grow, Connolly said. But we will do so in a way that is profitable. Profits still were down in the second quarter: Net income fell 21.2 percent to $122.1 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with 35 cents a year ago, a figure that included some now-discontinued operations. But adjusting for comparability, Conagra reported earnings per share of 49 cents, up 26 percent. Analysts had expected 45 cents per share, according to estimates provided by FactSet. Conagra shares jumped in the wake of the better-than-expected adjusted earnings; they were up nearly 3.4 percent on a day when the broader stock market was down slightly. Shares closed at $39.29 each on the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile Conagra affirmed its full-year guidance on adjusted earnings per share of between $1.65 and $1.70. Executives said Conagra is succeeding in becoming more profitable despite lower sales. In the companys first earnings report under its new Conagra Brands name, Connolly distanced the company from its Nebraska roots as a grain miller and later a global conglomerate. The company still maintains about 1,200 employees in office operations in Omaha and hundreds more in food production plants in Lincoln and Council Bluffs. The changes arent just in the company structure, Connolly said. Our culture has fundamentally evolved, with a focus on cost cutting and on share value over sales volume, he told stock analysts in a conference call. An Iowa woman has been charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 disappearance of an acquaintance, last seen alive in Omaha. Shanna Golyar, 41, was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of Cari Farver, of Macedonia, Iowa, according to the Omaha Police Department. Authorities arrested Golyar at her home in Persia, Iowa. Farver was last seen alive on the morning of Nov. 13, 2012, according to Omaha police. She was killed between 6 a.m. that morning and 6 a.m. the next day at an apartment complex near 120th Street and West Dodge Road, according to the Omaha police report on her death. She was 37 at the time. Authorities have not said whether they have found her body or why they believe a murder was committed. The police report indicates that Golyar and Farver were acquainted. Three days after Farvers suspected death, on Nov. 16, 2012, her mother, Nancy Raney of Carson, Iowa, reported her missing to the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office. It wasnt until Jan. 10, 2013, that Farvers vehicle was found in Omaha. The Sheriffs Office eventually determined that Farver had been killed in Omaha, said Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber. Pottawattamie County handed over the case to the Omaha Police Department. Wilber and Omaha Police declined to go into further detail. According to a press release issued Thursday by Omaha police, grant money awarded to the departments cold case squad enabled some of the detective work that contributed to the arrest. In 2014 the unit received a DNA grant from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs and U.S. Department of Justice. The award allowed DNA testing in the killing of Farver. The departments cold case squad began its investigation in February, the police report indicates. An arrest warrant for Golyar for first-degree murder was issued Thursday. Detectives took her into custody at 12:15 p.m. In December 2015, Golyar reported to Bluffs police that she had been shot in her left thigh at Big Lake Park in Council Bluffs by an unknown female, a press release at the time stated. She was hospitalized, but a suspect was not located. Bluffs Police Sgt. Brandon Danielson said Thursday the investigation showed that her allegations of being shot by another person were unfounded. There were no arrests. Thursday evening, Golyar was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail, awaiting extradition to Nebraska. World-Herald staff writers Emerson Clarridge and Nancy Gaarder contributed to this report. Grinnell College had a problem last spring. Enrollment for the incoming class of 2020 was falling well short of the target of 440 freshmen, and the college had exhausted its wait list of domestic applicants. So the esteemed liberal arts school in Iowa dipped into its foreign wait list. "First time we've ever done that," said Joe Bagnoli, vice president for enrollment. "With all those empty seats, we had a real revenue issue." Grinnell wound up with a class of 414, still shy of the school's goal. But Bagnoli said the result was manageable. Twenty-three percent of Grinnell's freshmen are international, up from 18 percent in 2014 and 11 percent in 2004. The Class of 2020 includes 97 foreign students from 25 countries. The largest international delegation is 41 freshmen from China. That's a whole lot of foreign students for a small-town school on U.S. Route 6 in the rural expanse between Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. Founded in 1846, Grinnell ranks in the top 20 on the U.S. News & World Report list of liberal arts colleges. But it is not a household name. Every year, it must hustle to recruit on the East and West coasts and overseas. It uses a mix of merit and need-based aid to lure students. Grinnell's total enrollment is usually about 1,700. It admitted 28 percent of applicants in 2014, down from 63 percent a decade earlier. So this international boom is all about the money, right? Wrong, Bagnoli said. "This didn't just grow out of a conversation that I was having with" the chief financial officer, he said. "People unfortunately automatically assume that it's just to address a revenue challenge." If it were all about the money, Grinnell could have taken even more international students this year. But Bagnoli said the college denied several foreign applicants with perfect scores on the SAT admission test. The college also gives substantial financial aid to international students in need. Like Stanford University, Dartmouth College and most other selective schools, Grinnell is "need-aware" for foreign applicants. That means the college takes financial circumstances into account when making admission decisions. But Grinnell also pledges to meet full need for those who get in. More than a third of international students at Grinnell get need-based aid, Bagnoli said: "We don't just enroll full-pay students from China." Bagnoli said Grinnell has been pushing to globalize for academic reasons. Two years ago, the college formed a task force to study its international recruiting and enrollment strategy. "The questions we were engaging were about what should global learning achieve at Grinnell?" Bagnoli said. "Learning goals." What kind of curriculum should the college have? What kind of co-curricular activities outside of the classroom? "We made a deliberate move to identify a goal of having 20 percent of our student body be from other countries," Bagnoli said. The college also wanted no more than a third of its foreign students to come from any one country. It overshot both of those targets this year. China wound up supplying more than 40 percent of the international students. Bagnoli has forged a tight bond with one Chinese student: Yifei Zhang. Zhang, 23, is a graduating senior with a double major in history and mathematics. Bagnoli frequently gets together with Zhang for dinner and other social occasions as part of a Grinnell program to help international students become part of the town and campus community. "We've cooked together, listened to music together, shared customs and stories," Bagnoli said. Zhang comes from Xianyang, a large city in Shaanxi, which is an inland Chinese province with a population of more than 37 million. That's worlds away from an Iowa town with a population of about 10,000. His mother is a college professor, and his father works for the government. Zhang went to high school in Singapore, and his English has a slight British accent. After he graduates, he is thinking about studying law or seeking to become a history professor. Zhang said he was drawn to Grinnell because its liberal education format would allow him to take his time choosing a major. "I wanted to explore subjects a bit before committing," he said. Zhang said his classes were "very rigorous." He also was drawn to a place where he would not feel alone. At Grinnell, it seemed, there was a critical mass of students from around the world. "I really wanted to go to a school with a significant international population," he said. "I feared being secluded or something, having trouble integrating with the rest of the student body. This is a very diverse college. That's why I chose to come here." Another factor: Grinnell offered financial aid. "A medium-sized grant," Zhang said. The full charge for tuition, fees, room and board totals about $60,000 a year. Zhang said it helps that the cost of living in rural Iowa is lower than in big cities. He also works as a tutor, helping students with calculus and linear algebra, and he has had other campus jobs. "I'm very grateful that Grinnell was able to offset some of the expense," he said. "A private college in America can be expensive." Zhang said his parents, who also have paid a significant amount for his education, have been completely supportive. "They wanted me to experience the world in more depth and more breadth," he said. "In Chinese culture, going to college anywhere is a big thing for the family." SHENANDOAH, Iowa Out of the goodness of her heart, a registered nurse in Shenadoah, Iowa, handcrafts unique character and seasonal hats for newborns at Shenandoah Medical Center, where shes worked for almost 38 years. Detra Braymens first knitted or crocheted hats were made for her daughters photography business several years ago. But a newfound passion began earlier this year when another nurse gave Braymen her yarn before moving away. She was going to make some spring/summer hats and wondered if I could help her out, Braymen recalled. I started out making 20 and have taken off from there. Braymen one-upped a challenge from coworkers to make babies hats for the holidays by vowing to make hats every month and has planned events through May for her donations. Some hats are adorned with her homemade patches. Depending on embellishments, up to four hours is spent on each hat, but rarely is a pattern used. Her inspiration is gleaned from crafting websites such as Pinterest. I have stitch counts memorized and could probably make them in my sleep, she said. The Halloween hats were a huge hit with parents who could choose a hat for their baby. Theyre plenty big and generally fit for a few weeks to a month. The Christmas hats have also been a big hit and now people are seeing me on the street and cant wait to see what I come up with next. Since Braymen doesnt primarily work in obstetrics, she doesnt have much contact with the parents. So, nurses there are good to pass thank yous and compliments on to her, she said. Her hats and booties have been dispersed to neonatal intensive care units throughout Iowa hospitals via the Preemie Project in Iowa City. Shes also made event hats for Hawkeye vs Cyclones game day, she said. In past years, SMC received donated hats from around the country for newborns, but several were too small, too big, or not appealing, Braymen said. So, shed fill in orders when they had more babies than hats. She still accepts requests. Braymen learned the skill from her grandmothers as a child, but her charitable demeanor was inherited from her mother. I was in lots of church groups and organizations which prided themselves in service to others, so it is first nature, and Gods will, to give back for the talents I have been given, she said. She knits about 10 blankets for family members every year and hopes to expand her charity quilting projects. There are days I have so much fun and my mind is traveling in so many directions that I wish I could clone myself, she said. That way, I could reach out twice as far and fast. For others who want to get in on such a project for other hospitals, Braymen recommends sending a sample to the hospitals NICUs after inquiring about needs or restrictions they might have. Iowa Citys Preemie Project takes donations in sizes from premature to 6 months for some of the larger babies who are patients, she said. Braymen said OB nurses at SMC have been her second-biggest fans and thoroughly enjoy dressing the babies up for photos, she said. She is an amazing nurse, said an anonymous coworker, full of respect for Braymen. The Halloween hats Detra made this year were adorable. SMCs Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Moe said, It shows the commitment and compassion she has to do something like this on her own time its extra special to the parents. Braymen admitted shes been utterly surprised that her hats have become as important as they have. While Braymen is aware of the nursery population explosion happening at SMC, with 130 babies born from Jan. 1 through Dec. 20, she said she is determined to keep up with the numbers. If someone had told me a year ago that I would make a difference in new parents and babies lives, I wouldnt have believed them, she said. I am the one who is blessed! DES MOINES (AP) In a decision likely to create concern among many members of boards, commissions and councils, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that three county supervisors serving as trustees of an agriculture drainage district must pay thousands of dollars in fines and attorney fees for violating the states open meetings laws. The case centers on two meetings held in November 2013 by three members of the Harrison County Board who also serve as trustees of a local drainage district. Robert Smith, Walter Utman and Gaylord Pitt were discussing whether to rebuild a levee near Modale to hold back Missouri River floodwaters. A group of farmers were upset after the levee failed in 2011 and flooded their farm fields. After the trustees were threatened with legal action by farmers, the trustees closed a portion of their meetings on Nov. 7 and Nov. 14 to discuss possible litigation. Two of the farmers, James Olinger and Larry Meyer, sued in November 2013, claiming that the meetings violated Iowas open meetings laws. A district court judge found that an open meetings violation occurred but also determined that the trustees went into a closed meeting on the advice of their secretary, who said their attorney recommended it and that they in good faith attempted to comply with the open meetings laws. The judge imposed a fine on the drainage district but did not individually find the trustees liable based on their good-faith defense. Appeals court justices found that the reason cited for the closed meetings to discuss strategy with counsel in matters involving litigation did not apply since the trustees attorney was not present. Here, two meetings were held, twice the trustees voted to go into closed session, and both times there was no statutory basis for closing the session, the court ruled. This was more than a procedural irregularity, which resulted in the actual exclusion of persons from the meeting. The court said the trustees may not have known their actions violated the open meetings laws, but it found that ignorance is no defense. The court fined each of the three members $200 for the two open meeting violations and concluded that they must individually pay attorney fees, which Jessica Zupp, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said will total nearly $25,000. Zupp said the courts ruling puts some teeth back into the open meetings statute and reminds our elected leaders that they are accountable to the citizens and to the voters. The trustees may seek a rehearing before the full Iowa Court of Appeals and ask the Iowa Supreme Court to consider an appeal. CLAY CENTER, Neb. (AP) A recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says a federal livestock research facility near Clay Center should improve oversight of animal welfare and be more transparent with its research. The Lincoln Journal Star reported that the federal departments Office of Inspector General found no evidence of systemic animal abuse in its audit of the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, but criticized the facility for not prioritizing animal welfare policies. The report calls on the USDAs Agricultural Research Service to establish new policies and oversight for treatment of research animals as well as a formal process for reporting abuses. Over the past 30 years, some employees have reportedly been reluctant to report animal welfare complaints for fear of retaliation or indifference by facility management, the report says. The investigation came in the wake of a 2015 New York Times article that alleged a longstanding culture tolerant of animal neglect and abuse as researchers sought to generate bigger profits for the livestock industry. Nebraska Cattlemen and the Nebraska Farm Bureau cheered the report as vindication in the face of unjust accusations. The men and women at U.S. MARC have always cared for the animals to the highest standards, said Nebraska Cattlemen Executive Vice President Pete McClymont. Animal rights activists have proven once again their calculated actions were meant to damage animal agriculture by maligning the reputation of the worlds preeminent authority on livestock and meat protein research. The Nebraska research center sits on 33,000 acres of a former World War II-era naval munitions depot between Hastings and Clay Center. Sichuan or Siachen? Karnataka CM can't decide Bengaluru oi-Anusha By Anusha Ravi Bengaluru, Dec 22: A simple typo error came as a major embarrassment to the chief minister of Karnataka after his official Twitter handle deemed Siachen instead of Sichuan as part of China. The post was, however, taken down after it attracted severe criticism. The CM's Twitter handle posted a picture of him meeting with a Chinese delegation led by Lee Zong. Bengaluru's infrastructure was discussed in the meeting, Siddaramaiah said. The chief minister's media team was trying to convey information about the meeting on his social networking page, but instead ended up landing him in a controversy by deeming Siachen a part of China . The same was posted on the chief minister's Facebook page as well which resulted in hundreds of people mocking it. The posts were taken down, but the damage had already been done. OneIndia News Patna HC rejects Tejashwi Yadav's plea, says he will have to vacate Govt bungalow Out of jail, Lalu holds first 'virtual' interaction with party workers Caste census a must, let 50 per cent cap be broken if required: Lalu Prasad At least condole the cash crunch deaths, Lalu tells Modi India oi-IANS By Ians English Patna, Dec 22: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over 105 deaths across the country allegedly due to demonetisation and advised him to at least "condole the deaths". "About 105 people died but the 'twitter king' (Modi) didn't tweet on it. It is understood that it happened due to your mistake, but you should have at least paid tribute. Isn't it," the Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo said. The RJD leader's tweeted remarks came soon after Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that Modi got Rs 40 crore in kickbacks from a corporate house when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister -- a charge vehemently denied by the BJP. Lalu also demanded a probe by a Supreme Court Judge into the matter. Attacking Modi, the RJD chief in a series of tweets said, "PM must give explanation on the allegations made against him... He shouldn't remain silent." "Rahul Gandhi has alleged Rs 40 crore corruption charges on Modi with evidences. This is not an ordinary thing," he wrote. "Fakir never hides anything, they live a transparent life. Fakir saheb (Modi) must give the accounts of Rs 40 crore or else the people would loose faith from Fakir and Fakiri," he said. Left parties question PM's silence on 'demonetisation deaths' "Someone has accused the so-called honest Prime Minister of corruption and he remained silent. The image of India is tarnished internationally," he added. Lalu is all set to stage protest against demonetisation at all the district headquarters in Bihar on December 28 and hold a huge rally in Patna early next year. Though Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has supported the demonetisation he has been critical of its implementation, and is likely to join the protests. IANS Thief calls cops for help after being caught by mob Bangladeshi Hindus have security, but have feeling of insecurity : Tripura Governor India oi-IANS By Ians English Agartala, Dec 22: The Hindu minority in Bangladesh are safe still have a feeling of insecurity, Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy has said. "Bangladesh government has taken steps to provide security to the minority Hindus, but unfortunately the Hindus have a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty about their future," Roy said, while participating in a discussion here on Wednesday night. He said the Bangladesh government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formed an international tribunal to punish the "slaughterers who have killed thousands of people". "During the partition of the country in 1947, (the then) East Pakistan had 29 per cent Hindu, but now it has reduced to 8 to 9 per cent," the governor said. The discussion was arranged in connection of publication of Roy's book - "Ja Chhilo Amar Desh" (What was my country), a tale of exodus of minorities from what is now Bangladesh. Roy, who elaborated how several massacres were taken place in erstwhile East Pakistan and acts of Pakistani Army and the then rulers, said that many people know about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in India but many people do not know about the more heinous massacre in Chuknagar (under Khulna district in Bangladesh). "In the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 around 1,500 people were killed but in Chuknagar massacre, the Pakistani Army and its associate Razakars butchered 10,000 unarmed Hindus by bullets, bayonets and stampede on May 20, 1971," he said. Hindu temple vandalised in Bangladesh "Chuknagar massacre is one instance. In many places in the then East Pakistan several massacre took place and during Bangladesh liberation war such brutal mass carnage took an ugly turn." "The mass atrocities were begun on Hindus in Noakhali in previous East Pakistan in 1946. With the active participation of Pakistani rulers, the atrocities and massacres on Hindus turned barbaric in 1950, 1964 and 1971. Besides massacre, mass looting, rape and killings forced over one crore Hindus to take shelter in India and lived with heavy poverty and deprivation," he said. Roy, a former President of Bharatiya Janata Party unit in West Bengal, said that his book was not written to generate hate against the Muslims by the Hindus or not to make distance or create enmity between India and Bangladesh. "The book was written only to say the truth. Many books were written, many films were made on the pre and post liberation period, but nowhere it was not elaborated why lakh of Hindu had forced to leave their ancestral homes in the then East Pakistan and took shelter in West Bengal." "I believe, forgive by all means but never forget. The new generation must know what done against the minority Hindus in the then East Pakistan and why lakh of people had to take shelter in India," said the engineer turned politician turned governor. Roy, was born in Kolkata but his ancestors belonged to Bangladesh's Brahmanbaria district. He said that some leaders backed by Pakistani founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah tried to merge Tripura with Pakistan instead of India. He said: "After I wrote my first book - My People, Uprooted - in 2000, I was not allowed to visit Bangladesh as Dhaka did not give me visa but last year, I have visited Bangladesh thrice. I have a cordial relation with Bangladesh." Renowned academician Arunoday Saha and Kolkata based publisher Sabitendranath Roy also spoke in the discussion. The governor in his 384-page book also criticised former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and accused him for creation of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The septuagenarian writer also criticised Left parties for their role in India's partition. IANS The importance of setting up a terror funding, fake currency cell in the NIA With India-Bangladesh coming together, ISI set to get further exposed on fake currency D-Syndicate raises its ugly head again: This time on the target are Hindu leaders Colour printer used to make 2 lakh worth fake currency in MP India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Two people were arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur region on Thursday with Rs. Two lakhs worth of fake currency in Rs 2,000 denomination, said reports. The accused had allegedly used a colour printer to print the fake notes. Madhya Pradesh: Fake notes in new Rs 2000 denomination worth Rs 2 lakhs seized in Chhatarpur's Lavkushnagar, two arrested. ANI (@ANI_news) December 22, 2016 Four men were arrested in Bengaluru on Wednesday for using a colour photocopier to make fake notes. They had even used glitter to make notes look real. According to reports, the four arrested individuals used these fake notes at eight liquor shops before being nabbed by the police. The cops began a lookout for them after a shopkeeper suspected that the note handed over to him was fake and reported the matter. The new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes were introduced after the government banned the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8 to curb black money hoarding, corruption and terror financing. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, December 22, 2016, 11:19 [IST] Compensation for Burhan Wani's brother: NSA to take final call India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Dec 22: National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, is likely to meet Army and police officials in Jammu and Kashmir to take a final call on whether ex-gratia should be awarded to Khalid Wani, the brother of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. [Also Read: Compensation for Burhan Wani's brother has demoralising effect on Army] Khalid Wani was killed in an encounter in 2013 and several persons had termed the encounter as fake. Recently the Pulwama district administration had compiled a list of 140 persons for paying compensation. The name of Khalid Wani too appeared on this list. This had created a furore and many had questioned the logic behind this decision. Khalid was killed in a forest area at Tral. While the Army maintained that he was an overground operative and the encounter was genuine, the family however differed. The family said that the encounter was fake and Khalid was killed in custody. On December 27, Doval is expected to meet with Army and police officials. During the discussions, the issue relating to Khalid's compensation too would be taken up. The final call on the matter would be taken by the NSA, sources at Delhi informed OneIndia. Apart from this, Doval is likely to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. With the number of militants increasing, a security review would be conducted by top officials and the NSA. There is a worrying trend and as per statistics available there are 300 terrorists in the Valley. Statistics also reveal that out of the 300 terrorists, 100 are locals. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, December 22, 2016, 9:02 [IST] A Chinese consortium has bought a 49 percent stake in British data center company Global Switch for 2.5 billion pounds ($3.09 billion), in a strategic move aimed at sharing data center technology and locations. The consortium was set up by data center company Daily-Tech Beijing, although the majority of the funding comes from Jiangsu Shagang Group, China's largest private steelmaker. Wednesday's deal came as Chinese and Western companies expand into each other's markets, creating a big demand to store data in international locations. The partnership allows both data center companies to follow their clients' expansion footsteps overseas and help them store data in convenient locations. Global Switch has begun building data centers in Hong Kong and Singapore, using high-quality technology to help Daily-Tech Beijing's clients store data. John Corcoran, CEO of Global Switch, said the investment will help Global Switch's global expansion and, in particular, assist it in serving Chinese companies expanding overseas and Western companies growing in China. Founded in 1998, Global Switch now has 10 data centers in Europe and Asia. It is owned by the billionaire Reuben Brothers, who purchased it in 2004 for reportedly 585 million pounds, but have invested more than 1 billion pounds in expanding the business. Daily-Tech Beijing was founded in 2009 and owns five data centers in China, providing data storage for Chinese and multinational companies, including Schneider Electric, Johnson Controls, China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile. "We believe that bringing together the high-quality data centers and operational excellence of Global Switch with the rapidly growing demand from Chinese customers creates a perfect match that will deliver future growth opportunities," said Li Qiang, president of Daily-Tech Beijing. Alan Barrell, entrepreneur in residence at the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School, said the partnership will help Daily-Tech Beijing achieve a bigger international reach in data handling and storage and help Global Switch grow its business with the new investment. Maharashtra: Y plus security for 41 MLAs and 10 MPs of CM Shinde camp to continue Maharashtra: Constable, 3 others hurt in stone pelting by two groups India oi-PTI Thane (Maha), Dec 22: A constable and three others were injured in stone pelting by two groups in Bhiwandi in the district over a petty issue, police said today. "The incident took place at Bangalpura Vaza Mohalla in Bhiwandi over the issue of laying of a water-pipeline in the intervening night of December 20-21," Police Inspector Anant Parad of Bhiwandi city police station said. A police constable and three persons were injured after members of the two groups pelted stones at each other. A house and a vehicle was also damaged in stone pelting, he said. Police claimed that they resorted to a mild lathi-charge, but no one was injured in it. While 10 persons each from both the groups have been booked under relevant sections of IPC, Bombay Police Act, 7 have been apprehended, the official said, adding a probe was underway. PTI Contain Zakir Naik for peace and harmony: Centre to tell Tribunal India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Dec 22: A Zakir Naik's lecture that allegedly justified suicide bombings is one of the many documents that the government has submitted before a judicial tribunal looking into the ban imposed on the Islamic Research Foundation, the preacher's non-government organisation. [Also Read: Revealed: How Zakir Naik laundered money through his relatives' accounts] The tribunal was set up after the government banned the NGO. Once a ban is imposed, a tribunal would hear out the government as well as the organisation and decide if the ban is justified or not . The government has produced several such documents which justify the ban on IRF which was imposed on November 17. The July 2016 Dhaka cafe attackers Facebook post stating that he was inspired by Naik would also be produced before the tribunal. Government officials say that they have a strong case on hand and the ban was imposed after serious consideration of the records. The government would, however, rely heavily on the cases filed against Naik and his NGO by the Kerala and Maharashtra police. [Also Read: Realty, construction firms associated with Zakir Naik under NIA scanner] In both the cases it has been said that the IRF was involved in promoting ill-will between different religions. The NIA too which probed the case cited the Kerala police's finding that the IRF was indulging in corruption. The Centre, during the course of arguments would also submit if Naik's NGO is not contained, it could lead to enmity being promoted between two religions. 'Some members of the NGO had indulged in unlawful activities and hence the ban needs to be upheld,' the government would also submit. OneIndia News Who is Radha Krishna Mathur? the new LG of Ladakh BJP delegation meets LG over delay in report on delimitation of municipal wards India oi-PTI New Delhi, Dec 22: A BJP delegation led by Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta on Wednesday met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and complained about the alleged "delay" in finalisation of report on delimitation of municipal wards by the state government. "The BJP delegation expressed concern over the delay in action by the Delhi government. It is unnecessarily holding back the report of delimitation. It appears that the Delhi government is not serious about holding civic election on time," Gupta alleged. He claimed that Jung talked to State Election Commission in this regard and assured them of his intervention in the matter. The State Election Commission had submitted the draft of the ward delimitation process in the capital on the Delhi government website in September this year. In its present state, the delimitation could change existing boundaries of 272 wards. The AAP, the BJP and the Congress believe redrawing of the wards could affect the outcome of the general municipal elections due next year. According to reports, different wards in the three municipal corporations will be delimited on the basis of the average population of approximately 60,000 people per ward. PTI Demonetisation: Chandrababu Naidu cannot make irresponsible statements, says BJP India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Taking strong exception to Chandrababu Naidu's flip-flops on the demonetisation issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister is a responsible member of the NDA and such remarks were not expected from him. The TDP chief initially supported the note ban, but later raised the issue of inconvienience faced by the people because of it. He had said that there were still a lot of problems even 40 days after the decision was made. On Wednesday, Naidu, however, said he supported demonetisation and problems associated with it needed to be sorted out soon, said reports. News agency ANI quoted BJP leader Prem Shukla as saying that Naidu is a seasoned politician and cannot make such irresponsible statements. Naidu, apparently, heads the 13-member committee appointed by Centre to review demonetisation related issues. His comments did not go down well with the ruling dispensation. According to reports, the TDP chief has blamed the media for the entire episode and said his remarks were 'grossly misreported'. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, December 22, 2016, 9:05 [IST] How California almonds funded terror in Jammu and Kashmir India oi-Vicky By Vicky Srinagar, Dec 22: The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday said that it is probing large scale transfer of funds from Pakistan to India through the import of California almonds (badam giri). The NIA also said that it had learnt that the import was taking place at the trade facilitation centres. A probe was launched as it was found that the money raised through this mechanism was being used to fund terror. NIA officials informed OneIndia that the traders from Pakistan occupied Kashmir were receiving and sending California almonds. This money was being used to fund terror, the officer also revealed. According to the cross-Line of Control agreement between India and Pakistan, products grown on both sides of Jammu and Kashmir can exchanged under the barter system. The products include California almonds which is grown in parts of PoK. Traders under scanner: During searches, the NIA officials found documents related to the exchange of California almonds. The documents showed that the traders from PoK were sending almonds and the money was being used to fund terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. The NIA carried out searches on traders at the trade facilitation centres at Salamabad in north Kashmir's Baramulla district and Chakan da Bagh in Poonch district of the Jammu region. A few months back, the NIA had also received information that businessmen and traders were aiding with the funding of terror activities. The NIA probed the flow of money into the Valley and it was found that there were remittances from West Asia and Europe into Jammu and Kashmir. It was also found that some Kashmiri businessmen from Saudi Arabia had over invoiced the price of goods and pumped money into the Valley. Roping in truck drivers: It was found that Hizbul Mujahideen had roped in some truck drivers involved in cross border trade for this operation. The Hizbul Mujahideen had sent its terrorists to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as traders. The truck drivers would ferry them across to PoK. The NIA during the course of its probe learnt that when these terrorists returned from PoK they had with them huge chunks of cash and weapons. The terrorists from Pakistan parked in PoK would facilitate both the cash and the weapons. It was further found that Rs 80 crore had come into the Valley in various installments. OneIndia News Blacklisting Mahmood blocked by China: The man who raised funds under garb of religion in India How much is a terrorist paid? Find out HERE India oi-Vicky Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing a spate of terrorist attacks in the past couple of months. Terrorists of the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba have been the primary groups which have been targetting the valley since the unrest began on July 8 following the death of Burhan Wani. The payments are divided into two scales: foreign and local militants. The foreign militants are those who come in from Pakistan and carry out the attack and are often paid more than the locals. Police officials, army personnel and Intelligence Bureau sleuths have prepared a chart of their estimated earnings. The figures were arrived at on the basis of interrogation of the terrorists who had been arrested in the recent months. What the terrorist earns? At the time of recruitment: Monthly salary: Best terrorist award: Salary for group chief/commander: Compensation for family of killed terrorist: One time payment for terrorist who 'retires' Foreign terrorist: Rs 2,00,000 Local: 2,00,000 Beating demonetisation: When the Modi sarkar announced on November 8, 2016, that the Rs 500 and 1,000 will no longer be legal tender, it was meant to hit terror financing hard. Terrorism was being mainly funded by the fake currency syndicate which dealt only in the Rs 500 and 1,000 notes. Since then, terrorists have found various ways of raising finances to fund their activities. The LeT set up an exclusive module only to rob banks. In fact this module has been involved in three bank robberies in Kashmir in the past 50 days. The Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Maualana Masood Azhar also speaks about beating demonetisation in an article that he wrote in the Qalam, a mouth-piece of the outfit. He says that the Kashmiri Mujahideens will not be affected financially. They will get smaller currency by exchanging dollars and Euros, he further writes. OneIndia News A Campaign launched for Amminiamma and Ayesha Friends of Animals, an NGO in Kottayam, has launched a campaign to raise funds for these women so that they may be able to buy a plot to continue their work with the animals. So far, they have managed to raise only 18 per cent of the total amount. A Fundraising Video By NGO: In a Facebook video, posted by the NGO, actor and former Miss Kerala Ranjini Haridas, an active animal rights campaigner, has campaigned to raise funds so that the two women are able to live under better conditions. Dogs are saviours for these women: Amminiamma, a 70-year-old widow, has witnessed the slaying of stray dogs over the years. Recalling her old days, Amminiamma said, "Nobody raised any questions when the dogs were beaten to death." Her only regret is that now she wouldn't be able to feed these animals. Amminiamma currently lives along with her daughter and son. Her daughter helps Amminiamma in looking after animals and his son is suffering from cancer. Ayesha, 48, lives with two daughters and two grandchildren. Ayesha's husband committed suicide earlier this year. She has been adopting stray animals for 18 years and has more than 50 animals in her care. According to Ayesha, "Animals are more caring and protective than humans." When Stray Dogs found a Home These two women have set an example for those who think less of animals. Living on small measures over the years, they have accommodated close to 100 dogs and have been feeding them. Their only hope now is to get a new land so that it is sufficient enough to accommodate their dogs. Three Naxals including two commanders killed in gunbattle in Chhattisgarh J&K: Terrorist who was part of Zakir Musa group gunned down in Tral encounter J-K: Gunbattle underway in Bandipore India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer A gunbattle is underway between security forces and terrorists in Hajin village of Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipore district. The area was earlier cordoned off by the police and the army after they suspected the presence of terrorists. #FLASH: Army and police cordoned off Hajin village of Bandipora (J&K) early this morning, suspect presence of terrorists in the area. ANI (@ANI_news) December 22, 2016 On November 28, a gunbattle had ensued between security forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Langate area in Kupwara District. On November 26, a soldier was killed in an encounter in the Sambal area of Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipore district. Two terrorists were also gunned down by security forces. On November 30, terrorists had attacked an army camp in Nagrota, near Jammu. Seven soldiers, including two Majors, were killed and three terrorists were gunned down during the operation. The attack was third such big strike after Pathankot and Uri attacks this year. There has been an increase in militant activity along the Indo-Pak border since India's surgical strikes in October. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, December 22, 2016, 9:37 [IST] Jharkhand crisis: UPA to stage protest across state on Nov 5 against 'attempts to destabilise govt' Jharkhand: Rs 15 lakh in old notes seized, bank manager arrested India oi-PTI Latehar (Jharkhand), Dec 22: Police on Thursday seized Rs 15 lakh in the banned currency notes, including Rs 3 lakh belonging to a self-styled Zonal Commander of CPI (Maoists) in Jharkhand. The cops also arrested a bank manager in a raid at a bank in Balumath area. SP Anoop Birtheray said the raid was conducted based on tip-off that the Maoist front-ranking leader Chotu Kherwar had deposited the old currency notes in his wife Lalitha Dev's account, allegedly in connivance with branch manager Chandan Kumar. Birtheray said Kumar had allegedly received Rs 15 lakh in old from Kerwar alias Sujit Kherwar and had already deposited Rs 12 lakh in 64 installments in Devi's account while Rs 3 lakh cash was yet to be deposited. The entire amount has been seized, the SP said, adding that Kumar has been arrested. PTI Great tolerance, the CBI is sitting idle in Goa says its SP Kerala minister slams CBI, ED raids on cooperative banks India oi-IANS By Ians English Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 22: A Kerala minister on Thursday slammed raids conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at five district cooperative banks, saying these were not carried out with good intentions. The raids were carried out on Wednesday in Kollam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Thrissur districts. "This is nothing but politically motivated and began ever since the demonetisation process set in, and what happened yesterday (Wednesday) is an extension of that," state Minister for Cooperatives Kadakampally Surendran told reporters here. "This is a targeted move to destroy the cooperative movement in the state. The state government has already made its stand clear that it will cooperate with the agencies." Since the demonetisation drive began on November 8, the primary cooperative banks in the state have come under strong attack from various Kerala state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. Did Kerala politicians off load black money into cooperative banks? They have alleged that these banks do not require the "Know Your Customer (KYC)" banking norm and were filled with unaccounted money of the top leaders of the traditional rival fronts -- the Congress- led UDF and the CPI-M-led LDF. Sources said that following the daylong raids, the officials have stumbled upon sizeable deposits that have not followed the KYC guidelines. The cooperative banking sector in Kerala is a three-tier system, with about 1,600 primary cooperative banks attached to 14 district banks, which are further linked to the apex Kerala State Cooperative Bank (KSCB). The total deposits in these cooperative banks are around Rs 1.27 lakh crore. The trouble started for the sector when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withdrew the permission to the cooperative banks to accept the spiked Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes. Meanwhile, all banks after the raids have been asked to provide the details of all high value transactions that have taken place in the past two months. CPI-M State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Thursday said that the reason to target the cooperative banks is to help the new generation banks. IANS China's Taklamakan Desert is the world's second largest desert. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] China's Taklamakan Desert has fascinated generations of explorers but its mountainous dunes, huge temperature changes and severe lack of water mean its full width has only been crossed once, in 1993. A group of nine Chinese and British adventurers now want to match that endeavor in a 10-week expedition next September in which they will travel from west to east on foot for 1,000 kilometers across what has been called The Desert of Death. Team leader Rosie Stancer is a 56-year-old explorer who has conquered the North and South Poles. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] "We want this epic expedition to be seen as a gesture of teamsmanship between China and Great Britain," said team leader Rosie Stancer, a 56-year-old explorer who has conquered the North and South Poles. Two other British team members and six Chinese will be travelling with her. Celine Dong, a Chinese member of the team who works for a financial technology company in Hong Kong, says the Taklamakan's location as a crucial spot for the Belt and Road initiative greatly appealed to her and "fitted in with my identity". She has lived and worked in both China and the UK, and previously worked on deals connecting the two countries through the Belt and Road initiative. Located in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Taklamakan is the world's second largest desert, with an area of 337,000 square kilometers, just under the size of Germany. Despite its important location on the ancient Silk Road, ancient traders used to go around it rather than attempt to cross. Its unexplored nature fascinated adventurers and past expeditions. Victorian explorer Sven Hedin, who crossed the shorter north-south route, lost two men, nearly all his camels and nearly perished himself. Earlier recorded attempts were defeated by hunger, thirst and the desert's ferocious sandstorms. Stancer sees the expedition as both a physical and a psychological challenge. "It's a psychological journey to live with such quietness and loneliness for 10 weeks. You need to go with nature and not to conquer it." But she says a sense of fulfilment will make it all worth it. "Legend has it, the desert is full of the spirits of the past. I'm fascinated by this place and want to discover more about it." Lalu comes out in Rahul's support, demands PM's answer on charges India oi-PTI Patna, Dec 22: Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's answer to charges of alleged corruption levelled against him by Rahul Gandhi. The RJD chief demanded that the charges be probed under supervision of the Supreme Court. "The allegations levelled by Rahul Gandhi against Narendra Modi of receiving huge money is even a bigger quake than talked about. He gave details of sum of money with dates on which payments were made. The Prime Minister should reply to the accusation and if the allegations are wrong why does not he file a defamation suit against Rahul Gandhi?" he said. "The Prime Minister should institute a high-level probe under supervision of the Supreme Court into the allegations," he added. Rahul on Wednesday levelled serious allegations against Modi. He said that Modi, as Gujarat chief minister, had taken money from Sahara and Birla groups and demanded an independent inquiry into it. Addressing a rally in Mehsana, Gujarat, the Congress vice president alleged that in the I-T records there are notings of Sahara officials' claims that they had paid 9 times to Modi between October, 2013 and February, 2014. Gandhi said the documents in this regard were with IT department which had raided the company when Modi was Gujarat chief minister. Launching a blistering attack on the Prime Minister for "ill-planned" demonetisation, Prasad mockingly described Narendra Modi as 'Uncle Podger'-- a bumbling character from Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat'-- for "messing up economy" and "pushing it towards anarchy". "Demonetisation has flopped and those raising voice of people over anarchy caused by it are termed as traitors," he said as a retort to PM's comment on rivals at Varanasi. Prasad whose party has already announced a dharna against scrapping of notes in district headquarters of Bihar on December 28 said later a rally would be held at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. [Also read: Where is the earthquake? Modi's jibe at Rahul] He said he would tour the state before the rally. Prasad claimed support of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said Kumar has also dismissed plea of converting the country into cashless society. "Nitish Kumar has said he would review demonetisation after December 30...there is no difference in the grand alliance...we are strongly united," Prasad, whose party RJD is running coalition government with JD(U) and Congress in Bihar, said. PTI FIR against nine people over forced religious conversions in UP BJP leader booked for threatening doc at gun point in UP Pastor Vijay Masih arrested in UP for illegally converting Hindus to Christianity Uttar Pradesh govt to beautify violence hit Mathura's Jawaharbagh India oi-IANS By Ians English Lucknow, Dec 22: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to spent Rs 15 crore to beautify the Jawaharbagh Park in Mathura, where 28 persons, including two police officers, were killed in a gun battle in June. An official said that the Akhilesh Yadav government decided to revamp the park on the lines of the famous Ram Manohar Lohia Park here. "To erase bad memories, officials have prepared a road map that includes massive plantation, a nursery, indoor sporting activities, recreation facilities and a kids park," the official told IANS. Mathura clashes: Jawahar Bagh Colony residents left shell-shocked Members of the Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Viacharik Satyagrah Sanstha led by Ram Briksha Yadav, a self-styled godman, owing allegiance to the Jai Gurudev sect, had encroached upon the park illegally for nearly two years. On June 2, when police tried to evict them after a court order, Ram Yadav's supporters opened fire on the police teams, killing an inspector and a superintendent of police (SP). IANS People are killed like mosquitoes: Manipuri student asks PM Modi to intervene India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Imphal, Dec 22: An engineering student from Manipur has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to end the two-month-long economic blockade that has crippled life in the state. [Also Read: Economic blockade plus demonetisation, multiple woes of Manipur] Ronald Laishram, a third-year engineering student from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysuru, wrote an open letter to PM Modi, asking the Centre to intervene and cease the crisis in his home state. 'The present situation in Manipur insinuates how law and order has successfully failed across the state. People are killed like mosquitoes every now and then. And it is a clueless hunt for the law and order keepers to book and punish the criminals,' Laishram says in the letter. 'The economic blockade has not only caused a shortage but also children are being deprived of education as they can't go to schools due to non-availability of fuel. It also added fuel to the fire when the demonetisation process is going on where the people don't have adequate money in their hands,' the letter added. The letter also criticised the Union government and the national media for their apathy towards the problems of the state. 'Surprisingly, what is intriguing is the fact the Central government keeps mum on this matter and the national media--both print and electronic--without any exception have purposefully blackout this burning issue engulfing Manipur. Now, common people are starting considering if there are any conspiracy between government and the United Naga Council to unsettle the state Manipur,' Laishram states. The letter can be read in its entirety HERE The powerful UNC has imposed an indefinite economic blockade on the state's lifelines --National Highway 2 (Imphal-Dimapur highway) and National Highway 37 (Imphal-Silchar highway)--on November 1. With the Congress-led state government failing to solve the ongoing crisis, people are looking to the Centre's intervention in assuaging the situation. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, December 22, 2016, 13:18 [IST] Rahul Gandhi responds to Modi, says PM is free to make fun of me India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Bahraich, Dec 22: Hours after prime minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, the Congress vice president in a rally took potshots at the PM. Gandhi said: "Farmers and traders are worst hit due to demonetisation. Everything has come to a standstill." Responding to Modi's jibe earlier in the day, Gandhi said: "I asked few questions on corruption. The PM did not answer, instead he made fun of me." "PM is free to mock me, but he should answer my questions, those questions are from the people of this country," he added. Gandhi also questioned Modi about the 10 packets allegedly given by the Sahara Group to him when he was the Gujarat CM. Speaking on demotisation, Gandhi said that note ban has destroyed the lives of the poor. "Congress will support the NDA government in fight against corruption but note ban was not against black money. It was against the poor people," he said. He said that the note ban was implemented to write off loans of the rich. Also read: Where is the earthquake? Modi's jibe at Rahul "Modiji said thieves are standing in queues (to deposit old currency). I saw 100-200 people outside a bank. They were not thieves, they were the poor people of India. I did not see a single rich person in the line. There was not one person in suit-boot," he said. Gandhi raked up the Vijay Mallya issue and said that the business tycoon had lef the country in PM's presence. "How many black money holders have been put in jail by Modi? Not even one; he instead made Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya run away," he said. Attacking the cashless economy push by the government, Gandhi said that the cashless economy will hurt the poor and the farmers. "They don't use a credit or a debit card, they use cash to make payments," he said. OneIndia News For beneficiaries of EWS flat a gift from PM Modi like none other Rahuls corruption charges against Modi fall flat; documents declared zero by SC India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Dec 22: On Wednesday, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of corruption and said that the PM had taken money from the Sahara and Birla groups when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. [Also Read: Modi had taken money from Sahara, Birla groups: Rahul] Rahul was referring to documents that were seized by the Income Tax Department which the Supreme Court had on an earlier occasion had termed 'not authentic'. It may be recalled that a petition had been filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan in which he accused Modi and other politicians of receiving money from corporate houses. While hearing the matter on November 25, the bench comprising Justice JS Khehar and Arun Mishra had termed the documents produced as 'not credible enough'. Documents not credible: The bench, while directing the petitioner to furnish credible evidence to substantiate the allegations also asked if he was relying on Sahara's documents. "Are you relying on Sahara's documents? They never have genuine documents," the bench observed. The petitioner said that the Sahara documents had cited a huge cash amount which was given to the Gujarat CM in October and November, 2013. "Your documents do not arouse our conscience. Any corrupt person can make an entry in the name of the prime minister and this cannot be treated as credible evidence," the bench added. "Something authentic must be placed before us. These documents seized from the premises of Birla and Sahara are nothing. These are zero," the Supreme Court observed, while granting the petitioner time to place credible evidence before it. The matter had come up on December 16 and during the course of the hearing, the petitioner asked if it was right for Justice Khehar to hear the matter. The bench took a serious note of this comment and adjourned hearing on the matter to January 11. OneIndia News Vote with 'conscience', Nusli Wadia tells Tata Motors' shareholders India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Dec 22: Ahead of the Tata Motors Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Thursday, industrialist Nusli Wadia, an independent director of the company, has written a letter to its shareholders asking them to vote with their "conscience" and for what is right. "It is in your hands to vote with your conscience for what is right for your company and more important for the institution of independent directors," Wadia said in his letter on Wednesday. Over 90 per cent shareholders of Tata Steel had already voted to remove Wadia as an independent Director of the company in an EGM that took place on Wednesday. He also said he has chosen not to attend the company's EGM on Thursday as the meetings of other Tata companies have been "inappropriately and shamefully stage managed". Also read: Independent director Nusli Wadia removed from Tata Steel board "What is at stake now is not whether I am removed or not but the fate of the very institution of the independent director that has been created in law and by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders," he added. The ability of a promoter to remove an independent director through the brute force of its holding in an ordinary resolution on which it can vote is a serious and major dichotomy and contradiction that needs to be and must be addressed urgently, Wadia said. "I have forwarded this letter to the company secretary to read it out to you, my dear shareholders. It is for him and the Board to decide whether they wish to allow him (Ratan Tata) to do so," he added. IANS Court holds writ by Hindu petitioners in Gyanvapi case maintainable: What does this mean On camera: Varanasi folks in panic as 'ghost in white' goes for a walk on rooftops Varanasi to light up for Deep Deepavali, a festival of lights that is not Diwali Where is the earthquake? Modi's jibe at Rahul India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for his earthquake remark, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said a young leader is learning to speak now, but it has not resulted in an 'earthquake'. Rahul had last week said that an earthquake will occur when he begins to speak. "Ek yuva neta hain, abhi bhaashan seekh rahe hain. Jab se unhone bolna seekha hai, meri khushi ka koi paar nahin (There is a young leader and he is learning to speak. I am happy that he is speaking)," Modi said. "Lekin achha hua bolna shuru kar diya, toh pata chal raha hai bhukamp ki sambhaavna bachhi hi nahin (It is good that he is speaking, but there don't seem to be any chances of earthquake)," he added. Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Mahamana Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre in Varanasi, Modi said a big cleanliness drive was underway in the country. Taking potshots at the opposition for protesting against the government's demonetisation initiative, Modi said he had never thought that some politicians would stand by the corrupt and dishonest. Kabhi socha nahi tha ki desh ke kuch raajneta himmat ke sath beimaano ke sath khadey ho jaayenge : PM Modi in Varanasi #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/BRPtbYPebc ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 22, 2016 Rahul on Wednesday levelled serious allegations against Modi. He said that Modi, as Gujarat chief minister, had taken money from Sahara and Birla groups and demanded an independent inquiry into it. Addressing a rally in Mehsana, Gujarat, the Congress vice president alleged that in the I-T records there are notings of Sahara officials' claims that they had paid 9 times to Modi between October, 2013 and February, 2014. Gandhi said the documents in this regard were with IT department which had raided the company when Modi was Gujarat chief minister. Modi, in his speech, also spoke on infiltration at the border. He said Pakistan resorts to ceasefire violations to divert the attention of the Indian soldiers, so that terrorists can sneak in. He said people in his constituency will not have to travel far for cancer treatment as a cancer centre has been inaugrated. OneIndia News Aleppo: Attack on UN convoy in September was an 'air attack' International oi-PTI United Nations, Dec 22: A United Nations inquiry has arrived at the conclusion that UN aid convoy that was attacked while en route Aleppo in September was an air attack. The board of inquiry found that "while the incident was caused by an air attack, it was not possible to identify the perpetrator or perpetrators," said a summary of the findings released on Wednesday. The convoy was "subject to an attack from the air, using multiple types of munitions deployed from more than one aircraft and aircraft type," the inquiry found. The munitions used during the 30-minute assault may have included missiles, rockets and small bombs, it added. At least 10 people were killed and 22 injured in the September 19 attack at Urem al-Kubra, near the northern city of Aleppo, as a fragile ceasefire agreed to by the United States and Russia collapsed. The board rejected allegations that the attack could have been carried out by direct fire or a ground assault in the rebel-held area. It noted that Syria and Russia as well as the US-led coalition "all had the capabilities needed to carry out an attack of the kind" that took place that day. But it concluded the involvement of coalition aircraft was "highly unlikely." The board said it had received reports that three Syria helicopters and three aircraft were "highly likely" to have perpetrated the attack and that a Russian plane was also suspected of being involved. "However, the board did not have access to raw data to support these assertions and, in their absence, it was unable to draw a definitive conclusion," it said. Russia and Syria have denied involvement in the bombing. The board of inquiry, led by retired Indian general Abhijit Guha, was not allowed to visit the scene of the attack in Urem al-Kubra, but it did travel to Syria in early December. PTI Berlin attack prompts high security in US cities for holiday International oi-PTI New York, Dec 22: In the wake of the Berlin truck attack, police departments around the US are making a show of force at places where crowds gather at Christmas time. In New York City, police dispatched heavily-armed counter terrorism officers to stand guard at crowded pop-up Christmas markets in Union Square, Bryant Park and Columbus Circle only an hour after news broke Tuesday about the carnage in Berlin, where a stolen truck slammed into a crowd and killed 12 people. The police department also has a program to encourage truck rental companies to report any suspicious interactions with people wanting to rent vehicles that might be used in an attack. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the precautions "a very sad reality." In Chicago, police parked their vehicles diagonally at the corners of Daley Plaza to block any vehicle access to a Christmas market there. In San Francisco, motorcycle and mounted horse units were patrolling in high-traffic shopping areas. Frieder Frotscher, who owns a stand that sells German steins, has made the trip to the Chicago market from Sachsen, Germany, for the past 21 years. He said he never considered closing after what happened Monday. "I see all the increased security," he said. "If we don't come that means we would have reached the decision that they (terrorists) want." In New York, a Columbus Circle vendor said he wasn't thinking about the attack in Berlin. "If something happens like that it could happen anywhere," said Armand Altan, 40. "We are open. There is no X-ray cameras or security checking everybody. Someone could walk inside with the vest or with the backpack, you don't know. So if we think like this, we shouldn't go outside from the home." Big cities have been fortifying sidewalks since the September 11 attacks, installing bollards and concrete planters designed to prevent vehicles from driving into pedestrians or the side of a building. Parts of Times Square and a two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House have been closed to traffic for years, partly as a precaution against car bombs. Other cities added new measures against truck attacks after a man drove a rented, refrigerated truck weighing about 20 tons into a crowd in Nice, France in July, killing 86 people. Law enforcement in Los Angeles, for example, has been placing rows of two to three cars or other large equipment in front of large event entrances, including two massive parades this year in West Hollywood, said Scott Edson, chief of the special operations division of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. PTI Italy's Meloni tries to distance herself from fascism In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules: EU commissioner on Twitter takeover EU inks $283-mn-deal to boost refugee education in Turkey International oi-IANS By Ians English Brussels, Dec 23 The European Union (EU) will invest 270 million euros ($283 million) to build and equip schools for Syrian refugee children in Turkey, according to contracts signed by the European Commission. Under these contracts, some 100 schools are to be built and equipped, benefiting over 70,000 Syrian refugee children, Efe news agency cited a press release by the Commission on Thursday. "With the contracts signed today, we will further improve the educational infrastructure on the ground, enabling over 70,000 Syrian refugee children to have access to schooling across the country," said Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn. The largest part of the funding, about 200 million euros comes from the EU's Facility for Refugees in Turkey, which is designed to address the most critical needs of Syrian refugees and host communities in Turkey today. The Facility supports the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal to stem the influx of refugees into Europe. IANS UP man posts wifes obscene pics on FB to get more followers Facebook ropes in 17 varsities to speed up projects International oi-IANS By Ians English New York, Dec 22: Social media giant Facebook has roped in 17 US universities to help it speed up technology projects by collaborating with faculties and labs. These varsities include University of California-Berkeley, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and Stanford University. Regina Dugan, Vice President of Engineering and Head of the social network's Building 8 (B8) group, announced a Sponsored Academic Research Agreement designed to make it easier and faster for B8 to work with university researchers within weeks. "Building 8" at Facebook is focused on building new hardware products to advance mission of connecting the world. "The answer is out there if we are humble enough to find it. The answer matters when we ship it," Dugan wrote in a post on Wednesday. "That's why the B8 team has hardware and software experts who have shipped more than 1.7 billion consumer devices in 170 countries. It's why we work in partnership with entrepreneurs, engineering teams, system integrators and businesses large and small-globally. And it's why we have built partnerships with many of the best research minds in the world," she wrote. IANS Germany hunts Tunisian suspect after IS claims truck attack International oi-PTI Berlin, Dec 21: German police launched a manhunt today for a rejected asylum seeker suspected of involvement in a deadly truck assault on a Berlin Christmas market claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. Officials said the suspect, 24-year-old Tunisian national Anis Amri, had already been under investigation for planning an attack, in a development certain to fuel public outrage. Asylum office papers believed to belong to Amri, alleged to have links to the radical Islamist scene, were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry used in the attack that killed 12 people. Prosecutors released a wanted notice with two photos of the dark-haired, brown-eyed suspect and offering a reward of 100,000 euros (USD 104,000) for information leading to the arrest of Amri, who they warned "could be violent and armed". The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing "a serious act of violence against the state," Jaeger said. Amri came to Germany in July 2015 but his application for asylum was rejected this June. His deportation, however, got caught up in red tape with Tunisia, which long denied he was a citizen. The required documents only arrived today, two days after the Berlin attack, said Jaeger. Another conservative lawmaker, Stephan Meyer, acknowledged the suspect had been under police surveillance. "We are apparently talking about a potentially dangerous suspect who was known to authorities and belonged to the Salafist-Islamist scene," he told reporters. A previous suspect -- a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker -- was released late yesterday for lack of evidence, prompting fears of a killer on the loose and further rattling nerves in a shocked country. Twelve people were killed when the Polish-registered articulated truck, laden with steel beams, slammed into the crowded holiday market late Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims. Six of the dead have been identified as German while media reported one of the victims as an Italian woman. Twenty-four people remain in hospital, 14 of whom were seriously injured. The scenes revived nightmarish memories of the July 14 truck assault in the French Riviera city of Nice, where 86 people were killed by a Tunisian Islamist. The IS-linked Amaq news agency said "a soldier of the Islamic State" carried out the Berlin carnage "in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries". There was no evidence to back the claim, nor did Amaq identify the perpetrator. Germany is part of a US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria. Tunisia is one of the biggest suppliers of jihadist fighters, with some 5,500 of its nationals believed to be involved in combat in Syria, Iraq and Libya. PTI India can't use Dalai Lama against China: Chinese media International oi-IANS By Ians English Beijing, Dec 22: It is way beyond India's capability to employ the Dalai Lama and Mongolia against China, a Chinese newspaper said on Wednesday, calling New Delhi a "spoilt kid". The Global Times, which is known to reflect the thinking of the Chinese leadership, wondered what made India so confident when even the US thought twice before "messing" with China on sensitive issues. An op-ed in the daily followed a meeting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had with the Tibetan spiritual leader. India also pledged financial support for Mongolia after Beijing punitively hiked tariff on trucks following his visit after Mongolia hosted the Dalai Lama. "New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. Mukherjee met the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November," said the Global Times piece authored by Wen Dao. "India wants to disturb China's pace of development by taking advantage of China's national and international problems, most of which have nothing to do with India's national interests," Wen wrote. "India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China," it said. The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. Dalai Lama's meet with President was non-political, says India The Global Times said Mongolia gave in to Beijing and said sorry for hosting the Dalai Lama before New Delhi could start the $1 billion credit line it had promised to Ulan Bator. Mongolia "tried to seek support from India, hoping that by allying with China's competitor, Beijing would be forced to give in. "India's way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line." The newspaper asked India to learn lessons how Beijing and US President-elect Donald J. Trump dealt with the situation after he spoke to Taiwanese President Tsai-ing Wen on telephone. "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent countermeasures, and must have understood that China's bottom line - sovereign integrity and national unity - is untouchable. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage? "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world'. India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is short-sighted." IANS S Jaishankar arrives in US for UNGA high-level meet; Counter-terrorism, climate action on agenda Are you awake?: EAM Jaishankar recalls when he got a call from PM Modi at midnight Very impressed with him: UAE minister is all praises for Dr. S Jaishankar Indian child's custody: Sushma contacts envoy in Norway International oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Dec 22: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday got in touch with India's Ambassador to Norway following reports that a five-year-old Indian child was separated from his parents, who have been accused of beating him up. "I have asked the Indian Ambassador in Norway to send me a report," Sushma Swaraj tweeted. According to reports, the child was taken from his kindergarten school on December 13 without the parents being informed and is being kept at a children's welfare home some 150 km away from Norwegian capital Oslo. His mother, Gurvinderjit Kaur, was also taken into custody and was subjected to interrogation. The child's father, Anil Kumar, who runs an Indian restaurant, has denied all the allegations and said that his son was asthmatic. This is the third such case in Norway involving Indian children. In 2011, a three-year-old and and a one-year-old were separated from their parents but were later reunited when the UPA government took up the issue with Norwegian authorities. In another case of alleged child abuse in December 2012, a seven-year-old and a two-year-old were separated from their parents. The mother got a 15-month prison term and the father was jailed for 18 months. The two children were sent to the custody of their grandparents in Hyderabad. IANS VK Singh to visit Iraq on April 1 to bring back the mortal remains of 39 Indians killed in Mosul Mortar fire kills 11 including aid workers in Iraq's Mosul: UN International oi-PTI Baghdad, Dec 22: Mortar fire killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in the battleground Iraqi city of Mosul, the United Nations said today. "According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queuing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire," Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in a statement. "Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents" that also wounded up to 40 people, Grande said. "People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," she said, adding: "The killing of civilians and aid workers violates every humanitarian principle." Iraqi forces launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul, the country's last city held by the Islamic State jihadist group, and have retaken areas on its eastern side. But the battle - during which more than 100,000 people have been displaced, with many times that number still believed to be inside the city - is far from over. Iraq forces in fierce Mosul fighting with jihadists The UN announcement came a day after Human Rights Watch said that IS was "indiscriminately" attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the jihadists in Mosul. "Residents said (IS) members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were 'unbelievers' and therefore valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces," the rights group said. The jihadists have targeted civilians with mortars, explosives and gunfire, HRW said. AFP Caught on camera: The moment before shots were fired at Imran Khan rally 'Allah has given me another life': Imran Khan after surviving assassination bid Pakistan accuses India of trying to change J&K's demography International oi-IANS By Ians English Islamabad, Dec 22: Pakistan on Thursday accused India of settling non-Kashmiri Hindus in the Jammu region in an attempt to change the demographic composition of Jammu and Kashmir. "Reportedly, PDP-BJP regime... in violation of UNSC Resolutions, has started issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu region. The move is part of the regime's nefarious design to change the demographic composition of the territory," Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said during his weekly press briefing. "This act of bringing material change in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir is a blatant violation of UNSC Resolutions on Kashmir. Kashmiris have hopes that international community and relevant international organisations will call India to the account," he alleged. Responding to a question over Indian Supreme Court's verdict on Kashmir, calling it an inviolable part of India, Zakaria said: "Indeed, Kashmir issue is outstanding on the UN Security Council's agenda. India as a state has been constantly violating UNSC Resolutions on Kashmir by calling it as its integral part." IANS Prince Charles speaks out against religious extremism International oi-PTI London, Dec 22: Britain's future king on Thursday issued a heart-felt plea against religious persecution, warning against going back to the "dark days of the 1930s," in his special Christmas message. Talking on BBC's 'Thought of the Day' segment, Prince Charles urged respect for those of different faiths or risk repeating the "horrors of the past". "We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s," the 68-year-old royal said in his pre-recorded message aired on radio. He added: "I was born in 1948, just after the end of World War II, in which my parents' generation had fought and died in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. That nearly 70 years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past." The heir to Britain's throne said he had recently met a Jesuit priest from Syria who described the plight of Christians he was forced to leave behind in the country. He said: "He told me of mass kidnappings in parts of Syria and Iraq and how he feared that Christians will be driven en masse out of lands described in the Bible. He thought it is quite possible there will be no Christians in Iraq within five years. Clearly, for such people, religious freedom is a daily, stark choice between life and death." The prince said the scale of religious persecution around the world was "not widely appreciated" and was not limited to Christians, but included many other minority faiths. "Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same - to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God," he said. PTI Rocket attack on cargo ship leaves 7 Pakistanis dead International oi-IANS By Ians English Islamabad, Dec 22: At least seven Pakistani nationals were killed in a rocket attack on a cargo ship off the Yemen coast, Geo News reported on Thursday. All the crew members were Pakistani nationals and an officer, identified as Kabir, is said to have saved his life by jumping off the vessel as it started sinking after catching fire, said reports. The ship MV Joya was heading to Dubai from Egypt when it came under attack in Yemeni waters. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. IANS Romania could see 1st female Muslim prime minister International oi-PTI Bucharest, Dec 21: Romania could be headed for its first female prime minister, an economist who is a member of Romania's small Muslim community. Liviu Dragnea, chairman of Romania's Social Democratic party, which won the December 11 parliamentary election, proposed today that Sevil Shhaideh take the post of prime minister. The announcement was a surprise because her name is not widely known in Romania. Shhaideh, 52, is a party member but did not run as a lawmaker in the election. She was the minister for regional development for six months in 2015, and is currently an official in the regional development ministry. President Klaus Iohannis is consulting with political leaders before nominating a prime minister, who Parliament needs to approve. If approved, she would also become the country's first Muslim prime minister. Dragnea is banned from being premier because he has a conviction for election fraud. Today, Dragnea called his April 2016 conviction "unjust" and said the law that stops him from being premier was "profoundly unconstitutional." The new Parliament could vote to change the 2001 law that bans anyone with a conviction of holding a ministerial post. PTI Trump keen to cut F-35 costs International oi-PTI Washington, Dec 22: President-elect Donald Trump has met with some of the US military's top brass to discuss ways of reducing costs, particularly for the F-35 stealth fighter program. Wednesday's meeting at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida came after Trump last week blasted the F-35's costs as "out of control" in a message on Twitter. Several three- and four-star generals and admirals attended the meeting, including the F-35 program chief Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan. "Trying to bring costs down. Primarily the F-35, trying to get the costs down. A program that is very, very expensive," Trump said when asked what the meeting was about. With a current development and acquisition price tag of USD 379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft -- most of them destined for the Air Force -- the Lockheed Martin-built plane is the most expensive in history, and costs are set to go higher still. I met some really great Air Force GENERALS and Navy ADMIRALS today, talking about airplane capability and pricing. Very impressive people! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016 Once servicing, maintenance and other costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft's lifespan through 2070, overall program costs have been projected to rise to as much as USD 1.5 trillion. Trump has frequently turned to Twitter to vent his outrage across a range of topics. On December 6, he blasted Boeing over the possible $4 billion price tag for a replacement Air Force One presidential plane. He also called that project "out of control." Trump also met with Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson and Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg. Asked whether he had secured any concessions from Hewson, Trump said: "We're just beginning, it's a dance." "But we're going to get the costs down and we're going to get it done beautifully," he added Boeing's Muilenburg told reporters the meeting with Trump went "great" and said Air Force One would be delivered for less than USD 4 billion. "We're going to get it done for less than that, and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens," Muilenburg said. PTI Ken Hom is a household name in the UK, a nation he has educated about Chinese food during the last four decades via his numerous books and cooking shows. [Photo provided to China Daily] Chinese food recently overtook Indian as the United Kingdom's preferred ethnic cuisine, and few individuals have been as instrumental in overseeing this rise in popularity as Ken Hom. One of the original TV celebrity chefs, Hom is a household name in the UK, a nation he has educated about Chinese food during the last four decades via his numerous books and cooking shows. Hom has written more than 30 recipe books but, until, now his personal journey has largely gone untold. Hom's recently launched autobiography, My Stir-Fried Life, tracks the difficult development of a famously congenial man, from a penniless childhood in Chicago's Chinatown to being awarded an Order of the British Empire by the Queen in 2009. "It's a Chinese story," Hom says from the bar at The Dorchester in Central London. "I think people in China will love this story because it's a bit of a reflection of contemporary China rising from poverty to where China is today, a world economic power, and how fast that has happened, it's been amazing." Hom says his Chinese heritage has been a welcome thread of consistency through a life lived across several countries. Leaving Chicago as youngster, Hom ran Chinese cookery tutorials in San Francisco, before landing a dream role in the UK at the BBC with the hugely popular Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery series. Hom, 67, now resides in semi-retirement in the South of France. "I feel Chinese and British, more than, say, Chinese American," Hom says. "From the beginning I've always felt more accepted here. America has a whole host of problems integrating various ethnic minorities. When I go around this country, I'm convinced that they've done a better job at it." Hom lived in the US during a particularly divisive and difficult time for a Chinese American, as anti-Asian sentiment grew high in some communities during and following the Vietnam War. Hom says the cookery lessons he gave at culinary school in San Francisco offered him the chance to teach people the values and traditions of Chinese culture. "And I'm proud to be Chinese," Hom says. "My heritage made me what I am. It's my Chinese values, the way I was brought up. And I'm happy I am able to use my cooking to spread understanding of what we're about." Personally, Hom felt truly at home for the first time when he travelled to Hong Kong in the 1980s, where he could speak Cantonese, the language of his childhood, outside the bubble of foreign Chinatowns. "I can't tell you that feeling to be in a place where people not only speak a language that you understand - I didn't speak English until I was six - but they all look like you," Hom says, his characterful face warming with the memory. "All of a sudden I was no longer an alien, which is a sensation I had never experienced. There was this kind of resurgence in pride I had, of not only being Chinese but being Cantonese. It's that kind of feeling, oh my God, I'm home! Even though we were in Chinatown in the States, we were a small island in a sea of non-Chinese." Hom says that, professionally, he has been happy to see not only Chinese food but the work of chefs fall increasingly under the spotlight in the UK. "Cooking was not really a desirable career when I started out. Now, you can't turn TV chefs off, you're inundated. It's glamorous now. And you see this shift that young people want to become chefs, which was unheard of," he says. "The upshot of the whole thing is that the British people have become more sophisticated about Chinese food." And he says Brits are now demanding more authentic Chinese food and moving away from the sweet-and-sour stereotype. "More and more ingredients are available. If you go to some of the emporiums here, they are incredible," he says. "So, the opportunities are enormous. People are still hungry for it, and ready to take Chinese food to the next level." Trump picks Peter Navarro to head national trade council International oi-IANS By Ians English Washington, Dec 22: US President-elect Donald Trump picked Peter Navarro, an economist and professor, to head the newly-created National Trade Council at the White House. "The formation of the National Trade Council further demonstrates the President-elect's determination to make American manufacturing great again and to provide every American the opportunity to work in a decent job at a decent wage," Trump's transition team said in a statement on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported. The statement also added that Navarro, a professor at University of California, will develop trade policies that shrink US trade deficit and help stop the exodus of jobs to other countries. "The National Trade Council will also lead the Buy America, Hire America program to ensure the President-elect's promise is fulfilled in government procurement and projects ranging from infrastructure to national defense," the transition team said. It marked the first time that there would be a council within the White House focusing on American manufacturing and American workers, and it would work collaboratively with three other offices at the White House: the National Security Council, the National Economic Council, and the Domestic Policy Council, according to the transition team. Trump had made trade as a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, trying to appeal to angry and frustrated blue-collar voters who have seen manufacturing jobs lose in an increasing global economy. He had vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pull the United States out of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. During the campaign, Navarro and Wilbur Ross, Trump's pick for commerce secretary, had worked together to help Trump develop the trade, regulatory and energy policy agenda, which focused on reducing US trade deficit and boosting manufacturing. IANS UN votes to set up panel to prepare Syria war crimes cases International oi-PTI United Nations, Dec 22: The UN General Assembly has agreed to set up a panel to gather evidence on war crimes in Syria, taking a first step toward prosecuting those responsible for atrocities in the nearly six-year war. A resolution on establishing the investigative mechanism was adopted yesterday in the 193-nation assembly by a vote of 105 to 15, with 52 abstentions. The panel will work closely with the UN Commission of Inquiry which has submitted several reports detailing atrocities committed during the war that has killed more than 310,000 people. Civil society groups have also been compiling documents, lists of witnesses and video footage that could one day be used in a court of law. The measure prepared by Liechtenstein was co-sponsored by 58 countries including the United States, France, Britain, Italy and Germany as well as regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Addressing the assembly, Liechtenstein's Ambassador Christina Wenaweser said the resolution would address the Security Council's failure to ensure those responsible for serious crimes face justice. Russia, Syria's main ally, and China in 2014 blocked a request by the council that the International Criminal Court begin investigations of war crimes in Syria. "We are finally taking one meaningful step to meet the expectations that we have failed for such a long time," Wenaweser said. Syria's Ambassador Bashar Jafaari slammed the measure, saying it was contrary to the UN charter and a "flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a UN member-state." Russia, China and Iran were among the countries that opposed the measure. The resolution tasks the UN secretary-general to report within 20 days on the establishment of the new panel, which will be funded by the United Nations. It will set up an "international, impartial and independent mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes" in Syria since March 2011, when the conflict began. The panel will "collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses and prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings," according to the draft text. Human rights groups applauded the move. "By establishing the investigative mechanism, the General Assembly is helping pave the road to accountability after years of unchecked atrocities," said Balkees Jarrah, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. "Perpetrators now know that evidence of their misdeeds will be collected to hasten the day when they find themselves in the dock," she said. PTI US downplays reports of tense ties with Russia International oi-PTI Washington, Dec 22: The United States has played down Russian reports that already tense ties between the old foes have plunged to new lows. The State Department denied a Kremlin claim that communications are frozen, noting that Secretary of State John Kerry had called his Russian counterpart as recently as Tuesday. The Pentagon also noted that on the same day Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the claim, its officers had held a video conference with Russian commanders on how to stay out of each other's way in Syria. "Practically all levels of dialogue with the United States are frozen," Peskov told Mir TV, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. "We don't communicate with one another. Or we do so minimally," he added, causing surprise in Washington. "I don't know exactly what to make of that comment...Obviously, we don't agree and have issues with Russia on a variety of issues, but dialogue has not been broken," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Kirby said Kerry had spoken to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday over telephone to hear about talks Russia had hosted with Iran and Turkey to seek a solution to the crisis in Syria. "Look, there's a lot of issues where dialogue and communications between the United States and Russia remain important, and for our part, we remain committed to that dialogue and that communication. It doesn't mean that we're always going to agree and it doesn't mean that there's not going to be tensions. But as far as we're concerned, communications are not frozen and dialogue is still happening. Differences are still being discussed, debated," Kirby said. Russia finds itself locked in its worst standoff with the West since the Cold War over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, the conflict in Ukraine and lingering disagreement about the conflict in Syria. US President Barack Obama's administration on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining sanctions on Moscow over Crimea with new financial restrictions on Russian businessmen and companies. The Russian foreign ministry said it "regretted" the new sanctions. The White House this month also pointed to direct involvement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in cyber attacks designed to impact the US election. The upcoming presidency of Donald Trump raises questions over the future of US policy toward Russia given his apparently softer line on Putin. Putin himself has reiterated Moscow's readiness to work with the Trump administration once the president-elect takes office in January, stressing the importance of normalizing the countries' relations. PTI US puts Alibaba back on 'notorious markets' blacklist International oi-PTI Washington, Dec 22: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is back on the US government's annual list of "notorious markets" that sell pirated goods. The Office of the US Trade Representative said on Wednesday that Alibaba's on-line marketplace Taobao sells "high levels" of counterfeit goods and is slow to respond when companies complain about the knockoffs. USTR took Alibaba off the blacklist in 2012, but several US trade groups successfully sought to get it reinstated. "There are a lot of victims here," including US companies that lose sales to fakes and consumers who wind up with shoddy goods, said Stephen Lamar, executive vice president at the American Apparel & Footwear Association, which wanted Alibaba back on the list. Alibaba Group President Michael Evans said the company is "disappointed." Alibaba polices the market more effectively than it did four years ago, he said. Evans questioned whether the USTR decision was "based on actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate." During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump blasted China for stealing intellectual property. In 2014, Alibaba sold $25 billion worth of stock on the New York Stock Exchange in the biggest initial public offering on record. Winding up on the notorious markets listing again is another blow to its reputation. In 2015, Chinese regulators issued an unusual, scathing report that accused Alibaba of failing to do enough to prevent the sale of fakes on its websites. PTI US returns 4,000 hectares of its Japanese military bases International oi-IANS By Ians English Tokyo, Dec 23 The United States returned to Japan the control of 4,000 hectares occupied until now by its military bases on the southern island of Okinawa. The ceremony in Nago was attended by top Japanese government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga and US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy. This is the largest return of US-occupied land since 1972, when Japan regained the administration of Okinawa, where 240,000 people died during the Second World War and which had been controlled by the US ever since, reports Efe. The returned land, which is 17 per cent of the territory administered by the US military on the island, was used for combat training in forest areas. "This decreased training area on Okinawa will not deteriorate our commitment or our ability towards working with the government of Japan and our partners in the Japan Self-Defense Forces in mutual defense of this country," US Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson said in a statement. Nicholson added that that the US intends to return more land to Japan in the future. Opposition by the local population and politicians to US bases on the island has intensified over time owing to several incidents. The latest took place on December 13 when one of the controversial Osprey MV-22 aircrafts, a US military aircraft which has been deployed in Japan since 2012, crashed. Okinawa shelters half of the 48,000 US troops in Japan as well as 70 per cent of the US military facilities in the country. IANS YouTube star speaks Arabic, 'kicked off' flight International oi-IANS By Ians English New York, Dec 22: Two YouTube stars were removed from a Delta Air Lines flight in London on Wednesday following complaints by other passengers of them speaking in Arabic, the media reported on Thursday. Adam Saleh was returning home to New York after a world tour when he was removed from the flight after his co-passengers expressed discomfort with the two Muslim Americans' presence. Saleh told the BBC that he was asked to get off the London-New York flight after he spoke to his mother in Arabic on the phone. Saleh, 23, a filmmaker from Manhattan, and his friend Slim Albaher, 22, from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, said they were asked by the captain to off-load the flight at Heathrow Airport. Their British co-passengers were alarmed as they conversed in Arabic with each other following the phone call. The news was met on social media with anger at the airline industry, but also skepticism, though passengers who were on the plane when it landed in New York corroborated the story, the New York Times reported. Saleh has more than two million subscribers on YouTube, and has a history of perpetuating video hoaxes and pranks, some of them aimed at exposing stereotypes about Muslims. In his latest YouTube video, posted earlier this month, he pretended to smuggle himself onto a plane in a suitcase. In a phone interview to the New York Times from Heathrow before he and Albaher boarded a later flight, Saleh said this was not a stunt. "The only thing I can say is, I would never film a phone video," he said. His video camera was in his luggage. IANS Cab driver arrested for molesting woman passenger New Delhi oi-PTI New Delhi, Dec 21: A 32-year-old woman, working at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here, was allegedly manhandled by a 36-year-old Uber driver, who was arrested today morning following a complaint from the victim. Police said the incident took place last evening in southwest Delhi. The woman had booked a cab around 5PM from the airport to go to Palam, but the driver arrived late following which she got into an argument with the cab driver, identified as Rajiv, police said. Instead of taking the designated route from Aerocity, the driver took Mahipalpur Road and when she protested, the driver got angry and threw a handbag on her and threatened her with dire consequences, they added. After a while, the driver asked the woman to get out of the car near Delhi Cantonment. The victim immediately went to the police station lodged a complaint. Based on the complaint of the woman, an FIR under sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC was registered. Police arrested the accused driver early today. PTI 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. BERLIN - A Moroccan man has been arrested in Germany and charged with being a member of the Islamic State cell that carried out deadly attacks in Paris last year, the Federal Prosecutor's Office said on Wednesday. Redouane S was detained in Lower Saxony on Tuesday, prosecutors said. By convention, suspects in Germany are identified by the first name and initial. The 24-year-old man was accused of renting flats in Turkey and Greece between October 2014 and Spring 2015 that were used by cell members to plan the attacks. Prosecutors said he knew about a meeting of cell members in Verviers, Belgium on January 15, 2015 where Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a main coordinator of the attacks, chaired a meeting to plan the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 last year. "Even after his return to Germany in May 2015 he was in contact with the group led by Abaaoud and showed readiness to take more orders," they wrote in the statement. Bleacher Report AOL 13 Jan 2021 Hope Hicks serves as counselor to the President in the White House and is one of Trumps longest-serving aides and confidants. Philippines President Duterte Wants to Close all Forms of Online Gaming Published December 22, 2016 by Florin P President Duterte follows through with his plan of stopping the proliferation of online gambling in the Philippines. The president of the Philippines has spent a lot of time in the spotlight recently after unleashing a brutal crackdown on drug dealers. Mr. Duterte now has his sights locked on the less harmful world of online gambling, but intends to be just as decisive. In a recent conference, he announced his intention of stopping all online gaming firms. During his speech after the ceremonial signing of the national budget, he made it clear that he wont make any compromises. Concerns About Government Oversight The inability of the government to regulate the Internet gaming industry has prompted the president to announce the immediate closure of all online gaming firms. Duterte said that in the absence of a mechanism allowing the authorities to regulate this booming industry, a firmer stance is required. Many of the companies allowing Filipinos to play their favorite casino games over the Internet are located beyond national borders. This puts them outside the reach of the government and thats a major concern. As far as hes concerned, the benefits of online games are virtually nonexistent. Furthermore, Duterte told the media that his country doesnt benefit at all from this massive industry. In the wake of his statements, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II told the media about the investigations pending on online gambling in the Philippines. This is a continuation of the policy announced by the president earlier this year, to stop the proliferation of Internet casinos during his administration. Fighting a War on Two Fronts Duterte was heavily criticized for his heavy-handed methods in fighting the war on drug dealers. When it comes to online gambling, he proved to be just as determined and willing to follow through with his plans. In November, 1316 illegal Chinese workers were taken into custody following the arrest of gaming tycoon Jack Lam. He was charged with economic sabotage and bribery after the authorities discovered that he was running an online gaming facility. Holiday in Cambodia? Chinese iGaming Investors Prepare The majority of investment for new Chinese licensees in Cambodia will likely be in online gaming. China remains an iGaming conundrum: in a huge economy where gambling is embedded deep in the cultural vein for players and operators alike, gambling remains illegal apart from two lotteries which the Communist government does not consider to be gambling. Chinas Black Market With revenue for illegal gambling operations in mainland PRC estimated at up to 10-20 times higher than combined revenues from both the legal lotteries, illegal gambling in China continues to proliferate. Unauthorized forms of gambling include unofficial lotteries, underground casinos, and betting on popular local card games and mahjong. Where Its Legal Places such as special Chinese administrative regions Macau and Hong Kong do allow Chinese operators to provide services to an eager public in this unique part of the world, but the economic scale of these small provinces remains insufficient to absorb the majority of gambling activity funded and taking place in China. Online Play Caters Chinese players also are being drawn to online play, with offshore operators offering special accommodations to the lucrative Chinese clientele base such as making games available in traditional as well as modern Chinese and accepting payments from Chinese bank cards. Something Must Give With legal expansion necessary somehow, private Chinese investment can only circumvent through neighbouring markets, which is quite plainly a driving force spurring Cambodian regulation and iGaming infrastructural development at this juncture. Cambodia Keeps Up In a country that has yet to regulate online gambling but does allow land-based activity to foreigners, an official spokesperson for the Cambodian Ministry of Finance recently told the Khmer Times that the government is developing a new server through which all licensed online gambling transactions will take place to absorb a rise in online gambling. Tempering Expectations As far as actual regulation, Finance Ministry deputy director-general Ros Phearun acknowledged that a gaming law is being drafted with approval expected sometime next year, while reminding that the ministrys technical teams are still learning how to manage online gaming in an effective regulation model. Outside Expertise Phearun says the Cambodian government is consulting with large foreign companies experienced on servers from the UK and Spain. Cambodian License Update As of Q3 2015, Cambodia had approved an additional 10 new casino licenses in the third quarter, bringing the total number of licensed gaming venues to 75 upon full operations of all new licensees. Acknowledging Chinese Investment With the predominantly Chinese new wave of recipient operators reportedly focusing on developing online gambling services, Phearun credited online gambling appeal as bringing that Chinese foreign investment into Cambodia. New Gambling Destination The new casinos, to be built in the Cambodias top tourist destination of Sihanoukville on Cambodias southwest coast, positions Sihanoukville as an emerging gambling location distinct from the majority of Cambodias existing casinos clustered near the Thailand and Vietnamese borders. China is at this point Cambodias second largest source of tourism. Online Chinese Investment Chinese investors in these casinos have already indicated to Phearun that they are primarily interested in developing their online gambling operations, especially with the inland Sihanoukville location unable to attract neither Cambodian citizens nor the steady stream of Thai and Vietnamese gamblers currently funding land-based operations in Cambodia. Phearun calls online gambling the reason why the casino industry is rising in Sihanoukville. Cambodian Policy, Revenues Phearun last year confirmed as of 2015 the existence within the Cambodian government of a clear policy to govern the industry in order to both increase the national budget and also protect national security. Cambodian Revenues Phearun noted that the government had collected $28.8m in casino taxes in the first nine months of 2015, already surpassing higher than the $25m collected in all of 2014. This years figure for Q3 2016 is at $37.4 million in revenues already, for a year-on-year jump of 35.5%. Chinas Financial Flow The final piece of this puzzle, as far as Chinese operators being able to divert their funds effectively to profit in the neighbouring country of Cambodia, lies with official Chinese support of Cambodia with financial aid. Soft Loans With China having granted Cambodia some U.S. $2.85 billion in concessional development loans from 1992 to 2014, Cambodia has been rendered economically beholden to China to no small extent. One of the ways in which Cambodia can return the favour to China back clearly is through open trade agreements, which can provide a haven for Chinese foreign investment in online gambling outside the auspices of the countrys restrictive domestic gambling laws. Illegal Chinese Operators The legal online gambling operators funded by Chinese investors may also provide relief from the wealth of Chinese nationals who keep getting arrested in Cambodia for providing unlicensed and thus illegal online gambling services. Outlook With rapid expansion of legal China-funded iGaming operations appearing inevitable, a fully regulated neighbour in Cambodia certainly appears an attractive option to absorb private Chinese iGaming investment. June-Yon Kim Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva for New Managers: Azabu Value Partners (Cayman) launched the Azabu Value Master Fund, a Japan-focused fundamental equity long/short strategy, under the umbrella of Rogers Investment Advisors KK on December 5, 2016. The fund will seek to take advantage of Japans economic and equity market cyclicality. It is managed by June-Yon Kim and Oleg Zuravljov, former Fidelity Japan colleagues with decades of combined experience in Japanese equities. Michael OFlynn, head of business development and a financial markets veteran, serves as managing director of Azabu Value Partners, the general partner of the fund. The fund employs a fundamental bottom-up strategy, investing in Japanese larger capitalization stocks, with a derivative overlay. "We believe our investment approach, which focuses on fundamental bottom-up research to identify undervalued and overvalued securities, combined with a top-down macroeconomic assessment to opportunistically adjust overall market exposure, can achieve consistent returns regardless of the general direction of the Japanese market," Mr. Kim told Opalesque. "In addition, our derivative overlay affords opportunities to enhance returns via yield enhancement and also protect investment capital." Zuravljov said, "Japan is probably the most cyclical developed market in the world. Fundamental stock pickers i...................... To view our full article Click here 32 Years Before Marriage Equality, Bernie Sanders Fought For Gay ... (Image by queerty.com) Details DMCA There are many folks struggling financially in America. There are many folks struggling financially in America that live in blighted communities. There are many folks struggling financially in America that live in blighted communities that have been terribly disadvantaged by neoliberalism. There are many folks struggling financially in America that live in blighted communities that have been terribly disadvantaged by neoliberalism and have not had the wherewithal or ability to get a good education. There are many folks struggling financially in America that live in blighted communities that have been terribly disadvantaged by neoliberalism and have not had the wherewithal or ability to get a good education and voted for Donald Trump. And now we are asked to accept this as the natural, inevitable outcome -- what else could they do? There was no one out there speaking for them. Well, that is a self-serving argument disconnected from the truth. Bernie was absolutely speaking for them. They were not about to vote for Bernie. Bernie was a Jew and "a Communist." Bernie didn't play well in White blighted America. Bernie didn't give them the false hope that one day they too could be rich and famous. Bernie didn't race bait or threaten women or hammer fear into his message. Bernie didn't play to the cheap seats. Yes, they had a choice but thirty-plus years of Conservative Republican enabling and validation of the lesser angels of their natures had finally paid off in spades. White struggling America finally, absolutely and with gusto, embraced a fascist demagogue built in Conservative think tanks, cynical Republican campaigns, Right Wing talk radio and the Fox news room. There is great danger in accepting the failure of neoliberal policies as somehow validating the outcome of the election. This is the disingenuous ploy of liberals that have issues with and animus towards the Democratic Party. Neoliberalism certainly has failed America but blaming Neoliberalism for the Trump phenomenon is like blaming the Treaty of Versailles for the horrors of Nazi Germany. Hate, prejudice and people murdered over fifty million individuals in Europe. One man quickened and enabled the slaughter. He rendered citizens tools. Tools of hate, racism, fear -- tools readily and excitedly sacrificing themselves in an orgy of unfathomable destruction and horror. We are there. We are standing on the precipice with our new President-- looking down into the familiar abyss. There is nothing positive or good about the man. He has ignited the angry masses. He has no hope. He has no evident humanity. We, that have hope, that love our neighbors, that believe that a bright future is still possible, that simply aspire to living compassionate lives -- we need to resist him with every fibre of our being. I do not understand how anyone voted for him. However, I deeply believe in forgiveness and empathy. Now is a time for truth and introspection for all of us. Truth is and always will be. The truth will set us free. Yesterday I listed some well-known ways in which the vote can be skewed: Suppression, gerrymandering, the electoral college, voter intimidation and the purging of voter lists. Compounding this is a media tendency to under-report, or sideline as fringe, some genuinely popular ideas such as universal health care and scaling back military spending. All the above forces push electoral politics away from the people's concerns, toward a corporate agenda. And yet, could it be that even all this distortion is not enough to explain the state of American politics? Is there direct, computerized vote theft occurring to push corporate dominance over the top? Evidence for this possibility comes from three sources. Vulnerability: Push-button and touch-screen voting systems are easily misprogrammed, and detection is all but impossible. The optical readers that count paper ballots are just as easily corrupted, and they are better only if there is an independent hand count keeping them honest. Statistics: Polls often diverge from reported vote counts, with the vote counts far more often favoring the candidate on the political Right. In some cases, studies have revealed patterns in the discrepancies that suggest it is the reported vote counts that are at fault. Anecdotes: There are examples in which first-hand stories have come out, with evidence from whistle blowers and data leaks. Computer scientists who look at security of computerized voting find the systems laughably vulnerable to both error and mischief. Even the common practices that are used to encrypt our emails and protect our Amazon accounts with passwords are not consistently followed in the world of voting machines. Here is an article from Wired on voting machine security. Here is a 2008 New York Times Magazine article with stories of voting machine failures. Here is an in-depth study of one common voting machine, from the Princeton Computer Scientist Ariel Feldman. A UCSD analysis of a similar system concludes, "that this voting system is far below even the most minimal security standards applicable in other contexts." Politico in August explored what it would take to hack a presidential election and came up with a depressing but not surprising conclusion: Not much. Last year, Virginia de-certified 3,000 voting machines that had been used throughout the state for 12 years, a welcome beginning. Here is a report from the NYU Brennan Center for Justice, fully documented and replete with sensible recommendations for a comprehensive reform of the American system of voting. All these sources document vulnerability to outside hacking. Just as significant is the possibility of an inside job. A few companies with shifting ownership control the machines that count most of the votes in America. Diebold, the most famous, changed the product line name to Premier, and then sold the division to ES&S, the largest voting machine company. Election Day is now dominated by a handful of secretive corporations with interlocking ownership, strong partisan ties to the far right, and executives who revolve among them like beans in a shell game" ...As it happens, many of the key staffers behind our major voting-machine companies have been accused or convicted of a dizzying array of white-collar crimes, including conspiracy, bribery, bid rigging, computer fraud, tax fraud, stock fraud, mail fraud, extortion, and drug trafficking. --Victoria Collier in Harpers Magazine, 11.2012 Computerized counting of votes is based on software, and typically a state or local election does not have the source code, so they must try to validate the code by "black box testing," where all they know is the input and the output. They rarely have resources to do an adequate job, and (in my opinion) it would not be difficult to write the software in such a way that it detects the difference between a test and a real election, and performs differently in the two situations. The only place I know of where open-source software is used to count votes in Humboldt County, CA. Push-button and touch-screen paperless machines are clearly the most difficult to verify; but there are problems with optical scan machines as well. Op-scan systems are programmed to "read" a paper ballot and record the votes that are registered on set locations. The advantage they offer over paperless systems is that the votes can be counted in parallel by hand. This can be in an (unannounced) random sample of precincts, as a statistical spot check; or it can be a full hand re-count in case doubts arise about the accuracy of the numbers reported by machines. In practice, random spot checks are the exception, not the rule, and there are stiff barriers to full recounts almost everywhere in America. Under these circumstances, op-scan machines can be just as vulnerable as paperless machines. For example: The op-scan machines must be programmed to look at a particular location on the paper for a check mark or filled-in square corresponding to each candidate. Washington or Benedict Arnold? (Image by Josh Mitteldorf) Details DMCA The computer-reader might be programmed with just the right location for the Benedict Arnold box, but the location of the George Washington box is offset by a few mm. 100% of votes for Benedict Arnold will register, and 98% of marks in the space for George Washington will have enough overlap that they register as well. But in the aggregate, 2% of ballots for George Washington will be reported as "undervotes" -- no candidate was chosen. This kind of misreading will rarely be caught in a "black box" test, and in the unlikely event that it is detected, it looks like an innocent "miscalibration". Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Canada Power Market Demand, Growth, Trend, Analysis and Research Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=901205 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=901205 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Canada Power Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape" to its huge collection of research reports.This report elaborates Canada's power market structure and provides historical and forecast numbers for capacity, generation, and consumption up to 2030. Detailed analysis of the Canada power markets regulatory structure, import and export trends, competitive landscape, and power projects at various stages of the supply chain is provided. The report also gives a snapshot of the power sector in Canada on broad parameters of macroeconomics, supply security, generation infrastructure, transmission infrastructure, degree of competition, regulatory scenario, and future potential. Financial performance of the leading power companies is also analyzed in the report.Scope- Snapshot of the countrys power sector across parameters - macro economics, supply security, generation infrastructure, transmission infrastructure, degree of competition, regulatory scenario and future potential of the power sector.- Statistics for installed capacity, power generation and consumption from 2000 to 2015, forecast for the next 15 years to 2030.- Break-up by technology, including thermal, hydro, renewable and nuclear- Data on leading current and upcoming projects.- Information on grid interconnectivity, transmission and distribution infrastructure and power exports and imports.- Policy and regulatory framework governing the market.- Detailed analysis of top market participant, including market share analysis and SWOT analysis.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Reasons to buy- Identify opportunities and plan strategies by having a strong understanding of the investment opportunities in the countrys power sector- Identification of key factors driving investment opportunities in the countrys power sector- Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data- Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events- Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential- Identify key partners and business development avenues- Identify key strengths and weaknesses of important market participants- Respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects.Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 41.1 List of Tables 71.2 List of Figures 92 Introduction 102.1 GlobalData Report Guidance 113 Canada Power Market, Snapshot 123.1 Macroeconomic Factors 123.2 Supply Security 133.3 Opportunities 143.4 Challenges 144 Canada, Power Market, Market Analysis 154.1 Canada, Power Market, Supply Structure 154.1.1 Federal Regulatory Authorities 154.1.2 Provincial and Territorial Authorities 154.2 Canada, Power Market, Key Market Players 174.3 Canada, Power Market, Financial Deals 184.3.1 Deal Volume and Value Analysis, 2004-July 2016 184.3.2 Deals by Type, 2015 204.4 Canada, Power Market, Demand Structure 214.4.1 Consumption by Sector, 2015 235 Canada, Power Market, Regulatory Scenario 245.1 Canada, Power Market, Key Electricity Policies 245.1.1 Federal Energy Policy - Key Elements 245.1.2 ecoEnergy for Renewable Power 245.1.3 ecoEnergy Innovation Initiative 245.1.4 Clean Energy Fund Program 255.1.5 Renewable Fuels Regulations 25Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Industrial Emission Control Systems Market size worth $24bn by 2024 U.S. Industrial Emission Control Systems Market Size, By Device 2013-2024 http://bit.ly/2idcnum http://bit.ly/2hJu1oa https://www.gminsights.com/ Industrial Emission Control Systems Market size was above USD 13 billion in 2015 with forecast to grow over 6% from 2016 to 2024.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.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: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.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.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.Request for a sample of this research report @AboutGlobal Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware,U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offeringsyndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services.Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients withpenetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed andpresented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports aredesigned via a proprietary research methodology and are available for keyindustries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energyand biotechnology.ContactUs:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Connect withus: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) Measurement Market Trends And Forecast 2016 - 2024 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/713924 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Hydrogen peroxide (hereafter, H2O2) measurement devices are used for detection of hydrogen peroxide in gaseous and aqueous applications. Mostly, these devices are used in detection of hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) in the HPV decontamination applications. This is important, as the excess presence of HPV is unsafe to human exposure. Increasing use of hydrogen peroxide in decontamination process, and eco-friendly by-products (water and oxygen) of hydrogen peroxide are the key factors leading to the market growth of hydrogen peroxide measurement devices.This research report on the hydrogen peroxide measurement market provides detailed analysis of the hydrogen peroxide measurement devices and helps understanding the driving forces behind the popularity of hydrogen peroxide measurement devices in the market. It also provides analysis of major sub-segments of the global hydrogen peroxide measurement market for the next nine years. This report includes extensive analysis of industry drivers, restraints, market trends, and market structure. The market study provides comprehensive assessment of stakeholder strategies and imperatives for succeeding in the business. The report has segregated the market based on product type, application, and geography.Other important points covered in the research study include:Definitions, estimates, and forecast (revenue and volume) of the hydrogen peroxide market for the period from 2016 to 2024Analysis of the global market and respective sub-segmentsRecent developments of major players and strategies followed by themProfiles of major market participants to help better understand their contribution in the marketThe research report provides a comprehensive assessment of stakeholder strategies, and the imperatives for succeeding in hydrogen peroxide measurement market. The report includes competitive analysis of various market segments based on product type and applications for hydrogen peroxide measurement devices, and in-depth cross-sectional analysis across different geographical segments of the hydrogen peroxide measurement market. In order to aid in strategic decision-making, the report also includes the winning strategies adopted by key players. The report segregates the hydrogen peroxide market based on different geographies into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle-east and Africa and Latin America.For detailed understanding of the hydrogen peroxide measurement market, all these segments have also been estimated in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) and volume (000 Units) for the geographies mentioned above. The market research study analyzes the hydrogen peroxide measurement market worldwide, and provides historical revenue and volume estimates in terms for the years 2015 and 2014, along with the market forecast for the period 2016 to 2024. Market forecasts have been analyzed considering the impact of various economic, political, social, legal, operational and technological factors influencing market growthThe hydrogen peroxide measurement market is segmented as follows.Download sample Copy of Report atHydrogen Peroxide Measurement Market, by Product TypeH2O2 SensorsH2O2 DetectorsTransmittersHydrogen Peroxide Measurement Market, by ApplicationPharmaceuticalChemicalHealthcareFood and BeverageLaboratoriesAnimal FarmingHVAC SystemsFreeze DryersHydrogen Peroxide Measurement Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Tris Nonylphenyl Phosphite Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=17660 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tris-nonylphenyl-phosphite-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/ Tris nonylphenyl phosphite (TNPP) is a water soluble viscous liquid. Its physical appearance is colorless to pale yellow. TNPP has chemical formula of C45H69O3P. It is moisture sensitive as well as combustible. TNPP releases irritating or toxic fumes (or gases) upon catching fire. It produces various phosphorus oxides forms upon combustion. Person should avoid all contact with TNPP.TNPP is primarily employed as heat stabilizer for polymer processing, especially for polyvinylchloride and un-vulcanized rubbers. It is a phenolic antioxidant, which is also used in the manufacture of polyethylene resin. Furthermore, it is employed to maintain performance integrity, color stability, and processing stability of ABS, polycarbonate, polyolefins, and vulcanized rubber.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Tris Nonylphenyl Phosphite Market TrendsTNPP is toxic to aquatic organisms. It can cause long-term effects on the aquatic environment. Hence, various regulatory restrictions are placed on its consumption in consumer goods, food packaging, and hygiene products industries.The TNPP market is expanding due to the increase in demand for TNPP in stabilizers, petrochemicals, and rubber industries across the globe. Capacity expansions in the petrochemicals industry and rise in demand for polymer products are also driving the global TNPP market.In terms of application, heat stabilizer holds the major share of the global TNPP market. TNPP as antioxidant is economical in terms of price-to-performance ratio. This makes it a preferable polymer antioxidant in the plastics industry. The petrochemicals industry is expected to exhibit high growth rate in terms of consumption of TNPP. However, industries such as food packaging and hygiene products have limited consumption of TNPP due to stringent regulatory restrictions. Manufacturers in these industries are launching products that are free of nolyl and can be preferred in food packaging applications.Tris Nonylphenyl Phosphite Market SegmentationBased on application, the TNPP market can be segmented into heat stabilizer and antioxidant.Based on end-user industry, the TNPP market can be divided into polymers and plastics, rubber, petrochemicals, food packaging, and hygiene products.Tris Nonylphenyl Phosphite Market: Region-wise OutlookAsia Pacific held the major share of the TNPP market in 2015, followed by North America and Europe. China is one of the key consumers of TNPP in Asia Pacific. Manufacturers in plastic and petrochemicals industries are likely to carry out capacity expansions in the near future. This is projected to drive the demand for TNPP in these end-use applications.Browse Market Research Report with ToC & Free Analysis :Tris Nonylphenyl Phosphite Market: Key PlayersKey players operating in the TNPP market include Addivant USA LLC, Galata Chemicals Holding GMBH, Dover Chemical Corporation, Sterling Auxiliaries Pvt. Ltd., Songwon Industrial Co. Ltd, Gulf Stabilizers Industries, Sandhya Group, Wego Chemical Group, Everspring Chemical Company Co., Ltd., and Akcros Chemicals.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 : Global Radiation Detection Products Market to grow at a CAGR of 5.54% during 2016-2020 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/902778 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ About Radiation Detection ProductsRadiation monitoring involves the measurement of radionuclide contamination or radiation dose. The reason for radiations in the atmosphere or environment can be radiation leakage from a nuclear plant or a nuclear disaster. Thus, apart from just assessment or control of exposure to radiation or radioactive substances, the interpretation of the results is also a very important aspect of radiation monitoring.Technavios analysts forecast the global radiation detection products market to grow at a CAGR of 5.54% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global radiation detection products market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the radiation detection equipment used for the various application segments such as healthcare and medicine, industrial and scientific application, and domestic security and military use.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Radiation Detection Products Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Download sample copy of Report atKey vendorsMirion TechnologiesLandauerThermo Fisher ScientificOther prominent vendorsCarestream HealthFujiFilm HoldingsEsaoteFLIR SystemsFlukeGE HealthcareHitachi HealthcareHologicJames Fisher and SonsToshiba Medical SystemsShimadzuPhilips HealthcareSiemens HealthcareMarket driverIncreasing energy consumptionFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeHigh initial cost of investmentFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendAvailability of integrated radiation monitoring solutionFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Tributyl Citrate Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=17648 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tributyl-citrate-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/ Tributyl Citrate (TBC), also known as Butyl Citrate, Tri-n-butyl citrate, and Tributyl Ester, is a colorless, non-toxic, and oily liquid with a high boiling point and fruity flavor at room temperature. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves in acetic acid, acetone, castor oil, carbon tetrachloride, mineral oil, and methanol. Known to react with oxidizing reagents, TBC is produced through esterification of citric acid with 1-butanol and concentrated sulfuric acid acting as a catalyst.TBC is widely used in food wrapping films, soft toys for children, cosmetics, and as a plasticizer for polymers such as poly vinyl chloride (PVC) and its copolymers. It aids maintenance of color when processed with resins due to its excellent heat stability.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Tributyl Citrate (TBC) Market: TrendsProducts manufactured using TBC are able to withstand cold, mildew, and water. It is used for granulation of non-toxic PVC, besides being an authorized plasticizer in various industries including food contact, food packaging materials, food additives, pharmaceuticals, medicines, cosmetics, flavors and fragrances, and adhesives. It is also utilized in cigarette filters to retain moisture. TBC is a competent fragrance carrier, and thereby applied on a large scale in cosmetic products.Salient properties of TBC include good compatibility, weather resistance, non-toxicity, limited volatility, and high plasticizing efficiency. It recently replaced phthalate ester, which is carcinogenic and is known to have adverse effects on human health, as a safer, and hence, preferred alternative. With increasing environmental awareness and improvements in regulations, the TBC market is expected to experience a steady growth rate during the forecast period.Tributyl Citrate (TBC) Market: Region-wise OutlookTBC is extensively employed as a plasticizer and food additive in the global market. In Europe, it finds applications in packaging of food and medical products, pharmaceuticals, flavors and fragrances, childrens soft toys, and manufacturing of cosmetics.With prominent economies such as China formulating rules and regulations concerning the limited usage of toxic plasticizers and incorporating TBC in multiple sectors, the market in Asia Pacific is also anticipated to expand in the next few years.Latin America and Middle East & Africa are likely to witness a comparatively sluggish rate of growth during the forecast period owing to the lack of TBC-related awareness in this region.Browse Market Research Report with ToC & Free Analysis :Tributyl Citrate (TBC) Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players operating in the global TBC market include Chemport India LLP, Vertellus Holdings LLC, and Jungbunzlauer Suisse AG.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 : Global Behavior of Feminine douching products Market 2016-2020 Market Research Hub http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=902791 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=902791 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-feminine-douching-products-market-2016-2020-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ Albany, New York, December 22, 2016: A latest report by Global Market Direct has been added to the broad database of Market Research Hub, titled Global Feminine Douching Products Market 2016-2020. Douching is a method to wash or clean out the vagina, usually with a mixture of vinegar and water in a douche spray, which injects the liquid into the desired parts. In recent years, the innovations related to douching have resulted in the introduction of new products with several new features, scents, shapes, and sizes. Douches sold in supermarkets and drugstores contain antiseptics and fragrances.Request for Sample Report:These douches are pre-packaged mixes of baking soda, water, and vinegar or iodine. Technavios analysts forecast the global feminine douching products market to grow at a CAGR of 0.61% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global feminine douching products market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from retail sales of feminine douching products through the following distribution channels.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEAMake an Enquiry:Technavio's report, Global Feminine Douching Products Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAdam & EveCalifornia ExoticC.B. FleetPrestige BrandsOther prominent vendorsGST CorporationLake Consumer ProductsNatureplexCurve NoveltiesPipedream ProductsNasstoysCaraWise Woman HerbalsMarket driverIncrease in awareness of health and hygiene.For a full, detailed list, view our reportBrowse Full Info with TOC:Market challengeNegative impact on pregnancy.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendMigration of manufacturing and sales facilities to APAC.For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?You can request one free hour of our analysts time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite: Lucintels PESTLE Analysis of Turkey 2017 Insights that Matter www.lucintel.com www.lucintel.com www.lucintel.com Turkey economy is dominated by the service sector, which contributed approximately 71.2% to the total GDP in 2016. Transport and storage is the major contributing 12% of GDP. The Turkish government is expected to start a number of projects that will help further develop on various sectors such as infrastructure, health, and education. Turkeys government has planned to invest in the private sector and carry out a number of large infrastructure projects, including roads, retail, trade and industrial centers, and hospitals. The Turkish government is focusing on structural reform, which will encourage the consumer spending, business sector, exports, employment, income and saving, domestic and external demand, and move the economy toward an externally sustainable path.Lucintel, a leading global management consulting and market research firm, has analyzed the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors of Turkey and has come up with a comprehensive research report, PESTLE Analysis of Turkey 2017. This report provides an analysis of the Turkey economy from historical, current, and future perspectives. SWOT analysis, scenario analysis, and risk analysis of Turkey is also included in the report. The report also includes forecast for Turkeys economic growth through 2022.The report highlights various drivers and challenges which have influence on investment decisions in the economy. The political system of Turkey is strictly a secular parliamentary representative democratic system. The country is largest exporter of automotive vehicles in the world. Turkey is highly dependent on mineral oil and products import, which is one of the main challenges. If oil prices increase, it directly affects the countrys GDP. Turkeys GDP is mainly driven by consumption, spending, and expenditure. Turkey has strong international assessments of the business environment. Turkey has Development Goals which provides direction for prioritizing capital expenditure, encouraging private investment and creating jobs for nationals in the private sector. Another challenge for Turkey has facing social challenges that include increasing crime rate, which is raising the level of corruption.This 82-page research report will enable you to make confident business decisions in this globally competitive marketplace. For a detailed table of contents and pricing information on this timely, insightful report, contact Lucintel at +1-972-636-5056 or via email at helpdesk@lucintel.com. Lucintel provides cutting-edge decision support services that facilitate critical decisions with greater speed, market insight, and cost efficiency. To learn more, visit. You can also contact us through Live Chat in its website to answer your questions in real time. Lucintel offerings include Strategic Growth Consulting, Capital Investment Analysis, Due Diligence, Industry/Market Analysis and Opportunity Screening and Analysis.About LucintelLucintel, the premier global management consulting and market research firm, creates winning strategies for growthwhether you need to understand market dynamics, identify new opportunities, or increase your profitability. It offers market assessments, competitive analysis, opportunity analysis, growth consulting, M&A, and due diligence services to executives and key decision-makers in a variety of industries. Over the last 15 years, Lucintel has served over 1,000 corporations in 70 countries. For further information, visitLucintel, the premier global management consulting and market research firm, creates winning strategies for growthwhether you need to understand market dynamics, identify new opportunities, or increase your profitability. It offers market assessments, competitive analysis, opportunity analysis, growth consulting, M&A, and due diligence services to executives and key decision-makers in a variety of industries. Over the last 15 years, Lucintel has served over 1,000 corporations in 70 countries. For further information, visitLucintel222 Las Colinas Blvd West, Suite 1650, Irving, TX 75039, USAPh: +1-972-636-5056 Fax: +1-877-883-5140marketing@lucintel.com Global Uterine Fibroids Treatment Market 2016:Blue Endo, Boston Scientific Corporation, Karl Storz Uterine Fibroids Treatment https://goo.gl/m5D891 https://goo.gl/ilUU6u https://goo.gl/wPZP07 Global Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry 2016Market Research Report Provides Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis: Blue Endo, Boston Scientific Corporation, Karl Storz, Halt Medical, Inc., LiNA Medical USA, Merit Medical Systems, Olympus Corporation, Richard Wolf GmbH & more -with detail like Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors.The report provides a basic overview of Uterine Fibroids Treatment industry including definitions, applications and industry chain structure. Global market analysis and Chinese domestic market analysis are provided with a focus on history, developments, trends and competitive landscape of the market. A comparison between the international and Chinese situation is also offered.Global Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry Research Report 2016 also focuses on development policies and plans for the industry as well as a consideration of a cost structure analysis. Capacity production, market share analysis, import and export consumption and price cost production value gross margins are discussed.Get Free Sample@A key feature of this report is it focus on major industry players, providing an overview, product specification, product capacity, production price and contact information for Global Top15 companies. This enables end users to gain a comprehensive insight into the structure of the international and Chinese Uterine Fibroids Treatment industry. Development proposals and the feasibility of new investments are also analyzed. Companies and individuals interested in the structure and value of the Uterine Fibroids Treatment industry should consult this report for guidance and direction.The report begins with a brief overview of the Global Uterine Fibroids Treatment market and then moves on to evaluate the key trends of the market. The key trends shaping the dynamics of the Global Uterine Fibroids Treatment market have been scrutinized along with the related current events, which is impacting the market. Drivers, restraints, opportunities, and threats of the Global Uterine Fibroids Treatment market have been analyzed in the report. Moreover, the key segments and the sub-segments that constitutes the market is also explained in the report.Inquiry For Buying@Table of ContentsChapter One Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry Overview1.1 Uterine Fibroids Treatment Definition(Product Picture and Specifications)1.2 Uterine Fibroids Treatment Classification and Application1.3 Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry Chain Structure1.4 Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry Overview1.5 Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry History1.6 Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry Competitive Landscape1.7 Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry International and China Development ComparisonChapter Two Uterine Fibroids Treatment Market Data Analysis2.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Price List2.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Gross Margin List2.3 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Capacity and Market Share List2.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Production and Market Share List2.5 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Production Value and Market Share ListGet Complete Report With TOC@Chapter Three Uterine Fibroids Treatment Technical Data Analysis3.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Product Quality List3.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Product Line Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.3 2016 Manufacturing Base(Factory) Global Regional Distribution3.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment R&D Status and Technology Sources3.5 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Equipment Investment and Performance3.6 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Uterine Fibroids Treatment Raw Materials Sources AnalysisChapter Four Uterine Fibroids Treatment Government Policy and News4.1 Government Related Policy Analysis4.2 Industry News Analysis4.3 Uterine Fibroids Treatment Industry Development TrendAbout Us:MarketResearchStore.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803 Global Luxury Yacht Growing Focus on Emerging Market 2016-2020 Market Research Hub http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=902790 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=902790 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-luxury-yacht-market-2016-2020-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ Albany, New York, December 22, 2016: A latest report by Global Market Direct has been added to the broad database of Market Research Hub, titled Global Luxury Yacht Market 2016-2020. Luxury yachts include modern convenience features such as air conditioners (ACs), televisions, navigation aids, radars, echo-sounding systems, autopilot facility, and power-generating system. The market is driven by several factors, including rising luxury tourism and recreational events. Yachts are often an extension of a status symbol for the HNWI population.Request for Sample Report:This is because they fall into the ultra-luxury goods category along with luxury cars, watches, and jewelry. Technavios analysts forecast the global luxury yacht market to grow at a CAGR of 7.01% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global luxury yacht market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report includes the major drivers that are influencing the growth of the luxury yacht market.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEAMake an Enquiry:Technavio's report, Global Luxury Yacht Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAMELSAzimut | BenettiFeadshipISA YachtOvermarine GroupMarket driverIncrease in tourism and recreational events across the globe.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeMotor luxury yachts have high operational costs.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreasing preference for enhanced technologies to build yachts.For a full, detailed list, view our reportBrowse Full Info with TOC:Key questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?You can request one free hour of our analysts time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite: Global Peripheral Catheters Market 2016:B. Braun Melsungen AG, Baxter International, Becton Peripheral Catheters https://goo.gl/HVqZ1o https://goo.gl/f47YbS https://goo.gl/5uexMF Global Peripheral Catheters Industry 2016Market Research Report Provides Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis: B. Braun Melsungen AG, Baxter International, Becton, Dickinson and Company, C. R. Bard, Cook Medical, Medtronic plc, Siemens Healthineers, Teleflex, Inc., Nipro Medical Corporation, Fresenius Medical Care & more -with detail like Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors.The report provides a basic overview of Peripheral Catheters industry including definitions, applications and industry chain structure. Global market analysis and Chinese domestic market analysis are provided with a focus on history, developments, trends and competitive landscape of the market. A comparison between the international and Chinese situation is also offered.Global Peripheral Catheters Industry Research Report 2016 also focuses on development policies and plans for the industry as well as a consideration of a cost structure analysis. Capacity production, market share analysis, import and export consumption and price cost production value gross margins are discussed.Get Free Sample@A key feature of this report is it focus on major industry players, providing an overview, product specification, product capacity, production price and contact information for Global Top15 companies. This enables end users to gain a comprehensive insight into the structure of the international and Chinese Peripheral Catheters industry. Development proposals and the feasibility of new investments are also analyzed. Companies and individuals interested in the structure and value of the Peripheral Catheters industry should consult this report for guidance and direction.The report begins with a brief overview of the Global Peripheral Catheters market and then moves on to evaluate the key trends of the market. The key trends shaping the dynamics of the Global Peripheral Catheters market have been scrutinized along with the related current events, which is impacting the market. Drivers, restraints, opportunities, and threats of the Global Peripheral Catheters market have been analyzed in the report. Moreover, the key segments and the sub-segments that constitutes the market is also explained in the report.Inquiry For Buying@Table of ContentsChapter One Peripheral Catheters Industry Overview1.1 Peripheral Catheters Definition(Product Picture and Specifications)1.2 Peripheral Catheters Classification and Application1.3 Peripheral Catheters Industry Chain Structure1.4 Peripheral Catheters Industry Overview1.5 Peripheral Catheters Industry History1.6 Peripheral Catheters Industry Competitive Landscape1.7 Peripheral Catheters Industry International and China Development ComparisonChapter Two Peripheral Catheters Market Data Analysis2.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Price List2.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Gross Margin List2.3 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Capacity and Market Share List2.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Production and Market Share List2.5 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Production Value and Market Share ListGet Complete Report With TOC@Chapter Three Peripheral Catheters Technical Data Analysis3.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Product Quality List3.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Product Line Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.3 2016 Manufacturing Base(Factory) Global Regional Distribution3.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters R&D Status and Technology Sources3.5 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Equipment Investment and Performance3.6 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Peripheral Catheters Raw Materials Sources AnalysisChapter Four Peripheral Catheters Government Policy and News4.1 Government Related Policy Analysis4.2 Industry News Analysis4.3 Peripheral Catheters Industry Development TrendAbout Us:MarketResearchStore.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803 Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) Market Forecast and Segments, 2016-2020 http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Picture-Archiving-and-Communication-Systems-PACS-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2016---2020/upcomingdetail22 http://www.sa-brc.com/register.php www.sa-brc.com Picture Archiving and Communication Systems or PACS is a healthcare technology used for storage, retrieval and sharing of medical images. The technology is constantly evolving and overlaps with other healthcare IT technologies such as remote patient monitoring and telemedicine. These technologies allow hospitals, clinics and medical experts to capture, store and view images internally as well as externally through cloud servers and remote storage devices over the internet. The result is faster diagnosis, multiple consultations, quicker understanding of patient history and better treatment. PACS addresses several problems of conventional film images as well such as delayed consultation and diagnosis due to non-availability of images in multiple access points. Radiologists and ultrasound technicians among other image modality experts are greatly benefited as images are directly stored on server, where a diagnostician accesses them from another point to quickly give a result. By integrating to OT cameras, live OT images can be streamed live for cross consultations. This advanced form of communication brings medical experts from niche medical areas from their field closer to perform procedures that have already saved millions of lives.There are four major components in any PACS structure that includes, imaging modalities such as X-ray, MRI, ultrasound and CT. The second component is the secure online network for distribution and exchange of information. The third component includes stationary and mobile workstations that can access storage area of patient records and images and finally a secure cloud or local server with capabilities to high definition images and videos that can be accessed anytime later. Ordinary hardware equipment integrated with advanced software and excellent band-width comprises of the core elements in the system. All equipment must be Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine or DICOM compliant. DICOM is a standard for handling, storing, printing, and transmitting information in medical imaging.Click For Full Report And Request TOC@Remote access capabilities, increased efficiency and diagnosis rate, greater hospital footfall, reduction in hospital expenditure caused by occupancy of hospital equipment are some of the major advantages offered by this technology. This is also supplemented by the decreasing costs of data storage devices, which can now be used to a great extent by very large hospitals and outsourced to cloud-based storage service providers. The global market for PACS in 2014 was estimated to be valued at US$ 4.0 billion. With increasing adoption in eastern hemisphere, particularly growing economies such as China, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Brazil, the market is expected to top US$ 6.5 billion by 2020, however these are only estimates based on the on-going research. United States, Germany United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Canada, Japan and Spain are the majority of the worlds developed economies where hospitals can afford to install PACS systems on a large scale. This can be interpreted into North America and Europe being the largest markets for Healthcare Information Technology -HIT systems currently. Increasing healthcare investment due to recent positive political changes in countries such as Brazil and India have reaffirmed expert opinions that the developing countries are heading for a smarter and faster healthcare systems in coming years.Presence of high speed internet required for greatest PACS efficiency is yet to be established in developing countries, however, this has not deterred from initiating small steps. Implementation with some third party solutions in hospitals also poses considerable technological challenge for service providers. This inhibits the growth of these technologies in developing regions of the world such as LATAM, Middle East and Asia-Pacific. In terms of players, the market is highly fragmented with competitors such as MedPacs Systems, AGFA Healthcare, TBF Technology Pvt. Ltd, MedSynaptic, GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, FujiFilm, Napier Healthcare, Siemens, Vepro, and Cisco Medical Grade Network among many others.For More Research Reports@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: Proteomics Market worth 21.87 Billion USD by 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=731 The report "Proteomics Market - Instrument, Reagent & Service (Spectroscopy, Chromatography, Electrophoresis, Immunoassay, HPLC, X-Ray Crystallography, Mass Spectrometry and Surface Plasmon Resonance) Application (Diagnostics, Drug Discovery) - Forecast to 2021", is projected to reach USD 21.87 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 11.7% from 2016 to 2021.This report studies the global proteomics market over the forecast period of 2016 to 2021.The global proteomics market is projected to reach USD 21.87 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 11.7% from 2016 to 2021. The global proteomics market exhibits potential for significant growth and is propelled by the increasing need for personalized medicine, R&D expenditure, technological advancements, and increased funding for proteomics projects. However, a few pivotal factors hampering the growth of this market include the reduced funds in key markets, sequestration cuts in the U.S. and reduced funds for proteomics research, high cost of tools and equipment, and dearth of skilled researchers.Download PDF Brochure @In this report, the global proteomics market is majorly segmented on the basis of instrumentation technology, application, reagent, services & software, and region. On the basis of regent, the protein fractionation reagents segment is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. On the basis of services and software, the analytical laboratory services segment commanded for the largest share of the market as these services help in effective diagnosis and research for drug discovery.On the basis of application, the market is segmented into drug discovery, clinical diagnostics, and others applications. The clinical diagnostics segment accounted for the largest share of the global proteomics market in 2015. This is attributed to the increased understanding of the relevance of investigating and understanding patterns of protein expression for diseases and drug development. Whereas, the drug discovery segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the continuous search for alternative and efficient methods to deliver enhanced drugs and the increasing R&D investments from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.In 2015, North America accounted for the largest share of the proteomics market, followed by Europe. The large share of this regional segment can be attributed to factors such as easy availability of funds from various organizations for carrying out proteomic research using innovative technologies and stringent regulatory requirements regarding pharmaceutical manufacturing. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the highest growth in this market majorly due to improving biopharmaceutical research infrastructure and growing economies in Japan and India. In addition, manufacturers are increasingly focusing on strengthening their presence in emerging markets of APAC countries.The global proteomics market is fragmented in nature. Some key players in this market are Agilent Technologies Inc. (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), Bruker Corporation (U.S.), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), GE Healthcare (U.S.), Luminex Corporation (U.S.), Merck KGaA (Germany), PerkinElmer Inc. (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (U.S.), and Waters Corporation (U.S.). These leading players have primarily focused on new product launches, acquisitions, agreements, collaboration, partnerships, and expansions for growth in the market.About MarketsandMarketsMarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.Contact:Mr. RohanMarkets and MarketsUNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZMagarpatta city, HadapsarPune, Maharashtra 411013, India1-888-600-6441Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Metallic Pigments Market - Global Industry Analysis 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2315 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/metallic-pigments-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/ A recent report recently published by Transparency Market Research (TMR) presents a detailed and professional overview of the global metallic pigments market. The report, on the basis of qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market data gathered with the help of a number of primary and secondary research methodologies, projects that the global market for metallic pigments will expand at a healthy pace over the period between 2015 and 2023. The report states that the market, which had a valuation of US$ 736.2 mn in 2014, will expand at a 6.4% CAGR and rise to US$1,286.7 mn by 2023.The report is titled Metallic Pigments Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023, and is available on the company website for sale.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:The report states that factors such as the rising demand for paints and coatings in the automotive sector and the flourishing plastics and printing inks industries in Asia Pacific are the key factors driving the global metallic pigments market. Metallic pigments not only possess the ability to enhance the visual quality of products, but also offer features such as ductility, opacity, and corrosion resistance to the end-product. Over the past few years, an increasing demand for metal paints, compared to solid paints, is also significantly propelling the global metallic pigments market.However, volatility in raw material prices of precious metals is expected to hamper the growth of the global metallic pigments market to a certain extent over the reports forecast period.The report segments the global metallic pigments market on the basis of three criteria: product, end-user, and geography.On the basis of product type, the market is segmented into aluminum, copper, zinc, stainless steel, and others. On the basis of end-user, the market is segmented into paints and coatings, personal care, plastics, printing inks, and others. Geography-wise, the market is segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.Based on product type, the market segment of aluminum accounted for the largest share of the global metallic pigments market in 2014. The market segment of copper held nearly 15% of the market in the same year. Copper, along with zinc, is used to give a typical gold bronze effect to products. Copper and zinc products are also used in numerous personal care products, printing inks, and paints and coatings.The end-use segment of paints and coatings accounted for the largest share of the global metallic pigments market while the segment of printing inks accounted for the second-largest share in the market in 2014. Over the reports forecast period, the end-use segment of personal care is expected to grow at the fastest pace over the reports forecast period.Browse the full Metallic Pigments Market Report At :Geography-wise, Asia Pacific led the global metallic pigments market in 2014, accounting gpt over 30% of the global market. The market is projected to observe declining demand from the regional markets North America and Europe over the reports forecast period owing to stringent environmental regulations.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog : Research report covers the Insulin Market Forecasts and Growth, 2016-2020 http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Insulin-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2016---2020/upcomingdetail29 http://www.sa-brc.com/Medical-Devices/industry1 Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases that has taken the centre stage across the world as one of the most profound and lasting conditions that significantly reduces the quality of life for people. It has grown to epidemic proportions and approximately 400 million people currently live with diabetes across the world and this number is expected to expand to approximately 550 million by 2030. There are two types of diabetes (Type 1 & Type 2). Type-1 is characterized by the inability of the body to produce insulin, the hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. It is a peptide hormone responsible for regulating the blood glucose levels. Though there is no well defined aetiology for occurrence of type 1 diabetes, it is mostly associated with genetic disorder or unexpected immune systems reaction that erroneously destroys the insulin producing cells of islet. Major symptoms include feeling thirsty, frequent urination, constant fatigue, weight loss and muscle loss, slow wound healing, blurred vision and repeated episodes of thrush. Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because the early symptoms tend to be general. Type 2 diabetes is where the body doesn't produce enough insulin, or the body's cells don't react to insulin. This is known as insulin resistance. This form of diabetes is far more common than type 1 diabetes.The only treatment widely recommended by medical practitioners is insulin intake for the lifetime. HbA1c test is considered as a critical test to infer the presence of glucose in the blood for the past couple of months and also plays an important role in laying down the treatment regime specific to individual patients. Insulin treatment algorithm can be defined on the basis of insulin preferred by the physicians that would give maximum efficacious outputs to the patient. The broad classification of types of insulins is based on their onset of action and duration of action rapid acting, short acting, long acting, intermediate acting and pre-mixed insulins. Giant pharmaceutical companies like Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Sanofi are the key players in this market with Novo Nordisk being the market leader.For Full Report And Request TOC@Insulin market is also categorized on the basis of its origin and technological advancement achieved in delivering the drug to the human body. Prefilled insulin delivering devices currently govern approximately two-third of the total insulin volume injected to human beings globally. Insulin derived from human origin takes up the maximum market share compared to insulin derived from animal sources. The new category of insulins called as modern insulins widely known as insulin analogues that are produced through recombinant DNA technology is expected to lead the future market enabling patients to have better glycaemic control.Lantus from Sanofi is a leading product in long acting insulin segment competing with Levemir from Novo Nordisk. Other key products in this market are Humalog, Novolog, Apidra, Velosulin, NPH, Lente, Humilin, Novolin, etc. New devices such as insulin pumps are making lives easier since patients do not have to constantly bother with injections. These devices and a new class of devices called artificial pancreas are expected to reduce patient discomfort and improve the quality of life for diabetics significantly. Though North America is the largest insulin market followed by Europe, tremendous growth has been identified in Asia precisely in India and China due to large diabetic population diagnosed in this region. Other emerging geographic regions for insulin drugs market with reasonable growth rate are Latin America, Middle East and Africa.More Research Reports@About UsSpearhead Acuity Business Research & Consulting Private Limited (OPC) 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 Us10685-B Hazelhurst DriveSuite 17411Houston, TX 77043United StatesPhone: +1(832)-426-3701E-mail: support@sa-brc.com Global Industry Insight: Sizing and Thickening Agents Market Application Development and Demand Forecast to 2020 www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/sizing-and-thickening-agents-market www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/chemicals-materials-and-energy www.psmarketresearch.com In 2014, Europe and North America dominated the global sizing and thickening agents market by region. Developing countries are the primary exporters of thickening and sizing agents to North America and Europe. The developments in industries such as paper, textiles, and the growing demand for convenience food products in the Asia-Pacific region is driving the sizing & thickening agents market. Due to increasing consumer demand, cheaper raw materials and reduced labor costs, major industry players in the developing countries are establishing their ways by investing in various partnerships, acquisitions, expansions and research & development.To Browse Full Report Visit Here:Sizing and thickening agents are substances which can increase the size and viscosity of a liquid without substantially changing its other properties. Edible thickeners are generally- used to thicken soups and sauces without altering their taste. Thickeners are also used in explosives, cosmetics, paints and inks.The global sizing and thickening agents market can be segmented on the basis of sizing agent type, thickening agent type and sizing and thickening agent by application. Based on sizing agent type, the global market of sizing and thickening agent can be divided into natural sizing agents, synthetic sizing agents and others. The natural sizing agent segment includes starches, rosins and others (glue, albumen and cellulosic derivatives), synthetic sizing agents includes polyvinyl alcohol, styrene, the others segment includes alkenyl succinic anhydride, acrylic acids polymer, modified polyesters and alkyl ketene dimer. On the basis of thickening agent type, the global market of sizing and thickening agents can be divided into minerals, hydrocolloids and others. The mineral agents include clays, silica and others. The hydrocolloid agent includes starches, gelatin, pectin, cellulose, gums, carrageenan and others (protein thickeners and alginates and its derivative), the others segment in the thickening agent type includes synthetic polymer thickeners. On the basis of application, the sizing and thickening agent market can be categorized into food and beverages, paper and paperboard, paints and coatings, textiles and fibers, and others (including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and drilling fluids).Browse For Related Research:Hydrocolloids are the most extensively used thickening agents. Starch and its derivatives are the most widely used natural sizing and thickening agents and polyvinyl alcohol is the most widely used synthetic polymer used for sizing.The growing demand for natural ingredients in food & beverage products is a major driver in the global sizing and thickening market. The hydrocolloids segment of the thickening agents market is driven by increasing demand for nutritive, healthy and convenience food products. The emerging trend of using clean-label products, which are slowly becoming compulsory across the globe, has created many opportunities for new formulations and new product developments in food & beverage segments.Sizing agents are mostly used in the paperboard & paper industry. Sizing agents hold the printing ink and provide protection to paper against the penetration of water or other fluids. Chemical processes such as film formation and hydrophobation take place and lead to coating hold-out, effective printability of fine paper and gullibility in recycled grades.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:AbhishekExecutive Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Sputter Coating Market - Rising Demand For Voice Over LTE (VOLTE) Services In Developing Regions Is Expected To Drive TheMarket http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15932 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sputter-coating-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The field of electron microscope requires the coating of samples for better imaging. Furthermore, the created layer is conductive in nature which enables charging and reduces the thermal damage to improve the secondary electron signals for topographic examination. Sputter Coating is one such method which involves the process of applying an ultra thin coating of electrically conductive metals such as gold, silver platinum and palladium among others. These coatings have a thickness range of 2-20 nanometers. The market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period.The sputter coating technology is increasingly being applied in the glass coating technology. The rising technological innovation in the glass displays is aiding to the growth of glass coating. This will indirectly drive the market for sputter coating market. Furthermore, the technological innovations in the semiconductor industry have lead to the growth of internet of things (IoT) market. Sputter Coating technology also finds it application in semiconductor industry. Hence the rising demand for IoT market is expected to drive the market for sputter coatings market significantly. In addition, there are several technologies under sputter coating which includes ion-assisted deposition which is one of the methods. This method is being used in medical implants, which is in return, pushing the demand for sputter coatings in the healthcare industry. Furthermore, the rising concern and upcoming government regulations for controlled hexavalent chrome emission is further driving the demand for sputter coating market globally.PDF Sample For Technological breakthroughs is @However, the use and application of sputter coating technology involves high expenditure which is restraining the growth of the market. In addition, proper application of sputter coating requires highly skilled technicians. These factors are expected to slow the growth of the market across all the regions.The market is expected to witness robust growth in future. The rising demand for voice over LTE (VOLTE) services in developing regions is expected to drive the market for sputter coatings in the telecommunication industry. Moreover, the demand for improved telecommunication is expected to create the need for improved smart phones with enhanced network capabilities. With the rise in telecommunication and smart phone industry, the overall semiconductor sector is expected to grow robustly. Sputter Coating technology is an essential aspect in rising demand in the semiconductor domain and hence expected to witness a steady growth globally.The sputter coating market can be segmented by substrate, target material, application and geography. In terms of substrate, the market can be segregated into semiconductors, insulators and metals & dielectric. Furthermore, in terms of target material, the market can be bifurcated into compounds, alloys and pure metal. The sputter coatings find their application in several areas which includes automotive, energy, defense, lighting, optical coating, healthcare, architecture, electronics and decorative coating among others.By geography, the sputter coating market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America. North America and Europe are expected to witness steady growth at the initial stage as they are the early adapters of new technology. Furthermore, the use of sputter coatings involves high initial investment which is not available across all the regions. However, Asia Pacific region is expected to witness a strong growth in future due to the presence of developing regions like China and India.Market Insight can be Viewed @The sputter coating market is witnessing strong competition from the major players. Frequent mergers and acquisition among the top players is aiding to the growth of the market globally. The leading players in the market include Umicore Group, Heraeus Deutschland GmbH & Co. Kg, AJA International Inc., Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Treibacher Industries AG, Corning Precision Materials Korea Co., Ltd., Hitachi Metals, Ltd., Intevac Inc, Soleras Advanced Coatings, Honeywell Electronics Material and Plansee among other players.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Market - Depletion Of Fossil Fuel Reserves Escalates The Market Growth http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15899 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/lithium-iron-phosphate-battery-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) battery refers to rechargeable lithium-ion battery which uses LiFePO as a cathode material. The energy density in LiFePO batteries are lower as compared to that of have common LiCoO design available in consumer electronic. However, better power density and longer lifetimes and safety are some of the benefits associated with these batteries.. Lithium Iron Phosphate, also known as LFP has various features such as long cycle life, high safety and high temperature resistance. Lithium iron phosphate batteries find application in power tools, electric vehicles, energy storage devices and electric bicycles among others. But as of now, the main use of Lithium Iron Phosphate battery is its use power batteries for electric vehicles.PDF Sample For Technological breakthroughs is @The Lithium Iron Phosphate battery market is expected to grow as a result of various factors such as the ever increasing population due to which there has been a significant depletion of fossil fuel reserves. This has led to a shift in the focus on the part of various countries towards have renewable power generation. Therefore, as a result of increasing focus towards renewable energy to address the serious concern of climate change and also improving upon the energy conservation is expected to contribute to the growth of the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery market during the forecast period. Moreover, there has also been a growing focus towards the integration of renewable energy resources with power grid networks which in turn is fuelling the growth of the market. These hybrid power systems and power grids use lithium iron phosphate batteries as a backup.As per trends it has been observed that the various manufacturers of Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are continuously engaged in research and development activities. The market requires extensive investments and return on investment is a time taking process. This has resulted in the manufacturers to be heavily dependent on government funding in order to expand their their facilities. Moreover, as a result of favorable government policies in countries such as Japan, South Korea and China among others is helping the market to flourish. The government in these countries are in support of green and eco-friendly technologies, which is bound to result in many manufacturers to enter the market and develop their own manufacturing units. Currently, the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery market is highly competitive and product quality, brand recognition, durability, reliability, pricing and energy density are of prime importance for the manufacturers in order to stay afloat in the competition. Furthermore, manufacturers offering better quality products at a competitive price are expected to prefer.The lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) battery on the basis of application can be segmented into; EVs and HEVs (electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicle), Renewable power and Consumer electronics. The EVs and HEVs is expected to dominate the market in terms of revenue. Unconventional energy storage systems that have the capability to enhance the performance and vehicle efficiency are an important area of focus for the EV manufacturers. As a result of long cycle time and high energy density, lithium iron phosphate batteries are expected to be the most preferred choice as far as alternative energy storage systems are concerned. Therefore, the growth in the demand for EVs in countries such as China is expected to fuel the demand for lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) batteries.Geographically, the lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) battery market can be segmented into five regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America.Market Insight can be Viewed @Some of the key players operating in the lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) battery market are BYD, A123, Electrical Vehicle Power System Technology, OptimumNano Energy, K2Energy, Pihsiang Energy Technology and Victory Battery Technology among others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Anti-Counterfeit Clothing and Accessories Packaging Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=9533 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/anti-counterfeit-clothing-accessories-packaging-market.html The misconduct of counterfeiting practices is mostly encountered with premium quality products owing to their low risk and large revenue benefits. The counterfeiting actions of accessories and clothing are hastily transforming from physical marketplace to e commerce portals. Moreover, potential counterfeiting acts would increase further with growing sales of fashion goods through e-commerce. Currently, the counterfeiting rates of clothing and accessories are hindering the financial growth of luxury goods and fashion industry. In order to overcome the increasing forgery practices, different authentication technologies are implemented for low cost products. There have been an increase in acceptance of track and trace technologies by premium fashion wear manufacturers worldwide. Anti-counterfeit labeling is expected to become an essential part of accessories packaging procedure, thereby mounting brand protection.Download Research Brochure PDF@The key driving factors for anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging market are increasing acceptance of track and trace technologies and rising trend of multilayered protection of products among others. There are other geographical drivers which are also responsible for the growth of the market. In addition, demand from emerging markets across India and China are expected to create opportunities for anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging market in the future. However, additional cost of anti-counterfeit technologies and huge cost of real time tracking are some of the major factors which are hindering the growth of global anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging market.Global anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging market can be broadly classified on the basis of technology and geography. By technology, the market for anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging is segmented into authentication packaging technology and track and trace packaging technology. Authentication packaging technology is further subdivided into ink and dyes, hologram and watermark among others. Hologram technology is anticipated to witness potential growth in the future. Moreover, track and trace packaging technology is classified into barcode technology and RFID technology. Barcode technology is expected to grow at a significant rate in the future due to its low cost compared to other track and trace technologies.By geography, the global anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia pacific and Rest of the World. Currently North America and Europe are collectively dominating the market for anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging in terms of revenue, followed by Asia-Pacific. There are huge number of customers of anti-counterfeit technologies in these regions, primarily due to high brand preference ambiance. Moreover, increase in adoption of track and trace technologies by manufacturers coupled with active anti-counterfeit measures from trade associations are boosting the market for anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging in North America and Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to become the fastest growing region in the future owing to increase in small scale clothing industries along with establishment of their brand image in local markets. However, the growth of luxury and fashion industry across developed countries was largely obstructed by decline in economic conditions. Leading manufacturers across these regions are focusing on newer opportunities through business expansion in emerging countries.Some of the key players in this market are Alien Technology Corp., Zebra Technologies Corp., AlpVision, Avery Dennison Corp., Impinj Incorporation, Microtrace Solutions, Applied DNA Science Inc., RDS Labels and Brand Integrity International among others.Browse Full Report@About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Fixed Capacitor Market - smart grids and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) acting as a major driver for market growth http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15542 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/fixed-capacitor-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com A capacitor, also known as a permittor or condenser is an electrical component with a passive two-terminal and is used to store electrical energy or charge in an electrical field. All fixed capacitors contain electrical conductors which are separated by an insulating layer, known as dielectric. Small capacitors are used in electronic devices to enhance signals between amplifier stages as part of power supply systems or as particles of turned circuits and electric filters. Larger capacitors are used to store electric energy of electric motors, strobe lights or for power correction in AC power distribution systems. Different types of fixed capacitor includes, paper capacitor which includes paper sheet capacitor and metalized paper capacitor, plastic film capacitor which includes film-foil capacitors and metalized film capacitors, ceramic capacitor which includes ceramic disc capacitor, ceramic tubular capacitor and multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC), mica capacitor which includes stacked mica capacitor and silvered mica capacitor, electrolytic capacitor which includes aluminum electrolytic capacitor, tantalum electrolytic capacitor and niobium electrolytic capacitor and supercapacitors which includes double layer capacitors, pseudo - capacitors and hybrid capacitors. Ceramic capacitors hold the largest market share among all the types owing to increased demand from its application areas such as tone compensation, lighting ballasts, resonant circuit, volume control RF bypass, and antenna coupling among others. It is expected to have a steady growth rate owing to increased demand in developing countries such as Thailand, India and China among others. It is closely followed by electrolytic capacitors which hold the second largest position in the global market share.PDF Sample For Technological breakthroughs is @Major drivers driving the global fixed capacitors are increased demand by application areas such as high current applications for paper capacitors, A/D converters and motor run for plastic film capacitors, resonant circuit and antenna coupling for ceramic capacitors, Laser and RADAR for mica capacitors, filters and time constant circuits for electrolytic capacitors among others. Revolution in storage technology with the introduction of newer market segments such as smart grids and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) among others is also acting as a major driver in the global fixed capacitor market. In addition, supportive government regulations, low transmission losses and need for improved stability and larger demand by niche end user segment is driving the global fixed capacitor market in a positive way. Lack of standardization and high infrastructure cost are the major factors that are restraining market growth. Rapid growth of automation and infrastructure industries is a major opportunity of the global fixed capacitor market.Geographically, the global fixed capacitor market is divided into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. Europe is the largest market of the overall fixed capacitor market. Asia Pacific and Middle East are the fastest growing markets owing to rapid industrialization and growth of end user segments. Countries such as India, Japan and China are the fastest growing countries as they are major developing countries with high growth and industrialization in these countries. The use of fixed capacitor is rapidly growing in renewable energy sector and is thus a great opportunity for these fast developing countries.Major players of the global fixed capacitor market include Toshiba (Tokyo, Japan), ABB Ltd. (Zurich, Switzerland), Epcos AG (Munich, Germany), Alstom SA (Saint-Quain, France), Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany), Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Kyoto Prefecture, Japan), Advanced Capacitor Technologies, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), Axion Power International, Inc. (Pennsylvania, U.S), EEStor Corporation (Toronto, Canada), FastCAP Systems, Inc. (Massachusetts, U.S), Graphene Energy, Inc. (Texas, U.S), Capxon International Electronic Co., Ltd. (Wanchai, Hong Kong), Kemet Corporation (South Carolina, U.S), Maxwell Technologies, Inc. (California, U.S) and Nesscap Energy, Inc. (Toronto, Canada) among others.Market Insight can be Viewed @Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Electric Vehicle Battery Market - Concerns Regarding Degradation Of The Environment Is The Major Factor Market Growth http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=9073 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/electric-vehicle-battery-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Growing concerns related to decreasing oil and gas resources and degrading environmental conditions are having positive impact on the demand for electric powered vehicles. Moreover, subsidies and incentives on usage of such vehicles is another factor driving the market for electric powered vehicles. These vehicles depend on electric batteries to provide the primary or the secondary power. Thus any impact on the demand for electric powered vehicles will affect the electric vehicle battery market. An electric powered vehicle or battery electric vehicle use chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs for power. As all the power is derived from batteries therefore, it does not require any combustion engine for propulsion. Battery Electric vehicles include scooters, rail cars, bicycle, forklifts, buses and cars. The advantages in battery storage technology have also positively affected the electric vehicle battery market.PDF Sample For Technological breakthroughs is @The segmentation of the electric vehicle battery market can be done on the basis of technology, application and geography. Technology segment deals with the different types of batteries used for manufacturing of electric vehicle battery. Major battery types include lead acid batteries, nickel metal hydride batteries, zebra batteries and lithium ion batteries. Lead acid batteries are the most common and cheapest type of batteries. Nickel metal hydride batteries have higher energy densities than the common lead acid batteries and if used properly can have exceptionally long lives. The Zebra batteries use molten chloro-aluminate sodium as electrolyte. Lithium ion batteries use graphite anode and lithium cobalt oxide anode. These batteries are use to power the Battery Electric Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Electric Vehicles.Regional segmentation of the electric vehicle battery market includes countries such as the United States and Canada in North America; Germany, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe. The government incentives on usage of battery powered vehicles are one of the main reasons behind the growth of North American and European electric vehicle battery market. Other prominent market includes Asia Pacific and Middle East. Asia Pacific market includes the countries such as Japan, China and South Korea. Increasing concerns related to energy security and incentives on use of battery powered vehicles are the major factor driving the Asia Pacific market. The Rest of the World segment still lags behind in the electric vehicle battery market. The Rest of the World Market includes countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.Decreasing crude oil reserves and concerns regarding degradation of the environment are the major factors driving the electric vehicle battery market. With decreasing crude reserves the demand for economical transportation technologies has attracted investment in this market. The governments of many major countries have encouraged adoption hybrid vehicles that utilize the electric battery. Many national agencies have enforced rules and provide attractive concessions on purchasing hybrid cars. Stringent environmental regulations in the European Union nations have encouraged wide adoption of the battery powered vehicles. The fluctuating crude oil prices are another major factor bolstering consumers to adopt such batteries. Expensive nature of electric vehicle battery is one of the major restraints to the market.Market Insight can be Viewed @Some of the major players in the electric vehicle battery market include companies such as SAMSUNG SDI CO. LTD., Quallion, Boston-Power, Inc. and LG Chem Power Inc.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Cleanroom Consumables Market : Advanced Technologies & Growth Opportunities In Global Industry By 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3995 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cleanroom-consumables-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Cleanroom Consumables Market: SnapshotThe growing applications of nanotechnology in electronic medical devices have created a highly positive mark on the global market for cleanroom consumables, making these devices an inseparable part of the healthcare industry. Numerous medical device manufacturers and CMOs have formed over the past years in China, increasing the demand for medical electronic components and devices. The Asia Pacific region as a whole is also adhering to stringent regulatory norms, further increasing the need for advanced and compliant devices and processes in cleanroom consumables.For Any Queries Get Solutions With A PDF Sample :The regulatory restrictions are also being strengthened for processing and manufacture of biological drugs that are used for fighting the growing prevalence of chronic illnesses. Biological drugs have proven themselves as a better option against chronic diseases and the resultant growth in demand has to be met by a growth in the number of cleanrooms owned by pharmaceutical companies.It is, however, the complicated nature of the stringent regulatory norms themselves that are also restricting the growth of cleanroom consumables from the perspective of international trade. The regulations differ vastly from region to region, thereby disallowing many types of cleanroom consumables to be exported or imported.The resultant effect of all such factors of influence reflect in the estimated 4.76% CAGR shown by the global cleanroom consumables market from 2015 to 2023. This market is expected to be valued at US$2.21 bn by the end of 2016 and US$3.04 bn by 2023.North America, Europe Cleanroom Consumables Demand Growth Slows DownWhile North America and Europe have consistently led the consumption rate of cleanroom components, the market in both regions has reached maturity, therefore showing a sluggish rate of growth over the coming years. On the other hand, Asia Pacific, with its robust growth rate in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, is quickly proving to be a hotbed of activities in many advanced medical fields and applications. This includes the latest components to arrive in the cleanroom consumables market.By the end of 2023, North America will hold the leading share of 34% in cleanroom consumables value, followed by Europe. The share held by Asia Pacific is expected to increase till 2023 due to a rapidly increasing demand. Additionally, the rest of the world, which includes the MEA and Latin America, is showing a weaker growth rate owing to the low number of in-house manufacturing and research facilities.Biotech Applications of Cleanroom Consumables Set to IncreaseBy the end of 2023, approximately US$1 bn is expected to be generated from the use of cleanroom consumables in the field of biotechnology. The demand for cleanroom consumables in biotechnology is always expected to be very high, owing to the high growth rate of biotech research and development activities in the world, coupled with the strict regulatory norms. Both factors have pushed up the demand for cleanroom consumables in biotechnology. Over the recent past, the number of cleanrooms owned by companies has increased significantly enough to expect similar demand in the coming years.The method of diagnosis has changed significantly with the advent of advanced devices such as monitors, multi-parameter patient monitors, blood glucose monitors, and wearable medical devices. With the growing market penetration and the growing instances of most chronic diseases, the growing healthcare sector is in need of cleanroom consumables.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :The key providers of cleanroom consumables across the world include Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Texwipe, Nitritex Ltd., Valutek, DuPont, Contec, Inc., KM Corporation, Micronclean (skegness) Limited, and Micronova Manufacturing, Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Sodium Bromide Market - Global Industry Analysis 2023 Sodium Bromide Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=4109 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Sodium bromide is the most common alkali bromide, occurring in both the dihydrate and anhydrous forms. Sodium bromide is prepared by adding excess bromine to sodium hydroxide solutions, which assists in formation of bromide and bromine mixture. Post mixture, the products are evaporated to dry state and again treated with carbon to obtain bromide. Sodium bromide is chemically and thermally stable. Sodium bromide can be blended with other solutions of chlorides and bromides and is also useful for formations with calcium sensitivity. Few key applications of sodium bromide include as sedative in pharmaceutical sector and as clear brine fluid in oil and gas wells. Furthermore sodium bromide is used as disinfectant in swimming pools. The growing demand from end-use industry including pharmaceutical, water treatment and other industries is expected to drive the global sodium bromide market in the years to come.The application of sodium bromide ranges in various industries. Sodium bromide is used as an anticonvulsant, hypnotic, and sedative in medicine for pharmaceutical industry. Sodium bromide is used as a heavy, clear brine fluid for completing and working over oil and gas wells. In oil and gas wells sodium bromide eliminates the potential damage due to formation of precipitates such as carbonate, bicarbonate and sulfate. Sodium bromide is used to control bacterial, fungal and algal slimes in municipal wastewater and industrial wastewater treatment. Sodium bromide is used in photographic processing, used as chemical intermediate for producing various chemicals and bromides and as a disinfectant in swimming pool along with chloride. Owing to all such applications sodium bromide is growingly used in end-user industries such as wastewater treatment, pharmaceutical industry across the globe.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical insights:Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing market for sodium bromide in the next six years. The main reason for this is the growing demand for sodium bromide market from developing countries such as China and India. Moreover, the countries in the geographies such as Africa, South America and the Middle East are showing rapid economic and industrial growth since the last few years. Furthermore, the U.S. and European nations are gradually recovering from the economic depression. All such factors are eventually creating a positive prospect for the global industrial scenario. Considering this prospect, pharmaceutical and wastewater treatment related industries are anticipated to record strong growth in the coming years. There is a tremendous market potential for the sodium bromide market in the countries such as China, India, the U.S and Brazil.The rising population coupled with increasing disposal income and growing purchase parity will drive the pharmaceutical industry. Due to this, the demand for sodium bromide for sedative in pharmaceutical industry and for water clarification applications in waste water treatment industry is anticipated to grow at an outstanding rate in the next few years. The key companies operating in the sodium bromide market are largely focusing China and India for tapping their enormous market potential. The major players in the sodium bromide market are installing robust manufacturing facilities in China, India, Brazil and the U.S to fulfill the rapidly rising local demand. Therefore, the global sodium bromide market is expected to experience a significant growth in the future.Some of the major companies operating in the global sodium bromide market are Fisher Scientific, Chemtura Corporation, TETRA Technologies, Inc., M-I SWACO a Schlumberger Company, Tata Chemicals Ltd., Alfa Aesar, Albemarle Corporation and Jordan Bromine Company Limited.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: Crystalware and Glassware Market - Global Industry Analysis 2023 Crystalware and Glassware Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=216 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ As the name suggests, crystalware & glassware products are made of glass and crystals (a variety of glass with a different chemical composition and a crystalline structure). Uses of crystalware & glassware products in households can be traced way back to medieval period in Europe and Han period in China. Crystalware & glassware products gained its popularity in Europe and North America after the Second World War. Crystalware & glassware products are generally made of three types of glasses which are soda lime glass, lead glass and heat resistant glass. Soda lime glass is the most common type of glass used contributes to more than half of total crystalware & glassware market. Rest of the market is contributed to by lead glass and heat resistant glass. By type of application, crystalware & glassware market can be divided primarily into four segments which are functional drinking vessels, tableware, ornamental & decorative and collectibles.In the crystalware & glassware industry, crystals were formerly referred to as lead glass which is a variety of glass where calcium content of glass is replaced by lead. Lead glass contains 1840% of lead oxide. Lead crystalware products were previously used to store and serve drinks (beverageware). Due to health risks associated with lead, barium oxide, zinc oxide and potassium oxide were later introduced to replace lead oxide. This type of glass was named crystal glass. Glass products which contain 24% lead oxide are generally referred to as lead crystal while any products containing lead oxide less than 24% is referred to as crystal glass. The tableware application segment has largest share in global crystalware & glassware market.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights:Tableware market can be segmented down to dinnerware (plates, bowls, cups, saucers and mugs, generally made of glass), general glassware (beverageware, stemware and barware made of glass or crystal) and flatware (eating utensils). Crystalware products have higher refractive index and lower working temperature and viscosity. It also has attractive optical properties due to high content of lead or other heavy metals in its composition. Crystalware & glassware products are also used in ornamental & decorative application. As presence of lead or any other heavy metals oxide gives a much higher index of refraction than normal glass and also increases sparkles by increasing specular reflection and range of angels of total internal reflection, this market is majorly occupied by crystalware products as they have desirable aesthetic properties.Crystalware & glassware is part of houseware industry which has a multi-billion dollar market. As demand of crystalware & glassware is dependent on high volume market its price is expected to be at lower side, especially from Chinese manufactures. In price sensitive regions such as Asia Pacific and Middle East where demand of crystalware & glassware is on higher side due to already existing and expanding glass and plastic industries, lower price may act as a significant driver of its demand. Crystalware & glassware market has experienced decline in demand in developed regions such as North America and Europe. The market is expected to decline further in future because of economic crisis combined with increase in market share of cheap imported products from Asia Pacific region.In developed regions such as Europe and North America, due to an influx of cheap products from China, retailers are being forced to lower their prices to survive in competing market. In addition to this, economic crisis resulting in slowing wages and rising living cost has forced European and North American market to saturate. On the other hand European and North American manufacturers are more focusing on emerging markets such as Asia Pacific and Middle East region where fast growing middle class want to invest in quality crystalware & glassware products from renowned brands. Because of this in future the market is expected to be driven by Asia Pacific and Middle East region but existing ceramic and plastic products in those regions will hinder its growth.Some of the major companies involved in the Potassium Formate market are Lenox Corporation (U.S.), Lifetime Brands, Inc. (U.S.), Guy Degrenne SA (France), The Denby Pottery Company Ltd. (UK), Libbey, Inc. (U.S.), Villeroy & Boch AG (Germany), Noritake Co., Ltd. (Japan), World Kitchen, LLC. (U.S.), The Zrike Company, Inc. (U.S.), WWRD Holdings Ltd. (UK), WMF Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG (Germany), and Oneida Ltd. (U.S.).About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our 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: Californium Market - Global Industry Analysis 2023 Californium Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=7295 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Californium is one of the highly radioactive elements and is a silvery white colored element. Californium belongs to the actinide series and is considered as rare earth element. The element californium derives its name from state of California as it was first synthesized in 1950 at the University of California. Californium is one of the few trans-uranium elements which could be synthesized and used for practical applications. Californium finds application in starting of nuclear reactors mainly due to its ability of emitting neutrons. Moreover, californium can also be used to study the neutron spectroscopy or neutron diffraction.Californium plays a vital role in synthesizing higher mass elements such as ununoctium. In spite of its considerable usages in nuclear reactor and in synthesizing of heavy mass elements, the radioactive nature of californium affects its application. Californium is produced in very miniscule quantities in nuclear reactor by bombarding plutonium by neutrons. Since, the production of californium is very less, the market for californium is extremely niche. Currently the production for californium carried out in very small quantities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in U.S. and in Research Institute of Atomic Reactors, Russia.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights:Californium exists in two crystalline forms under normal pressure and the third form at extremely high pressure. The two crystalline forms available, tend to get tarnished at room temperature. The most common isotope of californium (californium-252) has a half life of 2.64 years while the most stable isotope of californium (californium-251) has a half life of 898 years. Californium is chiefly used as a source of emission of neutrons in nuclear reactor. According to one of the researches, one micro gram of californium has a capability to release 0.17 billion neutrons suitable to start multiple nuclear fission reactions. This ability of californium enhances the delivery of neutrons in nuclear reactors, making it ideal substitute for various other radioactive elements used for free neutrons source.Moreover, as californium emits high amount of neutrons, it could be used in the discovery of precious metals such as silver or gold. This potential application is expected to boost the demand for californium in next few years. Furthermore, one of the isotopes of californium (californium-252) finds usage in cancer treatment. Recently, californium is used in moisture gauges primarily used in detecting ground water movement. The radioactive nature of californium coupled with its complex process of production is anticipated to restrict the large scale production of californium, thus affecting californium market to certain extent.Considering all the potential usages, the market for californium is expected to grow in next few years. The cancer treatment application is anticipated to increase the production of californium making it available in commercial quantities. The demand for californium is expected to be high from developed regions such as Europe and the U.S as these regions show tremendous growth potential in cancer research. Owing to strong research work in nuclear reactions and its potential benefits, the californium market is anticipated to flourish in the developed regions. Moreover, californium has a strong ability of synthesizing heavy mass elements which makes californium vital in research work. The capability of californium to release large number of neutrons could be used in discovery of precious elements such as gold and silver. In spite of the challenges posed regarding the production of californium, the potential range of applications is expected to drive the market of californium in the developed regions.About Us :-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our 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: Potassium Hydroxide Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2153 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/potassium-hydroxide-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Potassium Hydroxide Market: OverviewPotassium hydroxide, popularly known as caustic potash, is a liquid inorganic compound made by employing potassium and sodium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide is used in several applications such as fertilizers, petroleum refining, precursors, and soaps. The fertilizer application segment has emerged dominant in the consumption of potassium hydroxide and it is expected that the trend will continue over the forthcoming years.View exclusive Global strategic Business report:The research report provides an outline of the growth trajectory of the global potassium hydroxide market along with the predominant trends. The study also highlights the dynamics that are expected to impact the growth of the market in a positive or negative way. It further evaluates the elements at play in the global potassium hydroxide market. The report provides a clear picture of the market by analyzing the competitive landscape through Porters five forces analysis and also provides information about the entry and exit barriers in the global potassium hydroxide market. An in-depth analysis of the products, strategies, and shares of leading companies has also been provided in the report.Global Potassium Hydroxide Market: Trends and OpportunitiesPotassium hydroxide is used in the manufacturing of alternative health products, medical diagnostics, and cleaning products. It is also employed in the production of chemicals such as laurate, titanate, oleate, manganite, gluconate, bromide, bromate borohydride, fluosilicate, formate, aluminate, and potassium cyanide. The prime factor driving the growth of the market is the proliferating use of potassium hydroxide in fertilizers and household products.Browse Full Report with ToC:Rising population is also one of the key reasons behind the growing demand for potassium hydroxide as it leads to a rise in food consumption in turn fueling the sales of fertilizers for better agricultural produce. Moreover, the rising disposable income of consumers in emerging economies in Asia Pacific and the Rest of the World is expected to bolster the growth of the global potassium hydroxide market. However, health and environmental hazards associated with the use of potassium hydroxide are likely to restrain the growth of the market. Government bodies and regulatory organizations have imposed strict regulations regarding the consumption of potassium hydroxide and have made it mandatory for industries employing it to adhere certain standards.Global Potassium Hydroxide Market: Regional OutlookThe global potassium hydroxide market is segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Rest of the World. Asia Pacific dominated the global potassium hydroxide market followed by North America in terms of consumption and it is anticipated that the trend will continue over the next few years. China and India are likely to emerge as the leading markets for potassium hydroxide in Asia Pacific due to the mounting population in these countries. The growth of the potassium hydroxide market in the Rest of the World segment is likely to be driven by the growing consumption of potassium hydroxide in Latin America. The markets for potassium hydroxide in Eastern Europe and Russia are projected to witness strong growth during the forecast period.Companies Mentioned in the ReportTo maintain a lead in the market, companies are focusing on the production of a wider variety of chemicals using potassium hydride and potassium along with the production of potassium hydroxide. Some of the key players operating in the global potassium hydroxide market are PotashCorp, JSC Uralkali, Occidental Chemical Corporation, ICL Fertilizers, Haifa Chemicals Ltd., Armand Products, and The Mosaic Company.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Zirconium Market - Global Industry Analysis 2019 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2151 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/zirconium-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global zirconium market is recovering from the decline it faced over the last decade. By the end of 2014, the market had indicated a slow but steady growth as the demand is set to stabilize in the future.The global market for zirconium is analyzed on the basis of its geographical distribution. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World are the key regional markets for zirconium.Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with PDF Brochure:The research report provides a comparative analysis of the global zirconium market, including qualitative as well as quantitative evaluation of each segment of this market. The market study also evaluates the market dynamics and prevalent trends such as the growth drivers, limitations, and prospects influencing the current performance and the future status of this industry.Overview of the global zirconium marketThe performance of the global zirconium market is dependent upon the movement in the ceramic industry, as zirconium derives most of its demand from the global ceramics market. The foundry, refractory, and electronics industries are the other major consumers of zirconium.Zirconium is a strong, malleable, and ductile metal that possesses extreme resistance to heat and corrosion. This silver-grey metal is derived from mineral zircon sand. Its resistance to absorption of neutrons makes it useful for cladding of nuclear fuel.Browse Full Report with ToC:In terms of demand, the zirconium market in Asia Pacific led the global zirconium market in 2012. Demand from this region is expected to rise on account of the rising demand from end-use industries such as medical and healthcare, ceramics, and construction. Asian economies such as Japan, China, India, and South Korea are expected to be the major consumers of zirconium during the forecast period.The zirconium market in North America stood second in 2012. The market in the U.S. is the leading consumer of zirconium in North America, due to rising demand from the nuclear energy and ceramics industries.The market in Europe held the third position in the global zirconium market. Economies such as Turkey, Spain, and Italy are the key consumers of zirconium in Europe.Lastly, the market for zirconium in the Rest of the World is expected to exhibit significant potential for growth in the coming years. South Africa dominates the zirconium market in the Rest of the World segment.Overall, the global zirconium market is set to exhibit steady growth in the future, but the high price of zirconium and the health issues associated with it are expected to create major hindrances for the development of this market.Companies mentioned in the research reportThe global zirconium market is consolidated in nature, with Kenmare Resources, Iluka Resources, Tronox, and Rio-Tinto leading the global market. Other prominent participants of this market are Bemax Resources, Astron, Wah Chang, Smartac Group China Holdings, Exxaro Resources, Richards Bay Minerals, Namakwa Sands, Australian Zircon, Foskor, Alkane Resources, Tosoh, Astron Advanced Materials, EI DuPont de Nemours, Luxfer Group, and Moly.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Aviation Analytics Market Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2015 2021 http://bit.ly/2dfg69s http://atozresearch.com/global-aviation-analytics-market-research-report/ http://atozresearch.com/category/energy-mining/ http://atozresearch.com/category/healthcare-it/ http://atozresearch.com/category/pharmaceuticals/ http://atozresearch.com/ Global Aviation Analytics Market for (Airlines and Airports) End-Uses, by Business Function (Finance, Operations, Manufacturing & Repair, Sales & Marketing and Supply Chain) for Fuel Management, Flight Risk Management, Revenue Management, Customer Analytics, Navigation Service And Inventory Management Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2015 2021.The report covers forecast and analysis for the aviation analytics market on a global and regional level.According to the report, global demand for aviation analytics was valued at USD 1.90 billion in 2014 is expected to reach USD 4.20 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 14.30% between 2015 and 2020.The study includes drivers and restraints for the market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes study of opportunities available in the aviation analytics market on a global level.Request Sample Report:Key augmenting drivers of global aviation analytics market include information technology advancements in the field of analytics with respect to aviation industry, structured and unstructured data explosion, and rising usage of cloud-based services. Additionally, increasing volume of data generated in aviation industry is expected to drive the demand for aviation analytics. However, diversity of data models based on business needs is likely to hinder the demand for aviation analytics. Furthermore, increasing demand for real-time analytics in the aviation industry may open new avenues for key participants of aviation analytics market.Airports and airlines are the prime end-users of global aviation analytics market. In 2015, the airlines end-user represented the biggest share, of more than 60% in the market. Moreover, it is also projected to remain dominant in the coming years due to the high penetration of advancing technology in the industry.Browse detail report at:On the basis of business functions, the global aviation analytics market is segmented into finance, operations, manufacturing & repair, sales & marketing and supply chain. Amongst these, finance led the business function segment of the global aviation analytics market. It accounted more than 30% share of the market. Finance was followed by operation business function. However, operations and sale & marketing segment are projected to exhibit positive impact on the market growth within the forecast period.In order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the aviation analytics market, we have included a detailed competitive scenario, and product portfolio of key vendors. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters five forces end-usesl for the aviation analytics market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein type segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.The study provides a decisive view on the aviation analytics market by segmenting the market based on end-user, business function, application and region. Based on end-user, the aviation analytics market can be segmented into airlines, airports and others. The major business functions covered under this study include finance, operations, supply chain, maintenance & repair, sales & marketing and others. The key applications covered under this include fuel management, flight risk management, revenue management, customer analytics, navigation business function, inventory management and other applications. All the segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2015 to 2021. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africawith its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S., Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Argentina and Brazil.Other Categories Reports :-Energy & Mining:Healthcare IT:Pharmaceuticals:The report covers detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. The key players of IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, General Electric, SAS Institute, Ramco International, Booz Allen Hamilton, MU -Sigma, Mercator, Aviation Analytics Ltd and Airport Analytics (AA+).This report segments the aviation analytics market as follows:Aviation Analytics Market: End-User AnalysisAirlinesAirportsOthersAviation Analytics Market: Business Function AnalysisFinanceOperationsSupply ChainMaintenance & RepairSales & MarketingOthersAviation Analytics Market: Application AnalysisFuel ManagementFlight Risk ManagementRevenue ManagementCustomer AnalyticsNavigation Business functionInventory ManagementOtherAviation Analytics Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaUSCanadaEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaSouth KoreaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilArgentinaMiddle East and AfricaSouth AfricaUAEIsraelSaudi ArabiaRest of Middle East & AfricaAbout A to Z ResearchA to Z Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. A to Z Research is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact US3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442, USATel: +1-386-310-3803GMTTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-465Email: martin@atozresearch.comWebsite: Cobalt Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2135 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cobalt-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Cobalt Market: OverviewThe application of cobalt in the industrial sector is in the form of a compound and it is rarely used as a free element. The key applications of cobalt are life sciences, binder materials, orthopedics, magnets, thermal spray coatings, water resistant alloys, super alloys, and reusable energy storage systems. Among all the application segments, reusable energy systems emerged dominant and are likely to retain a lead in the global cobalt market over the forecast period.Download exclusive Sample of this report:The report presents a comprehensive overview of the factors that are likely to augment or inhibit the growth of the global cobalt market. The study further presents an evaluation of the key segments of global cobalt market along with the shares and progress of regional markets. It also assesses the prevalent trends and the prime elements at play in the global cobalt market. To provide a clear outlook of the competitive rivalry among the players operating in the market, the report utilizes Porters five forces analysis. The growth trajectory of the market has been thoroughly analyzed and information on the degree of barriers to entry and exit has also been offered in the report. An analysis of the shares, product portfolio, and strategies of the key players has also been presented in the study.Global Cobalt Market: Trends and OpportunitiesCobalt-based super alloys have features such as weldability, enhanced thermal fatigue resistance, and high melting point. As a result of this, the demand for cobalt is significantly high from the electronics, automotive, and aerospace industry. The growth of the global cobalt market can be attributed to the rising demand for lightweight electric cars for combating climate change issues. Rechargeable batteries are deployed in electric vehicles, giving rise to the demand for cobalt as it is the main compound added in batteries. Owing to the use of cobalt alloys in airplane engines, the demand for cobalt is anticipated to rise from the aviation industry over the forthcoming years.Browse Full Report with ToC:The rising application of cobalt in the medical sector is also expected to further bode well for the growth of the market. Due to features of cobalt such as corrosion resistance, strength, durability, and biocompatibility, it is used to manufacture hip and knee replacement components. It also has applications as a biomedical metal in trauma fixation dentistry, surgical instruments, and implants.However, the demand for cobalt is likely to be hindered by the irregularity in supply occurring due to a dearth of advanced infrastructure and political instability in leading cobalt producing and exporting countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Owing to the discrepancy between the supply and demand, the prices of cobalt are likely to rise, causing an adverse impact on its sales.Global Cobalt Market: Regional OutlookRegion-wise, the global cobalt market is categorized into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the Rest of the World. The leading producers of cobalt in the world are Australia, Zambia, China, and Canada. The U.S. and China are the leading consumers of cobalt owing to the growth of the aviation and automotive industries in these countries. The key regional segments in the global cobalt market are North America and Asia Pacific due to the high demand for cobalt from the U.S. and China.Companies Mentioned in the Market Research ReportTo increase their profit margin, the leading companies operating in the global cobalt market are focusing on enhancing their extraction activities and improve their production units. The key players in the market are Umicore, Jinchuan, Glencore Xstrate plc, Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold, and Huayou Cobalt.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Antioxidant BHT Market Size, Share, Growth, Segment, and Forecast, 2015 2021 Global Antioxidant BHT Market http://bit.ly/2cxSiKQ http://atozresearch.com/global-antioxidant-bht-market-research-report/ http://atozresearch.com/category/food-and-beverage/ http://atozresearch.com/category/chemical-materials/ http://atozresearch.com/category/consumer-goods/ http://atozresearch.com/ Global Antioxidant BHT Market for Animal Feed, Food and Other Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2015 2021.Global antioxidant BHT market is expected to reach approximately USD 265.91 million by 2021.The report covers forecast and analysis for the antioxidant BHT market on a global and regional level. According to the report, the global antioxidant BHT market was valued at USD 197.86 million in 2015 and is expected to reach approximately USD 265.91 million by 2021, growing at a CAGR of around 5.10% between 2016 and 2021. The study includes drivers and restraints for the market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes study of opportunities available in the antioxidant BHT market on a global level.Request Sample Report:In order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the antioxidant BHT market, we have included analysis of Porters five forces model, patent analysis and strategic developments in the report for the antioxidant BHT market. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein regional segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.The demand-driving factors of the antioxidants BHT market are the globally increasing prices of feed, and the increasing use of antioxidants in improving the animals disease resistance. Moreover, expansion of food and pharmaceutical industries is expected to augment antioxidant BHT market growth over the projected period. Long-term exposure to high doses of BHT is toxic and it may cause liver, kidneyand thyroid problems and also affecting lung function and blood coagulation. However, harmful effect of BHT may hamper the market growth within the forecast period. Nevertheless, ongoing research to enhance BHT antioxidant properties is expected to open up new growth opportunities over the next few years.Browse detail report at:Based on application, the antioxidant BHT market can be segmented into animal feed, food and others (cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, rubber, electrical transformer oil, fuel additive, etc.). Fooddominated the market with over 48% share of the total market in 2015. Antioxidant BHT helps in reducing the rate of oxidation of feed, thus preventing wastage of feed.This helps the farmerto bring down feed costs. Thus, food segment is expected to exhibit significant growth in the years to come.Animal feed is another leading segment of antioxidant BHT market and is expected to show strong growth in the near future. Other applications like cosmetics, rubber etc also expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period.Asia Pacific was the leading regional market for antioxidants BHT in 2015. Asia Pacific accounted for over 55%share of total revenue generated in 2015.This growth is mainly due tothe presence of robust manufacturing bases for foods, and feed.In addition, China was the largest consumer of antioxidant BHT in 2015. Furthermore, North America was the second largest regional market and is expected to witness significant growth in the years to come. This growth is attributed to the high demand for protein and meat consumption. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are also expected to exhibit significant growth within the forecast period.The study provides a decisive view on the antioxidant BHT market by segmenting the market based on application and geography. Based on application, antioxidant BHT market can be segmented into food, animal feed & others (cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, rubber, electrical transformer oil, fuel additive, etc). All the segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2015 to 2021. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africawith its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S. Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India and Brazil.Other Categories Reports :-Food and beverage:Chemical and materials:Consumer Goods:The report covers detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Caldic, Cargill, LANXESS, Impextraco, Perstorp Group, Merisol USA LLC, Milestone Preservatives Private Limited, Eastman Chemical Company, Oxiris Chemicals S.A., Nova International, Feiya Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., JiYi Chemical (Beijing) Co. Ltd andNanJingLongYan Chemical Co. Ltd.This report segments the antioxidant BHT market as follows:Antioxidant BHT Market: Application AnalysisFoodAnimal FeedOthers (Cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, rubber, electrical transformer oil, fuel additive, etc.)Antioxidant BHT Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaAbout A to Z ResearchA to Z Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. A to Z Research is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact US3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442, USATel: +1-386-310-3803GMTTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-465Email: martin@atozresearch.comWebsite: Microcontrollers (MCU) Market is exhibiting a robust CAGR of 16.0%, Outlook 2018 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=255 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The rising demand from the automotive industry has been aiding the global microcontrollers (MCUs) market . A considerable number of MCUs are required in an average automobile to make it function effectively. Furthermore, with the integration of novel features such as GPS and keyless entry, an automobile now requires MCUs embedded with their support circuits more than ever. In a report, titled Microcontrollers (MCU) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth and Forecast 2012 - 2018, Transparency Market Research studies the growth trajectory exhibited by the global market for microcontrollers and presents insights into the factors influencing its growth trends.According to the report, the global market for MCUs is expected to reach an estimated valuation of US$28.49 bn by 2018, from US$15.7 bn in 2011. If the figures hold true, the global MCU market will exhibit a CAGR of 9.0% between 2011 and 2018. By volume, the market stood at 10.64 billion units in 2011 and is expected to reach 29 billion units by 2018, therefore, exhibiting a robust CAGR of 16.0% from 2012 to 2018.Microcontrollers are application-specific circuits and are embedded inside the device they control. Hence, these circuits are also referred to as embedded controllers. MCUs include memory devices, a processor, and peripherals. Since, these microcontrollers are integrated inside devices depending on user interaction and requiring real-time control, the market for MCUs gains significant impetus from the increasing popularity of touch sensing technology.Get More Information:The market for MCUs has been witnessing rising demand ever since the advent of smartphones, phablets, tablets, and other smart gadgets. Additionally, the most widely used consumer electronic products such as microwave ovens, televisions, and washing machines also depend on MCUs for their operation.Despite registering impressive growth over the last few years, the market may face occasional hindrances due to its moderately fragmented nature and the sheer volume of operations carried out by the enterprises vying for a major share of the market. Nevertheless, the increasing demand for advanced healthcare equipment such as portable blood pressure monitors and portable glucometers, which have MCUs embedded in them, will fuel demand from the global microcontrollers market in the near future.To provide a holistic analysis of the market operations, the report segments the market on the basis of application, product-type, and geography. Based on product type the market has been segmented into 32-bit, 16-bit, and 8-bit. In 2011, the 8-bit MCUs segment dominated the market with a share of 40% in the market. However, during the forecast period, the 32-bit segment is likely to exhibit the fastest CAGR of 16.2%. In terms of application, the market has been segmented into industrial, automotive, consumer goods, communications, and computers. Of these, the automotive segment accounts for more than 32% of the overall demand registered in 2011.Regionally the global microcontrollers market is spread across Asia Pacific, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), North America, and Rest of the World. Among these regions Asia Pacific led the global market in 2011, accounting for a share of 35%. Also the regional market is expected to expand at an impressive CAGR of 9.2% between 2012 and 2018.To provide a comprehensive overview of the prevailing competitive landscape, the report also profiles some of the most prominent companies operating in the market, such as, Renesas Electronics Corporation, Fujitsu, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc, Infineon Technologies, and Texas Instruments.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Recruitment Process Outsourcing Market (On-demand RPO and End-to-end RPO): Rapid Economic Development to Drive Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=4285 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) enables companies to reduce operating costs and also allows them to focus on their core competencies. These advantages have led to the growing trend of recruitment process outsourcing and the market for the same is poised to gain steam in Southeast Asia over the next four years. In a report, titled Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Market - Southeast Asia Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, Transparency Market Research carefully examines the performance and contribution of the Southeast Asia RPO market.Based on the findings of the report, the market for recruitment process outsourcing in Southeast Asia is anticipated to expand at a strong CAGR of 19.3% from 2014 to 2020. The value of the market was pegged at US$45.6 mn in 2014, which is likely to rise to US$154.7 mn by 2020.Download PDF Brochure atRecruitment process outsourcing refers to the outsourcing of various recruitment functions such as interview scheduling, candidate screening, offer execution, and job posting to third-party vendors. Organizations providing RPO services work as an extension to the human resource department of the client company and manage functions based on the recruitment needs of the clients.According to the report, the Southeast Asia recruitment process outsourcing market is propelled by the rapid economic development in the region and the several advantages presented by RPO. The increased penetration of RPO services in small and medium enterprises offers lucrative options for players within the recruitment process outsourcing market. However, the lack of confidence when it comes to the knowledge and capabilities of RPO providers acts as a major hindrance to the expansion of the market.The Southeast Asia recruitment process outsourcing market has been segmented on the basis of engagement type into end-to-end RPO and on-demand RPO. In 2013, on-demand recruitment process outsourcing dominated the overall market in terms of revenue owing to the superior advantages offered by on-demand RPO.Based on end use, the Southeast Asia recruitment process outsourcing market has been divided into IT, IT-enabled services (ITES), and telecom, banking, financial services, and insurance, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, hospitality, and others, which includes marine, aerospace, and construction. The IT, ITES, and telecom segment led the Southeast Asia recruitment process outsourcing market owing to increased demand for recruitment in the IT sector.On the basis of geography, the Southeast Asia market for recruitment process outsourcing has been segmented into Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Rest of Southeast Asia. Among these, the Rest of Southeast Asia held the largest share in 2013, accounting for 78% of the overall RPO market. This massive share can be attributed to the increased adoption of RPO services in the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Singapore.The top companies in the Southeast Asia recruitment process outsourcing market include Zyoin Web Pvt. Ltd., Pontoon Solutions, Talent Fusion, Cielo, Inc., Alexander Mann Solutions, Futurestep, ManpowerGroup Solutions, Kenexa Corporation, Accolo, Inc., Hudson Global, Inc., Atterro Human Capital Group, Randstad Holding NV, and Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting Group. These players have been studied in the report based on company outlook, financial performance, service portfolio, recent events, and key strategies.Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Market, by Engagement TypeOn-demand RPOEnd-to-end RPORecruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Market, by End-use IndustryBanks, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)IT, ITeS and TelecommunicationManufacturingHealthcare and PharmaceuticalsHospitalityOthers (Aerospace, Marine and Construction Industry)Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Market, by GeographyThailandIndonesiaVietnamRest of Southeast Asia (RoSEA)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Current and Future Industry Trends of Hospital Stretchers Market, 2015-2021 https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/hospital-stretchers-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/hospital-stretchers-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/hospital-stretchers-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/hospital-stretchers-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/16 http://www.zionmarketresearch.com Hospital stretchers are medical equipment designed especially to transport patients safely within or outside a healthcare center. Hospital stretchers are basically utilized in emergency cases such as rescue services during accidents and in general medical services. Apart from patient transportation, hospital stretchers are also used for several specialized functions such as hospital beds, surgical platforms and as inspection or examination desk. Majority of the stretcher are simple, lightweight and made up of metal or other synthetic materials.Request Free Sample Report @Hospital stretcher is a well established market across the globe. Rising incidences of chronic disease is the prime factor to stimulate the growth of hospital stretchers market. Additionally, increasing geriatric population is expected to fuel the growth of this market in the near future. Furthermore, rise in demand for stretchers that are technically advanced and increasing surgical procedures is predicted to fuel the hospital stretchers market. However, high cost associated with specialized stretchers can affect the hospital stretchers market.The hospital stretchers market is segmented on the basis of product types, applications, technology, and geography. On the basis of product types, the market is divided into fixed height, adjustable, bariatric, and radiographic and other types of stretchers. Depending on technology, hospital stretchers can be segmented into two types namely, motorized and non-motorized. Presently, the non-motorized hospital stretchers segment dominates this market. This segment is developing at a moderate rate due to declining demand for manual stretchers from developed countries. Still, the non-motorized hospital stretchers segment is expected to dominate the overall market in terms of sales as they are very affordable compared to motorized stretchers. Further, intra-hospital transport, emergency department, day care surgery department, pediatric surgery department, and radiology department hospital stretchers are different key applications of this market.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @Hospital stretchers market is undergoing constant development and would keep up this trend in the near future. North America was the largest market for hospital stretchers in 2015 which was mainly contributed by rise in geriatric population, increased prevalence of chronic diseases like obesity, gastrointestinal problems, and osteoporosis. Europe is second leading market for hospital stretchers due to increasing aging population. Promising medical tourism and low cost surgical procedure in the developing countries of Asia Pacific is expected to drive the hospital stretchers market. Large population and increasing road accidents in developing countries such as India and China are the other major drivers for hospital stretchers market in Asia Pacific region.Industry participants in market place are focusing on continuous technological advancements. Some key players of hospital stretchers market are Hill-Rom, Stryker, ArjoHuntleigh, Anetic Aid, BI Healthcare, GF Health Products, Kenmark and BMB Medical.Inquire more before buying this report @Global Hospital Stretchers Market: Product Type Segment AnalysisFixed-Height StretchersAdjustable StretchersBariatric StretchersRadiographic StretchersOthersGlobal Hospital Stretchers Market: Technology Segment AnalysisNon-motorizedMotorizedBrowse detail report @Global Hospital Stretchers Market: Application Segment AnalysisIntra-hospital transportEmergency DepartmentDay Care Surgery DepartmentPediatric Surgery DepartmentRadiology DepartmentGlobal Hospital Stretcher Market: Region Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaAsk for a customized report @About Us:Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite: Malt Ingredients Market will explore robust size & growth during 2015-2021 https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/malt-ingredients-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/malt-ingredients-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/malt-ingredients-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/malt-ingredients-market https://zionmarketresearch.wordpress.com/ http://www.zionmarketresearch.com Malt is the leftover of cereal grains that are allowed to dry and then germinate. Generally, barley grain is used as malt ingredient which is soaked in water and then allowed to germinate. This process is known as malting. In this process, the starch present in ingredients is converted to sugars such as glucose and fructose. The malt ingredients have large scope in food and beverages industry. Malt ingredients help to enhance the flavor and texture of various foods products. These ingredients are mainly used to prepare different drinks and confectionary such as maltesers and whoppers, beer, whisky, malted shakes, malt vinegar, horlicks, ovaltine, milo, malt loaf, bagels, and rich tea biscuits.Request Free Sample Report @The malt ingredients market is primarily driven by rising demand from food & beverage industry across the globe. Increasing demand for dairy products and beer is also expected to fuel the demand for malt ingredient during the years to come. However, seasonal variations and availability of good quality cereal grains is likely to limit the growth of global ingredients market. Nonetheless, emerging market for malt ingredients is expected to open the new opportunities during near future.In order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the malt ingredients market, we have included a detailed value chain analysis. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the malt ingredients market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein product segments and application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @The global malt ingredients market is segmented on the basis of source, applications and region. The source segmentation covered under this study includes barley, wheat and rye malt. The major application segment covered under this study includes food industry, alcoholic beverages, non-alcoholic beverages, pharmaceutical industry (supplements) and others. Moreover, the market size and forecasts in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (USD million) for the period 2016 to 2021, considering 2015 as the base year, have been provided for this segment of the report. The report also provides the compounded annual growth rate (% CAGR) for the forecast period 2016 to 2021.Based on regional segmentation, the study covers the diverse region and countries such as North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe. The report also includes further bifurcation into major countries including U.S., Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India, and Brazil. This segmentation includes demand for malt ingredients market based on individual applications in all the regions and countries.Inquire more before buying this report @In terms of regions, Europe was leading regional market for malt ingredients market in 2015. Furthermore, Europe is expected to continue the dominance over the malt ingredient market throughout the forecast period due to growing rate of packaged food consumption in the region. In addition, Asia Pacific is a fastest growing regional market for malt ingredients owing to growing demand for non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks. Middle East & Africa is also another promising market for malt ingredients in near future.Some of the major player of global malt ingredients market includes Axereal, Ireks GmbH, Cargill Incorporated, Muntons PLC, Crisp Malting Group, Malteurop Group, and Simpsons Malt Ltd.Browse detail report @The report segments the global malt ingredients market into:Malt Ingredients Market: Source Segment AnalysisBarley maltWheat maltRye maltMalt Ingredients Market: Application Segment AnalysisFood industryAlcoholic beveragesNon-alcoholic beveragesPharmaceutical industry (supplements)OthersMalt Ingredients Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaVisit Our Blog:About Us:Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Respiratory Monitoring Devices Market, Estimates and Forecast, By Revenue, 20152023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/respiratory-monitoring-devices.htm http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1415 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ The global market for respiratory monitoring devices is expected to reach US$1.60 bn by the end of 2016 and US$2.79 bn by the end of 2023. This revenue is projected at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2015 to 2023.Global Respiratory Monitoring Devices Market: SnapshotThe CDC in 2012 had already stated that North America leads the world in the number of COPD and asthma cases. Europe showed the topmost prevalence of cystic fibrosis. Emerging economies are also showing a growing prevalence of patients suffering from respiratory illnesses. The number of people smoking has gone up over the recent past. Additionally, the quality of air has deteriorated due to the presence of a large volume of pollutants. These factors are collectively the leading cause for the growing demand for respiratory monitoring devices in all parts of the world.Read Full Report:The number of patients with respiratory problems increases even further due to the significantly growing population of the elderly. This demographic is highly prone to diseases of the lungs and thus forms a key factor pushing for the faster manufacturing of respiratory monitoring devices.There is, however, the restraint of cost that is holding back the use of newer respiratory monitoring devices. Most of the advanced respiratory monitoring devices especially in spirometers, cost way more than peak flow meters or even pulse oximeters. As a result, patients are opting for the latter, thus creating a very low adoption rate of modern technologies.North America Lead in Respiratory Monitoring Devices Consumption to ContinueBy the end of 2023, 36.2% of the total value of respiratory monitoring devices globally is expected to be taken up by North America. This region hosts an exceptionally high number of patients suffering from COPD and asthma. Governments are holding a higher number of awareness drives across the region to properly assess the threat of respiratory illnesses. Europe follows North America in terms of patient numbers for respiratory diseases and demand for respiratory monitoring devices.Download exclusive Sample of this report:On the other side, Asia Pacific is showing a very high growth in the demand for respiratory monitoring devices, owing to the rapid developments in its healthcare industry and the increasing outreach of medical programs revealing a higher number of patients with respiratory illnesses.Hospitals Remain Top End-users of Respiratory Monitoring DevicesBy the end of 2023, nearly US$1.80 bn in revenue is expected to be generated for respiratory monitoring device manufacturers through hospitals. This end-user segment is additionally showing a high growth rate in its demand for respiratory monitoring devices, owing to the growing number of incoming patients for the treatment of various respiratory illnesses. A large number of hospitals in developed countries are equipped with advanced respiratory monitoring devices due to their optimized use for modern strains of respiratory diseases.Although the problem of lack of skilled labor and high device costs is affecting all end-user segments of respiratory monitoring devices, it affects hospitals at a lesser intensity, thereby allowing it to grow at a relatively higher pace than laboratories and home use.The key providers of respiratory monitoring devices from a global perspective include CareFusion Corporation, Smiths Medical, ResMed, Inc., and Masimo Corporation.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: US Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) Industry Analysis, Demand, Trend, Growth & Outlook (2016-2020) | Researchmoz http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=902712 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=902712 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "The US Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.A pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) is a third-party administrator (TPA) of prescription drug programs for commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans, and federal employees health benefits program in the US. Pharmacy benefit managers act as an intermediary between the payer and everyone else in the healthcare system. The healthcare system is very complex with many components working together to meet health needs. The pharmaceutical industry is growing rapidly owing to an increase in population and number of diseases. PBMs bring value through lower drug costs for insurers by negotiating with pharmacies and drug manufacturers.The competition in the PBM market is quite concentrated with major market share divided between top three companies. The competition is expected to become severe in the future due to the emerging popularity of generics and biologics. The industry is also witnessing a lot of merger and acquisitions eyeing the growth in the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The key factors driving the growth of the US PBM market are increase in ageing population, increase in healthcare expenditure, improving economic conditions, increase in Life expectancy rate and rising use of drugs. Some of the noteworthy trends and developments of this industry are increasing trend towards consumerism, increasing trend of specialty drugs, increase in the medical enrollments, rising prevalence of narrow network, growth in retail prescriptions, mail order penetration and claims, increasing mix of insured individuals and drug prices trend. However, the expansion of the US PBM market is hindered by high cost of drugs, reimbursement rate pressure and legal regulations.The report The US Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the market. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the industry are being presented in this report. The industry comprises large players such as CVS, Express Scripts, Optum Rx Humana. All these companies have been profiled in the present report highlighting their key financials and business strategies for growth.Table of Content1. PBM Overview1.1 An Introduction1.2 Types of PBM Services1.3 PBM Managers Formulary Structure1.4 PBM Timeline1.5 Retail Dispensing Process & Flow of Funds1.6 Mail Dispensing Process & Flow of Funds2. Global Pharmaceutical Market Analysis2.1 Global Pharmaceutical Market by Value2.2 Global Pharmaceutical Market Forecast by Value2.3 Global Pharmaceutical Market Share by Region3. The US Pharmaceutical Market Analysis3.1 The US Pharmaceutical Market3.1.1 The US Pharmaceutical Market by Value3.1.2 The US Pharmaceutical Market Forecast by Value3.1.3 The US Annual Pharmaceutical Market Sales by Dispensing Channel3.1.4 The US Pharmaceutical Market by Segments3.1.5 The US Pharmaceutical Market Channel Type by Value3.1.6 The US Pharmaceutical Market Types by Value3.1.7 The US Pharmaceutical Market Share by Types3.2 The US Prescription (Rx) Market3.2.1 The US Prescription Market by Volume3.2.2 The US Prescription Market Forecast by Volume3.2.3 The US Prescription Market Volume by Category3.2.4 The US Prescription Market Volume Forecast by Category3.2.5 The US Prescription Market Share by Channel Type3.2.6 The US Pharmaceutical Market Quarterly Prescriptions3.2.7 The US Pharmaceutical Generic Market Quarterly Prescriptions3.2.8 The US Pharmaceutical Branded Market Quarterly Prescriptions3.2.9 The US Generic Market Penetration Rate4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Growth in Ageing Population4.1.2 Increasing Healthcare Expenditure4.1.3 Improving Economic Conditions4.1.4 Increasing Life Expectancy Rate4.1.5 Rising Use of Drugs4.2 Market Trends4.2.1 Increasing Trend towards Consumerism4.2.2 Growing Trend of Specialty Drugs4.2.3 Rising Prevalence of Narrow Networks4.2.4 Increase in the Medicare Enrollments4.2.5 Drug Prices Trend4.2.6 Growth in Retail Prescriptions4.2.7 Declining Claims and Mail Order Penetration4.2.8 Increasing Mix of Insured Individuals4.3 Challenges4.3.1 High Drug Prices4.3.2 Reimbursement Rate Pressure4.3.3 Legal Regulations5. Competitive Landscape5.1 The US PBM Market Share by Prescription Claim5.2 The US PBM Market Share Forecast by Prescription Claim5.3 The US PBM Market by Annual Script Volume5.4 The US Specialty Pharmacy Market Share by Company5.5 The US PBM Drug Cost Trend by Company5.6 The US PBM Specialty Drug Cost Trend by Company6. Company Profiles6.1 Express Scripts6.1.1 Business Overview6.1.2 Financial Overview6.1.3 Business Strategies6.2 CVS Health6.2.1 Business Overview6.2.2 Financial Overview6.2.3 Business Strategies6.3 OptumRx6.3.1 Business Overview6.3.2 Financial Overview6.3.3 Business Strategies6.4 Humana6.4.1 Business Overview6.4.2 Financial Overview6.4.3 Business StrategiesMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global Waterborne Epoxy Resins Industry Will Grow Steadily At A CAGR Of 7.97% During The Period 2017-2021 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=902736 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=902736 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Waterborne Epoxy Resins Market 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Waterborne epoxy resins are thermosetting resins that are used in various end-user industries such as automotive, textile, construction, furniture, packaging, and other end-user industries. They demonstrate high gloss, excellent chemical and corrosion resistance, good adhesion, high mechanical stability, high flexibility and compatibility, optimized performance, and good impact and abrasion resistance properties. These resins are also dustproof. The application segment of waterborne epoxy resins includes coatings, adhesives, and composites.Technavios analysts forecast the global waterborne epoxy resins market to grow at a CAGR of 7.97% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global waterborne epoxy resins market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated through sales of waterborne epoxy resin products for end-use industries such as construction, automotive, textile, furniture, packaging, and others.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:APACEuropeNorth AmericaROWTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Waterborne Epoxy Resins Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAditya Birla ChemicalsAllnexHexionHuntsmanOlinOther prominent vendorsAir Products and ChemicalsIncorezKUKDO ChemicalNAN YA Plastics IndustrialReichholdMarket driverIncreasing shift toward green and eco-friendly products.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeDeclining export demand from Western economies.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendInvestment in developing economies.For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Chocolate Buddha visits 10 Downing Street to celebrate Small Business Saturday http://www.chocolatebuddha.co.uk http://www.chocolatebuddha.co.uk/ Kerry Doyland, chief designer and manufacturer behind the luxury yoga clothing brand Chocolate Buddha, is proud to announce that the business was invited to 10 Downing Street on 1st December 2016 to mark Small Business Saturday.Marking the fourth annual Small Business Saturday, Kerry Doyland, owner of Chocolate Buddha, was invited to 10 Downing Street on Thursday 1st December to showcase her business at a celebratory reception.Prime Minister Theresa May commented on the event:Small Business Saturday is an opportunity for us to celebrate the success of the UKs 5.4 million small businesses - from family run restaurants, to innovative tech start-ups, to local corner shops.Im delighted that we had such a great representation of businesses here in Downing Street to mark this event and recognise the prosperity they bring to the UK.The popular yoga wear design house, which is the worlds only Made-in-Britain athleisure wear brand, has grown a great deal throughout 2016.Small businesses are now encouraged and applauded in a way that I have never experienced before, explains Kerry Doyland, business owner at Chocolate Buddha.Schemes like this really encourage the plight of small organisations such as ourselves. I believe that there has never been a better time to turn a business dream into a reality.Further information on Small Business Saturday can be found here.For more information on Chocolate Buddha and its luxury athleisure wear, please visit the website or contact the business directly.Chocolate Buddha is a range of butter-soft yoga clothing for the Lycra-shy. Founded by co-owners Kerry Doyland and Lyn Long in 2011, the company designs and manufactures British athleisurewear using natural sustainable fabrics. The clothing is unique in its design and in the fact that it is the only brand to be wholly produced (woven, knitted, dyed, printed and made) in Britain. Prices start at 28. For more information visitKerry Doyland & Lyn Long, BusinessOwners Web:Email: kerry@chocolatebuddha.co.ukTel: 07771 543252Chocolate BuddhaThe Sail Loft11 Leigh Cliff BuildingsMaple AveLeigh on SeaSS9 1PR Oil Storage Market - Asia Pacific to Emerge as Lucrative Market in Oil Storage through 2024; Global Industry Analysis 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2421 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Oil storage is as essential to ensuring a steady supply of the commodity as it is to influencing its trading prices. The growing import of oil products in emerging economies is expected to increase the demand for oil storage worldwide. Moreover, the supply/demand imbalance will increase with the growth in emerging economies, especially in Asia Pacific, and create more trade, subsequently benefitting the global oil storage market. The growing investments by major oil trading companies in tank storage are also expected to drive the global oil storage market.According to a report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the global oil storage market is anticipated to expand at a 4.73% CAGR by volume between 2016 and 2024, reporting a rise from 1,337 mn cubic meters in 2014 to 2,027 mn cubic meters by the end of 2024.Get Free PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:TMR analysts shed light on three important questions that companies operating in the oil storage market have:What are the common strategies adopted by players in the global oil storage market?The most commonly adopted strategies by key players in the market include establishing alliances and partnerships. Key players such as Kinder Morgan Inc., Royal Vopak N.V., Oiltanking GmbH, NuStar Energy L.P., and Buckeye Partners L.P. are resorting to mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures in order to expand their crude oil storage infrastructure. Since the degree of competition is high in the market, players are raising funds for the development of new pipelines and expansion of terminal networks through strategic alliances. For instance, Kinder Morgan acquired Hiland Partners in February 2015 and this has helped the company to enhance both its terminal and storage structure.What are the recent developments in the global oil storage market?On September 2016, Suncor Energy Inc. announced that it is selling one-third of its stake in its oil-storage terminal in northern Alberta to the Fort McKay First Nation, as it strives to strengthen ties with aboriginal groups present in close proximity to the oil sands.Another development in in the market is the rising demand for crude oil in emerging nations due to the substantial drop in the price of oil. The petroleum ministry in India for instance, has announced that it would increase its oil storage capacity to take advantage of the lowered crude oil prices. To execute this plan, India has set up three petroleum reserves in Mangalore, Padur, and Visakhapatnam and two new storage facilities are expected to be set up in the states of Rajasthan and Odisha, each with about a 5 mn mt of capacity.Which regions are expected to be lucrative markets in the global oil storage market?The Middle East and Africa region has been the leading contributor in the global oil storage market with a 30% share in 2014. North America and Europe followed the Middle East and Africa in terms of holding dominant shares. The market in Asia Pacific is also anticipated to pick up speed and grow in the coming years. With Saudi Arabia intending to expand its use of oil storage tanks in Japan and China, the Asia Pacific oil storage market is expected to witness significant growth. While Saudi Arabia intends to fend off potential competitors by strengthening ties with these two key Asian buyers, such developments will simultaneously help Asia Pacific to grow in the market.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. 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.Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Bills release multiple artist renderings of new stadium The morning of Oct. 27 was a day Buffalo Bills fans have been patiently waiting for a reveal of what the new stadium will potentially look like. The team... County officials, law firm representatives host public hearing on new stadium SEQR Erie County officials, representatives from Phillips Lytle LLP, power players for a new stadium and interested Buffalo Bills fans packed into one of the community rooms of the Brush Mountain... Aloha man dies in rollover crash Michael Babcock, 42, was driving on a road off Oregon 6 when he left the roadway and rolled several times before the SUV came to a stop at the bottom of a steep ravine, deputies said. (Washington County Sheriff's Office) The body of a missing Aloha man has been recovered from a car found damaged at the bottom of a ravine, deputies said. Michael Babcock, 42, was driving on a rural road off Oregon 6 when he left the roadway and rolled several times down a steep ravine, deputies said. The SUV stopped on its top at the bottom of the ravine, which is about 60 yards down from the road. Babcock's family reported him missing late last month, and deputies determined the crash may have happened around the same time, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Deputies don't know what caused the crash, which happened on Northwest Storey Burn Road and is still under investigation. Authorities had searched in the area several times, deputies said, but the road was impassable until Tuesday because of heavy snow. Members of Forest Grove Fire & Rescue's high-angle rescue team worked to recover Babcock's body. A log truck driver saw the SUV, a green 2003 GMC Envoy, resting on its top at the bottom of the ravine Tuesday. He called authorities because it looked like an SUV he saw on a flier, deputies said. -- Jim Ryan jryan@oregonian.com 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Stars Cabaret administrative hearing.jpeg Stars Cabaret owner Randy Kaiser (center) stands with Jon Herkenrath (left, hiding behind a carrying bag for a portable screen) in the lobby of the Portland State Office Building in Portland on Dec. 21, 2016. It was after closing arguments of an administrative law hearing for a civil complaint alleging they allowed the sexual harassment of two underaged girls seperately working at Stars Cabaret in Beaverton in 2012 and 2014. (Everton Bailey Jr./The Oregonian) The former owners of a Beaverton strip club should have known 13- and 15-year-old girls were working at their business and should be found liable for the trauma they suffered and will endure for the rest of their lives, prosecutors said Wednesday. Closing arguments were presented during an administrative hearing of a civil rights complaint from the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries against strip club chain Stars Cabaret. No ruling was announced Wednesday at the Portland State Office Building, but Administrative Law Judge Kari Furnanz said she plans to announce a decision within 60 days. Nearly 30 people, including the two victims, testified during proceedings that began Nov. 9. The victims were in court Wednesday but made no public statements. Both looked down as Jenn Gaddis, a chief administrative prosecutor with BOLI, recounted how they both still have nightmares from their time at the business and issues with trusting other people. Randy Kaiser, one of the Stars Cabaret owners, and Jon Herkenrath, a former club manager named in the complaint who once saw the 13-year-old in the club in 2012 and signed off on the 15-year-old working there two years later, were also among those in the courtroom. Kaiser sat slumped in his seat and barely looked up while texting on his iPhone during the entirety of the prosecution's closing arguments and rebuttal. He put his phone down and appeared to listen intently during the defense's closing arguments. BOLI sued Frehoo Inc., the company that operates Stars Cabaret, its owners and managers of the club in April alleging the teens were subjected to sexual harassment and no one took corrective action. Stars Cabaret had locations in Beaverton, Bend, Salem and Tualatin but announced plans to sell the Beaverton club earlier this year to Spearmint Rhino. Court documents show the Beaverton business closed July 31; the other three are still open. Frehoo filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in early November and initially sought to delay the court proceedings because of it, but a federal bankruptcy court judge denied the request. Two lawsuits seeking $4 million each were filed in Washington County Circuit Court in July against Stars Cabaret on behalf of the girls. One lawsuit said the 13-year-old girl danced nude on stage for customers and performed sex acts in a back room between September and December 2012. Another girl is alleged to have been hired at 15, danced nude five times in August 2014 and September 2014, and was groped by customers. Former Stars Cabaret manager Steven Toth, Victor Moreno-Hernandez and Yahir Muniz were all convicted for sexually abusing the 13-year-old, who is now 18. Moreno-Hernandez and Muniz did not work for Stars Cabaret. The girl was staying with Muniz when she met Moreno-Hernandez. Soon after, Moreno-Hernandez and Toth arranged a deal to use her for prostitution in a back room for Stars' customers and share the profits. Toth was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Moreno-Hernandez was sentenced to 30 years, and 10 months and Muniz was sentenced to six years and three months in prison all in 2014. Another man, Anthony Curry, was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for putting the 15-year-old, who is now 17, to work as a stripper. According to a Washington County prosecutor, he met the teen after she ran away from a drug treatment center and brought her home to stay with him. He soon began sexual abusing her, got her a fake ID and helped her get jobs dancing at Jags Clubhouse in Portland, The Dolphin II and Stars Cabaret in Beaverton, and Sunset Strip in Cedar Hills. The two teens were vulnerable victims who were sexually abused by patrons at Stars Cabaret in Beaverton and a former club manager, according to Gaddis, chief administrative prosecutor with BOLI. Evidence shows the owners failed to take corrective action and didn't enforce existing policies that would have prevented them from being exploited. Managers were allowed to hire and fire dancers at will, they put the onus on dancers to determine boundaries for being touched by customers and regularly bent rules for the sake of money. The teens will be able to cope with what's happened to them, "but they will have to pay for it, not only financially but emotionally, and through every relationship they attempt to build from this moment on," Gaddis said. Defense attorney Courtney Angeli said her clients shouldn't be held liable because they had no knowledge the 13-year-old performed sex acts in a backroom and the 15-year-old worked as a dancer until after the fact. Angeli claimed the 13-year-old was never an employee and was repeatedly brought into the club covertly by a "wayward manager," and the other used a fake ID to dupe staff into thinking she was 21. The teens and Toth aren't credible, Angeli said, and their recounting of events during testimony weren't consistent. She described the owners -- Kaiser, Todd Mitchell and Jeff Struhar -- as "industry leaders in opposing sex trafficking" who paid to have sting operations at the club to catch prostitution. "You would have to take a leave of your senses in order to aid and abet" the criminal conduct that occurred at the club, she said. "There's hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees as a downside, (and) moral issues, and there is no rational reason why anyone would acquiesce in this type of conduct," Angeli said. "It is not the way they do business." -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com 503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey Traffic Traffic slowly drives on Interstate 5 near Southwest Barbur Boulevard on Feb. 14, 2011, in Portland. (Brian Feulner/Staff/File) Back in the day, if there was a stall or traffic accident, the priority would be to get the vehicles towed or shoved off the road as soon as possible, and traffic would quickly get back to normal. Nowadays the disabled vehicles stay for hours, hopelessly snarling traffic. What is the difference between now and then? Ah, back in the day. The grass was greener, the kids acted right and traffic always flowed freely. Actually, there's some truth to that last one. Oregon is positioned to set a record for vehicle miles traveled in 2016 -- and roughly on the same roads that have been here since the 1980s. That means more crashes to clean up, and that means it's more likely one of those crashes will unfold somewhere ahead of you, snarling your commute. (It's worth considering that it's getting statistically more likely you'll be involved in such a crash, too.) Most fender-benders are resolved in minutes. Either drivers will get their vehicles off the roadway themselves -- as required by state law, if drivers aren't hurt and their vehicles are drivable -- or responders will clear the roadway instead. Serious crashes can take longer, but most are cleared in under an hour, said Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman David Thompson. The transportation agency, along with the state police, have a goal of clearing 90 percent of blocking crashes within 90 minutes. So far this year, they're at 93 percent, Thompson said. Why do some take longer? When a heavy truck is damaged, moving it out of the way can take extra time, particularly if it's spilled cargo or was carrying hazardous materials. Some cases require a police crash investigation, said Lt. Ryan Lee, who oversees the Portland Police Bureau's traffic division. But the circumstances that require an investigation haven't changed much. They include crashes with fatalities, traumatic injuries, suspected drunken drivers, hit-and-runs, crashes in which a driver is cited and spills of hazardous materials. "Even if a crash investigation is required, members of the police bureau still attempt to restore transportation infrastructure to normal as quickly as practicable given investigative needs," Lee said. In most cases, however, there's no reason for roads to be blocked for more than a couple of minutes. Responders frequently have to remind drivers to move off the road, Thompson said. Drivers who can move quickly, but don't, face a Class C traffic violation. In hopes of getting traffic flowing sooner, the transportation agency will post signs on Portland-area highways next year reminding drivers of the state's "Move It" law. *** Have a commuting question? Contact Elliot Njus at enjus@oregonian.com or on Twitter @enjus In a legislative session expected to be dominated by a fierce revenue debate and work to craft a statewide transportation bill, one lawmaker says it's also time to have a serious talk about water next year. Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, filed three would-be bills Wednesday that would increase the state's ability to study its groundwater supplies, charge business and agriculture users a $100 fee annually for permits, and require certain water users track how much they use each year. Helm's push for reform follows a multi-part series from The Oregonian/OregonLive this summer that showed state regulators can't say precisely how much underground water is available for ranchers and farmers amid an ever-growing demand. The state issues permits to virtually all applicants, despite a lack of groundwater research, the investigation found. A scathing audit from the Oregon Secretary of State's office released last week found the same systemic issues. "There's never going to be a 'best time' to talk about water," said Helm, an attorney elected to the Legislature in 2014. The Oregonian/OregonLive's "Draining Oregon" series found the state is taking some steps to study its groundwater supply -- but at current spending levels, officials wouldn't finish analyzing the state's 18 drainage basin until 2096. The federal government studied Oregon's groundwater supply in 1968, the most recent thorough analysis. According to The Oregonian/OregonLive's report, nine key agricultural areas in eastern Oregon allow ranchers to pump more groundwater than is available underground. Gov. Kate Brown's proposed budget, released this month, would double the state's capacity for groundwater research. But that still amounts to just $1.8 million in new spending in 2017-19. The Oregon Water Resources Department says it would take $45 million to $75 million to finish charting the state's basins. Helm, who co-chaired a drought emergency task force this summer, said the status quo makes it difficult for anyone to plan for emergencies. "You can't plan if you don't know what you have," he said. Helm said he first started contemplating a package of water reforms this summer, and the audit and "Draining Oregon" coverage helped confirm his timing. "This is a good time," Helm said. "We would be, as a Legislature, justly accused of dodging the issue if we didn't have some bills to discuss." Helm consulted on the bills with WaterWatch of Oregon, the longstanding watchdog nonprofit, and other organizations. In "Draining Oregon," WaterWatch Executive Director John DeVoe characterized the state's current approach as deliberately ignorant. The system, he said, is "designed, quite intentionally, to be unable to make sustainable groundwater management decisions." Helm said it's too soon to know the bills' chances, but he said the proposal to require users measure their consumption is the most important. He hopes lawmakers can have a "rational discussion" about the issue. Water issues, particularly the topic of diverting water from streams, has been a controversial topic for decades. "The battle between folks who want to keep water in stream and the folks who want to use it has not progressed very far," he added. Helm said he's not sure how much money the state could collect from a $100 annual fee on water rights holders, but would spend the money on groundwater research. The plan caps fees at $1,000 for water users with multiple permits and charges cities a maximum of $2,500 per year. The proposal would not apply to the roughly 1 million Oregonians who draw drinking water from personal wells. Gov. John Kitzhaber briefly proposed a $100 fee in 2013, backed by a state committee that studied how to pay for the state water department's work. He pulled support the next day, after irrigators balked. And neither Kitzhaber nor Brown brought it back. Helm said his water-tracking bill wouldn't apply to personal wells. He called it another version of previous bills that have "been around" and were not successful. The third bill is meant to build on Brown's proposal to expand groundwater research. Helm's bill doesn't specify how much more money he will request. Helm was interviewed Wednesday afternoon before committee assignments and said he asked to remain on a house committee related to water issues. The Oregon Farm Bureau issued a statement ahead of the 2017 session saying the state has been "very conservative" in administering its groundwater program through the years. "It's critical that the department has access to the most robust information possible as it makes difficult water management decisions that can greatly impact rural communities," said the farm bureau, which represents more than 7,000 ranchers and farmers in the state. "For example, if the department decides to start closing basins or stop issuing new well permits, like it did in the Harney and Walla Walla Basins in 2015, we want to make sure those actions are backed by the best scientific data available." State auditors started investigating the Water Resources Department in January and produced a 36-page report Dec. 15 that depicted an agency rife with issues. Auditors said the agency tasked with enforcing the state's water rules had no "clear understanding" of how much water is being used across the state. "It is essential that the agency pays more attention to protecting future water resources," Atkins said in a statement, "and I hope that the Legislature and the governor's office will work with (the water resources department) to better align funding with its goals." Water resources officials note that the department has asked for money in recent budgets to increase groundwater studies, but lawmakers have shifted money to other priorities. The Legislature convenes its regular session Feb. 1. Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that although Rep. Ken Helm asked to serve on a committee dealing with water issues in 2017, he cannot serve on the House of Representatives' committee on rural issues, land use and water because House Democrats announced late Wednesday they would eliminate that committee. -- Andrew Theen wantedguy.jpg John Tufton Blauvelt, pictured above, is wanted on a warrant charging him with murder in the October killing of his estranged wife in South Carolina. The 28-year-old was last seen in Eugene, Oregon, on Dec. 12, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Federal authorities are searching for a U.S. Army deserter who is accused of killing his estranged wife in South Carolina and was in Oregon earlier this month. John Tufton Blauvelt, 28, is wanted by South Carolina's Simpsonville Police Deparment on allegations of murder and possession of a weapon in connection with the killing of Catherine Blauvelt on Oct. 24. Blauvelt, who worked as an Army recruiter, had traveled to Oregon sometime in late November with a 17-year-old female acquaintance, said Aaron Pfenning, a deputy U.S. Marshal. The teen was safely recovered in Eugene on Dec. 12. She told authorities that Blauvelt had been with her on the morning of Dec. 12 in Eugene but left and never returned, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Federal officials believe Blauvelt is hitchhiking or traveling by bus and may be heading south through California. He's 5-foot-8, weighs 185 pounds and has brown hair, brown eyes and tattoos on his chest, left wrist and arms. He has used several aliases, including Blue Blauvelt, John Bluefields, Vincent Mendoza and Victor Sacceti. He is believed to be carrying a military-style green camouflage backpack and may be camping in local parks or areas frequented by the homeless, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Anyone with information on him is asked to call the U.S. Marshals Service tip line at 1-800-336-0102 or email usms.wanted@usdoj.gov. A reward of up to $2,500 will be issued for information leading directly to Blauvelt's capture. -- Maxine Bernstein mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian Portland on Wednesday blessed "marijuana couriers" and other pot-related "micro" business types in a move to ease financial barriers for entrepreneurs. The council voted unanimously to immediately adopt the additions and other changes to the city's marijuana code. "Since the state regulations keep changing and the industry keep flourishing, we'll be coming back with multiple changes I'm sure," Commissioner Amanda Fritz said. "I look forward to that time." Courier businesses can now produce marijuana and other cannabis products but they can sell it only through delivery. Like other marijuana businesses, couriers need a licensed headquarters within a permitted building in an area where it's allowed by city zoning rules. All marijuana retailers licensed with the city must first obtain a license from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Couriers cannot sell pot from storefronts. But they can open their licensed headquarters near other marijuana businesses. Traditional retailers and dispensaries must keep their shops at least 1,000 feet apart. Current pot businesses licensed by the city and the Oregon Health Authority on or before July 1, 2015, and still in good standing, do not need to meet the distance requirement. Another amendment addresses a sometimes slow and burdensome process for businesses transitioning from providing medical to recreational marijuana. It allows marijuana shops to operate without a city-issued "marijuana regulatory license" for up to five business days after the state grants them a retail license. To get a city license, marijuana business owners must fill out a personal history form. They must also obtain an alarm permit from the Portland Police Bureau and an electrical permit for the Bureau of Development Services. They also need proof of an air filtration system. Any violation of the city's code could result in a fine of up to $5,000. Enforcement falls to the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, currently led by Fritz. --Jessica Floum jfloum@oregonian.com @cityhallwatch @jfloum apphotoannouncement.jpg U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York on Wednesday announced federal charges against Navnoor Kang, a former portfolio manager at the New York State Common Retirement Fund and two broker-dealers. Kang, 37, was arrested at his home in Southwest Portland. (AP Photo) Navnoor S. Kang, a former manager of New York's public employee pension fund, was arrested in Portland on a federal indictment that accuses him of steering $2.5 billion in business to two brokerage firms while accepting more than $180,000 worth of bribes, including a $17,400 Panerai watch, drugs, prostitutes and lavish trips. Navnoor Kang FBI agents arrested Kang, 37, about 6 a.m. at his home in Southwest Portland. He made his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon in the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland. He will be in custody overnight, then fitted with a GPS monitoring anklet before his release Thursday to make a scheduled flight to Albany, N.Y. Kang is expected to report to U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York on his own on Jan. 4. He surrendered his passport to the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Sax said the government was "quite concerned' about Kang not reporting as required, after listening to a recorded phone call Kang made in August to a cooperating witness in which he talked about fleeing to a country that doesn't have an extradition agreement with the United States. Government lawyers in New York had sought a bond amount be set to assure Kang's appearance in court in January. But as federal judges in Oregon don't commonly set bonds, the electronic monitoring was added as a safeguard instead. From January 2014 through February, Kang worked as director of fixed income for the New York State Common Retirement Fund, the third-largest public pension fund in the United States. He was given investment responsibilities for $50 billion of the fund's assets. In a "pay-to-play'' scheme, Kang steered more than $2 billion of business to two brokerage firms who bribed him with at least $180,000 worth of luxury vacations, high-priced watches, tickets to concerts and sporting events, drugs, cash, cocaine, strippers and prostitutes, according to the indictment and a criminal complaint. In late 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commissioner opened an investigation and subpoenaed Kang and Deborah Kelly, a former managing director at a New York-based brokerage firm. "In advance of their testimony, Kang and Kelley agreed to align their stories and testify falsely before the SEC in order to conceal their scheme,'' the complaint said. Kang also is accused of instructing another brokerage director, Gregg Schonhorn, a former vice president, to testify falsely before a grand jury investigating the case. Kang is charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. Thomas Price, Oregon assistant federal public defender, represented Kang in court Wednesday. Price said he didn't think Kang is a risk to the community but he'll agree to wear the electronic monitoring in order to travel to New York on his own. Kang's LinkedIn profile says he's been working as a strategy officer for Fair Observer, a nonprofit media organization, for the past seven months. Kelley, 58, a broker and former managing director at Sterne Agee, surrendered to authorities in San Francisco. Schonhorn, 45, a former vice president at FTN Financial, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with federal prosecutors, authorities said. "The hard-earned pension savings of New Yorkers should never serve as a vehicle for corrupt, personal enrichment,'' said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, for the Southern District of New York, in a prepared statement. Kang was booked by the U.S. Marshals Service into Multnomah County Detention Center on Wednesday after his court appearance. -- Maxine Bernstein mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian A mentally ill man who thought he was Hitler and said he wanted to do harm to Chinese and Jewish people -- and lit a stranger's coat on fire -- was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years of supervision by state psychiatric authorities. The sentence means Dung Dinh Phan, 42, will head to the Oregon state mental hospital for treatment, and he later could be released back into the community to serve the remainder of his 20 years. Even out in the community, he will be supervised by the state Psychiatric Security Review Board, which is responsible for making sure mental health workers regularly visit with him and check to see that he's taking his medication. Investigators say that on Jan. 9, 2016, Phan walked up to the woman as she stood next to food carts in downtown Portland at Southwest Sixth Avenue and Washington Street. The woman -- Joosun Park, 37 -- was visiting Portland from South Korea, and investigators say Phan apparently thought she was Chinese. Investigators say Phan set some newspapers on fire and threw them on the woman's back. The woman felt the heat of the 2-foot-tall flames, jumped to the side and watched the newspapers fall to the ground. The flames burned a hole through her down jacket. Witnesses said that while this was happening, Phan sat on a bench and stared at the woman. Phan later told a Portland police officer and a downtown security guard that he struggles with paranoid schizophrenia and is "the next Hitler." He also told jailers that he thought he was Hitler. Defense attorney DeAnna Horne on Wednesday said Phan was "deeply embarrassed" about his delusions and what he had done --- especially because he emigrated from Vietnam with part of his immediate family to escape the communist regime. Horne said her client's mental illness became apparent decades ago. Court records show he was twice arrested for first-degree arson in the 1990s. Details of those crimes weren't available, but he was found guilty or guilty except for insanity in both cases. He was sentenced to 20 years under the supervision of state psychiatric officials, which means he spent some time at the state mental hospital but later lived out in the community. For reasons that are unclear, psychiatric officials stopped supervising him 17 years into his sentence. "There was a safety net under him for a period of time," Horne said. "When that safety net disappeared, things did not go well for him." Phan apologized Wednesday for trying to burn the woman at the food carts but said he didn't take his medications in the days leading up to the incident because workers at the medical clinic he went to twice told him they were out. He also said he forgot. "I was so sick, I didn't ... take medication for a week," Phan told Multnomah County Circuit Judge Henry Kantor. "Even if i don't take medication for one day or two days, I will get sick. I know myself." Phan said that while taking his medications over the years, he had held down jobs long term as a janitor and a restaurant cook. He said he didn't intend to hurt the woman at the food carts. "I'm not that kind of person," Phan said. The judge raised concern that Phan had been living on his own, with no one checking in on him. "No one from either the Review Board or any other agency made an effort to try to find you and make sure that you had your medication?" Kantor asked. "Yeah," responded Phan. "Do you think that might have helped, if someone had reached out to you?" the judge continued. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Phan said. Wednesday's hearing began with Phan agreeing to the facts as alleged by police and prosecutors in their reports. The judge then found Phan guilty except for insanity of all of the charges against him: first-degree arson, attempted first-degree assault, second-degree intimidation and reckless endangerment of another person. The judge said he thinks Phan will need supervision for the rest of his life, but the law only allows him to sentence Phan to 20 years of monitoring. -- Aimee Green 503-294-5119 tq.jpg A federal jury on Wednesday found Taquarius Ford, 37, guilty of conspiring to commit sex trafficking, sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion, two counts of sex trafficking and obstruction of justice. He'll be sentenced April 3. (Taquarius Ford website) Taquarius Ford, dressed in gray slacks and a sweater, took the witness stand in federal court and for two days described how he and his girl ran an escort service out of Los Angeles. Ford, who went by the nicknames "Daddy'' or "T-Diddy,'' spoke of how he worked for hours to line up "dates'' for the women, and took care of them with fancy clothes, meals and trips. He maintained the women were adults who "chose to" engage in commercial sex and got paid handsomely. He told jurors he went to Los Angeles with the idea to become an entrepreneur in "artist development.'' "When you're in LA, you're just trying to break in,'' he testified. "You're really just trying to break into the industry anyway you can.'' His defense lawyers argued that Ford was a pimp, pocketing money from women who conducted commercial sex acts with strangers, but he never used force, fraud or coercion to induce the women to do what they did, as alleged in the federal sex trafficking charges he faced. "He is not guilty because these women had choices. They were all capable of making adult decisions,'' one of his lawyers, Bryan R. Boender, said in closing arguments. "You may find Taquarius Ford is a pimp, panderer, bragger. You may not like it. It doesn't mean he's a sex trafficker.'' But prosecutors countered that Ford was trying to "hustle'' the jury as he did at least six women who he tried to compel into prostitution, and should be found guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, two counts of sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion, and obstruction of justice. They say he threatened to send nude photos of the women engaging in sex to their relatives if they didn't follow his rules, used violence against some to make sure they complied, convinced many to have tattoos of his name on their body as a sign of loyalty, and kept saying they were part of a "family'' who depended on them to keep working. "It was his stable that he branded and sold to make money for his lifestyle,'' Prosecutor J.R. Ujifusa argued. After four hours of deliberations, a 12-member jury Wednesday afternoon returned guilty verdicts on all four counts against Ford, following a trial that lasted 10 days. The jury was made up of seven men and five women. Testimony about rough sex, boob jobs and Playboy parties, along with photos and videos of nude women displayed for jurors in the normally sedate courtroom, sometimes drew curious onlookers to the courtroom gallery. Several of the women testified that he met them in shopping malls or online, showered them with compliments, offered to help them get a modeling contract and handed them his "Victory PR'' business card. He soon flew them to Los Angeles, accompanied them to red carpet events, Playboy Mansion parties, the Oscars and other high-profile award ceremonies, where he introduced them to such celebrities as Brad Pitt, Heidi Klum, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. He plied them with fancy clothes, meals and alcohol before compelling them into prostitution, prosecutors argued. One woman from St. Helens said she thought she was going to Los Angeles for modeling, and testified that she vomited after her first three "dates'' with strange men. Another said Ford had sexually assaulted her, and she feared he'd hurt her again if she didn't go along with his plan. A third said Ford was rough with her, and she drank alcohol all day long to cope with the dirtiness she felt in selling her body. The investigation began after Port of Portland officers were called to The Hampton Inn near the Portland International Airport on Feb. 17, 2012, on a report of suspicious prostitution activity. The officers found Ford and co-defendant Konia Prinster in Room 209 and an 18-year-old coming out of another room, looking frightened and upset, Assistant U.S. Attorney Leah Bolstad said. Ford was arrested in 2012 for attempting to compel prostitution and quickly bailed out of jail. Police seized his laptop and phone and pursued a broader investigation, calling in the FBI to assist. On one of his devices, agents found a manuscript Ford wrote, titled, "Denial of a Pimp,'' and later re-titled "The Best Worst Feeling,'' Bolstad said. Bolstad read portions of the book in court. "Emma is a good solid escort who has made me over a million dollars,'' Bolstad read, noting that "Emma'' was one of the escort names that Ford's co-defendant Prinster used. Ford claimed the book wasn't true. "This book is fiction!'' Ford responded on the witness stand, adding that it was full of exaggerations. The book, for example, also said he had a yacht and a Bentley. "This is not real!'' Ford's lawyers argued that Prinster, 28, was not a victim in this case. She pleaded guilty to the sex trafficking conspiracy, and in exchange for her testimony against Ford, will have all her charges dismissed and not face the threat of a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. She also must complete 100 hours of community service. "I knew that the District of Oregon would never prosecute a white woman for sex trafficking. I knew you guys would turn her against me - hence I sit right here,'' Ford said from the witness stand. Bolstad read more from Ford's book during her closing argument. "If the girl is open to making money, then I am open to being her man, daddy and manager,'' she read. Prosecutors argued that Ford tried to pressure Prinster, even once he was in custody, not to assist federal investigators in the case. He wrote to her on June 20, 2014, "I would never ever beat you up.'' Bolstad turned to Chapter 14 of Ford's book, titled "Keep Your Mouth Shut.'' "So many pimp managers and madams have been taken down by law enforcement because their girl snitched,'' he wrote. Ford will be sentenced on April 3. -- Maxine Bernstein mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian William Austermiller found a bullet hole outside the front door of his North Portland studio apartment -- at the same height as his bed directly on the other side. That bullet could have killed him if he was home Monday, he said. Instead, Austermiller returned in the afternoon to the Cascadian Terrace apartments at 5700 N. Kerby Ave. to find officers investigating the shooting of two apartment managers. He knows the accused shooter, who lives in the complex. Apartment managers said they had been in the lengthy process of evicting the man from the apartment complex, which receives federal rental subsidies for its residents. Reynaldo Diaz Cabrera, a nine-year resident at Cascadian, is accused of firing multiple shots and wounding two apartment managers hours after a judge ordered his eviction. Police said he also fired a revolver into the apartments of two residents who testified at the eviction hearing. Austermiller said he testified before the 10 a.m. hearing at a Multnomah County Circuit Court and accused Cabrera of disruptive behavior this year. The 51-year-old Austermiller spoke in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive on Wednesday. He said he likes to lay on his bed and watch Japanese anime cartoons with his front door open, and he recalled a pair of confrontations with Cabrera this summer. Cabrera, who often walked by Austermiller's front door, sometimes accused his neighbor of using profane language, Austermiller said. "He threw me dirty looks and everything else," Austermiller recalled. "He said, 'I know you've been swearing at me.'" Austermiller said he and other neighbors had warned management about Cabrera carrying a firearm. "They knew he had a gun," Austermiller said, "and they did not address it." Austermiller said he notified management after an Aug. 20 confrontation that ended with Cabrera yelling, "bang bang." He said he knew of two other neighbors who had seen Cabrera with a pistol. Amanda Clark, a senior manager at the apartment complex, said she was unaware of the gun complaints. Most complaints are third-hand accounts, she said, and managers can't act unless residents provide a first-hand report about a concern. To remove residents from Cascadian, managers must document reasons and persuade a judge, as part of the rules they must follow to receive subsidize rental payments. "We don't have a rule that prohibits people from possessing a firearm," she said. Residents had the option to call police if they felt unsafe, said Tom Brenneke, president of Guardian Management, the company that manages Cascadian. "We've been working on this eviction for quite some time, since this summer," Brenneke said. According to a residential complaint, managers documented three instances of disruptive behavior to justify Cabrera's eviction, including the Aug. 20 confrontation with Austermiller. Managers also reported that Cabrera was caught on video "putting sunscreen on the rear windows" of two managers' cars Aug. 25. Two months later, managers issued a 10-day eviction notice after a neighbor said Cabrera cursed at her as he grabbed his crotch. She felt unsafe, according to Oct. 31 records. Clark said Cabrera disputed the documentation and requested to defend himself in a trial, which took place Monday. After Austermiller and another man testified, Circuit Court Judge Michael Zusman ruled in favor of the apartment complex and gave Cabrera until 11:59 p.m. Dec. 26 to move out. "He walked over to the door and looked back at the judge with a hateful look in his eye, and he walked right on out," Austermiller said. Shortly after, Cabrera walked into the apartment office, pointed a revolver at two managers who had testified against him and fired multiple shots, according to a prosecutor. Cabrera didn't say a word, one of the managers told police. Police also found a bullet hole on a second apartment door, about 30 feet away from Austermiller's home. Cabrera was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on two counts of attempted murder with a firearm and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon. Apartment managers Doris Bray, 64, was shot in the arm and chest, and Bill Maddell, 45, suffered a wound to the arm, according to the affidavit. "They're home," Clark said about the employees. Police seized a .357-caliber revolver from Cabrera when he was arrested a short distance from the crime scene in a car near Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Winchell Street, the affidavit said. He remains in custody, with a $510,000 bail, and is due back in court on Dec. 29. Austermiller said he's focused on his mental health and safety after the shooting. He said, "I'm not going to let it defeat me." -- Tony Hernandez thernandez@oregonian.com 503-294-5928 @tonyhreports The Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Maxine Bernstein contributed to this post. 21623263-mmmain.jpg Luis Garcia, left, with his partner, Sean Sexton. (Photo courtesy of N. David Shamloo) A federal immigration judge has set bail for a Venezuelan man living in Portland who is HIV positive, leading to his release Tuesday from a federal immigration detention center where he has been held after a drug conviction. Judge John Odell set an $8,000 bail for Luis Garcia after a hearing at the center in Tacoma where he'd been held since Nov. 15. Garcia's partner, Sean Sexton of Portland, posted bail, and Garcia was freed pending an immigration hearing in federal court in Portland, likely early next year, said Garcia's attorney, N. David Shamloo. Garcia was convicted in Washington County for possessing methamphetamine, making him subject to removal from the United States. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him Nov. 15. Shamloo and others have said Garcia's life would be endangered if he was deported to Venezuela because he would not have access to medications needed to live with HIV because of the economic crisis in the country. The hearing Tuesday was held to determine whether Garcia was a threat to the community, as the government contended, and therefore should not be offered bail, Shamloo said. He said the hearing lasted about 15 minutes. Garcia entered the United States at age 17 on a tourist visa and attended nursing school in San Francisco, receiving a student visa. He works at a hospice center in Portland. --Allan Brettman 503-294-5900 @allanbrettman Students around Midland County have spent recent weeks giving back to the community in lessons that will pay dividends for years to come. A Wednesday article highlighted the efforts of Cari Marchands fourth-grade class at Adams Elementary. These students made care packages to send to active military personnel in partnership with Aarons Gifts from Home. BLOOMINGTON Jason Reeves made his case to a McLean County judge Wednesday for his conditional release from a mental health facility where he's been for more than two years after being deemed legally insane at the time he robbed a Bloomington grocery store. Dressed in a blue shirt and tie, Reeves was poised and soft-spoken during an hour on the witness stand, answering questions about his treatment at McFarland Mental Health Center in Springfield. Reeves was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the March 2013 armed robbery of the Kroger Store in Normal. Reeves was shot six times by Andrew Smith, an off-duty Chenoa police officer who was working as a store security officer. Under state law, a person deemed not guilty by reason of insanity can be held for mental health treatment for a term not exceeding the maximum sentence they could have received for the offense. They can be released if their condition improves, but are subject to periodic court reviews. Reeves, 39, testified that doctors at McFarland determined he had been previously misdiagnosed as schizophrenic and prescribed medication for the disorder. Reeves said the side effects of the medication, combined with the loss of two close family members, was the likely cause of his psychosis and criminal conduct. Reeves said his current diagnosis is post traumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse. He has not taken psychtropic medications in more than two years, he said. After hearing from Reeves and several other witnesses, Judge Robert Freitag postponed a decision on Reeves' petition until a Jan. 13 hearing. The judge said a discharge plan from a state social worker does not meet legal requirements for a release and he ordered McFarland administration to provide the report before the next hearing. Reeves has made substantial progress at McFarland and is ready to return to life outside the facility, two McFarland staff workers testified on Wednesday. "I don't believe there's anything left at the hospital he's going to benefit from," said Brenda Rogers. Mental health technician Tim Brown said Reeves was active in therapy groups. "I think he'd do fantastic" if released, said Brown. Reeves said surgery six months ago to reverse an ileostomy put in place by doctors treating him for his gunshot wounds was a turning point in his mental recovery. Emptying the waste from the bag attached to his stomach "reminded me 10 times a day that what I did was wrong," Reeves told the judge. Reeves also said hospital therapy helped him take responsibility for his actions. "I was very selfish. I didn't think about the tellers. I could have given them PTSD and their families," he said. The community also suffered, Reeves said, because of the fear he created with three armed robberies of the store in early 2013. If released, Reeves said he would live with his aunt near Springfield and attend college classes to become a recovery specialist. He has made an arrangement with a Springfield psychiatrist to continue therapy, he said. In his arguments for release, defense lawyer Brian McEldowney said "the purpose of hospitalization is not punishment but rehabilitation and I think that's been accomplished." First Assistant State's Attorney Adam Ghrist acknowledged that he was "impressed with the presentation of Jason Reeves" on the witness stand. The prosecutor urged Freitag to postpone a ruling, however, until the hospital provides Reeves' current diagnosis and questions about the aunt's financial ability to care for Reeves are answered. Noting that he was sending Reeves back to the hospital for another holiday season, the judge told Reeves, "I wish you could go home You've done so well. I think you can endure another couple of weeks and hang in there." Reeves has filed a lawsuit in McLean County against Kroger, the city of Chenoa and the security officer who shot him, alleging that the officer not properly trained in the use of a firearm in a store. NORMAL Not many would volunteer hours each week to make controversial decisions that affect 13,500 children let alone do it for 41 years. Gail Ann Briggs has passionately done so. After serving more than four decades on the McLean County Unit 5 board of education, Briggs, 76, will push in her chair at the board table one last time before the April board election. People say its a thankless job because you arent paid anything. Nothing could be further from the truth, said Briggs. Her connection to the Normal-based district began in 1968, when Briggs a certified nurse and homemaker and her husband Bob moved from New York to Illinois in search of an exceptional school district for their growing family. Thankfully, we found Unit 5, said Briggs. The family settled in Towanda and when her son started kindergarten, Briggs joined the Unit 5 citizens advisory council. Council members were urged to attend board meetings, she said. I would approach board members and ask them why they voted the way they did. During the 1976 board election, peers encouraged Briggs to run for a seat. I thought, Yeah, right. As if I could win in this great, big district, recalled Briggs. Another factor convinced her the odds were high: Im a woman. They hadnt had a woman on the board in 17 years, she said. Lo and behold, I was elected. From there, the public elected Briggs another 10 times. She is one of the top four longest-serving board members in Illinois still actively serving, and is in the top 23 longest-serving board members in the state. In his 2 years as Unit 5 superintendent, Mark Daniel has frequently turned to Briggs for guidance. She has helped me in many different ways, like introducing me to key leaders, but also being a person I can come to and ask questions and gain another perspective, said Daniel. As a person new to the community, you seek those types of mentors that provide information you can utilize to make decisions that improve education. Daniel hopes the board will be able to absorb some of the institutional knowledge left behind by Briggs. Its a loss for us, but she has earned it, he said. Briggs believes all board members elected by voters are there for the right reasons. My personal motto is, Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well. That means putting everything into it with the time you have, she said. Putting everything into her board service sometimes meant losing sleep over contentious decisions and taking personal blows to enhance education. The toughest board decision for Briggs came in 1981, when she had to choose whether to keep Towanda Elementary School open and renovate the building, or close it and relocate students. The building housed personal memories. Under its roof, an Eagle Scout badge was pinned to her sons chest. Its where her daughter fell in love with 4-H. She could hear the school bell ring from her front door. But Briggs knew renovating the building would cost more than tearing it down, which, in turn, could negatively impact students. She voted to close the school, deeming it a business decision. Briggs still flinches when remembering a cry that came from the audience: Gail, you traitor. What are you doing? The final vote tally determined the school would remain open. Two days after the meeting, I came home and found flowers. The note said, I disagree with your vote, I honor your integrity, said Briggs. The biggest reward for her choices is when she makes classroom visits, she said. When you go to a classroom and you sit there and watch the lights come on in kids eyes its going to be hard to step away from that, said Briggs, wiping away tears. As a history lover, Briggs has spent many weekends at the district office, sifting through boxes of Unit 5 documents dating to 1948. She has records of every board member, superintendent, levy and board meeting. Other than enjoying time with her husband, children and grandchildren, Briggs plans to spend retirement organizing her many stacks of historic documents. I worry these records wont be kept, she said. That attention to detail and sharp memory is something Julie Payne appreciated while working with Briggs for 20 years on the Beyond the Books Foundation and Unit 5 Education Foundation. Gail has such a passion for education, said Payne, past president of Beyond the Books. Not only was she always present at every meeting, she had the history and the facts. Whether it was bylaw information, minutes from meetings or past decisions, you could turn to her. She is so incredibly dependable. She has given it her all. Briggs said she will always be willing to offer guidance, information and resources to Unit 5 administrators and board members. The noble thing to say is that Ive done this for public service. The selfish thing to say is that I really enjoyed it but I also enjoy being noble, said Briggs. I have learned so much about who I am and what I enjoy. I appreciate the voter confidence and definitely feel very humble. BLOOMINGTON The former executive director of the city-owned U.S. Cellular Coliseum is under investigation for possible "financial impropriety" discovered at the public facility he previously managed in Bemidji, Minn. Meanwhile, Curtis Webb, 45, has pleaded not guilty in McLean County Circuit Court to theft of government property, a felony, for allegedly taking an unspecified amount of money from the city of Bloomington between July 31 and Aug. 30. "I can confirm we are conducting a thorough investigation," Bemidji City Manager Nate Mathews told The Pantagraph Wednesday. "VenuWorks is conducting that, and we have been in touch with our county attorney and our police department just to put them on notice that we have financial impropriety that we are investigating. "The city (of Bemidji) is aware of some impropriety that Curtis Webb (allegedly) conducted while he was under employment in the city of Bemidji," said Mathews. "The news broke in Bloomington and then it was discovered here." Webb was fired in late October by VenuWorks, the firm that manages the city-owned event centers in both Bloomington and Bemidji. "VenuWorks, when they had a leadership change in 2013, ... (Webb) came in and took the reigns of this facility with his staff and (VenuWorks' finance department). We welcomed him in. We had no reason to suspect anything was up until the news broke in Bloomington and (alleged financial impropriety) was discovered here," said Mathews. VenuWorks President Steve Peters said previously that the company became suspicious after charges not related to the business were found during a routine review of Coliseum financial records. Multiple airline tickets to a destination inappropriate for business were among the questionable expenses, said Peters. When asked about whether an investigation was underway related to Webb's management of Bemidji's 4,700-seat Sanford Center, Peters said Wednesday, "We're still assessing the damage there, but he will probably be charged (in Bemidji) as soon as we complete the final analysis. We're working with law enforcement there as well." "We're still sorting through the facts-finding right now," Mathews added. "We don't have a firm number yet, but we do know it's substantial." Mathews said Webb was executive director of the Sanford Center from 2013 until May 2016, when VenuWorks, based in Ames, Iowa, named him to lead daily operations in Bloomington. Webb is scheduled to appear in court here for a status hearing on Feb. 23. His bond was set at $50,000, and he posted $5,035 and was released from custody. The city of Bemidji also has been in touch with the state of Minnesota auditor's office "and they are reviewing the internal investigation that VenuWorks is completing." "We had the option of doing it ourselves, but (the state auditor's office) suggested they could do this audit and investigate what happened," said Mathews. "They have forensic accountants on staff at the state auditor's office. We gladly accepted their assistance to take a look at this, as it is public funds." North American Wood Fiber Prices Have Trended Downward for Most of 2015 and 2016 Prices in the third quarter of 2016 are at their lowest levels in two years. Dec. 22, 2016 (Press Release)- Prices for wood fiber consumed by the pulp industry in North America have fallen over the past year in all regions of the continent with the exception of the US South, reports the North American Wood Fiber Review (NAWFR). The biggest declines have been in the northwestern and northeastern US where prices have fallen between 10-15% from the 3Q/15 to the 3Q/16. In the US Northwest, where a majority of the fiber furnish is sawmills residuals, prices have fallen 11% in one year but are still higher than the 25-year average price. Current price levels for softwood chips in Washington and Oregon are the second highest in North America, behind the Lake States region. The lowest cost regions for chips are the US South, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec. Healthy operating rates at the sawmills in the Pacific Northwest and high chip inventories at the region's pulpmills are the major factors behind the recent price declines, and this downward trend is likely to continue into the 4Q/16. The high supply of residual chips has resulted in less demand for costlier roundwood chips, leading to declining pulplog prices. The average prices for Douglas-fir and hemlock log prices were 13% lower in the 3Q/16 as compared to the 3Q/15, according to the NAWFR Chips and pulplogs prices in the US South, which have been nearly unchanged for over a year at levels close to the highest since the 1980's when NAWFR started tracking prices in that region, also showed some modest easing during the fall but not to the degree seen in other regions in North America. Canadian wood fiber prices, in US dollar terms, have come down substantially from their record highs in 2012. Pulpmills throughout Canada have become much more competitive over the past few years and have gone from having the highest wood fiber costs in North America five years ago to currently having the lowest costs on the continent. In British Columbia, wood chip prices would most likely have fallen more than they have the past year had it not been for the commonly used formula linking chip prices to the NBSK pulp price, a price that has stayed fairly stable the past year. Wood Resources International, publisher of the North American Wood Fiber Review, is an internationally recognized forest industry-consulting firm. For further information, please visit: www.woodprices.com. SOURCE: Wood Resources International LLC The girls from MTV's "Teen Mom" are going through a rough patch after most of them announced their dismay over Twitter. Amber Portwood posted on Twitter that she no longer wants to be part of the reality TV series stating that the producers and the show depict a negative image of her and the other girls. Amber Portwood expressed her dismay after Farrah Abraham and her partner, Simon Saran, openly mocked Amber's boyfriend. During the "Teen Mom OG's"reunion, Abraham mentioned that Portwood's boyfriend looks like a pedophile, which embarrassed Amber Portwood and shocked the rest of the "Teen Mom OG" cast. "The way I have been portrayed and treated is unfair. @MTV sending all my love," Portwood stated on one of her tweets. "If I was treated fairly it wouldn't be an issue but it's been nothing but disrespect since the reunion show. Which keeps continuing today... Nothing has been dealt with or has made me feel any safer to even move on with people who have continuously hidden things from the network...." After Farrah's statement, Portwood walked out of the stage, as Dr. Drew didn't to anything to stop Farrah's behavior. It was then added that the rest of the "Teen Mom OG" stars, also walked out of their reunion special. Amber Portwood expressed her dismay with the show's producers, but Farrah Abrahams called her out according to The Hollywood Gossip. She then added that Amber Portwood's stunt to leave the show is just her way of seeking attention. "None of the girls will quit - they like the attention, need the money and their boyfriends need the money too much to quit," Abraham stated during her interview with E!. I get that Amber is embarrassed by her actions but she flip-flops all the time. She will be right back to filming. This is so dramatic. She could quit and not make it public if she was truly done." Policymakers should not only focus on kindergarten up to Grade 12 when thinking of the education system but should also consider early learning and college according to the Cradle Through College Coalition. The call to legislature came in anticipation of the 2017 sessions of the lawmakers where they are expected to continue their discussions on how the state could fund basic education. The Cradle Through College Coalition, according to University Business, is composed of around 200 school districts including higher education institutions and other groups. The group is pushing for the inclusion of early learning, K-12 and college education in the future sessions of the legislative as they face a deadline come 2018 for the 2012 McCleary decision as well as the state operating budget for 2017 to 2019. Department of Early Learning the coalition has recommended that instead of pitting the different educational sectors against each one for state funding, legislators should instead connect these sectors from beginning to end to come up with a better educational legislation. It seeks funding for the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and the financial air program of the state known as the State Need Grant. ECEAP, which is a Washington State funded service to eligible students and families, aims to help them prepare for kindergarten. Among those who can avail of this program are those from low-income families or who have environmental and development risk factors that could affect their success in getting an education. Seattle Times said the coalition believes the current funding system does not take into consideration poverty when deciding the amount of money that goes into each district and it wants a review of this. It also seeks implementation of the McCleary decision to put an end to the use of local levies in funding basic education. A 6-year-old boy from Oregon is now in a coma after hitting a street pole while sledding. Doctors still don't know when is he going to wake up. In an article published by Fox News, the victim of this horrible accident, Johnny Tatarinov, was just having a fun day with his sister, Alyona, when the tragic incident happened. Both of them were sledding down a hill but he, unfortunately, crashed into a street pole and didn't wake up since then. The 6-year-old boy's brain is swollen and nobody knows how long till he survives and wakes up from his coma. One of his sisters, Susanna, said that he is a very helpful and sweet kid that he would bring their mom some tea when she's not feeling well. It is just one of those things that he would do that none of his 11 other siblings won't. Komonews also reported this accident saying the two were going down the hill extremely fast that they thought they would be able to go past the pole. This was based on Alyona's testimony and the next thing they know, they were in total pain. Johnny's sister has no recollection of the crash but remembered she got a concussion. Meanwhile, Johnny's sisters are already missing his vibe in the house and they are hoping for his immediate recovery. They would also like to send their gratitude towards their friends and neighbors who are helping them in this very difficult time of their lives. These people are looking out for them while their parents are in the hospital with their little brother. This story is a good wake up call for parents to always check on their children, especially when they are outside playing in the snow. This weather could bring a lot of accidents, which requires parents to be extra careful. Scientists found a new way to kill prostate cancer cells and it doesn't even involve surgery. On Dec. 20, news about deep-sea bacteria in a drug used with a laser has been making rounds online because of its ability to kill cancer cells. In an article published by Fox News, this promising new method doesn't only surprise people because of its non-invasive nature of treatment but it even maintains the healthy tissue in the body while the patient is at it. It is quite surprising because usual cancer treatments would kill both the cancer cells and the healthy ones but this new trial treatment does it differently. The process involves injecting a deep-sea bacteria drug to a patient targeting the bloodstream. This drug has to be activated by a laser first in order to be effective in killing prostate cancer cells. The people behind this research tested this drug in 413 prostate cancer victims and half of them experienced remission. That number alone has proven it is effective than doing control group treatment. The lead scientist for this project and consultant urologist at the University College London, Mark Emberton, said that this drug brings forth great news to men who are diagnosed early with prostate cancer. This treatment could possibly kill the cancer cells without them having to lose their prostate. He added that this is indeed a huge medical breakthrough. WebMD described this latest treatment as transformative based on what scientists also had to say about it. For a drug to not give severe side effects, especially for cancer patients, is rare. That is why it is a big deal. Should this treatment finally becomes available worldwide, men who are prostate cancer patients won't need to undergo radiation therapy that usually results in impotence and urinary infections. So, tell everyone in your social network about this great news. Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia may have found the explanation for this debilitating and rare genetic disorder known as Sotos Syndome and Marshall Smith Syndrome. The research explores how gene mutation in the stem cells behave resulting to the disorder which is responsible for overgrowth and unusual developments in the brain Over 1,500 Australians, who are experiencing the symptoms of the Sotos and Marshall Smith Syndrome, will hopefull get an anwer to their question on why their brains have an unusual development. UQ News said the research will be able to help patients understand their illnesses better. "Each unborn child has a certain number of stem cells in their developing brain.These stem cells need to differentiate, at the right time during brain development, to make the right number of neurons.We found that deficiency in a gene called Nuclear factor one (NFIX) leads to the development of larger brains - an attribute common in Sotos and Marshall Smith patients," said Lachlan Harris, lead author of the research at UQ's School of Biomedical Sciences. Nature said patients with the genetic disorder called Marshall Smith Syndrome experience intellectual disability, respiratory difficulty, failure to thrive, accelerated skeletal maturation, unusual forehead, depressed nasal bridge and other unusual facial features. The Syndrome is said to be caused by NFIX gene mutations. Dr Michael Piper, a brain expert at the University of Queensland the new information will help provide diagnostic, counselling and advance information not only to parents but also to children who have the gene mutation disorder so they would be better off preparing for it. Daniel Hines for one got frustrated with the few information he can get about the Sotos and Marshall Smith Syndromes ever since his five-year old daughter was diagnosed with the disorder. Hines and all the other parents whose children have been diagnosed with the Sotos and Marshall Smith Syndromes can now bank on the new research to provide them more information on how to manage the disorder. There is a Facebook page established specifically for the Sotos Syndrome Group and this has also helped them provide more information. Perhaps one of the perfect holiday presents that you could give your children is a pet. It doesn't have to always be a dog because there are other kinds of animals that could be your child's pet and friend. What parents need to know are the right breed and the right kind that would work accordingly to their child's age. In an article published by Life Hacker, before getting your kids some pets, it is a must that you teach them about responsibility. You can't be the sole person to take care of the animal all the time. One of the reasons to give a child a pet is for them to learn about being responsible. A photo posted by Puppies (@puppies) on Dec 9, 2016 at 2:11pm PST Now, the kind of pet that you want to give would have to depend on their age and their capability to take care of it. For toddlers who are under the age of three, experts are not recommending parents to give them pets just yet. But soon as they get past the toddler stage, guinea pigs are ideal because they are docile and they require less maintenance. The best time to give your child a dog or a cat is when they turned 10 towards their teenage years. At this age, they would be able to help in feeding the animal, walking them when needed and even cleaning their place if they have a cage or a pet house. As for the paperwork, it is a must that you know the right documents to carry when you own a pet. Having a pet insurance is a must but one doesn't need to spend so much on it as well. Before signing up for a policy for your pet, make sure that you read the fine print first and know the coverage of the benefit that the animal will get. The right vaccines and boosters must also be prepared before giving your child a pet. Make sure that it is clear from having an anti-rabies shot. For kittens, they are required as soon as they reached three months old. The same thing goes for puppies. Finally, make it a point to adopt and not shop. Student's privacy and information might be at risk from educational websites and apps that accumulate their personal data, warns Ontario's privacy commissioner. Brian Beamish said the student's information could be used beyond educational purposes. That's why he suggested teachers, parents and kids to be aware of the information provided as well as what it is being used for. Latest technologies are swiftly being adopted in various schools in the form of learning apps, websites and mobile applications where students can post their assignments or work for their teachers review. These technologies might gather student's information, online behaviors and voice recordings. Though technology can really bring fantastic reward, Brian Beamish, Ontario's privacy commissioner, said it also can bring great harm. In some states of America, student confidentiality has been a big concern, with California as the first state to pass strict law that makes sure educational apps and online services only gather some information and data on any young students and that information cannot be sold, compiled or shared. In Ontario, that privacy law is more than passable. However teachers and parents, according to Beamish, need to be better informed, particularly to make sure online services used are not "over-collecting" information. The main issue is that the collected information of students could be used beyond the educational purposes. Beamish said the student's information could be a rich source for companies. These companies may use the information from parents or children which they need in order to deliver their services. Identity Protection noted that stolen mails and email addresses of students could be used by third parties for targeted advertising campaigns, while voice recordings, pictures and birthdates could be used to commit identity theft. With these worries in mind, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has worked with Ontario Association of School Business Officials to make an informational pamphlet. The Star noted that the association also has a video for teacher boards that warns that when using other services like photo-sharing websites or app to post quizzes or homework, teachers must think twice. In the video, students and parents are all encouraged to be cautious when sharing more information about them, while teachers are discouraged from posting videos or pictures showing children's faces or use the kids' full names. It is also cited in the video that teachers should think twice as to why they're using the educational app or sites. As educational technology grows in fame, it just makes sense to teach children few identity-protection tactics now. Students should know which information should be kept private and must be demonstrated how other people can view the information they share on the Internet. Autistic children are familiar nowadays. Most of them don't know that they have autism or they just don't seem to care about their situation at all. Although people with autism do not have the same markers and deficits, they tend to share social, communication, motor, and sensory problems that may affect their behavior in distinct ways. According to The New Indian Express, some students from Biochemistry Department of Bharathi Women's College, assisted by Institute of Social Pediatrics, Government Stanley Medical College, and Hospital and funded by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Delhi. Research from the study, approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee, Madras Medical College (MMC) found out that some observations and markers for autistic children and have found out a chemical substance in these kids. These chemical substances were Plexina-AI and Kininogen-I. These proteins play a broadly significant role in the signaling pathway of the brain that may affect their behavior which can cause autism. The study has also included autistic children to attend in specialized schools. Autism is a tremendous matter that should be taken care of. According to an article in BBC, people with autism have the tendency to have more activity on the part of the brain called the amygdala when they look at other people's faces. The over-stimulation of this section of the brain may explain why autistic people often have troubles in maintaining eye contact. A nerve cell in the brain called mirror neurons, work and responded in a different way to individuals with autism compared to those who don't have the disorder. This explains why people with autism find it hard to learn simple behaviors from others. Having good social interaction, language skills, and physical behavior is crucial. These factors are very essential because these were the attributes that we are using daily and are necessary for applying for jobs, forming relationships, etc. and overall have a good quality of life. Better technology in monitoring your kid/s is about to set ablaze in 2017. According to Nitin Pander, CEO of Parentune that while safety is understandably a big concern for parents who send their kids to day care centers, all while almost any centers are offering online access to parents watching their child's activities any day of the week, there is a significant possibility that there will be more innovative techniques coming into play next year, and it is expected to witness stronger and better technological assistance for parents. Longer breastfeeding is a thing of choice since most mothers breastfeed their babies for a span of 6-9 months and some mothers who carried on beyond two years or more, shied away from telling people of being judged and discriminated. Silky Saures, a fitness instructor uttered that in India, prolonged breastfeeding is tough as compared to the West. She admitted that she breastfed her daughter for three years and it was considered a standard practice in their place (Munich). She later suggested that mothers like her should buy breastfeeding sling to breastfeed in public places and make it acceptable to other parts of the world and the best thing to do it is you don't have to be ashamed, she said. Cease over-sharenting is about to bloom next year as well. Most of the kids have their social media pages before they turn one. Some make their social media welcome with ultrasound pictures as well! All in all, before these children can go on to realize how social media works, they already have an online personality that has been shaped to depth by their parents. Stacey Steinberg, a law professor and the associate director of Center on Children and Families, Florida wrote in a post that parents don't share information online maliciously but instead they fail to consider the potential or longevity of what's happening to the information they are posting online. All these puts the child's safety at greater risk. As many parents have started to realize, hence, the trend of over-sharenting will probably see a downfall circus next year. Barbies for girls, hot wheels for boys but nonetheless gender-neutral toys are set to be effective the very next year. An article on Babble.com says that toys are not for boys or girls, it's for kids. Not only it will break stereotypes, but kids should have equal access to new concepts that will not alter their boundaries of what they should like and what they should be like. According to an article in PSHYPERLINK, an enormous rise of technology is almost as equal as the increase to an expert nanny, like today when parents hire a nanny in India, they just see if the caregiver is hygienic or active to cope up with the kid's immediate needs and also an emerging trend of hiring nannies with medical licenses, proper educational attainment, ability to speak English and many more. Lastly, there is a better maternity leave policy. Since paid maternity leave extends from three to six months, PwC announced that the leave will now be approximately three years for child care. And with corporates becoming more and more sensitive, 2017 could see some more alternatives that will empower a mother in many ways than one. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions In September I posted a granted patent report regarding Apple's technology regarding gaze and pointing gestures for a possible future iMac. The proven technology was developed by Apple's PrimeSense team in Israel, the company that was behind Microsoft's Kinect. Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a new patent application from Apple's PrimeSense team that takes this technology to the next level of 3D. Apple's CEO reiterated this week that Apple has great desktops on their road map. Microsoft went all-out this fall to dazzle the market with their all-new Surface Studio desktop that provides artists and architects alike with a large touch display that slants down to accommodate drawing on a natural angle. Apple is now under the gun to add some pizazz to the next iMac. While there are many ways to accomplish this, one of the new ideas that Apple could introduce is head and visual tracking that would be based on a 3D version of their iSight camera taking advantage of today's invention. A lot of engineering activity has been centered on this invention lately and it may indicate that it's getting closer to viability. The foundation of the invention / granted patent doesn't change. The new 3D twist is simply added and such additions are always found in Apple's patent claims. Below are the claims that support the new 3D mapping and interactions as it relates to gaze controls: 1. A method, comprising: receiving a sequence of three-dimensional (3D) maps of at least a part of a body of a user of a computerized system; extracting, from the 3D map, 3D coordinates of a head of the user; identifying, based on the 3D coordinates of the head, a direction of a gaze performed by the user; identifying an interactive item presented in the direction of the gaze on a display coupled to the computerized system; extracting from the 3D maps an indication that the user is moving a limb of the body in a specific direction; and repositioning the identified interactive item on the display responsively to the indication. 2. The method according to claim 1, and comprising receiving a two dimensional (2D) image of the user, the image including an eye of the user, wherein identifying the direction of the gaze comprises finding the direction of the gaze based on the 3D coordinates of the head and the image of the eye. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein identifying the direction of the gaze comprises analyzing light reflected off an element of the eye. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein extracting the 3D coordinates of the head comprises identifying, from the 2D image, a first position of the head along a horizontal axis and a vertical axis, and segmenting the 3D maps in order to identify, from the 3D maps, a second position of the head along a depth axis. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein extracting the 3D coordinates of the head comprises segmenting the 3D maps in order to extract a position of the head along a horizontal axis, a vertical axis, and a depth axis. 6. The method according to claim 1, and comprising changing a state of the interactive item. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the state of the interactive item is changed responsively to the gaze. 8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the state of the interactive item is changed responsively to a vocal command received from the user. 9. The method according to claim 6, wherein changing the state comprises directing input received from the user to the interactive item. 10. The method according to claim 6, and comprising identifying a target point on the display in the direction of the gaze, and calculating a calibration coefficient based on the proximity of the target point to the interactive item. 11. An apparatus, comprising: a sensing device configured to receive a sequence of three dimensional (3D) maps of at least a part of a body of a user, including a head of the user; and a computer coupled to the sensing device and configured to extract, from the 3D maps, 3D coordinates of the head of the user and to identify, based on the 3D coordinates of the head, a direction of a gaze performed by the user, to identify an interactive item presented in the direction of the gaze on a display coupled to the computer, to extract from the 3D maps an indication that the user is moving a limb of the body in a specific direction, and to reposition the identified interactive item on the display responsively to the indication. 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the sensing device is configured to receive a two dimensional (2D) image of the user, the 2D image including an eye of the user, and wherein the computer is configured to identifying the direction of the gaze using the image of the eye together with the 3D coordinates of the head. 13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the computer is configured to identify the direction of the gaze by analyzing light reflected off an element of the eye. 14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the computer is configured to extract the 3D coordinates of the head by identifying, from the 2D image, a first position of the head along a horizontal axis and a vertical axis, and segmenting the 3D maps in order to identify, from the 3D maps, a second position of the head along a depth axis. 15. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the computer is configured to extract the 3D coordinates of the head by segmenting the 3D maps in order to extract a position of the head along a horizontal axis, a vertical axis, and a depth axis. 16. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the computer is configured to change a state of the interactive item. 17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the computer is configured to change the state of the interactive item is changed responsively to the gaze. 18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the computer is configured to change the state of the interactive item responsively to a vocal command received from the user. 19. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the computer is configured to change the state by directing input received from the user to the interactive item. 20. A computer software product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium, in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a computer, cause the computer to receive a sequence of three-dimensional (3D) maps of at least a part of a body of a user of the computer, including a head of the user, to extract, from the 3D maps, 3D coordinates of the head of the user, to identify, based on the 3D coordinates of the head, a direction of a gaze performed by the user, to identify an interactive item presented in the direction of the gaze on a display coupled to the computer, to extract from the 3D maps an indication that the user is moving a limb of the body in a specific direction, and to reposition the identified interactive item on the display responsively to the indication. Apple only filed for this invention (patent application 20160370860) back in September 2016. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time. Patently Apple presents a detailed summary of patent applications with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each such patent application is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trade Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any patent application should be read in its entirety for full and accurate details. 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. So says the New York Times in its editorial earlier this week. The article doesnt call for a constitutional amendment, but for more states to approve the National Popular Vote Compact, an agreement that each signing state will direct its electors to vote for the winner of the national popular vote. This seems like a clever solution, until you consider that states would be bound to vote for a candidate that perhaps carried only a small portion of the votes in their own state which seems to me, makes it rather likely that one or more states will abandon the agreement. Now, I had previously offered a replacement system, though it didnt generate an awful lot of excitement. Mathematically, the Electoral College system advantages the smallest states, insofar as their residents have a disproportionate level of influence by the fact that each state always gets two extra electors, beyond those assigned them in proportion to the states population, because each state has two senators. It also advantages voters in states with large non-voting populations, which may have been slaves in 1789 but is now a matter of non-citizens and minors. (Yes, I know there are claims that this was the entire purpose of the Electoral College; quite honestly, it strikes me as more of a by-product but I havent dug into source documents any more than those making this claim have, either.) But in terms of the actual impact of the Electoral College, and the winner-take-all system applied nearly everywhere, the states which have a genuine level of greater influence are the battlegrounds that is, states which are more evenly divided between the two parties are in a position where each vote is meaningful. In states which favor one party over the other by a substantial margin, each individual vote is worth less because votes beyond that needed to give the winning candidate the majority (or is it plurality? I can never remember) dont have any extra value. Hence, everyone always says that Wyoming and Alaska and other small states would prevent a constitutional amendment eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a pure popular vote system. But I would imagine that traditional Battleground states would object just as much. Does this characteristic of the Electoral College offer a benefit? In a way, it disadvantages states which are too politically homogeneous, and advantages voters in politically divided states. Perhaps thats a good thing, insofar as the latter voters might be more likely to have really wrestled with their choice, rather than voting the same way as every last one of their neighbors. But, of course, that goes against the general principle of one man, one vote and the idea that everyones vote should count the same, rather than some people being privileged to have more valuable votes. But consider the alternative thats being proposed: a simple popular vote wins system. And note that such a system is a rarity elsewhere. Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan any country which has a Prime Minister doesnt have a direct election for the position; instead, the individual is the head of the majority party, or selected by the majority of parliament. The same is true for Germanys Chancellor. The French system is a bit funky a directly-elected President (with a run-off to ensure that the winner always has more than 50% of the vote), who appoints a Prime Minister, who must, in turn, be acceptable to the majority of the National Assembly, even if its a different party that holds the majority. To the south, Mexico does have a presidential system with a direct election. But Im not so sure theyre a model to follow (in addition to one-party rule and ongoing election fraud): their current president, Enrique Pena Nieto, won with only 38% of the vote. The winner-take-all by state system leaves a lot to be desired, but I dont know that Americans would be happy with such a scenario in the U.S., where, even in 1992, when Ross Perot mounted a serious third-party challenge, Bill Clinton got 43% of the vote. So the Electoral College system may just be the most reasonable approach weve got. And, after all, the bigger issue is the flaws in the primary system: the winner-take-all primaries in various states that gave Trump wins with a third of the vote, and the superdelegate system that gave Clinton such a head start that only Sanders was willing to challenge her. Image: own photograph Patna: Rameshwar Prasad Yadav, the father of 17-year old Avnish Kumar whose dead body was found in the bathroom of his rented room in Kankarbagh on Wednesday, filed murder charges against four people saying his son's death was the result of a conspiracy and not caused by an accident. Yadav, who rushed to Patna on Thursday from Guwahati where he works for a private company after hearing the tragic news of the death of his son, filed a police case against his son's roommate Bittu, his brother Sonu, landlord Upendra Kumar and the landlord's son for killing Avnish and then trying to hide the evidence by rearranging the crime scene by moving his body to the bathroom where he was found dead on Wednesday afternoon. As reported, Avnish Kumar, hailing from Sikti village under Mashrakh police station in Chhapra, was found dead in the bathroom of his flat on Road Number 9 of Chandmari Road in Kankarbagh. His elder sister Sandhya who lives in Patna had said that Avnish was living in the rented flat with his roommate Bittu. Bittu told the police that Avnish took Bittu's brother Sonu to a bus station on Wednesday morning. After coming back, he went to the bathroom to take a shower at which time Bittu left home to see some friend. However, when he returned home after about two hours, he found the bathroom door locked from inside. Attempt to call Avnish met with no response at which point Bittu called the landlady and with the help of her son, they broke open the bathroom door only to find Avnish dead with his face in the commode. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Kankarbagh police station in-charge Suresh Prasad said police were still waiting for the autopsy report after which appropriate actions would be taken. Patna: Police in Patna on Thursday showered canes on the 102 Ambulance drivers and other employees who had gathered in Gardanibagh to commit 'mass suicide' in an attempt to highlight the failure of the state government to pay attention to their plight. More than 4000 ambulance drivers who have been on strike for several weeks now had gathered in Gardanibagh on Thursday with the intention to commit suicide an old, tired threat that is hardly ever carried out. Equipped with kerosene tanks and matches, the protestors were hoping to draw the attention of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, incidentally, had been away in Rohtas district. Instead, district officials ordered lathi charge on the protestors who refused to call off their suicide attempt and failed to obey the police order to disperse the crowd. Chasing the protestors, police hit them with their batons as the mob ran helter-skelter to avoid being injured in the melee. Authorities also brought in the anti-riot Vajra vehicle and used water cannon to get a grip on the situation. As reported, at least 18 ambulance workers were injured in the incident, some with broken limbs. A spokesperson for the Ambulance workers association told the media that the attack on them was completely unprovoked as the dharna was completely peaceful. Gardanibagh police station in-charge B K Singh Chauhan, however, denied having resorted to lathi charge saying the cops were merely trying to remove the mob that was disrupting traffic in the area. "They tried to commit suicide and also breached the security cordon separating the protest area from the VIP areas. Under these circumstances, we had no choice but to resort to mild force though the claims of brutal lathi charge by the police are wrong," Chauhan said adding more than two dozen people were arrested for disturbing peace in the area. Five Political Prisoners in Iran on Life-Threatening Hunger Strikes in Desperate Bid for Case Reviews 12/21/16 Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran The lives of at least three imprisoned civil rights activists in Iran are perilously in danger after suffering health complications from weeks on hunger strike, while another has sewn his lips shut, but judicial authorities have yet to respond to their demands, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has learned. Saeed Shirzad, Arash Sadeghi, Ali Shariati and Morteza Moradpour are all on life-threatening hunger strikes to demand reviews of their unjust prison sentences. Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen with U.S. permanent resident status, has also started a hunger strike in Tehran's Evin Prison to protest his sentence and the denial of consular access and medical treatment. Political prisoners in Iran are singled out for harsh treatment, which often includes denial of medical care. SAEED SHIRZAD: Sewn Lips Political activist Saeed Shirzad sewed his lips shut and began a hunger strike on December 7, 2016 in Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj to protest "the quiet death of prisoners" because of numerous human rights abuses at the hands of prison officials, according to a letter he wrote to judicial officials. Shirzad is serving a five-year prison sentence that was issued on September 12, 2015 for "assembly and collusion against national security" for helping the children of political prisoners pursue education. He has been waiting for a decision on his appeal for more than a year. ARASH SADEGHI: Nearly 60 Days on Hunger Strike Arash Sadeghi, who has been on hunger strike since October 24, 2016, was rushed to the hospital in Tehran on December 17 after suffering heart palpitations, but was returned to Evin Prison's Ward 8 the same day after undergoing some tests, a source informed the Campaign. "Despite the doctors' strong recommendations to break his hunger strike after 55 days and accept (intravenous) injections, Arash is still insisting on continuing his action until he gets his demands," said the source. Sadeghi began serving a 15-year prison sentence in June 2016 for his peaceful activism in defense of civil rights. He was convicted of "assembly and collusion against national security," "propaganda against the state," "spreading lies in cyberspace," and "insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic." Sadeghi went on hunger strike after his wife Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee was also taken to Evin Prison on October 24 to serve a six-year sentence for a story she never published and some Facebook posts. He is demanding a review of her sentence. "My stories and poems were confiscated the night agents searched our home," Iraee told the Campaign in October. "After the third day of questioning, the interrogators put me under pressure and accused me of insulting the sacred. I was interrogated dozens of times about the burning of the Quran in my story." "Each time I explained: it's only a story," she added. "I told them and I wrote [in my defense statement] that if what I did was a crime, then many scriptwriters and novelists should be arrested for committing the same crime. But they didn't care, and in the end they gave me the maximum punishment." MORTEZA MORADPOUR: More than 50 Days on Hunger Strike Morteza Moradpour has lost more than 50 pounds after refusing food at Tabriz Prison since October 25, 2016, a source told the Campaign. Since December 10 he has also stopped taking sugar with his tea, which has sped up the weight loss. "Morteza's life is in danger, but he is refusing to give up his hunger strike despite pleas from friends and relatives," said the source. "He told his family in a phone conversation that if they talk about stopping the hunger strike, he would hang up. Judicial authorities in Tabriz are also saying that they would not look into his demands for parole as long as he continues his hunger strike." In November 2009 the Azeri civil rights activist was sentenced to one year in prison for "propaganda against the state" and two years for "assembly and collusion against national security." Moradpour has spent more than two years in prison, making him eligible for parole based on Article 134 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code, which allows for only the longest prison sentence to be served in cases involving multiple convictions. Morteza and several other activists were arrested in the Shahgoli district of the city of Tabriz during a peaceful rally on May 22, 2009 for shouting slogans in favor of Azeri ethnic demands, his brother told the Campaign. ALI SHARIATI: More Than 50 Days on Hunger Strike Reformist political activist Ali Shariati, who has urged voters to support the government of President Hassan Rouhani from his prison cell, is protesting his five-year prison sentence for "acting against national security by participating in a protest against acid attacks in front of [Parliament] on October 22, 2014." He began his hunger strike on October 31, 2016 after being taken to Evin Prison to serve his sentence. "After four weeks we were given permission to see Ali," wrote his wife, Motahhareh Parsi, on her Facebook page on December 14. "He had to go on a dry hunger strike to protest being denied phone calls and family visits. Thank God, that was effective and he changed his hunger strike to a wet one. Shariati was hospitalized on December 9 after a sudden drop in blood pressure. "Ali has not committed any crime," his mother told the Campaign in December 2016. "He was one of the supporters of the government [of Hassan Rouhani]. I don't understand how the supporter of a sitting president can be arrested for 'acting against national security.' If that's the case, the 20 million people who voted for Mr. Rouhani should also be arrested." Increasing Hunger Strikes Iran's political prisoners have increasingly been refusing food, liquids, or both to highlight their plight. The Campaign has documented a particular increase in the number of prisoners on hunger strike in the last few months of December 2016. Most of the prisoners were arrested by the Revolutionary Guards' Intelligence Organization and were given harsh prison sentences by the Judiciary for engaging in peaceful activism. Of the eight political prisoners who were on hunger strike as of November 2016, only Mehdi Rajabian was granted a short medical furlough (temporary leave). On July 31, 2006, imprisoned student activist Akbar Mohammadi died in Evin Prison after a weeklong hunger strike. Political activist Hoda Saber also lost his life on June 1, 2011 from lack of medical treatment in Evin Prison eight days after starting a hunger strike. Prehistoric Iranian toys or votive carts? 12/21/16 Source: Tavoos These animal figurines mounted on little carriages are part of a valuable deposit that is on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The relics were unearthed in Susa, southwestern Iran, in the early 20th. Children's Toys: Lion - Susa, Iran, Elamite Period, C.1150 Bc Source: AllPosters.com They are part of a valuable deposit found at Susa, near the temple of Inshushinak. The collection of objects consists in a wide range of items assembled under the brilliant Shutrukid dynasty in the late second millennium BC. A number of animals on casters, tablets and wheels found in isolation indicate the widespread existence of these mobile objects, toys or votive carts, at Susa. The collection unearthed by French mining engineer and archaeologist Jean-Jacques de Morgan (1857 - 1924) at Susa, southwest Iran, near the temple of Inshushinak. Morgan's aim was twofold: first, to reveal the evidences of Elamite civilization, the importance of which was indirectly known by allusions from the Assyrians who destroyed Susa in 648 B.C.E. Second, to discover the very "origins" of eastern civilization, which Morgan assumed to have stemmed from Susiana. Consequently, Darius's palace was considered as "low period" and the work was centered on the thirty-eight-meter-high Acropolis. To start with, however, there was the surprise discovery of a series of impressive examples of Babylonian civilization brought as war booty in the twelfth century B. C. by an Elamite conqueror. No immediate decision was taken about these findings but in 1900 Mozafaraldin Shah Qajar signed a special treaty was signed in 1900 by granting to France, all the antiquities found or would be discovered in Susa. In this way Louvre was to function as the depository of a complete set of archaeological material, which was unprecedented among archaeological expeditions. The initial shipment in 1901 was of unique importance, containing the Code of Hammurabi, the victory stele of Naram-Sin and Elamite antiquities such as a large bronze table displaying the unique skill of the Elamite metalworkers of the time. Susa bears exceptional testimony to the Elamite, Persian and Parthian civilizations and cultural traditions. The modern Iranian town of Shush is located at the site of ancient Susa. Children's Toys: a Hedgehog, a Lion and a Dove Susa, Iran, Elamite Period, C.1150 Bc Source: Louvre Museum The function of these animals on casters remains unclear, however. Terra-cotta specimens have also been found at Susa (Louvre Museum, sb19324), raising the question as to whether they should be considered as toys or as votive carts carrying figurines. Susian children in the Middle-Elamite court may have played with them, pulling the little carts along with a piece of string. Scholars have also pointed to the religious connotation of human or animal figurines on wheels, suggesting they were purely votive offerings. Of course a toy could become an offering, dedicated to a divinity or buried alongside a deceased person. These works are part of a group of objects known as the "temple of Inshushinak cache," found on the Susa acropolis near the temple of the god Inshushinak, whose name means "Lord of Susa." These precious objects from various periods were gathered together in a sort of hiding-place in the late second millennium BC. They included animals on casters, bronze statuettes of praying figures, circuit games (Louvre Museum, sb2911, sb2912), jewelry and gold ingots. The interpretation of this treasure-trove, like that of the neighboring "golden statuette find" (Louvre Museum, sb2758), remains unclear, but both reflect the far-reaching influence of the Shutrukid dynasty, whose sovereigns sought to pay tribute to the god Inshushinak, particularly on the Susa acropolis, the religious center of Elam. Sources: Tavoos from Tehran Times, Louvre website & Iranicaonline Aleppo: High Point for the Iranian Venture in Syria 12/22/16 By Francois Nicoulaud (source: LobeLog) Syrian President meets Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran (August 2009 file photo by ISNA) For the time being, the Islamic Republic of Iran revels in the fulfilment of the "divine promise" embodied by its victory in Aleppo. The Pasdaran, or Guardians of the Revolution, have given their all for five long years. They have steadfastly supported Bashar al-Assad's shaky army. They have mobilized and trained combat-ready auxiliary Syrian forces, imported thousands of Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Iraqi Shia militiamen, and offered impoverished Afghans migrants work and resident permits in exchange for their deployment to Syria. If ever it had any doubts, Iran can today take comfort in its strategic calculations. For its leadership, there was never any question of permitting some sort of neo-Taliban take power in Damascus, crush all its minorities, then cross into Lebanon and Iraq to desecrate the most sacred shrines of Shi'ism, and ultimately threaten the very borders of Iran itself. All of this with the massive support, overt or covert, of Saudi Arabia, now more than ever obsessed by the centuries-old Persian and Shi'a threat. An Iranian Victory-of a Sort The Iranians, however, had never harbored any illusions about Syria's Supremo. They have criticized Bashar in half-muted tones for the ferocity of his reaction to the popular and initially peaceful revolt in 2011. They offered, at least once, to help him withdraw gracefully and settle elsewhere, but to no avail. At the same time, they regularly challenged their Western counterparts with the question, "if Bashar would leave tomorrow, who would you have take his place?" And, after a deafening silence, they would go on: "If you then leave it to a transition process, why exclude him from it? If the Syrian people, and especially the Sunni Arabs who form more than 60% of the population, hate Bashar so much, what would be the risk of letting him take his chances in an election organized by the United Nations and monitored by the International community? Syrian government forces in East Aleppo (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency) While reassured to have been on the right side in the fight against terrorism, Iran also knows that its victory is fragile. First, it has to share it with a stronger partner: Russia. Of course, it had little choice. During the summer of 2015, General Qassem Soleimani, in charge of the Pasdaran's intervention in Iraq and Syria, had to travel to Moscow to fully detail the exhausted state of the Syrian army and focus his hosts' attention on the prospect of seeing Bashar brushed aside on short notice. Putin lost no time in understanding the threat to the Russian military and civilian presence in the Syrian coastal cities of Latakia and Tartus. Of course, Russia today considers itself as the one and only real winner. When preparing for the evacuation of the insurgents and the civilians still trapped in eastern Aleppo, Moscow didn't bother to consult the Iranians and the Syrian government, and worked instead only with the Turkish intelligence units in touch with the rebels. That is why the pro-Iranian militias blocked the process, demanding the parallel evacuation of Shi'a populations trapped by insurgent factions in two towns located about thirty miles away. And Iran had to swallow another bitter pill, as it is invited by the Russians to meet in Moscow for a discussion about Syria's future-not alone, not with the Syrian government, but with...Turkey, which has supported all kinds of jihadists in Syria since the beginning of the civil war! After Aleppo The Iranians know therefore all too well that the Aleppo victory is not the end of the story. The recent death of a Pasdar general in Palmyra, during the Islamic State's recent reconquest of the city, serves as a useful reminder. If the coalition of forces supporting Assad were to reconquer all the Syrian territories that remain beyond its grasp, it would have to brace again for endless fighting. The Russians know it, too, and want to avoid falling into a new Afghanistan-like quagmire. They have reminded Assad, who still speaks of regaining control of the whole Syrian territory, that there is no military solution to the conflict. And that is probably the reason why they have arranged an honorable way for the last rebels in Aleppo to escape, instead of crushing them all in situ. Moscow is therefore pressing Assad to make concessions to the opposition and agree to an inclusive peace process, based on a national union, to defeat IS. This task by itself would already require significant new sacrifices, which could be difficult to bear for an organization like the Lebanese Hezbollah, which has already paid a heavy price in this war. Funeral in Qom on December 21st, 2016 for 3 Iranians killed in Syria recently (photos by Islamic Republic News Agency) Finally, there remains a big question mark over the behavior of the future U.S. administration. Donald Trump has said that the elimination of IS would be his first priority, and that, in order to reach this goal, he would be ready to explore the possibility of finding common ground with Russia, and even with Assad. Turkey could join the endeavor if assured that the Kurds would be duly contained in the process. In such an arrangement, what place would be left to Iran? True, the Iranians are intervening in Iraq, where the Americans are also present. But in Mosul, among other places, the Iranian advisers are not as directly involved as they are in Aleppo. If the United States and Russia start acting together in Syria, Iran could be relegated to a secondary role. If not, it could at some point find itself acting as the cat's paw of the Great Satan. The Aleppo victory could therefore mark Iran's high point in its Syrian venture. Its primary concern now should be to consolidate its position and remain an integral part of the solutions to come, rather than seek new conquests. All the more so, since the Iranian population already appears tiredf these endless external ventures, not to mention the considerable costs in blood and treasure incurred by protecting the Syrian regime at Iran's expense. Of course, the interventions in Syria and Iraq are presented to the public as essential in protecting Iran from terrorism, and the Iranian people generally accept that justification. But, if the euphoria over the Aleppo victory leads to grander ambitions, if it gives rise to the idea that Iran is now in a position to establish its domination over the region, it is unlikely that the public would follow. As in most countries, the Iranian people focus on their own economic condition. Since the conclusion of the nuclear agreement in July, 2015, and the lifting of the first sanctions, they are waiting with growing impatience for the recovery of their economy, and do not want it to be compromised by unnecessary external crises. There is already plenty to do in order to ensure the survival of this agreement and the lifting of the remaining sanctions, both of which are now gravely threatened by the election of Donald Trump. This is the question on which Iranian opinion will position itself in May's election, when President Rouhani runs for a second term. This, not Syria, is where the Iranians are expecting results. About the author: Francois Nicoullaud's diplomatic career (1964 to 2005) brought him to New York, Chile, Berlin, Bombay, and finally to Budapest and Tehran as French ambassador. In the French Foreign Ministry he was in charge of cultural development as well as non-proliferation issues. He has also served in the Ministry of Interior as a diplomatic advisor and in the Ministry of Defense as First Assistant to the Minister. Since 2005, he has been active as a political analyst in international affairs, concentrating on Iran and the Middle East. He has also authored a book based on his experience entitled, The Turban and the Rose (Ramsey, Paris, 2006). TechRadar 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. Honda Motors research and development subsidiary is in talks to integrate Waymos self-driving technology with its vehicles, suggesting that working with car makers as a technology partner is key on the agenda of Alphabets autonomous car unit. A collaboration between the two companies will focus on the integration of Waymos fully self-driving sensors, software and computing platform into Honda vehicles, the car maker said Wednesday. The Waymo tie-up will allow Honda R&D to explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to market, alongside its own ongoing efforts. I think these kind of deals between tech and auto giants like Waymo and Honda make sense given the sheer investment required to effectively deliver a fully autonomous car, said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. I would expect Apple to participate in a similar manner where theyre not delivering the entire car, but the electronics. Alphabet spun out its self-driving car project into a separate business earlier this month with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around. Honda, which aims to put production vehicles with automated driving capabilities on highways sometime around 2020, said that if there is an agreement between the two companies, Honda R&D engineers in Silicon Valley, California, and Tochigi, Japan, would work closely with Waymo engineers based in Mountain View, California, and Novi, Michigan. Honda could also start its collaboration by initially supplying to Waymo some of its vehicles that are modified for integration of the self-driving technology from the Alphabet unit. These vehicles would join Waymos existing fleet, which are currently being tested in four U.S. cities, Honda said. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced recently that it had produced 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans that are currently being outfitted with Waymos fully self-driving technology, including a purpose-built computer and a suite of sensors, telematics and other systems. The minivans will join Waymos self-driving test fleet in early 2017. The companies had announced the deal in May but it isnt clear yet whether FCA will integrate Waymo technologies into its vehicles for sale in the long term, though it could be an offshoot of the collaboration. Google did not immediately comment on the discussions with Honda. Inside and out, the UCR/California Museum of Photography is a visual feast. Even the buildings interior is designed to make you feel as though youre walking through a camera. With all these shades of gray, its a metaphor for a camera, said interim assistant curator Kathryn Poindexter. It even has a camera obscura built into the building. From a gift of 2,000 cameras in 1973, the collection has grown to more than 10,000 pieces of photographic equipment and 20,000 images. Its collection is the second-largest in the country after the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, N.Y., and the most comprehensive and publicly accessible camera cache west of the Mississippi River. This is a great, well-rounded resource, said Tyler Stallings, interim executive director of UCR Artsblock, which includes the photography museum. We have an amazing collection from the 1840s to a strong contemporary focus. Among its most prized acquisitions are 350,000 stereoscopic prints and negatives. But the museums inventory also features box cameras, field and view cameras, folding cameras, instant cameras, novelty cameras, subminiature cameras, rangefinder cameras, reflex cameras, viewfinder cameras, panorama cameras and digital cameras. Some of the zaniest pieces are the so-called spy cameras, which allowed photographers to take pictures with equipment disguised as watches, radios and field glasses. Among the thousands of images housed by the museum are vintage works by such photo giants as Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Susan Meiselas, Holly Roberts and Yolanda Andrade. Visitors can see old-fashioned techniques that were used to make pictures, including daguerreotypes, tintypes and cyanotypes. A favorite exhibit among students is Larry Clarks Unruly Bodies, which runs through Jan. 28. From the museums permanent collection, the display showcases 50 images he shot from 1963 to 1971 of his tight circle of drug-addicted friends in Tulsa, Okla. Contact the writer: llucas@scng.com, 951-368-9559 The holidays can be stressful, so the Christmas horror movie genre offers a bit of release. A subgenre of slasher films, most follow a formula that includes an antiheroic villain wearing a mask or disguise, a lone female who survives to confront him and a focus on violent and graphic death with a plus for the use of original methods and tools. Many also boast twisted humor. Plus there are a couple that are suitable for the family, too. Heres a few for you to watch. FOR THE FAMILY Gremlins (1984): The endearing movie written by Chris Columbus and directed by Joe Dante introduced us to lovable and cuddly Mogwai Gizmo, along with his mutated brethren (when fed after midnight) that become the gremlins of legend. Led by Stripe, the gremlins turn Christmas Eve into a nightmare in a small town, while Billy (Zach Galligan) and his girlfriend Kate (Phoebe Cates) seem to be the only people around with the resourcefulness to take on Stripe and a growing mob of rowdy and deadly merrymakers. Memorable and darkly funny scenes throughout include Billys mother Lynn (Frances Lee McCain) turning her kitchen into a gremlin-killing arsenal. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): This stop-motion animated movie, mistakenly thought to be directed by Tim Burton he wrote the screenplay, but Henry Selick directed might be a little intense for young children, but this is a visually stunning effort that ties in Halloween with Christmas. Jack Skellington (voice of Danny Elfman), the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, is bored with doing the same thing every year for Halloween. One day he stumbles into Christmas Town and is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he tries to get the resident bats, ghouls, and goblins of Halloween Town to help him put on Christmas instead of Halloween but they cant get it quite right. For mature audiences Black Christmas (1974): Nine years before directing A Christmas Story, Bob Clark made this film, considered among the best and scariest of Christmas horror movies and perhaps the first slasher film. Sorority sisters (Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey and Andrea Martin among them) are annoyed by what seems to be an obscene phone caller, but things get nasty after the caller issues a death threat. Silent Night Deadly Night (1984): Billy witnesses the murder of his parents and then is abused in an orphanage. As a teen, Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) takes a job as a department store Santa and, spurred by violent flashbacks, goes berserk and becomes a serial killer. This film was picketed by parents angered by the depiction of Santa Claus as an ax-wielding maniac. Rare Exports A Christmas Tale (2010): On Christmas Eve in Finland, Santa Claus is unearthed in an archaeological dig. Soon after, children start disappearing, leading a boy and his father to capture Santa, and with the help of fellow hunters they look to sell him back to the corporation that sponsored the dig. There are also Santas elves, who are determined to free their leader. Praised for its dark humor. Jack Frost (1997): Not to be confused with the comedy starring Michael Keaton and Kelly Preston, and certainly no relative of Frosty. A serial killer (Scott MacDonald) is genetically mutated in a car wreck on the way to his execution. He becomes a murdering snowman seeking revenge on the sheriff who caught him. Well-earned R rating for violence and gore. Christmas Evil (You Better Watch Out) (1980): As a boy, Harry finds out in a rather adult way that Santa Claus does not exist. By the time he is an adult, Harry (Brandon Maggart), working as a manager of a toy factory, becomes obsessed with being the real spirit of Santa, which leads the him to take naughty or nice judgments and punishments to deadly extremes. The cast features Jeffrey DeMunn, who decades later would play Dale, one of the more beloved characters in The Walking Dead. Recent films Treevenge (2008): A not-so-sweet 16-minute short film available on Vimeo and YouTube, this little indulgence definitely comes with a warning about explicit violence. Ever wonder what a Christmas tree thinks about all this holiday stuff? Writers Jason Eisener and Rob Cotterill explore this, and the result is not pretty. Terrorized by humans seen as cruel, foul-mouthed monsters, Christmas trees in a small town rise up and go on a brutal, bloody rampage. No one is spared. This short should be viewed by people who truly are hard-core in their pursuit of ultra-violent movies and have 16 minutes to spare. Krampus (2015): Although this movie takes liberties from the Krampus legend originated in Austria, it is a wickedly delightful frightfest. When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns away from Christmas. This lack of festive spirit on his part unleashes the wrath of Krampus a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing nonbelievers. A delightful relationship between Max and his grandmother Omi (Krista Stadler) is a highlight, and after seeing this film, you will never view gingerbread cookies the same way again. All Through the House (2015): Having completed a successful, award-winning run on the festival circuit, this throwback to 1980s slasher horror has been released on DVD. Todd Nunes wrote and directed the film, which features his sister Ashley Mary Nunes as Rachel, the final girl. When Rachel returns to her hometown of Napa for the holidays to visit her grandmother (Cathy Garrett), hang out with friends Gia (Natalie Montera) and Sarah (Danica Riner) and assist a lonely neighbor, Mrs. Garrett (Melynda Kiring) in decorating her house, she finds herself in a deadly battle of wits with a Santa slayer wearing a hideous mask who is making the rounds in the neighborhood, slicing and dicing and generally ruining the holidays for people. Along with the terror are a few plot twists. Honorable mentions Silent Night Bloody Night (1972): A man inherits his grandfathers house, which was converted into an institution for the criminally insane. When a serial killer escapes from another institution and finds refuge in this old, haunted structure, well, you know what will happen. Dont Open Till Christmas (1984): A murderer is running loose through the streets of London, hunting down men dressed as Santa Claus and killing them in different and extremely violent fashions. Elves (1989): The late Dan Haggerty is a loose-cannon Santa Claus who is the only hope for saving a young woman and her friends trapped in a department store with a malevolent elf. Santas Slay (2005): Pro wrestler Bill Goldberg plays the devils son, who lost a wager with an angel and was forced to spend 1,000 years playing Santa. Time is up and good old Santa isnt so joyful anymore, so he starts to wreak havoc killing people. Sint (AKA Saint) (2011): A full moon on a Dec. 5 triggers St. Nicholas disguised as a bishop, who kidnaps and murders children. Contact the writer: mjmills@scng.com or vrodgers@scng.com Trans-Siberian Orchestra rolls into Ontario for two shows, bringing with it the revival of the tale The Ghosts of Christmas Eve along with its audio visual magic. The Ghosts of Christmas Eve relates the story of a runaway who finds shelter in an abandoned vaudeville theater on the day before Christmas. The theaters caretaker finds him and uses the ghosts and spirits from the buildings past to help the teen mend his ways. The rock opera features fan favorites such as Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24, O Come All Ye Faithful, Good King Joy, Christmas Canon, Music Box Blues, Promises to Keep and This Christmas Day. The band, marking its 20th year, has shows at the Citizens Business Bank Arena at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. A portion of proceeds benefits Loma Linda University Childrens Hospital. Each ticket bought online comes with a digital copy of the show, marking the first time the songs have been made available in an audio package. It features a bonus track called Music Box Blues (Daryl Pediford Tribute New York 2004). Honestly, it feels like 20 minutes. Its just like we blink and two decades passed, said Paul ONeill, Trans-Siberian Orchestras creator/lyricist/composer. Again, I would love to say that we planned for the Christmas trilogy to resonate like this, but it was just pure luck. Of course, we did everything backwards. Normally, you have like five or six other platinum albums, then you take on Christmas. Of course, we took it on first and the rest of the year on later. Its all worked out. ONeill called the show an experiment, taking an idea designed for television and presenting it onstage. He accomplished it by joining segments of the television show with a narrator and rock band. The result was a first for the group. Trans-Siberian Orchestra never intended to do the show. As you know, it was a television special we did for Fox, who basically called us up one year and asked us to do Beethovens Last Night for an hour. I asked, Why? And they said, Well, Dec. 2 we had a show drop out. I said, If you give me an hour Ill give you a movie. They said, Do you have a script? I said, Ill write it tonight. The show was supposed to run twice. It was a hit. Today, its a holiday tradition. While it is a rock opera and we never considered it, ONeill said, actually, it offered us an interesting angle where basically, one of the things about TSO that we love to do is to blur the line between the band and the audience, make the audience really feel like theyre part of the show. Then the other thing is kind of reach generations. The one thing I love about music is that it can effortlessly jump all the silly walls people put between themselves, be it nationality, be it economics and be it whatever. When it jumps a generational wall, that feels the best. In designing the staging, ONeill opted for an old movie palace as its setting, circa 1929 or 30. By the third song, the band is on the stage and its 2016. Basically, during the whole rock opera, youre going between the past. Again, people like the actor Ossie Davis, who is no longer with us, to the present and the band on the stage, he said. But the production has technology, allowing the group to perform in ways that ONeill said couldnt have been done five years ago. Still, Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas shows have become traditions for many. Again, never expected it. I always say it just happens; I blame it on my mother because my parents had 10 kids, raised them all in New York City. Everybody else went to college. I didnt. When I told them I was going into music, they were like, No, go to college, get a real job and you do your hobby. I just went into music anyway. I just think my mother was like, Dear God, please dont let this kid starve, dont let this kid starve, dont let this kid starve. It worked out better than we ever could have imagined, he said. ONeill and the group feel fortunate. We would have felt lucky if the band had two or three platinum albums and then had a good run. In the entertainment industry, Christmas is the Holy Grail because any other thing youre writing about, whether its a painting, an album, a movie, a book, youre competing with the best of your generation or the last two generations. When you can write about Christmas, youre competing with the best of the last 2,000 years. Again, we just lucked out. Contact the writer: ssproul@scng.com or @SuzanneSproul on Twitter Between his stints in the Army and the Army reserves, retired Sgt. Maj. Gregory Coker spent 26 years, nine months and 11 days in service to his country. That dedication to a cause greater than himself stayed with Coker once he finished his final years of active duty in 2014. So much so that the Eastvale resident began working on a plan, even before retirement, to launch a nonprofit focused on helping military service members transition to civilian life. Cokers Riverside-based Reaching New Heights Foundation Inc. helps struggling veterans find transitional and permanent housing, assists with job and educational training, provides mentoring through a court treatment program and connects them with any additional resources they might need. Our goal is serving those who served, Coker said. The hardest thing is that these veterans are used to having a mission. They are used to being responsible for something. In the absence of that, life becomes very chaotic. Coker, an Ohio native, joined the reserves around age 24. He participated in ROTC while attending Central State University and said he loved the structure and discipline. The former corporate sales executive was called to active duty after 9/11. The Bronze Star recipient served two tours in Iraq, where he was an operations sergeant for a battalion that provided combat support. He spent his last five service years at Fort Bliss in Texas before hip and shoulder surgeries forced him to retire. The married father of two returned to his family in California in 2014 and co-founded Reaching New Heights with his wife, Tanya. He also began volunteering with the Veterans Treatment Court, a program launched in 2012 that provides alternatives to incarceration for veterans charged with committing crimes tied to issues related to their military service. Some of those conditions include traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and mental health issues. Reaching New Heights includes a mentoring program that provides assistance and guidance for those going through the court program. His organization also provides mentors for those going through San Bernardino Countys program. Grant Gautsche, Riverside County Department of Veterans Services director, met Coker a couple of years ago, when Coker came in to talk about Reaching New Heights. Gautsche, a Navy veteran, suggested Coker also get involved with the treatment court program. Sgt. Maj. Coker is a great person and a great leader, and he has a passion to serve and help out his fellow veterans, he said. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Johnson, who oversees Riverside Countys treatment court program, said Cokers involvement is crucial. Hes amazing This guy is nothing short of magnificent, Johnson said. Hes amazing. He doesnt get paid a cent, but he runs the program for us and San Bernardino County. The court program in Riverside had a couple of mentors at the start but now has more than 10. Although Cokers charity is not a part of the court program, it is important because it provides services the court cant, he said. Chuck Haeflinger, a Reaching New Heights board member, mentors service members going through the court program. They met through Cokers wife and clicked when talking about the foundation. Haeflinger asked how he could help. Now the retired Army colonel, who was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, puts in 30-40 hours a week and has a mentor caseload of 63. He lauded Coker for giving him the chance to help fellow combat veterans, in particular. Its a labor of love, and it gives my life purpose, Haeflinger said. Its important to find something bigger than yourself. Greg has provided that for me. He is totally dedicated to his principles. Contact the writer: melaniecj@yahoo.com Caseys Cupcakes, founded by former reality TV star Casey Reinhardt, is abruptly closing three of its five shops in Southern California as the company plans to focus on shipping its glam cupcakes. Shops at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach, Woodbury Town Center in Irvine and Fashion Island in Newport Beach are closing. A closure date was not revealed by Reinhardt, a former cast member of MTVs Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. A representative for the Irvine Co. said the two shops on its properties in Irvines Woodbury center and Fashion Island are closing sometime Thursday, but they could not provide a specific time.. A somber employee answering the phone Thursday morning at the Bella Terra location said the shop is closing later today at 5 p.m. Reinhardt earned national attention for her cupcakes in 2011 when she competed and won Cupcake Wars on Food Network. That same year she began growing her shops aggressively in Orange County. But on Thursday, her company told the Register in a statement that Reinhardt is pivoting. She is focusing her efforts on stores in Riverside and the Irvine Spectrum Center, which will remain open. She also plans to enhance doorstep delivery of her cupcakes, known for their glamorous decor. Following the birth of Caseys first child this year, Casey welcomes the opportunity to devote time and energy towards the development of her growing family and has decided to change her business model and focus on nationwide shipping, local delivery, online sales and her favorite stores at the Irvine Spectrum Center and The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, the company said. In 2009, Reinhardt launched the first Caseys Cupcakes at the Mission Inn, which is owned by her father Duane Roberts. Her father is a fast-food legend known in the industry for earning a fortune from mass producing frozen burritos. Hes helped finance the cupcake brand as Reinhardt grew the business. The closures come five years after Reinhardts cupcakes appeared to have peaked. When Cupcake Wars aired she had just opened her second Caseys Cupcakes in Laguna Beach. After appearing on Cupcake Wars, she was approached by entrepreneurs from as far as Dubai who inquired about bringing her glam treats to the Middle East. While other cupcake shops were closing, she had lofty goals to expand in Southern California. Our goal is to always expand to make [Caseys Cupcakes] as big as possible, she told the Register in a 2011 interview. At that time, she was confident her brand could compete with powerful rivals such as Sprinkles Cupcakes. Theres always room for cupcakes, Reinhardt said. She opened shops in Laguna Beach, two locations in Irvine, one at Fashion Island and one in Huntington Beach. When Laguna Beach closed two years ago, the company said it planned to relocate the shop elsewhere in the city where Reinhardt grew up. But that never happened. Last year, she added cupcake-infused ice cream to her growing menu of cupcakes, macarons and cake pops. The closed Woodbury shop will become a Nekter Juice Bar, while an upscale menswear brand will be replacing the Caseys Cupcakes location at Fashion Island, the Irvine Co. said. Contact the writer: nluna@scng.com After more than a year of investigation, three people were named as suspects in the racially motivated slaying of two Guatemalan immigrants in 2015. Anthony Lovell Eddington II, 24, was shot to death Wednesday by Fresno County SWAT officers assisting the U.S. Marshals Service in servicing a warrant in Coalinga for his arrest. Riverside Police Department Lt. Frank Assumma said Eddington was the gunman behind the slaying of Guatemalan immigrants Juan Bartolo, 45, and Domingo Esteban, 26 . Two other suspects 39-year-old Antoine Deshawn James and 25-year-old Abiance Linece Turner were located and arrested in connection with the Oct. 23, 2015 killing. Turner, who was located in San Diego County and James, who was located in Bakersfield, both face of slew of charges including two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances. Riverside County District Attorneys spokesman John Hall said they could both face the death penalty if convicted, but that District Attorney Mike Hestrin has not yet decided if he will pursue it as punishment. Authorities from the Police Department and the District Attorneys Office, at a news conference Thursday, said they believe the attack was completely random, racially motivated, and for the benefit of a street gang Turner, James and Eddington were affiliated with. Those victims, we believe, would have been alive had they just not been at that location, Assumma said. These suspects were looking that night to go out and shoot people. Around 9:30 p.m. the night of the attack, Francisco Ramirez exited a liquor store near Kansas and Seventh Street, authorities said. He ran into Bartolo and Esteban, and the three exchanged some words and pats on the shoulder, Assumma said. At the same time, Eddington, James and Turner were stopped on Seventh Street in two separate cars Eddington and James in one and Turner in the other. James got out of Eddingtons car and approached Ramirez, Assumma said. The two exchanged some words, and as Ramirez back was turned, James shot him in the head. Just prior to James pulling the trigger, Ramirez turned his head to the side to hear what James was saying. That caused the bullet to go through Ramirez cheeks. Though Ramirez survived the shooting, he dropped to the ground. Bartolo and Esteban turned around to see what had happened, and unbeknownst to them walked in front of Eddingtons car. Eddington got out and opened fire on the two, Assumma said, killing them. We believe he got out and shot those two because they witnessed the first shooting, Assumma said. When paramedics and police arrived, the suspects had fled the scene and Bartolo was dead. Esteban and Ramirez were taken to a hospital where Esteban died. Billy Munoz, the Guatemalan consul in San Bernardino, said the three men worked as gardeners, and had each lived in America for more than 10 years. They sent money to their families in Guatemala every week, even though they had low incomes, Munoz said. Bartolos sister and Estebans cousins live in Riverside, Munoz said. Their bodies were transported to Guatemala to be laid to rest. Given the circumstances of the attack, Assumma said, officers took it very seriously. Thats one of the things that made this shooting so much worse than most of the other shootings that weve ever investigated, Assumma said. Our detectives put their hearts and souls into this one because these victims were completely and truly innocent. Though Turner, Eddington and James had fled the scene prior to police arrival, surveillance footage from the liquor store caught the cars and brief glimpses of Eddington. One of the officers who worked on the Eastside recognized Eddington, Assumma said. All three suspects had violent criminal records and were known to be affiliated with a gang, he said. Though the suspects were identified within about a month of the shooting, it took investigators about a year to compile enough evidence for the District Attorneys Office to file charges. From the onset, the Police Department had urged people to come forward with information. Twice within the last year $75,000 rewards were offered for information leading to the suspects arrests. Still, Assumma said, nobody came forward. He chalked it up to the suspects being known as dangerous gang members and potential informants fearing retaliation. More than a dozen relatives of Eddington descended on the Magnolia police station during Thursdays news conference to protest his death. Some made it inside the press-only news conference and shouted that the shooting by Fresno County SWAT deputies was a direct assassination and murder. Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz, earlier in the news conference, said Eddington shot at SWAT officers with two pistols, prompting the officers to return fire. Afterward, a man who said he is Eddingtons uncle and identified himself only by his first name, Marquis, said Eddington should not have died during what authorities described as the service of a search warrant. He said deputies arrived at the home intending to kill his nephew. They need to reassess their tactics, Marquis said. Still, he said he did not dispute the Fresno County Sheriffs Department account of the shooting. Several other search warrants stemming from the investigation were carried out Wednesday in various locations in the Inland Empire,, resulting in the arrest of T.W. Smith, 34, of Apple Valley on suspicion of weapons violations and Richard Stuckey, 30, of Riverside for weapons and parole violations. Diaz called the investigation challenging and commended the work of the RPD detectives who followed the case through, as well as the help from other local and state agencies. A remarkable amount of time, effort and money has been spent to successfully restore justice to these families, Diaz said. We cant restore the lives of their loved ones, but we can see that justice is done. Staff writer Brian Rokos contributed to this report. A rainstorm contributed to a Temecula freeway crash that caused a trailer to jackknife, triggering a one-hour traffic tie-up, say California Highway Patrol officers. The wreck was reported at 11:55 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, along the southbound lanes of Interstate 15 at Winchester Road. Twenty-year-old Temecula resident Jake Brooks was merging from the westbound lanes of Winchester Road to the southbound freeway lanes at about 40 mph when he lost control of his 2011 Chevy Silverado pickup truck, CHP officers said in a written statement. The Silverado crashed into a 2000 Ford F350 pickup driven by 65-year-old Escondido resident Jordan Quintal who was towing a 25-foot utility trailer. The impact shoved the truck-trailer combination into the center divider wall, causing the trailer to jackknife, according to the statement. The accident blocked three of the freeways four southbound lanes. About an hour later, all lanes were clear. Brooks wasnt hurt, the CHP reported. Quintal suffered painful but apparently minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital. Cynthia Huerta shakes her head when complimented on her work for an exhibition opening Feb. 2 at the Riverside Art Museum. Im just a vessel, said the 32-year-old facilitator of the community altar project. Im not alone in this. Its a collaboration. She and volunteers have nearly completed two of five plywood panels for a trapezoid-shaped table theyve designed and painted to reflect their Latino heritage, rituals, holidays, traditions and spirituality. The museum hired Huerta through its artist-in-residence program to make an altar similar to one at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Colorado artist Emanuel Martinez created his Farm Workers Altar for the Mass in Delano in 1968 where Cesar Chavez broke his 25-day water fast after protesting the plight of farm workers. Martinez adorned his work with religious icons, symbols and images of a brown-skinned Christ. But Huerta wanted something unique, not a copy of Martinezs ideas. Since Oct. 29, she has been working closely with five primarily Latino groups: churchgoers at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Riverside; senior citizens who live in Riversides Casa Blanca neighborhood; students at Moreno Valley College; the Riverside Latino Network; and youth on probation. It was easy, she said. I took their ideas. At workshops, Huerta collected concepts from conversations with hundreds of participants. They also drew pictures and symbols or wrote words and phrases, such as the Spanish for brotherhood, power and family on paper leaves that she attached to trees painted on large sheets of plywood. Huerta interprets their concepts and sketches them on the large wooden panels that will eventually be turned into an altar. Under her guidance, volunteers outline the images with a wood-burning stylus and then paint them. In one panel, a Mexican brown eagle facing an American bald eagle overlooks two brown hands cupping a Day of the Dead mask. In between the hands, is the message: Mis manos son fuertes, porque saben lo que sufrir, meaning My hands are strong because they know how to suffer. That quotation emerged from Huertas chats with Michelle Gomez, 24, one if eight students in Bonavita Quinto-MacCallums Spanish honors class at Moreno Valley College who participated in the project. I think hands say a lot about people, Gomez said. I asked my mother why her hands are so much stronger than mine, Gomez said. She put her hands on my face, hugged me and I felt strength coming from her. Martha Rivas, a dean at Moreno Valley College, applauds the project as fostering Latino pride. The altar will help people connect with a critical piece of our heritage, she said. On that same panel with the the hands are flowering, hardy, prickly pear cacti called nopales whose pads nourish communities; two major Aztec symbols, the sun and moon, and beneath everything, diverse and colorful roots influenced by college student Scarly Guardados leaf. Knowing theres art in my community was a huge eye opener, said Guardado, 23. To be part of my project was a great way to express myself. I am Mexican and to include a little bit of my background was awesome. The public is invited to help Huerta in an upstairs studio at the museum from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and from noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. On Dec. 17, Uriel Lopez, 13, worked on a panel, using a palette of acrylic paints to color the rocks and trees of Mt. Rubidoux and its white cross. Its relaxing, he said. Eric Romero, a museum spokesman, said, Our big goal after we go out, meet the community and develop their ideas is that they come back for the opening. They can see their own work showcased. Contact the writer: llucas@scng.com, 951-368-9559 The years of stay-cations are over. Thanks to lower gasoline prices, cheaper air fare and an improved economy, Southern Californians in record numbers are taking to the sky, boarding trains and hitting the open road to get out of town. This years holiday travel season is projected to set an all-time record for the number of travelers in Southern California, and the nation, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. The Auto Club expects nearly 7.7 million Southern California residents and 12.4 million statewide will travel at least 50 miles away from home during the holiday period between Friday and Jan. 2. The numbers represent a 1.8 percent increase compared to last year, according to the Auto Club. Automobiles Car travel is the preferred choice for 89 percent of travelers, or 6.8 million Southland residents, and 10.9 million statewide, according to the Auto Club. Those figures, according to the club, represent a 1.7 percent jump from 2015 when 6.7 million Southern Californians and 10.8 million Californians traveled by car during the holidays. The average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline in the Riverside and San Bernardino metro areas Wednesday was $2.67, unchanged from the same day last week and 11 cents less than one year ago. Californias average price was also $2.67 Wednesday, and the national average was $2.25. To check gas prices for your travel day, go to gasprices.aaa.com. Planes The Auto Club projects about 627,000 Southland residents and 1 million Californians will take to the sky for air travel, which marks a 4.8 percent increase over 2015 when 598,000 air travelers from Southern California and 965,000 statewide booked plane tickets. The busiest days of travel are expected to be Dec. 23 and 24 and Jan. 3. A record number of holiday travelers are expected to pass through Los Angeles International Airport this weekend. About 4.3 million passengers are projected to use LAX now through Jan. 3, airport officials said Monday. They encourage travelers to arrive early and plan ahead. The estimated number of travelers is 9.5 percent higher than last years record of 3.9 million passengers, according to Los Angeles World Airports, which manages LAX. Ontario International Airport estimates 155,000 passengers will use the facility from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3, about 5.5 percent more passengers than last holiday season. Officials recommend that passengers arrive at least two hours before their flight times. For more information, go to flyontario.com or call 909-937-2500. Airports remind travelers of basic check-in security routines be prepared to take laptops out of cases and remove coats, jackets, belts and shoes. For prohibited items, go to tsa.gov Trains Metrolink offers limited service schedule during the holidays, and an early Jan. 2 train from San Bernardino to Los Angeles A. A. A. A. Union Station for connection to the Pasadena-bound Gold Line and the Rose Parade. The commuter rail plans to operate its normal schedule across all lines on Christmas Eve, Saturday, and on Christmas Day, Sunday. Metrolink will operate its Sunday schedule with regular weekday fares on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2. Metrolink will resume normal service on all lines on the Tuesdays following those dates. On New Years Eve, Dec. 31, and on New Years Day, Jan. 1, Metrolink will operate its regular weekend schedule. For the Tournament of Roses parade, Jan. 2 this year, the first train (train 349) on Metrolinks San Bernardino Line will depart early from San Bernardino at 6:10 a.m., making all stops. The train will arrive at Los Angeles Union Station at 7:45 a.m. At Union Station, passengers can transfer at no additional charge to the Metro Gold Line and get off at the Del Mar, Memorial Park, Lake, or Allen stations. The parade route is a short walk from the stations. Metrolinks Rail 2 Rail program with Amtrak that allows Metrolink monthly pass holders along the Orange and Ventura County corridors to use Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains that share stations at no additional charge will be in effect during the holiday season, Metrolink spokesman Scott Johnson said via email. Metrolinks Christmas schedule and New Years Day schedule are at metrolinktrains.com or (800) 371-5465. Contact the writer: nnisperos@scng.comTwitter: @ReporterNeil Warning: If you suffer from fear of frying, beware! Hanukkah is coming, and this holiday, which begins at sundown December 24, is all about the oil. When Judah Maccabee and his tiny army defeated the Syrian-Greeks, they found only a tiny flask of lamp oil with which to purify the desecrated temple. Miraculously, it burned for eight days, sparking a frying frenzy that has lasted for centuries. For those of Eastern European descent, who make up the majority of Jews in the United States, latkes (potato pancakes) take center stage. But in Israel, sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) are as popular as latkes are here. My friend Pnina Shichor is famous for the lightest, airiest, most scrumptious doughnuts. Think New Orleans beignets. These wispy confections are Israels answer to Krispy Kreme, but in Shichors version, instead of injecting jam into the cakes, you form a depression in the dough and fill it with jam, making these treats as pretty to look at as they are impossibly irresistible to eat. I use different colored jams for an even showier display. My granddaughters like to put all kinds of toppings on them, said the Fullerton resident. At our family Hanukkah party I lay out a topping bar with whipped cream, sprinkles, toasted nuts, coconut, chocolate syrup, etc., and let everyone decorate their own. Spooning on the jam is a great project for kids, and they can even help form the dough. Just keep them away from the bubbling oil. An electric frying pan works much better than a regular frying pan, Shichor cautioned, so dig yours out of the attic, or you can find one cheap at a big-box store. When my children were young, my cousin, Esther Schechter, and I would do Hanukkah at Rolling Hills Elementary School, Shichor said. Wed tell the story, sing songs and teach the children to make sufganiyot. When the Shichors were considering transferring daughter Nomi to Jewish day school, Nomi said, But, Mom, if I go there, who will do Hanukkah for our class? Shichors mother-in-law, Malka Suranyi, brought the recipe from Budapest, where the family survived under Nazi rule. Luckily an uncle owned an exclusive mens clothing store favored by the Nazis, so the workers were spared. After the war the Communists took over, and Shichors husband, David, a retired professor of criminal justice at Cal State San Bernardino, was barely 16 when the Jewish Agency smuggled him and other children out of Hungary. It was just like the film Exodus, recalled Pnina Shichor. They were taken to a detention camp in Italy. Then 7,000 people were packed onto a boat meant for 400 and sent to Israel. Pnina and David Shichor met while she was in Israel teaching English. I was totally enthralled with Israel and wanted to live there, which the couple actually did for five years after they married. Thats how I got into the travel business. Arranging tours to Israel became my specialty. Son Nadav and his familys first home was in Modiin, Israel, where the Maccabees revolt for freedom began. It was customary throughout history to light a torch on Hanukkah, which would start in Modiin, Pnina Shichor explained. Runners would carry it from village to village to announce the holiday. Today there are still races there at Hanukkah. We love spending Hanukkah in Israel, she said. Every holiday is so richly celebrated there. Each night you go to someones house to light candles, sing songs, visit and of course eat! For most American Jews, however, Hanukkah would not be Hanukkah without latkes. Each year I like to try something new, and this year Ill be serving parsnip potato latkes from The Silver Platter (Artscroll, $34.94) by Daniella Silver and Norene Gilletz. Theyre super crunchy, a delightful spin on the traditional recipe. Pnina Shichors Sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen 3 packages active dry yeast 1/2 cup plus scant 1 cup warm water (105-110 degrees) 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup oil 4 large eggs, beaten About 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour Canola or corn oil for frying Jam (any flavor) Confectioners sugar 1. Stir yeast into 1/2 cup warm water in very large (at least 6-quart) bowl. Stir in 1 teaspoon of the sugar; set aside until bubbly, 5-10 minutes. Stir in scant 1 cup warm water, remaining sugar, salt, oil and eggs. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix. Gradually knead in remaining flour until dough is spongy and elastic but still feels slightly tacky. Remove dough and oil sides of bowl no need to wash it. Turn dough to coat all over with oil; return it to bowl. Loosely cover dough with plastic wrap. 2. Preheat oven to lowest setting and turn off. Let dough rise in oven until it nearly reaches top of bowl, about 2 hours. 3. Roll out dough 1/4-inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut with 3-inch biscuit cutter or glass into rounds. Place rounds, uncovered, on baking sheet; let rise 30 minutes. 4. Heat oil in electric frying pan to 365 degrees. Dip your fingers in flour and lift a round of dough. Holding the round with both thumbs and forefingers, poke your two middle fingers back and forth in the middle underside of dough to stretch it quite thin without tearing it. This will be the depression for the jam. 5. Quickly drop each round into hot oil, depression side down, a few at a time, without crowding; cover pot about 30 seconds or until doughnuts are golden brown but not dark. Quickly turn them, cover pot and fry until other side is golden brown. Drain doughnuts on paper towels. Repeat with remaining dough. Dust with confectioners sugar; then fill depressions with jam. Best eaten warm. They dont keep well, but no matter. You wont have leftovers. Source: Cooking Jewish (Workman) by Judy Bart Kancigor Parsnip Potato Latkes with Sour Cream Dill Topping Yield: 12-15 large latkes 1 pound parsnips, peeled 1 large Idaho/russet potato, peeled 1 medium onion 2 large eggs 1/4 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill Grapeseed or vegetable oil, for frying For the sour cream dill topping: 1 1/2 cups sour cream or Greek yogurt 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Additional dill for garnish 1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 2. In food processor fitted with shredding disc, shred parsnips, potato and onion, using medium pressure. Transfer vegetables to large colander; press firmly to drain excess liquid. 3. Place veggies into large bowl. Add eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and dill. Mix well. 4. In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, drop large spoonfuls of batter into hot oil to form pancakes, flattening them slightly with back of spoon. Do not crowd. Fry 3-4 minutes per side or until golden. 5. Drain well on paper towels. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Place in oven to keep warm. 6. To make the topping, stir together sour cream, lemon juice, dill and pepper. Place into serving bowl; garnish with additional dill. Serve with latkes. Source: The Silver Platter by Daniella Silver and Norene Gilletz Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of Cooking Jewish and can be found on the web at cookingjewish.com. They are billionaires and generals. Seven of the 23 named so far have no government experience. At least six oppose key policies of the agencies theyve been nominated to run. Welcome to the administration of incoming President Donald Trump an administration shaping up to be as controversial, unpredictable and unorthodox as Trumps campaign. Its clear he gets a tremendous amount of delight from picking people other politicians wouldnt, said Dan Schnur, director of USCs Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. Hes very aggressively agitated against the political establishment. It shouldnt be surprising that his approach to his administration is so much different than usual. As unlikely as some of the picks are such as Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, whos spent his entire career with the oil conglomerate, to be the nations top diplomat others are more conventional, Schnur said. But even the conventional in the context of Trumps Cabinet might be outliers in other administrations. On one hand, it leads to creative thinking, said Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. On the other hand, it can lead to people like Tom Price, who has links to groups with ideas that are kooky. Price, the nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is among those Schnur listed as conventional conservatives. Price, a congressman and a surgeon, is an ardent opponent of abortion rights and Obamacare, stances shared with Trump. But Pitney, author of The Politics of Autism, points out that Price is also a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. The groups journal has said that HIV does not cause AIDS, that there are links between autism and vaccinations, and that there are links between abortion and breast cancer all stances that go against widely accepted medical science. Trumps picks also have attracted attention for their homogeneity. Of 23 top-level choices, more than three- quarters are white men. For those who win Senate confirmation Tillerson is among those already raising questions not only among Democrats but also some Republicans one question is how long theyll last in their jobs. After all, this is the chief executive who made Youre fired a catchphrase while host of The Apprentice and whose campaign saw unusually high turnover among top aides. Administration picks could face similar scenarios, said Lori Cox Han, a professor at Chapman University who specializes in the U.S. government and the presidency. Theyre either going to reshape the model or theyre going to fall flat and be replaced, Han said. People may have less time than usual to succeed. Drain the swamp? Trumps populist campaign resounded among white middle-class and lower middle-class Americans who felt government was out of touch. On the campaign trail, Trump relentlessly attacked the political establishment, liberal elites and globalist business interests. His nominees and appointees, meanwhile, are elites in their own right. There are five multimillionaire magnates, including former Goldman Sachs partner Steven Mnuchin, and five billionaires. There are five members of Congress, three generals, a governor, a former governor and the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Hardcore Trump backers are thrilled. I want people in office who dont need to fill their coffers with bribes from lobbyists, said Deanne Tate of Orange, who runs the Veterans First nonprofit in Santa Ana. Too many people go to Washington, D.C., become millionaires and let their staffers write regulations without ever having lived under these interpretations. And we the people suffer. John Berry, a California coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, also applauded Trumps picks. Yeah, theyre at the top of their fields, but they are successful and they are patriots and statesmen, said the Redlands resident. Government has a stale mindset. Its limited. In the private sector, its a different way of thinking. Its based on creativity. These are heavyweight, smart people. Berry is relieved to see a lack of Ivy Leaguers, who proliferated in President Barack Obamas administration. Theres nothing wrong with the Ivy League, but in government they have a stale, condescending attitude, he said. Of course, there are no shortage of critics. His Cabinet picks confirm what he campaigned on, said Dan Jacobson, chairman of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County. It shows a penchant for strongman, corporate rule. One of Jacobsons biggest concerns is harm to the environment from rolling back regulations. Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt is seen as an ally of the fossil fuel industry and, as Oklahoma attorney general, has fought regulations targeting climate change. Other worries include the possibility of foreign governments having inordinate sway over administration policies, the deregulation of Wall Street and the deportation of immigrants whose only crime is being in the country illegally. Jacobson has been worried about the use of government-sanctioned torture, given Trumps campaign statement that torture works. But he was heartened to hear that defense secretary nominee James Mattis words of opposition to torture were apparently well-received by Trump. The secretary of defense pick is probably one of the better picks, Jacobson said. At the other end of the spectrum, for Jacobson, is the choice of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to head the Department of Energy and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general. Perry once called for the elimination of the Department of Energy, and Sessions once failed to get confirmed for a judgeship because of racist comments. Fears and hopes While he remains wary, Jacobson says he no longer is as devastated that Hillary Clinton lost as are many Democrats. Ive accepted that Donald Trump will be our president, he said. That acceptance came at the end of a grieving process. And that acceptance allows you to see things clearly. Fear of the destruction of the republic is alarmist and wrong. Those opposed to Trumps proposals should focus on those that show signs of advancing and use available legislative, parliamentary, legal and activist means to fight them, Jacobson said. Fortunately, there are laws in place that can ensure the survival of the government services that we rely on, he said. There are 50 states and three branches of government. The president and his appointees have limited power. And then well kick the con man out of office. Jacobson pointed out that congressional approval would be needed to impose tariffs and that a ban on Muslims entering the country would be unconstitutional. He opined that Trump and congressional Republicans would be unlikely to dismantle Obamacare in a way that would take away health insurance from the 20 million who didnt have it before the law was passed. While saying that Trump and his administration picks are definitely uncharted territory, Chapmans Han shares Jacobsons view that they are unlikely to justify the deepest fears of foes or hopes of backers. Im skeptical how much deep change will take place, Han said. The president doesnt have unlimited power. There are a lot of checks and balances in place. Entrenched bureaucracies and special interests slow efforts of sweeping reform, Han said. She pointed to Obamacare as an example of a complex plan that is unlikely to be undone quickly because of the extensive work needed to replace it. Additionally, the Cabinet and White House staff members dont all agree with one another or with Trump. As examples, USCs Schnur points to former GOP chief Reince Priebus, Trumps chief of staff, and former Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon, Trumps senior counselor. You probably couldnt pick two people who have a more different view of how government should run, Schnur said. Trump has demonstrated a penchant in his business for setting up people with competing viewpoints and then he watches them battle it out. If thats what hes doing here, hes off to a good start. When it comes time for confirmation, Senate Republicans may signal just how cooperative theyll be when it comes to controversial aspects of White House policy. We know what the Democrats in Congress are going to do, Schnur said. Watching what the Republicans do in the confirmation process will be much more telling. Peter Navarro, a longtime professor at UC Irvine and noted advocate for tougher trade rules with China, will head the newly created White House National Trade Council. BUSINESS 14 Contact the writer: mwisckol@scng.com Mansuki Ghana Limited (MGL), a natural cosmetics manufacturing, packaging, trading and service entity, has developed over 20 ranges of value added cosmetics out of Shea butter. The products, classified into three categories; soap, lotion and hair products, include coconut oil and Shea butter natural hair food, pure body Shea butter lotion, Shea butter black soap locally known as Alata samina, Shea butter herbal hair treatment, Shea butter and coconut nourishing shampoo and Shea butter and coconut extra nourishing conditioner. Ms Israella Kafui Mansu, the Chief Executive Officer of MGL, told the Ghana News Agency that Shea butter had cosmetic benefits of nourishing the body and hair. She said MGL Shea butter products offered super food for the skin as we maintain its natural rich precious constituents such as unsaturated fats with a large proportion of non-saponifiable components, essential fatty acids, vitamins E and D, phytosterols, provitamin A and allantoin. Shea butter has shown to be a superb moisturizer with exceptional healing properties for the skinand its side effects are negligible as compared to other chemically saturated cosmetic products, she said. Ms Mansu said it also offered natural sunscreen protection for the skin against the ultraviolet radiations of the sun though the level of protection offered may be variable. She said Shea butter also provides protection to the hair against the harmful water and weather conditions. She said the world was progressively accepting and acknowledging the numerous benefits Shea butter offered the body but unfortunately Ghanaians were still pessimistic to even use the value added shea butter products. Ms Mansu said most people complained about the raw off-scent and thick texture of Shea butter which put people off therefore the company started working towards reducing the smell and making it soft and more skin-friendly. She encouraged graduates to venture into the business market as there were numerous opportunities for progressive young ones. I ventured into the Shea butter production seven years ago after National Service when it was difficult to get the so-called formal job. Within seven years I have been able to employ others. Currently my products are on high demand on the European market and quiet recently we have gained some customers who buy in large quantities from Australia, Ms Mansu said. 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 The Minority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, yesterday clashed with the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, over the Right To Information (RTI) Bill. The minority leader had raised serious concerns about certain aspects of the bill relating to its implementation and asked the speaker to let the House take a careful look at those critical issues before it could be passed. But the speaker strongly disagreed, saying that there was no time to consider such issues since the House had made a commitment to pass the bill before the Sixth Parliament is finally dissolved. The minority caucus in parliament indicated that it would boycott the passage of the RTI Bill if the necessary consultations were not allowed by the majority. Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noted that the hasty manner in which government was conducting its activities a few days to its handing over contravenes the Presidential Transition Act 2012 (845). He said the law provides the opportunity for the incoming government to be consulted by the outgoing government on key national decisions, but this had not been done. Personally, I am committed that we do it, he said, but the Presidential Transition Act has to be followed. But Doe Adjaho thinks otherwise. We have a bill before us and I am doing my work as speaker of parliament, he said, adding, The Presidential Transition Act is not Parliamentary Transition Act. The speakers comment angered Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who said his side would walk out if the majority carried through with the passage of the bill. If that is the way the speaker wants to go then with respect we will not want to be part of it, he declared. The minority leader insisted that those issues are also very important to make the bill stand the test of time. The entrenched positions of the speaker and the minority leader resulted in banter between the two until the Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin, intervened and said the House needed consensus building and that it would be prudent for the leadership of parliament to consult and come to a compromise. The consideration of the bill was, therefore, deferred to allow for a deliberation by the leadership as to which direction the House will go. The minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) is expected to have a press conference today to state its position on the matter in order not to create the impression that it is opposed to the RTI Bill. The majority MPs taunted the minority members, saying they were running away from the passage of the RTI Bill. In another development, the Committee of the Whole yesterday evening met behind closed doors to discuss issues concerning parliamentarians ex-gratia and emolument as enshrined in Article 71 of the Constitution. All the MPs were tight-lipped over the amount that had been proposed for their ex-gratia. 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 Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has added his voice to the numerous people criticizing President Mahama for making last minute political appointments. I am disappointed in President Mahama, you are going out of power why all these appointments and contracts? What is the presidents motivation behind all that? The NDC is getting notoriety in last minute actions and it is very disappointing, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh popularly known as NAPO told Bright Kwesi Asempa on Onua Fm morning show Yen Sem Pa. The head of president-elect Nana Akufo-Addos transition team, Yaw Osafo Marfo, has raised concerns over fresh recruitments into the public sector, and the awarding of fresh contracts, after the National Democratic Congress government lost the elections. He warned that such last minute deals could have far-reaching consequences for the incoming New Patriotic Party (NPP) government. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the President acting on the advice of the Council of State appointed Joseph Whittal as Commissioner for CHRAJ and Josephine Nkrumah as the Director for NCCE. But Manhyia North Member of Parliament Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh served notice that the incoming Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo and the NPP administration reserves the right to reverse any appointment made by President Mahama if the incoming administration has any reservations on those appointments. We will reverse those appointments if we find it fit and those affected can go to court if they so wish because the president cannot go round appointing people to position when he is on his way out. He also noted, We have to let Ghanaians know that the president is putting stumbling blocks on the incoming government, and he must be told Was it not agreed on by both sides of the transition teams, that any further appointment will be done in consultation, then why is President Mahama doing this to Ghana, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh queried. If the president thinks he has the power to appoint, we also have power to reverse those appointments, I am disappointment in the President. Source: tv3network.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 In the wake of national elections Dec. 7, Ghanas president, John Mahama, conceded to challenger Nana Akufo-Addo. The election marks the first time an incumbent has stood for reelection and lost since this West African nation became independent in 1957. Power has changed hands between parties before, but only when the sitting president was standing down as a result of term limits and the ruling party was running a first-time candidate. Political scientists see peaceful handoffs of power like this as an important sign of democratic success. This election had other markers of success as well. For instance, this year, Ghana introduced measures to record and verify the votes at each polling station to protect the process of counting and collating votes from fraud. Overall, the 2016 election represents another step forward in Ghanas movement toward genuine democracy. But problems remain. During the campaign, a widely shared video showed Mahama allegedly buying votes handing out money to women at a market. After another set of legitimate and peaceful elections, what does that video reveal about elections in Ghana? Ghanaians accept some troubling practices as part of how democracy works As part of a broader project on the impact of elections in Africa, we surveyed Ghanaians in September 2015, and then conducted a similar survey of Ugandans in December 2015. Fully 71 percent of respondents in that survey said they prefer democracy to any other form of government in line with the findings of research by Robert Mattes and Michael Bratton. But the results suggest that despite Ghanas impressive experience of open and competitive elections, Ghanaians accept some problematic electoral practices as much as, if not more than, their counterparts in Uganda. [Only 7 percent of citizens in this African country feel free to join political groups] For example, 43 percent of Ghanaians and 41 percent of Ugandans answered that bribing voters was either not wrong at all or was wrong but should not be punished. Similarly, 76 percent of Ghanaians compared with 72 percent of Ugandans felt that politicians should not be punished for directing development projects toward areas that support them. Ghanaians held other undemocratic opinions as well and in greater percentages than Ugandans. Take for example, opinions on the use of queue voting, a procedure in which voters line up in public behind their favored candidate and are denied a secret ballot. While only 18 percent of Ugandans said queue voting would be acceptable, 39 percent of Ghanaians said it would be acceptable. These differences are surprising. While Ghana has been heralded as a democratic success, Uganda is what political scientists call an electoral authoritarian regime. In Uganda, power has typically changed hands through violence. By contrast, in Ghana, the ruling party has handed over power after losing in several elections; namely in 2000, 2008 and now 2016. By contrast, a majority of Ugandans do not believe that voting can lead to a transfer of power which is unsurprising, since it has not happened there. If Ghanaians dont hold stronger democratic values, the implications are troubling Why doesnt the citizenry of one of the continents democratic success stories hold stronger democratic values, and how much does this matter? Anja Osei has argued that Ghanas democracy has been sustained by a distinctive elite consensus based on high levels of trust. If this is accurate, it suggests that to some extent, democratization may have occurred despite, rather than because of, the attitudes of ordinary citizens. The implications of our research for Ghanas future are worrying. Our findings suggest that, lacking supportive social norms in some areas, the countrys impressive progress depends heavily on political elites voluntarily policing their own behavior. Why is this problematic? There are good reasons to doubt the sincerity of Ghanas dominant political parties when it comes to clamping down on vote-buying and electoral fraud. The ruling partys response to the allegations of voter bribery was revealing. Mahamas chief of staff said the video was doctored; a government minister said that the president was simply compensating a young street vendor whose wares had been trampled by party supporters. Meanwhile, a senior figure in the NDC said there was nothing wrong or unusual in giving out money. Initially, the opposition party insisted that the video was evidence of electoral manipulation part of incumbents systematic attempt to buy a continued stay in power. A few weeks before the video was circulated, the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD) released the results of a survey in which 51 percent of respondents said they thought that the ruling party was giving out bribes. Source: Washington Post 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 President-Elect of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has appealed for the continued support and prayers of the Overlord of the Mamprugu Traditional area, the Nayiri, Naabohogu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga, for him and his government as he prepares to take over the reins of government on January 7, 2017. Addressing the Nayiri at his palace in Nalerigu, on Thursday, December 22, 2016, Nana Akufo-Addo indicated that I am counting on you for your continued support, prayers and advice to make sure that we walk in the right direction, and do the right things for our country. The President-Elect also requested for prayers for the vice President-Elect, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, son of the Nayiri, explaining that he is going to be the key figure in the reconstruction of the economy of our country. He is going to be the Chairman of the Economic Management Committee, so he is going to need your special prayers to make sure that he acts with wisdom and be successful in the discharge of his duties. Nana Akufo-Addo continued, The people of Nalerigu, not only voted for me, but, also voted for their daughter, Hajia Alima Mahama, to represent them in parliament. It is a very good choice, and I want you, Nayiri, to know that shes going to be a part of the Akufo-Addo government from 2017. So you have a double burden. Two of your children are going to play a big role in my government. So were going to need your wisdom and guidance to succeed. It will be recalled that after the declaration of Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP as winners of the December 7 elections, the first delegation of any traditional ruler in Ghana to pay a courtesy call on the President-Elect was the delegation sent by the Nayiri, which was made up of prominent Chiefs of Mamprugu. It is for this reason, Nana Akufo-Addo explained, that I have come here today, on my part, to also say thank you for the support and prayers that you gave for me. God listened to your prayers and that is the basis for our victory. He also assured Naabohogu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga that all the promises that I made to the people of Ghana, and the specific ones I made to the people of the northern regions of our country, God is going to give me the power and energy to fulfill those promises. The President-Elect announced his intention to restructure the Northern Development Authority, re-christened SADA by the current administration, so that it becomes a genuine instrument of prosperity of the Northern Regions of our country. The other commitments he made during the course of the campaign irrigating the farm lands of the northern regions, bringing in basic amenities and infrastructural developments to the constituencies, amongst others he said, will be fulfilled. I want it to be said, when the history of our country is being written, that it was in Akufo-Addos time that Ghanaians began to enjoy widespread prosperity across the length and breadth of the country. And for that to happen, I am taking your advice that I have to bring everybody together, all the peoples of Ghana, without discrimination, as one united body to go forward and make Ghana the country of the dreams of our ancestors. It is possible and we can do it, with unity, courage and circumspection, we can do it. I pray to Almighty God that he gives me the opportunity to make this happen, he concluded. 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 Uh oh: its beginning. A passenger has been booted off a JetBlue flight at JFK Airport in New York after he abused and yelled at Ivanka Trump. Trump was in economy (which you have to admit, is quite weird) and the passenger walked up to her with a child in his arms, and allegedly yelled, Your father is ruining the country! He continued, yelling, Why is she on our flight? She should be flying private. A passenger on the flight told TMZ that Ivanka tried to ignore the man, and instead focussed on helping her kids draw with crayons. JetBlue staff then removed the man from the plane, while he yelled, Youre kicking me off for expressing my opinion?! While the people involved have not been named, TMZ says the passengers husband Matt Lasner had tweeted earlier in the day, Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them. Lasner, who is a professor at Hunter College in New York, has now deleted his Twitter account, on which hed last tweeted that theyd been kicked off the plane after his husband expressed displeasure in a calm tone. Right-wing Twitter accounts have now started publicly giving out Lasners personal information and encouraging Trump fans to abuse and harass him and his husband. JetBlue have released a statement on the incident: The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If the crew determines that a customer is causing conflict on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane, especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of escalation during flight. Our team worked to re-accommodate the party on the next available flight. Well update you as soon as more information arises. Source: TMZ / Twitter. Photo: TMZ. Police have arrested a man and searched a home in Perth suburb of Kewdale in what many believe is part of a renewed investigation into the historic Claremont serial killings. The case involves the murder of three young women in the 1996 and 1997. Jane Rimmer, 23, Sarah Spiers, 18, and Ciara Glennon, 27, all vanished in Claremont across those two years. The bodies of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon were both found outside in bushland outside of the city. The body of Sarah Spiers has never been found. Ciara Glennons family told @TenNewsPerth police rang them to confirm a breakthrough in Claremont serial killer case #tennews Caty Price (@caty_price) December 22, 2016 Nobody was ever charged with the murders, despite extensive police investigation. The investigation, named Task Force Macro, is Australias longest and most expensive murder investigation. According to the ABC, who spoke to neighbours of the house in question, officers entered the house around 7:00am and arrested a man believed to be in his 50s. A younger woman, believed to be his daughter, was later taken away by police. Police spent the day at the property and were seen removing a number of large plastic bags from the home. Officials would not confirm whether this investigation was linked to the Claremont murders, though they told media outlets it was in relation to an ongoing investigation. Source: ABC. Photo: Supplied. Update: The Farmer's Wife Family Restaurant has reopened. A Lebanon County restaurant has been shut down after it was found to not be in compliance with a recent state food safety inspection, according to The Lebanon Daily News. The Farmers Wife Family Restaurant in Ono is closed indefinitely after a visit Dec. 20 from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services, the newspaper reported. The agency found live and dead cockroaches in multiple locations inside the building. Department spokesperson William Nichols told the Lebanon Daily News "that this is classified as an 'imminent health hazard' and resulted in the immediate halting of operations." The inspection report listed on the department's food safety restaurant database noted the following violations: The Person in Charge failed to notify the department of an imminent health hazard and cease operations. An unknown brand/type of cockroach bait gel-like substance was applied in the food facility by a non-certified pesticide applicator. The person in charge was unable to show the product's directions for use and application amounts. Facility is not being maintained free of insects. Observed live and dead cockroaches (more than 25) in all stages, in the following areas: under the front service counter area, on the floor behind the ice cream freezer, mechanical dishwasher area, behind equipment located in the front and back food preparation lines & waitress service stations. Food facility is not removing dead or trapped pests from control devices frequently. Observed dead cockroaches, too numerous to count in pest control monitoring devices. The Lebanon Daily News said the reason for the inspection resulted from a complaint filed by a patron who said they saw a cockroach crawl across a counter top. The restaurant at 10609 Allentown Blvd. serves breakfast and homestyle foods such as spaghetti, roasted turkey, sandwiches, salads and burgers. It was previously inspected in April and was found to be in compliance. Boyne City Splash Pad construction continues, to open next year The project is being funded by the sale of the Boyne City Community Building. Florida businessmen charge with laundering over $100 million for Venezuelan officials in U.S. Firm helped unnamed Venezuela company launder money, U.S. says NEW YORK Petroleumworld.com 12 22 2016 A Florida construction equipment exporter's owners were arrested on Wednesday on charges they illegally transferred over $100 million from businesses largely in Venezuela to U.S. and foreign bank accounts belonging to Venezuelan government officials and others. Luis Diaz Jr., 74, and his son, Luis Javier Diaz, 49, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to commit money laundering and operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Both men, who run Miami Equipment & Export Co, according to their firm's website, were arrested in Miami, said a spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case came amid U.S. Justice Department investigations that have focused on individuals tied to the Venezuelan government and their suspected roles in various bribery and drug-trafficking schemes. According to the complaint, the family's company, beginning in 2010, facilitated hundreds of hundreds of transmissions of funds into the United States on behalf of an unnamed large consortium of Venezuelan construction companies. Those Venezuelan companies transferred at least $100 million to the family's company, which forwarded funds to bank accounts around the world on behalf of the Venezuelan consortium's employees and associates, the complaint said. At the consortium's request, they also transmitted money to unnamed Venezuelan government officials, including one who oversaw the award of certain contracts on which the Venezuelan companies bid, the complaint alleged. For example, in 2012, the family's firm received $4.36 million from the Venezuelan consortium, $1.45 million of which was to go to a Portuguese shell company controlled by a Venezuelan with ties to Venezuelan government officials, the complaint said. That payment, according an email from a Venezuelan executive, was described in an invoice as being for "partial payment of advice on procurement, testing, precommissioning and commissioning," the complaint said. Of the remaining funds, nearly $2.55 million went to a British Virgin Islands shell company controlled by executives at the Venezuelan consortium, while the family's company received a $87,218 fee, according to the complaint. During the period in question, the Portuguese shell company controlled by the individual linked to Venezuelan officials received at least $17 million, the complaint said. A further $41.4 million was transferred to three shell companies controlled by employees at the Venezuelan construction companies, according to the complaint. The case is U.S. v. Diaz, et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-mj-8150. Petrobras sell $2.2 billion worth of assets to Total Petrobras to sell Total assets, including oilfields RIO DE JANEIRO Petroleumworld.com 12 22 2016 Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Wednesday it will sell $2.2 billion worth of assets to France's Total SA, including stakes in oilfields and two thermal power stations. Petrobras, as the state-run company is known, will receive $1.6 billion in cash in 60 days, when the agreement closes, Chief Financial Officer Ivan Monteiro said in a press briefing. The rest will be received over time. With the agreement, the total divestment for the last two years ending in 2016 reached $13 billion, Monteiro said, still $2 billion short of the target the company set to reduce its $125 billion debt, the largest in the world's oil industry. Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente said the remaining $2 billion may have to be added to the company's 2017 asset sale target. Under the agreement Total will acquire stakes in two oilfields in Brazil's so-called Subsalt Polygon, which covers most of the giant discoveries in undersea reservoirs trapped deep beneath the seabed by a layer of salt. The French company will get a 22.5 percent stake in prospect area Iara, currently under development in the Santos Basin. Petrobras will keep a 42.5 percent interest in the field and continue to be the operator. Total will buy 35 percent and operate the Lapa field, also in the Santos Basin, which began producing this week. Petrobras will keep a 10 percent stake. The French company will also acquire 50 percent of two thermal power stations in Bahia state. Parente said the two companies want a partnership beyond the mere transfer of assets. "This is a strategic partnership, and our goal is to reduce our exploration risk and improve the operation in the fields we own together," said Parente, who was next to Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne during the briefing. Petrobras and Total are already partners in 19 oil fields worldwide. Petrobras will have the option of acquiring up to 20 percent of oilfield Perdido Foldbelt, in Gulf of Mexico, currently owned by Total and Exxon Mobil Corp.. Parente said the agreement with Total was authorized by Brazil's audit court, which suspended the oil company's divestment program earlier this month. A 44-year-old man and two teenage boys ages 15 and 16 were charged with attempted murder Tuesday in the shooting of Mount Vernon police officer Mike Mick McClaughry, the Skagit County prosecutors office announced. McClaughry, 61, was shot in the head last Thursday evening while canvassing a neighborhood in Mount Vernon for witnesses to a report of earlier shooting at that address. He is in critical but stable condition at Harborview Medical Center, Q13 Fox reports. Ernesto Lee Rivas Sr., 44, a repeat felon, was charged with attempted murder in the case, along with Austin Isaias Gonzales, 16, charged as an adult, and a 15-year-old charged in juvenile court but who the prosecutor has asked to try in adult court. The two teenagers were in a house with Rivas when he allegedly opened fire on McClaughry. The National Fraternal Order of Police sent this letter to Walmart complaining about the Black Lives Matter products on the company's Website. (Photo: FOP) Walmart removed several varieties of shirts and hoodies with the slogan Bulletproof: Black Lives Matter from its website, a spokesperson confirmed Wednesday, after the Fraternal Order of Police complained they were offensive. Like other online retailers, we have a marketplace with millions of items offered by third parties that includes Blue Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter merchandise, said a spokesperson for the worlds largest retailer, with more than $482 billion in revenue. After hearing concerns from customers, we are removing the specific item with the bulletproof reference. The head of the Fraternal Order of Police wrote an open letter to Walmart Tuesday night requesting that the company to take down Black Lives Matter merchandise from its website, CBS News reports. A mistrial was declared Thursday in the corruption case against former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca after a jury failed to reach a verdict on charges that he tried to obstruct an FBI investigation into allegations that deputies abused jail inmates. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson dismissed jurors in the afternoon after they had deliberated for more than three days. The mistrial offers a temporary reprieve for Baca, who ran the nations largest sheriffs department for more than 15 years, reports the Los Angeles Times. The former sheriff had faced conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges that could have sent the 74-year-old who is in the early stages of Alzheimers disease to prison for several years. Prosecutors from the U.S. attorneys office must now decide whether to retry Baca. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print It was Donald Trumps own son who had the idea of selling time with the President Of The United States in exchange for million dollar donations. The Dallas Morning News reported that the fundraiser who was organizing the event that offered face time with the president in exchange for a vague million dollar donation to charity says that the plan was Donald Trump Jr.s idea, Hicks Jr. said the charity was initially Donald Trump Jr.s idea as a way to promote conservation efforts. Beach, however, said he and Hicks came up with the idea in early December, formed a committee and had the nonprofits documents drawn up, he said. The concept of selling access to the president in exchange for anything raises a boatload of ethical questions. The idea that the Trump sons thought that they could get away with selling access to the president under the pretense of charitable donations to an unspecified charity should be setting off alarm bells all across the country. A great deal of concern has been expressed about Trump himself profiting from the presidency, or using the White House for his own personal financial gain. Not as much attention has been paid to the activities of Trumps kids. They have a hand in running the family business, and they learned from their father. In the 1990s, Republicans tried to throw then president Bill Clinton out of office for the Lincoln bedroom sleepovers, while Donald Trump and family are attempting taking cash in exchange for time with the President Of The United States. The American people have sent a criminal enterprise to the White House, so they shouldnt be surprised that the corruption has already been attempted before the president-elect has even gotten a foot in the door. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Trumps attempts to sway the public away from demanding an investigation in Russian election meddling are failing as a new Suffolk University poll found that Americans want an investigation by a nearly two to one margin. According to the Suffolk University poll, A majority (57 percent) were very/somewhat concerned about U.S. intelligence agencies conclusions that Russian state interests tried to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, while 38 percent were not very/not at all concerned. However, a majority (62 percent) said that Congress and the new Trump administration should investigate the allegations of Russian interference, while 33 percent disagreed. So much for the Republican idea that the Russian election interference can be quietly swept under the rug. Perhaps, the big Republican strategy is to make people forget about the Russian election meddling by taking away health care from 30 million Americans. The road is about to get very rocky for the Republican Party. Republicans had been dreaming of total control of the federal government for eight years, and now they are about to make some very unpopular decisions. The American people want an investigation into Russias election meddling. A general investigation into Russias cyber activities is not going to do the trick. Donald Trump giving interviews to friendly networks and programs where he calls concerns about Russian election hacking Democratic excuse making are not going to cut it. A large majority of the country wants to know the extent of Russias interference in the 2016 election. The questions go straight to the heart of questions about the legitimacy of Donald Trumps presidency. By not embracing the investigation or acknowledging the validity of the questions, the president-elect is setting himself up for a scandal-riddled administration. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print A new inside look at the chaos between the FBI and the Justice Department reveals that Hillary Clinton was correct. FBI Director Comeys letter to Congress 12 days before the election was a bombshell whose impact was underestimated by both the FBI and the Justice Department. The Washington Post provides details of how concerns at both FBI and Justice about public appearances and backlash led to a dispute over a letter that probably got Trump elected: Battered by Republican lawmakers during a hearing that summer, Comey feared he would come under further attack if word leaked about the Clinton case picking up again. He was surprised by the intensity of the reaction to his letter, according to people familiar with Comeys thinking. His reputation fell further after the FBI acknowledged three days before the election that the emails amounted to nothing. Comey has taken the harsher beating in public for his decision, but some political observers and former Justice officials say that Lynch deserves at least as much scrutiny. Meanwhile, Justice officials decided that neither Lynch nor her deputy, Yates, should order Comey to not send the letter. They werent sure how Comey would respond to such a command. And they too feared leaks. Lynch and her advisers were nervous about how it would look if people found out that she, a Democratic presidential appointee, told Comey to keep secret from Congress a new development in the Clinton investigation. Attorney General Lynch was worried about looking partisan, so she never ordered Comey not to send the letter. Comey ignored advice from the Justice Department and federal prosecutors not to send the letter because he was worried about leaks and public backlash. It appears that Comey and Lynch didnt understand the degree of impact of the immediate spin by the Trump campaign, Republicans, and the media. When the Clintons blamed James Comey for giving Trump new momentum that cost Democrats the election, they have a point. Without Comeys letter, those 100,000 or so voters from Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin who put Trump in the White House might have made a different choice. The nation may never know the extent of the damage caused by Comeys letter, but it definitely was an October surprise that whether it was intended to or not, propelled Trump into the White House. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print In response to a poll showing the majority of Republcians think Trump won the popular vote, Former Nixon Whitehouse counsel John Dean put the problem we are facing in a succinct 140-characters or less: Political ignorance in the USA is the greatest threat to our democracy 50 years of personal observation indicates it is worse than ever! https://t.co/E4odPRmfcC John Dean (@JohnWDean) December 18, 2016 Yes. Republicans think Trump won the popular vote. And thats just scratching the surface of their ignorance. Of their willful blindness to reality and the world of facts. Republicans opposed a fake Obama, an Obama, the president told The Atlantics Ta-Nehisi Coates, created by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and others. The president added, And that applies, by the way, even to some of the folks who are now Trump supporters. Theyre responding to a fictional character named Barack Obama who they see on Fox News or who they hear about through Rush Limbaugh. It didnt escape our notice that all Republican candidates were running against not the year 2016 but the year 2008, describing a country, and conditions, that hadnt existed for almost a decade. It was as if, just as President Bushs misdeeds were once wiped away in GOP memories, now Obamas accomplishments had suffered the same fate. These same Republicans supported a fake Donald Trump as well. Republicans long criticized liberals for wanting free stuff but those who flocked to Donald Trump flocked in response to a whole slew of empty promises of things he was going to do for them. All of which were lies. That Donald Trump they supported no more exists than the Barack Obama they opposed. Just as they once enthusiastically hated on Obama for somehow representing the elites they now cheer on Trump who has amassed the richest cabinet in history, full of insiders and lobbyists. As Bernie Sanders reminds us, 17 men who have more money than the bottom 43 million Americans as though these men have their best interests at heart. Trump is assembling the wealthiest cabinet in history wealthier than the bottom 1/3 of American households combined. pic.twitter.com/xMPc4OjxFh Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 22, 2016 It may not be as bad as former Gitmo prosecutor Col. Morris Davis says, that The @realDonaldTrump minority of Americans are shocked to learn that emoluments arent the wafer & wine shared at midnight mass on Christmas. Then again, it may be worse. They may not have figured this out yet. They havent figured out yet, despite its glaring obviousness, that Trump is no more going to drain the swamp than he is going to prosecute Hillary Clinton. They think when he says, I will never forget you, and I will never, ever stop fighting for you, that he actually means it. Look at his cabinet. He has already forgotten them. He forgot them the moment they cast their votes and gave him what he wanted. When Fox News Jesse Waters asks, if part of Democrats fear of Donald Trump is that hell actually be successful, it is difficult to know whether to laugh or cry or do both. He has already failed. By inviting Vladimir Putin to choose our next president, he has already put himself beyond any hope of success. How is it even possible to ask such a stupid question? Well, there is a direct correlation here between Fox News, the TVs all across the country in shops and restaurants turned to Fox News, and the voters at the other end. So not only are people hearing an overwhelmingly conservative message but as Obama put it, Fox News in every bar and restaurant makes it hard to reach voters. And its not just Fox News. Look at CNN and MSNBC, for example. The result is dishonest, ignorant people telling other people what to believe. It is a chicken or the egg thing really what came first? The need to have your preconceptions confirmed in the face of every fact to the contrary, or the need to convince people that what isnt true, is true? We can hardly separate the two now. It is not going to be easy when Fox News can convince them with Obama as president that the federal government cant create jobs and then convince them that under Trump, it can. What is left to the rest of us is to find a way to talk to people who have their hands over their ears chanting nonsense to drown out uncongenial facts. If we can figure out how to do that, we might just save ourselves and the world in the process. Do you know of a retail business that is opening, closing or expanding? Reach Warren L. Wise at 843-937-5524 or warrenlancewise@twitter.com. A man and his girlfriend suspected of killing five people in three states last year have pleaded guilty to two of the killings in South Carolina and been sentenced to life in prison without parole, authorities said. Read moreCouple, suspected in 5 killings in 3 states last year, get life in prison in 2 SC slayings 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 Most families have a specific traditional meal on Christmas Eve, whether it's lutefisk, hot dogs roasted in a fireplace (hello, Julie Warner), a roast of some kind or a simple sandwich buffet (mine, until now). If your heritage is Italian, perhaps you celebrate with the Feast of the Seven Fishes . I first heard about it last year and was so intrigued that even though I'm not Italian, I'm hoping to try an approximation of it on Saturday. The roots of this meal come from southern Italy, close to the Mediterranean and Adriatic where seafood is caught in abundance. It also is part of the Catholic practice of not having meat on Christmas Eve. In Italian it is called Esta dei Sette Pesci and is also known as Cerra della Vigilia, or the Vigil, that commemorates the wait for the midnight birth of Jesus. As for the number seven, there is ongoing discussion about that. Does it refer to the seven sacraments or the seven hills of Rome? There are also those who prepare 12 fish dishes, referring to the Twelve Apostles. That, however, is a lot of fish and most just stick with the number seven. ADVERTISEMENT Though the feasts vary from family to family and region to region, at least seven fish dishes are a constant. One who is getting ready to prepare her feast is Cathy Nathan of Rochester. "My mother came to this country from southern Italy when she was just 10," Nathan said. "Her family is from the town of Triggiano, not far from the Adriatic, where they often fished for what they used for this meal. I have had the feast, with minor variations, my entire life." While there is no "set in stone" menu, most of the time Nathan's includes eel, salted cod, sardines, squid, octopus, mussels, clams and maybe a whole baked fish. Interestingly, the inclusion of eel is probably the oldest and most common main dish among the more traditional families. Nathan has also modified it over the years according to what her family likes. "I added a cold lobster and crab salad as one of the early courses, and we usually start with oysters on the half shell or shrimp cocktail and move on from there," she said. "A pasta course is also usually included in a feast, maybe with a clam sauce. I've also added fried shrimp, which everyone loves. Last year I served lobster tails and crab legs." Octopus is also part of the seven. "That is so much work because it needs to be tenderized, usually by pounding it," Nathan said. "A few years ago we came up with the brilliant idea of wrapping it in multiple plastic bags and putting it in the spin cycle of the washing machine. It works. Then it's marinated and grilled. Everyone raves about it." ADVERTISEMENT Also essential to the feast: good bread and wines. Nathan also points out that when she is just serving her family, she has cut back on portions. "There is always so much food and it takes hours to eat. You really have to pace yourself," she said. Doing this also calls for organization. She keeps shopping lists, menus and preparation tips in a file going back years. "I have to," she said. "I also do much of the prep work ahead of time so that when we come home from a late afternoon Mass, everything is ready to go. Luckily fish doesn't take a long time to cook." And dessert? Something light like fruit and/or cannoli, Nathan says. After visiting with Nathan about this, I decided I could do an abbreviated version: Start with something like an old-fashioned clam dip. Then a salad, maybe her lobster/crab recipe. Moving on, how about center cut fillets of salmon, or a big bowl of peel and eat shrimp? Next course might be be pasta, maybe a puttensca sauce that has an anchovy-tomato base (can't taste the anchovies). Or after the salad course, one could make a seafood stew, like a ciopinno that has clams, mussels, maybe halibut. (That would not be cheating.) ADVERTISEMENT A final thought on this incredible feast: In a season where menus are dominated by turkeys, hams and roasts, a meal that concentrates on the bounty of the sea is a welcome and healthy change. About a year after local authorities first heard about it, a scam about jury duty is apparently making the rounds. The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office and the Rochester Police Department have both received reports from area residents who received a call from someone who identified himself as "Mark Palmer," claiming to work in law enforcement warrants division. The caller told them they'd missed jury duty, and needed to pay a fine, using a pre-paid credit card. They were given a local phone number to call, as well, so Capt. Scott Behrns of the sheriff's office did just that. There was no answer, so he left a message for the scammer, Behrns said this morning. ADVERTISEMENT "I told him I was in charge of that department, and there was no Mark Palmer who works for me," he said, adding that law enforcement was aware of the scam. Though most adults are aware they may be called for jury duty, not everyone is familiar with the bureaucracy surrounding this process: the exact manner in which people are summoned for jury duty. People also know that jury duty is both a civic duty and mandatory. Scammers, meanwhile, look to profit off situations where uncertainty exists. "The jury duty scam is just clever enough to pay dividends for fraudsters," said Dana Badgerow, president and CEO of BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota. "Our hope is that by spreading the word about this scheme it will reduce the pool of people who might get hooked by it." How the jury duty scam works: Scammers contact you, claiming you've missed jury duty. The calls or messages threaten people with arrest or jail time if they don't pay the fine for "missing" jury duty. BBB advises the public that if you get a call from someone who claims to be a court official and asks for sensitive personal information or demands a payment, it's a scam. In Minnesota, jury duty notices/summonses are sent through the mail. Though Minnesota law requires people to serve on jury duty, if qualified, nobody will call you or email or demanding payment for missing jury duty. To avoid the scam: Don't let scammers pressure you. If you get a call from alleged court officials asking for financial information, end the phone call and report the scam to BBB and your county's jury office. ADVERTISEMENT Be aware that scammers can mask their identity. Scammers have the ability to use software to disguise how they appear on your caller ID. So while calls might appear to be from your local courthouse, it could be a fraudster on the other end of the line. Guard your personal information. Giving out sensitive personal or financial information over the phone is always a bad idea don't do it. Have questions about the process? If you did indeed miss jury duty, you will be sent a notification in the mail. However, if you have any doubt that a mailing is legitimate, contact your county courthouse. After the success of their two other Sola Salon Studios, Austin and Kari Lucasare prepping to launch their third Rochester location. Sola Salons are a collection of equipped studios for beauty professionals to lease with business support from the franchise. "We're not in the salon business," explained Austin Lucas. "We're in the business of putting people into business." The Lucases opened their first 5,200-square-foot Sola Salon in 2013 in the Shoppes on Mainearea. They followed that up with a 6,000-square-foot location at 3185 41st Street NW this year. Both locations are full of tenants ranging from hair stylists, nails specialists, estheticians and massage therapists. And now, Sola Salons have signed a lease for 6,800-square-feet of space in the Crossroads Shopping Center, the former home of O'Neill's Pizza Pub . O'Neill's closed in March 2015. ADVERTISEMENT Barb Phelps and Leigh Ann Peltomaof Paramark Real Estate Services,represented the Lucases and Crossroads in the leasing deal. Construction is expected to begin in February. They already are signing up tenants for the Crossroads location. "We feel Rochester has been a great market. We have very tittle turnover and the businesses are all growing," said Austin Lucas. "We saw the potential for a third location and thought, 'Why wait?'" He estimates once Crossroads is open, they will have about 90 tenants in the three Rochester locations. "Now we'll have north, central and south locations," he said. "It's been a really good ride." RED WING Mayo Clinic announced Tuesday that Dr. Tom Witt, a transformational figure in Mayo's Goodhue County health care facilities, would "transition out of his leadership role" in early 2017. Mayo has clarified that Witt's reassignment was "part of rotational leadership." He has served as president and CEO of Mayo Clinic Health System-Cannon Falls/Lake City/Red Wing since 2012, and he previously was president and CEO at the Lake City hospital from 2003-2012. His departure comes at a time of concern in some area communities served by Mayo. Hospitals in Lake City and Wabasha have had four doctors and two nurse practitioners, among other staff, resign this year amidst a public backlash over reduced medical services and policy changes, such as Mayo discontinuing baby deliveries at those two sites while consolidating services in Red Wing. Chad Springer, Wabasha's city administrator and a former Mayo employee, says local health care employees feel "very insecure" and he has heard MCHS hasn't been meeting patient and financial expectations. "The way things were handled were not in these communities' best interests and these physicians' best interests," he said of recent decisions. "That's why you're seeing these communities upset and rallying." ADVERTISEMENT Witt was not made available for comment, but Mayo spokeswoman Asia Zmuda rejected Springer's criticism, noting that Witt's transition is "consistent with how Mayo rotates leaders across practices." "It's a huge stretch and highly speculative for someone to try to make a connection that (those concerns have) something to do with this transition," Zmuda said. Mayo officials were complimentary of Witt in the news release and said he will continue in patient care, plus "coordinating and integrating health system hospitals across the Southeast Minnesota region." "We are grateful for the many years of excellent patient care and strong leadership Dr. Witt has provided to this area," said Dr. David Agerter, regional vice president of Mayo Clinic Health System, in the statement. "He has led many important initiatives during his tenure, including the construction and launch of the beautiful new medical center in Cannon Falls. We are very pleased that he will continue to lead our hospital integration work and will be providing expert care for our patients." Dr. Brian Whited will assume Witt's duties at the end of February, the statement said. Whited, who is currently vice president of operations for Mayo Clinic Health System, was not quoted in the release or made available for comment. Time of transition Witt's departure comes amid an important transition for Mayo Clinic in Goodhue and Wabasha counties. His role expanded in 2012 when Mayo Clinic acquired Red Wing's Fairview hospital for $64 million, further expanding Mayo's reach outside of its base in Rochester. At the time, it was Mayo's 13th medical center in Minnesota and it quickly became its hub of operations between Rochester and the Twin Cities. ADVERTISEMENT Witt also was a central figure in Mayo's plan to build a new $28 million clinic and hospital in Cannon Falls, which included about $10 million from the city. The 92,000-square-foot facility broke ground in 2013 and opened to the public in July 2014 to much fanfare, including a visit from Mayo President and CEO Dr. John Noseworthy. Its location just off U.S. Highway 52 was touted as an ideal location while replacing the aging health center downtown. "The benefits of the new medical center go beyond the continued presence of dependable, high-quality health care," Witt said last summer . "As we commemorate this first year of being in the new building, we look forward to serving the needs of our patients and the community for many years to come." Questions and criticism The new facilities haven't prevented a steady stream of criticism in some communities over the past two years. Some residents in Lake City and Wabasha cried fouled when Mayo ended baby delivery services in June 2015. Mayo said it was centralizing those services at its Red Wing facility due to reduced regional demand, but it created a public backlash . More recently, Lake City residents have raised concerns about resignations at Mayo's Lake City hospital. Some have questioned Mayo's new care model, opposed Mayo's request to terminate its 30-year contract with Lake City 10 years early, and balked at the creation of a regional governance board. Phil Gartner, Lake City's former city attorney who drafted the 1998 contract with Mayo, secured a seat on the city council last month after publicly criticizing Mayo's plans and pending polic y changes. Though Mayo has challenged his criticism, Gartner earned the most votes in the Nov. 8 election. "I think there's conflicting best interest," Lake City City Council member Russell Boe has said. "In this case, what's best for Lake City isn't what's best for Mayo Clinic." Wabasha officials also haven't been shy about pointing out the reductions in rural health care began shortly after the state approved $585 million in public funding to support Mayo's Destination Medical Center initiative in Rochester. ADVERTISEMENT "The state us, basically has put a lot of money in DMC," Springer said. "At the 30,000-foot level, that sounds like a good concept but the impact it's had on the rural area of Wabasha, Lake City, Owatonna and elsewhere by taking things away from us and rationing our health care it's making it difficult for people to have their own autonomy in health care choices." Zmuda rejected that criticism, saying the issues are "totally unrelated." Additionally, Cannon Falls residents have repeatedly criticized the new U.S. 52 interchange. Minnesota Department of Transportation funded the $14.3 million project to improve safety by removing the final two stop lights between Rochester and the Twin Cities. The interchange created easy access to Mayo's new medical center, but some including Cannon Falls Mayor Robby Robinson have said it has badly hurt nearby businesses. Wabasha's quiet revolt Wabasha city officials have been plotting a revolution behind the scenes for almost a year. It began when city leaders, including Mayor Rollin Hall, created a Rural Health Care Task Force on Jan. 1 to address ongoing concerns directly with Mayo about changes at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. The group's aggressive actions include holding meetings with U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, and getting a letter placed directly on Noseworthy's desk in February. The Wabasha Port Authority, led by Dave Wodele, identified "preserving rural health care" as its top priority in 2016 and the task force sent increasing pointed letters to Mayo leadership throughout the year to address that concern. The concerns about Mayo's reduction of local care including baby delivery, laboratory services, emergency room and hospital physician coverage have progressed to the point where Springer says city officials have been in contact with other health care providers to solicit interest. He declined to name names, but claims to have found significant interest. That could create an unusual situation where two providers are working under the same roof. As a sign of intentions, Wabasha has also requested that Mayo release its recently resigned employees from the typical one-year noncompete clause. One physician in Wabasha resigned this month and a nurse practitioner has submitted her resignation, effective next month. Springer says some of the departed medical professionals have expressed an interest in returning to work if a new provider comes to Wabasha, but Mayo has refused that request. Mayo invested $3.8 million at St. Elizabeth's in 2000 as part of a 15-year agreement. The reduction of services began shortly after that agreement expired, which rankled some locals who have raised nearly $15 million to support the medical center over the last 15 years. "There's great things on the horizon," Springer said Wednesday. "It's no secret that health care costs in Southeast Minnesota are darn near double the metro area and we all know what the driver is there the Mayo Clinic. "Mayo Clinic does not see eye-to-eye with the future of St. Elizabeth's Medical Center and the city of Wabasha. We feel that us, as city officials, can right the future of health care" in Wabasha. Mayo did not make officials available for comment on the ongoing Wabasha dialogue, but Bobbie Gostout, Mayo Clinic Health System vice president, rejected the criticism in a June 17 letter to the city. "We feel confident that all of the public benefits that the City and County documented in the Development Agreement have been realized to the general public benefit of the City and County," Gostout wrote. "We have great respect for the City of Wabasha, Wabasha County and St. Elizabeth's. While we very much want to maintain and continue to build our strong working relationship with the City of Wabasha and Wabasha County, we feel that our discussions with St. Elizabeth's should continue to be direct communications." Construction is underway in Oronoco to fully remove the Lake Shady dam and to restore the Zumbro River to a more natural watershed. Terry Lee, Olmsted County Environmental Resources water resources manager, answered questions for the Post Bulletin on the status of the project and the future of the area. Q: What is the timeline for construction on the dam and river restorations? A: The contractor on the project is going through this process of developing it in three phases. We're in phase one of the construction right now. All construction work (to fully remove the dam) will be completed this winter. The lake bed will be restored, and they'll be restoring the natural features of the river and lake bed, putting meanders back into the river system there, as well as riffles, pools, and armoring the banks where the bank is vulnerable (to erosion) with natural root wads. ADVERTISEMENT Q: Will the bridge over the Zumbro be maintained during and after construction on the dam? A: Not only will it be preserved during construction but the dam removal and river restoration will benefit the bridge. It will be a more stable stream, and water will be diverted away from the pilings, avoiding the kind of damage that was done in the last flood. Q: Will recreation features be added to the area following the river restoration? A: The expectation is the first of the recreation features after the project is completed would be the portage trail. The portage trail would link the rapids with the DNR canoe launch area that is already there. Funding for that feature was provided to the Zumbro Watershed Partnership. We're already working on an early planning for that but it won't happen until after this construction phase is complete. Q: Who has provided funding for the project? A: Two state grants a $2.5 million Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council grant and a $1.35 million Minnesota Department of Natural Resources dam safety grant and local funding of $130,000 from Olmsted County and $86,800 from the city of Oronoco. ST. PAUL Gov. Mark Dayton and House Speaker Kurt Daudt will enter 2017 with a "damaged relationship," the Republican speaker said this week, foreshadowing difficulty at the Capitol when the Legislature is charged with passing a two-year budget and address other key priorities. Daudt's comments came during a panel with fellow legislative leaders meant to preview next year's session. Instead, much of the 90-minute question-and-answer spree focused on the past, including a public spat between Daudt and Dayton last week and the failure of a special session to tackle rising health care costs. The pair exchanged blame last week, and Daudt rehashed that public feud and other disagreements with Dayton on Monday. "The governor is going to need to fix that if he's going to have a successful last two years in office," Daudt said. Dayton couldn't attend Monday's briefing due to an illness, and declined through a spokesman to respond to the speaker's comments. ADVERTISEMENT Their relationship is no small matter: Daudt will join the Democratic governor at the negotiating table as session winds down, striking deals on a two-year state budget that may approach $45 billion. As it has in years past, failure to reach agreement could mean a government shutdown. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said the pair need to get on better terms. "If it's not figured out by June 30, portions of state government start to shut down," he said. After a brewing deal to offer rebates to offset double-digit premium increases on the individual health insurance market collapsed last week, Dayton noted that his relationship with Daudt was primed to make 2017 a difficult year. Dayton accused Daudt of reneging on parts of a deal that would have also revived a tax relief package and $1 billion in construction projects, while Daudt again blamed Dayton Monday for shifting the terms of a fragile agreement for its failure. 2017 will be difficult for Dayton in more ways than one. After four years having an ally in the Democratic-controlled Senate, Dayton will be outnumbered by the GOP for at least the next two years as Republicans take control of the Senate. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka promised a "change in tone" from his side when working with the governor, hoping that paves the way to a deal for long-term transportation funding that has eluded the Legislature for years. Bakk warned Daudt to tread carefully with Dayton for the next two years, after which Dayton has vowed he'll leave office. ADVERTISEMENT "Never underestimate a governor's resolve if he's not running again. This is Gov. Dayton's last chance to leave some kind of mark on Minnesota after a long career," Bakk said. MILACA, Minn. No two days are the same for Milaca High School seniors in Tony Vesledahl's building trades class. That's why students like Kyle Kent, 18, enjoy it. "We are always doing something new and different," Kent said. And by the end of the school year, those new and different things Kent and 14 of his classmates are doing will come together to create a fully furnished 26-by-46-foot rambler house. "They basically do everything," Vesledahl said. "From the floor assembly to the roofing. All the framing, all the interior work and all the siding. They even help with the plumbing. They work on the entire house except for the (exterior house wrap) taping." ADVERTISEMENT It's the hands-on style of teaching and the partnerships that Milaca High School has formed with area businesses that has sustained the program, allowing students to explore multiple opportunities in the construction trades. "It would have been easy for the school to cut the program," said Chris Kotsmith, co-owner of Milaca Building Center. "Especially back in 2007 when they couldn't sell the house (the students built). But then they got creative and started pre-selling the houses. The school thought it was important to offer this type of education." This education includes working closely with people like Jeff Brown, owner of Granite Ledge Electrical Contractors. "We send a foreman and a project manager out for about six days," Brown said. "We work hand-in-hand with the students teaching them codes and techniques. We play more of a supervisory role and have them do the installation." In most high school student building projects, Vesledahl said contractors like Brown would come in and do the work for the students. But at Milaca, students learn from and work alongside electricians, plumbers and heating installers. "Some students may have taken this class twice," said Brown. "But for most it's their first experience." During nearly a full week of electrical instruction, Brown works with the students on some of the basics such as lighting requirements and the spacing of outlets. He spends a significant amount of time on safety as well. Vesledahl said after some in-class instruction, students are divided into groups and spend about four days roughing-in the house and the remaining two days wiring. ADVERTISEMENT He said the plumbing portion of the build works the same way. Vesledahl said the school works closely with Dimar Plumbing for the two-day, hands-on lesson. After most of the rougher interior work like insulation and drywall is completed with the house, Vesledahl's students turn their attention to some of the interior details such as cabinets, baseboards and trim work. "Everything is custom built to fit the area," Vesledahl said. Once the weather starts to warm up, students will be outside working on siding and putting the finishing touches on the home. And by mid-May, the students will be able to celebrate their accomplishments with an open house for parents, business owners, school officials and other community members. Throughout the year-long class, students are graded on a participation point system. They are also responsible for creating a detailed portfolio of everything that was done, including photos taken on school tablets and an explanation of the process used to complete the task. It's an achievement Vesledahl has witnessed nearly every year over his 17-year tenure with Milaca. "My personal goal is to give the students a chance to explore all aspects of the trades," he said. "(Students) are academically driven to get that four-year degree. But that's not the avenue everyone takes. And it's nice to let these kids know that you don't have to go to school to get a good-paying career. You can make a great career out of any of the construction trades." Senior Zack Korvela is still torn about what avenue he wants to pursue. The 19-year-old is enlisted in the Marines. But after the military, he is leaning toward a career in the trades. ADVERTISEMENT "I'm stuck right now between an electrician or a framer," Korvela said. But he said learning the basic construction trade skills Vesledahl teaches is important and something that can be carried throughout life. "If an outlet is bad, you know how to fix it instead of paying someone to do it. You know how to shingle," Korvela said. "It's about learning how to do things (for yourself)." ST. PAUL The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis remains in compliance with its agreement with prosecutors to take a series of affirmative steps to protect children from sexual abuse, officials said. Church officials and prosecutors reached a settlement last December calling for substantial cultural changes within the church after the archdiocese was accused of mishandling an abuse case involving former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. Church officials provided an update on their progress Tuesday to Ramsey County Chief Judge Teresa Warner, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported . Two church officials who deal with child protection told Warner that nearly 90,000 adults have undergone background checks and training on how to ensure children are safe in church-related settings. The 187 parishes, 92 schools and two seminaries that belong to the archdiocese are required to comply with the settlement. "So we have 90,000 sets of eyes and ears out there watching to make sure kids are safe," said Timothy O'Malley, the archdiocese's director of ministerial standards and safe environment. Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who attended the hearing, has completed the child-protection training. ADVERTISEMENT "I was really happy to see this is what our people throughout the archdiocese are receiving," Hebda said. "It really just raises the bar in terms of our attentiveness to the issues that are there. It's certainly a huge undertaking." The Ramsey County attorney's office, which has been monitoring how the archdiocese followed through on its commitments, and the judge found the archdiocese to be in "significant compliance" with the settlement. Warner said she was pleased the archdiocese acknowledged its work is not complete. The settlement calls for reviews every six months for three years; the third review is scheduled for June 16. Criminal charges against the archdiocese over its handling of the Wehmeyer case were dropped in July when Hebda delivered a public admission of wrongdoing. The bankruptcy case against the archdiocese stemming from the broader abuse scandal is pending. AUSTIN Malcolm "Mac" McDonald, 81, was used to getting up in the morning and exercising at his favorite Austin gym. There was time on the treadmill; then, he would do rounds on the recumbent bike. After shower and breakfast, "I was pretty active for the rest of the day," he said. That all changed on a day in July when a sharp, shooting pain traveled down the left side of his body. "And just like that," he said, his life changed, profoundly. Testing at Mayo Clinic found that he had stage 4 lung cancer. ADVERTISEMENT "Non-treatable," he said, recalling the day. "Both lungs. It knocked me off my feet." He was shocked and surprised that such an end would come after a busy, full life. Now, he wants the end to be of his own making. The son of Iowa farmers, Malcolm graduated from college with a teaching degree. After heading up the family implement dealership, he decided he wanted to teach rather than sell farm equipment. He first taught in Anchorage, Alaska, early in his career where he also met his wife, Judy, a fellow teacher and later, in Colorado. Then, he was hired as the director of special education for Austin public schools, a position he held for 27 years. The McDonalds have one son, Ian. McDonald throughout his life was active in volunteerism and served in active and reserve military for 28 years. The diagnosis of cancer changed an active man to someone who, at turns, was both curious and despairing at his growing fragility. Quality of life in his remaining months his doctor said six months was likely, but that was six months ago is important to him. He has oxygen tanks at the ready when he needs help with breathing, which happens more and more. "If I have to climb steps . that's when it really takes me," he said. ADVERTISEMENT He tries to keep to the treadmill, but is quickly slowing, he said. He cannot operate the recumbent bicycle at all, anymore. He has lost 15 pounds since his diagnosis. His appetite is leaving him. It became clear to him from the beginning that he wanted to end his life on his own terms. But at present, Minnesota does not have a law that provides what he would call "death with dignity." Such laws are not physician-assisted suicide, but rather measures that allow someone who is terminally ill to self-administer medication that would end his life. Loss of control over your decisions and your body is as painful as the cancer, he said. Death with dignity laws are in place in California, Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana. Some who are terminally ill travel to one of those states to end their lives. He doesn't want to travel to an unfamiliar place to do that. The McDonalds do not see the ability to control life's end in conflict with their religious beliefs. It is about freedom to live life in a certain way, they said. "I've got a wife and a son for whom I see no reason for them to go through a time when I am miserable to myself and miserable to them. It's selfish, I admit. But we are living in a country whose most basic thought is freedom of the individual and not making decisions that other people have to live by. I want to make my own choice," he said. Judy agreed. ADVERTISEMENT "It is the reality," she said. "It can be emotional, but we also have to face the facts. I know he is on a timeline. I am 100 percent supportive" of his desire to end his life. "I would choose that for myself," she said. The Minnesota Legislature has visited the issue twice in the past two years. Sens. Chris Eaton of Brooklyn Center, Sandra Pappas of St. Paul, D. Scott Dibble of Minneapolis and John Marty of Roseville, all Democrats, sponsored the Minnesota Compassionate Care Act. That proposed legislation, never voted upon, returned to committee in 2016; Eaton withdrew the bill due to lack of support, but said she would bring the issue to session this year. The legislation does not promote physician-assisted suicide, but rather the ability of the ill patient to administer medication to end his or her life. McDonald wants to see legislators move forward with the issue, he said, but Rep. Jeanne Poppe, D-Austin, said she doesn't hold much hope that the issue will get much traction this session. "I have indicated to him that I really do not see it being a top priority for the Legislature to tackle," she said in an email to the Austin Daily Herald. "With the Republican majority in each body of the Legislature, it doesn't seem like something they will pursue. However, strong advocates like him can influence public policy." He has written a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton. It reads, in part: "I have asked my primary physician to recommend one of the above states where I would have the freedom to pursue my desire to use laws that provide for dying with dignity. Can your office provide information and guidance regarding this topic so that I, a resident of Minnesota, can . take advantage of the freedoms these laws provide to individuals so they and their families can avoid the experiences that they can anticipate are coming and that others who have passed away have experienced in the past." He knows there are other ways to die by your own hand. He has been told it would take about a week or longer to die from the refusal to eat or drink anything. He doesn't look to that as a dignified way of ending a life, but he also wonders: "Do you just get to the point that you are so miserable, you just stop eating and drinking?" He is not happy with his lack of choices. His life is already limited by disease. It seems only fair, he said, that death be quick and painless. "I would like to die well," he said. Globe, Minnesota School of Business to close campuses WOODBURY Globe University and Minnesota School of Business plan to close their Minnesota campuses. The Woodbury-based schools made the announcement Tuesday. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education said the for-profit schools will no longer be allowed to participate in federal student aid programs a decision the schools are appealing. A judge also ruled in a lawsuit brought by Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson that the two schools fraudulently marketed and recruited students for their criminal justice program. The schools will implement agreements allowing remaining students to transfer to other institutions to complete their degrees. ADVERTISEMENT The Star Tribune obtained letters to students and employees saying most Minnesota campus workers will out of work by Dec. 31 and the schools will shut their doors at the end of January. Judge orders Prince divorce file unsealed over ex-wife's objections MINNEAPOLIS A judge has ordered Prince's divorce file opened next month over the objections of ex-wife Manuela Testolini. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune , Wednesday's order says the records from Prince's 2006 divorce will be made public Jan. 13. The judge denied Testolini's request to stay his order pending appeal. The newspaper wants records from the couple's divorce released publicly. Testolini's attorneys objected, saying the records are tied to a private settlement. Hennepin County Family Court Judge Thomas Fraser issued an order in August unsealing the divorce records. The documents' release was delayed because of objections from Testolini; Prince's half brother, Omarr Baker; and Bremer Trust, the company overseeing Prince's estate. Prince's marriage to Testolini was his second. He died on April 21 from an accidental overdose of fentanyl. Woman hit for not speaking English forgives attacker ADVERTISEMENT ANOKA A Muslim woman who was struck with a beer mug for not speaking English in a Minnesota restaurant says she has forgiven her attacker. Asma Jama spoke at 44-year-old Jodie Burchard-Risch's sentencing in Anoka County Tuesday. Jama told Burchard-Risch she has no "ill feelings" toward her, and that she wants her attacker to understand "we are all the same." Burchard-Risch was at an Applebee's in Coon Rapids last year when she smashed her glass mug in Jama's face, causing significant injuries. She became upset before the attack because Jama was speaking Swahili with her family. Burchard-Risch pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. Under a plea deal, she was sentenced to 180 days in jail with work release followed by five years probation. KARE-TV reports Burchard-Risch did not speak in court. Body of missing paddle boarder found WACONIA The body of a missing paddle boarder has been recovered from Lake Waconia. Thirty-five-year-old Andrew Stifter, of Waconia, had been missing since Nov. 26 when he took his paddle board on the lake to photograph wildlife. A team of divers and others searched extensively for Stifter, but only his paddle board had been found. ADVERTISEMENT Carver County sheriff's officials say the body was discovered Tuesday afternoon by an ice fisherman. Stifter was married and had two young children. I must respond to the misleading information contained in the response from Shawn McCoy, regarding the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Dakota Access Pipeline. The citizens of Bismarck, N.D., deemed the pipeline "too risky" for its water supply and the Army Corps of Engineers granted faulty permits to Energy Transfer Partners, despite opposition not only from the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, but from the Federal Historical Preservation Advisory Council, the Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and from more than 100 tribes in the United States and other indigenous peoples from around the world. The Army Corps of Engineers did not comply with federal law, namely Executive Order 13175, or its legal trust responsibilities to protect the tribe's resources. Meetings with impacted tribes did not occur until after the faulty permits were already obtained. A victory was won, mainly because of the arrival of the more than 2,000 veterans at the camp, but this is far from over. Pictures of continued pipeline construction have surfaced and an oil spill just 150 miles from the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline has occurred. It is 2016, and Native Americans are still fighting for their treaty rights. ADVERTISEMENT Valerie DeCora Guimaraes Rochester Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid seems to me to personify one of the four categories of libel per se with respect to which certain proof otherwise required to make out a claim of libel is presumed. One of the four categories is a statement imputing a loathsome disease to another. When I hear the name of Harry Reid, I think loathsome disease. He embodies the slimy ethos of todays Democratic Party. Next up, Keith Ellison! In an exit interview with Nevada Public Radio (transcript and audio at the link), Reid took a few phone calls. Ryan called in to ask Reid if the brazen lie he told about Mitt Romney not paying his taxes had in any way contributed to the phenomenon of fake news. Reid responded in the style to which we have grown familiar. In this case it is not only familiarity that breeds contempt. Reid answered Ryan: First of all, Ryan, there were no brazen lies. What I said is the truth. Mitt Romney had refused and has still refused to show us his tax returns. He gave us the main part of two tax returns. This is when he is running for president. That is not a true sign of what he had done. I guess the new plan we have to look at is Donald Trump, who shows us nothing. Prior to Trump it was standard procedure going back many, many decades that presidential candidates would give us 10 years of tax returns. Mitt Romney has never done that. And so theres no brazen lies [sic]. I did what was necessary. He fought even giving those two years that were meaningless because he was already running for president and all of his financial dealings where he became an extremely wealthy man, we were unable to see any of that. So you can brand it anyway you like but it was no brazen lies [sic], its the truth. See what I mean? Harry Reid: loathsome disease. A couple weeks back over at The Conversation, Prof. John Broich of Case Western Reserve University spun out a piece about how the American media normalized Hitler and Mussolini back in the day. Although the article doesnt mention Trump, the implication of the piece is clear. Broich is not wrong to point out how much of the American media simply didnt recognize Hitler for what he was: When Hitlers party won influence in Parliament, and even after he was made chancellor of Germany in 1933 about a year and a half before seizing dictatorial power many American press outlets judged that he would either be outplayed by more traditional politicians or that he would have to become more moderate. Sure, he had a following, but his followers were impressionable voters duped by radical doctrines and quack remedies, claimed the Washington Post. Now that Hitler actually had to operate within a government the sober politicians would submerge this movement, according to The New York Times and Christian Science Monitor. A keen sense of dramatic instinct was not enough. When it came to time to govern, his lack of gravity and profundity of thought would be exposed. In fact, The New York Times wrote after Hitlers appointment to the chancellorship that success would only let him expose to the German public his own futility. Journalists wondered whether Hitler now regretted leaving the rally for the cabinet meeting, where he would have to assume some responsibility. Yes, the American press tended to condemn Hitlers well-documented anti-Semitism in the early 1930s. But there were plenty of exceptions. Some papers downplayed reports of violence against Germanys Jewish citizens as propaganda like that which proliferated during the foregoing World War. Many, even those who categorically condemned the violence, repeatedly declared it to be at an end, showing a tendency to look for a return to normalcy. However, this blindness was not limited to journalists. Academic political science disgraced itself, too. I go through this sorry chapter and explore why academic political science wasnt up to the job in my forthcoming book Patriotism Is Not Enough (you can pre-order today!) and heres a short excerpt: The contemporaneous voices that raised the alarm about the nature and consequences of totalitarianism came mostly from outside the ranks of political science. One thinks of Reinhold Niebuhr calling the moment a crisis for theology, or the erratic Walter Lippmanns sudden anxiety over the totalitarian potential of centralized power (collectivism) in his 1936 book The Good Society. But even Lippmann had to shake off a default to wishful thinking, such as describing one of Hitlers 1933 speeches as statesmanlike and the authentic voice of a civilized people that was evidence of good faith. Sounding like a dean of multicultural diversity on an American campus today, Lippmann argued that to deny today that Germany can speak as a civilized power because uncivilized things are being done in Germany is in itself a deep form of intolerance. . . . In general most of the flood of books and academic articles about Hitlers Nazi regime and the rise of fascism in Europe in the late 1930s partook of the current enthusiasms for historicism, evolutionism, behaviorism and positivism that reigned supreme over the interment of political philosophy. Hitlers rapid and ruthless centralization of power, entailing the abolition of Germanys previously robust federal structure, was analyzed with the clinical detachment of a biologist looking at bacteria in a petri dish under a microscope. In some cases the phenomena of fascism and Communism were treated as reciprocal symptoms for the weaknesses of democracy. The diffuseness of fascism as an ideology, in stark contrast with Soviet Communism, reinforced the tendency to analyze it institutionally rather than ideologically or philosophically. Eric Voegelin wrote about debates over the changing political scene in Germany: At that time there was the great debate among jurists abut whether the Weimar constitution, which indeed was never abolished but only changed, was in fact still the constitution of the Hitler Reich or whether a revolution had occurred. Wonderful discussion among jurists. In the meantime, people were killed. Roger Wells of Bryn Mawr College, writing in 1935 about Hitlers rollup of the previously robust local governments in Germany, concluded: There is some justification, therefore, for the National Socialist contention that the Deutsche Gemeindeordnung does not destroy local self-government, but, on the contrary, aims to build it anew upon more secure foundations so that it may once again recover and bloom as in the nineteenth century. Of course the comparison of Trump to the fascists of the 1930s is ridiculous, and so there is a double ironic cluelessness of Broichs piece. As Tom Wolfe sagely wrote, liberals are always predicting the dark night of fascism is about to descend in America, but somehow it always falls somewhere in Europe. And as for normalizing tyrants, a news media that generally sucked up to Fidel Castro, Yassir Arafat, etc., has no standing on the subject. Przepraszamy! 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Inne ogoszenia, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: Agro-business experts have expressed worries over the seizure of 102 bags of plastic rice by officials of the Nigerian Customs on Monday. In separate interviews with PREMIUM TIMES, the experts enjoined the government to ensure that security is beefed up in the nations borders and perpetrators of the criminal acts are prosecuted. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit, Ikeja, on Tuesday seized 102 bags of plastic rice branded Beat Tomato Rice with no date of manufacture. A Customs Area Comptroller, Mohammed Haruna, said the commodity was stored for distribution as Yuletide gifts for the public. Mr. Haruna said officers of the unit seized the plastic rice along Ikeja area on Monday, adding that a suspect was arrested in connection with the seizure. Before now, I thought it was a rumour that the plastic rice is all over the country but with this seizure, I have been totally convinced that such rice exists. We have done the preliminary analysis on the plastic rice. After boiling, it was sticky and only God knows what would have happened if people consumed it, the customs boss said. Reacting to the incident in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, Adewale Ilesanmi, an agri-business consultant, expressed surprise at how such goods got shipped across the borders of the country. My immediate impression on this is to say that this is wicked, inhuman, and totally unacceptable. The perpetrators of this crime should be prosecuted. It is the height of bad business practice and must send a strong worded message to the state of China and if possible, stop all importation from the peoples Republic of China, he said. While explaining the genesis of the plastic rice, Mr. Ilesanmi disclosed that players in the industry have long suspected that the fake rice is in the Nigerian market. We have for sometimes been following this dangerous trends in business and have always expected the Nigerian government to engage the Chinese government on it. We all know that in shortest possible time, it will be here and here we are today, he said. While explaining the health implication of consuming the plastic rice, the agro-business consultant said it is poisonous and can result in cancer or death. Plastic rice, simply put, is artificial, synthetic or fake rice-like granules which are made from sheet of plastics. They are toxic and inorganic materials and have grave health implications. Its implications are mostly health related complications including cancer or death depending on the volume consumed by the individual. They are poisonous and synthetic materials which do not have any metabolic relationship with the metabolic system of humans. For Adeniyi Phillips, a farmer and agro-preneur, the interception of the rice confirms the long held suspicion among farmers that the fake rice is being imported into the Nigerian market. I find it very disturbing that such rice as plastic rice truly exist in Nigeria. I have seen videos corroborating this fact in the past but I never believed those videos. The seizure of 102 bags of the plastic rice by the Nigerian Customs Service is a confirmation that is truly sad. I feel sad that some Nigerians in the name of doing business could go that far, to bring in contrabands that could adversely affect the lives of Nigerians, especially in this yuletide season when the demand for rice increases. Commenting on how the plastic rice is produced, Mr. Phillips who is also the convener of the Nigerian Youths in Agriculture Forum (NYAF), said that the rice can only be cloned as it cannot be planted or grown on any soil. From experience, plastic rice cannot be planted or grown on any soil. Rice formation (planting) goes through different stages. From planting of paddy, to the milking stage and then it becomes solid. I doubt if the plastic rice goes through these stages. It will be hard to believe the fake rice was planted. Perhaps, it was cloned, he said. The agricultural consultant said that Nigerians should exercise caution on the issue. He also enjoined other agencies of government and the media to monitor the result of the test by NAFDAC. According to the NCS, they did some preliminary test on the confiscated rice and they found out that it is sticky and harmful to the consumers. They have also proposed to hand over the plastic rice to NAFDAC for further investigations. That tells a lot. Mr. Phillips however lamented the porous state of the Nigerian borders, stressing that the importation of the fake rice into Nigeria is due to the corrupt practices of some officers of the Nigerian Customs Service. Unfortunately, for the 102 seized, there are tens of thousands of such rice already in circulation. I ply Sango-Idiroko road regularly and I know the several tonnes of rice coming into Nigeria on a daily basis. It is unfortunate that our land borders are porous, so much that this fake rice get into Nigeria unhindered. This nefarious act continues to endure, because the NCS and other regulatory agencies along the border continue to aid these importers after getting some kickbacks. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Customs Service has assured Nigerians that the circulation point of the plastic rice has been blocked, debunking suspicions that the fake rice might have saturated the market. While showing appreciation to well-meaning Nigerians who provided the service with prompt information that led to the discovery of the bags of plastic rice, Mr. Haruna advised the media to educate the public on the existence of plastic rice, adding that it was no longer a rumour. He said investigation was still ongoing and the unit would hand over the plastic rice to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for proper investigation. The federal government on Thursday launched the Abuja phase of the Digital Switch Over (DSO), signalling the commencement of the full roll-out of digital broadcasting across the federal capital city. After several years of unsuccessful move by past administrations to switch over from analogue to digital broadcasting, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has at last edged the country into the league of digital world. Nigeria transited from analogue to digital television viewing on April 30, 2016 in Jos, the Plateau State capital, when it launched the pilot phase of the Federal Governments digital transmission project that kick started the digitization process in Nigeria. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) had given Nigeria up to June, 2017 as deadline to switch from analogue broadcasting to digital across the country. Speaking at the DSO launch held at Mpape hills, Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said although the DSO would not take place in one fell swoop across the country, the federal government remains resolute in its commitment to meeting the 2017 deadline for the DSO. Let me use this opportunity to reiterate the governments unwavering commitment to meeting the set deadline of June 2017 for the analogue to digital switch over here in Nigeria. The DSO train that took off in Jos has now arrived in Abuja, from where it is set to move to other parts of the country unhindered. Mr. Mohammed, who described the launch as revolutionary in the Nigerian broadcasting ecosystem, said 30 free channels would be available for Abuja residents upon the switch over while over 450,000 Set-Top Boxes (decoders) have been provided for the commencement. Our objective is not just to move Nigerians from analogue to digital in a simple technical sense, but to ensure a total overhaul of the whole TV watching experience and the economy around it, Mohammed said. The minister said that apart from the 30 free digital channels, the switch over will enable free and easy access to government and public information through a touch of the remote control. Mr. Mohammed expressed confidence that through technical, production and manufacturing opportunities that comes with the switch, tens of thousands of jobs will be created. As we speak, jobs are already being created as we engage engineers, technicians, retailers, distributors and marketers, among others, he said. Mr. Mohammed said the DSO will grow the TV advertising market by $400 million per annum through audience measurement as well as create a N100 billion per annum free TV distribution network for Nollywood. We have watched our beloved Nollywood move from VHS tapes to VCD, to DVD and whereas the whole world has moved to digital consumption of content with its attendant benefits and democratisation of distribution, we have been constrained by limited penetration of Internet in our homes. With the middleware in our Stbs/Receiving equipment, homes will be able to buy and watch the latest Nollywood movies without the need for Internet. Imagine a film released on Monday morning being immediately available to 24 million plus households at the touch of a button. Digitization is the process of converting analogue signals or information from any format into digital forms that can be understood by computer systems or electronic devices. The term is used when converting information like text, images or voices and sounds into binary codes. Digitized information is easier to store, access and transmit and digitization is used by a number of consumer electronic devices. The switchover to Digital Terrestrial Television, DTT, was a necessity for Nigeria as a signatory to the International Broadcast Union Agreement tagged: Geneva 2006 which mandated all countries to switchover to avoid signal interference from other countries. The Israeli Government has come out in full force against a UN Security Council vote scheduled on Thursday on a draft resolution demanding a halt to settlement activity in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the U.S. to veto the anti-Israel resolution, while the Israeli UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said he expected our greatest ally to sink the document. According to media reports, the draft resolution, submitted by Egypt on Wednesday, condemned the settlements as a violation of international law and as a hurdle to implementing the two-state solution. The global community, including the U.S. and the UN, has long condemned settlement activity. The U.S. had vetoed a similar draft resolution in 2011, saying it would further hinder Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The resolution came amid the announcement recently that David Friedman, who has said that he does not think Israeli settlement activity is illegal, was named as the future U.S. ambassador to Israel. U.S. President Barack Obama, with less than a month left in office, had called for a settlement freeze upon taking office in 2009, but continued expansion paved the way for sour relations with Netanyahu. Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the UN, had requested that the council take action on the settlements in October. Mansour said that the Palestinians and their Arab partners were seeking a clear course of action to confront this main obstacle to peace. The peace process has been long frozen, and a last attempt, led by the U.S. and supported by several global bodies, collapsed in 2014. The vote in New York is scheduled at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT). (dpa/NAN) Some lawyers who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES are divided about what is to become of a former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who was released from a United Kingdom jail, Wednesday. A Royal Court of Justice dismissed a last ditch attempt by British Home Office to keep Mr. Ibori, whose jail term ran concurrently, in jail pending the determination of his asset forfeiture suit. Mr. Ibori was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2012 after he pleaded guilty to laundering over 50 million. The trial judge, Juliet May, describing the attempt of the Home Office to keep Mr Ibori in jail as unlawful and a misuse of power, ordered that the ex-governor of the oil rich state be immediately released having completely served his jail term. Mr. Ibori is required to present himself before the police once a week as the Home office and the Crown Prosecution could not agree whether he needed to be returned to Nigeria. The chairman of the Civil Society Network Against Corruption, CSNAC, Olanrewaju Suraj, said Mr Ibori, who allegedly laundered billions of naira stolen from the treasury of Delta State when he was governor between 1999 and 2007, should be immediately arrested upon his return to Nigeria and be prosecuted for offences committed here before he fled to United Arab Emirate from where he was extradited to the UK to face trial. Mr. Suraj argued that the offence for which Mr. Ibori was imprisoned in the UK was committed against the British system and he should be held accountable, upon return, for those he committed against the Nigerian legal system. So for all those crimes that were committed here, and time does not run out of criminal matters, there is also the need for him to answer to those crimes. It is very important, he said. He said Mr. Iboris conviction in the UK is enough proof that he committed offences in Nigeria and should be made to answer to those offences. He said the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Ibori is an opportunity for President Muhammadu Buhari to prove the anti-corruption stance of his government. His conviction in the UK is more or less an affirmation that some crimes were equally committed here before they became criminal offences in the UK. So the Nigerian crimes can be answered to and that is the only thing that will reaffirm the anti-corruption stance of this government. There is no way the Nigerian system can pretend that everything is normal. Once he gets back into Nigeria he must also answer to those offences that were committed here leading to the prosecution in the UK. He said the question of double jeopardy, a legal term that describes the prosecution of a person more than once for the same offence, does not arise as the store worker turned governor was convicted for different crimes committed under a jurisdiction different from Nigerias. That is not double jeopardy because he has committed two different offences in two different jurisdictions. So the one committed in the UK is to the extent that he committed crimes based on the laws of the United Kingdom, he said. Similarly, the Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) Debo Adeniran, said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should be dusting Mr. Iboris file in preparation for his return home. He said money laundering was not the only offence that the former governor committed saying he should be arrested and made to face trial for other offences. Mr. Adeniran said Mr. Ibori fled the country before charges could be brought against him. He said upon his return, those charges he was yet to account for should be revisited and he should be prosecuted for them. What we should be expecting is that as soon as he gets back to Nigeria, the EFCC should have dusted the processes that they prepare before he escaped. They should dust their files and prepare as he gets back home. Once he gets back home he should be promptly arrested and be arraigned in court, he said. He said if upon the realisation that he will be charged at home, Mr. Ibori refuses to return to the Nigeria, the Nigerian government should approach the UK for his extradition. If he is reluctant at coming back home to face fresh charges, Nigerian should immediately apply to the United Kingdom under the mutual legal assistant for his extradition to come and face charges at home. It should be noted that he was convicted for money laundering in the UK and if he didnt steal money at home he wouldnt launder it in the UK. His wife and mistress were convicted because they helped him launder money. So basically his case is a sure as proven already what is left should be just formality for him to go back to jail in Nigeria. Nobody should argue about double jeopardy. However, senior lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, told PREMIUM TIMES via messaging app, WhatsApp that there was no need for the Nigerian government to hound the ex-convict and prosecute him in Nigeria as it will amount to double jeopardy. The Federal Govt cannot, should not and must not re-arrest and prosecute Ibori again, if the fresh arrest and prosecution are based on the same facts, events and circumstances as those under which he was convicted in the UK and for which he has served his prison sentence, he wrote. In law, that will amount to double jeopardy which is not only antithetical to decency and our criminal justice system, but will also tantamount to a blatant violation of section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution which unambiguously provides that no person who shows that he has been tried by any court of competent jurisdiction or Tribunal for a criminal offence and either convicted or acquitted shall again be tried for that offence or for a criminal offence having the ingredients as that offence save upon the order of a superior court. What this means is that for Ibori to be tried again on the same issues for which he was jailed in the UK, a High Court or Federal High Court has to first give the nod. I do not see that happening in this country where Iboris matter is quite sensitive. It will undoubtedly be viewed by all and sundry as amounting to blatant persecution, ethnic, religious and political vendetta. It will be a very tough and extremely hard sell by the government under whose elephantine weight Nigerians are already reeling under repressive acts. It is legally better and more politically correct to allow Ibori be, upon his return into the warm embrace of his teaming kinsmen and women. Jubilation in Delta Meanwhile, the news of the release of Mr. Ibori has elicited wild jubilation in his home town of Oghara and the Delta State capital, Asaba. The traditional ruler of Oghara, Ovie Orefe 11, Noble Eshimeton, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the entire people of Oghara were grateful to God for the release of their son. I am grateful to God for his release. I was in a traditional council meeting in Asaba when one of my subjects called me that Ibori has been released. He has worked for us hard and I am hopeful that his release will open a new chapter in Oghara, Ben Igbakpa, a former commissioner in the state, also told NAN that Mr. Iboris release had brought joy to the entire Oghara people especially and the entire people of Delta. Oghara is agog with celebration that our benefactor, leader, father and visionary had been left off the hook. His release is a lesson to all; it shows that no matter how long ones torture or hard times lasts, it will one day come to an end. I want all Deltans to reflect on this and ask ourselves what our individual and collective tasks in the course of his travails. We should ask ourselves where we got it wrong, Mr. Igbakpa said. Also, the Delta State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Peter Mrakpor, told journalists in Asaba on Wednesdaythat Mr Iboris release was a welcome development and his contribution to nation building cannot be overemphasised. The British government has expressed concern over Nigerias plan to close Abujas Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport for six weeks in 2017. The UK Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Harriet Thompson, met with Nigerias Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Thursday, three days after the government announced the planned closure. The government had announced on Monday that all Abuja-bound domestic and international flights would be diverted to Kaduna for six weeks in 2017 to enable the government upgrade the airports runway. Passengers would then be transported by government-provided buses to Abuja, some 210 kilometres away. Some Nigerians have expressed concerns about passengers safety, amid reports of banditry and kidnapping along Kaduna-Abuja Road. Mr. Thompson raised the same fears on Thursday, the News Agency of Nigeria reported. Mr. Sirika said the government would provide necessary security to travelers. He told the UK diplomat that the closure was to let the badly damaged airport runway be reconstructed. The minister said the runway would still be put to use while the work was ongoing on. He said the six-week closure was to take advantage of the dry season to reconstruct the mid-section of the runway. According to him, the government has put in place adequate arrangement to provide buses to convey passengers to Abuja or to railway station, depending on the choice of the passengers involved. A robust security arrangement involving the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, Immigration service and Customs service have been made to escort passengers from Kaduna to Abuja during the period of closure. I would rather lose $five billion than lose one person, the minister said. Kaduna Airport will be used as alternative, he said. On the involvement of the airline operators, the minister said that all relevant parties were involved and assured Mr. Thompson of maximum comfort during the reconstruction. He commended the diplomat for the visit and extolled the relationship between Nigeria and the Government of United Kingdom. The Nigerian Government has said the European Union, EU, is willing to fund a social intervention programme for the repatriation of illegal Nigerian migrants from EU countries. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, told the correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in New York that the Federal Government was also addressing factors predisposing Nigerians to migrate abroad illegally. According to him, the social intervention programme by the federal government is going to be a very important component of the 2017 budget. He said that the social intervention programme for the repatriated Nigerians was with the aim of empowering them through skill acquisition programmes. On the issue of migration, we have been discussing with the European Union about this. And you know we have a social intervention programme by the government that is going to be a very important component of the 2017 budget. So we are discussing with the European Union for looking at the possibility of them also investing in that programme. This is because the position of the EU is that they are willing to fund our programmes for the repatriation of migrants but not just to leave the (EU) countries but to equip them with skills. So they (EU) are ready to invest in our capacity development building among these migrants so when they come back voluntarily but in whatever way they end up coming back, that they have the skills that will enable them to get employment. The programme will also act to certain extent as disincentive for them (illegal migrants) to undertake this, in many cases, hazardous trip to Europe, he said. PREMIUM TIMES reported how an average of 83 Nigerians crossed illegally from Nigeria to Europe, daily, via the Mediterranean in the first nine months of 2016, according to data by the European Union. The daily figure was extrapolated from the 22,500 illegal Nigerian migrants that the EU said crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe between January and September this year. This figure in the first 9 months of 2016 is against the 23,000 who crossed in the whole of 2015. On Thursday, the minister commended the cooperation and support of the international community with Nigeria in curbing the menace of illegal migration and human trafficking. On human trafficking, the international community has been very supportive because, of course, it is not only Nigeria that suffers from this. And there is a lot of movement in promoting that international solidarity and cooperation and of course the meeting at the Security Council is proof of that. The Security Councils Open Debate on Human Trafficking in Conflict Situations was organised by the Spanish Government. So, there is a lot of international support on human trafficking and illegal migration. Mr. Onyeama had at the Security Councils Open Debate assured the international community that Nigeria would not relent until all Boko Haram hostages are reunited with their loved ones. According to him, Nigerias participation at the Open Debate was crucial and significant. You know of course, we are an example of a country that is suffering from this (human trafficking in conflict situations) in view of the Boko Haram situation in the North East of our country. This is where a very large number of women and children have been kidnapped and have been trafficked. So, I think the significance of Nigeria being represented at this level is really a statement by the government of the importance that we attached to finding a solution to the scourge. And most importantly, it is a statement of the importance that we attached to encouraging and promoting international cooperation thats cooperation at the multilateral level to address this issue. (NAN) The State Security Service, SSS, has accused the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, of working with an aide to Senate President Bukola Saraki to destabilise the Federal Capital Territory during yuletide with a view to casting federal authorities in bad light. The said aide to the Senate President, Ikenga Ugochinyere, is to help Mr. Wike mobilise hoodlums to execute the violent plan, SSS alleged in a statement signed by an official, Tony Opuiyo, and distributed by PR Nigeria. The Department of State Services (DSS) wishes to inform the general public that it has uncovered a sinister plot by the Rivers State Governor Nyesom WIKE to disrupt machinery of governance in strategic Federal Government agencies by provoking a violent breach of peace in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, today, 22nd December, 2016 and beyond especially at this yuletide season. To achieve this, the Governor had secured the services of one Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, a Personal Aide to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki (Sen), to mobilise some hoodlums to execute their plan, the statement read. Mr. Wike through his states commissioner for information, Austin Tam- George, has denied the allegation as false, baseless and irresponsible scaremongering. The SSS raised the alarm amid counter-accusations of culpability in the violence and irregularities that characterized Rivers State federal and state legislative elections held on December 10. Mr. Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party have accused officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the military and police of bias and aiding the violence. But an audio recording has emerged portraying Mr. Wike as admitting to giving money to some electoral officials and threatening to kill them if they did not act to instructions. Based on the recording, the All Progressives Congress and INEC have hit back with counter claims the Governor was himself behind the violence and irregularities that attended the elections. The police said it would enlist service of foreign forensic experts to investigate the leaked audio recording. The alleged plot by Mr. Wike to destabilize Abuja, according to the SSS, is intended to divert public and international attention from the ongoing police investigation into the unwholesome role played by the Governor and some of his cronies in the violence that trailed the re-run election in Rivers State which resulted in the gruesome murder of civilians including the beheading of DSP Mohammed Alkali and some of his colleagues as well as the brutalization of INEC staff who failed to do the bidding of the Governor. In its statement, SSS, disclosed details of the alleged plot by Wike. In furtherance of this plot, protesters are to besiege the National Human Rights Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Assembly, the Nigerian Army and Police Headquarters as well as British High Commission, US Embassy and the UN Secretariat, Abuja; all in an effort to raise false alarm that Rivers State was under siege of security agencies during the elections. While the obvious aim is to draw public sympathy and international attention to spurious allegations of involvement of Federal agencies in violence during the last elections in Rivers State, the actual objective is really to trigger a round of violent action against the government and create opportunity for idlers to join the deceitful protest. Part of the orchestration is to provoke the security agencies and prompt them to take action against the protesters that could result in bloodletting. It is in this line that Ikenga had gone to the outskirts of Abuja to mobilise unemployed youth to carry out his bidding. All this was to be done for a fee and resources to be provided from the treasury of the Rivers State Government. It is also worrisome that Ikenga would engage in this nefarious plot when, after his last arrest earlier this year by the Service, he had pledged to be law abiding and not to cause a breach of the peace. Though Ikenga is now at large, the trio of Emeka Idibia, Ugo Apuamagha and Ejike Nwachukwu have been arrested and are helping with further investigations. These men were picked up at the mobilisation venue trying to perfect the logistics for this unholy enterprise. The young men were hired by Ikenga to take custody of items and materials for the planned violent protest. The recovered items include banners, placards and posters with denigrating, inciting and hate inscriptions meant to impinge the authority of the federal government and further subvert the entire machinery of governance in the country. In order to make this look credible, Ikenga and his cohorts had adopted such groups as Lawyers in Defence of Democracy (LDD) and Citizens for Good Governance (CGG) as cover to supposedly make them look like serious minded civil rights groups and thus bring them into collision course with security agencies. Investigations have so far revealed that while IKENGA is the field organizer and coordinator of the planned protest, Governor WIKE is his sole financial sponsor. The DSS is disturbed that the Governor who is the Chief Security Officer of the State will stoop so low to hire thugs and hoodlums to attack the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and create an atmosphere of chaos and disorder at this yuletide season. The SSS, however, said it would not be cowed or intimidated to stop it and other agencies from conducting concluding investigations into the Rivers State electoral violence. In reaction to the alarm raised by the SSS, Mr. Tam-George, the information commissioner, speaking for Mr. Wike, said the Governor is a man of peace, and would never orchestrate disturbance in any part of the country. The Rivers State Government challenges the SSS to leave Governor Wike alone and instead focus their operational attention on Boko Haram insurgency that has killed over 70,000 people and displaced 6 million Nigerians in the past six years.. He said the Rivers State Government would not succumb to cheap blackmail by any federal agency. In his reaction, Mr. Saraki, in a statement through his spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, confirmed Mr. Ikenga is his aide. The Senate President said he has not been officially informed by the SSS of the alleged plot. The statement said the Senate President will never condone any action by any of his aides that threatens the peace of any part of the country or provision of the law. Dr. Saraki hereby calls on the DSS to properly investigate the allegations against Mr. Ikenga and if he is found to have acted against the law, then the law should take its natural course. The Federal Government has hailed the appointment of Bayo Ogunlesi by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as an economic adviser, saying the decision is a smart move. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that Mr. Ogunlesi is an outstanding professional who has accomplished a lot. He (Trump) is very wise to have appointed Bayo because Bayo is really an outstanding person professionally and really, I think in many ways. It is almost paradoxical that we in the country will certainly need people with the caliber of Bayo Ogunlesi and that it should be the U.S. rather, that is now going to be benefiting from his amazing talents. But I think the U.S. can only benefit from somebody of Bayos talent, he said. Notwithstanding the misgivings of some people about the policies of Mr. Trumps administration concerning Africa and Nigeria in particular, Mr. Onyeama hoped that Nigeria would have a cordial diplomatic relations with Trumps administrations. We are looking also optimistically to working with the new U.S. (President-elect Donald Trumps) administration. We hope that we would be able to find common course. At the moment, we have very good relations, this particular (President Barack Obamas) administration has been extremely supportive of Nigerians policies. And we would like to build on that with the incoming administration, he said. The minister also expressed the hope that with the presence of Ogunlesi in Trumps team, he could be able to bring positive policies about Nigeria and Africa to bear on Trumps administration. And who knows, maybe the presence of Bayo in the team in the U.S. might hopefully be able to bring to the administration positive perspectives with regards to Nigeria, he said. The 63-year-old Mr. Ogunlesi, who is the chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm and one of Fortune 500 companies, is the only African face in Mr. Trumps 16-member economic advisory team. The forum is composed of some of Americas most highly respected and successful business leaders. They will be called upon to meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as the President implements his economic agenda to bring back jobs and Make America Great Again. (NAN) The Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday announced its readiness to investigate and punish staff found guilty of misconduct during the crisis-ridden federal and state legislative elections held in Rivers State on December 10. INEC made the disclosure in its bulletin released on Wednesday. The Commission said it had it had constituted a high-powered, four-man Committee to investigate the role of INEC staff in the conduct of the Rivers National and State Assembly re-run elections which took place on Saturday, 10th December 2016. The elections were characterized by irregularities and marred by violence which claimed lives including police officers. INEC conducted the elections in a total 21 constituencies; but barely 12 days after the exercise the electoral body is yet to announce final results of all the constituencies. It has blamed widespread violence. Reports by the media and observer groups accused INEC officials, the military and the police of overt bias during the elections. According to the bulletin released by an INEC spokesperson, Nick Dazang, the members of the investigative committee are Okechukwu Ibeanu, a national commissioner, as Chairman; Ahmed Muazu, also a national commissioner, member; Jacob Jatau, Resident Electoral Commissioner, FCT, member; and Omoloja Tajudeen, Deputy Director, Discipline. The committees terms of reference are to review the preparations and deployment of personnel and material on the eve of the elections; identify the factors leading to the apparent failure of processes in some local government areas; and determine the involvement and possible culpability of INEC officials in the conduct and outcome of the elections. The committee is also to recommend appropriate sanctions against officials involved in any infractions and commendation for exceptional performance; and advise the commission on any matter considered relevant to the assignment. The committee is to submit its report on June 30, next year, said the Commission. Apart from INEC, the police also said it had set up probe panel to investigate its officers suspected to have engaged in misconduct during Rivers elections. Meanwhile, in another development, INEC has approved the promotion of 1,307 of its staff across the country. A breakdown of those promoted shows that 14 were officers promoted from Grade Level (GL) 16 to the rank of Grade Level (GL) 17 (substantive Directors) while 1,293 were officers from Grade Levels (GL) 7 to 16. All the staff promoted passed their promotion examinations and successfully met the rigorous criteria set by the Commission, said the commission on Wednesday. When member countries of the African Union converged on Abuja in April 2001 to agree 15 per cent of their annual budget to the health sector, there was a victory dance across the African continent. However, the celebration that heralded that agreement was short-lived; 15 years down the line, only a few African countries have implemented what has come to be known as the Abuja declaration. The case of Nigeria is perplexing: while the agreement was reached in Abuja, Nigeria has remained a perpetual defaulter. For instance, documents sighted by PREMIUM TIMES indicate that budgetary allocation to the health sector in Nigeria has consistently hovered around the 5 per cent mark at best. Besides defaulting on the 15 per cent budgetary allocation to the health sector, the Nigerian government is yet to comply with the National Health Act of 2014 on 1 per cent consolidated revenue fund (CRF) for basic health care provision. According to the National Health Act 2014, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund shall be financed from the CRF, but that is not being respected by the federal government of Nigeria. Fatai Aremu in his presentation on Situation Analysis of the Challenges in Nigerias Health Sector noted that the CRF has in the last six years ranged from N25.7 billion to N38.55 billion and it is anticipated to amount to N30 billion with production cuts in oil in 2016. He, however, noted that the 2016 budget is in breach of the national health act in this respect. For his part, Lanre Tejuosho, Chairman of Senate Committee on Health, said legislators will continue to encourage the executive to abide by the National Health Act on one per cent CRF. We are going to keep on encouraging the executive to obey the recommendation of sister countries and also our laws in the national assembly that 1 per cent of the consolidated revenue fund must be allocated for basic health fund that we need. These are all the things that we are going to go home with, said Mr. Tejuosho. WHY NIGERIA LAGS The question among development experts is why has been unable to implement the Abuja declaration despite being an agreement that was signed on the Nigerian soil. There have been diverse answers, but Senator Sonny Ogbuoji attributed it to bureaucratic bottlenecks. We need to rejig and retool our implementation process so that we can get at least a fair measure of whatever a budgetary allocation that is given to health, said Sonni Ogbuoji, deputy chairman Senate committee on Appropriation. I want to say that if you say we are budgeting below the 15 per cent that is recommended for health and our budget is say 8 per cent, we need to see 8 per cent on ground so we can tell ourselves that if we improve it to 10 per cent, we shall get 10 per cent and if we now make it 15 it will be Eldorado. For his part, Jones Onyereri, chairman of House Committee on Banking and Finance, added that while it behoves on Nigeria to respect the Abuja declaration on 15 per cent allocation to the health sector, the legislators are mindful of the enormous challenges the Nigerian economy is facing at the moment. In the same vein, Mr. Tejuosho said it is the duty of the executive to propose 15 per cent budgetary allocation while the Senate makes a case for its implementation. The impact of Nigerias default on the Abuja declaration is evinced in the World Health Organisation ranking of the Nigerian health system at 197 out of 200 countries surpassing only DRC, CRA and Myanmar. Similarly, Nigerias life expectancy lags in comparison with countries such as Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya. According to the World Bank data of 2012, Nigerias life expectancy is 52.11years while Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya are 60.95 and 62.96 and Kenya is 61.8 years. THE RETREAT In response to the quest for a better funded health sector in Nigeria, legislators from the Nigerian lower and upper chambers converged at Pan African Parliament in Midrand, Johannesburg to brainstorm with fellow parliamentarians from southern African countries. The legislators comprised member of the health and appropriation committees. The two-day legislative retreat on health budgeting with the theme, Health for development, attracted legislators from Swaziland and Zimbabwe, who provided benchmarks for health funding in their countries. Adeyemi Fajingbesi, Director of Training and Research at the National Institute of Legislative Studies, NILS, in Abuja told PREMIUM TIMES that the essence of the retreat was to create a forum for interaction between the appropriation committee and the health committee towards compliance with the 15 per cent Abuja declaration on health funding. Statistics show that over the year, funding of health in Nigeria and in most other countries have not been adequate and we felt there is a need to create this particular forum to deepen the understanding of members of the appropriation and health committee as it concerns the importance of health in development process, said Mr. Fajingbesi. What we have come to do here is to create this opportunity for members to see why it is important for health to be adequately funded. The appropriation committee is necessary for funding while the health committee would make a case for improved allocation to the health sector in line with the Abuja declaration. Sonni Ogbuoji, Ebonyi South Senatorial district and vice chairman of Senate committee on appropriation told PREMIUM TIMES that the aim of the retreat is to interact with their counterparts from Southern Africa with a view to picking out those aspects of their own health programmes that have worked and also find out why ours is not working. The retreat commenced on November 28 with a welcome address by the Director-General of NILS, Ladi Hamalai, who wished the legislators fruitful deliberation and positive outcome. After a two-day deliberation which resulted in exchange of ideas between Nigerian legislators and their compatriots from Southern Africa, the Nigerian legislators resolve to work towards an improved funding for the health sector. In a communique issued at the end of the two-day retreat, the legislators agreed that there shall be increased appropriation by the National Assembly to the health sector in 2017 in line with the Abuja declaration of 2001. They also expressed their resolve to ensure that the provision of the National Health Act, 2014 which stipulates that 1 per cent of the consolidated revenue fund be dedicated to the health sector is adhered to in the 2017 budget. Mr. Tejuosho explained further that the only way the Nigerian health sector can function is to increase allocation to it. I believe if we want to make the health sector work in Nigeria we have to increase our allocation to the health sector and also try to achieve the minimum recommendation by Africa. President Muhammadu Buhari has requested state governors to settle outstanding salaries and entitlements of their workers with at least 25 per cent of refunds to them from excess deductions for external debt service. Garba Shehu, the presidents Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, stated this in a statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday. President Buhari recently approved N552.74 billion to be paid in batches to all the states that are owed. Thirty three of the affected states are, however, expected to receive 25 per cent of their approved sums in the first instance before this week runs out. The refunds arose following the claims by them that they had been overcharged in deductions for external debt service between 1995 and 2002. The statement quoted President Buhari as saying that the issue of workers benefits, particularly salary and pensions must not be allowed to continue as a national problem and should be tackled with all the urgency that can be summoned. The statement recalled that when the president assumed office last year, he declared an emergency over unpaid salaries, following the discovery that 27 out of the countrys 36 states had fallen behind in the payments to their workers, in some cases for up to a year. Following this, a bailout loan was issued to the states twice with a first batch of about N300 billion given to them in 2015 in the form of soft loans. The administration also got the Debt Management Office, DMO to restructure their commercial loans of over N660 billion and extended the life span of the loans. Because this did not succeed in pulling many of the states out of distress, the Federal Government this year gave out a further N90 billion to 22 states as yet another bailout loans under very stringent conditions. President Buhari has expressed the opinion all the time that the payment of salaries and pensions must be given priority to save both serving and retired workers and their families from distress, the statement maintained.(NAN) The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on Thursday in Abuja inaugurated the recently constituted joint investigative panel on the Dec. 10 legislative re-run elections in Rivers. The 15-man panel, headed by Damien Okoro, consists of officers of the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) with investigative, forensic and technical expertise. The panel which is to conduct its investigation in conjunction with a team from the Department of States Services (DSS) has the following terms of reference: One, Conduct a thorough investigation into the role of security agents before, during and after the election; Two, examine the role of any police officer or security agent whose actions or activities individually or collectively was detrimental to the good conduct of the elections; Three, conduct a forensic analysis on the audio report released by Sahara Reporters as it concerns the election. Four, examine any other matter that is relevant to the conduct of the elections, and make recommendations and implementation strategies to guide future elections. He also charged the panel to probe the violence that marred the exercise in which two police officers were gruesomely murdered. He noted that the 1999 Constitution and other relevant laws empowered the police to conduct investigations into criminal matters across the entire country. The I-G gave the committee 30 days with effect from Dec. 17 to submit its findings. Mr. Idris said four suspects had so far been arrested in connection with the murder of two officers, while two rifles had been recovered. The I-G said police was an apolitical organisation that must not get involved in politics, adding that its interest was to ensure hitch-free elections. He solicited the support and cooperation of all well-meaning Nigerians, especially INEC and the Rivers State Government, to enable the panel succeed in its assignment. Responding, Mr. Okoro thanked the I-G for the confidence reposed in the committee, adding that they will be guided by relevant extant laws in the discharge of the assignment. (NAN) Motley Fool When Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) closed its two asset sales and appointed a new CEO over the past couple of months, it seemed highly probable that the company would cut its dividend. Is this a sign of Lumen's impending demise, or can the business be turned around? With a new CEO and a better balance sheet thanks to recent asset sales, Lumen could be an interesting stock for deep-value investors, as dividend seekers sell off their shares. A day after the Nigerias news agency, NAN, published the portfolio of the countrys new 47 ambassadors designate, the foreign affairs ministry has denounced same. NAN had reported on Wednesday that The Federal Government has released the postings of the 47 ambassadors recently appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari. The agency then published the new portfolio of the new appointees, with the story being used by PREMIUM TIMES and other Nigerian media. However, on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has yet to assign portfolio to the 47 appointees. A statement released by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Sola Enikanolaiye, in Abuja on Thursday said none of the Ambassadors had been designated to any country. The deployment of Ambassadors-designate will be released only when agreements (consent) have been sought and obtained from prospective countries. Members of the diplomatic community and the general public are therefore advised to disregard any news on the purported deployment of the 47 career Ambassadors-designate, who are currently undergoing their induction programme, he said.. The Ministry, he said, disowned the `list as totally unauthorized as it has not emanated from Government. It is not clear if the ministry disowned the postings because they were inaccurate or because agreements had not been gotten from the countries the officials were deployed to. Meanwhile, the ongoing four-day induction course for the Ambassador-designate would end on Thursday. The programme holding in Abuja was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Clement Aduku, had said in a statement that the induction programme would be for the 47 career Ambassadors-designate recently screened and confirmed by the Senate. The programme was declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari. It is to acquaint the newly-appointed Ambassadors-designate with the foreign policy agenda and priorities of the current administration, including the domestic programmes of national development. It is also aimed at reminding them of the basic elements of diplomacy, expectations and the role of the ambassadors abroad, as well as expectation from their spouses. Resource persons were invited to deliver lectures and exchange experiences with the Ambassadors-designate on the different aspects of Nigerias foreign policy. Resource persons exposed them to diplomatic and consular relations, government policy and strategy for trade and investment promotion and relations with Nigerians in the Diaspora. Over 7000 Muslim youth from across West Africa on Thursday began arriving a camp in Gombe, north-east Nigeria for a 5-day seminar on providing first aid and other humanitarian services to victims of accidents and communal clashes. The event, at Government Science Secondary School, Gombe, was organised by the First Aid Group of the Jamaatu Izalatul Bidah Waiqamatis Sunnah, JIBWIS. It is expected to draw Muslim youth from across Nigeria as well as from Ghana, Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin Republic. The National Director of the group, Mustapha Sitti, after declaring the seminar open on Thursday, said it was geared towards instilling knowledge and discipline in the youth, in accordance to the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. The essence of this camping is to educate our members, the First Aid Group of JIBWIS from within the country and beyond, on humanitarian services and how to manage situations, Mr. Sitti told journalists at the event. He described the theme of the seminar, Contribution of First Aiders towards Self-reliance and Economic Development as apt. He said notable Islamic scholars would deliver a series of lectures at the seminar. Also speaking, the National Secretary of JIBWIS, Kabiru Gombe, described the seminar as unprecedented as the turnout of participants from both within and outside the country has superseded previous similar events. He expressed delight that Gombe was able to host Muslim youth from across the West African sub region, urging them to use the opportunity to acquire the desired knowledge and training. The First Aid Group is the humanitarian arm of JIBWIS and has record of providing first aid to victims of accidents as well as communal clashes. The 5-day event would consist of lecture series, physical exercises as well as training on rudiments of first aid. To resolve the recurrent violent clashes between herdsmen and host communities in Southern Kaduna, the Nigerian government needs to establish two military formations in the affected areas, an official has said. The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, disclosed this during a media chat on Wednesday night in Kaduna. Scores of people have been killed in the clashes this year alone. The governor said the state government is discussing the new military formations with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Ministry of Defence and Chief of Army Staff. One military formation would be located in Fadan Karshi in Sanga Local Government Area and the other Kauru Local Government Area, he said. We are talking with the President, the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Army Staff to site two military formations in Southern Kaduna; one in Fadan Karshi in Sanga and the second one in Kauru local government area. And I will meet the President on Thursday (December 22) in continuation of the project, Mr. El-Rufai said. The presence of these two military formations will help in securing lives and properties and provide rapid response to any act of criminality and the maintenance of law and order. The governor further disclosed that two other military formations would be established in Birnin Gwari and Kubau local government areas of the state. To ensure the crisis does not escalate, Mr. El-Rufai said more security personnel had been deployed to the area as part of measures to stem the tide of violence. He said two squadrons of mobile police have been drafted to the area. This is part of the state governments effort to provide adequate security for the people during this Christmas and new- year celebrations, he added. Mr. El-Rufai noted that the rising insecurity in the region was having adverse economic effect as investors who had expressed interest to invest in the area were pulling out. The governor said foreign investors who had agreed to revive a ginger processing plant in Kachia local government and an Australian who wanted to invest in mining nickel in Jemaa local government had withdrawn their initial commitments because of the violence. He said he was, however, doing his best to assure the investors to return to the state. The violence in Southern Kaduna took a new turn on Tuesday when angry protesters in Kafanchan, Jemaa Local Government Area, on Tuesday stoned Mr. El-Rufais convoy and also burnt down the local government chairmans house. The protesters accused the governor of taking sides and not doing enough to stop the killings in the area. Mr. El-Rufai, whose government has called various peace meetings to resolve the crisis, appealed to his supporters not to retaliate and called for peace in the state. EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP Atlantic City International Airport wants you. Airport officials said they want more South Jersey residents to fly out of the facility and on Wednesday increased subsidies to try to lure an airline that could offer more destinations. Previous airlines lured to ACY by subsidies have stayed just as long as they were contracted to or, in the case of United Airlines, pulled out early. South Jersey Transportation Authority commissioners voted unanimously to offer a package of subsidies, including waiving landing fees, airport space rental and other charges, to any airline that will offer at least two nonstop flights a week between Atlantic City and a new market. The subsidies would include up to $100,000 in marketing incentives, for as long as two years, an increase over the previous offer of $60,000. The agency says those marketing efforts are intended for outbound passengers, not to lure tourists to visit Atlantic City and South Jersey. State incentives draw company to A.C. Will others follow? ATLANTIC CITY Around City Hall, some people could barely contain their smiles after a high Egg Harbor Township resident Tony Marino, a former SJTA official who has tracked South Jersey travel trends for decades, sees the authoritys push for local customers as an acknowledgement of a long-running reality of the local travel market. It seems to me the emphasis has usually been on visitor traffic in. That was the sexy topic, and a lot of people believed it would work, he said. Over the years, (the airport) has obviously drawn a few people in, but not as many as expected. Jeffrey April, a veteran SJTA commissioner, said the agency has tried for years to attract more local people to fly in and out of the airport. Our airport appeals to people on vacation, not on business, he said The agency has used a series of subsidy offers in the past to attract more airlines and destinations, but almost every airline has pulled out as soon as the subsidy period ended. Spirit Airlines has long been ACYs dominant carrier, primarily flying to markets in Florida and other points south. In 2015, SJTA incentives convinced Air Canada to start service between Atlantic City and Toronto, but the airline dropped its route after the end of that summer. 177th Fighter Wing left off list of possible homes for new F-35 fighter jets EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP The New Jersey Air National Guards 177th Fighter Wing, based at Atlan United Airlines began flying to Atlantic City from its Chicago and Houston hubs on April 1, 2014. On Dec. 3, 2014, the last United flight landed at the airport. At the time, United officials said they ended service because demand didnt meet its expectations. The SJTA did not seek repayment of more than $100,000 in marketing incentives from United, which was supposed to stay at the airport at least a year, out of fear it would hurt its ability to draw airlines to ACY in the future, state officials said. Other airlines that have backed out of ACY include Continental, US Airways, Delta, Northwest, WestJet, AirTran and even President-elect Donald Trumps ill-fated Trump Shuttle. Traffic at Atlantic City International was down 4 percent in November from the same month last year. But for 2016 so far, traffic is up by about 1.7 percent to 1.1 million passengers, according to SJTA figures. State Police help revive 80-year-old man at Atlantic City airport EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP Two members of the State Police helped revive an 80-year-old man who c Bob McDevitt, another longtime member of the authoritys board, said hes optimistic the subsidies can help. If we get good routes with good airlines, we could definitely ramp up the airport, he said. Its about heavier use of the airport as an alternative to Philadelphia and Newarks bigger airports, McDevitt said. Carneys Point Township has sued E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co. for $1.13 billion in Salem County Superior Court, saying thats what it will cost to clean up the century-old chemical site there known as Chambers Works. The lawsuit alleges the company has discharged more than 100 million pounds of hazardous waste into the soil and groundwater there as a result of making chemicals, dyes, plastics and ingredients for Teflon. It accuses DuPont of spinning off the property and other badly polluted sites into an underfunded separate company called Chemours, as DuPont seeks a merger with Dow Chemical Co. Taxpayers will have to fund its cleanup if Chemours declares bankruptcy, said the lawsuit, which asks the court to force DuPont to put about $1.13 billion into a fund to cover future cleanup costs under requirements of the states Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA). It also asks for legal fees and other relief. In 2014 and 2015 DuPont began a series of corporate transfers to shed itself of its dirty businesses to become a more attractive merger partner with Dow Chemical Company, the suit said. After the merger, slated to be final early next year, DuPont would no longer exist. The suit also names the director of DuPonts Corporate Remediation Group, Sheryl A. Telford, of Riverton in Burlington County, as a defendant. It alleges Telford knowingly misinformed the state Department of Environmental Protection about DuPonts corporate transfers of real estate, assets, stocks and liabilities. She hid the full nature of the companys actions in order to avoid triggering the state ISRA law and its requirements for funding the cleanup, according to the lawsuit. DuPont spokesman Dan Turner said the company does not comment on pending litigation. The Chambers Works facility is currently under a groundwater cleanup plan with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, according to EPA. DuPont transferred its Titanium Technologies, Fluoroproducts and Chemical Solutions businesses and properties, including Chambers Works, to The Chemours Co. in exchange for $3.9 billion and Chemours assumption of much of DuPonts environmental liabilities, the suit said. Chemours may be forced into bankruptcy as a result of assuming DuPonts environmental liability, according to the suit. That would leave Chambers Works as a rusting industrial nightmare that the residents of New Jersey will be left to clean up without the funds to do so, the suit said. Chemours is currently dredging mercury-polluted sediment from Pompton Lake in Pompton Lakes, Passaic County, from an old DuPont munitions plant there. Chemours, which the lawsuit says is worth about 90 percent less than DuPont, facing 3,500 lawsuits over PFOA, an ingredient in Teflon that polluted water wells in West Virginia and Ohio, according to The Record of Bergen County. It estimated the PFOA damages may be as high as $1 billion. The state ISRA law requires that owners and operators of industrial properties clean up all hazardous substances prior to transferring real property, stock and non-real property; or executing a merger agreement, the township said in the suit. If a cleanup cannot be completed prior to transfer, the law allows the owner or operator to set aside an amount of money to be used for the cleanup with DEP, using estimates generated by a software program called RACER. We need to make sure polluters pay all the costs to adequately cleanup this pollution, said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. He said DuPont cannot be allowed to shirk its responsibilities. Between the federal government and New Jersey environmental requirements, no one is going to be allowed to walk away from any major industrial contaminated site, said DEP spokesman Larry Hajna. Thats just not the way we do business here in New Jersey. Students attending Atlantic Cape Community College will be able to enroll simultaneously in Thomas Edison State University under a new agreement. The program will apply to new and existing Atlantic Cape students, who will be able to transfer as many as 90 eligible community college credits toward a bachelors degree, which typically requires 120 credits. This relationship is built on a successful model of higher education partnerships flourishing throughout the state and is a cost-efficient way to meet the demand for higher education, Atlantic Cape President Peter Mora said in a statement. William Seaton, provost and vice president at Thomas Edison, said the program will benefit the colleges and the students by offering an affordable path to a bachelors degree. Thomas Edison offers a variety of online and distance learning degree options. The partnership will be open to students enrolled in select associate in science, applied science and arts degree programs at Atlantic Cape Community College. They can enroll in select bachelor of arts, bachelor of science in applied science and technology, and bachelor of science in business administration degree programs at Thomas Edison State University. More programs may be added in the future. The application and enrollment period for the dual admissions and enrollment program is scheduled to open to students in the early part of 2017. The new computer lab at E.H. Slaybaugh School did not cost the Egg Harbor Township School District a penny. The $60,000 needed for the lab and a new playground for H. Russell Swift School was raised by the Community Partnership for Egg Harbor Township Schools, a nonprofit formed in 2005 to fill the gap left by reduced state funding and budget caps. Parents always have raised money to pay for extra items, such as awards, parties and field trips. But as budgets have grown tighter, schools are relying more on outside groups to provide not just the extras but items that once were part of the district budget. Education foundations are the Santa Clauses of many schools today, providing grants to teachers, scholarships to students and maybe funds for special field trips, speakers or assemblies. Some raise a few thousand dollars per year. Others, like the Egg Harbor Township group, are more ambitious. To date, that partnership has raised nearly $400,000 and funded more than 15 projects, including three computer labs, a grand piano and new TV cameras for the high school, Lacrosse team equipment, a drumming program at the Miller School and iPads for students with autism. Our criteria are how many students can we have an effect on for the money, foundation President Chip Donovan said. His father, the late Chuck Donovan, helped start the group to pay for big-ticket items the district could no longer afford, things too costly for the school parent groups and even the district foundation. The EHT Education Foundation was doing grants and scholarships, but no one was doing capital items, Donovan said. And once schools start cutting stuff like technology, it never comes back. Thats where we can step in. Other foundations have increased their support, too. Galloway Township Superintendent Annette Giaquinto said her districts foundation has expanded to fund technology and specialized programs, such as Odyssey of the Mind. The Mullica Township Education Foundation, started by Ralph and Donna Leek, supports field trips and scholarships but also purchased Smartboards and computers, spending about $45,000 on the technology, Superintendent Andrew Weber said. For more than 20 years, the Cape May Special Services District Foundation has held an annual dinner and auction. In addition to teacher grants, it paid for a wheelchair-accessible playground, minivans for work programs, a weight room, acoustical tiles in the gym and driver-education simulators, Superintendent Barbara Makoski said. The Ocean City Education Foundation raises about $30,000 a year, which is used to bridge the gaps, President Tricia Ciliberto said. It provided grants and funded part of the observatory. We ask teachers what could you be doing but you cant because of the money, Ciliberto said. Grants have included pottery wheels for the Intermediate School art teacher, desk-cycles, a new food mixer for the consumer sciences class and knitting supplies for the Itty Bitty Knitters Club. These are things that enhance and make the district more appealing, Ciliberto said. The Ocean City PTA in the 2015-16 school year also provided more than $21,000 in grants and another $3,500 in scholarships. The PTA helped fund the spelling bee, dances, luncheons and the Stokes Forest trip, its president, Jocelyn Palaganas, wrote in an email. Henry Dorsey, president of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional Foundation, said his group gets many more grant requests than it can fund and will kick back things it thinks the district should buy, such as laptops for the teachers. He said the group tries to fund things that will have the largest long-term impact on students. It helped pay for the first summer theater program, which is now self-sustaining, a sound booth for Oakcrest, where students are making their own commercials, and carvings of the mascots for each high school to promote school spirit and identity. Dorseys most memorable grant was paying for a bus trip to Washington, D.C., for special-education students. It seems like a little thing, but it meant so much to the students and their parents, he said. Some had never been there. Not all funds support direct education costs. John Kenyon Kummings, superintendent in Wildwood, said his districts foundation has supported student attendance initiatives and a college and career readiness program. A lot are things that we struggled to do to support families, he said. Thats the main focus. Debra Albuquerque, president of the Mainland Regional High School Foundation, which re-organized in 2015, said she expects foundation efforts to grow. The groups goal is to enhance the high school experience, primarily through grants to teachers. It supports the popular After-Prom event and awards about $4,000 to $5,000 a year in grants. This is the wave of the future, she said. Foundations are going to be supplementing the budget so we can keep up. We want the children to have what they need. GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP Stockton Universitys new Atlantic City Campus is not built yet, but college officials already have a five-year agreement with Atlantic Cape Community College to share hospitality programs in the city. Under the agreement signed Wednesday, students from Atlantic Capes Worthington Center in Atlantic City will have access to activities at Stocktons new Gateway campus, particularly those run by the Hospitality and Tourism Management Studies program. Stockton students will be able to take hands-on culinary classes at the Worthington Center. A news release issued by Stockton said faculty from both schools will work together to identify and/or develop classes that can be used in both curriculums, with transferable credits. The agreement also calls for both programs to sponsor and participate in hospitality and culinary arts events for the community. Atlantic Cape President Peter Mora, who is retiring Dec. 31, said in a recent interview he was looking forward to the college working with Stockton. I was raised in Atlantic City thats my hometown, so this is especially important to me, Mora said in a statement issued by Stockton. Stockton President Harvey Kesselman said Mora has been a great partner for Stockton in providing South Jersey residents with access to affordable higher-education opportunities. This provides paths to opportunity for all of our students, Mora said. Its another avenue for Atlantic Cape students to get to a four-year college and is especially important to Atlantic City students. Atlantic Cape operates the Academy of Culinary Arts in Mays Landing but also has culinary facilities in its new wing in Atlantic City. Otto Hernandez, vice president of Academic Affairs at Atlantic Cape, said the plan is to provide flexibile scheduling between the two schools, enabling more students to complete degrees in less time. We will do anything we can to make it a more affordable experience for Atlantic City residents, Kesselman said. Stocktons Gateway Campus is a public-private partnership with Atlantic City Development Corp. being built at Atlantic, Albany and Pacific avenues. The university plans to open the residential campus in 2018 with about 1,000 students. ATLANTIC CITY The city was feeling the Christmas spirit this week as officials and community leaders gave gifts to needy children. On Wednesday alone, residents donated presents to the citys Covenant House, firefighters gave a small child a bed, and a local shoe store completed its toy drive. On Thursday, Santa came to town. Neighborhood Santas, led by residents Al and Patricia Bailey, brought clothes, four computers, five bikes and dozens of toys to the citys Covenant House, which provides shelter, food and other care for homeless or runaway youth. The Covenant House makes a list of what young people want for Christmas and what the house itself needs, such as the computers, Patricia Bailey said. The gifts are donated by businesses and residents throughout the community, she said. Whether its lawyers, doctors, whether it has been the hospital or our neighbor next door, Bailey said, describing the donors. We explain to them what the Covenant House does and say they are children without homes right now, and they need Christmas. And people respond every year. As the Neighborhood Santa volunteers, including Council President Marty Small, brought the gifts inside the Covenant House, city firefighters were helping a family in need at Stanley Holmes Village. The Atlantic City Firefighters Toys for Children charity donated and installed a bed inside an apartment for a young girl who had been sleeping on the floor because the family had little money, said charity spokesman BJ Hamilton. It came to us through the Housing Authority, Hamilton said. We went out and got her a bunk bed with a desk on the bottom and a whiteboard where you can make notes. Later that evening, the citys Villa sneaker store gave needy children presents in collaboration with Friends in Action Inc. and Councilmen Moisse Delgado and Frank Gilliam. Villa store manager Ted Bowen said the store asks shoppers to donate money and toys to children. For example, customers who bring in toys can reserve a pair of new Jordan sneakers, Bowen said. The store also collects and matches monetary donations. The store donated proceeds to Friends in Action, a community nonprofit that buys more toys and organizes a Mission: Santas Secret Facebook page that allows people to nominate needy families in Atlantic City. (Villa) went along with what we were doing with the donations, but it made it stretch a lot further to give a child not just one toy, but sometimes two or three toys per child, said Anthony Brower, who leads Friends in Action. Santa was visiting the hotel at Irish Pub on Thursday night to visit children from Atlantic City and surrounding communities. The event is a collaboration among Councilmen Delgado, Gilliam and George Tibbitt and owners of Irish Pub, Friends in Action and the city Fire Department. On Friday, city police officers will accompany Santa to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission to visit children there. Officers bought gifts like bedding and toys for the kids. Last week, Councilman Jesse Kurtz led a distribution of toys at Buzby Homes Village and Landmark Towers with the Atlantic City Beard and Mustache Club and then caroled at homes with members of the community. ATLANTIC CITY Police have arrested more than 100 people as part of a new street-crimes initiative. In early October, police met with residents and investors about the blighted beach blocks of Texas, Bellevue and Albion avenues to develop a plan to stabilize the neighborhood, police said in a news release. Part of that plan was aggressive enforcement against street crime, including drugs, prostitution and robbery, through surveillance and search warrants. The plan also called for meeting with community members to identify problems, issuing drug-offender restraining orders that prohibit dealers from returning to where they were arrested for a certain period of time, quality-of-life enforcement, code enforcement and more foot patrols. On Thursday, police said they had arrested 101 people since the plan was implemented, including 74 on drug charges. Police also recovered three handguns, $5,876 in cash connected with drug distribution, 2 ounces of crack cocaine, 3.5 ounces of heroin and more than 6 ounces of marijuana. In addition, 79 outstanding warrants were executed, and 66 summonses for violations, 20 motor vehicle summonses and 15 code violations were issued. The city is working on demolishing at least three abandoned buildings in the area. Eight people were issued drug-offender restraining orders as a result of the crack- down. Police said they plan to use the template in other areas of the city but did not specify where. Lower Township native Mike Linnington had a 35-year career in the Army, retiring in 2015 as a three-star general. Now, he has a new challenge. As the new CEO of the Wounded Warrior Project, his job is to restore public confidence in a nonprofit that had been accused of spending too much on staff and too little on veterans it was formed to help. Linnington, who returns often to visit his brothers and mother in Cape May County, said the key is getting back to the spirit the Wounded Warrior Project was founded on, a mission of helping Americans hurt serving their country in the years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. We have to focus on those in the greatest need (with) warriors first, and serve them in a committed and passionate manner, he said by phone from the nonprofits headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. Were focused on restoring their trust and confidence first and foremost. The Wounded Warrior Project offers services in mental and physical health, economic empowerment and helping vets help each other deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Earlier this year, CBS News reports led to the firing of two Wounded Warrior Project officials. One former staffer, a veteran, said the group was using our injuries, our darkest days, our hardships, to make money. Linnington took over in July, and by early August he confirmed a restructuring that included laying off half the executive staff and 15 percent of the total organization, then about 600 people. But he acknowledged the news reports cost WWP severely in its ability to raise money. The organizations latest IRS return shows the group had total contributions and income of more than $398 million for the fiscal year that ended in September 2015 still under the previous administration. After the negative publicity, Linnington said, WWPs fundraising isnt fully recovered, but were on a good slope now finally. Its important for us that folks understand where their donor dollars go. Weve reduced salaries across the board, and were putting more money into our programs. The project helps close to 100,000 ill, injured or wounded American veterans and 25,000 family members, by his counts. Dan Senico is confident Linnington is the right guy for the job. Senico was Linningtons first boss, at Dans Luncheonette in the Villas section of Lower Township. Senico said he first hired John Linnington, the oldest brother and now president of The Title Company of Jersey, to do odd jobs outside. Then John asked about a job for his little brother. They moved inside, started cutting onions and washing dishes. Then they worked their way up to the grill, Senico says. They were young and energetic, and they come from a great family. They werent afraid of working, and theyd do anything you asked them to. Senico stayed in touch with the Linningtons and went to several ceremonies for Mikes promotions through the Army ranks. The little town he grew up in, the Villas, New Jersey, can be proud of a kid who grew up and became a three-star general and now the (CEO) of the Wounded Warriors, Senico added. The retired general says he learned a lot from that first job, and the ones he held for 35 years after West Point. The military taught me the importance of taking care of people, he says, and thats really the business Im in right now. HAMILTON TOWNSHIP Hamilton Township police and South Jersey Gas utility employees investigated a gas leak Thursday morning at the Festival Mall Shopping Plaza in Mays Landing, police said. The report said an underground natural gas line was damaged during the construction of a parking lot. Contractors were working in the area behind Jo-Ann Fabric, drilling holes for parking lot lighting to be installed. While drilling, a South Jersey natural gas line was struck, causing a leak in the line. Several stores were evacuated near Jo-Ann Fabric around 9:30 a.m. after the odor of gas indicated a leak. Mays Landing fire Department Chief Robert Hamilton, the incident commander on the scene, worked with South Jersey Gas employees, who quickly located and stopped the leak, police said. Police and fire personnel remained on the scene after the evacuations, but employees began to return to stores at about 11:20 a.m. and normal shopping resumed, police said. No injuries or illnesses have been reported, police said. Dennis Smith, an owner at Landsman Uniform & Embroidery, said there has been a project behind the complex to put in a parking lot. We could smell the gas, Smith said. Shortly after the gas smell became apparent, firefighters evacuated the store. Smith said he didnt know if workers were paving the lot Thursday morning, but he was told the leak was from a gas main break. In addition to Hamilton Township police, South Jersey Gas and the Mays Landing Fire Department, the Laureldale Fire Department and Mays Landing Rescue also were on the scene, police said. MIDDLE TOWNSHIP A developer who has been trying for several years to build a special-needs housing development near Fishing Creek Road in Cape May Court House is one step closer to breaking ground. Cape May Point Affordable Housing LP, a company owned by developer Ronald Ruckenstein, has filed a pair of lawsuits against the township since October, both claiming the municipality unfairly denied him a zoning permit. ShopRite president, advertising guru Fred Starn dies at 92 Fred Starn, the president of a family-run empire of ShopRite supermarkets in South Jersey, d The Patsys Way project, which faced public criticism, will move forward after a settlement agreement was approved by the Township Committee at a meeting earlier this week, Mayor Michael Clark said. Clark said Ruckenstein will be granted the zoning permit and has agreed to drop the two lawsuits as part of the settlement, but the specifics of the agreement were not made available. Ruckenstein plans to build 10 affordable single-family homes for people with disabilities. The projects funding was in jeopardy if the permit wasnt granted by the end of the year, according to a federal court document filed in November. The subdivision received funding commitments from public and private sources, including money related to Hurricane Sandy relief, according to an October state court filing. We were trying to make sure it was appropriate for the people who were going to be living there and it fit the neighborhood, Clark said. Documents from the lawsuits one in federal court and the other in state court paint a different picture of why the project was held up. The township has engaged in a pattern and practice of discriminatory conduct, erecting artificial roadblock after roadblock, in an effort to prevent the completion of the Patsys Way Project, according to the federal lawsuit. The complaint alleges some residents opposed the project because they didnt want poor people living in the neighborhood. Stone Harbor gets $2.7 million for flood control projects STONE HARBOR The borough has won a $2.7 million grant for a stormwater and storm-surge mit But a group opposing the project called Friends of Patsys Way said it is concerned with the specifics of the development, including its lack of sidewalks and distance from public transportation and other amenities. It is not generous, kind or smart to place needy people in a location which offers them many challenges, the group posted on Facebook. Last year, the Township Committee expressed support for the group and its concerns, but Clark said the municipality had no choice in regard to the zoning permit. We couldnt legally hold him up from receiving those permits, he said. The past week saw the creation of the fifth-largest airline in the U.S. (in terms of passenger traffic) as Alaska Air Group ALK completed the buyout of Virgin America. The completion of the merger has enabled Alaska Air Group to significantly expand its presence, particularly in the West Coast. The deal also gave the carrier greater access to key cities across the U.S. Apart from the deal completion, Delta Air Lines DAL grabbed headlines by virtue of its bullish investor day presentation. We note that the carrier is leaving no stone unturned to expand further in Seattle. Furthermore, Alaska Air and Delta have mutually agreed to end their code-sharing deal from May 1, 2017. Additionally, website issues at Southwest Airlines LUV and the disappointing reading on November airfares drew attention. (Read the last Airline Stock Roundup for Dec 14, 2016). Transportation - Airline Industry 5YR % Return Transportation - Airline Industry 5YR % Return Recap of the Past Weeks Most Important Stories 1. Alaska Air Group expanded significantly by acquiring Virgin America. Following the completion of the acquisition, the merged entity gained access to most of the West Coast hubs (Seattle, Portland, Anchorage, San Francisco and Los Angeles). It will also be serving the maximum number of non-stop destinations from the West Coast. The merged entity will provide 1,200 departure options per day to 118 destinations across the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. (Read more: Alaska Air Group Buys Virgin America: What's Ahead?). 2. Shares of Delta were positively impacted by the carriers bullish presentation at its investor day. The carrier issued an improved outlook for passenger revenue per available seat miles (PRASM: a key measure of unit revenue) for the current quarter and expects the metric to decline by approximately 3% (earlier outlook had estimated a decline in the band of 3% to 5%). Delta now expects fourth-quarter operating margin in the band of 10.5% to 11% (earlier outlook had projected the metric in the band of 9.5% to 10.5%) (Read more: Delta Air Lines Up on Bullish Investor Day Update). Story continues 3. According to data released by the Bureau of Transportation Services, average airfares (adjusted) in the U.S. in November fell 1.3% from the comparable figure in October. The November reading followed the 2.2% month-over-month decline in October. Moreover, airfares decreased 6.6% (unadjusted) in Nov 2016 on a year-over-year basis (Read more: Airfares Continue to Decline: What Awaits Airlines in 2017?). 4. According to a Reuters report, American Airlines Group AAL won a favorable verdict in a case against Sabre Corp. SABR. The carrier was awarded $5.1 million by the Manhattan federal jury, and the sum is to be automatically increased to $15.3 million under the federal antitrust law, according to the report. The antitrust lawsuit was filed by US Airways in 2011. American Airlines and US Airways merged in 2013, leading to the formation of American Airlines Group. US Airways had accused Sabre Corp. a leading technology provider to the global travel industry of charging exorbitant booking fees and harming competition. 5. Delta and Alaska Air Group have decided mutually to call-off their codesharing partnership from May 1, 2017. Dwindling revenues from the pact have been cited as one of the main reasons for ending the deal. With revenues already declining from the pact, Alaska Air expects minimal impact due to the deal termination. In fact, the Seattle, WA-based carrier to forego revenues in the range of $5 million to $10 million in 2017. Although the codesharing deal between the carriers will end, the interline agreement would continue to exist (Read more: Delta, Alaska Air to Terminate Codeshare Tie-up Next Year). Both Alaska Air and Delta carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 6. Technical glitches are the latest menace for carriers. During the course of the year, some of the biggest airlines have been adversely impacted by technological issues. Dallas-based low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines was the latest victim of disruption in operations due to technological failure. The timing could not be worse as it comes during the busy holiday period, just a few days prior to Christmas. Apparently, the low-cost carriers website crashed on Dec 20, creating problems in booking and flight check-in procedures. According to a usatoday report, the carrier is working on resolving the issue. As technological infrastructure constitutes a key expense for airline companies, the profitability of carriers could be affected in the event of such malfunctions. Performance The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the last 6 months. Company Past Week Last 6 months HA 6.68% 65.25% UAL 4.45% 69.53% GOL -11.84% 52.52% DAL 1.45% 31.26% JBLU 0.53% 39.47% AAL 2.61% 63.96% SAVE 2.18% 35.76% LUV 3.78% 25.59% CPA -1.54% 72.60% ALK 5.35% 51.44% The table above shows that majority of the airline stocks traded in the green over the past week leading to the NYSE ARCA Airline index gaining 1.91% to $114.23. Shares of Hawaiian Holdings HA appreciated the most (6.68%). Shares of Gol Linhas GOL depreciated the most (11.84%). Over the course of six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline index appreciated 37.7%. What's Next in the Airline Space? With Christmas only a few days away, carriers are leaving no stone unturned to meet the travel rush. Updates on that front will be keenly awaited. With Alaska Air having completed the Virgin America acquisition, news pertaining to the progress of the integration process are also expected. Now See Our Private Investment Ideas While the above ideas are being shared with the public, other trades are hidden from everyone but selected members. Would you like to peek behind the curtain and view them? Starting today, for the next month, you can follow all Zacks' private buys and sells in real time from value to momentum . . . from stocks under $10 to ETF and option moves . . . from insider trades to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises (we've called them with 80%+ accuracy). You can even look inside portfolios so exclusive that they are normally closed to new investors. Click here for Zacks' secret trades >> 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 SOUTHWEST AIR (LUV): Free Stock Analysis Report GOL LINHAS-ADR (GOL): Free Stock Analysis Report DELTA AIR LINES (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report HAWAIIAN HLDGS (HA): Free Stock Analysis Report ALASKA AIR GRP (ALK): Free Stock Analysis Report SABRE CORP (SABR): Free Stock Analysis Report AMER AIRLINES (AAL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research 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. * Sale set for about 1 billion reais -source * Ontex moving into growth markets (Updates with share performance, analyst comments, Hypermarcas confirmation) By Guillermo Parra-Bernal SAO PAULO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Belgium's Ontex Group NV is in advanced talks to buy the diapers business of Hypermarcas SA, Brazil's most diversified pharmaceutical firm, the companies said on Thursday. Ontex confirmed discussions on a possible acquisition of Hypermarcas' personal hygiene business were at an advanced stage. The company cautioned that neither side was legally bound to go ahead with a deal. "There can be no assurance that a transaction will ultimately materialize. Ontex will provide further updates in due course if necessary," it said. Hypermarcas confirmed the negotiations and said the companies have not yet signed any binding agreement. Earlier a person familiar with the transaction had said a sale was set for about 1 billion reais ($300 million) in cash. Last year, Hypermarcas hired advisers to look into a spin-off or an outright sale of the unit, whose performance has suffered from lack of scale and brand recognition, and soaring costs for raw materials amid a sharp drop in the Brazilian currency. Reuters reported in October last year that Hypermarcas had offered the unit to Kimberly-Clark Corp, Chile's Empresas CMPC SA, Procter & Gamble Co and Svenska Cellulosa SCA AB. The deal, from which Hypermarcas was seeking 1.5 billion reais, was halted a few months later amid price divergences and tax issues, people familiar with the decision said in recent months. Apart from consolidating Hypermarcas' exit from disposable goods, the deal also marks Ontex's entry into Latin America's No. 1 economy following the takeover of Mexico's Grupo P.I. Mabe SAB in March. Founded in 1981, Ontex is moving into so-called growth markets to counter feeble activity in Western Europe, the Middle East and Russia. Shares of Hypermarcas have risen 15 percent this year, lagging a 33 percent jump in the benchmark Bovespa stock index . Part of that reflects the impact of Brazil's harshest recession since the 1930s and political turmoil on consumer goods and pharmaceutical firms such as Hypermarcas. Story continues Common shares in Hypermarcas rose 4.8 percent on Thursday morning, their biggest daily gain in nearly six months, while Ontex shares were up 3.8 percent. The sale "will solidify Hypermarcas' balance sheet even further, eventually paving the way for more dividend payouts," analysts with Credit Suisse Securities wrote in a client note. Over the past couple of years, Chief Executive Officer Claudio Bergamo has focused Hypermarcas solely on drugs, after the diversified firm was likened to Unilever Plc just a few years ago. Bergamo, with the blessing of controlling shareholder and Chairman Joao Alves de Queiroz Filho, spearheaded a spree of two dozen acquisitions in the drug, home-cleaning, beauty care and processed food industries at the end of last decade. Currently, Hypermarcas is one of Brazil's leading producers of over-the-counter and generic drugs. ($1 = 3.3265 reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, Bruno Federowski in Sao Paulo; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Adrian Croft) DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Chiral Chemicals Market Analysis By Technology, By Application And Segment Forecasts To 2024" report to their offering. The global chiral chemicals market is expected to reach USD 119.72 billion by 2024. Rising population coupled with increasing demand for better healthcare facilities is expected to have a positive impact on the demand over the forecast period. In addition, increasing government support towards the development of pharmaceutical manufacturing in developing economies is likely to augment the demand over the coming years. Traditional separation technology is anticipated to witness a CAGR of about 12.0% from 2016 to 2024. Extensive R&D towards gas chromatography is anticipated to propel the market growth over the forecast period. The asymmetric synthesis method is likely to witness a CAGR of over 13% from 2016 to 2024 on account of the low cost of the reagents and auxiliaries used. However, low yield from this process is anticipated to restrain the market development over the next eight years. Flavors and fragrances application is anticipated to witness considerable growth over the forecast period. Chiral chemicals possess different fragrances in its diverse optical forms which are increasingly being utilized by the cosmetics companies. Latin America is anticipated to witness above average growth rate on account of increasing pharmaceutical manufacturing in Brazil & Argentina. Companies Mentioned: Solvias AG Strem Chemicals Inc. Chiral Technologies, Inc. Johnson Matthey plc plc BASF SE Rhodia Inc. W. R. Grace & Co & Co PerkinElmer Inc. Codexis, Inc. Bayer AG Dow Chemical Company Chiracon GmbH Key Topics Covered: 1. Methodology and Scope 2. Executive Summary 3. Chiral Chemicals Industry Outlook 4. Chiral Chemicals Technology Outlook 5. Chiral Chemicals Application Outlook 6. Chiral Chemicals Regional Outlook 7. Competitive Landscape For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w6qkn8/chiral_chemicals 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 Ray Dirks is back - introducing his new website NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- RAY DIRKS RESEARCH, available early 2017. His stock market views will be on this site. Dirks is very bullish now. Career highlights of Ray Dirks: Joined Goldman Sachs in 1963 as first Insurance Analyst with major firm. Headed 500-employee investment banking firm. Raised billions through managing hundreds of Initial Public Offerings in the 70's-80's. Dirks unearthed massive Equity Funding insurance stock fraud in 1973, largest stock fraud until Enron. In 1983 Dirks won against the SEC in supreme court. Dirks vs SEC defined 'insider trading' and is taught in law schools. Following are some samples of the types of coverage Dirks Research intends to provide. INSURANCE Hartford Financial Services Group and Aflac Incorporated. Hartford, the oldest US property casualty insurance company is one of the largest in the world. Book value is considerably higher than stock price. Additionally, substantial reinsurance protects it's downside risk. Aflac of Columbus, Georgia is the fastest growing health/life Insurance company in Japan. Yes, it is the same company with the duck! Aflac markets through its own agency and a vast network of Japanese post offices. It has high dividends and a strong history of stock buyback. Current P/E of 11 is roughly 50% of the last 30 years. HEALTHCARE Speaking of Japan, Cyberdyne is in the news recently. This neurorobotics company has modest sales, no earnings and nearly $2 billion market cap. Japanese are betting heavily on neurorobotics which allow the brain, or weak muscles to provide inputs to aid disabled limbs to function. Their history of nursing obscure technology to commercial blockbusters is enviable. Remember the VCR? Bionik Laboratories is similar but with better technology. MIT professors Drs. Hogan and Krebs, pioneers of neurorobotics are with Bionik. BNKL has several FDA approved products to rehabilitate stroke victims with paralysis which are ready to be marketed. The annual 400,000 impaired stroke victims should benefit from Bionik neurorobotics in 2017. Bionik robotics will be essential component of the $15 billion US physiotherapy market soon. Contact: Raydirksresearch@gmail.com 1-917-443-1892 SOURCE RAY DIRKS RESEARCH SOLNA, Sweden, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dometic Group ("Dometic"), the global market leader in solutions for mobile living, has entered an agreement to acquire the assets of IPV, a German-based aftermarket provider of coolers and other outdoor products. The acquisition strengthens Dometic's position in the EMEA market for mobile coolers. The purchase price is EUR 3.5 million. IPV filed for insolvency in August 2016, and Dometic has worked with the insolvency administrator and IPV to reach a deal where Dometic acquires selected assets including inventory, tools, equipment and some trademarks. The acquisition will add annual sales of approximately EUR 15 million to Dometic. Some 25 employees will remain in the business including representatives of the founding family. "IPV provides a very suitable complement to our current cooler business. The acquisition will broaden our customer base as well as provide strong entries into Eastern Europe", says Roger Johansson, President and CEO of Dometic. The acquisition is expected to be completed on January 3, 2017. For more information, please contact: Erika Stahl, Head of Business Control & Investor Relations Tel: +46 8 501 025 24 Email: ir@dometicgroup.com This information is information that Dometic Group AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 15.30 CET on 22 December 2016. ABOUT DOMETIC GROUP Dometic is a global market leader in branded solutions for mobile living in the areas of Climate, Hygiene & Sanitation and Food & Beverage. Dometic operates in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific, providing products for use in recreational vehicles, trucks and premium cars, pleasure and workboats, and for a variety of other uses. Dometic offer products and solutions that enrich people's experiences away from home, whether in a motorhome, caravan, boat or a truck. Our motivation is to create smart and reliable products with outstanding design. We operate 22 manufacturing/assembly sites in nine countries, sell our products in approximately 100 countries and manufacture approximately 85% of products sold in-house. We have a global distribution and dealer network in place to serve the aftermarket. Dometic employs approximately 6,500 people worldwide, had net sales of SEK 11.5 billion in 2015 and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden. CONTACT: This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/dometic-group/r/dometic-acquires-the-assets-of-ipv-and-strengthens-its-position-in-mobile-coolers,c2155324 The following files are available for download: http://mb.cision.com/Main/10773/2155324/607855.pdf Press release PDF SOURCE Dometic Group LONDON, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EISER Finance Limited ("EISER") announces that it has agreed on a portfolio sale of assets to 3i funds managed by 3i Investments plc ("3i") from the EISER Global Infrastructure Fund ("EGIF"). The portfolio sale includes all of EGIFs UK assets, comprising Belfast City Airport and ESP Utilities Group Ltd. (ESP). Under EISERs management, ESP grew into the second largest independent gas transporter and the third largest independent electricity network operator in the UK. The portfolio sale also includes EGIF's holding in the Italian waste treatment and disposal company, HERAmbiente, as well as certain of its Spanish assets, including EGIF's four transportation concession companies that it co-owns with Sacyr, being two operating shadow toll roads and two operating Madrid bus terminal interchanges. EGIF will maintain its holding in three thermal solar power plants in Spain, ASTE/ ASTEXOL, which combined operate 150 Megawatts of energy production. As part of the agreed portfolio transaction and subject to minimum and maximum take up, EISER's existing investors in EGIF will be offered the opportunity to choose to remain invested in the assets through a right to reinvest into a new fund specifically set up by 3i to manage these assets. For EISER the transaction creates positive options for its investors in EGIF, either to realise liquidity from the portfolio sale, as EGIF is nearing the end of its fund life, or to choose to remain invested in the diversified assets for the longer term through the new 3i managed fund structure. EISER will work with 3i towards an expected financial completion of the transaction in Q1 2017, as the transaction is subject to certain conditions, including approval from the European Commission under the EU Merger Regulation. The portfolio sale follows EISER's successful sale earlier this year of Societa Gasdotti Italia S.p.A., an Italian company which owns and operates an integrated network of high pressure natural gas pipelines, to Macquarie Infrastructure and Swiss Life Asset Managers. About EISER EISER is a multinational asset manager specialising in deploying and managing equity and debt instruments in the real assets class both in mature and emerging markets. EISER is headquartered in London and has a representative office in Johannesburg, South Africa, which covers sub-Saharan developments. About 3i Group 3i is a leading international investment manager focused on mid-market Private Equity and Infrastructure. Its core investment markets are northern Europe and North America. SOURCE EISER "We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Arbor Day Foundation on such a long-term initiative, which has already reached 11 million plantings," said Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, President of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation. "The Arbor Day Foundation's professional management helps ensure that our investment in global reforestation has the best success rate possible and leaves a lasting legacy for generations to come." Established in 2006 in honor of Enterprise's 50th anniversary and to thank Enterprise customers for their support, the 50 Million Tree Pledge is planting one million trees per year through 2056. Today, millions of young trees are growing in diverse U.S. forests throughout 16 states Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming plus in Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the U.K. In total, there have been more than 90 planting projects since 2006, with each one individually selected to prioritize immediate reforestation needs and to help restore ecosystems after wildfires or other natural disasters strike. "Millions of acres of the world's forests are impacted by wildfires and natural disasters every year," said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. "Enterprise Holdings Foundation financial support plays a crucial role in protecting vital water resources, restoring habitats for endangered wildlife and improving air quality in communities around the world." In addition to the Arbor Day Foundation, the Enterprise 50 Million Tree Pledge involves a variety of partners, from the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. National Park Service , and the National Association of State Foresters, to Tree Canada , Trees Ontario , the U.K.'s Woodland Trust , France's Reforest'Action, Spain's Sustainable Forests (Bosques Sostenibles) and the German Forest Protection Association (Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald). 2016 Highlights In 2016, the pledge accounted for approximately 20 percent of the Arbor Day Foundation's annual reforestation plantings. This year, the Enterprise Holdings Foundation supported its first reforestation project in the state of New Mexico, planting 20,000 ponderosa pine seedlings on 100 acres of Santa Fe National Forest a crucial water source for the city of Santa Fe that was devastated by the Las Conchas Fire of 2011. The program also included plantings in France and Spain for the first time. In France, Enterprise helped plant 50,000 trees in Landes Forest as part of a new partnership with Reforest'Action. In Spain, Enterprise partnered with Bosques Sostenibles to plant 10,000 trees in the Sierra de Gredos mountain range. Other 50 Million Tree Pledge planting projects for 2016 also included: This press release and car rental industry news are available in the Enterprise Holdings Press Room. The Enterprise Holdings Press Room also includes Fact Sheets for car rental brands and business divisions as well as awards and other reports. About Enterprise Holdings Foundation The Enterprise Holdings Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Enterprise Holdings, the world's largest car rental company. The Foundation was established in 1982 by Enterprise's founder, Jack Taylor, to strengthen and give back to the thousands of communities where customers and employees live and work. In total, the Foundation has contributed more than $266 million to nonprofits focused on community improvement, education and environmental stewardship. Almost 90 percent of the grants made by the Foundation fulfill requests by employees to help local causes they personally champion and actively support. In addition, the Foundation provides sizable grants to nonprofits that have strategic or social importance, as well as to relief projects as they arise, including natural disasters that affect customers and employees. The Foundation also provides a 50 percent match for each employee contribution to the United Way in the U.S. and Canada, as part of one of the largest United Way corporate campaigns in North America. About Arbor Day Foundation Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation has grown to become the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees, with more than one million members, supporters, and valued partners. During the last 44 years, more than 250 million Arbor Day Foundation trees have been planted in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world. Our vision is to help others understand and use trees as a solution to many of the global issues we face today, including air quality, water quality, climate change, deforestation, poverty and hunger. As one of the world's largest operating conservation foundations, the Arbor Day Foundation, through its members, partners and programs, educates and engages stakeholders and communities across the globe to involve themselves in its mission of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees. More information is available at arborday.org. SOURCE Enterprise Holdings Foundation EFFRETIKON, Switzerland, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In preparation for the next world's fair in 2017, Expomobilia, the general contractor for trade fair booth, pavilion and event construction from Zurich, has established a new office in Astana, Kazakhstan. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/451670/Expomobilia_AG.jpg ) "We want to work with the on-site project team, existing infrastructure and main office in Switzerland to manage our upcoming projects, such as the Swiss Pavilion, and offer our customers first-class support," says Florian Faber, Managing Director of Expomobilia AG. The first project for the Expo 2017 in Astana: the Swiss Pavilion. Expomobilia is collaborating with the renowned design and architecture company Atelier Oi based in La Neuveville to create the pavilion under the theme 'Nature in Motion'. As part of this entertaining and interactive exhibition, visitors will be able to test and experience their relationship with energy and resources in intelligent and efficient ways. This intuitive creative concept will also demonstrate how each and every one of us can make a small contribution towards saving resources and making the world a better place. Further information: http://www.expomobilia.com/en-US/News/News-2016.aspx#a_D8F08CA94CED44C1A03950217738D2B7 With over 40 years of experience in the field of customised and temporary constructions, Expomobilia AG from Effretikon in Zurich has established itself as a globally active general contractor for trade fair booth, pavilion and event constructions. In addition to the main office in Zurich-Effretikon, the company also has branches in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Expomobilia AG has been an independent subsidiary of the MCH Group AG since 2007 and employs around 95 members of staff. Further information: Expomobilia AG Irene Graven-Koller igraven@expomobilia.com http://www.expomobilia.com SOURCE Expomobilia AG DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Artificial Reality - Year I of the Virtual Reality Market!" report to their offering. This study on Artificial Reality, highlights technological and industrial trends and its state of the art as well as market figures and forecasts. The report proposes a detailed analysis of the positioning of major offerings through relevant case studies. It provides readers with the main takeaways regarding number of devices, games and revenues in order to establish a clear landscape of market's long awaited take-off. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Definitions and uses 2.1. Virtual reality (VR) - Augmented reality (AR) - Mixed reality (MR) 2.1.1. VR - Definitions and illustrations 2.1.2. AR - Definitions and illustrations 2.1.3. MR - Definitions and illustrations 2.2. Summary of characteristics and uses 2.2.1. Summary of characteristics 2.2.2. How are VR, AR and MR used? 3. Offering segmentation 3.1. The different categories of VR headsets 3.1.1. Smartphone headsets 3.1.2. Premium connected headsets 3.1.3. 'All-in-one' or 'standalone' headsets 3.1.4. What does the future hold for wired headsets? 3.2. Case studies of notable headsets 3.2.1. Equipment: VR headsets 3.2.2. Case study: Oculus Rift 3.2.3. Case study: HTC Vive 3.2.4. Case study: Samsung Gear VR 3.2.5. Case study: Google Cardboard 3.2.6. Other smartphone headsets 3.2.7. Case study: HoloLens 3.2.8. Case study: Fove VR et Sulon VR 3.2.9. Case study: Star VR et Impression PI 3.2.10. Case study: PlayStation VR 3.2.11. Case study: Cmoar 3.3. Games offering 3.3.1. High-end/AAA games offering 3.3.2. Mid range games offering 3.3.3. Low-end games offering 3.3.4. Games offering: case study of the AR phenomenon: Pokemon GO 4. Challenges for VR and market prospects 4.1. Technical challenges 4.1.1. Technical challenges 4.1.2. Technical challenges: processing power 4.1.3. Technical challenges: resolution and field of view 4.1.4. Technical challenges: connectivity 4.1.5. Technical challenges: VR controllers 4.1.6. Technical challenges: tracking 4.2. Industry challenges 4.3. Games, equipment and VR market forecasts 4.3.1. Assumptions and methodology: equipment and games 4.3.2. Estimates for the VR equipment market 4.3.3. Estimates for the VR games market 4.3.4. Estimates for the VR market (headsets + games) 4.3.5. Awaiting the arrival of mixed reality headsets Companies Mentioned Case studies of notable headsets Equipment VR headsets - Oculus Rift - HTC Vive - Samsung Gear VR - Google Cardboard Other smartphone headsets - Merge VR - Freely VR - Homido - Zeiss VR one - HoloLens - Fove VR et Sulon VR - Star VR et Impression PI - PlayStation VR - Cmoar For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hjqpwf/artificial 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 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Perovskite Photovoltaics 2016-2026: Technologies, Markets, Players" report to their offering. The report will also benchmark other photovoltaic technologies including crystalline silicon, GaAs, amorphous silicon, CdTe, CIGS, CZTS, DSSC, OPV and quantum dot PV. Cost analysis is provided for future perovskite solar cells. A 10-year market forecast is given based on different application segments. Possible fabrication methods and material choices are discussed as well. With so many improvements, perovskite solar cell technology is still in the early stages of commercialization compared with other mature solar technologies as there are a number of concerns remaining such as stability, toxicity of lead in the most popular perovskite materials, scaling-up, etc. Crystalline silicon PV modules have fallen from $76.67/W in 1977 to $0.4-0.5/W with fair efficiency in early 2015. As one of the top ten science breakthroughs of 2013, perovskite solar cells have shown potential both in the rapid efficiency improvement (from 2.2% in 2006 to the latest record 20.1% in 2014) and in cheap material and manufacturing costs. Perovskite solar cells have attracted tremendous attention from the likes of DSSC and OPVs with greater potential. Many companies and research institutes that focused on DSSCs and OPVs now transfer attention to perovskites with few research institutes remaining exclusively committed to OPVs and DSSCs. Perovskite solar cells are a breath of fresh air into the emerging photovoltaic technology landscape. They have amazed with an incredibly fast efficiency improvement, going from just 2% in 2006 to over 20.1% in 2015. These questions will be answered in this report: - Will perovskite solar cells be able to compete with silicon solar cells which dominate the PV market now? - What is the status of the technology? - What are the potential markets? - Who is working on it? The market forecast is provided based on the following applications: - Smart glass - BIPV - Outdoor furniture - Perovskites in tandem solar cells - Utility - Portable devices - Third world/developing countries for off-grid applications - Automotive - Others Key Topics Covered: 1. Overview 2. Technology Benchmarking Of Different Pv Technologies 3. Cost Analysis 4. Commercial Opportunities And Market Forecast 5. Background Of Perovskite Solar Cells 6. Architecture And Fabrication 7. Material Options 8. Player Profiles 9. Companies Currently Working On Perovskites 10. Companies Working On Other Emerging Pvs 11. Abbreviations Companies Mentioned - Alta Devices - Armor - Belectric - CSIRO - CrayoNano AS - Crystalsol GmbH - DisaSolar - Dyesol - Eight19 Ltd - Exeger - Flexink - Fraunhofer ISE - FrontMaterials - G24 Power Ltd - Heliatek GmbH - NanoGram Corp - National Research Council Canada - New Energy Technologies Inc - Oxford Photovoltaics - Polyera Corporation - Raynergy Tek Incorporation - Saule Technologies - SolarPrint Ltd - Solaronix - Sumitomo Chemical and CDT - Ubiquitous Energy Inc - VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland - Xiamen Weihua Solar Co.,Ltd. For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3lstml/perovskite 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 DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Wearable Technology for Animals 2017-2027: Technologies, Markets, Forecasts" report to their offering. This report concerns the needs, technology and markets for wearable electronics for animals, from pets to livestock and wild animals. We include the back-up equipment and systems and devices that are ingested to rest in a stomach of an animal. We also include devices implanted under the skin. There are currently about 300 manufacturers of such things in the world, the highest percentage in China, making very basic product at lowest price, followed by the USA then other countries we identify, the latter including the primary innovators. Over the coming decade, manufacturers will rise to 500 as the value market increases more than 2.5 times. Most of these devices and their systems are used in the USA and Europe followed by Australia where RFID tagging of cattle is mandatory. RFID ear tags for cows then non-RFID collars on dogs for many purposes are currently the most popular forms of wearable electronics on animals across the world. In 2027, livestock tagging will still be most popular but it will much more often involve diagnostics. Indeed, medical diagnostic tagging of livestock, pets and endangered species will become commonplace. Medical treatment using electronics and electrics will also be steadily adopted following today's practice on humans with heating, cooling, iontophoretic drug delivery and so on, eventually even in response to the fitted diagnostics. The animals most likely to employ wearable electronics in volume in the next decade are those controlled by humans notably certain livestock, work animals and pets that we identify but conservation of wild species will also increase in number and sophistication. Key Topics Covered: 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 1.1. Scope 1.2. Dramatic emergence 1.3. Two types - different characteristics 1.4. Forecasts 2016-2027 1.5. Animal electronics: needs, market dynamics, types 1.6. Business dynamics 1.7. Lessons from wearable electronics for humans 1.8. News from May 2016 onwards 1.9. Examples of pet wearables in 2016 / 2017 1.10. Rapid consolidation of pet wearables manufacturers 2. INTRODUCTION 2.1. Challenges and needs 2.2. Methods of traceability 2.3. Legislation driving animal, food and farming RFID 2.4. Eccentricities - 2016 / 2017. 3. RFID TECHNOLOGY, STANDARDS, SUPPLIERS 3.1. Introduction: needs and successes 3.2. Definitions and choices 3.3. RFID technology for animals 3.4. Relevant RFID standards 3.5. Animal RFID: 62 manufacturers profiled 4. OTHER ANIMAL WEARABLE ELECTRONICS 4.1. Two types of application with different characteristics 4.2. Adoption on cows 4.3. The Internet of Pigs is set to fly 4.4. More problems to tackle 4.5. Beyond RFID: examples of 62 products from 49 manufacturers 5. INSIGHTS FROM A VETERINARY SURGEON BY EMMA NAPIER BA MA VETMB (CANTAB) 5.1. Farm Animals 5.2. Horses 5.2.1. Racehorses: injury prevention 5.3. Dogs 5.4. Cats 5.5. Diabetes 6. RFID FOR ANIMALS 6.1. Examples of livestock tagging countries 6.2. Thirty five case studies of RFID for livestock in seventeen countries 6.3. Technical trends APPENDIX 1: TECHNOLOGIES, EPCGLOBAL, RADIO REGULATIONS APPENDIX 2: GLOSSARY Companies Mentioned - Agri-Tracabilite Quebec (ATQ) - Alberta Agriculture & Tyson Foods - Asocebu - B3R Country Meats - Chitale Dairy - DEFRA - Delhi - Fevex - Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society - Hangzhou City - Iffco-Tokio General Insurance - JRC - Ken Habermehl - Klein Karoo Co-operative - LSCM - Levinoff-Colbex - NAIT - Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission - Pandas - Santa Rita Experimental Farm - Shanghai Xinnong Feed - Shenzhen Hong Kong Innovation Circle - Smithfield Premium Genetics - Smrfjord - Taiwan Government - Thai Government - CoreRFID - US Department of Agriculture - University of Waterloo For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6qlgs7/wearable 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 OpenMedia applauds Canadian telecom regulator ruling that all Canadians must have access to high-speed Internet, setting a positive example for the rest of the world VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Canada's telecom regulator has just ruled that all Canadians must have access to reliable, world-class mobile and residential Internet services, no matter where they live. The historic decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) means that Canada has now joined a small handful of nations including the U.S., Israel, Finland, Malta, Spain, and Switzerland that define high-speed Internet as a basic service for all. OpenMedia, which led a nearly 50,000-strong citizen movement for Internet as a basic service, describes today's decision as truly historic. The ruling will be a game-changer for rural and underserved communities across Canada where Internet access is either unavailable or unaffordable, in part because of Canada's rugged geography and low population density. OpenMedia says the ruling will set a great example for other nations considering how best to ensure all their citizens can get connected. "Canadians asked for universal Internet access, support for rural communities, world-class speeds, unlimited data options, and minimum guarantees for the quality of their Internet. Today, we won it all - and there's no reason why other nations across the world can't do the same," said Josh Tabish, campaigns director for OpenMedia, which led a nearly 50,000-strong citizen movement for Internet as a basic service. Tabish continued: "Countries all over the world face many of the same challenges as Canada, especially when it comes to delivering reliable, high-speed Internet to rural and remote communities. These challenges can be surmounted, but it will take real political will to do so. I believe today's ruling will inspire people across the globe and help pressure decision-makers to do the right thing and ensure all their citizens can benefit from what the Internet can offer." Key points from today's CRTC decision, and the accompanying national broadband strategy: 100% of Canadians must have access to reliable, world-class mobile and fixed Internet services. New network speed targets of 50 Mbps download speed and 10 Mbps upload speed, and the ability to subscribe to a fixed Internet package with an unlimited data option. In the U.S., the FCC defines "broadband" as 25 Mbps download and just 3 Mbps upload. The decision includes: Internet access defined as a basic service, access to world-class speeds, options for unlimited data packages, and a level playing field for rural and remote Canadians. Canadians from coast to coast to coast must have access to high-speed mobile and residential Internet connections. To fund this, the CRTC will redistribute hundreds of millions of dollars from telecommunications company revenues over the coming years. Going forward, rural, remote, and urban communities must be able to access Internet speeds five times as fast as the U.S. minimum (10/1), and the fastest 4G/LTE mobile networks available. Finally, the CRTC issued a new report outlining the imperative for a National Broadband Strategy and what the federal government should consider when building it. OpenMedia's community-driven submission to the CRTC argued that these new rules should not hinder industry, but should instead promote investment, competition, and openness. Nearly 50,000 Canadians asked the CRTC to ensure affordable, world-class broadband for all at UnblockCanada.ca About OpenMedia OpenMedia works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free. We create community-driven campaigns to engage, educate, and empower people to safeguard the Internet. SOURCE OpenMedia STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --JM has signed an agreement with Kungsleden to acquire land for 140 building rights. Production start-up is planned for Q2 2020. The deal is worth SEK 117m. Occupancy and payment are expected to be completed during first half of 2019. The land being acquired is currently part of the Stiernhielm 7 property. It is centrally located in Molndal, close to downtown Gothenburg. JM acquired Stiernhielm 6, an adjacent property, in 2013. With these acquisitions, it deemed possible to build a total of 225 residential units in apartment buildings. Work to produce a local plan is under way. The agreement is conditional upon the detail plan coming into legal force. The acquisition will be reported within the JM Residential Sweden business segment during first half of 2019. "We are looking forward to taking part in the development of Molndal's central areas. Through the acquisition, we are strengthening our position as one of the largest housing developers in the City of Molndal," says Martin Svahn, regional manager, JM West Region. CONTACT: This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/jm/r/jm-acquiring-land-for-residential-units-in-molndal--gothenburg,c2155364 The following files are available for download: http://mb.cision.com/Main/1261/2155364/607363.pdf 161222_JM acquiring land for residential units in Molndal, Gothenburg SOURCE JM Focusing on four sectors considered key to conserving the environment (agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism), it was also the setting for the launch of Mexico Tourism Board's new campaign focused on the country's biodiversity and its wealth in terms of nature, culture and gastronomy. "As global travel trends suggest, travelers are seeking destinations that are rich in biodiversity and sustainability. As the fourth most mega biodiverse country in the world, Mexico is the perfect place for those looking to immerse themselves in authentic cultural, culinary and nature-filled experiences. We believe that what travelers are looking for, lives in Mexico and this is the basis of our campaign," remarked Lourdes Berho, Mexico Tourism Board's CEO. In attendance at the COP 13 Conference were Ministers of Economy, Chief Executive Officers of socially responsible multi-national companies in the public and private sector, international banks that promote sustainable business and international financial institutions. Participants were tasked with finding long-term solutions and proposals for encouraging businesses that are respectful of biodiversity. Biodiversity is already a part of Mexico's identity and is recognized abroad as one of its most emblematic characteristics, as well as one of the primary reasons why tourists visit the country. This is because biological diversity has also been at the foundation of its culture, economic development, and welfare of its society. About Mexico as a mega-diverse country: Within the country's territory, visitors can encounter 564 species of mammals, more than 1,000 species of birds, 864 reptile species and 376 amphibians, in addition to over 23,000 types of plants. The richest states in terms of flora and fauna are Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Chiapas. Oaxaca has the largest number of combined flora and fauna species, however Chiapas is home to the greatest plant diversity with 8,248 registered species and shelters 35% of the country's vertebrates. As a result, all of these destinations offer ecotourism and adventure tourism experiences. Southern Mexico is especially relevant in terms of species wealth, since it is where two of the major regions of the planet meet. This is why the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is host to a mixture of fauna and flora from both North and South America, as well as animals that are native to this area. In the northern part of the country, Baja California and Baja California Sur are the states with the largest number of endemic plant species in Mexico. Additionally, more than 140 different species of marine life have been recorded in the Gulf of California, which is why thousands of visitors come from around the world each year to witness the arrival of the whales. A similar wealth of diversity can be found in the coral reefs of the Caribbean, which stretch over 120 miles. Finally, of all of the bird species that inhabit Mexico, 125 are endemic and 70% are located in the tropics, particularly in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Campeche and Quintana Roo. At the conclusion of this COP 13 meeting, Mexico reiterated its continued active engagement in finding significant solutions to protect its biodiversity. Mexico values its importance and drawing from this natural abundance, has created a unique and varied cuisine, as well as tourist experiences such as whale and bird-watching. It also offers ecotourism excursions to communities who share their traditions and their co-existence with local wildlife. The mega biodiverse attraction that Mexico offers both national and international tourists is a 360 experience in which one can observe native fauna up close, enjoy a wide variety of dishes derived from unique local products, as well as routes throughout the country comprised of ecosystems that offer mega-experiences and mega-travels, reflecting the campaign's slogan, 'what you are looking for, lives in Mexico.' Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/451798/Mexico_Tourism_Board_BioDiversity_Infographic_en.jpg Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/449489/Mexico_Logo.jpg SOURCE Mexico Tourism Board LONDON, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Navig8 Group (Navig8), the world's largest provider of maritime services, today announced that it has been advised by Oman Shipping Company SAOC (OSC), one of the leading international shipping companies owning and operating a well-diversified and young fleet of 51 vessels mainly comprising of tankers, that they have decided to internalize the commercial management of their VLCC fleet which had been hitherto in the VL8 pool. The VL8 pool is one of the largest VLCC tanker pools in the world and one of 16 shipping pools managed by Navig8. The company's 16 shipping pools bring together multiple, like-minded owners with vessels of similar type and characteristics, into distinct pools. Each pool is managed by the Navig8 as a single, cohesive fleet, allowing owners to leverage Navig8's leading network of charterer relationships and strong cargo base. The aggregation of pool revenues, diversity of pool member base, quality of counterparties and Navig8's robust risk management framework heavily mitigates counterparty risks for the pool members. OSC is a quality ship owner of repute having an array of topnotch customers and operating worldwide a fleet of 51 vessels including 44 owned vessels. Among the fleet, 33 vessels are tankers including 16 VLCCs. Out of 16 VLCCs owned by OSC, 15 have been placed in the VL8 shipping pool by OSC since 2010. Leaders speak "We have enjoyed a mutually beneficial and close cooperation with Navig8 Group since we joined the VL8 pool as a founding member in 2010," said Tarik Al Junaidi, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Shipping Company. "Despite the many benefits we have received from our vessel participation in the VL8 pool, we have made the decision to internalize the commercial management of our VLCC fleet to meet our legitimate growth aspirations in every functional area under the OSC brand." "Navig8 is grateful to Oman Shipping for placing their VLCCs with us for commercial operations, while they built their own internal capabilities," said Nicolas Busch, Chief Executive Officer of Navig8 Group. "We look forward to maintaining our close relationship with Oman Shipping and its affiliates." About Navig8 Group The Navig8 Group is a fully integrated provider of maritime services, and the world's largest independent pool and commercial management company. Navig8 operates 16 vessel pools spanning 4 industry segments and manages over 250 vessels (including commitments) on behalf of a diverse pool member base comprising over 35 shipowners from 18 countries. Navig8 has built, and maintains, a vast network of charterer relationships, driven by proximity to customers and regional markets through a global network of 16 offices, employing over 300 staff. Its established track record of high-quality service provision is founded on a deep knowledge of global commodity flows, which is derived both through information gained from the managed fleet and a highly-regarded in-house research team. In addition to its core commercial management platform, Navig8 provides technical management, newbuilding construction supervision, bunker trading and brokerage, corporate administration and asset management services. About Oman Shipping Company S.A.O.C. Oman Shipping Company S.A.O.C. is a closed joint stock company, incorporated in 2003 and owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman through the Ministry of Finance (80%) and Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C. (20%). The Company is involved in Ship Owning, Ship Chartering and Ship Management activities through its Subsidiary Companies namely; Oman Charter Company S.A.O.C. (OCC), Oman Ship Management Company S.A.O.C. (OSMC), and Oman Container Line (OCL) S.A.O.C. OSC has a crisp and focused vision to be the 'first choice partner in maritime transportation'. Arising out of this corporate vision, it has dedicated itself to offering the most optimum seaborne shipping solutions which benefit its worldwide customers. OSC also undertakes in-house technical management of 38 vessels to the exacting international standards through its ship management subsidiary, including the ship management of the bareboat tonnage. OSC has an envious record of reaching the 8 million DWT mark in its operating capacity in a relatively short span of about 13 years and at the same time handsomely contributing to the national economy. SOURCE Navig8 Group OSLO, Norway, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On 22 December 2016, Marco Renoldi, the Chief Operating Officer of Nordic Nanovector ASA (the "Company"), purchased 4000 shares in the Company at a price of NOK 93.40 per share. Following this transaction, Marco Renoldi owns 74,000 shares in the Company and holds 368,137 options. This information is subject to duty of disclosure pursuant to Section 4-2 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/nordic-nanovector/r/nordic-nanovector-asa--mandatory-notification-of-trade---primary-insider,c2155990 SOURCE Nordic Nanovector OSLO, Norway, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Panoro Energy ASA ("Panoro" or the "Company") (OSE ticker: PEN) today provides an update on the Dussafu Marin production sharing contract ("Dussafu PSC") in Gabon. Panoro is pleased to announce that its fully owned subsidiary Pan Petroleum Gabon B.V. has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with BW Energy Gabon Pte. Ltd. ("BWEG"), a newly established subsidiary of BW Offshore (OSE ticker: BWO), the leading global provider of floating production services to the oil and gas industry. Under the terms of the preliminary partnership agreement, Panoro will sell a 25% working interest in the Dussafu PSC to BWEG for a total cash consideration of US$12 million. Panoro will also obtain a capped limited recourse development loan from BWEG to fund expenditures through first oil production. The transaction is subject to several conditions, including the signature of a definitive purchase agreement with BWEG, the approval of the Gabonese Government and the completion of the separate sale of Harvest Dussafu B.V. to BWEG. It is expected that the transaction will close in the first quarter of 2017. Post-completion, Panoro will retain an 8.33% working interest in the Dussafu PSC. The total gross capital expenditure to reach first oil in 2018 is expected to be a maximum of US$150 million. Panoro notes the separate announcement today that BWEG has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE ticker: HNR) to acquire the entire share capital of Harvest Dussafu B.V., which holds a 66.66% operating working interest in the Dussafu PSC, for total cash consideration of US$32 million. John Hamilton, CEO of Panoro, said, "Panoro is thrilled about our new partnership with BW Offshore. This agreement is a significant step forward in the execution of Panoro's strategy, validating the high quality of Dussafu and unlocking substantial value for our shareholders. This transaction will reduce our financial exposure to first oil, while preserving our ability to benefit from Dussafu's future success. Furthermore, the transaction strengthens our balance sheet to pursue additional growth opportunities." Carl Arnet, CEO of BW Offshore, said, "We are very pleased to be joining Panoro in Dussafu, and we look forward to working with them and the Government of Gabon to develop Dussafu's full potential. We believe that our level of planned investment to bring Dussafu into production as soon as possible demonstrates our new commitment to an integrated upstream business, which we see as new source of growth for BW Offshore". Enquiries: Panoro Energy ASA +44 203 405 1060 John Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer info@panoroenergy.com About Panoro Energy Panoro Energy ASA is an independent E&P company based in London and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with ticker PEN. The Company holds high quality production, exploration and development assets in West Africa, namely the Dussafu License offshore southern Gabon and OML 113 offshore western Nigeria. In addition to discovered hydrocarbon resources and reserves, both assets also hold significant exploration potential. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.panoroenergy.com. About BW Offshore BW Offshore is a leading global provider of floating production services to the oil and gas industry. BW Offshore has a fleet of 14 owned FPSOs and one FSO represented in all major oil & gas regions world-wide. BW Offshore has a long track record on project execution and operations. In more than 30 years of production, BW Offshore has executed 38 FPSO and FSO projects. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. CONTACT: This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/panoro-energy-asa/r/panoro-signs-agreement-to-partner-with-bw-offshore-on-dussafu-in-gabon,c2155573 The following files are available for download: http://mb.cision.com/Main/399/2155573/607449.pdf Panoro Signs Agreement to Partner with BW Offshore on Dussafu in Gabon SOURCE Panoro Energy ASA CALGARY, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - The 18th annual Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train raised more than spirits across North America this holiday season, with donations of $1.2 million and 250,000 pounds of food counted to this point. As food banks continue to count the money raised and weigh the food donated at each stop this year, the program is on track to have raised more than C$13 million and four million pounds of food since its inception in 1999. "With the need for food banks continually increasing in both Canada and the U.S., the importance of the CP Holiday Train program in the community is also increasing," said E. Hunter Harrison, CP's Chief Executive Officer. "Beyond food and monetary donations the CP Holiday Train generates goodwill, raises spirits and helps people start the holidays off on the right foot. We thank the communities across our network for supporting the program and giving back to their neighbours." The 2016 CP Holiday Train was proud to feature a full Canadian musical line-up with multiple Canadian Country Music Award and Juno Award winners. The Canadian train featured Dallas Smith and Odds. On board the U.S. train, Kelly Prescott partnered with Doc Walker between Montreal and Windsor, Ont., and Colin James through the U.S. Midwest and Great Plains. Jonathan Roy anchored the Quebec shows. The CP Holiday Train program is not the only way that CP gives back to food banks. CP also provides Food Banks Canada $250,000 worth of in-kind transportation services to support its National Food Sharing Service program. Since 2011 CP's contribution has helped transport more than 16 million pounds of food and household goods to food organizations across Canada. "We are grateful for the in-kind support that CP provides to Food Banks Canada through transportation resources and the direct monetary donations it gives to communities through the Holiday Train program," said Katharine Schmidt, Executive Director, Food Banks Canada. "CP's history as a Food Banks Canada partner is a long and collaborative one and we look forward to the future." The Capture the Spirit photo contest is now closed and winners have been chosen. Six winners will each be awarded a CP prize pack including a ride on the 2017 CP Holiday Train and a $1,000 donation to the food bank of their choice. Winners will be announced on the CP Holiday Train social media profiles. Facebook /HolidayTrain Twitter @CPHolidayTrain Instagram @CPHolidayTrain For additional information, photos, a route map and downloadable pictures of the two trains, visit http://www.cpr.ca/holiday-train About the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train CP's annual Holiday Train program is a rolling fundraising event that travels across Canada and the United States raising money, food and awareness for food banks and hunger issues, hosting free holiday concerts along the way. Since 1999 the program has raised more than C$13 million and four million pounds of food. Each Holiday Train is about 1,000 feet in length with 14 rail cars decorated with hundreds of thousands of technology-leading LED lights and a modified boxcar that has been turned into a traveling stage for performers. About Canadian Pacific Canadian Pacific (TSX:CP)(NYSE:CP) is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to eight major ports, including Vancouver and Montreal, providing North American customers a competitive rail service with access to key markets in every corner of the globe. CP is growing with its customers, offering a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. Visit cpr.ca to see the rail advantages of CP. SOURCE Canadian Pacific Holiday Train Related Links http://www.cpr.ca CHICAGO, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Families and friends will gather across America in the days to come to celebrate the holiday season and to look forward to the new year of 2017. But for the 42 million people in our nation who face hungerincluding 13 million childrenthe holidays are often a struggle. Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, distributes meals to more than 5 million people each week through a network of 200 food banks that provide food and groceries to 60,000 food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding sites. Feeding America wants everyone to consider nine facts about hunger in America: 1 in 9 children in North Dakota face hunger. Sadly, North Dakota has the lowest incidence of child food insecurity in the United States . (Map the Meal Gap 2016) 1 in 8 Americans lack consistent access to adequate amounts of nutritious food. (USDA, Household Food Security in the United States 2016) 1 in 7 Americans live at or below the federal poverty level, $24,250 for a family of four. (U.S. Census Bureau) 1 in 6 children in the U.S. are identified as food insecure. (USDA) 1 in 5 households that receive SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps) have no other household income of any kind. (USDA) Feeding America will distribute the equivalent of more than 4 billion meals to low-income Americans this year. 3 million households in rural America struggle with hunger. (Map the Meal Gap 2016) Nearly 2 million people spend more than 8.4 million hours each month volunteering at a food pantry, soup kitchen or other agency served by the 200 food banks that are part of the Feeding America network. Every single $1 donated to Feeding America will help us provide the equivalent of 11 free meals. Every $1 donated to Feeding America helps us provide 11 free meals to people at risk of hunger during the holidays and year-round. Find out how you can help by visiting feedingamerica.org. About Feeding America Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. SOURCE Feeding America Related Links http://www.feedingamerica.org Nuns visit the Grotto in the Church of the Nativity, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ (AFP Photo/Musa al Shaer) Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Preparations for Christmas are in full swing at the site of Jesus's birthplace, with Bethlehem shops, hotels and church officials planning for more visitors than 2015, when violence put a damper on celebrations. At Manger Square next to the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, the annual giant Christmas tree covered in gold ornaments is in place. Only a handful of Palestinians could be seen taking pictures near the tree on Wednesday while a number of tourists were walking around the city, located a short drive from Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Crowds will however file into the Palestinian city on Saturday for Christmas Eve, when celebrations culminate with midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity -- with the grotto where Jesus is believed to have been born underneath. Some 2,500 tickets are usually given out for the mass and those wishing to attend must register in advance. Beyond that, tens of thousands of tourists are expected to visit sites including Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth over the holidays, tourism officials say. Israel's tourism ministry said some 120,000 visitors were expected in December, half of them Christians. Christians make up less than two percent of the populations of both Israel and the Palestinian territories, though they account for some 28 percent of Bethlehem's 32,000 people. Palestinian officials said they were expecting more visitors than last year, with major hotels in Bethlehem booked. "There is more stability this year and the numbers coming out of the tourism ministry are showing that there will be growth between 2015 and 2016," said Sami Khoury, who runs the Visit Palestine online tourism portal. "There are more bookings this year. A lot of people are coming this month and the hotels are booked." Khoury was unable to provide specific figures. - More hotel bookings - Story continues There is more optimism this year in Israel and the West Bank after a wave of violence and protests that erupted in October 2015 sharply reduced visits for Christmas. The violence saw knife, gun and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians targeting Israelis. Many of the Palestinian assailants were killed by Israeli forces while others were shot dead during clashes and protests. The violence has greatly subsided in recent months, though tourists will still have to cross Israel's West Bank separation barrier to reach Bethlehem. Israel has occupied the West Bank for nearly 50 years. For Wahid al-Laham, a Bethlehem shop owner selling Christmas memorabilia and decorations, shopping has been better than last year but still falls short in comparison to previous years. Christmas shopping "was half the rate of previous years, but 80 percent higher than compared to 2015," he said. The 2014 war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip also decreased tourism that year. But while Israel and the West Bank have seen less violence, Christians across the wider Middle East were facing a "tragedy," a leading church figure said in Jerusalem on Monday. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and who will celebrate Bethlehem's midnight mass, pointed specifically to Syria and Iraq. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem heads the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land. Pizzaballa said up to two-thirds of Christians have left in Iraq and Syria. Christians in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave separated geographically from the West Bank, also face another grim year. The impoverished strip run by Islamist movement Hamas has seen three wars with Israel since 2008. It has been under an Israeli blockade for around a decade, while Egypt's border has also remained largely closed. The vast majority of the two million population are Muslim, though some 3,000 Christians live there. Nasser and Renee Jildeh are planning to have a quiet Christmas at their house near the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City, with only a small tree as a decoration. "We used to get a big Christmas tree decorated with beautiful things and put it near the entrance of the house," Renee Jildeh said. "But now we don't buy anything because of the bad economic situation." LONDON, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Automotive Safety Systems Market Report 2017-2027: Forecasts For Passive (Seatbelts, Airbags) & Active Technologies (EBD, ESC, TPMS, BSD, LDW, ACC, AFS, NVS, DMS) Road fatalities are increasingly high up the media agenda. The automotive industry also realises that emissions and vehicle deaths are their two Achilles heel in terms of brand image and sustainability as a product and means of mass transport. The automotive industry therefore has every interest in responding to the growing consumer demand for increased safety systems. This brand new report evaluates the current global market and future outlook for the automotive safety systems market. The report identifies the prevailing trends in the automotive safety system market and the drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges along with new business opportunities in the near future. Safety is one of the major concerns for the driver and the passenger while travelling. Growing number of fatalities in car accidents, increasing awareness and stringent government regulations has led to higher adoption of passive and active safety systems in vehicles. Automotive safety systems are equipment that helps in avoiding an accident, and in the event of accident, saves passengers and drivers from getting injured. The role of passive safety system comes into play during or after the accidents to minimize the damage from the collision whereas active safety systems prevent the risk of collision or accidents. Examples of these are Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) Visiongain's report keeps you informed and ahead of your competitors. Gain that competitive advantage. This report answers questions such as: What are the prospects for the overall automotive safety systems sector? What are the factors driving increased adoption of automotive safety systems? Which automotive safety systems technology will prevail? In which regions are the growth opportunities for automotive safety systems? Who are the key players in the automotive safety systems industry? What are the demand and supply dynamics underpinning the automotive safety systems sector? To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on [email protected] 5 Reasons why you must order and read this report today: 1) The report provides detailed profiles of 10 leading companies operating within the automotive safety systems market: - Bosch Company - Delphi Automotive PLC - Autoliv Inc. - Denso Corporation - Takata Corporation - ZF TRW - Continental AG - Johnson Electric Holdings Limited - Magna International Inc. - Mobileye N.V. 2) Global forecasts of automotive safety systems from 2017-2027 3) Our overview forecasts and analyses the passive automotive safety systems technologies from 2017-2027 These are forecast at the global level as well as individually for each of the 4 regions and 11 national markets: - Seatbelts - Airbags 4) Our study also forecasts and analyses the 10 active automotive safety systems technologies from 2017-2027. These are forecast globally and also for each of the 4 regions and 11 national markets: - Anti-Lock Braking Systems (ABS) - Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD) - Electronic Stability Control (ESC) - Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) - Blind Spot Detection (BSD) - Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDW) - Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) - Adaptive Front-Lighting Systems (AFS) - Night Vision Systems (NVS) - Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) 5) The study reveals where and how companies are investing in automotive safety systems. We show you the prospects for the following 4 regions and 11 national markets. Each country is also further segmented and individually forecasts each of the 12 automotive safety technologies. Asia-Oceania - China - India - Japan - Rest of Asia-Oceania North America - US - Canada - Mexico Europe - Germany - UK - France - Rest of Europe Rest of the World - Brazil - South Africa - Rest of RoW Competitive advantage This independent 180 page report guarantees you are better informed than your competitors. With 152 tables and figures examining the automotive safety systems. market space, the report gives you an immediate, one-stop breakdown of your market as well as analysis, from 2017-2027 keeping your knowledge that one step ahead of your rivals. Who should read this report? Anyone within the automotive industry and supply chain Automotive OEMs Electronic component suppliers Software developers Companies looking to enter the automotive safety systems market Technological solution providers R&D staff Automotive organisations & associations And also Executives Investors Business development managers Marketing managers Banks Government agencies Don't miss out This report is essential reading for you or anyone in the automotive sector with an interest in automotive safety systems. Purchasing this report today helps you to recognise those important market opportunities and understand the possibilities there. Order the Automotive Safety Systems Market Report 2017-2027 Forecasts For Passive (Seatbelts, Airbags) & Active Technologies (Anti-Lock Braking Systems (ABS), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Electronic Stability Control (ESC) , Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems(TPMS), Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDW), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Adaptive Front-Lighting Systems (AFS), Night Vision Systems (NVS), Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS)) report now. Get our new report now. To request a report overview of this report please emails Sara Peerun at [email protected] or call Tel: +44 (0) 20 7336 6100 Or click on https://www.visiongain.com/Report/1766/Automotive-Safety-Systems-Market-Report-2017-2027 Companies mentioned in the report Aisin Seiki Audi AG Autoliv Inc. Avtovaz Beijing Automotive BMW Borgwarner Inc Bosch Company Bosch Group Brilliance BYD Auto Co Ltd. Changan Automobile Chery Continental AG Continental Corporation Daimler AG Delphi Automotive PLC Denso Corporation Dongfeng Motor Corporation Faurecia FAW Group Ficosa International S.A. Ford Motor Company Freescale Fuji (Subaru) GAC Group Geely General Motors (GM) Gentex Gestamp Automocion Great Wall Hafei Motor Harman Hawtai Hella Hellermann Tyton Group PLC Honda Motor Company Ltd Hyundai Mobis Infineon Semiconductors AG Infineon Technologies AG International Rectifier Corp. Isuzu Iteris Inc JAC Motors Johnson Electric Holdings Limited Luxoft MACOM Magna International Inc. Mahindra Maruti Suzuki Mazda Meritor Inc. Mitsubishi Mobileye N.V. Nissan NVIDIA Omron Panasonic Philips & Lit-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) PLDS Ultrasonic Porsche Qualcomm Renault Renesas Ricardo plc Robert Bosch GmbH SAIC Motor Corporation Schrader international Shanghai Automotive Smarteye AB Sogefi Group Ssangyong ST Microelectronics Takata Corporation Tass International Tata Motors Tesla Motors Texas Instruments ThyssenKrupp AG Tognum AG Tokai Rika Toshiba Corporation Toyota Corporation TRW Automotive Valeo Volkswagen Volvo Car Corporation Voxx Electronics WABCO Vehicle Control Systems ZF TRW To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on [email protected] SOURCE Visiongain Ltd NEW HAVEN, Conn., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. ("Biohaven" or the "Company") announced today that it has enrolled the first patient in its potentially pivotal Phase 2b/3 clinical trial assessing the efficacy and safety of its drug candidate BHV-4157 in patients with hereditary spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA). SCA is a rare and debilitating neurodegenerative disorder with no currently approved therapies. In May 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the company's request for orphan drug designation for BHV-4157, a new chemical entity (NCE) that modulates brain glutamate, for the treatment of SCA. SCA is estimated to affect approximately 10,000 to 20,000 people in the United States. The standard of care treatment is supportive treatment, and no medications are currently approved for this debilitating condition. Glutamate is one of the most important neurotransmitters in the central nervous system that is present in more than 90% of all brain synapses. Agents that modulate glutamate neurotransmission may have therapeutic potential in multiple disease states involving glutamate dysfunction, including SCA, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, Rett syndrome, dementia, dystonia, tinnitus, anxiety disorders, and affective disorders like major depressive disorder. Vlad Coric M.D., Chief Executive Officer at Biohaven, commented, "Enrolling the first patient in our SCA trial is an important milestone and demonstrates Biohaven's commitment to exploring novel treatments for individuals suffering from severe neurologic conditions." Dr. Coric added, "Treatment with BHV-4157 represents a promising therapeutic option for patients, and this trial advances our glutamate modulating platform into the clinic." Biohaven expects to enroll approximately 120 patients in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial across approximately 15 sites in the United States. Researchers will evaluate acute symptomatic treatment with BHV-4157 in patients with SCA. The primary outcome measure is the change from baseline in the total score on the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA). The trial will also assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of BHV-4157. If the results of the pivotal trial are positive, Biohaven expects to be able to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) for BHV-4157 for the treatment of SCA. Additional details about the trial can be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov. "The prognosis for these patients is poor," said Theresa A. Zesiewicz, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Director of the University of South Florida Ataxia Research Center and an investigator in the trial. Dr. Zesiewicz added, "There is no FDA-approved treatment for SCA, which progresses relentlessly. BHV-4157 offers hope for much-needed new therapies. We are pleased to have enrolled the first patient in this clinical trial and look forward to further investigating BHV-4157 in patients living with SCA." Robert Berman M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Biohaven, stated, "Biohaven has worked with the leading ataxia experts to design this trial, and we are excited to see the culmination of our efforts with the initiation of patient enrollment. We will be working closely with investigators to complete this trial in an efficient manner with the highest quality data to assess whether BHV-4157 has efficacy in SCA." About Spinocerebellar Ataxia Spinocerebellar Ataxias, or SCAs, are disorders of the cerebellum and its outflow tracts that are characterized clinically by progressive ataxia and are attributed to various autosomal dominant genetic mutations. While different mutations may lead to some variation in clinical presentation, the typical clinical course of SCAs may be described as starting with balance and coordination impairment. Incoordination of hands, arms, and legs, and slurring of speech are other common early symptoms. Walking becomes difficult and is characterized by a gait with feet placed further apart to compensate for poor balance. Impaired coordination of the arms and hands affects the ability to perform tasks requiring fine motor control such as writing and eating. As time goes on, ataxia can affect speech and swallowing and some patients require wheelchair assistance. There are no approved treatments for SCAs. About Biohaven Biohaven is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company with particular expertise in neurologic and rare diseases, with a portfolio of multiple late-stage drug candidates. Biohaven has licensed intellectual property from Yale University, Catalent, ALS Biopharma LLC, Massachusetts General Hospital and two global pharmaceutical companies. The Company plans to commence pivotal trials of its advanced drug candidate within the next year. Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal and Canadian securities laws. These forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including statements that are based on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company's management. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding the Company's plans and objectives, expectations and assumptions of management are forward-looking statements. The use of certain words, including the words "estimate," "project," "intend," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "will," "plan," "could," "may" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements regarding the future development, performance and regulatory approval of BHV-4157. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements, and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including receipt of regulatory approvals and the performance of BHV-4157 in the Phase 2b/3 pivotal trial. The forward-looking statements are made as of this date and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. CONTACT INFORMATION Contact: Dr. Vlad Coric CEO Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. (203) 404-0410 email: [email protected] website: www.biohavenpharma.com SOURCE Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. Related Links http://www.clinicaltrials.gov The response was overwhelming. In just six days, hundreds of individuals submitted entries for the C Spire Christmas Wish. No purchase was necessary to participate. The three winning entries all involved inspiring, yet simple stories of family, faith, hope and love in the midst of daunting personal, health and financial challenges that represent some of the best examples of the indomitable human spirit. C Spire is helping each winner make their wish a reality. "As a company that gets its inspiration from our customers, we were amazed by the incredible stories of everyday hard-working people courageously and valiantly striving to help their families and the people they love," said Jim Richmond, vice president of Corporate Communications for C Spire. "When we say that we work for our customers - that extends to serving our communities and the people in them. During the holidays, especially, it's a good time to stop and appreciate the inspiring stories of our customers and the privilege to participate in bringing joy in even this small way." Mary Benton, a school librarian from Biloxi, sought help to pay the insurance deductible for her 33-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Brumbaugh, a barista at the Island View Casino coffee shop who is battling a rare form of leukemia. The cash will pay for a portion of the chemotherapy treatments her daughter needs to continue the life-and-death struggle with the disease. "When I learned about the Christmas wish, I didn't even have to think about what I wanted," Benton said, noting that her husband's own battle with cancer limits their ability to help financially. "I just knew that I had to do this for my daughter. She goes to work every day, even when she doesn't feel good. She works really hard and has a tremendous spirit. I believe she'll beat this disease." Brumbaugh said she was worried about how she was going to pay her medical bills. "I had no way of knowing how I was going to pay for the bills. My Mom certainly couldn't help because of her circumstances. I don't want to ask for help from anybody, but I appreciate C Spire stepping up in this way." Essence Anthony is a young Southaven woman struggling to make ends meet while supporting two younger sisters and a niece who live with her. She works at her job to put food on the table, pay the rent, keep her car running and the lights on in her home. Her wish? Some cash to help pay the bills and keep creditors at bay. "I'm not on any public assistance and my family means everything to me," Anthony said. "I work hard and take care of them before myself. The circumstances make it just about impossible to get by. C Spire's help is an answer to prayer and means the world to me. It's the difference between resting at night and crying myself to sleep." For the friends who nominated Shay and Roosevelt Greenwood and their five children, the wish was simple. A vacation and time away for the entire family to spend quality time together as a respite from the shock and devastation of a recent diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer for the 47-year-old head of their Madison household. A family who has home-schooled all of their children ranging in age from 5 to 20, the strength and courage the couple have displayed during the cancer battle has inspired friends and co-workers. "Their humility, simple grace and faith in the face of adversity and this huge, life-altering challenge is amazing," said family friend Chelsey Mcmillen, who submitted the wish on behalf of the Greenwoods. "God has granted me the ability to continue to do the things I love, which is supporting my wife and children and continuing to be involved in their lives," Roosevelt Greenwood said. "Time away with the people I love is precious to me so C Spire doing something like this for me and my family is truly a blessing." Based on the level of consumer participation, C Spire also made an $8,000 contribution to Make-A Wish. Since 1980, Make-A-Wish gives hope, strength and joy to children with life-threatening medical conditions by granting them their one true wish. Local chapters in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama grant hundreds of wishes each year. Richmond said C Spire has produced a special video on the Christmas Wish program and, starting at the close of business on Dec. 24 through Christmas day, the company will pause its promotional advertising to focus on the spirit of the holiday by featuring the inspiring stories of the three winners on all company billboards and its e-commerce website. The video can be viewed at www.cspire.com/wish. About C Spire C Spire is a diversified telecommunications and technology services company that provides world-class customer-inspired service and a superior comprehensive suite of wireless communications, high-speed Internet access and a range of other telecommunications products and services to consumers and businesses. This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire. SOURCE C Spire LOS ANGELES, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing their series of promotional campaigns for Japan's lesser known regions, the Japanese travel agency H.I.S. is inviting travelers to learn about Akita Prefecture, located in the northern Tohoku Region of Japan. Although the rural prefecture is domestically known for stunning natural scenery, some of the nation's best hot springs, and unique regional traditions, very few international travelers set foot in the prefecture. H.I.S. is looking to remedy that by freely giving away presents representing what the prefecture has to offer. By correctly identifying photographs of some of Akita's most beautiful spots (the company's encyclopedic online guide to all things Japan travel is there to help) fans of their Facebook page can win crafts, such as locally produced chopsticks and washi paper, instant versions of the region's unique ramen, plushies of the famous Akita dog, and much more, all while learning about the culture of Akita. Amidst increased saturation of tourists in Japan's most well beaten path of Tokyo and Kyoto, H.I.S. is drawing travelers to farther-flung corners of the country with flight and hotel deals that are often more affordable, and of course much quicker, than rail travel. These destinations also happen to offer the more authentic, "off-the-beaten path" experiences that many travelers crave. Bundles of roundtrip flights from Tokyo with one night stays in Akita City start from only $99, with many other hotels to choose from in areas such as the ancient beech forest Shirakami Sanchi, the rustic, hidden hot springs of Nyuto Onsen, and the well-preserved samurai town of Kakunodate. Those looking to learn more about traveling to Akita can visit the following page: for PC: https://goo.gl/67wrCj for smart phones: https://goo.gl/rgou9G Those with inquiries can contact H.I.S.'s Los Angeles Branch for personalized service: (310) 575-4544 [email protected] The present campaign is being held on H.I.S.'s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DestinationJapanByHIS/ The campaign is scheduled to last until January 12th, 2017. ABOUT H.I.S.: The American branch of one of Japan's biggest travel agencies, H.I.S. International Tours has multiple branches across the U.S. Their services range from fully escorted group tours to independent travel packages as well as flights, hotels, and other travel services to Japan and other destinations such as Hawaii, Dubai, and Bali. URL: http://www.hisgo.com/us/contents/index.aspx?lang=en SOURCE H.I.S. International Tours Related Links http://www.hisgo.com Stock Market Symbols GIB.A (TSX) GIB (NYSE) www.cgi.com/newsroom QUEBEC CITY, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB) announced the renewal and expansion of its long-term partnership with iA Financial Group (Industrial Alliance, Insurance and Financial Services Inc.) for 10 years, taking the agreement to 2026. Valued at approximately $150 million, the agreement has CGI continuing to support the strategic growth of iA Financial Group, one of the largest life and health insurance companies in Canada, by remaining its preferred IT partner and providing a wide range of IT services and solutions to support its digital transformation. "CGI has been our business partner for 20 years due to its quality of service and client proximity business model," said Guy Daneau, Senior Vice-President, Information Systems, at iA Financial Group. "CGI is a first-class partner that is fully committed to iA Financial Group's success. The extension and expansion of our long-term partnership will allow us to allocate more resources to our projects and spur our digital transformation, which remains a top priority for our company's growth. CGI has in-depth knowledge of the insurance industry and extensive professional expertise that will help us enhance our competitive advantage and achieve our strategic objectives." "We are delighted to expand and strengthen this long-term partnership, and to contribute to the ongoing growth and success of iA Financial Group," said Chantal Buteau, Senior Vice-President, Quebec City Operations, at CGI. "We also are pleased to support iA Financial Group as it develops and implements its digital strategy. They will benefit from our global network of experts and exemplary worldwide track record of delivering projects on time and within budget. We will leverage agile delivery, CGI's end-to-end solutions, and take advantage of innovative approaches to optimizing IT investments, particularly through the use of cloud computing." CGI provides IT services to 7 of the top 10 insurers in the world. About CGI Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is the fifth largest independent information technology and business process services firm in the world. Approximately 68,000 professionals serve thousands of global clients from offices and delivery centers across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, leveraging a comprehensive portfolio of services including high-end business and IT consulting, systems integration, application development and maintenance, infrastructure management as well as 150 IP-based services and solutions. With annual revenue in excess of C$10 billion and an order backlog exceeding C$20 billion, CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Website: www.cgi.com. Forward-Looking Statements All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. These statements and this information represent CGI's intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs, and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, of which many are beyond the control of the Company. These factors could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. These factors include but are not restricted to: the timing and size of new contracts; acquisitions and other corporate developments; the ability to attract and retain qualified members; market competition in the rapidly evolving IT industry; general economic and business conditions; foreign exchange and other risks identified in the press release, in CGI's annual and quarterly Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") and in other public disclosure documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities (filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (filed on EDGAR at www.sec.gov), as well as assumptions regarding the foregoing. The words "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "foresee", "plan", and similar expressions and variations thereof, identify certain of such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. In particular, statements relating to future performance are forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. CGI disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements or on this forward-looking information. SOURCE CGI Group Inc. Related Links http://www.cgi.com/ PITTSBURGH, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gateway Health is a proud sponsor of the 2016 Citiparks Holiday Break Camps. These camps, held at Citiparks' recreation centers throughout the city of Pittsburgh, allow local children on break from school to participate in numerous winter activities, as well as receive a healthy breakfast and lunch daily. The Holiday Break Camps program fills the gap that is often presented to children facing food insecurity or those with working parents who while children are on break from school, while offering breakfast and lunch programs to them. Citiparks, through Gateway's sponsorship will provide over 600 meals daily and an estimated 2,500 - 3,000 meals served at the seven centers for the duration of the program. This year's Winter Camp will run from December 27 through December 31 while City of Pittsburgh schools are closed for the winter holiday break. The goal of the program is not only to provide meals to children, but also to promote fun and healthy indoor and outdoor activities. The Winter Break Camp also provides a safe and educational supervised environment where their kids can play, learn, and develop while away from the classroom. As part of the sponsorship, Gateway will also provide children attending the camp with winter stocking caps to keep warm during the upcoming Pittsburgh winter. Ten of the Citiparks community recreation centers will host the Winter Break Camps including: Jefferson, West Penn, Paulson, Ammon, Ormsby, Magee, Arlington, Warrington, Brookline, and Phillips. Gateway Health saw firsthand the positive affect of the Citiparks programs when they sponsored this past summer's Citiparks Summer Grub Up and Field Day which made it an easy decision for Gateway Health CEO, Patti Darnley, to again partner with Citiparks. "The success of the summer Grub Up program and the impact it has on children and their families in the Pittsburgh and community, was an influencing factor in sponsoring the Winter Break Camps," said Darnley. "Many of these children may be Gateway members and the break from school can present challenges in providing healthy meals. Our job as a Pittsburgh corporate citizen and non-profit health plan is to lend a hand to programs that provide a positive effect on our local citizens and their community." About Gateway Health Gateway Health is a nationally ranked managed care organization that focuses on providing the best possible healthcare to a growing number of Medicaid and Medicare Advantage consumers. A not-for-profit organization, Gateway Health serves the needs of at risk and vulnerable citizens with not only healthcare coverage, but services such as disease management, health and wellness programs and preventive care. The organization provides Medicaid services in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia and Medicare coverage in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio and North Carolina. Our commitment to helping our members and their communities get and stay healthy is what keeps members, providers, communities and partners "Good with Gateway." To learn more about Gateway Health, visit us online at www.gatewayhealthplan.com. SOURCE Gateway Health Related Links http://www.gatewayhealthplan.com CLEVELAND and ARMONK, N.Y., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cleveland Clinic and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a five-year agreement to expand the Clinic's health information technology capabilities. The Clinic and IBM aim to establish a model for a health system transition to value-based care and population health, and to uncover potential standards that could be replicated by providers nationwide. The agreement builds on a decades-long relationship between the two organizations, and reflects the parties' intention to expand the use of IBMs secured cloud, social, mobile and Watson cognitive computing technologies across clinical and administrative operations. The collaboration is also being designed to better capture the value of data and to enhance patient care across the systems' nine regional hospitals and 18 full-service family health centers. As the healthcare industry grows increasingly dependent on technology to deliver efficient, high-quality, and affordable care, the new technology implementation is designed to enable efficient analysis of data from electronic health records (EHR), information from administrative claims, and social determinants of health, allowing for both personalized clinical care and broader population-focused management. For example, data analysis could help predict which diabetes patients are resistant to certain treatments and whether similarities exist within a group of diabetes patients that could help medical providers better tailor patient engagement to address specific needs, such as notifying of recommended treatments or actions to take. "This initiative with IBM is mutually beneficial and will significantly advance our IT capabilities, which are increasingly important to provide the best care to patients as healthcare becomes more and more technology dependent," said Toby Cosgrove, M.D., CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. "With the explosion of data in healthcare, the technology solutions we will develop and implement together could transform our ability to deliver quality, evidence-based care and better respond to the needs of our patients, caregivers and partners." The widespread adoption of EHRs across the U.S. has created an imperative for hospitals and health systems to apply advanced technologies, like Watson cognitive computing, to improve the quality and personalization of care while managing cost effectiveness. The collaborative relationship will allow Cleveland Clinic physicians to present clinical and administrative challenges to Watson such as mining mass amounts of data, combined with knowledge of medical literature and to train and focus Watson's capabilities to support clinical care and administrative tasks. "For the past five years, Cleveland Clinic has been central to IBM's effort to build Watson's cognitive capabilities in healthcare," said Deborah DiSanzo, general manager of IBM Watson Health. "Together, we will bring cognitive computing and an entire portfolio of IBM technology offerings to transform clinical care and administrative operations across the Cleveland Clinic, and help its renowned care providers deliver evidence-based, personalized and cognitive care to the individual patients they serve and the populations they manage." A longstanding and innovative relationship between IBM and Cleveland Clinic has included a variety of Watson projects including: 2011: After Watson won Jeopardy! , IBM and Cleveland Clinic joined forces to train the technology to "think"like a doctor. , IBM and Cleveland Clinic joined forces to train the technology to "think"like a doctor. 2013: IBM Research initiated an ongoing collaboration with Cleveland Clinic faculty, physicians and students to develop a Watson EMR assistant to help physicians quickly summarize and cull relevant insights from electronic medical records. 2014: Cleveland Clinic began its pilot of Watson for Genomics to aid its research into new cancer treatments based on a patient's genetic makeup. Cleveland Clinic continues to use the technology for genomic interpretation. for Genomics to aid its research into new cancer treatments based on a patient's genetic makeup. Cleveland Clinic continues to use the technology for genomic interpretation. 2014: Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University announced that IBM Watson would play a significant role as a tool to help students analyze symptoms based on evidence-based insights rather than rote memorization. The cognitive technology will become a vital part of a new $515 million Health Education Campus opening in 2019. announced that IBM Watson would play a significant role as a tool to help students analyze symptoms based on evidence-based insights rather than rote memorization. The cognitive technology will become a vital part of a new Health Education Campus opening in 2019. 2015: IBM acquired Explorys, a healthcare intelligence cloud company that has built one of the largest secured clinical data sets in the world, representing more than 50 million lives. Explorys was developed by Cleveland Clinic physicians and IT experts before becoming a "spin-off"company in 2009. "IBM believes this technology and innovation partnership with Cleveland Clinic will result in transformational information technology strategies enabling both the Cleveland Clinic and IBM to respond to disruptive changes occurring throughout the healthcare industry," said Philip Guido, General Manager, North America, IBM Services. About Cleveland Clinic: Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. Among Cleveland Clinic's 49,000 employees are more than 3,400 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 14,000 nurses, representing 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a 165-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, nine community hospitals, more than 150 northern Ohio outpatient locations including 18 full-service family health centers and three health and wellness centers and locations in Weston, Fla.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2015, there were 6.6 million outpatient visits, 164,700 hospital admissions and 208,807 surgical cases throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 180 countries. Visit us at www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic. About IBM Watson Health Watson is the first commercially available cognitive computing capability representing a new era in computing. The system, delivered through the cloud, analyzes high volumes of data, understands complex questions posed in natural language, and proposes evidence-based answers. Watson continuously learns, gaining in value and knowledge over time, from previous interactions. In April 2015, the company launched IBM Watson Health and the Watson Health Cloud platform. The new unit works with doctors, researchers and insurers to help them innovate by surfacing insights from the massive amount of personal health data being created and shared daily. The Watson Health Cloud can mask patient identities and allow for information to be shared and combined with a dynamic and constantly growing aggregated view of clinical, research and social health data. For more information on IBM Watson Health, visit: ibm.com/watsonhealth, and for more information on IBM Healthcare, visit: ibm.com/healthcare. About IBM Global Technology Services IBM Global Technology Services offers end-to-end IT consulting and business services supported by an unparalleled global delivery network that is transforming its business to lead in an era of Cognitive and Cloud. As a cloud services integrator, GTS is managing the services and underlying infrastructure in an integrated and unified way. It is modernizing clients' IT environments to help them meet the increasingly complex customer demands. GTS provides clients with innovative technology solutions that help them to improve their business processes and in turn, profitability. Media Contacts: Eileen Sheil Cleveland Clinic Communications (216) 444-8927 [email protected] Janice Guhl Corporate Communications, Cleveland Clinic [email protected] (216) 445-7452 Cell: (216) 312-0591 Lorie Fiber IBM Communications (646) 318-0575 [email protected] SOURCE IBM Related Links http://www.ibm.com NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- RAY DIRKS RESEARCH, available early 2017. His stock market views will be on this site. Dirks is very bullish now. Career highlights of Ray Dirks: Joined Goldman Sachs in 1963 as first Insurance Analyst with major firm. Headed 500-employee investment banking firm. Raised billions through managing hundreds of Initial Public Offerings in the 70's-80's. Dirks unearthed massive Equity Funding insurance stock fraud in 1973, largest stock fraud until Enron. In 1983 Dirks won against the SEC in supreme court. Dirks vs SEC defined 'insider trading' and is taught in law schools. Following are some samples of the types of coverage Dirks Research intends to provide. INSURANCE Hartford Financial Services Group and Aflac Incorporated. Hartford, the oldest US property casualty insurance company is one of the largest in the world. Book value is considerably higher than stock price. Additionally, substantial reinsurance protects it's downside risk. Aflac of Columbus, Georgia is the fastest growing health/life Insurance company in Japan. Yes, it is the same company with the duck! Aflac markets through its own agency and a vast network of Japanese post offices. It has high dividends and a strong history of stock buyback. Current P/E of 11 is roughly 50% of the last 30 years. HEALTHCARE Speaking of Japan, Cyberdyne is in the news recently. This neurorobotics company has modest sales, no earnings and nearly $2 billion market cap. Japanese are betting heavily on neurorobotics which allow the brain, or weak muscles to provide inputs to aid disabled limbs to function. Their history of nursing obscure technology to commercial blockbusters is enviable. Remember the VCR? Bionik Laboratories is similar but with better technology. MIT professors Drs. Hogan and Krebs, pioneers of neurorobotics are with Bionik. BNKL has several FDA approved products to rehabilitate stroke victims with paralysis which are ready to be marketed. The annual 400,000 impaired stroke victims should benefit from Bionik neurorobotics in 2017. Bionik robotics will be essential component of the $15 billion US physiotherapy market soon. Contact: [email protected] 1-917-443-1892 SOURCE RAY DIRKS RESEARCH Considering the many factors presenting as opportunities for the next development of a first- or best-in-class treatment, researchers are regularly challenged to rapidly evaluate the target landscape surrounding an indication or pathway. The new Target Druggability tool delivers quick, potential targets for a disease of interest. By understanding which targets are associated with a particular disease, if they have drugs associated with them, and at what stage of development they have progressed, researchers are better able to identify where the best scientific opportunities may exist. The Target Druggability tool utilizes multiple data sets, and its results are displayed for each individual target so that users can uncover knowledge about a selected target condition and its related evidence. Results are then linked to specific conditions of the target and include a variety of information about drugs ones that act against the target, genetic evidence, biomarker uses and animal model data. Putting this all together provides valuable insights to inform a researchers' understanding of that target, including the likelihood of translation into humans. "With almost 200 submissions for the Fierce awards, being one of the five finalists in the Data Analytics/Business Intelligence category is quite an honor," said Leo Lafferty-Whyte, Head of Discovery & Translational Science Products for Clarivate Analytics. "Fierce has an established name in the Life Sciences industry and to have our new product recognized prior to its official launch reinforces our belief in the ultimate value it will bring to research, not only with its intelligent insights and analytics, but also in its time savings." Drug Research Advisor Target Druggability is expected to be ready for early access to some in January, with its full launch expected in March of 2017. About FierceMarkets FierceMarkets, a division of Questex, LLC, is a leader in B2B e-media, providing information and marketing services in the telecommunications, life sciences, healthcare, IT, energy, government, finance, and retail industries through its portfolio of email newsletters, websites, webinars and live events. Every business day, FierceMarkets' wide array of digital publications reaches more than 2 million executives in more than 100 countries. Clarivate Analytics Clarivate Analytics accelerates the pace of innovation by providing trusted insights and analytics to customers around the world, enabling them to discover, protect and commercialize new ideas faster. Formerly the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters, we own and operate a collection of leading subscription-based businesses focused on scientific and academic research, patent analytics and regulatory standards, pharmaceutical and biotech intelligence, trademark protection, domain brand protection and intellectual property management. Clarivate Analytics is now an independent company with over 4,000 employees, operating in more than 100 countries and owns wellknown brands that include Web of Science, Cortellis, Thomson Innovation, Derwent World Patents Index, CompuMark, MarkMonitor, Thomson IP Manager and Techstreet, among others. For more information, please visit us at Clarivate.com. SOURCE Clarivate Analytics Related Links http://Clarivate.com "This is an extraordinary opportunity for both companies," said Karl Altergott, CEO of the Los Angeles-based Dunn-Edwards. "We will continue business as usual as Dunn-Edwards, producing our superior paint and maintaining our culture that we've embraced for 91 years. Plus, we'll have an influx of resources, new coatings technology and an opportunity to grow with a financially strong global leader." Nippon Paint's President and CEO Tetsushi Tado agrees. "We've wanted to expand our architectural paints in the U.S. and have been searching for the right partner," he explained. "It is important to us that Dunn-Edwards is the most environmentally responsible paint manufacturer, which fits with our mission. They are respected by both painting contractors and designers as a top choice. We enjoy the same reputation throughout Asia, so it's an ideal fit." The 135-year-old Nippon Paint Holdings is a pioneer in coatings technology in Japan and operates more than 30 manufacturing plants throughout Asia, producing over one million tons of paint and coatings annually. It is known globally for architectural paints, and premium automotive, industrial and marine coatings. Founded in Los Angeles, Dunn-Edwards has its roots in the Southwest, operating 130 stores along with 80+ authorized dealers. Dedicated to preserving and protecting the environment, Dunn-Edwards produces its coatings in a LEED Gold-certified manufacturing plant. Houlihan Lokey acted as Dunn-Edwards' financial adviser, and Potter Anderson & Corroon acted as Dunn-Edwards' legal counsel for the transaction. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Co., Ltd. (MUMSS) acted as Nippon Paint's financial adviser, and Alston & Bird acted as Nippon Paint's legal counsel. About Dunn-Edwards Corporation Dunn-Edwards Paints has produced and sold premium paint products for more than 91 years. With 130 company stores in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, and more than 80 authorized dealers throughout the Southwest, Dunn-Edwards is one of the nation's largest independent manufacturers and distributors of architectural, industrial and high performance paints and paint supplies. The company is dedicated to preserving and protecting the environment, and produces its coatings in a LEED Gold-certified manufacturing plant. Based in Southern California, the company has approximately 1,700 employees. For more information, visit www.dunnedwards.com. About Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. Nippon Paint Holdings, founded in 1881, is a global leader in the paint and coatings industry. Its 14,500 employees worldwide provide customers with advanced, innovative products and value-added services. Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, Nippon Paint operates in more than 25 countries, and generated reported net sales of $4.8 billion in 2015. Nippon Paint offers a comprehensive portfolio of paint and coatings products for architectural, automotive, industrial, and marine applications, as well as an array of surface treatment agents. For more information, please visit www.nipponpaint-holdings.com. SOURCE Dunn-Edwards Corporation Related Links http://www.dunnedwards.com "We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Arbor Day Foundation on such a long-term initiative, which has already reached 11 million plantings," said Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, President of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation . "The Arbor Day Foundation's professional management helps ensure that our investment in global reforestation has the best success rate possible and leaves a lasting legacy for generations to come." Established in 2006 in honor of Enterprise's 50th anniversary and to thank Enterprise customers for their support, the 50 Million Tree Pledge is planting one million trees per year through 2056. Today, millions of young trees are growing in diverse U.S. forests throughout 16 states Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming plus in Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the U.K. In total, there have been more than 90 planting projects since 2006, with each one individually selected to prioritize immediate reforestation needs and to help restore ecosystems after wildfires or other natural disasters strike. "Millions of acres of the world's forests are impacted by wildfires and natural disasters every year," said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. "Enterprise Holdings Foundation financial support plays a crucial role in protecting vital water resources, restoring habitats for endangered wildlife and improving air quality in communities around the world." In addition to the Arbor Day Foundation, the Enterprise 50 Million Tree Pledge involves a variety of partners, from the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. National Park Service , and the National Association of State Foresters, to Tree Canada , Trees Ontario , the U.K.'s Woodland Trust , France's Reforest'Action, Spain's Sustainable Forests (Bosques Sostenibles) and the German Forest Protection Association (Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald). 2016 Highlights In 2016, the pledge accounted for approximately 20 percent of the Arbor Day Foundation's annual reforestation plantings. This year, the Enterprise Holdings Foundation supported its first reforestation project in the state of New Mexico, planting 20,000 ponderosa pine seedlings on 100 acres of Santa Fe National Forest a crucial water source for the city of Santa Fe that was devastated by the Las Conchas Fire of 2011. The program also included plantings in France and Spain for the first time. In France, Enterprise helped plant 50,000 trees in Landes Forest as part of a new partnership with Reforest'Action. In Spain, Enterprise partnered with Bosques Sostenibles to plant 10,000 trees in the Sierra de Gredos mountain range. Other 50 Million Tree Pledge planting projects for 2016 also included: This press release and car rental industry news are available in the Enterprise Holdings Press Room. The Enterprise Holdings Press Room also includes Fact Sheets for car rental brands and business divisions as well as awards and other reports. About Enterprise Holdings Foundation The Enterprise Holdings Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Enterprise Holdings, the world's largest car rental company. The Foundation was established in 1982 by Enterprise's founder, Jack Taylor, to strengthen and give back to the thousands of communities where customers and employees live and work. In total, the Foundation has contributed more than $266 million to nonprofits focused on community improvement, education and environmental stewardship. Almost 90 percent of the grants made by the Foundation fulfill requests by employees to help local causes they personally champion and actively support. In addition, the Foundation provides sizable grants to nonprofits that have strategic or social importance, as well as to relief projects as they arise, including natural disasters that affect customers and employees. The Foundation also provides a 50 percent match for each employee contribution to the United Way in the U.S. and Canada, as part of one of the largest United Way corporate campaigns in North America. About Arbor Day Foundation Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation has grown to become the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees, with more than one million members, supporters, and valued partners. During the last 44 years, more than 250 million Arbor Day Foundation trees have been planted in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world. Our vision is to help others understand and use trees as a solution to many of the global issues we face today, including air quality, water quality, climate change, deforestation, poverty and hunger. As one of the world's largest operating conservation foundations, the Arbor Day Foundation, through its members, partners and programs, educates and engages stakeholders and communities across the globe to involve themselves in its mission of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees. More information is available at arborday.org. SOURCE Enterprise Holdings Foundation SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance Market Statistics Service (MSS) today announced that the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry revenue increased 7.0 percent for Q3 2016 to $2093.7 million, compared to $1957.5 million in Q3 2015. The four-quarters moving average, which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters, increased by 3.7 percent. "The industry realized solid growth in Q3, with all of the geographic regions Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Japan, and Asia/Pacific - reporting revenue increases," said Walden C. Rhines, board sponsor for the ESD Alliance MSS and chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics. "Product categories CAE, Semiconductor IP, IC Physical Design & Verification, and services all reported increases in the third quarter." Companies that were tracked employed a record 35,515 professionals in Q3 2016, an increase of 6.2 percent compared to the 33,430 people employed in Q3 2015, and up 1.5 percent compared to Q3 2016. The complete quarterly MSS report, containing detailed revenue information broken out by both categories and geographic regions, is available to members of the ESD Alliance. Revenue by Product Category Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) generated revenue of $666.7 million in Q3 2016 which represents a 5 percent increase compared to Q3 2015. The four-quarters moving average for CAE decreased 1.2 percent. IC Physical Design & Verification revenue was $441.3 million in Q3 2016, an 8.2 percent increase compared to Q3 2015. The four-quarters moving average increased 2.8 percent. Printed Circuit Board and Multi-Chip Module (PCB & MCM) revenue of $162.2 million for Q3 2016 represents a decrease of 0.1 percent compared to Q3 2015. The four-quarters moving average for PCB & MCM increased 0.9 percent. Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP) revenue totaled $720.9 million in Q3 2016, a 10.4 percent increase compared to Q3 2015. The four-quarters moving average increased 10.1 percent. Services revenue was $102.6 million in Q3 2016, an increase of 3 percent compared to Q3 2015. The four-quarters moving average increased 2.9 percent. Revenue by Region The Americas, EDA's largest region, purchased $932.9 million of EDA products and services in Q3 2016, an increase of 3.2 percent compared to Q3 2015. The four-quarters moving average for the Americas increased 1.3 percent. Revenue in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) increased 2.3 percent in Q3 2016 compared to Q3 2015 on revenues of $297 million. The EMEA four-quarters moving average decreased 0.7 percent. Third-quarter 2016 revenue from Japan increased 3.9 percent to $213.2 million compared to Q3 2015. The four-quarters moving average for Japan increased 5.5 percent. The Asia/Pacific (APAC) region revenue increased to $650.6 million in Q3 2016, an increase of 16.6 percent compared to the third quarter of 2015. The four-quarters moving average increased 9 percent. The complete MSS report, available to the ESD Alliance members, contains additional detail for countries in the Asia/Pacific region. About the MSS Report The ESD Alliance Market Statistics Service reports EDA industry revenue data quarterly and is available to Alliance members. Both public and private companies contribute data to the report. Each quarterly report is published approximately three months after quarter close. MSS report data is segmented as follows: revenue type (product licenses and maintenance, services, and SIP), application (CAE, PCB/MCM Layout, and IC Physical Design & Verification), and region (the Americas, Europe Middle East and Africa, Japan, and Asia Pacific), with many subcategories of detail provided. The report also tracks total employment of the reporting companies. About the ESD Alliance The Electronic System Design Alliance (ESD Alliance) is an international association of companies that provide goods and services that are the foundation of the semiconductor design ecosystem. This ecosystem encompasses all of the activities required to create a semiconductor design and associated hardware and software for manufacturing and delivery of new electronic products. Member companies include developers and suppliers of EDA, semiconductor IP, embedded software, packaging, PCB/interconnect and others. Collectively, they provide the software, services, intellectual property and hardware needed to design and verify semiconductors, associated software, packaging and interconnect technologies for the manufacturing of these products. Markets served by these products range from computers, communications, networking, medical and industrial equipment, automotive electronics, and consumer electronics to emerging markets such as the Internet of Things (IoT). For more information about the ESD Alliance, visit http://esd-alliance.org/. The information supplied by the ESD Alliance is believed to be accurate and reliable, but the ESD Alliance assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Press Contacts: Paul Cohen, ESD Alliance, 978-769-2106 Suzanne Graham, Mentor Graphics, 503-685-7789 SOURCE Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance Related Links http://www.esd-alliance.org DUBLIN, Dec 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) Markets: Consumables, Systems/Hardware, Services" report to their offering. Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) Markets: Consumables, Systems/Hardware, Services examines the opportunity for cell-free DNA analysis instruments, consumables, kits, and related software. Current sales analysis and projections to 2021 are provided, as well as measurements of market growth; sales by product type; sales revenues of major competitors in the market; and geographic performance in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world. Intellectual Property Litigation in the cfDNA analysis market is discussed, as well as collaborations. Illumina and Thermo Fisher Scientific are among the manufacturers discussed in the report's competitor analysis. Market challenges and responses to these challenges are also presented Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1: Executive Summary NIPT, Oncology Leading Market Forward Sensitivity Benefits of dPCR, qPCR, NGS Challenges, Biological and Technologies Limitations Scope and Methodology Chapter 2: Introduction NIPT Companies, Others Shifting Strategies to Cancer Expanding Clinical Adoption Sustains High Growth Government Initiatives -- Cancer Moonshot, Blood Profiling Atlas Mergers, Acquisitions, Equity Investments Increasing China Becoming Major Player in Market Personalized, Proactive Medicine Gaining Momentum Expected Sequencer Platforms Stalled or Cancelled Significant Efforts in Automation, Miniaturization Regulatory Situation Unclear But Evolving Somewhat Chapter 3: cfDNA Analysis Products cfDNA Reagents, Consumables, and Kits cfDNA Systems and Software cfDNA NIPT Products and Services cfDNA in Oncology, Transplantation and Other Diseases cfDNA Other Products Recent Product/ Service Introductions Chapter 4: Market Analysis Revenues Forecast Market Size and Forecast cfDNA Clinical Diagnostics Market cfDNA Market by Region Revenues by Product Type Illumina Sequencing Revenues as Indicator Chapter 5: cfDNA Instruments and Consumables Competitive Analysis Chapter 6: Intellectual Property and Litigation Sequenom, Several NIPT Companies Fighting Ariosa Diagnostics (Roche) Files Suit Against Sequenom Natera Sues Sequenom; Sequenom Sues Natera Verinata Health and Stanford File Against Sequenom Verinata Health Against Ariosa and LabCorp Illumina Sues Ariosa Diagnostics for NIPT Test Illumina Sues Premaitha Health for NIPT Test Illumina Sues Premaitha and Ariosa Partners Sequenom and Illumina Settle and Pool Patents Sequenom Petitions Supreme Court Illumina Sues Qiagen for GeneReader System Illumina's Conflicts with Oxford Nanopore Enzo Biochem Brings Suit Against Numerous Companies Cell-Free DNA Markets RainDance Technologies Sues 10X Genomics 10X Genomics' Dispute with Bio-Rad Sequenom Shareholder Sues Over Price Capping Helicos' Patent Infringement Suit Against PacBio, Life Technologies, and Illumina Illumina's Two Lawsuits Against Complete Genomics for Infringement Life Technologies and Illumina Dispute Over Amplification on Solid Surfaces Enzo Biochem Disputes Sequencing Patents LabCorp's Esoterix Sues Life Technologies Genetic Technologies Sues Several Firms for Infringement of Haplotype Determination Technique Chapter 7: cfDNA Analysis Market Deals The Significant Collaborations Chapter 8: cfDNA Instruments and Consumables Market Corporate Profiles Agilent Technologies Bio-Rad F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Fluidigm Illumina Qiagen RainDance Technologies Thermo Fisher Scientific Chapter 9: Challenges and Strategic Recommendations For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hxnsjf/cellfree_dna Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] 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 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com DALLAS, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Finding a replacement for Obamacare that their colleagues will support may prove to be an impossible task for Republicans on Capitol Hill, says a health economist familiar with the obstacles involved. "All Republicans want to repeal and replace Obamacare," says John Goodman, who is president of the Goodman Institute and is often referred to as the Father of Health Savings Accounts. "Many Democrats would also like major changes. But there may be no practical way to get that done." Goodman says four huge political constraints stand in the way. Most members of Congress -- whether Republican or Democratwill not vote for a plan that takes health insurance away from 23 million people. That means those who have been insured by Obamacare are going to have to be grandfathered to some degree, so they can keep the insurance they now have. Only one Republican proposal actually does this. To pay for the subsidies for those 23 million people, most replacement plans are proposing a Republican version of a Cadillac plan tax on employer-provided health insurance. Yet Donald Trump says he wants to lower taxes on the middle class not raise them, and most Republicans in Congress are on record as opposing a Cadillac tax. says he wants to lower taxes on the middle class not raise them, and most Republicans in Congress are on record as opposing a Cadillac tax. While imposing a Cadillac tax, most replacement plans would at the same time repeal all other Obamacare taxes including taxes on insurance companies, drug companies, big business and big labor. This risks creating a politically toxic image of a shift in the tax burden from special interests to ordinary workers. To lessen the burden of the Cadillac tax, some plans (including Speaker Ryan's plan) would keep Obamacare's cuts in Medicare payments to doctors and hospitals cuts that Republicans themselves have warned could threaten access to care for future beneficiaries. But the same proposal abolishes Obamacare's Medicare payroll tax on high income earners creating a politically dangerous image in which costs are shifted from the very rich to the elderly and the disabled. "Obamacare at least had the appearance of fairness" said Goodman. "Every sector had to bear part of the burden of reform. The Republican proposals, by contrast, are great for K Street and great for the top 1 percent, but they shift the burden of insuring the uninsured to those least able to pay for it." "Politically, that's a hard sell -- even to Republican voters," he added. See more at Why The Republicans Don't Have An Obamacare Replacement Plan. SOURCE Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research HOLMDEL, N.J., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) ("the Company"), a leading provider of cloud communications for business, has elected Hamid Akhavan to serve as a member of its Board of Directors. Mr. Akhavan has nearly 30 years of Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) experience, with proven CEO and Board of Director experience at organizations spanning from large public corporations, to private equity-funded companies, to startups. With expertise in the wireless, hardware and software markets, as well as in enterprise cloud communications, Mr. Akhavan brings broad and deep strategic technology leadership to the Vonage board. With the addition of Mr. Akhavan, Vonage's Board will be composed of nine diverse highly qualified Directors, six of whom joined the Board in the last five years and eight of whom are independent. A senior executive with vast enterprise experience leading companies and organizations of substantial scale and complexity on a global basis, Mr. Akhavan is currently a partner at Long Arc Capital, a private equity firm specializing in disruptive technology investments. In this role, he has focused on innovation and new services in cyber security, FinTech and other high growth areas. "We are thrilled to welcome Hamid to the Vonage Board of Directors. His deep and versatile technology, enterprise and communications experience will add significant strategic insight to our board," said Alan Masarek, Vonage Chief Executive Officer. "Hamid's proven ability to find new sources of growth and to look ahead for new opportunities in the rapidly evolving communications industry will serve Vonage well as we continue on our journey to become the global leader in cloud communications for business." Prior to joining Long Arc Capital, Mr. Akhavan was CEO of Unify, Inc., a $2 billion private equity-backed joint venture between the Gores Group and Siemens, where he spearheaded significant turnaround and restructuring efforts to reposition the company from a traditional PBX manufacturer to a cloud-based provider of enterprise communications solutions. Before leading Unify, Mr. Akhavan was Chief Operating Officer of Deutsche Telekom, and earlier was CEO of T-Mobile, where he also served as Chief Technology and Information Officer. Prior to joining T-Mobile, Mr. Akhavan served as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer at Teligent Inc., an international broadband fixed and wireless access company, and held various executive-level positions at other technology companies. Mr. Akhavan holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from CalTech, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from MIT. "It is an honor to join Vonage's talented Board at such a transformational time in the Company's history, but also during a period of significant growth in an industry that is evolving very rapidly," Mr. Akhavan said. "Vonage has successfully built upon its roots and strengths as a consumer VoIP company and accelerated its transformation into a leader in cloud communications for business. I look forward to drawing upon my experience and working with the Board and the Vonage management team to help continue this positive momentum and drive Vonage's continued success." About Vonage Vonage (NYSE: VG) is a leading provider of cloud communications services for business. Vonage transforms the way people work and businesses operate through a portfolio of cloud-based communications solutions that enable internal collaboration among employees, while also keeping companies closely connected with their customers, across any mode of communication, on any device. Vonage's Nexmo API Platform provides tools for voice, messaging and phone verification services, allowing developers to embed contextual, programmable communications into mobile apps, websites and business systems, enabling enterprises to easily communicate relevant information to their customers in real time, anywhere in the world, through text messaging, chat, social media and voice. The Company also provides a robust suite of feature-rich residential communication solutions. In 2015 and 2016, Vonage was named a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as-a-Service, Worldwide. Vonage has also earned the Frost & Sullivan Growth Excellence Leadership Award for Hosted IP and Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) Services. For more information, visit www.vonage.com. Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey. Vonage is a registered trademark of Vonage Marketing LLC, owned by Vonage America Inc. To follow Vonage on Twitter, please visit www.twitter.com/vonage. To become a fan on Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/vonage. To subscribe on YouTube, visit www.youtube.com/vonage. (vg-f) SOURCE Vonage Holdings Corp. Related Links http://www.vonage.com With more than 750 locations in 32 countries, Hearts On Fire retailers are a rapidly growing, passionate group of partners. However, unlike past years, where awards were given based on region, the 2016 honors were given to retail partners who best aligned themselves with Hearts On Fire's specific business goals. All of these teams are recognized for dedication to growing their Hearts On Fire business, providing an unforgettable brand experience, maximizing marketing initiatives and in store environments, and most importantly, an immersion into the Hearts On Fire culture of exceptional training and brand values designed to drive sell through at the counter. The winners for this year are as follows: Global Retailer of the Year- James & Sons with locations in Chicago and Orland Park, IL and Schereville, IN James & Sons with locations in and and Schereville, IN Rookie of the Year - The Diamond Galleria - Evansville, IN - The Diamond Galleria - Bridal Retailer of the Year - Wedding Ring Shop, Honolulu, HI - Wedding Ring Shop, Increased Sell-Through Retailer of the Year - Koser Jewelers Mount Joy, PA - Koser Jewelers Brand Advocate Retailer of the Year - MG Joyeros Panama City, Panama "2016 was a year of laser focus for Hearts On Fire, as we took huge strides in building the brand and continuing to strengthen our independent retail partnerships. Our primary objective and the foundation of our programs was to drive sell through success at retail and support our partners to achieve a ROI above industry standards," said Caryl Capeci, President of Hearts On Fire. "As a result, our brand is stronger than ever, and we are positioned for huge momentum as we head into the New Year. We sincerely thank our partners worldwide, and hope that they are all as excited as we are to see what comes next during this exciting time." Receiving this year's top honor is Global Retailer of the Year, Chicago based James & Sons led by owners Jim and John Sunderland exceeded their high business goals and took a deep commitment to everything that the Hearts On Fire brand had to offer in 2016. With increased inventory, exceptional brand training for staff, a creative marketing plan and robust trunk shows, plus the installation of new HOF brand boutiques in all of their store environments, the James & Sons team truly exemplified what a best-in-class retail partner should be and has set a new standard of partnership for the future. A consistent top performer in the retail channel, The Wedding Ring Shop in Hawaii was recognized in 2016 as the Bridal Retailer of the Year. This beautiful and unique jeweler, led by owner Michael Han, demonstrates incomparable passion for the Hearts On Fire brand, a deep knowledge of the Diamond Engagement and Wedding Band business, and one of the best sales teams in the entire industry. Taking home Rookie of the Year Honors for 2016 was HOF newcomer The Diamond Galleria in Evansville, Indiana owned by Tyna and Bert Wheat. With dynamic marketing plans, a team of passionate brand advocates and beautiful in store branded HOF environments, the Diamond Galleria team quickly proved that they were dedicated to making the Hearts On Fire brand excel in their store, after only twelve months. The recognition of Increased Sell-Through Retailer of the Year in 2016 goes to Koser Jewelers of Pennsylvania owned by Randy Wolgemuth. HOF put a particular emphasis on helping drive sell through performance for retailers in 2016 and the Koser team enjoyed the benefits of following the guidelines for best practice. Consistent execution and enormous passion for the brand led this Pennsylvania Jeweler to exceptionally new heights of retail sales success. Finally, Hearts On Fire was thrilled to recognize the Brand Advocate Retailer of the Year as MG Joyeros in Panama City owned by Rajesh and Rina Mohinani. MG Joyeros has built their Heart On Fire business through exceptional marketing, best-in-class customer service, and some of the most beautiful HOF branded environments in the entire network. Hearts On Fire has also now announced the 2017 dates for its renowned Hearts On Fire University (HOFU), which will take place at The Wynn Las Vegas from October 8 October 11, 2017. About Hearts On Fire Hearts On Fire, The World's Most Perfectly Cut Diamond, is a leading global designer of luxury branded diamonds and diamond jewelry, and one of the most widely recognized and bestselling luxury diamond jewelry brands in the world. Founded in 1996, and acquired by Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group in 2014, Hearts On Fire introduced the first-ever branded diamond and instantly changed the jewelry industry forever. The global brand continues to be recognized for its superior craftsmanship and exclusive cut the single most important factor in a diamond's value resulting in diamonds of extraordinary beauty and brilliance. Today, Hearts On Fire offers a robust variety of designer bridal and fashion diamond jewelry collections that integrate the brand's timeless expression with today's top fashion trends, and their products are distinguished by an unparalleled sparkle. Hearts On Fire offers distribution through a rapidly growing global retail partner network of more than 750 locations in 32 countries, including 150 points on sale in Hong Kong and Greater China, 17 HOF brand stores around the world, heartsonfire.com and authorized HOF retailer websites. For more information, please visit www.heartsonfire.com. CONTACT: Angie Kielt, [email protected] SOURCE Hearts On Fire Related Links http://www.heartsonfire.com Upon its acquisition in 2013, American entrepreneur and investor Christopher Burch partnered with McBride to overhaul and expand Nihiwatu, located on the island of Sumba in southeastern Indonesia (a 50 minute flight east of Bali), earning the resort several recent honors including Travel & Leisure's #1 Hotel in the World, Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List, Asia Spa's Resort of the Year, and Pure Life Experiences winner for Best in Design. The Hotelier of the World awards recognize leaders in hospitality who go far beyond growing their portfolios, focusing more on developing their internal teams and supporting the communities in which they operate, as well as the hotel industry at large. "The redevelopment work McBride [and Burch] has done [on Sumba] has not only brought an award-winning resort to a new and growing hotel company, but it has helped support the local community and preserve its traditions, which are infused throughout Nihiwatu and which McBride considers a key part of its' identity," reads the cover story in the November issue of HOTELS. "The luxury resort partners with a local foundation to build and staff health clinics, mitigate malaria and supply schools, and invites guests to tour its projects. It's [these] more holistic approaches to business that no doubt resonated with the readers of HOTELS." "[James is] extraordinarily creative and incredibly detailed," said Burch in an interview with HOTELS. "I feel lucky that he can think through many layers of a customer's needs. He thinks about the heart." A native of South Africa, McBride started his journey globally at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, where he remained for fourteen years. His work is the focus of a Harvard Business School case study that remains the number one best seller taught in many academic programs "that details a new hotel launch, focusing on the unique blend of leadership, quality processes, and values of self-respect and dignity, to create award-winning service." McBride was then selected to run two of the most preeminent properties, in quick succession: In 2002, he became General Manager of The Grosvenor House of London's Park Lane; and in 2003 he was appointed by Rosewood Hotels as Managing Director of The Carlyle in New York. His six years with Rosewood Hotels included the Regional Directorship of all Caribbean Resorts. McBride seized another international opportunity when he was approached by Asia's YTL Hotel Group to assume the role of its global President. It was in Asia that McBride's lifetime network, resources, and original concepts all culminated for him to pursue another revolutionary phase: Nihiwatu. The resort's experiential approach "On the Edge of Wildness" acknowledges the changing travel habits of today's consumer who seeks a new type of luxury: activity-driven, cultural, philanthropic, and with attention to the details that encourage guests to discover the very best adventure, immersion, and fun with an opportunity to give back. "This is a very meaningful award," said McBride. "Because there are so many people in the industry, past and present, who have had a huge influence on me and helped me arrive where I am today. I am so grateful for my experiences and my peers. I owe this honor to them all." Read more about the 2016 Hoteliers of the World Awards here. For more information & images, please contact: Elissa Lumley +1 (917) 592 6058 [email protected] SOURCE Nihiwatu Related Links http://www.nihiwatu.com The families of Curren, Camden and Ted retained Alan M. Feldman, Esquire of the Feldman Shepherd firm. Together with his partners Daniel J. Mann and Edward S. Goldis, lawsuits were commenced against IKEA - the manufacturer of the MALM dressers - asserting that the unsafe design of the dressers rendered them inherently unstable and easily tipped over. The lawsuits further contended that IKEA had consistently refused to meet voluntary national safety standards for stability of chests and dressers, which other American furniture companies had embraced. The evidence developed in the cases showed that IKEA was aware of other deaths and injuries arising from furniture tip-overs that failed to meet minimum safety standards, but nevertheless refused to re-design its furniture products to be more stable and tip-resistant. It was not until after the death of Ted McGee that IKEA finally agreed to stop the sale of its defective furniture and recall the MALM and other models of chests and dressers which failed to meet minimum standards for safety and stability. The recall, affecting 29 million furniture units, was issued on June 28, 2016. Following a two-day mediation before retired Federal Magistrate Judge Diane Welsh of JAMS, a nationally recognized mediator for complex civil cases, the parties announced an agreement today to settle all three wrongful death claims for the sum of $50 million, to be evenly divided among the three families. In addition, as part of the settlement IKEA has further agreed as follows: IKEA will donate $50,000 to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in memory of Curren Collas, $50,000 to a children's hospital in Washington State in memory of Camden Ellis , and $50,000 to a children's hospital in Minnesota in memory of Ted McGee . to Children's Hospital of in memory of Curren Collas, to a children's hospital in in memory of , and to a children's hospital in in memory of . IKEA will donate $100,000 to Shane's Foundation NFP, an organization devoted to children's safety with a focus on furniture tip-over prevention and education. to Shane's Foundation NFP, an organization devoted to children's safety with a focus on furniture tip-over prevention and education. IKEA agrees to only sell chests and dressers in the United States that meet or exceed the performance requirements of ASTM F2057-14, the national voluntary safety standard for clothing storage units. that meet or exceed the performance requirements of ASTM F2057-14, the national voluntary safety standard for clothing storage units. IKEA will increase funding for its "Secure It" program to raise awareness of the risk of tip-overs, to include national television advertisements, internet and digital communications and in-store warnings. Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock & Dodig LLP has recovered some of the largest verdicts and settlements in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and several other states across the country. The firm represents plaintiffs in significant personal injury and complex civil litigation including civil rights, medical malpractice, birth injury, motor vehicle accidents, defective products, unsafe workplaces, and insurer misconduct claims. SOURCE Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP SINGAPORE and PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- InterOil Corporation (NYSE: IOC;POMSoX: IOC) today announced that according to information provided by Total E&P PNG Limited ("Total"), the operator of Petroleum Retention License 15 ("PRL15") in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea, the Antelope-7 appraisal well has now reached 2,127 meters (6,978 feet) measured depth below rotary table (MDRT) and has not intersected the Antelope reservoir. The well is designed to provide structural control and reservoir definition on the field's western flank. It has a proposed total depth of around 2,300 meters (7,545 feet) MDRT and is located about 1.45 km west-south-west of Antelope-5. InterOil holds a 36.5375% interest in the well. Total E&P PNG Limited has a 40.1275% interest, Oil Search has 22.8350%, and the remaining 0.5000% is held by minority parties. About InterOil InterOil Corporation is an independent oil and gas business with a sole focus on Papua New Guinea. InterOil's assets include one of Asia's largest undeveloped gas fields, Elk-Antelope, in the Gulf Province, and exploration licenses covering about 16,000sqkm. Its main offices are in Singapore and Port Moresby. InterOil is listed on the New York and Port Moresby stock exchanges. Investor Contacts Singapore United States David Wu Cynthia Black Senior Vice President Investor Relations Investor Relations North America T: +65 6507 0222 T: +1 212 653 9778 E: [email protected] E: [email protected] Media Contacts James Golden / Aaron Palash Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher T: +1 212 355 4449 E: [email protected] Forward Looking Statements This media release includes "forward-looking statements" as defined in United States federal and Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this release that address activities, events or developments that InterOil expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on our current beliefs as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to the company. No assurances can be given however, that these events will occur. Actual results could differ, and the difference may be material and adverse to the company and its shareholders. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the company, which may cause our actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed by the forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include the risk factors discussed in the company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and on SEDAR, including but not limited to those in the company's annual report for the year ended December 31, 2015 on Form 40-F and its Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2015. In particular, there is no established market for natural gas or gas condensate in Papua New Guinea and no guarantee that gas or gas condensate will ultimately be able to be extracted and sold commercially. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the fact that this press release remains available does not constitute a representation by InterOil that InterOil believes these forward-looking statements continue to be true as of any subsequent date. Actual results may vary materially from the expected results expressed in forward looking statements. InterOil disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities laws. InterOil's forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in the company's Form 40-F, available from the company at www.interoil.com or from the SEC at www.sec.gov and its Annual Information Form available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. SOURCE InterOil Corporation Related Links http://www.interoil.com JOHANNESBURG, December 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internet of Things is the next big wave in technology, with major repercussions for Africans. By connecting everyday devices to the Internet, the Internet of Things opens up a host of new opportunities and challenges for companies, governments and consumers. The IoT has the potential to solve many of the issues the African continent is currently facing. And many African countries have already embarked on the IoT journey. Healthcare providers in Ethiopia are monitoring the health status of outpatients to better adjust treatment. Intelligent traffic lights in Nairobi are helping ease traffic congestion. Utility providers in South Africa are using load-limiting smart meters that can warn residents ahead of imminent controlled outages. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), satellite imagery, DNA analysis and apps are being used as part of conservation efforts - by predicting poaching attempts and monitoring wildlife. The potential is limitless. As technology advances and encroaches upon most people's day-to-day lives in some shape or form, people can expect more IoT enabled solutions that address the unique issues facing Africa. There is no question: the IoT is coming to Africa and African businesses cannot ignore it. IoT Forum Africa 2017 will bring together senior IT executives, service providers, developers and CxOs from diverse fields, with representation from healthcare, manufacturing, energy, utilities, rail, transport and retail to name a few. Keynotes and interactive sessions will focus on carefully selected topics such as: The IoT Revolution: From "Things" to business outcomes Deploying an IoT solution. A strategic overview for decision makers Creating a sustainable framework for IoT Integration Creating value from connecting "things" and assessing the commercial feasibility and monetization of IoT IoT, Big Data & the City: A standards perspective Reinventing IT security to support IoT How will IoT remake your industry? In what ways can IoT improve efficiency, enable innovation and drive real business transformation? Speakers have already been confirmed from Dangote Industries Limited, Woolworths, Aon South Africa, FNB Fiduciary, Discovery Limited, Barclays Africa Group, FastNet, Kenya Bankers Association and McAfee amongst others. Join Africa's largest IoT event and take part in insightful discussions at IoT Forum Africa 2017 For more information about this conference, visit: www.iotforumafrica.com. Media Contact: Vee Lidzhade Tel: 0110260982 Email: [email protected] SOURCE IoT Forum Africa 2017 NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lightstone, a national real estate investor/developer, announced today that it has closed on financing for a new 349-room hotel on West 28th Street in Manhattan's NoMad section, one of four Moxy hotels it is developing in New York City, in partnership with Marriott. The financing consists of participation from Bank of the Ozarks and an institutional investor. Rendering: Lightstone's NoMad Moxy on 28th Street, New York, N.Y. The new Moxy will be 37 stories with a lobby lounge, fitness center and meeting rooms, as well as first floor and rooftop dining and bar options. Energized and socially-activated public spaces are an essential part of Moxy's overall aim to be a fresh, bold and affordable lifestyle hotel with smartly designed and technologically advanced rooms. Strategically catered to the needs and preferences of millennial travelers, Moxy is an affordable and accessible hotel option with the soul of a boutique hotel. Lightstone has four Moxy's under development in New York City totaling approximately 1,500 rooms. This includes the brand's 618-room flagship U.S. property in Times Square that is scheduled to open in 2017. Lightstone is developing seven Moxy properties across the U.S., with one in South Beach, Miami, one in downtown Los Angeles, and one in West Hollywood. "We are very excited partnering once again with Bank of the Ozarks on this Moxy development," said Lightstone President Mitchell Hochberg. "We're looking forward to continuing our work with Marriott on several Moxy hotels in New York and across the country." About Lightstone Lightstone, founded by David Lichtenstein, is one of the most highly-regarded and diversified private real estate companies in the United States. Operating in all sectors of the real estate market, Lightstone's $2 billion portfolio (in 26 states) currently includes over 6 million square feet of office, retail and industrial commercial properties, 11,000 residential units and 3,800 hotel keys. It also owns over 12,000 land lots across the country. Headquartered in New York City, Lightstone continues to grow its local presence with $2.5 billion worth of projects currently under development in the residential and hospitality sectors. Contact: Chris Bastardi 212-729-2495 [email protected] SOURCE Lightstone Related Links http://www.lightstonegroup.com RAPID CITY, S.D., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Through the generosity of our customers, the annual Liv to Give fundraiser event held at WaTiki Indoor Waterpark resort in April 2016 donated $5,000 to South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB). The donation was used in part for a brand new costume for the SDPB Mascot, Buddy, giving him a well-deserved makeover. Liv to Give Donation Buddy is the fun, cuddly embodiment of the familiar SDPB blue bird. He plays host on his own part of their website http://www.sdpb.org/buddy/ where he showcases all of the programming and activities they have available for kids to watch and interact with. Thanks to everyone's charitable contributions on Liv to Give day, Buddy is looking better than ever and back out strutting his stuff including hanging out with our own KoKo at the WaTiki Waterpark. Thank you again from Liv Hospitality for your support! About Liv Hospitality LLC A long standing company in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Liv Hospitality owns and operates the WaTiki Waterpark Resort, including La Quinta Inn & Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Residence Inn by Marriott and Sliders Bar & Grill. In addition, Liv owns and manages other properties in the area, AmericInn Lodge & Suites, Country Inn & Suites and Hotel Alex Johnson a Curio Collection by Hilton. Their Deadwood properties include Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort featuring Hampton by Hilton and Cadillac Jack's Gaming Resort with two hotels, including SpringHill Suites by Marriott. Contact Caleb Arceneaux, CEO Liv Hospitality, LLC [email protected] (605) 341-0500 Related Links Liv Hospitality, LLC This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE Liv Hospitality LLC Related Links http://www.livhotelgroup.com BOSTON, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Carucci, Chairman of The Carucci Group, a division of Gibson Sotheby's International Realty, today announced a global partnership with Denmark-based Area9 Design. The initiative is being led by the design firm's creative art director, Ole Lund, who has been recognized for his design and branding campaigns for luxury brand notables such as Tom Ford, Chanel, Dior, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Berluti Paris, Waldorf Astoria, NetJets, American Express, La Mer, and Vogue Magazine. The campaign will include a complete redesign of The Carucci Group brand, state-of-the-art marketing and a luxury real estate web portal. The rollout is scheduled to commence in Q2 2017. "I have had the opportunity to work extensively with many of the world's leading luxury brands. When it comes to Boston real estate and luxury living, there are two names that immediately come to mind - Carucci and Gibson Sotheby's International Realty," said Lund. "I am elated to have this opportunity to showcase the history and knowledge of their elite performance through this branding and marketing campaign as well as a new web portal. This will be a unique campaign and the first of its kind in the luxury real estate marketplace." Carucci Group Chairman Michael Carucci added, "I am delighted to have this opportunity to partner with Area9 Design and Mr Lund. My objective in this new collaboration is to further solidify The Carucci Group and Gibson Sotheby's International Realty as a brand synonymous with luxury real estate and commercial sales. With many years dedicated to this singular goal I am confident this partnership will yield the results we have always desired." The rebranding will launch in early Spring with an initiative that includes a new logo for The Carucci Group and revised, elegant marketing pieces for exquisite residences and investment grade properties. This will be complimented with a unique interactive web portal. The web portal will include a concierge functionality specifically designed to offer a unique customized living search for Boston's most affluent buyers, sellers and investors. About The Carucci Group: Michael Carucci is a leading luxury real estate expert in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2016 The Carucci Group, a division of Gibson Sotheby's International Realty transacted more than $175m in real estate sales. Carucci is a regularly quoted luxury real estate expert on NECN, WBZ, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and Banker and Tradesman. He has been selling luxury residential and bespoke commercial real estate in Boston for more than 25 years. About Area9 Design: Area9Design is an ambitious partnership by two well-known capacities in their fields: Ole Lund who is widely recognized as one of the leading authorities in design and branding globally and the Area9 Group that include the pioneers of modern, adaptive e-learning and advanced content development technologies based on cutting edge software technology. For press inquires contact: Greg Clarke Director of Marketing Gibson Sotheby's International Realty 857.362.1759 SOURCE The Carucci Group (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150203/727958-b ) PharmaMar will continue to conduct the clinical development activities for the first two indications of PM1183 (platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and small cell lung cancer) in Japan, whereas Chugai will make milestone payments at study initiation and will be responsible for registration filing. In addition, Chugai will have the rights to conduct clinical development in Japan to pursue additional indications and may contribute to the global development. PharmaMar will retain the exclusive production rights of lurbinectedin and will supply the API to Chugai. PM1183 is PharmaMars third anticancer drug and is currently under development for the treatment of several types of solid tumors. The Company has recently completed the recruitment of patients in a Phase III study in platinum resistant ovarian cancer, and during the month of August, a pivotal Phase III trial in small cell lung cancer was initiated. According to Luis Mora, Managing Director of PharmaMars Oncology Business Unit, "we are about to address our second strategic alliance with Chugai for the commercialization of a marine based anti-tumor compound. With this agreement, we will contribute to the sale of PM1183 in Japan. Meanwhile, we shall continue with the clinical development of the molecule and to advance in the upcoming regulatory steps to obtain its approval in the years to come". "Both companies share the same value to bring PM1183 - an innovative marine based medicine to the Japanese patients so that we can contribute to the treatment," said Chugai's Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer, Tatsuro Kosaka. "Chugai is committed to continuously provide innovative medicines to the patients. We hope to obtain approval based on the clinical results attained so far, and also from new results that will come in the future". Media Relations Manager (Paula Fernandez +34 638 79 62 15 - [email protected] ) and Investor Relations (+34 914444500) SOURCE PharmaMar BOSTON, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announced that Berry Wiersum, Chief Executive Officer of Sappi Europe SA has been named RISI's 2017 European CEO of the Year. RISI will present this award at the European Conference, which will take place in Amsterdam, Netherlands from March 6-8, 2017. RISI's European CEO of the Year Award is nominated by a group of investment analysts, industry consultants and commentators covering the European and global pulp and paper industry. Reasons cited by nominators of Wiersum to win the award were: "Berry Wiersum has performed very well at the head of Sappi Europe in what have been turbulent times for graphic papers. In fact, during his tenure this sector has undergone systemic and often painful change. Wiersum has shown real leadership in adapting to that change with the focus on cost control and the increase in the production of speciality papers". Another said: "Wiersum has been a strong leader in the European pulp and paper industry for years, and has built Sappi Europe to be a powerhouse of graphic papers. Latterly he has led the company into the future by diversifying into specialties and paper for packaging. Wiersum has also been a great ambassador for the industry at large; continually pushing the sector to become more innovative, more politically astute and more driven to listen to the needs of customers and stakeholders". Mr. Wiersum has been the CEO of Sappi Europe SA Group since January of 2007. Prior to assuming this role, Mr. Wiersum was the President of Amoco Fabrics and then Amoco Chemicals; and when Amoco was taken over by BP, he assisted in the integration of the two groups in Europe. Following BP, he joined Pechiney S.A. in France and ran CEBAL packaging division until he was recruited as Managing Director of Packaging of Kappa Packaging BV. Mr. Wiersum is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the European Association of Graphic Paper Producers. For registration and more information regarding the 2017 European Conference, click here. About Sappi Europe SA (www.sappi.com) Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, Sappi Europe is a leading European producer and supplier of coated fine paper, packaging and speciality papers. The European sector of Sappi consists of seven mills and 14 sales offices. Their high quality printing paper products include consumer magazines, catalogues, brochures, books, calendars, marketing material and more. Sappi's packaging and speciality papers offer products in the area of flexible packaging, label papers, rigid packaging, containerboard, release liner and functional papers. They also have applied their knowledge of fibers to develop technology to produce fiber reinforced composites as well as establish a pilot plant to test the manufacturing of a nanocellulose product that can be used in composites, food, coatings and barriers. About RISI (www.risi.com) RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the pulp and paper, packaging, wood products, timber, biomass, tissue and nonwovens industries to help them make better decisions. Headquartered in Boston, MA, RISI operates additional offices throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. For Press Enquiries, please contact: Kimberly Rizzitano Marketing Manager, Events O: 781-734-8996 E: [email protected] SOURCE RISI Related Links http://www.risi.com WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued today a royal decree outlining Saudi Arabia's 2017 budget. The 2017 budget is estimated to reach SAR 890 billion ($237.3), an 8 percent increase from 2016, and is projected to reflect a record 33 percent decrease in the Kingdom's national deficit. "Our economy is firm and it has sufficient strength to cope with the current economic and financial challenges," said King Salman. "We have sought through this budget and its programs to improve the efficiency of capital and operational expenditures in the state, strengthen the situation of public finances, enhance their sustainability, give priority to developmental and service projects and programs that serve citizens directly, contribute to activating the role of the private sector and increase its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product." In reaching these goals, the 2017 budget expenditures will focus primarily on the following key sectors: Education: SAR 200 billion ( $53.3 billion ); This covers public education, higher education and training. ( ); This covers public education, higher education and training. Military: SAR 191 billion ( $51 billion ); This will support and expand the Kingdom's military capabilities. ( ); This will support and expand the Kingdom's military capabilities. Economic Resources and General Programs: SAR 155 billion ( $41.3 billion ); Among the key projects included is the expansion of the Grand Mosque. ( ); Among the key projects included is the expansion of the Grand Mosque. Health and Social Development: SAR 120 billion ( $32 billion ); This will enable the construction and subsequent equipping of healthcare centers. 38 new hospitals are already in the process of being built. SAR 120 billion ( ); This will enable the construction and subsequent equipping of healthcare centers. 38 new hospitals are already in the process of being built. Security and Regional Administration: SAR 97 billion ( $25.8 billion ); The establishment of naval bases for border guards will be among the new projects this budget will facilitate. ( ); The establishment of naval bases for border guards will be among the new projects this budget will facilitate. Municipality Services: SAR 55 billion ( $14.6 billion ); This includes the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and municipalities. ( ); This includes the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and municipalities. Infrastructure and Transport: SAR 52 billion ( $13.8 billion ); This will go toward building roads, ports, railway, airports, postal services and developing industrial cities. ( ); This will go toward building roads, ports, railway, airports, postal services and developing industrial cities. National Transformation Plan: SAR 42 billion ( $1.1 billion ); This will cover the costs of the NTP initiatives in 2017. ( ); This will cover the costs of the NTP initiatives in 2017. Public Administration: SAR 27 billion ( $72 billion ); This includes projects, programs and 46 new initiatives. Revenue is projected to reach SAR 692 billion ($184.5 billion) in 2017, a 31 percent increase from initial projections. Oil revenues are expected to increase by 46 percent, and non-oil revenues are estimated to grow by 6.5 percent. Moreover, the budget deficit is expected to reach SAR 198 billion in 2017, reflecting 7.7 percent of the GDP. Combined, these efforts will move the Kingdom closer to its Vision 2030 goal of balancing the budget by 2020. Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20 and ranks as the 29th most competitive economy in the world, according to World Economic Forum's 2016-2017 Global Competitiveness Report. SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Solartis announced the commercial availability of its Solartis Insure policy life cycle web services with a full integration of ISO Electronic Rating Content (ERC). The initiative enables insurance carriers to offer and sell property/casualty insurance in an online self-service environment. Starr Companies is the first insurer to go live with the Solartis Insure policy life cycle web services. Starr is offering direct-to-consumer property/casualty insurance for small and midsized businesses through Starr Insure (https://www.starrinsure.com). The solution was made possible through the combined talent and technical capabilities of Solartis, Starr, and ISO: Solartis provides sales and full policy life cycle, cloud-based services to insurance carriers, their distribution partners, and insureds. The Solartis Insure platform is a set of sales and policy life cycle web services available in a Platform as a Service (PaaS) environment. Starr IT and marketing staff spearheaded the project and created the user interface with their unique look and feel, branding, fonts and styles, which transformed the system into Starr Insure. ISO is a leading source of information about property/casualty insurance risk. Through the ISO ERC product, Solartis is able to easily upload the latest ISO rating information into the Solartis platform. The result of this collaboration is a new approach to insurance sales and policy administration system implementation that shortens time to market; ensures rate, rule, and form accuracy; and minimizes project risks because the rating and forms content and web services are pretested and readily available. Mike Toran, CIO of Starr Companies, said, "Implementing ISO ERC as a component of a U.S. commercial lines digital insurance platform will soon be a 'must have' for insurance business success. We're excited to partner with Solartis because, in our opinion, after evaluating the alternatives available in the marketplace, they are leading the pack in delivering this new approach to enterprise-level quote and policy life cycle functionality incorporating ISO ERC." Nick Richardson, Solartis president, said, "With Starr designing the user interface and integrating with Solartis Insure through web services for quote and policy transaction functionality, both our organizations were able to focus on our core competencies to deliver a high-performance, direct-to-customer platform for small and midsized business insurance." "We're excited to see Starr adopt the new Solartis Insure platform," said Mark Sheehan, head of ISO Rating Solutions. "The digital platform, fueled by ISO's ERC product, will help meet the growing demand for faster and more efficient service and will support straight-through processing." About Solartis SIMPLIFYING INSURANCE ADMINISTRATION At Solartis, our mission is to simplify insurance administration. Our focus is exclusively on insurance. Our customers are insurance carriers, managing general underwriters/agencies, brokers, captives, and risk managers. Today we have over 700 employees in multiple onshore and offshore locations. Every Solartis customer is a Solartis reference. For more information, contact Carol Mowry McKenzie, vice president, Solartis, via e-mail at [email protected] or phone at 570-815-4556. SOURCE Solartis AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A state district court judge in Austin has upheld the State of Texas' right to regulate fees paid to air ambulances for transporting patients covered by workers' compensation insurance. This case is the first in the recent national wave of litigation to hold that the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 does not wipe out state workers' compensation fee caps. The Airline Deregulation Act was intended to free commercial passenger airlines, whose customers can price shop in competitive markets, from rate regulation. Air ambulance patients cannot price shop. They are not even told what the air ambulance company will charge until after the transport. PHI Air Medical LLC was seeking court orders that the Airline Deregulation Act "preempts" guidelines set by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation regarding what insurers pay for transports of injured workers and instead requires insurers to pay its full billed charges. 345th District Court Judge Stephen Yelenosky sided with Texas Mutual, upholding the state's workers' compensation reimbursement rate at 125 percent of the Medicare-approved fee. Judge Yelenosky noted that the McCarran-Ferguson Act, passed by Congress in 1945 to protect state rights to regulate the insurance industry, preempts the Airline Deregulation Act as it applies to payment in the workers' compensation system. "This is a great first step toward common sense in air ambulance fees," Mary Nichols, senior vice president and general counsel for Texas Mutual, said. "Air ambulances charge 500 to 700 percent of their costs. These charges are often $40,000 or more versus actual costs of $7,000 or so." "This case is important for all consumers because, although the court's order specifically applies to workers' compensation patients, more and more people are winding up with financially devastating medical bills from being 'balance billed' for emergency air transport," Nichols said. "We're very hopeful that this is the beginning of the end of burdening patients with bills totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Texas' robust workers' compensation system protects injured employees from this egregious practice, but regular insurance has not been able to similarly shield its own patients. We believe this precedent-setting case will ultimately be of great benefit to the American public." About Texas Mutual Insurance Company Austin-based Texas Mutual Insurance Company, a policyholder-owned company, is the state's leading provider of workers' compensation insurance. Texas Mutual provides coverage to 40 percent of the market, representing over 66,000 companies, many of which are small businesses. Since 1991, the company has provided a stable, competitively priced source of workers' comp insurance for Texas employers. Helping employers prevent workplace accidents is an important part of Texas Mutual's mission. Media Contact: Heath Riddles or Christina Ibarra [email protected] or [email protected] Elizabeth Christian Public Relations (512) 472-9599 SOURCE Texas Mutual Insurance Company Related Links http://www.texasmutual.com Effective immediately, all current and future Associates who achieve the Diamond rank just three times before May 28, 2017 will earn the luxurious, tropical vacation for two. "Most direct selling companies only offer one incentive trip per year, and at such a high rank, so only a handful of people can attend. We're different at Talk Fusion," Founder & CEO Bob Reina explained. "Diamond is a rank anyone can reach if they work hard, buckle down, keep their eye on the prize, and stay committed. And it's the key to earning not one but two free vacations on us." When the concluding Dream Getaway was first announced in December 2015, invitations were reserved for top performers who achieve the commission rank of "Diamond" six times. On a company-wide live broadcast earlier this month, however, Talk Fusion Founder & CEO Bob Reina and VP of Training & Development Allison Roberts cut the qualification requirement in half. Associates have been motivated and energized beyond expectations. Due to the response, the company expects the number of attendees originally estimated to triple over the next few months. "For many Associates around the world, attending our Dream Getaway is on their bucket listand if they want to achieve it, it's 'now or never.' This is the grand finale," said VP of Training & Development Allison Roberts. "We have so many unforgettable memories from our previous celebrations in Maui and we know this will be the biggest and best one yet." The Hawaiian Dream Getaway has been a biannual tradition since 2013, but this will be the company's last voyage. Over the past year, Talk Fusion has pinned a series of new destinations on its mapfrom Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Orlando, Florida; plus their upcoming trip to Milan, Italy next December. Official trip dates will soon be released. More details on Talk Fusion's world-class incentives and business opportunity are available at TalkFusion.com. Please see the Talk Fusion 2015 Income Disclosure Statement. ABOUT TALK FUSION Home of the world's first all-in-one Video Marketing Solution, Talk Fusion is dedicated to helping businesses stand out from the competition, increase sales and profits, and keep their customers coming back. Talk Fusion offers dynamic ways to make marketing more engaging, memorable, and persuasive with video. Talk Fusion's innovative products are marketed person-to-person by Independent Associates in more than 140 countries. 30 day Free Trials of the all-in-one Video Marketing Solution are available to anyone who wishes to try before they buyno credit card requiredat www.TalkFusion.com. Established in 2007 by Founder & CEO Bob Reina, Talk Fusion fosters a strong commitment to Giving Back to family, friends, communities, and animal charities across the world. Learn more at www.TalkFusion.com and "Like" Talk Fusion at www.facebook.com/TalkFusion. SOURCE Talk Fusion Related Links http://www.TalkFusion.com DALLAS, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cookbook King, a cookbook publisher that has the slogan of "the world's greatest cookbooks, releases timeless favorite recipes as digital cookbooks and traditional print cookbooks at TheCookbookKing.com. Books are available now at http://www.thecookbookking.com/?NW the cookbooks are a collection of over 50,000 recipes. The Cookbook King, "The World's Greatest Cookbooks" The Cookbook King is a niche publisher with many thousands of recipes in its vault of recipes collection. Walter's Favorite Chicken Wings and Dip Recipes provides, as you will expect, a variety of chicken wings and dip recipes. Timeless Vegetarian Recipes that You Will Love has more than 90 recipes. Black People can Really Cook provides the food lover a handy resource of homemade recipes, and Walter's Secret BBQ Cookbook The Best BBQ Recipes on Planet Earth is a complete digital cookbook that has over 150 BBQ recipes. Many new, old school, and timeless recipes appear inside of The Cookbook King's cookbooks. All cookbooks feature a table of contents with each recipe listed and are available as traditional paperbacks or as Digital books (eCookbooks). In general, the digital book versions have many more recipes listed than the print books. Customers that purchase the digital eBook edition directly from TheCookbookKing.com will receive free email delivery within 24 hours. Some of the timeless and favorite recipes listed in the cookbooks include instructions for coffee recipes, cheese recipes, Chinese recipes, Italian recipes, vegan recipes, homemade recipes, pizza recipes, Cajun recipes, fudge recipes, dessert recipes, baking recipes, salad recipes, chicken recipes, chili recipes and much more; there are more than 97 recipe cookbooks available. The Cookbook King states, "The goal is to save the recipes cookbook seeker time and money by providing a very affordable cookbook that has a selection of favorite recipes". There are no pictures or unnecessary frills in the cookbook. From the back of the print books, "The Cookbook King publishes simple books, with easy to follow instructional directions, delicious, and mouth-watering recipes!" Recipes Cookbooks by The Cookbook King are available now at http://www.thecookbookking.com/?NW. The digital (eCookbook) versions have affordable prices at only $9.98 each and delivers via email within 24 hours. For more information about the cookbooks and The Cookbook King, please log onto the website at http://www.thecookbookking.com/?NW Press Contact: Walter Anderson The Cookbook King [email protected] http://www.thecookbookking.com/com.html Related Images image1.png image2.jpg image3.jpg image4.jpg Related Links Digital Books Print Books This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE The Cookbook King Related Links http://www.thecookbookking.com/?NW NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hanukkah is the time to kindle the candles of prayer and hope. The 9 arms of Menorah stand for selfless service, divine light, inspiration, faith, courage, joy, abundance, love, gratitude and wisdom. Menorah or Chanukiah is a nine-branched candelabrum lit during the eight day holiday. Every night the candle flame glows, a blessing emerges in the hearts for friends and family. Ma'oz Tzur ("Rock of Ages"), a Hanukkah song, traditionally is sung after the lighting of the candles. The White House Hanukkah Party is hosted every year by the President and the First Lady. It was a tradition started in 2001 during the administration of President George W Bush. This year, it is the last one with President Barrack Obama and the First Lady Michelle. Hanukkah celebrates the grit and gumption of the Jews of Israel, 22 centuries ago, who continued to follow the tradition despite the condemnation by the rulers. The spirit of the tradition is courage and faith. Place your menorahs at the window and share the light of freedom with all around you. The numbers of Hanukkah cards sent keeps increasing year on year. We at 123greetings.com are inspired to create more wonderful and meaningful online greetings for you and your loved ones. 123greetings.com offers over 180 Hanukkah ecards across 4 categories for users to choose from. Arvind Kajaria, Founder of 123Greetings.com, says "Hanukkah, comes from the Hebrew word for dedication. 123greetings.com has dedicatedly been with you for over 2 decades giving you means to celebrate and connect with those who are special. We wish you a delightful Hanukkah and may your life be filled with the light of goodness." About 123Greetings: 123Greetings.com is the world's leading online destination for human expressions reaching 95 million visitors annually. Its offering of over 42,000 ecards across multiple languages covers a mix of 3,000 seasonal & everyday categories. Its presence is ubiquitous with its Mobile App, Mobile Website and Facebook App catering to users on mobile and social media respectively. Its Connect feature is a relationship management tool enabling users to actively manage their expressions to both personal and professional contacts. It also operates 123Greetings Studio, a unique platform for artists, to upload and monetize their own ecards. For details, visit www.123greetings.com SOURCE 123Greetings.com Related Links http://www.123greetings.com Weener is proudly named after a village in Germany and in 2006, this injection molder wanted to penetrate the U.S. market so they did their research and landed on TricorBraun. According to Ryan Gladieux, President, Weener Plastics Inc. U.S., "My understanding is that after meeting in person, senior leadership at Weener was impressed with TricorBraun's integrity and felt confident that this was a well-aligned partnership based upon common values. In 2015, Gladieux joined Weener in the US with the strategic growth objective of doubling sales by 2020. The loyalty within this partnership has helped to unlock the value that we can bring and has assisted in providing the roadmap to achieving this sales goal." Gladieux goes on to explain, "The team at TricorBraun embraces new ideas and innovations. They have a curiosity and a level of trust that we appreciate and respect. We are like-minded in terms of leading the packaging world by thinking beyond pallets and boxes to less material to achieve sustainability and also thinking through new and innovative ideas." According to Gladieux, TricorBraun and Weener have worked together on a variety of projects and trending areas of focus such as sustainable solutions, PCR and other alternatives that could easily become mega trends in the near future. One such effort has led to a first-of-its-kind, hinged closure. And with in-mold closings and fast cycle times at Weener, Gladieux feels that the hinged caps will be affordable. "I see our success due in large part to two things: German engineering and the exclusive distribution partnership that we have in place with TricorBraun," says Gladieux. He goes on to explain that while Weener is small, "We remain focused on our power alley. This includes bi-injection, hinged closures, liners, silicone valves and PCR components with short lead times and mid-tier volume requirements." According to Becky Donner, Senior Vice President of Design & Engineering, TricorBraun, "Our development partner program focuses on gaining a better understanding of the 'power alley' or as we call it, the 'sweet spot' of vendors with whom we engage. Our focus is on successful commercialization and execution, and to minimize risk, we partner with people and organizations who help us get there partners who have proven expertise and high standards much like our own." Donner continues, "The more our partner can understand what we bring in terms of capabilities and platforms, the more insight they will have in terms of how to best leverage us and our skills." According to Matt Ramsdell, VP of Design & Engineering, TricorBraun, "Weener has repeatedly complemented our team's skills and talents. They work with us in close collaboration and continually help us to help our customers achieve successful commercialization by not only satisfying defined success criteria but also by meeting the identified brand objectives with a focus on speed to market." In addition, Ramsdell explains, "They are an extension of our team, taking ownership of project management, managing communication and pushing platforms and technology to the limit and/or considering new ones as needed. They also provide necessary samples and analytics for all production trials. It's really an ideal partnership." TricorBraun Design & Engineering Group is a business unit of TricorBraun, one of North America's leading providers of rigid, corrugated and flexible packaging. Our team's primary mission is to design, engineer and manage the development, production and commercialization of custom packaging solutions for personal care, cosmetics, healthcare, food and beverage, industrial household chemical and animal health products. It is supported by TricorBraun's more than 40 offices globally, holding one of the largest inventories of rigid packaging components worldwide. For more information about TricorBraun Design & Engineering Group, contact Charmaine Laine, Marketing Communications Manager, at [email protected] or 630-645-1208. SOURCE TricorBraun Related Links http://www.tricorbraun.com After selling the company to Blyth, Inc. in 2012 for $792.4M, Blair and his co-founders bought the company back for $148M in September 2014, taking the company private. After two years of investing in international expansion, the acquisition of NEON Energy Drink, right sizing the business, debt restructuring and stabilizing sales, Blair sold controlling interest to an investor group led by his Co-Founder Nick Sarnicola. Blair and The Goergen family remain on the board, and The Carlyle Group owned Blyth, Inc. remain shareholders. "I spent the past twelve years pouring my blood, sweat and tears into ViSalus and am pleased with the current health of the business," said Ryan Blair, chief executive officer, ViSalus. "I leave the company in my fellow co-founder's very capable hands. After releasing my second book, traveling the nation for speaking engagements and watching HashTagOne blossom as a leading VC firm, I'm excited to spend more time investing in America's entrepreneurs, the backbone of our economy." Blair will continue serving as a member of Vi's Board of Directors and remain a significant stockholder and investor in ViSalus. He will also remain active in ViSalus by working closely with Sarnicola as a key advisor by providing his counsel and insight in order to ensure a smooth transition. Blair co-founded HashTagOne in 2011 to provide tech innovators and other entrepreneurs an alternative to traditional venture capital. Based in Los Angeles (Silicon Beach), the company prides itself on its front line business experience (not just financial pedigree), having created and sold a number of highly successful companies with exits in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Its most successful investments to date include Elite Daily, Heal, Fragmob and Saucey. Blair also just released his second book: Rock Bottom to Rock Star: Lessons from the Business School of Hard Knocks. In his first book, Nothing To Lose, Blair shared the brutally honest story of how he went from an at-risk youth to a self-made multimillionaire by his early twenties. The book became a global best seller and has been translated in over 10 countries. As his story became a national sensation, fans started asking him how they too could become entrepreneurs, elevate their own careers, and achieve financial independence. Rock Bottom to Rock Star answers those questions and helps others avoid the mistakes he made in the school of hard knocks. For more information about Ryan Blair please visit www.ryanblair.com. From more information about HashTagOne visit HashTagOne.com. Media Contact: Melissa Barto JCUTLER media group [email protected] SOURCE Ryan Blair Related Links http://www.ryanblair.com/ NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing, today announced that funds affiliated with the firm have agreed to acquire Gabriel Brothers, Inc. ("Gabe's" or the "Company"), an off-price fashion and home retailer. As part of the transaction, Alvarez & Marsal Capital, the Company's current majority owner, will exit its stake in the Company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Gabe's, formerly known as Gabriel Brother's, operates 106 stores under the Gabe's and Rugged Wearhouse banners across 11 states in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The Company sells leading apparel, footwear, accessories, and home brands at up to 70% off department and specialty store prices. The Company was founded in 1961 by the Gabriel family and is headquartered in Morgantown, West Virginia. "Gabe's is a leading retailer with a strong and growing customer base. As consumer preference continues to shift from traditional department stores to off-price retailers, we see a compelling market opportunity to grow the business through new store openings and expansion into new regions," said Annette Rodriguez, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus. "Alvarez & Marsal Capital has enjoyed a successful partnership with the Gabriel family, current senior management and all of the Gabe's employees in leveraging the Company's strong brand and store concept to drive significant growth throughout the period of our investment. We believe that the Company's attractive value proposition, strong team and significant customer loyalty will serve as a strong basis for continued growth as Gabe's transitions to new ownership," said Kurt Kaull, Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal Capital. UBS Investment Bank and Wells Fargo Securities acted as financial advisors to Warburg Pincus. Jefferies LLC acted as financial advisor to Alvarez & Marsal Capital. About Gabe's Gabe's, founded in 1961, is a privately-held, extreme value off-price retailer headquartered in Morgantown, West Virginia. The company operates 61 Gabe's stores across 11 states, as well as 45 stores operating as Rugged Wearhouse. The company sells designer brands and fashions for up to 70% off department and specialty store prices. Their stores carry designer brand name ladies, juniors, lingerie, men's and children's apparel, along with footwear, accessories, handbags, bath and beauty products, home decor, soft home, and housewares. About Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $40 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 130 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 16 private equity funds, which have invested more than $58 billion in over 760 companies in more than 40 countries. Warburg Pincus has invested more than $12.5 billion in over 200 healthcare and consumer companies. Current and former investments in the retail and consumer goods sectors include Glansaol, Neiman Marcus, Poundland, REISS, Wanse, Biba Apparels, Kalyan Jewellers, Kidswant, and Intime Department Store Group, among others. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information please visit www.warburgpincus.com. About Alvarez & Marsal Capital A&M Capital is a private equity firm which invests in middle market businesses that can benefit from the firm's access to significant operating resources and expertise. The firm has a strategic association with Alvarez & Marsal ("A&M"), which gives it the distinctive capability to bring the exact management or operational talent and support to the companies with which they partner. The firm is focused on investments where the investment team can help to deliver significant value to companies across a wide range of industries. For more information please visit www.a-mcapital.com/amcp. Contact Warburg Pincus Mary Zimmerman / Christopher Beattie (212) 878-9201 A&M Capital Scott Richter (203) 742-5800 SOURCE Warburg Pincus Related Links http://www.warburgpincus.com TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) announced today that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets, including Medicaid membership and certain provider contracts, from Phoenix Health Plan (PHP), a wholly owned managed care subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare. PHP provides health benefits primarily to more than 50,000 Medicaid beneficiaries as of Dec. 1, 2016 in Maricopa County, Arizona, the state's largest geographic service area. "We are pleased to announce a second acquisition in the state of Arizona this year. This transaction will complement our pending acquisition of Care1st Health Plan Arizona and further strengthen our presence in the state," said Ken Burdick, WellCare's chief executive officer. "We look forward to partnering with the state and local providers to deliver high-quality, cost-effective health care solutions to help Arizona's Medicaid beneficiaries live better, healthier lives." WellCare will work with PHP and Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to ensure a smooth transition for members. The transaction is expected to close by the second quarter of 2017, pending regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions. The financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. The transaction is expected to be funded with available cash on hand. About WellCare Health Plans, Inc. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) focuses exclusively on providing government-sponsored managed care services, primarily through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex medical needs. The company served approximately 3.8 million members nationwide as of September 30, 2016. For more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website at www.wellcare.com . Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "continue," "could," "may," "might," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek," "should," or "will," or the negative thereof and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. For example, statements regarding the number of members to be acquired and the timing and satisfaction of closing conditions of the transaction, including regulatory approval, contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause WellCare's actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the timing and ability to satisfy closing conditions for the transaction, including receipt of regulatory approvals, the number of members that will transition to WellCare upon closing, WellCare's ability to effectively execute and integrate acquisitions, WellCare's ability to address operational challenges related to new business, WellCare's progress on top priorities such as improving health care quality and access, ensuring a competitive cost position, and delivering prudent, profitable growth, WellCare's ability to effectively estimate and manage growth, potential reductions in Medicaid and Medicare revenue, WellCare's ability to estimate and manage medical benefits expense effectively, including through its vendors, its ability to negotiate actuarially sound rates, the appropriation and payment by state governments of Medicaid premiums receivable, WellCare's ability to access capital and WellCare's ability to comply with the terms of the Corporate Integrity Agreement. Given the risks and uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements, any of WellCare's forward-looking statements could be incorrect and investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these and other important risks and uncertainties can be found in the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), included under the captions "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 and other filings by WellCare with the SEC, which contain discussions of WellCare's business and the various factors that may affect it. Subsequent events and developments may cause actual results to differ, perhaps materially, from WellCare's forward-looking statements. WellCare's forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the statements are made. WellCare undertakes no duty, and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements to reflect any future events, developments or otherwise. SOURCE WellCare Health Plans, Inc. Related Links http://www.wellcare.com "We are very proud to have scored an A on this important safety measure," said Madhu Mallela, Porter Hospital Director of Quality. "We encourage consumers to use all available tools and resources at their disposal to identify which health care provider is right for them, such as talking with friends and family and consulting with doctors, nurses and other health care providers. Leapfrog is just one of many important tools consumers can use when making value-based health decisions." "Earning Straight A's in the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is a remarkable achievement and testament to a hospital's ongoing vigilance and commitment to patient safety," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "We thank Porter Hospital for being an example of excellence in preventing harm to patients, and urge you to continue championing patient safety." Developed under the guidance of an Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 30 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign A, B, C, D and F grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. To see Porter Hospital's full grade, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org or follow The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade on Twitter and Facebook. Consumers can also download the free Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade mobile app for Apple and Android devices. Media Contact: Chrissy Nicholson [email protected] 303-765-6484 SOURCE Porter Adventist Hospital Supporters of German populist party AfD hold a placard reading 'Merkel has blood of her nation on her hands' during a prostest rally in Berlin (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL) London (AFP) - Populists across Europe have seized on the truck attack in Berlin as a way to criticise Germany's immigration policy but key players have held back on jumping to conclusions as the investigation continues. Former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage, a key ally of US President-elect Donald Trump in Europe, said the attack which killed 12 people was "no surprise" and would be part of Merkel's "legacy". "Merkel has directly caused a whole number of social and terrorist problems in Germany, it's about time we confronted that truth," he told LBC radio on Tuesday. UKIP donor Arron Banks, who was also a key funder behind the Brexit campaign, tweeted that Merkel "might as well have" been driving the truck herself. A 23-year-old Pakistani asylum-seeker was arrested immediately after the incident on Monday after reportedly fleeing the scene but was released on Tuesday without charge. Police said on Wednesday they were now on a manhunt for a new suspect, identified in German media as a Tunisian citizen in his early 20s who applied for asylum in April and had a temporary residence permit. Merkel has been criticised over her decision to let in around a million migrants -- many of them fleeing war-torn Syria -- over the past two years. - 'Last drop of patience' - Her policy has been polarising, not just in Germany. Just hours after Monday's attack, far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders sharply blamed European leaders for admitting asylum-seekers into Europe. "Merkel, (Dutch Prime Minister Mark) Rutte and all the other cowardly government leaders have allowed in Islamic terror and an asylum tsunami with their open borders policy," he tweeted on Tuesday. Wilders, who heads the anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV), also tweeted a photo-shopped picture of Merkel with her hands, face and jacket spattered in blood. The image was not accompanied by any words, but implied she had blood on her hands for the attack. Story continues Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Tuesday said the Berlin attack had been "the last drop in the cup of patience" in Europe's migration crisis. Matthew Goodwin, a senior fellow at the Chatham House think tank, said attacks such as the one in Berlin represented a "significant opportunity" for the "radical right" to emphasise the issue of security. "Across much of Europe, the radical right is increasingly linking the migrant crisis to security," alongside their traditional anti-elite and anti-immigration campaign messages, he said. - Merkel 'irresponsible' - Other populist forces have been more cautious, however. In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party steered clear of making the link between Merkel's policies and the attack. France's National Front leader Marine Le Pen also made no connection. But the National Front's deputy leader Florian Philippot told French TV that Islamic State group militants had infiltrated Europe along with migrants. "When there are Islamist terrorists who infiltrate themselves in a massive influx, we have the duty to stop the influx," he said, calling Merkel's open-doors policy for migrants "irresponsible". In Germany itself, the Islamophobic and anti-immigration populist party AfD wasted no time in laying the blame on Merkel. "The milieu in which such acts can flourish has been negligently and systematically imported over the past year and a half," the group's co-leader Frauke Petry said in a statement, in a clear reference to Merkel's decision to let in refugees. "Germany is no longer safe. It should be the responsibility of the chancellor to tell you this. But since she won't do it, then I'll say it," Petry said, demanding "control over our territory, no ifs and buts". If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Kanpur/Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 19 : Demonetisation took centre-stage in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Monday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at each other over the note ban that has caused an unprecedented cash crunch in the country. If the high voltage battle saw Modi invoking late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to take on the Congress over its anti-demonetisation stand, Rahul Gandhi likened the currency ban to "firebombing", claiming it had taken blood out of the veins of 99 per cent of Indians. Addressing a BJP rally in Kanpur, Modi said while the government's agenda was to end corruption and black money, the opposition's aim was to derail Parliament to shield the corrupt. Even after President Pranab Mukherjee urged them not to disrupt the house, they did not relent because they wanted to avoid a debate over the November 8 ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, Modi thundered. "The country is divided into two - those who are fighting corruption and black money and the other, a handful, who are shielding the corrupt," said Modi in one of his most aggressive speeches ever. He accused the Congress of "ruining the country" for the sake of political interests and ridiculed its opposition of demonetisation. "The Congress used to hail Rajiv Gandhi for taking India to the era of computers, ushering in mobile phones. But now when we are advocating using mobile phones for banking, the Congress says the poor have no mobiles. How long will they continue to lie and mislead people?" Describing his government to be "for and by" honesty, Modi welcomed the Election Commission's proposal to ban anonymity behind donations of more than Rs 2,000 to political parties and pledged to implement measures aimed at preventing black money from infiltrating into the electoral process. Within hours, Gandhi went all guns blazing against Modi at Jaunpur and said demonetisation was actually a war against the poor. He accused the Prime Minister of giving 60 per cent of India's wealth to one per cent of the country's population. "Modi has firebombed the poor," said Gandhi, referring to the World War II bombing technique. "It is against 99 per cent people of India, against farmers and labourers. Without seeking their permission, Modi has taken blood out of their veins," said Gandhi, who recently had dubbed demonetisation to be a "Modi-made disaster". Gandhi claimed the real motive behind demonetisation was to write off corporate loans and accused the Prime Minister of giving a "toffee worth Rs 1,200 crore" to liquor baron Vijay Mallya -- a reference to the loan waiver. "About 50 families in our country took Rs 8 lakh crore loan. Modi will use your money to waive off the loans of at least 50 families who have taken the loans. Members of these families accompany Modi to the US and China. "You can write off the loans of the corporates. So why can't you do the same to farmers? I told him to waive off the loans of poor farmers but did not get any answer," said Gandhi, who recently met Modi. Criticising Modi for constantly changing the narrative behind the currency spike, Gandhi said the purpose behind demonetisation was to "extract from the poor to help the rich". Even as he continued to attack the Prime Minister, Gandhi urged a section of the crowd to refrain from sloganeering against Modi. "We have differences of opinion with Modi and the BJP. Do not use the word 'murdabad'... Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister," he said. Tokyo, Dec 20 : Japan's top court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's ruling in favour of the government's plan to relocate a US Marine Corps air base within the island prefecture of Okinawa, the media reported. According to the court ruling, Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga acted "illegally" when he revoked in October 2015 an approval issued by his predecessor for the landfill work of the relocation plan, Xinhua news agency reported. Onaga has said he would swiftly retract the revocation but whether he would explore other options to block the relocation plan has caused attention. Meanwhile, over 100 persons gathered in front of the top court on Tuesday to protest against the ruling, shouting slogans such as "No New Henoko Base". The central government has been seeking to relocate the US Futenma base from Ginowan to the less populated Henoko coastal area of Nago, saying it is "the only solution" for removing the dangers posed by the base to the crowded residential area without undermining the Japan-US alliance. The Okinawa people, however, have called for the base to be removed from the prefecture, complaining of sufferings caused by aircraft noise, crimes committed by the US servicemen as well as other safety concerns. Onaga, well known for his opposition to the plan of relocating Futenma base within the prefecture and elected Governor of Okinawa in 2014, revoked in October 2015 an approval issued by former governor Hirokazu Nakaima for the landfill work of the relocation plan. The move triggered a legal battle between the central government and the local government last year as the two sides sued each other over the issue, which was halted in March when a settlement deal was reached under court mediation. According to the settlement, the construction work related to the relocation was halted, while the central and prefectural governments held talks and awaited a ruling to be made by an arbitration panel under the internal affairs ministry. Okinawa hosts some 75 per cent of US bases in Japan while accounting for only 0.6 per cent of the country's total land mass. Anti-US base sentiment has been high in Okinawa, especially after a former US Marine working as a civilian employee at the Kadena Air Base was arrested in May for raping and murdering a local woman. Srinagar, Dec 21 : It's a law ostensibly meant to aid the recovery of debts but could result in the back-door acquisition of property by non-Kashmiris in Jammu and Kashmir. Little wonder then that it's stirred a hot debate in the state, where only Kashmiris are permitted to acquire property. The Jammu and Kashmir government contended in the High Court that the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act that parliament passed in 2002 wasn't applicable in the state due to its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. The ruling came in 2015 on a challenge to a State Bank of India decision to enforce the act to recover its dues from a defaulter. The Supreme Court overturned this last week. What, then, is the contentious act all about? Passed by Parliament in 2002, it states: "If borrower of financial assistance makes any default in repayment of loan or any installment and his account is classified as non-performing asset by secured creditor, then secured creditor may require before expiry of period of limitation by written notice to the borrower for repayment of due in full within 60 days by clearly stating amount due and intention for enforcement." "Where he does not dischage dues in full within 60 days, then without intervention of any court or tribunal secured creditor may take possession (including sale, lease, assignment) of secured asset, or take over management of business of borrower or appoint manager for secured asset or without taking any of these actions may also proceed against guarantor or sell the pledged asset, if any," the act says. State Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Haq Khan has previously clarified that in case of distress sale of assets of defaulters by financial institutions, only permanent residents of the state would be permitted to bid for and own such assets. In legal and public circles a hot debate has since been raging over the larger implications of the apex court's decision. "The state government should have legislated on this and passed its own act accommodating all the good things of the central act while safeguarding the special status of the state," lawyer Abdul Samad told IANS. "The apex court decision could open the floodgates for extension of acts passed by Parliament through the judicial route bypassing the legislative powers of the state," he added. The separatists have also criticised the apex court decision, saying that their assertion that the special status of the state existed only on paper had been proved right. Confused over whether the larger implications of the apex court decision would benefit or harm his interests, the common man is ambiguous in his comments. "Big sharks have taken huge loans from banks and are now not paying these back," bank employee Irfan Ahmad, told IANS. "They would definitely be opposing the Supreme Court decision, but if the decision compromises the special status of the state, then it must be appealed against," he added. While delivering its verdict, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman also rejected the High Court's view that the state's Constitution was equal to the Constitution of India. The state's residents are "first and foremost Indian citizens", the apex court said. "It is, therefore, wholly incorrect to describe it as being sovereign in the sense of its residents constituting a separate and distinct class in themselves. The residents of Jammu and Kashmir, we need to remind the High Court, are first and foremost citizens of India, permanent residents of the state of J&K are citizens of India, and that there is no dual citizenship as is contemplated by some other federal Constitutions in other parts of the world," the court said. It pointed out that it was constrained to observe that in at least three places, the High Court, in its judgment, "has gone out of its way to refer to a sovereignty which does not exist". Referring to article 370 of the Constitution, the high court division bench said: "This provision clears the constitutional relationship between people of rest of the country with the people of J&K." "The citizens of State of Jammu and Kashmir have their own constitution and their sovereign character which cannot be challenged, altered or abridged. "The power of Parliament to make laws in respect of State of Jammu and Kashmir is circumscribed and it can make laws for it only where permitted by State and not other side, and that too in accordance with mechanism prescribed by Article 370 of Constitution of India. "The sovereignty of the State of J&K under the rule of Maharaja, even after signing of Instrument of Accession and in view of framing of its own Constitution, thus legally and constitutionally remained intact and untampered," the High Court had contended. As the public and legal circles are agog with confusing opinions, the controversy is unlikely to settle down any time soon in Kashmir. (Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in) Ranchi, Dec 21 : The Ranchi Police on Wednesday announced a Rs one lakh reward for any clues in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old here on December 16. When the country was mourning the death of 'Nirbhaya', on the very day another girl was allegedly raped and burnt to death in the Jharkhand capital. According to the police, the burnt body of the third year engineering student was found in a house at Booty Basti in the Sadar police station area. The body was found "naked and burnt", the police said. They suspected that the girl was first raped by someone she knew and later set ablaze. The Jharkhand Police stated that the investigation in the case was moving in the right direction and they have adopted every resource available to bring the criminals to justice. However, the probe has not shown any result in the last five days leading to public anger spilling on to the streets. The Ranchi Police on Saturday formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) but did not meet with any success. Forensic experts, meanwhile, maintain that a lot of evidence was lost in the fire. What may have survived the blaze was washed out by the water used by locals to douse the flames. People here are angry and apart from candle marches, they have also forced a shut down of shops and business establishments in the Booty area and even threatened a severe agitation if the culprits were not arrested soon. The Jharkhand government has announced Rs three lakh compensation to the family members of the deceased. The victim's father expressed deep dissatisfaction over the police investigation. Moscow, Dec 21 : Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed his annual press conference to attend the funeral of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, a Kremlin spokesman said on Wednesday. Dmitry Peskov explained that Putin decided not to conduct the news conference on Thursday as the funeral for the slain ambassador was set to be held on the same day, Efe news reported. "The President would hold the annual press conference now on December 23, instead," Peskov said. Following the announcement of the assassination of Karlov, Putin stressed that the crime was "without doubt a provocation aimed at spoiling the normalisation of Russo-Turkish relations". It was also aimed at "spoiling the Syrian peace process which is being actively pushed by Russia, Turkey, Iran and others". Karlov was shot while speaking at an art exhibition by an assailant identified by Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek as a 22-year-old policeman. Karlov, 62, was named Russian envoy o Turkey in July 2013 after serving as ambassador to North Korea from 2001 to 2006. New Delhi, Dec 21 : Failing to get any clues about missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed after a two day search of the sprawling campus, Delhi Police will now make 10-12 students face the lie detector test. The Crime Branch has prepared a list of 60 questions to be asked in the test at the Forensic Science Lab (FSL) at Rohini to trace the whereabouts, if he is alive, of Najeeb, who went missing over two months ago. Around 10-12 students have received notices from the police to join the investigation, Saurabh Sharma, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) Joint Secretary, told IANS. At least four of them are from the Left groups and the rest belong to the ABVP (Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad), he said. "I am not sure whether those from ABVP will join the investigation as many of them are not even in town," Sharma said. He said two ABVP members and JNU students -- Vikrant and Ankit -- were contacted by police on phone and asked to join the investigation. Vikrant and Ankit are two of the students found guilty of beating Najeeb just before he disappeared on October 15. The ABVP has denied any involvement in Najeeb's disappearance. Another student, Qasim, who was Najeeb's roommate, was taken to the FSL by police and briefed about the impending interrogation. "They just briefed me on the situation. They told me to be prepared and be clear in my mind about the sequence of the events and be able to recall them," Qasim told IANS. "They didn't tell me when the lie detector test will take place. I was the only one taken there today," he added. Some students who have left the campus during the Christmas holiday will also get notices to appear in the lie detector test, a police officer said. "We are prepared for any interrogation," Mujeeb, Ahmed's cousin, told IANS. Some 1,000 police personnel mounted a two-day search on Monday and Tuesday in the sprawling JNU campus in south Delhi to get clues about Najeeb. Najeeb's family is critical of the police operation, which followed a order from the Delhi High Court. Ahmed, 27, went missing after a brawl on the night of October 14 with a few activists of the ABVP, the RSS student wing. Najeeb was last seen at the campus main gate while hiring an auto-rickshaw to reportedly go to Jamia Millia Islamia campus. Beijing, Dec 22 : China on Thursday launched a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite via a Long March-2D rocket, authorities said. It was launched at 3.22 a.m. from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert, Xinhua news agency reported. The 620-kg satellite TanSat was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 km above the earth and will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, said Yin Zengshan, chief designer of TanSat at the Chinese Academy of Sciences micro-satellite research institute. The satellite will help understanding of climate change and provide independent data. During its three-year mission, TanSat will thoroughly examine global carbon dioxide levels every 16 days, accurate to at least 4 ppm (parts per million). China is the third country after Japan and the US to monitor greenhouse gases through its own satellite. Thiruvananthapuram, December 22 : Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has called for chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to relinquish the home portfolio. Chennithala said Wednesday that the chief minister should hand over the home portfolio to someone else if he was hard-pressed for time to handle the department. Things have to such a pass that the police believed that, under LDF rule, they were at liberty to do anything, he said. His comments come in the wake of the recent controversy over the arrest of writer and theatre activist Kamal C Chavara on the charge of disrespecting the national anthem and that of his friend and activist Nadeer, who was detained by the police on suspected Maoist links. And even before the controversy kicked up by the arrests had subsided, the police detained six students of Maharajas college over graffiti writings on campus walls. Condemning the arrests of the students, Chennithala blasted the police saying that they believed in a fascist manner in the issue. What the students scribbled on the walls were poetic verses, the opposition leader said, adding that it was deplorable that their arrests happened under the rule of the left, which raised voice incessantly in favour of creative liberty. The arrests of the students come close on the heels of the police drawing flak over arrests of Kamal C Chavara and Nadeer and the chief minster himself having to intervene to secure their release. The situation is such that the chief minister has lost all control over the police force, Chennithala charged. The arrest of writer Kamal C Chavara had kicked up a storm with even CPI-M central leadership condemning the police action. Mr. Chavara was arrested over a complaint that a facebook post of his disrespected the national anthem. His friend Nadeer was detained and interrogated by the police over alleged Maoist links when he turned up at Kozhikode medical college to visit Chavara, who was admitted there after he complained of unease. The police decision to charge Chavara under 124-A of IPC pertaining to sedition had come in for criticism from several quarters, including from the CPI-M central leadership. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan reportedly intervened, in the wake of widespread criticism, to have the police remove the sedition charge against Mr. Chavara. French natural scientist Leo Grasset\'s exploration of mysteries of evolution that can be witnessed in Africa and an attempt to solve them Image Source: IANS News New Delhi : Title: How the Zebra Got its Stripes And Other Darwinian Just So Stories; Author: Leo Grasset (translated by Barbara Mellor); Publisher: Profile Books/Hachette India; Pages: 162; Price: Rs 499 It was birthplace of the human race but that is not the only contribution of Africa to life on our planet. On its sprawling savannah can be seen many intriguing and inexplicable natural phenomena, spanning morphology (stripes/long necks), behaviour (deer warning signals) and habitat (termite mounds), which show how it still is a laboratory of evolution. But the reasons or explanations are still elusive. Why do giraffes have such elongated necks, and zebras are striped (and how does this help in constructing stealth ships)? Why are buffalo herds a model of incipient democracy, and elephants of dictatorships? What does the deer response to danger teach us about human crowd behaviour and what was wrongly depicted in the Disney hit "The Lion King"? These are among questions that French natural scientist Leo Grasset seeks to answer in this informed and engaging update of Rudyard Kipling's whimsical stories, but also showing how complex these phenomena are and "answers" are more of probabilities than certainties. Citing eminent evolutionary biologist and geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky, who held that "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution", he notes that "sometimes, when the questions being explored are at the cutting edge of scientific research, the light of evolution casts shadows that are hard to decipher!" Grasset, who terms himself a "punk scientist par excellence" and runs the blog 'Dans les testicules de Darwin' devoted to biology, testosterone and rock'n'roll, is also one of France's leading up-and-coming evolutionary biologists. He contends that of all the laws governing evolution of human beings, selection is the most powerful. This, as he goes on to show, is "especially evident on the great African savannah" where if one individual possesses a slight advantage over the other, it will produce more young, which if inheriting and passing on the same advantage, will ultimately dominate the species' gene pool while the other disadvantaged ones go into "evolutionary oblivion". Admitting this may be a bit simplified as things are not very straightfoward in the real world, he seeks to illustrates the theory with the case of the male nipple, and two rival reasons that seek to explain it. He goes on to two more oddities -- the penis-shaped clitoris of the female hyena, horns of the female buffalo and some other quadrupeds -- and continues to explore more bizarre sexual attributes such as male impalas' behaviour in the breeding season. In explanation, Grasset notes that "some apparently 'natural' characteristics" do not necessarily have a function, while some others, that seem to have no purpose, are the fruit of the important purpose of selection and do have some important functions. "Evolution is a complicated phenomenon," he holds, noting it "makes organs and appendages disappear, creates new ones and repurposes existing ones for different functions". In light of all this, "it is sometimes difficult for biologists to understand the functions of the shapes and appearances of the creatures they study" and they are too ready to put out multiple, even contradictory hypotheses. "Perhaps researchers are looking for simple explanations, whereas the exuberant creativity of evolution requires something far more complex," he says, and proves it in attempts to explain, with a lot of wit, the reasons for the giraffe neck, the gazelle's random flight, the zebra's stripes (which can also help it to escape anti-tank missiles!). Grasset also introduces, with much similar wit, the marvels of termites' "air conditioning", the impalas' "Mexican Wave", the contrary political systems of buffalo and elephants, and the antelopes' sexual manipulation as well as extraordinary creatures like the dung-beetle and the honey badger, habits like the elephants' skill at discerning sounds, including of humans, and finally, his attempts, in a Zimbabwean game reserve, at finding out if zebras have individual personalities. Also key are his investigations into the human effect on environment and the rest of the animal world as we learn that nature is not only stranger than what we think but much more stranger than we can think -- and amazingly responsive and resilient too. (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in) Chennai, Dec 22 : Last seen donning the director's hat with 2010 Tamil thriller "Easan", actor-filmmaker Sasikumar says he will return to helming when the time is right and won't succumb to the pressure of the industry and his peers. "Every time I meet the press, I'm asked when I plan to return to direction. A lot of my well-wishers in the industry too ask the same question. I don't buck to the pressure of all these people because I know I'll direct when the time is right," Sasikumar told IANS. He says he can't let the pressure of his peers influence him. "I can't make a film because someone wants me to. I will decide when I want to direct, and I'm waiting for the right time. It might be next year or the one after that. I have two scripts ready but I'm not quite sure which one to choose first to direct," he said. Sasikumar's Tamil comedy-drama "Balle Vellaiya Theva", in which he has played the lead, is slated for release on Friday. Tokyo, Dec 22 : Japanese car manufacturer Honda has begun negotiations with Waymo, a Google subsidiary that builds self-driven vehicles, to collaborate on developing the technology further, the company said on Thursday. Honda R&D (research and development subsidiary of Honda Motor Co) will integrate sensors and software developed by Waymo into its vehicles, which will join Waymo's fleet currently being tested across four cities in the US, according to the company. Honda plans to introduce the vehicles with automated driving capabilities on highways around the year 2020 and hopes this technical collaboration will allow it "to explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to the market", Efe news reported. The US collaboration will allow Honda an edge over its competitors Toyota and Nissan who are also developing the same technology. Waymo, so far known as Google's self-driving car project, announced on December 13 that it would work as an independent company and has already spent years developing this technology that is touted as the future of the industry. Waymo completed the first fully self-driven car ride in October 2015 on highways and public roads of Austin in the US and since then has covered a distance of 2 million miles of automated rides. The company is already collaborating with the Fiat Chrysler group for using self-driving technology in 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans, ready to roll out on US roads in the next few months. Varanasi, Dec 22 : A day after Rahul Gandhi hurled corruption charges, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday made fun of him, asking where was the "earthquake" the Congress leader had threatened. "There is a youth leader in the Congress who has just learnt to speak. I am glad he has started to speak now," the Prime Minister said at an event at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), triggering loud cheers. "In 2009, it was very difficult to find out what was inside this packet. Good he has started speaking. And there was no possibility of any earthquake. "Had he not spoken, the county would have faced a big earthquake. And the country could not have recovered for 10 years," Modi said sarcastically in his Lok Sabha constituency. Gandhi had threatened to make damning disclosures against Modi. On Wednesday, he said in Gujarat that Income Tax documents showed Modi had taken kickbacks from corporate houses when he was the Chief Minister. Later, at another event after inaugurating a super speciality 150-bed hospital, Modi likened the attack on his government over demonetisation to the cover fire given by the Pakistan Army to help terrorists to sneak into India. "After all the 'too-too-main-main' in Parliament recently, I often wondered why all this for until I realised this was being done to provide cover fire to protect some corrupt people," he said. "Never had I anticipated such stiff opposition over demonetisation when I was planning the move," he added. The Prime Minister's onsalaught came after virtually the entire winter session of Parliament was washed out over demonetisation of high value currency that has led to an unprecedented cash crunch in the country. He alleged that some politicians and political parties were siding with the corrupt and those hoarding black money. "Chalo achcha hua, isi bahane logon ka kala dhan aur kala mann bahar aa raha hai (It's good to see that both black money and those with evil intentions are getting exposed)," Modi said. The Prime Minister is on a day-long trip to Varanasi where he is to lay foundation stones of several projects and address Bharatiya Janata Party activists. Modi did not spare former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram either. Like Gandhi, both have denounced the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. About Manmohan Singh, Modi said: "When I spoke about cashless economy, he said how can this technology function where 50 per cent people are poor. "Now, tell me whether he is giving his own report card or mine? Whose legacy am I bearing now?" In similar vein, Modi attacked Chidambaram: "He said in a country where there is no electricity in 50 per cent of the villages, how can you implement cashless economy. "I want to ask if he is talking about his report card or mine?" Meanwhile, five youths were detained at the Sigra police station in Varanasi after officials suspected they were heading to the Prime Minister's event to show black flags to him. New Delhi, Dec 22 : Despite much criticism, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has failed to give a credible account of the new notes supplied to the public. In its latest press release on Wednesday, the RBI said it had sent out for distribution to the public 22.6 billion notes of various denomination worth Rs 5.93 lakh crore. But the break-up given, taken with its earlier statements, shows that the RBI's latest update is a mathematical impossibility. Indeed, the gap between what the apex bank claims it has disbursed and what, according to its own earlier numbers, it could possibly have disbursed, has now grown to over Rs 66,000 crore. This is assuming that 10 per cent of the high denomination notes distributed are of Rs 500 variety. But even if we assume the highly unlikely scenario that all the notes supplied by the RBI were of Rs 2,000 denomination, the math does not add up -- the shortfall would be around Rs 34,000 crore. Despite attempts to seek clarity, the RBI has not responded to IANS' queries. On December 7, during the monetary policy press conference, the Deputy Governor of RBI, R. Gandhi, informed the media that a total of Rs 4 trillion or Rs 4 lakh crore had been disbursed to the public in new currency notes till the day before. Of this amount, Rs 1.06 lakh crore in value or 19.1 billion pieces were in smaller denomination currency notes while the rest -- Rs 2.94 lakh crore -- was by way of high-denomination notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. On December 12, the RBI Deputy Governor told reporters that 21.8 billion pieces of notes were issued to the public till December 10, worth Rs 4.61 trillion or Rs 4.61 lakh crore. The next day, an RBI release on the deputy governor's statement said that 20.1 billion pieces of small notes from Rs 10 to Rs 100 were circulated, while the higher denomination notes amounted to 1.7 billion (or 170 crore) pieces. An earlier IANS report showed, as below, that the RBI math did not add up. According to the RBI, the increase in small notes between December 6 and December 10 was only one billion pieces (from 19.1 billion to 20.1 billion). Even if all the small notes printed were of Rs 100 denomination, it takes the value of small notes to Rs 1.16 lakh crore (from Rs 1.06 lakh crore) leaving Rs 3.45 lakh crore to be covered by high denomination notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. Assuming that only 10 per cent of the total 1.7 billion high denomination notes (170 million or 17 crore) were in Rs 500 notes, its total value (17 crore x 500) amounts to Rs 8,500 crore. Rest of the 90 per cent (1.53 billion or 153 crore) of Rs 2,000 notes amounts to (153 crore x 2,000) Rs 3.06 lakh crore The value of these two high denomination notes amount to Rs 3.14 lakh crore. That leaves a gap of Rs 31,000 crore to be covered, which finds no explanation in any of the RBI's statements. Now let's look at the latest RBI statement on December 21. In this, the RBI says that 22.6 billion currency notes worth Rs 5.93 lakh crore were issued to the public by December 19. Of this, small notes upto Rs 100 denomination were 20.4 billion pieces (2,040 crore pieces) and the rest, 2.2 billion pieces (220 crore pieces) were of higher denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. Let's do the calculation based on this claim. The RBI had said earlier that by December 10, the smaller notes upto Rs 100 in circulation were 20.1 billion. The latest statement thus adds just 0.3 billion (30 crore pieces) to the smaller notes in nine days, till December 19. For the higher denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500, the total notes go up from 1.7 billion pieces to 2.2 billion pieces, thus adding 0.5 billion pieces (50 crore pieces). Even if all the small notes supplied after December 10 were of Rs 100 denomination, it takes the value of small notes to Rs 1.19 lakh crore on December 19 (up from Rs 1.16 lakh crore on December 10) leaving Rs 4.74 lakh crore to be covered by high denomination notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. Let us again assume that only 10 per cent of the total 2.2 billion high denomination notes (220 million or 22 crore) were in Rs 500 notes. It's total value (22 crore x 500) amounts to Rs 11,000 crore. Rest of the 90 per cent (1.98 billion or 198 crore) of Rs 2,000 notes amounts to (198 crore x 2,000) Rs 3.96 lakh crore. The two high denomination notes together amount to Rs 4.07 lakh crore (Rs 3.96 lakh crore + Rs 11,000 crore), leaving a gap of Rs 66,713 crore. How does the RBI explain this continuing discrepancy? The ten per cent assumption is not without basis. In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Finance, Arjun Ram Meghwal, said that till November 29, 156 million pieces (15.6 crore) of Rs 500 and 1,608 million pieces (160.8 crore) of Rs 2,000 had been supplied. The Rs 500 notes amount to about 8.85 per cent of the higher denomination notes. The Parliament reply is the only place where the government has given a break up of the high denomination notes supplied. The RBI has never given this break up -- and that's where the problem lies. New Delhi, Dec 22 : Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday resigned and said he will return to academics, "his first love". In a brief statement, Jung thanked both Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, with whom he had been locked in a turf battle for months. "He thanks the Prime Minister for all help and cooperation he received during his tenure as the Lt. Governor," the statement said. Jung became the Lt Governor on July 9, 2013 when a Congress-led coalition was in office. The Modi government retained him even as it replaced most Governors in the states. "He also thanks the Chief Minister of Delhi for his association in the last two years," the statement said. Jung thanked the people of Delhi too for "their support and affection, especially during the one year's President Rule" leading to the assembly elections that led to a AAP victory in February 2015. A former IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre and a former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, Jung gave no reason for his sudden decision to step down. Jung's tenure was marked by a sharp escalation in tensions between his office, which reported to the central government, and the Aam Aadmi Party government of Kejriwal. New Delhi, Dec 22 : Delhi's Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, who was locked in a running battle with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday resigned and said he will return to academics, "my first love". In a brief statement, Jung, 66, thanked both Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kejriwal for their association with him. "He thanks the Prime Minister for all help and cooperation he received during his tenure as the Lt. Governor," the statement said. Jung became the Lt Governor on July 9, 2013 when a Congress-led coalition was in office. The Modi government retained him even as it replaced most Governors in the states. "He also thanks the Chief Minister of Delhi for his association in the last two years," the statement said. Jung thanked the people of Delhi too for "their support and affection, especially during the one year's President Rule" leading to the assembly elections that led to a AAP victory in February 2015. A former IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre and a former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, Jung gave no reason for his sudden decision to step down. Jung's tenure was marked by a sharp escalation in tensions between his office, which reported to the central government, and the AAP government of Kejriwal. What began as a turf war turned into an often nasty confrontation between Jung and Kejriwal over who is the boss in Delhi, which, although a state, does not enjoy parity with other states. The central government, through the Lt Governor, controls Delhi Police, law and order and issues related to land in the capital. The recurring Jung-Kejriwal battle was decided in favour of the former on August 4 by the Delhi High Court. The AAP government has moved the Supreme Court, where the matter is yet to be decided. New Delhi, Dec 22 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has arrested hawala trader Paras Mal Lodha here for converting over Rs 25 crore demonetised notes linked to industrialist J. Sekhar Reddy and lawyer Rohit Tandon into new currency. A city court later sent Lodha to seven-day ED custody. The Kolkata-based businessman was arrested on Wednesday evening after hours of questioning by the ED officials. "We had called Lodha on Wednesday for questioning him over the conversion of more than Rs 25 crore of old notes to new currency in Shekhar Reddy and Rohit Tandon cases. He was arrested later," said an ED official. The ED booked Lodha under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and produced him before a court here on Thursday seeking his custody to track other accused involved in the corruption. Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Jain sent Lodha to seven-day ED custody. Lodha, a leading businessman with interests in real estate and mining, was intercepted by a team of ED sleuths at the Mumbai airport on Wednesday while he was trying to flee to Malaysia. The ED's move came when it got a tip-off about Lodha planning to leave India, as it had earlier issued a look out circular against him. Officials said that separate teams were sent to Kolkata and Mumbai to arrest Lodha who facilitated businessman Shekhar Reddy and owner of T&T law firm Rohit Tandon convert their old high value currency into new currency. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested Reddy, a former Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam Board Member, and two others from Chennai for money laundering after Income Tax (IT) department recently seized 177 kg of gold, Rs 96 crore in old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and Rs 34 crore in new currency from their premises. Cash amount of Rs 13.65 crores, including Rs 2.60 crore in new currency notes, was seized from south Delhi's Greater Kailash-I office belongs to Tandon during a raid conducted by Delhi Police on December 10. Sources said that Reddy had executed a lot of work for the Tamil Nadu government, In connection with the case, IT officials raided at 12 locations on Wednesday, including the house of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao. The raids began on Wednesday morning and continued till Thursday and saw recovery of a large amount of cash in new currency. ED officials earlier on December 1 raided multiple hawala operators across the country involved in illegal conversion of old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 to valid legal tender since November 8 demonetisation announcement. Patna, Dec 22 : After completion of 50 days of demonetisation, JD-U President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will take a final decision on continuing his support or opposing it, said a party leader on Thursday. "The party has been taking feedback from its leaders and workers over the demonetisation decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," state Janata Dal-United (JD-U) President Vashisht Narain Singh told the media here. The Prime Minister has claimed and assured the people of a normal situation after 50 days. "So, after completion of 50 days, Nitish Kumar will take a final call on the issue," Singh said. Last Monday, Nitish Kumar himself said a cashless economy is not possible in India now and added that it will take its own time to take shape with the development of the country. "At present, cashless economy is not possible in the country. Cash-based transactions will decrease slowly with the pace of our development process," Nitish Kumar said. This is widely being seen as his statement ahead of shifting his old stance on demonetisation. He said: "Even a developed country like the US has only 40 to 45 per cent cashless economy." Nitish Kumar then added that only demonetisation is not enough to root out black money. "The central government will also have to initiate action against benami properties." He said: "We will come out with a 'point-by-point' analysis of the note ban after December 30, the deadline fixed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for normalisation of the situation". Two days ago, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad claimed: "Nitish Kumar has told me he will review the impact of demonetisatiion after 50 days and will respond to the central government accordingly." Nitish Kumar has been supporting the note ban, much to the embarrassment of his allies -- the RJD and the Congress. Nitish's ally Lalu said his party RJD will stage a protest against demonetisation at all the district headquarters on December 28 and hold a huge rally in Patna early next year. "I will also sit in dharna against demonetisation in Patna and will invite Nitish Kumar in a rally to be held against domenetisation," Lalu told the media on Thursday. Lalu has made it clear that he and his party will launch a long protest against domenetisation to unite the opposition parties across the country against the BJP and Modi. Patna, Dec 22 : Communal tension gripped a village in Bihar's Vaishali district on Thursday after an alleged honour killing of a 20-year-old boy. The boy, Veerchand, was found dead in Sarma village early on Thursday morning, police said, adding that the preliminary investigation suggests the boy was killed over an affair with a girl from a different community. His body was recovered from behind the girl's house. The girl and her father have been arrested, police said. "We have began investigation into the case and deployed additional security forces from neighbouring police stations in the village to maintain peace," Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said. According to reports, a mob pelted stones at police and the girl's house, creating panic in the village. In view of the tension, District Magistrate Rachna Patil and SP Rakesh Kumar have been camping in the village. Heavy police deployment has been made in and around the village to avoid any untoward incident. "Tension prevails between two communities in the village but under-control," a local police official said. According to villagers, the victim was seen in the village on Wednesday evening. Washington, Dec 22 : US President-elect Donald Trump has said that the deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin proved that he was correct to propose barring Muslims from entering the US. "All along, I've been proven to be right. One-hundred-percent correct. What's happening is disgraceful," Trump told reporters on Wednesday outside his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. According to a report in the Washington Post, Trump did not walk back the proposals after he was asked by the media whether he was rethinking or re-evaluating them in the wake of a fresh terrorist attack in Berlin. "You know my plans," Trump said. He went on to add that the attack on a Berlin Christmas market, which was claimed by the Islamic State, had vindicated him. German authorities were seeking a 24-year-old Tunisian migrant, who they say has ties to Islamist extremists, in connection with the attack, which killed 12 people. Earlier, Trump had in a statement called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US and has expressed openness to a registry of Muslims already in the country. However, the proposal was sharply criticised by Republicans and Democrats alike. He was also asked about his characterisation of the Berlin attack as an attack on Christians. "The IS and other terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad," Trump had said in a statement issued after the attack on Monday. On Wednesday, Trump appeared unfamiliar with the statement issued in his name. "Who said that?" Trump countered, challenging the reporter. "It's an attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped." Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh), Dec 22 : A day after the suspension of three BJP legislators, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Thursday witnessed pandemonium, with the party's MLAs staging a walkout, saying the suspensions were not as per parliamentary procedures. As the House assembled in the morning, Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal said the suspension of Suresh Bhardwaj, Rajeev Bindal and Randhir Sharma was 'illegal' as norms were not followed. He demanded that their suspension should be revoked. "They were not served suspension notice by the (Vidhan Sabha) secretariat. When they came to the assembly this (Thursday) morning, they were not allowed to enter the Vidhan Sabha complex," he said. BJP legislator Bhardwaj on Wednesday found a unique way of registering his protest in the assembly by sitting on the Speaker's chair in his absence. Later, he was suspended from the House, along with two others, for the rest of the session for the "unparliamentary" act. Justifying Bhardwaj's decision to sit on the Speaker's chair, Dhumal, who is a two-time former Chief Minister, said Speaker B.B.L. Butail adjourned the House for 15 minutes to resolve the deadlock between the Congress and the BJP. "As the Speaker did not turn up much after the duration of the adjournment fixed by him and the Deputy Speaker was not in the House, Bhardwaj, who is also the Presiding Officer of the House, decided to preside and sat on his chair," he said. Justifying himself, Deputy Speaker Jagat Singh Negi said he was present in the House when Bhardwaj sat on the Speaker's chair. However, Butail refused the discussion, stating that he could take up this matter after the Question Hour. This agitated the BJP members who started raising slogans. As the Speaker proceeded with the business listed for the day, the BJP lawmakers staged a walkout from the House. After the walkout, the House continued with the business. Later, they joined the proceedings. Talking to reporters, Dhumal said the decision to suspend the legislators from the House was illegal. "We have demanded a discussion on their suspension. When we were not allowed to speak in the House, we had decided to stage a walkout," he said. The five-day winter session began in this town, some 250 km from state capital Shimla, on December 19. New Delhi, Dec 22 : The BJP hailed the work of Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung who resigned on Thursday and wished him all the best for his future endeavours. "We want to wish him all the best for his future endeavours," Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Sardar R.P. Singh told IANS. Hailing his work as the Lt. Governor, the BJP leader said: "He has done a lot of work for Delhi. We thank him for all the pain he took for people of the city." Singh also termed Jung's resignation as his personal decision, saying: "In his resignation letter, he has said that he want to pursue academics again, it is his personal decision. And we respect that decision." "He has said in his letter that he wants return to academics, his 'first love'," Singh added. Jung, who was locked in a running battle with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday resigned. He became the Lt Governor on July 9, 2013 when the Congress-led UPA was in power. The Narendra Modi government retained him even as it replaced most Governors in the states. A former IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre and a former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, Jung gave no other reason for his sudden decision to step down. Beijing, Dec 22 : A Chinese newspaper on Thursday warned India against using the Dalai Lama and Mongolia against China, saying employing proxies to counter Beijing was way beyond New Delhi's capability. The Global Times, which is known to reflect the thinking of the Chinese leadership, called India a "spoilt kid," and wondered what made India so confident when even the US thought twice before "messing" with China on sensitive issues. The op-ed article in the daily came in the wake of the December 11 meeting that Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had with the Tibetan spiritual leader. India also pledged financial support for Mongolia when Beijing punitively hiked tariff on trucks travelling through Chinese territory after Mongolia hosted the Dalai Lama. "New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. Mukherjee met the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November," said the Global Times article authored by Wen Dao. "India wants to disturb China's pace of development by taking advantage of China's national and international problems, most of which have nothing to do with India's national interests," Wen wrote. "India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China," it said. The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Global Times said Mongolia gave in to Beijing and said sorry for hosting the Dalai Lama before New Delhi could start the $1 billion credit line it had promised to Ulan Bator. Mongolia "tried to seek support from India, hoping that by allying with China's competitor, Beijing would be forced to give in". "India's way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line." The newspaper asked India to learn lessons how Beijing and US President-elect Donald Trump dealt with the situation after he spoke to Taiwanese President Tsai-ing Wen on telephone. "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent counter-measures, and must have understood that China's bottom line -- sovereign integrity and national unity -- is untouchable. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage? "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world'. India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is short-sighted." New Delhi, Dec 22 : A court here on Thursday sentenced two men to five years in jail for possessing fake currency notes amounting to Rs 49,88,000. Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Pandit awarded five-year jail terms to Ekramul Ansari and Sharda Shankar Mahato after convicting them for hatching a conspiracy to traffic 4,988 fake Indian currency notes (FICNs) of Rs 1,000 denomination from Dubai to Delhi. The court has convicted them under various sections dealing with criminal conspiracy, possessing counterfeit currency and under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as they were members of a banned terrorist outfit also. While Ansari was asked to pay a fine of Rs 6,000, Mahato was fined Rs 4,000. The court said that prosecution has proved its case that accused Ansari was found in conscious possession of 4,988 FICNs. The National Investigation Agency alleged that Ansari and Mahato had hatched a conspiracy to circulate fake currencies in India to harm the country's economy. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence arrested Ansari from Delhi's airport on April 18, 2014 and recovered 4,988 high quality FICNs of Rs 1,000 denomination. Later, Mahato was arrested and the case was transferred to the NIA. Ansari and Mahato were both residents of Champaran in Bihar. Ansari had gone to Dubai and started working there as a tailor. The NIA alleged that the fake notes were brought by Ansari to be delivered by Mahato in Patna. Baghdad, Dec 22 : At least 25 persons were killed on Thursday in the Iraqi city of Mosul after three suicide car bombs were detonated at a market place, a security source said. The bombings, that left dozens wounded, occurred when the cars blew up amid a crowd of civilians at a market place and positions of security sources at Gogjali district of Mosul, Xinhua quoted sources as saying. Security forces blockaded the district and carried out a search operation looking for more car bombs believed to be in the area, a source said. The attacks came as the security forces were carrying out operations to clear the recently-freed districts from the Islamic State terror group in the eastern side of Mosul. After nearly seven weeks of battle against the IS inside Mosul, the elite Counter-Terrorism Service retook control of 40 districts, while the army's 9th armoured Division and the 1st Division recaptured six more neighbourhoods in the city. New Delhi, Dec 22 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed police to conduct lie detector tests of 9 JNU students allegedly having connection in the case relating to missing student Najeeb Ahmed. A division bench of Justice G.S. Sistani and Justice Jayant Nath also asked Crime Branch of Delhi Police to also conduct searches at their residence of the ex-students. "Conduct the lie detector test of nine persons as soon as possible," said the bench and posted the matter for January 23, 2017. After the court was informed that two of the nine persons were ex-students and reside outside campus, the court asked police to keep a watch at their rooms and also search their rooms with two squad of sniffer dogs. The court was hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by Fatima Nafees, Ahmed's mother that her son be produced by police and the Delhi government before the court. Ahmed, 27, a first year M.Sc. student, went missing from his Jawaharlal Nehru University hostel on the night of October 14-15, allegedly after a row with members of RSS student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The ABVP has denied any involvement in his disappearance. Police told the court that Najeeb Ahmed's roommate Qasim had agreed to undergo lie-detector test and he joined the process on Wednesday. However, he refused to participate on next two days i.e. December 22 and 23 for the test, saying he will consult his lawyer. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for Ahmed's mother said that the lie detector test of nine suspected students should be conducted first as there were apprehension that they would not participate in test. He added that Qasim can participate in lie detector test after those nine persons. Filing the status report, Delhi Police told the court that in the presence of Ahmed's mother and brother, 560 police officials along with the dog squad had conducted search operations at the JNU campus for two days. Varanasi/Behraich, Dec 22 : A day after Rahul Gandhi hurled corruption charges, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked at him, asking where was the "earthquake" the Congress leader had been threatening. But an unrelenting Gandhi reiterated his allegations. "There is a youth leader in the Congress who has just learnt to speak. I am glad he has started to speak now," the Prime Minister said sarcastically at an event at the Banaras Hindu University, triggering loud cheers. "In 2009, it was very difficult to find out what was inside this packet. Good he has started speaking. "Had he not spoken, the county would have faced a big earthquake. And the country could not have recovered for 10 years," Modi added in his Lok Sabha constituency. Gandhi had been threatening for days to make damning disclosures against Modi that he said would cause an "earthquake". On Wednesday, he said in Gujarat that Income Tax documents showed Modi took bribes from corporates when he was the state Chief Minister. Later, at another event after inaugurating a super-speciality 150-bed hospital in Varanasi, Modi likened the attacks on his government over the note ban to the cover fire given by the Pakistan Army to help terrorists sneak into India. "After all the 'too-too-main-main' in Parliament recently, I often wondered why all this till I realised this was being done to provide cover fire to protect some corrupt people," he said. "Never had I anticipated such stiff opposition over demonetisation." The Prime Minister's onsalaught came after the entire winter session of Parliament was virtually washed out over demonetisation of high value currency that has led to an unprecedented cash crunch in the country. He alleged that some politicians and political parties were siding with the corrupt and those hoarding black money. "Chalo achcha hua, isi bahane logon ka kala dhan aur kala mann bahar aa raha hai (It's good to see that both black money and those with evil intentions are getting exposed)," Modi said. Modi was on a day-long trip to Varanasi where he laid foundation stones of several projects and addressed Bharatiya Janata Party activists. Hours after his first Varanasi jibe, Gandhi hit back. Addressing a "Jan Aakrosh" rally in Bahraich, also in election-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Congress leader said: "Make as much fun of me as you like... but answer my question. "Today the Prime Minister mocked at me but did not answer my questions. I will ask the same question again. Did you indulge in corruption or not?" Gandhi reiterated that seized Income Tax department documents showed that Modi got kickbacks of Rs 65 crore from two corporate houses and asked him to come clean on this. He vowed to raise the issue in Parliament too. "He (Modi) got kickbacks in nine instalments over a period of six months. On November 22, 2014 there was a raid on Sahara. The Income Tax Department raided them and seized their records," Gandhi alleged. "This record is with the Income Tax department for two-and-a-half years. Income Tax people had said there should be a probe into this. There is one more record of the Birla Group... 'Gujarat CM (to be paid) Rs 25 crore, Rs 12 crore paid, the rest?' This is what is written there," Gandhi added. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanded to know why the Congress did not rake up corruption charges against then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2013. This could be because of a "deal" between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party leader said in a video statement. A Congress-led coalition ruled India from 2004 to 2014, when Modi became the Prime Minister. Later, addressing a rally in Ranchi, Kejriwal reiterated his allegations that Modi took huge bribes when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister. On Wednesday, he sought a Supreme Court monitored probe into the allegations. New Delhi, Dec 22 : Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday asked Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to encourage Japanese companies to expand their production base in India under Make In India campaign. A high-level delegation of JICA, a governmental agency contributing to promotion of international cooperation and development of Japanese and global economy, led by its President Shinichi Kitaoka met Naidu here on Thursday, during which he also sought reduction in project appraisal time for metro projects in context of growing emphasis on infrastructure development. "Under Make in India campaign, several foreign and Indian companies have expanded their production bases in India and Japanese companies may be encouraged to do so. The project appraisal time being currently taken by JICA needs to be reduced in the context of growing emphasis on infrastructure development in India," said Naidu, according to an official statement. Kitaoka said that the JICA would consider the suggestions positively. "Japanese companies would be encouraged to set up their India bases to further Make In India efforts and also to increase procurement from Indian companies," the statement quoted Kitaoka as saying. Naidu further said that the JICA funded convention centre in Varanasi be named after 'India-Japan Friendship Convention Centre'. Ahmedabad, Dec 22 : The I-T Department is considering criminal proceedings against property dealer Mahesh Shah, who declared Rs 13,860 crore under an Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) but later said it belonged to some "big fish" whom he would name only to I-T officials. The Income-Tax Department officials on Thursday remained silent on whether the 67-year-old businessman had so far provided any information about his declared amount. "We suspected his intentions from day one and so rejected his claim beforehand. We also did not include his declaration as part of the national IDS figures announced," Chief Commissioner of Income Tax B.D. Gupta told reporters here. Shah came to the limelight after he declared an unaccounted income of Rs 13,860 crore under the IDS. However, he disappeared without paying the first instalment of the Rs 1,560 crore tax on the amount. He later reappeared before the media and made a statement that the amount he disclosed did not belong to him but he was a tool in the hands of some big fish who promised him a hefty "commission". The I-T officials said they would now initiate criminal proceedings against Shah and his chartered accountant Taihmul Shethna for "false" declaration. "We have sent in a report to the nodal authorities (Central Board of Direct Taxes) and now any further action is out of our purview. However, we are going to initiate criminal proceedings against Shah and his chartered accountant under the Indian Penal Code," P.C. Modi, Director General-Investigation of Income Tax, Gujarat, said. The I-T officials also refused to divulge any details about the findings from Surat-based snacks-seller-turned-financier Kishore Bhajiyawala. "We cannot give you any figures, as his is not the only case. We are flooded with several similar types of Bhajiyawalas and shall be able to share more details in January," Modi said. Some figures suggest that the I-T department had unearthed "undisclosed" wealth to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore from Bhajiyawala. On the misuse of Jan-Dhan Accounts to convert "illegal" money into legal currency, the I-T officials claimed that so far they had "not" come across any such case in Gujarat. Several reports, however, suggested that post-demonetisation, deposits in Jan-Dhan accounts in the state had reached roughly around Rs 3,560 crore -- up from Rs 1,687 crore before November 8, 2016, when demonetisation was announced. Ranchi, Dec 22 : A shutdown called by various student organisations on Thursday demanding arrest of those involved in the gang rape and murder of a teenager last week had little impact here. Although the shutdown supporters came out on roads shouting slogans in support of their demand, very few schools were closed and a large number of shops were also open. Of late, Ranchi has witnessed a surge in rape cases. Until November this year, a total of 148 cases have been reported. "The state government should hand over investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation as the state police has failed to identify the culprits. "The Ranchi incident reminds one of the Nirbhaya case of 2012, which took place on the same date," said Rahul Kumar, a student participating in the shutdown, told IANS. Four years after the December 16 brutal gang rape of Nirbhaya in Delhi, the engineering student was allegedly raped and burnt to death in state capital Ranchi. According to police, the burnt body of the Third-Year engineering student was found in a house in Buty Basti area of Sadar police station of Ranchi. The girl was first gang-raped by some people known to her and later burnt, police believe. Ranchi police on Saturday formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the incident. It announced on Wednesday a Rs 1 lakh reward if anyone gives any information about the rape and murder. Forensic experts, however, say much of the evidence was lost in the fire and the water sprayed by the locals to douse the flames. New Delhi, Dec 22 : Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday berated "guest teachers" in state-run schools for protesting against him and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a day earlier. The normally placid Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, turned emotional as he accused a small group of teachers of acting at the behest of the AAP's political rivals. Hundreds of "guest teachers" who have been demanding permanent jobs in schools run by the Delhi government on Wednesday raised anti-Kejriwal slogans and blocked a key road after an official function. A livid Sisodia said some 15 or so teachers allied to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and Congress had incited the mass of teachers despite being promised higher wages by the Delhi government. "I was really pained" by what these teachers did on Wednesday, Sisodia said. "I fought for your cause with the LG (Lt Governor Najeeb Jung) and this is what you do to us. "How dare you call Kejriwal a 'chor' (thief)? What crime did he commit? You stabbed us in the back. I could not sleep last night." Sisodia threatened action against the teachers who incited others to block the Ring Road and warned the teaching community not to use their platform for political ends. New Delhi, Dec 22 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to release two months' salary of its 62 employees which had been withheld since September. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, taking into consideration that work was continuously being carried out in the Commission, ordered release of 50 per cent arrears of the four months (or effectively two months' salary) of the employees. The court said the employees shall file, in two days, their affidavits and indemnity that the money being released was subject to final orders of the court and thereafter the DCW shall disburse the amounts in another two working days. The court, however, made it clear that release of salary will be subject to the outcome of final order of court and posted the matter for January 6. "They (petitioners) have been working in the various cells of DCW, how can you withhold their salary? Do you want the cells to stop working? If 10 months salary has been paid, then heavens will not fall if another months salary is paid," said Justice Sachdeva. Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Delhi Lt Governor, opposed the plea filed by the DCW employees for release of salary, saying that not just the appointments but even posts created for the workers were illegal as they lacked his approval. The women employees work in various DCW cells including the Rape Crisis Cell, Crisis Intervention Centre, Acid Watch and Rehabilitation Cell, Anti-trafficking and Rehabilitation Cell, Mahila Panchayats and Sahayogini programme. Many of the cells were set up on orders of the court. DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal, who was present in the court, said: "In the past year DCW has handled 12,000 cases, heard 3.16 lakh calls, assisted over 5,500 cases of sexual assault victims, conducted 1,869 counselling, made 7,500 visits and gave over 55 recommendations to government as opposed to 1 case in 8 years by the previous Chairperson." New Delhi, Dec 22 : The Delhi Police on Thursday arrested a manager of a marketing company and his friend for allegedly raping a 21-year-old woman in west Delhi's Dwarka area. The woman, a resident of Gurugram in Haryana, was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital here on Wednesday night along with her boyfriend Himmat after they fell from a building in Dwarka area and got injured. Police said that both, the woman and Himmat, were drunk when admitted to hospital. Deputy Commissioner of Police Surender Kumar told IANS that the woman alleged that she was raped by her boyfriend and his friend Sunil, a cab driver. "On inquiry, we found that the woman and Himmat accidentally fell from the window of the building where they consumed alcohol during a party," the officer said. He said the woman met Himmat at Kapashera, near Delhi-Gurugram border, on Wednesday. Himmat's friend Sunil joined them later and took them to his flat in Dwarka. The officer said Himmat and Sunil have been arrested and a rape case has been registered against the accused. "We are still probing how the woman and her friend fell from the building, and whether she was raped or it was a consensual act," the officer said. Panaji, Dec 22 : The Goa unit of AAP on Thursday accused the ruling BJP of a 'Gestapo-like' campaign, claiming that outdoor publicity companies signed by it to erect party hoardings are being threatened by police. Police are threatening to pull down election hoardings of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the party said. The ruling party also complained to the Goa Director General of Police and the Chief Electoral Officer, accusing the AAP of running a malicious campaigns against Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. The campaign is casting aspersions on his image ahead of state assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) said. "Businessmen, whom we have been engaged for putting up hoardings are being threatened by the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) of Goa Police, asking them to pull down the hoardings... Are we heading towards Gestapo rule," AAP's Goa unit spokesperson Dr. Oscar Rebello said. The hoardings in question feature two images -- one of AAP's chief ministerial candidate Elvis Gomes and that of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, along with a question in bold letters: "Who will save Goa?" While Gomes' photo accompanies word 'honest', alongside Parsekar's image, there are three question marks. The hoardings have been erected at several vantage points across the state. On its two complaints, the BJP has said: "This is insinuating, derogatory and highly malicious in nature, as the AAP is purposely trying to malign the image of the Chief Minister and at the same time trying to create unrest in the society ahead of the forthcoming elections in the state of Goa." The BJP has claimed that the hoardings are "aimed specifically at maligning the public perception and image of the honourable Chief Minister of Goa", as they question his honesty. "The AAP is setting wrong precedents in the run-up to the assembly elections in the state of Goa," the complaints say. Polls to the state Legislative Assembly are likely early next year. New Delhi, Dec 22 : The Delhi government is planning to set up a waste-to-energy plant in the fish and poultry market at Ghazipur, Rural Development Minister Gopal Rai said on Thursday. The government will soon float a tender for allotting a contract for this plant, Rai told reporters here. The plant is proposed to be commissioned in an area of 1,500 square metres within the market in east Delhi. "The waste to energy management plant will convert approximately 10-15 metric tonne of waste into energy on daily basis," he added. Currently 10 metric tonne waste is generated from the fish and poultry markets and is transported to Ghazipur landfill site. "The project involves initial cost of Rs 3.33 crore and running cost of another 3.3 crore for five years," Rai said. Approximately 1800 KW per hour electricity shall be supplied by the agency to run the market on which the department is incurring a cost of Rs 58 lakh per annum, the minister added. "The entire project cost is expected to be recovered within 4-5 years," he said. Rai added the project will save Rs 8 crore of the taxpayers' money as huge expenditure incurred to transport waste from market to landfill sites will be saved apart from generation of 1800 KW per hour electricity. Milan (Italy), Dec 22 : A lower court here on Thursday sentenced the former Lombardy regional Governor Roberto Formigoni to six years in prison and seized assets from him worth 6.6 million euros. Formigoni was found guilty of favouring the Pavia-based Maugeri heath-care foundation specialising in rehabilitation, in exchange for payments of tens of millions of euros, luxury holidays abroad, dinners, the purchase of a Sardinian villa and exclusive use of three private yachts. He was barred from holding public office for six years and ordered to pay three million euros in damages to the Lombardy region, where he served as Governor from 1995 until the end of 2012 when his entire scandal-hit administration resigned. Among the assets impounded from Formigoni were 50 percent of a villa in Sardinia due to be handed back to Formigoni's close friend Alberto Perego, another defendant in the trial, who was acquitted on Thursday. Prosecutors had asked for a nine-year jail term for Formigoni, who is currently a senator for the centrist NCD party of Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano. The Maugeri foundation paid 61 million euros in benefits for Formigoni between 1997 and 2011 via his friend and businessman Pierangelo Dacco and former executive regional councillor Antonio Simone, prosecutors said. A further nine million euros was paid to Dacco and Simone between 2005 and 2006 including eight million euros of benefits for Formigoni, according to prosecutors. Formigoni in return authorised illicit healthcare reimbursements worth 200 million euros for the Maugeri fund, prosecutors allege. Dacco was jailed for nine years and two months, Simone for eight years and eight months, the Maugeri foundation's ex-finance director Costantino Passerino for seven years and another businessman, Carlo Farina, for three years and four months. Five defendants were cleared in the trial, which followed a probe that began in 2012. Formigoni denies wrongdoing and claims he paid for holidays on a boat provided by Dacco. Tokyo, Dec 23 : The United States returned to Japan the control of 4,000 hectares occupied until now by its military bases on the southern island of Okinawa. The ceremony in Nago was attended by top Japanese government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga and US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy This is the largest return of US-occupied land since 1972, when Japan regained the administration of Okinawa, where 240,000 people died during the Second World War and which had been controlled by the US ever since, reports Efe. The returned land, which is 17 per cent of the territory administered by the US military on the island, was used for combat training in forest areas. "This decreased training area on Okinawa will not deteriorate our commitment or our ability towards working with the government of Japan and our partners in the Japan Self-Defense Forces in mutual defense of this country," US Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson said in a statement. Nicholson added that that the US intends to return more land to Japan in the future. Opposition by the local population and politicians to US bases on the island has intensified over time owing to several incidents. The latest took place on December 13 when one of the controversial Osprey MV-22 aircrafts, a US military aircraft which has been deployed in Japan since 2012, crashed. Okinawa shelters half of the 48,000 US troops in Japan as well as 70 per cent of the US military facilities in the country. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) has been suffering ever since late 2015, when an E. Coli outbreak at dozens of its restaurants sickened 55 people in 11 states. The outlook for the fast-casual restaurant became bleaker after a second outbreak infected five more people, and after 80 Boston College students got sick from eating at a single Chipotle. The bad PR has had a sustained negative effect on both the companys stock and sales. Chipotles same-store sales plummeted nearly 22% in the third quarter of 2016, and the stock has dropped nearly 25% since this time last year. It will be tough for Chipotle to turn things around in 2017, especially since Moodys Investors Service is forecasting 2016 as just the start of a restaurant recession. Indeed, Chipotles updated food safety protocols will not be enough to counteract the bad press its received and the troubles facing the restaurant industry as a whole. It needs to woo consumers with new menu items while also ensuring they dont associate Chipotle burrito bowls with diarrhea-inducing bacteria anymore. The most important area of focus must be rebuilding consumer confidence and interest in the brand, Neil Saunders, managing director of Conlumino, a retail research agency, tells Yahoo Finance. That requires a strong marketing effort and initiatives like menu innovation. Granted, Chipotle has already begun making changes to its menus. Chorizo, Chipotles newest protein, launched nationally in October and now accounts for 7% of entree sales. Continuing the trend of product innovation, Chipotle is testing two different desserts with the hopes of introducing one into the menu next year. The company will also broadcast more TV ads to reach new customers. However, Saunders cautioned, It is unrealistic to expect such efforts to turn the business around immediately. Trust is easily lost and regaining it is a hard and prolonged effort. This summer, Chipotle tried to ramp up its number of return customers through Chiptopia, a loyalty program that attracted 6 million members. Chipotle said the temporary program boosted sales in the second quarter. In 2017, the chain may end up using insights from Chiptopia to create a permanent loyalty program, Barclays analyst Jeffrey Bernstein wrote in a research note. Story continues The chain may also get more repeat customers by improving its customer service in 2017. This month, Chipotle CEO Steve Ellis revealed half of its restaurants have subpar customer service. With the restaurants focus on increasing food safety measurement, Ellis said, the focus on customers experience has decreased. Improving that customer experience will involve training on-the-ground employees to do things like picking up dirty napkins. The company will also benefit from new high-level insights in 2017, as Chipotle named four new board members including two who might end up calling for major changes at Chipotle since theyre aligned with activist Chipotle investor Bill Ackman. For now, Barclays thinks the stock could hit $405 in 2017, which is a slight 3% increase from current levels. It could be a while before Chipotle gets back to a place where it was before its big E. Coli outbreak. On the outlook of Chipotle in 2017, Saunders says, The next year will be one of recovery rather than a return to business as usual. However, Saunders wrote in an October research note, One thing that will be helpful to Chipotle in the longer term is store expansion, which it kept up even during the crisis. Sales from these stores may generate greater profit when the recovery takes hold. However, he wrote, this is only a possibility and not a guarantee. Even if Chipotle cant get any guarantees of a full recovery in 2017, its certain the fast-casual chain will continue making big changes to get at least some of its customers back. See also: The US consumer will be in particularly good shape in 2017: UBS 4 undergrad business programs more selective than Harvards MBA United Nations, Dec 23 : A UN Security Council session on the issue of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories has been postponed due to last-minute negotiations, diplomats said. During the session which was scheduled for Thursday, a vote was to have been held on a draft resolution calling for Israel to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, reports Efe. It is still unclear whether the US would use its veto power to block the measure. Diplomatic sources told Efe that Egypt, which circulated the draft text, had asked for more time for negotiations and that it was now unclear when the session would take place as a meeting for later today has been ruled out. The US in 2011 vetoed a resolution demanding Israel immediately halt the settlement activities, but according to diplomatic sources this latest Egypt-led effort had resulted in a proposal that was ambitious from the standpoint of the Palestinians. The resolution reaffirms that the establishment by Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, has no "legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law". US President Barack Obama, who will leave the White House on January 20, supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and also has criticized the Israeli settlement policy. But his successor, Donald Trump who holds a more staunchly pro-Israel position, said: "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations." GreenTech presents the Food Bank with a check for $10,000 to aid in the organizations initiatives to reach out and help the people of North Carolina. Were thankful for GreenTechs commitment to our mission of ensuring no one goes hungry in central and eastern North Carolina. Food Bank CEO Peter Werbicki The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina (FBCENC) moved into a new facility to enable the organization to help feed more hungry families. Not only did the Food Bank need more space to handle its growth and expansion needs, but it was determined to build a state-of-the-art facility by incorporating key technologies throughout the design process to make it both energy efficient and environmentally friendly. GreenTech Solutions Group worked with the general contractor to assist in the lighting upfit of the newly renovated 85,000 square-foot space on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh, NC. The Food Bank reached out to GreenTech seeking an LED fixture option that could meet the requirements and lighting needs in the freezer and chiller storage areas. The new facility boasts three times as many cooler and freezers, so the energy efficiency and cost savings that LED lighting allows was an important factor for the FBCENC. Working with the design architect, GreenTech delivered an option that worked best for the Food Bank. The LED fixtures incorporated in these area are designed to withstand the cold climate and are also certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), meaning the fixtures can be safely used in the food industry. Walking through the facility, it is easy to recognize the step dimming/motion option used with the LED fixtures in the main warehouse areas. This option auto-dims the light fixture when there is no activity in that area, which allows for an additional reduction in energy use without any safety issues, and returns to 100 percent output when motion is detected. Such control options are often overlooked when performing lighting upgrades, said GreenTech VP of Business Development Scott Jernigan. GreenTech goes beyond just selling a product; we strive to educate our clients in key options that bring another layer of savings which many are not aware of. Jernigan added, We are moving towards full automation within larger projects through our partnership with suppliers of enterprise-scale intelligent LEDs, which will provide a level of detail and networked control that will become the future standard in smart-building technology. We know that working in an energy-efficient facility helps us meet our mission of distributing food to those in need, while being respectful of our resources, said Charlie Hale, Vice President of Operations for the Food Bank. We are grateful for GreenTech Solutions Groups generosity in helping us get our new distribution center up and running. GreenTech was also honored to present the Food Bank with a check for $10,000 to aid in the organizations initiatives to reach out and help the people of North Carolina. Thanks to partners like GreenTech Solutions Group, were able to continue our work distributing nutritious food options for those who are hungry in our community, said the Food Bank CEO Peter Werbicki. Were thankful for GreenTechs commitment to our mission of ensuring no one goes hungry in central and eastern North Carolina. The Food Bank plans to take full advantage of its new space, with teaching kitchens and classrooms, a community health department to aid in food nutrition and preparation, plus other community initiatives. We are strong believers in giving back to the community and can see first-hand the profound impact the Food Banks efforts have within our communities here in North Carolina, said GreenTech CEO Glenn Edmonds. We hope our donation to the Food Bank will go a long way in helping many who need their assistance and are proud that we were able to help such a worthwhile organization. Approximately 8,500 people rely on the Food Bank in Raleigh and in five other partner locations for daily access to food. The FBCENC is in need of donations all year round. Your tax-deductible gift to the Food Bank will immediately help hungry seniors, families, and children in the community. For every dollar you give, the Food Bank can provide $10.00 worth of food or five meals. If you want to help, please visit: Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina at http://www.foodbankcenc.org. About GreenTech Solutions Group: Founded in 2009, GreenTech Solutions Group is designed as a full-service consulting firm to deliver proven energy-efficiency solutions that reduce clients energy consumption, help protect our environment, conserve resources, and ultimately generate a timely return on investment. We specialize in cutting-edge energy-efficient lighting, alternative energy production, mechanical efficiency, energy management, water conservation, and more, planning and implementing projects for businesses of all sizes in every industry nationwide. For more information visit: http://www.greentechsolutionsgroup.com/ Benzer Pharmacy has been approved to dispense Purixan as a partner for limited distribution drugs based on the pharmacys expertise in clinical excellence. A product of Rare Disease Therapeutics, Inc., Purixan is the first FDA-Approved oral suspension form of mercaptopurine. Purixan offers flexibility and accuracy of dosing, consistent absorption and is a palatable alternative to current mercaptopurine therapies. Purixan is indicated for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as a part of a combination regimen. Purixan is only available to certain specialty pharmacies and Benzer Pharmacy is thrilled to be selected to dispense this limited distribution drug, says Lindsay Wall, Benzer Pharmacy Chief Clinical Officer. Benzer Pharmacy will deliver Purixan through three of its full service stores located at: 301 Havendale Blvd. Auburndale, FL 33823; 6300 Commerce Dr. Westland, MI 48185; and 725 County Rd 466 Lady Lake, FL 32159. For more information, including initiating a prescription for use of Purixan or for assistance in locating a pharmacy to dispense Purixan call: 877-4-BENZER For more information about Purixan can be found at http://www.purixan-us.com ### About Benzer Pharmacy Benzer Pharmacy is a chain of independent retail pharmacies that specializes in specialty drugs and also focusses on medication management programs for people with complex chronic diseases, including Hepatitis, HIV, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Dermatological conditions and Gastrointestinal Disorders (GI). The first Benzer Pharmacy opened in the year 2009 and there are now over 60 locations throughout Tennessee, Florida, Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Nevada, Oklahoma, Iowa, Louisiana and Arkansas. Accreditations - 2016: Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC) accreditation for Specialty Pharmacy - 2015: PCAB compounding accreditation with Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) Accolades Florida Fast 50 (2016) - Tampa Bays Fastest Growing Companies. EY Entrepreneur of the Year, (2016) - Benzer Pharmacy CEO was a Florida Finalist. CFO of the Year Awards (2016): Finalist Large company category. Chain Drug Review (2016: Rank 54 out of 100 in the Top 100 Chains by Pharmacy Count Inc. 5000 (2015): Rank 1500 - Fastest growing private company in America. Florida Fast 100 (2015): Rank 39 out of 100 Fastest growing private companies in Florida TBBJ 200 (2015): Rank 67 out of 200 - Tampa Bays largest private companies All Benzer Pharmacy medications require a doctor's prescription. For more information: http://www.benzerpharmacy.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BenzerPharmacy Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/benzerpharmacy If we want to see change in the future, we need to begin teaching our children correctly now. Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) is pleased to announce that it will be distributing a new curriculum on faith and gender equality for children. Christian-based Gender Equality Curriculum" is intended for children ages 7-12 and was created and published by CBE-South Africa leader and Rhema Bible Church pastor Xana McCauley, along with Bronwen Stanford and Jenni Ring. The curriculum is was birthed by McCauleys passion to educate the church on gender equality. The authors write that if we want to see change in the future, we need to begin teaching our children correctly now. It is essential to model the message of gender equality at an early age when children are forming their initial ideas about gender so that they wont need to deal with gender inequalities experienced today. First published in 2015, the curriculum has been used successfully in South Africa. Now, CBE is partnering with McCauley to bring the curriculum to US consumers. This is the latest in a string of joint efforts between CBE and McCauley, according to CBEs president, Dr. Mimi Haddad. 2016 has been a banner year for our international partnerships, and we have our South African partners thank for much of that momentum says Haddad. We were pleased to collaborate with Xana and Rhema Bible Church for a major conference Truth be Told: Speaking out against Gender Based Violence and to distribute around 5,000 copies of CBEs books and journals. Out of this have grown even more partnerships in southern and eastern Africa. And now, we are delighted to be distributing this South African curriculum to Christians in the United States. The curriculum is available for sale through CBEs online bookstore, and includes 10 lessons, which purposefully focus on Gods original plan for humanity; not a hierarchical plan but one of mutual submission and love. It emphasizes Gods choosing of both male and female to fulfill his will and purposes. The curriculum aims at debunking biblical gender stereotyping. In its effort to advance a biblical foundation for gift-based rather than gender-based ministry and service, CBE sponsors annual conferences, facilitates local chapters, hosts an online bookstore, and publishes two award-winning journals. For more information, visit http://www.cbeinternational.org. The competition, which is set up as an essay contest, seeks out promising young scholars with a mind for realistic and practical approaches to managing Americas aging infrastructure. With a continued dedication to supporting the education of Americas youth, Wise Company is excited to announce the next round of winners in their bi-annual scholarship competition. The competition, which is set up as an essay contest, seeks out promising young scholars with a mind for realistic and practical approaches to managing Americas aging infrastructure. In the essay prompt, applicants were asked to submit a 600800-word essay on the social impact of a complete failure of the aging U.S. power grid on our country, as well as what residents can do to better prepare for such a potential catastrophe. It is with pride that the Wise Company has chosen the following three applicants to receive scholarship funds to continue to support their education. 1st Prize: Linnea Warburton, a freshman at the University of Maryland. Linnea will receive $1,500. 2nd Prize: Anna Tippett, an aspiring scholar, will receive $1,000. 3rd Prize: Nathanael Duncan Clark, who is currently seeking his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at The University of North Carolina, will receive $500. Supporting the next generation of scholars is a passion of Wise Company, said Wise Company CEO Aaron Jackson. We believe that in supporting these inquisitive minds now, we will be paid back in experience and insight in the years to come. Its part of why Wise Company is dedicated to continuing this bi-annual scholarship fund. Essays were judged on originality and creativity, emotional impact, and relevance to topic. All applicants were required to carry a minimum GPA of 3.5 and provide at least one letter of recommendation. About Wise Company Wise Company, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, is a leading provider of high-quality, long-term food kits, emergency food kits, dehydrated or freeze-dried food items for camping, long-term-storage or emergency purposes. Many of the companys prepared foods can last for up to 25 years and Wise Companys products have been featured on a number of television channels, including FOX News, The Weather Channel, National Geographic Channel, The History Channel, and American Heroes Channel (formerly the Military Channel). For more information, please visit http://www.wisefoodstorage.com. Jonathan Chin Named Clinton Hunger Leadership Award Winner If we can show college students that being responsible for the people around them is powerful and fulfilling, then when they go out to become leaders of tomorrow, they'll have compassion with them. Jonathan Chin Stop Hunger Now and the North Carolina State University Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service have named Jonathan Chin, a student at New York University, as the 2017 President William Jefferson Clinton Hunger Leadership Award recipient. The award will be presented at the Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit March 24-25 at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. Each year, students across the globe with a passion to end hunger are invited to apply for the award, named in honor of President Bill Clinton for his commitment to humanitarian causes, including the eradication of hunger. The award was first presented by President Clinton in 2009. Since then, the N.C. State Center for Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service (CSLEPS) and Stop Hunger Now, a non-profit hunger relief organization, have presented the award to students from colleges or universities around the world. "For many people, college is really the last time that they're asked to think critically. If we can catch them at this crucial juncture and show them that being responsible for the people around them is powerful and fulfilling, then when they go out to become the leaders of tomorrow, they'll have that compassion with them," said Chin. When Chin discovered that many of his fellow students at New York University (NYU) did not have enough to eat, he used his coding skills to design a web platform connecting hungry students to those who had extra swipes available on their meal cards. His platform was the launching pad for his organization and subsequent mobile app, Share Meals. Chins next step was to conduct a study to find out how many students on campus were food insecure, as well as to determine how much food was being wasted in the form of expired meal card swipes. He found that 18.8% of students surveyed did not have enough to eat, while 523 students surveyed left $438,910.30 unused on their meal plans. Through collaboration with various university departments and students, Chin has dedicated himself to fighting hunger at NYU. In addition to the creation of Share Meals, he has played a lead role on a committee that is working to establish food pantries on campus. Chin has led cooking classes at NYU, teaching students how to create nutritious, affordable meals. He recently delivered a TEDx Talk at the University of Missouri, and his efforts have been featured in the New York Times. The Share Meals app was the winner of NYUs 2016 Global Hackathon. Chin has advised students, faculty and staff from universities across the U.S. and the UK on how to implement programs to combat hunger on their own campuses. He hopes to expand Share Meals to other universities. Previous Clinton Award winners are: Balanding Mennah, Arizona State University (2016); Maria Rose Belding, American University (2015); Azeem Ahmed, Auburn University (2014); Brendan Rice, University of Alabama (2013); Ryan ODonnell, NC State (2012); Gavin Armstrong, University of Guelph (2011); Sarah Nam, Harvard (2010); and John Coggin, NC State University (2009) About Stop Hunger Now Stop Hunger Now works to end hunger by providing food and life-changing aid to the worlds most vulnerable people, and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources. Based in Raleigh, NC, Stop Hunger Now operates meal packaging programs in 20 U.S. cities and in six international locations. For information, visit http://www.stophungernow.org. Its a great honor to announce IBCnet as one of the Top 10 eCommerce Solution Providers 2016, said Katie William, Managing Editor of Retail CIO Outlook. IBCnet offers a proprietary process for planning, creating, and executing complete solutions to build successful online businesses. On behalf of our team, I wish to thank you for the honor, responded Michael M. Vaknin, President and CEO of IBCnet. There are very few companies that have been doing this for over two decades. Our longevity and success is attributed to business oriented approach that keeps our clients coming back. This acknowledgement recognizes our hard working, task oriented and passionate team which is genuinely vested in our clients business goals with uncompromising commitment to delivering industry-leading technology solutions. This has kept us going and will continue to in the future. About IBCnet Web development company from Los Angeles IBCnet specializes in delivering e-biz strategy solutions with emphasis on creative design, functionality, and return on investment. Established 1994, IBCnet seasoned team acquired experience with every major milestone technology since its inception. IBCnet has a successful proven track record of delivering customized ecommerce solutions for web and mobile that turn into a successful real-world working online business. For more information visit http://www.ibcnet.com/ About Retail CIO Outlook Published from Fremont, California, Retail CIO Outlook is a technology magazine, that provides information about new enterprise solutions that define technology and help business leaders to achieve business goals. A panel of experts and board members of Retail CIO Outlook magazine finalized the Top 10 eCommerce Solution Providers 2016 and shortlisted the best vendors and consultants in the Retail industry. For more information visit: http://www.retailciooutlook.com 10 Year Anniversary Celebration of Achievement Our goals are driven by the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to maximize their potential. Heartfelt Alternatives, Inc. hosted a Gala event honoring CEO Tabatha E. Moore for her 10 year anniversary.. The event was highlighted by the presentation of a community service award for Ms. Moores tireless efforts as a Mental Health Service provider. As a child Moore dreamed of all the things she would do as an adult. It is rare to encounter an individual who has laid the foundation for each dream simultaneously, in preparation to seize opportunity. Ms. Moore is an alumna of Fayetteville State. Through her studies and research she came to understand that a mission was within her to serve the people. In 2003 Moore graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice and went on to obtain her Masters in Social Work from Fayetteville State University in 2007. Upon graduating Ms. Moore applied to become a licensed Social Worker, believing that she was destined to open her own mental health agency. With her plan in its infancy state, Moore had the presence of mind to incorporate her company in 2006, which she named Heartfelt Alternatives. Rather than dive in feet first, Moore knew that it would be to her advantage to work in her field to learn the business side of Social Work. After two years of working at various agencies, which Moore refers to as completing her due diligence, throughout the Fayetteville and Raleigh North Carolina area, Moore stepped out on faith in her own abilities and opened Heartfelt Alternatives for business in Raleigh, NC. In honor of her 10 Year Anniversary, and a major milestone in her career, Moore wanted to share a special night with very special people who faithfully supported her journey. Attendees shared images of the black-tie, red carpet Gala live on social media. Under the management of Rhonda Smith Hicks, Amazing Grace Events Management, guests were wowd from the moment they arrived with a live red carpet greeter and live toy soldiers. Ms. Moore vision for the Gala drew on her experience as a creative consultant for the Soul Train Awards, and relationships with New York Fashion Week Runway notables, BCBG Maxazria and Herve Leger. Soon after the guests were seated, Tabatha Moore and her daughters made a royal entrance. The Guest of Honor and her three beautiful daughters, Taquera, Mariah, and Jahri, were adorned with couture from a new Crown Collection by global Stylist and Designer Anthony L. Williams, of Project Runway fame. Celebrity dream-team, Makeup artist Lauren Sinclair and Hair Guru Bylel Harris, have been an integral part of introducing, Ms. Moore makeup line, the TABBYCAT brand, to their numerous celebrity clients. Following an elegant dinner, presentations began with the showing of a documentary film that chronicled Ms. Moores journey to becoming a very successful business owner. As Executive Director of the project, Tabatha Moore commissioned director Jaisun McMillian and filmmaker Victor Stone to produce the film. The detailed biopic answered the question, who is Tabatha Moore? And how did she conquer the challenges and successfully build her business at such a young age? Ms. Moore credited her family and the ability to surround herself with a great staff. Guest speakers for the evening included Mr. James Benton, Chairman of the Mayors Committee for Persons with Disabilities and employments specialist at the Governor Morehead School for the Blind and Carolyn Marshall Covington, Director of Insightful Visionaries. Mr. Benton shared the correlation between disability and mental health. Mrs. Covington, creator of Beauty for Sight and Insightful Visionaries, is an active spokesperson and champion for empowering the blind and visually impaired.. Following the presentation, Ms. Moore presented Mrs. Covington with a donation of $1000 to Insightful Visionaries. The evening included performances by The Stanley Baird Group, jazz ensemble, and a surprise musical tribute to Ms. Moore from, Ernest Leonard, PLLC for Heartfelt Alternatives, Inc. and Jaisun McMillian, Director of Operations for Tabbycat Brand, LLC. After all presentations were complete, Ms. Moore ascended to the stage and offered praise and thanks to her team, and staff for their tributes, accolades and support. The audience was captivated by her presence and inspiring message. She spoke of how everyone possessed the power within, to overcome obstacles and limitations and fulfill their dreams.. It was obvious that her daughters, community service and tenure as CEO of Heartfelt were a great source of inspiration for the speech she delivered so passionately. The audience stood to its feet giving an ovation worthy of a First Lady. Dr. Leonard Grossman This is the newest and by far the most remarkable and simply the best way to offer patients new, baby like skin. After 9 months of treating patients under experimental conditions, Dr. Leonard Grossman has been selected by Bovie Medical as the first and only provider in NYC to offer advanced skin resurfacing treatments with the J-Plasma device or, as Dr. Grossman calls it, the "Tesla Resurfacer." With this innovative technology, Dr. Grossman is now able to entirely eliminate wrinkles, uneven coloring, laxity and many additional signs of aging skin, while significantly reducing the recovery period. This is the newest and by far the most remarkable and simply the best way to offer patients new, baby like skin," commented Dr. Grossman. According to Dr. Grossman, since the J-Plasma procedure provides natural skin tightening by increasing the skin's collagen production, it is also appropriate and may be used as an alternative to a facelift and a number of other surgical procedures. Specifically, patients are now able to achieve rather palpable skin revitalization in such sensitive and critical areas as forehead and lip lines, skin around the eyes, occasional freckles and even scarring and other areas of discoloration. J-Plasma procedures are typically performed while under twilight IV sedation anesthesia or local anesthesia; the most common procedure time is approximately 35 minutes. To learn more about J-Plasma and to book an appointment with Dr. Grossman, please call his Brooklyn, NY office at 718-934-5500 or visit his website. About Dr. Leonard Grossman Dr. Grossman received his medical degree from New York Medical College in 1985. He went on to complete his internship and residency in General Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center from 1985 to 1988. In 1995 Dr. Grossman completed his Fully Accredited Plastic Surgery Residency at Texas A & M and the Scott & White Memorial Hospital after the completion of his fellowship in Microsurgery at the Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, NY in 1990 and Burns and Reconstruction fellowship at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, NY in 1991. Since performing his first Liposuction under all local anesthesia in 1993, Dr. Grossman realized that the only way to get an ideal or a near perfect result in liposuction is to have the procedure done with the patient standing. Since that time, with the compliment of excellent intravenous and local anesthesia, Dr. Grossmans patients do not have any discomfort, anxiety or unpleasant memories of the procedure. In 1995 Dr. Grossman became the first American Plastic Surgeon to utilize Ultrasound Assisted Liposuction technology that allowed difficult areas on the body (backs and breasts in men and women) to achieve excellent results with minimal down time. POS Portal Were the only ones in North America to offer this type of solution, if P2PE compliance is part of your scope, there is no faster way to market. POS Portal, the nations leading distributor of secure payment devices, announced today that the PCI Security Standards Council has listed POS Portal as a Point-to-Point Encryption Version 2 Key Injection Facility. As a component provider, POS Portal provides logistics and distribution of Secure Payment Devices, this new validation means that POS Portal can now offer Solution Providers an immediate way to streamline their operations and help their merchant clients to achieve PCI DSS compliance. With two Key Injection Facilities, POS Portal deploys devices direct to businesses nationwide. Our facilities, technology, and controls offer Solution Providers turnkey access to market ready systems of custody monitoring, device configuration, and key management said Evamarie Ghiggeri, VP of Client Services at POS Portal Were the only ones in North America to offer this type of solution, if P2PE compliance is part of your scope, there is no faster way to market. POS Portals successful completion of their P2PE assessment underscores its commitment to strong security requirements as they pertain to payment device hardware including hardware encryption, chain of custody controls, and Hardware Security Module (HSM) key management. Included on PCI SSCs list as a Key Injection Facility, POS Portal is a P2PE Component Provider whose services can be used by P2PE Solution Providers. This P2PE validation means that POS Portal can now offer the first market ready solution of its kind. Coalfire was POS Portals P2PE assessor, and performed the assessment per the extensive and rigorous P2PE requirements. Designed to meet the needs of every organization regardless of size, Coalfires services address all PCI DSS requirements, including security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures. POS Portal has demonstrated remarkable attention to detail and clearly shown their commitment to device security and control, said Tim Winston, Coalfire PCI P2PE Product Director. POS Portal has already begun working with leading Solution Providers to help speed up delivery of P2PE devices direct to merchants. With the listing of its key injection facilities by the PCI Security Standards Council, POS Portal offers a streamlined, cost-effective way for potential P2PE Solution Providers to integrate POS Portals services into their solution and in turn reduce assessment scope for merchants. As PCI Security Standards Council Participating Organization, POS Portal helps to improve payment data security worldwide through the ongoing development of the PCI Security Standards, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), PIN Transaction Security (PTS) requirements and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS). For a complete listing of P2PE Component Providers, visit the PCI Security Standards Council website. About Coalfire Coalfire is the trusted leader in cybersecurity risk management and compliance services. Coalfire integrates advisory and technical assessments and recommendations to the corporate directors, executives, boards, and IT organizations for global brands and organizations in the technology, cloud, healthcare, retail, payments, and financial industries. Coalfires approach addresses each businesses specific vulnerability challenges, developing a long-term strategy to prevent security breaches and data theft. Coalfire has offices throughout the United States and Europe. For more information, visit http://www.Coalfire.com About the PCI Security Standards Council The PCI Security Standards Council is a global forum that is responsible for the development, management, education, and awareness of the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and other standards that increase payment data security. Founded in 2006 by the major payment card brands American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard and Visa Inc., the Council has over 750 Participating Organizations representing merchants, banks, processors and vendors worldwide. To learn more about playing a part in securing payment card data globally, please visit pcisecuritystandards.org. About POS Portal Since 2000, POS Portal has been changing the payments industry. As a leading distributor of credit card terminals and supplies POS Portal is pioneering the way in logistics and distribution for secure payment devices. Having one of the most extensive libraries of injection keys and over 15 years of strategic relationships with gateways, processors, and terminal OEMs, POS Portal has the resources needed to always deliver secure devices preconfigured just the way our partners need them. With two Key Injection Facilities (KIF), POS Portal deploys devices direct to businesses nationwide. At POS Portal were committed to providing exceptional service to the point-of-sale industry through mutually beneficial, long-lasting relationships. For additional information, please visit posportal.com or call 1-866-940-4POS (4767) Plutora Logo The need for enterprises to continually release application updates faster has never been greater and the demand for Plutora's solution is ubiquitous. Macquarie Capitals investment will allow us to accelerate growth. Plutora, the market leader in enterprise release, test environment, and software quality management, today announced it had closed a $13.4m growth equity investment from Macquarie Capital. The investment will further support Plutoras global growth, accelerate solution innovation and extend its customer reach. This is the first round of external funding for the Silicon Valley and Australia-based company, which has successfully grown revenue organically over 200% year on year since 2013. Founded in 2012, Plutora has emerged as a fast-growing company in the enterprise software quality space, by providing the most advanced and feature-rich platform to manage software releases, test environments, and quality. Over the past year, Plutora has seen significant market adoption, including large enterprise customers. Plutora has achieved significant growth in a short period of time due to its innovative and high-quality software solutions, and the entrepreneurial approach of its management team. We are pleased to be supporting the organizations ongoing global growth story, and I am looking forward to joining its Board, said Glen Butler, Division Director, Macquarie Capital. Plutora has established a new category in SaaS solutions for the enterprise and our companys impressive customer base demonstrates the strong demand for our products to support the shift to digital IT. This investment allows us to put the growth afterburners on and drive awareness of our tools, said Sean Hamawi, Co-CEO of Plutora. Dalibor Siroky, Co-CEO of Plutora added, The need for enterprises to continually release application updates faster has never been greater. The need for Plutoras solution is ubiquitous, and we are pleased to have the most comprehensive quality management solution in the market today. Macquarie Capitals investment will allow us to accelerate our sales and marketing efforts, improve our post sales experience and continue investing in our cutting-edge platform. About Plutora Inc. Plutora, headquartered in Mountain View, CA is the market leader of release, test environment, and quality management solutions for enterprise IT. We transform IT release processes by automating manual processes and providing a single view of releases and associated metrics, such as testing quality. Plutora benefits organizations by addressing quality earlier in the release process and driving down costs. About Macquarie Capital Macquarie Capital comprises Macquarie Groups corporate advisory, equity, debt and private capital markets businesses, and undertakes principal investing. Macquarie Capital provides advisory and capital raising services to corporate and government clients involved in public mergers and acquisitions, private treaty acquisitions and divestments, debt and equity fund raising and corporate restructuring. It also undertakes principal investing activities globally in support of its client activities. Macquarie Capital has 1,149 staff in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the US. The latest release of Corepoint Integration Engine, the number-one rated healthcare integration engine by KLAS Research the past seven years, continues to pioneer how the healthcare industry will simplify health interoperability through the use of APIs. Todays release allows native support of JSON-based application program interfaces (APIs). Corepoint Integration Engine now is able to natively exchange data encoded in the JSON format using REST-based web services, which follows the same methodology for data exchange in use by Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter. These new capabilities, combined with Corepoint Integration Engines support of HL7 FHIR, allows customers to access and integrate patient-generated health data with personal devices such as wearables and smart phone applications. On the enterprise level, the new features provide optimal flexibility for healthcare organizations to connect in a modern way with electronic health record (EHR) vendors APIs, and with new systems such as Salesforce, to provide quality and informed patient care. Corepoint Health customers are encouraged to upgrade to version 2016.3 to keep their use of Corepoint Integration Engine current and to reap the benefits of the new data exchange standards and product features. More details for download are available in Corepoint Healths User Community. About Corepoint Health Corepoint Health delivers a simplified approach to internal and external health data integration and exchange for hospitals, radiology centers, laboratories, and clinics. Our software solutions help health care providers achieve interoperability goals that create operational leverage within their care organization. Corepoint Integration Engine was named the #1 interface engine for seven consecutive years in the Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services report. Follow Corepoint Health on Twitter @CorepointHealth. Learn more about Corepoint Integration Engine. ThingTech for Smarter Cities We identified ThingTech as the most responsive and appropriate solution for our various local government needs and complex automation requirements. Aaron Russell, Public Works Director - City of Burleson, TX ThingTech (http://www.thingtech.com) an Atlanta, GA company announced today that it has been selected to implement an advanced smarter city solution to the City of Burleson, TX. Burleson's Public Works Department will lead the city-wide project and will include all city fleets and over 270 assets. The city faced many challenges with multiple outdated legacy applications and manual processes using Excel and Access databases. The major challenges include real-time data collection and control, data analysis and reporting, work order management, and a comprehensive asset management solution. Real-time location and asset utilization, capital planning and replacement, fuel monitoring, and idling monitoring was also critical. Coordination and collaboration tools and processes to facilitate an integrated capital planning program across all departments was a major business driver as well. The City of Burleson conducted extensive industry research to identify a vendor that could seamlessly integrate enterprise asset management, real-time fleet and asset utilization, integration to multiple fueling system APIs, and a cloud-based option for ease of use and implementation. After assessing various vendor offerings, Burleson recognized ThingTech as the only vendor who could meet their requirements and chose ThingTech's EAM for Local Government and Thingtech's Smarter City platform solution. After much industry research and a competitive RFP process, we identified ThingTech as the most responsive and appropriate solution for our various local government needs and complex automation requirements. Their unique integration of local government asset and infrastructure management and real time location and utilization data was critical in our decision process. We are excited about the partnership and have already begun the implementation process. Says Aaron Russell, Public Works Director. As part of the deployment, ThingTech will implement products designed specifically for: Enterprise Asset Management, Fleet and Asset Tracking, and Asset Analytics to automate data collection processes, capital planning, maintenance management, work order automation, inspection programs, fuel system data, and capital planning and asset scorecards. All employees and departments will have clear visibility into the Public Works and Maintenance activities. The solution will implement and model the existing position based approach for managing departmental replacement requests. Major goals of the deployment include: > Improve operator safety through real time tracking and analysis of driver behavior > Collect real time data necessary to support asset management initiatives for capital budgeting process > Reduce idle time to increase fuel economy and reduce mechanical wear > Enable predictive analytics to reduce labor hours and asset down time > Streamline maintenance operations, documentation, scheduling, and collaboration with other departments > Achieve a significant return on investment The City of Burleson is a very progressive city and has taken a leadership position in investing in smarter city technologies to improve operations, streamline processes, reduce costs, and provide transparency and visibility into their programs. We are extremely excited to be chosen and look forward to working as a close partner with the city to assist in realizing their vision. says Tim Quinn, CEO of ThingTech. About the City of Burleson, Texas The City of Burleson Texas was incorporated in 1912 and is located along the southwestern edge of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, on Interstate Highway 35W and State Highway 174. Burleson is a political subdivision and municipal corporation of the State of Texas. Burleson is appealing to many because of its easy proximity to the Metroplex; low taxes; a family-oriented environment; an outstanding school system; plentiful affordable land; more than 26 square miles of rolling hills, lakes and parks; and, its one of the fastest growing and desirable communities in the Metroplex. Burleson currently has more than 290,000 residents within a 10-mile radius. About ThingTech ThingTech is located in Atlanta, GA with offices in Atlanta Tech Village. Our experienced staff of software developers, consultants, and customer success staff build usable, practical, and innovative solutions for customers in the public and private sector who own, operate, manage, and maintain fleets, heavy equipment, assets, and/or a mobile workforce. ThingTech solutions combine Enterprise Asset Management, Field Service, Smarter Cities and Internet of Things (IoT) into a single, cloud-based, connected platform for enterprise asset intelligence. Customers across North America and beyond rely on our solutions to track and optimize the performance of their mission critical mobile assets and workforce to increase business performance and improve their customers experience. Portfolium partners with National Louis University Portfolium provides a user-friendly interface that will enable our students to maximize the benefits of their ePortfolio to springboard their careers and pursue their passions in the workforce Portfolium, a cloud-based platform empowering students with lifelong opportunities to capture, curate, and convert skills into job offers, announced today that National Louis University, a Chicago institution offering over 60 distinct degree programs, has chosen Portfolium as the ePortfolio platform for its body of over 7,500 students. Since its founding in 1886, National Louis Universitys mission has been to nurture the career opportunities of students by innovating in the areas of teaching, scholarship, community engagement, and service excellence. It is National Louis Universitys goal to maximize those future opportunities for students by utilizing Portfoliums ePortfolio platform to grow student interaction between the universitys Career Services center and skills that are important to future employers. In addition, they will be leveraging Portfolium to quantify student learning outcomes. Portfolium provides a user-friendly interface that will enable our students to maximize the benefits of their ePortfolio to springboard their careers and pursue their passions in the workforce, said Steve Neer, Assistant Vice Provost of Advising and Retention at National Louis University. By focusing on competencies, Portfolium will enable our students to leverage the talents and skills theyve nurtured in the classroom to propel them into satisfying and rewarding careers. Because National Louis University has always had an innovative, progressive, and diverse approach to education and developing students future careers, explains Troy Markowitz, VP University Partnerships, they are primed to maximize the benefit that Portfoliums cloud-based ePortfolio platform provides them. Additionally, National Louis University will use the Portfolium platform to support their Harrison Professional Pathways program for undergraduate students. This program enables students to focus on an academic pathway that emphasizes career skills at a significant reduced tuition. Because the Harrison Professional Pathways program has a sharp career-skills focus, it is a natural fit to harvest the competencies of the Portfolium platform and bolster student success. About National Louis University: National Louis University was founded on the principle that a quality education can transform lives, careers and communities. The mission of NLU is to provide an education that makes a difference. They serve more than 7,500 students at six locations in Illinois and Florida, and at their global business school in Poland. About Portfolium: Portfolium partners with colleges and universities to help students transform learning into opportunity. Our ePortfolio network helps millions of students and alumni from over 150 partner institutions manage their skills and launch their careers. Portfoliums cloud-based platform empowers students with lifelong opportunities to capture, curate, and convert skills into job offers, while giving learning institutions and employers the tools they need to assess competencies and recruit talent. Media Contact: Sarah Pease or Edgar Rodriguez Portfolium 917.974.4729 or 951.256.7301 press(at)portfolium(dot)com The Miami single-family homes market registered its best November in seven years as total single-family home sales jumped 13.1 percent, mid-market home sales rose 45.2 percent and luxury sales skyrocketed 43.4 percent year-over-year, according to a new report by the MIAMI Association of REALTORS (MIAMI) and the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system. Prices for all Miami properties and total sales volume increased as some home buyers and investors moved to finalize purchases in the wake of the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. The political uncertainty led some home buyers to pause and take a wait-and-see approach with real estate, said Mark Sadek, a Coral Springs Realtor and the 2016 MIAMI chairman of the board. Now that the election is over and theres more certainty about the direction of the country, home buying should increase for a South Florida region thats seeing sustained population and job growth. Mortgage rates have increased in recent weeks, and that may have encouraged some home buyers who were waiting on the sidelines to make purchases in November. Despite the increase, mortgage rates remain at historic lows, making home buying more affordable. According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage is 3.77 percent. The average rate in 1990, in comparison, was 10.13 percent. Single-Family Home Sales Soar Total existing Miami-Dade County residential sales which posted a record year in 2013 and near record years in 2014 and 2015 decreased a negligible 0.3 percent year-over-year from 2,003 to 1,997. Single-family home sales increased 13.1 percent year-over-year, from 906 in November 2015 to 1,025 last month. The 1,025 transactions are the highest November total for the Miami single-family homes market since November 2009 when 1,156 homes were sold. Existing condo sales which are competing with a robust new construction market decreased 11.4 percent year-over-year, from 1,097 transactions to 972. Sales for mid-market Miami single-family homes, or properties listed from $300,000 to $600,000, increased 45.2 percent in November, from 261 to 379. Homes sold in the $300K to $600K range represent 37 percent of total Miami single-family home sales. The top of the single-family homes market also had a strong month. Luxury ($1-million-and-above) homes posted 43.4 percent more transactions than a year ago, rising from 53 to 76 sales. Miami single-family traditional sales also posted gains, jumping an impressive 30.5 percent from last year. This huge gain in traditional sales, from 662 to 864 transactions, is great news for the local market. Total sales volume for all properties accounted for $829.2 million last month, a 9.6 percent increase from the $756.9 million sales volume a year ago. These sales do not include Miamis multi-billion dollar new construction condo market. Median Sales Prices Rise for All Properties Median sale prices for single-family homes jumped 13.1 percent, increasing from $274,200 to $310,000. Existing condos experienced 7.0 percent price appreciation, climbing from $203,000 to $217,250. Miami single-family home prices have risen for 60 consecutive months. Condo prices have increased in 64 of the last 66 months, a streak spanning more than five years. Despite the increased prices, Miami properties remain at 2005 price levels and at a major bargain compared to other global cities. A 120-square meter condo in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach cost $149,900 on average, according to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). London ($960,840), Hong Kong ($776,280), and New York ($1.6 million) prices are at least five times higher. Miami Distressed Sales Continue to Decline Total Miami distressed sales declined 39.7 percent year-over-year, from 491 to 296 last month. Only 14.8 percent of all closed residential sales in Miami were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 24.5 percent in November 2015. In 2009, distressed sales comprised 70 percent of Miami sales. Short sales and REOs accounted for 3.8 and 11.0 percent, respectively, of total Miami sales in November 2016. Short sale transactions dropped 12.6 percent year-over-year while REOs fell 50 percent. Nationally, distressed sales accounted for 6 percent of all sales in November, down from 9 percent a year ago. Miami Real Estate Selling Fast and Close to List Price The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Miami single-family home sales was 50 days, a 6.4 percent increase from 47 days last year. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date for single-family properties increased 4.9 percent to 107 days. For condos, the median time to contract increased 6 percent to 71 days. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date stayed the same at 119 days. The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes increased 0.1 percent to 95.5 percent. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 93.5 percent, a decrease of 1.2 percent. Lack of Condo Financing Continues to Impact Sales In addition to competing sales from new construction units, the lack of access to mortgage loans continues to impact existing condominiums. Of the 9,307 condominium buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, only 12 are approved for Federal Housing Administration loans, down from 29 last year, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and FHA. National and State Statistics Nationally, total existing-home sales rose 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million in November from a downwardly revised 5.57 million in October. November's sales pace is now the highest since February 2007 (5.79 million) and is 15.4 percent higher than a year ago (4.86 million). Statewide, closed sales of existing single-family homes totaled 19,763, up 12.8 percent from November 2015, while townhouse-condo sales totaled 7,794, up 4.1 percent compared to a year ago. The national median existing-home price for all housing types in November was $234,900, up 6.8 percent from November 2015 ($220,000). November's price increase marks the 57th consecutive month of year-over-year gains. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $220,000, up 10 percent from the previous year, according to Florida Realtors. The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties in November was $162,000, up 8 percent over the year-ago figure. Statewide median sales prices for single-family homes and condos have risen for 60 consecutive months. Miamis Cash Buyers Represent More than Double the National Average Miami cash transactions comprised 43 percent of November total closed sales, compared to 55 percent last year. Miami cash transactions are more than double the national average of 21 percent. Miamis high percentage of cash sales reflects South Floridas ability to attract a diverse number of international home buyers, who tend to purchase properties in all cash. Condominiums comprise a large portion of Miamis cash purchases as 57.4 percent of condo closings were made in cash in November compared to 29.5 percent of single-family home sales. Balanced Market for Single-Family Homes, Buyers Market for Condos Inventory of single-family homes increased 7.7 percent in November from 6,131 active listings last year to 6,605 last month. Condominium inventory increased 18.6 percent to 14,811 from 12,492 listings during the same period in 2015. Single-family homes have a 6.0-month supply, which indicates a balanced market. Existing condominiums have a 13-month supply, which indicates a buyers market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six and nine months supply of inventory. Total active listings at the end of October increased 15 percent year-over-year, from 18,623 to 21,416. Active listings remain about 60 percent below 2008 levels when sales bottomed. New listings of Miami single-family homes increased 5.7, from 1,475 to 1,559. New listings of condominiums increased 1 percent, from 2,196 to 2,217. Nationally, total housing inventory at the end of November dropped 8.0 percent to 1.85 million existing homes available for sale, and is now 9.3 percent lower than a year ago (2.04 million) and has fallen year-over-year for 18 straight months. Unsold inventory is at a 4.0-month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.3 months in October. New Construction Market Update Most Miami preconstruction condo developers require a 50-percent cash deposit on new units. The deposit is not only one of the highest in the United States but is significantly higher than the 20 percent required during the last real estate cycle. The large cash deposits show how committed Miamis preconstruction condo buyers are to the local market. Sixty-four condo towers with 6,760 units have been completed in Miami-Dade County east of I-95 in the last five years since the start of 2011, according to a Dec. 12 report from preconstruction condo projects website Cranespotters.com and MIAMI. To access November 2016 Miami-Dade Statistical Reports, visit http://www.SFMarketIntel.com Note: Statistics in this news release may vary depending on reporting dates. MIAMI reports exact statistics directly from its MLS system. About the MIAMI Association of REALTORS The MIAMI Association of REALTORS was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 96 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward Council, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents nearly 45,000 real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S., and has official partnerships with 160 international organizations worldwide. ### Jake' Fireworks of Georgia The residents of Georgia will be able to celebrate the Christmas and New Year's holidays with a bang. Governor Nathan Deal officially rescinded Executive Order 11.14.16.01 that he put in place in mid-November that banned the use of fireworks due to drought conditions. This order affected many parts of the state and was a risk to businesses selling fireworks for holiday celebrations. The ban was lifted due to the increased rainfall across the Georgia in the past few weeks. The Governor lifted the ban on December 20th giving the residents of Georgia an early Christmas gift. Residents can now celebrate as the normally do with fireworks. It is also a boost to the relatively new fireworks businesses across the state that would have missed out on one of the busiest times of the year. "We were very happy to see that the temporary ban was lifted. I was confident that Governor Deal would lift the ban with the recent rainfall." said Jason Marietta, Retail Sales Director of Jake's Fireworks. Jake's has 10 locations across Georgia open for the Christmas and New Year's season. They carry the full line of fireworks from large aerial artillery shells, multi-shots, to novelties and fountains. We carry the big stuff that has been illegal in Georgia previously. You can find a Jake's Fireworks near you here. You can see the official Executive Order here. Shahid Shafi, MD Dr. Shafis appointment to lead our group reflects our ongoing commitment to return our patients to health through safe, timely, and effective surgery." - Sina Matin, MD Surgical Group of North Texas is pleased to announce the appointment of Shahid Shafi, MD, as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2017. Dr. Shafi has been a surgeon with Surgical Group of North Texas since 2009. After receiving his medical degree at Aga Khan University in Pakistan in 1988, Dr. Shafi moved to the US. He obtained a Masters Degree in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He then went on to complete his General Surgery residency at New Jersey Medical School in Newark, NJ, and Trauma Surgery and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Surgical Group of North Texas, he was an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern and Director for Trauma Surgery service line at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. He is currently pursuing an Executive MBA at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Dr. Shafis experience in measuring and reporting quality of surgical care has earned him national and international recognition. He has published over 100 articles in medical journals, and has served in leadership roles at local, state, and national level in the medical field. He also serves as a Medical Director for Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance. In this role, his primary focus is on improving quality of surgical care in the Quality Alliances network of over 45 hospitals and over 4600 physicians across Texas. Dr. Shafi is looking forward to his new role as the first CEO of the Surgical Group of North Texas. He plans to focus on maintaining high quality of surgical care provided by their surgeons, ensuring safe surgery, and treating patients and their families with kindness, compassion, and respect. Dr. Sina Matin, one of the founders of Surgical Group of North Texas, stated, Dr. Shafis appointment to lead our group reflects our ongoing commitment to return our patients to health through safe, timely, and effective surgery. Dr. Shafi is fully committed to advancing our goals, and know that he will lead us through the next phase our growth. # # # About Surgical Group of North Texas The Surgical Group of North Texas is an independent general surgery practice with eight surgeons who have provided high quality surgical care since 1991. They specialize in advanced hernia repair, bariatric surgery, breast cancer, incisionless reflux surgery, oncologic surgery, vein surgery, and minimally invasive advanced laparoscopic and robotic surgery. They practice at multiple locations, including hospitals affiliated with Baylor Scott & White Health, Texas Health Resources, HCA, Methodist, and other local hospitals. ViSalus Co-Founders Blake Mallen, Nick Sarnicola, Ryan Blair Ive worked with Ryan for 12 years and I am excited to continue working with him and receiving his guidance as I assume responsibility and leadership for the future of the company he, Blake and I created. - Nick Sarnicola, ViSalus Co-Founder & CEO ViSalus, Inc. today announced that Co-Founder and Global Ambassador, Nick Sarnicola, will become the new CEO of ViSalus as of January 1, 2017, succeeding longtime Co-Founder and current CEO, Ryan Blair, who will remain with the company in a new role. Ryan Blair Capping 12 years as CEO of ViSalus, Mr. Blair has led ViSalus virtually from its inception in 2005. During that time, he has played a key role, along with his co-founders, Mr. Sarnicola and ViSalus President, Blake Mallen, in developing and marketing nutritional products that have helped millions of people lose weight and live healthier lifestyles. This includes the companys flagship Vi-Shape Nutritional Shake Mix, which has been one of the most successful meal replacement shakes in the history of the direct selling industry. He also was responsible for ViSalus being one of the earliest companies to implement the concept of Challenge Marketing through its Body by Vi Challenge, a health and wellness platform used to market and sell ViSalus products to customers and motivate people to achieve their health and fitness goals. Mr. Blair will continue serving as a member of Vis Board of Directors and remain a significant stockholder and investor in ViSalus. He will also remain active in ViSalus by working closely with Mr. Sarnicola as a key advisor by providing his counsel and insight in order to ensure a smooth transition. Mr. Blair will primarily focus on new innovations, technologies, and business development strategies to propel Vi to future success. Mr. Blair commented, I signed on to Vi as CEO when the company was in its infancy. From selling the company to Blyth and then buying it back in 2014, to leading a turnaround over the past two years, Im very proud of what we have accomplished. Now, I am ready to hand over the reins to my great friend and longtime co-founder, Nick Sarnicola, who I am confident will provide ViSalus with the leadership necessary to help ViSalus grow and be successful in its next chapter. Nick Sarnicola In his new role as CEO, Mr. Sarnicola will focus on the long-term vision of ViSalus and primarily be responsible for identifying and developing new leaders, creating the best possible entrepreneurial opportunities for Vi Promoters, and launching new products and markets. In taking on these new roles and responsibilities, Mr. Sarnicola will relinquish his position as Global Ambassador and independent Promoter of ViSalus. ViSalus expects that Mr. Sarnicolas many years of experience in the direct selling industry as Vis most successful independent Promoter, during which time he was integral in generating cumulative sales for ViSalus in excess of a billion dollars, will serve him well in this new position. Mr. Sarnicola added, Ive worked with Ryan for 12 years and I am excited to continue working with him and receiving his guidance as I assume responsibility and leadership for the future of the company he, Blake and I created. I am grateful to Ryan and the dedicated ViSalus corporate team for putting the company in a position to hit the gas pedal to leverage the value of the great products and brands we have developed and acquired over the years such as NEON Energy Drink and Vi-Shape Superfood Shake. Im excited in this new role to combine my deep knowledge of the direct selling industry and my love of our Promoter force to build on the foundation we have created to take ViSalus to new heights. Other Management Changes Mr. Mallen will continue as President of ViSalus and remain a member of Vis Board of Directors. He will continue supporting the growth of the business by working closely with both ViSalus corporate and field leadership to drive business strategy, champion company culture, and oversee Promoter-facing functions, including sales, marketing, promotions, events, training, communications, and the Promoter Code of Ethics. Todd Goergen will continue to oversee Vis financial and legal functions and remain on Vis Board of Directors. Vice President, General Manager of Europe and Chief Information Officer, Aldo Moreno, has returned from Amsterdam after managing ViSalus launch into 12 European countries to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer. The goal of these management moves is to allow Vis corporate leaders to operate in their greatest areas of strength in order to provide maximum value and drive Vi towards achieving its primary goals of building its global sales force of independent Promoters and maximizing sales of healthy and nutritional products to its customers. About ViSalus ViSalus is a healthy lifestyle company committed to transforming life, health and prosperity around the world by creating meaningful connections, supporting physical transformations, and promoting entrepreneurial freedom. Through its flagship program, The Challenge, ViSalus has developed a leading platform for achieving weight-loss, health and fitness results. With NEON Energy Drink, ViSalus is quickly revolutionizing the booming energy drink market with a top-shelf option that fits into Vis healthy lifestyle. Founded in 2005, ViSalus develops innovative weight-management products, functional foods, energy drinks and nutritional supplements that it markets and sells direct-to-consumers through an international sales force of independent Promoters. ViSalus offers its products in North America under the ViSalus brand and in Europe under the Vi brand. ViSalus is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, with offices in Los Angeles, California and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For more information about ViSalus, please visit Vi.com and follow the Vi-Community on Facebook (Facebook.com/Vi), Instagram (@ViSalus) and Twitter (@ViSalus). Bill Howe Marketing Team joins Boys & Girls Club Director of Strategic Partnerships, Tesha Young, wiht the gifts donated by the employees of Bill Howe. I am proud to say that over 40 of our employees adopted one of the family members. The Bill Howe Family of Companies started as a one-man San Diego plumbing company offering affordable services for the community with the highest trained specialists. Bill Howe began his company with a mission centered on family values, community spirit, and the highest care of his customers. For over 35 years, the Bill Howe Family of Companies has grown into one of the largest San Diego plumbing, heating & air, restoration & flood, and epoxy lining service companies in the county. And though the company has gone from one employee (Bill Howe) to over 165, they have retained their family culture, community involvement, and the same care their customers have come to trust. Each Year, the Bill Howe Family of Companies hosts a holiday toy drive for children in the community. For the past two years, they have filled over 3 donation bins each year for the U.S. Marine Toys for Tots program through the generosity of the Howes and their employees. For 2016, they were presented with an opportunity to help families on a more personal level through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diegos (BGCGSD) adopt a family program. The BGCGSD has been about changing lives for over 75 years. They service over 25,000 youth in the community between the ages of 5 to 18 through academic success, character development, and healthy lifestyles within their 19 community sites. From the BGCGSD website: With 71% of our members coming from low-income families, the holidays are not always a happy time. Money is tight and there is often not enough for presents and special holiday meals. Thanks to our supporters, we are able to bring some holiday magic and joy to our members and their families. This is not the first time the Bill Howe Family of Companies has participated with the BGCGSD. The Human Resource Managers two sons attended the after-school program at the Ron Roberts Branch through Junior High, and the mission of the BGCGSD aligns with the values of Bill Howe. We have loved joining the after-school programs when raising awareness of healthy lifestyles, said Julie Riddle, Marketing Director for the Bill Howe Family of Companies. Not only do we have a personal connection and have seen the amazing work the clubs do for kids and families in the community, but we know through support of local businesses they can reach even more families and we look forward to continuing to join their efforts in the coming years. The Bill Howe Family of Companies joined a long list of community supporters in adopting families for the holidays. They were able to adopt thirteen individual families and enlisted employees help in buying gifts from the families wish lists. I am proud to say that over 40 of our employees adopted one of the family members, said Tina Howe, Vice President of Bill Howe Family of Companies. We placed the wish lists for each individual on our community board and within a day, we had most of our families fully adopted. Employees rallied to make this a truly special Christmas for each individual they chose, and those that were not able to shop themselves, gave the marketing team money to shop for their adopted families. They helped bring a little joy during the holidays for 60 individuals. For more information about the San Diegos Best plumber, visit http://www.billhowe.com, or to speak with Bill or Tina Howe regarding this announcement, contact Bill Howe Marketing Director, Julie Riddle at Julie(at)billhowe.com. About Bill Howe Family of Companies Bill Howe Family of Companies is comprised of Bill Howe Plumbing, Inc.; Bill Howe Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.; Bill Howe Restoration & Flood Services, Inc. The family-owned and operated company began in 1980 with the plumbing division and has grown into San Diego Countys largest low-cost one-stop-shop for service, repairs and installation, offering both residential and commercial services. 9085 Aero Drive, Suite B, San Diego CA 92123. Call 1-800-BILL-HOWE because We Know Howe! ### LCR-Reader and the Kelvin Probe Connector LCR-Reader facilitates SMD identification and complete PCB impedance testing using the Kelvin probe connector To celebrate the coming New Year, Canadian Siborg Systems Inc. will be offering their popular tweezers-based devices for a discounted price starting on December 26th, 2016 at 12:00 am. This sale will include the best-selling LCR-Reader and Smart Tweezers devices as well as task kits. The sales pricing will be available in the LCR-Reader Store and Siborgs Amazon Sales channels in Canada, USA and Europe until December 31st at 11:59 PM. Siborg offers many tweezer-like handheld devices and accessories for testing Surface Mount Technology, including the popular LCR-Reader and Smart Tweezers LCR-meters. These devices combine a lightweight LCR-meter and a set of tweezers acting as probes. They are able to quickly test components by simply grasping them by the tweezers, making a high accuracy measurement instantly, and providing secondary values such as the ESR on the devices built-in display. The LCR-Reader has become Siborgs best selling device by offering the same functionality and high accuracy found on Smart Tweezers at a lower-price. The LCR-Reader is controlled with a one-button navigation and offers a 0.5% basic accuracy. In 2016, Siborg finalized a calibration fixture that is able to test the full measurement range of the LCR-Reader. This fixture had been certified by Navair Technologies in Toronto providing the ability to grant NIST traceable calibration for calibrated devices. Features on the LCR-Reader include: Fully automatic and manual L, C, R and ESR values Basic accuracy of 0.5% NIST traceable calibration certificate Automatic best range selection Rechargeable Li-Ion battery with micro-USB charging 1 oz. weight The flagship Smart Tweezers line of handheld LCR-meters have become an essential tool among professionals, especially on production lines, for the extensive menus and high accuracy. This model offers more features and customization for measurements than the LCR-Reader, including offset subtraction and continuity testing. Released earlier this year was a Bluetooth enabled model, the ST5S-BT. This model allows the Smart Tweezers device to send measurement values to dedicated apps and computers running programs such as National Instruments LabView to remotely record the results that can later be processed or saved. Features on Smart Tweezers ST-5S include: Automatic and manual L, C, R, ESR, and Z test modes 0.2% Basic accuracy NIST traceable calibration certificate Automatic best range selection Adjustable test signal levels Diode/short testing Semi-automatic offset subtraction Joystick-like navigation with extensive menu Li-Ion battery 1 oz. Weight The LCR-Reader Store offers customers a wide range of accessories for LCR-Reader and Smart Tweezers including spare probes, extra batteries, etc, and other devices that make testing SMDs more efficient, including: Kelvin Probe Connector for Smart Tweezers and LCR-Reader; a shielded two-wire extension kit with 5 attachments (alligator clips, spade connector, long and medium pin-probes, multimeter clips) that allow Smart Tweezers and LCR-Reader to measure components larger than the tweezers would allow. LED Test Tweezers with 12 VDC output and adjustable current ratings to test LEDs; an included connector cable allows the device to be used as tweezer-probes and can test shorts, wires, fuses, circuitry, etc. SMD Multimeter Test Tweezers; a low-cost alternative for tweezer-probe precision that connects to any multimeter with 4mm jacks; best for measurements that do not require high accuracy The store will be offering up to 20% off task kits like LCR-Reader Professional Plus and the Smart Tweezers Pro that includes additional accessories and Kelvin Probe connector. There are many kits to choose from that combine accessories and devices for a lower price than buying each separately. Siborgs end of year sale will begin at 12:00AM on December 26th, 2016 until January 1st, 2017, at 11:59PM in the LCR-Reader Store and through Siborgs Amazon Sales Channels. About Siborg Systems Inc. Established in 1994, Siborg is a source of engineering hardware and software tools for the semiconductor and electronics industry. Located in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, it enjoys being a part of the local world-renowned high-tech community. For more information: 24 Combermere Crescent Waterloo, Ontario Canada, N2L 5B1 Phone: 1-519-888-9906 Toll Free: 1-877-823-7576 Fax: 1-519-725-9522 Online: http://www.siborg.com Centric Bank President and CEO Patricia A. (Patti) Husic is the founder of the Millennial Advisory Board, an innovative partnership between Centric Bank and Harrisburg Young Professionals. The Millennial Advisory Board will meet quarterly over the next two years to explore what type of relationship millennials want to have with their bank, what financial services they need, and how we can connect with them more authentically. Centric Bank, headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (HYP), has formed a Millennial Advisory Board in an exclusive partnership with the 1,500 member-strong Harrisburg Young Professionals, tapping into the insights and expectations of a new generation of customers and bank employees. Each member of the 16-person board will serve a two-year commitment and represents a diverse group of business people from both Harrisburg Young Professionals and Centric Bank. Connecting with millennialsnow the largest generation in the U.S. workforceis imperative for Centric Banks long-term sustainability, and were excited to discover firsthand how and when these young professionals want to interact with a bank. Understanding the options for entrepreneurs to fund their business and learning what the advantages and challenges of financial apps like Venmo and Square Cash are for millennials will help us refine our services and remain relevant, says Patricia A. (Patti) Husic, Centric Bank President and CEO. This generation doesnt remember a world without the Internet, says Husic, founder of the advisory board. The group will meet quarterly over the next two years to explore what type of relationship millennials want to have with their bank, what financial services they need, and how we can connect with them more authentically. We want the customer to dictate what the banking relationship should look like, and well respond by meeting those needs. Some polls report that a third of millennials say they won't need a bank in the future, according to The Millennial Disruption Index, but a survey by CCG Catalyst found that nearly 90 percent have a relationship with a financial institution. Only four percent have an account with an online-only bank, says Husic. Excellent customer service invites a two-way conversation with your audiences. We are not relying on statistics alone or third-party market studies. We want our primary source to be the potential customers who represent our demographic. Were anxious to learn more about their needs, and were willing to make immediate changes based on these discoveries. This truly defines our taglineWe Revolve Around You. To start a business or grow a business, we still need money. The channels the money flows through and the different opportunities for mortgages, advice, and mobile technologies is where we bring fresh ideas. Through this opportunity with Centric Bank and having direct access to the CEO, we can be the ones who shape the future of banking for a young and more diverse generation of people, says Derek Whitesel, executive director of the Harrisburg Young Professionals. After I heard Patti Husic speak at one of the Young Professionals roundtable discussions, we discussed a partnership with Centric Bank to purposefully share more about what millennials need from banks and how we can work together. Its also a great networking opportunity for our members to connect and work with industry and community leaders like Patti, who is a member of the American Bankers Association Board of Directors. As an attorney and a Centric Financial Corporation board member, Im thrilled to support the Millennial Advisory Boardit shows our strong commitment to a new generation of banking. The HYP group presented to our board in December, and every board member was inspired by their passion and energy. Their enthusiasm is contagious and their input will help us continue as an innovator in community banking. Millennials are seeking the ability to balance a personal touch with digital capabilities. One HYP member, Cody Wanner, will video the customer experience by opening his own online account with Centric Bank in real time, says Nicole Stezar Kaylor, Esq., Of Counsel with McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC. Millennials want a sense of purpose, to feel like the work they're doing helps the community. Thats perfectly aligned with our #BetheDifferenceMaker philosophy, says Husic. About 15 percent of our employees are millennials, and one of our goals is to attract and retain more millennial customers and associates. At the end of two years, we hope to double that number. Its been a milestone year for Patti Husic and Centric Bank. In October, the bank was named a Top Team in American Bankers 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking 2016, an exclamation point to Husics intentional advancement of high-achieving women. Husic herself ascended to #17 in the Most Powerful Women in Banking list this year, a recognition that has brought national attention to the banks organic lending successes. About Centric Bank A three-time Best Places to Work and Top 50 Fastest-Growing Companies for four years, Centric Bank is headquartered in south central Pennsylvania with assets of $485 million and remains the leader in organic loan growth in central Pennsylvania. A locally owned, locally loaned community bank, Centric Bank provides highly competitive and pro-growth financial services to businesses, professionals, individuals, families, and the health care and agricultural industries. With a Five-Star Bauer Financial Rating, Centric Bank is also ranked #1 in approved SBA 7(a) loans in the Eastern District as of September 30, 2016, which comprises 40 out of 67 counties in the Commonwealth. Centric Bank is also a Top 20 Lender for SBA Loans in the Philadelphia Region. Founded in 2007, Pennsylvania-based Centric Bank has financial centers located in Harrisburg, Hershey, Mechanicsburg, and Camp Hill, and loan production offices in Lancaster and suburban Philadelphia. To learn more about Centric Bank, call 717.657.7727 or visit CentricBank.com. Connect with them on Twitter at @CentricBank and Facebook at Centric Bank. Centric Financial Corporation is traded over the counter (OTC-Pink) with the ticker symbol CFCX. About Harrisburg Young Professionals Harrisburg Young Professionals (HYP) is a group of more than 1,500 young active, civic-minded professionals who share a clear vision of Harrisburg's future as a great place to live, work and play. Its goals include "brain gain," economic development and city revitalization, promotion of diversity, increased volunteerism and providing business networking. For more information, visit http://www.hyp.org. ### RVBusiness Top 50 Dealer As a whole, our applying dealers not only gave us more data this year, but they also went to great lengths to tell us their stories and let their personalities shine through, Goldenberg said. It was a tough job for the judges to narrow it down." Bullyan RV, located at 4956 Miller Trunk Highway in Duluth, recently received the honor of being selected as one of RVBusiness Magazines 2016 Top 50 RV Dealers in North Americaa very prestigious recognition. The magazine annually recognizes RV dealers that are unsurpassed in overall business operations, customer service, marketing & professionalism. RVBusiness asked recreation vehicle manufacturers to nominate dealers across the United States and Canada who exemplify best practices and excellence in their field. Nominees were invited to fill out comprehensive applications describing business aspects including customer service and satisfaction, employee training, financial planning, marketing and community involvement. An independent panel of industry experts convened at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind., the unofficial RV Capital of the World, to select the RVB Top 50 from nominated dealers who submitted applications. Program coordinators expanded the judges panel this year, bringing perspectives from even more areas of RV-industry business specialization. The extra hands also helped make lighter work of the applications received, which were in greater number and detail than any previous year, according to Sherman Goldenberg, publisher of RVBusiness magazine and founder of the Top 50 program. As a whole, our applying dealers not only gave us more data this year, but they also went to great lengths to tell us their stories and let their personalities shine through, Goldenberg said. It was a tough job for the judges to narrow it down. Those who made the cut should be very proud of that achievement. The 2016 class of RVBusiness Top 50 dealers were honored at a Nov. 9th awards reception in front of an all-industry audience of about 400 during the 2016 RV Dealers Association (RVDA) International Convention/Expo at Ballys Las Vegas, presented in cooperation with the RVDA of both the United States and Canada and underwritten by the programs sponsors: Ally Financial Inc., Cummins Power Generation, Dicor Corp., Dometic Corp., Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., Lippert Components Inc., NTP-STAG, Protective Asset Protection and Wells Fargo CDF. Bullyan RV retails towable and motorized RVs along with Ice Castle Fish Houses. With rapidly increasing sales volume over the past few years, the dealership has recently expanded in size and now has over 450 RVs in stock on 15 acres with over 48,500 square feet under roof. With this expansion, the dealership now has 24 service bays with Master Certified Technicians ensuring the very best service possible. Also, an added detail department with an extra-large wash bay complete with equipment and staff that makes RVs shineinside and out. And, Bullyan RVs parts department has one of the largest inventories of name brand products in the Midwest. Bullyan RV continues to strive for consistent success with its effort to be among the best of the best. We are honored to have been named to such an elite group of RV dealers by RVBusiness magazine said Joe Bullyan, Jr., Vice President. This is the second year we have been recognized by our peers in our endeavor to deliver a 5 star experience to our customers. For more information, contact Bullyan RV at 800-955-4945 or log on to http://www.bullyanrvs.com. Attorney Walter Bithell Past News Releases RSS Unique Mediation Service... Attorney Walter Bithell is marking his first year practicing law as Bithell Law PLLC. Attorney Bithell was for over thirty years a senior partner, administrative partner and lead litigator at one of the largest law firms in the Rocky Mountain region, where he developed a thriving plaintiffs practice involving wrongful death, crop damage, insurance/fraud, defective products, business disputes, catastrophic injuries and professional negligence. He continues that practice at Bithell Law PLLC. I left the big firm, but I did not leave any of my experience behind, said Bithell. Since its inception a year ago, Bithell Law PLLC has become synonymous with achieving outstanding results for its clients quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Additionally, attorney Bithell is a trained mediator and is on the approved list of mediators for both the Idaho Supreme Court and the Idaho Federal Court. In 2010 the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association instituted the annual Walter H. Bithell Professionalism Award. The award recognizes commitment to integrity, excellence and professionalism as a lawyer for all clients, colleagues, judges and staff with whom he or she comes in contact with in the representation of Idaho citizens. About Walter Bithell, Bithell Law PLLC Walter H. Bithell is admitted to practice in the Idaho Supreme Court, United States District Court, District of Idaho, United States Court of Federal Claims United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Practice areas of Bithell Law include wrongful death, crop damage, insurance bad faith/fraud, defective products, business disputes, catastrophic injuries and more. For more information, call (208) 336-4440, or visit http://www.bithelllaw.com. The law office is located at 199 N. Capitol Blvd., Suite 500, Boise, ID 83702. About the NALA The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361. Attorney Kevin D. Smith Marking my fifteenth year of practice, as well as my fifth year running my own firm, is a tribute to my former and current colleagues, clients, and opposing counsel. Past News Releases RSS Labor and employment attorney Kevin D. Smith, founder of the Law Offices of Kevin D. Smith, P.A., is celebrating his fifteenth year practicing law. Marking my fifteenth year of practice, as well as my fifth year running my own firm, is a tribute to my former and current colleagues, clients, and opposing counsel, said Smith, who was named a rising star by Floridas Super Lawyers in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, and an Up-and-Coming Legal Elite by Florida Trend Magazine in 2007. Smith began his career as an associate with the international law firm of Morgan Lewis & Bockius. He later moved on to the national labor and employment law boutique of Ford & Harrison, where he became a partner in 2009. Prior to starting his own firm in 2012, Smith took an of-counsel position at a smaller firm, Meyer White, LLP. Smith is currently a litigator whose practice focuses on traditional employment law claims, and has extensive experience with wage and hour actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Florida Constitution. He is also well-versed in the traditional labor arena through participating in union avoidance programs, representing a nationwide healthcare provider during a union organization drive and representing employers during various employee discharge arbitrations. I focus on learning my clients interests and needs inside and out, concluded Smith. This enables me to offer unique but practical solutions to my clients employment problems. About Kevin D. Smith, Law Offices of Kevin D. Smith, P.A. Kevin D. Smith is a member of the State Bar of Florida and the American Bar Association. Practice areas of the Law Offices of Kevin D. Smith, P.A include Wage and Compensation, Employment and Severance Agreements Advice, Discrimination, Harassment and Wage Payment Training, Drafting Employee Handbooks and Severance Agreements, Non-Competes, Breach of Contract Claims and much more. For more information, please call (954) 797-9626, or visit http://www.kdsmithlaw.com. The law office is located at 6099 Stirling Road, Suite 101, Davie, FL 33314. About the NALA The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361. Protesters shout anti-Iran slogans in front of the Iranian embassy in Istanbul, during a demonstration against Iranian involvement in the siege of Aleppo (AFP Photo/OZAN KOSE) Tehran (AFP) - Iran has scored a string of victories across the Middle East, and decades of isolation mean it is well-placed to weather the uncertainties of a Trump presidency. But fears that it could dominate the region are overblown, experts say. Having rarely commented on its role in the Syrian conflict, Tehran has been suddenly full of self-congratulation at the imminent defeat of rebel forces in Aleppo. "The liberation of Aleppo... reinforces the political strength of Islamic Republic of Iran. The new American president must accept the reality that Iran is the leading power in the region," Yahya Safavi, top foreign policy adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told reporters last week. The dominoes do indeed appear to be falling in Iran's favour in recent weeks. Its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the form of battlefield advisers and volunteer fighters is paying off, and its mortal enemy -- the Islamic State group -- could soon be ousted from Mosul in neighbouring Iraq. In Lebanon, the protracted debate over who should be president ended in success for ex-general Michel Aoun, who is allied to the Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah. Iran has also seen billions of dollars in assets and oil sales unfrozen by last year's nuclear deal with world powers, and its allies in Yemen, the Shiite Huthi rebels, have held on despite a year of crippling bombardment by a Saudi-led coalition. - Living with Trump - And then there's the imminent arrival of Donald Trump. The US president-elect has surrounded himself with fiercely anti-Iran advisers, but has also criticised Iran's main regional rival Saudi Arabia for its reliance on US support and spreading fundamentalist Islam. After decades of isolation, Iran might be the best-placed to deal with the uncertainty Trump is about to inject into Middle Eastern affairs, said Adnan Tabatabai, Iran analyst and CEO of Germany-based think tank CARPO. Story continues "For Iran, it's much easier not to rely on the US because they haven't been doing that for the past three decades, whereas it's a major change for Saudi Arabia and other regional rivals of Iran to stop counting on the US." Even before Trump takes office, the Saudis have been facing a host of setbacks. Their economy has been battered by low oil prices, the rebels they support in Syria are on the run, and their Western allies are increasingly disturbed by the brutal bombing campaign in Yemen. For all this, analysts say fears that Iran could come to dominate the Middle East are unfounded. "A lot of Iran's successes in the region are really to do with the failures of others. We shouldn't overestimate its capacities," said Tabatabai. "Syria is important as a way of maintaining its access to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which acts as a defence force for Iran against Israeli influence in the region, but Iran's main priority is simply to secure its borders with Iraq and Afghanistan for the sake of its territorial integrity." - 'Preventing permanent war' - Foad Izadi, a conservative-leaning professor of world politics at Tehran University, said support for Assad's bloody offensive was a necessary evil, and ultimately defensive in nature. "If Syria falls, you'll either get a pro-Israeli government there, or you get the Islamic State, or you get Libya. Those are not good options for us," he said. "If Syria breaks up, then Iraq breaks up, and that's right next door. This isn't about dominating the region -- it's about preventing permanent war." Iran also faces clear limits to any attempt at expanding its power. "For all the talk of Iran being in a much better position... it doesn't change the fact that Iran is a Shiite power in a Sunni-majority region," said Aram Nerguizian, a Middle East analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Neither side wants all-out war. At some point they have to accept some degree of influence for the other side. The alternative is an indefinite ideological war between Sunnis and Shiites, and that's just not sustainable." Nerguizian said the Saudis still had some major advantages, not least the billions of dollars in military hardware they have purchased from Western allies. "Folks have been projecting the collapse of the House of Saud for 60 years and it hasn't happened," he said. "For all their instability, the Gulf countries are far more integrated into the global economy than Iran and still have the support of key Western allies." Nor can Iran count on Russia, which has been a close ally in the Syrian conflict. "Iran's relationships with big powers like Russia and China are very fickle. Those countries have their own priorities. Syria is just one small part of the region. When it comes to things like energy, Russia is more than happy to partner with other countries in the Gulf," said Nerguizian. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News South Cookies What are cookies ? How do we use cookies? How to control cookies? 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You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed.Most browsers allow you to:If you chose to delete cookies, you should be aware that any preferences will be lost. Also, if you block cookies completely many websites (including ours) will not work properly and webcasts will not work at all. For these reasons, we do not recommend turning cookies off when using our webcasting services. The founder of the Hillary Clinton-inspired Facebook group Pantsuit Nation, Libby Chamberlain, announced this week that she had signed a deal with Flatiron Books to publish a book based on the groups posts. But news of the deal sparked a backlash among many of the groups members, and raised questions about both the legality and the ethics of the deal. In a post to the group Monday, Chamberlain said she was beyond excited to share news of the deal, telling members it was a book of YOU. A book BY YOU. Many of the groups 3.9 million members are failing to see it that way, howeverinstead seeing the deal as profiteering, and a betrayal. This group is bigger than her, one member succinctly noted in a comment. It isn't her unilateral decision to make! So, is Chamberlain within her legal rights to create such a book? According to lawyers PW spoke to, and details released thus far, she is on solid ground. There is nothing in Facebooks terms of service that precludes Chamberlain from using posts to the group in a book project. And Chamberlain has stressed that she will secure permission from individual posters, and that participation in the book will be strictly voluntary. In a post to the group, Chamberlain promised members that: No post, image, comment, name, or other information shared in the group will be used in the book without explicit, written permission (and a legal release to use the material) from the author and/or photographer. She added that she will personally be in touch with every potential contributor to clarify this process, answer any questions, and make sure that permission is being given with a full understanding of how the post and any accompanying information will be used. That actually clears a higher bar than is likely legally necessary, and lawyers said that an author would have a pretty solid fair use argument for using portions of posts for which permission is not secured, even though Pantsuit Nation is a "secret" group, meaning that only members can view the posts on Facebook. Although, experts agree, it would be unwise for the project to rely on fair use. Perhaps Chamberlains biggest mistake was a failure to communicate. Legal questions aside, the thornier question is whether Chamberlain breached the groups ethics. As long as the book's inclusions are being published with permission, then everything is cool between Chamberlain and the original posters, explained James Grimmelmann, Professor of Law, Cornell Tech. But, he acknowledged, there's something a little off-putting about the way she turned around and sprung this on the community without discussing it and made it her book deal, rather than a chance for the community to speak. It's problematic because it misunderstands the nature of the community, and the relationships of people in and around it. Siva Vaidhyanathan, a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, who is writing a book about Facebook, agreed. I would hope that she is taking into account the fact that the members of Pantsuit Nation were not posting with any sort of understanding or assumption that their work would be used in another context or outside the group, he told PW. If she wants her movement to have credibility in the future, she will have to understand and be sensitive to the special relationship that members of that group had to that moment in history, and to the group. Perhaps Chamberlains biggest mistake was a failure to communicatespecifically, her failure to first discuss with members the possibility of a book deal and other future plans for the group. In her follow-up post, Chamberlain said that proceeds from the book will support Pantsuit Nation and the causes that are central to the group, and that she is setting up nonprofit organizations. But that those plans were not firmed up and the nonprofits were not yet set up, helped to sow confusion and suspicion among members. Still, that doesn't have to be a fatal mistake. "I think the ethical issue is something that [Chamberlain] can repair with good dialogue and expressions of good faith," said Grimmelmann. "By showing the right kind of respect for the members of the community, and recommitting to the values that brought them together, it becomes the kind of thing for which forgiveness and healing are possible." Vaidhyanathan agrees, and said that Chamberlain's book can be a positive development. "If she can tell a good story, and can promote the efforts and hopefully the ideals of the group, then she can add value to the movement. Flatiron said it plans to release the book next May. Kingsberg Medical Continues to Help Families, Relationships and Lives by Eliminating the Very Disruptive Symptoms that are Caused by Age Related Hormone Deficiency Symptoms. Working with People from all over the Country, the Online HRT Clinic is Rated as One of the Best ALPHARETTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / December 21, 2016 / Kingsberg Medical, a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) clinic runs full service medical treatment programs for those who qualify. We work with patients from all over the country. The clinic provides an initial free consultation, full testing, proper diagnosing of growth hormone (GH), testosterone and estrogen deficiencies, the writing of individualized treatment plans and prescriptions, top notch medications and the providing of full medical supervision for each client. The center only works with licensed doctors in the field of endocrinology or a related medical practice and with fully trained clinical advisors. The headquarters are located in Alpharetta, Georgia, but patients can work with their advisors and doctors online from the privacy of their own homes anywhere in the country. Kingsberg Medical has been in operation since 2007 and has successfully served and met the needs of thousands of patients country wide. The clinic has helped to keep families together by saving many marriages. Our doctors have assisted couples with hormonal imbalances that resulted in sexual and emotional strains on the union. Our physicians have also saved lives by giving quality back to those who lost all hope of a promising future due to feeling so poor from low hormone levels. Kingsberg Medical delivers on a simple vision: To help patients with low GH levels, low testosterone levels and/or low estrogen levels to increase and balance their hormones with the right medications. This helps to eliminate the symptoms that come from hormonal deficiencies due to aging. The medications used by the clinic are only premium, bio-identical, synthetic hormones that are created under the strictest of conditions. The medications do not contain any unnecessary ingredients, additives or fillers. They are 100 percent pure and safe. Story continues Kingsberg Medical also sets its mission to provide top customer service to each patient. Clinical advisors are available to assist patients with questions, concerns, medication preparation and self administration of their injections. Our licensed doctors provide medical monitoring on an on-going basis. About Kingsberg Medical: Kingsberg Medical is a hormone replacement therapy online clinic that offers a full program for human growth hormone replacement therapy, testosterone replacement therapy and estrogen replacement therapy. Kingsberg Medical offers everything necessary for a full service, legal HRT experience for patients all over the country. Our staff helps clients get the proper testing completed, a correct diagnose and properly prescribed medications. They set up appointments for testing for each patients and ship out the correct medications and supplies to patients homes. They also offer a first free consultation for anyone interested in HRT. For more information, please visit https://www.hght.com Contact Info: Name: Brian Leeber Email: info@hght.com Organization: Kingsberg Medical Address: 6728 Jamestown Drive, Alpharetta, GA 30005 Phone: (770) 772-4200 SOURCE: Kingsberg Medical Its long past time for AFSCME to accept the result of the agreed-upon process and work with our administration to implement a contract that is fair to both employees and taxpayers. On Nov. 15, the bipartisan Illinois Labor Relations Board issued a decision that was no surprise: the state and AFSCME are at impasse in contract negotiations. This decision allowed the state to immediately begin implementing its last, best, and final offer. Instead of accepting this outcome, AFSCME is using the court system to prevent us from moving forward, costing state taxpayers more than $2 million each day our contract is not implemented. They are also asking that we return to the negotiating table. Its important to note that from day one our administration has been negotiating in good faith, as the labor board stated in their ruling. But it was clear that after almost a year of negotiations with a union refusing to move off of its unreasonable demands, we were simply wasting time and taxpayer money. What the union now describes as a scorched-earth approach is a contract that is nearly identical to contracts that have been agreed-to by eighteen other unions, such as Teamsters, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and Operating Engineers Local 150. The outrageous demands that the union refuses to allow the state to implement include requiring employees to work 40 hours a week, instead of 37.5 hours, before being paid overtime. Moving to a 40-hour overtime requirement is consistent with the private sector, federal law, and contracts entered into by other state employees outside of AFSCME. Another is merit pay. Our proposal would allow the state to reward employees with a $1,000 merit pay bonus for good work. Thats in the first year of the contract with even more on the table for the remaining years. However, AFSCME feels that the state should not be rewarding based on performance and should only implement a plan that provides bonuses or pay raises for everyone, regardless of their work. The union also objected to the administration taking steps to protect the health and safety of employees and the taxpayers they serve by implementing drug testing for employees who exhibit behaviors that create a reasonable suspicion that they are under the influence of a banned substance or alcohol. Yet another is health care coverage. The state is offering employees options. Some plans would cost less than what employees currently pay, while others would cost more. Employees would also have the choice of paying exactly what they are paying right now. What we were proposing is not out of line with the private sector and presents affordable coverage options tailored to each employees individual circumstances. Other proposals include bereavement leave, work place safety task forces and allowing volunteerism at state facilities like parks and veterans homes. We are pleased that AFSCME recognizes the states budget crisis. But if they were serious, they would drop their demands for a contract that would cost the state an additional $3 billion over four years and work with us to implement these and other common sense proposals. Many rank-and-file employees agree and are tired of AFSCME leaderships unreasonable posturing. Many of these same employees also are troubled by AFSCME leaderships talk of striking. We stand with employees and call on AFSCME executives to respect the outcome of the agreed-upon labor board process and work with us to implement the contract that is fair to both employees and taxpayers alike. WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST): 12:45 a.m. One of President-elect Donald Trump's sons will stop directly raising money for his namesake charitable foundation, saying he worries the donations will be perceived as a way to buy access to his father. Eric Trump said Wednesday that it pained him to cease soliciting donations for his organization, which raises money in the name of children's cancer. The foundation has come under scrutiny in recent days after posting an online auction for coffee with his sister Ivanka. Eric Trump told The Associated Press that "it's an extremely sad day when doing the right thing isn't the right thing." News of his decision was first reported by The New York Times. ___ 5:05 p.m. The head of Boeing is saying he promised President-elect Donald Trump that the manufacturer would complete the Air Force One project for less than the $4 billion the president-elect had claimed it would cost. Dennis Muilenburg on Wednesday told reporters outside Trump's coastal Florida estate that his meeting with the president-elect was "very productive." Trump earlier this month had ripped Boeing over the cost of the program to replace the aging presidential aircraft. But Muilenburg said that Boeing "would get it done for far less" than the $4 billion that Trump claimed, though he did not suggest what the aircraft manufacturer had estimated for a cost. Muilenburg also did not provide a timetable for the completion of the presidential planes. 4:55 p.m. President-elect Donald Trump is naming one of the nation's richest men to be a special adviser on issues regarding regulatory reform. Carl Icahn, a veteran of Wall Street who founded his own securities firm, was named by Trump on Wednesday. Icahn, an early Trump supporter, is estimated to worth more than $16 billion. Trump in a statement said the 80-year-old Icahn, one of the nation's leading investors, is "not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future, especially having to do with finances and economies." Story continues During his campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to cut back on the number of government regulations on American business owners. Icahn said in a statement American businesses "have been crippled" by regulations. ___ 4:50 p.m. Indiana governor and Vice President-elect Mike Pence says Donald Trump will work to preserve the social safety net helping those who struggle. Pence made the remark Tuesday during a visit to an Indianapolis homeless shelter. He says economic prosperity is the "antidote" to the challenges many face. But he added that it's important "to continue to provide the resources for social services organizations that come alongside our most vulnerable citizens." He also expressed confidence that President-elect Trump will be able to work with Congress to make sure there's funding for social services. The vice president-elect is back in Indiana for the Christmas holiday. He says his son Michael will be married during a ceremony at the Indiana governor's residence. ___ 3:55 p.m. President-elect Donald Trump has named a fierce critic of China, economist Peter Navarro, to lead a newly created White House trade council. The University of California-Irvine professor, who advised Trump during the campaign, will serve as head of the new White House National Trade Council and as director of trade and industrial policy. In a statement, the Trump transition team said the creation of the council "demonstrates the president-elect's determination to make American manufacturing great again." Trump says China's unfair trade practices are responsible for wiping out American factory jobs and has threatened to impose taxes on Chinese imports. U.S. manufacturers have cut 5 million jobs since 2000. Navarro, author of "Death By China," also endorses a hard line approach toward relations with China. ___ 3:01 p.m. The CEO of Boeing is meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago just weeks after a public flap over the cost of the Air Force One project. Dennis Muilenburg is meeting with Trump on Wednesday. Earlier this month, Trump said that the price of two new Air Force one planes was "out of control" and suggested he didn't want to go ahead with the project at that cost. Boeing has the multi-billion dollar contract to replace the aging presidential aircraft. Trump at the time said he wanted "Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money." Trump is also expected to meet later with Marillyn Hewson, the head of Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin manufactures the F-35 fighter jet, the cost of which Trump has also criticized. ___ 2:32 p.m. A battle is brewing on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over Rex Tillerson's personal income taxes. Senate Democratic aides say Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be secretary of state, told the panel late last week that he would, if asked, provide lawmakers with his and his wife's federal and state tax returns for the last three years. The aides say the tax information would shed substantial light on any possible foreign "entanglements" that Tillerson may have from his decade as Exxon Mobil CEO. But the aides say the Trump transition team informed the committee this week that it won't be getting the material ahead of Tillerson's confirmation hearing, which is scheduled for next month. They say Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the committee's Republican chairman, is siding with the Trump team and won't force Tillerson to turn over the returns. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the internal discussions of the committee. Richard Lardner ___ 2:04 p.m. Donald Trump says the truck ramming attack at market in Berlin is an "attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped." The president-elect made the comments in brief remarks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida following a top-secret security briefing. He said the violence in Germany validates his assessment of Islamic-inspired threats. He said, "all along, I've been proven to be right," adding that he's been, "100 percent correct." With Trump during Wednesday's remarks were his pick for national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, and his incoming White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus. Trump also said he talked to President Barack Obama two days ago, but not since then. ___ 11:31 a.m. Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump's controversial first campaign manager, is starting a political consulting firm and will not be joining the Trump administration. But Lewandowski won't be far. His new firm, Avenue Strategies, will be located about a block from the White House. Lewandowski led Trump's campaign through his improbable victory in the Republican primary, but he clashed the president-elect's family and was fired. Still, he remains close to Trump and says he considered "multiple opportunities within the administration." Lewandowski is forming the firm with Barry Bennett, a former adviser to Ben Carson, Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Bennett also briefly advised the Trump campaign. ___ 10:46 a.m. A Democratic senator is questioning President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Treasury secretary about his vow to undo some financial regulations and his stake in a bank that profited from the foreclosure crisis. In a letter on Wednesday, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown posed 11 questions to Steve Mnuchin, the former Goldman Sachs executive. The questions range from whether he would be a strong defender of the Dodd-Frank law that imposed financial regulations after the 2008 economic meltdown to whether OneWest, a bank that foreclosed on thousands of homeowners after the housing crisis, got help from the FDIC. Mnuchin headed a group of investors who owned the bank, which foreclosed on more than 36,000 families in California alone most in minority neighborhoods according to the California Reinvestment Coalition. Brown is on the Senate Finance Committee, which will consider Mnuchin's nomination. This story has been corrected to reflect that Brown is on the Senate Finance Committee, which will consider the Mnuchin nomination. An earlier version said he was not on that committee. ___ 10:35 a.m. A leader of Donald Trump's transition says the president-elect is no longer interested in his catch phrase "drain the swamp" of Washington. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said his understanding is that Trump "now just disclaims that. He now says it was cute, but he doesn't want to use it anymore." Gingrich made the remark in an interview that aired Wednesday on National Public Radio. Trump has said he never loved the phrase. But it has continued to be a popular feature on his post-election tour. And his aides say he remains committed to his underlying swamp-draining policies, such as banning outgoing Trump transition and administration members from lobbying for five years. Transition spokesman Jason Miller said Trump's "ethics reform policies are full speed ahead." Miller added of the new president and his team: "We're going to change the way business is done in Washington and start putting the American people first." ___ 7:20 p.m. The Israeli ambassador to the United States is urging the incoming Trump administration to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Trump and his nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel have pledged to move the embassy. But previous Republican presidents have made that promise without following through. Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer says it would be a "great step forward" for peace. He tells a Hanukkah reception at the Israeli embassy in Washington that it would send a "strong message against delegitimization of Israel." The U.S. and nearly every other country have their embassies in Tel Aviv. Israel considers Jerusalem its capital, but Palestinians claim part of Jerusalem as the capital for a future Palestinian state. U.S. presidents have repeatedly waived a law requiring the embassy to be moved. ___ 2:40 p.m. Donald Trump's children may see his move to the White House as a way to raise money for pet causes. Two recent fundraising pitches featuring the incoming first family were meant to benefit charities. But they also raised the possibility the Trumps are inappropriately selling access. Eric Trump tried auctioning coffee with his sister, Ivanka, to raise money for a children's hospital. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are named as part of a fundraiser that offered the chance to rub elbows with their father during Inauguration weekend. These events are dissolving as quickly as they become public, suggesting the family is learning on the fly what's acceptable. The Ivanka Trump coffee has been canceled. And on the Inauguration event, Hope Hicks, a Trump spokeswoman, said the sons "are not involved." ___ Noon: President-elect Donald Trump is considering Jovita Carranza, who worked in President George W. Bush's administration, as his choice for U.S. trade representative. Trump is meeting with Carranza at his home in Florida on Tuesday. Carranza served as deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration under Bush. Trump is also meeting with businessman Luis Quinonez, who runs a company with military and health care ties. Quinonez is said to be under consideration as Veterans Affairs secretary. With just a handful of Cabinet posts to fill, Trump is facing some criticism for a lack of diversity in his senior team, which currently includes no Hispanics. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials said Tuesday that it was "deeply concerned" at the lack of Hispanics considered for top jobs. Carranza was a member of Trump's Hispanic advisory council during the campaign. ___ 10:14 a.m. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting calls for a special Senate investigative committee focused on possible interference in U.S. elections by Russia and other countries. McConnell says a finding by U.S. intelligence officials that Moscow hacked Democratic emails in a bid to elevate Donald Trump "is a serious issue, but it doesn't require a select committee." The Republican leader says in an interview with Kentucky Educational Television that he is "very concerned" that "the Russians were messing around in our elections," but said the Senate intelligence committee is able to investigate it. Senators including Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican John McCain of Arizona have called for a special Senate committee to investigate efforts by Russia, China and Iran to meddle in U.S. elections. ___ 8:40 a.m. Donald Trump is taking issue with Bill Clinton's criticisms of him. Clinton told a weekly newspaper in New York state earlier this month that Trump "doesn't know much." Clinton went on to say: "One thing he does know is how to get angry, white men to vote for him." The ex-president also claimed that the president-elect called him after his election victory over Hillary Clinton. First of all, Trump said in a two-part tweet Tuesday, "Bill Clinton stated that I called him after the election. Wrong, he called me (with a very nice congratulations)." Trump added that Clinton is the one who "'doesn't know much'... especially how to get people, even with an unlimited budget, out to vote in the vital swing states (and more)." The Clinton campaign, Trump says, "focused on the wrong states." Trump fired off those tweets the morning after he formally won the presidency in Monday's Electoral College tally. Bill Clinton made his comments to The Record-Review, serving the towns of Bedford and Pound Ridge. ___ 3:10 a.m. Jumping ahead of investigators, President-elect Donald Trump is blaming Islamic terrorists for deadly violence in Turkey and Germany and vowing anew to eradicate their regional and global networks. Authorities in both countries were still investigating Monday when Trump issued a pair of statements condemning the attacks. The White House had already described the episode in central Berlin, in which a truck rammed into shoppers at a Christmas market, as an apparent terrorist attack. Trump called the brazen shooting of Russia's ambassador to Turkey as he attended a photo exhibit "a violation of all rules of civilized order." He says a "radical Islamic terrorist" had assassinated the diplomat, Andrei Karlov. ___ The Eugene Robinson column, Trumps defense of Russia is strange bothers me. Trump has not raised any defense of Russia and none was given in the column. Why is it that rumors, submitted by unnamed sources, are taken as gospel? The real story here is not who hacked Podesta and the DNC. The real story is none of the Wikileaks releases have been denied. California Rep. Adam Schiff stated, "The CIA conclusion was a judgment based on the fact that Russian entities hacked both Democrats and Republicans and only the Democratic information was leaked." Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has stated that there were no hacks of computers belonging to Republican organizations. Priebus called the FBI to perform an assessment after the DNC was hacked. The FBI stated the RNC was not hacked. Craig Murray, a close associate of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, told Dailymail.com that he flew to Washington, D.C. for a clandestine handoff with one of the email sources in September. "Neither of the leaks came from the Russians," said Murray in an interview with Dailymail.com on Tuesday. "The source had legal access to the information. The documents came from inside leaks, not hacks." A month ago Assange said Russia had nothing to do with these leaks, they were internal. These men are not unnamed sources and can be accessed to validate their statements. Jim Turner, Fenton G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now! The 15kV 16.7Jz ac electric LRVs will operate on the 17km Boblingen - Dettenhausen line, and will be delivered in 2020 enabling operation to begin at the end of the same year. DMUs currently operate on the line but work recently began to electrify and expand the line, and is expected to be finished by 2020. Each LRV will be fitted with spacious gangways and areas specifically allotted for passengers with reduced mobility. 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 Top leaders in the U.S. Department of Defense are drawing significant attention to the technological, organizational, and operational developments that they anticipate will constitute the proposed Third Offset. This Third Offset derives its name as the third major effort in the last 70 years to achieve persistent U.S. qualitative superiority as the means to offset the limited scale of U.S. forces with respect to global responsibilities. To succeed, the third offset should draw on elements of grand strategy, acquisitions and technological advancement. The First Offset expanded U.S. nuclear capabilities in the early years of the Cold War to counter Soviet numerical superiority in Western Europe. The Second Offset was the development and maturation of U.S. precision strike capabilities. Powerfully demonstrated in the 1991 Gulf War, the technological and tactical innovations of the Second Offset provided a conventional arms solution to numerical adversary advantages. It illustrated the U.S. counter to the Soviet numerical overmatch until that time, and enabled more effective global power projection in proxy conflicts. Other countries eventually caught up with both offsets and eroded their military advantages. In this context future offsets aim to create another significant, qualitative advantage in U.S. military forces over those potential competitors. There is a sense of urgency that the United States stay ahead of multiple fast followers who will quickly copy new concepts, and the sense that in order to do so the U.S. military must meaningfully incorporate ongoing rapid advances in the commercial sector. What forces could drive U.S. efforts at another offset? There are three complementary strands. The first stems from U.S. grand strategy. The second emerges from organizational management approaches to adapt the U.S. defense acquisition system. The third comes from the technological changes that currently are being witnessed worldwide, and from the larger phenomena of military revolutions. Missing any of these perspectives could lead to an incomplete understanding of the drivers of offsets, risking operationally irrelevant, or unusable, or less than state of the art concepts. In reviewing U.S. grand strategy since 9/11, Barry Posen of MIT identifies a consensus grand strategy that emphasizes U.S. military domination over all other powers in order to defend and extend Western and U.S. values. These values include democracy, free markets, free press, individual rights, and the rule of law. Under this paradigm, U.S. leaders note the rise of non-democratic competitors such as Russia and China, and look for ways to maintain U.S. primacy and power project abilities. The second aspect of future offsets can be understood through the lens of organizational management. As an acquisition strategy, offsets are change-management approaches where the department leadership provides directions to an enormous and complicated bureaucratic organization. The goal is to get major defense acquisition processes to incorporate cutting-edge technology from outside the defense world and to approach development risk in a different wayall in a challenging budget environment. This current attempt at an offset emphasizes the need for agility, novel thought, combinations of continuous improvements, and greater flexibility in integrating new systems and concepts in innovative ways. A vital component of making acquisitions more responsive is the ability to engage companies with emerging and commercial capabilities that are currently outside the defense industrial orbit. Because the new technologies that may be elements of the offset may proliferate quickly, allowing other militaries to copy the leaders, implementation should take place quickly. The third way to view the discussions of offsets is through a paradigm of military revolutions. In military revolutions, the rapid advance and adoption of key technologies can result in military advantage when combined with the right operational and organizational changes. The swept wing and the jet engine are examples of such technologies. Others largely stem from social and organizational changes, such as the rise of mass armies following the French Revolution. Blitzkrieg was a case where the Germans used technology that was available to others in an entirely new operational way, with significant advantages on the battlefield. In many cases military revolutions are emergent and not even recognized as such by the nations implementing them. For example, the reconnaissance-strike complex that constituted the U.S. Second Offset was first observed and written about by the Soviets. Currently, there are many technologies discussed as key components of the Third Offset. Although the final form of future offsets remains unclear, there are several areas where rapid advances in the commercial sector have inspired the imagination of those looking towards the future of warfare. These areas include artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced materials and fabrication, sensing and processing, and possibly biology. The combination of advances in machine learning, particularly the area of deep learning, and advances in robotics means that military operations with semi-autonomous and fully autonomous machines are now being contemplated. For these to become operational reality, a whole set of developments in human-machine collaboration and interaction needs to come to fruition. The expanding information revolution, and remarkable advances in materials and fabrication, have potential implications for military logistics and other areas that have not yet been thought through. There also have been huge advances in biology, in everything from manipulating microorganisms, to enhancing human performance, to engineering concepts inspired by biology. What eventually emerges, and the actors who will be the primary beneficiaries, are not yet clear. Trying to create overmatch but only focusing on grand strategy runs the risk of continuing to emphasize the same capabilities that currently provide military preeminence. These capabilities eventually become lagging concepts as others develop. Focusing only on improving acquisitions to create qualitative advantages does not by itself create focus and priorities. Lastly, focusing only on new technology can lead to irrelevant advances without grand strategy and to insufficient adoption and integration into the military without acquisition considerations. Grand strategy, acquisitions, and technological considerations may shape the debate about the future of the U.S. military for some time to come. Only where all three elements align are future offsets likely to succeed. Yuna Huh Wong is a policy researcher at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. This commentary originally appeared on The Hill on December 20, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis. Colombias constitutional court has told the countrys TV firms that there is no room for debate and that every pay-TV operator must carry all regional networks. The Asociacion Nacional de Television (ANTV) has not yet made any public statement regarding the courts request, but its expected to comply with it.The ANTV says that it has a plan to motivate pay-TV operators to carry all the mandatory channels in order to, it says, protect the right to free speech and information, to participate of the cultural life and protect the cultural identity. The decree follows research that started after a citizen from Bogota reported the regional signal Tele Islas was not available in the countrys capital, as no pay-TV operator included it in their schedules.According to the court, the ANTV has now half a year to develop and carry a plan that forces pay-TV operators to broadcast the regional signals as its reflected in the TV law from 2001.In fact, the resolution puts an end to a long dispute, as pay-TV players have repeatedly rejected to carry free-to-air (FTA) signals for free. HBO has decided to launch its standalone streaming service in Colombia, but also keep the over-the-top (OTT) platform as a TV everywhere complement. Even though HBO premiered the OTT service in Colombia for ETBs subscribers only a year ago, the streaming platform isnow going fully independent now with a subscription-based standalone model.Besides, the US company has reached a distribution agreement with the countrys largest pay-TV operator, America Movils Claro, which has over eight million subs across the countrys TV, mobile and broadband businesses.For the rest of operators, the HBO platform will remain as a TV everywhere service, available for free for the HBO/MAX package subscribers. The exact same video-on-demand (VOD) platform is also ready to be independently subscribed through the Internet.We have noticed an important growth in broadband connections in Colombia, where there are over 13 million people using this service. With this launch, more Colombians will have access to a flexible, unique and personalised way of enjoying HBO content, said Francisco L. Smith, executive VP, distribution and media development, HBO Latin America. Claro , one of the largest Internet and pay-TV providers in Colombia, is an excellent partner to reach our goal and facilitate access to our content, added the executive. The service, which is going through an expansion across Latin America, launches in Colombia with 2,500 VOD titles, including all HBOs originals and MAXs independent and international movies. Russian ex-student Ivanova (Karaulova) found guilty of attempting to join ISIS MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) The Moscow District Military Court has found Varvara Karaulova (Alexandra Ivanova), a former student of the Moscow State University, guilty of attempting to join the Islamic State militants in Syria, RAPSI correspondent reports from the court on Thursday. The court found that Karaulova decided to participate in activities of the Islamic State terrorist group, also called ISIS, an organization banned in Russia. The court noted that she shared organization's ideology. Prosecutors demanded a five-year jail sentence for Karaulova, while defense lawyers asked the court for acquittal. Karaulova went on trial on October 5. Her parents, friends as well as teachers of the Moscow State University have been questioned in this case. The second-year student of the Moscow State Universitys Faculty of Philosophy decided to join ISIS, an organization banned in Russia, and secretly started off for Istanbul on May 27, 2015. Karaulova, who later changed her name to Alexandra Ivanova, was arrested on June 4 near Turkey's border with Syria along with 13 other Russian citizens when attempting to cross into the territory occupied by Islamic State terrorists. In October 2015, she was put in jail. She pleaded not guilty. In October 2016, Karaulova was expelled from the university. Defense seeks to adjourn convicted Russian hacker Seleznevs sentencing until June 2017 MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI) Attorney Igor Litvak has filed a motion with a court in Seattle seeking to postpone until June 2017 sentencing of Russian national Roman Seleznev, who has been found guilty of committing cybercrimes which allegedly caused $170 million damage around the world. RAPSI obtained a copy of the motion on Thursday. A number of factors supports the granting of a continuance in this case, Litvak, who was retained by Seleznev about two weeks ago, said in his request. Currently, Seleznevs sentence is scheduled for February 10, 2017. According to the lawyer, he expected to be adequately prepared by this date but it became clear that it would be impossible, in particular because of Christmas and New Year holidays. He said that he would obtain the trial transcripts from a court reporter, in the best-case scenario, in the end of January 2017. He will not be able to work on the sentencing memorandum in this case until he reviews the transcripts. Litvak explained that he is to study enormous scope of documents in the amount of 3 TB or 3,000 GB. The attorney also intends to submit letters supporting Seleznev to the court. All the people who he is going to contact are residing in Russia and/or other former-Soviet republics. As the official holidays in Russia are extended until the middle of January, I will not be able to locate those individuals regarding their letters of support as it is common in Russia to travel during this holiday period, Litvak noted. Seleznev was found guilty in August by a federal jury on 38 of 40 counts, including wire fraud, possession of unauthorized access devices and intentional damage to a protected computer. Seleznev was arrested in the Maldives in 2014 and taken to the U.S. territory of Guam. Later he was transferred to Seattle and put in jail. Russia's foreign ministry said that Seleznev was "kidnapped" as he attempted to board a plane in the Maldives. U.S. prosecutors claim that between October 2009 and October 2013 Seleznev hacked into retail point of sale systems and installed malicious software to steal credit card numbers from various businesses. He allegedly created and operated the infrastructure to facilitate the theft and sale of credit card data, used servers located all over the world to facilitate his operation, and sold stolen credit card data on the internet. In total, Seleznev stole and sold more than 2.9 million credit card numbers, according to prosecutors. After having been brought to Seattle, Seleznev changed a number of defense lawyers. He retained attorneys from such law firms as Fox Rothschild LLP, Garvey Schubert Barer, Corr Cronin Michelson Baumgardner Fogg & Moore LLP, Calfo Eakes & Ostrovsky PLLC. Until recently, John Henry Browne represented Seleznev. On September 28, 1945, Eisenhower summoned Patton to his headquarters in the IG Farben Building in Frankfurt. After a heated exchange among Patton, Eisenhower, and Bedell Smith, Eisenhower quietly, even gently, made what he carefully termed a suggestion. The so-called Fifteenth Armya??really nothing more than a small headquarters and staffa??had been formed to compile the history of the war in Europe. It was an important job, Eisenhower insisted, and the Fifteenth required a good commanding general. He asked Patton to take charge. Pattona??s first impulse was to resign his commission on the spot, but he held his tongue. Perhaps it was his love of history and the opportunity to exercise come control over how the history of the war would be writtena??whatever his reasons, he decided to relinquish the storied Third Army and accept command of this new a??paper army.a? Lucian Truscott, old comrade and trusted subordinate, who had performed for Patton at first reluctantly but then brilliantly in the capture of Messina, Sicily, relieved him of Third Army command on October 7 at the armya??s headquarters in Bad Tolz. During the somber change-of-command ceremony, Patton spoke to his officers: a??All good things must come to an end,a? he said. a??The best thing that has ever happened to me thus far is the honor and privilege of having commanded the Third Army.a? Assuming his new command, Patton wasted no time in putting the personnel of Fifteenth Army, housed in a hotel at Bad Nauheim, to work on gathering the documents necessary for writing the wara??s history. But he quickly lost interest in his assignment. As his staff started their research, Patton left, traveling to Paris, Rennes, Chartres, Brussels, Metz, Reims, Luxembourg, and Verdun. Everywhere he was welcomed as a hero and given civic certificates and military decorations. He even traveled to Stockholm, scene of his Olympic glory in 1912, where he met with the surviving members of the Swedish Olympic team of that now-distant year. A long tradition of Christian thought encourages believers to forgo worldly pursuits like making money and instead focus on the spiritual prize of salvation. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, the evangelist Matthew warns Christians, But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. But the Protestant Reformation changed this way of thinking. According to German sociologist Max Weber, the Protestant virtues of thrift, delayed gratification and professional diligence in the pursuit of wealth gave birth to modern capitalism. Business success became a sign of Gods favor, and nowhere more than in America did this ethos achieve such florid expression. During the 19th century, an American prosperity gospel the conviction that God wanted Americans to live in material abundance began to take shape. Meanwhile, the country witnessed an explosion of Christian sects and offshoots, from Methodists to Mormons. Many of these inventive new creeds integrated popular folk superstitions and quasi pagan money faiths. Joseph Smith, before becoming the father of Mormonism, billed himself as a gold-hunting divine. He claimed he possessed a magical seeing stone that could direct him to lost objects or hidden treasure. And while Joseph Smith was digging up gold, my great-great-great-uncle John Humphrey Noyes was contemplating Gods plans for the New World. In 1848, Noyes, a defrocked Yale-educated minister, founded the Oneida Community in the wilderness of New York. My recent book Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table, shows how the Oneida Community embodied Americas unique cultural impulse to connect business success with aspirational Christianity. In the case of Oneida, what began as a Christian agrarian commune ended up as an industrial powerhouse. But the Oneida Community was only one link in the prosperity gospels chain. In the post-war years, American business leaders seized on an ideology of divine self-interest. And the recent election of Donald Trump can be thought of as a perverse twist in Americas conflation of business success with piety. Bless this business Nearly a century before advertising guru Bruce Barton famously described Jesus as a cracker-jack salesman, the Oneidans had already spotted the parallel. It may be said of Christ, that he is the greatest business character in the universe, Noyes once said. All the major characters of the Bible history, he continued, have the spirit of enterprise and active business habits that belong to the merchant and the engineer. Members of the Oneida Community originally dreamed of living on the proceeds of their fruit orchards. But after their crops failed season after season, Noyes realized they needed a steadier source of income. He first undertook the successful launching of an animal trap factory, later supplemented with silk thread and silverware production. This would serve as the communitys industrial base, the engine that would allow them to advance their Christian communitarian ideals. The 300 members of the community family lived, worked and prayed together under one roof, a homely structure they built themselves in 1849. They also connected the sharing of property to the sharing of sexual partners (Noyes is credited with coining the term free love) in a bid to recreate, on Earth, the unity enjoyed by the saints in heaven. By 1862, as their factories expanded and their coffers filled, they constructed a brand new dwelling, christened The Mansion House. It included luxuries like indoor plumbing, central heating and a frescoed theater. The Oneida Community believed in a tangible paradise, an imminent kingdom of God on Earth where peace and plenty would reign. They didnt see the industrial and market revolutions in antebellum America in conflict with divine providence. The expansion of business, in the right spirit, is to us a token of Gods advancing conquest of the world, commented one community member of Oneidas fledgling industries in 1854. The difference was that the power driving the machinery in the community was not self-love or love of profit, but love of Christ. The Oneida Community dissolved in 1880 amid internal squabbles and outside pressure to give up their immoral sexual arrangements. The communitys businesses were transferred into a joint stock company that teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. Then an unlikely savior stepped in: Noyes decidedly secular, business-savvy son Pierrepont Burt Noyes. Under the younger Noyes tutelage, the familys silverware business rocketed to success in the early decades of the new century, displacing industry leaders through a combination of canny niche marketing and advertising. Nonetheless, in reflecting back on his life, the younger Noyes described the similarities between preachers and salesmen: [N]ature never intended me for a businessman. It intended me for a preacher. I have always enjoyed selling ideas more than selling spoons, but in my youth I had to learn to sell spoons in order to sell my ideas. A Social Gospel falls apart But Oneida Community, Ltd. led by the younger Noyes wasnt run by a bunch of money-mad capitalists. On the contrary, they adhered to the Progressive Eras Social Gospel. Developed by liberal Protestants, the Social Gospel emphasized Jesus role as a social justice advocate, while arguing that Gods material blessings should be fairly divided. In the aftermath of World War II, some business leaders embraced a Social Gospel interpretation of wealth production and distribution as a way to diffuse the looming Communist menace. Noyes was among them. In a 1949 speech delivered to Oneidas salesmen, Noyes suggested that America needed a powerful weapon to combat communism. Only a sweeping conversion of American leadership industrial, financial, political to a practical belief in liberal sharing with the countrys workers could save the capitalistic system and perhaps our democracy. The New Deal had forever turned the countrys industrial and business ideals to the left, and no one can ever turn it back. On this point, Noyes was gravely mistaken. As Princeton historian Kevin Kruse explains in his recent book One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, free market advocates and industrialists during the postwar years were intent on reclaiming Christianity from the New Deals socialist overtones. At the 1940 annual meeting of the National Association of Manufacturers at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, 5,000 industrialists thrilled to a rousing speech by Congregationalist minister James W. Fifield, who assured them that the time for worshiping the false idol of the welfare state had come to an end. No longer would Jesus be an icon for some sentimental message of Christian sharing. Instead, he would be mobilized as a fierce defender of individual responsibility and freedom from a meddling government. Soon, as Kruses history shows, a powerful coalition of ministers, corporate leaders and politicians under Dwight D. Eisenhowers presidency nibbled away at the wall separating church and state. From the establishment of National Prayer Breakfasts and an inaugural blessing to Congress amendment of the Pledge of Allegiance to include the phrase One Nation Under God, Christian libertarianism insinuated itself into the highest levels of government. In the paranoid atmosphere of the Cold War, the mantra that American prosperity hinged on a nation united by faith gained ground. The trinity of government, business and Christianity was complete. Goodness and Christian ideals run proportionately high among businessmen, Reverend Fifield claimed. They need no defense for they have given America within the last decade a new world high in general economic well-being. The government had only to step back and let the invisible hand of God and Christian business leaders do their work. The recent election of Donald Trump would appear to mark the apotheosis of this trend. Trump arguably owes part of his appeal to his resemblance to televangelists. The slick sheen of televangelist Joel Osteen comes to mind. Trumps can-do optimism and belief in prosperity make him the obvious heir to earlier self-help Christian sages of the Norman Vincent Peale variety. Like an avatar of the 19th-century treasure-seeker with his mystical seeing-stone, Trump mesmerizes audiences with his claim that everything he touches turns to gold. He promises salvation through business savvy and survival-of-the-fittest battles to the death, winners and losers winnowed out like the proverbial wheat from the chaff. The proper relationship between wealth and faith is a question Americans have always wrestled with. Today, looking back at the arc of this history, the contrast is stark: from the communal origins of Oneida, to a solitary savior wreathed in an incandescent, back-lit halo of orange. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available A holiday cookie shop at Cindy's, a seafood boil at Oyster Bah and more things to do in Chicago on Thursday, Dec. 22. EAT Holiday Seafood Boil Advertisement Oyster Bah 1962 N. Halsted St. 773-248-3000 Advertisement Take a break from holiday shopping and feast on head-on shrimp ($29.95) or a 1-pound whole Maine lobster ($36.95) served with clams, sausage, corn on the cob and potatoes. The regular menu is also available. 5-10 p.m. Reservations recommended. Jove T's Holiday Cookie Shop Cindy's 12 S. Michigan Ave. 312-940-3552 Pick up treats from executive pastry chef Jove T. Hubbard including gingerbread people, butterscotch bars and milk chocolate almond toffee for $2, $20 for a dozen, or $40 for two dozen packed in a holiday tin. 2-6 p.m. No cover. Ronero (Lenny Gilmore / RedEye) Now Open Ronero 738 W. Randolph St. 312-600-6105 The West Loop spot serves Latin-inspired fare from executive chef Cory Morris (Rural Society, Mercat a la Planxa), including baked empanadas ($11), Peruvian-style ceviche ($16) and hearts of palm salad ($15), plus an extensive cocktail menu. 5-10 p.m. DRINK Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > Festivus Party Joe's Wine Cellar Advertisement 2108 W. Division St. 773-303-4885 Try new releases from Shmaltz Brewing Co. including Jewbelation 20 dark American strong ale and Genesis 20:20 barrel-aged tart barleywine ($15 each) at this bash, which also features Seinfeld screenings, a Festivus pole and a dreidel-spinning contest awarding a gift set from the brewery. 6-8 p.m. No cover. DO 'Winterset' at The Den Theatre (MICHAEL BROSILOW) 'Winterset' The Den Theatre 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. 866-811-4111 Griffin Theatre Company presents Maxwell Anderson's 1935 drama about a pair of Italian anarchists who were convicted of murder and electrocuted despite the insubstantial evidence against them. 7:30 p.m. $36; $31 for students and veterans. Tickets: griffintheatre.com HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAY Boleo (122 W. Monroe St. 312-750-9007) offers eight items including empanadas, fernet and cola and select wine for $8 from 5-8 p.m. Feast of the Seven Fishes at Tesori. (Photo courtesy of Jorge Gera) Krampus Eve, a holiday lights tour and more things to do in Chicago this weekend, Dec. 23-26. EAT Feast of the Seven Fishes Advertisement Tesori 65 E. Adams St. 312-786-9911 Advertisement Celebrate the holidays Italian style with a seven-course tasting menu including scallop crudo, spaghetti with anchovies and prosciutto-wrapped ahi tuna. 4-8 p.m. Friday. $45. Tickets: eventbrite.com Khantoke Dinner Immm Rice and Beyond 4949 N. Broadway 773-293-7378 Enjoy a traditional Northern Thai meal, where eight dishes including lemongrass pork sausage and grilled eggplant dip with hard boiled egg are served family style on a pedestal tray. BYOB. 6 and 8 p.m. Friday. $29-$37. Tickets: december2016khantoke.bpt.me DRINK Krampus Eve Best Intentions 3281 W. Armitage Ave. 312-818-1254 Bad kids get a visit from the goat demon of European folklore at the Logan Square bar honoring the Christmas myth with German-inspired cocktails, including The Bad Girl with gin, Barenjager honey liqueur, lemon cordial, lapsang souchong tea and Peychaud's bitters ($9). 8 p.m.2 a.m. Saturday. No cover. Misfits Christmas Advertisement Slippery Slope 2357 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-799-8504 The Logan Square bar gets decked out for the holiday and welcomes anyone without celebration plans for drinks and a complimentary Chinese takeout buffet. 7 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday. No cover. DO Albany Park Holiday Pop Up Market (Free!) 3643 W. Lawrence Ave. 312-493-2658 Get your last minute holiday shopping done by picking up sweets, coffee, art and more from vendors including Gurnee Donuts, Kyoto Black and Spyro's Sketches. Beer and wine is available for sale and a DJ provides music. 6-9 p.m. Friday. Free. Holiday Lights Tour John Hancock Center Advertisement 875 N. Michigan Ave. 773-648-5000 Check out some of the city's most festive displays including the Macy's Holiday Windows and ZooLights at this 2.5-hour ride through The Loop, the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park. Tickets include a treat from Sprinkles Cupcakes. 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. Monday. $29. Tickets: chicagotrolley.com/holiday-lights-tour Simmer Brown Bughouse Theater 1910 W. Irving Park Road 312-282-9498 D.T.F. podcast host Sam Norton, Second City veteran Sherman Edwards, Simmer Brown producer Prateek Srivastava and others perform at the monthly standup comedy showcase. 8 p.m. Friday. $10-$15. Tickets: simmerbrowncomedy.brownpapertickets.com Toys R She The Annoyance Theatre Advertisement Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > 851 W. Belmont Ave. 773-697-9693 The Lakeview theater hosts a bash featuring drag performances from Manila Luzon, Dida Ritz and others, plus DJs, go-go dancers and fashion and costume models. Bring a toy, gift or gift card to donate to The Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday. $10. Tickets: bit.ly/2he4ROM 'This Way Outta Santaland' Theater Wit 1229 W. Belmont Ave. 773-975-8150 Mitchell Fain shares his experience spending eight years playing Crumpet the Elf in the theater's long-running production of "The Santaland Diaries" at this meta holiday show. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday. $34. Tickets: theaterwit.org HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAY The Boundary (1932 W. Division St. 773-278-1919) offers $4 rotating beers, $5 Tito's Handmade Vodka cocktails and half-price appetizers and bottles of wine from 5-7 p.m. Friday. Advertisement For more Eat & Drink news, click here. 'How can citizens have faith in Digital India if their hard-earned money is looted by cyber criminals and cyber fraudsters from banks, and there is no active forum to seek compensation or damages?' Advocate Prashant Mali, cyber security and cyber law expert at the Bombay high court, discusses with Shakya Mitra the challenges the country has to overcome in the transition to Digital India. When a hacking attack, like the one on the Twitter accounts of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, takes place, can the people who handle these accounts block it instantly? No, because the hackers take complete control of the account and even change the security question. However, when Twitter receives multiple complaints from vigilant followers, the social networking service suspends the account for some time to curtail the damage. Twitter has been the target of such hacking attacks on more than one occasion in the recent past. Is it then more vulnerable than other Web sites that involve sharing of personal details? I would argue that Twitter is a playground for trolls and advocates of free speech. Spats here are common and often they attract more followers and retweets. When an account gets hacked, maximum damage happens to people who are active users. These are the primary reasons why Twitter accounts are the favourite of hackers and, hence, more vulnerable. Could human error have played a part in both cases of hacking? And, aren't high-profile accounts difficult to hack into? Yes, weak, unchanged and shared password is the primary reason in this case. In fact, high-profile accounts are more susceptible to hacking as they are often managed by social media managers who, in turn, have staff. So, the passwords are kept weak for easy remembrance and often shared across many people and many applications. I am sure the hackers know of Rahul Gandhi's passwords for other sites too. His team needs to change them immediately. How fragile is cyber security in India? If a hacker can break into anyone's account, isn't then India's security as a nation too under threat? That's true across the world. Even military systems across countries get compromised. A determined hacker is a lone wolf attacker who rarely gets noticed and is often not suspected by agencies. India is the weakest because we possess neither an active nor passive cyber policing mechanism. India needs a cyber police different from the police enforcing law physically. Given that India doesn't have a strong cyber security law, how risky is the push towards Digital India? There have also been incidents of debit card frauds. Do you think such incidents reinforce these doubts? When it comes to the law and grievance handling mechanism of Digital India, I think it was never thought out even in the vision statement. How can citizens have faith in Digital India if their hard-earned money is looted by cyber criminals and cyber fraudsters from banks, and there is no active forum to seek compensation or damages? The adjudication mechanism under the IT Act, 2000, has failed miserably. To inspire trust, the central government must do three things. First, unleash a nation-wide cyber security awareness programme with specific provisions and targets in the annual Budget. Second, have separate cyber-crime criminal and civil courts at the district level. Third, create a separate cyber police force in all states with coordination across the country. What precautions should people take to protect their Internet accounts and bank details? Have a password for your mobile phone, digital wallet and bank account. Don't save bank details in the wallet application. Never do banking on free Wi-Fi. Before selling your mobile or computer, format the hard disk. Any time you see your mobile phone blocked, please call the bank from another number and freeze the account. Do not click on untrusted links you get on SMS, WhatsApp or email. Avoid phone banking to prevent social engineering through phishing attacks. 'We asked them to withdraw these instructions immediately. 'We said, "If you don't withdraw, we are going to give a call that from tomorrow officers will totally boycott these instructions".' On Wednesday, December 21, the Reserve Bank of India withdrew its previous directive that required deposits above Rs 5,000 in old currency notes be justified to two bank officers. To understand the impact of this move, Business Standard's Nitin Sethi and Ishan Bakshi spoke to Harvinder Singh, general secretary, All India Bank Officers Confederation. The RBI has withdrawn its previous directive that required deposits above Rs 5,000 in old currency notes to be explained to bank officers. What do you make of this? We have been pleading before the RBI and the ministry of finance that instructions issued for the general public must be clear. What's happening is that instructions issued through electronic media or notifications were reaching banks much later than they reach the people at large. There was a time gap between the implementation of the instructions issued by the government/RBI because when the instructions reach banks, they will have to modify their systems so that the instructions are implemented. For example, one instruction came that we will permit withdrawal up to Rs 2.5 lakhs per family for marriage expenses, subject to some conditions. While these instructions were made viral during the mid of the day, banks received these only two days after. In the intervening period, bank officers were facing a lot of problems. Right from the day the policy of demonetisation was declared, we have been pleading with the RBI and the government to know the ground-level problems. We said 'We will give you suggestions for smoother implementation.' But, no opportunity was given to us to air our views. When these instructions were given on December 19, it was a surprise. How can you thrust more responsibilities on bank officials which they are not supposed to undertake? We undertake transactions only on trust. If a customer comes and deposits money, how can I question him? During the past two days, we had to face a lot of difficulties. Many people questioned us. What was expected from us was that two officers from a branch will record the statement of the depositor on camera, which will be kept for future. And you should be satisfied by the statement. But who will decide? It will depend on individual understanding. We cannot do any policing. Where is the issue of keeping an audit trail? We sent a communication to the RBI in the morning, with a copy to the finance ministry, telling them clearly that this onerous responsibility cannot be entrusted with bank officers. We asked them to withdraw these instructions immediately. We said, 'If you don't withdraw, we are going to give a call that from tomorrow officers will totally boycott these instructions.' I'm nobody to question government policy. But we should have the power to implement and we need an assurance from the government that we will not be questioned in future. Recent data suggest that roughly Rs 5 lakh crore of Rs 2,000 notes were with the RBI on November 8. Was there a problem in distributing them? Are there limits to the capacity of the banking system? I'm not sure about how much currency was there with the RBI. The entire money in small denominations was released by the RBI, including soiled notes which were deposited by banks with the RBI for destroying. Those notes were sent back to us for supply to customers. How do you see the banking sector coping in the coming months? The banking sector is going to suffer a lot. For the past 50 days, we have been working on this. New funding has been stopped. My customers have informed me that their industrial and commercial activities have been substantially reduced. They have retrenched labour. Economic activity has suffered. This will affect the paying capacity of borrowers. Moreover, we have suffered opportunity costs. Demonetisation has a cost, which we have to bear. IMAGE: A queue outside a bank in Mumbai, December 13, 2016. Photograph: Arun Patil 'Nobody will wait now.' Everyone will come to deposit their old notes.' 'The confidence is shaken.' Anup Roy and Abhijit Lele report. Facing intense criticism, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday, December 21, withdrew rules that required bank customers to make deposits of above Rs 5,000 in old currency notes at one go and only after satisfying officials with reasons for not doing so earlier. In the modified circular on its Web site on Wednesday afternoon, the central bank said two sub-paragraphs of the original circular 'will not apply to fully KYC compliant accounts.' This means there would be no restriction on cash deposits -- neither on the amount, nor on the number of times money could be deposited. The latest notification is the 60th from the North Block-Mint Road combine in the past 43 days. The central bank faced a barrage of criticism on social media throughout the day, while many said they had trusted the prime minister and the finance minister, who had advised them to not extend queues outside banks and ATMs, as they would have ample time till the end of the year. Bankers, too, are angry by the frequent revisions. Take, for example, a branch manager of a public sector bank in West Bengal. Till Wednesday morning, he was refusing deposits of above Rs 5,000 in old notes, as customers had no explanation, except that they were waiting for the queues to shorten. "You never know what notification will come on Friday. Nobody will wait now. Everyone will come to deposit their old notes. The confidence is shaken," said the branch manager, requesting anonymity. In Mumbai, meanwhile, banks were readily accepting deposits above Rs 5,000 after taking a written explanation by the depositors. A State Bank of India branch manager in a suburb of Mumbai said those waiting for the deposits came in large numbers in the past two days. In most cases, the reasons given for the delay were either 'death in the family' or 'went to native place.' The manager, however, does not expect people rushing in after the latest U-turn or a large quantum of deposits for the reminder of the month. "Most large transactions have already been done and that is why there were long queues in the initial period. Nobody will wait this long," said the branch manager who did not want to be named. Before the latest notification, SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said at an event in the morning that banks were doing what they have been asked to do and bankers should not be blamed by customers. The bank management was figuring out ways to reward the staff, she added. SBI announced two days of special leaves for its employees that can be availed till March 2018. The bank, she said, should be able to meet the salary day demand after the end of this month (and the start of the New Year), but it depends on the amount of cash available. She exuded confidence that the situation would improve significantly by then. Normalcy will be restored once the RBI pushes enough notes in the system, Bhattacharya said. The central bank, in a separate notification, said, from November 10 to December 19, banks have issued notes worth Rs 5.92 lakh crore, either through banks or ATMs. The government had demonetised about Rs 15.44 lakh crore on November 8. "As cash comes back in, we have to ensure that people don't slide back to their bad habit of using cash," Bhattacharya said. Bank officers were forced to call off an agitation to protest the scarcity of cash and the ensuing hardships for bankers, in front of the RBI headquarters in Mumbai. According to officials of the All India Bank Officers Confederation, the police clamped Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code, disallowing assembly of people. The police warned they may invoke more legal provisions to prohibit group activity in front of the RBI office, AIBOC officials said. IMAGE: A scene outside banks in New Delhi, December 1, 2016. IMAGE: Inside a power loom in Bhiwandi. About 70 percent of the 1.2 million power looms here have had to down their shutters post demonetization and if things continue as they are, the rest will close down soon. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters. Cottage industries across India have suffered heavily because of the note ban. In the second of a six-part series, Sanjay Jog travels to Bhiwandi to examine how the power loom industry here is coping five weeks on. I: Cash crunch pain hits Dharavi's leather goods hub Till November 8, power looms in Bhiwandi, a town 20 km north-east of Mumbai, worked in two shifts of 12 hours each. That changed in India's Manchester of the West after demonetisation came into effect. Business has slowed because of fewer orders and the cash crunch is preventing owners and workers from completing the limited work they have. "About 70 percent of the 1.2 million power looms in Bhiwandi have downed their shutters and the rest will close down soon," said Abdul Mannan Siddiqui, a power loom owner and president of the industry body Shantinagar Powerlooms Association. While Bhiwandi's power loom industry, which weaves a third of the cloth that India wears, had been struggling on account of high electricity rates, dumping by China and administrative hurdles, demonetisation has dealt a crippling blow for many here. Sajid Alam, a power loom worker, says, "I have been running from pillar to post, seeking a job following the closure of the unit I was working for. I was earning Rs 10,000 a month. I am not earning anything now." Power loom owner Anwar Husain, who has been managing his business for over two decades in the Jabbar Compound region of Bhiwandi, says limited cash withdrawals have hampered operations. "I have no choice but to close down my power loom for want of cash and inability to source raw materials," he says. "I am not able to pay the 15-odd workers I employ. Most of them have already left for their homes in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. If the situation does not normalise soon, I will be compelled to sell my loom at scrap value." Another power loom owner, Hayat Khan, says his unit produced 1,800 metres of cloth a day before demonetisation. "I am unable to withdraw enough money as banks do not have sufficient cash. Wages and electricity arrears are mounting. The situation is worse than in 1999-2000, when there was a slump in business," he says. Demonetisation impact: Textile centers like Tirupur , Ludhiana , Coimbatore are hurting too! Bhiwandi, a 150-year-old town, is a key supplier of grey, a kind of rough-hewn cloth that is processed into fabric. According to local manufacturers, earlier about 600 trucks of yarn reached Bhiwandi daily to be spun into grey. Now there is none. Purushottam Vanga, vice-chairman, Powerloom Development & Export Promotion Council, says almost 80 percent of the workforce in Bhiwandi are migrants. "Half of them have returned home." While the government has taken cognizance of the situation, with Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani visiting the town last week and promising relief measures, the emphasis is now on shifting to opening bank accounts for workers here. The Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Bhiwandi, Kapil Patil, says, "Over 10,000 applications to open bank accounts have been filed." While this is only 2 percent of the workforce in Bhiwandi, experts say a start has been made to sensitise people to use banking channels. But executives of industry bodies such as Vanga, who is also president of the Bhiwandi Padmanagar Powerloom Weavers Association, are hopeful. "If the decreasing sales of readymade cloth in the market following demonetisation can be addressed, we can tide over other teething problems." III: How demonetisation stole Sivakasi's sparkle IV: The cost of demonetisation: Jobless hundreds in Jalandhar V: In Assam's tea gardens cash is perennially in demand VI: Demonetisation has driven Solapur's beedi workers to loan sharks Industrialist Pawan Ruia's (think Dunlop and Jessop) arrest this month for cheating and criminal breach of trust marked a new low, but the tide had been turning against him for a while now. Ishita Ayan Dutt & Avishek Rakshit report. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com Pawan K Ruia, rarely seen without vermilion on his forehead, is "turnaround tycoon", reads the website of his business group. On Saturday (December 10), when the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department swooped down on him at his residence in New Delhi, the tycoon finally fell to earth. Ruia has been booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust after a complaint was lodged by the Indian Railways last month. It said that goods and equipment worth Rs 50 crore belonging to the Railways had been kept at a unit of Ruia's Jessop, the wagon maker, and went missing. For Ruia, the arrest may have marked a new low but the tide has been turning against him for a while now. Tycoon is a title that Ruia landed easily when he acquired Jessop & Co as part of the National Democratic Alliance government's disinvestment programme in 2003. And the "turnaround tycoon" tag came within a year of that as Jessop turned profitable. By the time Ruia bought Dunlop in 2005 from the family of deceased businessman Manu Chhabria, outbidding the Singhanias of JK Tyre and Munjals of Hero, he had also become a "takeover tycoon". That's because along with Dunlop, Ruia had also acquired Falcon Tyres from the Chhabria family, and the following year, Monotona Tyres from Dipak Poddar. State-owned Tyre Corporation of India and Mining & Allied Machine Corp, which were on New Delhi's divestment list, were also on his radar screen. Making a splash Ruia's reputation as Kolkata's turnaround tycoon got fortified when in 2007 he took Dunlop out of the purview of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. Those who know him, however, say that it was wily paperwork that brought Dunlop out of the BIFR's clutches. Former labour minister and now agriculture minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, Purnendu Bose, even goes to the extent of calling it "unconstitutional". What Ruia did was that he got the company's real estate -- spread across Sahaganj, Ambattur and Mumbai -- valued. It worked out to around Rs 900 crore. The real estate was transferred to other Ruia companies that issued shares to Dunlop, which booked it as other income. The net result: after 12 years, Dunlop reported a net worth of Rs 151.82 crore, up from a negative net worth of Rs 261.15 crore the previous year. Taking Dunlop out of BIFR shored up Ruia's credibility. It gave him the confidence to plan big, and any asset on the block became an acquisition target for him. In 2008, Ruia's first overseas acquisition happened when he took over UK-based Metzeler Automotive Profile Systems, an automobile component maker. In 2009, he acquired Draftex, a supplier of automotive sealing systems to car makers in Germany. The size of the foreign acquisitions mostly remained undisclosed. The big one came in 2010 when Ruia emerged as one of the two bidders for South Korean car maker Ssangyong. Of course, it didn't materialise -- Mahindra & Mahindra walked away with it. IMAGE: It was alleged that Pawan Ruia was never interested in Dunlop for meaningful production; he was only interested in the company's substantial real estate. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons. Credibility crisis Even as Ruia was soaring, Dunlop began to falter. Labour problems, electricity arrears, production issues, suspension of work marred its performance. "No meaningful production has ever happened at Dunlop's Sahaganj factory. Ruia was only interested in Dunlop's real estate," says Bose. That is a recurrent allegation against Ruia. "He was never interested in running Jessop and was only interested in monetising its real estate and other assets. Jessop has 95 bighas (three bighas make an acre) in Durgapur," points out Jessop worker and employee union's general secretary, Srikumar Banerjee. "Except for a year of operational profit, even Jessop's profits were just on paper," a former top executive of the Ruia group says. A Ruia group spokesperson, however, refutes that and says from 2003 to 2010, Jessop was profitable. According to him, militant trade unions took a toll on operations. "Slogans against the company in front of its premises battered customers and creditors' confidence." Ruia's endgame started in 2011 after the change of regime in Bengal. The Mamata Banerjee government came down heavily on the Left Front government's poster boy. Till 2010, Dunlop enjoyed protection from its unsecured creditors under the West Bengal Relief Undertakings (Special Provisions) Act, which was not renewed by the new government. In 2013, the Calcutta High Court directed the winding up of Dunlop, a ruling challenged by Ruia in the Supreme Court. The apex court had then stayed the order. In December 2015, however, the Calcutta High Court came down heavily on the company and instructed it to wind up. Finally, ahead of the assembly elections in Bengal, earlier this year, the government enacted two Bills to take management control of Jessop and Dunlop. The overseas ventures too didn't get anywhere. In 2011-12, Draftex, Schlegel (formerly Metzeler Automotive Profile Systems) and Turkey-based Standard Profil were sold off. Even as group companies were struggling to stay afloat, Suryamani Financing, a Ruia group company, had applied for a banking licence. He was confident of getting it too. As a former Ruia group executive points out, in the end, the chartered accountant in him flourished as the industrialist floundered. Engineering student Hemanth Joseph, who bypassed Apple's activation lock, is now the poster boy for a young community of ethical hackers. Nikita Puri reports. IMAGE: Hemanth Joseph at the launch of 0SecCon at Infopark, Kochi. All photographs: Kind courtesy Hemant Joseph/Facebook For the past few days, Hemanth V Joseph finds himself pausing before he answers an unknown phone number, or even when he gets a new message on Facebook. Ever since Joseph blogged about how he bypassed tech giant Apple's iPad activation lock, requests to unlock iPhones, iPads and iPods have been pouring in from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and the United States. The 21 year old is a final year student of mechanical engineering at the Amal Jyothi Engineering College, Kanjirappally, Kerala. Keeping up with the ever-evolving cyberspace and exposing its vulnerabilities is "just an interest" Joseph has developed over the last three-odd years. It was when he was studying biosciences in junior college that Joseph found himself inexplicably drawn to how Web applications work, and began teaching himself programming languages. "My friends call me a lot of bad words now," says Joseph, "They say they can't go home because of me: Their parents call them and ask what they are doing when a boy from their class is making so much news." Before Joseph bypassed iPad's security, he made headlines for exposing a critical vulnerability in Google's Cloud Platform (used by end-users to build applications, store and analyse data). Not only did this get him listed in Google's Hall of Fame honouring ethical hackers, it also won him a bounty of $7,500 (about Rs 5,00,000). He's won $9,500 (about Rs 6,40,00) from AT&T before, Yahoo has given him $5,000 (about Rs 3,40,000), and he's got $2,000 (about Rs 1,30,500) from Pebble Smartwatch, besides others. From BlackBerry to Twitter, Joseph has been listed in several Halls of Fame over the last four years. "It's good pocket money," he says, chuckling. IMAGE: Hemant has worked as as assistant commander at the Kerala Police Cyberdrome. Joseph has never reconsidered his decision not to formally study computer science. He uses the case of a falling raindrop to explain his fascination for mechanical engineering: "Just think, without friction in the air, a raindrop would accelerate so much that when it hits the ground, it would have the velocity of two or three times of a bullet. Mechanical engineering explains natural phenomenon, it helps explain everything around you." He considers his recent feat with Apple particularly significant because Apple's security is considered to be the very best. "My dad and I usually use Apple products, so he (Joseph) showed me how he bypassed iPad's security," says his college friend Evan Thomas. After the feat, Thomas remembers Joseph telling him: "Kando, security itre ollu." That's Malayalam for "see, this is all the security there is." Joseph had bought a second-hand iPad Air from eBay when a developer-friend of his needed one to test applications. But when the device arrived, Joseph found it locked. This is a security measure designed to keep your data safe as it cannot be reactivated without a password. Most would find only two ways out of this: Contact the previous owner, or approach customer care for assistance. But Joseph confesses to enjoy "being put in difficult situations" so that he can find a way out. So, despite being new to Apple's iOS operating system, he applied what many would call a blunt-force method to bypass the system. He used the 'Lost Mode' option to put the device into activation mode. But logging in requires an Internet connection, and that's when Joseph chose 'other network' and then WPA2 Enterprise. Next, he realised there was no character limit in the blanks to be filled, so he put in thousands of characters. This effectively froze the screen, but he wasn't in. He tried it again, this time using iPad's magnetic smart case to cover the screen once he had frozen it. Then Joseph found himself looking at the home screen. He had bypassed the activation security. IMAGE: Founded by Hemant, 0SecCon aims to train college students and security enthusiasts on how to explore and exploit technology to detect and solve critical issues. Whether Joseph received any cash reward from Apple remains a secret he's not spilling any time soon. Tech giants have often been known not to publicise such findings, and such incidents are usually reported by bounty hunters themselves. In this case, Joseph blogged about it in late November (www.hemanthjoseph.com) after a security update had been put in place. His blog also has screenshots of his conversation with Apple's product security team and a video showing the bypass process. "When we ask him to go to sleep at night, he says he can't because he's looking for bugs," says Thomas, who shares a flat with Joseph. "Our college has high-speed Internet so he looks for bugs even when classes are on. The professors also let him be, thinking he's working on something important. If he's stuck somewhere, he'll ask for help but he doesn't give up," adds Thomas. Over the last few months, Joseph has also been working with Cyberdome, a public-private partnership initiated by the Kerala police to combat cyber crime. "We work with volunteers and have a lot of senior professionals on board, so we were very doubtful about recruiting youngsters," says Manoj Abraham, inspector general of police, Thiruvananthapuram, and Cyberdome's nodal officer. But over the past few months, Abraham has seen "youngsters like Hemanth" find solutions to the newer challenges that stump even those with "more experience". "We've seen a huge success rate with this partnership. Now we can respond better when Web sites are hacked," he says, adding, "In the last six months, piracy of Malayalam films has become almost nil." Megastar Mohanlal's Pulimurugan is a recent beneficiary. Hemanth may be young, but his age has no bearing on his confidence, expertise or brilliance, believes Abraham, adding, "He's one of our brightest stars." For Abraham, Joseph represents a generation of problem-solving youngsters who tackle cyber issues "in a matter of minutes." Realising the need for white hat hackers, Joseph and his friends have founded 0SecCon, India's first open security community for students. "India only has professional conferences. There's nothing for students or beginners. We want to bridge that gap and teach students the very basics, all for free," he says. "We are reaching a phase where our cooking devices will tell us how to cook and whether we've over-boiled food," Joseph says. "Anything connected to the Internet is vulnerable to hack. We must be prepared to defend ourselves." At the age of 16, Mark Erwin was behind bars. He had been caught committing fraud, forging his mother's signature on checks to get cash. "I was sitting in jail for a felony that I did in fact commit," Erwin told CNBC. The teenager had been kicked out of high school. His mother suffered from alcoholism and the family was squandering an inheritance from previous generations. He couldn't even vote yet and he was close to screwing up his life. While awaiting his sentencing, he prayed for a second chance. He got one. When Erwin entered the courtroom, the judge offered him the opportunity to trade four years of jail time in exchange for court-ordered service in the military. Erwin accepted, and during his time at the Air Force, he read two books that changed his life. "Somebody gave me two dog-eared paperback books," Erwin recalls, "and said, 'You need to read these books.'" The books were "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale and "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. "I started reading them and I couldn't stop," he says. Those books taught him some key lessons. Stop making excuses. In "Think and Grow Rich," Hill writes, "You can make your life what you want it to be." That resonated with Erwin. "The first and only thing that matters is, your history doesn't matter," Erwin says. "It's what you make from today forward that really matters." As a teenager, Erwin blamed his family's mistakes for his own problems. But in order to make his own financial success, he knew he had to take ownership of his life. "'It's up to you,'" he recalls telling himself. "'If you're a loser from here forward, it's because of you.'" Set goals and have a vision for achieving them. "The other thing I learned was the importance of setting goals and having a vision," Erwin says. The author of "The Power of Positive Thinking" writes, "Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously." Story continues For Erwin, that vision, as he describes in his book "The Powers: 12 Principles to Transform Your Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary," was to become a millionaire. "At 18 years of age, I developed my vision while still in the Air Force," Erwin says. "My vision was to restore my family's wealth and prestige." He was going to be a millionaire by the time he was 40, he decided, despite having "no education, no resources, no prospects and a [criminal] record." Be persistent. To achieve his goal, Erwin decided he would have to work hard. After his time with the Air Force, he landed a job managing real estate for UPS. "When I got there, I outworked everybody," he says. "I out-planned everybody and I rose through the organization." And while Erwin advanced in his career, he saved as much as he could. Once he had accumulated what felt like a good amount, he began investing in real estate. Soon his money was working as hard as he was. "Persistence is absolutely critical," he says. At age 38, he became a millionaire. And he kept going. By his early 40s, he was a multimillionaire. He worked in banking and even served as the U.S. Ambassador to Mauritius, Seychelles and Comoros. Today he manages an investment capital firm and is a motivational speaker. Erwin says that he hopes his book, which details the lessons he learned, inspires others to make real changes the same way Hill's and Peale's books inspired him. Video by Zack Guzman . 'While Kejriwal has lost his credibility due to his failure in Delhi, Captain Amarinder Singh is dancing on the tune of his image managers.' IMAGE: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at an election rally, December 8. Photograph: Kind courtesy Sukhbir Singh Badal/Facebook Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab's deputy chief minister, lashes out at his political opponents from the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party in this e-mail interview with Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore. Demonetisation doesn't seem to have resulted in any poll reverses for the SAD-BJP (Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party) combine, the sweep of Chandigarh municipal elections being the case in point... The BJP-SAD alliance victory in elections to the Chandigarh municipal elections is a slap in the face of those who want to belittle the steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against black money and terrorism. It's also proof that the Indian voter is ready to reward good governance and is a true barometer of the widespread support the government enjoys among the aam aadmi. Between the AAP and Congress, who do you consider your bigger rival? We don't feel there is any competition. The Shiromani Akali Dal is a people's party. This is the party of Punjab. We have worked tirelessly for last the nine years. It's only due to our commitment to the development of state and welfare of its people that Punjabis chose us twice. We are confident of a third win too. Our rivals, including the Congress and AAP, have no agenda and are both indulging in political stunts only. Politically too we have distributed our tickets and have kick-started our campaign. The Congress on the other hand is accepting all the rejected leaders of the Akali Dal and is working more like a waste management company. The Congress is badly split into factions and different factions would defeat one another. The less said about AAP, the better. All its leaders are abandoning the party which has given tickets to criminal elements. Even their convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, is being booted by his own party men during his visits to Punjab. With AAP joining the Punjab fray this assembly election the state will for the first time witness a triangular contest. Who do you think has the advantage in this triangular contest? I do not perceive this as a triangular contest. AAP is not in the race and it will be a direct contest with the Congress. AAP is not a party, but a movement created over undue hype. With the AAP bubble getting burst, they are going to get buried under the weight of their own contradictions very soon. AAP will fail to open its account in Delhi if elections are held there tomorrow. Who are you more afraid of? Captain Amarinder Singh or Arvind Kejriwal? IMAGE: 'Glimpses from roadshow at Sangrur. The mood of the people is clear,' tweeted Captain Amarinder Singh, the Congress leader, November 27 about this photograph. Kind Courtesy: Captain Amarinder Singh/Twitter None! Undeterred by the nefarious agenda of our opponents, the Shiromani Akali Dal has been tirelessly working for the welfare of Punjab for the past one decade. We delivered what all we had promised. A slew of initiatives undertaken by the SAD-BJP-led government has put Punjab on a growth trajectory. Poised to be the number one state in the country, Punjab is also one of the most peaceful, harmonious and socially equitable states in the country. While Kejriwal has lost his credibility due to his failure in Delhi and his U-turn on the crucial matter of SYL (Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal), Captain (former Congress chief minister Amarinder Singh) is dancing on the tune of his image managers. He first promised to waive off the loans of the farmers and then went to the prime minister begging for the waiver. The Congress track record shows that they are incapable of generating revenues for the state. In this scenario, how is Captain Amarinder Singh going to fulfill his promises of loan waivers, free smart phones and unemployment allowance? The AAP has fielded its MP Bhagwant Mann against you from your constituency, Jalalabad. IMAGE: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal listens to AAP MP Bhagwant Mann during a rally in 2014; Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters This will surely add a dash of humour, something missing in our party. On a serious note, this will not affect the poll dynamics. Theatrics and cheap antics offered by AAP have made politics a serious business for all the comedians. Bhagwant Mann's track record speaks volumes of his tall promises and false claims. Never in the history of Parliament has it happened that all the MPs joined in to lodge a complaint against a sitting MP including his own party colleagues. Such is the state of the people's elected representative from Sangrur that he was held responsible for endangering the security of Parliament by putting up a video on social media. Give us three most important reasons why the Shiromani Akali Dal will score a hat-trick in Punjab. We are confident of scoring a hat-trick as we have worked hard for the future of the state on an agenda of development, development and yet more development. The SAD-BJP government in Punjab created history in the last elections by forming a government for the second consecutive term. A sitting government has never been voted back into power in the state before. Punjab has achieved unmatched progress and inclusive growth in every sector. Amongst others, one of the major developments is making Punjab a power surplus state. Punjab has achieved the distinction of 'only power surplus state in the country'. The Punjab government's welfare initiatives have created a benchmark for other states to follow. Punjab has witnessed n infrastructural revolution and set new milestones in e-governance. A lot has been done, but there is always a lot more that needs to be done. I am very confident that we will take the state to even greater heights after getting elected for a record third time. You have been boasting of the Akali Dal winning a majority 70 seats, relegating the Congress to the second position with 35 to 40 seats and AAP at a distant third with just 9 seats. What gives you this confidence that the Akali Dal will win an absolute majority? The landmark development works and historic achievements in all sectors have made Punjab a leading state in the country. Under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Punjab has witnessed unmatched growth and progress. On the other hand, the malicious propaganda launched by the Opposition parties for their vested interest is destined to meet its nemesis. The benefits of Punjab's development and welfare initiatives have reached all cross sections of society. People of Punjab are smart enough to gauge who works for them and stands for their welfare. What if your forecast goes wrong? Work speaks louder than words. Our work speaks volume about our intention and commitment for the welfare of Punjab and its people. The Shiromani Akali Dal is a 95-year-old party and it is the only party which evokes the cause of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat. We are not afraid of our critics and we shall continue with our development agenda. Given that Punjab is predominantly an agrarian state and the state of farmers as well as small traders post demonetisation is not all hunky-dory, do you think your ally might spoil your chances with demonetisation having a huge negative impact on your voters? A historic move, demonetisation would go a long way in transforming the economy of the country. We cannot undermine the fact that people are facing hardship due to the higher currency getting demonetised. But having said that, the people of Punjab are cooperating and there is patience being shown, which is guided by the long term benefits that would come from the decision. We have also urged the Union government to ensure easy availability of new notes. Rahul Gandhi has alleged that your party promoted a drugs culture in Punjab. IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi is presented with a turban by party supporters in Sirhind during the 2012 election campaign. Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters It all started when Rahul Gandhi came to Punjab and read from a paper that 70 per cent of youth in the state are drug addicts. Whereas the reality was that 70 per cent of the drug addicts were youth as per the study of drug addicts referred by Rahul. While it was a pointer to Rahul's immaturity, it gave enough ammunition to anti-Punjab forces and startling figures on drug abuse started doing the rounds in Punjab's political circuit. The nefarious propaganda of defaming Punjab was exposed recently with the police recruitment drive conducted by our government. We conducted dope tests of more than 400,000 applicants and only 1.26 per cent of them tested positive. There is speculation that former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu will likely contest from Amritsar on a Congress ticket. What impact will his exit from the BJP have on the SAD-BJP poll prospects? Credibility is everything in politics. Presently Navjot Sidhu has no credibility. He has exposed himself by bargaining with the AAP and Congress, both. Now it is immaterial whether he contests election or not. People have come to know his true self. They will never trust him again. What could be the best case scenario to settle the SYL issue in the best interest of India's federal structure without compromising on the rights of the people of Punjab on the Sutlej waters? It is an emotional issue as the Sutlej water is the lifeline of Punjab. Punjab doesn't even have a drop of water to spare with any other state. The SYL is a political conspiracy by Congress-led successive governments, both at the Centre and in the state, to take away Punjab's legitimate right to its river water. SYL was never required and we have vociferously opposed it from day one. As per internationally accepted 'riparian law', the state has exclusive rights over the river water from which it flows. Haryana demands a share from the Sutlej. Will they also share the Yamuna's water? SYL is no more an issue with the Shiromani Akali Dal settling the matter in favour of the farmers by denotifying the acquired land and transferring it in the name of its owners. China's official media on Thursday warned India against using the Dalai Lama "card", saying New Delhi should stop behaving like a "spoilt kid" and learn lessons from how China handled Donald Trump after the United States President-elect challenged 'One-China' policy. "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world.' India has the potential to be a great nation, but the country's vision is shortsighted," an article in the state-run Global Times said. It said India "should draw some lessons from the recent interactions between Beijing and Trump over Taiwan." "After putting out feelers to test China's determination to protect its essential interests, Trump has met China's restrained but pertinent countermeasures, and must have understood that China's bottom line -- sovereign integrity and national unity -- is untouchable," the paper said. While the article did not elaborate on counter measures, China besides protesting to Trump over his phone call to the Taiwanese president and his comments questioning One-China policy, also seized an "unmanned underwater vehicle" in the disputed South China sea, the first such incident in the area. The drone was returned subsequently after protests from the US and Trump, an incident seen as an attempt by China to flex its muscles ahead of the President-elect taking over office next month. The drone operated by a US survey vessel in the South China sea was seized by a Chinese navy ship. "Even the US would have to think twice before it messes with China on such sensitive problems, so what makes India so confident that it could manage?," the article sounding strident in it tone and tenor said, referring to India going to Mongolia's assistance by granting $1 billion aid after Beijing imposed a blockade in retaliation to Ulaanbaatar hosting Dalai Lama last month despite China protests. The Mongolian ambassador to India had sought New Delhi's help to overcome China's counter measures. However, the Mongolian government has given in and pledged that it will never invite Dalai Lama again. Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil said Tuesday that Mongolia will not allow the Dalai Lama to visit the country, even in the name of religion, "thus settling a one-month standoff between Mongolia and China", it said. "But a long lingering issue behind it all is how India should handle its relationship with the Dalai Lama," it said, referring to the Tibetan leader's presence at the opening session of Laureates and Leaders for Children Summit at President house presided over by President Pranab Mukherjee. China also objected to that saying India has went ahead with the invitation to Dalai Lama despite Chinas protests. External Affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup responded saying that "India's position is consistent. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a respected spiritual leader. It was a non political event which he attended." However, the article said "New Delhi has long held the Dalai Lama issue as leverage that it can use against China. President Mukherjee met with the Tibetan separatist in exile in India this month, probably as moral support to Mongolia, which mired itself in diplomatic trouble after receiving the Dalai Lama in November." China earlier objected over India granting permission to the Dalai Lama and another Tibetan spiritual leader in exile Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje to Arunachal Pradesh. "After China initiated countermeasures, including cancelling investment talks and imposing additional tolls on Mongolian cargo passing through Chinese territory, the Mongolians later tried to seek support from India, hoping that by allying with China's competitor, Beijing would be forced to give in," the article said. "New Delhi expressed its concerns about Mongolia's well-being, and vaguely pledged to put into effect a credit line of $1 billion it promised to Mongolia in 2015. However, before India's bureaucrats could start, Ulaanbaatar caved in to the reality," it said. It said that India's "way of dealing with the issue shows, once again, the gap between its ambition and its strength. It is way beyond India's capability to acquire leverage against China by employing a proxy or challenging China's bottom line. India has used the Dalai Lama card from time to time in a retaliatory move against China." "India wants to disturb China's pace of development by taking advantage of China's national and international problems, most of which have nothing to do with India's national interests," it said. IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, December 19, 2016. 'When you enter our secretariat, you are insulting us.' 'It is the seat of government of the state of Tamil Nadu,' AIADMK spokesman Dheeran tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com Income tax raids on premises belonging to Rama Mohana Rao, the now replaced Tamil Nadu chief secretary, and his son in Chennai, during which cash in new currency worth Rs 30 lakh and 5 kg gold were seized, has given rise to a political slugfest. Though as a party they weren't against the raids, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam spokesman Dheeran tells Rediff.com AIADMK leaders are upset that no information about the raids was provided to them. "We are not opposing raids by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or the Income Tax department or any other governmental agency," Dheeran says. "What we are opposing is entering our secretariat without informing us." "I am not telling you to ask permission, I am telling you that you must inform us. It is against the principle of federalism and democracy," Dheeran adds. "You go raid his (Rama Mohana Rao's) house, his farm and his friends' homes, we don't care. But when you enter our secretariat, you are insulting us," says the AIADMK leader. "It is the seat of government of the state of Tamil Nadu." "This is happening because we are against right-wing politics," he adds. "Even Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has said that it is an assault on the rights of the state. How can you enter a state headquarters like this?" Dheeran also attacks the Reserve Bank of India, saying, "A man can't withdraw Rs 2,000 from the bank, yet people are getting caught across the country with new currency. From where are they getting the new currency? Who is the RBI favouring? Is it working under the finance minister or the prime minister?" "They are infringing on the rights of the state. They think they can intimidate our 50 MPs to vote in favour of the government. That will never happen," Dheeran declares. "Amma (the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa) has trained us well. We will fight for our rights and the rights of the Tamil people," the AIADMK leaders says. "Our rights are being threatened," he points out. "Let them (the Centre) know that Delhi is not a sultanate and we are not small kings who will line up to pay tribute." "This is a Republic and federalism means the state is equal to the Centre and it is not subordinate. We asked for relief after cyclone Vardah, because they are collecting thousands of crores of taxes in Tamil Nadu. You are not doing us a favour," Dheeran adds. "We will not be cowed because Amma is not here. We will follow her footsteps and protect Tamil Nadu from the Centre and its wrong policies." Arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is under the scanner of multiple investigating agencies, may have fled the country, a media report claimed on Thursday. According to a report in The New Indian Express, government sources suspect Bhandari might have reached London via Nepal, evading a look-out notice issued against him. If verified, this could invite more embarrassment to the Centre with the Opposition already criticising it for failing to extradite Vijay Mallya and others. Bhandari had earlier this year in June been stopped from boarding a London-bound British Airways flight. He was charged under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act by Delhi Police in October after the Income Tax sleuths recovered confidential defence documents during the search operation on his premises in April. Bhandari first showed up on the radar of investigative agencies in 2010 for alleged involvement in a contract for the Indian Air force. He was the main promoter of Offset India Solutions, a company founded in 2008 to dip into a lucrative market that mandated foreign vendors to invest at least 30% of the value of contracts awarded by India in the domestic manufacturing sector. The I-T investigation wing during the raids on April 27 this year at his residence had found emails that allegedly talk about renovation of a costly apartment in London in 2010 which was allegedly owned by Vadra, son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Vadra's legal firm has denied that he owned the London property directly or indirectly. It also denied Vadra has any business ties with an arms dealer or his aide. According to the Economic Times, e-mails and phone call records scrutinised by investigators revealed that Bhandari was in regular touch with bureaucrats, politicians and private companies, especially those in the defence sector. Officials in the investigative agencies said Bhandari's call details records show he was in touch with leaders from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. The documents seized from his premises also allegedly showed that a number of officials from different foreign defence firms were in touch with him on a regular basis. The ongoing probe is also examining Bhandari's links with Thales group, a French multinational company and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company that makes commercial and military aircraft, space systems and other defence products, The New Indian Express reported. Bhandari, investigators suspect, is involved in Indian Air Force's basic trainer aircraft purchase for which a deal worth around Rs 4,000 crore was signed during previous UPA regime in 2012. Things have come to a grinding halt as thick smog has suffocated China. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, with schools in the region closed and motorways gridlocked as people try to escape the poor conditions. More than 20 cities are in the middle of a red alert which was announced on December 17, the highest level in China's four-tiered pollution warning system. According to Greenpeace East Asia, the smog has affected some 460 million people. Here are some glimpses of choked-up China. Battling the smog! A Chinese woman wears a mask to protect against pollution as they wait to cross the street in heavy smog. The red smog warning is expected to last until December 24. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images There's no escape: A family takes a stroll in 'smogged' out in Shanghai. Despite their best efforts, the smog levels in China are high, forcing residents to bear the stifling conditions. Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters Harder to breathe: Since Friday at least 24 cities have issued red alerts for poor air quality. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters Hard to see: A street view of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province shrouded in smog. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Engulfed: Most of China's smog is blamed on the burning of coal for electricity and heating. On December 19, more than 700 companies stopped production in Beijing as the red alert continued. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Buildings are seen in heavy smog during a polluted day in in Harbin, Heilongjiang province. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Stay in! Children exercise indoor during a polluted day in Handan, Hebei province. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Visability in Beijing has now dropped to 50 metres (164 feet), making driving very difficult and dangerous. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Pupils cover their noses after school in heavy smog. Photograph: VCG/VCG via Getty Images Chinese Paramilitary police wear masks to protect against pollution, a rare occurence, as they stand guard during smog in Tiananmen Square. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images A combative Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mocking his Wednesdays speech wherein the Congress vice president had accused him of having taken money from corporate groups, saying he could make fun of him but needed to answer the charges of personal corruption levelled against him. At a jan aakrosh rally in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Congress vice president told the prime minister that he could make fun of him as much as he can but should answer the questions raised by him. "The charges have not been levelled by me alone but by the youth of India who feel cheated as you had promised them jobs," an aggressive Rahul said. Waving sheets of paper which purportedly contained details of charges against Modi having allegedly accepted money from Sahara and Birla groups when he was Gujarat chief minister, the Congress vice president asked the prime minister to tell whether the documents were correct or not. Sticking to his guns, he alleged Modi as the Gujarat chief minister had taken Rs 40 crore from the Sahara group in nine instalments spread over six months in 2013 and 2014. Coming down hard against note ban, he insisted that the prime minister came out with the surprise decision not to help the poor but the super rich 50 families of India. Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Rahul dubbed him as a 'super event planner', who had made perfect planning to take the money from the poor to help the rich who owe as much as Rs 8 lakh crore to the banks. "Suck the money from the poor and feed the rich. Take the money from 99 per cent and give it to one per cent, he said adding that this was the essence of the note ban and not to weed out black money and help the poor as claimed by Modi. "I will repeat the same question to the PM...Congress wants to eradicate corruption and if the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) initiates any step in this direction it will be extended full support but this note ban decision is not against corruption or black money. "Modi ji said those standing in bank queues are thieves. Today, I saw people standing in front of the banks. Modi ji they are not thieves but honest poor," he said, adding that there was not a single rich or 'suited, booted' person who is seen on the prime ministers aircraft when he goes abroad, standing in the lines. IMAGE: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi addresses a rally in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter Demonetisation was aimed at removing black money and corruption, but undisclosed income keeps being unearthed from various parts of the country. Gujarat The Income Tax department on Thursday said it had carried out at least 43 search and survey operations across Gujarat post-demonetisation and unearthed undisclosed income as well as assets worth Rs 73.09 crore, including new currency of Rs 3.53 crore. According to Director General of Investigations, I-T, Gujarat, P C Mody, as many as 30 searches and 13 surveys were carried out in different parts of the state after the Centre scrapped high value currency notes on November 8. During our searches we have seized cash as well as assets worth Rs 22.93 crore, including Rs 3.53 crore in new currency. During our survey operations, people have admitted of an unaccounted income of Rs 50.16 crore, said Mody at press conference. The senior I-T official also informed the reporters that the department on Thursday visited Memnagar branch of a private bank to verify information related to transactions being done using dummy accounts. Assam In Nagaon, Assam, the Income Tax Department recovered at least Rs 2.3 crore cash in new currency notes from a local businessman. According to officials, I-T sleuths raided the house and business entity of Amulya Das, owner of Mahim Enterprises in Nagaon town on Thursday afternoon. The counting is not yet over. So far Rs 2.3 crore have been recovered. All the cash are in new notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. The amount may increase further, an official said. When contacted, Nagaon Superintendent of Police Debaraj Upadhaya confirmed the development. It was learnt that Das was in the business of gutkha and pan masala even though they are banned. Madhya Pradesh An amount of Rs one crore or more has been deposited in 400 bank accounts of people in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh post-demonetisation, a senior I-T official said. An amount of Rs one crore or more -- in some cases even Rs 4 crore or Rs 5 crore have been deposited in 400 bank accounts of people in MP and Chhattisgarh, post-demonetisation, Abrar Ahmed, Principal Chief Commissioner of I-T for the two states told reporters here. West Bengal The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a Kolkata-based businessman for alleged illegal conversion of over Rs 25 crore in old currency into new notes as part of its money laundering probe in two high-profile black money cases in the wake of demonetisation. Officials identified the businessman as Paras Mal Lodha and said he was involved in a deep-rooted conspiracy in this case and that he was charging a commission at the rate of 15-20 per cent to convert the money. Lodha, 62, was arrested by the agency late Wednesday in connection with the recovery of large amount in new currency notes from a company belonging to Advocate Rohit Tandon of T and T law firm (in Delhi) and J Shekhar Reddy of Chennai. He was brought to Delhi after the ED intercepted and detained him at the Mumbai airport when he was about to take a flight to Malaysia. VANCOUVER, WA--(Marketwired - December 22, 2016) - An evening filled with education about Pulse Larsen's innovative new location, a tour to highlight some of their capabilities, a meet and greet with CEO, Mark Twaalhoven and topped off with delightful food highlighting the culinary treasures of the Pacific Northwest. Pulse Larsen recently hosted a lovely event on December 13th to introduce suppliers, distributors, sales representatives, and fellow local businesses to their new facility. The night began with a light reception for all to gather refreshments before beginning a tour hosted by one of their many subject matter experts on hand to answer any questions that might arise along the way. The tour began with a stop to perform a ribbon cutting attended by CEO of Pulse Electronics, Mark Twaalhoven who had flown in for the occasion and General Manager, Olivier Robin surrounded by invited guests. The guests then moved to a showroom area where the head engineers were on hand to discuss the many different antenna solutions for IoT (Internet of Things), Public Safety, Navigation, and Transportation Technologies to name a few. A stroll through the brightly hued office area led them through the various assembly and manufacturing lines with a quick stop in the Mil/Aero (Military Aerospace) section then onto the Anechoic Chamber for a demonstration of our testing capabilities. The evening capped off with wonderful food catered by Haven's Corner and a fun and interactive speech by General Manager, Olivier Robin, who then introduced CEO Mark Twaalhoven who underscored Pulse Larsen's commitment to growing the business in Vancouver Washington. Pulse Larsen is excited to announce they will host another tour and meet and greet soon so stay tuned for the announcement. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/12/22/11G125965/Images/Pulse_Electronics_2-f056e27c497abd798c2da0600e455114.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/12/22/11G125965/Images/Pulse_Electronics_1-44326b339c01ab87b2cf814fe8333033.jpg Gambian leaders must ensure peaceful transfer of power to President-elect, says Security Council Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Gambian leaders must ensure peaceful transfer of power to President-elect, says Security Council, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585b867e40e.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. 21 December 2016 - Welcoming the African Union's decision to recognize Adama Barrow as President-Elect of Gambia, the United Nations Security Council reiterated its call on outgoing President Yayha Jammeh to transfer power to the President-Elect in peaceful and orderly manner. "The Security Council reiterates its request to outgoing President Jammeh and the relevant Gambian Authorities to fully respect the results of the presidential election of 1 December 2016, to respect the will of the Gambian people and to carry out a peaceful and orderly transition process, and to transfer power to President-elect Adama Barrow by 19 January 2017 in accordance with the Gambian constitution," said a Presidential Statement read out at a formal meeting of the 15-member body today. "[The Council] further welcomes the decision of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State to attend the 19 January inauguration of President-elect Barrow in Banjul (Gambia's capital)," it added. In the statement, the Council also underlined the need to ensure the security of President-elect Barrow and that of all Gambians, and called on the country's defence and security forces to demonstrate maximum restraint and maintain an atmosphere of calm in Banjul. Further, commending ECOWAS efforts aimed at diffusing the situation in the west African country, the Council welcomed the appointment of Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria as the Mediator in Gambia and that of John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana as Co-chair. Last week, an ECOWAS/UN high level delegation, led by the President of the Liberia and Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, visited Banjul and undertook discussions aimed at ensuring a peaceful and orderly transition. Senior UN officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein have spoken out on the situation in Gambia, urging outgoing President Jammeh to respect the outcome of the results and to transfer power to the incoming President. Civilians brave freezing temperatures as Aleppo evacuations resume UN Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Civilians brave freezing temperatures as Aleppo evacuations resume UN, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585b86cc40c.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. 21 December 2016 - With civilians in war-battered eastern Aleppo braving sub-zero temperatures, evacuations escorted by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) resumed today, as the agency estimates that more than 25,000 people have been evacuated from besieged neighbourhoods over the past five days, the United Nations said. Meanwhile in New York, the UN Security Council approved the delivery of humanitarian aid across borders and conflict lines in Syria for another year, adopting a resolution demanding that all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, immediately comply with their obligations under international law. Unanimously adopting a news resolution, the 15-member Council decided to renew, until 10 January 2018, the decisions contained in paragraphs two and three of its resolution 2165 (2014), authorizing UN humanitarian agencies and their partners to cross conflict lines and establish a mechanism to monitor the loading of all humanitarian relief consignments. Providing an update of the situation on the ground, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General told reporters at the daily Headquarters briefing that along with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and ICRC evacuations, at least 20 surge staff from Damascus had been deployed to Aleppo to support ongoing observations of evacuations and response activities in the city. UN teams have maintained a presence at the Ramouseh Government checkpoint in Aleppo to observe the evacuations from east Aleppo since 15 December, he said, adding that the ICRC estimates that more than 25,000 people have been evacuated from the besieged neighbourhoods in eastern Aleppo over the past five days. Mr. Haq said that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 19 December, 301 wounded and sick people had been evacuated, including 93 patients in critical condition who have been transferred to Turkey; others were transferred to hospitals in Idlib and in rural western Aleppo. "Protection of civilians leaving these areas remains the biggest concern. The process for evacuation was traumatic, with crowding and vulnerable people waiting for hours and exposed to sub-zero temperatures," he said, adding that all remaining civilians must be allowed to safely leave should they choose to do so. Access to people in need to provide them with life-saving humanitarian assistance is also urgently needed, added Mr. Haq. DR Congo: Ban urges political leaders to put country ahead of partisan considerations Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, DR Congo: Ban urges political leaders to put country ahead of partisan considerations, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585b870d40d.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. 21 December 2016 - Calling on Congolese political leaders to place the interests of the country and its people above partisan considerations, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he is keeping a close eye on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the mediation led by the Conference episcopale nationale des eglises du Congo (CENCO) resumes. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban added that it is very important to eliminate tensions and create a safe environment for the completion of the CENCO-facilitated dialogue, followed by timely, credible and transparent elections. "The Secretary-General deplores the reported loss of life in confrontations between the security forces and protesters, including in Kinshasa," the statement continued, stressing the need for the national security forces to exercise the utmost restraint in the maintenance of public order. The UN chief also called on the DRC authorities to investigate any acts of violence and ensure the perpetrators are held accountable. In addition, the Secretary-General in his statement encouraged the new government led by Prime Minister Samy Badibanga to take concrete steps, in line with the 18 October political agreement. He also urged all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint in their actions and statements, and discourage the use of violence among their supporters. Population growth in Occupied Palestinian Territory to drive demand for housing, services UN Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Population growth in Occupied Palestinian Territory to drive demand for housing, services UN, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585b877c40c.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. 21 December 2016 - The number of people living in Gaza is expected to more than double over the next 30 years, according to a report released this month by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which examines demographic changes and opportunities for development in the Gaza Strip and throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The report Palestine 2030 Demographic Change: Opportunities for Development, which notes that while it is clear that the decades-long occupation and dependence of foreign assistance have hampered growth, also demonstrates how population trends and dynamics play a powerful role in development and therefore must be factored into planning and policy decisions. Speaking with UN Radio, Anders Thomsen, UNFPA Representative to the State of Palestine about the current trends and the anticipated impacts said: "If you had said twenty years ago, ten years ago, would Gaza be able to cope with a blockade, a very strict blockade for 10 years and three very harsh wars, would Gaza be able to cope with it - the fact is, Gaza is coping with it and the people in Palestine are remarkably strong and resourceful. But at some point, something will have to give." Fertility rates are twice the rate of those in the more advanced areas in the region - a trend that is expected to bring its population from the current 4.7 million to 6.9 by 2030 and to 9.5 million by 2050. The highest rate of growth is expected to occur in Gaza, where the report estimates a population of 1.85 million will reach 3.1 million by 2030 and 4.7 million by 2050. In addition to a growing population, the number of women entering the labour force has also been steadily rising, with nearly one third of Palestinian women now working. Street scene and market in Gaza City. Photo: World Bank/Arne Hoel "How do we create the enabling environment to have enough economic growth to ensure that this growing population can have economic opportunities?" asked Mr. Thomsen. In consideration of the demographic trends, the report estimates that the number of jobs that will need to be created per year will increase from an annual 58,000 to 72,000 by 2030. It urges that job creation take into account not only new workers, but also those who are unemployed and under-employed. In 2015, the rate of unemployment was 26 per cent. The UN official said he believes that enough dialogue has been had and that the focus now needs to be on creating opportunities for people and goods to move freely and for trade to resume so that Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory can be fully integrated into the international economy. New and more strenuous demands are also expected to affect education, as there will be a 48 per cent increase in the number of people aged between four and 22 years old by 2050. Again, these demands will be seen most significantly in Gaza, where residents are already younger and fertility rates and other relevant indicators are expected to create a faster-growing population. The report estimates that educational enrolment rates in Gaza will surpass those in the West Bank between 2025 and 2030. "I hope it will be a wakeup call. If people are taking these numbers and figures and projections seriously, they will see a different way of thinking today will be required to avoid a disastrous situation in 14 years," said Mr. Thomsen. UN chief hails peaceful and inclusive legislative elections in Cote d'Ivoire Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN chief hails peaceful and inclusive legislative elections in Cote d'Ivoire, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585b889540d.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. 21 December 2016 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has applauded the Government and the people of Cote d'Ivoire for this Sunday's peaceful and inclusive legislative elections as well as the progress in the country since last year, his office said. "[The Secretary-General] congratulates Ivorian political parties for their active participation in the elections and the Commission electorale independante for its efforts in ensuring the people's right to vote," read a statement issued by his spokesperson late yesterday. "He also appreciates the positive role of international and national electoral observation teams, as well as the engagement of Ivorian civil society, which enhanced the transparency and credibility of the elections," it added. Further in the statement, the UN chief commended the progress achieved by the west African country with the conclusion of a free and fair presidential election in October 2015 and the constitutional referendum in October this year. "The successful conclusion of the legislative election confirms Cote d'Ivoire's steady march towards lasting peace and stability," noted the statement. Mr. Ban also reiterated the commitment of the UN system, including the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), to continue supporting the country in sustaining the gains achieved in its consolidation of peace, stability and long-term prosperity. Guinea-Bissau: Ban urges leaders to demonstrate goodwill to resolve political crisis Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Guinea-Bissau: Ban urges leaders to demonstrate goodwill to resolve political crisis, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585b898640c.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. 21 December 2016 - Expressing concern over the impact of a prolonged political and institutional crisis in Guinea-Bissau, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the country's leadership to work towards a long-lasting political solution to the crisis on the basis of a regional roadmap agreed in September this year. The Secretary-General shares the concern expressed by the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on 17 December over the prolonged political and institutional crisis in Guinea-Bissau, which continues to negatively impact the people of the country, read a statement issued by Mr. Ban's office late yesterday. He calls on Guinea-Bissau's political leadership to demonstrate the requisite commitment and goodwill to reach a lasting political solution to the crisis in their country on the basis of the ECOWAS Roadmap and the Conakry Accord, it added. According to the statement, the UN chief also took note of the ECOWAS Authority decision to proceed with the withdrawal of its mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB) in the first quarter of 2017. He expresses the hope that such withdrawal will be contingent on the preconditions stipulated in the ECOWAS Roadmap and adequate consultation with international partners, including the UN, the statement added. Mr. Ban also expressed his appreciation to the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, in particular the ECOWAS Mediator for Guinea-Bissau, President Alpha Conde of Guinea, and the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, for their continuing efforts aimed at ensuring the full implementation of the ECOWAS Roadmap and the Conakry Accord. Iraq: Children caught in the crossfire of the battle for Mosul suffer horrific injuries and trauma Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 December 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Iraq: Children caught in the crossfire of the battle for Mosul suffer horrific injuries and trauma, 22 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585b89c64.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 desperate plight of a generation of children is in the balance as the bloody battle for the city of Mosul threatens to become a humanitarian catastrophe, Amnesty International said today following a field investigation. On a visit to the region this month, the organization met children of all ages who had suffered terrible injuries after being caught in the line of fire between the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) and government forces, who are backed by a US-led coalition. "Children caught in the crossfire of the brutal battle for Mosul have seen things that no one, of any age, should ever see. I met children who have not only sustained horrific wounds but have also seen their relatives and neighbours decapitated in mortar strikes, torn to shreds by car bombs or mine explosions, or crushed under the rubble of their homes," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's Senior Crisis Response Adviser, who returned from a 17-day mission to northern Iraq. "War-wounded children then find themselves in hospitals overflowing with patients, or in camps for displaced people, where dire humanitarian conditions make their physical and psychological recovery even more difficult. Many others remain trapped in areas where the fighting is raging. There is an urgent need for the Iraqi authorities and their international partners in the battle for Mosul to set up better care, rehabilitation and protection systems for affected civilians. Looking after civilian victims, particularly the most vulnerable, should be an absolute priority - not an afterthought." "Our homes have become our children's graves" In a hospital in Erbil, Amnesty International spoke to Umm Ashraf, who described how she and her seven children were injured when a car bomb exploded outside the house where they were sheltering in east Mosul on 13 December, burying scores of people under the rubble of several houses destroyed in the blast. Her eldest daughter, 17-year-old Shahad, lost both her eyes in the attack. "Our homes have become our children's graves," Umm Ashraf told Amnesty International. "My neighbours are still buried under the rubble; no one has been able to dig them out. I dragged my wounded children from under the rubble one by one. But my sister was killed, I could not help her. My neighbour was decapitated in the blast, so many others killed." Eight-year-old Teiba and her 14-month-old sister Taghreed were killed and their parents seriously injured when a mortar landed by the courtyard of their home in east Mosul on 12 November. The children's mother, Mouna, told Amnesty International: "I was telling the girls to go inside. There was shelling and shooting 24 hours a day in our area. Just then a mortar landed by the house. I collapsed on the spot, my daughter Teiba fell with her head against the gate, and the little one crawled and crawled till she reached me and collapsed on my lap". Medical facilities at breaking point With few or no functioning or accessible hospitals left in the conflict-affected areas of east Mosul, the epicentre of the fighting, the best hope for the wounded to receive medical care is in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Though it is only 80 kilometres away, getting to Erbil is almost impossible for residents of Mosul. Only the few who manage to get a special permit can enter the KRG, and even then it is difficult or impossible for their relatives to join or visit them. Some families fleeing the fighting find themselves stuck between frontlines, unable to cross into territory controlled by the KRG and forced to wait in unsafe no-man's-land areas for days. Among those who did reach Erbil is two-year-old Ali, who was injured in a strike in the Hay al-Falah neighbourhood of Mosul on 14 December. When we met him he was barely breathing, his face an unrecognizable bloody mess of torn flesh. The doctors told his grandmother, Dokha, that they weren't sure if he would pull through. Dokha has already lost two granddaughters, 14-year-old Zaira and 16-year-old Wad'ha, who were killed in the same strike, and she was beside herself with grief at the thought of losing Ali too. "Please God protect him, don't take him from me," Dokha implored. "My grandchildren had fled their home and had been staying in a neighbour's basement for the past 30 days," she explained. "They had run out of food and water completely. The area was recaptured by the army two days earlier so they thought it was safe to go out, but they were bombed as they reached the gate of the courtyard." Even though only some of those injured in the Mosul battle have been evacuated to Erbil, hospitals there have been overwhelmed by the large number of casualties. "The military campaign to recapture Mosul had been long in the making and the Iraqi authorities - including the Ninewa Governorate - and their international partners in the Mosul battle could and should have made better provisions for the inevitable civilian casualties, especially knowing that hospitals in the KRG would likely come under strain from a high influx of war-wounded," said Donatella Rovera. "If there are resources for the war there must also be resources to deal with the consequences of war." Children traumatized and scarred Beyond the physical wounds they suffer, children are left scarred and deeply traumatized by the extreme violence they have experienced and witnessed. Out of the thousands of children who have been exposed to sustained violence, only a fraction have access to the psychological care and support they desperately need. "My children saw my sister being killed in front of them; they saw our neighbour who was decapitated in the strike; they saw body parts on the ground. How can they ever recover from that?" Umm Ashraf told Amnesty International. At a camp for Internally Displaced People (IDPs), four-year-old Mohammed rocks to and fro, slaps himself and bangs his head on the floor. He cries inconsolably every time he soils himself, which happens several times a day. His mother, Mouna, says he has been behaving like this since the mortar strike on 12 November which killed two of his sisters. "He and his little sister Taghreed were inseparable. He used to carry her all the time. Now he does not understand that his sisters are dead. He thinks we left them behind and gets sad and angry. I think he needs psychotherapy but there is nothing here in the camp," says Mouna, who is immobilized by a fractured leg and has not been able to get up from a thin mattress on the floor since she arrived in the camp. The family's two surviving daughters, aged 10 and 12, have to attend to all the chores - getting water, cooking, washing clothes and dressing their injured parents' wounds. They have no time to play or study. Since their arrival at the IDP camp, the children have received no psychological support to help them deal with the trauma of seeing their siblings killed in front of them. While the humanitarian response has provided limited psychosocial support activities in some IDP camps, they are woefully inadequate to deal with the sheer number of children who have been affected by the conflict and in many cases are direct victims of violence. "The scars left by these unimaginably traumatic experiences are psychological as well as physical, but these life-altering wounds are being neglected by the Iraqi government and its allies, who have so far failed to ensure adequate medical facilities are in place," said Donatella Rovera. "The international community must prioritise the resourcing of a robust child protection response, including comprehensive mental health support for those who have been exposed to extreme violence, as part of the humanitarian response to the Iraq crisis." Meanwhile, Yazidi children, returning from IS captivity, have endured unspeakable suffering. Girls as young as 11 were raped, while boys were forced to undergo military training, taught how to decapitate people, and made to watch executions. Jordo, a 13-year-old boy who spent two years in IS captivity, gave a chilling account of what he learned. "You grab the guy by the hair to pull his head up so you can cut his throat, and if he has no hair you stick two fingers in his nostrils to pull his head up. They taught me this and they taught me to kill in many other ways," he told Amnesty International. AK, 10, returned from IS captivity in November, more than two years after being abducted along with his parents and seven siblings. Only two of them, aged six and seven, have returned. The rest of the family remain in IS hands. The children are being cared for by two distant cousins who are already providing for 23 other women and children. One told Amnesty International about the difficulties of coping with the erratic behaviour of the traumatized children. "AK is very difficult to control," he said. "He breaks and sets things on fire, and the other day he went out in the cold in his underwear and got sick. All three of them wet themselves all the time, so we make them sleep in a separate tent because of the smell. These children are very traumatized and need professional help, but we have found no help so far." Broken promises Humanitarian workers told Amnesty International that children displaced from the Mosul battle and other areas affected by the conflict show signs of trauma such as excessive crying, mutism and violent behavior, and have difficulty leaving their parents' or carers' sides. However, seemingly due to a lack of resources, these children are not receiving adequate mental health care and the support that would help them to process such traumatic incidents and begin to restore a sense of normality in their lives. Donor governments committed in September to ensure "access to lifesaving assistance" and "facilitate the rapid, unimpeded passage of impartial humanitarian relief". It is imperative that the protection and care of children affected by the armed conflict be made a priority in the humanitarian response. The rising costs of basic necessities, as well as the lack of food, fuel, medicines and clean water inside Mosul have left children at extreme risk of malnutrition, dehydration and water-borne and other diseases. "Despite Iraqi and coalition forces' assurances that they are doing their utmost to protect civilians, every day children are dying or being injured - in their homes or as they risk their lives to flee to safety. All parties involved in the Mosul battle must take all feasible precautions to spare civilian lives, including by avoiding using artillery and other indirect fire into densely populated urban areas," said Donatella Rovera. "Without more efforts by the Iraqi authorities and their allies to create safe avenues for civilians to get out of conflict-affected areas of the city and to provide essential services to residents trapped under fire inside Mosul, a humanitarian catastrophe could unfold." Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International First murder of journalist in Philippines under President Duterte Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, First murder of journalist in Philippines under President Duterte, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585b8c714.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. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Philippine authorities to investigate this week's fatal shooting of a local newspaper publisher in Virac, in the central province of Catanduanes, and to ensure that his murder does not go unpunished. Larry Que, a columnist and publisher of the Catanduanes News Now newspaper, was shot by gunmen on a motorcycle as he was about to enter his office in Virac on 19 December and died of his injuries in hospital yesterday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) reported. Although Que was the first journalist to be murdered in the Philippines since Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as president on 30 June, it continues to be one of the world's most dangerous countries for media personnel, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said yesterday. In a column shortly before his death, Que criticized the negligence of the police in allowing a vast illegal crystal meth laboratory to operate on the island of Catanduanes until they finally raided it three weeks ago, NUJP secretary general Dabet Panelo said. Condemning the lack of reaction from the national police to Que's death, Panelo called on the authorities "to immediately solve his killing, the first of a media person under the Duterte administration." Although Que is the first fatality, two radio journalists have been injured in separate attacks since Duterte's inauguration. "The situation of journalists in the Philippines is extremely worrying and we urge the Duterte administration to open an immediate investigation into Larry Que's murder so that it does not go unpunished," RSF editor-in-chief Virginie Dangles said. "The international community must also insist that the Philippine government respects human rights and media freedom. This includes guaranteeing the safety of journalists." Duterte triggered an international outcry shortly before taking office when he said that journalists who took bribes or engaged in other forms of corruption were legitimate murder targets. "Just because you're a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if you're a son of a bitch," he said. Since taking office, Duterte has waged a brutal war against drug trafficking in which more than 5,300 people are estimated to have died. In October, he nonetheless created a high-level task force that is supposed to ensure a "safe environment for media workers" and investigate unsolved attacks on journalists. The Philippines is ranked 138th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index. 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. UNHCR pledges aid to thousands displaced in Lake Chad Basin Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR pledges aid to thousands displaced in Lake Chad Basin, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585baa824.html [accessed 3 November 2022] UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi wrapped up a 10-day visit to Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria restating UNHCR's strong commitment to continue helping hundreds of thousands of people forcibly displaced in the region by the Boko Haram insurgency. Grandi, who flew out of Nigeria late on Monday after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, highlighted the main challenges ahead for the international community and governments in the region: security, humanitarian response, development and the rights and protection of civilians. "We will need to win the battle of development if we want to win the war on radicalism. Poverty, under-development, and lack of education all breed insecurity," Grandi said. "We need to tackle these important development challenges in the whole region." On Sunday, Grandi travelled to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, in north-east Nigeria, where he visited Bakassi, one of 12 camps run by the government with help from aid agencies. "We need to have more sustainable activities," a farmer told Grandi in a meeting with camp leaders. "We of course appreciate the assistance in the camp, but we have become dependent on aid and we need something to make a living," he added. The farmer and other participants spoke of the additional challenges they face, including the need for more food, water points and latrines. The camp hosts over 21,000 internally displaced people who fled violence in the region. Grandi visited a UNHCR-supported centre at the camp which helps women develop livelihoods such as tailoring and leatherwork. UNHCR has also helped develop a workshop to train mechanics in Maiduguri, and centres in Borno and Yola States to help displaced people learn and apply new skills. He pledged to continue UNHCR's support with humanitarian assistance and to encourage the longer-term development interventions needed to improve people's lives. "I am here to express the solidarity of the world. We will continue to help the government provide material assistance," said Grandi, while adding: "Your future cannot be in a camp, your future is at home, in your villages and towns." Grandi said significant and large scale intervention and development activities were also needed throughout the affected region. "I am appealing to donors to urgently fund both the humanitarian response to help people in need today and invest in their futures," he said. "We also need the involvement and expertise of the financial institutions, specifically the World Bank, the Africa Development Bank, and the big bilateral institutions." Grandi also listened to people who had been captured and abused by Boko Haram, including 26-year-old Nancy,* who was repeatedly raped over two years of captivity. She became pregnant but had a miscarriage because of the torture inflicted on her. Nancy subsequently escaped and now has an 11-month-old baby, a daily reminder of her ordeal. She has been reunited with her husband but carries deep scars. The High Commissioner also met a 13-year-old boy who was seized by Boko Haram and his father killed. The boy escaped and spent 28 days in the bush, foraging for food before being rescued by the military. He is now living with his mother at the camp. The High Commissioner began his visit in Niger on December 10 to spread awareness about the desperate situation in Nigeria and neighbouring countries in one of Africa's gravest displacement crises. He also used the visit to appeal to the international community to step up its response and do more to help governments in all four countries cope with the burden. Last Friday, in Cameroon, he launched a $US241 million appeal on behalf of 36 partners to help some 460,000 affected people in Niger, Chad and Cameroon, including 183,000 Nigerian refugees. While visiting Niger, where he met President Issoufou Mahamdoui and other top officials, Grandi praised one of the world's poorest countries for keeping its doors open, granting asylum as well as sharing scarce resources. "This is really exceptional I assure you, I will use the example of Niger around the world," he said. The High Commissioner also visited the troubled region of Diffa, which has been subjected to Boko Haram attacks for almost two years. It hosts a displaced population of over 240,000, including Nigerian refugees and local communities. "It is essential not just to focus on the present crisis but to look to the future, and to the need for development," he said, citing UNHCR programmes on urbanization and on domestic energy in Diffa. In Chad's Lac Region, he visited another UNHCR-funded project, which provides refugees and locals the means to fish in nearby Lake Chad. He cited it as an example for donors of how livelihoods can help people live as normal a life as possible. More funding could help many more people become self-sufficient and stimulate the battered economy. In N'Djamena he met President Idriss Deby and hailed the country for providing shelter to refugees from Nigeria, Sudan and Central African Republic. He also discussed development projects aimed at helping refugees and host communities with the World Bank and Africa Development Bank representatives in Chad. *Name changed for protection reasons. Q&A: Yemenis face a 'struggle for survival' Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Shabia Mantoo Publication Date 20 December 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Q&A: Yemenis face a 'struggle for survival', 20 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585baaf74.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Since war broke out in Yemen in March 2015, the fabric of the country has been disintegrating and the population of 27.4 million suffering untold hardship and misery. The situation there has been described as a 'humanitarian catastrophe' and without help many more people, especially children, will die from violence, lack of food and water, illness or disease. Ayman Gharaibeh, UNHCR's Representative to Yemen, is leading the UN Refugee Agency's humanitarian operations and response across the country. The experienced humanitarian aid worker previously served in Yemen with UNHCR from 1992 to 1994. Gharaibeh spoke to Public Information Officer Shabia Mantoo about the desperate situation there. Please describe the situation in Yemen at the moment. Simply put this is nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe. Current hostilities are taking place in a country mired by years of successive conflicts, widespread insecurity and under-development, so we now see a devastating mix of civilian casualties, mass displacement, worsening poverty, economic decline, deteriorating conditions, weakened public institutions and limited access to services. Almost two years into the conflict, we are trying to respond to a calamity in which nearly 19 million people across Yemen are in need of urgent assistance and people are suffering in truly abysmal conditions. What are the most pressing needs for those displaced by the conflict? The situation facing many displaced Yemenis is essentially a struggle for survival - food, water and shelter are priority needs for those who have been forced to flee elsewhere in Yemen for safety. Many are now enduring miserable and inadequate conditions living in overcrowded or makeshift shelters for months on end and without sufficient protection. More than half the population is without adequate food and health care and this will only worsen. Deteriorating conditions are also facilitating the spread of preventable communicable diseases, such as cholera, which have arisen as a consequence of the conflict. Where is UNHCR working in Yemen and how are you responding to the crisis? UNHCR has been present in Yemen since the 1980s. It is saddening for me personally that every time I come back to Yemen it is because of yet another war. In the early 90s there was the unification war and now more than two decades later we come back to yet another conflict. In the current context, our response is oriented towards addressing the needs of displaced Yemenis as well as of refugees and asylum seekers in Yemen. Under the humanitarian coordination system that is activated in Yemen, we lead the shelter, non-food item, and protection response through all phases of displacement. Our prioritized assistance has to date reached more than 660,000 Yemenis most in need of the 2.2 million that have been displaced. Our winter assistance is also being delivered to reach 210,000 individuals. To help protect the rights of those forcibly displaced, we provide legal and financial assistance and psychosocial support services in addition to other programmes and interventions. Is it difficult to deliver aid in Yemen? What are the biggest challenges for UNHCR? Humanitarian access remains a significant issue in light of security and bureaucratic obstacles; and we also have to bear in mind that a number of proscribed organizations operate in Yemen so access is also impeded on this front. However, other reasons may be as innocuous as the fact that information flows for authorizations may not work in a systematic way, so delays can result from clearances not being received in time from the centre to the field. Nonetheless, we continue to advocate with parties to the conflict for access and we maintain a presence through field offices across Yemen. Despite these constraints, we have reached 20 of Yemen's 21 governorates. Is humanitarian assistance alone sufficient? The magnitude of the crisis in Yemen is such that it cannot be addressed by humanitarian assistance and the humanitarian community alone. We are dealing with multi-layered economic and social impacts of war that are affecting literally every household in Yemen, whether through worsening poverty and the effects of the declining currency or the lack of essential services and weakened public institutions. If the situation continues we will see the public sector weaken to the point of collapse, basic infrastructure will begin to unravel and that will be one step closer to chaos. There needs to be significant redress in parallel with a political, peaceful resolution of the conflict to halt this downward spiral. There are ongoing discussions between the UN and the World Bank on how to preserve state institutions from collapsing, but that is fraught with challenges when the economic collapse is in fact the objective in this conflict. Yemen is often referred to as a neglected crisis. Why is this so? It is definitely a neglected crisis when compared to other regional crises. If we look at the magnitude and scale of the needs in Yemen, the attention it receives is disproportionate. This is due to a number of factors and, as disastrous as it is, the conflict hasn't generated huge outflows of Yemeni refugees. So, in the absence of movements from Yemen and onwards to Europe, there is no spotlight on this catastrophe. Furthermore, there is also the misperception that this is only a regional crisis or a neighbourhood problem, and as a result many traditional donors don't see the need to extend as much support. Why is Yemen important and why should the world care? It is very short-sighted to see Yemen as just a regional crisis, it is a global crisis with far-reaching implications. This is one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. What are the implications of a country on the brink? If instability continues to prevail in parts of the country, then proscribed organizations currently present in Yemen will benefit - and that poses a threat to global security. The world cannot afford to let Yemen slip into the abyss. Yemen must be supported and we need to keep on advocating and mobilizing support in every way we can. Guatemala: Alert regarding the escalation of aggressions against human rights defenders Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 21 December 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Guatemala: Alert regarding the escalation of aggressions against human rights defenders, 21 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585bafe74.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. 14 murders and seven attempted murders so far this year illustrate the escalation of attacks against defenders in Guatemala, met by a lack of action by the authorities. The wave of aggressions against those working against impunity, including judges and lawyers, questions the very existence of the rule of law in Guatemala. Meanwhile, land rights defenders continue to be particularly targeted, as has been reported by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and UDEFEGUA. The first eleven months of 2016 confirm the existence of a worrying pattern of escalating aggressions against human rights defenders in Guatemala. Even though the amount of aggressions is lower than in 2015, there has been a total of 223 attacks and/or aggressions against defenders documented by UDEFEGUA, which is an average of 20 incidents per month. This shows that the seriousness and intensity have reached alarming levels. A prime example of the escalation of the aggressions is the increase in the number of murders of defenders: as of 30 November, 2016, UDEFEGUA has registered a total of 14 murders, which shows a clear upward trend, considering that in 2014 and 2015 there were seven and 12 murders, respectively. In addition, there have been seven attempted murders so far this year. Moreover, it is particularly worrying to confirm that in most of these cases, murders were reported to be the final blow of an escalating long and repetitive cycle of violent actions against the defenders, which were not duly dealt with by the Guatemalan authorities. Amongst the total of 223 aggressions, we must highlight the 68 new criminalisation cases which add up to the ongoing procedures started in previous years, 44 cases of intimidation and 42 cases of threats. We should also underline the fact that, as a result of the changes in local governments, there have been 24 aggressions by means of administrative measures such as lay-offs, mostly against trade unionists. As for the geographical distribution of the aggressions, Guatemala City leads the statistics with 101 cases, followed by Huehuetenango with 32 and Alta Verapaz with 26. The Observatory and UDEFEGUA are specially concerned about the aggressions suffered by two groups of defenders: those working for justice and against impunity, and those working on land rights. The campaign of harassment and destabilisation by some stakeholders keeps escalating against any step forward in iconic cases of transitional justice such as those of Molina Theissen and CREOMPAZ, in which former members of the military are accused of having committed serious human rights violations during the armed conflict. The smear, intimidation and legal complaints campaign against human rights defenders in this context, including justice operators such as the judges Miguel Angel Galvez and Yassmin Barrios or the lawyers Miguel Morth, Ramon Cadena, Alejandro Rodriguez and Rafael Maldonado, has reached a total of 38 defenders throughout 2016. The message is that anyone who works for justice and against impunity faces serious risks, and this questions the viability of the rule of law and of an independent judicial system in Guatemala. As for those working on environmental and natural resources rights, there have been reported aggressions against 37 defenders so far this year in an environment of extractive and hydroelectric projects that have been forced upon the communities and of criminalisation by the companies as a response to those daring to defend labour, environmental and land rights, as was denounced by the Observatory and UDEFEGUA in their report " Smaller than David" [1], published in February 2015 and which conclusions and recommendations are unfortunately still applicable today. In this context, the Observatory and UDEFEGUA show their concern about the lack of action of the Guatemalan authorities in this regard. The initiation of the discussion and consultation process for the creation of the Programme for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in the framework of the State's obligation before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the case of Human Rights Defender et al. v. Guatemala is a step in the right direction.However, despite the context of extreme violence against human rights defenders, the initiation of this process was announced in September 2016, 25 months after the sentence was issued. Moreover, there is a worrying contradictory message sent by the State when withdrawing unilaterally the protection measures set for defenders whilst discussing the protection programme. Finally, the Observatory and UDEFEGUA call for the public policy to be developed in a wide participative process and not to be limited to protection measures, but to deal with the main structural causes increasing the vulnerability of the defenders, including the insufficient investigation and the high levels of impunity regarding the attacks against them, as well as the reform of the legal framework with regards to land and territory issues. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society. President Jammeh must hand over power Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 20 December 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, President Jammeh must hand over power , 20 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585bb02c4.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. FIDH and member organisations of the #MyVoteMustCount coalition call on Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, to hand over power to President-elect Adama Barrow. The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the United Nations and influential diplomacies must continue to put pressure in favor of the full respect of the result of the presidential election and the Gambian Constitution. When necessary, they must adopt measures of sanction as provided for in their respective fundamental texts. The political climate remains tense in the Gambia 10 days after the volte-face of Yahya Jammeh to reject the results of the presidential election organized on 1 December. During its Summit held on 17 December in Abuja, Nigeria, the ECOWAS reaffirmed its commitment to ensure democratic principles are upheld in the Gambia. Thus, inits final communique, the ECOWAS stresses that it "shall take all necessary measures to strictly enforce the results of the 1st December 2016 elections . This decision contributes to increasing the pressure on Yahya Jammeh to guarantee a transfer of power on 18 January 2017. It builds on the mission led on 13 December by the President-in-Office of the ECOWAS and President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf , who went to the Gambia with Ernest Bai Koroma, President of Sierra Leone, Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria and John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana. The presence of the latter sent out a symbolic message as, just a few days before the mission, he had recognized his own defeat in the presidential election. Muhammadu Buhari and John Dramani Mahama have been appointed ECOWAS mediators for the Gambia. For his part, Yahya Jammeh has hardened his position and seems willing to cling to power at any cost. Defeated through the polls, he has shown off his strengths by ordering, on December 13, the occupation of the headquarters of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) by the Red Berets of the Gambian Army while the ECOWAS delegation was present in Banjul, the Gambian capital. On the same day, the ruling party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), filed an appeal to challenge the results of the election before the Supreme Court, which is not functional because its judges have not yet been appointed. Similarly, supporters of President-elect Barrow were the target of reprisals. On 19 December, Yahya Jammeh, dismissed Sheikh Omar Faye, the Gambia's ambassador to the United States, after he published an open letter on social networks on 13 December, calling Jammeh to hand over power to president-elect Barrow, respect the will of the Gambian people and the Constitution. Ousmane Badjie, the Chief of Staff of the Gambian army, who initially supported Barrow and asked the army to do the same, finally declared himself loyal to Yahya Jammeh. On 9 December, a few hours before his turnaround, Yahya Jammeh had promoted 49 soldiers to key positions in the army. In the latest statements of its current Chairperson, Idriss Deby Itno, and its Peace and Security Council, the AU has clearly decided "to ensuring full respect and compliance with the will and desire expressed by the people of the Gambia "and to support the efforts made by ECOWAS. During its 59th Ordinary Session, held from 21 October to 4 November 2016 in Banjul, The Gambia, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) adopted a resolution on the human rights situation prevailing in the country. Notably, the ACHPR "condemned all acts of excessive and disproportionate use of force against protestors, sexual assault of women detainees and torture and other ill-treatment of detainees" committed during the pre-electoral period and called on the government of the Gambia "to ensure that the elections are free, fair and peaceful". The AU must now take concrete actions to ensure respect for regional and international instruments to which the Gambia has freely adhered, particularly the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the African Charter on Democracy, elections and governance, signed by the Gambia in 2008. Three years into conflict, humanitarian needs in South Sudan continue to rise - UN relief wing Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 22 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Three years into conflict, humanitarian needs in South Sudan continue to rise - UN relief wing, 22 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585bf647116.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. 22 December 2016 - Since fighting first erupted in South Sudan three years back, tens of thousands have died, food insecurity and acute malnutrition are at unprecedented levels, and more than three million have been driven from their homes, the United Nations humanitarian arm has reported. According to a humanitarian bulletin on South Sudan, issued by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the fighting and economic decline in the world's youngest nation have also made millions of its people more susceptible to disease. We are now witnessing a scale of need for assistance and protection that demands our urgent, relentless attention and action UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O'Brien, briefing the Security Council This year, more than 2 million cases of malaria were reported between January and November, and a cholera outbreak caused some 3,525 cases in nine locations, all figures higher than those the previous year. Furthermore, a measles outbreak has been confirmed in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal state, bringing the number of country-wide outbreaks in 2016 to 13, more than twice the number in 2015 (5). Growing insecurity On 13 December alone, 7,046 people from South Sudan crossed the border into Uganda seeking refuge. Many refugees leaving South Sudan reported that they left due to the deteriorating security situation, including fighting in Yei and Wonduruba areas, looting of properties, and rumours of upcoming attacks by armed actors in the Equatorias. They also spoke of horrific abuses, including rape, abduction and killing, the bulletin mentioned. Women and children continued to remain the most vulnerable and accounted for nearly 86 per cent of the total number reaching Uganda. Meanwhile, civilians continue to be displaced within the country. For instance, in Western Equatoria state, there are now an estimated 28,000 people displaced from Yambio, 16,000 displaced from Ezo, and 50,000 displaced from Mundri East, Mundri West and Mvolo. Also, more than 17,000 children are estimated to have been recruited by armed actors, including some 1,300 recruited in 2016. Challenges for humanitarian action Humanitarian organizations and personnel too reported significant challenges reaching people who desperately need aid. Some roads in the Eastern Equatoria state were described as impassable for security reasons while in other places, humanitarian convoys had to spend hours negotiating access. Minimum conditions must be met to be able to fund and implement humanitarian operations. If these conditions continue to not be met, it will ultimately undermine the ability of humanitarian organizations to save lives Humanitarian Country Team Particularly worrying, according to the Humanitarian Country Team - which is made up of representatives of the UN and other international humanitarian organizations and various non-governmental organizations -was the expulsion of the Country Director of a humanitarian organization and the order for a second senior staff of the same organization to leave the country. According to the UN humanitarian wing, between January to November this year, 831 humanitarian access incidents were reported, including 66 incidents of looting of humanitarian supplies. For instance, in Unite State's Nhialdu area, where fighting in November had forced the relocation of humanitarian staff on the ground, tents and supplies at a relief "light-weight" base camp (amounting to some $100,000) were completely looted, shelters were destroyed, and the market burnt down. Unexploded ordnance were also found in the area as a result of the fighting. Funding, too, continues to remain a major challenge, with just ten days left in 2016, only 83 per cent ($1.1 billion) of the humanitarian appeal for the country ($1.29 billion) has been received. IPO activity bounced after a lacklustre 2015. The year 2016 showed signs of life in terms of equity listings in Singapores stock exchanges, a report by Thomson Reuters said. So far, Singapore-listed equity offerings (combined IPO and follow-on offerings listed in Singapores stock exchanges) totaled US$4.1 billion, a 84.0% increase in proceeds after a slow year in 2015. The 84% is composed of IPO proceeds amounting to 40.9% of the market share and follow-on offerings listed in the city, representing 59.2% market share. The top IPO this year was Frasers Logistics and Industrial Trust (USD951.3M) in the SGX Mainboard, the biggest since 2013. Thomson Reuters adds that SGX Mainboard also witnessed an IPO listing from China this year, China Jinjiang Environments US$146.1 million IPO. Meanwhile, ten companies headed for the SGX Catalist board and raised a total of US$71.1 million so far this year. More From Singapore Business Review United Nations resolution paves way for accountability on Syria war crimes Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 December 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, United Nations resolution paves way for accountability on Syria war crimes, 22 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/585bf6a84.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 the United Nations General Assembly resolution establishing an independent international mechanism to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria since March 2011, Anna Neistat, Amnesty International's Senior Director of Research said: "With this resolution, the General Assembly helps overcome the Security Council's deadlock on accountability and is the first step toward justice for thousands of victims. "The situation in Syria continued to be one of the most heartbreaking tragedies of our time. It is also a clear example of the failure of the broken international system that was established - with the Security Council at its centre -- to prevent the atrocities that shock the conscience of humanity. "By passing this resolution, the international community is standing up against the Security Council's utter inability to act in the face of gruesome atrocities being committed before the eyes of the entire world. This is a crisis that, over five years, has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and caused unimaginable suffering to the people of Syria. "The overwhelming support for the resolution by UN member states sends a strong message to all parties to the conflict in Syria that war crimes and crimes against humanity will not be tolerated. Perpetrators will be held accountable. Impunity is not an option. "It is now imperative that we work to make sure this resolution is swiftly and fully implemented and that this mechanism is capable of leading to the prosecution of those individuals who are responsible for the crimes that have been taken place, and continue to take place in Syria." Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Youngsville, LA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/22/2016 --RedHawk Holdings Corp. (OTCQB:IDNG) ("RedHawk" or the "Company") announced today that all three of its WoundClot Surgical Advanced Bleeding Control ("WoundClot") offered products have been approved to participate in the Framework Agreement to Supply Wound Closure products, more commonly known as hemostats, to the National Health Service ("NHS") Supply Chain in the United Kingdom. This will allow for the WoundClot range of products to be listed within the NHS Supply Chain Catalogue ("Catalogue"), simplifying the procurement process and eliminating any barriers to evaluating the WoundClot range of products for use in all NHS hospitals. RedHawk said it expects WoundClot to be listed in the Catalogue on or about February 1, 2017 after NHS review and approval of the Company's quality management system. All NHS procurement personnel will now have access to order the WoundClot products through the NHS Supply Chain Online Catalogue and Ordering system. Anyone within the NHS system who has purchasing authority, including procurement personnel, will now be able to order the WoundClot products, following clinical app There are approximately 350 NHS institutions within the NHS Supply Chain network. In February 2016, the Company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, RedHawk Medical Products U.K. Ltd, had entered into a contract for the exclusive distribution rights to sell WoundClot in the United Kingdom. RedHawk also said it is considering expanding certain distribution capabilities to include its newly established Innovation Center at Louisiana State University. WoundClot, made from cellulose, has been uniquely engineered and manufactured with a patented molecular structure, designed to entrap platelets and coagulants in a modified physical molecular matrix. This specific design creates a haemodynamic polymer membrane with high adherence and resilience properties that is able to both withstand extremely high pressure bleeds and immediately reduce blood flow. Simultaneously, the specifically designed functional molecular groups transform to enhance and activate the natural coagulation processes up to five times more efficiently than existing available products. Once the bleeding has stopped and the coagulation cascade has formed, the product can easily be removed, if desired, without disrupting the already-formed functional biological clot. Additionally, unlike other available products on the LA 132870027v1 market, WoundClot is fully bio-absorbable and bio-degradable and, if needed, can be left in the wound to degrade safely within approximately seven days. About RedHawk Holdings Corp. RedHawk Holdings Corp., formerly Independence Energy Corp., is a diversified holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in sales and distribution of medical devices, sales of branded generic pharmaceutical drugs, commercial real estate investment and leasing, sales of point of entry full-body security systems, and specialized financial services. Through its medical products business unit, the Company sells WoundClot Surgical - Advanced Bleeding Control, the Sharps and Needle Destruction Device, the Carotid Artery Digital Non-Contact Thermometer and Zonis. Its real estate leasing revenues are generated from various commercial properties under long-term lease. Additionally, RedHawk's real estate investment unit holds limited liability company interest in various commercial restoration projects in Hawaii. The Company's financial service revenue is from brokerage services earned in connection with debt placement services. RedHawk Energy holds the exclusive U.S. manufacturing and distribution rights for the Centri Controlled Entry System, a unique, closed cabinet, nominal dose transmission full body x-ray scanner. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than statements of historical fact. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "may," "can," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "projects," "targets," "intends," "likely," "will," "should," "to be," "potential" and any similar expressions are intended to identify those assertions as forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties. In evaluating forward-looking statements, you should consider the various factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements including those listed in the "Risk Factors" section of our latest 10-K report. Further, the Company may make changes to its business plans that could or will affect its results. Investors are cautioned that the Company will undertake no obligation to update any forward looking statements. Media Contact: Julie Calzone 337-235-2924 jcalzone@calzone.com Company Contacts: Thomas J. Concannon, CEO 908-625-7811 tom.concannon@redhawkholdingscorp.com G. Darcy Klug, CFO 337-269-5933 darcy.klug@redhawkholdingscorp.com Source: Uptick Newswire Dan Conway, Don Lipps discuss challenges at MSD of Martinsville For the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville, there are two open seats for the school board in Tuesday's election. Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) shakes hands with National Assembly president Heng Samrin (R) during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in Phnom Penh, Jan. 7, 2016. The president of Cambodias National Assembly blocked the opposition partys attempt to interrogate members of Prime Minister Hun Sens cabinet over the investigation into the murder of popular analyst Kem Ley. Heng Samrin, who heads the National Assembly and is a leader of the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), refused to forward Cambodia National Recue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Eng Chhay Eangs request to question the cabinet members to the legislative body. The move effectively prevents the National Assembly from questioning Interior Minister Sar Kheng and Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana in an open session. A press release issued by the National Assembly said Kem Leys July 10 murder is still under investigation, and that it falls under the courts jurisdiction and not the National Assemblys. The Kem Ley case falls under the courts jurisdiction from the first stage, and both the National Assembly and the royal government have no right to interfere in court affairs, the statement reads. The decision comes a day after it appeared that government officials might offer up some explanation about the slow pace of the investigation. Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak told RFA earlier this week that Sar Kheng plans to provide clarification on the investigation to the National Assembly, but the exact nature of the clarification was unclear. In addition to his role as interior minister, Sar Kheng also carries the deputy prime minister title. The assembly acts with groundless reference Eng Chhay Eang, who heads the National Assemblys Human Rights, Complaints and Investigation Commission, told RFA that Heng Samrins logic is flawed. I am surprised over this matter because it should not be the National Assembly that replies, he said. The government should be the one who replies. The National Assembly has a duty to submit the request and summon relevant ministers to clarify in the presence of any expert commissions of the national assembly, he added. But now, the assembly acts with groundless reference. Kem Ley was gunned down in broad daylight on July 10 when he stopped in a Star Mart convenience store beside a Caltex gas station in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Though authorities charged a former soldier, identified as Oueth Ang, with the killing, many in Cambodia dont believe the governments story that Kem Ley was killed by the former soldier over a debt. The accused killer has used the nom de plume Chuop Samlap which roughly translated means meet to kill. Just days before he was gunned down, Kem Ley had discussed on an RFA Khmer Service call-in show a report by London-based Global Witness detailing the extent of the wealth of the family of Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for 31 years. Since the arrest, the investigation has apparently stalled, or is not being pursued as the Cambodian authorities have someone in custody. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court says the case is still open as the investigative judge, Seng Leang, is still pursuing it. CNRP President Sam Rainsy filed a petition in with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, requesting Chevron Corporation to release any surveillance footage it may have of the shooting death of Kem Ley. Caltex is the brand name the Chevron Corporation uses in more than 60 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Southern Africa. Caltex and Star Mart have declined to respond to RFAs inquiries concerning the surveillance videos. Reported by Moniroth Morm for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. This image shows the Xekaman 3 dam after electrical production was shut down because of a break in the penstock. A break in a critical waterway shut down a hydro-electric dam in southern Laos and raised questions about the quality of construction at the facility that sends most of the power it generates to Vietnam. While officials said the Dec. 16 break in the Xekaman 3 facilitys penstock posed no threat to people living downstream, it marked the second breakdown in the tunnel that channels water to the power turbine, RFAs Lao Service has learned. The broken portion of the pipe is about 100 meters from the power house, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Rocks and mud flowed into the power house. According to the official, the damage is extensive as the power house and its equipment were inundated. The dam is no longer operational, the official told RFAs Lao Service. Power production is stopped. While the break forced the six-year-old dam to go offline, the official said villagers living downstream were safe. The dam lies on Nam Pagnou River, a tributary of the Xekaman River near the Village of Dak Yrang, in the Sekong Provinces Dakcheung district. They turned off the pipe quickly, he said. The village below the dam is safe and there are no injuries and casualties, but all the companys equipment suffered a lot of damage. Phetsamone Phonepaseut, acting head of the energy and mining department of the Sekong Province, told the Lao Economy Daily that the break occurred around 8:45 a.m. on Dec. 16, causing a lot of damage to equipment and the road near the dam. Penstock problems were known While the break shut down Xekaman 3 this month, a similar break also shut the dam down in 2015, according to an engineering paper examining the last years problem. The penstock was built on the location of an ancient landslide that was stable until construction of the dam destabilized the rock, according to the engineering study presented at the International Society for Rock Mechanics 2015 Vietrock workshop. [A]fter the excavation of the cut slope upstream of the power house [was] completed, the ancient landslide reactivated, destroying the penstock, so the electricity generation has to be stopped, causing economic loss for the owner, the study found. According to the study prepared by Song Da consulting, the ancient landslide is unlikely to stop moving, and it appeared to blame the 2015 break on poor engineering. It is necessary to prompt an outdated lesson, but [one] often being violated in Vietnam, this is the protective measures of the cut slope were not constructed on time, causing serious consequences, particular during the rainy season, wrote the studys authors, Bui Khoi Hung and Dao Manh Tung. While the authors recommended a complete redesign of the penstock, remedial measures designed to monitor and compensate for the ancient landslides continual movement were implemented, according to the study. These measures diminish the rate of displacement but it is difficult to stop completely the displacement of the landslide, the authors wrote. There is no standard of construction in Laos The break spurred many local people to question the quality of the construction of the facility on their Facebook pages. There is no standard of construction in Laos. See what happened? Phet CK posted on his Facebook feed. It was likely that they built the dam, then they inspected it themselves. Another Facebook user, Nan Leuanglitthidet wrote: The construction is not up to standard. It happened because there was no real inspection. The authorities should punish the builder and the field engineers. According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines website, the 250 megawatt Xekamen 3 started operations in 2010. The state-owned power company Electricite du Laos owns 15 percent of the facility and the Vietnam-based Vietnam-Lao Power Company owns 85 percent, according to the ministrys website and a database maintained by the environmental group International Rivers. About 90 percent of the electricity produced by the dam is exported to Vietnam while 10 percent is used locally. Laos and many other Asian countries are on a dam-building spree as they try to harness the power of the Mekong and other rivers. The Lao government sees power generation as a way to bootstrap the countrys economy, and has a goal of becoming the battery of Asia. Reported by Lanxang for RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. A Myanmar soldier holds a banner with Arabic writing and pouches containing bullets and documents seized inside a house during a search for attackers in Maungdaw township, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, Oct. 14, 2016. The situation in Myanmars volatile Maungdaw township will be peaceful only after all weapons stolen from border guard posts during deadly attacks in early October have been recovered, a Rakhine state government official said Thursday. Colonel Htein Lin, minister of border affairs and security in northern Rakhine state, told reporters at the state government headquarters in Sittwe that it is necessary for people in the region to work together to recover the weapons taken by assailants during raids on three border guard stations on Oct. 9, and to arrest other insurgents. Htein Lin said insurgents pretended to be local villagers so they could conduct surprise strikes on security forces that moved into Maungdaw after the initial attack to look for the assailants who killed nine border officers and stole more than 50 weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition. The state minister had met with a group of 13 journalists from independent news organizations, including RFAs Myanmar Service, that the government selected to visit the violence-ravaged area. The reporters made stops in Alethankyaw village in Maungdaw and a border guard post in Koetankaut Village in neighboring Rathedaung township that insurgents attacked in October. The government allowed the group of journalists into the area after several international rights organizations, the United Nations, and Western governments called on it to do so, so that reporters from non-state news organizations could investigate reports of atrocities committed by soldiers. Government officials have blamed the attacks and subsequent clashes between villagers and security forces on militant Rohingya Muslims who live in the region. Some of the 27,000 Rohingya who have fled their homes and crossed the border into nearby Bangladesh have accused security forces of killing civilians, and of torture, rape and arson, though the Myanmar government and army have denied the charges. A border guard official on Wednesday told the group of journalists that Muslims from Bangladesh also had a hand in the violence, and a government committee that visited the area last week declared that the military clearance operations had been lawfully conducted. Video testimonies New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday issued video testimony of Rohingya accounts of human rights abuses inflicted by soldiers in the areas affected by violence and called on the government to allow unimpeded humanitarian access to all parts of northern Rakhine to provide food, shelter, and health care to those who lack them. The organization interviewed 12 Rohingya refugees who recently arrived in Bangladesh after fleeing Maungdaw. In video testimony, they describe various atrocities committed by soldiers, including using automatic weapons in villages, looting and burning homes and crops, shooting farm animals, killing entire families, and raping women and girls. One Rohingya refugee, a 50-year-old woman named Rohima, said Myanmar soldiers entered her home in Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son village, tied up her husband, and shot him dead. They also dragged her four adult sons out of the house and killed them, while she and other women in the dwelling were forced into another house upon which soldiers fired rocket launchers, she said. Rohima survived and said the soldiers set her house on fire, then rampaged through the village attacking children with knives and throwing them into a fire with other burning bodies. Refugee accounts paint a horrific picture of an army that is out of control and rampaging through Rohingya villages, said Brad Adams, HRWs Asia director, in a statement. The Burmese government says its crackdown is in response to a security threat, but what security advantage could possibly be gained by raping and killing women and children? he asked. HRW has previously released satellite images that show about 1,500 of structures burned down in several Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine where the military conducted security sweeps. Vijay Nambiar (C), the United Nations special adviser on Myanmar, looks at destroyed buildings following an outbreak of communal violence in central Myanmar's Mandalay region, March 24, 2013. Credit: AFP Deep-seated malaise Meanwhile, a United Nations adviser on Thursday said he fears the situation in Myanmar may get out of hand, and urged the government to do more to address the historic divide between Muslims and Buddhists in Rakhine. Vijay Nambiar, the U.N. secretary-generals special adviser on Myanmar, told Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency that the Oct. 9 border guard attacks in the state had revealed a deep-seated malaise in the place itself. Nambiar called on Myanmars de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to work with the military to resolve the tensions, which have not been helped by a somewhat knee-jerk reaction from the army and local authorities in dealing with communal violence. Whenever they face this threat, they automatically want to close the entire situation, seal up the situation, and deal with the threat and the problem, he was quoted as saying. That in the past has resulted in the problem actually festering. [Aung San Suu Kyi] has to work with the army and the army has to work with her, he said. She needs to be a little more assertive in taking action to reassure both the local population and international community, and I have confidence that she will do that. I do feel and I am convinced that her intentions are to actually solve the larger problems, he said. The recent violence in Rakhine is the worst since 2012 when communal clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims left more than 200 people dead and displaced tens of thousands. The stateless Rohingya, considered to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, were later forced into internally displaced persons camps where about 120,000 remain today. They are routinely discriminated against by the government, which has denied them citizenship, freedom of movement, and access to jobs, education, and health services. Reported by Min Thein Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Authorities in southwestern Chinas Sichuan province have freed a Tibetan monk jailed for more than two years for protesting Beijings rule in Tibetan areas, sources in the region say. Sonam Yarphel, a monk from Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) prefectures Mangge monastery believed to be in his mid 20s, was released on Dec. 21 at around 9:30 a.m. after serving a sentence of two years and 25 days, a source in Kardze told RFAs Tibetan Service. Family members and monastery officials were first asked to sign documents vouching for him at the Sershul [Shiqu] county detention center, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. His condition of health appeared to be good at the time of his release, the source said. Yarphel was taken into custody on Nov. 26, 2014, after staging a solitary protest in the Sershul county seat while carrying a photo of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, RFAs source said. So he was detained and jailed for two years and 25 days, and was finally released on Dec. 21, the source said, adding, He was held at the Sershul county jail for his entire term and was never moved to other jails. Speaking to RFA, a second local source confirmed that Yarphel had been released. When officials of the monastery and family members went to the Sershul county detention center, they had to sign a document promising that he would never again violate the laws of the land, the source said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Then he was released and allowed to go, with no police sent to escort him home, he said. His body bore no marks of beating or other kinds of torture. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijings rule have continued in Kardze and in other Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. A total of 146 Tibetans living in China have also set themselves ablaze in self-immolations since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009. Most protests have featured calls for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959. Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. Taliban militants have stormed the home of a lawmaker in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing eight people, officials say. They say the three attackers were gunned down by security forces early on December 22. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, which began late on December 21, saying they targeted an "important gathering of security officials." The attack took place in the compound of the Helmand member of parliament, Mir Wali, who was hospitalized after he jumped from the roof to escape the attack, said Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of Kabul police's Criminal Investigation Department. "President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemns the attack on the residence of Helmand MP Mir Wali, which killed two members of his family, a number of his bodyguards and the son of another MP from Uruzgan, Obaidullah Barakzai," the presidential palace said. Based on reporting by RFE/RLs Radio Free Afghanistan, AFP, and AP The death toll in the Siberian region of Irkutsk resulting from people drinking tainted bath oil has risen to 74, stunning a country accustomed to high rates of alcohol-related deaths and prompting an angry response from President Vladimir Putin. It also prompted some acidic trolling from a Ukrainian ambassador and, not surprisingly, a rebuke from a clearly unamused Russian Foreign Ministry. Ukraines ambassador to Finland earlier this week found amusement in the story out of Irkutsk, where city officials believe a type of alcohol found in antifreeze was used in the manufacture of body lotion, instead of more typical industrial-grade alcohol like that used in aftershave or perfume. In a series of posts to Twitter, Ambassador Andrii Olefirov sent out photographs from classic Soviet-era films, along with biting captions referring to the herbal bath lotion known in Russia as "Boyaryshnik" (Hawthorn) and believed to have medicinal properties. Two of the films were based on the writings of beloved Soviet satirists Ilf and Petrov; one was a 1970s children's cartoon. In one of the ambassadors posts, he depicts a character from one of the films asking another, "Hey, Pops, you got any 'Boyaryshnik' in your town?" The Russian Foreign Ministry was not amused. "Tell us why the Ukrainian ambassador is publishing 'funny pictures' on social media about the mass poisoning in Irkutsk by tainted alcohol-containing products," the ministry said in a post on its Facebook page that included screenshots of the now-removed Twitter posts from Olefirov (above). As of December 22, the posts had been removed from Olefirovs Twitter feed, but Olefirov sent out another tweet, with a link to the Ukrainian news website ZN.ua, that discussed the spat, saying, "The Russian MFA has taken offense at a Ukrainian ambassadors joke about Boyaryshnik." That Twitter post, meanwhile, attracted ample trolling itself, from both Russian- and English-language posters. One such post suggested Olefirov's Finnish colleagues would not be amused by his joke, to which he replied: "They do not kill my people." Russias annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and the war that has been fueled by Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Donbas region has made Kyiv and Moscow nearly outright enemies. At least 9,800 people have been killed in the fighting since 2014, according to the United Nations. Meanwhile, the Irkutsk emergency has turned the spotlight on the sad, historical recurrence of Russian alcoholics and others looking to get drunk on liquids not typically suited for consumption. Russian media have reported that people turned to the bath lotion to drink in Irkutsk because it was one-third the price of regular vodka. Russia continues to have some of the highest per-capita alcohol consumption rates in the world, as well as the highest rates of alcohol-use disorders. Ukrainian forces are facing Russian attacks in multiple locations, where heavy shelling and air strikes damaged infrastructure as Moscow stepped up its offensive, the Ukrainian military said on November 3. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine was again disconnected from the power grid after shelling damaged the remaining high voltage lines, leaving it with just diesel generators, Ukraine's nuclear firm Enerhoatom said. Enerhoatom said it believes Russia will soon try to repair and connect Europe's largest nuclear station toward the Russia-occupied Crimea and Donbas regions. The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in its November 3 briefing that heavy fighting was under way in the east, with Russian troops conducting offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Novopavlivka areas of the Donetsk region. Russia launched attacks on 12 settlements in Donetsk and the neighboring Luhansk region. Ukrainian forces repelled the attacks, the military said. In Luhansk, the Ukrainian military accused Russian forces are using civilians as human shields. The claim could not be independently confirmed. Russian strikes were also reported in the central area of Kryviy Rih and in the northeast in Sumy and Kharkiv. "The enemy is trying to keep the temporarily captured territories, concentrating its efforts on restraining the actions of the defense forces in certain areas," Ukraine's military said. Russia has targeted Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure in recent weeks, prompting power and water outages and causing casualties among civilians. Russia keeps denying targeting civilians, though the conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions, and razed some Ukrainian cities to the ground. In the south, Ukraine's counteroffensive has left Russian forces fighting to hold their ground around the city of Kherson, on the right bank of the Dnieper River. Moscow-installed authorities are urging residents to evacuate, the Ukrainian military said. Residents of the town of Nova Zburiyvka had been given three days to leave and were told that evacuation would be obligatory from November 5, it said. Russian authorities have repeatedly said Ukraine could be preparing to attack the massive Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper and flood the region. Kyiv denies that. Russia and Ukraine will each hand over 107 captured fighters on November 3 in the latest prisoner exchange between the two sides, Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Donetsk region, said in a post on his Telegram channel. He said 65 of those released by Ukraine will be separatist fighters from Donetsk and Luhansk. Seven ships carrying agricultural products left Ukrainian Black Sea ports on November 3, a day after the resumption of a grain deal aimed at delivering Ukrainian food to foreign markets, the Infrastructure Ministry said. The vessels were loaded with 290,000 tons of food products and were headed toward European and Asian countries, the ministry said in a statement without elaborating. The British ambassador arrived at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow on November 3, Reuters reported, after she was summoned to discuss Moscow's claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. WATCH: RFE/RL asked people in Moscow how they thought the war in Ukraine -- which Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains is a "special military operation" -- is going. Russia's Defense Ministry has said the attack was carried out under the guidance and leadership of British Navy specialists, an assertion Britain has dismissed as false. Meanwhile, two U.S. officials told CBS News on November 2 that senior Russian military leaders discussed last month how and when they might use nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin was not involved in the talks, they told CBS News. The White House said it has grown "increasingly concerned" about the potential use of nuclear weapons in the past few months. But it stressed Washington saw no signs of Russia preparing for such use. In September, Putin escalated his nuclear and anti-Western rhetoric, mentioning that Russia could use all means at its disposal to protect itself and the occupied Ukrainian territories. With reporting by Reuters and BBC Plans by Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party to amend the country's constitution have gotten off to a rocky start. After President Giorgi Margvelashvili's proposal that the commission to draft those amendments be jointly co-chaired by himself, the prime minister, and the parliament speaker was ignored, he announced last week that his staff would boycott its work because it "lacks legitimacy." Sergo Kapanadze, a member of the opposition United National Movement (ENM) minority parliament faction, had similarly declared earlier that "unless the president is involved to the maximum extent in the work of the parliament commission, the legitimacy of that commission will be open to question." Shortly after the October 11 parliamentary elections, in which his Georgian Dream -- Democratic Georgia (GD-DG) party ultimately won 115 of the 150 parliament mandates, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili proposed establishing a group that would draft amendments to what he termed "the very unbalanced constitution" inherited in 2012 from the ENM. The objective, he explained, was "a truly European, democratic constitution" that would "preclude the possibility of a single party ever again usurping and monopolizing power." That was a clear allusion to the ENM, which during its nine years in office repeatedly amended and fine-tuned the constitution, first to strengthen the position of then-President Mikheil Saakashvili, and then to transfer many of the presidential powers to the prime minister to enable Saakashvili to continue wielding supreme power in that capacity following the expiry of his second presidential term. The Georgian Dream coalition's resounding victory in the October 2012 parliamentary elections put paid to that scenario. And in December 2013, the new parliament duly established a commission tasked with drafting constitutional amendments within the next 12 months. But although its mandate was repeatedly extended, the commission failed to come up with the hoped-for proposals, partly because the absence of some members frequently left its five working groups without a quorum, and partly because of the sheer volume of issues to be addressed -- some 50-55, according to then-parliament speaker Davit Usupashvili. The new commission, by contrast, will focus on three key issues, the daily Rezonansi reported on October 18. They are how the president should be elected; moving the Georgian parliament from Kutaisi, the country's second city, to which the ENM had transferred it, back to the capital; and defining marriage as "the voluntary union of a man and a woman." The previous parliament had discussed a draft constitutional amendment to that effect in the first reading in May 2016 but failed to vote on it; Margvelashvili subsequently vetoed a petition calling for the issue to be put to a nationwide referendum. The presidential office initially hailed Kvirikashvili's declaration that the constitutional amendments would be drafted with the maximum public involvement, and "without any haste." Presidential office head Giorgi Abashishvili commented that such an approach would contribute to ending speculation that GD-DG would use its constitutional majority to push through amendments that would serve to strengthen its chances of remaining in power. At the same time, Abashishvili stated that "the president, as head of the state...who is not a member of any political party, is ready to establish such working group, co-chaired by the president, prime minister, and speaker of parliament.... We are ready to launch consultations over the structure and procedures of such a working group." GD-DG lawmaker Gia Volsky immediately pointed out that the president is not empowered to create the commission; both Volsky and constitutional lawyer Vakhushti Menabde noted that neither does he have the right of legislative initiative. Parliament speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, also a specialist on constitutional law, argued that it was "impossible" for the commission to have three co-chairmen as Margvelashvili proposed, as one of them would have to take precedence over the other two, which the president is not constitutionally empowered to do even though as head of state he would be the senior of the three. A third constitutional expert, Vakhtang Dzabiradze, objected that having three co-chairmen "looks odd" and was illogical, given the pressure the commission will be under to finalize draft amendments in light of the failure of its predecessor to do so. Parliament first deputy speaker Tamar Chugoshvili for her part recalled in response to Kapanadze's claim that without Margvelashvili's "maximum involvement" the commission would lack legitimacy that the president had not played "a leading role" in the work of any of the numerous previous commissions (i.e. including those created by the ENM). Those arguments cut no ice with Margvelashvili, who announced on December 12 that neither he nor any member of his staff will take part in the work of the commission. Margvelashvili objected that neither the constitution nor other legislation specifies the procedure either for establishing the constitutional commission or for drafting constitutional amendments. Chugoshvili expressed regret at Margvelashvili's decision, describing it as "regretful" and "wrong," and expressing the hope that the president will reconsider. Several analysts, including Zaal Anjaparidze, suggested that Margvelashvili acted out of pique at not being named co-chairman of the commission and will try to sabotage its work. Saqvarelidze went further, saying Margvelashvili had behaved "childishly." The parliament has since formally endorsed setting up the 60-person commission and its statutes. The president's office is entitled to nominate two members of the commission, which also encompasses representatives of all parliamentary parties and of those extraparliamentary parties that polled over 3 percent of the vote; the justice minister; the chairmen of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court; the Public Defender; the president of the National Bank; representatives of the Abkhaz and Ajar autonomous republics; the National Security Council secretary (who like Margvelashvili has said he will not participate); and civil-sector representatives. Its first session is to take place by December 31; it must finalize the package of proposed amendments by April 30, after which they will be the subject of broad public discussion. Parliament speaker Kobakhidze, who will chair the commission, has pledged to take personal responsibility for its work and for the amendments it comes up with. He declared that the parliament will not approve a single norm that receives a negative assessment from the Council of Europe's Venice Commission of legal experts to whom the package will be submitted for approval. "Our task is to establish once and for all time the sort of constitutional system that will promote the country's long-term democratic development," he added. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the deportation of Ukrainian citizens from Russian occupied regions in southern and southeastern Ukraine. "The Russian occupation administration has begun mass forced relocation of residents of the left bank [of the Dnieper River] of the Kherson region...to the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea or the Russian Federation," the ministry said in a statement on November 3. Similar deportations are also being carried out by Russia in the Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions, as well as in Crimea, the ministry said. Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-appointed head of Kherson, announced on October 31 an expansion of what Russia has called the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens. Saldo said he was moving people further into the region or to Russia because of the risks of a "massive missile attack." Just three days earlier, Russian-installed officials announced that the evacuation process in Kherson region had ended. Kyiv reiterated on November 3 that it saw the move as a "deportation." It also said reports continue circulating about the alleged mining of the Nova Kakhovska hydroelectric power plant by Russian troops. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy previously said that Ukraine suspected Russia had mined the dam and units of the power plant on the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine, and if it were blown up, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, would be in danger of flooding. The Foreign Ministry statement also accused Russian troops of looting industrial, cultural, educational, and medical institutions, as well as private houses and apartments. The ministry called on the international community to condemn the forced relocation, to introduce new sanctions against Russia, and to increase military aid to Ukraine for the liberation of its occupied territories. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. The Ukrainian military's General Staff also said on November 3 that Russian forces continued the so-called evacuation of the local population in the Kherson region and accused them of taking away civilian and communal property, even equipment from hospitals, as they carried out the evacuation. Russian forces also removed the roadblocks in Kherson. The head of the Kherson regional military administration, Yaroslav Yanushevich, believes that they did this to create an illusion that they have left the city. It was also reported that the Russian flag was removed from the Kherson regional administration building. The head of the joint coordination press center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, Natalya Humenyuk, said that this could be a provocation. Russian troops captured Kherson in March in the early days of the war. Its loss to Ukrainian troops would signal a significant retreat. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, asked to comment on the battlefield situation in southern Ukraine, said Ukrainian forces in the Kherson region "have the capacity" to retake the territory on the west side of the Dnieper River and Kherson city from Russian troops. Austin, speaking at a news conference at the Pentagon, did not answer a question about whether Russian forces were preparing to leave, but he expressed confidence in the Ukrainian troops' ability to beat back Russian forces. With reporting by Reuters The Kremlin's spokesman said that dialogue with the United States is currently "frozen" and that Moscow does not expect a quick thaw of ties when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. "Almost every level of dialogue with the United States is frozen," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's Mir TV in remarks published on December 21. "We don't communicate with one another, or we do so minimally." Peskov said the Kremlin does not expect Trump to quickly change two things that Russia has criticized: NATO's enlargement and stepped-up presence in eastern Europe, and sanctions imposed over Moscow's aggression in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 21 that the sanctions "divide states and prevent them from uniting their efforts in the fight against the common evil -- terrorism." Trump has said he wants to improve ties with Russia and work with it to fight the Islamic State extremist group. State Department John Kirby disputed Peskov's claim that communication is "frozen." "Diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues," Kirby said. "That we have significant differences with Moscow on some of these issues is well known, but there hasn't been a break in dialogue." He noted that Secretary John Kerry just this week was briefed on Russia's Syria negotiations. Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters A Kyrgyz court has begun the trial of five men charged with desecration of the dead after a family was forced to bury their 76-year-old mother three times due to religious restrictions. The hearing started in southern Ala-Buka district court on December 22 but was adjourned after the court required additional documents. The family says that the five men, aged between 27 and 34, were only "carrying out someone elses instructions" to dig up the body in their village cemetery. They are demanding authorities prosecute those they say ordered it, including the local mullah, imam, and governor. Ala-Buka resident Kanygul Satybaldieva, who died on October 13, was initially buried in the local cemetery, next to other relatives. But village leaders in the predominantly Muslim region complained that Satybaldieva was Christian and demanded that her body be exhumed since the cemetery was restricted to Muslims. The family reburied her in a mixed Muslim and Russian Orthodox cemetery in the district capital. But two days later religious leaders from both faiths demanded her body be removed, saying Satybaldieva was Baptist, a Christian denomination unfamiliar to most Kyrgyz. "They only allow Russian Orthodox to be buried there but not converts to other denominations," Seidakmat Kaziev, the cemetery keeper, told RFE/RLs Kyrgyz Service. The family ultimately buried her for the third time in a secret location six days after her death. If found guilty, the five men face up to five years in prison. The influential speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament has suggested opposition politician Aleksei Navalny is not eligible to run for president in 2018. State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin spoke to journalists on December 21, eight days after anticorruption crusader Navalny announced his intention to run. He said Navalny's presidential bid was "a topic that doesn't exist" and that Navalny should "read the law" before making such announcements. "When the law does not allow it, why mislead people?" said Volodin, who was formerly President Vladimir Putin's top strategist on domestic politics. Navalny has been convicted of financial crimes twice in trials he says were Kremlin-dictated revenge for his opposition activities. Last month, the Supreme Court threw out the verdict in one of the cases and sent it back for a new trial -- a step Navalny and his lawyers said removed a legal restraint that had barred him from running for office. If he is convicted in the retrial now under way, he would likely be prohibited from running in 2018, and some political analysts expect the Kremlin will make that happen by influencing the courts. Others say Putin, who is widely expected to run for a new six-year term in the election but has not declared his candidacy, may want to let Navalny run to put a veneer of democracy on the election. But Volodin's remarks indicate that he believes Navalny is already ineligible. Volodin's position does not give him the formal authority to interpret Russian law, and Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not give a definitive answer when asked about Navalny's status by journalists on December 22. With reporting by Vedomosti, TASS, and RFE/RL's Russian Service President Vladimir Putin has asserted that Russia's military is now stronger than any possible attacker but must be prepared to "adjust plans to neutralize potential threats to our country." "We can say with certainty: We are stronger now than any potential aggressor," Putin said on December 22. "Any." Speaking at an annual end-of-year meeting at the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Putin said Russia needs to strengthen its nuclear potential and ensure it has missiles that can "reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile-defense systems." Separately, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on December 22 called for the United States to expand its own nuclear capabilities. Trump tweeted that the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes." A Trump spokesman, Jason Miller, said later that "President-elect Trump was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it -- particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes." Trump is vacationing in Florida before taking office on January 20. The separate statements from Putin and Trump calling for strengthening of their respective nuclear capabilities comes despite both countries having committed to caps on their nuclear arsenals under the 2010 New START treaty. Those commitments were one of main achievements of U.S. President Barack Obama's first-term effort to mend ties with Russia. One U.S. nuclear arms expert, Steven Pifer, tweeted in response to Trumps message that the United States "has robust nuclear forces and plans to modernize strategic triad. No need to expand. Should instead engage Russia on reducing nukes." Pifer is director of the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Ties between Russia and the United States have chilled in recent years, notably with Russia's military seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and the war between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The separate statements by Putin and Trump also come despite recent signals from both leaders that they will seek to improve U.S.-Russian relations under a Trump presidency. Much of Putins end-of-year meeting at the Defense Ministry was shown on state TV. Critics say Putin often uses talk of military might and what he says are potential threats from abroad to incite patriotism and draw attention away from domestic problems in Russia. Putin said Russia "must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russia's borders." He also called a missile-defense system the United States and NATO are building in Europe a threat to Russias security, something Washington says is not the case. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the meeting that the military has successfully shown its capabilities in Syria, where a Russian air campaign has supported President Bashar al-Assad since September 2015. The military has "tested 162 types of modern armaments during military campaign in Syria," including warplanes and helicopters, he said. With reporting by AP, AFP, TASS, and Interfax The Russian ambassador who was assassinated in Turkey this week got a hero's funeral in his home country, with President Vladimir Putin placing flowers by his coffin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church saying his memory would live forever. High-level officials filed past the open coffin containing Andrei Karlov's body at a ceremony at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow that was later opened to the public. President Vladimir Putin placed flowers by the coffin and spoke to Karlov's relatives. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave family members the Hero of Russia medal that Putin posthumously granted Karlov a day earlier. "Andrei always loved life, loved his work, and was devoted to it," Lavrov said. "Without exaggeration, it was the center of his life, along with his family." The career diplomat was shot dead while speaking at a photography exhibition in Ankara on December 19 by an attacker who shouted, "Don't forget Aleppo!" and other words that seemed to refer to Russia's involvement in the Syrian civil war. Turkish authorities say Karlov's killer was Mevlut Mert Altintas, a 22-year-old policeman who was off duty at the time. Before burial, Karlov's body was taken to Christ the Savior Cathedral near the Kremlin, where Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill led a funeral service. Karlov "will go down in the history of our fatherland as an ambassador who died at his combat post," Kirill said, using military terminology evoking the Soviet era. "He will be a forever a hero in the history of our people." Later in the day, Karlov was buried with military honors at a cemetery on Moscow's northern outskirts, his coffin draped in the Russian flag. Karlov was a diplomat in North and South Korea during the 1990s and 2000s and was sent to Turkey in 2013. Russian and Turkish officials have both said publicly that the killing was an attempt to harm relations between the two countries, which have improved substantially after being badly strained when Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane along the Turkey-Syria border in November 2015. Russia and Turkey have supported opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, with Moscow backing President Bashar al-Assad's forces and Turkey backing rebels seeking his ouster. But Moscow and Ankara brokered a cease-fire that has allowed for evacuations of civilians from the eastern part of the city of Aleppo, where government forces have seized most of the territory held by the rebels since 2012 in a devastating offensive aided by Russia and Iran. War Crimes Accusations U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on December 15 accused Assad of committing "nothing short of a massacre" in Aleppo and that "the killing and suffering in Syria could stop...very, very quickly if Russia and the [Syrian] regime made the decision to do so. Also last week, four Syrian organizations accused Russia of involvement in war crimes in Syria, claiming that Russian air strikes in the Aleppo area have killed some 1,207 civilians. Along with Iran, Russia and Turkey now say they are seeking a broader truce and a peace deal for Syria -- though that has been met with skepticism in the United States, which leads a coalition targeting Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and has accused Russia of failing to deliver on previous cease-fire agreements. Putin has said that Karlov's killing was "obviously a provocation designed to derail the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations and to derail the peace process in Syria that is being actively promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran, and other countries." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also said it was aimed at undermining the improvement of ties between Turkey and Russia. Erdogan and other Turkish officials have alleged that Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Muslim cleric who lives in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, was behind the Russian ambassador's killing. Turkey has demanded the United States extradite Gulen, whom Erdogan also blames for an attempted coup against him in July, but the United States has said that Turkey must present compelling evidence implicating him. Gulen has strongly condemned Karlov's killing and denied involvement. In a video address made available to the Associated Press, Gulen accused the Turkish government of blaming and defaming his movement and suggested the government would facilitate other assassinations and blame them on his followers. Gulen said that "it is not possible for them to convince the world of such accusations." Meanwhile, CNN Turk television reported on December 22 that Turkish authorities have released relatives of Altintas who had been detained after the killing. The Reuters news agency cited Turkish security sources as saying earlier this week that authorities had detained the police officer's mother, father, sister, and two other relatives for questioning. With reporting by RIA and TASS Russia has criticized the Netherlands for allowing the United States to begin stocking tanks there, and for a court ruling that ordered Crimean treasures on loan to a Dutch museum to be returned to Ukraine rather than Russia. "It looks like the Dutch authorities have started to get a taste for deliberately destroying relations with Russia," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on December 21. Zakharova said the court order that Crimean gold artifacts should be returned to Ukraine instead of Russia -- which seized the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 --- was unjust. She said it would end what she called the ambitions of The Hague, home to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, to become the world's legal capital. Russia is appealing the ruling. Relations between Russia and the Netherlands have been strained since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, with 198 Dutch passengers among the 298 people killed. An international investigation determined that the plane was shot down by a missile from a Buk system that was brought into Ukraine from Russia and fired from territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders called Zakharova's comments "hard to understand" and said of the arrival of U.S. tanks, which began last week: "It is not an aggressive but a defensive act," according to the ANP news agency. Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax A Russian court has found a former Moscow State University student guilty of trying to join the extremist group Islamic State (IS) and sentenced her to 4 1/2 years in prison. The Moscow Regional Military court convicted Aleksandra Ivanova -- better known publicly by her former name, Varvara Karaulova -- on December 22 and issued the sentence the same day. Authorities say Ivanova, now 20, was detained in Turkey in June 2015 while trying to cross into Syria. Her lawyers contend that she never planned to join IS and was manipulated by an IS recruiter. A substantial number of Russians from Muslim ethnic minorities are believed to have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside militant groups including IS. Ivanova's case attracted attention in part because she was a student at a prestigious Moscow university and come from a non-Muslim family. Ivanova legally changed her name last year while in custody. Her trial started in October. Islamic State is banned in Russia, where it is designated as a terrorist organization. Russia says it is combating IS militants in a campaign of air strikes it launched in Syria in September 2015, but Western governments say the Russian bombardments have mainly targeted rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Based on reporting by Rapsinews, RIA, and Interfax WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have accused the fugitive national security contractor Edward Snowden of communicating with Russian security agencies while he is exiled in Moscow. The accusations were contained in a classified House Intelligence Committee report, parts of which were released publicly on December 22. The evidence backing up the specific accusations about Snowden allegedly communicating with Russian agencies, however, remains classified. Seen as a heroic whistle-blower by some, and a selfish traitor by others, Snowden in 2013 leaked 1.5 million documents he acquired while working as a contractor for the National Security Agency, the premier U.S. electronic surveillance agency. The materials prompted a furious public debate about the legality of some of the agencys programs, about privacy concerns, and about U.S. snooping on its allies. Snowden ended up flying to Hong Kong, and then to Moscow in June 2013, where he has lived in limbo since American authorities revoked his passport. U.S. prosecutors have charged him with violations of the 1917 Espionage Act. Since that time, he has continued speaking about privacy concerns and made clear he wants to return to the United States if he gets certain legal protections. Many in Congress, however, have excoriated him, and the newly declassified report by what is formally known as the Republican-led House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence reflected that continuing anger. "Snowden caused tremendous damage to national security, and the vast majority of the documents he stole have nothing to do with programs impacting individual privacy interests," the report said. They "instead pertain to military, defense, and intelligence programs of great interest to America's adversaries." The report said that since his arrival in Moscow, Snowden "has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services." The report redacts the source for this assertion, saying it is classified. But it also cites a National Public Radio interview conducted in June with Frants Klintsevich, who is deputy chairman of the defense and security committee in Russias lower house of parliament. In the interview, Klintsevich was quoted as saying, "Let's speak frankly: I think that he did share intelligence. This is what security services do." Snowden responded quickly to the reports release, posting a series of messages to Twitter dismissing its findings: Snowdens case has generated sympathy among some privacy advocates, and his plight has been the focus of an Oscar-winning documentary and, more recently, a loosely fictionalized political thriller by renowned Hollywood director Oliver Stone. In September, White House spokesman Josh Earnest brushed aside questions about whether Snowden might be pardoned by President Barack Obama, a call Stone made himself. "Mr. Snowden should return to the United States and face the very serious charges that he's facing. He will, of course, be afforded the rights that are due to every American citizen in our criminal justice system, but we believe that he should return to the United States and face those charges," Earnest said. The usual narrative of the unraveling of the Soviet Union moves from the promising reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev to the dashed hopes of Boris Yeltsin to the authoritarian counterrevolution of Vladimir Putin. But within that narrative, the story of Andrei Sakharov -- the physicist, human rights advocate, and 1975 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who died on December 14, 1989 -- is one of the tantalizing "might-have-beens." "If [Sakharov's] ideas had been realized even by half, we would be living in a different country, a completely different state," Russian political analyst Valery Khomyakov told RFE/RL in May. Speaking to U.S. television in February 1990, Soviet-era dissident and then-Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel said it was "a real tragedy for the Soviet Union that Sakharov died, because otherwise very soon he might have become president there." "He was, as far as I can see, the only integrating personality in the present-day Soviet Union," Havel said. It was months after Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution shed one-party rule and weeks before the first of the so-called restored states would declare independence as the U.S.S.R. collapsed in what current President Vladimir Putin has described as "a great geopolitical disaster of the [20th] century." Celebrated Socialist Hero Sakharov's path to such stature was an unlikely one. He began his rise in the early days of the Cold War when he played a leading role on the Soviet Union's top-secret hydrogen-bomb project. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, he accumulated an unprecedented number of Soviet honors for his work -- three Hero of Socialist Labor awards, four Orders of Lenin, a Stalin Prize in 1953 and a Lenin Prize in 1956. In 1953, at the age of 32, Sakharov became the youngest person ever elected to the Soviet Academy of Sciences. At the peak of his career, he had more money and more privileges than many Politburo members. But Sakharov's career as a dissident also had its roots in the hydrogen-bomb program. "My position enabled me to know and see a great deal," Sakharov wrote in the preface to his collected writings in English in 1974. "It compelled me to feel my own responsibility; and at the same time I could look upon this whole perverted system as something of an outsider." Like many scientists in other countries, Sakharov worried about the environmental effects of the huge number of nuclear tests being conducted. When he argued with Nikita Khrushchev's government that the tests weren't technically necessary, he realized the weapons were being used for political ends. Nonetheless, he persevered and became one of the most important lobbyists in the Soviet Union for what eventually became the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which banned such tests in the atmosphere, in space, and underwater. He was also among the first Soviets to argue for a ban on antimissile systems, a vision that became reality with the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 1972. Standing Up For Truth After Khrushchev's fall in 1964 and the end of the relative liberalism of his regime, Sakharov became increasingly outspoken in his dissent. He resisted efforts under Leonid Brezhnev to rehabilitate the reputation of dictator Josef Stalin and came out in support of many prisoners of conscience. "In 1966, I was one of the signers of a collective letter on the 'cult' of Stalin sent to the 23rd Congress [of the Soviet Communist Party]," Sakharov wrote. "Thus, for the first time, my own fate became intertwined with the fate of that group of people -- a group that was small but very weighty on the moral (and, I dare say, the historical) plane, who subsequently came to be called 'dissenters.'" In 1968, Sakharov came to international and national prominence with the publication of his first manifesto: Thoughts On Progress, Peaceful Coexistence, And Intellectual Freedom. "I read it while a university student in physics," former Soviet dissident Vyacheslav Bakhmin said. "For me, this feat of a man who had everything from the government, who was three times a Hero of Socialist Labor.... For such a person, who had everything, to undertake such a feat -- I can't think of anyone else like that in the Soviet Union. A person on such a level decided that for him, the truth was more important than all his personal benefits." When Sakharov's book was published abroad, the state responded by removing him from all secret projects. From then on, he became primarily a dissident, pushing the Soviet government tirelessly for freedom of speech, for the release of political prisoners, for open trials, and for the rights of ethnic minorities. He donated nearly all his substantial savings from his state prizes to charity, an act he later said he regretted because he could have used the money to help the families of political prisoners and other dissidents. During this period, Sakharov began focusing on the rights of individuals that had been destroyed by the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and, particularly, by Stalin's reign of terror beginning in the 1930s. "The dissident movement represented the opposite of everything that totalitarianism stood for -- primarily what [political philosopher] Hannah Arendt called 'the destruction of the moral person' and the destruction of the legal person," said Vladimir Tismaneanu, professor of comparative politics at the University of Maryland and former chairman of the Presidential Commission for the Analysis of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania. "Both the moral and the legal person were resurrected in the thinking and the activities of the dissident movement in the former U.S.S.R. And the paradigmatic symbol of this search for the rehabilitation of the citizen was, of course, Andrei Sakharov." Resurrecting The Person Russian political analyst Mark Urnov noted that "Sakharov had a fundamentally different starting point -- the humanization of the country, the humanization of society." In the Soviet context, this was "a different way of thinking." For centuries of Russian history, the interests of the state always trumped the rights of the individual -- and Sakharov dared to say this was both immoral and a major obstacle to the successful development of the country. "In the course of 56 years our country has undergone great shocks, sufferings, and humiliations, the physical annihilation of millions of the best people (both morally and intellectually), decades of official hypocrisy and demagoguery," Sakharov wrote in 1975. "We are still living in the spiritual atmosphere created by that era." In 1970, while standing outside a courtroom in the city of Kaluga to protest a political trial, Sakharov met fellow dissident Yelena Bonner. They married in 1972 and formed a lifelong political and personal partnership. "The main thing was her bright mutual love with Andrei Sakharov," physicist, dissident, and Sakharov protege Sergei Kovalyov said when Bonner died in 2011. "Sakharov was a person who was absolutely free from any kind of outside pressure. He was attentive and willing to listen to various points of view, including, first of all, Bonner's. You could convince him. You could change his mind. But you could never have a decisive influence over him. Bonner understood this and they lived together in harmony." Also in 1970, Sakharov and two other dissidents founded the Committee on Human Rights, which monitored and reported on human rights issues throughout the country. "Thus I was brought into contact with what is perhaps one of the most shameful aspects of present-day Soviet reality: illegality, and the cynical persecution of persons coming out in defense of basic human rights," Sakharov wrote. Enemy Of The State Sakharov won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 for his steadfast opposition to "the abuse of state power and all forms of violation of human dignity," as well as his dedication to "the idea of government based on the rule of law," according to the Nobel Committee's citation. One year later, in a closed meeting of KGB officers, KGB head Yury Andropov called Sakharov "domestic enemy No. 1." In 1980, after Sakharov spoke out against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the government had enough. It rescinded all of his Soviet honors and exiled him to the closed city of Gorky, now Nizhny Novgorod. Watched by the KGB around the clock, he had almost no direct contact with anyone except Bonner. By the time Gorbachev solidified his power and began pushing to reform the Soviet Union, Sakharov had become an important domestic and international symbol of Soviet oppression. On December 19, 1986, Gorbachev personally called Sakharov and told him he was released from exile and could resume his "patriotic work" in Moscow. True to form, Sakharov used the opportunity to harangue Gorbachev about other political prisoners and to remind him that Anatoly Marchenko had died in a Soviet prison just 10 days before, following a 90-day hunger strike. "Gorbachev had started to understand that he needed an alliance with the democratic intelligentsia," Tismaneanu said. "To convince the democratic intelligentsia of the trustworthiness of glasnost [openness], this opening to someone like Andrei Sakharov was critical." 'Voice For The Voiceless' Sakharov's unconditional release was one of the first signs to Soviet society, especially following the mishandling of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster just months before, that Gorbachev's reform drive might be the real deal. That drive reached high gear in 1988, when Gorbachev pushed through a plan to create an entirely new legislative body called the Congress of People's Deputies. Although the elections held in March 1989 were far from democratic, they were the first Soviet elections in decades that featured competitive races with multiple candidates and that brought to power deputies with a wide range of political views, including anticommunists. To the surprise of many of his colleagues and despite his rapidly deteriorating health, Sakharov sought and won a mandate, being elected as a representative of the Academy of Sciences. "Sakharov went into the government knowing that a person of his stature might be able to influence and accelerate the processes that were then going on in the country," former dissident Bakhmin said. "He understood that the things that he could say from the podium -- and tens of millions of people in Russia and abroad were listening -- could be said by no one else." Analyst Urnov noted that the congress "set the style...for relations with the government." By standing up directly to Gorbachev and the Communists, "Sakharov acted like an icebreaker." Sakharov "became the voice of those who for decades had been voiceless, Tismaneanu said. Sakharov's main demand was the repeal of Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution, which gave the Communist Party a monopoly on political power. Speaking from the tribune of the congress, Sakharov outlined his political program. "I am presenting a draft text of a declaration on power that I propose we adopt," Sakharov said. "'Declaration on Power. Proceeding from the principles of popular government, the Congress of People's Deputies declares (1) Article 6 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. is repealed. (2) The adoption of laws of the U.S.S.R. is the exclusive right of the Congress of People's Deputies of the U.S.S.R. On the territory of the union republics, laws of the U.S.S.R. gain legal status after they are approved by the highest [republican] legislative body.'" It takes effort now to remember how radical it was in the post-Stalin and post-Brezhnev Soviet Union to be the first to stand up and make such demands. The demand to end the Communist Party's monopoly on political power was finally realized in March 1990 when the congress declared all political parties equal -- potentially paving the way for a multiparty democracy. 'What Might Have Been' By then, however, Sakharov was already dead. He died of heart failure on December 14, 1989, at the age of 68, while resting before making yet another speech before the congress. (Two weeks later, on December 29, Vaclav Havel became the first freely elected president of Czechoslovakia.) Hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens paid their last respects to Sakharov. Gorbachev and the entire Soviet Politburo saluted his casket. Politically, Boris Yeltsin, the charismatic and populist fellow deputy in the congress who went on to become the head of the Russian soviet republic and later first president of Russia, increasingly set the tone for the anti-Soviet opposition. "Yeltsin did not address the fundamental issues of democratization as an institutional project," Tismaneanu said, suggesting that Yeltsin was driven largely by his own ambition for power and his personal conflict with Gorbachev. "Andrei Sakharov and some of the people in his circle understood how important it was to have institutional guarantees for a nonreturn to the old order." The Soviet Union, of course, was a large and complex entity with a tortured history. It is impossible to compare "what might have been" there with, for instance what happened in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and other Soviet-bloc countries. "But I think if [Sakharov] had been alive, it is possible in 1991 that we might have had such a president," former dissident Valentin Gefter said. "But we were unlucky. That man died in 1989, and no one else with that kind of reputation and authority appeared in his place." "There is something that I have learned over many years of studying the history of totalitarianism and the deradicalization of Marxist regimes -- the role of personalities," politics professor Tismaneanu said. "That is something that cannot be exaggerated. Simply put: No Gorbachev, no glasnost. No Sakharov, very difficult times for the human rights movement in the former Soviet Union." "Both now and for always," Sakharov said in his 1975 Nobel address, "I intend to hold fast to my belief in the hidden strength of the human spirit." With reporting by Vladimir Kara-Murza of RFE/RL's Russian Service and Martina Boudova of RFE/RL's Info Unit Here are four reasons why the legacy of Andrei Sakharov remains important for Russia (and the world) today, more than a quarter-century after his death. De-Stalinization Sakharov recognized the huge psychological and social consequences of the decades of Josef Stalin's totalitarian regime and its war on the Soviet people. In his 1968 manifesto, he wrote: "We are often told lately not to 'rub salt into wounds.' This is usually being said by people who suffered no wounds. Actually only the most meticulous analysis of the past and its consequences will now enable us to wash off the blood and dirt that befouled our banner." Sakharov recognized that the politically controlled Soviet courts and law enforcement structures and the country's notoriously abusive prisons were continuing legacies of Stalin's regime. He added, as well, that "it is imperative that we restrict in every possible way the influence of neo-Stalinists in our political life." He called for the complete opening of Soviet archives of that period, many of which remain closed to this day. Crimean Tatars Sakharov was one of the first vocal supporters of the Crimean Tatar people and other ethnic groups that had been forcibly resettled under Stalin. Sakharov was prominent in his defense of Pyotr Grigorenko and other dissidents who were prosecuted for their support of the Crimean Tatars. In December 1975, he and other activists sent a letter to the United Nations demanding an international investigation into the case of Crimean Tatar activist Mustafa Dzhemilev, who was at that time in the midst of the longest hunger strike (303 days) in the history of the Soviet human rights movement. Dzhemilev survived because of force feeding and is now a deputy in the Ukrainian parliament, where he continues to advocate for Crimean Tatars living in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Foreign Agents Sakharov and other dissidents were among the first in the post-Stalinist era to be handed the "foreign agents" label by the Soviet government. The Soviet government file on Sakharov and Yelena Bonner originally ran to 583 volumes of raw reports, but they were ordered destroyed in 1989. Under Yeltsin, an abridged 146 volumes were handed over to Bonner and subsequently published. Unable or unwilling to believe that Sakharov's positions were sincere, the KGB and government supporters insisted privately and publicly that he was a tool of "reactionary imperialist and especially Zionist circles." The infamous book The CIA Against The U.S.S.R. by publicist Nikolai Yakovlev contained numerous such accusations about Sakharov and Bonner and went through three editions in the early 1980s. Excerpts from the book were published in millions of copies of Soviet magazines and newspapers. Now, many leading Russian nongovernmental organizations have been listed as "foreign agents" by the Russian government, including the Memorial human rights group that Sakharov founded and the Moscow Sakharov Center, which is dedicated to preserving the Nobel laureate's legacy. Environment And The Internet Sakharov firmly believed that the United States and the Soviet Union should overcome their animosity and pool their resources to combat environmental degradation and poverty in the poorest countries. In his 1968 manifesto, he warned that "carbon dioxide from the burning of coal is altering the heat-reflecting qualities of the atmosphere." "Sooner or later, this will reach a dangerous level," he said, calling for an international program of "geohygiene." In 1974, Sakharov described a "universal information system (UIS), which will give everyone access at any given moment to the contents of any book that has ever been published or any magazine or any fact. The UIS will have individual miniature-computer terminals, central control points for the flood of information, and communication channels incorporating thousands of artificial communications from satellites, cables, and laser lines. Even the partial realization of the UIS will profoundly affect every person, his leisure activities, and his intellectual and artistic development. But the true historic role of the UIS will be to break down the barriers to the exchange of information among countries and people." VIDEO REPORTS Moscow police detained seven civil society activists on their way to stage a demonstration at Russia's Federal Security Service headquarters, along with an RFE/RL reporter and cameraman who were covering the event. Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded restrictions on the sale of surrogate alcohol after at least 71 people died in the Siberian city of Irkutsk from drinking bath lotion. Ukrainian defense officials say at least seven government troops have been killed around the village of Svitlodarsk since December 18 as fighting with Russia-backed separatists intensified. Protesters gathered in Tbilisi to call attention to the plight of people in Aleppo, amid the ongoing death and destruction of Syria's civil war. Iran's President Hassan Rohani has arrived in Yerevan for an official visit. He will also visit Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. OTHER NEWS The Kremlin's spokesman said that dialogue with the United States is currently "frozen," and that Moscow does not expect a quick thaw in relations when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. President Vladimir Putin placed flowers by the coffin of Andrei Karlov, assassinated in Turkey this week, and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said his memory would live forever. Open-source investigator Bellingcat says Russia launched "systematic" artillery and other barrages against Ukraine in 2014 that were "essentially an act of war" against its smaller neighbor. Investigators working for Russian anticorruption crusader Aleksei Navalny have uncovered two luxury Miami apartments allegedly belonging to the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia's fifth largest city. Russia is fighting on the wrong side in Syria, and its aggression has turned Ukraine into a "hostile state," said Aleksei Navalny in an interview with RFE/RLs Russian Service. Russian media reports that Chechnyas leadership has been tasked with forming two battalions, each comprising about 600 people, to be sent to Syria. Russian State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov will allegedly oversee the effort. (in Russian) At least four people were injured in an explosion near a Moscow subway station that Russian officials say was caused by a leaking gas canister. Gennadiy Yuriev, former deputy head of Ukrainian energy giant Naftogaz, shot and killed himself on December 21, ahead of a planned investigation and likely arrest by military prosecutors on suspicion of corruption and abuse of power under former President Viktor Yanukovych. (in Russian, Current TimeTV) Ukraines newly passed budget promises to raise minimum wages and increase government revenues, but some deputies say it favors big business, and that many amendments on spending and tax codes were not discussed. (in Ukrainian) Ukraine returned 17 masterpieces valued at 17 million euros to Italy on December 21 after they were stolen by masked, armed robbers from a Verona art museum last year. A prominent TV journalist has quit his job at Kazakhstan's leading state-run channel after presenting a faked interview last week, colleagues say. France's National Front is struggling to raise the 20 million euros it needs to fund next year's election campaigns, after Russias central bank revoked the license of a leading party lender in July. Amid acute shortages and rising prices, Turkmenistan has threatened to fire state employees found queuing in long lines for food and other products. Security officers monitoring the lines have confiscated phones and detained journalists to prevent any documentation. (in Russian) Far from being a source of increased tension between Turkey and Russia, the assassination of Andrei Karlov could bring them closer together and have repercussions on the ongoing war against the Islamic State extremist group. Ukraine's prosecutor-general says a former deputy chief of the state oil company Naftogaz fatally shot himself moments before investigators entered his home in the west-central region of Vinnytsya. Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko said on December 21 that authorities believe Hennadiy Yuryev, who was being investigated on suspicion of embezzlement, killed himself to avoid arrest. Yuryev was a deputy head of Naftogaz from 2010 to 2014, when Viktor Yanukovych was Ukraine's president. Yuryev and several other former Naftogaz managers have been under investigation on suspicion of embezzling some $450 million. Autopsy results confirming the suicide have not been announced yet. According to Lutsenko, Yuryev managed to avoid arrest shortly after protests pushed Yanukovych from power in February 2014 by faking his death and secretly moving to Vinnytsya. Based on reporting by UNIAN and The Kyiv Post Ukraine returned 17 masterpieces valued at 17 million euros to Italy on December 21 after they were stolen by masked, armed robbers from a Verona art museum last year. Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini traveled to Kyiv to retrieve the paintings -- which included works by Rubens, Tintoretto, Bellini, and Mantegna -- and said the paintings sustained only a few scratches. "It was an ugly story that became a beautiful story," he said. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko handed over the paintings to Franceschini in a ceremony in Kyiv. The paintings were recovered in May by Ukrainian border guards who intercepted them on a small island on the Dniester River during an attempt to smuggle them into Moldova. They were stolen by three armed robbers in November 2015 from the Castelvecchio Museum, where they will be displayed again after being restored. A guard at the museum, Pasquale Silvestri Riccardi, was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison earlier this month. Five others were also convicted, including Riccardi's Moldovan girlfriend. Two Moldovans are on trial in their home country for the thefts. Based on reporting by AP and dpa The Ukrainian parliament has removed Ukrainian lawmaker Nadia Savchenko from the countrys delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). A total of 237 lawmakers out of 324 present at a December 22 session of the Verkhovna Rada supported the move. It came eight days after the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party announced that Savchenko, a former military aviator who spent nearly two years in Russian jails, had resigned from the party in late October. A day before that, Savchenko confirmed media reports that she had met in Minsk with the leaders of two Russia-backed separatist groups in eastern Ukraine. Batkivshchyna members accused her of "negotiating with terrorists." Savchenko told RFE/RL on December 13 that she met with the separatist leaders to discuss ways to secure the release of Ukrainians held captive by the separatists and vowed to continue her efforts. Savchenko, who says she was seized by separatists in June 2014 and taken to Russia, was jailed there and became a national symbol of resilience before her release in a swap deal in May. She became a lawmaker and member of Ukraine's delegation to PACE while in Russian custody. Based on reporting by UNIAN and Interfax The United Nations General Assembly, over strenuous objections from Russia and Syria, voted to establish a panel to prepare cases involving war crimes and human rights abuses in Syria. The resolution, drafted by Liechtenstein, was adopted by 105 to 15 on December 21, with 52 abstentions, despite warnings from Russia that the assembly was interfering in the work of the Security Council, where Russia has repeatedly blocked moves to prosecute alleged war crimes in Syria. Iran and China also were among those voting against the resolution. "We have postponed any meaningful action on accountability too often and for too long," signalling that Syria's brutal tactics are "condoned and have no consequences," Liechtenstein's UN Ambassador Christian Wenaweser said. The panel will work closely with the UN Commission of Inquiry, which has submitted several reports detailing atrocities committed during the war. Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari objected that the resolution was "illegal" and "a direct threat to a solution" of the conflict. Human Rights Watch official Balkees Jarah applauded the "unprecedented" move by the general assembly to act in light of the "deadlock" over Syrian war crimes in the security council, saying it "took a critically important stand for victims of grave crimes." Based on reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and Reuters Uzbekistan's new president has granted citizenship to nearly 200 people who were unable to obtain it in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse 25 years ago. A decree signed by President Shavkat Mirziyaev on December 20 said that citizenship was granted to the 179 men and women in accordance with a decision by a special state commission in the Central Asian country. It has raised the hopes of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks who were born in Uzbekistan or neighboring countries and have lived in Uzbekistan without citizenship for years. Most of the 179 new citizens are ethnic Uzbeks who were born in and reside in Uzbekistan, but had not received citizenship because of bureaucratic hurdles. The issue was never raised under the late President Islam Karimov, whose death was announced in early September after more than a quarter-century of iron-fisted rule. Some Uzbeks see the citizenship decree as a sign that Mirziyaev is taking steps to open up the tightly controlled country in order to improve its economic prospects. He has moved to improve relations with neighbors and eased visa requirements for tourists from several countries. Critics say changes made since Mirziyaev became interim president in September fall far short or real reform. An incident captured on video that shows Petersburg gang members firing guns with reckless disregard for their neighborhood surroundings is emblematic of the near daily shootings the city has endured. The security videos of the shooting were used recently to prosecute five members of a recognized criminal street gang called Z5 also known as Zone Fif. Petersburg police and prosecutors painstakingly reviewed hours of surveillance video from a neighborhood store where the shootings occurred and compared them with cellphone photos of gang members taken hours earlier at a Z5 celebration. The videos and photos were key in identifying and prosecuting the armed gang members in an investigation that was stymied by a street code of silence. In this case, without video we would never have been able to locate (the gang members) who decided it was OK to randomly shoot with no regard for anyone else, said Petersburg Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Cheryl Wilson, who gained convictions of all five, one of whom was shot in the chest during the impulsive fusillade of gunfire. The Aug. 6, 2015, shooting outside the Wythe Food Market at 840 E. Wythe St. where Z5 gang members pulled guns and fired multiple rounds at a car they believed was occupied by their rivals exemplifies the gun violence being waged in the citys streets in recent years that Wilson said frequently has components of gang activity. What Im seeing now is what appears to be an everyday occurrence, that we have at least one or two shootings in some form or fashion, Wilson said. Its happening daytime, nighttime I mean, we had a shooting (last week) where two people got shot like at 8 oclock in the morning. The senseless nature of the violence was illustrated Dec. 6, when a woman driving with her 4- and 8-year-old daughters and 3-year-old nephew came under attack from masked gunmen who opened fire on her car about 10 p.m. on St. James Street. Her car was struck several times but no one was hit; she managed to drive away and flag down city officers. Wilson said that in recent weeks, she has encountered two or three cases where the shooting victim knew the assailant but chose to let the streets handle it instead of identifying the gunman. Does that mean that youre now going to go back out and shoot someone yourself? Wilson said she asked the victims. Are you going to take care of it? Many of the shootings, Wilson said, can be linked to gang culture on some level, although the connection sometimes may be tenuous or only indirectly related. For example, a gang member may have a disagreement with a person from a rival group and take action on his own without the gang leadership officially sanctioning it. They have ties to gangs, Wilson said of many of the shootings. Most of them have gang-related components. But it may not (necessarily) be the result of belonging to a gang but the result of, I dont like this group, or, I have a beef with this person. The Wythe Food Market shooting occurred in the run-up to one of Petersburgs deadliest stretches ever, when seven people were fatally shot between Sept. 1 and Sept. 23, 2015. The body count contributed to the citys record 16 killings last year. Nine people have been fatally shot in the city so far this year. Wilson credits Petersburg police with helping tamp down the killings by being more visible and trying to get out in the neighborhoods and talking with people. Last years market shooting was preceded hours earlier by gang members celebrating the birthday of fallen Z5 member Terrell Hobson, 25, who had been fatally shot in Petersburg on May 24, 2015. All of these guys were together, and they were adorned with the Z5 or Zone Fif (gang attire) in their hair and their clothing, Wilson said. And they were utilizing their gang signs. After the party, the 20 or so gang members piled into their cars and gathered at the Wythe Food Market around 12:30 a.m. In one of the videos obtained by police, a steady stream of young men whom authorities identified as Z5 members can be seen entering the store and buying snacks, drinks and other items before walking back out to the parking lot. The majority of them had their own firearms, Wilson said. Some of the weapons were visible while they were inside the store. At one point, as the gang members milled about outside the store, a car that authorities believe was occupied by a group from a rival gang pulled into the lot. But almost immediately, the car can be seen backing up onto Wythe Street stopping traffic in the rush to leave before driving a few blocks up the road and stopping. We didnt know exactly all the people in the car, but we knew who the group was and they were in the wrong place, Wilson explained. They realized they were in the wrong place and needed to go. If they had gotten out, the shooting would have taken place right there. The Z5 members kept watch on the car as it retreated and drove away, the video shows. After what appears to be some discussion, several of the gang members can be seen pulling out their guns as they begin walking toward their rivals car. One of the gang members then suddenly opens fire prompting others to do the same and several can be seen retreating back to the lot as they continue to shoot off rounds. Innocent motorists can be seen driving along Wythe Street as the gunfire unfolds. During the melee, gang member Jaquan Fisher, 20, was struck in the chest. The video shows several of his friends help him into the back seat of a car before driving him to a hospital. The other gang members then quickly disperse in their cars. Police and prosecutors were able to file criminal charges against five of the gang members after examining store security video and comparing their images and clothing with photos of Z5 members taken hours earlier at the gang birthday party. Investigators obtained the party photos from gang member Pernell Hobsons cellphone. He was convicted in June of the Sept. 10, 2015, fatal shooting of Frank White on a sidewalk near the American Choice Deli in the 900 block of West Washington Street. I worked with some incredible detectives ... who brought me the videotape, tracked down leads for me, and brought me the videos and pictures from Pernell Hobsons phone that helped put together ... the events that occurred the last 10 hours before the shooting, Wilson said. The videos and photos showed the same people, wearing the same clothing, all together in one area (at the party) and still all together at the shooting. Michael Duke, a gang expert with the Virginia Gang Investigators Association, assisted in the investigation. He established that the defendants were members of a hybrid gang based in Petersburgs 5th Ward whose newer generation are now calling themselves Z5 or Zone Fif. The group doesnt necessarily have any affiliation with nationally recognized gangs operating in major U.S. cities, he said. They do have some loose associations with the Bloods but they are not necessarily a subset of the Bloods, Duke said. Its just a local neighborhood group that came together to represent their neighborhood. And a lot of times in Virginia Petersburg is one the different neighborhoods are having clashes with other neighborhoods, which they deem as their rivals. The convicted gang members are: Jamonta Crenshaw, 23, who was found guilty Sept. 13 of criminal gang participation, reckless handing of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon (second offense) and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is to be sentenced Jan. 19. Jaquan Fisher, 20, who pleaded guilty Sept. 27 to reckless handling of a firearm, criminal gang participation, maliciously shooting into an occupied vehicle and carrying a concealed weapon. He was sentenced to serve 2 years in prison but received two additional years for drug and gun charges in a separate incident. Jaquan Tucker, 19, who pleaded guilty Sept. 27 to reckless handling of a firearm, criminal gang participation, maliciously shooting into an occupied vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was sentenced to serve 3 years in prison. Travis Nicholas, 20, who pleaded guilty Dec. 6 to criminal gang participation and three counts of maliciously shooting at an occupied vehicle. He was sentenced to serve 2 years in prison. Tariq Walker, who was a juvenile at the time but has since turned 18, pleaded guilty to criminal gang participation, possession of a firearm by a juvenile, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, reckless handling of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon. He was sentenced to serve 2 years in prison and ordered to earn a GED certificate. I want to make sure people can be at ease when their children are out playing, that when they drive down the streets they dont have to be concerned about having their car shot up, and when they stop at a store to pick up an item they dont have to worry about the parking lot being turned into a war zone, Wilson said of the gang prosecutions. There is a very small element who place no value on their lives or anyone elses. donald trump President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that the US needs to "greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability" until "the world comes to its senses" regarding nuclear weapons. The statement was in sync with comments Trump made during the campaign. The president-elect previously suggested that if he won the presidency, he might allow Japan and South Korea to develop their own nuclear weapons arsenal in exchange for an ease in US defense commitments. Experts from nonpartisan organizations opposed to the spread of nuclear weapons told Business Insider in March that Trump's position on nukes would be dangerous. Jeffrey Lewis, the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, explained why nuclear proliferation would be a "total catastrophe" for the US and its allies abroad. "Early on, we thought nuclear weapons are great when our allies have them and bad when our enemies have them," Lewis said. That thinking had evolved, he said: "Everybody has a friend. And so if you can give them the path of saying it's good when our allies have them and bad when our enemies have them, you get to the point where everybody has them. It's better to have a system in which we say no more nuclear-weapons states and try to maintain that." Increasing nuclear arsenals could have a domino effect as other countries, including some US allies in the Middle East, demand their own arsenals. "A large number of our other allies would want the same treatment immediately," Lewis said. "Probably lots of Middle Eastern states. I think you would get a lot of countries wanting nuclear weapons." Kingston Reif, the director for disarmament and threat-reduction policy at the Arms Control Association, made a similar point. "If South Korea and Japan were to acquire their own nuclear deterrents, that would send an incredibly dangerous signal to our allies in the Middle East," he told Business Insider in March. "It would be incredibly destabilizing development." Story continues Trump's position on nuclear weapons has been inconsistent. He said during the campaign that he wanted to be "unpredictable" in his decisions regarding nuclear weapons, but has also said that he would like "everybody to end it, just get rid of" nuclear weapons. He said in September that "once the nuclear alternative happens, it's over," but that he still didn't want to "take anything off the table." And last month, he tweeted that he "never said" that more countries should acquire nuclear weapons. Trump has also said this year that he thinks the "biggest problem" in the world is nuclear proliferation a curious statement considering he is now suggesting just that. Bruce Blair, a nuclear security expert at the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University, wrote for Politico last month that if current trends continue, "nuclear proliferation will reach the point of no return and nuclear weapons will inevitably be used." "Trump's rhetoric only encourages the world to adopt a laissez-faire attitude toward nuclear acquisition and use," Blair wrote. "We can only hope that the new president learns quickly that nuclear weapons are not to be trifled with." BI Graphic_The World's Nukes Reif called Trump's pro-proliferation stance "irresponsible." "The US needs to be playing an even more active role than it is currently playing in reducing nuclear buildup, and Trump's comments [earlier this year] will not make that job any easier," Reif said. And Trump's potential plan to allow other countries to develop their nuclear capabilities likely wouldn't accomplish much. Reif pointed out that India's and Pakistan's possession of nukes hadn't stopped the aggression between them. And Israel's arsenal hasn't stopped it from being threatened. So even as North Korea poses a nuclear threat, it's unlikely that additional nukes in surrounding countries would ease tensions. Lewis said Trump's plan "would sound half-clever if he was sitting on a bar stool." "We tried to let the Japanese defend themselves at one point," Lewis said. "It did not go well." China might also look to get more nuclear weapons if there were a buildup in South Korea and Japan. China's "doctrine regarding when it might employ nuclear weapons might be described as one of minimum deterrence," Reif said. "China right now is believed to have no more than 300 total nuclear weapons, which is a small arsenal relative to what the US and Russia possess. "But in the event that South Korea and Japan acquire independent nuclear weapons, it's highly likely that China would revisit its minimum deterrence posture and likely accelerate its ongoing nuclear modernization efforts and consider increasing the overall size of its nuclear arsenal." Lewis further cautioned that having several nuclear-weapons states in Northeast Asia could be dangerous. "It would be a free-for-all," he said. "It would be a giant science experiment that I would not want to see." NOW WATCH: A global intelligence analyst explains what makes ISIS so strong More From Business Insider After the Holocaust, humanity said, Never again. Aleppo has joined the list of subsequent atrocities. The so-called international community did nothing. The Obama administration remained in the rear and did not bother to act. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, who backed Syria and established Russia as a major player in the Middle East. Trumps designated secretary of state heads ExxonMobil, a multinational no one would liken to Freedom House or Amnesty International. Aleppos protests began peacefully. Its Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Kurds marched as one. Iran lent critical support to Bashar al-Assad and the blood flowed. Another dream of the Arab Spring died aborning. The city on the hill did not shine for the dispossessed. Americas foes in Damascus, Moscow and Tehran emerged victorious. Uber self driving After a week-long feud with California regulators, Uber's self-driving car program is leaving the state after regulators delivered a death-blow to its self-driving car plans. The cars left for Arizona on Thursday morning, where Uber will try to restart its self-driving car pilot, according to the company. Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck. Well be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and were excited to have the support of Governor Ducey, an Uber spokesperson said. In a final blow to Uber's self-driving car ambitions in the state, the California DMV revoked the registration of Uber's 16 autonomous vehicles on Wednesday, forcing the company to shut down its self-driving pilot program in San Francisco. "It was determined that the registrations were improperly issued for these vehicles because they were not properly marked as test vehicles," the DMV wrote in a letter to Uber on Wednesday. The DMV's revocation of the vehicle registrations on Wednesday gives the California regulators the upper hand and settles the argument between the two in favor of the state. The disagreement began when Uber launched a new self-driving car pilot last week, similar to the program it's already running in Pittsburgh. But it didn't obtain the proper license from the DMV that is required by all self-driving carmakers. Uber self-driving car Otto truck Uber and the California DMV immediately started trading barbs over whether or not its car program should be permitted under California regulations. The DMV put out a statement saying that Uber "shall" get the permit to test its self-driving vehicles on public roads, but the company told Business Insider at the time that it had no plans whatsoever to apply for a permit since it didn't believe its cars fit the state's definition of autonomous vehicles. Under the regulations, advanced autopilot systems, like Tesla's, are not regulated whereas Google's testing of its autonomous vehicle adheres to strict rules. Story continues Instead of applying for the permit in California, the company has decided to leave the state with its cars altogether, piling them on the back of its self-driving truck. Arizona's governor called California's regulations "burdensome" and welcomed the ride-hailing company to the neighboring state. Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide open roads. While California puts the brakes on innovation and change with more bureaucracy and more regulation, Arizona is paving the way for new technology and new businesses," Arizona's governor Doug Ducey said in a statement. "Arizona is proud to be open for business. California may not want you, but we do. NOW WATCH: Uber is shutting down its self-driving cars in San Francisco heres what it was like to ride in one More From Business Insider A wounded Iraqi child who was injured during the ongoing fighting between Iraqi forces and jihadists of the Islamic State group in Mosul, receives medical treatment at a hospital in Arbil on December 19, 2016 (AFP Photo/SAFIN HAMED) Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - Mohammed Abdulrazzaq was gathering water in Mosul when shrapnel tore into his legs, making him one of a growing number of wounded from the battleground Iraqi city putting huge strains on hospitals. Iraqi forces launched a massive operation on October 17 to recapture Mosul, the country's last city held by the Islamic State group, and while they have advanced into its east, large parts remain under jihadist control. Abdulrazzaq said his arms were loaded with jerry cans of water when the shellfire struck with "a huge boom" that left him deaf in one ear. He then "saw the blood squirt" from his legs. His legs covered in bandages, Abdulrazzaq is now hospitalised in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region that is located around 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Mosul. "There, it is a terrible street war," said the bearded 43-year-old. At the hospital, "every day, I see dozens of wounded arrive. We are already being crammed in and there will be many more," he said. - 'They are not humans' - His wife, five children and 80-year-old mother are still in Mosul, where IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the group's cross-border "caliphate" in 2014. Saddam Georgis, who was also wounded by shelling in Mosul, lived for two weeks in an area "liberated" from IS's brutal rule. Like others he welcomed the arrival of Iraqi forces in the city's Al-Alam district. But while the jihadists had been pushed out of the area, it was still within range of their mortar rounds. "They are not humans, not Muslims, they strike civilians, aim at houses," the 45-year-old said from intensive care. Georgis remembers the sound of the explosion and the shock of the shrapnel -- "like a stone that hit me in the thigh" -- the spurting blood, being transported on a makeshift cart. After that, he recalls nothing until he woke up in hospital. Story continues "I don't even know if my four children were able to reach relatives in Mosul," he said, his wife sitting at his bedside. Zainab, a 10-year-old girl, was also hit in the legs by shrapnel, as was her two-and-a-half-year-old sister. "Our neighbourhood has been liberated but the firing continues," their mother said. - Looming 'disaster' - Human Rights Watch has said that IS is "indiscriminately" attacking Mosul residents who refused to retreat when it did, and that Iraqi and US-led coalition forces are also putting civilians in danger. "Residents said (IS) members told them in person, by radio, and over mosque loudspeakers that those who stayed behind were 'unbelievers' and therefore valid targets along with the Iraqi and coalition forces," the rights group said. The hospital where Zainab, her sister and the two men are being treated is facing a wave of patients, said Rauf Karim, its head nurse. "Some days we receive 25 new patients, others more than 30," including children, Karim said. The growing number of wounded adds to "several crises" already burdening the medical sector in Kurdistan, said Saman Barzanji, the head of the Arbil health department. It has already had to contend with the arrival of large numbers of people displaced by the war with IS as well as wounded members of the Kurdish security forces, all while the region faces major economic challenges. "Our operating rooms are facing severe shortages of instruments and equipment," he said, adding: "This is a crisis and soon we could have a disaster." "How long can we hold on?" The Israeli police have arrested the owner of BSG Resources (BSGR), Beny Steinmetz, on suspicion of bribing government officials in Guinea in order to obtain mining rights over the vast Simandou iron ore project. The billionaire and other Israeli businessmen are suspected of paying tens of millions of dollars to senior state officials to secure a licence for Simandou, according to a report in mining.com. It is BSGRs strong belief that these allegations of bribery by the Government of Guinea are not only baseless, but are a systematic attempt by the Government of Guinea to cover up the endemic corruption which has blighted this country for a number of years, reportedly said by BSGR spokesman and quoted in mining.com. According to BSGR, the investigations were initiated by the government of Guinea with support from international police bodies in the US, UK and Switzerland. Steinmetzs arrest is the latest and perhaps most dramatic twist in the Simandou case, which has also 'shaken to the core' the worlds second largest mining company Rio Tinto. The mining.com report also mentions that Rio Tinto had recently unveiled e-mails sent by some of its executives in May 2011 related to a dubious payment made to an external consultant working on the firms Simandou project. In just a month, the revelation has already triggered several probes as well as a couple of management shakeups, including the polemic dismissal of the companys Energy and Minerals boss Alan Davies, who vowed to take the 'strongest possible legal' action against Rio Tinto. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished RJC's Kinjal Shah and Bethan Herbert have been visiting members and other key industry stakeholders in Dubai and Antwerp in December. Kinjal Shah, RJC's Country Head for India, visited Dubai to meet with the DMCC to discuss the UAE market and the current challenges for the gold and diamond supply chains. During the meeting, potential opportunities for collaboration in the areas of standards and educational activities were explored. To complement this, Kinjal also visited some of the refiners based in Dubai to open discussion about the industry's need for RJC standards and the value proposition of being an RJC member. In Antwerp, Kinjal was joined by Bethan Herbert, Certification and Impacts Manager, to gather feedback from this key market. They were encouraged by the overwhelming positive response from the members, auditors and industry associations they met during the two-day visit. Whilst the members they met were at various stages of their RJC certification journey, issues such as KYC, detection of undisclosed laboratory-grown diamonds, the need for more training and face time with the RJC team and opportunities to raise RJCs profile were common themes across these meetings. Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow A new grade separation, part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program, opened at 25th Avenue over Union Pacific's line in Bellwood, Ill., on Dec. 22. The $41 million project began in September 2014 and eliminates a conflict point between 52 freight trains, 59 Metra trains and 19,000 vehicles per day. Not only does the grade separation reduce congestion and improve safety, but it also saves 28,400 hours per year of motorist delay and ensures better response times for emergency vehicles. This new overpass pays immediate dividends for communities nearby, but its impact will be felt for years throughout the region, said Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn. This project is what CREATE is all about: All parties coming together to find a solution that benefits everyone. The overpass accommodates two lanes of traffic in each direction over the railroad tracks and included resurfacing Main Street between 25th and 19th avenues. This project, many years in the making, will benefit all residents by serving as a conduit for economic development, quicker emergency vehicle response times and a safer traffic flow, said Bellwood, Ill., Mayor Frank Pasquale. This is much more than a railroad overpass. This is a bridge to a better quality of life for our communities. Union Pacific is thrilled to commemorate the opening of the 25th Avenue grade separation an enhancement that benefits motorists, Metra commuters and freight railroads. We commend the involved parties for their collaboration and commitment, and look forward to continued success on future CREATE projects, said Liisa Stark, Union Pacific Assistant Vice-President. The railroad overpass project was made possible by a $22.2 million contribution from Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), $2.4 million from the villages of Bellwood and Melrose Park and $16.4 million from federal, railroad and other state sources. The $4.4-billion CREATE Program is a public-private partnership between IDOT, the Chicago Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation, freight and passenger railroads. It comprises 70 rail and highway improvements, 27 of which are complete, that are designed to improve the regional transportation network. French shares held steady in early trade Thursday, even as worries over Italy's fragile banks and a drop in prices of commodities such as copper and crude oil instilled some caution among traders in the run-up to the Christmas weekend. The benchmark CAC 40 was up 7 points or 0.15 percent at 4,840 in opening deals after declining 0.3 percent in the previous session. Sanofi, which has been in advanced talks to buy Actelion, saw shares rally nearly 2 percent after Johnson & Johnson resumed talks over a deal with the Swiss biotech group. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) reported third-quarter adjusted net income per share of $0.02, compared to $0.08, prior year. On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.04 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Adjusted EBITDA was $274.1 million compared to $373.2 million, last year. The company said the decline in Adjusted EBITDA is due to a decrease of $117.5 million in the Retail Pharmacy Segment, resulting from lower pharmacy gross profit, partially offset by an increase in front end gross profit. Net income was $15.0 million or $0.01 per share compared to $59.5 million or $0.06 per share, prior year. Third-quarter revenues were $8.1 billion compared to $8.2 billion in the prior year's third quarter, a decrease of 0.8 percent. Analysts expected revenue of $8.23 billion, for the quarter. Same store sales for the quarter decreased 3.4 percent over the prior year, consisting of a 4.7 percent decrease in pharmacy sales and a 0.4 percent decrease in front-end sales. Retail Pharmacy Segment revenues were $6.5 billion and decreased 3.1 percent compared to the prior year period primarily as a result of a decrease in same store sales. Revenues in the company's Pharmacy Services Segment were $1.6 billion and increased 9.7 percent compared to the prior year period. "Despite the difficult operating environment created by the extended duration of the merger process with WBA, our third quarter results show solid performance in our front-end , good cost control and continued strong growth at our pharmacy benefit manager, EnvisionRx," said CEO John Standley. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Canadian stocks may open lower Thursday as investors are turning a bit cautious ahead of the Christmas break. A flurry of economic news will keep Bay Street on its toes today. Headline consumer prices were down 0.2 percent in November. Canada's core consumer price index year-over-year was slumped to 1.5 percent growth, compared to estimates of 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, Canada's retail sales rose for the third consecutive month, rising 1.1% to $45.0 billion in October, thanks to higher sales at gasoline stations and general merchandise stores. The S&P/TSX Composite gained 12.93 points to close Wednesday at 15,305.89. The rally in crude oil prices has again stalled above $50 a barrel, while metal prices have been hit by a strong U.S. dollar, weighing on resource stocks. Although Toronto's main index has been up five days in a row, most of these advances have been paltry. Financials have outperformed of late, but other sectors are showing signs of strain. In corporate news, AltaGas Ltd.(ALA.TO) earned regulatory approval to expand its Townsend facility. Helix Biopharma(HBP.TO) will team with ProMab to develop Cell Based Therapies. From the telecom sector, the CRTC has ruled high-speed Internet a basic service. In the energy sphere, Petroleo Brasileiro SA has agreed with France's Total SA to sell $2.2-billion (1.7 billion) worth of assets. Natural gas futures have jumped the most in a year on expectations for a frigid U.S. winter. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Crude oil futures were lower Thursday morning amid lingering doubts about OPEC's commitment to curb supplies next year. Oil rallied toward $55 a barrel on OPEC's vow earlier this month, but has been unable to rise any further due to rumblings that member states are not fully on board with the Saudi-inspired plan. A stronger dollar has also weighed on oil prices. WTI light sweet crude for February was down 15 cents at $52.35 a barrel. However, natural gas futures have jumped the most in a year on expectations for a frigid U.S. winter. In the corporate sphere, Petroleo Brasileiro SA has agreed with France's Total SA to sell $2.2-billion (1.7 billion) worth of assets. Traders are weighing a flurry of mixed U.S. economic news. U.S. GDP growth was revised up to 3.5% rate in the third quarter, a better than expected result. However, looking at figures from November, weaker factory production dented Chicago Fed's national economic activity index, while U.S. durable goods orders fell for first time in five months in November. And initial jobless claims jumped by 21,000 to a six-month high. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis While President-elect Donald Trump has yet to officially take over the White House, pollsters have already begun looking ahead to the next presidential election in 2020. A new Suffolk University/USA Today poll looking at potential Democratic candidates found that voters would like to see someone new challenge Trump in four years. Sixty-six percent of Democratic and independent voters said they would be "excited" to see someone entirely new from the Democratic Party run for president in the next election. Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Vice President Joe Biden also generate some excitement among Democratic and independent voters, although both are seen as unlikely to run. There is also some excitement for a potential run by Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as 34 percent said they would be "excited" but 27 percent said she shouldn't run. Meanwhile, the poll found that Democratic and independent voters are largely opposed to a third presidential run by Hillary Clinton. Sixty-two percent of Democratic and independent voters said Clinton shouldn't run compared to 23 percent that would be "excited" by another campaign by this year's Democratic nominee. The survey also showed President Barack Obama with a strong approval rating as he prepares to leave office, although most voters expect Trump to dismantle his legacy. "A majority of voters said that history will assess Barack Obama as a great or good president," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. He added, "And yet, there appears to be a disconnect, as so many voters are unconcerned that the job he did could be undone." The Suffolk University/USA Today survey of 1,000 voters was conducted December 14th through 18th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News Senator Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., signaled Thursday she is likely to remain in the Senate rather than join President-elect Donald Trump's administration. In an interview with local radio station KFGO, Heitkamp said staying in the Senate is "likely" going to be the outcome. Heitkamp met with Trump earlier this month and was mentioned as a contender for Secretary of Energy or Interior, but the president-elect has subsequently announced other choices for those positions. While Heitkamp reportedly remains in the mix for Agriculture Secretary, Politico said she faces fierce resistance from Trump's rural advisers. "I'm not saying 'never never,' but I will tell you that I'm very, very honored to serve the people of North Dakota and I hope that no matter what I do, that will always be my first priority," Heitkamp told KFGO. If Heitkamp were to join the administration, her Senate seat would be filled by North Dakota's Republican Governor, although she is expected to face a tough re-election fight in 2018 even if she remains in the Senate. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News PM: Govt is working seriously to solve delayed salaries problem SANA'A, Dec.22 (Saba) Prime Minister Dr. Abdul Aziz Saleh Bin Habtoor confirmed that the government is working seriously to resolve the problem of delaying the salaries payment to the state employees. Dr. bin Habtoor met on Wednesday in Sana'a with the leadership of the General Federation of Workers' Trade Unions (GFWTU) in Yemen and heads of a number of sub-unions. The meeting dealt with a number of issues related to the situation of workers in the public, mixed and private sectors. The difficult living conditions of the workers and employees due to delay of their salaries was discussed in the meeting, as well as the efforts of the national salvation government to address this aspect despite the economic challenges as a result of the continued aggression and siege and the unconstitutional and illegal decision to transfer functions and tasks of the Central Bank of Yemen to Aden. Sharaf noted that the government started since its first meeting in adoption and implementation of a package of fiscal measures to provide the necessary funds to pay salaries and alleviate the living conditions experienced by the workers and staff. "As Yemenis thwarted all moves of the aggression and its losing bets on the battlefields, they are also working to thwart its schemes in the economic and political sides," Sharaf said. He praised the national role played by the workers' union in enhancing stability, resisting the aggression and its malicious conspiracies and maintaining the continuation of the work in the state sectors and institutions. BA Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [22/December/2016] FINEST KIND CLINIC AND FISHMARKET.... Discussing medicine, culture, and the joys of cooking Pansit. By SA Commercial Prop News South Africas only ski resort will go under the hammer after a successful judgement was handed down by a full bench in the Supreme Court of Appeal on the 30 September 2011. The troubled resort was involved in a three year legal wrangle when the Van Eck Family which owned Tiffindell agreed to sell it to Tiffski Property Investment, which in turn promised to invest in the development and lease it back to the Van Eck family. Ivan van Eck, the founding director of Tiffindell Ski Ltd, blamed David Taylor, Director of Emperica Marketing who controversially tried to bring Starbucks to South Africa, for the bankruptcy saying that once Taylor got involved in a deal with the ski resort, it was the beginning of the end. Van Eck sold a controlling share to Taylor and Le Roux under Tiffski Properties to recapitalise in a R22-million transaction in 2007. But Van Eck raised questions about the transfer of assets between Tiffski and Tiffindell, as well as underpayment by Taylor for Van Eck's shares; Van Eck was subsequently fired as managing director. He claims that he lost R11-million in the deal. Other investors also threatened legal action against the directors of both Tiffindell and Tiffski. "With regard to my personal involvement in the matter, you should note that I was never a director of Tiffindell Limited and that I was not personally the subject of any litigation," he said. "I was a director of the property holding company, Tiffski (Pty) Ltd until January 2010." When the deal is believed to have turned sour amid financial disputes between the Tiffski directors, the company was liquidated and liquidators were appointed to bring a court action to reverse the deal. The High Court in Johannesburg ruled against the liquidators who immediately appealed against its decision. The recent Appeal was successful and now Auction Alliance has received instructions from joint liquidators, Gavin Gainsford and Shawn Williams of KPMG, to sell the controversial ski resort. According to the auctioneers, all operations ceased 24 months ago, while the resort was subject to legal wrangling that was finally resolved, giving the liquidators powers to sell. The resort, established in 1993, covers 101.8 hectares and is situated on the slopes of the Ben Mcdhui Mountain - which at 3001m above sea level is the highest peak in the Eastern Cape - in the southern Drakensberg near the Lesotho border. Snow is a regular feature in the winter months and the resort was run as a successful ski lodge since being established in 1993. Numerous improvements to the property include a main lodge, offices, shops, bars, restaurant, lounges, hotel rooms and chalets, along with staff accommodation, workshops and sheds. Considering that no maintenance has taken place since 2009, the interior is in a surprisingly fair condition but the exterior needs attention. Electricity is available from Eskom and water is provided via the numerous natural springs in the area. Minor amenities are available in the picturesque town of Rhodes, which is situated 26 km away, while major amenities such as financial institutions, shops and medical facilities can be found in Alliwal North, situated approximately 150Km away. The only competitor, running a similar operation albeit on a smaller scale, is situated 300km away in Lesotho. While the property would need significant capital investment to restore it to its former glory, this is still a once off opportunity to acquire a unique investment property in a pristine mountain setting. comments Bradley Stephens, National head of Legal for Auction Alliance. The auction will take place in Sandton, Johannesburg on the 24th November 2011. 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 Schwan's announces further expansion at Salina facility The distribution center, in addition to the 400,000-square-foot pizza expansion, will bring the Salina Schwan's site to over 1 million square feet. Any parent would have been proud. And so it was the case for Sala and Dempsey Parker who watched their son, Lupesoliai Joseph, treated with so much respect and love when the nation honoured him yesterday. The nation paused to welcome their champion. As Lupesoliai made his way through the crowded streets and mob of fans, Sala and Dempsey beamed with pride at the reception. It was in this moment, that it was clear Lupesoliai no longer just belongs to them, but to all of Samoa who have claimed him as their own. Sala said the atmosphere was electric, it was too emotional for her. I dont want to talk about it because its very emotional, she said. I cried the whole time, not because of Lupesoliai or Joseph. I cried because I saw the love. The proud parents sat on top the stage looking down at all of the supporters who weathered drizzling rain and the hot Samoan sun just to be at arms distance of the heavy weight champion. The Parkers always knew that Samoa was backing their son, but now more than ever, it was clear just how much Lupesoliai means to Samoa. I cried because I saw the people, and the love they showed to sit in the sun and rain. I cried my heart out, because of how much they support Joseph and all of us, she told the Samoa Observer. The Parkers thanked everyone for the support Samoa has shown for their son and they are appreciative of the love displayed during yesterdays parade. The love, support and passion shown by Samoa towards world heavyweight champion boxer, Lupesoliai Laauliolemalietoa Joseph Parker reduced the tough man to tears yesterday. The 24-year-old champion fought back tears when he addressed dignitaries who attended an extravagant state lunch at the Sheraton Samoa Aggie Greys Hotel yesterday. The lunch followed the parade of the year, which saw thousands of Samoans on Beach Road, many flocking there to catch a glimpse of their hero. At the luncheon, the Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi and the Masiofo, Her Highness Filifilia Tamasese, congratulated Lupesoliai. Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Members of Parliament, members of the business community and many others were present. During his speech, Lupesoliai said the reception from Samoa since he arrived on Sunday has been overwhelming. Today was an amazing day, he said. Its probably the craziest thing I have been involved in. Seeing all those people, and like my mum said, its really sort of emotional seeing everyone there sitting in the rain and all the little kids. I mean Samoa put on this great parade today which Im really humbled to see. Lupesoliai thanked P.M. Tuilaepa and his government for organising such a warm welcome for him. To the Head of State, thank you very much, he said. I am grateful to be here with my parents, they love this place with all their hearts and they were both born here. I was able to come here every year and spend a lot of time with my family and friends. I would like to thank the Prime Minister and all of the team for putting all of this together.But this is far from the end of Lupesoliais journey.I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support that weve been getting throughout my journey, he said. Its been a great journey so far and I feel like getting this W.B.O. and being the champion of the world is just the beginning for us.And with tearful eyes and a crackling voice, Lupesoliai expressed his love for Samoa.My goal for the future is to win all those belts and bring them back to Samoa, he said. I want to say, I love you Samoa, thank you very much. Business Systems Limited in its objective to continue being a responsible corporate Business House in Samoa supports Faleaseela Environment Protection Society in conserving and protecting The Liua le Vai o Sina River and the rainforest/mountain areas. Such a project is in line with Business Systems Limited commitment in assisting local based organizations that care for the environment and promoting good health in the community. The launch was well attended by teachers, representatives of M.E.S.C, matais and supporters from the Faleaseela village as well as sponsors. The aim in committing the legend to print in both Samoan and English is to make it accessible to children about this important part of their Samoan culture. It is also to create awareness of the need to look after our precious environment in todays ever changing influence of climate change. The launch was officially opened by the Managing Director of Business Systems Limited Meilan Meredith, by a symbolic ribbon cutting. The Faleaseela Environment Protection Society (F.E.P.S) is a behind the launch. F.E.P.S was established in 2007 by the matai of Faleseela to work on environment projects in the village. After the drought of 2011 and Cyclone Evan in 2012, F.E.P.S has worked tirelessly to implement projects that will protect and conserve the precious natural resources of the village. Of note is the Liua le Vai Sina Watershed and Rainforest Sanctuary Project. F.E.P.S would not have been able to achieve the success of the Watershed and Rainforest Sanctuary project without funding from G.E.F Small Grants Program (U.N.D.P) and their partnership with the Water Resource division of M.N.R.E and the Samoan Conservation Society. The major sponsors for the English version of the Liua le Vai o Sina River legend are: Volunteer Service Abroad (V.S.A.) New Zealand and the Tindall Foundation. Profits from the sale of the Liua le Vai o Sina Legend will go towards the Watershed and Rainforest Sanctuary Project. While providing a sustainable income for the project, the Liua le vai o Sina River Legend book will also provide a valuable educational and cultural resource for children in both English and Samoan. The English version will be in memory of the author Vaafusuaga, the Paramount chief of Faleseela, who recently passed away at the age of 93. Deputy Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa closed Parliament for 2016, wishing Samoa a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. In the absence of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi who had to leave early for another commitment, Fiame, who is also Minister of Natural Resources and Environment acknowledged the countrys support and prayers for the work of their Parliamentarians. She noted that it has been a challenging year but also a very rewarding one in terms of what Parliament has been able to achieve. Fiame thanked Speaker of Parliament, Leaupepe Toleafoa Faafisi and his staff for their work. She acknowledged all the Members of Parliament and everyone who has played a part in the work of Parliament this year. Parliament has been adjourned until January 2017. Big fancy buildings popping here and there, new roads, brand new cars for officials and so on are all great and shiny but the question Peni Setefano has is, who will pay for all these developments? Hailing from the village of Siusega, the 72-year-old man says that the country is in debt and with all the loans our government makes to pay for new developments, it will be left to the children to pay the bill. Peni continued on to explain how the high cost of living will only get higher for the future generation because the government will have to increase taxes to pay off some of the debts. This, Peni explains, makes him sad whenever he looks into his childrens eyes. People get easily fooled by all the fancy and shiny developments and they dont realize who will really suffer in the long run, he began. The children of the future will suffer and have to deal with the issue of having to pay all the debts that our government creates. People say that Samoas development is great and all but thats not the point. Right now, the cost of living is very high but it is only going to get higher for our children, so they will suffer more. Peni expressed how worried he is for the children. For me personally, I am very worried and I feel very sorry for my children, he said. When we pass on, our children will be left with the mess we create and its very sad. They are in charge of the future of Samoa and so they will either have to fix things we break, or make it worse. With the cost of living already high right now, families can barely make ends meet with one family member holding a steady job. With only one person in his family holding a steady job, Peni says that its very hard as it is, but things look to be getting worse with the debt we have to pay off. Another issue is that people arent allowed to express these issues freely because of fears of getting penalized by the village council. For my family, we only have one person with a job, he said. To tell you the truth, even with a small family, we dont make nearly enough money. I am sure there are many in this country who will agree with me with how expensive things are at the stores. I also know that there are many people who want to voice this issue but our traditions dont allow it. We live in a country that allows free speech. But thats the problem; our Prime Minister wont know the issues we face every day if we just sit around. At the end of the day, Peni says theres nothing much an ordinary man can do but hope for the best. But yes, this is life for us, he said. Once we get a glimpse of money then its gone the next second. Thats because the cost of living is just way too high for the ordinary folk who dont make a lot. Most of the things we buy is done through credit that we cant afford to pay later. The money we get goes straight towards paying off our I.O.U. then later on we have to buy on credit again. My request to the government is to please, take notice of our struggles. BERLIN (AP) German officials had deemed the Tunisian man being sought in a manhunt across Europe a threat long before a truck plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin and even kept him under covert surveillance for six months this year before halting the operation. Now the international manhunt for Anis Amri considered the prime suspect in Monday's deadly rampage is raising questions about how closely German authorities are monitoring the hundreds of known Islamic extremists in the country. The issue puts new pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is running for re-election next year. Critics are lambasting her for allowing hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers to enter the country, allegedly without proper security checks. Among them was Amri, a convicted criminal in both Tunisia and Italy with little chance of getting asylum who successfully evaded deportation from Germany even as German authorities rejected his asylum application and deemed the 24-year-old a possible jihadi threat. He is suspected in the attack that left 12 people dead and 48 injured Monday evening in Berlin. Health officials said 12 of the injured had very serious wounds. After German media published photos of him and a partial name, federal prosecutors issued a public appeal for information along with the promise of a 100,000-euro ($105,000) reward for his arrest. Within hours it emerged that the man authorities warned could be "violent and armed" had in fact been known to them for months as someone with ties to Islamic extremists who used at least six different names and three different nationalities. "People are rightly outraged and anxious that such a person can walk around here, keep changing his identity and the legal system can't cope with them," said Rainer Wendt, the head of a union representing German police. Authorities had initially focused their investigation on a Pakistani man detained shortly after the attack, but released him a day later for lack of evidence. After finding documents belonging to Amri in the cab of the truck, they issued a notice to other European countries early Wednesday seeking his arrest. According to Ralf Jaeger, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Amri arrived in Germany in July 2015 as the influx of asylum-seekers was nearing its peak. Although registered in the west of the country, near the Dutch border, Amri had moved around Germany regularly since February, living mostly in Berlin, said Jaeger. Within months of his arrival, authorities had added Amri to a growing list of potentially violent Islamic extremists, not all of them asylum-seekers. "Security agencies exchanged information about this person in the joint counter-terrorism center, the last time in November," said Jaeger. State prosecutors in Berlin even launched an investigation of Amri on March 14 following a tip from federal security agencies, who warned that he might be planning a break-in to finance the purchase of automatic weapons for use in a possible future attack. Surveillance showed that Amri did deal drugs in a notorious Berlin park and was involved in a bar brawl, but no evidence was found to substantiate the original warning. The surveillance measures were called off in September, by which time Amri had disappeared from his regular haunts in Berlin, prosecutors said. Separately, Amri's asylum application was rejected in July. German authorities prepared to deport him but weren't able to do so because he didn't have valid identity papers, Jaeger said. In August they started trying to get him a replacement passport. "Tunisia at first denied that this person was its citizen, and the papers weren't issued for a long time," Jaeger said. "They arrived today." It wasn't clear whether Germany was aware of Amri's previous brushes with the law, both in his homeland and in Italy, where he lived until last year. Tunisia's Mosaique FM radio reported that he was sentenced to several years in prison in both countries for violent crimes. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that Amri was ordered expelled after his prison time in Italy. However, Tunisian authorities didn't finish all the paperwork in the required time, so Amri never was sent back to Tunisia, it reported. The Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, did not identify Amri as the man witnesses saw fleeing from the truck, but described him as "a soldier of the Islamic State" who "carried out the attack in response to calls for targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition." Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere cautioned that he was "a suspect, not necessarily the perpetrator." "We are still investigating in all directions," he said. A spokesman for Tunisia's anti-terrorism judicial police said they questioned Amri's family members at their home Wednesday in the central Tunisian town of Oueslatia. Spokesman Sofiane Selliti did not say how many people were questioned. His family lives in poverty and his parents are divorced, according to Tunisia's Mosaique FM radio, which reported that the father said he had no contact with his son, although his other sons did. Some German lawmakers have called for consequences regardless of whether Amri turns out to have been behind the wheel of the truck in Berlin. "In my view we experienced a major shift on Monday," said Stephan Mayer, a member of Merkel's center-right bloc. "Terrorism has reached a new level in Germany. It's shaken the nation and citizens are worried. I think citizens wouldn't accept it if we simply returned to the political order of the day." Mayer proposed extending the period that people can be held in detention prior to deportation, to give authorities more time to gather the necessary paperwork. He said authorities should also be able to deport people deemed a threat to public order. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office currently considers 549 Islamic extremists capable of committing "politically motivated crimes of considerable significance." Wendt, the police union official, said keeping tabs on all of these people was a major challenge. "From a manpower perspective it would ... be unimaginable to keep all potential threats under police surveillance round the clock," he said. Well there you have it. Parliament is done and dusted for 2016. With Deputy Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa wishing Samoa a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, the curtains fell on this years proceedings on Tuesday after members convened for the last time at their make shift home at Tuanaimato. Today all is well that ends well. No doubt Members of Parliament have had a tough year and given it was an election year, they would be looking forward to some much-needed downtime with their families and friends over the next few days until 24 January when Parliament reconvenes. But there is a lot of serious thinking to be done while they are enjoying their break. It involves some of the unfinished business tabled before Parliament on Tuesday. First is a bill to amend the Constitution to define Samoa as a Christian State. Tabled by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi the Constitutional Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2016 aims to insert in the Constitution that Samoa is a Christian nation. The goal is to declare the dominance of Christianity in Samoa, as if its not pretty obvious with all these church buildings we see everywhere. Attorney General, Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, explained that the amendment would not affect freedom of religion protected under Article 11 of the Constitution. Instead it is designed to enshrine Christianity from within the body of the Constitution which effectively provides a legal definition of the States religion. Lemalu added that the government is not attempting to control religion among its people but merely attempting to define that Samoa is a Christian country. And thats not the only change mooted on Tuesday. Prime Minsiter Tuilaepa also tabled the Constitutional Amendment Bill (No.1) 2016 seeking to remove the appointment of the Director of Public Prosecutions, returning its powers and functions to the Attorney General. Lemalu explained to M.Ps at the pre-sitting briefing the amendment would decrease the cost of operating a separate prosecution arm. Further, he said the amendment would lessen instances of conflict of interest with the Attorney General subsequently overseeing all prosecution cases. He referred to recent events within the N.P.O., which forced Cabinet to act. Suffice to say both pieces of legislation are very interesting. They will have serious and far reaching ramifications for the future of Samoa is they are not handled well. But they were not the only ones Members of Parliament will be drooling over. Another eyebrow-raising proposal was the Police Service Amendment Act 2016. If passed into law, the bill will allow Cabinet to terminate the services of a Police Commissioner and Assistant Police Commissioner. As it stands, the current practice calls for a Commission of Inquiry to be carried out before such a termination can be carried out. But Tuilaepa who recently made himself the Minsiter of Police said the current process is time consuming and costly. He believes the change will remedy these challenges. Lastly, Tuilaepa said the proposed change promotes good governance and accountability. These changes are needed to ensure stability, he said. There is no shortage in opinion regarding the (recent) matters but failure tends to occur when it comes to the enforcement of policies. Whatever that means, we are certainly looking forward to a very robust session when Parliament convenes next year. Now if only we had an opposition. Have a great Friday Samoa, God bless! Samoa has lost one of its most colourful characters. And today the nation is in mourning as families, friends, colleagues and his children are set to farewell the lovable Tupua Frederick Wilhelm Wetzell. Tupua, the Founder of Apia Concrete Products, passed away at his family home at Vaitele on Wednesday night. He was 83 years old. His final service will be held at the Mulivai Cathedral today. Tupua attended Apia Primary School at Leifiifi from 1938 to 1945 before moving to New Zealand. He then went to Porongahao Secondary School in Hawkes Bay and Napier Boys High School. Following that he was awarded an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic at John Andrew Ford Motor Company in Auckland, New Zealand. It wasnt until 1971 that Tupua returned to Samoa permanently with a business plan. He constructed the lake Lanotoo Road in a bid to establish a resort there. When that plan fell through Tupua devoted all his energy to his second business idea, the Apia Concrete Products. Last year, the Samoa Observer honoured Tupua as one of our People of the Year. Under the headline Blood, sweat and concrete, we paid tribute to a hardworking man who despite his old age never lost his zest for life. Former Sub Editor, David De Lorean, sat down with Tupua in one of his last media interviews and this is what he wrote: Theres no place like home for Tupua Fred Wetzell. Hes spent more than 40 years running Apia Concrete Products in Vaitele, gradually expanding that business into the concrete monolith it is today. And now the 82 year old is enjoying the fruits of his labour, with his tonka toy, a farm in Savaii, keeping the businessman busy. Its been a long journey for the man from Samoa, overseas and back again. Tupua Frederick Wilhelm Wetzell was born on 13 May, 1933, in Apia. I didnt want to say that, laughed Tupua, between sips of a drink on a deck overlooking the concrete empire hes spent much of his life building. He spent his formative years on the Wetzell Family Siusega Cocoa Plantation. I enjoyed it, I made my own carts, I made my own wheelbarrows, I made my own slingshot from a guava branch, said Tupua, reminiscing about his childhood. He attended Apia Primary at Leifiifi from 1938 to 1945, and then underwent one of the biggest changes of his life to that point, by moving to New Zealand. His family ended up heading to the North Island, and Tupua found himself attending Porongahao Secondary School in Hawkes Bay, then Napier Boys High School. Once he finished up at school, he was awarded an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic at John Andrew Ford Motor Company in Auckland, New Zealand. Over the course of the next decade, he travelled between New Zealand and Samoa frequently, spending a significant amount of time in both countries. Even when he was in N.Z, Samoa was in the back of his mind, and after spending 15 years building up a service station business, working on a cattle farm and cocoa plantation in Samoa and more, he decided to permanently return to the shores of Samoa. My heart was here in Samoa. I missed the lifestyle here, the palm trees, theres no coconuts in New Zealand. It was around 1971 that he permanently returned, with a business plan. He constructed the Lake Lanotoo Road, in a bid to establish a resort there, but the work fell over. That saw him devote all his energy to his second business idea Apia Concrete Products. When I first arrived here and I studied cement that was bought in from overseas, it was bought in bulk. The net would go down, theyd throw the bags in there, come up, put it on the flatdeck, stack it up, take it to the shed, offload it. Tupua constructed 200 pallets to make the job easier. Everybody was buying pallets off me. His efforts resulted in the establishment of Apia Concrete Products. It was commissioned on the 22nd of June 1973, by the late Prime Minister, [Mataafa Mulinuu II], said Tupua. The business has been a true labour of love, which he believed had enormous growth potential. It was only time, energy and of course money is the root of all evil but it assists. A lot of people thought that I kicked this off with a big lump sum of money. The original capital was $5000 tala. And I struggled through that, and theres a lot of people that Ive endlessly thanked. One is Allan Grey and the other one is Dick Meredith. At the start of the business, Tupua only had a small concrete plant and a crusher to his name. But through sheer determination the business grew, and he secured key jobs which saw his business balloon over the years, expanding all the time. The historical pour in Samoa, that was after the cyclones in 1991 and 1992, and the Japanese aid. That whole foreshore, from the wharf to Mulinuu, we poured that, and the tetra pods [by] the reef. That historic pour saw 20,000 cubic metres of concrete poured. And it just continued from there, and kept on going. Hes now run the business for close to 43 years and owns it completely. I had five shareholders, I bought them all out. When I bought the last one out, the boardroom table went out the window. That was it, that was the end of any board. The Tupua-steered business has had its capital grow exponentially, and expanded its asset bank as well. A.C.P now has $225,000 in capital, and assets including more than 30 trucks, as well as pickups, landcruisers, forklifts, excavators, frontend loaders and much, much more. Tupua is relaxed nowadays, and enjoying his tonka toy his pet name for his farm in Savaii. But the businessman has even had to fight for his toys. Unfortunately for me, my fathers famous words: dont start anything you cant finish. And when the cyclones hit me in the 90s, I had a quarter of a million taro plants in the ground...27 acres of bananas and 300 Tahitian seedless limes starting to bear. I went 450 feet above sea level, climbed on a huge rock and I looked up to heaven and I said Lord, tell me, what am I supposed to do? I said bugger it, Ill have another go. And Im still there! Looking back on his more than 80 years on Gods green earth, that attitude sums up his approach to life, and gives him a piece of advice for all Samoans. Get off your ass and do something constructive. Do it right and fear nothing. The Supreme Court has set a date for the hearing of an application to remove a Court-appointed interim manager for Local Partners and Associates Company. The date was set by Supreme Court Justice Lesatele Rapi Vaai this week. The matter in question relates to the dispute involving senior H.R.P.P Members of Parliament, Peseta Vaifou Tevaga and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, La'auli Leauatea Polataivao. Also involved are shareholders Apulu Lance Polu and Martin Schwalger. The Associate Minister Peseta Vaifou Tevaga is represented by Leuluaialii Olinda Woodroffe. Laauli, Apulu and Martin are represented by lawyer, Semi Leung Wai. The matter was called for mention on Tuesday. But Leuluaialii instead filed an interim application to remove the Courts appointed manager for L.P.A. Leuluaialii claimed the appointed manager was having problems finding funds to pay for the ongoing expenses of the company. She noted that most of the money belonging to the company remains unaccounted for and this is a concern to her client, whose land has been used as collateral, for a loan. We have filed all the receipts of the payments made by other clients to another company who is not local partners, said Leuluaialii. She claimed that some payments have been made to one of the defendants wife which she shouldnt be receiving as she is not part of the company. They provided a bank statement with its remaining balance of $1,700, but they dont know where the rest of money has gone. In response, Mr. Leung Wai told the Court he did not expect the application from Pesetas lawyer. Mr. Leung Wai recalled that in September this year, they were called in chamber to discuss the matter with the Manager. Since then, it seems nothing has been done about it by Leuluai and her team. He suggested that the matter be adjourned until 16 January 2017. Justice Lesatele said he has been notified that the companys account has been frozen and yet there had been no order by the Court to freeze the account. However, Leuluaialii clarified that the Local Partners and Associates account has a balance of only $1,700 and the rest of the payments have been paid cash to those who are not part of the company. She also said it is not relevant for the defense counsel to say that they had done nothing. Justice Lesatele accepted the application filed by the plaintiff and set an urgent hearing date for this matter to be called on the 18 January 2017. The Police are investigating the death of a 29-year-old male who was found dead last week. Police Media Officer Sua Lemamea Tiumalu told the Samoa Observer that suicide is suspected. The matter was reported by the deceaseds family after they found his body, said Sua. This matter is still under investigation and the body of the deceased is at the morgue as a Post Mortem has been requested to confirm the cause of death. Anyone who needs help? Help is available for our people contemplating suicide and if you know anyone who might need help, please encourage them to call Faataua le Olas Lifeline 800-life or 800-5433 or Samoa Victim Support Group 800-svsg or 8007874. Lupesoliai Laaulialemalietoa Joseph Parker has already achieved one of his dreams, which is to become the world heavyweight champion. And now he is embarking on another journey. He wants to unify the different belts so that one day he can return to Samoa as the undisputed champion of the world. Lupesoliai is the WBO champion. But there are other titles held by other champions including Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Director of Duco Events, Segialii David Higgins, said their goal is to win all those belts. But first things first. During the victory parade on Wednesday, Segialii expressed his gratitude to the people of Samoa and spoke on behalf of Parkers Team to thank everyone for the support. Its pleasure to be here in Samoa, he said. This is fantastic to be part of this wonderful journey on behalf of the whole team. Its still sinking in what Joseph had achieved and I like to thank Joseph for introducing me to Samoa and I can feel the love. It is the friendliest country in the world. Every time I come here I feel right at home. I just want to say that we do not take for granted the support and love of the people of Samoa. Not just here but also in New Zealand and Australia and around the world. Its wonderful to have your support and I think that everyone of you has helped us what has been achieved with this wonderful victory but Jospeh Parker, WBO Heavyweight Champion of the world. Now for the road ahead. Looking ahead, we are going to continue programmes, with regular fights, said Segialii. Our goal is not just to win. There are four critical titles, and Joseph has the WBO title, and our aim is to unify all four and become the next undisputed fighter since Lennox Lewis. Segialii understands that achieving the ultimate goal is no piece of cake. But he is optimistic. Its a scary thought because Joseph is just 24 years old, he said. The experts say that the Heavyweights are at their best at age 30. So he has six years to become the best and he is still learning. So we will try and we might fail but we will keep on trying. And by the time Joseph is in his 30s he should be the undisputed heavyweight champion. And then we will do this all over again. The 24-year-old champ also assured the country that he would do his best so they will have another big celebration if they achieve the ultimate goal. Like David Higgins said, our goal is to unify the belts and when we unify the belts, lets make it an even bigger celebration. We will do our best and I will go out there and keep representing our country and make us proud. On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced it will block oil and natural gas drilling from vast swaths of the Arctic Ocean and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. Will the outgoing president do the same for the California coast? Its possible that the president could take similar action to permanently protect the California coast any time between now and when he steps onto the helicopter in late January, said Richard Charter, a Bodega Bay resident and senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation, a marine conservation group. Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Coastal Commission have each urged President Obama to invoke a provision from a federal act to block new oil and gas leases from the coast of California. Now is the time to make permanent the protection of our ocean waters and beaches from new oil and gas drilling, Brown said in a letter to the White House dated Dec. 13. In a separate letter, Coastal Commission chair Dayna Bochco echoed Brown, urging Obama to help us achieve our goal of permanent protection of our ocean waters, beaches and coastal economies at risk from oil and gas drilling. Last month, Democrats in the U.S. Senate from California, Oregon and Washington sent similar letters to the White House. Obama based his decision Tuesday on the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which administration officials and environmental groups say gives the president authority to act unilaterally, and may prove difficult for the incoming Trump White House to overturn. Critics countered by saying the move was based on an obscure provision of the act, passed in 1953, and goes beyond the legislations original intent. The order may likely end up in court. The announcement Tuesday comes as Obama wraps up his second term, with President-elect Donald Trump scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 20. Trump and a number of his cabinet nominees have expressed support for expanding oil and gas production, riling environmental groups. With exactly one month left in office, President Obama chose to succumb to environmental extremists demands to keep our nations affordable and abundant energy supplies away from those who need it the most by keeping them in the ground, said Dan Naatz of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. Earlier this month, Brown appeared at the Hotel del Coronado to announce the launch of an international alliance to fast-track efforts to reduce ocean acidification. Im not waiting for what Washington (D.C.) may or may not do, Brown said. Im doing whatever I can for the resources of California, and any other state or country that will join with us. Charter of the Ocean Foundation wants to see Obama permanently block new oil and gas leases off the shores of California but said he was a bit stunned to see that Tuesdays announcement did not include the Pacific. If it were likely to happen it probably would have happened yesterday as part of the package with the Arctic and the Atlantic, Charter said, adding, I would not hazard a guess whether a last-minute order will be issued. In a separate development, outgoing California Attorney General Kamala Harris and the Coastal Commission on Monday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior, looking to overturn an assessment the agency made regarding hydraulic fracturing. In May, Interior officials lifted a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing off the coast of California, determining the procedure, commonly called fracking, has minimal impact. Fracking involves pumping high-pressure fluids into a well to break through rock formations to loose oil and gas deposits. Though it is commonly used on land, hydraulic fracturing has also been employed in offshore drilling operations. The federal governments Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement analyzed well stimulation treatments on 23 oil and gas platforms off Californias coast between 1982 and 2014, and came back with a Finding of No Significant Impact. Harris called the assessment inadequate in a statement issued the same day the lawsuit was filed. We must balance our energy needs with our longstanding commitment to protecting our natural resources and public health, Harris said. The Department of the Interior has not commented on the suit. This lawsuit is yet another deletory tactic that clearly panders to the anti-fossil fuel keep it in the ground movement and ignores the federal governments environmental assessment, said National Ocean Industries Association spokeswoman Nicolette Nye. Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, said the attorney generals lawsuit runs counter to her own rejection of a ban on hydraulic fracturing filed by activists two years ago. In March 2015, a deputy attorney general denied a petition for an immediate statewide moratorium on fracking and well stimulation, saying the Legislature in 2013 passed a law that adopted some of the most stringent regulations in the nation governing hydraulic fracturing. Environmental groups cheered the lawsuit. Offshore fracking raises deep concerns among the millions of people who live, work and play on Californias beautiful coast, said Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. The Coastal Commissions acting executive director, Jack Ainsworth, said potential environmental damage to the coast poses huge risks. Our coastal economies contribute $40 billion annually to the states economy, Ainsworth told The Associated Press. We cant afford to risk that for short-term profits. A massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969 leaked 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude. It is the third-largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, trailing only the 2010 Deepwater Horizon and 1989 Exxon Valdez disasters. The lawsuit says 22 production platforms on 43 active lease areas between Santa Maria and Long Beach on the Southern California Outer Continental Shelf use well stimulation treatments, including fracking. California state law governs the first three miles off the coastline. Federal waters begin at the three-mile limit. According to the California Department of Conservation, the state produced 13 million barrels of offshore crude in 2015, about 6 percent of the states overall production. Although not often thought of as an oil state, California ranks No. 3 in oil production in the U.S., trailing only Texas and North Dakota. Staff writer Deborah Sullivan Brennan contributed to this report rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski ALSO Feds give thumbs-up to fracking off California coast California tries to capture offshore wind energy Robo, a San Diego 3-D printer startup, became publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday, raising $4.3 million U.S. in a reverse merger public stock offering. Founded four years ago by San Diego State University graduates, Robo designs desktop 3-D printers. It got off the ground through a massive $650,000 Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign, delivering its first products in 2013. As it grew, the company raised money from private investors and additional crowd-funding campaigns. Advertisement Robos revenue rose 85 percent to $4.4 million for its 2016 fiscal year ended June 30 fueled by online sales at Amazon, Office Depot and Target, as well as in-store pilots at some Best Buy, Stables and Frys Electronics outlets. It reported a loss of $1.1 million, according to its prospectus. Robo issued shares in a reverse merger with Falcon Minerals Ltd, a mining company which was already listed on the Australian exchange. Falcon changed its ticker symbol from FCN to RBO. Last year, Falcon Minerals announced that it planned to acquire Robo through the purchase of its major shareholder, Australia-based Albion 3D Investments. Albion put $2.5 million into Robo. The public stock sale Wednesday marked the completion of the deal and re-capitalization of the company. Robos shares were issued at 10 cents Australian and traded around 15 cents on Thursday. Robo co-founders Braydon Moreno and Jacob Kabili will remain with the company, which employs about 25 workers locally, said Chief Operating Officer Randy Waynick. Its headquarters will remain in San Diego. 3-D printing is a niche business appealing mostly to do-it-yourself hobbyists, universities and prototype-making research labs. Robo is competing against a handful of much larger firms some of which are struggling. Industry leader Stratasys, which paid $600 million three years ago to acquire rival MakerBot, has seen its share price plunge 33 percent this year amid falling revenue and profits. Technology research firm Gartner expects worldwide shipments of 3-D printers to reach 456,000 this year. While thats more than double 2015 shipments, its still relatively small compared with other electronics gadgets. Gartner is forecasting fast growth, however, with 3-D printer shipments surging to 6.7 million by 2020. Robos most recent product the Robo R2 Smart 3-D Printer with Wi-Fi was named a 2017 Best of Innovation Awards honoree by the Consumer Technology Association. The awards are handed out as a lead up to the giant CES consumer electronics trade show next month in Las Vegas. Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 When Christy Martin was named Fairest of the Fair in 1976, her brother Harry, then 12, remembers his family being escorted around the Del Mar Fairgrounds by its sombrero-clad ambassador Don Diego. Today, Don Diego is gone and so is the Fairest of the Fair contest. Soon, another iconic fairground attraction will be lost the 63-year-old Don Diego clock tower will be torn down to make way for expanded vendor exhibition space. The towers destruction has been discussed for more than six years, but its fate was sealed last week at a meeting of the 22nd District Agricultural Associations board of directors. The building is beyond repair, the board determined, because of extensive termite damage and a leaking roof. Its bathrooms, clocks and electronic sign no longer work. Advertisement They were making jokes at the meeting that the only reason its staying up is the termites are holding hands, said board member David Watson. The tower is in pretty bad condition ... it doesnt get used. Its just sitting there in the middle of the parking lot and its in the way. When the San Diego County Fair reopens on June 2, the structure will be gone, officials said. Martin, now a real estate agent who lives in Escondido, said hes upset about the impending demolition. The clock tower, which is decorated with three large tile murals of Don Diego who was portrayed for many years by actor Tommy Hernandez is one of the last surviving memories of his childhood visits to the fairgrounds. Its one of the only things thats still left of Tommy Hernandez over there, Martin said. Theyre taking away all the history of the Del Mar Fair. I read about how the building has fallen into disrepair and I think its all a little too convenient for the fair board. They want it gone so they can make some more money so they just let it fall into rot so they can knock it down. News of the planned demolition created a firestorm of criticism on the Vintage San Diego Facebook page among longtime San Diegans who feel their history is being lost. Native San Diegan Glenn Steiner said hes been going to the fair for 48 years and the tower was one of his favorite attractions. Sad they are pulling it down, he wrote. Little is left of the San Diego and La Jolla that I grew up with the developers will just build something nondescript, rubber-stamped by the city fathers. Barbara Grice, who is executive director of the San Dieguito Heritage Association in Encinitas, said she used the tower as a meeting point with her girlfriends as a teenager in the 1960s. Shes sorry to see the tower go, but shes happy about the boards decision to preserve the iconic tile murals of Don Diego, each embedded with a clock, that decorate three sides of the structure. The building itself is going to fall down if they dont take it down, but the Don Diego and the clocks need to be carried on, Grice said. During World War II, the fairgrounds was used by the military for housing and training. The fair returned in 1946 with an official greeter, Don Diego, a Mexican ranchero character. A year after the tower was built in a flurry of new construction, the clock tile murals of Don Diego were added on all three faces in 1954. The tower building, which included public bathrooms and benches under a sweeping roof, is one of San Diegos few surviving examples of Googie architecture, a period of design that began in San Diego and Los Angeles after the war, according to Irvine architect and historian Alan Hess. It related to the optimism of the postwar period when Southern California was booming. People were looking to the future with great excitement and the architecture reflected that popular interest, said Hess, the architecture critic for the San Jose Mercury-News and the author of 19 architecture books, including two on the Googie period. The typical features of Googie buildings were prominent rooflines with cantilevers, zig-zags and upswept points as well as tall sign pylons. Some had fanciful Jetsons-like features inspired by the Space Age and science-fiction films. Hess said the Don Diego tower was notable because it incorporated the adobe style of the regions dominant Spanish architecture. In 1958, 4-year-old Bruce Coons of San Diego made his first visit to the clock tower, where Hernandez and that years Fairest of the Fair contest winner, Racquel Tejada (later Welch), gave him a lift back to his fathers exhibit booth in their motorized cart. I was quite smitten with it as a little boy, said Coons, who is executive director of San Diegos Save Our Heritage Organisation. The group has fought to save the tower since the board first introduced a possible demolition plan in a 2009 environmental impact report. Its one of the best examples of the Googie style locally and its the essence of what makes a landmark, Coon said. Its the most iconic thing at the fairgrounds and thats why everyone used it as a meeting point. But the districts master plan committee found the tower did not meet the criteria for listing in the national or California registers of historic places and, their report says, it does not represent the work of a master nor does it possess high artistic value. Hess said the tower is going the way of many Googie buildings which flourished in the 1940s-1960s but have since mostly been torn down or remodeled. What this points out to me is neglect, Hess said of the clock tower. Many people havent taken this style of building seriously and so they let it go. Thats when they get to the point of just being structurally unsound As a result, we dont have many of these left here in Southern California. As car culture exploded in California in the 1950s, Hess said the Googie style was most often seen in fast-food restaurants, car washes, gas stations, drive-in laundries and motels, particularly the space-themed lodges that once surrounded Disneyland. In San Diego, restaurateur Robert O. Peterson employed the style at his quick-service restaurants Oscars and, later, Jack in the Box. Nearly all of those early structures are gone. They had energy and were really appealing to the eye, especially the hotels around Disneyland that were so bland, Hess said. We dont need blandness, we need exuberance in our landscape. Fairgrounds spokeswoman Shawn Feisst said that once the mural clocks are removed, they will be taken someplace safe to be restored. Eventually they will be reinstalled, most likely at prominent locations around the fairgrounds. Larry Brooks, president of the Del Mar Historical Society, said his group isnt upset about the demolition because his board didnt see the tower as historic. But he hopes the mural reinstallations will restore the fairs commitment to Don Diego. The fair retired Don Diego as fair ambassador after Hernandez died in 1984, but a statue of the character was installed at the fairgrounds front gates in 1985. I think the fair has been a little remiss in not keeping the legend of Don Diego alive. This might be the opportunity to resurrect that, Brooks said. The legend of Don Diego isnt just a wood frame building with stucco on it. Solana Beach resident Diane Y. Welch, who co-wrote a historical book on the Del Mar Fairgrounds in 2008, said she hopes the demise of the clock tower doesnt mean the demise of Don Diegos welcoming spirit at the fair. She suggested having the restored murals installed in other locations outside the fairgrounds like downtown Del Mar or Solana Beach. That way, she said, the story of the handsome, dashing caballero figure will continue to be relevant. pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com Ade Perdues first name means royalty in the Nigerian language of Yoruba. Since he was an infant, the family had called him Prince Ade ( pronounced AH-dee), a fitting nickname for someone so well loved. The 22-year-old Oceanside man, known for his vibrant personality and legion of friends, died earlier this month under mysterious circumstances. Authorities have labeled the case a homicide but have provided few details about what happened; a man briefly arrested in connection with the killing has since been released. Perdue was found not breathing in a home on South Horne Street near Michigan Avenue about 6 a.m. on Dec. 11, police said. Paramedics tried to revive him but he was declared dead. Advertisement Although there were no visible signs of traumatic injury, detectives determined Perdue was a victim of foul play based on the totality of the circumstances and after speaking to witnesses, authorities said. Officers later arrested 24-year-old Pablo Mendoza, and booked him into jail on suspicion of murder. He was released a few days later without charges filed, and could not be reached for comment this week. An Oceanside Police Department spokeswoman said detectives are declining to release any new information on the case, and that the investigation is continuing. Perdues family wants answers, even if theyre unlikely to ease their heartbreak. He was so full of life, his sister-in-law, Ilene Miller Perdue, said earlier this week. Why him? She said the family is grateful for the outpouring of support from Perdues friends and co-workers at Masters Kitchen and Cocktail in Oceanside, where the young man was a bartender. Its been therapy for me, said Perdues mother, Jewel Perry, who moved to South Carolina a few years ago and is now back in town for her sons memorial. You would think he was a celebrity. He was so young to know so many people. So many have reached out with condolences that the family had to move the service planned for Friday to a larger church. It is now set for 5 p.m. at Vista Assembly Church, 290 N. Melrose Drive, the family said. Ade Perdue was an Oceanside native, born at Tri-City Medical Center. He graduated from Oceanside High in 2013. The family is very close, his mother said, with plenty of inside jokes and boisterous laughter. Even in that context, the boys laugh stood out it was so infectious, oh my gosh, his sister-in-law said. Perry said she and her son spoke at least a few times a week hed call as he rode his skateboard to work and texted even more. In one recent message, the young man called his mother queen. On Thanksgiving, a few weeks before he died, Perdue sent his mother a short text: Thank you for giving me my life. When Perdues father called with news of their sons death, Perry immediately headed to the airport for the first flight out, taking nothing more than the clothes on her back. On Monday, she sat with her daughter-in-law and two of Ades brothers Richard Perdue, 36, and Steven Blackman, 27. The mother smiled as she scrolled through her phone, pointing out photos shed periodically taken of old family pictures some were of the three brothers together, Ade beaming and bright at 4, 5 or 6 years old. Her friends, she said, called him an old soul. Richard Perdue said his brother was a hard worker, and had worked his way up from a busboy to server to bartender. He dreamed of owning his own watering hole. Perry last saw her son in October when she visited to celebrate his 22nd birthday. She stayed for eight days in a timeshare near the water, so she could have her family over and cook for them. She smiled as she showed images from that visit, including videos of her son tending bar at Masters. In one, he glided by her as she sat at the bar, then offered up a quick Hello world to her camera as he bounced between customers. Perry had no idea how precious those moments would be. It was meant for me to have those eight days, she said this week. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT Kings of beer Ballast Point cant leave a good thing alone. Victory at Sea is a terrific beer, but does this imperial porter require more than 40 variants, including Victory at Sea: Bananas Foster and Victory at Sea: Horchata? Im a Victory purist, yet my resolve was shaken by Victory at Sea: Peppermint (10 percent alcohol by volume), brewed with the aforementioned mint, vanilla and North Parks Caffe Calabria coffee. Advertisement Also known as Victory at Candy Cane Cove, this beer is not thank you, Santa! sweet shop sweet. Theres a strong and welcome mint aroma, but the peppermint flavors are muted, supporting rather than smothering notes of roasted grains and strong coffee. This weeks King, Victory at Sea: Peppermint is a happy Yuletide drink. I still prefer the original version, even though a friend insists I must try Victory at Sea: Coconut. Yet this rendition is ideal for sipping by the fireplace after hanging your stockings with care. If you prefer your Christmas ales straight, dont overlook last weeks King. Delirium Noel (10 percent) has a whimsical label pink elephants on the bunny slopes! wrapped around a fun, yet not silly, spiced ale. San Diego, Southern style If youre a San Diegan, Dixie may feel more and more like home. Virginia is already home to Green Flash and Stone outposts, while Ballast Point is constructing a brewery in the Old Dominions Shenandoah Valley. North Carolina will claim its own piece of San Diego in mid-January, when White Labs Asheville begins yeast production. By summer, the Miramar-based company expects to open a tasting room and restaurant in the Blue Ridge Mountains. National City surrenders, with pleasure Craft beers conquest of San Diego County is almost complete. San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Allison Sampite-Montecalvo last week noted that National City approved a new homebrew shop and brewery for 340 W. 26th St. Embarcadero Brewing is the latest malt-and-hops enterprise in National City, a craft-free zone only two years ago. Today, Chula Vistas NOVO Brazil is erecting a public market and tasting room at East Eighth Street and A Avenue, while Machete Beer House, 2325 Highland Ave., has won over fans of good beer. Good beer, meanwhile, has won over National Citys leaders. The whole craft beer deal has changed the landscape of urban living, Sampite-Montecalvo quoted Mayor Ron Morrison. Its a huge builder of community. What not to write Like every culture, craft beer has its own vocabulary and its own stockpile of cliches. Dave Carpenter, editor in chief of the home-brewing journal Zymurgy, recently took aim at five offending terms: 1. Brewmaster. While Carpenter isnt advocating a total ban, hed reserve this word for true masters. All brewmasters are brewers, but not all brewers are brewmasters, just as not all cooks are Michelin-starred chefs. Usually, head brewer is a better choice. 2. Farmhouse. Vague and often misleading. Do you brew on a farm? Yes? Then you have a legitimate claim to this word. 3. Epic. Epic things cultivate an enduring sense of wonder and amazement. So, sorry, an evening of drinking only barrel-aged imperial stout doesnt count. 4. Balanced. Referring to a beer as balanced is meaningless, Carpenter argues, unless you provide context. Whats being balanced? Bitterness vs. sweetness? Hoppy brightness vs. malty depth? Carbon dioxide prickliness vs. weighty mouthfeel? 5. Crushable. I just think it sounds silly, Carpenter wrote. True, and by the time most of us adopt a slang-du-jour, its already outdated, the linguistic equivalent of a white leisure suit. Best of the week, local San Diegos beeriest Hanukkah party kicks off at 10 p.m. Sunday inside the Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave. There will be a Jewish metal band, naturally, plus beers from Shmaltz, makers of HeBrew: The Chosen Beer and Chanukah, Hannukah, Pass the Beer. Lchaim! Did you know A medieval Christmas beer was nicknamed lambswool, thanks to its frothy head. The main ingredient was roasted apples, not mutton. Twitter: @peterroweut peter.rowe@sduniontribune.com More than $200,000 in grants is being offered to non-profit organizations that help senior citizens and promote San Diego as a place where older people thrive. The San Diego Foundation Age Friendly Communities program is accepting proposals from groups working to improve the quality of life of the countys estimated 432,000 residents 65 years and over. The deadline to apply for a grant is Dec. 28. With the regions elderly population expected to double by 2030, Alejandra Sotelo-Solis, the San Diego Foundations manager of Age Friendly Communities, said the program aims to help San Diegans remain at home, while staying connected to their communities. Advertisement We want our older adults to feel valued, to feel connected and hopefully be able to age in place, Sotelo-Solis said. This is the second grant cycle for the program. In its first year, $275,000 was awarded to seven local programs, including Alzheimers San Diego, North Countys Alliance for Regional Solutions and The Childrens Initiative, a Pacific Beach-based organization. That groups $51,000 grant for its Third Grade Reading Project for Seniors paired older adults with young students and helped both in the process, Sotelo-Solis said. The third grade is such a pivotal point in a childs life, in developing their reading skills and personal skills and by connecting them with older adults, who can share their knowledge, just being able to have the opportunity to engage with the school, was great. Another grant of $25,000 for Interfaith Community Services North County Senior Connections Food Truck project started as a way to help feed seniors living in mobile home parks without easy access to grocery stores. Through interactions at the food truck, it evolved into residents learning how to check-in on each other or aiding neighbors who arent ambulatory. It became more than about the food, it became a resource for residents, Sotelo-Solis said. For more information on the grant program, go to sdfoundation.org/programs/programs-and-funds/age-friendly-communities Twitter: @sdeditgirl michele.parente@sduniontribune.com Its owned by President-elect Donald Trump and is among a handful of hotels on the Las Vegas Strip that is not 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 to join Culinary Workers Union Local 226. 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. Advertisement 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. Bethany Khan, a spokeswoman for the union, said the contract with Trump was a step in the right direction. Weve been picketing and protesting for much of the last year and here we are finally with a contract, Khan said. Were very, very pleased. In December 2015, nearly 500 workers at the Trump International voted in favor of joining the union. Yet Trump and managers at the hotel refused to negotiate, assailing the vote as rigged. Managers at the hotel had filed more than a dozen objections with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging intimidation and forgery by union officials in the vote. (Once Trump becomes president, hell have the authority to appoint members to the board.) Each of the claims was either withdrawn by Trump or dismissed by the labor board. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman representing Trumps hotel declined to comment about the new contract. The pact with the Culinary Workers Union wasnt the only labor victory involving Trump. In Washington, Unite Here Local 25 announced an agreement to permit an organizing campaign for employees at the recently opened Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office building near the White House. Throughout the presidential campaign, Nevada Democrats castigated Trump for not negotiating a union contract for his employees many of whom earn far less than workers at other hotels along the Strip. Political observers were baffled by Trumps resistance to allow his employees to unionize given his past support for organized labor and his populist pitch to working-class voters. He doesnt want a battle with unions hanging over his head as president, said Jon Ralston, a longtime Nevada political journalist, about the four-year contract. In July, a complaint filed against the hotel on behalf of two employees who supported an effort to join the union was settled. The complaint alleged that one employee was fired and another was denied a transfer to a full-time job because of their vocal support for hotel workers bid to join the union. The hotel, co-owned and managed by the Trump Organization, agreed to pay a total of $11,200 in lost wages to the employees, according to a statement from the union. Ahead of a presidential debate in Las Vegas in October, the culinary union helped organize the placement of dozens of taco trucks outside Trumps Vegas hotel an effort to call attention to the efforts to win a contract and to unflattering statements by a Trump surrogate about Mexicans and taco trucks on every corner of the United States. Carmen Llarull has worked in housekeeping at Trumps Las Vegas hotel for four years. The new contract, she said, will ensure employees have more respect. Its very difficult to work for a company when there is no contract, said Llarull, 64, noting she believes she now has more job security. We just had to constantly fight for respect; now itll be a little easier and better. kurtis.lee@latimes.com Twitter: @kurtisalee ALSO The artist and the senator: One built a desert masterpiece, the other a Nevada legacy What happens if Trump tries to abuse his power? Look to the court system Theres likely to be a lot of resistance as North Carolina lawmakers consider repealing bathroom law UPDATES: 5:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments. The article was originally published at 2:15 p.m. Jerry Mailhot is sweating. The San Diego VA worker has to manage the assembly of nearly 600 goody bags of food in one morning. But Mailhot, 36, is a former Marine ordnanceman a person who is used to handling stress. And hes determined to see this job the 32nd year of the San Diego VAs burgeoning Care and Share program done right. Advertisement We need a quality assurance person over here, Mailhot announces to the dozens of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs social workers assembling colorful shopping bags full of groceries on Wednesday morning. VA San Diego Healthcare System employees packed meal bags in support of the annual Care and Share program, which provides holiday meals for almost 600 veterans and their families in need. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune ) On Thursday, 27 teams of VA employees will hand-deliver those bags to needy veterans who, due to meager income, advanced age or disability, might not otherwise have a hearty holiday meal. The San Diego VAs goody bag program started with a few nurses bringing canned goods from their cupboards at Christmastime. Its still a homegrown, San Diego-only program, funded by employee efforts: a bake sale, a coin drive, a silent auction. One former San Diego VA worker who now runs a Hawaii bed-and-breakfast donates a weeks stay for raffle. This year, theres even a GoFundMe site, which raised $625 as of Wednesday afternoon. The total: about $16,800 collected to fuel one of the biggest Care and Share deliveries to date. The latest effort includes a pilot project to deliver 70 hot, prepared meals to veterans who dont have the capacity maybe no pans, or hands too unsteady to chop vegetables to prepare a holiday meal themselves. We have a lot of people now recently housed because of the VAs big push to get people off the street, says Mailhot, who also plans do deliveries on Thursday. When they have little to nothing in their apartment, even then they want us to come in. Hey, check out this place. I got a new couch, the Marine veteran said. And it might be the only piece of furniture they have, but they are so happy about it. And us going out there with food really puts it over the top for them. Each bag holds a box of stuffing mix, a can of green beans, a jar of gravy all the building blocks of a traditional holiday meal. The VAs nutritionists have supervised the menu. Theres also a grocery-store gift card so veterans can purchase a protein item. Gone are the days of VA volunteers handing out frozen turkeys at the La Jolla medical center as the centerpiece of the Care and Share program. (Someone decided it wasnt good for veterans to be carrying the thawing birds home on buses or carting them around the hospital.) San Diego VA social workers nominate clients who would benefit from getting a holiday food bag. Several of those clients live in downtown San Diegos Hotel Churchill, a former flop house that reopened in September as single-occupancy units for homeless veterans. I think this will give them an extra boost, especially around the holidays, said Sumaya Dinglasan, a VA social worker who does case management for Hotel Churchill residents. Its nice to receive something. A lot of them dont have family around, so to get something like a package means something to them. Another recipient is Arthur Lute, 54, an Imperial Beach resident. He left the streets five years ago thanks to a housing voucher program through the VA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Lute, a single dad, has two young sons at home, including one with autism. This will be his familys third or fourth year receiving a VA goody bag. Sometimes we have little rough spots with finances during the holidays. That little bit helps out a lot, said Lute, who served in the Marine Corps, Navy and Army Reserve between 1979 and 1991. I have to spend a lot of money for therapies and extra medical needs, so I come up short sometimes on food, he said. His plan this year: His son won a 10-pound ham at a school raffle. With the VA goody bag of side-dish fixings, he and his two boys will have a feast at home. I dont celebrate the holiday too much, but Im trying to instill some of the things we learn when we are kids, for them, Lute said. I want them to have a happy childhood, to learn about their holidays. jen.steele@sduniontribune.com Facebook: U-T Military Twitter: @jensteeley A Tijuana city councilman facing money laundering charges in San Diego Superior Court will remain behind bars into the new year. Judge David J.Danielsen on Wednesday afternoon agreed to postpone a bail review hearing until Jan.3 for Luis Torres Santillan and four fellow defendants. Three other suspects were granted their requests for a reduced bail, including the son and wife of a prominent member of the Tijuana business community. Torres had been in office for 16 days when he was arrested at the border Friday, charged with ten counts of money laundering. Advertisement Torres San Diego attorney, Anthony Colombo, said he is working to reduce his clients $5 million bail but needs the extra time to sift through a lengthy set of documents in the case as well as additional information provided by family. Torres was unsmiling Wednesday as he stood shackled and in an inmates blue jumpsuit, while his wife and other family members wearing worried expressions watched from the front row. Torres has pleaded not guilty. The case is one of three resulting from a state-led investigation into money laundering, and Torres is one of 12 defendants named in a sealed complaint filed by the state last Friday. Little is known about the allegations, and two deputy district attorneys present at the hearing said they were barred from talking about anything that has not been discussed in open court. From his review of the documents, Colombo said investigators believe that proceeds from illegal activity are being smuggled [from Mexico] into the United States, and then deposited to banks in the United States and then wired back into Mexico. Colombo said his client is a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen who is general manager of Productos Diamond, a family-operated Tijuana business that imports rice, beans and lentils from different parts of the world and sells them in Mexico. Colombo said he intends to argue for his clients innocence. Any money sent to Mexico on his clients behalf, Colombo said, was sent to actual distributors of rice, lentils and beans, that is all verifiable. Torres arrest has been a blow to Tijuanas new mayor, Juan Manuel Gastelum as he launches his three-year term. Members of the citys tight-knight business community have also been reeling from the news. Tijuana media in recent days have been highlighting Torres alleged connections to Fernando Beltran, a wealthy Tijuana boxing promoter who also holds a 30-year concession from the state to operate the Baja California railroad. The Tijuana newsweekly Zeta published a story on Wednesday reproducing a Baja California state document from 2011 that has Beltran giving Torres the power to resolve Beltrans disputes and to collect debts on Beltrans behalf. In San Diego, public records link both Torres and Beltran to the same Coronado Cays residence owned by a third party listed in property records as Silvia M. de Fernandez. Theyre friends, thats a residence that my client has lived at, theres nothing nefarious about it, Colombo said. He said his client has lived on both sides of the border, but his primary residence and place of business are in Tijuana. sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com @sandradibble A woman said to be a boss in a drug trafficking ring has been charged with taking a courier hostage in Sinaloa, Mexico, and extorting ransom money from the victims mother in San Diego. Maria Dolores Romero Sandoval was arrested Saturday; she appeared in federal court Thursday for a bail hearing. The victim, who has not been identified, was working for Romeros organization when he or she picked up drugs in San Diego earlier this year, delivered them to New Jersey, then returned with $21,000, according to the complaint filed in San Diego federal court. Advertisement On May 16, the victim was stopped by U.S. authorities and the $21,000 seized. A man then contacted the victim on June 27 with instructions to travel to Culiacan, Mexico, to discuss money owed to the organization, according to the complaint. On July 3, the victim and a friend who is not involved in the drug trade crossed from San Diego into Tijuana and flew to Culiacan. Both are U.S. citizens. Once there, they were taken to a house where gunmen took their clothing, wallets and phones and bound their hands and feet, according to the complaint. Romero arrived at the home the next day and promised the friend that he or she would not be hurt. For several days, the victim was taken into a separate room to make ransom calls to his or her mother in San Diego, threatening to kill the victim unless $100,000 was paid. The mother contacted the FBI, which logged more than 50 phone calls from the kidnappers between July 4 and 11. The hostage-takers also threatened to cut up the victim and mail him or her back to the mother and to kidnap more of the mothers children if the ransom wasnt paid. At one point, the kidnappers took photos of the victim appearing to be tortured and sent them to the mothers Facebook account. The photos showed the victim bloodied, bound with duct tape, with a knife at the throat and ear, pliers around the fingers and a gun to the head. The FBI later learned the photos had been staged. That same day, the mother drove to Tijuana at the direction of the kidnappers and left a $12,400 payment. The kidnappers told her that it was not enough to gain her childs freedom. She made another payment of $12,190 a few days later in Tijuana. The mother handed the cash to a woman who left in a Honda registered to Romero, the complaint said. The victim and friend were released after that, but Romero reportedly told the victim that $50,000 was still owed. Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com A mistrial was declared Thursday in the corruption case against former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca after a jury failed to reach a verdict on charges that he tried to obstruct an FBI investigation into allegations that deputies abused jail inmates. Jurors, who began deliberating late Monday, were split 11 to 1 in favor of an acquittal. The mistrial offers at least a temporary reprieve for Baca, who ran the nations largest sheriffs department for more than 15 years. The former sheriff faced conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges that could have sent the 74-year-old who is in the early stages of Alzheimers disease to prison for several years. Federal prosecutors must now decide whether to retry Baca. Advertisement Baca is also accused of making false statements to federal investigators about his involvement in the alleged plan to interfere with the jail investigation. That allegation, however, will be argued at a separate trial. Thursdays outcome offered a rare setback to the U.S. attorneys office in its jail misconduct cases. Prosecutors have so far secured convictions against nine former sheriffs officials, including Bacas second-in-command, in the obstruction case. Several other deputies have been convicted of civil rights violations in connection with the abuse allegations. Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca left with attorney Nathan Hochman outside federal court Thursday, in downtown Los Angeles. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) I feel great, Baca said after jurors were excused. I am the same person I was in 1965 when I joined the Sheriffs Department. I did it because I wanted to protect and serve people. Later, he told reporters, This is an extraordinary decision not everyone thought would happen, but I had faith. U.S. attorneys officials declined to comment. During his trial, prosecutors alleged that Baca resented the FBIs efforts to investigate his jails and believed sheriffs officials should, as he said in a TV news interview, police ourselves. In closing arguments earlier this week, Assistant U.S. Atty. Brandon Fox said Baca turned a blind eye to warnings about violence and corruption in his jails. But when he learned in the summer of 2011 that federal authorities had launched a secret inquiry by bribing a deputy in an undercover sting to smuggle a cellphone into Mens Central Jail, Baca was enraged, Fox contended. Baca, the prosecutor alleged, was at the center of a conspiracy carried out by his subordinates to hide an inmate working with the FBI, manipulate potential witnesses and intimidate a federal agent by threatening her with arrest, the prosecutor argued. No man is above the law, Fox told jurors. Bacas lead attorney, Nathan Hochman, argued that although his client was upset with federal officials for keeping him in the dark about their operation, his motivation was not to impede the federal investigation. Undersheriff Paul Tanaka was the one who directed the rank-and-file deputies to take steps to foil the FBI probe, Hochman told jurors. Baca did not know what was going on, he said. Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, left and attorney Nathan Hochman talk to reporters outside federal court Thursday, in downtown Los Angeles. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) After Thursdays mistrial, Hochman echoed Foxs closing argument but added that the federal government is also not above the law. The jury system is the ultimate check on the power of the federal government, he said. Its not enough for the government to simply charge you. They have to prove it. As jurors left, one said the single holdout was clearly biased from the start and refused to deliberate. She said he would not specify why he felt Baca was guilty. The juror, who gave her name only as Sheri, said she believed Baca did not know what his subordinates were doing. Asked what evidence convinced her, she said, Everything overall, just everything. Another juror was in tears as she spoke to one of Bacas lawyers. She said it was a very difficult decision we as a jury had to make. I didnt feel there was any evidence that Mr. Baca was guilty. Until he resigned in 2014 as the jail abuse scandal enveloped his department, Baca served as the countys highest elected police official. He won reelection easily several times and built a reputation as a quirky but pioneering leader who spoke of the need to educate jail inmates and pursue community-based policing over traditional law-and-order strategies. At his two-week trial, Baca, the four-term sheriff who during his time in office was frequently invited to speak across the nation and internationally, sat quietly listening to prosecutors and defense attorneys wrangle over a six-week period out of his five-decade Sheriffs Department career. He greeted a handful of supporters who came and went throughout the trial, some with lapel pins in the shape of a sheriffs badge. On some days it was just his wife, Carol, by the aging lawmans side. He chose not to testify in his defense, unlike Tanaka, who took the stand in his own obstruction trial earlier this year and sought to lay the blame squarely at Bacas feet. Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before convicting Tanaka, who has since been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the obstruction plot. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors struck a deal with Baca, in which the retired sheriff pleaded guilty to a single charge of making false statements to federal investigators. In exchange, he was to receive a sentence of no more than six months in prison. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson rejected the deal, calling it too lenient, and Baca and his attorneys chose instead to withdraw his plea and put his fate in the hands of 12 fellow citizens. Although prosecutors told the six-man, six-woman jury at the outset of the trial that Baca was the heartbeat, the leader and the driving force of the conspiracy, few of the governments witnesses testified to direct interactions with Baca during the time of the alleged interference with federal authorities. A former L.A. Times reporter testified that Baca said in an interview that he directed two sergeants to go to the home of FBI agent Leah Tanner, then known as Leah Marx. The sergeants confronted her and falsely informed her they were obtaining a warrant for her arrest. Prosecutors alleged the move was an attempt to intimidate Tanner and get the FBI to back off. A former U.S. attorney, now a federal judge, recalled phone calls and meetings with Baca in which the then-sheriff seemed to be in the know about developments in the case. Jurors also heard a recorded conversation between an FBI supervisor and Sgt. Maricela Long, who has also been convicted in the obstruction case, in which the supervisor asked whether Baca was aware his subordinates had threatened Tanner with arrest. The sheriff knows this, sir, Long said on the recording. Two other deputies who have been convicted of playing a part in the conspiracy told jurors that while they had little to no contact with Baca, it was made clear to them the orders came all the way from the top. One said he watched a nervous supervisor walk into Bacas office to notify him that deputies had mistakenly allowed FBI agents to meet with the inmate who was working as a federal informant. The prosecution presented jurors with phone records, emails and meetings scheduled on calendars to show that Baca was in contact with Tanaka as the machinations played out. But Hochman countered that his client could have been discussing any number of issues he dealt with as the head of the departments sprawling operation. In more than 100 emails presented by prosecutors as evidence of the obstruction plot, Baca was directly involved in only two, Hochman said. And while Tanaka was exchanging dozens of calls with the subordinates charged in the case, Baca was on only one. The sheriff never knew about this; the sheriff was out of the loop, Hochman said. He asked jurors to instead look at the rest of Bacas lengthy career to decide whether he would be the type of leader to evade federal scrutiny. He pointed to steps Baca took to better conditions in the jails, and put on the stand Bacas high-powered friends including two former district attorneys who called him law-abiding with an excellent and very solid reputation. Prosecutors, Hochman argued, were throwing some spaghetti against the wall to see if anything sticks against Sheriff Baca. victoria.kim@latimes.com joel.rubin@latimes.com For more news on the obstruction trial of former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, follow us on Twitter: @vicjkim and @joelrubin ALSO Man bludgeoned former reality show contestant to death with hammer, prosecutors say Air traffic controller assigned different duties after directing jetliner toward Mt. Wilson Deadly shootings prompt state civil rights probe of Kern County, Bakersfield policing UPDATES: 4:55 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Baca and his attorney. 3:20 p.m.: This article was updated with the breakdown of how the jury was split during deliberations and comments from jurors. 2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with the news that a mistrial was declared. This article was originally published at 2:25 p.m. My youth, which played out in the middle of the last century, never seemed boring or perilous despite the absence of smart phones and seat belts. The natural, physical landscape beckoned, and I was luckier than most. I grew up in California. Advertisement In the summers of my youth, the Sacramento-San Joaquin air was baked and dry breezes smelled like straw. We had to escape, if only for a week. So we loaded the Dodge Coronet, three unbelted kids in the back seat, and went to the coast. The destination was always the same. Santa Cruz. The salt air. The morning fog. The squawking gulls. The mysteries of the underwater universe. The nighttime thunder of crashing waves. Imagine my luck, more than half a century later, to be sent back to my childhood paradise for work. The year 2016 marks, after all, the 40th anniversary of the Coastal Act, a magnificent concept dreamed up by an army of California citizens who loved the coast as much as I did and campaigned to codify preservation and public access. It also marked a year of turmoil at the California Coastal Commission, where the beloved executive director was all but locked into stocks and summarily dismissed, without explanation, by political appointees. Silence, meanwhile, from Gov. Jerry Brown, who signed the Coastal Act into law in 1976 but never seemed fond of the agency formed to enforce it. Droughts, fires, and the Big One that wasnt: Californias year in review As my Los Angeles Times colleagues and I reported throughout the year, the development lobby eager to tinker with Californias greatest resource was all too cozy with commissioners. Lobbyists routinely met privately with commissioners and then handed the commissioners the notes on what to enter into the public record. Commissioners also failed to report private meetings with developers, and a business manager for the biggest lobbying firm wrote campaign checks to two commissioners, one of whom then voted to support a project backed by the firm. It all had the whiff of leftover bait, pelican poop and rotted kelp. So my trip along the 1,100-mile coast, from Oregon to Mexico, was more than an exercise in nostalgia. It was a crusade, a celebration of preservation victories, a rumination on the losses, and a call for sturdier defense of one of the worlds greatest natural resources, for the infinite enjoyment of everyone regardless of address or income. I did not travel solo. I moved with a Huntington Beach artist/surfer/diver who loves, as much as I do, the redwood waltz at the shore near the Oregon border, the glorious isolation of the Lost Coast, the pine-scented thrill of Monterey Bay, the remoteness of the Gaviota Coast, the graceful curve of Santa Monica Bay and the charm of the La Jolla Coves. Photos: Stunning images along Californias coast Times photographer Allen Schaben feasted on the wonders, chasing light that crept over rocky promontories, electrified the open waters and fell in hushed sunset hues over vast horizons. He worked 16 hours a day for six weeks and his photographs belong somewhere else, besides the newspaper. A museum, maybe, or between the covers of a big art book. Neither of us wanted it to end. It was a cushy junket, but the greater purpose was to tell stories in a way that inspired future stewards to uphold Californias unique legacy of coastal preservation, and to remind elected and appointed officials that were watching. The affair began many years ago, when the coast was, for me, a destination. In 2016, speaking up for it became a duty. steve.lopez@latimes.com Twitter: @LATstevelopez Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez A San Diego federal judge granted bail Thursday for a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of smuggling backpacks he thought were loaded with drugs across the border fence. Noe Lopez, a 10-year Border Patrol veteran who worked out of the Imperial Beach station, must post $200,000 bail secured by property. He was also ordered to be monitored by GPS and to surrender any firearms he owns. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman argued at the hearing that Lopez was a flight risk and should not be freed from custody. Advertisement Lopez was arrested Dec. 14 following a two-month undercover sting. Heyman told the judge that Lopez randomly met a man at a party and the two struck up a friendship. Lopez later bragged about how easy it was for him to smuggle drugs that were staged at the border fence and offered to go into business together, authorities said. The man went to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration with the information and became a confidential source. He then cooperated with investigators and helped pull off two transactions with Lopez, Heyman said. Lopez is accused of taking the source on a driving tour of the border fence both from the U.S. side and the Mexico side to show where ideal spots are to drop drug loads and where the sensors and cameras were located, Heyman said. On Dec. 6 and 8, Lopez agreed to pick up backpacks at sites at the border fence while on duty, the complaint states. Undercover agents placed the backpacks there and loaded them with fake cocaine and methamphetamine. Lopez picked up both loads and later delivered them to the source in his personal vehicle after work, the complaint states. He was paid $10,000 for his efforts, prosecutors said. Heyman said that evidence collected thus far in the case suggests Lopez may have committed similar acts in the past. In one text exchange with the confidential source, Lopez implored him to trust him because it could be a lucrative partnership. He said, Trust me, well start small, Ill prove myself and well keep building up, Heyman said. Lopezs defense attorney, Sara Peloquin, told the judge that her client had lived his whole life in the San Diego area, is a former Marine and has three children with an ex-wife here. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis A woman accused of working as a boss in a Mexican drug trafficking ring has been charged with taking a drug courier hostage in Sinaloa and extorting ransom money from the victims mother in San Diego. Maria Dolores Romero Sandoval, who goes by the nicknames Lolis or Lola, was arrested Saturday, and she was in federal court Thursday for a bail hearing. The victim, who is not identified as a man or woman, had been working for Romeros organization earlier this year when he or she picked up drugs in San Diego, delivered them to New Jersey, then returned with $21,000 in payment, according to the complaint filed in San Diego federal court. Advertisement On May 16, with the $21,000 in tow, the victim was stopped by U.S. authorities and the money seized. On June 27, a man contacted the victim and said to travel to Culiacan, Mexico the capital city of Sinaloa state at the heart of the drug trade to discuss money owed to the organization, including the $21,000, according to the complaint. On July 3, the victim and a friend who is not involved in the drug trade crossed from San Diego into Tijuana and flew to Culiacan. Both are U.S. citizens. They were instructed to take a taxi to a motel, where they were picked up by two men in a Chevy Tahoe. At a nearby house, a man hiding inside approached the two from behind with a gun and ordered the victims friend to the ground, kicking the friend in the stomach. The men then took their clothing, wallets and phones and bound their hands and feet, the complaint states. Romero arrived at the home the next day and promised the friend that he or she would not be hurt but must remain detained until the situation was sorted out, the complaint says. For several days, the victim was taken into a separate room to make numerous ransom calls to his or her mother in San Diego, threatening to kill the victim unless $100,000 was paid. The mother contacted the FBI, which logged more than 50 such phone calls from the kidnappers between July 4 and 11. The hostage takers also threatened to cut up the victim and mail him or her back to the mother and to kidnap more of the mothers children if the ransom wasnt paid. At one point, the kidnappers took photos of the victim appearing to be tortured and sent them to the mothers Facebook account. The photos showed the victim bloodied, bound with duct tape, with a knife at the throat and ear, pliers around the fingers and a gun to the head. The FBI later learned the photos had been staged. It is not known if the victim was physically injured during the ordeal. That same day, the mother drove to Tijuana at the direction of the kidnappers and left a $12,400 payment. The kidnappers told her that it was not enough to release her child but that they would hold off on hurting him or her for now. The mother made another payment of $12,190 a few days later in Tijuana. The mother handed the cash to a woman who left in a Honda registered to Romero, the complaint states. It is the same car that Romero drove into San Diego on three earlier occasions, the complaint states. The victim and friend were released after that, but Romero told the victim that $50,000 was still owed. They communicated via WhatsApp, a cellphone messaging program. In one message, Romero allegedly told the victim that the missing money had left her dealing with a big problem, and they wont stop until they know where you are, and that it doesnt matter how much time goes by. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis The region tallied two more flu-related deaths last week, according to the San Diego County health departments latest influenza report released Wednesday. That brings the local number of confirmed flu-related deaths this season to three, the same figure seen by this time in 2015, according to county records. But that total is triple the average from the past three years. The two most recent deaths were an 89-year-old woman and an 83-year-old man. Previously, the flu contributed to the death of a 73-year-old woman. Two of the three were not vaccinated, according to the county. Advertisement Given that influenza killed 67 people including two children in San Diego County during the flu season a year ago, it is not yet clear whether the 2016-17 season will be deadlier than usual. Major flu activity typically ramps up in the fall, and infections can last through May. Reports indicate that the bulk of San Diego Countys 417 flu cases confirmed in labs so far this year involved A strains of the influenza virus. Dr. Mark Sawyer, an infectious disease specialist with Rady Childrens Hospital San Diego, noted that A variants have historically been associated with more severe severe public-health consequences. We are starting to see cases in hospitals, but it hasnt hit anything like what it can be in very severe years at least not yet, Sawyer said. Nationally, the number of reported flu deaths is trending a bit below previous years, according to the latest surveillance report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The federal agencys flu mortality numbers are several weeks behind the latest information from San Diego County. The big question every year is whether the specific flu strains contained in the annual influenza vaccine, which must be chosen by the public-health community months before the actual flu season starts, match those that eventually infect people. The CDC has examined 64 samples gathered from across the nation since Oct. 1 and, according to its most recent report, 100 percent of the A strain specimens have been found to be similar to the H1N1 and H3N2 components of the vaccine. A high match rate was also found for 14 B strain samples tested. Experts caution that it usually takes many more weeks for officials to test enough samples to gain a clear view of whether the vaccine appears to be a good match. In June, the CDC said the vaccine for the 2015-16 influenza season was 47 percent effective. At the same time, researchers announced that the FluMist nasal spray was virtually ineffective for children 2 to 17. That finding caused public-health agencies across the nation to pull the vaccine this year. That has meant all children are getting standard flu shots instead of nasal vaccine sprays this year, which Sawyer said has not gone over well with some patients. Kids didnt mind at all getting the nasal spray, but Ive heard a few stories of kids not wanting to go back to the old version, he said. So far this season, the county has confirmed 125 local flu cases, double the three-year average rate for the same time frame. But cases are only one way to measure the flus impact on the public. Public-health departments also monitor the percentage of patients arriving in hospital emergency departments with flu-like symptoms. So far in San Diego County, that measure is looking good. As of last week, only 2 percent of ER visits had flu symptoms, compared with 4 percent by the same week last year. paul.sisson@sduniountribune.com (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson San Diego could be facing deeper budget cuts than previously expected based on a new analysis from the citys independent budget analyst. A financial outlook released in November by Mayor Kevin Faulconer projected relatively small deficits over the next two years and a return to surpluses during the three years after that. The IBA analysis, however, projects significantly larger deficits over the next two years and additional deficits during the two years after that, with the city not returning to surpluses until fiscal year 2022. Advertisement Independent Budget Analyst Andrea Tevlin says the mayors outlook didnt include funding for several initiatives the document identified as priorities, a departure from previous city budgeting practices. Those priorities include enforcement of the citys minimum wage law, replacement of aging vehicles, updates to city software, hiring of additional police officers and operations costs for several new parks, libraries and fire stations scheduled to open. As a result, the deficits reported for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 are likely understated, and the surpluses identified in fiscal years 2020-2022 may not exist as projected, Tevlin says in the report. Faulconer said last month that city finance officials will request suggestions for budget reductions of 3.5 percent from all department heads this winter to help them develop a proposed balanced budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. RELATED: San Diego facing first budget cuts in years Tevlin says deeper cuts may be needed, or the city may have to make other changes because many of the new priority expenditures cant be abandoned. Many of these items will likely need to be considered for funding in the upcoming years, and difficult decisions may need to be made regarding slowing down some existing plans or projects, she says. Faulconer said last month that even with his projections the city would need to halt a slow and steady restoration of many cuts made during and after the Great Recession to libraries, recreation centers and other services. City revenues are continuing a rise that began when the economy recovered, but at a slower rate. Meanwhile, the city is facing a spike in its pension payment, increased labor costs from new contracts forged over the last two years and less budget flexibility because of a successful June ballot measure that requires a minimum amount of spending on infrastructure projects. The mayors outlook projected a relatively small shortfall of $37 million in the citys $1.3 billion annual budget for Fiscal 2018, which begins July 1. And an even smaller gap of $20 million was predicted for Fiscal 2019. Tevlin estimates those deficits as $57 million for Fiscal 2018 and $52 million for Fiscal 2019. The mayors outlook projected a $500,000 surplus in Fiscal 2020, a $40 million surplus in Fiscal 2021 and an $80 million surplus for fiscal 2022. Tevlin estimates a $46 million deficit in Fiscal 2020, a $23 million deficit in Fiscal 2021 and then a $15 million surplus in Fiscal 2022. The city hasnt provided any specifics about what programs or services could be cut because no decisions will be made until the spring. While the news is not good, the situation is nothing like the steep revenue drops during the recession that required emergency mid-year cuts and extensive slashing of services in multiple consecutive years. The outlook identified some ways the city could mitigate potential budget cuts, including softening its reserve policy and spending $20.3 million in excess cash. Tevlins 59-page analysis explores some other options, including revenue from a new city tax on recreational marijuana and excess funds in the citys public liability reserve and long-term disability reserve. The council is scheduled to discuss the outlook and Tevlins analysis on Jan. 10 and then submit budget priority memos to Tevlin by Jan. 20. On Feb. 2, the councils Budget Committee is scheduled to discuss potential budget cuts and adjustments. That committee is now led by incoming Councilwoman Barbara Bry, replacing Todd Gloria who was elected to state Assembly. Faulconer is scheduled to unveil his proposed budget for Fiscal 2018 on April 14, with the council expected to adopt a final version sometime in June. A spokesman for Faulconer said the report means the city needs to focus on limiting its expenses. Its a reminder that continued fiscal responsibility needs to be the citys mantra for years to come, and we will be urging the City Council to work with us to make sure we continue to live within our means, said the spokesman, Craig Gustafson. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick A series of mistakes by an air traffic controller at San Diegos Brown Field was likely what caused two planes to collide last year, killing all five on board, a federal report says. Contributing to the accident was the two pilots failure to see each other in time to avoid a collision, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The report on the Aug. 16, 2015, crash was issued last month, along with safety alerts calling for extra training for air traffic controllers and advice that pilots use cockpit technologies that may help avoid a collision. Advertisement A Cessna 172M was piloted by Qualcomm executive Michael A Copeland. An experimental Sabreliner was piloted by Jeffrey Percy, with co-pilot James Hale and passengers Carlos Palos and John Kovach also on board. Four of those in the Sabreliner were employees of military contractor BAE Systems, while Hale worked as a BAE contract employee. The planes collided about a mile northeast of Brown Field Municipal Airport in Otay Mesa. Debris was scattered across brushy hillsides, and all five men were found dead amid the wreckage. The NTSB said the probable cause of the accident was the local air traffic controllers failure to properly identify the aircraft in the (departure) pattern and to ensure control instructions provided to the intended Cessna on downwind were being performed before turning Eagle1 (the Sabreliner) into its path for landing. The air traffic controller, who was not named in the report, had 37 years experience: five with the Air Force, 24 years with the Federal Aviation Administration and eight years with Serco Inc., a government services contractor hired by the FAA to provide controllers at some airports, including Brown Field. The report added that a contributing factor was the controllers incomplete situational awareness when he took over communications from a trainee due to the high workload at the time of the accident. A third factor was the inherent limitations to a long-standing FAA see and avoid concept of relying on pilots to keep each other in view. The weather, warm and clear, was not a factor, and the pilots and co-pilot had no drugs or alcohol in their systems. The families of all five men have sued Serco for wrongful death. BAE was also named as a defendant in some of the lawsuits. Kovachs family appears to have reached a settlement on undisclosed terms, according to San Diego Superior Court documents. The four other lawsuits appear headed for trial in August. Serco representatives, reached at their Virginia headquarters, did not provide a comment on the lawsuits or the NTSB findings. An FAA spokesman said Serco continues to hold a contract to provide air traffic controllers at Brown Field, which the city of San Diego owns. The city is not named in the lawsuits. The report set out a minute-by-minute account of the events leading up to the collision. Read full report Copeland had left Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa earlier and at 10:49 a.m. requested approval to conduct touch-and-go landings at Brown Field. His request was granted. The Sabreliner crew was returning to Brown Field after a mission. It was starting to land after the Cessna completed one landing and took off again. The air traffic controller was working with a trainee that day. When the workload started to build, the experienced man took over from the trainee at 10:59 a.m. He was in communications with nine aircraft on the ground and in the air two more than he was personally comfortable with, he later told NTSB investigators. At that point, the NTSB said, he should have handed off control of some aircraft or directed traffic away from Brown Field. Over the course of two minutes, the controller mistook several planes and gave them wrong instructions, which he and the pilots quickly corrected, the report said. He gave approval for another Cessna 172 to take off. The controller saw the Sabreliner, called Eagle1, approaching the airport and two Cessnas, including the one Copeland was piloting, in its vicinity. He was aware of the potential conflict between two aircraft, even though he did not have the accurate mental picture of which Cessna was which, the NTSB said. The agency said the controller should have issued a safety alert to Eagle1 to climb immediately. As Eagle1 kept approaching, its pilot commented, Wow, hes like panicking, as heard on the cockpit recorder, the report said. One passenger was recorded seconds later saying, See him right there? The flight crew also reported to the air traffic controller that they had traffic in sight on their left and right. The controller, thinking he was talking to Copeland in the Cessna flying closest to the airport, mistakenly radioed the other Cessna, which was further away. That second pilot heard instructions to make a right 360-degree turn over the airport, and he began making that turn. After clearing Eagle1 to land, the controller looked up and noticed a Cessna that was not making a right turn. He again contacted the wrong pilot, who again confirmed he was turning. Copeland, who should have been told to turn, was not given the instruction. At that time, Eagle1s pilot was recorded saying, I see the shadow but I dont see him. At 11:03 a.m., the controller transmitted Copelands plane ID number, and Copeland repeated the number. Four seconds later, the controller asked Copeland if he was still on the right downwind leg, turning right. Copeland did not answer. The controller and the trainee then saw Eagle1 and Copelands plane collide. The Sabreliners right wing hit the left side of the Cessnas engine. The NTSB tried to reconstruct the chain of events by creating animations of the views the two pilots would have had before crashing. They found that the fields of view were limited and partly obscured. In April, the FAA published an update to its advisory on a pilots role in avoiding collisions by advocating cockpit warning systems. A separate FAA order reminds air traffic controllers that their highest priority is to separate aircraft and issue safety alerts as needed. A 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy have been arrested in connection with a fatal, gang-related shooting Monday night in Mira Mesa, San Diego police said. Chien Ngoe Pham and the teen, whose name was withheld because of his age, were taken into custody Tuesday night. Pham was booked on charges of murder and participating in a gang felony, but he may not have fired the rounds that killed James Carmona Martinez, 18, of San Diego. Advertisement Homicide Lt. Ray Valentin said the two were arrested because their companion, Martinez, died during the commission of a crime that all three were committing. The charge or charges against the teenager was not specified. Valentin said Martinez, Pham and the teen went to Menkar Road to commit an unspecified crime Monday night. Martinez and one of the other two walked to a home on Markab Drive and got involved in a gunbattle outside. Martinez was wounded, and his two companions took him to a hospital. Valentin did not say which of them took part in the gunbattle with Martinez, or who was shooting at whom. Neighbors reported the gunfire about 8:30 p.m. but police found no victims on Markab. Half an hour later, the hospital called police to report a gunshot wound patient. Martinez died of a single gunshot wound to his upper torso about 11:30 p.m., Valentin said. He said detectives spent the night investigating. A person of interest in the case was identified as possibly inside a house on Menkar Road, and a SWAT team was called in Tuesday morning. Police did not find the person in the home, but detectives later interviewed him and determined he was not a suspect. Pham and the teenager were arrested Tuesday night. Capt. David Ahearn said there are no outstanding suspects. Three people were hurt in a wrong-way crash that shut down northbound Interstate 805 in Miramar Wednesday night, authorities said. A vehicle reportedly speeding south in a northbound carpool lane struck another vehicle head-on just north of state Route 52 about 10:15 p.m., the California Highway Patrol said. Firefighters freed one person who was trapped in the wreckage, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Capt. Jose Amador. Advertisement Three people were taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries. All northbound lanes were shut down after the crash, and traffic was diverted onto Route 52. About an hour later, the four lanes reopened. Breaking News Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez A water and power district east of San Diego is suing the University of California over records related to a legal opinion that supports Gov. Jerry Browns plan to expand the state power grid across the western United States. The lawsuit, filed last week in Alameda County, said university officials refused to turn over documents that three law professors relied on to produce the study. The opinion was commissioned in March by the California Independent System Operator, or CAISO, the government nonprofit that manages most of the the grid. The complaint was brought by the Imperial Irrigation District, a municipal utility that serves about 150,000 people in Imperial County and parts of Riverside and San Diego counties. Advertisement Lawyers for the district want a judge to order the university to comply with open-records laws by making the requested documents available for public inspection. According to exhibits attached to the complaint, university officials say they have produced all of the records they are able to release. Spokeswoman Claire Doan said the institution supports the publics right to access information, but must respect and protect employees right to privacy. The legal opinion released in August helped CAISO promote the plan to expand the state grid into a regional network that would serve up to 14 states, a proposal Brown has pushed as a way to market renewable power across the West. The irrigation districts lawsuit says the opinion wrongly downplayed legal issues with Californias ability to follow through on landmark clean-energy policies like the cap-and-trade program and the rule calling for 50 percent of power consumed in the state to come from renewable sources by 2030. The records show how three university lawyers Ethan Elkind, Dan Farber and Ann Carlson shaped their legal opinions issued to the California Legislature and the public in such a way as to understate the risk to climate change laws if the California Independent System Operator is expanded to include 14 western states, the complaint says. Ann Carlson, a professor at the University of California Los Angeles, is listed as lead author of the report. Ethan Elkind of UC Berkeley and UCLA and Daniel Farber of UC Berkeley are listed as consulting professors. The lawsuit contends that the opinion produced by the scholars was less than independent. It cites a working outline CAISO supplied to the researchers when they were hired in March that closely resembles the finished report. The arguments and language therein reappeared in substantial part in the final legal opinion, the suit says. According to state officials, expanding the grid to more states would save consumers up to $1.5 billion in coming years. It would also boost the use of renewable power by making solar, wind and other climate-friendly energy sources easier to distribute across state lines. The initial expansion would merge the California system operator with PacifiCorp, a for-profit utility based in Portland, Ore. that serves 1.8 million customers in six states. The company relies heavily on fossil fuels for power, and says it hopes the grid will lessen that reliance. The legal opinion at issue in the Imperial Irrigation District lawsuit concludes that expanding the grid to additional states would not affect climate-change programs in California. Adding PacifiCorp assets to CAISO will not create any new or additional risk of preemption for Californias energy and environmental policies, it says. Nor will it alter the constitutionality of those policies. The lawsuit against the University of California regents includes pages of exhibits, contending California could lose autonomy on energy policy should the merger go through. In April, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court limited Marylands ability to regulate energy in its service area, given that its part of a multi-state grid. In May, Elkind emailed his co-authors to discuss whether they should pay more attention to the Maryland ruling and a similar case in Minnesota. Even a small chance that CAISO expansion could call into question Californias renewable policies would be hugely detrimental, and so I wonder if we should more explicitly address potential counter-arguments, he wrote. Im not suggesting we try to game out the politics in this memo, but perhaps we could acknowledge more of the legal uncertainty. The final report released in August briefly addressed legal concerns about the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. To the extent that state environmental laws or policies directly intrude upon or seek to establish FERC jurisdictional rates, they would be vulnerable to a preemption challenge on those grounds, the finished opinion states. CAISO, which is not part of the irrigation district lawsuit, defended the legal opinions findings and independence. This paper evaluates that concern and concludes that having an entity like PacifiCorp join the ISO would not increase federal, i.e. FERC, regulation over the ISO and would not impact the extent to which California may continue to regulate in these areas, the March outline said. CAISO spokesman Steven Greenlee said the outline was drafted by in-house lawyers and provided to the independent analysts as a courtesy so they would be aware of the agencys position. To the extent the professors reached conclusions similar to the ISO, this represents an independent validation of those views, he said. Advocacy groups watching the proposed expansion are skeptical that federal regulators would permit California to extend its clean-energy policies beyond its borders. There are real risks that regional grid expansion could do substantial harm to California by increasing the potential for federal preemption of cutting-edge state policy initiatives, said Matthew Freedman, an attorney at the Utility Reform Network in San Francisco. Sierra Club lawyer Travis Ritchie said the benefits would be huge if the expansion is done correctly. It could get rid of dirty power producers like coal and natural gas and promote renewable energy across a dozen or more Western states, he said. But regionalization kind of pokes the bear, said Ritchie, referring to federal regulators at the FERC. If you are expanding those policies to other states, particularly states that dont share the same climate goals, you are inviting legal challenges. The lawsuit was filed by San Diego attorney Maria Severson. Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35 jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald California is trapped caught in the dangerous space between two authoritarian regimes that want to fight each other. One is in Beijing; the other is taking power in Washington D.C. Viewed from the Golden State, its striking how much they have in common. Both are so nationalist and bellicose they are spooking neighbors. Both express open contempt for human rights and undermine faith in elections and the free press. Both promote hatred of minorities (anti-Tibetan and anti-Uighur in China; anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant in the U.S.). Advertisement And both regimes are captained by swaggering men (President Xi Jinping in China; President-elect Donald Trump in U.S.) who tend to their own cults of personality and pose as corruption fighters while enriching their own families. Most frighteningly for Californians, both regimes seem to see advantage in escalating conflict with the other. The incoming American administration is threatening to raise tariffs and label China a currency manipulator, actions that would likely start a trade war. The Chinese administration is provoking confrontations in the South China Sea while the new American strongman embraces Taiwan actions that could start a real war. A sustained conflict between China and the U.S. could produce new restrictions on the flow of money and people, with devastating results for California. Our public universities rely both on federal funds from D.C. and top-dollar, out-of-state tuition fees from Chinese students to subsidize the education of Californians. So any Trump restrictions on foreign visitors or retaliatory Chinese limits on overseas study and travel could blow up the University of Californias business model. Hollywood depends on moviegoers who live under both regimes, and Silicon Valleys promising ventures in virtual reality and artificial intelligence rely on our ability to bring together manufacturers, investors and technologists from China and the U.S. A trade war would threaten those exchanges. Our tourism relies on Chinese visitors and our housing market relies on Chinese buyers, who spend an estimated $9 billion a year on homes here. But will people still come if Washingtons anti-Chinese rhetoric fuels a racist backlash against Chinese nationals and Chinese-Americans? How can California handle such a conflict? First, by protecting our people and institutional connections to China, with the same fervor we are rallying to protect our undocumented immigrants. This will be especially hard given the hypersensitivity of the autocrats in Beijing and D.C. to the slightest of slights; just as Trump lashes out at Saturday Night Live parodies, Xi sees the Kung Fu Panda films as American warfare. And, second, by reminding both regimes in friendly but firm ways that we are opposed to conflict because the U.S. and China need each other more than they appear willing to acknowledge. Californians who doubt should consult John Pomfrets new book, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present. Pomfret, a U.S. journalist long posted in China, writes The two nations have feuded fiercely and frequently, yet, irresistibly and inevitably, they are drawn back to one another. The result is two powers locked in an entangling embrace that neither can quit. Californias role in this difficult period should be to tell the story of its own deep ties to China and to seek out new areas of productive cooperation, argues Matt Sheehan, author of the forthcoming book Chinafornia: Working with Chinese Investors, Immigrants and Ideas on U.S. Soil. I think of California as a living laboratory for a more practical, productive version of U.S.-China relations, says, Sheehan who also publishes the weekly Chinafornia Newsletter. But not all collaborations with China would be helpful. Our technologies companies shouldnt be aiding the U.S. surveillance state or assisting the Chinese government in suppressing human rights. And California labor interests should stop playing to anti-Chinese prejudice in opposing trade agreements and advancing union organizing. (The hotel workers union, as part of an organizing campaign, recently claimed a possible sale to Chinese interests of the Westin Long Beach would threaten national security.) One possible model for Californias strategy might be Anson Burlingame, whom President Lincoln dispatched to Beijing to represent the U.S. during the Civil War. Burlingames approach was to commiserate with the Chinese (we have our terrible rebellion with the South, you with the Taipings) as a basis for collaboration. His work produced the Burlingame Treaty, which welcomed Chinese students to U.S. educational institutions, and opened the way for Chinese immigrants to become American citizens. Today, Burlingames accomplishments are mostly forgotten, but his name belongs to a suburb in the Bay Area, a region boasting one of Americas most prosperous populations of Chinese-Americans. Mathews writes for Zocalo Public Square. When people complain that government doesnt have enough money for basic services or public education, I point them to frivolous litigation. Wasteful and unnecessary lawsuits against government agencies and their contractors by government entities and predatory lawyers cost taxpayers billions! Sadly, we have examples of this waste in Americas Finest City. Since the Defense Department is the regions most important economic driver, why would the Port of San Diego decide to slap the U.S. Navy with a frivolous lawsuit? Advertisement The countys collection of military assets is arguably the worlds largest. And worth tens of billions of dollars to the regional economy, according to the San Diego Business Journal. So, again, why would this important public entity risk our job recovery and the integrity of our economic development to ensnare the federal government in misguided litigation? Its simple. Deep pockets. Private lawyers looking for a big payday at the expense of taxpayers have convinced local governments to test a reckless and novel legal theory that targets billions of public dollars and threatens more than 100,000 local defense-related jobs. These lawyers started by coaxing the city of San Diego and the San Diego Unified Port District to sue an out-of-state company but they didnt stop there. Now the U.S. Navy is in the cross hairs. Why so cavalier? For these attorneys, there is very little downside. The lawyers target any deep-pocketed entity, private or public, and sue them on public entities behalf. These small private law firms use money from Wall Street bankers and foreign investors to finance the litigation. If the lawyers win, then the speculators split the windfall and return a profit to their shareholders. And if they lose? The private attorneys walk away and the government body inherits the burden of fighting the litigation battles on its own, including defending against counterclaims that can cost millions of dollars and drag on for decades. Last year, Gomez Trial Attorneys followed this path and convinced eight West Coast cities to file public nuisance lawsuits offering a chance to win millions. All agreed to sue Monsanto, which decades ago manufactured polychlorinated biphenyls, a chemical commonly known as PCBs, which are still found in some waterways. Typically, to clean up toxins like PCBs, public agencies often utilize the federal Superfund law, which allows them to go after the polluter who disposed of products improperly or illegally. The subsequent settlement money can then be directly used to clean up the environment. Unfortunately, trial lawyers are taking a dangerously different path attempting to hold the lawful product producer, not the polluter, responsible. We need to clean up bay pollution without damaging our local economic drivers like the U.S. Navy and other Port tenants. These lawsuits are not the way to accomplish that goal. The good news is many judges agree these claims have no standing and have dismissed five of the suits already. But every time a long-shot legal case like this moves forward expanding corporate liability through a new legal theory a precedent is set. In the case of San Diego, the initial suit against Monsanto spurred a separate legal claim the Ports against the U.S. government. If these cases go forward, they are likely to dredge up problems for not just the U.S. Navy, but all Port tenants. Until the late 1970s, PCBs were used to prevent fires in complex industrial products like paints, coolants, lubricants and insulators compounds used heavily in the defense and maritime industries. Although the Navy and other local businesses didnt produce them, they used them and thats what implicates them. The U.S. Navy is now the target of these predatory lawyers. And why should they stop there? Tomorrow the suits could be aimed at not just the Navy and a distant Midwestern corporation, but at any one of our defense-related contractors responsible for stoking our economic recovery. This time, our local public entities are pushing too far and the regions most lucrative assets are about to become economic collateral damage. Barnett has been involved in public policy issues since he served on the Del Mar City Council (1984-1988). He has also served on the San Diego school board and as executive director of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association. He formed TaxpayersAdvocate.org, which studies government spending and exposes waste. This year he was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission. Email: ScottBarnett- TaxpayersAdvocate@gmail.com Donald J. Trumps billionaire boys club economic team, charged with saving the working class, has but one academic economist outlier: University of California-Irvine business professor, and former San Diego anti-establishment provocateur, Peter Navarro. The odd coupling of San Diegos Anti-Builder Bad Boy Navarro to Big Builder Bad Boy Trump has politicos in Americas Finest City, friends and foes alike, a-Twitter with reactions on social media ranging from disbelief to I told you so. RELATED: Top Trump advisor a former San Diego politician Advertisement The notorious Navarro that most San Diegans knew couldnt have had more divergent views on municipal policy, land use and environmental protection than those of Trump, whose sharp-elbowed manipulation of zoning laws and dismissal of environmental regulation is legendary. In fact, Navarro railed against big developer influence at San Diego City Hall, battling to stop big bad builders from obtaining zoning changes to convert open-space and single-family home neighborhoods into high-price, high-rise and high-density developments. With his grass-roots organization, PLAN (Prevent Los Angelization Now), formed with a tight-knit group of academics and activists, Navarro was the neighborhood and environmental hero, a tough talker waving his arms in front of bulldozers. Now the former San Diegan is working for that biggest, baddest bulldozer, Donald J. Trump. So how can it be that Robin Hood is feasting at the sheriff of Nottinghams table? Former San Diego colleagues and supporters would like to know. The best explanation for the strange marriage is more about temperament, style and media mastery than any belief system, which with the exception of free trade phobia, for both is mercurial and even shifty. Like Trump, Navarro had the singular ability to use witty, digestible and sharply pointed bites, tailor-made for television and radio consumption. The camera loved his Brad Pitt looks. Grabbing media attention by getting in politicians faces was a snap. He was great television. Not all the local press was so enamored. The conservative daily paper editorial board at the time detested him. But the animus from the paper merely signaled to those outside power broker circles that Navarro was their advocate, an outsider and a victim of an establishment press. Using his media savvy, Navarro, with little institutional support, won a general election slot for mayor of Americas seventh largest city, defeating in the primary a well-financed developer-friendly councilman he dubbed Bulldozer Ron. His message was that a smart economist outsider knew best how to handle finances and would stand up to the corrupt developer-dominated establishment chowing down at the municipal trough. His close loss in the general election to Susan Golding began a bitter public feud that never abated: revenge politics a la Trump vs Lyin Ted. Navarro ran for three other offices variously as a Republican, independent and then Democrat in a targeted 1996 congressional race attacking Trump friend, Newt Gingrich, calling his opponent Newt Bilbray. The Democratic Party chieftains and constituents were almost as wary of reminted Navarro the Democrat as Republicans are of Trump. And as goes Trump, Navarros media antics wore thin, the charismatic persona giving way to a thin-skinned arrogance and a siege mentality under the scrutiny of a national press. His negatives soared. The more critical the press coverage, the more snarly he became with interviewers and on the debate stage. Trumps wars with The Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, among others is reminiscent of Navarros infamous temper tantrums at editorial board interviews when on the defensive. The late, great political columnist David Broder wrote after interviewing Navarro in 1996 that the Democrats should win the 49th congressional district race except for that fact that the candidate was pugnacious and political party-hopping Peter Navarro. Other unflattering portraits emerged from the prognosticators. Even a rousing rally with First Lady Hillary Clinton at his side could not save Navarro from himself. Et tu, Brute. In the end, Navarro blamed the media and a rigged campaign finance system for his electoral defeats, as will his newly found coattail, Mr. Trump, when his bell tolls in November. Strange bedfellows, these two from opposite coasts and backgrounds. But putting core beliefs aside, which both easily do, the Trump/Navarro relationship which at first confounds is a marriage of like personalities. Ross is the former communications director for Navarro for Congress. She is a freelance writer living in San Diego. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board has long criticized presidents of both parties who use their executive authority to achieve policy goals they couldnt get by working with Congress. In limited circumstances, especially emergencies, such actions are OK. But in general, theyre an undemocratic assault on congressional prerogatives and those who favor presidential power plays should worry about the precedents they set for when the other party holds the White House. That latter point finally seemed to be sinking in last month with Donald Trumps surprise win in the presidential election. On Monday, it even appeared to resonate with President Barack Obama, who has issued a striking number of edicts that rewrite federal laws after being frustrated in his dealings with a Republican Congress. [G]oing through the legislative process is always better, in part because its harder to undo, Obama told National Public Radio in an interview. Alas, Tuesday, the president was back at it, signing an executive order declaring huge chunks of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans off limits to oil and gas drilling for a time period without specific expiration. The White House did not use the word permanent, but environmental groups did. Advertisement Its not. Instead, its part of a pattern of Obama behavior that could enable all kinds of unilateral actions by Trump including ordering that huge chunks of the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean be opened to oil and gas drilling with lease terms favorable to energy companies. Not many Democrats will be happy about presidential overreach then. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: UTOpinion The terror that befell Switzerland, Germany and Turkey this week has prompted new discussions about U.S. presidential intelligence briefings and revived debate over whether Donald Trump should have them on a daily basis. Earlier this month, Trump said he does not need to get the intelligence briefings offered to him daily as commander-in-chief because he relies on close advisers to keep him apprised of national security issues. In an interview with Fox News Chris Wallace, Trump described the briefings as repetitive and said he doesnt need that. I'm like a smart person. I don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years but eight years. I don't need that, Trump told Wallace. But I do say, If something should change, let us know. On Monday, an assassin shot and killed Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov at an art exhibition in the capital of Turkey. The same day, a man driving a truck ran over pedestrians at a market in Berlin, Germany, killing 12 people died and wounding dozens more. In another attack, a gunman shot and wounded at least three people inside a Muslim prayer center in Zurich, Switzerland. Not all incidents were directly linked to terrorism, but the attacks rattled the United States and countries abroad. Nationwide cities beefed up security in areas where people will be out shopping for the holidays. What Trump will do for national security once he becomes president remains unclear given his skepticism in the intelligence community. He has dismissed the CIAs assessment on Russias intervention in the election. On the other hand, Trump campaigned heavily on the notion that he would make America safe again primarily by increasing border security and scrupulously vetting Muslims entering the U.S. But the question of whether the daily intelligence briefings are of any significance to Trump or any sitting president is now part of a larger conversation. For example, Trump supporter and former Sen. Rick Santorum , R-Pennsylvania, raised the issue of presidential security briefings in an interview with CNN on Tuesday, saying that he hopes Trump takes them more seriously once he takes office in January. I would recommend that Donald Trump take his security briefs, Santorum said on CNN. This is a very important part of being the president of the United States. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama said on Comedy Centrals The Daily Show that without the daily presidential briefings, Trump risks flying blind. But the skeptics have also spoken loud and clear. Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen called Obamas remarks hypocrisy, saying that between 2011 and 2012, during his 1,225 days in office, Obama attended his daily meeting only 536 times, or just under 50 percent. Talk about flying blind, wrote Thiessen. Others on Twitter have also taken a position on the matter. Whether it is Trump or Obama, the larger question remains: Should the president attend daily intelligence briefings provided by the various national security agencies? Should the American people trust that the president is well-informed regardless of how frequent those briefings happen? Let me hear your thoughts. Shoot me an email with your thoughts or send me a tweet. Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @RunGomez President-elect Donald Trump shook up politics in America like no one has in decades this year and San Diego surprisingly played a significant role in his journey to the White House. Our city usually thought of nationally more for its beaches, nice weather and incredible tacos was in the election spotlight for several unique connections to Trump. As 2016 comes to a close, lets look at what the rise of the 45th president meant in San Diego. The primary Former Secretary of State and Presidential candiate Hillary Clinton came to San Diego as she returned to the state to campaign less than a week before California votes in the primary elections. (John Gastaldo/San Diego Union-Tribune) As early as spring, California was abuzz with talk of the possibility that the states primary could finally make a difference in a presidential election . It has a history of being a state that sees little campaign action or attention politically because of its late primary date. But that changed in 2016 thanks to Trump and his dogged Republican counterpart Texas Sen. Ted Cruz . Though Trump was gaining steam as a candidate, there was a lot of uncertaintly over whether he could hit the number of delegates he needed to clinch the Republican nomination before the primary. Would he need Californias delegates? The answer turned out to be no. But Ted Cruz had previously made an appearance in San Diego and later, as presumptive nominee, Trump held a rally here in May. Influence of local politicians on Trump Donald Trump spoke at the San Diego Convention Center Friday May 27, 2016 to his supporters on a two-city swing through California a week before the California Primary. (John Gastaldo/San Diego Union-Tribune) Speaking of the primary, local congressional representative Darrell Issa (R-Vista) called Trump the obvious choice for the White House all the way back in May. That same month, Issa showed continued support at Trumps San Diego rally. He was an adviser to his campaign throughout 2016. Trump is also uniquely tied to San Diego by his pick to lead the White House National Trade Council. Peter Navarro used to live here and ran for four different San Diego-based government offices in the 1990s and early 2000s. The relationships of these two politicians, as well as Rep. Duncan Hunter another local Trump supporter in Congress will be worth watching going forward. Trumps rally in San Diego Donald Trump spoke at the San Diego Convention Center Friday May 27, 2016 to his supporters on a two-city swing through California a week before the California Primary. (John Gastaldo/San Diego Union-Tribune) Trumps San Diego rally on May. 27 made headlines across the country for its controversial speech material and the protests outside on the street. In his message to thousands of San Diegans in the downtown convention center, he talked about immigration and trade deficits with China, Mexico and Japan. More unique to San Diego, though, was his comment about his then-upcoming civil fraud trial here over the defunct Trump University. He attacked the judge overseeing the case. Im getting railroaded by the legal system, Trump said. (More on the Judge Gonzalo Curiel below) Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin made a surprise appearance as well. Afterward she praised the San Diego Police Department for how it handled the rally. San Diego police officers in full riot gear arrest an anti Trump demonstrator near 5th Avenue and Harbor Drive in the Gaslamp Quarter after presidential candidate Donald Trump held a rally at the San Diego Convention Center. (HOWARD LIPIN SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE/ZUMA PRESS) Outside Trumps event, the protests went on for hours. Police in riot gear tried to control the area and ultimately arrested more than 30 people, including a city attorney candidate. Police also used pepper spray. Trump tweeted the San Diego Police Department after the rally, thanking it for a fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally. Trump University In this May 23, 2005 file photo, then real estate mogul and Reality TV star Donald Trump, left, listens as Michael Sexton introduces him at a news conference in New York where he announced the establishment of Trump University. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) Trump was plagued by his failed project, Trump University, for months of the campaign in 2016. He faced two civil cases that would be overseen by U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel in San Diego. Trump said at his May rally that he would win the case and that Curiel was a hostile judge. Trump had recieved backlash when he previously said that the judges Mexican heritage in the case was a conflict of interest despite Curiel being born in the United States. Im building a wall. Its an inherent conflict of interest, Trump said. The case was ultimately settled for $25 million. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin Fortress Poway I recently stopped by the Poway Sherriffs Station in an attempt to discuss a traffic flow issue at Tierra Bonita Elementary School. I walked into the lobby of the station and discovered that the front desk was completely encased and fortified with bullet-proof glass. No one was at the front desk and a sign notified the public that all interaction with the staff is to be done via a prison-style wall mounted phone. After ringing the door bell, a staff member reluctantly came out to behind the bullet-proof glass and I requested to see the captain. A few moments later, two heavily-armed deputies came out from behind the locked metal door and immediately assumed takedown flanking positions. We had a lovely discussion about the issue and no one was harmed, but the whole setting is very disturbing. Did Sherriff Gore not get the memo that Poway is the safest city in the county? Why are the sheriffs deputies hiding behind bullet-proof glass and locked steel doors? Do we really need to perform interaction with the public via prison-style phones? Why do sheriffs deputies interact with the public fully armed and only in pairs? Do they sit at their desks fully armed? One cannot but help think that Sheriff Gore sees the public as an enemy. If the sheriff believes that the law enforcement community is part of the community they need to act like part of the community. Assi Friedman Poway Thanks to Patapow My husband and I, with our three children, have lived in Poway for the past 25 years. Like most families we were drawn to Poway, largely because of its reputation of having exceptional schools. Our children attended Painted Rock Elementary, Twin Peaks Middle School and Poway High. The education they received served them well. Our two sons went on to receive bachelors degrees at UC Santa Barbara and our daughter at Texas Christian University. We feel the stewardship of the past school board and superintendent made it possible for our children to be prepared as well as they were for higher education. We thank retired board member Andy Patapow for his commitment to the kids in our community and hope the new school board will strive to serve the children of this area according to the students best interest, as he has done in the past. Lori Rauterkus Poway Move toward center America is not as politically divided as is claimed by some, but rather suffers from much stonewalling by a caucus within one of its major parties, which over the years has become routine. For example, it has for decades been clear that our health insurance system is inferior to what you found long ago in several other countries. As soon as the Democrats tried to initiate a program, they ran into automatic total rejection instead of constructive input from opposition. A prominent contributor to your paper is gloating over the very hollow victory of the GOP and he still continues his merciless tirades against President Obama and that party. The GOP needs to move back closer to the center where it used to be, or it will eventually face a major shipwreck. Somehow the word compromise must be reinserted into the political dictionary. Fritz Woeller Rancho Bernardo Column almost rational Barry Cronins Dec. 8 column Making the best of a bad situation seemed almost rational. There is much in this piece with which I agree. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump were particularly good choices and the media and pundits did a horrendous job. However, while Cronin disavows being a Trump disciple, he presents a number of false comparisons and near-apologies on his behalf, leaving the reader wondering. Cronin compares Trump not releasing his tax returns to all the things our current commander-in-chief failed to release. Really? How many presidents have been incessantly harassed to release their birth certificates? Not one, but well, they were white. Hillary used a private server. No question, it was absolutely wrong. But the results of exhaustive year-long investigations were that they simply couldnt find anything to charge her with other than being stupid. So when Cronin says, Right. When donkeys fly as if Trump was being somehow unfairly treated my friend, the donkeys flew the coop a while ago. Cronin also notes that Trump appointed a bunch of private sector CEOs to the Strategic and Policy Forum because he doesnt want to be the smartest person in the room. You forget, he always has to be the smartest in the room (remember he knows more about military matters than all our generals). For the sake of our country I sincerely hope Trump eventually governs well. But hope and about $5 might only get you a donkey photo in Tijuana. Cronin should be sure to wear his disciple robe. Robert Parkington Rancho Bernardo Of Trump and pirates How difficult was it for columnist Dick Lyles to choke down his last ounce of self-respect in order to endorse Donald Trump? When he did so, I found it very sad. Here was Dick Lyles, a man who always has portrayed himself as defending virtue in a world of sin, embracing a pathological liar who boasted about sexually assaulting women, insulted the parents of an American soldier killed in combat, refused to come clean about his taxes, mocked the disabled, refused to denounce the hate groups who supported him and gleefully sought and accepted the unlawful assistance of Vladimir Putin. In view of all this, not to mention the fact that Trump lost to Hillary Clinton by almost three million votes and is a minority president by over 10 million, how can Lyles demand, as he did on Dec. 15, that those who opposed Trumps election unite behind Trump when he has made no effort whatsoever to reach out to them? Instead, Trump has offered nothing but ridicule, insults and a bleak picture of the future. Trump has ignored intelligence briefings and conflict-of-interest norms. He has stumbled over one sensitive diplomatic issue after another. Together with a crew fit for a pirate ship, Trump is planning tax breaks for the very rich, the destruction of a healthcare program that benefits millions of needy Americans, and the institutionalization of religious and racial prejudice. Donald Trump is a creature whom Ronald Reagan (and Dick Lyles I once thought) would have thrown out the door. Charles R. McKirdy Poway Letters should be limited to 250 words and must be signed. Email to: Email: editor@pomeradonews.com Amendments to the countys medical marijuana ordinance are scheduled to go before the Board of Supervisors Jan. 25, and Supervisor Dianne Jacob told some of her Ramona constituents that she has not ruled out a ban on dispensaries. Thats going to be an important hearing, she told those at the recent Ramona Community Revitalization Steering Committee. Jacob noted that in January there will be a new member on the board, referring to Kristin Gaspars victory over Supervisor Dave Roberts in District 3. That could make a difference and where we go with our ordinance, she said. Jacob said it would take three votes on the five-member board to ban dispensaries and when she proposed one in March she had the support of Supervisor Bill Horn. Without enough votes at that time, however, the board instead adopted a 45-day moratorium on medical pot shops, directing staff to come back with ordinance revisions. That moratorium was extended in April until March 2017. Everythings on the table as far as Im concerned, including a ban, Jacob said. Ramona was poised to have several medical marijuana collective facilities before the towns planning group brought its concerns, among them impaired drivers on the winding roads, to Jacob. One licensed dispensary. ShowGrow at 736 Montecito Way, was already operating, and another one, at 1210 Olive St., is allowed to open because the applicant had an approved building permit and had made a substantial investment before the moratorium. The owner of a third one, 618 Pine St., can also open but said he will not utilize the site as a dispensary so Ramona will be limited to two. Proposed amendments call for limiting the number of dispensaries to four in any one supervisorial district and to two in any one community; restricting dispensary hours to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; restricting the purchasing age to 21 and older (state law allows a minimum of 18); requiring security guards and security cameras on site; requiring a minor use permit; and including fines for ordinance violators and accelerated fines for repeat offenders. Ramona Community Planning Group (RCPG) chair Jim Piva, who was at the revitalization meeting, told the RCPG Dec. 1 that it should be represented at the Jan. 25 supervisors meeting. He noted that the county Planning Commission endorsed most of the RCPGs recommended amendments. He also cautioned that more issues may be coming down the road with marijuana cultivation and the legalization of recreational pot. Jacob addressed recreational marijuana legalization as approved by voters in November. Passage of Proposition 64 immediately allowed adults, age 21 and older, to possess, transport and buy up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and to grow up to six marijuana plants, but non-medical marijuana retailers will not be able to open until they can obtain a state license. The measure gives the state until Jan. 1, 2018, to begin issuing such licenses. But recreational pot retailers wont be allowed in the unincorporated county as the zoning ordinance now reads, according to the supervisor. San Diego Countys medical marijuana ordinance addresses non-medical marijuana in terms of banning it, said Jacob. So were good under 64 as far as commercial operations for recreational marijuana it currently is banned in the unincorporated area, she said. Jacob added she believes legalizing marijuana is big trouble and pointed out it is still illegal under federal law. Lt. Jerry Hartman of the sheriffs Ramona station said that under Prop. 64, basically wherever smoking is allowed, smoking pot is also now permitted. Sher Mohammad Haidari, a 26-year-old from Afghanistan, spent the last nine years known simply as Mike. Haidari worked as an interpreter for United States military troops and security contractors in Afghanistan. The nickname was his protection from the Taliban. If they know your real name, when you go home, theyre going to find you and cut your head off, Haidari said. He said several of his friends had been caught helping the U.S. and were decapitated by the Taliban. Haidari started working for the U.S. military in 2007 with the promise that, after two years, he could apply for a visa to relocate with his family to the U.S. After working for the U.S., it would not be safe for him to remain in Afghanistan. It took nine years and persistent lobbying by Dave Sossaman, a Ramonan who ran contract security details for the state department and department of defense in Afghanistan, to realize that promise. Theyve had all these things going on with just a ridiculous amount of wait and bureaucracy, Sossaman said. He was pretty much marked. There was a bounty on his head from the Taliban because he worked for us. I had to make quite a few calls and write quite a few letters. Haidari received a special immigrant visa in exchange for his service. About 500 immigrants from Afghanistan and Iraq with such visas resettled in San Diego County in fiscal 2016, according to state data. Sossaman picked up Haidari, along with his wife and now 8-month-old son, at the airport in Los Angeles in late September. The Haidaris spent the weekend with Sossaman before settling into an El Cajon apartment that he found for them. Sossaman helped stock the apartment with everything they might need to start their new life. Theres a lot of back-and-forth now about bringing over refugees. Guys like Mike, we have to separate all that fodder from guys like this, Sossaman said. The fact that we had him saved American lives. Haidari said he came to San Diego because Sossaman was here. Sossaman, whom Haidari calls Big Dave, hired Haidari in 2012 to lead a group of Afghan nationals who worked on a security detail escorting U.S. contractors. They got ambushed all the time, but they were able to get their equipment through when nobody else could, Sossaman recalled of Haidari. He said Haidaris job paid $600 a month. Sossaman remembered the first time he and Haidari went on a mission together. They were traveling through a dangerous area controlled by the Taliban. Sossaman was driving. Someone started shooting at them. I looked over, and hes opened the door and shooting back screaming hes a gangster at the Taliban, Sossaman said with a laugh. Haidari has scars of his time in combat. Shrapnel tore through his right arm in 2009 while he was working for U.S. special forces. He has more than 34 letters and certificates from U.S. military officers commending him for his loyalty and recommending that he be given a visa to the U.S. He keeps them in plastic protective sheets. He has the stories of a veteran. He recalls losing all of his leg hair on his lower legs because of long days in military boots. He recalls the brotherhood he felt with American troops. He recalls friends losing their limbs, their lives. He recalls the smell of dead bodies. He recalls going on a special mission with 24 Americans a couple of hours after Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl disappeared. As he was getting off a helicopter, he heard the Taliban on the scanner he held talking about seeing 24 flowers. He realized quickly that the soldiers were being referred to as flowers. He told the platoon leader, and they all hit the ground moments before shooting began. All of the soldiers survived, he said. He said he knows other interpreters still stuck in Afghanistan fearing for their lives while they wait for visas to come. Matthew Makowski, a volunteer with the San Diego chapter of No One Left Behind an organization that helps military interpreters get settled after they arrive in the U.S. said that people often forget about the interpreters. In this country, rightfully so, veterans issues get a lot of focus, Makowski said. These guys, people dont think of them as veterans even though theyve fought alongside many of our soldiers. Makowski helped Haidari move in furniture and worked toward getting him a drivers licence. He just seemed like a nice guy, very energetic and very grateful to be here and to have any bit of help, Makowski said of Haidari. It seemed like the biggest thing in the world to him. Haidari moved to San Francisco recently to be closer to some of his wifes relatives, but he knows he and Sossaman will stay in touch. I told him, When you are old, I will come as a brother and help you out, Haidari said. Haidari plans to enroll in school and work either as security, police or military. His focus is to raise his son with better opportunities than he had and to put his wife through school so she can learn English. She wants to be a fashion designer. He said he has no intention of ever returning to Afghanistan. Our country is finished, man, Haidari said. Our country is finished. Kate Morrissey writes for The San Diego Union-Tribune. A District 2 county Neighborhood Reinvestment Program Grant will pay half of projected costs for a new play structure at Ramona Elementary School. Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who represents Ramona and the rest of District 2 on the county Board of Supervisors, recommended approval of the $55,000 grant. Estimated cost of the new playground is $110,000. The new structure will replace the existing play area that is at least 25 years old and is underutilized because it offers limited play opportunities, has chipped paint layers from years of making do maintenance resulting in students often getting blisters and cuts on their hands and has a wood chip surface that needs to be replaced periodically, said retired Ramona Elementary teacher Lynda Kubinak, who prepared the grant application. The grant received county board approval last Tuesday. If this grant is approved, we are prepared to begin construction on the project within a month and complete the project well before the end of the school year, the exact timetable being dependent on contractors availability, Kubinak wrote in the cover letter accompanying the grant application. Ramona Unified School District Assistant Superintendent David Ostermann and Kubinak met with Jacob to discuss the project in early summer and submitted the application July 20. Members of Ramona Elementarys English Learners Advisory Committee (ELAC) introduced the idea during their meeting March 16 to discuss their upcoming carnival, held each year in May. With assistance from Friends of Ramona Unified Schools (FORUS), money raised during the 2015 carnival paid for a new water fountain. FORUS paid for a second new water fountain that year, and FORUS member and Ramona Elementary parent Perla Martinez organized a Tips for Sips fundraiser at Nuevo Grill & Cantina that paid for a third new water fountain at the school. What are we going to raise money for this year? was the question at the 2016 ELAC meeting, recalled Kubinak. The answer: a new and more interesting play structure that more students will use. ELACs 2016 carnival raised $2,800 toward a new playground. When campus supervisor Andy Diaz died in June, his wife asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations go toward the new playground. As of last week, the project had received $390 in Diazs memory. Ramona Elementary PTA has committed a minimum of $1,000 to the project, and FORUS plans to vote at its Jan. 11 meeting to contribute at least $1,000. T-shirt sales at the school have added $346 to the project. The school district has said it will provide the rest in money, labor and other contract help, noted Kubinak. The state architect is scheduled to be at the district to approve the project on Dec. 22, and the district, with school board approval, may go out to bid on the project as soon as January, Kubinak, a FORUS director, told FORUS members at their Dec. 14 meeting. Work is expected to be completed during spring break in April. The new and updated play structure will have a variety of play options and a pour-in-place rubber surfacing that is long lasting and similar to the surface of the new playground at Barnett Elementary, said Kubinak. Among project features are two slides, a bongo perch, end ladders, orbit climber, stationary hover beam, inverted horizontal loop ladder, chinning bar, buttress panel climbers, serpent trek, a dip station and a wave walker hip climber. It will have the capacity to accommodate up to 94 students at one time. The play area will be used during the school day, by students in the after-school program and by the community when school is not in session, the grant application states. The last time county money went to play equipment at Ramona Elementary was in 2001, when Jacob recommended and county supervisors approved $55,000 for the kindergarten playground students still use, said Kubinak. In her application cover letter, Kubinak said Ramona Elementary, built in the 1940s, is the oldest school in the district and 80 percent of its students are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Aptos, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/22/2016 -- Vietnam is one of the most commonly visited places in the world as it is known for its exotic street food, mesmerizing life styles, ethnic people, pristine beaches and many more. The monuments and ancient cities of Vietnam lure American backpackers all around the year. Moreover, it is an affordable destination due to its close proximity with the country. There are certain factors to consider before choosing a tourist destination. Vietnam backpackers can enjoy the holiday destination with some simple tested and tried methods. A proper research of the tourist destination is one of the most important things to do before visiting a place. The climate, currency, capital, language of Vietnam must be researched before visiting the place. Carrying important documents is another thing to consider before visiting Vietnam. Passports, driving license, visa papers are some of the important documents that must be carried along while visiting Vietnam. Copies of these documents should also be carried during travelling. Getting vaccinated before visiting the country is another important thing to consider for backpackers. Vietnam government requires a cholera vaccination certificate before entry into the country. So backpackers need to provide this certificate at the airport for hassle free passage. Currency is another aspect to consider before visiting Vietnam. The exchange rates of Dong with American dollars should be calculated in advance to avoid any confusion during transaction. Conducting a proper research of the prices of staple food items, accommodation and travel is also a good idea before visiting Vietnam. Opting for public transportation is another factor to consider while visiting the country. VIP buses are comfortable means of travelling. Another easily available means of transportation is tuk-tuks. Low cost planes and trains are also available for commuting in and around Vietnam. Safety is also an important aspect to consider for Vietnam backpackers. Although travelling to Vietnam can seem intimidating, the people and the culture of the place are welcoming. It is wise to check the government travel website online before travelling to any country in the world. Some websites show travel warnings and it is a good practice to check these warnings before travelling. To know more about tips for Americans to consider for Vietnam backpacking, please log on to: http://www.vietnam-backpacking.com/tips-for-american-backpackers-traveling-to-vietnam/ About Vietnam Backpacking It throws light on the different aspects of visiting Vietnam. It also explains the places in Vietnam, travel, accommodation and many more. Media Contact: URL: http://www.vietnam-backpacking.com/tips-for-american-backpackers-traveling-to-vietnam Fresno, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/22/2016 -- 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. Fresno, California General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Introduces New Geneology Asset Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.g3-development.co/ 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. Adam's hard work and creativity helped him land this job of a lifetime. He obtained incredible business experience there and spent years innovating, improving processes and setting sales records. Although this dream job in Traditional Corporate America was a fun challenge for him, and something he truly enjoyed mastering, Adam's natural entrepreneurial spirit kept nudging him to do something more significant with his time and talents. http://www.MyChocolatePod.com http://www.Facebook.com/AdamPaulGreen Since 2001, Adam has been involved in the Health and Wellness Industry as a successful Entrepreneur, Broker, Product Developer and Manufacturer of Cosmeceutical products. During his career, he has worked with some of the most recognizable Fortune 500 businesses along with many top international Network Marketing companies. Adam has consistently proven his unique ability to help his clients achieve their goals through creative Distribution-Channel Placement, innovative Product Development and custom Manufacturing. Adam currently owns three profitable businesses. 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 Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/22/2016 -- Liquid Packaging Market by Packaging Type (Flexible, Rigid), Resin (Polyethylene, Polypropylene), End-use Industries (Food & Beverage, Industrial), Technique (Aseptic Liquid Packaging, Blow Molding, Form Fill Seal Technology) - Global Forecast to 2021 "High demand from food & beverages industry is driving the liquid packaging market" The market size for liquid packaging is projected to reach USD 370.75 billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 5.4% between 2016 and 2021. Increasing demand from the food & beverages industry is the major driver for liquid packaging market. The global liquid packaging industry is expected to rise with the increasing demand from food & beverage industry in economies such as India, China, Africa, Middle East, Germany, Brazil, and others. Increasing carbon footprint due to use of various resins in the manufacturing of liquid packaging type is the major restraint affecting the growth of the market. "Flexible liquid packaging, the fastest-growing liquid packaging type" Get More Details on this Report and a Full Table of Contents at Liquid Packaging Market - Global Forecast to 2021 Flexible liquid packaging is the fastest-growing liquid packaging type. This packaging type provides various advantages such as longer shelf life, less cost, consumer friendly, capable of retaining freshness of products, less energy consumption, green packaging, and others. Films are the largest flexible liquid packaging type used majorly in the packaging of liquid products. Liquid packaging is widely used as it prevents the loss of moisture or protects the goods from moisture; improves tear, scuff and puncture resistance; and provides a heat sealable surface; and so on. "Asia-Pacific, the largest and fastest-growing market for liquid packaging" Asia-Pacific is the largest market for liquid packaging globally, with China being the most dominant market. This region is also anticipated to witness highest growth rate, which is attributed to the rapid economic expansion in the region. The rapid development in liquid packaging industry is also vigorously driven by the demand from food & beverages, medical & pharmaceutical, and other end-use industries in the region. This study has been validated through primary interviews conducted with various industry experts globally. These primary sources have been divided in three categories: by company; by designation; and by region. -By Company Type: Tier 1 - 37%, Tier 2 - 38%, and Tier 3 - 25% -By Designation: Research & Consultants - 30%, Sales Executives - 30%, and Managers - 40% -By Region: Asia-Pacific - 54%, Middle-East & Africa - 23%, Europe - 15%, North America - 8% The report also includes company profiles and competitive strategies adopted by the major market players such as The Dow Chemical Company (U.S.), International Paper (U.S.), Tetra Pak International S.A. (Switzerland), Smurfit Kappa (Ireland), Mondi Plc. (Austria), Sidel (Switzerland), BillerudKorsnas (Stockholm), Elopak (Norway), Evergreen Packaging (U.S.), and Weyerhaeuser (U.S.). Research Coverage This research report categorizes the market for liquid packaging based on packaging type, resin, end-use industry, and region. It forecasts revenue growth and includes an analysis of trends in each of the submarkets. These segments are further described in detail with their subsegments in the report with value and volume forecasts till 2021. It also includes company profiles and competitive strategies adopted by the major players in the global liquid packaging market. Reasons to buy this report: From an insight perspective, this research report has focused on various levels of analysis-industry analysis (industry trends), market share analysis of top players, supply chain analysis, and company profiles, which together comprise and discuss the basic views on the competitive landscape; emerging and high-growth segments of the liquid packaging market; high-growth regions; and market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. The report provides insights on the following pointers: -Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on liquid packaging types offered by the top market players -Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on emerging technologies, research & development (R&D) activities, and new product launches in the liquid packaging market -Market Development: Comprehensive information on lucrative emerging markets - the report analyzes the liquid packaging market across regions -Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped regions, recent developments, and investments in the liquid packaging market -Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in the liquid packaging market About Fast Market Research Fast Market Research is a leading distributor of market research and business information. Representing the world's top research publishers and analysts, we provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available. Our unbiased, expert staff is always available to help you find the right research to fit your requirements and your budget. For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156. Browse all Materials research reports at Fast Market Research You may also be interested in these related reports: -Extrusion Coating Market - Global Forecast to 2021 -Rigid Plastic Packaging Market - Global Forecast to 2021 -Liquid Fertilizers Market - Global Forecast to 2021 -Liquid Roofing Market - Global Forecast to 2021 -Naphthalene Derivatives Market - Global Forecast to 2021 Oakland Park, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/22/2016 -- Thomas R. Cutler announced the Manufacturing Media Consortium will meet on January 27, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. Cutler will lead the meeting with several hundred members of the European members of the Manufacturing Media Consortium. The professional organization includes journalists, editors, economists, and other industrial leaders worldwide. Members write about trends, data, case studies, and profiles, in the manufacturing, industrial, and distribution sectors. Cutler works with thousands of media outlets to expand manufacturing media coverage. Cutler is ranked as the leading manufacturing journalist worldwide and a contributing editor for hundreds of publications annually. Thomas R. Cutler has been writing extensively about manufacturing and industry for more than twenty years. According to Cutler, "The dynamic stories of global manufacturers and best-practices create a never-ending stream of feature articles and important, newsworthy content. There are challenges to be sure along with opportunities for growth and worthy of media attention which is the purpose of the global Manufacturing Media Consortium." About TR Cutler, Inc. and Thomas R. Cutler TR Cutler, Inc. (http://www.trcutlerinc.com) was founded by Thomas R. Cutler seventeen years ago. Maintaining extraordinary relationships with clients, journalists, editors, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide, TR Cutler, Inc. has become a key resource for those writing about the manufacturing sector. Cutler founded Manufacturing Media Consortium in the 1999. Cutler is the author of several books and has become the "go to" resource among those who write about manufacturing and distribution. Cutler is the author of more than five hundred feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing, distribution, industrial, and material handling sectors. Follow on Twitter @ThomasRCutler. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/22/2016 -- An explosive can be anything solid or liquid or mixture of materials which with the help of external stimulus forms or releases number of gasses generating high pressures. The explosives are broadly classified into three categories packaged explosives, bulk explosives and initiating systems. Packaged explosives have vast applications in different industries like mining, at construction sites, road building, infrastructure development, seismic exploration and others. Packaged explosives are in form of cartridges with different sizes as per the requirements. Packaged explosives dominated the explosives market since the invention of dynamite in 1867. The rapid technology growth and ease of usability in various industries were the reasons for the development and more usability of packaged explosives. With the passage of time two more categories were packaged gel explosive and packaged emulsion explosives were developed in this segment. Request to View Sample Report @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11062 The global demand for the packaged explosives is well driven due to activity and investments in the infrastructure segment. Apart from the mining industries coal and metal are the core industries to drive the market demand for the packaged explosives. The downstream users for the packaged explosives are key industries responsible for economy developments like steel, power, cement, mining etc. and thus their requirements drive the market demand for the packaged explosives. The restraints for the packaged explosive market is the excessive dependent on the downstream industries. A little fluctuation in their market affects the whole demand index for packaged explosives. The hazardous risk involved in the usability is another restraint for the packaged explosive market, safety modules and trainings are essential for the safe usability are necessary. Global packaged explosive market is segmented based on type (technology), application industries (downstream users) and the region. Based on the type (technology) the global packaged explosive market is segmented into three categories Traditional Dynamite, packaged emulsions & water gel and packaged ANFO. They all have various market shares in the various regions owing to the application ease and industry. Based on the end use industry (downstream users) the global market for the packaged explosives in classified into coal, road construction, Metal mining, cement, steel and others. Based on the regions global market for the packaged explosives is divide into seven key regions which are North America (U.S., Canada), Latin America (Mexico. Brazil),Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg),Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia),Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand),Japan ,Middle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, N. Africa). The demand for the packaged explosives is due to the expansion of downstream user industries and their demand for the explosives. The major demand for packaged explosives is from the mining industry (60 to 70 %). Developed countries from North America and Western Europe are experiencing the stabilization in this industry due to shift and preference towards the usability of renewable sources. The fatal accidents in the production capacities of Europe has forced them to shut down the facilities. Countries in south America (Brazil, Mexico), Pacific Rim (Australia) and Africa (South) are driving the market demand owing to the surplus coal and metal reserves and low penetration in the region, making these regions the demand driver for the packaged explosives. The other important consideration for driving the market growth for the packaged explosives is infrastructure development and demand from the construction industries. Asia pacific countries with the growing economies are expected to show highest packaged explosives demand growth due to the development of rail and public facilities. China and India are expected to show the considerable market demand for the packaged explosives market. Middle East is the region where large public and private investments are being done and are expected in future because of the real estate and infrastructure development making it one of the key regions to consider as the future market for the packaged explosives. Request to view Table of content @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11062 The packaged explosive manufacturers have to be involved with safety modules and essential trainings to avoid the fatal accidents. The major manufacturing players for the packaged explosives are Orica Limited, (Australia), Dyno Nobel (US), AEL Mining Services Ltd. (South Africa), Austin Powder Company (US), EPC Group (France), Hanwha Corporation (South Korea), LSB Industries (US), NOF Corp (Japan), Sasol Limited (South Africa), Solar Industries India Ltd.(India) and others. About Persistence Market Research Persistence 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. Archaeologists from the University of Birmingham and the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) Qubbet el-Hawa Research Project (QHRP) yesterday announced the discovery of a 6.5-foot (2 m) high ancient encroachment wall in the northern part of the West Aswan cemetery at Qubbet el-Hawa, Aswan. The newly discovered wall is thought to indicate the architectural support for the known tombs of the first upper terrace, including those of Harkhuf and Heqaib, who were governors of Elephantine Island during the Old Kingdom. Owing to the landscape of Qubbet el-Hawa, the support wall helped to secure the hillside, and thus lower lying tombs, which were accessible by a causeway leading to a second terrace, said Dr. Martin Bommas of the University of Birmingham, director of the QHRP. The findings are dramatically altering our understanding of the funerary landscape in this area during the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period in 2278-2184 BC, added Carl Graves, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham, UK. I dont think anyone yet knows who the tombs might have belonged to. The stone wall was dated by the pottery shreds embedded within the mortar used to build it, said Dr. Eman Khalifa, director of the pottery project within the QHRP. The crushed pieces include parts of carinated bowls, executed in a style typical of the reign of King Pepi II from the Sixth Dynasty (circa 2278-2184 BC), together with pieces of Marl Clay jars typical of the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom, thus indicating the expansion of the cemetery during these periods. The find was part of the QHRP projects successful first field season, which included the recent discovery of the long sought causeway of Sarenput I, thought to have been the first governor of the area at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. The discovery is stunning. It is now only a matter of time until new tombs are uncovered within the important cemetery, said Nasr Salama, General Director of Aswan and Nubia Antiquities. A recent suicide of a teenager named Brandy Vela from Texas City, was a potent reminder of the typically tragic consequences of bullying. By the statement of Vela's parents, the teenager fatally shot herself last Nov. 29, following months of bullying and harassment perpetrated by text messages and social media. Sexual harassment is a form of prevalent victimization that majority of the antibullying programs ignore and lecturers and school officials typically fails to acknowledge, stated by the bullying and youth violence expert Dorothy L. Espelage. She recently led a five-year study that examined links between bullying and sexual harassment among schoolchildren in Illinois, according to Phys.org. Nearly half or 43 percent of middle school students surveyed for the study and reported that they had been victims of verbal sexual harassment like sexual comments, jokes or gestures throughout the previous year. The study followed 1,300 Illinois youths from their middle school to high school, examining the dangerous factors related to bullying and sexual harassment and the characteristics of the perpetrators according to Illinois News Bureau. Verbal harassment is a lot common than physical sexual harassment or sex offense. 21 percent of students reported they have been touched, grabbed or pinched in a very sexual approach, and 18 percent stated that their peers had brushed up against them in a very suggestive manner. Students added that they were being forced to kiss the perpetrators, having their private areas touched without their consent and being "pantsed" -- having their pants or shorts jerked down by somebody else publically. A couple of students from four middle schools completed the surveys, and a few of the youths and their lecturers were both interviewed by the researchers. Dorothy L. Espelage who conducted the research is a faculty at the University of Illinois. She is also a professor at the University of Florida. The scientists have seen the formation of ice crystals on the individual atmospheric particles. This helps them in understanding how ice clouds shape in the atmosphere. The study was led by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. They created ice clouds crystals in the laboratory. Then, they took images of the process in the microscope, which documented the first steps of cloud formation. Science Daily reports that the process that the team used is called the ice nucleation. This process occurs when a particle attracts water vapor and forms ice crystals. When these ice crystals form together, they become a cloud. A process such as this could aid in understanding how clouds form and how clouds cool and heat the planet Earth. Bingbing Wang, the first author of the study and a professor at Xiamen University in China, said that this process is one of the most critical but least understood parts of how cold clouds form. He further said that the fundamental process of how ice grows is relatively well understood, but ice nucleation -- that moment when the first group of molecules comes together remains a big challenge. In the study, the researchers replicated the conditions found above the surface of the Earth with a height of 6 kilometers, in which the cirrus clouds form above the sky. The relative humidity at this height is high. Meanwhile, the temperatures are very low. This means that water vapor collects on any tiny particles found floating in the atmosphere, before freezing in place as an ice deposit. The team then used particles of a clay mineral known as kaolinite in the process of ice nucleation. Kaolinites are minute particles with just about 2-3 microns in size, or less than one-tenth the width of the human hair. These were placed in a highly confined climate-controlled chamber about the size of a poppy seed and could be seen through an environmental scanning electron microscope. The temperatures in ice nucleation are as low as 205 degrees Kelvin or minus 68 degrees Celsius and has a relative humidity from about 70 percent to 80 percent, according to Science Alert. Daniel Knopf, an atmospheric chemist from Stony Brook University and one of the researchers, said that they could monitor every moment the formation of an ice crystal at a nanoscale resolution and under atmospherically relevant conditions. He further said that in doing so and knowing that this process is replicated a million times, these result in a cloud visible to the naked eye. He added that this is tremendously exciting and a huge step forward for the predictive understanding of cloud formation with important ramifications for the climate. Treating blocked arteries is faster only when diagnosis is quick and without delay. Diagnosis of blocked arteries has posed a challenge in the absence of 3D imagery techniques of blood vessels. Specialists have had to scan through waves of CT images to make a diagnosis, according to Novus Light. Now, researchers in Austria have discovered a novel technique to view the imagery of blood vessels. This can help boost the pace and accuracy at which blocked arteries can be diagnosed. Milos Sramek of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and his team developed algorithms, which made it possible to have unending visuals of the blood vessel, lumen. With this continuous imagery, specialists can easily spot the location of the blockages sooner as compared to prevailing practices, reports Silicon Republic. These scientists developed two processes that assist in mapping vessels. They are centerline reformation and curved surface reformation. With the first process, specialists can view continuous imagery of the inside of a blood vessel. Explaining how this imagery helps, Rudiger Schernthaner from the Medical University of Vienna said, "Using this technique, we are actually able to visualise the lumen or inside of lung and brain blood vessels without overlaps -- an approach that was considered extremely difficult up to now, due to the sharp twists and turns." The second process, curved surface reformation, chips in with the 3D visualization by employing a method known as ray casting. Both the processes help with quick 3D imagery of objects. With these visuals of blood vessels, specialists can examine the center line of a blood vessel. It is possible to have accurate reports that will aid better diagnosis. With this latest technique of allowing specialists to view 3D images of blood vessels, it is possible to locate potential blockages and begin the course of treatment without delay. This technique certainly scores very high in accuracy, medical care and prognosis of better outcomes for the patient. Undoubtedly, with the growing development of better diagnostic tools in medical care, specialists can utilize their time and knowledge in better ways to promote quality medical care to patients to realize better health outcomes. Torrent users have done it again! They have proven that they will not be overcome by federal or administrative authors. They have defeated Australian ISP Telstra's decision to block any access to The Pirate Bay. Telstra was the first internet service provider in the entire country to try and do their bit by blocking torrent and piracy sites. A federal court order had asked Oz internet service providers to shut down access to torrent sites like The Pirate Bay. Only last week, the federal court had ordered against the piracy and torrent sites. They had directed over 50 ISPs in Australia to deny access to certain torrent pirate sites. These sites are against IP rights and promote data piracy. The sites in question are The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, Torrent Hound, IsoHunt and streaming service Solar Movie. Eventually, according to the court order, these websites and access to them will be denied in the country. Who was the case brought forth by? The case against pirate sites was brought by big production banners including Roadshow Films, Foxtel, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures. However, the pirate sites users including those of The Pirate Bay, across Australia united to defeat the efforts of the legal system as well as Telstra. The users began by configuring their computers to use the domain name system of Google instead of the provider Telstra's! In fact, more users are now using the OpenDNS system because they believe it logs lesser data than Google does. The court ruling was just a general restriction to be put by internet service providers over these pirate sites like The Pirate Bay. As such, no direction was given over how they can or should block the pirate sites from getting internet traffic. Telstra chose the option which is the easiest to break. They used DLC blocking. The court had stated that "ISPs can use any means that is approved by rights holders like DNS blocking, IP address blocking (or IP re-routing), URL blocking, or any alternative technical means." The court order in favor of such rights holders is one of its kind- they have been rallying for some legal protection for users and they were finally successful. Stay tuned to SWR for more updates and the latest news on The Pirate Bay shut down. A thundersnow enveloped the summits of Hawaii's tallest volcanoes, the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, on Sunday and Monday. There was also heavy snow that fell in the said areas of the Big Island of Hawaii. The National Weather Service in Honolulu said that the Mauna Kea park rangers reported a significant snowfall with continuous thunder and lightning over the summits of the volcanoes. Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano, in which its peak is the highest point in Hawaii. It is about 4,207 meters (13,802 feet) above sea level. Mauna Kea is about a million years old. Jeff Haby, a meteorologist, explained that upward motion of air helps produce thunderstorms. On the other hand, it is rare to have convection within a winter storm. He further said that thunder and lightning are much more common in warm-season thunderstorms. The Weather Channel said that the volcanic summits of Hawaii's Big Island have seen their fair share of snow this December. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa experienced heavy snow in the first week of December. On the other hand, even though it was snowing at the summits of these volcanoes, the temperatures are mild throughout the rest of Hawaii this week. Meanwhile, in Honolulu, temperatures will be high in the 80s, according to USA Today. The weather service also stated that the snow on the summits of the mountains of Hawaii is not uncommon in the colder months because they are almost 14,000 feet high. Meanwhile, Matthew Foster, a staff meteorologist with the weather service in Honolulu, said that if there are enough clouds to support ice crystals and cold temperatures at the summit level, there will be snowfall. Thundersnow also referred to as winter thunderstorm is a rare kind of thunderstorm with snow falling instead of rain. It usually falls in the areas of strong upward motion within the cold sector of an extratropical cyclone. In thundersnow, the graupel or hail also falls. ALMA's (Atacama Large Millimeter Array) radio telescope is now better equipped to spot the presence of water in space. It is armed with new receivers. Scientists on the quest of discovering extraterrestrial life or existence of aliens on other planets almost always look for the presence of life-saving H2O. The presence of water has also been a sign of existence of civilizations. This is because all carbon-based life forms need water to exist. Therefore, when probes are sent to other planets or when scientists look into telescopes into the cosmos, they endeavor to detect water. Yet, water is not easy to spot using telescopes from the planet Earth. Recently, endeavors to spot the existence of water have got a boost in the work of scientists by using the ALMA's radio telescope in Chile. New receivers have been installed in the ALMA radio telescope, and this promises to help detect the presence of water in the cosmos, reveals Inverse. The location of the telescope is also advantageous for scientists. ALMA is positioned on the Chajnantor Plateau nearly 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) above the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The air here is conducive as it is moisture less. The receivers that are highly sensitive can be very well utilized here as compared to other regions on the Earth. How do the ALMA Radio Telescope Receivers Work? The band 5 receivers are equipped with the capacity to identify electromagnetic radio, which is between the wavelength of 1.42 and 1.83 millimeters. The ALMA antennas pick up even the really weak signals and focus them onto the receivers. Scientists had conducted many tests last year on the existing ALMA receivers and found that equipping the band 5 receivers with new ones in the wavelength 1.42 mm to 1.83 mm (211 GHz to 163 Ghz) will help enhance the radio frequency view of the sky. New Atlas quoted ALMA Program Scientist Leonardo Testi as saying, "The new receivers will make it much easier to detect water, a prerequisite for life as we know it, in our Solar System and in more distant regions of our galaxy and beyond. They will also allow ALMA to search for ionised carbon in the primordial Universe." The Sea of Galilee has been Israel's major source of water for centuries. While the Biblical lake has been showered with a million tourists every year, a report from the country's water authority says it rather needs more frequent visits of rain. Reuters reported that the Sea of Galilee, where Christians believe Jesus walked on, needs miraculous rains to refill it. A huge drop in the amount of rainfall in the northern Galilee region has reportedly caused its water to recede. Also known as Lake Tiberias or Kinneret, the Biblical lake -- located at the northeastern part of Israel and flows through the Jordan River -- measures about 65 square miles (179 square kilometers). According to Israel's Water Authority, the famous lake is currently in its lowest volume in the last five years. Since it has been the largest source of freshwater in the northern part of Israel as well as its neighboring country Jordan, the lake's recession has worried the authorities for its further declines. A low volume in lake water would mean higher levels of salt, which extremely affects the eco-balance and eventually makes its water unusable. This could be a depressing situation for the Sea of Galilee especially considering the fact that it is one of the most significant locations in Christian faith. According to the Bible, the Sea of Galilee was where Jesus Christ performed some of his major miracles. It was in the same lake that Jesus walked on water as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and it was also where Jesus calmed the raging storm as told in the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of John also mentions the Sea of Galilee where the disciples caught a massive amount of fish when Jesus commanded them following His resurrection. Until now, the Biblical lake has continued to be a renowned site for fishing. TeamIndus, the only Indian team participating in the Google Lunar XPrize competition, displayed sportsmanship and promised to help the Japanese team, Hakuto, in transporting its robotic rover to the Moon. The TeamIndus will be transporting the Japanese rover in its spacecraft along with its own indigenously designed robotic rover, where they will be competing against each other for $25 million prize. The Google Lunar XPrize competition involves landing the spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, from where the robotic rovers will have to travel 500 meters and then broadcast live high-definition videos, images and data from the Moon. In addition to India and Japan, the teams from the USA and Israel are also in the competition. The TeamIndus signed a commercial launch contract with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which will provide help in transporting the Indian robotic rover named ECA -- 'Ek Chhoti si Asha' that means one small wish. The spacecraft carrying ECA will be launched in ISRO's PSLV, which will then deploy the spacecraft into the orbit, 800 kilometers above the Earth's surface. After that, the spacecraft will switch on its own engines and set course to the Moon. After making a successful landing on Mare Imbrium on the lunar surfce, both rovers will be deployed and they will continue their missions separately and fight for the Google Lunar XPrize, Business Standard reported. Rahul Narayan, the Fleet Commander of TeamIndus, said that, "We are delighted to welcome Hakuto on board our spacecraft and look forward to working with them over the next few months." "This is a reaffirmation of our technology preparedness as we continue to build towards becoming the first private entity to land on the moon," Narayan added. According to The Economic Times, TeamIndus is preparing for the Google Lunar XPrize with the funding received from privatey owned industrial giants from India, which include Ratan Tata (Tata Group), Nandan Nilekani (Infosys), Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (Flipkart) and Venu Srinivasan (TVS Group) along with a few others. Sridhar Ramasubban, Jedi Master of TeamIndus, said that, "TeamIndus can carry up to 20 kg of payload, of which the Japanese rover is 4 kg. In addition to that, we are carrying International University payloads and student experiments under our Lab2moon initiative." Is Google running an internal "spying program" on its own employees? One of the employees has alleged that Google uses its confidentiality policies to stop employees from talking about its illegal practices. This follows an allegation against Google for its confidentiality policies by one of its employees, who has filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court in San Francisco, claiming that the policies violate California labor laws. The complaint says that Google's confidentiality policies prohibit employees from speaking out about illegal activity within the company, even to its own lawyers. Further, the policies encourage employees to report other employees who are suspected of leaking information. It further claims that these confidentiality policies have been drafted with a goal to stop employees from handing sensitive information to the press. The suit also alleges that one of the co-founders at Google, at an all-hands meeting, warned employees of termination if anyone is found leaking confidential information. "Google's motto is 'don't be evil.' Google's illegal confidentiality agreements and policies fail this test," the lawsuit reads. The suit also calls out a Securities and Exchange Commission guideline banning companies from preventing their employees from interacting with the agency about potential violations. The lawsuit further states that the Code of Conduct at Google classifies "everything" at Google as confidential information. It also alleges that Google "suppresses information" about illegal products or regulatory-skirting practices. In the meanwhile, a Google spokesperson has said that the lawsuit holds no merit. "We will defend this suit vigorously because it's baseless. We're very committed to an open internal culture, which means we frequently share with employees details of product launches and confidential business information," the statement reads. According to one estimate, if found guilty of violating California labor law, Google could be fined up to $100 for every alleged violation proved correct, multiplied by its total number of employees. There are greater penalties for continuous violations. In totality, Google might end up coughing up $3.8 billion. Prince Harry is concerned that young people are spending too much time on their smartphones than talking to actual people. The Telegraph reported that Prince Harry advises the youth to "lift up their heads" and get involved in normal conversations than spend most of their time being glued to their phones and tablets. The royal pointed out that talking to people personally could help them share and overcome their struggles than hiding behind social media and drowning in their issues. Prince Harry attended a Christmas party at the mental health charity Heads Together with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The royal trio founded the umbrella group, which aims to help young people get through their mental health issues. Heads Together chief executive Ged Flynn told reporters about his conversation with the younger royalsaying Prince Harry used the phrase "lift your heads" since "a lot of people are spending their time looking down at apps and so on." The 32-year-old prince added that young people are not having much of a normal face-to-face contact these days because they do not go out and talk to each other anymore like what people in his father's generation did. The royal was also concerned about how people could open up and talk about having suicidal thoughts. "I sometimes use the phrase 'may your life be as happy as social media pretends it is', because there is a veneer, a pretend life going on for a lot of young people," Flynn explained. "What is killing young people more than anything else is themselves." According to Jason Foundation, more teenagers and young adults die from suicide than cancer, stroke, heart disease, chronic lung disease, birth defects, influenza, pneumonia and AIDS combined. Furthermore, there is an average of 5,240 suicide attempts among young people from age 12 to 18 in the U.S. alone. At this time of the year, we Americans often count our many blessings and then move quickly into gift giving. As Christians, we celebrate the perfect gift from above, the earthly coming of Jesus Christ and his miraculous plan of salvation. As a Christian-based organization, Mercy Medicine Free Clinic also reflects on its own end-of-year as to (a) its wonderful administration and staff who contribute to the work of the clinic (often at their own expense), (b) its wonderful group of volunteers who unselfishly give of their time, and, most important, (c) the clinic's generous delivery of free heatlh care and pharmaceuticals to the uninsured and working poor residents of the Pee Dee. Having recently gone through a somewhat painful presidential election for many reasons, in which health care in America was a hot-button issue, we are likely evolving into a major restructuring of health care in America. No doubt, in any system, there will be millions and millions of Americans who somehow "fall through the cracks," and will need more than ever the charitable services of a facility such as Mercy Medicine Free Clinic. Let us briefly review, at this year's end, the charitable and unselfish administration and staff at Mercy Medicine Free Clinic as they fulfill the 1994 start-up vision of the clinic's founding fathers. Then we will celebrate the many wonderful volunteers from the general public, who give of their time unselfishly to the workings of the clinic. And, most important, we feature the expert medical care delivered free and unconditionally to the uninsured and working poor residents of the Pee Dee, and we attest to the certain needs for the continuation of "free health care" in South Carolina for years to come. From the greater Florence community, Mercy Medicine has been guided continuously by a superb gathering of board members, incorporating business leaders, professional persons, financiers, educators and health care workers (medical, dental, nursing). Guided by Chairman Al Munn, the board meets regularly to update the progress of the clinic, to address and correct any deficiencies of the clinic, to arrange and plan for fundraisers (such as the "Big Give" and the November Gala), and to address the ever-present future needs and progress of the clinic. The boards purpose is constantly to extend the services of the clinic and bring expert Christian-based health care to more and more needy residents of the Pee Dee. Likewise, the on-site staff of directors, office managers, eligibility personnel, nurse practitioners, nurses, technicians and others have, as their heart - felt purpose, to deliver good-quality health care to needy patients, who look to the clinic as their "medical home." It would be incomplete to fail to mention the progressive technology of Mercy Medicine in the treatment of diabetic patients, with a new way to monitor them as out-patients to achieve better control of their diabetes. Also, the health care providers are at work establishing protocols in the discovery and treatment of maladies such as cancers, hypertension and depression so as to utilize their precious health care dollars to treat more patients with efficiency and expertise. Mercy Medicine has about a half dozen volunteers who deserve most kind remarks. These ladies come to work at various times during the week to help with filling out forms, interviewing potential patients, charting, filing, and other needed office work to make the office run more efficiently. Their contribution to the clinic is incomparable. The clinic often celebrates "Volunteer's Appreciation Day" with a luncheon. These volunteers come from the community and help spread the Christian message of caring and charitable giving to the many patients coming through the clinic. Mercy Medicine has been a formidable player in the delivery of needed health care in the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina for more than than 20 years. And even with the Affordable Care Act (commonly called "Obamacare" in 2009), Mercy Medicine has continued to serve a growing number of uninsured and working poor residents of the hreater Florence area. With the most recent presidential election, there may well be a serious effort to repeal Obamacare, and it must be replaced with another plan facilitating national health care, but that plan is at the most uncertain and not yet in place, and when it is, it most likely will not cover millions and millions of American residents who still "fall through the cracks" of coverage. The uninsured and working poor will always be among us, and our Christian duty is to serve them as well. A big concern to national politicians is that many uninsured patients will still go to hospital emergency rooms for primary health care. Mercy Medicine has shown conclusively that preventive, corrective, and follow-up medical care delivered at its facilities very often reduces and prevents frequent ER visits at the local hospitals. In summary, Mercy Medicine Free Clinic is truly blessed with the many wonderful and unselfish persons, serving on the board, the administrative staff, the employees of health care professionals, and last but not least the volunteers. Mercy Medicine is indebted to the many corporate sponsors, health care institutions, private donors, and "just regular people" who want to feel a part of the Christian spirit of delivery of free health care to the poor. As national health care continues to be an uncertain issue for many years to come, there will always be a need for charitable free clinics like Mercy Medicine Free Clinic. And as long as their need exists, Mercy Medicine Free Clinic will be at the forefront. J. Elwood Owens is a retired cardio-thoracic surgeon, and attorney, and volunteer physician at Mercy Medicine Free Clinic. So far, Fathom's weekly sailings have alternated to the Dominican Republic and Cuba, not mingled the two. Now travelers can experience the arts, history, culture and everyday lives of Cuban people while in Santiago de Cuba, and take part in social impact experiences in the Dominican Republic. The company got approval from Cuban authorities to visit Santiago de Cuba on its Feb. 26, March 12, March 26, April 9, April 23 and May 7 departures. These cruises are priced starting at $599. The itinerary includes a full day exploring Santiago de Cuba, the capital of the Spanish colony of Cuba from 1522 to 1589, and the island's second largest city. It is home to Carnaval and the Fiesta del Fuego, and to many of the countrys most famed musicians and artists and some of its most visited historic sites. Travelers can tour the UNESCO World Heritage site of San Pedro de la Roca del Morro Castle, explore well-known areas such as San Juan Hill, Antonio Maceo Revolution Square and the Plaza de Marte and have lunch at a local paladar. An excursion available for purchase visits one of Cubas most revered Catholic shrines, Our Lady of Charity El Cobre Church. There, travelers learn the story of the boys who claimed to see the Virgin Mary and then spread the word of special favors granted through the intercession of Our Lady of Charity. After arriving in the early evening at Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, travelers will have one and a half days to address areas of economic, educational and environmental opportunities by participating alongside locals in activities like planting trees, helping a women's cooperative produce artisan chocolates and building water filters for Dominican homes. On the new itinerary, Adonia sails from PortMiami Sunday at 4:30 p.m. and spends Monday at sea before arriving at Santiago de Cuba on Tuesday for a stay from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The ship gets to Amber Cove on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and remains alongside until Friday at 1 p.m. After Saturday at sea, Adonia returns to PortMiami Sunday morning at 7:30. Fares exclude taxes, fees and port expenses, gratuities and Cuban visa, and include lunch in Santiago de Cuba, lunch during Dominican Republic impact activities and select on-the-ground activities. The required Cuban travel visa is $75, and gratuities are estimated at $80.50 per person. Dog sledding, floatplane trips, wildlife viewing and salmon fishing are some of the tour choices, while Ventures by Seabourn offers the chance to explore at sea level, guided by scientists, scholars and naturalists. One excursion, developed just for Seabourn at Sitka, offers phenomenal bird- and wildlife-watching on a catamaran excursion to St. Lazaria National Wildlife Refuge. A heated cabin offers a comfortable boat ride to the summer home of thousands of seabirds, from tufted puffins to rhinoceros auklets, nesting on sheer volcanic cliffs surrounded by waters teeming with whales and sea otters. Participants will have lunch at Dove Island Lodge. Other adventures include dog sledding on Mendenhall Glacier by helicopter from Juneau and, at Ketchikan, fishing and wilderness dining with a gourmet campfire meal of freshly caught seafood served in a saffron-infused, bouillabaisse-inspired stew. At Haines, one tour takes participants to Burro Creek to see stunning waterfalls and partake in a crab boil. They also can join the on-site naturalist at Burro Creek Lodge for a hike. Among the Ventures by Seabourn is an adventure in Rudyerd Bay at Misty Fjords National Park, which John Muir proclaimed among the most beautiful places he had ever seen. The Zodiac and flight excursion offers the chance to see remote parts of Misty Fjords at sea level, complete with the spray of the waterfalls. At Haines, a Zodiac ride from Letnikof Cove to Glacier Point leads to a guided hike through the temperate rain forest, with the Ventures team and specialist local guides interpreting the varied fauna and flora. At the base of Davidson Glacier participants will gear up with helmet and crampons to step onto the ice. Two other Ventures are a kayak exploration of Holgate Fjord, amid backdrops of dramatic waterfalls, ice and glaciers, and glacier- and wildlife-viewing by Zodiac through Tracy Arm to Sawyer Glacier. Seabourn Sojourn's Alaska season begins with an 11-day cruise departing Vancouver on June 1. Fares start at $4,999 per person. The shipowner said it had agreed with China Shipbuilding and Trading, and Jiangnan Shipyard to reduce the price of two newcastlemax bulker newbuildings by $1m each the. The newbuildings expected to be delivered on 4 January 2017 are now priced at $47.7m compared to $48.7m previously. Diana Shipping has also chartered the 208,500 dwt vessel Newport News, currently under construction, to SwissMarine for between 22 and 26 months. The daily gross charter rate will be 24% above the BCI_2014 average of the five pre-determined time charter routes as published by the Baltic Exchange minus a 5% commission. It has also chartered two panamax vessels to Glencore Agriculture. The Naias has been chartered for 9 13 months at $7,750 per day minus 5% commission, while the Leto has been chartered at $7,500 per day minus 5% commission for 7 10 months. We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. I moved my business home to Detroit and Im ecstatic to be here. Heres why. We left Michigan, as many did, during a time of economic upheaval. We eventually settled in San Francisco, where I founded From 2000 miles away, I kept hearing about things happening in Detroit. Auto jobs were growing again, tech startups were taking off, the citys design and food communities were getting noticed. From our perch in a high-achievement, but very low-diversity market, we started paying closer attention. The numbers supported the hype. Several of our clients were based here already, and we wanted to be closer to family and friends. So we packed our wagons and headed home. It might sound like a tale youve heard before, but its not. People are coming here -- or, in our case and others, returning here -- because Detroit is different. First, the arts community is innovative and has been for a long time. Indeed, what single U.S. city was named a UNESCO City of Design? Though our principals creative experience ranges from Jeep and Ford to Hallmark and FedEx, with non-profit and museum work thrown in for good measure, weve always enjoyed working with blossoming enterprises. Whether helping an independent film Kickstarter campaign get off the ground or creating a brand for a fledgling ethical meat producer, weve been continually inspired by untapped talent. The opportunity to partner with entrepreneurs chasing a dream and figuring out who they are and what they want to share with the world is like no other. We are also enjoying working with established corporate clients on branding, websites, social media, and multi-sensory trade show experiences. We have discovered that Detroit offers multiple opportunities to support entrepreneurship. In fact the citys Indeed entrepreneurs and small business owners here feel valued, more so perhaps than in other cities. Molly OMeara, co-founder of From M3Ds new studio at We also create marketing campaigns, video and photo work, identity design, website infrastructure, print collateral, trade show design, editorial, social media management, graphic design, and even a bit of prototyping for more traditional Detroit industries. We did all of these things and more for automotive supplier Since theres a generous supply of useful space in Detroit, we work with clients on site selection, build-outs, and re-imagination of old spaces. When making these decisions together, we are honored to incorporate history, heritage, and culture. The opportunity to be part of a communitys ongoing conversation about where its been, what its experienced, and where it wants to grow next, is a privilege. One exciting interior architecture project Dana is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring my business into a city that is recreating itself. Its inspiring because small businesses are integral to Detroits resurgence. I chose Detroit in the hopes that Detroits growth would be an excellent platform to bring a new type of business into an already saturated industry. This story is one of many unfolding across Detroit right now. Tons of programs, many sponsored by the city, offer networking and grant opportunities to help entrepreneurs jump in and get started. M3D is also an approved Frankly, Detroit, historical home of innovation, is becoming this countrys premier place to succeed As were building our company here, were also seeking advice from fellow small business owners about their work, their goals, and their paths to success. Weve learned a lot and were excited to She couldnt be more right. Our story began in 1866 when a large number of secularist groups from around the UK came together to strengthen their campaigns. Their leader was Charles Bradlaugh. Since those early days the National Secular Society has pioneered many important social reforms and society has changed a lot. For centuries, religion-based laws forbade entry for non-believers into parliament. They banned abortion, divorce, contraception, homosexuality, blasphemy and even cremation. Those laws have now been dismantled; human rights and equality for minorities are broadly accepted and protected by law. In the struggles to bring about these reforms, the NSS has always played a prominent role and sometimes a decisive one. To mark our 150th anniversary in 2016 the National Secular Society commissioned a portrait bust of Charles Bradlaugh which is now on display in the Palace of Westminster as part of the Parliamentary Art Collection. We also produced an anniversary brochure giving a potted history of our first 150 years. Read on to find out more about our story, and some of the significant historical events and people that illustrate the NSS's rich history. Explore our story Secularism before the NSS Throughout history, different religious and political traditions have considered the relationship between individuals' personal conscience and ideology, between the divine and the secular. What today we might call the balance of freedom of and from religion. During the 18th century, the Enlightenment movement, revolutions and the emergence of the nation state, all challenged the relationship between church and state. Secularist philosophers religious and non-religious alike, created the intellectual climate in which the National Secular Society was to emerge. Inspiration came from early freethinkers. The most important of these was Thomas Paine, whose pioneering Rights of Man changed the way ordinary people thought about politics and their place in society. Also of importance was Richard Carlile, who went to jail for nine years for publishing Paine's The Age of Reason, a trenchant critique of the Bible. Later leading figures included Robert Owen, George Jacob Holyoake who first coined the word 'secularism' and our first President, Charles Bradlaugh. These freethinkers often stood at the forefront of radical and reformist movements, which gained strength in the 19th century. The Society's early years British secularism was essentially a working-class movement strongly influenced by the French revolution. In the mid Nineteenth Century the secularist movement was widespread, with many local society's being founded. However the radical and freethought leadership was fragmented and, in Bradlaugh's opinion, insufficiently positive. This would change with the founding of the National Secular Society in 1866. However deep divisions would remain, between opponents and supporters of birth control, and between those dedicated to challenging the Church's abuse of temporal power, and those dedicated to challenging its very existence. The 20th century Momentum for constitutional disestablishment at least in England declined in the twentieth century. While social changes undermined religious privilege, religious organisations played an increasing role in the expanding state. The Society's third president - Chapmen Cohen introduced a new generation to the secular cause. By the end of WWII life in Britain had become increasingly secularised, but there was still a pressing need for existing religious privileges to be challenged. Playwright Harold Pinter wrote in the 1966 NSS centenary brochure: "The fact remains that children are still indoctrinated in schools at public expenseand many humane and rational reforms remain opposedThe work of the National Secular Society remains highly important". These words remain as true today as when they were written; in some ways they are even truer. For example, the role of religion in state education has probably grown rather than declined. David Tribe and Barbara Smoker were notable Presidents in the second half of the twentieth century. They greatly increased the society's use of the media to express its views. The 21st century The 21st century has seen a drastic decline in religious observance in the UK. At the same time there has been a rise of religious diversity and increasingly personalised religion, where religious leaders' and institutions' hold over public opinion even among the religious has vastly diminished. Despite this era of secularisation, religion has remained politically influential and privileged. Religious fundamentalism has remerged as a political force. Global conflicts between capitalism and communism have been replaced in places with a conflict between secular democracy and theocracy. New, often contentious, model of both secularism and religious privilege have emerged. And secularism is increasingly being seen as a human rights issue in which people of all faiths as well as none have a stake. More information Spartacus Educational Free online encyclopedia with resources on the history of secularism. Spartacus Educational is an external website with essays and other educational material on a wide variety of historical subjects. The NSS does not necessarily endorse its resources. However we have told us that it has a number of useful resources on radical historical figures. If you have enjoyed our historical resources you may find the following Spartacus articles useful: James Watson Richard Carlile George Holyoake Charles Bradlaugh Annie Besant The National Reformer Mexico worked Wednesday to identify the charred bodies of dozens of people killed in an explosion at its biggest fireworks market, as authorities investigated what caused the multi-colored salvo of destruction. Thirty one people are known to have died in the Tuesday blast - 26 at the scene and five more in hospital. Forensic experts are working on genetic analyses of the bodies because nearly all are impossible to identify. Rescue workers were still searching for bodies - or survivors - in the smoldering wreckage of the market in the Mexico City suburb of Tultepec, which was packed with customers buying pyrotechnics for traditional end-of-year festivities. Christmas and New Year parties in many Latin American countries often wrap up with a fireworks free-for-all. Another 72 people were injured in the blast. Fifty-one remained in hospital on Tuesday night, many with severe burns covering their bodies. Another 21 people with lesser injuries were treated and released. Three badly burned children were due to be transferred to a specialist hospital in Galveston, Texas. Residents were left traumatized by the cataclysmic scene. "You just heard the blast. And everything started to catch fire. People came running out on fire," said Walter Garduno. "People were alight - children," he added before trailing off. Since arriving in Mars orbit in 2006, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has seen countless weird and wonderful things on the Red Planet's surface. Many features resemble Earth's geology, while others are uniquely Martian, including the bizarre spider-like features that have been seen in the Martian dune fields. Though well documented, these veined patterns have mysterious origins, defying attempts by the Mars orbiter's High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera of identifying how they form and spread. HiRISE scientists, who are pretty familiar with seeing the phenomenon, call regions with these spidery structures "araneiform" terrain - a nod to their arachnid shape. Now, researchers have finally spotted the "birth" of one of these spiders and watched it form over three Martian years (one Mars year is equivalent to roughly 1.9 Earth years) and think that it could grow into a large structure that may persist for centuries. RELATED: Mars Orbiter Spies Alien Ice 'Spiders' "We have seen for the first time these smaller features that survive and extend from year to year, and this is how the larger spiders get started," said Ganna Portyankina of the University of Colorado, Boulder, in a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory statement. "These are in sand-dune areas, so we don't know whether they will keep getting bigger or will disappear under moving sand." Unlike Earth, Mars is covered with frozen carbon dioxide (commonly known as "dry ice") and sheets of the stuff can be found in polar regions. As the ground warms during spring, solid carbon dioxide locked in the ground will begin to sublimate - it doesn't pass through the liquid phase and instead turns straight to vapor. Sub-surface carbon dioxide gas will then build up pressure, eventually erupting through cracks in the ground creating furrows - basically long, narrow trenches - and this seasonal venting will disturb surface dust. The erosion process, which occurs every season, is responsible for dark fans that appear on the surface and is likely driving the formation of the Mars spiders. Now, after spotting the genesis of one of these strange-looking features, planetary scientists have a clue as to what triggers them. This particular example was found during spring in the south of Mars, where there's less sand than in the north. Northern seasonal fans (dust that was also ejected after the formation of long furrows) are typically short-lived features, apparently quickly covered and filled in by wind-blown sand. The south, however, seems to allow longer-lived spidery structures to persist. RELATED: NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity Still Dogged by Drill Malfunction "There are dunes where we see these dendritic [or branching] troughs in the south, but in this area, there is less sand than around the north pole," said Portyankina. "I think the sand is what jump starts the process of carving a channel in the ground." Earth's atmosphere is neither cold or thin enough to support the formation of carbon dioxide ice on or below the surface, so these spiders are a very alien concept that cannot occur naturally on Earth. We are watching Mars' landscape undergo fascinating processes, in real time, that we can only see by sending a long-duration satellite to the Red Planet. WATCH VIDEO: Why Mars Is Better Than Venus It's been a busy year of transition around the solar system. Some spacecraft crashed on distant planets, while others were found after we thought they were lost. And some cool stuff began to happen with new missions, such as exploring Jupiter and figuring out how useful inflatable structures will be in space. Here are some of the mission transitions of 2016. 1) Found: Philae Philae had quite the ride after separating from its parent spacecraft, Rosetta, in November 2014. The little lander bounced on its first contact with Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko and flew for an incredible two hours, finally coming to rest in a spot too shady to charge its solar-powered self. Philae did a few dozen hours of science, went into hibernation, and only gave a few peeps in the months afterwards until the European Space Agency gave up trying to contact it. RELATED: Philae Found! Rosetta Spies Dead Comet Lander Nobody knew exactly where the lander ended up, because Rosetta's cameras didn't have the resolution to capture its final resting spot. That changed when Rosetta was only a month away from a planned landing on the comet itself. In September, Rosetta's orbit was just 2.7 km from the surface, and Philae was found in one of the suspected landing zones. 2) Found (Then Lost Again): STEREO-B After an incredible 22 months of silence, NASA finally heard back from a lost spacecraft. One of the twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories (STEREO-B) stopped transmitting in October 2014, then, this August, NASA's Deep Space Network finally locked on to the spacecraft. Unfortunately, NASA couldn't recover the spacecraft because it was uncontrolled and far away from Earth, at about two Earth-sun distances. With the limited data the agency had, it tried to stabilize the spacecraft, but a statement says that one of the thrusters didn't work as planned (it was likely frozen). NASA last heard from STEREO-B on Sept. 23, and communication attempts are ongoing. 3) Lost: Schiaparelli Mars is a tough place to land on - just ask any of the various groups that have tried to send landers over the years, and failed (such as NASA, the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency). While ESA thought it had learned the lessons of the Beagle 2 failed landing in 2003, it turned out that another landing demonstrator called Schiaparelli didn't make it to the surface. RELATED: Mars Lander Crashed, Possibly Exploded Schiaparelli separated from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and made its descent as planned on Oct. 19, but something happened along the way and it crashed. What exactly happened is still being figured out by an investigation board. Luckily for ESA, NASA was able to take some images of the crash site with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. More imaging is planned and ESA will carefully scrutnize the pictures for clues. 4) Lost: Hitomi/ASTRO-H/New X-ray Telescope (NeXT) Hitomi was an X-ray astronomy satellite from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which was supposed to look at high-energy processs across the universe. The spacecraft made it into space as planned on Feb. 17, but controllers lost contact with it permanently on March 26. An investigation determined that the spacecraft likely had a problem with its pointing system that said Hitomi was spinning when it actually was stable, triggering the reaction wheels to rotate. This led to other problems that eventually made the spacecraft spin so fast that it broke apart. 5) Lost: Falcon 9 rocket + Amos-6 On Sept. 1, a Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX was on the pad undergoing a standard static fire test, before launching Amos-6 - an Israeli communications satellite. The rocket exploded and took the satellite with it, luckily causing no injuries at Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40. RELATED: SpaceX Finds Rocket Explosion 'Smoking Gun' The exact cause remains under investigation. There appears to have been a breach in the cyrogenic helium system in the second stage liquid oxygen tank. While it's not known for sure, this could be related to how the helium is loaded into the tank. 6) Lost (almost): Tiangong-1 Tiangong-1 was China's first space station - not a full station, but a small prototype to expand its space program in the future. It launched as a one-piece station in September 2011 and was visited by three spacecraft: Shenzhou 8 (uncrewed), Shenzhou 9 (crewed) and Shenzhou 10 (crewed). The station stayed in service for more than four years - double its expected lifespan - and is now in a decaying orbit that will eventually make it fall into Earth. China expects it will fall in the second half of 2017, and that there shouldn't be any impact on aviation activities or the ground, according to state news service Xinhua. 7) Started: Juno While there have been many missions to Jupiter, some of them were just flybys - and none of them will do exactly what Juno is doing. The spacecraft is examining the composition of Jupiter - its interior is still poorly known - as well as its magnetic and gravity environments. The aim is to better understand how Jupiter was formed, and how it influences other planets today. It's even possible that we can extend our understanding of Juno to exoplanets. RELATED: Computer Glitch Nixes Juno's Run at Jupiter Juno arrived at Jupiter on July 4 and has been making scientific observations for the past few months. On Twitter, officials with Juno have been regularly posting amateur pictures based on data from the JunoCam camera. The mission also produced a neat image showing the layers of clouds beneath the top. More detailed findings will come after Juno has been active for a while. 8) Started: ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter The new Trace Gas Orbiter, which arrived at Mars in October, is designed to look at trace gases in the Red Planet's atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the major force on Mars, but there are smaller portions of the atmosphere that are less understood. One famous example is methane, which has been measured in different abundances by different telescopes, orbiters and even NASA's Curiosity rover. TGO is highly elliptical right now, but over time it will use aerobraking - skimming through the thinnest part of Mars' atmosphere - to lower itself into a science orbit about 400 kilometers from the surface. The process is time-consuming, the European Space Agency acknowledges, but it will save fuel and also give information about the Martian atmosphere that can be used in scientific investigations. 9) Started: BEAM (International Space Station) The International Space Station is an excellent location to do long-term research in everything from plants to human physiology. It's also a great spot for companies to test out new processes and ideas. One recent one is the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, also known as BEAM. Bigelow has two inflatable mini-space stations that have been in orbit for several years to test how inflatables behave in low-Earth orbit. The next step for the company was to install an inflatable module to the ISS. RELATED: Space Station Now Has Inflatable Digs BEAM was inflated on May 26, but the attempt was called off because there was more air pressure than expected inside the module (possibly caused by fabric layers sticking together). A second attempt on May 28 was successful. Astronauts have entered BEAM a few times since to collect air samples and do some other routine monitoring, but for the most part it just sits by itself, attached to the Tranquility node. 10) Ended: International Space Station one-year mission While a lot of astronauts have spent six months on the station, NASA hopes to have longer missions to prepare for a possible journey to Mars in the coming decades. In 2015, Mikhail Kornienko (Roscosmos) and Scott Kelly (NASA) blasted off to spend nearly a year on the orbiting complex. It was the first time humans had spent so long in space since the Mir space station era of the 1990s. The two arrived safely on Earth again in March. Kelly got most of the press in the United States - he's a twin, a great photographer and was charmingly laconic and funny on Twitter. Kelly's twin brother, Mark, was also an astronaut and volunteered to take part in the same genetic studies so that investigators could take advantage of a unique opportunity. It will take years for all the data to be processed and analyzed, but Kelly's and Kornienko's flight is expected to help scientists learn more about the effects of space on the human body. 11) Ending: Cassini The Cassini spacecraft has provided an incredible perspective on Saturn and its system for the past 12 years. We've seen water jets from Enceladus, lakes on Titan and strange vertical structures in Saturn's rings. The spacecraft is now low on fuel after exploring the solar system since 1997, however, and investigators want to steer Cassini into Saturn so it doesn't accidentally hit a potentially habitable moon. Cassini will gradually move between Saturn and its rings - a first in space exploration - to better understand some of the structures of the particles that make up Saturn's crown. In September 2017, it will make a last swan dive into Saturn, taking atmospheric measurements as long as possible so that investigators can learn more about the planet's interior structure. 12) Lost: Russia's Progress resupply vehicle Good news, fellow humans: The United Nations has decided to take on killer robots. At the international Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva, 123 participating nations voted to initiate official discussions on the danger of lethal autonomous weapons systems. That's the emerging designation for so-called "killer robots" - weapons controlled by artificial intelligence that can target and strike without human intervention. The agreement is the latest development in a growing movement calling for an preemptive ban on weaponized A.I. and deadly autonomous weapons. Last year, a coalition of more than 1,000 scientists and industry leaders, including Elon Musk and representatives of Google and Microsoft, signed an official letter to the United Nations demanding action. The UN decision is significant in that it calls for formal discussions on the issue in 2017. In high-level international deliberations, the move from "informal" to "formal" represents a real step forward, said Stephen Goose, arms director of Human Rights Watch and a co-founder of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. "In essence, they decided to move from the talk shop phase to the action phase, where they are expected to produce a concrete outcome," Goose said in an email exchange with Seeker. RELATED: Killer Machines and Sex Robots: Unraveling the Ethics of A.I. It's widely acknowledged that military agencies around the world are already developing lethal autonomous weapons. In August, Chinese officials disclosed that the country is exploring the use of A.I. and automation in its next generation of cruise missiles. "China's plans for weapons and artificial intelligence may be terrifying, but no more terrifying than similar efforts by the U.S., Russia, Israel, and others," Goose said. "The U.S. is farther along in this field than any other nation. Most advanced militaries are pursuing ever-greater autonomy in weapons. Killer robots would come in all sizes and shapes, including deadly miniaturized versions that could attack in huge swarms, and would operate from the air, from the ground, from the sea, and underwater." The core issue in regard to these weapons systems concerns human agency, Goose said. "The key thing distinguishing a fully autonomous weapon from an ordinary conventional weapon, or even a semi-autonomous weapon like a drone, is that a human would no longer be deciding what or whom to target and when to pull the trigger," he said. "The weapon system itself, using artificial intelligence and sensors, would make those critical battlefield determinations. This would change the very nature of warfare, and not for the betterment of humankind." RELATED: Stephen Hawking Wants to Prevent AI From Killing Us All Goose said that pressure from the science and industry leaders, including some rather apocalyptic warnings from Stephen Hawking, helped spur the UN into action. "The scientific community appears quite unified in opposing the development of fully autonomous weapons," he said. "They worry that pursuit of fully autonomous weapons will damage the reputation of the AI community and make it more difficult to move forward with beneficial AI efforts." Aside from the obvious danger of killer robots gone rogue, the very development of such systems could lead to a "robotic arms race" that threatens international stability, Goose said. "The dangers of fully autonomous weapons are foreseeable, and we should take action now to prevent potentially catastrophic future harm to civilians, to soldiers, and to the planet." WATCH VIDEO: What Makes a Machine Intelligent? Class is in session for the next generation of University of Michigan startups in Between now and mid-April, the student venture accelerator's latest group of 11 student-run startups will conduct customer research, refine their business models, and receive mentorship from industry experts. For the team at ArborThotics, that includes working with orthotists, federal regulators, and 3-D printing labs to continue the work they started in their capstone software engineering class last fall at U-M. ArborThotics cofounder Dom Parise and his team developed software to help produce custom ankle-foot orthotics using U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved scanners and 3-D printing. Parise says producing this type of custom orthotics is currently a lengthy process that can involve plaster molds and specialized plastics baked for several days by technicians. From consultation to prescription to finished product, the process typically takes two to three weeks. "It's really long, and kind of archaic at this point," Parise says. "With the 3-D printing, we can now print them in probably six to eight hours on the high end." With FDA sign-off on the product and process, Parise hopes the team will have its solution on the market by mid-summer, but he's prepared for a longer haul. "We can improve the product at the rate of software, but sales are at the rate of healthcare," he says. For now, Parise and his team enjoy working with a group of like-minded entrepreneurs who are all at similar stages in their work, as well as the structure and deadlines provided by the TechArb program. For instance, the accelerator holds weekly meetings in which each company reports on its progress. "The entrepreneurship process can be solitary if you don't have the right network," Parise says. In addition to custom orthotics, the new TechArb cohort includes ventures working on original approaches to hassle-free funeral planning, healthy food choices, and connecting people living with chronic illnesses for local peer support. TechArb was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the U-M On the reported call by the UN's human rights chief to investigate President Duterte over admission he killed criminals in Davao when he was mayor Apparently, the UN rights chief is not familiar with the Philippine Constitution and our laws. First, our president enjoys immunity from suit during his term. Second, no matter how many times a person in our country admits having committed murder, as long as there is no other evidence to corroborate his extra judicial confession, the case cannot stand in any court of law. That UN official can shout to high heavens to investigate the president but unfortunately for him, he can't get past that call. Press Release December 21, 2016 Culture and Our National Identity: Pursuing Change That Unites Acceptance Speech on the Occasion of the Conferment of the Dangal ng Haraya Award (Tagapagtaguyod ng Sining at Kultura) to Senator Loren Legarda December 21, 2016, Marble Hall, Bureau of Treasury, Intramuros, Manila It is with great honor that I accept the Dangal ng Haraya Award. This award, while issued in my name, appropriately belongs to my mother who nurtured and influenced me to embrace the majesty of culture and the arts. My mother, Bessie Gella Bautista, sang operas, collected art, and was a person of culture. As a child, I was surrounded by artists, including Ibarra dela Rosa, H.R. Ocampo, and Vicente Manansala--people who, by their art, contributed to shaping our national identity. I was told that I started to be smitten with art and culture about the same time I learned to walk and speak because of the towering influence of my mother and her cultural friends. Such influence led me to frequent the museums and art spaces and homes of artists, familiarizing myself with contemporary and modernist art. So deep was their influence that, for my college thesis in 1981, I did a content analysis of Manansala's paintings which were done during the Martial Law era. The mood and social concerns of the times were vividly captured by Manansala in his paintings. I said to myself then, and continue to be convinced at this time, that culture and the arts are the best communicators of history. Yes, I am a Legislator; but I am, foremost, a perpetual student and steward of culture. I began my professional career as a journalist, taking inspiration from my grandfather, Jose P. Bautista, who was the editor-in-chief of the pre-martial law newspaper, the Manila Times. Being a journalist provided me a vantage view to societies' way of life, their practices and accumulated knowledge and ideas, and how these are transformed to behaviors and interactions between and among people. I had a front seat to worldviews and to specific aspects of culture such as language, kinship, music, traditions and practices, including the physical expressions of culture which we find in our architecture, the arts, and even technology. As a journalist, I saw the realities of crumbling societies and the passing away of some of our greatest generations. Through journalism, I testified on the harsh realities that beset societies - from the dark truth of child labor, the trafficking of and violence against women, the inequities in society, the destruction of cultures and the environment, the struggles of our indigenous communities, just to name a few. I witnessed how diversity can either divide or unite our country. In 1990, The Inside Story, which I anchored and produced, went on air. It was an investigative program which brought me to the hinterlands and to the most remote areas of the archipelago. I would also meet indigenous peoples and be educated in what we call their schools of living tradition. The Inside Story sought to elicit conversations to enrich national consciousness, strengthen our moral fiber, and help mold public opinion on contemporary and indigenous culture. We need to have more of these conversations because there is no way we can understand the richness of our culture - a culture that will unite us--unless we discover and appreciate this. Niccolo Machiavelli, a Renaissance historian and philosopher, said, "when states are acquired in a country differing in language, customs, or laws, there are difficulties, and good fortune and great energy are needed to hold them." Our culture is our identity, and part of that identity is a complex and heterogeneous mix of cultures. Our different ethno-linguistic groups--each with a distinct heritage of traditions, dance, art, music, folklore, beliefs, value systems--make up the identity of the Filipino people. We cannot subscribe to the Machiavellian principle that differences in language, customs and laws divide people, making them difficult to hold together. On the contrary, diversity breeds richness in our culture and heritage. Diversity brings everyone together for as long as there is understanding and respect--for as long as no one thinks he or she is superior and more deserving than the rest. Diversity should not be used as an instrument to divide. In 1998, I decided I can no longer just document the issues. I needed to help shape the story that will hopefully lead to a good ending for our country. More than 18 years after I first set foot in the Senate, the struggle for a shared sense of national identity continues. It is ironic that I accept the Dangal ng Haraya Award against the backdrop of an escalating social chaos brought about by narratives of hatred, political rancor, gender biases, violence, and social divisions. Direct attacks, killings, arrests, harassments, zoning, and vilification continue in Lumad areas. This award only tells us we need to do more. Perhaps we need to do another "Inside Story," but this time, our stories need a proper ending. This puts in context the importance of the "Dayaw" TV series which I am doing in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC). By understanding and appreciating our indigenous peoples and culture, we can help strengthen the elements that tie our people together - our culture, our language, our history, and our collective worth as a people. We have one of the youngest population demographics in the world, with a median age of 23 years.[1] This is a resource, unequalled in importance; but they need to be nurtured in ways that they become instruments of constructive change - a change that will bring us all together, rather than divide us. Culture is what binds people, the public and living spaces, and the beliefs and practices of people. Culture defines our soul as a people. Cultural considerations cannot anymore remain on the sidelines of policy making. These need to be integrated in education, economic planning, urban and rural development, technological innovations, among others. It is for this reason that I have proposed the creation of a Department of Culture that will ensure the preservation, enrichment, and dynamic evolution of a Filipino national culture that is rooted in unity amidst diversity. I do not know what kind of a journalist and legislator I would have been had it not been for the humanizing influence of my mother and the arts she dearly loved. Perhaps the stories I documented would have been less profound, and the legislation I sponsored, less socially relevant. In the same token, Filipinos, without a collective appreciation of our culture, would have no shared understanding of our past, continue to be divided in the present, and will not have a shared vision for the future. A person without a keen sense of his or her culture simply will not care. This award speaks to all of us. It is a profound recognition that culture gives us a sense of belonging and is a source of knowledge and pride and creates our shared identity. It is, therefore, essential to nation-building. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to build together. Thank you. __________________________ [1] https://www.cia.gov/Library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2177.html Press Release December 22, 2016 Hontiveros lauds 2017 budget with historic debt audit provision, health reforms "A historic first in the history of the Philippine budget system." This is how Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros described the passage of the 2017 national government budget that contains a special provision mandating Congress to conduct a comprehensive audit of the country's debt. The said provision tasked the Congressional Oversight Committee on Overseas Development Assistance to conduct a debt audit to determine the legitimacy of a list of loan agreements challenged as illegitimate. The said debt audit will be conducted in the 2017 fiscal year. Hontiveros, who introduced the said general provision, said that the process of a debt audit is an important policy tool to unburden the Filipino people from paying onerous and illegitimate debts and beef up funding for social service spending. "This is truly a historic first. With this provision, we commit to diligently scrutinize the country's debts if they are indeed in accordance with the principles on promoting responsible sovereign lending and borrowing by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and repudiate the illegitimate part of our overall debt," Hontiveros said. "I would like to commend the Senate Finance Committee chaired by Senator Loren Legarda, my fellow senators, the Executive branch and the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) for supporting the inclusion of this provision in our national budget," Hontiveros added. Hontiveros, however, reminded the public that there remains a lot to be done to fully reform the government's budget process. She particularly noted the issues on savings, augmentation, impoundment and budget control that must be fully addressed to achieve the desirable balance between fiscal flexibility and accountability. The FDC reported that P 3.78 Billion in the 2016 national government budget went to interest and principal payments in connection with a number of questionable loan-funded projects, including: the Power Sector Development Program, Sixth Road (Tullahan), Pampanga Development Flood Control, Bohol Irrigation II, and Angat Water Supply Optimization. "Catalyst for universal healthcare" Meanwhile, Hontiveros, who is Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, welcomed the P3 billion infused in the 2017 budget of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) covering all Filipinos. She called this the "great catalyst" to achieve universal health care in the Philippines. DoH hospitals as "centers of wellness" The senator also commended the government for accepting a special provision she introduced in the 2017 budget to make all Department of Health (DoH) hospitals as centers of wellness by mandating that at least 5% of their retained income be used for preventive and promotive health, including the provision of family planning services. Climate change-resilient hospitals Hontiveros, with the help of Legarda, also added a special provision in the DOH budget to ensure that all health facilities to be constructed are "climate change-resilient." "There are more funds now available to address the health care shortages and facility upgrades to meet our goal of universal healthcare. We must see healthcare as a viable investment. A healthy population is the backbone of a strong and progressive country," Hontiveros ended. Press Release December 22, 2016 Legarda: President Duterte Signs P3.350T Pro-People 2017 National Budget Senator Loren Legarda today said that President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the 2017 General Appropriations Act (GAA) worth P3.350 trillion, the first budget of the new administration. Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that she is proud of the work they have done for this budget, which is pro-people as it addresses the most basic needs of the people while improving the country's economic growth. "Through this budget, we aim to fuel hope and inspire our people to believe in our collective future again. We have provided funds to ensure universal healthcare coverage, free irrigation for farmers, free tuition in state universities and colleges (SUCs), additional allowance for teachers, police and military, rice allowance for conditional cash transfer beneficiaries, creation of drug rehabilitation centers, increase in prisoners' subsistence allowance, pension for Post World War II veterans and centenarians, among many others," said Legarda. "A leap in infrastructure spending is also one of the priorities of the 2017 budget given its indispensable role in poverty reduction, raising productivity, and in spreading the benefits of economic growth," she added. Among the highlights of the budget is the strong support for education with the increased budget worth P8 billion for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) so that all college students enrolled in any SUC in the country will not have to pay for their tuition fee. The budget for SUCs was also increased to provide additional funds for scholarship and capital outlay for all SUCs. College students belonging to family-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) are covered by the Expanded Students' Grants in Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA); while those who are not part of the 4Ps can avail of financial assistance for educational purposes under the Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAPs) both under CHED and SUCs. Meanwhile, increased allocation for the Department of Education (DepEd) is intended for site development of public schools and to increase teachers' cash or chalk allowance from P1,500 to P2,500, which they use to purchase classroom supplies like chalk, erasers and forms. For healthcare, budget for PhilHealth was increased by P3 billion so that all Filipinos will now be covered by the universal healthcare program, while indigent patients will not have to pay for anything in government hospitals under the No Balance Billing (NBB) policy. Apart from the PhilHealth subsidy, the 2017 national budget will also allocate a total of P96.336 billion for the Department of Health (DOH), which includes funds for the construction of additional health facilities and drug rehabilitation centers. The amount is also inclusive of the P800 million funding for the Doctors to the Barrio program, which aims to provide equitable healthcare services to all areas of the country through the deployment of competent and dedicated physicians to serve the doctorless municipalities. Under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), P100 million will be granted to centenarians and additional funding is provided for the supplemental feeding program. Moreover, all 4.4 million beneficiaries of the 4Ps will now be entitled to a rice allowance in the form of cash grants. Under the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) budget, the amount of P2 billion is provided to subsidize irrigation service fees (ISF) that farmers have long been shouldering. An accompanying Special Provision for this purpose specifies that the P2 billion allocation will be used to cover the operating requirements of NIA and the maintenance of existing irrigation facilities which were previously funded out of the collections from ISF. For livelihood and microenterprises support, additional P1 billion is allocated under the Small Business Corporation so it can provide loans at almost no interest to microenterprises; additional funds were also provided for various programs of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) including Employment Facilitation and Capacity Building Services. Under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), there are funds for the Training for Work Scholarship Program/Livelihood, as well as Training Provision for Drug Dependents. For the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), additional funds were provided for training and equipment of firefighters, support to the Philippine National Police's (PNP) fight against illegal drugs, increased subsistence allowance of prisoners and rehabilitation and construction of jail facilities. Additional funds were also allocated to the Department of National Defense (DND) to fund activities to effectively defend the country from internal and external threats, as well as to fund programs such as the repair of Veterans Center, expanded veterans hospitalization program, and construction of cadet barracks. Funds have been allocated for the combat and incentive pay of the military and police, as well as for the Capability Enhancement Program of the PNP. For environment and resilience programs, funds under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) were allocated for restoration of mangroves, which are effective buffers against storm surge and tsunami. In implementing the National Greening Program (NGP), the DENR should use planting materials that are responsive to the needs of the communities such as fruit-bearing trees, bamboo, coconut trees, and trees that are important for traditional use and livelihood of indigenous peoples and local communities. Legarda also ensured continued support for heritage, arts and culture. Special provisions for climate and disaster resilience are also part of the 2017 GAA. The Department of Agriculture (DA) will undertake disaster-resilient agricultural infrastructure projects and practices, and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will promote the adoption of sustainable farming approaches. DepEd schools and SUCs will include the integration of educational modules on indigenous knowledge, heritage, biodiversity, environmental protection, disaster risk reduction and climate change in their respective curricula. The DENR shall identify critical watershed areas, other protected areas, and communities ravaged by extreme weather events as areas to be prioritized as planting sites under the NGP. There is also a special provision to ensure that evacuation centers and infrastructure projects conform to resilience standards to withstand natural hazards, and assigning priority to government structures located in areas highly vulnerable to seismic activity for repair and retrofitting efforts. The 2017 GAA also aims to protect built heritage, cultural properties, and cultural landscapes from alteration, renovation, or demolition by requiring prior approval by government cultural agencies. There is also a general provision on the protection of biodiversity, mandating all government agencies, offices, and local government units to ensure that protection of biodiversity is integrated and mainstreamed into their development programs and projects. The abrupt inspection of the Potrero Hill warehouse her identical twin sister shares with other artists prompted Julie Mastrine to act, bringing her before San Francisco building officials Wednesday. Armed with an online petition with more than 10,000 signatures, Mastrine called on the Building Inspection Commission to impose a moratorium on fire and code spot inspections that city officials contend are necessary to keep warehouse dwellers safe in the wake of the Dec. 2 Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland that killed 36 people. The nationwide scrutiny on such spaces including the recent eviction of six people from longtime punk venue Burnt Ramen in Richmond has been too reactionary, Mastrine said. She added that taking a punitive, forceful approach runs the risk of displacing artists who say they have nowhere else to live with rents as high as they are in the Bay Area. The law is the law, but you dont have to be super forceful and heavy-handed in your enforcement of the law, said Mastrine, a 25-year-old San Francisco resident. The Department of Building Inspection and other city agencies have identified about a dozen similar warehouse properties for code compliance checks since the Oakland fire, including that of Mastrines twin sister, Amy, who said her warehouse was suddenly inspected Dec. 14 and found to be in violation of three fire code requirements. The space was cited by fire inspectors for construction without permits, as well as maintaining hazardous and un-safe living conditions, according to a copy of the violation obtained by The Chronicle. Residents were ordered to immediately evacuate and given one day to correct the violations, the report shows. Together, the Mastrine twins said theyve heard of about a dozen inspections throughout the Bay Area and one eviction in San Francisco. Seven inhabitants of a converted warehouse in Bernal Heights last week received an eviction notice from their landlord. The Bernal Heights warehouse underwent its scheduled city inspection around 10 a.m. Tuesday, said resident Nathan Cottam about the same time as the Building Inspection Commission meeting. While results of the inspection will take some time, Cottam said it went as well as it could have. He said he supports the goal of the petition to give residents more notice, considering they only got the word about a weekahead of their inspection. The unnecessary stress of it, of someone coming into your space, and hearing that other warehouses were evicted, was very unnecessarily stressful, and all it brought was added trauma to an already traumatic situation, Amy Mastrine said. Even before the Oakland fire, San Franciscos building and planning departments had joined with the Fire Department to establish a prevention task force that seeks to bring spaces often illegal ones up to code before inspections, said Tom Hui, director of the city Department of Building Inspection. Safety is the first concern of city officials, he said, adding that there were no plans to halt inspections forthright. That outreach matters, Hui said, because once inspectors go in, we cannot do selective code enforcement, meaning they cant ignore clear-cut violations. Our community is important to us, Hui said. We love the community. But fire safety is the No. 1 concern for us. Amy Mastrine who has lived in the Potrero Hill warehouse since October, paying $1,000 a month for a space where she can paint contended that she and her radical artist sentiments started taking fire safety more seriously after the Oakland fire. Residents held a fire safety meeting, she said, pointing out exits, to which the buildings manager later painted large arrows on the floor. The buildings manager also installed a new exit door and ordered a fire escape ladder to the roof, as well as a whole bunch of fire extinguishers, she said. Many artists who live in such spaces resent the government interfering in their do-it-yourself makeshift homes, and Amy Mastrines warehouse with its massive mirrors, panel-style art, bike storage nook and plants growing in the sun is no exception. My space is safe, Amy Mastrine said. We took the fire seriously, without any bullying. ... My strongest point, I think, is that we can take care of our own, and we really dont need to be policed in this way. Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesman for the San Francisco Fire Department, said that if inspectors give a notice of violation to a living or working space, its occupants are usually given 72 hours to fix things. But that can be extended, he said, as long as there are clear signs of progress, so we dont basically have to vacate individuals. Were not going out and saying, Heres your violation. Fix it. If its not fixed within this certain parameter of time, were going to go to the next step. Were very open to working with all members of the community, as long as were moving forward toward that safety goal. Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BART trains speed south past the waters of Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area, then slow down as they become engulfed by suburban tract housing and finally come to a stop in central Fremont, perched on elevated tracks above a sea of parked cars. Fremont, Fremont station, the train operator intones. End of the line. But its not supposed to be the end of the line. Not any longer. By now, the southern terminus of BARTs Richmond-Fremont line should have been extended a few miles south to a new Warm Springs/South Fremont Station behind the Tesla plant, the first step toward taking the rail system to San Jose. The station, and the 5.4-miles of rail leading to it, were originally scheduled to open in 2014. Construction began in 2009 with work crews tunneling beneath Fremonts Central Park and Lake Elizabeth, but construction delays pushed the opening back to 2015 then into this year, when it was expected to debut sometime last summer. That soon became fall, then winter, which means 2017, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. We dont have a date, and we wont before Christmas, she said. At this point, we cant set a date. South Bay residents are getting antsy. Many of them drive from San Jose to Fremont and have to hunt for parking spaces. Theyre counting on the Warm Springs Station to cut their drive time by five to 10 minutes, and make it easier to find parking since the new station will include a 2,000-space lot. Its become like a usual thing, said Raja Krishnan, a 30-year-old software engineer who lives in north San Jose and drives to BART, which takes him to his job in San Francisco. They said it would open in 2015 then 2016, now 2017? I dont know. Meanwhile, station signs have been erected, and fares have been set $1.95 to Fremont, $6.60 to the downtown San Francisco stations, $5.15 to Downtown Berkeley, $12.05 to San Francisco International Airport. Peter DaSilva/Special to The Chronicle The holdup is connecting the up-to-date train-control gadgetry on the new extension to BARTs 44-year-old automatic train-control system described during the recent bond campaign as being from the Pong era. Engineers call it systems integration. Spokesman Jim Allison said its a matter of getting an analog system to reliably work with modern digital technology. Its a 1970s computer trying to communicate with a 21st century computer, Allison said. Once we get one particular problem solved another one pops up. Engineers and contractors have been working on the problem for the past six to eight weeks, he said. Molly McArthur, a spokeswoman for the extension project, said it shows up as a software problem that sometimes results in incorrect reports on the locations of trains on the extension or the speeds theyre traveling. Its something we cant allow when we start running, she said. 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. Testing for all other systems has been completed, McArthur said, and only minor construction fixes remain. Once the train control problems are resolved, BART will need to run simulated service for three to four weeks before the state Public Utilities Commission will grant permission to start carrying passengers. Thats something Meng Li is looking forward to. The 30-year-old consultant said the Warm Springs opening will make her commute easier. That will be great, she said. I live in San Jose, and it will be better than driving to Fremont. And parking here can be hard to find. The new station, with its glass rotunda entryway, is the starting point of a Silicon Valley extension that will carry trains to east San Jose by 2018 and, eventually, South Bay planners hope, to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara. VTA, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, is constructing and funding the 10-mile extension into the citys Berryessa neighborhood, along with two stations. When the project is completed, it will be turned over to BART and become part of the regional transit system. Santa Clara County officials plan next to extend BART 6 miles farther to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara a project thats being designed but is not yet fully funded. But first, the Warm Springs extension needs to open. Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@ctuan Google Maps / / Google Maps / A woman who got trapped in her car when she plummeted down a woodsy embankment near Los Gatos, called 911 and led firefighters to her rescue by honking her horn, officials said Thursday. The woman reported that she was stuck in her car around 12:15 a.m. after she drove off the side of a road near Highway 17 in mountainous terrain west of Los Gatos, said Capt. Bill Murphy of the Santa Clara County Fire Department. Uber pulled its self-driving Volvos off the roads in San Francisco on Wednesday, a week after they began picking up passengers, as the Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the cars registrations. It was determined that the registrations were improperly issued for these vehicles because they were not properly marked as test vehicles, the DMV said in a statement following a meeting of the agency, Uber and the California attorney generals office. The ride-hailing company had angered state and local officials by refusing to get a permit to operate the self-driving cars. Since the pilot began on Dec. 14, San Franciscans have flagged several incidents involving the self-driving Ubers, from running red lights to making right turns through bike lanes even though cars had human operators in them too. Ubers next move is unclear, but the company has stopped the pilot and may now send its 16 self-driving Volvo XC90s elsewhere. Uber still has the option of applying for a DMV permit. Were now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules, an Uber spokeswoman said in an email. San Francisco officials applauded the DMVs action. I have always been a strong supporter of innovation and autonomous vehicle development and testing, but only under conditions that put human, bicyclist and pedestrian safety first, Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement. San Francisco resident James Sword said that, as a frequent bicyclist in the city, he is relieved that Uber can no longer operate the autonomous vehicles until the state deems them safe. Uber as an organization has been thumbing its nose at regulations from the beginning, Sword, 39, said. I dont have any confidence that the self-driving cars will be any safer, and not create any hazards. The showdown began Dec. 14 when Uber announced that it would deploy self-driving cars to pick up paying passengers in San Francisco. The DMV swiftly sent Uber a strongly worded letter that it must cease using self-driving vehicles until getting the appropriate permit. Uber pushed back, saying its vehicles do not fit the DMVs definition of autonomous because they still require a human to operate them. The state attorney generals office threatened court action to get the cars off the road. The DMV noted that 20 companies, including Google and Tesla Motors, have received permission to operate an overall total of 130 test vehicles, and they are obeying the law. The DMV said Wednesday that Uber is welcome to test its autonomous technology in California like everybody else provided that it gets a permit, with applications potentially taking less than 72 hours to process. So far, Uber has balked. Under the DMVs testing regulations, manufacturers are required to report when one of their autonomous vehicles is involved in a traffic accident. Such reports are made public. Uber has insisted that it is declining to register on the principle that its vehicles need human operators and cannot fully drive themselves not to avoid reporting accidents. The cars quickly came under fire in San Francisco when a video circulated online that appeared to show one of the retrofitted Volvos running a red light. A few similar reports also surfaced; Uber has attributed the red-light issues to human error. Our roads are confusing, and you cant just be doing what you want to do, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed said Wednesday evening. This is a new industry, its evolving, and we need to understand how this impacts public safety. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has said the cars make illegal and unsafe right turns through bike lanes. Uber said earlier this week that it is working on this problem and had instructed drivers to take control for that type of turn. This clash is reminiscent of Ubers early days, when it began offering its ride-hailing service in cities nationwide without local permission. The company argued that its approach to ride-hailing was fundamentally different and therefore it was exempt from rules governing taxis. But this case was much more extreme, experts said. When (Uber) first started putting cars on the road, it was doing the same thing as taxis, said Dennis Cusack, a partner in the Insurance Recovery group for Farella Braun + Martel LLP, a San Francisco-based law firm. In the case of self-driving cars, the technology is so new that consumer confidence is and will be an issue. Brian Wiedenmeier, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said autonomous vehicles are an inevitable part of the citys future that can eventually make the roads safer. But now, with the DMVs decision, he said Uber has an opportunity to step back and do things the right way. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani When the bomb went off, it was the deadliest act of terrorism against the United States in history. The Chronicles front page from Dec. 22, 1988, covers the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. A Pan American World Airways jumbo jet carrying 258 passengers and crew members from London to New York crashed in a huge fireball at a village just north of the Scottish border last evening, killing everyone on board and at least 15 people on the ground, the story read. Once the bodies were counted, 243 passengers and 16 crew members were dead, along with 11 people on the ground. One hundred and eighty-nine of the dead were American; 43 were British. It was the greatest loss of American life in a terrorist act until Sept. 11, 2001. In the bombings immediate aftermath, however, terrorisms role wasnt certain. The cause of the disaster was not clear, with speculation centering on structural failure or sabotage, the story read. Among the kinds of things that might suddenly cut all power would be a bomb or an explosive decompression caused by a structural weakness. It was soon obvious that terrorists were to blame, but the culprit wasnt identified. Libya and leader Muammar Gaddafi would accept responsibility in the late 1990s, and a Libyan intelligence officer would be imprisoned for murder in 2001. See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspapers history. More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond. Chronicle Covers highlighting 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 (Click to enlarge) Just what we all need to ring in the Christmas season: Un-merry millionaire Michelle Obama belly-aching about the burdens of public life with billionaire Oprah Winfrey. Theres nowhere in the world I can go and sit and have a cup of coffee, Obama lamented. Its a frequent grievance. In September, she told InStyle magazine: My hopes are to recapture some of the everydayness, some anonymity. ... It will be nice to open up the paper, look at the front page, and know that youre not responsible for every headline. Complain, complain, complain. What a way to make the most of your last six months in the glorious White House. For the past eight years, Obama has traveled to every corner of the planet on the taxpayers dime. She has splurged in Spain, traversed the Great Wall of China, tangoed in Buenos Aires, skied in Aspen, lolled in Marthas Vineyard and feasted in Marrakesh. She has been bestowed fashion icon status donning a $12,000 custom-made Atelier Versace gown at her final state dinner last month after enjoying two terms clad in Givenchy, Gucci, Jason Wu, Vera Wang, Caroline Herrera and other haute couture stars whose designs are unattainable to ordinary women in America. Count your blessings much, Mrs. Grinch? Nope. All Barack Obamas bitter half really wants to do, she told Winfrey, is drop into Target. I want to go to Target again. Funny that. The last time Obama shopped at Target, she turned the outing into a fake news narrative to stoke racial division in America. It is worth reminding the public about the noxious lie one last time before the grumbling FLOTUS leaves office because I consider her exploitation of the incident a perfect metaphor for the Obama years faux populism bolstered by elitist Hollywood enablers, and then cynically transformed into a phony social justice crusade for crass political gain. Back in 2012, Obama sat down with David Letterman. She bragged about her ability to shop incognito at Target and told a warm and fuzzy story about helping a fellow customer who didnt recognize her. The shopper innocently asked Obama to retrieve laundry detergent from a high shelf. I reached up, cause she was short, and I reached up, pulled it down, the first lady recounted, and the shopper joked, Well, you didnt have to make it look so easy. Obama beamed as she told Letterman: I felt so good doing an everyday good deed. Just a few years later, however, the encounter morphed into a tall tale of rampant racism, which she cunningly reshaped for People Magazine in 2014 during the aftermath of the Ferguson, Mo., riots and Black Lives Matter protests. Even as the first lady, she moaned, not highly disguised, the only person who came up to me at a Target store was a woman who asked me to help her take something off a shelf. The headline of the article? The Obamas: How We Deal With Our Own Racist Experiences. Now, as she walks away with sky-high poll ratings, a glittering Rolodex, and government benefits for life, this incredibly blessed and privileged woman has the audacity to claim that we are feeling what not having hope feels like, as she whined to her well-heeled gal pal, Oprah Winfrey. So put upon. So downtrodden. So oppressed. To borrow one of Mrs. Woe-Is-Mes own favorite phrases: Bye, Felicia! You and your manufactured miseries wont be missed. 2016 Creators.com Michelle Malkin is a senior editor at Conservative Review. Email: malkinblog@gmail.com Neither President Obama nor Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has much use for each other. Their dove versus hawk standoff has frozen talks with Palestinian leaders, making any serious peace initiatives pointless. But President-elect Donald Trump may make things worse, hard as that sounds. His pick for U.S. ambassador is a hard-right flame thrower, known for intemperate remarks and obstructionist policies that could deepen the Mideast deadlock. The nominee, David Friedman, is Trumps long time bankruptcy lawyer. Hes also a committed supporter of Israel but with a decided spin: Hes raised money for Jewish settlements in disputed territory and harshly denounced groups that favor renewed talks with Palestinians. Hes made it plain that a two-state solution Washingtons long-sought goal to ease tensions isnt on his agenda. As with so many Trump positions, its unclear what the incoming president will do when he takes office on Jan. 20. Trump has nudged his son-in-law Jared Kushner forward as a possible Mideast trouble shooter, and Rex Tillerson, the pick for secretary of state, has said little about Israel. Friedman will get a chance to amplify his views when he faces a Senate review of his nomination. For now, its a confusing picture that shadows relations between Washington and its bedrock ally in the Middle East. But the selection of Friedman is already shooting off sparks. He has no official diplomatic experience in a regional crucible that demands it. He favors moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an idea that infuriates Palestinian leaders who want the citys disputed status clarified in talks. Friedman hasnt backed off months-ago remarks that liberal critics of Israel resemble kapos, prison camp Jews who worked with Nazis. That disgraceful description has generated a campaign to block his nomination. His support for West Bank settlements is also troubling. Hes raised millions for this cause, which has become a huge hurdle in devising the future boundaries of Israel and a Palestinian state. Since becoming Israels leader, Netanyahu has steadily moved Jewish residents into areas that Palestinians say are needed for a future state. That decision, which the Obama team opposes, is one factor among many that have killed off long-range talks. Rejecting U.S. policy on a two-state solution and moving ahead on settlements would be a major flip in American policy. It may please Israeli hardliners who dont believe in negotiations. But it will bring on trouble not only with Palestinians but also with Arab countries, prolonging a siege-like confrontation. Friedman is the wrong fit for a critical role. Trisha Ashworth readily admits that she does not need any more jewelry which may seem a bit odd coming from someone who runs a jewelry business. But Ashworth, who was raised in the Montclair district of Oakland and now lives in Chicago, and her friend Amy Nobile, whos based in New York City, had more than just bracelets and earrings in mind when they launched Ash + Ames in 2014. It started when the two who wrote a series of books on motherhood and marriage, including I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids and Id Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper were looking for the next chapter in their lives. That led them to Haiti, where they found female artisans creating bracelets out of cow horn and wood from a tree called guayacan. They fell in love with both the designs and the people, which sparked an idea: to simultaneously help empower female artisans around the world and women in the United States, such as the moms they had interviewed for their books. Many of those moms, like Ashworth and Nobile, were now looking to reinvent themselves. (Or maybe just earn a little extra cash.) Incense smoke drifts across an alley packed with vendors loudly hawking everything from shoes to electronics, stationery and handicrafts. These backstreets seem never-ending. They wind on and on, past Buddhist temples, Chinese herbal medicine shops and hole-in-the-wall dumpling restaurants. Here, in one of the oldest corners of Bangkok, the Thai capital is at its most lively in Chinatown, also known as Yaowarat. Frenetic energy unfurls across this district each day, steadily gathering pace until finally Yaowarat exhales, deep in the evening. In the daylight, it is cloaked in teeming markets. Once the sun slides from view, it becomes thronged by hungry people drawn to Yaowarats famous street food. Few other cities strike the balance between East and West as well as Bangkok. In parts of its downtown area along Sukhumvit Road, amid gleaming skyscrapers and chic condominiums, it seems as if you could be in Manhattan, Melbourne or Montreal. Yet just a kilometer or two in any direction, you can find an authentically Thai enclave, where life moves at a gentler rhythm. Tourists can tread the line between the Western and Eastern worlds, gleefully dancing back and over it throughout their holiday. For lunch they can slurp spicy noodle soup at a plastic table in a park by an ancient temple. Then back to the high life for dinner, slicing up a grass-fed Wagyu steak while enjoying silver service at a rooftop restaurant. Ronan O'Connell/Special to The Chronicle And yet, nowhere in central Bangkok seems more distant from the Western world than Yaowarat. Yaowarat actually feels more Chinese than do many cities in China itself these days. In Chinese metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, most old neighborhoods have been erased, often replaced by hulking steel-and-glass structures. The same modernization process (albeit slower) is unfolding across Bangkok, but so far Yaowarat has been largely untouched by the clammy paws of property developers. It remains unfiltered and gritty very little is obscured from view. Bangkoks lure is so strong that it has survived the citys unstable social environment. Even amid the 2014 military coup, marked by citywide curfews and violence between protesters and security forces, tourists kept flowing into Bangkok. It still received an astonishing 16 million tourists that year, making it the worlds fourth-most-visited city, ahead of the likes of New York, Paris and Rome. In the space of a brief stroll through Yaowarat, you can witness many of Bangkoks triumphs and failures, its joys and sorrows. The fierce work ethic of its street vendors is admirable, as they smile and barter politely in the intense tropical heat. Yaowarats temples beguile with their peaceful atmospheres and glorious architecture. Yet within their confines you often will see raggedly clothed locals on their knees, seemingly praying for heavenly assistance in their daily struggle. Although Yaowarat is not a depressing place. Perhaps the best word to describe it would be invigorating. Boredom is not something you will suffer here, nor is indifference. You will either love it or loathe it, be thrilled or overwhelmed, entertained or irritated. Ronan O'Connell/Special to The Chroncile Yaowarat takes its name from the road that carves it roughly in half. About a mile long, Yaowarat Road leads from near Bangkoks main railway station, Hua Lamphong, through Chinatown to the edge of Phahurat, also known as Little India. While there is not a particularly large Indian population in Bangkok, the Chinese have had a massive influence on the city. About 10 percent of Thailands 68 million people are believed to have Chinese ancestry. This figure was as high as 15 percent in the early 1900s, after waves of Chinese immigrated to Thailand starting in the middle of the 19th century. The current generations blend seamlessly into Bangkok society, with most speaking Thai as their first language and practicing Theravada Buddhism. It was in Yaowarat where many of the first Chinese migrants to Bangkok settled. It remains the one part of the city where Chinese languages are still widely used. Dozens of towering neon signs adorned by Chinese script line Yaowarat Road. On the crowded sidewalks below, commerce is king. In Yaowarat, if something is not for sale, thats because its already been sold. Used motorbike parts, housewares, life-size Buddhas no customers taste is ignored. Shopping in Yaowarat is a throwback to the way things used to be in Thailand. Independent vendors set up their stalls in the open, bartering their way to a living. These days many Bangkok residents tend to avoid the countrys volcanic heat when shopping, opting instead for the orderly, temperature-controlled environments of one of the citys seemingly endless mega-malls. Yet Yaowarat still does a roaring trade. It helps that it has the highest concentration of gold shops in Bangkok. Chinatown also attracts many people who buy items wholesale to stock their own stalls in other parts of the city. They make bulk purchases of anything from clothes to sunglasses, shoes, handbags, bedding and childrens toys. Many of these wholesale shops will also sell individual items if you ask politely. The prices here are as cheap as anywhere in the city. (Because many products have marked prices, tourists pay the same as the locals and can secure fantastic bargains.) If Yaowarat Road is the heart of Chinatown, then Trok Issaranuphap is its soul. Its culinary soul, to be precise. Stall after stall is laden with exotic foods fresh, dried, sour, sweet, spicy or mild. Walking the full length of this narrow alley is like a heavy gym session for your senses. By the end, they will be exhausted. Your eyes will strain to look in every direction at once. Your nose will scramble to interpret a barrage of alluring foreign scents. And, if you have common sense, your taste buds will be wooed into submission by all the food you try. Yaowarat favorites include the delicate flavors of birds nest soup, simple yet delicious wonton noodles, and the peppery punch of kway chap noodle soup. Beyond all this succulence, at the northern end of Trok Issaranuphap, is Leng Buai La Shrine. The oldest Chinese shrine in Thailand, it dates back more than 300 years. Amid the cacophonous noise and consumer frenzy of Yaowarat, it is a refuge of calm and spirituality. On the brightly colored pillars that flank its entrance, two ornate dragons face each other, protecting the temple. They have joined forces. Thai and Chinese cultures have achieved a similar synthesis stronger than the sum of the parts. Ronan OConnell is a freelance writer. Email: travel@sfchronicle.com If you go Getting there Cathay Pacific, Eva Air and Air China offer flights from San Francisco to Bangkok with stopovers in Hong Kong for Cathay Pacific, and in Taipei for the other two airlines. Round-trip flights start from about $800. Yaowarat is in the southwestern corner of central Bangkok, pinned up against the Chao Phraya River. It can be reached in 20 to 40 minutes (depending on traffic) by taxi from the upmarket tourist areas of Silom, Siam and Asoke. Where to stay Grand China (Yaowarat): +66 2 224 9977, www.grandchina.com. Grab a superior room from just $60 a night at this large, well-appointed hotel right on Yaowarat Road. (It is recommended, however, to stay in either the Silom or Siam areas, both of which cater to tourists far better than Yaowarat.) Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park (Silom): +66 2 632 9000, www.bangkoklumpinipark.crowneplaza.com. Brilliant location opposite the giant Lumpini Park; offers an amazing breakfast buffet and a lovely swimming pool. Rooms start from $150. Pathumwan Princess hotel (Siam): +66 2 216 3700, www.pprincess.com. With rooms from $110, many with views across central Bangkok, it also has the advantage of being located on top of MBK, one of Bangkoks most popular shopping centers. Where to eat Yaowarat is one of Bangkoks most famous districts for food. There has been a crackdown on street-side restaurants in the past year, and they are banned from certain parts of the city. Fortunately, this has not extended to Yaowarat, which still teems with street food, from steamed dumpling to grilled seafood and sweet Thai toast. There are also many fine restaurants. Cotton restaurant: Inside Shanghai Mansion hotel, 481 Yaowarat Road, +66 2 221 2121. Decorated to resemble Shanghai in the 1930s, this charming hotel has a beautifully appointed restaurant that serves delicious duck. Hua Seng Hong restaurant: 371 Yaowarat Road, +66 02-222-0635. This seafood restaurant is typically very busy and filled with locals, which is always a great sign. What to do Yaowarat is the best area in Bangkok to explore by foot. Start at one end of Sampheng Lane and meander all the way to the other, snaring bargain handicrafts, fashion accessories and souvenirs along the way. More information Thailand Tourism Authority: www.tourismthailand.org/hom Phahurat: Bangkoks other ethnic neighborhood Located directly west of Yaowarat, Phahurat is the only other district of central Bangkok that has a distinct foreign flavor. Also known as Little India, much of its allure resides in its back-alley markets, similar to Chinatown. Also like Yaowarat, Phahurat gets its name from the main road that runs through it. There is no real boundary between Yaowarat and Phahurat, with one flowing into the next. In the backstreets that run adjacent to Yaowarat Road, at its western end, fabric and textile stalls start to pop up. Run by Indian Sikhs, these businesses selling Indian cotton and silk become more and more common the farther west you walk, before eventually you spill out near the eastern end of Phahurat Road. To your left, at this point, is a medium-size shopping center called India Emporium. Here you will find yet more fabric shops, outlets selling Indian clothing and, on the top floor, a small food court that serves tasty and cheap Indian food. Phahurat is not the prettiest of places. Yet many a romance is linked to this neighborhood, as it is one of Bangkoks prime destinations for buying traditional Thai wedding dresses and suits and other matrimonial needs. Ronan OConnell It is with great pleasure that The Chronicle has assembled an all-star cast of influential Bay Area innovators to serve on the nominating committee for the 2017 Visionary of the Year award. Each is at the top of his or her field, all are visionaries in their own right. I think you will be quite impressed with the six finalists when their profiles begin to appear early next year. The winner will be announced in March 2017. Once again, the list of nominees for our annual award reflects the depth, scope and wide-ranging impact of groundbreaking work being done in the Bay Area. Let me tell you a little about each of the committee members. Chase Adam: The co-founder of the San Francisco nonprofit Watsi was our 2016 Visionary of the Year winner. At 30, the self-effacing Chase has built a system that uses technology to link donors with people needing health care in 23 countries. He's now thinking even bigger: He wants to find ways to use Watsi's technology to help governments in impoverished countries to build national models for health-care delivery. Greg Becker: Greg is president and CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, the world's only bank dedicated to the innovation sector. The bank has been cited as one of the fastest growing public companies in the United States. He's also established himself as a leader in the community. He is also an avid cyclist; bring your a-game if you hope to keep up with him on a ride through the hills. Emmett Carson: The founding CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation is regarded as an international thought leader in philanthropy. The nonprofit has grown rapidly out of a 2006 merger to become the nation's largest community foundation. He is a charismatic leader with strong ideas about uniting the region to solve shared challenges. Ron Conway: The instincts and savvy of the angel investor helped myriad start-ups get off the ground, and his early-stage investments include Google, Ask Jeeves and PayPal. Ron has no less ambitious and prescient in identifying and funding civic and philanthropic causes that need a boost. He has been a leader in connecting the ever-booming San Francisco tech sector with the community. Zhan Li: The dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration at St. Mary's College has played a key role in creating and defining the VisionSF program. The school was the founding partner of the award, which took form with the collaboration of St. Mary's and The Chronicle in the fall of 2014. The thoughtful Li embodies the school's slogan, "Think globally. Lead responsibly." Jennifer Siebel Newsom: The documentary filmmaker has applied her work toward raising public awareness of critical issues. Her critically acclaimed film "Miss Representation," which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, explored the role of media in keeping women from positions in power. It was followed in 2015 by "The Mask You Live in," a critique of how society defines masculinity. She also co-founded The Representation Project, a group committed to ending gender stereotypes. Libby Schaaf: Oakland's mayor is leading the city through a period of transformation, as economic and population growth moves to the hub of the East Bay. She has an ambitious vision to attract more of the region's prosperity and new housing while preserving the neighborhoods and cultural diversity that makes the city so distinct. Michael Walker: The executive vice president and regional executive of City National Bank has a deep background in the financial services industry and a well-established commitment to the community. The Georgetown University graduate serves on the board of directors of the Bay Area Council and Jewish Vocational Service, and is on the board of trustees of the National Hispanic University Foundation in San Jose. City National is a presenting sponsor of VisionSF. John Diaz has been The Chronicle's editorial page editor since 1996. E-mail: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron The Chronicle's VisionSF program and the 3rd annual Visionary of the Year award: Mission statement: "Visionary leaders are paradigm changers individuals who strive to make the world a better place by employing new, innovative business models and practices. As the world faces an increasing number of widespread social and economic challenges, visionary leaders understand the broad impact of the business community and recognize its potential to drive great change." How nominees are selected: A group of prominent Bay Area leaders is selected by The Chronicle to identify visionaries who are making a difference in their respective fields. Each of the nominees will be profiled in a series of stories, in the newspaper and on SFChronicle.com, beginning January 15th, 2017. How winner is decided: Chronicle Publisher Jeff Johnson, Editor in Chief Audrey Cooper and Editorial Page Editor John Diaz will select the winner from six finalists. The winner, who will receive a $25,000 grant, will be announced on March 29th, 2017. Past winners: Evan Marwell of Education Superhighway (2015) and Chase Adam of Watsi (2016). Founding partner:The St. Mary's College School of Economics and Business Administration. For more information visit Saint Mary's College at stmarys-ca.edu Presenting sponsor: City National Bank visit the company's website at cnb.com For more on VisionSF visit SFChronicle.com/VisionSF This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Santa Rosas Seismic Brewing Co. begins producing beer in the coming weeks, owner Christopher Jackson hopes to set a new standard for sustainability practices in craft brewing. The individual technologies involved in realizing this goal innovative on-site wastewater treatment, as well as energy-conservation aids like a steam condenser and a carbon dioxide vaporizer are not unique to Seismic, but whats uncommon about Seismic is its ability to implement all of these technologies at once, in a brand new multimillion-dollar brewery. That ability reflects the fact that Seismic has a very different origin story from Northern Californias typical craft brewery, making it perhaps the most ambitious new brewery to call itself craft to open in the region. For one thing, money is no object: Jackson, 27, is the son of Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke and a co-owner of Jackson Family Wines one of the 10 largest wine companies in America. Whereas the archetypal craft-brewery tale begins in a run-down garage, Seismic has the luxury of building a state-of-the-art facility from scratch, and investing in capital-intensive resources that other breweries could only dream of realizing years down the line. Though Jackson wont disclose specific dollars, he said that opening Seismic has taken a few million. One thing is certain: Like wine giant Constellations $1 billion purchase of Ballast Point last year, the fact that one of Americas savviest wine moguls views craft beer as a worthy investment is a real vote of financial confidence a sign of the industrys maturation. The fundamental question of whether Seismics beer is any good remains to be seen. Production wont begin until the brewery is fully up and running, and it could be months before it starts selling product. A taproom is a long-term goal, but theres no provision for one. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle The caliber of Seismics production team offers promise. The brewmaster is Andrew Hooper, formerly the director of operations for Anderson Valley Brewing Company, and hes working with head brewer Christian Toran, previously of Firestone Walker. Jacksons college roommate, Patrick Delves, is Seismics general manager and the person who got Jackson hooked on craft beer in the first place, when the two attended Santa Clara University. Seismic has come together quickly; the conversation, Jackson said, began in earnest in the summer of 2015. Coming from wine, my fascination was always with world-class craft beverages, said Jackson, who, in addition to Seismic, continues to manage Jackson Family Wines properties, attends UC Berkeley School of Law and, with his wife Ariel, is expecting his second child. Suitable brewery spaces can be hard to come by, but Jackson found gold: a 13,200-square-foot, brand-new but still-empty industrial warehouse in south Santa Rosa, with ceilings as high as 24 feet. The name Seismic was already taken; trademarked but unused by San Diegos Rough Draft Brewing Company. So Jackson bought the trademark from them, and his team set out to build the most sustainable brewery ever seen. Recognizing that the process of making beer is resource- and water-intensive, Jackson wanted to set a strong example of mitigating environmental impacts from the start. We are trying to be the best industrial brewery in terms of water conservation in the world, Jackson said. The centerpiece of its sustainability program is the Cambrian Innovation EcoVolt Mini, which converts about 95 percent of wastewater into potable water. Though that water cant legally be used for brewing, theres plenty of use for it in cleaning and in the boiler feed. Beer brewing is famously a guzzler: It typically requires seven to eight gallons of water to produce a gallon of beer. Seismic aims to get that ratio to 2:1. Other breweries use versions of Cambrians EcoVolt technology, but Seismic will be among the very first to use this particular model. Its an especially noteworthy purchase given Seismics micro-size, at only 8,000 barrels of beer per year. Seismics steam condenser can capture up to 12 percent of the boil kettle loss, feeding both the hot liquor tank and the EcoVolt Mini. And a carbon dioxide vaporizer uses glycol an industrial temperature-control mechanism which Hooper said will result in about a 10 percent gain in electricity-free refrigeration. To cut down on packaging waste, they will sell half their beer in kegs for draft; the rest will be canned on-site. Though each element is not revolutionary in its own right, taken together, they combine to form the eco-conscious brewers dream house. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle Cheri Chastain, who oversees sustainability for Chico-based Sierra Nevada and chairs the sustainability committee for the craft beer trade group Brewers Association, has been impressed by Seismics plan. The fact that Seismic is thinking about sustainability right off the bat positions them very well in the industry, she said. Its definitely unique. The plan is not cheap, and its cost-saving potential is unclear. While some energy and water costs will go down, Seismic might not produce enough beer to reap the financial benefits. For perspective, Healdsburgs Bear Republic Brewing Company has a five-year rate of return on investment for its glycol recovery system, according to its master brewer Peter Kruger. Bear Republic produces 10 times as much beer as Seismic will. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. These investments have a more favorable payback at a certain barrel production number, which is unfortunately too large for most craft brewers, said Chastain. Jackson points out: I have the financial capability to do the right thing. More than 700 craft breweries call California home. Sonoma County alone has nearly 30, including big names like Lagunitas and Russian River. How does a new brewery stand out? Many of the Bay Areas recent craft-beer success stories have made their names with a specific style of beer: Cellarmaker with double IPA; Fort Point with kolsch; Rare Barrel with sours; HenHouse with saison. Seismic isnt going to pin its identity on a single beer. Theyll start with four styles: kolsch, pilsner, IPA and the wild card oatmeal pale ale. The plan is to stay classic; you wont see any sour cherries or yerba mate additions. What would really excite me, said Jackson, is to make a showstopper within a saturated category, like IPA. Its a posture that perhaps only the heir to Kendall-Jackson could take. Jackson knows what it is to produce an all-time best-seller in a very saturated category: Chardonnay. But unlike Kendall-Jackson, which distributes around the world, and unlike California craft breweries like Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada and Stone, which have added production facilities in places like Illinois, North Carolina and even Berlin, Seismic plans to keep its distribution almost entirely within Sonoma County. We have more control if we have a local focus, said Hooper, who cites beer freshness as his main concern. The larger a brewers distribution radius, the harder it is to ensure its beer stays cold and isnt sold stale. Will Seismic resonate with local drinkers? Theres no question that if you look at most of the craft breweries in Sonoma County, they were all started by home-brewers that were operating out of garages for a long time, said Bear Republics Kruger. If Seismics pedigree runs the risk of making the brewery look like an over-funded unicorn among beer start-ups, it may make up for that with its ambitions for sustainability. And as Collin McDonnell, co-founder of Petalumas HenHouse, points out, the local craft brewing industry still has room for more voices. You look at Sonoma County, with close to 1,000 wineries, he said, and Seismic is, what, brewery number 26? Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate James Hetfield isn't the first celebrity to feel the wrath of locals for spurning the Bay Area. The Metallica star made headlines this week for announcing on a podcast that he'd moved his family from Marin to Vail, Colorado to get away from the area's "elitist" attitude. "I kind of got sick of the Bay Area, the attitudes of the people there, a little bit," Hetfield said. "They talk about how diverse they are, and things like that, and it's fine if you're diverse like them. But showing up with a deer on the bumper doesn't fly in Marin County. My form of eating organic doesn't vibe with theirs." His move didn't impress SFGATE readers. "So to get away from this he moves to Vail, Colorado!" one reader wrote on our Facebook page. "... James, move to Bakersfield, Modesto or Ukiah, then you will have proved something." "The median price of homes currently listed in Vail is $1,900,000 per Zillow," another commented. "An enclave of non-elite-ness." To be fair to Hetfield, locals can be a little overzealous sometimes. Californians' territorial love of the state makes us inclined to vocally defend it when others fail to love it as much as we do. It's a lesson that Hetfield and other celebrities like author Danielle Steel have learned. Click through the gallery above to see some other celebs who made headlines for leaving the Bay Area. GREENVILLE, Miss. Mississippi authorities have made an arrest in the burning of an African-American church spray-painted with the words, Vote Trump.Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says Andrew McClinton of Leland, Mississippi, who is African-American, is charged with first-degree arson of a place of worship.McClinton was arrested Wednesday. Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi, was burned and vandalized Nov. 1, a week before the presidential election.It was not immediately clear whether McClinton is represented by an attorney.Greenville is a Mississippi River port city of about 32,100 people, and about 78 percent of its residents are African-American.After the fire, Hopewell congregants began worshipping in a chapel at predominantly white First Baptist Church of Greenville.Fire Chief Ruben Brown told The Associated Press the sanctuary of Hopewell M.B Church sustained heavy damage in the fire, while the kitchen and pastors office received water and smoke damage.The words Vote Trump were also spray-painted on an outside wall of the church. The state Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to decide whether San Francisco, in the interest of aesthetics, can prevent telephone companies from installing wireless antennas on utility poles. A city ordinance regulating where antennas can be installed was upheld in September by a state appeals court, which said local governments in California have the authority to prohibit installations that could disturb or discomfort the public, for reasons that include their appearance. But the states high court voted unanimously Wednesday to grant review of an appeal by telecommunications companies, which argued that the ordinance conflicts with state law. The ordinance will remain in effect until the court holds a hearing and rules on the issue. Since 2011, San Francisco has required telecoms to obtain a city permit before installing large antennas and related equipment on roadside poles. The Board of Supervisors declared in passing the ordinance that San Francisco is widely recognized to be one of the worlds most beautiful cities and that regulation would prevent installations whose appearance or location would diminish the citys beauty. The ordinance does not apply to utilities like Pacific Gas and Electric Co. or to video providers like Comcast. As of 2014, when the companies challenged the ordinance, the city had received nearly 200 applications for permits and had denied only three, said Deputy City Attorney Erin Bernstein. She said the companies had generally gone along with regulators criteria for installations that suited their surroundings, especially in scenic and historic areas. But wireless providers, led by T-Mobile West, argued that San Francisco was exceeding the authority provided by California law, which allows telecoms to install roadside equipment as long as it does not incommode the public use of the roads. The companies contended that incommode meant blocking access and didnt allow a city to decide whether an antenna was too unsightly to display. The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco took a different view in its Sept. 15 ruling in the citys favor. Public use of the right of way is not limited to travel, Justice Terence Bruiniers said in the 3-0 ruling. He said cities in California have the power to adopt ordinances for aesthetic reasons. The case is T-Mobile West vs. San Francisco, S238001. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is back on the U.S. governments annual list of notorious markets that sell pirated goods. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says Alibabas on-line marketplace Taobao sells high levels of counterfeit goods and is slow to respond when companies complain that its vendors are selling knockoffs. The office took Alibaba off the blacklist in 2012, but several U.S. trade groups pushed to get it reinstated. Alibaba Group President Michael Evans says the company is disappointed. He says the company, which is partly owned by Yahoo, is policing vendors more effectively than it did four years ago. Evans questioned whether the decision was based on actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate. During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump blasted China for stealing intellectual property. Autos Tesla moves to borrow more Tesla Motors Inc. increased its borrowing capacity under two credit agreements by about $500 million two months after CEO Elon Musk tweeted that raising debt wouldnt be necessary before the end of the year. Tesla, which last month acquired San Mateo money-losing solar-roof installer SolarCity Corp. for $2 billion, boosted a credit line with Deutsche Bank AG by $200 million, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. The Palo Alto company has the potential to add $50 million more to that agreement and increased a separate credit facility by another $300 million. Musk surprised investors in October by saying Tesla didnt need to raise equity or borrow money this quarter, when some analysts were saying it might soon need $2.5 billion to cover the entrepreneurs ambitious plans. With Tuesdays disclosure, Teslas credit lines would reach about $1.8 billion. I dont think its that shocking that over time Tesla needs more funding, said David Whiston, an analyst with Morningstar in Chicago. Its young and has enormous growth plans, so over time I would expect more equity raises and more revolver capacity. Tesla isnt commenting beyond the filing, said a company spokeswoman. Honda, Waymo may collaborate Honda is in talks with Google to install the Mountain View companys self-driving technology. Honda says collaboration with Googles Waymo unit would let researchers learn about integration of sensors, software and computers. The automaker says it would provide vehicles to Waymo that are modified to handle the technology. The Hondas would join Waymos fleet that includes Lexus SUVs and Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Taxes Bermuda is a Google haven Google saved $3.6 billion in worldwide taxes in 2015 by moving $15.5 billion to a Bermuda shell company, new regulatory filings in the Netherlands reveal. The amount the company shifted through its Dutch subsidiary, Google Netherlands Holdings BV, and then on to a Bermuda mailbox was 40 percent greater than in 2014, according to filings the company made with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 12 and which were made available online Tuesday. News of the filings was first reported by the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad. Parent company Alphabet moves the bulk of its non-U.S. profits through this Dutch subsidiary, which has no employees. Alphabet has used the Netherlands company since 2004 as part of a tax structure dubbed a Double Irish and a Dutch sandwich. By moving most of its international profit to Bermuda, Alphabet reduced its effective tax rate outside the U.S. to 6.4 percent in 2015, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Google complies with the tax laws in every country where we operate, a Google spokesman said in a statement. In February, Google also said such calculations of an effective tax rate do not reflect the methods actually used to determine its international taxes in any jurisdiction. Most of the money funneled through the Dutch company in 2015 came from Google Ireland Limited, which collects most of Googles international advertising revenues. The rest came from a Google subsidiary in Singapore that serves a similar role. The total amount of profit Google had sheltered from U.S. taxation, most of which passes through its Dutch subsidiary en route to Bermuda, grew to $58.3 billion in 2015, according to Alphabets SEC filings. Aviation Details from Facebook crash An unmanned aircraft that is part of Facebooks plan to send Internet signals to remote parts of the world crashed in Arizona during the summer because of strong winds, investigators said. The solar-powered aircraft, Aquila, crashed during its first test flight June 28 near Yuma. Wind gusts were about twice as strong as the aircraft could handle and broke a wing, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The report says the test aircraft was substantially damaged by the wings structural failure and the crash, but there were no injuries or damage on the ground. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a July 21 post that the flight was a success because of all the data collected. He didnt mention the crash. Chronicle News Services DETROIT Highway safety advocates are worried that a government rule that would electronically limit speeds of tractor-trailers could be scuttled or ignored by the administration of President-elect Donald Trump. The rule proposed by two federal agencies would cap the speed of newly manufactured trucks at 60, 65 or 68 mph. A public comment period ended this month. Safety advocates had petitioned for it in 2006, saying it would make highways safer, and they were hoping it would be in place before the Obama administration leaves office in January. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it normally takes at least a year after the regulation is first published for it to go into effect. In this case, the agency and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published the rule in August. Spokesman Bryan Thomas says the agencies have to review more than 2,200 comments before making a decision. I am really disappointed if its not done right away, said John Lannen, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition who hoped for quick action because the measure has been in the works for more than a decade. Im hoping that safety regulations do get looked at differently than maybe just generic regulations, because were trying to save lives. Trump has said he wants to get rid of unnecessary regulations that inhibit economic growth, and has even proposed that federal agencies scrap two regulations for every new one they adopt. His transition team wouldnt comment on the speed limiter regulation and said it is focused on Cabinet appointments and building the new administration. There will be plenty of time to discuss detailed policy specifics after the swearing in, it said. Steve Owings, co-founder of Road Safe America, who proposed the rule, said advocates will reach out to the new administration to keep the regulation going. This, as well as other needed changes, certainly fits the description of common sense, which the president-elect has spoken of recently, said Owings, whose son was killed by a speeding truck while returning to college in 2002. Regulators and others favoring speed limiters say the rule is supported by simple physics: If trucks travel slower, the impact of a crash will be less severe and fewer people will be injured or killed. The rule is supported by the American Trucking Associations, the largest group of trucking companies in the nation. NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have to decide whether to proceed with the regulation and what maximum speed to impose on trucks. But independent truckers, many of whom filed comments against the rule, say the government is actually creating conditions for more collisions by focusing on the severity of the crash while ignoring the dynamic of trucks and cars traveling at different speeds. They warn of traffic jams caused by slower trucks and of a potential increase in crashes because fast-moving cars can hit the rear of trucks. Owings says the rule should apply to existing trucks instead of just new ones because speeds could be limited with an inexpensive software update. The speed limiters also would take care of the problem of trucks traveling faster than their tires can handle. An investigation by the Associated Press last year found that most truck tires cant handle speeds above 75 mph, yet some states let trucks go 80 or even 85 mph. Uber is moving its self-driving pilot project to Arizona, one day after the California Department of Motor Vehicles ordered the autonomous vehicles off the roads in San Francisco. Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck, an Uber spokeswoman said Thursday afternoon in a statement. Well be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and were excited to have the support of Governor Ducey. After starting its San Francisco test on Dec. 14, the ride-hailing company angered the mayor and officials at the DMV by refusing to get a permit to operate its self-driving cars. Residents also flagged several incidents involving the self-driving vehicles, such as running red lights. And so, around noon on Thursday, a fleet of Uber self-driving cars passed through the South of Market area on the backs of several flatbed trucks. Commuters gawked at the fleet with their distinctive hoods, backing up traffic as the convoy slowly drove by. In a statement Thursday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey called Californias regulations burdensome and said Arizona welcomes Ubers self-driving car test with open arms. While California puts the brakes on innovation and change with more bureaucracy and more regulation, Arizona is paving the way for new technology and new businesses, he said. It is unclear what city or cities the cars are headed to. Robbie Sherwood, a spokesman for the Phoenix mayors office, said people reported seeing Ubers self-driving cars in the city Thursday. Phoenix is excited to be an Uber-friendly city, and we are excited that they are expanding here, Sherwood said. Ducey signed an executive order in 2015 that supports the testing and operation of self-driving cars in Arizona. Google began testing its autonomous cars in several cities there this year. Uber said last year that Tucson and the University of Arizona will become the next home to our Uber mapping test vehicles. California, however, has had enough for now. On Wednesday, the DMV told Uber that its cars were improperly registered, and that the autonomous vehicles could no longer operate in its hometown. The DMV said it could expedite the application process for the appropriate permits, which require reporting of accidents involving self-driving vehicles. Uber has declined to apply for a permit. When asked Thursday if Uber plans to apply for a California permit, a spokeswoman said there are no plans to do so today, and declined to comment further. A DMV representative also declined to comment on Thursdays move. For self-driving vehicles in Arizona, there are no special permits or licensing required, according to the states Department of Transportation. In Arizona, autonomous vehicles have the same registration requirements as any other vehicle, and nothing in state law prevents testing autonomous vehicles. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Lizzie Johnson contributed to this report. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter @TrishaThadani A man supposedly collecting money to fund childrens cancer research outside a Napa Safeway was arrested after a police officer found out the fund was a fake, officials said. Officer Eric Koford was patrolling in the Safeway area when he recognized the alleged scammer, Joshua Bagg, from his prior run-ins with law enforcement. The officer called the Internal Revenue Service to see if any charity matched the name, and then called the 800 number on the collection box. Four members of the Nuestra Familia prison gang, including one described by prosecutors as one of the gangs nationwide leaders, were sentenced to long prison terms Wednesday by a federal judge in Oakland for racketeering crimes that included a San Jose murder. The hearing concluded a six-year federal investigation and prosecution of members of Nuestra Familia, which originated in California prisons in the 1960s and has been held responsible for crimes in prisons around the country and attacks against former members on the streets. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sentenced Andrew Cervantes, 60, of Stockton to 36 years in prison after a jury convicted him in August of conspiracy to conduct the affairs of a racketeering organization and distribute drugs. The jury found that Cervantes had ordered the murder of another gang member, who survived the stabbing attack in March 2013. U.S. Attorney Brian Stretchs office said Cervantes had directed nationwide activities of Nuestra Familia from his prison cell in Lewisburg, Pa., overseeing drug sales and other crimes. But Cervantes lawyer, K. Alexandra McClure, said in a court filing that there was no evidence Cervantes exercised any control or authority over other gang members. Gonzalez Rogers sentenced another defendant, Alberto Larez, 48, of Salinas, to life in prison for racketeering crimes that included the August 2012 murder of Martin Chacon in San Jose. Prosecutors said Larez and two cohorts suspected Chacon of cooperating with police and lured him to a meeting, where he was shot to death in his car. Henry Cervantes, 52, of Lodi was sentenced to 75 years in prison for crimes that included overseeing the gangs drug-dealing activities. The jury deadlocked on his guilt for the murders of two people found in a burning Oakland apartment in 2011. Prosecutors said Cervantes, who had been released from prison in 2010, became the gangs regiment commander in Oakland a year later. They accused him of fatally stabbing Johnny Navaerette, 73, a paroled killer, and Renee Washington, 56, and then ordering his underlings to set their bodies on fire in an Oakland apartment building in September 2011. But the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on that charge. The fourth defendant, Jaime Cervantes, 33, of San Mateo, was sentenced to 32 years in prison for crimes that included the 2013 prison stabbing ordered by Andrew Cervantes. Eight other defendants pleaded guilty earlier and were sentenced by Gonzalez Rogers to between eight and 15 years in prison. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate It's all about the angles. This San Francisco photo taken on an exceptionally clear day this week captures the City by the Bay in a new light --- at the foot of a giant mountain. After a double-take, everyone can quickly recognize the city is San Francisco, but the mountain looming behind it appears out of place. We all know it's Mount Tamalpais, aka Mount Tam, but why do we rarely see this view of our skyline? Ask KTVU. When they showed this shot on the 5:30 p.m. newscast Wednesday, it made the entire on-air team do a double-take, and the director literally had to do a double take, re-cuing the video at the request of meteorologist Bill Martin. We reached out to the photographer himself to get the backstory. Turns out, it was taken 30 miles from Mount Tam, looking northwest toward the 2,572 foot peak. Paul Betterton, Chopper 2 photojournalist, confirmed the shot was taken all the way south of the San Mateo Bridge, at about 950 feet above the Bay. Betterton says he works with the pilot to find unique shots from the air. "We're looking for that kind of angle, light and altitude all the time," Betterton said. The image is the result of "lens compression" where a long telephoto lens or focal length "flattens" the image. The subject (San Francisco) and the background (Mount Tam) never change in distance from one another, but as the camera moves farther and farther back, and then zooms in, the background and subject appear to be right next to each other. Voila. Mount Tam looks like it's 10,000 feet high, and San Francisco gives Tokyo a run for its money as a city at the base of a giant. While the photo above was a screenshot taken from the KTVU live broadcast, Betterton also takes still images, and is comfortable at both forms of photography. His work is seen whenever there is breaking news, or sometimes, a beautiful weather shot on KTVU 2 and streaming at www.ktvu.com. Prince Charles warns against religious persecution BBC News22 December 2016Prince Charles has spoken out about the danger of religious persecution, warning against a repeat of "the horrors of the past".Delivering BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, the Prince of Wales said the rise of populist groups "aggressive" to minority faiths had "deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days" of the 1930s.In the Christmas message , he urged respect for those of different faiths.It is the third time he has given the address on the Today programme The prince said he had recently met a Jesuit priest from Syria who described the plight of Christians he was forced to leave behind in the country.He said: "He told me of mass kidnappings in parts of Syria and Iraq and how he feared that Christians will be driven en masse out of lands described in the Bible."He thought it quite possible there will be no Christians in Iraq within five years."Clearly, for such people, religious freedom is a daily, stark choice between life and death."The prince said the scale of religious persecution around the world was "not widely appreciated" and was not limited to Christians, but included many other minority faiths.He told listeners he was was born just after the end of World War Two in which his parents' generation had fought against an attempt to "exterminate the Jewish population of Europe."He went on: "That, nearly seventy years later, we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief."We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past."Prince Charles urged people to remember the story of the Nativity this Christmas, which was about "the fleeing of a holy family to escape violent persecution".He asked listeners to remember that the Prophet Mohammed migrated from Mecca to Medina because he was "seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship".The Prince said: "Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same - to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God." WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until the rest of the world comes to its senses regarding nuclear weapons. His comments on Twitter came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said strengthening his countrys nuclear capabilities should be a chief military objective in the coming year. The president-elects statement also followed his meetings a day earlier with top Pentagon officials and defense contractors. Trump, who is spending the holidays at his palatial private club in Florida, did not expand on the actions he wants the U.S. to take or say why he raised the issue Thursday. Spokesman Jason Miller said the president-elect was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes. Miller said Trump sees modernizing the nations deterrent capability as a vital way to pursue peace through strength. If Trump were to seek an expansion of the nuclear stockpiles, it would mark a sharp shift in U.S. national security policy. President Obama has made nuclear non-proliferation a centerpiece of his agenda, calling in 2009 for the U.S. to lead efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons a goal he acknowledged would not be accomplished quickly or easily. Still, the U.S. has been moving forward on plans to upgrade its aging nuclear arsenal. Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the Pentagon planned to spend $108 billion over the next five years to sustain and improve its nuclear force. The U.S. and Russia hold the vast majority of the worlds nuclear weapons. In 2010, the two countries signed the New START treaty capping the number of nuclear warheads and missile launchers each country can possess. The agreement is in effect until 2021 and can be extended for another five years. Thomas Karako, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the last comprehensive review of the U.S. nuclear force which was conducted during Obamas first term occurred against the backdrop of efforts to reset relations between Washington and Moscow. The relationship has since deteriorated, with Obama and Putin clashing over Russias provocations in Ukraine and support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Trump has repeatedly called for closer relations with Russia and has spoken favorably about Putin. What will happen when the Queen dies? National mourning The Queen's death will trigger an official 12-day period of national mourning.Union Jacks will be flown at half mast throughout the country and books of condolence will be opened at embassies across the world.The London Stock Exchange will be closed for at least the day of the Queen's funeral and potentially for several days - potentially costing the economy billions.The Queens body will be taken to Parliament, where she will lie in state in Westminster Hall like the Queen Mother in 2002 until her funeral.More than 200,000 people travelled to pay their respects to the Queen Mother and that number is expected to be vastly exceeded in the event of the Queen's death. A storm expected to move through Northern California starting Friday will leave in its wake a chilly Christmas Day, a heap of fresh snow in the Sierra and the possibility of powder dusting on some Bay Area mountain peaks, forecasters said. Temperatures on Christmas Day will hover in the upper 20s for the inland region and around the 30s and 40s for urban areas. Highs are forecast to be in the 50s, said Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday called the recent attacks in Germany and Turkey terrible and suggested that he does not intend to reevaluate his plans to ban Muslims from immigrating to the United States, boasting that he had been proven to be right.You know my plans. All along, Ive been proven to be right. 100% correct. Whats happening is disgraceful, Trump told reporters Wednesday when asked whether the recent violence has influenced his proposed Muslim ban Trump described the attack at a Berlin Christmas market as an attack on humanity.Thats what it is: an attack on humanity, he said. And its got to be stopped.Trump said he had not spoken with President Obama since the attacks.Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday, Trump said in an initial statement about the attack on Monday. ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. Mayor Ed Lee turned his back on the rank and file police officers in picking an outside candidate to lead the San Francisco Police Department, the president of the police union said. While Martin Halloran said the San Francisco Police Officers Association was looking forward to meeting incoming chief William Bill Scott, who is currently a Los Angeles deputy chief, he sent an email to union members a few hours after Scott was introduced at City Hall on Tuesday. In it, he bemoaned the mayors decision to not hire acting Chief Toney Chaplin, who has been leading the department since the fatal police shooting of an unarmed African American woman prompted Greg Suhr to resign in May. Today the Mayor appointed a Chief of Police for the SFPD from outside of our ranks, Halloran wrote. The POA over the past several months has made it abundantly clear to the Mayor that there were plenty of qualified members within our own organization. It was no secret that the POA fully supported Chief Toney Chaplin to be named as our permanent Chief. We believe that this is what the rank and file wanted. Chief Chaplin worked his way up through the ranks, and he earned the respect of our department along with the approval of community groups and faith based organizations. Halloran continued: The Mayor saw it differently. We wish that we could say the Mayor did the decent thing and introduced us to the new chief ahead of time. But he did not. As the bargaining unit for almost 2,300 police officers, the Mayor should have included us in the selection process. But he picked the new chief in secret, behind closed doors, and by so doing he turned his back on the rank and file police officers who make this department great. The Police Department has had a long history of being less-than-welcoming of outside hires. Only two chiefs in the departments 167-year history came from other agencies; the last, George Gascon, who served from 2009 to 2011, is now the citys district attorney and a constant adversary of the police union with his deep criticism of the department. John Crew, a former ACLU attorney who has worked to tighten police oversight, called the unions email outrageous. Crew has long criticized the union, calling it an obstacle to reform efforts following the Dec. 2, 2015 police shooting of Mario Woods. They are trying to undermine the new chief in the eyes of the officers as the product of the mayor turning his back on them and deliberate exclusion of the SFPOA less than three hours after hes introduced, he said. They truly have no shame. Their arrogance and sense of entitlement is overwhelming. Halloran ended his email message by committing to work with the new chief, despite being deliberately excluded from the selection process by Mayor Lee. Sources say that work has already begun Scott made a point to call Halloran on Wednesday, after paying a visit to Mission Station. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Employers in California must give their employees 10 minutes of work-free rest breaks every four hours and cant require them to remain on call and available for duty, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The 5-2 ruling upheld $90 million in damages for more than 14,000 private security guards employed by ABM Security Services, which required them to keep their pagers and cell phones switched on during rest periods, remain vigilant and respond to calls for assistance. Reversing an appeals court ruling that overturned the damages, the Supreme Court said that since 1932 California law has required employers to leave workers on their own during the paid 10-minute periods. During rest periods employers must relieve employees of all duties and relinquish control over how employees spend their time, Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar said in the majority decision. A rest period, in short, must be a period of rest. Requiring guards or other employees to remain on call during rest breaks creates a broad and intrusive degree of control, Cuellar said, that prevents workers from taking a walk, making a phone call or pumping breast milk for a newborn child. He noted that state law allows employers to reschedule rest periods when special needs arise and also permits some categories of employers to ask state labor officials for an exemption if the mandatory breaks would cause them undue hardship. ABM has been granted two one-year exemptions from the requirement in the past. The law entitles employees to an hours pay if a 10-minute break is canceled. Another state law allows employees to take half-hour meal breaks after five hours of work. In dissent, Justice Leondra Kruger like Cuellar an appointee of Gov. Jerry Brown agreed that employees must be allowed to take rest breaks but said requiring them to carry a pager or cell phone during that period does not constitute work. On-call employees are free to rest or take a walk during their breaks, said Kruger, joined by Justice Carol Corrigan. Prohibiting an employer from requiring them to carry a communications device serves only to deprive the employer of any sure means of reaching the employee, even if a truly extraordinary situation requires it, she said. The security guards lawyer, Drew Pomerance, said the courts ruling would benefit all sides by providing a clear standard, so that both employers and employees will know whats required of them. ABMs lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, said his clients are incredibly disappointed and are considering their options for further legal review. The case is Augustus vs. ABM Security Services, S224853. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko Online View the ruling: http://bit.ly/2hdR6yW SAN DIEGO Army Capt. Matthew Ball relied heavily on his Afghan interpreter during a yearlong mission in one of Afghanistans most dangerous areas, entrusting him daily with his life. The interpreter received death threats from the Taliban for helping American troops, and has now been in hiding for nearly four years. He ventures out only in the cloak of darkness. Im living my days in hell. Even if someone is not really looking at me, I feel so paranoid, like this guy is going to kill me, Qismat Amin said via an Internet call. Amin is one of more than 13,000 Afghans and their immediate family members waiting to get a special immigrant visa for aiding the U.S. mission, according to the State Department. A defense bill approved by Congress and sent to President Obama calls for an additional 1,500 visas and extends the program until the end of 2020. Scores of veterans like Ball, who have been trying to get their translators out of the country, say the number is woefully inadequate and that the United States will be abandoning thousands who helped American troops. We leave and theyre still there and they get hunted, basically, for what theyve done, said Ball, 30, a former Army Ranger who now serves in the Reserves. Being an interpreter makes you a target. Unfortunately, we dont live up to our promises on the back end. Americas longest war, which began in response to 9/11, grinds on in its 16th year. Afghan soldiers and police have been suffering heavy casualties in their battle against a resilient Taliban insurgency, while U.S. forces continue to hunt down al Qaeda and Islamic State militants there. The special visa program started in 2009 to help Afghan translators, cultural advisers and others who have worked for U.S. military or government personnel. Balls interpreter applied more than three years ago for a visa. Among Amins letters of recommendation was one from retired Army Gen. John Campbell, the former commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Islamic state fighters have demanded Amin return to his village, and they took his familys land last year. But Amin knows he will be killed if he goes back so he has moved to a nearby city. Amin has been unable to work and has spent most of the earnings from working for the U.S. military, which paid him about $650 a month. Congress has added 7,000 visas to the program over the past two years to meet the demand, and the process has sped up. So far in fiscal year 2016, a total of 4,283 visas have been issued to Afghans who helped the U.S. mission. That compares to 2,636 for 2015, the State Department said in an October report. But thousands are still waiting amid the worsening security situation. BEIRUT Hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians, including small children swaddled in thick blankets, were bused out of war-ravaged Aleppo in heavy snow on Wednesday as the evacuation of former rebel strongholds entered its final phase. Scenes of buses slowly driving out of Aleppo in a shroud of white offered an evocative finale to what has been one of the most brutal chapters in Syrias civil war. The departures from Aleppo pave the way for President Bashar Assad to assume full control there, after more than four years of fighting over Syrias largest city. It marks the most significant victory for Assad since an uprising against his familys four-decade rule swept the country in 2011. The evacuations were set in motion last week after Syrias opposition agreed to surrender its last footholds in eastern Aleppo. Since then, about 25,000 fighters and civilians have been bused out, according to the United Nations. On Wednesday, buses began evacuating the last rebels and civilians, an estimated 3,000 people. By nightfall, 25 buses carrying hundreds of people had driven in a rare snowstorm from eastern Aleppo to opposition-held areas in the countryside near the city. The oppositions Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday evening that with the evacuation of the last group of rebels from eastern Aleppo, Assad was in full control, save for a few positions on the western outskirts of the city that were still in rebel hands. Meanwhile, a 7-year-old Syrian girl who was evacuated on Monday from eastern Aleppo and whose mother ran a Twitter account in her name met with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital, Ankara. Bana Alabeds mother, Fatemah, began operating the account in September, tweeting on her daughters behalf. The account has garnered 354,000 followers. BAGHDAD Three car bombs ripped through an outdoor market in Mosul on Thursday, killing at least 15 civilians and eight policemen, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said. The attack occurred in the eastern district of Gogjali, which Iraqi forces retook from Islamic State militants weeks ago as part of a massive operation to drive them from Mosul, the brief statement said. It did not say whether the explosions were caused by suicide attackers. TOKYO Amid rising tensions over the American military presence on Okinawa, the United States officially returned nearly 10,000 acres of land on the northern part of the island to Japan on Thursday. It was the largest transfer of land since the United States returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972, at the end of postwar occupation. The United States ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, described the move as a step toward shrinking the American military presence on the main island of Okinawa. Nearly half of the roughly 50,000 American troops in Japan are stationed on the island, and the United States military controls about one-fifth of it. At a ceremony in the seaside resort town of Nago on Thursday, Kennedy described the handover as a milestone, adding that it also demonstrates Americas continued determination to reduce the impact of our presence here in Okinawa while maintaining our security commitments to the entire nation of Japan. Like many encounters between the U.S. military and residents of Okinawa, however, the land handover has stirred controversy. In exchange for the return of about half the acres that the American military uses to train soldiers for jungle warfare, the Japanese government agreed to build six helicopter landing pads on the land that the United States will retain. A small but fierce group of residents has complained about increased noise from construction and expressed concern about possible accidents. For years, Okinawans have complained about violence and noise associated with American bases in the island prefecture. Resentment toward the U.S. military presence has intensified in recent months, after the arrest in May of a former Marine for the slaying of a 20-year-old Okinawan woman. In the north of the island, where the helipads are being built, the residents concerns were amplified this month after an American Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crash-landed near Nago. The United States military grounded its entire fleet of Ospreys for about a week, before announcing that it would resume flights, angering local residents and the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, who boycotted Thursdays handover ceremony. I greatly regret that the U.S. military doesnt have any consideration for the people of Okinawa, Onaga said in a statement. Since the end of World War II, Japan has been an important outpost for the United States military, whose mission there is not only to defend Japan but also to protect American interests in Asia. During the recent presidential campaign in the United States, the presence of American soldiers and bases in Japan was a campaign point for Donald Trump, who suggested that the United States was paying too much to defend Japan and might withdraw troops. For now, the Americans are committed to staying in Japan and on Okinawa, although Kennedy said at the ceremony on Thursday that the United States would strive to reduce the impact of our presence. Protesters rallied in Nago on Thursday to show their opposition to the helipads and the Osprey flights. Over the summer, protesters clashed with the police when they tried to block access roads to the sites where the helipads were being built. Separately, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution on Thursday calling for Osprey flights to be halted and demanding that the U.S. military withdraw them from the area altogether. 1 Peace talks: A spokesman for the Afghan Taliban says the group is ready for peace talks with the United States, if their demands are met. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said earlier this week that their two conditions for peace talks are the removal of the group leaders name from the U.N. blacklist and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan. However, the Afghan government rejected the groups demands an indication of the depth of the rift between the two sides in Afghanistans protracted conflict. 2 Ukraine conflict: Russian howitzers and rocket launchers regularly pounded Ukrainian positions across the border in the early stages of the war in eastern Ukraine, according to an analysis of hundreds of attack sites published Wednesday by the open source investigative group Bellingcat. The 43-page report adds to the pile of evidence suggesting the still-smoldering conflict pitting the Ukrainian government against separatist forces in eastern Ukraine was stage-managed from Moscow a charge the Kremlin has denied. New Zealand and the US have won their World Trade Organisation dispute over Indonesian trade barriers that led to the collapse in New Zealand beef exports to the southeast Asian country. The WTO has upheld all the complaints regarding 18 agricultural non-tariff barriers imposed by Indonesia since 2011, which New Zealand and the US brought to the trade body in 2013. The barriers covered horticultural products and animals and animal products and included import prohibitions, use and sale restrictions, restrictive licence terms and a domestic purchase requirement. Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country, introduced import quota restrictions on beef in 2011 as part of a programme to become self-sufficient in a range of agricultural products. That caused a slump in New Zealand exports of beef and beef offal to Indonesia to a decade-low of 10,206 tonnes worth $48.8 million in 2012, from 48,823 tonnes valued at $185 million in 2010, when it was the nation's second-largest beef market. The barriers are estimated to have cost the New Zealand beef sector as much as $1 billion in lost trade and also hurt exporters of apples, potatoes and onions. "This is an important result for New Zealands agricultural exporters and for trade fairness, said New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay. "It is an example of the government's proactive exercising of its rights under trade agreements to resolve non-tariff barriers on behalf of New Zealand industry. "As a result of this process, we have already seen some improvements to Indonesias regulations and gains for New Zealand exporters to Indonesia. These will only improve following implementation of the WTO decision." McClay said New Zealand has a "very strong" relationship with Indonesia, with close cooperation in a range of areas of mutual interest, and he sees no reason why the WTO decision would diminish the strength of those ties. "Even close friends have occasional disagreements and the WTO helps insulate trade policy differences from wider bilateral relations, he said. Indonesia has until early 2017 to appeal the decision to the WTO's Appellate Body. If there is no appeal, the panel's report is expected to be formally adopted by WTO members by February 2017, making them legally binding and requiring Indonesia to comply within a reasonable period of time. 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: November 4th Morning Report FPH to announce half year results on 29 November 2022 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 Tenon, which sold its US operations for US$110 million, is in exclusive talks with a potential buyer of its remaining New Zealand assets, which would see the former Fletcher Challenge entity wound up. The company today distributed US$71 million to shareholders, cancelling one out of every two shares held and returning $2.20 per cancelled share, and has entered exclusive talks with one party with the goal of signing a sale and purchase agreement for its Clearwood New Zealand business, it said in a statement. If a deal is signed, surplus cash would be returned to shareholders and the company liquidated at an estimated cost of US$8 million. "The proposal is conditional upon a number of items (including Tenon shareholder and court approvals) which Tenon is currently assessing," it said. "Grant Samuel will be asked to prepare an updated independent report to Tenon shareholders once final agreement has been reached." The New Zealand business was valued at between US$63.3 million and US$74.1 million in independent adviser Grant Samuels report on the US transaction. Its sales rose 5 percent to US$81 million in the year ended June 30 while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation more than doubled to US$12 million. Tenon said the Grant Samuel report will update the "average adverse currency movements" among other things. Separately, Tenon said Rodger Fisher will leave the board at the end of the year and will be replaced by Wood Engineering Technology director Stephen Walker. Tenon shares last traded at $2.20. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: November 4th Morning Report FPH to announce half year results on 29 November 2022 ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022 GEO - Quarterly Operating Update SUM - Andrea Scown to join Summerset as Future Director CCC - Admission to Trading on Aquis Stock Exchange November 3rd Morning Report Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Mumbai: Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM) on Wednesday announced the signing of binding agreements for the acquisition of its nationwide tower assets by affiliates of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (NYSE: BIP; TSX: BIP.UN) and its institutional partners. RCOM will receive an upfront cash payment of Rs 11,000 crore ($ 1.6 billion) on completion of the transaction, a move that will help it reduce debt by 70 pct, the company said. The transaction will represent the largest-ever investment by any overseas financial investor in the infrastructure sector in India, and is a strong reflection of the confidence of the international investment community in the long-term growth potential of the Indian economy, an RCOM statement said. RCOM will also receive Class B non-voting shares in the new tower company, providing 49 pct future economic upside in the towers business, based on certain conditions, the statement said. RCOM expects significant future value creation from the B Class shares, based on growth in tenancies arising from increasing 4G rollout by all telecom operators and fast accelerating data consumption, the statement said. RCOMs telecom towers will be demerged into a separate new company that will be 100 pct-owned and independently managed by Brookfield Infrastructure, thereby creating the second-largest independent and operator-neutral towers company in India, the statement said. RCOM will enjoy certain information and other rights, but will not be involved directly or indirectly in the management and operations of the new company, the statement said, adding: RCOM and Reliance Jio will continue as major long-term tenants of the new tower company, along with other existing third-party telecom operators. RCOM will utilise the Rs 11,000 crore payment solely to reduce its debt. The already announced combination of RCOMs wireless business with Aircel, and the monetisation of the tower business, will together reduce RCOMs overall debt by Rs 31,000 crore or nearly 70 per cent. RCOM will continue to hold a 50 pct stake in the wireless business in combination with Aircel and the 49 pct future economic upside in the towers business and will monetise these valuable assets at an appropriate time in the future to further substantially reduce its overall debt, the statement said. The implementation of spectrum trading and sharing arrangements with Reliance Jio to secure a nationwide 4G footprint with the deepest penetration and the most efficient 850 MHz band spectrum; the merger of the Indian telecom business of Sistema Shyam Telecom Ltd.; the combination of the wireless business with Aircel to derive operational and revenue synergies and achieve further industry consolidation; and the monetisation of the towers business in this transaction with Brookfield Infrastructure are all important milestones in RCOMs deleveraging and asset light strategy for future growth, the statement said. The transaction is subject to applicable approvals, including shareholder and regulatory approvals and lenders consents. Read Also: ScoopWhoop Acquires Video Streaming Firm Touchfone Technology Packaging Industry Set To Hit $35 Bn Mark By 2020: Official NEW DELHI: State-run telecom firm BSNL has partnered with Jaipur-based Datamail for providing email addresses in eight Indian languages. Following the Digital India dream of the government, BSNL has offered free e-mail address service in eight Indian languages to its broadband users by launching a DataMail service. Now BSNL broadband users will be able to open an email ID in DataMail service in their own language. Providing the linguistic email address is one of its kind initiative in the world to achieve our Prime Ministers vision of Digital India. Its now possible in every part of India to have an email address in their own language and communicate in preferred language, BSNL Managing Director Anupam Shrivastav said in a statement. The email service will be available through mobile application. BSNL broadband customers can use DataMail app which is free to be downloaded from any Android or iOS system through their respective play store. The linguistic email service offered by BSNL will have DataOne.Bharat domain (in Hindi or Devanagari script) and email address will be offered in eight regional languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Marathi, BSNL Director for Consumer Fixed Access services N K Gupta said. Few months back, the government had launched .Bharat (in Hindi script) domain in Indian languages to increase the reach of Internet users by providing domain names in their own language so as to cover over 70 pct of the countrys population living in the rural and remote areas. Our fully Made in India software product enabling DataMail service is a revolution in the world as many countries are waiting to inject the linguistic email address to empower the non-English speakers of the world. We are happy to contribute to the Prime Minister Narendra Modis Digital India dream by partnering with BSNL, Ajay Data, Founder and CEO of Data XGen said. As per Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators Report (April-June, 2016) released by TRAI, total Internet subscribers in India are about 350.48 million which account for about 30 pct of the countrys population. Indian languages account for less than 0.1 pct content on world wide web and over 89 pct population is non-English speaking and unable to read and communicate via email as the language utilised to communicate is English, the statement said. The most spoken languages in India in 2016, according to our analysis based on secondary data, are approximately Hindi (544.39 million), Bengali (107.60 million), Telugu (95.4 million), Marathi (92.74 million), Tamil (78.41 million), Urdu (66.47 million), Gujarati (59.44 million), Kannada (48.96 million), Punjabi (37.55 million), Assamese (16.98 million), the statement said. Read Also: Trump Creates New Trade Body Within White House 'Demonetisation Will Help Eliminate Corruption, Fight Terror' BENGALURU: The leading search engine Google is facing federal state commission inquiry after the consumer advocate complaints. Consumer advocates filed a complaint against Google with the Federal Trade Commission charging that the company violated user privacy through its policy change. The new policy change gives the company more flexibility and information for building the profiles of people as they browse the web and use Google services. The Washington Post reported that the complaint submitted by advocacy groups Consumer Watchdog and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse alleges that Google acted in a "highly deceptive manner" by changing its privacy policy. The policy that was updated in last June allows the merging of data collected by various Google services such as Google Maps, Google Search and the DoubleClick online advertising service. According to the group, the new policy change allows gathering of more comprehensive information on most people who use the web. The report also says that Google disputes the allegation that the company acted deceptively and said it made the changes only after testing among users around the world. The firm has portrayed the privacy policy changes as part of the technological evolution in Google services. The company also reported that they had worked hard to make sure that users understood the changes and manage the privacy settings on their accounts. Federal laws have become a recurring issue for Google as it has grown into one of the leading companies. While the FTC issued a statement confirming receipt of the groups' complaint and said the agency is reviewing the complaint. Read Also: India, Czech Republic Discuss Defence, Commerce Ties Cyrus Mistry Quits From Tata Group Firms BENGALURU: Uttar Pradeshs state assembly election scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2017 is expected to be a huge event. However, UPs present Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is looking forward to increase the flow of tourists into the state. As reported by the Business Insider, in the past few weeks, there has been some incredible feature advertisements broadcasted on the TV featuring two of UPs famous tourist attractions Jhansi and Varanasi. Agras Taj Mahal, Jhansis Queen Laxmi Bai and Varanasis ancient culture have always been popular among tourists. Now, with the ads featured in a highly creative manner, UPs tourism is expected to scale new heights. The man behind these incredible advertisements is Nabarun Banerjeea pass out from the Film Institute of India, Pune. In the past, Nabarun has done a cameo in the film Vicky Donor and has also directed a movieAnsh- a part of the society which was featured at the Amsterdam Film Festival. According to Banerjee, the Heritage Arc series under the Incredible India campaign was directly monitored by Akhilesh Yadav, since UP is focusing on promoting tourism of the state. Furthermore, they wanted an experienced person to handle the project which was needed to be shot with 4K equipments (Cinema equipments). Considering Banerjees experience in theatre of over three decades, he was awarded the project. The film came out well and received five lakh hits even before it went on air on different channels, says Banerjee. The advertisements were needed to be prepared with a point of focusVaranasi needed to have a folk track, Lucknow required a lifestyle perspective, and Jhaansi would focus on woman empowerment. Nabarun knew exactly what he was expected to deliver and created a series of incredible advertisements that features the vibrant colors of India. Read Also: Office Assistant Residing in the Slums Receives a Shocking 5.4 Crore I-T Notice Going Cashless to Showcase More Drawbacks on People than Gains IMG_3809.JPG A suspect has been arrested in a dispute at a shop on Port Richmond Avenue. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 22-year-old man from Mariners Harbor who allegedly was caught was a BB gun faces weapon and other charges following a dispute at a shop on Port Richmond Avenue. The suspect, Derrick Griffin, 22, of Harbor Road, allegedly rode his bicycle into oncoming traffic as he fled from the 99 Cents Plus shop at 227 Port Richmond Ave. on Wednesday morning, according to a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The suspect has an extensive criminal record, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. Griffin's alleged wild ride ended with his arrest at the northeast corner of Richmond Terrace and Maple Avenue at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The verbal dispute occurred around 10:30 a.m. when Griffin offered to sell his jacket to a 50-year-old employee at the store, the worker said. The employee told police that he feared for his life when he saw that the suspect had his hand inside his jacket where there was a bulge in the shape of a gun. Police charged Griffin with criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, reckless endangerment, obstructing governmental administration, violation of local law and disorderly conduct. From 2014 through 2016, Griffin has at least seven arrests for offenses including criminal possession of a controlled substance, theft of services and fare evasion, a source with knowledge of the investigation said. Crimescenetape.JPG (Staten Island Advance Photo) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 32-year-old suspect in a robbery and carjacking that happened in Florida was nabbed by police on Wednesday at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, according to law enforcement sources. Jermaine Gibson, 32, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was taken into custody without incident at about 8:30 a.m. in the lobby of the medical facility, according to a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Gibson was wanted on an active warrant in connection with a robbery and carjacking at a parking lot in Weston, Fla. on June 12, 2008, according to information supplied by the Broward Sheriff's Office and law enforcement sources. The 20-year-old male victim told police that he had just parked his gray, 2008 Toyota Yaris shortly after 1 a.m. when he was approached by a male suspect who had stepped out of a red car, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office incident report. Armed with a tire iron, the suspect demanded that the victim hand over the keys to the Toyota. The victim then gave up his keys. The suspect drove away and the victim reported the carjacking to police. The car that the suspect had exited turned out to be a maroon 1996 Honda Accord that had been stolen in Hollywood, Fla., according to the Broward Sheriff's Office report. Gibson is being held at Rikers Island, according to public records. LGBT Rights-North Car_LaRu.jpg Rep. Jeff Collins, a Republican from Rocky Mount, protests the North Carolina General Assembly's fifth special session as unconstitutional Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, in the House chambers, in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina's legislature reconvened Wednesday to decide whether enough lawmakers are willing to repeal a 9-month-old law that limited LGBT rights, including which bathrooms transgender people can use in public schools and government buildings. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP) RALEIGH, N.C. -- A deal to undo the North Carolina law known as the "bathroom bill" fell apart Wednesday night when legislators couldn't agree on a plan to the repeal the measure, a sign of the bitter political divide within the state. The North Carolina General Assembly was called into a special session about nine months after they passed the law, which tarnished the state's national image as major corporations decided to pull up stakes, entertainers canceled concerts and the NCAA and ACC moved sporting events away. The wide-ranging law's best-known provision required transgender people to use restrooms in many public buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates. Opponents of the law called it discriminatory. when Democratic Gov.-elect Roy Cooper successfully lobbied the Charlotte City Council to gut a local nondiscrimination ordinance that Republicans had blamed for necessitating the statewide law. For months, Republicans had said if Charlotte repealed its ordinance, the legislature would consider repealing HB2. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory called a special session Wednesday, but the deal fell apart when the GOP added a six-month moratorium on cities passing nondiscrimination ordinances for LGBT people. That caused Democrats to back away, calling it only a partial repeal. "This wasn't the deal," said Sen. Jeff Jackson, a Charlotte Democrat. "This bill breaks this deal. Charlotte would have not repealed its ordinance is this was the deal." Republicans have defended the bathroom provisions as providing privacy and safety by keeping men out of women's restrooms. The law was also seen as a referendum on McCrory, who became its national face. He lost by about 10,000 votes while fellow Republicans U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and President-elect Donald Trump comfortably won the state. McCrory was the first sitting North Carolina governor elected to a four-year term to lose re-election. A new high-speed international train service is started on December 17, 2016; carrying passengers between capitals of Russia and Germany. Train No. 13/14 Swift left Moscow's Kursk station on its first run between the Russian capital and Berlin to a ceremonial send off. The event was timed to celebrate High Speed Day in Russia, which began with the launch of the Sapsan services. At the official send-off ceremony, the President of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov said, "The problem of switching quickly from the 1435mm narrow gauge European system to the wider Russian gauge of 1520mm has existed for decades. Now this problem has been solved. The railways should unite people, and today we have modern rolling stock which can switch from one gauge to another in just 20 minutes. Earlier, this operation used to take several hours. The President of Russian Railways stressed that the new Swift international train will offer more comfortable travelling conditions to all passengers, including those with disabilities, since it provides for a greater number of compartments for people with disabilities. Russia's Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov noted in turn that "the journey to Berlin will now take a little over 20 hours, almost five hours less than before. I would like to congratulate Russian Railways and all users on this remarkable project and thank the manufacturers and all our colleagues in Russia and abroad. This train will now be our new joint direction with regard to international activities." This Moscow-Berlin service arose due to rising passenger demand for rail transport between Russia and Europe. For example, 561,400 passengers travelled abroad on Russian long-distance trains from January to November 2016, over 9% more than during the same period last year. Passenger numbers between Russia and Germany reached 25,800, which is 35% more than during the 11 months of 2015. The Swift international high-speed train is manufactured by the Spanish company Patentes Talgo S.L. and reaches a new level in the quality of transport service in international transport This is the first time a Russian train has been formed which consists of rail carriages fitted with equipment for enabling an automatic change of gauge widths. As a result, the time spent at the interface between the two gauge systems in Brest on the Belarus-Polish border will be cut sharply. Previously, the bogies had to be disconnected and the locomotive and carriages jacked up so the wheelsets could be slid out and the bogies with the other gauge slid in and attached. As a result, changing the wheelsets of international trains crossing the border with the EU takes about two hours. The Swift trains, by contrast, need just 20 minutes to traverse a specially equipped conversion device to switch from the Russian broad gauge of 1520 mm to the narrower European track of 1435 mm and vice versa. The Swift service will run twice a week, on Saturdays and Sundays from Moscow and on Sundays and Mondays from Berlin. The train stops en route at Smolensk, Orsha, Minsk, Brest, Terespol, Warsaw, Poznan, Rzepin, Frankfurt (Oder) The run from Moscow to Berlin takes 20 hours 14 minutes. Each train consists of 20 carriages: five second-class cars with 18 berths and four-berth compartments; two carriages with seating in first class (20 seats in each carriage), a carriage-bar and restaurant car; four first-class carriages (12 berths, double compartments); three VIP-class carriages (6 berths, double compartments equipped with a shower and toilet), including a second-class compartment equipped for persons with disabilities; 2 VIP-class carriages (10 berths, double compartments fitted with a shower and toilet). The train (head and tail) also includes technical wagons to ensure the functioning of the environmental support systems. Train passengers will be provided with Wi-Fi access to a multimedia portal with Internet access. The portal provides essential passenger information and news, such as the route details and timetable, the restaurant carriage menus and purchasing train tickets, as well as films. Passengers with 1st class seating will also be issued with tablets to view multimedia content. The introduction of technical innovations in the train's design has facilitated an increase in passenger travel comfort and in particular reduced the effect of the centrifugal force on passengers when the train takes tight curves at speed. 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 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612e822f4f8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f015dc78)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612e822f4f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f015dc78)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efe50a88)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f015dc78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f015dc78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e92823c0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0261960)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0261960)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0223ff8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0118e68)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0223ff8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0118e68)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f014b0f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0118e68)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0118e68)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e92824f8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01160e8)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01160e8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 ACT police have confirmed the van that exploded outside the Australian Christian Lobby offices in Canberra on Wednesday night was detonated by the driver but have ruled out political motivation as a reason. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Deputy Chief Police Commander Mark Walters said the driver appeared to have ignited gas cylinders inside the vehicle about 9.30pm. The resulting explosion damaged the vehicle and building. "As a result of our conversations with this man, we've been able to establish that his actions were not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated," Mr Walters said. MASON CITY An inmate at the Cerro Gordo County Jail awaiting sentencing on a sexual assault conviction faces a new felony charge after allegedly kicking a correctional officer in the shin. Joseph D. Wallace, 52, Mason City, was charged Wednesday with assault on persons in certain occupations with intent to inflict injury. Occupations covered by the statute for this charge include correctional officers, firefighters, health care providers and others. The officer had an abrasion on his shin, plus redness and swelling, after being kicked, according to the criminal complaint. The officer also injured his thumb while placing Wallace in arm restraints as he tried to pull away from officers, the complaint states. The alleged assault happened while officers were trying to remove Wallace from his cell. Wallace had entered a formal plea of guilty this week to a charge of third-degree sexual assault. His sentencing is set for Feb. 27. Competency evaluation ordered for MC man charged with sex abuse MASON CITY | Court proceedings for a North Iowa Transition Center resident accused of sexual Wallace was a resident at the North Iowa Transition Center when he was accused of sexually assaulting a staff member in March. The North Iowa Transition Center provides services designed to diminish the impact of mental illness and to assist individuals to live in their community with greater independence, according to the organization's website. Wallace was charged with felony third-degree sexual abuse, but court proceedings were suspended in June after District Judge Rustin Davenport ordered Wallace to be evaluated by a psychiatrist to determine if he was competent to stand trial. Last month Wallace was declared competent to stand trial. He then pleaded guilty as charged. It is one of the richest families in the country, and now the low-profile Rae family of Perth has pocketed more than $300 million from the sale of its New Zealand fuel retailing business to Caltex Australia. In 2010, the family sold its Gull petrol retailing operations in Western Australia for an estimated $500 million. Gull founder Fred Rae with then New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark in 2007. Credit:NZPA Now it has offloaded its Kiwi interests, Gull New Zealand, for $NZ340 million ($324 million) to Caltex Australia. A few years after the sale of the WA operations in 2010, the Rae family's fortune was estimated by The West Australian newspaper at $392 million, which has been pumped up significantly with Thursday's sale. An innovative north Queensland renewable energy project, which will combine solar and hydro power technology, is a step closer to reality with preliminary construction beginning this week. The first stage of Genex's power station, a 50-megawatt solar farm built on the site of the disused Kidston gold mine, has been green-lit and was expected to be operational by the end of next year. The first stage of the Kidston power station will be a 50 megawatt solar farm. Credit:Artists' impression The Queensland government signed its first formal Solar 150 program deed of agreement with Genex in Townsville on Thursday. That agreement set a 20-year price guarantee on the power generated at Kidston, which was able to shore up investors and guarantee construction. The owner of one of Australia's largest remaining coal-fired power stations has warned its future is in jeopardy unless unions allow greater flexibility and surrender key conditions protecting staffing levels. As electrical staff at the massive Loy Yang A facility in Victoria prepare to walk off the job on Christmas Day, energy giant AGL has lashed out at union leaders for blocking proposed cost-cutting reforms that are at the centre of a long and bitter stoush. Loy Yang A supplies 30 per cent of Victoria's energy needs alone. AGL's head of Loy Yang, Steve Rieniets, said the company needed to implement vital flexibility reforms to achieve savings if it was to survive. "It's about the efficient use of labour and removing the unnecessary costs of our business," he told Fairfax Media. Having worked for both Fairfax at The Sydney Morning Herald - and Murdoch at The Australian and as a long-time journalism lecturer at UTS, there are few media workers operating in Australia whose copy has not known his delicate touch. In an era when the skills and importance of sub-editors have been sidelined, Phelan's recent death reminds us that the subjunctive is not subjective. The reams of condolence emails and Facebook posts that followed his death were warily written crafted and reread to ensure no grammatical or spelling errors paying tribute to the perfection he sought to bring to print. It would be no surprise to those who knew him, as Phelan was a sub-editor extraordinaire whose passion was words how they should be spelled, where in a sentence they should be placed, and most of all, how they should be punctuated. "In the beginning was the word." That opening verse of the Gospel of John would have been the only phrase in the Bible that atheist Seumas Phelan would have agreed with. In the wake of his death his impact across the profession was evident. From high-profile colleagues such as Fairfax Media chief correspondent Paul McGeough there was the recognition that Phelan had "saved me from more than a couple of disasters in copy" with his formidable commitment to accuracy in fact and phrasing. His work as a union representative was also highlighted with cartoonist Cathy Wilcox recalling his fierce defence of colleagues including herself: "He mobilised the troops to save my job years ago when my editor wouldn't defend me. What a champion." Perhaps former Australian night editor and SMH columnist Alan Stokes summed it up: "He was a wonderful journo and a great bloke. A lot of people owe him a lot." An Irishman by birth, Phelan spent his early years in London and survived the Blitz bombings by Germany during World War II. It was during one of the air raids that he lost contact with his mother, believing her dead. Tragically it was only late in his own life that he was to discover she had survived, but by then it was too late for a reunion as she had died. His father Jim Phelan, a professional tramp and acclaimed Irish novelist, left his young son largely to fend for himself as a child, while keeping the fiction of his mother's death alive. Because of his father's lifestyle, Phelan was raised by many people in many countries. Because of his father's reputation he moved in the circles of, and met, some literary greats of the era including Brendan Behan and George Orwell. Phelan's life was dictated by, and dedicated to, a commitment to the politics of working people and a betterment of their lives, the Irish Republic and, later in life, the hope for a republic Down Under. He lived life large and was larger than life. He once mounted a night raid on the private Asgard Beach in Dublin's Howth, removed the fencing and reclaimed it for "the people". He squirrelled black South African activists away in his house in the all-white fishing village of Howth, he worked for the Irish republican movement, and whenever the opportunity arose he was ready with a song. His journey to journalism began on the Irish People, the official paper of Sinn Fein The Workers' Party. Editor Padraig Yeates admits it wasn't the sharpest of papers and credits Phelan with transforming its layout and format into something more readable. Brutal images of Aboriginal women and children being mistreated in custody are a defining feature of 2016. From Dylan Voller and the young detainees of Don Dale to Ms Dhu, Australians have been forced to reckon with the cruel reality of Australia's over-imprisonment crisis. We can no longer plead ignorance when it comes to the risks associated with locking people up. Hooded and shackled, hand-cuffed and hosed-down, dismissed or dragged lifeless across the floor, Australians cannot pretend that this is the unpalatable stuff of places far away. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody a nationwide inquiry that was sparked by the brutal police bashing and subsequent death of John Pat. The royal commission provided Australia with recommendations and a road map for reducing Aboriginal peoples' over-imprisonment and the attendant risks of mistreatment and deaths in custody. People trust the ABC more than any other news source and would like to see it given more money and protected from political interference, research shows. The poll, conducted by Research Now for think tank the Australia Institute, found voters trusted and were supportive of the national broadcaster regardless of their political leanings. Seventy-six per cent of the 1443 people surveyed on behalf of the left-leaning think tank agreed that the ABC should be protected from political interference. Support was strong among voters regardless of party allegiances with 76 per cent of Coalition voters in favour of the ABC being protected from political interference, 74 per cent of Labor voters and 87 per cent of Greens voters. A Turnbull government minister has accused the ABC of running "fake news" in its coverage of the Adani coal mine and treating regional Queensland like "flyover country". In a bizarre interview with the broadcaster's AM radio program on Thursday morning, Resources and Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan said the ABC's coverage of an Indian finance ministry probe into the Adani group was "nothing but fake news". Interviewer Kim Landers tried eight times to get Senator Canavan, an ardent supporter of the coal mine, to address the Indian government's investigation into the company behind the controversial project. But Senator Canavan instead offered a commentary on the view from his North Queensland house that "makes you thank God that you were born in Queensland". Internal tensions within the Greens have boiled over, with members of the hard-left of the party grouped around NSW Senator Lee Rhiannon forming their own faction dedicated to the "fight to bring about the end of capitalism". The formation of the group calling itself "Left Renewal" is an escalation of an ongoing battle between the so-called eastern bloc of the Greens and the group they dismiss as "tree Tories". Left Renewal's logo. Candidates backed by the hard-left have lost out in the two most recent state preselections in NSW, with members of the eastern bloc claiming the party has been infiltrated by "those with liberal politics who manipulate party processes [to] solidify their control". The emergence of Left Renewal poses a challenge for Greens leader Richard Di Natale as the party has always argued publicly that it has no factions and governs itself and formulates policy on a consensus model of decision-making. MASON CITY | Police in Mason City are investigating reports that fake American money marked up with Chinese symbols has been used locally. The department announced Wednesday afternoon that the paper money has been found at a local business and in a bank deposit. The bills have the markings commonly found on regular paper money but also have Chinese characters written on the money as well and are not valid currency, police say. This type of money is typically used to train bank tellers in China. It is not legitimate U.S. currency. Anyone who sees U.S. currency with these markings on it in the Mason City area can contact the Mason City Police Department at 641-421-3636. -- Molly Montag Sherlock co-stars Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington have separated, after a 16-year relationship. The couple have ended things in a "very, very amicable" split, Freeman slipped into an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday. Martin Freeman (L) and Amanda Abbington attend a champagne reception ahead of The London Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2015. Credit:Getty "I'm not with Amanda any more," Freeman told the publication, adding that he will "always love" her. The couple have two children together: Joe, 10, and Grace, eight. "Look I don't want to sound Grinch-y, but there will be no presents under my tree this year," says Eco Warrior Princess blogger Jennifer Nini. "Actually, there will be no tree. I gave up decorations about nine years ago. That was the last time I bought into the idea of a commercial Christmas." Nini is a tree-changer and sustainability advocate who grows organic fruit and veggies on her property near Gympie, Queensland. "I was living in Melbourne, and I remember how overwhelming the whole shopping thing was - you're fighting crowds, everything looks the same, none of it means anything. Your day always ends like that Seinfeld episode when they lose their cars." How much do you really need to celebrate? Jennifer Nini will be enjoying a minimalist Christmas again this year. Nini describes her approach the holiday season today as "minimalist, except when it comes to the food." Predictably Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn - AKA The Minimalists - don't buy into buying stuff either. But being human (and American), they once did. In a blog post on the subject, Nicodemus admits, "I did this for years: 'Here's a necktie or a pair of cufflinks or an oven mitt because today is December 25th. Now what did you get me?'" She was a university student. I was a chambermaid. She'd had the same boyfriend since high school. I collected notches on my bedpost. She was outgoing and social. I was sensitive and private. But we hit it off and our friendship blossomed. The shift came when we became flatmates. Over a span of 18 months, we became close, although we came from different walks of life. At 15, I moved "to town" with older siblings as a way to get through puberty. My social status increased thanks to adolescent smoking and partying. I had one close friend and a circle of acquaintances. One of those acquaintances became my best friend in the early 1990s. I was never good at making friends. As a child, I was in a trio friendship and often treated as the third wheel. I was shy, meek and emotional; unable to stand up for myself. When I was 11, my family moved to a rural area and any friends I made lived a distance away. We fleeted in and out of each other's lives but I've always felt that she was the one, the bestie. We've lived on opposite sides of the world since 2001 when I left Canada on a holiday and never returned. Three years ago, we met in Bali for a girls' holiday. We haven't seen each other since. We're not as close as we once were but when we get together, we pick up right where we've left off. And for me, that's the definition of a best friend: someone who can come in and out of my life with ease and grace. But it's not enough. I'm lonely and often feel alone, although I have a family. I've been a nomad for much of my adult life. I've met many people I can call friends but they're not deep, meaningful relationships. I may have friends scattered around the globe but I don't have anyone near me. No girlfriends to go shopping with or ritual Sunday brunches. Nobody I can ring up when things are going wrong, or right. I wish I had a friend posse a la Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte. Then again, maybe I watch too much Sex and the City. My friendlessness drop kicked me when I listened to the Straight and Curly podcast about adult friendships. The hosts, Kelly Exeter and Carly Jacobs both spoke about having a handful of close friends. My heart cracked a little and my loneliness spiked. I questioned my choices and lifestyle. Travelling and living here and there has given me a colourful and exciting life. As I traipsed around the world, it never occurred to me that I didn't have deep friendships. But now, I'm on the other side of 45 and crave a friend who lives near; someone I can ring up and say "let's go to a movie" or "I need to talk". Australians could have their private phone and email records used against them in civil litigation cases, with the federal government considering relaxing data retention laws. Critics say it would pave the way for phone and email records to be mined for material to be used in legal action following marriage breakdowns and business disputes. Many experts have warned that personal phone data could be mined for civil lawsuits. Credit:SeongJoon Cho The Communications and Attorney-General's departments quietly announced they were conducting a review of national data retention laws five days before Christmas. As part of the review, the departments are seeking feedback on whether there are particular kinds of civil proceedings, or other circumstances, in which prohibitions on metadata being released could be relaxed. The town of Branson, Missouri in the US is probably a place you've never heard of. But for a few days every year it becomes the Santa capital of the world. In a bizarre display of Christmas enthusiasm, hundreds of Santa impersonators flock to Branson to be part of the Discover Santa Convention each year, an event that has been running since 2006. 'Discovery Santa', the largest Santa convention in the world took place in Branson, numbering nearly 1000 participants. Credit:Dina Litovsky/Redux Photographer Dina Litovsky captured this red and white spectacle using a blown-out technique that draws your eye to the subject. "This was an assignment for National Geographic," Litovsky told Fairfax Media, "In the middle of July when 750 professional Santas descended upon Branson, Missouri in what turned out to be the largest Santa convention in the world. I spent three days photographing it. Criminals are concealing a drug known as "coma in a bottle" inside beauty products imported from China. In the past month there have been four separate seizures each containing five litres of the drug gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), also known as "fantasy", found inside containers disguised as a gel used to remove fake-eyelash glue. A deadly drug had been found inside beauty product containers imported from China. Credit:AFP Authorities say the drug may have been unwittingly bought by legitimate beauty retailers, potentially putting customers at risk. Anyone concerned they may have used the product should seek immediate health advice, acting Assistant Commissioner Chris Sheehan of the Australian Federal Police said. Elly Calabia doesn't talk about survival rates and life expectancy with her oncologist. Instead, she's thinking of her next home renovation and the lunch she'll cook for her family for Christmas. "I'll cook ham," Mrs Calabia, 54, said from her Ingleburn home, surrounded by Christmas decorations. She knows the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) she was diagnosed with two years ago has spread to her stomach and brain. She knows her tumours have developed a resistance to treatment. "I don't want to know [how long I might have to live]. If I can live longer, I will," she said. Federal Police officers attached to the Trade Union Royal Commission allegedly wrongfully locked-up a trade union official on a trumped-up charge in Canberra last year, according to a case filed in the ACT Supreme Court. Among the explosive claims against the AFP officers attached to the Trade Union Royal Commission is that they supplied the Canberra branch of the Master Builders Association details of the charges against CFMEU official Johnny Lomax, while he was in custody and long before the former rugby league great or his lawyers saw them. CFMEU organiser Johnny Lomax (right) exits the ACT Magistrates Court after the case against him collapsed in October 2015. Credit:Graham Tidy Three federal police officers are accused in the civil case of bringing a trumped-up charge, which they knew had no chance of a conviction, against Mr Lomax on July 24, 2015 in an effort to pressure the union official into giving evidence against his CFMEU colleagues. After the case collapsed in October 2015, the senior arresting officer is alleged to have fronted a meeting of the ACT branch of the Master Builders Association and telling it his pursuit of the CFMEU was "personal". Five people, including three children, have been taken to hospital after a serious head-on crash in Sydney's west on Thursday afternoon. Emergency services were called to The Northern Road in Luddenham, near the intersection of Elizabeth Drive, at around 3.40pm. They found two white four-wheel-drives with significant damage, with the driver of each car trapped. Bystanders had given first aid to both drivers before paramedics arrived. The holiday photos look like two young women on a dream trip cruising around the world, not two alleged drug mules working for an international drug syndicate. Seven weeks ago, Canadian national Melina Roberce made a gloating post on social media from Toronto airport as she was about to fly to the UK. "Let's do it again .... #london." she captioned a photo of her passport and boarding pass that she posted on Instagram. Over the next seven weeks she made more than two dozen posts of her and her travelling companion Isabelle Lagace, 28, while they were aboard the cruise ship the Sea Princess. MASON CITY | Sex abuse charges have filed against a woman who once operated an in-home day care in Mason City. Tawny Marie Symonds, 30, of Wells, Minnesota, was arrested Wednesday on charges of felony second-degree sex abuse, sexual assault and child endangerment. Mason City police say the investigation began in February at a home where Symonds operated an in-home daycare. Symonds victimized one of the children at a day care she operated out of her home in Mason City, said Mason City Police Lt. Rich Jensen. He said officials believe only one of the children who attended the facility were victimized. All have been interviewed by trained specialists at the Child Protection Center in Waterloo. Symonds' day care was registered with the state of Iowa at one time, but that was revoked on Feb. 12 due to alleged violations of health and safety provisions. The Iowa Department of Human Services alleged in a Feb. 12 complaint that Symonds had violated a safety plan by allowing someone at her day care/residence, 696 13th St. S.E., that she had previously agreed would not be in the home. The document does not specify who the person was or why his presence would have violated the rules. That man is not suspected of harming any children, Jensen said. Symonds was ordered to cease operations as a result of the revocation. "If you provide any childcare there will be immediate action to close down the childcare and any other remedies available under the law," the complaint states. Police began the investigation based on a tip from the Iowa Department of Human Services, which participated in the joint investigation. Agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation also assisted. Symonds was arrested Wednesday night in Mason City. She remained jailed in Mason City Thursday afternoon without bond. The ex-Rebels bikie accused of murdering Pasquale Barbaro allegedly agreed to a $500,000 contract to kill a fellow gang member in a botched conspiracy involving a pizza delivery plot. Abuzar Sultani emerged on the police radar as an influential and allegedly violent figure of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle club gang's Burwood chapter in 2013. The 27-year-old also known as "Abs" is accused of directing his own group of bikie associates to carry out serious crime, including murder, commercial drug supply and firearms offences. He was charged in late November over the execution of crime figure Pasquale Barbaro, 35, in Earlwood two weeks earlier. A security guard could not give an explanation to detectives as to why he led a three-year-old girl from a Sydney shopping centre playground into a locked stairwell, police say. Mohammad Hassan Al-Bayati appeared in Campbelltown Local Court on Thursday charged with committing an act of indecency towards the girl at the DFO Homebush shopping centre on Sunday. The alleged 'opportunistic attack' took place in the DFO Homebush shopping centre. Credit:Tamara Dean The girl and her older sister had been dropped at a children's playground while their mother did her shopping. Police allege that about 30 minutes later Mr Al-Bayati, dressed in his centre security uniform of a white collared shirt, black pants and shoes, approached the girl in the playground. A woman has escaped with her life but lost almost everything she owns after fire ripped through a Brisbane home Thursday night. The blaze, reportedly started by a stray candle, took hold of the Greenslopes home's top storey just after 10pm, quickly threatening nearby houses. Firefighters couldn't save the Greenslopes home. Credit:Nine News Brisbane Firefighters managed to bring it under control but didn't have everything fully extinguished for almost four hours. A 41-year-old woman was in another room when a smoke alarm went off. A 10-year-old boy alleged to have died with more than 200 bruises on his body was likely "febrile and unwell" for days before his body of was discovered in his south-east Brisbane home, a court has heard. Another family member found Curtis Powell dead on July 20, 2015, in the Mackenzie home he shared with his aunt Jodie Maree Powell and her de facto partner, James Colin Burnham. The scene outside a home on Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Rd at Mackenzie, where the 10-year-old boy was found dead in 2015. Credit:Kim Stephens Police objected to Mr Burnham's bid for bail on Thursday, as prosecutor Sergeant Josh Kelly told the court the boy's death from pneumonia was "exceedingly uncommon". Sergeant Kelly raised concerns Mr Burnham should be kept behind bars for his own safety, which were rejected by defence lawyer Mark Howden. A service that helps Queensland women with workplace issues including domestic violence, sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination and bullying is facing closure, with its federal funding running out on December 31. Queensland Working Women's Service director Kerriann Dear said funding through the Fair Work Ombudsman was axed and without a new source of funding, it would likely close its doors in early 2017. The Queensland Working Women's Service is facing closure after not securing funding. Credit:Michele Mossop "Very disappointingly we feel abandoned by the federal government because they're fully aware, they know this means our service will close," she said. The Northern Territory and South Australian chapters of the service were also facing closure after their Fair Work Ombudsman funding was cut. A former Queensland Uniting Church minister who sexually abused a 12-year-old boy five decades ago will not spend any time behind bars after a judge agreed he had lived an "exemplary life". Barry Dangerfield, 83, befriended the young boy in the early 1960s and later began to take him for driving lessons. Former church minister Barry Dangerfield abused a young boy five decades ago. Credit:Bradley Kanaris On Thursday, Dangerfield pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to five counts of indecently treating a child under 14 and six counts of indecent practices between males. Prosecutor Rebecca Marks said there were "elements of brazenness" to the abuse, which often occurred in daylight or at a swimming pool. It was finally hooked up this week a Christmas miracle but not before a string of set-backs. The Telstra installers went above and beyond the call of duty but the odds were stacked against them, a situation the NBN admittedly may have encountered regularly had it proceeded to run fibre to every home. Firstly we couldn't find the pit in the street because the Telstra maps marked it in the wrong place, then we couldn't run the cable to the house because the fools who built my home damaged the conduit when pouring the concrete driveway. We ended up running a new conduit under the driveway, after which the installer struggled to run the cable inside to the wall socket due to the way my house is built. In a final hurdle, we had trouble activating the cable modem which saw the installer on the phone to get it fixed. When we finally sorted it all out I was rewarded with speedtest.net results of 114 megabits per second 29 times faster than my shoddy DSL connection. What's the magic word? My sense of relief and jubilation was accompanied by bewilderment and frustration why had Telstra denied me cable access so long? What hope was there for other people in my circumstances with the HFC cable tantalisingly just out of reach? I put the question to Telstra and was told the key is to ring the call centre and ask them to "submit a request for a service qualification test", if the cable is in your street and you believe you should be able to access it. Even if Telstra runs copper to your home, the cable access maps aren't updated after it's laid in your street so they don't acknowledge the existence of new dwellings. This means if 10 Main Road becomes 10 and 10A, only 10 is recognised as having cable access even if they both face onto the street and each have a copper phone line. This workaround is no guarantee of success and I can't vouch for how long you'll need to argue with the person on the phone before they'll agree, if at all. From my experience no-one in the Telstra call centre will show any initiative and inform you that such a thing is possible, even when you explain your circumstances. It's up to you to know about it and to ask. Your mileage may vary As a test I wandered up my street to another neighbour's house, she's also stuck on crappy DSL and has previously been told by Telstra there's nothing to be done even though the installer who hooked up my cable also looked at her house and said she should have no trouble accessing the cable. My friend called Telstra and then put me on the phone, determined to play dumb and see how it went. The Telstra rep initially offered a $10 per month speed boost, which didn't sound right for a DSL connection, but then said he'd check for cable availability before I could suggest it. A young man accused of making a hoax radio call that forced the pilot of a passenger jet to abort a landing and circle Melbourne Airport has been granted bail, because a magistrate believes there's little chance he will be jailed if found guilty. Paul Sant, 20, a former Virgin Australia baggage handler, will spend Christmas with his family after being granted bail on Thursday, about a month after he was remanded on charges of endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight. Airport radio hoaxer Paul Sant poses in a cockpit. Credit:Facebook Federal police allege that between October 25 and October 27 Mr Sant used a publicly-accessible distress frequency to broadcast several hoax radio calls that were heard by staff in Melbourne Airport's control tower and pilots in the area. In the most serious of the allegations, Mr Sant is accused of broadcasting the message "Go around", which resulted in a Virgin pilot aborting a planned landing and looping in the airspace above the airport, Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard. The flight arrived 15 minutes later than scheduled. Reach into your pocket right now and pull out your phone. What is it? We can almost guarantee it's an iPhone or Samsung. No, we're not spying on you. It's actually a pretty safe guess when you know 70 per cent of Australians have an Apple or Samsung smartphone. The OPPO R9: Should you buy one? While you've probably never thought otherwise, could there be a cheaper yet more powerful option out there? In our last episode of Hard Bargain for 2016, we're diving into the world of cheap alternatives such as OPPO, Huawei and Xiaomi brands you've probably never heard of but that are making a serious splash in Asia. A man was airlifted to hospital after his foot was pierced by a stingray barb on the Mornington Peninsula. Ambulance Victoria attended scene after the man, believed to be in his 30s, was injured by the sea creature at the Point King Jetty near Portsea at about 10am on Thursday. An ambulance helicopter at the scene in Portsea. Credit:Twitter/@7NewsMelbourne The man was transported by helicopter to the Alfred hospital and is in a stable condition. Local councils fork out a lot of money to keep their buildings air-conditioned, and libraries are no exception. The State Library of Victoria hosts talks, workshops, films and heaps of free exhibitions. At the moment you can hear tales of Australians' experience in World War One or discover how Melbourne's familiar landmarks have changed over time in David Collopy's display of old and new photographs. Rachel Zbukvic and Jo Rosin cooling down with a swim at Fitzroy Pool. Credit:Justin McManus 3. Go to an outdoor pool Fitzroy Pool opens for an extra hour when the temperature is above 30 degrees at 3pm, so that means it should stay open from 8am until 8pm over the next few days. The pool was first opened in 1908 and, aside from a brief closure in 1994, has been a popular bathing spot for decades. If you seek a dip at either the crack of dawn or post-dinner, Harold Holt Swim Centre is open all year round from 5.45am until 9pm. If you're too hot and bothered to get in the car and drive to a pool, why not plan ahead and buy your own? Target is selling blow-up pools big enough to fit the whole family. For those willing to part ways with more cash, you can buy something six times as big that can fit in your friends as well as your family. To up the stakes (and get your mind off the heat) you could thrown in this inflatable poker table. 5. Go to a shopping centre Big enough for a decent stroll, varied enough to occupy the whole family/day, Melbourne's shopping centres will be an air-conditioned oases on hot days. Pick one with a decent food court for breakfast, lunch and tea and possibly a cinema to pass a few hours. David Hockey's current exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria runs until March 13. 6. Go to the gallery The state's national gallery is always a bit cooler. That's because the museum standard for keeping paintings safe is 20 degrees. All galleries and museums have sophisticated air-conditioning systems in place to keep that temperature stable, so it's an ideal place to come when your house begins to feel like a sauna. There's a solo exhibition of David Hockney's work from the past decade, curated in collaboration with the artist. Creations of Dutch fashion design Viktor & Rolf are also on display as well as some incredible jewels by Bulgari, including pieces from the personal collections Elizabeth Taylor and Gina Lollobrigida. You can expect crystal clear water at Geelong's Eastern Beach. 7. Swim in the ocean For the cleanest water, check the Environment Protection Authority's twice-daily reports that show the water quality at 36 Port Phillip Bay beaches. The reports show the cleanest waters tend to be furthest from the Yarra River, so heard to Geelong or the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. According to the reports, for the second year in a row the best beach in Melbourne has been Eastern Beach in Geelong, which has had 54 out of 61 days of perfect waters. Nearby beaches on the Bellarine Peninsula, such as Portarlington, St Leonards and the Dell, have also fared well this summer, along with the holiday hotspots a short ferry ride away in Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie. Melbourne's Astor Theatre. 8. See a movie The cinema is one of the most reliably chilly places regardless of the weather. Melbourne has plenty of different types of cinemas to suit all tastes. For art house movies, head to Cinema Nova in Carlton, the re-opened art deco Astor Theatre in St Kilda for classics and new releases, ACMI in the city for a documentary or the Lido Cinema in Hawthorn for new releases. It has eight screens including a rooftop cinema. 9. Stay hydrated The hot-weather dilemma: it's too hot to carry anything yet you need all this pesky water just to get through the day. Here's a map of drinking fountains in the Melbourne CBD so you don't get caught short. 10. DIY air conditioning It's simple and cheap. Make your own air conditioner by putting a bowl of ice in front of a fan. Sit in front of said fan and voila, cold air. 11. Spray it, don't say it Keep a spray bottle of water in the fridge and give yourself a squirt whenever necessary for a refreshing cool-down. Add cucumber or lavender and mint for self-righteous DIY goodness. Also, you'll be surprised how effective simply dipping your feet in a bowl of water can be. Keep it next to your bed for occasional dips during the night. Add ice cubes for extra satisfaction. An unexpected visit from Father Christmas has lifted the spirits of a family from Melbourne's west whose house has been gutted by a fire. The McMahon family were busy salvaging what they could from their Sunshine house on Thursday morning when Santa arrived in a vintage model fire truck with a bag full of presents for 12-year-old Peter. A family escaped unharmed after their home in Moira Street, Sunshine, was gutted by fire. Credit:Penny Stephens Metropolitan Fire Brigade western district commander Steve Charles said many of the family's Christmas presents had been destroyed in the blaze that tore through the Moira Street house about 4.30am. Firefighters decided to surprise the boy with a few presents they had bought and wrapped, he said. They had planned later that morning to donate their gifts to the Les Twentyman Foundation, whose own toys had been destroyed in the fire at the Little Saigon market in Footscray on December 12. Dr Goodall, who was born in London and received his PhD from Imperial College in 1941, has an unpaid position as an honorary research associate, but typically attends the campus at least four days a week to review academic papers and supervise doctoral students. Edith Cowan University, in Perth, had told ecologist David Goodall that he would have to work from home from 2017 as it was concerned about his "general wellbeing on campus". A 102-year-old scientist has won a battle to keep working on campus at an Australian university amid concerns his presence was a "safety risk". Following a public outcry over the proposed eviction of Australia's oldest scientist, the university has said it would renew Dr Goodall's position this month and has found him a new office at another campus, which will halve his travel time. "It is better in many ways," the university's vice-chancellor, Professor Steve Chapman, told ABC News. "First of all, it's closer to his residence. Secondly, there's an office very close that's manned all the time, so we will be able to keep an eye on him to ensure he's OK. Thirdly, he's agreed to inform us when he comes in so that if he didn't arrive, we could check what had happened." Dr Goodall, who has worked at the university for two decades, said he was sad to be leaving his old office. "Given that I had to move, this is satisfactory," he said. "I prefer to be on campus because there are other people around and people who potentially are friends. I hope to continue with some useful work in my field insofar as my eyesight permits. But I still think the emphasis on safety was unnecessary." Washington: Praepitcha Smatsorabudh's business was illegal but brilliant. She would buy designer Gucci, Fendi and Burberry handbags from department stores, then return fake versions she had specially made in China and Hong Kong. Most of the real bags she would sell on Instagram and eBay. Pink and red leather GG Marmont matelasse luxury handbags on display. The scammer copied the Gucci brand among others. Credit:Bloomberg Prosecutors say she also kept dozens or perhaps hundreds of high-end bags for herself. She did it all, according to court documents, "because of her compulsion to have expensive handbags". Smatsorabudh, of Arlington County in Virginia, US, was arrested in June and sentenced on Wednesday to 33 months in prison by a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia. Sara Connor watches a re-enactment in court. Credit:Amilia Rosa "I never sat on him," Ms Connor told the court. She said she fell while trying to separate the two, who were fighting on the sand, and Mr Sudarsa bit her on her leg and arm while she was struggling to get to her feet. Sara Connor at an earlier court appearance. Credit:AP Mr Taylor has admitted bashing Mr Sudarsa, which he claims was in self-defence, but not to killing him. Ms Connor denies any involvement in his death. Mr Sulhadi said Mr Taylor had initially claimed Ms Connor told him she had hit Mr Sudarsa, although he later revoked this statement. David Taylor at a re-enactment on the beach in August. Credit:Yudi Karnaedi "David said when they were at Kubu Kauh Inn he asked Sara why she was injured and bleeding. David said Sara told him that she hit the victim once to get him off her. But David later revoked that statement." Shaking her head repeatedly, Ms Connor said: "I never said to David that I hit him, I said the victim bit me. I never had my arm around his neck like Sulhadi says." "When I left the scene I said to someone there's a guy on the beach that needs help. And they didn't help": David Taylor. Credit:AP She said she had always told the truth and been constant in all her statements. Mr Sulhadi revealed he searched for Ms Connor on Facebook after her driver's licence and ATM card were found at the crime scene. He said the ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver who found her cards had earlier seen two foreigners arguing with the victim. Slain Bali police officer Wayan Sudarsa. "The driver said the picture from Facebook looked similar to the woman he saw next to the two men who were arguing. The foreign man had dreadlocked hair," Mr Sulhadi said. He then browsed Ms Connor's Facebook account and found photos of men with dreadlocks. But Ms Connor said: "You wouldn't have been able to find me on Facebook because there is a photo of my children on the front. Not of me." Police combed the area, assuming that since the couple had been on foot, they must have been staying near the crime scene. They found a homestay in Kuta, Kubu Kauh Inn, where a couple were staying who fitted the description. "We could see directly with our own eyes there was blood stains on a towel," Mr Sulhadi said. However Mr Taylor and Ms Connor had already checked out. "Because of the ID we found, it was strongly suggested the perpetrator was an Australian citizen," Mr Sulhadi said. "Also, from her Facebook status, it seemed they enjoyed beaches. We sent teams to comb beach areas and also assigned a team to stake out the Australian Consulate." Ms Connor and Mr Taylor were apprehended outside the Australian Consulate on August 19. "Sara was arrested after she stepped out of the Consulate. She didn't surrender," Mr Sulhadi said. But Ms Connor said she thought going to the Consulate was the way to turn herself into police. "When I went to the Consulate I never tried to escape. I was never handcuffed outside the Consulate I went to the police station with their private car." Mr Sulhadi said Mr Taylor had injuries, which he first claimed were from a scooter accident, but then admitted were bite marks from Mr Sudarsa. He said during the second police interrogation Mr Taylor started to clearly describe the incident, saying the victim had lost consciousness after he hit him with a bottle. Mr Sulhadi said Ms Connor had cut up the police officer's identity cards, which were taken from his body after the fight, and the couple had then thrown them away about 20 kilometres from their second homestay in Jimbaran. "Sara cut up the cards because she was in a panicked state," he said. "She was panicking because David said they would be in big trouble. David said it was his idea." However Ms Connor said the couple had not known at the time a crime had been committed. "David never said we cut them because we were confused, because we didn't know there was a crime," she said. She said she had only cut up the police officer's cards to protect his identity. "In Australia you can tap your cards to pay and people can clone your identity. I didn't know if the person was dead and I only wanted to protect his identity because I was going to throw the cards away in the rubbish." Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump named Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on trade with China, to head a newly formed White House National Trade Council, the transition team said on Wednesday. Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has authored a number of popular books and made a film describing China's threat to the US economy as well as Beijing's desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia. Trump's team praised Navarro in a statement as a "visionary" economist who would "develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores". Trump, a Republican, made trade a centrepiece of his presidential campaign and railed against what he said were bad deals the United States had made with other countries. He has threatened to hit Mexico and China with high tariffs once he takes office on January 20. Steve Bannon, senior Trump adviser and former head of Breitbart News, has long been linked to alt-right figures and published their views at Breitbart. Credit:AP James Edwards, a far-right talk radio host who describes himself as a "European-American advocate" - and who interviewed the President-elect's son Donald Trump jnr this year - wrote in an email that the alt-right movement was "a group of marauding conservatives who reject both the failures of establishment conservatism and the false gods of political correctness". Race is the uniting factor, Edwards wrote: "One fundamental element of the alt-right that brings the disparate factions together is the awareness of the reality of race and the need for European-Americans to have organisations and spokespeople that explicitly advocate for our unique group interests." Discussion panellists Peter Brimelow, Jared Taylor, Kevin MacDonald, "Millenial Woes" and Richard Spencer field questions at an "alt-right" conference hosted by the National Policy Institute think tank in Washington, DC on November 18. Credit:Washington Post For many years, the mix-and-match gaggle now called the alt-right existed in the shadowed alleys of American culture, sharing views through newsletters, online radio and crude websites. The news media often debated whether to cover their sparsely attended rallies, considering that any attention might grant the groups a veneer of legitimacy. Andrew Anglin, the founder of the neo-Nazi alt-right website The Daily Stormer, described the current moment in a recent essay as "a reboot of the White Nationalist movement" - one infused with youthful energy. "There's no alt-right or alt-left": US President-elect Donald Trump at a rally in Alabama on December 17. Credit:AP The foot soldiers of the movement are not old white supremacists marching under a new banner, Anglin explained, but a mostly younger generation drawn from various online cultures, including conspiracy theorists and that misogynistic stratum of the internet known as the "manosphere". Then came Trump, whose opening gambit as a presidential candidate included his promise to build a wall to keep out Mexican immigrants, whom he called rapists and criminals. The alt-right raised its collective head to listen. "We're politically energised": Gerald Martin, a retired teacher, at home in Dallas, Texas. Credit:New York Times "I'd been waiting to hear those words from a mainstream political candidate all my life," said Gerald Martin, a retired public school teacher from Dallas who grew up in a family that opposed desegregation. He is a veteran of both the US Army and a number of white supremacist movements, and name-drops the likes of William Luther Pierce III, a white supremacist who wrote The Turner Diaries, a novel about an underground band of white Americans who fight a liberty-crushing government controlled by Jews. Before the Trump candidacy, Martin said, few in the alt-right were talking about politics; the movement was more about winning the battle of ideas. But once Trump began to talk, he said, "suddenly we're all talking politics and we're politically energised". "We're almost intoxicated," Martin continued. "We don't have any power - but now we're close enough to smell it." Perhaps in another age, any candidate's engagement with white supremacists, anti-Semites and separatists would have resulted in an awkward news conference announcing the end of his campaign. But this is a new age, in which Trump went unscathed for engaging with Twitter users like WhiteGenocideTM, who listed his location as "Jewmerica" and used an image of the founder of the American Nazi Party as his Twitter profile's photograph. Trump brushed off his sharing of alt-right messages on social media as inconsequential - the sort of thing that just happens on Twitter. He also denied at one point the existence of any alt-right movement. "Nobody even knows what it is," he told CNN in August. "This is a term that was just given that - frankly, there's no alt-right or alt-left." As if to clarify matters, members of the alt-right movement gathered in Washington about two weeks after Trump's election for a conference sponsored by the National Policy Institute, an organisation that describes itself as being "dedicated to the heritage, identity and future of people of European descent". Its president, Richard Spencer, 38, is a prominent alt-right leader who wears his brown hair in an undercut style once popular among the Hitler Youth. It's called a "fashy" - as in fascist. Spencer said in an interview that as he saw it, the principles of American conservatism throughout most of the 20th century had been wrongly defined within the context of capitalism and its ideological battle with communism. The matter of European identity, he said, was assumed, but never stated outright. "Race is real," he said. "Race matters. Race is the foundation of identity." "Race matters": Richard Spencer addresses the November conference in the US capital. Credit:AL DRAGO Not everyone in the movement appreciated the moment at the end of the conference when some in the audience raised stiffened arms, echoing the Nazi salute. Discussions afterward reflected the divisions in the loosely aligned ranks, as well as an acute awareness of public perception and the need to make their messages somehow more palatable. Paul Ramsey, a blogger and retired computer programmer in Oklahoma, generally follows an alt-right ideology, though he said he did not believe in a white ethno-state. He said he had long feared a hijacking of the movement by the "neo-Nazi/KKK element", which would lead to vilification and a relegation back to the fringe. Those salutes confirmed his fears, Ramsey said, and he is now dissociating from the alt-right movement, even though he understands that Spencer may believe in a big-tent, all-publicity-is-good philosophy. "The new Nazism is very demonised and toxic, and associating your brand with that is crazy," he said. Matthew Heimbach, who runs the Traditionalist Worker Party, with his family at home in Paoli, Indiana. Credit:New York Times Martin, who attended the conference, also didn't care for the Nazi-like salutes, calling them "very foolish". But he suggested that most of those raising their arms were using the salute as "their version of the middle finger" - a defiant gesture - "to the media, to the Trump haters, to everybody they feel alienated from". Indeed, the movement has the feel of a dispossessed youth rising up. Hours of interviews with young alt-right leaders suggest a pattern toward their white-nationalist radicalisation. Seeing domestic and global strife often rooted in racial and ethnic differences. Finding validation from like-minded people on the internet. Hearing a major presidential candidate echo their grievances. "The political establishment has made an entire generation of young white men and women into fascists, and that's a beautiful thing!" said Matthew Heimbach, 25, who runs the Traditionalist Worker Party ("Local solutions to the Globalist problem") out of his trailer in Indiana. His group advocates replacing the United States with nation-states based on races, ethnicities and religions. Nathan Damigo: describes his group as a fraternity celebrating European heritage. Credit:MAX WHITTAKER In Northern California, a university student, felon and Marine veteran, Nathan Damigo, oversees a group called Identity Evropa, which he described as a "fraternity" of mostly young, college-educated men who celebrate European heritage - that is, an embrace of white identity and a rejection of multicultural coexistence. Ever conscious of the importance of marketing, Damigo, 30, pointed out that Identity Evropa's website "looks completely mainstreamed". And it does, featuring men in business suits who also happen to be sporting the Hitler Youth-style haircut as well as the skyline of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. But for all the fresh approaches - the slick marketing, the internet savviness - the message remains the same. It is one of separation, of supremacy, of a refusal to recognise the equal worth of others who do not have the same skin tone or share the same religion. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke endorsed Donald Trump. Credit:AP Doug Rozendaal has been flying airplanes for more than four decades, but when he took off from Mason City Airport on Friday it was a first for POINTE BLANCHE:--- Described as the most luxurious cruise ship in the world, Regents Seven Seas Explorer, will make its inaugural call on Thursday, December 22. The Seven Seas Explorer was built at a cost of US$450 million. The vessel is the first new ship for Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) high-end Regent Seven Seas Cruises brand. A sister-ship to the Explorer will set sail in 2020. Seven Seas Explorer was officially welcomed to the Regent Seven Seas Cruises fleet in July 2016 in Monaco, and christened by Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco. The vessel is spaciously intimate, breathlessly elegant and perfectly staffed to offer Regent Seven Seas Cruises special brand of all-inclusive luxury. She brings elegance and glamour to the worlds greatest destinations, offering exquisite dining options that rival those of the finest restaurants ashore. Seven Seas Explorer delivers an unrivaled luxury cruise experience. The ship features extravagantly designed theaters and lounges, an unparalleled collection of opulent and spacious suites, five lavish gourmet restaurants and an unprecedented level of personalized service. Port St. Maarten Management continues to be proactive by attracting new vessels to the destination with emphasis and focus on bringing a balance between quality (high-end) cruise tourism and quantity (volume). At 55,254 gross-registered tons and carrying only 750 guests, the all-suite, all balcony ship boasts one of the highest space ratios and lowest crew to guest ratios in the cruise industry, not to mention the largest private verandas in the cruise industry and a new category of luxury suite, the nearly 4,500-square foot Regent Suite. The luxury liners inaugural season was spent in Europe before it headed to Miami for a series of Caribbean voyages. Port St. Maarten will be welcoming the new vessel to its shores on Thursday with the traditional plaque exchange and words of welcome. Regent Seven Seas Cruises is the world's most inclusive luxury cruise line with a fleet that visits more than 375 destinations around the globe. The line's fares include all-suite accommodations, round-trip air, highly personalized service, acclaimed cuisine, fine wines and spirits, unlimited internet access, sightseeing excursions in every port, all gratuities, and a pre-cruise luxury hotel package for those guests staying in concierge and higher suites. Beginning in summer 2017, Regent Seven Seas Cruises will also include Business Class air for all intercontinental flights. Three award-winning, all-suite vessels, Seven Seas Navigator, Seven Seas Mariner, and Seven Seas Voyager, are among the most spacious at sea, with the newest ship, the 750-guest Seven Seas Explorer, that debuted on July 20, 2016. Regent Seven Seas Cruises recently announced a massive $125 million fleet-wide investment to further increase the level of luxury found onboard its vessels, and will add a fifth ship to its fleet in 2020. IMEX Awarded Botswana Contract TORONTO, ONTARIO (Marketwired) 12/22/16 Imex Systems Inc. (Imex or the Company) (TSX VENTURE: IMEX), a software solution provider to Governments, Municipalities and Public Authorities, is pleased to announce the following update to its business operations. Further to the Companys press release on June 14, 2016, Imex has been awarded a new contract by the Government of Botswana worth US$14.56M (C$19.51M) over a 24-month period. This is a continuation of the initial previous contract where Imex supplied the iGov technology platform during 2014/2015. Under this new contract, Imex will be providing the technology upgrade and will be implementing the whole iGov Digital Government platform, with emphasis on service delivery through mobile devices and digital transformation of government operations. 60 government programs will be made available through multiple channels. This is a new phase of a larger multi-stage project that is expected to grow significantly over the next few years, as hundreds of additional government services are required to be implemented and new technologies and functionality are to be supplied across the region. Botswana is a country in sub-Saharan Africa well known for stability and good governance, with ambitious plans for modernization of the government and multi-channel citizen service delivery under the brand name of 1Gov. About Imex Systems Imex Systems Inc. is a Canadian software products and solution provider to Governments, Municipalities and Public Authorities in Canada and internationally. Imex primarily focuses on the E-Government and Smart Cities market that include payments. It helps public sector entities to provide Any Time, Any Where, Any Device and Any Channel convenience for citizens to access government services and help with digital transformation of government operations and streamline revenue. Imexs various product and service offerings include: iGov a Digital Government Platform for all levels of governments, which provides all the pre-built components for building an effective Digital Government and supporting payment processing through multiple channels; iCity a Smart City Solution; and miGov a Mobile Government Framework. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements, projections and estimates with respect to the future revenue of the Company. Any statements that involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as expects, or does not expect, is expected, anticipates or does not anticipate, plans, budget, scheduled, forecasts, estimates, believes or intends or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results may or could, would, might or will be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: the need for approvals from the relevant government body; future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing; the competitive nature of the industry; the effects of product development and need for continued technology change; and those risks set out in the Companys public documents filed on . Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information other than as required by law. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Imex Systems Inc. Michael Frank COO Former Warren City Council at-large candidate Gary Boike said he has been planning since the Nov. 2019 election to request appointment to Council President Patrick Greens seat once it becomes vacant. 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 In preparation for the 2021 Asteroid Redirect Mission, this prototype of a robotic capture module system uses a mock asteroid boulder as a test at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NASA to launch the robotic portion of its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) in 2021. This will be the first mission to visit and collect a multi-ton sample from a large near-Earth asteroid. The collected sample will be used in a demonstration of enhanced gravity tractor asteroid deflection. Recently at the Robotic Operation's Center of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a robotic capture module system prototype used a mock asteroid boulder to test its capabilities. [NASA's Asteroid-Capture Mission in Pictures] NASA, along with students from West Virginia University, created the mock asteroid boulder from rock, styrofoam, plywood and an interior aluminum frame. The robotic hardware for the project includes three space frame legs with foot pads and two seven degrees of freedom arms with microspine grippers to hold on to the massive rock. Within the ROC engineers have multiple tools industrial robots, motion-based platforms, and customized algorithms to aide in creating simulations of robotic spacecraft operating in space. Engineers will also have the capability to practice and perfect robotic satellite servicing operations, fine tuning systems and controllers and optimizing performance factors for future repair and refueling missions. This portion of ARM will place the recovered asteroid sample in stable orbit around the moon. Future astronauts will explore the boulder and retrieve samples for study. NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission offers advances in technologies and spaceflight experience, bringing necessary growth for the manned Martian missions planned for the 2030s. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original story on Space.com. The new personnel would focus on commercial space issues at the behest of Peter Thiel, the billionaire investor who supported Trump during the campaign and is now advising the incoming president, out of concerns that the current landing team was too focused on "legacy" space projects. The Trump transition team has yet to formally announce any new members, and any additional personnel would have only a few weeks to work before the transition teams formally disband on Jan. 20. [Wall Street Journal] Related: More News Israeli satellite operator Spacecom is purchasing a new satellite from Boeing. The company announced Wednesday that it is purchasing the Amos-17 satellite from Boeing for $161 million. The satellite, scheduled for launch in 2019, is designed to provide coverage in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Spacecom's Amos-6 satellite was lost in a Falcon 9 pad explosion in September, and its Amos-5 satellite failed in orbit in 2015. [Reuters] A Japanese team in the Google Lunar X Prize competition will hitch a ride to the moon with an Indian competitor. Team Hakuto announced Tuesday that the X Prize Foundation had verified its agreement to fly with TeamIndus, an Indian team that already has a contract to launch its lander on a PSLV rocket in late 2017. Team Hakuto had planned to fly its rover to the moon with Astrobotic, but Astrobotic has decided to withdraw from the competition, concluding that the current prize deadlines are unrealistic. Hakuto will retain its agreement to fly another rover with Astrobotic on its 2019 mission. [SpaceNews] Avanti has chosen to refinance, rather than sell, the company. The London-based satellite operator said a $242 million refinancing package will be enough to keep the company operating through the launch next year of Hylas-4, which the company hopes will generate enough additional revenue to sustain the company in the long term. Avanti did receive several offers to buy the company, including from Inmarsat, but the company's board concluded those offers undervalued Avanti. [SpaceNews] NOAA believes small satellites could serve as gap fillers for weather data. NOAA officials said last week they are looking at several options for using small satellites, including equipping them with microwave and infrared sounders as well as visible and infrared cameras. Those small satellites could provide data that, while not of the same quality as larger satellites, could be good enough to mitigate potential gaps in coverage caused by delays in larger satellite programs. [SpaceNews] Chinese scientists are sifting through a years worth of data from a satellite in hopes of finding evidence of dark matter. The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) satellite, launched a year ago, has detected 1.8 billion cosmic ray events, including a million high-energy electrons. Scientists are studying whether the energy spectrum of cosmic rays may provide insights into what comprises dark matter. Initial results should be published in early 2017. [gbtimes] SpaceX could benefit from a proposed rail line at Port Canaveral. The rail line would extend from Port Canaveral through Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center to link with the Florida East Coast Railway. That rail line, Port Canaveral officials say, could benefit space companies in the area, in particular SpaceX, which could use it to transport rocket stages rather than moving them by road. [Orlando Sentinel] The Indian space agency ISRO has released the first images from its newest Earth-imaging satellite. The images, taken by the Resourcesat-2A spacecraft Dec. 15 of several regions of India, indicate that the satellite is operating as planned. ISRO launched Resourcesat-2A Dec. 7 to provide medium-resolution imagery in a range of spectral bands. [Firstpost] This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy The first image from the surface of the moon, taken by the Luna 9 spacecraft. Luna 9 was the first soft landing mission on the moon. The Soviet spacecraft arrived three years before the first humans stepped out on the surface. It was part of a long-range Soviet Union program to photograph and learn more about the moon. Space race In the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a "space race" that ultimately saw the Americans land the first humans on the moon in 1969. The Soviets were unable to get their Zond rocket program going, even after a series of test flights. One blew up on the launch pad in 1968 and killed several people. When the Soviets were unable to reach the hurdle of bringing humans to the moon, they instead focused on a series of successful robotic missions, culminating with two rover missions in the 1970s that collectively travelled dozens of miles. Their earlier robotic missions had already attracted a lot of international attention. Luna 3 flew past the moon in 1959, just two years after the first satellite was sent into space (also by the Soviet Union). What's more, Luna 3 even took pictures of the moon's far side, which had never been glimpsed by humans before. Flying by was difficult enough, but landing was another thing entirely. The Soviets (and the Americans) had certainly crash-landed probes on to the surface before, in some cases deliberately. Landing successfully, however, requires precision, something to cushion the spacecraft from a hard fall (such as rockets) and a way of transmitting the information reliably back to Earth. There were also a small number of experts who wondered if the lunar surface could even support a landing. Some thought that any spacecraft that landed on the moon would sink down into a pile of dust, and have difficulty emerging again. Airbags mounted on the Luna 9 landing capsule helped cushion the impact. (Image credit: NASA) Luna 9 mission The spacecraft launched successfully on Jan. 31, 1966, and got to the moon on Feb. 3. While the entire spacecraft descended to the surface, a landing capsule was ejected just before impact (16 feet, or 5 meters, above) for the soft landing. This "automatic lunar station" that landed on the surface was spherical, about 5 feet (152 centimeters) across and weighed about 218 lbs. (99 kilograms), according to NASA. "The station consisted of a hermetically sealed container, pressurized to 1.2 atmospheres, which held the radio system, programming device, batteries, thermal control system and scientific apparatus. Four antennas that automatically opened after landing were mounted on the outside of the compartment," NASA wrote, adding that there also were airbags mounted to the lander to cushion the impact. In addition to the equipment needed to keep the spacecraft healthy, as well as fuel, it carried some scientific equipment. This included a television camera and a radiation detector. The spacecraft bounced on the lunar surface several times before stopping in the Ocean of Storms, according to NASA. About 250 seconds after landing, four petals stabilized the spacecraft and the television system began sending pictures back to Earth. The early days of space photography were difficult, but over time controllers could get a sense of what the surface looked like. The first test image, which showed very poor contrast because the Sun was only about 3 degrees above the horizon, was completed 15 minutes [after landing]," NASA stated. "Seven radio sessions, totaling 8 hours and 5 minutes, were transmitted as were three series of TV pictures. When assembled, the photographs provided four panoramic views of the nearby lunar surface." Luna 9 survived three Earth-days on the surface until its batteries ran down. From the pictures, scientists could tell that the spacecraft had landed near an 82-foot (25-meter) crater. The lander was initially at a 15-degree tilt, but the regolith (soil) on the moon shifted underneath it and placed the lander at a 22.5 degree tilt, according to the pictures. After landing, four petals stabilized the spacecraft, and four antennas extended to transmit pictures. (Image credit: NASA) Luna 9 legacy Several soft landings after Luna 9 happened in quick succession, both by the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States' Surveyor 1 made that country's first landing in May 1966. Both the Soviet Union and the United States sent several robotic probes to the moon afterward, with the Soviet Union also focusing on aspects such as sample return (Luna 16) and deploying rovers (Lunokhods 1 and 2 on Lunas 17 and 21, respectively). The United States also sent six human missions to the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. Soft landings on the moon wouldn't happen again until 2013, when China sent the Chang'e-3 lander and Yutu rover to the surface that December. Yutu survived more than 31 months on the surface, although it stopped being able to move after only a few weeks. As of September 2015, scientists have searched in vain to find Luna 9 on the surface of the moon. This is after NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter successfully imaged numerous spacecraft on the surface, including the Soviet Lunokhods 1 and 2. Additional resource One of two Standard Missile-6 Dual 1 missiles launches from the destroyer USS John Paul Jones during a missile defense test against a medium-range ballistic missile target on Dec. 14, 2016, conducted off the coast of Hawaii. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy have launched their latest missile defense test in the Pacific Ocean in a successful demonstration that hurled two interceptors at an incoming medium-range ballistic missile. The test occurred Dec. 14 and launched two Raytheon-built Standard Missile-6 Dual 1 (SM-6) missiles from the Navy destroyer USS John Paul Jones from just off the coast of Hawaii, MDA officials said in a statement. The two SM-6 projectiles were launched against a medium-range ballistic missile target as part of the MDA's Sea-Based Terminal Program, using Navy ships equipped with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. [Photos: Spectacular Military Missile Launches] "This test demonstrated the capabilities MDA and the Navy are delivering to our fleet commanders," MDA Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring said in a Dec. 14 statement. "The SM-6 missile and the Aegis Weapon System continue to prove that they are critical components of our nation's multilayered, robust ballistic missile defense system." "The SM-6 missile uses an explosive warhead to defeat ballistic missile threats, differing from other missile defense interceptors, such as the Standard Missile-3, which use non-explosive hit-to-kill technology," MDA officials wrote in the statement. The SM-6 Dual 1 missile system reached operational status in 2016. More than 315 missiles have been delivered to the U.S. Navy, and more are in production, Raytheon representatives wrote in a Dec. 19 statement describing the recent test. The missiles are designed to defend Navy vessels against threats from fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned drones and cruise missiles, as well as ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of their flight, Raytheon representatives wrote. The missile also can be issued as an offensive weapon, they added. Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Satellites for Brazilian and Japanese customers lift off with Ariane 5 for a dual-passenger mission successfully performed on December 21. Flight VA234. Star One D1 and JCSAT-15 WASHINGTON European launch provider Arianespace completed its 11th and final launch of the year Dec. 21, putting satellites for Asia's and South America's largest regional operators on their way to the geostationary arc. The Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from Europe's Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, at 3:30 p.m. EST carrying Embratel Star One of Brazil's multiband Star One D1 satellite and Japan-based Sky Perfect JSAT's JCSat-15. Space Systems Loral built both satellites, which collectively weighed in at 9,833 kilograms. Star One D1, which had a liftoff mass of 6,433 kilograms, used the Ariane 5's upper berth, while the 3,400 kilogram JCSat-15 took the lower position in the dual launch. Star One D1 is encapsulated in an Ariane 5 fairing ahead of its Dec. 21 launch. (Image credit: Arianespace) Arianespace launched seven Ariane 5, two Soyuz medium-lift rockets and two Vega light-lift rockets this year, orbiting a total of 27 spacecraft a new record for the company. For much of the latter half of 2016, Arianespace conducted most of the industry's commercial launches. SpaceX and International Launch Services sat grounded since the summer due to anomalies, with each preparing to return to flight in coming weeks. Star One D1 is the first of Embratel Star One's fourth generation of spacecraft, and the operator's largest satellite to date. The satellite supports the company's first Ka-band payload, while also carrying C- and Ku-band capacity. Embratel Star One will operate the satellite from 84 degrees west, providing broadcast, internet and cellular backhaul services for Latin America. Arianespace Chief Executive Stephane Israel gets into the holiday spirit following the successful Dec. 21 launch of an Ariane 5 carrying satellites for Embratel Star One and Sky Perfect JSAT. Credit: video still of Arianespace launch broadcast. (Image credit: Arianespace) JCSat-15, Sky Perfect JSAT's 17th satellite and third to launch this year, replaces N-SAT-110, a Lockheed Martin satellite at 110 degrees east that launched in 2000. The satellite is designed for broadcast and telecommunications services across Japan, Oceania, and the Indian Ocean. Arianespace's next mission is the Soyuz launch of Hispasat 36W-1. Previously known as Hispasat-AG1, the three-metric-ton spacecraft is severely behind its original schedule, which envisioned a 2013 launch. Built by OHB SE of Germany, Hispasat 36W-1 is the first to use a SmallGeo platform that, with financial support from the German and European space agencies, is the satellite manufacturer's foray into building commercial geostationary spacecraft. Hispasat 36W-1 arrived in Kourou at the beginning of December to undergo preparations for a Soyuz launch slated for Jan. 27. This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. Scientists just got a new tool in the quest to predict if, how much, and when sea levels will rise on our planet in the future. The Global Land Ice Velocity Extraction project (GoLIVE) created a software tool that crunches both historical satellite images and current high-resolution pictures taken by the Landsat 8 satellite, which captures pictures of Earth's entire surface every 16 days, to give scientists an unprecedented and detailed image of how glaciers move. The NASA-funded project a collaboration between scientists from the University of Colorado, the University of Alaska, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. is able to analyze both Landsat 8 images and historical satellite images to identify the subtle patterns in the surface of the ice and how they have changed over time. That data allows them to create computer models to predict what those ice flows will do in the future. And predicting ice flow is essential to predicting the rise of ocean levels. RELATED: Here Are 10 Striking Images of Future Sea Levels "Sea level rise is two things," said Dr. Alex S. Gardner, a JPL research scientist working on the project. "It is the ocean warming, because warm water takes up more volume than cold water. And it is ice from the continents that ends up in the ocean. If you want to know what sea level rise will be in the future, you have to know how much ice will go into the ocean. Once you answer that question, you know how much sea level will rise." In this effort, having high-quality images from the Landsat 8 satellite is important. But it isn't the key that unlocks the answer. "The satellite is fantastic," says Gardner. "But it was never designed to map glacial flow. The most important thing about this mission is continuity." The new Landsat 8 has a radiometric capability, which means it can resolve the greyscale in satellite images with much finer detail, giving scientists a crystal-clear image of how the ice is moving. And it collects an enormous quantity of images, so many that just downloading them to earthbound computers created a bottleneck. Earlier satellites also collected images of the glacial ice. But those showed the ice as white, without the detail of the Landsat 8. "But with the Landsat record we get a very long in many places 30 years historical record of ice flow," says Gardner. RELATED: Dino-Killer Crater Reveals Clues About Ice Age Sea Level But much of the data from both sources went untapped because it required too much processing power to access. Technology has advanced to the point where it is possible for this team of scientists to mine that data. "So we can now see how ice flow is changing with time. And that is one of the most important variables to understand when predicting future changes." This effort, led by a team that specializes in studying ancient ice, may seem to the uninitiated as worthy but purely academic. But the work is crucial especially as climate scientists fear that funding will be pulled in an incoming Trump administration. The project also has enormous financial implications. "This has pragmatic impact on shoreline infrastructure and for urban development," says Gardner. "For example, deciding to build a one-meter or two-meter high sea wall has huge financial implications. We are trying to estimate the rise of sea level so we can plan for the future." WATCH: What Happens If All The World's Ice Melts? Originally published on Seeker. 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. 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Peterson, 85, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and formerly of Mason City, Iowa, died Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016, at Unity Point Health Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 27, at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue, Mason City, with Rev. Michael A. Carmody of the New Covenant Christian Church, Fort Dodge, officiating. A gathering of family and friends will be held one hour prior to the service. Military honors will be conducted by the Mason City Veterans Association. Memorials may be directed to the Ronald Peterson memorial fund in care of the family. Arrangements: Major Erickson Funeral Home, Mason City, Iowa. The investigation was apparently conducted by the local chief prosecutor's office in Berlin, and all the information about the Tunisian available to authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia was passed on to the Berlin authorities. Amri apparently spent most of his time in Berlin beginning in February 2016 but, more recently, had also been in North Rhine-Westphalia "briefly." "This person was quite obviously highly mobile," said Jager. Little League Drug Dealer? The focus of the investigation in Berlin had been information indicating that Amri "was planning a break-in in order to obtain money to buy automatic weapons that could possibly be used by accomplices to be found later for an attack," the Public Prosecutor's Office in the capital informed a court. In response, the court provided its authorization for Amri's communications to be wiretapped and for general surveillance of the subject. The Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office said that surveillance measures had produced evidence that Amri "might be active as a little league drug dealer" in the city's Gorlitzer Park, a hotbed of drug activity in the city. They said Amri was also believed to have gotten involved in a physical dispute in a bar "presumably based on a conflict within the dealer scene." A few days before the attack, my wife and I were saying that we should stop by that Christmas market after work, with our son. I shudder when I think that we too could have been standing there when the truck slammed into the crowd. But I don't think about it for long. We weren't there. What's the point of imagining that we were? I have other things to do. Is that cold? Maybe. But it's just the way it is. This is what the Berlin terrorist has achieved. He has made me indifferent. He evokes no feelings in me. I recognize that there are people like him, who kill other people, as many as possible and in the most gruesome ways, out of blindness and religious delusion. But I cannot hate him for that, because he leaves me cold. I have no room in my thoughts for him and his ilk. German immigration authorities have been struggling with this problem for years now -- namely that they don't know who they are dealing with when asylum-seekers throw away their real passports and try to disguise their true identity. A state- and federal-level deportations working group reviewed the country's national central register of foreign nationals and determined that, "71.4 percent of current asylum-seekers are residing in Germany without proper ID documents." If it isn't clear where a refugee came from, that person also can't be deported back. And even in cases where speech analysis and other tests help determine a person's true background, the countries of origin often refuse to repatriate their citizens if they lack proper documentation. Failed Deportation In Amri's case, the effort to deport him failed because of Tunisia. German authorities have long considered the country to be particularly problematic when it comes to deportations. A government official in Berlin complained in 2015 that the Tunisian Embassy was "uncooperative" and in most cases didn't even bother to provide a response. That experience was shared by the authorities in the southern German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. This summer, police intercepted Amri during a routine check conducted on a bus near Lake Constance. Amri had apparently been carrying forged Italian identity papers. Police arrested him, but he was released again only two days later. A swift deportation failed because Tunisia refused to repatriate him. According to the head of the jail where he was held in Ravensburg, the immigration authority in Ravensburg had issued a written order for Amri's release. When Amri was allowed to leave, he provided the address of an old villa in Karlsruhe located near one of Baden-Wurttemberg's initial reception centers for refugees. Although a number of organizations are based in the building that provide assistance and advice to refugees, it's not possible he lived there. In fact, one of the groups operating there, Freundeskreis Asyl, said it doesn't have his name listed in its records. Given his experience, however, he might have registered with them under a different name. Or perhaps he found the address on the Internet or in a refugee guidebook. Outwitting the Authorities The ease with which Amri outwitted German immigration authorities evokes an incident involving another terrorist who also happens to be Tunisian: Tarek Belgacem, a man shot and killed by Paris police after he stormed a police station on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack wielding an ax and a fake suicide belt. The man, 24 years old at the time, had spent years traveling all across Europe using 20 different names. He committed crimes in several countries and deliberately exploited shortcomings in the asylum system. It is also believed that Amri moved around a lot in Europe. Security agency sources say he was fluent not only in his native Arabic, but also French like many other Tunisians, as well as Italian. That would seem to corroborate reporting by several media who have quoted Amri's father as saying his son left Tunisia seven years ago. On Wednesday night, a Tunisian police anti-terrorism brigade sealed off the Farhat Hached district of Oueslatia, a small town near the city of Kairouan in Tunisia. It's the neighborhood where Anis Amri's family lives. All of the suspected perpetrator's family members were brought in for questioning. The document issued to him by the German immigration authorities states that he was born in the desert city of Tataouine, but neighbors say he was born and raised in Oueslatia. A Family Living in Extreme Poverty A neighbor said the family is extremely poor. Amri's parents were separated, his mother worked as a maid and his father, who the neighbor said has a physical handicap, makes deliveries for businesses using a handcart. Amri's sister Najoua is reportedly the only person in his family who managed to escape poverty. She works as a notary public in Zaghouan around 100 kilometers away. She told the station Nessma TV, "I am shocked and I never could have imagined that Anis would become a terrorist. He always drank a lot and he was never religious." In 2008, at the age of 16, he is said to have stolen a truck. The Tunisian authorities state that he threatened the driver with a knife and then drove away from the scene. He was convicted in absentia and ordered to serve a jail sentence. In March 2011, he boarded a boat in Zarzis and made his way to Italy. Media reports in Italy have indicated that after arriving, he was part of a group of refugees who set fire to refugee accommodations during a protest. Schengen-Wide Entry Ban The fact that Amri came from an area near Kairouan could be significant. The city, located around 150 kilometers south of Tunis, is considered a bastion of militant Salafism. But Amri wasn't known as being a religious person in Tunisia. He was better known as a good-for-nothing and a small-time criminal. He thus seems to fall into a familiar pattern: With a sheer lack of opportunities, many young men in Tunisia left the country after the Arab spring and headed across the Mediterranean to Europe. They would later become disillusioned and some would join up with Islamic State. Amri reportedly spent four years in jail after being convicted of arson charges connected with the incident in Italy. If that's true, then the fact that German authorities had been unaware of this is further evidence of considerable shortcomings in cross-border cooperation between European authorities. But aspects relating to his time in Germany alone are sufficient to raise serious doubts about the competence of the country's own security agencies. The Italian authorities issued a Schengen zone-wide entry ban for Amri, meaning he shouldn't have been allowed to travel into the border-free area. But they didn't take that action until this year. In February 2016, the security agencies ordered officers to conduct a check on Amri, "insofar as police law permits." In the letter, they placed the man "within the Islamist spectrum," and noted he had "suspected ties with IS (Islamic State)." The memorandum was created because Amri had begun hanging out in radical Islamist circles starting in 2015. He had first come to the attention of the authorities in the course of an investigation into Hildesheim-based hate preacher Abu Walaa. He had popped up in circles surrounding radical preachers Hasan C. in the city of Duisburg and Boban S. in Dortmund. For a time, it is even believed that he had a key to S.'s apartment. It wasn't the regional authorities who had noticed the kind of company Amri was keeping, either. During the course of their investigation into Abu Walla and Hasan C., officials with the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe had stumbled across Amri, determining him to be a person who ran errands for the men. But they did not consider him to be a suspect. Alarming Information The authorities nonetheless took note of some alarming information. It appears that they concluded, on the basis of wiretapping, that Amir may have offered his services as a suicide bomber. But the language he used was very veiled and did not meet the threshold required to make an arrest. He is also said to have described to an informant to the security authorities how he could obtain a weapon. Investigators took note of his pursuits, which they considered to be highly suspicious but ultimately not enough for them to close in on him. The information was then passed down from the federal prosecutor in Karlsruhe to the state level in Berlin, where the local public prosecutor opened proceedings against Amri. Did security officials in Berlin have indications that the Tunisian was looking for accomplices and that he also wanted to become a perpetrator himself? Sources within the Berlin city-state authorities say they believed he had been planning a break-in and that he wanted to use money from the loot to buy automatic weapons. The Berlin authorities then began wiretapping the suspect, even organizing a major surveillance operation against Amri and warning each place where he supposedly wanted to break in. But instead of finding evidence for that kind of crime, officials found it for another: Investigators learned that Amri had been part of a fight in a bar that may have been related to a dispute within the drug dealing scene. They followed up on the case. After that, Amri no longer maintained any verifiable contact with his contact people in Islamist circles. The Public Prosecutor's Office suspended its surveillance efforts based on a surfeit of evidence pointing to terrorist activity. Amri then fell off the authorities' radar. That is, until Tuesday, when investigators discovered his identity paper in the foot well of the truck that struck the Christmas market. On Wednesday, the German authorities also obtained some other documents pertaining to Amri: The replacement documents with which he could be deported back to Tunisia. By Matthias Bartsch, Jurgen Dahlkamp, Jorg Diehl, Jan Friedmann, Hubert Gude, Mirco Keilberth, Roman Lehberger, Mathieu von Rohr, Sven Robel, Jorg Schindler, Fidelius Schmid, Andreas Ulrich and Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt. The statements made, however, were so hedged that they didn't suffice to make an arrest. In addition, Amri allegedly told a security authority source how he could obtain a weapon. Amri is currently being sought as the prime suspect in the terrorist attack on a Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz, where Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is located. The German Federal Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation have described Amri as a serious suspect and have ordered an official manhunt. They are offering a reward of 100,000 euros for information leading to his capture. A memorial service was held Wednesday night at the First Congregational Church of Stamford to recognize those who died homeless in the past year. The national event is usually held on Dec. 21, the first day of winter and longest night of the year. Why is the discussion about Special Education always about the money, without any discussion about holding the educators running these programs accountable for results? You report that the Connecticut School Finance Projects solution for solving problems educating special education students is all about the money pool expenses statewide and redistribute the money equitably. Perhaps redistribution to where the money is most needed would be useful, but do you really believe its possible that a credible consensus could be reached on what is equitable and which districts have less need and, therefore, should receive less money? In any case, its beyond amazing that this and other solutions for Special Ed typically ignore measurement of the results of Special Ed programs. How do Special Ed students perform in comparison to non-Special Ed students in general and on standardized tests, what are the Special Ed graduation rates and how do the graduation rates correlate with student performance, and, perhaps most importantly, what happens to Special Ed students after they graduate or otherwise leave public education? This is the kind of data that the education numbers crunchers usually produce and release to the public for various demographics, but not for Special Ed. The $70 million per year (27 percent of the operating budget) now spent in Stamford on Special Ed is an investment. The parents and other taxpayers in Stamford are entitled to a report on the return on this investment. Thats why, earlier this year, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Stamford Board of Ed requesting current and historical Special Ed results based data. Initially, the response was silence. Finally, after many months, I received three sets of data, but only for two school years, 2014-15 and 2015-16. The Board of Education labels the data Smarter Balanced Assessment results Percent at/above Benchmark in English (ELA) and Math for Special Ed and All Students Spring 2016 and Spring 2016, Retentions of Special Ed Students 2014-15 to 2015-16 by Grade, and Graduation Rates by High School and Student Groups with separate data for the Class of 2014 and Class of 2015. I have since submitted a similar FOIA request for updated and additional data, but so far have received an acknowledgment but no data. Since this was a FOIA request, I received only what the Board of Ed was obligated to release under FOIA, i.e., whatever data exists, without the benefit of a discussion, such as a press release. So I do not know what the Board of Ed is thinking or spinning about this data (which data the Board of Ed has not released to the public); and am left to draw my own conclusions. My first conclusion, based on the lack of pre-2014-15 data, is that prior to that school year, no data about Special Ed performance was being maintained. That in itself is outrageous. Its inconceivable that a program costing tens of millions of dollars aimed at helping children who need lots of help can be responsibly run without measuring results. My next conclusion is a suspicion that there is a lot of social promotion going on with Special Ed students, i.e., many students are advanced and graduate just to keep them moving up and out. Keep in mind that the data provided to me by the Board of Ed appears to be for Special Ed students who are taught within the school system because the Board of Ed claims to be capable of educating them utilizing its own resources. The more difficult cases that cant be handled are sent out of district and, apparently, are not included in the data. For example, the comparison of the results for Special Ed students to All Students meeting or exceeding the benchmark for the English assessment test for 2015 and 2016 for grades 3 through 8 range from, for 2015: 7-11 percent for Special Ed students in comparison to 44-55 percent for all students and, for 2016: 7-11 percent for Special Ed students in comparison to 47-54 percent for all students. For the Math Assessment test, results for 2015 and 2016 for grades 3 through 8 range from, for 2015: 2-4 percent for Special Ed students in comparison to 34-42 percent for all students and, for 2016: 2-11 percent for Special Ed students in comparison to 36-48 percent for all students. Meanwhile, the comparison of graduation rates of Special Ed students to non-Special Ed students for 2014 is 70 percent vs. 91.5 percent, and for 2015 is 70.8 percent vs. 90.2 percent. While the assessment test results are clearly for different students than the graduation rates, its rational to suspect that the assessment test results for the graduates were no better than the available data, and to question whether and if so why, Special Ed students are being graduated without adequate English and math skills. Furthermore, only four 12th-grade Special Ed students were retained in 2015, suggesting that perhaps the graduation rate for Special Ed students was lowered due to other factors such as drop out. The bottom line: The Stamford Board of Education should be held accountable to the public for the results of the millions of dollars spent on Special Education. To date, the board has evaded such accountability, focusing only on the need for more money. Existing data suggests the Stamford School system is not doing a good job at educating Special Ed students to the limits of each students capabilities. Lester Freundlich Stamford This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WILTON Amidst constant upheaval and never-ending innovations, Al Alper has made a home for himself on the cutting edge of technology. Over the past 30 years, the longtime Wilton resident has been on the forefront of the ever-evolving landscape of information technology. Over that period, he has started four companies, sold two of them and, in his spare time, taught part time. Of all those endeavors, none have stuck with Alper quite like his sophomore effort, Absolute Logic, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last Friday. Twenty-five years is a long time, sometimes every day feels like a lifetime, so to get 25 years of life out of this is staggering. Weve truly ridden the wave of technology up, Alper said. Fresh off the sale of his first company in the early 90s, Alper saw that there something large brewing on the technological horizon. Personal computers were becoming a hot commodity and, forever the entrepreneur, Alper realized that all these new computers would soon need fixing. So Alper formed Absolute Logic, a break-fix company that specialized in troubleshooting computer problems for everyone, from individuals to larger corporations. Though Alper ended up selling a majority of his shares in the company, around 2011 those entrepreneurial gears started turning in Alpers head again. The IT landscape was shifting once again, Alper said, and he intended to be a part of it. Alper bought back most of his shares of Absolute Logic and he began preparing for a shift that would carry him to the present. Alper decided to abandon the break-fix model for the next wave of the future managed services. Since the shift, Alper said business has been booming. When we changed from a break-fix business to a managed services business, weve seen terrific growth in the company, mostly because of the reputation that we built on the break-fix side, Alper said. Absolute Logic has served companies dotted all over the East Coast, from Northeast Radiology in New York to hospitals in Danbury and Milford. Larger businesses havent been the only ones to profit from Absolute Logics services. Businesses and nonprofits around Wilton have also benefitted from the businesss growth. Being a small not-for-profit organization means we have to be careful with every dollar. Absolute Logic responded to a virus nightmare on our computer system and quickly, efficiently and professionally took care of the problem, said Mark Ketley, the executive director of the local Trackside Teen Center. Alper has made a point to offer community mainstays like Trackside, the Wilton YMCA, and ABC houses all over Connecticut his services at the lowest possible cost. In fact, Alper credits part of the reason for his businesss success to this dedication to serving the community. This community has been good to my company, and the company owes it to this community to give back, Alper said. The company owes it to itself to make sure that the community that has been good to it stays that way. Alper has no intentions to rest on the laurels of his businesss success, either. With 25 years of business in the bag, Alper said that he is hoping for 25 more years. Were on a mission to build this company into a top-tier managed security and services provider. I dont mean top tier regionally, I mean top tier nationally, Alper said. I fully expect to one day have a facility that we own our own facility in this area. ptomlinson@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1046; @Tomlinson_PE Women are having their day in Iowa. Republican women, to be exact. Gov. Terry Branstad's appointment as President-elect Donald Trump's ambassador to China means Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will be the first female chief executive in Iowa. She'll work alongside the state's first female House speaker, Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake, also a Republican. And it's all happening just two years after Sen. Joni Ernst became the first woman to represent the Hawkeye State in Congress. Reynolds will be governor with full authority, state officials say DES MOINES Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will be a full-fledged governor not merely an acti Iowa Republicans, it seems, are outpacing Democrats in gender equality, an issue widely claimed by those on the left. Iowa has a proud history of tearing down anachronistic barriers built upon prejudicial social norms. In 1838, the Iowa Territory Supreme Court ruled that a runaway slave could not be forced to return to a slave state upon reaching Iowa. That same year, the soon-to-be state granted land ownership rights to unmarried women. Equality is a tradition that's carried through Iowa's history. In 2009, Iowa became the first non-coastal state to overturn a ban on gay marriage. And now, two of its three top elected positions are held by women. The significance of the rise of women in Iowa might not be clear until one views it at a national level. Only six women three Republicans and three Democrats hold governorships. That number is set to drop in January, when Reynolds moves into the governor's mansion, as New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan won a seat in the U.S. Senate and Trump plucked South Carolina's Nikki Haley to represent the U.S. at the United Nations. Women, more than 50 percent of the total population, hold fewer than 25 percent of seats in state legislatures. Less than 20 percent of the U.S. House is female. Ernst is just one of 20 women in the 100-seat U.S. Senate. And that last point is true even while women, in a very real bipartisan way, have often been the lone spark in an otherwise stalled upper house. Go ahead. Complain about identity politics. Say it doesn't matter. Go ahead, ignore centuries of strict limits on power and outright sex-based oppression. A century ago, many women were still property, commodities to be bought and sold for the economic and political gain of men. The rise of female political power in the U.S. is a relatively recent phenomenon. Like with race, socially ingrained prejudices don't simply vanish in a generation or two. In context, the rise of women Republican women in Iowa is of national significance. Branstad, Reynolds expect smooth transition of power DES MOINES Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds said Monday they expect a smooth Reynolds has two years to prove herself as she finishes out Branstad's term. She faces very real issues. Problems such as water-quality lawsuits, disparate education funding and balancing the needs of cash-starved agencies with tax-averse lawmakers will be there on Day One. Thus far, Reynolds has proved herself a capable No. 2. Next year, she'll be charged with setting her own agenda. Her gender won't matter one way or another when most people judge her political chops. But, for now, it's only right to recognize the significance of the moment. In just a couple years, women have risen from the back benches to some of the state's most prominent positions. And that alone is a victory in itself. -- By the Quad-City Times, another Lee Enterprises newspaper. A bitter rift between Apple and Nokia has escalated into a legal battle, with the iPhones maker claiming that consumers could be ripped off as a result of the spat. In a revival of the smartphone patent wars, Nokia filed lawsuits against Apple in Germany and the US accusing it of violating a string of patents, including those relating to technology for video and displays. The Finnish firm said the two agreed licences in 2011, but claims that Apple has since declined subsequent offers to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apples products. The claim came a day after Apple launched its own legal action alleging patent-holding companies colluded with Nokia to unfairly extract revenues. An Apple spokesman told Reuters Nokia was using the tactics of a patent troll in applying a royalty rate to Apples own inventions they had nothing to do with. The three companies had a plan to extract and extort exorbitant revenues unfairly and anti-competitively from Apple and other innovative suppliers of cellphones, and ultimately from the consumers of those products, the legal complaint added. C hristmas came early for top bosses at easyJet today as they were granted share options worth almost 6 million under the groups long-term incentive plan. The nil-cost awards for nine senior managers including chief executive Carolyn McCall will vest after three years. McCall is the biggest potential winner with 169,127 share options worth around 1.7 million at todays share price. The awards come at the end of a turbulent year for the airline, which has seen its shares slump more than 40% as terror attacks hit trading. The vote to leave the EU on June 23 also hammered the share price. McCall who was linked with the Marks & Spencer top job earlier this year earned 1.5 million in the year to September as the airlines profits suffered. This was down from the 6.2 million she earned the previous year after picking up almost 4.6 million in shares from an earlier incentive scheme. Shares eased 4p today to 1024p. ORO VALLEY, Ariz., Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tautachrome, Inc. (OTCQB:TTCM) today announced that it has been informed by its patent attorney, Benjamin Urcia of the patent firm Bacon & Thomas in Alexandria, Virginia, that all of the currently pending authentication claims in its authentication patent (Application # 61-691,096) have been allowed by the US Patent Office. This is extremely good news for the Company and its investors, said Tautachrome CEO, Dr. Jon N Leonard. The KlickZie authentication technology has been in the Patent Office since August 20, 2013. Our patent attorney, Mr. Urcia, met with the patent examiner yesterday to discuss claims allowance, which resulted in this achievement. I am not surprised that it has taken a long time to emerge with an allowance because authentication technology is complex and is opening a brand-new area of thinking about the meaning of authentication. I want to congratulate the other inventors on this patent for their original work and for their patient waiting: Matthew W. Staker, Robert P. Gille, Joel C. Sercel and Jeffery S. Davis. Mr. Urcia was notified by Mr. Abu Sholeman, US Patent Office Primary Examiner, that notice of allowance from the Patent Office is expected before Christmas. Mr. Urcia informed the Company that publication and issuance of the patent will likely occur in the 3 to 6-week time frame after notice of allowance. To expedite allowance of the authentication claims, other claims relating to image capture in the smartphone have been cancelled from the present application to be put into one or more continuation or divisional applications which will have the same effective original filing date as the present patent and will be worked out between the Company and the Patent office over future months. In addition, we plan to include in the continuation or divisional applications new claims covering further inventive features and aspects of the authentication method and system. Regarding these other claims, Dr. Leonard stated Our main aim is the present authentication patent. Other claims and new are valid and will be pursued diligently by the Company, but we have everything we need to begin a constant and aggressive campaign to introduce the Company and our KlickZie technology to potential investors and to vital leaders in corporate America, and to continue presenting refined business models for corporations in the deployment of KlickZie into their organizations. Mr. Eric McRae, Tautachromes Business Operations Manager added This patent is the other Christmas gift under the tree for our investors. Happy Holidays to you all! About Tautachrome, Inc. Tautachrome, Inc. (OTCQB:TTCM) is an emerging growth company in the developing digital imagery technology sector. Tautachrome is an Internet technology development company with operations in America and Australia. Tautachrome has revolutionary patents pending, including Talk-to-the-Picture social networking and trustable imagery-based interaction. Forward-Looking Statements: Statements made in this press release are forward-looking and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, general business conditions, managing growth, and political and other business risks. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this paragraph and the risks and other factors detailed in Tautachrome's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Tautachrome undertakes no duty to update these forward-looking statements. C arsten Kengeter, head of the London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Borse tie-up, today dismissed German fears that Frankfurt will lose out if the holding company of the merged group is based in London. Policymakers in Hesse, which regulates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, want the holding company in Germany rather than in a non-EU state like the UK. Kengeter told the FT that the Frankfurt Stock Exchange can be fully influenced by what the local regulator wants. But Hesse MP Ulrich Caspar told the Standard: We still have considerable concerns. As Deutsche Borse is the larger partner, we think the seat of the holding company and of the executive board should be in Frankfurt. "If London would be the seat, we cannot expect a positive development for Deutsche Borse in Frankfurt. We havent heard of any concessions on the part of Deutsche Borse. I nchcapes chief executive today made his first acquisition since joining the car dealer, driving the business further into South America with a 234 million deal. The firm, which sells brands including Audi and BMW, has agreed to buy a distribution company focused on Subaru cars and Hino commercial vehicles from Empresas Indumotora. Boss Stefan Bomhard, who has been with Inchcape since April 2015, told the Standard: It is our biggest acquisition in 10 years. He added it was a compelling strategic and financial opportunity. The firm noted an expanding middle class with greater purchasing power in parts of Latin America. The deal significantly boosts its presence in South America, adding Colombia and Argentina to its markets, and increasing its presence in Chile and Peru. It also means Inchcape becomes the leading South American distribution partner for Subaru, the carmaking arm of Japans Fuji Heavy Industries. It adds to the firms work with Subaru in Australia and New Zealand. Inchcape was among the biggest risers on the FTSE 250 following the update, with shares up more than 5%, or 32.5p, to 674.5p. G erry Hughes, the chief executive of GVA, discusses how he came to run the property giant. What do you do? I have been chief executive of GVA a UK real estate advisory business employing 1500 people since February. My typical day normally starts at 7am with a lot of meetings in London with senior management or clients. I love to deal directly with clients, and work increasingly takes me to other European cities as we look to build up our international business from our headquarters in the City. GVA has 12 offices around the UK, so I also try to make sure I put time aside to visit these. In London, we are advising on development projects with a value of over 150 billion, which will include the delivery of more than 150,000 new homes over the next 10 years, including in Tottenham and Wandsworth. What do you find most challenging? I really enjoy the role but obviously there are challenges. We are increasingly working on partnerships between the private sector and local government. It can be tough getting agreement between local authorities and investors on the right approach to new development. They can have totally different outlooks and perspectives. But you have to make them see that they have to collaborate because it is essential to the creation of great places. What was your biggest break? My good fortune in being able to assist the delivery of some of the biggest development projects in the country stems from making the move from Belfast to Manchester at the time the city was on the cusp of a renaissance. I was presented with the opportunity not only to prepare plans for key parts of Manchester, but also to get on with enabling their delivery. An example of this was the rebuilding of the city centre after the 1996 IRA bomb, but there was also the renaissance of East Manchester around the Etihad stadium, following a successful Commonwealth Games, which we helped bid for. I am fortunate to have been able to bring the skills honed in Manchester to our large-scale regeneration projects across London. And setback? I moved to London as the 2008 financial crisis hit. I was with GVA and had just been promoted to head up our urban planning, development and regeneration division. Suddenly I had to rethink all the business plans I had made and they went out the window almost overnight. In a new city, with few real business relationships, I found that work I assumed we would win was suddenly a lot harder to secure. I had to make sure I showed my face at every event and build as wide a network as possible right across the capital. How do you manage your work-life balance? Juggling family life with work is always tough, as you have responsibilities for both. I am fortunate to have three beautiful daughters who keep me grounded. I really do love my work, but I also make the time to enjoy all that London has to offer. I particularly love being by the river especially the South Bank, but can also be found in The Boogaloo near home in Highgate, watching live music with a pint in hand. I am just entering an exhilarating new phase of my life with a new partner and am really looking forward to that journey. What are your tips for success? Focus and give 100%, and when opportunity beckons, grab it with both hands. Also be yourself so that you are authentic. Clients always value and appreciate open, honest and clear advice. T he Prime Ministers appeal today to Londoners to not be cowed by terrorists in the wake of the Berlin tragedy and to continue enjoying all the joys of the Christmas period is in keeping with the long-established British quality of resilience which in the past has helped this city shake off the impact of home-grown terror attacks. As Mrs May says, it is important that the public sends a very clear message to those who would seek to undermine our values with acts of barbarity that we will carry on as normal, as Londons residents did so impressively after the 7/7 bombings in 2005 and the IRA attacks before them. As was the case on those occasions, any other response now would hand victory to the terrorists. Mrs May is right to make this point. The Prime Minister, speaking exclusively to the Evening Standard, is also correct to pay tribute to the very good work of the police and our intelligence agencies. Revelations from Berlin about the apparently missed opportunities for the German security services to stop Anis Amri, the suspected Christmas market attacker, show that misjudgments can be made. Britains security agencies are not foolproof either, and operate within laws which can limit their ability to tackle those known to be a danger. But they have, nonetheless, a fine record, and have prevented many attacks, including 12 significant plots since June 2013. Recent figures showing the conviction of 61 people for terrorism offences in the past year and nearly 600 since September 2001 provide further evidence of their vital work. Risk cannot, of course, be eliminated. But crowded London streets, restaurants, theatres and bars, and a happy festive atmosphere, will be the best riposte possible to the terrorists. A bad law that must go The Government is consulting on whether to implement a controversial element of the 2013 Crime and Courts Act which would punish any media outlet that is not a member of a recognised regulator. Section 40 of the Act would have the effect of forcing any publisher that doesnt agree to sign up to pay the costs of any legal action brought against it, no matter who wins when the case comes to court. It would give anyone who objects to something written about them carte blanche to sue a newspaper, even if their case has no merit. This is nothing short of an attack on media freedom. Currently, there is only one regulator which has been recognised by the state-backed Press Recognition Panel, itself established by an archaic royal charter. This regulator is funded by charities set up by Max Mosley, a long-term critic of tabloid newspapers. No major publishers have signed up and it has barely any members. Most national and regional newspapers have joined the Independent Press Standards Organisation, chaired by former Lord Justice of Appeal Alan Moses, who sets out his views on this page. Some titles, including this newspaper, The Guardian and the Financial Times, operate their own, effective complaints-handling systems. If Section 40 is implemented, it is not too dramatic to say that it could destroy media freedom in this country and force publishers out of business. It is an iniquitous provision worthy of the worlds most autocratic regimes. This is not special pleading but about protecting the basics of our democracy. Section 40 must be repealed. Southern strike appeal Southern rails management is writing to train drivers to explain the details of the deal rejected by union bosses. Its recipients should take note: a resolution to the long-running Southern dispute would be a present for everyone. F or a festival that panicking morality crusaders believe were all too terrified to mention, Christmas sure seems to attract a lot of discussion. And shop frontage. And advertising coverage. And newspaper columns. Like our waistlines, it expands each year the belt on the calendar loosening a notch to allow a few more days to fall in the already bloated yuletide period. After the misery-fest that was 2016 we could probably do with more of it. And for those of us lucky enough to have loving relatives, it seems a sop in a year to forget that we can spend its final few days in the warm familial bosom. Something odd happens to many of us when we return home, though. As we walk through the parental door we regress to our adolescent selves, like Benjamin Button on speed. We may now be adults who can do our tax returns and sometimes even manage to take the rubbish out on the right day, but while were within those walls, were infected with an infantilising virus. Back in the nest, you squark. Peace and goodwill to your fellow siblings is forgotten when faced with an Everest-esque pile of washing up. In-laws interlopers in a well-established family unit can stoke tensions too, while inequitable present piles may reflect long-held beliefs about parental favourites. Last year, a friend of mine had a full-blown toddler tantrum. He is 30. You can see why it happens. Its part of a general loss of restraint that Christmas promises; after all, the tradition is to eat so much you end up lying on the floor resembling a flatulent hippo. And as the journalist Rhodri Marsden documents every year, youre under the Power Rangers duvet of childhood; if youre sleeping in 1994 no wonder you act like youre back then too. Youre also probably mardy after a night of sleep repeatedly broken by a deflating air bed. So we perform a role we rehearsed for almost two decades in that family unit. For some, it perhaps isnt regression so much as a reversion to type. Eldest siblings go back to showing their executive leadership skills (and being branded bossy by their younger siblings). As the third child (not the heir, nor even the spare), I am at the bottom of the pecking order. In the lunch-making, I am demoted to topping and tailing the mangetout not even trusted with the sprouts. A very vintage Christmas 1931-1961 (Part II) - In pictures 1 /66 A very vintage Christmas 1931-1961 (Part II) - In pictures 1936 A young Christmas shopper leaving a department store with her presents, helped by a commissionaire Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1931 Geese set off on their last ride near Cheltenham. But it's anything but a 'joy ride' for them - they are off to market and their final destination is the Christmas dinner table Fox Photos/Getty Images 1932 A boy and a dog at a Christmas party, both covered in streamers and wearing party hats Fox Photos/Getty Images 1932 A Christmas hamper being opened by enthusiastic orphan boys from the Foundling Hospital at Redhill in Surrey Fox Photos/Getty Images 1932 A group of uniformed girls at the Foundling Hospital at Redhill, Surrey with holly they have collected from the grounds for Christmas Fox Photos/Getty Images 1932 Santa Claus rides a motorbike Fox Photos/Getty Images 1932 A chef stirring Christmas pudding mix in the kitchens at King's Cross station Getty Images 1933 A worker at the Chad Valley Company at Harborne in Birmingham, who works 12 hours a day in order to get the Christmas orders out Getty Images 1933 A little boy tries to post his letter to Father Christmas but he is too small to reach the slot Getty Images 1933 Santa Claus distributes gifts to homeless children at Leytonstone, London Getty Images circa 1933 Bill the goose, who was bought for Christmas dinner but was so friendly that he became a household pet, joins in a children's tea party Getty Images 1934 Children from the Homeless Children's Aid Society, seen here rehearsing for their Christmas party Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1934 Santa Claus handing out toys to children on the barges of Brentford, Essex David Savill/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1934 A young child sitting under a table eating Christmas pudding at Dr Barnardo's Girls Village Home, Essex Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1934 A baby boy surrounded by toys in his cot Fox Photos/Getty Images 1934 A girl carrying Christmas stockings to the packing room of a factory in Stepney, London, which is busy filling thousands of stockings for the Christmas market William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1935 A young mother from Bristol has solved the problem of transporting her children and carrying the shopping home at Christmas time by using a wheelbarrow for both Fox Photos/Getty Images 1935 Three tiger cubs in a cage at Whipsnade Zoo view a Christmas cracker with great suspicion Fox Photos/Getty Images 1935 A group of people having a Christmas party on the LMS train Fox Photos/Getty Images circa 1935 Two young boys peer up the chimney where they have hung a stocking on Christmas Eve L.C. Buckley/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1935 Boys at a Dr Barnardo's Home eagerly reaching for a Christmas pudding Fox Photos/Getty Images 1935 A train driver handing a Christmas tree, one of the many items left on the train, to a guard at Waterloo station Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1935 Exhibits at the Annual Chocolate & Confectionery Exhibition at Olympia, London Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1936 Policemen decorating a Christmas tree for a New Year's party in their station at Mill Street, Manchester, for local children from deprived backgrounds Fox Photos/Getty Images 1936 A market trader sells toys in the Christmas rush at the Caledonian Market George W. Hales/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1936 A bond cooper checks the casks of wine being stored by the Port of London Authority in the great vaults at London Docks. Around 1,180,000 gallons of wine are already being kept in the vaults, to cater for the double celebration of Christmas and the upcoming coronation year Norman Smith/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1936 Soldiers of the Royal Artillery tasting the Christmas pudding mixture at the cook-house in Woolwich, London E. Dean/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1936 Santa Claus delivers Christmas presents to Eton College students Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1936 Chef Morsien Huber puts the final touches to his 1200lb Christmas cake, which he has modelled on the Tower of London. It will be cut by 'Father Christmas' and sold Fox Photos/Getty Images 1936 An old man enjoying his Christmas meal at the annual Christmas Party organised by the Christain Herald held at the Central Hall Westminster Keystone/Getty Images 1936 Two women passing a country farm near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, admire the turkeys offered for sale to them on the spot Fox Photos/Getty Images 1936 Father Christmas getting a kiss under the mistletoe from swimmers at the Kenwood Ponds on Hampstead Heath, London E. Dean/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1936 Children play with the musical instruments they received from Santa for Christmas Fox Photos/Getty Images 1937 Workmen demolishing the Pantheon in Oxford Street, London, warm up a Christmas pudding Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images circa 1937 Twelve babies, all born on Christmas Day, at Queen Charlotte's hospital, London Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1938 Window shopping at Christmas London Express/Getty Images 1938 A man dressed as Santa Claus perched on top of a Selfridges car travelling through Central London Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1938 Father Christmas hands out presents to children at the Aid and Adoption Society home at Leytonstone Gerry Cranham/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1939 An ATS girl kisses a soldier under some mistletoe held aloft by her friend, while their depot is preparing for Christmas Day Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1940 A couple wearing gas mask kiss under the mistletoe Fox Photos/Getty Images 1940 Father Christmas handing out presents to evacuees from Peckham Fox Photos/Getty Images 1946 An early arrival at Spitalfields Market, London, puts a youthful shoulder to the task of carrying a Christmas tree home Monty Fresco/Getty Images 1949 A London bus driver leans out of his cab to shake hands with Father Christmas who is passing by on his scooter Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1951 The two oldest members of the Laindon Darby and Joan Club pull a cracker during the club's Christmas party at the Memorial Hall, Laindon, Essex Fox Photos/Getty Images 1955 The young child is the last of her family to hang a stocking above the family fireplace Three Lions/Getty Images 1957 Three-year-old Peter Murphy holding a huge balloon is fascinated by the colourful decorations as he walks down Regent Street during a Christmas shopping expedition in London Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images 1957 Two young boys admire a large cracker which is part of the Christmas display at Whiteley's department store in London Fox Photos/Getty Images 1958 A Santa Claus and 'Uncle Holly' holding up the number of the first 1000-pound winner in the Premium Bond prize draw, at Selfridges department store in Oxford Street, London, 1st December 1958 Edward Miller/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1959 Guests at a Christmas party at Holland Park Comprehensive School, London, organised for children from diverse ethnic backgrounds Douglas Miller/Getty Images 1960 A young boy tucks into his meal at a Christmas party held for orphans and children of broken marriages Keystone/Getty Images When does this change? It must be when were the ones in charge, cooking the turkey and enduring our childrens complaints when lunch doesnt arrive until 4pm. My family remains a long way from that; as my mother pointed out at the weekend, her three offspring have given her only one grandchild, and its of the canine variety. I say we should appreciate this while it lasts. We get a mini-break from responsibility. That sounds like a very merry Christmas to me. Vaneza creates her own merit in 3% The Brazilian series 3%, on Netflix, is set in a dystopia where an elite minority are selected to live in privilege and Uniqlo basics on the Offshore while everyone else languishes in poverty and boho chic on the Inland. Its like a less bloody Hunger Games, with the winners gaining access to the ultimate private members club Soho House squared with the overdose of entitlement which that instils. The candidates, all aged 20, are tested cube-building; corridor-escaping; crime-scene-solving. The result is a warped meritocracy built in brutal fashion. At one point, locked in a dormitory, a group turn swiftly on their rivals, like the South Park episode where residents resort to cannibalism within minutes of being trapped in a building. The series offers a compelling psychological study, even if its never explained why the Inlanders dont just build a boat and storm the Offshore. Perhaps the series greatest asset is Joana, played perfectly by Vaneza Oliveira. Shes one of the most intriguing characters on TV this year. Lets have more like her in 2017. Midnight mass is still so magical On Saturday my family and I will head to midnight Mass. This is no doubt a symptom of ageing but it has become my favourite part of Christmas. The church Farm Street, or the Church of the Immaculate Conception has a wonderful choir but its more that the service is a time of calm before the next days chaos, even if Pope Francis has padded out the pews. It never quite passes without incident. One year a lovely Irish woman tripped on the stone floor, flew through the air with a Jesus, Mary and Joseph! and landed in my mothers lap. Afterwards, we drive home through Londons deserted streets, over empty bridges and around desolate junctions. One year, snow began to fall. Our city seems to gleam. Mrs May finds her inner child Theresa Mays style of leadership is starting to seem like government by the infantile. First there was trousergate, where a toddler sorry, our Prime Minister was offended that someone criticised her clothes. Now the accountancy firm Deloitte has felt forced to impose a moratorium on bidding for government contracts after a leaked memo about Brexit. Its like when a girl is forced to grovel because the school queen bee has taken against her and shes getting blanked by all the minions. After the debacle of Brexit, Mays selling point was that she looked like the lone adult among the reckless children. That doesnt ring true any more. T here are some things we take for granted. We choose what we read for our daily and evening news, and how we read it, but we, the readers of the London Evening Standard, can be confident that what we read is what the editor and her journalists have chosen freely to write and publish. They exercise their right to express themselves free from the control of government or the executive and we the readers exercise our freedom to receive that information. But dont ever take that right for granted, and particularly not now when it is under threat. That threat comes from Parliaments proposal to bring into force a statutory provision (section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013) which will punish every newspaper which refuses to do Parliaments bidding. Bear with me before you turn to some high jinks in The Londoners Diary, for fear that in the future you will not be able to read of any jinks, high or low. Following the Leveson Inquiry into the criminal activities of some of the press, most but not all newspapers chose to join in a system of legally binding regulation by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso). It provides correction and redress for breaches of the standards of conduct the press set themselves in the Editors Code. Note the importance of choice. This system is not imposed by Parliament or the Government. It is voluntary. Newspapers are free not to join up to now the Evening Standard has chosen not to. I, as chairman of Ipso, wish it would, but it is up to the Standard. There are some in Parliament and elsewhere who do not respect that choice. They want to force all the press to join a system of regulation recognised by a state-sponsored panel. To be recognised the regulator insists that each of the newspapers it regulates agrees to arbitrate all legal disputes, paying all the costs, its own and those of its opponent. And the penalty if the newspaper refuses to join this system? It must pay the costs of anyone who brings a case against it in court, even if it wins. Just think of the risk to each and every newspaper which refuses to be cowed. However bogus their case, the claimant has a free ride. To avoid the risk of a claim, a newspaper could not publish anything to which anyone could possibly object. If it dares to be controversial or, heaven forfend, investigate or expose wrongdoing, it runs the risk of crippling costs even if it wins. It will incur the fatal expense of defending even the most outrageous of claims in court or in arbitration fatal in the case of most local and some national newspapers which could not survive this Parliamentary incitement to spurious legal claims. There are those who would cheer to see the disappearance of some newspapers, whose views they discard. But we need an untamed, rumbustious press. We do not want to read pap. Newspapers exercise their freedom of thought and expression because it is our freedom. We must look after it now that it is under threat: if we do not oppose Parliaments intervention into a voluntary system of regulation it is we, the readers, who will suffer. Alan Moses is a former Lord Justice of Appeal, a Court of Appeal judge and chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The Government is consulting on Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 and Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry. The consultation closes at 5pm on January 10, 2017 You can either respond online; Email presspolicy@culture.gov.uk; or T he disruption on Southern has turned in to a three-way impasse between the train companys management, the unions and the Government which, by adding its weight, is causing further angst. If you look at the situation from a purely human aspect, the public feel overwhelmingly reassured if they see a member of staff on board. That way, if an incident occurs or the public have a train-related question, they can ask for help. A train driver, on the other hand, is powerless to control a situation until his train pulls into a station, by which time events may have escalated out of control. Taking railway guards off trains or police officers from our streets may be a cost-cutting exercise but it seems we are inexorably heading towards isolating people through a lack of human contact. Rather than the internal bickering that always presides over strikes of this nature, lets look at what is psychologically good for customers and bring back the feel-good factor of travelling. Overcrowding on trains will always be a problem and with an ever-burgeoning population, having a guard on board will be even more important. Graham Michinton The solution to the rail crisis is to integrate driverless trains on the Southern network. The technology is proven to work here in the UK as well as many other countries. It is also much safer; 75 per cent of train accidents on the UK network over the past 20 years are directly attributable to driver error or human track-maintenance errors. The Hong Kong Mass Transit system, transporting more commuter passengers per hour than Southern, is effectively automatic. Drivers simply have an override facility in case of emergency and its safety record is superior to the Underground. For those commuters who prefer manned trains, Southern could run these alternately to driverless and guardless trains at a 50 per cent uplift in price to give people the choice. In my 15 years of using the DLR, I have never seen anyone express any concerns or apprehension. For enhanced safety, reliability and lower expenditure, driverless trains are long overdue. J Fairrie Passenger safety has been cited by the unions as a reason for striking on Southern but this has been disputed by the Government and others. In this day and age isnt it reasonable for passengers to benefit from another staff member on board in exchange for exorbitant fares? Heaven forbid that a dreadful incident happens which causes greater harm to passengers because the driver is the only staff member on board. It is a big responsibility and perhaps even more so now that the unions have raised the issue. Jonathan Walker Knock-on effect of pedestrianisation Oxford Street is currently a death trap, and it is a scandal that people are regularly killed in the street two in the autumn alone with dozens seriously injured. Pedestrianisation is the only answer. The displacement that will occur will be minimal and experience tells us that it is never as bad as some imagine. Instead of protesting against the plan as a whole, residents would be better off campaigning against its possible knock-on effects. Why planners have not thought about the rat-run impact on Marylebone, Mayfair, Soho and Fitzrovia is a mystery. The issue of our congested streets has to be dealt with. Peter Hartley, chair, Westminster Living Streets By 2020, all buses will be Euro VI standard, central London will be an Ultra Low Emission Zone and in the congestion zone there will be a premium charge for diesel vehicles. Pedestrians must take priority on premium shopping streets the millions who use Oxford Street will be relatively free of pollution and with landscaping it will be a much more attractive destination. David Llewellyn Gardner Rochdale doesnt deserve ridiculeI noticed that your City Spy section couldnt resist using Channel 4s expose of working conditions at J D Sports Rochdale warehouse to criticise Rochdale [JD sees downside to cutting its costs, December 15]. The article says Rochdale is the second-biggest crime hotspot in Greater Manchester, which itself is the third-biggest shoplifting area in the UK. But it failed to point out that crime rates in Rochdale and Greater Manchester are lower than in London. In fact, one of the countrys biggest shoplifting hotspots is Westminster. I doubt, however, that the Evening Standard will ask Why put a business there? any time soon. Perhaps before your journalists ridicule places they deem to be below their standing they should look a little closer to home? Richard Farnell, leader of Rochdale Borough Council Banks wriggling out of PPI payments It will surprise no one that banks are trying to put a stop to PPI compensation payments. They have been pushing for new rules designed to let them keep billions of pounds they took from consumers during the mis-selling scandal. The Payback Time campaign estimates that at least 23 billion in PPI premiums is still to be repaid to consumers. Plans are afoot for a completely unnecessary deadline that will see consumers forced to put in claims by June 2019, or risk never seeing their money again. But why should the banks keep a single penny of the PPI they mis-sold to so many people? Simon Evans, chief executive, Alliance of Claims Companies Courts will lose out after hard Brexit A new report makes clear that 370,000 jobs, many of which are in London, depend on our courts remaining a centre for global businesses seeking to resolve international disputes. But the courts wont remain such a money-earner for London if the Government hauls up the drawbridge and withdraws from the EU. Almost daily we hear how a fresh sector of the economy is threatened by the hard Brexit agenda being pursued by Theresa May. Baroness Kramer, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Franca Sozzani, the Editor-in-Chief of Italian Vogue, has died at the age of 66. The Italian and journalist and writer was Editor-in-Chief of the Italian fashion bible for nearly 30 years after taking on the role in 1988. After battling a long illness, the esteemed editor died in Milan on Thursday, Conde Nast has confirmed. Chairman and chief executive, Jonathan Newhouse announced the news in a post on the magazines website. Esteemed editor: Franca Sozzani pictured in October / Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images She was by far the most talented, influential and important person within the Conde Nast International organisation, it read. She made Italian Vogue a powerful and influential voice in the worlds of fashion and photography by publishing ground-breaking photography and journalism. In doing so she expanded Vogue beyond what had been the traditional model of a fashion magazine and often courted controversy by doing so. The greatest fashion photographers looked to Franca as the creative leader who would give them the freedom and the scope to produce their best work and they did so, month after month." Anna Wintour, Editor of US Vogue, has paid tribute to Sozzani, describing her as "warm, clever, funny, and someone who could give the Sphinx a run for its money when it comes to keeping a confidence. Trend-setters: Franca Sozzani with Anna Wintour / Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images Designer Marc Jacobs wrote on Twitter: RIP #FrancaSozzani. Her incredible contribution to fashion will be missed. Sozzani was born in Mantua in 1950 and began her career in journalism at Vogue Bambini in 1976 before moving on to LEI and PER LUI before taking the reins at Vogue Italia. She was also a founding member of charity CHILD PRIORTIY and served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations. A documentary about her life, Franca: Chaos and Creation, directed by her son Francesco Carrozzini, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September. With two Golden Globes, one BAFTA and an Oscar under her belt, you could be forgiven for thinking Jennifer Lawrence is solely focussed on her career as an actress. But despite being the highest-paid actress in the world, the 26-year-old star of new sci-fi fantasy film Passengers is also a key voice for feminism, has founded her own charitable foundation and shows a keen interest in the world of fashion. A prominent spokesmodel for French fashion house Dior since 2012, the actress has shown her loyalty to the brand through her outfits on a number of red carpets worldwide. Speaking in an interview with Dior about her affiliation with the brand, Lawrence said: "One of my Favourite Dior dresses was the dress that I wore in Cannes, but I do obviously have very special memories of the dress I wore to the Oscars [picture 22], some fun, some not." Referring to her famous fall up the stairs at the Oscars in 2013 as she made her way to the stage to accept her Best Actress award, Lawrence joked: "They need to make it more accessible for stairs, in my opinion." "It feels nice when you're dressed in something beautiful, and you feel beautiful and when you're wearing an outfit that you're really proud of or a dress that you feel really good in, it can be really fun and therefore make you happier." "Selecting my dress for the Oscars, we were just going through a lot of different designs and pictures and looking online, and then I saw a picture of it from the runway and it was just the most beautiful dress I think I had ever seen." "One of the first things I did, I went to the atelier when they were hand-stitching everything and there were no machines in the entire room and just all of these incredibly talented people... It was really unbelievable to see." "Now I get the Haute Couture thing, it's a big deal." For style files on other celebrities and fashion icons, visit standard/stylefile Follow Lifestyle on Facebook and on Twitter @ESLifeandStyle Monaco - December 22, 2016 - GasLog Ltd. ("GasLog", NYSE: GLOG), an international owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas ("LNG") carriers, today announces that a wholly owned subsidiary of GasLog has entered into a sale and purchase agreement ("SPA") to acquire a twenty percent (20%) shareholding in Gastrade S.A. ("Gastrade"). Gastrade is licensed to develop an independent natural gas system offshore Alexandroupolis in Northern Greece utilizing a floating storage and regasification unit ("FSRU") along with other fixed infrastructure. Gastrade is a private limited company, incorporated in Greece and wholly owned by Asimina-Eleni Copelouzou. Gastrade has been involved in the development of this FSRU project over a number of years. Closing of the SPA acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions set out in the transaction documents. GasLog, as well as being a shareholder, will provide operations and maintenance ("O&M") services for the FSRU through an O&M agreement. Gastrade is currently in discussions with a number of additional potential investors, including DEPA, the Greek state owned gas company, Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), the holding company of the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy and major gas suppliers. Other large scale international companies have expressed an intention to participate in the ownership and development of the terminal. A number of companies have also expressed interest in supplying LNG to the project. This FSRU project would provide a new route and a vital source of gas diversification to a number of European countries that are currently highly dependent on pipeline gas in South East and Central Europe. As well as enhancing security of supply in the region, it will promote competition and pricing flexibility. The project has the backing of the Greek and the Bulgarian Governments as well as the support of the EU. It has been assigned the status of an EU Project of Common Interest ("PCI"), that is further designated as a priority EU energy infrastructure project. The front-end engineering and design ("FEED") study is expected to be part-funded by an EU grant, and is scheduled to commence in early 2017. Gastrade targets to take final investment decision ("FID") by the end of 2017 with the FSRU scheduled to be operational by end of 2019. Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer of GasLog Ltd., commented, "I am delighted that GasLog has been invited to join Gastrade. This is a strategically important energy import project for the region. The FSRU will be used as a gateway for LNG imports into Southern Europe, where there is a growing demand and a need to diversify existing gas supply. This announcement, alongside GasLog's ordering of long-lead items, demonstrates the ongoing development of the company's FSRU strategy." Konstantinos Spyropoulos, Chairman and Managing Director of Gastrade also added, "We are very pleased to have GasLog involved in the project. Their long, successful track record in the maritime and in particular in the LNG sector, coupled with their leading innovation initiatives, make them an excellent partner to take the project forward. We look forward to working with GasLog to bring this project to commercial operation." About GasLog Ltd. GasLog is an international owner, operator and manager of LNG carriers. GasLog's fully-owned fleet includes 18 LNG carriers (including 13 ships in operation and 5 LNG carriers on order) and GasLog has four LNG carriers operating under its technical management for third parties. GasLog Partners LP, a master limited partnership formed by GasLog, owns a further nine LNG carriers. GasLog's principal executive offices are at Gildo Pastor Center, 7 Rue du Gabian, MC 98000, Monaco. GasLog's website is http://www.gaslogltd.com. Contacts: Jamie Buckland - Head of Investor Relations Phone: +44 203 388 3116 Email: ir@gaslogltd.com Forward Looking Statements All statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, particularly in relation to our operations, cash flows, financial position, liquidity and cash available for dividends or distributions, plans, strategies, business prospects and changes and trends in our business and the markets in which we operate. We caution that these forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release, about factors that are beyond our ability to control or predict, and are not intended to give any assurance as to future results. Any of these factors or a combination of these factors could materially affect future results of operations and the ultimate accuracy of the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not unduly rely on any forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause future results and outcomes to differ include, but are not limited to the following: general LNG shipping market conditions and trends, including spot and long-term charter rates, ship values, factors affecting supply and demand of LNG and LNG shipping and technological advancements; continued low prices for crude oil and petroleum products; our ability to enter into time charters with new and existing customers; changes in the ownership of our charterers; our customers' performance of their obligations under our time charters; our future operating performance, financial condition, liquidity and cash available for dividends and distributions; our ability to obtain financing to fund capital expenditures, acquisitions and other corporate activities, funding by banks of their financial commitments, and our ability to meet our restrictive covenants and other obligations under our credit facilities; future, pending or recent acquisitions of or orders for ships or other assets, business strategy, areas of possible expansion and expected capital spending or operating expenses; the time that it may take to construct and deliver newbuildings and the useful lives of our ships; number of off-hire days, drydocking requirements and insurance costs; fluctuations in currencies and interest rates; our ability to maintain long-term relationships with major energy companies; our ability to maximize the use of our ships, including the re-employment or disposal of ships not under time charter commitments; environmental and regulatory conditions, including changes in laws and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities; the expected cost of, and our ability to comply with, governmental regulations and maritime self-regulatory organization standards, requirements imposed by classification societies and standards imposed by our charterers applicable to our business; risks inherent in ship operation, including the discharge of pollutants; availability of skilled labor, ship crews and management; potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents, political events, piracy or acts by terrorists; potential liability from future litigation; any malfunction or disruption of information technology systems and networks that our operations rely on or any impact of a possible cybersecurity breach; and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 14, 2016 and available at http://www.sec.gov. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events, a change in our views or expectations or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of these factors. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each such factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement. The declaration and payment of dividends are at all times subject to the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, amongst other things, risks and uncertainties described above, restrictions in our credit facilities, the provisions of Bermuda law and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. In 2016 the Duchess of Cambridge has travelled far and wide while creating some iconic fashion moments from Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace, to India and Canada. Styled by 29-year-old Natasha Archer, the Duchess fashion highlights have included her array of coats and jackets on her Canada tour, a Catherine Walker suit on her first solo overseas trip to see Rembrandts works of art at The Hague, and fixing a bike while wearing haute couture in the Netherlands. Most recently, Kate wore a festive red and green dress on a visit with Princes William and Harry to The Mix, Centrepoints partner charity for the Evening Standards Young and Homeless Helpline appeal, to thank volunteers. The Duke and Duchess joined Prince Harry at the centre, which helps young people with issues such as relationships and drug problems, to make Christmas decorations with volunteers and back the Evening Standard's campaign to launch a Centrepoint helpline. Kate wears a festive frock for Christmas party The statement dress was the first time Kate had worn an item by French designer Vanessa Seward. Watch the video above to see Kates most fashionable moments of 2016 from visits to the Natural History Museum in Kensington to her Canadian royal tour. A 23-year-old man from east London has been charged with three terror offences. Sabbir Miah was arrested by counter terror police officers on December 6. And on Thursday morning he was charged with three counts of dissemination of terrorist publications, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2006. Miah, from Forest Gate, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on January 5 next year. A man charged with causing grievous bodily harm after a five-year-old boy died in a London park has appeared in court. Young Alex Malcolm, from Bromley, suffered head injuries while playing in Mountsfield Park in Catford on Sunday, November 20. He was rushed to hospital and taken into intensive care but died on Tuesday, November 22. A 38-year-old man, Marvin Iheanacho, from Hounslow, was charged with GBH following his death. The play area in Mountsfield Park, Catford, where the boy is believed to have suffered head injuries. Iheanacho, of Wesley Avenue, was remanded into custody and appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday. He will next appear for a pre-trial preparation hearing on Friday, March 10. A trial date has been scheduled for Monday, May 15 next year. T wo serving Metropolitan Police officers have been issued with final warnings after falling asleep on the floor at a crime scene in east London. PCs Scott Stark and Joynal Miah faced a misconduct hearing after leaving a crime scene in Tower Hamlets around 4.30am and falling asleep on a floor nearby. A misconduct hearing held yesterday found the officers behaved in a manner likely to bring discredit to the police service and/or undermine public confidence in it. They were found to have breached Scotland Yards Standards of Professional Behaviour under the categories of 'duties and responsibilities' and 'discreditable conduct'. However, as the officers showed genuine remorse and had no previous complaints against them, they were each handed a final written warning. The Met Police would not disclose the location and date of the incident. D etectives are hunting a suspected sex attacker after a young woman was allegedly assaulted when she was stranded during a night out in London. Scotland Yard said the 26-year-old victim accepted a lift from a man after he promised he would take her home. But instead he allegedly took her to an address in Palmers Green where he is said to have carried out the horrifying sex attack before dropping her off at her flat. Police said the serious sexual offence took place on July 26 last year between 10pm and 1am the following the morning. The attack was reported to police three days later. Detectives have now released an image of a man they wanted to track down and he uses the name of Masoud Jan or Sam Jan. Police added he is believed to be in his late 40s and drives a black three-door vehicle. He is described as being of Middle-Eastern decent with an average build with short black hair, black facial stubble, but no beard, and spoke with a heavy Middle-Eastern accent. Anyone with information is asked to call police on 07881261393, the non-emergency line via 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 111 555 H ealth chiefs will fund 10 people with inherited blindness to be fitted with "bionic eye" implants. The NHS has announced five patients with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited form of blindness that affects the retina, will have treatment at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital before a further five at Londons Moorfields Eye Hospital next year. Patients will be provided a pair of glasses mounted with a camera which captures light and sends wireless signals to an implant in the retina. The implant will then relay information to the brain to help them regain some sight. Professor Paulo Stanga, from Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, was involved in earlier trials of the Argus II Bionic Eye implants and said he was delighted the NHS had decided to fund the procedure for the first time. He said: "It surpassed all of our expectations when we realised that one of the retinitis pigmentosa patients in Manchester using the bionic eye could identify large letters for the first time in his adult life." The operations will funded by NHS England as part of a scheme that assesses treatments showing promise for the future. Patients will be monitored for one year to see how the implant improves their lives. John Thomas, a patient at Moorfields Eye Hospital, was the first person in Europe to have the device fitted. He said: "When I had the device fitted, I had been totally blind for ten years, and felt privileged to take part in the development of the 'bionic eye'. "As a child I suffered from night blindness. I was diagnosed with RP during my National Service in the Army at the age of 20, and throughout my adult life I experienced progressively diminishing peripheral vision, though fortunately I still had some useful vision until I was 60. "And while I've led a very fulfilling life, as a university teacher, working for the BBC and as a consultant and trainer in distance education, I took part in the trial mainly to help future generations living with RP. "This research has to start somewhere and with someone, and I hope that I may have made a difference to someone's life by playing a small part in such a pioneering project." Professor Lyndon da Cruz, consultant retinal surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital added: For patients with RP who have profound vision loss, the long-term benefits of this technology in restoring some useful vision can be life-changing. "Our work at Moorfields has shown that the Argus II can increase patients functional vision for many years after implantation which represents significant progress in the evolution of artificial sight. Keith Hayman, from Lancashire, was one of the first to have the bionic eye implant fitted during a trial at the Manchester Eye Hospital in 2009. The 68-year-old, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in his twenties, was forced to retire as a butcher in 1981 when he became blind. He said: "Having spent half my life in darkness, I can now tell when my grandchildren run towards me and make out lights twinkling on Christmas trees. "When I used to go to the pub, I would be talking to a friend, who might have walked off and I couldn't tell and kept talking to myself. "This doesn't happen any more because I can tell when they have gone. These little things make all the difference to me." Dr Jonathan Fielden, director of specialised commissioning at NHS England said: "This highly innovative NHS-funded procedure shows real promise and could change lives. "The NHS has given the world medical innovations ranging from modern cataract surgery, new vaccines and hip replacements. "Now once again the NHS is at the forefront of harnessing ground-breaking science for the benefit patients in this country." T wo Mercedes drivers and an Audi motorist have become the first to be prosecuted as part of a supercar crackdown in one of Londons wealthiest districts. The trio were all found guilty of breaching a public spaces protection order (PSPO) by creating a nuisance with their cars in Knightsbridge. The council introduced the PSPO to combat anti-social driving in the area, leaving motorists liable for fines if they raced, revved engines played loud music or sounded their horns. It came after the authority received a huge number of complaints about the high-powered cars being driven "in a reckless and aggressive manner" over the summer. Drivers Adrian Krasniqi, Omar Khalil and Allamer Abdullam were prosecuted after they failed to pay 100 fines issued by Kensington and Chelsea council. Krasniqi, of Moors View Close, Bedford and Khalil, of Abbey Road, St John's Wood were served with penalty notices for sudden and rapid acceleration while Abdullam, of Verdon Street, Sheffield was caught playing loud music. Abdullam and Khalil were found guilty in absence after they did not attend court and received fines of 440 and ordered to pay 470 costs. Krasniqi admitted the breach by post and was fined 295 with 130 costs. They became the first to be taken to court since the order was introduced. Following the verdict, Cllr Tim Ahern said: We have been trying to combat the nuisance of antisocial driving around Knightsbridge for some time and this is why we introduced the PSPO in the first place. The result here sends out a clear message that we will pursue people who break the rules. I would remind everyone coming to the area to enjoy the many shops but remember it is also a residential area. In July, the council said the scheme was a dramatic success with fewer complaints lodged over mega-rich drivers. A breach of a PSPO can lead to a fine between 100 and 1,000 for each offence. T he devastated friends of a man killed in a hit and run crash in north London held a candlelit vigil in his memory. Tributes have poured in to crash victim Andrew Lindup, 36, who was knocked down on Holtwhites Hill in Enfield last Thursday. A group of his friends gathered at the scene of the accident on Thursday night to remember the former Islington council employee, who was described as a fantastic friend with an infectious personality. Starman by David Bowie - one of Mr Lindups favourite musicians was played as his friends left tributes and lit candles. 'Life and soul of the party': Candles were lit for the former Islington Council. / Ed Fordham The group are appealing for anyone with any information about the accident, which happened at 7.20am on December 15, to contact the police. Long standing friend of IT consultant Mr Lindup, Roderick McInnes, said he was one of a kind. 'One in a million': Andy Lindup, at the front at friend Ed Fordham's wedding. / Ed Fordham He will be remembered by family and friends with great love and affection, around the world - we are all hopeful that someone can help and comes forward, said Mr McInnes. Flatmate Pravesh Mohoone said: As well as being a dedicated son and brother, Andy was a fantastic friend, the life and soul of any party. Tributes: Andrew Lindup, 36, was knocked down on Holtwhites Hill in Enfield. / Ed Fordham He lived for music and to dance and loved socialising with his friends and film." Another friend, Mr Eagling, said: He had an infectious personality, was always in the gym and amazingly healthy, a regular at Glastonbury and was a massive fan of David Bowie, Prince and Jeff Buckley. 'Infectious personality': The group played Starman by David Bowie, one of Mr Lindup's favourite musicians. / Ed Fordham Additionally, his love of Doctor Who and Batman was famous." Ed Fordham, for whom Solihull-born Mr Lindup was an usher at his wedding, said: As well as his devastated family in the Midlands, the network of Andy's friends spans the world, all stunned at his sudden death: from his work colleagues at Islington Council and friends in London and across the UK and Europe, to close friends in Sydney and Melbourne." Police are continuing to appeal for information as they continue with enquiries into the crash. Any witnesses or anyone with information concerning this incident are asked to call the witness appeal line on 020 8597 4874 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. A crowdfunding campaign in aid of a south-east London charity cafe which was ransacked by callous thieves has reached its target in just four days. The Ten Thousand Hands Cafe in Ladywell Fields, Lewisham, was set up in memory of murdered schoolboy Jimmy Mizen in 2014. Run by Jimmys brother Tommy, the cafe has been used to train young people including those with autism and provide a community facility. But on Sunday around 6,000 worth of equipment was stolen, including a coffee machine and a panini maker, after burglars forced their way. Mizen cafe robbery CCTV A crowdfunding campaign was launched by family member Sophie Davies to raise enough money to replace the items and in less than a week 6,500 has already been raised by generous supporters. Jimmy died in 2008 after teenager Jake Fahri hurled a glass dish at him in a bakery in Lee Green following a trivial row. A shard cut his throat and he bled to death. Since Fahris conviction in 2009, Jimmy's parents Margaret and Barry Mizen have been campaigning to end violence in the capital through the Jimmy Mizen Foundation. A statement posted by Ms Davies on the JustGiving site reads: We've done it!! 6,000!! Thank you so much. Campaign: Jimmy Mizen, who was murdered in 2008, remains an inspiration to his parents "Had a lovely chat with Barry earlier and he told me what the donations mean to the family and the burden we have taken away from them in terms of having to find money to replace the items. He also explained that a little more money would be needed for extra security for the cafe to ensure it hopefully doesn't happen again. That's why I'm going to keep the page running to see if we can get this extra money for cafe security." "Please continue to share Merry Christmas to every one of you, she added. The Jimmy Mizen charity, For Jimmy, also runs the successful Cafe of Good Hope in Hither Green. S adiq Khan paid tribute to London's emergency service workers in a poignantChristmas message days after the Berlin terror attack. The Mayor thanked police officers, firefighters and NHS staff likely to work over the festive period in his address. He thanked rescue workers for keeping the capital safe and well as security in London was heightened in the wake of the Berlin attack. The message was delivered via video, with festive scenes including Great Ormond Street Hospital, the National History Museum and the Mayors carol service at Southwark Cathedral. Message to London: Sadiq Khan delivered his first Christmas address as Mayor (Mayor's Office) / Mayor's Office He said: As we look back at the year that has passed, and as the New Year comes into view, lets look forward with hope and optimism. But its also important that we take the time to spare a thought for those who may have lost loved ones this year, or, for whatever reason, may be alone or homeless this Christmas. And lets give thanks to those who are working over Christmas like our police officers, firefighters, emergency service and NHS staff, who work so hard to help keep us safe and well. Not just at this time of year but all year round. This is the true spirit of Christmas - and the true spirit of London. Mr Khan added diversity and openness is Londons greatest strength as he looked forward to 2017. The former Labour MP for Tooting succeeded Boris Johnson as London Mayor in May after he defeated Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith. HOUSTON and KEMAH, Texas, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American International Industries, Inc. (OTC:AMIN) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, American International Texas Properties, Inc. announced the sale of 65 acres in Galveston County, Texas to Texas City Terminal Railroad Company. The cash consideration paid for the 65 acres was $1,650,000.00. The proceeds from the sale will be used to pay certain bank debts, and other operating expenses. American International Industries, Inc. is a diversified holding company which operates autonomously from its subsidiary companies with interests primarily in real estate. In addition to its present holdings in the energy field the company is searching for potential acquisitions and exploration of real estate properties and petroleum resources in the United States. The vision of the Company is to expand its interests in the real estate field and energy sector through the acquisition of existing assets, and apply its financial resources and management expertise to improve each of its independent subsidiarys revenues, operations and profitability. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about managements view of the Companys future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the Act). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we may anticipate in each of our segments reflected by our subsidiaries' operations include, among others:, continued value of our real estate portfolio; the strength of the real estate market in Houston, Texas as a whole; the ability to expand its interests in the energy sector; increased levels of competition; the dependence upon financing, the rules of regulatory authorities and risks associated with any potential acquisitions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the results of the Company, its divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on the Companys future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. The Company cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements after the date of this release, except as required by law, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by the Company. T HE Londoner was hunting around for presents for nieces and nephews this week when a text arrived from an old friend. Have you thought about getting one of these? The Duchess of Cambridge has just ordered one. The message came with a link to a charming set of building blocks. Called Haba Building Blocks, they are made of sustainable wood. The set, we are told, was ordered by the ethically conscious Kate from a Welsh company called Babipur, based outside Porthmadog near Snowdonia it costs 94.99 with a request to send it to Buckingham Palace. In a Brexit age, its an interesting choice of a product originating in Germany as does the royal family, of course. A Haba designer, Ines Fromelt, says in the firms mission statement that its work ist keine Zauberei, sondern kreative Arbeit, meaning not magic, but rather creative work a typically no-nonsense, Germanic creed.The Duchesss father-in-law, Prince Charles, will be thrilled with the choice of wood and, with the palace set for a multi-million-pound refurbishment, perhaps the royal children can practise building their own. The Londoner called the palace this morning to ask if the present had arrived. It is yet to comment. One presumes we arent going to spoil either Prince George or Princess Charlottes Christmas surprise as they cant read yet.Meanwhile, Babipur tried not to let us see whats in Santas stocking. I think thats accurate but were not allowed to say anything, said the person who picked up the phone. -- Brief moments can define a whole political career. At Mondays Labour Party Gala Dinner, shadow chancellor John McDonnell was introduced as a mace-wielding, red-book-throwing future Chancellor. He took it on the chin. You work in the Labour Party for most of your life, you pick up one mace and you throw one red book and youre never allowed to forget it, are you? he said. As Chairman Mao had it, politics is war without bloodshed. Will our top cats feel the festive love? Downing Street must be holding out for a Christmas truce between resident cats Palmerston and Larry after The Londoner learnt the two cats recently needed treatment after a particularly vicious fight. Palmerston, the Foreign Office cat, even lost his special Lord P collar, which had only just been donated by a generous member of the public. Political photographer Steve Back tells us theres no sign of an end to the tensions. Theyre still at each others throats they keep on meeting in the Foreign Office bicycle shed for some rough-and-tumble. Merry Christmas, and peace to all cats. Yes we Kane, even at Christmas Designer Joshua Kane launched his new store on Great Portland Street last night it was a sea of striking prints and dapper suits, with guests such as TV presenter Annaliese Dayes and models Kadian Noble and Hannah Murrell. The run-up to the launch left little time for Kane to shop. It takes it out of you, he said. Christmas is one day, spent answering the emails Ive missed over the past two months. Not a Christmas jumper could be found, though. I do enjoy a novelty item, he laughed. Maybe in next years collection. A hopeful 2017 on the political cards ITS the card that few have seen: the Corbyn Christmas card that only the favourites receive. Earlier this month The Londoner was mildly disappointed to receive festive wishes from Jeremy Corbyn with a white line drawing of a dove on a red background. It was a step down even from last years design, a bicycle standing in the snow. Considering the Labour leader shares his initials with the birthday boy we expected something a little more, well, festive. But it seems those on his A-list got something different. The Londoner bumped into MP Clive Lewis earlier this week and he showed us the card he got from his boss: Jez in a Santa hat, gazing upwardly in a distinctly Obama-esque pose, the text simply reading Hope. Theyll need it in 2017.The Liberal Democrats have taken a more Trumpian approach. Their card, a snow-topped chimney against a dark sky, reads Make Christmas Great Again, although the inside contains a more Blairite slogan: Things Can Only Get Better. But pity the woman at the top: Tory pals of The Londoner say Theresa May has been keeping Thatcher-like hours this winter. But she hasnt been swilling whisky and contemplating strategy: shes been staying up late signing various items (mostly gifted bottles) for her staff to give relatives for Christmas. At least its the festive spirit rather than Brexit thats keeping her up at night. -- IF 2016 was the dawn of a new era, spare a thought for Alan Bennett. I dont know what memes are or what skanky means, he writes in the London Review of Books. The dank world doesnt stop there. Stopped at Kings Cross yesterday by a Scotsman who I thought wanted to talk to me about Sophie. Which Sophie? I say. Not Sophie at all. He wants a selfie. Bah humbug, Alan. Creasy makes a meal of it AS YOU gather for Christmas lunch on Sunday, you may long for more illustrious company than the in-laws. So thank heavens for Stella Creasy who yesterday announced a new fundraising initiative: Come Dine With MP. Labour members can give 6, which goes towards the Walthamstow Constituency Labour Party, and get the chance to break bread with some impressive characters. Creasy has enlisted Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, former Labour bigwigs Harriet Harman and Alan Johnson, journalists Owen Jones and David Aaronovitch, and Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan. Diners wont be required to go to E17 but Picture in Marylebone. Creasy says it is a lucky dip of interesting guests. I promise not to eat the entire bread basket. -- Excuse of the day: The top reason given to HMRC for failing to file a tax return. A wasp in my car caused me to have an accident and my tax return, which was inside, was destroyed. A cabinet minister has been rebuked for not giving straight answers on when her department will release a report into controversial tribunal fees. Secretary of State for Justice Liz Truss has been told to stop prevaricating by a Commons committee. The embarrassing slap-down from the procedure committees chairman Charles Walker comes after Ms Truss was accused by Labours Dawn Butler of hiding the report. The London MP believed that it shows employment tribunal fees have hit women and ethnic minorities the hardest. Mr Walker said: I have given careful consideration to this complaint. It seems to me that the pattern of answers given, taken together, shows a tendency to prevarication in the face of direct questions about the progress of work which has been publicly announced. Ms Butler, the shadow diversity minister, told the Standard that hundreds of Londoners are struggling to access justice after the fees for discrimination, whistle-blowing and unfair dismissal cases rose to 1,200 three years ago. The Government said it would review the impact of employment tribunal charges in June last year but the report is still to be released. Over the past 12 months Ms Butler has asked Ms Truss and her predecessor Michael Gove for a publication date for the report, the length of time staff had spent on it and whether a draft had been prepared. She complained to the committee, describing the Ministry of Justice as showing a general unwillingness to give clear answers. Courts and justice minister Sir Oliver Heald had responded on Ms Trusss behalf, to say the report will be published in due course the same answer issued by the department a year ago. Mr Walker has given Ms Truss until next month to explain how she will provide further details. S pending your Christmas holidays looking at other peoples celebratory pictures on Facebook is more likely to make you feel miserable than festive, a study has claimed. Experts have warned that browsing perfect family photos of festive events will make you feel envious and discontent. And they have, in particular, warned against lurking on social media meaning scrolling through posts without interacting with anyone. The study, by experts at the University of Copenhagen, suggests staying off social media this Christmas to help you have a nicer time. Social media: Looking at photos posted can "cause feelings of envy" / Shutterstock According to the BBC, the study said: "Regular use of social networking such as Facebook can negatively affect your emotional well-being and satisfaction with life." The study saw that unrealistic social comparisons made by looking at social media posts led to a "deterioration of mood" in most of the 1,300 people surveyed. It suggested that people should actively engage in conversation which can create a more positive experience. UK's top 10 favourite Christmas films in 60 seconds Another way to improve your Christmas, said the journal of Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networkingstudy study, is to stop using social media altogether. T he Prince of Wales has warned of the growing danger of religious persecution in his Thought For The Day radio broadcast. In a message recorded on Monday for todays feature on BBC Radio 4, Charles said: We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. This has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s. I was born in 1948, just after the end of World War Two, in which my parents generation had fought and died in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. That nearly 70 years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief. "We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past. In recent years the heir to the throne, 68, has met Syrian and Iraqi Christians who have fled their homes after the rise of Islamic State. He began his broadcast by describing a recent discussion with a Jesuit priest from Syria who said he thought it possible there would be no Christians in Iraq within five years. He said: The scale of religious persecution around the world is not widely appreciated. Nor is it limited to Christians in the troubled regions of the Middle East ... whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God. B erlin market massacre suspect Anis Amri had direct contact with Isis and was previously jailed for torching a school, it is claimed. American security officials say he was in touch with Islamic State and had scoured the Internet earlier this year looking for information on how to build a bomb. He was on a flight-ban list barring him from entering the USA and was supposed to be kicked out of Germany this year after his asylum application failed because of his fanaticism. It appears he first travelled to Europe in 2012 and, according to Radio Mosaique in his Tunisian homeland, he was given a four-year sentence in Italy for setting fire to a school. He entered Germany in July 2015 through the city of Freiburg and was almost immediately on the radar of the intelligence and security services. But it was not until the start of this year that his status as a dangerous person was registered when he moved in with Salafist hate preacher Boban S in Dortmund. Attack: The truck was used to kill 12 people and injure another 50 / Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters Authorities observed that he assumed multiple identities, with accompanying paperwork, at will. It appears that although he registered as an asylum seeker in Emmerich-am-Rhein, he actually spent most of his time in Berlin. Authorities there picked up the observation of him. In Berlin he moved in a seedy drug underworld, often observed by police in Gorlitzer Park in the city where narcotics are openly traded. He was arrested three times this year, once for getting into a knife fight over drugs, but was never taken out of circulation despite the fears that he was plotting terror. Due to be deported, he was allowed to stay on because he had no passport and Tunisia initially denied he was a citizen. Manhunt: The devastation in Berlin after Mondays attack / Markus Schreiber/AP Only on Wednesday this week did Tunisia acknowledge he was from the country and forwarded on a passport to Berlin. It emerged today he spent one day in custody this year awaiting deportation in July but was allowed to go free when his identity could not be established beyond doubt. Aside from the conviction in Italy, he was sentenced to five years in absentia in Tunisia for a violent armed robbery. Berlin terror attack: Horror as lorry ploughs into crowds 1 /32 Berlin terror attack: Horror as lorry ploughs into crowds A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters A trail of devastation is left behind, the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market Markus Schreiber/AP Debris at the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Markus Schreiber/AP Firefighters look at the debris after the trailer has been towed away from the crime scene in Berlin Markus Schreiber/AP The damaged towing truck is towed away Matthias Schrader/AP A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters A damaged windscreen of a truck which ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters The smashed window of the cabin of a truck which ran into a crowded Christmas market Markus Schreiber/AP A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters Rescue workers gather outside a tent in the area after a lorry truck ploughed through a Christmas market Sean Gallup/Getty Images An aerial view shows the extent of the damage at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Bernd von Jutrczenka/EPA A candle and flowers are seen near the site where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters Smash: The truck that crashed into a Christmas market, close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin. Clemens Bilan/EPA Investigation: A German police officer looks into a truck at a Berlin Christmas market following an accident with the truck on Breitscheidplatz square Christian Mang/Reuters Horror crash: The damaged front part of a truck is pictured at the scene after it crashed into a Christmas market, Rainer Jensen/EPA Security: Policemen and rescue workers secure the site next to a truck at the scene, after it crashed into a Christmas market. Rainer Jensen/EPA Mayor: Berlin's Mayor Michael Mueller (left) speaks to the media at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market, close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin, Germany. Maurizio Gambarini/EPA Christmas: Parts of a Christmas market decoration stick in the windscreen of a truck following an accident. Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters Inspection: A specialist in a protective suit talks to police near a truck at a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany. Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters Wounded: An injured person is carried on an stretcher by fireman at the scene where a truck crashed into a Christmas market Clemens Bilan/EPA Christmas market: German police officers secure the site of an accident with a truck at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue Christian Mang/Reuters Forensic: Experts of the police investigate the crime scene after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market and killed several people in Berlin, Germany. Michael Sohn/AP Survivors: A survivor of an accident with a Polish truck is rescued on a stretcher near a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters Injured: Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher in the area after a lorry truck ploughed through a Christmas market Sean Gallup/Getty Images He was also sentenced in 2010 in Tunisia to a jail term for stealing an HGV similar to the one used on Monday to murder 12 and injure 50 at the Christmas market in the heart of Berlin, Die Welt reported. Despite his attempts to buy a gun, despite his affiliation with extremist preachers and despite his known links with Isis, German intelligence called off the observation of him in September. A furious Angela Merkel is demanding answers from the intelligence community as she struggles to restore faith in her government ahead of the general election next year when she will seek a fourth term in office. Police raids took place in several German towns and cities, including two apartments in Berlin, overnight. Islamic State claims responsibility for Berlin truck attack After German media published photos of him and a partial name, prosecutors issued a public appeal for information along with the promise of a 84,000 reward for his arrest. Within hours it emerged that the man authorities warned could be "violent and armed" had in fact been known to them for months as someone with ties to Islamic extremists who used at least six different names and three different nationalities. "People are rightly outraged and anxious that such a person can walk around here, keep changing his identity and the legal system can't cope with them," said Rainer Wendt, the head of a union representing German police. The authorities had initially focused their investigation on a Pakistani man detained shortly after the attack, but released him a day later for lack of evidence. After finding documents belonging to Amri in the cab of the truck, they issued a notice to other European countries early on Wednesday seeking his arrest. Loading.... Isis, which claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, did not identify Amri as the man witnesses saw fleeing from the truck, but described him as "a soldier of the Islamic State" who "carried out the attack in response to calls for targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition". Germany's interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said he was "a suspect, not necessarily the perpetrator". "We are still investigating in all directions," he said. I kea has issued a plea to stop teenagers holding illegal sleepovers in its stores. A craze appears to be developing around the world where young people spend the night in the Swedish furniture superstore. Some 10 cases have been recorded in the past year including incidents in the UK, US, Netherlands and Australia. Most recently two 14-year-old girls were caught after spending the night at a branch in Jonkoping, Sweden. Ikea decided not to formally charge the teenagers because of their young age. Watch: YouTube pranksters sleepover in Ikea (contains strong language): The homeware giant is now urging people not to attempt sleepovers in its stores as they could end up in trouble with the law. The Swedish furniture giant has been hit by a wave of incidents / Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images "We appreciate that people are interested in Ikea and want to create fun experiences, however the safety and security of our co-workers and customers is our highest priority and that's why we do not allow sleepovers in our stores, an Ikea spokesman told the BBC. The craze appears to have been started by two Belgian YouTube pranksters in August. Florian Van Hecke and Bram Geirnaert hid in wardrobes until the store had closed and then filmed themselves jumping around on furniture all night, before leaving undetected in the morning. Their video, which has been watched 1.8 million times on YouTube, has apparently inspired others to follow suit around the world. But Johanna Iritz, Ikeas Swedish spokesman, said in a statement: "Maybe needless to say that the fun in it is overrated. A long night of sitting still, only to then risk getting into trouble with the law." I A London mother imprisoned in ran has been told she can either keep her two-year-old daughter with her in jail or give up custody. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, is behind bars for allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran. In a recent phone conversation, she told her husband that Revolutionary Guard officials said she must choose between having her daughter, Gabriella, stay with her in Tehran's Evin prison for up to three days a week, or sign a document saying she does not want the "right to be with her young daughter". Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe told her husband Richard Ratcliffe that both options were unacceptable. According to Amnesty International UK, Evin prison authorities imposed the choice in an attempt to counter negative publicity caused by the 37-year-old being separated from her toddler. Family time: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella last year The charity worker is said to have suffered a serious decline in her physical and mental health since being convicted on unspecified "national security charges" and given a five-year jail sentence in September. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran Airport on April 3 with Gabriella. Kathy Voss, Amnesty International UK's Individuals At Risk campaign manager, said: "This is yet another turn of the screw for Nazanin. "What kind of refined cruelty is it that would involve presenting a mother with a 'choice' to either jail her own daughter or give her up entirely? "The Iranian authorities should release Nazanin and end this cruel charade of justice immediately. Meanwhile, up until she's released, Nazanin should be allowed extended contact with her daughter. "All along the Iranian authorities appear to have been playing politics with this case. We need to see the UK Government stepping up its efforts to unlock things politically and see that Nazanin is released as soon as possible." Additional reporting by the Press Association S hocking pictures have emerged of a cat which was neglected for so long that matted fur dreadlocks formed on her body. Stunned animal rescue workers said Hidey, a calico cat, had been forgotten for years before she was brought in to a centre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when her owner was moved to a nursing home. Workers from the Animal Rescue League Shelter and Wildlife Center said on Facebook they shaved off pounds of matted fur from her body before she was handed back to a relative of the owner, who is suffering from Alzheimers The post read: This poor cat was brought to our clinic yesterday after her elderly had to move to a nursing home. "She suffered from severe matting (dreadlocks, really), the likes of which had been neglected for years. Abandoned: Hidey's owner suffered from Alzheimer's and was taken into a nursing home (Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center/Facebook) / Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center/Facebook Our medical team shaved off the pounds of intertwined fur from her body &, needless to say, this cat is feeling so much better now! She will be cared for by a distant relative of her previous owner & finally have a chance at a happy & healthy life. Please remember to not only check on the elderly in your community, but also check on their animals to prevent instances like this from happening in the future. Hundreds of social media users posted comments on the photographs with some expressing doubts the images were real. Trimmed down: Staff shaved off pounds of matted fur before the cat was rehomed (Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center/Facebook) / Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center/Facebook But others responded to say the pictures were genuine while an animal rights group also reported the cats condition was accurate. Emily Peretti posted: To the commenters claiming that the photos are fake and photoshopped, I saw this cat first hand through the clinic. If you're a professional groomer calling this fake, it's probably because people who neglect their animals don't take them to groomers. Meet some of the cutest animals of 2016 They end up at animal shelters. Our technicians deal with enough extreme cases on a constant basis, we don't need to fabricate abuse. Paul Russel, the owners relative who is now looking after Hidey, said the cats condition has started to improve since she was rehomed. He told The Dodo: She's been hiding under the bed for the last couple of days. I've been dragging her out, and holding her, and she purrs a lot. The last couple of days, she's climbed out from under the bed on her own and into a cat bed I have. So she's starting to work her way to see people more." C arey Mulligan might be an A-lister, but she likes to be as frugal as possible when it comes to Christmas. The Suffragette actress has revealed that she spends under 10 on presents during the festive period and donates money to charity instead. Despite being one of the UKs biggest stars, the 31-year-old doesnt like to be in the spotlight or splash the cash. You strike a balance. In our family we only buy presents for each other that cost less than 10 and then make a donation to War Child, she told the Radio Times. Carey Mulligan joins London crowds calling for end to Syria bloodshed You cant give in to despair. There are so many things that we have to be grateful for. Mulligan went on to say that she was happy to use her star appeal to promote charitable causes, but she wont be found on the front row at London Fashion Week any time soon. You wont find me at a fashion show. I dont have any desire to be in the public eye, she said. Im happy to promote good causes, but my day-to-day life doesnt involve any glitz or glamour or celebrity. Mulligan, who is married to Mumford and Sons Marcus Mumford, welcomed baby daughter Evie back in September 2015. They split their time between their homes in Devon and California. Dublin, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global CFD Market in Aerospace and Defense Industry 2016-2020" report to their offering. The global CFD market in aerospace and defense industry to post revenue of more than USD 736 million during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global CFD market in aerospace and defense industry for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of CFD software licenses and services. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. Growth of R&D in SMEs in aerospace and defense industry is the major trend gaining traction in this market. Though the market sizes of the emerging SMEs are lesser compared with larger companies, their achievements in the past two to three years has helped them increase their contribution in the aerospace and defense industry. According to the report, CFD plays a major role in the defense sector, as it helps in designing aerospace vehicles such as launch vehicles, combat and non-combat aircraft, missiles, and also in the designing of submarines. CFD is used for stimulating aerodynamic loads, stability derivatives, air flow analysis, flow measurement analysis, and store trajectory analysis. Further, the report states that there are many small and big challenges, which must be addressed by the CFD vendors in the aerospace and defense industry. One of the major challenges is that simulation activities using current CFD algorithms are expensive. The inability of CFD to predict turbulent flows accurately and slower mesh generation remain a major challenge in the CFD industry. Key vendors ANSYS Siemens PLM Software Mentor Graphics Other prominent vendors Altair Applied Math Modeling Ceetron Dassault Systemes ESI Exa FloSolve NUMECA Simerics Symscape Key Topics Covered: Part 01: Executive summary Part 02: Scope of the report Part 03: Market research methodology Part 04: Introduction Part 05: PLM overview Part 06: Role of PLM in product development Part 07: CAE overview Part 08: Market landscape Part 09: Geographic segmentation Part 10: Buying criteria Part 11: Key leading countries Part 12: Market drivers Part 13: Impact of drivers Part 14: Market challenges Part 15: Impact of drivers and challenges Part 16: Market trends Part 17: Five force analysis Part 18: Vendor landscape For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ctf59v/global_cfd_market MONACO, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NYSE:NM) and its subsidiary, Navios South American Logistics Inc. ("Navios"), announced today that on December 21, 2016, a London arbitration tribunal ruled the 20-year contract (the Contract) between Corporacion Navios S.A. and Vale International S.A. (Vale) for the iron ore port under construction to be in full force and effect. After receiving written notice from Vale repudiating the Contract, Navios initiated arbitration proceedings in London pursuant to the dispute resolution provisions of the Contract. On December 21, 2016 the arbitration tribunal issued its decision that the Contract remains in full force and effect. The arbitration tribunal also determined that Navios may elect to terminate the Contract if Vale were to further repudiate or renounce the Contract and then would be entitled to damages calculated by reference to guaranteed volumes and agreed tariffs for the remaining period of the Contract. About Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NYSE:NM) is a global, vertically integrated seaborne shipping and logistics company focused on the transport and transshipment of dry bulk commodities including iron ore, coal and grain. For more information about Navios Holdings please visit our website: www.navios.com About Navios South American Logistics Inc. Navios South American Logistics Inc. is one of the largest logistics companies in the Hidrovia region of South America, focusing on the Hidrovia region river system, the main navigable river system in the region, and on cabotage trades along the eastern coast of South America. Navios Logistics serves the storage and marine transportation needs of its petroleum, agricultural and mining customers through its port terminals, river barge and coastal cabotage operations. For more information about Navios Logistics please visit its website: www.navios-logistics.com. Forward Looking Statements - Safe Harbor This press release contains forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events, including 2016 and 2017 cash flow generation, future contracted revenues, potential capital gains, our ability to take advantage of dislocation in the market, and Navios Holdings' growth strategy and measures to implement such strategy; including expected vessel acquisitions and entering into further time charters. Words such as may, expects, intends, plans, believes, anticipates, hopes, estimates, and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include comments regarding expected revenue and time charters. These forward-looking statements are based on the information available to, and the expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by Navios Holdings at the time these statements were made. Although Navios Holdings believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Navios Holdings. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to uncertainty relating to global trade, including prices of seaborne commodities and continuing issues related to seaborne volume and ton miles, our continued ability to enter into long-term time charters, our ability to maximize the use of our vessels, expected demand in the dry cargo shipping sector in general and the demand for our Panamax, Capesize and UltraHandymax vessels in particular, fluctuations in charter rates for dry cargo carriers vessels, the aging of our fleet and resultant increases in operations costs, the loss of any customer or charter or vessel, the financial condition of our customers, changes in the availability and costs of funding due to conditions in the bank market, capital markets and other factors, increases in costs and expenses, including but not limited to: crew wages, insurance, provisions, port expenses, lube oil, bunkers, repairs, maintenance, and general and administrative expenses, the expected cost of, and our ability to comply with, governmental regulations and maritime self-regulatory organization standards, as well as standard regulations imposed by our charterers applicable to our business, general domestic and international political conditions, competitive factors in the market in which Navios Holdings operates; risks associated with operations outside the United States; and other factors listed from time to time in Navios Holdings' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 20-Fs and Form 6-Ks. Navios Holdings expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Navios Holdings' expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based. Navios Holdings makes no prediction or statement about the performance of its common stock. ATHENS, Greece, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX), (the Company), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that in connection with the previously announced cancellation of a shipbuilding contract for a Kamsarmax dry bulk carrier, Hull No. DY6006, with an original delivery date of May 31, 2016, the Company received yesterday a refund payment of approximately US$9.4 million. The refund payment to the Company was made under the Refund Guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of China and reflects a refund of the first and second installment payments under the shipbuilding contract. The refund amount constitutes the repayment of all monies paid by the Company in connection with the cancelled shipbuilding contract, together with interest thereon. For additional details about the cancellation of the shipbuilding contract, please see the Companys press release dated November 3, 2016. About the Company Diana Shipping Inc. is a global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of dry bulk vessels. The Companys vessels are employed primarily on medium to long-term time charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, anticipate, intends, estimate, forecast, project, plan, potential, may, should, expect, pending and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our managements examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. Lithuanian English Vilnius, Lithuania, 2016-12-22 16:08 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Central Bank of the Republic of Lithuania granted special closed-ended type real estate investment company INVL Baltic Real Estate (legal entity code 152105644, address of the registered office: Gyneju str. 14, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania) the license of closed-ended type investment company providing a right to carryout activities of the closed-ended type investment company according to the Law on Collective Investment Undertakings. I received a phone call from my mother on Sunday, Dec. 18 asking me if Id heard the news. Ben Gilman had passed away. Normally, mothers dont call their daughters to tell them their former congressman had died, but Ben Gilman was anything but normal. He was extraordinary. For many years of my life Gilman was my congressman. But he was different from any politician I have ever known. He was known for fighting for the common man. He crusaded for human rights around the world. He fought for abortion rights and to protect the environment. He authored the legislation that established a Presidential Commission on World Hunger. The Gilman Center for International Education in on the college campus in my hometown. He graduated from the same high school I did. He was a veteran and a lawyer. Gilman spent 30 years in Congress, eventually becoming chairman of the House International Relations Committee, now known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Still, there was one thing he was known and admired for. Gilman believed in serving his constituents. He could have patted himself on the back for the worthy causes he supported and most likely would have been reelected, but he wasnt about the accolades. His service to the people who elected him is how everyone remembers him. Gilman attended community events on such a regular basis that the local newspaper couldnt, and didnt, cover them all. He attended the Orange County Fair every year. I grew up two blocks from the fairgrounds and there were two staples at the fair a Bob Maxwell Walk-A-Way sundae and Ben Gilman. He did it because he believed you cant forget the people who put you into office and it was the right thing to do. That reputation is what caused my husband, Paul, and I to reach out to his office in 1997. As an immigrant, Paul had arrived without a work permit. They were only supposed to take two to three months to receive and allows a person to work as their immigration paperwork cycles through various offices. Eleven months later and many runaround phone calls later, my grandmother asked if wed tried Gilmans office yet. It was an easy trek. Walk two blocks, turn right and head into Gilmans office. Paul explained his situation. He was told, Well see what we can do, by a staffer. Three days later, he had his work permit. While this was great, it was what happened afterwards that was remarkable. I met Gilman for the first time a few years later at the fair. He asked how Paul and I were doing and if we needed any more help with immigration. Then, he said to me, Youre Margarets daughter arent you? I said yes. My mom had never met the man. But he had known my grandmother decades before. They too hadnt spoken for years. He remembered everyone and had a recollection of what everyone did. The editorial in my hometown paper on Monday read Gilman never forgot the people he served. Its true. He was a New York liberal Republican, among the last of what once was an example for the nation, the editorial said. After the 2000 Census, Gilman was redistricted out of office. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Gold Medal, the State Departments highest honor, before he left. In retirement, he didnt stop serving. He just found other ways to do it. Gilman made everyone feel like mishpocheh, Yiddish for family. He didnt want to be a statesman. Statesmen forget where they come from and they forget the people they serve. And we have too many statesman today. They send form letters saying, I understand your concern or I dont sit on that committee so I cant help. State Senator John Stinner listens to his constituents. When he cant find the answer, he and his staff find out who can help you. He walks down to members of other committees to find information for you. But, at the federal level, its all about pleasing your donors and lobbyists. The common man is mostly shut out of the process. Gilman will be buried in West Point Cemetery, less than 30 minutes from my home town. Ill be visiting my mom next year. Ill make a point to go see Gilman one last time. Though he fought for everyones rights, he will always be my congressman, fighting just for me. Gilman never forgot his people. He never forgot where he came from. And I will never forget him. This page is archived. Data published after 5 April 2022 can be found on the renewed website. Go to the new statistics page Published: 22 December 2016 Growth of households net financial assets continued in the third quarter of 2016 Households financial assets grew by EUR 5.2 billion during the third quarter of 2016 amounting to EUR 288.3 billion. In turn, households debts increased by EUR 1.6 billion during the third quarter of 2016 rising to EUR 151.7 billion. As a result of these changes, households' net financial assets increased by EUR 3.6 billion to EUR 136.6 billion. Net financial assets refer to the difference between financial assets and liabilities. These data derive from Statistics Finlands financial accounts statistics. Households financial assets Households withdrew their investments from financial assets during the quarter more than they made new investments. Investments decreased by EUR 0.3 billion on net. Investments in shares and debt securities decreased similarly as during the previous quarter. In contrast, new investments flowed to funds on net as well. Although the investment flow remained negative, the total level of households' financial assets rose as a result of the rise in prices of financial assets held by them. Holding gains were generated in particular from shares and mutual fund shares. Households loan debts grew by EUR 1.7 billion during the third quarter of 2016 rising to EUR 141.8 billion. The indebtedness ratio rose by 0.9 percentage points from the previous quarter to 126.9 per cent. Households' indebtedness ratio is calculated as the ratio of their loan debts at the end of a quarter to their total disposable income during the preceding four quarters. During the quarter, non-financial corporations debt financing grew by EUR 0.6 billion, although the new level of EUR 222.3 billion is still lower than one year ago due to the drop in the previous quarter. Non-financial corporations loan debts grew by EUR 1.3 billion to EUR 189.8 billion at the same time as their financing in the form of debt securities decreased by EUR 0.7 billion to EUR 32.5 billion. Debt financing refers to the total of loan debts and financing in the form of debt securities. Source: Financial accounts, Statistics Finland Inquiries: Henna Laasonen 029 551 3303, Peter Parkkonen 029 551 2571, rahoitus.tilinpito@stat.fi Director in charge: Ville Vertanen Publication in pdf-format (252.5 kB) Updated 22.12.2016 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Financial accounts [e-publication]. ISSN=1458-8145. 3rd quarter 2016. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 4.11.2022]. 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To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL. Thank you for visiting state.gov. With one hand holding a bottle of champagne and the other an oversized certificate declaring him the winner of $1 million from Publishers Clearing House, Bruce Saunders stood on the front porch of his western Davie County Monday and rattled off a list of things he plans spend his spend money on medical bills, fixing his lawnmower and helping family members. SAN DIEGO, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prescott Companies, an Associa company, congratulates Business Development Manager Derek Fricke on being nominated for a Rising Star Award to be presented at the at the Community Associations Institute San Diego (CAI-SD) Chapter's Annual Awards Gala. Fricke is one of four nominees invited to the January 13 ceremony at the Coronado Marriott in Coronado. Rising Star Awards are presented to newer committee members who have proven to be an asset to the chapter through their volunteerism, have demonstrated outstanding leadership skills, and have shown an interest in being future leaders. "Derek's work ethic is second to none and his passion for this industry and serving his clients is beyond reproach," says Prescott Companies President Gloria Todisco. "He has worked hard this year in support the local CAI chapter and his efforts have led to an increase in circulation of the quarterly magazine." Fricke sits on the marketing/public relations committee and the publications committee with CAI in San Diego. He has been with Prescott Companies for two years and working within finance and business industries since 2001. Fricke has a Bachelor of Finance and Financial Management Services from Western Michigan University. Building and managing successful communities for more than 37 years, Associa is the leader in community management with over 10,000 employees operating more than 180 branch offices in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Based in Dallas, Texas, our industry expertise, financial strength and innovation meet the unique needs of clients across the world with customized services and solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more about Associa and its charitable organization, Associa Cares, go to www.associaonline.com or www.associacares.com. Stay Connected: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/associa Twitter: https://twitter.com/associa LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/associa Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/associa/ YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/associamarketing Google+: https://plus.google.com/+Associaonline/ A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=42021 Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (134) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (347) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (440) Jan 2014 (544) Feb 2014 (475) Mar 2014 (525) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (470) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (441) Oct 2014 (471) Nov 2014 (496) Dec 2014 (535) Jan 2015 (535) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (579) Apr 2015 (657) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (921) Nov 2015 (801) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (864) May 2016 (946) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (966) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (808) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (934) Jul 2019 (949) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (848) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (787) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (811) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (694) Feb 2022 (654) Mar 2022 (740) Apr 2022 (745) May 2022 (748) Jun 2022 (701) Jul 2022 (704) Aug 2022 (702) Sep 2022 (699) Oct 2022 (737) Nov 2022 (70) Chairman of the People's Movement Party (PMP) Traian Basescu announced on Thursday that at the consultations with President Klaus Iohannis he proposed Eugen Tomac for the Prime Minister office. "Because we are the Opposition, we have also made a proposal for the Prime Minister office. The person proposed by us is Eugen Tomac. This is why we are the Opposition, to create competition," Basescu stated. He claimed that Eugen Tomac is "an experienced politician, an unionist, a man who knows very well the country, a man with a good image in Brussels." "I am the best, but not young enough (for the Prime Minister office - e.n.). We come with new people in politics," Basescu pointed out. When asked if Tomac has chances to become Prime Minister, the PMP leader responded that it "depends on the designation." "President Iohannis isn't in the happiest situation in which a head of state can be, from the options' point of view, I must admit it, but we made our duty as an Opposition party. I find it unacceptable for the Opposition to say we don't have proposals," Basescu motivated. He mentioned that the consultation with President Iohannis must be carried out, because the consultation is included in the constitutional system. "It couldn't be let go, even if the proposal which was made yesterday by the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) seemed to make the consultations of today useless," Basescu revealed. Eugen Tomac stated he is honored by the proposal of being Prime Minister. "If I were to be designated, we will try to establish a dialogue with the other parliamentary parties," Tomac stated. agerpres. SMITHFIELD, Va., Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger across the country, has concluded its month-long donation of more than one million pounds of protein to Feeding America and its network of food banks. This large-scale contribution is in addition to the more than 40 significant donations made by Helping Hungry Homes across the country in 2016. "More than 42 million people in the United States face hunger, including 13 million children, said Nancy Curby, Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and Operations at Feeding America. We are grateful for our partners at Smithfield for their efforts to help provide nutritious food to people in need and thankful for the incredible progress we have made together in the fight to end hunger. Smithfield selected Feeding America as its partner because of the organizations impact on hunger relief through its network of 200 food banks and more than 60,000 food agencies. Feeding America affiliate food banks picked up donations directly from Smithfield processing facilities and will distribute the protein to its member agencies. At Smithfield, we value our responsibility as a global food producer to help our neighbors in need, and we encourage others to join our fight against hunger, said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. This sizable donation will not only feed individuals and families facing hunger, but we hope it will also raise awareness of this issue and inspire others to take action. Helping Hungry Homes, now in its eighth year, has provided more than 48 million servings of protein to food banks across America. As part of this ongoing program, Smithfield continued its fight against hunger by making more than 40 large-scale protein donations across the United States in 2016. For more information about Helping Hungry Homes, visit helpinghungryhomes.com. About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Cook's, Kretschmar, Gwaltney, Curly's, Margherita, Carando, Healthy Ones, Krakus, Morliny and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com. About Feeding America Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. NORTHVALE, N.J., Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Elite" or the Company") (OTCBB:ELTP) today announced the Company met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) on December 21, 2016 for an end-of-review meeting to discuss steps that Elite can take to obtain approval of SequestOx. Based on the FDA response, the Company believes there is a clear path forward to address the issues cited in the July 14th Complete Response Letter (CRL). The FDA will provide minutes of the meeting by the end of January and the Company will issue a further update at that time. SequestOx (oxycodone hydrochloride and naltrexone hydrochloride) is Elites investigational abuse-deterrent opioid candidate for the management of moderate to severe acute pain where the use of an opioid analgesic is appropriate. The proposed plan submitted by the Company addresses items cited in the CRL dated July 14, 2016 for the New Drug Application (the NDA) for SequestOx. We are extremely pleased that there is a path forward to seek FDA approval of SequestOx, said Nasrat Hakim, President and CEO of Elite. Based on the guidance received from the agency, Elite will begin to execute the proposed plan immediately. About Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company which is developing a pipeline of proprietary pharmacological abuse-deterrent opioid products as well as niche generic products. Elite specializes in oral sustained and controlled release drug products which have high barriers to entry. Elite owns generic and OTC products which have been licensed to TAGI Pharma, Epic Pharma and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International. Elite currently has eight commercial products being sold, additional approved products pending manufacturing site transfer and the NDA for SequestOx, for which it just received the CRL from the FDA. Elites lead pipeline products include abuse-deterrent opioids which utilize the Companys patented proprietary technology and a once-daily opioid. These products include sustained release oral formulations of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain. These formulations are intended to address two major limitations of existing oral opioids: the provision of consistent relief of baseline pain levels and deterrence of potential opioid abuse. Elite also provides contract manufacturing for Ascend Laboratories (a subsidiary of Alkem Laboratories Ltd.). Elite operates a GMP and DEA registered facility for research, development, and manufacturing located in Northvale, NJ. Learn more at www.elitepharma.com. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Including those related to the effects, if any, on future results, performance or other expectations that may have some correlation to the subject matter of this press release, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, Elites ability to obtain FDA approval of the transfers of the ANDAs or the timing of such approval process, delays, uncertainties, inability to obtain necessary ingredients and other factors not under the control of Elite, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Elite to be materially different from the results, performance or other expectations that may be implied by these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding the expected timing of approval, if at all, of SequestOx by the FDA, the steps Elite may take as a result of the CRL, the results of an end-of-review meeting and what actions the FDA may require of Elite in order to obtain approval of the NDA. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future action or performance. These risks and other factors, including, without limitation, Elites ability to obtain sufficient funding under the LPC Agreement or from other sources, the timing or results of pending and future clinical trials, regulatory reviews and approvals by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities, intellectual property protections and defenses, and the Elites ability to operate as a going concern, are discussed in Elite's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its reports on forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. Elite is under no obligation to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. DES MOINES, Iowa A federal judge said this week that a naturalized U.S. citizen from China who pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to steal seed corn must pay $425,000 to the U.S. companies that made the seed. Mo Hailong, 47, was living in Florida when he was arrested in December 2013. In his plea agreement with federal prosecutors in January, he admitted to being part of a conspiracy to send stolen DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto seed corn from fields in Iowa and Illinois to China, where scientists planned to reverse engineer it to reproduce its genetic traits. U.S. seed companies invest millions of dollars into research to develop seed traits that improve plant yields and resists pests and disease. Mondays judgment in U.S. District Court in Des Moines ordered Mo to pay each company $212,500 in restitution, as well as forfeit farms near Monee, Ill., and Redfield, Iowa, to the U.S. government. He also must turn himself in within 90 days to begin serving his three-year prison sentence. Judge Stephanie Rose asked the Bureau of Prisons to place him either in North Carolina or Miami. Due to Mos diagnosis of a rare and aggressive cancer she asked the agency to follow all medical treatment for cancer screening prescribed by his doctors. Mos attorney, Mark Weinhardt, cited the treatment as a primary reason for entering a plea and avoiding a long and complex trial. Mo is the only one of the employees of Kings Nower Seed, a subsidiary of Beijing-based DBN Group, allegedly involved in the conspiracy thats been prosecuted. Five other Chinese nationals fled the country, and charges were dropped last year against his sister, who is married to DBNs CEO, and she was allowed to return to China. The investigation began when DuPont Pioneer security staff in Iowa detected suspicious activity, including men crawling around in cornfields. The FBI planted GPS monitors on rental cars and tapped cellphones of some of the men. Mo, who goes by the name Robert Mo, has lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, is a legal permanent resident and his wife and children are U.S. citizens. Rose, however, said he must report after his prison sentence to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which may deport him under the Immigration and Nationality Act. That allows for deportation of naturalized immigrants convicted of certain crimes. Updated at 6:16 a.m. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena will probably fail to lure sufficient demand for a 5 billion-euro ($5.2 billion) capital increase, leading to what would be the country's biggest bank nationalization in decades, said people with knowledge of the matter. No anchor investor has shown interest in the stock sale, the Siena-based company said in a statement late Wednesday. Two debt-for-equity swap offers will raise about 2 billion euros, with investors converting bonds for about 2.5 billion euros, the lender said. The interest is probably insufficient to pull the deal off, said the people, who asked not to be identified before a final assessment. Qatar's sovereign-wealth fund, which had considered an investment, hasn't committed to buying shares, people with knowledge of the matter have said. Other institutions that were considering buying shares have indicated that they would put funds in the troubled bank only if it's able to raise 1 billion euros from cornerstone investors, according to the people. Monte Paschi Chief Executive Officer Marco Morelli had crisscrossed the globe looking for investors to back the bank's reorganization plan, which included a share sale, a debt-for-equity swap and the sale of 28 billion worth of soured loans. A nationalization of Monte Paschi, the biggest in Italy since the 1930s, could be followed by rescues for lenders including Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare di Vicenza as part of a 20 billion-euro government package. The lender's subordinated bond risk is at a record. Monte Paschi's 379 million euros of junior notes due in September 2020 fell 2 cents on the euro to an all-time low of 46 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Credit swaps insuring the bank's junior bonds for five years imply a 70 percent chance of default, data compiled by CMA show. State intervention and a hit to bondholders is the most likely scenario for Monte Paschi, Manuela Meroni, an analyst at Intesa Sanpaolo wrote in a note to clients Thursday. "The solution to the Monte Paschi issue could reduce the systemic risk for the sector," Meroni wrote. Monte Paschi shares rose 2.2 percent at 11:25 a.m. in Milan on Thursday, paring a 12 percent slide the previous day. The shares have dropped 86 percent this year, trimming the bank's value to 488 million euros. If government funds are used in the bank's recapitalization, bondholders will probably have to take losses under European burden-sharing rules. The cabinet is considering a so-called precautionary recapitalization that may reduce the potential losses. A Cabinet meeting may be held as early as Thursday evening to rescue Monte Paschi, newspaper La Stampa reported, without saying where it got the information. Monte Paschi's plan to raise 5 billion euros has three interlocking pieces: a debt-for-equity swap, a stock offering and the disposal of soured loans. The capital being raised would be used to cover the bank for losses it would book in selling the bad debt. If the sale fails, the conversions of debt to equity would be nullified, as well as the terms of the bad debt disposal. Liquidity has been drying up, the bank said in a filing Wednesday. Commenting on risks under rules defined by the Bank of Italy, Paschi said it may run out of liquidity after four months, sooner than the 11 months forecast in last week's filing. The following is a summary of other Italian lenders facing pressure to shore up their finances and get rid of soured debt on their books. Banca Carige: The European Central Bank instructed the Genoa-based lender to step up efforts to reduce sour debt on its balance sheet, giving it until Feb. 28 to present a more aggressive proposal. The existing plan calls for cutting the total to 19.9 percent by 2020 from 27.8 percent in 2015. The bank, which is struggling to restore investor confidence after revising its 2012 and first-half 2013 accounts, posted a loss in the third quarter on falling revenue and higher provisions for bad loans. Banca Popolare di Vicenza Veneto Banca: The rescued Italian lenders in merger talks may need as much as 2.5 billion euros of fresh capital to fulfill requests from the ECB, people with knowledge of the matter have said. The ECB said the pair should reduce bad loans by as much as 4 billion euros, increase liquidity buffers and make additional provisions for ongoing litigation, the people said. Atlante, the state-orchestrated fund which took over the banks earlier this year, on Wednesday said it will invest 938 million euros in further stock sales by the banks. Four "Good Banks": The four small domestic lenders rescued from collapse last year must be sold to comply with European regulators' requests. Executives obtained an extension of June's deadline as they struggle to reach a deal. Unione di Banche Italiane is in talks to buy three of the four regional banks. The Bank of Italy may seek additional contributions from lenders to bolster the country's resolution fund if the sale doesn't generate enough cash to repay creditors, people with knowledge of the matter have said. December 22, 2016 - Aker Solutions made a minor adjustment of shares allocated to certain participants under the company's 2016 employee share purchase program. As a result, 2,847 shares were returned to the company, increasing Aker Solutions' holding of own shares to 511,801. For more information on the share purchase program, please see the release published December 16, 2016. ENDS For further information, please contact: Media: Bunny Nooryani, Chief Communications Officer, Aker Solutions. Tel: +47 67 59 42 71, Mob: +47 480 27 575, E-mail: bunny.nooryani@akersolutions.com Investors: Per Christian Olsen, Analyst, Investor Relations, Aker Solutions. Tel: +47 67 51 36 58, Mob: +47 900 29 077, E-mail: per.christian.olsen@akersolutions.com Aker Solutions is a global provider of products, systems and services to the oil and gas industry. Its engineering, design and technology bring discoveries into production and maximize recovery. The company employs approximately 13,000 people in about 20 countries. Go to http://akersolutions.com for more information on our business, people and values. This press release may include forward-looking information or statements and is subject to our disclaimer, see http://akersolutions.com This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. ST. LOUIS COUNTY A man was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon in the Castle Point neighborhood of North County. The man arrived at hospital shortly after 4:20 p.m. suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Authorities identified him Wednesday as German Sanders, 28, of Ferguson. Investigators determined Sanders had been shot in the 10200 block of Prince Drive a short time before he was taken to the hospital. Officers with the North County Precinct had responded to Prince around 4:20 p.m. for calls about shots being fired. Arriving officers found no suspects or victim at the scene. Sanders arrived at the hospital shortly afterward, police said. Investigators determined that he had been driven to the hospital from Prince Drive. Police declined to release more details pending investigation. The St. Louis County Police Department's Bureau of Crimes Against Persons is investigating the homicide. Officials ask anyone with information to call the St. Louis County Police Department at 636-529-8210 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-371-8477. German lived in the 600 block of Graf Avenue, near Dade Park in Ferguson, according to authorities. EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Griffin Capital Corporation (Griffin Capital) announced today, on behalf of Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II, Inc. (the REIT), the acquisition of a Class A, three-story, 125,735 square-foot office facility (the Property) fully leased to Zoetis Services LLC (Tenant) and guaranteed by the Tenants parent company, Zoetis Inc. (the Company) (NYSE:ZTS) from Normandy Real Estate Partners and Partners Group (Seller). The Property was originally constructed in 1984, but the Seller commenced a complete demolition and renovation after signing a lease in July 2015 with the Tenant for its global headquarters. The REIT purchased the Property for $44.0 million from Normandy Real Estate Partners and Partners Group. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eaec5fa8-cedd-4274-8cbc-fba9faee57a8 Commenting on the acquisition, Louis Sohn, Griffin Capitals Director of Acquisitions said, We are pleased to further expand our footprint in the growing New Jersey market and acquire this Class A property located in the premier Mack-Cali Business Campus. The addition of this property to our growing portfolio of high quality assets further positions the REIT to create shareholder value over the long term. Michael Escalante, Griffin Capital's Chief Investment Officer and President of the REIT, added, With the business essential nature of the operations on-site, investment grade tenancy, annual rental rate escalations, institutional quality asset, and long-term lease duration, this transaction captures the majority of the salient acquisition criteria that we target for the REIT. This acquisition also marks a significant milestone for Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II, Inc., elevating the REITs total capitalization above $1 billion. The Property is located within the Mack-Cali Business Campus near Interstate 80 and Interstate 287, which are two of New Jerseys main highways. Jose Cruz and Kevin OHearn of HFF represented the Seller of the Property. About Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II, Inc. is a publicly registered non-traded REIT focused on acquiring a portfolio consisting primarily of single tenant business essential properties throughout the United States, diversified by corporate credit, physical geography, product type and lease duration. As of December 16, 2016, Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II, Inc. has acquired 31 office and industrial buildings totaling approximately 6.5 million rentable square feet and asset value of approximately $947.2 million. About Griffin Capital Corporation Led by senior executives with more than two decades of real estate experience collectively encompassing over $22 billion of transaction value and more than 650 transactions, Griffin Capital and its affiliates have acquired or constructed approximately 55.4 million square feet of space since 1995. Griffin Capital and its affiliates own, manage, sponsor and/or co-sponsor a portfolio consisting of approximately 38 million square feet of space, located in 30 states and the United Kingdom, representing approximately $6.9 billion* in asset value, based on purchase price, as of September 30, 2016. Additional information about Griffin Capital is available at www.griffincapital.com. *Includes the property information related to interests held in certain joint ventures. This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our use of forward-looking terminology such as may, will, expect, intend, anticipate, estimate, believe, continue, or other similar words. Because such statements include risks, uncertainties and contingencies, actual results may differ materially from the expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans or predictions of the future expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to: uncertainties relating to changes in general economic and real estate conditions; uncertainties relating to the implementation of our real estate investment strategy; uncertainties relating to financing availability and capital proceeds; uncertainties relating to the closing of property acquisitions; uncertainties relating to the public offering of our common stock; uncertainties related to the timing and availability of distributions; and other risk factors as outlined in the REITs prospectus, as amended from time to time. This is neither an offer nor a solicitation to purchase securities. JEFFERSON CITY A federal judge could put the brakes on a new Missouri law capping campaign donations as early as next week. In a case stemming from the successful Nov. 8 ballot initiative that saw voters choose to restore limits on campaign giving, U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry is scheduled to hear arguments on Dec. 29 from attorneys on whether to temporarily block the caps. The Association of Missouri Electrical Cooperatives and Legends Bank are trying to upend the change in the state constitution because they say it unfairly stops them from donating to campaigns and political action committees. If the law stays in place, the electrical cooperatives argue they wont be able to raise adequate funds to ensure its members voices are heard during the legislative session that begins Jan. 4. Under the constitutional change, contributions to individual candidates would be limited to $2,600 per election, while contributions to a political party would be capped at $25,000. The change also attempted to ban the current practice of funneling money through different committees to hide the source of the contributions. It prohibits contributions by foreign interests and companies not legally authorized to conduct business in Missouri. Missouri's new law not only bans the political speech of plaintiffs, it subjects them to the specter of criminal penalties, the lawsuit notes. The referendum was pushed by Republican Fred Sauer, a Clayton businessman who made an unsuccessful run for governor in 2012. Sauer contends massive infusions of money from mega-donors like David Humphreys, who owns a Joplin building products company, have tilted the political system toward the wealthy. Sauer attorney Todd Jones said he is unsure how quickly Perry will issue a decision in the case. He questioned why attorneys for the electrical cooperatives focused their efforts on blocking the entire law instead of just the provision affecting those types of groups. Its kind of weird, Jones said Thursday. Attorney Chuck Hatfield, who represents the electrical cooperatives, has said the groups arent opposed to the caps. Missouri had campaign limits until the Legislature removed them in 2008. That has led to an era where seven-figure contributions to candidates are no longer rare. BURNEY, Calif. Authorities say an attacker entered a Northern California gas station, sprayed an employee behind the counter with a flammable liquid and set him on fire, killing him. The Record Searchlight newspaper in Redding reports that surveillance cameras captured the Wednesday evening attack near Burney, a small logging community an hour's drive east of Redding. Shasta County sheriff's Lt. Anthony Bertain says investigators are searching for the assailant and haven't identified a motive for the killing of 54-year-old David Wicks. Authorities say paramedics found Wicks with severe burns and an air ambulance flew him to a hospital, where he died. Bertain says the surveillance video shows the attacker wearing yellow rain gear, a black hoodie and gloves. Investigators say they found a bicycle outside the gas station. ___ Information from: Record Searchlight, http://redding.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SYH) (OTCQB:SYHBF) (Frankfurt:SC1P) (the Company) announces that pursuant to its stock option plan, the Company has granted incentive stock options to its various directors, officers, employees and consultants to purchase up to an aggregate of 100,000 common shares in the capital stock of the Company, exercisable for a period of 5 years, at a price of $0.35 per share. Upcoming Drill Program: The Company is on schedule to commence its previously announced drill program on its flagship property, Moore Lake, in January 2017 with additional news forthcoming on the program. Skyharbour recently secured an option from Denison Mines (TSX:DML), a large shareholder of the Company, to acquire a 100% interest in the Moore Lake Uranium Project which hosts the high-grade Maverick Zone where previous drilling returned 4.03% U3O8 over 10 metres at 265 metres depth. In addition to the Maverick Zone, the project hosts other mineralized targets with strong discovery potential which the Company plans to test in the upcoming drill program. Qualified Person: The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Richard Kusmirski, P.Geo., M.Sc., Skyharbours Head Technical Advisor and a Director, as well as a Qualified Person. About Skyharbour Resources Ltd.: Skyharbour holds an extensive portfolio of uranium and thorium exploration projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin and is well positioned to benefit from improving uranium market fundamentals with five drill-ready projects. In July 2016, Skyharbour acquired an option from Denison Mines to acquire 100% of the Moore Lake Uranium Project which is located 20 kilometres east of Denisons Wheeler River project and 39 kilometres south of Camecos McArthur River mine. Moore Lake is an advanced stage uranium exploration property with over $30 million in historical exploration, 370 diamond drill holes, and a high-grade uranium zone known as the Maverick Zone with drill results including 4.03% eU3O8 over 10 metres at a vertical depth of 265 metres. The Company owns a 100% interest in the Falcon Point (formerly Way Lake) Uranium Project on the eastern perimeter of the Basin which hosts an NI 43-101 inferred resource totaling 7.0 million pounds of U3O8 at 0.03% and 5.3 million pounds of ThO2 at 0.023%. The project also hosts a high grade surface showing with up to 68% U3O8 in grab samples from a massive pitchblende vein, the source of which has yet to be discovered. Skyharbour also has a 50% interest in the large, geologically prospective Preston Uranium Project proximal to Fission Uraniums Triple R deposit as well as NexGen Energys Arrow deposit. The Companys 100% owned Mann Lake Uranium project on the east side of the Basin is strategically located adjacent to the Mann Lake Joint Venture operated by Cameco with partners Denison Mines and AREVA, where high-grade uranium mineralization was recently discovered. Skyharbours goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions. To find out more about Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SYH) visit the Companys website at www.skyharbourltd.com. SKYHARBOUR RESOURCES LTD. Jordan Trimble Jordan Trimble President and CEO For further information contact myself or: Nick Findler Corporate Development and Communications Skyharbour Resources Ltd. Telephone: 604-639-3850 Toll Free: 800-567-8181 Facsimile: 604-687-3119 Email: info@skyharbourltd.com NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE: AQN) and The Empire District Electric Company (NYSE: EDE) announced today that the Kansas Corporation Commission (the KCC) has approved the unanimous settlement agreement among Empire, Liberty Sub Corp., and Liberty Utilities (Central) Co. (collectively, the Joint Applicants), the KCC Staff and the Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board. The KCC order provides, among other things, authorization to consummate the merger (the Merger) between Empire and Liberty Sub Corp. in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of February 9, 2016. Receipt of the KCCs order completes the final required regulatory approval and accordingly, all conditions precedent to completing the Merger have been fulfilled other than the customary closing conditions. The transaction closing is expected to occur on or about January 1, 2017. We are very pleased with the KCCs approval of APUCs acquisition of Empire. We recognize and are grateful for the significant efforts of all parties who participated in this regulatory process, commented Ian Robertson, Chief Executive Officer of APUC. We are committed to ensuring Empire remains a strong, locally-based, customer focused utility. This transaction combines the strengths of two great companies, and we look forward to pursuing the many opportunities resulting from the merger. Brad Beecher, Empires President and Chief Executive Officer, added, With the approval from the KCC we have cleared the final regulatory hurdle necessary to consummate our transaction with APUC. It has taken significant effort of a number of parties to reach this successful conclusion. Empire remains committed to providing reliable and responsible services to our customers, a rewarding environment for our employees, and a continuing level of community support and involvement. GasLog Ltd. (NYSE: GLOG) today announces that a wholly owned subsidiary of GasLog has entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire a twenty percent (20%) shareholding in Gastrade S.A. (Gastrade). Gastrade is licensed to develop an independent natural gas system offshore Alexandroupolis in Northern Greece utilizing a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) along with other fixed infrastructure. Gastrade is a private limited company, incorporated in Greece and wholly owned by Asimina-Eleni Copelouzou. Gastrade has been involved in the development of this FSRU project over a number of years. Closing of the SPA acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions set out in the transaction documents. GasLog, as well as being a shareholder, will provide operations and maintenance (O&M) services for the FSRU through an O&M agreement. Gastrade is currently in discussions with a number of additional potential investors, including DEPA, the Greek state owned gas company, Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), the holding company of the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy and major gas suppliers. Other large scale international companies have expressed an intention to participate in the ownership and development of the terminal. A number of companies have also expressed interest in supplying LNG to the project. This FSRU project would provide a new route and a vital source of gas diversification to a number of European countries that are currently highly dependent on pipeline gas in South East and Central Europe. As well as enhancing security of supply in the region, it will promote competition and pricing flexibility. The project has the backing of the Greek and the Bulgarian Governments as well as the support of the EU. It has been assigned the status of an EU Project of Common Interest (PCI), that is further designated as a priority EU energy infrastructure project. The front-end engineering and design (FEED) study is expected to be part-funded by an EU grant, and is scheduled to commence in early 2017. Gastrade targets to take final investment decision (FID) by the end of 2017 with the FSRU scheduled to be operational by end of 2019. Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer of GasLog Ltd., commented, I am delighted that GasLog has been invited to join Gastrade. This is a strategically important energy import project for the region. The FSRU will be used as a gateway for LNG imports into Southern Europe, where there is a growing demand and a need to diversify existing gas supply. This announcement, alongside GasLogs ordering of long-lead items, demonstrates the ongoing development of the companys FSRU strategy. Konstantinos Spyropoulos, Chairman and Managing Director of Gastrade also added, We are very pleased to have GasLog involved in the project. Their long, successful track record in the maritime and in particular in the LNG sector, coupled with their leading innovation initiatives, make them an excellent partner to take the project forward. We look forward to working with GasLog to bring this project to commercial operation. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp has been awarded a $1.45 billion contract for Patriot missiles, spare parts and ground support for South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Eric Beech) Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., (NYSE: TEVA) announced today the conclusion of negotiations with the United States government over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Following Tevas voluntary worldwide investigation into business practices, Teva and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have agreed to a resolution to resolve previously disclosed investigations into conduct relating to three countries Ukraine, Mexico and a guilty plea by the subsidiary in Russia. The resolution includes a deferred prosecution agreement, the implementation of a temporary independent compliance monitor, and previously reserved payments totaling $519 million. The resolution involves conduct occurring in the past, and none of the employees involved in the improper payments are still employed by Teva, including in Russia where the entire leadership team was replaced in 2013. None of the conduct in question involved Teva's U.S. sales. While the conduct that resulted in this investigation ended several years ago, it is both regrettable and unacceptable, and we are pleased to finally put this matter behind us, said Erez Vigodman, Tevas President and CEO. Since becoming CEO, I have worked diligently to make our culture of compliance central to everything Teva does. The compliance program that Teva has in place is serious, rigorous, and comprehensive and is designed to protect the company and its subsidiaries against future violations. Upon learning of initial FCPA concerns from both Teva employees and the U.S. government in early 2012, Teva began a voluntary and comprehensive investigation into our global operations, in addition to responding to the governments specific requests for documents and information. Teva engaged independent counsel to assist in the investigation and conducted a global corruption risk assessment and a multi-country survey. Beginning in 2012, Teva accelerated the pace of changes to address these issues by naming a global head of compliance and completely transforming our governance program and processes on every level. This resulted in actions including, terminating problematic business relationships with third parties, separating relevant employees from the company, overhauling the management of several subsidiaries, and ceasing operations in several countries. We have also restructured the company through a new global organizational structure and chain of command that reduces risks. In order to institute a culture of compliance throughout the organization, we have also trained tens of thousands of employees on compliance and anti-corruption measures, protocols and best practices. The Teva of today is a fundamentally different company, stated Vigodman. We welcome working with the monitor as an added step in our process to ensure the program we have put in place is working as designed. Teva has a compliance culture that begins with a strong tone at the top, including our executive regional and local management and a culture of compliance that underpins every single business decision that Teva makes. The company's logo is seen at the headquarters of Swiss biotech company Actelion in Allschwil, Switzerland December 6, 2016. Reuters / Arnd Wiegmann By John Revill and Ludwig Burger ZURICH/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Swiss biotech company Actelion has turned back to prospective bidder Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) for exclusive talks about a "strategic transaction", in an about-turn that appears to sideline rival suitor Sanofi . Actelion said in a brief statement on Wednesday it was in exclusive negotiations with the U.S. healthcare giant but that there could be "no assurance any transaction will result from these discussions", declining to comment further. J&J confirmed the talks in a separate statement. The announcement could dash the hopes of French drugmaker Sanofi, which sources have said has been circling Actelion after J&J a little over a week ago said it had ended discussions with Actelion. Sanofi has been trying to broaden its drug line-up as its key diabetes business comes under pressure. The French company has signaled it remained keen to make a takeover deal after being trumped in August by Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) $14 billion bid for U.S. cancer drug company Medivation. Sanofi declined to comment on Wednesday. Actelion had a market value of 23.2 billion Swiss francs ($22.6 billion) at Wednesday's closing price of 215 Swiss francs in Switzerland. U.S. shares in Actelion rose 11 percent after the announcement. J&J shares were down 0.3 percent at 1815 GMT. Actelion had told J&J before initial talks collapsed last week that it was confident it could attract an offer significantly higher than the approximately 250 Swiss francs per share the U.S. company had offered, one person familiar with the matter said. There were also disagreements about the proposed deal's structure, the person added at the time. Actelion co-founder and Chief Executive Jean-Paul Clozel has fended off previous takeover attempts, including a reported takeover approach by Shire (NYSE: SHP) last year and an activist campaign in 2011 by U.S. hedge fund Elliott Advisors. Acquiring the Swiss biotech firm would boost J&J's drug pipeline and diversify its prospects. J&J's biggest product, the arthritis drug Remicade, faces cheaper competition from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). (additional reporting by Matthias Blamont in Paris) RIDGEWOOD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The American Water Works Association New Jersey Section (AWWA NJ) has continued its mission as the authoritative resource on safe water by delivering testimony on two issues critical to New Jerseys safe drinking water. On November 3, 2016, AWWA NJ Chair Michael Furrey provided written and oral testimony for the NJ Senate Environment and Energy Committee in Trenton regarding Hexavalent Chromium. Senator Bob Smith, Chair for the Committee, made a request to the drinking water industry for technical testimony on this emerging contaminant. Hexavalent Chromium (also known as chromium-6 or Cr(VI)) was the contaminant depicted in the film Erin Brockovich. Cr(VI) is currently regulated under a US drinking water standard for total chromium of 0.1 mg/L, set in 1991. EPA is currently revising its risk assessment for Cr(VI). The AWWA NJ recommends that the NJ Water Quality Institute reconvene and examine a science-based strategy to address Hexavalent Chromium. On November 30, 2016, members of the AWWA NJ Infrastructure Management Committee provided testimony to the Joint Task Force on Water Infrastructure in Trenton NJ. AWWA NJ leaders joined former Governor James Florio in providing critical testimony to the Committee for developing a comprehensive strategy to address water infrastructure and lead contamination issues. AWWA NJ will be partnering with NJDEP, USEPA, NJ Water Works, AEA (Public) and the NJUA (Private) to help the NJ legislature address this important issue. AWWA published a report in 2014 called Buried No Longer, which concluded that restoring existing water systems as they reach the end of their useful lives and expanding them to serve a growing population will cost at least $1 trillion over the next 25 years, if we are to maintain current levels of water service. On September 16, 2016, the U.S. Senate approved S. 2848, the Water Resources Development Act or WRDA. The House is still working on its own version of a WRDA bill. A key water infrastructure element in S. 2848 is a provision for $70 million so the new Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan program, or WIFIA, can start making actual loans. In the two previous fiscal years, Congress has provided funds for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set up WIFIA administration. Another important element is $100 million to the state revolving loan fund program to assist communities where there has been a drinking water emergency, such as Flint, Mich. Information about Hexavalent Chromium and Water Infrastructure, along with copies of AWWA NJs written testimonies on these issues, are available at www.njawwa.org. For more information about the AWWA NJ Section, please visit www.njawwa.org or call Mona Cavalcoli, Section Manager, at (866) 436-1120. About AWWA NJ AWWA New Jersey Section is part of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the worlds largest association of water professionals with over 50,000 members. The AWWA New Jersey Section represents over 1,300 members united in a mission to provide New Jersey residents with a safe and reliable supply of drinking water. Members include most of New Jerseys public and investor-owned water utilities along with engineering and environmental professionals and allied industry businesses. AWWA works to make advances in public health, safety and welfare by uniting the efforts of the full spectrum of drinking water professionals. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005477/en/ AWWA NJ Mona Cavalcoli, [email protected] AWWA NJ Section Manager or Summer DeFEO, [email protected] AWWA NJ Section Public Information Committee Source: AWWA New Jersey Re: A team of Swedish scientists recently concluded a fifteen year study [ #permalink 1 Kudos PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- With 65% of drug development failures occurring because the wrong target was selected, researchers need intelligence to support their next choice. Providing this sophisticated business intelligence is why Drug Research Advisor Target Druggability, a new tool from Clarivate Analytics, was selected as one of five finalists in the Fierce Innovation Awards, Life Sciences Edition, in the Data Analytics/Business Intelligence category. Considering the many factors presenting as opportunities for the next development of a first- or best-in-class treatment, researchers are regularly challenged to rapidly evaluate the target landscape surrounding an indication or pathway. The new Target Druggability tool delivers quick, potential targets for a disease of interest. By understanding which targets are associated with a particular disease, if they have drugs associated with them, and at what stage of development they have progressed, researchers are better able to identify where the best scientific opportunities may exist. The Target Druggability tool utilizes multiple data sets, and its results are displayed for each individual target so that users can uncover knowledge about a selected target condition and its related evidence. Results are then linked to specific conditions of the target and include a variety of information about drugs ones that act against the target, genetic evidence, biomarker uses and animal model data. Putting this all together provides valuable insights to inform a researchers' understanding of that target, including the likelihood of translation into humans. "With almost 200 submissions for the Fierce awards, being one of the five finalists in the Data Analytics/Business Intelligence category is quite an honor," said Leo Lafferty-Whyte, Head of Discovery & Translational Science Products for Clarivate Analytics. "Fierce has an established name in the Life Sciences industry and to have our new product recognized prior to its official launch reinforces our belief in the ultimate value it will bring to research, not only with its intelligent insights and analytics, but also in its time savings." Drug Research Advisor Target Druggability is expected to be ready for early access to some in January, with its full launch expected in March of 2017. About FierceMarketsFierceMarkets, a division of Questex, LLC, is a leader in B2B e-media, providing information and marketing services in the telecommunications, life sciences, healthcare, IT, energy, government, finance, and retail industries through its portfolio of email newsletters, websites, webinars and live events. Every business day, FierceMarkets' wide array of digital publications reaches more than 2 million executives in more than 100 countries. Clarivate Analytics Clarivate Analytics accelerates the pace of innovation by providing trusted insights and analytics to customers around the world, enabling them to discover, protect and commercialize new ideas faster. Formerly the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters, we own and operate a collection of leading subscription-based businesses focused on scientific and academic research, patent analytics and regulatory standards, pharmaceutical and biotech intelligence, trademark protection, domain brand protection and intellectual property management. Clarivate Analytics is now an independent company with over 4,000 employees, operating in more than 100 countries and owns wellknown brands that include Web of Science, Cortellis, Thomson Innovation, Derwent World Patents Index, CompuMark, MarkMonitor, Thomson IP Manager and Techstreet, among others. For more information, please visit us at Clarivate.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/drug-research-advisor-from-clarivate-analytics-a-finalist-in-the-fierce-innovation-awards-data-analyticsbusiness-intelligence-category-300383225.html SOURCE Clarivate Analytics NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HOTELS magazine hosted its annual Hotelier of the World Awards at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, where Editor-In-Chief Jeff Weinstein announced James McBride, Managing Partner of Nihiwatu, was voted Independent Hotelier of the World by industry peers for 2016. Lowes Hotel & Resorts Chairman Jonathan Tisch received the honor of Corporate Hotelier of the World for 2016. Upon its acquisition in 2013, American entrepreneur and investor Christopher Burch partnered with McBride to overhaul and expand Nihiwatu, located on the island of Sumba in southeastern Indonesia (a 50 minute flight east of Bali), earning the resort several recent honors including Travel & Leisure's #1 Hotel in the World, Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List, Asia Spa's Resort of the Year, and Pure Life Experiences winner for Best in Design. The Hotelier of the World awards recognize leaders in hospitality who go far beyond growing their portfolios, focusing more on developing their internal teams and supporting the communities in which they operate, as well as the hotel industry at large. "The redevelopment work McBride [and Burch] has done [on Sumba] has not only brought an award-winning resort to a new and growing hotel company, but it has helped support the local community and preserve its traditions, which are infused throughout Nihiwatu and which McBride considers a key part of its' identity," reads the cover story in the November issue of HOTELS. "The luxury resort partners with a local foundation to build and staff health clinics, mitigate malaria and supply schools, and invites guests to tour its projects. It's [these] more holistic approaches to business that no doubt resonated with the readers of HOTELS." "[James is] extraordinarily creative and incredibly detailed," said Burch in an interview with HOTELS. "I feel lucky that he can think through many layers of a customer's needs. He thinks about the heart." A native of South Africa, McBride started his journey globally at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, where he remained for fourteen years. His work is the focus of a Harvard Business School case study that remains the number one best seller taught in many academic programs "that details a new hotel launch, focusing on the unique blend of leadership, quality processes, and values of self-respect and dignity, to create award-winning service." McBride was then selected to run two of the most preeminent properties, in quick succession: In 2002, he became General Manager of The Grosvenor House of London's Park Lane; and in 2003 he was appointed by Rosewood Hotels as Managing Director of The Carlyle in New York. His six years with Rosewood Hotels included the Regional Directorship of all Caribbean Resorts. McBride seized another international opportunity when he was approached by Asia's YTL Hotel Group to assume the role of its global President. It was in Asia that McBride's lifetime network, resources, and original concepts all culminated for him to pursue another revolutionary phase: Nihiwatu. The resort's experiential approach "On the Edge of Wildness" acknowledges the changing travel habits of today's consumer who seeks a new type of luxury: activity-driven, cultural, philanthropic, and with attention to the details that encourage guests to discover the very best adventure, immersion, and fun with an opportunity to give back. "This is a very meaningful award," said McBride. "Because there are so many people in the industry, past and present, who have had a huge influence on me and helped me arrive where I am today. I am so grateful for my experiences and my peers. I owe this honor to them all." Read more about the 2016 Hoteliers of the World Awards here. For more information & images, please contact: Elissa Lumley +1 (917) 592 6058 [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hotels-magazine-names-nihiwatu-managing-partner-james-mcbride-independent-hotelier-of-the-world-for-2016-300383136.html SOURCE Nihiwatu HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 12/22/16 -- KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) announced today it has been awarded a contract by Scientific Management Associates (Operations) Pty Ltd (SMA) to support them in providing Technical Training Support Services to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) at HMAS Cerberus, Victoria. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will use their proven experience in designing and delivering state-of-the-art live, virtual and constructive training environments and training management systems. This work is expected to be performed over a five year period. KBR's focus will be on supporting continuous improvement, the enhancement of training outcomes and student engagement through contemporary learning and innovation. Rob Hawketts, Vice President of KBR Government Services Asia Pacific said, "KBR is excited to work with SMA and the RAN to provide engaging and effective technical and trade training with the goal of improving job readiness while minimizing the burden on the Fleet." "This award builds on our recent success of the Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) Sustainment Training contract and demonstrates customer confidence in our ability to deliver innovative training solutions as a collaborative partner," Hawketts continued. Revenue associated with this project is undisclosed and will be booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR's Government Services business segment as task orders under the contract are awarded. About KBR, Inc. KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Hydrocarbons and Government Services Sectors. KBR employs over 31,000 people worldwide, with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses: Government Services, serving government customers globally, including capabilities that cover the full life-cycle of defense, space, aviation and other government programs and missions from research and development, through systems engineering, test and evaluation, program management, to operations, maintenance, and field logistics Technology & Consulting, including proprietary technology focused on the monetization of hydrocarbons (especially natural gas and natural gas liquids) in ethylene and petrochemicals; ammonia, nitric acid and fertilizers; oil refining; gasification; oil and gas consulting; integrity management; naval architecture and proprietary hulls; and downstream consulting Engineering & Construction, including onshore oil and gas; LNG (liquefaction and regasification)/GTL; oil refining; petrochemicals; chemicals; fertilizers; differentiated EPC; maintenance services (Brown & Root Industrial Services); offshore oil and gas (shallow-water, deep-water, subsea); floating solutions (FPU, FPSO, FLNG & FSRU) and program management KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, integrated EPC delivery and long term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver. Visit www.kbr.com Forward Looking Statement The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; the scope and enforceability of the company's indemnities from its former parent; changes in capital spending by the company's customers; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company. KBR's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that KBR has identified that may affect the business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, KBR undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason. For further information, please contact:InvestorsLynn Nazareth Vice President, Investor Relations 713-753-5082 [email protected] Babin Stout Director, Global Communications & Government Relations 713-753-3800 [email protected] Source: Kellogg Brown & Root LLC ZUG, Switzerland & GENEVA & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WISeKey International Holding Ltd (WIHN.SW) (WISeKey) announced today the release of The HUMAN(IT) Manifesto and invites all internet users to show their support for the need to manage the dynamic relationship between humanity and technology. During 2016, WISeKey, the OISTE.ORG Foundation and their global partnership ecosystem delivered new initiatives around the world bringing the number of interconnected devices featuring WISeKeys vertical platform to 2.6 billion of the total estimated market volume of 8 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices. As we predicted, while the IoT is delivering previously unthinkable technological achievements, one of the greatest challenges has been how to secure the interconnectivity of billions of devices, advises WISeKeys Founder and CEO, Carlos Moreira. The year ahead promises great advancements for WISeKey and the other innovators in internet technology development and application. And, while we will continue to pioneer the security of IoT, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI), we will do so with a keen awareness of the need to manage the dynamic relationship between humanity and technology. For this will, in fact, secure our future. To address internet security needs and the growing business opportunity, in addition to the integrated WISeKey Vertical Platform solution, the company has also introduced AI at the chip level this year, with the acquisition of a semiconductors company that is now embedding the WISeKey Root of Trust (ROT) and allowing the chips and IoT sensors to provide authenticated data. By integrating AI into the WISeKey Root of Trust and Vertical Platform, WISeKey helps objects develop their own cybersecurity behavior, thus making smarter and safer decisions. In 2017, the company anticipates introducing the WISeKey Root of Trust into over 400 million new devices. We are living in the most prolific time in human history. Self-driving cars, voice-controlled homes, and interactive, do-anything robots are the headline-grabbers but this era offers more than tools to optimize peoples time and efforts. Seismic shifts to the major physical systems of the worldtransportation, food production, energy consumption, scientific discovery, education and healthcare are occurring at an increasingly rapid pace, stated WISeKeys Senior Advisor and HUMAN (IT) Manifesto Co-Author, David Fergusson. To encourage and empower the person to be at the center of gravity of the internet, we have developed The HUMAN (IT) Manifesto which we invite all to join us in supporting. On Wednesday, January 18, 2017 WISeKey will host its annual Cybersecurity Roundtable during the Annual Summit of the World Economic Forum at Davos. Since 2014, when the company hosted the first Davos Roundtable on Identity Security, Carlos Moreira has been at the forefront of this industry leading dynamic and revealing discussions with industry experts about the future of cybersecurity and internet technology. Securing The Internet of Value is the roundtable theme for 2017 featuring Blockchain expert Don Tapscott, the best-selling author of Blockchain Revolution.. Host Carlos Moreira will be joined by industry experts including returning panelist David Fergusson, Co-CEO of The M&A Advisor; Senior Editor of The Economist, Matthew Bishop; and the Chairman of Investment for the Government of Mauritius, Gerard Sanspeur. To Sign the HUMAN(IT) Manifesto CLICK HERE About WISeKey WISeKey is a leading cybersecurity firm selected as a World Economic Forum Global Growth Company. WISeKey is currently deploying large scale Internet of Things (IoT) digital identity ecosystems and has become a pioneer of the 4th Industrial Revolution movement launched this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos. WISeKeys Swiss based Cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) integrates wearable technology with secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, and empowers IoT and wearable devices to become secure transactional devices. WISeKey has patented this process in the USA as it is currently used by many IoT providers. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com To follow WISeKeys latest activities - subscribe to our Newsletter or visit the WISeKey Investors Corner. Disclaimer: This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161221005923/en/ Press and Investor Contacts WISeKey Natalia Loboda, +41 22 594 3000 Investor Relations [email protected] or WISeKey Investor Relations (US) The Equity Group Inc. Lena Cati, +1 212-836-9611 [email protected] Source: WISeKey International Holding Ltd DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahraini security forces clashed with supporters of the country's Shi'ite Muslim spiritual leader near his home on Wednesday, activists said. Videos posted by activists online appeared to show around a dozen police vehicles and armored cars in Diraz village where Ayatollah Isa Qassim lives surrounded by youths maintaining a round-the-clock vigil to prevent his arrest. The videos and still images, whose authenticity could not be immediately confirmed by Reuters, showed the police cars firing tear gas at stone-throwing protesters. Qassim is the Shi'ite majority's most revered cleric and his treatment by Bahraini authorities has repeatedly drawn rebukes of the island kingdom's Sunni-led government by Shi'ite Iran as sectarian rancor continues to divide the region. The Bahraini interior ministry appeared to refer to the incident in a statement on its official Twitter account. "As part of efforts to preserve security and enforce the law, court orders to arrest wanted people in certain villages and to search their homes were implemented this morning." Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment and it was unclear whether they sought to detain Qassim. Qassim went on trial for money laundering in June and faces expulsion from the country after authorities revoked his citizenship in May for fomenting violence and alleged ties to foreign powers - an apparent reference to Iran. The ayatollah and his supporters have denied the charges. Bahrain's government dissolved the main opposition al-Wefaq group over the summer and detained a top human rights activist, prompting protests by the United States and United Nations. The island kingdom has been hit by unrest since 2011 "Arab Spring" protests led by the Shi'ite community were repressed by force with help from Gulf Arab neighbors. Host of the U.S.'s Fifth Fleet, Bahrain blames Shi'ite regional power Iran for the instability, which Tehran denies. (Writing By Noah Browning) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara speak to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) in Jerusalem September 30, 2016. Amos Ben Gershom/Government Press Office (GPO)/Handout via REUTERS PARIS (Reuters) - France will convene some 70 countries on Jan. 15 for a Middle East peace conference in Paris, its foreign minister said on Thursday, and will invite the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to meet separately at its conclusion. France has repeatedly tried to breathe new life into the peace process this year, holding a preliminary conference in June where the United Nations, European Union, United States and major Arab countries gathered to discuss proposals without the Israelis or Palestinians present. The plan was to hold a follow-up conference before the end of the year with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas involved to see whether the two sides could be brought back to negotiations and revive moribund peace talks. Netanyahu had repeatedly rejected the conference proposal. "France is still determined to hold a conference in Paris to reaffirm the necessity of a two-state solution," Jean-Marc Ayrault told journalists. "January 15 is the date that has been fixed and 70 countries are invited. We are not going to give up now." A French diplomatic source said invitations would also be sent to Netanyahu and Abbas to meet French president Francois Hollande to outline the results of the conference. The source said that with uncertainty surrounding how the next US administration would handle the issue it was more important than ever to deal with the issue. "You can see that it's even more justified in this context," the source said. Ahead of a UN Security Council vote at the UN later on Israeli settlements, Ayrault declined to say how Paris would vote, but repeated that settlements were illegal. "We will look at this text carefully. The ongoing settlements completely weaken the situation and create tensions and move Us away from a two-state solution". (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Maya Nikolaeva and Richard Balmforth) By Lin Taylor LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The British government must take urgent action to help end the "horrendous crisis" in South Sudan, where men have been castrated in fighting and women have drowned hiding from militias, UK lawmakers said in an open letter on Wednesday. Africa's newest nation plunged into civil war in December 2013 after a long-running feud between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, exploded into violence, much of it along ethnic lines. The pair signed a shaky peace deal last year, but fighting has continued forcing more than 1.1 million people to flee in the biggest cross-border exodus from any central African conflict since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. "All sides ... have been complicit in the killing or castration of men and boys," wrote Stephen Twigg, chair of the International Development Committee, a parliamentary watchdog. "These are horrendous acts of violence added to a litany of other sexual and gender based violence, already endemic in South Sudan." Addressing his letter to the Department of International Development and the Foreign Office, Twigg said he was shocked at the "alarming numbers" of civilians displaced or who have fled to neighboring countries because of the violence. "Women with their babies drowning on their backs, hiding in the swamps as militia go past. That fear is so desperate that they are hiding underwater," he wrote, citing an Oxfam humanitarian advisor. On Monday, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he feared genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action was taken. Last week, the head of a U.N. human rights commission called for the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force across South Sudan to stop a "Rwanda-like" genocide, and a court to be set up to prosecute atrocities. Some 800,000 people were killed in the Rwandan genocide by Hutu extremist militiamen from country's biggest ethnic group. The International Development Committee urged the UK government to help establish a U.N. force in the region, and to push the humanitarian crisis up the international agenda. (Reporting by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian issues, conflicts, global land and property rights, modern slavery and human trafficking, women's rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories) By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's national unity is under attack and its people must act to save it, former King Gyanendra said on Wednesday, in some of his most critical political comments since being toppled by a parliamentary vote eight years ago. A specially elected Constituent Assembly dominated by Maoist former rebels ended Nepal's 239-year-old monarchy in 2008 and turned the impoverished country of 28 million people into a republic. Political parties are still haggling over creating federal states under a new constitution prepared last year, with the Madhesi ethnic minority demanding an autonomous state in the southern plains bordering India. This is opposed by some upper caste Brahmins living in the hills of the mainly Hindu nation. More than 50 people died during protests in the Madhes, also known as the Tarai, last year while demanding a greater say for the Madhesi community in the government. "Social goodwill among Nepali people is being erased and relentless efforts are being made to break the feeling of unity between Tarai (plains), hills and Himal (mountains)," Gyanendra said in a statement. "It is becoming intolerable." Rounding on feuding politicians, Gyanendra said the people, the "supreme and permanent source of power", were being undermined by political parties under the "unfair influence of outside forces", which he did not identify. "Let us save Nepal now. There is no meaning in repenting after the time is over," he added. Neither the government nor the political parties could be immediately reached for comment. The landlocked Himalayan nation is sandwiched between India and China, the world's two most populous countries that have long vied for influence in Nepal. Gyanendra, 69, became monarch in 2001 after a palace massacre in which the rest of the royal family, including his brother King Birendra, were killed in a shooting spree by the then-crown prince who then turned the gun on himself. Gyanendra now lives as a commoner in Kathmandu. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Gareth Jones) FILE PHOTO: Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik raises his arm in a Nazi salute as he enters the court room in Skien prison, Norway March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche/File Photo By Alister Doyle and Stine Jacobsen OSLO (Reuters) - Norway has slightly relaxed the jail isolation of mass killer Anders Behring Breivik since an April court ruling that it had violated his human rights by keeping him in a "locked world", legal documents showed on Wednesday. The Norwegian state, preparing an appeal against the ruling starting on Jan. 10, said Breivik's still-draconian jail conditions were fully justified. The right-wing militant killed 77 people in shootings and a bombing in July 2011. The April ruling that Norway violated Breivik's human rights by keeping him isolated stunned survivors and relatives of the dead. In court, he said he was feeling bad in jail despite a three-room cell, complained about cold coffee and grumbled that jail food was "worse than waterboarding". Documents released on Wednesday showed that some conditions for Breivik have been relaxed, including that he no longer must speak to his lawyer through a glass wall. NRK public television said floor-to-ceiling bars had been installed. "This has eased contact somewhat but he is still cut off from receiving visits from lawyers in a normal way in a visitors' room," Breivik's lawyer Oeystein Storrvik wrote in the documents. "The overall pressure of isolation has ... been maintained," he wrote. Breivik has been isolated for 5-1/2 years with no contact with other prisoners and restrictions on his letters, he wrote. Breivik's mother was the only family member to have any contact, giving her son a hug in 2013 shortly before she died of cancer. Norwegian Attorney General Fredrik Sejersted said the state was continuously revising restrictions on Breivik, and said that any recent changes were not prompted by the court ruling. "Our view is that the conditions of Breivik's detention are well within practices permitted by the European Court of Human Rights," he told Reuters. He said the state did not agree that Breivik was kept in "isolation", arguing he has contact with others even though they are professionals including guards, lawyers and health workers. Among recent changes were to allow Breivik more contact with a "visitor friend" from a local church, more physical training and more time outdoors. Still, Sejersted said that Breivik had rejected many offers of social activity. In the court papers, Sejersted accused the lower court of "setting the bar too low" in April by ruling that the Norwegian state had violated a ban on "inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment" under the European Convention of Human Rights. Breivik is serving a 21-year sentence, Norway's longest, but can be extended if he is still considered a threat. (Reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Mark Heinrich) HELSINKI (Reuters) - A petition to hold a referendum on whether Finland should leave the European Union failed to attract enough signatures by the deadline on Wednesday to move the proposal to parliament. The "Fixit" petition was launched in June by the youth organization of the country's co-ruling, eurosceptic Finns party in the wake of Britain's referendum vote to leave the EU. The proposal gathered less than 34,000 supporters in six months. The required number was 50,000. According to a poll conducted by the Iltalehti newspaper soon after the Brexit vote on June 23, 69 percent of Finns opposed an EU referendum and 68 percent supported EU membership. That suggested that Britain's vote and consequent political turmoil had strengthened pro-EU sentiment in Finland. A previous poll in March had shown 43 percent of Finns wanted a referendum and 56 percent supported EU membership. "It's a shame we were not able to move forward this way, but we raised the discussion about Finland leaving the EU to a new level," said Sebastian Tynkkynen, head of the Finns Party Youth. Tynkkynen said the youth organization's next goal was to make a Fixit referendum the main campaign demand for the party in Finland's next general election in 2019. Senior lawmakers in the Finns party have also floated the idea of a EU vote as a possible campaign theme. Finland's three-party government - which includes the Centre Party with agrarian roots and the pro-EU National Coalition Party - remains officially committed to membership of the EU and the euro single-currency zone. Earlier this year, another petition demanded Finland's break from the euro, saying the lack of an independent monetary policy was hampering economic growth in the country of 5.5 million people. That petition made it to the parliament debate but the proposal was afterwards ditched by a parliament committee. (Reporting by Tuomas Forsell; Editing by Jussi Rosendahl and Mark Heinrich) Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during news conference at the Prime Minister Chancellery in Warsaw, Poland February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Kuba Atys/Agencja Gazeta By Marcin Goclowski WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland expects more foreign bank owners to sell their holdings in the country in 2017 following UniCredit's sale of the country's second largest lender, Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday. Raiffeisen has so far failed to find a buyer for its Polish unit after state-run lender Alior Bank ended talks to buy Raiffeisen Polbank. However, Poland's state-run insurer PZU and fund PFR did agree to buy UniCredit's Pekao (NYSE: PEO) for 2.5 billion euros ($2.60 billion) earlier this month. "I expect that next year we may see more financial institutions being put up for sale... we're observing this and our approach is opportunistic," Morawiecki told reporters. The Polish government has been increasing its sway over the banking sector in what analysts have said is an attempt to gain more control over the slowing economy. Following the Pekao purchase by PZU and PFR, Polish capital now controls the country's banking sector, which were for years dominated by foreign investors such as Commerzbank , Santander (NYSE: SAN), BNP Paribas , GE (NYSE: GE), Citi (NYSE: C), Credit Agricole, and BCP (AMEX: BCP). "We have done it at an ideal moment... This domestication makes sense," Morawiecki said, adding that Warsaw has no plans to force Pekao into any "silly credit decisions".. Deutsche Bank was considering selling its Polish unit, sources have said, while analysts have long speculated that all banks with a market share less than 5 percent may be put up for sale sooner or later. And a deal to buy Raiffeisen Polbank may yet be on the cards after talks with PZU-controlled Alior failed. "It is not beyond my imagination," Morawiecki said when asked if Poland or Alior may resume talks with Raiffeisen. ($1 = 0.9625 euros) (Editing by Alexander Smith) Leader of Law and Justice party Jaroslaw Kaczynski (3R) speaks during joint news conference with Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, Speaker of Parliament Marek Kuchcinski (2R), Speaker of Senate Stanislaw Karczewski (L) and Parliamentary head of Law an WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on Tuesday that recent opposition actions in a parliamentary standoff were illegal, and called on his opponents to respect the law. "We appeal to the opposition to return to a situation in which it accepts that law is binding," Kaczynski said in a televised statement along with his closest political allies. "We are facing an acceptance of actions that are of criminal character," Kaczynski said, referring to opposition lawmakers' occupation of parliament's debating chamber. He also said that the political situation in Poland will quickly calm down. "One cannot proceed this way, this is a way to a great misfortune," Kaczynski also said. (Reporting by Pawel Sobczak; Writing by Marcin Goclowski; Editing by Toby Chopra) Polish President Andrzej Duda appoints Julia Przylebska as a head of the Constitution Tribunal during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, December 21, 2016. Agencja Gazeta/Przemek Wierzchowski/via REUTERS By Pawel Sobczak and Marcin Goettig WARSAW (Reuters) - The leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, on Wednesday told opposition protesters, including lawmakers occupying parliament's debating chamber, their actions were illegal and could lead to a "great calamity". But the opposition vowed to continue a six-day-old protest bringing to a head tensions that have been building ever since the socially conservative and nationalist-minded PiS came to power with a large majority 14 months ago. In particular, it is demanding a re-run of a debate and vote on the 2017 budget that was diverted to a side-room of the lower house, the Sejm, last week because of the sit-in, and held without opposition lawmakers present. The stand-off was sparked last week by government plans to curb media access to the Sejm, the latest in moves by the PiS government which critics say are part of a policy drift toward authoritarianism. PiS denies there is any such trend. "We are really acting in a restrained way," Kaczynski told a news conference, flanked by Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, the speakers of both chambers of parliament and a deputy speaker, against a backdrop of white-and-red Polish flags. "Opposition lawmakers are bound by the law as all other citizens are ... Blocking, taking away freedom from citizens, not allowing normal movements are all criminal acts and these acts are accepted (by the opposition)," Kaczynski said. "This is really a road to a great calamity." In Brussels, the vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, said the government must stop undermining Poland's constitutional court and said the EU would use all its powers to help protect Polish democracy. Earlier this year, the Commission, the European Union's executive arm, opened a formal inquiry into the rule of law in Poland, a country previously seen as a model for the transition from communism to democratic rule and a market economy. Warsaw denies it has undermined the top court and says there is no legal basis in EU treaties for the Commission's inquiry. EU "WON'T DROP ISSUE" Timmermans gave Warsaw two months to respond to its recommendations, which would essentially mean rolling back measures Brussels says are at odds with the EU's democratic values and weaken judicial independence in Poland. "We will not drop this issue," Timmermans told a news conference, without elaborating. If all other member states agreed, Poland could lose its voting rights in the 28-nation EU, but Hungary has said it would veto such a move. Timmermans also said on Wednesday the position of Poland's constitutional court's head must not be filled until questions about the court's independence were resolved. A few hours before his comment, Polish President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, replaced the outgoing head of the court. Fears of a drift toward authoritarianism under PiS have prompted protests in cities over the last year. But although a blockade of the parliament building by demonstrators last Friday drew thousands, they had dwindled to dozens by late Wednesday. The focus of protests has now switched to the budget debate, which the opposition says was conducted irregularly and is invalid. "If PiS is not open to concessions ... then I do not see other options than to continue the protest until it is effective," Ryszard Petru, leader of the liberal Nowoczesna opposition party, told reporters. The protests have mainly been peaceful, but police have now cordoned parliament off with metal anti-riot barriers. The PiS came to power promising a return to patriotic and Roman Catholic values in public life and a tougher stance toward the EU and Poland's historical adversary Russia. The government has placed state media and prosecutors under its direct control and changed legislation determining the functioning of the constitutional court. Poland's financial markets have shown little reaction to the stand-off, with its currency, bonds and share indices all little changed. (Reporting by Pawel Sobczak, Marcin Goclowski, Agnieszka Barteczko; Writing by Marcin Goettig; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Gareth Jones) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale to Norway of five P-8A surveillance aircraft and associated support worth an estimated $1.75 billion, a Pentagon agency said on Wednesday. Boeing Co is the lead contractor in the sale, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement, adding that it notified the U.S. Congress of the possible sale on Tuesday. Other participants include BAE Systems PLC, General Electric Co, Northrop Grumman Corp and Raytheon Co, it said. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Doina Chiacu) United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power addresses media following a United Nations Security Council vote, aimed at ensuring that U.N. officials can monitor evacuations from besieged parts of the Syrian city of Aleppo, at the United N By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on Friday on whether to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, even though the U.S.-drafted measure is likely to fail despite warnings by U.N. officials of a possible genocide, diplomats said on Wednesday. The resolution also proposes blacklisting South Sudan opposition figure Riek Machar, army chief Paul Malong and Information Minister Michael Makuei by subjecting them to an asset freeze and travel ban. To be adopted, a resolution needs nine votes and no vetoes. Diplomats say that so far seven members were in favor, with the remaining eight planning to abstain. The United States has requested that a vote be held on Friday. "Council members will need, each of us, to own our decisions. So the United States urges you to prepare to vote your conscience, and to vote to stand with the people of South Sudan," Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the council on Monday. The United States has been unable to win over its ally Japan, which last month deployed troops to a U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. It is focusing lobbying efforts on Senegal and Angola, diplomats said. "We urge all our council colleagues to vote in favor of that resolution on Friday. I don't know whether enough of them will do so," British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters on Wednesday. Political rivalry between South Sudan President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and Marchar, his former deputy, led in 2013 to civil war that often has followed ethnic lines. The pair signed a peace deal last year, but fighting has continued. Machar, a Nuer, fled in July and is now in South Africa. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday told the Security Council that he feared genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action is taken, renewing his months-old plea for an arms embargo.U.N. peacekeepers have been in South Sudan since the nation gained independence from Sudan in 2011, and there currently are some 13,700 U.N. troops and police in the country. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols Editing by W Simon) UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): December 22, 2016 iShares Gold Trust (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) New York (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) 001-32418 (Commission File Number) 81-6124036 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) c/o iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC 400 Howard Street San Francisco, California 94105 Attn: Product Management Team iShares Product Research & Development (Address of Principal Executive Offices) Registrants telephone number, including area code: (415) 670-2000 Not Applicable Former name or former address, if changed since last report Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions: Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement iShares Gold Trust (the Registrant) issues and redeems units of beneficial interest (or Shares) representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in its net assets only in exchange for gold, only in aggregations of 50,000 Shares or integral multiples thereof (each, a Basket), and only in transactions with registered broker-dealers that have previously entered into an agreement with the Registrant governing the terms and conditions of such issuance (such broker-dealers, the Authorized Participants). The Trust is administered by The Bank of New York Mellon (the Trustee) and JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London branch (the Custodian) is responsible for the safekeeping of gold bullion owned by the Registrant. The Registrant entered into the following amendments and restatements of its operating agreements to make certain operational updates to the agreements, including most significantly to allow Authorized Participants to order, or surrender for redemption, Baskets using the electronic order system of the Trustee: Fourth Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement, dated as of December 22, 2016, by and between iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC and The Bank of New York Mellon (the Trust Agreement); Standard Terms for Authorized Participant Agreements, dated as of December 22, 2016, by and between iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC and The Bank of New York Mellon (the Standard Terms for Authorized Participant Agreements); and Second Amended and Restated Custodian Agreement, dated as of December 22, 2016, by and between The Bank of New York Mellon and JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London branch (the Custodian Agreement, together with the Trust Agreement and the Standard Terms for Authorized Participant Agreements, the Agreements). The Registrant's affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, various commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with the parties to the Agreements. Such parties have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions. The foregoing description of the amendments to the Agreements does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Agreements, which have been filed with this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 4.1, Exhibit 4.2 and Exhibit 10.1. Item 3.03. Material Modification to the Rights of Security Holders The information set forth in Item 1.01 relating to the Trust Agreement is incorporated herein by reference. Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits Exhibit 4.1 Fourth Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement, dated as of December 22, 2016, by and between iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC and The Bank of New York Mellon. Exhibit 4.2 Standard Terms for Authorized Participant Agreements, dated as of December 22, 2016, by and between iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC and The Bank of New York Mellon. Exhibit 10.1 Second Amended and Restated Custodian Agreement, dated as of December 22, 2016, by and between The Bank of New York Mellon and JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London branch. SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. Date: December 22, 2016 iShares Gold Trust* By: iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC By: /s/ Jack Gee Name: Jack Gee Title: Managing Director By: /s/ Raymund Santiago Name: Raymund Santiago Title: Director * The registrant is a trust and the persons are signing in their respective capacities as officers of iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, the Sponsor of the Registrant. Exhibit 4.1 Execution Copy iSHARES DELAWARE TRUST SPONSOR LLC, as Sponsor and THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, as Trustee Fourth Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement iShares Gold Trust Dated as of December 22, 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS AND RULES OF CONSTRUCTION 2 Section 1.1. Definitions 2 Section 1.2. Rules of Construction 6 ARTICLE 2. CREATION AND DECLARATION OF TRUST; FORM OF CERTIFICATES; DEPOSIT OF GOLD; DELIVERY, REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER AND SURRENDER OF SHARES 6 Section 2.1. Creation and Declaration of Trust; Business of the Trust. 6 Section 2.2. Form of Certificates; Book-Entry System; Transferability of Shares. 7 Section 2.3. Deposit of Gold. 8 Section 2.4. Delivery of Shares 9 Section 2.5. Registration and Registration of Transfer of Shares; Combination and Split-up of Certificates. 9 Section 2.6. Surrender of Shares and Withdrawal of Trust Property. 10 Section 2.7. Limitations on Delivery, Registration of Transfer and Surrender of Shares. 11 Section 2.8. Lost Certificates, Etc 11 Section 2.9. Cancellation and Destruction of Surrendered Certificates 11 Section 2.10. Splits and Reverse Splits of Shares 12 ARTICLE 3. CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS OF REGISTERED OWNERS OF SHARES 12 Section 3.1. Liability of Registered Owner for Taxes and Other Governmental Charges 12 Section 3.2. Warranties on Deposit of Gold 12 ARTICLE 4. ADMINISTRATION OF THE TRUST 13 Section 4.1. Evaluation of Gold 13 Section 4.2. Responsibility of the Trustee for Evaluations 13 Section 4.3. Trust Evaluation 13 Section 4.4. Cash Distributions 13 Section 4.5. Other Distributions 14 Section 4.6. Fixing of Record Date 14 Section 4.7. Payment of Expenses; Gold Sales. 14 Section 4.8. Statements and Reports. 15 Section 4.9. Further Provisions for Gold Sales 15 Section 4.10. Counsel 16 - i - TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Section 4.11. Grantor Trust 16 ARTICLE 5. THE TRUSTEE AND THE SPONSOR 16 Section 5.1. Maintenance of Office and Transfer Books by the Trustee. 16 Section 5.2. Prevention or Delay in Performance by the Sponsor or the Trustee 16 Section 5.3. Obligations of the Sponsor and the Trustee. 17 Section 5.4. Resignation or Removal of the Trustee; Appointment of Successor Trustee. 17 Section 5.5. The Custodian. 19 Section 5.6. Indemnification. 20 Section 5.7. Charges of Trustee. 22 Section 5.8. Charges of Sponsor. 22 Section 5.9. Retention of Trust Documents 23 Section 5.10. Federal Securities Law Filings. 23 Section 5.11. Prospectus Delivery 23 Section 5.12. Discretionary Actions by Trustee; Consultation. 24 ARTICLE 6. AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION 24 Section 6.1. Amendment 24 Section 6.2. Termination. 24 ARTICLE 7. MISCELLANEOUS 26 Section 7.1. Counterparts 26 Section 7.2. Third-Party Beneficiaries 26 Section 7.3. Severability 26 Section 7.4. Registered Owners, Beneficial Owners and Depositors as Parties; Binding Effect 26 Section 7.5. Notices. 26 Section 7.6. Agent for Service; Submission to Jurisdiction 28 Section 7.7. Governing Law 28 EXHIBIT A FORM OF CERTIFICATE EVIDENCING SHARES - ii - THIS FOURTH AMENDED AND RESTATED DEPOSITARY TRUST AGREEMENT dated as of December 22, 2016, between iSHARES DELAWARE TRUST SPONSOR LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, as sponsor, THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, a New York banking corporation formerly known as The Bank of New York, as trustee, all Registered Owners and Beneficial Owners from time to time of Shares issued hereunder and all Depositors W I T N E S S E T H : WHEREAS iShares Gold Trust (previously known as the iShares COMEX Gold Trust), a trust governed by the laws of the State of New York, was created pursuant to the Depositary Trust Agreement dated as of January 19, 2005 executed by Barclays Global Investors, N.A., a national banking association acting as the initial sponsor of the Trust (in such capacity, the Initial Sponsor), and the Trustee (the Original Depositary Trust Agreement); and WHEREAS the Original Depositary Trust Agreement was amended and restated as of February 6, 2007 to substitute Barclays Global Investors International Inc. (subsequently known as Blackrock Asset Management International Inc. and in such capacity, the Second Sponsor) in lieu of the Initial Sponsor as the sponsor of the Trust and to consolidate into one document the Original Depositary Trust Agreement and an amendment thereto (such amendment and restatement, the First Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement); and WHEREAS the First Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement was further amended and restated as of September 2, 2010 to consolidate into one document the First Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement and amendments made as of November 30, 2009, as of February 9, 2010, and as of June 30, 2010 (such further amendment and restatement, the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement); and WHEREAS the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement was amended by a First Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement dated October 31, 2012 (the First Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement) to substitute iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC (the Successor Sponsor) in lieu of Blackrock Asset Management International Inc. as sponsor of the Trust; and WHEREAS the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement was further amended and restated as of February 28, 2013 (such further amendment and restatement, the Third Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement and, together with the Original Depositary Trust Agreement, the First Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement and the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement, the Previous Depositary Trust Agreements); and WHEREAS the parties hereto wish to amend and restate the Third Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement as provided herein; NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and of the mutual agreements herein contained, the parties hereto hereby agree as follows: ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS AND RULES OF CONSTRUCTION Section 1.1. Definitions . Except as otherwise specified in this Fourth Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement or as the context may otherwise require, the following terms have the respective meanings set forth below for all purposes of this Fourth Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement. Agreement means this Fourth Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement, as amended or supplemented in accordance with its terms. Authorized Participant means a Person that, at the time of submitting a Purchase Order or a Redemption Order (i) is a registered broker-dealer, (ii) is a DTC Participant or an Indirect Participant and (iii) has in effect a valid Authorized Participant Agreement. Authorized Participant Agreement means an agreement among the Trustee, the Sponsor and an Authorized Participant that authorizes the Authorized Participant to submit Purchase Orders and Redemption Orders under this Agreement. Basket means 50,000 Shares, except that the Trustee, in consultation with the Sponsor, may from time to time increase or decrease the number of Shares comprising a Basket. Basket Gold Amount is the amount of Gold that must be deposited for issuance of one Basket or that is deliverable upon Surrender of one Basket. The Basket Gold Amount will be determined as provided in Section 2.3(b). Beneficial Owner means any Person owning a beneficial interest in any Shares. Business Day means any day other than (i) a Saturday or Sunday or (ii) a day on which the Exchange is not open for regular trading. Certificate means a certificate that is executed and delivered by the Trustee evidencing Shares. CFTC means the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or any successor governmental agency in the United States. Commission means the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States or any successor governmental agency in the United States. Corporate Trust Office means the office of the Trustee at which its exchange traded fund administration business is administered which, at the date of this Agreement, is located at 2 Hanson Place, 9th Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11217. Current Custodian means, as of the date of this Agreement, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., London Branch, as custodian under the Custodian Agreement. - 2 - Custodian means the Current Custodian and any substitute or additional custodian of the Trusts assets appointed by the Trustee at the direction of the Sponsor as provided in Section 5.5 and, where the context permits, any sub-custodians employed by the Current Custodian or any such substitute or additional custodian. Custodian Agreement means the custodian agreement entered into between the Trustee and the Current Custodian and any custodian or custody agreement entered into pursuant to Section 5.5(a) with a substitute or additional Custodian. Deliver means (a) when used with respect to Gold, (i) physically delivering that Gold to, or making that Gold available for collection by, the Person entitled to the delivery at the specified location, (ii) obtaining evidence that ownership of that Gold has been transferred to, and the Gold is being duly held by a custodian for the account of, the Person entitled to that delivery or (iii) obtaining an acknowledgement from a custodian of a credit of Gold on an Unallocated Basis to the account of the Person entitled to that delivery and (b) when used with respect to Shares, either (i) one or more book-entry transfers of those Shares to an account or accounts at DTC designated by the Person entitled to such delivery for further credit as specified by that Person or (ii) in the circumstances specified in Section 2.2(e), execution and delivery at the Corporate Trust Office of the Trustee of one or more Certificates evidencing those Shares. Depositor means any Authorized Participant that deposits Gold into the Trust, either for its own account or on behalf of another Person that is the owner or beneficial owner of that Gold. DTC means The Depository Trust Company, its nominees and their respective successors. DTC Participant means a Person that, pursuant to DTCs governing documents, is entitled to deposit securities with DTC in its capacity as a participant. Exchange means the exchange or other securities market on which the Shares are principally traded, as specified from time to time by the Sponsor. Exchange Act means the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Fine Ounce means an Ounce of 100% pure gold. The number of Fine Ounces in a gold bar may be calculated by multiplying the gross weight in Ounces by the fineness, expressed as a fraction of the fine metal content in parts per 1000, in accordance with the good delivery rules of the London Bullion Market Association. First Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement shall have the meaning set forth in the second recital hereto. First Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement shall have the meaning set forth in the fourth recital hereto. - 3 - Gold means (a) gold that meets the requirements of good delivery under the rules of the London Bullion Market Association and (b) credit to an account on an Unallocated Basis representing the right to receive gold that meets the requirements of part (a) of this definition. Indirect Participant means a Person that, by clearing securities through, or maintaining a custodial relationship with, a DTC Participant, has access to the DTC clearing system. Initial Sponsor has the meaning specified in the first recital hereto. Internal Control Over Financial Reporting has the meaning ascribed to such term in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) adopted by the Commission under the Exchange Act. Net Asset Value means the net value of the Trust determined under Section 4.3. Net Asset Value per Share means the value of a Share determined under Section 4.3. Order Cutoff Time means, with respect to any Business Day, (i) 3:59:59 p.m. (New York time) on such Business Day or (ii) another time agreed to by the Sponsor and the Trustee and of which Registered Owners and all existing Authorized Participants have been notified by the Trustee. Order Date means, with respect to a Purchase Order, the date specified in Section 2.3(a) and, with respect to a Redemption Order, the date specified in Section 2.6(a). Original Depositary Trust Agreement has the meaning ascribed to the term in the first recital hereto. Ounce means a troy ounce, equal to 1.0971428 ounces avoirdupois. Person means any natural person or any limited liability company, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, joint stock company, trust, unincorporated organization or government or any agency or political subdivision thereof. Previous Depositary Trust Agreements shall have the meaning set forth in the fifth recital hereto. Purchase Order is defined in Section 2.3. Qualified Bank means a bank, trust company, corporation or national banking association organized and doing business under the laws of the United States or any State of the United States that is authorized under those laws to exercise corporate trust powers and that (i) is a DTC Participant or a participant in such other securities depository as is then acting with respect to the Shares, (ii) unless counsel to the Sponsor, the appointment of which is acceptable to the Trustee, determines that the following requirement is not necessary for the exception under Section 408(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), to apply, is a banking institution as defined in Section 408(n) of the Code and (iii) had, as of the date of its most recent annual financial statements, an aggregate capital, surplus and undivided profits of at least $150,000,000. - 4 - Redemption Order is defined in Section 2.6. Registered Owner means the Person in whose name Shares are registered on the books of the Trustee maintained for that purpose. Registrar means any bank or trust company that is appointed to register Shares and transfers of Shares as herein provided. Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement shall have the meaning set forth in the third recital hereto. Second Sponsor has the meaning specified in the second recital hereto. Shares means shares issued under the Previous Depositary Trust Agreements or this Agreement, each representing a fractional undivided ownership interest in the net assets of the Trust, which interest shall equal a fraction, the numerator of which is 1 and the denominator of which is the total number of Shares outstanding. Sponsor means, from the date of the Original Depositary Trust Agreement to the effective date of the First Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement, the Initial Sponsor; from the effective date of the First Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement to the effective date of the First Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement, the Second Sponsor; and from the effective date of the First Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement, the Successor Sponsor, or its successor. Successor Sponsor has the meaning specified in the fourth recital hereto. Surrender means, when used with respect to Shares, (a) one or more book-entry transfers of Shares to the DTC account of the Trustee or (b) surrender to the Trustee at its Corporate Trust Office of one or more Certificates evidencing Shares. Third Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement shall have the meaning set forth in the fifth recital hereto. Trust means the iShares Gold Trust, the trust entity governed by this Agreement and known, prior to the date of the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement, as the iShares COMEX Gold Trust. Trustee means The Bank of New York Mellon, a New York banking corporation formerly known as The Bank of New York, in its capacity as trustee under the Previous Depositary Trust Agreements and this Agreement, or any successor as trustee under this Agreement. Trust Property means the Gold deposited under the Previous Depositary Trust Agreements or under this Agreement and any cash or other property that is received by the Trustee in respect of Trust Property and that is being held under this Agreement. - 5 - Unallocated Basis means that the Person in whose name Gold is so held is entitled to receive delivery of Gold standing to the credit of that Persons account, but that Person has no ownership interest in any particular Gold that the custodian maintaining that account owns or holds. Valuation Relevant Price means, as of any day, such price regularly announced by a domestic or foreign entity (including an exchange, trade or industry association, or similar organization) as the Sponsor shall have from time to time determined that fairly represents the commercial value of Gold held by the Trust as of such day; provided, that a price so determined by the Sponsor shall be effective upon the Trustees notice to the Sponsor that it has sufficient access to pricing information to make the valuations required hereunder. Section 1.2. Rules of Construction . Unless the context otherwise requires: (i) a term has the meaning assigned to it; (ii) an accounting term not otherwise defined has the meaning assigned to it in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as in effect in the United States; (iii) or is not exclusive; (iv) the words herein, hereof, hereunder and other words of similar import refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular Article, Section or other subdivision; (v) including means including without limitation; and (vi) words in the singular include the plural and words in the plural include the singular. ARTICLE 2. CREATION AND DECLARATION OF TRUST; FORM OF CERTIFICATES; DEPOSIT OF GOLD; DELIVERY, REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER AND SURRENDER OF SHARES Section 2.1. Creation and Declaration of Trust; Business of the Trust . (a) The Trustee acknowledges that it received an initial deposit of Gold under and in accordance with the Original Depositary Trust Agreement from Barclays Capital Inc. The Trustee declares that it holds and will hold all Trust Property as trustee for the benefit of the Registered Owners for the purposes of, and subject to and limited by the terms and conditions set forth in, this Agreement. The trust governed by this Agreement was previously known as the iShares COMEX Gold Trust and is now known as the iShares Gold Trust. - 6 - (b) The Trust shall not engage in any business or activities other than those authorized by this Agreement or incidental and necessary to carry out the duties and responsibilities set forth in this Agreement. Other than issuance of the Shares, the Trust shall not issue or sell any certificates or other obligations or, except as provided in this Agreement, otherwise incur, assume or guarantee any indebtedness for money borrowed. Section 2.2. Form of Certificates; Book-Entry System; Transferability of Shares . (a) The Certificates evidencing Shares issued subsequent to the date of this Agreement shall be substantially in the form set forth in Exhibit A annexed to this Agreement, with appropriate insertions, modifications and omissions, as hereinafter provided. No Shares shall be entitled to any benefits under this Agreement or be valid or obligatory for any purpose unless a Certificate evidencing those Shares has been executed by the Trustee by the manual or facsimile signature of a duly authorized signatory of the Trustee and, if a Registrar (other than the Trustee) for the Shares shall have been appointed, countersigned by the manual signature of a duly authorized officer of the Registrar. The Trustee shall maintain books on which the registered ownership of each Share and transfers, if any, of such registered ownership shall be recorded. Certificates evidencing Shares bearing the manual or facsimile signature of a duly authorized signatory of the Trustee and the manual signature of a duly authorized officer of the Registrar, if applicable, who was, at the time such Certificates were executed, a proper signatory of the Trustee or Registrar, if applicable, shall bind the Trustee, notwithstanding that such signatory has ceased to hold such office prior to the delivery of such Certificates. (b) The Certificates may be endorsed with or have incorporated in the text thereof such legends or recitals or modifications not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement as may be required by the Trustee or required to comply with any applicable law or regulations thereunder or with the rules and regulations of any securities exchange upon which Shares may be listed or to conform with any usage with respect thereto, or to indicate any special limitations or restrictions to which the Shares evidenced by a particular Certificate are subject. (c) The Sponsor and the Trustee have applied to DTC for acceptance of the Shares in its book-entry settlement system. Shares deposited with DTC shall be evidenced by one or more global Certificates which shall be registered in the name of Cede & Co., as nominee for DTC, and shall bear the following legend: UNLESS THIS CERTIFICATE IS PRESENTED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DEPOSITORY TRUST COMPANY, A NEW YORK CORPORATION (DTC), TO THE AGENT AUTHORIZED BY THE ISSUER FOR REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER, EXCHANGE OR PAYMENT, AND ANY CERTIFICATE ISSUED IS REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF CEDE & CO. OR IN SUCH OTHER NAME AS IS REQUESTED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF DTC (AND ANY PAYMENT IS MADE TO CEDE & CO. OR TO SUCH OTHER ENTITY AS IS REQUESTED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF DTC), ANY TRANSFER, PLEDGE, OR OTHER USE HEREOF FOR VALUE OR OTHERWISE BY OR TO ANY PERSON IS WRONGFUL INASMUCH AS THE REGISTERED OWNER HEREOF, CEDE & CO., HAS AN INTEREST HEREIN. - 7 - (d) So long as the Shares are eligible for book-entry settlement with DTC and such settlement is available, unless otherwise required by law, notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 2.2(a) and (b), all Shares shall be evidenced by one or more global Certificates the Registered Owner of which is DTC or a nominee of DTC and (i) no Beneficial Owner of Shares will be entitled to receive a separate Certificate evidencing those Shares, (ii) the interest of a Beneficial Owner in Shares represented by a global Certificate will be shown only on, and transfer of that interest will be effected only through, records maintained by DTC or a DTC Participant or Indirect Participant through which the Beneficial Owner holds that interest and (iii) the rights of a Beneficial Owner with respect to Shares represented by a global Certificate will be exercised only to the extent allowed by, and in compliance with, the arrangements in effect between such Beneficial Owner and DTC or the DTC Participant or Indirect Participant through which that Beneficial Owner holds an interest in Shares. (e) If, at any time when Shares are evidenced by a global Certificate, DTC ceases to make its book-entry settlement system available for such Shares, the Trustee shall execute and deliver separate Certificates evidencing Shares to the DTC Participants entitled thereto, with such additions, deletions and modifications to this Agreement and to the form of Certificate evidencing Shares as the Sponsor and the Trustee may agree. (f) Title to a Certificate evidencing Shares (and to the Shares evidenced thereby), when properly endorsed or accompanied by proper instruments of transfer, shall be transferable by delivery with the same effect as in the case of a negotiable instrument under the laws of New York; provided , however , that the Trustee, notwithstanding any notice to the contrary, may treat the Registered Owner of Shares as the absolute owner thereof for the purpose of determining the Person entitled to any distribution or to any notice provided for in this Agreement and for all other purposes. Section 2.3. Deposit of Gold . (a) The issuance and Delivery of Shares will take place only in integral numbers of Baskets and in compliance with the provisions of this Agreement, as supplemented by any procedures attached to an applicable Authorized Participant Agreement, to the extent those procedures are consistent with this Agreement. Authorized Participants wishing to acquire from the Trustee one or more Baskets must place an order with the Trustee (a Purchase Order) on any Business Day. Purchase Orders received by the Trustee prior to the Order Cutoff Time on a Business Day on which a Valuation Relevant Price is announced will have that Business Day as the Order Date. Purchase Orders received by the Trustee on or after the Order Cutoff Time on a Business Day, or on a Business Day on which no Valuation Relevant Price is announced, will not be accepted. As consideration for each Basket acquired, Authorized Participants must deposit with the Custodian the Basket Gold Amount determined by the Trustee on the Order Date of the corresponding Purchase Order. Gold must be Delivered to the Custodian in the form of Gold bars only, except that an amount of Gold not exceeding 430 Ounces may be Delivered to the Custodian on an Unallocated Basis. - 8 - (b) The Trustee shall determine the Basket Gold Amount for each Business Day. The Basket Gold Amount shall be an amount of Gold equal to the result obtained by dividing the Net Asset Value per Basket on the date on which the determination is being made by the price used by the Trustee to evaluate Gold held by the Trust on such date in compliance with Section 4.1. For purposes of this computation, Net Asset Value per Basket is the result obtained by multiplying (x) the Net Asset Value per Share determined in compliance with Section 4.3, by (y) the number of Shares which constitute a Basket on the date on which the determination is being made. Fractions of a Fine Ounce of Gold included in the Basket Gold Amount smaller than .001 Fine Ounce shall be disregarded. The Sponsor intends to publish, or may designate other Persons to publish, for each Business Day, the Basket Gold Amount. (c) If the Trust Property includes money or any property other than Gold, no deposits of Gold will be accepted until after a record date for distribution of that money or property, or proceeds of that property, has passed. (d) All deposited Gold shall be owned by the Trust and held for the Trust by the Custodian. The Trustee shall require the Custodian to agree that the Custodian will use reasonable efforts to minimize the amount of Gold held for the Trust on an Unallocated Basis at all times including, if so agreed to by the Custodian, by allocating from time to time to the Trust one or more Gold bars with an aggregate weight in excess of the amount owned by the Trust (in which case, such Gold bar or bars will be co-owned with the Custodian to the extent of such excess). Cash and any other assets of the Trust shall be held by the Trustee at such place and in such manner as the Trustee shall determine. Section 2.4. Delivery of Shares . Upon receipt by the Trustee of any deposit in accordance with Section 2.3, together with a Purchase Order and the other documents required as above specified, if any, and a confirmation from the Custodian that the Gold Deposit Amount has been Delivered to the Custodian for each Basket of Shares and the Custodian is holding that Gold for the account of the Trust, the Trustee, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, shall Deliver to the Depositor the number of Baskets of Shares issuable in respect of such deposit as requested in the corresponding Purchase Order, but only upon payment to the Trustee of the fees and expenses of the Trustee as provided in Section 5.7 and of all taxes and governmental charges and fees payable in connection with such deposit, the transfer of the Gold and the issuance and Delivery of the Shares. Section 2.5. Registration and Registration of Transfer of Shares; Combination and Split-up of Certificates . (a) The Trustee shall keep or cause to be kept a register of Registered Owners of Shares and shall provide for the registration of Shares and the registration of transfers of Shares. (b) The Trustee, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, shall register transfers of ownership of Shares on its transfer books from time to time, upon any Surrender of a Certificate evidencing such Shares, by the Registered Owner in person or by a duly authorized attorney, properly endorsed or accompanied by proper instruments of transfer, and duly stamped as may be required by the laws of the State of New York and of the United States of America. Thereupon the Trustee shall execute a new Certificate or Certificates evidencing such Shares, and deliver the same to or upon the order of the Person entitled thereto. - 9 - (c) The Trustee, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, shall, upon Surrender of a Certificate or Certificates evidencing Shares for the purposes of effecting a split-up or combination of that Certificate or Certificates, execute and deliver one or more new Certificates evidencing those Shares. (d) The Trustee may, with the written approval of the Sponsor (which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld), appoint one or more co-transfer agents for the purpose of effecting registration of transfers of Shares and combinations and split-ups of Certificates at designated transfer offices on behalf of the Trustee. In carrying out its functions, a co-transfer agent may require evidence of authority and compliance with applicable laws and other requirements by Registered Owners or Persons entitled to Shares and will be entitled to protection and indemnity to the same extent as the Trustee. Section 2.6. Surrender of Shares and Withdrawal of Trust Property . (a) Upon Surrender of any integral number of Baskets for the purpose of withdrawal of the amount of Trust Property represented thereby, and upon payment of the fee of the Trustee in connection with the Surrender of Shares as provided in Section 5.7 and payment of all taxes and charges payable in connection with such Surrender and withdrawal of Trust Property, and subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, an Authorized Participant acting on authority of the Beneficial Owner of those Shares will be entitled to Delivery, in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, as supplemented by any procedures attached to an applicable Authorized Participant Agreement, to the extent those procedures are consistent with this Agreement, of the amount of Trust Property at the time represented by such Baskets, including the Basket Gold Amounts corresponding to such Baskets on the applicable Order Date (determined as provided below). Authorized Participants wishing to redeem one or more Baskets must place an order with the Trustee (a Redemption Order) on any Business Day. Redemption Orders received by the Trustee prior to the Order Cutoff Time on a Business Day on which a Valuation Relevant Price is announced will have that Business Day as the Order Date. Redemption Orders received by the Trustee on or after the Order Cutoff Time on any Business Day, or on a Business Day on which no Valuation Relevant Price is announced, will not be accepted. Unless otherwise agreed to by the Custodian, Gold will be Delivered by the Custodian in the form of Gold bars only, except that an amount of Gold not exceeding 430 Ounces may be Delivered by the Custodian on an Unallocated Basis. While a redeeming Authorized Participant will be entitled to express a preference as to the city where it would like to have the Basket Gold Amount delivered, the Trustee, in consultation with the Custodian and taking into account the best interests of the Trust and the Registered Owners, will have final authority to decide where such Delivery will take place. - 10 - (b) The Trustee may require that a Certificate evidencing Shares Surrendered for the purpose of withdrawal is properly endorsed in blank or accompanied by proper instruments of transfer in blank. Upon a Surrender of an integral number of Baskets of Shares and satisfaction of all the conditions for withdrawal of Trust Property, the Trustee shall instruct the Custodian to Deliver, at the Custodians office or at another location at which Trust Property is then being held, to or to the order of the Surrendering Authorized Participant the amount of Gold represented by the Surrendered Baskets of Shares and the Trustee shall pay or deliver to or to the order of the Surrendering Authorized Participant the amount of any other Trust Property represented by the Surrendered Baskets of Shares. Any Delivery of Gold other than at the office of the Custodian or a sub-custodian designated by the Custodian will be at the expense and risk of the Authorized Participant. The Trustee will not be responsible to any Person if it is not practical for the Custodian to make Delivery of Gold in the city requested or if the Trustee determines to effect Delivery in a city other than the city requested by the Surrendering Authorized Participant. The Trustee is not required to effect any physical movement of Gold from one custody location to another to meet any request by a Surrendering Authorized Participant as to where Gold will be Delivered. Section 2.7. Limitations on Delivery, Registration of Transfer and Surrender of Shares . (a) As a condition precedent to the Delivery, registration of transfer, split-up, combination or Surrender of any Shares or withdrawal of any Trust Property, the Trustee or Registrar may require payment from the Depositor or the Authorized Participant Surrendering the Shares of a sum sufficient to reimburse it for any tax or other governmental charge and any stock transfer or registration fee with respect thereto (including any such tax or charge and fee with respect to any securities being withdrawn) and payment of any applicable fees as herein provided, may require the production of proof satisfactory to it as to the identity and genuineness of any signature and may also require compliance with any regulations the Trustee may establish consistent with the provisions of this Agreement, including, without limitation, this Section 2.7. (b) The Delivery of Shares against deposits of Gold and the registration of transfer of Shares may be suspended generally, or refused with respect to particular requested Deliveries, during any period when the transfer books of the Trustee are closed or if any such action is deemed necessary or advisable by the Trustee or the Sponsor for any reason at any time or from time to time. Except as otherwise provided elsewhere in this Agreement, the Surrender of Shares for purposes of withdrawing Trust Property may be suspended only (i) during any period in which the Exchange is closed (other than scheduled holiday or weekend closings) or regular trading thereon is suspended or restricted, or (ii) during an emergency as a result of which Delivery, disposal or evaluation of Gold is not reasonably practicable. Section 2.8. Lost Certificates, Etc . The Trustee shall execute and deliver a new Certificate of like tenor in exchange and substitution for a mutilated Certificate upon cancellation thereof, or in lieu of and in substitution for a destroyed, lost or stolen Certificate if the Registered Owner thereof has (a) filed with the Trustee (i) a request for such execution and delivery before the Trustee has notice that the Shares evidenced by the Certificate have been acquired by a protected purchaser and (ii) a sufficient indemnity bond, and (b) satisfied any other reasonable requirements imposed by the Trustee. Section 2.9. Cancellation and Destruction of Surrendered Certificates . All Certificates Surrendered to the Trustee shall be canceled by the Trustee. The Trustee is authorized to destroy Certificates so canceled. - 11 - Section 2.10. Splits and Reverse Splits of Shares . If requested in writing by the Sponsor, the Trustee shall effect a split or reverse split of the Shares as of a record date set by the Trustee in accordance with procedures determined by the Trustee. The Trustee is not required to distribute any fraction of a Share in connection with a split or reverse split of the Shares. The Trustee may sell the aggregated fractions of Shares that would otherwise be distributed in a split or reverse split of the Shares or the amount of Trust Property that would be represented by those Shares and distribute the net proceeds of those Shares or that Trust Property to the Record Owners entitled to them. The amount of Trust Property represented by each Share and the Basket Gold Amount shall be adjusted as appropriate as of the open of business on the Business Day following the record date for a split or reverse split of the Shares. ARTICLE 3. CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS OF REGISTERED OWNERS OF SHARES Section 3.1. Liability of Registered Owner for Taxes and Other Governmental Charges . If any tax or other governmental charge shall become payable by the Trustee with respect to any transfer or redemption of Shares, such tax or other governmental charge shall be payable by the Registered Owner of such Shares to the Trustee. The Trustee shall refuse to effect any registration of transfer of such Shares or any withdrawal of Trust Property represented by such Shares until such payment is made, and may withhold any distributions, or may sell for the account of the Registered Owner thereof Trust Property or Shares, and may apply such distributions or the proceeds of any such sale in payment of such tax or other governmental charge, and the Registered Owner of such Shares shall remain liable for any deficiency. The Trustee shall distribute any net proceeds of a sale made under the preceding sentence that remain, after payment of the tax or other governmental charge, to the Registered Owners entitled thereto as in the case of a distribution in cash. Section 3.2. Warranties on Deposit of Gold . Every Person depositing Gold under this Agreement shall be deemed thereby to represent and warrant that the Gold meets the requirements to be Gold and contains the required number of Fine Ounces, that the Person making such deposit is duly authorized to do so and that at the time of delivery, the Gold is free and clear of any lien, pledge, encumbrance, right, charge or claim (other than the rights created by this Agreement). All representations and warranties deemed made under this Section 3.2 shall survive the deposit of Gold, Delivery or Surrender of Shares or termination of this Agreement. - 12 - ARTICLE 4. ADMINISTRATION OF THE TRUST Section 4.1. Evaluation of Gold . As promptly as practicable after 4:00 p.m. (New York time), on each Business Day, the Trustee shall determine the value of the Gold held by the Trust on the basis of the Valuation Relevant Price for that day. If no Valuation Relevant Price is announced on a Business Day, the Trustee shall determine the value of the Gold held by the Trust for that day on the basis of the most recently announced Valuation Relevant Price. However, if the Trustee and the Sponsor determine that the price specified in the two preceding sentences is inappropriate as a basis for evaluation, they shall identify an alternative basis for evaluation to be employed by the Trustee. Gold deliverable under a Purchase Order shall be included in the amount of Gold held for the purposes of this Section 4.1 beginning on the first Business Day following the Order Date. Gold deliverable under a Redemption Order shall be excluded from the amount of Gold held for the purposes of this Section 4.1 beginning on the first Business Day following the Order Date. Neither the Trustee nor the Sponsor shall be liable to any Person for the determination that the most recently announced Valuation Relevant Price is not appropriate as a basis for evaluation of the Gold held by the Trust or for any determination as to the alternative basis for evaluation, provided that such determination is made in good faith. If the Sponsor shall determine from time to time that a given price will be the "Valuation Relevant Price", public notice of that determination shall be given prior to the first Business Day on which such price is used to value the Gold held by the Trust Section 4.2. Responsibility of the Trustee for Evaluations . The Sponsor, Depositors, Registered Owners and Beneficial Owners may rely on any evaluation or determination of any amount made by the Trustee, and the Sponsor shall have no responsibility for the accuracy thereof. The determinations made by the Trustee under this Agreement shall be made in good faith upon the basis of, and the Trustee shall not be liable for any errors contained in, information reasonably available to it. The Trustee shall be under no liability to the Sponsor, or to Depositors, Registered Owners or Beneficial Owners, for errors in judgment; provided , however , that this provision shall not protect the Trustee against any liability to which it would otherwise be subject by reason of negligence or bad faith in the performance of its duties. Section 4.3. Trust Evaluation . As promptly as practicable after completion of the evaluation required under Section 4.1 on each Business Day, the Trustee shall subtract all accrued fees, expenses and other liabilities of the Trust from the total value of the Gold held by the Trust determined by the Trustee pursuant to Section 4.1 and all other assets of the Trust. The resulting figure is the "Net Asset Value" of the Trust. The Trustee shall also divide the Net Asset Value of the Trust by the number of Shares outstanding as of the close of business on the date of the evaluation then being made, which figure is the "Net Asset Value per Share." Shares deliverable under a Purchase Order shall be considered to be outstanding for purposes of this Section 4.3 beginning on the first Business Day following the Order Date. Shares deliverable under a Redemption Order shall not be considered to be outstanding for purposes of this Section 4.3 beginning on the first Business Day following the Order Date. Section 4.4. Cash Distributions . Whenever the Trustee distributes any cash, the Trustee shall distribute the amount available for the distribution to the Registered Owners entitled thereto, in proportion to the number of Shares held by them respectively; provided , however , that in the event that the Trustee shall be required to withhold and does withhold from such cash an amount on account of taxes, the amount distributed to the Registered Owners shall be reduced accordingly. The Trustee shall distribute only such amount, however, as can be distributed without attributing to any Registered Owner a fraction of one cent. Any such fractional amounts shall be rounded to the nearest whole cent and so distributed to Registered Owners entitled thereto. - 13 - Section 4.5. Other Distributions . Whenever the Trustee receives any property in respect of Trust Property other than cash proceeds of a sale of Trust Property (including any claim that accrues in favor of the Trust on account of any loss of deposited Gold or other Trust Property), the Trustee shall cause the securities or other property received by it to be distributed to the Registered Owners entitled thereto, in proportion to the number of Shares held by them respectively, after deduction or upon payment of the expenses of the Trustee, in any manner that the Trustee may deem lawful, equitable and feasible for accomplishing such distribution; provided , however , that if in the opinion of the Trustee such distribution cannot be made proportionately among the Registered Owners entitled thereto, or if for any other reason (including, but not limited to, any requirement that the Trustee withhold an amount on account of taxes or other governmental charges or that securities must be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 in order to be distributed to Registered Owners) the Trustee deems such distribution not to be lawful and feasible, the Trustee shall adopt such method as it deems lawful, equitable and feasible for the purpose of effecting such distribution, after deduction or upon payment of the expenses of the Trustee, including, but not limited to, the public or private sale of the securities or property thus received, or any part thereof, and the net proceeds of any such sale shall be distributed by the Trustee to the Registered Owners entitled thereto as in the case of a distribution received in cash. Section 4.6. Fixing of Record Date . Whenever any distribution will be made, or whenever the Trustee receives notice of any solicitation of proxies or consents from Registered Owners, or whenever for any reason there is split, reverse split or other change in the outstanding Shares, or whenever the Trustee shall find it necessary or convenient in respect of any matter, the Trustee, in consultation with the Sponsor, shall fix a record date for the determination of the Registered Owners who shall be (i) entitled to receive such distribution or the net proceeds of the sale thereof, (ii) entitled to give such proxies or consents in respect of any such solicitation or (iii) entitled to act in respect of any other matter for which the record date was set. Section 4.7. Payment of Expenses; Gold Sales . (a) The following charges are or may be accrued and paid by the Trust: (1) the service fee payable to the Sponsor as set forth in Section 5.8; (2) expenses of the Trust not assumed by the Sponsor pursuant to Section 5.3(g); (3) taxes and other governmental charges; (4) expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Trustee or the Sponsor on behalf of the Trust or action taken by the Trustee or the Sponsor to protect the Trust or the interests of Registered Owners; and (5) indemnification of the Sponsor as provided in Section 5.6(d). - 14 - The Trustee shall, when directed by the Sponsor, and, in the absence of such direction, may, in its discretion, sell Gold in such quantity and at such times, as may be necessary to permit payment of expenses under this Agreement. The Trustee is authorized to sell Gold at such times and in the smallest amounts required to permit payment of expenses as they come due, it being the intention to avoid or minimize the Trusts holdings of assets other than Gold. Neither the Trustee nor the Sponsor shall have any liability for loss or depreciation resulting from sales of Gold so made. The Trustee shall not be liable or responsible in any way for depreciation or loss incurred by reason of any sale made pursuant to the Sponsors direction or otherwise in accordance with this Section. (b) If at any time and from time to time, the Trustee and Sponsor determine that the amount of cash included in the Trust Property exceeds the anticipated expenses of the Trust during the following month, the Trustee shall distribute the excess to the Registered Owners under Section 4.4. Section 4.8. Statements and Reports . (a) After the end of each fiscal year and within the time period required by applicable laws, rules and regulations, at the Sponsors expense, the Trustee shall send to the Registered Owners at the end of such fiscal year, an annual report of the Trust containing financial statements that will be prepared by the Trustee and audited by independent accountants designated by the Sponsor and such other information as may be required by such laws, rules and regulations or otherwise, or which the Sponsor determines shall be included. The Trustee may distribute the annual report by any means acceptable to the Registered Owners. (b) The Trustee shall provide the Sponsor with such certifications, supporting documents and other evidence regarding the Internal Control Over Financial Reporting established and maintained by the Trust, and used by the Trustee in connection with its preparation of the financial statements of the Trust, as may be reasonably necessary in order to enable the Sponsor to prepare and file or furnish to the Commission any certifications regarding such matters which may be required to be included with the Trusts periodic reports under the Exchange Act. Section 4.9. Further Provisions for Gold Sales . In addition to selling Gold in accordance with Section 4.7, the Trustee shall sell Gold whenever any one or more of the following conditions exist: (a) the Sponsor has notified the Trustee that such sale is required by applicable law or regulation; or (b) this Agreement has been terminated and the Trust Property is to be liquidated in accordance with Section 6.2. Unless otherwise directed by the Sponsor, when selling Gold the Trustee shall endeavor to place orders with dealers (which may include the Custodian) through which it may reasonably expect to obtain a favorable price and good execution of orders. The Trustee and the Sponsor shall not be liable or responsible in any way for depreciation or loss incurred by reason of any sale made pursuant to this Section 4.9. - 15 - Section 4.10. Counsel . The Sponsor may from time to time employ counsel to act on behalf of the Trust and perform any legal services in connection with the Gold and the Trust, including any legal matters relating to the possible disposition or acquisition of any Gold. The fees and expenses of such counsel shall be paid by the Sponsor. Section 4.11. Grantor Trust . Nothing in this Agreement, any agreement with a Custodian, or otherwise, shall be construed to give the Trustee the power to vary the investment of the Beneficial Owners within the meaning of Section 301.7701-4(c) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code) or any similar or successor provision of the regulations under the Code, nor shall the Sponsor give the Trustee any direction that would vary the investment of the Beneficial Owners. However, the Trustee shall not be liable to any Person for any failure of the Trust to qualify as a grantor trust under the Code or any comparable provision of the laws of any State or other jurisdiction where that treatment is sought, except that this sentence shall not limit the Trustees responsibility for the administration of the Trust in accordance with this Agreement. ARTICLE 5. THE TRUSTEE AND THE SPONSOR Section 5.1. Maintenance of Office and Transfer Books by the Trustee . (a) Until termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, the Trustee shall maintain facilities for the execution and Delivery, registration, registration of transfers and Surrender of Shares in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. (b) The Trustee shall keep books for the registration of Shares and registration of transfers of Shares which at all reasonable times shall be open for inspection by the Registered Owners. (c) The Trustee may, and at the reasonable written request of the Sponsor shall, close the transfer books at any time or from time to time if such action is deemed necessary or advisable in the reasonable judgment of the Trustee or the Sponsor. (d) If any Shares are listed on one or more stock exchanges in the United States, the Trustee shall act as Registrar or, with the written approval of the Sponsor (which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld), appoint a registrar or one or more co-registrars for registry of such Shares in accordance with any requirements of such exchange or exchanges. Section 5.2. Prevention or Delay in Performance by the Sponsor or the Trustee . Neither the Sponsor nor the Trustee nor any of their respective directors, employees, agents or affiliates shall incur any liability to any Registered Owner, Beneficial Owner or Depositor if, by reason of any provision of any present or future law or regulation of the United States or any other country, or of any governmental or regulatory authority or stock exchange, or by reason of any act of God or war or terrorism or other circumstances beyond its control, the Sponsor or the Trustee is prevented or forbidden from, or would be subject to any civil or criminal penalty on account of, or is delayed in, doing or performing any act or thing which by the terms of this Agreement it is provided shall be done or performed and accordingly the Sponsor or the Trustee does not do that thing or does that thing at a later time than would otherwise be required. The Sponsor and the Trustee will not incur any liability to any Registered Owner or Beneficial Owner or Depositor by reason of any non-performance or delay in the performance of any act or thing which by the terms of this Agreement it is provided may be done or performed, or by reason of any exercise of, or failure to exercise, any discretion provided for in this Agreement. - 16 - Section 5.3. Obligations of the Sponsor and the Trustee . (a) Neither the Sponsor nor the Trustee assumes any obligation nor shall either of them be subject to any liability under this Agreement to any Registered Owner or Beneficial Owner or Depositor (including, without limitation, liability with respect to the worth of the Trust Property), except that each of them agrees to perform its obligations specifically set forth in this Agreement without negligence or bad faith. (b) Neither the Sponsor nor the Trustee shall be under any obligation to prosecute any action, suit or other proceeding in respect of any Trust Property or in respect of the Shares on behalf of a Registered Owner, Beneficial Owner, Depositor or other Person. (c) Neither the Sponsor nor the Trustee shall be liable for any action or non-action by it in reliance upon the advice of or information from legal counsel, accountants, any Depositor, any Registered Owner or any other Person believed by it in good faith to be competent to give such advice or information. (d) The Trustee shall not be liable for any acts or omissions made by a successor Trustee whether in connection with a previous act or omission of the Trustee or in connection with any matter arising wholly after the resignation of the Trustee, provided that in connection with the issue out of which such potential liability arises the Trustee performed its obligations without negligence or bad faith while it acted as Trustee. (e) The Trustee and the Sponsor shall have no obligation to comply with any direction or instruction from any Registered Owner or Beneficial Owner or Depositor regarding Shares except to the extent specifically provided in this Agreement. (f) The Trustee shall be a fiduciary under this Agreement; provided , however , that the fiduciary duties and responsibilities and liabilities of the Trustee shall be limited by, and shall be only those specifically set forth in, this Agreement. (g) The Sponsor shall be responsible for all organizational expenses of the Trust, and for the following administrative and marketing expenses of the Trust: the Trustees monthly fee, the Custodians fee, listing fees of the Exchange, registration fees charged by the Commission, printing and mailing costs, audit fees and expenses and legal fees and expenses not in excess of $100,000 per year. Section 5.4. Resignation or Removal of the Trustee; Appointment of Successor Trustee . (a) The Trustee may at any time resign as Trustee hereunder by written notice of its election so to do, delivered to the Sponsor, and such resignation shall take effect upon the appointment of a successor Trustee and its acceptance of such appointment as hereinafter provided. - 17 - (b) The Sponsor may remove the Trustee in its discretion by written notice delivered to the Trustee in the manner provided in Section 7.5 at least 90 days prior to the fifth anniversary of the date of the Original Depositary Trust Agreement or, thereafter, by written notice delivered to the Trustee at least 90 days prior to the last day of any subsequent three-year period. (c) If at any time the Trustee (i) ceases to be a Qualified Bank, (ii) is in material breach of its obligations under this Agreement and fails to cure such breach within 30 days after receipt of written notice from the Sponsor or Registered Owners acting on behalf of at least 25% of the outstanding Shares specifying such default and requiring the Trustee to cure such default, or (iii) fails to consent to the implementation of an amendment to the Trusts initial Internal Control Over Financial Reporting deemed necessary by the Sponsor and, after consultations with the Sponsor, the Sponsor and the Trustee fail to resolve their differences regarding such proposed amendment, the Sponsor, acting on behalf of the Registered Owners, may remove the Trustee by written notice delivered to the Trustee in the manner provided in Section 7.5, and such removal shall take effect upon the appointment of a successor Trustee and its acceptance of such appointment as hereinafter provided. (d) If the Trustee acting hereunder resigns or is removed, the Sponsor, acting on behalf of the Registered Owners, shall use its reasonable efforts to appoint a successor Trustee, which shall be a Qualified Bank. Every successor Trustee shall execute and deliver to its predecessor and to the Sponsor, acting on behalf of the Registered Owners, an instrument in writing accepting its appointment hereunder, and thereupon such successor Trustee, without any further act or deed, shall become fully vested with all the rights, powers, duties and obligations of its predecessor; but such predecessor, nevertheless, upon payment of all sums due it and on the written request of the Sponsor, acting on behalf of the Registered Owners, shall execute and deliver an instrument transferring to such successor all rights and powers of such predecessor hereunder, shall duly assign, transfer and deliver all right, title and interest in the Trust Property to such successor, and shall deliver to such successor a list of the Registered Owners of all outstanding Shares. The Sponsor or any such successor Trustee shall promptly mail notice of the appointment of such successor Trustee to the Registered Owners. (e) Any corporation into which the Trustee may be merged, consolidated or converted in a transaction in which the Trustee is not the surviving corporation shall be the successor of the Trustee without the execution or filing of any document or any further act. During the 90-day period following the effectiveness of a merger, consolidation or conversion described in the preceding sentence, the Sponsor may, by written notice to the Trustee, remove the Trustee and designate a successor Trustee in compliance with the provisions of subsection (c) above. - 18 - Section 5.5. The Custodian . (a) The direction to the Trustee to enter into the Custodian Agreement with the Current Custodian is hereby confirmed. If, upon the resignation of any Custodian, there would be no Custodian acting hereunder, the Trustee shall, promptly after receiving notice of such resignation, at the direction of the Sponsor appoint a substitute custodian or custodians selected by the Sponsor, each of which shall thereafter be a Custodian hereunder. When directed by the Sponsor, and to the extent permitted by, and in the manner provided by, the relevant Custodian Agreement, the Trustee shall remove the Custodian and appoint a substitute custodian or appoint an additional custodian or custodians selected by the Sponsor, each of which shall thereafter be a Custodian hereunder. Each such substitute or additional custodian shall, forthwith upon its appointment, enter into one or more Custodian Agreements in form and substance approved by the Sponsor (provided, however, that the rights and duties of the Trustee hereunder and under the then-existing Custodian Agreements shall not be materially altered by such new Custodian Agreements without its consent). After the date of this Agreement, the Trustee shall not enter into or amend any Custodian Agreement with a Custodian without the written approval of the Sponsor (which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed). When instructed by the Sponsor, the Trustee shall demand that a Custodian deliver such of the Gold held by it as is requested of it to any other Custodian or such substitute or additional Custodian or Custodians selected by the Sponsor. In connection with such delivery, the Trustee will, solely if and in the manner directed by the Sponsor, cause the physical Gold to be weighed or assayed and any such weighing and assay shall be an expense of the Trust pursuant to Section 4.7(a)(2). The Trustee shall have no liability for any delivery of Gold or weighing or assaying of delivered physical Gold directed by the Sponsor pursuant to the preceding provisions of this paragraph and, in the absence of such direction from the Sponsor, shall have no obligation to effect such a delivery or to cause the delivered physical Gold to be weighed, assayed or otherwise validated. (b) The Trustee shall have no obligation to monitor the activities of any Custodian other than (i) to receive and review such reports of the Gold held for the Trust by such Custodian and of transactions in Gold held for the account of the Trust made by such Custodian pursuant to the Custodian Agreement and (ii) to send a form of annual questionnaire for such Custodian to the Sponsor for the Sponsors review and approval, to send the annual questionnaire as approved by the Sponsor to such Custodian and, upon receipt of such Custodians responses to the annual questionnaire, to forward such responses to the Sponsor and to facilitate any further inquiry of such Custodian regarding such responses which may be specified by the Sponsor . The accounts and operations of, and the Gold held for the Trust by, each Custodian shall be audited or examined by accountants, auditors or other inspectors selected by the Sponsor at such times as directed by the Sponsor and as permitted by the Custodian Agreements. In no event shall the Trustee be liable for (i) any loss or damage resulting from the actions or omissions of, or the insolvency of, any Custodian or loss or damage to the Gold while in the possession of, or in transit to or from, any Custodian, (ii) the amount, validity or adequacy of insurance maintained by any Custodian, (iii) any defect in Gold held by any Custodian, (iv) any failure of the Gold to conform to the requirements of good delivery under the rules of the London Bullion Market Association or (v) any failure of the Gold to conform to a description thereof provided by any Custodian to the Trustee. - 19 - (c) Upon the appointment of any successor Trustee hereunder, each Custodian then acting under Custodian Agreements with the predecessor of such Trustee shall forthwith become, without any further act or writing, the agent hereunder of such successor Trustee, and the appointment of such successor Trustee shall in no way impair the authority of each such Custodian; but the successor Trustee so appointed shall, nevertheless, on the written request of any Custodian, execute and deliver to such Custodian all such instruments as may be proper to give to such Custodian full and complete power and authority as agent hereunder of such successor Trustee. Section 5.6. Indemnification . (a) The Sponsor shall indemnify the Trustee, its directors, employees and agents (the Trustee Indemnified Persons) against, and hold each of them harmless from, any loss, liability, cost, expense or judgment (including, but not limited to, the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel) (collectively Indemnified Amounts) that is incurred by any of them and that arises out of or is related to (i) any offer or sale by the Trust of Baskets of Shares under this Agreement, (ii) acts performed or omitted pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, as the same may be amended, modified or supplemented from time to time, (A) by a Trustee Indemnified Person or (B) by the Sponsor or (iii) any filings with or submissions to the Commission in connection with or with respect to the Shares (which by way of illustration and not by way of limitation, include any registration statement and any amendments or supplements thereto filed with the Commission or any periodic reports or updates that may be filed under the Exchange Act, or any failure to make any filings with or submissions to the Commission which are required to be made in connection with or with respect to the Shares), except that the Sponsor shall not have any obligations under this Section 5.6(a) to pay Indemnified Amounts incurred as a result of and attributable to (x) the negligence or bad faith of, or material breach of the terms of this Agreement by, the Trustee, (y) written information furnished in writing by the Trustee to the Sponsor expressly for use in the registration statement, or any amendment thereto, or periodic or other report filed with the Commission relating to the Shares that is not materially altered by the Sponsor or (z) any misrepresentations or omissions made by a Depositor (other than the Sponsor) in connection with such Depositors offer and sale of Shares. (b) The Trustee shall indemnify the Sponsor, its directors, employees and agents against, and hold each of them harmless from, any Indemnified Amounts (i) caused by the negligence or bad faith of the Trustee or (ii) arising out of any information furnished in writing to the Sponsor by the Trustee expressly for use in the registration statement, or any amendment thereto or periodic or other report, filed with the Commission relating to the Shares that is not materially altered by the Sponsor. - 20 - (c) If the indemnification provided for in Section 5.6(a) or (b) is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless the indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above, then the indemnifying party shall contribute to the Indemnified Amounts referred to in subsection (a) or (b) above (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Sponsor on the one hand and the Trustee on the other hand from the offering of the Shares which are the subject of the action or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Sponsor on the one hand and the Trustee on the other hand in connection with the action, statement or omission which resulted in such Indemnified Amount as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact from which the action arises relates to information supplied by the Sponsor or the Trustee and the parties relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission or the act or omission from which the action arises. The amount of Indemnified Amounts referred to in the first sentence of this subsection (c) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any action or claim which is the subject of this subsection (c). (d) The Sponsor and its shareholders, directors, officers, employees, affiliates (as such term is defined under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended) and subsidiaries (each a Sponsor Indemnified Party) shall be indemnified from the Trust and held harmless against any loss, liability or expense incurred without (1) negligence, bad faith, willful misconduct or willful malfeasance on the part of such Sponsor Indemnified Party arising out of or in connection with the performance of its obligations under this Agreement or any actions taken in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement or (2) reckless disregard on the part of such Sponsor Indemnified Party of its obligations and duties under this Agreement. Such indemnity shall include payment from the Trust of the costs and expenses incurred by such Sponsor Indemnified Party in defending itself against any claim or liability in its capacity as Sponsor. Any amounts payable to a Sponsor Indemnified Party under this Section 5.6(d) may be payable in advance or shall be secured by a lien on the Trust. The Sponsor may, in its discretion, undertake any action which it may deem necessary or desirable in respect of this Agreement and the rights and duties of the parties hereto and the interests of the Registered Owners and, in such event, the legal expenses and costs of any such actions shall be expenses and costs of the Trust and the Sponsor shall be entitled to be reimbursed therefor by the Trust. - 21 - (e) If an action, proceeding (including, but not limited to, any governmental investigation), claim or dispute (collectively, a Proceeding) in respect of which indemnity may be sought by either party is brought or asserted against the other party, the party seeking indemnification (the Indemnitee) shall promptly (and in no event more than seven (7) days after receipt of notice of such Proceeding) notify the party obligated to provide such indemnification (the Indemnitor) of such Proceeding. The failure of the Indemnitee to so notify the Indemnitor shall not impair the Indemnitees ability to seek indemnification from the Indemnitor (but only for costs, expenses and liabilities incurred after such notice) unless such failure adversely affects the Indemnitors ability to adequately oppose or defend such Proceeding. Upon receipt of such notice from the Indemnitee, the Indemnitor shall be entitled to participate in such Proceeding and, to the extent that it shall so desire and provided no conflict of interest exists as specified in clause (i) below and there are no other defenses available to Indemnitee as specified in clause (iii) below, to assume the defense thereof with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnitee (in which case all attorneys fees and expenses shall be borne by the Indemnitor and the Indemnitor shall in good faith defend the Indemnitee). The Indemnitee shall have the right to employ separate counsel in any such Proceeding and to participate in the defense thereof, but, in such case, no fees and expenses of such counsel shall be borne by the Indemnitor unless such fees and expenses are otherwise required to be indemnified under Section 5.06(a), (b) or (d), as applicable, and (i) there is such a conflict of interest between the Indemnitor and the Indemnitee as would preclude, in compliance with the ethical rules in effect in the jurisdiction in which the Proceeding was brought, one lawyer from representing both parties simultaneously, (ii) the Indemnitor fails, within the earlier of (x) twenty (20) days following receipt of notice of the Proceeding from the Indemnitee or (y) seven (7) days prior to the date the first response or appearance is required to be made in such Proceeding, to assume the defense of such Proceeding with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnitee or (iii) there are legal defenses available to Indemnitee that are different from or are in addition to those available to the Indemnitor. No compromise or settlement of such Proceeding may be effected by either party without the other partys consent unless (m) there is no finding or admission of any violation of law and no effect on any other claims that may be made against such other party and (n) the sole relief provided is monetary damages that are paid in full by the party seeking the settlement. Neither party shall have any liability with respect to any compromise or settlement effected without its consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld. The Indemnitor shall have no obligation to indemnify and hold harmless the Indemnitee from any loss, expense or liability incurred by the Indemnitee as a result of a default judgment entered against the Indemnitee unless such judgment was entered after the Indemnitor agreed, in writing, to assume the defense of such Proceeding. Section 5.7. Charges of Trustee . (a) Each Depositor, and each Person surrendering Shares for the purpose of withdrawing Trust Property, shall pay to the Trustee a fee of $500 per transaction for the Delivery of Shares pursuant to Section 2.4 and the Surrender of Baskets of Shares pursuant to Section 2.6 or 6.2 (or such other fee as the Trustee, with the prior written consent of the Sponsor, may from time to time announce). (b) The Trustee is entitled to receive from the Sponsor fees for its services and reimbursement for its out-of-pocket expenses in accordance with written agreements between the Sponsor and the Trustee. (c) The Trustee is entitled to charge the Trust for all expenses and disbursements incurred by it under Section 5.12(a) or that are of the type described in Sections 4.7(a)(2) or (3) of this Agreement (including the fees and disbursements of its legal counsel), except that the Trustee is not entitled to charge the Trust for (i) expenses and disbursements incurred by it prior to the commencement of trading of Shares on the Exchange and (ii) fees of agents for performing services the Trustee is required to perform under this Agreement. Section 5.8. Charges of Sponsor . (a) The Sponsor is entitled to receive from the Trust, as an expense of the Trust, a fee for services at an annualized rate of 0.25% of Net Asset Value, computed and accrued on a daily basis in the manner instructed by the Sponsor and paid monthly in arrears. - 22 - (b) The Sponsor is entitled to receive reimbursement from the Trust for all expenses and disbursements incurred by it under the last sentence of Section 5.6(d) or that are of the type described in Sections 4.7(a)(2), (3) or (4) of this Agreement, except that the Sponsor is not entitled to charge the Trust for (i) expenses and disbursements incurred by it prior to the commencement of trading of Shares on the Exchange and (ii) fees of agents for performing services the Sponsor is required to perform under this Agreement. Section 5.9. Retention of Trust Documents . The Trustee is authorized to destroy those documents, records, bills and other data compiled during the term of this Agreement at the times permitted by the laws or regulations governing the Trustee, unless the Sponsor reasonably requests the Trustee in writing to retain those items for a longer period. Section 5.10. Federal Securities Law Filings . (a) The Sponsor shall (i) prepare and file a registration statement with the Commission and take such action as is necessary from time to time to qualify the Shares for offering and sale under the federal securities laws of the United States, including the preparation and filing of amendments and supplements to such registration statement, (ii) promptly notify the Trustee of any amendment or supplement to the registration statement or prospectus, of any order preventing or suspending the use of any prospectus, of any request for the amending or supplementing of the registration statement or prospectus or if any event or circumstance occurs which is known to the Sponsor as a result of which the registration statement or prospectus, as then amended or supplemented, would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, (iii) provide the Trustee from time to time with copies, including copies in electronic form, of the prospectus, as amended and supplemented, in such quantities as the Trustee may reasonably request and (iv) prepare and file any periodic reports or updates that may be required under the Exchange Act. The Trustee shall furnish to the Sponsor any information from the records of the Trust that the Sponsor reasonably requests in writing that is needed to prepare any filing or submission that the Sponsor or the Trust is required to make under the federal securities laws of the United States. (b) The Sponsor shall have all necessary and exclusive power and authority to (i) from time to time adopt, implement or amend such disclosure controls and procedures as are necessary or desirable, in the Sponsors reasonable judgment, to ensure compliance with the disclosure and ongoing reporting obligations under any applicable securities laws; (ii) appoint and remove the auditors of the Trust; and (iii) seek from the relevant securities or other regulatory authorities such relief, clarification or other action as the Sponsor shall deem necessary or desirable regarding the disclosure or financial reporting obligations of the Trust. (c) The policies and procedures comprising the Trusts initial Internal Control Over Financial Reporting have been adopted and copies thereof have been delivered to the appropriate officers of the Sponsor and the Trustee. Amendments to such initial Internal Control Over Financial Reporting may be proposed from time to time by the Sponsor, but such amendments may not be adopted in connection with the preparation of the Trusts financial statements without the Trustees consent (which consent will not be unreasonably withheld or delayed). Section 5.11. Prospectus Delivery . The Trustee shall, if required by the federal securities laws of the United States, in any manner permitted by such laws, deliver at the time of issuance of Shares, a copy of the relevant prospectus, as most recently furnished to the Trustee by the Sponsor, to each Depositor. - 23 - Section 5.12. Discretionary Actions by Trustee; Consultation . (a) The Trustee may, in its discretion, undertake any action that it considers necessary or desirable to protect the Trust or the interests of the Registered Owners. The expenses incurred by the Trustee in connection with taking any action under the preceding sentence (including the fees and disbursements of legal counsel) shall be expenses of the Trust, and the Trustee shall be entitled to be reimbursed for those expenses by the Trust. (b) The Trustee shall notify and consult with the Sponsor before undertaking any action under subsection (a) above or if the Trustee becomes aware of any development or event that affects the administration of the Trust but is not contemplated or provided for in this Agreement. (c) The Sponsor shall notify and consult with the Trustee before undertaking any action under the last sentence of Section 5.6(d) or if the Sponsor becomes aware of any development or event that affects the administration of the Trust but is not contemplated or provided for in this Agreement. ARTICLE 6. AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION Section 6.1. Amendment . The Trustee and the Sponsor may amend any provisions of this Agreement without the consent of any Registered Owner. Any amendment that imposes or increases any fees or charges (other than taxes and other governmental charges, registration fees or other such expenses), or that otherwise prejudices any substantial existing right of the Registered Owners will not become effective as to outstanding Shares until 30 days after notice of such amendment is given to the Registered Owners. Every Registered Owner and Beneficial Owner, at the time any amendment so becomes effective, shall be deemed, by continuing to hold any Shares or an interest therein, to consent and agree to such amendment and to be bound by this Agreement as amended thereby. In no event shall any amendment impair the right of the Registered Owner of Shares to Surrender Baskets of Shares and receive therefor the amount of Trust Property represented thereby, except in order to comply with mandatory provisions of applicable law. Section 6.2. Termination . (a) The Trustee shall set a date on which this Agreement will terminate and mail notice of that termination to the Registered Owners at least 30 days prior to the date set for termination if any of the following occurs: (i) The Trustee is notified that the Shares are delisted from a national securities exchange and are not approved for listing on another national securities exchange within five Business Days of their delisting; - 24 - (ii) Registered Owners acting in respect of at least 75% of the outstanding Shares notify the Trustee that they elect to terminate the Trust; (iii) 60 days have elapsed since the Trustee notified the Sponsor of the Trustees election to resign and a successor trustee has not been appointed and accepted its appointment as provided in Section 5.4; (iv) the Commission determines that the Trust is an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the Trustee has actual knowledge of such Commission determination; (v) the aggregate market capitalization of the Trust, based on the closing price for the Shares, was less than $350 million for five consecutive trading days and the Trustee receives, within six months after the last of those trading days, notice from the Sponsor of its decision to terminate the Trust; (vi) the CFTC determines that the Trust is a commodity pool under the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, as amended, and the Trustee has actual knowledge of that determination; or (vii) the Trust fails to qualify for treatment, or ceases to be treated, for United States federal income tax purposes, as a grantor trust, and the Trustee receives notice from the Sponsor that the Sponsor determines that, because of that tax treatment or change in tax treatment, termination of the Trust is advisable. (b) If no event specified in subsection (a) above occurs first, the Trust shall terminate on January 19, 2045, and the Trustee shall mail a notice of that impending termination to the Registered Owners at least 30 days before that anniversary. (c) On and after the date of termination of this Agreement, the Registered Owner of Shares will, upon (i) Surrender of those Shares, (ii) payment of the fee of the Trustee for the Surrender of Shares provided in Section 5.7, and (iii) payment of any applicable taxes or other governmental charges, be entitled to Delivery, to him or upon his order, of the amount of Trust Property represented by those Shares. The Trustee shall not accept any deposits of Gold after the date of termination of this Agreement. If any Shares remain outstanding after the date of termination of this Agreement, the Trustee thereafter shall discontinue the registration of transfers of Shares, shall not make any distributions to Registered Owners, and shall not give any further notices or perform any further acts under this Agreement, except that the Trustee shall continue to collect distributions pertaining to Trust Property and hold the same uninvested and without liability for interest, pay the Trusts expenses and sell Gold as necessary to meet those expenses and shall continue to deliver Trust Property, together with any distributions received with respect thereto and the net proceeds of the sale of any other property, in exchange for Shares Surrendered to the Trustee (after deducting or upon payment of, in each case, the fee of the Trustee set forth in Section 5.7 for the Surrender of Shares, any expenses for the account of the Registered Owner of such Shares in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and any applicable taxes or other governmental charges). At any time after the expiration of 90 days following the date of termination of this Agreement, the Trustee may sell the Trust Property then held under this Agreement and may thereafter hold uninvested the net proceeds of any such sale, together with any other cash then held by it under this Agreement, unsegregated and without liability for interest, for the pro rata benefit of the Registered Owners of Shares that have not theretofore been Surrendered, such Registered Owners thereupon becoming general creditors of the Trustee with respect to such net proceeds. After making such sale, the Trustee shall be discharged from all obligations under this Agreement, except to account for such net proceeds and other cash (after deducting, in each case, any fees, expenses, taxes or other governmental charges payable by the Trust, the fee of the Trustee for the Surrender of Shares and any expenses for the account of the Registered Owner of such Shares in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and any applicable taxes or other governmental charges). Upon the termination of this Agreement, the Sponsor shall be discharged from all obligations under this Agreement except for its obligations to the Trustee under Section 5.6. Sections 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8 shall survive termination of this Agreement. - 25 - ARTICLE 7. MISCELLANEOUS Section 7.1. Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original and all of such counterparts shall constitute one and the same instrument. Copies of this Agreement shall be filed with the Trustee and shall be open to inspection by any Registered Owner during the Trustees business hours. Section 7.2. Third-Party Beneficiaries . This Agreement is for the exclusive benefit of the parties hereto, and shall not be deemed to give any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim whatsoever to any other Person. Section 7.3. Severability . In case any one or more of the provisions contained in this Agreement should be or become invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall in no way be affected, prejudiced or disturbed thereby. Section 7.4. Registered Owners, Beneficial Owners and Depositors as Parties; Binding Effect . The Registered Owners, Beneficial Owners and Depositors from time to time shall be parties to this Agreement and shall be bound by all of the terms and conditions hereof by their acceptance of Shares or any interest therein or by their depositing Gold, as the case may be. Section 7.5. Notices . (a) All notices given under this Agreement must be in writing. - 26 - (b) Any and all notices to be given to the Trustee or the Sponsor shall be deemed to have been duly given (i) when it is actually delivered by a messenger or recognized courier service, (ii) five days after it is mailed by registered or certified mail, postage paid or (iii) when receipt of a facsimile transmission is acknowledged via a return receipt or receipt confirmation as requested by the original transmission, in each case to or at the address set forth below: To the Trustee: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON 2 Hanson Place 9th Floor Brooklyn, New York 11217 Attention: ETF Services, Brooklyn Telephone: (718) 315-5013 Facsimile: (718) 315-4850 or any other place to which the Trustee may have transferred its Corporate Trust Office with notice to the Sponsor. To the Sponsor: iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC 400 Howard Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Attn: Product Management Team, Intermediary Investor and Exchange-Traded Products Department Telephone: (415) 670-4671 Facsimile: (415) 618-5097 with a copy to: iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC 400 Howard Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Attn: Legal Department Telephone: (415) 670-2860 Facsimile: (415) 618-5731 or any other place to which the Sponsor may have transferred its principal office with notice to the Trustee. (c) Any and all notices to be given to a Registered Owner shall be deemed to have been duly given (i) when actually delivered by messenger or a recognized courier service, (ii) when mailed, postage prepaid or (iii) when sent by facsimile transmission confirmed by letter, in each case at or to the address of such Registered Owner as it appears on the transfer books of the Trustee, or, if such Registered Owner shall have filed with the Trustee a written request that any notice or communication intended for such Registered Owner be delivered to some other address, at the address designated in such request. - 27 - Section 7.6. Agent for Service; Submission to Jurisdiction . The Sponsor hereby (i) irrevocably designates and appoints CT Corporation System, located at 111 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10011, U.S.A., as the Sponsors authorized agent upon which process may be served in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to the Shares, the Trust Property or this Agreement, (ii) consents and submits to the jurisdiction of any state or federal court in The City of New York, State of New York, in which any such suit or proceeding may be instituted, and (iii) agrees that service of process upon said authorized agent (or any successor thereto from time to time duly appointed as such by the Sponsor and the name and address of which shall have been informed in writing by the Sponsor to the Trustee) shall be deemed in every respect effective service of process upon the Sponsor in any such suit or proceeding. The Sponsor further agrees to maintain the appointment of an agent for service of process in full force and effect for so long as any Shares remain outstanding or this Agreement remains in force. In the event the Sponsor fails to continue such designation and appointment in full force and effect, the Sponsor hereby waives personal service of process upon it and consents that any such service of process may be made by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, directed to the Sponsor at its address last specified for notices hereunder, and service so made shall be deemed completed five (5) days after the same shall have been so mailed. Section 7.7. Governing Law . This Agreement shall be interpreted under, and all rights and duties under this Agreement shall be governed by, the internal substantive laws (but not the choice of law rules) of the State of New York. [Signature Page Follows] - 28 - IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have duly executed this Fourth Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement as of the day and year first set forth above. iSHARES DELAWARE TRUST SPONSOR LLC as Sponsor By: /s/ Raymund Santiago Name: Raymund Santiago Title: Director THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, as Trustee By: /s/ Stephen Cook Name:Stephen Cook Title: Managing Director EXHIBIT A [Form of Certificate] THE SHARES EVIDENCED HEREBY REPRESENT RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO UNDERLYING TRUST PROPERTY (AS DEFINED IN THE DEPOSITARY TRUST AGREEMENT REFERRED TO HEREIN) HELD BY THE TRUST AND DO NOT EVIDENCE AN OBLIGATION OF, OR AN INTEREST IN, AND ARE NOT GUARANTEED BY THE SPONSOR OR THE TRUSTEE OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES. NEITHER THE SHARES NOR THE UNDERLYING TRUST PROPERTY ARE INSURED UNDER ANY AGREEMENT THAT DIRECTLY BENEFITS THE TRUST OR GUARANTEED BY ANY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY OR ANY OTHER PERSON. UNLESS THIS CERTIFICATE IS PRESENTED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DEPOSITORY TRUST COMPANY, A NEW YORK CORPORATION (DTC), TO THE AGENT AUTHORIZED BY THE ISSUER FOR REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER, EXCHANGE OR PAYMENT, AND ANY CERTIFICATE ISSUED IS REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF CEDE & CO. OR IN SUCH OTHER NAME AS IS REQUESTED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF DTC (AND ANY PAYMENT IS MADE TO CEDE & CO. OR TO SUCH OTHER ENTITY AS IS REQUESTED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF DTC), ANY TRANSFER, PLEDGE, OR OTHER USE HEREOF FOR VALUE OR OTHERWISE BY OR TO ANY PERSON IS WRONGFUL INASMUCH AS THE REGISTERED OWNER HEREOF, CEDE & CO., HAS AN INTEREST HEREIN. iSHARES GOLD TRUST SHARES ISSUED BY iSHARES GOLD TRUST REPRESENTING FRACTIONAL INTERESTS IN DEPOSITED GOLD AND ANY OTHER TRUST PROPERTY THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, as Trustee No.____ * Shares CUSIP: 464285105 THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, as Trustee (hereinafter called the Trustee), hereby certifies that CEDE & CO., as nominee of the Depository Trust Company, or registered assigns, IS THE OWNER OF * Shares issued by iShares Gold Trust, each representing a fractional undivided interest in the net assets of the Trust, as provided in the Agreement referred to below. The Trustees Corporate Trust Office is located at a different address than its principal executive office. Its Corporate Trust Office is located at 2 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, New York 11217, and its principal executive office is located at 225 Liberty Street, New York, New York 10281. This Certificate is issued upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Fourth Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement dated as of December 22, 2016 (the Agreement) among iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC (herein called the Sponsor), the Trustee, all Registered Owners and Beneficial Owners from time to time of Shares issued thereunder and all Depositors. By becoming a Registered Owner or Beneficial Owner, or by depositing Gold, a Person becomes a party to the Agreement and is bound by all the terms and conditions of the Agreement. The Agreement sets forth the rights of Depositors and Registered Owners and the rights and duties of the Trustee and the Sponsor. Copies of the Agreement are on file at the Trustees Corporate Trust Office in New York City. The Agreement is hereby incorporated by reference into and made a part of this Certificate as if set forth in full in this place. Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Agreement. This Certificate shall not be entitled to any benefits under the Agreement or be valid or obligatory for any purpose unless it is executed by the Trustee by the manual or facsimile signature of a duly authorized signatory of the Trustee and, if a Registrar (other than the Trustee) for the Shares shall have been appointed, countersigned by the manual signature of a duly authorized officer of the Registrar. Dated: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, as Trustee By: THE TRUSTEES CORPORATE TRUST OFFICE ADDRESS IS 2 HANSON PLACE, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11217 * That number of Shares held at The Depository Trust Company at any given point in time. Exhibit 4.2 iShares Gold Trust Standard Terms for Authorized Participant Agreements Dated as of December 22, 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ARTICLE I ORDERS FOR PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION 1 Section 1.01. Authorization to Purchase and Redeem Baskets 1 Section 1.02. Procedures for Orders 1 Section 1.03. Consent to Recording 1 Section 1.04. Irrevocability 1 Section 1.05. Costs and Expenses 1 Section 1.06. Delivery of Property to the Trust 1 Section 1.07. Title to Deposit Property and iShares Surrendered for Redemption 1 Se Donald Trump said based on the "tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!" Mr. Trump met with the CEOs of both companies in Florida on Wednesday. Related Stocks: Boeing (NYSE: BA) +, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he was glad that Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman and former President Asif Ali Zardari was returning to the country. He was speaking to journalists on Thursday during his visit to Bosnia. I am actually very happy that Zardari is returning to Pakistan, he said, adding the former president will keep his partys control in his hands. Zardari will land in Karachi on December 23 (tomorrow) via a special flight, PPP said. When a journalist asked the prime minster how did the year 2016 go for him, he said, Alhamdulillah (Thank God) it went well, it could have gone better. If everybody performs his duties then Pakistan will perform better, he said. Prime Minister Sharif said that his government will end in another one and a half year. Our government worked. What did the people who had a seven-point agenda do? In their tenure the country was marred by load-shedding and terrorism. The prime minister added that due to protests nine-months of the country were wasted. Despite protests we will solve the problem of load-shedding by 2018. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday arrived in the Bosnian capital on a three-day official visit, accompanied by his wife and PMs Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi. The trilateral meeting between Pakistan, Russia and China will be held in Moscow on 27th of this month to discuss regional peace and stability including situation in Afghanistan. Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria in his weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, he said Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary will lead the Pakistan delegation at the talks. Answering a question about Afghanistan, the Spokesman said peace and stability in that country is in the interest of Pakistan and the entire region. He said Pakistan is remain committed to cooperate in efforts towards this end. To a question, he said Pakistan has achieved many successes in operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorism, which was acknowledged by the international community including the United States. He said action is being taken against terrorists without any discrimination. Replying to a question, the Spokesman said there are seven hundred and twenty-eight Pakistani nationals in different jails and deportation centers in Saudi Arabia in different cases. He said legal aid is being provided to them. Foreign Office Spokesman called upon the United Nations, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations to call India into account for its blatant violations of human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir. He pointed out that since martyrdom of Burhan Wani, India is violating UN Charter and international laws on fundamental rights. It has been arresting innocent Kashmiris using draconian laws such as Public Safety Act. He said ten thousand Kashmiris have been arrested in the last five months and their whereabouts is now known. He said six thousand innocent Kashmiris were made victim of pallet guns by the Indian forces. He said Pakistan is deeply concerned about atrocities being committed by the Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir and worst kind of human rights violations there. He said Pakistan will continue to raise the issue at international fora. Minister for Railways Khuwaja Saad Rafique on Thursday inaugurated a special purpose 'Xmas Peace Train' ahead of Christmas festivities in the country. The minister, while addressing the inauguration ceremony, hailed the role of minority groups, especially Christians, in the development and prosperity of Pakistan. "The white colour of our national flag denotes minority groups, and it is incomplete without them," he said, adding that this train would serve as a symbol of unity, tranquility and harmony wherever it would go. Speaking of the shared religious principles and affinity that Muslims and Christians share, he said, "We [Muslims] can never think of committing blasphemy against any of the Messengers sent by God." He added that the Constitution of Pakistan provides equal opportunities to everyone, and gives legal cover to each of the communities living in this country. The minister was accompanied by Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael and other Railway officials during the press conference. Police in Germany are searching for a Tunisian man, who is believed to have been at the wheel of the truck that rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin and killed a dozen people. Local media reported on Wednesday that a manhunt had begun in the wake of the deadly attack that also injured nearly 50 people. Asylum papers were discovered in the truck. The federal prosecutors' office of Germany has named the prime suspect as Tunisian national Anis Amri. The office said the 24-year-old suspect "could be violent and armed." A reward of 100,000 euros ($104,000) has also been offered for information leading to the arrest of Amri. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere earlier said in a press conference, "There is a new suspect we are searching for, he is a suspect but not necessarily the assailant." Stephan Meyer, a lawmaker with Germany's governing conservatives, told reporters at the same conference that the dangerous suspect was Tunisian and was known to authorities. "We are apparently talking about a potentially dangerous suspect who was known to authorities." On Tuesday, German police released a Pakistani national, who had been arrested near the market in connection with an investigation into the attack. The man, police sources said, matched witness descriptions of the truck's driver but there was no evidence that could link him to the deadly ramming. Read more: 12 killed as lorry ploughs into crowd at Berlin Christmas market German authorities said they had received over 500 tips on the attack as of Tuesday night. Prosecutors, however, declined to comment that whether they had any concrete leads or any indication that they were looking for more than one suspect. "We don't know for sure whether it was one or several perpetrators," said German Prosecutor Peter Frank. "We don't know for sure whether he, or they, had support." The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in the German capital. It said the assault was a response to Germany's contribution to a so-called coalition led by the United States that purportedly fights Daesh in Iraq and Syria. The Daesh terrorist group also claimed a similar attack in France's southern city of Nice in July, when a truck plowed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day. More than 80 people were killed in the attack. The United States will regularly deploy strategic weapons to South Korea to counter nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, US and South Korean defense officials said in a joint statement. Officials reaffirmed the commitment at the first meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) in Washington on Tuesday. In an attempt to boost deterrence against Pyongyang, US and South Korean officials launched the joint defense cooperation talks in Washington in October. "In response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the officials reaffirmed the commitment of the US to regularly deploy US strategic assets for the defense of the Republic of Korea," the allies said in their statement on Tuesday. The two countries will also "enhance such measures and identify new or additional steps to strengthen deterrence," the statement, published by the US State Department, said. Earlier in the year, the US sent several B-52 strategic bombers and stealth fighter jets to South Korea in a show of force after North Korea conducted a nuclear test. The bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons briefly flew over the Osan Air Base, located some 72 kilometers (45 miles) south of Seoul. In September, the US also flew two B-1B strategic bombers over South Korea and near North Koreas border. One of the nuclear-capable supersonic bombers landed at Osan Air Base near Seoul, a first in two decades. "The US reiterated its ironclad and unwavering commitment to draw on the full range of its military capabilities, including the nuclear umbrella, conventional strike and missile defense to provide extended deterrence for the ROK," the two sides stressed in their statement. The South Korean delegation met with Michael Flynn, a retired US Army lieutenant general who will serve as the national security adviser for the incoming president, Donald Trump. Flynn said the Trump administration would continue to cooperate with Seoul to further strengthen the South Korea-US alliance, officials said. North Korea launched three ballistic missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan on September 5. Several days later, it announced that it had conducted a successful nuclear warhead explosion, which was believed to be the fifth and largest such test by the country. Pyongyang says it will not abandon its nuclear deterrence unless Washington ends its hostile policy toward the country. Despite a rocky December, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi remains optimistic about China-US relations, stating that one individual will not be able to impede bilateral ties. We wonder who he could mean by that? "Of course, going forward China-US relations will face new complexities and uncertain factors," Wang said during an exclusive interview with People's Daily looking back over the year that was. "But 'thick mountains could not stop the river from flowing into the sea,'" he said, quoting from an oft-cited ancient Chinese poem, according to Reuters. "Only if China and the United States respect each and give consideration to other's core interests and key concerns can there be long-term, stable cooperation, and effect win-win mutual benefit," Wang continued. "This is a historical trend that can't be altered by an individual's will, and is the correct direction for the development of China-U.S. ties." Read more: Trump appoints 'Death by China' author Peter Navarro to run new White House trade office While he didn't actually say his name, we think it's safe to assume that Wang was referring to US President-elect Donald Trump's will. Since his stunning electoral college victory in November, Trump has already willed his way into an impressive number of international incidents. Earlier this month, he shattered over 35 years of US foreign policy protocol by speaking with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen over the phone. Later, he doubled down, going on a China-bashing Twitter rant. Then, he gave the middle finger to diplomatic tradition yet again by publicly questioning why the US should continue to adhere to the "one China" policy at all, in an apparent move directed at gaining leverage for better trade deals. Nationalistic Party tabloid the Global Times aside, China has mostly responded with restraint to Trump's provocations, though they did decide to randomly snatch an US Navy drone out of the South China Sea last week. That was weird. It's impossible to know what next year holds in store for US-China relations. Though we would probably refrain from taking a boat ride on that river Wang was talking about earlier. We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Police are looking for a person accusing of forcibly touching two different women during the morning rush hour commute along the 1 subway line earlier this month. Both incidents occurred on December 7th. The first was around 9:20 a.m., on a southbound 1 train near Broadway and 96th Street; police say the suspect "grabbed a 31-year-old female victim's buttocks" before leaving the train at the 96th Street station. Minutes later, at 9:38 a.m., police say the same man grabbed "a 19-year-old female victim's buttocks" on a 1 southbound train near Broadway and 72nd Street. He fled the train at the 72nd Street station, where the left the subway system. The authorities released a sketch of the suspect, describing him as being around 20-30 years old and 6', last seen wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans. Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. If you see or experience sexual misconduct in the subway (this includes seeing a masturbator, being groped, being grinded on, etc.), you can report it to the MTA and police on this website. There's also a place for you to upload photos and/or video. Don't let the perverts win. Temporarily blocking Mayor de Blasio's promise to destroy records related to the IDNYC program, a Staten Island Supreme Court judge ordered the city on Wednesday to keep the data it has already until a January hearing. Judge Phillip Minardo's ruling was a victory for Staten Island Assemblymembers Nicole Malliotakis and Ronald Castorina, who are suing to keep the city from destroying the data, claiming that the destruction would violate the state's Freedom of Information Law. The data was set to be destroyed by December 31st, because of a clause in the legislation that created the municipal ID program meant to keep undocumented immigrants' information out of the hands of a hostile president. Judge Minardo said he wasn't specifically ordering Mayor de Blasio or City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to come to the hearing, but did say "it would be helpful" if one or both of them attended, according to the Times. The hearing date will be set for either January 5th or 6th according to the Staten Island Advance. Minardo ruled against Malliotakis and Castorina's request to prevent the city from destroying any new IDNYC data they collect, which the the city announced they would do following the election of Herr Trump. Minardo previously blocked the city's attempt to move the lawsuit to a Manhattan court. To get a municipal ID, applicants need to show at least three documents proving their identityofficials accept driver's licenses, passports, visas, and certain foreign IDsas well as one document proving New York City residency. The Republican assemblymembers behind the suit argue that the application data could be used to investigate bank fraud and terrorism carried out by people using the municipal IDs. In explaining this position, Malliotakis invoked the fact that all of the 9/11 hijackers except for one had obtained fraudulent government IDs, telling the Advance "You never know until something bad happens." An NYC ID cannot be used to get on an airplane. A Bay of Plenty forest looks like a scene out of the Avatar movie when the sun goes down. Colourful lights strategically placed around the Redwoods Forest are creating a breathtaking atmosphere. Redwoods Treewalk in Rotorua and David Trubridge Design have partnered to create an iconic nocturnal tourism experience: the Redwoods Nightlights. Incorporating unique creations from New Zealand world-acclaimed design and sustainability champion David Trubridge, the Nightlights is New Zealands first design-led tourism experience. The new night-time experience will offer visitors and locals the opportunity to explore Rotoruas majestic Redwood forest under the shroud of darkness; illuminated by Trubridges bespoke creations to create an immersive and captivating environment. With 30 custom-made creations and a network of lights the night-time forest will come to life in a magical and surreal experience, says Treewalk director Kellie Thomasen. David Trubridges unique and inspiring lights add an amazing design element that is sure to become a much admired attraction within the forest. The idea to marry design and tourism attraction remains relatively unexplored in New Zealand and enhancing an already magnificent environment like the Redwoods was no easy task. The Trubridge design team and the arborists at the Treewalk worked hard to place the thirty 2.5m tall lantern creations in areas embracing the natural beauty of the forest, to provide dramatic contrast for visitors. In addition to the Trubridge lighting, more than 40 infinite colour spots and feature lights will illuminate the 115-year-old redwood trees, forest ferns and pungas. Nightlights will be open daily from today, shining bright until at least 10.30pm over the summer holidays and 8pm during the winter season. The Treewalk day walk has proven extremely popular and it was a natural progression to look for an innovative and world-class night-time product to offer additional opportunities for visitors to experience the citys wonderful forest, says Redwoods Treewalk general manager Alex Schmid. Located within Rotoruas Redwood Forest, which attracts more than 500,000 visitors annually, the Redwood Treewalk is the worlds longest suspended walkway. The walk, consisting of 23 elevated swing-bridges and living platforms, showcases one of Rotoruas most visited natural attractions. The work of internationally renowned designer David Trubridge is featured and sold in over 500 outlets worldwide. David and his team were excited to take on the Nightlights challenge, initially finding inspiration in New Zealand native birds; the Ruru (NZ owl), Karearea (NZ Falcon) and the Miromiro (Tomtit) The lights are up to 2.5m tall and were made at the David Trubridge workshop in Hastings and assembled by a team in the forest. Creating outdoor lighting was challenging especially for the forest environment. The lights needed to feel weightless, yet be able to survive the conditions, says David. Some are suspended more than 25 metres above the ground, with others installed to circle the trees. In the giant scale of the redwood grove they had to be much larger than most lights the studio normally makes. Redwoods Treewalk is Rotoruas newest eco-tourism attraction. Designed for use without harnesses or protective gear, it is suitable for all ages, providing the treewalkers can walk unaided. For more information visit www.treewalk.co.nz The investigation into the fatal crash causing the death of Don Henry Turei Junior has been upgraded to a homicide investigation. Detective Inspector Lew Warner says witness accounts and forensic examinations of the scene and Dons motorbike clearly show this was a deliberate act. We believe Mr Turei was purposefully hit by a white Honda Odyssey-type van, which immediately left the scene of the crash. We are continuing to seek information and sightings of a white Honda Odyssey in the Raukokere area on November 25-26. The burnt out vehicle was found near the banks of the Raukokore River not far from where Mr Turei died. We know someone out there will have information on who may have committed this crime. Police would like to speak to anyone who has seen the vehicle in the Raukokere area over that weekend, has seen the driver and/or passengers or saw it end up burnt out near the river. Information can be reported to Bay of Plenty Police on 07 349 9554, anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or by private message to the Bay of Plenty District Facebook page. Mr Tureis family are preparing for their first Christmas without him and we are doing everything we can to find the people responsible and hold them to account. If you even suspect you might know who did this, do the right thing and tell us what you know. We hope solving this crime will go some way towards bringing closure to Mr Tureis family. KiwiRails decision to phase out electric trains on the North Island Main Truck line between Hamilton and Palmerston North is being slammed as environmentally unsustainable by Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff. KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy says every tonne of freight carried by KiwiRail reduces the carbon emissions from trucks. We should not lose sight of the fact that last financial year freight carried by rail in New Zealand meant 1.1 million fewer truck trips, 76.7 million fewer litres of fuel used, and 208,613 fewer tonnes of greenhouse gas emitted and that was with a largely diesel fleet. The announcement that KiwiRail will be replacing the electric engines with diesel powered ones is not the right decision for a country, which prides itself on its clean green reputation, says Richard. Words speak louder than actions, and the Governments actions with KiwiRail demonstrate a fixation with cost cutting and a complete lack of concern for the environment and climate change. Instead of forcing KiwiRail to revert to carbon based fuel because it is more financially sustainable, the Government should have insisted on KiwiRail leading the way with electricity and funded them to do so. As well as this decision being terrible for our environment there are also consequences for those who have worked on the electric trains. We need to be supporting people with these skills, not telling them their futures are uncertain. We all know that the way of the future is electric powered vehicles KiwiRail needs the funding from Government to join the future. KiwiRail announced on December 21 it has decided the small fleet of almost 30 year old electric trains operating between Hamilton and Palmerston North will be phased out over the next two years and replaced with diesel locomotives. The electric infrastructure on the line is to remain in place and be maintained to a safe standard for any future use. The North Island Main Trunk from Auckland to Wellington is electrified only between Hamilton and Palmerston North. KiwiRail is essentially running a railway within a railway by having the electric section, says Peter. Imagine having to change planes at Hamilton and again at Palmerston North, just to fly from Auckland to Wellington. Thats not efficient, its more costly and ultimately delivers a less reliable service. The doubling up of service facilities, inventory, training and maintenance required with two separate systems on the line adds to the inefficiencies and unreliability, says Peter. The decision took more than two years to make and included extensive consultation with international experts, unions and other consultants. KiwiRail investigated four main options: replace the electric fleet with used or new electric trains; upgrade the current electric fleet or replace them with diesel trains as used on the rest of KiwiRails network. The 16 electric trains were breaking down on average every 30,000 kms which is well below the fleet target of every 50,000 km. Doing nothing was not an option, says Peter. Only eight new diesel trains need to be purchased as other existing diesel trains can be used more efficiently to cover the work of the electric trains. Efficiency was not the only factor involved in the decision environmental factors were assessed alongside the driving factors of reliability and performance improvement for customers. This is an important move for New Zealand as without a reliable and efficient service, our customers will not move freight on rail and every tonne of freight moved by rail delivers a 66 per cent reduction in carbon emissions from road. Thats critical for our customers, and for the country. The decision to choose the diesel option wasnt made lightly or hastily, says Peter. We looked long and hard at the electric options and for our business, and most importantly our customers, they just did not stack up. Ultimately the high costs of a new or refurbished electric fleet couldnt be justified, while the gains to be made from standardising our fleet were very compelling. The cost of electrifying the whole NIMT is estimated at more than $1 billion for the infrastructure alone and feeder lines would still require diesel trains. Retaining the electric infrastructure leaves the way open for future use if required. This is not a forever decision. A small number of staff may be affected by the change but staff and unions will be consulted well before the phase-in begins. Our preference is always to redeploy our people where possible and the project will take up to two years to implement, says Peter. The newest feastival to hit the Bay of Plenty this summer will showcase the perfect marriage of intelligently crafted beer with street eats in a relaxed summer environment. Beast of a Feast is a one-day event being held on Tuesday, January 3, in Mount Maunganui. Brought to you by Little Big Events, the festival will be split into two sessions 10am-3pm and 4pm-9pm allowing guests to spend the whole day or pop down for the evening. Festival-goers will not only have the opportunity to sample award-winning New Zealand fare and listen to a stellar line-up of music, there will be the chance to win the coveted title of Beast of the Feast 2017. Were inviting people to test their knowledge and taste buds in a series of food challenges featuring a pound of pickles and a bucket of ribs, says event director Chris Duffy. Following international festival trends, New Zealands top food trucks and brewers will be presenting a variety of new and exciting menu options, resulting in the perfect fusion of food and beer. When youre eating spicy, savoury or salty, theres nothing better than washing it down with a complementary brew in the sun. Visitors will be able to try the Swiss innovation of raclette, where cheese is melted right off the wheel and poured over a variety of food creations. Then they can get messy with the meaty, tasty goodness of American BBQ boasting everyones favourite meats, says Chris. Everyone will receive a concise food and beverage matching guide to help navigate the day. Theyll also be able to vote for their favourites to crown the Peoples Choice award winner. We have an impressive line-up of breweries, both iconic Kiwi brands and boutique craft brewhouses, who will be revealing their latest creations from The Beer Affair tent. Enthusiasts can hear the stories behind the brands, discover unique varieties and taste-test exclusive beers crafted especially for the event, including a unique brew inspired by American pancakes and maple syrup, explains Chris. The Sunday Session style event also boasts a wide range of musical genres including brass section bands playing ragtime to dixieland, coupled with a mix of acts known for other jazz fusions, rainbow pop and dance. Weve secured Australias high-energy five-piece Borneo. Its the only festival show on their New Zealand summer tour and theyll be performing brand new material. We also have internationally-recognised local act, Electric Wire Hustle, performing soulful sounds from their 2016 album The 11th Sky for the first time in the Bay. All of the live musical acts will be the perfect accompaniment to the top food and brews on offer at whats going to be the must-attend culinary and festival experience on the summer calendar, says Chris. Beast of a Feast is taking place at Soper Reserve, Mount Maunganui on Tuesday January 3 with tickets available for one or both sessions 10am until 3pm and 4pm until 9pm. Tickets for the R18 event are available now from Ticketek or The Rising Tide - Brewhouse and Eatery, 107 Newton Street, Mount Maunganui. For more information about Beast of a Feast visit http://www.littlebigevents.co.nz/beast-of-a-feast/ SunLive has one double pass to the day session of Beast of a Feast for one lucky reader who can tell us where Beast of a Feast will be held in 2017. Enter here. Entries must be received by Friday, December 30. A Rotorua school has been singled out by the Office of the Auditor-General for spending almost $700,000 on a school trip to Hawaii. Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ruamata spent $695,511 on last years trip, of which only $37,667 came from those attending. In total, the kura funded a trip to Hawaii for all 139 students, 21 teachers, and 73 caregivers. The Office of the Auditor-General considered it unusual for a school to spend this amount of money on a trip of this nature. School principal Cathy Dewes says a greater proportion of the money was raised by the school than merely the figure mentioned in the report. That figure is somewhat misleading, because weve been planning and fundraising by various means for about 10 years now. So that $37,000 was just one years contributions. Weve met with the ministry and showed them evidence of how the funds were accumulated. They seemed satisfied with the evidence we provided. However, a proportion of the funds did come from the government, although the school would not specify how much. Cathy says the school has made savings over the years by using volunteers to performing duties such as cleaning. The savings are then channelled into other ventures, such as the Hawaii trip. In regards to the educational value of such a trip, Cathy says its part of researching the heritage of their students, who are predominately Maori. Its part of our policy to provide an overseas experience for our students. Its an essential part of our curriculum to retrace the footsteps of our ancestors. The Office of the Auditor-General also questioned a loan of $311,000 made to a trust (of which the principal is a trustee) in breach of section 73 of the Education Act 1989. Cathy says legal advice has been sought over that matter. A loan was made to our parent body to get them through a financial hump. It was all transparent and above board, and approved by our whanau and governance procedures. The loan will be repaid. We still have a healthy cash reserve of somewhere in excess $500,000. It was raised by our auditor as a post-year event worth noting. The Education Act doesnt contemplate this kind of action, which was why the auditor raised it. An Upper Hutt family has returned from a Tauranga holiday with a bandaged and badly stubbed toe and glowing impression of local lifeguards. Awesome and friendly, says Louisa Platt, whod brought her family to Tauranga for five nights. Even in the face of a minor emergency. Louisas seven-year-old daughter Ayla leapt off some kid friendly rocks on Leisure Island and tore the tip off her toe. There was lots of blood and lots of tears. She didnt feel comfortable leaving the kids alone to seek help at the other end of the beach, so Louisa approached the lifeguards who were manning the flags. They radioed headquarters and within minutes, some lifeguards with a first aid kit arrived on a quad bike. Their names were Grant and Nathan. They were awesome and friendly, and joked with Ayla, says Louisa. They turned a minor emergency into a memorable event. And when theyd finished treating Aylas stubbed toe, they sat her on their quad bike and took photos for her. Its interesting that in Aylas last week of school at Silverstream she spent a day at a Wellington beach learning about lifeguards. The she comes to Tauranga and experiences firsthand how they operate. Ayla told her mum she preferred the treatment she got in Tauranga. In light of Trump's recent comments that we "know his plans" and that he's been "100% correct" about terrorism and Islam, there's been increased speculation that Donald Trump will pursue a Muslim immigration ban or registry when he takes office in January. Coincidentally, President Obama announced today that he was ordering the deletion of rules and framework related to a Bush-era Muslim immigration registry. The Department of Homeland Security will delete the rules governing the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, otherwise known as NEERS, a program that required males from majority-Muslim countries between the ages of 16 and 25 to register with U.S. immigration services between 2002 and 2003. While Politico points out that the move is largely symbolic, since the use of the system has fallen by the wayside, they also noted that hundreds of civil rights and religious organizations had asked the Obama Administration to trash the program anyway. Still, the Times points out that Trump transition team member Kris Kobach was a fan of the program, and was photographed with a sheet of paper that had "Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists" listed as a first-year goal for the Trump administration, leading to speculation that NSEERS would be revived. NSEERS was a completely failed counter-terrorism tool and massive profiling program that didnt yield a single terrorism conviction in nearly a decade. The ACLU applauds the Obama administration for terminating NSEERS for good," Joanne Lin, the ACLU senior legislative counsel said in a statement praising the deletion of the rules. Mayor de Blasio also praised the move in a statement which read in part: "If NSEERS were reinstated, roughly 28,000 New Yorkers would likely be required to register, with devastating consequences for immigrant families and other members of our community who would face greater fear, uncertainty and exclusion." New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman supported the move as well, in a statement in which he called the program "idle and ineffective," and argued that "the program was a law enforcement failure that left in place a regulatory framework that could be used to create President-elect Trump's promised unconstitutional Muslim registry." Beyond mass deportations and civil liberties violations, the actual usefulness of NSEERS was extremely limited, as DCist explains: More than 80,000 people registered under the program, and it set into motion deportation proceedings for 13,000 of them. For years, civil rights groups have condemned the program as discriminatory. It did not result in any known terrorism convictions. The dumping of the program also comes as Silicon Valley companies have faced questions about whether they would help incoming President Trump put together a Muslim registry. Recently, Google, Apple, Uber and IBM joined Twitter in publicly stating they wouldn't help with the registry. Almost 3,000 emploiyees at technology companies signed a pledge stating that they wouldn't help their companies with the project, and one senior executive publicly resigned from Oracle after the company's CEO told Trump "we are with him and will help in any way we can." MEADOWVIEW, Va. Sarah Scyphers is learning a farmers best friend has mud on the tires, a three-cylinder diesel engine, and an extra seat in the cab for her two young children, Hannah and Isaac and sometimes Natalie, a Boston Terrier. After teaching all day at Holston High School, Sarah can be found at her Meadowview farm climbing pastures behind the wheel of a new Kubota utility vehicle, a prize she received last month as the 2016 winner of Virginia Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Excellence in Agriculture program. Her children, ages 4 and 6, often ride along to help open gates for their mother, who hauls sacked feed to their 30 ewes and 65 cows and heifers. The award is given to people in the agriculture industry whose main source of income does not come from farming. Sarah and her husband Aaron Scyphers operate a commercial cow and calf operation in Washington County, Virginia. Scyphers also manages a hair sheep operation. The vehicle has allowed my husband and me to check cattle and sheep with ease and be able to travel our farm more conveniently. It also allows us to take our children with us safely in the protection of the cab, she said. Its very exciting for me to receive this award and to talk to people about what I feel are current issues in agriculture and the way they can be put on the forefront. Agriculture is the number one industry in Virginia and in the United States. Its how we eat and how were able to feed and clothe ourselves. The work of a farmer is very important work. Sarah received the honor this summer during the Virginia Farm Bureau Federations Young Farmers Summer Expo for her involvement in agriculture; leadership ability; and involvement and participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations. Earlier this month, she accepted a plaque for her award at the Virginia Farm Bureau Annual Convention at the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. As a state winner, Sarah also received a travel package to the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention where she will compete on a national level in Phoenix, Arizona, January 2017. Though Sarah is an agriculture instructor and FFA advisor at Holston High School in Damascus, Virginia, it was her work in the community that caught the judges attentions. Her selection as state winner was partially based on her presentation in Fredericksburg in July where she discussed three issues in agriculture that need to be addressed in farming communities. The main issue that needs to be addressed in the agriculture industry is increasing agriculture literacy among the general population. I talked about how I do that in my teaching career, said Scyphers. Increasing funding for agriculture education is another important issue. And, finally, I stressed the importance of involving youth in production agriculture, such as showing livestock. As an educator, Sarah has looked for ways to benefit not only her students, but also other children in her community. This past school year she was awarded a Models of Innovation Grant through the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Virginia Tech for development of an outdoor learning lab and classroom at her school. She also has established a program in which her students educate third-graders about agriculture. Learning about farm life has been her passion since she was a child. Sarah was raised on her familys beef and sheep operation in Floyd County, Virginia. Her work on the farm started at an early age, an important lesson she is teaching her own children. The kids feed our two Australian Shepherds and two Great Pyrenees dogs, open gates, and help with bottle-fed lambs. They do a lot to help us, she said. The Scyphers family raises purebred Katahdin and commercial hair sheep, along with commercial and Charolais cattle. The couple is working to build Charolais heifers for their children to show when they are ready to enter the show circuit. The children already have competed at open shows in Washington and Russell counties. Sarah holds a bachelors degree in animal and poultry science with an emphasis in production agriculture from Virginia Tech, and a masters degree in career and technical education with an endorsement in agriculture education, also from Virginia Tech. Carolyn R. Wilson is a freelance writer in Glade Spring, Virginia. Contact her at news@washconews.com. Byrne Dairy, exterior of the Ultra Dairy Plant Byrne Dairy, exterior of the Ultra Dairy Plant at 6750 W. Benedict Road, DeWitt. Ellen M. Blalock / eblalock@syracuse.com (Ellen M. Blalock) DEWITT, NY - Byrne Dairy was scheduled to break ground in 2015 on a $32.5 million expansion that would nearly double the size of its plant in DeWitt and create 50 jobs. Now that plan is on hold, and another smaller, less costly expansion is being proposed that when it opens will initially create no new jobs but might later add 10 jobs. Byrne officials say the smaller 12,000 square-foot addition - instead of the original plans for a 100,000-square-foot addition - will cost half as much. The addition will be used for the company's first foray into the aseptic packaging market. Aseptic products don't need refrigeration. "The aseptic market is a natural extension of what we already do at the plant," said James A. Gosier, a lawyer for Byrne Dairy. The Ultra Dairy plant, on West Benedict Road off Fly Road, uses an ultra-high-temperature pasteurization process to make coffee creamers, milk and other dairy products with an extended shelf life of up to 120 days. Aseptic products have an even longer shelf life of up to a year. Byrne would start with coffee creamers which would be sold to gas stations, schools, nursing homes, restaurants and colleges. The bigger facility first proposed in 2013 would have allowed Byrne to expand and meet the greater demand for extended shelf life products. officials said. Despite securing $2.1 million in tax exemptions from the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency for the project, Byrne decided to put it on hold and pursue the aseptic market first. "At the time, we were constructing our yogurt plant in Cortland, and we decided to focus on that,'' Gosier said, "and then this new business opportunity in the aseptic area came up." This proposal will retain an estimated 20 jobs at the plant, and likely add another 10 down the road, Gosier said. Construction and getting the equipment in place would take some time, with July targeted as an opening date. The larger addition is still a major piece of its overall expansion plan, which calls for doubling the size of the business in the next five years. Gosier said. But where that expansion will be located is still a question - it could be in Central New York it could be in another state where transportation costs are lower, Gosier said. If a facility can be built closer to the company's markets it would cost less to transport the products, he said. Meanwhile, Byrne officials are seeking approval from DeWitt planners, and then will pursue economic development incentives in order to help the smaller project move forward, Gosier said. Byrne also plans to build its own electrical substation to serve the plant if the project moves ahead, Gosier said. Blog_041306jail3PC.JPG In this photograph from 2006, inmates watch TV at the Cayuga County Jail in Sennett. This photographs is from The Post-Standard | Syracuse.com's archives. (The Post-Standard archives) SENNETT, N.Y. -- The death of a federal inmate who killed himself in Cayuga County is under investigation, the county sheriff said. Corrections officers were conducting rounds around 10 p.m. on Dec. 9 in the Cayuga County Jail when they found an inmate hanging in his cell, said Sheriff David Gould. The man, a 34-year-old federal inmate, had tried to commit suicide using his bedsheets, the sheriff said. The officers cut the man down and started CPR, Gould said. A jail nurse came to the cell and worked to revive the man, he said. Paramedics rushed the man from the jail in Sennett to Auburn Community Hospital in Auburn, Gould said. About 11 hours later, the inmate died in the hospital, he said. Gould said he could not release the man's name because the man was a federal inmate and investigators are still working to notify his family. The man was not from New York. The sheriff's office is investigating the man's death. Gould said the man was the first inmate to die of unnatural causes in the jail in over 10 years. The New York State Commission of Correction and the U.S. Marshals Service have been notified, he said. The state Commission of Correction investigates all in-custody deaths in New York, said Justin Mason, a spokesman for the commission. Mason said he could not comment the investigation into the inmate's suicide and did not know how long the investigation would take. The man had only been in the jail for a few days, Gould said. Deputies and Cayuga County Mental Health screened the man for depression during his entrance exams, but did not find any red flags, the sheriff said. The inmate was alone in his cell and did not leave a note, Gould said. Because most federal inmates' records are sealed, he said the sheriff's office does not know why the man was incarcerated. "We have no idea why he would do this," the sheriff said. The corrections officers who tried to save the inmate were offered assistance after the suicide, Gould said. He commended his deputies, the jail staff, paramedics and hospital workers for doing "everything humanly possible" to save the man's life. "They all did a great job," Gould said. "It's just too bad." laurence1.JPG Laurence Segal collects bottles and cans at Delta Sonic Car Wash in Fairmount. He raises money for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund with each 5-cent deposit. (Katrina Tulloch) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Last July, Laurence Segal ran into a reporter at the Delta Sonic Car Wash on West Genesee Street. He wasn't there to wash his car. Rather, he approached parked drivers to ask for any spare change or empty bottles in their cars to donate to his bottle drive for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. Segal, of DeWitt, has done this for years around Central New York, picking up bottles off the ground and collecting recyclables at NBT Stadium, Destiny USA, St. Sophia Greek Cultural Festival and at the New York State Fair. He then makes mass deposits to Wegmans to raise money for the Baldwin fund. In January 2015, Segal first announced he had collected 100,000 cans and bottles to raise $5,000. In July 2015, he made plans to raise 10 times that amount by collecting a million bottles. Now, he has met his goal of $50,000 without having to collect the full million. Ron Benderson, owner of Delta Sonic Car Wash, donated $10,000 to the Baldwin fund in Segal's name. That donation put Segal over his goal. Laurence Segal displays his receipts from 100,000 bottle and can deposits. He hand-deposited each recyclable to raise $5,000 for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. But Segal's accomplishment came with a cost. After years of bending over to pick up thousands of bottles and cans, he finally had to address the lingering pain in his back. He could no longer lift bins of bottles into the back of his truck. A week of MRIs and X-rays confirmed Segal had multiple herniated discs on his spine. He will begin physical therapy on Dec. 28. "Apparently it had been going on a long time and I had sort of ignored my health," said Segal. "Ironically, it's because I've been picking up so many bottles and cans. I debilitated myself. I want my bottle drive to continue, but I have to take care of myself right now. It doesn't come without a price." He's now worried people won't see him out anymore, asking for recyclables. He doesn't want to stop his bottle drive or fundraising. "I think it's a worthy cause to continue," he said. "Cancer still hasn't ended and that's why it still needs to go on. I just want people to know wherever they met me that I'm grateful for their donations. Bottles and cans don't belong in the garbage when they can help people going through cancer." Recently, he turned his efforts to the Syracuse chapter of Real Men Wear Pink. He alone raised $10,788 for the Real Men Wear Pink American Cancer Society drive, which ends on Dec. 31, 2016. He's the top fundraiser in Syracuse, on a list which includes local bigwigs like Jim Boeheim and Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway. Currently, the Syracuse Real Men chapter has raised the second highest amount in New York. To donate, you can call Segal at 315-530-7674 or bring your bottles and cans to Bottle's End (101 Montrose Ave.) and say you're donating them to the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. Katrina Tulloch writes music and culture stories for Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Contact her: Email | Twitter | Facebook Aly the alligator Aly, a young alligator who is about 1-foot long, eats a catfish in this undated photo. Aly was rescued from a Central New York home last month by MaxMan Reptile Rescue. Aly survived a house fire on Dec. 1 and is now in the custody of state Department of Environmental Conservation. (Provided photo) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A young alligator who was rescued from a home last month and survived a deadly house fire in Elbridge earlier this month has been seized by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Diana Sleiertin, the owner of MaxMan Reptile Rescue, said she feels the DEC unfairly confiscated her alligator since she was working to obtain the proper permit to own an alligator. She said she also fears the animal will die in DEC custody. A deadly fire destroyed Sleiertin's home on Dec. 1. Scott Dombroski, Sleiertin's husband, died Dec. 2 from injuries sustained in the fire. Almost all of Sleiertin's rescued reptiles and other animals were killed in the fire. Aloysius the alligator, or Aly for short, was one of the few survivors of the electrical fire. Sleiertin said Aly, who is about 1-foot long and less than a year old, was confiscated by the DEC this week because she did not have a permit to house an alligator. "Before the fire I was in the process of obtaining the permit," she said. "I've had permits in the past for alligators. I know the procedure." Sleiertin has run MaxMan Reptile Rescue for more than 20 years and for nearly a decade she's been helping rescue snakes and other reptiles across the state. She's also assisted the DEC rescue and care for reptiles, such as Burmese pythons, which also require a permit from New York State. Sleiertin said she has current permits for Burmese pythons, but her permit for alligators expired because she no longer had alligators. When Sleiertin rescued the alligator about a month ago, she said she housed him in a secure enclosure and was in the process of securing a permit, she said. After the fire, another MaxMan rescuer took Sleiertin's surviving animals, including Aly. Sleiertin said Aly was housed in a new secure enclosure. She said she contacted the state to obtain an emergency permit, but the DEC declined to issue the permit. Ben Delamater, a spokesman for the DEC, said the alligator was seized because the MaxMan rescuer who was housing the alligator did not have a permit to own the alligator. Delamater said the alligator was placed with a rescuer who has a proper permit. Delamater said Sleiertin has had violations in the past for not obtaining proper permits and she will not be receiving a permit to house the alligator. Sleiertin said she has never received a violation or a ticket from the DEC. The DEC declined to tell Sleiertin who has Aly or where he is being housed. She fears the animal will not receive proper care. "To me there is no reason that animal cannot stay in my care and custody," Sleiertin said. "I would like the animal back, but I fear he will be dead before this is resolved." Teensolitary.jpg Walta Williams, holding microphone, speaks about her teenage son's experience in solitary confinement at the Onondaga County Justice Center. The jail is the subject of a class-action lawsuit on behalf of teens subjected to the punishment, which plaintiffs argue is unconstitutional and harmful to developing minds. (Yu Hua | Syracuse.com) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two New York civil rights organizations are pushing to expedite their lawsuit against the county jail regarding solitary confinement of 16- and 17-year-olds, saying the jail "continues to throw children into solitary." The class-action lawsuit seeks to end the jail's practice of solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-olds, saying it violates their Constitutional rights and harms young minds. If the Thursday request is granted, the teens would be taken out of solitary confinement as the lawsuit proceeds in federal court. The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office, which operates the jail, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The new court documents, filed as part of the lawsuit from the New York Civil Liberties Union and Legal Services of Central New York, claim that of 131 teens admitted to the jail between Oct. 29, 2015, and Oct. 19, 2016, 79 of them spent time in solitary confinement. Inmates spend 23 hours a day in their "barren" cells that are 7 feet by 9 feet, according to the lawsuit. Corrections officers place inmates, including teens housed there charged as adults, into its "segregation housing unit" after they allegedly commit infractions and for other reasons. The lawsuit claims officers arbitrarily punish teens with segregation. The lawsuit also names the Syracuse City School District and says it has failed to adequately educate kids who are confined in the segregation unit. Earlier court documents included a packet of educational materials that teens receive while housed there. Of the 131 juveniles admitted to the facility between October 19, 2015 and October 19, 2016 with stays lasting more than 6 days, 79 (60 percent) spent time in solitary. On average, the children spent 26 days in solitary, according to a news release announcing the new legal action. If a federal judge grants the groups' request, the teens would be removed from solitary confinement as the lawsuit moves forward. "Twelve weeks after we filed our lawsuit, the Onondaga County Sherriff continues to punish children with a form of torture that can cause serious and life-long damage," said NYCLU's Phil Desgranges, lead counsel on the case, in a news release. "For their safety and wellbeing these kids must be removed from solitary confinement and given the educational opportunities that all kids deserve." Since the lawsuit was filed Sept. 21, 23 teens were placed in solitary, as of Dec. 1, according to the news release. Teens subject to the practice describe in court documents mounting anxiety and depression as they sit alone in their cells. They also say adult inmates often sexually harass or threaten them with violence. The lawsuit names Sheriff Eugene Conway, Justice Center Chief Custody Deputy Esteban Gonzalez, Assistant Chief Custody Deputy Kevin M. Brisso and the Syracuse City School District, which provides education to school-aged inmates at the jail. In an email provided with earlier court documents, Esteban Gonzalez, the chief deputy of the custody department, said the jail staff, mental health and other health-care workers make regular rounds through the unit. He also said the inmates get an hour of exercise each day and have access to other jail services. The school district, in court documents filed last week, said the jail has sole discretion in determining whether teen inmates receive adequate education in or out of the segregation unit. One teacher wrote in court documents that teachers also customize the education materials based on segregated teenage inmates' learning disabilities and other needs. Four of six of the plaintiffs that brought the suit against the jail and school district had attention-deficit disorder, according to court documents. Other teenage inmates also said they suffered from bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress and other mental illnesses, according to court documents. Reporter Patrick Lohmann covers New York state government and other topics. He can be reached any time: Email | Twitter | (315)766-6670 I am offering the solution to a problem most Republicans don't know they have -- that they can be outmaneuvered and thrown on the defensive endlessly, on nearly any issue, because they accept as true Democrat lies about the Republican Party. To correct that misperception and to help the Republican Party get 'back to basics' is why I'm a man on a mission. A few years ago, after one of my speeches, a man told me "Do you know what your problem is? You're too far ahead of your time!" My efforts to show Republicans how they would benefit from celebrating the heritage of our Grand Old Party have been arduous, but if this were easy someone else would have already done it. Among my speech topics are Reconciling the Tea Party and the GOP; Barack Obama, the Worst President Ever; Socialism, the new Slavery; Appreciating the Heritage of our Grand Old Party; Returning to the Founding Principles of the United States; The Womens Rights Achievements of our Grand Old Party; Abraham Lincoln, Republican; Frederick Douglass, Republican; Martin Luther King and the Republican Civil Rights Legacy. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two prominent members of the Syracuse Citizen Review Board have resigned from the city's police watchdog board, joining the administrator who resigned Wednesday after about seven months at the helm. The resignations from Dave Barrette, a former Syracuse police deputy chief, and Peter Christiana, the former board chair, came after they learned about the resignation of administrator David Chaplin II. He resigned Wednesday night and made the decision publc Thursday morning. Chaplin said he's pursuing other career opportunities but would not comment further about what prompted his resignation. The Citizen Review Board reviews complaints against Syracuse police officers and recommends discipline to Chief Frank Fowler, who has the final say. Barrette, reached Thursday evening, would not describe what events led to the resignations, but he said they were not related to the board's investigative or analytical role in holding police accountable. He suggested the board's influence on Chaplin made the administrator sometimes seem "frustrated," but he stressed he did not want to speak for Chaplin. "The board has developed this kind of management model for the administrative end of the office that I think is counterproductive to the overall mission of the board," Barrette said. "And with David leaving, I thought this is something that I don't want to be a part of." Christiana was the board's chairman until September, according to meeting minutes. Barrette is a former deputy chief for the Syracuse Police Department and was credited in working with Chaplin to smooth relations with the Syracuse police union, according to meeting minutes. Christiana would only say "internal issues" were behind his and the other resignations. He would not elaborate. The resignations leave seven members on the 11-member citizen review board, as there were already two vacancies. And Chaplin, a former associate corporation counsel for the City of Syracuse, was hired to the $60,000-a-year post after a national search. It's not yet been determined when a new administrator search will begin. Mallory Livingston, the board's current chair, said Thursday that she did not know exactly why Barrette and Christiana resigned, but being a member requires an intense time commitment and can often "get pretty emotional." As for Chaplin, Livingston praised his work as administrator on a few items he took on. She declined to assess his overall performance as administrator, saying a full performance review was pending. "I think he was doing a very good job in helping to build a better relationship, a better understanding between the CRB and the police department," Livingston said. "...On those issues, he did a great job." The board is composed of mayoral and Common Council appointees. The organization has a nearly $134,000 budget. Note: This post has been updated to include comments from Dave Barrette. achristmasstoryhouses.png Jason Middaugh, from Syracuse, New York, has created a Lego set which is a Lego version of the house with the beloved holiday movie. (L: Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer. R: Jason Middaugh.) You could have the A Christmas Story House in your living room, but first, you have to vote for it. Jason Middaugh, from Syracuse, has created a Lego set which is a Lego version of the house from the beloved holiday movie. If 10,000 people vote for the set, which includes touches like a light-up leg lamp and bunny suit, then it can go for direct consideration for approval from Lego. Other sets, such as those inspired by "The Big Bang Theory" and "Ghostbusters" have been approved this way, Middaugh said. Middaugh has visited the A Christmas Story House in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood where the exterior shots were done for the film. The attraction has shared support for the Lego set on its Facebook page. We really love this Lego A Christmas Story themed prototype made by superfan Jason! It features The Old Man, a major... Posted by A Christmas Story House on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 The idea came while Middaugh was using his old Lego sets to create toys for his daughter, Jane. His wife urged him to think of an idea that he could submit to the company, and he settled upon "A Christmas Story." "(I asked myself) what would people want ... what would I want," he said. "It's such a iconic movie. It's one of those movies that defies logic, because every year it's become more popular somehow." All the bricks in the set are produced by Lego. The set would include replicas of the characters in the film. Middaugh said the set's planning required a few weeks of tinkering around and then about six months of acquiring the pieces. Middaugh said what sets his project apart are references like the leg lamp, which lights up thanks to a special Lego piece. The house also has a furnace in it, something that's discussed in the movie, but never seen on-screen. Vote for the set here. To vote for the set, users must sign up for a free Lego account. Votes only count through the Lego site, not through social media, though users can use their Google+, Facebook and Twitter to create logins. You can find out more about the project on Middaugh's Facebook page here. walsh_property.JPG John Walsh, host of "The Hunt with John Walsh," and his wife have paid $1.7 million for a Skaneateles Lake property. After finding problems with the foundation, they plan to demolish the house and build a new one. (Charley Hannagan|channagan@syracuse.com) SKANEATELES, N.Y. - Even a television personalities aren't immune to the frustrations of home renovations. Television personality John Walsh and his wife Reve spent $1.75 million for a house on Skaneateles Lake, and now they plan to tear down the 80-year-old building. The reason? There are problems with the foundation of the Cape Cod-style home built in 1935. Walsh, who is an Auburn native, is the host of "The Hunt with John Walsh" on CNN and was the host of "America's Most Wanted." Although the couple live in Florida, they own a horse stable on Andrews Road and are familiar to Skaneateles residents. Syracuse.com reached out through an intermediary to the couple for comment on their plans for the Skaneateles Lake property. Property records show Jarriet Bros. Developers LLC bought the 1.12 acre property for $1.75 million in February. The property at 3093 East Lake Road is about 1.5 miles from the village of Skaneateles. It was owned by E. Carlyle Smith. A long driveway slopes down to the home. A view of the house is buffered from the road by trees and the slope. Property records show that the house is 3,536 square feet and has four bedrooms, two and a half baths, and two fireplaces. A listing on the real estate website Zillow shows the property's major selling point: 84 feet of waterfront on a popular lake. In June, Skaneateles town planning board minutes show the couple sought permission to build an addition to the home. But, they returned to the board in October after finding that a review of the foundation showed that the house needed to be demolished, planning board minutes show. In one section of the house the wood floor is directly on the ground, said Karen Barkdull, the town's clerk for codes enforcement, as well as the clerk for the planning and zoning boards. "They can't really build on it," she said. The couple returned with plans to build a slightly smaller house, 3,200 square feet, which were recently approved by the planning board, Barkdull said. Linda Roche, an agent with RealtyUSA, said Walsh paid fair value for the property. "That really, really was a good buy, because of the location it has beautiful views," she said. Often people buy an older home in Skaneateles with an eye toward remodeling it, but as they get into the project it sometimes becomes less expensive to knock the building down and start fresh, Roche said. The Skaneateles market has a limited housing supply, especially along the water front, Roche said. "I think the more John looked, I think he realized he wanted to be close to the village. He wanted great views He wanted a boat house. There's not a lot under $2 million where you can have those things," she said. Contact Charley Hannagan anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-2161. Donald Trump, Carl Paladino Carl Paladino speaks before a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at JetSmart Aviation Services on Sunday, April 10, 2016, in Rochester, N.Y. (Mike Groll | AP Photo) BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Carl Paladino has requested that photos of Donald Trump be hung in Buffalo public schools when the president-elect takes office. Paladino was an early supporter of Trump's campaign. He ran as the Republican nominee for governor in 2010. He's also a Buffalo school board member and businessman. Paladino said at a school board meeting this week that he would like to see pictures of President Barack Obama replaced with Trump's image, The Buffalo News reported. Paladino said he was making the request on behalf of the "patriotism committee," which is not actually a committee in Buffalo schools, the News reported. He also introduced the idea as a formal resolution, but failed to get support from other board members. One board member said she didn't feel comfortable forcing principals to decorate schools in any particular way. It should be the principals' prerogative, the board member said. "Why do we care? Paladino said. "Why do we care what their prerogative is?" Finally, officials agreed they would ask schools to display posters of all the U.S. presidents, including Trump. Reporter Julie McMahon covers education. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992 A few weeks ago I was thrown out of Cambridges club Life for being in the mens bathroom. The womens line had been long, and I had simply been trying to pee. While I couldnt really complain because I do identify as female, it did make me think. The obsession with making bathrooms gender specific is something I do not really understand. Today at university, all genders are expected to work together, sit in adjacent seats in lectures, eat with one another, study in libraries, and share staircases with each other in college. So why should bathrooms continue to reinforce old-fashioned gendered separation? CUSU LGBT+ is campaigning to de-gender all single toilet cubicles across the university, and enforce gender-neutral facilities in new buildings. Having overheard students discussing this at college, Im aware of the controversy surrounding the topic. It seems that some people dont understand that gender assignment at birth is a cultural act, and that, in simple terms, gender is distinct from biological sex which is purely physical. The argument I hear most frequently against gender neutral bathrooms is that they are an invasion of a female safe-space by men. While I do agree that we all deserve to go to the bathroom in peace, Im not aware of any reliable facts indicating that public bathrooms are more dangerous for cis-women than anywhere else or would be, were they to be gender-neutral. Some girls claim not to feel comfortable doing their make-up in a gender-inclusive bathroom. Cambridge colleges often use the argument of practicality. The college I attend originally agreed to have inclusive bathrooms, using the signs toilets with urinals and toilets without urinals. However, apparently this embarrassed and confused visitors, and the signs were recategorised as male and non-binary and female and non-binary. College gave the reasoning that they would serve a public education purpose for those who have not thought about gender before, but also enable people to determine quickly which toilet they would be most comfortable using. These signs, however, seem to me to miss the point of gender neutrality. Transgender people should be allowed to use whichever bathroom corresponds to their identity and considering that there are a number of gender identities other than male, female, and non-binary, it seems to me that we need gender-neutral toilets to make the lives of transgender people liveable. Are the lives of the students at college not more important than those of the visitors? Another obstacle is the collegiate structure of Cambridge. Making toilets gender neutral is generally done on a college level by JCR and MCR reps, and change within college is often a slow and difficult process. Currently, only a very small number of Cambridge colleges have unsegregated bathrooms. Educating the public is a long process, and repressing societal stereotypes can be hard, but when you think about marriage equality twenty years ago it probably seemed inconceivable that wed ever have same-sex marriages. We cant ignore the work ahead, but hopefully the arguments against gender-neutral toilets will soon be a thing of the past. Directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first in a run of stand-alone Star Wars spin-off films, currently slated to come out in the years between the main saga entries, a bid by Disney to diversify the franchise and appeal to a wider audience, much as they have successfully done with the Marvel cinematic universe over the last few years. That Rogue One is separate from the existing Star Wars films is evident right from the start with the absence of the signature opening crawl, with other fan-favourites such as John Williams famous score also notably missing. Instead Michael Giacchino (Jurassic World, Up) delivers a solid, if unremarkable, soundtrack for the film, replete with familiar leitmotifs from Williams scores. The film opens with stunning shots of the ringed planet Lahmu, the home of our heroine, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), where the tranquil beauty of the Iceland-shot scenery is promptly interrupted by the arrival of our villain, Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). Krennic comes to whisk away Jyns father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), a brilliant scientist whose knowledge is required to finish the construction of the Death Star, the Empires ultimate (well, apart from the second one) superweapon, as seen in the 1977 original. The rest of the first act unfurls at breakneck pace, jumping between planets enough that even I, something of a Star Wars fanatic, was grateful for the inclusion of on-screen text detailing the location of each scene a first for the series. Now this is where we should consider The Force Awakens, released last year. Where that film ran into slight difficulty was where it let its deference to the originals get in the way of telling its own story. Rogue One, on the other hand, is at its best when the plot is allowed to brush right up against the events of A New Hope, with the final minutes of the film vindicating this to the utmost. Moreover, as with The Force Awakens, it is clear that fans were very much kept in mind during production Easter eggs and cameos abound, but whereas in Episode VII they sometimes felt tacked-on or unnecessary, here they nearly always hit the mark. Some of these references were so brilliantly specific that they will only be picked up by those familiar with some really quite obscure parts of the Star Wars canon; it will be interesting to see whether this fan-service is maintained to such a great extent in the films going forward. As we have now come to expect of Star Wars, the special effects in this film were of the highest standard. Of particular note was the mixture of CGI and archive footage used to bring back several much-loved characters from the 1977 film a technological feat that, while it may raise some ethical quandaries in the years to come, was nonetheless incredible to behold and added to the film immeasurably. Overall, this was a very strong Star Wars film, and a very strong film at that. 9/10 Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Hot off the rumor mill on Wednesday is news of a new feature Samsung may include in its upcoming Galaxy S8. Its dubbed Beast Mode, and thats just about all that is known about it so far. Spotted in an EU trademark application, Beast Mode would apply to smartphones, mobile phones and application software for smartphones, notedGalaxy Club, a Netherlands-based blog. The Galaxy S8 is expected to be the first smartphone built around Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 processor. If true, that lines up with the notion that Beast Mode could allow super high performance. Another rumor is that the Galaxy S8 will have an optical fingerprint scanner built into the display instead of the body. Further, its rumored that it will include Bluetooth 5.0, recently approved by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group and that idea seems to carry a fair amount of weight. Countering Bad PR Theres a strong possibility that Samsung will incorporate Bluetooth 5 into the Galaxy S8, said Ken Hyers, director of wireless device strategies at Strategy Analytics. With the cancellation of the Note7, the Galaxy S8 is now [Samsungs] premier device to showcase the latest and best smartphone technology, he told TechNewsWorld. Samsung had to institute a global recall of millions of Galaxy Note7s after multiple instances in which the device spontaneously burst into flames. Some replacement devices also caught fire. Samsung has a PR problem, observed Michael Jude, a program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan. Note7 is a disaster, and they need something with which to seize the technological high ground. Putting cutting-edge technologies in the S8 will help a lot, he told TechNewsWorld. Remember, practically nothing is Bluetooth 5-compliant, Jude noted. As long as the S8 can talk to existing Bluetooth devices, its golden. People will be drawn to the latest, greatest technology. Bluetooth 5.0 doesnt replace 4.0, 4.1 or 4.2. It extends the functionality of these previous versions of the Bluetooth Core Specification. Further, Bluetooth 5.0 lets manufacturers leverage interoperability and performance improvements incorporated in the core specs since 4.2 was released. From Bluetooth headsets and speakers to home control, personal robots and drones, Bluetooth is a default technology for connecting devices, with the smartphone as the hub of consumers device universe, Strategy Analytics Hyers remarked. We are rapidly moving into a more complex connected device world, he pointed out. Samsung has focused heavily on the Internet of Things, offering smart TVs and smart appliances that can be tied to its smartphones. Bluetooth 5 is a huge advance over previous versions of Bluetooth from a connectivity speed and capacity standpoint, Hyers pointed out, noting that its a natural fit for Samsungs next flagship device. The S8 will be both a mass market flagship and a showcase for Samsungs technological leadership since the company has canceled its Note series of phablets, he said. Therefore, Samsung will be careful to only put technology and features in it that its certain will not create issues, Hyers contended. As a relatively low-risk feature, Bluetooth 5 likely will appear in the S8 in Q1 2017. Bluetooth 5.0 Specs Bluetooth 5.0 offers 2Mbps of bandwidth, twice that of Bluetooth 4.2, with low energy. The bandwidth can be decreased to achieve up to 4x the broadcast range of Bluetooth 4.2 with the same power requirement. That means home automation and security devices can cover entire homes, buildings or locations. Developers can adjust the broadcast range, speed and security for different environments. Bluetooth 5.0 delivers reliable Internet of Things connections, and it will increase the relevance of beacons and other location awareness technologies, which will enable a seamless IoT experience. It also has ad extensions that enable more efficient use of broadcasting channels on the 2.4 GHz band. Slot availability masks can detect and prevent interference on neighboring bands. Keeping the Note7s Specter at Bay Many consumers returned their Note7 phablets to purchase an older Galaxy S7, Hyers said. Given that history, I expect that the Galaxy S8 will be the most carefully tested and verified smartphone ever released. Also, consumers in the know will see Bluetooth 5 as a future-proof technology, he suggested, while early adopters will see it as a useful item. 1. Lots of choices! 2. The best gadget search box you'll find in an e-commerce site 3. Enjoy Full Official Warranty on All Units 4. Unparalleled convenience 5. Reliable After-Sales Support As many of you know, I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge fromaround middle of this year after I heard great reviews about the company and when I learned that my good friend Mr. Karel Holub - who used to be Nokia Philippines' General Manager - is the one leading it.As an argomall buyer, I have nothing but good words to say about the company. The website looks amazing and their delivery process is top-notch. I'm actually thinking about making another purchase before the year ends and trust that I'll share the experience again with you when that happens.What makes argomall different from other online sellers, you ask? Well, the company is unique in the sense that it part of a larger conglomerate that specializes in courier services. Also, it doesn't really try to compete in terms of offering the lowest prices for devices but instead focuses on delivering happiness and convenience to buyers as reflected by its slogan.For those who are thinking about purchasing a gadget to give as gift this Yuletide Season or to celebrate the New Year, here are five reasons why you might get it at argomall.argomall is an official dealer of so many brands in the Philippines. For instance, currently, it offers more than 400 different models of smartphones from more than 25 tech companies - both local and international. Given the vast number of choices, you are sure to find the device that's right for you.Hands down, argomall's internal search engine is one of the most intuitive and detailed that's currently available in an online store currently -- making it very easy and convenient to use. You have to try it to believe it.It even has a catalog advanced search section where you can look for devices meeting the technical specifications or price range that you prefer.You can also compare the features and specs of multiple smartphone models just by clicking a few buttons. Doing this can help you pick the best one so you can get the most value for your money.All gadgets that are being offered on argomall come directly from official channels, which means that the company is a recognized or authorized distribution outlet.argomall buyers can have peace of mind knowing that the units they get from the company have full official warranty that should come in handy should they require after-sales service.Great for those who don't want to go through the hassle of braving traffic just to go to the mall and then falling in line to buy electronics items, argomall offers nationwide free delivery and COD (Cash on Delivery) payment option. The store can even help you process an installment agreement -- thanks to its landmark partnership with Home Credit."At argomall, we understand that it can sometimes be hard to get after-sales support for our gadgets -- especially for consumers who are in the provinces. So as a value-added service, we are offering pick-up and delivery for electronics items that need to be repaired," Karel told me in our meeting.There you have it! I'll wrap this up by saying that I'm glad argomall is around to make gadget shopping even easier and more convenient for all Pinoy consumers who are the reason why I still blog after all these years. It's always good to have options in everything -- especially if the options are great and worth recommending. If you ask someone about exploding batteries, their first response will likely be related to Samsung's Galaxy Note 7. The handset and its recall were the biggest tech story of the year - possibly the last several years - and is a reminder of how volatile these lithium-ion components can be. Reports state that it was immense pressure placed on the Note 7's battery that caused it to explode. But rechargeable lithium-ion batteries can also be a danger when outside of a device, as the CCTV footage above shows. The video comes from a store in the Trinity Shopping Center, Leeds, UK. It shows an electronic cigarette battery igniting in a man's pocket as he stood just inches away from a baby's pram. The local fire service said the explosion was caused when the man's spare e-cigarette battery came into contact with a metal item in his pocket, possibly keys or coins, causing a short circuit. He needed first aid treatment afterward, but escaped with "slight injuries." The incident took place on September 19, but the West Yorkshire Fire Service only released the footage yesterday. "This is not the first time we have seen injuries caused by a lithium-ion battery exploding whilst being carried in someone's pocket," said fire investigator Jamie Lister. "There does not need to be a fault with the battery; the problem is the incorrect storage of the batteries." As an ever-increasing number of electronic devices are using lithium-ion batteries, Lister said incidents like these are becoming increasingly common. "There has been a marked increase in the number of fires we have seen, attributable to the incorrect storage of batteries." "The use of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is now commonplace in modern society and that's why we want people to be vigilant because a simple mistake could have a devastating consequence," he said. E-cigarette users have been advised to carry batteries in a plastic case to prevent them from short-circuiting. Last month, CCTV cameras caught the moment an e-cig exploded in the pocket of a nightclub owner in France. A jet stream is running within the Earth's core whereby molten iron is flowing westwards in a 420 km wide river at an average speed of 40 km per year. This was confirmed by latest satellite data by the Swarm satellites deployed by European Space Agency. Three swarm satellites launched in 2013 are analyzing the magnetic signals from Earth's crust, core, mantle, ionosphere, oceans, and magnetosphere. The details are published in a research paper, "An accelerating high-latitude jet in Earth's core," published in Nature Geoscience. "They are providing our sharpest x-ray image yet of the core. We've not only seen this jet stream clearly for the first time, but we understand why it's there," said lead researcher Phil Livermore of the University of Leeds. Livermore likened the accelerating molten iron circling the North Pole to jet streams in the atmosphere. Core Analysis Given that the Earth's core is some 3,000 kilometers deep, scientists have been relying on the planet's magnetic field as an indicator to study the core. Swarm satellites reveal that jet stream might be moving at speeds more than 40 kilometers per year. That is thousand times faster than the speed with which Earth's tectonic plates move. Scientists believe the iron river is flowing westwards under Alaska and Siberia. They also believe the jet stream can answer the mystery concerning pockets of concentrated magnetic fields in the northern hemisphere. "This jet of liquid iron is moving at about fifty kilometers per year," explained Chris Finlay of Denmark's National Space Institute at the Technical University of Denmark. Finlay was addressing the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in San Francisco However, there are no credible answers why the jet stream is accelerating. The molten jet's speed has reportedly trebled since the year 2000. "Further surprises are likely. The magnetic field is forever changing, and this could even make the jet stream switch direction," noted Rune Floberghagen, who is ESA's Swarm mission manager. "It's likely that the jet stream has been in play for hundreds of millions of years," added Leed University;s Livermore. It is hoped that the swarm satellites' data may reveal why Earth's magnetic field has weakened amidst speculation that a polarity reversal is on cards with the North Pole becoming South and South becoming North. GPS Signal Drop Meanwhile, the real reason behind Global Positioning System (GPS) blackouts in low-orbit GPS satellites has been explained. There had been complaints about blackouts intensifying over the equator between South America and Africa. According to scientists with ESA, "thunderstorms" are behind this and it happens in the ionosphere region of Earth's upper atmosphere, ionized by solar and cosmic radiations. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Several users have been growing furious at yet another Google Pixel problem that has recently come to light via reports from Reddit and the Google Product Forums. The issue lies with the Google Pixel and Pixel XL's speakers, which apparently output crackling noises when using certain apps. The audio problem, which has been demonstrated to persist even with headphones on, apparently doesn't affect all Google Pixel phones. However, the issue is steadily gaining traction and affecting enough handsets to be a widespread concern. Google Pixel Audio Fix Reddit user Mark Buckman, the same person who demonstrated the problem in a video, has now uploaded a new discovery: a fix. Buckman has found out that the annoying audio issue can be patched up, though his methods are unofficial. Google has already acknowledged the problem and is currently looking into it, but those itching to patch up the handsets' audio problem can go ahead and perform the same measures taken by Buckman. To fix the Google Pixel's audio problem, Buckman unloaded the Bootloader, installed the TWRP recovery image, and flashed WETA audio. The workaround is a little complex for the average smartphone user, and it's probably best to wait until Google officially releases a fix, but the option is available if Pixel and Pixel XL owners want to do it themselves. When Will Google Release An Update? Beyond its acknowledgement in the Google Product Forums thread, Google hasn't updated affected Pixel or Pixel XL owners with a potential fix, nor has it offered any explanation as to why the Pixel handsets are glitching. This is not the only gripe users have had to deal with in the past, as Google Pixel handsets were recently reported to also have issues with the camera. For users who encounter audio problems on their Pixel phones, Google will probably offer a replacement unit to iron it out. However, this apparently won't solve the issue - Buckman has been sent his fifth replacement Google Pixel with the issue still intact. The Google Pixel and Pixel XL are Google's self-branded pair, dropping the Nexus moniker after the Nexus 5X and 6P. It was released late October to general acclaim, with some publications heralding it as the best Android smartphone. However, its recent issues certainly dent that reputation, and Google needs to act fast if it wants to diffuse budding disappointment for its flagship pair. Is your Google Pixel or Pixel XL experiencing the same audio glitches as demonstrated by Buckman's video? Have you contacted Google about it? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below! 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. President Barack Obama only has less than a month left in his term of office but he's still busy keeping things in order as chief executive. One of the things he crossed out on his to-do list is resolving the long-standing debate on oil and gas drilling in U.S.-owned northern waters. The President issued an order on Tuesday, Dec. 20, that effectively bans offshore drilling of oil and gas in a large portion of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Obama made use of a 1953 law that provides U.S. presidents with the authority to prevent the sale of offshore drilling and mining rights. Private companies are no longer allowed to construct offshore sites in federal waters stretching from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in Alaska to New England and Chesapeake Bay in the Atlantic. Protecting The Environment Many observers believe that the move is Obama's attempt to keep these waters protected before his term officially ends in January. President-elect Donald Trump has made it clear that he intends to use all of the United States' untapped energy reserves and exploit its fossil fuels once he assumes office. He has also criticized the science behind global warming and even threatened to revoke the Paris climate change agreement. Trump's apparent disdain for climate science and his appointment of leading climate change skeptics to his cabinet has caused environmentalists to urge Obama to do everything in his power as outgoing president to protect the environment. According to the White House, Obama's decision to ban oil and gas drilling in the Arctic is a strong, sustainable and viable option both for the economy and the ecosystem of the region. It also addresses the various native cultural needs and wildlife concerns while also keeping the ocean free from environmental threats such as oil spills. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expressed his support in blocking the sale of new drilling and mining rights in the Arctic. While Canada said it will review the matter every five years, the White House announced that Obama's decision is permanent. Trump supporters who might want to have the declaration reversed could find it difficult as the 1953 law prevents succeeding presidents to overturn such a decision. Environment protection group Friends of the Earth (FOE) welcomed Obama's move to protect the country's northern waters. The group is also confident that having the decision overturned wouldn't be an easy task. "No president has ever rescinded a previous president's permanent withdrawal of offshore areas from oil and gas development," the FOE said. "If Donald Trump tries to reverse President Obama's withdrawals, he will find himself in court." Opponents of the declaration, however, said that there are no such things as permanent bans. They believe the incoming Trump administration will be able to have it reverse. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Samsung Galaxy S8 could come with a new "Beast Mode," if a new trademark registration found in EU paperwork is any indication. There are a number of hotly anticipated devices set to rock the tech scene in 2017, and the Samsung Galaxy S8 is one of them, rumored to boast top-notch specifications and great horsepower. It now seems that the Galaxy S8 could be even more beastly than expected so far, as some EU paperwork reveals a trademark registration for an intriguing Beast Mode designed for a number of devices, including smartphones. The trademark registration doesn't detail just what this Beast Mode will entail or what it refers to, but the application [PDF] does mention the products and services it targets. "Smartphones; Mobile phones; Application software for smart phones; Computer software; Notebook computers; Computers; Tablet PCs; Portable computers; Netbook computers," notes the application. Galaxy S8 Beast Mode: What Could It Be? The Beast Mode moniker is definitely intriguing and could refer to an increased endurance or high performance mode. For instance, it could be related to power management, as the Android ecosystem has seen various modes so far that can influence a smartphone's power. The latest Android Nougat version comes with a "performance mode" that optimizes battery consumption to save power, while various OEMs such as Sony have included their own customized modes into the Android OS to improve power efficiency. That said, Samsung's Beast Mode could be something along the lines of Sony's Stamina Mode, which would make sense considering that the Galaxy S8 is rumored to be a real powerhouse with a Snapdragon 835 processor and 6 GB of RAM. Upgraded graphics and Y-Octa display technology are also rumored, likely to make the Galaxy S8 suitable to handle the next-generation Gear VR system. In this context, a Beast Mode for increased battery performance would make sense and could be among the top selling points of the next Galaxy flagship. At the same time, Beast Mode could also be some high-performance setting that would allow Galaxy S8 users to crank up the clock speed of the smartphone's processor and squeeze some extra power for heavy duty tasks. With no official word from Samsung and no additional information detailed in the trademark registration, however, it's tough to tell for sure at this point just what this Beast Mode will entail. The name itself points to increased power, but it remains to be seen on what front. Lastly, recent rumors also point at a delayed release, indicating that the Galaxy S8 might not debut until April 2017. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After settling a patent lawsuit in 2011, Apple and Nokia are once again locked in an international legal battle over the latter's licensing terms for technologies such as the widely utilized H.264 video codec. In the new lawsuit, Apple is claiming that Nokia is at the core of a patent licensing conspiracy, accusations that prompted Nokia to file lawsuits against Apple over the infringement of 32 patents. The Patent Battle History Of Apple And Nokia The previous licensing dispute started in 2009, when Nokia claimed that Apple infringed on some of the company's patents. These patents come with fair and reasonable terms, or FRAND, as they are widely used in the technology industry, allowing companies to use them without having to pay massive licensing fees due to how important the patents are to most products. Apple and Nokia eventually reached an agreement that saw Apple pay a one-time fee to Nokia, along with royalties for the continued usage of the patents. The new legal battle between the two companies are technically not between Apple and Nokia, but they are both very much the big players in the dispute. Nokia Patent Troll Conspiracy Apple has filed lawsuits against nine patent assertion entities, at times referred to as patent trolls, that are aligned with Nokia, claiming that the group is looking to claim as much money as they could from Apple through abusive licensing terms for essential patents that should have FRAND terms. According to Apple, the group of PAEs is assisting Nokia in a plan to "extract and extort exorbitant revenues" from the company, along with from other mobile device makers. Apple also accuses Nokia of being nothing more than a patent troll since it sold its mobile division to Microsoft two years ago, though recent rumors reveal that Nokia may be looking to make a comeback in the mobile phone industry. Of the nine PAEs that Apple has filed a lawsuit against, one named Acacia Research Corporation has sued Apple 42 times over the past 10 years. Apple is looking to have the named PAEs prevented from launching any further disputes on essential patents. Nokia Responds To Apple Accusations In response to Apple's actions, Nokia has filed five lawsuits against Apple for patent infringements. Among the 32 patents that are the subjects of the lawsuits are ones related to software, user interfaces, displays, chipsets, antennas and video coding. Nokia filed the lawsuits in three regional courts in Germany and in a district court in Texas, with the company said to be planning even more of such lawsuits in other locations. In relation to the H.264 video codec, Nokia claims that Apple has refused to agree to a licensing deal to the technology on reasonable terms. Apple uses the codec in the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iPod, Mac computers and Apple TV. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Honda has revealed that it is engaged in formal discussions with Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Google parent Alphabet, to integrate the technology into its automobiles. If the talks result in an agreement, Honda will become the second major partner for Alphabet's Waymo after Fiat Chrysler. Honda And Waymo In Talks For A Self-Driving Tech Partnership Honda announced the ongoing talks with Waymo through a press release, wherein the company also said that the proposed technical collaboration between the two companies will allow them to further look into the integration of Waymo's self-driving platform, including its sensors and software, into Honda vehicles. The focus of the pending partnership is on research regarding self-driving technology, not yet a plan to launch full production Honda cars that will be powered by Waymo's autonomous driving platform. Among the details of the planned collaboration include the delivery of Honda vehicles to Waymo that will be modified to integrate the self-driving technology. These vehicles will then be added to Waymo's current fleet of self-driving cars, which are being tested across four cities in the United States. Honda's Self-Driving Car Initiatives Over a year ago, Honda announced that it has started working on its own self-driving vehicle, with a plan to release a car with limited self-driving capabilities into public roads by 2020, the same year that other Japanese automobile manufacturers Nissan and Toyota said they would. The partnership with Waymo would free up a significant amount of valuable resources for Honda, claims AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan. In addition, the collaboration would result in the release of a fully self-driving car in 2020 and not one with limited capabilities. The Direction of Alphabet's Waymo The proposed partnership with Honda reveals more about the direction that Waymo is heading for its self-driving technology, with the Alphabet unit looking to develop the platform in partnership with automobile manufacturers instead of building the vehicles that will use the technology itself. It was reported last week that Google's self-driving car project lowered its goals, with the plan to release a vehicle with no steering wheel and no pedals placed on hold as the team settles for a more practical approach of teaming up with automobile manufacturers for the technology. The project then later became a standalone unit under Google parent Alphabet and renamed into Waymo. Earlier in the week, the unit offered a first look at the self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans, which were developed in collaboration with its first major partner, Fiat Chrysler. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Xiaomi 4G LTE Laptop May Be Called As Mi Notebook Pro | TechTree.com Do you remember the Xiaomi notebook with 4G LTE support that we reported about a couple of days ago? Its back in the news, and this time we have information about what the device would be called as well. Speaking about the notebook, Xiaomi is all set to launch it tomorrow, i.e., Dec 23, and it is pretty much confirmed as we can clearly see the laptop featured on the invite. While we expected a 4G LTE variant of the Mi Notebook Air, a recent leak from China suggests that it would be called the Mi Notebook Pro, according GSMArena. This means that, the laptop would be backed with a couple of interesting and more powerful features than the Mi Notebook Air. It is speculated that the Mi Notebook Pro would feature a 4K display, Intel Core i7 Processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX-960M graphics card, and 16 GB of DDR4 RAM. Users will be getting a 5123 GB SSD to store all the files. While these specs are definitely jaw dropping, it is being said that the price tag would cool you down. According to the rumours, Mi Notebook Pro may start from CNY 6,000 which may roughly translate to Rs 60,000 and odd. TAGS: Xiaomi Google Toilet Finder Service Goes Live In NCR And Madhya Pradesh | TechTree.com Announced last month, Google's toilet finder service has gone live in National Capital Region (NCR) and Madhya Pradesh. People can access the listing of thousands of public toilets via Google Maps. This comes as a much-needed "relief" for those who have always struggled to find a decent washroom. For this project, American tech giant Google collaborated with the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). The service will be accessible to users both in English and Hindi. In addition to the public restrooms, listings will also feature places such as malls, petrol pumps, and hospitals. Google maps toilet finder service will display the premises' opening hours. After selecting a nearby toilet, Google maps will also offer turn-by-turn navigation on the fastest route. The service is available on smartphones and desktops. However, if you have access to a desktop computer, there's a good possibly that there is a washroom in the same apartment. TAGS: Google, Android Apps Want to get a $100,000 engineering job at Google? Master these 11 skills Who doesnt want to work for a top tech company like Google? Not only is Google one of the top-most empathetic company in the world but it also pays it employees handsomely well. However, it is not that easy to get hired by the search giant. And it is no surprise. While interns here start at $70,000 to $90,000 salaries, the software engineers get $118,000 and senior software engineers earn an average of $152,985. You need skills and talent to get a job in Google. The company receives more than 2.5 million job applications per year, of which only 4,000 people get hired. Thankfully for would-be Googlers, the Google in Education team has released a list of skills that they want to see in potential engineers. Having a solid foundation in Computer Science is important in being a successful Software Engineer, the company says. This guide is a suggested path for University students to develop their technical skills academically and non-academically through self-paced, hands-on learning. Here are the skills Google wants its tech talent to master, complete with online resources to get you started: 1. Master the foundation Try and get through an introduction to CS course, like the ones from Coursera or Udacity. 2. Learn to code You need to learn coding in at least one object-oriented programming language such as Java, C++, or Python. You can consult Udacity or MIT. 3. Test your code Google wants you to be able to catch bugs, create tests, and break your software. You can take help from Udacity. 4. Learn other programming languages Add Java Script, HTML, CSS, and Ruby to the list of your skills. You can take help from W3school and CodeAcademy. 5. Get to know operating systems Know operating systems, as that is where you would be doing most of your work. The University of California, Berkeley, provides a primer. 6. Understand algorithms and data structures Google wants you to learn about fundamental data types like stacks, queues, and bags, as well as understand sorting algorithms like mergesort, quicksort, and heapsort. MIT offers the recommended online resources, and the book The Algorithm Design Manual is very helpful, too. 7. Have some background in abstract math Computer science draws a lot from logical reasoning and discrete math. MIT can help you with mathematics for computer science. 8. Learn how to develop compilers Stanford says that when you do that, you will learn how a program written in a high-level language designed for humans is systematically translated into a program written in low-level assembly more suited to machines. Go to Coursera to learn it. 9. Learn parallel programming This is because by being able to carry out tons of computations at the same time, it is super powerful. The University of Illinois can guide you through this. 10. Learn cryptography Since cyber-security is vital, you need to learn crytography. Coursera and Udacity provide courses. 11. Get familiar with artificial intelligence Google loves robots. Stanford has the knowledge required for artificial intelligence. While the above is a list of skills that Google is looking its tech talent to master but at the same time the search giant also seeks for specific personality qualities in its candidates, too. Source: Business Insider Leaked Renders Show Nokia P Flagship To Come With 6GB of RAM, SD835 And 23MP camera Looks like Nokia will live up to its reputation of bringing the best to its smartphone buyers. The yesteryears smartphone king recently confirmed that it would be making its return to the smartphone business with Nokia Android smartphones somewhere in March 2017. According to the reports, Nokias Android smartphone will be showcased at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Spain in late February. HMD Global, a Finnish company that currently holds the right over Nokias logo has already unveiled the first new Nokia device the Nokia 150 feature phone. However, a new leak (two pictures) originating from the Chinese social website Weibo apparently says that HMD is working on a premium Nokia Android smartphone dubbed the Nokia P. The Nokia P is rumored flagship device Nokia stable that is expected to released in early 2017. According to Weibo, the flagship device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor coupled with the Adreno 540 graphics processing unit. The chipset is said to offer download speeds of up to 1Gbps and come with 6GB of RAM. The phone in question appears to sport a metal body with an anodized finish. The pictures reveal the front and back panels of the phone, with the Nokia branding on the rear. Further, it will boast a 23MP camera with a sensor made by Carl Zeiss, the well-known German manufacturer of optical systems. If previous rumors are to be believed, the Nokia P smartphone will sport a QHD display, i.e. a display featuring a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels. The Nokia P might come in 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch sizes and feature IP68 certification for water and dust resistance suggests previous rumors. We have to take the new leaked information with a pinch of salt as not all Weibo leaks are genuine. But considering that Nokia is making a comeback, it has to be a jaw-dropping device which will awe and shock its buyers. And Nokia P flagship Android smartphone looks like one. Nokia alleges Apple stole its tech to make iPhone, files court cases in Germany and the U.S. Apple has been in trouble for copying tech and designs several times since the launch of iPhone in 2007 till date. Now it has another lawsuit to face this time from Nokia. Nokia says that Apple stole its patented technologies like display and even the iOS to make its own iPhone. The yesteryears king of mobile phones, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. on Wednesday in Germany and the U.S. for patent infringement over intellectual property used in the iPhone and other Apple products. The suit was filed in Regional Courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich in Germany and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Nokia says its complaint includes 32 patents in a suit across all of the actions, covering technologies such as the display, user interface, software, antenna, chipsets and video coding. Nokia is in the process of filing further actions in other jurisdictions. In a statement, Nokia said, Since agreeing a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apples products. However, Apple claims that Nokias failing cellphone business has prompted them to transfer patents to patent assertion entities to get out of FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) licensing deals it established for essential patents, allowing the company to collect higher royalties. From Apples complaint: With its cell phone business dying, Nokia began to seek out willing conspirators and to commence its illegal patent transfer scheme in full force; that scheme has continued in full effect to the present. The driving force behind Nokias strategy was to diffuse its patent portfolio and place it in the hands of PAEs. Acacia and Conversant were its chief conspirators. On the other hand, Nokias own patent infringement complaint against Apple claims that the company has declined to establish licensing deals for Nokia technology that is used in Apple products. Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Patent Business at Nokia, said: Through our sustained investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in todays mobile devices, including Apple products. After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apples use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights. This is not the first time Apple is involved in a patent battle. Earlier this year, it paid $24.9 million in a Siri patent lawsuit and $625 million in a Facetime patent lawsuit. And how can one forget, Apples famous five-year-patent battle with Samsung over design features. Luckily for Apple, they won that patent infringement battle against Samsung. Music uploader to The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents websites gets one year in jail A British court has sentenced an Everton man responsible for uploading and distributing the weekly UKs Top 40 singles to various torrent sites, including ExtraTorrent, KickassTorrents and The Pirate Bay. According to the Performing Rights Society for Music (PRS), he has potentially cost the music industry more than 1m in a single year. Wayne Evans, 39, uploaded the UKs Top 40 singles to torrent sites, including ExtraTorrent & KickassTorrents every week, where they proved particularly popular. According to Torrent Freak, Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) along with Merseyside police raided Evans address in Everton, Liverpool a year ago with information that he had been involved in the illegal distribution of music online. In addition, Evans operated OldSkoolScouse.co.uk and DeeJayPortal.co.uk, a website specializing in unlicensed a capella versions of famous tracks. The latter had more than 160,000 users on its website. Both domains were seized by PIPCU notice. On October 7, Evans appeared before a Liverpool Court, pleading guilty to two counts of distributing copyright infringing content and possessing or controlling content for use in fraud. The court heard that the Top 40 packs were downloaded over 500,000 times, while a capella tracks from DJPortal were downloaded almost 136,000 times. The prosecution portrayed him as a serious criminal and sentenced him to 12 months in prison. PIPCU is the UKs specialist nationalist police. Its dedicated to protecting UK industries that produce legitimate, high quality, physical goods and online and digital content from intellectual property crime. Its funded by the Intellectual Property Office, or IPO. In the meantime, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones who gave the verdict on Evans case believes that his 12 months sentence will serve as a deterrent to other pirates. Todays sentencing will suggest to others that illegally distributing music is not without its consequences. Evans caused significant loss to the music industry, and his actions will have affected jobs across the music industry, his statement read. In addition, Simon Bourn, Head of PRS for Music Litigation, Enforcement, and Anti-Piracy, said, Music piracy on a commercial scale is a serious criminal offence and this sentencing by the Crown Court acknowledges that. Copyright infringement has a severe impact on the livelihoods of creators and so it is important that PRS for Music, alongside PIPCU, continues to champion and protect our members rights. We hope that todays sentencing sends a message to all those involved in this type of criminal activity, that consequences will follow. Lisa is moving west near 10 mph and that track is expected to continue as the center of the storm passes southeastern Mexico. | Read More Heads up to prevent injury from falls Morning walks in my neighborhood are one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. I love the coolness of daybreak and the special sightings of the stag and two does that frequent our open space. I also enjoy my walk because each day at... Signs that point to the best time for retirement Ive been thinking a lot about retirement lately. One of our amazing staff members, who has been with Senior Concerns for the last 13 years, retired last month. It just doesnt seem real. I always thought of Dana as young. Certainly not the person to... Rethinking the mandatory retirement age How old is too old for working at a job? Last week a news story hit my inbox and it really got me to thinking about age and retirement. The article noted that Target Corp. abandoned its mandatory retirement age of 65 for its CEO,... Tips to promoting a healthy nights sleep for children Question: Help, please. My daughter is almost 2 years old and has been an easy child to put into her own bed. Yet in the past few weeks she is purposefully stretching out the bedtime routine longer and longer. She wants more: more stories, more... Hebgen ice-fishing tourney guarantees $10k first prize West Yellowstone will host a North American Ice Fishing Circuit national qualifying tournament Jan. 13-15 with a $10,000 top prize guaranteed. The ice fishing tournament takes place on Jan. 15 and is open to any two-person team. Teams can register up until 6 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the reception and rules meeting. The tournament is located on Hebgen Lake. Kirkwood Resort and Marina is the starting point. The weekend of activities starts on Jan. 13 with an informal introduction for people new to ice fishing at 5 p.m. at the West Yellowstone Holiday Inn Conference Center, 315 Yellowstone Avenue. Starting around 8 a.m. on Jan. 14 pro staff and representatives from ice-fishing product companies will be demonstrating the latest techniques and equipment on Hebgen Lake. Meet them at Kirkwood Marina. On Jan. 15 the NAIFC will conduct the Hebgen Lake Qualifier with two-person teams fishing from approximately 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for thousands of dollars in cash and prizes. At 3 p.m. the tournament weigh-in will be conducted at the Holiday Inn Conference Center. In addition to cash and prizes, the top 10 teams also receive an invitation to the 2015 NAIFC National/North American Championship to be held next December in Minnesota. For more information on the NAIFC tournament events, go to www.westyellowstoneicefishing.com. To enter an NAIFC qualifier go to www.naifc.com or call Kathy Roberts at 320-252-0428. *** Children's ice-fishing camp offered at Hebgen Lake Children will have the opportunity to learn how to ice fish for free on Jan. 14 as part of West Yellowstone's North American Ice Fishing Circuit tournament. There will be two different starting times for Ice Camp. The first group begins at 11 a.m. with classroom instruction and demonstration of ice-fishing equipment, techniques, as well as safety, conservation and environmental stewardship at Kirkwood Marina on Hebgen Lake. Then everyone heads out on to the ice for fishing tutorials. A second group will start in the classroom at 11:45 a.m., followed by the on-ice experience. A hot lunch will be served after on-ice demos and practice, between 12:30-1:30 p.m. Before leaving, all children who participate will receive a complimentary ice rod and tackle. Parents should make sure their children are dressed warmly, including waterproof footwear. Kirkwood Marina is located on Hebgen Lake, 18 miles from the junctions of Highways 101 and 287 north of West Yellowstone. For directions, call 406-646-7200 or go to westyellowstoneicefishing.com/directions. To register for the classes or for more information, log on to kidsnsnow.org. *** Yellowstone winter use plan now online Yellowstone National Park's Winter Use Adaptive Management Plan is available to read online. The plan provides a breakdown on winter use management in Yellowstone, outlining a strategy to identify which park resources and winter topics should be closely monitored and evaluated, how they should be monitored, and how the National Park Service should engage the public throughout the process. The plan was developed with input from working groups comprised of members of the public. It also reflects public comments from the draft Adaptive Management Plan released in May of 2015 and a public meeting held in August of 2015. For information about winter use in Yellowstone, visit www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/winteruse.htm. *** Snowshoe at Moose Creek cabin Join us for a snowshoe and open house at Moose Creek cabin on Monday, Jan. 2. We will be guiding snowshoe hikes at 12:30 and 2 p.m. -- and will provide snowshoes for kids and adults free. Then come relax by the fire with a warm beverage in the historic Moose Creek cabin. Getting there: From Helena, head west on Highway 12 and turn left on the Rimini Road. The cabin will be on the left in approximately 6 miles. The event is sponsored by the Montana Discovery Foundation, and everyone is welcome. *** Smith River rule changes open to comment Montana State Parks is seeking comment on proposed changes to the Smith River State Park and River Corridor Biennial Rule. Public comments will be accepted through Thursday, Jan. 19, at 5 p.m. The Smith River Biennial Rule sets fees, permit requirements and guidelines for private, commercial and landowner float trips on the popular Smith River. The proposed draft Smith River Biennial Rule would change language related to home-made bear-resistant storage containers for storing food, garbage and other attractants. While certified home-made containers will still be allowed, capacity for certifying these containers is limited. Removing language which references these containers specifically would better align visitor expectations with the limited availability of certification professionals. The draft rule received tentative approval from the Montana State Parks & Recreation Board on Dec. 14. To review the proposed biennial rule, go to stateparks.mt.gov and click on "Public Comments." To comment online visitstateparks.mt.gov or by direct link: stateparks.mt.gov/news/publicNotices/board/pn_0016.html. Comments may be mailed to: Smith River Biennial Rule Comments, 4600 Giant Springs Road, Great Falls, MT 59405. For questions about the Smith River State Park and River Corridor Biennial Rule contact Colin Maas at 406- 454-5857 or cmaas@mt.gov. *** Ice fishing class part of Outdoors-Woman program The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program is sponsoring an ice fishing class Jan. 20-22 in Seeley Lake. This class is for beginning or intermediate female anglers who want to learn the basics or improve their fishing skills. Participants must attend the evening class on Friday, Jan. 20, from 6-9 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Community Center. Fishing on the ice will take place Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 21 and 22, beginning at 8 a.m., at locations near Seeley Lake. The class fee is $25 and includes lunch on Saturday. Participants do not need a fishing license as this class has been issued a license exemption. Loaner ice fishing equipment is also available. For more information about the class, contact Kim Driscoll at 406-529-2763 or email Kim at: kimfdriscoll@yahoo.com. Registration forms are available on the FWP website at fwp.mt.gov under Becoming an Outdoors-Woman. For information about the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program contact Liz Lodman at 406-444-9940; or email Liz Lodman at: llodman@mt.gov. *** Comment sought on lighted nocks, turkey quotas, drones Wounded Baton Rouge officer Nick Tullier underwent surgery Thursday in Houston to install a pump that will aid in administering a muscle relaxer, his father, James, reported on Facebook. "Nick is out of surgery, now in recovery. All is well," James Tullier reported on the Nick Tullier Strong Facebook page. He said the muscle relaxer will help loosen Nicks muscles up so he can better participate in rehabilitation treatments. Nick Tullier was shot three times in the head, abdomen and shoulder during a July 17 attack on law officers in Baton Rouge. A week ago, doctors at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston said Tullier has made remarkable progress during rehab and is now in a "fully conscious" state. A video released by the hospital shows Tullier communicating with hospital staff members, providing non-verbal answers to "yes" or "no" questions and correctly identifying words on flash cards. Not seeing the video below? Click here. It also shows Tullier following commands to move his hands up and down and track a moving object with his eyes. And staff members help steady his hand as he writes his initials on a piece of paper. As he completes the task, staff members praise him as a "rock star." Steve Cochran is campaign director of Restore the Mississippi River Delta. Scott Kirkpatrick is president, Coast Builders Coalition. Police received a call Tuesday morning of a man passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle blocking traffic at Broadway and Rodney streets. An officer found Travis James Peale, 37, of Butte in the driver's seat and the vehicle running, court documents allege. When awoken and questioned, Peale appeared confused as to how he arrived at the intersection. "The defendant was having a hard time answering my questions and told me he had recently injected methamphetamine into his arm," the arresting officer wrote in documents. When Peale exited his vehicle to perform field sobriety tests, a small bag of meth was revealed, the documents note. Peale was jailed on a felony charge of possession of dangerous drugs and misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence (second offense), habitual offender and no insurance. It is impossible to look back at the visual arts in Canberra in 2016 without mentioning the elephant in the room the Turnbull government's cuts to the funding of public collecting institutions in the nation's capital and cuts to the funding of the Australia Council. After the cuts were announced a year ago in the Turnbull government's first MYEFO statement (midyear economic and fiscal outlook), there was uncertainty as to what would actually happen. Now in fact the sky has fallen in: the flagship research tool in the humanities, the National Library of Australia's Trove online archive has been compromised; there have been severe staffing cuts at the National Library and the National Gallery, and lesser cuts at the other cultural institutions. The exception, the Australian War Memorial with the former Liberal Party minister, Brendan Nelson, at its helm has been immune from the savagery. Some artists have also lost meagre streams of income from organisations once funded by Oz Co as well as experiencing cuts to small grants and small projects. Despite the economic gloom in the arts sector, Canberra public and private commercial art galleries continue to hold brilliant exhibitions that challenge conventions and inspire the public. So much so that selecting the top five shows for this year is akin to judging an art prize where you know that any of a dozen entries would be a worthy winner, but only one will be awarded the pot of gold. Artist Fiona Hall in her Venice Biennale exhibition Wrong Way Time, which was clever and provocative. Credit:Elesa Kurtz For me, the five major highlights of the visual arts calendar for this year were the following. Fiona Hall's Wrong Way Time at the National Gallery was simply brilliant. Clever and provocative, the installation from the Venice Biennale was recreated and in a neighbouring space a selection of Hall's work from the gallery's own collection was assembled. It was a show that had a huge wow factor for the mind, as well as for the eye. Loading You are entitled to, and I hope expect, better decisions from me. A lot of the allegations are factually incorrect but guess what, that doesn't matter anymore. The one thing I am not doing is making any excuses. I obviously regret it and most of all I regret the unwelcome attention it has brought to the company and my family. None of you deserve that. Not one of you. Your achievements this year, and there are many, should not be tainted and overshadowed by this. Ten years of ratings domination and another outstanding result from the television Sales team. The integration of The West Australian, The Sunday Times, the west, perthnow and Seven Perth into one vibrant, buzzing newsroom. And a magazine business that is transforming itself so quickly that in the last 12 months, according to Neilsen DRM, it has become the fastest growing digital publisher in the country. For the first time ever, we are the number one media company on line in Australia, a leadership position we built during the 2016 Olympics and have held onto ever since. You have achieved such feats through bloody hard work and the continued great execution of great ideas. And in no small way, this is because of the culture at Seven West Media. You should all be proud of that culture, but no healthy culture is static. We cannot allow what you have all had to put up with this week, because of my mistake, to be what defines our values. And I fervently believe it isn't. I am in no way sharing the blame here, but I do want to say that, like everything, elements of our culture can be improved and we will focus on absolutely confirming we have a safe and ethical workplace. I will learn from my situation to help make this a better company. That is my commitment to you. You have a culture of inclusiveness and of working with respect for each other. This plays a huge part in your capacity to put our customers first and give them what they want, whether they be advertisers, viewers, readers or online users. You do what you do with great passion and integrity. Our diverse workforce has been critical to our commercial success. We want to reflect the community of which we strive to be an even more vital part. Every year we commit to improving our performance from the previous year. And that must apply to our culture as well. Next year we will have a renewed focus on underlining our values and the better internal communication of them. We are also going to commit ourselves to another year of leadership. The plans for that began a long time ago and are already well under way. Once again, I thank you and salute you for your efforts in 2016. I reiterate that my poor decisions should not in any way take any shine off what you have achieved this year. 2017 promises to be another exciting year. We want to continue to transform and it is our culture that enables us to continue that journey with purpose. Have a safe, healthy and happy break for those able to get one in what is now a truly 24 hour, seven days of every week operation. And get ready to charge into 2017 with more gusto than ever before. Onwards, TW The board of Seven West Media will commission a second independent investigation into former employee Amber Harrison, who alleges she was mistreated by the company in the wake of a sexual relationship with its chief executive Tim Worner. After meeting nearly every day this week since the story first broke on Sunday, the board announced on Thursday morning it wants another inquiry. Seven's share price dropped from 81 to 74 earlier this week, but closed at 80 on Wednesday. However, concerns over the chief executive's future has rattled investors. "To allay any concerns that our shareholders may have the board has determined it prudent to commission a further independent inquiry to establish all of the facts so as to confirm that all necessary matters have been and were taken into account," the company announced prior to stock market trading on Thursday. Even for a puppy, Kat Donatello's black lab, Austin, was hyperactive. After experimenting with natural supplements on her older dog, Brady, Donatello slipped the puppy a special biscuit. "It just kind of took the edge off of him," she recalled. The treat contained Cannabidiol, better known as CBD, a chemical compound extracted from the marijuana plant. Mars agreed to buy VCA, a company that owns about 800 animal hospitals, a lab business and dog day care franchises that operate under the name Camp Bow Wow. Credit:Steve Cassell The CBD supplements were expensive, and options for pet treats were limited, Donatello said. "So I started spending my winters baking dog biscuits." She tinkered with the recipe before launching her CBD-laced biscuit company, Austin + Kat, in the US state Maine earlier this year. Along with Therabis and Treatibles, Austin + Kat, is one of several Cannabidiol-for-dogs businesses that have popped up in the last two years, a time period during which CBD pet product sales in the US doubled, according to data kept by cannabis industry analytics firm MJ Freeway. It's the newest trend in America's booming half-billion dollar ($690 million) animal supplements market, which is expected to grow by more than $150 million in the next four years. It was during this time that Bert met his future wife, Mavis, and after a short engagement and with his departure to Europe imminent, they decided to get married forthwith. Three short months later he was posted overseas. Bert Tinning was 18 when World War II was declared in 1939. Like many young men of the time, he enlisted and joined the Royal Australian Air Force. He began training as an aircraft fitter and in 1942 transferred to aircrew training. Melbourne lost a quiet hero when Herbert William (Bert) Tinning died at the age of 95 after a life of duty, civic service and a passion for his city. Bert's story is one of a man who was shaped by circumstances and a context that no longer exists today. He was a simple yet highly complex man, indeed an extraordinary man. Bert desperately wanted to be a pilot, but circumstances dictated that he become a navigator, and in that role he saw action in Europe flying in Halifax bombers with 51 Squadron in the RAF. Having survived more than 40 missions across Germany he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his courageous feats of navigation across his tour of duty. He flew on D-day and just last year (70 years on) the French Government awarded him and a few other Bomber Command survivors the French Legion of Honour. In addition to growing up in the Depression, his experiences at war deeply shaped his attitudes to life and death. During his later years he read countless books analysing the morality of bombing German cities and was deeply troubled by recent accusations that the raids towards the end of the war were unnecessary. He believed then, and throughout his life, that the entire Bomber Command offensive was necessary to defeat the forces of Nazi Germany. Bert Tinning was not a man who hated the enemy. They, like him, were acting out of a longstanding tradition of "duty" and that sense of duty was a major feature of his life after the war. His time in the RAF also made him "rather English" in outlook and style, and to the day he died Bert was known as a well dressed, elegant and urbane gentleman. Your story on Sydney's housing problems quotes two academics who pour cold water on the need for more supply of housing. Out in the real world where the development industry is trying to build more new homes across Sydney there is a different story. The planning system is slowing down the supply of housing just at the time we need to escalate supply. The 31,000 new homes over the last year is still nearly 10,000 less than we should be achieving in boom times. A fundamental problem is that over the past four years only 58 per cent of the homes that get planning approval actually get built according to the government's own figures. This is because councils add conditions that ultimately make projects unfeasible. The current housing completions may well be a record but they are well below what is needed. The government and councils need to fast-track the approval of housing projects without excessive conditions. Chris Johnson chief executive, Urban Taskforce Lawyers ruling the roost As someone from an engineering background I have long thought the idea of negotiated compromises as favoured by lawyers is a problem when there is a clear, almost certain, physical outcome if the correct action is not taken (Letters, December 22). Action on climate change is a good example. Science overwhelmingly agrees there is a minimum amount which must be done to avert disaster. The negotiators and bean counters settle on a lesser amount so everyone is not too unhappy. The inevitable result is disaster. John Barry Oakdale Michael Britt (Letters, December 22) sees a correlation between "the growing dominance" of lawyers in Parliament and distrust of politicians. Theodore Plucknett, professor of legal history at the London School of Economics, said lawyers became "the dominant interest" in Parliament in "the middle of the 14th century". It might thus be said that the English-speaking world has had government of the lawyers, by the lawyers, and for the lawyers for more than 650 years Evan Whitton Glebe Michael Britt's suggestion that there is a correlation between the number of lawyers in Parliament and a collapse in public trust is what we lawyers call a non sequitur. Richard Page Oyster Bay A more insidious effect on the workings of government is the proliferation of lobbyists who have too much influence on decisions made. This is particularly apparent when they are ex-members of Parliament. Michael Petersons Cheltenham The need to unravel the mystery of the MH370 will never die Having just read an account of the search for Sir John Franklin's 1845 Northwest Passage expedition, I cannot help but be struck by the parallels with the search for MH370 and the powerful need of families and communities to find out what really happened ("MH370 widow condemns decision to end the search", December 22). In the former case, no less than 25 searches including one funded by Sir John's widow over an initial period of 35 years were undertaken by sea and overland by British and American expeditions and searches have continued right up to today. The need to know what happened to MH370 and why it happened will not go away till we have answers. It is the insatiable "need to know" that makes us human and different from any other creature that has ever lived. And that is the reason we need to know why our galaxy is moving through the universe in an unpredictable manner ("Hidden Vela Milky Way's driving force", December 22) . We simply cannot abide a mystery. Peter Thornton Killara While it is a tragedy for those who lost loved ones, I find it appalling that so much public money has been spent trying to locate MH370. Nothing will alter the fact those on the plane are dead. Two hundred million dollars could have been spent far more effectively schools, hospitals, the homeless, refugees the list is endless. Not one cent more should be allocated to this foolish quest. Elizabeth Sayers Wentworth Falls The disappearance of MH370 was most likely an act of mass murder. The search is not only critical for the families of the deceased but also as part of a crime investigation where six of our fellow citizens died. For the government to shut down the search is not only heartless but grossly negligent and not in the national interest. Paul Murphy Paddington Adani jobs mantra doesn't stack up Here we go again. The modus operandi for LNP politicians who don't like inconvenient reporting is to "shoot the messenger" ("Cabinet minister Matt Canavan accuses ABC of publishing 'fake news' in bizarre interview", smh.com.au, December 22). The facts suggest it is ludicrous for Australian governments to be entertaining Adani's proposals for the Carmichael Coal Mine given the company's form elsewhere in corporate governance and environmental compliance. As always, the LNP hides behind the jobs mantra; as if the creation of a handful of jobs justifies any sort of industrial development. What about the thousands of jobs in the tourism industry on the Great Barrier Reef that will be put at risk by this mine and its associated infrastructure? Not to mention the environmental pollution that will flow from this coal extraction and burning which makes a mockery of our commitment to lowering CO emissions. The banks don't want to support the Adani development because they can see where the future is and have taken community opposition on board. The Carmichael mine should not proceed and certainly not with any involvement by Adani. John Addley Point Frederick Copyright done right Ronald Watts (Letters, December 22) needs to understand that copyrighted works are simply an asset that may form part of a deceased persons' estate. If the lifetime work of your ancestor left you a portfolio of shares, or a shopping centre, etc you would be entitled to expect to earn revenue from that asset until you chose to sell it to someone else. That someone else would then be entitled to earn revenue from what they had purchased. Why on earth does Ronald Watts think the commercial value of assets like books, art, music, etc should somehow self-destruct after a period of time? Should the character Mickey Mouse now be freely available to anyone simply because its 88 years old? Peter Pitt Potts Point My husband has worked long and hard writing songs. It gives him joy that his work will be owned by his children, and grandchildren. Then it is free to world, as it should be. Mary Porter Watsons Bay Ronald Watts, if high school students in 2060 have to read Patrick White, then forking out on copyright to heirs and publishers will be the least of their concerns. While battling through the ponderous, impenetrable prose of Australia's most famous unread author, they will no doubt wonder how he came to be published at all. David Grant Ballina Dogged by dogmatists Deja vu? Is this a repeat performance of the Democratic Labor Party split in the 1950s, played out by a new cast of right-wing religious dissidents ("Windsor urges Cory Bernardi to defect",smh.com.au, December 22)? Will George Christensen join Cory Bernardi and form an alliance with One Nation to pursue their narrow-minded beliefs? Will the likes of Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, Eric Abetz et al remain inside the tent to secretly support the breakaways and ensure that the Liberals don't move back towards the centre? The really disgusting aspect of this latest Coalition shemozzle is that the dogmatists are cynically interpreting the public's exasperation with democracy as a tribal call to invoke their own obsessive and extremist doctrine. Like Trump, they are conveniently riding a wave of discontent to their own end. Fair dinkum leadership and the general wellbeing of the nation are not involved. Bert Candy Glenvale (Qld) Kerr was the crisis Just a reminder to Boris Feigin (Letters 22 December) about the sacking of the Whitlam government. In November 1975, the government had money to govern and the people's house, the House of Representatives, had passed the supply bills. The Senate had deferred the legislation, not voted against it, and many in the Coalition were losing the will to maintain their stalling tactics. Whitlam advised the governor-general that he would call a half Senate election, which was due the following year any way but Sir John Kerr, against all constitutional convention, refused the advice of the prime minister and sacked Gough Whitlam. Following the sacking but before the swearing in of Malcolm Fraser, the Senate passed supply and so the matter was resolved. Once Fraser was appointed but before the Parliament was closed, the lower house passed a motion of no confidence in the Coalition caretaker government but once again Kerr refused to accept this action. Kerr was the constitutional crisis not a circuit breaker. John Bailey Canterbury What I won't be missing There's things to miss about Sydney ("Five things I still miss about Sydney", December 22)? Here's a list of 10 I don't: poor air quality; insane amounts of traffic; aeroplane noise; a preoccupation with private schooling; an obsession with property that threatens the future home ownership of generations to come; the flow-on effects of same; struggling to find a park at the beach; ditto one for my towel on the sand; struggling to find a park anywhere; and lastly, a city where the classes of "property investor" and "homeless" are growing at exponential rates but no one loses any sleep over it. Don't get me wrong, I love to visit but am always happy to get home. Dorin Suciu Valentine Conviction politicians do exist Not all politicians lack conviction, Lee Andrews (Letters, December 22). Eddie Obeid and Rex Jackson immediately spring to mind. Greg Partington Quakers Hill Lucky traveller How lucky can Malcolm Turnbull be ("It's nice that Malcolm Turnbull catches trains; it would be nicer if he built them", December 22)? Every time he catches a train he finds a seat. Maybe it's time he joined the long-suffering commuters at peak time. Bob Arnold Berry Defacing Parliament Seems the terrorists have won and our Parliament House will be defaced with ad hoc ineffective fencing ("Battle lines over Parliament fence plans", December 22). Protection against drones is probably in the too-hard basket. Ian Ferrier Paddington A horse? Luxury Gary Sharp (Letters, December 22) you had a horse? We had to walk to school barefoot on a gravel road carrying our bags in the rain and I had to carry my sister as well. But you try telling young people these days and they just won't believe you. George Palagyi Saratoga Billionaires in charge One truth that has manifested in post-truth 2016 is that the billionaires are no longer pretending they are not running the show. A 47-year-old Helena woman is jailed on a felony charge of partner or family member assault. Victoria Lynn Shurtliff is accused of attacking her sister, who she said owed her money, according to court documents. Police say the assault took place on the 1800 block of Joslyn Street on Tuesday. Shurtliff allegedly entered the residence without permission, grabbed the victim by her hair and shoved her face down to the ground. As she did this, Shurtliff yelled and demanded her money, court documents state. Shurtliff told police she was the one who was attacked. The victim had injuries including lumps on the back of her head and her forehead, the documents note. Shurtliff has two prior convictions of partner or family member assault. As the Andrews government heads into the Christmas break, it has much to be proud of on the infrastructure front. Its major projects agenda includes the Western Distributor toll road, upgrades to the Tullamarine and Monash freeways, the Metro Rail Project and Melbourne's level crossing removal program. They are all much-needed projects, as Victorians have endured underfunded and substandard transport networks for almost two decades. In a commendable effort to bridge that gap, the Andrews government will spend an average of $8.4 billion a year on infrastructure in the lead-up to the 2018 election. The Age has long called for a generational transformation of Victoria's public transport and road networks, rather than the piecemeal upgrades we have endured since the early 1990s. But, while the government will trumpet its infrastructure agenda throughout 2017, especially with an election looming in 2018, there are still a number of key concerns. In particular, The Age fears that the rush to announce and build projects with one eye on an election will leave Victoria with entrenched problems for years to come. The government has been blessed with a once-in-a-generation war chest with which to build the transport system Melbourne desperately needs. It is funded primarily by a boom in property prices, and the whopping $5.84 billion in stamp duty the state government collected last year, plus a $9.7 billion windfall from the Port of Melbourne lease. The head of the Australian Christian Lobby is doubling down on his scepticism of the ACT police declaration that a van explosion outside the conservative group's Canberra headquarters was not politically motivated. The morning after the suspicious Wednesday-night explosion, ACL managing director Lyle Shelton was quick to link it to political controversy over his organisation's stances on same-sex marriage and the Safe Schools initiative, setting his sights on "extreme left" politicians who have criticised them. But later in the day, ACT Policing released a statement saying they had established the actions of the 35-year-old male driver, who was the only person injured in the incident, "were not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated". As the police investigation continues, Mr Shelton said he remained sceptical as to how quickly they dismissed these motives, contending: "There's a whole bunch of things that just don't add up". Australia's competition watchdog has dropped a probe into allegations of cartel conduct by state-based tertiary admission centres, lodged by a Canberra university earlier this year. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission began an investigation in April into alleged anti-competitive conduct after admissions centres in Queensland, WA and SA rejected the Australian National University's bid for membership. The ANU's Marnie Hughes-Warrington: The ACCC has dropped a probe into alleged cartel conduct sparked by a complaint from the Australian National University. ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington said the refusal made it more difficult for students from these states to attend the national university in Canberra. But a federal government push to make university admissions more transparent meant the ACCC investigation was no longer warranted, she said. The Department of Child Safety was asking questions of a 10-year-old boy's carers less than two months before he was found dead covered in more than 200 bruises, court documents show. A department worker visited Curtis Powell's south-east Brisbane home on May 25, 2015, after emails asking for his Medicare number and medical records were allegedly "ignored". James Colin Burnham is released on bail on manslaughter charges over the death of Curtis Powell. Credit:Bradley Kanaris According to police, his 43-year-old aunt Jodie Maree Powell and her partner, James Colin Burnham, 35, both said they could not find their Medicare card. By July 20, Curtis had been found dead from pneumonia, with experts allegedly identifying bruises everywhere from his back, legs and arms to genitals. The first step to reduce the terrible problems caused by inbreeding among a rapidly-diminishing number of koalas in south-east Queensland was launched at Dreamworld on Wednesday. It's like a gene bank for koalas. A new-age ark, if you will. Dreamworld's senior wildlife handler Al Mucci with Environment Minister Steven Miles. Koalas in the wild in south-east Queensland face an awful future due to a cocktail of problems introduced by mankind, the Australian Koala Foundation says. They are slaughtered by dogs, their habitat is cleared for houses, they are killed or maimed by cars and trucks on roads, helped by haphazard, poorly co-ordinated and toothless local and state government policy. More than a dozen swimmers have been rescued from south-east Queensland beaches in a busy morning for surf lifesavers. Five people were rescued at Stradbroke Island, five from Cylinder Beach and four at Maroochydore all before 1pm on Thursday, according to Surf Life Saving Queensland. These rescues could have been avoided if beach goers had remained swimming between the flags, SLSQ said. Swimmers were rescued via jet ski, with one spotted in distress by a vigilant lifeguard within a kilometre of the lifesaving flags. These rescues could have been avoided if beach goers had remained swimming between the flags, SLSQ lifesaving operations co-ordinator Jason Argent said. Federal police have launched a nationwide appeal to find a toddler believed to have been taken by her father south of Brisbane. Images have been released in a bid for public help to find 18-month-old Aubree Leigh Best and return her to her mother, Ashleigh Gibson. Australian Federal Police released images of Aubree Leigh Best and her father, Jordan Best, in a bid to find the 18-month-old girl believed to have been taken from Logan. Credit:AFP The Australian Federal Police said the girl's mother was "desperate" to have her returned after she was recently taken from the Logan area. The Federal Circuit Court of Australia issued a recovery order on December 15. Firefighters have managed to control a small grass fire on the outskirts of Melbourne which was in an area full of highly flammable tea-tree plants. A Country Fire Authority spokesman said the grass and scrub fire was reported at 8.45 pm on Thursday at The Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve. Twenty-two trucks battled the fire at Ballarto Road, Carrum Downs before it was brought under control. CFA spokesman Keith Pakenham said the size of the fire was 300 metres by 400 metres and it was in an area with natural scrub and tea-tree - a highly flammable bush. Mr Pakenham said it was not known how the fire started. At 6.30am on Thursday, Jim Sheffield was gardening in the back yard of his Kewdale home when he heard a "real loud yell" and what sounded like a scream. A police command post outside the Kewdale house searched by officers on Thursday. Credit:Robert Koenig-Luck/ABC News Tactical police were swarming a neighbouring property, he said. "I didn't think all that much about it," Mr Sheffield told journalists later in the day. "Came out about an hour later and there was a lot of police cars." Forensic police searched the home, which is believed to be linked to the Claremont investigation. Credit:Robert Koenig-Luck/ABC News The man who was taken into custody has not been previously linked to the case, ABC reported. He lived at the house with his daughter, aged in her 20s, for a number of years. The site near Carabooda where the body of Ciara Glennon was found Credit:Tony McDonough Vision from the scene showed forensic officers in the backyard of the home, where two blue marquees had been erected. Investigators spent all day at the property and removed several boxes and large plastic bags from the house, which were brought to a mobile police command post on the street. Family of murdered Perth woman, Ciara Glennon, Ian (brother-in law), Denise (sister), and mother Una and father Denis at the funeral service. Credit:Tony McDonough Police have so far declined to comment on the development, except to say the search at the home is "in relation to an ongoing investigation". Fairfax Media has contacted Western Australia Police for further information. Speaking to radio station 6PR on Thursday night, Ten News journalist Rebecca Munro said sources had confirmed to her that the raid was "in fact linked to the Macro taskforce". Murder victim Ciara Glennon disappeared from Claremont in Western Australia. Credit:Tony McDonough "This is a huge case," she said. "We've had it confirmed by a number of different sources. "Moments ago we just saw a bunch of evidence come out of the house." Jane Rimmer at a ball at Hollywood Highschool. Australia's most notorious serial killer Task Force Macro is Australia's longest-running and most expensive murder investigation. It has investigated well over 3000 people and interviewed more than 500 people who were in Claremont on the night Ms Rimmer disappeared. Sarah Spiers. Credit:Tony McDonough In 2008, detectives released previously unseen CCTV footage to media, which showed the 23-year-old exchanging a greeting with an unidentified man outside the Continental Hotel in Claremont on the night she disappeared. It was midnight on June 9, and the hotel had closed. As Ms Rimmer leaned against a pole, a man approached her. She appeared to acknowledge him. He then walked out of view, the grainy footage showing only his back. Parents of missing woman Sarah Spiers, Don and Carol Spiers. Credit:Tony McDonough She remained on the footpath for many minutes, with people milling around her. The rotating camera panned away from Ms Rimmer and when it returned, she was gone. The poor quality footage had been sent to US space agency NASA for enhancement years before its release, but NASA had been unable to improve it. At the same time, police revealed more information about Ms Spiers and Ms Glennon. Ms Spiers had called a taxi after 2am on January 27, 1996, when she left Claremont's Club Bayview. A witness reported seeing headlights nearby on Stirling Road, where Ms Spiers was thought to be waiting for the taxi. But the witness lost sight of the headlights after turning onto the Stirling Highway. Meanwhile, when Ms Glennon was last seen by witnesses, she was talking to the occupant or occupants of a light-coloured vehicle that stopped on Stirling Highway on March 15, 1997. She was seen leaning over with her hands on her knees as she spoke to those inside the car. Witnesses said when they looked back, the 27-year-old and the car had vanished. Other potential sightings of her on the highway that day made it impossible to determine if she had got into the car or not. New evidence emerges Rumours swelled in 2014 that detectives in Perth were close to an arrest. The rumours were swiftly quashed by police. Then in December last year, the Subiaco Post reported that new clues appeared to have emerged, with detectives examining a link between the Claremont murders and the abduction and rape of a teenage girl in the year before the first murder. The paper said police had forensic evidence linking Ciara Glennon's killer with a rapist who abducted a 17-year-old woman from a Claremont street then raped her in the cemetery in 1995. The young woman had left Club Bay View shortly after midnight and was walking to a friend's house when she was abducted, taken to a cemetery, raped and released. State Rep. Art Wittich, R-Bozeman, was found guilty on April 1 of accepting illegal corporate campaign contributions in his 2010 state senate campaign. Jonathan Motl, commissioner of political practices, also accused Wittich of failing to properly keep records and illegally coordinating his campaign with the National Right to Work Committee. Wittich was found guilty on all three counts. Wittich accused Motl of conceiving a political witch hunt. He denied taking unreported contributions and said if anything, he overpaid for the groups services. During trial, a witness for Motl said the National Right to Work group provided $22,000 of services to Wittich, but Wittich paid $7,000. Services included attack mailers against his primary opponent, consulting, opposition research and voter data. Jurors ultimately decided Wittich failed to report or disclose almost $19,600 from Right to Work groups. Motl took the stand and answered numerous questions about whether he could remain objective after Wittich opposed Motls confirmation and the pair were on opposite ends of a prior campaign case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. But 10 out of 12 jurors sided with Motls findings. Wittich was ordered to pay a $68,000 fine. Despite Motl calling for Wittich to be removed from office, District Judge Ray Dayton said he could keep his seat in the state Legislature. Wittich served one term as a state senator. He served as Senate majority leader in 2013 and won a state House seat in 2014. Wittich lost his re-election bid for House District 68 in the June primary. He filed a motion for a new trial in July, saying there was faulty evidence and inaccurate cost estimates given to the jury, but it was rejected in September. On Nov. 17, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported Wittich appealed his $68,000 fine to the Montana Supreme Court, and posted a bond of $105,000 in order to not pay the fine before the appeal is finished. Gov. Steve Bullock and Helena Mayor Jim Smith addressed community members on Wednesday for the Longest Night, a memorial for the 25 known homeless individuals who died in Helena this year. Kelly McBride, executive director of the YWCA, said the organization hosts the event on the longest night of the year to remember who theyve lost and to remind those with secure housing to be thankful. Bullock addressed the crowd at Womens Park. Wednesday was sunny with temperatures in the 30s, but in past years, Bullock said he left the event after 30 minutes and was chilled to the bone. He acknowledged how blessed he was to have a safe and secure place to go afterward, and called on the community to come together and do all they can to help those in need. He said he hoped he would see a day when a memorial isnt necessary. Its not a situation we have to tolerate, he said. Each year, organizations and community volunteers across the country conduct the Department of Housing and Urban Developments Point-in-Time homeless survey. The survey gives local providers an idea of what is working well and identifies gaps in services. Organizations open up their doors to encourage homeless individuals and families to complete a confidential survey to count those experiencing homelessness on a single night. On Jan. 28, 2016, 435 homeless individuals were counted in Lewis and Clark, Broadwater and Jefferson counties. Almost 9 percent served in the military. There were 102 minor children. Homelessness among children in Montana is a tragic reality, Bullock said. He thanked local organizations who were serving the homeless population and focusing on prevention by providing services like education and mental health care. Mayor Smith then sang Walking Through Your Town in the Snow by Utah Phillips. He read a city of Helena proclamation on homelessness and encouraged citizens to support all local efforts. He then read all 25 names of the known individuals who died in the Helena area while homeless in 2016. For each name read, a member of the community placed a rose in a vase to memorialize them. For some people, it was the only commemoration of their lives. They all had a name. They all had a life, Mayor Smith said. Editor's Note: Incorrect information about the number of homeless Montanans has been removed from this story. The annual Survey of the Homeless on Jan. 31, 2016 identified 2,311 homeless Montanans, according to the Montana Council on Homelessness. City of Columbias Pet of the Week Meleas is a five-month-old pit bull puppy who is looking for a home to call her own. Meleas is happy to hang around with her humans, sunbath, snooze on a... For Dogs, its Trick and Treat Its almost Halloween, a great time to teach your dog a trick and give him a treat. Most trainers are fans of trick training. Its not as silly as it... Senator Daines submitted a letter to President-elect Trump on Dec. 6 where he outlined actions that the incoming President should take to grow our national economy. After reviewing Senator Daines recommendations, it is apparent that he continues to support antiquated modes of thinking that seem poised to help very few Montanans directly. His loyalties instead appear more in-line with corporate interests that seek to exploit state resources with actions that undermine access to and the quality of our outdoor recreation amenities. Sen. Daines paints in broad strokes in support of extractive industries that do not represent the future, but instead a past that will irrevocably continue to negatively impact Montanas environment, economy, and our national security. Absent in the Senators lengthy letter is mention of our outdoor recreation economy in Montana. According to the Outdoor Industries of America, the outdoor recreation economy contributes to 64,000 direct jobs and $1.5 billion in wages across the state. Where are his calls to protect our future access to public lands as well as our environmental quality? I ask Senator Daines to send a clear message in follow-up to President-elect Trump that he supports our public lands and environmental protections. Ryan Krueger Whitefish Germanys most wanted jihadist will spend his 24th birthday on the run. Anis Amri, who turns 24 on Thursday, was named on Wednesday as the lead suspect in Mondays deadly attack on a Berlin Christmas Market. He was reportedly identified from official documents left behind in the trucks cab. But German authorities also say the Tunisian man had ties to a notorious group of local ISIS sympathizers led by a man named Abu Walaa, who was arrested in November alongside four others accused of operating an ISIS recruitment network. Der Spiegel, citing local officials, said that Amri and Abu Walaa were in regular contact. If thats the case, what first was considered to be a lone wolf attack in Germanythe first successful terrorist operation there since the 9/11 attackscould instead be the work of an ISIS cell. Abu Walaawhose real name is Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullahis an Iraqi-born preacher who serves a mosque in Hildesheim, about three hours from Berlin. The 32-year-old had styled himself as a sheikh who gives religious and marital advice, often in videos that never show his visage. iPhone and Android stores even offer an Abu Walaa app. A Facebook page devoted to the sheikh, featuring videos of him sermonizing in German and Arabic, has 25,000 followers. Only ever photographed or filmed from behind, and dressed in a hooded black cloak, he is known popularly as the preacher without a face. Abu Walaa reportedly gave sermons urging his listeners to join the jihad, and his mosque was raided by police during the summer. Among other things, he is suspected of links to an attack on a Sikh temple in April of this year. But that may have been just the start. Germanys intelligence community suggests Abu Walaa is actually the worst of all thanks to information coming from conversations with returning ISIS fighters. (Upward of 800 Germans have gone off to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq, authorities say.) A 22-year-old defector from the terrorist group told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung that Abu Walaa was an ISIS recruiter and the groups top leader in Germany. He was arrested in a raid in Lower Saxony in early November, owing to information obtained by authorities from debriefings of returning foreign ISIS fighters. (The five accused formed a pan-regional Salafist-jihadist network, with the accused Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A. taking on the leading role, the federal prosecutors office said in a statement after the arrest.) One of them, a man identified as 22-year-old Anil O., was interviewed by Sueddeutsche Zeitung in Turkey after he defected from the terrorist group. Anil O. claimed to have renounced ISISs ideology, then identified Abu Walaa as his original recruiter. The Iraqi, he said, is ISISs number one in Germany. German police infiltrated the preachers entourage and gleaned vital intelligence about its activities and intentions. According to details from the prosecutors office files, the cell around Abu Walaa was planning to attack police stations in 2015. It also considered laying traps for law enforcement, for instance by phoning in false emergencies and then killing the responding officers when they arrived on scene. Most ominously, the use of trucks loaded with explosives and the targeting of large crowds was also part of the cells planning. Agents in the network had gone so far as to buy silencers with the money stolen from various robberies. Anis Amri, the man accused of the Berlin truck attack, had been under observation by local authorities for more than six months, from March to September 2016. He was suspected of planning to commit robberies to get money in order to buy automatic weapons. According to German magazine Focus, Amri was radicalized by two particular followers of Abu Walaa: Boban S. from Dortmund and another named Hasan S. in Duisburg, both towns in North Rhine-Westphalia. Boban S., a Serbian-German, ran an ad hoc Islamic center out of his apartment, along with his German girlfriend. Genders were segregated at these pro-ISIS conferences, with the women veiled and the men in long beards and robes. There is as yet no evidence that Amri visited Boban S.s apartment. Amri is said to have been given two options for carrying out jihadist operations: He could either leave for Syria or Iraq and fight for ISIS on the Middle Eastern battlefield, or he could perpetrate an attack on German soil. This proposal is said to have been signed off by Abu Walaa personally. The role allegedly played by Abu Walaa in recruiting German-based jihadists bears a striking similarity to that played by another prominent ISIS recruiter in Europe, a portly 42-year-old named Khalid Zerkani. A Moroccan-born native of the Brussels district of Molenbeek and nicknamed Papa Noelor Father Christmasowing to his penchant for doling out cash disbursements to young radicals eager to emigrate to Syria, Zerkani was arrested by Belgian police in 2014 and sentenced last year to 12 years in prison. The New York Times reported after the Brussels bombings that when Zerkanis apartment was raided, texts entitled Thirty-Eight Ways to Participate in Jihad and Sixteen Indispensable Objects to Own Before Going to Syria were discovered on his computer. His talent was for turning wayward teenagers of North African descent from petty gangsters into fully trained terrorists. He was a mentor to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the operational head of the 10-man Paris attackers ring and believed to be affiliated with Najim Laachraoui, the bomb maker for both that ISIS atrocity and the one that followed months later in Brussels. Between 2012 and 2014, an estimated 18 people in contact with Zerkani traveled to Syria including Souleymane Abrini, the brother of one of the Brussels attackers. Phone records retrieved by Belgian authorities also show that he made dozens of calls to known ISIS figures in the country. Amri, the suspected Berlin attacker, was likewise drawn to a life of crime. He was under investigation over suspicions that he was planning robberies to fund his purchase of automatic weapons earlier in 2016, but that investigation was dropped due to lack of evidence. Instead, authorities found he was a small-time drug dealer, and werent able to keep him under full-time surveillance. Eventually, Amri managed to slip off their radar, perhaps using one of his many aliases. The last time hed been seen before the attack was late November or early December. The Italian newspaper La Stampa claims that Amri arrived at the island of Lampedusa in 2011, under the guise of being a refugee. He committed various crimes there and was arrested by Italian police. He served four years in prison and then, after his release, headed directly to Germany. Amris father told a local Tunisian radio station that Amri served four years in an Italian prison after setting a school on fire. He was also sentenced in absentia in Tunisia for violent crimes. When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldnt believe my eyes. Im in shock, and cant believe its him who committed this crime, Amris brother, Abdelkader, told Agence-France Press. If hes guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terroristswe have no dealings with terrorists. But Amri was able to stay in Germany even after the country rejected his application for asylum. He claimed to not have travel documents, and Tunisia denied he was a citizen. According to AFP, the country finally confirmed his citizenship two days after the Berlin attack. Lets get it out of the way. Were talking, Eric McCormack says when I bring up the Will & Grace revival. Following the viral jolt of nostalgia fired up by an election-themed sketch starring the Emmy-winning cast 10 years after the comedy went off air, it was reported that a 10-episode limited series revival was also in the works at NBC. The four of us are into it, and so is Max Mutchnick, who created the show, McCormack, who played gay lawyer Will Truman for eight seasons on the series, elaborates. Its about bigger forces right now. Thats all I can say. The typical industry gag order on such plans puts McCormack in a bit of an uncomfortable situationmums the word, save for wed love to! Its one made slightly more uncomfortable by the fact that, like Will & Grace co-star Megan Mullally, who has given similar updates on the revival while promoting her new comedy Why Him?, he is on a press tour for an entirely different series. It just happens to be a press tour in the age of Will & Grace revival rumors. McCormack is visiting The Daily Beasts headquarters in New York to discuss his addictive new Netflix series, Travelers. From Stargate creator Brad Wright and centered on spies from the future, its the kind of a show that Will and Grace might have made fun of, but is actually quite clever and engrossing. When he arrives at the Beasts office, staff members gawk at the actor who himself appears as if he just stepped off a time machine. In a grey sweater and tight jeans, McCormack looks as if hes walked directly out of one of the Will & Grace reruns we have saved on our DVR, so much so that when he casually drops his age in midst of our conversationhes 53were tempted to Jack McFarland-style dramatically fall of our chair. The reason thats worth bringing up is not to titillate one gay millennials forever unrequited crush on a TV character, but because everything that contributes to stirring up Will & Grace nostalgia is, simply, wonderful. Its wonderful because of what that show meant, and continues to mean, to the gay community. Its wonderful because of how the show changed television and, as Joe Biden famously said, the minds of the American people. Its wonderful because the show was just damn funny. But its wonderful becauseand this is hard to believeWill & Grace was the last successful series on broadcast television to be about gayness, and it went off air 10 years ago. There have been series that lasted for one season or less, and, sure there is Mitch and Cam on Modern Family. Ellens bravery cant be undersold. But Will & Grace is the last time a television series on one of the Big Four networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) for which being gay was the pointand people still watched. It is astonishing, McCormack tells me. And, as you say, for it to be the pointthats going to be really hard now post November 8th for people to do that as a whole show, referring to an election that signaled a retreat backward in terms of equality. He notices it most starkly in the ages of people who come up to him to say that the show helped them come out to their parents, or accept themselves. They were teenagers in 1998 when the show began, and, thanks to reruns and few other options for visibility, theyre teenagers today. And so here is one of those teenagers from 1998, thanks to the prospect of a Will & Grace reunion, monopolizing an actors press time talking about one of his old shows. McCormack, to his credit, doesnt seem to mind. Its kind of great, he says, when asked what its like working the talk show circuit to talk about Travelers, knowing hes going to be asked about the character he said goodbye to a decade ago. In the time since, he has fronted the TNT crime drama Perception, in which he played a neuropsychiatrist with schizophrenia, for three seasons. He starred opposite James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, and Angela Lansbury on Broadway in Gore Vidals The Best Man. There was A&Es Emmy-winning contagion thriller The Andromeda Strain before that, and stints on everything from The New Adventures of Old Christine to a Lifetime movie in between. Hasnt he earned the right to shed the ghost of Will Truman? Heres why its great, he continues. Because the big deal a year, two years, three years after Will & Grace was having to prove myself. I have to prove myself. But because I had three years on Perception, I think I succeeded in showing I can do other things and I can create a different audience, even from people who loved Will & Grace. I have less anxiety from that, he continues. So the idea that I could see a character like Grant MacLaren on Travelers at the same time people are saying, And we want to see you as Will, is great. Back when McCormack was launching Perception, he gave a quote saying, Will Truman will be on my epitaph, but as an actor, I have to challenge myself. Having a bit of proof that hes done that gives an actor the kind of peace required to return to something that, at one point, could have been considered defining and limiting. I feel like Travelers is something I can legitimately say, Youre going to love this, he says. I think then people will accept me as a different thing. And if they dont, its fun trying. On Travelers, McCormack plays Grant MacLaren, one of a team of spies sent from the future in order to keep the human race from destroying itself. How resonant. I know, McCormack says. When Brad wrote the show over a year ago, he couldnt possibly have known about the election. Ill be doing talk shows later today and Ill be talking about people from the future coming back to rescue us, and therell be a groan from the audience, he continues. Its suddenly a reality. He calls the series half an espionage series and half a domestic drama. Its closer to The Americans, I think, than any time travel show, he says. Were spies from the future instead of another country. We both crack a smile at the absurdity of sci-fi plot descriptions like spies from the future. As that phrase comes out of my mouth he laughs. But thanks to his wife, whos a big fan of the genrethey recently watched Westworld togetherhes earned an appreciation of the limitless possibility the genre can offer, and the ways in which, through its imaginativeness, it can actually reflect back a haunting reality. We dont find out in the first season of Travelers what destroyed the human race, leaving your mind to wander: Did we do it to each other? Was it climate change? The whims of a certain tangerine president-elect? Even the ways in which the travelers from the future learn about people in the present day is fascinating. Its largely through social media, which, years from now, will be our actual written history. If you look right now at what our president-elect is writing on Twitter, that will be the record of note for the future, he says. Its terrifying! You can write your own history, he continues. The old adage was that history was written by the winners. Now history is written by everybody: The losers, the winners, the people who never leave their mothers basement. Its actually those people who never leave their mothers basements that takes us back, briefly, to Will & Grace. Because the show predated the rise of social media, McCormack never had to deal with their 140-character bigotry, which was rampant when its stars reunited this fall for the election sketch. He learned a lot watching how co-star Debra Messing, who is famously politically active on Twitter, confronted the response, but found quickly that it was something he had a hard time dealing with. At the same time, he cant help but think of the the positive effects the sitcom could have had if there was social media then for the stars to be on, too. One thing, too, that might have been different given the mores of 2016: the reception to McCormack, who is straight, playing a gay character. I faced very little of the kind of the anger, Why is the straight guy playing the gay role, he says. Which I actually took as a compliment that they bought it. Or, as Max Muchnick said to me in my audition, Just so you know, you never have to be gayer than that. He laughs remembering his response: OK Thank you? And now, maybe, the actor once perennially mistaken for a gay lawyer might now find respite in being confused for a spy from the future. And if not, no hard feelings. I will never resent what Will Truman has done for my life, he continues. I love the show. But I definitely, as an actor, need variety. Sgt. Silvia Cotriss had been a widow for a month and a cop for just shy of 20 years. And now she was being called down to the police department headquarters in Roswell, Georgia, on a Thursday in July to explain why the Confederate flag was flying prominently in her driveway. Waiting for her in a conference room was Police Chief Rusty Grant, his deputy chief, and her captain. According to Cotriss, she had already explained to the departments Office of Professional Standards investigators that the flag belonged to her late husband and she continued to fly it in his memory. This wasnt a hard decision for me, Chief Grant said, according to Cotriss, before telling her as of today were terminating your employment from the Roswell Police Departmentsign here. OK, where do I sign, Cotriss muttered. With one pen stroke the 53-year-old, who was four years away from retiring with a full pension, copped to violating multiple policies including failing to conduct herself to merit the confidence and respect of the public and fellow officers and admitting her actions destroyed public respect for the department and the city. But last week, Cotriss seemed to walk back from that signature when she filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Georgia accusing Chief Grant and the city of Roswell of unjustly pink-slipping her, claiming they violated her First Amendment rights. The civil complaint claims that Cotrisss display of the Confederate flag at her private residence was constitutionally protected speech and that speech was a substantial or motivating factor in the Roswell Police Departments decision to terminate her [Cotrisss] speech did not relate to her job nor was it made in furtherance of her duties as an officer. The flag in question, the lawsuit notes, flew for over a year without causing any problems, and the display was only at her private residence and was made as a private citizen. But to the police department, Cotrisss Confederate sympathies allegedly outweighed any legitimate interest of the City in efficient public service. When contacted about the lawsuit, a Roswell city spokeswoman said it was policy to not discuss pending litigation or personnel issues with the media. Cotrisss firing came at a moment of high national tension around policing and cultural sensitivities. A sniper had recently crashed a protest in downtown Dallas and killed five police officers in a gory rampagea tragedy that led Chief Grant, Roswells top cop, to reach out to the citys African-American community during Sunday church services that week. When Chief Grant, who is white, arrived at the evangelical church called Eagles Nest on July 10, he was in full police regalia (service weapon and radio) and stood out among the predominantly African-American faithful. He was summoned to the pulpit and humbly bowed his head as five men, armed only with the Holy Spirit, laid their hands upon him. We prayed for him in front of the the entire congregation, Pastor Lee Jenkins reflected to The Daily Beast of their hallowed moment together on that Sunday. The police chief told me, if I ever hear or see anything that undermined the trust of the police department and particularly from African Americans, just to let him know. Emotions were also raw over the slayings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, unarmed black men in their 30s whose lives ended at the hands of law enforcement. A lot of people did not have compassion for the deaths of the two black men, the pastor said. But then there was retaliation and police officers were dead and that became the tipping point all of a sudden white people are like, Whoa, we have a problem here. Black people, he said, were already frustrated and angry, and that was met only by white people who were scared. So the blessing with Chief Grant sent a message that cops and clergy were partners fighting the same fight. One parishioner sitting two pews behind the police chief took the message to heart. The man composed an email, reviewed by The Daily Beast, and sent it to the police chief the next day. He wrote how, en route to drop his son and daughter off at their preschool, he became disheartened when he spotted a house flying [the] Confederate flag with a Roswell Police Department Explorer parked in the driveway. The email asked how he, as an African-American man, could explain to his children that we trust our police, but in the same sentiment if I were ever to be pulled over or some situation where my family needs the police My first thought/fear is that it may be the officer proudly flying his/her Confederate flag. The concerned Roswell parent was all for an individuals rights of free speech as long as there is no harm done to anyonebut for him, a police officer flying the flag crossed the line. He challenged the chief to help the officer be a part of your cultural sensitivity and bias removal agenda. The next day, the police department tracked down the cop who was flying the flagand found it was Silvia Cotriss. *** Cotriss had lost her husband, Joseph, on May 11 to a massive strokeabout a month before the flag was reported to the police department. The couple were married only three years but for Cotriss, she hadnt had enough heart to move on yet. I hadnt removed any of his property or cleaned out his drawers, she said. Or lowered his flag. I, um, wasnt ready to take his flags and stuff down yet, she said. The couple met at Thunder Beach, an annual motorcycle rally held in Panama City, Florida. Her husband purchased a Rebel Motorcycle flag: a Confederate flag with a motorcycle smack in the center as a souvenir. At their home he erected a flagpole and hung both the Stars and Stripes and the Confederate hybrid flag. Later, when a renter asked the couple to remove the motorcycle flag, a random passer-by offered them a Confederate flag to fly in its place. While [Joseph] was removing it in my front yard, a person drove by and stopped and got out of the vehiclea strangerand he says, If youre not going to fly that flag anymore, heres a new one, Cotriss said. Cotriss claimed that the flag was a symbol of heritage and historic significance. (She also contests the departments claim that she had a police cruiser in her driveway when the flag was spotted.) But the police department saw things differently. According to an internal report, which The Daily Beast has reviewed, investigators asked Cotriss why she would have or allow the Confederate flag be flown, especially in todays environment, and the sergeant replied that she didnt think anything was wrong with it. The investigators, according to the internal report, informed Cotriss that the flag stood as a symbol championed by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, and that the flag was associated with the church shooting in South Carolina a few months ago (referring to Dylann Roofs massacre at a Charleston church in which he executed nine men and women praying together). In a July 14 letter, Chief Grant addressed the same parishioner who sounded the Confederate flag alarm. In it, the chief wrote that the stated goal of Roswell Police Departments sworn and civilian employees is to conduct themselves on-duty and off-duty in a manner, which reflects a favorable image. He informed the man that Cotriss had gone through several levels of review and appropriate action was taken. In their internal review, investigators asked Cotriss, Do you not see [the flag] as inappropriate? She replied: No, its Southern heritage. It about the Civil War. Were in the South. Ive been in Georgia all my life. Thats also the line Cotrisss attorney David Ates is taking. If youre a police officer you do you not legally have the same First Amendment rights as Joe Smith, asked Ates, who describes himself as an old civil-rights attorney in Atlanta. And whos to say that the act of flying a Confederate flag is racist? he added. That controversial sentiment is one that echoes the work of a man whom Ates said he considered adding to the case as co-counsel: a lawyer named Kirk Lyons. (Local press intitally reported that Lyons had been helping Cotriss with her suit.) He runs the controversial Southern Legal Resource Center (SLRC) and has been called the darling of the neo-Confederate world in a dossier prepared by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). This is a man who has been defending the Confederate battle flag for most of his adult life, SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok told The Daily Beast of Lyons. At the same time hes trafficked intimately with white supremacists. Lyons is happily married to Brenna Tate, daughter of the deceased Charles Tate (who was once an Aryan Nation member) but claims hes no godzilla and that since starting the Southern Legal Resource Center his cases have moved to the mainstream. The Southern Legal Resource Center has never taken a radical case ever, he said. Unless you agree with the Southern Poverty Law Center that youre suddenly a racist, white supremacist for simply thinking that the Confederate flag is an honorable symbol. Lyons won a couple of seminal Confederate flag victories in the early aughts, including one in which he helped a Richmond, Kentucky, high-school student named Timothy Castorina and his girlfriend prove they were wrongly suspended for wearing Hank Williams Jr. T-shirts bearing the Confederate flag and the phrase Southern Thunder. The next year, Lyons secured a settlement for a Lexington, Kentucky, teen named Jacqueline Duty who was barred from prom night for wearing a dress featuring a blue and white half-X diagonal stripe with stars in direct homage to the Confederate battle flag. Earlier this year, Lyons went up against Gary Fenves, president of the University of Texas (Lyonss alma mater), after Fenves tried to rid the campus of a statue of the Confederate president Jefferson Davis. The petition for that case is before the Texas State Supreme Court. The North Carolina-based attorney called Cotrisss case very important. But Cotrisss lawyer has since decided to distance himself from Lyons. Ive found myself in a pickle of my own doing because I didnt do the research [on him], Ates said. Whether the coverage [of the SLRC] is accurate or not it is distracting from [Cotrisss] lawsuit. Meanwhile, Cotriss claims that she offered to the take the flag down before her firing, to no avail. She says she told her boss, If it offends someone I apologize and Ill take it down. Police officers have to make changes in our lives and we have to avoid certain people and certain things that offend people, Cotriss told The Daily Beast. We have to do these things. Cotriss contends that prior to the flag, there were few blemishes on her recordonce, during a child custody dispute, she was written up for rudeness. In another instance she was suspended for three days for not properly dealing with an insubordinate cop she was supervising. Nothing racial, she stressed. Nothing like that. I loved that job and I loved dealing with the people in the city, the fired sergeant added. I did everything that police officers can do That was everything to me. But for critics of the incident, the Confederate flags past cannot be written off. The Confederate flag has come to represent the Confederacy in the Civil War, and that was a war that was entirely about chattel slavery, said Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Pastor Jenkins added that a Confederate flag hovering over a government-sponsored vehicle is imagery that undermines the trust of many African Americans with the police department. It doesnt help, he said. It hurts when we do stuff like that. Antonin Scalia might have been a bit irked with Donald Trumps approach to conflicts of interest, according to a memo the late justice wrote more than 40 years ago. Donald Trump has been unflinching in his refusal to follow in the steps of former presidents, most of whom put their assets in blind trusts to prevent the perception that they made decisions based on their own financial interests. In a memo to the Ford White House dated Dec. 16, 1974, Scalia, who was assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel at the time, addressed questions about presidents and conflicts of interest. He argued that the president and vice president were technically exempt from regulations designed to prevent conflicts of interestbut he also said the president should consider voluntarily complying with these laws to avoid blistering criticism. It would obviously be undesirable as a matter of policy to engage in conduct that was illegal for other executive branch employees, the future Supreme Court justice wrote. Failure to observe these standards will furnish a simple basis for damaging criticism, whether or not they technically apply, he wrote in the memo (PDF). After spending three pages digging into the technicalities of the law, Scalia suggested that if the president truly needed to violate those rules, then White House attorneys put together an internal memo explaining which sections he needed to violate and why. In short, Scalia wanted the White House to take steps to mitigate the perception that the president engaged in shady dealingseven, potentially, going so far as following laws that dont technically apply. Trump has long lavished praise on Scalia. In the second presidential debate, he promised to appoint Supreme Court justices very much in the mold of Justice Scalia, who died on Feb. 13 of this year. And he mourned Scalias passing with this tweet: He also criticized President Obama for not attending the justices funeral: It remains to be seen if Trump will take Scalias advice on conflicts of interest. Its a very crafty lawyer letter, said Heidi Lee Feldman, a law professor at Georgetown Law. Its certainly well done. Hes saying, Look: It looks really bad if you dont abide by these rules, because it looks like youre just drawing on a technicality when you say they dont legally apply to you. Hes saying it would be imprudent for you, she added. It may not be technically illegal for you to violate these laws, but it would be imprudent, it would harm you. Transparency advocates may seize on the memo to boost their arguments that Trump should divest his businesses and put his holdings in a blind trust. Scott Amey, the general counsel for the Project on Government Oversighta group that holds that viewtold The Daily Beast that Trump would have to take those steps if he wanted to follow the advice from Scalias memo. Certainly the implication is, even though certain laws may not apply to the president, the basic premise is, Lets do everything you can to avoid any conflicts of interest, Amey said. And really, the only way to do that would be to set up a genuine blind trust, with an independent manager. POGO and other transparency groups, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, have urged Trump to take that step. Presidents have been advised for years that even though they may not be legally prohibited from engaging in conflicts of interest, they should behave as if they were, said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for the left-leaning CREW. Trump should follow this advice and sell his business outside the family and put the proceeds in a true blind trust. Others say Trump shouldnt necessarily take Scalias advice. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said theres a good reason the president and vice president are exempt from conflicts of interest laws: They can be voted out of office if they become corrupt, while federal employees arent directly accountable to voters. Presidents are only temporarily in the federal government, von Spakovsky said. There is no reason to require them to entirely sell their businesses or other assets to pauper themselves and make it impossible for them to earn a living when their terms are done. David Rivkin, who served in the White House Counsels office under George H.W. Bush and in the Justice Department under Bush and Ronald Reagan, said Trump could alleviate concerns about conflicts of interest without putting all his assets in a fully blind trust. As a matter of policy he should not do anything that would violate the intent, the purpose of the regulations, Rivkin said. And there are ways he can do that that do not involve divestiture, which is what everybodys talking about now with a blind trust. Rivkin argued in a Nov. 22 Washington Post op-ed that Trump could let his children run his companies if he pledged not to discuss their dealings with them, and if they turned to the White House counsel or the Department of Justices Office of Legal Counsel if they had legal concerns about dealings with foreign entities. Rivkin said this kind of set-up would satisfy critics, thus comporting with Scalias advice. Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, said he shares Rivkins view: that Trump could heed Scalias advice without going as far as POGO and others would like. Its important to be seen as legitimate and above-the-board and above reproach, Shapiro said. How I would interpret this would be to say, Do things that make it look like you have the countrys interests at heart, and that means setting out exactly what your business dealings are going to be. At one point, he promised he would hold a press conference on Dec. 15 to explain his approach to the issue. But his team canceled that presser, and now promises he will hold a press conference in January. They havent said which day. The critics will be listening. 2017 is shaping up to be a great year for tyrantsat least the one in Syria. So says Virginia state Senator Dick Black, perhaps the most vocal cheerleader of the Bashar al-Assad regime in American political circles. He is hopeful that the new Trump administration will usher in a new era in Syrian-American relations, one in which the two countries play nice despite the inhumane violence that has wracked that country for years. The shift in the way the United States interacts with Syria is an important microcosm of the greater forces at play in American foreign policythe shattering of the current bipartisan consensus on which countries constitute Americas allies, on how to promote human rights, and on how to best intervene in world affairs. Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, there were hardly any boosters of the Assad regime among U.S. politicians. Accusations that the Syrian government tortured detainees, intentionally bombed civilian populations, and used chemical weapons against its own people have made the state an international pariah. An estimated 470,000 people have died in the Syrian civil war as of February, and Assads regime is responsible for far more deaths in Syria than the terrorist group ISIS. Nonetheless, Black made international waves in a 2014 letter to Assad to praise him as heroic for his supposed protection of Christian and Jewish minorities in Syria. This caught the attention of the Syrian governmentearlier this year, the state senator cemented his Assad-boosting status by visiting Damascus for an hours-long conversation with the Syrian dictator. After years as a sole voice in support of Assad, the Virginia lawmaker does not believe he will be alone much longer: The tide is slowly turning, he says, led by the election of Donald Trump, whose foreign policy has focused on shifting the United States away from foreign interventions, including in Syriaso much so that Assad has called the president-elect a natural ally on the issue of terrorism. Donald Trump made it fairly clear during the campaign that he rejects the strategy of regime change, the state senator told The Daily Beast in a lengthy interview Wednesday. The United States is currently bombing ISIS targets in Syria while simultaneously calling for Assads removal. America currently intrudes on Syrias airspace and territorial waters as if Assads regime was not a real, international actor, Black claims, and he hopes that the Trump administration will move to treat Syria as a nation, not as if it doesnt exist. Black, at 72 years old, has spent 13 years as a Virginia state lawmaker and another 32 years in the military, first as a pilot, then a forward air controller, then as a lawyer. And he believes hes doing the right thing, professing support for Assad because of a very intense passion for stopping these regime change wars and a desire for the bloodshed to end. While the Obama administration has consistently argued that Assad must step down if there is to be any end to the Syrian Civil War, the incoming Trump administration is more apathetic about the Syrian leader. Its this view that will trickle down to the American public, Black said, meaning popular opinion about the Syrian dictator will soon change. Part of the reason is that the press receives a tremendous amount of information from the government. The path of least resistance is to repeat what the government says, Black predicted. If the government is making up a certain spin that demonizes a certain country, that tends to flow through the media. Youre going to see a different narrative. Youre going to see Syria treated not as a regime but as a normal nation. The mood is already beginning to change in Congress: Black is planning a return visit to Syria in 2017, but this time with lawmakers in tow. The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations has already commented favorably on this idea, Black said, and he planned to bring around three members of Congress with him. The visit will be welcomed by Syria. I know for a fact this will be the case, he told The Daily Beast. It should not trouble anyone that there are members of Congress that go and visit and see whats happening on the ground. Black did not name the lawmakers that would be present on the trip, but listed off the few members of Congress he believes will be the friendliest to the Syrian regime in the coming year. At the top of the list is Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat who has distinguished herself as one of the nations most pro-Assad politicians and has already met with Trump to discuss the direction of the war there. Another name Black mentioned is Rep. Thomas Garrett, an incoming member of Virginias 5th Congressional District that he endorsed in the 2016 elections. I think what youre going to see [is] members of Congress shifting, Black predicted. But this support for Assad has its blinders and its convenient excuses. Black believes that Assad is extremely popular across the country, notwithstanding the violence that erupted when the Syrian government fired on peaceful demonstrators in 2011 and has raged on ever since. The Syrian dictator was a soft-spoken but precise man, his wife a delightful woman, Black claimsand the primitive barrel bombs that have indiscriminately been thrown out of government helicopters, terrorizing civilian populations with their randomness, are merely not terribly accurate. Black at once dismisses evidence of the Assad regimes torture and killing of dissidents, while also justifying war crimes as a natural part of conflict. It is a war and a very intense war, and just as with the American Civil War you could find war crimes on both sides, he said. I do not believe that President Assad favors any sort of widespread improper conduct youre not going to find any war thats been fought where one side was utterly pristine. For all its willful blindness, Blacks thinking foreshadows the coming year, as his beliefs about Syria align far more with the Trump administrations than that of the preceding Obama and Bush administrations. With the ascension of the president-elect, Blacks long journey alone in the wilderness is coming to an end. A 45-year-old member of a black church in Greenville, Mississippi, is in custody for burning it down in November, when the words Vote Trump were also spray painted on its side. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Andrew McClinton, of Leland, Mississippi, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday on a single charge of first-degree arson of a place of worship. The Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was destroyed by the Nov. 1 fire. McClinton, whos African American, is a member of the church, Hopewell Missionary Baptist Bishop Clarence Green told the AP. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Cheney, who also serves as the states fire marshal, told the AP that investigators dont believe McClintons crime was politically motivated, but added that there may have been some efforts to make it appear politically motivated. A Facebook page that appears to belong to McClinton includes Donald J. Trump, public figure, among his handful of likes, with most of the others relating to Christianity. The torching of Hopewell garnered national media attention at the time, less than two weeks before Donald Trumps election upset. Trump did not address the crime on Twitteras he has chosen to do with other national news eventsinstead issuing a statement on his campaign website. We are deeply saddened for the members of the Hopewell M.B. Church community and condemn in the strongest terms this terrible act that has no place in our society. We are grateful that no one was hurt and we urge witnesses with any information to come forward and help bring justice to those who are responsible, the statement read. Days after the fire destroyed the church, then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted, This kind of hate has no place in America. Following the blaze, more than $200,000 was raised in online donations for the church, whose roughly 200 members have resumed services at a predominently white church in Greenville. Marshall Wilson, a deacon at the church, told The Daily Beast just days after the fire that the building was a complete loss, and that the congregation planned to raze it and build a new house of worship. McClinton has a criminal history that includes convictions for theft, robbery, and armed robbery. Most recently, McClinton was imprisoned for a 2004 armed robbery, according to the AP. His parole ended in February. Sarah Bertness contributed to this report. Restaurateurs and bar owners around the country have taken the historic Christmas carol Deck the Halls to heart. From New York to Texas to Las Vegas, establishments have gone above and beyond fake trees and electric menorahs to create special holiday decor. Here are some of our favorite spots and their festive Christmas and Hanukkah traditions. Commanders Palace , New Orleans Commanders Palace is one of those establishments in which it feels like everyone is celebrating a special occasion. So it comes as no surprise that it is particularly festive during the holidays. In addition to enjoying a tree and carolers, lunchtime diners receive a jingle bell to take homea tradition the restaurant has been observing for decades. La Sirena , New York La Sirena, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianichs casual Italian restaurant in the trendy Maritime Hotel, goes all out during the holidays. Its courtyard is decorated with nearly three dozen Christmas trees and festive decorations, and Santa Claus has already made several stops at the establishment to take photos with children. Miracle on Ninth Street , New York For a month each year, the East Village bar Mace turns itself into the over-the-top Miracle on Ninth Street. The watering hole not only decks itself out with tinsel, gift wrapping, and Christmas-themed glassware, but also offers a special menu of cocktails formulated by head bartender Nico de Soto, including the Christmapolitan (a variation on the Cosmo containing vodka, fig, and spiced cranberry sauce). Theres even a Hanukkah corner! Rolfs Restaurant, New York You know a restaurant really loves its Christmas display when it leaves it up to the end of May, but that is just what Rolfs Restaurant, near New Yorks Gramercy Park, does every year. The traditional German restaurant, which has been open for more than 40 years, covers its ceiling and just about every other surface possible with lights, ornaments, and decorations. Just be prepared to stand in line to get in. Jaleo , Washington, D.C. Celebrity chef Jose Andres has helped introduce a range of Spanish dishes to American eaters. Fittingly, his small chain of Jaleo restaurants is now observing the prototypical Spanish winter tradition of enjoying all things made with clementines, including a number of drinks and dishes featuring the fruit. Dont delay: The restaurants stop serving the special menu after Friday. Mansion Restaurant , Dallas There are few places better suited for an elegant celebration than the acclaimed Mansion Restaurant in Dallas. The establishment, located in the deluxe hotel Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, has been given a Christmas makeover and is serving a special menu this weekend. The Snickers yule log promises to be worth the trip alone. Lost Lake , Chicago If youre tired of traditional tinsel and evergreen wreaths, tiki haven Lost Lake is the tropical watering hole for you. Especially for the holidays, it turned itself into Sippin Santas Surf Shack. Cant make it to Chicago? Dont worry. Lost Lake partnered with New Orleanss Latitude 29 and New Yorks Boilermaker on this special program, and all three are offering festive decor and drinks menus. Jean Philippe Patisserie , Las Vegas Rarely is the Grinch celebrated, but the Jean Philippe Patisserie, inside the Aria Resort in Las Vegas, has created a sweet 5-foot-6-inch statue of the legendary holiday character. It took 50 pounds of chocolate and 112 pounds of sugar fondant to create. BERLINIn the heat of the moment after Mondays gruesome truck attack on Berlins Christmas Market, someone claimed to have followed the murderous driver on foot. Police following the tip tracked the suspect to the zoo, and there arrested a Pakistani migrant who must have looked guilty as hell to them just then. Except he wasnt the right man at all. And after grilling him for 24 hours, and after coming up with nothing to support their suspicions, and after realizing that theyd have to release him from custodyonly then, it seems, did they find in the floor of the truck near the gas pedal what should have been their key evidence from the start: a dropped ID card. And, lo and behold, all over the outside of the trucks cab, the fingerprints of the man the card belonged to. We now know from the wanted notices posted on all the worlds media that the man most likely to have murdered the trucks driver then raced the tractor-trailer through that festive holiday scene, killing 12 people and injuring about 50 more, is a 24-year-old Tunisian petty criminal and alleged soldier of the so-called Islamic State known by the alias Anis Amri. The police dogs that sniffed through the cabin of the truck probably picked up the scent of the killer (they certainly had no interest in the Pakistani), but of course that trail has long since grown cold. So on Wednesday night, after a SWAT team stormed two apartments in Berlin, and came up with nothing, at least one officer was forced to conclude Amri has gone over the hills. Such are the latest lapses in a history of bureaucracy and bungled police work that goes back more than five yearsthe kind of story that has led to growing fears about security in the European Union, and growing calls for more controls and less tolerance even in the United States. Soon after Amris identity was made public, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump reconfirmed his call for a ban of some sort on Muslims entering the United States and a possible registry for those already there. Ive been proven to be right. One hundred percent correct, Trump told reporters in his inimitable way. Whats happening is disgraceful. On that last point, sadly, he appears to be quite right. Anis Amri is like a poster-boy for all that is dysfunctional in European immigration and law enforcement: a two-bit thug and petty criminal with extensive Islamist ties, including to an infamous alleged ISIS recruiter, and even a record of being watched by policebut not watched quite closely enough. Its a pattern that Europe has seen again and again, most often in France, but also in Belgium, where suspected terrorists have been identified, been watched, been questioned, even been jailedthen releasedonly to drop out of sight until they reemerge to carry out ferocious killing sprees. We saw that pattern with Mohammed Merah who murdered French Muslim soldiers and Jewish civilians, including schoolchildren, in southern France in 2012. We saw it with the Kouachi brothers who slaughtered the staff of Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, and with many members of the Brussels-based cell that carried out the savage attacks in Paris in November last year and in Belgium in March. The Germans have a word for such people: a gefahrder is a militant Islamist likely to commit a violent act, and Amri had been on that list since February. Now hes on the loose after committing the biggest terror attack in Germany in recent history. What exactly went wrong? *** Anis Amri was in trouble almost from the moment he arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2011 with no documents whatsoever. He claimed he was a minor, but had no proof of anything that would guarantee him asylumpolitical, economic, or otherwise. He had arrived with thousands of other men who had crossed from Tunisia and Libya in waves during the early days of the Arab Spring, many of them claiming political unrest was driving them into exile, although many, as well, had economic motives. Back then, Italians were fairly new at the migrant game. (In all of 2011, 58,000 people arrived from the North African shores to Italy; the figure will reach 180,000 arrivals to Italy in all of 2016.) They had yet to send out active search and rescue missions, and the boats instead had to make it to Lampedusa on their own. The Italians made a practice then of ordering deportations verbally, like reprimands for jaywalking, and were unwilling to spend any money to actually ship them home until a bilateral agreement was reached with Tunisia in 2012. The Italians rarely fingerprinted anyone, rarely detained anyone behind lock and key, and frequently turned a blind eye as the new arrivals crossed the northern borders to reach France, Germany, and Scandinavia. Amri was documented because he was under age and resided for a time in the Belpasso center for minors housed in a former elementary school Lampedusa as authorities struggled to contain the many and mostly male arrivals. Later, Amri was arrested along with three other Tunisians for trying to burn down the reception center. He was convicted of the arson in October 2011 and sentenced to four years in prison. He started serving his time in a detention center in Catania, but overcrowding meant that he was soon moved to a lower security center in Palermo from which he was released in 2015. He was supposed to be expelled from Italy and sent home at the expense of the Tunisian government based on that 2012 accord, but he just didnt leave, and Tunisia didnt come to get him. No one in the Italian immigration system checked that his mandatory expulsion was carried out despite the fact that he had been incarcerated in Italy for four full years. Instead, he was given the possessions he came with and sent on his way. An official with Italys judicial department told The Daily Beast that the burden for expulsions of Tunisians lies with Tunisia, which is obligated to make sure their nationals are repatriated as quickly as possible. "This agreement was forged between Italy and Tunisia on the basis that Tunisia would repatriate its nationals and stop boats from embarking and, in return, Italy would invest in infrastructure in Tunisia," he said. "It worked for a while and boats from Tunisia no longer come." But Tunisia stopped paying for repatriation when the bulk of the migrants who came in 2011 and 2012 were returned. Because there are no more arrivals, there are no more repatriations and people like Amri fall through the cracks. In the meantime, he was able to secure fake documents and passage through a well oiled clandestine machine in Italy that relies on organized crime, human traffickers, and document forgers. Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam used the same network to move through Italy to Paris. In Amris case, authorities are concerned he may still have connections in Italy. They are actively searching for his last known contacts and those he may have known in prison in either Catania or Palermo. *** In Germany, Amris 96 friends on Facebook would have seen that he had liked the Libyan terror group Ansar Al-Sharia, which was once in league with al Qaeda, and is now loosely linked to the so-called Islamic State. But it seems that Amris dedication to the ISIS cause was not limited to admiration on social mediaU.S. intelligence services reportedly believe he had direct contact with ISIS via the messenger app Telegram, much as we saw with other attackers and would-be terrorists over the last year. Even more importantly, Amri was part of the same North Rhein-Westphalia-based circle as Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah, better known as Abu Walaa, a man described by a returning ISIS fighter as ISISs number one in Germany. Salafi circles in North Rhein-Westphalia were already chatting about a truck attack in Berlin in May this year, according to one report. Use of cars and trucks as weapons of terror has long been advocated by ISIS propagandists and handlers, whether directing or merely inspiring the killers, as appears to have been the case with the horrific slaughter on the beach front in Nice, France, last July 14. Abu Walaa is currently in jail. So is Boban S., a man whom Amri is said to have stayed with when he was in Dortmund, a major city in North Rhein-Westphalia. However, on an early morning in November, when 100 policemen came to pick up Abu Walaa, Boban S., and three other men accused of being in the pan-regional Salafist-jihadist network that Abu Walaa is accused of leading, they had no arrest warrant for Amri. He was noted as one of the 25 people close to the dangerous preacher. There was evidence of him being active in suspicious-looking online chats. But that wasnt enough. While German law doesnt allow authorities to arrest people on the central terror watch list when they havent committed a crime, it does allow for the gefahrder, who generally come from abroad, to be deported back to their home countries. Yesterday, the grim-faced minister of the interior for North Rhein-Westphalia, Ralf Jager, gave a press conference in which he explained why Amri was still in the country on Monday, despite having his asylum application rejected in June this year. According to Jager, Amri couldnt be deported because he didnt have valid identification papers, and Tunisia denied that he was a citizen. New documents arrived coincidentally today, said Jager. In the past, in fact, Jager has complained about the difficulty of deporting unsuccessful asylum seekers back to North Africa. It cannot be possible that these countries do not take their citizens back. The German Federal Government must use every opportunity to change this attitude, he said last summer. In March, Amri was placed under covert surveillance in Berlin. Investigators were looking for evidence that he wanted to use a break-in to get money for a terror attack. But all they seemed to find was evidence that he was dealing drugs in Berlins Gorlitzer Park (a kind of criminal activity so deeply rooted in Berlins culture that police have long given up on trying to prosecute it). In September, the investigation was closed. Imagine how many channels you communicate on dailyas a tracker you can barely keep up with all these constantly new channels, one frustrated security service agent told the Suddeutsche Zeitung. With the added options of texting, chats, and encrypted messages, tracking phones has gotten more challenging since the days of wiretapping. And the German government is still unsure about how to deal with this increased workload for its intelligence services. (The very elderly and formidable conservative politician Wolfgang Schauble suggested in 2007 that phones should just be forbidden for terror suspects.) So German law enforcement tried to pin Amri down, and they got pretty close. But its also possible that the investigators underestimated one piece of serious information: a report by the state police in North Rhein-Westphalia, which is dated from July, shows that Amri was heard talking about carrying out attacks this summer. Whether this piece of evidence was judged insufficient or ignored is still unclear. with additional reporting by Christopher Dickey in Paris Presidential candidate Barak Obama, Oct. 30, 2008, said: "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America." Today, eight years later, President Obama, after two terms of cunningly utilizing the White House oval office as his Trojan horse, has fundamentally transformed make that damaged America by fundamentally undermining the people's faith in our Constitution, its rules of law, and its governing institutions. One egregious example was Obama's recent invitation to Black Lives Matter community organizers for a White House reception to commend them on their organizing efforts. Incredibly, this invitation was offered even after these lawless thugs publicly and repeatedly shouted their demands via television, "What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want them? Now!" Indeed, these calls for home-grown terrorism, all in the guise of constitutionally-protected peaceful protest, closely parallels, in my opinion, President Obama's disgraceful presidential legacy of covert and overt political corruption. After all, this former Harvard constitutional law professor has done his progressive best to undermine our beloved Constitution and the morale of the American people through any means necessary, including nonstop race-baiting and bad-mouthing of America. Am I too harsh? Future events will help determine Obama's presidential legacy. In the wake of our recent presidential election, one obvious lesson being played out on the streets of America for all to see: many of these so-called progressives have regressed into fascist reactionaries, pitchforks and torches in hand, rioting against democratic governance. Their message, enough already with the ballot box! Only we the people cooperating with honest and wise political leadership can make America great again! Hopefully, president-elect Donald Trump, even with his human imperfections, along with his administration, will provide this leadership. But regardless, in four years it's back to the ballot box. God bless America! Don Carmichael, Decatur The results of this year's election are still in the news and under the microscope every day, but it is behind us. Now is the time to come together to work on improving the great state of Illinois. Is is time for Illinois leaders to come together and compromise on a balanced budget with reforms. Workers compensation reform would have far-reaching effects on the economy. The flaws in the system affect everyone in the state, not only employers. We all want to see injured employees cared for in the best ways possible. But experience tells us that the current system is not working. What fraud and abuse are allowed to go unchecked, funds are taken away from those who legitimately need them and funneled to those who have learned to work the system. This is part of the reason Illinois places 49th in the country for its workers compensation system. Changes to the workers compensation system would allow Illinois to attract new employers to create jobs for our citizens. The current workers compensation system is weighted heavily toward employees and places an unfair burden on employers. The workers compensation system in largely responsible for the reputation our state has for being unfriendly to business. Workers compensation directly effects property taxes. Local governments pay those costs too, when their costs rise, property taxes must rise to cover those costs. Those who tune out the discussion of workers compensation reform because "it doesn't apply to me" should reconsider. This problem does not divide neatly along party lines. Whether Democrat or Republican, anyone should be able to take a step back, look at the current system and agree that reform is needed. It is time for everyone, at every level of state government, and regardless of party affiliation to come together, and be willing to cooperate and compromise in this important area. Every citizen in Illinois would benefit from a balanced budget with workers compensation reform. Randy Jo Keith, chairman, Piatt County Board New 12 year olds released by West Cork West Cork Distillers is celebrating 12 years in the business, with the release of three new 12 year old single malts. West Cork Distillers, which was founded in 2004 by three friends, is one of Irelands few independent whiskey distilleries. Located in West Cork, an area known for artisan handcrafted food and beverages, West Cork Distillers now exports to more than 60 countries worldwide and has announced its recent launch in Cork and Dublin airports. Building on success with the current range, which includes West Cork Original Blend, 10 Year Old Single Malt and the limited release Cask Strength and Black Cask, West Cork Distillers has released three different 12 Year Old Single Malts 12 Year Old Sherry Cask; 12 Year Old Port Cask and 12 Year Old Rum Cask. Speaking about the companys ethos John OConnell, one of the co-founders says: "Since its inception, we at West Cork Distillers have believed in the delicate balance between scalable and artisan whiskey production and have actively strived to achieve this." He went on to say: Several of our products have been sold in the Loop in recent years, including Drombeg and Lough Hyne, and we are delighted the airport range now includes our flagship West Cork whiskeys." Liz Field, West Cork Distillers sales manager says: We at West Cork Distillers understand that our airports are Irelands gateway to the world and we are keenly aware that West Cork is a popular tourist hub, enjoying visitors from all over the world. With this in mind it is important to us that our products are available for sale to those same visitors on their way home from Cork or Dublin. We love knowing that they can take a taste of West Cork back home with them if they so choose to. 22 December 2016 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, editorial assistant Bill Clinton should try to find out why Americans are angry It is refreshing to have a Hillary voter evaluate the reality of the 2016 election. It is too late to blame George Bush. Barack Obama used all of those up. Clinton was and is a flawed candidate. She has ridden Bill's coat tail for all of her career. She has no accomplishment to highlight in any of her appointed or elected positions. She has demonstrated poor judgement and performance in many situations and has difficulty facing up to the truth. Robert C. Borden stated Clinton is an exceedingly smart woman who has been and around government all her adult life. Apparently none of this rubbed off or she is a slow learner. Bill just stated that Trump could muster the "angry white men." Perhaps he should delve into why we are angry. ROSS B. GEORGE Georgetown Almost anyone would have been better than Hillary Clinton I wish to congratulate Robert C. Borden on the Opinions column he wrote. It was an honest and objective assessment of Hillary Clinton's recent demise. I find it refreshing that someone who acknowledges to have supported her in her bids for the presidency will admit that she has no one to blame but herself. Most of her supporters, and her cohorts in the mainstream media, assigned virtually no blame to her and even less to themselves. Borden could not have made a more astute observation. I did not vote for Donald Trump in the primary but did so in the general election. I was of the opinion that everyone from any party, with the possible exception of Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein, would have made a better president than Hillary Clinton. In view of her years of scandals, abuse of power, bad decisions, circumventing the law and inability to tell the truth, it is baffling to me how her supporters could feel that she is more deserving and more "virtuous" than Donald Trump. I intentionally omitted her "experience" as a mitigating factor. It was the experienced, highly qualified politicians that amassed our $20 trillion debt with little or nothing to show for it. RICHARD COOK College Station We longer should be at the mercy of Washington County I worked for Blinn College for 15 years in administration and as faculty. I witnessed first-hand how the Blinn administration in Brenham ignored the needs of the students in Bryan in favor of trying to revive a dying campus in Brenham. Approximately, 3.5 percent of Blinn students are from Washington County but 100 percent of the control of the college is there. Unfortunately, the Blinn Board of Trustees has not been a good steward for Bryan. The administration spent millions on dorms, classrooms, administrative buildings in Brenham but has not built a new building in Bryan in almost 15 years. Only after state Rep. John Raney began questioning the board about the Bryan campus funding did the board notice the more than 12,000 students here and rush to try to accommodate them. This resulted in two abandoned property purchases and a waste of money. After a committee raised the issue of work force training, the board suddenly signed an agreement with Texas A&M -- again reacting instead of proactively addressing this community's needs. I testified before the Legislature that the Blinn board doesn't seem to understand that academic students attend Blinn because they are either A&M students at Blinn for one or two classes or they're taking classes at Blinn while trying to get into A&M. Blinn is a means to an end. A good means to a great end but Blinn is not their final destination. Those students don't care if the name of the school is Blinn, Brazos County, or Acme College. Brazos County needs to control the funds it generates in Bryan and direct them where they are most useful to Brazos County. We no longer should be at the mercy of Washington County residents who don't understand our community's needs and frankly, don't really care about them. JEAN RICCIARDELLO PHELPS College Station Meet Megan Hicks, sore loser. The Philadelphian was camped on a bench in the Pennsylvania state Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg on Monday morning, waiting, like the rest of us, for the Keystone State's presidential electors to go through a hugely symbolic, yet no less hugely important, exercise. And it did, right on time. At 12:54 p.m., barely an hour after the gaveled into session in the ornate chamber of state House of Representatives, Pennsylvania's 20 electors, all of them Republican, unanimously cast their votes for Donald Trump and Mike Pence. And with that, the Manhattan mogul and his running-mate officially cemented the first GOP presidential victory in Pennsylvania in 28 years. Pennsylvania was supposed to be part of the vaunted blue wall that saved Hillary Clinton on Election Day. It didn't hold. Hicks knew the result was coming. She knew it even before she rolled into Pennsylvania's capital city on a freezing cold December morning And she knew there was nothing she could do to change the result. But she was protesting anyway. "Showing up is a very important habit to get into," she said. "We're not going gently. We know who won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes." She wasn't alone. More than 100 protesters gathered on the Capitol steps to wave banners (a lot of them connecting Trump to a certain Russian strongman), to sing patriotic songs (over and over again), and to officially register their displeasure with the incoming administration. "Trump is not our president," they chanted at one point. Hicks knew full well what Trump's legions of supporters thought of her and her fellow protesters: She's a sore loser who should just go home, sit quietly, and let the President-elect get about the business of making ... well ... you know the rest. You didn't have to look any further than Twitter for evidence of that sentiment. "These people are sad excuses for Americians (sic)," a Twitter user named Toni Maneval wrote in response to the Harrisburg protests. " ... take the loss with dignity & go home to cry the blues. Trump won fair & square ... she lost!!!" Which is rich when you consider that some members of the loyal opposition (aided and abetted by the White House's next occupant) spent eight years protesting President Barack Obama and questioning his parentage, citizenship and religious beliefs -- often in the most vile of terms. And that went to the fundamental tension in the Pennsylvania capitol - and, likely, in state capitols across the country on Monday: Can America's tradition of the peaceful transition of power survive the installation of a president whose critics fear - not without justification - doesn't respect democratic norms and centuries of engrained political tradition? From the outside that looked like it just might be the case. A deeper look cast grim doubts. "Today we're here to honor a tradition that is at the heart of our democracy ... it is a process of peaceful transition," Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said during a brief speech. to electors. "It is unique around the world, it's special. We don't need armies, we don't uprisings to change our country's leadership. We just need 538 people in rooms like this across the country," he said. And then there's this: "We know one thing is certain no matter what happens today Trump has no mandate for his agenda if he does become president," Kai Newkirk of Democracy Spring, a group helping to organize of the protests in capitals around the country, said. Trump's victory is "illegitimate because he lost by 3 million votes and there's a movement growing across our country that's going to defend our democracy and make sure we have an America for all of us, not just the elite Trump represents," Newkirk said. I believe it's their right to be here and state their opinion," Bob Asher, a GOP elector from Montgomery County, outside Philadelphia, told reporters after the vote. When he was asked if he believed Trump could get the country to pull together, he said, "I believe we'll get the job done ... This nation seems to have a lot of spunk and resolve." "But that's also going to require a concession from Trump and his camp followers: They need to drop the sore winner act. "We are really the people that love this country," Trump said during a stop in Mobile, Ala., last week on his self-aggrandizing 'thank you' tour. That pretty firmly closes the door on cooperation. So maybe it's understandable that Hicks isn't about to back down. "It's democracy," she said. "It's a muscle. If you don't exercise it, it'll atrophy." Monday changed nothing. It just flipped the script. PEKIN (AP) A Central Illinois man has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for possessing child porn and trying to kill a man who thwarted his knife-wielding assault on a room full of children in 2015. Dustin Brown, 20, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty but mentally ill in November to possessing child porn, attempted murder and armed violence. The latter two charges stemmed from his October 2015 attack on 75-year-old James Vernon at the Morton Public Library, where Vernon was tutoring about 17 children. Tazewell County Circuit Judge Paul Gilfillan said Brown's mental conditions, including an intellect years behind his age, and sexual abuse he said he suffered as a child may have contributed to his actions, but that Brown understood they were criminal. Conservation board tables property lease program, examines deficit The Des Moines County Conservation Board on Wednesday tabled a proposed program that would have generated revenue for the conservation department. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. On a chilly Tuesday with the winter solstice looming large on the calendar, Albert Pizzirusso spared a glance at the glass case running the length of his new A&S Fine Foods on Westport Avenue, taking in any number of prepared gourmet courses, homemade salads and sauteed vegetables. Within a few moments left in the oven, the best was yet to come. The short ribs, at this time of year, are flying off the shelves, Pizzirusso said. After attracting more than a little interest from drivers flying by on their errands with its big sign promising an autumn opening, Pizzirusso snuck in just ahead of that goal with the opening of his newest A&S Fine Foods at 361 Post Road West in Westport. It is Pizzirussos third A&S location locally, along with a storefront on Stamfords High Ridge Road he runs with partner Erik Cohen and a former A&S deli on New Canaan Avenue in Norwalk he sold to a partner (now known as Angelos Specialties, the deli hints at its heritage in highlighting the AS initials on its logo). Another deli with the A&S name is on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield among more than 20 throughout the tri-state region. The shops are all independently owned with foods prepared on the premises, with A&S allowing use of the trademark while providing back-end accounting and other services. Pizzirussos newest venture takes space previously occupied by a Froyo World frozen yogurt cafe on Post Road West, with Pizzirusso a Westport resident himself who heard about the storefront opening from a friend. It is the second change in the past few months at the retail plaza that is a few doors over from Whole Foods, following last summers closure of the Kibberia Middle Eastern cuisine cafe. I was looking in Greenwich, I was looking in New Canaan, Pizzirusso said of his hunt for a new space. A few deals fell through. We lived in Westport 15 years; who would have thought I would be opening a store here? Pizzirusso grew up working at an A&S location in Yonkers. After graduating from high school, Pizzirusso went to work at a Brooklyn restaurant of the late Anthony Scicchitano, who would come to the United States as a teen from the Calabria section of Italy, establishing the A&S Pork Store butcher shop more than 35 years ago. Pizzirusso went on to the Culinary Institute of America with an internship at the Rainbow Room in New York City, later stops including the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons hotels. I intended to open a gourmet shop with catering, Pizzirusso said. I didnt know it would be with A&S. Pizzirusso expects to generate approaching half of A&S revenues in Westport from catering, saying the Stamford location has done big business on that front. In Westport, the company can be reached at 203-293-4042; Pizzirusso said he envisions additional locations, without giving any hint as to possible neighborhoods. We built this kitchen large enough that we are going to try to open up two or three satellite stores, where we make (staples) here to ship to the other stores, and have a chef doing the daily specials, Pizzirusso said. Every season well have different menus. In the summer youll see our salads, tomatoes, mozzarella; this time of year its the short ribs, the beef stews, the veal stews, mac and cheese, the sweet potatoes. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-354-1047; www.twitter.com/casoulman This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK A contingent of firefighters on Wednesday made a difficult holiday season a bit easier for a family who lost the man of the house earlier this year. The widow and three children of Belarmino Lima, who died after the truck he was working on collapsed on him Sept. 16, received stuffed animals and gift cards at their Plattsville Avenue home from the firefighters, many of whom had responded to the accident. The holidays are always tough, said Norwalk firefighter George Baez. We wanted to give her gift cards so she can get something for the kids. The catalyst for the meeting was Mindy Garcia, eligibility manager at Norwalk Community Health Center, where Yosely Lopez is a client. Mindy learned about (Lopezs) husbands tragic death and that since his death, the familys income has been severely impacted, said Betty Cordellos, NCHC director of development and communications. Garcia reached out to Baez, her nephew, and asked if there was something the Fire Department could do to help the family. She is the angel of the city, Baez said of Garcia. Shes reached out to us before and I said, Let me see what I can do to help. Baez reached out the Departments Office of Emergency Management and obtained Visa and Stop & Shop gift cards for the family. Baez said he was especially touched by this family. He was one of the first responders on Limas medical call. Surrounded by her three children, Eric, 14; Eduardo, 9; and Emily, 5, a teary Lopez said simply, God bless everybody. Along with Baez, the Fire Department personnel who presented the gifts were Deputy Chief Todd Smith, Lt. Fortunato Capomolla, and firefighters Andrew Kick, Corey Gilchrist and David Pignataro. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WILTON Hanukkah may not start until Saturday, but that didnt stop excited Wilton residents from getting into the spirit of the holiday a few days early. This year, for the first time, local Jewish residents will be given a nook of their own in the gazebo on the Town Green to display their Hanukkah cheer. This is the first year that weve been allowed to do this, so its a pretty big deal for the kids, said Andrea Reiter, as her three kids jumped about and chattered with excitement as the decorating began. Amid the troves of Christmas decorations dominating Wilton Center and just a stones throw from the towns annual nativity scene, a group of nearly a dozen residents gathered in the cold to adorn the gazebo. All week her children had been eagerly awaiting the moment when they could lay claim to their own little slice of their town with Hanukkah decorations, Reiter said. Wintry weather or not, nothing would keep them from displaying their Hanukkah pride. When the moment finally arrived on Monday afternoon, Reiters children joined others in a mad dash to the gazebo to get started. From plates with Hanukkah written in eye-pleasing cursive and a light-up menorah to festively colored streamers and a Hanukkah-themed strobe light these Wiltonians pulled out all the stops for their first decorating ceremony. And, despite the freezing temperatures and the numbing winds, each person who joined in the decorating sported an infectious smile. For Dina Kantor, who had played a pivotal role in securing the gazebo location, the alacrity with which these children and their parents went about their decorating duties made her efforts worth the while. The message of Hanukkah is really to be proud of who you are and, for the children, its really important that they feel like they are an important part of the community and that they can express their religion, their culture, their pride in who they are, freely. Thats why when Eleanor Cronley, who spearheaded the movement to have Hanukkah represented amongst the many Christmas decorations in town, approached Kantor about sponsoring the gazebo decorating, she leapt at the opportunity. I feel very strongly that the Jewish residents of Wilton should feel proud, Kantor said. Since the town required a business sponsorship to decorate the gazebo, Kantor used her position as the co-director of the Chabad Lubavitch a Jewish community outreach center located at the edge of Wilton, Westport, Norwalk and Wilton to ensure that the Jewish children of the community had something in town that they could point to proudly as the holidays commenced. In addition to the gazebo, the Jewish community will also host a large menorah lighting on Monday, Dec. 26, at 6 p.m., in Wilton Center. The dynamic of our town is ever-evolving, so for us, it is important to make sure that the holiday is recognized, said Reiter. We want our children to feel welcome, as much as anyone else in the town. ptomlinson@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1046; @Tomlinson_PE Below is the official statement issued by President Serzh Sargsyans office regarding the visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Armenia. The official welcoming ceremony for the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani, who arrived to Armenia on official visit on December 21, took place at the Presidential Palace. The President of Armenia held a private meeting with the President of Iran after which there took place a meeting in the extended format with the participation of the official delegations. Honorable Mr. President, I am happy to welcome you to Armenia. For the Armenian people, you are an awaited and valued guest, and we are hopeful that your first official visit in your capacity as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran will give a new spirit and a new life to our cooperation. The Armenian-Iranian cooperation comes from the depths of the centuries, and based on that very solid foundation we formed our interstate relations in 1992. Today, 25 years later, I am very glad to be able to state that throughout this period of time there has been no instance that would darken our relations. We are thankful to the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the considerate attitude towards our relations. We have always been truthful and honest in our relations and are ready to carry on in the same spirit. Taking this opportunity, I ask you to convey my deep respect and best wishes to the Spiritual Leader of Iran Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei. Welcome to Armenia, said the President of Armenia. Honorable Mr. President, I am very much grateful and happy to visit today the Republic of Armenia, the beautiful country - Republic of Armenia and capital Yerevan. We view the Republic of Armenia as a friendly country and we desire to further warm up and develop our bilateral relations. Our two nations belong to the same culture and civilization. Relations of our two peoples have always been warm and friendly, said the President of Iran Hassan Rouhani at the meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan. Azerbaijan violated the Karabakh ceasefire 45 times last night, firing 800 rounds of small arms and sniper rifles, this according to the NKR Ministry of Defense. The ministry reports that intense firing was registered against Artsakh defensive positions in the Martouni area. Artsakh Defense Army units, according to the ministry, did not return fire but remain in control of the situation. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin IGB. Dharma Agastia (The Jakarta Post) Singapore Thu, December 22, 2016 The Indonesian Military (TNI) has become increasingly obsessed with selling the idea that Indonesia is in the midst of a proxy war. Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo has led this charge since 2014, when he traveled around the country to speak about how Indonesia was in the middle of a proxy war. In 2015, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu joined the bandwagon, claiming that the LGBT movement is a form of proxy warfare that is even worse than a nuclear bomb. Recently, Gatot devised a media proxy war defense pact, signed by Nahdatul Ulama, the Teachers Union and the Association of Publishers. Is a proxy war truly happening in Indonesia? Or is it just an attempt for the military especially the Army to regain its political relevance? With such fierce campaigning from the military and government officials, it pays to step back and revisit the concept of proxy wars and how they are waged. In Proxy Warfare (2013), Mumford defines a proxy war as indirect engagement in a conflict by third parties wishing to influence strategic outcome. Proxy wars became prolific during the Cold War, when both the United States and Soviet Union realized that they would face mutually assured destruction should any conflict escalate toward a nuclear exchange, so they surreptitiously used the conflicts of smaller states to further their political objectives. One of those proxy wars was the 1975 Angolan Civil War, where the US, Soviet Union and China with Cuba and Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) provided their proxies with manpower, funding, arms, ammunition and even propaganda. In this particular case, there was enough historical evidence to show the indirect involvement of foreign interests, through local organizations, attempted to advance their respective political interests. Another example, executed by the US prior to its involvement in World War II, was the Lend-Lease Bill enacted in March 1941, which provided then president Roosevelt the ability to aid European allies with American military equipment against fascist powers. Some conclusions can be drawn from those historical examples. First, the notion of a proxy war would presuppose that an actual conflict is already occurring and that outside parties seek to use the conflict to advance their own political objectives. Second, proxy wars often involve larger powers, co-opting either lesser powers or non-state actors to advance a political agenda. Third, a proxy war can be waged if conventional war was deemed to be too escalatory and costly, as shown during the Cold War. Gatot, along with Ryamizard, has identified several nodes of proxies that serve invisible forces seeking to threaten Indonesias integrity, such as the media, narcotics, communism, student brawls, non-government organizations (NGOs) and terrorism. It is possible for this list to get longer as the military continues to wrestle for greater relevance. Their insistence that NGOs can be agents of proxy wars shows a lack of understanding. To qualify as a proxy, one must be interested in advancing the benefactors war aim, which may be to impose higher costs or aid in crippling the opposition. Within this understanding, the only viable proxy agent would be terrorism, which is a form of modern proxy warfare waged by violent non-state actors. This is especially evident in cases of lone-wolf terrorism, in which a terrorist group advances their political objective using individuals as a proxy. Other proxy agents identified by the military are dubious. NGOs and even international organizations are generally against the continuation of violence, which goes against the objectives of war. NGOs are also independent of governments, making them less likely to be proxy agents of foreign powers. In Indonesias case, NGOs are often socially oriented, with some even acting as agents to curb social ills, such as poverty and corruption. The militarys conviction thus resembles xenophobia and fear mongering rather than rationality. The main selling point of the proxy narrative is the ambiguity and elasticity of the concept. The secretive character of proxy wars makes it easy to pin the narrative on even the flimsiest of issues, often to the point where it can be equated with conspiracy theories. Perhaps the most ridiculous form of proxy warfare that has been identified is against LGBT communities. Ryamizard asserts that the emergence of these communities force Indonesia to deal with states who support the LGBT agenda under the guise of human rights observance. How does this constitute a form of proxy warfare? There is no indication that, through LGBT communities, foreign interests are trying to create a situation that would be destabilizing, let alone threatening. Furthermore, the statement can be interpreted as the Defense Minister considering human rights observers as viable threats to Indonesian integrity. The ambiguity factor also provides the military with a lot of leeway to define anything they deem even slightly threatening as a form of proxy war. Once an issue, such as narcotics, is considered a form of proxy war and is potentially destabilizing, the military will then be justified to take action against it, using military means if possible. This would entail a greater degree of involvement of the military in civilian affairs and pose dangers to civil liberties. The first freedom that would be hurt is the freedom of speech and thought. For example, the military arrested civilians suspected to be Communists only because they were wearing t-shirts with a hammer and sickle logo. The military also confiscated books containing Communist teachings, claiming that they were aiding the police in curbing the spread of an illegal ideology. To be fair, the threat of foreign influence trying to influence events in a country through proxies remains a possible threat to national security. In 1965, the Central Intelligence Agency was involved in staging the G30S purge. It was a bloody proxy war motivated by ideology and foreign politics, which unfortunately involved the military. Terry Russell has eloquently pointed out that in the past, Indonesias economy collapsed because Suharto was accepting backroom deals with the World Bank to liberalize Indonesias banking sector. Syailendra also points out that deeper military-civilian engagement is crucial in facing amorphous proxy wars, especially those involving ideology. While these points illustrate the necessity of the military in safeguarding the country from foreign threats, the current proxy hype is a campaign that is more about the militarys lust for political power, rather than rational strategy making. It capitalizes on the inherent xenophobia that still plagues both the military and the people. Most importantly, it shines a large spotlight on the inwardness of the military, which is still Army-dominated, and Indonesian strategic thought. *** The writer is a postgraduate student at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore, majoring in strategic studies. He is an alumnus of President University. His research interests are Indonesias defense and security policy, maritime security, civil-military relations and future warfare. He can be reached on Linkedin, by email or on his blog, Scribbles from the Ivory Tower. --------------- We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com. For more information click here. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arnaldo Purba (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Over the last couple of years we have watched tax authorities around the world escalating investigations into technology-based multinationals such as Google, Facebook and Yahoo that allegedly shift profits offshore to reduce their tax burdens. However, taxing those tech giants is easier said than done. This is mainly because the current tax laws have not caught up with the nature of the businesses run by the multinationals. More precisely, tax laws fail to make tech-based multinationals set up the so-called permanent establishments (PE) in countries where they undoubtedly receive income (income-source countries). The existence of a PE in an income-source country is the key for the tax authority to tax income received by a business run by a nonresident taxpayer. A PE can take various forms, such as a branch, a representative office or computer devices. On the other hand, tech-based multinationals like Google can run their businesses without a PE as defined by the law. As a result, they can receive income from countries without paying income tax in those countries by diverting the income to a lower tax jurisdiction. Subsequently, some countries impose a new tax rule that has come to be known as the Google tax. It is a measure that is expected to force multinationals to pay tax on the income diverted out of income-source country. It started in April 2015 when the United Kingdom introduced a novel anti-avoidance provision called a diverted profits tax (DPT). The DPT applies a new tax of 25 percent plus interest on profits diverted out of the UK by large multinationals through either one of these two channels: exploiting PE rules, or using transactions with entities that lack economic substances. When Her Majestys Revenue and Customs (the UK tax authority) reached a 130 million (US$162.35 million) tax settlement with Google in January 2016, its chancellor told the media that Google had exploited the UK PE rules and claimed the tax settlement thanks to the UK DPT. Since then, Google tax rather than DPT has become a more acceptable term to represent anti-avoidance provisions for tech-giant multinationals. Recently, some other countries have also introduced or considered introducing a Google tax. In a much simpler yet straightforward scheme, India has imposed a Google tax by applying a 6 percent levy on payments made by Indian merchants to foreign websites such as Google, Facebook and Yahoo from June 1, this year. Russia has drafted a Google tax that will impose an 18 percent value added tax on companies selling online services to Russian customers from Jan. 1, 2017. While Russian domestic businesses will also be affected, the largest online retailers in the country, i.e. Google, Apple, Microsoft, eBay and Yahoo, will be hit more substantially. Australia says that a Google tax will be in effect in or after July 2017 by imposing rates as high as 40 percent on profits diverted offshore by large multinationals. Does Indonesia need a Google tax? We need to assess the key question of this article from at least two perspectives: general and special. From a general perspective we need to evaluate whether there is a strong signal that multinationals avoid Indonesian income tax. I use the performance of tax revenue collection from corporations as the proxy. From special perspective, we need to examine whether tech-giant multinationals do exploit loopholes in the tax law to avoid Indonesian taxes. The current tax settlement with Google is a perfect example to better understand this matter. Tax literature posits that developing countries rely heavily on corporate income tax revenues. Yet Indonesia seems to be an exception. While income tax collected from corporations has steadily increased, its contribution to the total tax revenues collected is considered low and has consistently decreased from 22 percent in 2009 to 16.7 percent in 2013 (compared to Malaysia where it was 19 percent in 2009 and increased to 27.3 percent in 2013). These figures are even lower than those of Australia, a developed country that relies on individual income taxes, where it was 22.6 percent for 2012 and 2013. Meanwhile, studies conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that developing countries are no less vulnerable to diverted profit activities by multinationals than developed ones. Indonesian tax officials told the media that Google and Facebook collected 70 percent of Indonesias total digital advertising revenues of $830 million in 2015, of which the majority falls into Googles pockets. However, as Reuters reports, Google Indonesia allegedly paid less than 0.1 percent taxes by reporting most of the revenue at Googles Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore, a country that imposes the lowest corporate tax rate in Asia. Google Singapore says that it does not have a PE in Indonesia and under the law, therefore, Indonesia does not have rights to tax the income. The Directorate General of Taxation then pursued Google for five years of back taxes and estimated that the company owes at least $400 million. Recently, however, the media reported that after so much effort Indonesia nearly closed the Google tax case for $73 million, less than 20 percent of the estimation. This low figure, to a large extent, was likely the result of the absence of a Google tax. Furthermore, the fact that Indonesia does not have a Google tax has exacerbated the circumstances that are full of uncertainties during the course of settlement. As reported by the media, Google previously refused to be audited by the tax office and claimed that the company has fulfilled its obligations. With 250 million people, most of whom are young, Indonesia is perceived as one of the largest users of social media, suggesting a high potential for e-commerce in the country. Therefore, after Google the government plans to pursue other tech giants such as Facebook and Twitter. Yet, without a Google tax, lessons learned from the tax settlement with Google are: Uncertainty and increased effort ends up with relatively little tax collected. This suggests, from a special perspective, that while it may not be a panacea, a Google tax will certainly be advantageous. However, prior studies advocate that the existing Indonesian tax system is already awfully complicated. Thus, the government should introduce a simple Google tax as applied by India, for example. Besides, President Joko Jokowi Widodo is craving to promote growth in the e-commerce industry. Simple and straightforward regulations will certainly help to achieve the growth and certainty. *** The writer works for the Directorate General of Taxation of Indonesia. He is a PhD candidate at the College of Business and Economics at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. The views expressed are his own. --------------- We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com. For more information click here. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Patrik K. Meyer (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Securitization is a process that most people are unfamiliar with, despite most governments using it extensively, rightfully or not, to convince their populations that their country is facing some sort of major security threat that needs to be addressed using exceptional measures. In academia, securitization is defined as a discursive process that takes politics beyond the established rules of the [political] game [] and argues that emergency measures are needed. In other words, securitization can be implemented by actors with authority (mostly governments) by using different media outlets to gradually transform environmental, economic, religious social, cultural and health issues into security threats. And once this transformative process has been successfully completed, i.e. audiences have accepted the governments arguments, the authorities can legitimately implement exceptional measures to deal with these threats. Examples of successful securitizations are the cases of the American government convincing its people that Afghanistan and Iraq represented existential threats to the United States to then legitimately invade those countries. And this despite these invasions contravening domestic and international laws. A more constructive use of securitization are the global warming and HIV awareness campaigns that resulted in numerous people realizing that they represented global security threats and that exceptional measures were needed to address them. Similarly, Beijing has successfully used the securitization strategy to gradually convince most Chinese that the Uighurs, a predominately Muslim Chinese ethnic group, represent a domestic and international security threats. This has allowed the Chinese government to legitimately restrict numerous of the constitutionally protected religious and cultural rights of the Uighurs. While such restrictions undeniably go against the Chinese constitution and laws, which robustly protect ethnic minorities cultural and religious rights, the Chinese population considers these harsh restrictions legitimate because they help protect the homeland from an alleged national security threat. Numerous Muslim communities around the world feel deeply angered by these restrictions that result in the Uighurs being unable to fulfill basic Islamic duties such as praying, studying Quran and fasting. Indonesias massive Muslim population is no exception in this outcry against Beijing s religious restrictions imposed on the Uighurs, which is reflected in the numerous news criticizing Chinas religious policies, such as: Chinese government should allow Uighur Muslims to fast: Indonesian Ulema. Most of Indonesias over 220 million Muslims are very sensitive about their Uighur brethren having their religious rights harshly repressed by the Chinese communist leaders. Even the China-friendly Indonesian government is unwilling to fully cooperate with Beijing when it comes to the rights and safety of the Uighurs. This reticence was shown when the Indonesian government turned down Beijings request to repatriate a group of Uighurs that an Indonesian curt had sentenced to six years in prison for terrorism in Indonesia. A high-ranking security official explained that Indonesia refused to hand over its Chinese detainees because giving Uighurs back to China is the same as killing them. Most probably, the Chinese government will execute them instantly. This statement clearly reveals Indonesias concern over the mistreatment of Uighurs in China. Therefore, China had to find a way to convince the Indonesian people and government that Beijings repressive measures curtailing Uighurs rights were legitimate and that the Uighurs did not deserve Indonesias empathy. To legitimize in the eyes of the Indonesian people the harsh restriction imposed on the Uighurs religious and cultural rights, the Chinese government has been framing the Uighur people in general as a terrorist threat for Indonesia. For instance, under the headlines Southeast Asian Terrorism: Rise of the Uighur Factor and Is There a Uighur Terrorist Buildup Taking Place in Southeast Asia? Uighurs are broadly accused of networking with Indonesian terrorist groups and partaking in terrorism activities. To reinforce the idea that Uighurs are national security threat for Indonesia, China explicitly accuses them of being violent militants: After shootout, China says Uighur militants a threat to Indonesia. None of these articles distinguishes between the alleged handful of Uighur extremists and the Uighur community as a whole. The Indonesian government seems to have been persuaded by Chinas sweeping claims accusing Uighurs of being terrorists. Numerous headlines, such as The Jakarta Posts Uighur militants infiltrating Indonesia and The Stars Indonesia concerned with ease of entry by Uighur, reinforce Chinas Uighur threat discourse without questioning it at any point. A steady flow of discriminatory articles such as Indonesia turns to China as ethnic Uighurs join would be jihadist, Uighurs look to Indonesia for terror guidance, and 4 ISIS suspects arrested by Indonesia are Uighurs from China: Police further construct and consolidate in the Indonesian peoples minds an unfunded fear from Uighurs. This framing of Uighurs as a whole as a terrorist threat for Indonesia is based on questionable and little evidence, and, most importantly, done without discerning between a handful of alleged Uighur extremists and the over 10 million Uighurs that make up this Chinese Muslim ethnic group. Beijings discourse does not provide any neutral or positive statements about the Uighurs, giving the impression to the Indonesian people that all the Uighurs represent an international security threat that needs to be fought as part of the global war on Islamic terrorism. Ultimately, Beijing is using securitization as a smearing strategy to frame the Uighurs in general as dangerous extremists in the hope that their Indonesian brethren will be desensitized about the harsh and illegal cultural and religious repression that they are suffering in China. This deceptive strategy might have been successful in partially muting the complaints from the Indonesians in the short term. Nevertheless, it would be a much more sustainable and constructive strategy for Beijing to defuse their tensions with the Uighurs by granting them the religious and cultural rights enshrined in the Chinese Constitution. *** The writer, a New America Security fellow and PhD in politics and international studies at the University of Cambridge, is a visiting professor at Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta. --------------- We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com. For more information click here. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Gideon Lasco, University of Amsterdam (The Conversation) Thu, December 22, 2016 Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes bloody war on drugs is just the latest in a region where drug use has usually been met with draconian measures. Thailand embarked 13 years ago on a drug war that strikes eerie parallels with the Philippine situation. Today, lawmakers in the Philippines are plotting the restoration of the death penalty to bolster the anti-drug campaign. But this, too, is par for the course in the region. In July 2016, Indonesia executed four convicted drug offenders. On November 17, Singapore executed two men one Nigerian and one Malaysian for similar offences. Reflecting the position of its member states, ASEAN has also adopted a hardline stance, reaffirming the regions zero-tolerance approach to drugs in its annual summit in September. But theres broad consensus among researchers that the war on drugs, which typically consists of punitive measures and forced rehabilitation, doesnt work. And that its marked by human rights violations as well as huge social, moral and medical costs. In one of the most forceful arguments against the drug war, Columbia University neuroscientist Carl Hart stresses that harsh punishments do nothing but prevent young drug users from integrating back into society. And such measures ultimately end up being more harmful than the drugs themselves. Whats worse is that the drug war disproportionately affects the poor and other socially excluded groups, including ethnic minorities. But if the war on drugs doesnt work, what does? Successes with harm reduction At the country level, Portugals success story is illustrative. In 2001, the European nation, while not changing the legal status of drugs, changed the way it dealt with drug users. Instead of putting people in jail, a new law called for their referral to three-person local committees. These committees were given the freedom to consider a range of interventions depending on the user in question. Those who demonstrate drug dependence are encouraged to seek treatment. Others are discouraged from using drugs through fines and penalties, such as drivers license suspensions. Ten years on, drug use rates have not increased, while drug-related deaths, as well as problematic and adolescent drug use, have decreased. Portugals success, although mirrored by countries such as the the Netherlands, is far from the norm. But even in countries that continue to implement tough approaches, localized interventions are producing promising results. These include nations in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, for instance, the implementation of a needle-exchange program has led to a sharp drop in HIV infections among injecting drug users from a peak of 5,176 in 2002 to 680 in 2014. In Vietnam, a 2009 methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) program involving 965 opiate users at two sites led to 85.4% and 77.1% reductions in heroin use two years later. This successful pilot led to a scaling-up of the project. By 2014, Vietnam was offering its MMT program in 162 clinics to 32,000 patients. What these programs have in common is a harm-reduction framework the idea that the governments role is to reduce the negative effects of drugs rather than try to eliminate their use entirely. Critics allege that harm reduction actually encourages drug use, but the Portuguese experience, among many others, belies this claim. (Read also: Ushering the dawn of ochlocracy) A different paradigm Inez Feria, director of NoBox Philippines, an NGO committed to drug policy reform, has stressed that drug users have different lives with different stories, and its tremendously important to understand, without judgement, each ones. Underpinning successful efforts to deal with drugs, then, must be a paradigm that is open to multiple approaches. This is especially applicable to amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) such as methamphetamine. As a policy brief drawing from the Thai and Burmese experience states: Since the pattern of ATS use extends from occasional and recreational use to heavy and dependent use, and only a minority of ATS users fall into the problematic category, the response should vary in accordance with the nature and severity of a persons involvement with ATS. Different interventions are required to address the complexity of ATS use. In my research among young methamphetamine users in the Philippines, I met youths who stopped using the drug when they managed to get jobs. Sadly, many were unable to do so, lacking education or the social connections through which to seek assistance. Whats more, the very stigma associated with drug-use prevents them from being offered opportunities. These findings point strongly to the need to look at risk environments that is, the social and economic contexts in which drug use occurs. They also make the case for considering community-based interventions. Finding common ground Harm-reduction approaches can only work if governments and policymakers alike recognise the complexity of the drug problem. No single solution exists for all kinds of drug users, or all kinds of drug use. In what we can see as a silver lining, politicians are beginning to pay more attention to drug issues in their countries. Even in the Philippines, government officials are opening up to alternative approaches. Philippine Secretary of Health Paulyn Ubial, for instance, recently spoke of drugs as a public health emergency and a mental health problem, in a welcome departure from her presidents rhetoric. Drug policy advocates can use this common ground as a starting point for engaging with governments. While the evidence is overwhelming that a zero tolerance approach to drugs doesnt work, its also important to steer the conversation towards what does, and nudge leaders in that direction even if the road is paved with incremental, localised changes. The example from Vietnam of a pilot study leading to a scaled-up response is a promising sign of how research and evidence can change public perception and policies. The stakes cant be higher: suspected drug users are being extra-judicially killed and legally executed in the region, even as drug use continues to rise. What little success harm-reduction advocates can achieve could form the wedge that may finally crack the iron-fisted approach toward drug users. And it may ultimately solve Southeast Asias long-standing drug problem. Gideon Lasco, PhD candidate in Medical Anthropology, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Online based-transportation service provider Uber has just announced that it is now operating in Malang, East Java, starting Wednesday. The first service to arrive in the city is the providers basic private car taxi service, UberX. To support the release, Uber is also reportedly giving out Rp 50,000 (US$ 3.71) fare discounts for first rides, dailysocial.id reported. The promotion is accessible through the code UBERMALANG. Uber in Malang will hopefully contribute to the residents mobility and city dynamics, Uber said in an official statement. (Read also: Express, Uber team up to tap opportunities in Indonesian market) Uber also explained that the expansion is intended to reach local residents who need safe, comfortable and affordable daily transportation and who long to rediscover their beloved homeland on weekends, as well as residents of other regions who want to know more about Malang. Prior to the Malang expansion, Uber has been operating in other big cities in Indonesia, which include Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Yogyakarta as well as on Bali. It is reportedly aiming to open a new feature dubbed UberEATS, with the goal of competing with food delivery services owned by other mobile transportation apps, such as Go-Food by GoJek and GrabFood by Grab. (mas/asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, December 21 2016 It is time for the government to act quickly to address the problem looming over century-old life insurer AJB Bumiputera, the fate of which now depends on the Financial Services Authority (OJK). The OJK is supervising the insurer closely over fears that outstanding claims are worth more than its assets. Given Bumiputeras status as one of the countrys oldest insurers with millions of policy holders, the top priority for the government is to make all necessary efforts to rescue it, veteran insurance business player and insurance expert Kornelius Simajuntak told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Available options include injecting capital into the insurer and then changing it into a state-owned enterprise, over which the government could exert control. Later, once Bumiputera is in a healthier state, it can sell the insurer to a third party at a profit, he said in a text message. However, a capital injection would not be necessary if a private investor was willing to acquire the insurer. If a private investor takes time before finally acquiring it, Bumiputeras situation could deteriorate, Kornelius said. The government needs therefore to quickly jump in and take it over so that policy holders feel their policies are safe. Publicly listed investment and textile company Evergreen Invesco has expressed its interest in injecting funds into the insurer. Evergreen, which has a market value of Rp 1.3 trillion (US$96.6 million), plans a rights issue to generate Rp 10 trillion. The OJK has yet to approve the firms plan as it is still waiting for Evergreen to complete required documents and information, including details about a standby buyer, OJK commissioner for capital market supervision Nurhaida said recently. According to one source, business tycoon and media mogul Erick Thohir wants to channel fresh funds into Bumiputera through Evergreen. However, Erick did not respond to the Posts request for confirmation. In recent years, the OJK actually took some measures to prevent Bumiputera from falling into such a critical situation. In September 2013 it instructed the insurer to change its management under OJK supervision after discovering that its risk-based capital stood at between 100 percent and 120 percent, from the minimum requirement of 120 percent. The management was reshuffled again in July 2015 before the OJK took control in October this year. The OJK took over the insurers operations by replacing its board of directors and commissioners with a statutory management comprising seven officials in charge of making strategic decisions for the firm. Kornelius holds the view that the OJKs measures complied with the Insurance Law. However, former Bumiputera independent commissioner Irvan Rahadjo claimed the OJKs installment of the statutory management had no legal grounds and as a mutual insurer, Bumiputeras fate should be decided by its Members Representative Body (BPA). A mutual insurers shares are owned by all of its policy holders. Currently, the Finance Ministry is drafting a regulation related to the Insurance Law, which will also govern mutual insurers. During the legal vacuum, the authority should refer to Bumiputeras articles of association, which stipulate that its dissolution can occur if it is approved by at least 50 percent plus one of members who represent at least two thirds of Bumiputeras total benefit, Irvan wrote in a text message. The OJKs measures are wide open to legal challenges by Bumiputera policy holders who have legal standing according to the articles of association, he added. Refuting this concern, OJK deputy commissioner of non-bank financial industry Dumoly Pardede claimed his offices actions were in time and correct. -------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, December 21 2016 Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi concluded on Tuesday her visit to Bangladesh to seek lasting solutions for the plight of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar, which has long been a source of tension between Naypyidaw and Dhaka. Retno engaged her Bangladeshi counterpart AH Mahmood Ali in bilateral talks, but also raised concerns about the tumult in Myanmars Rakhine state, which has sparked tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee across the borders into Bangladesh. Indonesian-Bangladeshi cooperation goes beyond bilateral interests. It is also an important component in solving the refugee problem in the region, she said in a press statement after the meeting on Tuesday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Thu, December 22, 2016 Turkey's president on Wednesday implicated a US-based Muslim cleric in the killing of Russia's envoy to Turkey, saying the policeman who carried out the attack was a member of his "terror organization." Ambassador Andrei Karlov was killed Monday evening by a gunman in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara. The assassin, Mevlut Mert Altintas of Ankara's riot police squad, was killed in a police operation. "He (Altintas) was a member of the FETO terrorist organization. There is no point in hiding this," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a joint news conference with his visiting Albanian counterpart. "From the places he was raised to his connections that's what they point at." Turkey has accused Fethullah Gulen a former ally who has turned into Erdogan's top foe of trying to destabilize Turkey and says his movement is behind a failed military coup in July aimed at toppling the Turkish leader. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup. His movement also condemned "in the strongest terms" the ambassador's assassination. The government however, has labeled the movement "the FETO terror organization" and has cracked down on Gulen's followers, arresting tens of thousands of people for their alleged link to the coup and purging more than 100,000 suspected supporters from government jobs. Turkey is also pressing the United States to extradite Gulen so he may be prosecuted for the coup attempt and other alleged crimes. Erdogan told reporters that Turkey's intelligence agency was also looking into Altintas' possible foreign connections, saying there were "certain clues" indicating overseas links. He did not elaborate. Turkey has been rife with speculation about Altintas' motive and possible links to Gulen, but Erdogan's statement was the first time a senior official openly blamed the killing on the movement. On Tuesday evening, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry by phone and provided information on the assailant, according to an official in his ministry. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said Cavusoglu also told Kerry that both Turkey and Russia "know" that Gulen's movement was behind the attack. During the phone call, Kerry raised concerns about "some of the rhetoric coming out of Turkey with respect to American involvement or support, tacit or otherwise, for this unspeakable assassination yesterday because of the presence of Mr. Gulen here in the United States," Kerry's spokesman John Kirby said. "It's a ludicrous claim, absolutely false," Kirby said. "We need to let the investigators do their job and we need to let the facts and the evidence take them where it is before we jump to conclusions." Russia flew a team of 18 investigators and foreign ministry officials to Turkey to participate in the investigation. In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman indicated that Russia doesn't believe the 22-year-old gunman acted on his own, but refused to explain the reasons for the suspicion. "We shouldn't rush with any theories before the investigators establish who were behind the assassination of our ambassador," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. Neighbors in Altintas' hometown of Soke in western Turkey near the Aegean coast described a quiet, respectable family who showed no signs of radicalization. "To me, he appeared to be a well-meaning, calm fellow. That's how I saw him. His mother and father are good people," said neighbor Zeki Inan, 74. "We were shocked when we heard that this boy did this. We could not believe it." Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency raised the number of people detained in connection to the attack to 11, including Altintas' parents, sister, three other relatives and his roommate. The agency said investigators, among other things, were trying to determine whether anyone from the Russian Embassy may have provided the gunman with information about Karlov as well as the gunman's links to possible Gulenists within Turkey's police force. Citing the Ankara prosecutor's office, Anadolu said the gunman, who had three spare cartridges on him as well as more than 20 bullets in his pocket, ignored calls for him to surrender after he had shot the ambassador, and opened fire on police, taking shelter behind a wall. It said special forces police who stormed the art gallery shot Altintas in the feet, legs and knees but that he continued to fire on police from the ground, shouting that he "would not be captured alive." The report said investigators believe the security forces killed Altintas, fearing he may have had a bomb on him. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, speaking to Turkish state television TRT, also said the gunman is not believed to have acted alone. "This is not an ordinary attack that was conducted by a lone man," Kurtulmus said. "There are some people who directed (him) behind the scenes, who led him into carry out such a plan, who wanted to obtain political gains." "Those who are behind this pawn wanted to disrupt ...Turkish-Russian relations in an irreparable way. But they won't succeed," he said. ___ Mehmet Guzel in Soke, Turkey, Elena Becatoros in Ankara, Bradley Klapper in Washington and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report. (**) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Edith M.Lederer (Associated Press) United Nations Thu, December 22, 2016 The UN Security Council approved the delivery of humanitarian aid across borders and conflict lines in Syria for another year Wednesday in a resolution aimed at reaching thousands in need in rebel-held areas without government approval. The resolution, adopted unanimously, expresses grave distress at "the continued deterioration of the devastating humanitarian situation in Syria" where more than 13.5 million people require urgent assistance. It cited the alarming situation in besieged areas where hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped. "The significance, if implemented, will be that people who are in areas that are not held by the regime would be able to have access to much needed food, medicine, blankets, shelter provided by the UN and humanitarian agencies over the course of the next year," Britain's UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said. "But as always it all depends on actions not words." The Security Council accused the Syrian government of increasing "impediments" to aid deliveries across conflict lines, and the Islamic State extremist group and al-Qaida-linked groups of hindering and preventing aid deliveries "through deliberate interference and obstruction." The resolution, sponsored by Egypt, New Zealand and Spain, emphasizes that Syria's humanitarian situation continues to threaten peace and security in the region and will deteriorate further without a political settlement. It expresses "outrage" that the more than five-year Syrian conflict has led to escalating violence and the killing of well over 250,000 people. The Security Council expressed grave concern at "the lack of effective implementation" of its previous resolutions on cross-border and cross-line aid deliveries which called for a halt to all attacks on civilians, schools, medical facilities and water supplies. They also demanded an end to the indiscriminate use of weapons, including air strikes and barrel bombs, as well as suicide attack, torture and executions, and "the use of starvation of civilians as a method of combat" including by besieging populated areas. The resolution, which extends the mandate for aid deliveries until Jan. 10, 2018, demands "the full and immediate implementation" of all previous council demands. It asks Syrian authorities to positively and expeditiously respond to all requests for aid deliveries across conflict lines. The resolution also reaffirms that the council will take further unspecified measures "in the event of non-compliance with this resolution" or previous ones. (**) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono says he will become a field guerrilla in the capital directly communicating with residents to ensure recent polls results that name him the election frontrunner become a reality in February. "We are concentrating on directly meeting with residents and convincing them to vote us. We plan to make the survey results a reality," Agus said during a campaign visit in Tebet, South Jakarta, on Thursday. On Wednesday, Kompas Research and Development Department (Litbang) released its survey on who the public preferred in the election, which placed Agus first, followed by incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and Anies Baswedan. Previously, recent surveys conducted by Charta Politika, Lingkar Survei Indonesia, Poltracking and Indikator Politik Indonesia also had Agus as the frontrunner in the election. Agus said he deemed the survey results as a compass to navigate his campaign team. However, he said despite the survey results he was not yet satisfied. "Im still not yet satisfied. I want to be the people's governor, not a 'survey governor'," he said. Agus electability in several polls significantly increased after Ahok was named a suspect in a blasphemy case on Nov. 16. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama and his running mate, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, gathered their volunteers on Wednesday to talk about strategies to win the 2017 election, including how to increase their electability. Our electability depends on them [the volunteers] because they are the ones who will meet voters in the field, Ahok said prior to the meeting held at Balai Kartini, South Jakarta. In its survey on public preference of the Jakarta election released on Wednesday, Kompas daily newspapers research and development department placed gubernatorial candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and his partner, Sylviana Murni, as the front-runners, followed by Ahok and Djarot. Recent surveys conducted by four pollsters, namely Charta Politika, Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI), Poltracking and Indikator Politik Indonesia also named Agus as the frontrunner in the election. Ahok stressed the crucial role of volunteers in helping him to get re-elected, saying they would be his representatives in the field. Therefore, he further said, all volunteers needed to understand his programs. We want all volunteers to understand our visions, missions, programs, strategies and policies as well as our goals for the next five years. We want them to be good agents, he said. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Philip Isa and Karin Laub (Associated Press) Beirut Thu, December 22, 2016 Hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians, including small children swaddled in thick blankets, were bused out of war-ravaged Aleppo in heavy snow on Wednesday as the evacuation of former rebel strongholds entered its final phase. Scenes of buses slowly driving out of Aleppo in a shroud of white offered an evocative finale to what has been one of the most brutal chapters in Syria's civil war. The departures from Aleppo pave the way for President Bashar Assad to assume full control there, after more than four years of fighting over Syria's largest city. It marks the most significant victory for Assad since an uprising against his family's four-decade rule swept the country in 2011. The evacuations were set in motion last week after Syria's opposition agreed to surrender its last footholds in eastern Aleppo. Since then, about 25,000 fighters and civilians have been bused out, according to the United Nations. On Wednesday, buses began evacuating the last rebels and civilians, an estimated 3,000 people. By nightfall, 25 buses carrying hundreds of people had driven in a rare snow storm from eastern Aleppo to opposition-held areas in the countryside near the city, said opposition activist Ahmad Primo, who was monitoring arrivals at the main drop-off point in the Rashideen district. The evacuees got off the buses wearing thick jackets and carrying sacks with belongings. One woman dressed in a black robe and face veil carried a small child swaddled in a heavy yellow blanket. A man held a toddler whose face was peeking out from under a blanket shielding him from falling snow. The opposition's Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday evening that with the evacuation of the last group of rebels from eastern Aleppo, Assad was in full control, save for a few positions on the western outskirts of the city that were still in rebel hands. Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said patients and all those requiring medical care had been evacuated from the last hospital in the city's east. Pro-government forces repeatedly struck medical facilities in rebel-held neighborhoods in their push to expel the opposition from Aleppo this year. In November, the UN said it believed there were no more functioning medical facilities in the eastern part of the city. Wednesday's bus movements came after evacuations had been suspended for 24 hours, one of several snags and delays since the first bus convoys left the city last week. Frequent disagreements have erupted between the rebels and the government, as well as among rebel groups, over compliance with a wider deal that also includes evacuations from two rebel-besieged villages, Foua and Kfarya. The ICRC said about 750 people have been bused out of the villages, leaving hundreds more to be evacuated. Meanwhile, it was unclear if any UN observers were on the ground in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday two days after a UN Security Council resolution approved their urgent deployment. Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said some UN staff were present at a Syrian government checkpoint outside Aleppo's eastern sector, but he couldn't say for sure if any observers had been let into the onetime rebel-held area. Elsewhere in northern Syria, fighting intensified in the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab, where Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters have been trying to drive the extremists out. Turkey's state television said 10 Turkish soldiers were killed Wednesday in three separate suicide attacks in al-Bab. The report by TRT television came hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said IS was fighting "for dear life" in al-Bab, carrying out suicide bombings and attacks with improvised explosive devices. A total of 35 Turkish soldiers have died in northern Syria since August, when Turkey sent ground troops to support the Syrian opposition forces in clearing a border area of IS militants and to curb Syrian Kurdish territorial expansion. Meanwhile, a 7-year-old Syrian girl who was evacuated on Monday from eastern Aleppo and whose mother ran a Twitter account in her name met with Erdogan in the Turkish capital, Ankara. Bana Alabed's mother, Fatemah, began operating the account in September, tweeting on her daughter's behalf. The account has garnered some 354,000 followers, and has included tweets to Michelle Obama and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, asking for help. At the United Nations, the Security Council approved the delivery of humanitarian aid across borders and conflict lines in Syria for another year, in a resolution aimed at reaching thousands in need in rebel-held areas. The resolution, adopted unanimously, noted the "the continued deterioration of the devastating humanitarian situation in Syria," where more than 13.5 million people require urgent assistance. It cited the alarming situation in besieged areas where hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped. ___ Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report. (**) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yeo Jun-suk (The Korea Herald/ANN) Seoul Thu, December 22, 2016 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday pledged to devote his life to the advancement of South Korea, sending the strongest signal yet that he might run in next years presidential election. If what I have learned, seen and felt during my 10-year service as UN secretary-general could help advance Korea, I am more than willing to sacrifice myself for this cause, said Ban during a farewell press meeting with Korean reporters. His term ends on December 31. Though Ban has not clarified his bid for the 2017 presidential race -- only saying that he has been giving much thought to the plan -- the career diplomats remarks were widely viewed as his strongest declaration for a presidential bid since he first hinted about the plan in May this year. When asked about which political parties he would represent, Ban highlighted that he would not be bound by establishment political groups, saying that political parties are not important and that political leaders must think beyond themselves. Such remarks added speculation that Ban once considered to be a favourite for President Park Geun-hye and her loyalists from the governing Saenuri Party would distance himself from the pro-Park faction whose approval ratings have plunged to a record-low amid the corruption and nepotism scandal tied to the president. Some centrist political groups, meanwhile, have been urging Ban to join them in the hopes that Ban would expand their pool of supporters and energise moderate voters. Among them are Saenuri bigwigs critical of Park and leaders from the centrist Peoples Party. I think Ban could work with us, said Rep. Kim Dong-chul, a leader of the Peoples Party on Wednesday. Ban has a sufficient amount of experience for dealing with state affairs. We agree with his commitment to using such experience for the nation. Since the Choi Soon-sil scandal first made headlines in October, Ban has stepped up criticism against the president for creating what he views as the worst political turmoil and for showing complete lack of governance during the crisis. During Tuesdays remarks, Ban said that while his criticism did not target specific political groups such as President Park and her loyalists the current political turmoil should be blamed for the current lack of leadership and governing system. Ban also defended himself against accusations by the main opposition Democratic Party that he had betrayed late President Roh Moo-hyun, who had elected him as head of the Foreign Ministry and campaigned for his bid to become UN chief in 2006. I have always thanked President Roh for tapping me as a presidential aide, minister of foreign affairs and UN secretary general. Every New Years Day, I have called Rohs spouse and paid a tribute to him, said Ban. Democratic Party, however, showed Wednesday their disapproval of Bans potential bid at the 2017 election, urging the UN chief to stay away from Korean politics and focus on finishing his term. I dont think it is desirable for Ban to think about entering politics, said Rep. Choo Mi-ae, leader of the Democratic Party. Since South Koreas global reputation has taken a hit due to the Choi Soon-sil scandal, I hope Ban will just wrap up and finish his job on a sound note. This article appeared on The Korea Herald newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Thursday, December 22, 2016 File: The Burundi Head of State, Pierre Nkurunziza. For several months the EU and Burundian government have been at loggerheads over the payment terms of the troops deployed in Somalia. Photo: Flickr BUJUMBURA\ The Burundi head of state, Pierre Nkurunziza, has announced that his government is to open judicial proceedings on the issue of unpaid wages of more than five thousand Burundi military personnel who are in the African Union Peace keeping Mission in Somalia, AMISOM. The Burundian troops have not been paid their allowances for eleven months, from funding which is totally assured by the European Union. advertisements Nkurunziza said his government was not going to sit with crossed arms. Burundian interests cannot be hijacked. We will claim our rightful due, including compensation, he said on Tuesday. For several months the EU and Burundian government have been at loggerheads over the payment terms of the troops deployed in Somalia. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Police have revealed that a woman named Dian Yulia Novi, an alleged suicide bomber who was arrested in Bekasi, West Java, last week, is a close friend of Adam Noor Syam, an alleged terrorist nabbed in South Tangerang on Wednesday. Dian in Bekasi is a close friend to A [Adam], who was arrested in Serpong [South Tangerang], National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said on Thursday as reported by tribunnews.com. Martinus claimed the terrorist network in Bekasi was related to the network in South Tangerang since they were both reportedly led by Bahrun Naim, an alleged terrorist from Surakarta, Central Java, who is now believed residing in Syria. The Serpong network is part of the Bekasi network. The Serpong network is relatively small, he added. After arresting Adam, the National Police's counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, raided a rented house in Puri Serpong and shot dead three men who reportedly resisted arrest on Wednesday night. The police also found several homemade bombs in the house. The suspects reportedly planned to attack a police post in the Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex in South Tangerang. (Read also: High explosive bomb prepared to attack State Palace: Police) Meanwhile, Dian was arrested in a rented house in Bekasi along with her husband Nur Solihin, who was believed to be the network leader. Dian was reportedly prepared to become a suicide bomber who would blow herself up at the State Palace.(jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22 2016 A change of leadership in the Hanura Party, a small but influential party at the House of Representatives, has taken place without much commotion, six months after then-party chief Wiranto was appointed as a senior minister in the Cabinet of President Joko Jokowi Widodo. Oesman Sapta Odang, the Peoples Consultative Council (MPR) deputy speaker representing the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), has been tapped as Wirantos successor. On Wednesday night, the business tycoon from West Kalimantan, who has only been a party member for a month, was elected as the new chairman at the partys national congress. Wiranto, who had recommended Oesman as the sole candidate for the partys top job, said he was sure about his choice. I think we dont need to [review] anything. You can all see [Oesmans stature]. Ive known him for a long time, since I was still a military general, he said. Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of the partys advisory board, Djafar Badjeber, said Oesman had not been the only hopeful. Some other figures former industry minister Saleh Husin, former administrative and bureaucratic reform minister Yuddy Chrisnandi and lawmaker Dossy Iskandar Prasetyo had reportedly aspired the post. Some names from within the party had emerged, but they did not declare themselves during the partys internal leadership meeting [last week]. Maybe they were reluctant, because the party chairman had already made a decision, Djafar said. However, he admitted that the party so far did not have any figure to match Wiranto. There is no figure who is as powerful as Wiranto in the party so far, he said. Wiranto, who has established the party and led it since 2006, will likely remain the most powerful person in Hanura. The former general, now coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, will be the partys chief patron. Oesman is expected to bring fresh funds to the party. His businesses, all under the OSO Group, operate in various sectors, including mining, property, fishery, plantation and hospitality. The party, like I guess all political parties, needs a lot of funds. All parties need networks and notable figures, Djafar said. Oesman is known to have close ties with President Jokowi, who attended his inauguration on Wednesday. In speeches, he hardly ever fails to ask, how can I not love Jokowi as our President? Jokowi attended almost every event held by Oesman. During the last fasting month, Jokowi first went to Oesmans house for a breaking-the-fast gathering, before attending one held by Vice President Jusuf Kalla. The two are very close. Its not impossible that they have a political chemistry. Good relations between a partys top official and the government are a must, Djafar added. During the MPR plenary session to elect a speaker in 2014, Oesman was backed by Jokowis coalition and got the second-most votes, being just narrowly defeated by Zulkifli Hasan of the National Mandate Party (PAN), who was backed by the opposition coalition. The closed-door process of decision-making in the party has raised questions. Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political expert Siti Zuhro said Hanura should have come up with alternative candidates. There are many competitive figures in the party. At least the party should have opened up a competition, Siti said. She added that an open chairmanship contest with more than one candidate would have demonstrated that the partys regeneration was working well. ------------------ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 The Press Council said Wednesday that it had given a green light for comedian-turned-lawmaker Eko Hendro Purnomo, widely known as Eko Patrio, to file a lawsuit against seven websites that had allegedly spread a hoax about him. The council said the implicated websites did not qualify to be considered mass media and Eko should therefore settle the case in court. Press council chairman Yosep Adi Prasetyo said the seven websites Eko had complained about had not been registered with the Press Council as regulated in the 1999 Press Law. They do not have coordinators and their addresses are not clear. These [the websites articles] are not journalistic products, Yosep said on Wednesday, as quoted by Wartakotalive.com. (Read also: Tito slams accusations of diversion) Previously, the National Mandate Party lawmaker was quoted by some websites as saying that the recent arrest of terrorists in Bekasi, West Java, was an effort to divert the publics attention away from the trial of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama on blasphemy charges. The claim irked the National Police, which quickly summoned Eko for clarification. Eko had denied making such a statement, saying that none of the websites had ever interviewed him about it. The seven websites are Satelitnews.com, Ambiguistik.blogspot.com, bk75.blogspot.com, lemahireng.info, vionnalie1.blogspot.co.id, healmagz.com and selatpanjangpos.com. (saf/hwa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Thu, December 22 2016 Decorating the Christmas tree is one family tradition the children in my family always eagerly await. Come mid-December, siblings and cousins will go on a shopping mall trip together, choosing different faux pine cones, glass balls, candy canes, ornaments, garlands, ribbons and lights. We only recently realized that the tradition started a long, long time ago. The tradition started in 16th century Germany, when Christians brought home decorated trees. Christmas trees today come in different shapes and sizes. Big, small, white, green, thick or thin. Some families have more than one Christmas tree in their house. One is the large masterpiece for display, complete with presents under the tree, another is for younger childrens creativity. Sometimes there is one by the front door too. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin I Wayan Juniarta (The Jakarta Post) Ubud Thu, December 22 2016 A foreign-born artist paints his enduring love story with the rustic temples, tropical beaches, majestic mountains and people of Bali. An ongoing solo exhibition featuring 63 paintings of Swiss-born artist Paul Husner at the Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA) in Ubud is an undisputable testament to the painters 30-year love affair with Bali, and its lush landscapes and charming residents. Color, Culture & Spirit, which runs until Jan. 18, is a visual journey in vivid colors and bold lines across the islands coastal villages, including the touristic Sanur and the less-known Kusamba and Pasut, and to its scenic heartland, such as Sidemen, Jatiluwih and Ubud, as well as to its colorful offerings and regal rituals. There is no doubt that Husner is a master of colors. He could capture the ambiance of a place simply by using one color. Earth tone colors for the relaxed atmosphere of Sanur beach and its corn on the cob sellers and different hues of red to convey the scorching heat of Kusamba beach and its stoic boat builders are examples of his mastery. Mount Agung, the islands tallest peak and the Balinese Hindus axis mundi, appears in a large number of works, establishing a sort of visual bridge that connects the displayed paintings. It also, to a large extent, displays Husners experimentation with colors and shapes as the peak is painted in different ways in the paintings. All his work was created between 2001 and 2014 and a few paintings capture Husners trips to Java. The exhibit officially opened Sunday evening by noted art critic Jean Couteau and ARMAs founder Agung Rai. Husner is an interesting artist as he is one of the last remaining painters who stills portrays Bali in a traditional light, Couteau pointed out. Nowadays, artists who come to Indonesia or Bali usually deal with conceptual art that narrates contemporary issues, such as gender and politics. They do not open their eyes to the world around them, Couteau says. Husner did open his eyes to the fast changing island. Interestingly, Husner managed to do that, Couteau observes, without degrading Bali and his work into an exotic cliche. He is a very important artist, whose colors and lines follow the Swiss and German traditions of expressionism. Born in 1942 in Basel, Switzerland, Husner is an award-winning painter who pursued his passion for the visual arts by taking art courses in his early 20s before enrolling in Amsterdams Gerrit Rietveld Academie and later on attending the prestigious Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten. Upon graduation, he worked as a professional artist as well as a lecturer at his alma mater. He has received several art awards, including the Urio Prijs in 1969, the Willink van Collenprijs in 1971, the Jeanne Bieruma Oosting Prize in 1974 and the Arti Medaille in 1987. His work can be found in collections at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Amsterdam City Council, Widayat Museum in Magelang, Neka Art Museum and the Rudana Museum on Bali, as well as in private collections in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States. Throughout his career, Husner has displayed his work in over 30 solo exhibitions in various cities in Indonesia and the Netherlands and participated in art fairs in Amsterdam, Jakarta, Singapore and Toronto. Husner and his late wife, anthropologist Tine G. Ruiter, first arrived in the archipelago in 1983. When they arrived on Bali, it was love at first sight. They settled in Ubud, the islands cultural center and a popular muse, following many western artists who had come before Husner. Since 1997, Husner has been dividing his time between Amsterdam and Ubud. His 2015s interview with Time Out Singapore perfectly captures Husners enduring love story with the Island of the Gods. The light in Bali has a remarkable quality that captivates me. Its unlike light you can find anywhere else in the world [] I do not view [Bali] as merely an exotic locale; it is a magnificent conduit whose light allows me to give form to colors and composition to form. Photos by JP/I Wayan Juniarta to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Bakrie Group's oil and gas subsidiary Energi Mega Persada said that it was in the negotiation process with potential buyers to take over a portion of its ownership in Mozambiques Buzi EPCC oil and gas block. President director Imam Pria Agustino said the company would reduce the size of its participating interest ownership in the block from the current 75 percent to between 30 and 50 percent. The remaining 25 percent stake is currently held by local partner Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH). "We are still negotiating with [potential] buyers," Imam said on Wednesday at the firm's public expose in Jakarta. (Read also: Bakrie oil arm acquires field in Mozambique) Earlier this year, Imam said there were three investment proposals submitted to the firm in response to its plan to sell some ownership parts in the block. The company is eyeing US$96.25 million from the sale. Energy Mega acquired the block in October 2013 for $175 million. The block consisted of two fields that reportedly have 283 billion cubic feet of proven and probable gas reserves. Moreover, the block also has 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas prospective resources. The oil and gas company is facing a declining production and struggling to restructure its debt. As of September, it booked a net loss of $67.37 million, slightly lower than the $69.14 million net loss made during the same period last year. (hwa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Erika Kinetz (Associated Press) Washington Thu, December 22, 2016 Emily Dye walked down the echoing white hallway and into a dim room known as "the vault." The evidence was wrapped in plastic. She checked it out and placed it into a steel lockbox. New drugs were appearing every other week in the Drug Enforcement Administration's Special Testing and Research Laboratory, an unmarked gray building in northern Virginia. Dye, a 27-year-old DEA chemist, knew her sample could be one of them. "Man," she said. "I've got to figure out what this is." The proliferation of rapidly evolving synthetic opioids has become so fierce that the DEA says they now constitute an entire new class of drugs, which are fueling the deadliest addiction crisis the United States has ever seen. The fentanyl-like drugs are pouring in primarily from China, US officials say an assertion Beijing maintains has not been substantiated. Laws cannot keep pace with the speed of scientific innovation. As soon as one substance is banned, chemists synthesize slightly different, and technically legal, molecules and sell that substance online, delivery to US doorstops guaranteed. Today, it is almost as easy to order an ever-shifting array of synthetic opioids online from China as it is to buy a pair of shoes. "Right now we're seeing the emergence of a new class, that's fentanyl-type opioids," Dye's boss, Jill Head, said. "Based on the structure, there can be many, many more substitutions on that molecule that we have not yet seen." Entrepreneurial chemists have been creating designer alternatives to cannabis, amphetamine, cocaine and Ecstasy for years. But the new synthetics are far more lethal; in some cases, an amount smaller than a poppy seed can kill. Dye has recommitted to every safety protocol she was ever taught. One, safety glasses. Two, lab coat, buttoned. Three, powder-free disposable nitrile gloves. Four, face mask. She placed an emergency naloxone injection kit an antidote for opioid overdose on her lab bench. Just in case. Then she unwrapped the evidence and pulled out a palm-sized baggie. She scooped up a dot of powder and gingerly placed it in a small vial. As she worked, she treated the material as if it were radioactive. After transferring a few drops of methanol into the vial, she clamped it shut and dropped it into a mass spectrometer. The machine sucked the evidence through a copper-colored wire and bombarded it with electrons to break it into small pieces. "Kind of like when you drop a puzzle," Dye said. The resulting pattern of peaks is akin to a chemical fingerprint. Dye compared the result with the lab's library of approximately 1,500 known drugs. None matched. This was something new. She and her colleagues ran the evidence through a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer to map the position of different atoms. Then they guessed. They bought a sample of the compound they thought they had from a legitimate research chemical company. On July 26, Dye ran that reference standard through the mass spectrometer. The result matched the evidence exactly. "It's 4-fluoroisobutyrylfentanyl," Dye said. Long before Dye made her discovery, Chinese vendors were offering 4-fluoroisobutyrylfentanyl 4-FIBF for short for sale. Shanghai Xianchong Chemical Co., a trading company with a spare office in central Shanghai, was one of them. Shanghai Xianchong started fielding requests for 4-FIBF around April, said manager Jammi Gao, a clean-cut man in a white polo shirt. Gao said in an email he could sell 4-FIBF for $6,000 a kilogram, though later he denied ever brokering a deal. He refused to ship illegal drugs, but 4-FIBF is so new to the street it is not a controlled substance in either the US or China. Back in the lab, Dye peeled off her gloves. She didn't know users were warning each other not to overdose chasing a heroin high that never kicked in with 4-FIBF. She didn't know about the dosing schedules addicts had already worked out. And she didn't know that 4-FIBF gave some people satisfying, sleep-through-the-night results when inserted up their rectum. Dye would go home, safe, to her dog. Maybe tomorrow she would find the next new thing in an evidence bag on her bench. But elsewhere, all across America, people would not make it through the night. By the time Dye finished work the next day, another 90 Americans would be dead of opioid overdoses. ___ Associated Press writer Youkyung Lee in Seoul, South Korea, and video journalist Aritz Parra and news researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this report. ___ Follow Kinetz on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ekinetz (**) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22 2016 Despite lauding the financial authoritys effort to regulate the rapidly developing financial technology (fintech), fintech players see the regulations draft as inflexible in regards to accommodating the dynamic business. Their concerns revolve around the capital requirement, financial reporting obligation and several other prohibitions. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi concluded her trip to Dhaka on Tuesday with a meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss the Rohingya issue in Myanmars troubled Rakhine state on the sidelines of their talks on bilateral affairs between the two countries. Retno highlighted the role Bangladesh could play in solving the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine, especially the issue of refugees who have moved to Myanmar and Bangladesh border areas. The foreign minister emphasized the importance of maintaining good relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar, the Foreign Ministry office said in a statement on Wednesday. The humanitarian crisis in Rakhine has drawn international ire due to a large-scale military operation launched against Rohingya Muslim minority group in the area following deadly attacks on border police in October. The military operation, which Amnesty International has condemned as a callous and systematic campaign of violence, has ended with the lost of many lives, including women and children. More than 27,000 people have reportedly fled the area for Bangladesh since November to escape the military campaign. During her meeting with Hasina, Retno also informed her about the result of the two-day ASEAN foreign ministers meeting that ended on Monday, which discussed available solutions to stabilize the troubled region. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 The government has set a higher target for tourist arrivals from China next year, despite political and immigration issues that might hinder the plans. The Tourism Ministry says it hopes to attract 2.4 million Chinese tourists from Greater China, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, in 2017, higher than the 2.1 million tourists this year. The effort has been undertaken following the positive trend of visits this year, in which China sits as the top contributor of foreign tourist arrivals this year. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya shrugged off political concerns, which include mass protests, many of which have had an element of anti-Chinese sentiment, as well as the visa-free policy for Chinese tourists that has reportedly been misused by Chinese workers. There is always a risk in any kind of task [...] please be outward looking, if we rescind it [the visa-free policy], our work will go to waste, he said on Wednesday. Public concerns have mounted recently about the visa-free policy, particularly for Chinese tourists, as data from the Directorate General of Immigration revealed that most tourists found to have violated the policy are of Chinese nationality. However, the ministry reiterated that it would go ahead with its plan to attract more Chinese tourists, particularly by opening more flights to secondary cities in China as well as through digital promotion. With regard to air links, the ministry has pledged to set aside at least 20 percent of its US$15 million incentive for airlines to open routes connecting Indonesian and Chinese cities. The incentive is intended to cushion losses suffered by airlines in the initial operation of the new routes. Meanwhile, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and the countrys largest low-cost carrier Lion Air have also opened direct flights from Chinese cities to Indonesian cities such as Jakarta and even Manado, North Sulawesi. The ministry estimates that 80 percent of tourists arrive in the country by air. The effort to attract Chinese tourists is part of the governments overall program to attract 15 million tourists next year, a 25 percent increase from the 12 million tourists this year. It expects to see a gradual increase to 20 million tourists by 2019. As of October, 9.4 million foreign tourists had arrived, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). The governments effort to lure Chinese tourists appears to have a valid basis, as China has been the worlds leader in international tourism and outbound tourism since 2012, with more than 100 million outbound tourists each year. However, Indonesia has not fully seized the opportunity, as the Thailand tourism council expects 8.9 million Chinese tourists to visit this year, a figure which is projected to increase to 9.8 million arrivals next year. The Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) is also upbeat about the prospect of Chinese tourist arrivals next year, as it had not found any visa misuse among Chinese tourists joining its tour packages. [Perceived anti-Chinese] sentiment has also not hurt business so far, no one has canceled group bookings, ASITA chairman Asnawi Bahar said. The association aims to welcome 5,000 Chinese tourists in the country during the Chinese New Year celebrations in January next year, as well as having eight road-shows in Chinese cities like Guangzhou next year. The road-shows will be business-to-business meetings between Indonesian and Chinese tour agents. A similar sentiment was also voiced by Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani, stating that so far the hotel business had not suffered any problems. We ask for the government and the immigration office to handle the Chinese cases proportionally because they could be politicized. The arrivals will keep on increasing next year as long as there are no political difficulties, he said. State airport firm Angkasa Pura II even stated that it had established a special business project unit to boost Chinese tourist visits this year for three of its airports including Kualanamu International Airport and Silangit Airport in North Sumatra, as well as Supadio Airport in West Kalimantan. Tourism observer from the University of Indonesia, Jajang Gunawijaya, said the government move to focus on Chinese tourists was reasonable with ample outbound tourists. The [immigration and sentiment] issues will not affect tourism as long as we keep doing the promotion, he said. There is always a risk in any kind of task [...] please be outward looking, if we rescind it [the visa-free policy], our work will go to waste. TheJakartaPost Please Update your browser Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below. Just click on the icons to get to the download page. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 The management of the Jakarta Cathedral is gearing up to arrange security measures for the safety of the upcoming Christmas celebration on Sunday. Jakarta Cathedral parish priest Stefanus Bratakartana SJ, affectionately known as Romo Broto, said that he trusted the police to carry out their duties to safeguard the celebration. However, the cathedral would also deploy its own internal security force to secure the event. We are preparing our internal security forces to operate inside the area of the church. Outside of the churchs fence, the security duties belong to the police and we believe in them, he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Last month, the Samarinda Police in East Kalimantan arrested a man who threw Molotov cocktails at the Oikumene Christian Church in Sengkotek subdistrict after Sunday mass, killing a toddler and injuring several others. (Read also: Injured toddler dies following Samarinda church attack) The National Police previously stated that they will heighten security measures at churches throughout the country in the approach to Christmas in order to prevent any attacks aimed at Christian communities. Basically, people who are practicing religions do not need to be protected, but apparently it [the protection] seems necessary now, Romo Broto added. National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rikwanto previously said that the police would deploy officers to every church in order to guard against any terrorist attacks. Our officers will directly coordinate with church organizers to discuss security details needed, he said on Tuesday. (fac) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) needs more power in order to effectively carry out the job to become front-line protectors of human rights in the country, says prominent legal expert Jimly Asshidiqie. Human rights is the core content of the 1945 Constitution. Thus, the institution that is tasked to promote and protect human rights is really important and strategic. But the existing regulation on Komnas HAM has yet to reflect it, Jimly told The Jakarta Post. The head of a government-sanctioned selection team tasked to recruit new Komnas HAM commissioners thus called for more power given to Komnas HAM in order to realize the constitutional support for human rights in the country, emphasizing the role of all commissioners to secure support needed to improve the institutions performance and image. Therefore, I call on anyone who believes in the just and civilized values of Pancasila to join Komnas HAM. Idealists are strongly encouraged to join Komnas HAM in order to improve its performance because Komnas HAM is a really important institution, Jimly said. (Read also: Komnas HAM bears responsibility in alleged budget misuse: Lawmaker) The selection team will welcome potential candidates until February next year. Selected individuals will later undergo a fit-and-proper test with members of the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing law and human rights. The fit-and-proper test will take place later in 2017 before the end of terms of the current 13 commissioners in October. Jimly said that newly recruited commissioners would play a pivotal role in determining the fate of Komnas HAM as they would prepare for a major amendment of the existing law on Komnas HAM, which is considered weak, in order to include more stipulations endorsing greater power of the human rights body. (dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22 2016 The logistics industry has been given a boost in growth since e-commerce has boomed in the Indonesian market, with many firms either partnering with e-commerce platforms or launching their own digital services, one being ESL Express. ESL Express a unit of the publicly listed transportation company Eka Sari Lorena Transport (LRNA) announced on Wednesday what it said is a game-changing feature: an Android app that brings logistics services into the palm of ones hand. Taking cues from other local logistics companies like JNE and Tiki, the new app boasts the ability of ESL Express users to make orders and track them on a more personal level. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 President Joko Jokowi Widodo acknowledged that it is not easy to make the price of fuel in Papua equal to prices in other areas of the country because of different demands. The governments plan to reduce fuel prices in Papua for the last year-and-a-half only began in October. With the new one-price fuel policy, premium is now priced at Rp 6,450 (49 US cents) per liter, down from Rp 100,000 to Rp 60,000 in regencies in Papua. Many people dont like cheap fuel prices [in Papua] because they have enjoyed [the benefits of] selling fuel for many years, he said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com. (Read also: Jokowi launches new fuel pricing policy for Papua, West Papua) One of the governments strategies to reduce fuel prices in Papua was through buying aircraft to carry fuel so it can be transported by air instead of by land. Despite the fact that state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina had to spend Rp 800 billion to buy fuel-transport aircraft, Jokowi said the firm would not suffer losses. This year I actually expect profits to increase, more than Rp 40 trillion, he said. The government has implemented a one-price fuel policy in Papua and West Papua, aimed at bringing social justice to all Indonesians. Premium is now priced at Rp 6,450 per liter while diesel and kerosene are sold at Rp 5,150 and Rp 2,500 per liter, respectively. (win/dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Winny Tang Thu, December 22, 2016 PT Modern Internasional, the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the country, has reported a shrinking sales figure in the first nine months of this year, mainly due to increasing operating expenses and the continued effects of the implementation of the alcohol ban regulation in minimarkets. The company on Thursday reported that its net sales stood at Rp 660.7 billion (US$49.1 million) in the January-September period, down by 31.4 percent from Rp 962.8 billion collected in the same period last year. Modern Internasional finance director Chandra Wijaya said the companys operating expenses had jumped by 17.3 percent year-on-year to Rp 397.3 billion in the third quarter. The increase in operating expenses was caused by the companys consolidation and restructuring strategy, including from the closing down of some underperforming 7-Eleven stores, he said during the companys public expose in Jakarta. Convenience stores were previously prohibited from selling any kind of alcohol, including beer, as former trade minister Rachmat Gobel issued a regulation on the control of alcohol in April last year in a bid to protect young generations from the dangers of alcohol. (Read also: Consumers, vendors applaud relaxing of alcohol rules) However, five months after that the ministry, under minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong, relaxed the policy and handed the rights to control alcohol production, distribution and sales to regional administrations, including the Jakarta administration. Modern Internasional, however, sees such a regulation as hurting businesses, as it had to close down 25 underperforming 7-Eleven stores this year alone. The sales of alcohol contributes roughly 10 percent of the total sales of 7-Eleven stores, Modern Internasional director Henri Honoris said. Next year, we will continue to evaluate and take necessary actions to improve our financial performance, which includes the possibility of closing down more underperforming stores, Henri said. (win/hwa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Since he was still in primary school, 32-year old Ivan Sinaga has always wished his mother Happy Mothers Day on Dec. 22. That date is special for Ivan, as it is also his mothers birthday. I often bought her gifts and took her out for dinner to celebrate both her birthday and Mothers Day, said Ivan, whose job as an aid worker requires him to travel overseas a lot. Ivan, who is now posted in South Sudan, admitted that he did not know why Dec. 22 is known as Mothers Day, neither was he aware of the fact that some people, including feminists, argued the day should be called Womens Day instead. Dec. 22 is an important date for Indonesian womens activists. It marked the beginning of their political and cultural struggle to achieve equality when a group of pioneering women gathered together in 1928 to hold the first congress of Indonesian women in Yogyakarta. The congress had two goals: to improve womens role in society and support the independence movement. In 1938, when Indonesian women held their third congress in Bandung, Dec. 22 was formally recognized as a milestone in the countrys womens movement. It was also for the first time called Hari Ibu, or Mothers Day, even though it commemorated Indonesias womens movement and was not limited to motherhood. In 1959, then-president Sukarno declared Dec. 22 a national day to honor Indonesian women, but things changed when former president Soeharto took power in 1966. Under the New Order regime, the meaning of Hari Ibu gradually changed into Mothers Day, as the day to honor motherhood. People have grown accustomed to calling Dec. 22 Mothers Day and have forgotten the history behind it. This year, with the support of @buibuksocmed, an account established to support mothers and share parenting ideas by a number of young mothers and social media activists, Twitter Indonesia launched a special emoticon to commemorate Mothers Day. The heart-shaped emoticon will be generated if someone keys in #HariIbu, #KisahIbu or #RangkulIbu when posting a comment on Twitter. The hashtags can also be used for sharing ideas on parenting or sweet memories with mothers. Milly Shafiq, one of the mothers who initiated @buibuksocmed, said not only mothers, but women in general were welcome to participate and celebrate Mothers Day. Although not everyone knows the history behind the day and whether or not the meaning has slightly shifted, Milly said what is important is that the spirit is still the same, that [as a mother or a woman] we are also human beings trying to contribute to society. Milly admitted that she once knew the history behind the day but had since forgotten it. Present-day Hari Ibu celebrations often involve vendors, like restaurants offering discounts for mothers. App-based transportation company Uber will give away special gifts for mothers for free, like flowers and cosmetics, and even hotel vouchers on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., just like last year. Google Indonesia recognized Mothers Day by displaying a theme-specific doodle of Mothers Day on its website in 2014 and 2015. Womens activists beg to differ, saying Dec. 22 should be more than just a day to honor mothers. Adriana Venny Aryani of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) lamented the fact that only few people know that Dec. 22 was intended to be a day to commemorate womens struggle. We still have a lot of homework to do in terms of female empowerment. The role of the mother should also reflect the role of the woman [in a broader context] in terms of efforts to take part in building the country, she said. This years World Economic Forums (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report finds that Indonesia ranks 88th out of 144 countries studied. In the ASEAN region, Indonesia lags behind the Philippines, which ranks 7, Laos (43), Singapore (55), Vietnam (65) and Thailand (71) in the annual report measuring the extent of gender inequality in four broad areas, namely economic participation and opportunities, educational attainment, political empowerment as well as health and survival. Indonesia received an overall score of 0.682 this year, improving from 0.654 in 2006, on a scale of 0 to 1, with 1 pointing to perfect equality and 0 to extreme inequality. No country in the world has achieved gender equality; not even Iceland, which tops the list with a score of 0.874, Dian Kartikasari, secretary-general at prominent women group the Indonesian Women Coalition for Justice and Democracy (KPI), said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra Thu, December 22, 2016 Many taxpayers have yet to participate in the governments tax amnesty, the North Sumatra Taxation Office says, making it unable to achieve its amnesty targets. Office head Mukhtar said the tax amnesty revenue target for the province in the first and second rounds was set at Rp 4.25 trillion (US$316.24 million). The realized [tax amnesty] revenues amount to only Rp 4.1 trillion as many taxpayers have resisted availing of the amnesty, he told The Jakarta Post after he received an asset statement letter from Medan Mayor Dzulmi Eldin, who registered for the amnesty at the tax office on Wednesday. Mukhtar said for the second round of the tax amnesty, which ends this month, the tax office had collected only Rp 90 billion, far lower than the Rp 1.4 trillion it collected in the first phase. Realized revenues set for both first and second rounds are below expectation because of taxpayers reluctance, he said. Citing an example, Mukhtar said 11 individual and corporate taxpayers had initially refused to avail of the tax amnesty but had finally agreed after the tax office audited their tax reports. Its proof that many of our taxpayers are somewhat reluctant to participate in the tax amnesty. They comply only after we audit them, said Mukhtar. Of the total 29,565 taxpayers registered in North Sumatra, Mukhtar said, only 985,000 of them had agreed to participate in the tax amnesty. He said 91 percent of participants of the program were individual taxpayers while the remainder were corporate taxpayers. Mukhtar said his office would be more proactive in promoting the governments program to all societal elements in the province, especially corporate taxpayers, so they would participate in the amnesty before the second round ended on Dec.31. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Not everyone is happy with the design of the new banknotes recently released by Bank Indonesia. But a Twitter users sectarian rants against the banknotes which feature 11 national heroes may have crossed the line and could result in criminal charges. Dwi Estiningsih, the owner of Twitter account @estiningsihdwi, was reported to the police for allegedly spreading hatred after posting a tweet saying that five of the 11 heroes featured in the new banknotes are kafir (infidels). On Dec. 19, Dwi, who has over 23,000 followers, wrote: How amazing this Muslim majority country is. From hundreds of heroes, five out of 11 are kafir heroes. Her post started a fierce debate among netizens on the popular social media platform. As of Wednesday evening, it was met with 534 retweets and 160 likes. Among the replies included the official account of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) @_TNIAU. The account, which has over 105,000 followers, replied, Im sorry miss, one of the Air Force heroes, Agustinus Adisucipto, did not think of RELIGION while he was struggling for NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia], what have you done for NKRI? The post from the Air Force was further responded to by thousands of netizens, many of whom praised the move by the military account. As of this writing, the post had been retweeted over 5,000 times and liked by almost 2,000 accounts. Achmad Zaenal Efendi, secretary of the Communication Forum of Fighters for Indonesia (Forkapri), was apparently offended by Dwis tweet. Acting on behalf of Forkapri, Achmad on Wednesday reported Dwi to the Jakarta Police for allegedly violating Article 28 of the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law on spreading messages containing hatred against a particular religion, ethnicity or race. Forkapri chair Birgaldo Sinaga, who is included as a witness in the report, expressed hope that the police would follow up the report even if Dwi apologized. Birgaldo specified that two tweets had caused offense. In addition to the first tweet that used the word kafir, another tweet had labeled non-Muslim heroes as traitors. So we pushed for the police to enforce the law. There shouldnt be any more citizens of this nation who can berate and insult our national heroes who fought for independence of the nation and presented it to us all, Birgaldo told reporters at the police headquarters in South Jakarta after lodging the report. Of the featured heroes on the banknotes, four were of the Christian faith, namely Gerungan Saul Samuel Jozias Ratulangi, Frans Kaisiepo, TB Simatupang and Herman Johannes, while I Gusti Ketut Pudja was Hindu. Indonesia is home to the worlds largest Muslim population, but the country upholds a national motto of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity). Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22 2016 Immigration authorities have stepped up the monitoring of foreigners amid a rising number of visa violations and a crackdown on illegal foreign workers, as the government attempts to boost tourism through its free-visa policy. There has been a significant increase in the number of foreigners violating immigration regulations this year, according to data from the Law and Human Rights Ministrys Immigration Directorate General. As of Dec. 19, more than 7,000 immigration violations were recorded. Of that number, 329 foreigners were prosecuted, of these, 126 cases involved Chinese nationals. In 2015, only 255 foreigners were prosecuted for immigration offenses. In Jakarta alone, as of December, the number of foreigners violating immigration regulations was 954, a substantial increase from 647 last year. Most of them abused tourist visas by illegally working and staying longer than their allowed period of time, Jakarta Immigration Office head Zaeroji said on Wednesday. He acknowledged the rising number of violations might be a result of the governments free-visa policy, which is aimed at boosting the number of foreign tourists. President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration aims to attract 20 million tourists annually by 2019 by providing free visas to citizens of 169 countries, including China whose citizens have topped the list of tourists visiting Indonesia in recent years. Indonesias tourism has been lagging behind its Southeast Asian neighbors. The Tourism Ministry recently revealed that foreign tourists visiting Indonesia from January to October amounted to 9.4 million. Malaysia had received 17.6 million visitors as of August while foreign tourists visiting Singapore in the January-September period amounted to 12 million. Thailand recorded 27 million foreign tourists as of October. Previously, foreigners had to think about paying for a visa, the policy now enables them to enter freely, Zaeroji said. However, concerns have been raised as illegal workers detained by the authorities across the country have been found to have entered by utilizing the free-visa policy. In mid-November, the Medan Immigration Office in North Sumatra, for example, discovered 15 Chinese working illegally on the Pangkalan Susu power plant project in Langkat regency. As of November, Indonesia hosted 74,183 foreign workers with expatriate employment permits, according to Manpower Ministry data. Chinese workers dominated the figure with a total of 21,271 people, followed by Japanese and South Koreans, with a total of 12,490 and 8,424 workers respectively. The head of the Jakarta office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Endang Sudirman, suggested that the government evaluate and revamp existing regulations on the monitoring of foreigners. We will identify the strengths and weakness [of the laws]. We also need capacity improvement for human resources, Endang told The Jakarta Post. Similarly, National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) researcher Rear Adm. Yani Antariksa said the government should evaluate the free-visa policy as it paved the way for the illegal employment of unskilled workers in industries across the country. The government should seriously address this matter. Indonesias policy should be aimed at reducing unemployment and increasing the welfare of our own people, Yani said ------------------- to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login William McAllister served as Supervisor of the Town of Pelham from 1893 until 1894. He was a City Island yacht builder who worked at William H. Webb's City Island shipyard and constructed important Union gunboats during the American Civil War. According to one source: "William McAllister came to this country as a ship's carpenter from Scotland around 1850 in the ship City of Brooklyn which was wrecked by false light of pirates in the West Indies. William McAllister came north to City Island and as years rolled by became one of the best known shipbuilders on the Atlantic Coast." Id. Charles McAllister became President of the American Bureau of Shipping. Id. The couple also had daughters including Emma L. McAllister and Mary E. McAllister. McAllistair married a woman named Abigail. The couple's son, Charles Albert McAllister, was born in Dorchester, New Jersey on May 26, 1867.Charles McAllister became President of the American Bureau of Shipping.The couple also had daughters including Emma L. McAllister and Mary E. McAllister. William McAllister was a republican who defeated multi-term Town Supervisor Sherman T. Pell in the Town election held in March, 1893, setting off a chain of events that led to Sherman T. Pell's disappearance. After Pell disappeared, it was discovered that he had embezzled Town funds and had even forged and sold tens of thousands of dollars of fake Town of Pelham bonds to investors in New York City. Sherman Pell was never heard from again. Some said he absconded to Canada. Others claimed he had headed to Mexico and, from there, to South America. He was never brought to justice. His whereabouts and eventual death are among the greatest Pelham mysteries of all time. William McAllister worked hard to clean up the financial mess and string of lawsuits against Pelham that were left by the dastardly thief, Sherman T. Pell. McAllister was unable to run for an additional term after ending his service in 1894 because the City of New York annexed City Island, where he resided. Consequently, John M. Shinn of Pelham Manor succeeded him as Town Supervisor. See Tue., Mar. 30, 2010: William McAllister) that was operating in the years before his death. I have written before, briefly, about William McAllister.Tue., Mar. 30, 2010: Obituary of William McAllister Who Built Civil War Gunboats in Pelham . He became sufficiently well-known to have a steamer named after him (the) that was operating in the years before his death. Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of several additional obituaries of William McAllister. Each is followed by a citation and link to its source. "FUNERAL TOMORROW OF RETIRED YACHT BUILDER ----- William McAllister Saw All the Races for the America's Cup. ----- William McAllister, a retired yacht builder, formerly of City Island, N. Y., died yesterday morning at his home, 332 Indiana avenue northwest, after a long illness. Until his death he was said to be the only man living who had seen all of the international yacht races for the America's cup. Funeral services will be held tomorrow morning at 10:30 o'clock at the undertaking establishment of J. William Lee, where the body will be cremated. Rev. J. S. Montgomery, pastor of the Metropolitan M. E. Church, will officiate. Mr. McAllister was a Scotchman and as a lad learned shipbuilding in the Delaware river yards while living in Philadelphia, and then sailed on the old 'Black Ball' packet line of clipper ships. In William H. Webb's famous shipyard, in New York, he was employed on the construction of many federal gunboats during the civil war. When a young man he happened to be in England when the Yankee yacht America captured the queen's cup, an event which he witnessed. Subsequently he saw every international cup race in this country. In 1888 [sic] he was elected supervisor of the town of Pelham, which included City Island, Pelham Manor, Pelham Bay Park and Pelhamville, and it was largely through his efforts that the greater part of the township was annexed to the city of New York. He was a republican in politics, and the late Lawrence Delmour, a Tammany sachem, and Richard Croker were his intimate friends. He leaves a wife, two daughters, Mrs. A. A. Maxim of Washington and Mrs. H. E. Day of Jersey City, and a son, Charles A. McAllister, engineer-in-chief of the revenue cutter service." Source: FUNERAL TOMORROW OF RETIRED YACHT BUILDER -- "WILLIAM M'ALLISTER DEAD. ----- Noted City Island Yacht Builder Expires in Washington. WASHINGTON, March 24. -- William McAllister, a retired yacht builder of City Island, New York city, died here to-day after a long illness. Until his death he was said to have been the only man then living who had seen all of the international yacht races for the America's Cup. McAllister was a Scotsman and as a lad learned the shipbuilding trade in the Delaware River yards when living in Philadelphia, and then sailed on the old 'Black Ball' packet line of clipper ships. He was employed in William H. Webb's famous shipyards in New York on the construction of many Federal gunboats during the civil war. He was a Republican in politics, and once supervisor of the town of Pelham, N.Y. Lawrence Delmour, a Tammany sachem, now dead, and Richard Croker were his intimate friends. One of his sons, Captain Charles A. McAllister, is engineer in chief of the United States revenue cutter service." Source: WILLIAM M'ALLISTER DEAD - - " ----- Death of William McAllister. William McAllister, who in 1888 [sic] was elected supervisor of the town of Pelham, which included City Island, Pelham Manor, Pelham Bay Park and Pelhamville, died Sunday after a long illness at his residence, No. 332 Indiana avenue, Washington, D. C." Source: PELHAM MANOR -- "WILLIAM McALLISTER, a retired yacht builder of City Island, New York, died of heart disease at Washington, D.C., March 24. During the Civil War he was at the shipyard of Mr. William H. Webb in New York, and there was employed in the construction of many of the gunboats built for the Federal Government. He was subsequently employed in the construction of many famous yachts. He is survived by a widow, two daughters and one son, Mr. Charles A. McAllister, engineer-in-chief of the Revenue Cutter Service." . Labels: 1893, 1894, 1912, City Island, Obituary, Sherman Pell, Sherman T. Pell, Town Supervisor, William McAllister Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Human rights activists uniting under the Civil Society Alliance for the Constitution (Amsik) have criticized the way prosecutors handled Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnamas alleged blasphemy, which they said included an Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) fatwa (edict) in their indictment against the governor. The alliance said the Indonesian legal system did not acknowledge MUI edicts as a source of law. "The opinions and religious views of the MUI are not law. Therefore, an edict shall not be binding," it said in a statement on Thursday. Twenty one activists, including rights group Setara Institute's chairman Hendardi and human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, joined the alliance. In the governors first hearing on Dec. 13, prosecutors accused Ahok of committing blasphemy when he made a remark during his work visit in Thousand Islands on Sept. 27 that Surah Al Maidah 51 could be used as a tool to deceive people. (Read also: Prosecutors deny public pressure influencing Ahok's legal process) An MUI edict dated on Oct.11, especially in point four, which mentions insulting the Quran, has been cited by those who believed Ahok committed blasphemy. Citing Law No. 4/2004 on judicial authorities, Amsik said it was only the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies that had the authority to cite religious opinions in the legal process. The activists said prosecutors lacked professionalism by citing an MUI edict in their indictment and their act had endangered the "due process of law". The alliance further said the MUI had issued the edict without giving Ahok a chance to provide tabayyun (clarification). Such a flawed legal process had led to a "trial by mob" against Ahok. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kim Young-won (The Korea Herald/ANN) Seoul Thu, December 22, 2016 The Korean tech giant has decided to cut the incentive rate for the mobile business employees from 50 per cent to 17 per cent, according to news reports. Employees at Samsung Electronics' mobile business unit will take the brunt of the consequences of the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco as their annual incentives are likely to plunge due to decreased profits of the smartphone business this year. Samsung runs the so-called OPI reward programme that pays up to 50 per cent of the annual salaries of employees within the range of 20 per cent of the firms excess profits. The Korean tech giant, scheduled to hand out the OPI incentives to its employees on January 26, has decided to cut the incentive rate for the mobile business employees from 50 per cent to 17 per cent, according to news reports on December 20. The cut is mainly due to the Note 7 recall which Samsung said would cost it more than 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in the last quarter of this year and the first three months next year. For the past six years, employees of the mobile business unit have been receiving incentives at the maximum rate of 50 per cent the highest among Samsung units thanks to robust smartphone sales. Workers at Samsungs memory business unit, on the other hand, are expected to receive 50 per cent of their salaries as bonus while the incentive rates for consumer electronics and display business units have been set at 7 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively. Samsung also runs the so-called target achievement incentive, or TAI programme, which provides employees up to 100 per cent of their monthly salaries during the first and second half of every year. Those working for the consumer electronics and chip business division are to receive the TAI bonus at a 50 per cent rate while employees at the mobile business unit will receive 12.5 per cent of their monthly wages. The tech firm will offer the TAI bonuses to its employees on December 23. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Thu, December 22 2016 Christmas is a long-awaited moment for Christians. Getting together with families and friends on Christmas Eve is sure to be highly enjoyable if accompanied by special foods. On this special day, Christian families prepare foods that they might not usually consume. However, there are no uniform seasonal specialties in Indonesia, such as ketupat (rice cones) and opor ayam (chicken in coconut milk) that Muslims prepare to celebrate Idul Fitri. Different Christmas cuisines are found in Manado, North Sulawesi; Medan, North Sumatra and Ambon where many Christians live. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 The Taxation Directorate General will increase the number of tax officers and tax service branches (KPP) as part of the 2017 tax reform agenda. Tax office reform team chairman Suryo Utomo said the number of tax officers had yet to be ideal as only 38,000 officers currently served 30 million registered taxpayers. "We have received a lot of input, including from Chatib Basri [former finance minister], and we are calculating how many additional personnel are required to reach the optimum number," Suryo said at a tax amnesty update press conference at the tax office headquarter on Wednesday. Previously, senior economist Chatib Basri said Indonesia, which has a population of 254 million, needed about 100,000 tax officers. Singapore, which has a 5 million population, has about 2,000 tax officers. (Read also:Tax reform to follow last ever amnesty) Regarding the tax branches, Suryo said the directorate general had only a few branches outside Java. Some branches in Kalimantan have to handle vast areas. "The span of control is too wide," he said. Currently, the directorate general has 341 tax service branches. (dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Lita Aruperes (The Jakarta Post) Manado, North Sulawesi Thu, December 22, 2016 Maj. Gen. Ganip Warsito, commander of the Military Area Command (Kodam) XIII/Merdeka in Manado, North Sulawesi, said the Indonesian Military (TNI) was ready to continuously support Operation Tinombala to search for remaining people of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terror group previously led by terrorist Santoso. Working with members of the National Police, who lead the anti-terror operation, military personnel were still moving to trace the whereabouts of Santoso followers in Poso, Central Sulawesi, following gunfire between security personnel and suspected members of the terror group on Tuesday. There are still six to seven [Santoso] followers, who remain at large with two armed weapons, Ganip told journalists at the Kodam XIII Merdeka headquarters in Manado on Wednesday. As earlier reported, a member of the TNI Nanggala VII team was killed during a shootout against MIT members in Kampung Maros, Maranda village, North Poso Pesisir, Poso, on Tuesday. At 1:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, gunfire broke out between TNI and police personnel and MIT followers. One TNI member was killed in the incident, National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rikwanto said. First Pvt. Yusuf Bahrudin was shot in the chest. Another TNI member was shot in the back, but he survived the incident. The injured victim is still receiving medical treatment, said Rikwanto. Apart from eradicating the late Santoso led terror group, Ganip said, the joint military-police team aims to reduce the influence of the group. It has brought suffering to people. This is why we are determined to help the police in their counterterrorism operations, said Ganip. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 A group of people on Wednesday reported twitter user Dwi Estiningsih to the Jakarta Police for alleged hate speech and insulting national heroes on social media. The Communication Forum of Veterans Children (Forkapri) reported Dwi for writing statements on her Twitter account that allegedly amounted to religious hate speech while the second allegedly insulted national heroes. Our fathers are veterans and feel offended [by the posts], Forkapri chairman Birgaldo Sinaga told reporters at the Jakarta Police headquarters. Dwi, who has thousands of followers on Twitter, commented on her account on Monday on the pictures of non-Muslim heroes printed on newly issued banknotes, calling the non-Muslims hero infidels. She wrote, This Muslim majority country is remarkable. From hundreds of heroes, five of the 11 chosen were kafir heroes. Dwi, who is reportedly a legislative council candidate from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) of Yogyakarta, later clarified on Twitter that the word kafir was just a reference to non-Muslims. According to a copy of a police report obtained by The Jakarta Post, the group has reported the netizen for allegedly violating Article 28 of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law on inciting religious and ethnic hatred online.(jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Asila Jalil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 23 2016 Malaysia recognizes that Myanmar is becoming more open, enabling ASEAN members to collectively address the issue of the Rohingya minority and seek ways to help ease the crisis in Rakhine state, the Malaysian ambassador to Indonesia has said. Ambassador Zahrain Mohamed Hashim said Thursday he hoped Malaysia and Indonesia, and other ASEAN members, could cooperate in, among other things, channelling aid to Rakhine, from where thousands of the Muslim Rohingya minority fled a recent military crackdown. Myanmar is finally opening up to the issue and it is pushing us to work together to determine the problem, finding the root of the issue, Zahrain said at the Malaysian Embassy on Thursday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mo Jingxi (China Daily/ANN) Beijing Thu, December 22, 2016 Chinas offer of arms and boats worth $14 million to be provided free to the Philippines, according to media reports, is the latest sign that the two countries are boosting cooperation following Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes visit to China in October, experts say. Philippine Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday that Beijing has offered to provide the small arms and fast boats to Manila to assist Dutertes fight against drugs and terrorism, Reuters reported. Another $500 million in a long-term soft loan will be available for other equipment, the report said. Lorenzana was quoted as saying they hope to receive the Chinese arms by the second quarter of 2017. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that China understands and supports the Duterte governments policy of cracking down on drug crimes. The two countries related departments are currently undertaking cooperation in areas such as information sharing, technical equipment, joint drug enforcement and drug rehabilitation, Hua told a daily news conference, without confirming the media reports. China is willing to continue to offer, within its capability, support and help for Philippines anti-drug activities. The United States has been a longtime provider of secondhand weaponry to the Philippines. But Reuters reported that Washington halted the sale of 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines over opposition to aspects of the anti-drug campaign initiated by Duterte after he took office on June 30. After the sale of weapons was halted by the US, Duterte said he might turn to China and Russia for arms. Li Jinming, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at Xiamen University, said the offer is the latest practical act since the overall improvement in bilateral ties. It not only shows Beijings support for Dutertes anti-drug activities, but also its willingness to put the repaired relationship on a good path, he said. The China-Philippine relationship hit turbulence after the previous Philippine government, under Duterte predecessor Benigno Aquino III, launched a unilateral arbitration case against Beijing to challenge its sovereignty over the South China Sea. Chen Qinghong, a researcher in Southeast Asian and Philippine studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Research, said the two countries have continued to expand cooperation. To boost comprehensive and robust cooperation in various areas, including security and military affairs, will help to enhance mutual trust and positive interaction in the future, he said. This article appeared on the China Daily newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, December 22, 2016 Throughout this year, Borobudur temple in Magelang regency, Central Java, has welcomed 3.2 million tourists. This number makes the Borobudur Temple Tourist Park (TWCB) management certain that it is going to reach its target of 3.8 million visitors. The organization's head, Chrisna Murti Adiningrum, said on Wednesday as quoted by Kompas.com that total visitors had reached 83.2 percent of the target. "We are certain that we are going to meet the target, as there will be the Christmas and New Year's holidays," said Chrisna. (Read also: Govt to develop new tourist destinations around Borobudur) Chrisna said year-end holidays would boost the number of tourists visiting the temple. Normally on the weekends, Borobudur temple welcomes around 7,000 to 10,000 tourists. However, during long weekends, the number can increase up to 100 percent. "[During the last long weekend holiday, from Dec. 10 to 12] more than 90,000 tourists visited Borobudur temple. It was above our expectations," said Chrisna. However, the visitors were mostly local tourists, as foreign tourists tend to visit during June or July. For the upcoming holidays, Borobudur temple will offer the same entrance fees for Indonesians: Rp 30,000 per adult and Rp 12,000 for children. (jes/asw) State Sen. Daniel Squadron says the mayor should sue the Allure Group for deceiving the city about the Rivington House transaction. [Daily News] A not-for-profit nursing home in Brooklyn is suing the Allure Group, its landlord, for $30 million, saying efforts to evict frail patients led to their untimely deaths. [New York Post] A new mapping tool and database are designed to give community groups a fighting chance in competing with developers for the use of public assets. One pilot project is located at Sara D. Roosevelt Park, where local activists have been trying to reclaim a parks department building for public use. [Next City] New Yorks tech industry is getting a $250 million home base near Union Square. 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